The Cincinnati Post profiles federal judge David Bunning.
For fun he brews his own beer, about two cases at a time three or four times a year, some of which he gives as Christmas presents. Honey wheat is a current favorite, and he allows that “it’s pretty good.”
Of course he also tells fisherman’s tales.
Alaskan Brewing celebrates its 21st birthday by releasing Alaskan IPA, a beer that takes inspiraton from the surfing culture in Yakutat, Alaska. Outside magazine named Yakutat “one of the five best surf towns in America.” The label shows a surfer with 18,000-foot high Mount Saint Elias in the background.
Jack Endicott of Icy Waves Surf Shop in Yakutat said surfing in the remote coastal communit us unlike surfing anwhere else in the world. He told a story of watching two of his sons surfing in 25-degree temperatures, with snow falling so hard to lost sight of them. “I’ll never forget standing on the beach and watching the steam rise from their heads after they removed their hoods,” he said.
The new IPA has 2.5 pounds of hops per barrels. The beer begins with fruity and citrus aromas, blending with pine character and some candy-like sweetness. Biscuit melds with more hop (almost woody) flavor in a medium body, sliding into a bracing dry finish.
– Otter Creek/Wolaver’s organic wit bier will return this summer. Brewmaster Steve Parkes and Morgan Wolaver get the raw wheat used in the beer from a local organic farmer, Ben Gleason. “Sourcing the wheat from a farm less than 20 minutes away is an obvious advantage to everyone,” Wolaver said. “It’s great for Ben and great for us.”
Wolaver said he has been trying to find more local organic farmers to grow grain for the brewery.
Otter Creek and Wolaver’s organic ales both are shipping in sleek, long-neck bottles with new labels. The Otter Creek labels use the same detailed drawings of local Vermont scenes from the brewery’s hometown of Middlebury and the surrounding area. “These illustrations really capture the Vermont flavor, and we’ve had lots of compliments on them over the years,” Wolaver said. “We wanted to keep the classic feeling of the drawings, but also to revamp the look of the label and make them easier to read.”
– United States Beverage touts the beers from Barons Brewing as the first Australian craft beers available in the United States. These include Black Wattle Wattle Seed Ale, Barons Pale Ale, Barons Superior Lager, and Barons Extra Special Bitter.
The Orlando Sentinel profiles Orlando Brewing Co., Florida’s only certified organic brewery.
“I believe in the value of biosphere,” founder John Cheeks said. “I guess you could call me an organic, tree-hugging capitalist.”
Don Russell (Joe Sixpack) has tips, lot of tips, for those headed to the Philadelphia Craft Beer Festival on Saturday.
I’m worried that some of you are a bit out of shape.
Now, I know that many of you have been flexing those elbows at the excellent festivals surrounding the city, in Kennett Square, Adamstown, even Harrisburg. And Philly continues to host many smaller fests, including the annual Penn Museum tasting with Michael Jackson and Sippin’ by the River at Penn’s Landing.
But the Philly Craft Beer Festival is the big time in the big city, folks.
Most important tip: “Yes, you’ll get a buzz on (so read on about transportation). But instead of drinking everything you see, have a plan and you’ll have more fun.”
Second most important tip: “Drink water. It’ll slow your pace and clear your palate.” It may also keep you from getting dehyradated (your hangover will thank you in the morning).
Previously the only brewery in Denver without a tap room, Great Divide Brewing will change that Monday. The brewery’s Tap Room, at 2201 Arapahoe St., will be open 2-7 p.m. Monday-Friday and noon-5 p.m. on Saturday.
Brewery tours will begin in the tap room at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. weekdays and hourly on Saturday.
Co-founder Brian Dunn said the opening of the Tap Room has come about in response to increased demand for his company’s beers, and a growing number of visitors to the brewery.
“The number of people stopping in for tours has grown steadily every year,†said Dunn. “With the Tap Room we’re giving Great Divide fans a great place to taste our beers, see the brewery and hang out.â€
“In the past we’ve been guilty of under promoting our brewery, and we’ve had our hands full just making our beer and keeping up. But our success has provided us with the time and funds to boost our promotional efforts and open the Tap Room.â€
Micro Matics USA, which manufactures and distributes draft beer dispensing equipment, last month donated a walk-in refrigerator to the Brantely Baptist Center in New Orleans at the conclusion of the Cheers Beverage Conference in the Hurricane-ravaged city.
“It made perfect sense for us to donate the walk-in refrigerator, which we had shipped to New Orleans (for the conference), to a local organization that has done so much for victims of Hurricane Katrina and could benefit from its use,†said Peter Muzzonigro, president of the California company.
The Brantley Center is a 250-bed shelter that provides a variety of services for homeless people and others in need. Since it first opened its doors in 1927 during the Great Depression, the urban ministry has provided food, overnight lodging, hot showers, laundry facilities, employment assistance, counseling for drug and alcohol dependence, mail services, and worship opportunities to the people who pass through its doors. In the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
The Washington Post (free registration) explains why bad things – like aromas reeking of skunk – happen when light meets beer.
It also explains how Miller gets by with using colorless glass:
Chemical trickery, that’s how. Instead of using actual hops for bittering the beer, Miller uses a chemically modified form of hops’ alpha acids known by several brand names, among them Tetrahop Gold. It does not produce 3-methyl-2-butene-1-thiol when struck by light, but according to the Ghent chemists, it can still produce rotten-egg odors. Uncolored bottles are cheaper than colored ones, however, so Miller’s fiscal folks apparently prevailed over their flavor mavens.
As you can see this is an educational but amusing read.
Christian Moerlein Brewing Co. – which has its beer brewed under contract at the Lion Brewery in Pennsylvania – is rolling out Hudepohl Bock Beer for the Cincinnati Bockfest.
“We’re bringing it back as kind of a test to see how people like it,†said owner Greg Hardman. “Based on that reaction, that’ll determine what we do. This is a big stretch for us. We’re bringing back one of the true great brands of the city.â€
[via the Cincinnati Enquirer]
Six vintages of the classic Thomas Hardy’s Ale. Five courtesy of Real Beer co-founder Mark Silva and one from advertising sales director Banjo Bandolas.
On occasion those of us at Real Beer feel compelled to join you in the beer fun. In this case hosted by Pat Hagerman, who launched Real Beer with Silva back when most of us were still trying to figure out how to download a web browser.
The night before we had sampled vintages of Samichlaus (detailed here), so we knew better than to expect too much from the 1983 bottle that Banjo brought (not his fault). Like the Samichlaus, the cap had rust on the inside. Because the bottle had traveled on its side (you can bet TSA opened that bag) it had a strange and scary-looking coating that wrapped around about one-third of the inside.
We’ll get right to it. It tasted liked corked port with lemon. When we were done we each had five empty glasses and one we’d barely touched. Silva tried to salvage his, pouring it through a coffee filter (to remove the apparent sludge). He insisted that made it better, and perhaps we would have agreed – had the other vintages not been so good.
I was a little surprised to find a certain consistency across the beers. Nearly 10 years ago Randy Mosher tasted eight vintages (1986-1995, but not all years) to contribute to a story for All About Beer magazine.
Instead of a neatly vertical progression, I discovered a deliciously erratic jumble of beers, each with its own distinct mix of personality traits. All of them were enormous blasts of malty complexity, a candy shop full of dried fruit, nuts and caramel, but the balance, sweetness, oxidized character, carbonation and color were all over the place.
I suspect that’s because the beers he tasted were provided by the brewery. We visited what was then the Eldridge Pope brewery in 1994 and saw that they stuck older bottles of Hardy’s just about anywhere. They didn’t get as warm or cold as they might have in a Los Angeles garage (where our 1983 was stored) but they weren’t treated like they might be by an anal-retentive beer geek – not to say that describes Silva (that would be more like me).
After we’d sampled all of them, Pat said of the 1997, “This would be great if you didn’t have the others.”
Certainly the beers varied, but generally were better the older they were and the 1989 was clearly the star.
The 1996 flashed more whisky malt character, the 1995 had a layer of vegetal on top of caramel and toffee that you just know is going to go away sooner than later. You couldn’t ask much more of the 1994, with an almost fresh breadiness (cinnamon rolls?), as well a caramel and licorice, with pleasing Madeira just beginning to emerge.
And then there was the 1989. Full of dark fruit, raisins and plums, nutty, a chocolate smokiness, all the things we like about sherry, frankly too many flavors to note and still enjoy the beer. So I quit taking notes.
If you open a 1989 Hardy’s will it taste the same? No guarantees. Every time you choose to cellar a beer (and particularly to let one get to be 18 years old) you are taking a chance.
Sometimes it’s worth it.
Sara Hale, former brewer of The Saint Louis Brewery in St. Louis, has taken the art of beermaking in another direction. Using some of the same skills of recipe formulation and sensory evaluation, Hale has begun creating a hophead’s delight for the bath and body.
Her company, It’s All About You, offers a Beer Lover’s Gift Basket which includes HopStick (“hop-flavored lip balm that won’t ruin the taste of your beer”), Hop Bath and Body Oil, Hops and Lavender Bath Scrub, a Hangover Eye Pillow (“relieves incessant throbbing and keeps out evil, heinous light”), and a Schlafly logo pint glass. It’s available online for $25.
It’s All About You, which Sara started with her sister Jamie Choler, a recreational therapist in St. Louis, offers all natural, hand-made bath and body care products, sold in various gift baskets and individually, as well as in activity kits.
Other gift baskets include Peppermint Perk, with an array of uplifiting peppermint products, and The Coffee Achiever, designed to “lift the fog from your daily grind.” That one includes Coffee Kisses Lip Balm (“welcome to your next addiction”), Cappuccino Scrub Face Food and Sweet Espresso Body Polish, both scrubs utilizing locally roasted Kaldi’s Fair Trade Organic Espresso.
There’s green beer and there’s green beer.
While regulars at Coleman’s Irish Pub in Syracuse, N.Y., celebrated the arrival of green beer for St. Patrick’s Day, a different sort of green beer was in the spotlight during the Oscars.
With “An Inconvenient Truth,†the documentary featuring Al Gore on global warming, winning best documentary feature many celebrities added to the emphasis on environmentally sustainable practices arriving in fuel-efficient hybrid vehicles, and film stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Penelope Cruz and Salma Hayek hosted the third annual Global Green USA Pre-Oscar Party featuring their own kind of “green” beer.
New Belgium Brewing’s first organic beer, Mothership Wit, and its signature Fat Tire Amber Ale were served at that party and several other pre-Oscare events. The Fort Collins beer also was served at Oscar-related charity fundraisers held Thursday and Friday to benefit the environment and other causes.
New Belgium is 100% wind powered and otherwise a brewing industry leader in sustainable practices.
Diane Catanzaro, a Norfolk, Virginia homebrewer, beer judge and college professor, has been crowned the 2007 Beerdrinker of the Year.
Catanzaro, 48, won the title in the Beerdrinker of the Year finals on Saturday at Wynkoop Brewing Company in Denver.
A professor of industrial/organizational psychology at Christopher Newport University (in Newport News, VA), Catanzaro is the second woman to win the competition. (Cornelia Corey of Clemmons, N.C., won the title in 2001.)
“This is a dream come true for me,†Catanzaro said after winning the title. “I can use the title to carry the flag for Beer Nation and spread the news about craft beer. And it gives me an opportunity to promote a better understanding of beer to women in America.â€
Catanzaro, a finalist in last year’s Beerdrinker contest, beat out finalists Logan Perkins (of Denver, Colo.) and Phil Farrell (Cumming, Ga.). Her impressive beer drinking experiences, humor and beer ambassadorship helped her land the crown.
“I’ve never seen three more deserving finalists,†said Tom Dalldorf, editor and publisher of Celebrator Beer News and one of the seven judges for the finals. â€But Diane was very engaging, and her personality and very beery background helped her win the title. She speaks well for the beer community.â€
As the 2007 Beerdrinker of the Year, Catanzaro wins free beer for life at Wynkoop Brewing Company and a $250 beer tab at the Biergarden.
A bishop in the brewery
Reverend Clive Gregory, 45, an active member of the Campaign for Real Ale, proclaimed his pint of Banks’s Original “heavenly†as he took a brief tour of Banks’s brewery.
White bread in a glass
White beers get along with oysters because they are devoid of a hoppy bite that would overwhelm the oyster’s unique liquor.
Scott Morrison will guest brew at Sly Fox
“Dude in exile.”
Beer Advocates on being advocates
A discussion provoked by Lew Bryson’s post.
Miller will ramp up marketing
To try to boost sales, the company is going back to spots that compare Miller Lite directly to its competitors. “We want to challenge expectations, we want to challenge competitors and we want to challenge indifference to beers,” Miller CEO Tom Long said.
Linda Starck, who has been a friend to literally thousands in the brewing community for more than 20 years, died Friday. She was diagnosed with lung cancer a year ago.
Linda – you would only have to say “Linda” (no last name needed) at any gathering of brewers, such as the Great American Beer Festival or the Craft Brewers Conference and others knew who you were talking about – was a Brewers Association staff member for more than 20 years.
A Celebration of Life is being planned in her hometown of Boulder, Colo. The family is collecting photos immediately for use at the memorial service. The Brewers Association has also created a page for friends to share thoughts and stories.
For too brief a time we got to work with Linda as she represented advertising sales on RealBeer.com and Pro Brewer. More than a colleague, anyone who knew her considered her a friend, a fellow beer lover and powerful, positive force of nature. She will be deeply missed by us all.
Alaskan Big Nugget Barley Wine (2004 vintage) took first place in judging that kicked off the Toronado Barley Wine Festival, which wraps up this weekend in San Francisco.
“I think it’s a real honor to win at the Toronado,†said Darin Jensen, an Alaskan Brewing quality assurance analyst and former brewer. “It’s great that our 2004 Big Nugget did so well, because it proves how well our barley wine ages.â€
Angel’s Share from Lost Abbey was second, while Hair of the Dog’s Doggie Claws and Uinta Brewing XI tied for third. Yes, Uinta, the 100% wind-powered Utah brewery.
Ninety judges assessed 54 beers in the competition, and as always it truly was a festival. Jay Brooks has photos to prove it.