...containing notes from beerme.com that don't seem to fit anywhere else.
Crescent City Brewhouse and Gordon Biersch.
Cooter Brown's and The Bulldog.
Abita Brewpub in Abita Springs and BJ's Brewery in Baton Rouge.
Am I missing any great beer spots in New Orleans? Paris and I will be there October 3-7.
Look, I'm all for intellectual property rights, but this is simply a matter of the big guy trying to crush the little guy.
Anheuser-Busch Cos. and Labatt Brewing Co. sued Brick Brewing Co., claiming the Canadian brewery is infringing their trademarks with the use of limes and the color green on its labels.
Anheuser and Labatt asked a Canadian federal judge to stop Waterloo, Ontario-based Brick from using the images in advertising for Red Baron Lime beer. Anheuser and Labatt are also seeking unspecified monetary damages and C$500,000 ($454,000) in punitive damages, according to the statement of claim.
Read the whole story at Bloomberg.com. Thanks to Draft Magazine for the link.
Thanks to Retro YouTube for the video and to Jeremy Kirby for the link!
Glassholes.
Plans to replace the traditional pint glass with one made of shatter-proof plastic will not be accepted by drinkers, the pub industry has warned.
The Home Office has commissioned a new design, in an attempt to stop glasses being used as weapons.
Official figures show 5,500 people are attacked with glasses and bottles every year in England and Wales.
Read the whole story at BBC News.
Fred Swanson of the Madison Homebrewers & Tasters Guild called last Tuesday. The conversation went something like this:
Fred: Are you and Paris coming to the Great Taste of the Midwest
this weekend or what?
Me: We don't have tickets.
Fred: I have tickets for you.
Me: We're there.
(Follow along with the Google Earth Map.)
So we flew to Madison on Friday, dodging thunderstorms all the way. Our first stop after checking into the hotel was the Great Dane in Madison's Hilldale section.
Great Dane Pub and Brewing — Hilldale
Good beers there, as we've come to expect from Great Dane, and the boneless wings were fantastic.
We found ourselves sitting next to Kevin and Mary from Wausau's Red Eye Brewing. They mentioned that their next stop would be Capital Brewery, and it happened to be ours also.
Capital Brewery, Middleton WI
Kevin & Mary having a Capital time
We decided to visit a bar we'd never heard of, but that has a good reputation for serving top-notch beers. This would be Dexter's Pub, and this night they featured beers from Michigan's Dark Horse Brewing.
At this fun bar, we met a fun couple. Amanda and Wayne are Madison locals who enjoy a good beer as much as anyone I know. They accompanied us to the nearby Malt House — or Union House, depending on who you ask — which we had visited last time we were in town. We had a few pints here; the only one that made it into the notebook was Steenberge Atomium Grand Cru.
We were at the hotel by 1:30am or so. Just as it had rained most of the day, it rained most of the night. It was pouring down rain when we crossed the street for breakfast on Saturday. This did not bode well, as the Great Taste is an outdoor festival. Indeed, Olin-Turville Park was quite a mud bowl when we arrived.
After Fred handed over our tickets, Paris cast a spell to make the rain stop. And it worked. And the sun came out. And the temperature rose to the mid-90s. And waves of humidity boiled up from the waterlogged ground. But there was plenty of fresh water for glass-rinsing and drinker-hydrating, and we made our rounds.
Nebraska Brewing, Papillion NE
Delafield Brewhaus, Delafield WI
Dragonmead Microbrewery, Warren MI
White Winter Winery, Iron River WI
Red Eye Brewing, Wausau WI
O'so Brewing, Plover WI
Hinterland Brewery, Green Bay WI
Fat Head's Brewery, North Olmstead OH
Swiss musical entertainment. The observer's shirt on the left reads: If you get drunk, you'll die. If you don't get drunk, you'll still die. So get drunk!
Titletown Brewing, Green Bay WI
Cumberland Brewery, Louisville KY
Thirsty Pagan Brewing, Superior WI
Brugge Brasserie, Indianapolis IN
Harrison's Brewery, Orland Park IL
Casks in the Real Ale Tent
23rd Street Brewery, Lawrence KS
Half Acre Beer Company, Chicago IL
Bull Falls Brewery, Wausau WI
Surly Brewing, Brooklyn Center MN
Muskie Capital Brewery, Hayward WI
Ohio Brewing, Niles OH
After a much needed cool shower and some time off our feet, we met up with the crew from Nebraska Brewing along with some homebrewing friends from Menasha at the Malt House. The conversation was a bit subdued, and the beers didn't go down very fast; the day's heat had taken all the energy out of us. We called it an early night, and flew home on Sunday.
Here are a couple of articles about the weekend's festivities:
As if we didn't know...
Despite falling consumption, those who are still enjoying Germany’s beer can know that it's been given top marks from the national consumer watchdog association.
Daily newspaper Bild reported that Öko-test looked at flavour and ingredients of all its samples in the grading process, and 44 of the 46 beers were graded “very good.”
Those suffering from the recession will delight in knowing that even the “cheap beers” were graded well, such as the Original Oettinger and Sternburg Pilsener, which cost only 40 cents (58¢ US) per litre.
Read the whole story at The Local.
