2011 Zymurgy Best Beers in America

Each year Zymurgy asks its readers for their 20 favorite beers. Check out the results of this year's poll here. Of note are Stone's 2 entries in the top 10, and Alpine taking top honors in the "Spirit of Homebrew" category. Also placing in that category are AleSmith and Placentia's The Bruery. Way to go, guys!

Huh?

Pints for Puppies

Mission Brewery is helping out local guide dogs in training. Check out the article here. Drink a beer, help train a guide dog. Cool!

Happy Monday!

I know one guy who had a happy Monday. I saw him around 10:00am this morning on his bike with a fresh case of Stella Artois on his handlebars. I saw him around 3:00pm, again riding from the direction of the local grocery store, this time with an unopened case of Sam Adams balancing on the handlebars. That's a lot of beer for a Monday, but then again, we are talking about Monday! At least his choice in beer was a lot better than it could have been. Happy Monday!

Cheers!

Who said that?

"My glass may always be half empty, but at least it's a glass of beer!"
- The Hop Daddy

It's that time again

The San Diego International Beer Festival returns this weekend at the San Diego County Fair. There will be more than 350 beers from over 150 breweries for your tasting pleasure. I will be there as a table captain on Saturday again this year, so look for me in one of the specially designated "white shirts", which will just be a plain white t-shirt, but I wanted it to sound cooler. See you there!

San Diego International Beer Festival
Friday, 5:00-9:00pm
Saturday, 11:00am-3:00pm
Saturday, 4:00-8:00pm
Sunday, 1:00-5:00pm
Del Mar, CA
$45 per session (includes Fair admission), $32 per session if already admitted to the Fair

Relief is in sight!

Name the beer style

Beer, the healthy choice

Check out this article from Shape magazine about the health benefits of beer. Now, go grab a brew and get healthy!

The Lost Abbey on Cooking Channel?

How is it that I find out, 12 hours after the fact, that a show on Cooking Channel called United Tastes of America with Jeffrey Saad, runner up in Season 5 of Food Network's "The Next Food Network Star", was filming a segment for the show at The Lost Abbey today? Why are these things always posted after the fact, or right as they are happening? Are they worried the place will be inundated with fans or on-lookers? Probably, and it would most likely happen. Still, I would like to know when television shows are in town filming spots about local breweries! Wishful thinking, I know. That being said, I will now patiently wait for the show to air and will keep you posted with air dates as I learn of them.

Who said that?

"Whoever makes a poor beer is transferred to the dung-hill."
- Edict, City of Danzig

As long as it's for research

FRIDAY

It's Friday, do you know where your beer is?

Where am I?

It's not too expensive, you're too cheap.

This Stone Brewing Co. saying sums up my thoughts exactly. People complain about the price of beer. I'm not talking about a $1.19 24 ounce Steel Reserve or a $2.99 no-name six-pack from Trader Joe's, I'm talking about good, craft beer. An average six-pack now ranges from $9.99 to $14.99, higher or lower depending on the store and current promotion, and 22 ounce bombers range from $3.99 to $7.99 for standard releases, much higher for specialty and rarer selections. These prices aren't cheap, but you do get what you pay for. If you choose your beer on price alone, then don't expect to be challenged, surprised, or enlightened by the beverage in your glass. I'm not saying there aren't good, reasonably priced beers on the market. There are. I'm just asking you not to put down that barrel aged barleywine or dry hopped IIPA you have been eyeing because it is a couple dollars more than the macro brewed six-pack on the shelf above it. I paid $5.05 for a specialty coffee drink at Starbucks the other day. We think nothing of paying that kind of money for a coffee that lasts just a few minutes, several times a week for many. Why balk at paying around the same for a great beer? Go to your favorite bottle shop, whether it be Albertsons, BevMo!, or the corner liquor store, and pick something out that looks good. Really, really good! Don't look at the price when you pick it out, just pick something that you haven't tried before and think you will really enjoy. Now treat yourself to this special beer. When you open it don't think about the price, think about the love that went into the bottle. Think about the region of the country or part of the world it came from. Think about the ingredients that went into it. Research the beer to learn about its origins and how it was conceived, brewed, and distributed. There is so much you can learn about the libation you are consuming that you will forget all about the price tag, at least for the moment. Even if you can't afford to do this all the time, most of us can't, give yourself a little break once in a while from the monotony of the everyday and splurge on a beer that will prove that you're not too cheap, you are just a discerning beer connoisseur!

How to pour beer

Check out this great video from Dave McLean of Magnolia Pub & Brewery on how to properly pour a beer. This takes some practice depending on the beer, but a good pour can make or break a beer experience.

Stone storms South Park

Check out the grand opening of Stone's South Park location on Wednesday, June 22nd.

Who said that?

"The government that increases the price of beer cannot last longer than the next plum harvest."
- Czechoslovakian homily

Ridiculous, useless, & probably untrue beer facts #4

Did you know that the phrase "a deer caught in the headlights" was originally "a beer caught in the headlights"? It referred to finding one of your favorite beers and being fixated on it as if it were being illuminated by headlights, guiding you to it. It was later changed to "deer" because of the rising number of deer related accidents and the accounts of those involved relating how the deer just stopped and stared into the headlights before being hit. Although this fact may not be true, it sounds good to me!

FRIDAY

Variety is the spice of life. Happy Friday!

Aha!

AleSmith Brewery Expansion

With all of the brewery expansion going on right now, it looks like it's AleSmith's turn. This is from their current newsletter.

"2011 has been an exciting year here at AleSmith! In January, we took over an additional 4,300 square feet and have started a brewery expansion that will allow us to increase our potential capacity to 7,000 barrels of beer per year.

We also recently added a 1 barrel Sabco pilot system that will help us fine tune recipes and add more beers to the rotating line up of taps in the tasting room. Speaking of the tasting room, with the additional 4,300 square feet, we were able to expand the size of the tasting room and will soon make room for 4 additional taps (bringing the total numbers of taps in the tasting room to 16)!

Coming in the next few months is a new and larger bar for the tasting room and other exciting changes. July will bring us the highly anticipated arrival of our brand new Prospero bottling line."

Looks like good things are in store for us!

Who said that?

"Never trust a clean shaven brewer."
- Anonymous

Learn with The Bruery

The Bruery, Orange County's critically acclaimed craft brewery, is launching a series of tutorials on Facebook that should prove interesting. An introductory post from today states, "Welcome to the first day of Knowledge is Hoppiness, a 101 Facebook tutorial series on craft beer brought to you by yours truly. Here's a look at your professors. As you can see, beards are a professor must-have. Tomorrow we'll give you a list of "class materials" (i.e. beer) for you to pick-up from your local organic food market, big box beverage store or hidden gem beer store." Keep an eye on their page at http://www.facebook.com/thebruery each day for further posts. If I can learn something from The Bruery, sign me up!

999 Beer Bloggers

If you are reading this you no doubt have an interest both in beer, and beer related blogs. I am what is known as a "citizen" beer blogger, which means that I blog on my own and not for a particular brewery or other entity. According to Allan Wright, creator and organizer of annual Beer Blogger Conferences in Europe and the United States, the number of reported beer blogs has risen to 999 and counting. You can read more about it here. Having this many blogs to choose from gives credence to the fact that the pursuit of beer excellence is a worthy endeavor, and allows the resources to achieve it. I hope you enjoy, learn from, and share what you read here. I also hope it inspires you to find other beer blogs to follow as well. If you love craft beer as much as I do, tell the world about it through your own blog. A fresh perspective into your love of beer will help us all to develop a greater appreciation of all things beer!

Reinheitsgebot

Did I forget to spellcheck the title of this post? No, just testing your German. Reinheitsgebot, which means "purity order", refers to the German Beer Purity Law of 1516. It stated that only water, barley, and hops could be used in the production of beer. Though the law was later repealed, it is still referenced in the marketing of many beers today.

FRIDAY

Have a nice beer!

Mayor declares June 'Craft Beer Month'

Click here if you don't see the video.

Bocce, anyone?

Dogfish Head is hosting their 6th annual Western Intergalactic Bocce Tournament here in San Diego. Check out all the details here. Who wants to raise the $700 we need to form a team? Bocce or bust!