Professor Good Ales

Written by Don Monkerud

Forget about kicking back and enjoying an American beer; a massive wave of consolidation is transforming the industry.

According to a recent report by the Marin Institute, a California-based alcohol industry watchdog, a rush of buyouts and mergers in the last years of the Bush Administration has left two overseas giants in control of 80 percent of American beer consumption.

“How beer is marketed and sold in this country will never be the same,” said Charisse Lebron, corporate responsibility & advocacy manager at the Marin Institute. “Anheuser-Busch InBev and MillerCoors, controlled by parent companies SABMiller and Molson Coors Brewing Company, are all that really matter in the U.S.”

America is the world’s most profitable beer market, yet the U.S. has lost what was once a competitive industry. As recently as 2004, ten companies fought over world consumption; today Belgium-based InBev (Anheuser-Busch InBev) controls 25 percent of the world’s beer market. SABMiller, the second largest brewer with 15 percent of the market, is a London-based conglomerate that formed when South African Breweries acquired U.S.-owned Miller in 2002.
Continue reading “Monopolizing America: Big Beer Takes Over”

Story from Comcast.net. Written by Russell Contreras, AP

BOSTON — It is banned in 13 states and sure doesn’t come in a six-pack.

The maker of Samuel Adams beer has released an updated version of its biennial beer Utopias — now the highest alcohol content beer on the market. At 27 percent alcohol by volume and $150 a bottle, the limited release of the brandy-colored Utopias comes as more brewers take advantage of improvements in science to boost potency and enhance taste.

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Pensacola Area

If you have not RSVP’ed Jim Martin for the Christmas Party please do it quickly. We are trying to get an idea as to who will be in attendance so we can get the names on all the $1000 checks that will be given away at the door. Opps, after checking with Santa the $1000 check will have to stay on your wish list (none of you have been that good this year), but it will be a great party and we don’t want you to miss it. If you haven’t already, let us know you’re coming as soon as possible(bring Beer).

It may have been cold but we home-brewers “Brewed” yesterday and ended up with 30 gallons of beer and 10 gallons of cider. We also bottled 5 gallons of Blake’s ShWheat beer with the club’s beer gun. Actually we had a pretty good turnout considering the cold weather. Blake made Pale Ale, Buddy and Kellie made Honey beer, Ryan made a “Big” Brown beer and Laura & I made Hard Cider. We got pointers & support from Mark, Ralph, Sean, Gary, Jill, Tim & Diane, Jim and a couple neighborhood friends.
Mark brought us a few beers that are not available locally and Jill brought several great homebrews that were enjoyed (Even the one wth the peppery spice) by all. We finished just as the sun was setting.

Reminders
Saturday the 12th – Christmas Party at Ozone at 4:00pm (Bring Beer)
Friday the 18th – Hot Glass Cold Brew at The Belmont Art Center 5:00pm (We need more beer!)

Pat Johnson
850-261-9218

Profile by Ken Carman

Continue reading “Beer Profile: Otter Creek Russian Imperial”

It was in Newark that the legend of Ballantine Burton Ale was born. Famous for the reputably excellent Ballantine IPA, the brewers at Newark made a special beer for private distribution. This beer was brewed to a very high gravity and designed for long periods of maturation in oak tanks. A limited bottling every Fall would be released to employees and friends of the brewers as gifts for the holiday. The special label (examples of which are periodically available on ebay) lists the date the beer was brewed, bottled, and the person for whom the gift was intended.

According to Fred Eckhardt in an interview I conducted several years ago, the Burton Ale was a very strong beer of unknown gravity, with over 60 IBU’s of bitterness and a lengthy period in the wood. Eckhardt suggests that this beer has its roots prior to prohibition. This is a sensible assumption. As Ballantine dated its origins in Newark to 1840, it is not hard to imagine the brewery tapping into the old New England tradition of strong stock ale. The Burton Ale can be viewed as a fostering of this tradition, perhaps one of the last remaining examples.

 

(This article includes an actual tasting and further comments.)

“When taste buds rebel and stomachs upchuck you know your palette is stuck on YUCK.”

Written by Ye Olde Scribe

Grab the little critter and squeezzzzzzzzzeeeeeeeeeee the essence into your glass. Make sure you get both barrels. Ah, SKUNK BEER! If that’s your desire grab your heine and lick it dry! Isn’t there a bit irony when a nickname is so apt? Scribe used to be a big fan of the darker version. Maybe Scribe just has more taste these days? Hey, it twere the 70s. Anything related to disco is tainted by mere location.

Corn… DMS. Weak body. A slightly sour sense. Weak urine color. What’s to complain about?

EVERYTHING.

Image from Zoice.com

   If you think about this one, what exactly would make you want to buy or drink this beer? What does it say good about the beer? What might this beer taste like? “Pssst! Seems this might be a case of attempting to use sex to sell beer that probably backfired in a somewhat smelly way.” (The “psst,” like the ad, was a too little odiferous, perhaps?)