A bill which had been stuck in the Iowa state legislature for quite some time finally passed late last week and was signed into law by Iowa governor Chet Culver. The bill finally allows for beer with an ABV (Alcohol By Volume) percentage of up to 15% to be both brewed and sold in the state of Iowa.

According to the Mason City, IA Globe Gazette,

The legislation allows Iowa breweries to apply for newly created licenses to produce beer containing up 15 percent alcohol by volume. Another section of the bill allows Iowa’s beer wholesalers to apply for licenses to sell beers of similar strength. The measure is set to become law at the time of signing.

Previous Iowa law effectively limited alcohol content for beer produced by Iowa breweries to about 6 percent alcohol by volume.

While this was not the first bill of this nature to go before the Iowa legislature, what finally swung the pendulum in favor of higher gravity beer was the help of the Iowa Wholesale Beer Distributors Association. Prior to the passing of this law, high alcohol beers were able to be sold in Iowa, but not by private beer distributors. Instead, the high ABV beers were distributed throughout the state by the Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division, a state-run agency.

“We are very supportive of this legislation because it means Iowa beer distributors will have the opportunity to sell high alcohol beer to consumers and to make available a wide variety of beers.” The IWBDA’s Douglas said. “I’m sure some (distributors) are very happy to be able to distribute brands that they weren’t able to before.”

It’s great to see legislation like this pass across the country, as it is always a win for craft breweries and artisan beers (I don’t believe Anheuser-Busch makes anything with an ABV that high). It is proof that more & more people (and “The Man”) are beginning to realize that there are options out there beyond watered-down, low alcohol boring beer and that many beers are on par with wine, not just in alcohol content but in the amount of respect they demand. Congratulations to the Iowa Brewers Guild for a hard fought battle and cheers to the thirsty people of Iowa – happy drinking!

I always had a sneaking suspicion that drinking moderate amounts of beer was good for me. Turns out I’m right. The presence of the antioxidant Xanthohumol in the oils of hop leaves has been known for awhile (I first wrote about it in December of 2007), but this week even more reports and studies on Xanthohumol and its cancer-fighting agents are surfacing. According to the UK Daily Mail,

Researchers at the German Cancer Research Centre in Heidelberg have discovered that beer contains a powerful molecule that helps protect against breast and prostate cancers.

Found in hops, the substance called xanthohumol blocks the excessive action of testosterone and estrogen. It also helps to prevent the release of a protein called PSA which encourages the spread of prostate cancer.

While that isn’t new news, this is apparently the first test on Xanthohumol which indicated that it may block the ‘excessive action of testosterone’; the antioxidant was previously thought to only affect estrogen.

‘Research is still early but in trials we hope to further demonstrate that xanthohumol actively prevents prostate cancer development,’ says Clarissa Gerhauser of the Heidelberg centre. If successful, xanthohumol may one day be developed as a cancer-fighting drug.

As many of you may know, or remember, tomorrow is the one-year anniversary of the day I lost my mother to breast cancer. So the continued research of beer’s cancer-fighting abilities — and the positive results of that research — just goes to show how truly great this passion of mine, of ours, really is. Cheers to beer.

There’s a great piece over at Chow.com entitled “The Beer with the Green Label” (and no, not ‘green’ as environmentally-friendly, although they do plenty of that too) which describes the sort of fall from grace that Sierra Nevada Pale Ale has seen among beer aficionados across the country and how the brewery has been dealing with the backlash.

It’s an interesting point being made — not that anyone thinks that Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is a bad beer, in fact far from it (the article also describes that it was either that beer or the brewery in general which inspired some of the country’s favorite and most adventurous brewers, a la Dogfish Head’s Sam Calagione and Russian River’s Vinnie Cilurzo, to start brewing) — but that the country’s beers (and beer drinker’s palates) have just become so off-the-wall that the once pioneering Pale Ale is now too tame. Says Chow.com author Roxanne Webber,

“perfectly balanced” is having a hard time competing with macadamia nuts. Now that hundreds of small-batch and wacky beers are being made (often trying to outhop each other with extremely bitter flavors), the moderately hoppy, medium-bodied ale seems boring by comparison. You can get it at any corner liquor store. It’s on tap next to MGD at nearly every bar. It’s too mainstream for somebody who wants exotic, and too ubiquitous for somebody who equates quality with rarity.

The article then goes on to quote some people who wonder,

“Has the recipe [for Sierra Nevada Pale Ale] changed?” muses Joe Carroll, co-owner of the craft beer bar Spuyten Duyvil in Brooklyn, New York. “Have they dumbed it down to get a larger audience? Or are we so used to drinking super-hopped-up beers in the last decade so now Sierra Nevada Pale Ale seems like Budweiser?”

When the fact is that no, of course it hasn’t. The recipe for Pale Ale is the same as it always was – bottle conditioned, and whole-hopped. However, other than some seasonal specialties like the Christmastime favorite Celebration Ale, before this year, Sierra Nevada had not added a new beer to its year-round lineup since 1992; before that, 1980.

So has Sierra Nevada lost some of its value, its street cred?

“We are used to being cynical. When something gets big, it’s usually not very good anymore,” says Dave McLean, owner of Magnolia Pub in San Francisco. “But that cynicism shouldn’t apply in this case. Among people that appreciate good beer, [Sierra Nevada is] still every bit as important to today’s beer landscape as it was 30 years ago.”

I don’t think so either. While sure, I love trying new, exciting and “extreme” beers and often pass over a Pale Ale to get to them, it’s absolutely a beer (and a brewery) which never fails to please. When I saw the Sierra Nevada Kellerweis on the shelves for the first time this summer, I jumped all over it (and was very happy I did – it’s a great beer) and always love picking up the first 6-pack of Sierra Nevada Celebration every holiday season. So what do you think? Do you still enjoy a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale every-so-often, or is it just too boring in the new world of extreme beer?

The world’s most expensive bottle of beer is heading to the auction block this weekend. And is expected to fetch a winning bid of anywhere from $4,000 to $8,000. A price which makes the cost of the Sam Adams Utopias look like chump change.

The bottle is a 62-years-old bottle of Lowenbrau which had been discovered (and signed) by a New Jersey firefighter in 1937 at the site of the historic Hindenburg disaster. The gentleman who was the Fire Chief in Matawan, N.J, at the time of the disaster recovered six bottles of Lowenbrau and a silver pitcher while cleaning up in the wake of the crash. He buried them in a nearby field when the area was sealed off and later dug them up,. giving five of the bottles to the members of his squad and keeping one and the pitcher for himself. According to ABC News,

The bottle, along with a silver-plated pitcher also discovered by fire Chief Leroy Smith at the scene of the disaster and estimated to fetch $17,000 to $22,000, is part of an auction of Hindenburg memorabilia going under the hammer on Saturday.

Scorch marks on both the bottle and the pitcher bear silent witness to the historic inferno.

“About 20 percent of the beer evaporated from the bottle. Some of the label is still intact and you can make out ‘Lowenbrau’ and ‘Munich.’ The label is heavily browned,” said Aldridge.

The heat from the fire caused the seams of the pitcher’s handle to pop, Aldridge said. The pitcher bears the logo of the Deutsche Zeppelin Reedrei airline that operated the famous Hindenburg.

Unfortunately, even if you shell out for the bottle of brew, you won’t be able to drink it. About 20% of the beer has already evaporated from the bottle and the liquid that remains is putrid and undrinkable. That being said, it’s still a great gift for the wealthy history buff who has everything…

[image via ABC News]

This past weekend marked the 2009 Great American Beer Festival (GABF) in Denver, Co. In case you’re unfamiliar, the GABF is the largest — and arguably most prestigious — commercial beer competition in the world. The number of entries in this year’s competition crushed the previous record (held by the 2008 GABF) with 3,308 entries from 495 breweries.

Gold, silver and bronze medals were awarded in 78 beer categories. The most competitive of which “was American Style India Pale Ale” with 134 entries. The gold medal went to Firestone Walker Brewing Co. (Paso Robles, CA), for their Union Jack India Pale Ale. This was the second straight year the beer won this award.

The second most hotly contested category was “Wood- and Barrel-Aged Strong Beer” with 110 entries (up from 79 in 2008). The gold medal went to Arcadia Brewing Co. (Battle Creek, MI), for their Cereal Killer Barleywine.

As they do every year, Colorado and California dominated the competition for the most medals won by each state. Colorado came out on top this year with 45 medals and the top five medal winning states were: CO (45), CA (39), OR (22), WA (13), PA (12).

You can view the entire 2009 medal list here (or click here for the PDF version) but the winners of the 2009 Brewery and Brewer of the Year Awards were:

Large Brewing Company and Large Brewing Company Brewer of the Year
Coors Brewing Company, Golden, CO; Dr. David Ryder

Mid-Size Brewing Company and Mid-Size Brewing Company Brewer of the Year
Flying Dog Brewery, Frederick, MD; Robert Malone

Small Brewing Company and Small Brewing Company Brewer of the Year
Dry Dock Brewing Company, Aurora, CO; Dry Dock Brewing Team

Large Brewpub and Large Brewpub Brewer of the Year
Pizza Port Carlsbad, Carlsbad, CA; Pizza Port Brew Guys

Small Brewpub and Small Brewpub Brewer of the Year
Chuckanut Brewery, Bellingham, WA; Will Kemper

Great American Beer Festival 2009 Statistics

• 457 breweries in the festival hall
• 2,100 beers served at the festival
• 49,000 attendees (includes brewers, volunteers and ticket holders)
• 3,000 volunteers
• 495 breweries in the competition
• 3,308 beers judged in the competition
• 78 categories judged + Pro-Am category
• 132 judges from ten countries
• Average number of competition beers entered in each category: 42
• Category with highest number of entries: 134, American Style India Pale Ale

And lastly, I must give a shout-out to the ONLY 2009 GABF winner from Maine – congratulations are in order for Allagash Brewing Co. who took home the silver in the “Belgian-Style Abbey Ale” category (58 entries) for their Tripel. Cheers!