Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Filling Your Beer From The Bottom

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bottoms-up-draft
Here’s an odd new innovation (sent in by my friend Mike C.) from GrinOn Industries of Montesano, Washington. They’ve created the Bottoms Up Draft Beer Dispensing System. As they claim, “GrinOn’s proprietary Bottoms Up Dispensing System is the fastest dispensing system in the world and fills at a rate of up to nine times that of traditional beer taps.” Take a look at in action below.

GrinOn lists a litany of benefits to their system, though the most obvious is that it “improves speed-of-service increases customer satisfaction and sales.” I don’t know about the “customer satisfaction” but an increase in sales makes sense in the right setting, such as an environment where long lines make speed a real issue, and one where plastics cups are the only option. It seems ideal for a sports stadium or a fair. The homepage features a video showing two people filling 44 cups of beer in one minute, without even breaking a sweat. There are also a number of additional videos on a separate page.

Below is what the dispenser base looks like.
beer-dispenser-close

They also claim that their system “reduces the stress and cost of ‘foamy beer problems.'” Filling the beer from the bottom does seem like it would produce head in a very different way, though in the video it certainly seems adequate for the type of beer being poured. It also must use a proprietary cup, though the website talks about there being a FDA approved MAG™ — a round magnet — at the bottom of the cup which seals the cup. It apparently can also be used after you drink the beer as a refrigerator magnet, and they even can sell you a customized magnet that can be a souvenir after the fact or otherwise used promotionally.

I can’t see it being used by small breweries or brewpubs, or even most beer bars, but where volume of just a couple of different beers — the big macros and high volume micros seem likeliest — is the key to the business, then it seems like it could be viable. What do you think?

Beer In Ads #280: Miss Rheingold’s Snowball Fight

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ad-billboard
Monday’s ad for is Rheingold beer from 1949, featuring Miss Rheingold for that year, Pat McElroy. With a broad smile on her face she’s threatening us with a snowball, and with at least one in reserve by her left hand. I’m not sure if her little dog, too, is part of her strategy, but I’m not picking a fight with Pat.

Rheingold-1949

Alaska Beer

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alaska
Today in 1959, Alaska became the 49th state.

Alaska
State_Alaska

Alaska Breweries

Alaska Brewery Guides

Guild: Brewers Guild of Alaska

State Agency: Alcoholic Beverage Control Board

maps-ak

  • Capital: Juneau
  • Largest Cities: Anchorage, Juneau, Fairbanks, Sitka, Ketchikan
  • Population: 626,932; 48th
  • Area: 656,425 sq.mi., 1st
  • Nickname: The Last Frontier
  • Statehood: 49th, January 3, 1959

m1-alaska

  • Alcohol Legalized: August 24, 1933
  • Number of Breweries: 17
  • Rank: 31st
  • Beer Production: 424,712
  • Production Rank: 50th
  • Beer Per Capita: 865.9 Gallons

alaska

Package Mix:

  • Bottles: 39.4%
  • Cans: 52.8%
  • Kegs: 7.5%

Beer Taxes:

  • Per Gallon: $1.07
  • Per Case: $2.41
  • Tax Per Barrel (24/12 Case): $33.17
  • Draught Tax Per Barrel (in Kegs): $33.17

Economic Impact (2010):

  • From Brewing: $52,164,509
  • Direct Impact: $170,869,901
  • Supplier Impact: $65,295,912
  • Induced Economic Impact: $53,629,253
  • Total Impact: $289,795,066

Legal Restrictions:

  • Control State: No
  • Sale Hours: 8 a.m.–5 a.m., except election days (liquor stores may not open until polls close)
  • Grocery Store Sales: No (although many grocery stores have separate areas that sell all forms of alcoholic beverages and many bars sell packaged liquor as well.)
  • Notes: Most communities have more restrictive laws, ranging from restrictions on operating hours to bans on sale and possession. Sellers/servers may not, for any reason, give a person alcohol for free or sell it for less than its cost. Sellers/servers may drink while on duty, but no intoxicated person may remain on the premises, so an impaired server could be arrested.

alaska-map

Data complied, in part, from the Beer Institute’s Brewer’s Almanac 2010, Beer Serves America, the Brewers Association, Wikipedia and my World Factbook. If you see I’m missing a brewery link, please be so kind as to drop me a note or simply comment on this post. Thanks.

BA Revises Craft Brewery Definition

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ba
Surprising no one who’s been paying attention, the Brewers Association today announced the revision of the definition of what it means to be a craft brewery, at least as far as the trade organization is concerned. In order to advocate for any specific group, it’s useful to know who is eligible to be a member. In 1976, Congress arbitrarily chose 2 million barrels for a tax differential and ever since the part of the definition that denoted a “small” brewery has been one making less than 2 million barrels annually.

From the BA press release:

In the BA’s craft brewer definition, the term “small” now refers to any independent brewery that produces up to 6 million barrels of traditional beer. The previous definition capped production at 2 million barrels.

The association cited several reasons for the change, including the recognition that “small” is a descriptive term relative to the overall size of the industry.

“Thirty-four years have passed since the original small brewers tax differential defined small brewers as producing less than 2 million barrels,” said Nick Matt, chair of the Brewers Association board of directors and chairman and CEO of F.X. Matt Brewing Company. “A lot has changed since 1976. The largest brewer in the U.S. has grown from 45 million barrels to 300 million barrels of global beer production.”

Matt added, “The craft brewer definition and bylaws now more accurately reflect and align with our government affairs efforts.” On the legislative front in 2010, the Brewers Association supported H.R. 4278/S. 3339, which sought to update the cap on an excise tax differential for small brewers to 6 million barrels per year in production for their first 2 million barrels.

Retaining Market Share for Craft Brewers

The industry’s largest craft brewer, The Boston Beer Company, is poised to become the first craft brewer to surpass 2 million barrels of traditional beer within the next few years. Loss of The Boston Beer Company’s production in craft brewing industry statistics would inaccurately reflect on the craft brewing industry’s market share.

In addition to Boston Beer, the current growth trajectory of other sizable BA member breweries places them on a course approaching the 2 million barrel threshold in the coming years.

“With this change to the craft brewer definition and BA bylaws, statistics will continue to accurately reflect the 30-year growth of market share for craft brewed beer,” said Matt. “Brewers Association statistics on craft brewers will continue to keep pace with the growth of the industry.”

Craft brewed beer market share is now approximately five percent of the U.S. beer industry, and growing. The BA has a stated mission of helping America’s craft brewers achieve more than five percent market share by 2013.

Matt added, “Rather than removing members due to their success, the craft brewing industry should be celebrating our growth.”

Beer In Art #110: Hans Makart’s Five Senses

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art-beer
This week’s work of art is not strictly beer-oriented, except that we use our fives senses, and in particular smell and taste, to create and enjoy the flavor of beer. It’s by the Austrian painter Hans Makart and it’s title is Die Fünf Sinne, or “The Five Senses.” The oil painting consists of five panels completed in 1879, though other sources claim he worked on it off and on from 1840 until 1884.

Hans_Makart-Fuenf_Sinne

Here’s a description of the painting from the Columbian World Exposition of 1893.

The five-paneled oil painting which is portrayed above was, on account of the notoriety of its author, one of the chief attractions of the Austrian galleries in the Art Palace. It was a study in the nude, showing five different views of an ideal female human form. The senses of Smelling, Seeing, Hearing, Feeling and Tasting are represented as in action, and in Tasting, Eve plucks the fruit from that forbidden tree “whose mortal taste brought death into the world, and all our woe with loss of Eden.” The sense of Feeling, on the other hand, flatters woman with a recognition of her principal attraction, the love of the young and the joy that comes with its touch. Hans Makart, the sensational Austrian painter, was born in 1840 and died in Venice in 1884.

Below are “Smell” and “Taste” shown a little bigger, since those are the two most important for tasting beer.

Hans_Makart-smell Hans_Makart-taste

You can see more of Makart’s paintings at the Art Renewal Center and also the Museum Syndicate.

Taste vs. Flavor

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sense-taste sense-smell
One of the books I got for Christmas this year, and so far probably my favorite (thanks Mrs. BBB) is by British author Niki Segnit. The book is entitled The Flavor Thesaurus and is subtitled “A Compendium of Pairings, Recipes and Ideas for the Creative Cook.” Just from skimming it and starting to read it, I know I’m going to love and it will be a favorite, much referred to book.

flavor-thesaurus

In the introduction was this gem, which should be obvious, but we rarely think about it.

Flavor is the not the same as taste. Taste is restricted to five qualities detectable on the tongue and elsewhere in the mouth: sweetness, saltiness, sourness, bitterness and “umami” (or savoriness). Flavor, on the other hand, is detected mainly thanks to our sense of smell, by the olfactory bulb and, to a lesser extent, orally. Pinch your nose and you can tell if an ingredient is sweet or salty, but not what the flavor is. Your sense of taste gives you a back-of-an-envelope sketch of what particular foodstuff is like: flavor fills in the details. Nonetheless, in its general, broadest terms use, the term “flavor” tends to incorporate taste, as well as the “trigeminal” qualities of ingredients — that is, the sensation of heat from chili, pepper and mustard, the cooling properties of menthol and the drawstring pucker of tannins in red wine and tea.

And while she’s talking about food, flavor is flavor. Naturally, it’s true of beer, as well.

The books itself is fascinating, here’s how it’s divided up, from the book’s website:

The back section lists, alphabetically, 99 popular ingredients, and suggests classic and less well known flavour matches for each. The front section contains an entry for every flavour match listed in the back section and is organised into 16 flavour themes such a Bramble & Hedge, Green & Grassy, and Earthy.

There are 980 entries in all and 200 recipes or suggestions are embedded in the text. It covers classic pairings such as pork & apple, lamb & apricot, and cucumber & dill; contemporary favourites like chocolate & chili, lobster & vanilla, and goat’s cheese & beetroot; and interesting but unlikely-sounding couples including black pudding & chocolate, lemon & beef, blueberry & mushroom, and watermelon & oyster.

It’s set up just like a regular thesaurus, but the headings are each specific foods. Take, for example, one of my favorites: the potato, which is under the “Earthy” section. There are 44 separate flavor pairings for potato with another flavor. Some are obvious, some are surprising, but all are intriguing. It’s very well written, in a casual, funny style. Here’s what she has to say about “Potato & Bacon.”

POTATOES & BACON: Driving past the Farmer’s Market Cafe on the A12 in Suffolk, England. I saw a sign outside that read, in huge letters. Ham Hock Hash. Nothing else. No other food, no opening times, nothing. Just three little words that launched a thousand U-turns.

If you love food, and especially pairing foods,, you’ll want to pick up this book.

Below is the overall flavor wheel she created for the book, listing the 16 major flavor types in the center ring and the main kinds of food that fall under each, in the outer ring.

Segnit-Flavour-Thesaurus

Georgia Beer

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ga
Today in 1788, Georgia became the 4th state.

Georgia

State_Georgia

Georgia Breweries

Georgia Brewery Guides

Guild: Georgia Brewers Guild [No website.]

State Agency: Georgia Alcohol and Tobacco Division

maps-ga

  • Capital: Atlanta
  • Largest Cities: Atlanta, August, Columbus, Savannah, Athens
  • Population: 8,186,453; 10th
  • Area: 59441 sq.mi., 24th
  • Nickname: The Peach State
  • Statehood: 4th, January 2, 1788

m-georgia

  • Alcohol Legalized: May 23, 1935
  • Number of Breweries: 22
  • Rank: 23rd
  • Beer Production: 5,596,058
  • Production Rank: 10th
  • Beer Per Capita: 16.4 Gallons

Package Mix:

  • Bottles: 37.8%
  • Cans: 55.6%
  • Kegs: 6.5%

Beer Taxes:

  • Per Gallon: $0.48
  • Per Case: $1.08
  • Tax Per Barrel (24/12 Case): $14.88
  • Draught Tax Per Barrel (in Kegs): $10.00

georgia

Economic Impact (2008):

  • From Brewing: $1,300,853,614
  • Direct Impact: $2,699,329,013
  • Supplier Impact: $2,293,594,311
  • Induced Economic Impact: $1,398,800,452
  • Total Impact: $6,391,723,776

Legal Restrictions:

  • Control State: No
  • Sale Hours: Hours of sale determined by county. No alcohol sales on Sunday (although restaurant/bar sales allowed). No alcohol sales on Christmas Day.
  • Grocery Store Sales: Yes
  • Notes: ABV > 14% ABV cap on beer
    No Sunday off-premises sales

    In general, one may not be drunk in public. Though there is no state law prohibiting drinking in public, most municipal corporations and political subdivisions limit the possession of open containers of alcohol to private property, with one notable exception being Savannah. Public drunkenness is only warranted when one is drunk in public and his acts are either loud or disorderly.

georgia-map

Data complied, in part, from the Beer Institute’s Brewer’s Almanac 2010, Beer Serves America, the Brewers Association, Wikipedia and my World Factbook. If you see I’m missing a brewery link, please be so kind as to drop me a note or simply comment on this post. Thanks.

For the remaining states, see Brewing Links: United States.

A Truly Cheesy Beer

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belvoir

Little Miss Muffet
Sat on a tuffet,
Eating her curds and whey;
Along came a brewer,
Who sat down beside her
And took all her whey away.

That’s how the Mother Goose nursery rhyme might have gone if the folks at Belvoir Brewery in England’s Old Dalby. Leicestershire area had been around when she wrote that one. What Belvoir has done is taken the blue Stilton cheese and made a beer with it. They infused Stilton whey by mixing 25% whey with 75% fresh wort and then fermented it normally, producing a 4.2% a.b.v. chestnut-colored beer. Happily, the beer itself is not blue, just the name.

belvoir-blue-brew

According to a BBC article:

Nigel White, secretary of the Stilton Cheesemakers Association, said: “People often think of Stilton as a cheese just for Christmas and forget how versatile it is.

“Traditionally the whey from cheese making would have been fed to pigs. We wondered if it could be used for other purposes and Belvoir Brewery has now made a new beer.”

Belvoir’s website says they’re currently out of the Stilton beer, but that new beer should be available shortly. I know cheese and beer together as a pairing is miraculously good, but premixed together? I’m game, certainly and most reports claim that it’s better than it sounds, with “delicate” flavors and “a smooth, creamy texture.”

webbluebrew

A short BBC video also reveals there are no plans to brew a cheddar beer or a Wensleydale beer, which is a shame to my Monty Python-loving ears and brought their hilarious cheese shop skit rushing back. I guess cheddar’s just not popular ’round those parts.

Customer (John Cleese): You…do *have* some cheese, don’t you?

Owner (Michael Palin): (brightly) Of course, sir. It’s a cheese shop, sir. We’ve got–

Customer: No no… don’t tell me. I’m keen to guess.

Owner: Fair enough.

Customer: Uuuuuh, Wensleydale.

Owner: Yes?

Customer: Ah, well, I’ll have some of that!

Owner: Oh! I thought you were talking to me, sir. Mister Wensleydale, that’s my name.

And a little later in the skit:

Customer: (pause) Aah, how about Cheddar?

Owner: Well, we don’t get much call for it around here, sir.

Customer: Not much ca– it’s the single most popular cheese in the world!

Owner: Not ’round here, sir.

But see it for yourself: