Category: Opinion

my humble and correct opinion

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Dec. 2nd

It is easy to look at our shit-acular situation here in the US and get mired in it like quicksand. But the rest of the world isn’t doing so well when faced with Covid.

Case in point, England is having a new set of restrictions. I am posting before the MP vote but it looks well certain that pubs and bars will be closed for anything but takeaway business.

The economics of beer in Britain is very different from the United States but we as beer fans had better be watching because things aren’t THAT different when you factor in a pandemic. That really just scythes through everything.

What worries me most is that creativity will get stifled. Who knows what new beer trends might have come from “across the pond”. We need the pollination of new ideas from every corner of the globe to keep our niche industry vital and alive.

And selfishly, I want to take trips to London and have a CAMRA approved Ale in a historic pub. 2029 seems to have other plans though.

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R.I.P. – Eagle Rock Public House

The restaurant business is hard. Throw in a tiny little year-long and counting pandemic and you got yourself a real tough road.

Unfortunately, the dining arm of Eagle Rock Brewery will be shutting down on the 14th of the month. They will be there to say bye to and commiserate with and to order food from, most importantly.

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The Firkin for October 2020

I have ranted about IP (intellectual property) casual theft on the part of breweries across our nation. In fact, got a post coming up about a specific example.  But instead of using the same old adjectives like lazy and stealing or making a comment about if they try to get away with those type of labels, imagine what they are doing with the actual beer.  I am going to give some constructive ideas so that a brewery can stop doing it.

  1. Hire a local artist – there are great design artists out there, and a flock of great artists as well.  Contact your local universities or ask your regular fans to make suggestions.
  1. Create your own cartoon character – if you are so keen to put a toucan on your still fermenting fruit pop beer, then create your own mascot.  Hire a caricaturist to design one to be the face of your next beer.  Explodey the Covered in Beer Eagle is available.
  1. Use photography – rarely used so it will stand out if that is all you are looking for but you could document your since day one fans or your neighborhood.

Now get creative!

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RSVP

If I ran the responses to social media for a Los Angeles brewery right now, I would just type, “We Know.”

Granted, I am beyond happy that they can open again but LA seems intent on making the experience of visiting a taproom onerous. In addition to the bizarro everyone must order food mandate (whether you eat it or not), now you have to make a reservation in advance, you have only a window of time to sit and no more than six people in a group.

I am quite fine with the last one actually since I am an introvert but there is obviously a Prohibitionist streak tucked into this rule set. If you drink, you will get drunk and do something stupid. Alcohol bad. So, we will force you to eat, cut down on available time to drink, all in an effort to basically dissuade you from going in the first place.

Imagine a scenario where a brewery has empty tables and a resident of the community sees people drinking and says to themselves, a beer would be nice but because they are only a casual beer fan may not know all the hoops to jump through. That person gets turned away because they didn’t set a play date 24 hours in advance? Even though they may be perfectly responsible and safety conscious?

And don’t tell me it is about making sure a person doesn’t leave the house sick. That is all timing and an advanced RSVP doesn’t preclude a sick person from unwittingly passing a virus. No, it is just a hoop that the brewery owner has to police and become the bad guy for because what angry customer is going to go to the Mayor and complain to him.

I would have all my staff wearing sandwich boards saying, We Know the rules are crappy.

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Kettle Help

Sierra Nevada was going to travel their brew kettle around so that folks could see where the famously pale ale started. But the recent fires across California gave them a better opportunity. They took their equipment to Quincy, a California because Quintopia Brewing lost their equipment to fire. Now the brewhouse will serve as temporary stopgap so that the small brewery can pour beer at their taproom.

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Better than a Sticker

We will probably not see this particular Jester King or the below Gigantic beer in our neck of the SoCal woods but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’ treat yourself afterward doing your civic duty this year. I would suggest posting your beer photos along with a quick note about voting once you have filled in your mail in ballot. And if you find an LA brewery with a vote themed beer, buy it.

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2021

As much as it pains me to write these words, I do not see myself attending a beer event until at least March of next year. It also pains me to think that 2020 might not be the only year called a dumpster fire either.

The reason I say this is because, as I work the timeline backwards from February would require a workable vaccine to be found about, oh, now. Why? Because to ramp up vaccine production and get it distributed and then get the remaining Americans to get the shot is going to take time, three months or so is my eyeball reckoning. If we can get the anti-vaxxers and anti-maskers to participate.

Then breweries who have not already pushed their events will need to quick time hustle to safely hold a festival and have all the special beer glass made, tickets sold, beers brewed with a diminished post office and airline and hotel industry. Oh and no one wanting to Lyft in or out.

And if all the timing breaks right, you now have to convince fans to come out to what will be a smaller festival because there will be some breweries who will be reluctant to attend.

I don’t see it.

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A Red Engine

You nevertheless know what bit of info you can glean from a beer label, I learned about a new brewery coming to Santa Clarita from one….

…Red Engine Brewing Company is slated to open in 2021. Here is the website copy, “Red Engine Brewing Company will be the newest brewery and taproom in Santa Clarita, California – a bedroom suburban community located in north Los Angeles County. We are currently conducting research to identify the best location, likely to be near a newly-developing area of Santa Clarita. We plan to open in the summer or fall of 2021.”

I think it is best to look long and hard when it comes to location and put 2020 way, way in the rear view mirror. Watch this space or their social media for further info.