Our beer writer friend from Charlotte, Rick Lyke (of Lyke2Drink), made Dr. Sanja Gupta’s CNN video health report today with his Pints for Prostates Campaign! That rawks! Congrats, Rick!
Rock Art Brewery wins trademark battle for “Vermonster” over drinks giant, Monster Energy
Well, well, Monster Energy, we learned a little lesson in PR over the past week and a half, didn’t we? Early last week, Monster Energy sent a cease and desist letter to teenie, tiny Rock Art Brewery in Vermont over their beer named Vermonster. Now, they didn’t go after Brooklyn Brewery (which could possibly defend themselves) or any of the other breweries that use the word “monster” in the name. They likely planned to work their way up, setting precedents along the way if it led to court. Well, the little brewery, its fans and the craft beer industry, unleashed a firestorm of battles via e-mail, websites, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. Yesterday—a little over ten days later—the drinks giant bowed out, acknowledging a loss of sales and damaged reputation. Woot! Did you help us? Want to show your support? Buy Rock Art Brewery “Vermonster” t-shirt here. Power to the people (and social media)!
Fresh hop season!
I’ll make a confession. I’m not an Oktoberfest fan. At all. I sampled the few from Germany that we can actually get, along with a bunch of domestic craft and there was only one in the entire bunch that did anything for me. It’s not that the beer is/was bad, it’s just not my style. But one thing keeps me going through those short four weeks or so: Fresh hop season. I LOVE the hop harvest. Literally, I get giddy with excitement because nothing beats sticking your nose in a glass of subtle fresh-hop ale. But again, it’s short, so get them while you can: Founder’s Harvest, Sierra Nevada Estate Harvest, Sierra Nevada Wet-Hop Harvest, Left Hand Warrior Wet-hop, and Weyerbacher Harvest. Great Divide Fresh Hop and Sweetwater’s Wet Dream are on their way soon!
The FTC is about to put the smackdown on beer bloggers who accept beer from breweries
In other blow to blogging, after the recent affiliate issues, the FTC is going to make beer writers/reviewers disclose if they received said beer from a brewery. Beervana has a good quote: “…It ghettoizes blogs–who must make this disclosure–but leaves the mainstream press alone.” I would expect any decent blogger to let me know where the beer came from, but breweries send releases to publications all the time for review. Is there really a difference? There are many beer bloggers who also write for said magazines, so we expect this is going to be a murky issue at best. For the record, we never endorse in full review form on our blog. It’s inappropriate. It’s endorsement enough that we hand-select and stock a particular beer (if we can get it).
Boston Beer Co. and Weihenstephan to collaborate on “new beer style”
I’m probably the only person on Earth completely underwhelmed by this, but Boston Beer Co. (a.k.a. Samuel Adams) and the world’s oldest brewery, Weihenstephan of Germany, are collaborating to brew a “new beer style.” I don’t even know what that means. Reuters has the statement: “Dr. Josef Schradler, managing director of Germany’s Weihenstephan Brewery, and Jim Koch, brewer and founderof Samuel Adams, announced their partnership and plans to unveil a new style of collaboratively brewed beer next spring.” There was a big PR hoo-hah, photo-op etc., yesterday, but why all the fuss? Breweries have been collaborating for years now. I like Boston Beer Co. and Samuel Adams: They have the funding to put craft beer in front of people. Jim Koch has done amazing things for craft beer. But all this fuss over something that’s been done before (way, way before) leaves me feeling stupified. I also think this quote is contradictory: “While keeping an eye on tradition, the Samuel Adams brewers continue to innovate and explore boundary-pushing beer styles and brewing techniques.” Utopias is hardly tradition. So, what is this marriage of Reinheitsgebot and “extreme beer” going to produce? Here’s the description: “The champagne-like beer will weigh in at more than 10 percent alcohol by volume, yet remain very dry and crisp, shattering the preconceived notions of what can be done following the Reinheitsgebot Law.” Huh.
Infiltration
This is just a great blog I picked-up from someone on Twitter today. It’s creepy. And I love it!
It’s been awhile since we posted any sort of “beer in the news” stuff. Mostly because it’s been a big yawn fest of regurgitated (and poorly researched) beer tax stories, more beer cocktail recipes, and that stupidly immature Bud Light Lime “I like it in the can” commercial. So, there it is. I am ignoring those things. Now you know.
MonkPub events leading up to Brewgrass
From the Inbox: “The Thirsty Monk is having a game to win two different sets of Brewgrass tickets TODAY. One pair downtown starting at 6 p.m. And, the other pair at the new South Asheville Thirsty Monk at 7 p.m. It also happens to be Pint Night at both locations: Oskar Blues Mamas Little Yella Pils downtown / Bell’s Two Hearted down South. Thursday (downtown) we have a CASK from New Belgium (the first ever east of the Mississippi) tapping at 6 p.m. and the Founders Canadian Breakfast Stout tapping at 7 p.m. On Friday, we have a CASK from Rogue.” The new South location is located in Gerber Village, near Frankie Bones and Five Guys Burgers & Fries.
Terrapin in 360°
Check out this tour of Terrapin Brewing Co. Very cool! The place has certainly come a long way since our last visit. Must go back! It’s a fun place to hang out. If you’re ever in Athens, Ga., go check it out!
Mother Earth Brewing officially… brewing
Josh Brewer (ironic name!), passed along this article from Kinston, N.C.: Mother Earth is finally brewing. Congrats, guys! Now send us some beer! I wonder how many new North Carolina breweries will officially open in 2009?
Another result of global warming? Lower hop yields
Yup, the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute has found that global warming is contributing to lower crop yields of one very important ingredient of beer: hops. (Particularly Saaz.) “Yields have already been affected as air temperatures have slowly risen over the previous five decades, say the scientists, and they predict that future warming could reduce yields by a further 7-10%.”
This is a stupid headline
I’ll just let you read it for yourself. But at least the article mentions that Oktoberfest begins in September, not October. One of the most misunderstood things.
Beer in a pouch?
Crazy, but true! Look at that. Weird, no? “The CarboPouch by the Beverage Pouch Group is designed for artisan beermakers, letting them fill you up a six pack to go on-site, making it so the smaller brewers don’t need to buy any cumbersome beer-filling assembly line contraptions to ply their hand-made wares.” We wonder who’ll be the first in Asheville to get some of these things! It’s like a squeezy juice box for adults. Definitely wouldn’t drink out of the pouch!
Today’s beer spill
Chicago. Miller Lite. We wouldn’t call that “tragic,” but whatever.
Speaking of:
MillerCoors is sending 8,000 cases of beer to the troops overseas for July 4, as part of Pizza for Patriots (warning: horribly cheesy site music). “The organization will send more than 25,000 pizzas and a total of 8,000 cases of Coors Light and Miller Lite to the Middle East through the donations of products and services by corporate sponsors MillerCoors, Pizzeria Uno and DHL.” Mmmmm, Pizzeria Uno. You’re fattening and awesome.
Don’t kill the Amsterdam Beer Bikes!
Two accidents and everyone’s in an uproar over the Amsterdam Beer Bikes, one of the cooler ways to see the city. You get a group of 10-22 folks, a non-drinking driver, and peddle your way around the city as a portable bar. In some places, they call that genius.
Boston.com’s BeerAdvocate story
We know some that would disagree with the headline, but the story is good. For the record, we love BeerAdvocate.com. Couldn’t live without it! If you’re reading this and not a member, you should be. For shame.
India gets into craft beer?
Wow. Loves it! Craft beer will take over the world. Well, at least three-quarters, hopefully.
And, finally, the best news: NC killed the “sin” taxes! North Carolina, FTW!
From the News & Observer, the NC house shaved $154M off the budget by eliminating the “sin” taxes. “Democrats were the ones who successfully proposed removing the ’sin’ taxes from the roster.” To everyone that wrote letters, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU. $25.5M of that amount would have been beer!
