I'm just your average guy who happens to have a deep love of beer and brewing. I hail originally from the beer loving state of Michigan and after three years of beer heaven in Philly I am back in the mitten enjoying more than my fair share of Short's, Bell's and Founders.
This is a space for me to share beer news, beer reviews and stories about my various adventures in homebrewing and the pursuit of delicious beers.
Cheers!
BeerAdvocate Profile
Theme -> nostrich.
This is a little something for my friends who attended the Traverse City Microbrew & Music Festival last night.
Most of this is nothing new, but I have never thought of drinking sports drinks during recovery. I personally find that the best offense is a good defense when it comes to hangovers. The more water you drink throughout the night, the better off you will be in the morning.
Unfortunately, I did a poor job of following that course of action at last weekend’s wedding.
NPR Interviews Greg Koch About Euro Expansion →
This is a pretty interesting interview with some pretty pictures to go along with it.
I have been aware of Stone’s plan to open up a brewery in Europe for quite some time, and I think that it could be a great move if they are able to keep tight enough control over a brewery operating on a different continent.
This article seems to focus a lot on whether Europe will accept their beers, which I think is not a huge issue. From what I understand the craft beer in Europe is at much the same level as it was here in the US a couple decades ago, and they are primed for an explosion in the craft beer sector.
I found the Euro consumer remarks at the end of the story to be pretty interesting. The vast majority of beer drinkers in the US still drink BMC, and as a result those who are not aware of the vibrant craft beer scene assume that is all any Americans drink. However, it is ironic that the beers the one person mentioned like Stella and Kronenbourg are not very different from what the macro brewers in this country produce.
I wish Stone all the best in their endeavor. If nothing else, it should prove to be an interesting experiment.
CBS report on Consumer Reports beer Tasting →
This is a pretty interesting article with a link to a local bay area CBS station story. The station did a segment on a Consumer Reports tasting that compared name brand craft beer to Costco store branded beer.
The panel found that the quality was not that different, but it’s not at all surprising because store brand beers are almost always contract brewed by regional craft brewers. Contract brewing goes on a lot more than people realize, since some breweries are unable to raise the capital to expand in pace with demand, and contracting a larger brewery to produce their products is the only option.
I really wish our Costcos were able to sell this private label beer. It sounds like quite a deal.
Monk’s Reopens!
You may have to enter from the alley, the front bar and dining room are closed, and the full menu is not yet available, but Monk’s Cafe is once again open for business.
You just have to come to the alley door and say “SEPTA” and they will let you in.
The bar should be completely up and running early next week.
Update: looks like I jumped the gun and did not thoroughly read the e-mail. They will actually open tomorrow at 5:00.
Monk’s Update
So it looks like it will take more than a SEPTA bus to keep Monk’s Cafe down for the count. I am a subscriber to their e-mail list and received this correspondence today:
Hey Folks -
As most of you know, a Septa Bus hit the side of our building on Monday night (Tuesday morning) at 1:40AM. I was here when it happened and luckily, no one was injured. The accident did take a toll on the building and repairs are underway. Our landlord and Phila License & Inspections want to be uber sure that the repairs are completed properly. Our landlord contracted with William Proud Masonry to handle the work and damn, those guys are good! Looks like they will be pouring new concrete this weekend and be able to start the brickwork on Monday. I’m hopeful that we can reopen on Wednesday. We’ll have to wait & see. I’ll keep you posted.
Thank you for all the offers of assistance. You guys rock! It really does make us proud that so many of our friends & guests have us in their hearts at this eventful time.
Tom
Pretty hard to believe it could reopen so soon given the amount of devastation.
This is especially great news for me because I was hoping to go to Monk’s for my birthday in early September. Looks like it should be up and operational!
Bus Slams into Monk's Cafe in Philadelphia! →
Right before last call last night, a bus slammed into the Philly beer bar Monk’s Cafe. Monk’s is one of the best Belgian beer bars in the country.
This is one of my favorite places to go when I am in the city. Luckily no one was seriously injured, and the damage to the building didn’t seem to be too devastating.
Hopefully they re-open in time for my birthday next month!
Top Beer list change-up was only a test... sort of. →
It appears that the changes being made to the top beers list will not be as drastic as initially reported. Apparently the list we saw earlier today was just an experiment, but there are some changes.
Instead of having a minimum requirement of 1,000 reviews, they now just figure in the amount of reviews in relationship to others on the list. This is probably a bit more prudent than a hard cap and allows more world class, yet hard to find brews to get on the list. It also does not handicap brewers with more limited regional distribution.
Another nice addition is that limited release beers will be allowed on the list, but removed after a year and a half.
All in all, it is a much less major overhaul, but seems to be a step in the right direction.
BeerAdvocate Changes up Top Beers on the Planet Earth! →
Today BeerAdvocate, my go to site for beer reviewing, discussion and information, changed up how they tabulate their list of the top beers on planet earth.
The biggest change is that now beers must have at least 1,000 reviews to make it on the list. I find this to be a huge improvement because the more people that try and review a beer, the more accurate the representation of that beer’s quality will be. I do understand some people’s displeasure about certain world class beers now being banished from the list, (most notably Westvleteren 12) but all in all it just seems like a much better system.
Perhaps this will also help with some of the issues caused by “white whales.” I have no doubt that people will still line up for Younger, Dark Lord and Kate the Great, but hopefully they will now be sought after more for their taste and not just for someone to say they ticked a top 100 beer.
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