If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Good evening, all - just wanted to share some fun beer-y things from around the web on this warm summer evening:

First, a story from Primer Magazine entitled “The Beers I’m Drinking This Summer — And Why“, which goes beyond the American Light Lager to encourage folks to drink Blondes — like Pyramid Curveball Blonde (WA), Red Hook Blonde (NH/WA), and Bridgeport Big Beautiful Blonde (OR); Hefeweizens — like Widmer Bros. Hefeweizen (OR), Franziskaner Hefe-Weisse (Germany), Paulaner Hefe-Weizen (Germany) and Pyramid Apricot Weizen (WA); Pale Ales (”that doesn’t come in a red Solo Cup”) and IPAs — like Sierra Nevada Pale (CA), Deschutes Mirror Pond (OR), St. Peter’s English Ale (England.) British(-style) IPAs: Twisted Thistle IPA (Scotland), St. Peter’s IPA (England), Bridgeport IPA (bottle-conditioned) (OR). Hoppy IPA: Lagunitas IPA (CA), Pelican IPA (OR); and lagers/pilsners — like Allgauer Buble (Germany), Victory Prima Pils (PA), Heineken (the Netherlands), Pabst Blue Ribbon (WI), Hood River Session Lager (OR).

While I’m sure it’s repeat information for most of you, it certainly may be new to some. And either way, it’s a fun read; check it out.

Secondly, I stumbled across this great blog on Artisan Cheeses (because the only things that come close to my love for beer are my loves for artisan cheese and chocolate), which has a recent post on pairing craft beer and cheese! In the video you can Learn about beer and cheese pairings with Sargento Chef Guy Beardsmore as he visits Lakefront Brewery. Sound intreguing? It is. Click here to watch the video.

And last but not least, I got an email a few days ago announcing the launching of Mutineer Magazine, a new beverage magazine out of Los Angeles.  Mutineer Magazine is aimed at educating our readers about crafts beers and fine ales (the website also features a frequently-updated blog, a bookstore & an active forum). A .pdf copy of our launch issue can be accessed through this link: http://www.mutineermagazine.com/docs/MagazineIssue1.pdf.

Happy reading. Cheers.

Popularity: 2% [?]

As I mentioned in my previous post, I spent the first few days of this week at Affiliate Summit East in Boston. Monday was the longest and most grueling day of the conference and when it was over my co-worker Nate and I were in desperate need of a beer. While we’re both relatively familiar with Boston, neither of us knew the neighborhood we were in — the area around the World Trade Center in Southie — that well. So we decided to just hit the bricks in the direction of China Town and see what would happen.

We were almost ready to give up and just settle for the next bar we found when we happened to walk past the downtown location of Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewing Co. I now understand that Rock Bottom is a nation-wide chain of brewpubs (in fact, the largest brewpubs by volume in the country) but I didn’t know this at the time.

So we stopped in and had a pint (mine was a very tasty, light and citrusy Belgian-style ale). It really was the best way to end a very long, tiring day in a relitively unfamilar city and I considered myself very lucky to have stumbled across Rock Bottom when I did. Have you had a similar occurrence with good beer just being in the right place at the right time? Discuss.

Popularity: 7% [?]

It’s been a crazy couple of days - I just got back from three days at Affilite Summit East at the Seaport Hotel in wonderful Boston, Massachusetts. It was an exhausting, whirlwind trip but I met a lot of good people and learned a lot of great things. I’ll definitely be returning for Affiliate Summit 2009!

But, with everything going on over the last few days (and getting ready to start a new job tomorrow!), I’ve fallen well behind on my beer news. But I did want to share a few tidbits of news I’ve picked up. First, the fundraiser — which I’ve discussed before — Rock the Mike: The Freeman Brainefit, for Flying Dog Brewing’s brewery manager, Mike Freeman is on Saturday, August 23^rd at the old Flying Dog warehouse (24^th and Blake) from 7-2am. There are going to be several bands, free beer from Breckenridge, Great Divide and Flying Dog, free food and a raffle with a $20 cost at the door.  All of the proceeds from this event are going to Mike and his fiancée Jennifer. As you may remember, Mike was diagnosed recently with glioblastoma multiforme or GBM, an aggressive form of brain cancer. For more on Mike’s case, visit mikesupport.com.

Secondly, back in May I wrote about the launching of Cigar City Brewing Co. by Tampa King Pin Joe Redner and his son Joey. Well now, about 3 months shy of opening, Joey and his father have started a blog and have documented a lot of the major steps along the way “which we think would be of interest to both craft beer fans and brewers”, according to Joey. To check out the blog — which includes both general beer and Cigar City-specific news — visit blog.cigarcitybeer.com.

And lastly, congratulations are in order for Lost Abbey Brewery in San Marcos, California. Their beer “The Angel’s Share” was named the winner of the 2008 Champion American Cask-Conditioned Beer Award at the recently concluded 2008 Great British Beer Festival by CAMRA (The Campaign for Real Ale). According to BeerAdvocate,

The winner was selected by CAMRA beer experts, brewers and international beer judges from forty six beers, specially imported for the Great British Beer Festival. The Festival provides a unique opportunity to try beers from around the World alongside 450 British real ales. The international ‘Bieres Sans Frontieres’ Bar includes rare lambics, wheat beers, Trappist ales, honey, fruit and spice beers as well as a giant wooden barrel of Imperial Porter from the De Molen brewery in the Netherlands.

Second place went to Mayflower Brewings’ Porter from Massachusetts and third to Cambridge Houses’ IPA from Connecticut.

Popularity: 11% [?]

Very big & exciting news for fans of Portsmouth’s own Smuttynose Brewing Co.: A new brewery has been a discussion for Smuttynose for quite awhile (I first wrote about it back in December of ‘07) as they’ve long since outgrown their relatively small Establishment on the outskirts of Portsmouth. Well, according to SeacoastOnline.com, the brewery and its owner, Peter Egelston, gained approval from all the right Planning Boards last night to move its brewery to Hampton, NH. From SeacoastOnline,

Smuttynose Brewery is moving to Hampton. The Planning Board on Wednesday night approved Smuttynose president Peter Egelston’s plans to build a bigger and better brewery in Hampton.

Smuttynose is currently located at 225 Heritage Ave. in Portsmouth in a 25,000-square-foot facility. The lot soon to be the new home of the brewery is a 14-acre property owned by Gregory and Jennifer Sancoff at 105 Towle Farm Road in Hampton.

The new brewing facility will be 42,000 square feet. On the same property, Smuttynose will convert a barn into a restaurant.

And Peter seems to be true to his word. As he told me in December, he would like the new brewery to be as “green” as possible. And sure enough, according to the article, he’s:

planning for the new brewery to meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification qualification. Some “green” technology that Egelston is considering includes the use of rainwater in plumbing and a co-generation power source, which is the use of a heat engine or a power station to simultaneously generate both electricity and heat.

No word yet on when the new brewery and restaurant will be open or if there will be any sort of grand opening celebration (but you can bet, if there is, I sure as shootin’ will be there) but I’ll keep you posted when I hear of anything. In the meantime, congrats Pete & crew; a bigger brewery can only mean more Smuttynose and that’s alright with me!

source: Smuttynose gains approval in Hampton for brewery, restaurant [SeacoastOnline.com]

Popularity: 15% [?]

If you don’t know by now, I have a particular interest in entrepreneurship and start-up companies. So I tend to keep a weathered eye on business and entrepreneurial blogs and things of that nature, and when that interest and my interest in beer converge, it’s especially fun. And that’s just what happened today. I found a story on the Business Opportunities Weblog Network about a pair of college seniors — Valjean Boynton and Campbell King — in Australia who have started a business, Kegs on Legs, which “specializes in party keg hire and delivery to a thirsty Melbourne market.” According to Business Opportunities,

“We have a passion for business and also a passion for beer, so the two things together are pretty handy,” King, 22, says.

But the neat part is that the two aren’t in it for throwing frat house keggers, as it might first appear. They’re actually dedicated homebrewers and apparently have been for years. The business idea hit Boynton and King during their first year of college and is built on the premise that it would be easier to get Kegs on Legs to provide an entire service - kegs, beer, chilling equipment, cups and, best of all, free delivery and after-party pick-up. Reportedly business is doing well and Kegs on Legs is expanding its service provision,

Apart from the beer itself, the business now also hires out professional bar staff, and a security guard service is available at parties to ensure a safe environment. The goal at all times is to promote celebration.

Sounds like a great idea; good luck guys!

[Photo by Les O’Rourke]

Popularity: 17% [?]

Hey all - my computer is currently without a hard drive for the next few days so, since I’m borrowing someone else’s, this will have to be kept short & sweet. I just wanted to make sure all you local readers knew about some important upcoming beer events here in Portland. They’re both at Novare Res (big surprise) and both on August weekends.

The first is entitled Roguepalooza and is taking place all day Friday August 15th & Saturday August 16th. Roguepalooza will feature the most Rogue beers on tap at one time outside of Oregon ever! Plus lots of “Give-aways, rare kegs, and liver transplants”.

The second event, Deutsches Bierfest, will be Sunday, August 24th, all day (and night). It promises to be Maine’s largest collection of German draught beer, ever. Featuring 23 authentic German biers on tap, including: weisse, weissebock, eisbock, doppelbock, rauch, pils, helles, keller, swarz, dunkel, kolsch, alt, and more; all served in the proper glassware.

I will certainly be at both events and expect you to be, too! If you’re going, leave a comment here and let me know to keep an eye out for you. Each event promises to be one of the biggest beer extravaganzas of the summer!

Popularity: 18% [?]

Good news for Better Beer fans in the other Portland. The nation’s largest outdoor craft beer festival — the Oregon Brewers Festival –witnessed record attendance with 70,000 people, a 15 percent increase over last year’s all time high. Beer sales followed suit, also showing a 15 percent increase. The four-day event concluded on July 27th at Tom McCall Waterfront Park.

“We weren’t sure what to expect for attendance and sales given the economic situation, but we were prepared to take a hit,” explained festival director and founder Art Larrance. “Instead, rising gas prices seemed to have helped us. People are staying home this summer, and many chose to partake of our city’s mass transit and explore festivals taking place in their own backyard.”

The event kicked off on July 24th with a one-mile parade by brewers and beer lovers on the city’s sidewalks, led by Portland Mayor Tom Potter and accompanied by a small marching band. Upon arrival at the venue, Mayor Potter swung a wooden mallet to drive the brass tap into the official first keg of the festival, presented by Widmer Brothers Brewing Co.

The OBF served 73 different craft beers from 18 states across the country. The top selling product for the third year running was Cascade Brewing’s Razberry Wheat out of Southwest Portland. Another light, refreshing fruit beer to sell out early was Hell or High Watermelon by San Francisco’s 21st Amendment Brewery. Portland’s Widmer Brothers Brewing sold a large quantity of its Full Nelson, an Imperial IPA brewed specifically for the OBF.

Reportedly, Beer lovers came from every state in the nation, and many countries around the world, to join in the celebration. The festival generated an economic impact of more than $1.5 million for the state.

Minors and designated drivers received access to the Crater Lake Rootbeer Garden, which served up complimentary cups of handcrafted root beer. Staff from the Wallowa Valley Together Project provided education on the potential dangers, risks, and unhealthy community norms associated with underage drinking; they were joined by high-school students of Teens Against Drugs & Alcohol, who promoted their “None before 21” campaign.

The Oregon Brewers Festival was founded in 1988 as an opportunity to expose the public to microbrews at a time when the craft brewing industry was just getting off the ground. Today, that industry has succeeded, especially in Oregon, where 60 brewing companies operate 90 brewing facilities. There are 30 breweries operating within the Portland city limits, more than any other city in the world; the Portland metro area boasts 38 breweries, more than any other metro area in the world. In fact, the Portland metro area is the largest craft brewing market in the United States, even though Portland ranks 23rd in population for metro areas in the nation.

The Oregon Brewers Festival always takes place the last full weekend in July. The 2009 dates are July 23rd through 26th. For more information, visit www.oregonbrewfest.com.

Popularity: 20% [?]

Talk about having a beer in unique places! It appears that a bar literally inside the trunk of an enormous and ancient (estimated to be 7,000 years old; older than the Pyramids of Egypt) Baobab tree has tourists flocking from far and wide just to drink a cold beer in the amazing pub (which is complete with a dart board, telephone, electrical lighting and a bell to signify last call). The bar has been fashioned inside a massive 72 foot high tree (with a circumference of 155 ft) in a garden in Limpopo, South Africa.

According to the Canadian blog Life in the Fast Lane,

The trunk is hollow, but its walls are still up to 6.5 feet thick [and] the tree has its own cellar, with natural ventilation to keep the beer cold.

More than 7,000 visitors come from all over the world to see the enormous Baobab tree every year and have a drink in its pub, which has 13 foot high ceilings and comfortably seats up to 15 people.

But don’t worry, the tree surprisingly wasn’t actually harmed in the creation of the pub. According to Heather van Heerden, the owner of Sunland Farm where the tree and pub are located, when Baobab trees are more than 1,000 years old, they hollow naturally.

source: Life in the Fast Lane (click for more and larger photos of the pub)

Popularity: 24% [?]

This September I’ll be launching the mother of all beer blog contests (or so I hope). Why? Because contests are fun, silly.

Anyway, I don’t want to let the cat too far out of the bag yet – especially because I haven’t yet hashed out all of the dirty, hairy details – but expect the requirements for entry to be a mixture of new/social media requirements (i.e. you can earn entries by subscribing to the RSS feed, “stumbling” posts, commenting on posts, etc. etc.) and something beer related, needless to say.

But the point of this post, besides to get you excited, is really aimed at anyone reading this blog who has something they’d be willing to donate as a prize. I know that the good folks at MarketLeverage will be throwing some really fantastic prizes my way, and I’ll be donating some schwag from the blogaboutbeer.com store (among other things) too. But I’d love a few more items to throw into the pot; really I’d accept anything of even moderate value, but it’d be awesome if it was beer-related (hats, t-shirts, signs, gift cards, you name it). If you’d be interested in donating something, shoot me an email at contest@blogaboutbeer.com and let me know so we can discuss the logistics further.

Meanwhile, everyone else – keep your eyes locked on blogaboutbeer.com as we draw closer to September and the launch of the Mother of All Beer Blog Contests. Cheers.

Popularity: 24% [?]

My dad emailed me the link to a video on CNN.com today detailing a running club from Tuscon, Arizona who have planned a “30 Pack Marathon” in which every runner must “run a lap, drink a beer; run a lap, drink a beer…”

Despite what you may think, the group is actually comprised of serious athletes who simply are looking for a fun, different way to try in the dead of the Arizona summer. Each runner is timed for overall performance, as well as per lap and per beer.

Although there is plenty of water on site to keep hydrated, in 85+ degree heat, there was also a fair share of throwing up.

For more on the so-called drinking club with a running problem, check out the cnn.com video. Cheers.

Popularity: 27% [?]