Oakland United Paul Jones

During a celebrated visit to the Bay Area in 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt accepted an invitation to lay the cornerstone of a new YMCA in Vallejo. Arrangements were made for the Torpedo Boat Paul Jones to transport the President from Oakland Mole to Mare Island. Teddy, famously competitive, suggested an attempt at a record time for the journey. An exhilarating – indeed, record-setting – run ensued. However, the Navy would later quietly pay for the resulting swamped docks and boats from Oakland to Vallejo as well as all four burned-out stacks of the Paul Jones.
This month, Paul Jones will grace both Oakland and Vallejo in the form of a Rye IPA brewed in collaboration with Mare Island Brewing Company. Inspired by this tale, brewmasters in both Oakland and Vallejo (our brewmaster Shane Aldrich, along with Mare Island’s brewmaster Ryan Gibbons) saw an opportunity to poetically connect the cities once more, in a sudsy homage to what must’ve been a helluva ride.