Take a look at the bottle of wine/beer/spirits in your hand. How did it get there? Well, after it was produced, the producer sold it to a distributor at less than 50% of its retail price, who then sold it to a store at a large profit, who then sold it to you at a markup 18-25% higher than its intended retail price. There may have been a broker in there as well. Why so many middle men, and why so complicated? Prohibition and the three-tier system. Prior to prohibition, the alcohol industry was very loosely regulated, and dominated by a few very large producers. Anti-competition practices abounded: if a brewery or distillery didn’t have its own bar, it ‘invested’ in bars by giving loans or furniture and, in exchange, demanded that no other brands be sold on the premises. These big, bad breweries also required increasing sales, so the [...]
Grand Tasting Event – Come Join Us!
Join us for the Drink Me’s Grand Tasting Party – filled with spirits, beer, wine and fun hats. There is NO better party going on next friday. WHERE: 111 Minna // WHEN: Friday, November 4th // HOW: www.DrinkMeGrandTasting.Eventbrite.com
Friday Libation Links
Happy Friday, folks! Here’s a roundup of the most fun links we’ve come across this week. So cheers to you, reader, and have a great weekend. And don’t spill your drink on that new iPhone!
In The Face Of Puritanical Beer Laws, Strong Beer Rules
“It may seem a little quaint in light of all that has come since,” says Dave McLean, owner of the San Francisco brewpub Magnolia, home to Old Thunderpussy, an 11% alcohol barley wine. He continues, “But our observation back in 2001 or 2002 was that these big beers were generally special occasion beers, commemorating events, marking time, celebrating holidays, or maybe just intended as wintertime sipping beers to take the chill off in cold-weather brewing nations.” He’s talking about February’s Strong Beer Month, Magnolia and nearby 21st Amendment Brewing’s celebration of big, bold, boozy beers that typically hover around the 10% mark when the law, in some states, mandates beer be brewed to a mere 4% ABV. To most religious zealots and even many craft beer connoisseurs, the strength of certain beers has gotten out of hand in an arms race to see who can reach the highest number. Scotland-based [...]
NY Craft Beer Week Begins: Freaktoberfest
NY Craft Beer Week kicked off this Friday with Freaktoberfest, a party hosted by Shmaltz Brewing Co. that featured representatives from over 20 breweries, a bevy of Coney Island freakshow performers, 2 floors of live music, and a mustachioed emcee named Donny Vomit who juggled knives and swallowed balloons between sets. The third annual celebration went down at Southpaw, a raucous music venue in Park Slope, Brooklyn where beer geeks boogied and sipped unlimited tastings alongside soul singers, industry types, and burlesque dancers. The spirit of the event was embodied by its highlighted beer and official drink of NY Craft Beer Week: Geektoberfest, a collaboration between Captain Lawrence, Ithaca Beer Co., and Shmaltz Brewing Company, is a blend of seven barrel-aged sour brown ales. The beer, only available on draft during Craft Beer Week, is a spirited, tart ale with hints of raspberry, a kitchen-sink project that brings together sours [...]
Swallow Your Words: Beer Craft
Beer Craft Authors: William Bostwick and Jessi Rymill Subject: Brewing your own great beer Synopsis and Review: The book is a beautiful guide to making your own beer. It doesn’t assume that you’re a pro, but gives you more than just a taste into making your beer great. In case you needed some inspiration, it’s sprinkled with interviews and information (and tips!) from some of the country’s most well known and best brewers. We love that it breaks down the art of brewing into simple illustrations, and even when it gets into the science-y lessons of yeast strains, it keeps it fun. This isn’t your typical “how to” started guide. It’ll take you from 0 to 60 in one pint and help you understand how to make, drink, name, pair and even market your own beers. Why we recommend it: We love this book. If you’ve ever thought for a [...]
Nano-Breweries
Mike Wright orders a Blue Foot Flanders Red-style ale, a slightly sweet and sour beer with notes of cherries aged in a Pinot Noir barrel. It’s his first time trying the beer despite the fact that he brewed it. The woman behind the bar who brings it to him is oblivious to this detail, despite the fact that Mike is on a bar stool in Southeast Portland at Victory Bar, one of Beetje Brewing’s half-dozen accounts, and it’s five blocks from his house. The definition of nano is that it’s one billionth the size of something, so there are a billion nanometers in one meter. In regards to nanobreweries, the definition takes some liberties, but not many. Compare, for example, Beetje to Budweiser. Anheuser-Busch brewed roughly 100 million barrels of beer in the US alone in 2010. Beetje made and sold less than five. Small time, under capitalized enterprises driven [...]
Craft Brewers Festival – Recap
Rhubarb Blonde Ale. Peanut Butter Chocolate Porter. Lavender Orange-blossom Mead. Smoked Cinnamon Oatmeal Stout. Anyone can throw the kitchen sink into a brew kettle, but it takes more than imagination to make the results sing, which is why these concoctions weren’t just among the stranger beverages I tried recently, they were among the best. The American Homebrewers Association purports that there are 750,000 homebrewers nationwide (that’s almost one out of every 400 Americans). Quite likely, there has been no greater gathering of craftsmen than the 33rd Annual National Homebrewers Conference that took place in San Diego from June 17-19. This AHA-sponsored event once again set a new record for sold-out attendance, having welcomed 1,900 people within the fraternity of homebrewers from all 50 states and Canada. The numbers don’t tell the story, but they’re jaw-dropping nonetheless. Some 1,650 people entered virtually 7,000 homebrews into the competition. Over 700 kegs of [...]
Drink Me Island Paradise Party
We’ve rented out the legendary and incredible man-made floating island on the San Francisco Bay for a private lush evening with live music, delicious drinks (lots of tasty rums) and spirited tastings. What’s more, we’ve teamed up with Spark, a San Francisco based non-profit that supports women-led programs that ignite global change. All profits from the event will go to support Spark’s efforts.
Making the British Pale – the original IPA
Though the international cultural and political reach of the United Kingdom might now be limited to the occasional export of a new Harry Potter Book, at one time the British Empire was the largest in the world. For hundreds of years, the Union Jack flew all over the globe, from North America, to Africa, Australia, and Asia. Following us kicking their ass out in 1776, the jewel in the crown was India. Exploiting India provided a great deal of benefit for the homeland, at the expense of the lives and livelihoods of many locals — from mineral wealth and spices to an export market for finished goods. For some Brits, landing a stint in India was a cushy deal. But not all the colonials were upper crust. For them, life in India was tough. The weather was a bit warm. Home was far. Naturally then, Brits in India wanted something [...]
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