Here is the latest news from Baltimore Beer Week.

Boog Powell, one of baseball's historic sluggers and a longtime friend of beer, will start Baltimore Beer Week with a mighty blow.Powell, who socked 339 home runs in his 17- year career, will crack open a cask of beer aboard the USS Constellation in Baltimore's Inner Harbor.

The ticketed event, set for the evening of October 8th will inaugurate the first Baltimore Beer Week -- a 10-day celebration from October 8-18th of the region's strong brewing culture.

“I am not sure whether I will use one of my old bats or a mallet to open the keg," said Powell. "But I know I will make good contact."
The ceremonial cask tapping is the first of a series of Beer Week activities that will include as many as 150 separate events held at taverns and restaurants around the  Baltimore metro area.

Highlights of Baltimore Beer Week include:  the Brewers Association of Maryland Oktoberfest October 10th when 12 Maryland breweries pour some 75 beers at the Timonium Fairgrounds, the Society for Preservation of Beers from the Wood Chesapeake Real Ale Festival October 17th where some 30 cask-conditioned ales will be tapped, and a Baltimore beer pioneer’s lunch October 12 at Bertha's where the city's sudsy history will be discussed.

 Information and tickets for these and other Beer Week events are listed under Events on the web site baltimorebeerweek.com.

Powell, who played on World Champion Orioles teams in 1966 and 1970 and was the American League's Most Valuable Player in 1970, has enjoyed a long and productive relationship with beer.  Powell played for the Orioles during the period when the team's owner, Jerold C.  Hoffberger, also owned Baltimore's National Brewing Company. 

"At the start of a home stand every player would get a case of National beer," Powell recalled. "Some players didn't drink so, as a good teammate, I volunteered to relieve them of their beer."  Shortly after he ended his baseball career in 1977, Powell appeared in popular national television advertisements for Miller Lite in which he, a number of former athletes, and an umpire, debated whether the brew tasted great or was less filling.

Now a fixture at Camden Yards where he presides over Boog's Barbecue, Powell and his son J.W. also operate barbecue restaurants in Ocean City, MD.
"Baltimore Beer Week is shaping up to be one of the premier events for Maryland beer lovers," said Joe Gold, chairman of the non-profit group that organized the week.

Sponsorship opportunities for sanctioned events on the Beer Week calendar are available, Gold said.  "We let the tavern owner or restaurateur pick what he wants to do,” Gold said.  "It could be as simple as matching beers with crab cakes."

Additional information about participation and sponsorships, Gold said, is available at  sponsors@baltimorebeerweek.com.

I have agreed to be the media contact person. 

Baltimore Sun Photo: Boog Powell signing autographs at 2006 Fan Fest 

Posted by Rob Kasper at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

Would you buy Bud Light cans because they were clad in the colors of your favorite football team?

Lots of beer drinkers are, and that has raised the hackles of some college officials who worry that linking beer and college football could promote underage drinking. Using some 27  combinations, the cans carry the colors of various football teams throughout the nation. The Bud Light marketing campaign urges football fans to "show your true colors " on game day.

Neither the name of the team nor its logo is displayed. The teams have no connection to the Bud Light campaign. Nonetheless some colleges are complaining.

The Wall Street Journal reports that 25 colleges have formally asked Anheuser-Busch, brewer of Bud Light, to drop the campaign near their campuses, The University of Michigan  demanded that Anheuser-Busch not sell the "maize and blue cans in the  state," the Journal reported. The University of Colorado, Oklahoma State University, Texas A&M University and Boston College have also told the company to stop distribution near their campuses, citing trademark issues and concern about student alcohol use, the newspaper said.

Nebraska is upset as well. Former Husker coach and now athletic director Tom Osborne noted that alcohol is not permitted in Memorial Stadium and has asked Bud Light to drop the campaign in Nebraska. According to a report in the Belleville News-Democrat  most distributors  are complying. 

Meanwhile in Baltimore the Bud Light cans are purple, the color of the Ravens. Picking the colors of a professional, rather than a college team, seems to have served Bud Light well.

"Those cans are a hot item," Joe Falcone beer manager at Wells Discount Liquors told me. Falcone said the purple cans, which come in a loose package of 24, "have been flying out of the door" since they arrived in the market a few weeks ago.

The case, which sells for about $16, has the usual Bud Light colors on the exterior but the cans are purple, he said. Not all the Bud Light cans have the Ravens colors. So fans and enemies of the Ravens, can look through an opening at handle of the package to determine what color cans they are buying, he said. 

Would you buy cans of Bud Light that sport the color of your favorite team?

Do you think the colleges are overreacting? Or are they right?

Photo: AP

Posted by Rob Kasper at 8:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)
        

Not sure why you would  want one, but there is now a beer tap that sends a message on Twitter every time it pours a draft. It's new news to me, but some of you probably already heard about it.

The  so-called Tweeting Bar was was rigged up by 360i, a digital communications outfit in New York.

Judging by the messages displayed on a monitor near the tap, the Tweeting Bar is not exactly a Damon Runyon story teller. 

Mashable, a social media blog, has dubbed  the Tweeting Bar  "cool". Who am I to argue.

Help me here. Why  would  you want such a device?
If you owned one, what would you have it say?

Something like Somebody is drinking my beer?

We all tweet now. Follow me here.

Posted by Rob Kasper at 8:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Weird beer stories
        

I know Marylanders will eat almost anything with crab on it.  But still I was taken aback when the folks at ARAMARK put crab on a hot dog at M & T Bank Stadium.

Moreover I was even more suprised when the Ravens crab dog that I ate at Monday night's Ravens-Jets game actually tasted good.

The crab component , a crab dip,  behaved more like a condiment--think of it as crabby mustard. It is subtle. The  chopped peppers and spinkles of  cheddar and Parmesan cheese that top  the dog are not subtle.  That is a good thing.

I was skeptical, but I ended up liking the Ravens crab dog. The price ,$9 for a hot dog and crab flavored chips ,is a bit steep. But it is sold only on the club level of M & T Bank Stadium, where the elite eat.

If you get to the club level, you gotta have a crab dog. It goes well with beer. The crab dog and the three kinds of sausages-- a beer brat, a Italian sausage, and chorizo (served  with arugula !)--are hot sandwiches on the club level.

Meanwhile up in top deck.

The big chow news up near the clouds  is that three restaurants-- Hightopps, the Greene Turtle, and Bill Bateman's--- are each operating concession stands on the upper deck.

Hightopps has a good looking pit beef sandwich  on its menu , the Greene Turtle has its "Turtle bites",  and Bateman's has its "chicken bites" Both bites are chicken tenders  that come with a variety of fiery sauces.

But the upper deck dish that  floored me was Bateman's crab stuffed pretzel. It is a  pretzel stuffed with crab dip, crab meat, a mixture of cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese, topped with Old Bay.  For $7 it is mouthful. I  had one and thought I was going to ask for a golf cart to carry me home. It was rich, spicy and --guess what--- made me thirsty for beer.

What do you eat at M & T ?

Did I miss any good stuff?

What is your favorite , beer-friendly food?

Photo: Hot dog topping? Steamed crabs : AP

Posted by Rob Kasper at 10:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
        

The depth is good: There are some solid starters, but there is not a lot of new local talent. That is my report on the beer situation this season at M&T Bank Stadium. This summary, some might say, also applies to  the Ravens team.

I went to the Ravens-Jets preseason game Monday night to sample the beer and the food. I report on the beer today, the food tomorrow.

My first beer of the football season, an $8 Sam Adams Boston Lager at the bar on the club level, had a false start. Too much air in the line: It was foam city. The bartender recovered nicely and delivered a good second effort.

The dominant beer at the stadium seems to me to be the 16-ounce can. Cans of Miller Lite, Heineken and Budweiser were omnipresent. I also spotted a can or two of 12-ounce  Yuengling. I prefer draft beer, and the number of tap handles at the club level bars was substantial.

In addition to Sam Adams, I saw taps for Stella Artois, Guinness, Heineken, Leinenkugel, Bud Light and Peroni. 

For serious drinkers there are now four bars on the club level -- the Stoli, the Bacardi, the Patron and the Crown Royal -- that pour cocktails made with the  products of their namesake brands. They also have beers, some of those mentioned above, on tap. I sat in the Bacardi and enjoyed a quiet Stella Artois before kickoff. It was $8; almost every beer is either $7 or $8. 

After mingling with the glitterati on the club level, I joined the hoi-polloi, going up to the top of stadium, then traveling down to the first-floor concourse. The top level, the fifth level on the elevator, is so high that the angels talk to you. At least that is what one comedian on the elevator said. 

The digs are not fancy up there. The beer selection, augmented with carts and concession stand taps, is mainstream. Blue Moon on tap, for instance is the outlier. Some of the concession stands on the top level are also pouring liquor this year. This might generate more angel sightings.

Down on the first-floor concourse, I sampled a gluten-free beer, a Redbridge, made by Anheuser-Busch. It was $7 and did not wow me, but it did not offend.  Gluten-free beer drinkers are entitled to have fun as well. It is sold at a concession stand near section 130, along with gluten-free pretzels. Who knew?

I couldn't find any local microbrews in the stadium. Joe Arena, ARA general manager, told me that situation may change. He said he could add a local microbrew to the roster once the season starts. It would be a good pickup.

The closest I came to drinking local was a draft of Old Dominion Hop Mountain being poured at a beer garden stand near section 117, next to the M&T Bank money machine, always a popular stopping place in the stadium. 

As I was leaving, I spotted a tap handle for Pilsner Urquell at the Guinness stand, also near section 117. That is one of my  favorite pilsners; I will save it for a regular-season sip. 

What do you sip at M&T Bank Stadium?

What do you think of the stadium's beer lineup?

Photo: Ravens crushing a Jet from The Baltimore Sun

Posted by Rob Kasper at 11:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
        

A good social media strategy is an important tool in anybody's kit these days.  Back in June I posted about beer bloggers who using Twitter to promote their blogs and/or brews.  A couple of days ago, I wanted to see what sort of beery things I could find on another popular social medium, Facebook.

I've been on Facebook for a couple of years and have found it a great way to connect, reconnect and stay in touch with friends, and a terrific way to promote and link to my own blog posts and to point out other items of interest. I've discovered that many of my favorite local beer bloggers and breweries are similarly using the site.

But just how widespread is beer culture on Facebook?  I logged on and searched on the word "beer."  The search returned "about 34,000" people results, among them two - Eugene Beer of Columbus, Ohio and Cathy Beers of parts unknown - with whom I share mutual friends.  Small world.

The search also came back with "about 1,800" results among Facebook pages.  I decided to drill down into the pages results using the filtering tool. When I pulled down the menu with the filtering options, one of them jumped out at me - politician.  I took the bait.

The politician filter (doesn't that term have promise!) narrowed the list down to 7 pages, primarily for office seekers or holders, including Sigrid Beer, who's running for Burgermeisterin in Paderborn, Germany; Ruth Beer, a candidate for city councillor (her spelling, not mine) in Headington Hill and Northway, Oxford, England; and Larry Beer, a member of the the Aurora, Co. city council, representing Ward III.

I decided to contact Aurora's Mr. Beer to see how his Facebook experience has been.  I sent him a couple of questions in an email and was pleased to promptly hear back from him. 

It turns out that Mr. Beer is well represented on Facebook. In addition to the Larry Beer-the-politician page which has 24 supporters, he also has a "Larry Beer for Aurora" political organization page with 337 followers, and a personal page with more than 1,500 friends.

He said his organization page, "has been a good tool - among the many others I use - for both constituent and campaign outreach.  Plus my personal Facebook page has more than 1,500 friends, and I think about 20% are Aurora citizens if not Ward III constituents."

I was particularly impressed with his "Larry Beer for Aurora" page.  His profile photo on the page shows him standing next to a sign reading, "BEER IS YOUR FRIEND."  It was apparent that this is a politician who understands that his last name can be an advantage if used with the proper attitude.

"On balance, I'm pretty sure being a Beer is more positive than negative.  It's all about having a reasonable sense of humor about it, which by this point in life would be pretty sad if I didn't. My phone number ends in 2337 (spells BEER) and my campaign material points out that 'good things are brewing for Aurora.'

"I should mention that my wife is also an elected official, and by choice, she is definitely not a Beer (she's Karen Middleton, a Colorado state representative)."  But, Mr. Beer adds, "she let me keep my maiden name when we got married."

A prompt reply, a well-reasoned social media strategy and a sense of humor?  Here's one politician who would certainly get my vote.

Posted by Steve Sullivan at 1:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Beer blogs
        

Tucker Max, author of the best-selling book and now  a movie, "I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell," is going to be in College Park Sunday Aug. 30. He and the film's co-writer, Nils Parker, will do a & A after a 7 p.m.  screening of the film at Loews Center Park, 4001 Powder Mill Road in College Park.

In this work Max, a graduate of the University of Chicago and Duke University law school, tells tales of his beery adventures and sexual escapades. The New York Times called his writing as "the male equivalent of highly hawkable chick lit."

Reviews of the book on Amazon were not glowing. One reviewer likened him to  Elizabeth Wurtzel, author of "Prozac Nation." They are both products of an Internet/YouTube generation who seek an antidote to meaningless by embracing absolute meaningless ."

Another said of Max, he is as an " alcoholic, sex-crazed, extroverted (expletive-deleted) . But for some reason I am fascinated by him."

I have not read the book nor seen the movie.

But this got me wondering about beer movies.

I found a listing of  the five greatest beer movies on the Web site Digital City. Its  criteria was that the movie had to either "feature great beer games or that the movie would have no story without beer. "

Their list of five greatest beer movies  is: Strange Brew, Artie Lange's Beer League, Beerfest, Revenge of the Nerds and The Saddest Music in the World.

Do you know these films?

What do you think of the list? Any missing?

What are your favorite beer movies?

Posted by Rob Kasper at 9:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (9)
        

Police in Daytona Beach, Fla., arrested a man this week for stealing beer from a yacht club after the suspect was found passed out behind a nearby shrub. The man was clutching a beer cooler displaying the yacht club's logo.

According to a "Dumb Crime" story in the Daytona Beach News Journal,  police found the 27-year-old man  passed out across the street from Halifax River Yacht Club. Near him were several bottles of beer and a blue cooler with "Halifax River Yacht Club" written on it.

Police charged the man, who had no fixed address, with burglary.

Apparently, he was not a member of the yacht  club.

I have never stolen a beer, but I have "borrowed" some.

Once I "borrowed" beers from the family fridge, my dad immediately detected the loss. Dads always know how much beer is in their  fridge.

Beer thievery seems to be part of our culture.

Remember those clever Bud Light Super Bowl ads that showed a guy with a "secret beer fridge" hiding behind a revolving wall to prevent theft?

Time to fess up. Have you ever "borrowed" beer? Did you ever "liberated" a beer from a friend's fridge?

Did you get caught?

Photo: Handout of Bud Light Secret Fridge Commercial

Posted by Rob Kasper at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Weird beer stories
        

Toronto residents got steamed when a Coors Light ad made fun of their chilly demeanor.

Billboards ads poking fun at Torontonians --- saying that Coors Light is "colder than most people from Toronto" -- have been pulled  The Toronto Star reports.

The ads appeared on about 30 billboards, but only in the  Vancouver area. Visitors from Toronto saw the ads and were not impressed, the Star reported.

The slogan was one of four being plastered on billboards in British Columbia.

Here are the other three:

Colder than a souvenir guy in March 2010.

It's the Venti of ice cold beer.

Colder than a certain unemployed ranger.

Does anybody out there speak Canadian? We need a translation. Why are these funny?

Also can we think of any comparable slogans for our region.

One that comes to my mind: Coors Light is colder than most clerks at the MVA.

Any others?

Photo: The Toronto Star

Posted by Rob Kasper at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (9)
        

You don't have to be female to win the Miss Buxom contest at next month's Oktoberfest gathering. Contestants of both genders are welcome to compete for the title, which will be awarded to the person who displays the most Bavarian spirit at the festival.

That is the word from the organizer of the Freemont (Washington) Oktoberfest beer festival, one of the largest in the Pacific Northwest.

"We have had young guys come in drinking team sweat suits and burly men come dressed in Buxom Beer Girl outfits," says festival organizer Phil Megenhardt in a press release. You don’t need to be female to enter, but must be wearing "traditional German attire with a Fremont twist." Megenhardt said. Each Miss Buxom contestant answers a light-hearted question, then the winner is chosen by audience applause.

The festival is set for Sept 18, 19 and 20 in Freemont.

Is this "dressing up" for Oktoberfest a West Coast thing? Any thoughts on bringing it to Baltimore?

I  saw several attractive females (I think) dressed in Bavarian outfits at last fall's Oktoberfest in Timonium. But no guys in lederhosen.

Do we want encourage more lederhosen wearing?

For both genders?

Photo of couple at Munich Oktorberfest Getty Images

Posted by Rob Kasper at 9:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

Went to Camden Yards last night and was disappointed on two fronts.

First the Os got beat by the Angels  8-5 at the hands of  Vlad-the-Impaler Guerrero who hit two home runs. These were long fly balls, the kind softball  players hit, and O's center-fielder Adam Jones did his usual amazing acrobatics trying to catch them. But to no avail. 

The second home run, the game-sealer, came after the Os deliberately walked Bobby Abreu to pitch to Guerrero. When the second home run, a gift, sailed over the fence, my older son and I left our center field bleachers seats and headed home.

Equally disappointing was my effort to get craft beer at the ball park.

At the end of the first inning I approached the Maryland microbrew stand on Eutaw Street. I was willing to cough up $6.75 each for a draft of Flying Dog Old Scratch Amber and a cup of Wild Goose. But the stand was already out of beer, at least these two brews , in the top of second. It had  Clipper City Pale and Heineken, but not what I wanted.  Another frustrated would- be beer drinker approached the stand and left empty handed as I stood there.

I walked to another craft beer stand, one behind home plate. But Flying Dog was not on its menu. So I hiked down the left field line, to yet another stand. But this one was closed. There I encountered another would-be craft beer drinker. " No Wild Goose!" he complained.

Finally at the top of the fifth inning, I walked back to the Eutaw Street stand which by then had Old Scratch back on tap.

I bought two, one for me one for my son. I liked Old Scratch, it had an intriguing edge to it.

But soon after Vlad did his deed,  I was crying in my beer.

It is my impression that while craft beer sales are growing nationally, the craft beer selection at Camden Yards is shrinking.

Anybody else feel that way?

Posted by Rob Kasper at 9:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)
        

Word comes from Reno, Nev., of a canned beer competition, supposedly the world's first, on Oct. 23 at  Reno's Grand Sierra Theater. It is called CANFEST.

So far, Buckbean Brewing Co., Big Sky Brewing Co., Oskar Blues, Ukiah Brewing Co., Maui Brewing Co., Surly Brewing Co., New Belgium Brewing Co., Uncommon Brewers and Rochester Mills Brewing Co. have confirmed they will be there, according to a press release sent by Buckbean Brewing, the sponsor of the event. 

Seminars dispelling the "myths" surrounding canned beers, such as canning spoils the taste, are planned. For more information on CANFEST, contact Constance Aguilar from Abbi Public Relations at constance@abbipr.com.

I am familiar with the Oskar Blues canned beers; they are very good, especially if you pour them in a glass.

Anyone tasted any of these other canned brews?

A new brewery in Georgetown, Del., 16 Mile, is putting their Amber Sun Ale in 22-ounce aluminum vessels.

I guess this means that just like the old days of steel cans, you are going to have be a real man, or woman, to crush these containers. 

Are you pro- or anti-can? Why?

Photo: The Baltimore Sun

Posted by Rob Kasper at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
Categories: Events
        

This weekend found me back in Baltimore listening to the radio after a relaxing week at the beach. (Is it just me our do other people notice that once you swallow salt water, also known as the Atlantic Ocean, beer tastes better?)

Anyway I was tending my garden , pulling weeds and harvesting tomatoes, in Druid Hill Park as I listened to "Wait , Wait ... Don't Tell Me," the Saturday morning quiz show on National Public Radio.

I heard an item saying that a study had found that women who drank beer had better bone density than those who don't drink beer.

The study, published in the journal "Nutrition," looked at 1,700 women whose average age was 48. Researchers took ultrasounds of the women's hands and found that those who drank beer had better bone density than those who did not drink beer. Researchers speculated that the silicone and   phytoestrogens in beer were factors contributing to better bone density. The best synopsis of the study I found was on the Web site Red Orbit. 

The best wise crack I heard about this study came from "Wait, Wait" host Peter Sagal, who said this study was more proof of the longstanding contribution to  women's health shown by college fraternities and their kegger parties.

Another excuse to drink beer. Ladies are you buying it?

Also, does beer taste better after swallowing salt water?

Posted by Rob Kasper at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
        

Guest post from Jim Pavlik, a freelance writer and homebrewer living in Indianapolis. He writes about beer culture, beer business, and beer politics on Friday's at Porch Dog. 

I recently flew down to Columbia, South Carolina to help a friend move to Chicago and I took the opportunity of delayed flights, layovers, and waiting to get picked up at the airport to get halfway through Randy Mosher's "Tasting Beer," and I love it.

The book opens with a hearty appeal to why we would bother to slow down and taste the beer rather than tilting our head back and just quaffing until we can quaff no more. Mosher is liberal about what beer enjoyment means and does not disparage the American lager completely. Sure, he refers to "the one hundred year flood of [bland] mass-market Pilsners" and how it threatens beer quality everywhere it goes (which is everywhere). But at the same time his understanding of beer culture and beer history is nuanced and appreciative of what every player brings to the table.

Mosher has two overlapping themes -- 1) Beer and 2) Taste -- and he deftly interweaves these two topics with an expert pen. It would be very easy to write about the history of beer and only consider who made what beer variety and at what time. It would be very easy to walk the reader through the basics of tasting stuff. It would be very easy to give a step-by-step tutorial on how beer is made. All of which Mosher does. But he does much more than that.

With a strong sense of writerly composition, Mosher never stops talking about beer even as he's talking about the intricacies of the fungiform papillae (aka "taste buds"); he never stops talking about taste even as he's walking the reader through the mechanics of bacteria strains in homebrew recipes. I've just gotten to Chapter 7 on food and beer pairings and I have never once felt insulted, talked down to, or -- for that matter -- felt out of my depth.

The worst part of the whole reading experience is that I wanted to taste beer (and I mean real -- taste it -- while I was reading and no one can do both at the same time. Which is my way of saying that Mosher may have written himself out of a publishing success: he wrote a book on beer so good I may not be able to read it.

I appeal to you, readers of Kasper on Tap, if I ever find my way to soberly finishing "Tasting Beer,"what do I pick up next?

Posted by Rob Kasper at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

It is hard for me to believe but a survey of 5,000 British women claims the ladies prefer a manly guy with a gut to a slim feminine looking metrosexual.

The survey was conducted by Lion Bar Ice Cream and reported in The Express newspaper.

"Manly men complete with hairy chests, messy hair and a beer belly were the most popular, the study found contradicting the popular belief  that women found well-groomed, clean-cut men the most appealing," The Express reported

Soccer players Cristiano Ronaldo (left) and Rio Ferdinand were found to be unattractive by the women because " they had taken the look too far with tight-fitting shorts and feminine accessories," The Express said.  Instead, the majority of women preferred "real men" such as James Bond actor Daniel Craig and Philip Glenister, star of the  television series "Life on Mars."

Moreover, some 10 percent of the women surveyed reportedly liked the smell of beer on their man.

Does this mean guys could do away with the aftershave lotion and simply slap on some ale?

Does anybody think beer bellies are sexy?

Photo: MCT 

Posted by Rob Kasper at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)
Categories: Weird beer stories
        

Often, what you find on a beer bottle is as interesting as what you find in it. I'm talking about labels, little squares or ovals of artistic expression that can convey the personality of the brew or brewer. Or at least give you something pretty to look at while you drink.

Years ago, when I was a novice drinker in Chicago, my beer of choice was Heileman's Old Style, a lager that was as easy on the wallet as it was on the tongue. One of the first things an Old Style drinker learns is how to decode the label on the cans, which is a rambling scene from a Bavarian village. The line art is a bit crude, but if you look hard enough and let your imagination run free, you can find a frog on a rock and a urinating monk. Believe me, it's a great bar-conversation starter if you're a 20-something.

Recently I wrote about Flying Dog, which uses labels done by the great Ralph Steadman. Steadman, who was journalist Hunter S. Thompson's illustrator, brings a gonzo sensibility (or lack of sensibility) to the Flying Dog brand, which is exactly what the beer-maker is seeking. Worth checking out is a June '09 post from a British blogger named Leigh, who wrote about Steadman's label and some of his other favorite labels.

I guess there's a point at which form outweighs function, though. Our Mr. Kasper wrote back in 2008 that sometimes the labels are so overly designed that you can't find essential information - such as what type of beer is inside the bottle. I can see where that would be a problem.

Another post worth checking out is an article from way back in July 2000, in which label artist Randy Mosher is interviewed about the art of the label. Mosher explains what he thinks about when designing a label. If you want to check out some of Mosher's extraordinary work (including the familiar label for Poland Springs water), visit his Web site.

Posted by Steve Sullivan at 11:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Beer blogs
        

Guest post from Jay Trucker, an honors program director and assistant professor of English at the Community College of Baltimore County, Dundalk.

Economically, Bermuda thrives off the strength of its finance and tourism industries. The British territory exports very little and imports most of its goods. Beer is no exception to this tendency. The islands host only one brewery and no bottleries.

This doesn't mean that good beer is in short supply. Both Bermuda and the cruise ship I took from Locust Point, the Norwegian Majesty, sold a wide array of import bottles during my recent excursion.

The first and last two days of the trip were spent aboard the Majesty, where most patrons over the age of 18 were thirsty for a brew or two early and often.

The standard price for a beer on board was $4.95, plus an additional 17 percent gratuity added to each purchase. Coors Light was the cheapest beer on board, at $4.25 a bottle. Red Stripe was $5.95. Other beers on sale included Heineken and Heineken Light, Sam Adams Boston Lager, Becks, Guinness, Corona, Dos Equis, Bass Ale, Amstel Light and the standard American lights.

Buckets of beer were sold at a discounted price -- buy five, get the sixth beer free. This special made the price of beer relatively reasonable, if the volume a bit self-indulgent for one. Nevertheless, having recently spent $11 for a Heineken at Yankee Stadium, I was pleasantly surprised by Norwegian's resort pricing.

And rest assured, despite its fancy new stadium, the Bronx is no resort.

Norwegian patrons could take part in a $15 beer tasting on the first full day at sea, but since the selection of beers available for tasting was nothing new to the mildly adventurous beer drinker, I opted not to partake.

I was however, keen on sampling the beers Bermuda had to offer. Several winding bus rides along the islands' narrow roads brought me to Bermuda's brewery, North Rock. Each of the company's beers was subtle in body and flavor. I wonder if this has something to do with the steep price of importing the ingredients needed to make beer. The porter was not particularly malty, the wheat only moderately wheaty, and the pale ale left only the slightest taste of hops. The wheat beer was served with a lemon rather than an orange, and I thought the more tart fruit added distinction to the wheat beer.

Two of the islands' more popular import bottles are Sagres, a light Portuguese beer sold in 7-ounce pony bottles, and Carlsberg's Elephant beer. The Danish brewer boasts that its elephant beer is "strong like an elephant,' a reference to its 7.2 percent ABV and bitter kick. I thought the Elephant was a bit filmy, but its type and flavor may require a few tries.

Just don't plan to partake in those second and third loose bottles on the cruise ship. I tried to stuff a couple Elephants in my shorts, only to be caught by security while reboarding. I was kindly asked to finish my pilsners on shore.

I enjoyed the cool Bermuda evening and the unfamiliar taste of the Elephant while the sun set in St. George's. I couldn't get Bermuda's favorite beers back to Baltimore, but I could get a bucket of brews at a reasonable rate as we made our way home.

Photo of Bermuda: Chicago Tribune

Posted by Carla Correa at 8:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
        

Guest post from Jim Pavlik, a freelance writer and home brewer living in Indianapolis. He writes about beer culture, beer business and beer politics on Fridays at Porch Dog.

I make a point of drinking as close to the fermenters as possible whenever I travel out of town. For that matter, I love drinking locally even when I'm home in Indiana. For Marylanders making trips to the heartland, the Circle City (aka Naptown or Indianapolis) has plenty of magnificent offerings -- you are cordially invited to contact me at my blog for recommendations.

My reason for this beer-related locavorism is two-fold. For one, I think that drinking locally adds to the traveling experience. I can, and probably have, had a Miller High Life everywhere I've been. But when I go to St. Louis, you can bet I'll find myself at the Schlafly Bottleworks. I mean, if you want to experience St. Louis, what good is a national brand?

But the second reason is more important. Beer, especially bottle-fermented beer, is a living thing. It changes all the time. Some beers benefit from spending time in a bottle, other beers not so much. Light, turbulence, time: All these and more cause a beer to lose its luster. Hops especially begin to degrade, losing floral and fruit aromas and gaining earthier, more animallike flavors. But really, all the beer flavors are subject to aging once they leave the brewery.

My first experience of how significant the changes can be hit me in Nashville, Tenn., a few years ago. I may date myself when I mention that I was drinking a vanilla cream ale from Market Street Brewery just off Broadway (on Second Avenue, I think). I remember being struck with the novelty of this beer the first time I had drank it a few years before that. It was more cream soda than beer. At this point in my life, I would probably find such a beer cloyingly sweet, but I was just getting interested in adventuresome beers at the time, and a sodalike beer seemed like a great idea. At any rate, upon a second visit, I'd attempted to share the beverage with a traveling companion none too fond of beery beers, but (alas!) it wasn't on tap.  The bartender helpfully noted that a nearby liquor store carried the bottled version.

In an attempt to be polite, let's just say that something was lost in translation between draft line and the bottle. And that was in the same city as the brewery! Imagine what stress does to Shiner Bock on its way up from the Lone Star State, or to a Sierra Nevada on its way east across the Continental Divide? I shudder to think.

So again, I toss it out to you. Going to brewpubs will get you one brewer's product close to the line, but what bars in Baltimore offer thirsty travelers a good sampling of local beers? 

Photo: stock.xchng

Posted by Rob Kasper at 1:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

It is not yet Labor Day, and already autumn beers are showing up in the market.

Flying Dog released its Dogtoberfest last week, about a month earlier than last year. It is Munich Marzen made with Vienna, Munich 90, Munich 100 and Light Munich malts.

The hops are German Perle and Hersbrucker. The ABV is 5.3 percent.

Flying Dog's Matt Crow said Dogtoberfest showed up early in the stores to keep up with competition.

Sure enough, Brian Leonard at the Wine Source in Hampden that a truckload of pumpkin beers, including  Brooklyn's Post Road Ale, Fisherman's Cape Ann Pumpkin Stout, and Weyerbacher's Imperial Pumpkin have already arrived in the market.

Is this too early for you to drink Oktoberfest beers? Or do you like getting an early taste on one of the many beers that will be out in the fall?

Dogtoberfest label by Ralph Steadman 

Posted by Rob Kasper at 9:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
        

Guest post from Jennifer Null, who lives in Baltimore and plays rugby for The Keystone Women in Philadelphia. She writes a blog, Professional. Rugby. Woman. She previously wrote about "the drink-up" on Kasper on Tap.

The annual Bud Light Can-Am Rugby Tournament has been held at Saranac Lake/Lake Placid the first weekend in August every year for the past 36 years. It is one of the largest tournaments in the world and possibly THE largest in the Northern Hemisphere.

I feel bad for residents in these two rural towns; once a year, they are over taken by loud, rambunctious, eager rugby players, high-school age to their 60s. With brackets for men's teams over age 50, over 45 and over 35, as well as social, competitive and a women's bracket with 20-plus teams, this tournament has made a mark in these two small towns. (As a disclaimer, I can’t imagine we are any worse than what must have happened there in 1980, when the U.S. hockey team defeated the Soviet Union.)

This tournament brings thousands of beer drinkers to one place. This can cause some sort strain on bars and restaurants to keep supplies up, but it has been about three years since I went to a place that had run out of something on tap -- so, I think they’re figuring it out.

For a tournament sponsored by Bud Light, I can honestly say the only time I had a Bud was when my team placed second and it got an 18-pack. Some of the best brews I found were from Saranac Brewing Co. and the Lake Placid Pub and Brewery, home to Ubu Ale. My favorite Saranac beer is its Pomegranate Wheat, but it also has a Amber Wheat that is very good. And Saranac's Pale Ale is also quite tasty.

We had lunch at Lake Placid Pub and Brewery, which was fantastic. It also had an unfiltered German wheat beer on tap (the name escapes me), which was cloudier then most but very good. It had a really nice flavor and consistency.

I also had the pleasure of meeting a team from Erie, Pa., which is sponsored by Erie Brewing Co. It came equipped with several different beers from Erie, all of which I thought were very good. I tried the Railbender Ale (yum!) and the Derailed Black Cherry Ale (hurry up, it's almost out of season), which was my favorite. While I haven't been to the brewery itself, I already like it. If it's generous enough to sponsor a rugby team and send it on road trips with beer, it's OK in my book!

Lake Placid has another brew pub downtown that I didn’t get to, has anyone else been there?

Photo courtesy of Jennifer Null

Posted by Carla Correa at 12:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Events
        

Sorry for the technical difficulties -- our poll is up and running now! Vote away!

Guest post from Kelby Brick, a craft beer fan who lives in Catonsville.

What's the appropriate approach to providing beer for guests when they come over to a summer party -- especially if it involves mingling outside around the grill?

Sure -- one can just and run out and buy a case of Bud Light and stick it in the garage cooler. The same kind of host probably thinks there’s nothing wrong with serving cow’s brain stew along with a side of liver and beets for summer parties.

Of course, you aren't that kind of host.

Does the proper host buy a variety of beer bottles to satisfy the wide variety of individual palates while introducing guests to new and adventurous beer? (What? You think everyone loves Natty Boh so you can get away with serving only Natty Boh?).

The problem with the variety approach is that it’s not necessarily best for the environment or the local economy. You’ll end up with so many bottles that require recycling. Moreover   the likelihood is strong  that some of those  beers were transported from out of the area?

Should you instead buy a couple of growlers from the local brewpub? (I'm partial to Ellicott Mills Brewing Co. -- largely because its only three minutes away)? Reusing the growler bottle reduces recycling demands and fuel spent in transporting beer from outside the area. Such an approach supports the local economy while ensuring your beer is actually fresh.

The problem with the growler approach is that you’ll likely be able to get only two or three kinds of beer (depending on the size of your party), since one growler can deliver enough beer for a few people.

It's also hard to keep many growlers cold (think of all those nooks and crannies in your refrigerator that you hide the beer -- from your wife). It's also problematic because your guests' taste in beer may not favor the beer you have chosen.

So what is a proper party host supposed to do while serving beer at a summer grilling party?

What makes economic sense?

What makes environmental sense?

What pleases the guests the most?

What do you do?

Posted by Rob Kasper at 8:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)
        

The best beer in Britain is a mild ale. So say the judges at this year's Great British Beer Festival.

Rudgate Ruby Mild of York, North Yorkshire, was proclaimed  this week as the Champion Beer of Britain at the annual festival in London of CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale.

Ruby Mild, which has an ABV of 4.4 percent, is described in CAMRA's Good Beer Guide 2009 as a"'nutty, rich ruby ale, stronger than usual for a mild," according the group's Web Site.

The win is a big boost for mild brew, said Roger Protz, editor of the Good Beer Guide and one of the judges.

Rudgate's brewer Craig Lee was described by The Times of London as "bemused" by the win. The Times Jack Malvern pointed out that mild beers, which were "originally created to slake the thirst of miners" and have recently suffered in popularity, being bypassed by the more fashionable golden ales. Now mild is in vogue. 

"We've certainly not changed our tastes," the winning brewer told Malvern. "Perhaps tastes have caught up with us."

Do you think this move to mildness will transfer to the U.S.?

What is your favorite mild brew? I like the ESB from Evolution Brewing in Delmar, Del.

Are you ready for mild brews?
Are you willing to drop the hop bombs?

These mild beers are said to be "more popular with the ladies" in Britain. True with American women as well?

Photo: Getty Images

Posted by Rob Kasper at 9:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
        

Tooting my own horn, I recommend the suds and surf story appearing in the travel section of this coming Sunday's Baltimore Sun. 

I wrote it after touring three breweries: Dogfish Head in Milton, Del., Evolution in Delmar, Del., and 16 Mile in Georgetown, Del.

Touring a brewery is a nice way to spend a vacation day.

Anybody else tour these breweries?

Any others worth visiting?

Photo: Tasting after tour at Dogfish Head: The Baltimore Sun

Posted by Rob Kasper at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

There used to be a drought of craft beer at beach front communities. In years past, Yuengling was the best beer available at my favorite getaway spot, Assateague Island National Seashore, next to Chincoteague, Va. 

I would sit under a beach umbrella and sneak sips  (technically all alcohol is forbidden at the beach) from a can of Yuengling and try to spot the nudists.

Nudity is also forbidden at this national park, but visiting Europeans have been known to hike miles up the beach and frolic in their birthday suits. At the end of the day, they put swimsuits on and walk back to the populated areas where guys like me eyeball them. The nudists, I have observed, wear skimpy suits and have total tans. They also are firm and fit.

When going to the beach for a week or two of vacation, I have packed the car with a case of my favorite brew. I hate to have all this leisure time and not have my favorite beers with me.

On the other hand, I sometimes search the local shops hoping to discover a new beer.

What is your vacation brew habit?

Do you cart favorite beers with you, stuffing the trunk?

Do you rely on discovering beers at  beach liquor stores?

Do you employ some combination of both?

Do you play spot the nudists?

Photo of unidentified swimmers: Getty Images

Posted by Rob Kasper at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

As the Great British Beer Festival opened Tuesday in Earls Court  London, the Guardian's Hugh Muir reports that members of the Beard Liberation group are upset.

They claim British media are prone to illustrate their coverage of the beer festival by showing images of big men, beer drinkers, with large beards.

Keith Flett of the Beard Liberation group told Muir: "A frequently used stereotypical picture used to illustrate stories about the beer festival consists of one or two very large men with beards holding a half full pint glass, but such images at the festival itself are in practice rare. There are excellent beards at Earls Court of course but the idea is to celebrate the diversity of beers." 

Who knew there was a Beard Liberation group?

Have you ever met a man with a beard who didn't drink beer?

Is it harder to drink a beer with a beard?

Handout of Leonardo da Vinci's Bearded Old Man in Half Length 

Posted by Rob Kasper at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Weird beer stories
        

It has been called an answer to a beer drinker's prayers: This contemporary cathedral in Brussels, Belgium, is made with cases of beer.

I saw this photo on a Web site called  The Pop Up City. It is run by a group of architects in Amsterdam looking a new ways to build things.

This particular creation is work of a firm in Belgium called V+ and was part of a larger exposition there called Atomium Expo 58.

The structure is made with 33,000 cases of Jupiter beer, Belgium's best-seller.

Pretty impressive.

Anybody make anything comparable with beer cans or bottles? Shoot me a link to any photos.

Photo: The Pop Up City 

Posted by Rob Kasper at 12:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Weird beer stories
        

Daniel, a displaced Texan going to graduate school at the University of Maryland, wants to know if anyone has seen Shiner Smokehaus in this neck of the woods.

If so where?

This beer, from Spoetzl Brewery in Shiner, Texas, is a Helles-style with pale malt that has been smoked with mesquite wood.

Anybody had it? 

Photo of mesquite trees in Texas: The Baltimore Sun

Posted by Rob Kasper at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (10)
        

Today's entry is one of my occasional meanderings off the beer-blog trail.  I was searching the other day for posts about extinct brands of American beer and stumbled upon a fun, time-wasting game called Beer Barrel USA.  Remember Billy Beer?  Falls City?  Oertel's?  Remember where they were brewed? If so, you'll enjoy this game.

The game consists of a map with 36 points plotted throughout the US, Canada and Mexico (I guess they should consider changing that USA thing in the title).  There's a window above the map into which the names of beers - some extinct, some still with us - appear. You have to click on the point marking the beer's hometown.  The score is determined by a combination of correct answers and the amount of time it takes you to solve the puzzle.  That means that even once you've memorized all the correct answers, you can keep playing over and over trying to go faster and faster.

Have fun!

Posted by Steve Sullivan at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Beer blogs
        

My Sun colleague Sam Sessa has an interesting post today about a site called Beer Me!, which rates some 25,000 beers from around the world on a 20-point scale.

Sam's former roommate sent him word of the site, which tells us something about how the two of them used to spend their free time in their bachelor days. Now Sam is a married man, and no doubt will soon be staying home at night reading Proust.

I scrolled through the massive site, and found several area beers that rated well.

Old Dominion Summer Wheat got a 20, as did three beers from Victory -- their Hop Devil, Hop Wallop and Storm King Stout.

But the ratings were dated. Old Dominion's high score came in 1993. 

The defunct Baltimore Brewing Co. -- now the old brewery site is a hotel -- got high rankings for its Marzen (19) and Pils (18 1/2).

Edgar Allen Porter also scored 18 1/2 . It was made by South Baltimore Brewing Co.  That, of course, used to be Sisson's in South Baltimore, the precursor to what now is Clipper City.

My take on this Web site is that it is interesting, but that many of the rankings are dusty. 

Other opinions?

Posted by Rob Kasper at 12:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
        

There is trouble in Iron City. The brewery has closed its old plant in the Pittsburgh neighborhood  of Lawrenceville, moving its brewing operations to Latrobe where Rolling Rock was once brewed.  Iron City also left  town owing the city a hefty amount of money for its water and sewage bill.

How big a bill is in dispute. The brewery claims the amount is close to $400,000; the city says it's more like a million dollars.

According to a story I read in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, the Pittsburgh Water & Sewer Authority cut the brewery considerable slack on its water bill with the understanding that the brewery would modernize its plant.

When the brewery left town without renovating,  the city felt jilted and wanted its money.

An editorial in Post-Gazette Friday pointed out that the brewery is foisting its bad debt on the residents of Pittsburgh, citizens who pay their water bills on time.

Does anybody buy Iron City now?

Has the move to Latrobe killed the Pittsburgh connection?

Photo of Iron City brewery: AP

Posted by Rob Kasper at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)