Just a question while the entries to the The Good Beer Blog Flying Dog Summer Gonzo-thon contest come in. What do you think of kids being in bars with their family? When I moved to Ontario from Atlantic Canada in the early 1990s, it was quite the thing to see kids in central Canadian bars at mealtimes - even for me, the immigrants' kid who was in the pubs of Scotland when visiting the relatives. I was reminded of that by this post on family friendly pubs in Oakland CA from an on-line journal NovoMetro:
Perhaps it's a vestige of our rough-edged frontier past, or maybe it's a legacy of the temperance movement of the early 20th century. Whatever the origin, it's been accepted for decades in the United States that bars, pubs, taverns, saloons, and lounges are not the sorts of places one goes with a kid. It's different in Europe. Some English pubs in summer are full of families. In Central Europe, tots take ceramic pitchers to the local beer hall to fetch dad’s draft. In this country, the demand for kid-friendly pubs is still far greater than the supply, but Oakland has a couple of places where junior won’t draw dirty looks from childless hipsters or run afoul of an angry drunk on his sixth Jack and Coke.
Once upon a time, I had to deal with to a Vermont waiter's refusal to get me a beer, phrased only by the little git's statement "this is a family restaurant" and blank stare, with one of my better comebacks: my family includes beer. But we now know that the laws of Wisconsin (you can find a detailed .pdf article on the law
here) are
among the most freedom based, allowing parents to purchase alcohol for their children to consume in their presence - something that even I might wonder about. Yet even today we read that Ruk back east in PEI about how far a stunned law can go when a licensed concert was
barred to his whole family for fear that his boy would see...you know...someone drinking a beer. Frankly, now "family friendly restaurant" has come full circle as it's often code for a place that wouldn't scare the average person with foul bathrooms or that certain sense of amateur unorganized pugilist club meets there. As it should. Just because I want a craft beer shouldn't mean that the family has to sit the car, should it?
Being one of the oldest beer blogs going, having been around now for not quite all of less than three years, it has been amazing to watch how the hobby/habit has taken off in the last year or so. There are so many quality blogs out there posting on the brewing industry that it is hard to keep up with all the information that is now available. Here are some thoughts on trends I see recently which I think are really adding to the scene:
Beer blogging has opened some really interesting doors for me over the last three years and I am looking forward to what is to come. I have a chapter in a book coming out this fall and I am traveling into some the personally uncharted territory of western NY soon. There are even some really interesting secret projects I've been able to get involved with that I hope one day to be in a position to write about - and not just working with Stonch on PVB: Project Value Blog.
This is either a golden age or the beginning of something even greater. Either way, it sure is fun.
An amber ale from the makes of Brune Tradition, reviewed last year. I like these malty brews by La Binchoise but I was a little surprised how the cork blew out of my hand leaving a dent in the ceiling. Maybe that has something to do with the freshness date of C3-06. Maybe not.
The beer pours chestnut-amber with a fine tan foam and rim. In the mouth there is burlap and date made bright with notes of cherry, tangerine. Soft watery, rich and nutty with some huskiness like a Canadian stock pale ale. Some heat from the 9% alcohol so hardly sessionable. This appears to be their Christmas ale relabeled for the US market, if the approving BAers are to be believed.
Swellegant stuff but I am a bit at a loss to think of what this would go with. Like a hefeweizen, it certainly could serve as a great marinade for pork what with the spicy yeast. You know, this would likely go well with Turkey dinner including the cranberries.
I received correspondence yesterday from a local corresponent who comments here about frequently, Paul of Kingston, reporting on the fifth Empire State Brewing and Music Festival Held last Friday in Syracuse, NY. 
He reported on the fourth here. You know, I had thought that last year he had described in that report the apex of western engineering technology (illustrated below) but I guess he just told me about it over a beer. Anyway, here is his report.
+++++++Another fine and festive event was orchestrated by the smart folk of Northern NY state. In only its fifth year, the Empire State Brewing and Music Festival is proving to be a "must go-to" date for those in search of a summertime craft brew taste-apalooza beneath the stars. The event is crammed into the 5-10pm slot on a Friday night which creates the ad-hoc event theme "so many beers – so little time." The reality of the thing is that you had better not dilly-dally because most of the brewery tables get poured out by 9:20pm. That's my one big complaint here: you don’t have much hope of finding a decent brew to taste by 9:45. Folks - bring an extra keg or two next year please! Other than that it's a first rate destination. 
Plenty of good IPA, wheat beer and stouts to be had. Some first rate music on the two stages rounded out the experience for us shuffling and slurping ponches, like Alexis P. Suter shown above.
Based solely on the number of folk lining up at the kick-off, the most popular destinations were Dogfish Head and the Belgian tent. Not sure why the Belgians opened late and closed early and got their very own tent...but what the hell - the stuff is worth lining up for. The local talent from Middle Ages Brewery also did a steady trade with fine offerings of Wailing Wench, Impaled Ale and Raspberry Ale.
If you missed something at the festival it was a short walk down to the Blue Tusk where a multitude of fine taps awaited all those who could wind their way through the throng of patrons. Congratulations to the Empire State Brewing and Music Festival on another fine time!
I thought I knew nothing about Michigan Breweries. But one of the nice things about being in Ontario is that is practically stretches from Vermont to the Dakotas leaving lots of opportunity for me and my pals to zip across and then barter their bottles. That is what happened the other week when I was able to snag a selection from Bells. I suppose I have also grabbed, somewhere along the way, that Jolly Pumpkin that sits in the stash as well as an Arcadia, the Celis or two or three that Michigan Breweries brew and, all in all, a few more ales from the Mitten State. My life apparently includes Michigan. And I was especially happy when the Amazon package delivered this 2006 publication, realizing now that my in-laws live only a little more than an hour from Port Huron, Mich. giving me an excuse for international travel when I find myself facing...err...a reunion. It is all about preparation, folks.
Anyway, this book is published by Stackpole Books and follows the series format set so admirably by Lew Bryson in his three books about New York and Pennsylvania as well as the mid-Atlantic States of Virginia, Maryland and Delaware. You get the breweries and brewpubs arranged by region with a report on a visit as well as vital statistics for every spot in the state. You usually get a bit of an interview with the brewer or owner, too. Then you also get back ground information, some discussion of the law, some cultural tidbits, a bit of history a bit of travel guide and a bunch of maps. Best of all, you get an honest review. Not that anyone is out to butcher the hard working folk that make craft beer, but when you read the piece as a whole, you get a clear sense of where your priorities should be. The series forms a contextual guide that really needs to be extended every state in the nation as well as the regions of Canada.
It is crazy that I cannot get my hands on New Holland brews in the north-east USA - let alone here in Ontario - and that I only only see the odd Jolly Pumpkin [Ed.: craft brew in-joke] from time to time. But this book will give anyone the knowledge they need to get their hands on the good stuff. I just wish Ruschmann and Nasiatka would also follow Bryson's lead and keep updating the text on-line as he has for his trio. It is a great way to avoid rapid obsolescence of some really good specific research presented in a useful way.
The third of the trio from Isle of Skye Brewing, this one is a pale oat ale. I am looking forward to this.
This ale pours a bright burnished gold with a fine white froth and rim being sustained by very active carbonation. On the nose pale ale graininess as well as a fruity yeast tang. In the mouth this is a very solid grainy pale ale, with a bread crust huskiness that is like rye but without all that, you know, rye flavour. There is fruit - apple, apricot - but it is fairly recessed and runs in line with a toffee-ish note-ette. At 4.3% this is both moreish and sessionable.
So based on the three I have tried, as four happy BAers will confirm, Isle of Skye is a real gem of a microbrewery from the north-west of Scotland. Find some. Drink some.
I had great concerns about this beer given my whole Cantillon thing and my expectation of mouth puckering sourness. How wrong I was. While it is dry and even assertive in its acidity, this is no lemon.
On the nose there is fright fruit with some pear and berry. The beer pours a slightly cloudy deep straw with some lighter highlights. The head is a rich fine white with sheeting lace. In the mouth there is a creamy soft water aspect that frames the biscuity champagne blended with dry apple cider. 
Grassy notes with pear and even hints of strawberry. The acid is subtle, quite unlike Cantillon: gentle instead of strident. The Lindeman house style is definitely there - a minerally cream of wheat thing.
What did I learn? Sour beer can work with food. This would make a good strong counter point to a summer grill, fennel and prosciutto salad, herbed chicken or a lemony haddock bake. Strong but not universal approval from the BAers. More sour beer studies here.
Slumming around the internet, I came across this article about beer and Wisconsin which made me wonder whether it is the beer friendliest jurisdiction in North America.
From handing out free samples at grocery stores to shunning a proposed tax increase, Wisconsin lawmakers love their beer. One of the first bills they passed this year made sure bar patrons didn’t lose drinking time when the clock jumped back an hour this spring. Other pro-beer bills are brewing.
Free beer at the grocery store! Good Lord. There are places in Canada where they hold exorcisms for folks who think like that. But then there is this: "Wisconsin is also one of only a handful of states that allows parents to purchase alcohol for their children to consume in their presence." Holy Moly. I had no idea. Well, sure, this is progressive and good and all - especially if you believe like most conservatives that the family is the source of the best instruction and all that stuff...but I had no idea. Who knew?
We have had some great news this week with the decision of the Ontario Craft Brewers to officially join the supporters A Good Beer Blog. This support will allow us to continue the good work we try to do in the cause of good beer while also supporting the craft brewers of Ontario and getting the word out - both honestly and enthusiastically - for brewers who do great work but who maybe more restricted in their venues for promotion and sales than, say, their fellows in the northern half of the US.
While we have already covered visits like the time we first me Joe at Stratford and the fantastic reception we received from the guys at the historic brewing facility at Neustadt are going to work hard to get more review brews from the OCB and also leverage the relationship to find out more about what they do and where they are going. And with over 28,000 blog readers a month and rising, I hope many of you near enough to the Ontario border to visit might see a few new destinations and share the story yourselves.
Actively carbonated bright red-chestnut ale under a tan foam and rim, this beer is sort of like a BBQ raisin. It matches big oak with a big ale and the result is impressive. The brewery tells us it's their Blithering Idiot Barleywine incarcerated in oak bourbon casks for a time. 
