Monthly Archives: April 2007

Beer News Sampler

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Call for weak Euro beer
Austrian officials are pushing for a special “Euro 2008″ beer (read: low alcohol) and branded plastic “Euro 2008″ mugs (read: that can’t be used as projectiles) to be served when Austria and Switzerland host the 2008 European Championship. All in an effort to cut down on hooliganism.

Ale’s Well with the World
This article in Scientific American describes the findings of Charlie Bamforth, Anheuser-Busch Endowed Professor of Brewing Science at the University of California, Davis. Specifically, it was the discovery of how to store and ferment grain is what caused people to live together. Thus was born civilization, villages became cities, and technology advanced in leaps and bounds.

Workers Threaten Heineken
Workers at Heineken’s plant in St. Petersburg, Russia, have threatened a “slowdown” unless they get a 30 percent raise, a year-end bonus, extra pay for hazardous conditions and other concessions. It is unclear whether they’ll still be required to drink the beer.

Expert offers tips for pouring a perfect glass of beer
“Though it seems easiest to drink beer straight from the bottle or can, experts recommend pouring it into a clear glass for maximum enjoyment. Different varieties of beer should be served in different types of glasses.” Well, duh! It’s nice to see traditional media with a positive article about beer, however.

Thief betrays himself for beer
A German phone thief led police right to his front door when they called the stolen mobile to say he had won some free beer and he willingly gave his address. Stupid thief or entrapment? You be the judge. (Sorry.)

Go figure: Use math to get the perfect head of beer
U.S. researchers have found a mathematical formula that predicts how beer bubbles change over time. OK, maybe it won’t change the taste of beer that much—but, it has other valuable applications.

Top 50 beer brands for 2006

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The Brewers Association, the trade association for craft brewers, recently released a list of the Top 50 breweries in the U.S. based on 2006 sales. Jay at Brookston Beer Bulletin annotates the list, noting who has moved up and who has dropped off the list. Here’s the top 10:

  1. Anheuser-Busch; #1 last year, no surprises
  2. Miller Brewing; ditto for #2
  3. Coors Brewing; And #3, too
  4. Pabst Brewing; Feeding on retro hipness, Pabst maintained the #4 spot
  5. Boston Beer Co.; Moved up 2 spots from #7 last year
  6. D. G. Yuengling and Son; Stayed put as Boston beer leapfrogged over the oldest American brewer
  7. Sierra Nevada Brewing; Up 4 spots from #11 last year, cracking the top 10 with style
  8. Gambrinus; First time on this list, most likely by combining sales of their breweries, Spoetzl Brewery (#15 last year), BridgePort Brewing (#41 last year) and Pete’s Wicked (#44 last year), along with Trumer
  9. New Belgium Brewing; Up 3 spots from #12 last year to also crack the top 10
  10. High Falls Brewing; #10 last year, too

The Temperance Movement 100 years ago

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My local paper is published weekly and is, I suppose, a typical small-town paper. There are lots of mentions of the local High School and Youth sports teams, the goings-on of the fire department, rescue squad, Moose Lodge, Eagles Nest, VFW, and so on, and a police blotter full of seemingly every single call the department responds to, which is admittedly not many. They even publish the menu for the public schools for the upcoming week.

One of the features of the paper is reprints of articles from what was the local newspaper in the late 1800s and early 1900s. This week, in addition to articles on the Bussard-Beans wedding, which was attended by many “fashionable people”, a long article on the move of the newspapers printing plant from one building to another, a local woman who was suffering from a severe bout of rheumatism, the launch of the new trolley car extension, and several “personal mentionings”, was this item:

April 19, 1907
NEW LIQUOR LICENSE LAW FOR THIS COUNTY
BURKITTSVILLE TO GO DRY

The new liquor license law for Frederick county, enacted at the last session of the legislature, will go into effect on the first of next month. The law, which required applicants for licenses to secure the indorsement of freeholders residing in the neighborhood where saloons are to be located and imposes restrictions regarding proximity to churches and schoolhouses, will put some saloon-keepers out of business. Others, because of a general understanding that the Anti-saloon League will scrutinize all applications and enter objections where there is an opportunity, are on the anxious bench.

We understanding [sic] Burkittsville will go dry as a result of the law—a condition long desired by the better class of citizens. The saloon-keepers who have been doing business there have been unable, we learn, to secure the proper signers. From all other sections of the county, petitions are coming in to the Court against the issuing of certain licenses, and nothing is being left undone to by the temperance people to close up “rum holes” wherever it can be done under the new law.

Up to April 1st, 57 applications for licenses to date from May 1 had been filed, and April 20 is the date set as a limit for the filing of remonstrances. As stated in THE REGISTER two weeks ago, there are seven applications for licenses for places in the village of Knoxville, which has about 250 inhabitants. Knoxville is not far from the railroad town of Brunswick, which is a local option town, and the Knoxville saloons do a big business.

Capitol City Brewing Company

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Yesterday was Earth Day. I celebrated by “ecycling” an old computer monitor I had lying about that wasn’t really working. Down in Washington, DC, the EPA was accepting pretty much anything that has to do with a personal computer. I drove up, someone got the monitor out of the car for me, and off we went to a chorus of “Happy Earth Day!”

My wife’s brother and his family were also visiting from Florida. Since they’ve not spent a lot of time in DC, we decided to make a day of it. After dropping off the monitor we found a place to park not too far from the National Mall (no mean feat), and headed over to the Lincoln Memorial. After that we meandered past the Washington Monument (which my girls call the “magic, giant pencil”) and then decided it was time for lunch. I noticed on the tourist map we had that the Downtown DC location of the Capitol City Brewing Company was scant blocks from the Mall. After a bit of mostly good-natured ribbing and a longer walk than we thought, we got there.

Capitol City Brewing CompanyCapitol City has four locations in and around DC, and I hadn’t been to any of them. The New York Avenue location has a couple of levels and a nice, large, oval bar. It has large windows on two sides, allowing you to watch the foot and vehicular traffic and enjoy the local architecture. The crowd was light, but then it was 2 o’clock in the afternoon.

I didn’t get a chance to really study the menu, what with a six-year-old, a four-year-old, and a six-month-old all clamoring for attention. I did notice that the children’s menu was limited to four items. I ended up having the crab cake sandwich which was rather good. Everyone else selected the fish and chips.

I was disappointed to find out that they were out of their Amber Waves Ale, a California ale which won the silver medal at the Great American Beer Festival. Considering the temperature outside (well into the 80s) I opted instead for the Kölsch. It was okay, but my wife opted for the Pale Rider Ale, an English-style Pale Ale and man, but that was good. I made that my second selection.

After we enjoyed our meals, I opted to have a Prohibition Porter for dessert. They claim it’s one of their favorites, and I can see why. Pleasantly smooth, with a nice malt sweetness and excellent roasted character. And, here’s good news for Ron: no smoky overtones. To be honest, it may have been the best porter I’ve ever had.

Overall, it was an enjoyable experience. The prices were quite reasonable for being so close to the center of DC. The wait staff was attentive, the food was good, and the atmosphere was pleasant. I look forward to visiting again.

Capitol City Brewing Company, at the corner of 11th and H Streets in Northwest Washington. It is just across the street from the Convention Center and one block north of Metro Center.

Ten men go out for beer: A lesson in the economics of taxation.

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Spotted this, of all places, on Polish Business News. It is a simple parable that uses beer to illustrate how taxes in the U.S. are distributed and the effects of tax breaks.

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

Then the proprietor reduces their beer bill by $20, and the article goes on to explain why the richest man got (and deserves) the largest windfall.

Beer in the Bible

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We know that beer is as old as civilization and, according to some, is responsible for getting people to live together in one place and everything that follows from that. Chemical analysis of finds in Egyptian archaeological sites has allowed modern brewers to make something very close to what those ancient people were drinking in biblical times.

Wine and water get plenty of mention in the Bible, but were those ancient Israelites partaking in some fermented grain? Lutheran Paster Walter Snyder thinks so. He responds to this question

I saw an article talking about the invention of beer in ancient Egypt, and it got me thinking: “Did the Israelites drink beer? What did they drink?”

Martin Lutherby discussing quotes from Martin Luther mentioning beer, to an analysis of some Bible passages. Beer doesn’t appear to be mentioned explicitly in the Bible, but references to “strong drink” almost certainly refer to an ale-like beverage. (Distillation is a bit too modern.) He could concludes that, yes, the Israelites did drink beer.

Then there’s HE’BREW beer from Schmaltz Brewing. Among their offerings is Genesis 10:10, which is made from pomegranates, which also get a mention in the Bible. Specifically, in Deuteronomy 8:8, where Moses says:

“For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land with streams and springs and fountains issuing from plain and hill; a land of wheat and barley, of vines, figs and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey…”

Of course, most of us already know that beer is a gift from God.

(via Katie’s Beer)

Gift idea: “What’s On Tap?” Knowledge Cards

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One of the things I am known for among my family and friends is the great amount of useless ephemera my mind has collected over the years. It’s translated into great success at Trivial Pursuit® (just don’t ask what makes popcorn pop) and playing along with Jeopardy!® at home.

What's On Tap?So when my wife gave me a deck of “Knowledge Cards” entitled What’s On Tap? by Jeff Burkhart, it was a perfect blending of two aspects of my personality.

This is a deck of 48 cards, each with a beer related question on one side, and the answer on the other. The answers are not simple one-liners, but usually a couple of paragraphs explaining the answer. As such, they probably don’t lend themselves to simple quizzes at a party, unless the players are hardcore beer geeks, but can be an interesting way to test your beer knowledge. An example:

What are bock and double bock?
In the early fourteenth century, Bavarian brewers began producing a type of lager in the town of Einbeck. The beer was quite strong, and drinking it was liked to being “kicked by a goat.” This symbolism carries over the present day: the labels on bock beers often include goats. Current German law requires that this beer contain 6.6 percent alcohol and be made only from malted barley. Prior to the invention of refrigeration, bock (as well as other lagers) was strictly a seasonal beer, limited to cold-month production and usually available around Christmas. In the late 1700s, some pesky Pauline monks decided that regular bock wasn’t strong enough and began brewing even more potent bocks. Called double bocks—doppel in German—they aren’t actually twice as strong as regular bock but can approach 7 percent alcohol. Many double bocks have ominous-sounding names, such as Animator, Optimator, and Triumphator.

Even the geekiest among us should learn at least a few things from this deck. At around $10, it would also make a great gift for the kids to give to Dad. That and a six-pack and you’ll make his day.

Beer is Good Eats

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I love Good Eats, and by that I mean both good food and Alton Brown’s FoodTV show called “Good Eats“. It is basically a cooking show, but a bit of eclectic entertainment and science make it something you can’t find anywhere else. Typically, Mr. Brown takes a specific subject and spends the entire show teaching not only how to cook, but also the science behind the methodology. For instance, an entire show on how to cook a baked potato, or, an entire show on mayonnaise or gravy where you get to learn all about emulsions. Alton always has extremely convincing props for illustration, and also an array of “characters” for subject matter experts.

If you brine your Thanksgiving Day turkey, or smoke your salmon in a cardboard box, you already know what I’m talking about.

Well, I found this Google video sitting out there for his show on brewing beer. (There’s got to be a copyright violation here somewhere, but that’s Google’s problem.) I recommend taking the 21 minutes to watch this whether you are a homebrewer or not, because, as always, his shows are very entertaining.

Most home brewers will find the methods that A.B. uses to be somewhat rudimentary or flawed, plus several strategies and advice that I found flat out incorrect. But, for those who have never seen the basic process, you will definitely learn something. He does make it seems very easy in a 1/2 hour show, and despite the arguable techniques, if you try and duplicate his process, I’m sure you will end up with good eats.