Alabama has a history of getting close, but can’t ever seem to cross the finish line. Last year the homebrewing bill got to about the same point. HB354, as it was called last year, died in the Alabama senate.

As far as homebrewing laws go, this one is very restrictive. This bill only allows you to brew 60 gallons a year, compared to the federal limit of 100 gallons per person and 200 gallons per household. If that wasn’t enough, you can only have 15 gallons in your house at any time. There are times where I’ll brew 20 gallons in one shot, so the 15 gallon limitation seems excessive to me. And if you happen to live in a dry county in Alabama, you’re out of luck no matter what happens to the bill.

This beer would put me over the quarterly limit in Alabama for this year. (10 gal + 10 gal earlier)

Even with these restrictions, you have to wonder why they can’t pass the law. Well you don’t have to wonder too hard. It’s the Baptists.

One big opponent (if not THE opponent) of Alabama homebrewing is Alabama Citizen Action Program (ALCAP). Once you’re on their site, you only have to reach the second sentence before the words “bible” and “moral compass” get tossed around. There’s no surprise there, and it’s nothing new. They do provide other “reasons”, which are more entertaining than the usual bible quotes.

Homebrewers can’t self-regulate

The argument goes like this. The law only allows 15 gallons of homemade beer, wine or cider per quarter (3 months) and only 15 gallons ever in your home at any time. But homebrewers are already making beer in Alabama, so according to ALCAP, they will ignore the new law as well. The only way to enforce it is to have police raid your home, something even ALCAP didn’t feel comfortable with. Still it makes you wonder. If people will ignore laws no matter what, why pass laws at all?

Think of the children

Oh you knew this reason would be here somewhere. Apparently having large amounts of homemade alcohol (15 gallons) would be too much of a temptation for children. ALCAP’s argument is if children try beer because it’s more accessible, they will try other “mind altering” drugs. Since children see their parents drinking, it would be hypocritical for the parents to challenge their child’s new drug habits. For some reason, this effect doesn’t work if it’s a store bought can of Budweiser.  Homebrew has special evil powers to corrupt children that regular alcohol is missing.

Homebrewers will want more

Previous Alabama homebrew bills had a 100 gallon limit to match the federal limits. This bill was slashed down to 15 gallons to appease critics like the ALCAP. Their “fear” is future bills will request higher amounts to brew and store, maybe even as much as 100 gallons (*gasp*). Well I’d have to say they are correct on this one. 15 gallons is unreasonably low, and should be challenged. There are no limits on the amount of beer you can purchase and store in your home. Why is homebrew more “dangerous”?  Oh yeah, special evil powers — I keep forgetting.

Homebrew makes alcoholics

Again for some strange reason, homebrew will take well-educated, chuch-attending citizens down a dark path to alcoholism, but regular store bought canned beer will not. ALCAP states “they [sic- homebrews?] begin by drinking socially and they gradually begin to drink more and more, until they find themselves addicted.” I guess they are assuming new Alabama homebrewers don’t drink beer now, and this new hobby will somehow make them alcoholics? Or again, homebrew has special evil powers which store bought beer does not possess.

These are the main reasons they highlight on their website on why you should oppose HB9. They also provide other laugh inducing reasons like the urban legend vodka tampon and butt chugging, and all the usual bible quotes in other parts of their website.  They state they are [the self appointed] moral compass for Alabama, and they have guide on all the other things you shouldn’t do.

If you’re in Alabama, you need to call your state senators and tell them YES on HB9. I really don’t want to be writing another article about how you’re close to passing it again next year.

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The book talks about all the things you need to consider including finding space, getting permits, securing ingredients, marketing and other things beyond how to brew beer. The best part is it’s currently free for the Kindle version. Since the book version is $13.50 and the list price on the Kindle version is $9.99, I’m not sure how long this sale will last. If you’ve ever considered starting your own nano brewery, you’ll want to get it while you can.

(Source: A Brewer’s Guide to Opening a Nano Brewery: Your $10,000 Brewery Consultant for $15)

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Viansa Vineyards & Winery, Sonoma Valley, California, USA

 A good wine is hard to beat. It can either perfectly compliment your meal to make your dining experience more enjoyable, or on its own it can be a great way to relax with a friend.

The difficulty comes in choosing the right wine, and with so many different wines available to pick from, selecting can be a struggle unless you’re a connoisseur. Here we will look at some of the Sonoma valley wines, as well as how to go about tasting and assessing them.

How to Taste Wine

If you want to look like a wine buff and really appreciate your drink, then it pays to know a little about wine tasting and how to assess the quality, strength, taste and age of the wine.

When tasting wine you will want to use all of your different senses. The first is sight. By looking at a wine you can tell details such as its age and its strength. If you have a white wine, then try holding the wine over a white surface so you can see through it more easily. The more yellowy and golden the wine is, the older it is.  A transparent watery rim around the outside suggests youth. Likewise with red wine, darker means older. If the red wine is less red and more mahogany, or even brown-looking, then this is a much older wine.

You can also tell the strength of wine by sight after you have swilled it around inside your glass. Move the glass quickly so that the drink washes up around the sides then look for the tendrils dripping down. The more tendrils remain, the stronger the wine.

Before tasting the wine be sure to give it a good smell by holding your nose just above the rim of the glass – part of the reason the wine glass is shaped as it is is to direct the smell toward your nose. Then when you taste the wine be sure to let it settle on each part of your tongue.

Some Sonoma Valley Wines

Now onto the wines! Here are just a few Sonoma Valley wines you might want to try:

Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc: This is an award winning white wine which is in the classic style of Marlborough Sauvignon. It has a flavour of cut grass and tropical fruits and has a great texture with a long finish (meaning that the taste remains and lingers in the mouth).

Francis Ford Coppola ‘Bianco’: This is a great table wine that’s easy to drink. It tastes of light fruit and is slightly acidic. It goes particularly well with appetizers and lighter dishes, and can also be enjoyed on its own on a summer’s day.

Travis Chardonnay: This wine has a gentle golden color and has a vanilla pudding bouquet. It is spicy and citrusy to begin, but finishes with fairly acidic with a taste of a lemon.

High Def Riesling: This wine has bright and tropical citrus aromas of mango and papaya. It has a medium body and is very crisp. It has a grassy and earthy finish.

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There’s one for most of the big houses in Game of Thrones. The labels are very good quality, but I really think the artist could have had more fun. Tyrion’s Imp-erial Ale? Wildfire Wit? Brianne’s Massive Blonde? Joffery’s Zima Clone (I hate that little bastard).  Speaking of… Jon Snow’s Arrogant Bastard?

It’s all on a site called redbubble.com, which looks like a cafe press competitor. You can order the prints on mugs, tshirts, cards, etc… at least until some lawyer from the respective brewery or HBO notices their intellectual properties are getting used to make money (not sure this falls under satire).

Familiar brands with a Game of Thrones twist

(Source: Satansbrand on Redbubble)

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First several Republicans tried to filibuster the bill. So much for the party of small government. Reps. DuWayne Bridges (R-Valley), Kurt Wallace (R-Maplesville), Richard Laird (R-Roanoke) and several others spoke for a “legendary” 10 minute filibuster. It would be funny if it wasn’t so sad. I guess it’s hard to come up with things to say when you really don’t have a solid argument.

Then the Republicans tried some very silly amendments to the bill in an attempt to sabotage it. They tried adding an age requirement making home brewing legal if you were over 60 years old. Then they tried adding a $100 license fee. That failed too, so they tried limiting the legal amount to 15 gallons and a felony if you brewed more. Despite their efforts, all the amendments were tabled.

You could be doing this soon in Alabama. If you're in Alabama, call your state senators!!

Baughn later added that this would lead to legalizing marijuana and home brewing 120 million barrels of beer a year per individual. One could hope, one could hope.

In the end, Alabama home brewers are one step closer avoiding arrest for brewing beer. The bill passed the House 44-33, and now moves to the Senate. Hopefully they are smart enough to pass it quickly.

And soon there will be one… (looking at you Mississippi, yeah you).

(Source: Weld For Birmingham)

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Of course, why stop there? He also added to the system an NFC badge reader to authenticate a user using Google credentials. This is to verify that you are allowed to drink the sacred stash of beer. It even uses flow sensors to determine you’re receiving the correct amount of beer in your pour (or correct amount of head as in the video’s case).

Of course it’s not magical beer, but this is very impressive. Very cool ingenuity, and the Droid character was a very nice touch.

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The video is German magician Simon Pierro performing with his iPad at the famed Hofbräuhaus. Good luck at figuring out how it works. I’m stumped just watching the video. Every time I think I have an explanation, I see another camera angle which disproves my theory.

Maybe the iPad really is magical? An iPad dispensing beer is proof enough for me!

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Now I know what you’re thinking; it’s beer pong, the only equipment you need is a few ping pong balls, some red cups, a flat surface, and of course beer. While it is important to have all the necessary supplies for a game of beer pong, the type of beer you use can definitely have an impact on your party. That said, there are a few things to consider when selecting the perfect beer for your night around the beer pong table:

You'll want a lighter beer or a good session beer to last a few rounds in beer pong

• Quantity over quality: An average game of beer pong uses anywhere from 4-6 beers and it won’t take long before the beer is gone. When shopping for beer make sure you buy cheap and buy a lot, your friends will thank you later.
• Light beers are you friend: Don’t try to be the guy who shows up to the beer pong table with beer in the alcohol percentage double digits. All it takes a few games before the alcohol kicks and bring a grown man to his knees. Go light and you’ll be sure to have a good night.
• Avoid heavy beers: Some beers will fill you up faster than others. If you plan on winning a few games on the beer pong table you need to make sure your stomach has the room it needs to hold all that beer. Avoid any stouts or other beers that are heavy on the stomach.

All in all no matter what beer you use you are sure to have some good times at the beer pong table with your friends. But by following these few simple tips you’re one step closer to a better night of beer pong. Now go grab yourself some beer and get the party started!

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I'm going to be a Nobel laureate tonight!

Now there’s research showing you might actually be smarter and more creative after a few beers. Psychologists Andrew F. Jarosz, Gregory J.H. Colflesh, and Jennifer Wiley at the University of Illinois at Chicago tested alcohol’s affect on creativity and found surprising results.

“We found at 0.07 blood alcohol, people were worse at working memory tasks, but they were better at creative problem-solving tasks,” psychologist Jennifer Wiley reported on the Federation of Associations in Behavioral and Brain Sciences (FABBS) site.

First they got half of their 40 male subjects a bit tipsy, around the 0.075 sweet spot for peak intoxication. This was two pints. Then they administered a Remote Associates Test (RAT). A RAT test gives the subject (read: human lab rat) three words, and the subject has to determine the word the three items have in common. For example for the three words “salt deep foam”, the answer would be “sea” (sea salt, deep sea, sea foam).

The tipsy group solved 40% more problems than the sober group. The tipsy group was also faster, solving their problems on average 12 seconds compared to a sober 15.5 seconds.

The assumption is a few beers can be better for problem solving. Alcohol helps you ignore some things and focus on others, which helps spur creativity. That or beer makes you really good at word problems.

(Source: Uncorking the muse: alcohol intoxication facilitates creative problem solving, NY Daily News)

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Chocolate Beer: it has been done time and time again, and for good reason. Yummmmmmm.
Mustard Beer: it hasn’t been done often, if at all. But it could work so well (think the spice mustard, not the condiment).
Honey Beer: Along the lines of trying a chocolate beer, sometimes you just want something with slightly sweeter subtleties.
Fruit Beer: Banana beer has been done, and tastes good. This could be mixed with other fruits, like strawberries or blueberries, to create your signature brew!
Bacon Beer: because bacon just seems to work whenever it’s put in anything. If Bacon makes good cookies, why wouldn’t it make fantastic beer?
Huckleberry Beer: the tangy sweetness of huckleberries matches excellently with the hop flavor in beer.

Roses, heather, or lavender can give your beer a very different flavor. Fraoch is an excellent commercial example.

Lemon Beer: lemon offers a bright note in a light beer to create a refreshing summer beverage.
Rose Beer: using either rose petals or rose hips is common in brewing teas to add a fragrant fore-and-after-taste. The same can be done with beer. This applies to many fragrant herbs as well.

Caramel Beer: another standard for the flavored beer brigade; if you make a standard well, it’s better than making something new but mediocre. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel! But if you want to:
BBQ beer: this is a beer that so far exists only in theory. Good luck and may it be tasty!

While mixing and matching these flavors be sure to use the rules of home brewing to avoid contamination and keep everything safe. Master the basics first, but remember they are only the beginning!

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Altbier is somewhat similar to an amber lager. This is because the beer is usually lagered after fermentation. This produces cleaner beers compared to British ales with significantly fewer esters.

The Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) Style guidelines list two alt beers in the Amber Hybrid Beer (7) category, the Düsseldorf Altbier (7A) and the Northern Germany Altbier (7C). It’s considered a hybrid because the beer uses ale yeast, but tastes more like a lager. If you’re thinking California Common or steam beer, you’re on the right track. California Common is 7B in the Amber Hybrid Beer category.

The familiar California Common (Steam beer) is sandwiched between the two altbier styles.

Altbier History

The Alt beer shares much history with Kölsch. Both beers originate in Cologne (Köln), Germany, but the Alt style is associated with Düsseldorf and Northern Germany.

In Cologne, ales have ruled since the 1600s. In 1603 and again in 1698, Cologne banned lagers within city limits to compete with lagers. Brewers had to swear to an ale version of Rein-heitsgebot which said, “you prepare your beer, as of old, from good malt, good cereals, and good hops, well boiled, and that you pitch it with top-yeast, and by no means bottom yeast, no Tollbier, ‘raw wort, no noxious herbs, no matter of what name”. The oath not only specified top-fermenting ale yeast, it also called out bottom-fermenting lager yeast as a big no-no. Tollbier means lager beer in this oath, so you had to swear twice you would not make lagers.

If you wanted a lager, you had to get it outside of Cologne. Lagers were still very popular, and were made in many German cities outside of Cologne. In Germany lagers are king, so by 1750 Cologne gave in and started making lagers. The ales were the old, or “alt” which is old in German, way of making beer.

In Colonge, Kölsh is now the standard beer. Alts are found about 40 kilometers to the north in Düsseldorf, so the style is now associated with Düsseldorf. Neither beer has been called “alt” or “kölsch” until the 1900s. Around this time German ales started to become popular again. Most likely to compete with the lagers surrounding Cologne, the style developed into the lager like profile. There really isn’t any reliable data showing what the German ales were like prior to the turn of the last century.

The beer

Altbiers are light copper to light brown ales with white heads. The beer is very clear due to the lagering. The aroma is slightly malty, with almost no hop aroma. The flavor is bitter. Not an IPA bitter, but still a firm bitter flavor. Some of the altbiers have a light caramel flavor, which I like, and is followed by a dry finish. The beer could be compared to a hoppy Vienna style lager. The alcohol content of the beer is lower than average, usually between 4.5% to 5.2%. This makes altbiers a great session beer.

Altbier recipe

Here’s the recipe I use for my Altbier.

An example Altbier (courtesy of Wikipedia)

You’ll want to mash the beer at 152 F (67 C). You should boil the beer for 90 minutes to reduce DMS, so adjust the boil volume to match your evaporation rate. Carbonate the beer between 2 and 2.5 volumes.

Once the beer has fermented I’ll lager the beer for at least two weeks, longer if I find some courageous amount of patience and self-discipline. I tried serving the beer once without lagering and it was met with disastrous results. The beer stayed a bit cloudy, and it was very grainy. I ended up putting the beer back into the fridge for a few weeks, and was rewarded with a much cleaner and clearer beer.

Alt Munich

I used to go to a bar in Montreal, Canada called Alt Munich. It’s a giant beer hall that served lots of German food and pitchers of beer. I have no idea if it’s still there, an exhaustive 30 second Google search turned up inconclusive results. Still I had great, if not very blurry, memories of the beer hall. This beer is dedicated to that bar.

The recipe is as simple as you can get. It’s an all Munich malt alt. Well mostly Munich malt. There’s just a bit of CaraMunich to give the beer a little caramel hint, and a little bit of Carafa II to make the beer a bit darker without adding too much astringency. The beer is again mashed at 152 F (67 C), lagered for at least two weeks, and carbonated between 2 and 2.5 volumes.

(Sources: Designing Great Beers, Wikipedia, BJCP Style Guidelines)

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So you want your beer head to last a bit longer?  Kirin might have an answer for you.

Kirin has created the “Ichiban Shibori Frozen Draft”.  They have taken the beer head, frozen it like a beer sorbet, and added it to the top of the beer.  Kirin claims this will keep your beer cold for 30 minutes, and gives you a nice beer dessert.

It looks like the “technology” is similar to ice cream you’d get at Dairy Queen.  They take some of the beer, agitate it with air till it’s a foam, and then freeze it.  The result is frozen beer foam.

They foam will float on the top of your beer, but it’s not clear how you drink your beer?!  Do you punch a hole in it?  Maybe we’ll be seeing people drinking their beer through a straw, which should have wonderful effects on your sobriety.

This technique might be better suited for dessert beers like Avery’s Samael. I can’t image frozen foamy Kirin will taste much different than Kirin.

If you can read Japanese you can read more about it here, otherwise you’ll have to settle for the video. The beer debuts this May in Japan. No word on when it hits other countries.

(Source: Gizmodo / Kirin)

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You should still have the best defense possible, and even though you will have to deal with a degree of fallout from the event in question, you can minimize its effects by preparing yourself for any and all possibilities. In order to build the best case and provide yourself the best possible defense, you will likely need to bring in some additional help from an attorney that is versed in DUI proceedings; one who has your best interests in mind.

Know Your Options

By consulting with a reputable Orange County DUI defense attorney, you will be able to explore all of your options, with as little risk to you and your future as possible. You can prepare to plead your case in a way that will show you in a more favorable light, and show that you have learned from your mistake. Above all else, the system just wants to see you make up for your mistake and prove that you understand the severity of your crime. They want to be assured that you are not going to repeat the same mistake again, and that you will take a valuable lesson away from the unfortunate situation after all is said and done.

A DUI can negatively affect your life. Do you know how to bounce back? (Image by Richard Masoner / Cyclelicious)

By enlisting the aid of a qualified Newport Beach DUI defense attorney, you drastically increase your chances of getting through the proceedings unscathed. You will be much better off than if you were to attempt to handle it all on your own, and it will also show the judge that you are taking the matter seriously.

Get Confidence From An Attorney

The attorney will also make sure you fully understand everything that is discussed within the proceedings as well as the sentence. It will help you get through the entire process with less stress and give you the confidence you need to hold your head high and work toward moving on with your life after making amends for your mistake.

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Your Container

First of all decide what you want to drink your beer out of. Will it taste better from a can or from a glass? Nine times out of ten it’s going to be the latter, so if you want to really enjoy this beer make sure to pour it into a glass. Select your glass carefully though, things like the thickness of the glass, and the way it sits in the hand can affect your enjoyment.

Picking the right glass can enhance your enjoyment of the beer.

Chill

Next you need to ensure that the beer is chilled. To accomplish this you want to leave the can in the fridge for at least ten minutes. Better yet, keep a bucket with some ice in it and stand the beers in there. This way it will be icy cool, and that will make it all the more refreshing. There’s actually nothing more unpleasant and disappointing than a warm beer so you want to avoid that.  Remember that if you intend to drink more beer later (advisable) then you need to circulate – so be sure to add the next one in each time you take one out.

You can also take this one step further by chilling the glass as well. This is the kind of attention to detail that will reveal you to be a connoisseur of beer and that will make you the perfect host. Again you can stand a glass in bucket of ice, or leave it in the fridge for a while, but otherwise you can just run it under some cold water for a while. This will also help to keep the beer itself cooler for longer.

Pour

Now here’s the tricky part that so many people get wrong – pouring the perfect beer and ensuring that it doesn’t turn into a glass of froth with a full can sat next to it. First of all, tap the top of the can three time before opening. This is said to prevent it from exploding, and while it may well be an old wive’s tale there’s no harm in at least trying. When you open the ring pull, open it slowly to let out just the smallest bit of gas at first.

Now place the edge of the can against the rim of the glass so that they’re touching before you start pouring. Now what you want to do is to tip both the glass and the can so that the beer runs down the edge and into the bottom. This will prevent any beer being spilled because there is no gap between the glass and the can, but more miraculously it will also prevent a build up of froth and head because there will be no splashing as the beer falls into the glass. It will instead simply flow down this gradient and if you take it slow it will come out nice and smoothly.

As you taper off you want to tilt the glass back to the upward position and finish off the dregs. This will create that great little bit of head that makes your beer look like it’s from a beer catalogue (they exist you know…). The perfect head here is a few centimeters high and no more, but there is an element of personal preference involve.

Accessories

A beer might be best left as it is, but in some rare cases it can benefit from a lemon or lime. This depends on you, but it also depends on the beer. A Corona for instance is just not complete without a twist.

And Sip

And enjoy that moment of ‘aaaaah’ as your entire body instantly relaxes…

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The best course of action is not to put yourself in a situation where you might be pulled over. Call a cab or have someone else drive you home. In that worst-case scenario where you are arrested and taken to jail for the night, you could be bonded out in the morning and begin your search for a qualified DUI attorney to help you with your case.

While there are some federal standards with regards to drunk driving on the books, each state has the right to regulate their own guidelines as it pertains to the sentencing of DUI offenses. Recently, the state of California enacted a new law that is a third strike law for repeat DUI offenders. Anyone who has been convicted of a third DUI could have their license revoked for up to 10 years. Before this bill was passed, the longest a license could be suspended for was three years. This is why you don’t want to get close to that conviction. In many cases, a DUI attorney serving Orange County can help you avoid those dire circumstances.

The First Thing To Ask

One of the first things you should ask a drunk driving lawyer in Southern California about is the percentage of cases that they take on that are DUI cases. You also want to know what their record of success is. A DUI attorney serving Orange County that specializes in this area will be more qualified than a lawyer who has only handled a handful of DUI cases. That same drunk driving lawyer in Southern California who can show you a majority of successful outcomes is obviously someone who understands how the court system works when it comes to this area of law.

During an initial consultation, you should inquire how many cases the DUI attorney serving Orange County has personally handled. This is important to ask if you are consulting with a larger law firm that has many offices located throughout the area. As you enter into this process, cost will also become a factor. You need to be clear about the fees you might be expected to pay. There is also a caution with trying to find a “cut-rate” attorney to save money. It might just turn out that your bargain-basement lawyer will cost you quite a bit in the long run.

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The plan was to market the video game in bars, not arcades for kids

Here’s a blast from the past! This is a video game release by Bally Midway back in 1983 called Tapper.

Budweiser – the video game

The idea was you play the bartender, serve customers before they get angry, and catch empty glasses before they fall to the ground. If you can clear all the customers, you get to enjoy a virtual beer and advance to the next level.

The first version of this game came with Budweiser branding in the back of the bar. The Budweiser theme song was actually used in the game, and the original machines used real Budweiser tap handles for the game controls. Later the taps were replaced with plastic taps with Budweiser branding. The plan was to market the video game in bars and nightclubs.

Who made the Suntory version of Tapper?

There is also a Japanese version for Suntory brewery, one of Japan’s oldest alcohol distributors founded in Osaka, Japan in 1899.

This version doesn't exist according to Sega, so who made it?

The interesting thing about this Tapper version is the machines surfaced in the 1990s, and they were built on arcade boards made by Sega. Sega denies any Suntory branding machines were built by Sega, so it’s unclear who made the modded arcade machines. It is common for arcades to repurpose existing machines with new games because it was cheaper than purchasing new popular games, but the Suntory Tapper is an unusual modification.

Subsequent games changed the marketing to Rootbeer tapper, probably because marketing beer to kids isn’t a good idea in the United States (a-ok in Japan though).

I might have to try to find one of these to add to my home bar!

(Sources: Wikipedia, Classic Gaming, Basement Arcade)

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Ignore the fact its in a Brown Ale glass, they didn't send me a special glass.

Newcastle sent me another round of beer, this time their newest limited edition beer the Newcastle Winter IPA.

Looks

The Newcastle Winter IPA pours with a great light tan head which lasted for a little over a minute. When it dissipated though, the head was completely gone. There wasn’t much lacing on the glass. The beer is clear and has a good dark amber color.

Aroma

This is another Newcastle beer where I really didn’t notice any aroma. I even passed it around, but no one can really notice any aroma. This seems somewhat odd for an IPA. I would have thought there would be some aroma, at least from the hops.

Taste

I enjoyed the flavor. I think too many IPAs are liquid hops, however the Newcastle Winter IPA was much smoother. It might be closer to what most people consider a English Pale Ale. The flavor is definitely hop forward, but not so much where you can’t taste anything else like many extreme IPA beers. The carbonation was a bit higher than I’d like, but that might be because it was in a bottle. I’ll have to look around to find the beer on tap.

The hop flavor lasts a bit on the aftertaste, but it’s more of a bitter aftertaste instead of a particular hop. There is a bit of bready malt flavor up front, but I didn’t think it was anything deep or complex.

Results

I was a bit late with this review. I tried the beer back in November, but I’m just getting around to turning my notes into an article. My bad. Hopefully you can still get this beer.

Overall it's a good session beer sure to please a wider audience.

I think this beer is another good session beer. The Newcastle Winter IPA is definitely one of the better offerings from a large brewery. The lower alcohol combined with the mellow flavor means you could have quite a few. I don’t think the beer will wow anyone, but I think it would definitely work well with a wider audience. People who are turned off by very hoppy beers might still like this IPA.

You can find more information about their beer on their website.  The site has a ton of Flash, so you’ll have to click around to find the page.

I’d rate the beer 7 hops out of 10.

Brewery: Scottish & Newcastle UK Ltd.
Country of Origin: United Kingdom
Style: English IPA
ABV: 5.2% ABV
Serving Type: 12oz Bottle

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For those of you who don’t know, Avery Brewing Company is a brewery in Boulder, Colorado. Its about a mile from where I work, and their tap room is a popular after-work watering hole for me and my co-workers. Usually we are fighting over one or two menus for our group when we are choosing beers. Well now they have an iOS app for that!

The Avery app is fairly nice, albeit very simple. The app has three tabs at the bottom: brewery, beers, and tap room. The brewery tab is a simple, “hi we’re Avery” page. The tap room tab has a map showing the location of the Avery Brewing Company, as well as, all the social and normal ways to contact the brewery. The beers tab is where the action is.

The beers tab allows you to flip through every beer Avery offers. When you select a beer, the app provides a detailed view of the beer. It gives a description of the beer, some stats about the beer, suggested food pairings, and the availability of the beer. Very simple, but very slick.

The description page is also useful for home brewers trying to replicate Avery beers. Many of the beer descriptions include the malts and hops used in the beer. It’s not a recipe, but it is a start.

This is a great way to introduce your brewery!

The app is a universal app, which means it works on any iDevice (iPad, iPhone, and iTouch). The only thing I wish it had is a way to update the beers so it was always in sync with what’s on tap at the brewery. It would be a simple addition to update the beer list over the internet (hmmm… gives me an idea, any breweries interested?).

The Avery iOS app is a great way for the brewery to market their beers. Best of all, the app is FREE!  I’m surprised more breweries aren’t doing this. I’ll be taking my iPad in with me next time I visit Avery. It’s way cooler than the menu!

(Source: Avery iOS app)

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“The Oglala Sioux Tribe seeks compensation for all of the damages the Lakota people have suffered as a result of illegal alcohol sales,” said White, who is with White and Jorgensen Law Offices in Omaha. “The defendants have failed to make reasonable efforts to ensure their products are distributed and sold in obedience to the laws of the State of Nebraska and the Oglala Sioux Tribe.”

Some of the defendants listed are:
Anheuser-Busch InBev Worldwide, Inc.
SAB Miller d/b/a Miller Brewing Company
Molson Coors Brewing Company
Miller Coors, LLC
Pabst Brewing Company
Pivo, Inc. d/b/a High Plains Budweiser
Dietrich Distributing Co., Inc.
Arrowhead Distributing, Inc.
Coors Distributing of West Nebraska d/b/a Coors of West Nebraska
Jason Schwarting d/b/a Arrowhead Inn, Inc.
Sanford Holdings, LLC d/b/a D&S Pioneer Service
Stuart Kozal d/b/a/ Jumping Eagle Inn
Clay Brehmer and Daniel Brehmer d/b/a State Line Liquor

How close is too close to a dry county?

Their argument is the retailers and distributors of alcohol have opened liquor stores in Whiteclay right on the border of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The result in 2010 was 4.9 million beers were bootlegged onto the reservation. That’s about 13,000 cans a day. In 2005 the population was estimated to be 28,787, but Jim Berg, Executive Director for Oglala Sioux Lakota Housing suggests the number may be closer to 40,000.  Whiteclay, NE has a few dozen residents.

While I sympathize with their plight fighting alcohol abuse, I’m not sure they have a case here.  They can demonstrate harm, but they cannot oversee how Nebraska sells alcohol.   The alcohol retailers are legally located where alcohol can legally be sold. They cannot dictate what business is located on the other side of the border.

I’m not sure they want to pick this fight. Does that mean casinos located on the border of territories where gambling is illegal, say the Prairie Wind Casino, can be sued as well?  The casino was not built to cater to their own population.  Maybe the lawsuit’s purpose is to raise awareness?

I’d say both sides are guilty of placing businesses which are illegal on the opposite side of the border, both which can be destructive if abused. What do you think? Do the Sioux have a case, or is turnabout fair play?

(Source: USA Today)

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There's many factors you need to consider to protect your wine investment

Humidity

The first is the humidity of the room that the wine is stored in. You may wonder how or why the humidity of the room would actually affect a bottle of wine. The problem is actually caused by the cork in the bottle. If the room is too dry, the cork will dry out, causing it to lose some of its elasticity. Alternatively, if the room is too humid, if could cause damage to the labels on the wine. Because of these two problems, it is critical that you keep the humidity of the room at the sweet spot in the middle so as not to ruin your investment.

Light

The second problem is the lighting conditions of the room the wine is stored in. If the room is too light, it could cause the age to age quickly. This is part of the reason that coloured glass is usually used for many fine wines. This is one of the reasons that wine is normally stored in a cellar, so that it is not exposed to daylight at any point.

Movement

Another issue that those looking to invest in wine will face is trying to keep the wine still. It may seem like quite an obvious solution, do not move the bottle. However the smallest of vibrations can accelerate the aging process of the wine. It is recommended that once you have purchased a bottle of wine it is immediately laid down in its storage place and not moved until you are either ready to sell it or drink it.

Temperature

Finally, one of the biggest problems facing bottles of wine is the temperature of the room in which the wine is stored. While the above problems could ruin a bottle of wine, most bottles of wine are spoiled by being stored at the incorrect temperature. Not only does the temperature accelerate the aging process of the wine, but is also causes the cork in the bottle to expand and contract as the temperature changes.

As you can imagine, investing in wine is not a cheap hobby that just anyone can enjoy. Before you can even think about buying your first bottle of wine, you need to ensure that you have a dark storage area which is not subject to vibration and has the ability to control the temperature and humidity.

The author has spent over 20 years running a wine merchants and providing wine hampers to consumers, businesses and investors.

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They want to start a brewery, you have money. You two should talk! (Image from Lucky Town Brewing)

One trend I’ve seen lately is asking the Internet to help “kickstart” your brewery using a web site called Kickstarter. The way it works is you set a money goal, like $20,000, and ask for donations. If you reach your goal by your set date, Kickstarter charges everyone’s credit card for their donation and your project is under way. If you don’t reach your goal, no one gets charged and I’m really not sure what happens next. Maybe change your name and try again?

One brewery doing this is the Lucky Town Brewing company. They’re a startup brewery in Mississippi who’s looking for $20,000 and they have 33 days left as of this writing. So far they have a little under $10,000, so this looks like it’s working for them. They are looking to raise the money to “to help cover some of our up front costs such as license fees, insurance costs, keg expenses, and ingredients costs among others”. If you want to help a new brewery out, check out their Kickstarter page.

This sounds like an interesting way to raise capital for your brewery. What do you think? Leave your thoughts below!

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I think there’s been some type of clerical error upstairs.  I should have been left behind with my beer.

I guess I should have listened to the prediction more. The guy predicting the rapture has experience predicting raptures.

Happy Rapture Day!

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Don't drink and drive and none of this applies at all

DUI Checkpoints Legal?

With that said, DUI checkpoints really skirt the edge of what is legal.
The United States Constitution (your country’s rules may vary) states a citizen cannot be stopped without probable cause. DUI checkpoints assume guilt before proven innocent.

DUI, there’s an app for that

There are phone applications, like Buzz’d and Fuzz Alert, which help you know where the DUI checkpoints are in your area. This can help you avoid an unnecessary delay when driving somewhere, but lets be honest, you’re using it to avoid getting your sorry ass caught.

Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) is demanding answers from Apple and Google as to why these applications are allowed. Apparently the Senator doesn’t know the law very well. No surprise there. I’m convinced most of the representatives in Washington have never looked at the Constitution.

DUI Checkpoints History

For those who don’t know the history of DUI checkpoints, years ago some guy named Sitz (as in he should have sitz instead of driving his drunk ass around) sued the state of Michigan police department (Michigan Dept. of State Police v. Sitz) claiming the DUI checkpoints were a violation of the Constitution. The Michigan Supreme Court agreed, but the Supreme Court overruled the decision. Get this: Chief Justice Rehnquist admitted the checkpoints were probably a violation of the Constitution, but it was a minor violation so it was ok. If you violate the Constitution only a little bit, its ok. Yeah, the stoopid, it burns.

To make up for the “minor violation” of the Constitution, the rules were later refined for everyone by the California Supreme Court in Ingersoll v. Palmer. In that ruling, the court decided in order to minimize the intrusion, police had to notify the public in advance. That’s right. These apps are getting their information from the police who are required to publish the DUI checkpoints in advance.

No one should ever drink and drive, but you can't violate the Constitution to stop stupid people

DUI Checkpoint locations public info

Now the police would love to publish this information someplace where no one looks, like a newspaper, but a few companies had the bright idea of publishing the PUBLIC information in a phone app where someone might actually see it. That’s the real problem here. The police are required to publish the information so DUI checkpoints can get around the stickiness of the Constitution.  They just don’t want anyone to know.

You might not like the phone apps, but they are legal. It’s like the First Amendment. There might be lots of opinions you don’t want to hear, but the amendment is there to protect the speech you don’t like. So do you want to allow DUI checkpoint applications on phones, or do you want to toss out the Fourth Amendment? As to why Apple and Google allow the DUI checkpoint applications, the Senator from NY should do a little reading before asking stupid questions.

(Source: DUI Blog and AppAdvice)

UPDATE (06-08-11) : Apple is no longer accepting DUI checkpoint apps

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According to a press release by Boston Beer Company, makers of Samuel Adams, “The Boston Beer Company, Inc. (NYSE: SAM) and its former glass bottle supplier have today entered into an agreement to settle all claims regarding the recall implemented by the Boston Beer Company in 2008”. The former glass bottle supplier? Yeah, that one. The one who shall remain nameless (they don’t mention them by name in the press release – who can blame them).  They don’t mention “fault”, but it’s clear who’s coming out on the winning side of this dispute.

The recall was a big deal in 2008, but forgotten soon after (probably the next week)

Boston Beer gets a settlement of $20.5 million dollars, and both parties promise to never speak of it again. The whole fiasco cost Boston Beer $22 million resulting in a spiffy minus $1.5 million bonus. Yea American Justice System! Given the legal fees and the years of fighting in court, only losing $1.5 million in the deal is pretty good.

(Source: Boston Beer Company)

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Scientists have long postulated the gene evolved when humans started creating liquor. Then they later found the enzyme in animals, so the theory was changed to animals developed ADH to break down ethanol from fermenting fruits of flowering plants. Fruits appeared about 140 million years ago. There are studies demonstrating some animals, like the fruit fly, evolved ADH between 70 and 135 million years ago.

Alcohol Dehydrogenase - It looks just like you thought it would (image courtesy wikipedia.com)

Then scientific progress went boink again. Héctor Riveros-Rosas at National Autonomous University of Mexico in Mexico City thinks animals got the gene even earlier. By analyzing the DNA sequences from animals, he estimates ADH first appeared 450 million years ago. For those counting at home, that’s 310 million years before we needed it.

Riveros-Rosas’ new theory suggests animals evolved the gene to break down dopamine or other naturally produced hormones. ADH works faster on dopamine, and we probably got lucky it works on ethanol too. Unfortunately animals had to wait 310 million years before we could use the enzyme for our fun. Now that is a dry spell!

(Source: New Scientist)

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And suddenly in my fermentarium suggestion email box there was one.  It’s not comics though, it’s Beer-Con, a craft beer conference in San Diego!  How cool is that?

From the website, you can rub elbows with the big names in brewing and attend several talks on homebrewing, starting a bar or brewery, and beer styles.  Of course there will also be beer drinking!  Can’t have a beer event without downing a few pints.  There will also be big names like Greg Koch and Anat Baron.

Beer-Con 2011, a craft beer conference for beer geeks!

I have no idea if this conference will turn out to be the festival Comic-Con has become, but it sounds like a fun conference to check out.  Unfortunately I’ll be elsewhere in August 27th, 2011, but if you’re in San Diego you might want to check the one day conference.  It’s open to the public, not just industry leaders.  They also said in their email if you use the code “BARLEY”, you’ll get $50 off the ticket price.  If any of you go, please let me know if it’s everything advertised and hopefully I can attend next year.

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Clean the carboys

I hate finding out on brewing day that the fermenter I plan to use is also the fermenter I said I’d clean later. The best way for me to avoid this situation is to clean everything in advance. Go figure! Part of my preparation is to run a cleaner (like PBW) through all my fermenters. I’ll still sanitize the fermenters on brewing day, but making sure they are all clean in advance makes future brewing sessions go easier.

Every year I clean these out throughly, replace the seals, and test the pressure

Prepare the kegs

On the same line of thinking, the kegs need to be prepared too. This means cleaning and sanitizing the kegs, replacing all the o-rings, and testing the pressure on each keg in advance.

Test equipment

Somehow tubes that never leaked before, leak the following year. Seals on my larger fermenters never seal as well the following year. I check my wort chiller for leaks at the start of the brewing season by running water through it for about 10 minutes. This includes checking all the tubes for leaks. I also fill my larger fermenter with water to make sure it’s not leaking at the spouts.

Clear the hops

Hops are like kudzu, and they leave a ton of dead vines and leaves each year. I leave this in place over the winter to help insulate the roots, but it’s spring time. The dead stuff has to go. It’s also a fun excuse to see if any shoots are coming up, and cull any shoots your don’t want growing. My hops are trying to take over the yard in their yearly endeavor to choke me in my sleep, so there are always shoots to cull. This is also a good time to dig up any rhizomes you want to share with friends, or use to start new vines.

Inventory supplies

At any point during the brewing season I know what supplies I have on stock. This information falls out of my head as soon as the season ends. Check up on what grains you have left, how much sanitizer and PBW you have, and any other recurring supplies you need. This includes keg lube, Irish moss, carboy labels, and yeast nutrients.

Plan a list of brews

This is the fun part. I look over what beers I want to make, what beers needed improving, and the dates I need the beers. I make beers for park parties, office parties, an Oktoberfest party at the end of the summer, and a big Fourth of July party. Some beers take longer than others to make, so planning a schedule helps to insure you have the right beers at each party. For example, you might want a lager and an ale for a party in a month. If you can only make one beer at a time, you’ll need to schedule the lager first. If you’re making lots of beer for different event, a schedule becomes very important.

So what things do you do to prepare for brewing?

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This truly is a personal brewery. In a normal homebrew setup, you boil your wort, transfer it to a fermenter, then transfer it again to bottles or kegs, and finally you carbonate the beer. This mini brewery never transfer the beer.

It's easy to see which system would impress, but is it better?

There are several advantages to not transferring your beer. First you won’t expose your beer to oxygen or infections. Every time you transfer your beer, you run the risk of ruining your beer. Second the WilliamsWarn system is a closed system which will help your beer last longer. According to their site, “The oxygen pickup in this system is the lowest in the world as we have no beer transfers and it is oxygen pickup during beer transfers that ages beer.” Third, since the beer is fermented under pressure and never transferred, you do not need to carbonate the beer later. The system keeps the CO2 from carbonation in the beer. They claim you can go from wort to glass after 7 days.

The downside to the system is it is a bit spendy. The price is $4500 ($5600 NZ). The price and functionality may seem to be better suited towards a small pub than a homebrewer, although I’ve seen many systems like the B3 sculptures which can easily be more expensive. Your budget mileage may vary.

This is a very cool and stylish setup, but you are always serving beer directly from the brewery.

I think I’d also like to see an option to transfer the beer directly to keg. It looks like the beer stays in the system until it’s empty. The serving tap for the beer is on the side of the brewery. It would be nice to be able to connect the system to an external keg, and transfer the finished beer under pressure.

So what do you think? What changes would you make to it?

(Source: WilliamsWarm Personal Brewery)

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To press his point Mockli formed his own religion, the Ethereal Enigmatic Euphoric Movement Toward Civilized Hedonism which advocates a sacred right for it’s members to consume hard alcohol. Finally a religion I can believe in! The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster may lose a convert. Mockli filed the lawsuit with his church listed as the plaintiff.

This is a strategy that has worked for many religions. For example peyote is a banned substance, but its use is allowed in Native American ceremonies under the First Amendment. This approach is used often to defend behaviors which are otherwise illegal, so I don’t see why it would not work for him. The First Amendment says nothing about how long the religion must be practiced, or by how many. Of course I’m not a lawyer, so their might be some catch.

Mockli’s goal is to make the liquor laws consistent across the state of Idaho. “I want the liquor laws to change,” he said. “I want them to apply universally.” Amen brother!

(Source: HJNews.com)

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Right now the fan page consists of a few popular homebrewing articles, but in the future it will contain all new articles, interesting articles from other sources, and anything everyone wants to share.

If you’re a fan of Fermentarium, you will want to hit the like button below. And be sure to share any articles you like. This is a great way to spread the word about Fermentarium.

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It's like Willie Wonka decided to become a brewer! (Image from Three Little Blackbirds Cakes)

So, how could you possibly top one of her cakes? Add beer of course!

Check this cake out! This was one of Erin’s recent cakes for a Guinness fan. The glass of Guinness beer, napkin, and even the wooden bar top are all edible. She also has a really cool cheeseburger cake she made for her husband complete with fries.

She recently won three ribbons, two first place and one third place, in the Sugar Art Show in Denver, Colorado. Go check out all her cakes now at Three Little Blackbirds Cakes! When you’re done drooling over the cakes on her website, remember to send her some digg/twitter/stumble love!

It's a burger cake! Yum! (Image from Three Little Blackbirds Cakes)

(Source: Three Little Blackbirds Cakes)

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The problem with beer on space stations (besides driving a billion+ dollar space station drunk) is the gas from CO2 makes astronauts very gassy. On Earth gas bubbles rise causing you to belch, but in microgravity the bubbles stagnate making it very uncomfortable for the drinker. To make beer better for space travelers they are making stout beers. The reason they chose stout beers is these beers often have less carbonation than other beers. For the space travelers, they will most likely need as little carbonation as possible.

The other reason cited by Ben Corbin, PR director for Astronauts4Hire, is astronauts can’t taste as well in space. I’m not sure how true this is. Some astronauts have reported sinus swelling which causes a reduction in taste (no smell = no taste), but others have reported no difference in their ability to taste foods. Either way, Astronauts4Hire chose the richer chocolatey beer just in case.

I'm not sure the Vomit Comet is the best place for a beer party... (image courtesy Wikipedia)

(Source: PopSci.com)

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Right now you can only bring 3 ounces of a liquid in your carry-on. The reason is it’s too difficult for airport screeners to determine what liquid you are really carrying. It could be water, or it could be some chemical that created chlorine gas when mixed with something else. There’s no quick way to determine what it is you have in your bag.

So what does this have to do with wine?

According to New Scientist, “in 2002 Matthew Augustine, a chemistry professor at the University of California, Davis, US patented a device to determine whether wine had spoiled without opening the bottle. It works in a similar way to the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners used in hospitals, combining a pulse of radio waves and a strong magnetic field to determine the chemical structure of the wine.“

This silly rule for boarding airplanes may soon be a rule from the past! (from tsa.gov)

They are now investigating how to use the device to determine the chemical structure of any liquid. The device can tell the difference between toothpaste and gasoline (or some bad wines). The hope is within a year or two we can start using these devices to scan any liquids we’re bringing on a plane. Maybe in the future we can bring samples of our homebrew and wine in our carry-on, instead of putting it in our luggage and hoping for the best.

(Source: New Scientist)

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Most industry analysts believe this is because of Germany’s aging population. Older Germans are drinking less and reproducing less. Marc-Oliver Huhnholz, spokesperson for the Association of German Brewers (DBB) told Deutsche Welle, “The number of German beer-drinkers is going down, and in the last ten years, another 500,000 weren’t born – so to speak – who could take their place? Meanwhile, the older age groups – who used to drink a lot of beer – have got older, are working less and drinking less. German government figures expect there will be twice as many people over 60 than under-20 in 2050.

If German beer continues to decline, we may only see the large breweries survive

Another possible reason for the decline is the changing tastes and habits of the younger generation. In the past Germans would drink a beer after work, but more people are hitting coffee shops after their desk job. Germans don’t hit the bars for a beer after work, like their counterparts in Britain. Some breweries are experimenting with variations on alcoholic beverages, but it can be very expensive to create and market new drinks.

(Source: Deutsche Welle)

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His lawyer, Luke Craggs, thought the sentence was 3 1/2 years longer than Naugle should get, since the maximum sentence is 5 years. I’m pretty sure law makers didn’t think someone would have 23 drunk driving offenses when they were constructing the law. If the maximum sentence is 5 years, I think he’s been getting off lucky in the past. 23 x 5 is 115 years.

Not only was he arrested for drunk driving for the 23rd time (did I mention he’s been arrested 23 times?!?), he fled the scene of the accident, and had no license since he just got out of jail three weeks ago from his 22nd offense. The cops know him as “Super Naugle, because he’s super at what he does – drinking and driving”.

I think after 3 arrests, you should never be allowed near a car again. The guy clearly has a problem and is a danger to society. However, it’s clear jail isn’t working either. What would you suggest as a punishment for Super Naugle?

This guy gets the beer nut designation for “lifetime achievement”.

(Source: The Globe and Mail)

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Add beer. (the answer should have been obvious)

The Arkeg Drink n’ Game system has all the game features listed above, the ability to hold and play over 15,000 games and it has a keg system built in. It even has the game Tapper! This is sooo added to my home bar must have list.

On the side of the game cabinet is a chrome faucet serving beer from a 1/6 Keg (corny keg size), which is perfect for homebrewers. The Arkeg website even suggests you try making your own beer (say Old Fortran?), because it is homebrew compatible. The keg system inside includes refrigeration and a CO2 system. This is the ultimate kegerator.

The control panel itself contains a pair of joysticks matched with a 6 button layout, perfect for Mortal Kombat matches. All of this is matched with a 24” hi-def LCD screen, a hidden keyboard, and 2.1 surround sound. This arcade system of pure awesome can be yours for $4000. I think I’ll need to save up a bit.

The cabinet holds one corney (1/6) keg so you'll never have to leave your game to get more beer!

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This isn’t one of those.

While this probably isn't the best whiskey, why should the container dictate the quality of the whiskey?

The Scotch Whiskey Association said they might try to ban the whiskey for breaching International labeling rules. They are concerned consumers might confuse this product with real Scotch. The can does say blended whiskey across the top, and below the label, but the company’s name “Scottish Spirits” might be considered confusing. My guess is the Scotch Whiskey Association is just horrified someone might try selling whiskey in a can.

The real objection is the backlash that plagued beer for a while. There is a weird romanticism which believes alcohol is cheaper if it’s not in a glass. Only recently have microbreweries overcome the perception beer in the can is cheap. This is no different. A can should have no affect on the flavor, since aluminum cans are usually lined on the inside with a thin polymer.

Scottish Spirits is testing their canned whiskey in the Caribbean and South American markets, but if it takes off you might see it near you soon!

What do you think? Can quality whiskey be served in a can?

(Source: Daily Mail)

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This could be an early picture of a major brewery operation someday!

In North Dakota, there is a bill proposed by Dan Ruby (R) to allow homebrewers to apply for a “domestic brewery license”. This would allow homebrewers to sell their beer, offer beer tastings, or even sell their beer to wholesalers to get their beer in stores. The bill will be heard by North Dakota House’s Industry, Business and Labor Committee. You can bet I’ll be watching this closely.

Wow! How do we make this happen in Colorado? You’d think with a governor like Hickenlooper, owner of Wynkoop Brewing Company, this might be possible.

(Source: Bloomberg.com)

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Cans had been around long before, as far back as 1909, but it wasn’t until 1935 the can could withstand the pressures from carbonation. These first cans were more like canned soup which had to be opened with a can opener.

Recently premium beer breweries like Avery started selling their beers in a can

(Source: Wired.com)

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“What kind of beer would you like,” I asked with thoughts of flavorful Belgian beers, rich porters, or maybe a strong IPA.

“My favorite beer is Stella Artois. Can you make Stella?” she asked. That wasn’t the Belgian beer I was expecting.

Stella Artois is a lager you can find in most stores.

If you haven’t had a Stella Artois, you probably haven’t tried looking. It’s a very common plain lager ironically from Belgium. Well it’s originally from Belgium, but most of it is made in the U.K. Either way, it’s a mass produced beer from Anheuser-Busch InBev. Basically it’s Belgian Budweiser, even though Budweiser is technically Belgian and Stella is made in the U.K. I’m sure I’ll get some argument on that… but I digress. You can find it in every liquor store and many pubs.

“Sure,” I gulped wondering how I’d make it. While Budweiser, Stella Artois, Heineken, and other similar beers get a bad reputation for being bland, it really is difficult to make a beer taste that… well… bland. Bland really isn’t fair for these beers. They produce a very crisp and clean lager, which can be very difficult to reproduce at the homebrew level. While the style may not be every homebrewer’s favorite, it’s a very popular style for everyone else. I was up for the challenge.

The first thing I did was look to see what others have used for a recipe. I was shocked to see the number of recipes I came across which added wheat malt to the beer. The beer has a very clean profile, and wheat malt just seemed a bit too Hefeweisen to be a part of Stella Artois. Others added a touch of Munich malt, dextrin malt, Vienna malt, Cara Pils, corn sugar and a bazillion other variations. Nothing sounded right. I decided to do more research.

Then I stumbled upon a post from a brewer in Melbourne who claimed he worked at the Stella Artois brewery in Australia (can’t find the original post, but if you know the post I’m talking about, let me know and I’ll link it here). His recipe was exactly what I suspected. He said it was just pilsner malt and Saaz hops. That’s it! He didn’t know the yeast used, but I doubt the yeast used would be commercially available. Stella Artois uses a house yeast like most other major brewers.

Since the beer is 5% ABV, it was very easy to determine the malt bill. Using 9 lbs, 8 ounces of pilsner malt gives you an ABV of about ~5.1%. That’s close enough for me but if you want to shave an ounce or two, go for it. There are no other grains in the beer.

I used a single infusion mash at 150 F and let it go for 60 minutes. You want a very fermentable wort, since this beer is really crisp. Any warmer and you’ll get a beer which is maltier that Stella Artois.

The hop flavor and nose are very subtile, so there shouldn’t be too much hop to the beer. Most reviews I found put the beer in the low 20s for IBUs. I went with 22 IBUs. I’m adding 1.5 ounces of hops at the beginning of the boil, and then another 0.5 ounces 5 minutes before the end of the boil.

You'll want to make a good starter for this beer.

Yeast is the “trickiest” part of this beer. As I mentioned before, their yeast isn’t likely to commercially available. I made a guess and went with your basic German lager yeast (White Labs WPL 830 German Lager Yeast). You might try the WPL 850 Copenhagen Lager yeast if you can find it. Either way I’d ferment on the lower end of the yeast’s temperature range, about 50F – 52F. This will give you a cleaner flavor.

You will also want to make a good starter for this beer.  While the beer isn’t high in alcohol, you don’t want any off-flavors creeping into your beer.  A good healthy starter for this lager will go a long way to perfecting your Stella Artois.

The final recipe was

9 lbs 8 ounces German Pilsner
1.5 oz Saaz (@60 min)
0.5 Saaz (@5 min)
Irish Moss
WPL 830 German Lager Yeast
7.0 gal pre boil, 5 gal

Since this beer is so light in color, you’ll want to make sure you use finings to help the beer clear. I always use Irish Moss when making this beer, and I add it for the last 10 minutes of the boil. After fermentation, I also let this beer lager for a month. This helps the beer clear even more.

Ultimately I ended up with a good approximation of Stella Artois. The keg didn’t last very long, and everyone agreed it tasted like Stella Artois. Mission accomplished!

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sober
buzzed
buzzed
buzzed
who turned out the lights?!?

Luckily I took pictures of the brewery banners for the beers I liked, because I’d never remember them otherwise.

Me sporting my pretzel necklace before the GABF

I do have to give a special shout out to Kristen at Baby Brewing for giving me an awesome “Daddy needs a beer t-shirt” in exchange for one of my pretzels. We found each other on twitter before the Great American Beer Festival when I posted pics of my pretzel necklace. I found her booth during the night, gave her a pretzel based on the awesome pretzel recipe from BeerSmith’s website, and I scored a cool t-shirt. Who says Twitter isn’t great for networking!! If you haven’t seen her shirts, you should go check them out. They also have very cute shirts for the girls too!

Most of what you remember in past years was still there. They continue to have the Silent Disco (a cute joke years ago). They also had cooking presentations, but the festival is so large I had difficulty finding anything other than beer. Luckily the beer is what I was there for!

I laughed hard when I saw this ad.

I thought this was the most unique form of advertising I saw at the show. I don’t think too many of the women saw this one, unless they were hitting the whiskey barrel brews more than I was! Kudos to Cascade Lakes Brew for this clever ad.

The costumes at the show are getting fewer and fewer. I’m not sure why this is. My guess is the number of attendees is growing each year, which makes it harder to find the people wearing costumes.

Well these are better late than never, right? Here’s what you missed at the 2010 Great American Beer Festival.

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Looks

The Newcastle Summer Ale has a clear gold color. The beer is very clear, so clear it almost looks like a lager. The beer had a slight head, but the foam dissipated very quickly. I had troubles keeping enough head in the glass to take a picture. The carbonation was quite strong, like champagne, which might be why the head disappeared quickly. The bubbles were quite large.

Newcastle's new offering: Summer Ale

Aroma

The Newcastle Summer Ale has a very faint hop aroma. It’s actually very faint, but you can pick up slight smells of grass, and maybe caramel? It was hard to tell what kind of malt was coming through. The label of the beer says “Hops and Glory”, but the hops weren’t really dominant in the aroma.

Taste

The beer is very crisp and clean, again more like a lager than an ale. The Newcastle Summer Ale is very thin, but I think it’s supposed to be that way. The beer is only 4.4% ABV, and it’s supposed to be more of a session beer. There is a good bitter aftertaste to the beer, but I couldn’t pick out the hop type. It was just a solid bitterness. The beer also was quite carbonated as I noted in the looks section, almost soda like. The Summer Ale had a champagne mouthfeel.

Results

Overall I thought the beer was ok. It’s not going to be as popular as Newcastle Brown Ale, but it does make a good lawnmower beer or a good session beer for a hot day. I guess that’s why they call it “Summer Ale”. It will quench your thirst, but you won’t feel too tipsy to mow the rest of the lawn after knocking back a few of these bitters. I’d give the beer 6 sunny days out of 10.

Brewery: Scottish & Newcastle UK Ltd.
Country of Origin: United Kingdom, Scottland
Style: English Bitter
ABV: 4.4% ABV
Serving Type: 12oz Bottle

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Where am I drinking?

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It’s Chemical

For most people, drinking small to moderate amounts of alcohol is a pleasurable experience. The pleasure we humans derive from drinking is thought to be due to the effect of alcohol on the brain. A 2009 study conducted in rats found small to medium amounts of alcohol stimulate the release of endorphins—brain “feel good” chemicals. The mechanism is thought to be the same in humans and could be responsible for the slight euphoria many people experience after drinking. Interestingly, the high doses of alcohol were not associated with a greater release of these feel good chemicals.

As many studies can attest, humans will do all sorts of crazy crap to feel good, especially if we can get away with it without being eaten by a predator. Seeing as we are on the top of the food chain essentially and can rely on fellow humans to help us when we are impaired, the potential evolutionary costs of drinking are mitigated for our species. Hence frat parties.

It’s Social Bonding

Alcohol is not referred to as a “social lubricant” for nothing. The consumption of alcohol is known to decrease anxiety and to lower inhibitions in humans, leading sometimes to easier and more enjoyable social interactions. Anecdotally, this is most certainly the case at holiday dinners with otherwise barely tolerable family members. Many important human celebratory events frequently involve alcohol: weddings, birthday parties, holiday parties. Culturally, social drinking is highly acceptable and encouraged—solitary drinking however, is not. Alcohol consumption by humans is closely tied to the fact we are social species.

The use of alcohol in social bonding situations is heavily influenced by culture, even how people behave when drunk is culturally determined and varies from place to place. There is social significance even, to the type of alcohol consumed, it communicates social status information. For example: wine = higher class, educated consumer. Pabst Blue Ribbon = lower class, less educated or ironical hipster (depending on context).

The socializing aspect of drinking alcohol is perhaps the reason for its enduring persistence across most human cultures and most human times—even in the face of its potentially negative biological effects (but perhaps positive theological effects e.g. holding onto the toilet praying you will never drink again if you will stop puking).

It’s a Hobby

Generally speaking, the consumption of alcohol is not considered a hobby unless you happen to be a wine or beer connoisseur. Wine drinking and collecting has become a very popular pastime in the U.S., and a similar situation is occurring with craft beer. There is entire culture and product market surrounding these drinking related hobbies (especially with wine). In addition to the hobby of drinking alcohol, there is a huge hobby related industry for making it at home, both beer and wine. A significant aspect of both types of alcohol related hobbies (the collecting/consuming and the making) is also social as evidenced by the many beer and wine festivals held around the country each year.

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These are my Spalt hops!

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How mosquitoes find dinner

Mosquitoes use olfactory cues to find their victims. Every person smells a bit different due to different hygiene, diets, or general health conditions. The more attractive the smell, the more likely you’ll be mosquito bait. Some studies have shown pregnant women attract mosquitoes, but I’m not sure what pregnant women and beer drunks have in common. Finding out why some people are more attractive to mosquitoes than others is important, because mosquitoes are vectors for diseases like malaria or West Nile virus. Determining what attracts mosquitoes and neutralizing the attracting scent can play an important role in preventing the spread of diseases. In a study titled Beer Consumption Increases Human Attractiveness to Malaria Mosquitoes by Thierry Lefèvre et al, researchers found people who drink beer smell better to mosquitoes. I guess the mosquitoes know a party when they smell one.

Beer makes you attractive to mosquitoes

25 of the human subjects were asked to drink a liter of beer, while 18 unlucky (or possibly lucky) subjects were given a liter of water. The researchers placed 50 adult female mosquitoes (Anopheles gambiae Giles sensu stricto) who had never eaten blood (read “very hungry”) in a cup downwind from both a subject and an open air vent. At a point in their flight, the mosquitoes have to choose between open air or human stink. The mosquitoes showed a preference for the subjects who drank beer.

This is the setup for the experiment. One of the paths led to the beery subject, the other led to fresh air. No beer drinkers were harmed in the experiment. (image from paper)

The mosquitoes were counted by the number motivated enough to fly upwind, and those smart enough to pick the path which led to a stinky human. Beer consuming subjects significantly motivated more mosquitoes to fly upwind. 47% of the total number of mosquitoes flew upwind for beer drinkers, compared to 38% flying upwind for water drinkers. Of the mosquitoes who flew upwind, 65% picked the correct path to the beery victim compared to 47% picking the path to the water drinking subject. For beer drinkers (and the mosquitoes), that sucks.

All of the subjects were tested before and after drinking their beverage, so it wasn’t just luck that the beer group smelled better. The increase didn’t happen until after they pounded the beer. Their CO2 production (breathing) and body temperature had no effect on attracting mosquitoes. The big question is “why beer”?

Why beer might make you more attractive

The study really doesn’t say why the mosquitoes prefer beer drinkers. It would be interesting to see if the results are the same after consuming a shot of vodka. Since they mention pregnant women are more attractive to mosquitoes than other human snack bars, I wonder if the attraction is hormonal. There are hormones in hops, so that could be a link. A test with vodka could rule out this possibility. It is also possible multiple factors make some humans tastier than others, and hormones are just one attractant.

Lesson learned: when your at your next beer picnic, bring the DEET (N,N-Diethyl-meta-toluamid).

(Source: Lefèvre T, Gouagna L-C, Dabire KR, Elguero E, Fontenille D, et al. (2010) Beer Consumption Increases Human Attractiveness to Malaria Mosquitoes. PLoS ONE 5(3): e9546. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0009546)

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Oak barrels are lots of work, but you can carbonate the beer at the same time.

Types of oak for your beer

There are many different types of oak.  Oak usually comes in three varieties, American, Hungarian, and French.  The American oak gives the strongest oak flavor, while French oak gives subtler notes with other sweeter flavors like vanilla.  Hungarian oak is in the middle between these two extremes.

Each of these oak varieties can also be toasted to different levels  (usually light, medium, or heavy), but I’ve also seen medium-heavy and other combinations of toasting classifications.  The darker the oak is, the heavier the oak is toasted.  Toasting brings out some of these flavors and changes other flavors.  For example, heavy toasting will give more carbonized or caramelized flavors.

Other than the origin and toasting of the oak, the oak also varies on the shape and form of the oak.  You do not necessarily need to use a barrel, since your beer will not care where it gets the oak flavor.  Each form of oak does have it’s advantages and trade-offs.

Oak Chips

The most common oak additive sold is oak chips.  These chips look like wood shavings.  They have the most surface area, so they will deliver oak flavor to your beer very quickly.  This can be an advantage, or a disadvantage depending on your goals.  The other problem with oak chips is they are very messy.  You best bet is to use a sterilized bag with these, otherwise you’ll need to find a way to separate the chips from your beer.  And don’t make the mistake I did and assume the garbage disposal can chop them into a fine pulp.  It can’t.

Oak Cubes

Cubes are also common.  The wood cubes have less surface area than the wood chips, so the oak flavor is delivered slightly slower.  The advantage of cubes is the cubes are much easier to separate from your beer.

These oak spirals give great flavor and are very easy to clean and reuse.

Oak Spirals

Sprials or staves are becomming more common, but not all homebrew stores have them.  Oak spirals are a mix between chips and cubes.  The spiral has a large surface area so they quickly provide flavor like wood chips, but they are even easier than cubes to use.  There is only one stick you add and remove from your beer.  The disadvatage is the spirals are much more expensive than the chips or cubes.  You can reuse the sprirals, but they lose their flavor quicker than barrels.

Oak Barrels

Barrels are a mixed bag.  The barrels provide the most surface area, but they can be difficult to work with.  Barrels can leak, contain bacteria, and are difficult to maintain.  Barrels are also expensive.  You can however get the most reuse from barrels.  Barrels also allow some oxidation, which is usually a bad thing, but in this case it is the flavor you’d looking for.

Used barrels can provide unique flavors.  A used whiskey or sherry barrel can impart whiskey flavors to your beer.  You do need to be careful with used barrels.  A whiskey barrel usually isn’t a problem, but wine barrels must be sanitized before you use it.  When you pick a used barrel, make sure it originally housed a flavor you want in your beer.

Ways to add the oak to your beer

You could add your oak to the primary, but I add my oak to the secondary because it’s easier to monitor the oak flavors after the beer has already fermented.  You need to taste your beer at different intervals (usually every few weeks) to make sure the oak flavor is where you want it.

Boiling the oak will quickly extract oak flavor into a tea and sanitize the addition at the same time

There are a few ways to add the oak flavor to your beer.  You can add the oak directly to the beer, make an “oak tea”, or infuse the oak in an alcohol.  Adding oak directly to the beer is the simplest way, and I’ve had good results doing this.

Another way is to make an oak tea.  Boil the oak chips covered in an inch of water.  Add a bit of the water to your beer and taste it.  Continue to add the oak tea until you reach the flavor you’re looking for.

If you are looking to add a bourbon or whiskey flavor, infuse your oak chips in the alcohol of choice for a week.  Again add a bit of the alcohol to your beer until you reach the flavor you’re looking for.

The advantage of the second two techniques is you can taste your beer as you add the oak flavor.  The first technique requires you to take samples as you go, but it is good for beers which require aging over time such as a barley wine.  Allowing your beer to slowly soak in the oak flavor can give it more complex flavors.  Beers with shorter aging times, like the IPA, would be better off with the second two techniques.

More Oak Tips

To prepare the oak, do not soak the oak in sanitizer solution.  This will just transfer the sanitizer flavor to your beer.  Your best bet is to steam the oak chips, cubes, or spirals.  Oak barrels require something like Barrel-Kleen, sodium sulfite, or campden tablets.

If you decide you want to use a barrel, make sure it’s a whiskey or sherry barrel.  The flavors in your barrel will be in your beer.  You don’t want a wine flavor in your beer, so don’t use a wine barrel.  (If you’re not sure, pour a bit of a strong red wine in your beer and see what you think).

Personally I recommend you go the cube or spiral route.  These have worked the best for me.  Barrels are difficult to maintain.  Remember the beer doesn’t care where it gets the oak flavor, so it does not matter if you add your beer to the oak (barrel), or if you add your oak to the beer.

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Another drunk who is gosh darn happy to be arrested

Tasha Lee Cantrell’s, 19, friend had just been arrested in Fort Walton, FL. for a DUI, so she asked the arresting officer for a ride home.  On the way to her house the officer heard a can crack open.  You’re thinking “oh no she didn’t”, but oh yes she did.

Apparently she was so overcome with thirst, she decided to crack open a can of Steel Reserve (classy choice) right in the back seat of the squad car.  The officer heard the can open, and noticed she was drinking something.  He stopped the car, found the beer can, and arrested her.  Not only was she rewarded with a quenched thirst, she also received an express ride straight to the police station for underage drinking.  All of this was captured on the squad car video system.  (will this be on the next episode of COPS: Ft. Walton?)

When Tasha was asked by the officer why she thought she could drink the beer in the back seat she replied, “I have no right answer for you.”  I’m pretty sure the correct answer is “because I’m stupid”.

She was having a great time in her first mug shot, but it looks like the evening wore as she sobered up.  It’s a great beer nut story, but I’m not sure the “guess how stupid I was the night I was arrested” story is really one she’ll want to tell her friends.

(Source: TheSmokingGun)

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