Beer in the news – Page 41 – Beer Search Party

May 18, 2014September 5, 2018

Hop on the Bar Car

Maybe, I have watched too much Mad Men but the thought of a “bar car” on a train line doesn’t seem so far fetched (or even wrong) to me.

And yet this piece in the NY Times made it seem like it was something best left in the “Good Old Days”. I thought that people taking public transit or taxis was preferred. But if the article is to be believed then people were getting blitzed on the train and then driving home once they reached their destination. The mixed message that I get is that it is OK to have bars in train stations and everywhere else but a train car is too much.

photo from the New York Times article linked to above.

I am a big advocate for enjoying your drinks in moderation, be it wine, cocktails or craft beer. Primarily because I have a Slow Food type of motto. That you shouldn’t wolf down food or drink. You just don’t enjoy it as much that way. And if people did that, then we could have beer and wine and spirits on planes, trains (but not automobiles).

I would think that a great tourism idea would be to have the public transport take visitors to various culinary spots around town with local beer and wine on the train as a way to show off Los Angeles without having to fight our so much fun traffic.

Don’t ban something when it can be turned into something creative and fun.

May 16, 2014September 5, 2018

Canned for Parks

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Anchor Brewing Company is putting it’s 4.9% California Lager into cans and “through two unique partnerships, a portion of proceeds from Anchor California Lager sales will support the National Parks Conservation Association.”

According to the press release heralding the new packaging, we her in Californiahave 280 state parks and 26 of America’s 401 national parks in which to get in touch with nature.

Beginning this month, Anchor California Lager “will also be available in 6-pack cans both nationally and year-round..”

I didn’t like that the Bock beer was stopped but between the lager and new saison and this initiative. I think the new owners at Anchor are doing things right.

April 21, 2014September 5, 2018

It there a cleat in there too?

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I love the World Cup. Yes it is as corrupt (if not more) than the Olympics (which I hate) but the game is on the pitch. No heartwarming stories. No cutting away to curling or synchronized swimming. You get world class soccer. And no Bob Costas and his pink eye.

And now there is a beer for the occasion (if you are fond of AB) Brahma Selecao Especial which uses barley grown on the pitch of the Granja Comar training centre. Home of the Brazilian National team!

Normally, the barley would get beat to shit by soccer cleats and bouncing balls but the grounds were being renovated and while that was going on the ground was put to an extra use not normally associated with the Beautiful Game.

I am sure that it won’t taste good so I am glad it probably won’t show up in the states. I am sure that I can find some beer to drink while watching the US team play in the Group of Death.

(Special thanks to Erika Taylor for pointing this out to me)

April 19, 2014September 5, 2018

Distilling Hops

The Distilling side of Anchor has put out some cool spirits in the past. I myself have bought their Junipero Gin on occasion.

Now they are playing to the hop boom with Hophead Vodka…

Obviously, you would have to be more choosy in cocktail recipes seeing as how hop bitterness might not work in some vodka cocktails but I would try this straight. Maybe they will do single hop versions down the road.

March 13, 2014September 5, 2018

Coming to Cali from Texas

There is going to be a new addition to the beer shelves in California. Adelbert’s Brewery, a Belgian-style brewery based in Austin Texas, is expanding here.

California will be getting the new beer The Traveler, as well as Black Rhino, Philosophizer, Flyin’ Monks, Dancin’ Monks, Tripel B, Scratchin’ Hippo and Naked Nun.

They join Jester King who have been in California in limited amounts for a few years now.

February 19, 2014September 5, 2018

XXX for Widmer

Raise a glass and say, “Prost!” to Widmer Brothers. They are now 30!

And like any brewery worth it’s salt, it will be creating a series of beers all through 2014. “Headlining the brewery’s 30th Anniversary celebration is the 30 Beers for 30 Years Series. Beginning in April, the month Widmer Brothers was founded in 1984, the brewery will brew and release 30 small batch beers, each brewed to commemorate a specific year and beer in the brewery’s 30-year history. The 30 beers will be brewed at the brewery’s 10-barrel pilot brewery at the Rose Quarter in Portland and distributed locally, both on draught and in 22-ounce bottles.”

Plus # 1 – “Widmer Brothers is tapping some of Portland’s best creative talent for the 30 Beers for 30 Years label designs. Thirty different local artists and designers will design label art for the beers in this series based on their interpretations of the beer, making for a unique look at the past 30 years of Widmer Brothers Brewing.”

Plus # 2 Widmer Brothers will be brewing six limited release collaboration beers with six of Oregon’s most innovative breweries to help celebrate the brewery’s 30 years of brewing in Oregon. With Boneyard Beer, Breakside Brewery, 10 Barrel Brewing, Gigantic Brewing, Ninkasi Brewing, and Deschutes Brewery.

January 28, 2014September 5, 2018

Help the Home Brewers

I usually don’t just do the “full” cut and paste but this is an issue that needs to be addressed and addressed quickly. So please read the following from the website and see how you can help. Alcohol laws simply need to be simpler and less vague and balance out rights of home brewers while making sure that others don’t abuse it.

Urgent – California Homebrewers Association needs your help!!!

On October 1, 2013, Governor Brown signed into law a Committee Bill that is being interpreted by the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control to prohibit homebrew festivals like ours.The bill was originally written to allow the donation of home brewed beer and wine to be used for fundraising purposes by worthy non-profit organizations, but excludes groups that “promote home production of beer or wine, or whose membership is composed primarily of home brewers or home winemakers”.

California Assembly Bill 1425

The bill was introduced by the California Assembly Committee on Governmental Organizations, whose intent was to make the sharing of home brewed wine and beer easier, not harder. However, at some point in the process, wording was added that excludes the CHA from conducting our festival for So Cal homebrewers.

Two major issues face us—

1) An amendment to the bill is needed to allow our festival, which is an annual event, and to allow AHA to have their annual convention again in California. We have already started our outreach and will work to have the bill amended.

2) Our 2014 annual event is in jeopardy. We are researching language that was placed in the bill, since we believe that it was not meant to stop well-run events for homebrewers, but was meant to stop event promoters from hiding under non-profit groups in order to make money. We will keep our members informed through local clubs representatives.

What can you do?

1) Read the bill for yourself. It is available on this website.

2) Write your local California Assemblymember and State Senator asking for the bill to be amended and for our 2014 event to be allowed to move forward as planned. Sample letters will be available through your local homebrew clubs. Sample letters are available through your local homebrew club. You can find contact information for the clubs in your area on this website.

3) Donate to the CHA legal fund. Seeing a new bill through the legislative process is a costly endeavor and we need all the help we can get. Please click on the Donate icon below to contribute financially to our cause.

4) DO NOT PROCRASTINATE! We need you to act now!

December 14, 2013September 10, 2018

the final BrewDog TV review

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Onto Round 3 of the BrewDog TV review!

Sadly this was the final show of the year. Why no visits to Chicago or New York? Or Glendale? A bit of a stretch but why not come to Eagle Rock or Golden Road. Enough ranting, on to the review…

For some reason, the season finale in Boston was full of sexual innuendo and innuendo +, Over ten by my count starting with a Hummer Limo crack. The other oddity was the beer. This was, by far, the weirdest of the beers. And that is counting the Declaration of Independence thing. Lobster and clam with sour mash on top of a chassis of Scotch Ale. Doesn’t sound very appetizing to me. And again they took to the water to brew it because they hadn’t learned their lesson in the Portland episode.

But the like a good sports team, when one segment is flat the others pick up the slack. The oyster pairing section was delightful and it is great to see seafood getting into the conversation with beer. And the fact that they didn’t do the wine vs beer and instead made it wine vs. beer, cocktail vs. beer and spirit vs. beer was a great idea. Also the locales for the craft beer virgins were unexpected but part of the community, a boxing ring and a bocce court. Really cool.

Jim Koch from Boston Beer was game the entire episode and it was fun to see him be just as crazy as the Scots. It made the episode pop a little more like when a great guest star arrives on a TV sitcom.

Now if I could just get the hot tub of beer image out of my head, I could give it a proper rating.

November 19, 2013September 10, 2018

Dry River Brewing UPDATE

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It looks like for all you Dry River backers and craft beer fans that happenings are afoot! Here is the latest Kickstarter update from the (hopefully) soon to come brewery!

“We’ve been busy-busy-busy since our last update, pursuing locations, working with lawyers and accountants, preparing to raise money for the build-out, all the fun parts of opening a brewery… And we’ve hit a major milestone and we wanted you to be the first ones to hear – we hired our brew-master!

Naga Reshi comes to us from Wynwood Brewing in Miami, but he’s been brewing professionally all over the world since 2007. Brazil, Holland, you name it – he’s probably brewed there. And he brings tons of Green brewing cred to the table. He designed, built, managed and sold a production brewery in Brazil that ran entirely off of solar power! Plus his recipes are super creative and he’s awesome at using local ingredients, like he did with his barrel-aged jungle-fruit Lambic series in Brazil…

We have a proposal in on a great space, right on the river, so we hope we’ll have a positive update there soon as well.