Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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America’s Geographic Beer Belly

By

maps-usa
Here’s another interesting set of data from the curiously named Floating Sheep, this one regarding The Beer Belly of America. Essentially, what they did was “a simple comparison between grocery stores and bars.” They anticipated that they’d find more grocery stores than bars, and that did prove to be true. But they were surprised to find what they termed the “‘beer belly of America’ peeking out through the ‘t-shirt of data.'”
us_bars_100122
In this chart, the size of the green symbols represents the number of mentions of bars in the Google Maps directory. To see it full size, click here. Chicago, Illnois had the highest number.

In the chart below, yellow dots are area where they found more mentions of grocery stores and the red dots indicate where they found more bars. And while there are red dots … well, dotting the whole nation, there does seem to be a definite concentration of red from Wisconsin/Illinois west to Idaho. That’s the area they refer to as The Beer Belly of America.
us_bars_groceries_100122
To see it full size, click here.

They also compiled a list of each state and the number of bars per 10,000 people. I don’t know what it means that the top seven states were all within the The Beer Belly of America.

  1. North Dakota 6.54
  2. Montana 6.34
  3. Wisconsin 5.88
  4. South Dakota 4.73
  5. Iowa 3.73
  6. Nebraska 3.68
  7. Wyoming 3.4

I’m also not convinced that this type of per capita statistics are that useful. Because of economies of scale, it seems that states with less people always do better in per capita comparisons. The same thing happened when looking at per capita brewery distribution by state, with perhaps the exception of Oregon.

The final chart is similar to the first, but shows the number of bars “normalized” based on the average number of mentions for all locations. That means that where you see color are the places where there were mentions of bars exceeding the average. In this view, it’s easier to see where there are more bars, or at least more Google Maps mentions of them.
us_bars_ind_100127
To see it full size, click here.

Russian River Toronado 25th Anniversary Beer

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russian-river
Today Russian River Brewing‘s newest beer is being released, and it’s been some time in the making. It’s a blended beer made with six beers, only two of which are actual finished beers made before, with the other four being brewed just for blending purposes. Some of the beers had been aging for many months before finally being blended and bottled in April of this year, with additional yeast added to referment in the bottle. The beer, if you haven’t guessed, is the Toronado 25th Anniversary, made for the San Francisco pub’s silver anniversary which takes place next week, though the celebrating has already begun.

Tuesday night there was an intimate beer dinner in the back room of the Toronado, to introduce the new beer for their 25th anniversary, which was called the “Toronado 25th Anniversary Dinner and Blending Session.” Homebrew Chef Sean Paxton did the food but was told he could only use one plate. In typical crazy Paxton bizarro world, he did exactly as he was told, but found the biggest plate any one of us had ever seen. The ginormous plate of many foods was paired with all six of the base beers used to create the beer.

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Known as “The Plate,” it included 547 Pate (Willie Bird turkey thighs, Liberty Duck — breasts, hearts, livers — and Sonoma County pork, marinated in Toronado 25th Anniversary, mixed with bay leaves, cloves, cinnamon, thyme and pistachios), Haight Street Sausage (Sonoma County pork — shoulder, jowl and belly meat — cold smoked in Russian River Consecration barrel staves and mixed with currants soaked in Toronado 20th Anniversary, caramelized shallots and lemon thyme), Egg Head Customers (quail eggs pickled in malt vinegar infused with coriander, bay leaves, chilies and salt with red beets and sugar, garnished with a mushroom flaked sale), Fungi Dave (Petaluma chicken sous vide in Russian River Beatification, chopped and mixed with fennel, candied lemon peel and a Beatification aioli with paper thin mushroom slices, garnished with fennel pollen and truffle salt), Duck Duck Canapé (Liberty Duck confit in Toronado 25th Anniversary, made into rillettes infused with dried sour cherries topped with confit duck hearts on a hemp chia and sesame seed cracker), Riff Riff Salad (Mixed marble potatoes, green bean, yellow wax bean, apple smoked bacon and hydroponic watercress salad tossed with a Beatification funkigrette), Bejkr Bread, Humboldt Fog Goat Cheese, Beatification Jelly, Fatted Calf European-style Ham, and a slice of ripe melon.

rr-t25-bases
The six base beers were:

  1. Sonambic
  2. Blonde Ale
  3. Strong Pale Ale
  4. Ale Aged with Currants
  5. Strong Dark Ale
  6. Baltic Porter

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Around 60-70 people in the back room of the Toronado for the Toronado 25th Anniversary Dinner and Blending Session.

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I was fortunate enough to be seated at the table with my friend (and Washoes partner), Toronado owner Dave Keene, along with ….

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Natalie and Vinnie Cilurzo from Russian River Brewing.

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Each table setting included a pipette and an empty tulip glass so that everyone could use the six base beers to blend their own beer.

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Arne Johnson, from Marin Brewing, working on his own blend.

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Jen Garris, from Pi Bar, Dave’s wife Jen Smith, and Natalie Cilurzo.

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All six base beers with the finished product in the middle, the Toronado 25th Anniversary. If you look closely in the center, you can see the proportions for my two attempts at blending my own beers. Both of them turned out pretty well, with the second being more sour than the first (which was what I was going for).

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There was also extra pate and the Toronado 25th Anniversary along with a taste of the Toronado 20th Anniversary beer, too.

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Sean slipped in a second plate, with a dessert on it, a Toronado ‘Bar’ Cookie (a dark chocolate brownie topped with grafitti composed of oats, pistachios, dried cherries and ribbons of malt syrup).

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Dave Keene showing off the special bread Sean Paxton made for him.

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At the end of the evening, Vinnie revealed the actual blend percentages for the base beers used to create the Toronado 25th Anniversary, which were:

  1. Sonambic = 4%
  2. Blonde Ale = 16%
  3. Strong Pale Ale = 36%
  4. Ale Aged with Currants = 28%
  5. Strong Dark Ale = 12%
  6. Baltic Porter = 4%

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Dave Keene and Vinnie Cilurzo at the end of a great evening, holding a bottle of the Toronado 25th Anniversary.

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After which, the stogies came out and the evening began, with Matt Bonney, from Brouwers in Seattle, and Dave Keene getting things started. Thanks Dave, Jen, Sean, Vinnie and Natalie for spectacular evening. As of today, the new beer is available for sale. Pick up some as soon as you can, because when it’s gone, it’s gone. There’s more details on the Russian River Blog on how to get a bottle of your very own. Basically it’s $25 per bottle with a limit of two bottles per day, and it’s very limited. But stop by Russian River’s brewpub tonight for a taste of it on draft.

Singapore Beer

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singapore
Today in 1965, Singapore gained their Independence from Malaysia.

Singapore
singapore-color

Singapore Breweries

Singapore Brewery Guides

Other Guides

Guild: None Known

National Regulatory Agency: Agrifood & Veterinary Authority (AVA)

Beverage Alcohol Labeling Requirements: Labels must include the following information: Product name; Name and address of manufacturer, importer, packer, and distributor; Country of origin; Date marking of minimum duration (expiration date); Ingredients should be listed in descending order of proportions by weight

Drunk Driving Laws: BAC 0.08%

singapore

  • Full Name: Republic of Singapore
  • Location: Southeastern Asia, islands between Malaysia and Indonesia
  • Government Type: Parliamentary republic
  • Language: Mandarin (official) 35%, English (official) 23%, Malay (official) 14.1%, Hokkien 11.4%, Cantonese 5.7%, Teochew 4.9%, Tamil (official) 3.2%, other Chinese dialects 1.8%, other 0.9%
  • Religion(s): Buddhist 42.5%, Muslim 14.9%, Taoist 8.5%, Hindu 4%, Catholic 4.8%, other Christian 9.8%, other 0.7%, none 14.8%
  • Capital: Singapore
  • Population: 5,353,494; 114th
  • Area: 697 sq km, 192nd
  • Comparative Area: Slightly more than 3.5 times the size of Washington, DC
  • National Food: Chilli crab; Hainanese Chicken Rice
  • National Symbols: Merlion, Lion; “Vanda Miss Joaquim” Orchid; Lion head
  • Affiliations: UN, ASEAN, Commonwealth
  • Independence: From Malaysia, August 9, 1965

singapore-coa

  • Alcohol Legal: Yes
  • Minimum Drinking Age: 18
  • BAC: 0.08%
  • Number of Breweries: 10

singapore-money

  • How to Say “Beer”: pi jiu
  • How to Order a Beer: Ching gay woh ee bay pee joh
  • How to Say “Cheers”: Gan Bei / 乾杯 / 干杯
  • Toasting Etiquette: The most common toast is a simple “Cheers.” A common Chinese toast that you might want to learn and use is “Yum seng!” which literally means “Finish drinking!” (Equivalent to the North American toast “Bottoms up!) There is no set protocol observed for making a toast.

singapore-map

Alcohol Consumption By Type:

  • Beer: 69%
  • Wine: 12%
  • Spirits: 19%

Alcohol Consumption Per Capita (in litres):

  • Recorded: 0.55
  • Unrecorded: 1.00
  • Total: 1.55
  • Beer: 1.45

WHO Alcohol Data:

  • Per Capita Consumption: 0.6 litres
  • Alcohol Consumption Trend: Stable
  • Excise Taxes: Yes
  • Minimum Age: 18
  • Sales Restrictions: Days, density
  • Advertising Restrictions: No
  • Sponsorship/Promotional Restrictions: No

Patterns of Drinking Score: 2

Prohibition: None

singapore-asia

Beer In Ads #668: Some Things Can’t Be Hurried …

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Wednesday’s ad is for Ruppert beer — which is “the ‘slow-aged’ beer!” It’s from 1947 and shows a simple cartoon of an apparently long-winded speech that is going on and on, causing one listener to nod off and the other to check his watch. Like Ruppert, they’re in no rush. The claim that “Ruppert beer is aged s-l-o-w-l-y” is a curious one. Ignoring relativity, I’m pretty sure time is a constant, at least on planet beer, and the beer can’t age any slower or faster than the clock runs. You can age it for a shorter amount of time, or a longer amount of time, but that’s a different kettle of isinglass.

Ruppert-1947

Bhutan Beer

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bhutan
Today in 1949, Bhutan signed a bi-lateral treaty with India, and while it has no official independence day, this was as close as I could find.

Bhutan
bhutan-color

Bhutan Breweries

Bhutan Brewery Guides

Other Guides

  • CIA World Factbook
  • Official Website
  • U.S. Embassy
  • Wikipedia

Guild: None Known

National Regulatory Agency: None

Beverage Alcohol Labeling Requirements: Not Known

Drunk Driving Laws: BAC 0.08%

bhutan

  • Full Name: Kingdom of Bhutan
  • Location: Southern Asia, between China and India
  • Government Type: Constitutional monarchy
  • Language: Sharchhopka 28%, Dzongkha (official) 24%, Lhotshamkha 22%, other 26%
  • Religion(s): Lamaistic Buddhist 75%, Indian- and Nepalese-influenced Hinduism 25%
  • Capital: Thimphu
  • Population: 716,896; 165th
  • Area: 38,394 sq km, 137th
  • Comparative Area: About one-half the size of Indiana
  • National Food: Ema datshi
  • National Symbols: Druk (thunder dragon); Takin (Budorcas taxicolor tibetana); Blue poppy; Bhutan Cypress
  • Affiliations: UN
  • Independence: Signed a bi-lateral treaty with India, August 8, 1949 / Became a unified kingdom under its first hereditary king, 1907

bhutan-coa

  • Alcohol Legal: Yes
  • Minimum Drinking Age: 18
  • BAC: 0.08%
  • Number of Breweries: 2

bhutan-money

  • How to Say “Beer”: ཆང་སྐོལ
  • How to Order a Beer: N/A
  • How to Say “Cheers”: ཆང་མཆོད
  • Toasting Etiquette: N/A

bhutan-map

Alcohol Consumption By Type:

  • Beer: 100%
  • Wine: <1%
  • Spirits: <1%

Alcohol Consumption Per Capita (in litres):

  • Recorded: 0.22
  • Unrecorded: 0.33
  • Total: 0.55
  • Beer: 0.21

WHO Alcohol Data:

  • Per Capita Consumption: 0.2 litres
  • Alcohol Consumption Trend: Stable
  • Excise Taxes: No
  • Minimum Age: 18
  • Sales Restrictions: Time, places, specific events, petrol stations
  • Advertising Restrictions: Yes
  • Sponsorship/Promotional Restrictions: No

Patterns of Drinking Score: 3

Prohibition: None

bhutan-asia

Beer In Ads #667: Nationally Famous For Good Taste

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Tuesday’s ad is for Goebel beer, from 1951. Having just been through California gold country, the mining illustration, by George Shephard, was fun to see, though I’m not sure I see the connection to the text, “Nationally famous for good taste.” But the real gem is the claim just below the beer’s name in the inset box, “it’s Mello-ized.” I want to find more drinks that have been Mello-ized. That just has to be a good thing.

Goebel-1951-George-Shepherd

Don’t Fear The Beerd

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beerd
My friend and new neighbor Fred Abercrombie is even more of a graphics nerd than I am, but then he does it for a living. For his day job, he runs his own ad agency, while at night — after donning cape and cowl — writes at his beer blog Ünnecessary Ümlaut. He noticed one day that no one has really taken a look at all the beards, mustaches and facial hair that grace so many of the beer labels we see dotting the craft beer landscape. Sensing a hole in our deeper understanding of the world, he decided to do something about it. And so began Craft Beerds, subtitled “a well-groomed collection of craft beer labels.” Fred researched, photographed and laid out his hirsute book, but after it ballooned to 300 pages with over 175 breweries represented, he realized that he could no longer afford to publish it on his own. Undaunted, he turned to Kickstater (I love Kickstarter!) for a little help from his friends — or at least other like-minded whackadoodles.
CraftBeerds_cover_rough
With 19 days to go, he’s raised over half of the $8,000 he needs to print the book. The minimum to get a hardback copy of the book is a mere $25. For higher pledges, there are cooler rewards, such as getting your name in the book, t-shirts, prints and a signed copy of another book, The Facial Hair Handbook by two-time World Beard Champion, Jack Passion.

Below are some sample pages from the book:

Shmaltz Brewing’s Coney Island Human Blockhead.
Blockhead8.2.12

And FullSteam’s Certificate of Awesome and their Liborius Gollhardt Southern-Style Sour Rhubarb Ale.
Liborius8.2.12

So I would encourage every lover of beer and every lover of beerds to help ensure this book gets printed and published. Check out the Kickstarter page and see if you can help. Here’s more reasons why you should:

WHERE YOUR FUNDS ARE GOING:

Printing. Every single cent. The project grew from something cool that we could afford to self-publish, to something really cool we really need your help on. Really. Turns out, printing an almost 300-page hairy book is kinda expensive.

We’ve already collected, photographed and laid everything out. It looks beautiful — and handsome — but it needs your help to live the printed dream.

WHY DOES THIS NEED TO EXIST?

  • Because no one’s paid a tangible tribute to all the killer art and packaging from the recent craft beer explosion. (There’s enough to fill a book)
  • Because it’ll give exposure to many breweries you already love and want to succeed further.
  • Because it’ll give exposure to many local, regional breweries you may not even know you love. Yet.
  • Because we’ve broken the book into themed chapters that keep it fresh, every time you pick it up—Devilish Beerds, Royal Beerds, Side-Beerds and of course, Red Beerds, to name a few.
  • Because craft beer and facial hair are a natural combo. Ever been to a beer fest? You can’t swing a growler without grazing a beard.

Go ahead, pledge. You know you want to. Even if you don’t want to, you really do. You just don’t know it yet. Check out the Kickstarter page and see all the potential rewards and good karma you could receive. Then try to resist. Don’t say you haven’t been warned.

And finally, here’s two pirate-themed bearded beers.
Pirates8.2.12

Côte d’Ivoire Beer

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cote_d_ivoire
Today in 1960, Côte d’Ivoire gained their Independence from France.

Côte d’Ivoire
cote-d-ivoire-color

Côte d’Ivoire Breweries

Côte d’Ivoire Brewery Guides

Other Guides

Guild: None Known

National Regulatory Agency: None

Beverage Alcohol Labeling Requirements: Not Known

Drunk Driving Laws: BAC 0.08%

cote-d-ivorie

  • Full Name: Republic of Cote d’Ivoire (f.k.a. Ivory Coast)
  • Location: Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Ghana and Liberia
  • Government Type: Republic; multiparty presidential regime established 1960
  • Language: French (official), 60 native dialects of which Dioula is the most widely spoken
  • Religion(s): Muslim 38.6%, Christian 32.8%, indigenous 11.9%, none 16.7%
  • Capital: Yamoussoukro (Political), Abidjan (Economic)
  • Population: 21,952,093; 55th
  • Area: 322,463 sq km, 69th
  • Comparative Area: Slightly larger than New Mexico
  • National Food: Alloco; other cuisine
  • National Symbol: Elephant
  • Affiliations: UN, African Union
  • Independence: From France, August 7, 1960

ivory-coast-coa

  • Alcohol Legal: Yes
  • Minimum Drinking Age: 18
  • BAC: 0.08%
  • Number of Breweries: 4

ivory-coast-money

  • How to Say “Beer”: bière
  • How to Order a Beer: Une bière, s’il vous plait
  • How to Say “Cheers”: Santé
  • Toasting Etiquette: N/A

ivory-coast-map

Alcohol Consumption By Type:

  • Beer: 14%
  • Wine: 7%
  • Spirits: 1%
  • Other: 78%

Alcohol Consumption Per Capita (in litres):

  • Recorded: 4.48
  • Unrecorded: 2.00
  • Total: 6.48
  • Beer: 0.61

WHO Alcohol Data:

  • Per Capita Consumption: 4.5 litres
  • Alcohol Consumption Trend: Stable
  • Excise Taxes: Yes
  • Minimum Age: 18
  • Sales Restrictions: Specific events, intoxicated persons
  • Advertising Restrictions: Yes
  • Sponsorship/Promotional Restrictions: No

Patterns of Drinking Score: 3

Prohibition: None

cote-d-ivoire-africa