Incredible!

Okay...so this has nothing to do with beer but it's pretty amazing anyway. I guess you could relate it to beer in a round about way...if you think of beers with a chocolate flavor/aroma.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/08/19/ap/strange/mainD8JJH7HG1.shtml

Beer bytes for the day

It's Friday, and I've come across a couple of interesting beer-related pieces that I thought I'd share. First is some insight from an American, abroad in the Czech Republic, on drinking beer there.

When you go to the pub, your order "beer". Just beer. They only have two kinds. One is the standard 10-degree house beer, the brand of which varies from pub to pub. The other is the special 12-degree Pilsner Urquell. If you order beer, they will automatically bring the house standard. It is assumed that if you want pilsner, you will ask for it especailly. If you go to a pivnice (beer house), you never order. You go in, sit down, and they bring beer and plop it down. When your glass is 2/3 empty, they will plop down another whether you want it or not. The trick is that when you've finished drinking, you have to keep an eye on the waiter. If he sets down the beer before you say no, you own a beer. Even if you say no in time, he may try to convince you to have another anyway because he is like your beer mom who wants to make sure that you never go away empty.

Second is an article, sourced from Boston.com, discussing the newly created art world of beer tap handles.

Breweries have tried for decades to attract attention by making tap handles larger and more colorful, but the microbrewery movement has brought a proliferation of artsy and exotic ones. Some are full-fledged artwork, a small brewery's main advertising and a way to entice beer drinkers to sample a specific brand in the competitive craft market -- specialty brews typically made in small regional or local breweries -- which grew 11 percent in the first six months of this year.

To read the article in its entirety, click here.

Hop Prices on the Rise

According to this article, hop prices are on the rise, due to a decade of oversupply and poor prices.

When there's overproduction, it takes a long time to get it out of the system. We're finally seeing that happen with the oversupply from the 1990s...

To read the full article, click here

Definitely more of a trick than a treat

Just in time for Halloween? I think not. Last night I tried Hobgoblin Dark English Ale. I was looking for a treat in a new beer I'd not ever heard of, let alone tried, and since it's the Halloween season, Hobgoblin seemed more than appropriate.
Pouring from the pint sized can, it's a lovely dark copper color. All dispensed in the glass, however, it's kind of a boring coffee color, no carbonation, no head, no lacing. Didn't make for a lovely presentation at all. The aroma was just as dull as it was barely existant. Maybe a smidge of malt could be detected if you really tried hard enough. And the taste? Not surpising it was mostly tasteless. There was a slight hit of bitter upon the tip of my tounge, but once that dissipated, there was nothing. Not much flavor, no carbonation, no after taste, nothing left on my palate. It just simply vanished as if it was never there.
Perhaps a more appropriate name for this beer would be Poltergeist. You know it's there as you have the evidence of a can in your hand....but all traces of the beer itself disappear in to thin air......

Gearhead 'Stoneface' Rolles

What is your Biker name?

Magic Hat has released a new winter seasonale.

"Our free-wheeling spin on the classic American Amber is filled with caramelized malts and spicey hops that fire your inner cylinders. Independent spirits are hereby invited to take her for a test drive on freedom's open road in six packs, Feast of Fools 12 packs, and on tap."

http://staging.magichat.net/roxyrolles/

Check out the website and get a biker name....

Beer on a diet

So...it's true...you can have beer and lose weight. If you're on a low carb diet...you may find this helpful. You really can have it all!

http://www.realbeer.com/edu/health/beer_diet.php

Fit with Beer?

Although I have yet to do it, it appears, according to Michael Bane, triathlete and editor of Zymurgy Magazine, that you can stay fit and drink beer at the same time. Brilliant! He wrote this article back in 1999, but I'm certain that times haven't changed that much to make this an impossible reality.

"...I used to hate the stuff, but then I fell into triathlons. In Florida, where I began racing, all the races seem to be sponsored by beer companies. And triathletes don't have all that traditional "hale and hearty" baggage that seems to go with bicycle racing and running. Combine that with the heat, and you get a beer truck about five steps from the finish line at each race. Heck, at some of 'em, you could cross the finish line and collapse from heat prostration under a beer tap, which someone would obligingly turn on..."

The full article can be read here

Taste of Ipswich 10/12/2006

Last night's 9th annual taste of Ipswich event was amazing! It was loaded up with tables from tons of local restaurants and scattered with tables of wine provided by Marcorelle's. And there was, of course, Ipswich Ale and company provided by Mercury Brewing.
After eating probably way too much, and then sampling an interesting variety of wine, which included a Chardonnay from South Africa (yes...that's not a typo!), I went to Mercury's table. After discussing with them the characteristics they describe are in their beers, I decided to try the Stone Cat Oktoberfest. It poured a nice, deep copper color with a quickly diminishing head, had almost no lacing and no visible carbonation. The smell was the first thing to catch me off guard. It had a very strong soapy aroma and after smelling this, I noted that the remaining head in the glass actually reminded me of old soap bubbles. The soap theme continued with the flavor. It was very smooth, I'll say that, but still had that soapy quality in the flavor. The good news is, the soapy flavor didn't carry over into the lightly bitter, but pleasant after taste, which left my mouth feeling a little dry. This is definitely not my favorite offering from them.
I followed that up with the Ipswich Ale Oatmeal Stout; always a delicious treat to me with its creamy quality, notes of coffee and caramel and, oh yes...oatmeal! I love this dark, rich beer.
But the event was fun. The food and wine were amazing and the who's who of the North Shore were all there. Always fun for me to walk into an event such as this and know a good amount of people! I thoroughly enjoyed this evening.

Back Door Santa

Christmas comes early at the strange brew tavern. Gus and the boys are playing back door santa, and we are drinking winter warmers.

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Cheers,

Ian

Strange Brew Tavern

Sean, Amber, Ryan and I are, right now, at the Strange Brew Tavern in Manchester NH. Harpoon has tapped the very first keg of Winter Warmer and the first one was free courtesy of Harpoon. There is an amazing jazz band playing some awesome southern jazz/rock, and they have 'the largest selection me draft beer in NH'. DFH 90 min ipa for 3.50! Anchor steam for 3.50! Sierra nevada pale for 3.50! More later

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Cheers,

Ian

Frankenfest Release

Tonight, Harpoon released their 16th edition of their 100 Barrel Series. It is named Frankenfest, due to the Frankenstein nature of its creation. It was created by literally taking different parts of Harpoon beers and brewing them together. A review of the evening follows:

4:29pm - On my way to Boston

5:03pm - Arrived at the Harpoon Brewery

5:26pm - Having arrived nearly an hour early, I headed over to Yankee Lobster, and ordered myself fish and chips, which were delicious. I ordered a Beach Bum Blonde Ale with them, and you can find reviews of that here

5:46pm - Having just inhaled my dinner, I head back over to the brewery

5:47pm - One minute later, I'm in line, standing in the stairwell leading up to the brewhouse. There were seven people more eager than I was apparently

5:53pm - First thoughts on the new beer: medium to dark amber color, still body, white fizzy head. Faint malt aroma, no significant hop presence. Heavy malt character in the initial taste, light sweet at first, moving to a moderately sweet finish. Average duration, light on the mouth, soft carbonation. Addition of hops give it a dry finish.

6:54pm - On my 5th sample glass of Frankenfest, still waiting for the mad scientist to come out and talk about the beer.

6:59pm - Staff just tapped new kegs for the Octoberfest and the Frankenfest. It's flying out of the taps.

7:02pm - Andy Seguin introduces Mike Smith, the brewer. Some of his notes follow: Brewed under a full moon, which he didn't notice until he was driving home that night. Also bottle under a full moon, so the beer went on a lunar cycle. The original beer was brewed two and a half years ago for a Beer Advocate event in Boston. Originally called the Frankenbock, Mike took parts of the IPA, Octoberfest, and Munich Dark during different stages of brewing, took them home, and fermented them with his own yeast. The C.E.O., Rich Doyle, enjoyed the beer so much, he kept the idea percolating in the back of his mind, and eventually told Mike to brew it as a 100 Barrel offering. Originally it was 8.5% ABV, but since Vermont does not allow beer over 8% to be sold, he toned it down to 6.9% for this batch to allow those crazy catamounts to enjoy it as well.

7:31pm - Leaving Harpoon with two bottles of Frankenfest that were bottled just four days earlier (10/06) to review.

Theeeee Yankees Lose!

On the heels of an 8-3 defeat at the hands of the Detroit Tigers, the New York Yankees are heading home without reaching their goal for the sixth straight year. Considering that the Red Sox will be in search of at least one huge free agent this off-season, the Yanks could very well be the donor, given the impending shake-up that's about to take place in the Bronx.

What does this have to do with beer you ask? Well, it's a great excuse to raise your glass and enjoy a well-made beer from Boston. The Yanks are out!

Beer in the news 10/2-10/6

Just because, I've decided to post some beer-related articles from this past week. They range from the destruction of hops to a beer frenzy in Tiger Stadium.

Numbers from Oktoberfest in Munich
4% of U.S. hop supply burns
October beer sales resume in Tiger Stadium
Beer. James Beer.

Frankenfest Release

Despite missing out on the random selection to attend the Frankenfest release party this coming Tuesday night, Dan Kenary, President of Harpoon, has graciously extended the 2 Beer Guys an invitation to the event.

I will be on hand, hopefully with Thirsty Beard, to review and enjoy the latest installment in the 100 Barrel Series: Frankenfest Lager.

The Rise and Fall of Expectation

Saturday...what a glorious day it was shaping up to be. The Mercury Brewing Company was holding its 15th Anniversary Harvest Festival. Oh, what a glorious day indeed!

Mercury Brewing is finally opening their doors and becoming a consumer-friendly brewery! But all was not well. Upon arriving at Mercury, I was immediately underwhelmed. There was a smattering of picnic tables, and a couple of food booths set up by the Rotary Club of Ipswich. Alone in the parking lot stood the Mercury traveling tap van. A cargo van retrofit with eight taps serving up all manner of Ipswich and Stone Cat Ales.

But the beer extravaganza began and ended with that van. There was a live band, but they never really kicked it into gear. There were no representatives from Mercury walking around, to tell the tale of Mercury Brewing and what makes their ales so wonderful. No one to promote the brand, no souvenir cups or contests or giveaways. From what I can tell, Mercury has had 15 years to plan this event, and to not have a more consumer-geared event was disappointing. I had the cask-conditioned Ipswich I.P.A, which was the lone bright spot of the trip. I found it interesting that under the Stone Cat name, Mercury produce two seasonal beers; Octoberfest and Pumpkin Ale, perhaps hoping to capitalize on the varying tastes of fall beer lovers. Needless to say, it was a disappointing trip into the heart of Ipswich.

Now I'm just holding out for the 20th Anniversary party.

Beer Contains Female Hormones

Beer Contains Female Hormones

Last month, scientists released the results of a recent analysis which revealedthe presence of female hormones in beer. Men should take a concerned look attheir beer consumption.

The theory is that beer contains female hormones (Hops contain Phytoestrogens)and, that by drinking enough beer, men turn into women. To test the theory, 100 men drank 8 beers each within a 1-hour period. It was then observed that 100% of the test subjects:

1) Argued over nothing
2) Became overly emotional
3) Couldn't drive
4) Failed to think rationally
5) Gained weight
6) Had to sit down while urinating
7) Refused to apologize when obviously wrong
8) Talked excessively without making sense!

No further testing was considered necessary.