Hop Talk
This blog is about beer and life.
Beer fuels horses at Saratoga Springs
Aug 12th
Who knew? Beer fuels horses at Saratoga
I just happen to run across this and how timely… I was just enjoying my own beer today at the track. (and throwing money away on horses) I think in this case, I’d rather be the horse!
Guinness beer’s long-time slogan is “Guinness is Good For You” and some trainers says it’s the only beer good for their horses.
“It’s the yeast in Guinness that puts them on to eat it, I think,” says Ryan.
Blaven
Aug 10th
A dear friend brought this back from her trip to the U.K. I certainly haven’t seen it in any of my local retailers. Heck, I don’t know that I’ve seen anything from Isle of Skye.
They say:
The strongest of the regular Skye ales, Bla Bheinn, the blue mountain, is a deep golden ale, malty and full-bodied, with a fruity, hoppy character and a delightful Fuggles hop aroma. Originally a winter ale, now available all year round due to demand.
It pours a nice clear golden color with an off-white head a couple fingers’ thick.
Slightly fruity aroma which reminds me of a not-quite-ripe peach. It has a big body but only about 5% ABV which is a little surprising. As it warms I’m getting a hint of vanilla.
This is pretty good; I’m glad it made it over the Atlantic.
Beer news sampler
Aug 9th
A six-pack of items that recently caught our eye.
Prophet vs profit: dilemma for brewing monks
[B]rewing monks are facing a new and unexpected challenge: commercial success. Frankly, even though it will make it difficult for me to ever try a Westmalle Dubbel, I hope they never give in.
Europe’s beer gardens of Eden
The author’s “pilgrimage” from Prague to Munich. Too bad he trots out that old—and incorrect—chestnut that Franklin supposedly said about beer and God.
Sierra Nevada, actual monks to brew new beers
Speaking of Trappist monks, a group of monks from the Abbey of New Clairvaux are partnering with Sierra Nevada to create three limited-edition beers. The proceeds from these beers will help restore a 12th century, early-gothic Cistercian chapter house that William Randolph Hearst purchased and moved to California in the 1930s.
No More Gluek Beer
Jay Brooks said it best: “Regardless of Gluek’s ultimate place in American brewing history, it’s always sad to see another old brand consigned to the scrap heap of discontinued brands, but then I’m sentimental that way.”
How Jimmy Carter Saved American Beer
It’s got nothing to do with his brother Billy or Billy Beer, but rather how the deregulation of the beer industry removed the stranglehold held by Anheuser-Busch and their ilk and allowed the explosion of craft breweries.
AB InBev loses Budweiser trademark case
AB InBev still has agreements in several countries to use the Budweiser brand, but this would have allowed them to claim the trademark in all members of the European Union. Budejovicky Budvar just gets to keep the registrations it currently has. (And let’s hope that this is the last we see of this issue.)
Hopworks Beer Bike
Aug 5th
Imagine if you will a bicycle modified to hold two kegs, two custom taps, an inlaid wood bar (with easy access to the kegs), a sound system, and a rack capable of carrying three large pizza pies.
“Crazy!” you say? Feast your eyes:
This melding of passions was created by Metrofiets, a Portland, Oregon outfit that makes customized artisan cargo bikes. They made it for Christian Ettinger, the owner and brewmaster of Hopworks Urban Brewery.
(via Make)
Tragedy in Connecticut
Aug 4th
A man who worked at a beer distributor in Connecticut went on a shooting rampage and killed eight people, wounded two others, then killed himself.
I’ll never understand why some people do this. We’ll never know the whole truth.
All of the people affected by this tragedy are in our thoughts and prayers.
Beer snobbery saves a life
Jul 29th
James Yeager is an American geologist who was advising the government of Afghanistan in 2007. Because of his distaste for a certain ubiquitous Mexican export—which an intruder left behind—he avoided assassination.
he returned to his residence in Kabul to find it had been burgled. The intruder took money from a drawer and left behind a bottle of Corona beer. The Corona bottle sat on his counter for the next two weeks Yeager says, because Corona is one of his least favorite beers. He finally opened it during a going away party as the other drinks began to run low.
“I pulled it out and when I popped it there was no fizz and the cap was loose,” says Yeager. “Because this one didn’t have fizz you wonder if it went rancid or not, and I just kind of sniffed it and I went ‘Oh, that doesn’t smell like beer.’ ”
Yeager, a geochemist familiar with acids, realized it smelled like sulfuric acid – otherwise known as battery acid.
So next time you reach for one of those industrial light lagers, consider if you really want it. The life you save may be your own.
(via Boing Boing (via The Christian Science Monitor))
