I was interviewed several months ago by someone who seemed focused on writing about who is responsible for Washington being such a great beer city. The interviewer’s questions seemed to be stated in such a way as to get me to lather on about some of the newer bars and their beverage managers but that could not possibly be further from the truth.
I think that team is a quintet of which I was youngest and last drafted. I am also probably the only member of this team anyone around now has ever heard of but in fact I’m lucky to get off the bench with this group
The captain of this team has to be my wife’s grandfather. Felix Coja built the ballpark when he opened the Brickskeller back in 1957. Fritz Maytag of Anchor Steam fame said back then any restaurant could show you a wine list and he hoped some day they could offer a beer list as well, which was preposterous in those days unless you were the Brickskeller.
When I took over daily operations in 1982 DC had about 400 beers, slightly over half of which were cans and can sets. In 1982 the cans in a set were considered different beers regardless they are only one recipe so in fact the number of different recipes was well below 400. I did not make the argument that a can set is only one recipe therefore only one beer until the Guinness World Record people contacted me and asked me to apply for the award.
I saw the market was moving to bottles and in my first couple years I grew our stock away from cans to about 800 bottled beers. Just about the only craft beers around were Anchor and Sierra Nevada. We’d had New Albion but they were gone when I took over. The first thing I did was get every copy of every listing of every alcoholic beverage journal available in every region of the country just to see what was out there. Finding beers was the easy part. Getting them here was not.
Enter Buddy Rosenberg.
Buddy owned House of Wines. He sold a lot of California product. Buddy’s contributions to the world of beer have gone largely unnoticed but his role was undeniably central and his efforts irreplaceable. He was first to bring hundreds, maybe thousands of beers into this market for me. He was the only distributor I could get to assemble out of state orders, everyone else wanted to sell 50 cases of Jack Daniels. Buddy was willing to get me five cases of Simba or three cases of Taquina. He is truly the engine that drove the world of beers into the DC market.
OK that’s three.
Let’s shift gears for a moment, Those who know me know I was a professional musician for many years. Enter Chuck and Marge Levin. They grew a pawn shop in NE DC into the Washington Music Center in Wheaton Maryland, known to virtually every recording superstar on earth as Chuck Levin’s. For about six years after my band broke up I worked for them. If the names Roy Buchanan, Danny Gatton, Tony Grasso or Billy Manning mean anything to you they were friends that played the same local circuit as I did in the 60’s 70’s and 80’s who sadly are no longer with us. I have always credited the Levin’s for getting me off the path they unfortunately followed. For all the kindness they showed and the opportunities they presented me I always called Chuck and Marge my Wheaton Mom and Dad, which they truly were.
My first day at Chuck’s I sold stuff to the Who. When KISS was on their Alive II tour in the mid 70’s and their guitar tech broke his foot they called Chuck asking if he had anyone that could do their Cap Center show and Chuck sent me. Yes, I got to meet the guys without their makeup on, load Ace’s smoking guitar and click the switch that made it start smoking, hang out on stage during the concert running around untangling their guitar cords all that cool stuff. We opened early and privately one day so a space suit wearing Michael Jackson (not the beer one) could come in and shop. Chucks was then and is now just plain HUGE. I managed the front counter staff and did the ordering for the special effects and musicians accessories department. I never knew how many different items I was responsible for ordering but it’s probably in the range of 20,000. When I took over the Brick the old manager said - You know, we have 400 beers, do you think you can handle ordering that much? I told him I could order 400 beers on one page of a dupe pad. At Chuck’s I didn’t just order stuff like every brand and kind of guitar effect pedal, string or pick out there but everything else any musician could possibly need to perform his craft. Cat gut viola strings, Bassoon reeds, harp strings, Fluglehorn mouthpieces, trombone slide oil spray bottles, French Horn marching band folios, you name it Chuck’s sells it. Not only did I have those responsibilities but I also had to learn multi tasking on a whole new level. When you work at Chucks you have got to be able to wait on 5 or 6 customers at the same time, be they families renting clarinets for the school band, wannabe rock stars in a great big freaking hurry or idiots having no clue as to what they want. My typical day was dealing with all those customers while running to the store room to get the world’s next superstar a fuzz tone and quickly count the MXR pedals, trumpet mutes and individually wrapped E strings for my next orders.
Considering all this we have not even gotten to the real thing Chuck and Marge taught me. They were the musician’s friend. Whether your PA blew up in Charleston SC or you broke your guitar in Tampa FL they got you on stage that night. They did not judge you for what kind of guitar or amp you used, they trusted you to know what you like and they made sure you had what you need to do what you do. This was the learning environment that prepared me for the Brickskeller.
While Chuck’s motto was “Everything in Music” When I took over the Brick beer list I changed that to “Everything in beer” The lessons I learned when I was ordering every musical accessory from every manufacturer on the planet or figuring out how to send a guy in Kenai Alaska an amp that was in DC fit perfectly with the talents needed to nurture the world of beer out of it’s infancy. People need to know the talents and teachings of Chuck and Marge Levin played a huge part in greatly expanding the world of beer in DC.
The Brickskeller does not judge you by what beer you drink, we are happy you choose beer as your beverage of choice and will happily lead you on your path of discovery. If Budweiser does it for you, so be it. Thank you for drinking beer. If you want more, so be it. We do not gloat about being the first to introduce the continent, the east coast or the city to well over 5000 different beers in our 53 years on 22nd St. We do not lift our pinkies with an air of self importance when sampling one of the world's great beers. We are happy there was and is a growing audience learning to appreciate this world of beer and honored to have had whatever role we had in those efforts.
Why do I mention this?
My Wheaton mom passed away this week. Today Marge Levin goes to her eternal rest and peace and be with her beloved husband Chuck for eternity. Marge didn’t drink beer, she enjoyed an occasional Lemontini. However, Marge, like the BeerHunter Michael Jackson, had Parkinson’s. Also like Michael she did not let it slow her down or change her personality. Like Michael she considered it just a nuisance.
Also like Michael Jackson the family wishes any expressions of condolence be made in the form of donations to the Parkinson's foundation by visiting -
www.parkinson.org
I will never be able to repay the Levin family for all they did for me but I can not attend her services today without first declaring my love for her family, my gratitude for their involvement in my life and my declaration she will always be greatly missed.
I like to remember an Irish prayer when someone I so deeply respect and care for passes.
God saw you were getting tired
And a cure was not to be
So he put his arms around you
And whispered “Come to me”
With tearful eyes we watched you
And saw you pass away
Although we loved you dearly
We could not make you stay
A golden heart stopped beating
Hard working hands at rest
God broke our hearts to prove to us
He only takes the best
Diane and I send our sincerest condolences to the Levin family
Thank you Marge.
Diane and Dave Alexander
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Originally Posted by Shakey
Model D-83
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