Sunken Ship Brewing, Princeton MN

Minnesota's newest brewery is also the closest brewery to our house! Sunken Ship Brewing will open on Saturday, July 30. They held a soft opening last night, and it was worth the wait.

They're located at 32273 124th Street, just off the Rum River Road exit on Highway 169, in a renovated boat repair shop. Hence the nautical theme, and as an added bonus, the brewery's floor was already sloped and drained properly.

There's a big patio out front and another smaller one in back, along with a fenced-in dog park for your pups. Well-behaved dogs are also welcome inside.

The interior is essentially two big rooms: the bar and the brewery.

The brewing equipment is from Craft Kettle Brewing Equipment in New Orleans.

And of course, the beer. Princeton native and Minnesota beer veteran Bobby Blasey plans to have all sixteen taps flowing soon. As of yesterday, there were three actual beers, two grocery beers, and a couple of seltzers.

I started with the Uncharted Odyssey. As billed, it was a crisp, clean light beer. Damn tasty and refreshing.

Next up was the Aran Sweater Stout. Lots of chocolate malt, and a herbal, almost minty hop flavor. Definitely worth having another.

Finally, the Graceful Insanity Hazy IPA. Intensely citrusy, but without the annoying slick mouthfeel that so many hazys have, I enjoyed this one too.

Paris enjoyed the Ships Bounty Sour, saying it had more strawberry character than raspberry. It was kinda thick, and so didn't have the bone-dry scrape-off-your-tooth-enamel tartness.

Sunken Ship's grand opening runs from 11am-11pm, Saturday, July 30. Live music begins at noon and runs for the duration. Two food trucks will be on hand, and the first 100 attendees get to spin the wheel for prizes.

See you there!

OTAN Olutta!

A small brewery in Finland has launched a NATO-themed beer to mark the Nordic country’s bid to join the Western military alliance.

Olaf Brewing's OTAN lager features a blue label with a cartoon version of a beer-drinking medieval knight in metal armor emblazoned with NATO’s compass symbol.

The beer's name is a play on the Finnish expression “Otan olutta,” which means “I’ll have a beer,” and the French abbreviation for NATO, which is “OTAN.”

CEO Petteri Vanttinen ... described the new lager as having “a taste of security, with a hint of freedom.”

Read the whole story at NBCDFW.

The Local's guide to Oktoberfest

This year's guide from The Local - Germany's news in English:

Welcome to Oktoberfest!

But be warned this isn’t just a bunch of party tents with lots of decent beer. No, by deciding to travel to this famous Volksfest, you’ve agreed to have the entire concept called Germany crunched into your skull by a sadomasochistic Bavarian mistress. She’s a pagan goddess with a lion at her heel, and in your hazy drunkenness she’ll indoctrinate you with all the wrong stereotypes about this country.

She’ll strap you down, peel back your eyelids and show you a heady mix of beer, breasts, leather, meat, and Bavarian bourgeois superiority. If you’re lucky, maybe she’ll even slap a dark green felt hat on you and take you on a whirlwind tour of the region’s prized “laptops and Lederhosen” economy as you belt down another Maß. And then she will release you to stagger home, hung-over, sweaty, full of misinformation, but most likely happy and content.

Read the rest at The Local.

Prost!

8 beers Americans no longer drink

OK, "no longer drink" is an exaggeration. But it's surprising how much these eight brands have declined in five short years:

• Budweiser, down 30% to 18,000,000 barrels


• Milwaukee's Best Light, down 34% to 1,300,000 barrels


• Miller Genuine Draft, down 51% to 1,800,000 barrels


• Old Milwaukee, down 52% to 525,000 barrels


• Milwakee's Best, down 53% to 925,000 barrels


• Bud Select, down 60% to 925,000 barrels


• Michelob Light, down 64% to 525,000 barrels


• Michelob, down 72% to 175,000 barrels

Budweiser was the best-selling brand in America for some 30 years, until Bud Light supplanted it in 2001. Milwaukee's Best Light, believe it or not, sold 2,100,000 barrels about 12 years ago. Twenty years ago, more than 7,000,000 barrels of MGD was sold, along with 6,000,000 barrels of Old Milwaukee, and 7,000,000 barrels of Milwaukee's Best.

Americans are slowly but increasingly turning to local brews and imports over the old brands. Unfortunately, they're upping their intake of light beers at the same time.

Read the whole article at MSN.

'Missing' Lager Brewing Yeast Discovered in Patagonia

Hail Saccharomyces eubayanus!

A fruit fly's journey from Patagonia to Bavaria could be the reason we enjoy nice, cold-brewed lager beers today. The missing parent of the hybrid yeast used for brewing lagers has just been discovered in Patagonia.

Until now, scientists had known lager beers were made from a hybrid yeast, with half of its genes coming from a common ale yeast and the other half coming from an unknown species.

They found the missing yeast growing on southern beech trees in Patagonia. They sequenced the genes and found that this species of yeast was very likely to be a parent of the lager yeast hybrid.

"It’s a 99.5 percent match to the missing half of the lager genome. It's clear that it is this species," Hittinger said.

Read the whole story at LiveScience.

Named for Chicago, but Goose Island's 312 to be brewed in New York

According to the Chicago Tribune:

Three months after being acquired by Anheuser-Busch, Goose Island Beer Co. said today that its massively popular 312 Urban Wheat Ale will soon be brewed in an AB facility in upstate New York.

Brewing a beer named for Chicago in Baldwinsville, N.Y. -- 700 miles from where it was created -- might raise eyebrows among those who criticized AB's $38.8 million takeover of Goose this spring, but Goose founder and Chief Executive Officer John Hall said the move will be a boon for fans of the brewery's higher end beers, like Matilda and Bourbon County Stout.

Accounting for almost half the brewery's sales, 312 has required significant resources at Goose's Fulton Street plant. With the beer's production heading east -- partially at first and likely entirely at some point -- that space can be used for other projects, Hall said.

And here's something I didn't know:

312 is the third Goose beer to leave its hometown; all of the brewery's India pale ale and most of its Honker's Ale are brewed at a Redhook brewing facility in Portsmouth, N.H.

Read the whole story at the Chicago Tribune.

Giving beer a home in the Rhineland

The Local takes on the Düsseldorf-Köln beer rivalry:

Whereas Cologne is all about drinking golden Kölsch in dainty glasses, Düsseldorf prefers the more ale-like favour of darker Alt.

To avoid ridicule while touring the Rhineland, caution is advised. A customer trying to order a glass of Alt beer in a Cologne pub will earn scorn and mockery from waiters and patrons alike. Conversely, asking for some Kölsch in a Düsseldorf locale is a sure-fire way of becoming the butt of many jokes for the rest of the night.

“It's a kind of love-hate relationship,” says Dirk Rouenhoff, master brewer at Schlüssel, a traditional brewery in Düsseldorf's historic centre. “Ultimately, it's something amusing that provides plenty of conversational fodder as well as funny anecdotes. And it can be a useful gimmick in advertising campaigns.”

The best example is a now-infamous billboard that adorned the streets of Düsseldorf last year. Früh, Cologne's third-largest beer brand by sales volume, depicted an empty Kölsch glass alongside the caption, “Before it gets old” – a stinging pun on “alt,” the German word for “old” as well as the beer. Another ad agency quickly pushed back in the name of Düsseldorf's brewers with a campaign claiming “Alt knallt,” which translates loosely as “Alt is the bomb.”

Read the whole story at The Local.

Two Madison brewpubs stop selling MillerCoors beers in protest of budget provision

Good for them! I hope more brewpubs follow their lead.

Though brewpubs apparently won't be affected by the legislation, Great Dane Pub and Brewing Co. and Vintage Brewing Co. confirmed this week they had ended sales of MillerCoors brands such as Miller Genuine Draft, Miller Lite, Leinenkugel's, Blue Moon and Molson.

Eliot Butler, Great Dane president, said the Dane's four locations have dropped MillerCoors indefinitely "in solidarity with the (Wisconsin) Brewers Guild and with the craft brewers of Wisconsin."

Read the whole (short) article at the Wisconsin State Journal.

Craft Beer & The Restaurant Hypocrisy: An Airing of Grievances

The Beer Wench says what many craft beer drinkers have been thinking: most restaurants and bars don't give a damn about beer. Her major points:

• The beer lists are uninspired, unoriginal, underwhelming and extremely disappointing.


• Sales & Marketing 101: If you want to sell a product, you have to know your product.


• Improper Glassware & Serving Temperature


• Improper Pouring and Poor Presentation of Craft Beer

Read the whole truth-filled diatribe at Drink With The Wench.

Oktoberfest beer prices to crack EUR 9-mark

It's time for the annual "more expensive beer at Oktoberfest" article!

A litre of beer will for the first time top €9 (US$13.20) at this year’s Oktoberfest, continuing a steady march upward in prices at the legendary Munich festival, the city announced on Tuesday.

A Maß of beer will cost up to €9.20 (US$13.50) this year, according to Munich officials. The average price will be €8.97 (US$13.16).

Read the whole story at The Local.

Currency conversion via XE on June 7, 2011 at 11:20am CDT.

Legislation through the budget process burn WI Craft Brewers...AGAIN! Need everyone's help to Rescind!

Here's more on Wisconsin's craft brew distribution battle, from Bo Bélanger of South Shore Brewery.

This is all about Motion #414 as presented to the Joint Committee on Finance at their 5/31/2011 meeting for the 2011-2013 State of Wisconsin budget.

Let's put it this way. The legislation was drafted by the Wisconsin Beer Distributors Assn and Miller/Coors. Their intent, as clearly stated, was to prevent Anheuser-Busch ImBev from buying wholesale beer distributors in Wisconsin. However; ABI, whose executive, Dave Peacock, is quoted in a May 24, 2011 interview in Beer Marketer's Insight Express (Vol. 13 No 48) stating, they currently own only 12 wholesales Nationwide and have zero plans to acquire more. So what gives? This protectionist legislation, inserted into the state's budget, is simply a power grab and competition elimination by these two groups.

Hmmm... which begs, why doesn't Miller/Coors counter that with operating a distributorship themselves? Could it be there brands aren't as strong as AB's? Could it be they are not as financially positioned to do that and are calling for protectionist legislation? Why wouldn't we help out Miller Brewing Company, a Wisconsin icon in the brewing industry... ah, let's see no longer headquartered in WI, no longer WI owned, losing market share to their boogieman AB.

So okay, I'll be specific. The last line on page one of motion #414 states bluntly ' a wholesaler's permit may not be issued to a person who holds a brewers permit'. For gosh sakes that's how the South Shore Brewery and the majority of other WI craft breweries were born! We established the value of our brands. We continue to do that in new markets. That license to self distribute is a tangible asset to the value of a brewery. Now that is gone. They just devalued my business in favor of a foreign owned one. Let's put it another way. Breweries need distributors. Good ones. However, since 1994, the number of distributors has dropped from 94 to 41. Just in the past five years consumers in the Milwaukee area now have only two wholesalers. So that same number of folks now is representing nearly 14,000 brands! How would you feel about your chances of being adequately represented in that market would be? Craft brewers are a fraternity of hardworking WI tax payers, whose contribution to our local and state's economy is growing impressively. Too impressively for the WBDA and Miller/Coors people as they look to push the elimination not only of my owning a wholesalers license, but any also the provision that allows a brewery in be invested in a wholesaler. They don't want us hardworking, tax paying, local investing WI craft brewer's getting together and forming our own distributorships! Heck no they say. Here are the brands we offer, and damnit this is what you get. By the way the later provision is page 2, line number 1 of motion #414.

Could there be more? The dirty ooze just keeps coming out of this motion. Any one that knows the South Shore Brewery and how it's been supported by it's founding in the Railyard Pub and how it continues today, coexisting with the Deep Water Grille here in Ashland, WI also understands how that relationship is a pillar of our ability to showcase our beers to new consumers. Gone. No longer could we establish our business the way it started. Page 2, paragraphs 2 & 3 eliminate any chance of that happening by removing any relationships for a class "B" liquor license or retail license. Oh but wait, the motion convieniently has an exception for the wholesalers who now can sell beer to it's employees and have event's where it is consumed on their premises. So the producer can no longer have a theater for that but the wholesaler can? Yet another tangible asset of value my brewery used to have dismissed. I lose more value again!

Should I stop now? Come on one more Bo...please! So all of you thinking of putting a small brewery in your restaurant or tavern, denied! Page 3, 3rd paragraph, 'Specify that no person holding a Class"A" or Class "B" license or permit or a wholesaler's permit may register as a brewer". If the general public isn't aware of how hard it is operating a food & beverage establishment, let me confirm that the challenges are enormous. Finding a unique specialty to drive business is an ongoing enterprise. Well forget about making beer!

Please help the small craft brewers stand against this motion. It is out of committee and hits the legislative bodies where we need to sway several politicians on BOTH sides. The motion can be recinded in this part of the legislative process. One last thing. There are many posts and comments out there trying to ferret out what is the reality. I am the reality. I am a WI beer producer! This legislation has been authored behind closed doors, by groups unrelenting in their efforts to control market access and share. They are anti WI craft beer. They show their collective cowardess by introducing this motion in the budgetary process. Additionally, they finally revealed their plot, literally, five minutes before the motion was to be voted on. I'm pissed off. I'm not here to take political sides. I stand on my assessments of this motion and any politician that can't see it as a severe impedance to our industry isn't worth supporting.

Want to know where to take your concerns? We need every legislator, Democratic, Republican and Independent, the governor to hear the voices of support for WI craft brewers. Please at least send a message to your reps and if you feel the emotion like the rest of us give these folks a piece of your mind as well... http://legis.wisconsin.gov/lfb/jfc.html. This is the list of folks on the Finance Committee.

Take the time to read the comments on Bo's Facebook page.

Wisconsin Legislature Attacks Craft Brewers

One of the many great things about being a brewer in Wisconsin was the ability to self-distribute our beers, something that is impossible here in Nebraska. Self-distribution gives the small brewer a foot in the door, and without it, Wisconsin wouldn't have nearly the beer diversity that it enjoys today. Lots of people would be out of work, and lots of tax money wouldn't be flowing into Wisconsin's coffers.

New legislation drafted by MillerCoors aims to change that. Under the guise of protecting MillerCoors from Anheuser-Busch InBev, the bill would institute a strict three-tier system. No holder of a brewer, wholesaler, or retailer license could hold a license in another category.

This bill is also supported by the Wisconsin Beer Distributors Association, the Tavern League of Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Grocers Association, the Wisconsin Petroleum Marketers & Convenience Stores Association, the Wisconsin Wine & Spirits Institute, large organizations that do most of their business with the big brewers.

The Wisconsin Brewers Guild, which represents about one-third of the state's craft brewers, was not consulted on the bill, even though there are provisions that will actively harm them.

Of course this has nothing to do with ABI. This is all about MillerCoors dictating what brewers can and cannot do in Wisconsin. No self-distribution means a lot fewer brewery startups, and very likely a lot of brewers going out of business.

The Tavern League has their grimy mitts in this as well, supporting a provision to ban brewers from operating pubs and restaurants, even on the brewer's own property.

Jay Brooks has posted one of his always-excellent rants on this subject.

Obnoxiously, Horton added that “the fundamental issue is whether small craft brewers want to be brewers or want to be brewers, wholesalers and retailers.” Given the way small brewers have been treated by distributors and retailers over the years, as they struggled against some pretty big, entrenched institutions to change how people thought about beer, that’s an awfully insulting thing to say. Craft brewers have had to find creative ways to gain access to market out of necessity, including doing their own selling and distributing, precisely because of all the roadblocks put in their way by distributors, retailers and big brewers, the very people who are trying once more to harm their business with this new legislation. So to hear MillerCoors suggest that small brewers should behave more like them, after making it impossible for them to do so for decades, is a pretty offensive thing to say.

There's a lot more; read Jay's article at The Brookston Beer Bulletin.

If you're in Wisconsin, find out who your legislators are and bombard them with opposition to this bill. Let them know that you support craft brewers, and that you vote.

Old Enough To Fight, Old Enough For Beer

Damn right.

The current age limit has created a culture of hidden drinking and disrespect for the law. Regardless of whether a person is in the military or simply an adult civilian, he or she ought to be treated as such. If society believes you are responsible enough to go to war, get married, vote, or sign a contract, then you are responsible enough to buy a bottle of beer and toast to living in a country that respects and protects individual rights. It is long past time the law caught up with that reality.

Read the whole article at Brookston Beer Bulletin.

Pierre Celis passes away

By now you've heard that Belgian brewing pioneer Pierre Celis left us this weekend at the age of 86.

Celis was a true brewing legend, he single-handedly revived the style witbier in the 1960s when he was a brewer at Hoegaarden. He later moved to Texas to start a microbrewery with his daughter Christine, which was sold to Miller in 1995. He was still brewing, making three cave-aged beers under the label Grottenbier at St. Bernardus in Belgium. (Brookston Beer Bulletin)

Paris and I went to Nebraska Brewing Company on Sunday to raise a glass of Infinite Wit in Pierre's honor. It's an excellent Witbier: clean, sweet, spicy, and refreshing.

Not many people can rightly be credited with reviving a dead style or inventing a new one; NBC's Infinite Wit is just one of hundreds of beers that simply would not exist if it weren't for Pierre Celis. Here's a very incomplete list of some others:

't IJ IJwit
(512) Wit
2 Brothers Trickster Wit Bier
3 Horne Horns Wit
3 Horne Kaats Witje
3 Ravens White
Abbaye Des Rocs Blanche des Honnelles
Abbaye Des Rocs Blanche Double
Abita Wit
Aksarben Witbier
Alaskan White
Ale Industries Orange Shush
Alken-Maes Brugs
Allagash White
Almond '22 Blanche de Valerie
Anheuser-Busch Shock Top Belgian White
Archibald La Joufflue
Argus Horse Whip White Belgian Ale
Asheville Christmas Jam White Ale
Atlas Tempest Wheat Beer
Avery White Rascal
Aviator White Bat Belgian Wit Beer
Baird Temple Garden Yuzu Ale
Baladin Isaac
Ballast Point Wahoo Wheat Beer
Barley Friska
Barley Island Sheet Metal Blonde
Barley John's Wit
Barley Station Talking Dog Wit
Barons Lemon Myrtle Witbier
Bastone Witbier
Bavik Witte Ezel
Bavik Wittekerke
Beach Killer whAle
Bellevaux Blanche
Benny Wit
Big Boss Blanco Diablo
Big Dog's Belgian White
Big Hole Mythical White Grand Cru
Big Time Washington Wit
Birdsview Witless in Birdsview
BJ's Nit Wit
Blue Frog Belgium White
Bo's White Lake Wheat
Bold City White Ale
Bones Belgian White
Borsodi Hoegaarden White
Boston Beer Company Samuel Adams White Ale
Boulevard Zōn
Brass Monkey White Flag
Brøckhouse Faste Øl
Breakside Wit
Breckenridge Summer Bright Ale
Breughel Kamour
Breughel Kamour Double
Brewer's Whale Branch Wit
Brewery at Lake Tahoe Belgian-Style White Ale
Brewery Creek Belgian Wheat
Bright Razor Witbier
Brooklyn Blanche de Brooklyn
Bruery Orchard White
Bull & Bones Sun Lit Wit
Bull & Bush 35th Anniversary Ale
Calavera Witbier
Caracole Troublette
Cathedral Square Belgian Style White Ale
Caulier Blanche des Sources
Celis White
Cellar Rats Field Rat Wheat Beer
Central City Wally's Wheat
Chameleon Witty
Chantecler La Blanche
Chapelle Northmaen Blanche
Чернігівське Біле
Cheval Blanc Apocalypse Buckwheat Ale / Coup de Grisou
Cimes L'Aiguille Blanche
Clown Shoes Clementine Witbier
Colonial Witbier
Coors Blue Moon Belgian White
Copper Creek Wit
Copper Kettle Lucky 393 Grand Cru
Craftsman Wit
Crane River Carhenge Wheat
Crazy Mountain Lava Lake Wit Beer
Croix Blanche La Blanche
Crystal Springs Tic Wit
Dada Tzara
Damm Inedit
Dancing Camel Hefe-Wit
Dark Star Landlords Wit
Dark Star Spiced Vice
De Boei Dichte Mist
De Clerck Blanche de Péronne
De Graal Triverius
De Struise Witte
Denver ChopHouse Honey Wheat
Denver ChopHouse Wheat Ale
Deschutes 20th Anniversary Wit
Diamond Knot Wit Bier
Dieu du Ciel! Première Neige
DOG Pub Dog White Dog
Dogfish Head Weedwacker Wit
Driftwood White Bark Ale
Du Bocq Blanche de Namur
Du Bocq Blanche des Moines
Dubuisson Clovis
Dupont Blanche du Hainaut Biologique
Duvel Moortgat Steendonk
Eagle Rock Manifesto
Egan White Fathers Witbier
Elk Grove What's Wit This Beer?
Emmett's Belgian Wit
Empyrean Eccentric Belgian Wheat
Engine House #9 Belgian White
Epic Wit Beer
Erie Sunshine Wit
Fanno Creek Nit Wit
Faultline Belgian White
Fenton Belgian Wheat
Feral White
Feral White Special Reserve
Ferguson Belgian White
Five Seasons Belgian Wit
Five Seasons Venus
Five Star Dim Whit
Florida Key West Southernmost Wheat
Flying Dog Woody Creek White
Freetail Rye Wit
Frog & Rosbif Maison Blanche
Frog XVI Maison Blanche
Front Street Raging River Ale
Gayant Amadeus
Gottberg Belgian Ale
Gouden Boom Blanche de Bruges
Gourmet Blanche
Grand Ridge Natural Blonde
Gray Witbier
Great Basin Whoop Ass Witbier
Great Lakes Holy Moses
Harper's Belgian Whit
Heineken Wieckse Witte
Hilltop Blanche de VaBch
Hoegaarden Original White Ale
Holgate White Ale
Hometown Cellars Belgian White
Honsebrouck Vlaamsch Wit
Horny Goat Belgian Wheat
Humboldt Summer Nectar Wheat Ale
Huyghe Blanche des Nieges
Huyghe Floris Wit
Huyghe Kira
Indian Ocean White
Indigo Imp Devil's Wit
Iron Hill Belgian Witbier
Iron Springs Belgian Whit
Ishikawa Tama no Megumi Belgian Wit
Jolly Pumpkin Calabaza Blanca
Jopen Adriaan
Joseph James Alpine Wit
Karma Lemon Ale
Keuka White Cap Wheat
Kiuchi Hitachino Nest White Ale
Knight's Head Belgian Style White Ale
Kodiak Island Belgian Witbier
Kronenbourg Brugs
L'Inox Trouble-Fête
La Barberie Blanche
La Barberie Blanche Classique
La Gastaldia Wit
Ladyface La Blanche
Lakefront White
Lamppost Pizza Katerina Wit
Lariano Lilium
Leelanau Whaleback White
Lefebvre Abbaye de Floreffe Blanche
Lefebvre Blanche de Bruxelles Mannekin Pis
Lefebvre Newton
Legacy Blue Dog White Ale
Legendes Blanche de Saisis
Liefmans All Saints Belgian White Ale
Liefmans Wit Dentergems
Limburg Witbier
Lindeboom Venloosch Wit
Lion Stegmaier Midsummer White
Little Apple Wit's End
Longwood Wit Beer
Lost Coast Great White Beer
Louisiane Witbier
Lungo Sorso Risacca Witbier
Mackinaw Belgian Whitecap
Malmö Vete-öl
Mambo Beer
Matso's Monsoonal Blonde
Maui Belgian Wheat
Michigan Celis White
Milwaukee Belgian Wit
Milwaukee Dark Belgian Wit
Misty's Stonehenge Orange Wheat
Moa Blanc
Moab Sit Down, Shut Up, & Hold On
Montegioco Runa Bianca
Moon River Wild Wacky Wit
Mother Earth Weeping Willow Wit
Moylan's White Christmas
Mudshark Full Moon Belgian White Ale
Multi-Brasse Blanche de Kingsey
Nakhon Lemongrass White
Natty Greene's Wildflower Witbier
Naufrageur Léonne
Nørrebro Stuykman Witt
Nebraska Infinite Wit
New Belgium Mothership Wit
New Belgium Sunshine Wheat
New South White Ale
Ninkasi Blanche
Nynäshamns Yttre Gaarden
O'So Summer Storm
Oaken Barrel Alabaster Wit
Оболон Биале
Old World Wit
Ommegang Witte
Opperbacco Bianca Piperita
Oregon Trail Wit
Otley O-garden
Otter Creek Wolaver's Organic Wit Bier
Otway Wheat Beer
Overland Stage Stop White
Oyster Bar Belgian Style Wit
Pacific Beach Whitewash Wheat
Peg's The Unbearable Lightness of Wit
Phylosophale Blanche Bio
Pietra Colomba
Pike Dry Wit
Platinum Belgian Wit
Port Lost Abbey Judgement Day
Pyramid Thomas Kemper Belgian White
Rapscallion White
Red Eye Bloom
Red Eye Wit
RedRock Belgian Wit
Regenboog Vuuve
Republic of Boulder Belgian White
Rijn Rijntje
Rivertown Wit Beer
Rivertowne White Lightning
RJ Cheval Blanc Blanche
RJ Tourmente
Rockmill Witbier
Rogue Mo Ale
Rogue Mom's Hefeweizen
Roman Mater Witbier
Roots Belgian Wit
Ruckus Midnight Wit
Rurale Seta
Sailor Hägar's Belgian Wit Ale
Saint Germain Page 24 Blanche
Saint John Liquid Sunshine Ale
Saint Louis Schlafly Witbier
Salt Lake Wit Bier
Søgaards Madam Whit
Schoune Blanche Bio
Schoune Blanche de Québec
Scuttlebutt White Wedding Wit
Sequoia Moto Brew Decoster Belgian Wit
Shawnee Biere Blanche
Sierrvoise Blanche
Silly Titje
Silver Creek White
Sint-Jozef Limburgse Witte
Skands Brüssel Wit
Sly Fox White Horse Wit
South Shore Witbier
Southampton Double White Ale
Southern Appalachian Witbier
Spanish Peaks White Ale
Spilker Cortland Autumn
Spring Street Wit
St Arnou Regatta St Cloud
St-Bernardus Bière Blanche
St-Bernardus Wit
St-Feuillien Grisette Blanche
Stadin Witbier
Steamworks Ipanema Summer White
Steenberge Ertvelds Wit
Sterkens White Ale
Stevens Point Belgian White
Stevens Point Nude Beach Summer Wheat
Stewart's Belgian Style Wit
Stonehouse Wheeltappers Wheat Beer
Storm Twister Wheat Ale
Strömsholms Husaren
Streets of New York Belgian White
Strubbe Vlas Kop
Suds Brothers Orange Blossom Belgian Whitbier
Summit Scandia Ale
Sun King Firefly Wheat
Swamp Head Cottonmouth
Sweetwater Wits End
Tallgrass Wheat
Taps Belgian White
ThirstyBear Valencia Wheat
Thomas Kemper White
Three Boys Wheat
Tinkoff Whit Nights
Tinkoff White
Titletown Belgian Summer Ale
Toccalmatto Ambrosia
Toccalmatto Jadis
Troegs Scratch #22 Belgian Style White
Troegs Scratch #36 Bruce Wit
Umpqua White
Unibroue Blanche de Chambly
Utah Brewers Squatters Wit
Val de Sambre Blanche de Charleroi
Val'Aisne Blanche
Valscura Blanche de Sarone
Van Eecke Watou's Wit Beer
Wedge Summertime Wheat Beer
Western Reserve Cloud Nine Witbier
Weyerbacher Blanche
Wig & Pen Belgian Blonde Witbier
Wild Wolf Summer Solstice Witbier
Wimberley Hefe-weissen
Zhujiang White Beer

Bad Mix: Heavy Beer Drinking and a Gene Variant Increases Gastric Cancer Risk

Try to keep it under five beers a day...

Heavy beer drinkers who have a specific genetic variant in the cluster of three genes that metabolize alcohol are at significantly higher risk of developing non-cardia gastric cancer, according to research presented at the AACR 102nd Annual Meeting 2011.



Study results also showed that the same risk is also elevated (but not as significantly) for heavy beer drinkers who do not have the variant, known as rs1230025, and for non-drinkers who have rs1230025 or rs283411.



Duell and colleagues conducted a comprehensive analysis of alcohol consumption and gastric cancer risk in the more than 521,000 people aged 35 to 70 years old who participated in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study from 1992 through 1998.



The researchers evaluated the type of alcohol consumed (i.e. wine, beer or liquor) and the location and grade of cancer. Total consumption of 60 grams of pure ethanol/alcohol from all beverage types combined carried a 65 percent increased risk. (One 12 ounce beer contains about 13 grams of pure alcohol/ethanol.)



However, this association was confined to beer. Results showed that drinking 30 grams of pure ethanol/alcohol or more a day from beer was linked to a 75 percent increased risk of developing gastric cancer. Wine and liquor was not associated with gastric cancer risk, Duell said.



The exact mechanism for how alcohol may cause gastric cancer is not known. However, Duell said there are compelling hypotheses involving the metabolite of alcohol (acetaldehyde, a toxic and carcinogenic compound), and nitrosamines such as N-nitrosodemethylamine (a known animal carcinogen that has been found in beer).

Read the whole article at Science Daily.

The dawn of beer remains elusive in archaeological record

This line got my attention:

The various lines of evidence indicate that beer may well be as old as cooking itself, which began at least 250,000 years ago. "When people started harnessing fire and cooking, they probably started making beer," Hastorf said.

So Neanderthals, and even possibly Homo erectus, may have been the first brewers! Works for me. Read the whole article at Scientific American.

The Most Idiotic Beer Inventions And Innovations Of All Time

As per Jesse Hughey, here are the most idiotic beer inventions and innovations of all time:

1. Beer Hour (Biru Awa) Beer Can Dispenser


2. The Koozie


3. The keychain bottle opener


4. The Vortex bottle


5. Cold activated cans and bottles


6. The vented wide-mouth can


7. Shoot A Brew cooler


8. Beer helmet

I can't personally imagine not having my opener on my keyring, but the rest of them mostly deserve to be on the list. Read the rationale for each at the Dallas Observer.

Re: Does Guinness Beer Taste Better in Ireland?

My recent post on the flavor of Guinness in the USA has spawned some controversy over where the beer is actually brewed. I hope this clears up any misunderstanding.

Guinness Draught: Brewed in Ireland by Guinness & Co. St. James's Gate, Dublin, Ireland.

Guinness Extra Stout: Brewed and bottled by Guinness Brewing Company, Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. Product of Canada

Guinness Foreign Extra: Brewed in Ireland by Guinness & Co. St. James's Gate, Dublin 8. Product of Ireland

So the by-far-most-popular version is brewed in Dublin, as is the newly-reintroduced-to-America version. Only the USA's Extra Stout version is brewed in Canada, by Moosehead.

(See also Your favorite "import".)

The Secret to a Frothy Stout

Here's your annual "how does draft Guinness work?" article, courtesy of LiveScience. This one describes a new twist on the old widget:

Applied mathematicians in Ireland recently discovered a possible replacement for the widget that is not only eco-friendly, but could be cost-effective for brewers. They published their findings in the Mar. 8, 2011, issue of the journal Nature.



Graduate student Michael Devereux, supervised by William Lee of at the University of Limerick in Ireland, discovered that microscopic plant fibers can froth stout as well as a widget.



"Our proposed alternative to the widget would consist of an array of cellulose fibers of approximately three square centimeters," said Devereux. "Our research suggests that stout could be made to foam using an array of fibers in 30 seconds, which is the time it typically takes to pour a glass of stout."



Inside of a nitrogen-enriched stout, pockets of air trapped inside cellulose fibers become seed bubbles that trigger nucleation (the formation of additional bubbles). As nitrogen and carbon dioxide diffuse through the walls of the fibers, the seed bubbles grow. When each bubble reaches a certain length, it detaches and breaks off of the gas pocket and floats to the top of the liquid. This process is repeated until the gas dissolves completely into the stout.

Read the whole story at LiveScience and at Nature, where one of the researchers says, ""We've spoken to brewers, but we're not sure if they're interested yet."

Favorite styles

I am often asked what my favorite style of beer is. Of course, this question is just as difficult to answer as the "favorite beer" question. But I thought I'd ask my database what it thinks my favorites are, and here's what it came up with:

+-----------+-----+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| score     | n   | style                                                        |
+-----------+-----+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| 18.785714 |   7 | Other Belgian-Style Sour Ale                                 |
| 18.750000 |   2 | Black IPA                                                    |
| 18.000000 |   1 | American-Style "Light" Amber Lager                           |
| 18.000000 |   1 | Dark American Wheat Ale or Lager without Yeast               |
| 17.938776 |  49 | Wood- and Barrel-aged Strong Beer                            |
| 17.666667 |  24 | Belgian-Style Gueuze Lambic                                  |
| 17.607143 |  14 | Imperial or Double Red Ale                                   |
| 17.562500 |  16 | Wood- and Barrel-aged Dark Beer                              |
| 17.506849 |  73 | Imperial or Double India Pale Ale                            |
| 17.348485 |  33 | Coffee Flavored Beer                                         |
| 17.323529 |  17 | Wood- and Barrel-aged Beer                                   |
| 17.218750 |  16 | German-Style Eisbock                                         |
| 17.200000 |   5 | Strong Ale                                                   |
| 17.166667 |   3 | European-Style Low-Alcohol Lager / German-Style Leicht(bier) |
| 17.100000 |  10 | Other Belgian- and French-Style Ale                          |
| 17.060000 |  25 | Baltic-Style Porter                                          |
| 17.059524 |  42 | Belgian-Style Flanders/Oud Bruin Ale                         |
| 16.894309 | 124 | Imperial Stout                                               |
| 16.864341 | 129 | Belgian-Style Dark Strong Ale                                |
| 16.834783 | 115 | Belgian-Style Pale Strong Ale                                |
| 16.833333 |  30 | Bamberg-Style Rauchbier                                      |
| 16.833333 |  15 | Experimental Beer                                            |
| 16.833333 |   6 | American-Style Strong Pale Ale                               |
| 16.684874 | 243 | Barley Wine-Style Ale                                        |
| 16.654762 | 128 | Old Ale                                                      |
| 16.615385 |  13 | South German-Style Bernsteinfarbenes Weizen/Weissbier        |
| 16.595833 | 122 | German-Style Strong Doppelbock                               |
| 16.586957 |  23 | Chocolate/Cocoa Flavored Beer                                |
| 16.578125 |  32 | Belgian-Style Pale Ale                                       |
| 16.541667 |  36 | South German-Style Weizenbock/Weissbock                      |
| 16.516667 |  60 | Other Belgian-Style Ale                                      |
| 16.500000 |  10 | Modern Strong Scotch Ale                                     |
| 16.470588 |  17 | Standard Cider / Perry                                       |
| 16.350000 |  10 | American-Style Stout                                         |
| 16.333333 |  27 | Other Strong Ale or Lager                                    |
| 16.322430 | 107 | Belgian-Style Tripel                                         |
| 16.316176 |  68 | French-Belgian Style Saison                                  |
| 16.285714 |  21 | French-Style Bière de Garde                                  |
| 16.281250 |  48 | Smoke-Flavored Beer (Lager or Ale)                           |
| 16.268657 |  67 | Belgian-Style Dubbel                                         |
| 16.245614 |  58 | South German-Style Dunkel Weizen/Weissbier                   |
| 16.195205 | 146 | Specialty Beer                                               |
| 16.184000 | 381 | American-Style India Pale Ale                                |
| 16.166667 |   6 | Belgian-Style Lambic                                         |
| 16.162879 | 136 | Herb and Spice Beer                                          |
| 16.133333 |  15 | NULL                                                         |
| 16.106061 |  33 | Foreign (Export)-Style Stout                                 |
| 16.078358 | 134 | Münchner-Style Helles                                        |
| 16.000000 |   2 | Specialty Cider / Perry                                      |
| 16.000000 |   6 | Non-Alcoholic (Beer) Malt Beverage                           |
| 16.000000 |   2 | American-Style Malt Liquor                                   |
| 16.000000 |   9 | Berliner-Style Weisse (Wheat)                                |
| 15.926471 |  69 | Traditional Strong Scotch Ale                                |
| 15.858491 | 108 | Oatmeal Stout                                                |
| 15.833333 |   3 | Leichtes Weizen/Weissbier                                    |
| 15.833333 |   3 | Braggot                                                      |
| 15.815789 |  19 | Garden (Vegetable) Beer                                      |
| 15.792857 |  70 | German-Style Schwarzbier                                     |
| 15.791667 |  12 | American-Style Premium Lager                                 |
| 15.776316 |  38 | Belgian-Style Fruit Lambic                                   |
| 15.760870 |  47 | Dortmunder/European-Style Export                             |
| 15.750000 |  10 | Scottish-Style Light Ale                                     |
| 15.746183 | 262 | South German-Style Hefeweizen/Hefeweissbier                  |
| 15.740838 | 191 | German-Style Pilsener                                        |
| 15.695455 | 111 | Sweet Stout                                                  |
| 15.649123 |  57 | Classic English-Style Pale Ale                               |
| 15.617021 |  96 | German-Style Heller Bock/Maibock                             |
| 15.602273 |  44 | Irish-Style Red Ale                                          |
| 15.556000 | 125 | Belgian Style White (or Wit) / Belgian-Style Wheat           |
| 15.553435 | 131 | European-Style Dark/Münchner Dunkel                          |
| 15.544444 |  57 | American-Style Brown Ale                                     |
| 15.530612 |  49 | English-Style India Pale Ale                                 |
| 15.500000 |   1 | Other Fruit Melomel                                          |
| 15.500000 |   2 | Bohemian-Style Pilsner                                       |
| 15.500000 |   1 | South German-Style Hefeweizen-Hefeweissbier                  |
| 15.472222 |  18 | Ordinary Bitter                                              |
| 15.454545 |  33 | American-Style Rye Ale or Lager                              |
| 15.397059 |  69 | Scottish-Style Export Ale                                    |
| 15.383065 | 125 | Traditional German-Style Bock                                |
| 15.375000 |  29 | California Common Beer                                       |
| 15.375000 |   4 | American-Style (Extra Special) Strong Bitter                 |
| 15.346154 |  13 | English-Style Dark Mild Ale                                  |
| 15.282328 | 239 | Classic Irish-Style Dry Stout                                |
| 15.280822 | 146 | Bohemian-Style Pilsener                                      |
| 15.263959 | 201 | English-Style (Extra Special) Strong Bitter                  |
| 15.166667 |   3 | American-Style Märzen/Oktoberfest                            |
| 15.132000 | 127 | (Special) Best Bitter                                        |
| 15.127907 |  43 | English-Style Pale Mild Ale                                  |
| 15.090686 | 207 | German-Style Märzen/Oktoberfest                              |
| 15.062500 |  16 | American-Style Pilsener                                      |
| 15.023220 | 331 | Robust Porter                                                |
| 15.000000 |  12 | South German-Style Kristal Weizen/Kristal Weissbier          |
| 15.000000 |   1 | Traditional Mead                                             |
| 14.933333 |  16 | Light American Wheat Ale or Lager without Yeast              |
| 14.928571 |   7 | English-Style Summer Ale                                     |
| 14.915739 | 649 | American-Style Pale Ale                                      |
| 14.839286 |  28 | Scottish-Style Heavy Ale                                     |
| 14.791139 |  80 | German-Style Kölsch/Köln-Style Kölsch                        |
| 14.772727 |  44 | American Lager/Ale or Cream Ale                              |
| 14.720264 | 229 | English-Style Brown Ale                                      |
| 14.712871 | 102 | German-Style Brown Ale/Düsseldorf-Style Altbier              |
| 14.642857 |   7 | Dark American Wheat Ale or Lager with Yeast                  |
| 14.642857 |  56 | European-Style Pilsener                                      |
| 14.637441 | 432 | American-Style Amber/Red Ale                                 |
| 14.610759 | 161 | Golden or Blonde Ale                                         |
| 14.606742 |  89 | Vienna-Style Lager                                           |
| 14.571429 |   7 | American-Style Light Lager                                   |
| 14.486111 |  36 | Specialty Honey Lager or Ale                                 |
| 14.383333 |  30 | Garden (Fruit) Beer                                          |
| 14.271186 |  60 | Brown Porter                                                 |
| 14.083333 |  30 | Australasian, Latin American, or Tropical-Style Light Lager  |
| 14.031250 | 196 | Light American Wheat Ale or Lager with Yeast                 |
| 13.721429 | 210 | American-Style Lager                                         |
| 13.500000 |  22 | American-Style Amber Lager                                   |
| 13.325000 |  20 | American-Style Dark Lager                                    |
| 13.146825 | 127 | Garden (Fruit Wheat) Beer                                    |
+-----------+-----+--------------------------------------------------------------+

Granted, the sample sizes are pretty small for many styles at the top, but I had no idea that I rated barrel-aged beers so highly, nor Imperial IPAs. I thought Bamberg-Style Rauchbier would be much higher on the list. I'm guessing that Altbier is near the bottom because it's so difficult to find fresh, authentic examples in this country.

For the most part, the styles at the bottom of the list are no surprise. I despise fruit beers, with grudging exceptions for well-made fruit lambics.

There are probably more sophisticated statistical techniques for analyzing this, but it's interesting as it is. Think I'll have a beer now.