There is something truly sad about a spilled beer. Beyond the waste of money and resources, it is like a loss of potential enjoyment; a lost opportunity never to be recaptured.
Of course, I’ve never gone to the same extremes as the guy in this video. The gross-out factor gets a bit high, but the payoff at the end is worth it.
Tongue Cleaning – video powered by Metacafe
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/2152/tongue_cleaning/
A Ph.D. student from the University of Tasmania is conducting a survey of the beer drinking preferences of people from various socio-economic backgrounds.
The second phase will focus on people working in the beer industry.
Apparently, microbrewed beer is not very popular Down Under. Although that may be changing.
If you live down that away, see if you can help out. I’d hate for our Aussie friends to miss out on good beer because brewers don’t think they can sell it there.
Today is the final day of the Great American Beer Festival in Denver, Colorado. This year is the 25th year of the GABF and it’s probably the largest beer festival in this country. I mean, the list of participating breweries is mind-boggling.
Rick Lyke from the Lyke 2 Drink blog has an entire series of posts from the GABF. They really make me wish I was there.
Someday.
I don’t care what Al says, even if it is historical fact… the best Oktoberfest in the world is our little own Oktoberfest that my friends and I have each year where we ditch our normal lives for a weekend of pure regression into the past where we had little responsibility and behave like the men we are.
A major theme of the weekend is, of course, beer. It started out as each of us providing four (4) 6-packs of a beer we thought no one else would bring. As memory serves, we have never had duplicates. With 4-packs and large 22+ oz bottles becoming more prevalent, we each tend to bring more varieties now. It is great fun to poke around in the cooler trying to figure out what we want to try next.
We also try to rate each beer and maintain a growing database so we can look back and see the best and the worst. As I blogged on Hop-Talk the other day, we will be having an Octoberfest Beer Battle and see who comes out on top. There will be lots of other beers to write about as well.
More on beer later… Let’s talk about why we do it.
When life is going so fast, children are growing up, and old friends are growing older, Octoberfest is about making it all stop for just a moment to just enjoy. This is another one of those times where you need to look at the big picture think about what is really important in life. On my death bed, go ahead and ask me, “would you rather have gotten the lawn mowed and the trim painted, or are you happier that you spent time hanging with your best friends?”
So what do we do? Well, another major theme for the weekend is games. Anything and everything from video games to card games to football games. We setup a large screen projector to watch the NY Giants, watch movies, and play video games. (and drink beer) It is a blast!
As you might expect, we get very little sleep this weekend and the following week at work is usually tough, but it is all worth it. I’m talking about my best friends here and we all live very far apart, so this one weekend each year means the world to me – to all of us.
The only thing I don’t like about Octoberfest weekend is the end; but I never regret it.
Next up in Part II… preparing and beer stories!
Newport poster storm brewing
Sexual innuendo has been part of beer marketing for decades. This is news?
Beer-flavored ice cream is a big hit
Those beer-mad English are gaga over it.
There’s a beer out there
Australians are heading out into the bush in search of good beer at one of the many microbreweries opening up.
John Young dead at 85
Colorful brewer and fixture of British brewing died before the last batch of cask ale was due to be brewed.
Coors Brewing scores perfectly for equality
For the third year in a row, Coors Brewing has received a perfect score on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s “Corporate Equality Index”, which evaluates how major U.S. corporations treat their gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender employees, consumers and investors.
New York plant benefiting from synergies
Former Miller Brewing Company plant finds that beer and biodiesel is a good fit.
Carlsberg looks to expanding Serbia beer market
To invest €20 million into its Serbia operations.
New brews launched as drinkers lose taste for strong ale
Sales in the UK of beer with an ABV of 5% and up are down, so brewers are rolling out lower alcohol alternatives.
Suburban beer bandits on the rise
This is only one of several stories throughout the US where young people are breaking into garages and cribbing the beer in extra refrigerators.
Beer being served at 1982 prices
Now would be the time to visit the UK and pop into a pub or three.
Paris Hilton promotes beer at Octoberfest
The billionaire socialite is mobbed by photographers and onlookers in Munich. Is there nowhere to escape her?!
”And in this corner… the defending champion of Oktoberfest beer… the bomber from Brooklyn New York… the Brooklyn Brewery Oktoberfest!”
The Brooklyn Brewery Oktoberfest beer was a unanimous top choice at the last several Oktoberfest weekends that my best friends and I hold each year. From that, I name the Brooklyn the defending champion of Oktoberfest beers.
I originally intended on pitting the Brooklyn against another Oktoberfest in the first round, however, my locally available selections are somewhat limited. Now, I haven’t personally asked Al which is better, the Oktoberfest from Brooklyn, or the Dogtoberfest from Flying Dog; but, after reading his review, I believe this challenge was over before it started.
Feel free to suggest to me at Ron@Hop-Talk.com some other competitors or, I can provide a mailing address if you are feeling kind enough to send in an entry; I will definitely blog about it if you do. So, unless there are some late entries, the final battle is set and will be decided on October 8th, 2006.
Oh my goodness, how did I miss this one?!
A study published last year by Australian National University researchers found that moderate drinkers scored higher on measurements of memory, verbal skills, and “speed of thinking” than those deemed heavy drinkers or those who never or rarely drank alcohol.
Further, the results were consistent for people in their twenties, forties, and sixties.
“Moderate” drinking was defined for the study as 2-4 drinks per day for men, 1-2 per day for women. It looks like I’m behind on my quota this week.
(via The Beer Club)
I love all this great beer that I can blog about. I’m really enjoying the Oktoberfest style, as well. With each comparison, I’m learning more about each beer’s subtle differences as well as learning about my own particular tastes.
This time I pit Paulaner against Otter Creek from Vermont. (This is just a random choosing from what I had available locally) Paulaner is considered by many to be the classic Oktoberfest beer. Straight from Munich, you should expect the best; though keep in mind, it must be shipped across seas to get to me. Otter Creek, also Wolaver’s Certified Organic beers, has many fine beers, though none stand out as exceptional in my head except for Wolaver’s Brown, which my wife was a fan of for a while.
On the pouring, the Otter Creek lost any resemblance of what was for a second, a head. The Paulaner looked a tad better, but I think I’m going to blame both of these on not having hand washed my glasses. The Paulaner was sweet smelling and the Otter Creek was sort of sterile smelling. (I hate to make a decision before tasting, but it is tough when this happens.)
The Paulaner was medium to high sweetness with little to no hop aroma or bitterness; all ideal for the German style. The Otter Creek was actually ok tasting, though there was little malt sweetness to jump out at you along with little hops.
So, the hands down winner is the Paulaner. It didn’t seem to suffer at all from from the journey to the U.S., either. However, this little contest is becoming a bit tricky… Am I judging the beers against their style? Or, am I judging them for what I liked best to quaff? Because, the Germans make it to their style, and the Americans are making it to theirs… there is no wrong or right; they are both official styles*.
So, with that logic, I have to go with what I like to quaff. Definitely.
According to Sapporo Breweries, a substance in hops, flavonol glycoside, is effective in reducing hay fever responses by blocking the production of histamine.
Sapporo Group conducted a clinical trial of 20 patients with hay fever symptoms and found that 60% them noted less sneezing and 55% noted less runny nose with significant improvements on their symptom-medication scores.
The Japanese brewing giant is planning to release a new beer with the hop flavonol isolated and market it to hay fever sufferers.
(via Brookston Beer Bulletin)
According to the Northern Echo, Hambleton Ales in North Yorkshire, England is gearing up to sell it’s Gluten-free ale (GFA) “Toleration” in 33 states.
The US is the UK’s biggest beer export market. Meanwhile, America’s gluten-free food and drink market is forecast to be worth £1.7bn by 2010.
Hambleton Ales launched its award-winning GFA in February last year, followed by a gluten-free lager this year. It also brews a range of ales, including Nightmare, Stud, and Thoroughbred.
(via GF Planet)
