May 2023 Beer of the Month Club

Black Hammer Brewing

     After last month's “trip” to Belgium, we’re keeping it extremely local this month and featuring a selection of beer from San Francisco brewery Black Hammer Brewing.

     Black Hammer Brewing focuses on superbly balanced lagers, ales and hard seltzers at their brewery in San Francisco, California. They may be the only Burner Brewery in existence today, as their name comes from the nickname of co-founder, Jim "Hammer" Furman, semi-portmanteaued with the name of Burning Man's iconic Black Rock City. Their quest is to promote radical inclusivity as well as radical self-expression, through their brewery & beer, staff, locations, guests and events, and to ensure that everyone feels welcome and appreciated.  They began their craft brewing journey aiming to perfect the science and precision of traditional lager brewing, but have opened the brew kettle to crafting a vast array of beer styles old and new, especially within the hazy IPA, hard seltzer, blended sour and barrel-aged spaces.  So although they remain committed to a relentless pursuit of stylistic perfection and unparalleled holistic brewing balance, they are having-way-too-much-fun-for-it-to-be-legal thumbing their nose at the Reinheitsgebot every chance they get.                

     Black Hammer Brewing also understands the importance of limiting gluten intake for those with gluten sensitivities, allergies, and celiac disease (co-founder Jim Furman was diagnosed with non-celiac gluten sensitivity in 2021). And since they also know that small-batch craft beer is delicious, and a fundamental component of a happy and fortuitous life,  they want everyone to be able to enjoy tasty brews without worrying about gluten issues. So in mid-2017 they implemented their BHB Gluten Elimination Program, instituting manufacturing and testing processes to ensure that gluten levels in their beers labeled “gluten-removed” contain less than 3 ppm gluten, well below the established FDA threshold of 20 ppm* used for labeling foods “gluten-free”. Gluten is removed after fermentation using an industry-standard enzyme, Clarity-Ferm, which Black Hammer has found effective for wheat-free beers less than 8% ABV with zero effect on flavor, aroma or texture, so they apply it to all their brews falling within those limits.

 Cheers to Beers!