The Craft Beer Channel on YouTube has recently dropped two new videos revolving around their new self-assigned task to get cask ale recognized as a UNESCO historical landmark.
Check out the new cask episodes starting with Bitter Not Boring – Part 6.
Everyone Watches
I have watched the growing women’s sports bar movement happily and now there is a documentary about it that you can watch as well, called Untapped.
Fellow Angelenos should check out Watch Me Sports Bar as well.
Half a Villain
Looks like Anaheim based Villains Brewing is taking over another San Diego brewery space, this time in the East Village.
You can read all about the news HERE at San Diego Beer News who broke the story last month. We might be in for moves like this as some breweries falter but leave behind a built out space.
Beer in the Bluesky
Well before the pandemic, well before Nazi Musk bought it, I had seen enough of Twitter. (If you call it X, I can’t help you.) Considering that I barely saw the tip of that nasty iceberg tells you the distaste I found.
After that, I was hesitant to jump to whatever the next ship was preferring the still troublesome but less loathsome Meta twins of Facebook and Instagram. But I thought that I should check out the latest big thing in Bluesky to see if craft beer fans might find community and information there.
But for me, there just isn’t much there. I want beer news and beer views but if you type in Firestone Walker there is no official account, just random people who have mentioned 805 or tires. I searched for a few L.A. breweries and nothing. Yes, there are beer writers and cool people there like the North American Guild of Beer Writers but the whole set-up is not intuitive with loads of dead ends and separates items into groups instead of letting me curate stuff. One is called BeerSky which seems to link mostly to posts about beer pong.
Maybe I am just not built for this or Twitter. Your mileage may vary but it is not helpful to me.
Not Fully Spent
Spent grain from the brewing process ends up in the bellies of happy farm animals in the best case scenario but what if, we gave the piggies a break and instead used that as a natural insulation in houses?
Take a watch of this video HERE and see how that works.
Ones to Watch in 2025
There is a lot of draining news from inside and out of the craft beer world but it is not all bad out there and Hop Culture has turned the spotlight onto some people who are really making waves large and small but all for good.
Read it right HERE and then tell me you do not want to go to the Barrel & Flow Festival or have a truly pastry driven beer from Brown Girl’s Brews.
Magazine Review – Imbibe 75
While reading the latest edition of Imbibe magazine with their 75 movers and shakers in beverages, I quickly noticed a glaring tilt. Over 30 of the people and places featured were in the realm of cocktails while both wine and beer hovered around 10. If you add in distillery and spirits the total rises to easily over half.
I am not against cocktails or any of the specific bars at all nor do I require an even count across all beverages but damn that is glaring and it makes me wonder if anyone in the room brought it up..
It does track with media spotlighting tendencies though. When something is uncool, and craft beer is uncool at the moment, instead of building it up, the common practice is to ignore it and heap praise on what is cool.
Two New to Listen To
When the San Diego Beer News makes a recommendation, I tend to listen. And listening is the key word as there were two recent podcasts highlighted….
I found I Like Beer in my Overcast app and you can check out the Beer for Breakfast show HERE.
Prognostication Time
Today I have three links where various and sundry beer folks smarter than I talk about what they expect to see in the coming year. The first two are in podcast form and the final is the written word.
What will or won’t come true is up for our future selves to figure out.
#PubJanuary
Now I have no beef with Dry January or Sober October or N/A May or whatever. I do find it funny that the second Friday in January is Quitting Friday, as in quitting your resolutions.
I would suggest reading this blog post from the Beervana blog. You can also read THIS from the Brewers Association I would add that if your local pub or brewery taproom has food options. Why don’t you go and get some food. Any good craft beer spot usually has soda on offer or if you really want to stay healthy then just get water or hop sparkle water. And usually this month sees some barrel-aged or darker beers, so buy a 4-pack and save if for February. Or if you are easily tempted, buy a gift card so that you can get a future beer.
