Overcoming a Frat Party Reputation - NYTs

Check out this cool article featuring the guys from BeerAdvocate.com...


Here's some standout clippings from the article...

On sites like beeradvocate.com, ratebeer.com and realbeer.com, in blogs and bars, restaurants and stores in about every big city, beer cognoscenti debate and argue over beer styles, issues of authenticity, alcohol levels and of course which beers they like best.

Or this little gem that equates beer geeks to sci-fi and computer geeks...

Without the pastoral mystique that has been appropriated by wine producers or the suave, sophisticated imagery of the wine drinker, beer lovers have largely retreated to the antistyle precincts associated with such proverbial social outcasts as computer nerds and science fiction fanatics.

Bizarre facial hair, unflattering T-shirts and strange headgear are standard equipment among beer geeks.“Before the Internet, computer nerds felt on the outside but now they’re accepted,” Todd said. “I think beer geeks are the same way. We’ll look back 10 years from now and remember what it was like.”

read more | digg story

First Gas and Now Beer, Prices on the Rise

Hops and malt, key ingredients in your beer are getting more expensive, and so your next six-pack might be a little more expensive.

Consumers could pay 50 cents to $1 per six pack more in the coming months for many small-batch ''craft beers'' as brewers pass on rising hops and barley costs from an unpalatable brew of poor harvests, the weak dollar and farmers' shift to more profitable crops. Other makers of craft beers, the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. brewing industry, say they may eat the higher ingredient costs, which would pare their profits.

Well that sucks! Russ Klisch is the president of Lake Front Brewery in Milwaukee fears some micro-breweries may not even survive the crisis. I wonder if this effect the prices of home brewing kits and ingredients as well. Anyone have any insight into that?

Steve Kuftinec, sales and operations manager at Uinta Brewing Co. said, "I seriously doubt that there will be any new brewers wanting to get into the industry under these conditions. And we'll probably see some just deciding that with these prices, it's no longer worth it."

The larger beer companies like Anheuser-Busch use less barley and hops in their beer, hence the weak taste. And they have more buying power than your favorite micro-brew so they can lock in lower prices. In other words, the mass produced lower quality beers will survive, but some of our smaller production favorites might be jeopardy. It was the larger brewing companies that survived the prohibition, smaller craft brewing took years to come back.

Let's all hope this crisis doesn't have the same affect on the industry...

Home Brewers in Iran and Iraq?

I recently added a "Live Traffic Feed" from Feedjit to the bottom right hand side of this blog to track what site visitors of going to what pages from what countries. It's a pretty interesting little tool that even provides a Google map that locates where your most recent site visitors
are located. You can see the map here.


There's many interesting locations listed, with a high concentration in the USA, some in Europe, Australia, Asia and even the Middle East. I found it particularly interesting that I got at least 1 hit from in or around Baghdad, Iraq and 2 hits from 2 locations within Iran!

At fist I thought the cause may have been some key word search that led to this post:

• Where was beer born? Iraq?!?

But that was not the case, according to Feedjit, the site visitor from Iraq went here instead:

• Brew-Day step by step

Could it be that some poor beer deprived troop or contractor in Baghdad is secretly learning to brew his or her own beer? Learning from my mistakes? And what's up in Iran?

You can't drink beer in Iran, at least not beer with alcohol in it. A little slice of irony Mr Behi, and Iranian blogger, has not failed to notice. Although his statement that beer was born in Iran contradicts my post that Iraq was the birthplace of beer. Then again Iraq and Iran are right next to each other, and I suppose today's borders didn't mean anything back then, so who knows, right?

So if you can only drink non-alcoholic beer in Iran, could it be that some revolutionaries in Iran are visiting my site to learn how to secretly make their own beer and provide it to the oppressed masses? These are the pages they came to see:

• Tips and Info on using the Hydrometer

• Brew-Day step by step

I suppose there are no home brewers or beer drinkers in Iran either, ehhh Mr. Ahmadinejad?

At any rate, all beer lovers are welcome here... I hope one day you can all raise a glass of real beer and toast freedom... Until then, keep on brewing and don't let your Government catch you!

Where was beer born? Iraq?!?

I have today off from work, and I intended on bottling my latest home brew today, but after seeking advice elsewhere, I've decided to let the brew sit another week first. So now what do I do with my day off? How about do a little reading?

Question of the moment: Where was beer born?

Answer: Mesopotamia (That would be the southern portion of present-day Iraq) Beer started off as a religious experience, but now the beer goddess is schilling beer to the women of the UK. Her recipes were found on an ancient stone in Iraq, and the guys over at Anchor Brewing tried to recreate some of them...

Read this interesting article about the birth of beer in Mesopotamia, and it's eventual decline as the geopolitical world changed around it.

Beer was born in Iraq?!?

Well it wasn't Iraq at the time, but geographically speaking, yes, yes it was... This is ironic, at least for me. I've spent a good amount of time in the Middle East, in various countries, and beer is almost always taboo.

One of the hardest parts of deploying to the Middle East as a member of the US armed forces (besides avoiding bodily injury) is the lack of beer. In an attempt to not offend our allies in the region (most of whom have religious based disdain for alcohol) the military follows what is called General Order 1.

General Order 1 prohibits the consumption of alcohol and sexual activities by United States Department of Defense personnel while in a combat zone. In other words, all fun has been canceled.

I'm all for keeping good relations with our allies in the region. And honestly, a lack of beer, as hard and bothersome as it is, is good for my beer gut. The occasional deployment can be like a fat farm, giving you the break from temptation long enough to drop some excess weight. But sitting in 140 + degrees in the desert begs for an ice cold beer. It's a challenge, so thank a war Vet today and remember his or her sacrifices, both big and small.

I wonder if Southern Iraq is ready for a rebirth of Sumerian Beer? Maybe the folks in Iraq can add kick ass beer to list of money making exports? Apparently someone tried to do just that...

Anyone ever here of the Eastern Brewery Co, in Iraq? Me neither, and I guess it's already out of business. This is all I could find on the now "retired" Ferida Lager.

An Iraqi beer who have travelled a long way through the desert to reach me. I must admit not to have expected to much from it. It has deep golden colour, not soapy yellow as in my prejudices. Fruity aroma. Surpisingly it has chewy maltiness and crystal malt character. It is clean, medium bodied and medium sweet, and finishes with low bitterness. Actually a tasty and well made lager. - omhper Stockholm, Sweden - Date: May 19, 2002

A tasty well made lager... Too bad it's retired... Anyone else out there have more info on the now defunct Eastern Brewery Company? I mean it was trading on the Iraqi Stock Exchange at one point...

I hope beer takes hold in Iraq, along side democracy that is. It might do them all some good to chill out and enjoy a good beer now and then. I think Iraq needs a beer advocate, don't you?

Here's an Iraqi Blogger's explanation on what it takes to get a beer in Baghdad. Posting a link to this guy in no way indicates that he and I are on the same sheet of music politically. To be honest, I didn't read anything on his blog beyond the beer post. Politics be damned, this is a blog about beer, not politics! ;-)

Iraqi men drink in public by the Tigris river in Baghdad
in the early evening before curfew.
Public drinking has increased since
the fall of the Saddam regime. Photo: Jason South

O'zapft is! Oktoberfest has begun!

Yes, it's Oktoberfest once again. But, do you really know what Oktoberfest is? Is it just a bunch of beer loving Germans swilling large tankers of fine German beer? Or is it more?

Read up on what Oktoberfest is all about over at Wikipedia...

The Oktoberfest is a two-week festival held each year in Munich, Bavaria, Germany during late September and early October. It is one of the most famous events in the city and the world's largest fair, with some six million people attending every year.

The event traditionally takes place during the 16 days up to and including the first Sunday in October. The schedule was changed following German reunification in 1990 so that if the first Sunday in October falls on the 1st or 2nd, then the festival will go on until October 3rd (German Unity Day). Thus, the festival is now 17 days when the 1st Sunday is October 2nd and 18 days when it is October 1st. The festival is held on an area named the Theresienwiese (Field [or meadow] of Therese), often called "d’ Wiesn" for short. Beer plays a central role in the fair, with every festival beginning with a keg of beer tapped by the Mayor of Munich who declares "O'zapft is!" (Bavarian: "It’s tapped!"). A special Oktoberfest beer is brewed for the occasion, which is slightly darker and stronger, in both taste and alcohol. It is served in a one-liter-tankard called Maß. The first mass is served to the Bavarian Minister-President. Only local Munich breweries are allowed to serve this beer in a Bierzelt, a beer tent which is large enough for thousands. Note: the words 'stein' and 'lager' do not mean what many English speakers think they do so instead use 'Mass' or 'Helles' respectively

Visitors also consume large quantities of food, most of it traditional hearty fare such as sausage, hendl (chicken), käsespätzle (cheese noodles), and sauerkraut, along with such Bavarian delicacies as roast ox tails.

Other cities across the world also hold Oktoberfest celebrations, modeled after the Munich event.

OK, so it's not just about beer, it's also about food! But why is it call Oktoberfest, when it starts in September?

In 1819, The town fathers of Munich took over festival management. They decided that the Oktoberfest should be celebrated every year without exception. Later, it was lengthened and the date pushed forward. The reason being that the end of September in Bavaria often has very good weather. The high temperature in the first week of Oktoberfest nears 30 °C which stimulates the thirst of the visitors.

Well that makes sense, and Septemberfest doesn't sound as good either, now does it?

Check out the official Oktoberfest website here!

Plenty of photos, here and here!

Beer is good for you

I found a could of sites that list the top reasons why drinking beer is good for you. Here are some examples...

Beer is Good for your Liver

Alcohol expands the small blood vessels in the liver. This speeds up metabolism so it can help clean all the toxins out of the liver. This is from Beer Net Publication, April 2001 Biological Institute.

Beer Cures Insomnia

Lactoflavin and nicotinic acid, both present in beer, can promote sleep. Also hops are a natural sedative.

Drinking beer help in combating cancer, cardiovascular disease (CVD) and other immune system attacking diseases.

Hops contain compounds that are unique and rare in nature –like prenyl flavonoids (8PN) which are phytoestrogens that are natural plant based compounds, which mimics the natural oestrogens in the body (Bingham et al 1998). The highest 8PN levels in beers have been found in dark and bitter ales and stouts and from craft breweries where whole hopping is practised.

Beer Fends off Gallstones

According to Professor Oliver James at the University of Newcastle, beer protects against gallstones and kidney stones.

Just a little something to think about tonight at Happy Hour! Read more here and here

First time brewer goes flat in front of Jim Koch

Michael S. Marsh over at the Cigar Aficionado recently gave home brewing a try at the urging of the one and only Jim Koch. The good folks from Sam Adams sent Mr. Marsh a home brew kit to promote their 2007 Samuel Adams American Homebrew Challenge.

When the time came to show off his creation to Mr. Koch here's what happened...

He was genuinely happy to see that I had attempted what he has been so successful at, and immediately cracked one open. His first impression was encouraging. From the aroma, he was surprised that it was my first homebrew. He noted hops, citrus and a flowery note.

So far so good, but then...

Then came his first sip and it was back down to earth for this homebrewer. It wasn't that it tasted bad, in fact, he said, it tasted very good compared to thousands of homebrews he'd sampled in the past, just that it was lacking carbonation. He questioned if I had properly sealed the caps as he felt gas might have escaped. It should be more carbonated, he said, and suggested that adding an extra teaspoon of priming sugar could help, but most likely it was because I hadn't crimped the bottle caps tight enough.

Damn. I was positive those caps were on as secure as they could be. Oh well, I was happy with the results.

Happy with the results? He's delusional! Damn, Mr. Koch went easy on him! LOL! I'm just kidding! But that must have been a little embarrassing, falling short in the face of a beer making legend. Live and learn I guess...

Open Source Beer, Brilliant Idea...

OK, so this is probably old news for the wiser and more worldly beer lovers of the world, but it's news to me...

Denver’s Flying Dog Brewery today announced plans to release what is believed to be the first “open source” beer to hit the market in the U.S. “Open source” is a term most commonly used in the software industry and refers to any program whose source code is made available for use or modification as users or other developers see fit. In this case, Flying Dog’s Open Source Beer Project will allow beer drinkers and homebrewers to create and recommend changes and modifications to the recipe.

I think this is a BRILLIANT idea! The cool thing is, if the beer is good, you can make it yourself at home with the open source recipe...

sixpacks for soldiers

Somethings transcend political and idealogical differences. A combined love of beer and respect for our armed forces is a perfect example of "Beer-Partisanship".

I submit the following link for your review... www.sixpacksforsoldiers.com

No politics - just beer.

Six Packs for Soldiers is a "beer-partisan" campaign to thank our troops. We are grateful Republicans, Democrats, and Independents joined in a simple mission - we want to buy our soldiers a beer. And you can help:

Simply click here to upload a photo of yourself toasting the troops with a beer (or non-alcoholic alternative, if you prefer). For every "virtual toast" we get, we will deliver one real beer to a soldier (thanks to our sponsors for springing for it).

Red state, blue state? Who cares! Liberal, conservative? Doesn't matter! We've got our differences...that's true. But for just a moment, we are putting them aside, joining together, and sending a frothy, refreshing "thank you" to our fighting men and women. Please join us, make a toast, and make this just the first thing of many that you do to help these brave men and women.

A the time of this posting, the sixpacksforsoldiers campaign has ended. But they already extended the deadline once, maybe they'll do it again if enough of us send in our pics...

From what I understand, Sam Adams was a big supporter of this effort, donating a ton of free beer and not looking for a pat on the back in the process. Brewer, Patriot, INDEED!

Are you a beer snob?

From time to time, I'll be taking a break from home brewing discussion to highlight beer related news stories that catch my eye. Here's the first one. Are "beer snobs" taking over the pub scene? One many seems to think so...

This article is pretty funny. Apparently Mike Seate, from the Tribune-Review, prefers his beer simple and cheap. In this piece he discusses the trend, as he perseaves it, of beer drinking becoming more like wine tasting mixed with a heavy dose of over priced geekiness. I love this particular quote:

To be fair, these places are usually dense with bearded guys in tattered wool sweaters who can rattle off the complex brewing methods of odd brands the way Star Trek enthusiasts can speak fluent Klingon. Likewise, some of our city's beer emporiums have elevated the formerly simple act of purchasing a pint to something akin to a haute wine tasting; elaborate back stories are offered about strange orders of Trappist Belgian monks who craft their beers in dank basements using recipes as closely guarded as the holy grail.

Evidently, Mr. Seate misses the good old days of cheap coors from a can and a no frill bowl of beer nuts. I personally live in a world where both ways of enjoying a tastey cold beer can live side by side in peace. I enjoy a quality beer, but will swing back a few cheap mass produced beers on an occasion. There's a time and place for every beer in my world.

Here's what the guys over at the beer advocate think... How about you?