Category: Opinion

my humble and correct opinion

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Tweet that Brew

I am not a Twitter sort of guy. I am not a long winded writer to begin with so condensing further would probably not help me improve my style or grammar.

That being said, people really dig it. For every luddite there seems to be 10 Tweeters. Since, it is my self-appointed job to get everyone to drink better beer, I will not leave the tweeters out.

Go to Twit A Brew and you can instantly review (in 140 characters or less) your thoughts on the beer in front of you.

According to the creators, “My real hope for this site is to help people explore and share all the wonderful beers that are out there.”
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The Beer Wench

To get a different vantage point on the world of beer sometimes you need the opinion of a Buckeye fan..wait..you need the opinion of The Beer Wench.

All I had to do was read her, “about” page to know that she takes this seriously but also with a grain of salt. Beer drinking should be serious fun. Not to put words in her mouth, here is what she says about her and her informative blog…
“I aspire to be the “female version” of Michael Jackson — a beer evangelist harnessing an affinity for writing to spread the good word of beer all over the world.

I have called myself many names before, such as “beer brat”, “beer geek” and “hophead,” but no title seems more appropriate than “The Beer Wench.” To me, “The Beer Wench” is unpretentious and playful, which is exactly the main mantra of this blog.”

(Plus she does a great job of profiling other beer bloggers.)

So get reading already.

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CraftBeer.com

Today is beer on the interwebs day. Because you shouldn’t just take my word for it. There are plenty of web voices about beer that we all should listen to. So here is the first site you should bookmark…
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…. You can visit this Brewers Association created site at craftbeer.com

There are featured breweries, beer and food pairing suggestions and a boatload of information and it is presented in a very classy way with a soothing color palate and layout.

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Session # 38 – Announcement

This April, the Beer Search Party has the privilege of hosting Session # 38.

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With Kate the Great Day a recent memory and the day of the Dark Lord fast approaching, I started thinking about what beer or beers that I would get up at 4:00 in the morning, drive across state lines, stand in a long unmoving line in the cold and rain for the chance to taste with a crowd the size of Woodstock.

So here is my question to you (with a couple addendums).

What beer have you tasted recently (say, the last six months or so) that is worthy of their own day in the media sun?

And to add a little extra to it, how does “great” expectations affect your beer drinking enjoyment?

AND If you have attended one of these release parties, stories and anecdotes of your experience will be welcomed too.

To join in:
1) Publish your blog post by Friday, April 2, 2010.
2) Leave a link to your blog in the comment section of this post or put your response in the comment section or email me your link to beersearchparty@gmail.com.
3)On Monday, I will post a round-up with comments and links to all entries.

Thanks to Stan and Jay for giving me the opportunity to host.

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Session # 37

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First, a little backstory. The last apartment that my wife and I shared was on the 2nd floor. Since Los Angeles is the home of bright lights and nearly year long heat, it was not conducive to creating an “awesome stash” from jaunts to San Francisco, Portland or San Diego.

Now, in a larger and more temperate apartment. The cellaring can begin. Unfortunately, this session has caught me too early in the process. So I will have to tell you what I will be opening in 2015.

Anchor Steam: I will start with the 2009 Our Special Ale and end with the 2015 version. I will convene a tasting panel to decide which year has aged well and whether or not the latest will be good in 2020.

IPA’s: For my 45th birthday, I will open up a selection of aged IPA’s to see if this style can withstand the aging process.

Local: I will re-gather my tasting crew to sample a variety of beers from the then (fingers crossed) thriving LA brewing scene. Cellared Eagle Rock, Gentlemen Scholar, The Strand and others.

Collaborations: Of one thing, I am sure. There will be some great collaborative beers out and I plan on grabbing what I can while the grabbing is good.

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Masters Degree in hoppiness

From the Oregonian and a Portland Business Journal article:

“A new aroma hop breeding program will be created in the College of Agricultural Sciences at Oregon State University in Corvallis.

A gift pledge of $807,000 from Indie Hops, a Portland-based hop
merchant, will support the new program, which will be led by Shaun
Townsend, a research associate and hop breeding specialist at OSU.

Indie Hops already has provided $200,000 to OSU’s Thomas Shellhammer, holder of the Nor’Wester Professorship in Fermentation Science, to foster research in new techniques for developing aroma hops and to study aroma hop chemistry. The new hop breeding program will work closely with Shellhammer’s lab to study hop essential oil composition and how individual oil components impart the characteristic flavor and aroma to beer.”
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This means in a few years we might get the next Citra or Nelson hops. IPA’s will not be the same.

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Fermenting Revolution

A new beer book! I am going to need a bigger bookcase if this pace continues.
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Saving the World with Beer – Chris O’Brien is a beer activist. He advocates the craft beer movement, which he argues is better for the environment and the community.

(Thanks to Good Food from KCRW for bringing this to my attention!)

You can get the book from Amazon.com HERE

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The Firkin for February 2010

There was an interesting post on Beer Advocate awhile back about buying a spot during the Super Bowl for the “I am a craft brewer” video put together by Greg Koch from Stone Brewing. Some people thought that an opportunity to showcase craft beer to a massive audience was missed since the ad rates were lower this year than last.

Here is my reasoning as to why it would be not an effective use of hypothetical money.

A) You are not targeting the most receptive audience. It is mostly men who are probably not leaving their brand anytime soon. Not exactly the low hanging fruit. I would rather target specific people who could be turned into beer geeks who would then turn the person next to them. Food Network would be logical. NPR as well. Even Sports Illustrated would be a better sell.

B) One time ads don’t register. Unless you follow up with the message, it stands the chance of being trampled. Look at what the Republicans do. Say the same thing over and over, until people believe it. Be it true or not. Say it once and it gets lost.

C) I would rather support local organizations in overturning some of the flat out bizarre liquor laws this country has on the books. As I mentioned in the January rant, there are some outdated ideas that need to be purged.

The main reason why 1 measly 30 second spot no matter how many people view it isn’t enough is because we need to really educate people about beer. 30 seconds does not convey the nuance needed. What about sour beer, the history of Imperial Stouts, proper glassware? Instead of a quick hit, we need sustained informed beer knowledge being passed to receptive minds.