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Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Zen and the Art of Craft Beer

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Here’s an interesting item sent to me by fellow beer writer Lisa Morrison. It appeared on one of the television websites she writes for, in this case WISN Channel 2 out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

BluCreek Brewing from Madison, Wisconsin, is releasing a new IPA in August made with green tea called Zen IPA. The idea is to combine the positive health benefits of green tea with the positive health benefits of beer. It is believed to be the first of its kind, a beer with the taste of green tea flavor.

From BluCreek’s website:

An intense infusion of fresh Chinook, Cascade, and Centennial hops combined with natural green tea imparts this traditional English-style Pale Ale (English IPA) with something a little beyond the ordinary… A little extraordinary!

A beer that transcends beyond anything you have ever experienced before, the smooth and subtle green tea aroma and taste perfectly compliment the refreshing crispness of an English IPA. The result will satisfy those who are looking for something more mystical… magical… wonderful. Created for the IPA lover interested in more than just substantial hops character.

Beware of Flashing Lights

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If you see a flashing red light, run. Run fast. You never know what it might be. Don’t stop to check it out. Perhaps it’s a bomb? After all, that’s what happens to a society when daily terror alerts, local news and a war in Iraq all conspire to keep us fearful, docile and obedient. That’s certainly what happened Tuesday when a bartender at the Swan Lake Resort in Plymouth, Indiana (population: 10,728) saw a flashing red light. Without investigating — after all he thought it might be a bomb — he called police and 35 hotel guests were evacuated.

So why is this here on a beer blog? Because it turned out the blinking light was from a Pabst Blue Ribbon promotional sign suction-cupped to the window and not, happily, a terrorist cell run amuck. Now Plymouth may not be in the middle of nowhere, but you can probably see it from there. The nearest big town is Fort Wayne (not exactly a giant either, at 220,000) 84 miles from there and Chicago is 100 miles away. So yeah, when I see a blinking red light my first thought has got to be terrorist attack. What else could it be?

I don’t mean to necessarily make light of this, but who believes a small town in the midwest almost no one has ever heard of is going to be al Qaeda’s next target? The resort manager was quoted as saying that “the unintentional false alarm is part of living in the post 911 world.” [my emphasis] Now maybe this is because I use words all day, but unintentional? It wasn’t unintentional, which means “not deliberate or intentional; inadvertent.” The alarm was sounded deliberately. A light was seen, a judgment made, and the authorities alerted. Calling it unintentional is just to placate their guests who had to leave their rooms for half an hour.

“Our employee saw something unusual and reported it,” resort manager Doug Leedke said. Was this a new bartender? A new sign? Was the bartender not familiar with POP advertising materials generally? How did he get from blinking light to bomb? What was thought process that would have led him — or indeed anyone — down that path? I live only a few minutes from a site that has been mentioned as a potential target several times — the Golden Gate Bridge — and I almost never think anything about it in those terms. Should I? I don’t think so. I don’t want to go all que será, será, but beyond taking a few obvious precautions, there’s not really a lot I can do.

Another news source reported that the “bartender called authorities about the suspicious flashing light at 12:30 a.m. Monday, and guests were evacuated about six minutes later, said Doug Leedke, general manager of the resort in Plymouth. Six minutes later!?! There must not be an awful lot of crime in Plymouth because I don’t think there’s anywhere in the Bay Area that I could get authorities to do anything in six minutes, which is not to disparage our fine boys in blue here.

Sadly, none of the reports showed a picture of the Pabst ad, and I sure would like to see it so I can decide if this really is as ridiculous as it appears. I searched Pabst’s website hoping to stumble across it but no luck.

Something similar just happened a few days ago when a kindly old woman in Japan left a six-pack by way of thanks at her local police precinct. Again, their first thought was also bomb, and everybody was evacuated until the bomb squad could confirm it contained malt, hops, water and yeast and not nitroglycerine.

I think the beer industry should adopt the slogan “beer not bombs” in an effort to stave off this wave of bad publicity. We need to create a positive message. We can’t have people seeing beer and their first thought is it might explode. I’m not aware of an epidemic of infected malt that would cause gushing on the scale where people would start wearing crash helmets when they shop for beer. So we should be able to safely predict that your beer won’t explode. Fingers crossed.

Fowl Ball?: Widmer Buys a Piece of Goose Island

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Well this one certainly came out of left field. I’m not quite sure what to think about it. I really like Kurt and Rob Widmer. I like them a lot, in fact, both personally and professionally. They pioneered American-style hefeweizen, in fact invented the style. They co-founded the Oregon Brewers Festival to support and promote the craft beer industry as a whole. They brew many great beers — their potato beer is still the best of its type I’ve ever had — in many diverse styles. And they’re both very affable and down to earth people who make the beer community a better place for their having been a part of it. So I originally greeted the news of their arrangement with Anheuser-Busch somewhat suspiciously. But in the end they’ve been able to make it work for them, a trick few have been able to pull off. Which makes Widmer Brothers all the more impressive for having been able to walk that fine line between craft and business so successfully.

So does buying a minority interest in Goose Island Brewing of Chicago make sense? In some ways, yes it does. From a distribution point of view, it seems to make very good sense for both parties. If each begins making the other’s beer for their own markets, that too makes good business sense. So why does it give me pause? I’m not sure, but I think it has something to do with A-B buying a 35% stake in Goose Island and then Widmer buying a presumably much smaller piece, when they themselves are are part-owned by A-B (39.5%). I can’t put my finger on what bothers me about this, perhaps it is just simple paranoia on my part. For now, I’ll try to concentrate on the positive aspects of this and try to silence that voice in the back of my head and wish Kurt, Rob and John and Greg Hall all the best.

All of a Sudden, Nothing Happened

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Here’s an interesting editorial from the Wisconsin State Journal. It concerns the Dane County Fair held last weekend in Wisconsin. It’s the world’s largest brat fest and this year organizers added a beer tent for the first time. Neo-prohibitionists, naturally, had been complaining since at least 2000 when the idea was first floated. The neo-prohibitionists predicted all manner of horrors, none of which came to pass. In the words of Monty Python, “all of a sudden, nothing happened.” As the editorial puts it:

Despite wild predictions of problems, the rides, entertainment and youth exhibits went off just as wholesomely as before.

The editorial continues:

But moderate drinking can be relaxing and healthy, doctors tell us. Drinking responsibly also can set a good example for young people who, before long, will be old enough to drink as they choose.

Family events such as the Brat Fest, Dane County Fair and Rhythm & Booms close before midnight, which discourages heavy drinking. Organizers also tend to use wristbands, designated areas and other precautions to ensure beer is served and consumed sensibly.

The sizeable crowds come for the entertainment first. The beer is just one small option for those adults who want it. It’s not even close to being the main event.

So lighten up, alarmists, and respect the vast number of Wisconsin residents who drink responsibly especially at daytime and early evening events catering to families.

The fact that people can and some people do abuse alcohol has been used by temperance groups and the modern neo-prohibitionists for time immemorial. People abuse food, too, but I’m not about to give it up or argue for its prohibition. For any pursuit, hobby, or activity you can name there’s at least a couple of people who will take things too far. That seems to be a facet of our human nature. But the vast majority can enjoy any pursuit, including drinking beer responsibly, without becoming a burden on society or corrupting our youth. As usual, the potential corruption of our youth was the bulwark that the neo-prohibitionints in Dane County tried to raise to keep beer out of the brat fest. But the reality is that adults should be allowed to enjoy adult pleasures in the presence of children without the fabric of society unraveling. If kids never see their parents or other adults drinking responsibly how will they learn to do so when they reach the arbitrary age of consent?