Tag Archives: contest

Hop Talk Podcast #8 – It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity. No, it’s the heat.

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In this episode we talk about

  • MillerCoors loses their license in Minnesota due to government shutdown
  • Flying Dog fights for the First Amendment in Michigan
  • Sunoco tests selling craft beer in growlers at convenience stores
  • and, our contest winner!

Download it here: Hop Talk Podcast ep. 8

…or subscribe with iTunes

Show notes:

Beer News

MillerCoors got caught up in the government shutdown in Minnesota and temporarily lost their license to sell beer there. That’s 40% of the market suddenly gone. But, crisis averted?

“All Beers Considered“, from Aleheads, pointed us toward this issue, where Flying Dog’s best-selling beer was originally blocked for sale in Michigan, but a court reversed the block. However, Flying Dog is continuing to fight for the First Amendment.

Sunoco is conducting a test at 30 of their APlus stores in and around Buffalo, New York. It’s called the Craft Beer Exchange.

Our Contest Winner!

Congratulations Amanda Brezina!

What we drank:

Spot a discrepancy? Something missing? Let us know. contact@hop-talk.com

Follow us on Twitter: @hoptalk and @hoptalkron

Music credits:

Background music at bar during intro:
Artist: Gnappy
Song: Best Not FUnck Around

Main intro:
Artist: A Thousand Knives of Fire
Song: She’s Yours

Outro Music:
Artist: Aphasia
Song: Metal Tank

Transition Music:
Artist: Devil In A Woodpile
Song: Beer Ticket Rag

Headcase contest winner!

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You’ll recall that we were running a contest to win a Headcase iPhone case/bottle opener and that we’d give one of these cases to an entrant chosen at random.

Well, we have a winner!

Amanda Brezina sent in the following photo with this message:

After a long day of lying on the beach, what better way to recover than a nice cold Sam Adams Summer Ale and a delicious grilled dinner!

I agree, Amanda. Congratulations!

Thanks all who sent in their photos. Below is a selection of a few.

Hop Talk Podcast #7 – That’s not a wombat?

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In this episode we talk about

  • Homebrewers choose the best beers in America
  • Oregonians love Oregon beer
  • The Beer Bloggers Conference in Portland, Oregon, August 19-21, 2011
  • Pintley, a social beer recommendation engine
  • and, our contest!

Download it here: Hop Talk Podcast ep. 7

…or subscribe with iTunes

Show notes:

Beer News

Zymurgy, the magazine of the American Homebrewers Association, polled their subscribers, crunched the numbers and came up with a list of the fifty best beers in the U.S.

Beervana, Jeff Alworth’s blog, pointed us toward some information about Oregon beer. Not only are there a lot of breweries there, but they make a lot of beer, and a lot of it stays in-state. Lots and lots of numbers.

Speaking of Oregon, the Beer Bloggers Conference is coming around again in August. Golly, but we wish we could go. The agenda isn’t yet set, but some of the panels they’ve announced look really interesting.

Beer 2.0

We check out a new (to us) beer recommendation engine: Pintley. It’s a well-done site and after rating a few beers it offers up some good recommendations. There are also iPhone and Android apps, as well as a mobile-optimized website. You can friend us, too. HopTalkRon and HopTalkAl. (Perhaps soon HopTalkMatt as well.) Although we’re not quite sure what to make of the TechCrunch review.

Contest

Don’t forget we’re running a contest to win a free Headcase combination iPhone case and bottle opener.

What we drank:

Spot a discrepancy? Something missing? Let us know. contact@hop-talk.com

Follow us on Twitter: @hoptalk and @hoptalkron

Music credits:

Background music at bar during intro:
Artist: Gnappy
Song: Best Not FUnck Around

Main intro:
Artist: A Thousand Knives of Fire
Song: She’s Yours

Outro Music:
Artist: Aphasia
Song: Metal Tank

Transition Music:
Artist: Devil In A Woodpile
Song: Beer Ticket Rag

Win a Headcase iPhone case with bottle opener

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In addition to being beer geeks, Ron and I tend to wander into gadget geekery as well. We don’t always agree on certain aspects, though. I tend to like doohickeys that do one thing and do it well. He has abolished all single-purpose items from his kitchen. I’m also Android; he’s iPhone.

While we could probably argue about Smart Phone OSes at least as long as we discuss beer, I think this week he’s got the upper hand.

The Headcase bottle opener case is not just a case for your iPhone, it’s also a bottle opener. (They have models for the iPhone 4 as well as the iPhone 3GS.) Not only that, it comes with a free app that counts the bottle tops and cans you open and lets you record custom sounds to play when you open them.

Jungle Cents is running a special whereby you can get a voucher for one of these bad boys for $10. That’s half of the usual $20.

But you, dear reader, have an opportunity to get one of these bad boys FOR FREE!

How you ask? Simple:

  1. Take a photo of a beer bottle with your iPhone. (Even better: you and your beer bottle)
  2. Send the photo to me at al [at] hop-talk.com with your name and e-mail address, and maybe some background details of why you’re drinking that beer.
  3. Send it by July 14, 2011.

On July 15 I’ll pick one person at random and get him or her a voucher for a free Headcase.

Sorry, Ron. You’re not eligible.

Want to go the Beer Summit in Phoenix, Arizona?

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Fizz is a marketing company in Atlanta. They’re having a contest to give away a pass to the conference*, held February 28-March 1 at the Wild Horse Pass Resort & Spa in Phoenix. Normally, the pass costs about $1,100. But you could get in for free.

Come up with the best beer brand name that would never get approved by the Alcohol Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB). Bonus points for sending a mockup label to go with your beer name or doing anything else that we think is funny. Email your entry by Thursday, February 4, 2010 at 11:59pm Eastern Standard Time (EST). Yep, it’s that simple.Entries will be judged on the following criteria:

  • Humor
  • Cleverness in breaking rules
  • Unapprovability
  • General wit

Go here for the details: Contest: Best Un-Approvable Beer Name

* The Beer Summit gathers 500 professionals from the beer industry to talk about the biggest issues in beer and beer marketing.

You could win trip to the Budvar Brewery in Prague

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UK writer Pete Brown has won yet another trip to České Budějovice, Bohemia, Czech Republic. (You know, where Budějovický Budvar is.) He loves the place, but has decided that a third trip for him won’t have the same universal karma as making it a first trip for someone else. So, he’s giving it away. You only need to write a little something.

Working in conjunction with Budvar UK and The Publican, we’re launching a mini-competition to encourage new beer writing talent.

This is open to anyone who is passionate about beer, wants to write about it, but has not yet had anything published in print media. We can’t and don’t want to exclude bloggers because most people who are keen to write about beer have started doing so electronically, but we want to offer someone the chance to break into being published offline for the first time.

It’s simple. You need to write a thousand-word piece on the subject of ‘Why Beer Matters’, interpreted in whatever way you see fit. You need to send this to me (Pete Brown) by 29th January, remembering to include your real name, postal address and contact telephone number.

Judges will include me (Pete Brown), and Publican editor Caroline Nodder. The winning entry will be published in The Publican, and the successful writer will be invited on a press trip to Ceske Budejovice, which also takes in a day trip to the stunning medieval town of Ceske Krumlov some time in early spring.

This is open to any writer, anywhere (though you’d have to get yourself to either London or Prague under your own steam if you live outside the UK.)

PETE BROWN: WIN MY TRIP TO THE BUDVAR BREWERY!

Better get to work!

Contest: Win 2 tickets to GonzoFest on September 12

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GonzoFest is Flying Dog Brewing‘s second annual celebration of life, beer, and Hunter S. Thompson. I’ve previously posted details of the event:

GonzoFest – September 12, 2009 – Frederick, Maryland

I have two extra tickets, so I’ve decided to give them away to some lucky Hop Talk reader.

How to Enter

It’s very simple. Just leave a comment on this post telling me your favorite Flying Dog beer. Bonus points for stating why it’s your favorite.

In order to ensure enough time to get the tickets to the winner, I am going to make the cut-off time Noon (EDT), Sunday, September 5, 2009. (That’s UTC-0400.)

Determining the Winner

I will choose one person at random from all the comments describing a favorite Flying Dog beer that are left before the deadline.

The Fine Print

  • You must be 21 years of age to get into GonzoFest, so you’ll need to be 21 to win this contest
  • This is only for tickets to the event. Any costs associated with transportation, lodging, bail, etc. is the responsibility of the winner
  • The decision of the judge (me) is final

So tell me: What’s your favorite Flying Dog beer?

(The contest is now closed. I’ll announce the winner shortly.)