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Any Maine homebrewers wanting to grow their own hops (not a bad thought, in light of recent world hops shortages): I just received an email from Rick at Paris View Farm in Paris, ME (near Oxford Hills, for those that don’t know) letting me know that he’ll be digging and cutting hops rhizomes (the roots of the hops plants which are used to grow new vines) this week and they’ll be for sale at the farm for $10 a piece. Last year Paris View sold Chinook, Mt.Hood, Newport, Nugget, Perle, and Sterling varieties, so you can expect much of the same for ‘08.

For more information or to contact Paris View Farm to place an order, check out their website at parisviewfarm.com.

For more on how to grow your own hops, check out this “grow your own” feature from Brew Your Own Magazine.

Technorati Tags: hops rhizomes, hops, Maine, beer

Popularity: 15% [?]

I hope by now that you’ve noticed the new look & feel of blogaboutbeer.com (if you only read through a RSS reader every day, definitely click through and check out the changes!) - it’s my attempt to make everything a little more attractive and user-friendly. I’d love to hear some feedback on the new look, including the new logo.

Also, if you look to your right, you’ll see a new iFrame widget with 5 of the newest beer-themed how-to videos from wonderhowto.com - blog about beer’s newest sponsor (to find out how you can sponsor blogaboutbeer.com, click here). Please check out the videos and show your support.

As always, thanks for reading and keep checking back for future improvements.

Cheers,
Luke

Popularity: 15% [?]

image by Luigi FDV

Finally some fantastic news. There are reports coming out of Yakima Washington — the country’s largest hop-producing state– today that hop production is back up - way up!

Growers are feverishly reconditioning yards and adding new land at an unheard-of pace. Growers are receiving multiple-year contracts with prices front-loaded to help them shoulder the estimated $6,000-per-acre cost to plant yards and also upgrade equipment.

The report from the Yakima Herald-Republic goes on to explain that an extra 2,000 acres of hops were planted at the end of 2007, which an additional 5,000-8,000 acres expected to be planted this year, which would mean a 25% jump in acreage.

It’s the obvious result of supply and demand — especially with a world-wide shortage — and most in the industry believe the high hops prices are temporary only until supply catches up with demand again. As Ann George, administrator of the Washington Hop Commission, explains,

“All estimates are this will be a short-term run-up. The big challenge is to pinpoint what acreage is necessary to supply demand without overshooting demand,” George said.

The great news is that this is only just the U.S. share (and just one state, at that); if the numbers are at all similar around the globe, it should only be a matter of time until things are back to normal. I’ll drink to that!

Technorati Tags: beer, hops, hop shortage, Washington

Popularity: 15% [?]

Don’t get me wrong, I love Maine and the beer and bar scene around the state; there’s nowhere I would rather call my beer home. That being said, there are a number of things I wish my town did more like the town of Burlington, VT. Vermont seems to embrace their home grown beer like none other. From programs like the Passport Program and the Vermont Brewers’ Festival — both run by the Vermont Brewers’ Association — to start-ups like the new website Burlington Bars, Vermonters (Vermontians?) really seem to get it. burlingtonbars.com is described as “Vermont’s newest website completely dedicated to the local bar scene”. They are creating separate pages for each bar, pub and dance club in Burlington. Not only that but the actual bar owners have access to their listing so they’re able to update information (bands playing, drink specials, menu, etc.) themselves. And it’s all free of charge.

The site is still new (and about to undergo a redesign) so there’s not much there at the moment (I’d call it still in the “beta” phase) but it shows promise. From breweries like Magic Hat and Long Trail to Burlington mainstays like the Vermont Pub & Brewery and Ri-Ra, to the fact that Burlington — which isn’t all that different than Portland — supports such sites and organizations makes my jealous. Even just the fact that their brewers’ festival — again, not that different than Portland’s in thought — is both outdoors and during the summer, is something to be envious of.

I’m impressed that such a site can exist for one town in one small New England state, and the fact that it does shows the dedication of the people of Vermont to their beer. I wish it success, but more so - I wish such a thing would exist for Maine (unless I am that thing).

Popularity: 17% [?]

By now I’m sure most of you know about the bottle recall from Sam Adams which was issued today. The Boston Beer Company, the 4th largest brewer in the U.S., has voluntarily recalled select 12 ounce glass bottles of its beer. Company officials say the brew could contain small bits of glass. According to the Associated Press,

The Boston-based brewer says routine quality control inspections at its Cincinnati brewery found defects in some of the beer bottles which were made by a glass bottle supplier.

The maker of Samuel Adams beer says the defects could cause small bits of glass to break off and possibly fall into the bottle.

How do you know if your bottle is one of the bad ones? The sub par bottles are embossed (at the base) with the the letter “N”, followed by the number “35″, followed by the letters “OI” (so it would appear “N35OI”).

The company released the following statement today via their website:

During a routine bottle inspection at one of our breweries, we detected possible defects in a small percentage of bottles resulting in the random presence of bits of glass, most the size of grains of sand, but some small slivers in some bottles as well. Based on this sample, we quickly began testing bottles of Samuel Adams at all of our breweries and identified that the problem appeared to be isolated to a single glass plant of the five that supply us.

We assembled a panel of food safety, medical and packaging experts including a medical doctor who have thoroughly evaluated the samples. People who bite or swallow a fragment could possibly be injured. While the possibility of injury to an individual consumer is very low and the Company has had no reports of any injury, we do know that the risk is not zero, so we are voluntarily recalling all products in bottles from this specific glass plant that we believe could possibly be affected.

It also appears that the affected bottles are not contained to any one Sam Adams brew, so if you have some fresh in your fridge, it might be a good idea to give them a quick once-over. If you do have recalled bottles in your possession, the company promises a full refund. click here to find out how to get your money back.

Technorati Tags: sam adams recall, boston beer company, sam adams, beer

Popularity: 17% [?]

“I think this would be a good time for a beer” - Franklin Roosevelt, April 7, 1933

While Prohibition officially ended on December 5, 1933, with the ratification of the 21st Amendment, something that is often overlooked happened earlier that year — newly-elected President Franklin D. Roosevelt took steps to fulfill his campaign promise to end the national ban on alcohol by spurring Congress to modify the Volstead Act to allow the sale of beer (with an ABV below 3.2%) in advance of the Twenty-first Amendment being ratified.

Thus on April 7, 1933, Roosevelt himself received newly legalized beer at the White House to toast what was the beginning of the end for Prohibition. In the 24-hours that followed, more than 1.5 million gallons of beer flowed as Americans celebrated. April 7 marks the date when beer was the only legal libation in the United States. For those of you who don’t want to do the math, that was 75 years years ago this Monday.

“April 7^th is a day to recognize the past 75 years of beer and the beer community’s contribution to American’s quality of life. The explosion of creativity and innovation by those who make beer is an American success story,” said Charlie Papazian, President of the Brewers Association.

For all the local readers: On Monday, every pint sold at all three Gritty’s locations (Portland, Freeport & Auburn) will cost only $2 all day. Ed Stebbins, Co-founder and Head Brewer of Gritty McDuff’s, said in the company’s official press release,

“We join with breweries, distributors, importers and beer lovers all over the U.S. to celebrate and say that enjoying beer is a legal privilege. This anniversary has special significance for Gritty’s because we’re Maine’s oldest Brew Pub and the first Brew Pub to open in Maine since the prohibition.”

For more information and a list of brewery celebrations by state please visit: www.75YearsofBeer.org.

And lastly, in other Gritty’s news, be sure and stop by their Portland brewpub a week from Monday (on April 14th) for the tapping of the first ever keg of Gritty’s new Rye.P.A., formulated by Gritty’s brewer Ben Low. Believed to be the only Rye beer to be brewed with the Ringwood yeast, this beer is sure to be a hit.

Technorati Tags: beer, 75 Years of Beer, Maine, Gritty’s, the Brewers Association

Popularity: 18% [?]

I’ve been waiting to make this announcement until the website was (mostly) finished but today that happened, so here it goes: Last week, over good friends, good food and great beer — as all good ideas are born — the formation of the Maine Beer Writers’ Guild was hashed out.

The Guild’s goals are simple: “to promote better beer writing and celebrate Maine’s craft brew culture”. Membership is open to any writer of beer-related content (electronic or print) who resides in Maine.

Our next (and I guess first “official”) meeting is going to be Wednesday April 2nd and Gritty McDuff’s on Fore Street in Portland. Meetings will then occur monthly at different watering holes around the city.

Where do things go from here? Who knows, but it’s fun to be part of something! If you live in Maine and write about beer (in any form) and would like to join the Maine Beer Writers’ Guild, please use the contact form on the website. For more info or to see the blogs of the other members, visit www.mainebeerwriters.org

Popularity: 18% [?]

The Brewers Association has released their 2008 Beer Style Guidelines. Eleven categories were added to the guidelines this year and of the 11 new categories being introduced, five new additions were added just for barrel-aged beers. If my counting isn’t off — which, at this hour on a Sunday evening it very well might be — there are 140 different styles on the list. Everything from “Garden Beer” and “Japanese Sake-Yeast Beer” to “Bamberg-Style Marzen (Smoke) Rauchbier” or just “Ordinary Bitter”. The 11 new styles for 2008 are:

• Fresh Hop Ale
• American-Belgo Styles Ales
• Leipzig-Style Göse
• Belgian-Style Blonde Ale
• Australasian-Style Pale Ale
• Out of Category- Traditionally Brewed Beers
• Wood- and Barrel- Aged Beer
• Wood- and Barrel- Aged Pale to Amber Beer
• Wood- and Barrel- Aged Dark Beer
• Wood- and Barrel- Aged Strong Beer
• Wood- and Barrel- Aged Sour Beer

For the full version of the 2008 Brewers Association Beer Styles Guidelines click here (Warning: very large PDF file).

140 categories sounds like a heck of a challenge to me…

Technorati Tags: beer, Brewers Association, 2008 Beer Style Guidelines

Popularity: 16% [?]

Men Behaving Badly star, actor Neil Morrissey, is launching his own brand of beer. According to MarketingWeek, the entire stunt is part of a three-part series called Neil Morrissey’s Perfect Pint, which has been commissioned by the production company Fresh One and talkbackThames. The series will follow the Morrissey and friend Richard Fox as they search for the “perfect pint of beer” across the U.K. before getting their hands on a home brew kit. When that is successful, Morrissey and Fox supposedly decide to buy a microbrewery and make the beer on a commercial scale. The show is currently in production and will air later this summer. The Men Behaving Badly star will then launch three beers later this year. Of the whole experience Morrissey says:

“Beer should not be just for men with sparrows in their beard or lager louts. I want to create the everyman’s ale.”

Sparrows in their beards?…

Technorati Tags: Men Behaving Badly, Neil Morrissey, beer, The Perfect Pint, Neil Morrissey’s Perfect Pint

Popularity: 19% [?]

What do you do when you have an extra $5 million (£2.5 million) laying around? Why, buy a British pub, of course. And that’s just what Madonna — and husband Guy Ritchie — did. The pair have bought The Punchbowl, an 18th century pub in the Mayfair section of London. Apparently, a source close to Madonna tells People Magazine,

“She (Madonna) absolutely adores the pub. They pop in regularly to get away from it all. “Madonna loves the beer and Guy meets all his pals down there. They have been desperate to own this place for a long time and have been making offers on it for ages. Now it has finally happened. It’s only around the corner from their West End home. She will be the most glamorous landlady alive.”

It must be pretty fun to be Madonna…

“Madonna buys London pub The Punch Bowl” [gossipboulevard.com]

Technorati Tags: Madonna, Guy Ritchie, The Punch Bowl, London, pub, beer

Popularity: 16% [?]