Well, the Alabama Brewery Modernization Act has failed to pass. Having made it through the State Senate, it got bogged down in the House and never even came up for a vote. The Alabama State Legislature is only required to meet for 30 days during the year and the session wrapped up last week…so the bill won’t be back on the table until next year. To say the political process here is a joke would be an insult to humor. It would be one thing if a bill I supported was voted down by the Legislature. It would be frustrating, but I’ve been on the losing end of votes before (witness both “elections” of W the Idiot-Prince). But it’s a whole ‘nother level of irritation when a bill you support gets chewed up and spit out by the crippling impotence* of the Alabama political machine. For the most part, this was a bill designed simply to create jobs and bring dollars into Alabama which has the most restrictive brewery/brewpub laws in the country. Craft brewing is big business these days and Alabama is woefully behind every other state (except good ol’ Mississippi which always brings up the rear). The bill would have allowed Alabama to catch up a bit, start a craft brewing revolution, and bring a new industry and new jobs to the state. Instead, it’s another year of waiting, shaking our heads in disgust, searching on real estate websites for a new house in a more progressive state, and drinking away our frustrations. Read the rest of this entry »
STELLAR SEXTET OF SOPHISTICATED SUDS SURREPTITIOUSLY SIPPED TO SUPPRESS STATE SENATE SNUB SORROWS
April 29, 2010
9 Comments | 
Brews in the News, Tasting Notes | Tagged: Alabama, Avery, Bam Noire, Belgian IPA, Biere de Garde, Brewery Modernization Act, Capt'n Krunkles, Dubbel, Farmhouse, Highland, IPA, Jolly Pumpkin, Monk's Revenge, Oro de Calabaza, Quad, Seven Sisters, Terrapin, The Reverend, Wifey McHops | 
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Posted by Barley McHops
FINEST ALEHOUSE: CHICAGO
April 29, 2010
Ah, Chi-Town. The Windy City. Beirut by the Lake. Paris on the Prairie. City of the Big Shoulders. Hog Butcher for the World. The name “Chicago” is the French version of the Miami-Illinois word skikaakwa, meaning “Stinky Onion.” Whether the name referred to the wild Allium that grew along the banks of the Chicago River, or to what would, on day, be the subtle aroma of a warm Dos Equis remains an unresolved historical debate. Several years later, however, in 1833, William Lill & Co. founded the first commercial brewery in America, thereby paving the way for a Northwestern Kallipolis bathed in sudsy goodness.
But trouble was a-brewing! On April 21, 1855, the Lager Beer Riot, Chicago’s very first civil disturbance, erupted when Mayor Levi Boone proposed a new city ordinance intended to close taverns on Sundays, raise the cost of liquor licenses from $50 to $300, and lower the liquor license validation from one year to three months. The move, perpetrated by the Know-Nothings, a charming assembly of anti-immigrant, anti-Catholic nativists, was ostensibly designed to oppress Germans and Irish accustomed to sipping an affordable brew on the sabbath. German leaders raised a defense fund to support tavern owners arrested for noncompliance, and a legal test case was scheduled for April 21. A brief, but festive, riot ensued wherein sixty were arrested, one was pronounced dead, and Chicago’s immigrant voters were sufficiently mobilized to defeat the Know-Nothings in the 1856 election. The $50 liquor license was restored. Suds reigned supreme on Sunday. And modern political partisanship in Chicago city elections was born. How do you like them stinky onions?
1 Comment | Alehouses, Polls | Tagged: Chicago | Permalink
Posted by Sudsy von Brüe
KULMBACHER EISBOCK
April 28, 2010
Hello, my name is Ripped, and I’m a hoarder. I’m not one of those crazy people you see on TV with stacks of newspapers dating back to the 50′s and every fortune cookie they’ve ever received stashed in their front hall closet. My problem, if you really want to call it a problem (I know you, you’ll want to call it a problem) is that I must hold onto beers that have any chance of getting better with time. Most devoted Aleheads will hold onto a couple of bottle-conditioned treasures in the hopes that the beer will blow their minds a couple years down the road. Whether it’s J.W. Lees Harvest Ale (All dated with vintage years), Thomas Hardy, Brooklyn Monster, or Stone’s Vertical Epic, there are a slew of beers on the market that can stand the test of time if you can resist the temptation to crack em’ open. This shouldn’t be a foreign concept considering that the entire wine industry depends on the ability to lay vintages down for years in the hopes that the tightness and tannins of a young wine will improve with age. With beer though, it’s generally up to the consumer to decide if a brew is worth laying down in your basement for a few years. One peek in the dark corner of my basement, the area that stays at a constant temperature throughout the year, will show you exactly how bad my problem is. Read the rest of this entry »
4 Comments | Beer Culture, Tasting Notes | Tagged: Cellar, Eisbock, Germany, Kulmbacher | Permalink
Posted by Ripped Van Drinkale
FINEST ALEHOUSE: WASHINGTON DC
April 28, 2010
Ah, The District. Capitol City. News Capital of the World. James Madison, writing in Federalist No. 43 under the pseudonym Publius, argued that our nation’s capital should be distinct from the separate states in order to provide for its own maintenance and safety. The legislatures of Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Virginia all offered to cede land for the establishment of a national capital, but President George Washington chose a site along the Potomac River because it yielded ample space for the erection of large monuments. And erections they were. The aluminum tip of the Washington Monument was placed in 1884 prompting generations of twenty-something Hill staffers to gleefully exclaim: “Huzzah! It looks like Florida!” Thirty nine years later, the Association Against the Prohibition Amendment formed in the interest of repealing the Eighteenth Amendment, and, in 1933, the intersection of Washington D.C. erections, twenty-something Hill staffers, and beer was finally codified into law.
2 Comments | Alehouses, Polls | Tagged: Washington DC | Permalink
Posted by Sudsy von Brüe
THE LEAST INTERESTING MAN IN THE WORLD
April 27, 2010
Just saw another in the long line of Most Interesting Man in the World ads and thought a rebuttal was necessary…
I am not the most interesting man in the world. I’m fairly certain of that. My dogs sometimes get bored and walk away when I’m talking to them and even Wifey McHops tends to zone out when I speak. But I’d like to think that if I was…if I was as rich, popular, fascinating, and worldly as the grizzled actor who plays the Most Interesting Man in the World supposedly is…I would drink pretty much anything BUT Dos Equis. If I had access to a private plane, supermodels, a Scrooge McDuck-esque money bin, and lots of leisure time…I would drink prestige beers, cellar-aged Imperial Stouts, dusty English old ales, cobwebbed Belgian Darks, and oak-aged Triple IPAs. The one thing I would not drink is a watery, pathetic lager made in some Mexican swill factory. Granted, Dos Equis’ label says it’s a “Special Lager”…and that is sort of true. It’s “special” in that it should be forced to ride the short bus to school and wear a helmet. Read the rest of this entry »
8 Comments | Beer Marketing | Tagged: Commercials, Dos Equis, Mexican Beer | Permalink
Posted by Barley McHops
FROM SERVICEABLE TO SUBLIME (TO SLUMBERING)
April 27, 2010
Baby McHops turned 1 over the weekend. I celebrated in true Alehead style by over-indulging in beer. This is my standard response to most milestone events (weddings, birthdays, funerals, Tuesdays). In my defense, I at least waited until all the babies had vacated the premises or had toddled off to their respective cribs for night-night time. That left just us adults (though some of us are adults in name only). When the wives decided to grab sushi and left their husbands/boyfriends alone with a fridge full of high-gravity beer…let’s just say all bets were off. One member of our party threw up on my hydrangeas (not me), one sang at the top of his lungs to a televised concert (not me), one spilled beer all over the couch (definitely me), and one passed out at 9pm despite the fact that there were still guests present (100% me). Read the rest of this entry »
7 Comments | Tasting Notes | Tagged: 2 Turtle Doves, Alt, American Strong Ale, Breakfast Stout, Christmas Beer, Founders, GestAlt, Haverhill, KBS, Old Viscosity, Port, The Bruery | Permalink
Posted by Barley McHops
FINEST ALEHOUSE: NEW YORK
April 27, 2010
Ah, New Amsterdam. The City That Never Sleeps. The Big Apple. A city so nice they named it twice, notwithstanding its truly, embarrassingly brutal baseball program. We jest! We jest because we love. Baroness von Brue herself hails from Gotham, and that’s saying something. If shoebox-sized real estate and all the social warmth of an afternoon colonoscopy is your thing, you won’t find a better city. Anywhere. And New York boasts some terrific alehouses to boot! Indeed, New York’s relationship with the sudsy science goes back to 1612, when it was the only American city that claimed three flourishing commercial breweries. Native son George Ehret, a German who immigrated in 1857, was responsible for one of America’s first mega-breweries with an annual production at the end of the 19th century totaling 600,000 barrels. Jake Ruppert would follow in his footsteps. Was their beer any good? Nobody seems to remember. And that, dear friends, is New York in a nutshell.
1 Comment | Alehouses, Best/Worst, Polls | Tagged: New York | Permalink
Posted by Sudsy von Brüe
FINEST ALEHOUSE: BOSTON
April 26, 2010
Ah, Boston: The Cradle of Liberty. The Athens of America. The City of Champions. In addition to this noble city’s role in the founding of America, Boston, notwithstanding (and to a certain extend, on account of) its Puritan past, also stands tall as one of the most historic beer cities in the New World. Following an arduous journey aboard the Mayflower, a now-forgotten Pilgrim drafted these notable words in December, 1620: “We could not now take time for further search or consideration, our victuals being much spent, especially our beere… and get me the fuck off of this bloody rock!” (n.b. sketchy data from the era leaves the last clause of the aforementioned statement subject to some disagreement among historians.) In 1634 the Puritans established the New World’s first public house, thereby paving the way for Jim Koch, a sixth-generation brewer, to launch the Boston Beer Co. and the craft brew renaissance in 1984.
Also, in 2004 the Red Sox swept the Yankees in the ALCS and went on to sweep the World Series. It was the greatest come-from-behind victory in the history of the world. Just saying.
11 Comments | Alehouses, Best/Worst, Polls | Tagged: Boston | Permalink
Posted by Sudsy von Brüe
I WENT TO AN ALEHOUSE THAT I USED TO FREQUENT
April 26, 2010
This week the Aleheads tackle that most omnipresent of conundrums: What is the finest venue for tom-sudsery, sophisticated quaffing, and, of course, plain ol’ American boozing in all the live long land? Or, more specifically, your land. We’ll poll our reader(s) daily on major cities across the U.S. of A, tally up the results at week’s end, and announce a winner. Let the results reflect a venue that a young Max Dupain might have visited for a fleeting taste of his Australian home… A place that might have appeared amongst the pages of Papa’s prose… A temple of gustatory excess where furry hobbits might have sung of green dragons… An Alehead alma mater. Let the great debate commence!
Spoiler alert! It’s The Hopleaf in Chicago, Illinois, but we’ll let you have your fun nevertheless.
11 Comments | Alehouses, Best/Worst, Polls | Permalink
Posted by Sudsy von Brüe
PRETTY THINGS ONCE UPON A TIME
April 25, 2010
We’ve gushed effusively about the myriad quirky pleasures of Dann Paquette’s Pretty Things Beer and Ale Project in the past. ALL THE PRETTY THINGS. Yet Baroness Brue, an inquiring mind noble, nimble, and subject to a contract intended in its origin to endure till the death of her daft counterpart, desires further explication: Is Paquette’s bid for Ale-verse domination Dr. Evil-esque in its pop culture reference (see, e.g., The Alan Parsons Project) or does Pretty Things, indeed, transcend the temporal plane of malt and barley into a transcendental omnisphere of esoteric brewing bliss? (n.b. she may have phrased the question differently). To address this quandary, I sampled Once Upon A Time… London XXXX Mild Ale, a faithful reincarnation of a beer originally brewed on Brick Lane, London, on February 27th, 1832 and the first historical recreation by Pretty Things. Read the rest of this entry »
5 Comments | Ale Factories, Tasting Notes | Tagged: Campaign for Real Ale, Dann Paquette, Mild Ale, Once Upon A Time, Pretty Things Beer and Ale Project, The Alan Parsons Project | Permalink
Posted by Sudsy von Brüe
NORTH COAST CRU D’OR
April 24, 2010
Craft beers have a great deal of appeal for the “locavore” movement. Who doesn’t enjoy bellying up to the bar in a strange city and ordering the local ale? It’s usually freshest when closest to the source and since each region has different “tastes”, it can give you a sense of the people and culture inherent to the area in which you’re drinking. Aleheads, in general, are a responsible, ecological lot…whether we intend to be or not. By eschewing the mass-produced domestics like Bud and Miller, we are (intentionally or unintentionally) choosing not to support corporations that rape the land via massive “conventional” farms and fossil-fuel guzzling shipping procedures. Sure, Aleheads imbibe a lot of imports (which certainly require some petrol to get to this side of the pond) but the difference in scale is astronomical. This is an utterly unsupported statement, but I firmly believe that if you’re an ardent, hard-drinking Alehead and you stick to craft beers and avoid the big domestics throughout your life, your carbon footprint will be significantly smaller. Read the rest of this entry »
Comments Off | Tasting Notes | Tagged: Dubbel, North Coast, Organic | Permalink
Posted by Barley McHops
SIPPIN’ ON AMERICA’S WANG, LAID BACK…
April 23, 2010
Although this may surprise many of our fellow readers, most of us Aleheads hold day jobs to help pay the bills. Writing for a blog that no one reads doesn’t exactly put food on the table. The good Doctor recently had the misfortune of taking a business trip down to Orlando, and like all trips of this nature, went on a 3 day bender through the Sunshine State. Be sure to BYO(Good)B if you head to Florida, because you’re shit out of luck once you get there. Read the rest of this entry »
4 Comments | Travelogues | Tagged: Florida | Permalink
Posted by Ripped Van Drinkale
TOP 50 BEER NAMES: THE TOP TEN
April 23, 2010
Continuing with our Top 50 Beer Names (for #20-11 Click Here…for #30-21 Click Here…for #40-31 Click Here…for #50-41 Click Here)…
Today’s category is TOP TEN. No unifying thread here…just the best of the best. Read the rest of this entry »
3 Comments | Best/Worst | Permalink
Posted by Barley McHops
TOP 50 BEER NAMES: #20-11
April 22, 2010
Continuing with our Top 50 Beer Names (for #30-21 Click Here…for #40-31 Click Here…for #50-41 Click Here)…
Today’s category is JUST PLAIN GOOFY. These are names that don’t seem to have any relevance to the brew in the bottle but are awesome just the same. OK…I also snuck in a few holdovers from yesterday’s “I Get References!” column, but what do you want from me? My plan for 10 beers in each category wasn’t perfect…my plans seldom are.*
*The intro picture is the label for Big Sky Brewing’s Moose Drool. It was #51 on my list…I felt bad that it didn’t make the cut-off, so I thought I’d throw Big Sky a bone. I’m sure they care. Read the rest of this entry »
6 Comments | Best/Worst | Tagged: Beer Names, Best | Permalink
Posted by Barley McHops
MIKKELLER IT’S ALRIGHT!
April 22, 2010
This will probably be the briefest tasting note I ever write…with good reason.
The Mikkeller It’s Alright! is theoretically a Belgian Wild Ale. This style can be tricky to master at best since the Brettanomyces yeasts used in the process are notoriously fickle. To say that Mikkeller didn’t exactly nail the style would be the understatement of understatements. Read the rest of this entry »
6 Comments | Best/Worst, Tasting Notes | Tagged: Belgian Wild Ale, Bleh, Brettanomyces, Mikkeller | Permalink
Posted by Barley McHops
SO WHAT ARE YOU GUYS DRINKING TONIGHT?
April 21, 2010
6 Comments | What's in Your Fridge? | Permalink
Posted by Slouch Sixpack
TOP 50 BEER NAMES: #30-21
April 21, 2010
Continuing with our Top 50 Beer Names (for #40-31 Click Here…for #50-41 Click Here)…
Today’s category is I GET REFERENCES!. That phrase is used by one of my favorite sites, the AVClub, when discussing TV shows like Family Guy or movies like Date Movie that rely almost exclusively on “references” for their humor. In a film or television show, it’s just lazy writing. But for something as brief as a beer name, where you only have three or four words to work with, the results are often funny. Read the rest of this entry »
4 Comments | Best/Worst | Tagged: Beer Names, Best | Permalink
Posted by Barley McHops
ALEHEADS ATLAS
April 20, 2010
A fellow Alehead recently asked which state in the Union would be the ideal locale for a beer snob such as himself. Obviously, when choosing a home state, there are many more factors to consider other than “how easy is it to procure high-quality beer? (for instance, “how easy is it to procure high-quality bourbon?”). Nevertheless, the question piqued my interest. I suppose the easiest answer (thus the one I’m choosing), is to determine which state has the most breweries per capita. Read the rest of this entry »
8 Comments | Ale Factories, Beer Culture, Best/Worst | Tagged: Best Beer States, Breweries Per Capita | Permalink
Posted by Barley McHops
TOP 50 BEER NAMES: #40-31
April 20, 2010
Continuing with our Top 50 Beer Names (for #50-41 Click Here)…
Today’s category is OOH…CLEVER. These are beer names that make you think a little. They’re not so clever at first blush, but trust me…after 9 or 10 beers, these names seem like absolute genius. Read the rest of this entry »
3 Comments | Best/Worst | Tagged: Beer Names, Best | Permalink
Posted by Barley McHops
HITACHINO NEST ESPRESSO STOUT
April 19, 2010
I recently stumbled upon a cheese store near the Skullsplitter croft that has an extremely diverse beer selection. I spent a lazy Sunday hunting through their selection of fine cheeses and beers, and I came across the Espresso Stout from Kiuchi Brewery. We haven’t dealt much with Japanese breweries here at aleheads.com, so I thought it might be interesting to cross the Pacific for a change. Being a big fan of Kiuchi’s flagship beer, the Hitachino Nest White Ale, I decided to pick up a bottle of the Espresso Stout to try my luck with something new. I was rewarded with an excellent espresso stout and a desire to sample more of the Hitachino Nest beers.
2 Comments | Tasting Notes | Tagged: Hitachino Nest, Japanese beers, Stout, This beer is disrespectful to dirt., What a brave corporate logo. | Permalink
Posted by Magnus Skullsplitter
