Good blog/article over at the New York Times calling for craft pilseners at Yankee Stadium and lamenting Pabst Blue Ribbon- something I think many of us can relate to.
From the article:
Look, I don't even know if I can afford to go to these two fancy new ballparks, much less pay for the beer. I have children about to go to college, and paying $9 for a can of Pabst, even the 16-ounce can at Yankee Stadium, is one of the least enjoyable ways I can think of to blow their college fund.
Good point.
Ithaca Beer announced that its "big" 2009 Brewfest will be September 5th. Not much else in the way of details to report, but an official Website for the event will be up soon.
What would Natty Bumppo do? That's what came to mind while I was reading an entry from the Drinks blog on Syracuse.com about the Cooperstown Beverage Trail.
(Natty Bumppo is a fictional character from James Fenimore Cooper's Leatherstocking Tales).
The Cooperstown Beverage Trail officially consists of Fly Creek Cider Mill, Brewery Ommegang, Cooperstown Brewing Company and Bear Pond Winery. I've been to three of the four- the two breweries are not to be missed. Fly Creek, as was commented in the Drinks blog, has more of a family atmosphere. That said, the products are still tasty.
The official site for the Cooperstown Beverage Trail is http://www.cooperstownbeveragetrail.com - and oh yeah, there's baseball, too.
Pouring at the cup-winning Keegan Ales booth
A concise blog entry that relays the TAP New York experience is difficult to write. Thus, the bullet points.
FYI - It's difficult to operate a digital slr while holding a full sample glass.
The (usually) weekly roundup of (mostly) NY-related craft beer blogs.
The Foaming Head
2009 TAP-NY Preview
An impressive list of breweries that will be at Hunter Mountain this weekend, and even better, updates on which beers will be poured. Try to control your Pavlovian response.
Buttle's Beer Blog
Review: Ellicottville Pantius Droppus (NY)
A sour beer to appreciate.
CNYBrew
Hop Trellis Stage 1
Tis the season for hop gardening.
Drinks by Don Cazentre
Bistro One Beer Club: Where craft beer fans gather in Auburn, NY
Auburn beer clubbers enjoy Sam Adams Utopias.
The Street
Brewers Roll Out New Light, Craft Beers
Get ready for a flood of "craft" beers from the behemoths.
Brooklyn co-founder Tom Potter is raising money to start a craft distillery in Brooklyn, according to the NY Daily News. The twist? It would be the first legal distillery in the city since Prohibition.
TAP New York. A good time? At $54 a ticket, I sure hope so. Purchased the tickets today without doing a lot of research, but the event this Saturday, April 25th (and 26th) looks like it should be a good time. From the official Website:
The Hudson Valley Beer & Fine Food Festival, Inc. invites all to TAP New York at Hunter Mountain. Craft breweries and brewpubs from across the state will be participating in the most prestigious beer and fine food event in New York. Admission to TAP New York includes your special souvenir tasting glass for trying out the over 100 beers representing many styles. You'll also get to sample gourmet foods, plus cooking demonstrations and much more.
Sunday tickets are also available for $45. Prices go up the day of the event, so if you'd like to go, it's a good idea to order soon.
Anyone reading this attend before? Anything a newbie should know about?
It's not summer, yet. But I jumped the gun and picked Saranac's 12 Beers of Summer anway. As previously posted, the collection includes four new brews: Helles, Rye Pilsener, Amber Wheat, and Pale Pale Ale. It also contains the Pomegranate Wheat and Summer Ale. Fruit-flavored beer isn't my favorite, but the Pomegranate Wheat isn't bad, and I enjoy the Summer Ale, too.
As of tonight I've now tried the Pale Pale Ale, Rye Pilsener and Amber Wheat, and my first impresssion is that I bought this 12-pack too early. These are light-bodied beers intended to refresh on a hot summer day. April in New York doesn't qualify.
That said, my surprise favorite is the Rye Pilsener. Pilseners usually rank low for me, but the Rye Pilsener had a simple tastiness. The Amber Wheat I can live without, and I'll be sure to give the Pale Pale Ale a fair shot on a hot summer day. But for at least another month or two, I'll be sticking to something bolder.
From The New York Times' "The Pour" blog:
the budget has one more element that affects consumers. Wine and beer wholesalers and retailers will have to pay a tax on inventory that they have on hand May 1. The purpose of this floor tax, Anderson said, is to prevent retailers and wholesalers from profiting by making big purchases before the new excise taxes take effect.
Heaven forbid someone makes a profit these days...
...by four plants.
A beautiful 65 degree day. Planted ye olde rhizomes in pots to get them started. Nights are still pretty cold, so I wanted to keep them portable.
A padded mailer arrived the other day carrying the small root pieces that will hopefully grow into bountiful suppliers of glorious hops. They rest inside a moistened bag in my fridge, waiting to be planted.
A commenter on this site suggested Freshops, and I ended up going that route to obtain my rhizomes. The price seemed reasonable and the delivery was very quick. I'm a hop growing novice, but the pieces in the mail seemed to be nice-sized, healthy cuts to me.
I ordered two cascade and two chinook, and I've been warned not to expect too much the first year as the hop plants establish their root systems, but I'll probably be posting back with a couple progress updates.
Well, "This Week in Blog" has now survived three weeks. Will it survive another?
Buttle's Beer Blog
Coney Island Albino Python (NY)
"Slightly salacious label art" from Coney Island Lagers keeps you looking at the bottle.
"Drinks" by Don Cazentre
Got gusto, Syracuse? Get ready for the retro return of Schlitz beer
Does it taste as old as it looks? More label art- a theme?
Dowd on Drinks
The bar, the beer and the boar
Albany Times Union columnist promotes travel adventure posted to Examiner gig. Confused? There is a boar photo. And I need to travel more.
A Good Beer Blog
Beerware And S'hopping Alescessories
Get some CRAP - or rather the "Craftbrewers Recycled Art Project." Stuff left over from brewing turned into trendy, useful items.
From the Albany Times Union, a business article that asks if a bigger bottle law is better. Part of the law would require brewers to create separate labels specifically designed for distribution in New York in a bid to keep out-of-state bottles from being redeemed.
From the article:
Brewers also will need to establish separate labeling and distribution for beer to be sold in New York.
"We're going to have to change our labeling, and that's going to be a costly factor in the equation," said David Katleski, president of the New York State Brewers Association, who operates Empire Brewing Co. in Syracuse.
Get a a taste of the Brooklyn Brewery and a bit of dinner to match at the Washington Tavern in Albany on Wednesday, April 15th.
Two reasons to attend:
1) Brooklyn's Local Series will be on hand to sample, and
2) Tickets to The Dead show at The Times Union Center will be raffled.
For more information, call 518.427.0091
Rusted Root
Again, the brewery courtyard is a great venue, in case you forgot from my Blues Traveler post. Not a bad view to be had- a great professional setup all around. And beer!
Above photo by Heather Ainsworth is from Rusted Root's performance at the brewery last summer.
Remember when I said those "Belgium Comes to Cooperstown" tickets would sell fast? Well, they did. You can still get a designated driver ticket, though.
Here is my second go-around for "This Week in Blog," a listing of blog articles from the past week that are mostly NY related. But not always. So it goes.
"Drinks" by Don Cazentre
Look for quality New York beers at annual Tap into the MOST fundraiser
This one is actionable- In Syracuse tomorrow and want to taste beer for a good cause? There you go.
The Foaming Head
Sackets Harbor beer is in Florida
Chances are that if you live anywhere near Sackets Harbor, you've been thinking about moving to Florida for the last several months. Now you can keep drinking your local brew when you do.
A Blog About Beer
It's Out With the Old and in With the New at Smuttynose
I can actually buy Smuttynose at the local market in my podunk piece of the world. So this interests me. The Portsmouth Lager is to be replaced by a session beer.
AskMen.com?
The Argument for Canned Beer
Yesterday I decided Porkslap Pale Ale was my new favorite beer from a can. Now this article I picked off of the @DrinkCraftBeer Twitter feed reinforces my recent can acquisition.
A Good Beer Blog
Please Don't Taste Your Beer Near Me
Nothing starts the weekend like a good rant.
The Journal News out of White Plains, NY, has a review of a renovated brewpub in Peekskill.
From the article:
Good news for craft beer lovers: The Peekskill Brewery is brewing up some phenomenal local suds. And unlike most of the other breweries in the area (which just stick to serving beer), they also have a menu of interesting pub food - beer-battered pickle rings, anyone? - that keeps a paired pint in mind.
Beer-battered pickle rings... I need to eat before I blog.
The Patriot-News has a fascinating article about how Yuengling is poised to become the largest American owned brewer.
Although Yuengling produces a fraction of the amount of beer of say, Anheuser-Busch, the recent acquisitions of such huge American brands has left it on the verge of being #1.
Currently number one by a slim margin? Sam Adams.
Some are putting Pabst as the #1 American-owned, although they don't actually brew the beer. This blog post has a list of the top ten American-owned producers (including Pabst):
I think I like how the new face of American-owned brewers is shaping up.
Because you just needed to know
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