Monday beer links: From the outside looking in

01.07.19

Tilting a glass sideways casts the liquid inside in a different light. Best not attempted with a full shaker pint.

Hop compound biotransformations.
Biotransformation of hop compounds
I use the the diagram above* when I talk to brewers about research into biotransformations. This excellent story explains what is and is not understood about the process in plain English and in a way that is informative for both brewers who crave know more about what the heck is going on with these hops as well as drinkers, who may choose to know as much or as little as they like. Either way, Tom Shellhammer at Oregon State University provides important perspective. “I worry sometimes that what happens in the research world—it’s new, right? So there’s a new discovery, and the brewing community views it as the latest answer to everything. And people perseverate or maybe even fetishize [it],” he says.

Read more

Year end beer links: Bring on 2019

BEER AND WINE LINKS, MUSING 12.31.18

Reflections on my first year as the craft beer industry’s first Diversity Ambassador.
Before complaining that lists dominated the online beer space the past week, there is this, which is wonderful and you really should get to reading right now. You don’t have to come back here. My feelings will not be hurt. Scrolling through an eighth time to pick a sentence that might draw you in, I kept thinking, this one is perfect, no, wait, this one is better, how about this whole paragraph? I’m going with this because, as it should be, you can replace the words “craft beer” with “our lives” and it works.

“I fear that if we continue speak in terms of the finish-line, we will forget that we have a marathon to run. For what it’s worth, I would rather have this conversation in terms of the process–what we need to be or do to progress toward the goal of a more diverse craft beer industry. I would rather have conversations about inclusion, equity, and justice.

Not long after I posted last week’s rather spare beer links o’ the week, Alan McLeod tweeted: “As I look towards Thursday then consider when this week is over, I think folk will remember Stan’s news update as the wordy one.”

Indeed, Boak and Bailey probably had the right idea, passing on roundups the last two Saturdays, because unless you are a fan of lists beer reading has been rather spare the last couple of weeks. These include best beers, biggest beer news, and predictions about what is to come. And as McLeod pointed out, a list of favorite beers isn’t real useful if you can’t drink those beers yourself. And Jeff Alworth acknowledged the limitations of picking the “best” even within a particular region. So the best of the yearenders (beer related and otherwise):

Read more

Ho! Ho! Ho! And beer links for your stocking

BEER AND RELATED LINKS, SANS MUSING (THIS WEEK) 12.24.18

– That rising tide? Not always great for breweries.

– If Marytn Cornell says to read a behind-the-bar tell-all book you probably should.

– Worth revisiting.

– Merry Christmas.
– Vrolijk Kerstfeest and Joyeux Noël.
– Feliz Navidad.

NOT BEER, BUT…

When discussing topics that might be more serious than if a beer should or should not be hazy it seems fair to consider them within the greater cultural context that might include beer. A few examples this week.

– Social causes and branding.
– Cultural appropriation.
– Gentrification.

WINE/SENSORY

– Bad smells.

FROM TWITTER

MORE LINKS

ReadBeer, every day.
Alan McLeod, most Thursdays.
Good Beer Hunting’s Read Look Drink, Fridays.
Boak & Bailey, most Saturdays.

Monday beer links: Inside Trillium and Doom Bar, lots of history & even a listicle

BEER AND RELATED LINKS, MUSING 12.17.18

Case Study: How Trillium (Temporarily?) Lost the Plot.
Jeff Alworth writes, “An industry insider texted me as all this was playing out and joked snarkily that Trillium had ‘been sideswiped by finding that craft beer fans drink the ‘craft beer movement’ Kool-Aid!’ If a brewery preaches an ethos that craft beer is different, that it is about community and connection, then it will be held to that standard.”

That’s one bottom line here. Another, outlined in detail, is that growth is intoxicating but new owners often are not prepared for the challenges. That’s why I’m surprised that none of the stories linked to why Massachusetts officials shut down the brewery for a month in 2014 when it was discovered Trilliam was operating without a license. At that time, fans were clearly on the side of the brewery.

Read more

Session #142 roundup: Last call

The SessionSo that’s it. Last call sounded for The Session. Yards Brawler was poured, and 21st Amendment’s El Sully, and Guinness, and many other beers.

Music and memories were shared.

Nobody blamed the millennials.

Thanks to those who provided final contributions.

Jon Abernathy, The Brew Site
Regardless, it (Black Butte Porter) is my “ending” beer, my one more for the road, that I’m seeing The Session (and more) off with. It’s a bittersweet ending, perhaps not unlike the flavor of the beer, but in the end I know it’s also the beer I will always come back to, a foundational beer to commemorate endings and celebrate new beginnings.

Tom Bedell, The A Position
If I feel the earth starting to move under my feet, however, I’ll try to make it down to my beer cellar (i.e., the garage), where I’ve been aging a few bottles of the Sierra Nevada Our Brewers Reserve Grand Cru. The Grand Cru is a strong beer lover’s dream at 9.2% ABV, but with all the depth and complexity one can hope for in a beer. It’s actually a blend of three beers–Sierra Nevada’s flagship Pale Ale; its annual holiday hopfest, Celebration Ale, and its lid-lifting Bigfoot Barleywine-Style Ale. An added fillip is that the Bigfoot was aged in oak before the blending.

Read more