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A Good Beer Blog (28 unread)

Scotland: Tokyo, Imperial Stout, BrewDog, Fraserburgh

Posted: December 31st, 2008, 9:30pm CET by Alan McLeod

No picture. Had one of these last night and it was only later I realized it was 12%. The most more-ish 12% beer in the history of the universe, me thinks. Masses of layers of flavours the specifics of which you can fill in at your own discretion - but with a smooth core like a wee bit of lactose in there. A semi-demi-hemi sweet quad stout...that just has to be that next new style just waiting to be declared. BAers go all gooey. Stonch approved...and he took a photo, too.
The Best Of 2008 From A Good Beer Blog - Part Two

Posted: December 30th, 2008, 5:42pm CET by Alan McLeod

This is my best photo of 2008. I now feel that it is a bit of cheek suggesting I even have a best photo given both the quality that comes through the Yule photo contest as well as the simple fact that I did not take the variety of photos in 2008 that I did in years past. I like the stability of repeated use that the corner of the cold room provides for the bottle portraits that accompany reviews. Plus my current camera just isn't up to the task.
But I like this picture. Click for a bigger view. The picture comes from the end of an evening in April which found me sharing fine beer with fine company. I like the fact that the photo is so dark. It's closing time. I like the glow of the cooler as well as its reflection like a flame. The glowing "OPEN" sign across the street. The lack of people. BeerBistro! was actually still relatively hopping at that point in the night and the under exposure was entirely by fluke. But, as you know, I actually get out into the world of beer and beer people so rarely that it is the recollection of making it to closing time on a Saturday night in fine form at one of the great beer spots in the continent that this picture brings back.
The Best of 2008 From A Good Beer Blog - Part One

Posted: December 30th, 2008, 1:23am CET by Alan McLeod
See, if I write "Part One" it means I don't really have to write a full post while at the same time I can put off all those emails for the contest winners I was supposed to have gotten out by now. It's coming along - almost half are out - but even you have to admit that there is no way I ever expected we would have to be awarding over 40 prizes. I am fighting my urge to play Wii, the Christmas gift of the decade so far. The only way to deal with this set of conflicting demands is to play the first Devo album as I think about this problem...and the question of what was the best of my year in beer. Here is what I have so far:
- Best Event: there is no doubt about it - the visit by Stan and Daria which had added to it visit by Steve from Beaus and John from Church-key. I think I learned more about how to drink beer watching those four than I had learned from five years of beer blogging. There were other contenders like the Southern Tier launch in Toronto as well as the night I was a beer roadie but if this one evening triggers regular beery conferences of some sort, that would be good.
- Best Book: this was a bit of a funny year for beer related books going by my reviews. I read about the Xhosa of Africa as well as England just before Michael Jackson. I really enjoyed Amy Mittleman's book but would have liked a more engaging narrative and found, conversely, CAMRA's Good Beer Guide West Coast USA a bit too much of an in-joke. In the end, I think the best book about beer that I got my hands on this year is one that you can't get your hands on, Martyn Cornell's Amber, Gold and Black, a digital guide to the history of British beer styles. You can buy your own copy for the extremely low price of five pounds and you should because you really need the full story on Cornish White Ale.
- Best Defense of Good Beer: this has to be the good fight that BrewDog is waging against the jurisdictional monopoly imposed upon them by their oligopolistic macro-brewing competition through that wacko quasi-legal thing called the shadowy Portman Group.
Well, that's me put off the emailing long enough. More of the best of 2008 tomorrow. Including best picture which is not the overly fragrant, slightly fey one I took up there to the comic relief of some of you.
Quebec: One Nation Founded Upon... A Beer Brand?

Posted: December 29th, 2008, 9:16pm CET by Alan McLeod

I am not against Quebec separatism. Heck, I am not against separatism anywhere as long as the people actually want to separate. I have tartan clothes, you know. Just saying these things can happen. But this news today in the National Post (but noted by Rick Lyke weeks ago) seems to hint strongly that there is still much work to do to ever gain the support of the majority in la belle province:
It is a marketing coup that is meant to brew up support for Quebec sovereignty -- literally. Thirsty sovereigntists have launched a beer called l'Independante, in hopes of stirring up ailing support for sovereignty. The pale ale dubbed "the beer that will never give in" sports a blue logo with a patriotic-looking woman, her fist in the air. The slogans are unequivocal: Vive la biere libre! (Long live free beer!) and Qui prend biere prend pays (Choosing your beer is choosing your country). With support for sovereignty at a low of 37% according to recent polls, the beer might be the closest Quebecers will get to independence in the short term.
Marketing coup? Maybe if there is no other way to take power, I suppose. Les Bâtisseurs Indépendants is something of a double entendre as the brewery is a contract outfit with its offices on the third floor of a building south of Mount Royal. Looking for reviews of this new phase of the struggle that sorta began in 1608. Let me know if you find any yourself.
Instant Update: Is it this? Likely that would be more in the treasonous category given those reviews at RateBeer. No, this looks like it. Better, though the response does seem to mirror the recent election results.
Scientific Discovery Leave Us Asking Same Questions

Posted: December 27th, 2008, 5:15pm CET by Alan McLeod

I recall a George Carlin news item joke that I may have posted somewhere here somewhere before: "scientists have discovered that saliva causes cancer but, fortunately, only when taken over a long period of time in small amounts." That is the sort of reaction I had when I read today's beer and health news:
Drinking only one pint of beer a day increases the risk of liver and bowel cancer by a fifth, a health expert warned yesterday. A large glass of wine or a couple of spirits can have the same damaging effect, she said. Rachel Thompson, science programme manager for the World Cancer Research Fund, warned that just two units of alcohol a day increased the risk of bowel cancer by 18 per cent and that of liver cancer by a fifth.
Dr. R. Thompson does appear to have a strong research record but this news does beg the question of who funded the research and why there is no effort to aggregate the findings of such health researchers into a "yea or nay" sort of document. It begs the question of should we drink or shouldn't we given there is so much research indicating tee-totaling is quite dangerous to human health. Plus, there is another question that has an underlying idea: "how would you like to die?" You see, we will all die. If we have good health and are careful with what we eat and exercise regularly and pray to the gods of your choice...we will all die. So, while it is one thing to put off eating glass shards and sipping a little bleach every day, are we to be entirely obsessed with living to 95 having had avoided club soda for fear of bubbles - or should we live a reasonably healthy life that includes a rich, rewarding and traditional diet in which having a few drinks a week or even a day is a part?
Wouldn't this sort of science serve us best if it avoided puritanical and objectifying presumptions or at least admitted the assumptions inherent in its conclusions or even the assumptions embedded in each selected hypothesis?
Belgium: Nostradamus, Brasserie Caracole, Falmignoul

Posted: December 26th, 2008, 2:35am CET by Alan McLeod

Christmas Day. Two naps, a new Wii and a beer named after a failed Renaissance seer. Good Lord, I wrote about Belgian dark strong ales almost four years ago. Before almost anyone else was blogging. Bet that post's all wrong.
Michael Jackson points out in Great Beers of Belgium that this brewer is all-wood fired before he briefly mentions the early history of the saxophone. I don't know why he did that. Anyway, this pours a gorgeous chestnut under a massive light tan head. On the first sip, I already miss the case of this that I don't have. Brown sugars, nutmeg and fig with a little milk chocoate work with herbal hops that go a little steely in the spiced finish. Incredibly morish even with the 9.5%. A beer that might well make you a better dancer.
I paid a very reasonable $8.50 USD for 750 ml somewhere on my travels this year. BAers love it.
Yuletide 2008 Photo Contest Grand Prize Winners!!!

Posted: December 23rd, 2008, 8:46pm CET by Alan McLeod
Now maybe I can get some sleep, get some work done...maybe buy the children a present. Brace yourself for a very long post setting out the final prize winners and runners-up for the UK, the United States as well as Canada plus, waaaay down there a final announcement of the grand prize winner. Jeff will also be posting his thoughts today with special focus on the wonderful UK winners. I have also taken some time to explain the choices we made and invite your to share your thoughts about these photos as well as all those other entries in these four galleries.
- gallery one - 118 photos of great promise.
- gallery two - 119 photos of rare perception.
- gallery three - 151 photos of commanding voice.
- gallery four - 136 photos of the wisdom of the ages.
So with thanks to all, especially the great beer people who have pledged prizes, and remembering we can click on every photo - here we go...
Canadian Runner-up: Rob Curran presented us with a particular problem. I had no idea what some of his pictures were about. You will find all 21 of his submissions in this group. They are all from a central European beer trip. The one I picked out of the lot, the scene as one approaches to Kaltenberg Schlossbrauerei in Munich, may not be your favorite but for me it captures that moment when the traveler walks up to something unfamiliar - in this case something that looks like a cross between the castle of the faerie queen and that of a vampire. In addition, Rob wrote at length and with great excitement about the photos because, as he says:
...As you may recall from a "Creemore" related thread on your blog quite sometime ago, I work as a Brewer for Creemore Springs. For a great number of years my colleagues have been attending the American Craft Brewer's Conference. Not being a traveler... I chose not to attend. I was approached...[to see]... if I would be interested in attending one of the mothers of all trade shows [Brau in Nurnberg]. My heart lept [even though I did not have a passport] and I felt I would pass up the opportunity to attend the A.C.B.C. 10 times over, just to go to Germany once.
So not only does the set represent a moment in the life of the beer traveler, it represents the opportunity of a lifetime for a brewer who has helped lead the Canadian craft brew revolution. For that Rob Curran wins a prize of a hoodie from Full Sail Brewing Company Hood River, Oregon as well as a t-shirt, hat, and 4 pint glasses of Laurelwood Brewing Company Portland, Oregon
Canadian First Prize: This prize goes to someone perhaps at the entirely opposite end of the craft beer scene. Dinghao Pan is a student from China who is studying in Oshawa, Ontario. He took some pictures at a microbrewery bar while he was traveling in Quebec city with my friend James and thought they would be a good addition to our collective photo album. I liked all his pictures which you can find in this gallery but this one nailed it. He is clearly in a bar on the patio but the background is well out of focus. He is with others given the number of beers but they are not seen. We just see the beer caught in a moment of sunshine. The beer glasses rest at jaunty angles, making them look as cheery as the day. The colours compliment each other. The head of the nearest looks like cream. But the middle glass holds the focus, the sweaty beads of condensation telling the tale - hot day on patio with friends sharing great beer. For that, Dinghao Pan wins a prize of a basket of goodies Roland + Russell, importers, as well as a subscription for one year to All About Beer magazine.
United States Runner-up: Again, there is a tie between two photos supplied by one winner, Joel Armato of the prize-giving New Holland Brewing Company....or rather as he explains it:
I am Dr. Joel and I run a beer blog at www.grainbill.blogspot.com and i am also a Beer Ambassador from Michigan's New Holland Brewing Company...
You can see all of Dr. J's submissions in this gallery. Joel has taken photos around the workplace and obviously has an interest in the way light and dark both pervades this environment. In the one to the right, we see the steam and the shadow. The dulled outline of the window contrasts with the crisp outline of the equipment. It is a bit eerie but a bit sleepier, too.
Compared to that, to the left, we have the quiet of the casks doing their slow business in the dark. You will have to click on the photo to see the detail which is all there. I like the composition of the photo as well, the corner of the room arcing in the lens giving a sense of the weight of the barrels. For both photos, Joel Armato wins a prize consisting of one very neato Retro Wall-Mounted Opener pledged by Steam Whistle Brewing of Toronto, Ontario as well as a subscription for one year to one year All About Beer magazine
UK Winners: I am going to let Jeff tell you more over at Stonch's Beer Blog and also, if he likes, pick which of the three goes in what order if that is even at all necessary. Due to the far more progressive laws in the United Kingston, each of these prizes winners look forward to a case of wonderful beer coming their way. Lucky lucky folk.
The first UK winner above is from James Sakal of Colchester in Essex. I love the look of the moment, the attention on the face as well as the light and the cigarette smoke. James entitled it "The Last Drag" and says it is of "two chaps enjoy a smoke with their beers for the last time. This was taken at the Hand in Hand, Brighton, days before the UK smoking ban came into force." For that, James Sakal wins a prize of 12 harder-to-find dark ales, stouts and porters from Beer-Ritz, Britain's (and Santa's) favorite online beer retailer
The next picture comes from Philip Walsh of Streatham in London. Like the one above...and the one below now that I think of it...it is a scene from a pub. One thing I have learned through my web-based relationship (there is no other way of putting it) with Jeff is that the role of the pub in Britain is not like that role of the tavern or watering hole in North America. And here we have the glowing bar, the other source of warmth in addition to the hearth. For sharing that sense, Philip Walsh wins a prize of a mixed case of beers from Brew Dog.
The last of the three is to the right. Dave Wilby of Boxford in Suffolk took a moment to catch the scene at a beer fest through one of the windows. Taking his cue from the shape of the window, Dave entitled the picture "Worshipping at the Chappel Beer Festival". Here is a link to more information about the 2008 Chappel Beer Festival and his other pictures at this gallery. Notice the list of beers that you can find at the website in all those casks we see through the window. I have never been to such an event but get all Pavlovian just thinking about it. For capturing this scene, Dave Wilby wins a prize of a mixed case of beers from Brew Dog.
Grand Prize Winner: The grand prize winner of the Global 2008 Yuletide and Christmas and Hannukka and Kwanzaa (not to mention Boxing Day and New Year's Eve) Beer Blog Photo Contest and Shortbread Eating Competition is...drumrolllll!!!!
...wait for it...
I love this photo. I really like all of the photos submitted by Matt Wiater of Portland Oregon which can be seen in this gallery. I also really like the fact that Matt, who is the Senior Editor of www.portlandbeer.org, went out of his way to beat the bushes in his end of the beer--o-sphere and drummed up a good number of the prizes that are being offered by the great craft brewers of that great craft beer city. But most of all, I just love this photo. Let me tell you why:
- Making great beer is hard work. One of the crappiest tasks is cleaning up after a brewing session and one of the crappiest tasks related to that is getting rid of the scalding hot spent grain. Yet here we have this fabulous photo making it look like a moment of revelation, a moment like when the clouds part over the storm see and those "Jesus rays" of sunlight reach down and touch the earth.
- The photo is also incredibly well composed. The brewer is clearly in mid-action but the picture captures the head of the rake between the tank and the door. The back llighting perfectly outlines the brewer in a halo. The steam rises from the grain already removed that sits off camera below the frame. The shadow on his back draws attention to his face and his arm.
- The moral of the photo is instructive as well. Hard work makes good things. As I said, this is the crap moment yet it is the moment of care. The need to clean makes the next brew fine. Effort is valued and is valuable. Craft is a handmade thing.
All so good. For that, Matt Wiater wins prizes as follows:
- From All About Beer magazine...
  - a one year subscription
  - the publication of the photo in All About Beer
  - a copy of Roger Protz's Ale Trail, and
  - a DVD of American Brew
- Plus a signed t-shirt and other BrewDog goodies
- And also a Flying Dog gift pack of a Barrel-aged Gonzo, Humphrey the Humper dog, Gonzo Poster and Gonzo T-shirt.
Wow. That is great. That is done. Now I need a nap. Happy Christmas everyone!!!!

More 2008 Photo Prizes: Getting Close To The Finish!

Posted: December 23rd, 2008, 4:15am CET by Alan McLeod

OK, now that we have all marveled at the grumpy man, we have two last announcements. Tonight, we wind up the most part of the remaining prizes - each a glory to behold - while we will finish off in a grand finale with the best of the best announced Tuesday night eastern North American time. Then it will be done...except for the 43 or so emails, each to a prize pledger and a prize winner. How jolly.

But first, just a quick word to acknowledge that many of you have been mailing in to thank Jeff and I for putting this on. But you have to appreciate this is a great gift back to us. Jeff and I have never met and, as we live on two different continents, may well never meet except through these transmissions of typing and, while it is a bit different for him, soon I will enter my sevenths calendar year of pressing keys as I think about beer and, for 98% of it at least, it is a solitary endeavor. Doing this contest for me is a way to not only share the benefit of connecting with so many beery folk but also to validate some of my thoughts about how emotionally connected we are to this beer thing - and what better way to express it than through good photography. So thanks to each and everyone of you from me and Jeff as well as all of you to each other... if that makes any sense.

That being said, without further adieu, here are the next to last prizes... I think #22 to #33... and have I mentioned that this volume of entries and prizes is, you know, insane?

Artist / Notes	Prize	Given By
Patrick Hirlehey Waterdown, Ontario	Subscription one year	All About Beer magazine
Joe Stange Brussels, Belgium [Tie - couldn't decide]	A t-shirt of rare loveliness	Jolly Pumpkin Michigan
James Tien Gravenhurst, Ontario	Two Widmer weizen glasses and a t-shirt	Widmer Brothers Portland, Oregon
Jim Sutherland Houston, Texas	Two Widmer weizen glasses and a t-shirt	Widmer Brothers Portland, Oregon
Mike Contasti-Isaac London, Ontario	Two Widmer weizen glasses and a t-shirt	Widmer Brothers Portland, Oregon
Steven Sage Upland, California	Shipyard travel coffee mug Shipyard aluminum water bottle	Shipyard Brewing Portland, Maine
Don Osborn St. Paul, Minnesota	Shipyard travel coffee mug Shipyard aluminum water bottle	Shipyard Brewing Portland, Maine
Mike Maney Doylestown, Pennsylvania	New Jersey Breweries	Lew Bryson
Red Diamond Portland, Oregon	Good Beer Guide Prague	Evan Rail and CAMRA
Stan Hieronymus Corrales, New Mexico	One cool hat	Lakes of Muskoka Brewery Bracebridge, Ontario
The Beer Nut Dublin, Ireland	One great t-shirt and a couple of Great Lakes glasses	Great Lakes Brewing of Toronto, Ontario
Thomas Cizauskas Falls Church, Virginia, USA [One more prize for the first section of the final group of 23!]	An Obamanator t-shirt	Wynkoop Brewing Co. Denver, Colorado
Dave Selden Portland, Oregon	Hey, he won his prize already!	Let's call this one a tie like Joe Stange from Brussels above. More prizes for others!
Matt Billings Washington DC	Hey, he also won a prize!	Again, a tie. I must be losing it...

How The 2008 Yule Beer Blog Photo Prizes Get Awarded

Posted: December 21st, 2008, 11:22pm CET by Alan McLeod

Dramatic Update: Using that scientific method and applying higher mathematics (meaning I used my counting skills) it appears we have more prizes than photos. So, two pictures have been added to the final round of giftings - making now for 21...22 - and more counting is planned. We may still elevate more, adding others into and/or from the round of 132 into the realm of fabulous postal prize recipient depending on the result of further countin'. Now I know how Al Franken feels. Stay tuned as fingers and toes and crayons applied to task.

Original Cranky Beginning To Post: Enough with the unhappiness. The first utterly unfounded peep that there is something afoot needs addressing. Happens every year. Despite providing gifts for a huge number of boys and girls someone is that a wee bit like a bitter spoiled child who didn't get their way pipes up. Today, that voice showed up at Ron Pattinson's blog:

Nepotistic wanker that Stonch bloke is. My piccie was much better but I'm not his mate, so I didn't win. At least I'm bitter about it.

Sure, it could be that it was a joke badly made but just so it is clear, here are some of the things that go into a selection:

There is a distribution of prizes amongst as many entrants as possible. Frankly, three or four photographers would win all the prizes otherwise. So, if you think you missed out on a prize, it is likely that under any scheme chances are you would have missed out on a prize.
A number of prizes carry geographical restrictions due to insane global beer regulation. We assume that one would not get to pick up a growler of beer in Oregon if you live in Norway.
We support good photography and, for the most part, that means using available light. Few can handle a flash well.
Focus is important. As I noted in a comment, the perhaps better composed photo with the poorer focus was judged to be not as good as the prize winner.
Originality is also important. Photo of "person I know with a beer" is not original.
Context is also important, as was the case with Ron's photo. I am thrilled that Alastair Wilson of New South Wales took the time to document something happening and tell us about it.

We have given out 21 prizes already - that is insane!. And my family is letting me know. Rest assured that the emails will also soon start flying because we asked and obtained postal addresses for all entrants. We will be notifying prize winner and prize giver of their new Yule-based relationship asap... by which I mean possible at the "p". Jeff and I are up to our arses as are the fine gift givers who are mailing out directly. It is, after all, Yule. Be happy. Please expect your prizes in January 2009.

Let's also remember we are not only having fun and, like my eight year old, giddy at the prospect of new things in the mail - but we are also learning about what so many people see when they see beer. That in itself is a gift to us all and the one I am most thankful for. So God rest ye merry, while we are at it. That being said, here are the remaining entries awaiting prizes as well as the prizes to be given out. Please note that there are at most 21 prize packs remaining and only 19 entries still as yet sitting unjudged. What can that mean? How will Santa deal with this???? I have no idea but this is the way it is, even at Yuletide.

1. Grand Prize Winner

Prize Pack	Given By
1. One Year Subscription 2. publication in All About Beer 3. Roger Protz’s Ale Trail 4. DVD American Brew	All About Beer magazine
5. Signed t-shirt other BrewDog goodies	BrewDog Beer Scotland

Plus one or more of the beer prizes that are in the list below depending on where you are located. And the good folks at All About Beer magazine have indicated that they will publish the winning entry in their magazine. Pretty nice of them.

2. Other Winners

Here are the remaining prizes that have been offered by fine beer people from around the world and will be forwarded to the luck winners.

Picture	Artist / Notes	Prize	Given By
[Photo]	[Winner] [Note]	12 harder-to-find dark ales, stouts and porters.	Beer-Ritz Britain's bestest online beer retailer
[Photo]	[Winner] [Note]	mixed case BrewDog beauties	BrewDog Beer Scotland
[Photo]	[Winner] [Note]	mixed case BrewDog beauties	BrewDog Beer Scotland
[Photo]	[Winner] [Note]	A Barrel-aged Gonzo, Humphrey the Humper dog, Gonzo Poster and Gonzo T-shirt	Flying Dog Brewery Maryland
[Photo]	[Winner] [Note]	Subscription one year	All About Beer magazine
[Photo]	[Winner] [Note]	Subscription one year	All About Beer magazine
[Photo]	[Winner] [Note]	A basket of goodies	Roland + Russell Ontario
[Photo]	[Winner] [Note]	A t-shirt of rare loveliness	Jolly Pumpkin Michigan
[Photo]	[Winner] [Note]	Two Widmer weizen glasses and a t-shirt	Widmer Brothers Portland, Oregon
[Photo]	[Winner] [Note]	Two Widmer weizen glasses and a t-shirt	Widmer Brothers Portland, Oregon
[Photo]	[Winner] [Note]	Two Widmer weizen glasses and a t-shirt	Widmer Brothers Portland, Oregon
[Photo]	[Winner] [Note]	A t-shirt, hat, and 4 pint glasses	Laurelwood Brewing Company Portland, Oregon
[Photo]	[Winner] [Note]	an Obamanator t-shirt	Wynkoop Brewing Co. Denver, Colorado
[Photo]	[Winner] [Note]	Shipyard travel coffee mug Shipyard aluminum water bottle	Shipyard Brewing Portland, Maine
[Photo]	[Winner] [Note]	Shipyard travel coffee mug Shipyard aluminum water bottle	Shipyard Brewing Portland, Maine
[Photo]	[Winner] [Note]	New Jersey Breweries	Lew Bryson
[Photo]	[Winner] [Note]	Brewery Hoodie [Note: I covet]	Full Sail Brewing Company Hood River, Oregon
[Photo]	[Winner] [Note]	Good Beer Guide Prague	Evan Rail and CAMRA
[Photo]	[Winner] [Note]	One cool hat	Lakes of Muskoka Brewery Bracebridge, Ontario
[Photo]	[Winner] [Note]	One very neato Retro Wall-Mounted Opener	Steam Whistle Brewing of Toronto, Ontario
[Photo]	[Winner] [Note]	One great t-shirt and a couple of Great Lakes glasses	Great Lakes Brewing of Toronto, Ontario

Ontario Beer Prices Go Up For No Good Reason At All

Posted: December 21st, 2008, 9:20pm CET by Alan McLeod

Liar, liar, pants on fire. That is what the Toronto Star says about the LCBO and Ontario's government anyway:
That 6.7 per cent increase in the floor price of a case, bottle deposit excluded, has nothing to do with supply-and-demand, production costs, overhead or distribution expenses. Instead, the Liquor Control Board of Ontario sets minimum prices as part of its "social responsibility" mandate established in 1993. Translation: If alcohol is too cheap, you may abuse it. But documents obtained under Ontario's freedom-of-information law show that the Ministry of Finance, not the LCBO, pressed for higher beer prices – raising questions about the arm's-length relationship between the two bodies.
Holey Moley! You may think that this is all a bit of complainery but if beer is, as Statistics Canada indicates, a 3.2 billion dollar sector of the Ontario economy in 2006 (as opposed to the 2.5 billion the Star indicates) then a 6.7% revenue grab by the state owned monopoly that regulates prices represents up to a $214,000,000 cash grab if the minimum price were also to translate (why wouldn't it) to upward pressure on all beer pricing. Let's be clear: if the price increase represents no increase in costs but is only on the direction of the provincial Finance Minister who receives all LCBO profits at the end of the day, then that is all it is- a way to effectively tax without introducing a law to authorize the tax. Great.
And just before Christmas as well. Nice present for yourself as well as all Ontarians.
Ontario: Yuletide Cherry Porter, Barley Days, Picton

Posted: December 21st, 2008, 7:46pm CET by Alan McLeod

Apres shovel.
I had been waiting for this beer for a while. In 2006, I even went looking for it only to find the predecessor brewery rather empty. Fortunately, the Barley Days story has been a happy one so far. I have been a repeat purchaser of their Wind and Sail Dark Ale, though I heard from one visitor that a little more line cleaning would be good. Yet it is one thing to have a bad day compared to the predecessor's entrenched bad habits.
This cherry porter is quite good. Dark mahogany ale with a fine mocha head. In the mouth, plenty of cocoa and date with a hint of rich cherry peeping out just before quite a bitter finish resolving to a final maltiness. A little too carbonated for my liking but it does a good job cutting the frozen sweat after clearing out my driveway and the neighbour's as well. BAers know what's naughty or nice.

Prizes #11 To #21: Beer Blog Yule / Xmas 2008 Photo Contest

Posted: December 21st, 2008, 3:31am CET by Alan McLeod

There has to be a better way to do this. Jeff is still hauling casks around the cellar. And last night here it turned into a party of the local beer club - aka the guys from work that I am training to like good beer. Today was loaded up with things like digging out from a blizzard as we await tomorrow's blizzard while trees were obtained and ornaments were hung. When the heck did I leave myself the time to get these prizes awarded? Answer: I didn't. Never mind. All is joy and happiness around here now that the real weeks of work are over for 2008. Sure there might be some fire to put out but we are in the last stretch and come Monday the days even start to get longer. Making more time for one more snowman and one more eggnog by the time Christmas comes on Thursday.

Just one note on the winner of the prize from Beau's All Natural, Alastair Wilson of New South Wales. He wrote an email to explain his set of photos, another of which is above:

Here is the first (of five) pictures I'd like to submit to this year's competition. They are of the Kent Brewery site in Chippendale, Sydney. The Kent Brewery had been there since 1835, originally as part of Tooth and Co and then as part of the Carlton United (CUB) conglomerate from 1983. In 2003 it was sold to developers and finally shut in 2005, the beers formerly brewed there now being brewed in Victoria and Queensland. It will eventually be the usual mix of swanky apartments and retail/office space. Details of the closure announcement are here and more history than you might ever need to know is here.

I love that. It is beer photo journalism as well as a documentary of the moment this great brewery disappeared. That is one thing we need more of in 2009....but...you know, there were way more than twice the entries this year than in 2007. That means next year there could be over a thousand. How are we going to handle that?

Artist / Notes	Prize	Given By
Troy Burtch Toronto, Ontario	Lunch at the Stinking Rose and a VIP tour and tasting for four at the Brewery.	Church-key Brewing Ontario
Ryan Hartigan Vernon, NJ	One Awesome T-shirt!	New Holland Brewing Michigan
Matt Billings Washington DC	Two Widmer weizen glasses and a t-shirt	Widmer Brothers Portland, Oregon
Dave Selden Portland Oregon	Two Widmer weizen glasses and a t-shirt	Widmer Brothers Portland, Oregon
Bryan Kolesar Malvern, PA	Two Widmer weizen glasses and a t-shirt	Widmer Brothers Portland, Oregon
Cyrus Mower Oxford, England	Cracked Kettle t-shirt, bottle of Westvleteren 12	Cracked Kettle beer store Amsterdam
Ben McLeod Hillsboro, Oregon	Subscription one year	All About Beer magazine
Lars Marius Garshol Oslo, Norway	Subscription one year	All About Beer magazine
Alastair Wilson Wollstonecraft, NSW, Australia	The Classique: a t-shirt and hat!	Beau's All-Natural Brewing Ontario
Natalie R. Wilson San Antonio, Texas	Shipyard travel coffee mug Shipyard aluminum water bottle	Shipyard Brewing Portland, Maine
Matt North Chicago, Illinois	"a growler and a sampler when they come in"	Flossmoor Station Brewing Illinois

There you go! Talk amongst yourselves. Compare and contrast. You know how these things are.

First Wave Of Prizes For 2008 Yule Beer Blog Photos

Posted: December 19th, 2008, 8:58pm CET by Alan McLeod

Let's see if I can make this work. I have decided that announcing all the prizes at once is such a daunting task that I can't ever fit it in now that the holiday nuttiness is getting...nuttier. Also, I have to figure out how to do this HTML table thing. If I have it all oging out at once and can't get the table right...it will ruin Christmas for me. So let's open up one stocking today and see if I can get the format straight, shall we? Plus Jeff is so busy at the pub tonight he can't possibly notice that I went ahead and announced these first few. Right?

Crap! Just realized I had missed a great prize offered by the Wynkoop Brewing Co., an Obamanator t-shirt. So if everyone can shower them with some proper respect...even if via holiday best wishes from across the planet, that would be cool. Big woots!

Anyway, the first ten prize winners in the 2008 Yule and Christmas and Kwanzaa and Hanukkah and Any Other Holiday You Celebrate Beer Blog Photographic (and Daguerreotype) Contest and Carol Singing Festival are...in no particular order...and rolled out as I go along allocating prizes to photos over the course of this snowy afternoon... (drumroll!!!)

Artist / Notes	Prize	Given By
Chris Hadden Portland, ME "Maine's Ploughmans Lunch"	T-shirt and Hat	Dogfish Head Craft Brewery Delaware
Nathan Fong Cambridge, MA "Salt Balancing"	"Ambitious Brew" signed copy	Maureen Ogle
Russ Burdick Markham, Ontario	A One Year Subsciption!	TAPS Canada's beer magazine
Dan James, C'town, PEI	t-shirt, pint glass, snifter glass, decal and hat!!!	Cigar City Brewing Tampa Bay Florida
Corky Hellmer Portland, Oregon	a growler of organic beer and an organic tshirt	Hopworks Urban Brewery Portland, Oregon
J. Wilson Prescott, Iowa [story here]	A definite offer of good stuff	Oskar Blues Brewery Colorado
Ron Pattinson A Brewer's Log [Story here]	Whatever pints are passed to him next visit!	The Gunmakers Pub London, England
Craig Mycoskie Denver, Colo.	a hat plus bottle of this years Epic Ale	Roots Organic Brewing Company Portland, Oregon
Nicole Cleaver Hamilton, Ontario	A Granite sweatshirt!	The Granite Brewery and Restaurant Toronto, Ontario
Andy Rigden Kent, England	I have to check with Jonathon. Glassware I think.	Monday Night Brewery Atlanta, Georgia

How's that? Did the table work? Hmmm...I don't know why I have that column of cells to the right but I really do not care enough to fix it.

Scenes Of Red Tape: If The Last Tenant's Licensed, You're Not!

Posted: December 19th, 2008, 2:35am CET by Alan McLeod

Sometimes the wonder that is the bureaucracy around licensing is a beauty to behold. Consider this sad tale from the latest session of the Chattanooga Beer Board:
Tonya Hacker appeared before the Chattanooga Beer Board on Thursday for approval of a beer permit for Rhapsody Café which she and her husband plan to open next month. Everything was moving along smoothly until she mentioned that the restaurant was in the same space as the former Bushwood Restaurant. A board member asked if Bushwood had surrendered the beer permit that they have for that location. Board Secretary Bertha Lawrence had no record of the permit being surrendered. Board Attorney Ken Fritz told Ms. Hacker there cannot be two permits issued for one location. The former tenant must be contacted and the permit must be forfeited before she can receive a permit for her restaurant...The board told Ms. Hacker she would be able to complete her transaction for a beer permit with the City Treasurer’s Office whenever Mr. Dill surrenders the permit for Bushwood and would not have to come before the board again.
Fantastic! Splendid even!!! The building is empty, the former tenant business long gone, the prospective business owner is asking to be allowed to operate and everyone gets to sit on their hands until someone can find the frikkin' piece of paper rather than revoking it on the spot. You see, if a court wants to revoke your driver's license, the judge is not hand tied if the criminal still has it in his wallet. And if your pooch bites someone, waving around the paper won't stop the dog catcher from taking it to the pound. That is the way it works. But not in Tennessee.
I do so love the beer boards of Tennessee. The bestest tribunals there are.
Xmas 2008 Beer Blog Photo Contest Final Forty

Posted: December 18th, 2008, 12:01am CET by Alan McLeod

It's been crazy around here and Jeff is up to his neck in office dickheads. But we are down to the final strokes, the last steps in judging now and are happy to announce the final forty entries.
Who will win the grand prize? Who will it be?
Pre-Drinking: What Is Old Is New Again

Posted: December 17th, 2008, 2:14pm CET by Alan McLeod

I am not sure what it is about journalists these days but they seem to have entirely forgotten what life was like in the 1980s. People seem to think that, you know, the special friends relationship of hooking up was invented by those with a Blackberry and that facing economic tough times is something that no one has coped with before. Odder, however, than forgetting the lax ways of amore and getting together with pals over a pot of weak tea is the idea that "pre-drinking" as described by the Toronto Star this morning is new:
Young people are engaging in a "new culture of intoxication" that even has its own buzzwords – "pre-drinking" or "pre-gaming." If you're a confused parent looking for a simple definition, just click on YouTube, or on urbandictionary.com, where it's described as the "act of drinking alcohol before you go out to the club to maximize your fun at the club while spending the least amount on extremely overpriced alcoholic beverages." This new form of binge drinking goes far beyond a warm-up to a night out with friends, says a new report by Centre for Addiction and Mental Health researcher Samantha Wells and two colleagues at the University of Toronto and University of Western Ontario. It's an "intense, ritualized and unsupervised" drinkfest, in many cases perfectly timed so that the booze hits the bloodstream within minutes of stepping inside the bar, Wells said in a telephone interview from London, Ont.
Wow. They are "unsupervised" when they do this?!?!? Imagine that.
Did anyone involved with these studies ask a Maritimer who was in university a quarter century ago? Frankly, I still find it odd to be in a pub before ten in the evening given that the Halifax social scene required picking up a case (Nova Scotian for 12 beer) on the way home, having something for supper like K-D or oven fries and then landing at one house or another to, frankly, pound them back until it was time to get the taxi downtown. But these days I get all snoozy well too early for this sort of thing. I hardly make it to the end Num-Three-Ers on Friday night at eleven now. Yet somewhere some part of me is happy that gangs of the young are still being safely dumb in fun packs within reasonable parametres, singing at the tops of their lungs, turning into bags of seat as they slam-dance or whatever the kids are up to today.
New Brunswick:Yippee IPA, Picaroons, Fredericton

Posted: December 16th, 2008, 3:01am CET by Alan McLeod

There I was, gleefully hacking through the Xmas 2008 Beer Blog Yule and Assorted Holiday Photo Contest and Snowballing Spree, culling the herd from 524 pictures to a select 132 or so, needing a little something. Thirsty work so I popped a 500 ml 6.5% New Brunswicker IPA from Freddie's Beach. I had no idea what to expect. There are very few things a Nova Scotian like me can imagine coming out of New Brunswick that I might, you know, ingest. Sure it's my inter-Maritimal prejudice speaking but you got to be what youse is, right?
But there are present surprises in life and this is one of them. It pours a light orange amber with a frothy white foam. On the nose, plenty of bright herbal citrus - including tangerine and lemon. None of that heavy orange marmalade you often get. In the mouth, more tangerine and lemony citrus but mainly white grapefruit with some decent rougher bittering hops that cuts completely though the good grainy pale malt profile. Plenty of body. Solid without being stodgy. Sweetish, moreish and a bit deceptive for its strength. And honest brewer, too, as the label says "this beer may change slightly from batch to batch as we explore the various interpretations of the style." Yip. Eee.
I like. This would go very well with a spicy curry. One lonely BA give an honest opinion.
Day 29: The Contest Is Closed...Let The Reckoning Begin

Posted: December 15th, 2008, 4:11am CET by Alan McLeod
This really has gotten out of hand. I spent a couple of hours finalizing the entries to the best of my meager abilities and as far as I can tell we have had 524 photos sent in, 186 email threads and about 40 prizes pledged by 30 of the nicest beer folk out there. I have no idea how we are supposed to go through these and make good choices. Remedy? Arbitrary choices!
No, there shall be some sense placed over the discussions - especially for grand prize winner who will get a bundle of various gifties in the mail from a number of gift givers. But you can help. You can let us know who your favorites are. Have a look at the four galleries on Flickr (linkably referenced just below) and give your comments about which ones you like the best. And then argue about your differing opinions. Call each other names. That would be great.
- gallery one - 118 photos of great promise.
- gallery two - 119 photos of rare perception.
- gallery three - 151 photos of commanding voice.
- gallery four - 136 photos of doubtful toe-curling amateurism.
I jest. I have had no time to categorize these in any way. As Jeff wrote after the contest closed UK time, we'll work out the best over the week and get back to you on how it pans out. Sound good? Fine. Let us know your thoughts, too. That's also fine. You want to offer your ideas on the rules? That's fine, too...but we'll just ignore them.
Jay Wonders If He And The Session Will Go All The Way!

Posted: December 11th, 2008, 9:34pm CET by Alan McLeod

Starting with the metaphor of going steady, Jay sets out his observations on the state of The Session with the line "Dear Session, we’ve been going steady now nearly two years...and I think perhaps it’s time to “talk.”
He's right. The thing needs a couples weekend, a counseling session... maybe even a few dates with some other folk. Read what Jay has to say.
Day 25: Prepare Ye! The End Is Nigh! Santa Commeth!!!

Posted: December 11th, 2008, 2:23am CET by Alan McLeod
Well, I think it is safe to say that as far as Jeff and I are concerned the 2008 Yule, Christmas and Assorted Other Holiday Photo and Yodeling Contest has been insanely successful. With the addition of the latest photo gallery at flicker, there is a total of 388 entries and thirty prize giving brewers, authors and others in the beer trade. Nutty. Here are the three galleries of photos for you to check out:
- gallery one - the first wave of 118 photos.
- gallery two - the challenging second album of 119 photos.
- gallery three - 151 all new all hit entries!!!
Time moves on and the contest is drawing to a close. Breaking Newsflash: I will be away from the computer for the best part of the balance of the contest, taking part in some early Yule festivities at the other end of the province so I will not be updating the entries until after the close of the contest next Sunday at 4:00 pm eastern time zone, North America. But please do continue to pour in more photos by emailing your photos of anything related to beer (not to mention more pledges of prizes) to both me at beerblog@gmail.com and also Jeff at stonchblog@gmail.com. We'd like that. We really would.
I would also like to thank all each and every one of our prize sponsors. I am adding the prize offerings to the list below to give you an idea of how good they have all been - for you and for beer-tography. I would particularly like to thank Daniel Bradford of All About Beer magazine who not only has pledged some great prizes but has offered to run the winning photo in our magazine with a little blurb about the contest. Fantastic stuff. Here are all the prize givers to date:
- Beer-Ritz, Britain's bestest online beer retailer which is giving an international selection of a dozen harder-to-find dark ales, stouts and porters to a UK based winner;
- All About Beer magazine...which has offered five subscriptions as well as other goodies;
- BrewDog Beer of Scotland (the greatest Scots rock stars since the BCRs) two mixed cases of their singular concoctions for UK winners (dontcha want to live in the UK now?) as well as a signed t-shirt.
- Flying Dog Brewery of Maryland if shouting out with the gift of a Barrel-aged Gonzo, Humphrey the Humper dog, Gonzo Poster and Gonzo T-shirt. Jeff and I are not entirely clear on what that means but we also know that is because we may not be cool enough to understand...ok, I'm not;
- Beau's All-Natural Brewing of easternest Ontario is giving one of you a hat and t-shirt which will have been specially selected by Steve, the man who put me to work as a brewery roadie;
- Shipyard Brewing of Portland, Maine steps right up and offers three separate prizes of a Shipyard travel coffee mug and a Shipyard aluminum water bottle;
- Church-key Brewing of Campbellford, Ontario is giving away a brewery tour and lunch at their Stinking Rose pub...which I have every expectation could lead to one thing or another;
- Roland + Russell, Canada's nicest beer importers will be giving out a seasonal basket of miscellaneous love and good feeling;
- Jolly Pumpkin of Dexter, Michigan USA which has once again affirmed that timeless truth - "a t-shirt sounds great";
- Flossmoor Station Brewing, of Illinois is presenting a growler and a sampler to lucky winner when he or she next visits;
- Widmer Brothers of Portland, Oregon gives jingle bell laced notice: "we can send you 12 Widmer weizen glasses, 6 T-shirts, and probably some other small items" - that'll make six of you merry;
- Cracked Kettle beer store in Amsterdam, The Netherlands is giving out a Cracked Kettle t-shirt and a bottle of Westvleteren 12;
- Laurelwood Brewing Company, of Oregon pledges a T shirt, Hat, and 4 Pint Glasses to a US winner;
- New Holland Brewing of Michigan is giving out "one awesome t shirt"! I wonder if it is 12 feet tall - that would be awesome;
- Maureen Ogle, author of "Ambitious Brew" is offering a signed, hardcover, first edition. Wow. And for those who don't win this prize (aka "humankind-1=X") order your copy at Amazon;
- TAPS, Canada's beer magazine is giving one lucky and hopefully literate winner a one year's subscription;
- Cigar City Brewing of Tampa Bay FLA has given us a t-shirt, pint glass, snifter glass, decal and hat and also announced the good news through the St. Pete's Times;
- Hopworks Urban Brewery of Portland Oregon has offered a growler full of organic beer with fill and an organic tshirt to the winner of the "best organic photo" catetgory...which begs the question if we have an organic photo category. Maybe we can go with "best cat and beer" picture instead;
- Oskar Blues Brewery of Colorado is offering an as yet unspecified "a couple prizes" - the whole mysteriousness thing is not traditionally a Yule thing but we can work with it;
- Dogfish Head Craft Brewery of Delaware will be mailing out a hat and a t-shirt to some lucky shutterbug;
- The Gunmakers Pub of London England which is offering a nod...which, is as good as a wink to a blind man...if you know what I mean, Ron;
- Roots Organic Brewing Company of Portland Oregon is slapping down a hat and a bottle of this years Epic Ale on the digital table. Righteous;
- The Granite Brewery and Restaurant of Toronto, Ontario is giving a brewery sweatshirt.;
- Monday Night Brewery; The Aleuminati have pledges "a couple of items"...which I think means stuff;
- Great Lakes Brewing of Toronto, Ontario will supply a t-shirt and a couple of Great Lakes glasses;
- Lew Bryson, fabulous beer author - a copy of New Jersey Breweries which can otherwise be obtained at Amazon or from Santa if you have been nice;
- Full Sail Brewing Company of Hood River, Oregon - a sweet hoodie;
- Evan Rail and CAMRA - a copy of Good Beer Guide Prague which the non-winners can get at Amazon;
- Lakes of Muskoka Brewery of Bracebridge, Ontario will put you in a hat which you really need when it is either cold or hot;
- ...and last but not least Steam Whistle Brewing of Toronto, Ontario which is pledging a very neato Retro Wall-Mounted Opener!!!
So that is all for now. Get more photos in and send some more prizes. I think that the entrants have outstripped the prize givers but such is life. We do this for the art. For art and about a 41% shot at a prize. Not bad odds.
A City Of 1890 In Love With Strong Ales

Posted: December 9th, 2008, 1:36am CET by Alan McLeod

I had reason to mine the archives of The New York Times today - for entirely proper purposes, I can assure you - but it was quite a moment, that moment when I knew in my small way that I was living out the life Pattinsonian, beery archive sleuth. What I came upon today was an 1890s travel piece with beer references worked in for good measure, the sort of thing our pal Evan Rail of Beer Culture fame, provides for The New York Times today, 118 years later. This is the key beer-related bit.
...The similarity to the English extends quite noticeably to minor matters, even to eating and drinking. Pipes rather than cigars are smoked in the streets and public places. English relishes and sauces in great abundance are displayed upon the dining tables. Lager beer is wanting almost absolutely. I remember in all my travels, extending through hundreds of miles in Ontario, beginning at this place, to have seen the sign "lager beer" displayed only once. Light wines are rarely called for. Strong ales like Bass's and stouts like Guinness's abound. Coffee is rarely served and when ordered is found to be a mockery. Tea is, next to mineral waters, the stable temperance drink at table...
That is an interesting bit of social observation. The whole piece with its August 16 1890 dateline is interesting and, if you have any idea of Kingston and its rare preservation of a huge part of its Victorian architecture, one that you can immediately place in the streets about the downtown. Except there's lager beer here now. A little too much, frankly.
Australia: Lion Nathan Returns To Natural Brewing

Posted: December 8th, 2008, 3:00am CET by Alan McLeod

Interesting news from down under as one of the big macro-brewers on the other side of the planet decides to take on craft brewing though returning to more disciplined brewing:
...enough is enough. The big boys are fighting back, or at least leading brewer and winemaker Lion Nathan is, with a "natural beer" promise that's backed by a dedicated website and television advertising campaign. Chief brewer Bill Taylor says the company has "seen the writing on the wall" and is responding to a consumer push towards natural products. "People are becoming more conscious about what they're putting in their bodies. There are a lot of consumers who prefer to go a slightly more natural route and we're giving people that option with some ajor brands." The brewer's pledge is that Toohey's New, Toohey's Old, XXXX Gold, XXXX Bitter, West End Draught and Swan Draught contain only five natural ingredients: water, malted grains, hops, cane sugar and yeast.
And say what you like, promising you are only using cane sugar is quite a restriction given the wide range of sugars this may actually be cutting out. I like the use of "natural" as well. Usually a poxy mealy-mouth word that is code for "what I think it should mean" in this case it can refer to the natural technique of brewing as opposed to some sort of certification as to the ingredients. Beer is naturally made from malted grain with a few other honest ingredients. Been made that way naturally for many a millennium. It is, in fact, part of human nature. That works for me.
Day 21: Another 119 Entries and More Fabulous Prizes

Posted: December 6th, 2008, 5:33pm CET by Alan McLeod
To say that the response to the 2008 Yule and Christmas Beer Blog Photo Contest and Pageant... I did mention the pantomime pageant, did I?... has been far greater than expected would be the understatement of the year. We just created another photo set on Flickr for entries submitted between 28 November and half of the entries on 2 December and that adds another 119 photos to the 118 on the first Flickr photo set. 237 pictures to 2 December and we still have four days of entries to catch up. That is crazy...but not if you consider the fabulous prizes that are being pledged by these great sponsors:
- Beer-Ritz, Britain's bestest online beer retailer;
- BrewDog Beer of Scotland;
- Flying Dog Brewery of Maryland;
- Beau's All-Natural Brewing of easternest Ontario;
- Shipyard Brewing of Portland, Maine;
- Church-key Brewing of Campbellford, Ontario;
- Roland + Russell, Canada's nicest beer importers;
- Jolly Pumpkin of Dexter, Michigan USA;
- Flossmoor Station Brewing, of Illinois;
- Widmer Brothers of Portland, Oregon;
- Cracked Kettle beer store in Amsterdam, The Netherlands;
- Laurelwood Brewing Company, of Oregon;
- New Holland Brewing of Michigan;
- Maureen Ogle, author of "Ambitious Brew";
- TAPS, Canada's beer magazine;
PLUS this week's new prize givers...
- Cigar City Brewing of Tampa Bay FLA;
- Hopworks Urban Brewery of Portland Oregon;
- Oskar Blues Brewery of Colorado;
- Dogfish Head Craft Brewery of Delaware;
- The Gunmakers Pub of London England;
- Roots Organic Brewing Company of Portland Oregon;
- The Granite Brewery and Restaurant of Toronto, Ontario;
- and last but not least All About Beer magazine...which has offered FIVE subscriptions as well as other goodies.
I am simply gobsmacked. That is crazy. Good crazy but crazy. I fully expect that I have missed a prize or two in all the flood of emails and we do have more photos to upload this weekend to create a third set of entries on Flickr...if not more. A big thanks to Troy Burtch of Great Canadian Pubs and Beer and Matt Wiater of portlandbeer.com who have joined in and helped beat the bushes for more and more prizes for all of you. Jeff and I ecstatic that this is taking off as it is. There is still time to enter, too. Email your photos of anything related to beer (as well as more pledges of prizes) to both me at beerblog@gmail.com and also Jeff at stonchblog@gmail.com.
Join in! As we say around here every Yuletide, get it on and bang that gong. Merry photo contest to you all!
The Session #22: What Does Repeal Mean to Me?

Posted: December 5th, 2008, 5:32pm CET by Alan McLeod
It seems like a very sad thing. As Mr. Beaumont has already pointed out, for a global beer blogging day, the very question asked is so provincial, so singularly parochial and limited to one nation of all the nations of the world that one has to take it either as an intentional insult or at least as an approach so laced with ignorance that one inevitably wonders whether to take up the challenge or not. That is no less the case when one considers that the question is being posed by a craft brewery that brands itself so closely in relation to the question of the US national repeal of prohibition, 21st Amendment Brewery of San Fransisco. Frankly, I feel as if I am writing their advertising copy for them which I trust was never ever the intention of The Session and should be a call (again) to get this day a month back on point...and that point being beer.
But having said all that (and keeping in mind I am extra cranky due to being off work sick) as the folk asking the question today are by all accounts a wonderful, witty and wise gang of malt jockies as ever there was - oh, what the hell. So, as any good legal counsel as I presume myself to be would, let us begin from the beginning. The full inquiry posed by 21AB is this:
What does the repeal of Prohibition mean to you? How will you celebrate your right to drink beer?
Well, the obvious answer to the first is absolutely nothing whatsoever. I wasn't around then and pretty much anyone that was is dead and never met me. The second is really disconnected. As a right, it is something that is inherent to me as a human being and not something granted or retracted by the state. This is something neocons and, in the US, those called "originalists" get but really don't get. A right cannot be defined by a constitution - it can only be observed to be present and acknowledged by the state through declaration and then respect. The wisest constitutions and constitutional thinkers realize that the observation and recognition of rights is not unlike the job of the tropicial ecological taxonomist: when a new species of bird is identified, it gets noted down, its characteristics observed and it is given a name. It is respected for what it is and also understood to have been pre-existing. So, too, with any observed right and the control of alcohol is a splendid example: in both the respect and disrespect implicit in regulation of booze-related rights. It is worth noting again that we have to separate right from regulation and thing about each separately and in their relation to one another. Notice also that I stated this in the present tense. We will reflect again on the question "what does the repeal of Prohibition mean to you?" As you will see, I argue that we are not done with it today.
More about law. We are discussing the "repeal" of a certain thing. That happened on a date. That it was not actually this date or that date in the US nor this date in many other dates in all the other places where a prohibition on alcohol was or has been in place is not important. In fact, in many places and in many ways it still exists. What is important is that the certain thing being "repealed" is a "prohibition" - the stopping of doing of an activity by action of law. That last bit that is important, too: "by action of law." You see, prohibition by law is not actually the stopping. Murder and theft are illegal and happen, sadly, every day. If you think about it, those lucky enough to live in free states are in fact largely free, in a way, to do wrong but then are also subject to the sanction of law and the punishments imposed under those laws. So to understand what we are even talking about today, we need to understand two basic things: what is the right being discussed and what did the law do when it prohibited. Once we know that, we can discuss a third thing - what effect did the law actually have...because we all have to admit all laws are subject to their own inherent stengths and weaknesses as well as different rates of success.
First, then: what is the right. There is a principle in the Canadian constitution that I explored in my chapter on our relgulation of beer found in the book "Beer and Philosophy" which came out just last year (and so still makes an excellent stocking stuffer.) That principle states:
"everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice."
The first thing you will see as that this is a set of rights and it is not a statement of the grant of the rights but an acknowledgement. It is also a balancing. The right not to be deprived is conditional on "the exercise of the principles of fundamental justice". The meaning and elaboration of these right have been explored many times by many courts and, in 2003, an aspect of the right to liberty - which we can call the sub-right of "autonomy" or the right to be left alone - was discussed by the Supreme Court of Canada in the case R. v. Clay in relation to marijuana use. The court, illogically as I suggested at the time, stated that:
...the liberty right within s. 7 is thought to touch the core of what it means to be an autonomous human being blessed with dignity and independence in "matters that can properly be characterized as fundamentally or inherently personal" With respect, there is nothing "inherently personal" or "inherently private" about smoking marihuana for recreation. The appellant says that users almost always smoke in the privacy of their homes, but that is a function of lifestyle preference and is not "inherent" in the activity of smoking itself. Indeed, as the appellant together with Malmo-Levine and Caine set out in their Joint Statement of Legislative Facts, cannabis "is used predominantly as a social activity engaged in with friends and partners during evenings, weekends, and other leisure time" (para. 18). The trial judge was impressed by the view expressed by the defence expert, Dr. J. P. Morgan, that marihuana is largely used for occasional recreation.
What boggles my mind about this ruling is the idea that one's private pleasures in life - which are often the things which one actually takes most joy from in life and most makes oneself known and identifiable to oneself - are not protected. I think this is wrong. The court confuses "fundamentally or inherently personal" with matters which are objectively or, worse, collectively accepted as serious. Put it this way, a fan of craft beer who spends a large measure of income on the interest and is fascinated enough by the subject to, you know, blog about it pretty much every day and even write chapters in books about its regulation likely also considers it "fundamentally or inherently personal". I will not digress further on this point but to note the case was not on booze and if it was on the issue relating to a lawyer's wine cellar, the court might have had other sympathies - and the difference between wine and marijuana might well justify such a difference. Suffice it to say, however, that this is a reasonable example and description of the underlying human right as against the state that is at play when we are talking about Prohibition in this context. And, if we thing of our tropical ecological taxonomist above, the name of that right is "autonomy." So, having established the nature of the right, we can now move on to the question of the nature of what is "prohibition".
I am going to take a break now, go take more meds, have a nap and a think, and pick up from here later today.
Later that day: That's better. So where were we? Yes, prohibition. So if we have a right and then we have a prohibition and then we have a repeal, where are we? Back with the right, right? But we are not. We do not live in relation to alcohol as we did before the beginning of prohibition are we. And when was that anyway? Well, if by prohibition we mean an total ban on all activity related to the trade, transportation, manufacture, possession and consumption of alcohol that never happened in Canada. The US introduced an amendment in 1919 to its constitution that imposed the following:
After one year from the ratification of this article the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited.
Canada, by comparison, had a national referendum in 1898 under which, although 51.3% approved prohibition only 44% of the population voted according to Craig Heron at page 172 of his highly recommended book Booze which I quoted from back in March. Heron describes the difference between the US and Canada's approach in this way:
Defeat at the national level set Canada's prohibition movement on a different course from its US counterpart. South of the border, as state prohibition experiments were failing and the Supreme Court reinforced federal powers to intervene on this issue as an aspect of federally controlled interstate commerce, prohibitionists looked to Congress for action and then, in 1913, decided to seek and anti-booze amendment to the Constitution. In contrast the Canadian movement turned decisively back to the provinces, where members would concentrate their energies for the most part of the next three decades. Canada's highest court helped shape that strategic direction with its 1896 and 1901 declarations that prohibiting the sale of booze within the boundaries of one province was a solidly provincial responsibility.
So up here, each province charted its own course. People certainly were arrested and beer barrels put to the axe. Little PEI imposed the strictest ban in 1901 that lasted until 1948 - which triggered a continuing fine but entirely illegal moonshine trade as well as the blind pigs of bootlegging bars, a dirty open secret that was tacitly accepted right up until just a few years ago after a man died at the bar in one of these establishments...and no one noticed for a while. Other provinces took other actions over the early decades of the 1900s, none of which entirely banned personal possession and none of which was in line with the others. A patchwork was created under which alcohol was more or less available if you wanted it. There were some reasons for this.
- Canada then as now simply does not have a constitution in one document. One hundred years ago it was still subject to British Parliamentary approval for major changes which would be the equivalent of a US constitutional amendment. As a result, the approach was more local and regulatory because that was the available law.
- Quebec voted heavily against prohibition in 1898. A whopping 81.2% of the electorate voted against it. Canadian politics being what it is, any prohibition against booze had to take that into account.
- After WWI, there was a social change in Canada whereby the rights and dignity of the worker was raised in the consciousness of the land. General strikes ending in deaths of strikers placed veteran against veteran. And having had a longer war than the US, there was no doubt greater Canadian exposure to freer social drinking from 1914-1918 in Europe.
- Practices like continued access to 2.5% beer in taverns, medical prescriptions and drug store slips for medicinal alcohol and inter-provincial shipments from "wholesalers" were openly abused throughout the "prohibition" period.
There is another thing. Frankly, we Canucks were and, to be fair, still are a nation of loop hole seekers. Our relationship to the state is less fundamental in most of Canada than in America. We do not pledge allegiance to the flag so much as answer questions posed by police officers and other officials with our fingers crossed behind our backs. This national characteristic is accentuated by legal patchworks and common access to other jurisdictions where the law is different than where each of us lives.
The patchwork of rules and access to other jurisdictions continues. In a real way we never had prohibition, just degrees of regulation. Plenty of that makes sense. No one wants ten year old children standing in the liquor store line-ups and no one wants people to clean of a case of beer and then drive away from the party. There will always be regulation of some aspects of the booze trade. But there are plenty of laws that people not only flout but that officials do not enforce and sometimes do not even know exist. We are like that. Just consider that certain comic books still are prohibited under our national Criminal Code...a provision that is never enforced.
No, still today vast provincial bureaucracies exist, like Ontario's LCBO, which impose costly regulation, which no one really cares about and which do not real describable good other than perpetuate a vision of a society in need of protection from demon rum. There is plenty of booze for all under these systems of oversight but also plenty of rules continued directly from the "prohibition" period. When I was in university, it was still illegal in PEI to stand in a bar and be holding a beer at the same time. All drinking was to be seated. Here in Ontario and elsewhere, importation is restricted on craft beer and other alcohols even though I can drive into the US and buy the stuff myself and bring it back within hours. Labels on bottles must be in line with regulations that only apply here, causing needless delay and cost. Due to lab testing and other requirements, I have a hard time saying that most beers in the LCBO system could be considered fresh - except those of small local brewers who, as I learned late last winter, control deliveries themselves like Beau's All Natural here in eastern Ontario, as so romantically illustrated to the right.
As a result, I also have a hard time saying that repeal means anything to me because there has never been a repeal of the program of regulation that was imposed during the period of regulation. I can't buy a beer in a corner store in Ontario - though I can drive two hours to Quebec or an hour into New York state if I want to. I cannot buy a beer here which is not inflated in price due to taxation, minimum pricing rules, duties and state monopolistic practices. So in answer to the questions above, repeal means nothing as it never really happened and to celebrate my right to drink beer, I will drink the beer that I am allowed to have by my bureaucratic betters. Whoop-dee-doo.
Maine: Imperial Porter, Shipyard Brewing, Portland

Posted: December 5th, 2008, 1:32am CET by Alan McLeod

I have a huge soft spot for Shipyard. Ten years ago, when I lived in the Canadian Maritimes to the east of Maine [You: ...there is something... to the east... of Maine??] it was a taste of civilization getting across the border to taste the southern delights of their export ale or - madness of madness - the variety of a mixed 12 pack, that apparently mortal sin under Canadian regulation.
Recently, the kind folk of Shipyard - repeat sponsors of the Yule photo contest amongst other things - forwarded me a couple of the new brews under the Pugsley's Signature Series, their richly branded new premium line. This one pours black as the seven of clubs, with only a line of mahogany at the edge, under a cafe au lait froth and rim. Plenty of dark chocolate with a bit of licorice on the nose. On the cheeky swish, a great texture of fine ground cocoa/coffee mixed with thick dark chocolate liquor. Minty and twiggy hop notes mixing with mocha espresso - or does the cream yeast make that cuppoccino - laced with a little black strap molasses. A real treat at 7.1%. The BAers are a little ungenerous.
Beer And Health: A Booze Intake Calorie Calculator

Posted: December 4th, 2008, 1:15am CET by Alan McLeod

This little tool over at the BBC calculating the calories of drinks is actually quite handy. I just learned that five pints is the same as a danish, a hot dog, a pizza slice, a couple of onion bhaji and a couple of jaffa cakes. Two doubles of hard liquor are only worth a pizza slice and one jaffa cake.
That seems reasonable and, given that this works as a tool to make sure you do not over eat as you drink, a valuable addition to the web resources we have at our fingertips. By knowing the risks posed by solid food offering only empty calories, you will be in a better position to plan your nutritional intake. Unfortunately it does not calculate the other nutritional qualities of craft real ale like the relative merits of eating two donuts, four onion bhajis and six jaffa cakes a day compared to the two drinks most medical experts recommend you have daily.
Space Beer! AKA Beer From Space!!!

Posted: December 3rd, 2008, 2:09am CET by Alan McLeod

You know there are gimmicks and gimmicks. There are things you know will never make it no matter how good they are and there are things, like Zima, that took way too long to die. Oddly, "space beer" might actually have a purpose according to the BBC:
Japanese beer brewed from barley which was grown on the international space station orbiting the Earth, has finally been tasted. The Space Beer will not go on sale, but should help scientists decide which crops astronauts could take with them on prolonged space flights on future missions exploring places like Mars.
The Earth Times reports that 100 litre (50 six packs) were brewed and that "thirty people will be chosen in a lottery to sample a few millilitres each of the beer in January" Apparently its case can be described as "normal" - yum...normal is my favorite taste. Sure beats abnormal.
Day 16: How Can I Get More Prizes For Our Contestants?

Posted: December 2nd, 2008, 2:12am CET by Alan McLeod

It has been a difficult day at the old beer blog. The latest call for more photos has added more great entries like the one up there sent by Stan today of the cork celebrating its 40th birthday. So, in response, I have just spent the best part of an hour typing madly and sending emails that ask more breweries for more gifts. All I have are bloody stumps for fingers now. Bloody. Stumps. And despite that nagging question of whether gifts are actually deserved (meaning...ummm... are some of those photos really the equal of others?) we are still really keen on maximizing the whole spirit that the very words 2008 Beer Blog Christmas and Yule Photo Contest-a-rama engender every time they are shouted from the rooftops...or whispered in a sleeping child's ear. So if you know of breweries that might like to add themselves to the growing list of the giving, please send along their names and emails. For the record and to continue the thanks we give to each and every one, the prize givers so far include:
Beer-Ritz, Britain's bestest online beer retailer; BrewDog Beer of Scotland; Flying Dog Brewery of Maryland; Beau's All-Natural Brewing of easternest Ontario; Shipyard Brewing of Portland, Maine; Church-key Brewing of Campbellford, Ontario; Roland + Russell, Canadian importers; Jolly Pumpkin of Dexter, Michigan USA; Flossmoor Station Brewing, of Illinois; Widmer Brothers of Portland, Oregon; and Cracked Kettle beer store in Amsterdam, The Netherlands; not to mention Laurelwood Brewing Company, of Oregon; and New Holland Brewing of Michigan; and Maureen Ogle, author of "Ambitious Brew"; and also TAPS, Canada's beer magazine.
Fabulous. Amazing. I will update the gallery soon. By the way, Jeff is cranky - with very good reason, too. We have asked contestants to email photos to both me at beerblog@gmail.com and also Jeff at stonchblog@gmail.com but also to send their postal addresses to ensure the quickest return of prizes to the winners. Please please Jeff. Send us your addresses, too. Mucho gracias.