Michael Jackson Documentary to Debut at GABF
It’s hard to believe that more than two years have gone by since Michael Jackson, The Beer Hunter, passed away. Many of us who write about beer have a Michael Jackson story to tell. (Maryanne and Paul’s involves a Jackson-tutored vertical tasting at the New Belgium Brewery when we were in Colorado for the 2003 Great American Beer Festival. And yes, we still have the festival program bearing his autograph.)
Now comes word that a documentary about The Beer Hunter will debut at this year’s GABF. It was directed by John R. Richards of The Wine Travelers series fame, and produced by his production company, Maroon Studios. The website for The Beer Hunter: The Movie describes the film:
Filmmaker J.R. Richards traveled extensively with Michael throughout the United States and Europe, filming Michael as he got the story behind the world’s greatest beer and whiskey. Through this footage and interviews with leading brewers and beer enthusiasts, we are treated to an intimate picture of Michael: his enigmatic personality, his extraordinary life, his remarkable contributions, and his secret struggle with Parkinson’s Disease.
. Here’s a preview of what festival-goers are going to see:
By the way, proceeds from the film will go to the National Parkinson’s Foundation.
Super Sunday Quick Kicks
It looks like the marketing people at Anheuser-Busch have called a double reverse. Bowing to criticism, they’ve decided to keep the Budweiser Clydesdales in their Super Bowl ads. This will be their 16th Super Bowl appearance.
In his Never-Ending Super Bowl blog post, Draft magazine’s Christopher Staten indulges in “a simpler, more refined age” of beer ads, turning back the clocks to “when beer was celebrated with class.” Warning: contains retro beer commercials.
Dan Boone of The Bleacher Report offers an amusing Super Bowl drinking game. Here are just a couple: “Drink if you see Ditka. Buy Ditka a drink if he is sitting next to you. Buy Ditka two if he is choking you because he just dropped fifty grand on the over” and “Drink at the appearance of any talking animal, alien, or Kardashian”.
According to The Nielsen Company, this is not the biggest day of the year for beer drinking. The Fourth of July is. In fact, Super Sunday only ranks seventh.
The final word goes to Duane Thomas, who once asked: “If the Super Bowl is the ultimate game, then how come they’re going to play it again next year?”
Big Lists of Big Beers
BeerAdvocate has posted the beer list for its Extreme Beer Fest, February 19-20, in Boston. There are more than 100 beers from at least 27 breweries.
The Potable Curmudgeon has assembled a list of 60 potent brews that will be served at Gravity Head 2010, which begins on February 26 at the New Albanian Brewing Company in New Albany, IN.
IPA Fans: Fill Out Your Brackets!
Basketball’s March Madness is weeks away, but first-round action in Brewing News’s third annual National IPA Challenge tips off a week from this evening in Syracuse, NY.
A total of 128 IPAs are entered in the Challenge, which is a single-elimination, head-to-head competition. Elimination rounds will take place at beer festivals in February and March, and the champion IPA will be crowned at the Festival of the Suds in Atlantic City on March 20.
You can follow the action with Brewing News’s huge printable bracket sheet, which also doubles as a shopping list if you’re an IPA fan like Paul.
The Friday Mash (Cabin Fever Edition)
Same day. Different Mash.
“Johnny Fullpint” at The Full Pint gives us a preview of the inaugural Chesapeake Oyster and Beer Festival in Maryalnd.
Award-winning beer writer Pete Brown tells us that in spite of a rash of closures and an indifferent government, the British pub isn’t going to die. That said, the venerable British pint glass could be getting a makeover because it is often used as a weapon by drunken pub-goers.
This August, Charlie Papazian will be in Maine to lead another edition of The 2010 Art & Science of Beer. It’s a series of presentations, meals, and beer tastings.
Attention Indianapolis Colts fans: your Super Bowl party isn’t complete without Indiana-brewed beer. And they’re getting easier to find at your local liquor store.
Men’s Health magazine named MGD 64 the best beer to drink. John Foyston, who writes for The Oregonian, has something to say about that.
Finally, Wynkoop Brewing Company has named its three finalists for the Beerdrinker of the Year award. The national finals are February 27.
Dates Set for Charlotte Craft Beer Week
The dates for the inaugural Charlotte Craft Beer Week have been set: March 18-28. The festivities will begin with a kick-off reception at Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery in uptown Charlotte. Other events include tastings of rare and exotic beers, showcases for local and regional breweries, food and beer pairing events, a tasting to benefit the North Carolina Brewers Guild, and appearances by major names in the brewing industry.
Hat tip: Rick Lyke of Lyke 2 Drink; and the “Pop the Cap” campaign, whose grass-roots lobbying effort made possible a world of good beer in North Carolina.
Common Knowledge
Jay Brooks, of Brookston Beer Bulletin fame, has a column in the San Jose Mercury News about the history of steam beer.
But unless you’re the Anchor Brewing Company, don’t dare call this style “steam,” or the dreaded Trademark Police will come looking for you. Jay explains why:
As no one else in the world was brewing steam beer, Anchor shrewdly trademarked the name in 1981. By the time the craft beer scene caught up and breweries wanted to make their own versions of Steam Beer, a generic term had to be coined, and so “California Common” was born.
And now you know the proverbial “rest of the story.”
Best Beer Wars Review We’ve Ever Seen
Erik, who blogs at Top Fermented, got his hands on a DVD version of the documentary Beer Wars. After watching it, he wrote a thoughtful, balanced, and at times opinionated 1,855-word review.
The bottom line? The amount of hype surrounding this film created impossible expectations. Erik explains:
It had such an onslaught of publicity that I think it needed to be Gone with the Wind to live up to the expectations of critics within the beer industry, much less traditional media. With all of the buzz, it needed to absolutely blow your mind to be treated with anything except let-down afterward. It’s really a shame. There’s a good story here and there are good messages, but because it wasn’t Citizen Kane it didn’t get the attention it deserved after release.
Erik also thinks that Beer Wars was actually several documentaries in one, and would like to see someone follow up with these: (a) the story of the craft beer industry, and a comparison between craft brewers and the Big Guys; (b) an expose of the tactics of the less scrupulous members of the distribution industry, compared to distributors who carry craft beer and try to play by the rules; and (c) a compare-and-contrast of the Big Guys’ versus the Little Guys’ lobbying.
An excellent review, so good that it earned two thumbs paws up from Ludwig.
State of the (Craft Brewing) Union
After a spending a week in the Pacific Northwest, Mike Bristol of the eponymous Bristol Brewing Company (Paul couldn’t wait to use the word “eponymous”) is back at work in Colorado. On the brewery website, Mike reflects on the state of craft brewing in America. Despite a sick economy, the industry is strong. Did you know that craft beer has grown faster than any segment of the beverage alcohol industry? Or that it has grown for 35 years in a row?
Mike has another fun fact: Half the population of America lives within ten miles of a brewery. (raises hand) There are two within ten miles of Chez Ludwig, plus a restaurant that serves beer from a brewpub in the next county.
Anthony Bourdain Goes to Prague
Maryanne and Paul are big fans of Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations, especially when he tries the local food and drink. That’s what he did in Prague, where he also visited a microbrewery.
The episode aired yesterday on The Travel Channel and, according to the channel’s website, will be shown again tonight at 1 am (ET).