There's an App for That

Katy, ask and you shall receive. I came across this today after (or during) a visit to the Monday Night Brewery page. Find Craft Beer is an app that finds craft beer locations near your body (provided your body is near your phone). It even features new change city lookup algorithm with version 1.6. It is supplemented by the, perhaps, even cooler Beer Mapping Project: they find beer, you drink the beer. If the project has a photo of the location on file it will pull it up for you. If not, no worries. The app will show locations on a map and provided that Goolge's Street View is available for the area you can likely see the bar that way.

One question remains. When will you get an iPhone?

For the Dogs

For Christmas my sister-in-law sent us gifts to open at my mom and dad's house in Detroit. Among them were a few packages for the dog. Interesting, I thought; likely some rubber toy or maybe even a gourmet biscuit (aka cookie aka treat). One of them was a bag of fancy NYC-themed dog cookies. To my surprise, the other one was beer. Beer for dogs. It's called Bowser Beer and is billed as a nutritous and fun non-alcoholic alternative to beer. That description is not winning me over but the concept is appealing: beer for dogs. 3 Busy Dogs is out of AZ and will make you a custom labeled brew with a picture of your dog on the front. We got a bottle of The Salty Paw's Blue Dane Ale. From the picture it doesn't look like it's winning over Mali either. It's fortified with glucosamine to promote healthy joints!! I couldn't find much on how it is made or if it is actually brewed. However, I think the company is pretty cool because, in addition to providing a way for your dog to responsibly drink with you, they are out to educate people on the dangers on giving real alcholic beverages to dogs (though I had no idea this was a problem serious or widespread enough to merit committed advocacy).

I thought that was cool enough but then a coupld days ago this came across the Twitter expanses. Dogfish Head has partnered with a local bakery to make use of their spent grain to produce a new dog treat they're calling Dog Bark.With all the spent grain we have from our Brew Day I want the recipe. We did have some success making loaves of spent grain bread. However, I ate it and later became sick, though not, we think, from the bread and the essence of so many DSBC members. Beer? I'm not sure, but being sick is definitely for the dogs.

The Beer Can: Happy Birthday

Remember those Mad Men episodes when Don Draper opens his beer with a church key? Ah, those were the days before all that technology cluttered up our beautiful beer cans. Well, it's time to wax nostalgic, because the beer can was invented by Gottfried Krueger Brewery 75 years ago this month, and this is an anniversary I'd like to celebrate by indulging in a beer - one in a can, of course. Several great microbreweries have begun to sell great beer in cans, including Oskar Blues and Ska Brewery (for the hiker types). Anybody see any other good beers in cans?

So if you want to see a ridiculous collection of old school beer cans, including the first ever (pictured above), just head to Flint, Michigan to check out the "Brewery Collectibles Club of America." Vargo, next time you're going home for the holidays? If for some reason you don't want to go to Flint, the video embedded below gives you a nice tour of the place. Or, you can check out their annual convention, called (I kid you not) CANvention. Check this out for some great pictures from the 1998 convention - excuse me, CANvention. Seriously, look here. Oh, and don't forget your BCCA gear. Dibs on the lanyard.

Beer Wars: The Empire Strikes Back

The other day I was listening to one of my favorite public radio programs, Marketplace, and heard an interesting story about recent shake ups in the beer market. Apparently, amidst declining U.S. beer sales in 2009, there have been a number of mergers and acquisitions involving macro breweries (i.e. the Goliaths in the David v. Goliath beer wars).

We've all heard about Belgium-based InBev buying up Anheuser-Busch, but there appears to be a trend emerging. Dutch brewer Heineken announced recently that it has negotiated the purchase of Mexican beer conglomerate FEMSA, maker of Dos Equis, Tecate and Sol.

I'm no economist, but it seems like some macro breweries have weathered the recession better than others, and they are using cash, debt, and/or stock equity to buy up some of those companies that haven't been doing as well. This could be a big boon to the InBevs and Heineken's of the world, because it gives them wider distribution outside of Europe, and will likely increase their global market share, at least in the short term.

But, I also think something else might be happening, and it's an issue that Marketplace reporter Amy Scott barely touched upon in her segment. There has been an undeniable trend over the past 5-10 years of micro-breweries gaining market share in the U.S. as American beer tastes skew increasingly towards more flavorful, more full-bodied, and yes, higher A.B.V. beers. True, craft breweries still have a very small piece of the pie, but it's getting bigger.

What if the big guys are starting to get scared of the little guy? And instead of improving the quality and flavor of their own beers, what if they are gobbling up each other in the hope that they can bully the micro-breweries around, without improving their product?

Here's a remarkable statistic: In the middle of the biggest recession the U.S. has ever experienced, what is typically considered a "recession-proof" market--alcohol sales, and more specifically, beer sales--slumped 2 percent overall in 2009, but craft brews were up 5%.

As statistician Nate Silver noted in his blog, it's difficult to understand what is driving this divergence--and whether it's a one off thing, or part of a larger trend--but he thinks it may have something to do with more Americans "substituting Michelob and Coors for more expensive micro-brews like Alpha King and Dogfish Head." Presumably, Americans are drinking more craft beer, even while total beer consumption is declining.

All of this begs the question: What would you do if you were the executive of a big, macro-brewery with loads of cash to spend?

Would you 1) buy a Mexican beer company that mass-produces poor quality beer that Mexicans themselves don't like to drink, and Americans are increasingly dubious of? Or, would you 2) acquire a well respected craft brewery that is making really good quality stuff, and gain a foothold in the fastest growing segment of the beer market? Hmm...

Don't Give Me Ideas...

...or I may act on them.

Another Revolution 'Round the Sun

Things to look forward to in 2010...

An excerpt:

Founders Brewing Company of Grand Rapids, Mich., has a mysterious new beer planned called Nemesis.

"It isn't actually a beer, it's a series of beers," said Founders' Dave Engbers. "Every year, we're going to be releasing a new style, or a new beer. It's going to be a beer never brewed before and it'll never be brewed again."

Engbers would not say what the first Nemesis will be, but said it will be in stores in a couple of months.

Another beer to watch out for will be from the Brooklyn Brewery. The Cookie Jar Porter will be the next entry in the Brewmaster's Reserve series, and will be available in the middle of the month.

Cookie Jar Porter... sounds delicious.

Brew Day

Over the weekend the DSBC embarked on its first brewing endeavor. We (most of us supremely unexperienced) were guided by the wonderful Dave of East Atlanta Brewery. We began our journey a little over a month ago when we held a monthly meeting at Rupesh's house and tried a collection of Stouts. Dave came to talk to us about making a beer and gave us a run down of various resources like The Homebrewers Association and their Zymurgy magazine as well as the Beer Judge Certification Program and style guidelines. Dave takes his exam in less than 2 weeks.

Good luck Dave!!!

Since we were in a stout-y mood we all thought it would be cool to brew the style that we liked the best that night, the Russian Imperial Stout. This was to be the biggest beer that Dave and EAB had ever put together. This past Saturday Dave, Brennan and I headed down to Just Brew It! south of Atlanta in Fayetteville, GA. The experience was pretty cool. We got to measure out and mill the ingredients for the beer. We left with 50lbs of grain and a mash tun of great expectations. Brennan and I headed back to Daves to sample EAB's excellent Wee Heavy Scotch Ale and familiarize ourselves with the operation.

Sunday morning was the actual brewing and the temperature at the beginning of the day was around 18. This was to be not only the biggest beer EAB ever made but also the coldest they'd ever brewed. Dave and I fired up a turkey-frier burner to thaw the water line outside. Once that was working, the dog got out and everyone who was there got into a car and scanned the neighborhood til we found her. Luckily that only took about 10 minutes. Then Dave had to run to the store to buy some other parts so that we could connect the water purifier to the hose. We sprayed the lawn (ice) in the meantime to make sure that the hoses didn't freeze again. Once the water was flowing and heated we began to dump in the grain and thisis when the trouble-shooting really began. After getting all of the grain into the mash tun we realized just how much we were pushing the limits of EAB's system with this brew. We kept trying to let some of the wort out so that we could have more room to mix but the filter at the bottom of the tun was getting stopped up. Numerous methods were employed to get it to work. Extra barrels were brought in, the screen at the bottom was taken off (it had to be bent back to its original shape), a cooler full of wort was also used as an intermediary, and rice hulls were procured. This kind of all-hands-on-deck brewing added a lot of our group's essence to the wort, and took much longer than expected. By around 4:30 we were getting our boil on and sometime later that night everything made it into the fermenters. The whole day was a sight to see and quite an experience. Thanks to everyone, including Ben's entire family, for coming out to help and be a part of it. Now we just wait and then drink.


To quote Dave on the progress thusfar:
We have a good fermentation! I just got back from congratulating our little yeasties for getting off to a good start. They seem happy and although a few of them had a case of the Mondays, they promise to get the job done. After speaking with their union rep, Dr Zymy McBubbles, I can report that they plan on getting our malted barley hop water to around 10% ABV. Dr. McBubbles reports that about 30 billion yeast cells are currently at work in each fermentor and by the time the job is finished we may well have over 100 billion workers. The Dr and I are planning on starting an army after our workers are finished and taking over the world. Resistance (to good beer) is futile!

May I Suggest an Outing

Some exciting events happening soon at the Brick Store:

Larry Bell Meet & Greet!

Tuesday, January 19th 2010
Join us on Tuesday January 19th and meet Owner/Brewer of Bells Brewery Larry Bell. Larry will be shaking hands,kissing babies, and talking about all of the wonderful beers brewed at Bells. We will be featuring Bells HOPSLAM and some tasty food pairings. See you at the pub!

Meet The Brewer from B.F.M.

Thursday, January 21st 2010
Brasserie des Franches-Montagnes, also known by the abbreviation BFM is a small artisanal brewery in Jura, Switzerland whose products, including barrel-aged beers, have drawn international acclaim.Founded in 1997 by Jerome Rebetez, who had formerly been trained as an oenologist, this tiny brewery has rapdibly become known for making beers that stretch traditional beer style guidelines and use unorthodox ingredients. Come on down to the pub and meet owner Jerome Rebetez and taste the rare cask offering He is bringing along! Food pairings as well as some vintage B.F.M. stuff will be available!

Meet The Bruerys Patrick Rue

Monday, February 22nd 2010
We will be hosting Owner/ Brewer Patrick Rue for a special meet and greet session. Food pairings and special rare beers will be available. See you at the pub!

Wow, count me in for the Bell's and BFM dates, for sure. Let's hope BFM brings the good stuff.

And, for old times' sake, here's an email conversation between Vargo and some dude who runs a blog called "This Peanut Looks Like a Duck."

First, Vargo wrote:

On Tue, Feb 24, 2009 at 4:01 PM, vargo wrote:
Awesome blog! Wondered if you had seen this brewery from NC.

Cool logo and great beer

http://www.duckrabbitbrewery.com/index.html

So the guy responded:

On Tue, Feb 24, 2009 at 11:11 PM, Marc H wrote:
This is interesting - how did I get this email? Where did you send it to?
Cheers,
Marc

Vargo wrote back:

On Tue, Feb 24, 2009 at 11:44 PM, vargo wrote:
hmmmm.? I sent it to beerfoam@thispeanutlookslikeaduck.com

I got it at this post on the blog

http://www.thispeanutlookslikeaduck.com/quack/2008/01/08/this-beer-foam-looks-like-a-duck/

Vargo, did the guy ever respond to that?

Our Dumb Country

Any of you who know my jeremiads against bizarre state liquor laws will know that one question generally follows: "Who are these people who actively support these laws - spending lots of money to lobby for their preservation - and what do they want?" When I read my morning blog-papers over coffee today, I noticed this strange story about a ban on the "Boilermaker" drink in Nebraska. Ok, the back story: as if Sunday sale bans weren't dumb enough, Nebraska is considering revoking a law that bans the mixture of beer and hard liquor. And there are people who are spending time and money trying very hard to fight this. Yes. The story names one of the main groups lobbying to keep this ban in place, so I thought it would be a good time to look hard at their philosophy, goals and methods:

Project Extra Mile, which fights underage drinking, is one of several plaintiffs in a pending lawsuit that challenges the state Liquor Control Commission's decision to allow flavored alcoholic beverages, or so-called "alcopops" to be classified as beer instead of hard liquor. Flavored alcoholic beverages start out as brewed malt beverages but are flavored with distilled spirits. The plaintiffs use the current law banning the mixture of booze and beer in its lawsuit challenging the state rule that classifies the drinks as beer.

So, this Omaha chapter of "Project Extra Mile" is most interested in trying to classify Mike's Hard Lemonade as a liquor, not a beer, so that it would be taxed at a higher level (a few pennies more on each bottle). And this is because they think a few pennies extra will deter the "8th grade girls" (who they claim are the main drinkers of hard lemonade and the like) from buying the stuff and drinking it. Really. They are fighting in the courts and lobbying state officials to keep bartenders from putting a shot of whiskey into a glass of beer (not my thing, but that's a matter of taste) so that they can make 8th grade girls use a higher percentage of their allowance to pay their older siblings to get hard lemonade. Really. It's like a bizarre Rube Goldberg contraption where the chicken lays an egg, and the egg rolls down a ramp and hits a match that lights a candle, etc., until the mouse hits the alarm clock and the guy wakes up. Except their end game seems to me like the egg rolls off the table and doesn't go anywhere, because the 8th grade girls are already breaking the law to get hard lemonade; they will probably find a few extra pennies to do it. This is far easier than actually finding a way to get the alcohol. To me, this is yet another example of the crazy American attitude towards liquor politics, which has very little common sense involved and much wasted effort.

Now, if you want to try to curb underage binge-drinking, there are plenty of ways to do it. How about helping parents instill healthy attitudes towards alcohol from a young age, even letting children drink at the home (a small glass of wine mixed with some water for adolescents, like they do in many parts of the globe)? Teens who drink with their parents experience far fewer alcohol-related problems than teens whose parents follow a "total ban" of alcohol. This is different, however, from teens whose parents buy alcohol for parties that their kids throw; this does seem to lead to binge drinking. As Science Daily writes:

A previous study in 2004 by Kristie Foley of Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in North Carolina showed that teenagers who received alcohol from their parents for parties were up to three times more likely to binge drink within a month, while those who drank only with the family were less likely to binge. So the context in which a parent provides alcohol may be key.

So what context does Project Extra Mile want to create? This: "Underage drinking is not merely illegal and unhealthy, it's unacceptable. We change laws and policies to reduce youth access to alcohol."

Well, good luck with that mission. Oh, wait, their rebuttal to that is affixed to their web site:

"ExtraMile Motto: If you don't think it and dream it today, it will never become reality ten years from now."

Or, maybe the dream of kids not touching alcohol isn't ever going to become reality, and maybe that's a good thing. At some point, like a washed-up minor league baseball player, you have to start asking yourself if the dream itself needs some retooling.

This Little Light of Mine...

In the year-end wrap up of beer news in the City Paper (that also mentions a great article in the Atlantic about a new Allagash Lambic that is actually brewed with natural -i.e. random airborne - yeast), a link leads to the most ridiculous trend in beers - the "Light Beer Arms Race." Apparently, MGD 64 calorie beer wasn't enough; now Bud is making "Select 55," with only 55 calories. As the City Paper says: "At a certain point, you've got to just call it water." Well, that's true, because to make it this "light" they have to just add a lot of water, making the alcohol level around 2%.

And how is the taste? Let's just say that the RateBeer reviews have elevated hating on this beer to an art form. A sampling:

"Oh sweet Jesus this is bad. Total lack of anything resembling a beer flavor. Makes Michelob Ultra seem like Guiness Stout. Only redeeming factor is the calorie count because it sure ain’t the taste."

"I don’t know who shared this, but I hate them now. Looks like a dull nasty pisswater, light coppery hay straw with a thinning soda-like head. Aroma is nasty acetaldehyde- green apple skin, rice/corn adjunctiness, pisswater. Crackery dull rice paper flavor with more apple skin and almost as if you can taste some chemical that will give you a hangover- terrible."

"Skunky, light corn and very sweet smelling. Tastes like water that a beer came by and dipped its balls in. No flavor at all, finishing up the same way. Not undrinkable and not super offensive, but there’s really nothing going on here."

"official rating #1800 . . so why not with the lightest beer in the world!! light skunky hay aromas .. . medium head which disappears quickly .. . very watery, light metallic and water-like flavours..?? .. . has this weird slight fizz .. . i put it in your coat pocket .. . clean finish .. . transparent. .. . I’m not drunk! I just have speech impediment... and a stomach virus... and an inner ear infection."

"No flavor whatsoever. I suspect they skunk this beer on purpose just so it tastes like something. Blech. Only thing has going for it is that you can pound them back without getting drunk... tho I bet you’d get a hangover anyway just from all the chemicals."

"Not worth pouring into a glass, but you can see that its a pee yellow through the clear bottle. Not worth the money. But hey its another rating. Is this beer?"

"The only thing I can think of using this so-called colored soda water is, "A little song, a little dance, a little BS-55 down your pants."

"At colder temps, it was somewhat drinkable and not overly adjuncty or offensive. At warmer temps, it all fell apart and tasted like cum-stained bed sheets."

"my grandpa used to piss better brew than this."

"It initially does a good job of masking its castration, but quickly gives in, due to the dry, papery, barley malt water taste."

"Only 50¢ at Binny’s DG singles rack. Wow, less than a penny per calorie! That’s the sign of a great beer! Pop the cap and… Skunk Bomb! Lot of bad smells from being so light struck! Folks, I am trying to be nice, but even while pouring it’s armpit. Bubbly with color of a urine sample. Soda pop bubbles make for a thin, low powered head. This is in a Sam Adams glass, I’m giving it every chance I can. Unlike that homeopathic preparation called MGD 64, this actually shows a little body. Slight note of hops, a flavor that suggests it once went to kindergarten with some malts. There is a small ring of foam around the edge of what’s left in the bottle, so it’s at least a step above Zima. But reason they put this under the Bud Select moniker is probably similar to why Coca-Cola called its diet soda Tab: don’t want to taint the flagship Budweiser beer by association. I admit to liking a Bud on draft on a hot day, but this makes O’Doul’s taste like Orval."