Honk Honk! Goose Island no longer brewed in Chicago

It looks like AB-InBev is rolling out GI to taps nation-wide; as such it will be brewed in NY and CO.

http://discussions.probrewer.com/showthread.php?29385-Goose-Flies-National

Flying Dog: A Fantastic Idea!

You have to check this out- aspiring and current homebrewers, The crew at Flying Dog has come out with stove top kits- perfect for your 5 gallon rig.

Click the pic for more info.







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Get out there - Small Business Saturday

Get out there and support your local businesses, and what better than to stop off and support your local brewery!

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Using corn cheapens the product? Think again!

I just read this great little article on beer history in America, over at SeriousEats.com.

The article contends that, due to the beer shortage on the Mayflower, the Plymouth settlers had to adapt their brewing recipes to use indigenous ingredients, which (most certainly) corn was one of.

Just be certain that, before you go snubbing your nose at a beer because corn was used as an adjunct, you give every beer a fair shake, as the use of corn is very much a part of American history.

It's OktoBEARfest!

Hey, it's late notification but, of you hustle on down to the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, you can go to OktoBEARfest, today, 12-4.

And then you can stomp around the city for Baltimore Beer Week.

Fiery Foods & Firkins Festival!

It looks like the scalawags at Heavy Seas have decided to host an event that'll make anyone want to walk the plank!

Combing three of mankind's most perfect culinary creations - chili, cheese and beer - they have assembled the Fiery Foods & Firkins Festival!

Here's what you're looking at so far:
10+ TYPES OF CHILI
10+ TYPES OF INTERNATIONAL CHEESES
6+ FIRKINS
SPICY FOODS
HOT SAUCES

The event will take place at the brewery on Saturday, November 10. All the details are on their site, linked above.

See you there!

(image property of hsbeer.com)

What are you doing September 29h and 30h?

All I can say is wow! Carroll and Frederick Counties have stacked the deck for the last weekend in September.

Since we will be right in the prime of Oktoberfest that weekend, there are four, yes, count them, four beer festivals between Frederick city and Westminster.

First on Saturday, 29 September, there is the 7th Maryland Microbrewery Festival at the Union Mills Homestead. We attended the first three, bailed out for the next two, and tried to go back last year - but it was rained out. It's a good time filled with live music and entertainment, but has grown by leaps and bounds every year. (Experience and reporting from friends have led us to this info.)

• Time: 11 A - 7 P
• Price: [In Advance] $18 for adults, $5 for non-drinkers, children 12 & under are free.
• Price: [At the Door] $20 for adults, $5 for non-drinkers, children 12 & under are free.
• Food: Hot dogs, pit beef/turkey/pork, crab cakes, cheese steaks, gyros, popcorn, etc.
• Beer: [6 sampling tokens with your ticket, more available after the fact]
  • Heavy Seas Brewing Company - Baltimore, MD
  • Pub DOG Beverage Company - Westminster, MD
  • DuClaw Brewing Company - Abington, MD
  • Ellicott Mills Brewing Company - Ellicott City, MD
  • Flying Dog Brewery - Frederick, MD
  • Johanssons Brewing Company - Westminster, MD
  • Olivers Ales - Baltimore, MD

Also on Saturday, if there are too many people at the Microbrewery Festival, you can swing by the Carroll County Craft Beer Festival at the Shipley Arena.

• Time: 12 P - 6 P
• Price: [In Advance] $50 for adults, $40 for non-drinkers
• Price: [At the Door] $60 for adults, $40 for non-drinkers
• Food: Catered by Salerno's of Westminster.
• Beer: [unlimited 2 - 3 oz pours]
  • Boston Beer Company - Boston, MA. (There looks to be a huge compliment of Sam Adams beers.)
  • DuClaw
  • Stoudts Brewing Company - Adamstown, PA
  • Harpoon Brewing Company - Boston, MA
  • New Belgium Brewery - Fort Collins, CO
  • Flying Dog Brewery
  • Tommyknocker Brewery - Idaho Springs, CO
  • Yards Brewing Company - Philadelphia, PA
  • Spoetzl Brewery - Shiner, TX
  • Baltimore-Washington Brewery - Baltimore, MD
  • Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company - Chippewa Falls, WI
  • Angry Orchard Cider Company - Cincinnati, OH
  • Blue Moon Brewing Co. - Golden, CO
  • The Brewers Art - Baltimore, MD
  • Dogfish Head Craft Brewery Inc. - Lewes, DE
  • Evolution Craft Brewing Co. - Salisbury, MD
  • Lancaster Brewing Company - Lancaster, PA
  • Magic Hat Brewing Company - South Burlington, VT
  • Sierra Nevada Brewing Company - Chico, CA

It's a massive brewery list, but I don't know if the selection make the $50/$60 ticket worth it. Also, charging $40 for a designated driver's ticket is highway robbery. I though the $20ish that I laid down for the Harvest Beer Festival for a DD ticket was expensive, but $40, no way.

I honestly think that, although they expect a mass of people (1,000+), the price is going to turn them away.

The last event on Saturday is the Frederick Oktoberfest! The good news is, if you want to attend one of the other events (above), the Frederick Oktoberfest spills into Sunday.

• Time: [Saturday] 11 A - 10 P, [Sunday] 11 A - 6 P
• Price: $5 general admission for everyone including children 2 and older, $20 for a bag of tokens (1 token = 1 dollar) - note you can only get beer samples and food using tokens. [Admission is free if you wear your Dirndl or Lederhosen]
• Food: Bratwurst, sauerbraten, pretzels, strudel, and so on.
• Beer:
  • Brewer's Alley - Frederick, MD
  • Flying Dog
  • Miller Brewing Company - Milwaukee, WI [Miller Lite]
  • Hacker-Pschorr - Munich, Germany
  • Scottish & Newcastle - Tadcaster, North Yorkshire, England [Newcastle Brown]
  • Pabst Brewing Co. - Eden, NC [National Bohemian]

Then, if you are visiting and stay through the night, on Sunday, 30 September, you can swing by the Rotary Oktoberfest of Carroll County. This festival is brought to you by the four Rotary Clubs of Carroll County. The pertinent details follow:

• Time: 10 A - 6 P
• Price: $5 general admission; designated drivers and children 10 & under, free. (If you show up in an Oktoberfest related costume (lederhosen, suspenders, etc.) you get in for free!)
• Food: Catered by Old World Catering. There'll be bratwurst, knockwurst, sauerbraten, sauerkraut and a bunch of other German foods.
• Beer: All brewed by Pub Dog. Hoppy Dog, Blond Dog, White Dog and Carroll Barrel Brau (a special beer for the event).

So, where are you going to be? It definitely has the making of an expensive weekend. I don't know where we will end up, but if you are around the area, I'm sure chances are high we'll run into each other! Prost!

Raise your Mas!

It's Oktoberfest! Today marks the opening of the annual pilgrimage to Munich for the greatest beer festival in the world.


Ein Prosit, ein Prosit
Der Gemütlichkeit
Ein Prosit, ein Prosit
Der Gemütlichkeit

Prost! Prost!
Prost!

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Congrats to Clipper City!

Fox News has declared Heavy Seas' Martzen one of the 10 Best Oktoberfest Beers, pulling even with the German classics: Ayinger, Paulaner, Hacker-Pschorr and Weihenstephaner.

Congratulations, Hugh, you've genuinely earned it!

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A Great Day For A Beer Festival

Today, my folks and I went to the first Maryland Harvest Beer Festival, held at Homestead Gardens. The weather was absolutely stunning, and the setup was tight but manageable.



Above is beer tent #1, where the throng lived; it also housed the most beer. Within was Bold Rock Cidery, Fordham Brewing, Old Dominion, New Belgium, Widmer Bros., Red Hook, Goose Island, Starr Hill, Kona Brewing and one more...darn if I can't remember.



This was the scene outside of the main tent. There was a small area for some live music (courtesy of The Colliders), a WRNR tent, the obligatory food stuff, and a smaller beer tent with more "macro craft".

By "macro" I mean Shock Top, Hoegaarden, Becks, Bass and Boddington's. By "craft", there was Omission (from the Widmer Brothers), a gluten free beer made _with_ barley. You'll have to grill them to determine how.

All in all, I'd say the Marionberry Hibiscus Gose, Oak Barrel Stout (first time having it on tap, and the Boxcar Pumpkin Porter were my favorites, in that order. Boxcar was so tasty I had to have a glass of it.

For next year, what would be nice for the organizers to allow you to print off paper tickets (tix handled via mobile phone this round), provide free water for designated drivers and better signage for glassware rinsing stations.

At the end of the day, the whole thing was very fun and I look forward to the next time!

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It was a bittersweet evening

One of my favorite liquor stores is under new ownership, and it feels like they aren't in it for a love & respect of the goods they're selling. I was glad to see the old employees were retained though- they are very nice, but not so well versed in the wares.

I also helped educate one of said employees, by teaching him what the four digit code on a bottle of beer meant.

Most of the time that code is the bottled on date. The first three numbers represent the day of the year the beer met the glass, the fourth digit is the last digit of the year. So, the example I showed him of 1921 on a bottle of Long Trail Coffee Stout (22 oz.) equates to day 192, year 2011. (At 8% it might be okay, but it's been sitting on a not so cool shelf in the back, so all bets are off.)

Then I handed him a six-pack of Beerlao Dark Lager, and told him to yell at their distributor. I was too eager to pounce when he asked why. I told him, "you see, not all bottling dates are encoded, and this one is in plain English. See, stamped on the front label it says 'MFG DATE Sep.26.08'." Four years old, lowish ABV, covered in a thick layer of dust, sitting on a hot shelf. It's as much the owners fault (past & present) as it is the distributor, but the distro people should be checking this stuff every time they come in there, and the owners should be checking the inventory sheets regularly. Oh well.




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A clever little mix

I know the picture stinks, but you'll survive.

It's called a Black and Sam: Guinness floated over Samuel Adams Boston Lager, and it's pretty wonderful. The Stout is silky and is chased nicely by the caramel sweetness of the Sam Adams.

I'd tell you which restaurant served this concoction, but I think their food and atmosphere is rather lacking. Try to make this at home with a B&T turtle, you may have a new favorite mix.

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Wide selection

If you're in central MD and haven't stopped in to Total Wine (née Corridor Wine & Spirits) lately, you should. I popped in last night and was stunned by the widening of their imported and craft beer selections. They even have a printed guide to styles and regions.

There are two drawbacks, though: Their prices are a touch high on some things but on par with the region, and the lions share of the beer is out under fluorescent lamps. Buyer beware.

It's nice to see their focus on an expanded beer selection, now to emphasize taking care of that product.

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Is it El Budweiser or La Budweiser?

AB-InBev just snatched up Modelo, the company that brews Corona and a host of others, for the low, low price of $20 billion.

Again, is it el Budweiser or la Budweiser?

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It's a douche bag move

Short & sweet.

I don't have much to say other than shame on MillerCoors for the punch top can, for a "smoother" flow. All that encourages is binge drinking of your product and you know it. How you got that past the BAFTE is beyond me.

Second, there is now a beer called Pong, from Latrobe, PA. I am equally disgusted as I'm sure the stuff tastes like brake fluid.

If you're going to play beer pong, use something with some flavor. I wouldn't use that stuff to wash my balls.

#rant #qualitynotquantity


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It's Session Beer Day!

Raise a pint! Hell, raise two or three!

Happy Session Beer Day!

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How do I say, most dangerous of 2012?

So, I've been neglecting the beer I bought for the Xmas holiday. And this is it's vengeance...

This beer is 9/10, without doubt. It's super grainy, very hot on the tongue and a rocky aromatic head. It sneaks up like a damn ninja!

It's supremely dark for a Helles, but this beer is royalty! And, after the hot flavor washes over you, you are met with a well built and well hopped lager, that truly welcomes you to indulge.

I can't say anymore: if you can find it, chill or and drink it moderately.

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Craft brewing is kicking ass!

Hey! Keep on fighting the good fight! Support your local brewery and drink full flavor beers!

Image courtesy of CraftBeer.com
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2 for the day

Ah, talk about a rare style: Gose, brewed in the city of Gosar, next to the river Gose. Oh Germany, you fickle animal.

This is one of the stranger styles of beer, brewed with coriander and salt. Yes, salt. The underlying beer is surprisingly tart and would make for an excellent and refreshing summer beer.

I don't think this is a beer for everyone. All the same, I have to give it at least 7/10. I'm sure that this, when fresh, is absolutely jaw dropping. But, considering I only know of this one example of the style, that's as high as I can rate it comfortably.

The Beer, Bourbon & BBQ festival was today, but sadly we couldn't go due to household chores that had to get knocked out. That said, I can always enjoy an ale from one of the breweries that was there.

Weighing in at a moderate 5.6%, DuClaw's Anti-Venom is really well-built. This beer is their APA, hopped with New Zealand Geen Bullet.

The label states it is laced with exotic flavors, which I don't taste. What I do get is a wonderful grassy/straw flavor that is brought to the palate on Cascade-grapefruit wings.

The malt is in the background hints at caramel sweetness and unsalted crackers, but the hops absolutely dominate this beer. The bitterness is not so overwhelming as you drink, but crushes you on the aftertaste. I'm happy with this beer; but it would be interesting to see it entered as a straight APA in competition, what would it score?

Me? Torn between 7 and 8. It's too well made to be less.

Maryland Craft Beer Festival

Remember the Maryland Brewers Springfest? Well, that sweet sign of spring has been renamed the Maryland Craft Beer Festival, Put on by the Brewers Association of Maryland!

Here is the official poster. Print them by the gross and pepper your neighborhood!