In Praise of the Bottling Line
For Maryanne, the best part of a brewery tour is the bottling line. At many small micros, this equipment has quite a story to tell. More often than not, it has seen service elsewhere–sometimes at multiple breweries–before winding up at its present home. Some, in fact, are even older and crankier than the one on which Laverne and Shirley worked at the Shotz Brewery. One ancient bottling line, which Maryanne saw at the Steam Whistle Brewery in Toronto, makes her chuckle every time Paul mentions it.
It turns out that Maryanne isn’t the only fan of bottling lines. British beer writer Pete Brown considers it the star attraction of a brewery tour. In his inimitable style, Pete declares that “even good breweries worship their bottling lines like Pacific Cargo Cults venerate aeroplanes,” and warns brewery visitors to give these lines the respect they deserve.
The Friday Mash (Green Jacket Edition)
Unwrap that pimiento sandwich, grab a chair, and pour yourself a beverage. If you’re open to suggestions, Adam Tokarz, this week’s guest-blogger at Draft magazine, has compiled a Masters-themed beer list.
And now…The Mash!
Jay Brooks of the Brookston Beer Bulletin has video from the Sierra Nevada 30th Anniversary Beer Dinner at San Francisco’s Anchor Brewery.
Session Number 38 at Brewed for Thought is about cult beers. The discussion kicks off with a description of February’s Pliny the Younger release party which will make you wish you had been there.
What U.S. state ranks first in per capita beer consumption? If you answer was Montana, go to the head of the class.
Jack Curtin hails the unsung heroes and heroines of the craft beer movement: everyone from beer-savvy servers to the people who package and deliver your beer.
Pete Brown says that British regulators have decided to ban the use of pixies, elves, sprites, and other mythical creatures in marketing alcohol. We hope he’s pulling our leg.
Finally, another macrobrewery craft beer offering has hit the shelves: Colorado Native Ale, by MillerCoors. Its slogan is “born, brewed and shared local”; and it’s currently available only in Colorado.
Pete Brown at the Independent Brewers’ Conference
Last year, Pete Brown’s peers at the British Guild of Beer Writers named him Writer of the Year. His latest blog post, describing the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) annual conference, explains why he won that honor.
The opening paragraph, written on “a cold, draughty train with no tables, no refreshment trolley, no power sockets,” sets the tone:
Wedged sideways on a hard, narrow seat, developing pins and needles in my left leg which is curled up to provide a surface for the laptop, the cold grey light, bare branches and churned, muddy fields gliding past the window, everything conspiring to accentuate what was a surprisingly mild hangover, draw out the nuances of it, develop the waves of pain and nausea like a symphony orchestra playing variations on a theme, and turn it into something that forces me to seriously contemplate tearing my eyeballs from their sockets.
He’s that good.
Brown goes on to explain how attendees get got “riotously, deliciously hoonered on real ale,”at £1.50 a pint; how his tasting notes couldn’t do justice to the winner of SIBA’s national brewing conference, “Triple Chocoholic” from the Saltaire Brewery; and why the fraternization among competing breweries would earn someone the sack in other industries.
He’s also looking forward to next year’s conference.
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.
Write an Article, Win a Trip!
Pete Brown, the British beer writer, has enjoyed extraordinary success. His book Three Sheets to the Wind won the Guild of Beer Writers Budweiser Budvar Travel Bursary in 2006. The prize? A trip to the brewery in Ceske Budejovice.
As luck may have it, that was his second trip. Three Sheets was inspired by an earlier visit to that same brewery. At the time, it was Pete’s first foreign beer trip.
The story gets better. Last year, Pete’s new book Hops and Glory won him–you guessed it–yet another trip to Ceske Budejovice.
Pete loves the brewery, but decided that another up-and-coming beer writer might better appreciate the trip. So, in conjunction with Budvar UK and The Publican, he’s launched a writing mini-competition. It’s open to anyone who’s passionate about beer, wants to write about it, and–listen up, this is important–has not yet had anything published in print media. Yes, bloggers are welcome to compete.
Maryanne and Paul have written the “Beer Traveler” column at All About Beer for more than six years and therefore are ineligible. Ludwig, however, is another story. Paul swears he heard him riffling through old beer notes and trying to open the laptop last night.
The Friday Mash
A few stories that caught our eye this past week:
Mike Sevel is trying to talk the city fathers of New Braunfels, Texas, into building a giant German beer stein along Interstate 35 to say “welcome” or “willkommen” to visitors and passers-by. Why not? The town has a long-standing German heritage and draws thousands to its annual Wurstfest.
Joshua Bernstein, blogging at Slashfood.com, reviews the year in beer. There’s good news despite a sick economy: craft brewing grew 5 percent by volume and 9 percent by dollars, even as overall beer sales fell by 1.3 percent. The new trends of 2009? Sour, extra-potent, and session beers.
Pete Brown is out with the first of two 2009 beer-year-in-review blog entries. Britain, where he lives, is also experiencing a craft-beer revival, with Real Ale grabbing a bigger share of the beer market. Update: Pete just posted the second part of his year in review.
With the gift-giving season upon us, Stan Hieronymus offers us a few good beer ideas. One of them is called 33 Bottles of Beer, which helps you visualize what you’re tasting.
Finally, Jay, who blogs at Hedonist Beer Jive, reports on last Saturday’s Pacific Coast Brewing “Tasting of Holiday Beers”. If his top 15 list is any indication, the festival attracted an outstanding lineup of beers.
The Best Beer Book of 2009?
Joe Stange, The Thirsty Pilgrim, has narrowed his Christmas wish list to one title: Hops and Glory, by Pete Brown. Pete escorts a barrel of IPA from Burton, England, to India. By the way, Joe Stange and Yvan De Baets are the authors of Around Brussels in 80 Beers. Joe says:
Between dramatic episodes he delivers the deepest and best-written history of India Pale Ale you are ever likely to find. It’s a seriously fun read for anyone interested in beer, boats or bribes.
Paul, who loves IPA, is already on the prowl for a copy of this one.