June 2007
Quick Note: Don de Dieu, Unibroue, Quebec, Canada
Posted by on Friday, June 29, 2007 - leave a comment
Picked up at Marche Jovi last time I was there for a ridiculously low price like $4.50 a bomber. A 9% Belgian Strong Pale ale that all but 1% of BAers love. • Cooled in the basement sink, this beer is either burnished gold or aged pine but in any case sits under a fine white froth and rim. The …
About Oaked Beer: Stan Notes A Trend
Posted by on Friday, June 29, 2007 in - leave a comment
Stan over at Appellation Beer notes a noting of the trend to beer that spends some time on the wood: • “It’s one line in a two-page spread - so the impact won’t be the same as if Oprah were to declare her love for IPAs (headlines across the the country scream, “Hops Sales Soar Through The Ozone …
Sour Beer Studies: Duchesse De Bourgogne, Verhaeghe, BE
Posted by on Thursday, June 28, 2007 in - 2 comments
Why did I pick another Flemish Red so early on in these Sour Beer Studies? I think I am still wary of those dry lambics in the stash and Stonch has spoken so highly of the style that I thought what the heck. • First thing to note is that is this a beer that was kept on the wood as well so could …
Book Review: Pub Games Of England by Timothy Finn
Posted by on Wednesday, June 27, 2007 in - leave a comment
This finally came from Amazon.co.uk after ordering it not long after mid-February, right around when I decided to create The Pub Game Project. The roaring silence that followed was lesson enough that this book was very much needed in the library. • And what a treat it is. Now I can trick the …
About Oaked Beer: Musette, Allagash, Portland, Maine
Posted by on Tuesday, June 26, 2007 in - 1 comment
Along with the Sour Beer Studies, there are other classes of beers that set themselves apart in some way other than reflecting traditional styles. Brewers are reintroducing techniques like beer on the wood to explore the limits of what beer can be and we'll look at them in this series. Dave Line … read more »
Bob Asks A Good Question About Dutch Beer
Posted by on Tuesday, June 26, 2007 in - 2 comments
We all know the story of India Pale Ale but Bob asks in the comments whether the Dutch ever did a similar thing: • “Bob Schneider [11:37 PM June 25, 2007] • bob.blustar@gmail.com • http://brewersonthelake.com • I realise that this is a review of a book but I was wondering if you could …
A Blog Of Great Potential Is Born Today!
Posted by on Monday, June 25, 2007 in - 3 comments
I got word from Ron Pattison of the extremely excellent European Beer Guide that he has started a blog. In his initial post he considers his lot in life, the prospect of blogging and especially his relation to the masses of beery information he has amassed and fell in love with through the years …
The "Craft" Beer Debate
Posted by on Sunday, June 24, 2007 in - 4 comments
There is nothing slacker than a blogger blogging about what another blog is blogging about. But I am compelled this weekend by the advance in thought about "craft beer" that Lew Bryson has, characteristically, trigged and Stonch has expanded upon in relation to UK brewing. Just as Hobbes's …
Big Hop Bombs: Is Saranac Imperial IPA The Best Value In Beer?
Posted by on Saturday, June 23, 2007 in - 4 comments
I popped over the border yesterday with the family for a US shopping spree. Nothing over the top but seeing as we have Watertown NY, a neighbouring a small US City with a college league baseball team, a place with good ribs, a mall with good hoodies for 15 bucks and a 94 cent dollar, why not …
Gary Tries Hurricane Kitty, Keegan Ales, Hudson Valley, NY
Posted by on Friday, June 22, 2007 in - 2 comments
At four yesterday afternoon, the radio said there was a tornado in Tompkins County, NY, 20 miles west and headed my way. This is NY, not Kansas, but the sky had that boiling look and the rain and hail and wind started, and I battened down the hatches and unplugged everything. It was a whopper of a …
Belgium: Brune, St. Feuillien, Le Roeulx
Posted by on Thursday, June 21, 2007 in - leave a comment
This is a very interesting brew and from a new brewer for me. Like a dubbel mixed with Orval. There is all the malty burlap, brown sugary, date and fig of a beer like Ommegang (plus some vanilla and black cherry of its own) but then there is also the limey lavender that I associate with some of … read more »
Chris Hits A Lobster Boil And Beer Bash In Toronto
Posted by on Wednesday, June 20, 2007 in - 4 comments
I sent a correspondent, Chris Taylor, on a secret mission last week to find out if beer and lobster actually do go together. He carried out his task in fine style as his report shows. Note earlier posts on the two beers mentioned here and here. • +++++++ • Alan graciously invited this …
Hey Joe! Joe In China!
Posted by on Wednesday, June 20, 2007 in - leave a comment
No, not you...the Joe who writes here once in a while... • Send me an email, woudja: beerblog at gmail dot calm.
Josh Finds Kolsch On Tap In North Carolina
Posted by on Tuesday, June 19, 2007 in - 6 comments
For my wife's last Friday working downtown we decided to pop into the Raleigh Times Bar after she got off work. This bar is one of the trendy new establishments that have sprung up as a result of Raleigh's initiative to revitalize downtown. Housed in the headquarters of the now extinct Raleigh …
Further Adventures In Hefeweizening
Posted by on Monday, June 18, 2007 in - 11 comments
Not so much about the hefe as making the hefe. Maybe this is something everyone does and you are all holding out but if you take the brew kettle, stick the primary carboy into it and put both into the laundry sink and run cold water into the kettle, you seem to have a mechanism for quick cooling …
Respect Your Hefeweizen
Posted by on Monday, June 18, 2007 in - 9 comments
Like Stonch, I have been adding to my relationship with beer through running a nano-brewery in the kitchen. While I have no beer cam (yet), it's great fun as brewing gets you close to the ingredients and give you some insights into what craft brewers are doing and doing for you. • So I ordered a …
Aussies Cry Out For Beer During Emergency
Posted by on Sunday, June 17, 2007 in - 2 comments
You have to love Australians: • “When flooding cut off the New South Wales town of Hinton, in the heart of Hunter Valley wine country, its residents sent out an SOS. Their need was urgent. Amid the rising water levels they found themselves more than a little dry. But it was not a consignment of …
Sour Beer Studies: Oudbeitje Lambic, Hanssens, Belgium
Posted by on Friday, June 15, 2007 in - leave a comment
Oddly, a 750 ml label on a 375 ml bottle. The brewer tells us that this is a strawberry lambic, with the fruit sitting in the beer from one summer to the next spring. The importer gives a proportion of 1 kg of strawberries to every 4 litres. BAers warn that this is extremely sour but upon opening …
Knut Invents The Beery Jetset Lifestyle
Posted by on Thursday, June 14, 2007 in - 1 comment
Travelling to Parma, Italy, is tiring at the best of times, whether you go there from Norway or just about anywhere else. There is a matter of a flight to Milan, which usually ends up at Malpensa, the largest airport. In my case this took two and a half hours plus an hour delay, and I was lucky …
When Is Beer Organic?
Posted by on Wednesday, June 13, 2007 in - 7 comments
Gary, under a file with the special code name "Special report from correspondent Gary Rith", gave me the heads up about a flap over at least one beer claiming to be "organic": • “I tried Green Valley Brewery's Organic Wild Hops beer and reviewed it here a few months ago. I had seen it advertised …
Ontario: Pale Ale, Black Oak Brewing, Oakville, Halton County
Posted by on Tuesday, June 12, 2007 in - 1 comment
I think that mug just about blew out my digital camera. Canada's centennial colours in 1967 were pretty basic, kind of like this brew - burnished gold ale under a fine white full head, a basic grainy no nonsense pale ale with some bread crusty grain, a bit of hops across the palate with a flash of …
Book Review: Good Beer Guide To Prague, by Evan Rail
Posted by on Monday, June 11, 2007 in - 1 comment
It is really the Good Beer Guide Prague and the Czech Republic that CAMRA recently published by our own correspondent Evan Rail - OK, ours and The New York Times. But there is only so much space up there to fit in the key information. If Evan ever moves further east and decides to write the Good …
Beer At The Movies
Posted by on Sunday, June 10, 2007 in - 6 comments
When I was just out of undergrad, I worked in Holland for a while and recall going to the movies where a very nice waitress came to the seats and asked to take our drinks orders. I found it quite shockingly different - mixing alcohol and films. Such a quiet Canadian upbringing I had had. Well it …
Belgium: Grotten Brown, St. Bernardus, Watou
Posted by on Saturday, June 9, 2007 in - leave a comment
I have had this in the stash for a while, a 6.7% Belgian brown with the sub-title on the label "Pierre Celis Signature Selection." Nope, I don't know either...but Rick Lyke over at Lyke2Drink had a word last year with Pierre Celis and explains the whole selection thing. And it's made by those …
Google Ranks For "Beer"
Posted by on Friday, June 8, 2007 in - 9 comments
I use Google rankings to get a sense of the place of beer in the digital world and, yes, where this blog fits into it. The thing is the other night I witnessed a reordering of the "beer" universe whereby everything that had been important had collapsed and oddly lower interest sites like one for …
Sour Beer Studies: Barriquée, Panil, Parma, Italy
Posted by on Thursday, June 7, 2007 in - 8 comments
A few weeks or maybe months ago I received an email from a reader asking that I do not use the "Week Of..." format anymore as RSS could not deal with a constantly growing post. I resisted the idea but the more I thought about it, the more I thought that perhaps in addition to the RSS issues, the" …
Gary Meets Christoffel Robertus
Posted by on Wednesday, June 6, 2007 in - 7 comments
Well, the dog ate my notes...really!...but this brew is easy to remember. Once again, we review a Dutch beer, Christoffel Robertus. There are lagers in this world, and then there are lagers. There is an amber lager made in very small batches that I like by Wagner Valley of Lodi, NY - see my review …
Ontario Good Beer Sales Up
Posted by on Tuesday, June 5, 2007 in - leave a comment
News from the LCBO, Canada's largest province's government owned alcohol retailer, came through the beer blog's email slot this morning: • “Ontario craft beer sales, helped by LCBO in-store promotional initiatives and dedicated staff to promote these products, rose by 27.6 per cent. Sales of …
Quick Note: Small Craft Warning, Clipper City, Baltimore, MD
Posted by on Tuesday, June 5, 2007 in - leave a comment
A strong lager from the Heavy Seas line of Clipper City's brews. My Germanic confusion is triggered by a label that calls it both an uber pils and a golden bock. The Good Beer Guide Germany by Steve Thomas says those are two different things. Evan would know what to do. I do not. • I am left to …
Josh Goes To Mitch's Tavern, Raleigh, NC, USA
Posted by on Monday, June 4, 2007 in - 3 comments
Today, we introduce a new writer here at A Good Beer Blog, Josh Marlow, who wrote this when I asked him about himself: • “I'm 25, living in Raleigh, NC, and recently married. I have a degree in chemical engineering and a degree in English. We both have families in Asheville, which is probably … read more »
Big Hop Bombs: Simcoe Double IPA, Weyerbacher Brewing, PA
Posted by on Monday, June 4, 2007 in - 1 comment
Rich fine tan creamy head over deep caramel ale. The smell is orange marmalade with a sort of distinctly garlic-y hot heat. In the mouth eucalyptus and mint hops with orange peel and rich creamy malt closing into heat. A really fine double IPA, balanced - at 9% not overwhelming. A kinder gentler …
The Expansion Of Tully's Beer and Wine, Wells, Maine
Posted by on Sunday, June 3, 2007 in - 5 comments
Before I headed to Maine last week, I was on the email to the ever helpful Amy of Tully's. Careful readers with time to browse the archives will remember that I wrote about Tully's at Wells in Southern Maine and declared it one of my favorite shops. Well, this time there was more great news from …
Being Green May Be Anti-Beer
Posted by on Sunday, June 3, 2007 in - leave a comment
While beer can be a very green product if brewed with a certain eye to organic products going in and careful handling of the outgoing waste water and spent grains, it appears that the broader green movement may not be as friendly to brewing, if the experience of Ayinger from Bavaria is any guide …
Session 4: What Is My Local Brew?
Posted by on Friday, June 1, 2007 in - 5 comments
This is the fourth session. Session number four. I did number two but that is, like, two sessions ago. Now we are under orders. Where before we spoke of things like stout, dubbels and milds, Gastronomic Fight Club now we speak of the local in beer as was suggested, nay, demanded by Blogmaster …
The Pete Brown Blog Revival!
Posted by on Friday, June 1, 2007 in - 1 comment
Lord be praised! Pete Brown, author of the best beer book of 2006, Three Sheets To The Wind as well as the also excellent Man Walks Into A Pub has written to let us know his beer blog has fixed the boiler problems, gotten a new load of coal and has the transmitters once again aimed directly at the …
Handbags For Beer...Or Is it Beer For Handbags?
Posted by on Friday, June 1, 2007 in - leave a comment
A few weeks ago I got a very nice email from a very nice PR person about an Australian trendy handbag shop called Crumpler opening up a high-end outlet here in Ontario in downtown Toronto. Why would they write me? Well, the promotion they use, of course. This is part of the press release I got on …
