Category: Opinion

my humble and correct opinion

Posted on

Don't count calories with beer

from the Washington City Paper

Not to be outdone by a fellow conglomerate, Anheuser-Busch InBev raised (lowered?) the stakes against MillerCoors’ MGD Light 64 with its launch this week of Bud Select 55. The new light beer, which I promise is not a joke, boasts a slender and eponymous 55 calories. But A-B InBev not only bests MillerCoors in cutting calories — they pretty much give you less across the board. Let’s see how they stack up. (All servings 12 oz.)

* Bud Select 55 – 55 calories, 1.9 g carbs, 2.4% abv
* MGD Light 64 – 64 calories, 2.4 g carbs, 2.8% abv
* Bud Select – 99 calories, 3.1 g carbs, 4.3% abv
* skim milk – 129 calories, 17.9 g carbs
* orange juice – 168 calories, 28.2 g carbs

select55

Posted on

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.

Posted on

Beer Book!

I love books as much as I love beer so when you combine the two you get, Awesome! So when I saw this on the Thank Heaven for Beer blog, I was very interested…

“The Essential Reference of Domestic Brewers and Their Bottled Brands is the brain child of Micheal S. Kuderka, whose purpose in creating this reference book was “to be the industry recognized resource for information on all domestic beer and brands…” And let me tell you, he is is doing a great job.

This book is exceedingly exhaustive, easy to navigate, full of helpful charts and figure, and just what it aims to be: a great resource. The book walks the beer business man and the simple beer geek, like myself, through the domestic beer world starting with and alphabetical listing of breweries, followed by pages of color and bitterness charts, beer style index, state availability, geographic brewery index, commentary, supply charts, and full brewery portfolios. I do feel that in further editions, the book will add to the content, but already it is brimming with necessary information.”

Posted on

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?

Posted on

Open Letter to the Mayor of Los Angeles

Your Honor,

The L.A. Times basketball sportswriter corresponds with Donald Sterling about the state of the Clippers and in the same spirit I am writing to you.

Why is it, that…
San Diego has Karl Strauss Brewery
Orange County has The Bruery
Pasadena has Craftsman Brewing
Santa Barbara has Telegraph Brewing
Sacramento has Rubicon Brewing
San Francisco has Anchor Steam
even Santa Rosa has Russian River Brewing

…and Los Angeles has ? Why is it that the premier city of Southern California has no major brewery and no football team. My guess is that someone or something is standing in the way.

We have two award winning home brew clubs. A burgeoning beer bar scene and a discriminating food culture. We have all the ingredients and yet I do not see a brewery. Why is that?

I know I repeated myself there but I am genuinely confused. Portland has tons of breweries and new ones opening each month. There are (3) off the 78 freeway north of San Diego and that is not a long freeway.

I urge you to find out where the problem is. We seem to have plenty of liquor stores. How about losing some and adding a brewpub instead?

Now is the time to encourage people to chase entrepreneurial dreams. Not to stand in the way and hold ideas back.

Sean Inman