February 2008
Holland: Zatte, Brouwerij 't IJ, Amsterdam
Posted by on Friday, February 29, 2008 in - leave a comment
A beer with an ostrich on the front for leap day. I had the brewer's sibling brew Struis from Amsterdam's Ij last September but for $6.20 for 330 ml was not impressed by the price but enjoyed the experience. Let's see what $4.99 gets you. • The brewer's website is of little help but the wide …
Harry Potter Star No Wizard When It Comes To Beer
Posted by on Friday, February 29, 2008 in - 3 comments
Via our man in Maine, we learn that Harry Potter movie star Daniel Radcliffe will travel to Belgium to purchase Westvleteren beer. A paper called the Daily Star is reported to have reported: • “"He appreciates fine wine and beer and is fascinated by Westvleteren. He wanted it to be the first …
What Next? Anti-Pigovians In Utah??
Posted by on Thursday, February 28, 2008 in - 2 comments
This is getting out of hand. You know there is an anti-Pigovian tidal wave out there when the state of Utah is considering dropping an important fee related to beer: • “A bill making its way through the Legislature would repeal the licensing requirement for small-time home brewers. It currently …
Hooray For Hong Kong's Anti-Pigovians!
Posted by on Wednesday, February 27, 2008 in - 4 comments
This, I think, is the first time I have ever seen a story like this: • “Hong Kong's government abolished taxes on wine and beer after posting a record surplus, boosting efforts to turn the city into a wine-trading hub. The tariffs will be abolished immediately, costing the city government HK$560 …
Belgium: Blonde Tradition, Brasserie La Binchoise, Binche
Posted by on Tuesday, February 26, 2008 in - 3 comments
This is the third brew by La Binchoise that I have tried, the other two being an amber and a special. The blonde is, as you can imagine, lighter but it is quite a bit so, a pale-ish orange straw. • The most prominent thing you notice about the beer is the round pale malt. Round is such a poor …
Mucho Big Doings At Ontario's Church-Key Brewing
Posted by on Monday, February 25, 2008 in - leave a comment
I was going to call this post "John Graham - He Cleans Up Pretty" but that might have been the right one had I not been the last to know just about everything going on at Church-Key Brewing in the rolling Northumberland Hills about an hour and a half to my west. See...he cleaned up that pretty ten …
Again With The Beer Input Grid: Resistence Is Not Futile
Posted by on Sunday, February 24, 2008 in - 4 comments
There has been some odd resistance to my humble proposal that craft brewers might consider taking steps to control their owns means of cost input production in the face of sharp input inflation which, the more I think about it, the more it strikes me as fundamentally anti-capitalistic. So, in that …
Big Hop Bombs: Hallertau Imperial Pilsner, Samuel Adams, USA
Posted by on Saturday, February 23, 2008 in - leave a comment
I learned a lot from this beer. The bright orange fluid and the orange blossom green hoppy scent. This wasn't what a pilsner was supposed to be but now it is what I realize it is what I expected Dogfish Head's Golden Shower to be rather than the expensive malty perhaps malt-liquor-esque, perhaps …
How Much Land Do You Need To Get Off The Beer Grid?
Posted by on Friday, February 22, 2008 in - 12 comments
What the heck is the beer grid? Well, if you think of those nutty people that put up a windmill to feed their electrical needs in the early 80s and who, as it turns out, paid off their capital costs in the late 90s, isn't the beer grid like that? Consider this brewer's plight: • “Local brewery …
Sour Beer Studies: Gueuze, Girardin, Sint-Ulkis-Kapelle, BE
Posted by on Thursday, February 21, 2008 in - 4 comments
The 2006 edition of Great Beers of Belgium showed up today and I thought that I had better pop a cork in its honour. A Girardin Gueuze seemed just the thing. The "1882" on the label is the date when the current family took over the brewery and they brew comprehensively, perhaps still with no other …
So You Think That The Price Of Beer Is Rising?
Posted by on Wednesday, February 20, 2008 in - 5 comments
Just be glad you aren't reading A Good Tea Blog. Consider these headlines: • Tea prices 'to hit record levels this year'Tea prices set to soarThe Tea War • War?!?! That's bad, right? And it's not a rhetorical war - the crisis in Kenya has caused a 10% in exports from that nation, the biggest …
A Bad Brewer Asks: "What The Heck Is That I Made??"
Posted by on Tuesday, February 19, 2008 in - 14 comments
I am a bad brewer. I think it's important to brew to make sure you have a hand on the paddle, a sense of what yeast might actually expect from you. That being said, though people have admired my beer greatly, I know the truth. I'm a bad brewer. It has a lot to do with the effort I put in compared …
Speaking Of Helpful And Useful Beer Bloggers
Posted by on Monday, February 18, 2008 in - 6 comments
I think my wants and needs converge in that mug • Speaking of good positive beer blogging, Evan Rail has been on something of a tear over in Prague since the New Year began. I don't think that it is just his access to a pub culture and beers that I lack that makes it such good reading - it's …
Deep And Witty Analysis Hop Giveaway Update
Posted by on Monday, February 18, 2008 in - leave a comment
It's like he read my mind...or perhaps my blog post. Once again, Stan has done a bit of the lifting and provided a bit of background on the news of the release of some of Boston Beer's hop allocation. I mentioned that I had no idea what percentage of their total hops ordered this giveaway of …
Belgium: Two From Brouwerij Het Anker, Mechelen
Posted by on Sunday, February 17, 2008 in - 3 comments
When I worked in Holland, I couldn't really figure out when "het" was to be applied as it seemed to be that it never was used as often as "the" would be - but going from the crest that's on the brewery's website, I bet this translates as "The Anchor Brewery". The translation difficulties may be …
My Deep And Witty Analysis Of The Big Hop Giveaway!
Posted by on Saturday, February 16, 2008 in - 2 comments
My computer ate it. It was a virtual unified theory of beer blogging, an apology draped in an accusation resting on a question with its feet up on satisfaction. Brilliant. Gone. In sum: I didn't like their variety packs, the special glass, Utopia, the '90's triple bock or their white-like thing …
Stouts: Choklat, Imperial Stout, Southern Tier, New York
Posted by on Friday, February 15, 2008 in - leave a comment
Chok-o-la-da. That is how we say it in our house because we met in Poland back in 1991. Gdansk was a hot bed of decent chocolate that was sold for pennies a bar around the Baltic shore towns like the one where we lived. Other than that, I am fairly indifferent to the stuff. • On the nose, is/are …
What Better Theme For A Festival Than Beer And Pie?
Posted by on Thursday, February 14, 2008 in - 8 comments
I have read with shocked surprise¹ important news this evening from the Beverly Guardian from the town of that name in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England: • “I READ that Beverley Town Council rate payment will be up by 25%, then it states where the cash will go. Whilst I endorse most of this …
Barley Wine: Hog Heaven, Avery Brewing, Colorado
Posted by on Wednesday, February 13, 2008 in - 3 comments
By the way, do you like my cinder block studio look for these mid-winter pictures? I realized I had a perfect tiny beer studio on a shelf right next to a light bulb that gives the sharpest photos. In the time of root vegetables for every meal and a drive to and from work in the dark, these things …
Travis Visits The New Belgium Brewing Company In Colorado
Posted by on Tuesday, February 12, 2008 in - 1 comment
This past weekend I was in Colorado on a ski trip with a friend from college. I got in Thursday night to Denver and early Friday morning we found out that all the passes into the mountains were closed because of severe winds. Lost about what to do next, we decided to take a drive out to Fort …
Josh Tries Two Stouts Worth Nine Bucks For A Four Pack
Posted by on Monday, February 11, 2008 in - 7 comments
There has been some talk about the price of beer on this blog, the ascent of beer to a luxury status, and the proper place of beer. For me $9 for a 4 pack is in the realm of luxury, a special occasion beer or a once a month type of beer. Unfortunately I find a lot these beers are over-hyped and … read more »
Big Night This Wednesday In Buffalo
Posted by on Monday, February 11, 2008 in - leave a comment
I got this good news for beer fans in Buffalo this Wednesday: • “Hello Alan, • Marty Jones here with Oskar Blues Brewery. Our main man Dale Katechis will be serving our beers and doing a meet & greet at Cole's Restaurant and Bar on Wednesday, Feb 13, at 7 PM. The place is at 1104 Elmwood Ave … read more »
Another Visit To Finger Lake Beverages In Ithaca, NY
Posted by on Sunday, February 10, 2008 in - leave a comment
Just got back from a family weekend in Ithaca, NY that included (as they all do) another visit to the ever wonderful Finger Lake Beverages. I have met a lot of helpful, knowledgeable and friendly folk in the corner of the world of beer that I have found myself in but I have to admit I think of FLB …
Thoughts On A Magic Hat Spring Mix 12 2008
Posted by on Saturday, February 9, 2008 in - 28 comments
Knut morphed our discussion here about charity and local breweries into the general question of what is local anyway. I am going to suggest something that should not seem so radical but might be taken as such: local in the NE United States includes diacetyl as much as the NW United States is …
Good Jounralism About That Joke Of A Beer
Posted by on Thursday, February 7, 2008 in - 2 comments
The (no longer Mancunian) Guardian has a good article on Carlsberg's farce of a beer: • “Vintage No.1 is a Kinder Egg for adults with more money than sense: something delicious and something to play with (much like the £35,000 cocktail, which comes with a diamond ring and two security guards …
Big Hop Bombs: India Pale Ale, Meantime, London, England
Posted by on Wednesday, February 6, 2008 in - 6 comments
I picked up a couple of big format bottles of Meantime beers at some point in my travels last year. I needed a Stonch-like moment to try this micro from the centre of the known universe like the one from last March when he tried this beer on an English spring afternoon. Apparently, this first …
Losing Good Local Beer Can Mean Losing Other Good Things
Posted by on Tuesday, February 5, 2008 in - 16 comments
Just a short note on a late work night as I gaze around the Internet for a tale to tell. And I came upon this often ignored consequence of consolidation within the brewing industry: • “Sponsorship worth £150,000 a year for events in Edinburgh could be thrown into doubt by the proposed takeover … read more »
Norway: Norwegian Wood, HaandBryggeriet, Drammen
Posted by on Monday, February 4, 2008 in - 7 comments
Now is winter. Not the Yule of six weeks ago or the date on the calendar when the sun sat lowest in the sky. Now is the darkness greatest...because the Super Bowl has been won but pitchers and catchers have yet report. • In order to get me through to the first games of spring training at the end …
When Beer And Science Converge
Posted by on Sunday, February 3, 2008 in - 1 comment
Vitamin enriched beer? Why go through the bother of a healthy diet or even taking a multi-vitamin pill when you can buy a beer that is also an invention. Stephen rightly pointed out the silliness of the idea when our Canadian national beer-challenged wine writer pronounced vitamins in beer the …
Belgium: Moinette Brune 2004, Dupont, Tourpes-Leuze
Posted by on Saturday, February 2, 2008 in - leave a comment
I had no idea this 2004 was floating around in the stash. I wonder when I bought it. Moinette is the sibling of the saisons by Dupont and comes in brown and pale versions. The brown pours deep caramel under a rich tan mouse head that resolves to a opulent rim and foam. In the mouth there is brown …
Ethical Writing And A Brysonian Discourse On Attitude
Posted by on Saturday, February 2, 2008 in - leave a comment
One of the cheatiest cheats a lazy beer blogger can foist is the copying of comments made elsewhere. But, and this is #7 on the list of the failings of the internet, you put out all that information our there, all those clever turns of phrase and they are lost to eternity as certain as a clever …
Session 12: Old Guardian, Stone, Escondido, California
Posted by on Friday, February 1, 2008 in - 1 comment
Stone? All hop monster brew. Barley wine? Malt bomb. How can this be? Ying can't be Yang any more than...than...the Red Sox can make peace with Yankees. It's like the eternally sworn mortal enemies Casey and Finnegan making nice nice!!! The beer in question? Stone Old Guardian Spring Release 2007 …
