August 2011
Did I Hear The Quiet Beer Counter-Revolution Whisper?
Posted by on Tuesday, August 30, 2011 in - 11 comments
Is there something burbling out there? Is that what I was thinking of when I thought of the end of something? Ron prefers polite beer. Boak and Bailey read that and are now exploring words around that idea. Me? I am daydreaming of a nice Ontario dark ale that I plan to have just as soon as this …
I'm Sure I'd Try It If It Tasted Any Good...
Posted by on Monday, August 29, 2011 in - 1 comment
Non-alcoholic beer. Gak. Sort of the definition of gak. I have tried. For a while almost 20 years ago there was a brand of near beer that blended well with some brand of real beer and I was happily drinking 2.5% on a Saturday afternoon. But that was then. I've no idea now what was in the glass …
So Do Non-Political Beer Boundaries Make Sense?
Posted by on Sunday, August 28, 2011 in - 8 comments
So, does this idea make sense? Does it make more sense to describe regions of good beer by ignoring political boundaries? If you think about it, there is no real reason to relate saison to France rather than Belgium just because of the Treaty of London of 1839 and other non-beery factors …
Which Hemishpere Is The Best Beer Hemisphere?
Posted by on Saturday, August 27, 2011 in - 4 comments
After an evening of craft beer disappointment - or perhaps just infanticide - I was wonder what is going wrong with me lately. I don't really crave another new saison even if some are surprisingly good. I would maybe feel different if I could ever get up to this sort of thing. • Arguments don't …
Belgium: Saison De Dottingnies, De Ranke, Wevelgem
Posted by on Thursday, August 25, 2011 in - 1 comment
Boak and Bailey... or was it just Boak... or Bailey... triggered a great discussion today about the meaning of saison. I recommended Farmhouse Ales by Phil Markowski and Yvan De Baets (and I just did again) for anyone interested in the topic. But it is neat to see that we may be in the third wave …
Kentucky's Hofbrauhaus Wages Criminal War On Crime
Posted by on Wednesday, August 24, 2011 in - 6 comments
OK, this is just weird. I am used to reading reports every day on disorderly bars in one place or another but usually the disorder is caused by drunk patrons, not the staff as the Kentucky Alcoholic Beverages Control Board found this week: • ...most of the disputes were related to searches for …
So - When Was Lager Invented... Discovered... Evolved?
Posted by on Monday, August 22, 2011 in - 11 comments
This is either just a bit weird or I have completely missed something. Apparently some scientists have been looking to find the yeast strain that started lager... and they think they have found it: • When the team brought the yeast to a lab at the University of Colorado and analyzed its genome …
After Testing Basic Beer Theories On Family Members
Posted by on Sunday, August 21, 2011 in - 50 comments
It was like a repeat of last weekend's Saturday of the abiding meatness except with more meat. Fambily was over and one had to put on a show. So, there were sausages and steaks, smoked pork and ribs. Plenty and plenty left over for a rerun at lunch today. But something happened. Yesterday, I … read more »
If Women Need Pinkification... What Do Men Need?
Posted by on Saturday, August 20, 2011 in - 2 comments
I find any knee-jerk to "girls only" marketing more than a bit wearing but this column in the Globe and Mail puts it far better than I could: • ...It turns out that, as a woman, I require my beverages in a less threatening hue – like pink, which is the colour of a new “crisp rose beer” launching …
Some Beery Links For The Dog Days Of Summer
Posted by on Thursday, August 18, 2011 in - 6 comments
Notice there isn't much going on? I know I have. It is slow. Then I realized it's because everyone is on vacation. I am just back and, I have to admit, my brain is still in patio "yes, I will have some more" mode. I blame waiters. And waitresses. They bring you stuff you want and all they want in …
Oz's "Convoy Of No Confidence" Needs Its Beer
Posted by on Wednesday, August 17, 2011 in - leave a comment
I am starting to think that for Australians, access to beer is not unlike the NRA's position on the right to bear arms: it is fundamental to a free and democratic society. Consider this political protest: • About 11 separate convoys from as far as Western Australia and the Northern Territory are …
Your Dumb Beer Related Crime Video Of The Day
Posted by on Tuesday, August 16, 2011 in - leave a comment
What can you say. More here on the low speed chase...
When To Have That Beer In Zimbabwe In 2012?
Posted by on Monday, August 15, 2011 in - 3 comments
Laws around beer reflect cultural norms both in how they regulate and how they express norms that are unregulated. Consider this proposed reform to the hours of sale law of Zimbabwe: • The Ministry of Health and Child Welfare is crafting its own alcohol policy, which might alter the tough …
Saturday Afternoon Beer As I Smoked Meat By The Shed
Posted by on Saturday, August 13, 2011 in - 4 comments
After two weeks off that saw a lot of road, it was good to have a Saturday to commune with 5 pounds of pork and 5 hours next to the Weber set up as a smoker. As perfect a summer day as ever there was, the fire sparked quickly given the subtle breeze. I dry rubbed the joint for only an hour or so …
I Wonder If The Syrians Call It Premium Beer, Too
Posted by on Friday, August 12, 2011 in - 2 comments
If the subject were not so serious, this would be hilarious: • Syria’s national beer is a perfect metaphor for its government’s actions. Previously called Barada, after the river that runs through the capital, the beer was notoriously bad and came in stubby green bottles. Earlier this year, the …
Canada: Get A Bit Here, Another Bit There And A Bit More...
Posted by on Thursday, August 11, 2011 in - 1 comment
About 600 km farther westward later now. I have driven from an area of Canada first settled in the 1640s by Baroque explorers to one that came under the Victorian British plow around two hundred years later. When I was at the museum that sits on the spot where the French founded Montreal, standing …
Quebec: La Rousse, Belle Gueule, Brasseurs R.J.
Posted by on Tuesday, August 9, 2011 in - 1 comment
So, I am at a pretty good pizza cafe and order this beer but it's one-third of the way to Flemish Red which makes it extremely off... and extremely tasty. Is that bad or good? BAers respect it in its intended state.
I Knew I Was In Montreal When I Saw Port From 1963...
Posted by on Monday, August 8, 2011 in - 8 comments
One sign that you are someplace is when you see a wine from the year you were born on a shelf in a retail store. Not like I was going to buy it at over $500 a bottle (oddly, compare) but I was happy to contemplate one of the younger bottles from one of my kids' years of birth even as the Earth's …
Session 54: Reflecting On My Sour Beer Studies
Posted by on Saturday, August 6, 2011 in - 6 comments
I didn't like sour beer... and then I got to like most of it. It took a bit of work, a bit of a study. I have not made my peace with some but there's about 17 litres of the stuff at the core of my stash now. It waits for the right combination of enough time, enough friends and enough anti-acid …
Global #IPAday! It's Global #IPAday!! Global #IPAday!!!
Posted by on Thursday, August 4, 2011 in - 7 comments
Global #IPAday. That's what it needs to be called. I don't like the implications of international #IPAday. It leaves out the stateless and those on ships at sea beyond territorial waters. And, really, isn't that what #IPAday is all about? Inclusion? Or is it exclusion? Who knows. Here are some …
So What Happens If I Order A Beer And A Coke?
Posted by on Wednesday, August 3, 2011 in - 2 comments
... or, errr, an Irish coffee? • Look, I have no particular skin in the game of caffeinated coolers - what we in Canada at least call some industrial gak in a can that mixes a whole lot of herbs with booze and fluids. They cost 12 cents to make and someone sells them to you for three bucks... or …
Belgium: Winterscotch, KleinBrouwerij De Glazen Toren
Posted by on Tuesday, August 2, 2011 in - leave a comment
I have a thing for those Belgian beers that are rolled in paper rather than a stuck on label. Even though this one has a label underneath, too. They pile up like a hoarder's wax paper collection, get shoved amongst books on the shelf, get used as crayon fodder and act as remembrances of great … read more »
Forget Not Being Serious, I Want Good Beer To Be Silly
Posted by on Monday, August 1, 2011 in - 6 comments
After tonight's big feed of whole salmon baked in a bucket of olive oil cut with lemon chunks sided with Local 1 and Jack D'or, I have to admit that I have some sympathies for pairing. And while I am not going to join any crusade against MADD, I balance my thoughts about BBADD with those by Jay …
