Our 60th Session returns to all things beer, and specifically Growlers Galore! That’s the topic chosen by this month’s host, Kendall Jones, of the Washington Beer Blog. Here’s what he’s thinking about growlers:
These days people take growlers for granted. In my neck of the woods, growlers are a relatively new phenomenon. I don’t know exactly when or why they appeared on the local beer scene, but it could not have been more than eight or ten years ago. Maybe they existed in obscurity before but today growlers are everywhere. I think. Growlers are very common around the Pacific Northwest, anyway. I cannot speak to their popularity in other beer regions. I’d love to know.
Tell us about your growler collection. Tell us why you love growlers or why you hate them. What is the most ridiculous growler you’ve ever seen? Tell us about your local growler filling station. Ever suffer a messy growler mishap? Anything related to growlers is acceptable.
I happen to prefer draft beer over bottled or canned beer and growlers make it very easy for me to enjoy draft beer at home. My growler collection is quite enormous and I even have a special device installed in the back seat of my car to securely transport up to three growlers at a time.
So put down that bottle or can and fill up a growler … and the page with your take on growlers. See you here next month — February 3, 2012 — where you can growl all you want about growlers.
Tip of the hat to Todd Alstrom from Beer Advocate , who noticed that Cambridge Brewing Co.‘s Will Meyers tweeted out a link to a short survey asking his customers a few questions about buying beer in bottles, suggesting the brewpub is considering bottling some of the their beer. Here’s the introduction to the survey.
Thank you for taking the time to fill out this survey. Your answers will help determine the future of a Cambridge Brewing Company bottling program, and provide you with the beers you want in your local store. At this time, we are only in the beginning stages of planning our roll-out, but our success depends on you. So please let us know what you think, and what you want to drink.
Will later confirmed CBC’s plan to bottle, tweeting “Yup! Damn PSYCHED!” And to another, tweeted back that they’re “Considering it, but most interested in making our funkier beers. Lots of great ambers/pales out there already!” So that suggests they’re considering bottling the more interesting one-off and barrel-aged beers that Will has marinating in the basement … er, cellar. And that, I think, is most excellent news.
Our 48th Session will be hosted by Simon Johnson of the Reluctant Scooper. His topic is “Cask, Keg, Can, Bottle?,” or as he describes the question:
The method of beer dispense often raises the hackles of even the most seasoned beer drinker. Some evangilise about living, breathing cask as being the one true way. Others heartily support the pressurised keg. The humble tinny has its fans. Lovers of bottled beer, either conditioned or pasturised, can be equally voiciferous.
Perhaps you think that one method magnifiies a beer’s impact. Perhaps you won’t try a beer if it’s dispensed in a way you don’t agree with. Perhaps you’ve tried one beer that’s been dispensed every which way.
The question is simple but your answer may not be: Cask, Keg, Can, Bottle: Does dispense matter?
So tap a keg, pull a pint, pop a cap or open a can of whoop-ass on the next Session on Friday, February 4.
I think this is merely a graphic design product and not a commercial product that you can buy. I came across it by accident at Street Anatomy, a blog featuring anything to do with skeletons. A quick search reveals it’s mentioned exclusively on graphic design-oriented blogs and websites, so it was most likely not done for a client. It was created by designer Dustin Joyce, who works for a Minneapolis, Minnesota ad agency.
I must confess, as others pointed out, that while it’s very well executed, the results are not all that appetizing. The bones appear to be almost floating in the beer, which I don’t think is the imagery you want. It doesn’t make people want to actually drink a beer that’s had bones floating in it, or at least plants the idea of that occurring. But it is an impressive design.
