KSRO listener Tom McComas was displaced during the fire, leaving a pilsner homebrew he was making to be unattended. Once the evacuation order was lifted, he knew exactly what to do. He tells us, in an email to Pat:
Pat,
My wife and I live in Skyhawk and lost power, internet and cell coverage around 1:00 AM on the 9th. I still had a battery operated tape deck/AM radio, thank goodness. We started listening to you about 4:00 AM and shortly thereafter, took you outside to our cul de sac where all of my neighbors huddled around the radio to hear you call it. We evacuated a few hours later after realizing that Calistoga Road and Highway 12 were closed. We listened to you every day thereafter, whether streaming from the East Bay where we stayed, or in the car as we moved around. You were an indispensable lifeline to us and the whole community, even while your own home was at high risk. We can’t thank you enough for your reporting. Thank you so much!
It is not much, but wanted you to see this: I am homebrew geek and brewed a Pilsner on Saturday the 8th. We evacuated and I left this beer to ferment while we were gone.
The fermenter with and without power.
I put it in a keg on the 21st. My wife and I wanted to name it for the fires in some way. We considered names like “Evac Pilsner”, “First Responders Lager”, “Nunn’s Firebrew” and others, but we kept coming back to a name that felt right, “Pat Kerrigan Pils”. Keep up the great work Pat!
