A Good Beer Blog

November 2009

Day 15: War, Xmas Photos And Roger Freaks Out!

Posted by Alan McLeod on in , - 11 comments
I got a great gift in the mail today. Copy 8 of 10 of Ron Pattinson's new book, WAR! He wrote about the book's release this very morning from his home in The Netherlands and by suppertime a copy was in my mailbox here in Canada. Compiling his studies to date on the years of World War I and World …

Do The Principles Of "The Moon Under Water" Hold?

Posted by Alan McLeod on in , , - 4 comments
Nothing like nicking an idea from a smarter beer blogger. Pete Brown has waxed about George Orwell by way of introduction to his post about that beer movie called Beertickers: Beyond The Ale. While the movie is likely to be recognized as the best beer movie of the year, Pete's comments about it … read more »

Day 13: Xmas Photos Of Beer Are Still Arriving

Posted by Alan McLeod on in , , , - leave a comment
I am a little less than pleased with the idea of Xmas beer today. I did the math and realized that one bottle out of the six - usually a sensible session - overwhelmed the others, sneaking an extra 38% of strength into the evening. Oh, for a session beer culture. Not sorry headed or anything but …

How Better To Celebrate A Church's 750th Anniversary?

Posted by Alan McLeod on in - leave a comment
The heart cheers at the appropriateness of this news:  •  The service, which begins at 7.30pm, will reflect on the church's past, celebrate its present role and look to the next 750 years. The church choir will be joined by choirs from other local churches at this communion service. After the …

Day 10: Even More On Innovation And, Yes, More Photos

Posted by Alan McLeod on in , , , , - 6 comments
It was a day of reading about new things in beer. Not just new new things but things that introduce newness in beer. And not just experimentation either:  •  Lew was not struck dumb about the new porter from Narragansett. Uncle Jack has mentioned Lew's capacity to "wax poetic about virtually every …

Day 10: Catching Up With The Swollen Inbox

Posted by Alan McLeod on in - 2 comments
Things are moving along with the 2009 edition of the Yule and Sundry Holiday Beer Photo Extravaganza. Need more UK entrants. Not teaming with Jeff in London this year has meant a real hit given his huge following there. It's been a crippling blow to the knee caps, frankly. Maybe I need a photo of …

Nova Scotians Suddenly Back Away From The Pub

Posted by Alan McLeod on in , , - 4 comments
I hadn't heard this before but a sudden drop in bar attendance was discussed in today's Chronicle Herald:  •  It could be fear of catching H1N1 or perhaps it’s a sign of the recession, but whatever the reason, pub-goers aren’t drinking beer in the quantities they used to. In general, beer sales by …

Ontario: Two Evenings In Dark Bars In Toronto

Posted by Alan McLeod on in , - 1 comment
Beer culture is is such a delicate and hopefully early state of development in Canada - even after all these years - that there are only a few places you hope to find an important work related training course so that when the bell rings and class gets out, well, you have something to do. I found a …

Day 7: Innovation Or Experimentation... And Photos

Posted by Alan McLeod on in , - leave a comment
Last week there was a bit of a burst of blog posts about innovation and value. Mr. B. even expanded on his views with a follow up post. All good. People are thinking about what is in the glass.  •  One small point I would like to add. It's not really up to a brewer to call a special brew an …

Day 6: Another Day, Another Rule And More Photos

Posted by Alan McLeod on in - 3 comments
I forgot a rule. What is the point of having rules if you forget them? It's not a bad rule. And it is sensible. Make sure your photos are not gia-nor-mous. See, I have a 2003 coal fired computer on the desk top. A Pentium 5 or something like that. If you send 5 pictures that are 2000 MB each, then …

Day 5: Photos And A Big Prize Announcement

Posted by Alan McLeod on in - leave a comment
Sipping a moderately good San Marino amber ale, I am all a giggle on a Friday evening. The first entries are coming in and we have a big prize announcement. Once lucky winner in the world will receive an autographed copy of Pete Brown's excellent 2009 release Hops and Glory. I have no idea if he …

Somewhere Below The Sea... Waiting For Me...

Posted by Alan McLeod on in , - leave a comment
Interesting to read about the state of beer and... err... other beverages which have spent decades below the sea in shipwrecks:  •  Take the case of the divers who opened and drank one of eight bottles of beer they recovered from the Loch Shiel off the Welsh coast. Jim Phillips, one of the divers …

Day 3: All Quiet On the 2009 Xmas Photo Contest Front

Posted by Alan McLeod on in - 2 comments
Was it something I said? Did you all have photos of that beer and that dinner you had back last March some place and you are really ticked off at the photo context prohibition on your art form? For some reason, the email has gone cold. Cold as the grave. Never you fear, though, as the prizes are …

Is This The Day The Beer Fan Pushes Back?

Posted by Alan McLeod on in - 9 comments
I must say that when Martyn and Ron both decide that enough is enough on one day, well, that is a day to be noted. First, Martyn:  •  I paired Atlantic IPA with another beer I knew would be towards the hop bomb end of the shelf, Sierra Nevada Anniversary 2009. This year’s Sierra Nevada anniversary …

The 2009 Yule Beer Blog Photo Contest Is Launched!

Posted by Alan McLeod on in - 1 comment
It was 12 months today that I last wrote those words... except for the 2009 of course. Hard to believe that this is the fourth annual photo contest. Here are the 2008 winners, here are the best from 2007 and look way back here for the best of the first year in 2006. That is the 2009's Grand …

Only One Thing Is Worse Than "Pairing" Beer And Food...

Posted by Alan McLeod on in , - 16 comments
... and that is people writing about "pairing" beer and food. Normal folk eat food and drink beer along with it - but few who do that would recognize themselves in this description:  •  "...beer is also great as a cleanser in the middle of a meal." A meeting with the makers of his cleanser of …

Book Review: Cheers! by Nicholas Pashley

Posted by Alan McLeod on in - 3 comments
Subtitled, "An Intemperate History of Beer in Canada" this book really isn't a history. And it isn't always limited to Canada or even speaks to all of Canada. It is really a collection of personal essays on beer culture in Canada and elsewhere, including many on history filling about the first …

New York: Pumking, Southern Tier, Lakewood

Posted by Alan McLeod on in - 3 comments
I hoard Christmas ales. Buying more than I open every year, building a surplus of aging 10% Yuletide bombs that I dip into after time does its job. Halloween beer? Not so much. There is something about Halloween that is less wistfully recalled, less of a build up and gone when it is done. Who … read more »

One Of The Things I Will Not Do - For You Or Me

Posted by Alan McLeod on in , - 2 comments
It is ad renewal time at A Good Beer Blog. You will have noticed some tasteful and subdued notices scattered to the left, quietly doing their job and helping the beer blog do its business. Emails are being sent out to those needing to update their account to keep the bots happy. They generally hum …

Why This Stupidly Expensive Beer Has No Buyers

Posted by Alan McLeod on in , - 8 comments
It does warm the heart when the buyer is noted as a player in the marketplace for beer. We have heard calls from certain brewers that the public should pay more and that the brewer should have the right to be rich and famous... even a rock star. But just as we learn that one does not become a rock …

England: Coffee Porter, Meantime, London

Posted by Alan McLeod on in , , - 2 comments
I must have picked this up at Finger Lake Beverage last February. Lovely new web site. $3.50 USD with as cheery a small bottle as ever there was. Well, to be fair, the 375 ml cork top from Girardin is pretty damn fine but this is swell as well.  •  Gorgeous. Dark mahogany beer under a tan cream …

Book Review: The Naked Pint, Perozzi and Beaune

Posted by Alan McLeod on in - 3 comments
I got my review copy of The Naked Pint by Christina Perozzi and Hallie Beaune the other day. Didn't get twelve emails telling me to get it, either. Didn't get co-opted into the battle against big beer or nuttin'. I just sent Christina a message by Twitter and there it was. So civilized.  •  I like …

The "Former" Pete Brown Defines UK's Lager's Fall

Posted by Alan McLeod on in , - 2 comments
Two possessives in a headline? Pete wouldn't allow that sort of thing for sure - even if I am a bit puzzled at him having the title of "former beer marketing guru" given that it hovers over his article on UK lager marketing printed in this weekend's Daily Mail. I've jokingly portrayed him as the …

Session 33: What Is This Question About?

Posted by Alan McLeod on in , , - 1 comment
The most squandered meme in beer blogging is back with a question that leaves me a little confused and a little disinterested. Here is the heart of the question posed by Andy Couch who is not Andy Crouch:  •  Each of these descriptions is inevitably an attempt to ‘frame’ the beer, putting the …

Craft Or Kraphtt: Bud Light Golden Wheat, Shops, USA

Posted by Alan McLeod on in , , - 4 comments
Knut mocked me. I have never been mocked by a Norwegian. It stung. But Lew had me thinking.  •  It pours the orange amber of Syracuse Pale Ale or London Special Ale. On the sniff, a whiff of mute orange and spice. In the gaping maw, it's a bit like a craft beer as seen through the wrong end of …

New York: What Did All That Beer Shopping Cost Me?

Posted by Alan McLeod on in , , - 5 comments
So, I was on the road for 24 to take in the 23rd NY special election with pals across the border... which means I could fit in a shopping spree. A few days ago, we were exploring relative value as well as regional pricing over here in these comments and I said I would. I am going to price it …

Canada Don't Need No Stinking Dutch Beer Parties

Posted by Alan McLeod on in - 1 comment
It really is embarrassing sometimes, you know, explaining you are... errr... Canadian. Nice people, not ever really going to do anything too crazy people, the sort of people you can leave your car keys with. But just don't expect us to be able to keep up with those international madmen of fun, the …

What Is Actually The Enemy Of Good Beer?

Posted by Alan McLeod on in , , - 12 comments
"Enemy"? That's a strong word. Eric Asimov used it in the NYT last week and it got me thinking about me and good beer:  •  What unites this team is the striving for real wine, real beer, and real food, as opposed to cynical product. That is the problem, and I think most people realize this no …