A Good Beer Blog

November 2010

Day 17: Thank Stan Hieronymus - Not Me - Thank Stan

Posted by Alan McLeod on in - 9 comments
OK, here is the thing about that super-dooper prize I mentioned a few days back. It's so super-dooper but in a really beer nerdy way that I can't believe it so I will type out the story from our prize giver Stan verbatum... except with some edits to make sure the private aspects of the story stay …

Day 16: The Last Monday Of Yule 2010's Contest Is Here

Posted by Alan McLeod on in - leave a comment
Time flies. It especially flies when you make your Yuletide Christmas Hanukkah Kwanzaa and Hogmanay beer blog contest a bit shorter. Just three weeks this year. You need to react. Get on board.  •  Eric Steen of the excellently named Beer and Sci-Fi sent in this picture of a pack of homebrewed … read more »

Day 15: More Photos And A Great Prize Announcement

Posted by Alan McLeod on in , - 1 comment
I am not announcing what the prize is today but just that a great prize will be announced. So it is more of an announcement announcement. The John The Baptist of Yuletide Christmas and Xmas Beer Blog 2010 Photo Contest prize announcements. Prepare ye. I know that sort of mixes Easter with Advent …

A Trip To Northern New York And All I See Is Beer

Posted by Alan McLeod on in , - 4 comments
A eleven hour Christmas shopping trip in northern New York has left the stash enhanced and found me a new favorite cafe. The Blackbird Cafe on the main drag of Canton, New York was a real treat after a drive east north east with the family, aiming to hit a few favorite stores, drive some great …

Samuel Adams And Weihenstephan Invent Saison?

Posted by Alan McLeod on in , , , - 7 comments
It is odd listening to people describe things. Jim Koch of Boston Beer was on NPR today being interviewed about this new-esque beer that was made along with the Weihenstephan Brewery of Germany. Aside from learning he pronounces his name "Cook" and not "Cauch" - you know, like the former NY Mayor …

Day 12: Dissident 2010, Deschutes, Bend, Oregon

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Photos? I got no stinking photos for you. Mermaid Avenue is on the stereo and look at what's in front of me. Wax dip top with a hanging tail of burgundy sealing glom. A thick paper label that now challenges me to soak it off in one piece and frame it. Crows for me are auspicious. It's personal. I …

Day 10: Thanksgiving Day Photos Category Announced!

Posted by Alan McLeod on in , , - 1 comment
Blame the inspiration from watching too many episodes of Man v. Food but I am going to break my own rule. You will recall my most precious long standing rule:  •  No photos of dishes of food with a beer next to it. They never win and they kinda make other people feel queasy. Your food is no better …

Day 9: Prizes And Photos But No "Top Beer" So Far

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The Top Gear of brewing... that is what Dave wants and he hit the nail on the head for me. The trouble with all these workplace reality shows is that they are big infomercials and controlled by the suppliers to make themselves look great. BBC's Top Gear motoring show? If you don't appear on it …

Day 8: So Where Is The Baby With Beer In The Snow?

Posted by Alan McLeod on in - 2 comments
I am thinking about categories. In the past, I have focused on geography but am wondering if that is the way of the future. I mean do the Canadian or UK entries really need comparing to each other or is there a different way to go. Consider these two photos, each by cell phone camera. Are they not …

Oh Dear - The "Cake Boss" Of Beer Gets Panned

Posted by Alan McLeod on in , - 13 comments
What a disappointing graphic. But appropriately so - don't you think? See, I have mentioned how I have been utterly unthrilled by the prospect of a TV show about Dogfish Head and their business operations. This is not to say you should not be thrilled by the show and not to say that I do not like …

Day 5: I Have To Catch Up... Must Catch Up...

Posted by Alan McLeod on in - 2 comments
It's been mad. Work, I mean. How evil that I have to go desk jockey for eight hours when all I want is to post photos of beer from people I will never meet. Evil. Forget about the promised jet pack I never received. I thought the future was about me, me, me. Pure evil.  •  John Lewington, past …

Day 5: The Dad, Baby And Beer Sub-Contest Is On!

Posted by Alan McLeod on in - 2 comments
I have no idea why I like this photo from Max Bahnson of Tursko in the Czech Republic, author of Pivni Filosof. But I do. Is it because the baby juxtaposed with beer category is a glimmer of the Christmas tale itself? Or is it because I have a photo of my twelve year when she was six months old …

Day 4: Frank McDonald Can't Friggin' Count!

Posted by Alan McLeod on in - 7 comments
He can't. Frank can't friggin' count. Last year it was Jeff Alworth from Portland, Oregon sending in eight. I say five photos in 2009, he sends in eight. I say five in 2010, Frank sends eight. That Frank McDonald of Newfoundland. Frank can't friggin' count.  •  Frank. Frank. Frank. Who the heck …

Day 3: The Entries Start To Flood In... 'N' Stuff

Posted by Alan McLeod on in - 3 comments
I have to write about something other than the photo contest, don't I? While Stan may be right in his kind opinion that this contest "must be one of the very best inventions beer blogging has given us" we also have to remember there is a great big world out there. Like a guy actually writing a …

Day 2: One Entry, Two More Rules And More Prizes

Posted by Alan McLeod on in - 6 comments
That is a photo of a beer. It was taken by Peter Bailey of Edmonton, Alberta at Sugar Beach at Kihei on Maui in Hawaii. That is the entire pool of entries to date. If the contest were over now, Peter wins it all.  •  It shouldn't be that way. Canadians like an effort, the struggle to beat the odds …

Day 1: The 2010 Yuletide Photo Beery Contest Is On!

Posted by Alan McLeod on in - leave a comment
It begins. Three weeks of beer photos and prizes and photos and prizes. What merriment. My very clever cousin pointed out that I needed to post the email address to send your entries. It is beerblog - at - gmail - dot com. Send them along. Here are the rules and here are the prizes so far.  •  As …

Jancis Robinson On The Virtues Of Milk Thistle

Posted by Alan McLeod on in - 1 comment
The name of the article by British wine writer Jancis Robinson is titled "Milk thistle - the Drinker's Friend" which does sound a wee bit like an idea from another era, a less politically correct era that could give birth to a book entitled like Everyday Drinking. Do we really call ourselves" …

The Canadian Christmas Dipsomaniacs' Shopping Guide

Posted by Alan McLeod on in , , , - 4 comments
I have always sorta thought booze does not make for much of a Christmas gift. Don't get me wrong. I like to hand them around with the support of any Christmas excuses going but are they really the gift or part of the event, the gathering itself? It's the latter for me. That being said, consider …

Gathering 2010's Yuletide Photo Contest Prizes

Posted by Alan McLeod on in - 1 comment
People have been kind. Not to me. I see nothing of this stuff. They have been kind to you, the ambitious hair triggered photographer beer fan. The offer gifts. They offer reward. Me, I merely offer venue... and, of course, judgment. I judge your submissions as a fair judge but a singular one. You …

Maine: 1260 Triple IPA, Stone Coast, Portland

Posted by Alan McLeod on in , , - 6 comments
Stone Coast packed it in on 1 August 2008. I've had this bit of their legacy sitting around the stash since well before then. Fifteen bucks for a 10% bomber which makes sense to me and not just because this is a bit of a voice from the grave.  •  It pours at the intersection between caramel and …

Prepare We For Increased Craft Beer Costs?

Posted by Alan McLeod on in , - 5 comments
Carlsberg announced "we will be impacted by rising input costs and will therefore have to increase sales prices" today. There, that ought to cheer you up. Mr. B. noted - with a rather ominous tone - a tale of horseplay and even collusion about this sort of thing just the other day but in this …

A Nation Mourns As Kelly Ryan Leaves The UK

Posted by Alan McLeod on in , , - 2 comments
I have not had a sip of beer or ale or anything from England's Thornbridge Brewery but brewer Kiwi Kelly Ryan's departure for his New Zealand home has gotten British beer bloggers totally Lady Di as they say "cheer-eo!" and dab their damp eyes with hankies. Kelly got verklempt right back at them … read more »

Xmas Photo Contest 2010: Rules, Prizes And... Rules

Posted by Alan McLeod on in - 10 comments
So, it's that time of year. The greatest post in the beer blogging calendar. While others are going on and on about blogging, I am talking contest rules. And everyone loves a contest rules blog post, right? To recap the most important point: I have 4 kids in the house for heaven's sake - and they …

Session 45: Montreal's Buckwheat Beer Coup De Grisou

Posted by Alan McLeod on in , , - 4 comments
Buckwheat. Probably isn't even real wheat. I probably am breaking the rules for this month's edition of the Session. But no, it's OK... if my fellow Canucks, the hosts at BeerTaster.ca are to be trusted:  •  We have the honour of hosting the 45th session which allows us to choose the topic we will …

Session 45: What? Wheat Beer?? Session Time Again???

Posted by Alan McLeod on in , , , - 4 comments
Why didn't anyone tell me? What the hell is this about? The first Friday of the month? Are you kidding me? Already? What the hell is this about?  •  [More later... maybe... what the hell do I have in the stash... friggin' first Friday... whose stupid idea is this anyway... and, just to top it off …

Colorado: Samuri Rice Ale, Great Divide, Denver

Posted by Alan McLeod on in , - 2 comments
Is this the most important beer I have had in recent years? I don't know. After the embarrassing robotic declarations by American's trendier craft brewers that they will "not... use... rice... not... use... corn..." all I want are Belgian monks to bring out a range of pure alt grain beers that … read more »

Is This The Defining Post About Beer Blogging?

Posted by Alan McLeod on in , - 15 comments
I hate saying someone "nailed it" as, if you have ever swung a hammer at nails for days on end, building something with nails is a task requiring many separate identical actions each of relatively high yet also of similar quality. The concept of a singular exceptional experience does not pop into …

After My Lunch With The Guy Hauling The Kegs

Posted by Alan McLeod on in , - 2 comments
[This blog post has become a bit of performance art because of Andy's comment. Having edited again, I find my point of view oddly Jacksonian. So, please response either as to form or substance (or both... or neither) as you deem appropriate. Note: post-comments underlined and even the monkey head …

It's Really More About Murder Than Pagans, Isn't It?

Posted by Alan McLeod on in , - 11 comments
It's a slow Monday night for beer news. Blame the World Series meeting Monday Night Football taking on the night before US mid-term elections. Nothing of great beery import out there... so what about that witchy label... no, not that one to the right, the other one.  •  Frankly, I really don't … read more »