BEER AND WINE LINKS 04.09.18
Q & A: Larry Bell of Bell’s Brewery.
“We’re probably one of the few breweries that uses our family name. There are so many breweries out there but not necessarily a lot of family names. It’s personal — it’s our name on the product,” says Larry Bell (pictured at the brewery in the summer of 1995). And he isn’t shy about continuing to conjure up David/Goliath images. “They have the Death Star, and they are moving it into position. We rebel forces, we craft guys, have to keep sticking together and keep attacking.”
Not everything in Charlotte needs craft beer.
This story is full of tweet-worthy one liners. I chose this, “The rise of the brewery is arguably the biggest social trend of the past decade for young professionals in midsize cities.” Pretty bold. But there’s also this idea, “Tell people that it’s OK for people to meet for a run or to do yoga or to discuss religion or listen to music or linger over flowers without chugging $6 pints while doing it.”
Homage to Catalonian beer tourism.
A PhD in beer tourism. Let that sink in. But the part that intrigues me: Catalan brewers are “attempting to forge a truly local indigenous brewing culture, using locally grown produce – hops, barley, other grains, fruits, even grape must, to make ‘grape ales’ – and locally found wild yeasts, and using resources such as barrels previously containing local wine, sherry, local spirits and the like.”
A Culture of Confusion — The Process, Vernacular, and Challenge of Selling “Sour” Beer.
I can’t quit watching the conversations brewers are having as they try to establish a new beer vocabulary. Bryan Roth writes, “‘Sour beer,’ for its ease of understanding, is a double-edged sword.” Lauren Salazar, the wood cellar director and blender for New Belgium Brewing1, talked about this several months ago at a drinks conference in South Carolina. “Every day, I try to figure out how to break these words apart,” she said.
