Monday beer links: Hop inspections, beer lists, BCS & ‘Hard Times’

ABBREVIATED MONDAY BEER & WINE LINKS, 11.28.2016

Unhappy New York Hop Inspection: 1827 to 1835.
Alan McLeod trips happily from one discovery about hop inspecting to another. A couple of passages from the 1973 edition of Steiner’s Guide to American Hops add to the conversation.

(The annual sale of hops) was greatly stimulated by a law passed in Massachusetts in 1806 providing for compulsory inspection and grading of all hops packed for export. Strict standards were set for inspection and sternly enforced with the result that Massachusetts “first sort” brand became known as the finest hops in the United States. The effects of the law were salutary. European customers insisted upon hops which had passed the Massachusetts inspection, and in consequence, such approved hops commanded a premium price.” Production grew from annual sales of 304,377 pounds between 1806 to 1815 to 595,451 between 1825 and 1835. (From History of Agriculture in the Northern United States, 1620-1863.)”

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Monday beer links: Cultural perspective, birthday pics, predictions

MONDAY BEER & WINE LINKS, 11.14.2016

The City with a Thorn in its Side — Manchester, England’s Mix of Old and New.
“Manchester is just two hours away from London by train—163 miles. But the gulf between these two cities, from culture to accents, is as vast as the differences between the Florida Keys and the Pacific Northwest. In order to experience these cultural differences, you really need to observe them in person.”

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The Session #118: Who you gonna invite?

The SessionIt has come to my attention I am hosting the 118th gathering of The Session in a few weeks. I obviously had not thought things through back in March of 2007 when I suggested we do this once a month. I didn’t have an exit strategy, but I certainly did not anticipate The Session would still be going more than nine years later. So here I am hosting for a third time and looking for a theme unlike the 117 that came before.

How about this?

If you could invite four people dead or alive to a beer dinner who would they be? What four beers would you serve?

If the questions look familiar it might be because we played the game here nine years ago. It was fun, so let’s take the show on the road. To participate, answer these questions Dec. 2 in a blog post (or, what the heck, in a series of tweets). Post the url in the comments here or email me a link. I’ll post a roundup with links some time the following week.