Session #115 announced: The role of beer books

The SessionHost Joan Villar-i-Martí has announced that the topic for The Session #115 will be “Role of beer books.”

He writes, “Participants can talk about that first book that caught their attention, which brought them to get interested in beer; or maybe about books that helped developing their local beer scene. There’s also the – bad – role of books that regrettably misinform readers because their authors did not do their work properly. There are many different ways to tackle this topic.”

So read a new book or revisit an old friend and post on the topic Sept. 2.

Don’t these people understand the term ‘craft beer’ has no meaning?

And these are just the headlines.

– Beer on demand: Craft breweries like Piece, Half Acre start delivery service
– Bordeaux wine for craft beer drinkers
– What’s it like when your startup craft brewery gets bought by Anheuser-Busch?
– Hopsteiner picks its top hops for craft brewing professionals
– Hopping mad about craft beer
– Illegal Alcohol: Where to Drink Thai Craft Beer in Bangkok
– 10 California Craft Beers That Cost a Bundle on the Black Market

This is not an argument about the validity of whatever definition of “craft beer” you want to use. I find it generally easy to simply use the word beer myself. When I write a story for one of the Brewers Association publications (Zymurgy or New Brewer) I use the term because it is defined within that context of the magazine. I just wrote a sentence in a story for All About Beer magazine where it would have been easier to use the term than not. But I found a way not to, because that’s the AABM philosophy.

But, and you knew that was coming, as the headlines that took me litttletime to collect indicate the term must mean something to somebody (even though you can easily strike the word craft from most of them).

pH is the new IBU

Wicked Weed Funkatorium

This beer menu board at Wicked Weed Funkatorium in Asheville, N.C., should look familiar, but not quite the same. That number following the alcohol by volume is the pH, not the IBUs (International Bitterness Units) you see elsewhere. A useful bit of information for beer drinkers, one indicator of how sour a beer might taste.

What might the downside be? Brewers pushing pH levels lower just so they can (or maybe because they don’t know any better). Kinda like previous IBU wars. (See New Beer Rule #2.)

American Sour Beers author Michael Tonsmeire made the danger clear Saturday during the Asheville Homebrewers Conference when he made it clear he said brewing a beer with the lowest pH is like making an IPA with the most IBUs.

Monday beer links: Why we shouldn’t be surprised if 500 breweries close

MONDAY BEER LINKS, MUSING, 08.15.2016

Craft Beer’s Looming Crisis.
[Via The Daily Beast]
Phil Olson of Longman & Eagle — The Gray of Pay-to-Play.
[Via Good Beer Hunting]
The Awkwardness of Middle-Aged Breweries.
[Via Beervana]
Sam Adams’s Secret Weapon For Winning Back The American Craft Drinker.
[Via Fast Company]
Four stories that remind us that brewing is a business. There are a ton of takeaways, but I pick this from Lew Bryson (Link No. 1): “… the change will be a correction, and the surviving brewers will have the opportunity to grow into large national brands. Unfortunately, we could lose as many as 500 breweries in the process, though eventually the industry will emerge even healthier—just like it did the first time around.”

To which Brewers Association economist Bart Watson had this to say on Twitter: “Some interesting points. 500 closings would be 11-12% of 2015 brewery number. Actually pretty typical 3-yr rate.”

Richard Boston on beer – archive.
If all that business talk wore you out here is a welcome respite. It is Richard Boston’s first Boston on Beer column from 1973, and it is just lovely. Consider this: “What was apparent from my rapid survey was the high general level of interest and awareness on the part of beer-drinkers. For many years they have sat on their high stools at the bar in a state of deep lethargy. Doubtless this state was induced by the beer, and perhaps the reason for their new alertness is that the beer isn’t doing its job properly. At any rate, they’re waking up, they’re looking around and drinking their beer, and they’re not uncritical of what they’re seeing and tasting.” You can read more from Boston by tracking down a used copy of Beer & Skittles. [Via The Guardian, h/T Boak & Bailey]

Hop Tourism: It ought to be a thing.
I endorse the idea and suggest you plan on being in Wolnzach for Volkfest (just getting going this year), remembering that the hop queen is always picked the Tuesday of the fest. [Via DRAFT]

Building a Brewery, Chapter 2: The right tools for the job.
I’m not sure how I missed Part 1, but suggest you catch up (like I am). Oakhold Farmhouse Brewery gets a mention in Brewing Local and Caleb Lever, who wrote the story, somewhat more. He understands yeast and fermentation far better than I do and introduced me to Laurens Bass Becking’s tenet that, “Everything is everywhere, but the environment selects.” [Via The Growler]

Fieldwork Changed One Thing and Discovered an NEIPA.
Coincidentally, Mike Karnowski at Zebulon Artisan Ales gave a fascinating presentation on West Coast and Northeast IPAs Saturday at the Asheville Homebrewers Conference. It included a lot of how. But as any hop scientist I’ve talked would say, the why needs a lot more study. Until then it is best to be skeptical about suggesting a relationship between murky and yeast viability. [Via BeerGraphs]

MOVING ON TO WINE

How Do You Make a Wine That Costs $3.50?
“Where does that come from? Think what must be in there! Think how much the people who actually make it must be paid!” [Via Punch]

FROM TWITTER

Because you might have been wordering what Boak & Bailey look like.

Hop harvest has begun, and talk of a ‘hops bubble’

Hop farmers haven’t started harvesting in the American Northwest, various parts of Germany, or the Czech Repubic, where most of the world’s hops are grown, but they have some places. Thus this picture from Indiana.

So let’s begin this hops link-o-rama with a story from Indiana and go from there.

Indiana Hops Farmers Pin Financial Hopes To Craft Beer Trend
“Small farms are not gonna be able to make it on corn and soybeans,” said Purdue horticulture professor Lori Hoagland, who advises hops farmers for the school extension. “So diversifying into some of these more niche crops is gonna be important.”

As Michigan adds hop acreage, concerns of oversupply emerge
How fast is this happening? There’s already talk of a Hops Bubble™. In Michigan, acreage is growing so fast the state may soon have more land devote to hops than countries such as Belgium and New Zealand. And Brian Tennis, I think the first guy in the state to establish a commercial hop farm, suggests some caution may be in order. “Hops are still risky. It’s an agricultural crop and it depends on what the price is at,” he told MiBiz. And Rob Sirrine of the Michigan State University Extension says this “will serve as a telling year” for the state’s processing infrastructure.

Despite craft beer boom, not much hoppin’ on Illinois farms
“In Illinois, unlike in neighboring Michigan, there’s no state university-coordinated effort among brewers and growers to break down potential barriers to business. There’s no research underway to determine the best varieties for Illinois farmers to grow that might give them a competitive edge.”

German hop growers target the massive Chinese beer market
Beer production and consumption in China continues to grow, but hop acreage is shrinking. Seems to be an opportunity here.

Craft beer craze drives demand for hops in Australia
Craft beer boom brews expansion for Australian hop farmers in Tasmania, Victoria
Harvest down under wrapped up months ago. There’s more demand for hops both within the country and from elsewhere, Hop Products Australia is increasing its hop fields by half.

Hops take off in Ontario thanks to booming craft beer market
There are 80 hop yards in Ontario. Four years ago there were only five.

Pacific Northwest crop update
An optimistic report from YCHHOPS.

The Most Popular Beer Hops of July 2016
From hoplist and based on one set of criteria, but you will recognize the names.