Category: Opinion

my humble and correct opinion

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Another Season Ends with The Champions

I believe that most pundits and the sportsbooks would have pegged the sky blue of Manchester City to win the Champions League title in a year where the whole competition was called into question and the two finalists had backed out of leaving it earlier this year.

As if the Covid year wasn’t strange enough, right. Well, Chelsea of London won 1-0 on a Kai Havertz first half goal.

What does this have to do with beer? Well this was the first championship with fans in a while. Yeah, the Super Bowl had people but the outlook was much worse in February.

Now, beer and sports and tailgating are on the return with fans at NBA playoffs now too. That means the return of session beers. The return of beer in plastic cups. Spilling beer as you return to your seat. Paying $15 for 12ounces of beer. All stuff that I bitch about but really wish I could do. Be it in Porto, the Etihad or the home of Champions, Stamford Bridge.

With the end of the European season, now we can turn our attention to MLS and watching my Timbers play the Galaxy or LAFC.

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Ship it USPS (Maybe)

The Brewers Association recently announced news of legislation that would (finally) allow the United States Postal Service to ship beer. Now this wouldn’t be a blanket across the US thing. Here are the details:

“On Monday, May 17, Representatives Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) and Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.), and Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) introduced the United States Postal Service (USPS) Shipping Equity ActOpens in new window, bipartisan legislation that would allow the USPS to ship alcohol in states where it is currently legal to do so.

Through the COVID-19 pandemic and government-mandated business closures and restrictions, small and independent breweries have seen consumer demand increase for products delivered directly to their front door. A consumer survey by SOVOS Ship Compliant and Harris Poll found that 84% of regular craft beer drinkers – defined as those who drink craft beer at least once per month – want to be able to legally purchase beer via direct-to-consumer (DtC) shipping to their homes. Additionally, the survey found that more than 73% say the pandemic has increased their interest in purchasing craft beer via DtC shipping.

To meet that demand, we have seen state laws expanding to allow shipping and delivery of alcohol products, as well as allowing alcohol “to-go” at restaurant and bars. The USPS Shipping Equity Act would help small and independent breweries, wineries, and distilleries meet that demand by allowing the postal service to provide another method of getting their product to market.”

The TL:DR of it, is that rules that have been bent for Covid should stay this way so that shipping beer can become a standard business right.

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On Deck

Podcasts like TV, film and music has its candy and good for you choices. I say that not disparagingly but to let you know that if you want to know more about the agricultural side of beer life, then I have the podcast for you from the Countryman Malt Group.

It’s called the Brew Deck and it is where you can turn for deeper dives into malt, hops and other beer topics. When you tire of the hot takes and beer snobbery, give this podcast a listen.

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Pop Goes the Hop

Washington’s  Yakima Chief Hops (YCH) has a new frozen innovation for breweries “called Cryo Pop™ Original Blend. Since helping to pioneer and launch their advanced product line, Cryo Hops® four years ago YCH has learned a lot, this new hop blend uses groundbreaking research to solve the common brewing problem of how to carry raw hop aroma into finished beers.”

Quite a few acronyms later, YCH describes how their lab testing got them to this new product, “The data is utilized to engineer a hop pellet that contains high concentrations of the most beer-soluble compounds, or compounds that survive the brewing process. The result is a supercharged pellet that provides brewers with a dynamic solution for juicy, fruit-forward, highly aromatic applications, showing massive tropical, stone fruit, and citrus aromas.”

Now we wait to taste IPA’s that pop.

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Act Better

Many have dived in over the past week with their take on the unsurprising stories that have come to light via Brienne Allan (@ratmagnet) about horrible treatment of women in the beer and beverage world.

I add my voice to the strident calls for this shit to stop. First stop for anyone is to check out Women of the Bevolution. It lays out what is happening with clarity and without rancor (though frankly it would be deserved).

Second, look into your behavior, men. When have you been an ass, when have you not spoken up in defense, when have you treated people poorly based strictly on gender?

Then, third, what are you going to change? The world is tentatively opening up again which means that more interactions will occur. Will you be better the next time you step into a tap room?

Lastly, encourage those with stories to tell them. One of the most frightening aspects of this sorry situation is that men are not only aggressing but then scaring women into silence. The more the stories circulate, the higher the possibility that consequences will arise.

We can do better. Treat people with kindness, it isn’t that hard.

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Boont Branding

This year Anchor Brewing unveiled a re-branding that didn’t pass muster in many people’s opinion and now another heritage NorCal brewery has done it, but I think that most people will be absolutely fine with the Anderson Valley design changes….

I think the antlered bear is playful and Pixar-ish and I like the forested landscape at the bottom of the label. Having chunks of educational material on either side works for me too. The only mid-step (and it is slight) is the font of the brewery name on the blue banner. I think it is a little plain to my eyes.

This refresh along with plans for a destination taproom shows, to me, that this brewery is giving a good effort to change with the times.

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Diverse Resource

Support for minority owned businesses is crucial but figuring where to spend your beer money does require time, thankfully the Beervana Blog has a super handy spreadsheet.

Check it out HERE and if you know of a brewery missed, then add it in the comments section to make this even more helpful of a list.

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The Firkin for May 2021

I ever so wrongly predicted that hard seltzers would be a “Here today, gone tomorrow” fad. They are now part of the beverage landscape and being added to brewery tap lists practically daily.

But I am going to double down – die on this hill proclaim that I do not think FMB’s (flavored malt beverages) are long for this world.

Oh, they will still be around but you won’t see the land rush from every brewery to make them. And when they lose interest or too much market share, then the pullback will begin. The major problem will be that the little breweries will be fighting over a pie that the big players can easily add themselves into and dominate.

Right now, your SABInBev’s, your Coors and Miller do not want to spend money on ingredients and time to make beer that competes with craft breweries. They steadfastly refuse entry into the world of IPAs, dopplebocks and Saisons, so craft has the run of that playground. Not so with hard seltzer where they can brand extend and create hundreds of flavors that are not far off from artisanal products.

I have tried many hard seltzers. Sone way too candy like for me and others that are subtle but none yet have struck me as un-replicable.

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No Assembly Required

Once shots x 2 have been acquired, I can begin thinking about going out and doing even mundane things like buying a bedside table that I can unleash a volley of curses at while constructing. That experience would be made better if I could have some Omnipollo beer first. Doubt that the Burbank megastore will be on the distribution list but a beer fan can dream.

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28 of 250

I haven’t taken a peek at the highly rated beers for quite some time. So long in fact, that I felt a little out of touch with what the wider world was thinking and drinking.

Part of the reason why I had lost track was that I do my rating on Untappd (when I do tick) and that site is less into whale culture and is more on the wider net.

So it is of interest that Toppling Goliath is so highly thought of with three beers in the top 10. That is crazy. I was glad to see that both Pliny’s from Russian River were on the list and that Heady Topper seemed to be staying afloat despite a wider footprint than in the past. This especially since West 12 has dropped all the way out of the top 25. The other clear winner is Tree House with six hits in twenty-eight. I had expected to see Monkish or Other Half or maybe Jester King but all might have to dispersed of a line-up.

The full list is 250 beers long but I quickly realized that my mode I should not to follow but rather dabble here and there. I bet these beers are great and I do want that Bottle Logic Fundamental Observation (perhaps a sampler tray of the variants), but I do not feel driven to hunt these down.