Author: Professor Good Ales

Sierra Nevada is not the only one making the Oktoberfest this year and what I am hearing is that the beers are too hoppy and lack the proper melanoidin character.

This is my second pour into the same glass. The malt is light in the nose. Clean no hop at first. Floral sweet with a touch of malt. Stemmy hops. No spice from the hops just cool. The foam has a bit of toastiness. Always taste the beer with a little of the foam first so use the stange. Wait until head is just thin on top. Dandelion type spice.

Malt is a bit toasty and the hop bitterness is moderate. Again stemmy bitter hops. I think last year everyone said that helles type lightness was the feature that they liked the best, so this has that. Spice in the mouthfeel but not to citrusy or strong. Not too strong with alcohol so I wanted to drink two. Last year, not so much. IS it too dry? It’s very dry.

Turns out the beer has more alcohol than last years beer. Genessee is turning out to be my standard you could say regionally and historically because I think it is excellent. Since Sierra Nevada started the popular collaborations my favorite Oktoberfest has been Spaten. Spaten uses decoction. Today I have Goose Island. Let’s nitpick it. Cheers!

Back in 1985, Carl Singmaster opened a record store called Manifest Discs & Tapes in downtown Columbia, S.C. It was a shoestring operation, launched during an era when people were snapping up cassette copies of Purple Rain and Born in the U.S.A.

“I had $15,000, a MasterCard, and three employees—me, myself and I,” Singmaster says.

He stocked his downtown space with bins from another record shop in town, which had recently upgraded its furnishings.

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As part of a broader effort to use regional ingredients in their recipes, breweries across the US are working with nearby maltsters to source more local grain.

In Charlotte, N.C., Wooden Robot Brewery buys a majority of its malt from Epiphany Craft Malt in Durham. The brewery, which will produce about 3,000 barrels this year, plans to exclusively use local malt by the end of 2017.

The move is part of a larger vision, says head brewer Dan Wade. “We want to support our local economy and shorten our supply chain as a way to work toward social, economic, and environmental sustainability.” Wooden Robot already uses about 90 percent local malts. “That will reach 100 percent as we continue to work with Epiphany to source oats and develop a caramel malt that closely matches what we have been using in some of our core beers.”

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Maybe he and his girlfriend grew depressed over selling GEICO? (PGA)

We’ve heard of skunky beer, but never gecko-y beer. The latter seems to be much worse than the former, based on a lawsuit filed in California against Heineken and the Kroger grocery chain.

Consumerist reports on the complaint, which came about after Orange County’s George Toubbeh said he bought 24-ounce cans of Heineken in August 2015 from a Kroger-owned Ralph’s in Fountain Valley, and had a decidedly unpleasant experience after drinking from one.

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Talk to Travis Rupp at Avery Brewing Company or Sam Calagione at Dogfish Head Brewery about brewing ancient beers, and they’ll share many insights, including this bit of news: mouthfeel can take on a whole new meaning. For example, the traditional method for making chicha, an ancient Peruvian fermented beverage, can involve a fair amount of chewing and spitting maize in a process known as known as salivation. Even small batches require hours of munching. Many brewers in modern day Central and South America, lacking mash tuns, still employ the method to convert complex starches into fermentable sugars.

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Thinking of opening a craft brewery or a bar? You might want avoid targeting millennials in your marketing – and definitely cut back on the beer.

Goldman Sachs recently downgraded the stocks of two major brewers – Boston Beer Company (the makers of Sam Adams and Angry Orchard cider) and Constellation Brands (the third-largest beer company in the United States, and one known for importing Corona and Modelo) – due to “sluggish sales,” according to this CNBC report. The culprit? Yeah, it’s the millennials.

Apparently, younger generations aren’t drinking as much beer as they used to. The data shows they now prefer wine and spirits instead. Research firm Nielsen showed a slight decline in beer penetration across the United States compared to 2016, although wine and spirits penetration stayed about the same. But Goldman’s research revealed a shift away from beer to wine and spirits amongst those 35-44.

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Dear Mr. Jim Caruso of Flying Dog Brewery,

My name is Kaleigh Leingang. I am a 24-year-old journalism school dropout who found her way to the beer industry by accident.

I am small and insignificant in comparison to you, the CEO of a successful brewery. You may very well glance over this letter, roll your eyes, and stop right here. Whatever you decide, I have a duty as a woman who works for the beer industry to speak up when something is not right.

I am terribly afraid to inform you that you have grossly misunderstood the point of the Brewers Association’s updated Marketing and Advertising code if you are calling the new policy a “thinly veiled side door to censorship.”

From what I gather, you’re upset mostly with the following:

“Beer advertising and marketing materials should not: …..

i. contain sexually explicit, lewd, or demeaning brand names, language, text, graphics, photos, video, or other images that reasonable adult consumers would find inappropriate for consumer products offered to the public;

j. contain derogatory or demeaning text or images.”

It’s just a guess that this is the clause you are most concerned with, considering one of your most popular brands is a beer called “Raging Bitch.” I’m sure you’ve recognized that this is clearly a beer name that a reasonable adult consumer (FYI: women fall under this category too) may consider inappropriate. I know, I know, I’ve read all about you defending our first amendment rights (which is great, go ahead and put questionable content on a bottle of beer, just don’t whine when a significant population of consumers or fellow industry mates have opinions about it), that your female employees don’t care about the beer’s name, etc.

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HERE