January 2011
I Blush Yet Brag... I Brag And Yet I Blush...
Posted by on Monday, January 31, 2011 in - 3 comments
Sure, I nominated myself - but I didn't do the judging so it is with some sense of residual self respect that I learned today that I got voted Best Beer Blog for Canada 2010 as part of the Canadian Food Blog Awards. Rather than go on about me, however, I would have you have a good look at the … read more »
Book Review: Edinburgh Pub Walks by Bob Steel
Posted by on Sunday, January 30, 2011 in - 1 comment
I get cranky. Especially when I have had a cold since Thursday and couldn't get out on the snowshoes this weekend as planned. Heck, I really could not maintain much of a level of consciousness given the fever here, the aches there and the surreal effect of cold medication. Not prime time for the …
Germany: Beer Sales Drop Because Birth Rate Drops
Posted by on Saturday, January 29, 2011 in - 3 comments
I find the obsession with the fortunes of the brewing industry overall a bit odd. For me, there is no real connection between the rate of beer consumption here in Canada and my own personal interest in both the trade and the product. So, I am always interested in the new reasons given for the …
Beer Cocktails: Why Am I Still Uneasy?
Posted by on Friday, January 28, 2011 in - 7 comments
Is it because Canadians are jumping on board? Does that make me uneasy about an article about Canadians and beer cocktails? Canadians have this way of making any movement, you know, both earnest and bland at the same time. I worry about these things. It is tough enough dealing with messing around …
What Would It Take To Get Miller To Sponsor Me?
Posted by on Wednesday, January 26, 2011 in - 8 comments
People need to hold out for a bit more: • Apparently the marketing folks at Miller encountered some semblance of self-awareness. They shunned the major sports sponsorship – Bud Light already holds the NBA and MLB official sponsorship, and will inherit the NFL's next year – to cast their …
Should I Like Beer Labeling Or Not Like Beer Labeling
Posted by on Tuesday, January 25, 2011 in - 7 comments
Here is the thing. I am allergic to sulphites. Monosodium bisuphite is a killer to me. Gives me a respiratory reaction, like asthma. It's in some beers. Apparently proposals for beer labeling in Canada would include declarations that sulphites are in the beer: • The labelling changes, first …
Jack Frost Takes On Innis + Gunn Blonde And Wins
Posted by on Monday, January 24, 2011 in - 1 comment
Not my finest artwork but that is an image of Jack Frost as a Union General saving the day by clearing out malaria as an avenging weapon in the great cause. No such luck in the present case. See, UPS delivered two parcels today both marked for me, each including two bottles of Scotland's Innis …
Sunday Beer News As The Jets Play Pittsburgh
Posted by on Sunday, January 23, 2011 in - 2 comments
Not like I am really thinking too deeply today. The AFC championship just began after the third string Chicago quarterback made something out of a dud in the NFC game. I'd like to say that I'm sitting around having a beer but I don't really have beer on a Sunday when there's a tie and hard shoes … read more »
A Treasure Trove of Tiny Teutonic Glassware
Posted by on Saturday, January 22, 2011 in - 4 comments
I am a lucky man. I was almost into a nap after a failed morning of showshoeing followed by some throwing around of embarrassingly light weights when the family poured back into the house with many purchases - including a collection of tiny German beer glasses bought at a charity second hand shop …
Speaking of Money, Let's Hear It For Price Fluctuations!
Posted by on Thursday, January 20, 2011 in - leave a comment
An interesting story in the Guelph Mercury about the implications of the strong Canadian dollar on the domestic booze marketplace. And there is good news for beer lovers: • Last year, six-packs of Southern Tier IPA saw their price at the LCBO pared from $13.75 to $12.75. The LCBO approached …
How Much Would You Happily Pay For A Pint?
Posted by on Wednesday, January 19, 2011 in - 16 comments
OK, we all know we have no idea what a pint means. I have one system that says 12 ounces is enough, another demands 16 oz and the one Mark Dredge was talking about understands it to mean a full 20. Here in Canada, we call a 12 ounce bottle a "pint" but we get do 20 ounce pints in pubs too so …
Evan Rail Ensured My New Glarus Mules Were Happy
Posted by on Tuesday, January 18, 2011 in - 1 comment
Does that make sense? My co-workers have family in Wisconsin which means I get a share in New Glarus mixed cases once in a while. Moon Man Pale Ale. Me happy. To keep them happy in return - because only a fool does not want to keep that deal going - I share some of my beer travel findings and have …
What To Do With This Here Beer Blog In 2011?
Posted by on Tuesday, January 18, 2011 in - 8 comments
What to do? What to do? Every half-year or so I wonder what the heck it is I am doing writing on this thing every day in one way or another. Greg Clow got me thinking this morning as he posts about going to a whisk(e)y session at what he describes as "a cocktail consulting firm here in Toronto …
What's In The Beer News This Sunday Night?
Posted by on Sunday, January 16, 2011 in - 2 comments
As the last moments of the first weekend in well over a month that hasn't included too much guilt buying or a thousand kilometre drive, I actually have time to check out the news - including some news about beer: • Don't ban all drinks over 6%. Just ban the beer over 6%. That makes sense.Cold …
Please God - Make The Taste Go Away
Posted by on Saturday, January 15, 2011 in - 4 comments
I make no slur against Southern Tier but, dear oh dear, I do not want to finish that bottle of Cherry Saison I stuck away and opened in the third quarter of the Steelers - Ravens game. Cloying lollypop meets medicinal herb yet it is a beer that has fans and frenemies. I pour. Proudly. • Antidote …
Considering The Delights Of The Growler
Posted by on Friday, January 14, 2011 in - 7 comments
I got the news on Facebook: • Growlers are ordered, kegs are coming in, 3 tap system is almost finished. Should be filling 32 and 64 oz growlers by next week. A few of our first drafts will be Dogfish Chicory Stout, Grimbergen Double, and Great Divide Fresh Hop. • That is the news from the Big …
The Photo Contest Presents Are In The Mail!
Posted by on Wednesday, January 12, 2011 in - 5 comments
I did it. Finally. After the entries are in, after the judging and the awards, after the indulgence of the season, after the travel, after the laying around doing nothing layered in tinsel, after going back to work and looking out the window and asking myself what the heck all that was about … read more »
The Other Great Way To Advance Good Beer
Posted by on Tuesday, January 11, 2011 in - 4 comments
Take over control of society: • They were swilling pints of Hickenlooper's Inaugurale in Denver Tuesday, toasting John Hickenlooper, the former brewpub owner, mayor and now Colorado governor -- a Democrat billed as a bipartisan solution in a purple state... Perhaps he'll follow President Barack …
PGP 7.0: Bladder Bustering In Nebraska?
Posted by on Monday, January 10, 2011 in - 4 comments
I know the winters are long in Nebraska but I had no idea that this sort of thing had infiltrated their pub game scene: • The Nebraska Liquor Control Commission will vote Wednesday on a measure to ban beer pong and other drinking games in Nebraska bars. Hobert Rupe, the commission's executive …
Beer Shop: Beers Of The World, Henrietta, New York
Posted by on Sunday, January 9, 2011 in - 6 comments
A long drive into western and central and then northern New York saw me complete the loop of Lake Ontario over the weekend. We had a memorial service to attend and as I had done the 401 the weekend before, I was not eager to see the Big Apple four times in eight days. So, it was Lockport …
Great Question: Is There Elitism In Beer Nerdism?
Posted by on Saturday, January 8, 2011 in - 11 comments
Go read Zak's excellent question. Me, I think there is less elitism than there is a falsely manufactured craft beer bubble that is seeded by the lack of an independent US craft beer drinker's association / club / gang / show trial. But that's just me. What do you think?
Session 47: Putting Beer In Your Cooking Is A-OK
Posted by on Thursday, January 6, 2011 in - 2 comments
...or your corn flakes or over your sausages or through your pie or whatever. Beer in cooking is just plain smart. So smart that David Jensen at beer47.com picked it for this month's edition of The Session: • Since the topic of Cooking with Beer is broad, I invite you to share any experience … read more »
Ontario: Black IPA, Church-Key, Campbellford
Posted by on Wednesday, January 5, 2011 in - 1 comment
"...Whoa-oh black bitter... bam-a-lam.... • I gave my opinion of the matter of the name last September so I don't want to revisit that whole kettle of fish - unless you do - so let's just leave it that I was mightily happy to find dinner bottles of Church-Key's Black IPA at the brewery, my local …
Beer News: "It's Not My Country But..." Edition
Posted by on Tuesday, January 4, 2011 in - 5 comments
I am a lazy beer blogger. An intensely lazy one. I have not yet sent out the four prize packages that I am duty bound to mail to winners in Ontario, Norway, Costa Rica and the Czech Republic. Sure there were Christmas parties needing attending and holiday travel and also a cold that won't go away …
Ontario: Fryfogel's Tavern, Near New Hamburg, Perth Co.
Posted by on Monday, January 3, 2011 in - 5 comments
Ever since I opened my copy of Julia Robert's In Mixed Company, a history of the taverns of Upper Canada from the 1780s to the 1850s, I have wondered how many of our Upper Canadian pioneer taverns there might be left out there. Well, I passed one today - the Fryfogel Tavern - and thought I would …
