. . . what beer might the resulting aromas make you think of?
For extra credit consider some or all of these options: Campers in the forest ate garlic pesto pizza last night; had mango ice cream for dessert; grapefruit at breakfast . . .
Now what beer?
Jon Abernathy has announced the topic for The Session #54: Sour Beer.
A little hard to believe that this many rounds into The Session that the theme of the month has not focused specifically on sour beers, isn’t it?
I’ll leave the implementation up to you, but here are some suggestions: seek out and review a sour beer of some kind; write about your experiences with brewing a sour beer; talk about your first sour beer experience; who’s brewing the better sours—Belgians or Americans (or somebody else)?; perhaps a contrary approach—what you don’t like about sour beers. Or if you have the perfect sour beer idea you want to write about, I can’t wait to read it!
It could be a busy couple of days for those planning to participate in #IPADay on Aug. 4 and The Session on Aug. 5. (Please don’t anybody even whisper the words Sour IPA.)
Both are open to anybody who wants to write on the topic, and for those who don’t have a blog Jon will post what you want to write about sour beers. Scroll to the bottom of his post for details.
From Shanken News Daily:
Tenth & Blake, the MillerCoors craft beer unit, has begun testing Blue Moon Vintage Blonde Ale, a wheat beer produced with Chardonnay grape juice, in five markets. Tenth & Blake president Tom Cardella told Shanken News Daily that Vintage Blonde, which is packaged in 750-ml. bottles, is expected to be one in a “specialty series of higher-alcohol beers” marketed under the Blue Moon banner. Cardella added that Blue Moon Grand Cru, a limited-edition small-batch beer first launched in 2009 and retailing at around $10 to $11 a 750-ml. bottle, has received favorable consumer response. Tenth & Blake describes Vintage Blonde — which is being tested now through mid-September in Seattle, Colorado Springs, Chicago, Rochester and northern New Jersey — as “sessionable,” meaning that its profile is well-suited for several servings in a single occasion. The product is being sold in a limited number of grocery stores, liquor stores and about 20 on-premise accounts.
The label at beernews.org indicates the beers is 8.5% abv. Guess that is “sessionable” when you are a Chardonnay drinker, but not according to the rules at The Session Beer Project.
On the heals of a conversation about record-store clerks and beer zealots, Building International Coalitions Through Beer and Pavement gives us:
“(T)en things geeks, nerds, snobs, and connoisseurs do that makes it hard to take their advice and opinions on beer and indie rock seriously.’ (The link, in case you hadn’t figured it out.)
I can’t pick which one I like best, I do know the conclusion really closes the deal.
Still, the backlash directed at beer nerds and indie geeks seems to resemble anti-intellectualism or anti-elitism that runs rampant through our political climate at the moment. These experts are valuable parts of our communities. They can connect dots and provide insight when it’s lacking. The trick is to not let that abundance of knowledge overwhelm or drown out enjoyment.
Well put, ZJE.
How do you review a bottle opener?
It works. Or it doesn’t. This one works.
But $19.95 for a bottle opener? That must be a political statement. Really. I don’t think you buy a “Beers not Bombs” bottle opener unless you want to make a political statement or are enthralled by the story about how they are made. A company called War to Peace fashions jewelry from Peace Bronze, an alloy taken from copper previously used for wiring in nuclear missile systems.
The bottle openers are the newest addition to its catalog and 20 percent of profits are donated to peace and social justice organizations: The Hunger Project; Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières; and the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons.
Now the disclaimer: The folks at War to Peace sent me the bottle opener pictured. Had they simply sent a press release I likely would have mentioned “Beers not Bombs” in a bunch-o-links post rather than devoting 200 words to the topic. I’m passing this much along not to make a political statement or because I need another bottle opener, but because it’s an interesting story. One you might talk about over a beer, where discussions involving politics are encouraged.