Category: Beer in the news

Great articles that you should read.

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BrewDog TV

Next month, BrewDog takes to the small screen.  Will it be able to contain their hijinks?

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Here is the 411, ““Brew Dogs” premieres September 24 at 10 p.m. It stars Scottish “beer evangelists” James Watt and Martin Dickie, who own the UK’s fastest-growing brewery. James and Martin have come to America with a vital mission: to prove that the drink of the masses doesn’t need to taste mass-produced. In each episode, they will visit a different American beer town, celebrate distinctive craft beers and create their own locally-inspired draft.”

One of their stops along the way is the fabulous Belmont Station in Portland.  I am anxious to see how they view one of my favorite beer locales.

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Bell’s in SoCal

I don’t think we here in Los Angeles will be getting Hopslam anytime soon.  But there are rumblings that Bell’s may follow Boulevard and Goose Island and Clown Shoes and Cambridge into the SoCal area.

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But I can easily make do with Oberon…. “An American wheat ale made with European ingredients. Belgium wheat malt and Czech Saaz hops provide a spicy, fruity balance to this seasonal ale.”..

….or Expedition…”The darkest beer we make; this Imperial stout contains double the malt and five times the hops of our Kalamazoo stout and is perfect for cellaring as its complex character will evolve over time. Available October-March.”

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A Hopumentary

I caught this on the Facebook recently and thought that I should pay it forward as it were.  It covers a lot of ground that we know and love about our craft beer industry but what I like about it is that they are talking to people that I and most likely many people haven’t seen or heard about.  If it gets more butts in seats at City Beer then it is well worth it.  So take a watch…..

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Dry River Brewing

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1st – Check out this Kickstarter video

2nd Find their beer before anyone else at these events:
JULY 5    Grand Performances – Nina Simone
JULY 13  NELA Art Gallery Night
JULY 14  Permaculture Networking at The Shed

If everyone pitches in, we could be having their beers by the end of the year!

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Color me Pickled

OK, I gotta be honest.  I love the creativity and I do not want to stifle it.  BUT, with all the great beers out there, I can’t see myself buying this offering….

“Angel City Brewery is proud (and a bit puckered) to announce the arrival of Pickle Weisse. Starting today, Pickle Weisse is on tap at the brewery’s Public House for a limited time only.”

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“Angel City’s Brewer Joe Moakley has a passion for pickles. Actually, Joe has a lot of passions. He can fix anything and cook everything. When he’s not brewing beer, he plays the ukulele, produces kimchee, farms coral, and yes, makes pickles. One recent day Joe had a light bulb moment. Starting off with Angel City’s base Berliner Weisse recipe, Moakley and brewer Dieter Foerstner decided to add Joe’s very own secret pickle recipe into the mix and voila – Pickle Weiss – a tart, light-bodied, straw-colored ale blended with pickles. Sounds pretty good paired next to a burger right about now, doesn’t it?”

What say you?  Is there a market for savory beers?  Or is it just novelty?

 

 

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more Beer as History

Via The Beer Babe and the Strawbery Banke Museum comes this peek at East Cost craft beer history.
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“Four Portsmouth breweries – The Portsmouth Brewery, Redhook Brewery, Smuttynose Brewing Co., and Earth Eagle Brewings — are working together with Strawbery Banke Museum to present this year’s special exhibit, “Tapping Portsmouth: How the Brewing Industry Shaped the City,” opening May 1, with additional sponsorship from Kennebunk Savings Bank.To celebrate both the extensive history of brewing in Portsmouth and the extraordinary conjunction of major breweries, brew pubs and home brewing styles and ingredients (including heritage plants, herbs and hops from Strawbery Banke) on the Seacoast, the brewers are creating three collaborative beers.
… • A Colonial-style ale, brewed at Earth Eagle, made from turnips, a splash of molasses and spruce tips;
• An Industrial-era porter will be made at the Portsmouth Brewery with Strawbery Banke ginger and molasses;
• A “super hoppy” IPA, Stride Wide Ale, at Redhook”That Porter sounds like a great beer to have in hand while checking out the exhibit! 

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The Hub

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“Rural communities, and this country’s rural way of life, face unprecedented challenges. The country pub, which has been at the heart of village life for centuries, is disappearing in many areas. Providing services from the pub, such as a post office or a shop, keeps an essential service in the village.”

If you have a royal highness in your corner, that carries a bit of weight and the Prince of Wales seems intent on carving out a niche as a supporter of small business and keeping the flame lit in rural pubs. And what better place then where people gather to celebrate either a sporting event victory or a wedding.

Why is that important to us in Los Angeles?  Well, firstly craft beer is being pushed forward here by the places that sell the beer and secondly, due to the economic downturn there are many storefronts that are empty and filled with dust.  Why not have a bakery/pub/bookstore mix? Or a pop-up pub? Take a page from this organization and revitalize areas.

(If you do find yourself in the English countryside, check out one of the inns or pubs on the list on their website and pop in for a pint and support a good cause.

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Hoops and Beer

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So this statshot shows the cost of a SMALL draft beer at NBA arenas across the nation.  Now I can see that Miami would charge big because of their status as World Champions but I really expected NY to be at # 1 followed by LA and Washington.  For the life of me though, I don’t know why anyone would buy one during the game and not before and after.  Portland has Upright Brewing ACROSS the Street.  You could get a regular size beer and then some there.

You can read the Bleacher Report analysis right HERE.

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Green Flash on the East

SO another Left Coast brewery is headed east.  Green Flash Brewing Co.  will open a new brewery in Virginia Beach.  In short time, the Silva led operation has moved to a bigger facility in San Diego and now will create a sister site in Virginia.

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The Virginia Beach operation should be brewing in the first part of 2015 though brewery openings are usually harder to pin down

This means fresh Palate Wrecker for the East Coast and maybe a collaborative brew as well!

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Carillon Historical Park

Dayton Ohio is getting both a historical and a functional brewery. I read about it in the March edition of All About Beer and here is what the Dayton Daily News has to say, “When the Carillon Brewing Co. opens in Dec. 2013, Carillon Historical Park will become the only museum in the nation producing and selling beer and wine using historic tools and techniques that date back to 1850, according to museum officials.” (You can read the full article HERE)
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You will be able to watch how beer was made in the 19th century and the beauty part is that you can taste the old versions against current commercial beers and either see a difference or not. And I am sure it will give a great comparison to the current brewery tours as well. I am sure the smell alone will be drastically different.

Sounds like a fun museum to visit.