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Each month I highlight a different beer blog for you to check out and this month it is….(insert drum roll)
….the Not So Professional Beer Blog.
It’s a great place to catch up on Portland, Oregon beers but also just read up on some really great beers.
Here is the topic for this month…from Tale of the Ale
Thanks to the big boys
“What I ‘m looking for is this. Most of us that write about beer do so with the small independent brewery in mind. Often it is along the lines of Micro brew = Good and Macro brew, anything brewed by the large multinationals is evil and should be destroyed. Well I don’t agree with that, though there may be some that are a little evil….
Anyway I want people to pick a large brewery or corporation that owns a lot of breweries. There are many to chose from. Give thanks to them for something they have done. Maybe they produce a beer you do actually like. Maybe they do great things for the cause of beer in general even if their beer is bland and tasteless but enjoyed by millions every day.
If you honestly have nothing good to say about a large brewer, then make something up. Some satire might be nice, It will be a Friday after all.
So remember, October 7th is a celebration of our big mega breweries for the work that they do.”
After reading the assignment, a song lyric (probably mis-remembered) popped into my head. “..what are they good for, absolutely nothing”. Then of course, “Say it again”.
Now on this very blog, I told people not to be scared of Goose Island being sold. I have defended the Quality Control of the watered down lager that the mega-corporations shill. And yes, the BMC do donate scads of money to charity.
But to me, the “big boys” are not part of the brewing community that I know. They are a large amorphous blob that could be in any industry. They could be making fire alarms or fig newtons. They long ago gave up crafting beer and now produce an industrial product.
So I might as well, say nice things about Wal-Mart or ConAgra or Bank of America in this session. They are as much “beer” as ABInBev or MillerCoors. Or I could talk about brewing’s actual big companies like Stone or Sierra Nevada.
But the spirit of the topic is to play nice, so I say this to all the Omnicorp’s and MegaBig Companies of the world who cater to the lowest common denominator, “Thanks for not caring. Thanks for creating such a huge market for quality. Thanks for not responding to shifts in consumer taste by making something even remotely good. And to the BMC specifically, keep making your funny little commercials instead of beer.”
I heard about Pints and Panels at the Beer Bloggers Conference in August and knew that I would have to feature them in my monthly beer blog pick.
It is one of the best review sites not only because of the comic format but the reviews are quick and to the point and with each one you get to know what M. likes and why.
I also love this quote on her about page “Beer is like music — it is infinite. That’s what I like about this gig — it’s never done.”
Get comfortable. I tried to edit but there are still loads of photos to see…So let’s get started….
It has now been a few days since I got back from Portland and the Beer Bloggers conference. I lingered for an extra day and a half to sample some more beer. As if I hadn’t in the previous three days!
I got to make my premiere visit to Burnside Brewing and try the Sweet Heat Apricot/Scotch Bonnet pepper beer. Snuck in a couple small sized beers at Bailey’s Taproom as well as Hooligan Brown from Laurelwood at the airport.
But now onto the better worded version of events last weekend. The initial day was probably the best. Fred Eckhardt is great. I can only hope A) to be his age and B) still be excited about craft beer and ready to re-tell stories that he has probably memorized by now. Then to follow that with a trip to an actual hop farm that was in the process of harvesting was great. Walking off the bus to that aroma was amazing. Brewery tours have their own special magic but this was double that. Watching the hops roast. Grabbing a few and smelling the aromas. I wanted to take a bucket full home or one of the big 200 pound bales.
The Night of Many Bottles was fun and not as frenzied as last year when I was trying to knock out some of the 50 States that I needed for last year’s challenge. I paced myself better and stopped earlier so the next day wasn’t a blur. Highlights included, the 1994 Rogue Old Crustacean barley wine, Double Mountain Dark Blood Kriek and Hedgreow Bitter from Pretty Things Ales.
Days 2 and 3 went by so fast. The content was fun with plenty of golden nuggets of information that I will hopefully put to use. The Speed Beer Dating featured my new favorite beer, Gin aged Double Wit from Breakside Brewery. Then close upon the heels of that revelation came the debut of the 2011 Jubel from Deschutes. The Bridgeport dinner was excellent even though the beers are not to my taste. I keep trying them but they just do not wow me.
The speakers this year were much more about engaging outside of your computer. Though I could appreciate some of the tech talk from last year, a representative from Raise Your Pints talking about beer laws and how he and his organization are changing them is so much more interesting to me.
The two down points for me were the movie, The Love of Beer which just didn’t flow for me and seemed to veer off course as to why women are important to craft beer. I loved see the women featured and there were some great scenes but I would have liked to seen a more grain to glass approach where women at all stages of the process would talk about what they personally bring to the job.
Secondly, I had hoped to see a bigger turnout considering what a great beer town Portland is. How does a blogger pass that up? This is a bargain conference. And I certainly got my money’s worth. But I wish more people will hop on the bandwagon next year. Seriously, if you are a blogger that didn’t go. Talk to me and tell me why.
The photos are coming soon!
Drinking Flying Fish Exit 4 and listening to Brewvana talk about his view on what beer blogging should be and how he got craft beer on mutiple media outlets.
Before that 8 different “co-workers” gave presentations on what they know about. I have had a lot of great craft beer but I have learned more.
Check out the Facebook posts and Twitter streams to see the minute by minute breakdown. Type in Beer Bloggers Conference and start reading. More detailed cogent posts to follow when I have processed it all.
And a bazillion photos too.
A long but educational day. Many speakers from blogging communities to sensory info. Oh and Jamie Floyd from Ninkasi dressed as Darth Vader. And I captured two Six Points beer. AND my new favorite beer from Breakside. Gin barrel double wit. Just wow. AND a sneak of Jubel 2011. More on that and The Love of Beer movie later in the week.
You may have noticed that my video beer reviews are few and far between. Usually topping out at four a month. And you don’t see me in any of them. That is because I am not a big fan of the “white guy in front of a camera with a beer” video.
But, I recently stumbled upon Beer Geek Nation on iTunes and I was impressed. Chris has a great personality and his videos follow three rules that I think are essential to creating a good video.
1. Interesting beers. He is reviewing a wide swath of beers from across the country. He must have some serious beer hook-ups. Six-Point in New York to 21st Amendment in San Francisco and judging by the bottles in the background of some shots there are some excellent beers in the wings.
2. The videos are short. All in the five minute range. You can watch a couple at a time without looking at the watch because the pacing is done well too.
3. He breaks it up with graphics. This is something on my to-do list as well. It really helps fighting that static one shot that can lull viewers to sleep.
So check out his reviews. I think you will learn something
Being born and raised in Oregon means I like to hear about what is going on in Oregon beers from down south in LA. And one of the better stops to get my Portland Beer Info fix is Jeff Alworth’s Blog Beervana.
He has also in the process of writing a book plus he has a book of his best beer musings out too.
Check out the Beervana. It’s almost as good as going to the actual place.