This is the first Beer Nation drinking game and I would love to hear how many of you could actually get your hands on all of these brews. - When a winner pulls out a prepared speech, drink a beer from Speakeasy Brewery
- When a winner thanks God, drink a beer from Holy Brew in Leesburg, Virginia
- When a presenter stumbles over a name, take a drink from any Dogfish Head brew (the presenter has probably been drinking one of Sam Calagione’s high ABV beers as well)
- If Alec Baldwin mentions 30 Rock, drink anything from Rock Bottom Brewery
- If he mentions Hunt for Red October, then you’ll have to dig deep into the back of the fridge to find the last remaining Oktoberfest
- And if he mentions his sweaty balls then grab the beer of the person next to you and drink that
- When the band attempts to play a winner off the stage, take a drink of water.
- When the band succeeds, drink one of the Zappa Series beers from Lagunitas (you’ll probably have to go down to the cellar and pull up the bottle of Reuben and the Jets that you’ve been saving)
- When the band attempts to play James Cameron off the stage, drink anything from Blue Point Brewery or the Bar Harbor True Blue Ale (I had to throw in some blue related beers in honor of the Navi)
| Tsun | oe | nga-hu | nì-Na’vi | p‹iv›ängkxo | a | fì-’u | oe-ru | prrte’ | lu and enjoy the Oscar’s tonight everyone. |
Mike visits the first — and only — American craft beer bar in Europe: Beer Temple in Amsterdam.
- Oh boy, do I love a good fresh hop brew! NY Times
- Boston Beer Company (makers of Sam Adams) and Weihenstephan Brewing are collaborating on a 10% beer – I’m going to be first in line. MSNBC
- If it is good enough for Pooh, then it’s good enough for you. Digital Journal
- NORM!!! Still at the corner of the bar drinking beer, just not in Boston anymore. MSNBC
I hear it from foreigners all the time: American beer sucks. And who could blame them for buying into the stereotype? Tourist areas are replete with restaurants and bars that carry only macro-brews. And, although more impressive craft beer selections may be available only minutes from their hotels, visitors are rarely in the mood to search for a restaurant or bar simply because of the beer they offer.
Well, times are clearly changing. Today, while visiting my local beer store (Bierkraft in Brooklyn), I noticed two Swedish gentleman ogling the Dogfish Head section. As I grabbed for an Indian Brown Ale, one of them asked if I liked that particular beer. He told me he had already tried the 60 Minute IPA, the 90 Minute IPA, and the Midas Touch, and wanted to try a new Dogfish Head variety. I was happy to tell him that I loved the Indian Brown Ale.
Many of America’s craft beers are made using the same traditional brewing techniques used in Europe (e.g., Ommegang, Sam Adams). So, Europeans may find those beers suitable, if not delicious. A more interesting test, however, is how Europeans take to the more adventurous American brews (e.g., Dogfish Head, Stone).
Judging by the Swedes I met at Bierkraft this evening, there are certainly some Europeans who are catching on to new American brews. And, that’s great news. Who knows? Perhaps we’ll soon see American craft breweries reaching out to markets across the Atlantic. The sky’s the limit.
East Carson Street in Pittsburgh
While Haight Street in San Francisco is home to hippies and flower children, East Carson Street — arguably the longest continuous stretch of bars in the country — is home to Pittsburgh’s large college student population. (I’ve had the privilege of visiting both cities recently, and can’t tell you how good the bar scenes are on these streets . . . no, seriously, I can’t remember any of it.)
The battle begins. Ding ding!
Haight Street stares glassy-eyed at East Carson Street, and says (in your best Tommy Chong voice): “Hey let’s love each other, man. I don’t want to fight you, man.” But, behind a big puff of smoke comes a great little brewpub called Magnolia Pub and Brewery. With fried chicken Thursdays and an abundance of casks, this place has all you need to satisfy a serious case of the munchies.
East Carson snatches the joint right out of Haight’s mouth, takes a hit, stomps the doobie out, and throws back Fathead’s Saloon. 42 taps and a hand pump can get any college crowd going. What, they close at 2:00 AM? Not to worry, just grab a 6 pack to go. One floor above Fathead’s restaurant and bar is a six pack shop that sells an incredible selection of domestic and foreign craft beers.
The Haight keeps the munchies at bay with a fat Fathead’s Burger, and decides to keep this fight low-key with The Alembic Bar. For the record, any bar that has Russian River Consecration on its bottle list is a champion in my book. (I stumbled upon Russian River beers while rolling through the hills of San Fran and I’d have to say that I think Vinnie Cilurzo of RR, who’s the head brewer and part-owner with his wife Natalie, is a certified genius.)
East Carson shrugs and says, “We’ve got some pretty good breweries here on the East Coast as well, damn it.” Then he pulls out Smokin’ Joe’s, which is exactly that, SMOKIN’! The East Coast is very well represented at Smokin’ Joe’s, where, among its 60 taps and 350+ bottles, it offers beer from the likes of Victory Brewing Company, the Duck Rabbit Craft Brewery (which makes a fantastic Milk Stout and has a pretty cool logo), and the Southern Tier Brewing Company.
Haight has been holding back, though. In its back pocket is the grand-daddy of all beer bars, the twenty-two year old Toronado. This place is full of character and has been around longer than most of the breweries that distribute to Toronado. Haight just stands there and smiles in a peace-and-loving way.
In the meantime, East Carson decides its tired of this hippie and just starts throwing bar after bar at Haight: Piper’s Pub, The Library, Double Wide Grill, and on and on.
Haight Street can’t handle the successive hits and taps out, leaving East Carson with a well-deserved victory.
Bravo to The Washington City Paper for pointing out an unfortunate dichotomy in the community of craft beer drinkers: the Beer Snobs v. the Beer Geeks. The City Paper quotes Sam Calagione of Dogfish Head saying:
There’s beer geeks and there’s beer snobs, and I’m a card-carrying, dyed-in-the-wool member of the beergeek community. How I differentiate between a
beer geek and a beer snob is this: they could have an equal amount of knowledge about beer; they could have equally awesome palates; [they] can articulate everything about the qualities of beer; [and they can] tell you the history of brewing styles. Their knowledge might be the same. But a beer geek loves beer because he or she loves beer, and they want to learn more always, try new beers, and share that with the people they love. Whereas beer snobs try to know as much as they can about beer as a power point and to lord it over people, or to stick out as an expert in a field of neophytes.
Sam, as usual, gets it right. I’m a firm believer in having an inclusive attitude about craft beer. What’s a good thing if you can’t share it? And, as the City Paper deftly illustrates:
We don’t get why some beer enthusiasts try to be so exclusive . . . It is essential to the livelihood of craft beer that more and more people get turned on to it, and this can only happen with a more welcoming, inclusive attitude from those who call themselves beer fans.
Here, here City Paper! Anybody who’s using their knowledge of craft beer to “lord it over people” should rethink why they started drinking craft beer in the first place. Hell hath no fury like the inclusive craft beer revolution! Viva la revolution!
In a recent press release, the Brewers Association announced that the craft beer business has grown significantly in the first half of 2009 (5% in dollar amount, 9% in volume):
At a time when many of the giant beer brands are declining, small and independent craft brewers are organically growing their share and slowly gaining shelf and restaurant menu space one glass of craft beer at a time.
Even more amazing than the assertion that craft beer is beating out the rest of our sad economy is the revelation that the U.S. now boasts more breweries than it has since 1910 (when the consolidation of breweries began in anticipation of Prohibition).
Is craft beer a staple of modern living, unaffected by the most dramatic economic downturn in 75 years? It is for us!
I thought my mind was playing tricks on me for a second, but during last 
Monday’s episode of Weeds I caught Andy Botwin drinking a beer from Stone Brewing Co. How cool is that! Andy was standing there sipping a Stone IPA like it was no big thang. I wonder if Justin Kirk, the actor who plays Andy on the show, might be boys with Greg Koch, the brewmaster of Stone Brewing Co.
Or . . . maybe the producers of Showtime’s hit TV show thought it would be funny if in their show about WEED, they drink a beer called STONE. Either way, it’s awesome to see some love thrown at one of America’s best craft breweries.
Kirk’s character Andy even has a brewmaster look to him. Eh?
Last month President Obama made headlines by inviting Henry Louis Gates and the police officer who arrested him to the White House for a “Beer Summit.”
Upon hearing of the Beer Summit, many of us wondered: What did they drink? Here’s a rundown:
- President Obama: Bud Light
- Gates: Sam Adams Light
- The Police Officer: Blue Moon
- Vice President Biden: Buckler
Suprisingly, only one of the participants drank beer brewed by an American-owned brewing company: Henry Louis Gates.
As it turns out, Anheuseur-Busch (brewers of Bud Light) is owned by InBev, and Coors (brewers of Blue Moon) is owned by South African Breweries Ltd. Buckler, a beer previously unfamiliar to both of your hosts, is a low-alcohol beer brewed by Heineken.
That leaves Gates’s Sam Adams Light, a beer brewed by the Boston Brewing Company. And, while the Boston Brewing Company is considered by many to be a “craft” brewery, some people disagree with that classification because of the brewery’s large size (it is now among America’s two largest brewing companies).
What do you think? What makes certain brews “craft” beer? Is it the size of the brewery? Or the quality of the brew?
COMING SOON: BEER NATION! A web-based series exploring the craft beer revolution.
Check out our trailer:
If you’ve stepped into a bar since the end of the Clinton administration, you’ve probably noticed that the beer taps are multiplying at a furious rate. What was once two or three recognizable beers is now eight or ten, many of which may be unfamiliar to the craft beer virgin.
It doesn’t matter if you know the difference between a saison and a session, or a Sam Adams and a Samuel Smith. Beer Nation caters to anyone interested in learning more about the brewers, the drinkers, the bartenders, and everyone else who makes this a Beer Nation.
