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.
Sackets Harbor Brewing Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Seaway Valley Capital Corporation , was the highlight at the grand opening of the first ever Syracuse Beer Week .
One in eight pubs will have to close in the next four years due to "irresponsible" supermarket competition and the economic downturn, a leading beer group says.
Today in Russia statistics show the increase of draught beer sales. Such change in beer consumption is related to the invention made by Novosibirskprodmash.
When I was a home brewer - as opposed to a person who has home brewing supplies and equipment in the house but never does anything with it all - I used to be concerned about flocculation. Flocculation is the word that describes the capacity of a yeast (or other stuff for all I know) to clump. It is a fancy pants word for clumpiness - but is more about the propensity to clump as opposed to the clump itself. I think. If a yeast strain floucculated too much it could cause precipitation leading to poor attenuation due to separation of yeast and wort. Yet if the yeast was under flocculating there would be difficulty in settling out and creating a bright beer. I think.
A team of scientists at Harvard University reported last week that they isolated the single gene that allows yeast to stick together. That gene allows the normally solitary yeast cells to shield themselves from toxins in their environment by banding together in protective balls. Since one of those toxins is the ethanol that the yeast themselves produce, grouping together allows the yeast to survive in the alcohol-rich environment that results from brewing. What's more, the gene has a built in social value system that prevents yeast cells without the gene from taking advantage of the yeast flock's protective sphere. That social control mechanism is an example of how single cells can regulate function in larger units.
Excellent! I knew that something about beer was out there promoting social values...or is it promoting socialism!?!?¹
The point? As Kevin Verstrepen, one of the eggheads in white lab coats² - a Haavaad man no less - notes: "You can look at it as a model of how single-cellular organisms can cooperate, taking a small step toward multicellular life." A-ha! No, not the Norwegian 80's band...I mean "a-ha" as in light-klicky-on, as in "EUREKA!!!" So not only was the creation of civilization dependent on beer but the core zymurgystic fact of beer is also the same core fact of complex life as we know it. See? Without the making of alcohol, we are all single cell amoeba... amoebae... amoebas. I think. Which leads me to my amoeba joke: "two amoeba leave a bar and look up at a bright light. One says to the other 'is that the sun or the moon?' to which the other replies 'I dunno. I don't live around here.'" Get it? That is what we would have to put up with were it not for the flocculating powers of yeast. And nobody wants that.
For the third consecutive year, Grolsch is supporting five of the most important art shows in the United States during Art Basel in Miami Beach, December 4-7, 2008.
A Hoboken Now reader -- and one of the co-founders of The Whisky Life magazine -- wanted everyone know about a free whisky tasting scheduled for tomorrow, Nov.
Just got word Tuesday morning that Paris and I will be visiting Basel, Switzerland again from November 30 through December 4. (My notes and pictures from the September trip are here.) I'll be looking for new breweries to visit this time around, so if you have any tips, please pass them along!
Leinenkugel's latest release certainly has a name that conjures up warm and fuzzy images of curling up by the fireplace to ward off the late fall and winter chill.
It is usually best to keep nationalism and whiskey separate from one another. But what's a little rivalry among Celtic brothers without spirits? "Don't let the Scottish tell you any different; we invented ...
TX: Life-saving beer tastes awful Source: Ananova [UK] Posted on 11.17.08 by Mary Lou Seymour "A beer that can help prolong life and prevent illness has been created - the only problem is it tastes ...
NAMPA, Idaho - Liquor industry officials are lobbying leaders in Canyon County to legalize the sale of booze during limited hours in stores on Sundays.
You know, there was a time when I wrote posts about the history of beer. Then I got in a bit of a dust up with Ron Pattinson which then became quite civil when I said something like "if you are so clever about all this history stuff you should write a blog" which, we all know, he then did and now we are like two houses on fire. Without, you know, the skin grafts and reading of the life insurance policies.
The other great reason to not pretend that I need to or even can write about the history of beer is the fact that Martyn Cornell exists. He has this very day posted two massivehalves of one long essay on the origins of the term "India pale ale" - including this interesting passage on the response to his research by some beer gits:
If saying “the generally accepted story about the birth of IPA is almost entirely wrong” is nit-picking, that’s a bloody big nit. Someone else complained that...
“this guy is just going out of his way to poke holes in the common story about the ipa style … The point is that Hodgson was the first to brew ‘india pale ale’ (from everything i’ve read) and therefore brewed the first of the style”
which is entirely not grasping my own point, or points. The first is that the “common story” already has huge holes in it, and I’m not poking them, I’m just holding them up and saying: “Look – big holes!”.
Wow - real research and analysis presented without bias or the compromise of populism. What I think is most interesting is that the two focus on different sources. Martyn seeks his information from primary sources like beer ads, books of an age and other contemporary writings. Ron seeks his wisdom mainly through review of brewery archives and the actual brewing logs kept by those who made the beer at the time. When the power of their combined research is read side by side it is quite impressive - not to mention detailed and not to mention authoritative.
Let's see, we announced on Sunday and this is Tuesday so, yup, this is day three of the Christmas 2008 Beer Blog Photo Contest and so far, in addition to the six prize givers announced at the launch, we are now able to announce that we have added the following prizes to the swag bag:
Ron Jefferies of Jolly Pumpkin of Dexter, Michigan USA - named one of that nation's top ten brewer's by Beer Advocate is adding a t-shirt. You will all know by now that I have a crush on Jolly Pumpkin so agreeing to joining in the photo contest is a great treat. I think that is going to be a global prize.
Andrew Mason, brewer at Flossmoor Station Brewing, named best small brewpub in the USA at the 2006 Great American Beer Festival, has written an email and says "I'll make it a growler and a sampler when they come in". Andrew has also added an entry which makes him the only person to play both sides of the fence so far. That prize will have to go to someone local to the Illinois area.
Widmer Brothers, makers of that new fine winter ale called Brrr has gone all over the top and has pledged SIX prizes of a t-shirt and a pair of glasses each which, I think, will be going to anywhere the planetary postal system can send them. Six! That is great.
Last but not at all least, Jeff Cunningham of the Cracked Kettle beer store in Amsterdam has announced in the comments that they will provide a Cracked Kettle t-shirt and a bottle of Westvleteren 12 for one lucky winner. Famously named best beer in the world in 2005, that sounds like one very impressive offer of some "collectible glassware" that will be most welcome anywhere.
It's prize giving pandemonium these days! On my count that adds nine more individual prizes added to the ten separate prizes offered by six fine beery sources at the launch. We are well on our way to living the dream of a prize for every participant. If you want, send your precious jpegs to both me at beerblog@gmail.com and also Jeff at stonchblog@gmail.com before Sunday 14 December 2008 at 4:00:00 pm eastern Lake Ontario, North America time.
That is all it takes. Mike Stich of Toronto, Ontario did last year and sent the great shot above in. It is all so amazingly fulfilling.
It decided Rip Tide's description as a "twisted merciless stout" would be associated with antisocial behaviour, while the claim that Hop Rocker was a "nourishing foodstuff" and that "magic is still there to be extracted" implied that it would enhance physical and mental capabilities.
The wisdom did not stop there. Apparently, Orkney's Skull Splitter "was associated with violence and also could be a reference to its effect on the drinker's head." However silly, these macro-saft makers with gavels actually have the power of persuasion and can use that power to affect the marketplace they and their powerless competition work within. Can you see a problem with that? Orkney has issued a press release that says this turn of fate may lead to the brand being pulled even though it is a former Champion Winter Ale of Britain. The BBC has more on the Skull Splitter story.
BrewDog is taking the even higher moral ground by calling for the shadowy Portman Group to be scrapped, according to this story. James Watt, managing director of BrewDog is quoted as saying '"[i]t is alarming that an unelected, unrepresentative industry cartel can simply crush the foundations on which our democracy is built." Can I have an amen? I believe reference to the Declaration of Arbroath is of comfort to we Scots in moments like this.
Full disclosure: James Watt writes me emails once in a while, is named after my Dad's hometown's favorite son and is giving prizes for the photo contest. And I like him and his company more than the shadowy Portman Group.
In the early 1980s, American craft beer pioneers dreamt of nothing more than producing a few beers that broke through the monotony of humdrum, mainstream lagers.
The advent of autumn and the holidays that follow brings a flood of seasonal beers to market, from pumpkin spice ales to Oktoberfest and yuletide brews. This, of course, follows a long hot season of wheat, blueberry and other summer beers.
A surer sign that winter is here than even the colder and shorter days: The winter/holiday beers are arriving at local distributors and watering holes.
Hear Ye Hear Ye! Oyez Oyez!!! Ladies and Gentlemen and children of all ages! May we have drum rrrrrrrollllllllll if you please!!! Can I get a witness??? Bang the Gong, Get it On!!!
Once again this year, I am happy to declare the beer blog Christmas photo contest is on. Real on. Real on right now and it's the third annual. And for the second straight year, we are sharing oversight duties for the Christmas beer blog photo contest with our pal and co-master of ceremonies Jeff from Stonch's Beer Blog based in London England. Here is Jeff's post on the start of the contest. And that's last year's grand winner up there, from John Lewington. Called "Two Pints of Bitter" it's a candid photo John took of two old boys enjoying their Sunday afternoon ale in a 17th century pub in Aldbrough, Suffolk. Gorgeous. Here are all the entries from last year - Jeff's are available through a link at the bottom of the page. We are going to try to be more unified and centralized this year.
And the range of prizes gathered so far for the 2008 version of the contest are, I have to admit, already simply stunning. As in the past, remember the rules of beer are so weird that you can only get it shipped to certain places (where you are) from certain other places (where the people of the beer are) so you may not qualify for each of these but here is what we have so far:
Roland + Russell, importers of fine beer into Canada, is offering gift basket with a variety of treats. This will be for a lucky winner in Ontario.
Church-key Brewing of Campbellford, Ontario has provided lunch at their Stinking Rose pub as well as a VIP tour and tasting for four at the brewery. That should be a blast and will be provided to a winner who can get to the prize.
BrewDog Beer of Scotland is offering a couple of cases of beer as well as some other goodies including a signed t-shirt. The beer will be a UK only prize due to shipping restrictions while the other goodies will go absolutely global.
Flying Dog Brewery of Maryland USA wrote us a note and asked "how does a Barrel-aged Gonzo, Humphrey the Humper dog, Gonzo Poster and Gonzo T-shirt sound?" Sounds good to me. That one may end up as a USA only prize due to the gods of the border control unit.
Beau's All-Natural Brewing of Vankleek Hill, Ontario has offered us a hat and t-shirt which will be forwarded to a lucky winner anywhere on the entire planet.
Shipyard Brewing of Portland, Maine are back again this year with a new prize...or rather three separate prizes of a Shipyard travel coffee mug and a Shipyard aluminum water bottle. Fantastic. And a fantastically planetarily acceptable prize.
Fabulousness incarnate! What generosity and - be warned - we are on the hunt for more prizes and hope to have more announcements soon. Have no fear. I have every intention of wringing as much happiness out of this contest for each and every contestant so as to make your Yule (...and your Yule, too) as fantastic as possible. Jeff and I get nothing our of this but the warm glow of a good deed well done and a way to thank you all, our readers, as well as to thank the great brewers out there who do so much for all of us.
How does one enter? You may well be asking this very question as you read this. Just email photos to both me at beerblog@gmail.com and also Jeff at stonchblog@gmail.com. The announcements should start flying with your entries and hopefully even more great prizes. The deadline is Sunday 14 December 2008 at 4:00:00 pm eastern Lake Ontario, North America time. Well be figuring out a means for posting them on the web, maybe at Flickr and maybe even ClusterShot so that your work may itself give you something back. And remember - if you are a brewer, pub, author or purveyor of any other beer related stuff, join us by emailing your idea for more prize for the winners. It's all about giving...and taking photos...and beer...and, ok, having a happy happy Yule!
Thank God Helmut Lang refuses to go away. Two years after his act of corporate abandonment, the designer still pops up all over the place, from his deconstructed disco ball art installation at the journal ...
The Justice Department approved a $52 billion beer buzz Friday, allowing Belgian-based InBev SA to buy out Anheuser-Busch and create the world's largest brewer.
The label on Samuel Adams' Hallertau Imperial Pilsner promises 'an intense hop experience.' The experience may depend on the type of beer drinker you are.
How odd. Those cases and cases of cheap ass Canadian Labatt Blue selling in upstate NY gas stations and grocery stores for about half of the price we pay up here have become an issue in the global InBev deal for A-B:
The Justice Department said Friday it will have to sell the U.S. Labatt operations because the deal could mean higher beer prices for beer in the New York cities of Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse. In those cities, Anheuser-Busch's Budweiser brands and InBev's Labatt brands are the two biggest-selling beer lines, which means the merged company would be competing with itself.
The infiltration of Blue into upstate is quite a marvel and, if I was dedicated to the stuff, worth crossing the border for. But I had no idea that protecting the market in these cities was worth legal intervention.
Samples. Reason enough to beer blog, I'd say, and when things from Norway come in the mail all the better. I had the porter from Nøgne Ø last year and seem to have loved it so this 9% bigger sibling was a welcome sight. I've also had their Julesnadder, a Christmas beer, last year care of Knut the Swell and a surprise package in the mail but didn't even review it or take a note or nuttin'. I either failed as a beer blogger or was taking a stand. Can't remember.
So, it's darn good thing I can make it up to the gods of the tickers with this one. It pours inky with a mahogany rim all under the darkest mocha head yet. Maybe the colour of melty chocolate ice cream. Maybe the colour of the blood of a gingerbread boy. It is all mint and unsweetened licorice when near the nose. In the mouth, a huge creamy texture opens to blackened toast, espresso, dark chocolate with a long and increasingly bitter finish all framed by more of that minty hop until they fade leaving nothing but cigarette ash and mocha-cocoa, a surprisingly appealing combo. Thick and heavy. Concentrated. Like light beer syrup.
Gaston County was known for its whiskey before it became a textile capital. Corn was a plentiful crop quickly converted into whiskey by one of the 48 licensed distilleries in the county, according to Gaston ...
The pussification of Europe continues. I'm all for full disclosure and labels warning of non-obvious hazards, but if you don't already know that an intoxicant might not be good for your fetus, you've got no business getting pregnant in the first place.
“Before the parliamentary election in 2009 we want to lawfully implement warnings on beer bottles that are aimed directly at pregnant women, who can cause considerable damage to their children by drinking during pregnancy,” [German Drug Commissioner Sabine] Bätzing told the [Rheinische Post].
Plans for the labels include images of a pregnant silhouette with a strike-through line, similar to existing labels in France.
It's like tobacco warnings: how can you not know that inhaling concentrated products of combustion is hazardous? It's SMOKE, for cryin' out loud!
I don't want to sound like some kind of anti-fun crusader. If you want to smoke, you're free to do so. Ditto with alcohol consumption and the myriad other activities that may strike your fancy. But anybody with enough intelligence to walk upright and handle a lighter or a pint glass must know that inhaling smoke might hurt the lungs, and consuming alcohol might hurt the fetus.
Criminey. Read all about this nonsense at The Local.
NBC's Today Show weighs in with their choices of seasonal beers. They seem to lean toward spiced and fruited beers — not my favorites by any means — but they list some real classics also.
You can find their list and the reasons therefor at MSNBC.com.
Sure, it's changed. Yeah, it's the Grumpy Old Man reporting again. I remember once, while we were on our summer holiday in Oslo, that traveling to America meant a voyage on Den Norske Amerikalinje. We were standing on the quay with hundreds of others, waving to my aunt, who was going away for a year as an au pair. Sure, there were flights, but those were for diplomats and the shipping industry. The rest, rich and poor, used the ocean liners. I have a feeling there is still a vessel sailing between England and New York, but it's not a significant part of the market any longer.
And sure, I have crossed the Atlantic – by plane – a few times, but that was decades ago. When low dollar rates and a household economy that looked fairly decent, we decided that I should take my oldest son along for a week in New York this fall, the rest of the family being more interested in sun and beaches later in the winter. The price of the tickets was not much more than we would have paid to some parts of the Mediterranean, though the hotel rates in Manhattan would have been prohibitive if the exchange rates were not as kind to us as they were.
So, twelve hours after we left Oslo, including a smooth transfer in 'Amsterdam, we landed at Newark and slid through immigration after a politely conducted interview. I guess none of us fit the terrorist profile very much. Traveling with an eleven year old, it is not beer travel as such. But, knowing me, I used the opportunities available, and wow, have there been changes in town since 1984! During the last five years or so, things have happened fast in Europe. The market for micro and craft brews has grown a lot, and in countries like Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands you have splendid access to beers in the shops, and you can on occasion find a pub with a dozen beers on tap.
Well, this is different. The difference is, as the difference between New York and any city you might pick in Europe, a matter of scale. Here we are talking about medium sized bars with 30 – 50 - 60 beers on tap plus a fair selection of bottles. And not just 60 lagers of the world, we are talking about 90% craft beers here. IPAs and fruit beers, stouts and porters, smoked beer and wheat beer. There are speciality bars for imports, but many have a focus on beers from New York state, and with a selection of beers and brewers like this, you hardly need to look any further.
The only bar I really got to know during the week was The Ginger Man, above, strategically located about seven minutes walk from our Midtown hotel. 2-3 rotating cask ales at any time, and I estimate fifty other beers on draught, spread across the spectrum of beer styles. Child friendly during the early afternoon, which was very convenient for us. When the after work crown took over at six, we were on our way, either to a restaurant or back to our hotel for rest and recreation after a long day of shopping and sightseeing.
But there were fine beers just about everywhere. In the deli on the corner 100 yards from our hotel, there were dozens of beers, and they did not mind me splitting up the six packs, either. On the next corner, there was a more upmarket store with a large selection of Belgians and more pricey domestic beers from brewers like Ommegang. And the restaurants often have beer menus that are fairly impressive. The Japanese restaurants have a sake list. Gordon Ramsey's star studded restaurant at the London Hotel had a hand picked list of beers, four East Coast and one Belgian. The Blue Smoke barbecue restaurant, right, had a fine selection, too, including a house beer brewed for them by the Brooklyn brewery.
Some beer bars offer small size samplers, giving you the opportunity to get a bit further into their beer lists on a rather short visit. The Heartland Brewery, with a number of locations including the Empire State Building, offer about ten of their own brews, some of which vary with the season. Some of them are pale and tasteless and rather like the macro lagers, others are very decent offerings such as their Oatmeal Stout and their Red Ale.
I had high expectations for a new pub that had opened just a few weeks before our visit, the Rattle and Hum. On paper, their list of beers was fine, they had 30 beers on tap with plans to add another 20 or so. Sadly, two of the beers I tried were off, and the staff, while cute and polite, did not have a clue about beer. Lesson: If you want to open a specialty bar or restaurant, make sure you run it hands on during the first weeks of operation. I would not dare to risk my reputation in a fierce market like this. We focused on Midtown Manhattan. I am aware that the best beer bars are clustered in Greenwich Village and in Brooklyn, but that must be for another time. The samples I had of New York beer culture confirmed my expectations that this is one of the prime beer destinations on the planet.
Moving one step closer to a reality, Anheuser-Busch shareholders voted earlier today to approve the takeover by InBev , whose shareholders likewise approved the deal on September 29.
Whether youa re preparing for the Kwanzaa a oeKaramua feast, setting up the Menorah for eight fun-filled nights, trimming the tree to Nat King Colea s Christmas album, or just basking in the holiday buzz thata ...
It's been pretty quiet around the brewery — clean kegs, fill kegs, rack the odd beer — but rather exciting on the personal front. Paris and I got married on Halloween in a Wiccan handfasting ceremony at Max & Joe's Belgian Beer Tavern in Omaha. We decided to conduct the ceremony at a bar so as not to cut into anyone's drinking time. I don't have any still pictures yet, but here are some videos of the proceedings:
Down the "aisle" (0:47)
The ceremony (9:29)
The dance and the party (10:00)
I'll post the pictures when I get them. If you were there, Paris and I thank you for helping us have a great time! And thanks to Tom Dinwiddie (the tallest man in the room) for shooting the video.
I'm expecting some fresh Hefeweizen yeast later this week, so I'll probably brew again on Friday or maybe Tuesday.
It's been a coupleof years but I have enjoyed every beer I have had by these guys. They are, in fact, probably the best contract brewer out there...or at least my favorite. Bittersweet Lenny's R.I.P.A. alone justifies that.
Origin Pomegranate Ale is likely not the first thing you are going to think of as a fine brew. Me, I pretty much hate fruit beer. I blame this one. I have an up on this one, though, as I am told that my granddad in Scotland - when younger and quite a tough man - was oddly mad for pomegranates, eating them like oranges, slicing them in half, mashing the rich red pulp into his gob and letting what happens with all that gushy juice happen.
Not quite the same experience with the beer. Far more control. It pours orange-amber with a fine rim and foam head. Lots of Boston brown bread malty sweetness on the nose. In the mouth, well, plenty of black tea hopping almost balancing rich figgy malty...and then that pomegranate just nosing out making itself know but not taking over anything. A nice fresh snap. Almost replicating the juicy citrus of big US hopping more than a juice injection. Not sweet either. It's not quote a Lenny but it is worthy and rightly earns BAer respect. Fine.
Stephen Colbert has taught me the fine art of begging. And so I beg, you, Jameson Irish whiskey... show me the money.
Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert is perhaps the most successful self-promoter in the history of the human race. All others are but pale copies of his masterful manipulation of the cosmic realm. When he wanted to run for president, he got Doritos to fund his campaign; likewise, Doritos footed the bill when he wanted to spend a week in...
Those pals of mine at silverorange, the good folk who run the hickory fired servers upon which A Good Beer Blog runs, have come up with a new idea - a group web gallery called ClusterShot which also allows you to sell licenses for the use of your photos. I know one thing about beer bloggers. We like beer pr0n and spend a lot of time trying to express the elusive essence of your brew through photography. The site is free to use, upload at your will and you get (I think) 88% of all sales whether you price your photo at $1.99 or $199.00.
I get no cut, I have no idea whether it will work but I have started loading my own beer photos to see. If you do, too, then I won't be doing it alone.
COTTON CANDY COSMO From X-Rated Fusion Liqueur, SKYY Vodka and O'Charley's O'Charley's is offering this oh-so-girly cocktail at its restaurants nationwide, but it's simple enough to make at home.
Interesting to note that there are two comments today from pro-writing bloggers (ploggers?) mentioning how their connection to the blog connects directly or indirectly to income. Jack Curtain over at his Liquid Diet states:
...I want to once again express my deep gratitude to everyone who sent me their best wishes and especially those who generously “tipped the bartender” as a result of this posting, including one very kind snail mail of a brewpub gift card to which I will put good use. It is both demeaning and embarassing to ask for money, but I also think that the time and effort which goes into this site warrants some support now and then...
Jack is a writer who brings incredible experience as a newspaperman, beer columnist and published author. Another leading beer writer is Pete Brown who also touched on this idea today when he wrote:
"...I may be using some of the answers to this for a commercial project for which I will be paid money. If this offends your sensibilities and you feel it contravenes the unwritten ethics of blogging I apologise.
I find these comments somewhat unfortunate. Not because there shouldn't be politeness in the world of beer writing but that this should not be an issue at all. I have been a very lucky beer blogger. See, I get ads and do so in a significant part because I have been doing this beer blogging for so long and have built up an insane body of work (1,543 posts and exactly 5,000 comments as of today). And I hope that body of work is also entertaining and informative. Beer pays for itself though those ads and has done so for three years now. It's not a fortune and I spend it wisely. I don't go to beer fests, don't jump on planes to Europe for all those drinking sessions with Knut or Ron or Jeff or Pete (and a whack more to be sure) or drive deep into the US with Lew and Jay and Stan (and to be sure a whack more, too) - and I sure don't buy every $32.00 Norwegian porter that I have recently seen foisted upon the shelves of beer stores in the northeastern US. But I do buy beer and gas and hotel rooms and generally use the money and goodwill the blog generates for sustaining my interest and also - as the impending Christmas Photo Contest 2008 prize list should show - to thank you for your support (...and mucho mucho gracias to those fine brewers who have already agreed to forward prizes.) I even have to pay taxes on the revenue as business income after deducting expenses as it is not incidental. I actually think that is very neat.
But that is not the real point. The real point is that there is yoinks and yoinks of money in beer and those who write about it should be supported by those who make beer, sell beer, distrubute beer and market beer....and maybe even those who are interested in reading about beer. I am not about to hit you, my readers, up as a result of this. I am not having an epiphany of how to make riches out of this gig. I do this because I like it. But if you are that part of the readership selling a beer, wouldn't it seem clever to you that a few well placed ads for that beer collectively costing less than one print ad might be worth your while? As far as I am concerned there is a group of perhaps teo to twenty beer bloggers who deserve serious global attention for this sort of marketing. In addition - and this is even more to the point - there are dedicated and interesting local scene beer bloggers who should be supported by that local scene. If you are a microbrewer and you don't know who your local beer bloggers are you are missing a huge opportunity. And, to be honest, if you are a brewer launching a new beer and you are not sending out samples by courier to beer bloggers as many brewers do (thank you very much) you are frankly pretty close to being out of line. Why would you expect your fans to be doing all the new media innovative heavy lifting they do for you and your beer without some recognition and compensation? Why is the incredible opportunity they present not part of your business plan?
By the way, I am neither embarrased to point this out or expect your sensibilities will be offended. Not that Jack or Pete are wrong in having such good manners but I think we should be a wee bit more realistic about all this - realistic about how money and new media work in the new craft beer economy. Now, excuse me as I am off to Twitter this post and place a link on Facebook to spread the word.
Encapsulation, sodium alginate, liquid nitrogen - " sound like science class? It's just another night at the bar with Gina Chersevani, mixologist at EatBar .
GREG MCNEIL The Cape Breton Post SYDNEY - The owners of the Glenora Distillery wish they had a crystal ball to go along with their oak barrels at their Glenville location.
Or as some politically correct people will say: Fo-Fricking-WaBAB (which doesn’t roll off the tongue as well). Either way, tomorrow is the Sixth Annual Festival of Wood and Barrel Aged Beer (or probably when you read this, it’s either today or a few days ago).
This is an event put on by the Illinois Craft Brewers Guild and it is pretty fricking awesome.
Beer Mapping is a sponsor and we will have a small presence there. Look for some people wearing Beer Mapping gear or just gather under the Beer Mapping banner and maybe we’ll swing by to say hi. We should be there both sessions, pacing ourselves, and as of right now the list is looking really good.
We’ll see you there, or possibly at the next Beer Mapping sponsored event!
Your son or your daughter? An earthy fresh dug carrot rubbed off almost clean on your pant leg or an apple just picked off the bough skin snapping at the first gushing bite? Your long dead cat from when you were ten or your long dead cat from when you were six? The trip to the family cottage last summer or the one before that?
Which is your favorite? It doesn't work that way. Not with the whole of your life or the bit of life that is beery. One beer can be fresh as this week. I like this week beer pretty much always...unless I don't have any around. The next beer can be a couple of year old improved by mellowing or a smacky tang. Each is good but can be wrong if you want mellow but got tangy or the other way around. The best beer won't make up for hurtful words and is never as good as that hug you were looking for. No one should crave Trappist tripel at a ball game. No one should demand PBR with roast lamb.
Favorites? I don't have time for no stinking favorites. There's too much out there to worry about favorites.
I am not going to suggest this world needs more violence, more anti-civil behaviours, more jerks. No, I am not going to suggest that. But I might suggest that once in a while a well placed beer poured from above is not such a bad thing:
A Glenview man who poured beer over his apartment balcony onto the head of a restaurant employee who was smoking a cigarette late Saturday will not be charged, police said this week. The man told authorities he was upset because the smoke from employees at the rear of a sushi restaurant in the 2600 block of Aviator Lane wafts up into his apartment. Police said no complaints were signed, and restaurant management was told to designate a smoking area 15 feet from the rear entrance.
Mmmm...smokey sushi. What could be better. No one wants to like in a pall of the puffs of others and, when push comes to shove, why can't a stream of beer from above be the medium of that message?
Think about it. Beer as the medium of retribution. I don't think I can recall using this method of beer based social punishment but I must have used a similar thing. Sure there were laws of beer. Once I swapped a pal's fridge full of macro-crap for craft beer to make a point. He broke the good taste rule. And, when I was younger, I certainly have reached over and drained the glass of another across the table when his point was less than compelling. Harsh? He forfeited it. There was a code and the code could be enforced. By the same code, money borrowed for buying beer could only be called upon if there was a reciprocal need to borrow beer. Otherwise it was an act of friendship to ensure your pal in tight times was...you know...able to get a little tight.
So for reminding us of right and wrong and how beer can be used to encourage respect for the same, here is a toast to the Glenview man of the 2600 block of Aviator Lane in Chicago.
The insatiable demand for scotch whisky in China, India and Russia has tipped three popular brands from the shelves of Ontario liquor stores, and likely will drive up the prices of popular single-malts in ...
COMPANIES exporting food and drink to the US will be forced to disclose sensitive commercial information or be stopped from exporting entirely under anti-terrorism rules due to come into effect this week.
I am not a big mid-week imbiber and, let's be honest, I have no skin directly in this game but as a big fan of spending election night watching TV, writing on the internet, listening to NPR web radio, leaving a radio on in another room where an AM radio station from somewhere far away fades in and out. I also have to admit I like both Obama and McCain. It's a bit of a shame that they are not both on the same ticket one way or another. It's maybe a bit of a bigger shame, come to think of it, that McCain is not winding up an eight year term...but that's another matter.
More as I think more about this critical question.
Fin Du Monde, VW. Excellent choice at 7:10 pm. I remember having that when Canada won the gold medal in men's hockey the 2002 Winter Olympics. It was for Super Mario...the other one. Me? I am wondering about that Budweiser American Ale to the side there. Perhaps it will be a basic ale that speaks to the average guy and a little to the hope for something better as well. Maybe that will be the best start. Looks good on the pour, a dark amber with a creamy rich head. Nice on the nose, too - a bit of fruity malt. Hey - this isn't bad. There is a bit of a drying twiggy hop that leans to black tea astringency but plenty of autumn apple in the malt and maybe a little orange peel. That will do for now, a good early in the evening nothing too crazy beer. Light-medium mouthfeel. Solid BAer respect. A bit sour on the finish but well within the range, especially at the price.
The feeling didn't last. Most of the BAA was poured away. Time for something a little more substantial. And what better thing to do on election night than to get rid of a King that has been around too long: specifically Mocha Java Stout from Michigan's King Brewing Company. I've had this in the stash for over a year and it could well be a lost cause. Some questions from the BAers raise suspicions. It looks great with a rick rocky mocha head over deepest mahogany ale. Yet a little too light where you want some oomph - especially when the brewer claims 9%. And a very fruity rather than solely roasty toasty profile. Don't get me wrong - yoinks of coffee flavour and creamy texture but there is that doubt about what it really wants to be: oatmeal stout, porter or what? Let's see how this one lasts...
That one didn't last either. Sure smelly good as it went down the drain. Next and perhaps finally? I need something I can rely upon. An old reliable that will give me what I need. What better choice than Gritty's Best Bitter from Maine, bought for $8.49 a six pack at Di Pietro's in South Portland a few weeks ago. I am a big fan of Gritty's and have been going for years as part of what others in my immediate circle call the family's summer holiday and what I call my annual trip to Gritty's. Why is this apt? The name! One will be best and one may be bitter. The beer pours a swell orange which a skiff of white foam and rim. Plenty of peachy candy aroma and a nice sweet/dry quaffable fruity ale in the mouth with plenty of black tea bitterness. BAer's give respect.
That is it for me. I suspect that I'm a huge lightweight tonight but, up here in Canada, it's a school night and all that entails. Looking forward to tomorrow.
"Damn Right Your Dad Drank It." That was the slug Canadian Club used in its 2007 ad campaign, which was both visually stunning and somehow disturbing because it featured images of "your" dad during the '60s ...
It’s here! It’s here!! As I write this, I’m standing in line to vote and I can’t believe it’s finally here! For me, it’s kind of like Christmas — probably my favorite holiday!
And thank God it’s over! The signs, the ads, the calls, real and robo, the flyers… uggh!
MY TURN!!
I’ve made the X’s on my traditional, old-fashioned paper ballot and now I’m waiting to put it in the box. I’m almost done!
I saw an ad the other day — it was Starbucks offering a free coffee to every voter — and they were saying how great it would be if…
my turn!!
…if everyone voted. Sure, if everyone understood the issues — but I don’t want people voting who don’t.
So if you’ve been paying attention to the issues and you know which candidates will serve those issues best, please get out and vote today, whoever those candidates might be.
On the other hand, if it’s just about signs and slogans and sound bites, the arm chair is looking nice and comfy.
I’ve done it. I’ve just voted for Obama/Biden. I hope you all know and care enough to do the same. To vote, that is, for whoever you wish.
I am all for the global marketplace and beer being something to share around the planet. Heck, just today I secured a really dandy set of prizes for the 2008 photo contest from a noted Scottish brewery as well as a distributor of fine imports into North American - but are you really surprised by this bit of news out of the UK?
Scottish and Newcastle UK said it had reached agreement with Miller Brands UK to end the contract to brew, market and distribute Miller Beer in the UK with effect from December 2008. The standard lager will be withdrawn from sale in the UK market from early 2009. Mark Gerken, off-trade sales managing director at S&N UK, said: “We are committed to supplying our customers with brands that meet today’s consumer needs. The decision to withdraw Miller Beer from sale in the UK will allow us to fulfil this objective by drawing upon the combined S&N/Heineken range to create new and greater sales opportunities for our customers in 2009.”
How could this be? Did they think to try calling it MacMiller? Or maybe O'Miller? Lord Miller's Pale Ale perhaps? This sector of the beer trade means little to me but it is quite massive. What could Miller have meant to an English beer drinker? Was it the darling with flour manufacturers? It must have been something as, the article tells us, Miller Beer’s off-trade sales were worth £17 million - but they fell by 12% in the year to Oct 4. So in some many ways it seems that the message of the over-layering container design for a beer that tastes like "X" failed as a brand and now needs to be replaced by another over-layering container design.
Head Chef Tommy Fitzgerald of Churchill's in Grand Rapids stopped by the Weekend Morning News to show us a neat dish that is sure to satisfy the political junky in your life.
OK, maybe not a new world record, but it was a personal best for me.
I ran a 5K this weekend and my previous time was in the mid-20’s. I’ve been shooting for 23 minutes.
And this time I did it! Yay, me!!
I had a great run on Friday, too. It’s a 6.41 mile course — the loop I was trying to run that day I got horribly lost. Well I did it in… what was it? Oh yeah, I wrote it down — a mere 49:26! And when I did the math, it worked out to 7:43 — holy cow, with all the hills and all that distance?
23 minutes in 5K? oh, about 7:25… AND I CRUSHED IT!! Yay!
Wow. Year number three. Who knew this would all still be going on. I was sure we would all be communicating by 3D holographs and brain implants by now. Sadly, the future is not yet here. You are not soon to get a jet pack.
But there is plenty of other things to get if you send in a photo to the 2008 Christmas beer photo contest. Last year, we ran the contest concurrently with our pal Jeff at Stonch's Beer Blog. It was a great success and included the photo to the right...without the dorky caption of course. I haven't check with Jeff yet but I know his life has turned 180 in the last year given he is now running a pub with great success. Suffice it to say if he can't do the full contest we shall carry the weight collectively, aware as we are that every pint he pulls, every punter he sees walk out the door satisfied is another victory for fine beer everywhere.
I will announce the actual rules and deadline dates in a few days but we have to keep in mind this is a Christmas photo contest and, if I can, I would like to see every entry win something that comes in the mail and warms the heart. Just look at last year's winners and prizes. Fantastic stuff from generous people in beer. So do you have something to give: a seasonal ale to share, a gift certificate for your beer or brew pub, a copy of your book, a subscription for your magazine? Let me know at beerblog@gmail.com. And is there anything you want? I am quite happy to send an email on your behalf to get that special something into the sack o' gifties that get sent out mid-December. Let me know that as well. Let us all share in the Christmas glow.
There is a great article on Italian craft beer in The New York Times today by our friend and co-author around here by times, Evan Rail in which Stan makes an appearance as part of the Hieronymi's global search for great beer. The accompanying photo by Dave Yoder, copied above, is a study of how to do craft beer right.
It's kind of a no-brainer that today's marketers are targeting Wicker Park, where you can practically hear the youthful cash and charge cards crunching in the pockets of tight jeans.
I've just finished another great conference (at least my third this month) and I checked back with Stan's blog post on the beer blog conference thingie and the clever people at Madison Beer Review posted this incredibly apt comment:
I’m not unopposed to the idea in theory. I am concerned that, unlike the relative California-centric locus of wine bloggers that no one American city will be convenient for everyone. Not to say that this isn’t a high-paying job, but some of us aren’t so lucky as to be high-paid attorneys who can afford to jet-set around the continent in search of the next great beer. Portland’s a great choice, but it’s expensive to get to. Denver’s a good choice, but they have GABF. Chicago isn’t a bad idea, but it’s expensive. San Diego maybe? Milwaukee? Detroit? Philly? The National Brewery Museum? Madison, WI anyone? Bah. Didn’t think so.
Let's be clear about one thing. I really don't mind the lawyer comments. I came from service - as they used to say in the old country - worked through law school, work for my city and have been blessed. I am a lucky man and wouldn't deny it. So these comments are very timely in that they reflect a huge and practical problem: we all can't be in the same place at the same time. So what if we didn't? What if we made it a regional experience where people get to a hub within, say, a six hour drive and somehow connect with the other hubs through, you know, that internet thing we have all been playing with for years?.
We have to be honest. Money is tight. But we should also admit that we are clever. Is there a way to pull this off in a way that people can afford and IT can assist?
I was working out with Donna the fitness instructor the other day and I asked her what music she liked and she told me what station she listens to. Seems she’s a soft rock kind of gal. Which I didn’t think was my kind of thing. Certainly wouldn’t be anything I’d make running mix from, right? But I’m sitting here listening to her station online. And I’m thinking, what kind of creepy stalkerish behavior is this?
That's a headline in The Mercury News of San Jose today. When I go hunting Goggle, once in every while, for beer news to comment upon there are always masses of these sad stories about beer and violence to get through about, say, man beats man with beer or, you know, man beats beer with man or, heck, even beer beats man with man. They are unendingly dreary, always say pretty much the same thing and undermine the work everyone does to raise the perspective folk have about beer.
But the fine work of Marshall Cartwright, 33, reported this week in The Mercury News really stands apart from the crowd. What a genius. Especially given he was "claiming to be a covert military operative from Australia" even while he was "urinating in the bushes" when he was not sell the beer in the keg by handing around a Mason jar...11:45 a.m. last Monday. Excellent work Marshall Cartwright, 33. Brilliant. You have reached the apex of the beer pig pantheon. We salute you!
Once again Jamaica shines as Albert Johnson, representing Jamaica in the Skyy Vodka Flairing Competition, takes the coveted prize of an-all- expense paid trip to Monte Carlo, France where he will compete ...
The good folks at Widmer Brothers sent me a few of their new seasonal brew, Brrr. That was awfully nice of them and a habit more of you should consider adopting - especially nice as this will only be available in 17 US cities over just the next two months.
A big fruity nose on the first schnozzle: zippy citrus hops over figs and dates. Very appetizing aroma which reminded me of something I like and that something was a little like a Ithaca Beer Co Flower Power IPA. Could it be? Would it be? Who knows? Be patient. The brew pours a bright chestnut under a rich cream head. The press release calls it a "moderately strong dark red ale." Hmm. Maybe it's more Ithaca's Cascazilla I am thinking off. That's it! On the sip, this is a very nice beer: plenty of big US hops with even a bit of a hop acid burn but framed by dark malty tones of caramel, dried fig and baked apple. A bigger brew at "7.15%," the hopping really cuts what otherwise could be a cloying malty blob. Even with the creamy mouth feel, the hopping does not jar. A long herbal hoppy finish.
It's the most wonderful time of the year! With those holiday greetings And great happy meetings When friends come to call It's the most wonderful time of the year! It's Halloween! We have always been Halloween ...
A liquor store that has a history of selling alcohol to minors was shut down for 50 days after it was caught again in a sting operation, officials said.
