monday links

Monday beer links: The past, present and business as usual

BEER AND WINE LINKS, MUSING 07.23.18

End of prohibition drinking
We spent the weekend in Savannah on the Georgia coast — the city that Billy Sunday called the wickedest in the world. We had hoped to drink gin from a glass-sized bath tub at the American Prohibition Museum but it turned out they only serve it that way during evening hours. We did, however, spot a rare 1933 IPA bowl. Anyway, pardon the brevity this Monday and feel free to provide your own musing.

THE PAST

The Problem with Nostalgia.
“We don’t, as it happens, believe in the Good Old Days. Slops in the mild, buckets of sawdust and phlegm, and ladies only in the lounge, if at all? Fascinating, but hardly desirable.” Agreed, but there’s also this: “Nostalgia serves a crucial existential function. It brings to mind cherished experiences that assure us we are valued people who have meaningful lives.”

Thousands of Londoners pass through a historic brewery every day without realising it.
Technology makes easier to imagine what was in place before 19th century streets and buildings “were rubbed from existence like timetravellers who murdered their grandfathers.”

What did 17th century food taste like?
“Fried eggs don’t change the course of history. But taste does change history.” Bonus: Contains a recipe for “Snaill water.”

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Monday beer links: What if the King hadn’t been dethroned?

BEER AND WINE LINKS, MUSING 07.16.18

Farewell To The King
A decade after Anheuser-Busch’s sale, beer still pours from St. Louis brewery but much has changed.
Beer in America changed, July 13, 2008, when Anheuser-Busch agreed to a takeover from InBev. Before getting to the “what ifs” there is this new story, one published when the deal was finalized, and one that tracks how the story played out on the front pages.

At the time, columnist Bill McClellan asked, “If the brewery is sold, how will we know who we are?”

I remember interviewing a man who had just been fired from some dead-end job. I asked about his background. “My parents were both bottlers at the brewery,” he said. I said something to the effect that those were pretty good jobs. He nodded. “But I wasn’t raised to think I was better than anybody else,” he said.

If you’re not from St. Louis — or haven’t spent years here — that might seem like a strange thing to say. Why would the child of blue-collar workers even think of saying such a thing? But if you’re from here, you understand. Brewery jobs have always been special.

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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.”

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Monday beer links: Culture, tasting rooms, and criticism

BEER AND WINE LINKS, MUSING 07.02.18

Greetings from Asbury Park

Indeed, this week’s links were compiled in Asbury Park, the Jersey Shore town that Bruce Springsteen fans associate with the post card pictured above, and one working on a comeback.

Behind the Curtain — Dissecting American Resistance to Modern British Beer.
I cannot disagree with the notion that Americans are less than great at appreciating the breadth of other cultures. But this statement: “America has helped transform the world’s beer culture without diluting the value of its history or tradition.” That I can disagree with. Or put it in the form of a question: Why would you expect us to be good at appreciating the past and present of other beer cultures when we don’t respect our own history?

What Does It Mean to Build Craft Beer Culture in 21st-Century Bhutan?
If nothing else, take a look at the stunning photo at the top of the story. Of course I’m a sucker for breweries that embrace local, but the let’s get practical about hops side of my brain reads “they did try to grow hops here and it was a success” and think it is time to check the latitude. 27.5142° N, so forget the hops. But they apparently have something of a farmhouse brewing tradition. Perhaps that’s what they should build on.

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Monday beer links: Nostalgia, selling (out), & a mystery

BEER AND WINE LINKS, MUSING 06.25.18

Esslinger's Repeal Beer
The Art of Repeal: Exploring America’s Post-Prohibition Beer Labels.
Save this link, and any time you need a smile this week feel free to click and scroll.

Can’t Think Straight.
Wearing my optimist hat while reading this. “Slowly but surely, the beer world is becoming safer for anyone who struggles to feel like they belong somewhere, anywhere. To be seen, heard, and valued. To be themselves, without judgment, expectation, or assumptions. It’s a change that’s made me proud to be both a woman and an LGBTQ individual in beer.”

The Rise and Decline of the “Sellout”
Takeovers: Another Football Analogy.
Up close, the Heineken/Beavertown news last week was as devastating as the Anheuser-Busch/10 Barrel news was once in Oregon. That these two are no longer unique — after all, it has been seven years since A-B take control of Goose Island (see below) — does not make them less painful for those involved. But right now, and by that I mean since the Goose Island deal, we are in the moment. Give this some time before suggesting what history will have to say.

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