September 2011
Book Review: The Oxford Companion To Beer
Posted by on Thursday, September 29, 2011 in - 24 comments
Well, I opened the package from Amazon about two hours ago, so I must be ready for a review, right? What the heck. That is what I say. First impressions are what they are so let's have a look. • Some irritations first. There are a large number of empty cross references like this on page 557 …
Where Would You Place The Tax Break For Beer?
Posted by on Wednesday, September 28, 2011 in - 5 comments
This is great news for folk who long for the day when low alcohol beer meant something tasty and reasonably priced: • The new rules on duty levels come into force on 1 October, with beers below 2.8 per cent ABV receiving a duty cut and beers above 7.5 per cent paying more. Dr Isaac Sheps, chief …
Serious Planning For The Weekend's Beer Fest
Posted by on Tuesday, September 27, 2011 in - 15 comments
From the perspective of Tuesday, Saturday is not looking all that hot. Cold and damp, actually. Yet, for the first time in a number of years, I have shaken myself free and am heading to a beer fest - Beau's Oktoberfest. It is on. Really. "Unless there’s lightening or high winds the show will go …
Beer Rules: One Of These Things's Not Like The Others
Posted by on Monday, September 26, 2011 in - 7 comments
The implicit ethics of beer. Cultural, community, individual ethics. It is one of those things that brings me back to thinking about beer over and over. Sure, I drink the stuff but isn't it far more interesting what people think that the stuff means? Contextually, the same fluid can bean award, a …
A Great Way To Expand The Integrity Of National Craft
Posted by on Saturday, September 24, 2011 in - 1 comment
As we think about what it means to make good beer, we have realized that the truck might well not be the way to enhance your reputation or the quality of the beer. So, it was with some interest that I read this bit about the New Belgium's plans for expansion: • New Belgium sent a team to …
It's The End Of Craft Beer As We Know It...
Posted by on Thursday, September 22, 2011 in - 22 comments
It's been an odd patch. R.E.M. just broke up well after anyone noticed they were actually still a band. Jeff ticked me off but we're back stronger than ever. I ticked off Tandleman and... well, I admitted my feelings. Change. Flux. Conflict. The discussions were all in the context of grapplings …
Oh, For A Mug O' Fern Ale To Keep Strangers Away
Posted by on Tuesday, September 20, 2011 in - 9 comments
Ron got me thinking. He was making fun of something written by Horst Dornbusch today, the "man of a million unfounded claims," when I noticed something about pale ale coming into being around 1800 when coke was first used. I knew that was wrong so I started digging around for references to straw …
Medicine Treats Methanol Poisoning With Ethanol
Posted by on Monday, September 19, 2011 in - leave a comment
I have no reason to question this bit of medical wisdom from Kenya but it is so simple and elegant that it is worth relaying: • ...when ethanol is introduced, the breakdown of methanol is delayed as ethanol, which is digested faster than methanol, takes over, thus quickly reversing the damage …
Inventing New Words To Describe Beer And Things Beery
Posted by on Sunday, September 18, 2011 in - 8 comments
The other day I noticed I have been making up a few more words and phrases to describe what I have been observing in the beer world. Not expecting Websters to give me a call anytime soon but they are useful tools for discussion. Here are a few: • ⋅ "fan pub" - a pub, tavern, bar that caters …
Ontario: Lactese Flacon, Church-Key, Pethericks Corners
Posted by on Friday, September 16, 2011 in - 1 comment
When this beer came out three or four years ago, there was strong opposition. Reviews leaned towards the vom-esgue. They rejected it. Yet John Graham, the owner and brewer of Ontario's tiny Church-Key Brewing, held his ground. It was what he intended. A challenge. • Years pass. A bottle that I …
One San Fran Beer Blogger Makes The Big Leagues
Posted by on Friday, September 16, 2011 in - leave a comment
I am jealous every time I read about people making life changes. Not that I am unfulfilled but the thrill of risk reminds me of when I was 23 and told my boss "I could never do that" to which he replied "what are they going to do - take your bicycle?" Life lesson. So, I am a real booster when I …
Once Again, Canadian Politicians Endorse Beer
Posted by on Thursday, September 15, 2011 in - leave a comment
Tony Saxon of the Guelph Mercury got the picture that tells the tale. Ontario's Conservative leader, Tim Hudak, serving out the beer during the early days of this provincial election. Mid-week at the end of the work day, it's a classic Canadian political scene. He looks comfortable. Like the …
Bottled Guinness In Two Of Its Foreign Forms
Posted by on Wednesday, September 14, 2011 in - 30 comments
Is there any scarier concept than seeing "brewed in Canada" on a label? First, it means that it's being not consumed in Canada and, second, it means it is brewed by someone with no provincial pride. I see dead people. • Sound harsh? Well, 25 or 30 years ago, I would buy a six of Canadian made …
I Drink My Beer At Home Where I Don't Have To Tip
Posted by on Monday, September 12, 2011 in - 18 comments
The Britons are about to tip the scale. Not break a camel's back with a straw. And not move past a tipping point where everything immediately flops and flows from here to there. Just one more little incremental shift that makes assumptions more of the "ass, you and me" sort: • Back in the 1970s …
America's Loss Of Beer Love Tracked Over Five Years
Posted by on Saturday, September 10, 2011 in - 9 comments
There is a good article at MSNBC today which details the loss of sales for eight of America's top selling beer brands. The conclusions are set out in this passage: • Other than lighter-calorie beers, drinkers have also turned to imports, such as Corona, and to craft beers, which are produced … read more »
Does Brewing History Really Matter To You?
Posted by on Thursday, September 8, 2011 in - 23 comments
There is an excellent post over at Des de Moor's blog this morning entitled "Brewing’s Disputed Histories" in which he discusses an accepted inaccuracy about a point in the history of the Belgian brewers Lindemans around 200 years ago. He goes on to ask some questions including this one …
Those Damn Partying Beer Swilling College Kids!!!
Posted by on Tuesday, September 6, 2011 in - 10 comments
Ah, frosh week. All those memories of gaps in my memory. I came across this image above when grazing through some on line papers and, low and behold, I was a bit shocked by the year. Over 60 jailed. Any guesses as to when this occured?
Now That We Have an iPhone I Must Need Beery Apps
Posted by on Monday, September 5, 2011 in - 11 comments
So, we broke down and got an iPhone 4. It was not for lack of trying to avoid modernity. The sales staff all said they had never seen our 2002 era peanut phone and were certain that it should not have lasted that long on their network. Nice thing about the old phone was the lack of apps. It did …
An Opportunity Chicago Craft Brewers Should Welcome
Posted by on Sunday, September 4, 2011 in - 1 comment
I am not going to lie to you. Tonight, I made a béchamel sauce into which I dumped half of last night's roast side of salmon, shallots, cauliflower, thyme from the lawn and a bunch of other stuff. It was dandy and even the kids stuffed their faces. I had two types of gueuze and they were just the …
Session 55: My Favorite Beer Label Is From Gdansk
Posted by on Friday, September 2, 2011 in - 1 comment
I still use the wallet I bought in Gdansk back in 1991. Doesn't fit Canadian dollars properly. I used it to carry the notes worth about 0.03 of a dollar, zloty, that I used to buy zapjakanky, The Warsaw Voice and piwo, piva as well as piv. At least I think that was what it was. I better check at …
Don't Read Me. Read Stan. Stan Has It Going All Over.
Posted by on Thursday, September 1, 2011 in - 13 comments
Stan. • Later: OK, there were 39 comments over there to the top of the fourth inning, including lots by me - but let's review Stan's five questions to see if I am still happy with the answers: • Stan: Is Alan serious? • Answer: I am serious in the singular. People talk of “the craft beer …
