John Duffy recently re-reviewed Molloy’s Last Night coffee and cocoa imperial stout, a beer he didn’t much care for the first time around.
This time he writes, “Looking back now at the original review, it’s not a million miles different: the same elements were there but that sourness was pushed much higher, at least in my perception of the beer at the time. I would like to think that there was something bacterially askew with that can, but it could easily be down to the same beer hitting differently on a different day. Your mileage may vary; mine certainly does.”
(T)he same beer may hit differently on a different day. Not a shocking statement, and a reminder there is a flip side; that the beer that was great last week, last month, last summer suddenly isn’t.
THE WHEELS KEEP TURNING
Cottrell Brewing opened in Connecticut in 1996, the year the number of US breweries swelled past 1,000. Victory Brewing, Stone Brewing, Firestone Walker and several others that would grow well beyond micro-size also opened in 1996. Cottrell was small, but not that small, producing 4,000 barrels in 2019, the year before the pandemic. More than 90 percent of the breweries in the country are smaller.
The brewery will be closing soon, not because of the pandemic but because their landlord is kicking them out and the hassle of moving isn’t worth it. But the brand name is going to one company and the brewing equipment to another.
. . . AND TURNING
Stone Brewing co-founder Greg Koch writes an ode to Marin Brewing.
THE EXCEPTION
It’s been, what?, more than a decade since the Brewers Association rolled out the fact that most Americans live within 10 miles of a brewery. But if they live next to Katahdin Brew Works, it is a long way to the next brewery, like 100 miles.
TWEET LIKE A MONK
A team of college professors and students is helping St. Joseph’s Abbey in Spencer, Mass. — home of the only Trappist brewery in the United States — launch a social media marketing plan for Spencer beers. “To be candid,” says Father Isaac, who oversees the brewery, “the monastic lifestyle doesn’t attract a lot of people who are skilled at (social media).” (Nice photos; take a look.)
PROHIBITION
How American Authors Helped Push an Agenda of “Temperance.” About the drunkard, a new character in American writing.
IF YOU’RE GOING TO COME AT THE KING
What’s it take to become the King of Bud? Ten years and 10,000 beers.
BLACK HISTORY MONTH
– Grammy-nominated Southern hip-hop group Nappy Roots opens Atlantucky on Friday.
– Beer Kulture and Athletic Brewing partner for the return of soul sour.
– Chicago’s Black-owned breweries unite for 6-week residency in the West Loop.
– San Antonio beer fans outraged as Black-owned local brewery snubbed in MLK library exhibit.
There should be plenty more, but that’s a start.
HISTORY
– The growler. But don’t forget Charlie Otto.
-Ask for a “glass of beer” in Ireland and you will receive a half pint. Why?