NFL vs. Cable… We Lose, Pubs Win

Posted on November 28, 2007 by Ron

Anyone who reads this beer blog and is an American football fan has undoubtedly already heard about the big game this Thursday, Dallas (10-1) vs. Green Bay (10-1), and the sad situation that most fans will not be able to watch the game because it is being broadcast on the NFL Network which most cable companies have refused to carry and thus is only available on satellite.

You might think this is a no win situation, but the sport bars and pubs across the nation are rejoicing and preparing for their version of Black Friday. Football and beer go together and you can bet that there is a pub nearby with satellite where you can go and watch the game with food and beer specials all night long. Ravenswood, a pub local to me, is having specials on pitchers and it also happens to be all you can eat Beef on a Weck night.

That sounds like a good time to me, and I might just do it, though it is not something I can do regularly, especially on a weeknight. I prefer to watch football in the Barley Room – that’s what I call my family room with the pub table, comfy couches and home theater. Some friends, some beer, some snacks, and a close football game is a sure fire great time; an atmospheric condition worth making the time for. But why do I have to leave my home to watch this game?

The NFL has been very vocal about how the big cable companies, with their ever increasing rates, are playing hard ball because they want to charge their customers for the NFL Network channel while the NFL insists that fans should not have to pay more and that it must be included in the regular line up. That confirms what we have known all along, the NFL is watching out for us and cable companies are run by greedy people who continue to add channels we don’t want, claim a higher level of service, and increase our rates.

Not so fast my friend!

Reality is that the NFL is throwing its weight around and is making a money grab by charging the cable companies a premium price to carry the channel (similar to what HBO would charge) but requiring the cable companies to carry the channel in the standard tier. Would they do that to just to make some extra cash? Possibly… but really it is to make a boat load of money from sponsors in advertisements for the increased potential viewing audience. I’ve know this for some time now, but most people I talk to have no idea and are only familiar with the NFL’s spin on the issue, not the cable companies’ spin. I suggest reading this well written article by Aaron Barnhart as it explains the situation quite clearly.

Now, from a consumer’s point of view, I bet most of us would not mind paying for the NFL Network if we could buy all of our channels that way. In other words, we only pay for the channels we want, and we don’t pay for the ones we don’t want. Call it, channels a-la-cart. But that’s not how the cable companies do it because no one would pay for half the channels out there and then they couldn’t charge as much as they do for their included “free” services, not to mention the loss of advertising.

Pubs may win, but we, the consumers, lose. We end up paying in every which way… we pay more for our beer (because we have to go to the bar to watch TV), we pay more for cable, and we pay the price for having to deal with this bullshit.

Brewer’s Alley Holiday Beer Dinner

Posted on November 28, 2007 by Al

There are still some seats left for their Holiday Beer Dinner on Tuesday, December 4th, 2007 Starting at 5:30PM on the second floor Overlooking Historic Downtown Frederick, Maryland. Join them for a Culinary treat prepared by Executive Chef Joseph Canlas

PILSNER
Welcome Beer

SCOTCH ALE
Roasted Chestnut Soup
Truffle Oil and Froie Gras Mousse

INDIA PALE ALE
Winter Green Salad
Roasted Walnuts, Granny Smith Apples, Stilton Blue Cheese

KÖLSCH
Potato Crusted Halibut
Garlic Fingerling Potatoes, Sliced Asparagus and Citrus-Chive Butter

NUT BROWN ALE
Green Peppercorn Crusted Grilled Venison Filet
Cardamom Sweet Potatoes, Bacon-Brussel Sprouts

OATMEAL STOUT
Rich Chocolate Lava Cake
Fresh Raspberries and Whipped Cream

$40 per person plus 5% tax and 18% gratuity
Call 301-631-0089 for Reservations

Brewmaster Tom Flores and Executive Chef Joseph Canlas strive to pair delicious food with Fabulous beer to create a fun and exciting evening out.

Brewer’s Alley
124 North Market Street
Frederick , MD 21701
P: (301) 631-0089
F: (301) 631-1874
info@brewers-alley.com
http://www.brewers-alley.com

My reusable bottles runneth over

Posted on November 27, 2007 by Al

For the last eight or ten weeks I have been attending a once-a-week homebrewing class at The Flying Barrel. You may remember that I’ve mentioned these classes before.

The classes are run by fellow F.O.A.M. member Buck Reed, ably assisted by Jim, Chris and Troy.

On the upside, I’m learning a fair amount. It’s also nice to brew in nice large 20-gallon kettles over a gas flame, with all the bulk materials near to hand, and to do it as a social activity. (Prior to this all of my homebrewing had been solo.)

Unfortunately, I’m extraordinarily busy right now and it has been tough to accommodate that three or four hours each week. We’re limited to a single-stage fermentation of two weeks. I like to do a primary fermentation of about a week and then a secondary fermentation for two weeks or so before bottling. It can also get a little crowded in the back room.

A problem that is nice to have is that I’m bringing home a case of beer a week from this class. I’ve never had more than a case of homebrew in the house, and now I have five and counting. It’s a nice problem to have, but I just don’t have the space in my storage room. To further complicate matters, several of these are styles that will do well to age for six months or longer. I have at least three more cases to bring home in the upcoming weeks; I don’t know where I’m going to put it.

I’m sure I’ll manage, even though most of these are styles my wife has no interest in. No domestic disharmony yet.

Relax. Don’t Worry. Have a homebrew.

CRAM Magazine

Posted on November 24, 2007 by Al

CRAM magazine is a free, non-profit publication devoted to the best writing the internet has to offer. CRAM (as the name implies) brings together the latest and greatest articles from popular websites and upcoming authors and produces it into an easy to read on screen or print, pdf-package. CRAM aims to be an informative and entertaining read, much in the same vein as Time, The New Yorker, or Wired magazines.

The editors of CRAM apparently liked my guest post on Personal Finance Advice about life being too short to drink cheap beer.

Issue number 6 is out, and it includes my article. There’s also an article by Seth Plattner about the “10 Best Beers with Balls” as well as a comparison of breakfast cereals, an illustrated guide to coffee, fiction, and several other articles.

Check it out

Turkey travels

Posted on November 21, 2007 by Al

AAA predicts that a record 38.7 million Americans will travel more that fifty miles from home this Thanksgiving holiday, with about 80% traveling by car. This in spite of record-high gasoline prices.

My brother Don is coming to visit us (a trip of 200 miles). He’ll be in good company.

Ron and I wish you all a safe, satiating, and joyous Thanksgiving.

I, for one, have much to be thankful for.

Like a Kid in a Candy Store

Posted on November 21, 2007 by Ron

It’s the most wonderful time of the year…

That’s the tune that started going through my head as browsed my local candy store (er, beverage center) for some great beers for the holidays. I have been thrilled with how the store continues to expand the craft and imported beer section. (sometimes I think that with the amount of money I spend there, they are expanding it just for me) This is by far the best selection in the area and the owner and employees are all great, friendly and helpful.

I also had my new phone with me and I thought I might be able to find a good use for having a camera on a cell phone. Now you get to join me on my shopping trip…

Look at this rack of goodness!

I’m not sure what all this stuff is, but it is unique and promotes the love of beer, so it’s all good.

Here are the imports. (I wasn’t drinking, I swear.)

Interesting stuff… Otter Creek’s Winter Ale and Paulaner hefe-kegs. (and enough Bud to float a yacht)

MMMMmmmmmm… Double Bastard Ale!

My wife loves those brown ales and her latest favorite from Ithica is all out! (which reminds me, I need to blog about our weekend in the Finger Lakes)

Michalob Ultra from New York…? I don’t think so…

This is new here… Hop Hazzard, oh, I’ve got to try that!

He said he would do it and it is finally here! Brown’s in bottles!

Get ‘em before they are banned!

I’ll take one of those… and one of those… (bonus to anyone who can figure out what I bought – but it will be tough because I reduced these photos)

There’s more selection than this, too. I’ll have to do this again.

Bowling Green beer tastings

Posted on November 17, 2007 by Al

Professor Mike Coomes holds monthly beer tasting events. For a mere $7, attendees sample 3-4 ounces of up to seven beers and then discuss them.

Unsurprising, to me anyway, is that the people who come to these things enjoy the camaraderie and learning about new beers. Two of my favorite things about beer.

“It brings lots of groups of people together,” [coordinator of the events Justin] Rudisille said. “Undergraduates, graduate students and faculty. Sometimes you see people there that were at first strangers, but then after a while it’s like they become family.”

Ian Short, a junior, said it’s just a really great time for drinking good beer and engaging in quality conversation without anybody tipping the table over.

BG News: Move over wine, it’s beer tasting time

Widhook?

Posted on November 17, 2007 by Al

Boy, have I been out of it.

Turns out two of the (U.S.) Northwest’s biggest and best-known craft brewers are going to merge. This will result in a craft brewing company on par with Sierra Nevada second only to Boston Beer Co. in size.

Granted, it’s nowhere near the kind of numbers that MillerCoors will be producing, but I don’t drink their beers. I have occasioned to drink both Red Hook and Widmer.

And I’m just hearing about it now.

The Oregonian: Widmer, Redhook Combine to form 2nd largest U.S. Craft Brewer

(via I Love Beer, among others)

DS Your Beer

Posted on November 16, 2007 by Ron

Beer magazine tipped me off to a few things I missed over the summer. One item that I thought was very cool is that at the Safeco ballpark you can use your Nintendo DS Lite to wirelessly order your beer while watching the Seattle Mariners game without ever leaving your seat. Safeco park is known for decent food and beer, too. You can get Red Hook, Pyramid, Sapporo, Fat Tyre, Henry’s Weinhard, Pabst, and Alaskan Amber and more . Which one of those pairs best with sushi… I’m not sure.

Your DS Lite will also get you trivia games, players’ stats, replays and scores. The convenience comes at the price of $5 per game, or $30 for ten games. Engaget grabbed this news piece early this summer.

YourBeers

Posted on November 14, 2007 by Al

I don’t really know what “Web 2.0” is, but I’ll bet this site is part of it.

YourBeers Beer Guide

It is, very simply, a place to rate beers. Anyone can join, add a beer, or three, or a hundred, and rate them. You can also comment on them, post in the forums, and look through the data in any number of ways.

Their “About Us” page says:

Your Beers is a web 2.0 social networking site for beer enthusiasts. It allows individuals to discover new types of beer and to share their favorites with the world.

The site uses AJAX, which all of the cool Web 2.0 apps use nowadays, making using it dead simple. The interface is clean and easy to use.

It looks like it launched in the latter half of 2006 and never really got significant traction. Sadly, it appears to be foundering. The last couple of messages in the forums are spam and messages in all are rather sparse.

Competing against such well-established heavyweights as Beer Advocate and RateBeer probably accounts for much of that. It’s your typical “chicken-and-egg” conundrum. The site won’t be compelling until it has a good database of information. It won’t get that information until people sign up and add it. People won’t sign up for the site until it has a good database of information.

I think it could be worthwhile, though. It’s much simpler than its competition, and isn’t saddled (yet) with the politics and cliques of long-established community members. It also doesn’t try to be anything more than a place for people to rate beers and share. That’s not a knock against them, or anyone else; Sometimes, to me, doing one thing and doing it well is the best way to go.

Update (10-May-2008): The site appears to have been abandoned. There is little more content than when I first posted this, and now the forums are rife with spam. The site has been abandoned by its owners. I can no longer recommend it at all.

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Monthly Archives: November 2007