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Local Beer Gets More Local

October 17, 2011 Author: Scott
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Wine has long been a product in which the grapes are grown near where the wine is produced, often on the same farm. This is a trend that may be starting soon with beer as well. A project started in downtown Toronto, Canada is looking to grow hops in the city to be used in making local beer. If you’re planning for 3 Days in Toronto, then you can check these out!

This spring, hops were planted on the property of businesses such as I deal Coffee and restaurant/bar Parts & Labour (both located in the west end of downtown Toronto), a handful of residential backyard gardens and Wychwood Barns, a park and community hub. Katie Mathieu tended to the hops at Parts & Labour – she runs a planter garden project on the building’s rooftop, growing vegetables and herbs for use in the restaurant. Ms. Mathieu says the hops thrived in planters on the roof.

This is a really positive move towards a more green method of brewing beer, and I hope to see more of it. Michael Clark, co-founder of Toronto’s Bellwoods Brewery had this to say:

“Even if the city hops program isn’t a colossal money-maker, there’s a tangible benefit to the greening of space and having it produce something that connects people to that space,” says Mr. Clark.

Source: theglobeandmail.com
What is the worst beer in the world?

October 14, 2011 Author: Scott
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What is the worst beer you have ever had the misfortune of tasting? A true lemon among a bounty of better beer. For Garrett Oliver brewmaster of the Brooklyn Brewery that beer was in Vietnam:

That’s an interesting question. I had a Vietnamese beer a few years ago that was called Saigon and it was just, it was really, really ghastly. I didn’t remember—though I do realize that beers existed that still tasted quite that bad—it reminded me of one that I had in East Germany in the mid-1980s, when there was an East Berlin. I drank a beer when I spent a day in East Berlin, and I thought, “Boy, Communism is certainly bad but I didn’t know it was so bad that it could even make Germans produce terrible beer.” And it had. I don’t know whether Vietnam is still considered particularly Communist, but apparently it hasn’t done anything to their beer industry anyway.

For me, the individual worst beer I ever had was in a small bar about 2 days after New Years Eve. I don’t think the place had been open for a week, and I arrived about tthe time the were opening their doors for the first time that year. I caught a Budweiser (I was young and uninformed) fresh out of the line after sitting for all that time. I think I almost threw up. I had never tasted a beer skunked so badly.

As for the worst beer that was properly served, I would have to say a pumpkin ale I had last year. Every year at my house I give away tons of candy for the kids, and pumpkin ales for the adults. I also have a few seasonal beers for those that don’t want a pumpkin. By the end of the night half my neighbors have a red solo cup in their hand. I usually start collecting various pumpkins at the start of October, and by the time Halloween comes around there are 5-6 from which to choose. I only had one, as I had given the others away, and I honestly don’t recall who made it, but it was like drinking the worst pumpkin pie you’ve ever had. Over spiced to the point where you almost wanted to gag on first taste. From now on I decided to only serve Dogfish Head’s Punkin ale (and maybe 1-2 other choice craft pumpkins) as it is always reliable and easy to find in my area.

So what’s the worst beer for you?

Source: gothamist.com
Beer Drinking Blamed for Red Sox Demise

October 13, 2011 Author: Scott
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The Red Sox had a downward spiral at the end of the baseball season that ended with a loss to my hometown favorite, The Baltimore Orioles. There has been plenty of speculation on what may have have been the cause of such a dismal end to a good season, but boston.com yesterday posted an interesting take on the situation.

Boston’s three elite starters went soft, their pitching as anemic as their work ethic. The indifference of Beckett, Lester, and Lackey in a time of crisis can be seen in what team sources say became their habit of drinking beer, eating fast-food fried chicken, and playing video games in the clubhouse during games while their teammates tried to salvage a once-promising season.

So it seems that beer is (partially) to blame. Well, as an Orioles fan, that’s just fine for me.

via: CBSnews.com
Source: Boston.com
Germany looks to US to broaden beer market.

October 7, 2011 Author: Scott
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The Germans are coming, the Germans are coming!!!!

With the raising European economic crisis German brewers are looking for methods to increase revenue streams. But German beer has long held it’s traditions or brewing:

“One of the advantages of Bavarian beer is that it’s so old. It’s clean and natural,”

However, Germans are now drinking less beer:

Germans drank 122 liters of beer per person in 2002; in 2010 it was down to 107. Overall beer production sank from 10.8 billion liters in 2002 to 9.6 billion last year, according to the German Brewers’ Federation.

But maybe the Germans are just tired of the same old thing:

In America, “there is more beer diversity on the shelf than you will find in Munich or Prague or various other classic brewing centers,” said Julie Johnson, contributing editor at All About Beer magazine. “I don’t know if the German brewer is open to the kind of thing that we’re open to.”

I hope Germany can find a way to hold onto its long help traditions while broadening the selection of beer.

Source: The Washington Post
Good Beer Festival this Weekend

October 7, 2011 Author: Scott
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The Good Beer Festival is this weekend in Salisbury, MD. It should prove to be a great time with almost 30 craft breweries represented (see below for list). Indy Beers will be enjoying the event on Saturday. I can’t wait to sample all the beer that is going to be available. We may have to break the article of the event into 2 parts of there is a lot of material to cover, but we’ll see. If you’re looking to hook up with us, or would like to be featured in our event review, please tweet us @IndyBeers. Hope to see you there!!!!

16 Mile Brewery

413 S. Bedford St.
Georgetown, DE 19947-1849
302-253-8816
www.16milebrewery.com

Blue Moon Brewing Co.

311 10th St.
Golden, Colorado 80401
800-642-6116
www.bluemoonbrewingcompany.com

Burley Oak

10016 Old Ocean City Blvd.
Berlin, MD 21811
410-513-4647
www.burleyoak.com

Clipper City Brewing Co.

4615 Hollins Ferry Road, Suite B
Baltimore, MD 21227-4624
410-247-7822
www.hsbeer.com

Crispin

405 Central Avenue SE
Minneapolis, MN 55414
612-331-3699
www.crispincider.com

Dogfish Head Beer

320 Rehoboth Avenue
Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971
302-226-2739
www..dogfish.com

Eastern Shore Brewing

605 South Talbot St.
St. Michaels, MD 21663
410-745-8010
www.easternshorebrewing.com

Evolution Brewing Company

501 N. Bi-State Blvd.
Delmar, DE 19940
www.evolutioncraftbrewing.com

Flying Dog Brewery

4607 Wedgewood Blvd
Frederick, MD 21703-7120
301-694-7899
www.flyingdogales.com

Fordham Brewing Company

1284 McD Drive
Dover, DE 19901
302-678-4810
www.fordhambrewing.com

Goose Island Beer Company

1800 N. Clybourn Ave
Chicago, IL 60614
312-915-0071
www.gooseisland.com

Kona Brewing Company

5300 Crain Hwy.
Upper Malboro, MD 20772-3120
301-627-1900

Lagunitas Brewing Co.

1280 North Mcdowell Blvd.
Petaluma, CA 94954
707-769-4495
www.lagunitas.com

Leinenkugel Brewing Co.

1515 N. 10th St.
Milwaukee, WI 53205-2157
414-931-6799
www.leinie.com

Magic Hat Brewing Co.

5 Bartlett Bay Road
South Burlington, VT 05403-7727
802-658-2739
www.magichat.net

Nectar

1400 Ramada Drive
Paso Robles, CA 93446
805-238-2556
www.nectarales.com

New Belgium Brewing Company

500 Linden Street
Fort Collins, CO
970-221-0524
www.newbelgium.com

Old Dominion brewing Co.

1284 McD Drive
Dover, DE 19901
302-678-4810
www.olddominion.com

Ommegang Brewery

656 County Hwy. 33
Cooperstown, NY 13326
607-544-1800
www.ommegang.com

Oskar Blues Brewery

1800 Pike Road #B
Longmont, CO 80501-6794
303-776-1914
www.oskarblues.com

Samuel Adams Brewery

30 Germania St.
Boston, MA 02130-2315
410-247-7822
www.samadams.com

Sierra Nevada

1075 East 20th St.
Chico CA 95928
530-893-3520
www.sierranevada.com

Sixpoint Craft Ales

40 Van Dyke St.
Brooklyn, NY 11231
917-696-0438
www.sixpoint.com

Southern Tier Brewing

2072 Stoneman Circle
Lakewood, NY 14750
716-763-5479
www.southerntierbrewing.com

Stone Brewing

1999 Citracado Parkway
Escondido, CA 92029
760-471-4999
www.stonebrew.com

Yards Brewing

901 N. Delaware Ave.
Philadelphia, PA 19123
215-634-2600
www.yardsbrewing.com
Miller may be bought by Anheuser-Busch

October 6, 2011 Author: Scott
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Not that it is a big surprise to see consolidation in any market, but this one is very interesting. #1 and #2 looking to combine forces. This can’t be good for beer. As if our choices weren’t limited enough, they are about to get more limited as Anheuser-Busch flexes it muscle to grab an even larger market share with a purchase of Miller. It’s time like this that I like to encourage those around me to drink good craft beers by independent breweries. We’ll have to see how this pans out, but I can’t imagine it will be anything but bad news for the little guy.

“Analysts downplayed the speculation, saying such a deal would be contrary to recent guidance by AB InBev management. The Budweiser brewer is “the right size” and is focused on so- called organic growth, Chief Executive Officer Carlos Brito said in an interview with Dutch newspaper De Tijd in July”

Source: Bloomberg