I Don't Need To Drink To Have Fun...

Another thought about "Why We Drink."

Lore Sjöberg's "Lore Brand" comics are frickin' hilarious. Go read some more.






Used with permission from Lore Sjöberg.

Now that's an Inauguration Day Special Event

I'm hearing a lot about Inauguration Day beer events: Ommegang has a special Obamagang beer out (which the TTTB, those killjoys, did not allow as a name: "officially" it's Inauguration Ale, but now you know the secret name), bars in DC will be open till 5 AM, everyone's celebrating.

The Grey Lodge is celebrating too, as only they do: based on Scoats's weird obsession with the calendar. On Inauguration Day, January 20th (also known as 1/20), they'll be tapping a deadly weapon: a sixtel of Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA.

This is the kind of beer that makes you start quoting Dirty Harry: "I know what you're thinking, punk. Did you drink six shots of 120 Minute, or only five? Well, to tell you the truth, I forgot myself in all this excitement. But being as this is 120 Minute, the most powerful IIPA in the world and will blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself a question: do I feel lucky? Well do ya, punk?"

Kind of makes me want to go out and vote for the man all over again. After a couple 120s, who knows, I might try to.

And if my editors are reading this...I really am getting work done this morning. Honest.

Triumph's Jewish Rye gets attention

There's a nice little bit on Meal Ticket, Philly CityPaper's food blog, about Triumph Old City's latest batch of Jewish Rye ale. I've been enjoying this beer for years, and a tip of the hat to brewer Patrick Jones for giving credit for the beer's development to Tom Stevenson, the innovative brewer at Triumph's original Princeton location (and to Felicia D'Ambrosio for including that; hell, for a very nicely-written short piece on the beer).

If you've never had the beer, go down and try it. D'Ambrosio and Jones do a nice job of both explaining (it's caraway that makes the beer taste like the rye bread you're thinking of) and describing the beer (touching on the pleasant tart/sour tang you get from rye -- think about it, it's there in the bread, too, must be more of a citric break than wheat). Nice work. Competition among people writing about beer is fierce in this town...

Hofbräuhaus Pittsburgh delayed -- once more?

The Pittsburgh Hofbräuhaus opening has been delayed again -- when were they supposed to open? Early 2007? -- I hope for the last time. There's a story in today's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that reports the opening date has been pushed back to February 24th.

Nick Ellison, managing member of Hofbrauhaus Pittsburgh, said the opening had to be postponed because of delays in getting utilities hooked up. "We've got to have utilities to brew beer, and we can't open until we get beer," he said.

So...no beer brewed yet? Six weeks to opening? Hmmmm... Anyway, seating has been finalized at 450 indoors and 600 outdoors, very ambitious for Pittsburgh in a recession, but if they bring in a decent price, it might work.

Let's see, the menu's up...from what I see, the appetizers look a bit pricey, as do some of the sandwiches (an $11 reuben?), but the entrees are quite reasonable. I'd like to see some lower-priced snacky bits, schmankerl, or maybe, as is done in Germany, there will be side kiosks or circulating waiters with trays of snacks, low-priced and paid for in cash? Oh, wait, maybe the Side Dishes menu will work. Maybe.

Don't know how much the beer is, either, although there is a beer list on the last page of the menu: Hofbräu Premium Lager (5.2%), Munich Weizen (5.4%), Light (3.8%; "Similar to American Light Lagers, but much fresher and more flavorful"), and Hofbräu Dunkel (5.5%). They also promise a new seasonal every month (a lot, for German brewers) and a keg tapping celebration of the new seasonal on the first Wednesday of every month. Good times!

The February 24th date is a soft opening, with the grand opening scheduled for April 1...which is WhiskyFest Chicago, dammit! Ah, me.

Thanks to a number of readers in the Pittsburgh area who passed that story on immediately: they know you're interested. And indeed you are: Queries about the Pittsburgh Hofbräuhaus opening have been the biggest hits on the blog for the past two weeks.

Craft Ale House: I been there

If you're going to put that on your roadside sign, you better have a damned clue about beer. Gary and Melissa Fry have that at the Craft Ale House (708 W. Ridge Ave, Limerick (but every mapping software calls it Royersford, tip to you)), and more. I'm at the bar right now (thanks for that free WiFi, Gary!), and I'll tell you...they've got a clue. I'm looking at a taplist of O'Reilly's Stout, Climax Hoffman Helles, Sly Fox Odyssey, Ommegang Witte, Founder's Breakfast Stout, Pikeland Pils, 90 Minute, Arrogant Bastard, Legacy Fat Boy, Fantome de Noel, Old Horizontal and St. Victorious, Kenzinger, ESA, and Russian River Pliny the Elder and Damnation...they've got a clue. My only argument, of course, is that there are four craft lagers on the damned list! A minor issue, and if pressing it would mean no lagers, well, shut my mouth.

I'm drinking Pliny -- okay, I drank Pliny and now I'm in a pint of O'Reilly's, and both of them were beautiful. I had a quick lunch of grilled shrimp and pineapple with rice in coconut milk that was delicious with the Pliny; funky hop goodies with that grilled pineapple was excellent. Prices seem reasonable, service was good (though, to be fair, on this nasty damned weather day, the place was pretty quiet except for Mr. Dan "Heckler of the Year" Bengel next to me). As Dougie MacArthur said, I shall return.

Another great Philly area opening. We are truly frickin' blessed. Come on , Philly Beer Week!

Why We Drink: Not just me

I just saw that Maureen "Ambitious Brew" Ogle linked to my "Why We Drink" post with a thoughtful post of her own. She's good at that: the thoughtful part, that is, though she's very good about linking and giving credit, too.

What's even better is that she got it:

I don't think Lew was advocating drinking to excess, or even making drink the center of one's life. Rather, I think he was expressing frustration at the notion that having a drink is the same thing as being a drunk.

Bingo. And as she says later,

The idiots among us ("Oh, I don't drink. I [don't] need alcohol to have fun.") don't (or won't) understand that good alcohol tastes good, and things that taste good produce pleasure.

That feels good. I mean, having written something that someone else gets so well. It was nice to get linked to on such a deeply thoughtful blog. Which leads up to...I can't believe I didn't link to it before now. I'll fix that.

The World's Largest Brewers: ups and downs

Just saw some interesting numbers: change in stock prices over the last year on the world's largest brewers from a regular e-letter from www.e-malt.com. Rolling down from the year's best performer to the year's biggest loser:

MolsonCoors -- +4.4%
SABMiller -- -15.7%
Heineken -- -48.2%
Carlsberg -- -60.9%
Anheuser-Busch InBev -- -70.7%

MolsonCoors has been tearing up the pea patch lately, running on big margins from Blue Moon and increased volume on Coors Light, enough to offset losses from the Canadian brands side of the business. Coors has put in place a number of things that are appealing directly to their customers: the 'blue mountain' temperature sensing label, the 'air vent' pouring aid on their cans, and they've done away with the goofy "Twins" advertising and have focused on the beer and the fun.

That all seems silly to most craft drinkers, but you know what? We don't drink Coors Light anyway, so they're not aiming at us. They are aiming at us -- or people who are thinking like us -- with the very understated and smart support they're giving Blue Moon. You gotta be some kind of smart to beat the crap out of the average performance of American/European stocks last year: -42%. Hats off to MolsonCoors.

Best of the Best of the Beer Year: Our Suz

Belatedly -- because it left me slack-jawed with admiration and rolling around laughing -- I'd point you to Suzanne Woods' Best of 2008 post on her excellent "I'll Have Another Stout" blog. She's a fabulous voice for beer in the area, and no one I've talked to or heard from minds that she works for Sly Fox and is in a serious relationship with Iron Hill brewer Chris Lapierre, because Suzanne just loves Philly beer, and gives everyone their due. This list is an example: it's exhaustive, it's funny, it's engaging, it's human -- very much so -- and it's dead-on. Go now. Read.

Bad news at Selin's Grove

Selin's Grove's website has announced an end to growler fills for the foreseeable future. "Due to a serious production equipment failure, we must preserve our beer supply for restaurant use only."

What's up? One usually reliable source of mine tells me that Selin's Grove has experienced "the structural collapse of their direct-fired kettle" on January 1st. It "shattered like glass" while water was being heated in it. Terrible thing to happen on the first day of the new year.

If anyone knows of a brewer with a replacement kettle -- I think 7 barrel -- please ask them to contact Selin's Grove ASAP. Fabricating a new one will take weeks...time Selin's Grove does not have. They have about two weeks of beer left, and I'm pretty sure that they don't have a liquor license; all they'll be able to serve, oddly, is PA wine and cider.

Support for Heather and Steve from the beer making and drinking community of PA would be great at this time!

Update already: I hear (same grapevine) that a new kettle has been found, a bigger one. Don't know if it will fit in the garage; remodeling in the works? And in the meantime, alternate brewing solutions may be in the works. Cross your fingers, folks; clap your hands.

More on bourbon barrel size...

In reference to the earlier post, Larry Kass (of Heaven Hill) forwarded this from a contact at Independent Stave Company, the big barrel-making outfit in Lebanon, KY:

I found in a circular, distributed by the Treasury Dept., dated 1968, the information concerning the 53 gallon barrel. It was proposed to the Treasury Dept. that the 53 gallons should be the maximum capacity of a whiskey barrel. This petition was rejected, but their conclusion was that they would not set the maximum size for whiskey barrels. The selection of the size of the container suitable for maturing a product may continue to be left to the distiller.

So 53 gallons appears to be a quasi-standard. My only question: who proposed that to Treasury? Distillers? I do think Treasury was smart to turn down the job of setting a max size of barrels. Thanks, and thanks to the folks at ISC.