TheBeerObserver

Ever since we found out that Santa is a big fan of The Lost Abbey (and that he has a vacation condo here in San Diego), we’ve been able to persuade him to turn out in the red suit to take photos with the folks attending our Christmas in July fundraiser and celebration. Of course, [...]

The European Court of Justice had rejected Anheuser-Busch InBev’s request to register its Budweiser beer brand as a European Union wide trademark.

The Dow-Jones news wire characterized this as the “final blow in AB InBev’s decades-long battle with Czech competitor Budejovicky Budvar to gain control of the Budweiser name in Europe.” AB InBev had sought to have an earlier decision by the European General Court overturned.

Both Anheuser-Busch, which was acquired by InBev in 2008, and Budejovicky Budvar have used the Budweiser name dating back to the late nineteenth century.

AB InBev already uses the Budweiser, or Bud, name in 23 of 27 European countries, including the United Kingdom, where courts have ruled both companies can call their beer Budweiser. However, Budvar retains with exclusive control of the name in Germany.

Isaiah Mustafa—aka the Old Spice Guy—is everywhere we turn: on our TV, in our movie theater previews and a gazillion Web sites. And now, the former NFL player’s announced that he scored a role in the upcoming Jennifer Aniston flick “Horrible Bosses.” How do we get your life, dude? Is it just the body wash? We’ll trade you any beer you want for a bottle of the good stuff.

Brewmaster Jan Nijboer of the Dutch ‘t Koelschip brewery says his new $45, 60%-ABV beer is the world’s strongest brew. The beer, dubbed “Start the Future,” eclipses Scottish brewery BrewDog’s 55%-ABV “The End of History,” which claimed the title only last week. [Reuters]

Topic Origin: Beer News

by Ryan Van Velzer

In March, Iowa’s legislature eased restrictions on high-octane brews, raising the cap on ABVs from 5% to 12%. Before the “beer equality law” passed, state-sponsored vendors controlled the high-gravity beer market, and Iowans could only sip imperial stouts and Belgian ales from out-of-state breweries. Now that the state’s brewing big, we asked eight Iowa beer makers to give us a taste of what’s on tap and what’s in the tank.

David Coy, Raccoon River Brewing
“The first beer I brewed after the law passed was a maibock. I probably bumped it up beyond where it needed to be, it’s 8.5% ABV, but I was in a celebratory mood. We’ve a got double IPA that I’m putting on tap tomorrow, El Bandito Loco. It’s going to be 9.5% ABV with 3 pounds of hops per barrel. After that, I’m pretty sure there is a Russian imperial stout in my future; that’ll be my winter warmer this year.”

Mike Gauthier, Court Avenue Brewing Co.
“I’ve got a Sahti on draft. It’s a Finnish farmhouse ale brewed with malted rye and juniper berries with a 7.5% ABV. I’ve been dying to make it since I drank one that Goose Island brewed 10 years ago. I’ve also got a double ESB in the conditioning tank right now at 8.6% ABV, but its still a little hot, probably won’t be ready to serve for another two or three weeks.”

Chris Priebe, Millstream Brewing Co.
“We’re playing around with a few different things and seeing what people like so that after a year or two, we can come out with bottles of what is most popular. Right now we’ve got weizenbock on tap. It’s a high-gravity dark wheat beer and it turned out pretty good; it’s about 8.5% ABV. After that, we’re looking at doing a fruit-flavored tripel, and we also beefed up our regular oatmeal stout so that’s 7% ABV now.”

Peter Ausenhus, Worth Brewing Co.
“I’m in the lautering stage of my second batch of Russian imperial stout, and I’m just about to start boiling; it will probably end up at about 10% ABV. The first beer that will be on tap is the Bar Belle Blond, a Belgian strong golden ale which comes out in August. I will follow that up in September with the Bison doppelbock, and I also have a real strong Scotch ale for this winter that I just want to age for a while.”

Joe Kesteloot, Peace Tree Brewing
“I’ve done two brews that are high-gravity; the first one I did right after the law changed was a Belgian-style blond that’s about 8.5% ABV. Then, I was really excited to do a double IPA at 9%; I released that one the 10th of July. We’ve had a lot of demand for it; we were reserving cases before they even went on sale. In winter, I’m probably going to do an imperial stout or a barrel-aged stout; if I go with the barrel-aged one, it won’t be done until the following year.”

Mason Groben, Madhouse Brewing Co.
“We’re a brand-new brewery; we just started making beer in February. We hope to add a high gravity beer in the fall. One of my investors has an acre of Mt. Hood, Centennial and Cascade hops growing, so hopefully my next beer will be a 100-percent Iowa-grown double-hopped American style IPA.”

Brad Knoke, Hub City Brewing Co.
“We’re just getting started on the high-gravity stuff. The one we’re getting ready right now is our 9.7%-ABV Russian imperial stout called The Midnight Express. We’re also working on a Belgian beer, either a strong ale or a dubbel, and we’re also working on a double IPA.”

Matt Guenther, Beck’s Sports Bar and Grill
“We have our Grizzlybock; it’s a doppelbock that’s higher on the scale than your average beer, around 7 or 8% ABV. It’s something darker, a kind of signature that not many places carry and our most popular with craft beer enthusiasts.”

Team Definitely Savage Obviously Not Subtle

First, an apology goes out to the ladies of Team Definitely Savage Obviously Not Subtle. They were gracious enough to do a video interview with me in Pocahontas, Iowa (”The Princess City”). But after two hours of trying to convert the file outside my campground, I gave up.

Suffice to say the interview boiled down to this: 1) Beer is good. 2) Biking across Iowa with beer is even better. 3) You should be here. 4) If you’re not, be jealous.

A few more miles down the road I ran into the Wilson family of six — all on one bike. They were incredibly friendly and talkative when I pulled alongside them, despite the fact that they had to haul a bike, a tagalong and a trailer up hills. Greg Wilson told me that was still easier than trying to coordinate babysitters for all of RAGBRAI. They just passed 1,300 miles of training together when I met them.

The Wilson Family -- all 6 of them

In the tiny town of West Bend we came across the World’s Largest Grotto, a surreal sight in the middle of cornfields. And right next to thousands of cyclists holding beer. The massive structure had petrified wood and $14 million worth of stone. One cyclist remarked that “the priests must have been on acid when they built this.”

West Bend Grotto photo by Jeff Miller

I met a nomadic young engineer named Willy who has bike toured 8,000 miles in the last five months, including a zig-zagging 4,500-mile trip from New Orleans to San Francisco. His buddy, Brett from Denver, was riding with his dog Moxie Crimefighter in the back of his bike. Coincidentally, Willy went to a conference rival of my high school in Wisconsin. Small world.

“I hope I’m not offending you,” Willy said at one of our rest stops, pulling out a paper bag-covered bottle. “But I’m not drinking beer. I’m drinking 40 proof fortified wine.”

Today’s short 60-mile ride was a brutal 103 degrees with no cloud cover or shade, making the beer at the end especially crucial to our survival. Thankfully, we were welcomed into Clear Lake with shouts of “FREE BEER!” Never has those words sounded so sweet. Turns out, a local bought a keg for bikers to entice them to pay $10 for a shower. I think it was working.

Until tomorrow, I leave you with this mobile public service announcement.

The headline across the bottom of Details magazine caught my eye today at Borders.

“Artisanal America: How Handmade and Homegrown Became the New Consumer Religion.” The story itself is even online. Sure enough, the cute timeline that runs above the story has a picture of beers from Anchor Brewing and a note that in 1965 the brewery helped “kickoff the microbrew craze.”

(See, not everybody uses the term craft beer.)

What’s troubling, and a reminder why I’m not part of Details’ target audience, is that most of the items mentioned in the story turn out to be expensive. (It’s hard to continue reading after the reporter asks this question: “Does the phrase ‘Horween Tracker bone suede upper’ mean anything to you?”)

This story equates artisanal with luxury and exclusivity. Which is not the way to build a better beer culture.

Topic Origin: US - New England

Topic Origin: Beer Releases

While megabreweries like SABmiller and Sapporo suffer from declining sales, California microbreweries are gaining popularity. Craft brewers in California saw increased sales in 2009 and project sales to grow another 5.8 percent in 2010.

SABmiller, makers of Miller Genuine Draft and one of the world’s largest brewers, dipped 1 percent in sales during the first quarter while Sapporo Ltd., owner of Sapporo Breweries and manufacturer of Sapporo, predicts a loss of 600 million yen during the first half of the year.

We’ve talked about beer-worthy beaches and beach-worthy beers, and now we’re continuing with another summer-fun brew, Full Sail Spotless IPA. You can’t always discern a beer’s attributes by name alone, but in the case of Spotless, you get a pretty good idea of what’s going in your glass. This remarkably crystal clear (spotless, even), dark golden brew sports a creamy white head that just won’t fade. Through the popping bubbles, toasted bread notes ascend to the nose, accented by grassy, resinous hops and just a touch of orange. This bitter brew begins gently with a wave of toasted bread that spreads out on the tongue, eventually splashing up against a wall of rough bitterness mid-sip. Spotless is a fun, aggressive IPA with old-school bitterness that scrapes the tongue and throat, allowing only light sweet toffee threads to mingle with grassy, citrus hops in the back of the mouth. With a very dry finish that demands another sip, this brew’s not just a fine fit for summer, but an IPA worth sipping year-round. Too bad it’s only around until September.

Topic Origin: Beer News

Topic Origin: Beer News

We celebrated Christmas in July this past Saturday (July 24) with the release of barrel-aged Santa’s Little Helper and a fundraiser to benefit the Marine Corp’s Toys for Tots foundation. The weather was perfect, the bands were great, the food was outstanding and everyone who attended was fantastic! We raised an estimated $7,500 in toys and [...]

It’s no secret we’re big fans of drinking games here at DRAFT. Not necessarily the belligerent kind, just something to pass the time. Thus, it wasn’t much of a surprise when the folks behind Arkeg wheeled their ridiculously entertaining game console and drinking station to our editorial offices.

With 69 pre-loaded games, a draft system designed for 5-gallon kegs and nothing to do on a slow Friday, we settled in for some fun. As a result, mid-year bonuses are officially frozen so we can save up to install one of these things in our conference room.

Here are the boys with their machine. Beer Pong?

Have you seen this thing around? If not, demand it! And for money-stuffed homebrewers, this is the perfect way to coerce friends into sticking around to drink your beer.

Drinking note of the day (not really a new feature, so don’t expect one tomorrow):

From The Gourmet Guide to Beer by Howard Hillman (1983).

Hamm’s (U.S.A.) 2 mugs (out of five)

“Born in the land of sky blues waters,” says the motto. Pale yellow color. Innocent nose and palate.

How’s that for concise?

When Brooklyn Tony from Team Brew Ha Ha gave me a RAGBRAI beer guide, it actually wasn’t the first time a dude on a bike handed me a beer guide while I was biking myself.

Actually, Brooklyn Tony handed me two guides — “one for your gumba” — along with a history lesson.

“Before Milwaukee was the brewing capital of the world, Brooklyn was,” he declared. “Brooklyn — and especially Williamsburg — was heavily influenced by German immigrants.”

Then he reached into his bike jersey and handed me a guide to the best beer stops during our weeklong bike tour of the state of Iowa.

But I couldn’t say he was the first biking beer guide evangelist I ever met, because Earl from Team Good Beer handed me his team’s guide a few miles back. Both were quintessential RAGBRAI moments of bonding with strangers over bikes and beer.

“Beer and biking go together pretty great, don’t they?” Earl asked me while we rode behind a guy in an Old Style jersey.

“They make the beer taste sweeter and the ride more rewarding,” I agreed.

“And the company better,” added Earl, who is part of a 24-member team at RAGBRAI.

Today we finished about 70 miles with about 4,000 feet of elevation and a few thousand beers along the way. Someone was even offering free beer to all 15,000 cyclists in the middle of a field on the side of the rural road.

And even if you don’t bump into a Tony or Earl, you can text “FATTIREIOWA” to 839863 to get text updates of where to find Fat Tire each day on the route. I was lucky enough the Shuttle Guy had it on ice when I arrived at camp

Tonight I’m hanging out in tent city in Storm Lake, home of the Beavers. Tomorrow’s route includes some optional mileage that would make it a century.

So of course I’ll do the longer version, because you know what more mileage means. More beer.

[ August 21, 2010; 8:30 am to 11:00 am. 8:30 am to 11:00 am. ] [caption id="attachment_2510" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Beer and Breakfast! What\'s not to like?"][/caption] It's that time again! Join The Lost Abbey / Port Brewing crew for our annual pre-Stone Brewing Anniversary brunch on August 21nd, 2010 from 8:30 am to 11:00 am. We'll be boiling, frying, griddling and baking up a hearty breakfast that includes eggs, bread, potatoes at plenty [...]

I think the Lagunitas glassware pictured on the left has been around a while. However it’s just now that I’m looking at a press release dated 3.5.10. It arrived yesterday and it made me laugh out loud. So I will pass it along without comment, other than to note I hope you enjoy it as much as I have:

“The Lagunitas Brewing Company of Petaluma CA commissioned Dr’s Petchutnik and Splam of the Nagorno-Karabackh Institute for Brewing Research to develop a radically new design of glassware for enjoying fine American Craft Beer.

“The revolutionary design abandons conventional wisdom regarding the characteristics of traditional post-20th century Ale-ware. Lagunitas and the research team drew inspiration from homestead fine cuisine influences of the early 1930′s.

“Focusing on southeastern US regional imbibement traditions, Dr’s Petchutnik ans Splam and Lagunitas have re-evolved the Jarre du le Mason, or colloquially: The Mason Jar.

“This container’s utilitarian design and multi-purpose functionality eschews the new pretense and geekery in favor of glassware that:
1. Fills and empties easily and,
2. Washes quickly.

“According to Lagunitas Brewmaster Emil Kerputchinikikik, ‘We felt that in the new post-private-sedtor world this was a statement of solidarity and expression of our own pese que de dunche por ce est as well as acknowledgment of this 21st century imperative.’

“In addition to vastly improve functionality the glassware is also decorated with distinct Lagunitas Brewing Company iconography and should be considered for immediate use by all brewers across the country.

“The Lagunitas Brewing company, founded in 1372, brews iconoclastic American-style ales in Petaluma, CA. Earth.”