by Luke on January 31, 2009
As I’m sure you all know, tomorrow night is the Super Bowl (the 43rd to be exact) — the biggest televised event in America and one of the best publicly-supported drinking events of the year. But while Budweiser, Miller and Coors may be the ones dominating commercial air time, many of us have picked up (or picked out) some extra-special brews for the big game. What better way to enjoy what looks like it could be a pretty good game than to kick back with loved ones, eat some awesome junk food and drink some awesome beers. Here’s what I’ve pulled out of my personal stash to enjoy tomorrow:
A bottle of Oatmeal Stout from The Portsmouth Brewing Co.; Blind Salamander from Rahr & Sons in Fort Worth, TX; Russian-brewed Baltika 8 Wheat Ale; and the Porter from Brown’s Brewing Co. in Troy, NY. Should be a pretty fun evening…
What have you got lined up to drink during the big game? Share your stash with us in the comment section!
by Luke on January 28, 2009
First off, I wanted to thank everyone for the generous outpouring of support after the loss of my mom. The letters of condolence I received here, on Facebook and via email were all very touching and very much appreciated. Needless to say, I have an awful lot of catching up to do — both online and in the real world. But, while I get back to scouring the Interwebs for the best in all-things-beer, I wanted to tide you over with some fun little nuggets I was able to pick up on over the last few days:
How does smokin’ hot actress Catherine Zeta Jones stay, well, smokin’ hot? With beer, of course. According to a recent interview with the thirty-nine year old actress, “I do condition my hair with honey and beer. I smell like the bottom of a beer barrel for days afterwards but it’s very good for the hair.” (via PerezHilton.com)
While not exactly beer, I’ve always thought of mead as sort of a tasty bi-partisan effort between beer and wine. So I was excited to read a few days ago a post by Shannon Bryan on the local Portland Press Herald-owned MaineToday.com about Portland’s own brand new(ish) Maine Mead Works, located in a warehouse on Anderson Street in Bayside. According to Ms. Bryan, Maine Mead’s HoneyMaker Dry Mead is currently on the shelves at Whole Foods, Aurora Provisions, Rosemont, Old Port Wine Merchants and Maine Beer & Beverage. And HoneyMaker Semi Sweet Mead is expected to appear at those locations the first week of February. (via PortlandFoodMap.com)
And lastly, I received an email a few days ago from reader Helder who has a school assignment (I’ll just assume it’s college or grad school, since high school students shouldn’t know anything about beer) in which he was asked to discover why “consumers make a decision between Domestic or Imported/Craft Beer”? So, if you could help Helder out and leave a comment on this post with your response, he (and I) would greatly appreciate it!
Many thanks to Pike Brewing Company of Seatle for the two bottles of vintage Old Bawdy Barleywine, and Rahr & Sons Brewing Co. of Fort Worth, TX for the two bottles of Blind Salamander Pale Ale, all of which arrived on my doorstep yesterday. I will sample and review each as soon as possible (except maybe for the bottle of 2006 Old Bawdy, which might go straight to the cellar). If you represent a brewery and would like to send me a sample for review or news, please don’t hesitate to contact me!
Thanks again and stay tuned; there’s plenty more where that came from…
by Luke on January 20, 2009
At 11:56 this morning, just about the time that Yo Yo Ma was beginning to belt out “Simple Gifts”, my loving mother lost her four year battle with breast cancer. I guess she thought she was leaving the country in more capable hands and, just about the time that Barack was getting ready to take over, she was finally able to let go.
My mom and me at a Portland Sea Dogs game in 2008.
Barbara Livingston - August 10, 1945 - January 20, 2009
Barbara Livingston was a beautiful woman with a beautiful soul and a wonderful mother. She will for sure be missed, but she will not go quietly, nor will she ever be forgotten.
As she had done all of my life — whenever I picked up a new hobby or fascination, she did her best to learn all she could about my new-found interests in order to keep pace with me. When I discovered good beer, so did she. And so we enjoyed a good number of great brews together these last few years; moments I will cherish forever.
Thank you, Mom, for all you have done for me. I hope that I will be able to continue to lead the life you dreamt for me and to do right by you for as long as I am able. It has been an honor and a privilege to be your son. I love you.
by Luke on January 17, 2009
New Belgium Brewing Co. — the third largest craft brewer in the country — has officially released their 
2007-2008 “Sustainability Report” outlining the results of New Belgium’s “Triple Bottom Line” approach to business using metrics and data gathered over a five-year period. The “Triple Bottom Line” measurement looks at the environmental, economic and social effects of the brewery.
The report also highlights a number of the brewer’s environmental and sustainable initiatives, which include a decade-long commitment to using wind energy, and tracking the greenhouse gas life-cycle of a six-pack of the brewery’s famous Fat Tire beer. According to MSNBC,
“Environmental sustainability has always been a core value at New Belgium, so we felt it was time to take a measure of our progress,” said Jenn Orgolini, New Belgium’s Sustainability Director. “While it is gratifying to know that we have made great strides in our environmental performance, this report will help us set goals and make plans to help us close the gap in areas where we could stand to improve.”
What is fantastic, however, was the fact that I learned about New Belgium’s report through an article on MSNBC. It is always great to see initiatives from within the Craft Brewing industry (especially when those initiatives are environmentally-related) making into the mainstream media. It’s great attention for all the things that matter!
To read the original MSNBC article (which includes a list of some of the New Belgium report’s highlights), click here. And visit newbelgium.com/sustainability to read the full report and learn about all of the on-going sustainability efforts happening at New Belgium. Keep up the great work, guys!
by Luke on January 15, 2009
This Saturday January 17th will mark a great day in the growing emergance of craft beer on the popular microblogging & social networking platform Twitter. At five o’clock PST (that’s 8:00pm for those of us here on the East Coast), beer and Twitter enthusiasts the world-over will gather at Twitter Taste Live — a site originally launched to do real-time sampling of wine via Twitter, which has since expanded to include tastings of cigars and beer — for the first of what TTL regulars hope will be many beer tastings to come.
The tasting is being co-hosted by Jay Brooks of the Brookston Beer Bulletin, who will be “on hand” Tweeting about the tasting and answering any questions that arise. The tasting is called an Introduction to Trappist Ales and will feature four beers from two Belgian Trappist breweries, Chimay and Westmalle. The two Chimays will be Chimay Red and the Tripel; the two Westmalle beers are the Dubbel and the Tripel.
Participation in the tasting is quite simple. Most importantly you’ll need to get yourself your own Twitter account (which is free and easy to do by signing up at twitter.com) first, and then sign up for the event at twittertastelive.com. Next, pick up the four beers being tasted (of course you don’t have to have all four; you can taste any combination you choose, it’s up to you). Then, at the designated time, log into Twitter Taste Live; drink; Tweet your thoughts about the beer you’re drinking (including the hash tag #TTL); repeat until the beers are gone. It’s really that simple.
The tasting can be done by yourself from your home office, with a group of friends gathered around your living room (each with your own laptop), or even from a nearby bar awesome enough to be serving Chimay and Westmalle (using your favorite blackberry or iPhone Twitter app).
Do yourself a favor and be there! And if you’re not following me on Twitter yet, please do so (by following @LivingstonMedia); see you on Saturday, only at #TTL.
Hi and welcome to Blog About Beer. My name is Logan and I live just north of Portland, Oregon, a city that has more craft breweries than any other in the US. I'm a full time marketer, blogger, and dad to the most beautiful girl in the world. I'm also a homebrewing and craft beer fanatic.