Liquid Solutions is closing its doors

Sad news out of Oregon.

It is with a heavy heart that I am closing the business down after nine years of operation. We are shutting down the website and liquidating our entire inventory out of the warehouse. We are selling all beer, mead and ciders at 10-30% below cost. Hundreds of great beers are available. For a list of products see the post below. Come to the warehouse early for the best selection.



The sale starts Fri Jan. 29th at 3:00 and goes through Friday, Feb 5th at 8:00 pm



Sale hours: M-F 3:00 – 8:00 Sat & Sun 10:00-8:00



Matt Maples

President

Liquid Solutions Inc.



WHO: Liquid Solutions Inc.

WHAT: Inventory liquidation sale

WHERE: 275 Beavercreek Rd #C149 Oregon City 97045

WHEN: Fri Jan. 29th thru Feb 5th

M-F 3:00 – 8:00 Sat & Sun 10:00-8:00

WHY: Business is closing

I've been buying beer from Matt for years, and I'm really going to miss the great selection and service he provided. Liquid Solutions will be missed.

Beer consumption hits 20-year low

Sad news out of Germany.

Germans may be famous around the world for their beer, but they drank less of the amber nectar in 2009 than at any time in the past 20 years, according to official statistics published on Thursday.



Sales of German beer, which includes the likes of Becks, Warsteiner, Radeberger and countless other brands, dropped to just under 100 (sic) hectolitres (2.2 billion gallons) in 2009, a fall of 2.8 percent on the previous year.

(That should read "100 million hectolitres", and the "gallons" in question are Imperial gallons.)

The article goes on to blame the "desperate economic situation" and a trend away from manual labor towards a service economy as factors for the decrease in beer consumption. But the massive consolidation of the German brewing industry surely is a factor as well. Germany has lost nearly half of its small, local breweries in the last twenty years through mergers and closures, with more in the works. This is the same process that culminated some forty years ago in the United States, resulting in a massive loss in beer diversity and culture. (And it's happening in the UK as well, with the same result.)

The Germans I've met are fiercely loyal to local products. When Größer-Bräu acquires and closes Kleiner-Bräu, they don't necessarily acquire the customers along with the brewery.

Anyway, read the whole story at The Local. And drink local beer.

Free trial version of Beer Me! mobile app

The free trial version of "Beer Me! mobile 1.0.2" will be available starting around 9:30pm CST January 22, 2010. You can download and install it from this link:

http://developer.palm.com/appredirect/?packageid=com.beerme.beermefree

The trial expires 30 days after the first time it's run.

Please note that if you create brewery notes or beer notes in the free trial version, they will be lost when you upgrade to the paid version. I'm working on a fix for this; keep your eye on this forum for news.

Swedish students stage beer pipeline protest at nearby brewery

Don't go to the beer. Bring the beer to you.

Several dozen university students occupied a brewery near Gothenburg in western Sweden on Tuesday in their long-standing effort to convince the brewery to build a pipeline to carry beer to the students’ union.



The demonstration was part of a tradition started in 1959 when the Chalmers University student union purchased one share in what was then known as Pripp & Lyckholm, part of the company which operated the brewery until it was purchased by Carlsberg in 2000.



The stock purchase gave the students a seat at the company's annual shareholders meeting, allowing them an opportunity to push the brewery to build a roughly 100 kilometre long pipeline to the university in order to facilitate the supply of beer to the Chalmers’ student union.



But progress on building the pipeline has been slow over the last five decades. So far, only two metres of pipe have been laid – one near the university, and one near a now abandoned brewery in central Gothenburg. No further construction has taken place since 1968.

View Larger Map

Read the whole story at The Local.

The Unofficial Brix Beer List Update (1/18/10)

Add these to the previous list:

• Avery New World Porter


• Big Sky Bobo's Robust Porter


• Coopers Best Extra Stout


• Coopers Original Pale Ale


• Coopers Sparkling Ale


• Coors Blue Moon Rising Moon Spring Ale


• Green Mountain Cider Jack


• Samuel Adams Noble Pils


• Sprecher Czar Brew Russian Imperial Stout


• Unibroue Sampler

The total is now 626 different beers and ciders, with room for about 200 more.

Brewer's bid to be the bitterest

500 IBUs? I don't think iso-α-acid is anywhere near that soluble in beer.

The nine-gallon keg of barley wine – made using £100 worth of hops, compared to £5 for an average beer – is still untasted by Mr Fowler as he believes he might not be able to handle it.



He is hoping the beer will be about 500 International Bitterness Units (IBUs) – the measurement used for recording bitterness.



Although there is no official record, it is believed the current holder is Founders Devil Dancer Triple IPA, with 200 IBUs.

Read the whole story at the Oxford Mail.

Eureka Quake Update

Courtesy of Mario at Brewed for Thought:

This weekend a big one hit the Northern California coast. The epicenter was located near Ferndale, CA. The lost coast region is home to many craft breweries and beer lovers and we want to make sure everyone is doing well.



First things first, the reports coming out of Humboldt County are all sounding great. There have been no deaths reported and only 1 major injury. Power has been restored to nearly all customers and there were no reports of catastrophic structure failure. This is all reassuring news after Northern California’s last brush with a major earthquake in 1989.



With those fears set aside, we can start thinking about the beer. Within the Eureka region there are four craft breweries, Lost Coast Brewing, Mad River, 6 Rivers and Eel River Brewing, located in Ferndale. While I’m still waiting to hear back from everyone, I have heard word from Mad River and Lost Coast.



Dylan Schatz, head brewer at Mad River, described himself as “shaken but not stirred” the night of the quake. Nothing more than a few “boxes leaning” at the Blue Lake Brewery.



Barbara Groom, owner of Lost Coast brewery, says “Everything is fine. We lost a few bottles but all in all we were unscathed.”



Good news all around. I hope to hear more from 6 Rivers and Eel River in the coming days. Eel River’s brewpub just received a major facelift, so let’s hope that all that work didn’t go to waste.



If you have any reports from the Northern California coast, please share them with us as we’re all anxious to hear. Good luck to those living in affected areas and a speedy recovery.