Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Cerveceria MateVeza to Open Restaurant & Small Brewery in Oakland

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Cerveceria-Mateveza
MateVeza announced today that they’ll be opening a new restaurant and brewery in Oakland next June, assuming approvals from the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control and the City of Oakland come in a timely fashion. This will be the second Cerveceria MateVeza location, after their 18th Street location in San Francisco. The Oakland location “will feature Argentinian cuisine” and will also house a small brewery. It will be located at 1701 Telegraph Avenue in Oakland, which is approximately one block from the Fox Theatre, and about a block and a half from Broadway. You can see it’s position on the map below.

mateveza-oakland

And here you can see the location on the far left, with the Fox Theatre on the right, down the street about a block. Some nuts and bolts released by the brewery: the new location will be “approximately 2,300 square feet,” and they’ll be “brewing on a 1 BBL (31-gallon system), ” with “15 beers on tap with the majority brewed in house. MateVeza bottles and growlers of the beers brewed in house will be available for purchase to go.” They will also “feature El Porteño empanadas and other local” food. Apparently, the building is currently occupied by Fred Brown, who owns and runs Rocsil’s Shoes at 1701 Telegraph Avenue. When he retires, MateVeza will take over the lease. “MateVeza founder and brewer Jim Woods plans to brew ‘Fred Brown Ale’ as the inaugural batch of beer at their new location.”

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Global Alcohol Consumption Map

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world-map
Today’s infographic is a map of the world showing alcohol consumption by country, based on information from the UN’s World Health Organization from 2008. The map is broken down by “litres per capita” and despite on the shouting by U.S. prohibitionists, America is somewhere in the middle. The map comes from an article on Geo Currents that takes a closer look at the global consumption of alcohol.

alcohol_consumption_per_capita_world_map
Click here to see the map full size.

Beer-Fed Turkeys Taste Better

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turkey
An AP story, Farmer says beer for birds improves flavor, claims that at least one farmer believes that’s the case. According to the AP article, Joe Morette of New Hampshire started giving his turkeys beer in 1993, when on a hot July day, “[a] turkey knocked one over and started drinking and they’ve been sipping the suds ever since.” He continues. “Morette, who prefers serving the turkeys lager, insists the beer makes birds fatter, more flavorful and juicier.” Peta is reportedly against this and stated “turkeys shouldn’t be fed beer and ‘farmers across the country use questionable practices to keep costs down or to alter the taste of animals’ flesh because their priority is profit, not the animals’ welfare.'” As far as I ‘m concerned that’s reason enough it’s a good idea.

Happily, cooler heads prevailed. “[A] poultry expert with the University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension said it is unlikely that the birds are suffering. ‘I don’t know exactly how much beer each turkey is consuming, but it would have to be a lot in order for it to kind of have the same effect as too much beer on people,’ said Carl Majewski, a field specialist in food and agriculture.”

turkeys-and-beer

It could even be good for them.

Kathi Brock, national director of Humane Heartland, which oversees the treatment of farm animals, said that standards from the American Humane Association don’t prohibit serving beer to animals. “I consulted with an avian veterinarian who said that while giving beer to turkeys is not a standard protocol, hops could be beneficial for the intestinal tract,” Brock said.

Beer In Ads #1021: A Basket Full Of Puppies

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Friday’s ad is for Rheingold Beer, from 1953, and features Miss Rheingold from that year, Mary Austin. The ad shows Miss Rheingold on a lawn in front of what looks like a southern mansion (or even the White House? Nah) with a basket full of puppies, and poodles, no less. I’m sure this will fire up the ire of the poodle lovers of the world, but those are some ugly dogs. I’m not sure that scene makes me want a Rheingold beer.

Rheingold-1953-pups

Beer In Ads #1020: He Started Your Country Club

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Thursday’s ad is for Budweiser, also from 1948. It’s yet another of Bud’s “Great Contributions to Good Taste” series, this one suggesting that it was James VI of Scotland who made country clubs possible, because he changed the laws to allow golf (which had apparently been prohibited by earlier kings). Having been to countless wedding receptions at country clubs, I’m not entirely convinced that it was such a great contribution to good taste.

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