A planet full of beer blogs

A night where only
beer, shrimp toast, and mu shu pork
can satisfy me

Written by Captain Hops.

Thing of the day: Carryout Lamp – Red

Sponsor: NetFlint.com Start your own beer blog! Best Value in Domain Names and Website Hosting

Related haiku:

• Don’t Forget the National Toast
• Clink
• A Good Time Was Had By All
• Passion
• A Legend in My Own Mind

The tiny Olde Mecklenburg Brewery in Charlotte, N.C., has two year round beers, Kolsner (a pilsner-kolsch hybrid) and Copper (an altbier). They also make seasonal brews that adhere to the Reinheitsgebot.

Olde Mecklenburg offers tours on Saturdays at 2 p.m., 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. The brewery is also taking part in the inaugural Charlotte Craft Beer Week, hosting a German Bier Fest on March 24th starting at 5 p.m.

For the Spring, Olde Mecklenburg has released Fruh Bock, which means early bock. The beer is 6 percent alcohol by volume. Fruh Bock is a nice golden color with a very full creamy white head. The beer has a good amount of malt that has a hint of fruit sweetness in the finish. The hops come in late to crisply balance off the brew.

Every Sunday I take the kids to the library. I’m a voracious reader, and I’m grateful to an aunt, and to some extent my mother, for instilling in me that passion for books and literature. So it’s very important to me that I try to do the same for my own kids, and so far [...]

Today’s work of art was originally created while Alex Caldwell was still in college, a project presumably for one of his classes at Philadelphia University. It’s called Typographic Beer Destinations and tells the story in type of a journey from home to Philadelphia. But not just any journey, a trip involving stops at beer destination every [...]

Our ninth Guinness poster by John Gilroy features a frustrated goldfish who can’t reach a pint of Guinness just outside his fishbowl. Under the “Guinness For Strength” banner, it also uses the curious tagline. “It’s a poor fish that never has a Guinness.” Share and Enjoy:

A simple visit
To my local home brew store
Keeps them in business.

Written by Captian Hops.

Thing of the day: How to Brew: Everything You Need To Know To Brew Beer Right The First Time

Related haiku:

• Until I Get Home
• Worth It
• Apartment Brew
• Local
• BrewPubClub.com For Sale

Whatever your feelings about Newcastle Brown Ale, it is perceived as one of the classic English brown ales and its label is one of the most recognizable. So I was surprised to see that Newcastle is sponsoring a contest to redesign their iconic label. The contest is known as Your Beer Your Label and gives [...]

Adam Avery founded Avery Brewing in 1993 after several years as a home brewer. The brewery has four different ranges of products with the Demons of Ale being some of the most rare and sought after. Samael's Oak Aged Strong Ale, The Beast Grand Cru and Mephistopheles are an impressive line up. Each is something to be savored.

Avery Mephistopheles' Stout is a huge brew. At 16.83 percent alcohol by volume and 107 International Bittering Units, this imperial stout truly defines what it means to be a big beer. Dark as night with an espresso creme colored head, the ale has ripe cherry and rum raisin qualities in your first sip. The drink has chocolate tones emerge in mid-palate and finishes with a big coffee note.

A friend from work brought me a couple of these after her trip to Belize. A 6.5% Caribbean export in a swell painted 284 ml bottle. On the nose, there is a strong milk chocolate scent with a little date in there, too. Deep mahogany ale under a thin mocha rim and foam. A comment maker mentioned this beer at my post on style sibling, Sri Lanka's Sinha Stout.

I love these beers, like Trinidad's Royal Stout, these echoes of the British empire that have none of the trendiness of IPAs. Easy drinking, smooth textured with some complexity in the play of roastiness, the cloy cutting minty hops along with hints of dried dark fruit. Solid BAer respect.

Double Mountain Brewery is celebrating their 3rd anniversary today with a big party at the Hood River brewery and taproom: they’ve closed off the block in front of the brewery and erected a big tent, and are featuring live music, food and reserve beers all day.

Kölsch
Alpenbrew
India Red Ale
Hop Lava
Black Irish Stout (on nitro)
Porter A-Go-Go
Imperial Chaos Imperial Stout
Nitro Pale (on nitro)
Empire Strikes Back All-English IPA
Devil’s Kriek
Terrible Two Bourbon-Barrel Aged Brown Ale
*Li’l Red Pils ‘09
*Jumpin’ Jack Flash Pub Cider
*Fa La La La La ‘09
*The Vaporizer ‘09 Dry-Hopped Pale Ale

*These last four are one-and-done, we’ll only be tapping one keg of each on Saturday.

2:30pm: We start with a bang: Paris Slim and his band will be kickin’ some killer West Coast blues.

4:30pm: Next up we detour down the country-folk highway with Garrett Brennan and the Great Salt Licks, featuring Lewi Longmire and Paul Brainard (on pedal steel!).
7:00pm: A hot set as always from the incredible one-man supergroup Tony Smiley, with a little help from his friend The Bird. If you’ve never see Tony lay it down, you’re in for a special treat.
9:00pm: We wrap it up with some crucial reggae from Chronicle, a Portland band that knows how to make a party.

As always, the tunes are 100% free. Come early, come often…

Our food offerings for the day will feature our regular fare plus some fresh down-home Mexican food too. Silvia (one of our wonderful servers) asked her mama to make some of her famous tamales and killer salsas. Kitchen jockeys Mark & Jonny Face will be knocking out some tasty tacos too, piled on fresh tortillas from Tortilleria De Leon in Gresham.

A quick reminder that the gig is kid-friendly until 8pm, per OLCC regs. Our big tent will be heated, but bring something warm & dry regardless.

There’s still time to head over to Hood River to enjoy the festivities—you’re only a short hop away if you’re in Portland, and just a couple hours away from Central Oregon and similar.

Oh wait a minute – let me tell you why my plans changed and I drank only GRAND TETON beers on this epic night. Just a few weeks ago I thoughtlessly threw a 12-ounce bottle of their BLACK CAULDRON imperial stout into my cart, and then drank it a couple nights later to “get it out of the way”. I loved it – an awesome, fantastic, big bad aggressive imperial stout. So naturally, I’m curious about this brewer. OK, back to the recap. Here’s what I tried:
LOST CONTINENT OAK-AGED DOUBLE IPA – An understated oak-aged IPA, at least compared with the Southern Tier Unearthly I wrote about earlier in the week. It might be a notch down from that one, but it’s still really, really good. At this point, three beers overall into my exploration of Grand Teton Brewing, I decided that these guys are major alemaking heavyweights. 7.5/10.

Friday’s ad is for Miller High Life featuring the “Girl in the Moon,” which was originally created in the early 1900’s by an unknown artist. The beer itself debuted in 1903 and was advertised with the girl in the moon from the beginning, though to me she looks more like a witch. I think it’s [...]

Yum. Orval-eque. A bit less lavender. A tiny bit of pear from the malt. Lovely. But explosive. The cork flew. The shirt's in the wash.

Help me forget these
Spreadsheets and presentations.
Beer? Yeah, that will work.

Written by Captain Hops.

Thing of the day: The American Brewery: From Colonial Evolution to Microbrew Revolution

Sponsor: How to buy a used car.

Related haiku:

• Advice for the Aftermath
• Near and Dear
• Samuel Adams Double Bock
• Work Stress Reliever
• Tuimato Sauce

A post headlined “Less is More? Are There Too Many Beers?” has provoked quite a conversation about beer distribution on the World Class Beverages blog.

But only one of the comments I noticed addressed what jumped out at me.

Right now, the Brewer’s Association will tell you that there are almost 600 breweries in the United States that bottle, can, keg or otherwise distribute beer. That number doesn’t count the many hundreds of brewpubs that brew beer for sale in their restaurants. In most markets, there are only 2 or 3 beer distributors that will carry and sell craft beer, which leaves a theoretical total of 200 to 300 brewers per distributor in any particular area, not including the wide array of import brands that are currently available.

That would imply that every packaged beer should be available in every market.

Why?

Great Lakes Brewing was founded in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1988 by brothers Patrick and Daniel Conway. It was the first microbrewery in Ohio and has won more awards over the years than most Midwestern brewers.

Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald is a 5.8 percent alcohol by volume brew named for the Great Lakes freighter that sank in 1975, costing a crew of 29 their lives. The brew is a reddish brown color with a thin tan head. There is a rich roasted coffee nose. The flavor is smooth, with a good roasted malt base. The flavor lingers nicely.

After the furor caused by the state police raids on three Philadelphia bars, and a subsequent raid on a beer distributor, there does appear to be a backlash coming. Several people predicted that was one possible outcome — I believe Don and Lew both mentioned it — and now it may indeed be playing out [...]

Please indulge me for a moment as I go off topic, beery news will follow. Regular Bulletin readers will know I’m a huge fan of the late stand-up comedian Bill Hicks, who died in 1994. Even though he’s been gone 16 years, his comedy is as fresh and relevant as it was then, a testament [...]

AVERY DUGANA (I think I’ll start calling it that, Doo-GAHN-ah, just to be annoying) pours a lovely orange/copper color, just like you knew it would. It’s strong and piney like a particular strain of the IPA family should be. So you’re happy, right? Wrong. It’s not “juicy” by any means – in fact, I’d daresay it’s a DRY, almost chalky IPA. Say what? Wait a minute, it even tastes a little bit like aspirin. Yeah, aspirin – a “kiss of death” word for beer. That said, I can still see the appeal here, because it’s got some interesting balance and deep, rich IPA flavor going on. But compared to what I was hoping for? Not so much. 6/10.

Thursday’s ad is for the Spoetzl Brewery, makers of Shiner Bock. Today is their 101st anniversary. This isn’t too old, but I like the concept of it. It has an old-time look and feel to it and it’s part of a larger series that focuses on the actual brewery workers. If you’ve ever been to [...]

Since we’ve been in the Middle East and Afghanistan, we’ve struggled with how to keep our soldiers happy and yet respect local laws and customs. In March of 2006, General Abizaid of the U.S. Central Command, signed General Order No. 1 to help clarify and determine how our men and women fighting overseas are permitted [...]

I hadn't realized that alcohol sales were actually illegal here in Ontario before 11 am until I did a bit of a hospitality training session last year. We are barred from beer and breakfast. I just hadn't been out looking for a mid-moring drink, I guess. Things are different elsewhere. Not only is Britain's oft challenged Wetherspoon chain is serving two hours before that but also is looking to move into the drippy egg market:

'At the moment if you go into a Wetherspoon pub at 9am for breakfast and you want anything alcoholic from a glass of whisky to a pint of beer, we are licensed and we will happily serve you. 'When we go live with 7am opening across all our pubs on April 28, we are very clear that drink cannot be ordered before 9am. This is very much about serving a breakfast and coffee.' He added: 'Only about 1per cent of people who come in at 9am will want an alcoholic drink and we are happy to serve them, why shouldn't we. 'But this is not what we are after, we want to target the breakfast market. 'We get mother and toddler groups who come in for a coffee at the moment. But if they want to have breakfast or nip in after dropping their children at school, they can.

I initially read that as saying "...if they want to have breakfast or a nip..." Sounds good to me as I have a confession. I don't even really have a beer with lunch. I am not concerned about getting drunk as just getting sleepy. It doesn't work for me. But I do like going to a pub at midday and having coffee or a club soda with whatever I am having. Especially during the work week. Especially on a crappy day. If I could go to a bar for a breakfast on the way to work, all the better.

It got me through school
It will get me through the night
Pizza and Yuengling

Written by Captain Hops.

References: Yuengling

Thing of the day: Yuengling: A History of America’s Oldest Brewery

Related haiku:

• Local Beer: Yuengling
• The Wedding
• Local Beer: Capital Brewery
• Simple
• Match

Travis Hasse's Original Pie Liqueurs hail from the Missouri Tavern in Madison, Wisc. The location is famous in Wisconsin for its original owner, Mae Mefford, who was the owner and bartender until she reached 101 years old. The Hasse family now runs the place.

Travis Hasse began making Apple Pie Liqueur at home from a recipe he received from his father. The drink was so popular that in 2008 he launched Travis Hasse's Original Apple Pie Liqueur. It is now distributed in 25 states and Canada. In 2009, Cherry Pie Liqueur was launched. The Cherry Pie Liqueur combines maraschino cherries, vanilla and neutral grain spirits in a 15 percent alcohol by volume liqueur.

The Cherry Pie Martini is three parts Travis Hasse's Original Cherry Pie Liqueur and one part vodka. The color is a translucent candy apple red. The flavor of the cocktail has a upfront tartness with the sweetness of maraschino cherries spilling through. If you would like a liquid dessert, this martini is a good place to start.

Yesterday on Don Russell’s Beer Radar, he had the basic information on a second raid by the PLCB and Pennsylvania State Troopers. As promised, a fuller account was published today, with additional reporting by Bob Warner, in the Philadelphia Daily News. Here’s the account, entitled In Another Raid, State Police Hit Beer Distributor, Origlio’s, in [...]

Iowa Gov. Chet Culver has signed a bill that allow Iowa breweries to make and sell beers up to 12% alcohol by volume. Out of state breweries were already selling these stronger beers in Iowa, but in-state breweries were restricted to a 5% abv. A movement for Iowa Beer Equality arose to remove the competitive disadvantage Iowa breweries faced. The passing of SF 2088 now allows Iowa brewers to sell many more styles of beer.

To celebrate Olde Main Brewing in Ames will let customers pick the first strong beer the brewpub offers. “We’ve been getting a lot of questions on what will be the first high proof beer we brew,” Olde Main’s Jill Haverkamp said, “so we are planning to let the people decide by doing a poll.” Customers can vote at the brewery’s website.

The Sioux City Journal surveyed other breweries via email to see what they had planned. The responses:

Rock Bottom Brewery, Des Moines – New Era Barleywine, Belgo India Pale Ale, an imperial stout and an imperial red ale.

Granite City Food and Brewery, locations in Des Moines, Cedar Rapids and Davenport – “We have an IPA that we distribute to all our 26 restaurants, but since we have three in Iowa, we have always brewed it to the Iowa limit,” brewmaster Cory O’Neel said. “We will tweak the recipe to where it always should have been.”

Old Man River Brewing Co., McGregor – A doppelbock. “I’m looking forward to giving it a go,” brewer Jacob Simmons said.

Worth Brewing Co., Northwood – “A strong Belgian ale is a definite,” said brewer Peter Ausenhus. “I am also very excited about brewing a proper English old ale and some authentic German bocks.”

Raccoon River Brewing Co., Des Moines – “I currently make a double hopped version of our Bandit IPA called Bandito Loco, that I’m looking forward into making a true double IPA” said brewer David Coy.

Wednesday’s ad is for a presumably short-lived New York City brewery, Brewer’s Best Associates, Inc., which was located at 620 Fifth Avenue. The ad for their Pilsener Beer is from 1947. The normally authoritative American Breweries II doesn’t even have a listing for the brewery, which is odd. It’s the first time I’ve looked up [...]

This is a really interesting tripel. Not a just a candi sugar bomb, there's a lot of earthiness in there. Not funk. Earth.

It's made by the same folk at Two Brothers Brewing who made that Domaine DuPage I had last fall. It doesn't show on their website but, then again, this page was last updated on 14 April 2009. It pours a swell aged pine with a rim of white. On the nose pale malty sweetness meets loam. Not dirt. Loam. In the mouth pear juice, a bit of white pepper and twiggy pine herbs like rosemary. The label says "we brew it from pilsner malt, candy sugar and some very non-traditional hop choices." It's almost like cross between Findu Monde by Unibroue and a biere de garde like 3 Monts. A beer for a rib-eye steak.

There is some yeast sediment in the neck. I have no idea what that means as it's been upright in the stash for months. Hefty at 8.5%. Value priced at 5.99 a bomber in South Bend, Indiana. BAers show respect but not the love. I like it plenty.

I probably shouldn’t speak for you, but this is certainly my worst nightmare. I tweeted this yesterday, but thought it still deserving of a snarky comment again today. Somewhere near Manchester, England is the Alcohol-Free Shop, a store dedicated to all things non-alcoholic. They carry non-alcoholic beer, wine, cider, ready-made cocktails and celebration drinks. They [...]

Thirty five thousand
Feet above the ground so small
Alaskan amber

Written by Glyn and Mary.

References: The author was pleased to see that Alaska Air serves Alaskan Amber on their flights.

Thing of the day: Good Beer Guide West Coast USA: Including Las Vegas, Alaska and Hawaii (Good Beer Guides)

Sponsor: How to buy a new car.

Related haiku:

• I Love Alaska
• Key West Sunset Celebration
• Leaving on a jet plane…
• Chain of Events
• Snowmaching Over Open Water

Rocca Vineyards is based in Yountville, Calif. Winemaker Celia Welch Masyczek aged the juice of four grapes in separate French oak barrels in preparing this wine.

Bad Boy Red 2007 is a Napa Valley Bordeaux-blend that contains 40 percent cabernet sauvignon, 33 percent cabernet franc, 17 percent merlot and 10 percent petit verdot. The 14.5 percent alcohol by volume wine pours a bright ruby red. The aroma has a ripe fruit tone and then opens with a smooth, silky mouthfeel. The wine overall has black raspberries up front and then quickly goes deep and dry with a healthy amount of tannins.

Grupo Modelo is the largest beer company in Mexico, and their most popular beer, of course, is Corona. For many years, Anheuser-Busch has owned a non-controlling 50% share of the company, but after the InBev merger they own 50.2% but only 49.3% voting. And I think they’ve been coveting control for a long, long time [...]

Pennsylvania’s beer scene appears on the brink of martial law, with the state police last night raiding one of the distributors who carries some of the beer confiscated earlier this week, such as Duvel. Don Russell has posted to his Beer Radar blog what is known so far, and promises to have a fuller account [...]

The brewers at BrewDog have made a list of their six favorite (our should that be favourite?) hops. You can see why co-founder James Watt has said, “We like to think of what we do as U.S.-inspired Scottish craft brewing.”

1. Chinook
2. Amarillo
3. Nelson Sauvin
4. Bramling Cross
5. Simcoe
6. First Gold

Three hops grown in the U.S. Northwest (Chinook, Amarillo and Simcoe), two in the U.K. (Bramling Cross and First Gold) and one from New Zealand. Nelson Sauvin, released only in 2000, seems to be a hop du jour.

Its character has been likened to Sauvignon Blanc, the grape and wine variety, and New Zealand Hops Limited emphasizes its cutting edge attributes.

From the brewer’s notes: “The fruitiness may be a little overpowering for the un-initiated, however those with a penchant for bold hop character will find several applications for this true brewer’s hop.”

And from the suggested applications: “Very much at home in the new-world styles such as American Pale Ale and Super Premiums. This hop is considered by some as extreme and certainly makes it presence felt in specialty craft and seasonal beers gaining an international reputation.”

 

Pints for Prostates, a campaign that uses the universal language of beer to reach men with a critical health message, is expanding its efforts in 2010. The grassroots effort is scheduling events across the country and is working on programs that will communicate the importance of regular prostate health screenings and early detection in successfully treating prostate cancer.

“Pints for Prostates is being adopted by the beer community. It’s great to see brewers, retailers, publications and festivals joining the campaign,” said Rick Lyke, a 49-year-old Charlotte, N.C., marketing executive and drinks journalist who had successful prostate cancer surgery in April 2008. “Every week nearly 4,000 men in the U.S. hear the words ‘you have prostate cancer.’ The key for these guys is detecting the disease in its early stages when treatment is nearly 100 percent successful. Pints for Prostates mission is to encourage guys to get an annual physical and have a PSA blood test.”

Since being launched in late 2008, Pints for Prostates has reached approximately 80 million people through a combination of donated advertising, news articles, appearances at beer festivals, and coverage on websites and blogs. In 2009, program was featured at the Livestrong Global Cancer Summit in Dublin, Ireland, and profiled on CNN’s Vital Signs program hosted by Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

Pints for Prostates has registered as a 501(c)3 charity and the funds it raises support programs that assist men with prostate cancer and to fund research aimed at improving care and finding a cure for the disease. Since its inception, Pints for Prostates has raised more than $50,000 to assist the Us TOO International Prostate Cancer Education and Support Network, a 501(c)3 charity founded in 1990 that works to support, educate and advocate for men with prostate cancer and their families.

So far in 2010, Pints for Prostates has confirmed participation in the following events:

March 1-30: The Ale House, 3744 Vestal Parkway East in Vestal, N.Y., is hosting a month long awareness campaign.
March 13, 2-6 p.m.: The grapevine Beertopia Festival, 1012 Market St. in Fort Mill, S.C., will donate $1 from every ticket sold and Pints for Prostates will have a booth at the event.
March 20, 3-6 p.m.: The Liberty, 1812 South Blvd., Charlotte, N.C., will host the Beasts of the East Big Beer Tasting as part of Charlotte Craft Beer Week. The Liberty will donate $5 from every ticket sold and Pints for Prostates will have a booth at the event.
April 10, 11:30 a.m. to 11 p..m.: Mr. Dunderbak’s Biergarten, 14929 Bruce B. Downs Blvd., Tampa, Fla., will donate a portion of the day’s sales and Pints for Prostates will have a booth at the event.
April 17, 9 a.m. to 12 a.m.: Fish Tale Brew Pub, 515 Jefferson St. SE, Olympia, Wash., will donate a portion of the day’s sales and Pints for Prostates will have a booth at the event.
April 24, Noon-4 p.m. and 6 to 10 p.m.: World Beer Festival, Moore Square, Raleigh, N.C. Pints for Prostates will have a booth at the event.
June 12, Noon-4 p.m. and 6 to 10 p.m.: World Beer Festival, Brown’s Island, Richmond, Va. Pints for Prostates will have a booth at the event.
June 16, 6-9 p.m.: Pike Brewing, 1415 1st Ave., Seattle, Wash., will donate a portion of the day’s sales and Pints for Prostates will have a booth at the event.
Sept. 17, 1-4 p.m.: Denver Rare Beer Tasting II, Denver, Colo.
Oct 2nd: World Beer Festival, Durham Bulls Athletic Park, Durham, N.C. Pints for Prostates will have a booth at the event.

Additional events are being booked and information will be listed shortly at www.pintsforprostates.org.

About Pints for Prostates
Pints for Prostates, a campaign that uses the universal language of beer to encourage men to take charge of their health, was founded by prostate cancer survivor Rick Lyke in 2008. The grassroots effort raises awareness among men of the importance of regular health screenings and PSA testing by making appearances at beer festivals, social networking and pro bono advertising. Pints for Prostates supports the Us TOO International Prostate Cancer Education and Support Network, a 501(c)3 charity that works to support, educate and advocate for men with prostate cancer and their families. More information is available at www.pintsforprostates.org. Pints for Prostates also has a presence on Facebook and Twitter (@pints4prostates).

Tuesday’s ad is for Stag Beer, whose original name was “Kaiser Beer” until 1907. In an effort to avoid growing anti-German sentiment, Star Brewing held a contest to pick a new name. A winner was chosen today in 1907, and the beer was renamed “Stag Beer.” It proved a very popular name. The ad below [...]

Fort George Brewery over in Astoria, Oregon, is busy this month: not only are they celebrating their third birthday coming up on March 14th, they’re also holding a contest to suggest their next new beer. From their blog:

We here at Fort George take being a Public House very seriously. It has been because of our great customers that we have been able to grow and better our business and for that, we would like to give back. Fort George Brewery would like your ideas for a new beer that could be made in our brewery. If you would like to see a new style of beer, would like us to try something new with our beers, or have a recipe of your own that you would like to see pouring at Fort George, submit an entry and it could end up being brewed!

All beer entries must be able to be made with our American Ale Yeast or our Belgian yeast. The beer selected will be based on quality, creativity, availability of ingredients, and by how delicious it sounds. You may submit as many entries as you like but only one beer will be chosen.

Click through to the blog to get the details on how to submit your beer idea. You have until April 10th to get your entry in.

Finally a night
To drink beer and grill it up
Without shivering

Written by Captain Hops.

Thing of the day: Weber Summit S-420 NG Gas Grill – Stainless Steel

Related haiku:

• Perfect Timing
• Some Things Are Worth It
• We’re Grillin’ Now
• It’s Always Grilling Weather
• Some things are worth it

Wow. A Pub Minister for Britain! Great! Has he got a Ministry staffed with people who do work? No... but he has a ministerial task force, drawing on five Whitehall departments. Is he actually given the time and resources to make change? Well, there is that thing coming up... that election. The Daily Mail notes:

A new government will be in place in less than 12 weeks, Labour or not, and Chancellor Darling is expected to unveil the last Budget of this parliament on March 23. This isn't time enough for Healey to win a campaign to Save the British pub.

If this was such a great idea, why didn't the UK government introduce it in the previous 675 or so weeks since they gained power? Right now they trail in the polls by 5% to 7% but, to be fair, that is half of what they were behind by at Christmas. And is he the man for the job? While 5 or 6 pubs are closing a day 130 families lose their homes a day in the UK. Healey, who is also Minister of Housing, has described repossession as 'the best option' for struggling homeowners according to The Daily Mail.

Sure, it's just politics heading into a tough election but that is the point - it's just politics heading into a tough election.

How cool is this. The UK government has just created a new Ministry — similar to our cabinet positions — The Ministry for Pubs. Wentworth MP John Healey was named the firs Minister, and he had the following to say about his appointment. “Pubs are often at the heart of community life. And they are important [...]

Bear Republic Brewing in California has been making Rebellion ale using a different single hop with each batch. So far at least 8 hop varieties have been used.

“Some we come back to that we like, while others we don’t want to revisit,” says Paul Kruger, head brewer at Bear Republic Brewing. “It gives us a chance to take a peek at what the flavor of hops is all about. It’s sort of a controlled experiment. The beers have been remarkably different.”

“We’re not striving for the same exact flavor year to year, we just want to make the best possible beer,” Kruger says. “We will adjust the amount of hops in each batch of Rebellion to achieve our target of 55 IBUs.”

Bear Republic Rebellion is a 6.4 percent alcohol by volume ale. The beer we tasted was hopped with Warrior. The brew is a golden orange color and had a nice spicy nose. The flavor was well rounded, with nice citrus notes.

The roundup for Session #37 has been posted (hmm, seems a little sparse; I don’t see mine or several others I remember reading listed there yet…) and the topic for The Session #38 for April has been announced:

With Kate the Great Day a recent memory and the day of the Dark Lord fast approaching, I started thinking about what beer or beers that I would get up at 4:00 in the morning, drive across state lines, stand in a long unmoving line in the cold and rain for the chance to taste with a crowd the size of Woodstock.

So here is my question to you (with a couple addendums).

What beer have you tasted recently (say, the last six months or so) that is worthy of their own day in the media sun?

And to add a little extra to it, how does “great” expectations affect your beer drinking enjoyment?

AND If you have attended one of these release parties, stories and anecdotes of your experience will be welcomed too.

The host for April is Beer Search Party. The usual rules apply: publish your Session blog post on Friday, April 2nd, and shoot an email or leave a comment on the host blog. And be sure to read all the others posts that day, too—putting the “group” in “group blogging” you know.

Monday’s ad is for Schlitz Malt Liquor. I don’t ever remember the can looking so, well, stylish so I have to guess this is from the 60s? The pull-top is another clue, of course, as Schlitz introduced what they called the “pop-top” in 1963. Plus the stylized art looks rather bachelor pad circa mid-60s, too. [...]

In a scene straight out of a deranged adult version of Willy Wonka, the beer waterfall on the belated birthday card below arrived in my mailbox today. The card was primarily the work of my friends Ray and Cornelia, both Beer Drinkers of the Year in separate years. But they took it along with them to [...]

Ah, bullet points. When you haven't got enough for a post there's always enough for bullet points. They are the putting green to a round of 18. The hot dog to the BBQ. But enough of my lazy blogger admissions and let's see what is going on out there:

• Craft beer in the US had another good year in 2009 according to the trade association, Brewers Association. Apparently, craft brewers sold 9,115,635 barrels of good beer. The Brewer's Association works with an annual production of less than 2 million barrels. So does this mean when the next brewer goes over the 2 million barrel mark that we will get a press release stating that there has been a 20% drop in craft beer sales? Sam Adam's PA plant has about that much capacity alone. So, that'll happen soon, right?
• Speaking of the state both south and west of New York, I hear that there's been some hoosegow raids down in Pennsylvania.Brewer's may be getting a chill. Lew's smoking mad. Jack's losing it. Andy makes a valid point, however. I wonder what would happen in Ontario of un-permitted beers were being sold? Likely a license suspension. Yet it does seem like a silly law.
• Ticker alert: Guam now has locally-branded beer. Everyone else: as you were.
• I don't understand the panic at the Beer Wars blog. Unless it's a dead cat bounce. Even a dead cat will bounce if you drop it from far enough. It's a stock market phrase. But I don't think this is really a dead cat bounce at all as this is the point: "The choice is yours. You can keep complaining about what’s wrong with the film (don’t get me started on Avatar) or you can embrace it (flaws and all) and help spread the word about craft beer to a whole new audience." Actually, no - I don't have to make that choice. I can ignore the work, however well intentioned, as an ineffective advocate for the cause. But is it?
• Perhaps Pennsylvania needs true leaders of vision like the UK's Gareth Epps, candidate Liberal Democratic Party for Reading East. He declared "I am proud to be speaking up for community pubs, local brewers and consumers." Hmmm... is that actually possible? Can one stand up for corner stores, the local bakers and bread eaters? Maybe you can. I would also like to point out that he works for a major infrastructure project, specialising in community consultation and I have no idea what that means.

That's a fair bit going on for a quiet late winter night. It's not all quiet. Ron's off somewhere at a festival where he is drinking stouts and lambics. Sounds alright by me.

The Brewers Association released the 2009 numbers for craft beer today, and I’m happy to report it’s good news again. While mainstream beer recently reported their largest negative sales period since the 1950s, craft beer in 2009 was up 7.2% by volume and 10.3% by dollars over the previous year. According to the press release, [...]

Weyerbacher Brewing was founded in 1995 by Dan and Sue Weirback. They got the idea for the project after visiting Vermont's Long Trail Brewing in 1993.

If you are looking for a simple basic beer, you should skip Weyerbacher. These guys brew big beers. High gravity beers are part of their standard offerings. Full flavor is a good description of just about everything that passes through the Weyerbacher brewhouse.

Weyerbacher Fireside Ale is a dark mahogany ale that was originally part of Weyerbacher’s Brewers Select Series. The brew was called "Charlie" back then. The Pennsylvania brewer uses 10 percent smoked malt as part of the grain bill, giving this ale a subtle smoky base. The 7.5 percent alcohol by volume brew has a nice solid malty sweetness.

The Brewers Association today announced that craft beers sales grew 7.2% in 2009 as the same time that overall beer sales tumbled. The dollar value of craft beer grew even more dramatically, 10.3%. Overall, craft brewers sold 613,992 additional barrels in 2009, an increase equal to about 8.5 million cases.

Overall, U.S. beer sales were down approximately 5 million barrels (31 gallons each) in 2009.

“Beer lovers continue to find great value and enjoyment in fuller flavored craft beers,” Brewers Association director Paul Gatza said for a press release. “Americans have an increasing appreciation of craft beers, and the growing number of brewers behind them. They’re eager to try the latest seasonal release and to sample a variety of beers from different breweries.”

Craft brewers, as defined by the BA, accounted for 4.3% of volume and 6.9% of retail dollars for the total U.S. beer category. The BA estimates actual dollar sales figure from craft brewers in 2009 was $7 billion, up from $6.3 billion in 2008.

The total number of U.S. craft brewers grew from 1,485 to 1,542 in 2009, and they produced 9,115,635 barrels, up from 8,501,713 barrels in 2008. Overall U.S. beer sales fell from approximately 210.4 million barrels to 205.8 million barrels.

SOUTHERN TIER OAK-AGED UNEARTHLY is truly all about the oakiness. You smell it, you taste the wood, and it lingers on the top of your mouth for a few heartbeats past the swallow. A very crisp beer, OAK-AGED UNEARTHLY brings forward the piney hops, and layers in a sweet undercurrent and a thin-to-medium body. If the sweetness is coming from the 11% alcohol, I can’t tell, but it would stand to reason. Again, it’s more oaky than it is hoppy, and really “renders” like a finely aged beer. Didn’t think you could do it this well with an IPA. I don’t know what else to say, folks. When you’re on a winning streak this hot the way SOUTHERN TIER are, why would you even listen to a piker like myself? Another flat-out superb beer from one of our nation’s best. 9/10.

If this doesn’t make you shudder, you’ve got eisbock running through your veins. It appears the Volstead Act is alive and well in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. According to an account of Pennsylvania’s Beer Storm Troopers entitled Troopers Raid Popular Bars for Unlicensed Beers, by Don Russell, with Bob Warner, earlier today in the Philadelphia [...]

Sean Inman has posted the theme for The Session #38. With Dark Lord Day 2010 right around the corner you should be able to figure out what he is aiming for.

What beer have you tasted recently (say, the last six months or so) that is worthy of their own day in the media sun?

And to add a little extra to it, how do “great” expectations affect your beer drinking enjoyment?

AND If you have attended one of these release parties, stories and anecdotes of your experience will be welcomed too.

“Was the beer worth it?” and “Was the experience worth it?” might be two different questions.

This beer reminds me
Of the ones that I used to
Seduce your mother

Written by Sparky.

Thing of the day: Beer Mug Checkers Set w/ Frosted Glass Board

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Related haiku:

• Worth It
• If At First
• Brewery Tour
• Fault
• Bad Magician