September 2012
Back Home From Beaus Oktoberfest 2012 And...
Posted by on Sunday, September 30, 2012 in - 3 comments
... and what did I learn? Well, the nicest guys to drink with are the off duty local OPP who watched the crowd's back the night before. And there was the realization that having smart guys in the room who have brewed in industrial and craft settings for decades adds a hugely positive level of …
What Matters On Saturday At The Beaus Oktoberfest
Posted by on Saturday, September 29, 2012 in - leave a comment
Ron was on fire. Sure, I had to threaten the audience before to ensure that they had to listen if they knew what was good for them. But they did listen. And it was good for them. After about seventeen genial interjections the lady in the back told me to shut up. That was excellent. Then we were …
Photos Of Friday's Session At Beau's Oktober Fest
Posted by on Saturday, September 29, 2012 in - leave a comment
Announcement: I Would Have A Beer With Mitt Romney
Posted by on Wednesday, September 26, 2012 in - 3 comments
Enough! There is a certain point where the pile on the goofy rich kid like we did in undergrad is not fun anymore. Worse is when Canadians weigh in and decide to kick the guy when he is down: • Mercer also weighed in on Mitt Romney's latest gaffe about the 47 per cent of Americans who don’t pay …
Lazy Summary Of Tuesday Posts By Other People
Posted by on Tuesday, September 25, 2012 in - 4 comments
OK, I got up at five. Give me a break. Tired. Too tired for this? No. No, it's not that Twitter is more interesting than blogging. It isn't! No. I'll pay more attention to you real soon, blog. Sure, I haven't posted since Sunday and the last post over there was about carrots but you are the focus …
Tweets With Win About The Theatre Of The Mouth
Posted by on Sunday, September 23, 2012 in - 29 comments
After a long afternoon's nap fading in and out as the Red Sox held off Baltimore, I had a couple of very good tweet chats with the constantly interesting Win Bassett, triggered by these thoughts, which helpfully framed a few issues I have been pushing around my brain for years. The newest idea is …
Maine: XXXX IPA, Shipyard, Portland
Posted by on Saturday, September 22, 2012 in - 3 comments
In 2008, the very good people at Shipyard forwarded me samples of their new Pugsley Signature series beers and I reviewed the imperial porter. Like so many examples of Canadian consumer selection, the local state monopoly has flexed its cat-like reflexes and, four years later, we are able to buy …
Great Grannie's Favorite Pub Was A Boat
Posted by on Thursday, September 20, 2012 in - 3 comments
Great-grannie passed away in 1946. Tales have been told about her ways. If you click on the thumbnail you will see the house above the car where she lived on the second floor, stepping out on the second floor ledge to wash the windows in her 80s without tying on. Sending her grandson down to the …
When Insects Rule The Planet There Will Be Beer
Posted by on Wednesday, September 19, 2012 in - 1 comment
Some news stories really need no commentary: • The Atomic Energy Commission decided to search for an answer by setting up bottles of beer and soda cans at varying distances around the Nevada desert and then exploding two atomic bombs nearby to see what would happen next. The drinks were set up … read more »
Sad News Of A Beer Fan's Passing Earlier This Summer
Posted by on Monday, September 17, 2012 in - leave a comment
I took down the logo for the Cracked Kettle beer store in Amsterdam today. I removed it after getting an email advising that the shop closed a few months back and that owner Jeff Cunningham had died in June after a few months of terminal illness. Sad news. I never met Jeff but had worked with him …
Culture, Community, Scene, Brand And Beer
Posted by on Saturday, September 15, 2012 in - leave a comment
Last year at Beau's Oktoberfest, I got to share in a discussion during a Beer School panel led by Mr. B. I described how I thought that Beau's had created a scene more than a community, comparing it to the Halifax music scene of the late '80s and early '90s. This video posted by TAPS magazine of …
Belgium: Saison De Pipaix, Brasserie à Vapeur
Posted by on Friday, September 14, 2012 in - leave a comment
A beer apparently from a shed. OK, if the BAer brewery page is to be believed a one and a half story brick shed in wee Pipaix-Leuze, Belgium. With a steam punk lauter tun. Neato. • The beer pours light caramel under fizz head that resolves to a white rim and foam. Not strong on the nose …
What Is The Worst Thing That Has Been Done To Beer?
Posted by on Wednesday, September 12, 2012 in - 13 comments
I have to admit that my first reaction to the image to the right of the milkshake made with Samuel Adams Octoberfest beer was a bit of a gakky feeling but then I remembered that I don't really like this pumpkin¹ beer anyway so maybe this would not either be all that great a loss or, when you think …
Is Good and Craft Beer Really A Form Of Temperance?
Posted by on Tuesday, September 11, 2012 in - 7 comments
Yesterday, Jeff reviewed the stated purposes of Oregon's Liquor Control Act of 1934 as part of an exploration of the regulation of strong drink in his state. Lew has been writing along a similar line for some time on his separate blog Why The PLCB Should Be Abolished. Cass has been running a …
Blogging About Blogging As Boak and Bailey Disclose
Posted by on Monday, September 10, 2012 in - 15 comments
Books, beer and awkward branded clothing. And those products that supposedly make you experience of beer more convenient but do not. Emails offering come to me a number of times a week and, unless it is a really unappealing concept from the get go, I writing in reply that wee treat in the mail …
What's On The Drinks Menu In 1378 Or So
Posted by on Saturday, September 8, 2012 in - 2 comments
It is not often that I get to write that I was flipping the pages of Piers The Poughman the other day but in fact I was flipping the pages of Piers The Poughman the other day and noticed a lot of references to drinking in Book 6. I pulled it from the back corner of the bookshelf after watching the …
Session #67: In 2017 There Shall Be The Following....
Posted by on Friday, September 7, 2012 in - 3 comments
What do you think? 2017? I will be fifty-four. An age that still seems impossibly aged. What will US good brewing brewing be like then. That is the question posed by the Rambling Beer Runner for this month's edition of The Session: • Where is it all going? The growth shows no sign of stopping … read more »
New York: Craft Beer Brands Caught In BigCo Sale
Posted by on Thursday, September 6, 2012 in - 5 comments
While not MegaCo, the proposed sale of one NNY BigCo has a few familiar brands asking new questions about their futures: • The beer company could be worth around $400 million, one of the sources said. KPS has hired investment bank UBS to advise on the sale, according to that source. NAB's other …
Your Vital Wednesday Evening Beery Round Up
Posted by on Wednesday, September 5, 2012 in - 1 comment
It has been a busy stretch. Busy with the kids' school starting up again. Busy now that all the co-workers are back from the hodgepodge of summer vacation schedules. Busy with the political news, the garden... Busy with life. Life has rhythms and we are moving to that beat into the next season. As …
Merkel Laughs At Obama's Tiny Home Brewery
Posted by on Monday, September 3, 2012 in - 11 comments
As we have reviewed, Canadian politicians have no need to consider themselves second best when it comes to love of beer... or at least they have to admit their inferiority to beer in the great Canadian cultural pecking ladder. Sure it would help if we could get the whole beer betting thing right …
Albany Ale: Bringing Together Different Perspectives
Posted by on Sunday, September 2, 2012 in - 3 comments
One of my favorite things about thinking about beer is realizing that it is actually a hugely diversified discussion even if there are significant forces trying to homogenize and standardize and prioritize the discourse. The upcoming beer school at Beau's Oktoberfest is framing this varieties of …
