News of a Virtual Tasting
The folks at Oskar Blues Brewery, who pioneered craft beer in cans, are at it again. They’ve organized the first-ever Virtual Colorado Beer Tasting, which will take place Thursday evening, September 9.
To take part in the tasting, you need to do the following:
One. Buy some Colorado-brewed beer at your local beer store.
Two. At 7 pm Mountain Time, crack open the first beer “in a resounding chorus heard around the web.”
Three. Tell us what you think about the beer on Twitter (use the hash tag #bbc10 and the one for the brewery), Facebook, your own blog, or the Beer Bloggers Conference website.
You also might want to carry some ID, just in case there’s a virtual bouncer inside your computer.
It’s Fresh Hop Season
Summer is getting ready to say goodbye, but there’s a silver lining: the hop harvest is right around the corner. John Foyston of The Oregonian has news of several fresh-hop events in his home state.
In recent years, hop farms have sprung up outside the Northwest. One of the newcomers is Simple Earth Hops, located in Dodgeville, Wisconsin. It will celebrate its grand opening next Saturday. This family-friendly event will feature tours of the hopyard and farm, live music, and an evening potluck.
And on September 18, in upstate New York, the Madison County Historical Museum will host the 15th annual Madison County Hop Fest. The festivities will include a food and beer pairing, beer sampling, educational programs, hop-related merchandise for sale, and the crowning of the Hop King.
The Friday Mash (Saccharomyces Carlsbergensis Edition)
On this day in 1909, Emil Christian Hansen passed away. Hansen, who worked at the Carlsberg Laboratory in Copenhagen, isolated a pure cell of yeast that was given the name Saccharomyces carlsbergensis and used to make lager beer. Reason enough to have a beer today.
And now…The Mash!
In Portland, Oregon, the “dog’s life” is quite enviable. Frank James at Brewpublic.com and his Weimaraner go to the city’s dog-friendliest pubs.
The Golden Tap Awards, which honor Ontario’s top achievements in brewing, were handed out last weekend. Here’s a list of the winners.
Writing in TheHopPress.com, Josh Oakes looks at the state of craft brewing in Asia. He offers this bit of advice: don’t expect to find a good IPA in India.
The recently-opened National Brewery Centre in Burton-on-Trent, England, will host the 2011 Brewing Industry International Awards, along with a festival featuring many of the participating beers.
Fried beer? Not exactly, but one of the entries in the Big Tex Awards competition at the State Fair of Texas is a beer-filled pretzel pocket, deep-fried to a golden brown. One bite and the escaping beer serves as a dipping sauce.
Does the British pub belong on the endangered species list? In a podcast on The Guardian’s website, brewers, publicans, landlords, and drinkers talk about what people want from pubs and what the future might hold.
Finally, we’re impressed by the beer list that Stone Brewing Company has assembled for tomorrow’s anniversary celebration.
Celebrating American Lager
Ever since Jack McAuliffe brewed his first batch at New Albion, people have associated microbreweries with ale. But lager has definitely taken its place in the craft beer movement. In fact, according to Eli Shayotovich, this year’s Craft Lager Festival in Manitou Springs, Colorado, attracted some 5,000 beer lovers. It’s now the state’s second-largest festival behind the Great American You-Know-What.
Shayotovich adds that this year’s ticket sales were almost double last year’s, and that festival organizers ought to be looking for a new, larger venue. He also has a list of the festival’s best beers. It’s headed by Lagunitas Brewing Company’s Czech-Style Pilsner, which grabbed Best of Show honors.
Your Sunday Travel Supplement
Because everyone we know is on vacation, back from vacation, or planning their next one:
The folks at ESPN Sports Travel were in Milwaukee, where they fired up the grill, caught a Brewers game, and posted a Miller Park photo gallery.
We don’t know who wrote the article, but he or she recommends a long list of beer destinations in and around California’s wine country. You’ll definitely need a designated driver for this itinerary.
Reb Stevenson of the Toronto Star went to Oktoberfest, where she discovered that women need to be extra careful.
Steph Weber at TheHopPress.com, leads us on a photo-filled tour of the hop spots of her favorite city in North Carolina–namely, Asheville.
Three Cheers for American Beer
This past week alone, we ran across three stories about how American craft beer is attracting fans in other countries:
At the Great British Beer Festival, the 80 American-made beers sold out midway through the third day of the five-day event and got good reviews from festival-goers.
Jason Rehel of the National Post might be risking a treason charge in Canada. He not only says that American beer doesn’t suck, but thinks his country could learn from their neighbors to the south.
Finally, the Brewers Association announced that brewers participating in its Export Development Program subscribers won 15 medals in 10 different categories at Beerfest Asia 2010 in Singapore.
Party Like It’s 1487
Today, the English city of York will roll the calendar back to 1487 by re-enacting the Assize of Ale, a centuries-old law regulating the price, weight, and quality of beer.
Members of The Guild Of Scriveners, an organization founded to regulate lawyers and scribes, will serve as sergeants, roughly the equivalent of American deputy sheriffs. They will visit local pubs and determine whether their ale is of high enough quality. Pubs that meet the scriveners’ high standards will be issued certificates, while “violators” will be asked to make a donation to charity.
After the sergeants make their rounds, there will be a medieval-themed feast, complete with costumed revelers.
It’s Friday the Firkenteenth!
If you live in or near Philadelphia, you might want to stop in at the Grey Lodge Public House, where it’s Friday the Firkenteenth. Every time the 13th of the month falls on a Friday, this establishment celebrates by tapping 25 or more firkins of cask-conditioned ale.
What’s that again about today being unlucky?
The Friday Mash (Elvis Edition)
Next Monday marks the 33rd anniversary of Elvis Presley’s death, but today we celebrate a different Elvis–namely, Elvis Grbac, who played quarterback at Michigan and in the NFL. He turns 40 today. We’re also honoring two other athletes with that name: figure skater Elvis Stojko and running back Elvis Peacock.
And now…The Mash!
We begin at the ballpark, where Chris Gigley of Beer Connoisseur.com celebrates the keystone combination of minor league baseball and craft beer.
Next stop is New York City, where beer gardens have been sprouting up. Robert Simonson of the New York Times tells us where to find them. If you’re thinking of visiting NYC, you might want to arrive sometime between September 24 and October 3, which is New York City Craft Beer Week.
In our style section, Jack Curtin answers the question: What’s up with ginger beer? And Greg Kitsock, writing in the Washington Post, gets us acquainted with an up-and-coming style: black India pale ale.
Turning to travel, Bryan Kolesar of The Brew Lounge was among the revelers at Belgium Comes to Cooperstown, and he’s got dozens and dozens of photos to prove it.
Northern Michigan is known for its wine, but a European-style farmhouse brewery, the Leelanau Brewing Company, is about to open.
Finally, Stone Brewing Company, Ballast Point Brewing, and North Park Beer Company have joined forces to brew San Diego County Session Ale. It’ll hit the shelves next month.
Last Call for GABF Tickets
Attention, procrastinators: you’ve just about run out of time to get your tickets to the Great American Beer Festival. According to the Brewers Association, 96 percent of the tickets have been sold, and there are no more tickets for the Friday evening and Saturday afternoon sessions.