Slate.com has an article on beer sommeliers and “why beer deserves the same kind of expertise as wine.”
The NY Daily News (among others) reports that beer may be coming to a White Castle near you. But, for now at least, only if you live near Lafayette, Indiana. Perhaps Starbucks is next? (via Business Insider)
Still looking for gifts for your beer-loving friends? The Chicago Tribune rounds up some books on beer and beer candies, or you could grab a champagne-style beer for New Years toasting (via The Street).
It’s been far too long since my last post — I’ll try and do better. Just in time for the holidays, the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram provides a list of 10 beers that would make great gifts.
According to a release on PR Newswire, Abita beer will soon be available in cans, beginning with three of their flagships: Amber, Jockamo IPA and Purple Haze. And, if you missed it, check out Travel by the Pint’s recent episode featuring Abita.
Recent beer-related stories from the BBC News Travel section:
My belief that Guinness tastes better in Ireland has been confirmed by scientists (via Irish Central).
British Columbia’s Kokanee will be producing a limited edition Mountain Can Series that will feature trail maps for eight mountain regions. QR Codes will also be incorporated that will allow people to download maps with area facts and to search for the Kokanee Sasquatch. For those who haven’t experienced Kokanee beer, the glacier on the label hides a tiny Sasquatch in different places on each bottle (At least it used to. Looking at their website it appears they have redesigned the packaging since I was last in BC. Can anyone confirm?).
With Valentine’s Day coming up, what else can we talk about but beer and chocolate? First up, Slashfood brings us beer and marshmallows. (That has to be one of the most appetizing photos I’ve ever seen!)
Or, if a snack and a beverage just seems like too much trouble, combine all that goodness into one and find yourself a bottle of Boulevard’s Christopher Elbow’s Chocolate Ale. Good luck getting your hands on it — the beer is a limited edition and it’s going fast (if not gone already).
The American Craft Beer Scene Goes Global: an article in the LA Times. “In the coming weeks, the co-owner of Escondido-based Stone Brewing Co. will finalize the location of the first American craft brewery on the European continent.”
Finns to Re-Brew Beer from 1800s Shipwreck: via CBS News, more from the BBC.
And big news from Examiner.com: Homebrewing at the White House, Obama Fooderama has a photo – White House Honey Ale), and ABC News has the story, too.
Travel by the Pint launches its third season with a new website.
The new Travel by the Pint website features a much more robust episode guide to help you find your favorite interviews. The new guide has episode locations plotted on a map and the breweries featured are also listed by season. Each season also has its own, more detailed episode listing that makes it easy to watch episodes in order or to see what tourism items are also featured in each episode. Of course, the best way to make sure you see every episode is to subscribe for free on iTunes for automatic downloads.
Also enhanced on our site is the Articles and Resources section where we’ll be posting articles about beer, homebrewing how-tos, book reviews and more.
Season 3 of the vidcast also kicks off with an interview with Gustavo Vale, head brewer at Minneapolis’ The Herkimer Pub & Brewery. Vale, who was trained in Germany, brews authentic German beers, including Gose, a sour beer from Leipzig that was allowed as an exception to the German Purity Laws. Vale describes the beer menu, and explains why he prefers not to filter. Later we explore the Mississippi waterfront and St. Anthony Falls.
Check out the new Travel by the Pint now.
It may not be news to many of you — we’ve been seeing the trend growing as we travel the country talking to brewmasters and visiting various beer stores — but now The Washington Post reports, “Microbreweries turning from glass to cans.” I understand the reasons why it’s supposed to be better (no light strike is one) but I have to say, I like my bottles. I prefer hardback books to paperback as well. The content may be the same, but they just feel better in your hand. Oh well, at least our homebrew will still be bottled.
