Hey! I'm alive, and I'm having a drink. You should, too.

It's been nuts around here. In the middle of trying to get caught up after the earlier events of the month -- about six stories (13,000 words), editing the proofs of PA Breweries 4, and wrapping up the next issue of Malt Advocate -- I went to Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans (and I'll get something up on that) last week and we took Thomas up to Boston University for orientation over the past three days (yesterday was a marathon: a big "Albanian omelette" at Victor's Diner in Watertown, four hours of orientation wrap-up at BU, then about 500 miles of driving to get around traffic, pick up Nora and the dogs in Lancaster, and home again about 11 PM). This morning Cathy and I went over to the Delaware River, turned off our cell phones, and rode fifteen miles of trail, then went to the Newtown Farmer's Market and got some good eats, and then I came home and took the dogs for a half hour walk (Maud's exercise program, and she's doing well).

So I think I've earned a drink. I built a big one of Jack Daniel's Single Barrel and ginger ale, with a lot of ice for the heat. It's tasting pretty damned good; not as sticky as Jack and Coke, but while the ginger ale is spicy, it doesn't overwhelm the whiskey. I just did a whiskey story for Massachusetts Beverage Business (it's coming out in September; my "What's Hot in Beer" piece will probably up tomorrow, including a sidebar on session beer and nanobreweries), and the JD folks told me that Jack and Ginger is the drink they're pushing: more appeal to women (not sure why), and more upscaling options: ginger ale, or Domaine de Canton ginger liqueur, or muddled fresh ginger. I'll have to try the fresh ginger option...

Red White & Brew Goes Down the Shore

I've been dropping by Red White & Brew in Mt. Holly for years before I put it in New Jersey Breweries (or maybe Mark wrote that part; I'm not sure). Anyway, they pack a lot of good beer -- often not the same ones you see everywhere else, and they're my closest source for Climax -- into a small space, and they have good whisky, too.

I heard today that they've opened a second store...in Margate. Now that's good news when you're stuck at the shore, awash in Bud Light. I mean, you can't spend all damned day at Tun Tavern and Firewaters, right? You can get good take-out now. It's at Margate Towers, 9400 Atlantic Avenue (just down the road from Lucy the Elephant), 609-823-0060.

Nice to think about on a day when I really ought to be at the beach...and headed for NOLA tomorrow. Heat, baby. Bring the beer!

 

New Samuel Adams voting challenge

The new Samuel Adams Beer Lovers Choice contest beers are out there, where two proposed beers are sent out to be taste-tested across the country. I got mine yesterday, and they're in the fridge right now: American Rye Ale, and a Belgian-style IPA. After last year's voting propelled Noble Pils into the spring seasonal slot, I promise to never underestimate the American beer geek's palate again; that beer's brilliant. So bring it on; vote early, vote often!

THANK YOU to everyone at the Hulmeville Inn!

I went down to the Hulmeville Inn yesterday to celebrate Steve Hawk's win as Philly Beer Geek. When I got there, the first thing I did was order a Sierra Nevada ExPorter, because Jeff Lavin, the owner, had decided that he would donate the proceeds from the sales of that keg to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network in my father's memory. When I wanted to pay, the bartender told me, "You'll have to find The Mayor; he's got The Can." Hah?

Well, I knew who The Mayor is, anyway: Mike Sodano. So I went looking for Mike, and found Jeff. Jeff went to look for Mike, and I went back to my excellent beer (kept for me by my excellent wife and the charming Bryan and Patty Kolesar, and Philly Beer Geek organizer Carolyn Smagalski, who is recently engaged, congrats!). About ten minutes later, Mike and Jeff came and got me for pictures. Pictures? Yeah. What happened, before I got there, they'd strapped a 3 gallon keglet of ExPorter to Steve's back (at left), and he'd gone around telling people what was going on, and Mike followed him with a can for donations. Jeff handed me an envelope that had a check and and more cash donations that totaled $843 for pancreatic cancer research. (That's Mike, me, and Jeff in the picture below; we grabbed Christine Gumpper and got her in because she's such a sweetheart.)

I was stunned...but not speechless. Mike got the mike, quieted the crowd, and let me speak. I told them what they'd done, told them they were fantastic, thanked them "from the bottom of my beer-soaked heart," and toasted my father with them. It was a humbling moment. My thanks to everyone there that day. I will write a check for the cash, and send both checks into PCAN tomorrow.

I may have found a cause.

Follow-up on beer tax relief ("the subsidy")

From the Seattle PI "Washington Beer Blog," this bit of support for the federal tax relief Joseph DiStefano was defaming (and misunderstanding) recently:

The estimated cost of the provision is about $44 million per year and less than $500 million over 10 years. A Harvard study of the Economic Impact of H.R. 4278 indicates that the bill would generate more than 2,700 new jobs over the first year to 18 months, followed by an average of 375 new jobs per year over the following 4 years. Each new job would cost less than $4,000 in foregone government revenue in 2010. According to the study, "Economic activity would increase by $10.91 per dollar lost in government revenue, making the bill an efficient use of government funds."

Sounds pretty damned good, doesn't it? And these are going concerns that are showing steady growth in a mature industry. Still some risk, but...that's damned near money in the bank. If the economy does double-dip, as fears are growing, maybe a different story, but it's going to be a different story for a lot of businesses, and why would you want high taxes on business in a recession anyway? Do this thing. And you, reader, tell your senators you'd like to see this happen.

Barcade Fishtown? Game on!

Thanks to Uncle Jack for bringing this to my attention (I clearly have to put Brownstoner on my regular reading list): Barcade is coming to Fishtown! I love this Brooklyn beer bar, with its beep-booping collection of vintage arcade games and excellent beer, and the Fishtown branch (how cool is a NYC bar opening a Philly branch; you know they see a good market, right?) sounds great, beer garden and all. Looking forward to this.

By the way, Brownstoner linked out to FooBooz for news of Jose Garces next joint: Frohman's Wursthaus (13th and Chancellor). It's wonderful: things just keep getting better and beerier in Philly.

What a Beautiful Pair...

Just saw this pair of new beers coming from Great Divide, and it got me excited. Here's the descriptions: 

"Rumble IPA is an American IPA with subtle nuance. Brewed with heavy handed additions of Pacific Northwest hops, this beer is gently aged on French and American oak resulting in a wonderful balance of bitterness, caramel sweetness, vanilla, and undertones of pine and citrus. Very inspiring. 7.1% ABV. Available in six packs and on draft."

"Smoked Baltic Porter is the sultry sister of a storied style. Brewed with traditional German malts and hops, this dark lager gets its special twist from a hefty addition of Bamberg smoked malt. This smoldering, medium-bodied lager is sure to please. Smoked Baltic Porter is smooth, smoky and dark...mysterious enough yet? 6.2% ABV. Available in 22oz bottles and on draft."

 I'm going to have to find some of this stuff.

My father's memorial service

Forgive me: I'm using the blog to let friends know when my father's memorial service is. You're certainly all welcome (although we won't have any drinks), but it's just a way to get the word out. 'Nuff said.

The memorial service for Lewis Bryson II will be held at 10 AM, this Saturday, July 17, at Leacock Presbyterian Church, 3181 Lincoln Highway East, Paradise, PA. The service will last about an hour, with a reception to follow in the church hall. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations to Hospice of Lancaster County be considered as an alternate choice; that was my father's request. 



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The Dead Hand of Jim Bell...

No, Jim Bell isn't really dead; at least, not so far as I know. But his Frankenstein monster, Red Bell Brewing, continues to haunt Philadelphia brewing. Witness this misreasoned claptrap from the usually eruditer-than-this Joseph DiStefano, titled Beer Will Save America! Funny. DiStefano is bringing up the proposal by Senators John Kerry (D-Mass.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), and Susan Collins (R-Maine) to lower the federal tax on craft beer. Kerry says it will create jobs (it will), Jim Koch of Boston Beer points out that craft brewing is one of the few success stories in the recession (it sure as hell is), and the Wall Street Journal says the tax cut will help the craft brewing industry (well, duh).

But DiStefano says "We've been this way before." He opens up the Scary Closet and brings out the shaggy boogiemen of Red Bell and Independence (and not even the right Independence, you big dope; that link goes to the closed brewpub) as being "among the many beermakers backed by the taxpayer-subsidized U.S. Small Business Administration in the late 1990s; both also sold shares to the general public; both are among the many investor- and taxpayer-subsidized brands that flopped."

Well, imagine that: there are businesses that sold stock and went under. That couldn't have anything to do with how the Inquirer sucked up to Jim Bell and printed any damned bullshit he sent them, could it? As far as that goes, "investor-subsidized"? What the hell's that? The shareholders made an investment, they took a risk. If they'd gotten bailed out, that would have been a subsidy. But small brewers don't get bailed out, they just close.

But the main point? This isn't even a subsidy! The Feds raised the beer tax back in 1991, the senators want to roll that back -- like every other part of the 1991 tax increase, like the luxury tax on yachts that somehow got repealed... -- they're not going to SPEND money on this 'stimulus package,' the brewers are going to do that. 

Then he gets silly: "What's the big deal with small-batch beers? Yes, they probably taste better. Yes, they're definitely winning market share from Bud and Miller and Coors over the years. So much that the giants have been closing and consolidating plants and selling out to foreign owners."

Okay, no. Much as this thought leads beer geeks to turn off the lights and fondle themselves in front of the gently glowing screen of a computer locked on ratebeer.com, it's simply not true. The "small-batch beers" just are not selling enough to have caused the "selling out to foreign owners." The big guys have been consolidating to save costs and boost market share, and right now it's the foreigners turn to buy. It's got nothing to do with craft beer, which is still under 5% of the market. You want to point a finger, point it at Corona and Heineken, which have taken three times the share away from the big brewers. So DiStefano is either ignorant, or misleading you. Take your pick.

It's the conclusion that's the kicker, though: "But does that really add up to more and better jobs that merit public subsidies?" Well, yes, it does add up to more jobs. Period. Give craft brewers a tax break, and I guarantee, they will SPEND that money on new hires, on better benefits for the workers they do have, on solid industrial equipment, on advertising and promotions. They won't squirrel it away in a tax break somewhere, or send it overseas. Which, I would think, would be a GREAT way to get an effective stimulus activity out of...wait, that's right, it's NOT a public subsidy! That would be if the government GAVE THEM MONEY. But we're not even talking about giving them money, we're just talking about TAKING LESS AWAY FROM THEM.

Am I wrong? Is it really a "public subsidy" when you cut back on an excise tax that shouldn't even be there in the first place? Or is this just one more example of how the brewing industry (and the spirits and wine biz) is treated unfairly because everyone is scared to death of alcohol? I'll tell you what, Mister DiStefano, I would much rather see taxes ratcheted back on a growing, thriving production industry than see government funds given to the banking industry. How about that, fella?

Five Summer Beers video

After the way CBS screwed the pooch with their silly "Five Best Beers Made in America" poof piece (as I commented on FaceBook, "I have not seen this clueless a set of comments about beer from a wine person in years. I really thought we were making progress...clearly I was wrong."), I opened a link to a TIME magazine video about "Five Beers To Try This Summer" with some trepidation. I was pleasantly surprised: this is so much better than the CBS coprolite I can't even quantify it. Have a look; nicely done.