Skip To Main Content
Jay Brooks on Muck Rack

Jay Brooks

California
As seen in: East Bay Times, New York Daily News, Flipboard, The Boston Globe, The Mercury News, Baltimore Sun, International Business Times (U.K.), The Denver Post, Orlando Sentinel, South Florida Sun Sentinel, The Orange County Register and
Covers:  brewing, beer, craft beer, beer judging, beer and food, beer and cheese, beer business, homebrewing, beer reviews
Doesn't Cover: liquor, wine, spirits (other than gin, which I can do)
Jay Brooks: Beer writer, syndicated columnist, university lecturer, father, potato nerd, View-Master nut, curmudgeon. Renaissance man, with a side of fries.

Get in touch with Jay

Contact Jay, search articles and posts on X, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place.

Learn more about Muck Rack

Actions

Share this page

Jay Brooks’s Biography

Read Full Bio →

Jay R. Brooks has been writing about beer over 30 years, and is the former GM of the Celebrator Beer News and was the chain beer buyer for Beverages & more. He is currently a syndicated newspaper columnist for the Bay Area News Group with his bi-weekly column, “Brooks On Beer,” which appears in at least half-a-dozen papers, including the San Jose Mercury News, the Oakland Tribune and the Contra Costa Times. He contributes to most major beer periodicals, and general circulation magazines such as…

Jay Brooks’s Journalist Portfolio

In This Friendly, Freedom-Loving Land Of Ours-Beer Belongs...Enjoy It! - All About Beer

In This Friendly, Freedom-Loving Land Of Ours-Beer Belongs...Enjoy It! - All About Beer

In today's more sophisticated and educated beer culture, it certainly feels like this may be the best time fo…

View article →
It Ain't Easy Bein' Green: The Greening of America's Breweries

It Ain't Easy Bein' Green: The Greening of America's Breweries

What does it mean to be green? Does it mean adding food coloring to your beer to celebrate St. Patrick's Day?…

View article →
The Geek Shall Inherit the Earth: An Affectionate Look at the More Beer-Obsessed Among Us

The Geek Shall Inherit the Earth: An Affectionate Look at the More Beer-Obsessed Among Us

The landscape of the beer geek is as rich and varied as the outside world; a microcosm of society as a whole.

View article →
Beer Rocks: The Organized Chaos of Brewers and Their Music

Beer Rocks: The Organized Chaos of Brewers and Their Music

Both musicians and brewers express themselves as artists by putting a lot of themselves into their craft; be …

View article →
Peeps and beer: What brews pair best with Easter candy?

Peeps and beer: What brews pair best with Easter candy?

There's no surer sign of spring than supermarket aisles brimming with jelly beans, Peeps and chocolate rabbit…

View article →
Russian River Brewing's grand expansion to Windsor

Russian River Brewing's grand expansion to Windsor

Depending on how you look at it, the enormous new Russian River brewery that opened in Windsor today was four…

View article →

Articles

Beer In Ads #5387: Bock Beer Clown

|
By Jay Brooks
| brookstonbeerbulletin.com
Two years ago I decided to concentrate on Bock ads for awhile. Bock, of course, may have originated in Germany, in the town of Einbeck. Because many 19th century American breweries were founded by German immigrants, they offered a bock at certain times of the year, be it Spring, Easter, Lent, Christmas, or what have you. In a sense they were some of the first seasonal beers. “The style was later adopted in Bavaria by Munich brewers in the 17th century.
Open in Who Shared Issue with article?

Historic Beer Birthday: Joseph Huber

|
By Jay Brooks
| brookstonbeerbulletin.com
Today is the birthday of Joseph Ben Huber (November 8, 1893-February 8, 1977). Huber was born in Pirking, Bavaria, Germany, and moved to the United States when he was 31, in 1924, initially settling in South Dakota. A few years later he’d relocated to Monroe, Wisconsin and married Rose Braml when he was 37. The couple had attended the same school back in Weiding, Bavaria.
Open in Who Shared Issue with article?

Beer In Ads #5386: Bockbier Aus Der Actienbrauerei Basel

|
By Jay Brooks
| brookstonbeerbulletin.com
Two years ago I decided to concentrate on Bock ads for awhile. Bock, of course, may have originated in Germany, in the town of Einbeck. Because many 19th century American breweries were founded by German immigrants, they offered a bock at certain times of the year, be it Spring, Easter, Lent, Christmas, or what have you. In a sense they were some of the first seasonal beers. “The style was later adopted in Bavaria by Munich brewers in the 17th century.
Open in Who Shared Issue with article?
See all 9,988 licensed articles (11,104 Total)

Interview

See all →

What was your first job as a journalist?

I started writing about beer in 1991, with the publication of my first book, "The Bars of Santa Clara, A Beer Drinkers Guide to Silicon Vall"

Have you ever used a typewriter?

Yes, when I wrote for my junior high and high school newspapers. We even used a mimeograph!

How is social media changing news?

It reminds of how the telegraph must have changed it, with news getting out much faster, but at the expense of context and the full story.