Stan Hieronymus

The return of Open Source Beer

Flying Dog Ales is reprising its Open Source Beer Project, but in the spirit of Web 2.0 hopes to make the 2008 version better than 2007.

Thus the following challenge:

“We are looking to expand the Open Source Beer Project into the latest version 1.1 or 2.0. Seeing this is open source we thought we would solicit ideas from the People’s Republic of Flying Dog. We will be accepting concepts from June 18th through July 18th. If your idea is used you will win one of the limited edition Ralph Steadman signed bottles of Gonzo Imperial Porter that we released in 2005. Check out the contest page on June 18th for more details or email your idea to bullshit@flyingdogales.com.

My suggestion?

Integrate Twitter and/or Flickr into the process.

Q&A with Jim Koch, prices included

Don Russell has an excellent little interview with Boston Beer founder Jim Koch today.

As well as everything you could want to know about Samuel Adams Light he addresses the matter of rising beer prices. As always, Koch offers some great sound bites:

– “But you can’t reduce costs by taking ingredients out. People will forgive us for raising the prices 5 percent. They won’t forgive us for taking 5 percent of the malt or hops out of the beer.”

– “For 6 cents on a bottle, are you going to switch to Natty Bo?”

Also some legitimate perspective:

“In 1950, when people were drinking cheap beer, bad wine and nasty spirits, the average American spent 3.5 percent of their disposable income on alcoholic beverages. Fast-forward to today, when we’re drinking craft and imported beers, fine wines and good liquors, the average American is spending 1.5 percent of their disposable income on alcoholic beverages, and per capita consumption is relatively level.”

Read the whole interview.

The Session #17 announced: Bucking the season

The SessionRob DeNunzio has picked the theme for the 17th gathering of The Session: Drinking anti-seasonally.

He writes: “Think of this as the unorthodox cousin of such topics as ‘beer and food’ and ‘beer and music.’ Beer and weather, perhaps? More like beer despite the weather, I guess. Cracking open a Guinness on the beach, finishing a day of yardwork with a Speedway Stout, or whatever else you do that raises an eyebrow (again, beer-related, please), do us all a favor an take a few moments to share your non-conformist tale.”

I’m drinking Alaskan Stout as I type this which give the temperature (50F or so), constant clouds and occasional rains seems spot on for the season as it occurs in Juneau. On July 4, when The Session next arrives, we’ll be somewhere between Calgary and Winnipeg (a bit of space in there). So I’ll be drinking something we pick up between now and then. Don’t expect there will be any Alaskan Stout left.

Monday musing: Which beer is the oddball?

Perhaps you saw this kind of problem when taking tests in your youth. Pick the one of each four that is least like the others.

– Geary’s Pale Ale, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, Magic Hat #9, Fuller’s London Pride.

– New Belgium Blue Paddle Pilsener, Victory Prima Pils, Alaskan Stout, Miller High Life.

– Blue Moon White, Allagash White, Hoegaarden, Weihenstephan Weiss.

– Guinness Draft, Deschutes Black Butte Porter, Rogue Chocolate Porter, Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Porter. Added June 13 – Oops, that should be Rogue Chocolate Stout.

What did you base your decisions on? Style? Color? Price? Size of the brewery? Something in what you taste? Something else all together? There are no right or wrong answers, unlike the home school problems Sierra was working on while I composed this post.

Written Monday, June 9, on the ferry Taku en route to Sitka, Alaska.

The Session #16 roundup posted

The SessionThomas Vincent has posted the roundup for The Session #16, and as someone who couldn’t follow it “live” as I do most Fridays it turned out to be full of surprises.

I expected plenty of words celebrating festivals — which they deserve, because they’ve been a key element in the craft beer renaissance for twenty-plus years — and sure enough you could find them. However, the category Thomas labeled “Changing Relationships and How to Improve Them” was just as big.

Us beer bloggers, we don’t let anybody off easy.