Digital Style Research

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The Brewers Association (BA) website now boasts a new Beer Styles Guide on CraftBeer.com.
Two years in the making this style guide covers 77 styles in 15 groups and lets the beer geek sort by color, bitterness, alcohol level and flavor with the Beer Style Finder. Each style has the following information: “overview of color, appearance, aroma and sensations, along with recommended food pairings, proper glassware, suggested serving temperature and commercial brand examples.”
American Brett or Cream Ale? IPA or Stout? You get a one page visual with handy information in summary form. It is a good blend of words, photos and graphics and easy to navigate through. It is a great place to start to gather information from a reliable source.

Beer Cartel

It can be daunting just to keep up with the craft beer in your own backyard.  But keep in mind that the beer revolution is not just happening here.

It is also happening in places as far flung as Australia.  That’s where resources like the Beer Cartel come into play.

You can buy rare (to us) beer, join a beer of the month club or just learn more about the scene in Australia. If you don’t check it out today, it has been added to the links section for future viewing.

Beer Petition

Is there nothing the internet can’t do? Now bloggers like me can run off at the mouth about the great beer they are drinking or wish they are drinking. You can get e-mail blasts that detail what the beer bars are pouring and when all is said and done, you can review each and every beer.

Add another item to the list, BeerPetitions.com .

From The Oregonian and John Foyston (beer writer extraordinaire) …
BeerPetitions.com, a new website launched this week, aims to allow craft beer drinkers to aggregate their beer wish lists online so that local retail establishments will know the beers their customers want. This web tool could change how retail establishments choose beer brands and could dramatically increase craft beer market share.

BeerPetitions.com allows registered users to create an online petition for a specific beer brand to be carried at a particular retail establishment such as a bar, restaurant, or store. Members create profiles, add their signatures to petitions, and add comments to petition pages. Members also have the option to receive email alerts when new petitions are created for selected retail establishments.

This could be a potent tool to use against bad bars but I certainly would not dare to petition Ryan at the Verdugo or Brian at Blue Palms about what they should pour.