Friday Night Beer Blog: End of Year 2022 Edition

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday December 30, 2022 · 6:45 PM PST

2022/12/30 · 18:45

Note the cognitive dissonance between the glass and the beer :) .

Greetings, beer lovers! Happy last Friday of 2022, and once more, for the final time this year, 'tis chingchongchinaman as your semi-friendly guest FNBB host, with esquimaux taking a well-earned break from blogging duties. Since this is the end of the year (well, duh), it's that time of year for newspapers, magazines, etc. to compile "Top 10", "Best of" or "Year in review of (fill in your topic of interest here)" lists on subjects like new restaurants, highlights in sports, or even best new wines or beers (!) for the year. Somewhat (well, OK, barely) related to this idea, self the loser did find a very high-level, "year in review"-ish "industry" video off YT, from the Brewers Association.

YouTube Video

BTW, pointless sidebar [among many from 3CM]: this bit from the video sounded curious.

"...in general, distributed sales are slow, with distribution increasingly competitive and challenging. That competition is extended to government affairs, with certain liquor products seeking changes to longstanding tax and regulatory structures. The BA has joined a coalition against these changes, which would put further pressure on craft shelf space."

I didn't know what this meant, until going to teh interwebz and doing what seemed like a reasonable search with this string of terms:

lobbying craft beer shipping distribution 2022 tax structure

One particular hit came up from the Brewing Industry Guide page, with this passage:

“Opposition to Spirits-Based RTD Tax Equivalency

Distilled spirits are generally taxed at a higher rate than beer at the federal and local levels, even when it comes to products of equal alcohol content. Thus, the spirits industry is pushing for what it calls “tax equivalency”—arguing, for example, that the excise taxes should be the same for a 5 percent ABV hard seltzer produced by a brewery and a 5 percent ABV spirit-based canned cocktail produced by a distillery. The BA is united with other beer trade groups, such as the Beer Institute and the National Beer Wholesalers Association, in opposing this tax equivalency at all levels.”

This could make for a separate FNBB in of itself, except that the brain power required to parse this situation to a reasonable degree would probably drain my brain cells unduly. So anyway…

Returning from the digression: since 3CM is King Loser Supreme on DK, he has no such list of his own about "top 10 (or whatever #) beers tried in 2022" to offer for this edition, for very privileged First World reasons possibly to be mentioned later. Instead, this is more for random musing in how I choose, or don't choose, beers to try out. Certainly compared to all the regulars here, I learned about craft beer quite late in the game. In that context, I'm fairly open-minded enough to try almost anything once. Or in more practical terms, if I feel like buying beer, either at a restaurant or a store, on a whim (which is most of the time), my first thought is to ask "what haven't I tried yet here?". So, for example, on a recent get-together at this STL establishment (don't freak out at the name - said family does have a relatively non-wingnut side to it, and the brewing establishment is one manifestation of said side), I tried these flavors that I hadn't had before:

* Coconut Coffee Stout

* Fruited Sour Oak

Normally, I'm not a sours or a stouts kind of fellow, but again, I'll try almost any beer once. They were both good, in their way, although I would rank the Fruited Sour Oak a bit higher. Having food with each helped, of course, as I'm enough of a rationalist imbiber to know not to get tanked on an empty stomach (at least most of the time).

So tonight's featured beer isn't quite the one I had in mind, which is back at the ranch (and which I do plan to feature in a future FNBB, should I do another guest-blog down the line), but instead, as you can all see from the above picture, a “Business Casual” from Well Crafted Beer Company. This was a holiday gift from my brother, who admitted after I got teh beerz that he wasn’t sure what I liked. In the event, this was a good choice, as I could also share it with my dad, who is not into craft beer in the slightest at all. “Business Casual” is a pilsner, and has a slight tinge of bitterness that goes with authentic pilsner, vs. the more mellowed out American variety (at least from what I understand).

FWIW, and getting to the First World mention earlier: if things go to improvised plan, self the loser is on the road at the time of this diary’s posting, as opposed to back home a few days back. (No prizes for guessing why.) If the interwebz gods are not totally displeased with me, I might be able to follow up in semi-real time, depending on internet access in transit. But if that doesn’t work out, then I’ll follow up with very belated comments. So it goes.

With that, time to turn it over one last time for 2022 to you folks. What are you sipping tonight? Anyone brewing their own? Any outstanding beers for your personal “Top 10” list for 2022, or recommendations for other folks? Happy New Year early, and best (Democratic) wishes for 2023, as we're all going to need them (on our side, of course)....

Friday Night Beer Blog: Beethoven Edition

chingchongchinaman

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday December 16, 2022 · 6:45 PM PST

2022/12/16 · 18:45

no image description available — Not from Bonn, but at least it's German :)

Greetings, beer lovers! Happy (more or less) Friday, and after a long hiatus (not that anyone noticed), ‘tis chingchongchinaman as your semi-friendly neighborhood guest FNBB blogger for this evening, with esquimaux taking a well-earned night off. Since today is the 252^nd birthday of Ludwig van Beethoven, self the loser wondered if a beer existed somewhere with Beethoven’s name attached to it. A search of teh interwebz revealed one such brand. Fittingly, the brewery in question is based in Bonn, Germany, the birthplace of Beethoven, the one city that would be allowed to get away with putting Beethoven’s face to a beer, IMHO ;) . The brewery is out of the Ennert Bräu Restaurant, specifically the establishment’s in-house brewery. Their page dedicated to “Beethoven & Ennert Bräu” translates as follows (since this is a translation, 3CM the loser thinks that fair use of extended text isn’t a worry):

“Beethoven & Ennert Bräu

Our very special beer

Pure beer craftsmanship - craft beer from Bonn Pützchen

Basically, all our beers are craft beers from Bonn. The term ‘Craft Beer’ comes from English and means ‘made by hand’. Since the opening of our brewery, our master brewer has been creating diverse and imaginative new, special beers that had never existed in the Rhineland before, such as the Bonner Pilsener, the Bonner Winterbock or the Bonner Lokalpatrioten. Since we are ‘craft’, this hand-brewed beer is only produced in small batches. You can find beers that are currently available in our news.”

Some Beethoven-emblazoned images of Ennert Bräu brews are displayed. BTW, the phrase “Eine Symphonie des Geschmacks” translates as “A Symphony of Taste” (if one trusts Google Translator). And to honor the great “Ludwig van”, some selections of Beethoven works that date from 1822, for their 200^th anniversary:

(a) Overture The Consecration of the House (Die Weihe des Hauses), op. 124

YouTube Video

(b) Piano Sonata No. 32, op. 111 (if anyone watches it through, spot the moment where Beethoven seems to anticipate jazz & boogie-woogie by just about 100 years):

YouTube Video

Since I’ve never been to Bonn, obviously self the loser has never sampled Ennert Bräu beer. Instead, on display tonight, as you see from the above picture, is from Grevensteiner, which is based in North Rhine-Westphalia, if I have my German state geography semi-correct. Specifically, it’s the Grevensteiner Original, and it’s really good, an unfiltered lager that hits the sweet spot midway between a very light and a rather darker beer. This was a whimsy purchase, and one of self the loser’s better such buys. (Others that may have turned otherwise might turn up in future FNBBs, but we shall see.)

With that, time to turn it over to you folks? What are you imbibing tonight? Anyone brewing their own? Inquiring minds, etc..

Friday Night Beer Blog: Brew for Ukraine - STL Style Edition

chingchongchinaman

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday July 22, 2022 · 6:45 PM PDT

2022/07/22 · 18:45

So, if you want to read the labels really closely :) ....

Greetings, beer lovers! Happy (…) Friday, and once (or not) again, ‘tis chingchongchinaman as your semi-friendly guest FNBB blogger, giving esquimaux another well-earned breather from blogging duties tonight. This FNBB is a follow-up to self the loser’s March FNBB on the Brew for Ukraine movement, where, just to recap:

* The Pravda Brewery in Lviv, Ukraine opened up its recipes to the world, for other breweries to brew their own versions of Pravda Brewery’s beers.

* Each such brewery is asked to donate the proceeds from sales of these Pravda Brewery-inspired beers to charities related to Ukraine relief.

A quick look at the map at the Brew for Ukraine page indicates that 7 breweries in the St. Louis, MO region have produced new Pravda Brewery-inspired craft beers. The honor roll is as follows, with the breweries listed in alphabetical order:

* Ferguson Brewing Company (Ferguson, MO)

* Heavy Riff Brewing (STL, MO)

* Modern Brewery (STL, MO)

* Perennial Artisan Ales (STL, MO)

* Schlafly Beer (STL, MO)

* 2nd Shift Brewing (STL, MO)

* Third Wheel Brewing (St. Peters, MO)

Curiously, one local craft brewery that recently made a Brew for Ukraine beer is missing from this list, for whatever reason (probably just haven’t gotten around to contacting the Brew for Ukraine organizers yet). This is Rockwell Beer Company, who has brewed a Ukrainian Imperial Stout, “From San to Don”, as you can see from pictures here. The label includes part of the text of the Ukrainian national anthem, the words by Pavlo Chubynsky:

“Душу й тіло ми положим

за нашу свободу,

І покажем, що ми, браття,

козацького роду.

Станем браття,

в бій кривавий,

від Сяну до Дону

В ріднім краю панувати

не дамо нікому.”

“We’ll lay down our souls and

bodies to attain freedom

And we’ll show that we, brothers,

are of the Kozak nation.

We’ll stand together for freedom,

from the San to the Don,

We will not allow others to rule

in our motherland.”

At least one of the 7 listed STL region breweries featured RBC’s “From San to Don” on tap at their restaurant and brewery, Heavy Riff Brewing. Heavy Riff Brewing has their own Pravda Brewery-inspired selection, their dry-hopped golden ale “Putin Huylo” (“Putin Is A D-ckhe-d”, for those who might not remember the translation). On the label, Heavy Riff Brewing provides some explanatory text (light elisions c/o 3CM the loser):

“Putin Huilo has become a worldwide nickname for the President of Russia. Unlike H-lt-r, and other world leaders whose imperial ambitions lead to the deaths of innocent people, Huilo is not just a fanatic – he’s a Russian billionaire, not a tzar. In early 2014, Russia annexed Crimea, and several other parts of Ukraine. This action violated world orders established after World War II, and set off the expansion of Russian terrorism throughout Europe.

“’Putin Huilo’ is an international chant first performed during a common match between FC ‘Metalist’ and FC ‘Shakhtar’ on March 30, 2014. ‘Huilo’ – like ‘d-ckhe-d’ in English, but much ruder – comes from ‘huy’, which is Russian for ‘d-ck’.”

Given that my beer palate isn’t all that sophisticated, both beers tasted very good to me Obviously it’s a tiny gesture to buy these beers to support Ukrainian relief efforts. Certainly it’s not as though it’s as simple as doing a James Bond on Putin and his thugs – would that it so simple (and none of us are exactly lining up for that mission). 3CM the loser will certainly keep his eye out for other STL breweries that make their own Brew for Ukraine beers, so some future FNBB’s may keep this theme going. We shall see. For this evening’s dinner beer, I went with Rockwell Beer Company’s “From San to Don”. It packs a wallop at 9.8% ABV, and is certainly a hearty stout

With that, time to turn the floor over to you folks. What are you sipping tonight? Anyone brewing their own? Anyone found Brew for Ukraine-inspired beers in your own neighborhood? That’s a question for the poll, of course : ) .

Poll

27 votes Show Results

Have you found and/or tried one of the "Brew for Ukraine" beers?

27 votes Vote Now!

Have you found and/or tried one of the "Brew for Ukraine" beers?

25 votes

Yes

2 votes

Friday Night Beer Blog: 2022 Canadian Brewing Awards Edition

chingchongchinaman

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday July 01, 2022 · 6:45 PM PDT

2022/07/01 · 18:45

Well, this was a 2019 Canadian Brewing Awards winner....

Greetings, beer lovers! Happy (…) Friday, but perhaps much more importantly, Happy Canada Day (eh). Once (or not) again, ‘tis chingchongchinaman as your semi-friendly guest FNBB blogger, giving esquimaux another well-earned breather from blogging duties tonight. The starting point for this edition is the 2022 Canadian Brewing Awards and Conference list of prize winners at this year’s conference, listed at this page. The intro, taken directly from that page, states the obvious intro (though at the bottom of the page — go figure):

“THE CANADIAN BREWING AWARDS

The Canadian Brewing Awards is Canada’s National competition for judging the quality of Canadian manufactured beer. The Canadian Brewing Awards invites Canadian majority-owned breweries of all sizes to compete in a Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) sanctioned blind tasting determining the best beers in 58 style categories. A Canadian Brewing Award is a widely recognized symbol of Canadian brewing excellence.”

First, here are the two big category winners:

Best of Show: Faber | Microbrasserie La Souche | Quebec

Brewery of the Year: Howe Sound Brewing | British Columbia

Moving on to the 58 (!) separate flavo(u)r categories, for a total of 174 main prize winners, along with 20 hono(u)rable mentions, which may be a sort of “4th place” or something like that, depending on how you want to see it, here are those 194 selections:

1. European Style Lager (Pilsner)

Gold – Uncle Leo's Czech-Mate | The Whiffen Brewing Company Limited | Nova Scotia

Silver – Pilsner | Burdock Brewery | Ontario

Bronze – Kapitan Czech Pilsner | Lighthouse Brewing | British Columbia

2. European Style Amber to Dark Lager

Gold – Schwarzbier | Valley Brewing (in collaboration with Common Crown Brewing) | Alberta

Silver – Uncle Leo's Altbier | The Whiffen Brewing Company Limited | Nova Scotia

Bronze – More Than Rain | The Establishment Brewing Company | Alberta

Honourable Mention – Czech Dark Lager | Sooke Brewing Co. | British Columbia

3. Bock – Traditional German Style

Gold – Elevator Doppelbock | Hell's Basement Brewery Inc. | Alberta

Silver – Dissimulator | Twin City Brewing Company | British Columbia

Bronze – Beste Bock | Cameron's Brewing Company | Ontario

4. Kellerbier/Zwickelbier

Gold – Helles Yeah! | Tire Shack Brewing Co. | New Brunswick

Silver – Deluxe | Burdock Brewery | Ontario

Bronze – Helles Awaits | Folly Brewpub | Ontario

5. German-Style Kölsch

Gold – Big Ticket | Farm League Brewing | Ontario

Silver – German Kölsch | Wildeye Brewing | British Columbia

Bronze – High Country Kölsch | Mt. Begbie Brewing Company | British Columbia

6. Wheat Beer – Belgian Style (Wit)

Gold – Queen Of Wheat | Spearhead Brewing Company | Ontario

Silver – Elder Moon Belgian Witbier | Settlement Brewing | British Columbia

Bronze – SNOangel | SNO Microbrasserie | Quebec

7. Wheat Beer – German Style (Weiss)

Gold – Banana Hammock | Sons Of Kent Brewing Co. | Ontario

Silver – Hefeweizen | Pie Braque Microbrasserie | Quebec

Bronze – Summertime | KPU Brew - Kwantlen Polytechnic University | British Columbia

8. Baltic Porter

Gold – Voyage Voyage | Avant Garde Artisans brasseurs | Quebec

Silver – Two Rivers Baltic Porter | Tatamagouche Brewing Co. | Nova Scotia

Bronze – Bear Beach Baltic Porter | Sooke Oceanside Brewery | British Columbia

9. Belgian-Style Dubbel or Quadrupel

Gold – Shacklands Dubbel | Shacklands Brewing Co. | Ontario

Silver – 10° | Dageraad Brewing Inc. | British Columbia

Bronze – Washed Away Belgian Quad | Dog Mountain Brewing Ltd. | British Columbia

Honourable Mention – Dubbel | Little Brown Jug | Manitoba

10. Belgian-Style Tripel

Gold – Faber | Microbrasserie La Souche | Quebec

Silver – Tripel | Pie Braque Microbrasserie | Quebec

Bronze – Wild Things | Little Beasts Brewing Company | Ontario

11. Belgian-Style Abbey Ale/Pale Ale

Gold – Golden Ale | Little Brown Jug | Manitoba

Silver – Grimdonk | Grimross Brewing Co. | New Brunswick

Bronze – BEES! Belgian Blonde Ale with Honey | Dog Mountain Brewing Ltd | British Columbia

Honourable Mention – Marigold - Belgian Golden Ale | Clifford Brewing Co. | Ontario

12. Belgian-Style Strong Specialty Ale

Gold – Dia De Los Muertos Cerveza Fuerte | Bad Tattoo Brewing Co. | British Columbia

Silver – Sunshine Daydream | R&B Brewing Co. | British Columbia

Bronze – Belgian Blond | Sooke Brewing Co. | British Columbia

13. French and Belgian-Style Saison

Gold – Dry Hopped Saison | Flora Hall Brewing | Ontario

Silver – Bord du Lac | Amsterdam Brewing Co. | Ontario

Bronze – Prairie Icon Farmhouse Saison | Valley Brewing | Alberta

14. Belgian-Style Brett Beer

Gold – Funkmorphosis | The Establishment Brewing Company | Alberta

Silver – Evelyn - Barrel Aged Belgian Blonde | Endeavour Brewing Company Ltd. | Alberta

Bronze – Tous Les Jours | Dageraad Brewing Inc. | British Columbia

15. German-Style Sour Ale

Gold – Ketch Berliner Weisse | Tatamagouche Brewing Co. | Nova Scotia

Silver – Gose vie sale - Laurentienne | Microbrasserie La Souche | Quebec

Bronze – Sour Series Blackberry | Rough Waters Brewing Company | Newfoundland and Labrador

Honourable Mention – Leitmotif | Cabin Brewing Company | Alberta

16. Belgian-Style Sour Ale

Gold – Reynard Oud Bruin | Strange Fellows Brewing Ltd. | British Columbia

Silver – Flanders Red | Trans Canada Brewing | Manitoba

Bronze – Kirsche | Steamworks Brewing Co. | British Columbia

17. Porter

Gold – Dark Stormy Porter | Fisher Peak Brewing Company | British Columbia

Silver – When it Rains It Porters | East Van Brewing | British Columbia

Bronze – Pugnacious Porter | Grimross Brewing Co. | New Brunswick

18. Brown Ale

Gold – Open Road | Troubled Monk Brewery | Alberta

Silver – Sandbagger Brown Ale | Freddy's Brewpub | British Columbia

Bronze – Coppersmith Brown Ale | Common Crown Brewing Co. | Alberta

19. Irish and Scotch Ales

Gold – Brave Liver Scotch Ale | Mt. Begbie Brewing Company | British Columbia

Silver – Red Vinyl | Secret Cove Brewing | Newfoundland and Labrador

Bronze – Irish Red Ale | Sawback Brewing Co. | Alberta

Honourable Mention – A Wee Angry Scotch Ale | Russell Brewing Co. | British Columbia

20. English-Style Pale Ale

Gold – Pale Ale | Russell Brewing Co. | British Columbia

Silver – Tickity Boo | Twin City Brewing Company | British Columbia

Bronze – Sam McGuire's Pale Ale | Shuswap Lake Brewing | British Columbia

21. English Bitters

Gold – Great Expectations | Cabin Brewing Company | Alberta

Silver – Dark Streets of London ESB | Clifford Brewing Co. | Ontario

Bronze – Arkell Best Bitter | Wellington Brewery | Ontario

Honourable Mention – Blue Heron ESB | Sea Level Brewing Company Inc. | Nova Scotia

22. Sweet Stout or Cream Stout

Gold – Sweetbacks | Rainhard Brewing | Ontario

Silver – ChocoBello | Les Brasseurs de Montebello | Quebec

Bronze – Espresso Stout | Birra Fanelli | Quebec

Honourable Mention – Ice Cutter Vanilla Latte Stout | Snake Lake Brewing Company Inc. | Alberta

23. Oatmeal Stout

Gold – Red Hook Oatmeal Stout | Fixed Gear Brewing Co. | Ontario

Silver – Ullr’s Oatmeal Stout | Bulkley Valley Brewery | British Columbia

Bronze – Gentlemen's Stout | Medicine Hat Brewing Company | Alberta

Honourable Mention – Ghost Train | Hell's Basement Brewery Inc. | Alberta

24. Dry Stout

Gold – It's a Stout | Kensington Brewing Company | Ontario

Silver – Hierlihy Irish Stout | Tatamagouche Brewing Co. | Nova Scotia

Bronze – Keepers Stout | Lighthouse Brewing | British Columbia

25. Imperial Stout

Gold – Kindling Imperial Stout | Cannery Brewing | British Columbia

Silver – Walkerville Brewery Imperial Stout | Walkerville Brewery | Ontario

Bronze – Imperial Russian Stout | Wellington Brewery | Ontario

26. English-Style India Pale Ale

Gold – Tunnel Vision IPA | Abandoned Rail Brewing Co. | British Columbia

Silver – Walkerville Geronimo IPA | Walkerville Brewery | Ontario

Bronze – English IPA | Sons Of Kent Brewing Co. | Ontario

27. North American-Style Lager

Gold – Sol Vida Cerveza Clara | Bad Tattoo Brewing Co. | British Columbia

Silver – SHAKE LAGER | Equals Brewing Company Inc. | Ontario

Bronze – Toller Gold | Spindrift Brewing | Nova Scotia

28. North American-Style Premium Lager

Gold – Lions Gate Lager | Steamworks Brewing Co. | British Columbia

Silver – Skyline Lager | Bomber Brewing | British Columbia

Bronze – Helles Lager | Wellington Brewery | Ontario

29. North American-Style Amber/Dark Lager

Gold – Red Vienna Lager | Old Flame Brewing Co. | Ontario

Silver – Brunette Munich Dunkel Lager | Old Flame Brewing Co. | Ontario

Bronze – Los Muertos Cerveza Negra | Bad Tattoo Brewing Co. | British Columbia

30. Light (Calorie-Reduced) Lager

Gold – Craft Light Lager | Russell Brewing Co. | British Columbia

Silver – Anne Bonny | Corsaire Microbrasserie | Quebec

Bronze – Bad Light | Bad Tattoo Brewing Co. | British Columbia

Honourable Mention – Chiquita Town | Square Brewing Co. | Alberta

31. Cream Ale

Gold – Okanagan Lake Cream Ale | A-FRAME Brewing Company | British Columbia

Silver – Gladstone Cream Ale | Gladstone Brewing Co. | British Columbia

Bronze – Cream Ale | Anderson Craft Ales | Ontario

Honourable Mention – Retro Style Cream Ale | Analog Brewing Company Inc. | Alberta

32. North American-Style Amber/Red Ale

Gold – Heroica Red Ale | Steamworks Brewing Co | British Columbia

Silver – Idleback Amber Ale | Slackwater Brewing Inc. | British Columbia

Bronze – Ruby Tears | Parallel 49 Brewing | British Columbia

33. North American-Style Blonde or Golden Ale

Gold – La Libertine | La Voie Maltée | Quebec

Silver – Brewmaster Blonde Ale | Common Crown Brewing Co. | Alberta

Bronze – Centennial Stock | Copper Bottom Brewing | Prince Edward Island

34. American–Style Black Ale

Gold – Mutually Exclusive | Annex Ale Project Limited | Alberta

Silver – Commodore Stout | Snake Lake Brewing Company Inc. | Alberta

Bronze – Death to Robots | Kensington Brewing Company | Ontario

Honourable Mention – Cascadian Dark Ale | Blindman Brewing | Alberta

35. North American-Style Pale Ale

Gold – Campout West Coast Pale Ale | Fernie Brewing Co. | British Columbia

Silver – Principal | Schoolhouse Brewery | Nova Scotia

Bronze – Chinook Rye Pale Ale | Ace Brewing Co. | British Columbia

Honourable Mention – Bantam | Long Bay Brewery | New Brunswick

36. Wheat Beer – North American-Style

Gold – Village Wit | Village Brewery | Alberta

Silver – Blanche Orange et Coriandre | Oxymore Microbrasserie | Quebec

Bronze – Long Hop Tropical Pale Ale | Long Hop Brewing Co | Alberta

37. American-Style India Pale Ale

Gold – Jurassic IPA | Cameron's Brewing Company | Ontario

Silver – Naked Fox IPA | Main Street Brewing | British Columbia

Bronze – Big Lift | Brightwood Brewery | Nova Scotia

38. New England Style India Pale Ale

Gold – Vau-Do | Microbrasserie Trois Lacs Inc. | Quebec

Silver – No. 45 | Cassel Brewery | Ontario

Bronze – High Knoll Hazy IPA | Tinhouse Brewing Inc. | British Columbia

Honourable Mention – Electric Mayhem DDHIPA | Ridge Rock Brewing Company | Ontario

39. Session India Pale Ale

Gold – Ready Paler Two - Session IPA | Analog Brewing Company Inc | Alberta

Silver – The Starter | Four Father's Brewing | Ontario

Bronze – Jam Session | Microbrasserie Trois Lacs Inc. | Quebec

40. American-Style Imperial India Pale Ale

Gold – Parkman Ave | Copper Bottom Brewing | Prince Edward Island

Silver – One Love | OverHop Brewing Corp. | Quebec

Bronze – Fracture | Amsterdam Brewing Co. | Ontario

Honourable Mention – Jellyfish Magician | Beere Brewing Company | British Columbia

41. American-Belgo-Style Ale

Gold – Obscure Monk | Shacklands Brewing Co. | Ontario

Silver – Daystar | Shacklands Brewing Co. | Ontario

Bronze – Shacklands Brave Noise | Shacklands Brewing Co. | Ontario

42. American-Style Brett Beer

Gold – Strange Resemblance | Strange Fellows Brewing Ltd. | British Columbia

Silver – Wild West Coast IPA | Sawback Brewing Co. | Alberta

Bronze – Blood Cut IPA | Low Life Barrel House | Manitoba

43. American-Style Sour Ale

Gold – Milkshake IPA Sure aux Abricots | Bièrerie Shelton | Quebec

Silver – The Darkest Timeline: Sour Porter w/ Cherry | Banded Goose Brewing | Ontario

Bronze – Arcane Dry Hopped Sour | Propeller Brewing Co. | Nova Scotia

44. Honey/Maple/Alternative Sugar Lager or Ale

Gold – Miss Maple | Microbrasserie Trois Lacs Inc. | Quebec

Silver – DIPA Série du Chantier #3 | Microbrasserie Le Temps d'une Pinte | Quebec

Bronze – Humble Hive Brown Ale | East Van Brewing | British Columbia

45. Fruit Beer or Field Beer

Gold – Dwarf Sour Cherry Fruited Saison | Blindman Brewing | Alberta

Silver – Le Fruit Défendu | Brasserie Vrooden Inc. | Quebec

Bronze – Hibiscus Lime Gose | Pile O' Bones Brewing | Saskatchewan

Honourable Mention – Scrumpers Triple Berry Sour | Smugglers Trail Caskworks | British Columbia

46. Gluten-Free Beer

Gold – Glutenberg Rousse | Glutenberg | Quebec

Silver – Glutenberg Session IPA | Glutenberg | Quebec

Bronze – Glutenberg Blanche | Glutenberg | Quebec

47. Session Ale

Gold – Lazy River | Howe Sound Brewing | British Columbia

Silver – Public House Mild Porter | Snake Lake Brewing Company Inc. | Alberta

Bronze – Gladstone Belgian Single | Gladstone Brewing Co. | British Columbia

48. Experimental Beer

Gold – Nowhere: BlauFrankisch | Merit Brewing Co. | Ontario

Silver – Waterloo Chocolate Hazelnut Porter | Waterloo Brewing | Ontario

Bronze – By & By Pinot Noir Tripel | Merit Brewing Co. | Ontario

49. Herb and Spice Beer

Gold – Ultra Destroyer | Howe Sound Brewing | British Columbia

Silver – Ippon - Ginger and Sansho Pepper | Bière Ippon | Quebec

Bronze – Songe épicé | Avant Garde Artisans brasseurs | Quebec

Honourable Mention – Her Majesty's Service Earl Grey Kölsch | Township 24 Brewing | Alberta

50. Smoked Beer

Gold – Sparkchaser | Twin City Brewing Company | British Columbia

Silver – Huldufólk | Little Beasts Brewing Company | Ontario

Bronze – Smoked Porter | Iron Road Brewing | British Columbia

51. Barley Wine-Style Ale

Gold – Barleywine | Sooke Brewing Co. | British Columbia

Silver – Afterhours Barley Wine | PEI Brewing Company | Prince Edward Island

Bronze – Scotch Ale | Sons Of Kent Brewing Co. | Ontario

Honourable Mention – Batch #100 Estate Barleywine | Barnside Brewing Co. | British Columbia

52. Wood and Barrel-Aged Pale to Dark Beer

Gold – Aki No Seishin Impériale | Bière Ippon | Quebec

Silver – Oak Boy | Parallel 49 Brewing | British Columbia

Bronze – Tequila Barrel-Aged Chiquita | Town Square Brewing Co. | Alberta

53. Wood and Barrel-Aged Strong Beer

Gold – Monolith | Howe Sound Brewing | British Columbia

Silver – Double Tempest | Amsterdam Brewing Co. | Ontario

Bronze – Storm Watching | Howe Sound Brewing | British Columbia

Honourable Mention – Back Pocket | The Establishment Brewing Company | Alberta

54. Wood and Barrel-Aged Sour Beer

Gold – Time's Arrow | Dageraad Brewing Inc. | British Columbia

Silver – Cherryoperis | Four Winds Brewing Co. | British Columbia

Bronze – Lake of Bays Barrel-Aged Series: Brett Oud Bruin | Lake of Bays Brewing Company | Ontario

55. Flavoured Stout/Porter

Gold – Toasted Coconut Imperial Stout | Steamworks Brewing Co. | British Columbia

Silver – UVB-76 Maksim | Wellington Brewery | Ontario

Bronze – Breakfast & Furious | Stray Dog Brewing Company | Ontario

Honourable Mention – Boris Arabica | Strange Fellows Brewing Ltd. | British Columbia

56. Low-Alcohol Beer

Gold – NANO IPA | Oshlag | Quebec

Silver – Stone Sofa Kölsch | One For The Road Brewing Co. | Alberta

Bronze – NANO BLONDE | Oshlag | Quebec

57. Specialty IPA

Gold – Angry Chipmunk | Boshkung Brewing Co. | Ontario

Silver – Hip As Funk | Moon Under Water | British Columbia

Bronze – 5th Birthday Double IPA | Canmore Brewing Company Ltd. | Alberta

58. Historic/Regional Beers

Gold – Grodziskie | Thornbury Craft Co. | Ontario

Silver – Backyard IPA | Whistle Buoy Brewing Co. | British Columbia

Bronze – The Bearded Prospector | Full Beard Brewing Co. Inc. | Ontario

Honourable Mention – Grätzer | Bièrerie Shelton | Quebec

For the Sours aficionados here — you know who you are :) — the obvious foci will be Category Numbers 15, 16, 43, and 54, with some additions present in Category 45.

Since 3CM is, as always, a data-nerd loser type, here’s the breakdown of the winners by province:

Alberta: 31

British Columbia: 64

Manitoba: 4

New Brunswick: 4

Newfoundland and Labrador: 2

Nova Scotia: 10

Ontario: 48

Prince Edward Island: 3

Quebec: 27

Saskatchewan: 1

In parallel with the strong US West Coast presence (WA, OR) in the American craft beer market (even though craft beers are almost everywhere in the USA, it seems), it’s perhaps no surprise to see the dominant presence of BC in the rankings, given its West Coast status among the Canadian provinces. The top 4 provinces in Canadian population, per 2021 census data, are, in order:

1. Ontario

2. Quebec

3. British Columbia

4. Alberta

The same 4 provinces have the largest shares of prize winners in this year’s Canadian Brewing Awards, albeit in a different order:

(i) British Columbia = 64

(ii) Ontario = 48

(iii) Alberta = 31

(iv) Quebec = 27

So all this adds 194 beers to the infinitely expanding list of craft beers that 3CM the loser will never taste :) . However, tonight’s featured selection is, for once, actually kind of close in spirit to this list. It’s a Glutenberg Stout, from Montreal (by way of an SC-based importer), and the QC-based brewery that swept Category # 46, the “Gluten-Free Beer” category (which may or may not say something about how crowded, or not, not to mention how large, or not, the Canadian gluten-free beer market is). I’m not at all a stouts aficionado, but it has that solid “stout feel”, even with being a gluten-free brew based on millet and corn, as indicated on the label. I don’t have any issues with gluten in my diet, as the selection resulted from randomly seeing it in an establishment and figuring that this would be a suitable choice for this particular Friday.

Plus, if nothing else, the PR-blurb for this particular flavo(u)r has a slightly off-beat tone. The original French reads:

“De robustes notes de café espresso, de chocolat noir et de fruits mûrs conférées par le maltfoncé lui procurent une longueur en bouche agréable qui ne laissera pas les amateurs de Stout indifférents.”

The English blurb reads:

“Robust notes of espresso coffee, dark chocolate and ripe fruit conferred by the dark malt give it a pleasant length in the mouth that will not leave Stout lovers indifferent.”

BTW, the ‘official’ English text is exactly what you get when you feed the original French text into Google Translator. Make of that what you will :) . Speaking of translations, it took me this long to realize that the French word “brasserie” actually means “brewery”, something that I somehow never bothered to figure out all this time, in spite of seeing the term “brasserie” with various American restaurants over the years. As well, regarding stouts, another stout of a very different vibe will feature in my next FNBB this month, if all goes to plan. Stay tuned.

With that, special greetings to our Canadian friends, and time to turn the e-floor over to you folks. What are you sipping tonight? Anyone brewing their own? Special virtual points to you if you are imbibing a Canadian brew tonight, and extra points if any posters here tonight are Canadian ;) .

Poll

13 votes Show Results

Ever heard of any of these microbreweries? (Question obviously meant for Americans.)

13 votes Vote Now!

Ever heard of any of these microbreweries? (Question obviously meant for Americans.)

Yes

4 votes

9 votes

Friday Night Beer Blog: Busted Bracket Edition

chingchongchinaman

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday April 08, 2022 · 6:45 PM PDT

2022/04/08 · 18:45

Greetings, beer lovers! For this Friday evening, once (or not) again, ‘tis chingchongchinaman as your semi-friendly FNBB guest blogger. The subtext of tonight’s edition is pretty obvious, even granted that the final game was this past Monday and thus 3CM is his typical loser self, way behind the curve. To add to his loserness, the specific beer in question isn’t tied at all to the winning team or its university. Instead, the focus is on this March Madness year’s Cinderella institution, Saint Peter’s University, and specifically this March 21 ROI-NJ article by Tom Bergeron, and Departed Soles Brewing Company (https://www.departedsoles.com/), both in Jersey City, NJ.

The mini-saga, at least from the POV of Departed Soles, began with Brian Hamilton and Eamonn Brennan of “The Athletic” choosing (article behind a pay wall) Departed Soles as the local brewery to stand in for Saint Peter’s College, in a craft beer bracket equivalent to the college teams present in the initial bracket. Departed Soles commented on FB as follows, in part:

“NCAA Tournament AND Saint Paddy's Day?

Now that is MADNESS!

Ok, how many people used that line already? Anywho!

We are honored to have been chosen as beer rep for the Saint Peter's University Peacocks in The Athletic's #NCAA #Tournament #Beer Drinking Guide! Check out their other recommendations in the link in the comment section!”

Brian Kulbacki, head honcho of Departed Soles, chose his brewery’s “Light Rail Lager” as the featured flavor for March Madness. Well, surprise, surprise: Saint Peter’s knocked out Kentucky in the first round. Kulbacki then wondered what to do next, where Bergeron noted in his article:

“Creating a beer in honor of the Peacocks wasn’t a possibility.

“You can’t just push a button and get that done in 48 hours,” [Kulbacki] said.”

The same can be said of fixing the 4 years prior to January 20, 2021, which too many Americans don’t understnd. Digression aside, and returning to Bergeron’s article, Kulbacki quickly settled on this plan of action:

(a) “…plead with your artist (Jason at True 13 Studios) to create a new logo and new name (Busted Bracket, what else?) for Light Rail Lager”

(b) “…plead with your local printer to produce 240 labels that can be put on the cans

(c) “..plead with your staff to help you hand-relabel them in time for Saturday’s second-round game.”

This project went down to the wire on second-round Saturday, per Kulbacki:

“We were relabeling the cans all morning. I labeled the last can at 12:01. Our doors were supposed to open at 12, so we were one minute late.”

Plus, to add (or subtract) to it all, it was questionable how financially lucrative that particular opening would be:

“Kulbacki quickly did the math and realized he wouldn’t have enough cans for all those in line, so he limited everyone to just a four-pack — and put a few away for Saint Peter’s.

He didn’t need to do the math on the cost.

A rush project like this was not going to be a money-maker. Quite the opposite, in fact.”

One hopes patrons tipped him reasonably well. Kulbacki further made use of the bespoke “Busted Bracket” design in a T-shirt:

‘“For those who can’t get to his brewery, but still want to support the team, Kulbacki has put the newly created logo on a T-shirt and will be taking preorders this week. Not surprisingly, he already has said that $5 of every shirt sold will go to help those affected by the war in Ukraine.

“We’re not trying to profit off it,” he said. “We’re just trying to keep the momentum going for Saint Peter’s while supporting another community that really needs help.”’

Ultimately, Saint Peter’s got knocked out at the Elite Eight round, which didn’t stop Jersey City from celebrating what the team did achieve, in a parade last Friday:

“Mayor Steven M. Fulop H ’14 joins Saint Peter’s University alongside local officials, state dignitaries, and the Jersey City community to celebrate the unprecedented run Saint Peter’s University’s Men’s Basketball Team achieved during March Madness, putting the University and Jersey City on the map.”

YouTube Video

Not sure where “Part 2” is from YT, but there is an alternative video with subpar sound:

YouTube Video

No such map presence for 3CM the loser here, nor a lager for the occasion. Instead, the featured brew is a Crank IPA, originally from Cycle Brewing in St. Petersburg, FL, a perfectly solid IPA, maybe not tremendously distinctive amongst the sea of craft brew IPA’s out there. However, like Hamilton’s immigrants, it gets the job done.

With that, time to turn it over to you folks. What are you imbibing tonight? Anyone brewing their own? Inquiring minds, and all that….

Poll

26 votes Show Results

When did your bracket break?

26 votes Vote Now!

When did your bracket break?

First Round

3 votes

Second Round

3 votes

Sweet 16

1 vote

Elite Eight

1 vote

Final Four

1 vote

Championship Game

0 votes

Didn't break; I picked Kansas all the way!

3 votes

N/A; I don't do March Madness brackets

14 votes

Friday Night Beer Blog: Brew for Ukraine Edition

chingchongchinaman

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday March 18, 2022 · 6:45 PM PDT

2022/03/18 · 18:45

(Note: I wrote the main text of this diary before the Russian attack on Lviv today.)

Greetings, beer lovers! For this Friday evening, once (or not) again, ‘tis chingchongchinaman as your FNBB guest blogger. The title of tonight’s edition obviously indicates the melancholy choice of subject, where clearly all of us would rather be talking about the Ukrainian craft beer industry during peacetime. But this is all too sadly not that time. The launch point for tonight’s FNBB is the “Brew for Ukraine” campaign, started by Yuri Zastavny, co-owner of Pravda Brewery in Lviv, as reported by several US news outlets, such as:

3/10/2022: Heather Schatz, WJCT News (Jacksonville)

3/14/2022: Peter Crimmins, WHYY (Philadelphia) (3/14/2022)

The parent Brew for Ukraine site has a page about the “Victory Beer Series”, which mentions that:

“Pravda Brewery opens recipes of its main award-winning beers and invites brewers around the world to brew them…We ask to donate to our relief fund…”

In her WJCT story, Schatz mentions Intuition Ale Works’ new take on Pravda’s “Syla” tripel beer:

“Intuition Ale Works announced Wednesday that it will release “Hey Putin, Go F*** Yourself!” or HPGFY, a Belgian-style Tripel, to raise money for humanitarian relief efforts in Ukraine.

“This special release, which will be available exclusively in the brewery’s downtown Jacksonville taproom beginning in early April, is part of an international “Brew For Ukraine” project that was recently launched by the Pravda Brewery in Lviv.”

In his WHYY story, Crimmins mentions Stickman Brews (accidentally calling the establishment “Stickman Brewery”, but hey, whatever, we get it) in Royersford, PA, who are working on their version of Pravda Brewery’s “Frau Ribbentrop” Belgian witbier, although it wasn’t clear to me what Stickman Brews’ title will be:

“‘We will be using proceeds from our version of @pravdabeer witbier, as well as our upcoming cream ale “aundzere landsman,” to support the Pravda team and the Ukrainian people in their defense of their homes,’ wrote Stickman on its Facebook page.”

An FB group page dedicated to the “Brew For Ukraine – Pravda Brewery – Victory Beer Collaboration” is here. One YT video about “Brew For Ukraine” is as follows:

YouTube Video

From the parent “Brew for Ukraine” page and the Schatz and Crimmins articles, one can cobble together quotes from Yuri Zastavny, from life before and life after:

Before (from Crimmins/WHYY): “Craft brewing is developing in Ukraine. We were not the first, but one of the first breweries in Ukraine. Now there are a lot of breweries.”

After:

(a) Crimmins/WHYY, about an annual Craft Beer and Vinyl Music Festival that had been planned for this coming May: “We will probably have to hold off on that and do important things first. Like, clean the country of the enemy, come back to normal life, rebuild the country.”

(b) Schatz/WJCT, about a “production change”: “Not long after the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, Pravda transitioned from brewing beer to making Molotov Cocktails.”. An Instagram post mentioned that ’Pravda Brewery team is hand-bottling,’ along with a photo of homemade firebombs, and added, “We’ll bottle beer later.””

You can also listen to Yuri Zastavny from the NPR program “Here And Now” at this page. The “Brew for Ukraine” site has this closer on one page:

“As peaceful craft brewers, we want to return to the normal life asap and enjoy brewing and drinking. But first we must kick the cockroaches out of our land. No more Gulags, Holodomors and oppression. It’s a decisive moment for Ukraine, Europe and democracies of the world.

Soon will win this war and have a good beer. The Beer of Victory.”

Of course, comparing Putin and his thugs to cockroaches is a complete insult…to cockroaches. Cockroaches look unpleasant, but they’re at least not out to “get” anyone. They just do what they’re programmed to do by nature, without malice or particular ill-intent towards humans. The same cannot be said of humans themselves, sadly.

The “Brew For Ukraine” movement in the craft beer community looks to be growing by leaps and bounds, as is the nature of these movements. Sadly, given how long the situation will probably drag out, if not blow up (literally) into something much worse, it’s probably a tragically safe bet that FNBB could easily highlight for weeks to come, if not longer, new beers brewed to benefit humanitarian aid for Ukraine and Ukrainians. These two stories are just the tip of the iceberg, and one can easily dig up more. Also, if one thinks about it, and at the risk of sounding morbid, the fact that Pravda Brewery opened up their recipes to the rest of the craft beer world is almost a way to ensure that their work doesn’t get wiped out, in case of the worst. Not the kind of diary that one wants to read on a Friday night, but it is what it is, until the day that P---n winds up in the docket in The Hague.

Given how recent this story is about Brew For Ukraine, the featured beer chez 3CM clearly has nothing to do with Ukraine, even if self the loser had tried to find a Ukrainian beer. Instead, it’s very much a stateside concoction, a Rising Sun Inn Ableman Ale, brewed for the inn in question by McAllister Brewing Company. As the labeling indicates (and 3CM is susceptible to clever marketing as anyone), the obvious idea here was that McAllister was going for an American colonial style. McAllister does like to make their brews on the slightly bitter side, and that tradition stayed with this Ableman Ale, as with other McAllister Brewing flavors that I’ve sporadically sampled and even mentioned in past FNBBs. It’s definitely on the hearty, darker side as well.

With that, time to turn it over to you folks? What are you imbibing tonight? Anyone brewing their own? And if anyone wants to keep the “Brew For Ukraine” theme going into the future, feel free to do so.

Friday Night Beer Blog: The 2.5% Edition

chingchongchinaman

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday March 11, 2022 · 6:45 PM PST

2022/03/11 · 18:45

Greetings, beer lovers! Happy Friday (however discordant the word “Happy” sounds now), and once (or not) again, ‘tis chingchongchinaman as your semi-friendly guest FNBB blogger, giving esquimaux another well-earned breather from blogging duties tonight. The starting point for this edition is this NYT article from exactly 4 weeks ago by Joshua M. Bernstein, about low-alcohol beers. Had one asked 3CM the loser to define a “low-alcohol” beer, given that I consider 5%-6% to be “moderate”, maybe I would have said something like 4% or so. It turns out that, according to JMB:

“The federal government lets breweries label beers less than 2.5 percent ‘low alcohol’.”

The thesis of JMB’s article goes:

“American brewing excels at extremes, delivering brawny stouts and I.P.A.s as well as nonalcoholic beers that are growing in quality and sales. But for drinkers seeking a moderate option, not abstinence, breweries are increasingly making compelling beers that weigh in at 2 and 3 percent alcohol, below the typical 4 percent floor for light lagers. (Bud Light is 4.2 percent.)”

This makes an interesting contrast with other countries and alcohol content, in terms of the presence of low-alcohol beers:

“Lower-alcohol beers are stitched into the drinking fabric of Scandinavia and pub-rich England, where taxation increases as alcohol content rises.”

That actually makes sense, in terms of raising “sin tax” revenue. Or to put it another way: if you really want to get an alcohol-fueled buzz, you’re going to have to pay for it, in multiple senses.

But it also makes sense in terms of trying to create a new market and to tap into an untapped market (double pun intended). One demographic analysis of the interest in low alcohol beers is from Lester Jones, chief economist for the National Beer Wholesalers Association:

“We’re not surprised that lower-A.B.V. beers are coming of age because, well, millennials are coming of age”.

Several craft brewers rationalize going for this potential new niche in the article:

Todd DiMatteo, Good Word Brewing & Public House: “You don’t need to blast people in the face with alcohol”.

Garrett Oliver, Brooklyn Brewery: “The 40-year-old liver is not the same as a 25-year-old liver”.

Cheyne Tessier, Origin Beer Project: “It’s not about consuming alcohol to get drunk.”

Of course, coming up with flavorful low-alcohol beers is a challenge, perhaps even more so than with more “standard” alcohol-content beers. JMB notes one such challenge:

“Brewers must use less malt — the grains supplying the sugars that are fermented into alcohol — and too many hops can create clashing bitterness and flavor.”

JMB also mentions another general potential gripe about low-alcohol beers:

“One complaint about low-alcohol beers is that they can taste watery.”

Trying to avoid issues like these does put the creativity of craft brewers to the test. One example of such creativity, mentioned in the same paragraph, is from Matt Young of Half Acre Beer, for their Buzzard brew, a 3% beer priced at $10.99 for four 16-ounce cans, where Young notes about the cost:

“Just because there’s less alcohol doesn’t means that it was cheaper to produce”.

Remember: it’s not the parts, it’s the labor :) .

Or another way of dealing with the overall alcohol content is perhaps the most mind-bendingly simple way, namely to mix the beer with another beverage. This looks to be the case with tonight’s selection chez 3CM, a Schöfferhofer Hefeweizen Passion Fruit Beer. (So much for the Rheinheitsgebot, ja?) The back of the label includes this bit (all in CAPS, BTW, unlike how I present it below):

“50% of Schöfferhofer Unfiltered Hefeweizen blended with 50% passion fruit drink with natural juice”

The percentage shows as 2.5%, just at the “low-alcohol” Federal limit stated at the outset. This actually is a refreshing very light beer, maybe in the spirit (pun semi-intended) of a Radler, given its fruit flavor and tinge. Even though it is but 2.5%, it does go much better with a real meal rather than, say, only a dessert. This was a whimsy purchase rather than a deliberate search for it (a pointless story in of itself, namely where I purchased it). After the first try (with the dessert, hence my comment), it grew on me with the second try, with a full meal.

In general principle, I probably would not really go for alcohol-free beers, at least at this moment, although I completely understand why some folks would (and the percentage and market may indeed well be growing there). But even without the old-age factor starting to kick in (am well past 40, never mind 25, per the one quote above), I can see a lot of enjoyment of a low-alcohol beer brewed with care, and with flavor. I had purchased this Schöfferhofer before finding the NYT article. However, in a completely unplanned way, the beer and the article dovetailed nicely.

With that, time to turn the FNBB floor over to you folks? What are you drinking tonight? Anyone brewing their own? Inquiring minds, etc..

Poll

24 votes Show Results

Low-alcohol beer(s); interested?

24 votes Vote Now!

Low-alcohol beer(s); interested?

Sure, if it sounds good

15 votes

Nope, alcohol-free for me

0 votes

I'll try one once

2 votes

Nope, like it at minimum 5.0%

7 votes

Friday Night Beer Blog: Beers for Betty Wrap-Up Edition

chingchongchinaman

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday February 04, 2022 · 6:45 PM PST

2022/02/04 · 18:45

Greetings, beer lovers! Happy Friday, and yes, ‘tis chingchongchinaman doing the guest FNBB host thing for the evening, with esquimaux taking a well-earned evening off from FNBB blogging matters duties. Tonight’s edition follows up on self the loser’s most recent FNBB 3 weeks ago about the “Buy Betty White a Beer” / “Betty White’s Beers” fundraiser by the Commerce Street Brewery in Mineral Point, WI. Originally intended as a light-hearted salute to Betty White in case she ever returned to Mineral Point, where a free beer awaited her, following her passing at the end of 2021, Commerce Street Brewery decided to donate the funds banked over to an animal charity, given BW’s advocacy for animals. The challenge closed at the end of January 31, 2022. Commerce Street Brewery posted the final count on their brewpub page:

“With your help, we collected $6,295 (or 1,259 beers for Betty)! We will be forwarding this money to local animal shelters in early February.”

Pretty good haul there. In the diary, 3CM the loser put in a poll for folks to guess the final count. It turns out that no one guessed the correct range. I guessed low (natch).

Self the loser later thought that this can’t be the only craft beer-related Betty White Challenge. So I searched teh interwebz, and the number that I found was actually fairly low, 2 other events. The first that came up was from an article in the Weatherford Democrat (Texas) back on January 17 by Glenn Evans:

“The Betty White Challenge asked people to donate $5 to an animal shelter or animal rescue on White's birthday. Shelters got in on the act, posting offers for reduced-cost adoptions, such as a $5 Betty White Adoption Special at the Weatherford shelter last week.

To support that effort, Edgewise Eight Brewing in Weatherford offered to donate 100 cents, one for each of the icon's years, for each Social Betty Ann beer sold on Monday.

Mineral Wells Animal Shelter Coordinator Kim Marinara reported on Friday that $185 in White's name had rolled in so far. The shelter is at 101 Farm-to-Market Road 22556.”

Curious how the article spells out “100 cents” rather than $1, but whatever: all for a good cause, and all that. Moving from red to blue territory, the other story was from WFSB Channel 3 in Connecticut, this feature presented on TV by Courtney Zieller and Erin Connolly (with Evan Sobol credited in the on-line feature), about the “Pups for Pints” event presented by Dog Star Rescue in Bloomfield, CT:

“To attend bring a $20 donation. You can bring your dog, and you’ll get a free beer from Thomas Hooker Brewery in Bloomfield.”

No particular Thomas Hooker beer from their roster was mentioned as the gift beer, but of course that’s not the point. The point is how much Dog Star Rescue raised from the event, which they indicated in a general guestimate value on their FB page back on January 23:

“What an incredible week we have had at Dog Star Rescue. First you all showed your love for us and Betty White through your generous donations which totaled over 10K.”

At $20 per donation, that means a minimum of 500 attendees / donations, a very nice turnout indeed.

No dog- or cat-themed brew chez 3CM this evening, unless a fantasy creature counts, as the selection is a ‘Drachenstadt’ from Levante Brewing Company. My limited German translates the title as “Dragon City”, which might kind of fit Asian New Year this week, except that this is not the Year of the Dragon, of course :) . The label describes is as a “Fest Bier”, and is in the Märzen style. Not that I’m at all an expert on beer flavors, but it’s certainly good. Plus, if nothing else, my dad, who is not into craft beer at all and doesn’t imbibe all that much in general, even liked it.

With that, time to turn the FNBB e-floor over to you folks. What are you imbibing tonight? Anyone brewing their own? Inquiring minds, etc.

Friday Night Beer Blog: Beers for Betty Edition

chingchongchinaman

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday January 14, 2022 · 6:45 PM PST

2022/01/14 · 18:45

Greetings, beer lovers! Happy Friday, and yes, ‘tis chingchongchinaman back (not that anyone missed him) as guest FNBB host for the evening, with esquimaux getting a well-earned evening off from blogging duties. Tonight’s edition takes this NPR feature from Bill Chappell last Friday as its starting point, about the Commerce Street Hotel Brewery in Mineral Point, WI. One of Commerce Street Brewery’s past brews was Blonde Betty, brewed in 2019 in honor of Betty White. As everyone here knows, BW departed the scene on New Year’s Eve 2021. What not everyone knows is that Betty White had quite a presence on the “Buy A Friend A Beer” chalkboard at the Commerce Street Hotel Brewery, where people could, as the phrase obviously implies, pay it forward, as it were, in terms of a beer for someone to enjoy later. Betty White tallied up 40 beers, at the time of the Instagram picture, dated September 8, 2019, shown in the NPR story.

The connection between Betty White and Mineral Point, WI was through her third husband, Allen Ludden, a native of the town. After his death in 1981, Ludden was buried in his hometown, with his widow at the service. The obvious pipe dream hope in recent years was that Betty White would one day return and cash in, so to speak, on all the beers purchased for her. The Commerce Street Brewery Tap Room website states it more clearly:

“You may have heard about our beers brewed in Betty White's Honor. Several of our guests enjoyed the beers so much, they decided to buy beers for Betty, so she'd never have to pay for a drink if she visited our brewpub.”

Commerce Street Brewery has decided to do good with all the funds from those beers, by donating the collection to charity, per this link, as follows:

“After years of guests buying beers for Betty White, we've decided to honor her by donating the beers purchased for her to a local animal charity. We are accepting donations until the end of January, at which time we'll make the donation.”

Since 3CM the loser is a bit of a data nerd, among his multifarious loser qualities, here’s the numbers trend (OK, fine, an “n” of only 3 data points) on “Buy Betty White a Beer” / “Betty White’s Beers”, with each beer costing $5:

September 8, 2019: 40 (the Instagram post) = $200

January 7, 2022: 113 (the NPR story) = $565

January 8, 2022: 336 (Commerce Street Hotel’s FB feed) = $1680

January 14, 2022: 524 (as above) = $2620

There are 17 days to go, so it’ll be interesting to see what the final total is.

Perhaps semi-fitting at least one aspect of the theme, the choice of brew chez 3CM this evening is a Sunny Cat from 2^ndShift Brewery, a hazy IPA, the tangerine flavored version. I’ve actually had all the flavors of Sunny Cat, and this well fits the ‘tradition’ of these, although it has been sitting unopened in the fridge for quite a while prior to tonight.

With that, time to turn it over to you folks. What are you sipping tonight? Anyone brewing their own?

Poll

8 votes Show Results

FNBB prediction time: final end-of-January tally of 'Beers for Betty'?

8 votes Vote Now!

FNBB prediction time: final end-of-January tally of 'Beers for Betty'?

600-700 ($3K - $3.5K)

0 votes

700-800 ($3.5K - $4K)

0 votes

800-900 ($4K - $4.5K)

2 votes

900-1000 ($4.5K - $5K)

2 votes

1000-1100 ($5K - $5.5K)

2 votes

1100-1200 ($5.5K - $6K)

0 votes

1200-1300 ($6K - $6.5K)

0 votes

1300-1400 ($6.5K - $7K)

0 votes

1400-1500 ($7K - $7.5K)

1 vote

>1500 (>$7.5K)

1 vote

Friday Night Beer Blog: Schwester Doris Edition

chingchongchinaman

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday December 17, 2021 · 6:45 PM PST

2021/12/17 · 18:45

Greetings, beer lovers! Happy Friday, and yes, ‘tis chingchongchinaman once (or not) again hosting FNBB this evening, giving esquimaux a well-earned night off from FNBB. After the slight mishap that led to my last FNBB 2 weeks ago (albeit a nice mishap, based on the response), this one is a bit better organized, or at least less worse in that sense. For this one, 3CM the loser heads back to Germany for a subject, with this story, “A Pilgrimage To Meet Germany's Last Beer-Brewing Nun”, from NPR’s All Things Considered back in August as the starting point. The transcript doesn’t reflect reporter Rob Schmitz’s exact text, so if you hadn’t heard the original broadcast of this story back in August, you will want to listen to the audio anyway, to hear the voices of all the folks involved, not least the nun herself, Schwester Doris, i.e. Sister Doris Engelhard of the Kloster Mallersdorf in Mallersdorf-Pfaffenberg, Bavaria. As Schmitz reports in the piece (not exactly reflected in the transcript as shown):

“Sister Doris has made her strong beer for nearly 50 years. She’s the master brewer at the Mallersdorf Abbey brewery in northeastern Bavaria. The cloisters were founded in the 12th century and are home to 400 nuns.”

(The prior line from Sister Doris puts the “strong” in proper context, perhaps to state the obvious.) The transcript does provide some bits that didn’t get included in the original audio, such as this additional context to this cloister that Schmitz didn’t mention in his audio:

“In the late 19th century, the nuns were caring for hundreds of poor children and they decided to open the brewery in 1881 to raise money to help fund their mission.”

The text version of the story quotes Sister Doris on the issue of beer and faith (which seems more of an American / temperance kind of hang-up), in translation (natch):

"Beer is part of the Bavarian soul. If you're not happy with yourself, you won't be happy in a cloister. And eating and drinking are part of that life. It's not about being pious. All I need to do is believe in a higher power that accepts me as I am."

Sister Doris is quite the legend in German beer circles, as one can find earlier articles about her such as this 2016 article, “Schwester Doris und das Bier” (even a non-German speaker like me can translate that title at sight) from the Katholisch.de website, which I presume to be the official website of the German Catholic Church. However, self the loser certainly cannot read the article at sight. Thus, via Google Translator, the 2016 article shows that Sister Doris wasn’t exactly a fan of beer when she was younger:

“Beim Bier ist Schwester Doris eine Spätberufene. In ihrer Familie wurde, so weit sie sich erinnern kann, außer Most kein Alkohol getrunken. Die erste Halbe flößte sie sich 1974 ein - da hatte die Abschlussprüfung an der Brauereischule in Ulm schon begonnen.”

(“Sister Doris is a late caller when it comes to beer. As far as she can remember, no alcohol was consumed in her family except when needed. She poured her first half in 1974 - by then the final examination at the brewery school in Ulm had already begun.”)

Her “conversion” to becoming a braumeisterin happened in due course:

“"Mit zugehaltener Nase haben mich die Kollegen so weit gebracht", erinnert sie sich. Die süßlichen Dampfschwaden, die aus der Klosterbrauerei ins Internat herüberwehten, hatte sie schon als Schülerin kaum ertragen. Überhaupt - eigentlich wollte sie Landwirtschaft studieren. Doch dann wurde sie von Brauschwester Lisana zur Nachfolgerin auserkoren. Aus der Selbstüberwindung wurde rasch eine große Liebe. Der Duft von Hopfen und Malz? "Es gibt nix Besseres", sagt die 67-Jährige heute. Und zur Brotzeit am Abend lässt sie sich stets eine Halbe Selbstgebrautes schmecken.”

(“"My colleagues brought me this far with their noses closed," she recalls. Even as a schoolgirl, she had barely endured the sweetish steam that wafted from the monastery brewery into the boarding school. In general, she actually wanted to study agriculture. But then she was chosen by brewer Sister Lisana as her successor. The self-conquest quickly turned into great love. The smell of hops and malt? "There is nothing better," says the 67-year-old today. And for lunch in the evening, she always has half a home-brewed meal.”)

Well before this NPR profile, Sister Doris has not been averse to other media appearances, such as this 2016 chat show interview with Frank Elstner (keine untertitel, natürlich, so here’s a chance to brush up your German):

YouTube Video

If you want a video about Sister Doris with a bit of English:

YouTube Video

Interestingly, the 2016 article notes that Sister Doris isn’t much into the craft beer thing, and is definitely “old school” (OK, alte Schule) when it comes to brewing:

“Jede Woche verwandelt Schwester Doris 76 Hektoliter Wasser in Bier. Das ist weniger ein Wunder als solides Handwerk auf der Basis des 500 Jahre alten bayerischen Reinheitsgebots. Im Umgang mit dieser Lebensmittelvorschrift ist die Ordensfrau bekennende Traditionalistin. Auch Experimente mit Aromahopfen, der das Bier nach Mandarine oder Grapefruit schmecken lässt, sollen andere machen. Sie selbst kann den neumodischen Craft-Bieren nicht viel abgewinnen. "Die hopfengestopften Biere hängen am Gaumen." Eignen sich höchstens als Aperitif.”

(“Every week Sister Doris turns 76 hectoliters of water into beer. This is less of a miracle than solid craftsmanship based on the 500-year old Bavarian purity law. The nun is an avowed traditionalist in dealing with this food regulation. Others should also experiment with aroma hops, which make the beer taste like mandarin or grapefruit. She doesn't really like the newfangled craft beers herself. ‘The beers filled with hops hang on the palate.’ Only suitable as an aperitif.”)

Both articles confirm that Sister Doris only makes two kinds of beer, a Bock and a Helles. Schmitz says that she makes 2 flavors of Bock. The earlier 2016 article mentioned that Sister Doris was looking for a successor, just as decades earlier, Sister Lisana had chosen her.

‘Sorgen macht sich die Ordensfrau allenfalls um die Zukunft ihres Betriebs. Mit 67 Jahren hat sie das gesetzliche Rentenalter erreicht - das aber in ihrer Kongregation nicht gilt. "Im Kloster wird gearbeitet oder gestorben." Ist denn eine Nachfolgerin in Sicht? Schwester Doris seufzt: "Ich hoff immer noch, dass jemand kummt. Schau mer amal."’

(“The nun is mainly worried about the future of her business. At the age of 67 she reached the statutory retirement age - but this does not apply in her congregation. ‘People work or die in the monastery.’ Is there a successor in sight? Sister Doris sighs: ‘I still hope that someone will show up. Have a look.’”)

5 years later, Sister Doris is still working the same trade there, and in the NPR article, she is apparently still looking for the right successor (again transcribing the video, not quoting the given text):

“You can only buy her beer here, at the Mallersdorf Abbey brewery, where she sells it herself. But not for long: she says she's going to retire soon and she's looking for a successor.”

Here’s hoping that this works out for Sister Doris and the cloister, to find a new Braumeisterin to keep the tradition going there. Plus, if nothing else, this story does add a bit of gender nuance to the whole history of beer, where we seem all pretty much to take it for granted that the history of beer is a male-dominated / bro thing, and neglect female brew masters, both past and in the craft beer present. In fact, and bringing home the point about Sister Doris’ long-standing reputation in the world of German beer, CNN Travel had this profile on her as far back as 2014, which noted:

“Germany's beer scene is seriously dude-centric. And Bavaria's is even more so.”

3CM the loser has been fortunate enough to have beer in Bavaria, though I’ve never sampled any of Sister Doris’ concoctions, as I didn’t know about Sister Doris until finding the NPR story. Instead, 3CM has to settle for the chosen non-cloister beer for the evening, although by coincidence, it is a Helles, and “Munich-style” at that, namely a Workhorse Brewing Co. ‘Golden Lager’. This is a very nice Helles indeed, IMHO, although no doubt Sister Doris would stand up for her Helles, presumably without necessarily dissing the Workhorse Brewing version ;) .

With that, time to turn it over to you folks. What are you drinking tonight? Anyone brewing their own? Inquiring minds, etc..

Friday Night Beer Blog: GABF2021 Winners Edition

chingchongchinaman

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday December 03, 2021 · 6:45 PM PST

2021/12/03 · 18:45

Not something from the GABF2021 winners list, but still a good beer anyway :)

Greetings, beer lovers! Happy Friday, and yes, once (or not) again, ‘tis chingchongchinaman as your semi-friendly substitute FNBB host, with esquimaux again getting a well-deserved break from FNBB’ing this evening. If craft beer is on your holiday shopping list, then tonight’s edition is potentially up your alley. The starting point is this year’s Great American Beer Festival, or more specifically, the winners from this year’s GABF, as presented at this year’s Craft Brewer’s Conference in Colorado. You can peruse the winners’ list in 2 variations:

a) HTML version, where the list goes by category in alphabetical order

b) PDF version, where the winners are given by numerical order of the 98 (!) categories

Speaking just for myself, self the loser found the HTML version the more confusing initially, as it took me a moment to figure out the logic of the order. Your own judgment will vary, of course. The press release for this year’s GABF winners gives something for lovers of dry stats:

“GABF Competition Statistics

* 35th edition of the GABF competition

* 9,680 beers judged

* 2,192 breweries in the competition from all 50 states plus Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico

* 170 judges

* Average number of competition beers entered in each category: 99.6

* Category with the highest number of entries: Juicy or Hazy India Pale Ale (427)

* 290 total medals awarded

* 265 medal-winning breweries”

3CM the loser thinks that the number of winners is actually 293, which doesn’t quite exactly square with the 290 medals awarded. But margin of error, and all that. One of the 293 winners is Rockwell Beer’s “Kazimierz”, a gold medal winner in the ‘Other Strong Beer’ (curious category name, that) category, as covered in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch by Ian Froeb here. Froeb quotes the reaction of Rockwell Beer’s head brewer, Jonathan Moxley, on getting the news:

“We were screaming. It was not expected.”

Following up on last week’s FNBB, self the loser hasn’t been to Rockwell Beer Co.’s tasting room to try this out (or has ever visited Rockwell Beer Company at all), but then their current on-line menu doesn’t mention Kazimierz anyway, although it does mention their 2019 GABF bronze medal winner, “Stand By”. Instead, the featured beer chez 3CM is something of a relatively recent STL standby, a City Life from 4 Hands Brewing Company. It’s an American-style pale ale with a hearty flavor, and is understandably very popular locally.

With that, time to turn the e-floor over to you. What beers are you sampling tonight? (For fun, if you had beer yesterday, that counts too for a story.) Anyone brewing their own?

Poll

19 votes Show Results

How many of the GABF 2021 beers have you tasted?

19 votes Vote Now!

How many of the GABF 2021 beers have you tasted?

14 votes

2 votes

1 vote

0 votes

1 vote

5 or more

1 vote

Friday Night Beer Blog: Small Brewery Sunday Edition

chingchongchinaman

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday November 26, 2021 · 6:45 PM PST

2021/11/26 · 18:45

Greetings, beer lovers! Happy (Black) Friday, and hope that you all had a nice Thanksgiving. So, once (or not) again, ‘tis chingchongchinaman as your semi-friendly substitute FNBB host, with esquimaux again getting a well-deserved break from FNBB’ing this evening. Everyone here knows about about the slew of branded days after Thanksgiving, like:

* Black Friday

* Small Business Saturday

* Cyber Monday

* Giving Tuesday

Note the missing day of the week in the middle of this particular roster. Well, guess what: per the Brewers Association’s CraftBeer.com page, there exists a Small Brewery Sunday, something of a “first derivative” (for those who remember calculus) of Small Business Saturday. 2021 marks the 3rd year for Small Brewery Sunday, as noted from this PR release from last week:

“Small Brewery Sunday — observed every Sunday following Thanksgiving — is a day we make a point to support small and independent breweries with our dollars. Because these small businesses can’t do it alone!”

From looking at the YT video stats each year (biased by my clicks on them, of course):

* 2019: ~3013 hits

* 2020: ~3282 hits

* 2021: ~322 hits (but the 2021 video looks exactly the same one as last year’s version)

YouTube Video

Of course, as the video states towards the end:

“You might be thinking; isn’t every Sunday Small Brewery Sunday? To that, we say: we like the way you think.”

To expand the picture from here, every Saturday is Small Business Saturday, and every Tuesday is Giving Tuesday; aren’t they? You get the idea. At this moment, it’s not clear if self the loser is planning to shop a local brewery on Sunday, although it is a nice idea, to support a local business and all that good stuff. Plus, it’s not as though I have big plans for Sunday already ;) . For now, I’ll just mention tonight’s featured beer chez 3CM, namely a "Hindsight ‘Blood Orange New England IPA’” from McAllister Brewing Company, where their write-up actually captures the flavor pretty accurately:

“This heavily hopped hazy IPA is loaded with heaps of blood oranges to compliment the bitterness of the hops.”

Of the modest number of McAllister Brewing Co. brews that I’ve tried, I’ve noticed their tendency to go for flavors that do indeed have a bitter edge to the taste. Maybe the presence of the blood oranges is indeed what mitigated that edge for me on this one. It’s certainly good, and something a bit different for me.

So it’s time, as usual, to turn the e-floor over to you folks. What beers are you sampling tonight? Anyone brewing their own? In the spirit of the holiday weekend, beers from last night are also welcome for discussion :) .

Poll

22 votes Show Results

Did you know about Small Brewery Sunday already?

22 votes Vote Now!

Did you know about Small Brewery Sunday already?

18 votes

Yes

4 votes

Newer
Older

RSS