Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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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

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  • 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:

Beer In Ads #277: Antique Holiday Beer Card

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ad-billboard
Thursday’s holiday ad is something of a mystery. It’s not for a particular brand, at least as far as I can tell. It looks like it’s probably from the 19th century, or possibly the very early part of the twentieth. While not overtly “Christmasy,” is does seem to be about the holiday season, with the green and red colors and the wreath. But that’s all speculation, I’m not even sure exactly what it is, though a postcard or card seems likely. Might the fact that the circle of the wreath is blank suggest it was a sample? Whatever its purpose, it’s a cool piece of breweriana.

Old-Xmas-BeerAd

Brickskeller Re-Opens As “Bier Baron”

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brickskeller-1
The Brickskeller is now re-opened, only a week after it changed hands. The original name was reported to be “Rock Creek,” but according to D.C.’s Young & Hungry blog, that name was already taken and eventually they settled on the “Bier Baron” as the new name. A new canopy sign won’t be up until Friday, followed by more improvements and, presumably, a new website in the coming weeks.

New owner Megan Merrifield expects to “have 500 different beers, and every one of them, without question, will be available.” 350 were bequeathed by Dave and Diane Alexander and the rest will be sourced by Merrifield and her new crew, a few of which are employees who worked for the Brickskeller.

Local TV station, Channel 9 News Now, also has a short video report:

Rochefort Brewery Damaged By Fire

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rochefort
I just woke up to the news that the brewery at the Abbey of Notre-Dame de Saint-Rémy, better known to the beer world as Brasserie de Rochefort, was damaged last night by a fire that swept through the abbey. Pete Slosberg forwarded me the e-mail he received from Belgian beer writer Christian Deglas, which outlined the damage.

Bad news from the Belgian beer world. Yesterday evening there [was] a great fire in the abbey of Rochefort which [was] a big disaster. The church was saved as [well as] the Bibliothèque and the rooms of the monks, but the brewery and stables are completely destroyed. The fire started in the warm reserve places. All the new material is destroyed. There are no victims or injured persons.

Normally, the production should start again in a few weeks, but I’m afraid that [at the] moment there will be a rupture of the stock.

The BBC also has the story up now, too, and they’re reporting the following:

The Trappist (Cistercian) monks were dining when fire broke out at the abbey at St Remy-Rochefort, famous for its Rochefort beer.

The building was evacuated and it took 70 firefighters to put out the blaze. It seems the blaze began near a generator being used temporarily after problems with the power supply.

Francois Bellot, mayor of Rochefort, said he was confident that it would be possible to resume beer production within a few days.

The BBC Piece, Fire damages Rochefort Trappist beer abbey in Belgium, also has a short video of the fire.

Beer In Ads #276: Miss Rheingold & The Snowman

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ad-billboard
Wednesday’s winter ad features Miss Rheingold for 1955, Nancy Woodruff, putting the final touch — a top hat — on a snowman holding a bottle and a can Rheingold beer. The slogan, “Now these two twins are dressed alike!,” presumably must refer to a change in their can packaging, which I suspect didn’t mirror the bottle label quite so much before then. But I must confess I think Woodruff has a great smile.

Rheingold-1955-snowman

Binge Drinking Excuses From The OLCC

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olcc
Just in time for New Year’s Eve — a.k.a. Amateur Drinking Night — the OLCC has released yet another PSA, this one featuring the message “Binge Drinking Doesn’t Start With A Drink. It Starts With An Excuse.” The video lists four presumably common excuses for drinking too much, though frankly I’ve never heard another living soul say them, not even a variation of them. I’m not saying the excuses aren’t something to avoid — they are — but they don’t seem all that reasonable to me. Perhaps I don’t hang around with enough binge drinkers, despite theoretically being one myself (at least at every five-course or more beer dinner I attend, since the federal definition is absurdly five drinks in a row). As a result, like their other PSAs, it appears well-meaning but unintentionally a little funny. I’m of the opinion that people who want to binge drink don’t need any made-up excuse. They do so for their own reasons, no excuse necessary.

And frankly, this needs to be said. If someone wants to drink a little too much on occasion — such as a holiday celebration — I say they should be able to, provided they don’t drive or otherwise put others at risk. As the saying goes, “Everything in moderation, including moderation.”