jesskidden

From all the statements I've seen from Sierra Nevada, "mostly cans" is not their goal. Bill Manley (S-N spokesperson) in that BeerNews article specifically says, "Cans will only be a small part of our output...No chance of bottled Pale Ale going anywhere. Cans are in addition to, not in place of." and repeats that, under his screen name sierranevadabill on Beer Advocate. In a later thread he confirms that the first cans will be 12 oz. SN Pale Ale and 16 oz. Torpedo IPA.

Guinness brews and markets many different "stouts" (17-19 by some count, some of which are brewed by other companies under license or by contract)- different recipes, different alcohol content. In the US, they market Guinness Draught, Guinness Extra Stout, Guinness Foreign Extra Stout and, a few years ago, Guinness 250th Anniversary Stout. Saying "bottled" Guinness does not specify which one- since all four of the above are bottled. In the US, only Guinness Draught is available canned- and an important different between those cans and most US and other canned beers is that it's got a nitrogen-widget to mimic the nitrogen-served kegged Guinness Draught. (Bottles of Guinness Draught recently dropped their "widget" but are still nitrogen "carbonated".) From what I've seen, the US Guinness labels do not note the ABV of any of the stouts, so comparing the different recipes based on alcohol content is not possible, but, of course, the different stouts have different names- Draught, Extra Stout, Foreign Extra Stout. Most other sources put the ABV of them at 4.2%, 5-5.5% and 7.5% respectively. (The same named stouts in other markets are often different ABV's). In the US, the Draught and FES is brewed in Ireland, the ES is brewed by contract in Canada, by both Moosehead and Labatt in recent years.

It was described as a badly damaged, unoccupied storage building (one of many on the vast St. James Gate brewery site) that held empty containers and machinery, with no affect on the brewing operations or the Guinness tourist center, in the reports I read.

Dogfish Head bottles are stamped with a "Bottled on" date, yellow ink "dots" on the neck. Unfortunately, the dating can be wiped off rather easily with a damp rag (I'm sure that'd be accidental- you know, while a retailer was "dusting"). If you're not seeing the date, I'd pass on a Delaware beer sold in California. In neighboring NJ, I won't buy any 90 Minute or 60 Minute ales that are more than 3 months past the bottling date.

I suppose it depends on the regional market, but most of the majors brewers still sell beer in the 7 ounce bottles in NJ - as can be seen on the Total Wine Cherry Hill price list under "Popular Domestic Brews" (last page) - looks like Bud, Bud Light, Coors Light, Miller Lite, Rolling Rock, etc. A few also come in 8 ounce cans. The previous page (8) also lists Heineken 7 oz'ers and the aforementioned "Coronitas". (Of course, this is probably of no interest to the OP, who specified "decent breweries" ). In the "craft brewery" world, the 7 ounce bottle is relatively rare. Anchor used to use it for Old Foghorn, and Rogue had them for a few of their high ABV beers, as well (Imperial Stout and Barleywine, IIRC). Currently, Flying Dog also puts out some 7 ounce bottles, again higher ABV beers, since they wound up owning a brewery in Maryland that for a time brewed and bottled the famed "Little Kings Cream Ale" in the 7 ounce "nips" (aka "ponies")- Frederick, which was owned by now-defunct "Snyder International", that at the time also owned the old Hudepohl-Schoenling brands.

Here's a post on Beer Advocate (from a S-N employee) that explains why the Torpedo IPA is in short supply in many areas of the country (and why that may be the case until the fall). Torpedo Update I sure hope people aren't buying cases of beer at Wegman's- unlike many liquor stores they don't discount case prices, so one could easily spend $8-10 more buying cases of craft beer at Wegman's vs the nearby Joe Canal's or Glendale Liquors (limited selection but great prices for what they have). I don't stop into the Princeton Wegman's Liquor Store too often (horrible parking) but the Manalapan store is full of out-of-date beer, poorly stored (they actually have florescent lights *under* the shelving, so if you're looking for un-light struck beer by reaching into the back for a sixpack, you're out of luck) and absolutely zero beer knowledge or any other help.

Beverage Factory, a restaurant supply house that specializes in draught beer systems, calls them "rinser drip trays" on their website. The Triumph Brewery (a brewpub in Princeton, NJ) is one east coast bar I've seen them in. (I suspect Rich has been there, as well ).

Oh, indeed- the hop "shoots" being discussed (which are the new growth that comes up every spring- the plant sends up many new shoots that are traditionally thinned out to let only one or two to grow into "bines" for the hop harvest) are MUCH different than the pelletized hops you tasted, which are simply compressed hop "flowers". Sorry for the confusion- it'd be like the different of eating beets and beet greens, I suppose- or maybe an apple and an apple tree leaf.

Noche Buena hasn't been exported to the US since the late 1990's. The FEMSA brands were once imported by Labatt USA here, but the beers have since been picked up by Heineken USA. Realizing that those fact don't mean much in Canada where Sleeman imports the FEMSA brands- but one would guess if FEMSA withdrew it from the much larger US market, they might have done the same for Canadian distribution. I suppose a call/e-mail to Sleeman would answer the question.

The early hop shoots are indeed similar to asparagus- and, like those first spears of asparagus, I've never gotten around to gathering enough to cook them, since they always seemed to get eaten raw before I made it back into the house. Tho' I once brewed at home, my hops were mostly "ornamental" (I'd gotten the rhizomes from "wild" hops found up in the Finger Lake area- tho' they may have been volunteers from the hop industry that once thrived in upstate NY, pre-Prohibition). Still, when working in the garden or simply walking past them, I often grabbed and chewed a cone or two. It would add a bit of extra hop bite to whatever beer I was drinking at the time. Kinda a "portable Randall" before it's invention. I later read that the late Bert Grant (founder of one of the early US craft breweries- Yakima Brewing & Malting Co.) used to carry a small vial of hop extract for the same purpose. There are very few "other" uses for hops, much to the chagrin of the industry.

I believe I read somewhere that the old Heavyweight brewer was opening a place a few doors down from McMenamin's? Is that correct? ← Earth, Bread + Brewery Earth, Bread + Brewery story links

Depends on which definition of "Central America" one goes by. The United Nations for example, includes Mexico in Central America and, seeing as Mexico pays dues and doesn't object, I guess it's OK usage. Down in "Central Jersey" (another region with varying definitions- sometimes it seems to be anything between Englewood and Atlantic City ) there's a interesting little place right off Exit 8 of the Turnpike which features "Latin Cuisine" called Holy Cow Grill tho', their inspiration takes in all of "Latin America", rather than just "Central America".

It seems that when it comes to discussions of the American Industrial Light Lager beer style, there are "creationists" and "evolutionists". Many of the the former like to point towards Prohibition or World War II (and it's grain shortages), others go back to Busch's trip to Europe in the 1870's, but it seems to me that the AILL style evolved over the years, and, like it or not, it's preference by US beer drinkers is a big factor in it's continued popularity. (That's sounds positively redundant- but many of the anti-adjunct beer fantics will claim it's *all* marketing, totally discounting consumer choice). Ogle's recent history of US brewing, "Ambitious Brew", wraps up the late 1800's origins of US brewers using corn and rice, and the consumers' preference for those "lighter" style lagers, quite nicely for those interested in historic fact rather than "beer myth". I agree that Prohibition and WWII had an effect on changing the taste of the beer (AND the tastes of beer drinkers), but consumers seemed to have gone along for the ride quite willingly the whole time. George Ehret (the #1 brewer at the time) noted the popularity of the "new" pilsener type brews in his book in the 1890's. Fortune magazine noted that post-Repeal beer drinkers gravitated towards the lighter brands in the pre-War 1930's, etc. Indeed, the current popularity of "light beers" (4 of the top 5 brands in the US are "lights", close to half the US market are light beers, etc)- a "style" that didn't even exist a generation ago, shows that it still hasn't ended. And it's not limited to drinkers of domestics- close to 40% of imports are Mexicans adjunct beers, throw in Canadian beers and European "lights" and the majority of imports aren't much different than the best selling US brands. OTOH, the typical US "macro" lagers (tho' not the "light beers") are not particularly "weak" in alcohol (indeed, they're on par with European lagers at around 5% ABV and are stronger than most UK domestic ales) nor do they have a "long shelf life" (most have pull dates of 2-3 months, 1-2 for draught- compared to 9-12 months Euro lager brewers give bottled products and, since they've flash pasteurized their draught beer in many cases, it's not even true "draught" by the US definition, and so has a much longer shelf life). Now, I don't care for the products or for the companies that now dominant the US brewing industry, but, apparently, a LOT of people do. And, with the incredible selection and availablity of other beer styles in the US (for which I am thankful, to say the least), one can assume that all those "industrial light lager" drinkers have had a chance to taste something else, but seem to continue buying the light lager style. (As have increasing numbers of UK, Irish and European beer drinkers, sadly enough).

Well, some of that rise in price is based on twenty years of creeping beer prices in general (Miller bought Leinie's in the late 80's IIRC)- altho', if one trusts those "Inflation adjuster" websites, beer is still a lot cheaper than it was even 50 years ago (stats available on request ). And, for the handful of pre-craft era breweries left, few can survive today by trying to compete with the Big 3 (A-B, Miller and Coors) by underselling them on price anymore (their economies of scale are just so overwhelming), so most of those successful post-Prohibition-era brewers left around (Yuengling, Matts/Saranac, Spoetzl/Shiner, Genesee/High Falls, etc) have adjusted their beer styles and beer prices to move most of their production into the "specialty beer" category and contract brewing for "craft" brewers. So it makes sense for Miller to use the Leinenkugel brands the same way.

Atlantic Brewing (Bar Harbor, ME) has a ginger wheat beer in it's line-up, Mount Desert Island Ginger. http://www.atlanticbrewing.com/beer.html Had a taste of it at the brewery, don't remember much about it (which could be a good or bad sign, I suppose). A "highlight" of their tour was the 55 gallon drum of smashed "spent" ginger root. They recommend the beer as both a summer and winter beer (go figure, right?), so I guess it's a "year 'round" offering. Atlantic's beers are available in much of the eastern US, though most of the 12 oz. bottles seem to be contract-brewed by Shipyard. IIRC, the Prohibition era homebrewing book, The Proceedings of the Company of Amateur Brewers (reprinted as "The Homemade Beer Book") has a few, very minimalist recipes for alcoholic ginger beers.