August 2012
Science Proves Curved Glassware Odd Study Subject
Posted by on Friday, August 31, 2012 in - leave a comment
Unlike scientists apparently, I think that when three out of four things share similarities, the fourth one is actually different. But see what you think of this BBC report: • There was no difference in the drinking time for soft drinks. People drinking from both straight and curved glasses …
Ottawa Brew Pub Reviewed... But Not Its Beer
Posted by on Wednesday, August 29, 2012 in - 2 comments
A rather odd review of a brew pub in the Ottawa Citizen whose only value from a brew point of view is the brief introductory comments on the state of the competition in town: • How to tell apart the national capital region’s numerous and newish beer-themed eateries? Lord knows I’ve struggled …
Boak And Bailey Explore 1960s UK Beer Culture
Posted by on Tuesday, August 28, 2012 in - 9 comments
I am not sure what they are up to but Boak and Bailey are up to something interesting. While we have realized that received wisdom about many things brewing related are not to be trusted, that discussion has largely be left to issues in the past as in before living memory. B+B, however, seem to …
So What The Heck Is Masskrugstemmen?
Posted by on Sunday, August 26, 2012 in - 2 comments
Compared to the fine points of the fine points of beer nerdism, nothing thrills me as much as learning about another sorta dumb beer related game like this one: • What the heck is Masskrugstemmen? It's the sport that compels grown men to stand in one spot, holding a five-pound stein of beer …
Not Beer: Unfiltered Rosé 2011, Closson Chase, Ontario
Posted by on Saturday, August 25, 2012 in - leave a comment
Another day with nothing to do. Another summer run into nearby Prince Edward County, Ontario, to hit a few wineries and pad what we like to call the Christmas stash. See, I like good beer just fine and all but when you have big gatherings around roasts and twenty types of root vegetable when the …
Do You Care That So Few Really Care About Beer?
Posted by on Friday, August 24, 2012 in - 10 comments
This week of the summer head cold has led to questions and grumbling. And it's just not only about how pumpkin beers in 2012 can be made with 2011 pumpkin preserved mash if they are supposed to be some sort of harvest celebration. Maybe it's the dog days of summer but there is much head scratching …
Why Isn't Dramatic Hop Instability A Fault?
Posted by on Wednesday, August 22, 2012 in - 13 comments
... and the brewing of a beer with that characteristic to be sold at full price not a failing? I am reminded by Stan's post of the arc of a baseball in flight. The batter's hope is at its highest the point of concussion between bat and ball but the truth is only known when it either reaches the …
Appearing One Weekend Only - Ron Pattinson
Posted by on Tuesday, August 21, 2012 in - 6 comments
Remember I mentioned there was a super surprise awaiting you all or at least the all you all who are going to Beau's Oktoberfest 2012? Well, it's Ron. He's being flown in from the lands of the Euro to sit in an eastern Ontario county fairground for three days in early autumn as sort of a …
Is All That Made Up Stuff A Problem With The Dialogue?
Posted by on Monday, August 20, 2012 in - 3 comments
It is one thing to co-opt macro crap beer to the cause of good beer when it suits the statistics. But it really is another thing to make claims beyond anything that could be sustained by even the most optimistic spinning of numbers: • Present company excepted, people in the media barely write …
What Are The New Best Beery Hackneyed Ideas?
Posted by on Sunday, August 19, 2012 in - 10 comments
You've seen them before, right? Pairing beer with food? That is so 2009-10. Five years before that, wet hop beers were the innovation that rose up, promised much and settled back down again. Reading this article about a new nearby fest - and one that by all accounts was great - made me wonder if … read more »
Ontario: An Early Reference To The Kingston Brewery
Posted by on Saturday, August 18, 2012 in - leave a comment
The funny thing about Ontario is it started as a part of Quebec. Until the division of Upper and Lower Canada in 1791, this was all the one unified colony that Britain took from France in the conquest of 1760. Settlers started moving in 1783 first from central New York in the first direct Loyalist …
Ontario: Festivale Altbier, Beau's All Natural, VKH
Posted by on Thursday, August 16, 2012 in - 3 comments
I like this stuff. This take on altbier pours a light chestnut under a cream foam and frothy rim. Very nutty aroma. In the mouth, steely green hops hover well above a mouthful of sweet nut and caramel apple butter malt. Meaty even. Black tea dry finish. Seeing as it is a summer seasonal, I have to …
Ontario: Hawaiian Style, Spearhead Brewing, Toronto
Posted by on Wednesday, August 15, 2012 in - leave a comment
Toronto beer. A good pick for the game between cellar dwellers Toronto against Portland. Funny how Toronto is sponsored by the Bank of Montreal while Oregon's team is sponsored by Alaskan Airways. Home town proud. • Which does beg the question why that town to the west that needed a Kingston …
California: Back In Black, 21st Amendment Brewing
Posted by on Monday, August 13, 2012 in - 4 comments
Velky Al today has pointed quite directly to the question that has been in my mind since I opened this six the other week: • Clearly then, while roast is an element in the beer it shouldn't be the dominant flavour or aroma, and in opinion that has been the problem with pretty much every Black … read more »
What Have These Olympics Meant For Me... And Beer?
Posted by on Sunday, August 12, 2012 in - 2 comments
As the London 2012 Olympics start to fade, I am buoyed by the fact that the Canadian broadcaster which has presented these games has lost the future rights to them - perhaps for insisting that "we" have improved even as results don't match previous efforts. Now, I can return to thinking about … read more »
Is There Anything About Beer That Is Actually True?
Posted by on Saturday, August 11, 2012 in - 5 comments
Two monkey heads in a row. What is going on? Well, for starters, I was messing around on these internets this week and, as is usually the case with ideas beery, I have come to realize again that the asides are the thing that are most interesting. I wondered whether beer really warranted beer nerds …
Planet Earth Leads Universe In Beer Sales
Posted by on Thursday, August 9, 2012 in - 5 comments
Just as I find it a wee bit boring to praise every statistical interpretation that marks craft beer's march from 5% to 5.87% of the US beer market, so too does this sort of story sound a lot like the story I have read more than a few times before: • It has been a popular tipple for centuries … read more »
How Is The Drought Affecting Malting Barley?
Posted by on Tuesday, August 7, 2012 in - leave a comment
I mowed today. A bit. I knocked down the weeds for the second mowing since the first week of June. We are on the edge of the drought that has hit Mid-west and Prairies in the US. We are hearing that beer prices are going up but, as of 2 August, US malt prices are in fact not climbing: • "Malting …
California: Brew Free! Or Die IPA, 21st Amendment
Posted by on Sunday, August 5, 2012 in - 4 comments
Things may be breaking down or maybe new wholesalers are at play. Finger Lake Beverages had a full line up of Jolly Pumpkin as well as the first 21st Amendment beers I have come across this far east including this 7% IPA... or is that a DIPA. It was a few years ago. • The beer pours a burnished …
The Session #66: The One Beer to Rule Them All
Posted by on Saturday, August 4, 2012 in - 5 comments
Craig asked the question: • What if you were to design the perfect brew—a Tolkien-esque One Beer to Rule Them All. The perfect beer for you, personally. Would it be hoppy and dark or strong and light? Is it augmented with exotic ingredients or traditionally crafted? Would your One Beer be a …
New Brunswickers Had Too Much Beer In 2011
Posted by on Friday, August 3, 2012 in - leave a comment
I love the press releases of the smaller booze monopolies in smaller jurisdictions. Like this one from New Brunswick dutifully cut and pasted without comment or even apparent thought by the local branch of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation: • ... president and chief executive officer Daniel …
Maryland: Max's Taphouse, Fells Point, Baltimore
Posted by on Wednesday, August 1, 2012 in - leave a comment
Baltimore has given me a very good argument for its place as a beer destination and no other spot has made the case as clearly as Max's Taphouse. We stopped in with the kids after taking the tour of Fort McHenry and crossing back across the harbor all by water taxi. The Fells Point area is a bit …
