Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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2007 Bloggies

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E-mails have been floating around this morning with the news that nominations for the 2007 Bloggies awards end tonight at 10 p.m. eastern time (that’s 7 p.m. for us left coasters). If you like the Brookston Beer Bulletin, please consider nominating it for “Best New Weblog” and/or “Weblog of the Year” (hey, I can dream, too, can’t I?). But you have to nominate at least three so I recommend also voting for Lucy Saunders’ wonderful Beer Cook and Grilling with Beer blogs, especially since she nominated mine. Apparently, final nominations are determined by the number of votes potential nominees receive, so I’ll need all the help I can get, dear loyal readers (note pleading suck up tone). Just click the link to the 2007 Bloggies below and start nominating whoever you want in at least three categories and then follow the instructions at the bottom of the page. That’s it. Thanks.

Beerapalooza Week

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2.10-18

Beerapalooza Week in the Bay Area (4th annual)

A week-long series of beer events beginning with the Bistro’s Double IPA and concluding with the Celebrator Beer News 19th Anniversary Mardi Gra Party at Trumer Brauerei in Berkeley, California. Other events include the Toronado Barleywine Festival, a Beer & Chocolate dinner at the Cathedral Hill Hotel and a cheese and beer tasting at the San Francisco Rogue Ales Public House.

See the Celebrator website for a list of events.

800.430.2337 [ Celebrator website ]

 

Rube Goldberg Pours a Beer

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You probably know what a Rube Goldberg contraption is, even if you don’t know who Rube Goldberg was. He was a cartoonist rightly famous for coming up with the most outlandish, elaborate contraptions that went through numerous steps to do just one simple task. Your first encounter with one was probably as a kid playing the board game “Mouse Trap,” which was inspired by his work. The YouTube video below, while perhaps overly lengthy, shows just such a contraption rigged up to pour a bottle of beer into a glass. They did a nice job of setting it up and showing it at work — and it’s pretty funny, too.

Widmer & Redhook Discuss Possible Merger

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The Oregonian is reporting today that merger talks between Portland’s Widmer Bros. Brewing, the largest craft brewer in Oregon, and Seattle’s Redhook Ale Brewery were disclosed on Wednesday through a mandatory regulatory filing by both Redhook and Anheuser-Busch — who owns almost 40% of Widmer and just over one-third of Redhook.

Although Widmer is probably the healthier company, Redhook (because it is traded on NASDAQ) will likely be the buyer in the deal. Rob Widmer reportedly has said that because it involves a public company that much more will be in the open due to regulatory disclosure requirements. He also stated that it is much too early in the negotiations to say when or even if anything will come of the talks.

The Seattle Times also has a more in-depth article on the talks.

Hitachino a Hit

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A food writer, Kim O’Donnel, with the Washington Post, surprised herself by discovering that beer and food do indeed work quite well together. In the article, she describes having a “palate-changing, food-beer pairing experience” at a Japanese restaurant in New York City when her waiter suggested trying a Hitachino Nest Beer with the meal. In O’Donnel’s Post blog, “A Mighty Appetite,” she then goes on to detail other experiences with the Japanese craft beer and even includes a link to an interview with Kiuchi Brewery owner Toshiyuki Kiuchi at StarChefs.com. Also, at the end, fellow Celebrator writer Gregg Wiggins chimes in with a useful couple of links to additional information about beer and food from beer writer Greg Kitsock and Brooklyn Brewery brewmaster and author Garret Oliver.