29th
February
2008
I have been a cubicle dweller for most of my adult life. It’s not what I would have chosen for myself, but when it is raining, or cold, or brutally hot, I’m thankful to be indoors in a dry, climate-controlled environment. Still, it’s pretty soulless and draining.
WIRED recently featured Cube Chic, by Kelley L. Moore. They also have pictures of seven of her 22 “makeovers”. I’m quite partial to number 5.
Gallery: Fantastic Fixes Help Your Sad, Pathetic Cubicle
Don’t wait until five to unwind. Bring the nightlife into your workspace with barstools, neon lights and pub-themed decorations. Corrugated paper covers the walls, along with framed vintage posters and a dartboard for havin’ a laugh with the mates. A wee bartender serves up pints, and a frothy screensaver reminds you of your true love.
Ah…would that I could do that.
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written by Al | posted in Off-topic | tagged cubicle, pub, wired |
28th
February
2008
According to Information Resource Inc., “Craft” beer dollar sales were up 16.7% in 2007. Yet another double-digit increase.
Craft beer sales were reported up by 14% in the first half of 2007 and up almost 18% in 2006.
More numbers are coming soon.
(via Appellation Beer)
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written by Al | posted in Beer, Craft Brewers, News | tagged craft beer, sales |
27th
February
2008
Back in August I told you about the creation of the Beer Blog Search Engine. Using Google’s Custom Search product, I collected every beer-focused blog I could find and added them. I mostly did it for my own use, because I often want to see what the “beerblogosphere” is saying about a topic. I figured that other people might find it useful too.
I continually add blogs to it. Some I found by following a long chain of links. Others are blogs that have come online just recently.
Here are some new additions (in no particular order):
If you know of any others that would be good additions, don’t hesitate to drop us a line.
Beer Blog Search
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written by Al | posted in Beer, Resources | tagged beer blogs, blogosphere, search |
26th
February
2008
Oh, man, I want to go. It’s on my birthday. Think I can convince the wife?
Tickets went on sale recently, and are $85 a session, not including shipping.
The Brewers Association, producers of the Great American Beer FestivalSM, is bringing the quintessential craft beer and food event to Washington D.C. in celebration of American Craft Beer Week.
A must attend for craft beer aficionados and foodies alike, SAVOR will offer a memorable craft beer and food experience to a limited number of attendees under the columned archways of the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium.
Look at this brewery list:
21st Amendment
Abita Brewing Company
Allagash Brewing Company
Avery Brewing Company
Blackfoot River Brewing Company
Boscos Brewing Company
Boston Beer Company
The Brooklyn Brewery
Clipper City Brewing Company
Deschutes Brewery
Dogfish Head Craft Brewery
Florida Beer Company
Flying Dog Brewery
Flying Fish Brewing Company
Foothills Brewing
Four Peaks Brewing Company
Free State Brewing Company
Full Sail Brewing Company
FX Matt Brewing Company
Great Divide Brewing Company
Great Lakes Brewing Company
Harpoon Brewery
Heiner Brau Microbrewery
Hoppy Brewing Company
Legacy Brewing Co.
Montana Brewing Company
New Albanian Brewing Company
New Belgium Brewing Company
New Holland Brewing Company
Odell Brewing Company
Otter Creek Brewing
Pelican Pub & Brewery
Port Brewing Company
Rock Art Brewery
Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery
Rogue Ales
Russian River Brewing Company
Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing
Sierra Nevada Brewing
Smuttynose Brewing Company
Sprecher Brewing Company
Starr Hill Brewing Company
Stone Brewing Co.
Stoudts Brewing Company
The Saint Louis Brewery, Inc
Tröegs Brewing Company
Two Brothers Brewing Company
Williamsburg AleWerks
SAVOR: An American Craft Beer & Food Experience
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written by Al | posted in Beer, Events, Food Pairing | tagged brewers association, savor, washington dc |
26th
February
2008
The color of beer is measured in Lovibond units or by SRM, Standard Reference Method. The Lovibond method is an objective method where you compare the color of the beer to a chart and pick the closest match. The SRM method is scientific, though the scale was shifted to match Lovibond and they can pretty much be used interchangeably. In both, the higher the number, the darker the color.
For the technical reader, from Wikipedia, the SRM method:
involves the use of spectrophotometry to assign a number of degrees SRM to light intensity. The SRM number is defined as 10 times the absorbance of a sample at 430 nanometers measured through a .5-inch cell. The 430-nanometer wavelength corresponds to a deep blue light, and is the wavelength at which beers appear most different from each other.
Picture your standard megabrewed light American lager (Bud Light) and you will be picturing around a 2. Between 2 and 20 lay a beautiful amber rainbow of colors. Anything higher than 20 is going to be pretty dark, but a porter at about 30 held up to light you will see that it is not completely black. Stouts weigh in at about 35 and higher, up to 70 for something like an Imperial stout.
How much, of which of specialty grains, would one use to make a beer of certain color? I don’t even want to go there, as that is a very complicated subject which has many answers, none of which are perfect. I think the only thing brewers would agree upon is that no one has come up with a method of accurately predicting the color of beer.
For more information on how this scale came about, see this write up derived from Dr. George Fix’s work.
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written by Ron | posted in Beer |
25th
February
2008
If I had any doubts about what would happen with the the hops shortage, I just got a very concrete example.
Yesterday, I paid $16.99 (+ tax) for a six-pack of Stone Ruination IPA.
I will certainly be savoring these.
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written by Al | posted in Beer, News | tagged hops shortage, ruination ipa, stone brewing |
23rd
February
2008
While I can watch and appreciate just about any sport, the only one that I really follow is the NFL. The mania surrounding the NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament just doesn’t “hook” me. (I should blame Dick Vitale.)
Last year the Washington Post took the idea of an elimination tournament and applied it to beer. Called “Beer Madness“, it took some flack for pitting disparate styles against one another, the inclusion of industrial-brewed lagers (and how far they advances) and the exclusion of darker styles like porter and stout.
A year and a half ago, Ron used a bracket format for comparing a number of Oktoberfest style beers. His “Beer Battle” didn’t include 64 contenders, but I thought it was an interesting idea nonetheless.
Well, the folks at Brewing News have taken both ideas to the next logical manifestation:
Great Lakes Brewing News National IPA Championship
Join us in celebrating March Madness with a hops - not hoops - competition. A single elimination bracket of 32 IPAs from across the nation are going head to head in a battle to see who has biggest cone-jones! The National IPA Championship (NIPAC) starts with the preliminary round on February 23rd in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Who will be the 2008 IPA champion? Enter your prediction of each round on-line at www.brewingnews.com/nipac to qualify for the 2008 NIPAC Winners Contest. All contestants that correctly predict the winners of every round and the final champion will be included in a NIPAC Contest Winners Drawing. Prizes include a full case of beer from the 2008 National IPA Champion, tee-shirts, posters and brewery merchandise.
The first round is today, so if you want to participate you’d better hurry.
(via Lyke 2 Drink)
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written by Al | posted in Beer, Events, News, Styles | tagged brewing news, championship, ipa |
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