Category: Opinion

my humble and correct opinion

Posted on

Beer Advocate – Best of 2010 – Part 2

Earlier today, I dove into the master Best of List from Beer Advocate and I found it left out 99% of the beer styles in existence. Nary a Zwickelbier or Saison in sight. Now I go through the Alstrom brothers list.

Wow! What a difference. I know that they probably get many a beer that us normal beer geeks don’t get but wish we could. So they are working from a whole different list. But I am struck by the variety of styles that was missing from the other list. Sours, English pale ales, small beers and even a pilsner! A pilsner would NEVER make the main ranking. NEVER. This list would be the variety pack from the Beer Gods. And I am going to boast that I sampled 4 of them. I was especially glad to see Avery’s Rumpkin on the list. They make some tremendous rum beers. I was glad to see a Cascadian dark on the list as well as two other Oregon IPA’s.

Click on the image below to get a good look at what you should try to find this year:

Posted on

Beer Advocate – Best of 2010

When I saw that issue # 48 of Beer Advocate had the tally of Top 25 Beers of 2010, I had to say that I braced myself for mostly monster stouts. And yes there are 5 in the top 10 alone and 10 overall (not counting the 5 strong ales, which fall under the same BIG BEER rubric for me). What surprised me was the strong showing of # 2 for the Kern River Citra DIPA one of my favorite beers of 2010 and I had only a teeny glass of one. The second surprise was 2 rye beers making the cut, one from Summit and one from Boulevard (granted in the 20-25 section).

SO I am pleased that anything broke through the Stout barrier of the top 10 and I like that rye is gaining acceptance. But still the list is tremendously one sided. Nothing in the top 10 is below 8% abv. Amazingly all but 2 beers are above that 8% mark and 14 of 25 beers are above 10% abv. It is almost as if a beer geek can take most of the year off and come cold weather time start drinking because that is where the great beers are apparently. No session beers to be seen. No brown ales. No hefeweizen. It’s really a turn off.

Click on the image below to see the full list and let me know what you think of the group. By the way, not to boast, but I sampled 7 of the top 25.

Posted on

Really?

Take a close look at this picture….

The garish colors and bold graphics are Colt 45’s brand extension into the vast and lucrative fruity malt liquor market.

All kidding aside, this looks to be the winner of the worst beer idea of 2011 and we are hardly out of the starting gate.

Posted on

Beer on the TV

The trend of craft beer on the TV continues. Here is another show that I heard about from a friend of the BSP.

“Who doesn’t like craft beer? Well, the folks at New York-based indie production company Overcrest Media are betting you do. Last month they launched their first original series, The Brewery Show, which dives into the craft beer movement, one microbrewery at a time.

“We explore the greatest microbreweries, brewpubs, and craft beer houses this country has to offer. From interviews with the trendiest brewmasters, owners, technicians, and home brewers, we find out what’s brewing in the world of craft beer and beyond,” says the series’ fledgling YouTube page.

For the uninitiated, The Brewery Show provides an excellent introduction to the process and philosophy behind craft beer production. And for those well versed, it provides a thorough behind-the-scenes look at some of the East Coast’s top artisinal breweries.

The first episode takes us to Pleasantville, NY’s Captain Lawrence Brewing Company—famous for their ‘Liquid Gold’ brew—and features interviews with Owner and Head Brewer Scott Vaccaro and Cellar Operator Justin Sturges. Vaccaro offers a piece of advice you homebrewers won’t want to hear: “I’m the last person to tell you not to follow your dreams, but remember it’s a business first, and it’s not just about making beer.”

Following episodes take us to Keegan Ales, Brewery Ommegang, Thomas Hooker Brewing Company, Cavalry Brewing, and Sixpoint. Thirsty yet? New episodes are released every two weeks.”

Posted on

Odd Animal labels

Label Art is subjective. I generally side with the less is more school. I think the Bruery does a great job with their style choices. I like the distinctive B of Brooklyn Brewery. Just two examples off the top of my head.

In my interwebs beer travels, I come across other labels and wonder what the heck is going on? So intermittently, I will post up some labels and make my snarky comments then let the readers take over, if the muse of commenting strikes.

Here is the Craft Beer label discussion – Animal Edition

First up is Bitter American from 21st Amendment

I get the whole monkey and space thing. But I can’t quite make the leap from Bitter American to outer space. I am sure there is an explanation but I can’t imagine that it is a simple one. Plus the monkey looks damn old. It looks like the same artist did Fireside Chat and that also looked a little off. Makes you look at it twice. Maybe that was the aim.

Our second label is from Captured by Porches with Cuddly Panda Porter

I like the bright color palette that CbP uses. But the traditional bird morphed into a bear strikes me as off. Seems a little shoe-horned to me. As in trying to stick with a theme (birds) when maybe a little more change like just a bear drawing would have worked better.

That’s my cockeyed opinion. What say you?

Posted on

Building a better beer future

First I want you to click HERE for this Sacramento Bee article.

Whenever people bemoan what may become of craft beer in the future. I point to articles like this or the one I did about OSU. Innovative beer is always lurking on the horizon.

Kudos to Rich Rosen for alerting me to this article.

Posted on

Community

One of my favorite shows is Community. Part of the NBC comedy block on Thursdays. Of course only 4 of those 6 six shows are funny to me but that leads to this great post on the RateBeer HopPress about beer blogging.

Now that you are back from reading there, I want to add my two cents. I love having an opinion (see above) but what I am learning is how to listen better to other’s words. Because the more I listen, the more I learn. AND if I disagree, it teaches me how to frame an argument. I may have been too scared to enter a debate class in high school but the beer world is filled with opinions and I love to talk about them.

Because apathy leads to a world of cheez whiz, white bread and water lagers. Let’s get the discussion going. It can be heated but at the end of the night it should lead to both sides learning something and buying each other a beer. SO keep talking. In bars, during brewery tours or online, it doesn’t matter as long as you are discussing and not hurling words at somebody.

Posted on

Los Angeles Brewing history

Last month, I visited Strand Brewing and there on the desk in front of me as I drank 24th Street Pale Ale was this old beer can…..

The back of the can had this wonderful copy on it. “Our beer is packed in this modern container for your protection and convenience. This container is designed to afford all possible protection to the quality and flavor of this brew, which is the result of the use of choice materials and many years of brewing experience.” And it had this crazy cone top.

To learn more about the history of Los Angeles Brewing and the fate of Eastside beer click HERE

Posted on

Stupid politicians

Ugh! Politicians make me want to scream.

Mississippi (home of the fabulous Lazy Magnolia Brewery) is losing the ABV restriction battle it seems. Check out this ARTICLE for the info.

All the politicians have to do is raise the limitation. And it isn’t even a big ask. from 5 to 8%. Mississippi would still be excluding alot of beer (if that is their goal). But more breweries might open if the cap was at 8% and Lazy Magnolia would be able to brew and (gee whiz) sell more beer too!

So check out the website for Raise Your Pints and support from wherever you are.