musing

So I was looking for this quote from Fred Eckhardt:

“Winemakers are so serious. Beermakers are frivolous.”

Which sent me into my archives — deep, this one was stored on a portable drive and in a version of Microsoft Word old enough I had to “import” the story. Once I’d gone to that trouble I decided to post this article I wrote for All About Beer magazine in 2001.

Another line I’d forgotten: Michael Jackson described homebrewers as the “the shock troops of the beer revolution.”

Also note: Maureen Ogle and Charlie Papazian continue to add to their posts about the early days of the American Homebrewers Association.

Every once in a while I’ll post a collection of links here. After all, that’s the blog way of doing things. And every once in a while I wonder if that’s such a great idea. You may have already seen these things. Between email, RSS feeds and Twitter I feel like I’ve seen 784 references to “Beer Wars.”

My friend Alan McLeod wrote about Twitter in his “other blog” a while back. I’m neither suggesting you join Twitter or break up with Twitter, but would simply note it can be very informative if your ready to deal with a room where too many people are talking at the same time.

So at the risk of adding to your clutter:

– Corona Extra’s sales are losing fizz. The pain of having Bud Light Lime kick your butt.

– Drink Beer With Flying Dog Brewery. And Also Not Have Any Pants On. Twitter tasting. Live. April 18.

– Who the Hell Is Enrolling in Journalism School Right Now? Just because newspapers are dying doesn’t mean journalism must. (Or why I’m not counting on Twitter for stories about piracy on the high seas.)

– Dregs Report. Posted April 1, and apparently vanishing April 14. Stuff like “New pairing craze: sustainable wines with endangered species.”

– Keep Your Soul: A Tribute to Doug Sahm. What we’ll be listening to as we resume out Central Texas barbecue hunting.

That’s five. Enough clutter.

Maureen Ogle has been adding to “outtakes” about the history of the American Homebrewers Association that didn’t quite fit into her book, Ambitious Brew, and now Charlie Papazian has chimed in as well.

So, what the heck, I dug out a story I wrote for Zymurgy magazine in 2003 about the birth of Zymurgy. It appeared in the 25th anniversary edition.

By the time Charlie is done it may all be redundant. After all, he was there.

Maureen has been posting her outtakes in digestible chunks, but I’m on the lazy side so you’ll find my story in one piece in the library.

A ‘Beer Wars’ sneak preview: A reporter in Boston got a look at a 10-minute chunk of “Beer Wars.” He writes, “What I saw was Michael Moore 101: Little craft breweries like Dogfish Head and MoonShot = Good. Anheuser-Busch, a.k.a. ‘the soulless machine,’ the ‘monopoly,’ the ‘corporate behemoth with their insatiable appetite for growth’ = Bad. Baron takes a page right from the ‘Roger and Me’ playbook, making much of Anheuser CEO August Busch’s refusal to grant her an interview. (Thanks to Andy Crouch for pointing to this from the Boston Globe.)

Oregon craft beer sales fall: December and January shipments for all Oregon craft brewers fell by 5 percent and 7 percent, respectively. But in January and February, shipments for all beer in Oregon actually rose by 10 and 20 percent, respectively. “It would appear trading down from higher-priced, locally-made beer has already begun in earnest,” said Brian Butenschoen, executive director of the Oregon Brewers Guild.

Befuggled: Don’t you love that word? Say it two or three times. You’re smiling, right? Reminds me of the word “bumfuzzled,” which I first heard a small-town high school football coach use long before Bill Clinton got it more attention.

Back to beer. Martyn Cornell reports on an article by Kim Cook titled “Who produced Fuggle’s Hops.” Another bit of oft-repeated beer history is called to question. A good excuse to read about a classic English hop, and see how Martyn uses the word “rotundity.” Befuggled. Rotundity. Befuggled. Rotundity. When you can’t repeat those words quickly you know you’ve had one bitter too many.

I’ll be buying this book: St. Louis Brews: 200 Years of Brewing in St. Louis 1809-2009 is due out in the fall. This hardbound, full color book will feature over 330 pages detailing the history of beer and its importance to the St. Louis region.

Speaking of books I’ve reviewed several of the books in the BeerBooks.com Classic Reprint Series and own still more of them. I think you should be reading them too, something I remembered when I noticed they are all 30 percent to 36 percent off. A quick disclaimer: I’m affiliate, meaning if you click on the ad on the right or some other links here and buy a book then I get store credit (because I don’t own enough beer books). Just so you know I set up the “speaking of books” link without affiliate coding. I’m telling you about this because it’s a good deal for you, not because I want you to earn me a little store credit.

Been driving through unpleasant prairie winds too much of the day, but now that we’ve docked I feel I should pass along this bit of news before it is no longer — SPOILER ALERT! — April The First.

Flying Dog today unveiled a new “Canis Minor Series” that will feature four low-alcohol craft beers:

• Hot Dog Habanero Ginger Ale – 0.9% ABV, 2 IBU
• Unicorn Dog Sparkling Barley Wine-style Ale – 1.9% ABV, 4 IBU
• Raging Bitch Birch Beer – 1.3% ABV, 6 IBU
• Herberos Belgian-style Root Beer Lager- 1.59% ABV, 7 IBU

They wouldn’t kid about something like this, would they?