Month: June 2010

“What do you get from a huge mug of Canadian IPA from Ontario? A lot of Canadian ‘I pee, Eh?'”

During the Civil War folks drank and played games, like the backgammon board below. But here at Professor Good Ales we’d rather….

…hear about THE BEER, right? What was called “beer” during the Civil War may have had a wider definition that what we call “beer” today. Here are a few recipes from…

From Civilwarinteractive.com

PINE-APPLE BEER

1 pineapple
Water
Sugar

Wash and then pare a pine-apple; if a good size, put the rind into about two quarts of water (in the quantity you must be guided by the size of the pine-apple); cover it for twenty-four hours; then sweeten to your taste, bottle, cork, and put it into the sun for five or six hours, cool it and it is then fit for use.

From The Carolina Housewife by Sarah Rutledge, 1847

SPRUCE AND BONESET BEER
Continue reading “Civil War “Beer””

Written by Lynda Waddington for The Iowa Independent

U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican known for his blunt and somewhat “countrified” way of speaking, has taken a lot of national ridicule for his suggestion that a process associated with the fermentation of beer could be used to help clean up the oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. It seems, however, that such ridicule is misplaced.

On a conference call with reporters last week, Grassley suggested that the government — and specifically the Obama administration — has not attempted all available options to sop up the oil now present in the gulf.

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart were not impressed with U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley’s idea on how to clean up the Gulf oil spill.

“There is a process for making beer that  –  I don’t know, yeast or what it is — but you can put those microscopic things on oil and it eats up the oil. And they die and all you’ve got is some Methane gas left that you have to clean,” Grassley suggested, and then added that corn cobs, hay or straw might also be useful.

Continue reading “Despite ridicule, Grassley May Be Right About Oil Spill Clean-up Options”

(Tasty news for many faithful Professor Good Ales readers!- Prof. GA)

Written by Eric Felten for online,wsj.com

Light beer is in a slump. Advertising Age reported this week that U.S. sales of the biggest brands are in an alarming slide, with Bud Light down 5.3% this year and Miller Lite off 7.5%. Is this but a recessionary blip or are we finally witnessing a great consumer revolt against shamefully bad beer, shamelessly promoted?

There are many possible explanations for the decline in light-beer sales. Advertising Age speculates that the dawdling of the economy has left 21-to-35-year-old men with pockets too empty to afford “premium” (which is to say, heavily advertised) beers. Old Milwaukee Light, here we come.

Or could it be the fault of the insultingly stupid ads themselves (campaigns on which the industry spends hundreds of millions). Miller Lite has been relying on skits yukking it up about how guys can’t commit to relationships with women, but sure do love their beer. Bud Light has used the genius tag-line “drinkablility.” No doubt high praise for a beverage.

The marketers don’t really know what the problem is. Maybe it’s just that the marginal caloric savings promised by these diet beers no longer seems worth putting up with lousy beer. After all, the elastic-undergarment maker Spanx is doing brisk business selling “compression undershirts” for men. Why should guys worry about calories and carbs when they can just wear girdles?

Associated Press

Continue reading “No Bottoms Up: Light Beer Sales Are Sagging”

* FIFA starts legal proceedings against beer company
* British TV pundit sacked for part in ambush stunt

Written by Mike Collett for Yahoo Sports

JOHANNESBURG, June 16 (Reuters) – Two Dutch women have been arrested and are due to appear in court in Johannesburg later on Wednesday, facing possible charges linked to a suspected ambush market campaign by brewer Bavaria at a World Cup tie.
Continue reading “Women Arrested in Brewer Advertising Scandal”

We welcome our newest writer here at Professor Good Ales…

Written by Mike Brunsfeld, THE Beer Guy

I have come to conclusion that Jim Koch SUCKS.

OK, hops are to beer like wine is to grapes? Uh, no and HELL NO. I was willing to forgive that one stupid slogan that ignores the loooooooooooooong history of brewing, like amongst the Scots, the English and the Welsh, without hops but now he claims…

“Some people think head on a beer is a ‘bad’ thing.”

Continue reading “One Bitchin Beer Blog”

If you dare to wear, can be bought at drunkandwasted.com

(The name of the site alone…)

“Words do not adequately describe how much I hate this company.”

– Matt Welch (quote listed on picture from original post)

Written by Matt Welch for reason.com

When the domestic beer industry consolidated into a duopoly of Anheuser-Busch InBev vs. MillerCoors in 2008, I was happy. Not because I like duopolies (or their mono cousins), but because I don’t. As a general rule, the faster that industries try to consolidate away the competition, the faster they become uncompetitive, and leak away market share. Companies with a captive consumer base tend to treat them like, well, captives. As the Wall Street Journal’s William L. Bulkeley put it in a smart 2006 piece about the suddenly troubled photo-processing duopoly of Eastman Kodak and Fuji Photo Film,

Photography and publishing companies shouldn’t be surprised when digital technology upends their industries. After all, their business success relied on forcing customers to buy things they didn’t want.

Lo and behold, American customers are busy this year not wanting all those Coors Lights and Bud Longnecks:

The $100 billion U.S. brewing industry is staggering into its crucial selling season from its weakest position in years. Sales for 11 of the biggest brands fell in the four weeks ended May 16, according to SymphonyIRI, and only four of the top 30 — Keystone Light, Modelo Especial, Yuengling and Pabst Blue Ribbon — posted gains. Meanwhile, despite massive measured-media support, category titans Bud Light, Coors Light and Miller Lite all declined. Continue reading “When You Say Bud, You Have Not Said it All, Thank You Very Much”