Google is having a national competition for communities to “win” a Google fiber-optic network. Thus began the Asheville Google Fiber Network Initiative. We’re now on the tail end of the first round—Friday, March 26. Will you help us to bring Google Fiber to the Asheville community?

Asheville is already prevalent on numerous lists for travel—historic sites, the Blue Ridge Parkway, food, music, the arts, and craft beer. Imagine: Super-sexy high-speed internet access for businesses large and small. A wide network reaching even the most rural of communities, bringing us together. An school system as a network pioneer offering the best in education, plugged directly into the community. Musicians working at lightning speed. Our diverse, active and creative arts organizations benefiting for the über-hip HATCHfest, TEDx, the 48-hr Film Project, Twestival. A bigger and booming addition to Asheville’s high-tech sector. Live-streaming of Asheville’s very cool, consistent calendar of events and fundraisers. Maybe we could stream from Brewgrass or LEAF Fest? LAAFF? BeleChere? And think of the possibilities this has with tourism? I know, it’s the “dirty t-word,” but tourism is a big part of who we are. And for many, it pays the bills. But we’re warm people and we open up the mountains year-round and invite people to share in our world for just a week (or a day). I say: It’s time to show the world in REAL TIME who we are.

The GoogleAVL page is up with lots of helpful information. Please refer there for any questions, then click on the big, red “NOMINATE ASHEVILLE” button and tell Google why they need to bring Google Fiber to Asheville, North Carolina.

We’ve done all five. Will you?

1. Nominate Asheville. This is really, really, important.
2. Ask your friends to nominate Asheville in a sincere, really-do-it, kind of way.  This is also important.
3. Put a badge on your website to show your support for bringing Google Fiber to town.  Now you are doing something extra.
4. Publicly endorse Asheville’s effort to attract Google fiber.  You have become cool.
5. Write about why you want Google fiber in Asheville using your web site, your blog, or a youtube video. You are radically cool.

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.

Just too awesome for words.

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!

Organized very quickly and happening next Thursday, February 12 at Windows on the Park is Asheville’s Twestival which joins 175+ cities around the globe to raise funds for charity: water. Bruisin’ Ales is donating the beer for the event. We don’t just like beer, we also like water.

The Twestival is organized 100% by volunteers in cities around the world and 100% of the money raised from these events will go directly to support charity: water projects. …

By rallying together globally, under short timescales, for a single aim on the same day, the Twestival hopes to bring awareness to this global crisis.

charity: water is a non profit organization bringing clean, safe drinking water to people in developing nations by funding sustainable clean water solutions in areas of greatest need.

Right now 1.1 billion people on the planet don’t have access to safe, clean drinking water. That’s one in six of us.

Unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation cause 80% of all sickness and disease, and kill more people every year than all forms of violence, including war.

Many communities in developing nations often have a plentiful supply of clean drinking water just below the ground, but no way to get to it. …

We all know that Twitter can be a powerful communications tool. It can connect, mobilize and inform people around the world instantly.

Those of us on Twitter know of its ability to organically create interesting communities from those people who find and follow each other. It is proven from the first Twestival that bringing the Twittersphere together for a special event is not only a memorable night; it has momentum to bring about social change.

Join us for delicious food, $1 beers, live music, and silent auctions. More details to follow.

Thursday, February 12, 2009
6:00-11:00 pm
$10 donation gets you in

Just kidding! Who in the world has time for a “Year in Review?” Not us and especially not when you need beer. And, believe us when we say, you people require a lot of beer. Especially during the holidays. Perhaps you’ve stopped by and witnessed one of us prancing over boxes and people like graceful gazzelles—ok, truth be told, not graceful. We’ve both got some war wounds from running into/over/under things in the past week while trying to procure beer, boxes, or both, but we are grateful you keep coming in, because unlike Michigan, Asheville loves its beer and won’t compromise on that. Bravo!

Open beer skate, anyone?
Ah, Germany. You couldn’t accept that Oktoberfest was your way to one-up the world. Now you’ve gone and created the beer lake. If you could replicate the beer lake during Oktoberfest, then you win, hands down.

An unwanted experience
Some might like it, but this is one experience we could do without. Oh, and don’t miss the caption: “An actor explains the brewing process while stirring a steaming cauldron full of “wort”—the mash that is mixed with yhttp://www.clipart.com/east before beer is fermented.” Stay classy, Amsterdam!

No more beer with “brekky” in Oz
As of Wednesday, Queenslanders can no longer have a brew with breakfast. Instead of starting the taps at 9 a.m., hardcore beer and breakfast folks will have to wait until 10 a.m.—one entire hour later. Geez, that wait has got to kill you, right? George the Bastard is now even happier he lives in the States.

Brats and feta?
Oh, hell yeah! Sounds delish. Why do they never make a beer style suggestion in recipes? Again, it’s the arbitrary “one bottle of ale.”

Misleading headline
We’re pretty sure this won’t cure anyone. So, please don’t stop treatment and start frying up steaks in beer non-stop. But overall, it is pretty interesting and scientific. … Oh, wait. Crap.

The 1000+ laid-off ABInBev workers
Folks gave free beer and job-seeking advice to those left behind. (pun intended) What we love most about this story is that many of the laid-off workers drank Schlafly’s, a nifty little St. Louis craft brewer. Will the St. Louis brewing tradition be upheld and rebuilt in the shadow of misfortune? Let’s hope so!

Happy New Year, everyone! Cheers!

Save the Pints!
Britain duked it out with the European Union, and won, to keep the pint a pint and not switch to the EU’s “standard of drinks” measured by the metric system. Something about “I’ll have a half-liter” just sounds stupid. If that had happened, would we have to rename the glasses, too? Pints are part of Britain’s identity and heritage. We’re happy to see them stay.

Speaking of the EU…
Anheuser-Busch InBev lost the trademark battle with Czech Budvar over the name “Bud” in the European Union. So, apparently, our Bud is not for them.

NY Governor proposes major, and we mean MAJOR, tax hikes
Exactly “235 years to the day after the Boston Tea Party took place,” New York’s Governor Paterson, has proposed 88 new taxes. Of course, one of the 88 is on beer. And soda. And mp3s. Shoes under $110. Taxis. It’s all over the place. No small irony that this happened just after the little Saturday Night Live debacle. Ooopsy-daisy.

They stoles it from us
Some place in Chicago is hosting a beer and a cookie tasting. For $10. Now granted, that is Chicago, but we’ve done two of those same events for FREE, because Sugar Momma’s and Bruisin’ Ales loves you. That’s right. We love you.

Something (not quite) as tasty
Our palate is pretty trained, so to speak, but we wouldn’t go this far.

Students at Rice University in Texas are developing a beer that fends off cancer and heart-attacks with resveratrol, a antioxidant component in red wine that is said to have health benefits.

Some woman in Arizona gives advice on having a beer and cheese party/tasting.

Then, we read that someone is coming to visit Asheville this weekend (in a venue about a quarter of the size where “That One” spoke). And police laid charges on two students for the Bear Incident.

And, really, wouldn’t this be something? (It’s a joke, by the way.)