Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

Socialize

The Next Session: The Most Interesting Topic In The World

By

session-the
Our 59th Session is something of a departure, as the topic could just as properly be about beverages other than beer as beer itself. Our host, Mario Rubio from Brewed For Thought was looking to branch out of beer and explore our other liquid passions. Seizing upon a suggestion I made regarding the Dos Equis pitchman — a.k.a. The Most Interesting Man in the World — who’s fond of remarking “I don’t always drink beer, but when I do….,” Mario turned it on his head, and is asking beer bloggers to opine about the opposite, as in “I Almost Always Drink Beer, But When I Don’t….” But I’ll let him explain:

With the New Year looming and a month of Christmas and Holiday parties to enjoy there are plenty of opportunities to get into a different beverage besides beer, alcoholic or otherwise. It was with this in mind that I was reminded of a conversation I had one day with Jay Brooks. Looking for advice on how to squeeze some blood from this stone of beer blogging, Jay told me a lot of writers have to look outside of beer to help make a complete income. Upon bringing this up as a Session topic he even offered up a much better title than I would have thought up.

So as we are all incredibly interesting people, and almost always drink beer, let’s talk about what we drink when not drinking beer. Maybe your passion for coffee rivals that of craft beer, or it could be another alcoholic beverage such as scotch. My daughter being a root beer fan would appreciate her dad reviewing a few fizzy sodas. Maybe you have a drink that takes the edge off the beer, be it hair of the dog or a palate cleanser during the evening.

Beer cocktails, wines, ciders, meads, you name it as long as it’s not beer. Try to tie it in with craft beer in some way for extra credit. Be creative and I’ll see you guys in the new year.

So put down that beer and pick up a … well, you decide. See you here next year, on Epiphany — January 6, 2012 — where perhaps you’ll have your own epiphany.

Jay_Interesting
Mario having a little fun with Photoshop.

Christmas Beer Bans

By

santa-hat-beer
With Christmas falling on a Sunday this year, apparently more than half of the states still have antiquated blue laws on their books, restricting alcohol sales on Sundays, Christmas or both. As of about a year ago, at least fourteen states still enforced some kind of Sunday restriction. But according to a report today on OpenMarket.org entitled Christmas Liquor Bans: Is Your State on the List?, over half of the fifty states, plus D.C., still have some sort of restriction that will effect people in those states’ ability to buy a drink this Christmas. Happily, California’s not on the list, but with 27 places listed, that’s a lot of people who can’t get a drink this December 25. If you live in one of those jurisdictions, be sure to stock up early.

Pennsylvania Beer

By

pennsylvania
Today in 1787, Pennsylvania became the 2nd state.

Pennsylvania
State_Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Breweries

Pennsylvania Brewery Guides

Guild: Brewers of Pennsylvania

State Agency: Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board

maps-pa

  • Capital: Harrisburg
  • Largest Cities: Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Erie, Upper Darby Twp, Reading
  • Population: 12,281,054; 6th
  • Area: 46058 sq. mi., 33rd
  • Nickname: Keystone State
  • Statehood: 2nd, December 12, 1787

m-pennsylvania

  • Alcohol Legalized: May 5, 1933
  • Number of Breweries: 88
  • Rank: 7th
  • Beer Production: 8,963,292
  • Production Rank: 6th
  • Beer Per Capita: 22.3 Gallons

pennsylvania

Package Mix:

  • Bottles: 37.7%
  • Cans: 44.6%
  • Kegs: 17.3%

Beer Taxes:

  • Per Gallon: $0.11
  • Per Case: $0.24
  • Tax Per Barrel (24/12 Case): $3.31
  • Draught Tax Per Barrel (in Kegs): $2.48

Economic Impact (2010):

  • From Brewing: $532,012,580
  • Direct Impact: $2,947,491,286
  • Supplier Impact: $1,542,608,438
  • Induced Economic Impact: $2,449,763,837
  • Total Impact: $6,939,863,561

Legal Restrictions:

  • Control State: No
  • Sale Hours: On Premises: Sunday sales at hotels and restaurants are permitted from 11:00 a.m. ET until 2:00 a.m. ET Monday only with a special annual permit and whose sales of food and non-alcoholic beverages are at least 30% of total sales. Private clubs can serve alcohol from 7:00 a.m. till 3:00 a.m. Sales of alcohol have to stop at 3:00 a.m.
    Off Premises: State stores hours vary from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Mon–Sat and always noon until 5:00 p.m. Sunday
  • Grocery Store Sales: No
  • Notes: Wine and spirits can only be sold at State-operated stores. All persons must be at least 21 years of age to enter a state-operated liquor store alone. Beer is not sold at state-operated liquor stores.

    Beer can be purchased at beverage outlets (cases only), or restaurants (6-packs/restricted quantities) with Liquor Control Board–issued licenses, but not supermarkets. Non-alcoholic beer is an exception, and may be sold in supermarkets, but persons buying it still must be at least 21 years of age.

    Sunday sales were prohibited in LCB stores until 2003 (selected locations) and beverage outlets (owner’s option) until 2005.

    There are currently seven state liquor stores located within supermarkets. In 2010, a trial was initiated to test selling wine in grocery stores using vending machines. The buyer must present identification, look into a camera to allow an offsite PLCB employee to verify the identification, and blow into a breathalyzer to authorize the sale. (See US Wine Vending Machines) This practice was ended in September 2011.

    As of 2007, some convenience stores and grocery stores were trying to fight Pennsylvania’s strict laws on the sale of alcohol, for example Sheetz Weis Markets and Wegman’s. Since 2009, beer sales have been approved in multiple Western Pennsylvania locations of the grocery chain Giant Eagle. In addition, wine kiosks have also recently become available at multiple Giant Eagle locations in the Pittsburgh area.

    Special permits may be purchased for certain organizations for fundraisers once per calendar year, and are valid for a total of six days under the same rules governing restaurants.

    Grain alcohol prohibited as a beverage.

pennsylvania-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.

Beer Sales By Style Through Thanksgiving

By

sales-chart-up
MC Basset, publishers of the Beer Bible — better known by its official title, “The Essential Reference of Domestic Brewers and Their Bottled Brands” — in their monthly e-mail blast, Style Trends, “provided a snapshot of (YTD) beer sales by beer style.” The data they use was compiled by the Symphony IRI Group (IRI), using “a data set that includes 15,000+ US grocery retailers.” The two charts below graph beer sales for calendar year 2011, through November 27th.

It’s also important to remember that by “beer styles,” they don’t mean styles in the ordinary sense used by homebrewers and judges in beer competitions, where the goal is to categorize beers of like characteristics together for ease of comparison. As IRI uses the term, they’re more of a loose arrangement of how they’re sold, since that’s their main focus. They also define what is “craft” beer differently than, say, the Brewers Association does, again because their goals are different. In their world, there are less “styles” than we’re generally used to, but what is “craft” is more loosely defined, allowing almost any beer that’s not a mainstream beer to be included.

In the first chart, it shows sales through Thanksgiving of the Top 15 craft styles based on dollar sales. There’s actually very little that’s surprising in this chart, as the category “seasonals” has been the top category for some time now, and IPAs, in second, is likewise how things have been for some time now. It basically shows that current trends are continuing as they have been lately.

craft-$sales-11-11-27

The second chart, however, I find more interesting. It’s showing the same fifteen categories, but by how their sales have changed, by percentage, over the same period of time from last year. In essence, this chart shows which kinds of beers are doing better this year than they did last year.

craft-$change-11-11-27

The second best recorded change, India Pale Ales — at just over 40% — has been trending up for a few years now, and hoppy beers continue to sell well. But what came in at number one is more surprising. Belgian Ales (really Belgian-style ales) are up around 50% over last year. Sure, it’s on a smaller base, but it’s still great to see more complex beers registering such a big increase. Undoubtedly, part of the reason for this is probably due to more outlets beginning to recognize customer demand and adding these beers to their set; but that, too, is a welcome development.

The other surprise is “stouts,” which are also up around 40% over 2010. And five of the beer styles are up over 10%, including “brown beer,” “pale lagers,” “porter,” “seasonals,” and “strong ales.” Only one style is down over last year, and that’s “craft light beer.” I presume that’s mostly Sam Adams Light, though there are a few others, such as Genny Light, Point Honey Light, Shiner Light and Yuengling Light that probably are included in that category.

Of all fifteen categories, all but three of them show fairly healthy growth. In addition to “craft light beer’s” slide, both “amber lager” and “wheat” grew only very slightly in 2011. Every other category grew by at least 5 or more percent from 2010 to 2011. Not bad in a recession.

Beer In Art #152: Diego Rivera Self-Portrait

By

art-beer
This week’s work of art is by the renowned Mexican artist Diego Rivera. He was known for his political murals and being married to artist Frida Kahlo, but early in his career, when he was about 21, he painted a self-portrait of himself wearing a big black hat. In the painting he’s sitting a table at what perhaps is an outdoor cafe. He’s also drinking a bottle of beer out of a glass, both of which are also on the table. It’s actually believed to be only the fourth painting Rivera completed. Today it hangs in Mexico City’s Museo Dolores Olmedo Patino.

Rivera_Self-Portrait_1907

I can’t tell what the beer from 1907 might be. It’s a green bottle and looks like the cork was covered in silver foil before it was opened.

You can read Rivera’s biography at Wikipedia, the Artchive or at Diego-Rivera.com. Plus,
<em>Diego Rivera, Art and life is available online. You can also see more of Rivera’s works at Olga’s Gallery, Diego-Rivera.com and the Nader Library.

Indiana Beer

By

indiana
Today in 1816, Indiana became the 19th state.

Indiana
State_Indiana

Indiana Breweries

Indiana Brewery Guides

Guild: Brewers of Indiana Guild

State Agency: Indiana Alcohol and Tobacco Commission

maps-in

  • Capital: Indianapolis
  • Largest Cities: Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, Evansville, South Bend, Gary
  • Population: 6,080,485; 14th
  • Area: 36420 sq.mi., 38th
  • Nickname: Hoosier State
  • Statehood: 19th, December 11, 1816

m-indiana

  • Alcohol Legalized: December 5, 1933
  • Number of Breweries: 38
  • Rank: 16th
  • Beer Production: 4,154,936
  • Production Rank: 17th
  • Beer Per Capita: 20.2 Gallons

indiana

Package Mix:

  • Bottles: 39.2%
  • Cans: 51.6%
  • Kegs: 9%

Beer Taxes:

  • Per Gallon: $0.12
  • Per Case: $0.26
  • Tax Per Barrel (24/12 Case): $3.57
  • Draught Tax Per Barrel (in Kegs): $3.57

Economic Impact (2010):

  • From Brewing: $38,672,825
  • Direct Impact: $1,154,626,759
  • Supplier Impact: $437,356,994
  • Induced Economic Impact: $826,069,137
  • Total Impact: $2,418,052,890

Legal Restrictions:

  • Control State: No
  • Sale Hours: On Premises: 7 a.m.–3 a.m.
    Off Premises: 7 a.m.–3 a.m. No sale on Sunday
  • Grocery Store Sales: Yes
  • Notes: Sales limited to on-premises in restaurants, wineries and breweries on Sundays. No sales on Christmas. Minors, including babies, are not allowed to enter a liquor store. No sales of cold beer in grocery stores or gas stations. ID must be presented for all off-premises sales as of July 1, 2010 per IC 7.1-5-10-23. (Outdated as of 1 July 2011)

indiana-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.

Guinness Ad #97: Overprotective Rhino

By

guinness-toucan
Our 97th Guinness ad shows an original sketch for ad that may or may not have ever been used. It shows a rhinoceros in the zoo, with the zookeeper peering around the corner as the rhino holds on to his bottle of Guinness for dear life. I think it’s safe to assume he’s not getting that beer back. The slogan for the ad is “My Goodness, My Guinness.”

Guinness-rhino-sketch

More From This Year’s Anchor Christmas Party

By

anchor-xmas11
If you saw my post from the Anchor Christmas Party a few days ago, my friend Mike Condie — who’s a much better photographer than I am — sent over some of the pictures he took at the party and I thought I’d share those, as well.

DSC_2384
The Celebrator crew.

DSC_2357
Alec Moss and Tom Dalldorf.

DSC_2394
Me with brewer Mike Lee and Bob Brewer.

DSC_2401
Bob Brewer showing me Anchor’s new bottling line.

DSC_2370
Ron Silberstein, from Thirsty Bear, and Anchor co-owner Keith Greggor.

Thanks for sharing, Mike.

Mississippi Beer

By

mississippi
Today in 1817, Mississippi became the 20th state.

Mississippi
State_Mississippi

Mississippi Breweries

Mississippi Brewery Guides

Guild: No Known Brewers Guild

State Agency: Mississippi Alcoholic Beverage Control

maps-ms

  • Capital: Jackson
  • Largest Cities: Jackson, Gulfport, Biloxi, Hattiesburg, Greenville
  • Population: 2,844,658; 31st
  • Area: 48434 sq.mi., 32nd
  • Nickname: Magnolia State
  • Statehood: 20th, December 10, 1817

m-mississippi

  • Alcohol Legalized: February 26, 1934
  • Number of Breweries: 1
  • Rank: 49th
  • Beer Production: 2,413,764
  • Production Rank: 31st
  • Beer Per Capita: 25.5 Gallons

mississippi

Package Mix:

  • Bottles: 41.8%
  • Cans: 56.1%
  • Kegs: 1.8%

Beer Taxes:

  • Per Gallon: $0.43
  • Per Case: $0.96
  • Tax Per Barrel (24/12 Case): $13.23
  • Draught Tax Per Barrel (in Kegs): $13.23

Economic Impact (2010):

  • From Brewing: $1,312,993
  • Direct Impact: $363,552,316
  • Supplier Impact: $103,910,200
  • Induced Economic Impact: $198,133,204
  • Total Impact: $665,595,720

Legal Restrictions:

  • Control State: No
  • Sale Hours: Local authorities fix hours of alcohol sale
  • Grocery Store Sales: Yes
  • Notes: ABW > 5% wine and sparkling wine sold in state-contracted stores. Beer and light wine (ABW < 5%, ABV < ~6.3%) sold in convenience stores/supermarkets. Beer over 5% ABW prohibited. Beer and light wine (ABW < 5%) may be consumed by persons age 18-20 with parental supervision. No sales on Christmas Day. No state open container laws. Free alcohol all day and night in coastal casinos. In most counties, alcohol cannot be sold on Sundays. There are many dry counties in which it is illegal to possess alcoholic beverages, though some cities within dry counties have voted in beer sales.

mississippi-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.