NEWPORT, OR (August 28, 2007) – Today the Turkey has been named the official bird of the Rogue Nation. To commemorate this momentous occasion Rogue Juniper Pale Ale has been dedicated to “the turkey in each of us.” An axe and the dedication have been added to the serigraphed 22oz bottles and Juniper Pale Ale tap stickers. Even if some do not eat turkey the bottle is a perfect gift for their turkey friends, Rogue explains.

Juniper Pale Ale is a 4-Time Gold Medal Winner at the World Beer Championships and was the highest rated Pale in the world in 2004 and 2005.

Here is some beer trivia to enjoy as you drink your next beer. Cheers!

• Germany serves beer ice cream in popsicle form. Its alcoholic content is less than that found in “classic” beer.
• In 1962, Iron City beer was the brand used to test-market the concept of tab opening aluminum cans. By 1970, over 90% of all beer cans were self-opening.
• Prohibition, beginning on January 16, 1920, lasted 13 years, 10 months, 19 days, 17 hours, and 32-1/2 minutes, and was rescinded on December 5, 1933, at 3:32 p.m.
• Centuries ago in England, pub visitors used a novel innovation that enabled them to get their beer served quickly. They used mugs with a whistle baked into the rim, the whistle being used to summon the barmaid. It has been suggested this practice gave birth to the phrase “wet your whistle.”
• A beer lover or enthusiast is called a cerevisaphile.
• During the European Middle Ages and the Renaissance, beer was often a nutritional necessity and was sometimes used in a medicinal setting. It could be flavored with almost anything, from the bark of fir trees to fresh eggs and thyme. Everyone drank beer, including children.
• President Theodore Roosevelt took more than 500 gallons of beer with him on an African safari. Must have been thirsty work.
• Most saloons were owned by the breweries by the 1900s. The bartenders earned $10 to $15 per week, with Sunday bringing in the most business.
• There is an Egyptian beer, called bousa, that is brewed from millet and has been a favorite drink of many for over 3,000 years. Modern Ethiopia has a version made from wheat. It has been hypothesized that this might have been the origin for the word “booze.” Other spellings used are boza, bouza, and booza. Take your pick.

As previously reported, beer consumption in the People’s Republic of China is up – WAY up. And Tsingtao Brewery Co Ltd, China’s best known beer brand, is leading the campaign. Tsingtao posted a 63.4 percent increase in first-half of ’07, as rising Chinese incomes boosted demand for beer and a taste for more expensive brews. The brewery, which is partially owned by top U.S. beer maker Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc, saw a net income increase to 347.57 million yuan ($45.92 million USD) from January-June, up from 212.74 million yuan a year earlier. Tsingtao hopes to maintain a 12 percent sales growth this year, against an 11.5 percent gain in 2006.

And 2008 will undoubtedly prove an even bigger year for the brewing giant, thanks in part to the 2008 Olympics — it is a co-sponsor and will host sailing events — which is expected to spur sales and boost its brand name even further.

 

Homebrewer-turned-inventor John Carnett has spent weeks building what he simply refers to as The Device. What is said devide? A stainless-steel, two-cart extract brewing system that starts by boiling the wort and ends with a chilled pint.

As many of our readers know, in most home-brewing extract setups, each step in the process requires moving the beer to a new container by hand, which increases the chance of contamination or, if nothing else, at the very least requires you to lift stuff. Carnett’s machine keeps everything in the carts’ closed system and requires only that he swap a few CO₂-pressurized hoses to move the liquid along. It also employs a complex temperature-control system to regulate the fermentation (often done in a corner of a basement) to within a degree or two. A couple weeks later, the same system chills the beer on its way from keg to tap, so The Device is always ready with a cold pour and consumes no power when it’s not serving or fermenting.

So, how much damage does The Device currently inflict on your wallet? Only a small $4,315 *cough* And what’s next for Carnett?  He plans on adding a third cart to make wort from raw grain instead of extract. But, says Carnett, there’s a lot of “testing” of this design to be done first. Click here for a YouTube video below to see Carnett’s Device in action.

[image via popsci.com]