Say it ain’t so: The Associated Press says beer sales are going south along with the rest of the economy. Forget that check to Greenpeace, hon’, we got a real problem right here at home.
Could it be that this decision is based not a shrinking paycheck but expanding horizons? ‘Cause the “beers” mentioned in this article were ghastly rat-piss concoctions from über-brewers like SABMiller PLC, Molson Coors and Anheuser-Busch Inbev NV; nary a word was said about craft brewers like Deschutes Brewery or our own Bristol Brewing Co.
If people are guzzling less Coors Light and sipping more Mirror Pond Pale Ale, I’d view this development as a positive thing. In fact, I’ll drink to that.
Mad Blog Media 
Gotta point, Patrick. It could well be that more people are drinking good beer rather than the piss water found in the major brand bottles.
On that note, here’s one to you,
Khal
Too cold here to drink anything not boiling.
You oughta try some Spotted Cow. It’s not the flagship of the area brews, but it’s a nice and popular midrange brew from a New Glarus Wi outfit that oozes out lots of goodness. Be glad to send you some, as soon as the temperature here rises above 20 degrees. Hate to send you cracked bottles of frozen goodness.
Tonight weather calling for minus 27, with a well anticipated warmup Friday. I read today that International Falls, MN, canceled it’s school today because the temp was minus 38. BRR. No thanks.
When I “toured” Alaska as an itinerant folk musician 20 years ago, I had to take gas in Tok Junction. I’m sitting in my van with icicles on the ceiling in the warmest down gear I could find before I left Wisconsin, waiting with 40 or 50 other vehicles for the pumps to open at 6AM. So they open, I (barely) fit out of the door because of my clothing to pump gas, and there’s a chick in a zip-up hooded sweatshirt, pumping gas with one hand while cradling a little kid in the other. The kid was cackling, happy and saw me and put out its arms. I got the gas and headed out. Guess I went OT..
Okay, the door is opened for “what’s you fav brew?”
Since swell mentioned New Glarus (fellow cheesehead), they have a world class “Oatmeal Stout”. I know this might stike some as blasphemous, but I really consider right it up there with Guinness.
Here in S Wi it was -21 on my thermometer. Lowest since the -24 I saw in Milwaukee about 20 years ago.
I believe White Hawk IPA from Mendocino Brewing Co. is the cat’s meow, the bee’s knees, the sine qua non of the brewmaker’s art.
In fact, I believe I’ll have one right now…
Well I have to say I live just a couple day’s bike ride from Shiner TX, and I have grown to love their Bock, also tried a beer in LaCrosse WI a few years back that at the time was the only US beer legal to import into Germany, but I forgot the brewer. It was their Export Dark and they owned the FBO at the LaCrosse airport. H-something -man. Good stuff, and at the time was the only beer I had had since I reached legal drinking age that tasted like anything but spoiled water. I have had both Guiness and Harp and they weren’t too bad. I’m also fond of Fat Tire. But I’m not much of a beer drinker, I prefer Scotch that’s almost as old as I am.
So many beers, so little time. . . . I almost hate to admit that I’m back on the wine this evening. But we’re looking at temps in the 50s for the next few days, and by God I consider that beer-drinking weather. Barring Tuesday, of course, when sparkling wine will be on the menu for an extended toast to President Barack Obama, more power to his arm.
You know, it may not be a craft beer; but now that InBev bought Anheuser-Busch, I’m hoping for a surge in imports of Leffe Blonde … and wider availability of Stella Artois.
I’m enjoying a Duvel before I settle into a miserable almost all-nighter of studying for a CFP quiz in the morning. Nothing says, “I’m really happy to study on a Friday night after a 60+ hour work week,” quite like an ale with an 8.5% alcohol content. Oh, and the Belgians named it “Devil.” Go figure.
Opus, you have quite a memory. That beer was Heilemann’s Special Export Dark. Back in the late 70’s, when a free drunk consisted of was hitting the Pabst, Schlitz and Miller brewery tours all on a Friday afternoon, Special Export was considered somewhat exotic.
I remember waking up face down on a Monday morning in a hotel room in LaCrosse, not really knowing how I got from Madison to there. But that’s another story. Oh, the wonderful fog of youth……..
While we’re discussing beers from Wisconsin….is Sprecher still rolling them out up there? I made 3 trips to Beer City in the 90s and discovered Sprecher. It’s a shame they never got big enough to sell all the way down here in NC. They had a damn fine root beer as well.
On the foodie front, a lot of folks are saying that organic will go the way of the Dodo bird and buying local is the new marketing trend (or gimmick, depending on your POV). Along those lines, I know a lot of folks who are applying that to their beer choices, buying whatever is made in their own state as much as possible.
Or, maybe, as the economy tanks, folks are skipping that six of BudLightLimeIce and going straight to Red, White, and Blue Whiskey, which you can get for about four bucks a half gallon. Once you get past the burning sensation and if you can ignore the bed spins, it’s not too bad.
The comments are interesting. Some new beers to look for. I’m sitting at McDowell Park in greater Phoenix and suffering in 75 degree weather, biking in a bike shirt and shorts! Sorry, but I just had to mention this.
Charley
The 5 Barrel Pale Ale I had the other day was OK, but not as hoppy as I like. My idea of a good IPA is Lagunitas, or the locally brewed Wet Mountain IPA from Bristol. Bristol’s Edge City IPA also packs a nice wallop, so I may have to snag a growler of same from those guys, maybe one IPA and one pilsner (the latter strictly for purposes of rehydration after a ride, of course). We’re in the 50s and 60s here lately, which is prime beer-drinking weather.
I’m going to have to make a trip to sample the local brewpubs. Since I don’t drink to excess I don’t expect too much trouble on my bike or on the train. Seriously I’m a one pint with my meal and I’m done kind of guy. I got a 2 pack of Fat Tire for Xmas and just drank the last one last week 🙂
P.O’G: Odells (no relation) makes three ales: 90 Shilling, 5 Barrel, and a true IPA. 90 Shilling is a light Scottish Ale, and 5 Barrel is a smoother pale ale. Sounds like you need to try their IPA. I rank it a notch below Stone Brewing’s. It’s a bit different than most IPAs. It’s not that it’s less hoppy, but it has some other flavors in there as well from some sort of hop mix they use.
Sprecher is alive and thriving. Randy Sprecher started his microbrewery in the 80’s before anyone else in Milwaukee had the notion. We was actually a brewmaster at Pabst. New owner outsourced the brewing operation and closed the place.
I remember taking my new in-laws on a tour of my hometown Milwaukee back then. Started at the Miller brewery and ended at Sprecher’s. Miller proudly showed us the warehouse where the cans were stored, and not much else. Sprecher showed us the big wooden paddle they used to mix the brew as it boiled. I’ve been a fan ever since.