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Pakistan’s Murree Brewery Thrives Despite Muslim Laws

Murree Brewery bottling line. (Photo: Laura Lynch)

Written by Layra Lynch for theworld.org

Pakistan can be a land of contradictions. And here’s one that has some of the nation’s Muslims crying into their beer.

Well, they might be if they were allowed to drink beer. Pakistan bans alcohol for Muslims – who represent 97 percent of the population.

But get this. There’s a brewery and distillery not far from the capital of Islamabad. A brewery that’s doing a booming business.

To get there, you have to navigate the checkpoints in the city of Rawalpindi, a place better known for its mix of mosques and military installations. First, you can smell it – the unmistakably yeasty scent of brewing hops.
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Craft Canned Beer Becomes Trendy Choice

Written by James Scarpa for nrn.com

Onion rings wrap around canned craft beer at a Tokio Pub dinner.
The first Canned Beer Dinner at Tokio Pub in Schaumburg, Ill., gave guests a grip on two hot topics in today’s industry — craft beer in cans and locally produced beverages.

The four-course, $45-per-person event featured products from Chicago-area craft brewers like double IPA, or India pale ale, paired with Asian BBQ Pork Sandwiches, blonde ale with Tokio Pub Fish and Chips and stout with liquid-center chocolate cake. Adding to the novelty of the evening were beer-inspired plate presentations like a can-shaped parmesan tuile perched atop a green salad and beer-battered onion rings looped around an empty suds can.

“Initially, people were wowed that they each got their own can of beer,” said Jill Koval, general manager of the pub, which blends Asian and Latin-American culinary influences and is part of the Chicago-based Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises restaurant group. “And they really got to see how much we pride ourselves on food presentation. By the end of the night, everyone was pushing their tables together and having so much fun.”
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Beer Profile: Widmer Lemongrass Wheat Ale

Profiled by Tom Becham for Professor Goodales

Widmer Brothers is one of the more widely-known, and one of the earliest participants in the craft brewing game.  Their Hefeweizen (which is actually an American Wheat Ale and not a true Hefeweizen) almost singularly popularized wheat beers in America.  Lately, their efforts have seemed somewhat bland and lifeless compared to a lot of the extreme brewing going on in the craft community.

Hence, Widmer recently introduced the Brothers’ Reserve series.  These are limited edition beers with unusual ingredients, higher alcohol levels, and/or stronger tastes.  They have been somewhat hit-and-miss for me.

So, upon first seeing Widmer’s Brothers’ Reserve Lemongrass Wheat Ale, I was intrigued enough to pick up a bottle.

My wife and I split the bomber into Belgian chalice glasses after lunch one afternoon.

The first thing noticeable about this beer is the bright orange-yellow color, almost like a Saison.  The head is somewhat small for a wheat beer, probably due to the high alcohol content (9% ABV).

The aroma is pretty much as expected.  Lemongrass dominates the nose, with small hints of graininess, some grape, and a tiny bit of bubble-gum phenol.  Upon discovering the grape aroma, I looked at the bottle again, and discovered that the beer is also made with muscat grape juice.  Hmmm.  This was going to be interesting…
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The Beer Nut: Prepping for the Beer Advocate’s Extreme Beer Fest in Boston

Norman Miller GHNS

Written by Norman Miller for GateHouse News Service and metrowestdailynews.com

I go to several beer events throughout the year, mainly beer festivals or other similar events.

But for the last several years, there has only been one can’t-miss event for me: Beer Advocate’s Extreme Beer Fest, usually held in Boston in February.

It is, by far, my favorite Massachusetts beer festival. The best brewers in the United States, all known for brewing great and creative beers, seem to outdo themselves in trying to come up with something “extreme” enough to fit in.
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Senators To Enjoy 6 NY Craft Beers, Thanks To Schumer’s Super Bowl Wager

Written by Jen Chung for http://gothamist.com

Senator Charles Schumer, everyone’s favorite press conference convener and rainmaker, really loves NY State’s beers, starting an “I Love NY Brew” campaign. So it makes sense that his Super Bowl bet with New England Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) involved six NY craft beers. Now that the Giants have proven victorious, Shaheen will be buying NY beer for the whole Senate!

 

Here’s how the bet went: With a Patriots win, Schumer would have bought beer from New Hampshire’s Smuttynose Brewery to give to fellow Senators. But if the Giants won—and THEY DID—Shaheen would buy beer from Brooklyn Brewery, Blue Point Brewing Company, Saranac Matt Brewing Company, Captain Lawrence Brewing Company, Ithaca Beer Company, and Brown’s Brewing Company.

Today Schumer Tweeted, “Looking forward to every Senator getting a taste of NY’s finest craft brew. Thanks @SenatorShaheen! #SuperBowl #ILoveNYBrew” AndBrooklyn Brewery had a bet going with Harpoon Brewery—now that the Giants have won, Harpoon “will pour Brooklyn Lager in their tasting room and their brewery tour staff will wear Giants jerseys for a week this winter.” Ouch.

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Great American Bites: Food for beer lovers at Amato’s

Written by Larry Olmsted for usatoday.com

The scene: The Ale House at Amato’s is the logical conclusion of Denver’s quarter-century love affair with all things beer. In 1988, citizen John Hickenlooper fought to change state law and succeeded in opening Colorado’s very first brewpub here, the Wynkoop brewery. Denver has been obsessed with beer ever since. Hickenlooper’s resulting popularity helped propel him into public office, first as Denver’s mayor, and currently as Colorado’s governor – the first brewer turned governor since Samuel Adams in 1793. Today Denver is chock full of breweries and beer pubs, and more than 200 new taps were added last year alone. There are over 60 breweries in the hopped-up triangle of Denver, Boulder and Ft. Collins, including Coors, the world’s largest. More than 200 different varieties are brewed here, the city is home to the Great American Beer Festival, listed in the Guinness World Records as the world’s largest, and the greater Denver metro area brews more than any other U.S. city.
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Discovering the Competition: Founder of Magic Hat is on a Mission to Boost Craft Beer World

Alan Newman, a co-founder of Magic Hat Brewing, now runs Burlington-based Alchemy & Science, described as a “craft brew incubator.” It is set up as an independently operating subsidiary of The Boston Beer Company, the parent company of the Samuel Adams brand. / Courtesy photo

Written by Melissa Pasanen for burlingtonfreepress.com

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