Interesting news this morning with a decision by the EU to take Canada to task for unfair tax practices:

In the May 2 federal budget, the Tories announced tax relief for beer and wine makers -- the sort of small-business vote the Conservatives like to court -- and on June 30 they announced they were enriching the breaks. But the excise tax relief did not apply to EU products or other foreign-made beer and wine.

Attempts by EU finance ministers to reform alcohol taxes have been thwarted by opposition from the Czech Republic. The 4.5% proposed minimum duty on alcohol was vetoed by the Czech Republic, marking the second attempt in a month to change duties on alcohol. The Czech Republic, a big producer and consumer of beer, said the tax - which applies to beer and port but not wine - would unfairly help wine producers..."It is clear there is competition between wine and beer. We don't agree with a disadvantage for a typical Czech product like beer," said Czech finance minister Vlastimil Tlusty. The proposed 4.5% alcohol tax was far lower than the initial European Commission suggestion of 31%. Wine has been absent from the list of alcoholic goods to be taxed, following requests from France, among others, and it is expected that any move to set a minimum duty on wine would elicit further opposition.

I've never been there but once every once in a while I get an email from Troy R. Kirkby, Publican of The Spitfire Arms Alehouse in Windsor in my old home province of Nova Scotia telling me what is going on - and this one is too good not to share. Look at how they are working hard to help their community:

I have made it one of my personal mandates to give back to our community as much as possible. We have raised money for over a dozen charities and organizations since opening in 2003. This time of year it is important to remember those less fortunate. Once again, we are supporting Children and Family services of Hants County. Five dollars from every feature meal will be donated, whatever monies are collected I will personally match dollar for dollar.

Saturday December 2nd: We welcome three of our newest customers who have recently emigrated to Canada from England. Paul and Jen Mitson, and their son Oliver, will be presenting one of their favourite Indian "take-aways". There's something for everyone who love Indian cuisine - Mughlai Chicken, Beef Durbari & Raita to name a few.

Saturday December 9th: One of our favourite Guest Chef's makes another appearance here at the pub. Hon. Scott Brison, M.P. will be putting on his whites and cooking up a storm in our kitchen. Scott is a great cook - I keep offering him a job but he must have something else on the go because he never accepts!

Recently a reader asked me if they should get their husband a beer subscription. Then I thought I would sign up for a paid review service to see what came my way - and low and behold the first review I was sent was for the "Beer of the Month Club" by a website called "Amazing Clubs" of Stamford, CT. So let's see what we have - so I can buy something for 50 bucks USD I get for this review.

Am I amazed? First, for $27.95 per month for a year you get 12 micro brews sent to you. Under $2.34 USD a beer and that includes shipping. And what beers do you get? I am informed that certain Connecticut citizens promise as follows:

We feature only premium, hard-to-find microbrews from boutique breweries nationwide. Previous selections of the Beer of the Month Club have originated from microbreweries in Oregon, New York, Florida, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, California, Ohio, Illinois and dozens of other states. All of our beers are selected by our panel of beer experts for their flavor, color and limited availability and nearly all of our featured breweries have been awarded multiple honors at competitive tasting festivals.

So what's the down side? You do not trust the idea. Fair enough. I have not sampled anything and am, frankly, looking at picking up 50 bucks to write this which means 24 Thousand Island Pale Ales and a few other things for the stash when I hit the border next. But it is because I can reach that thing my beer shop, I am not signing up. Why? Well, as I suggested to the nice lady who emailed me, if you (like me) do have a shop nearby...ok, two hours...28 bucks in the US gets you from half-again to twice the variety - but will they be from Ohio or Florida? Mmmm: Ohio. So if you can trust and they earn your trust and, especially, if you are stuck someplace like Houlton, Maine or...ok, no where is like Houlton, Maine but you take my point. This may be the break you need to get those beers of Ohio.

Like anything this is about trust. Who knows? It is an idea and an idea you can try out. As the shipping rules relax over time in the beer trade maybe these will get more popular - who knows? Not for me. But if you want to try, you could try. Have any of you tried this sort of service?

Well, there it is - the big winner. I have to say the response to the photo contest was better than I have thought with thirteen contestants and exactly umpteen entries. Why this picture above over, say, some of the great pictures of hops or great beers being had in great pubs? First, it is a good picture with a front, middle and back. It is also about beer but it is also about beer making, the second most intimate relationship you have have with beer. Then it tells a story and asks questions like "what the hell are these people doing out in the middle of the woods in the middle of the stream." They are cooling their wort, the photo described as illustrating:

brewing in the Deschutes National Forest, drawing our brew water from the head of the Metolius River here in Oregon.

Gold amber ale under large frothier lazy rim and foam that quickly fades then leaves town. The smell is beyond brett. The unripe Annapolis Valley Gravenstein green apple of my Nova Scotian youth gone mad with aspirations of manure pile. Quite plainly watery at the outset then acid and more acid...then one note of poo. Not refreshing to slightly sub-Cromwellian stridency. Annoying. Then at the end a hint of apple cider. Foul. I wonder if this is an example of mass reputation piercing the veil of reality - mob craftism.

I cannot hate it. Yet I am sure it hates me.

When I was a high school kid in Nova Scotia, the bootlegger¹ was the guy who could get you, say, a pizza, two big bottles of Coke, a case of beer and a pack of smokes all delivered somewhere all illegally after hours or on a Sunday usually by a taxi driven by a very ugly guy. Apparently, a slightly more sophisticated version is an entrepreneurial break-through in Australia:

News of the service soon spread. Rather than trying to organise all the equipment and spike their own kegs, revellers felt it would be easier to get Kegs on Legs to provide an entire service -- kegs, beer, chilling equipment, cups and, best of all, free delivery and after-party pick-up. The idea has been a winner, growing into a successful venture that claimed first prize -- and $25,000 -- in the 2006 RMIT Business Plan Competition. Boynton, 23, says the success stems from the fact that he and his business partner are both personable -- no one wants an uptight beer supplier -- and the business is filling a gap in the market.

¹Unlike neighbouring PEI where the bootlegger was more of an illegal, shady and sometimes dangerous bar that the government let operate until a few years ago due to their special cultural importance.

Just in time for what we Canadians call "that other Thanksgiving." The label says ale brewed with pumpkin puree and spices. Not only is it apt for Thanksgiving because of the familiar pumpkin pie to end the holiday meal - it is a throwback to early colonial days as explained by the brewer:

Smuttynose Pumpkin Ale is our homage to the craft and heritage of America's brewers. Recipes calling for the use of pumpkins in beer date back to early colonial times, when brewers sought to extend their supply of costly imported malt with locally grown ingredients, such as squash and "pompions." In that spirit, we brew our ale with the addition of pumpkin to the mash, along with traditional spices to create a delicious American original.

Well, there you go. What a good little contest that was. I have to thank Hans who won a CD in the last contest for this idea. I think we will have to repeat it as a theme depending on the sponsors and how generous they are.

So first we have Blork, our man in Montreal. He forwarded the picture and then sent both a discription and then his own Pavlovian review:

Hey Alan. I can't believe I don't have more beer photos than this. Actually I do, but they're mostly boring. Anyway, the attached is a photo of a tasty pint from (and at) the most excellent craft brew pub in Montreal called "Dieu du Ciel" which means God in Heaven. It makes my mouth water when I look at the photo. Not only does it look good, but the angle of view is that of the person who has already taken a sip and is about to plunge in again. In other words, it's from the perspective of a fella who's about to take a big slug of beery goodness. Mmmmmm. Beery goodness.

Good evening - I'm attaching a .zip file containing three photos taken this summer when myself, my wife and friends Thom and Amanda did some riverside (home?) brewing in the Deschutes National Forest, drawing our brew water from the head of the Metolius River here in Oregon. The hops are grown from my backyard vines in Portland. The wort was cooled in the icy waters of the river, and we buckled up the carboy for the 3 hour ride back to Portland. Thom was driving the wort and got a speeding ticket! The police officer asked him if he should write a ticket for open container, but Thom told him the beer wasn't fermented yet! Good times. You can read more about it here. Enjoy the blog! Keep up the great work!

So now I have to decide. I may let it cook in my brain for a day or so. There are some pretty good entries in the various submissions which you can look over under this link. Tell me what you think.