• Olympic Beer is Made with Substances Banned for Athletes

    July 30, 2012 Author: Scott
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    With the Summer Olympics in full swing, I thought it would be fun to post about a beer the Olympians can’t drink.  It’s made by a BrewDog and is called “Never Mind the Anabolics”.  What can’t the Olympians drink this beer?  It laced with substances banned by the Olympics.

    Scottish craft brewery, BrewDog has today unveiled a limited edition beer it hopes will undermine global sponsorship deals for this summer’s games, called Never Mind the Anabolics. Designed to ‘unmask the corporate beast’ of the world’s biggest sporting event and highlight the shallow nature of sponsorship, the new beer contains creatine, guarana, lycii berries, kola nut, Gingko, matcha tea, maca powder and steroids – all of which are banned for professional athletes.

    • Never Mind the Anabolics is available today from BrewDog.com
    • A percentage of the proceeds going towards a new surfboard for surfing dog called Abbie, an added snub to professional sports sponsorship
    • The new IPA contains a total of 8 ingredients that are banned for professional athletes due to performance enhancing effects
    • Brew Dog has utilised social media by publishing a video, hoping to achieve tens of thousands of views, and has embarked on a Twitter campaign using the hashtag # You can get more info here to know more about social media influence. Fake The Stage inviting its 23k followers to joke about tenuous sponsorship opportunities the games has yet to tap into
    • This isn’t the first time the brewery has taken to social media to bring down the establishment, having previously launched the #andthewinnerisnot campaign targeting global giant Diageo

    James Watt, cofounder of BrewDog commented:

    “It seems a beer laced with performance enhancing ingredients isn’t actually illegal, but it is definitely frowned upon. However, we don’t think Never Mind the Anabolics is as absurd and obnoxious as the tenuous sponsorship deals from fast food chains and global mega breweries that seem to define the people’s games. A burger, can of fizzy pop and an industrial lager are not the most ideal preparation for the steeple chase or the dressage (for human or horse). So we decided to give the athletes something that was going to make them happier and better. A way to relax before a big event and at the same time, increase your chances of winning.”

    This is a well done PR stunt for sure, but I’d love to taste the beer and see if it’s any good, after all, I don’t think I have to worry about getting tested by the International Olympic Committee.

  • Summer Ale homebrew

    July 27, 2012 Author: Scott
    2 Comments

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  • [Infographic] World’s Strongest and Strangest Beers

    July 27, 2012 Author: Scott
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    Source: http://visual.ly/most-bizarre-and-strongest-beers-ever

  • New York Governor Signs Legislation to Strengthen Craft Brewing Industry

    July 26, 2012 Author: Scott
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    It’s good to see local governments getting behind the craft brewing industry.  New York recently signed legislation that will help small business owners, but more specifically will help brewers and the farmers that support the brewing process.  The bill works by easing tax burdens on small breweries.

    The package of laws will keep a tax benefit for small breweries intact and exempt them from paying an annual State Liquor Authority fee. Breweries that produce 60 million or fewer gallons of beer in New York will be eligible for a refundable tax credit applied against State personal income and business taxes. In addition, breweries producing brands of 1,500 barrels or less annually will be exempt from paying the $150 annual brand label fee.

     

    “In addition to producing some of the finest beer in the world, New York’s craft breweries are creating jobs, supporting our state’s farmers and hops growers, as well as bringing in tourism dollars in local communities across New York,” [Governor] Cuomo said. “The legislation demonstrates that the new New York is truly working for small business, as this law will allow breweries and wineries the opportunity to invest in new opportunities and expand their operations.”

     

    The legislation also includes the creation of the new “Farm Brewery License,” which encourages small breweries to diversify their business in the same way that much of the wine industry has, by allowing them to add retail outlets, open restaurants, hold tasting sessions, and sell beer-related products. The stipulation is that until the end of 2018, the beer must be produced using at least 20 percent locally grown hops and 20 percent of the rest of the beer’s ingredients must be grown or produced in New York State. These percentages are slated to increase in the future.

     

    Source: http://www.buffalorising.com

  • Sierra Nevada Finds Rich Water Source

    July 25, 2012 Author: Scott
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    As I have discussed here before, water is a very important part of beer production.  Any well established brewing company will go to great lengths to secure and protect its water supply.  It turns out that Sierra Nevada brewing is sitting on a water gold mine.

    Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. has learned it can supply most of the water the brewery will need from a well on its property in Mills River.

    In January, the California-based company announced it was building an East Coast expansion facility in Western North Carolina, and initial plans called for the company to purchase water from Asheville, whose water lines serve the site.

    After the announcement, Sierra Nevada decided to drill for water at Ferncliff Industrial Park, where the company has purchased 100 of the park’s available 262 acres for development. On the second attempt, officials tapped into a dream water source.

    According to Stan Cooper, who will co-manage the Mills River plant, the well will generate about 160 gallons of water per minute, which is roughly 50 gallons a minute more than Sierra Nevada needs for the brewing process.

    The water source is a good, pure one, and Sierra is going the extra step to protect the well.

    Sierra Nevada has lined the well, which is only about 500 feet from where the main building of the facility will be, with stainless steel — an expensive process but one that ensures higher quality water over time.

    “We have probably one of the only stainless steel-cased wells in Western North Carolina, or North Carolina,” brewery co-manager Brian Grossman said. “It’s encased down to 75 feet.”

    It’s good to see that they are doing this with an eye towards conservation, as well.

     While the brewery appears to have plenty of what it needs with regard to water supply, it will place great emphasis on conservation.

    “It’s going to take a lot of water to make beer,” Grossman said, “but this brewery will be very, very efficient.”

    He said Sierra Nevada estimates it will churn out about 1 gallon of beer for every 2½ to 3 gallons of water it brings in during brewing, compared to the 10- or 12-to-1 ratio of some other breweries.

    According to this website –dumposaurus.com/7-tips-for-removing-clutter-in-your-home, Sierra Nevada also plans to have an anaerobic wastewater digestion system on site, recovering bio-gas — a natural byproduct of the process — as an energy source for the brewery. It also has tentative plans for a unique rainwater utilization program.

    “We definitely want to be good stewards” of the land, Grossman said.

    Source: http://www.blueridgenow.com/

  • Beerporn: Editor’s Choice

    July 24, 2012 Author: Scott
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    Tuesday is Editor’s Choice award day on http://hashtagbeerporn.com.  We are giving out an Editor’s Choice Award each week to the picture we think best represents beerporn during that week.  As an ongoing feature on Indy Beers each week I’ll be posting the Editor’s Choice winner from #Beerporn.  Remember, anyone can join and post pictures of beer to http://hashtagbeerporn.com.

    I loved a lot about this picture for the colors and placement of bottle in the stream.  Also the follow-up comment was cool to know:

    I took this photo 5 feet from our tent.

    Buffalo Gold Golden Ale posted by user Husar

     

  • Beer Laws in Pennsylvania in Need of Being Overhauled

    July 23, 2012 Author: Scott
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    Anyone who has lives in or has visited Pennsylvania knows about the odd beer sales laws in the state.  When going to a beer store you can only buy cases of beer.  If you want less than that, a six pack for example, you need to go to a bar, not the beer store, to purchase such a small quantity.

    The booze business in Pennsylvania is peculiar. Beer isn’t available at state liquor stores. Under current law, distributors can sell only by the case or keg; other take-out outlets are restricted to 192 ounces.

     

    All that could change, however, as the legislature considers reinventing the system. One bill, on hold for the moment, would permit distributors to sell beer in any quantity, along with wine and liquor.

    This may sound like a good idea for the consumer, but it doesn’t bode well for the business owners who have come to depend on the sales of small beer products to help offset their other business sales.

    That would endanger the six-pack and quarts markets traditionally left to the taprooms, bar-restaurants, and small take-out shops that have proliferated in the last decade.

     

    In the last two years, 900 such businesses have gone under, said Amy Christie, executive director of the Pennsylvania Tavern Owners Association, a lobbying group. If the state allows distributors to sell six-packs, she said, 1,000 more of the 11,738 licensees might go out of business.

     

    Martin and others in the take-out trade say they would have to compete for sales with the very distributors from whom they must, under state law, buy their beer.

     

    That, they contend, would put them at a distinct disadvantage. They say they have no choice but to charge more than distributors because their pricing is governed by what distributors charge them and by the local taxes levied on take-out beer – 17 percent in Philadelphia.

     

    With their businesses already staggered by economic conditions, fundamental changes in drinking habits, and the arrival of new purveyors of carry-out beer such as Wegmans and Whole Foods, they say there is hardly a worse time to undercut their sales.

     

    “It’s not a game-ender,” said Martin, who estimated take-out constitutes 10 percent to 15 percent of his revenue. But “it’s another nail in the coffin.”

    But this change in law goes beyond just the simple sale of beer.  A license to sell beer under the current law will become devalued with the new law in affect.

    The take-out people are also crying foul because they say they bought their licenses – at costs up to $250,000 – under a given set of rules. Changing them now could seriously dilute the licenses’ resale value.

     

    Licenses are sold on the open market and aren’t state regulated.

     

    “I got into the business based on what I knew then, and now they’re talking about total upheaval,” Martin said.

    So what are your thoughts on the old and new laws?  Are things fine the way they are, or is it time for change?

    Source: http://www.philly.com/

  • Chilling Your Wort: The Low Flow Water Option

    July 20, 2012 Author: Scott
    2 Comments
    Starting the process of chilling the wort at 7:29pm.

    Previously I posted a link about chilling my wort using ice in the article Going Green with Your Wort Chilling Process.  Based on some feedback I received I wrote the follow-up article The Greenest Wort Chilling Process I Found.  That second process works fine, but I prefer to pitch my yeast right away instead of having to wait several hours.

    As reddit user rotomd quoted from Palmer’s book in the reddit comments of the second post:

    At the end of the boil, it is important to cool the wort quickly. While it is still hot, (above 140°F) bacteria and wild yeasts are inhibited. But it is very susceptible to oxidation damage as it cools. There are also the previously mentioned sulfur compounds that evolve from the wort while it is hot. If the wort is cooled slowly, dimethyl sulfide will continue to be produced in the wort without being boiled off; causing off-flavors in the finished beer. The objective is to rapidly cool the wort to below 80°F before oxidation or contamination can occur.

    Going back to the comments from reddit regarding the first post there was another option for chilling wort that I still wanted to explore.  It was stated that the wort could be chilled by simply running the water from the garden hose through the wort chiller.  I thought this would be a waste of a lot of water, but some others stated it wouldn’t.

    reddit user javabrewer stated it could be done using only 15 gallons:

    More like 15, in my case. And I save the water in a bucket and my 10 gallon cooler to wash things out. 5 gallons (the hottest runnings) goes into a bucket with PBW for washing gear, 10 gallons goes towards rinsing out the MLT.

     

    I open the faucet very little and run it for maybe 20 minutes. Any longer than that and it’s diminishing returns. Any faster than that and water streams out of the connectors.  Also, I stir the wort frequently. This is probably the best way to make the process “green”.

    reddit user zymologist had a similar statement:

    I just run my wort chiller from the faucet in my basement, straight into the washer. I can cool a 5 gallon batch down to 70F with almost exactly the amount of water it takes to do 1 large load of laundry.  If I don’t have any laundry to do or just have half a load, I use the remaining lukewarm water to wash my equipment.

     

    I didn’t blast the water, I ran it pretty slowly to avoid overflowing the washer. I also stirred vigorously every few minutes.

     

    My object is to have the water flow just hard enough to fill the tubing/chiller completely so you get maximum surface area for cooling, while running it as slowly as possible so it has the maximum amount of contact time with the wort. It does slow down my process, but it’s worth it to me to not waste the water. I also stir vigorously and often, and “precool” my wort chiller by immersing it in a cold tap water bath, which I later use to clean my chiller/other equipment.

    reddit user sailorh echoed the statement that low flow water and stirring are the key points:

    Most people seem to run their faucet at a low pressure. In my case, my copper tubing is pretty narrow but 50′ long. That gives a fair amount of surface area to chill and only a bit of water needs to flow to carry out the heat. Stirring and moving the chiller around also makes a big difference. You can feel the outgoing water get a lot warmer as soon as you start moving the chiller around. I usually chill 5 gallons in about 10 minutes, maybe less.

    It was time to test the low flow water theory and see how well it worked.  Last week when I brewed beer my brother and I used the low flow water method and we were able to cool 2.5 gallons of wort in 35 minutes using 10 gallons of water.  Here are the pictures for the test.

  • Free Logo Glass from Newcastle

    July 19, 2012 Author: Scott
    1 Comment

     

    Want a free pint glass?  Just hope over to the link below and fill out a short survey.  Of course, if a free glass isn’t your kinda thing, they’re willing to pay you $2 instead.  Just make sure to have a picture of you and a Newcastle beer ready to publish on Facebook.

    https://www.facebook.com/newcastle

  • IKEA Beer: No Assembly Required

    July 18, 2012 Author: Scott
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    IKEA, the land of assemble it yourself furniture, has officially launched a dark lager beer called Öl Mörk Lager.  No assembly is required for this beer, and for now is only available for purchase in the IKEA stores in the UK.  The bottles will be selling for about £1.75 or about $3 each.  Maybe soon in the US while your shopping for that must have NÄSUM basket or set of HÅBOL boxes you can do so while enjoying the cool, refreshing in-house IKEA brand beer.

    Style: Dark Lager
    Availability: 12 oz bottles, IKEA Stores, UK only.
    4.7% ABV

     

    Source: http://www.ikea.com/
    Via: http://beerstreetjournal.com/