I’ve had a couple people say to me that I should bottle and sell some of the homebrewed beer I’ve mixed up over the past couple years. And, while hearing that always makes me smile from ear to ear, there’s always the little things to think about: licensing, production, marketing, distribution, financials… yikes… I’m fine doing it up one case at a time, thank you.
But, the guys at Samuel Adams are here to make that dream happen with the Longshot - American Homebrew Contest. Each Spring, a couple of lucky homebrewers actually get to see their beer on liquor store shelves from coast-to-coast, without having to worry about all the stuff it takes to make that happen.
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I haven’t written much about Belgium-based InBev’s efforts to buy Anheuser-Busch over the past couple of weeks because it involved staggering numbers that made my head spin ($52,000,000,000?), was being talked about in every major newspaper and, quite frankly, I didn’t think it’d actually happen. I mean, what drinks are more American than Budweiser? You’ve got Coke, Pepsi and… and… yeah, that’s about it. Budweiser, as much as I hate to admit it, is the American beer and I never imagined it’d be anything other than that.
Well, you can imagine my surprise when I heard the news this morning that InBev had finally convinced the Anheuser-Busch board to turn over the keys to a foreign company. The Clydesdales, the Budweiser Frogs, the Real Men of Genius, those annoying Wazzzzuuupp guys and even the Clydesdale Donkey are now officially foreigners as another piece of America is sold to the highest bidder.
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$50 in 2008 doesn’t go nearly as far as it used to. Hell, I can’t even fill up my Jeep Liberty for fifty bucks, but apparently I can become part-owner of a new brewing company.
That’s the plan for BeerBankroll.com, which my friend James sent my way the other day. They’re looking to combine “crowd funding” with brewery ownership to “create an online community for beer lovers to share their ideas and at the same time create a brewing company.”
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FOXNews.com is reporting that the New Jersey shore town of Belmar has made it easier to tap a keg and flip someone off.
Apparently, Belmar enacted a “beer keg tagging law” last year, requiring beer kegs to have the name, address and phone number of the person renting them. The idea is that if minors are found drinking from a keg, police will be able to know who to charge with providing alcohol to minors. About a dozen other states currently require keg tagging, according to the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
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Sure, it may cost you $25 to check that second bag the next time you fly Delta, but at least $6 for a Leinenkugel’s Sunset Wheat won’t seem so bad then! Yes, you hear that correctly, Delta will soon be serving up craft beer for passengers on all flights worldwide. It’s one of four beers the airline is offering, but Leinies is the only craft beer on the menu. (Can’t seem to find a list of the other three, but I’m guessing they’re the usual suspects.)
“Delta is committed to providing its customers with choice and an onboard experience that is both stylish and entertaining,” said Jake Frank, Delta’s managing director of Global Product Development and Delivery. “Offering customers a premium craft beer like Leinenkugel’s Sunset Wheat complements our product strategy and the other enhancements we’ve recently added for our customers - including signature cocktails and food created by celebrity chefs.”
No word on whether or not the stewardesses will be providing orange slices, but I’ll gladly drink it with or without the garnish at 30,000 feet.
If you’ve read the blog for a while, you know that I’m a big fan of Sunset Wheat. It’s brewed in small, batches and is a a year-round beer featuring a slightly fruity and citrus character complemented with coriander. It is brewed with a combination of malted wheat and pale barley malt, cluster hops and natural flavors and checks in at 4.9 percent alcohol by volume (ABV).
