Monday links: CBD beers, lawnmower beers, tasting terroir

BEER AND WINE LINKS, MUSING 07.09.18

The Short History and Uncertain Future of CBD Beer.
a) This appeared in The Ringer, a sports and pop culture website.
b) True fact: Breweries experimenting with CBD beers are taking a risk by simply hoping to slide under the regulatory radar. “Of making sure Coalition’s CBD beers stay in compliance, (Elan) Walsky grinned and said, ‘We probably put our lawyers’ kids through college four times over.'”
c) New Belgium Brewing uses an experimental hop known has HBC 520 in The Hemperor. No, you won’t be the first to suggest it should have been called HBC 420.

Keeping it local: how UK brewers are tapping into provenance and terroir.
It only appears I am contractually obligated to link to every story that mentions beer terroir. I actually pass on a few. This one raises an interesting question. “Even if it is hard for the average consumer to taste the difference, they will understand the general principle that natural products grown in a particular area will take on a unique set of characteristics, and that is a concept I can see becoming increasingly popular in the future.” If you can’t taste the terroir is is really terroir?

So They Brewed Their Own Beer — The Northern Clubs Federation.
This is what can happen when breweries get bigger. “What becomes clear is that the Fed (the club brewery) quickly grew into a very substantial concern with plenty of money sloshing about, wood-panelled boardrooms, colossal egos, and in all that more or less indistinguishable, at least in cosmetic terms, from the private breweries its founders had set out to overthrow.”

Found in Translation — What ‘Belgian Beer’ Means Globally.
“It can be confusing to try to figure out what it means if a beer tastes ‘Belgian,’ shows ‘Belgian character,’ or is even ‘Belgian-inspired.'” Substitute American for Belgian, or German or English or . . . Perhaps @evanrail needs to write a series.

When breweries grow, do bars lose business?
What California’s State Data Indicates About Brewery Business Models.
The first link is to a follow up to a story by Don Russell I linked to last week. Compare and contrast to the second.

There is no such thing as the ‘craft beer community’
Follow this thread.
I won’t smack you with another “compare and contrast” — but I think this post and Twitter thread are interesting reading companions.

Craft vs. Macro Lagers – A Blind Taste Test.
Salud! In our highly scientific taste test, lawn mowers rank Wisconsin’s lawnmower beers.
Real beers that real people drink.

WINE

Book Review: Godforsaken Grapes by Jason Wilson.
The is not to suggest resurrecting godforsaken hops — you know, the ones growing behind the barn on grandpa’s old farm. Instead, something all writers should remember: “The most refreshing aspect about Wilson’s voice is his sense of self-doubt, the way he questions his own assumptions and applies skepticism to his own views when he feels he might be getting ahead of himself.”

FROM TWITTER

MORE LINKS

Alan McLeod most Thursdays.
Good Beer Hunting’s Read Look Drink most Fridays.
Boak & Bailey most Saturdays.