A memoir and a history of beer from the Lifetime Achievement Award from the British Guild of Beer Writers in 2004. I will be ordering this from Amazon soon.
Co-Op Hop
from The Oregonian and Fort George Brewing…
The Fort George Brewery and Public House calls out to all who have hops growing in their yards & gardens, on fences, barns or houses and would love to see those hops get made into beer. Our second annual Co-Hoperative Ale wet-hopped beer will be made this Friday, so we need folks to pick and drop off their hop-vines Thursday, September 3rd.
We will have a pack of folks ready to sticky their fingers in a hop-stripping frenzy, collecting untold varieties of hops to be used for Friday’s brew. Those who have hops to contribute will be treated to some of the fruits of their agricultural prowess when the beer is ready. Call the brewery at (503) 325-7468 with any questions.
Top 99 Bottles
One of my favorite magazines is Imbibe. They cover wine, coffee, cocktails and of course, BEER. And the current issue covers the best 99 bottles of beer broken up into different categories like Seasonal, Different but Good and Best beer with a burger.
Pick yourself up a copy and see how many from the list you have had.
Commodity prices
According to yesterday’s Los Angeles Times, due to rising commodity prices ABInbev and MillerCoors are raising prices. “Retailers will not eat the price increases.” Shouldn’t it say “not drink up” the price increases? And what really is interesting, is how no mention is made of what commodity. Are they afraid to say corn and rice?
Beer Petition
Is there nothing the internet can’t do? Now bloggers like me can run off at the mouth about the great beer they are drinking or wish they are drinking. You can get e-mail blasts that detail what the beer bars are pouring and when all is said and done, you can review each and every beer.
Add another item to the list, BeerPetitions.com .
From The Oregonian and John Foyston (beer writer extraordinaire) …
BeerPetitions.com, a new website launched this week, aims to allow craft beer drinkers to aggregate their beer wish lists online so that local retail establishments will know the beers their customers want. This web tool could change how retail establishments choose beer brands and could dramatically increase craft beer market share.
BeerPetitions.com allows registered users to create an online petition for a specific beer brand to be carried at a particular retail establishment such as a bar, restaurant, or store. Members create profiles, add their signatures to petitions, and add comments to petition pages. Members also have the option to receive email alerts when new petitions are created for selected retail establishments.
This could be a potent tool to use against bad bars but I certainly would not dare to petition Ryan at the Verdugo or Brian at Blue Palms about what they should pour.
Great Craft beer news
The sky is not falling. There is reason to be optimistic. Check these stats courtesy of Draft Magazine
~ The number of U.S. breweries is the highest in 100 years because of small and independent craft brewers.
~ America’s small and independent craft brewers are still growing despite many challenges and are continuing to provide jobs to the U.S. economy.
~ Dollar growth from craft brewers during the first half of 2009 increased 9 percent, down from 11 percent growth during the same period in 2008.
~ Volume of craft brewed beer sold grew 5 percent for the first six months in 2009, compared to 6.5 percent growth in the first half of 2008.
The Brewing Network
Every day I am pleased to find more beer information on the web, today is no different. The Brewing Network is a great resource for brew information. Based in San Francisco, but not afraid to venture further afield. They have a great website, radio show and home brew show. Anyone who enjoys beer will find something great here.
You can also follow them on Facebook and Twitter.
Hopped Up
My coverage of beer gets spotty the further east you go across the country but I do want to spotlight (again) the Free the Hops patriots in Alabama and to throw a link to Danner Kline’s new column in the Birmingham Weekly.
He’s a good writer with his own opinions and I enjoy reading his stuff to see what another beer geek is thinking about and drinking.
Hot Rocks
Great article HERE about the hot-rock styles of beer.
OBF Attendance Record
from the Oregonian…
“Despite warmer-than-usual conditions, the 22nd annual Oregon Brewers Festival had record attendance with 72,500 people, a nearly seven percent increase over last year’s all time high of 68,000. Beer sales followed suit, showing a three percent increase. The four-day event concluded on July 26 at Tom McCall Waterfront Park.
“This is our second consecutive year of record setting attendance and sales, and given the economic situation, I think we can successfully state that beer is recession-proof!” exclaimed festival director and founder Art Larrance. ”
Maybe craft beer can contribute to the economy returning to a healthier state?