Archive for April, 2009

Pennsylvania Breweries: here we go again

It’s all but official: I have a verbal agreement with Stackpole Books to do a 4th edition of Pennsylvania Breweries, tentatively due to hit the shelves in September of 2010.

PLCB contract "legal," but showed "poor judgment"

Remember that training contract that the PLCB issued, to the company owned by the husband of the agency’s Western Regional Director? The contract people said was to teach LCB clerks “manners?” (I didn’t say that, by the way; I used the word the PLCB did: it was to teach them “courtesy.” You see the major difference?) The state Auditor General has completed his audit, and found that while the contract “was awarded according to the letter of the law, there are several incidents that occurred that raise serious concerns and put the PLCB’s procurement procedures in question.”

More here. When will it end?

Why the Sly Fox Goat Races Mean a Stronger America

Not that Sly Fox and Brian O’Reilly need any help from me in making their annual event a success, but I do this for my own reasons:

Sly Fox Goat Races, this Sunday.

Okay, the Kentucky Derby is this Saturday, and that is a Big Deal. But I would submit that the Sly Fox Goat Races are an Even Bigger Deal in terms of shaping the reputation of beer and beer drinking in America. (Yes, easily so, because the Derby has nothing to do with that, but I will go beyond that!)

Go to the Goat Races because this event is one of the very best for enjoying as a family. I’ve said for years, in response to the New Dry whiners who say “You can have fun without beer!”, that yes, you can have fun without beer, but you can also have fun with the option of beer. The Sly Fox Goat Races show that in spades. You can watch goat races — pure, country-boy 4H-type fun, and usually generous with gut-rippingly funny moments (this picture really does show a young goat racer slipping on goat crap (on the right there; he’s not break-dancing) as his own goat turns tail and runs away from the finish line — very funny, once we ascertained that the kid was all okay), you can listen and dance to the music, eat good German food, or just have a seat and enjoy the crowd — great people-watching at this. And if you so choose…you can have a beer.

The Goat Races put beer in its proper place: with people, as part of the fun, not as the lets-get-drunk focus, and not as the lets-get-geeky focus either. Even when I’m totally geeking out, like when I’m judging beers, the best of times is when there’s good interaction with the other people. Great American Beer Festival? The best time is going out afterwards with friends.

Get beer together with a bunch of good people — and some goats — and it’s great to watch people behave well, have fun, and keep things from getting out of hand all by themselves. It’s a great kind of thing, and I’m looking forward to more of it on Sunday. See you there, but do check out the Sly Fox calendar for details: they’re expecting a LOT of people, and they’ve got satellite lots set up to handle it.

Nose Feel Like it’s on Fire? Grab a Beer!

I’m about to divulge a very embarrassing story, but this evening my girlfriend was away at dinnertime — volunteering for Portland Adult Ed — so I thought I would do something slightly romantic for once while she was gone and cook dinner to be ready & waiting when she got home. Well, I improvised a little and created a pretty tasty little pasta dish with some veggies, fake meatballs and some peppers and spices.

Well, for some strange reason I thought it advisable to crush a dried hot pepper by hand and sprinkle it into the sauté; and it wasn’t a bad idea, it tasted quite good actually. But, getting to the point, I must have had some of the oils from the pepper still on my hand when I rubbed my nose post-meal. Well, needless to say – my nose flaired up instantly and it hurt like a SONOFABITCH!

As quickly as I could, I Googled “Hot pepper in my nose” and clicked on the Yahoo! Answers thread which came up first  in the Google results. Much to my surprise, the two most common responses for to how to stop nose pain caused by pepper oil were milk and beer. I threw open my fridge, discovered that all I had was soy milk and grabbed a beer instead (something I did have an abundance of); poured it into a bowl and stuck my face right in (I was in a whole bunch of pain at this point). Well low & behold, a few minutes later, my nose started to calm down and the pain started to subside.

I’m still not all the way back to normal but there’s no doubt that the beer definitely helped! So moral of the story? The next time you get hot pepper oil in your nose, stick your face in beer! Cheers!

BlogAboutBeer Reads the Wire

I’m still recovering from a first-hand witnessing of the EPIC Red Sox domination of those Damn Yankees last night and Jacoby Ellsbury’s historic stealing of home plate so rather than an in depth beery anecdote today, I’m just going to report on some of the happenings in the Beer World which have been gathering in my inbox all week. Enjoy:

The Brewers Association names the 2009 Achievement Award Winners: The Brewers Association Recognition Award went to Ken Allen, founder of Anderson Valley Brewing Co. in Boonville, CA and former chair of the Association of Brewers, a precursor organization of the Brewers Association. The Brewers Association presented the Russell Schehrer Award for Innovation in Brewing to Steve Parkes of the American Brewers Guild. Parkes received this year’s award for demonstrating creativity, excellence in brewing and substantial contributions to the craft brewing community, as well as serving as lead educator for hundreds of today’s craft brewers. And The Brewers Association presented the F.X. Matt Defense of the Industry Award to Eric Wallace of Lefthand Brewing Co., in Longmont, CO. Eric led the charge to successfully preserve beer drinker choice and selection in helping defeat damaging legislation in Colorado. [From the official Brewers Association press release]

Consolidation in Maine’s beer industry: Atlantic Brewing Co. of Bar Harbor earlier this month bought Bar Harbor Brewing Co., which was founded in the village of Otter Creek in 1990, according to the Bangor Daily News. The paper did not reveal the purchase price.

Atlantic co-owner Doug Maffucci plans to continue to market Bar Harbor Brewing’s three main beers as Bar Harbor Brewing products, and that all of the company’s combined beers would be made at facilities in Town Hill and Portland. Atlantic is the third owner of Bar Harbor Brewing in the past two years, the paper reported. [From Mainebiz]

Guinness Announces the Release of their 250 Anniversary Stout: GUINNESS 250 Anniversary Stout is

Yankee legend "Goose" Gossage, right, and Guinness Master Brewer Fergal Murray pour the ceremonial first pint of Guinness 250 Anniversary Stout, Friday, April 24, 2009, at the Perfect Pint Public House in New York.

being made available in the United States on a limited edition basis (approximately six months). This marks the first new stout offering in the U.S. from Guinness since 1966 – more than 40 years ago – when Guinness draught was first introduced to Americans.

The limited edition release will be available nationally on April 24, 2009. A 6-pack of GUINNESS 250 Anniversary Stout bottles will have a suggested retail price of between $7.99-8.49, and this new offering will also be available in draught kegs.

The commemorative stout is carbonated, not nitrogenated like the traditional GUINNESS Draught. As a result, it has a near-white frothy stout beer head of larger bubble size than that of GUINNESS Draught, and is poured on draught in a one-part pour or gently from a bottle (as opposed to the two-part pour often associated with GUINNESS draught). This product has a crisp effervescent taste with a balanced malty, roasted, hop flavor that is enhanced when released with a lively, refreshing and smooth carbonated mouthfeel. A triple hop addition regime provides a hint of bitterness. [From the official Diageo press release]

A Bitter Ale for Bitter Times:

With government-financed corporate bailouts dominating North American headlines, Howe Sound Brewery in British Columbia is selling an ale it’s calling Bailout Bitter with the slogan “Bitter ale for bitter times.” The beer is usually offered at a lower price than other house brands.

People do tend to drown their sorrows in a recession: Alcohol sales are generally resilient in tough times, with people more likely to frequent bars—and some sectors of the alcoholic beverage industry are currently seeing a spike in sales. While there are serious socioeconomic implications to this trend, times of crisis also cry out for humor and a lighthearted view on what’s in the news. By doing just this, as well as offering a much-needed cost incentive, Bailout Bitter helps remind us that things will invariably get better. [From the JWT Anxiety Index]

Anyway, thanks for reading. I’m going to go continue my post-Red Sox Awesomeness recovery with a bottle of the new Long Trail Brewing Double IPA (which I bought today at the Portland, ME Whole Foods but is available wherever fine Vermont beer is sold). Until next time, faithful BAB clan…

Good With Peanuts and Cracker Jack

An appreciation for American lagers.

History Lesson: The Story of Beer

Manolith.com has posted a graphical timeline of the History of Beer. While there may be some historical errors or omissions, the chart is a novel, and humorous, look at some of the milestones in the history of beer. Some interesting points in time include the “Dark Age of Beer” (it’s not what you may think), the first canned beer, beer pong, along with mention of some memorable beer advertising.

See the entire History of Beer.

BlogAboutBeer Reads the Wire

I’m still recovering from a first-hand witnessing of the EPIC Red Sox domination of those Damn Yankees last night and Jacoby Ellsbury’s historic stealing of home plate so rather than an in depth beery anecdote today, I’m just going to report on some of the happenings in the Beer World which have been gathering in my inbox all week. Enjoy:

The Brewers Association names the 2009 Achievement Award Winners: The Brewers Association Recognition Award went to Ken Allen, founder of Anderson Valley Brewing Co. in Boonville, CA and former chair of the Association of Brewers, a precursor organization of the Brewers Association. The Brewers Association presented the Russell Schehrer Award for Innovation in Brewing to Steve Parkes of the American Brewers Guild. Parkes received this year’s award for demonstrating creativity, excellence in brewing and substantial contributions to the craft brewing community, as well as serving as lead educator for hundreds of today’s craft brewers. And The Brewers Association presented the F.X. Matt Defense of the Industry Award to Eric Wallace of Lefthand Brewing Co., in Longmont, CO. Eric led the charge to successfully preserve beer drinker choice and selection in helping defeat damaging legislation in Colorado. [From the official Brewers Association press release]

Consolidation in Maine’s beer industry: Atlantic Brewing Co. of Bar Harbor earlier this month bought Bar Harbor Brewing Co., which was founded in the village of Otter Creek in 1990, according to the Bangor Daily News. The paper did not reveal the purchase price.

Atlantic co-owner Doug Maffucci plans to continue to market Bar Harbor Brewing’s three main beers as Bar Harbor Brewing products, and that all of the company’s combined beers would be made at facilities in Town Hill and Portland. Atlantic is the third owner of Bar Harbor Brewing in the past two years, the paper reported. [From Mainebiz]

Guinness Announces the Release of their 250 Anniversary Stout: GUINNESS 250 Anniversary Stout is

Yankee legend "Goose" Gossage, right, and Guinness Master Brewer Fergal Murray pour the ceremonial first pint of Guinness 250 Anniversary Stout, Friday, April 24, 2009, at the Perfect Pint Public House in New York.

being made available in the United States on a limited edition basis (approximately six months). This marks the first new stout offering in the U.S. from Guinness since 1966 – more than 40 years ago – when Guinness draught was first introduced to Americans.

The limited edition release will be available nationally on April 24, 2009. A 6-pack of GUINNESS 250 Anniversary Stout bottles will have a suggested retail price of between $7.99-8.49, and this new offering will also be available in draught kegs.

The commemorative stout is carbonated, not nitrogenated like the traditional GUINNESS Draught. As a result, it has a near-white frothy stout beer head of larger bubble size than that of GUINNESS Draught, and is poured on draught in a one-part pour or gently from a bottle (as opposed to the two-part pour often associated with GUINNESS draught). This product has a crisp effervescent taste with a balanced malty, roasted, hop flavor that is enhanced when released with a lively, refreshing and smooth carbonated mouthfeel. A triple hop addition regime provides a hint of bitterness. [From the official Diageo press release]

A Bitter Ale for Bitter Times:

With government-financed corporate bailouts dominating North American headlines, Howe Sound Brewery in British Columbia is selling an ale it’s calling Bailout Bitter with the slogan “Bitter ale for bitter times.” The beer is usually offered at a lower price than other house brands.

People do tend to drown their sorrows in a recession: Alcohol sales are generally resilient in tough times, with people more likely to frequent bars—and some sectors of the alcoholic beverage industry are currently seeing a spike in sales. While there are serious socioeconomic implications to this trend, times of crisis also cry out for humor and a lighthearted view on what’s in the news. By doing just this, as well as offering a much-needed cost incentive, Bailout Bitter helps remind us that things will invariably get better. [From the JWT Anxiety Index]

Anyway, thanks for reading. I’m going to go continue my post-Red Sox Awesomeness recovery with a bottle of the new Long Trail Brewing Double IPA (which I bought today at the Portland, ME Whole Foods but is available wherever fine Vermont beer is sold). Until next time, faithful BAB clan…

Bygone Bottles

Drinking irreplaceable bottles is a bittersweet pleasure.

Hot Times at Manayunk

I helped judge the Best of Show beers at the Manayunk Brewfest on Saturday. Once again, it happens just as allergy season is hitting me, so I loaded up on Sudafed (the real, sign at the counter stuff) and Chlor-Trimeton, kept my nose clear for the fest, and paid for it with dopey drowsiness later.

I got to the fest about noon, grabbed one of the last free staff spots, and got down into the show. I met up with my fellow judges (four very experienced homebrew judges who I thoroughly enjoy tasting beers with; it’s a very nice give-and-take, making this one of my favorite beer events of the year), grabbed a quick lunch, and settled in to start tasting.

Wide range of beers this year, and a much higher level of quality. The brewers represented at the fest each sent one beer, their choice, over to our table. There were a couple eye-rollers, but only a couple (we’re tasting completely blind (or were after the first two pitchers, which a new steward labeled with the brewery name!) and only found out what the top three actually were, so don’t bother asking: we don’t know (and didn’t wanna know!)), much fewer than in the past four years.

After two hours of serious, note-taking and discussion-style tasting, we narrowed it down to seven beers, and sent the stewards out for more samples to refresh our memories. Two of the beers had already run out (proving the crowd agreed with our palates!), and since none of us had those two beers as our number one picks, we decided to drop them. Once the five beers were in front of us, we came to a consensus rather rapidly: about 90 seconds! The winners, by unanimous consent:

3rd — Erie Railbender, winning with a beautifully pure malt character, easily the very best batch of Railbender I’ve ever had (and I’ve had my share).

2nd — Victory Baltic Thunder, nipping out General Lafayette’s Chocolate Thunder Porter (a close #4) by virtue of smooth complexity and (scary) drinkability.

1st — Triumph Simcoe IPA, rocked us all with its beautiful balance and integration. Billowing hop aroma, great hop flavor, trenchant but not overwhelming bitterness, and a smooth, solid malt basement made this the beer of the day, and we all went looking for more.

I wandered off with Chris Fiery at this point, and we did a little sampling of his Manayunk beers. He’d sent his Maibock to our table; I think he should’ve sent the California Dreamin’, a powerfully-hopped beauty. And if you haven’t had the Schuylkill Punch lately — I hadn’t — it’s all Oregon fruit puree (red and black raspberries), no extracts or essences, it’s bumped up in ABV, and it’s pretty good stuff.

A nice fest, not as crowded as previous years (last year I could hardly move), one of the best M/F ratio fests going — always has been, don’t know why — and a GREAT band, Holt 45 (with an appropriate name for a beer festival, eh?). Usually I don’t give — pardon me — a rat’s ass about the band at beer festivals, because they’re just getting in the way of my beer enjoyment and talking to people about beer. But these guys were NOT too loud, they were way into the music, and they were real musicians.

So then I left, and unlike other years, made no stops on the way home. We went out for a diner dinner (bluefish…I love broiled bluefish), came home, watched some tube…and I crashed out, done in by drugs and allergies. The first week is always like this: dopey, drowsy, and stupid. I’m fighting it off with coffee and air-conditioning this morning. I hate May.