Beer History: My Dad Turns 60

The last few weeks on this blog have been focused on Beer History.  Continuing on that trend I would like to discuss my father's old age, 60.  He used to be a Busch guy and then he went onto Bud Light.  From Bud Light he went to American Ale by AB and now loves Sierra Nevada's Pale Ale.  My brother and I have been working to change his taste his horizons are rapidly expanding .

I think Dad owes me $101.93 for this.

What does an obnoxious son do for his father's birthday?  First, I had to drive to Wisconsin to get him a beer he asked for  back in October.  A six pack of Dale's Pale Ale for his office fridge, delivered cold of course.  Secondly, since I just drove about 7 hours to get there, we need food.  I will take him out to lunch at the same bar he has been going to for the last 40 years.  Finally, he gets one heck of a sampler pack including beer from Oskar Blues, Goose Island, New Glarus,  Bell's and others.  To pull this off I have travelled through four states, flattened a tire, and lied to my family all in the name of surprise.  Happy Birthday Old Man.

Tough Topic: Young Adults and AHA

Last week Ray Daniels the founder of the Cicerone program asked for suggestions on how to improve the 21-30 age group participation in the American Homebrewers Association (AHA).  I thought for a few days on this topic and have a few suggestions:

1. Make Yourself Known 
2. College Involvement 
3. Mentorship
4. Anxiety Reduction  

All four are simple on the surface, but I understand they will not be easy to implement or carry out.  Sometimes for big results you need to try harder.

1. Make Yourself Known
This weekend at Night of the Living Ales I saw a guy wearing a t-shirt from a brewing group in a city I lived in for eight years.   I had no clue the organization existed.  If I knew it was there, I would have joined.  While it is in part the individual homebrew clubs job to publicize itself, promotion by AHA would be a good step in the right direction.

2. College Involvement
College involvement may result in quick growth, but comes with its own set of headaches.  Setting up school sanctioned homebrew clubs on college campuses may be met with some resistance from college administrators.  I believe establishing school groups would be a great way to let people know who and what you are.  Additionally, I am a firm believer that we live in a country that does not understand alcohol.  College groups may be able to teach alcohol responsibility.

3. Mentorship
Establishing a mentorship program, while labor intensive to set up and manage, may reap the greatest rewards.  By having new members pair up with a more experienced hombrewer newbies may learn much quicker and make the connection to the craft.  Mentorship could work in a few different ways.  One option would be for the mentor to coach the mentee through his or her first batch.  A better option would be to have a mentee head over to the mentors to brew a batch together.  I would point out that a mentee should not be a free loader and should help pay their own way.  Additionally, I think the pair should meet in a bar ahead of time and discuss what kind of beer they would make and to ensure personality compatibility.  Either way the relationship has to be one both participants are comfortable with.

4. Anxiety Reduction
Finally, AHA and the beer community needs to reduce the anxiety.  All to often I have come to events and had trouble breaking into a clique.  At least for me, that anxiety transfers to a homebrew club.  How can I join a group where I literally have no clue what I am doing?  I personally feel apprehensive to show up at an event where I have no good beer to share, and can not help.  One solution would be to suggest to homebrew clubs or the AHA itself in larger metro areas to host New Brewers Nights.  A mixer/ educational evening or weekend afternoon would allow people a place to come and know they do not need to prove they should be there.

I know some of these suggestions will not be easy to institute and may take some time, but I hope those at AHA take a look at them and give them some consideration.  Craft beer and homebrewing are quickly becoming a force in modern society.  To keep the concept of flavorful beer, made locally going in the right direction we need new brewers.  AHA does some great things, and I feel they have some big goals on the horizon.  I wish them luck.

Bar Alert: Edgewater Update

See the original post here.

I spoke with a  person familiar with The Edgewater Lounge situation.  I was told the restaurant and bar were inspected by the City and given two weeks to shape up or face closure.  They were given a number of small violations to fix.  When the City returned the next week many were fixed and I was told the City found more violations.

Unfortunately, the City being so anxious to take tax dollars has not updated their inspection website since last summer so I have no way of confirming what I was told.  I am taking this story with a grain of salt until I can confirm this.

There is a sign saying they are closed for maintenance and apologizing for the inconvenience.  I am holding out hope the story above is wrong.  I doubt I will ever go back if they can not run a clean ship.  Crossing my fingers that there is not a disgusting explanation.

More information to come when I can get the office Health Department explanation.

Bar Alert: Edgewater Lounge

Hey Northsiders! Edgewater Lounge on N Ashland in Chicago is closed.  Closure was ordered by the Dept of Public Health.  Edgewater is known for their unusually large Rogue selection.  As of now no reason has been publicly disclosed for the closure.  I will update when more information is available.
More information available here.

Event Review: Chicago Craft Beer Week

Last week I talked about American Craft Beer Week, but this week I want to talk about a local event, Chicago Craft Beer Week.  Why do I like Chicago Beer Week?

The first thing I like about Chicago Craft Beer Week is the ownership.  This is our week.  This is the week for our people our town and our beer.

Secondly, the people come.  Each year there seems to be a distribution announcement by another big brewery in Chicago.  Famous brewers also come in and put on dinners and tastings, or randomly just show up in a bar.

You can expect events at brewery in the city and suburbs.  Also, many of the beer bars will likely be holding events paired with local and out of town breweries.  I will try to post updates on some of the better events here, but you should head on over to the Chicago Craft Beer Week website and sign up for email updates.

What else can you expect:

• Passport for sale on April 26 for exclusive events
• iPhone App to guide you also available April 26 (no word on an Android version so may trade phones with Beer Bitch)
• Rumors of Chicago History Museum Events
• 80 participating establishments

#16 of 1001 Brains Dark by S.A. Brain & Company

A few weeks ago I reviewed Brains SA and also discussed the differences between US and UK warning labels.  I specifically requested this beer from London because it is in the book, 1001 Beers You Must Taste Before You Die (1001 (Universe)).  This is the 16th beer in my 1001 beers blogging series.

Brains Dark is known as a mild.  It was popular with blue collar workers throughout the UK until there was a decline in industry in the mid-20th century.  The style has remained popular in some areas such as Cardiff home to the S.A. Brain & Company brewery.  Brains claims the brew is the largest selling dark milk in Wales and was named one of the Top 50 Beers at the International Beer Challenge 2008.

Tasting Notes:
Pours a very dark brown almost black and creates a creamy head.  Aroma of chocolate and roasted malt.  There is slight smokiness mixed with more roasted and chocolate flavors.  The beer is thinner than you would expect, but overall a decent dark mild.

Beer History: Medicine & Health

Beer has played a role in medicine and health since it was invented.  Everyone knows you are supposed to eat your grains daily, and early beer was a source of grain based nutrients.  It is even possible the first beer was consumed like porridge or gruel.  The recipe used by Ancient Egyptians contained tetracycline a powerful antibiotic.  (A cruel twist of fate- this site stole my thunder yesterday.)

It is also important to note the role beer played in preventing illness from E. coli and other bacteria.  People moved into cities and water supplies became contaminated.  The idea of pathogens had not been thought of.  People knew water could make them sick, but beer did not.  What many did not realize is the boil stage of brewing was killing bacteria.  Beer saved thousands if not millions of lives.  Everyone drank beer as it was the only known safe beverage in Europe.

While we do not think of beer as health food today, it was likely more nutritious back then.  Beer today lacks  nutrition and the filters and ingredients used by many brewers likely do not yield the same punch.  However, it is important to remember where beer played a role in history.