March 2009
PGP 5.0: Once There Was A Pub Game In My Town...
Posted by on Monday, March 30, 2009 in - 2 comments
So, aside from the fact that I was not a contestant in the Wellie Boot Chuck and that I walked by the Wellie Boot Chuck to actually go to the pub, I thought the Wellie Boot Chuck at one of my favorite pubs on the planet went rather well. See, I was under the impression that the boot chucking was …
Extreme... X-Treme... X-Tre-m... XTRM... ?
Posted by on Sunday, March 29, 2009 in - 2 comments
Hub-bub. That is what is going on. There is hub-bub afoot these days about "extreme" beer. Here is what I know, though things may be changing on the fly, minute-by-minute as it were: • The Independent in England goes all yikes over BrewDog and other new strong beers even categorizing their …
Where There Is Beer There Is Peace
Posted by on Saturday, March 28, 2009 in - 3 comments
I have thought about this off and on. Making beer requires a farmer. It requires a facility which, at any economic scale, has always required a certain level of capital investment. It requires time. Time for the grain to grow and time for the yeast to do it's work. It requires safe transportation …
Yukon: Midnight Sun, Yukon Brewing, Whitehorse
Posted by on Thursday, March 26, 2009 in - 3 comments
A thirteen hour day. John Stewart rather than the evening news as I shake off the tie and suit jacket. What to do? Have a beer from Whitehorse, of course. Wouldn't you? Don't you?? This beer from the Yukon Brewing Company came my way through one of the beer fans I have been cultivating locally who …
So Where Are The Brewing Input Prices In March '09?
Posted by on Wednesday, March 25, 2009 in - 6 comments
A while ago, we were all concerned. We were talking at a manic pace about craft beer prices going through the roof due to the rising cost of hops, malt and fuel. It was the talk of the town a year and a half ago. In October 2007, I asked the musical question "Are Craft Beer Prices Too Low?" and …
Belgium: Gouden Carolus Hopsinjoor, Het Anker
Posted by on Tuesday, March 24, 2009 in - 1 comment
The brewery aimed at creating plenty of hop aroma for this 8% ale and on the first pour there is a lot of creamy yeast with bright grassy herbal tones. Reminds me a bit of Poperings Hommel Ale. • Active golden ale with a thick cream dollop of of a head. In the mouth, an initial dry followed by a …
Wherein We Meet Today's Beer Drinking Dingbat
Posted by on Monday, March 23, 2009 in - 1 comment
I've celebrated the beer law hero of the day before so I suppose it is only fair from time to time that we point out those exceptional individuals who go beyond the call of duty and reinforce the stereotype of the beer drinking dingbat. To that end, I give you Mr. "I Have No Idea How It Got There …
One April Night With Scandinavians In Toronto
Posted by on Sunday, March 22, 2009 in - 2 comments
I got a call from Vlado of Roland and Russell a few weeks ago with a plan: he wanted to get me to Toronto on April 15th, get me to Beerbistro and pour great Scandinavian beers into me as I eat wonderful food. Sadly (or rather happily) the life of the family man in the county town rarely provides …
Rob Kasper Calls Out Canadian Craft Brewers
Posted by on Friday, March 20, 2009 in - 13 comments
I like Rob Kasper's beer column in the Baltimore Sun, "Kasper on Tap." It is to the point, is written from the consumer's point of view and often asks questions of the readership - like these in response to new data that shows Canadians are buying more and more US craft beer: • I think I …
Nine US Micros Gone In 2008 - The Fewest Since 1995
Posted by on Wednesday, March 18, 2009 in - 1 comment
An interesting article in the Wall Street Journal this morning setting out how there is a distinction between how brewpubs and microbreweries in the US are doing in the recession. While only nine microbreweries closed in the US in 2008, 42 brewpubs closed. Yet 114 microbreweries and brewpubs …
A Run To Northern New York On The First Warm Evening
Posted by on Tuesday, March 17, 2009 in - 3 comments
I saw two shooting stars last night • I wished on them but they were only satellites • Is it wrong to wish on space hardware • I wish, I wish, I wish you'd care... • Billy Bragg, 1983 • On the way back from the three-hour round trip beer run, I stopped at Gananoque in the Thousand … read more »
A Brainiac At Guinness Helped Create Quality Control
Posted by on Monday, March 16, 2009 in - leave a comment
This article in the well-named "KalamaBrew" column of the Kalamazoo Gazette indicates that on this St. Patrick's Day eve we may want to pause to remember William Sealy Gosset, a chemist at Guinness who began his career a little more than a century ago. He created a couple of statistical theories …
Being A Beer Hound Without Any Sense Of Style
Posted by on Sunday, March 15, 2009 in - 7 comments
When I was a lad and knew a thing or two about hoofing a ball, we would arse around by playing "soccer without style" - playing the game without any of the conventions which quickly collapsed into just arsing around. I think I do the much the same thing when I think about beer as I am not really …
England: Entire Stout, Hopback Brewery, Wiltshire
Posted by on Sunday, March 15, 2009 in - 2 comments
I have had this beer in the stash for a while - at least before it won a CAMRA prize - and privately fretted over it. I was sure I had left it too long for its 4.5%, that when I poured it would be nothing but fouled water and black cottage cheese. How wrong I was. As rich and stiff a foaming head …
Scotland: Considering Two Zeitgeists From BrewDog
Posted by on Saturday, March 14, 2009 in - 1 comment
I miss all of the fun or at least most of it. Sitting here in my virtual isle of banishment from all good things in the beer world I miss the Philly Beer Weeks. I miss weekend flips to Brussels to hobnob at Cantillon. And I missed last month's London launch of BrewDog's new beer Zeitgeist. I do go …
Ontario: Green Tea Ale, Great Lakes Brewery, Toronto
Posted by on Thursday, March 12, 2009 in - 4 comments
What a good beer but quite an unusual one. Golden amber ale under a billowy white head. Sticking my nose deep into the glass, the rich floral lime scent mixes with a little something this side of acrid. For a 4.2% ale, there is still plenty of body. A mix of big bitter herbal flavours - think …
My Seemingly Obligatory Thoughts On St. Patrick
Posted by on Wednesday, March 11, 2009 in - 9 comments
Have a thought for Saint Patrick, the actual guy. Taken as a teen age slave from his native Wales to Ireland, familiar with all the details of Druidism from whose bondage he was destined to liberate the Irish race, able to paralyze those who would deter him from his mission and all we can do is … read more »
Verdict And Sentence Issued In Twittering Show Trial
Posted by on Tuesday, March 10, 2009 in - 10 comments
From the desk of the Chief Justice of Show Trials, A Good Beer Blog : • 10 March 2009 • To: Web 2.0 brewers and other people of the beer on Twitter, • Don't send out messages like you are on IM with your BFF. We like you but we like other people, too. We, the followers, check out our Twitter …
Alberta: Fireside Mild, Alley Kat Brewing, Edmonton
Posted by on Monday, March 9, 2009 in - leave a comment
A Canadian mild. Who knew this was possible? Twenty-one sessions ago, I hunted for mild in Canada and came up empty. Well, not entirely empty as I had some beer along the way but intellectually I was a void. But here is Alley Kat's seasonal brew for these weeks of late winter 2009 and instead of …
Bring Wine To A Restaurant? Why Not Beer To A Pub?
Posted by on Sunday, March 8, 2009 in - 2 comments
I really like this idea from a nightclub at a hotel in Corby, Northamptonshire. Seems like the trade at The Raven isn't what it used to be: • Customers, however, concerned about spending during the recession, are staying at home and the pub is now on the brink of closure. Just a handful of … read more »
Session 25: All Hail Our Macro-Lager Overlords!!!
Posted by on Friday, March 6, 2009 in - 5 comments
I didn't say it was going to be fun or interesting. Just get out there and have what the next guy's having. • The Beer Nut, 9 February 2009 • Once when I was in undergrad, I was in a line-up, slightly bleary from the night before, signing up for seminar topics in English lit when the girl in …
Quick Reminder: Use Twitter For The Session Today
Posted by on Friday, March 6, 2009 in - 1 comment
It's already begun and people are using "#thesession" as they act like twits to create the ticker tape of today's version of The Session led this month by The Beer Nut from Ireland. Learn to love the lager again. Here are some instructions if you have no idea what I am talking about.
Scotland: Paradox Smokehead, BrewDog, Aberdeenshire
Posted by on Thursday, March 5, 2009 in - 2 comments
OK, the cold is still there but something has to shake it. I can't wait to tomorrow either as that is the day of The Session and this time that means the day of lager love. Given that it is love of macro crap mass produced lager, while it should make for a good read, it is not something I am …
What Beer Cocktail Is Made With Buckley's Mixture?
Posted by on Wednesday, March 4, 2009 in - 3 comments
I am far too sick to taste a beer today. The slap back on this cold that has been doing the rounds has a real anesthetizing effect on the taste buds. I have resorted to eating sardines with habanero sauce to see if I can detect flavour. Not much happening. And I am too far gone to even imagine …
Sadness Reigns When Samples Freeze
Posted by on Tuesday, March 3, 2009 in - 12 comments
Some days writing about beer from the eastern end of Lake Ontario (Canadian side) seems like a really dumb thing to do. There is very little craft beer culture in my area, this has got to be the biggest community east of the Mississippi without a brewery within an hour's drive and, frankly, it is …
New York: Abbot 12, Southampton Publick House
Posted by on Monday, March 2, 2009 in - leave a comment
I hab a cole. An when I hab a cole, I want my copy of Wind in the Willows, a pot of soup, the company of my family, eight blankets on the bed and a beer that could stop a freight train. Happy is the man with a monklish ale of the massive sort to help him through a moment like this. • Fig, date …
Is This The Most Important Beer Photo Of The Decade?
Posted by on Sunday, March 1, 2009 in - 6 comments
Sad but true. The mere fact that a US President has a beer in public creates the possibility of a policy argument. The AP's photo published in the UK's Daily Mail grabs the moment, shows something that happens millions of times a day yet when the relaxed figure is the new POTUS the moment is about …
