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Phil Farrel Wins 2011 Beerdrinker Of The Year

By

bdoty
When I saw Phil Farrel during SF Beer Week I congratulated him for being nominated once again for Beer Drinker of the Year and told him I thought “it was his year.” It turns out I was right, as earlier today he emerged as the 2011 Beer Drinker of the Year.

From the press release:

In his fourth trip to the Beerdrinker of the Year finals, Cumming, GA commercial pilot Phil Farrell landed the 2011 Beerdrinker of the Year title.

More John Elway than Jim Kelly, Farrell finally won his dream title today in a 2-hour finals event held before a standing-room-only crowd at Denver, Colorado’s Wynkoop Brewing Company.

Congratulations Phil.

Phil Farrell, 2011 Beerdrinker of the Year

Indianapolis Man Wins “Brew Your Cask Off” Contest

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all-about-beer
A couple of weeks ago, All About Beer magazine conducted a contest, to win a trip to the “Brew Your Cask Off” beer festival hosted by Georgia’s SweetWater Brewing in Atlanta, Georgia on March 5, 2011.

The winner had to write an essay explaining what type of cask they’d brew, in 300 words or less. The winner, Matt Robinson, from Indianapolis, Indiana, wrote a poem which won him and a friend a trip to SweetWater Brewery’s cask festival.

From the press release:

Matt will also be a honorary judge for the cask ale competition and be a server for a cask made from his hilarious and precise poem.

Without a doubt one of the most unusual, and clever beer events, SweetWater Brewery’s Brew Your Cask Off features 80 different cask ales made by a full range of celebrities and not so celebrities, including dignitaries from the beer media, non-profits and retailers from the metro Atlanta beer community. All About Beer Magazine publisher Daniel Bradford participated in making a cask named Adam’s All About Beer Ale, after the SweetWater brewer who guided the actual cask ale production. The cask ale festival features a judging of all the casks with the winner getting serious bragging rights, including being brewed by SweetWater Brewery, and the loser getting the much coveted, and highly decorated golden toilet seat.

Matt Robinson will join a collection of very talented palates as a honorary judge helping chose the best cask of the festival. During the festival itself, Matt will have the pleasure of presenting a cask made from the numerous clues he provided in his winning poem.

Runners up included second place finisher Steve Forbes who wrote a passionate sensory entry. Third place went to Michael Iris who described how his hound found an unusual cache of berries that would have made a wonderful cask. Both of these entries and the other finishers can be found at All About Beer.

The winning entry is below. Enjoy.

aab-cask-off

What Cask Should An American Brew? by Matt Robinson

What cask should an American Brew?
But nothing less than around 55 I-Be-Yous!
I would add subtle flavor with East Kents
Perhaps more for hop compliment
Throw in some fuggles and American C’s
Many will say it’s the knees of bees!
Powerful flavor will be most divine
Even with a gravity around one-thousand nine
The grain bill is full of Golden Promise Malt
This great American session cask has no fault
The hydrometer reading will need to state
Around 3.55% alcohol by weight
This may sound like an English creation
With bold American style is my summation
Lovibond sounds nice somewhere near ten
Many hours with our cask we will all spend!
Wyeast numbered Nineteen Forty-Five
Will make our cask come alive!
Gravity-fed like our English brethren
Cask beer please take hold for American beer drinking heaven
Deep in the south in town called Atlanta
Our cask brings so much joy we call it Santa!
All the people will come and stand
To sing play us a song you’re the piano man!

Bistro Double IPA Winners 2011

By

bistro
Firestone Walker‘s Double Jack was chosen best in show at the 11th annual Double IPA Festival today at the Bistro in Hayward, California. The full winner’s list is below.

Brookston Football Pool Winners

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football
With a most satisfying conclusion to the Super Bowl yesterday, the winners of the Brookston Football Pools 2010 have been decided. Congratulations to everyone who played this year, the winners are:

Pick ‘Em League

  1. nighthops (174)
  2. Austin Hopheads (165)
  3. TIE: Beerguy101, HoldFastBrewery (160)
  4. TIE: The Beer Runners, bbbilly, GreenMachine-MWA, OakshireMatt (158)
  5. Piranha Pale Riders (157)
  6. Mr. Nuts (156)
  7. Bakersfield Bills (155)
  8. TIE: Beerman49, Hopstain (154)
  9. Little Guy (152)
  10. TIE: Fort Braggers, Pour Curator (151)

Congratulations to Lucas (a.k.a. nighthops). He took an early lead and never let go.

This was the first year they kept the picks going through the playoffs. It looks like next year, we’ll be able to assign more points for correct playoff picks which could keep thinks lively down to the end. I’m thinking it would make sense for Wildcard week to be worth 2, then 3, then 4 and finally 5 (or more?) for picking the Super Bowl winner.

Survivor League

It took 16 weeks before a winner emerged. In fact, two of the remaining three were both knocked out that week — GreenMachina-WMA and Hopstain. That allowed DOZEer to become the winner, having only one miss for the entire season.

Congratulations to Paul (a.k.a. DOZEer) for the being the lone survivor.

Thanks to everybody who played. See you next year.

Wikio Beer Blog Rankings For February 2011

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wikio
The February 2011 standings are out for Wikio’s Beer Blogs. For a third straight month, I’m still hanging on to the top spot. Here’s what happened to the Top 20 over last month:

Wikio February 2011 Beer Blog Rankings

1Brookston Beer Bulletin (+/-0)
2Beervana (+/-0)
3Brewpublic (+1)
4The New School (-1)
5Appellation Beer: Beer From a Good Home (+/-0)
6Washington Beer Blog (+5)
7A Good Beer Blog (-1)
8The Not So Professional Beer Blog (Not in Top 20 for Jan.)
9It’s Pub Night (+11)
10Seattle Beer News (+8)
11Drink With The Wench (-3)
12BetterBeerBlog (-3)
13Beer 47 (Not in Top 20 for Jan.)
14Brewed For Thought (+1)
15KC Beer Blog (+4)
16The Session Beer Project (Not in Top 20 for Jan.)
17Seen Through a Glass (-4)
18Burgers & Brews (-8)
19I Love Beer (Not in Top 20 for Jan.)
20An Ear For Beer (Not in Top 20 for Jan.)

Ranking made by Wikio

I again added the relative movements of each blog from last month. This month, four new blogs cracked the Top 20, and four dropped off. Again, I’ll keep stressing that it’s just a bit of fun so long as we don’t take it too seriously.

Wikio Beer Blog Rankings For January 2011

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wikio
I noticed today that the Wikio Top Blogs for Beer badge on the Bulletin still listed me as the #1 beer blog, so out of pure vanity I checked it out to see if the new Beer Blog standings for January 2011 were out. Apparently, I’m still clinging to the top spot. Here’s what happened to the Top 20 over last month:

Wikio January 2011 Beer Blog Rankings

1Brookston Beer Bulletin (+/-0)
2Beervana (+/-0)
3The New School (+2)
4Brewpublic (-1)
5Appellation Beer: Beer From a Good Home (+1)
6A Good Beer Blog (+1)
7The Stone Blog (+5)
8Drink With The Wench (-4)
9BetterBeerBlog (+7)
10Burgers & Brews (Not in Top 20 for Dec.)
11Washington Beer Blog (-1)
12Beer in Baltimore (-4)
13Seen Through a Glass (-4)
14Beeronomics (-1)
15Brewed For Thought (Not in Top 20 for Dec.)
16The Brew Site (Not in Top 20 for Dec.)
17Brouwer’s Cafe (+3)
18Seattle Beer News (-7)
19KC Beer Blog (-3)
20It’s Pub Night (+3)

Ranking made by Wikio

I again added the relative movements of each blog from last month. Like last month, three blogs dropped off the Top 20, and three new ones appeared.

Again, it’s all a bit of fun so long as we don’t take it too seriously. Hoppy 2011.

Wikio Beer Blog Rankings For December

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wikio
At first I wasn’t sure why I was asked to get a sneak preview of the rankings for beer blogs by Wikio and blog about them, apart from Stan recommending me and Alan, but I got a pleasant surprise when they finally arrived in my inbox. For the category Beer Blogs, which appears to cover North America (or at least the U.S. and Canada), I apparently moved up from #4 last month to claim the top spot for December. I’d be lying if I said it didn’t feel good, especially because I have so much respect for the work done by the majority of the writers in the Top 20, and many of them are personal friends as well as colleagues. Who doesn’t welcome the validation that they’re doing a good job?

The new rankings for Beer Blogs will be released on Wikio this Wednesday, but here’s a sneak peek at the Top 20:

Wikio December Beer Rankings

1Brookston Beer Bulletin (+3)
2Beervana (-1)
3Brewpublic (+/-0)
4Drink With The Wench (+4)
5The New School (+2)
6Appellation Beer: Beer From a Good Home (-4)
7A Good Beer Blog (-1)
8Beer in Baltimore (+2)
9Seen Through a Glass (-4)
10Washington Beer Blog (+8)
11Seattle Beer News (+17)
12The Stone Blog (not in Top 100 in Nov.)
13Beeronomics (-1)
14KC Beer Blog (+2)
15Beer Therapy (+15)
16BetterBeerBlog (-2)
17It’s Pub Night (+3)
18Jack Curtin’s LIQUID DIET (-3)
19Thirsty Pilgrim (+/-0)
20Brouwer’s Cafe (-7)

Ranking made by Wikio

I added the relative movements of each blog from last month. Three blogs dropped off the Top 20, and three new ones appeared, of course, including one that hadn’t been ranked before.

Across the pond, Pete Brown re-captured the top spot in the UK’s beer and wine blog rankings.

I confess I never looked closely before at how the rankings are compiled, but essentially Wikio explains it like so:

The position of a blog in the Wikio ranking depends on the number and weight of the incoming links from other blogs. Our algorithm accords a greater value to links from blogs placed higher up in the ranking.

A blog linking another blog is only counted once a month i.e. if blog A links to blog B 10 times in a given month, it is only counted as having linked to that blog once that month. The weight of any link decreases over time. Also, if a blog always links to the same blog, the weight of these links is decreased.

Only links found in RSS feeds are counted. Blogrolls are not taken into account.

Not everybody seems to put much stock in the rankings, and I think that’s simply because it’s difficult to quantify such subjective notions as quality, authority, influence, knowledge of subject, effectiveness in communication, etc. Plus, they’re just getting started in North America. This is only the third month they’ve been tracking beer blogs here. Jeff Alworth, whose blog Beervana was No. 1 the last two months (and the first two to rank U.S. beer blogs), had a great analysis of the rankings in an October post entitled The Number One Beer Blog in America. And in November, Stan Hieronymus at his Appellation Beer Blog had a lively discussion about How Wikio Ranks the US Beer Blogs which also included some interesting comments.

But how should we be deciding such a complicated question? If not using weighted links from RSS feeds, what should the metric be? And for purposes of discussion, lets set aside what I assume will be the many arguments why we shouldn’t bother at all. What else should be included? Traffic? Should there be a BCS-like poll taken?

Also, I know there are other ways in which rankings are done, such as Alexa (which once you drill down to “beer” is all but useless for our purposes), Google PageRank (mine’s never changed in 6 years), and several where they only track blogs that register, making those ones also pretty useless. And for Twitter there’s WeFollow, which seems to never change. Anybody know of any others?

In the end, I think it’s good fun so long as we don’t take it too seriously. Maybe it makes me work a little harder now that I know I’m being judged against my peers. Doubtful, but it’s still something I’ll continue to at least look at. Like most people — I assume — I’m driven to do a better job all the time, constantly challenging myself to be a better writer, communicator, taster, etc. Comments, Facebook “Likes,” Re-Tweets, traffic, Google analytics and people coming up to me at beer festivals all provide different kinds of feedback about how I’m doing at my chosen profession. Having one more way by which to measure myself can’t be a bad thing. And especially not this month, where I got an early Christmas present. How cool is that? But congratulations to everybody on the list. I know it’s a cliche to say we’re all winners, but in fact I think that’s true. Over the past six years that I’ve been blogging, the number and quality of beer blogging has vastly improved. And that’s a good thing for beer, and for all of us. Happy holidays.

Shameless Bragging: Winning the Russian River Invitational Washoe Tournament

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washoe-washer
I love the game of Washoes, a game that Tomme Arthur from the Lost Abbey introduced into the brewing community almost ten years ago. I’ve been known to play for hours, given the chance. Almost every small brewery along the west coast has a set of boards, and you see them fairly frequently at events, too. So I was thrilled to be invited to play in the first annual Russian River Invitational Washoe Tournament last night. My partner was Dave Keene, owner of the Toronado. We’ve played together on numerous occasions, but never in a tournament like this. There were nine teams playing in a round robin double elimination tournament. Dave and I — “Team Toronado” — managed to go undefeated through the first three rounds, earning ourselves a bye going into the finals. Since we hadn’t lost a game, the other team had to beat us twice in order to prevail. But we never gave them the chance, and won the first game in short order to win the tournament. What great fun. There definitely need to be more organized washoe tournaments.

To learn more about the rules of Washoes, check out Washoe Rules, a web page put up by Vinnie Cilurzo with the agreed-upon brewing community’s rules. The game exists in many variations around the country, and most likely originated somewhere in the Midwest, but this is the set of rules by which we played.

P1010500
Dave Keene and me after our washoe victory.

Canadian Brewing Awards 2010

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cba
Last night, Friday September 24, the 8th annual Canadian Brewing Awards were presented at the Cool Brewery in Etobicoke, Ontario. At the CBA Gala and Medal Presentation, 93 medals were awarded in 31 style categories.

This year, there were 390 entries from 76 Canadian breweries, “making the 2010 edition the largest brewing competition ever held in Canada.”

Congratulations to all the winners.

CBA

North American Style Lager

Gold: Red Baron Premium Blonde Lager, Brick Brewing Co. (ON)
Silver: Laker Lager, Brick Brewing Co. (ON)
Bronze: Molson Dry, Molson Canada

North American Style Premium Lager
Gold: Molson M, Molson Canada
Silver: Premium Lager, Muskoka Cottage Brewery (ON)
Bronze Island Lager, Vancouver Island Brewing (BC)

European Style Lager (Pilsner)

Gold: King Pilsner, King Brewery (ON)
Silver: Pilsner, Mill Street Brewery (ON)
Bronze: Okanagan Spring 1516, Okanagan Spring Brewery (BC)

North American Style Amber Lager

Gold: Red Leaf Lager, Great Lakes Brewery (ON)
Silver: Barking Squirrel, Hop City Brewery (ON)
Bronze: Clancy’s Amber Ale, Moosehead Breweries Ltd.

North American Style Dark Lager

Gold: Dark 266 Lager, Cameron’s Brewing (ON)
Silver: Waterloo Dark, Brick Brewing Co. (ON)
Bronze: Hermann’s Dark Lager, Vancouver Island Brewery (BC)

Light (Calorie-Reduced) Lager

Gold: Brewhouse Light, Great Western Brewing Co. (SK)
Silver: Great Western Light, Great Western Brewing (SK)
Bronze: Moose Light, Moosehead Breweries Ltd.

Bock – Traditional German Style

Gold: Captivator Doppelbock, Tree Brewing Co. (BC)
Silver: Amsterdam Spring Bock, Amsterdam Brewing Co. (ON)
Bronze: Centurion, Le Saint-Bock (QC)

Kellerbier

Gold: Denison’s Dunkel, Denison’s Brewing Co. (ON)
Silver: Kellerbier, Les Trois Mousquetaires (QC)
Bronze: Bohemian Pilsner, R&B Brewing Co. (BC)

Porter

Gold: Coffee Porter, Mill Street Brewery (ON)
Silver: Two Fisted Stout, Amsterdam Brewing Co. (ON)
Bronze: Nutcracker Porter, Black Oak Brewing Co. (ON)

Strong Porter (Baltic)

Gold: Porter Baltique, Les Trois Mousquetaires (QC)
Silver: Brewmaster’s Black Lager, Okanagan Spring Brewing Co. (BC)
Bronze: Grand Baltic Porter, Garrison Brewing (NS)

Cream Ale

Gold: Sleeman Cream Ale, Sleeman Breweries
Silver: Cream Ale, Muskoka Cottage Brewery (ON)
Bronze: Cream Ale, Cameron’s Brewing Co. (ON)

Kolsch

Gold: Lug Tread Lagered Ale, Beau’s Brewing Co. (ON)
Silver: High County Kolsch, Mt. Begbie Brewing Co. (BC)
Bronze: Harvest Moon Organic Hemp Ale, Nelson Brewing Co. (BC)

North American Style Amber/Red Ale

Gold: Yukon Red Amber, Yukon Brewing Co. (YT)
Silver: Fire Chief’s Red Ale, Pump House Brewery (NB)
Bronze: Irish Red, Garrison Brewing Co. (NS)

North American Style Blonde/Golden Ale

Gold: Molson Export, Molson Canada
Silver: Red Cap, Brick Brewing Co. (ON)
Bronze: Natural Blonde, Amsterdam Brewing Co. (ON)

Brown Ale

Gold: County Ale, Wellington County Brewery (ON)
Silver: Naramata Nut Brown, The Cannery Brewing Co. (BC)
Bronze: Stonehammer Dark Ale, F&M Brewery (ON)

Scotch Ale

Gold: Squire Scotch Ale, The Cannery Brewing Co. (BC)
Silver: Wee Angry Scotch Ale, Russell Brewing (BC)
Bronze: Scotch Ale, Pump House Brewery (NB)

English Style Pale Ale (Bitter)

Gold: KLB Pale Ale, Amsterdam Brewing Co. (ON)
Silver: Red Devil Pale Ale, R&B Brewing Co. (BC)
Bronze: Wisharts ESB, Clocktower Brewpub (ON)

North American Style Pale Ale (Bitter)

Gold: Canuck Pale Ale, Great Lakes Brewery (ON)
Silver: Hopyard, Garrison Brewing Co. (NS)
Bronze: Duggan’s #9, Duggan’s Brewery (ON)

Wheat Beer – Belgian Style White/Wit

Gold: Dominus Vobiscum Blanche, Microbrasserie Charlevoix (QC)
Silver: White Bark, Driftwood Brewing Co. (BC)
Bronze: Paresseuse, Le Saint-Bock (QC)

Wheat Beer – German Style Hefeweizen

Gold: Hefeweizen, Tree Brewing Co. (BC)
Silver: Duggan’s #13 Weiss, Duggan’s Brewery (ON)
Bronze: Summer Wheat, Bushwakker Brewing Co. (SK)

Wheat Beer – North American Style

Gold: Sungod Wheat Ale, R&B Brewing Co. (BC)
Silver: Silver Wheat, Wellington County Brewery (ON)
Bronze: Dooryard Summer Ale, Picaroons Traditional Ales (NB)

Strong or Belgian Style Ale

Gold: La Fin Du Monde, Unibroue (QC)
Silver: Trois Pistoles, Unibroue (QC)
Bronze: Gros Mollet, Microbrasserie du Lac St-Jean

Barley Wine

Gold: Thor’s Hammer, Central City Brewery (BC)
Silver: St. Ambroise Vintage Ale, McAuslan Brewing (QC)
Bronze: Barley Wine, Mill Street Brewery (ON)

Stout

Gold: Dark Star Oatmeal Stout, R&B Brewing Co. (BC)
Silver: Malediction, Le Saint-Bock (QC)
Bronze: Timber Hog Stout, Picaroons Traditional Ales (NB)

Imperial Stout

Gold: Black IPA, Garrison Brewing Co. (NS)
Silver: Russian Imperial Stout, McAuslan Brewing (QC)
Bronze: Imperial Russian Stout, Wellington County Brewery (ON)

English Style India Pale Ale

Gold: Nasty Habit IPA, Mt. Begbie Brewing Co. (BC)
Silver: Brockton IPA, Granville Island Brewing (BC)
Bronze: India Pale Ale, Mill Street Brewery (ON)

American Style India Pale Ale

Gold: Red Racer IPA, Central City Brewery (BC)
Silver: Hop Rock Candy Mountain IPA, Hart & Thistle Brewpub (NS)
Bronze: My Bitter Wife, Great Lakes Brewery (ON)

Imperial India Pale Ale

Gold: Red Racer Imperial, Central City Brewery (BC)
Silver: Cuda, Benelux brasserie artisanale et café (QC)
Bronze: Ten Bitter Years, Black Oak Brewing Co. (ON)

French and Belgian Style Saison

Gold: Farmhand Ale, Driftwood Brewing Co. (BC)
Silver: Saison, Black Oak Brewing Co. (ON)
Bronze: Blonde de Chambly, Unibroue (QC)

Fruit & Vegetable

Gold: Coconut Porter, Swans Buckerfields (BC)
Silver: Quelque Chose, Unibroue (QC)
Bronze: Frambozen, Mill Street Brewery (ON)

Special Honey/Maple Lager or Ale

Gold: Enigma, Le Saint-Bock (QC)
Silver: Holiday Honey, Old Credit Brewing (ON)
Bronze: Mackroken Flower Grande Reserve, Bilboquet Microbrasserie (QC)

Two additional medals were bestowed during the CBAs Gala and Medal Presentation — Canadian Brewery of the Year and Canadian Beer Of The Year awards. Rob Engman, President of TAPS Media, was thrilled with the announcement that first time participants, Central City Brewery from Surrey, BC, won both of the prestigious awards. “I am extremely excited for Central City Brewery,” stated Engman. “This is the first year that the brewery has competed in the CBAs and they wowed the judges with their submissions.”

Beer of the Year: Thor’s Hammer Barley Wine, Central City Brewery (BC)

CBA-brewery

Brewery of the Year: Central City Brewery (BC)

Ken Grossman One Of CHOW 13

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sierra-nevada
Ken Grossman, the co-founder of Sierra Nevada Brewing was chosen by the food website CHOW as one of their CHOW 13 for 2010. They describe the 13 folks chosen as “honoring the people pushing the food world in new and adventurous directions.” Last year — the first year for the awards — Sam Calagione was among the thirteen. This year it’s Ken Grossman.

CHOW’s pithy reason for giving Grossman the award is “[f]or starting the war against crappy beer.” If perhaps not the very first, Grossman certainly was one of the first, definitely a true pioneer, and he’s undoubtedly been one of the best at doing just that — winning the war, that is. A very well-deserved honor. It’s also great to see a food website include beer without fanfare as if it belonged; which of course it does. Still, that feels like progress.

ken-grossman