People-powered, Twitter-inspired beers seem to be all the rage in the quickly growing craft beer two point oh scene. 
In fact, you may remember a couple of months ago when the Bay Area’s 21st Amendment Brewing brewed what they called a #twitterbrew, during which the brewery’s followers could track the brewing process and follow along through frequent posts to TwitPic.com.
Well, now it looks like Fort Collins’ Odell Brewing (@odellbrewing) has gone and taken things one step further. According to The Coloradoan,
The beer is Odell’s first Twitter community inspired beer, meaning followers of the company’s Twitter page were able to “tweet” their sugges-tions [sic] for what style the beer should be and vote on the beer’s color, strength, body and hops character.
Twitter followers of the brewery even were able to vote on the Twitter-inspired names such as: Darkside, Hashtag Schwarz, Fail Whale Black Ale and the winner by five votes, Blackbird.
Now that the beer is brewed and the name has been selected, Odell is keeping the beer’s buzz going by letting its followers submit designs for the beer’s tap handle design via direct message. Anyone can then vote on their favorite design over at Polldaddy (you don’t need to be on Twitter or following Odell to vote) by clicking here. There are definitely some great designs up so far, check ‘em out.
The final limited release Schwarz Beer will be released at the brewery’s tap room in Fort Collins during the tapping party this Saturday. Unfortunately for the rest of us, the first limited release will only be available in the brewery’s tap room, and will not be sold in stores.
There is some great news to report in the spread of good quality craft beer across these United States – 
it seems that just this past Friday Alabama governor, Bob Riley, signed bill #HB373 — the state’s “Gourmet Beer Bill” — into law. With the passing of this law, the good folks of Alabama can immediately begin drinking more than swill. For the very first time, Alabamians can now enjoy beer that has an Alcohol By Volume weight of greater than 6 percent (as the new bill raised the statewide limit to 13.9%).
Many congratulations and toasts go out to all of the people behind FreeTheHops.org: Alabamians for Specialty Beer who fought the good fight for four grueling years to get this bill to pass. The hops are finally free!
[image via Flickr]
A week ago today (deadlines, shmedlines; that’s why I’m a blogger) I was lucky enough to finagle a media invite to the ribbon cutting ceremony (THANK YOU!) at the brand new Sea Dog Brewing Co. brewpub in nearby South Portland, Maine (the space formally occupied by Eggspectations). It was a very fun morning and I’m very thankful for the invite. A tasty breakfast was shared — may I recommend the eggs Benedict, which were nice and lemony, just the way I like ‘em — with the Sea Dog/Shipyard PR & Social Media crew (follow them on Twitter @SeaDogBrewing) and I had a nice chat with the pub’s manager, Dale Carrier, and with Fred Forsley, mastermind behind the entire Shipyard empire.
The folks at Sea Dog have done great things with the space and have turned a previously bland and rather large, 
impersonal space into a very friendly brewpub feel — due in large part to the fantastic artwork by Robert Cochrane of Cape Elizabeth which can be seen throughout the restaurant, including the absolutely enormous Barney the Sea Dog portrait, made entirely of bottle caps, which hangs beyond the bar — virtually overnight.
Sea Dog is now open from 7:00am to 1:00am every day and the best part is that they will be serving breakfast that entire time. I’m personally really psyched to head over there around 10pm to catch a late-night Sox game on the big screen and gobble down some eggs and an oatmeal stout. While the pub definitely has a nice family friendly environment — their Captain Eli’s Rootbeer is also on tap for the kiddos — and will undoubtedly do well at dinner time, being one of very few non-chain dinner spots in the Maine Mall area, I personally am most excited to have another late-night option in town that has both good beer and good food (which are surprisingly hard to come by in Portland); I just wish it was within walking distance 
.
The new Sea Dog is definitely a welcome addition to the Greater Portland food & beer landscape and I will definitely be planning many a visit there, starting with one this Memorial Day Weekend. See you there!
I found this little gem during a random jaunt across the Interwebs this morning and thought it was too fun not to share 
with everyone.
Apparently, during a recent remodeling of the library on the Albany campus of the Sage Colleges, some construction workers cam across a six pack of “Utica Club Pilsener Lager Beer” cans that were lodged in the ceiling of the “new” addition to the library that was constructed in 1965. Says Rose Redwood, bibliographic records manager at the library,
The beer can is in pretty good shape, despite its age. I suppose it’s a vintage can of beer, having twice as much aluminum to it compared to today’s cans of beer.
Oh, so that’s where I left that….
[from TimesUnion.com]
As any long-time BlogAboutBeer readers know, I am very big on putting craft beer in cans. So I was excited to see this little tidbit come through my inbox the other day — it’s good news for MassHoles and good news for those of us in Maine (because good beer in cans is one step closer to reaching our borders).
It appears that San Fransisco’s 21st Amendment Brewing Co. has begun distributing their two canned beers — Hell or High Watermellon and Brew Free or Die IPA — in the Bay State. From the company’s official press release,
Boston-area native Nico Freccia is returning to his home state, and he’s bringing beer. Craft beer in a can, that is. The co-founder of San Francisco’s 21st Amendment Brewery tells Massachusetts craft beer fans today, “We drink what we can; we can what we drink.”
Freccia and Shaun O’Sullivan, the iconic personalities behind one of California’s few canning craft breweries, opened the bustling 21st Amendment Brewery in San Francisco’s South of Market neighborhood after meeting in a home-brew class. The release of the Brewery’s two canned brews, Hell or High Watermelon Wheat Beer (recently rated “#1 Beer to Drink from a Can” and “Top Fruit Beer” by Draft magazine) and Brew Free! Or Die IPA (winner of multiple medals internationally) marks the brewery’s first foray into beer sales on the east coast. Both beers will be available in cans and on draft throughout the state of Massachusetts.
“Massachusetts, and in particular, Boston, is a craft beer drinkers’ paradise,” says Chief Watermelon Officer Freccia. “People in Massachusetts just get the CAN-cept of great craft beer, and we are really excited to be a part of the local beer landscape.”
Why craft beer in a can? “Quite CAN-didly,” says Chief Hop Head O’Sullivan, “Cans are simply better for the beer. They keep it fresher by protecting it from light, they fit the craft beer drinker’s lifestyle by going places where glass just doesn’t dare, and cans are better for the environment. They use less energy to produce and transport, and they get recycled more often than glass.”
Hell or High Watermelon Wheat is a classic American wheat beer that undergoes a traditional secondary fermentation using fresh watermelon and yielding a straw-colored, refreshing beer with a kiss of watermelon aroma and flavor. Brew Free! Or Die IPA is brewed with some serious west coast attitude. This aromatic golden IPA starts with a sucker punch of six different hops to the nose, quickly balanced by a solid malt backbone. Both beers are now available in cans and on draft at better bars and stores throughout Massachusetts. For up to date availability, events and promotions, visit 21A’s website at 21st-Amendment.com.
Welcome to New England, 21st Amendment; hope to get my hands on you soon!
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.