Every once in a while, I like to get together with my friends and drink a nice bottle or two. It started with my friend Simon and I drinking a bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue Label and it went so well we decided that we would continue the tradition.
I suppose everything will be... then won't be... good for you - and then they will be good for you later. So, I was not too excited by the news that beer seems to be an excellent source of dietary silicon by contributing to bone mineral density... until I noticed this tid bit:
"We have examined a wide range of beer styles for their silicon content and have also studied the impact of raw materials and the brewing process on the quantities of silicon that enter wort and beer," Bamforth said. Wort is liquid extracted from the mashing process during the brewing of beer. The researchers tested 100 commercial beers and found that their silicon content ranged from 6.4 to 56.5 milligrams per liter. "Beers containing high levels of malted barley and hops are richest in silicon," Bamforth said. "Wheat contains less silicon than barley because it is the husk of the barley that is rich in this element.
Bamforth? That's Dr. Charles Bamforth to you, the Anheuser-Busch Endowed Professor at U.C. Davis. We are told "endowment is to provide a permanent source of funding for teaching and research in malting and brewing sciences" so it is both reasonable and yet still a little bit cozy, no? I mean has there been a comparison study been done showing the relative merit of soy milk, green tea or sugary orange soda pop as a source of silicon? Could it be that all that beer we are drinking is denying humanity is the opportunity to get more silicon elsewhere? It that what's going on?
Maybe if you worry about your silicon levels, that is. Most really only worry about their ability to just get their hands on good beer. But look again at that quote above: beers containing high levels of malted barley and hops are richest in silicon. Sounds like a double imperial India pale ale to me. Just what so many beer nerds are looking for anyway. And not exactly what Anheuser-Busch is (or, rather, was) selling. Think on that next time you reach for Old Min-wax or Satan's Own Skull Cracker. You are just exercising your right to silicon enhancement. That's all.
Health: Vitamin Vodka Share + Feb 8, 2010 12:42 pm US/Eastern Health: Vitamin Vodka PHILADELPHIA What if your booze could actually be healthy and even keep you from getting a hangover? Medical Reporter Stephanie Stahl takes a look at a brand of liquor that claims to do just that.
On Saturday, January 30th, over 1,500 yelpers came from all over the Silicon Valley and Bay Area to resurrect their inner child at Yelp's Silicon Valley PLEY Open Party at the Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose .
DRINKING beer can help prevent weak bones, according to a new study. Beers with malted barley and hops are better as they have more silicon that those made from wheat, University of California scientists found.
At the end of February the lucky winner will have their name drawn from a hat. By limiting the number of entrants to 250 people or fewer, Master of Malt has ensured that every entrant has an unusually high chance of winning and this doesna TMt diminish as people enter.
Drinking the odd pint may help prevent bone fractures, according to a US study. Shrink Drinking the odd pint may help prevent bone fractures, according to a US study.
By Rachel Brown Legalizing liquor by the drink could enhance Murray County's future, some say, but it's not the only key to landing economic development.
I have no real skin in this question. Never met the man but at the same time have plenty of his books. Professionally with my LLB / LLM [Ed.: not as impressive as might seem to suggest] and academically with my BA in English [Ed.: now, bow ye down before me] I am used to the idea that there are many points of view about a person's writing that should be taken into account. Today, two writers made reference to Michael Jackson and it got me thinking. First, Ron Pattinson wrote:
Old new styles. I could also call them forgotten styles. Or the styles Michael Jackson missed. Burton, AK, Double Brown. Beers that not only were around for decades in the past, but have clung on as tattered remnants to this day. Vital links in the evolutionary chain of styles whose place in history has been forgotten and ignored. It's all Michael Jackson's fault. Or rather the laziness of his successors. They didn't bother looking themselves and adopted wholesale his analysis of British beer styles. Time for this historic wrong to be righted. But not in this post.
A few hours later, as the rosy fingers of the dawn reached across the Atlantic [Ed.: what an amazing thing a "B" grade BA in English is] Jack Curtain wrote:
A new film about the life of Michael Jackson will debut at the Great American Beer Festival this year. That’s a pretty major event in the beer world which has apparently slipped right under the radar, or at leas my radar, because the first I’ve heard of it just now was at the KalamaBrew website, which they in turn got from beernews.org. It seems only fair to let those guys get the site hits they deserve, so use the links to read the details... Lord, how much we lost that August day in 2007.
At some point we have to be ready to discuss the great departed man as we have to assess all things in this mortal coil. For me, Jackson is not great because of his lists of great beers and books and books and books of tasting notes. He was not even at his greatest for his work opening up the world of Belgian beers to an English speaking audience. He is most worthy to me for none other than his least influential, first book The English Pub from 1976. It is sort of the Neanderthal of his works, a genetic dead end as he did not continue to focus on the idea of beer and culture after this book. While Richard Boston did concern himself with the role of beer in culture before Jackson, others later took up the question... but only after at least a 25 year gap. And that topic is prone again to be lost in a sea of dodgy food and beer "pairing" books and the unending volume after volume of dreary whopped together "527 Beers You Have To Have Before Next Tuesday" books. I would prefer that we pick up his first thread, frankly, and think about what beer means to the consumer as much or more than what it means to the brewer.
With a focus on his work rather than himself - admittedly perhaps an impossible problem of long division - where do you place his writings and ideas? Was he vital in that he raised the public profile of good beer more than anyone else? Or is he a nerd's nerd, the finest sort of friend or icon of an era now passing?
What goes into designing a vodka bottle? Well, if you're designing Absolut Vancouver Vodka, it's incredible talent paired with great knowledge of the city.
WINNING Cornish brewery is offering one lucky Western Morning News reader the chance to name and help brew a special ale to mark the WMN's 150th anniversary.
Antarctic researchers have unearthed five crates of long-lost alcohol, abandoned over one hundred years ago by polar explorer Ernest Shackleton and his crew.
The bad news: after three weeks of banging my head against their dysfunctional development tools, I've given up on writing a BlackBerry version of my Beer Me! mobile smartphone app.
The good news: work on the Android version is progressing nicely. I should be ready to ask for field-testers by the end of this month.
I might revisit the BlackBerry problem once the Android version is deployed. Maybe.
iPhone? Who knows.
The Palm version has sold 78 copies already, and the free trial version has been downloaded almost 250 times! That's kinda fun.
Tom Cizauskas of Yours For Good Fermentables is running this month's edition of The Session. He is doing such a good job he has posted somewhere between four and 27 different posts on the subject just on his own site. His question for this month is broad, very open ended:
I'd like to return to essays on a beer style, or more precisely, a beer procedure: Cask-conditioned ale. Cask-conditioned ale —or "real ale" as it is called, somewhat boastfully, by the Campaign For Real Ale (CAMRA), a beer consumer advocacy group in the UK— is defined by that organization as "beer brewed from traditional ingredients, matured by secondary fermentation in the container from which it is dispensed, and served without the use of extraneous carbon dioxide." Viewers of this blog have read my opinions on cask-conditioned ale, and probably once too often. So, let's hear yours, and not only yours. Why not invite brewers and drinkers and bemused casked-spectators to contribute essays for the Session?
That is a good question. A great question and more importantly a very beer centric question. There have been too many first Fridays of the month where I have had to scratch my head and ask "why the heck was this topic chosen?" or "why the heck have we drifted so far from beer?" So, thanks Tom. Thanks for bringing it all back home.
One problem. No access to cask ale. I think there is one hand pump in my town and it's not serving my favorite beer at the place. I grew up in another city where I probably had plenty of pints of hand pulled cask ale but I can't tell you if it really was. How am I supposed to remember? I mean it was twenty years ago.
But there once was a cask. It was a 25 litre heavy plastic cask made in the UK. A cask that I filled with a beer I brewed on 5 January 2002 and drained with two pals on 8 February - a 3.9% all Goldings pale ale. I still have my home brewing log though the plastic cask is long gone, left with an Anglican priest pal of mine. Looks like I used about 3 ounces of hops in about 22 litres including a half ounce dry hop. The whole thing was drained on a gravity drop in one evening without any back pressure at all. Note on 9 February: "finished entire cask with Fritz and Crawford - very nice and not burdensome the next day." Neither was the priest, by the way. Shocking that I did not write down anything about the pear fruit in the malt from the Maris Otter just the fact that I didn't have a split skull. Priorities.
I dimly recall that there was a trip everyone else took to the in-laws. I dimly recall that more than Fritz and Crawford were suppose to come over. Other than that I don't really even dimly recall. That was a lot of good tasting cask beer. Oh, to be 38 again.
Fostera s Group has inked a new multi-year extension of its highly valuable contract to sell Corona beer in Australia, cementing its 22-year relationship with Mexican brewing giant Grupo Modelo.
This Scotch has been on the rocks for a century. Five crates of Scotch whisky and two of brandy have been recovered by a team restoring an Antarctic hut used more than 100 years ago by famed polar explorer Ernest Shackleton.
An Imperial India Pale Ale from central New York. I didn't look closely when I bought this bomber for $8.99 at Party Source on the last trip south to the land of the salt potato. So, it is a happy me that gets a first try at a new to me CNY brewery and happy to say it's pretty fine.
I don't crave hop bombs so I was happy to see this was 8% and not 11% or 13%. It has a lovely malt bed upon which to lay down and think about things as you work through the bottle - plenty of pale malt bread crust and graininess with a wee bit of yellow plum and apple. But it is the way the hops roll out over the malt that we are looking for in an IIPA. We ask ourselves what the hops are up to. Not much bitterness in the back, not hacking gag, meaning the finish is malty at the back of the throat. It is all up front in two distinct ways: moderate astringent min-wax hot hopping at the arc of the mouth's roof as well as a gentler weedier hoppiness around the cheeks. It makes for a very well structured experience this fine orange amber ale under thin white foam and froth. The aroma is like a candy store that crashed into a florist but not overly so.
One lone and erroneous BAer gave a "C" review as of the date of this review. He's entitled to his opinion and we have to respect his understanding of his own palate. Then we have to agree he is just plain wrong.
Fling Pale Ale Pyramid Brewing Co., Seattle, Wash. www.pyramidbrew.com 5.2 percent ABV Fling continues a trend I've seen the past year of breweries introducing toned-down versions of their U.S.-hopped pale ales to reach a larger audience.
Berry Bros & Rudd, one of the UKa TMs oldest wines and spirits merchants, has finalised an agreement under which it will sell the Cutty Sark blended Scotch whisky brand to distiller Edrington, the makers of Famous Grouse and The Macallan.
I don't often repost from the sister station but a 16 hour work day drives a guy to it. And besides, while I like a drink as much as the next guy... am I a Cocktailian? I am not sure I could even communicate with a Cocktailian if I met one in the street or, better, in a cool darkened subterranean public space. Yet all is not well in the Land of Cocktailia:
...no Pegu imbiber is known to have keeled over from bacterial assault by the cocktail, which has been served there for the last four years. And the drink has drawn neither prior official rebuke nor customer complaint. Nevertheless, on that fateful evening, an inspector from the New York City Department of Health cited Pegu Club, at 77 West Houston Street in SoHo, for serving the MarTEAni without telling the customer who ordered it that it contained raw egg. The notice said it was a serious infraction that required a court appearance. Raw eggs are among the ingredients most fervently embraced by cocktail revivalists who have sought out new techniques and circled back to classic recipes. And the MarTEAni is a signature drink at a bar that is seen as a paragon of the new cocktailians.
Sam and Ella. The bacteria twins. They sound so cheery when given their real names. Yet they bring the plague. There were 167,319 cases (or "extrapolated incidence") of their mischief in Canada during an unspecified period according to this unreliable source which does give one brief pause. Yet we learn from an actual Phd writing on this unreliable source that "Alcohol with a meal can lower the risk of food poisoning" and on this unreliable source we learn that a "Spanish study of an outbreak of acute salmonella gastric infection among people at a banquet found that “the protective effect of alcohol was strongest for subjects who had drunk more than 40 grams of alcohol..."
It is not illegal to eat a raw egg. It is not even wrong. Think about it - it's a well known fact that plucky lads in schoolboy adventure stories suck on gulls eggs to stay fit as a fiddle while lost on wild sea coasts waiting for rescue. Would we not all be comforted were the meal accompanied by a reasonable measure of gin?
" Genesee Bock brand beer will be back, for a limited time. Bock Beer will soon hit grocery and convenience stores, according to the Genesee Brewing Company.
While the value of all spirits sold was essentially flat at $18.7 billion in 2009, volume increased about 1.4 percent as consumers drank "value" brands of bourbon, vodka and tequila -- largely at the expense of so-called high-end and super-premium brands, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States .
El Paso-based Dos Lunas Spirits LLC, maker of Dos Lunas Tequila, won fourth place for its logo in the World Competition of Alcohol Logos, beating out Johnnie Walker Black Label, Crown Royal, Smirnoff Vodka and Seagram's Seven Crown among others.
Very Special Beer crime. We know its out there. We had faith that there are VSB Units out there in the police departments of the land. Until today - when it became abundantly clear who is really watching out for those of us who would enjoy that very special beer:
Two Madbury teenagers charged with stealing from parked cars and vandalizing Water Country will also be charged with a felony alleging the theft of beer from a home, said police Capt. Mike Schwartz. The police captain credited neighborhood bloggers for spreading the word that police wanted to identify the owner of some "very special beer" stolen from a residential garage. In particular, he thanked Pat Remick of the Woodlands Neighborhood Blog, which is posted on www.seacoastonline.com.
Bloggers, baby. That is what holds society from going right over the edge into the pits of social disorder. Bloggers who take their cues from old Scooby Doo episodes, that is. I bet it was Old Man Smithers. And he would have gotten away with it but for those interfering kids.
A couple of guys came into the store Sunday afternoon. They spent about fifteen minutes checking out everything in the coolers, displaying their satisfaction with the beer selection by exclaiming "DOOD" this and "DOOD" that at every turn.
They left with only a six-pack of Bud Light apiece.
Japanese brewers are launching a range of new beers that tap into a growing taste for "third-category" beers, which are conveniently cheaper than conventional beers because they get around government tax laws by containing no malt. Kirin plans to launch a new brew, called 1000, that uses hard water and contains elevated amounts of calcium and magnesium to give it a distinctive flavor. Asahi Breweries is to release Strong Off, which has a relatively high alcohol content of 7 percent and 60 percent less carbohydrates, whilst Suntory is using seven different types of hops into its new Relax beer-like drink.
Mmmm... It's not like the drink they would be drinking in Blade Runner - it is the official sub-species drink of the replicants. Now representing 30% of the "beer and beer-like" segment of the Japanese beverage market, third-category beer is not going away and does remind me of the questions Tom has posed in relation to US craft beer's fixation on corn and rice as solely evil substances. Yet, if it were sold here even in bright shining cooler as shown above, I imagine I would never drink it even if I am not entirely against soy peptides as a rule.
An interesting use of panoramic digital photography... if a neat and tidy basement full of beer cans is your thing. Spot the Old Scotia can, a short lived Nova Scotian favorite. Spot the thrilled patient spouse.
London, January 30 : One of the world's rarest whiskey is expected to fetch between 4,000 and 6,000 pounds when it goes under the hammer in Glasgow - and it's only a half-bottle. The 1927 Springbank, distilled by J and A Mitchell and Co in 1900 and drawn in 1927, is among the lot of 500 bottles at the McTear's Winter Rare Whisky Sale.
Jan 26th 2010 at 11:01PM In a blind taste test organized as part of Scotland's Burn's Night festivities a Taiwanese Whisky shocked everyone by coming out as the clear winner over its Scottish and English rivals.
Time was I used to post review posts that I added a bit here and there over time. I stopped when one reader noted that there was no way of knowing when these posts got updated. He was right. The internet sucks when you get right down to it, doesn't it. Why isn't there an autobot dedicated to the moment when I pop the cap on a bottle in the stash? Is it too much to ask that the recycling bins come with image understanding software that notes the bottles as I chuck them in? While we are at it - where the hell is my jet pack? Well, if the computer won't do it, then I am forced into the analog world of doing it by hand, typing out my thoughts until all I have are fistfuls of bloody stumps. And what a handful it is as I have amassed a whack of saison(s) that I intend to work my way though as time allows. Starting with:
Saison Dupont: I reviewed this back on New Year's Eve 2005. That was a wee 11 or so oz bottle bought at the LCBO so who knows under what conditions I was kept. Today, I would describe this contents of this 750 ml bottle bought at Cicero, NY's Wegmans a week ago for $9.19 a bit differently. On the slug, the hoppiness is intenser, astringent minwax furniture polish meets lavender and thyme. Below that is creamy grain and maybe white pepper but hard to say. Bright, like a bastard child of new undiscovered citrus and old fine tea. With a core of moreishness. On the swirl, the beer is chunky light pine cloudy under a thick mousse of white. The smell is like Orval but only after poured over plain shredded wheat cereal. A sensible 6.5%. BAers love it.
Three Floyd's Rabbid Rabbit: Rather than opening all these side by side, I am chain opening, only letting one speak to the next. I picked this one up for $8.99 for 650 ml at South Bend's City-Wide Liquors last August. It also pours bright, again the colour of aged pine laminate flooring. Where the Dupont's aroma is herbal and an echo of Orval, Rabbid Rabbit smells like the white chocolate insides of Kinder Surprise when doused with rose water. It's quite disconcerting. In the mouth, it is less sweet - which gives immediate assurance - but the bitterness is more twiggy and mineral than herbal. A bit more fruity, as in good canned fruit salad, than I would have thought was necessary. Makes me wonder if there was too much Gumballhead on the brain when it was formulated. The label says there is chamomile in it. A bit heavy on the chamomile perhaps. Perhaps covering the too strong 9%. Perhaps they know nothing of Mr. Tisane. BAers have great respect.
More in a bit or maybe tomorrow. I need some time. I have no idea what to do with the rest of the remaining 550 ml of that chamomile beer.
Fantome Saison: the last bottle of a six box I bought in Maine at Tully's from this shelf back in the summer of 2008 for $16 bucks each 750 ml bottle. I can smell the happy happy funk from here. I first had this back in November of 2006 and it still has that tell tale cat pee on lemon lollipop smell. In the mouth, glory. Lemon with an echo of cream of wheat, it's half way to gueuze by now. And is that such a bad place? Up there at 8%, thinner than you expect and acidic yet smooth. Bright and cheery with that pear and grape juice I met when I was just a lad of 43. The beer I always want even now at 46. Such commitment I have. BAers have a deep and abiding love. A beer that pairs well with Tennessee Ernie Ford as well as shoveling the driveway out as long as the snow's not too heavy.
Damn. That Hennepin four is really all Ommegang. What to do? Hey! Nope, I was wrong. Someone swapped two at the store. There's something to keep this going. Whew. More later.
Later: Now it's Saturday night. I feel bad about pouring that Three Floyds saison down the drain but it really was poorly thought out. Unless you are a person who like beer except for the absence of chamomile. Tonight's saison-a-rama focuses on:
North Coast's Le Merle: Part of North Coast's American Artisan Series and, at 7.9% of 750 ml saison for 10.00 sometime in 2009, it's easily worth investigating. It pours that proper pine lumbery deep straw under a fine white head. The aroma is in line with the Dupoint and the Fantome - bright citrus, pale fruit maltiness. In the mouth, it's gorgeous: creamy mouthfeel, round pale malt, herbal bitter, a touch of lemon juice acidity, astringent drying finish. The brewer says I am to expect exotic fruit which certainly could be explained as a bit of banana or passionfruit... but if Del Monte can make kids' juice packs with such flavours are they still really exotic? Plus, it as easily described in terms of apple of the slightly perfumed sort, Royal Gala maybe. Pairs well with the third episode the 1970s "Doctor Who and the Silurians." BAers rate it the equal of Rabbid Rabbit - a mad conclusion.
More Info On The Jericho/Helms Arrest Posted by Larry Csonka on 01.29.2010 More on the story... - Here are some of the recent Twitter posts from Matt Hardy and Chris Jericho... * Chris Jericho : Tuesday Night: "Listening to zakk Wylde and having a GG [Grey Goose Vodka] contest with Hurricane.
Brand: Absolut Vodka Agency: TBWA Worldwide Review Date: January 25, 2010 Starting in the a 80s with commissioning pop artist Andy Warhol to design a vodka bottle, the Absolut brand has become a solid supporter of the arts, and as such, probably has a more successful record than the NEA.
Inputs. Or as the Teutonics might say "ingapüts". It's the short form for the costs of things that go into your beer. When the price of hops and malt went north in October 2007, we started reminding ourselves that when we are told costs have gone up we better check whether prices in fact have gone up. The last time we had a look was in March 2009 but there is reason to reconsider if we look, with a h/t to Tandleman, at the words of the managing director of English brewer JW Lees & Co, William Lees-Jones:
He said that although brewers and publicans have had to deal with a series of problems including three consecutive poor summers and the “ridiculous” duty-escalator tax, they had also benefited from reductions in energy and raw materials costs. The business had also imposed a pay freeze. “We feel that it would by cynical to hit our customers with increases since we have benefitted this year from reductions (in costs). Pubs must not price themselves out of the market.”
We have heard much from the British beer bloggers about the pressures of increased taxation as well as the particular effects of the weather on sale and sales. Those factors are not as critical at this point in the economics of North American beer. Even though prices in 2007 and 2009 are still cited for problems facing small North American brewers, one needs to ask where are we with critical input prices factors now in early 2010?
The Canadian Wheat pool reports that malting barley has continued to drop with a tonne sitting at $208 in October 2009 down from $320 in January 2009. In January 2010, it sits at $211 per tonne.
As far as hops go, while South African ones face drought, in Oregon, the hops prices plummeted in the fall of 2009 and the word "glut" is being used.
Given the recession and the associated increase in inflation, one would imagine there is no peaking of labour costs at the moment. And gasoline prices are no where near peak either. So, if there is a collapsing hop and malting barley market as well as a 9% increase in craft beer sales in the US is the consumer seeing the benefit? In the words of Mr. Lees-Jones, would it be "cynical to hit our customers with increases" in the current economic situation? Would maintaining prices not also perhaps be?
It is with a heavy heart that I am closing the business down after nine years of operation. We are shutting down the website and liquidating our entire inventory out of the warehouse. We are selling all beer, mead and ciders at 10-30% below cost. Hundreds of great beers are available. For a list of products see the post below. Come to the warehouse early for the best selection.
The sale starts Fri Jan. 29th at 3:00 and goes through Friday, Feb 5th at 8:00 pm
Sale hours: M-F 3:00 – 8:00 Sat & Sun 10:00-8:00
Matt Maples
President
Liquid Solutions Inc.
WHO: Liquid Solutions Inc.
WHAT: Inventory liquidation sale
WHERE: 275 Beavercreek Rd #C149 Oregon City 97045
WHEN: Fri Jan. 29th thru Feb 5th
M-F 3:00 – 8:00 Sat & Sun 10:00-8:00
WHY: Business is closing
I've been buying beer from Matt for years, and I'm really going to miss the great selection and service he provided. Liquid Solutions will be missed.
Germans may be famous around the world for their beer, but they drank less of the amber nectar in 2009 than at any time in the past 20 years, according to official statistics published on Thursday.
Sales of German beer, which includes the likes of Becks, Warsteiner, Radeberger and countless other brands, dropped to just under 100 (sic) hectolitres (2.2 billion gallons) in 2009, a fall of 2.8 percent on the previous year.
(That should read "100 million hectolitres", and the "gallons" in question are Imperial gallons.)
The article goes on to blame the "desperate economic situation" and a trend away from manual labor towards a service economy as factors for the decrease in beer consumption. But the massive consolidation of the German brewing industry surely is a factor as well. Germany has lost nearly half of its small, local breweries in the last twenty years through mergers and closures, with more in the works. This is the same process that culminated some forty years ago in the United States, resulting in a massive loss in beer diversity and culture. (And it's happening in the UK as well, with the same result.)
The Germans I've met are fiercely loyal to local products. When Größer-Bräu acquires and closes Kleiner-Bräu, they don't necessarily acquire the customers along with the brewery.
Anyway, read the whole story at The Local. And drink local beer.
Last week Lance Mayhew shared with us the best American whiskies he tasted last year and now we have more "whiskies you just have to taste" for you this week and you will not want to miss these two lists.
It has to happen sooner or later. The mainstream media has gotten the good beer bug and for the most part has added to the discourse. Stories about ingredients and techniques, stories about rare beers and beers from places that are hard to reach. And, now, the story of the growler beginning with the beginning:
“Growlers have been around since Christ was a child,” Mr. Granger said. “We’re not doing anything new.” In the late 19th century and the early 20th century, both The New York Times and The Brooklyn Eagle regularly published contentious stories about the containers, which then took the form of small galvanized pails. The articles cataloged the complaints of saloon keepers, who thought growlers cut into their profit, and those of temperance groups, who hoped to curb home drinking. “Rushing the growler,” connoting children hustling pails of beer for adults from bar to table, was a common expression. The curious name is thought to be inspired by the rumbling noise escaping carbon dioxide made as the beer sloshed about in the pail.
Sure - if we accept the underlying theory of Ron Pattinson's good work - it's likely all a big fat lie but what a comforting lie. I wish I had a place I could walk to from my place, an empty growler in a satchel slung over my shoulder. Who wouldn't? Cheap and cheery and sustain-a-tastic, too.
The second Pretty Thing in a week. A quadruple ale with dried plums. Hmm. Where I come from that's a prune. And what better beer to have of Rrrrrrrrobbie Burrrrrrns than one with prunes - "the beerrrrrr that gud fir yir bowellllls." So, maybe I shouldn't quit my job and go into marketing.
I picked this up for $6.99 or $6.49 at C's Farm Market at Owsego or Liverpool's Galeville Grocery. I really didn't keep track. It pours a medium oranged brown with a fine film and rim of cream. There isn't a strong aroma but what there is has brown sugar, booze and a slight menthol note. In the mouth, plummy pumpernickel maltiness framed by that same light menthol hop presence. Apple butter. A nice citrus acidity up top with a deep small seam of smoke down at the bottom.
A TAIWANESE whisky beat a trio of top Scottish blends in a connoisseurs' blind taste test organised to mark Scotland's annual Burn's Night festivities, the Times reported on Monday.
Two news stories caught my eye in the British press today and both were about events in Haiti. In The Independent one we are told "Beer and Biscuits Saved Man Trapped in Rubble for 11 Days" while in the Daily Mail we learn "Aid Piling Up at UN's 'Cold Beer' Compound". The role of beer in the morality play of each tale is a little hard to bring into alignment as in the first case the story is a miracle while the second tells this tale of waste:
There are some signs that the aid is starting to get to those who need it. Next to the airport, at the UN compound – from where I sat writing this, with internet access, near the light from a shower block and with an ice-cold beer from the on-base bar (complete with potted plants) – supplies are starting to go out.
As far as I can tell the Daily Mail's Caroline Graham encountered this beer in a pre-existing bar at "the heavily fortified US-controlled Port-au-Prince airport and neighbouring United Nations compound." While it makes the headline, the ice-cold beer is simply there - not accused of being the root of evil yet somehow the mark of some sort of beast. The inequality in the world? The shame of luxury provided to those who are there to help the abject poor.
In the other story, the beer saves the man's life along with the mentioned cookies and Coke. The miracle man "had been working as a cashier at a grocery store on the ground floor" of the Napoli Inn Hotel in Port-au-Prince. The excellently named Wismond Exantus had dived under a desk when the earthquake struck and reached what he could from his small protected pocket in the rubble. The BBC's version of the story does not mention the beer. The New York Daily Newsonly mentions the Coca-Cola. Did he really mention beer at all? Why do only UK papers seem to mention the point. And if he did, it's hard to figure out who shopped at his grocery store on a normal day. Just the hotel guests or the whole neighbourhood? Was ice-cold beer actually the right of the privileged few UN officials as The Independent would imply or was it the everyman drink in Haiti that it is in most places? The Associated Press whose reporter actually interviewed Wismond Exantus in his cot at a French hospital gives the story another more personal focus, mentioning the beer but also saying that he prayed and reciting psalms while buried and also that he was eager to get to a church to give thanks.
Absolut Vodka has sponsored a new short by Spike Jonez. [ Yahoo! Finance ] A man was shot and wounded outside of Compton's TGIFridays last night on the 1700 block of Alameda.
Those who drink wine with any regularity, and consider themselves enthusiasts rather than drinkers, are well aware that to reach the summit of their passion a pilgrimage must be made to the epicenter of American Wine, Napa Valley in Sonoma County California.
Matthew Waddle plays the drum for the Edmonton Boy's Pipe Band during the annual celebration of the famed Scottish poet, Robbie Burns at Rutherford House on the University of Alberta campus Photograph by: Greg Southam, Edmonton Journal Doug and Irene Townshend have been dining out several times a week for 25 years.
It's not said often enough in this argument: we drink because we enjoy it, and the overall happiness that brings to society, I would suggest, vastly outweighs any disbenefits.
Because I do not know who "we" are in this sentence, I do not know if I agree wholeheartedly or disagree completely. If "we" are all drinkers, I cannot accept this at all. I have known people who died because of drunk driving and, way back in high school 30 years ago, escaped being smoked on the highway myself likely more than once when the driver in the car had had as much as the rest of us. The fact that society as a whole has a good time on Friday night does not comfort me when I think of the six kids, including a client of mine, who died back in the mid-90s when two cars hit each other on a rural Ontario road in the night. But if the word "we" means those who do not cause harm or commit crimes, who do not anesthetize ourselves to erase or excuse behavior - who do not misuse but rather use for the convivial pleasures the good beer brings - well, I can see that perhaps but only if that distinction and speaking about that distinction is part of the culture of good beer and a core principle of the passion for good beer.
I know many beer writers enjoy their connections with the great people who brew the beer beer and I am sure the experience is rich and rewarding. Due to my location it really isn't possible except in a small way. We simply do not have a thriving local brewing scene within a few hours drive from here, though there are glowing lights in the darkness. But we do have people who sell the beer beer whether in the hospitality trade or in retail. And they are liable for over serving and have to decide whether to sell to the inebriated and the long term alcoholic. For the most part, they take the question seriously. They do so knowing the marketplace includes reputation in the community, the "we" of the community.
The risk-reward analogy to mountain climbing or sky diving or bungee jumping is not apt. While it is true - even without the steroid issue - that elite athletes burn the candle faster trading off bad joints for glory now, for the most part the bystanders in the lives of athletes are not affected by these sorts of risks. The participants consent. The risks inherent with alcohol are not all consensual. So, while it is true that we can describe moderate use of good beer a health food, its healthiness is defined by that moderation and the context of increased concern for safety necessitated by the increased risks associated with alcohol and the realization that it is not inherently or universally healthy.
We should take an interest in ourselves whatever we do - increasing the benefits and reducing the harm. If we are thinking about good beer we should also take an interesting in increasing and sharing the benefits while reducing easily identifiable harm - including those harms short of full bore alcoholism. When I think about this blog writing and the thousand of you who I am told read my posts every day I sometime wonder if I have encouraged anyone into a habit that is harmful rather than convivial. I am not satisfied to think of the statistics, that "on average" I may have helped in my small way to highlight the benefits of good beer, that more of you have taken pleasure from my explorations if some few have gone the other way. You are the "we" as well as those around you. And, like the good shopkeeper, "we" need to be aware of that context and advocate for healthy and safe enjoyment as much as we advocate for broader interest in great, tasty, healthy, local or exotic, exciting good beer.
Back. I made it back. I hit four beer stores over around 500 km and nine and a half hours. Now, whereas Pretty Things was just a one time bottle that I passed in the night, now I have seven bottles representing three of their brews and any number of batches. Those canny little cap labels are mighty handy. Plenty of other good stuff, too.
I hit a Wegmans in Cicero, Party Source on Erie Blvd., Galeville Grocery in Liverpool and then headed north via C's Farm Market in Owsego. What did I learn? I had a good old chat with the guy who runs Party Source and finally met Bernie, the owner of Galeville Grocery. As is usually the case, talk is about other stuff as much as beer when they find out that I am from north of the border - health care and lucky Canada they say, taxes and unlucky Canada they say. The shops were all giving each other a run for the money with Party Source showing off its new siding less neon blue and green siding (as so poorly illustrated) as well as growler pours including a Rooster Fish. The other three were as packed with new and interesting beer as I have ever seen them.
Prices? I noticed that The LCBO sells Orval for about 60% of what it costs in Syracuse and that Rogue Yellow Snow is about a buck more there than here. Great deals... if you can find those beers on shelves in Ontario. Funny thing about a monopoly. But the real difference is selection. Over 90% of the beers are unavailable up here and are at prices that make a Canadian beer lover weep. Wegans grocery store wanted just $15.99 for a Great Lakes variety 12 pack and $9.49 for Brooklyn 1. Wegmans even had 750 ml bottles of Saison Dupont for 9.19 and St. Bernie Abt. for $10. 95. At the grocery. Made me think of Mel in Braveheart shouting "Freedom!". Then it didn't. Then I paid my duties and taxes at the border. Then I went home.
The free trial version of "Beer Me! mobile 1.0.2" will be available starting around 9:30pm CST January 22, 2010. You can download and install it from this link:
The trial expires 30 days after the first time it's run.
Please note that if you create brewery notes or beer notes in the free trial version, they will be lost when you upgrade to the paid version. I'm working on a fix for this; keep your eye on this forum for news.
Jan 22nd 2010 at 6:01PM I'm Here: A Love Story in an Absolut World is the name of celluloid wizard Spike Jonze's new short film sponsored by Absolut Vodka.
Lots of talk around these days. Pete has posted his series on the media and stories about representing alcohol use in the UK. Jay has had a mirroring series that has been a theem for sometime. I am still not fully satisfied because, while Pete and Jay each have honestly shared past experience about alcohol use, the question of alcohol and harm is not limited to the serious question of alcoholism. Which led to my comment at Pete's: "...but are we any closer to knowing how many people alcohol kills a year or how much drinking costs the economy?"
There have been lots of bloggy points of view, including mine that seems to say that Canada may be insulated from the neo-prohibitionist question culturally. I am not sure it is really scaremongering. The question led Mark to ask how many drinks people are having - people really do not seem off line with the recommended levels of consumption leading to his conclusion:
Neo-prohibition is an easy and quick tick in a big government box; educating the nation is a difficult tick. Some people are terrible and unsafe drivers; some people are unsafe drinkers. Some people does not mean all people.
But is that the point? There are public safety issues as well as health issues that are not directly related to serious alcoholism. I have a sense that people aren't recognizing this. Do I care that only some do the wrong or suffer the wrong? That I'm alright, Jack? There were 34,638 driving under influence convictions in 2006. 14,517 in California. In Canada, the Federal government estimates 750 Canadians die a year in alcohol related accidents. People will pick at the stats - however, hard it is to pick at a conviction unless you think the state is corrupt. But even if they are off by 50% that means 375 people died.... from the thing we beer fans and beer nerds and beer hounds consider an innocent and, generally, healthy past time.
Isn't the point that when you do something in a healthy and fun fashion you should set yourself apart from those who do a similar thing in a harmful way? Shouldn't beer bloggers be against drunk driving and other misuse of alcohol as much as they are for social drinking? Some may say that they only want to support the positive side of good beer but without the whole story is that really being positive, just convenience or willful blindness?
The 2010 Sundance Film Festival begins tonight with a unique trio of programs. On one side of town you have James Franco's Howl premiering, on another you have the documentary Restrepo , and then on Main Street you have a short program that includes a 35-minute short about robot love directed by Spike Jonze called I'm Here .
Several dozen university students occupied a brewery near Gothenburg in western Sweden on Tuesday in their long-standing effort to convince the brewery to build a pipeline to carry beer to the students’ union.
The demonstration was part of a tradition started in 1959 when the Chalmers University student union purchased one share in what was then known as Pripp & Lyckholm, part of the company which operated the brewery until it was purchased by Carlsberg in 2000.
The stock purchase gave the students a seat at the company's annual shareholders meeting, allowing them an opportunity to push the brewery to build a roughly 100 kilometre long pipeline to the university in order to facilitate the supply of beer to the Chalmers’ student union.
But progress on building the pipeline has been slow over the last five decades. So far, only two metres of pipe have been laid – one near the university, and one near a now abandoned brewery in central Gothenburg. No further construction has taken place since 1968.
If you have read this blog for a while you will appreciate that I like saison. A few years back I wondered out loud if it was going to ever be the next big thing and I may have had my wish granted to some degree as they are out there even if they haven't exactly bumped macro pilsner off the shelf. Pretty Things, which calls itself a beer and ale project, says this is simple table beer but they are being coy. A sensible $5.99 paid for a bomber belies the quality here. A while back, I inhaled upon one of their Saint Botolph's Town rustic dark ales. It happened so fast, without a moment to type notes. I have high hopes for this one.
It pours yellowed straw ale under a fine white head. The aroma is lightly citrus with herbals. I once grew lemon verbena and which I can't say it reminds me of that it did remind me that I once grew lemon verbena. There is also a creamed sweet maltiness. In the mouth, there is pith and white pepper, twiggy minty notes as well as a cream soft malty underbelly, smoothed from the oats. A bit of pear juice but also a nod to cox orange pippin apple as well as a mid-mouth astringency. Apparently no spices whatsoever if the brewer is to be believed (who's calling them liars? you??) so it coaxes all the herbal notes from hops. And yeast strains. Why don't we argue more about having more interesting yeast strains? But no spices. Sorta like those early Queen albums proclaimed in the liner notes that no synthesizers were used now that I think of it. In fact it goes rather well with 1974's Queen II now that I think of it. I don't know if it would be Zepworthy for, perhaps, even Houses of the Holy, a record I might rather pair with Fantome but still it does remind you that these earthier manorial beers like certain aspects of the 1970s overly dramatic folk tale art rock playbook, even for their pre-democratic roots, are far more than table beer.
I would like to try it against Hennepin. I am thinking this is a bit bigger and maybe more complex but shares the moreishness. Like all saisons, primal. I particularly like the use of the cap security label to tell me that this is a representative of their April 2009 Third Batch. We are in this for the data after all. BAers are in love.
Every woman wants to know she is amazing, incredible and awe inspiring. Christmas , a woman's birthday, a couple's anniversary and especially Valentine's Day are the days of the year when it is the time to pull out all the stops to show her the sky is the limit.
"Majit and Ravinder Minhas, the sister and brother who own the Minas Creek Brewing Company, received a letter from the AGCO in December about the name of their Boxer Lager. The complaint seems to centre on the beer’s name, which could be construed as using sports to advertise, a no-no under Ontario’s liquor regulations. Its unknown to the public who filed the complaint."
Now, I have not had a Boxer Lager or any beer by Minhas Creek Brewing of the western Canadian province of Alberta. Regardless, it strikes me that these sort of questions are important in that they tell us all what we all think of ourselves, how we as a community believe we are susceptible to advertising as well as which issues are the ones which convey special risk. And if not "us" and "we," well, then it tells us what the bureaucrats think of us. The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario has published a "Guidelines for Liquor sales Licensees and Manufacturers" [warning .pdf!!!] which may well be the rules that the brewers of Boxer brand macro lager is running into - especially section 1(3) which states:
1(3). Except for public service advertising, the holder of a license to sell liquor or a manufacturer of liquor may advertise or promote liquor or the availability of liquor only if the advertising...does not imply that consumption of liquor is required in obtaining or enhancing:
(a) social, professional or personal success,
(b) athletic prowess,
(c) sexual prowess, opportunity or appeal,
(d) enjoyment of any activity,
(e) fulfillment of any goal, or
(f) resolution of social, physical or personal problems.
The idea of advertising goes to the very heart of identity under this guideline. "Liquor" is defined to include beer and "advertising" means "the act of making the brand generally or publicly known" as well as "brand advertising" as well as any representation intended to attract attention to the brand name. So the act of advertising is in a way the brand itself. And we need to be protected against the force of promoting the brand. And look at that word "required" - does Boxer Lager suggest that you are required to drink the beer to be a boxer?
And, if Boxer Lager can be understood to be required in obtaining or enhancing athletic prowess, how about other professions? How about Abbot Ale from Greene King sold at the LCBO these days in a humble can? Isn't that promoting professional success as much as Boxer Lager promotes athletic success? Isn't being Bohemian, the name of a brand sold by Molson Coors, also the filfillment of a life's goal for some? There must be other beers that trip up this rule. Surely Konig Pilsener from Germany or King Pilsner from Ontario offer the highest level of assurance.
Created by the design firm March Studios, in collaboration with Absolut Vodka and the British Design Council, paper bars have been constructed in Melbourne Australia using 1400 metres of tracing paper.
Pete Brown has run a series of posts this week and last that delve into stats being issued by various government agencies and health lobby groups in the UK. It is important work that Pete is doing as there is no stat worse than the unexamined stat. Today's post was called "More Hilarity with Statistics" which examined claims about the level of drinking in Scotland. I made a comment over there but did some more rooting around to make sure I agreed with what I was seeing and, to avoid looking like a totally rude idiot being all finger pointy in the comments, thought I would set it out here instead. I also got thinking because even if a stat can be discredited it does not mean that the underlying facts necessarily do not exists, only that they are not well described. But, as I said in the comments, I am really bad at math so I am happy to be corrected.
The BBC story Pete began with was titled "Scots 'Drink 46 Bottles of Vodka'" by which they mean per person per year on average. Pete suggested that this was not particularly well researched as tourism trade taking the booze away was not figured in - but then when I ran the numbers I saw this pattern:
Scotland has about 8% of the UK population
total UK booze sales in 2007 were worth over 41 billion pounds
and therefore, Scotland's booze sales can be approximated at around 4 billion pounds.
I took the numbers from this soul suckingly slow .pdf source. I read them to meaning that if every penny of the 25 million pounds spent at distillery shops was non-Scots resident alcohol sales, removing it entirely from Scottish consumption, it only represents well under 1% of total Scottish sales? If that is the case, the variation is under a bottle of vodka a year. I said that even if I was off by a whole decimal point and the distillery sales represent 10% of sales isn't it still a little bit alarming that every Scots adult averages 41 or 42 bottles of vodka a year? By which I mean I had a gut feeling it was in fact pretty high. But is it?
A little more looking around further, found information stating that 30% of Scots adults say they do not drink - which means the drinking Scot averages 58 or so bottle a year working off the conservative 41 bottles a week stat. It is more like 65 a year if you go by the BBC's number of 46. I got the "did not drink" percentage from this pdf. So you have 30% of Scots not drinking, 35% drinking up to the average and 35% drinking over the average.
What does that mean? 58 bottles a year on average means 1.12 x 700 ml bottles a week at 40% that means 313 ml of pure alcohol a week. By comparison, a standard Canadian 12 oz 5% beer has 341 ml. Which means that average Scots drinker's booze consumption is the equivalent of 19 standard 5% Canadian beers a week. Sounds like a bit more than you might think is a good idea, week after week day after day. But not fatal. It's maybe what we expect the average healthy working Joe would drink in a week. Similarly, a US 22 oz bomber has 650 ml. At 8% that is 65 ml of pure alcohol. Which means that the Scot's drinker's booze consumption is the equivalent of 4.8 bombers of 8% US craft beer a week. Is that going to scare off a craft beer fan? Hardly.
But it is an average and that is what I think is the real concern. It means 35% of Scots drinkers adults drink more... because 65% drinkers there drink less including the 30% who abstain. I think those numbers are troubling. They may well be wrong so please do your own a arithmetic. But if they are not wrong - is there not a valid public health concern where 35% of your population is doing that level of drinking. I don't really care if you think there is no such thing as a public health concern from a libertarian point of view as that is not the point here. Nor does someone called "Alan Campbell McLeod" care if you think this is only a Scottish problem. I think we can all agree that there is a point beyond which alcohol is unhealthy. Is that point been identified by the BBC report?
I was trolling Google for beer stories this weekend when I came across a story in Britain's Daily Mail about Britain's Royal Society of Chemistry looking for an unopened can of Watney's Party Seven Draught Bitter. Though a venerable brewer, the name "Watney's" rings though the recent decades for those who care for good beer as a brand that came to represent the anti-Christ of UK brewing. Richard Boston cites Watney's twenty times in his 1976 Beer and Skittles. And there is that Monty Python sketch set in a tourist agency that captured something of the early 70s culture that Watney's came to represent:
What's the point of going abroad if you're just another tourist carted around in buses surrounded by sweaty mindless oafs from Kettering and Coventry in their cloth caps and their cardigans and their transistor radios and their Sunday Mirrors, complaining about the tea - "Oh they don't make it properly here, do they, not like at home" - and stopping at Majorcan bodegas selling fish and chips and Watney's Red Barrel and calamares and two veg and sitting in their cotton frocks squirting Timothy White's suncream all over their puffy raw swollen purulent flesh 'cos they "overdid it on the first day."
I was particularly curious that it was The Royal Society of Chemistry which was looking for the beer because they are the publishers of the greatest beer book I have read to date, Hornsey's A History of Beer and Brewing that I reviewed back here in 2006. Well, helpfully the RSC has a blog and last Wednesday an explanation of the project was published which includes a clear description of their interest in this seven pint can:
...which discipline of natural philosophy is responsible for this nectar of culture, health and prosperity? Well of course I wouldn’t be writing about it if it weren’t chemistry. But therein lies the problem – who these days cracks open a can and thinks to themselves “thank goodness for the clever research chemist who invented a vinyl co-polymer/C-enamel coating for tin cans”? But chemists are the ones behind all these advances in canning technologies and the art of zymurgy (“chemistry of brewing and distilling”, dontcha know).
Looks like they want to study the technology behind the notorious can to see what the chemists were up to at the time. Martyn Cornell's post on bottles briefly reminded us last week in the last paragraph that canning has been one of the biggest changes in how we consume beer over the decades since the days of Monty Python, Richard Boston and Wantey's Red Barrel. So, it sounds like the RSC may be up to a reasonable bit of industrial research worth following which may lead to pointing out that - however horrible the stuff in the can was - it was also something of a breakthrough in the history of the beer canning process.
500 IBUs? I don't think iso-α-acid is anywhere near that soluble in beer.
The nine-gallon keg of barley wine – made using £100 worth of hops, compared to £5 for an average beer – is still untasted by Mr Fowler as he believes he might not be able to handle it.
He is hoping the beer will be about 500 International Bitterness Units (IBUs) – the measurement used for recording bitterness.
Although there is no official record, it is believed the current holder is Founders Devil Dancer Triple IPA, with 200 IBUs.
This weekend a big one hit the Northern California coast. The epicenter was located near Ferndale, CA. The lost coast region is home to many craft breweries and beer lovers and we want to make sure everyone is doing well.
First things first, the reports coming out of Humboldt County are all sounding great. There have been no deaths reported and only 1 major injury. Power has been restored to nearly all customers and there were no reports of catastrophic structure failure. This is all reassuring news after Northern California’s last brush with a major earthquake in 1989.
With those fears set aside, we can start thinking about the beer. Within the Eureka region there are four craft breweries, Lost Coast Brewing, Mad River, 6 Rivers and Eel River Brewing, located in Ferndale. While I’m still waiting to hear back from everyone, I have heard word from Mad River and Lost Coast.
Dylan Schatz, head brewer at Mad River, described himself as “shaken but not stirred” the night of the quake. Nothing more than a few “boxes leaning” at the Blue Lake Brewery.
Barbara Groom, owner of Lost Coast brewery, says “Everything is fine. We lost a few bottles but all in all we were unscathed.”
Good news all around. I hope to hear more from 6 Rivers and Eel River in the coming days. Eel River’s brewpub just received a major facelift, so let’s hope that all that work didn’t go to waste.
If you have any reports from the Northern California coast, please share them with us as we’re all anxious to hear. Good luck to those living in affected areas and a speedy recovery.
One Thursday evening in mid-December, a pack of intrepid alcohol aficionados convened in search of something "sessionable," the elusive state a cocktail attains by being so drinkable that its perfect blend alone can support an imbibing session from beginning to end.
I don't have an Apple machine to do site testing, so if any Apple users out there can help, I'll be very grateful.
I tried to go to the beerme site tonight and couldn't load it using my usual browser, Camino 1.6.10. As background, my iPod Touch using Safari loads the site just fine. But my Mac laptop, with OS 10.3.9., accepting all cookies, java applets enabled, etc, can't load it.
The Nebraska Brewing banner ad at the top of the page never loads, and Camino continually consumes about 65% of the processor, never falling back to its usual 5% or so. I think it keeps trying to load the banner ad, but it can't ever finish the task.
I tried using Safari 1.3.2 (v312.6), which loaded the site, including the Nebraska Brewing banner ad, but it again used 60% of the processor endlessly, until I went to a completely different website, then came back to beerme. But then Safari then crashed twice when I tried to click on links. Hmm, unusable again.
I believe it is an issue of support for legacy devices such as mine. Can you configure the site so that Explorer 8 graphics are accessible to old Macs like mine? I hope you can tweak it so I can use beerme. I was able to use the beerme blog, by selecting it on the Google search, instead of the main beerme site.
With New Year's Eve less than 28 hours away, you're probably looking for some advice on how to handle the annual New Year's Morning hangover. Live Science comes to the rescue:
'Tis the season to indulge. 'Tis also the season to scour the Internet for some quick fix for the pounding headache and acute sensitivity to all things louder than a fruit fly, brought on by the previous night's adventure with alcohol.
But you've heard it before. Nothing will heal you of that hangover other than time.
Here are some pros and cons of purported cures.
Read the whole story — especially the final paragraph — at Live Science.
Nine hours of stacking beer today. As of 6:00pm, Brix management still plan to open the doors tomorrow. (I'm even more skeptical than I was yesterday.) Even if opening day gets pushed back yet further, there's still plenty of organizing to do in the coolers tomorrow.
I just got home from my first day working at Brix, a new beer-wine-spirits shop in west Omaha. Once they open the doors (supposedly this Wednesday, but I'm skeptical) my job will basically be to talk to people about beer. Today and tomorrow, however, are all about putting the 850 different beers on the shelves.
I don't know what their plans are as far as a newsletter, Facebook page, etc, but I'll let you know as soon as I find out.
Pictures and the beer list to follow as soon as everything's ready.
I just learned this morning that the beerme.com domain expired last Wednesday. Visiting the site today will land you on a generic Network Solutions page. I have asked RealBeer.com (my generous hosts) to look into it, but this being a holiday week, it could be quite some time before the site is restored.
Sapporo Breweries, Ltd. test brewed the first-in-the world beer brewed from the seedlings of barleycorn that traveled the space, "SAPPORO Space Barley." Most of the only 100 litters of brewed beer will be used for experiments, but we would like to offer part of the beer for tasting events to be held at six brewries in Japan (Hokkaido, Sendai, Nasu, Chiba, Shizuoka and Shinkyushu,) inviting 60 persons (30 pairs) of customers.
The beer was brewed as part of the joint research with Okayama University conducted to exploit possibilities of barleycorn for beer in space, "Studies of Impact of Extreme Environmental Stresses on Barley" and uses 100% of the "seedlings of barleycorn that traveled the space."
Finding at Sapporo site are details of traveling the space beer, also inviting directions for you to attend tastings.
A fire broke out at the Guinness factory in Dublin shortly after noon local time. Over nine fire brigades and three rigs with aerial ladder platforms were able to contain the blaze before it spread to the ammonia plant at the site.
A big problem surfaced after I updated the site a couple weeks ago. People were getting 404 errors when trying to send updates or add new breweries. (This would explain why I didn't receive many updates while I was in Germany.)
The problem was a file that didn't make the jump from the old site to the new site. I've installed that file and it looks like it's fixed now.
Thanks to Ralph Wells, Mario Kornmesser, and Robert Sizemore for letting me know!
Beer Mapping member SiB57 has created an iPhone application that will help you Find Craft Beer.
Check out the official site for the Find Craft Beer application at findcraftbeer.com
This application uses the Beer Mapping API to find Breweries, Brewpubs, Beer Bars, Stores or Homebrew Shops near your current location. The app displays review scores from Beer Mapping and includes links to the mobile version of our site, in case you wish to read more reviews for a specific location. Click the image below to see more screenshots of the application in action.
The Find Craft Beer application will also enable you to use a city or zip code as the starting point for a search, using options to narrow down results by location type.
Google has declared this week to be a week where they dedicate time and energy to educating people about the mobile functions and features that they offer. We here at Beer Mapping have also put a lot of effort into giving our users tools to use while on the go. So we thought we could spend a few minutes educating or reminding you about what we have available on the mobile side of things.
We have a full fledged mobile site (beermapping.com/m) with search, forums, reviews and even proximity functions available. And our system also works with all recent versions of google’s mobile mapping software. If this interests you, check out our Mobile Functions page.
The Mobile Lookup page is simply a scaled down version of our regular location search functionality here on the main site. We’ve set up our Mobile Lookup page to be a very easy to remember url: http://beermapping.com/m (the M is for mobile).
We also have set up some Mobile Map functionality that is now linked from the Mobile Maps Lookup page. You can read more about the Mobile Map functions click the following link: Mobile Maps and Applications
Reviews, score breakdowns, weather, traffic and maps are all available through the beermapping.com/m url. We’ve even included a tiny version of the regular forums as well if you like to participate in discussions while on the go. As far as we are aware, there isn’t a beer based website around that is providing the level of mobile functionality that The Beer Mapping Project is giving you. Recently we’ve also integrated Twitter into our mobile application.
If you have any ideas about how we can better help flesh our our mobile interfaces, please let us know in the comments. We know that many of you will mention or ask about iPhone apps or applications for other platforms. Well, there are some applications under development for iPhone, Android and possibly Blackberry. The only one that we have been working on in-house is the Android application. You can watch a teaser video of it here.
Note: Even though our beers are mobile, we would still like for you to be responsible and avoid drinking and driving. We encourage our users to add any public transportation options to their reviews and if there is no public transportation readily available, please find a designated driver.
Beer Mapping got a mention in the August 2009 issue of Cosmopolitan Magazine! We’ve taken a few small pictures of the article (entitled “12 Sexy, Totally Free Dates”), but if you would like to read more; this issue is currently on the newsstands. As you can see from the picture, we are mentioned on page 120.
We would like to thank the author of the article, Molly Triffin, for including us. In honor of this article, we would also like to make a list of 12 Sexy Ways to use Beer Mapping!
You came, you saw and you seem to have voted. The Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery chain was the winner of our little informal poll. With 18% of the votes, they easily defeated the second place spot which was shared by Pizza Port and McMenamins.
Below are the rest of the top ten spots in the poll.
Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery | 43 Votes | 18%
Pizza Port Brewing Company | 29 Votes | 12%
McMenamins | 29 Votes | 12%
Iron Hill Brewery | 24 Votes | 10%
Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurants | 17 Votes | 7%
The Beer Mapping Project wants to know what your favorite Brewpub chain is? Scroll down to vote in the poll for your favorite.
We’re using a fairly loose definition of a Chain Brewpub. We decided that the locations all need to have brewing equipment and a Brewpub Chain needs to have 3 or more locations in order to make our poll. Wikipedia’s definition of a chain store is:
“Chain stores are retail outlets that share a brand and central management, and usually have standardized business methods and practices. These characteristics also apply to chain restaurants and some service-oriented chain businesses.”
They don’t actually state a number, but we decided that if you have three or more brewing pub/restaurant locations under the same name or branding then we could classify them as a chain of brewpubs.
Anyway, enough with the fine print… Vote! (names in poll are randomly assigned)
This Poll has closed!
If your favorite Brewpub Chain got left off the list please post in the comments. If you want to see how we came up with this list, read this forums thread.
This next release is still in “beta” and it will be getting tweaked a bit in the future. Currently we have added a new feature on our Location Lookup page. When you search for a name, state, city or zip code you will now see a link to view that search on a google map.
A search for ‘rock bottom’:
A close-up of the Map Link:
Clicking on the link on a search results page will take you to a map that will attempt to display all locations in the results from your search. There are still a few bugs, but we are working through them and have this feature fully flushed out very soon. For now, play around with it and let us know what you think in the comments here or in the forums.
But there’s only one way to find out. Go visit tomorrow night, or throughout the weekend and see if their TVs are still working. If not, maybe someone at the bar would like to have a conversation instead? Plug in your address in our search engine to find out which bars or brewpubs are closest to where you are right now!
Visit your local Brewpub or Beer Bar on Friday afternoon to see if they still have TV (and good beer) available!
We’ve added a new feature to the Location Review pages that may or may not be useful. But we think it’s pretty damned cool none the less.
The new feature is a little graphic that appears in what used to be some white space above and to the right of the location address information. This graphic is actually a dynamically generated image that is provided to us through one of google’s chart technologies. We’re using this technology to create what is called a QR Code (quick response code).
Here is an example of what the QR Code looks like on the review page (note the big red arrow):
These codes can be scanned via some special software that you can install on many different types of smart phones. Android phones can use the “Barcode Scanner” application to scan the codes. iPhones and Blackberries and other phones can possibly use an application provided by BeeTagg or possibly the Kaywa Reader.
After the image is scanned your mobile device will decrypt the QR Code and show you the information contained within. In our case, a scan will put the mobile version of that page onto your phone, allowing you to bookmark locations you want to visit or look at later.
An example of a QR Code containing the url for the mobile page for 21st Amendment Brewpub:
If you are still a bit confused as to what we’re talking about here, or if you just want to see this scanning technology in action, watch the following 45 second video. It is a bit blurry, but we hope it gets the point across!
Chicago is a great city to visit and a super city to drink beer in. We’re starting our theoretical trip on Friday around 5pm and we’re running it through Sunday brunch/lunch. We’re going to assume that you brought some money and we’re going to assume you don’t mind taking public transportation or cabs. And here we go!
Friday
5:00 pm Friday: Your cab from the airport has safely transported you and your belongings to some shanty hotel that you probably won’t see very much of. You have now made your way to one of Chicago’s best beer bars: The Map Room (beermapping link) at 1949 N. Hoyne Ave. The Map Room is phenomenal, the taplist consists of 25-ish taps always rotating and a very large list of bottles. Map Room does not have food on any consistent basis, but at 5pm you’re just getting started so you can settle into a fairly comfortable table near a window and enjoy a couple of great beers.
7:30 pm Friday: a half mile stroll south down Damen Ave would put you right in the middle of the trendy neighborhood of Wicker Park. We’re not here to look for “black frame” glasses stores or starbucks though. We’re headed to Piece Pizza (beermapping link), one of Chicago’s best brewpubs. Piece is well known for their award winning wheat styles and over the past few years they have started blasting palates with really hoppy beers with rather dirty names (Camel Toe IPA, Moose Knuckle Barleywine…). If you’re getting hungry, you may want to order a New Haven style pizza with bacon, mashed potatos and a white sauce. Or you may want to hold off on eating a bit longer until our next stop.
9:30 pm Friday: another short half mile stroll south brings you to East/West running Division Avenue. There are two bars down here that we will be checking out. If you neglected to grab some pizza at Piece, you will probably be in need of some food, so we’ll go east a few storefronts to Jerry’s Sandwiches (beermapping link). Jerry’s only has 100 sandwiches to choose from, but hopefully that will be enough. The tap selection here is usually very solid, and if there is nothing available there to please you, there are lots of bottles too.
Further to the west down Division, you will find Small Bar (beermapping link). Small Bar also has food so you could hold off for some fried cheese curds with honey mustard dipping sauce. The taps at Small Bar are often somewhat similar to Jerry’s Sandwiches, but there should be a few differences. Small Bar and Jerry’s both have nice patios, so if you are here with someone who doesn’t like sitting at the bar, you might find yourself enjoying some Chicago weather. You can easily kill 2 or 3 hours between Small Bar and Jerry’s, so this is where we will end our night and catch a cab back to our Hotel/Motel/Hostel. We’ll need our energy for Saturday!
Saturday
11:00 am Saturday: We’re making our way down to State and Grand and we’re hitting Chicago’s Rock Bottom (beermapping link). Pete Crowley, head brewer, makes some awesome beers here. Usually you can find a barrel aged beer or two on tap, make sure to ask your server or bartender for the special beers available. The food at this location is pretty good too, so we’ll be grabbing an appetizer to get our day started (recommended appetizer: Titan Toothpicks). Our next stop will also include many food options, so don’t go nuts and order a whole entree.
1:30 pm Saturday: We went underneath Rock Bottom Chicago and we caught the Red Line of the El (Chicago’s public transportation train). Headed north, we only travelled three stops to the Clybourn/North stop. From here we walked three blocks up Clybourn to Goose Island’s original Brewpub location (beermapping link). They usually have more than 15 Goose Island beers available for you to drink here and at least 1 cask at all time. The restaurant has recently undergone some changes and they are heavily focused on “gastropub” like fare. Pork is king at Goose Island Clybourn and we suggest you get a solid base for the rest of the day’s drinking by ordering the Cubano sandwich. Pair that with something from the cask engine and you’ll be thanking us, guaranteed.
3:30 pm Saturday: Next is a short walk up Sheffield to Local Option (beermapping link). Local Option isn’t well known outside of the Chicago beer scene, but it usually has one of the best taplists in town. The taplist doesn’t focus just on regional or American beer, it’s a strong reflection on what is happening in beer today. And if you can’t find anything on tap that excites you, ask the bartender if they have anything special in bottles!
6:00 pm Saturday: Our next stop is a bit further north. We have again jumped back on Chicago’s El (red line) to get to Sheffield’s Wine and Beer Garden (beermapping link). Sheffield’s is home to the Beer School bar (along with two other bars inside the building). If the beer school bar is open, you should definitely head back there and check out their available taps. You will not be disappointed at Sheffields in either the front bar or the back bars. Relax and enjoy. If the weather is nice, you can hang out in the beer garden, or if it’s nasty outside sit back by the fire and enjoy the warmth.
8:30 pm Saturday: We now have our name on the list for dinner at Hopleaf (beermapping link) in the Andersonville neighborhood. We have used the red line again to get this far north and by now we’re a pro at catching a train and avoiding eye contact with bums. Hopleaf is a belgian focused bar with some incredible food. I suggest ordering the CB&J (cashew butter, fig jam and creamy morbier cheese pannini) or just go with the Mussels Frites (Steak Frites is also one of my favorites). With 30 taps of Belgian and regional beer and a bottle list that may well blow your mind, you can’t go wrong at Hopleaf. Make sure you try a Metropolitan Brewery beer, brewed three blocks away.
We will end our night here, thumbing through the list and dreaming of a bottomless wallet and limitless time to enjoy it all. Head to bed. By now, you need the rest.
Sunday
10:00 am Sunday: We are now officially packed up and we’re doing brunch at the Publican (beermapping link). With a Publican Mimosa (Berliner Weisse and orange juice) in front of us, we’re waiting for dishes full of pork and egg to be delivered to our table. We have fond memories of the past few hours, some hazier than others. And we are in desperate need for another 36 hours before we have to return to work. We are also not 100% sure that we won’t be calling in sick on Monday.
From today through Memorial Day we’re offering a 25% discount on our GPS Point of Interest subscriptions. Normally a 15 dollar purchase, we’re offering it to you at a reduced cost, so that you’ll have the ability to plan your summer vacations a bit better. Gas prices are steadily rising; take advantage of this deal while you still can.
It’s Facebook. And I’m one of these anti-snowball, no-thanks-for-the-drink, keep-your-damn-pokey-finger-to-yourself kind of grumpy gus.
But then I noticed how much fun my friends were having with all of these games. Scramble. Word Challenge. PathWords. Poker. I thought, hey, I’ll give it a try.
It’s a weekend I’ll never, ever get back.
No, I can truthfully say I did not spend every single waking hour playing these games. But when I wasn’t doing something else… all of the TV-watching, web-surfing, miscellaneous-time-wasting… No. It was game time.
Wifey’s got it worse than I have. One of my friends had this totally unbeatable Word Challenge score, and I managed to best that. So I was able to hang up that one for a while. But then I discovered PathWords and it’s like Bubblet only with letters — it’s brilliant! And then I found myself having fun at the Texas-whatchamacallit-poker, and look, no money changing hands!
The kicker, of course, is that I would love to play with all of you. But you know that story. The genie is way too far out of the bottle, I think.
Anyway, if you haven’t tried this, go ahead and jump right in — try one, you’ll like it! Because addiction, like misery, absolutely LOVES company!!
I wanted to get around and visit friends and spread some holiday cheer, but… and I don’t even know what got in the way!
And since the ice storm, I’ve had this post idea and that post idea, and… well you know how bad I am, and how much improvement I’m going to need for the new year.
But today, it’s just about wishing you and yours a very merry Christmas! I hope you’re all safe and warm with the lights on and happy and healthy.
And whether you’re surrounded by friends and/or family, or you’ll be connected by phone or internets, what is more important, after all, than that? They are the real gifts we should be stuffing boxes and shoving under the tree.
Tap tap tap — ahem — is this thing on? It’s the only way I can do this right now. Power has been out since some time Friday morning — phone, cable, internet, too. Major ice storm Thursday, worst in recorded history, took out trees, utility poles, wires, you name it. We have a generator, so our sump pumps, water well pump, heat, refrigerator, freezers, even some lights, are running for only $1.65 a gallon, a bargain, priceless! But no internet, other than my phone here, and the coverage is very fringey. So no. I haven’t fallen off the posting wagon! I’m just in survival mode, lucky to be doing just fine, and lucky to be alive, but that’s a story for another day… Come to think of it, I don’t even know for sure whether this mobile post will make it through!!
I’ve been using e-mail for 27 years now, way more than half of my life. So this way of communicating, it’s all just second nature to me.
And I was on the Internet before there was a World Wide Web. I know, you’d never know it, because I didn’t make a bazillion dollars at anything.
So none of this technology amazes or surprises me.
But I was on Facebook this morning and found out that my friend’s father had passed away.
Now I have learned about deaths online before, but it’s only been people that I knew online, if you know what I mean.
Jimmy won his soccer game! Take a look at the snowman we made! Jane made honor roll this quarter! YES. That’s the kind of stuff I want to keep up with online.
Mr. Jones passed away last night. NO. This is about life, real life.
I’m in that holiday spirit — yes, NEW YEARS! Time to start making resolutions, I think.
1. Be a better blog visitor. I just flushed a couple thousand updates out of my Bloglines and I’m going to start over.
2. No more eating in bed. Candy corn, Triscuits… oh, and the animal crackers have been the worse offense-inducer. I think if I bring something upstairs, especially if it’s something healthy, then that’s different. But that’s it. This will be a tough one, but I’m really going to try.
3. Post more. I’ll think of something I want to write, and then I’ll think, nah, that’s dumb. I should just post whatever pops into my head, because really, that’s all I’m much good for. Yes, I’ll be going to quantity over quality, in case anybody’s wondering about that.
In the past I’ve done this as a Thursday Thirteen, but I can’t think of that many, and if I wait until I do, it’ll never happen… look, I’m on top of #3 already!! :)
That’s right, I’m not waiting until the new year, I’m getting started now. Wish me luck!
I just had the weirdest dream so I thought I’d write it down and see if it makes sense.
I’m sitting in this garage doing something on the computer. And there is this white horse, yes a horse, and I must have spooked him because he like flattens himself up against the far wall.
You see, I’m in the opening part and the door is open. Yeah, so he’s got his hooves up in the air at like ten-two on a clock face, up against the wall, and then he climbs up on top of the open garage door.
I don’t know where Wifey is at this point, but it seems to me we’re away at some event of hers — something horse related? I don’t know. She got out of horses a couple years ago, thank God, and we don’t have one anymore.
But I’m just there with the horse, and not like I’m watching him or anything, because he’s hiding up on the garage door.
Now do you have a picture of how this all is? Because the next part doesn’t really make much sense. Now he’s like on this shelf and really high up and am I sitting under the shelf? Wait, no, I’m like several feet away from it.
And what happens next is the horse falls from this shelf, and I see this long slow-motion fall, and it’s from this tremendous height, and he lands right in front of me.
My first thought is I check myself to make sure I didn’t get anything on me — blood, guts, whatever.
And now Cesar Millan comes in — yes, the dog trainer extraordinaire — and I tell him that the horse fell. Well I’m thinking it’s just dead, but he’s trying to revive it somehow.
So Cesar is on the ground shaking the horse, and the horse is talking gibberish, like English gibberish, and I can’t understand a word he (yes, the horse) is saying. But he’s alive and his head doesn’t look to me like a horse head anymore, but almost like an only slightly-elongated human head. But the gibberish, he’s just not in good shape, the horse.
And that’s where I woke up. Don’t know where Wifey was or where I even was, though the garage kind of looked like mine, but don’t they all.
Pretty weird, eh?
********
Now as I came here to post this (I had typed it up in the e-mail program) I realize I dreamed something last night about WordPress, that the — you know how it tells you your software isn’t up-to-date and you need to upgrade? Well that version number kept changing, to higher and lower numbers, right before my eyes…
Wow, totally bizarre! And no, no late snacks or anything like that! I did eat some candy corn before bead, so my body had plenty of sleep energy. No, I just made that up.
OK, I’m back. Figure it out? This morning, Wifey and I were watching last night’s Amazing Race (EXCELLENT) and there was an ad for something about the Blue Ray.
“What is Blue Ray, anyway?” she asked. And I told her it was like VHS and Beta, only with DVD and it’s like the difference between this (me, pointing at the screen) and high def and blah blah blah, and for people that care about really great pictures, well it’s just the greatest thing.
Doh, what if she got me one for Christmas, and I didn’t just jump and down and say it’s the greatest thing! Thing is, though, I don’t care, don’t need one, don’t want one, happy with the regular DVD’s, and all I want… hell, I really don’t even need a new iPod, the MP3 player I have is fine for what I use it for.
All I want for Christmas is __________… hmm, I’d have to think about it. What? You know what it is that I want? Go ahead, fill in the blank! :)
Are we still doing MM? I didn’t think so… but I was pulling into the Wal*Mart parking lot this morning to pick up my weekly supply of apples and bananas… usually I go in the other entrance, but the light turned red, so I made the right turn and then the left and ended up in that corner of the parking lot where eldest daughter and I worked on her parking skills.
Has it really been a whole year? It’s about eleven months since she got her license, so yeah, it must be about that — but weren’t there huge piles of snow already? Or am I thinking of some other time. We did a lot of practicing in snowy parking lots, I do remember that.
At W*M we practiced the backing into the parking space. She was all crazy about backing into parking spaces, and sure enough, it was something she had to do to get her license. It got busy there, though, what with all the holiday shopping… and ended up going to the big company parking lot where I actually did a lot of my driving practice, uggh, has it really been 28 years??
And then there was the elementary school where I invented this great parallel parking technique. I’ll have to diagram it and post that one of these days.
Well I just had to share these monday morning memories.
Was it really last week? I actually remember the day quite well. Looking back, I guess it was my *second* post, after the requisite “is this thing on” post.
Three years! No wonder I’ve got pretty much nothing left to say! Have I really said it all before, just with different names? Somehow it feels different now, I don’t know. I’ve changed, but then I haven’t, really. Not ever, I don’t think.
And going back even further… no, you really can’t. I don’t think I even have the archives from the old blog. It was a database and I saved it somewhere… I’ll bet it’s backed up to CD or DVD or magtape or magpie or pumpkin pie or pumpkin muffin or blueberry muffin or… OMG, could I go for a blueberry… no, a pistachio muffin right now.
I’m actually wearing my “I’m the blogger” sweatshirt right now. It doesn’t fit anymore. Not literally, not figuratively. But it’s nice and warm and has a pocket where I can put stuff. The metaphors just keep coming.
I have so much to say, I’m just bursting at the seams. In a way, though, you all know me too well now. I’m afraid of what you’ll say. I don’t know why. Not like you’re going to talk me into anything, or out of anything. Maybe I need more private posts and really tell you what the heck is going on. The problem with problems is sometimes they just have no solutions. I guess those are the ones you just vent and someone says, hey I’ve been there and you feel better. Or do you? But could I have problems? I mean, really — Uisce have problems? I really, truly lead an infinitely charmed life.
I can hear the dogs jangling about upstairs, and now my me time is over. Maybe I’ll get deeper into all of this in year four. Yes, it’s been three years already. Happy bloggaversary to me! :)
There used to be this car wash and lube place here in town where you could get inspected.
Yes, I meant cars.
Well now it’s changed and the coffee pot is gone. The TV is gone. Even the cashier window is gone!
“Still do state inspections?” I ask. “Yup, my inspection man will be off lunch break in a few minutes,” they tell me.
So I stand around and wait. I’ve left the keys in the ignition and the registration on the passenger seat. I’m starting to feel like I’m in the Soup Nazi episode of Seinfeld.
“Where is your front plate?” says the inspection man.
I can see this is going to be a very thorough inspection. “On order,” I tell him. I mean, the inmates only work so fast. “Got any paperwork on that?” he asks. I have to think about that one. “Well I’ve got a temporary plate on the back,” I tell him. “Yup, that works,” he says, nodding.
Having completed phase one od the rigorous process, he drives my truck inside and closes the see through garage door behind him. I’m left standing there.
“I’ve got a waiting room, so you can get out of the cold,” says a voice from a man in a Lubes-R-Us uniform.
Two chairs, about where the coffee machine used to be. A nice one, with the cups and you could get anything you… the K-cups, I mean. And then also the kind you drink out of. The place was nice. Now it’s just a little… I dunno, odd.
But my truck does appear to be in good, safety-minded thorough hands.
Anheuser-Busch strikes deal to distribute beer known as Czechvar in U.S.
Johnnie Walker Blue Label - $200 bottle of Scotch, this was an awesome night where we drank everytime someone said a curse word in the movies we were watching. At the heart of Blue Label™ is Royal Lochnagar™ a rare malt distilled near Balmoral, the Queen's holiday home. Around 15 other mature and precious whiskies are added to balance Blue Label™ perfectly - 'a blend that cannot be beat' (Alexander Walker, 1888).
Pierre Ferrand Excellence 1971 - $300 bottle of Cognac, This was my favorite bottle so far. This special Grande Champagne cognacs are bottled in a replica of the bottle used by Cognac Ferrand in 1900. The heavy glass bottle with a deep punt is etched with the words “Cognac Pierre Ferrand” and “Memoire”. A hand-written parchment label shows the vintage. Each small lot has been certified by a Huissier de Justice, the most respected level of authentication under French law. Each bottle is numbered and signed by the cellarmaster and comes in a dark mahogany box adorned with an etched brass plate. A certificate of authenticity accompanies each bottle.
Cragganmore 12 - "One of Speyside's greats. Elegant and austere. Gradually, almost reluctantly, reveals itself. The most fragrant of whiskies: delicate, herbal, flowery. A palate blossoming with flavours, and a long, lingering, finish." Michael Jackson, whisky writer and expert.
2008 scandalz.net
Mathematicians are like Frenchmen: whatever you say to them they
translate into their own language, and forthwith it is something
entirely different.
-- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
From today through Memorial Day we’re offering a 
