Hank Johnson and  Phil Slocombe met upstate when they were both sent to the Honor Rancho.  Hank was finishing out a term for theft and aggravated assault, which he said he wasn't "technically" responsible for.  And he once told me about Phil, a man vaguely associated with the society of Irish Travelers.  A real con man, apparently, that could charm the pants off old ladies and get them to bequeath their family jewels to him.

Hank said that he and Phil had "perfected" their brewing process while they were in the joint, that the Rancho was relaxed enough so they could get some of the ingredients and pots and pans out of the kitchen where they worked during the day.  It still was "illegal" to make anything alcoholic while in stir, but  the guards looked the other way once they got a taste of the ales that Phil and Hank were cooking up.  A couple of them even went so far as to supply the boys with enough bottles to fill up a case, which was an accomplishment, seeing as they probably drank more than they bottled.  They could do without the carbonation if it meant they could get a bit of a buzz right away.

Eventually they were released from the Honor Rancho but not before one of the guards got what Phil called "a bonehead idea"  to secretly video Hank and Phil's operation in an attempt to win a cash prize by getting it played on some "true crime" reality show on television.

Luckily for Phil and Hank, the video never saw the light of day.  The guard responsible was transferred when the warden heard of the brewing operation.  Hank and Phil were shut down, but never punished for breaking the rules.  They were able to disassemble the rig quickly enough each morning to avoid detection on morning inspection, and after that morning, they never put it back up.  Nothing was ever proven.

Once out of prison, the boys hooked up and I hear they're continuing their brewing.  This time it's legit, and they claim that their inspiration came from their grandfathers brewing experiences in the war, not anything they tried in the joint.  They want their ales to be respected and enjoyed. 

A short clip from the alleged video has been uploaded to the internet, and Hank and Phil have publicly denied ever making beer in a toilet.  Still, some of the footage seen so far points in that direction.

In a related story, it seems the guard that shot the video has been hired by the Van Nuys Thugs Brewing company as director of security.  A source closely linked to the micro-brewery, or more accurately, the nano-brewery tells me that the guard, Sam Cummins, is "responsible for the heat".