NanoBryg rss syndication » A Good Beer Blog

A Good Beer Blog (10 unread)

UK Labour Adds Two Dimensional Pub Minister

Posted: March 10th, 2010, 1:46am CET by Alan McLeod

Wow. A Pub Minister for Britain! Great! Has he got a Ministry staffed with people who do work? No... but he has a ministerial task force, drawing on five Whitehall departments. Is he actually given the time and resources to make change? Well, there is that thing coming up... that election. The Daily Mail notes:
A new government will be in place in less than 12 weeks, Labour or not, and Chancellor Darling is expected to unveil the last Budget of this parliament on March 23. This isn't time enough for Healey to win a campaign to Save the British pub.
If this was such a great idea, why didn't the UK government introduce it in the previous 675 or so weeks since they gained power? Right now they trail in the polls by 5% to 7% but, to be fair, that is half of what they were behind by at Christmas. And is he the man for the job? While 5 or 6 pubs are closing a day 130 families lose their homes a day in the UK. Healey, who is also Minister of Housing, has described repossession as 'the best option' for struggling homeowners according to The Daily Mail.
Sure, it's just politics heading into a tough election but that is the point - it's just politics heading into a tough election.
This Monday's Bullet Points Of Beery Interest

Posted: March 9th, 2010, 1:49am CET by Alan McLeod
Ah, bullet points. When you haven't got enough for a post there's always enough for bullet points. They are the putting green to a round of 18. The hot dog to the BBQ. But enough of my lazy blogger admissions and let's see what is going on out there:
- Craft beer in the US had another good year in 2009 according to the trade association, Brewers Association. Apparently, craft brewers sold 9,115,635 barrels of good beer. The Brewer's Association works with an annual production of less than 2 million barrels. So does this mean when the next brewer goes over the 2 million barrel mark that we will get a press release stating that there has been a 20% drop in craft beer sales? Sam Adam's PA plant has about that much capacity alone. So, that'll happen soon, right?
- Speaking of the state both south and west of New York, I hear that there's been some hoosegow raids down in Pennsylvania.Brewer's may be getting a chill. Lew's smoking mad. Jack's losing it. Andy makes a valid point, however. I wonder what would happen in Ontario of un-permitted beers were being sold? Likely a license suspension. Yet it does seem like a silly law.
- Ticker alert: Guam now has locally-branded beer. Everyone else: as you were.
- I don't understand the panic at the Beer Wars blog. Unless it's a dead cat bounce. Even a dead cat will bounce if you drop it from far enough. It's a stock market phrase. But I don't think this is really a dead cat bounce at all as this is the point: "The choice is yours. You can keep complaining about what’s wrong with the film (don’t get me started on Avatar) or you can embrace it (flaws and all) and help spread the word about craft beer to a whole new audience." Actually, no - I don't have to make that choice. I can ignore the work, however well intentioned, as an ineffective advocate for the cause. But is it?
- Perhaps Pennsylvania needs true leaders of vision like the UK's Gareth Epps, candidate Liberal Democratic Party for Reading East. He declared "I am proud to be speaking up for community pubs, local brewers and consumers." Hmmm... is that actually possible? Can one stand up for corner stores, the local bakers and bread eaters? Maybe you can. I would also like to point out that he works for a major infrastructure project, specialising in community consultation and I have no idea what that means.
That's a fair bit going on for a quiet late winter night. It's not all quiet. Ron's off somewhere at a festival where he is drinking stouts and lambics. Sounds alright by me.
Oregon: Black Butte XXI, Deschutes Brewery, Bend

Posted: March 7th, 2010, 2:44am CET by Alan McLeod

I am delighted that samples from Deschutes get through the solid mile high maple soaked wall that is the US-Canadian border but disconcerted nonetheless. Should I be drinking a beer that says "best before 17 October 2010" or should I not? In this weekend's spirit of not being so anal about these things let's open it and see what we find.
At 11% it is hard to argue that this is not infanticide. The beer could easily have laid in the stash for a decade. It pours an inky mahogany with a mocha rim and foam. On the nose, dark chocolate as well as some mineral notes of coal on top. Rich and supple in the mouth, it is a light dark chocolate liqueur yet with a grainy texture that speaks to its making. Had I waited, it might have been so much more complex but at this young point in its career it has a freshness that is quite compelling. Still, over time acids would arise in a year or so which would cut the chalkiness of the finish and complement the acids from the hops. The sweet of the malt lingering there would likely break down into a more interesting collection of flavours than the present hint of icing sugar. Yet it is compelling and I am grateful for the efforts that got it to me.
Huge BAer love.
Session 37: Let's Bust Open The Stash.... Maybe....

Posted: March 6th, 2010, 1:03am CET by Alan McLeod

Stash. It's one of the best words in the entire beery lexicon. I like it so much a picture of mine serves as the background of my Twitter page. No, not page... presence. It really is a Twitter presence. And, you know, it is a thing of comfort and joy, the stash. I wrote a post about my stash in 2005 and am wondering how long before that I was using the word. Back then it was about 40 bottles. Now it's about 200. I don't like to go beyond that as stuff just gets too old. I cull the stash by giving away beer. I cull it by drinking. And I preemptively cull it by living in Canada where no one really can get the good beer into the stash either by sales or samples. Yet, they are in there. A few excellent rare bottles. Buffered by a few almost excellent rare bottles. Buffered by more good but not quite excellent, hardly rare bottles. They are in there. At the back. Under boxes. Hidden. I can hear them.
But enough about me. What's this edition of The Session about?
The Ferm has the honor of hosting The Session, a monthly assemblage of beer bloggers to opine on a shared topic. The March 2010 topic is “The Display Shelf: When to Drink the Good Stuff.” The topic is open ended and the rules of The Session are close to nil. You can use your post to be persuasive or therapeutic. You may choose to tell a story of a great bottle you once opened or boast of your own beer collection.
Oh. dear. See, it's all fine to talk about the stash but to actually go in there and get into the rare stuff... well... I don't know. I'll get back to you later tonight.
Later: A 2006 Doggie Claw will help me think about this. One of the last bottles from the unfortunate shipment of late 2006. This bottle is rare because it is hard to get on the east coast of North America and also because it was through so much with me. And because it has mellowed. The slightest pffft on opening, the lightest carbonation, a syrup body, the most delightful barley wine I have ever had. Yum.
But does that answer the question. Let me think about that a bit.
Later still: a bottle of Gale and Co Conquest Ale bought at least five years ago for, according to the label, $3.99. A cork pop and, hmm, the waft is entirely lambic. Gorgeous. Like 50% Thomas Hardy Ale plus an equal amount of that cruelest beer. Or maybe one third to two thirds. Amazing. You figure out the proportions. Best have another wee think about what's going on here.
Botswana To Regulate Traditional Beer

Posted: March 5th, 2010, 2:42am CET by Alan McLeod

Traditional beer? The only solid access I've had to information about traditional beer drinking patterns in southern Africa is what I read a couple of years ago in Xhosa Beer Drinking Rituals by Patrick McAllister. Botswana is apparently taking steps to bring traditional beer under the nation's general liquor law regulation. Trade and Industry Minister, Ms Dorcus Makgato-Malesu is reported to have said that issues of traditional beer are sensitive and need extensive consultation. Other politicians have chimed in:
Gaborone South MP Kagiso Molatlhegi, whose constituency includes Bontleng and Old Naledi welcomed the idea saying shebeens need to be regulated as a matter of urgency, adding that there is too much noise pollution in his area because such businesses are not uncontrolled. Adding his voice to the debate Gaborone West South MP, Botsalo Ntuane criticised government's stance on alcohol saying it was antisocial...
It's important stuff. Such important stuff that there appear to be rumours that traditional beer saves one from serious illnesses. Maybe such misconceptions are among the reasons for the government anti-alcohol campaign in Botswana.
I seem to see sorghum beer is called chibuku when sold commercially. One manufactureer describes it this way: "Chibuku has a sorghum malt dominant flavour. There is a biting taste due to the continuous fermentation. It has a thick texture and has thick foam." Jay posted way more about aspects of neighbouring Zimbabwe's beer culture which should also help the curious amongst you but could it be we are all just needing our own thick and biting chibuku?
So, why are there no craft brewers holding chibuku bashes? Could we chilly North Americans handle it? Martyn wants his South African beer basket and maybe so should we all.
The Hobby Of Not Drinking Everything

Posted: March 4th, 2010, 1:57am CET by Alan McLeod

Good article in the Los Angeles Times today by Evan George on the hobby of the beer stash. The hero of the story is Mr. Arrieta:
To grab a beer, Israel Arrieta doesn't just stroll to the fridge; he has to walk out his back door to the side of the house, where he pries a chicken-wire screen off a basement window and scrambles, crab position, down a wooden ladder. Several minutes later, he emerges cradling half a dozen cool, dusty bottles of beer. Arrieta, 27, keeps his beer in the closest thing to a cave: the crawl space under his parents' North Pasadena house.
We also read about a 55-year-old who writes for the film industry, a retired medic, a Raytheon engineer from Glendale but it's Arrieta, the guy who keeps his beer in a dirt crawl space behind chicken wire, who makes the story. He sums up the hobby as "not drinking everything just because you have it" and I suppose that is why I do it, too, as well as simply because I have to hunt out my beer an buy in mass purchases living, as I do behind the great mapled curtain of national denial.
One of the other stash nerds also pointed out that "If you just age all the bottles for 10 years and drink them in a month, that doesn't make sense." I don't know if I necessarily agree with that as I am quite comfortable with the idea that a beer like a wine can be on point or past it. I want it when its best because who really needs to be exposed to a beer that is "cloyingly salty, more like Kikkoman than a Boston lager"? Gak.
Michigan: Reserve Special, Dark Horse Brewing, Marshall

Posted: March 3rd, 2010, 2:22am CET by Alan McLeod

Marshall, Michigan. I would like to spend a few days there, drinking Dark Horse beer. The only think better than Dark Horse beer is the extraordinary fountain in the centre of town. It's a small town, under 6,000 people. So, it's pretty good that they have at least two extraordinary things there.
I was there last August and spent less than an hour. Picked up a bunch of beer and this is one of the last, a 7.5% black beer. I'd call it a stout but what do I know. Very nice. Dark chocolate coloured ale under a mocha rim. In the mouth, plenty of dry cocoa powder and date enriched to short of the point of licorice but you can see the licorice from here. And an attractive rich consistency like the cocoa powder hasn't completely dissolved. The integration of the hops adds to the dark chocolate effect, a slightly mentholated effect. I would love to have this with BBQ.
The BAers have the love. And now available in New England.
Can't They Get The Rules Of Betting For Beer Right?

Posted: March 1st, 2010, 1:25am CET by Alan McLeod

You may have heard that Harper and U.S. President Barack Obama bet a case of beer each on the outcome of today's Olympic men’s hockey final. Apparently, because Canada won, Obama now owes Harper a case of Molson Canadian. If the U.S. had won, Harper would have owed Obama a case of Yuengling beer. How embarrassing for us and another missed opportunity that tells us how little craft beer has entered into the general conversation.
And did they even get the bet right? It is one thing for young hockey players not to know the difference but how can national leaders, at the top of their respective international trade teams, not put the best they have to offer? This bet? It's like a bet for a bag of ketchup potato chips against a box of Ring-a-Dings. And didn't they get the basic idea of the wager wrong? When the Red Sox played the Rockies in the 2007 World Series, Senators from Massachusetts bet a box of seafood and other east coast treats while Senators from Denver wagered prime beef and other food from Colorado. Shouldn't Obama have to consume the Canadian beer as part of his losing the bet? Isn't the whole point, after a Canadian win, to have the President of the United States say "you know... I was thinking... I wasn't going... to like... this Canadian beer... but I gotta say... it's not... that bad."
And apparently even this was a re-do.
Breaking Down Walls Between Producers And Customers

Posted: February 27th, 2010, 11:58pm CET by Alan McLeod
Jack Curtin dropped an idea into the discourse today that I think is really worth exploring:
One of the secret strengths of craft’s little corner of the beer world has always been the breaking down of the walls between producers and customers. Add in the even stronger bond between brewers and homebrewers are you have one of the primary factors in allowing crafts to continue to thrive and grow even in a terrible economy, second only to consumer perception of quality and value for their hard-earned dollars.
There is a lot packed into that short paragraph. Three ideas really and the fourth of their ranking. He got thinking this way in response to an article in The New York Times this weekend about the ways craft brewers are reaching out to their customers. Let's have a look at Jack's ideas and flesh them out a bit.
- The walls between producers and customers: this is an important idea but I think one that is frankly overplayed by the craft brewing trade including commentators. Most consumers will never meet or certainly not have the kind of relationship that is shared between people who work in the beer trade at all levels. That is why I like to say love the beer not the brewer. We can like the brewer just fine but have to be wary of ideas like "supporting" a "craft beer community" as opposed to being watchful for respect of beer lovers in the marketplace. Similarly, we have to be careful in response to claims that brewers are celebrities or even rock stars. Worse, we have claims that beer knowledge is specialist knowledge that requires only "real" writers doing the describing. These things put distance between the consumer and producer and even confuse the marketplace though fostering snobbery.
- The bond between brewers and homebrewers: when I started my interest in good beer, it was through homebrewing. I was in London in the mid-80s and brought back a few books, a few collapsible plastic kegs and some other stuff. The best writing about beer at that time seemed to be all about home brewing. When I started blogging about beer back in 2003 I could find very few other bloggers who weren't focusing on making it themselves. Craft brew and home brew were connected though people trying to replicate the good beers they were finding in the shops. I don't know if that is so much the case anymore. I have a sense that the next wave of craft beer drinkers may never have met a home brewer.
- Consumer perception of quality and value: what product shouldn't be judge as a matter of quality and value? Claims that value is not a vital principle to a beer fan sound to me like claims to a captured market. Sure there are real beer hounds who will spend stupid amounts to travel to the one pure source of that one unattainable beer but no one is building an industry to serve that luxury hobbyist. It's really about getting the six park into a million grocery carts.
- The relative place of these three principles: You can see where I am going. For me the last idea is the most critical aspect about where the good beer market is right now. In the states, more and more good beer is getting into grocery stores. In the UK, more and more cask ale is being sold in pubs. Widespread access to and enjoyment of good beer at a good price is the golden goose. Without that event of a value-based consumer choice, good beer will be stuck speaking to the converted, to the same faces seem at beer fests, to the same names on the bylines.
Maybe there really isn't an enemy of good beer - other than perhaps complacency - as long as we trust it is a product that has the quality and value that sells itself. This is an organic process that builds slowly overtime. And it's a process that has been proven over the last 20 years of market growth. If placing more people in breweries to teach them about how it is made is what we need to do now, well, that certainly says we are past the time when home brewing was the way to good beer. But it's not about breaking down the walls between the producer and consumer so much as teaching the consumer about the product and production of good beer.
The Women Every Real Canadian Male Has A Crush On...

Posted: February 27th, 2010, 1:53am CET by Alan McLeod

Truth be told, every Canadian male has a deep and abiding crush on every member of the woman's hockey team and photos of them drinking beer just feed the flame. We have commercials where the players kick doltish men like us all on the ice. They sell us social networking tech. While we have to work on their taste in beer, these are the sweethearts of the nation. Goalie gear, baby. Oh baby.
Did Richard Lautens of the Toronto Star get the best picture of the moment?