Archive for September, 2007

I want chickpeas in my hummus, not in my beer

Tuesday, September 18th, 2007

Remains of the day, or thoughts that probably aren’t worth a post of their own:
- What’s going on with the agricultural ingredients for our beers, barley and hops. This is worth its own lengthy post, but until there’s time for that consider these links. We are talking concerns about quality and certainly higher prices — […]

Samuel Adams creates an ode to noble hops

Monday, September 17th, 2007

Back for a second time, Samuel Adams Hallertau Imperial Pilsner remains a beautiful — if big at 8.8% abv and 110 IBU — tribute to the Hallertau Mittelfrueh hop. Or Mittlefrüher as it is spelled in the Halltetauer region of Bavaria.
Lew Bryson already provoked a long enough discussion about calling it imperial pilsner, inspiring a […]

He was the hardest working man in beer

Sunday, September 16th, 2007

No excuses. Be somewhere Sept. 30 to toast the life and work of Michael Jackson. Make a donation to the National Parkinson Foundation.
The Beer Hunter website has all the information. If your local pub doesn’t have plans, doesn’t know about it then get involved and get a pub involved. The site has posters, information about […]

Higher education and higher beer education

Friday, September 14th, 2007

Monday I wrote about the new Cicerone Certification Program designed to better educate people selling and serving beer.
But what about beer drinkers? Mostly notably all those novice beer drinkers headed off for a higher education that often includes a fair amount of learning about of beer? (OK, I’ll not be totally naive and think drinking […]

Does Voodoo brewer have the mojo?

Thursday, September 13th, 2007

Can he walk the walk?
He certainly can talk the talk. Listen to this from Matt Allyn, brewer of the Voodoo Brewery in Meadville, Pa., in a story from Bob Batz of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
“I never want to feel compelled to make more beer than I can personally touch.”
And . . .
“We want to keep […]

Huh? A sweet lager ‘reminiscent of an IPA’

Wednesday, September 12th, 2007

A tasting note you couldn’t make up:
“It’s a sweet lager, with a warm citrus flavor reminiscent of an India pale ale, but without an ale’s added gravity.”
And this tells me what?
Taken from a story about Half Acre Beer in Chicago. The headline refers to it as a “local brew” but it is made under contract […]

Men’s Journal ‘best beers’ redux

Wednesday, September 12th, 2007

Fall is in the air. The mornings are crisper, roll down your window as you pass the Fruit Basket on Fourth Street and you can smell green chiles roasting, RVs are already parked around Balloon Fiesta Park . . . and the Men’s Journal fourth annual guide to “The World’s Best Beers” is out.
All I […]

Session #8: Beer and Food

Wednesday, September 12th, 2007

Captain Hops of Beer Haiku Daily has made the call for Session #8 and it’s “Beer and Food.”
No, you don’t have to include a haiku.
And, yes, just yesterday I commented this beer and food thing was gaining traction.
I am looking for posts about pairing beer with food or using beer as an ingredient in food. […]

What’s for dinner? Cheese, beer and wine

Tuesday, September 11th, 2007

Is this beer and food thing gaining a little momentum or is it my imagination?
- Otter Creek Brewing will continue to host its weekly local cheese and beer pairings each Friday through October as part of the brewery’s “Local foods meet Local Brews” events.
The free beer and cheese pairings, which include eight different Vermont […]

Step aside, sommelier; there’s a new Cicerone in town

Monday, September 10th, 2007

Yesterday’s beer word of the day was lactobacillus (as in those gross beer lines in Milwaukee).
Today’s is Cicerone.
And the two are related. I was going to wait a few weeks before writing about the Cicerone Certification Program Ray Daniels is launching. But in the wake of the Milwaukee story, and comments that followed about properly […]