Laying A Big, Fat Egg

We're just over 4 minutes into the second period of the Blackhawks-Red Wings game and for the first time since Chicago drafted Patrick Kane we find ourselves rooting for the Wings. We're Eastern Conference-centric so most nights this game could end in a tie and we could live with it. A fair number of people believe in the prowess of the Western Conference but while they have Hockeytown we have Hockey Heaven (admittedly under construction).

The real reason for our Windy City animosity this evening is the disappointing news that the Goose Island Beer Company (aka Fulton Street Brewery, LLC) is selling out to Anheuser-Busch (aka Anheuser-Bush InBev). In a blog post sent to us by our Midwest Correspondents, CEO John Hall explains that it's primarily about increasing capacity, innovation, protecting the future of Goose Island, yadayadayada. Said Hall, "[t]oday's agreement...will provide us with the best resources available to continue along our path of growth and innovation."

Forgive our skepticism but this smacks of selling out the way your favorite punk band goes pop rock for the coin. The big brewers have been forcing their way into the craft segment for the past few years and it makes good business sense. It's likely hard for AB to be half of a global brewing conglomerate and open a startup craft brewing company both logistically and from a public relations perspective. Besides, you have to do something when sales of your flagship brand have been stagnant for years.

The real reason for skepticism is Mr. Hall's talk of innovation when the agreement includes news that Brewmaster Greg Hall is stepping down. According to Chicago Breaking Business, AB is pumping $1.3 million into increasing capacity but losing your head brewer is no small matter. One also wonders why not go small before going big? The same CBB article notes that Dog Fish Head recently pulled out of four states because they didn't have the brewing capacity.

It could be worse - AB could have hired Gilbert Gottfried as the new voice over for Goose Island commercials. For those keeping score at home, Chicago's leading 201 with 16:30 gone in the second period. We're going to grab a Bell's.

A Political Update and A New Beginning

Before we get started - it's official. DC Brau is the first commercial brewery operating in our nation's capital in more than 50 years! Find them on FB and on the Interwebs for great pics and updates.

On to the news of the day.  This is a bit of a good news-bad news piece on recent DMV brew-related legislation.

Maryland Poised to Increase Alcohol Tax: There's something about being below the Mason-Dixon line that makes state politicals act funky. OK, it's all politicals in all locales. Anyway, the folks at Heavy Seas have led the charge against a possible increase in alcohol taxes. It looks like this valiant effort is going to fail.

According to the Washington Times, which some people actually read, the tax is ready to pass. Don't worry Marylanders, this is probably the only tax increase you'll face this year. So, our recommendation is that you purchase your alcohol in DC, Virginia, Delaware, or West Virginia, or Pennsylvania. By our guesstimate, this really only screws residents in Baltimore. Everybody else seems to live/work close enough to a state or DC to avoid the tax.


DC Hearing on Allowing Samples Announce: We previously mentioned that inside the District commercial breweries are prohibited from offering samples on site. For half a century this was not a concern to anybody primarily because there hasn't been a commercial brewery actually brewing in the District. Well, now there is (see above) and they need to offer samples on site just like breweries in just about every other locale in the country.

The DC Council has legislation on the table to right this wrong. We'll say it's because of a need for due diligence but Councilmember Graham requested a hearing and his request was granted. The Human Services Committee Hearing will be held on March 31, 2011, at the Wilson Building - Room 412. Again, the bill is here. You can contact Benton Heimsath if you would like to testify. Don't hesitate to contact your Councilmember asking for their support of this bill.

Support DC Brewers!

Because the nation's capital has not had a proper commercial brewery in years you probably didn't know that it is against DC law for breweries to offer samples of their product on site (if you did know, well piss off). The fine folks at DC Brau have been working like a well-oiled K Street lobbying firm to get this changed. In fact, DC Brau tipped us off on their FB page.

On February 15, 2011, Councilmember Harry Thomas, Jr. introduced B19-0118, the Brewery Manufacturer's Tasting Permit Amendment Act of 2011. Councilmembers Wells, Alexander, Biddle, Evans and Brown co-sponsored the bill. The two-page legislation allows brewers to offer samples between the hours of 9:00 am and 12:00am, Monday-Saturday. The bill was referred to the Human Services Committee on February 16th.

The legislation was on yesterday's Council Agenda under item C - Reading and Vote on Emergency Legislation. According to the DC Brau FB Page, Councilmember Graham, the guy with the bow tie and goofy glasses, requested a hearing before the vote. The hearing will reportedly occur in April. So if you live in DC (and we do) contact your Councilmember (and we will) and make sure they support B19-0118. It couldn't hurt to call on Mr. Graham as well.

Beer is Proof this book sucks

If we can sum up Beer is Proof God Loves Us in one word it's dreadful. Sure, it's an easy read filled with nuggets of beer trivia but Charles W. Bamforth comes across as admittedly "yearning for a better time."

Mr. Bamforth has quite a brewing pedigree. He's worked for some of the biggest and best breweries in the business. He's the Anheuser-Busch Endowed Professor of Malting Brewing Sciences at UC Davis and he's taught courses in more countries we've visited. Finally, Beer is Proof God Loves Us is just the latest of his publications. So, at the end of the day we're in no real position to judge. Then again, we're in no position to judge beer and we do that all the time. And we judge people like we're searching for the next American Idol.

The opening chapter, Global Concerns, is the most informative. It offers a brief overview of how the big brewing conglomerates got so, well big. The book goes downhill from there. Mr. Bamforth blames Margaret Thatcher for much of what's wrong in England's brewing industry, gives a begrudging nod to craft brews while never missing an opportunity to boast on the great beers made by the biggest of brewers, quotes Emerson and talks religion. According to the author, the endnotes are worth the read but we cut our losses at the final chapter.

We can all agree that beer really is proof that god loves us but that hardly seems the central focus of the book primarily because the book lacks central focus. Beer's ties to religion certainly is not the theme of the book. Although it's discussed towards the end of the book it's included in an awkward discussion around religious ties to conflict and the author's time spent in the Middle East. Other pages touch on the role of homebrewing and neo-prohibitionists to ensure we cover the full spectrum of the brew topics. It might be a meandering stream of conscious writing or a series of chapters left out of other books and looking for a home. Either way, you'll certainly learn something and you probably should read the endnotes - but that's about all you should read.

Oh, and Benjamin Franklin never said "beer is proof God loves us and wants us to be happy".

Caddyshack III

In today's 24 hour news cycle it's all about getting the message out quickly. Get the video uploaded to YouTube, craft a blog post, and by all means tweet everything leading up to the event and then tweet some more. With that in mind, we bring you our review of dinner with the folks at Harpoon Brewery. The dinner was held on February 25, 2011.

The four course dinner was held at the Chevy Chase Club just across the boarder in Maryland. As you may have guessed this event was invitation only. Like famed attorney Peter Blunt we put on some fancy clothes and glommed on to some rich folk for an evening of fine dining, fine beer, and Dan Kenary serving as Master of Ceremonies. So, here we go...

The Reception: Held in some fancy room with lots of dark wood, family crests, and a really big fireplace the reception was an opportunity to rub elbows with 150 of your richest friends. So, basically, we gorged ourselves on the Celtic Ale because it's easier than carrying on a conversation with the people whose homes you clean during the day. The Celtic is good but pretty ordinary. The kind of beer you can drink at the dive you would normally be hanging out at on a Friday night. It's sort of the Bud of craft brew.

The First Course: Pork belly and octopus served with UFO White. All were new to us and we enjoyed the trip. Pork belly is almost better than bacon. Octopus, once you get past that it looks like octopus, is actually very good. We could get used to this lifestyle. UFO White is a Belgian-style wheat - crisp, clean and a citrus finish. Mr. Kenary suggested that some might like to dip a slice of orange in the UFO but we have a hard and fast rule that prohibits adding fruit to any beer (even Corona). Regardless, we can't want to have more UFO White.

The Second Course: Rock fish, veal cheeks, potato and artichoke filled peppers, and bell pepper salad with Harpoon IPA. Two gentlemen sitting across from us agreed that the chef made perhaps the best veal cheeks either had ever tried. While tasty, we couldn't help but wonder what kind of cheeks we were actually eating. The cheeks located close to the nose or the cheeks normally kissed when the boss is filling out your personnel evaluation. Seriously, can somebody tell me if we were eating ass cheeks?  Oh, the IPA was fine.

The Main Course: Buffalo strip loin, 36-hour braised ribs, gorgonzola-polenta pave, haricots verts (which is fancy-talk for beans). All served with the monster of the night - Leviathan Imperial Ale. We've sampled some of the Leviathan series but the Imperial Ale was a first for us and it was the big winner of the night for us. We sampled quite a bit of this high-alcohol brew. The Imperial Ale is both sweet and hoppy. The food was good but the main course really was the beer.

The Finale: Actually, who cares? We didn't really need dessert at this point and the beer was not our favorite. Of course, we still ate the caramel apple granola bar with poached apples and creme brulee - just so we could feel fat. Mr. Kenary served Catamount Maple Wheat, which actually starts out full bodied and smooth. We were pleasantly surprised but the maple finish was a big turn off - well, not for everybody but it was for us so we finished other people's left over Leviathan.

We really had a great time. The people were very friendly, the food was great, and the beer was even better. Now, if the ninth green were a hockey arena the night would have been perfect.