Your Helping of Liquid Bread

Best Invention Since Beer

2010-02-04T20:24:00.001-08:00

Problem: You have a cold can of beer in your hand. Well, not too bad of a problem. But, the coldness of the beer will eventually reach your hand through conduction. Your first thought is...koozie. Done. Well, koozies have some drawbacks. The biggest drawback in my mind is that a koozie won't make you fashionable at a party. You will just look like some frat boy who found a koozie in his back pocket from those pants that weren't washed since the last party.

Solution: The Can Grip! Way cooler than a koozie, and way more practical. Good beer only comes in cans now. Everybody knows that since Wynkoop Railyard Ale started being consumed from cans this past fall. Not that I am biased or anything. If you drink your beer by using one of these... instant coolness. No longer a hungover frat boy, but a sophisticated consumer of craft beer. The best part? Coors cans are too tall to fit in them.

Shoes

2009-12-15T20:16:00.000-08:00

I know what you are thinking. Why would the title of a beer blog be "Shoes?" Well, you are about to be very thankful that you have a pair of shoes on your feet. Otherwise, obtaining beer would be a very difficult task.

Let's start with the raw materials of beer. There are two main components that make up almost every batch of beer that is consumed. Hops and grain. Think if the farmers and those who modify the ingredients didn't have shoes. Well, it sure would be hard to walk through those farms and check on the quality. And, I wouldn't want hop resins covering my feet in the hop processing plant.

How about the brewer. Everyday in the brewhouse I deal with boiling hot water and dangerous chemicals. I've seen some brewers who have terrible burns on their skin. It honestly looks like a 12 hour sunburn. Not alot of fun. I sure am thankful that I have easy access to steal toed rubber boots.

How about YOU, the consumer. When you run out of beer at this year's Christmas party and have to bear the cold, do you wear shoes out? Of course, you don't want to catch frostbite on your big knub.

All of these things make common sense. Nobody goes a day without wearing shoes for the most part. Believe it or not, there are people out there who DON'T have access to shoes (or craft beer). But, shoes are a little more important. If you are still looking for a Christmas present this year, check out my cousin Blake's company Toms Shoes. For every pair of shoes that you buy, a pair of shoes is given to a child in need. This can prevent them from getting diseases that don't even cross our minds in the U.S. because of our ease of access to footwear. Check out thier video for this holiday season, Choose Shoes.

Merry Christmas

Visit: http://www.tomsshoes.com/

I don't know why...

2009-12-09T21:52:00.001-08:00

...but for some reason if I can't read my own blog then I just stop blogging. Basically my google reader application crapped out. But, all is fixed now and I will do my best to spread the good word about beer once again.

Still looking for a Christmas present (for me)? How about one of these:

http://socyberty.com/lifestyle-choices/top-3-world%E2%80%99s-most-expensive-beer/

Round 3 Forfeit

2009-11-11T16:26:00.000-08:00

The final round of this beery competition was supposed to involve Denver vs. Boston. However, the Boston blogger who was supposed to write on behalf of his city backed down. Denver is the champion by forfeit.

Also, I haven't blogged in a while because I wanted to move on from this subject, so this is a good way to get out. America is the actual winner. If I could I would drive across the country to these great beer cities and drink all the bartenders could give me by law. I wouldn't go to Florida though, it sucks pretty bad.

Round 2: Current Beer Situation

2009-10-14T18:56:00.000-07:00

St. Louis vs. Colorado

While the big breweries pulled these two cities with their long histories of beer making, thier recent histories might hurt their cities to move to the championship.

The behemoth of a brewery in St. Louis, Anheuser-Busch, just sold out to Belgian-Brazillian company Inbev. But, I'm willing to look past this to see if the gateway to the west has a new beer culture that extends beyond the clydesdales. There is a website soley devoted to the St. Louis beer scene, called STLhops.com. Their maps shows a cluster of breweries and places that are devoted to serving quality beer. And, the guys at O'Fallen Brewing Company are some mean beer pong players. However, if it weren't for thier former brewer making a bonehead move, they might have taken the title from Team Mycoskie.

Denver, Colorado also has a giant brewery that has been scooped up by a multi-national brewing conglomerate. South African Brewers bought the merged company of Miller-Coors and is now the second biggest brewing company in the world. But there are a ton of small breweries around the area that are making high quality beer, two of which stood out in this year's Great American Beer Festival. Great Divide won medals for Yeti Imperial Stout, Hoss Rye Lager, and Old Ruffian Barley Wine. Dry Dock Brewing Company won Small Brewing Company of the Year.

Winner: Colorado

New York vs. Boston

Is the beer rivalry just as big as it is in sports? You bet you bottle caps it is! When the New England Patriots met the New York Giants in the Super Bowl, Brooklyn Brewery and Boston's Harpoon Brewery went at it. Whoever's team lost had to carry the other's beer in their tap room.

The head brewer of the Brooklyn Brewing Company, Garrett Oliver, is one of the driving forces behind craft beer in the country. He wrote the Brewmaster's Table, a guide for pairing food with beer, and has appeared on many TV shows featuring beer (including being a judge on Iron Chef for the beer throw down). There are also some other hidden gems in the city if you check out the New York Beer Guide.

Boston's most famous brewery is Boston Beer Company, maker of Sam Adams. Today, it is the largest American owned brewery. If it EVER sells out to one of the big brewing conglomerates I will be very disappointed. But there is much more to Boston than just Sam Adams. Harpoon and Shipyard Brewing Companies also call it home. And, the city hosted last year's Craft Brewer's Conference.

This is almost a toss up, but because Boston has the largest American owned brewery...

Winner: Boston

Championship: Colorado vs Boston

World Series of Beer: Round 1

2009-10-07T14:49:00.000-07:00

The World Series of Poker is considered a sport. Why? Well, I'm not sure. The players don't warm up, strech, nobody is sweating by the end, and nobody has ever been thrown out of a poker match for arguing with the dealer. For being drunk... probably. I blame ESPN for giving it the credibility to be called a sport. Personally, I would rather watch somebody drink beer for sport. Actually, much rather.

Instead of picking a winner on skill level for the baseball World Series (which is actually a sport), I'm basing it off of beer. Wouldn't that be more fun anyway?

Round 1: Beer History

Colorado Rockies vs. Philadelphia Phillies

Denver, Colorado has been dubbed "The Napa Valley of Beer." The city's Mayor started the first brewpub in Colorado in 1988, and since there has been a explosion of breweries in the state. Colorado makes the most beer per capita than any other state. Oh, and there is this little brewery called Coors a few miles away, just a little history there.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania has a ton of national history, some of which correlates with beer. Some of this even goes back way before the U.S. was a nation. Also, the nation's oldest operating brewery, Yuengling, is located about an hour away from Philadelphia.

Winner: Colorado

St. Louis Cardinals vs. Los Angeles Dodgers

Eberhard Anheuser buys the Bavarian Brewery and renamed it in 1852. Adolphus Busch came in to the picture when he married his daughter. The St. Louis company made many innovations to dominate the beer industry, including the use of refrigerated train cars. This dominance continues today. However, they did sell out the the Belgian-Brazilian company, Inbev. It won't hurt them in the first round since it is based on history.

Not much going for Los Angeles.

Winner: St. Louis

Boston Red Sox vs. Los Angeles Angeles

Based on What I have just said...

Winner: Boston Red Sox

New York Yankees vs. Minnesota Twins

One of the oldest breweries in the country was the Schaffer Brewing Company in New York. Probably because so many Germans immigrated through New York, there is a rich brewing history there. Maureen Ogle writes of all the breweries that were located there in her book, Ambitious Brew.

Minnesota has a decent brewing history to it. My guess is that they were so cold that they needed the ethanol to heat their bodies. But there just were not as many people there so they had less need for as many breweries as New York.

Winner: New York Yankees

Round 2 Coming soon, it will be based on the current brewery situation.

Where can I get a beer in Rio?

2009-10-02T15:31:00.000-07:00

Chicago lost out on the 2016 Olympiad. Oh, how great it would have been for the ones who love beer as much as sport. Goose Island, Piece, Map Room, Hopleaf, and Delilah's to name a few.

Sadly, beer doesn't come to mind when you think Rio de Janeiro. All there is there is some of the most beautiful beaches in the world being walked on by some of the best looking women in the world wearing floss as swimsuits. Damn.

All is not lost, though. I'm sure Inbev will have it's fair share of advertising dollars pushing Brahma on the spectators. But, I have a few other options if you are to venture down to South America.

Xingu: Actually the only Brazilian beer I've consumed. Damn good black lager made by Kaiser, part of SABMiller.

Belgian Beer Cafe: If I were the Belgian Olympic Chairman, which I'm not, I would use this as a base camp for all of my athletes. It would help the tiny country with their defeats. "Oh, did you lose your jousting match. Here have an Orval."

Devassa: Brewpub in Rio. Looks like they have about 6 beers, but my Portuguese is...well, non-existent.

Pumpkin Beer

2009-10-02T12:44:00.000-07:00

In Germany, this is the time of the Oktoberfest beer style. But here in America, pumpkin beer has taken over as a favorite of craft brewers. Germans can't sell this beer under the German beer purity law, Reinheitsgebot, since it uses other ingredients than the traditional water, hops, barley, and yeast (Not still in effect, but German drinkers won't touch beer without this stamp of approval). American brewers aren't restricted by this law allowing them to play with whatever adjuncts they deem worthy for the kettle. Many will use pumpkin in different parts of the process, then add a tea made from the same spices used in pumpkin pie.

Try one of these widely available commercial styles. Or, head down to your local brewpub to see if they have one on tap. Especially great in late fall at Thankgiving dinner!

O'Fallen Pumpkin Ale (O'Fallen, MO)

Dogfish head Punkin' (Milton, DE)

Four Peaks Pumpkin Porter (Tempe, AZ)

Shipyard Pumpkinhead Ale (Portland, ME)

The fastest GABF ever

2009-10-01T13:38:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Ray Daniels for posting this video on facebook. It is a time lapse video of the set-up, all four sessions, and the clean-up for the GABF. All in 60 seconds. Almost felt that fast this time around. Can't wait until next year.

http://vimeo.com/6853577

Boos for A-B

2009-09-28T19:29:00.000-07:00

This is the first year I attended the awards ceremony at the Great American Beer Festival during the Saturday afternoon session. The past two years I gave tours during that time, which I love, but I always missed out.

Even though we didn't win at Bull and Bush, it was really great getting to watch people win medals for all of their hard work. Of the 78 categories, I just had to chuckle at a few. Such as watching Keystone Ice get a gold medal for American Style Specialty Lager. Not a category that many craft breweries care about.

While I expected Dogfish Head, Avery and some of the others to medal, what I didn't expect was to hear boos. Every time an Budweiser labeled beer won a medal there was either dead silence, or a considerable amount of boos. I didn't realize there was that amount of animosity toward the Belgian owned brewery. Anheuser-Busch-Inbev needs to do something to mend their relationship with American brewers, or it could be a slow, downward spiral for the brewing giant. Better come up with something better than the Foozie.

GABF Week vs. Shark Week

2009-09-17T14:53:00.000-07:00

Superman vs. Batman? Pirates vs. Ninjas? Soup vs. Salad? These are questions that are so tough that they may never go answered. I'm actually convinced that the world will go in to some sort of black hole if Pirates of the Caribbean took on the Teenage Mutant Ninja turtles. Lets look at something a little safer, but maybe more controversial. Seriously.

Shark Week

Great American Beer Festival Week

(Erie Music) Dum, Dum Dum!

I'm actually not one of these Shark Week fanatics like some. But, when I'm flipping through the channels and I see a Great White chewing on the head of a baby seal, I can't resist. After 2 or 3 hours I will have forgotten to call my fiance back and left the chicken on the grill to the point it has disintegrated. But why would it win a battle with the Great American Beer Festival? Well, it is on for like 168 straight hours, never gets a hang over, and the sharks could eat any brewer's face off in the water.

The Great American Beer Fest is sort of like the super bowl for beer people. Besides Octoberfest in Munich, there is no bigger gathering for a beer event. There are about 2000 different beers on festival floor to try, a very prestigious medal ceremony, and different events around Denver all week. It has promoted beer to a level where it now competes with wine. But, going against shark week would be a totally different opponent. If GABF were in a cage fight with Shark Week it's only defense would be the elements. Sharks don't like being out of water. GABF would just hang out, drink a beer, and wait until Shark Week dies from the air.

Advantage to Great American Beer Festival.

Home Draft = More Dollars

2009-09-02T20:58:00.000-07:00

What are you buying when you purchase a Coors Light or Miller Light Home Draft System? Packaging. It contains the same beer that is purchased in a can, bottle, or at the bar. So why is MillerCoors using this package for their product? And, how can they get away with making it cost 15-20% more than the canned variety?

MillerCoors says they are trying to tap the market that prefers draft beer over bottled beer, of which they claim is 30% of consumers. Brewers, on the other hand, like draft beer because they don't have to use as much packaging, which usually lowers the price point for the buyer. Not in the case of the Home Draft System. They are using the trendiness of "draft beer" as a marketing scheme rather than to save consumers money and cut down on waste.

One home draft system is said to be in the range of $17 to $20 for 1.5 gallons. This equals 16 twelve ounce cans. An eighteen pack of cans will cost about 14 bucks. Thus, the draft system is less beer for the money. If you really want true draft beer, a 15.5 gallon keg will cost around $80. This will yield about 165 twelve ounce beers, less than half the price of the "Home Draft." You're welcome.

But, if your really have your heart set on one of these, check out this LINK to rig it up with better beer.

Best U.S. Beer Cities

2009-08-31T16:23:00.000-07:00

Many people, including myself, have ventured over to Europe to tour breweries and famed beer bars. From Brussels to Munich to Pilzn, there are so many different styles that are executed perfectly in their respective regions. In today's down economy, however, beer aficionados may want to consider staying state-side and take a look at a few of the best U.S. beer destinations.

WARNING: List not complete. Just a few places I have been or would like to go. Your city may very well be better. Unless it is Jackson, Mississippi. I'm sorry if you live there.

Portland: In a city that claims to have more breweries that Munich, Germany, it should not be hard to find a pint. Having one of the best hop growing regions, Willamette Valley, doesn't hurt. Check out Hair of the Dog Brewing Company. Alan runs a very small brewery specializing in barrel aged beer. By writing this I hope I'm lucky enough to try one some day.

San Francisco: When you think of San Fransisco craft beer, you think Anchor. Anchor Steam, Anchor Porter, Anchor Christmas. Plus I love the little stubbie bottles. Head north of town and visit Vinnie's Russian River Brewing Company. If you think beer isn't as refined as wine, he can prove you wrong with his barrel aging program.

Denver: Yes, I had to include my home town. Even though the CNN didn't include us in their beer destinations, I feel that Times Magazine is a better source anyway. Plus, they got my good side in one of their pictures. It is dubbed the "Napa Valley of Beer" for a reason. Great Divide, Breckenridge, Wynkoop, Bull and Bush, and a couple Rock Bottoms are all within a few miles of downtown. Plus, there is this little party called the Great American Beer Fest every autumn. Only 1500 different beers available, no big deal.

Chicago: The city is mostly dominated by the big brewers, but there are some gems around town. Visit the big Goose Island production facility, then visit the small Goose Island brewpub and taste where Honkers Ale originated. Hop on the "L" and head up north to Andersonville where you will find the one of the best beer bars in the country, Hopleaf. Oh man, I was so excited to get up north that I forgot another great brewpub close to downtown, Piece. The pizza might be better than the beer... maybe. Better get both just to cover all bases.

Atlanta: The south? Really? It's coming. Blue laws in the south have been a deterrent to brewers, but things are taking a turn quickly. A few years back Georgia increased the legal alcohol limit in beer from 6% to 14%. Now, Sweetwater Brewing Company in Atlanta can crank out IPA's, Imperial Stouts and all sorts of fun creation. The tour is less like a tour and more like a party in the parking lot. There is a chain of beer bars named Taco Mac that are all around the area if you need a good pint. If you are really looking for something special, the Brick Store in Decatur will have you covered.

And Lighter Still...

2009-08-17T20:44:00.000-07:00

Did you think MGD 64 would always be as "Light as it gets?" While the craft beer market is trying to make "extreme" beers, the big guys are going in the complete opposite direction.

AB-Inbev has come out with a new product in direct competition with MGD 64 in their Bud Select line. Bud Select 55. What people don't realize is the alcohol content of this stuff. If you read my previous post on MGD 64, you will see that it does not make sense to drink this stuff if you want to get any kind of a buzz. It is in that mathmatical equation, I knew pre-calculus would be good for something. When I emailed AB-Inbev, this is what they had to say about the new product:

"SELECT 55 contains 2.4% alcohol by volume. It’s a light golden lager that delivers all the easy-drinking refreshment of a premium light beer at only half the calories."

Half the calories AND half the alcohol. You forgot to mention that.

We Have Reached "Summit Beer"

2009-07-30T15:14:00.000-07:00

The White House held the most talked about summit in the beer-world today. Labeled the "Beer Summit" by most of the press, Obama, Gates and Crowley shared a frothy beverage while settling the matter that happened in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The great thing about all of this is that nobody wants to know what the three men will talk about. All I have been reading is the question, "What beer will they be drinking." Becks, Budweiser, Red Stripe, Blue Moon... this is major decision time.

Personally, I think this is a little ridiculous. It seems there is as much, or more, coverage about the "Beer Summit" as health care, the Iraq timeline and the economy. Somehow we are more entranced with Beer selection and the death of a guy who turned his life in to a play land while dangling his kids out of a window. But I guess I must comment on it, having a beer blog and all.

Gate's selection: Red Stripe. Hooray Beer! This lager coming in a well marketed "stubbie" bottle is for those who like to pay too much for a beer that is basically like Budweiser. Consumers buy it because they like to drink an "Import." Because everybody knows that the best beers come from Jamaica. I'll drink it on a beach in Jamaica, that's about it.

Crowley's selection: Blue Moon. Hooray that he is the only one with a palate. I actually like this beer. But usually, I'll go for something else if it's available. The Coors people did a good job with this Belgian Wit style, I just like to support the craft brewers when possible.

Obama's selection: Bud Light. Hooray for Belgian-Brazilians who took over our American made beer empire. This sort of saddens me. As the leader of the United States, he could have made a big statement by drinking from an American-owned craft brewery. Dogfish head and Clipper City are a couple of D.C. area locals who would have really enjoyed the press.

Now, Obama is claiming that this is not a "Beer Summit," but just three guys having a beer. Well how do you explain that incredibly real photo I have posted?

Seal It In

2009-07-28T20:30:00.000-07:00

While on a vacation to the lake in Texas, I was forced in to drinking a Miller Lite tallboy. OK, maybe I was willing, considering that is all the gas station at the dock sold AND I had to celebrate catching the biggest fish of the day. You know... in terms of girth, the usual way of measuring a fish.

Since the beer was what I was expecting, soda-water consistency, I did a little research on the can. This was done while my amazing fiance was cleaning the fish, I picked a good one. I saw the "triple hopped" logo on there, nothing new and I have already shared my thoughts on this. What I had not noticed before was the "Flavor Locking Seal." Is this different than other can seals? Is there any flavor to even lock in to the can? Why is it so hot here? The last question was about Texas, my mind trails off when it is 100 degrees outside.

Upon getting back to Colorado, where my mind works better in the 80 degree summers, I tried to do a little research on the subject. Lots of microbreweries are going back to canning beer for many reasons. Cost effectiveness, keeping light out, marketing, and a seal that keeps oxygen out of beer. It is a fact that the can is a great container because of the seal, but is Miller's seal any different than others? So I got on the "interwebs" and sent a message to Miller which read, "Is there a difference between the flavor lock seal and other can seals? Thank you."

I'm still waiting on a reply, Miller.

Beer Connoisseur

2009-07-21T20:22:00.000-07:00

Are you in need of new, sud-sy reading? Do All About Beer, Draft Magazine and Beer Advocate not fulfill your daily beer reading? Well you are in luck! There is a new publication/website named "Beer Connoisseur" to fill the void in your beer drinking head.

I asked Lynn Davis, President and Publisher of Beer Connoisseur, what the new magazine would be about. Yes, obviously it will be about beer. She had this to say:

"The Beer Connoisseur™ Magazine will be the leading consumer educator in the changing and cutting-edge beer industry. It will be dedicated to being the expert authority on beer for both the novice and the connoisseur. It will not only reach out to the diverse interests of our readers but will also bring the reader closer to the finer things in life, featuring Beer as the finest. The reader will find articles on premium beers and those who brew them, as well as the best in dining, cooking, travel, personalities, culture and more."

Maybe a little more on the upper class side of things when dealing with beer. Beer is usually seen as the blue collar drink compared to wine, this may bring the two on more level terms. Always good to see another beer magazine on the shelves, the wine-o's have been dominating them for years.

Beer and Bikes

2009-07-10T13:25:00.000-07:00

For some reason beer and bikes go well together. Is it because the rider can't get a DUI while on a bike (at least less likely) or that people that ride bikes usually go for the local product rather than the mass produced lager. Many events are bringing the two together in great harmony.

New Belgium Brewing Company is probably the most notorious for bringing the two together. Their original event is the Tour de Fat, which is just a general celebration of good times with beer and bikes. Since I'm a bit more competitive, I prefer to compete in the New Belgium Urban Assault ride. Taking place in ten cities, its an obstacle course on bikes with checkpoints such as "pick up these bottle caps with oven mitts while sprayed with supersoakers." I'm gearing up for the Denver ride of fury in two weeks.

This month Avery and Ska Brewing Companies are teaming up for the Brewers' Tour of Colorado. My old boss Thomas Larsen, who is now the head brewer at Ska, helped create Wheelsucker Wheat for the ride. There is actually a great picture of him doing the brewing with the Avery guys just standing around in their bike jerseys. But, they are going to ride 426 miles on the ride so I guess they are forgiven.

On Wednesday nights in Denver there is a bike group called Denver Cruisers that rides around downtown Denver while waving at all the people who not having fun eating dinner at the fancy restaurants. Yes the ride goes to a few bars on the way to refuel, but it is mostly just to promote bike riding in the city.

However, just because you are on a bike and not driving a car does not make you invincible. I learned this the hard way after a few too many liters at a Polish party in Munich and a run in with a metal pole. I'll leave it at that.

Comment on "Trouble in Deutschland - Part I"

2009-07-02T17:31:00.000-07:00

Having just been in Munich for brewing school, I felt obligated to elaborate on one of Charlie Papazian's blogs. There is a similar situation of consolidation of the bigger breweries in Germany as has happened in the U.S. While some have fallen in to this, some have held out and remained private.

Examples of breweries that have fallen in to the hands of large corporations are Spaten and Lowenbrau. I thought these were two separate breweries, but you can actually walk between the two buildings in Munich and a bridge connects them in to what is now Spaten-Lowenbrau Group. That's not all, this is owned by the brewing giant Anheuser-Busch-Inbev.

However, there are some holdouts in the German brewing world. My two favorites are Augustiner and Flotzinger.

If you have ever been to Munich, you will find that the locals do not usually prefer Hofbrau, Paulaner or Spaten. They flock to the Augustiner Keller, Brauhaus or Hirschgarten, which are Augustiner Brau's major venues to drink the liquid gold. Augustiner is actually owned by a foundation, "The brewery was bought in 1829 by Anton Wagner. Today, 50% of the brewery is in possession of a foundation for public utility, established by will of the last descendant of the Wagner family. The other 50% is held by various limited partners."

My other favorite is Flotzinger Brau in Rosenhiem, which is about 30 minutes south of downtown Munich. One of my professors, Dr. Michael Zepf, is the brewmaster at Flotzinger and gave us a great tour of the brewery, followed by a wonderful dinner prepared by his wife. It is still privatly owned and they make great beer, evidenced by his gold medals at the World Beer Cup. And, if you want a more authentic German beer fest experience than Oktoberfest, head down to the festival in Rosenhiem for the two weeks just before the big one. Apparantly many tables are broken, which means its a good time.

Are the mountains blue?

2009-06-22T16:53:00.000-07:00

Today I got an email from my brother which read:

"I am drinking from a cold activated bottle. I am so glad for this technology so I know that the beer is cold. Otherwise, I would be worried it was warm after sitting in my fridge for three weeks."

I'm glad he is starting to realize the craziness of macro-beer advertising. AND, he made a joke, good for him. So why does Coors want to use this cold-activated technology on their bottles and cans? It's partly for marketing, but partly to ensure their beer is never consumed at warmer temperatures.

First of all, marketing. Miller-Coors is using this technology to keep the focus on their packaging instead of the product. Sure, it's pretty cool that different temperatures will change the color of the can or bottle. There has also been use of similar technology used on coffee mugs when you pour hot liquid in to them.

But really, why do the Miller-Coors executives want consumers to see the "Mountain Turn Blue?" Because very cold temperatures inhibit flavors to expose themselves to the drinker. This is why red wine is served around 60 degrees, to let the true flavor come across the palate. The same science can be applied to beer. I'm not saying the drinker should consume light beer at 60 degrees, but it doesn't need to be as "Cold as the Rockies."

A wine drinker would turn their nose up at chilled red wine. However, because of these cans and bottles put out by Miller-Coors, that same person may not drink a Coors Light unless the mountain are blue. Thus, they become another victim of macro-advertising and will never taste the true flavor of the adjunct brewed beer.

Bud Light Golden Wheat

2009-06-18T19:48:00.000-07:00

Similar to a previous post about American Ale, I believe the marketing team at Invev-Anheuser Busch is making another mistake. Probably worse this time. I'm talking $30 million bad.

The Inbev-AB team is rolling out a new light-craft hybrid that bears the Bud Light name. I'm confused about this decision because I'm not sure which beers Bud Light Golden Wheat will be competing with. With American Ale it was obvious it was to compete with the likes of New Belgium Fat Tire, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and Samuel Adam's Boston Lager. But this is a "Light Beer," so will it be competing with other light beers or American craft beer? Just as they did with American Ale, tons of money is going to be pumped in to the advertising campaign for this beer. Here are couple of ways this could backfire:

1) Since it is going to be labeled in the Budweiser family, people will associate it with Bud Light, the top selling beer in the country. If this new wheat beer is not good, it could hurt the integrity of the Budweiser name. I have only had one wheat beer labeled as "light," which was made by the German company Oettinger. It tasted like a cardboard box.

2) This six pack is placed in the "craft beer" section of the grocery/liquor store. After they try it they may go back and see that there are many wheat beers available to try (My new personal favorite is Bell's Oberon). The consumer makes to switch to TRUE craft beer full time.

I can see that the marketing team is attempting to use the success of the Budweiser name to sell other varieties of beer, but it is risky. A less risky approach would be to put it under the Michelob family as Shock Top Light. Then, put that $30 million (or way less) towards research and development rather than advertising. What they don't realize is that if they actually do make an incredibly good beer, people will talk about it themselves by word of mouth. Much cheaper and more effective than beer being pushed upon consumers.

Send it Back

2009-06-05T06:39:00.000-07:00

First peanuts, now this. For some reason Georgia factories have a history of recalled products. The Miller-Coors facility is recalling a certain amount of Coors Light produced from its Albany, Georgia facility. However, the article written in the Chicago Tribune does not say the exact off-flavor of the beer. Here are a few things that may have gone wrong, some feasible, some funny:

1. The wrong beer was packaged. Honestly, now that Miller and Coors are using the same facilities, the workers may have put Miller Light in to Coors Light bottles. However, I'm not sure who could tell a difference.

2. The beer WAS "Frost Brewed." OK, now I'm just being a jackass, but this advertising campaign has always cracked me up. You can't frost brew beer, the beer is boiled during the brewing process. But, if the brewers got confused and frost brewed the beer, then many microorganisms would not be killed off during the boil and the beer would have been contaminated.

3. Executives at Miller-Coors actually tasted the beer. They looked at each other and said, "Wow, this stuff sucks, bring it all back." The world is now void of Coors Light.

What defines "craft?"

2009-05-26T07:45:00.000-07:00

It seems that nobody ever knows what to call craft beer. When buying beer at a liquor store the customer may approach this section which is labeled craft beer, microbrews, local beer, small breweries or non-domestic.

Lots of times the seller does not even know what the terms mean. One time back in college (wow, it makes me feel old to write that) I asked the bartender what she though domestic beers meant on the menu. To this she replied, "well, domestic would be anything made in the United States." Good answer. It got me a Terrapin Rye Ale for the price of a Bud Light.

Now it seems that the Brewer's Association will not know how to classify "craft beer." Their definition has been fairly simple. Small, traditional, independent. If you want to go in to the definition more in depth, head to the Brewer's Association website.

The current problem is that Boston Brewing Company (makers of Sam Adams) no longer fits this classification. In the BA's mind, small should be under 2 million barrels. In 2008 the company produced 1,992,000 barrels of beer. No other craft brewer even hit the one million barrel mark.

Thus, Boston Beer Company will be on an island by itself. It is too big to be classified a small brewing company anymore, but in no way does it come close to the output of AB-Inbev or Miller-Coors. My only wish is that it stays independent and does not fall into the mergers that the are taking over the big brewing scene. How bad does Samuel Busch Artois sound?

Beer Tweeting

2009-05-24T11:42:00.000-07:00

First of all, I think this tweeting phenomenon is well...dumb. Why should anyone care about things like what your cat is doing or how a famous person spends their days. There was once a time when people cared about actual news. I'm sorry, congressmen tweeting about how they are feeling is not exactly hard news. Entertaining maybe, but I feel that is a complete waste of time. I mean I could tweet that I am knocking on tweeters right now. How exciting. (Notice the period and not an exclamation point.)

Even though I like beer, I hope this phenomenon does not trickle too much in to the beer scene. There are already enough "beer writers" in the world who want to increase their personal egos by putting down beers on ratebeer.com. If any of those people who write reviews can walk in to a brewhouse and empty 1000 pounds of wet grain out of a lauter tun, then they will have my respect. But not many of them will ever do that. Here is an example of the kind of twittering I fear:

Beerlover74: "Just walked into brewery. Love the smell of hops. Looking down the list of beers. I'll have the Irish stout."

Beerlover74: "They call that an Irish stout? Come on. They should use more roasted malt and increase the calcium content on their sparge water."

Sure, this is just an example. But, I don't think it is too far off from what would happen. I worry because beer writers are really good about writing what they think about, but they would never confront the brewer directly because they know they personally could not do a better job. If this technology goes too far their will be 100 people sitting at a bar twitting about the beer they are drinking with no actual conversations happening.

However much I hate it I think it can be used as a good marketing tool as some breweries have shown. Yet, I would probably delegate that responsibility to somebody else if given the choice.

The $120 Six-Pack

2009-05-18T14:28:00.000-07:00

How much would you pay for a six pack? Amazingly, $120 is not out of the question for some people. Out in western Belgium, just a few miles away from the border of France, the monks of St. Sixtus brew the top ranked beer in the world. The beer is called Westvleteren, also the name of the town the Abbey of St. Sixtus resides. They only brew three styles of beer, and all are considered somewhat sacred to beer lovers.

The only legal way to get a case of this beer is to call ahead and reserve it. They will tell you a time which to come by and ask for your name and licence plate number of the car in which you will pick up the beer. This is, if you can get through on the phone line, which I hear is constantly busy. You must show up at your reserved time in the correct automobile with the licence plate number you provided. If not, NO BEER FOR YOU! Seriously, I don't understand Flemish, but I saw a guy get turned away. One can drink the beer and buy six packs across the street at the cafe as well. A six pack there cost 15 euros. Best 15 euros my brother ever spent. I better stay on good terms with him.

Sweet Hops Alabama!

2009-05-15T21:12:00.000-07:00

It seems that the craft beer craze is slowly passing through the Southeast. Alabama is just a few days from hopefully increasing the alcohol percentage allowed in beer. Right now the state's beer drinkers can only get beer with 6% A.B.V., that is if they buy it within the state's borders.

Alabama's neighbor to the East got on the right track a few years back. Georgia decided to raise the alcohol percentage in beer from 6% to 14%. This not only allowed entrance of hoppy beers from the west coast and wine-like beers from Belgium, but it's own brewing inhabitants fared very well. Sweetwater Brewing Company could flex its muscles by producing Donkey Punch barley wine (10% A.B.V.) and Happy Ending imperial stout (9% A.B.V.). Now the craft brewer is one of the top fifty brewers by volume in the country.

I think a major concern for many people is that higher alcohol beers are being produced just to get people drunk faster. Dan Ireland, who is the leader for the American Council for Alcohol Problems and the honorary chaplain of the Alabama legislature, said in an interview with NPR, "I'm a total abstainer. I'm 78 years old, and I never tasted an alcoholic beverage. I just don't think there's any good quality about an alcoholic beverage." Um, how about hops Mr. Ireland? Not only do they taste good when in proper balance, but are also noted for their health effects. I agree with Mr. Ireland that beer can be abused if consumed in the wrong manner. However, in my opinion the positive attributes of craft beer far outweigh any negative side effects.

The force behind this movement in Alabama is the Free the Hops campaign, who is calling this the "Gourmet Beer Bill." Classy, I like it. It looks as if the bill will go though all the necessary steps and Alabama beer will be free of the shackles it has worn since prohibition. If it doesn't I will give one simple argument:

Wine can be sold with much higher alcohol percentages. AND, you can buy it in a box.

Triple Hopped?

2009-05-12T08:01:00.000-07:00

I don't think that Miller realizes it, but the company is doing exactly what the craft brewers want them to do. Miller (sorry, Miller-Coors as it is now called) is "hoppily" competing with the small brewers.

Their recent advertising campaign of "triple hopping" Miller Light is trying to make the consumers believe that the beer is richly hopped. Bitterness of hops is measured in International Bittering Units, or IBU's. Most American light lagers, such as Miller Light, will be somewhere around 5. Compare that with Dogfish Head's 60 min India pale ale. This beer from Delaware comes in at 60 IBU's, which can actually be tame for the craft beer world.

Let's talk about hops. What does triple hopped mean? In the boiling process of making beer beers are traditionally hopped at the beginning of the boil, somewhere in the middle, and right at the end. Brewers do this because different flavor profiles are achieved throughout the boil. This is not a new concept. Should Miller want to incorporate something new they could try:

Dry Hopping, first wort hopping, whole leaf hop-backs, Randle the Enamle, mash hopping, continuous hopping, or whirlpool hopping.

Why does the average public not hear about these extra hoppy beers as much as the "triple hopped" Miller Light? Advertising dollars. The small brewers will still advertise, but the media that is chosen is not as mainstream as the big guys. Advertising will be in the form of supporting local events or in beer magazines. However, I believe that the consumers will want to know more about hops after watching these commercials and will look for hoppier beers. Trying to compete on the basis of flavor is not something the big brewers should do if they want to keep up with the growing market of craft beer.

"Can I see your virtual age please?"

2009-05-09T10:59:00.000-07:00

Situation #1: A twenty year old walks in to a bar knowing that the legal drinking age is 21. He does not have a fake I.D., but attempts to order a beer anyways. Of course he gets carded and denied.

Situation #2: The same twenty year old searches the world wide web for Coors, only to be stopped once again by an age verification page. The aspiring beer drinker screams, "DAMN, I CAN'T WIN! THEY HAVE FIGURED ME OUT ONCE AGAIN!" Of course he puts in his real age only to be confronted with the message, "Sorry Junior. We run a tight ship around here. Swing by when you are 21." Since he put in his real age, the age verification won't just let him change it. But, there is a loophole. He can go to the Coors Light web page and do the same thing, except this time, for some unknown reason, he puts in a fake age that says he is 21. He gets in to the site and is greeted with a new message, "Cold beer. That's our policy." Isn't that the refrigerator's policy?.....Sorry, won't go into that too much.

That is just a little, fake scenario. Of course it would never happen because teenagers aren't honest. That's just a blanketed fact over all of them.

But think about how silly it is to ask somebody's age by the honors system. The bartender doesn't just take somebody's word that a patron is 21, they need an actual document.

What if car websites worked like this. If you go to Ford.com you will not be asked your age but are instantly greeted with their new line of automobiles. Whoa, whoa, whoa there. The person looking at those cars may not be old enough to even drive them! How careless of Ford to do something like this. A twelve year old could be looking at that website and trying to think of all the damage he could do by driving really fast while on the cellphone. Shame on you Ford.

Beer School

2009-05-06T13:26:00.000-07:00

The last couple of months I was in brewing school over in Germany. Due to some recent anger as to why I did not update my beer blog while in beer school, I will give the following response:

1) If you don't own a laptop, people don't let you use theirs for free. This is usually about 2 euros per hour and 2 euros will buy a half liter of beer at the hostel bar during happy hour.

2) Germans obviously don't know how to manufacture keyboards. While they are very good at making cars and beer, they thought it was a good idea to put letters in strange places on a keyboard. If I wanted to try and write, "beer is good," it might come out at, "lame ist bier." This would confuse my audience and there might be riots outside of my house.

3) When I was learning and talking about beer 24 hours a day, the last thing I wanted to do with my 2 euro an hour internet time was think about beer some more. Although beer is very good, I would rather check out facebook pictures of people in Denver going to wig parties. Selfish, I know.

Sorry if you did not get your fill of Craig's beer knowledge, but if you want to experience what I did the school will gladly take your money.

Beer - The New Math

2009-03-01T19:10:00.000-08:00

The company formerly known as Miller (which was bought by South African Breweries and later merged with Coors) is smart when it comes to making money. They have somehow figured out that brewing beer with less ingredients will cost less to make. And, as long as it is advertised correctly, can sell for just as much as a beer with more ingredients. Genius. Hopefully this blog will reach the masses, beyond my 7 loyal readers.

Now the financial team up in Milwaukee, or Cape Town or Denver may not know this, but I took high school algebra. There is a simple math equation that shows that this new lighter product, MGD 64, has the same amount of calories as their regular Miller Lite. Not by the actual number of calories in the bottle, but by the calories in respect to alcohol content.

A 12 ounce bottle of Miller Light has 96 calories and 4.2% alcohol by volume.

A 12 ounce bottle of MGD 64 has 64 calories and 2.8% alcohol by volume.

To figure out how many calories per ounce of each beer, divide the calories by the volume. 12 ounces in this case. (calories/12 = cals/ounce)

Miller lite has 7.1 calories per ounce. MGD 64 has 5.3 calories per ounce.

To figure out how many ounces of MGD 64 it takes to get the same amount of alcohol in Miller Lite, um I don't know how to type it so I'll write it out in numbers:

2.8/12 = 4.2/x

Which leads to: 2.8x = 50.4

Then divide both sides by 2.8 to get: x = 18

18, as in 18 ounces. A person would have to drink 18 ounces of MGD 64 in order to get the same level of alcohol that is in a Miller Lite. Now, if you drank 18 ounces of MGD 64 you would be consuming more than 64 calories. You would be consuming 95.4 calories by my calculations. You saved a whopping .6 calories by not drinking that heavy Miller Lite. Good work.

And really, if you are drinking MGD 64 then you don't like beer. You just like to pee a lot.

Oh, and just as a little joke for myself I did the same calculations with the strongest beer in the world, Sam Adams Utopias. I heard the last batch was 27% ABV, but it changes upon every release of the product. A person would have to drink 107 ounces of MGD 64 to equal the amount of alcohol in a 12 ounce bottle of Utopias. Now I would never drink 12 ounces of Utopias because I would rather share a bottle of the goodness with friends. But, I would never drink 115 ounces of MGD 64 either, which comes out to 9.5 bottles ending up in a landfill. That's not environmentally friendly.

Bottles

2009-02-17T19:14:00.000-08:00

I know in a previous post I described the reasons why cans are a good container for beer. However, beer cans can't do this : Video Link.

Corona

2009-02-08T10:51:00.000-08:00

I remember watching a Conan O'Brien show a couple years ago that fueled my fire for hate of Corona. His guest was the late Michael Jackson. No, I'm sorry to tell you that the one gloved wonder did not die. The Michael Jackson I speak of is the famous "beer hunter" from England who was a driving force in the American craft beer industry until his death in 2007.

Michael Jackson really showed signs of his Parkinson's on the show, but Conan really implied he thought he was a drunk because of his shakes and some of the comments he made about beer. For example, when Conan asked why he enjoyed tasting beer instead of wine, Jackson said, "because you can swallow it." No, he does not swallow the beer to get obliterated, but because that is how you taste the bitterness of the hops.

At the end of the interview Conan asked Jackson what he thought was the worst beer in the world. Jackson appropriately explained why Corona was his least favorite beer.

Now, if you drink Corona out of the can or from a keg, it is a decent beer. Sort of reminds me of some of the helles, or light, style beers of southern Germany. However, when the beer is packaged in clear bottles it will give the beer a light struck, sulfur-like smell and taste. When light (sun light or artificial light, for example the fluorescent lights that illuminate the beer isle) penetrates the packaging and touches the beer, the sulfur off-flavors will be the result. The light breaks down certain compounds in the hops, creating molecular bonds that give the undesirable effect. It's all about that chemistry stuff.

So, why do they not just package their bottle in brown bottles? Because it isn't sexy and trendy, which is what their marketing strategy incorporates. If you look at their website on the page that explains Corona they use terms such as, "The unparalleled flavor of relaxation." Mmm, tasty relaxation, sounds delicious. I would also like to take a big bite out of a nap on the couch. And you know that they spend a millions on advertising to get this point across when Conan disagreed with Michael Jackson just because of the fact that his producers said Corona sponsored his show.

Oh, and most of these points relate to another beer as well. Just delete the word "Corona" and replace with "Heinekin." I could go off on them, but I'll wait for another post. That is if the people at Modelo, makers of Corona, don't figure out a way to shut me down.

Winter Brews

2009-01-17T09:11:00.000-08:00

In America, beer has traditionally been consumed as a cold beverage for a hot day. A drink that is refreshing and light enough that it doesn't weigh one down. Well, when the temperature drops, wouldn't it be nice to have a beer that warms the stomach, but is smoother than a hot cup of whiskey served from a Styrofoam cup? Here are some brews that will keep you above freezing for the winter months:

Great Divide Yeti Oaked Aged Stout: Just a few blocks away from my home brewery in Denver, the dudes over at Great Divide are known for brewing some in your face, hoppy, strong beers. This one tops them all coming in at 9.5% ABV. Tons of chocolate malt with a hint of vanilla from the oak aging make this a great beer to let warm up in a chalice and sip on for an hour. The flavors will only get better as the temperature rises in the glass.

Harpoon Winter Warmer: Think about taking a gingerbread man and sticking him in a bottle. That is what you will experience with this beer. In fact, I bet Santa wouldn't mind if you stuck a six pack of these by the fireplace to thank him for your presents. Of course, this beer isn't week. You might just find him passed out by the tree with 6 bottles scattered around and a world full of disappointed, present-less children.

St. Bernardus Christmas Ale: Legend has it that this brewery still uses the yeast from the Abby of St. Sixtus, the brewer of the best and most rare beers in the world. Good thing, because St. Bernardus is much more widely available and just about as awesome. This Christmas beer has a hint of spices and incorporates its famous Belgian yeast to give it just a bit of sourness to round out the malt.

Glassware

2009-01-02T10:50:00.000-08:00

Sure, drinking a beer straight out of the can, bottle or even keg is convenient. However, one can get more pleasure out of each sip if enjoyed out of the proper glass. Not every glass is made for every beer, though. Different shaped glasses have been developed over the years to get the most out of every style of ale or lager.

Pint glass: You will see these at most non-beer centric bars and restaurants when you ask for a glass for your beer. Why? Well, they will be less expensive than a more shaped glass and fairly durable considering the thickness of the glass material itself. It is still better than drinking out of the bottle or can because one can see the color and clarity (or un-clarity) of the beer. I would probably use this glass for a malty beer that is not too high in alcohol, since the glass holds quite a bit of liquid. Also since the glass is pretty heavy it could be used well as a weapon in a bar fight.

Pilsner glass: Tall slender glass that is good for um...pilsners. But you could also drink bocks and wheat beers out of them as well. I usually find that the smell comes forward a bit more when used. Also the stem of the glass is slender so you can notice the color and clarity pretty easily. But mostly, you just look like you are doing a bit more than drinking out of a regular pint glass. The chicks at the beer festivals will really notice, all 5 of them that are there.

Fish bowl: Not usually meant for beer. Good for mixed drinks and lots of long straws. Not good for drinking beer because hard to handle when lifting up to face and will probably commit a party foul.

Wine glass: If you are going to have a big, hoppy beer then part of the excitement is getting to smell the floral aroma of the hops. When you drink these out of a pint glass much of the aroma is lost since the glass does not taper back in at the top. With the bowl shape of the wine glass the aroma gets trapped inside and funneled toward the nose. This does not help too much with a pale ale, but with an IPA or a barley wine I highly recommend using a wine glass. Also, the wine snobs think that beer may be on their level if you hand beer to them in a glass that normally holds Cabernet.

Solo cup: Used if the beer is so cheap that you do not care about the cup breaking and the liquid falling to its death. If you don't have enough respect for the beer, go ahead and put it in that red cup. Also, if you need to conceal your beverage from the authorities, or the "Po-Po," then it is also a good idea to use this cup since one cannot see through the plastic.

Snifter: Small glass usually holding brandy. Great for really strong beers because of the small volume. I would only use these for Belgian beers, such as Chimay, or a really malty imperial stout. Not so good for hoppy beers because the rim of the glass is not big enough to fit your mouth over with sticking your nose in the glass, missing out on all of the hoppy aroma.

Knife: Poke a hole right in the side of that can of Colt 45, open the top, and drink in 3 swallows.

Sort of Creepy

2008-12-18T05:03:00.000-08:00

This morning I took the girlfriend to the airport at 3:30 because I'm the best boyfriend ever. Since I was up I decided to get an early start at the brewery. Obviously there was nobody at the Wynkoop this morning and the only other souls I saw downtown were the guy delivering the newspaper and some dude riding his mountian bike through the moon lit streets of downtown. Maybe he was training for some kind of race because why the hell else would one be riding a bike at 4:30 a.m? It's mind bottling.

So I get into the brewery, turn the alarm off and turn on some lights. I also need some tunes to break the silience and to stop freaking myself out from all the little creeks and cracks of the old building. As I get in to the brew, it is actually sort of nice and almost reminds me of my homebrewing days when all I would worry about is the brew itself. When I get to the brewery later in the day, people are all around asking me various questions, the little Mexican janitor says, "My Friend," because he doesn't know much else, and I stare at everybody's food because of the constant hunger pains assoiciated with the 6'3" frame. But this morning it is just me and a mash tun full of 1290 pounds of sweet malted barley to produce Big Easy Barleywine, which should come out to about 10.5% ABV. The only unfortunate thing is that I may not have the enjoyment to trying the finished product as I am off the brewing school in 6 weeks. This beer will need to age for a couple of months to mellow out all of the residual sugars.

The janitors have finally started to show up and the managers will be here in aproximatly an hour and this will turn in to another day. But I realize how great it is when I can fully concentrate on the brew at hand and forget about all of the managerial issues, gossip and nitpick things that are also assoicated with working in a brewpub.

The New South

2008-12-01T16:41:00.000-08:00

I am a year and a half removed from the South (graduating from the University of Georgia in 2007) and have been very spoiled by the selection of beers in Colorado. For Thanksgiving I went back across the Mason-Dixon line and was very happy with what I came across. Sure, I was excited to get my hands on some Sweetwater 420, which is now a staple all over the state. However, I usually seek out as many different beers as possible when I travel.

The first thing I noticed at just about every bar I drank at over the week was the quick spread of Yuengling in Georgia. It just recently found its way in to the peach state even though it has long been distributed in every state touching its border. Bringyuenglingtogeorgia.com was a driving force in this process. If you are not familiar with the beer, I would call it a lager that probably tastes close to what the American lagers tasted like before prohibition. Nice and smooth with a good amount of malt and a helping of hops. Better from the tap though because it is bottled in green bottles, letting light infiltrate the beer and damage the yeast.

The city of Athens has a great beer store, Five Points Bottle Shop, which really helped me develop my palate in my late college years. They increased their beer retail space and had Belgian beers that I didn't even come across when I was in Belgium. Trapeze also opened downtown as a beer bar that rivals Brickstore in Decater, Georgia and even Fal

ling Rock in Denver. Terrapin finally opened a brewery of their own in Athens after contracting their beer out for so long.

Now for the Old South. I was at the airport leaving Atlanta wearing my freshly bought UGA hat and an eight year old gets my attention. He very clearly pronounced, "Roll Tide." Then I hit him in the face. When I told the police about this, they understood and I was awarded a giant trophy.

Thanksgiving Day Pairings

2008-11-25T06:51:00.000-08:00

What should you drink with your turkey? Actually, that is not that easy of an answer because you are not just having turkey, but also green bean cassorole, mashed potatoes, BISCUITS!, ham, corn, giblet gravy and to feel like you aren't doing your body too much harm a little salad. So how do you solve this dilemma by not having 10 little taster glasses for each food? Here are some suggestions:

1. Drink your beer before the meal, thus you can have everybody's attention and impart your beer knowledgery on them. Then during the meal you can drink something else... maybe, and I know this is going to sound crazy, wine.

2. Don't care how people judge you and have four open bottles of different varieties set out in front of you. When somebody asks why you are doing that, respond witily, "Why are you doing THAT." Make sure you are really vauge when you say this and promptly go back to sniffing your beer. Then to make sure nobody bothers you the rest of the time, give the turkey a little sniff too.

3. You could just be drinking one beer to complement all of this food. Go with a fairly neutral beer with some good malt character, maybe an amber or a dunkel. But make sure you open one for everyone else, even if they decline the offer.

4. Excuse yourself every five minutes and go in to the back room to drink some brews. Make sure to take a turkey sandwich with you. Invite others along by whispering in their ear, "You can come along, but tell nobody of your whereabouts. Bring a turkey sandwich."

True Fear

2008-11-03T17:30:00.000-08:00

I know, this blog is about beer. However, the election is tomorrow and I strongly feel as though I need to make my case so a certain somebody does not get voted in to power. You should definitely vote for McCain on election day, or Obama. Please, please do not vote for Gene Amodson.

Mr. Amodson is running for the Prohibitionist Party, a direct rival of the Party Party. He is a force to be reckoned with as he received 1,944 votes in the last election. Do not be fooled by this low number. In 2000 their candidate, Earl Dodge of Colorado (ironic since Colorado produces the most beer per capita of any state), received a total of 208 votes. This was his lowest number in 5 attempts to make it to Pennsylvania Ave. With a new candidate to rally around, the Prohibition Party just might make a come back with over 2,000 votes.

Obama and McCain, please stop running ads against each other and focus all of your energy on stopping Gene Amodson. I mean, with the early voting he may already have 27 votes.

The best thing...

2008-10-31T09:47:00.000-07:00

...to come out of New York since...um, well the best thing to come out of New York. Brooklyn Brewery has announced that they will start distributing to Texas, which is their first state west of the Mississippi. I had a chance to try it in Georgia when they were still canning their Brooklyn Lager, pretty similar to Boston Lager.

Garrett Oliver, head brewery of Brooklyn and best dressed man in the business, has come up with some great stuff. My most recent favorite is the wheat wine that they made with German wheat beer brewer Schneider. And, Garrett himself poured it for me at the Great American Beer Festival. He has also written the Brewmaster's Table, pairing food and beer, and on Food Network's Iron Chef as a judge.

GABF: Double Gold!

2008-10-12T11:14:00.000-07:00

The week of the Great American Beer Festival is always crazy at the Wynkoop. It starts Wednesday night with the brewer's gathering when breweries from all over the country have their kegs set up throughout the restaurant. The best one this year was a keg of Alaskan Smoked Porter... from 1994. I was 10. The VIP party was set up in the basement of the brewery where we had a little beer pong going. First time I have ever played with a 6.7% lager, though.

On Thursday the Festival opened up to the public. But I learned my lesson from last year and did not attend that first session. Going three straight days wears on the body a little.

Friday I took Kevin and Bobby to over for a bunch of one ounce samples. Kevin has been many times before so he just wanted to go pour people beer at the booth and say funny things like, "The Silverback Porter was actually made by gorillas, under supervision of course." I tried to get Bobby to try as many styles as possible. However a few he let me finish because he is a littl e bi... I mean, he didn't like them. Sour ales didn't set too well with him, which means a little extra for Craig!

Also on Friday Bobby and I were walking around with his friend Nate and saw Dave Lieberman talking to a few fans after his beer and cheese pairing seminar. So we did what anybody would do, walked up to him and ate all the cheese he was holding and drank all of the beer. And, he is really short, I'm talking like 5'4" short.

I didn't make it to the Saturday afternoon awards ceremony because I had to catch up at the brewery, but Charlie and Andy were there to represent for the Wynkoop. We won gold for our Wixa Weiss and B3K schwarz bier. Charlie Papazian, President of the Brewer's Association gave them the awards on stage and said, "it's good to see Wynkoop back up here." The way I found out the news was John Hickenlooper, Wynkoop founder and current Denver Mayor, found me to personally congratulate me while I was giving a tour. Andy and Charlie came back in to Wynkoop to hear applause from all the bartenders while wearing the medals. Then they put them on me and I walked around like the Michael Phelps of beer. I now plan on melting them down into gold bars.

I took Amy to the Saturday night session. Everyone was telling me congrats including Garrett Oliver of the Brooklyn brewing company. Defiantly my proudest moment thus far in the brewing industry.

Oktoberfest

2008-09-22T09:52:00.000-07:00

Right now we are in the middle of the Oktoberfest season. Yes, I know it is September but I don't make the rules. I leave the rules to be made by the people who think one beer equals one liter and think it is fashionable to wear leather pants with suspenders. Here are some facts about Oktoberfest mixed in with Craig's opinions to let you more enjoy these few weeks.

Oktoberfest is in September because of the weather. It was originally a celebration for King Ludwig's marriage in October, but was pulled back a month because it was too cold by this time. But really, I just think they couldn't wait that long to drink delicious beer from liter mugs (called masses).

Don't hold your mass like it is a coffee cup. Make sure you slide your hand through the handle for better control (especially pertinent after you drank a couple). Also, don't ask somebody how many beers is in a mass. The answer is one. And no, you cannot drive after just one. Actually, I don't even recommend walking at this point.

Umpa bands are sweet.

The beer you are drinking is called Oktoberfest or Marzen. The beer was originally brewed in March (Marzen) and aged in underground cellars where it fermented and aged until the festival. Today this is no longer done but instead aged in tanks where the temperature is more easily controlled.

Don't drink cocktails at Oktoberfest, that's lame.

Budweiser goes "craft"

2008-08-31T08:27:00.000-07:00

Up until now Anhueser Busch has tried to claim how superior Budweiser is to heavier beers that "hide their imperfections." But now they have thrown a big curve ball with the Budweiser American Ale. You should start seeing it in liquor stores as it has a September 2008 release date. So how are they going to market this, because that is always their primary concern.

I believe that have already made a marketing mistake by putting Budweiser on the bottle. The only large brewery to get their craft line right has been Coors with the Blue Moon products. Most people don't realize this, but Coors owns the Blue Moon Company. Yes it is good beer, but they do not want to associate Coors with the beer so that people will feel their are involved with the trendy craft beer scene if they are drinking the Belgian Wit (meaning Wheat in Flemish).

I believe this American Ale that Anheuser Busch is coming out with is in direct competition with the American Amber Fat Tire produced by New Belgium Brewing Company, the third largest craft brewer behind Boston Brewing (Sam Adams) and Sierra Nevada. So do they use their old tactics and claim how much better it is than Fat Tire, or lay low and let word of mouth do the job?

This could actually be a good beer, it has already received pretty good ratings by some of the first samplers on ratebeer.com. If they use a similar strategy as Coors used with Blue Moon, it has real potential to take off. However, if they push it on consumer it will get a bad reputation in the craft beer world and will most likely fizzle out.

18 is not a good idea

2008-08-24T10:13:00.000-07:00

Ok college kids, just because you want to drink without getting in trouble does not mean it is a good idea to drop the legal drinking age to 18. There has been a bunch of news about this issue because of the Amethyst Initiative supported by college presidents around the country.

Key point #1: If you are in college, and you are smart about it, you can already drink without much attention being drawn to you. Key word here is "smart," as in being responsible. The only ones I know who got caught in college for drinking are the ones who were not responsible, and if they don't want to be, they should get in trouble. Acts that one may consider not being responsible are drinking and driving, walking around with an open container (I mean at least put it in a red cup), showing your fake ID to a cop, passing out on a sidewalk, or having a peeing contest in the middle of an intersection to see who can make it rain the farthest. If you do these things, you obviously can't handle booze.

Key point #2: The age needs to be raised high enough to where high school kids can not easily obtain it. Yes, many college students are smart enough to drink alcohol, but I would never trust a high school kid with alcohol. Yes, I did drink back in high school because I thoguht I was some kind of bad ass if I had a keystone light in my hand. Looking back on it, I probably looked like a toolbag.

Key point #3: The drinking age is higher in the states because our public transportation is not as good as Europe. So if you want to change it back to 18 or 19, fix that first. Yes, anybody could take a cab, but students are poor and won't pay for it and would rather take the chance of driving.

Dumb

2008-07-24T22:24:00.000-07:00

You know, I guess if you have enough money you can make commercials that are "lies." I quote this because these are not exactly lies but opinions that are look to be fact to the common viewer. I feel that many people in the beer industry are scared of the big guys, but I don't really care so I'm going to point out some dumb things they do. Mind you that I've been drinking for about 5 hours now. I wasn't trying to get drunk, but the beer I was having was so good, that it was hard to stop.

Budweiser commercial: Perfect Balance

So this dude is trying to decide what beer he wants but there are so many choices he is overwhelmed. Click on the link I provided to see what I mean. Of course somebody comes and helps him out with his selection. He says, "You want a beer that's not too heavy, but you don't want to compromise on taste, so you're just looking for that perfect balance." So the dude chooses Budweiser. First of all, if you pause the tv, none of those six packs around the Budweiser are actual beers, just boxes to look like beers. And, the Bud man gets to decide what the perfect balance is for some reason???? Make your own choices peoples. Believe it or not, they have to advertise because their beer isn't that good.

Then the last line the dude buying the beer says is, "You know they should pay you for this." They are paying him, that's why he has to say the beer is good. If they were not paying him, he would probably say, "You want a beer that doesn't throw a bunch of propaganda at you, and that fit your exact tastes. That's what the american microbrewing industry is striving for, individual tastes. Oh and these six packs are fake, so I suggest going to another liquor store."

Sam Adams: #1 American Brewer

2008-07-21T08:06:00.000-07:00

If you have not heard the big news, Anheuser-Busch is now owned by Inbev. Inbev is a company that was formed between Belgian and Brazilian brewers. Some of the beers they make include Leffe, Stella, Hoegarden, and Brahma. A-B was resisting selling out but the deal was finally agreed upon at $70 per share. Also over the past year Coors merged some of their operations with South African Brewers-Miller to combat the beast of Anheuser-Busch. So what will this do for the American microbrew community?

The way I see it, the word will start getting out about Anheuser-Busch no longer being American. This has been a big draw to their brands for some consumers. What they will try and do is put out as many ads as possible to give off a sense of being an American company. If they are successful at this (which they most likely will be because of many many many $) then they should be just fine. However, the American craft beer drinker is a big advocate of informing people about the beer world, and that segment of the population is getting bigger all of the time. I can only see this helping the craft beer market because it is truly American, and Americans are buying local food and beer more and more.

But if you really want to be American, drink one of these:

A New Season

2008-05-19T16:20:00.000-07:00

Most normal people plan out their yearly calendar in months. However, my calendar goes by the beer seasons. It's kind of like the Chinese calendar... I guess, I really don't know what the Chinese calendar consists of. Probably monkeys and dragons. Well, my calendar just shifted from the winter styles such as porters, stouts and heavy Belgians to spring/summer beers like bocks, wheats and pale ales.

I believe this is why I can't choose a favorite beer. People know I'm really into this beer stuff (or maybe dangerously obsessed), so I get the "what's your favorite beer?" question a lot. My beer choice tends to change with the seasons so that is hard to answer.

Now even though these spring/summer types of beer are lighter in color because of less roasted malt, it does not mean they have less flavor, just different. The summer styles tend to be a bit fruitier and taste a little better at colder temperatures. Perfect for a hot day, but I would not normally drink these styles during the winter.

With this said, I can assure you at I will still drink a 10% imperial stout during the middle of summer. You can't expect me to wait until it gets cold again to have something so delicious.

World Beer Cup

2008-04-28T11:08:00.000-07:00

This month the Craft Brewers Conference and World Beer Cup were held in San Diego. I had to watch over the brewery thus couldn't make it. However, the results for the competition were posted online. The category that I took notice of was American Light Lager. I always thought it was funny that Miller Lite was so proud of winning this category a few times over the years since there are 90 other categories that taste much better.

If you take a look at category 33: American style light lager you will notice that Miller lite did not place this year. The top 3 were Old Milwaukee Light, Lone Star Light (God Bless Texas), and Natural Light (better known as Natty Light). Now I'm not saying that these beers are all that good, I just find it funny that these beers are usually consumed through a funnel and were able to beat out Bud Light, Miller Light, and Coors Light in a blind taste test.

Time Magazine

2008-04-13T17:55:00.000-07:00

A little over a month ago a reporter from Time Magazine came through the Wynkoop to do a piece on the Colorado beer market. He was escorted by Sheraton's Chief Beer Officer (Where do I apply for that job?). He seemed a little quiet and I thought he didn't really want to do the story or was expecting something else when he came through. But last week they sent a photographer, David Bowman, out to take a bunch of pictures because it apparently turned into a feature story for the magazine.

On Friday the article appeared online along with a picture of Amy and I drinking on the patio. I thought it was pretty cool but that no way it would get in the magazine. Heck yes it did! My name isn't on there, but still it's pretty cool. Page 61 of the April 21st issue. The story is pretty much right on track with how I perceive beer. The writer says that this area is the "Napa of Beer," but people aren't as snobby about it as wine drinkers usually come off. Beer is still about hanging out with friends on the front porch with your shoes off playing some corn hole. Even though beer in America is getting better all time, let's not lose that laid back image.

Beer Review:

This is my first beer review to go along with a post, I'll try and keep it up so people can find out about new beer though my taste buds.

I decided to open up a "sweet-as" Belgian beer named Duchesse De Bourgogne. If you have never had Belgian or Flemish beer I suggest you start trying some just because of the subtle sour notes the Belgian yeast brings out it the beer. This was not an aggressively strong beer, but tons of flavor. It is aged in oak barrels and has a great balance between sweet and sour. That's usually what I'm looking for in a really good beer... balance. Balance between sweet and sour, maltiness and hoppiness, or alcohol strength and drink-ability. And if it sucks really bad and has none of these aspects, its best enjoyed through a funnel. Prost.

Nothing Classier...

2008-04-07T13:31:00.000-07:00

...than a Schlitz. I'm not talking about the canned stuff. This is the new, or not so new, version of beer from the former mega brewery. Schlitz Original has just been released in the Chicago area to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the repeal of prohibition. No, I have not tried the stuff, but I bet it is better than anything from the major 3 breweries. Here is my reasoning:

Before prohibition beer in America was probably on par with Germany. Lots of German immigrants moved to the States and brought their beer heritage with them including the Miller, Busch, Pabst, and Spotzel. Then along came prohibition which shut down the brewing operations except for near beer and malted milk. After prohibition I'm sure people palates were about the same as a high school kid drinking anything they could get thier hands on and would give them a buzz. The winners were those breweries that could make it the fastest, not caring about quality. Since so many breweries were shut down only a handful could compete and until the 70's Schlitz was right atop with everyone. However, thier advertising dollars could not keep up with Miller, Anheuser-Busch and later Coors which forced Schlitz to change thier recipe and destroy what was once a decent product. After this the company had no chance.

However, now people have a chance to try a solid lager not banking on advertising dollars, but on taste and the nostalgia of beer's better days. My hope is that this will bring the beer drinking in America full circle and people will once again enjoy full flavored beers for thier taste rather than drinking light lager because of image. But I doubt the big breweries will allow that and will continue to attept to make American dumber through advertising. So, if you can find a Schlitz Original crack one open and let me know how great American beer was before prohibition.

I'm Famous

2008-03-25T17:21:00.000-07:00

Well, only if you count 3 seconds of face time on an internet site... which you should. Here is the link, go about 30 seconds into the video and there's Craig.

New Anheuser Busch Commercials

2008-03-10T18:24:00.000-07:00

Has anybody seen these new commercials for Budweiser? They are the ones that sort of resemble the Sam Adams commercials, but have a guy walking around in a suit saying how amazing Budweiser tastes.

Well, one of these commercials attempts to say that Bud is beer in its perfect state. Also, it says that since it is a clean lager it cannot hide "imperfections," like heavier, cloudier beers. Basically, Anheuser Busch is saying that perfect beer is clean, clear, and very drinkable by anybody, and that is the definition of a perfect beer. Here is the funny thing: Anheuser Busch also makes these cloudy, heavier beers, but not many people know this.

For instance, the Michelob line produced by Anheuser Busch consists of porters, bocks, and wheat beers. Also, they make beers that look like they are from microbreweries because they use an entirely different brand. Some of these are Bare Knuckle Stout (tastes like soy sauce, not good, don't recommend), Ziegen Bock (to compete in Texas with Shiner Bock), Winter Bourbon Cask Ale, and they also own part of Redhook and Widmer Breweries.

So Anheuser Busch, if any of you are reading this, does beer that you....yourself own not good because it is "heavy and cloudy?" Are you going to try and fake educate the public into thinking that Budweiser is perfect? I think you are starting to realize that people are getting smarter about beer and you don't want that to happen, so that is why your advertising department is attempting to keep consumers dumb about beer. Well, times are changing. While craft beer enjoyed a 12% increase in 2007, non-craft domestic beer only had a 1.4% increase.

Bartering is back

2008-02-17T11:19:00.000-08:00

Currency as we know it no longer exists. The world will soon go back to olden times and bring back the bartering system. However, only one form of bartering will take place. Beer bartering. Soon you will be able to trade a six pack for goods and services such as haircuts, ham, ham sandwiches, ice cream sandwiches, heavy whipping cream, shaving cream, a shave, etc...

However, different beers will be worth more. Beers that fit into the same category as Bud light, Miller light, and Coors light will get you products such as a loaf of white bread and a can of spam.

Beers such as Schlitz, Pabst, Olympia, and Point Special will get a person a loaf of good wheat bread and a package or hormel lunch meat.

If one were to trade foreign beers that are heavily advertised like Corona, that person will recieve a moldy tortilla with stale lengua (cow tounge).

A six pack of a good american micro brew will get that person fresh bread from the oven with an entire honey baked ham.

On the top of the bartering list is anything Belgian, except for Stella. I have proof of this as I pulled off the greatest beer bartering trade ever. My brewery made a 10.5% Belgian amber partly aged in an oak barrel. I took it to another brewery that has a bar connected to it. I drank all night and when I asked him how much I owed he said, "Nothing, actually take a six pack with you." This is proof that one can actually get paid, in the form of beer, for drinking all night.

Bartering is back.

Molson Tasting

2008-01-20T09:08:00.000-08:00

Every Wednesday and Saturday afternoon my neighborhood booze store has a wine tasting. I like to go just because I drink so much beer and like to mix it up a little. However we found out that this Saturday they were going to be doing a beer tasting. I got excited and asked which brewery was coming. "Molson," he said. I thought he was kidding, really. He always has great wines to try, but for some reason he let the Molson guy come in to give a tasting. Of course, my brother and I had to go. Not to enjoy it, but to make sure to tell Molson how bad of beer they produced. Yes, I'm a jackass.

So we go and there he is, Mr. Molson. Actually, he didn't know his ass from a hole in the ground so I guess he wasn't the actual Mr. Molson. One of his discriptions said that Mens Health rated Molson Light the best light beer in America. First of all, Molson is Canadian. Dumb. And when we asked him about this he said, "Oh, well what they meant was the light beer with the least amount of carbs." Dumb. Does that now mean "best." If that's the case I'm going to make a candy bar with the least amount of carbs and claim it is the best. We then asked the Molson rep what the difference was between Molson and Molson golden. "Well, the Molson Golden has a slightly more golden hue. And it is in a green bottle." Dumb again. Great, you added some food coloring and put it in a bottle that lets more light in to damage the beer. But, its good for marketing. How about you get your head out of your ass and put that marketing money into making beer that is worth a crap.

Warning: Rant

2007-12-30T16:59:00.000-08:00

I've been a bit put off this Holiday season. It's not only about beer... that's right, you heard me. Well, actually it is. BUT, I'm going to talk about wine as well.

Rant number one: You don't know wine if you order it as "red" or "white." That's a color, not a type. It's kind of like ordering food and saying you want "meat," and you don't care whether you get a chicken breast or goat balls.

Rant number two: Don't tell me, "I don't like beer. I mean Bud light is just really gross." I will say, "No shit." There are other beers out there than Bud, Miller, and Coors. In fact, I don't even think those are beers, but rather chemically enhanced carbonated, alcoholic, rice water.

Rant number three: How come extremely wealthy people who enjoy the finer things in life such as great food and fine wines turn their noses up at stronger, more flavorful beer, but will drink carbonated piss water out of a can? This is what amazes me most. Bud light and similar beers are the only alcoholic drink that is socially acceptable to drink at a frat party (through a funnel or otherwise) which is also socially acceptable to drink at a five star restaurant.

Congradulations Denver!

2007-12-19T18:25:00.000-08:00

Way to go Denver. According to Science Denver is the deadliest, drunk city in America. For some reason Science gave Denver an "F" in the grading scale. Well damn, if Denver didn't make such good beer then it wouldn't be a problem. At least it is a pleasant and slow death with many pints along the way.

Link to the article put out by "Science."

Lets take one of the cities they gave an A to in the study, Salt Lake City. In the state of Utah they are only allowed to make 3.2 alcohol beer. This is worse than death. Might as well move to Colorado you bike riding, tie wearing, name tag citizens of Utah. You will die earlier, but at least it won't be from having too many wives weighing you down.

Aging Cellar

2007-12-02T16:12:00.001-08:00

Why would you drink a beer that you bought that day? Think of all the gratification you could receive if you put that beer in a 1/3 bathroom and left it there for five years... and then drank it. Let me explain.

At my house in Denver we have this bathroom in the basement that only has a toilet. Yep. No sink. No shower. Just a toilet. We dubbed it the "outhouse." Our only choice was to install a hand sanitizer to cleanse our hands. Like the ones in hospitals. I know, genius.

But what about all this wasted space. All there was in there was a toilet and a hand sanitizer. What better place to have an aging cellar. I mean, the room is sterile... there an f-ing hand sanitizer in there for goodness sake. We do-do our business in there, but we close off the two spaces with a wall made of fabric. Some call this a "curtain." Maybe you have heard of it.

If you aren't completely disturbed, maybe we will share our bounty one day.

A Taste of The Great American Beer Festival

2007-09-25T18:24:00.000-07:00

Last week we got our beers ready for judging at Wynkoop Brewing Company. The best part about being the brewer is that I got to be the first to taste what we were entering. The best of which was barley wine that has been aging in an unused French wine barrel. It was pretty awesome, and it got me pretty drunk while on the job. Makes work more enjoyable.

Tasting all of our beers got me really excited about the Great American Beer Festival, a.k.a. GABF. It is a 4 day event at the Denver convention center from October 10-13. Hopefully I won't have to work too hard that week so I can play a little and try all 1400 beers that I will have the opportunity to sample. But, I think the brewpub will be really busy with beer pilgrims in town.

Oktoberfest

2007-09-17T20:41:00.001-07:00

Let me tell you something about Oktoberfest. It's not just about getting drunk and dancing to the Ompa band. Wait... ok, I just heard that is the point of the entire celebration. If you don't know, Octoberfest is in September. It was first held in October of 1818 in the German state of Bavaria when Price Ludwig was married. Because October was too cold for that patrons they moved it forward a few weeks.

The Oktoberfest that I attended is a little smaller than the festival in Munich which 6 million attend annually. But, that just made the beer line shorter. I went up in to the mountains of Colorado to the town of Vail. The cool thing is that it is fairly German-Austrian-esk because that's where some of the founders are from.

The best story to come out of the weekend was not the festival itself, but the after-party. Somehow my brother and I got up on stage at a bar and danced for a bachelorette to try and win $100. I lost to a stripper. An actual stripper. I can't win that battle.

Here are some tips to make the most of your Oktoberfest experience:
1) Drink out of a beer stein. Plastic cup doesn't really say authentic experience.
2) Make sure you get a big stein. Pros use the liter glass mugs.
3) Try and take off your clothes at some point.
4) Steal as much beer as possible, flirting is very acceptable.
5) Have a theme song for the weekend, such as "Halloween Head."
6) Enter any bratwurst or keg bowling competition.
7) Try and speak German, a simple Prost will do.

Praise the Lord

2007-09-12T18:48:00.000-07:00

It's usually a bad thing when you walk into your house and say, "Why the Fuck isn't the Georgia game on T.V. right now" and a pastor is sitting on your couch. However, this pastor was drinking from my keg of Wynkoop ESB. Well, with college football on and a bunch of people over that keg went pretty fast. But I believe God wanted it that way.

The next day, Sunday, I was at church and that same pastor was talking about how God ordains certain things to happen in life. With this he said, "I was at a get together last night and there was a free keg of Wynkoop beer. God ordained that keg of Wynkoop beer."

This is one thing I struggled with going to University in the Bible Belt of Georgia. People compartimentalize thier lives and don't include the partying aspect with thier religious life. Both should be together if you are a true Christian. Beer is good because it brings people together and good times are had with one another. Praise God.

Taste Test

2007-09-02T09:45:00.000-07:00

Last week I went on a bike ride around Denver with a big group that calls themselves the "Denver Cruisers." Basically it was a pub crawl on bikes. Dangerous....yes. But also more fun than, um, a pub crawl without bikes.

One of the stops was at a bar by Coors Field that had the night sponsored by The Onion, a fake newspaper. The bought a few barrels of Miller Light which was free for everybody until it ran out. If you don't know, free beer is my favorite type. Of course, there were Miller Light girls there and they were giving tastes tests. People were actually anaylzing Miller Light agaist other beers. I thought about participating and saying, "Oh this beer sucks really bad, but this one sucks a little more. It has...wait....yes, it has that faint hint of urine and maybe a little bit of chemical aftertaste." Of course I restrained because I'm sure the girls probably aren't big beer drinkers and would probably be a bit confused. I just find it funny that Miller knows it's beer sucks so bad that it needs hot girls to sell it.

Ode to the Beer Hunter

2007-08-31T18:30:00.000-07:00

This blog is dedicated to Michael Jackson . No, not the one gloved wonder. I'm talking about the most world renowned beer writer in the world. My brother met him last year at the Great American Beer festival in Denver and got him to sign his book (The Great Beers of Belgium) for me. It was a catalyst for me to spend 5 days in Brussels and Antwerp this summer to try all of the amazing beer.

Now I am an assistant brewer at Wynkoop brewing company in Denver after completing my degree at the University of Georgia in May. I feel that with Mr. Jackson passing away somebody needs to continue his work in improving peoples knowledge and enthusiasm for great, craft beer. I feel that I have a social responsibility to do this. And maybe somebody will buy me a beer.

I started a blog this summer on my beer journey across Europe and this is a great time to continue with it as a few people (including my beer loving brother) suggested I should do.

For my first entry I'll talk about an infused schwarz bier (German for black beer) my boss made today. He poured off a growler full of our schwarz bier and throw a dabble of mint leaves in there. And when I say dabble, I mean he put a whole mint plant in there. It kind of tasted like throwing a few mintos in the beer, or like brushing your teeth with beer. Hmmm, might have to try that. Hang over cure perhaps?

That's all for now. Make sure to pour a little of your next beer on the ground for our homie Michael Jackson. "Just beat it."