Happy 2009 Independence Day!

Hope you get to do what makes you happy today. Enjoy the freedom. I'll use some of mine to be in a neighborhood parade in a little bit and to post Elwood's Bender. God bless.



.mp3 link

Riverwalk Expanding

A little more than a year ago we took a trip to San Antonio. It looks like some plans have been made for The River Walk since we went.

SAN ANTONIO -- For decades, the channel of the San Antonio River north of the popular restaurants and retail shops downtown was overgrown and blighted—the kind of place tourists went only if they made a wrong turn. But not anymore.

A $72 million overhaul—essentially doubling the size of the River Walk—has transformed the dry weed-choked eyesore north of the River Walk into a 1 ½-mile manicured waterway with whimsical art, benches and fountains that can be passed on foot or by water taxi en route to attractions upriver.

Of course there is a beer connection there (why else would I be writing about it?).

The so-called museum reach of the River Walk, which opens May 30, connects visitors from the busy convention center and Alamo area to the San Antonio Museum of Art and the Pearl Brewery, a retail redevelopment project. Beyond that, this fall, a path will allow pedestrians and cyclists to keep going north along the river to Brackenridge Park, home of the Witte Museum and the zoo.

And a historical reference to brewing:

In the 1800s, the river served mills and breweries like Pearl and Lone Star, which used the water for power and to make ice. As the industrial buildings aged, however, the riverbed was largely ignored until the recent restoration push.

Cool. I'd like to go back and see the new stuff, even though Pearl or Lone Star really aren't my choice of beer.

Facing Mecha

.mp3 link

Throes of Robotics

.mp3 link

He Is Risen

.mp3 link

A Review - Woody Creek White

I don't usually do beer reviews here. There are already other sites out there that do a fine job of it, like this one. In all, I'd have to say that the reviews there generally reflect the writer's understanding (or misunderstanding) of what the Belgian Witbier style is supposed to be. In short, Flying Dog's Woody Creek White is a fantastic example of the style.

I know what I'm talking about on this. I drank Celis White for nearly as long as it was brewed in Austin, Texas. Even after Celis moved to Michigan I continued to pick up Celis White whenever I managed to find some on the shelves of my local Spec's. Belgian Witbier is one of my (if not my absolute) favorite styles of beer.

Trust me when I tell you that Woody Creek White is no slouch with respect to the Belgian Witbier style. Now if you don't happen to like the style, that's another matter altogether. However, if someone tells me that Woody Creek White isn't true to the style of Celis White or Hoegaarden I would maintain that person knows nothing of what Belgian Witbier is supposed to taste like.

The Shine

.mp3 link

Proof

Here's more proof:

McHenry county authorities arrest an alleged church burglar and the key piece of evidence that led to the arrest was a can of Busch Light beer.

So not only are macro-brew consumers criminals, but they're absolute God-less heathens in addition to their criminal behavior. Yup.

Sequence 51

.mp3 link

Sounds Good

I'm looking forward to trying this:

Chico, CA (03/06/2009) —Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. is pleased to announce the release of Kellerweis Hefeweizen into their year-round portfolio of beers. This is the second new year-round release from the brewery in 2009, and a great addition to their lineup of world-class beers. The name Sierra Nevada is synonymous with hops, and lots of them. Kellerweis is an exception to that rule, but fortunately, no less exceptional.

I love the flavor traditional Bavarian wheat beer yeast imparts, but it's more than just the yeast itself:

For years the brewers weren’t satisfied with the beer; something was missing. In a flash of inspiration, an epic trip was arranged. The brewers took a whirlwind tour through the legendary Bavarian wheat breweries to see what they were doing. It was there they realized the advantages of making wheat beer using the traditional system of open fermentation. Sierra Nevada had been making a portion of their beer using the difficult and labor-intensive technique of open fermentation for years. Most modern brewery fermentation takes place in closed, stainless-steel tanks; this method is efficient, quick and clean. In closed tanks, however, the yeast doesn’t have the opportunity to coax as much complexity from the fermenting beer. Using shallow open fermentation, the yeast has space to build layers of flavors and aroma that would otherwise be impossible.

Sounds good. I'm eager for a taste!

Slow Rollin'

It's been a while since I played. Too much else going on. I'm doing everything possible to hang on to my job (like most everyone else I guess). Music is therapeutic to me though, so I have to make time for that. So... I'm slow rolling back into it.



.mp3 link

Beer Wars

I just learned of an upcoming movie called Beer Wars through fellow Houston based beer blog Barley Vine. Here's a trailer:



I would encourage anyone who can possibly go to see this movie to do so. It's only showing one day: April 16th, 2009. I'm going to make every effort to go. More attention needs to be called to the fact that mega-breweries have been serving a mass produced mediocre product to an uneducated American public for decades. Hopefully this movie helps people to recognize that reality.

I'm seeing "tea parties" spring up around the country in recognition of the reality that American taxpayers are being duped to the tune of trillions of dollars. In that same spirit, perhaps Americans can recognize the reality that the largest breweries have manipulated laws to favor their mediocre products over smaller, more quality minded brewers. It's time to take our country back from these lobbyist favoring buffoons that think they know better than us how we should spend our own money. Enough is enough.

Conventional Wisdom

It just isn't always worth listening to:

As some drown their sorrows in suds during these economic hard times, a Boulder County microbrewery is toasting its' business success. The company's secret? Doing what it was advised not to do.

"People said it was sacrilegious to put a really good, premium beer in a can." said Marty Jones, the idea man for Oskar Blues Brewery.

But 6 years ago, Oskar started hand-canning its beer. The company has experienced major growth every year since.

Read it all here. I like the Dale Pale Ale well enough, but Old Chub is the one I really like. I love a good wee heavy.

Utah Gets With The Program

Here's the link, but it's short, so I'll post the whole thing:

The Utah Senate gave final approval to a bill that will allow brewing beer and wine at home without a license.

House Bill 51 allows anyone over the age of 21 to brew up to 100 gallons of beer or wine at home in a year. If there's more than one adult in the home, the amount allowed goes up to 200 gallons.

The Deseret News reports three Republican senators voted against the bill. One of them, Senate Majority Assistant Whip Gregory Bell, R-Fruit Heights, told the newspaper he is not comfortable with home brewing because it seems "fraught with mischief."

But other lawmakers say this is mainly about brewing competitions or having a home-made drink with dinner.

The bill now goes to Gov. Jon Huntsman for final action.

Home brewing is "fraught with mischief"? These guys really need to get out more.

Supporting Evidence

In support of the idea set forth in my last post:

Craft brewers are toasting another gain in market share, saying they now sell more than 4 percent of all the beer brewed in America.

The Boulder-based Brewers Association said craft beers accounted for 4.04 percent of the U.S. market by volume in 2008, up 0.25 percentage point from the year before.

Yup. Now, in the larger sense, if our federal government would just realize that they have a peculiar knack for turning a thriving economy into hammered poop we might get somewhere. I don't expect that to happen though. They just want to help us. Like Paul Newman said in Cool Hand Luke, "Wish you'd stop bein' so good to me, cap'n.". I'm not sure how much more help we can stand.

Redeeming Quality

I really don't think much of former President Jimmy Carter. I guess he does have one redeeming quality though.

For connoisseurs of Budweiser, the 1970s were a pale golden age. In every supermarket across the land, the King of Beers maintained its status as the grocery world’s most superfluous monarch, reigning over just a handful of domestic taste-alikes and one or two upstart imports. The American public had decided it liked its beer cheap, bland, and less filling, and the industry—which, after decades of consolidation, consisted of a mere 44 breweries in 1979—was happy to oblige. Consumers with a thirst for something tastier, or at least different, had few options. Things were so bad, in fact, that Coors, distributed in just 11 Western states, was considered such a rare delicacy in other parts of the country that bootlegged cases went for three times their retail price in New Jersey and Tennessee. Was it any wonder that the nation was feeling weak and watered down?

Then Jimmy Carter took pity on our wretched souls. In 1978 he signed Senate Amendment 3534, a portion of which gave each household permission to produce up to 200 gallons of tax-exempt beer each year.

[my bold]

Read the whole article if you want more context. It's a good illustration of the wisdom in allowing the free market to operate unencumbered by "well-meaning" political restrictions.

If you’re looking for a textbook example of how government can stifle innovation and discourage productive activity, even when operating in Regulatory Lite mode, the story of home brewing in America should hit the spot.

Indeed it does!

Beer and Health

This is good to read:

Despite its reputation, evidence is showing that beer can have health benefits. Moderate amounts have been linked to a protective effect in cancer, heart disease and osteoporosis, as well as increasing good cholesterol, boosting immune defences, and preventing blood-clotting. German researchers in Heidelberg say a key factor is that beer is high in antioxidants; about 80 per cent of its antioxidants are from barley and 20 per cent from hops, and they work individually and together against cancer to stop it developing and growing. Evidence has accumulated in the past decade pointing to the cancer-preventing potential of beer constituents, including the flavonoids xanthohumol and isoxanthohumol. The Council of Scientific Research in Madrid found that the level of a number of immune system cells increases significantly after 30 days, particularly in women. Researchers at Tufts University in the US say that silicate found in beer seems to reduce bone loss.

You can read the entire article here. The article discusses quite a bit more than beer actually, but beer, of course, is the part of it that first grabbed my attention. The real thrust of the article is that many foods and drinks long considered "bad" for you are, in fact, not necessarily bad at all. To summarize, modern medicine, great as it is, doesn't have all the answers.

Expanding Primo

A while back, I wrote about the return of Primo beer in Hawaii. Well, it seems that they're doing so well that they're expanding to the mainland.

Primo Beer, the popular made-in-Hawai'i brand that was revived locally after a decade-long hiatus, will be available at bars and grocery stores in California and Nevada.

Good job. Congratulations to the folks at Primo.

One More Time (With Feeling)

Yet again:

It appears that the government is beginning to crack down on products named after President Obama. After reading a Facebook message, Brownstoner reports Sixpoint Craft Ales were forced to shut down their "Hop Obama" line by the feds.

Elect a liberal President who wants to grow the fed, then act surprised at the natural result of doing so. No need to worry though. There will be $13 more per paycheck to stimulate you in ways you never imagined; assuming of course, you're not "rich" already. If you're already "rich" it's your job to pay more taxes and shut up.

The Genetics of Yeast

This is encouraging to read:

London - Researchers have mapped the DNA of dozens of strains of yeast used for brewing, baking and biofuels, something they said on Wednesday will help map the human genome and could lead to better-tasting beer and wine.

Obviously, the beer aspect is what initially caught my attention, but the implications really do go much further than that. I'd encourage you to read the entire article. It's short and well worth the time.