Stout-Hearted in Ireland
Written by Sal Emma for BYO Magazine
The Guinness brewery in Dublin, Ireland, is a time machine. Cobblestone streets link the gray stone and red brick buildings — narrow thoroughfares where draft horses once clopped their way around the sprawling complex, hauling malt, hops, kegs, and men from job to job, batch to batch.
Today, diesel trucks and forklifts ply these time-worn paths of stone. Rubber tires roll over the iron tracks of the brewery’s narrow-gauge steam railway system, built in the late 1700s to supplant horse-drawn transport.
The brewery complex is a tapestry of old and new. Guinness brewers oversee 21st century computer-automated brewing in the shadow of Arthur Guinness’ original brewery and residence, for which he invested £100 (about $150 today) of inherited funds in 1759.
Guinness made a real estate deal that would make any modern businessman jealous: a 9,000-year lease at £45 per year, with water rights included.
Of course, at the time £45 was nothing to sneeze at. And the property was nothing to brag about. Only four acres, it was small, already 90 years old and broken down. It had been sitting idle for nearly 10 years when Guinness made his deal for one of dozens of nondescript breweries in Dublin’s industrial quarter, known as the Liberties. Located at St. James Gate, one of the gates in the old wall surrounding Dublin, the brewery Guinness bought consisted of a copper, a mash/lauter tun, two malt houses, a mill, stables for 12 horses, and a loft that could hold 200 tons of hay.
Guinness was an ale man. Ale was the true King of Beers in those days, and Guinness went about producing ale for Dublin. Later, a newfangled style caught his attention: porter from England.
Want to read more? Please click…
HERE
Murphy’s: Irish Anime?
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5I_UGnnr1Y[/youtube]
How to Turn Irish in a Few Easy Sips
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3td6tUbwew[/youtube]
Scribe’s Stupid Beer Report’
“Cause some ‘brewers’ would rather be brew whores than actually go Irish.”
Green beer. Can you think of a more asinine idea? (Is “Ass in Nine” some foolish member of the Borg collective?)
Take a pissy lager or ale, add food coloring, and claim you’re being Irish for St. Patty’s Day. May the blessed ghost of the Saint eat your liver for lunch on the sacred day. May he henceforth place copious amounts of phenolics and DMS into every beer a brewer brews whose only “Irish” offering is Irish by food coloring only.
The Irish icon of beer, whether it be Guinness or Murphys or the other lesser known in the States, be BLACK. And TASTY. Some be red. But NOT fake green.
Why Scribe’s not even Irish, for the most part, and he’s offended. It’s like putting excrement in the candy you hand out Halloween, or wrapping up a can of dog food for Christmas per kid. Drinking green beer on St. Patty’s is like sneaking Tang into the holy water and then blessing yourself with it, or demanding the priest use “those little yellow fishys,” instead of communion wafers.
WORSE, actually, because, Scribe hates to tell you after all those years making up crap like “transubstantiation,” but it’s REALLY NOT the blood and the body of Christ. Hell, it’s not even wine, and hardly bread or even a wafer. About as tasteless as, well, GREEN BEER.
And green beer has nothing to do with celebrating St. Patty’s. Have a Guinness, Murphy’s, or Smithwicks if you must. But if you insist, when the Bobbie stops you and tests you at 3am, Scribe has an Irish “blessing” for ya…
May you blow or piss green.
Or is that an Irish curse?
Picture courtesy planetgreen.discovery.com
Killian’s Irish Red: Contest for Free Trip to Ireland
Note: Killian’s is a Miller/Coors product- PGA
(Chicago, IL) – To celebrate its Irish roots this St. Patrick’s Day, George Killian’s Irish Red is giving beer drinkers a chance to win a trip to the birthplace of the famous red lager. The popular pub beer invites legal-drinking-age consumers to raise a glass and take a shot at winning one of five trips to Ireland, where they’ll have a chance to enjoy a beer with Killian Lett, the great-great-great-great grandson of the beer’s creator, and other members of his family in their favorite pub.
“I had the opportunity to experience my first St. Patrick’s Day in America last March, and now I’m thrilled to be able to introduce our hometown to the lucky winners,†said 26-year-old Killian Lett. “My family is looking forward to showing beer drinkers how to have an authentic St. Patrick’s Day in the true spirit of George Killian’s Irish Red.â€
Those ages 21 and up (void in CA) can enter the sweepstakes now through March 31 with an official entry code featured on specially marked packaging or a keyword on other promotional materials.
Continue reading “Killian’s Irish Red: Contest for Free Trip to Ireland”
Rochester (NY) Area’s Beer Industry on a Growth Streak
Written by Matthew Daneman for the Democrat and Chronicle
The first sip from a fresh pint of Rogers Pale Ale hits the back of the tongue with a strong, hoppy punch.
A beer aficionado working in sales for CAR Engineering and Manufacturing, a Victor tool and die company, Al Rogers went into the beer business with his wife, Lauren, in late 2010. Their pale ale is permanently on tap at Lento Restaurant at Village Gate and has made rotations of taps at a variety of establishments around the Rochester region.
“I wanted my own business, and I love beer,” said Rogers, 31, of Penfield.
And the Rochester region is seemingly learning to love local craft beers.
Want to read more? Click…
HERE
Beer Organ Donor
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUWb-_Z4gHg[/youtube]
A Small Detour from the Beer Highway
An interesting, short, homebrewing adventure- The Prof
Written by Tom Becham for professorgoodales.net
My wife and I hosted a brewer’s group meeting at my home last night. Our home
brewing group is small, and is a subgroup of the local SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism – a group of historical re-enactors).
My friend Mike was making a batch of Irish Red Ale. However, he was running late and instead of pouring his wort into the fermenting bucket and cooling it via tubes so he could pitch the yeast there, he decided to pour it all into a glass carboy and take it home, let it cool overnight, and add the yeast this morning.
Continue reading “A Small Detour from the Beer Highway”
Oops
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUOS7UbNXw4[/youtube]