April 2011
Will The CAMRA Beer Bus Really Save The Rural Pub?
Posted by on Saturday, April 30, 2011 in - 4 comments
I am not sure if this is a great idea or one bound to fail: • The 16-seater bus will take drinkers from Colchester town centre to pubs across the area from next month. The Real Ale Runabouts will give 26 watering holes that are not well served by public transport a much-needed boost … read more »
Did Michael Jackson Actually Invent Our Beer "Styles"?
Posted by on Thursday, April 28, 2011 in - 41 comments
This week, I received Brewery History, No. 139, in the mail. A freebie. It was gratefully received as so few packets and packages come my way these days. Time was the mail brought cheques for ads, couriered samples of beer, love letters, job offers. It's been too quiet lately. More mail would be …
Czech Republic: Primátor Exkluziv 16°, Pivovar Náchod
Posted by on Wednesday, April 27, 2011 in - 2 comments
Remember. Do not call nice people who help you mules even if you mean it in the nicest way. I will make amends in fluid form but, seriously, just don't. Ever. • The lovely and kind couple that brought me treats from Prague in January slipped two of these lovelies into the swag bag. The aroma is …
Time For Taxes And Those Fond Beery Memories
Posted by on Tuesday, April 26, 2011 in - 1 comment
I am a good boy. I claim my beer writing income as a business. Every April, as the Canadian deadline closes in, I go through the receipts of the year to figure out the credits and debits. The balanced owed. It's not a huge job in the sense that it's not my real job but I put it off. It's …
Wicked Beer Fan Related Finger Pointy Gossip Action!
Posted by on Sunday, April 24, 2011 in - 3 comments
I have to say I have no idea these sorts of things went on but, even though it is Easter and I should be nicer especially having attended an excellent morning service, I just can't stop reading the comments after the post that contains this: • ...I have had to explain, and apologize, for certain …
Pile On The Royals! Pile On The Royals!!!
Posted by on Saturday, April 23, 2011 in - 6 comments
Being out here in the Commonwealth, we have the ability to laugh about these sorts of things: • The sad, toady breweries who bowed and scraped and made a special beer to celebrate the marriage of William Windsor and Kate Middleton got a slap in the face as thanks for their pathetic grovelling …
Lew On Beer, Good Friday And Being A Lamp
Posted by on Friday, April 22, 2011 in - 3 comments
Being born of dour Scots Presbyterians and marrying into a clan of the same with the tartan set at a particularly dull tone of grey, Lew's post today rocks the very fibers of the traditions of faith as me and mine know it. And does so wonderfully well: • ...it's a fast day, and while I'm not …
What The Heck Do All Those StatsCan Numbers Mean?
Posted by on Thursday, April 21, 2011 in - 2 comments
I don't know if there is an organization called Statistics Belgium or if there is another called StatsBraz but we have a thing called Statistics Canada that issues all sorts of information all the time. Yesterday, it issued a report titled "Control and Sale of Alcoholic Beverages" which, observing …
Your Much Awaited Northern New York Beer Update
Posted by on Tuesday, April 19, 2011 in - 13 comments
Did I mention I love crossing the border? Have I ever mentioned that. I know I go on and on about somethings but I am sure I have never mentioned crossing the border. Things noted today include: • • The Brazilian overlords who now rule 98% of the global beer market have set up displays of …
Why Is Britain Creating Beer Blogging Celebrities?
Posted by on Tuesday, April 19, 2011 in - 27 comments
Pete's post this morning had me wondering a bit about what exactly the hell is going on in the UK with beer bloggers. Consider this: • I'm not the first beer writer to brew at Otley - not by any means. I would have been higher up the list if I'd got my shit together when they first invited me to …
Belgium: Avec Les Bons Voeux 2010, Dupont
Posted by on Monday, April 18, 2011 in - 1 comment
Lew told me to have something new - which is just as well as I have reason. Forty-eight of them as of today. Sad to think a third of my life has passed me by already. • It pours cloudy gold with a thick rocky head that resolves to a persistent white froth and rim. The nose is quite amazing … read more »
PGP 8.0: Teaching Ourselves About Drunk Driving
Posted by on Sunday, April 17, 2011 in - 3 comments
OK, if I had a spare $6,000 I am not sure I would spend it on this draft pouring arcade game chair but then again I am not sure I would not. You see, there are so many applications. As a tool for teaching about the dangers of drunk driving it's a natural. A boon to any driver's ed course. But also …
New Hampshire: Barleywine Style Ale, Smuttynose, Portsmouth
Posted by on Thursday, April 14, 2011 in - 3 comments
I had no idea. I was certain I had posted a review of this family favorite but apparently not. It's the 2011 bottling so it's early days but this is one of my favorite subdued takes on barleywine... or barley wine.... or barleywine style ale. • Five ninety-nine for 22 oz. Strong but smooth. Big …
What Effect Has Beer On The Sports Fan?
Posted by on Wednesday, April 13, 2011 in - 7 comments
Sports and Beer. Right? You know what it means. Or do you? Consider this: • Dodger executives are now reconsidering a promotion to sell half-priced beers at several games starting next week. Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich criticized the idea in the wake of last month's beating of … read more »
Swiss To Maintain "Spontaneous" Rounds To Regulars
Posted by on Monday, April 11, 2011 in - 1 comment
The more I read about the cultural differences between the nations when it comes to bars and booze the more I know how little I know. Who knew, for example, that the Swiss needed to bring in a ban on free beer? • ...the Cabinet has drafted a plan to ban restaurateurs from offering any free … read more »
OK, Maybe German Beer Halls Are The New Thing
Posted by on Sunday, April 10, 2011 in - 1 comment
So, with yet another article about German beer halls and beer gardens in the US, is it now officially a trend... as if there was an Office of Trends to declare such things: • ...finding a Manhattan space large enough for an authentic beer garden is a big challenge, as Jon Bloostein, owner of …
"Canadian Summer" Begins... aka Snow Almost Gone
Posted by on Saturday, April 9, 2011 in - leave a comment
Canadian summer? Means it's hit 10C or 50F. Means that you can almost see green grass through last year's grey lawn hay. Means that you went to commune with the BBQ department at Canadian Tire with all the other hungover Tim Horton's slugging early risers, then went and bought more meat just in …
Ontario: Summer Weiss, Muskoka Cottage Brewery
Posted by on Thursday, April 7, 2011 in - 6 comments
Picked this up at the LCBO after work. $5.95 for 750 ml, it's taking a brave stand in a world where $2.45 gets you 500 ml of Schneider Weisse. Yet, Muskoka Cottage Brewery's take claims a worthy place amongst our monopolistic statist overlord's selection of south German wheats. • The aroma is …
Beer Puddles! Who Doesn't Like Beer Puddles??
Posted by on Wednesday, April 6, 2011 in - 1 comment
...Or at least a story that happens to have "Beer Puddles as the headline: • Many of the Scuds had burst and spilled their contents and the tarmac was running with beer, sticky pools of the thick, cloudy beer forming puddles in the steep eroded cut-offs on the edge of the tar. Some of the crates …
Prague: A Pisshead's Pub Guide by Max Bahnson
Posted by on Tuesday, April 5, 2011 in - 1 comment
Max, he of the Pivni Filosof, sent me a pdf of this book today. You can find it at Lulu. I have to qualify my comments right away to say that I have not been to Prague. All I know, in fact, is what I learned from Evan Rail and his CAMRA guide. So, bear with me. • This is a guide to pub crawls …
New Code Word For Good Beer Fans: Elitists
Posted by on Sunday, April 3, 2011 in - 8 comments
You will have to excuse me as I choke on my 300-year-old bourbon barrel aged beer. See, while we fans of good beer have seen nerd, geek, weirdo, snob and (my favorite) dipso, this slur was new for me: • These days, a brew doesn't impress the beer snobs unless it's aged in 300-year-old bourbon …
Session 50: My Submission Is The Wrap Up
Posted by on Saturday, April 2, 2011 in - 6 comments
First, I apologize. This topic for this the 50th edition of The Session was all over the place. Messy even. Like mascara on prom night. Yet, it was a good exercise... at least for me. See, it allowed me to explore what we perceive we value about good beer. And, as I suspected, no one has the same …
