This past Wednesday the New York Times published a column by Eric Azimov.

(http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/24/dining/24wine.html?em&ex=1169787600&en=42a6d23ed65b03e3&ei=5087%0A )

24 January 2007

Now this is not the first time Mr. Azimov has ventured into the fermented malt beverage world.

He visited the "Dark Side" of beer: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/18/dining/18wine.html?ex=1169960400&en=9fc8cbf1425217d9&ei=5070

18 October 2006

Wheat beer is his summer quaff : http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/12/dining/12wine.html?ex=1169960400&en=55b714ff3459d031&ei=5070

12 July 2006

Wild Belgian Yeast - Lambics, were served on 3 May 2006: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/03/dining/03beer.html?ex=1169960400&en=ffbbd6b694758893&ei=5070

If the New York Times takes beer seriously enough to publish a piece every three months then the beverage has attained a stature of respect. What's next, fine beers in fine restaurants?

Until tomorrow...

Cheers!

Peter LaFrance

For more click on the following link:

 http://www.beerbasics.com/beard summer_brew_fest.htm

It was an honor to be there.

Cheers!

Peter LaFrance

( http://www.beerbasics.com )

For the rest of the story click on the following link:

http://www.beerbasics.com/boston_cooks_2002 story and pics.htm

Cheers!

Peter LaFrance

( http://www.beerbasics.com/ )

Greetings,

It was a rather nice week-end but now it is time to see what's in the news.

First, I find that the Deschutes Brewing Company is actually going to open a place in Portland, OR. Already the brewpub capital of the world, this makes it an almost-impossible-to-pass-up destination.

For further reading I offer the following link:

Bend's Deschutes Brewery Expanding to Portland

By Joseph Friedrichs

http://www.newwest.net/index.php/city/article/deschutes_brewery_expanding_to_portland/C509/L509/

I offer up a great big "Beer Belch" for the folks at the "The Center for Michigan." These folks are advising the state legislators to raise the tax on beer to pay for budget problems. According to John Bebow, the executive director of the organization, "A can of beer would cost about 10 cents more. And... higher taxes on beer won't drive away business."

For more on the Michigan Beer Tax see:

Think Tank Says MI Should Raise Beer Tax

http://www.wxyz.com/wxyz/nw_local_news/article/0,2132,WXYZ_15924_5295560,00.html

The British Society of Independent Brewers recently held their North Beer Competition. The best Bitter was won by York Brewery for its "Guzzler." I offer a toast to Tony Thompson and all the folks at York Brewery.

For more on "Guzzler" see:

Brewery's Guzzler beer takes gold medal

http://www.yorkshiretoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=1084&ArticleID=1984965

And that is a quick look at what is going on today.

Stay tuned for more "Tasting Notes..." tomorrow.

Cheers!

Peter LaFrance

( http://www.beerbasics.com/ )

Greetings,

Last night I met four friends at a place called Collins Bar, in Manhattan, New York City,  for a few beers. The following are the tasting notes for the first two beers I had. (Notes taken after two pints of beer should always be considered, at best, suspect.)

Beer Number One: Six Point

Black Soul Porter - on cask

Served in a straight-sided imperial pint glass, I hope it was only the chilly serving temperature that wreaked havoc on the head. An almost black brew presented aroma notes of chocolate and caramel. The first sip reveled it to be a medium-bodied brew that offers a number of malt notes. I do believe there was a hint of Vienna Malt in the mix. The finishing notes were long-lasting roasted malt and slightly citric hope notes.

RateBeer postings:

http://www.ratebeer.com/Beer/sixpoint-black-soul/55303/

The next beer was a Victory Prima Pils (http://www.victorybeer.com/pils.html )

 - on traditional draft

Served in a straight-sided imperial pint glass, the serving temperature was too chilly and the head of only a half an inch died quickly. The golden straw crystal-clear brew presented a fresh aroma of floral hops with traces of new-mown-hay. The first sip confirmed the slightly sweet lightly roasted malt flavor balanced with a touch of hop flavors that spoke mostly of noble hops rather than the bitter flowers from North America. The finish is quick with a slightly citric touch of acid. It was most refreshing.

RateBeer postings:

http://www.ratebeer.com/Beer/victory-prima-pils/619/

Until tomorrow...

Cheers!

Peter LaFrance

( http://www.beerbasics.com/ )

Greetings,

Over the next eleven months beer drinkers will have to deal with the following:

1) A continued effort by state legislators to bring the blood-alcohol-content maximum to .000.

2) A continued effort by state legislators to add additional limits on the shape, size, labeling and alcohol content of containers of beer.

3) A continued effort by local governments to make the purchase of beer-by-the-keg difficult for non-commercial customers.

4) A continued effort by beer consumers, retailers and wholesalers to lift the legal limit on the alcohol by volume in beer.

5) A continued growth of the number of brewpubs in the United States and Canada, and at the same time, almost no growth in the number of microbreweries.

Let me know if you agree, or not. Just click on peter.lafrance@beerbasics.com

Cheers!

Peter LaFrance

( http://www.beerbasics.com )

The good folks at Bridgeport Brewing Company, Portland, Oregon, sent me a sample of their new ale: Beertown Brown.

This morning I tasted and photographed the product.

My assessment follows:

Beertown Brown Ale comes in a dark packaging, with silver lettering. The graphics are almost lost in a copper background set on a dark chocolate space. At a short distance, my 55 year-old bespectacled eyes find it hard to read.

The bottle was chilled to 50F. I poured the Beertown Brown Ale it into a beer-clean traditional straight-sided English pint glass.

The pour was easy and the resulting head was a rich, creamy, yet rocky, tan layer of foam. The aroma was soft and reminiscent of rock-sugar candy. There was a hint of citric (lime) from the hops.

The first flavor impression was of a medium to full body with a light malty flavor that echoed the sugar-candy aroma. The mid-taste continued these flavors, and was enhanced by a citric hint that softened at the end. The finish was slightly sweet with echoes of the citric tones that left a fine dry sensation at the very end of a rather long finish.

This is a brew that I would like to try on draft. Unfortunately, it will only be distributed in Alabama, Georgia, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas.

Until tomorrow...

Cheers!

Peter LaFrance

(http://www.beerbasics.com )

Greetings,

Once again, let's see what is in the news... 

"Babbling About Beer"

By Chris Jones and Diane Catanzaro
Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2007

"Sometimes, there's so much beautiful news about beer that it is impossible to narrow things down to just one coherent theme, so this time we are just babbling about beer."

"Beer News from the Outer Banks"

"Thinking about a post-Holiday road trip? Is the Outer Banks a possible destination? Those of us who are "old timers" remember making those trips to the Outer Banks 20 or so years ago. At that time, if you wanted to get a beer down there you had basically three choices - a watery mass-market lager in a bottle, a watery mass-market lager in a can, or a watery mass-market lager on tap in some smoky dive. Of course, at the time you were a cheapskate and happy to swill watery mass-market lager. Well, good news brothers and sisters: times have changed south of the North Carolina border. Next time you drive to the Outer Banks, you'll pass one brewpub on the way, you'll hit another brewpub in Nags Head, and in between the two, you'll have an opportunity to check out one of the most exciting beer retail shops you've ever seen."

http://www.portfolioweekly.com/Pages/InfoPage.php/iID/2382

Lower Valley brewery an alternative in wine country
By Pat Muir
From the YakimaHerald.com Online News.

Published on Monday, January 8, 2007

PROSSER -- Larry and Sue Barbus don't mind being beer people in a wine town.

The owners of Whitstran Brewing Co., who plan to open a brewpub later this year, see themselves as a refreshing complement to Prosser's wine culture. Their tasting room in the winery-filled Prosser Wine and Food Park looks like a campus beer joint. They play classic rock on the room's stereo as they mind the tasting counter.

Pat Muir can be reached at 837-6111 or pmuir@yakimaherald.com

http://www.yakima-herald.com/page/dis/287917614490891

Titusville brewpub closed, could be sold by sheriff

Associated Press

TITUSVILLE, Pa. - A northwestern Pennsylvania pub that won awards for its homemade beer has closed, but local authorities hope to find someone else to reopen the debt-ridden business.

The Four Sons Brewery closed New Year's Day and has not reopened.

http://www.timesleader.com/mld/timesleader/16465131.htm

And that's the way it is.

Until tomorrow...

Cheers!

Peter LaFrance

(http://www.beerbasics.com/ )

Greetings, 

When I began writing about beer in 1984, the "Beer Dinner" was something rarely heard of and eagerly anticipated. While I wrote my first book Beer Basics, in 1994, the chef at the Waldorf Astoria, in Manhattan, was planning beer dinners and knew a number of other chefs that were also interested in the concept. Today, with the growth of brewpubs and the proliferation of microbrewery products, the beer dinner is still going strong.

In the beginning, it was a way for a brewer to get some attention for the brewery and the breweries beers. The restaurateurs and chefs involved were usually home-brewers or passionate about the beers that were beginning to be imported into the United States from Belgium.

Today, the public is at least aware of the segment of the market the press calls the "Craft-beer" market segment. This segment sometimes includes the small-batch brews produced by Anheuser Bush, Coors, and SABMiller. Sometimes these brews are included in the statistics for the imported beer segment. Nevertheless, the average consumer of fermented malt beverage is at least aware of imported beers.

Today, the public is also aware of a variety of foods that were unheard of twenty years ago. The smallest towns of North America have at least one "nice" restaurant within a half hour drive. A "nice" restaurant being an independently owned restaurant that features locally produced food and produce as ingredients of all the dishes served. The owner is usually the chef and the care and consideration of the staff makes the place a destination.

What was once unusual is now something that has endured and is flourishing. A quick scan of the beer-events found at: http://beeradvocate.com/events/calendar shows that there are 29 beer dinners on tap for the rest of this month in the United States. (I plan to attend two here in Brooklyn, USA.)

Why has this event continued to be popular? I believe there are four reasons for this. First: it still gives the brewer a chance to introduce beers in an ideal context. Second: it gives restaurant owners/chefs a chance to show off dishes they might not usually feature on their menu. Third: It is ideal for treating regular customers to something special. (As well as building customer base that you know is interested in beer.) Four: It is a great way for groups of folks to get together, share good food, good beer, and good conversation, and expand their knowledge of both food and beer.

I will be posting my impressions of the two events here in Brooklyn. If you would care to share your impressions on events in your area, I would be glad to hear about them. Just email me at peter.lafrance@beerbasics.com

Cheers!

Peter LaFrance

(http://www.beerbasics.com/ )

Greetings,

This is the first look at what I hope will be an on-going Friday posting tradition.

Tasting notes tomorrow...