The Friday Mash (Beware the Ides Edition)
Monday is the Ides of March, the day on which Julius Caesar was assassinated. This has nothing to do with beer–the Romans considered beer a barbarian drink–but it does provide Ludwig with an excuse to use Roman numerals. He’d like to point out that since this blog went live, he’s roared a total of CCX times.
And now…The Mash:
If you’re a homesick American in Amsterdam, The Beer Temple has a cure. It calls itself “the first American bar in Europe”, and has 30 American beers on draft and more than 60 in bottles.
Is that beer you’re drinking really an import? Some beers we associate with countries like India, Japan, and Ireland are actually brewed in North America. Richard Steuven of the “Beer Me” blog names names.
According to the Brewers Assocation, last year was another strong year for craft beer sales. Sales increased by 7.3 percent by volume, and 10.3 percent by dollars. Craft brewing is now a $7 billion-a-year industry.
Debuting this year at the San Francisco Giants’ AT&T Park: The Public House, a year-round sports bar with one of the city’s largest draft and cask selections.
Finally, BeerNews.com has more info on “Strange Brew”, a sitcom about a small family-owned brewery that’s coming to Fox.
Dutch Courage: The Amsterdam Beer Bike
Amsterdam has a reputation for tolerance, but one recently-created pastime for tourists–the Amsterdam Beer Bike–is putting it to a test.
Here’s the deal: a group of tourists can rent a special 17-foot long bicycle equipped with a bar and–what else?–a karaoke machine, then cruise around the city streets while guzzling beer.
It’s great fun for the bikers, but some residents are fed up with the bikers’ antics, including verbal harassment, disregard for traffic rules, and even public urination. Riding the Beer Bike is risky, too: a group of women crashed their vehicle, resulting in injuries to several of them.
Criticism notwithstanding, the founder of one of the three companies that rent Beer Bikes insists the bikes have benefits: they make for a great team-building exercise, don’t leave much of a carbon footprint, and they’re a great way to see the city.
The bikes will be rolling in 2010, but under new regulations that limit beer consumption and require bikes to have a designated driver and follow pre-approved routes.