Happy Birthday Liberty Ale, oh and me too

33 years ago tomorrow, something very special happened... Let's call it a 'happy little accident' or a 'pleasant surprise' as my parents would call it... That's right, 33 years ago, I was born... (What can I say, I'm getting old!)

So, my birthday weekend starts tonight with a tasty dinner with the Misses on a roof top patio restaurant in the local area and a nice cold beer to go with it. Looking at the beer menu on line for this place I see they offer Anchor Steam's Liberty Ale. Coincidently, 33 years ago today, Anchor Steam's Liberty Ale was born... So crack open a Liberty Ale with me this weekend and wish us both a Happy Birthday!

From the Anchor Steam website:

Liberty Ale was first introduced on April 18th, 1975 to commemorate the bicentennial of the famous ride by Paul Revere. Before it became a permanent year-round product, variations of our Liberty Ale formula enjoyed brief tenures as Our Special Ale, available at Christmastime.

One if by land, and two if by sea, and I on the roof top patio with a beer in my hand I shall be...

Tomorrow morning, I'm brewing up a batch of Witbier, and then heading out for a brunch of sorts at the local watering hole. After that, I'll see where the night takes me!

Cheers!

April 7th, 1933 - A Giant Ape & Beer Bash at the White House!

Can you tell me why April 7th, 1933 is such a big day in history? No, it's not because of the Anniversary of King Kong... Although it is...



It's because of beer of course! On April 7th, 1933, beer became the only legal alcoholic beverage in the United States, that is until the rest of Prohibition was repealed 8 months later on December 5th, 1933.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt had made a campaign promise to end the national ban on alcohol. Now that's a guy I would vote for! His first step was to urge Congress to modify the Volstead Act to allow the sale of 3.2 percent beer in advance of Prohibition’s ratification. On April 7, 1933, Roosevelt toasted the beginning of the end for Prohibition with newly legalized beer in hand at the White House. That must have been some party! By the next day, more than 1.5 million gallons of beer flowed as Americans celebrated, I wonder how many people called out sick the next day with a hang over?



If you're in the New York area this April 7th, why not stop by the FDR library and toast FDR and the return of beer to America.

• Anheuser-Busch has some interesting historical information on the big day.
• The Brewer's Association has more info here, find a celebration in your area with the drop down

Despite the fact that home brewing was not legalized until 1979, I plan to brew a batch, and possibly review a couple of beers to commemorate this day in history. How are you plan on celebrating 75 years of (legal) beer in America? Hopefully by legally and responsibly drinking quality beer.

Don't forget to mark your calendars for next Feb, which will mark the 30th anniversary of legal home brewing in the United States! Well it's legal for most of us, Alabama sucks! Here's some more information from Wikipedia...

In the US, when prohibition was repealed with the 21st Amendment, home wine-making was legalised. Homebrewing of beer should have also been legalised at this time, but a clerical error omitted the words "and/or beer" from the document which was eventually passed into law.^{[citation needed]} Thus, the home-brewing of beer remained illegal for several decades.

In November 1978, Congress passed a bill repealing Federal restrictions on the homebrewing of small amounts of beer. Jimmy Carter, 39th President of the United States, signed the bill into law in February 1979, and many states soon followed suit. However, this bill left individual states free to pass their own laws limiting production. For example, homebrewing is still illegal in the state of Alabama.

Cheers!

Thanksgiving beer pairing & Bob Skilnik

I'm going to hit the local package store tomorrow and pick up some beer for Thanksgiving. A couple buddies may stop in and share the meal with me and the wife, and I thought it would be cool to do some Turkey/Beer pairing.

Here's what the Brewers Association has to say about beer on Thanksgiving...

The Pilgrims were ale drinkers and most likely enjoyed beer at the first Thanksgiving. Indeed, a darkish ale has been brewed for feasts at Plymouth Plantation, the "living museum" of Pilgrim life, in Massachusetts.

That’s why more and more savvy Americans tap a great beer as the perfect companion for their holiday meal.

Seems fitting for me to have beer on Thanksgiving. Especially since members of my family claim to have traced our roots all the way to the Mayflower. Just one more reason to enjoy a quality beer.

They recommend something like an Oktoberfest or a Brown Ale as a good match for a roast turkey, and an all-malt pilsner, a dark lager or a red ale would go nicely with creamy butter rich items like mashed potatoes. I think I'd stick with something to pair with the Turkey and stuffing, as those are my favorites. But something to complement the low brow canned cranberry sauce I love so much would be cool too.

Anyone have any specific recommendations for a good craft beer I'm likely able to find at the local package store (which has a fair selection) that will complement my meal? If so, please leave a comment! I'm leaning towards a great Oktoberfest... Happy Thanksgiving!

Side bar: Bob Skilnik takes no "nonsense"
Apparently the silly quote below, which I found elsewhere online and included it on the side of the blog, is not true, and Bob Skilnik is calling me on it...

"When the pilgrims, seeking religious freedom, landed at Plymouth rock, the first permanent building put up was the brewery.” — Jim West

HA! Too funny! Relax Mr. Skilnik, I just thought it was a humorous and interesting quote, nothing more. I found it by doing a google search for brewery related quotes, and placed it next to my link to the beer mapping project (a great tool to find breweries). You can find this quote, right, wrong or indifferent, on any number of quote web sites. I did not create the quote and make no claim to any historic relevance. I suggest you take this up with Jim West. I don't know who he is either, sorry...

Thanks for keeping us all honest. I'm flattered you read my blog despite all the "nonsense" I include.

New York City Beer Tour Part II: McSorley's

After the long walk to Barcade, we found that it wasn't open for business yet. Not a big deal, we would need to find our way back to Brooklyn by the end of our adventure so we could get back to Chris's truck and make our way home. Barcade would be our final stop...

So, I whipped out my trusty GPS device and quickly located McSorley's Old Ale House, based on the recommendations of our new friends we met at Brooklyn Brewery's tasting room. Good thing Chris knows the subway system, because I don't... As you can see from the photo above, the place was established back in 1834, when the nation was only but a 58 year old pup in the big scary world. Needless to say, this place is full of history, oh and beer too...

It was nice of the chick in red to walk into our photo like that...

Speaking of walking into photos... I noticed Kenn managed to avoid the camera's all seeing eye for most of this adventure. So you're blessed with yet another shot of me and Chris enjoying some fine NYC beer. I can't explain what the heck is happening to my face in this image, but I can only assume it is symptomatic of my joy and excitement when I learned McSorley's give you two beers when you ask for one. Granted they're not that big, but I do so enjoy a good deal when I see one...

McSorley's beer, is good honest beer, and it only comes in two styles; dark and lite. (McSorley's Cream Stock Ale and McSorley's Famous Lager) Don't be fulled by the term lite, it merely refers to the color and flavor of the beer, this isn't some weenie diet beer that I often find myself drinking in the hopes of keeping old man obesity off my trail. This is real beer and a real bar...

The image above captured one of the more unique highlights of the day for me. Our friends over at Brooklyn Brewery told me about a chandelier covered in turkey wish bones and a thick layer of dust, hanging over the bar at McSorley's. Ordinarily, I would find this to be a pretty nasty bio hazard in place where I purchase fine food and beverages, but there's a pretty compelling back story here. (Take a tour)

Apparently a large group of regulars enjoyed a last beer together at McSorley's before shipping out to fight in one of the World Wars. I'm pretty sure it was WWII, but I can't confirm that. At any rate, the story goes like this...

The men enjoyed a few round together knowing full well that the last beer that night might very well be their last beer ever. So they all hung their wish bones on the light fixture, toasted each other, and vowed they would come back after the war and take down their bones together and perhaps make a wish for bright future. The bones that remain are from the boys that didn't make it back from the war and the bones remain as a monument of sorts, so we never forget the price they paid for our freedom. The dust is there because no one touches the bones out of respect.

As a military man myself, this hit home. We toasted those boys that left their bones behind, thanking them for what they did...

Chris reflects on the toast we made to those that never returned.

We didn't stay at McSorley's very long because the place was packed. Not a free table in the joint. But I was glad we got the chance to see the place and enjoy a couple of beers. I hope to return on a less busy day so I can take in all the history that covers nearly every inch of the place. The walls are covered with old photos, newspaper clippings, awards, etc. There's a lot to see here.

As stated previously, beer makes Chris happy. Apparently it makes me look up...

I wonder who's job it is to update the number every year...

A view of me and Chris talking it up... Kenn was not feeling so well at this point of the day, so he decided to sit the beer drinking out for a little bit and man the camera... Poor Kenn... Bah! More beer for us!

"We were here before you were born..." Very true...

Kenn finally gave up the camera...

And on that note, I'll end this lengthy post. Next time I'll wrap up this whole New York City beer tour with some additional locations, images and some final thoughts. Stay tuned!!!

In case you missed the early parts of this tour check them out here!

• New York City Beer Tour Part 1
• Part 1.2: Brooklyn Brewery images
  
• A final video clip from Brooklyn Brewery
  

Homebrewbeer.net's Boston Beer Tour Part 3

All roads lead to beer...

Check out Part 1 and Part 2 if you haven't already done so...

My original plan for the Boston Beer Tour included some stops at historic pubs along the way. A great way to sample some of Boston's bar scene, while learning a little about Boston's past. But, the best laid plans of mice and men...

After our Boston Brewery (Sam Adams) tour, we skipped Doyle's Cafe and high-tailed it across town to the Harpoon Brewery. Some of our fellow travelers were too anxious to wait for the next tour. I was a little annoyed at my master plan being altered, but that's par for the course when it comes to group activities and group dynamics.

The gang in the Harpoon tasting room.

Beer Tour Tip # 1
If you're really into beer, and the plan, beware who you take with you. And if your friends are single guys, keep in mind the single females that are with you will have more influence than you will. That maybe true if the genders are swapped, but I couldn't be sure. If anyone has any insight, feel free to chime in.

What did we miss? Not really sure...
Doyle's Cafe has supposedly seen quite few famous people, including politicians, enjoying a good pint. It's also served as the backdrop for different TV shows and movies. My thought was it was near the brewery, it's recommended by the brewery, it's a well known cool place to grab a brew and some good bar chow, and it's historical. Why not stop in? I thought a bite to eat would slow the pace of the day down just enough so we could get Harpoon with out the fear of too much beer, too early in the day. But "they" wouldn't have it... So off to Harpoon we went, while I bit my tongue...

It was intended to look like we were holding the sign up,
instead we look like Barker's Beauties from the Price is Right.

We got to Harpoon a little early for the next tour. Too early for the anxious females in our group, although they were in a hurry to get there and skip Doyle's Cafe. If we stuck to my plan, we would have had a good lunch and then made it to Harpoon for the slightly later tour at exactly the right time, but NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

When we last left our hero, he was battling the diabolical Lobster...

A brief interlude
We were there early enough to walk down the street and grab a beer at a small deli, but not early enough to sit and eat. The funny thing was, they wouldn't serve us beer unless we ate something. So we ordered a small order of coleslaw and a handful of plastic forks.

May I have this dance?

We didn't eat the coleslaw, but after a few dances with the giant lobster in front of the place, we drank the beers over a brisk walk back to Harpoon. This was a little challenging as we had to avoid the attention of the nice Boston Police Officer in the next parking lot who would probably take issue with us drinking beer on our walk. We got back to Harpoon just in time for a quick pit stop and then we were ready for the tour.

Behold the power of beer!

What ever you do, don't push the red button!

"You mean the brewery is all mine now Mr. Wonka?"

Onto to the Harpoon tour!
Now to be clear, Harpoon doesn't really do tours, not really. We could look at brewery floor from behind a red rope, and the folks that worked there gave us a run down of the company's history and current state of affairs. After that, they opened the tasting room and gave us nearly unlimited free samples of 12 different beers they had on tap. (Remember kids, drink in moderation, it's about quality and no quantity!!!)

Harpoon has this cool wall of beer set up.
Beer cans from a tone of different companies, it was beautiful, I had to take a few photos.

Man! We look a little light in the loafers in this pic!

It was at this point that Dave, Erik and the ladies chipped in and purchased me a cool Harpoon tap handle as a thank you to me for planning the day. What a cool surprise! Frankly I was touched... I felt like Sally Field wining the Oscar, "You like me, you really like me!"

"You like me, you really like me!"

Just a cool photo I took of a ship just out side where we had lunch

The gang at lunch, and more or less the untimely end of my Boston Beer Tour...

When the party, I mean tour, was over, we went to a restaurant down the street, instead of the Bell in Hand, the next stop in my original plan. Apparently the girls were in a hurry to eat, and then move on. Much to the chagrin of my buddies, they had other plans for the evening. Plans that didn't include the rest of my beer tour, or any of us, but did include visiting an ex-boyfriend and crashing at his apartment after a night on the town with him. We discovered all of this as we ate our lunch. They were rushing us, so they could move onto phase 2 of their diabolical plan.

"Don't make me destroy you!"

Now don't get me wrong...
Dave and Erik weren't trying to have a romantic interlude with our female friends. And the girls were a lot of fun, I'm exaggerating here for comic effect. (mostly) A little artistic license if you will. But they did kind of alter our plans significantly and they did end up more or less ditching us for the ex... But to be honest, we all had a hand in ruining the day. It all happened the night before...

Beer Tour Tip # 2
Don't go out really late the night before an all day beer tour. Because that's exactly what we all did the night before this tour. A friend's sister was leaving for her home country the next morning, so we treated her to an American night out on the town. Completely stupid. The lack of sleep, the heavy meal, it all kicked in, and it was time to take a nap.

The plan is all history now...
I had planned on taking the lead from this guy, and finishing the day off with a historic walking beer tour. We weren't going to take his tour, but we were going to wing it and do it on our own. Instead, we ended up getting a couple hotel rooms, napping and then hitting a dueling piano bar near Fenway (LOL!). The next morning we drove home. Anti-climactic isn't it?

On our way to the hotel we drove by "Cheers"...

Looking to the future...
I still think the over all plan is a solid one. And I will make another attempt at the historic beer tour starting with the Bell in Hand. But I think I'll hold off until next year. Now, I have my eyes focused on Connecticut and New York City.

Stay tuned!

And they lived happily ever after, the end...

Beer Haiku, Sexy bottle opener & Columbus

It's Friday, the end of a hellacious week of work, time to crack open a brew and have a few laughs. While you're waiting to go out for a beer with your friends, check out Beer Haiku Daily, "A simple poem each day to celebrate one of life’s simple pleasures."

Or check out this video and have a beer!



Now where did I put that bottle opener? Ahh yes, it's in my pants!

Take note, I bottle recent batch of English Pale Ale this Monday on Columbus Day. Speaking of Columbus, did you know...

European beer first arrived in America with Christopher Columbus' ships. On his last voyage to America in 1502, Columbus found the natives of Central America making a first-rate brew "of maize, resembling English beer".

Sounds like a very fitting day to bottle my beer, no?

Also, I'll finally get to blogging about my semi-recent brewery tour extravaganza in Boston later next week! Stay tuned and have a great weekend!

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