December 2006
Stouts: The Week Of Ten Stouts
Posted by on Sunday, December 31, 2006 in - 14 comments
I've written about plenty of stouts before but never a collection this big: imperial stouts, imperial extra double stout and just plain stouts, from four US states as well as Quebec, England and Australia. Stout has experienced a great diversification in its sub-styles through the explosion of …
Richard Boston, 67, Beer Writer And Eccentric
Posted by on Sunday, December 31, 2006 in - leave a comment
I have just read that Richard Boston, one of the founders of the great river of interest in good beer (upon which this small blog plays the role of tiny canoe) passed away a few days before Christmas: • “Richard Boston, founder of one of Britain's first environmental magazines and a proponent of …
Best Beer Headine Of 2006
Posted by on Saturday, December 30, 2006 in - leave a comment
There are a lot of ugly headlines about dumb and nasty things done with some passing connection to beer. Then there are others that make you smile: • “Thirsty German sells beagle to buy beer • A thirsty German sold his 6-year-old step-daughter's pet beagle to the owner of a bar to pay for beer …
Best Of Beer In 2006 Contest
Posted by on Friday, December 29, 2006 in - leave a comment
OK, we floated the idea of the best of 2006 a little while ago but if I know one thing about beer blog readers, I know they love their swag. I was lucky enough to have lunch yesterday with Peter Bryant, COO of the Sackets Harbor Brewing, maker of one of my favorite ales, Thousand Island Pale Ale …
Review: BrewingKB
Posted by on Friday, December 29, 2006 in - leave a comment
I have received another request through the good folks at ReviewMe to have a look at a beer related website and let you know about it for a fee. We like this - as it keeps the stash nicely stocked. • So what is BrewingKB? This website answers: • “We get asked this all the time - KB stands for …
Quick Note: Double Wheat, Middle Ages, Syracuse, NY
Posted by on Thursday, December 28, 2006 in - 3 comments
The 11th anniversary release from one of my favorite brewers in the eastern Lake Ontario region, Middle Ages Brewing of Syracuse, NY. You can read about my long term relationship with this brewer under some of the links you can find here. • This beer pours a golden straw with a massive frothy … read more »
The Beer Prayer
Posted by on Wednesday, December 27, 2006 in - 2 comments
Steve Hales, a professor with the Department of Philosophy at Bloomsburg University in Pennsylvania and editor of the upcoming Beer and Philosophy forwarded this prayer - which is most apt, what with the wishes that go along with the upcoming New Year's Eve events and the inevitable remorse that …
CNY Brewfest Is Coming!
Posted by on Wednesday, December 27, 2006 in - 22 comments
I got this bit of important news in the email this morning from reader Todd R. in the Syracuse area: • “A while back you e-mailed me asking for details on the • CNY brewfest. This info was on the Syracuse.com web • site this morning: • “CNY Brewfest • The 11th annual Central New York …
Excellent Holiday Safety Idea
Posted by on Monday, December 25, 2006 in - 2 comments
I love a good sensible idea. When you think about it, a little more preventative reminding could actually save lives: • “Eager to combat drunken driving during the holidays, police are distributing pint glasses embossed with the logo of the Bennington Police Department to bars and restaurants …
Best Of 2006?
Posted by on Saturday, December 23, 2006 in - 6 comments
With just a handful of days in 2006 left, it is time to consider the year and what it has brought to us all in the way of things beery. • I do have some idea as to my favorite new shop, the most interesting new beer and the favorite book - but what have your surprises been? What festival was the …
Hair Of The Dog: Project Salvation
Posted by on Saturday, December 23, 2006 in - 3 comments
OK - so the issues are being worked out. And I had one Doggie Claws last night and it was infanticide, loverly but really under carbonated and cloudy. It struck me like a homebrew that I popped at two weeks rather than waiting for five to pass before I invaded its space. As a result, we are going …
Hair Of The Dog: A Couple of Difficult Cases
Posted by on Thursday, December 21, 2006 in - 12 comments
This may turn out to be an epic. It may end in tears. Whatever it is you can click on each picture for a bigger image. • In the early fall - actually on September 28th 2006 just after noon - I jumped into my first LCBO private order, two cases from Hair of the Dog brewery in Portland Oregon … read more »
Have You The Oldest Beer In Your Basement?
Posted by on Thursday, December 21, 2006 in - 18 comments
My kind sponsors at Worthington's White Shield have a fascinating contest going on right now: • “Worthington White Shield has have launched a national search together with the Campaign for Real Ale to find Britain's oldest bottle of beer. The owner of Britain's oldest unopened bottle of beer … read more »
Knut Goes To The British National Archives
Posted by on Wednesday, December 20, 2006 in - 1 comment
It is Monday morning, late November, and I luckily found a tattered umbrella at my bed and breakfast in North London before setting out for my destination. This is the (British) National Archives in Kew, five minute's walk from Kew Gardens tube station. There is a greasy spoon type of cafe next to …
Quick Note: Gavroche, Saint-Sylvestre, France
Posted by on Tuesday, December 19, 2006 in - 4 comments
In some respects I'm a rather conservative sort of chap when it comes to certain aspects of my beer drinking. I believe that there are certain sorts of beer that are better consumed at the right time of year. It's rare that you get a beer for all seasons. On a hot summer's day there's nothing … read more »
A Simple Request
Posted by on Sunday, December 17, 2006 in - 6 comments
Sometimes when you review the news about beer and law you are struck with how simple some of the obstacles to success are. Usually we focus on the multiple layers of taxation or the rules on where you can have a beer - my favorite repeal being the one in Nova Scotia until the 1980s that forbid you …
The Week of He'brew
Posted by on Friday, December 15, 2006 in - leave a comment
OK, probably a weekend of He'Brew. But what a perfect one for it with the holidays upon us. I have to apologize for the picture, flashy and all as it is. Look at last year's single find of He'Brew 9 - that is a heck of a photo of a beer bottle. • What I like about this brewer is that, aside from …
Canadian Christmas Breakfast Beer?
Posted by on Thursday, December 14, 2006 in - 8 comments
Britain's CAMRA apparently has a great idea for this Yule - start early. As part of their "Christmas Cheer With Beer" campaign they include suggestions for different meals including this one: • “BREAKFAST: Smoked salmon and scrambled eggs • TRY: An English style wheat beer • WHY: The beer …
From the Farmhouse: Biere Nouvelle, St Sylvestre, France.
Posted by on Wednesday, December 13, 2006 in - 3 comments
Actually in full "Biere Nouvelle 2006, Brasserie De St-Sylvestre, St-Sylvestre, Cappel, France." A biere de garde 8% strong beer on lees from Marché Jovi in Gatineau, Quebec for the nutty price of $5.79 for 750 ml. • Deep-varnished-pine-coloured ale under a massively mountainous light tan head …
Posted by on Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Book Review: <i>A History of Beer and Brewing</i>, Ian S. Hornsey
Posted by on Tuesday, December 12, 2006 in - 4 comments
I have been working thought my review copy of this 632 page paperback published by the Royal Society of Chemistry for the best part of a month now. It is fascinating. Likely the best book on beer I have ever read. Clear, comprehensive and incredibly well-researched, this book contextualized beer …
Two North-East US Winter Ales
Posted by on Monday, December 11, 2006 in - 3 comments
You thought I was going to title this A Tale of Two Winters or something all Dickensy like that, right? Well, I didn't. Sometimes you just have to set aside the Dickens and move on. These are two brews from two of my favorite smaller breweries within striking range of my place, Winterizer from the …
Beer Food: Chimay Cheese With Ale
Posted by on Sunday, December 10, 2006 in - 8 comments
I picked this cheese up the other day, beer washed with beer. As I understand it, to make a rind a cheese has to be washed every few days - usually with salt water but sometimes with other stuff. This cheese is washed with Chimay ale according to the cheeseman I bought it off of. The monks appear …
Review: Homebrew 4U
Posted by on Sunday, December 10, 2006 in - leave a comment
I received as nice email this weekend from Dave, who is involved with a new British homebrew supply shop on the internet, Homebrew 4U: • “Thanks for accepting to write a review of my site, www.homebrew4u.co.uk. We are a new site (5 weeks old) and are starting out with a small range of products …
Stash Renewal Mission Accomplished
Posted by on Saturday, December 9, 2006 in - 3 comments
The things I do for beer. Yet by doing so, the stash grows. • Yesterday, I drove down to Ithaca New York to hit Finger Lake Beverages and hit it hard with all that good sponsorship funding the good people to the left forwarded recently. I hope that the direct relationship between that and this …
Quick Note: 2006 Vintage Ale, Fuller's, London, England
Posted by on Thursday, December 7, 2006 in - 6 comments
This one is being peddled at the LCBO right now for $6.50 for 500 ml. Nice packaging. This is bottle #65180. I have another 2006 hidden away with a 2005. Why? Because I am a nerd. • Tan frothy head over caramel ale. On the nose, just malt sweetness. Rich. Plenty of grain texture all in all and … read more »
Book Review: Ambitious Brew, Maureen Ogle
Posted by on Wednesday, December 6, 2006 in - 3 comments
I am of two minds about this book. On the one hand it mainly discusses a topic that has not been much written about - the establishment of the macro brewing business within the USA from its first years in the Mid-west German immigrant community to the great days in the 1950s of little taste in …
Paul Goes To A Winter Beer Festival
Posted by on Tuesday, December 5, 2006 in - leave a comment
Before we set off to the Dove Street Inn winter beer festival in Ipswich, my friend who I attend most beer festivals with, and for the purposes of this article we shall call John, had insisted that it was a pub that we had been to before. I had no recollection of this. As soon as I got there I …
What Should I Buy This Yule?
Posted by on Monday, December 4, 2006 in - 17 comments
Weather willing, I am off for a central New York beer quest later in the week, the sort of run to get the stash into good shape for the long winter months ahead. I have been looking around various beer review websites as well as looking back at various winter and Christmas beer posts of the past …
Belgium: The Week Of Brouwerij St. Bernardus
Posted by on Sunday, December 3, 2006 in - 4 comments
These five bottles have been sitting around since this time last year when they formed a gift pack offered as part of the LCBO Christmas selection. I trust they have traveled through the last twelve months well as they range from 6.7% to 10.5%. • These beers are made commercially so are "Abbey" …
Santa's Butt Banned In Maine
Posted by on Saturday, December 2, 2006 in - leave a comment
I received word of this news from Chris Hadden, a beer label designer from Portland Maine: • “On Thursday, the Maine Civil Liberties Union Foundation filed a lawsuit claiming government censorship after the Maine Bureau of Liquor Enforcement refused to allow Massachusetts-based Shelton Bros. to …
Beery Travels and Books
Posted by on Saturday, December 2, 2006 in - 3 comments
It's good to be back and I have some beers I want to tell you about. But first just a word about what I've been up to. Shortly after my last post here I hopped on an airplane for England where I spent the better part of the month of September wandering from pub to pub collecting life experience … read more »
Posted by on Friday, December 1, 2006
