A Good Beer Blog

December 2009

Quebec: Weizenbock, Trois Mousquetaires, Brossard

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Eleven percent. Year old Quebec weizenbock picked up last April for $7.99 for 750 ml at Marche Jovi. A lot for a little.  •  Fortunately, it's extremely yum. A bit of a cross between a quad and the classic wheat double bock or weizenbock, Aventinus. The aromas are of pumpernickel and dark cherry …

What Was My Best Beer Thing Of 2009?

Posted by Alan McLeod on in - 5 comments
It has been a good year both inside and outside that beery part of my life. It is hard to measure what that means in some ways as If I was reporting to higher authority, I can state that I have put good beer in the hands and glasses of more of the uninitiated than in earlier years. It is a good …

What To Do During With This Break From Beer?

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Being a serial obsessive, it is not a surprise to me that I have spent years drilling down into my interest in beer. I've done this before. Somewhere in the house is my pre-internet map collection. I would pore over detailed maps I had mailed from all over the world as I followed the news on …

Belgium: Christmas Ale, St. Bernardus, Watou

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I had this stuck away as a nod to Ron, the patron saint of Watou. As I can't get the 12 on tap, this is according to Ron the second best thing.  •  And it is a best thing. Brownest brew under rich deep cream froth and foam. A nose of dark plum and date with cinnamon and nutmeg. All that plus cream …

Michigan: Weizen Bam, Jolly Pumkin, Dexter

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It's been all too much, really. The photo contest, plus the shopping, then the work lunches and drinks and then shopping and the seminars and concerts and church and... now it's Christmas night. Present opened, lamb consumed, half the kids in bed and the rest headed that way. What to have to cut …

Don't Forget To Heat Your Beer For Christmas

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The Washington Post introduced a piece on Christmas ales today with a reminder that they harken back to the pre-Puritan days of England, days of steaming bowls of hot spiced ale and shorter life spans:  •  ... originally, the word -- from the Middle English greeting "waes haeil," or "be hearty" …

My First Hospitality Seminar - And What Do I Say?

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I like to think I know a thing or two about beer but I probably know diddly when it comes down to it. I go on here and yak at other people's blogs but have I really been put to the test? Well, I have been invited to lead local folk in the hospitality trade through an introduction to good beer and … read more »

When You Can't Say "Good" Just Say "World Class"

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Stan has asked questions at his blog that have me quite puzzled. It's about some weird idea that a beer could be "world class" as if that is the apex of some sort of sliding scale of swellness.There are a lot of words or phrases like "world class" that are equally meaningless even if not synonyms" …

The Madness Of Not Doing What You're Told

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Even before that silly rant by Protz last month, it had become more than evident that BrewDog was taking paths not trod in an effort to get the word out about its beer. But all the focus was on their successful abuse of the old guard and those who were satisfied, including financially, with having …

Belgium: Fantome Noel, Brasserie Fantome, Soy

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I was good to myself. Having a family reunion with one great uncle in the house, I thought I would pop this gem as we consume t-bones and lamb chops. Have you noticed that steaks go discount at Yule? It sure does here. We always have the beef feed in the lead up.  •  Barn. Moinette Brune meets …

Yule '09 Photo Contest: I Plain Forgot Three Prizes

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It is the scatter brained time of year. Why isn't there a mythical nutty character at Christmas time - a Loki or a jester of some sort - that captures that the business of the business of the season makes us do odd things. There ought to be - so pity me and, more to the point, Dave Selden of …

A Good Beer Blog's Final Photo Winners For 2009

Posted by Alan McLeod on in , - 8 comments
So here we are. The last post of the 2010 Good Beer Blog Yuletide Photo Contest and Marital Patience Examination. The entries have been swell and the prize givers have been even sweller - if that is possible. We have had photo entered from across North American and Europe and maybe a few points …

Day 17: Beer Advent Calendar - N'Ice Chouffe

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Jon Abernathy of The Brew Site asked me to join in and place one beer on his Advent calendar this Christmas season. Well, as Jon is I think the only pure beer blogger who may well have been posting longer than I have who am I to say no? I posted my first beer blog post on this stand alone beer … read more »

An Unexpected Photo Contest Prize Bonanza

Posted by Alan McLeod on in - 12 comments
OK... maybe a bonanzette. But still, it was a happy surprise to received two emails today. In one, Jared, a brewer at Harpoon Brewery, confirmed that he had swung a selection of beers from that great Boston beer institution. It is a pick-up sorta gift but there is an opportunity to match beer with …

Ron's Food and Beer Christmas Pairing

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I love Ron Pattinson's writing. There is something so mid-1700's about it. Vague trembling scientific examinations, untrod paths of first person observations, the search for the ah-ha moment even with the odd reference to the era of A-Ha. And then there are the personal reflections, philosophical …

Seven More Prizes And... Well, Not Much More

Posted by Alan McLeod on in , - 10 comments
I am getting vain about thee tables. I should have tables of something in every post. But what would I put in them. I can't judge photos every day and, franky, it is too hard to do even for just these three nights. This are not necessarily the seventh to twelfth best entries but they are the … read more »

Three Prizes Announced: Two UK Plus One German

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Announcing three prizes tonight because I am still trying to make sure the table works and, if you must know, the Olympic torch came through town this evening. It was cool and cheesy, earnest and corporate all at the same time. Maybe like this annual photo contest.  •  First, however, a big shout …

Perhaps Think Of Beers For Giving Not Receiving

Posted by Alan McLeod on in , - 4 comments
There are lot of I want, I want, I want lists going around, however well intentioned, but it strikes me that the whole point at this time of year is you placing goods and services in the hands of others. It's in fact the most transactional time of the year - which means, as Mr. B. reminds us, the …

Day 27: The Contest Closes With These Final Entries

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Well, that was fun. The fourth annual 2009 Good Beer Blog Yuletide, Xmas, Kwanza, Hanukkah, Festivus and Hogmanay Photo Contest closed two hours ago and once I post these ten last entrant's selections, well, then I get to pick the winners. I am going to take a couple of days to review the photos …

Day 27: The 2009 Yule Photo Contest Extravaganza Ends Today

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Still an hour and 16 minutes left to enter. Lurkers Holly and Robert entered in the last 15 minutes. You can, too.

Day 26: The Day Before The Day It All Ends This Yule

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It has been a placid time this Yule so far. The plan for the beer blog contest being less onerous has worked out very nicely. I know that because my wife tells me so. Thanks for your understanding as I know there is a lot of interest in the goofy idea of me making people I have never met send free …

Book Review: World's Best Beers By Ben McFarland

Posted by Alan McLeod on in , - 6 comments
Cole Porter laid it out for us all. The mathematics of what is "top" proves is a very difficult thing to determine. Whether you say "top" or "leading" or "foremost" or "best" it is all the same. You are not saying much. Consider that Cole Porter's equation inherent in the lyrics of You're The Top …

One Way To Not Promote Craft Beer All That Well

Posted by Alan McLeod on in , - 6 comments
I was pleased to see Canada's other national newspaper, The National Post, feature some information about craft breweries in Ontario but was a bit saddened to see the odd approach that was chosen - five generic questions leading to an opportunity to trigger five Pavlovian advertising copy …

Day 23: Only A Few Days To Go But More Pics Daily

Posted by Alan McLeod on in - 1 comment
This bit above is a detail from a picture received today from Germany. What to call it? "I Wish I Had A Cell Phone, Too" or maybe "I Really Should Leave These Two Alone"? Sums it all up really, this 21st century. Click for a larger revelation of the facial expression. I wish I had a yellow tie …

Day 22: Wherein We Get A Photo Contest Update

Posted by Alan McLeod on in - 1 comment
Let's start with an entry. An entry from another man who cannot count. Thomas Cizauskas of Yours for Good Fermentables sent in six pictures with the message "one, two, three, four, six" which just goes to show you. It really does. I like them and I like Tom so six it is. One's up top there and … read more »

Day 21: Prize Buying With One Week To Go

Posted by Alan McLeod on in , , - 2 comments
I was checking out Amazon to see what beer books I missed this year. Huge sale on so, being the canny Yuletide 2009 beer photo context administrator I am, I picked up a few extra copies on the cheap of Pete Brown's books for you US readers who have been frozen out by some insane publishers who …

Session 34: The Wobbly Road Home

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I have to say that the topic "Stumbling Home" is hardly inspirational as it has nothing to do with craft beer - but as I have posted a post for every edition of The Session, well, I didn't want to break my streak.  •  The real reason, however, is that I have a little something in the can on this …

Pete's The Man - More Later With Video

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If I could do an ABC Wide World of Sports 1970s video retrospective on the man's career to date I would. Brown wins! Pete Brown wins!!!

Joints: Collaboration Not Litigation, Avery / Russian River

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What to call these beers? For the last few years, brewers have been getting together to make something new together. This one has a deeper back story than most but the point is the same. In the end they are joint projects, opportunities to get together, to share and learn. And no doubt to have a …

Thanks To Our Google Reader Subscribers

Posted by Alan McLeod on in - 7 comments
Nothing deep or profound this evening. Just a thanks to the readers and, tonight, especially those on Google Reader. After six years of beer blogging, it has become harder to figure out how many people actually follow a blog given those followers on various aggregating services. But one, Google …

Day 16: Stonch-a-tross Forsaken... And Pics

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This 2009 Yuletide Beer Photo Extravaganza and Gift-a-thon is a little different. It's a little quieter than recent years. It's a little lonely. I was wondering why that was so I wrote a poem to express myself in the style of a certain salty 1800s epic:  •  The Rime of the Ancient Beer Blogger …