Going green with New Belgium

Posted In Beer culture, Breweries at   

NBC Nightly News featured New Belgium Brewing in Colorado as part of its “America Goes Green” series.

The report started with the rules that founders Kim Jordan and Jeff Lebesch set from the outset: “Having fun, brewing world class beer, promoting beer culture and being environment stewards.”

It included the fact the brewery is wind-powered, its treatment of waste water, its efficient use of water (in a water-intense business) and more.

You can read the story at the MSNBC site or use the link there to watch the video.

Czech Zatec bound for US

Posted In Beers at   

ZatecImporter Merchant du Vin will begin distributing a Czech beer with decidedly Old World links in June.

Zatecky Pivovar, which brews Zatec beer, claims a heritage that goes back to paying brewing taxes in 1004. The town of Zatec is located in the The Zatec region, famous as the home of aromatic Zatec hops, better known by their German name of Saaz.

While brewing originally was conducted to supply beer for the castle on the site the brewery now occupies, the present complex was built in 1801. Many of the brewing vessels date from the later part of the 19th century.

British beer writer Roger Protz visited the brewery in 2002 and described brewing conducted in a most traditional manner, starting with a double decoction mash and continuing through lengthy lagering. He wrote:

“The lager cellars at Zatec are 80 feet below ground. There are 120 tanks, of which 68 are currently employed. They were installed in 1863: prior to that, the lagering tanks were made of wood. The tanks are ranged horizontally: there is a firm belief in the Czech Republic that lagering or cold conditioning is slower in horizontal tanks than in upright conical vessels. As a result, some malt sugars remain in the beer, creating a fuller and more complex palate.”

Zatec brews beers that are 10, 11 and 12 degrees, using the Czech Balling rating. The brewery will ship the 11 degree beer, 4.6% abv, to the United States.

Barley demand could brew higher beer prices

Posted In Breweries, News at   

Canada’s beer companies have issued a news release stating they want Prairie farmers to grow malting barley.

Ron Waldman, president and CEO of Saskatoon’s Great Western Brewing Company and a board member of the Brewers Association of Canada, says the brewers association is only taking the first step to “open a dialogue” with farmers. He says Western Canada remains one of the best places in the world to grow top-quality malting barley, but the beer industry is worried recent trends, such as farmers growing grain for biofuel production, will affect traditional agricultural land use.

A poor barley crop in Europe in 2006 and rising demand for biofuels worldwide already have beer drinkers in Germany worrying about higher beer prices. The long term implications apply to beer drinkers across the globe.

Plant your own beer garden

Posted In Just for fun at   

Before you gets your hopes up, the Canadian humor site The Toque may be funny but not authoritative. Still you have to love this idea:

People will generally buy bottled beer out of convenience, but there is nothing quite as satisfying as the sweet nectar grown from your very own beer garden.

It even includes handy tips:

– Plant your beer garden in a secure place, away from curious teenagers or alcoholic neighbors.
– Long-neck bottles are easier to pull out of the ground than stubbies.
– Don’t drink your beer before its time. Green beer is often sour or tart, and you’ll probably have to chase it down with a shot of whiskey.
– Avoid over-planting. Too many beers in one garden will result in a watery, low-alcohol “lite” beer.

The story is good to the last drop.

Wyeast debuts gluten-free yeast

Posted In Homebrewing, Trends at   

Wyeast Laboratories will soon begin selling two of its most popular yeasts to homebrewers in gluten-free form. The Oregon yeast lab already offers the yeast to commercial brewing companies.

Wyeast 1272 GF American Ale II and Wyeast 2206 GF Bavarian Lager will be sold in Activator Pure Pitchable Yeast packages.
The gluten-free yeast will be offered to home brewers via Wyeast’s quarterly VSS – Very Special Strains – Promotion beginning July 1. The VSS Promotions feature strains of yeast otherwise unavailable to homebrewers. Wyeast expects these gluten free strains to be continued as permanent offerings when this introductory promotion has ended.

Jess Caudill, product and process development microbiologist at Wyeast reports that these strains have performed well in test brews at the lab, and at independent test breweries and labs. Yeast vitality and overall cell count will be comparable to Wyeast’s current popular products.

Due to an increase in celiac disease, gluten intolerance and wheat and barley allergies, gluten-free products are one of the fastest growing sectors in the food industry. While much of the attention has centered on find grains to replace barley and wheat malts – the two most commonly used in brewing – using gluten free yeast is just as important.

Until recently, commercial or homebrewers who want to brew beer free of gluten had to propagate their own yeast in a gluten-free medium.

Aussies get lower alcohol choice

Posted In Trends at   

Headline: Boutique beers sales up 12%, mainstream sales flat.

Just another quarterly update from the United States? No, this is from Australia.

In reaction, Foster’s has decided for the first time to produce a weaker version of Victoria Bitter (also known as VB), putting a yellow-label on the 3.5% abv beer. VB, which has been around 113 years, is 5% and is known for its distinctive green label.

Reuters reports that hundreds of craft breweries are opening and aiming to rival small European makers, turning Australians away from traditional lagers and on to more complex beer styles.

McEwans cask 80 rises from the dead

Posted In Beer culture, Beers at   

A traditional Edinburgh pub has brought McEwans cask 80/- ale back to life.

Scottish & Newcastle ended a century old tradition by phasing out the at the end of 2006. Athletic Arms contacted microbreweries in a bid to produce a replacement that was as near to the original as possible.

Eric Milligan, a regular in the pubs said: “The 80/- was a very important part of Edinburgh’s heritage, so I am delighted to see that it has been returned to the Athletic Arms.”

[Via the BBC]

Beer Activists help save Ohio beer

Posted In Breweries, News at   

Beer ActivistsThis is how beer activism works.

The Brewers Association recently formed “Beer Activists: Support Your Local Brewery,” a national union of beer enthusiasts, professional trade associations and brewers. SYLB is dedicated to supporting and protecting the legislative and regulatory interests of small, traditional and independent craft breweries.

Just last week the Ohio state legislature was considering a bill that contained language that would limit the distribution of craft beer so that brewpubs were required to sell through a wholesaler. Crazy, huh?

The Support Your Local Brewery website reports:

With a floor vote scheduled in less than 24 hours, Ohio members of the Support Your Local Brewery network were alerted and generated dozens of grassroots contacts to legislators’ offices. By April 20th, the offending provision had been pulled from the bill. Your efforts, coupled with the outreach carried on by many Ohio small brewers, turned this threat back, one which would have almost certainly hamstrung many breweries and potentially closed many brewpubs.

KevBrews reported on this as it was happening.

Visit Support Your Local Brewery to become an Activist.

Pizza beer . . . no, really

Posted In Beer & Food, Beers at   

Pizza and beer, a natural, yes?

But pizza beer? For the next few weeks, Walter Payton’s Roundhouse will be offering pizza beer on its menu — flavored with tomato, basil, oregano and garlic.

Homebrewer Tom Seefurth of St. Charles earned the right to have his beer made at the suburban Chicago brewery based on its success in homebrew competitions. Walter Payton’s brewmaster Mike Rybinski annually scales up a prize-winning homebrew batch to serve at the restaurant.

“Most people have pizza and beer; now you can have pizza in beer,” Rybinski said. “It’ll go great with pastas and all sorts of stuff.”

“The French are always famous for pairing their wine with food, and I wanted to create a beer that’s good with food,” Seefurth said. “And what’s America’s favorite food? Pizza.”

A-B puts fruit in Michelob Ultra

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Michelob Ultra fruit beersAnheuser-Busch has rolled out three fruit-flavored versions of its Michelob Ultra brand.

The three flavors – Pomegranate Raspberry, Lime Cactus and Tuscan Orange Grapefruit – will be available through Labor Day. They are sold in 12-bottle packs featuring all three varieties, and in single-flavor six-packs.

– A-B has also brewed an all-malt Bohemian pilsner for the Florida market – an extension of its program to brew regional beers in its regional breweries. Tarpon Spoon is brewed with two-row malt and a touch of toasted malt. It is spiced using Saaz and Tettnanger hops.

Science and a better beer head

Posted In Just for fun, News at   

U.S. mathematicians have come up with a formula that predicts how the head on a beer will change after pouring. Details of their work appears in the journal Nature.

The research could have applications in metallurgy, as the BBC explains, but any brewer will tell you there many contributors to pouring and retaining a good head.

Here are the basics from the math guys:

Writing in Nature, Robert MacPherson, from the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, and David Srolovitz, from Yeshiva University in New York, describe an equation that works in three dimensions, as well as four, five and six dimensions.

“What happens in beer, is the small bubbles shrink, the big bubbles grow,” Professor Srolovitz told BBC News.

“Eventually, the big bubbles pop – although they pop for slightly different reasons. On Earth, there’s gravity and the liquid that’s within the walls tends to drain out back into the beer. The walls get thinner and thinner and eventually they pop.”

A-B revenues rise less than expected

Posted In Breweries at   

Anheuser-Busch Cos., the nation’s largest brewer, notched higher first-quarter sales and earnings as its high-end import brands and international operations drove growth. But the company’s core domestic brands struggled to hang onto sales and market share, and earnings missed analysts’ consensus expectations.

Results were disappointing because beer shipments in the U.S. grew half a percentage point, and would have fallen 0.7 % by volume if not for the infusion of new brands such as Stella Artois and Bass Pale Ale. A-B started importing those beers and 17 other European brews from Belgian brewer InBev on Feb. 1.

[Via the St. Louis Post-Dispatch]

Happy employees at New Belgium

Posted In Breweries at   

The Coloradoan in Fort Collins reports New Belgium Brewing Co. has 7% turnover per year, astonishingly low compared to the regional average of 23%.

The reasons go beyond the cruiser bike workers get after one year at the company and the trip to Belgium after five years, said Bryan Simpson, media relations director.

Are happy employees one of the reasons New Belgium’s beers are so popular? Read the story to help decide.

Deschutes shines down under

Posted In Beers at   

Deschutes Brewery from Oregon and Boston-based Samuel Adams were the biggest winners among American breweries competing for Australian International Beer Awards.

The competition featured 941 entries, with U.S. competition up markedly because of the Brewers Association Export Development Program. Twenty-one U.S. breweries brought home trophies.

Deschutes won Champion Large International Brewery and also Champion Stout (for Obsidian Stout). Deschsutes won four gold medals, six silver and one bronze. Samuel Adams won four gold, seven silver and five bronze. Pelican Pub & Brewery in Oregon nearly reached double figures, winning two golds and seven silvers.

Weihenstephan Brewery in Germany won the Grand Champion trophy with Weihenstephan Kristall.

All the results.

BJ’s moves into Florida

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The BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse chain has opened its first Florida location in Orlando, with another to follow soon.

Plans now call for BJ’s to slowly grow north from Central Florida along the eastern seaboard, with similar expansion in the Midwest, said Chief Financial Officer Greg Levins.

BJ’s brews its own beer in a limited number of its locations, which also make beer for others in the chain.

Beer for Orlando and the restaurants that will open in Tampa are made at Saint Arnold Brewing in Houston.