Beer in the news

[canuck]

I had this beer at Brewer's Bash and really loved it! Hopefully Premier will be bringing it in once it's available at the LCBO.

http://www.canadianbeernews.com/2013/09 ... ming-soon/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[BobbyOK]

Sam Adams Creator Becomes Billionaire as Craft Beer Rises

Armed with a family recipe and a flair for marketing, C. James “Jim” Koch popularized craft beer in the U.S. and turned Boston Beer Co. into the second-largest American-owned brewery. It also made him a billionaire, as frothy sales of his flagship Samuel Adams brand helped Boston Beer shares double in the past year and reach a record high Friday.

Craft beer such as Sam Adams has been a bright spot in an otherwise stale U.S. beer market. Total American beer sales fell 2 percent in the first half of 2013, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, while the craft brew segment grew 15 percent. Boston Beer’s sales increased more than 17 percent during the period.

“What he has done is amazing,” said David Geary, president of D.L. Geary Brewing, a craft brewer in Portland, Maine, he co-founded in 1983. “He’s very focused, a brilliant marketer and he sort of taught us all how to sell beer.”

Through a combination of in-person proselytizing and folksy TV ads, Koch created widespread awareness in the 1980s and 1990s that there was more to beer than what the major U.S. brewers and European imports were offering.

Consumers have flocked to Boston Beer’s 70-plus offerings, including its most popular seller, Boston Lager, to small batch specialty brews, such as Norse Legend, a Finnish-style sahti that Vikings drank. The demand has sent Boston Beer shares up ten-fold since mid-2009, propelling Koch’s net worth above $1 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He has never appeared on an international wealth ranking.

Niche Market

“Having watched my stock price go up and down and up, it seems almost whimsical,” Koch, 64, said in a telephone interview. “I remind people getting rich is life’s great booby prize. Any normal person would much rather be happy than rich.”

Selling craft beer has made Koch both. This week, Koch will travel to Los Angeles and Maine, where he will go bar-to-bar trying to persuade beverage managers to carry Sam Adams, something he has done since he started brewing beer in his Newton, Massachusetts, kitchen in 1984.

“Because this was something started out of passion, I’ve been able to sustain 30 years of growing the business with all the ups and downs,” Koch said.

‘Better Product’

Craft beer continues to require such hands-on sales calls. The segment occupies a niche in the $54 billion U.S. beer market, with about 6.5 percent market share, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Together, Belgium-based Anheuser-Busch InBev NV (ABI), which sells more than 200 brands including Budweiser and Beck’s, and MillerCoors LLC, a 70-brand joint venture of London-based SABMiller Plc (SAB) and Denver-based Molson Coors Brewing Co. (TAP), control about 80 percent of the U.S. beer market.

[pet lion]

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/0 ... prfacebook" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Why Aren't There More People Of Color In Craft Brewing?

by Alastair Bland
September 10, 2013 9:37 AM

Michael Ferguson, of the BJ's Restaurants group, is one of only a small handful of African-Americans who make beer for a living.

Michael Ferguson sometimes jokingly refers to himself among colleagues as "the other black brewer."

That's because , Ferguson of the BJ's Restaurants group, is one of only a small handful of African-Americans who make beer for a living. Latinos and Asian Americans are scarce within the brewing community, too.

"For the most part, you've got a bunch of white guys with beards making beer," says Yiga Miyashiro, a Japanese-American brewer with Saint Archer Brewery in San Diego.

Sure, there are prominent exceptions — like Garrett Oliver, the brewmaster at Brooklyn Brewery, and Celeste and Khouri Beatty, the owners and operators of Harlem Brewing Company. There are a few others, too — but that's out of more than 2,600 breweries nationwide.

So how did American craft brewing end up so lacking in diversity?

It's a puzzle, agrees Wall Street Journal beer reviewer and author William Bostwick, who is now working on a global history of beer to be titled "The Brewer's Tale." He says that virtually every culture in the world's human history has made alcoholic beverages.

"It's one of the few things that all cultures share, so why it's now dominated here in the U.S., and maybe in Europe and Australia, by white males is something I can't explain," Bostwick says.

Frederick Douglass Opie, a food historian at Babson College, says that cultures in western and central Africa have "a long history of artisan brewing." People of the region, he says, made beer from sorghum and millet, as well as palm wine – which, he says, was considered by some a luxury product.

"So, why that discontinues in America after the Atlantic slave trade, I don't know," Opie says. Blacks, he notes, often made moonshine liquor and bootleg beer in the 1920s and '30s. But these days, they're all but absent from the craft beer scene. "It could be that beer is like a lot of things in the food industry which, as they grow popular, become very hip, yuppie and white."

Looking at the nation's community of homebrewers also sheds light on the matter, says brewer Jeremy Marshall, of Lagunitas Brewing Company.

"Craft brewing is rooted in homebrewing," Marshall says. "And if you look at homebrewing, you see nerdy white guys playing Dungeons and Dragons and living in their mom's basement, and I know this because I was and am one of them."

Duke Geren, of the Portland, Ore., homebrewing shop F.H. Steinbart, says his shop's customer base is primarily white. People of other races and ethnicities – particularly the area's Ethiopian community — do purchase brewing supplies from the store, he notes. "But we don't see this moving up into the commercial level," Geren says.

In 2011, Andres Araya opened 5 Rabbit Cerveceria in Chicago, which he says is the first Latin American-themed brewery in the United States. Araya says most American craft beers pay homage to the European nations that brought beer to America — especially Germany and England. Each of Araya's beers, though, is made using an ingredient from Central or South America.

Araya, who has worked in Mexico's beer industry, says that "homebrewing doesn't really exist in Latin America." And when Latin Americans immigrate into the United States, Araya says, very few start brewing beer.

But a few, at least, do.

Near Napa, Calif., Carneros Brewing Company is owned and operated by a Mexican-American family. The brewery opened this summer and makes, among other brews, a wheat beer playfully named "Jefeweizen." ("Jefe," in which the "j" is pronounced like an "h" sound, is Spanish for boss.) Co-owner Amelia Ceja told The Salt that her company is one of three Latino-owned breweries in the country. (The Brewers Association, a Boulder-based trade group, doesn't keep statistics on the ethnicity or race of people in the industry and could not confirm this claim.)

Ferguson at BJ's — who hosted the first episode in a new television series called "Beer Geeks" this weekend — believes the lack of color in the brewing industry reflects a simple cultural preference: "It seems to me that craft beer isn't a catch phrase among the black population."

With 1,600 yet-to-be-opened breweries now in their planning stages, according to the Brewers Association, perhaps the ethnic void in the beer world will begin to fill out.

But for now, Ferguson says, "we are an incredible minority."

"It's mostly just me and Garrett Oliver," he says, somewhat jokingly. "He really is like the Tiger Woods of brewing."

[mr x]

Should the B.C. government get out of liquor retailing?

An important policy review is under way in British Columbia, with significance for all businesses in the bar, restaurant and liquor sales industries.

The mandate is to consider all aspects of liquor policy – including control and distribution – and to provide recommendations to will help create a licensing system that does the following:

The recommendations must ensure that government revenue is maintained or increased, that health and social harms caused by liquor are minimized, that economic and social interests are balanced with public safety, and that the public interest of British Columbians is protected.

Yes, many of these principles contradict each other.

The last major review of B.C.’s liquor laws occurred in 1999, partly in response to Planet Hollywood’s failure to get a liquor licence at its then-flagship Vancouver location because it had too many TV screens. That review led to the relaxation of many rules, in particular the requirement that patrons had to order food with a drink in a restaurant holding lounge. Many B.C. restaurants are now essentially bars, and it hasn’t led to a proportionately higher level of alcoholism or drunk driving convictions compared with other provinces.

Nor has it led to the to the zombie apocalypse.

The B.C. government has sent more than 10,000 letters to liquor licence holders for their input and scheduled to go live this month is a website where members of the public can provide their input.

The province’s liquor laws are often referred to as “draconian,” “byzantine” and “antiquated,” and a lot of them have their roots in the prohibition era. Even the B.C. government has described the laws as inefficient and outdated. “Right now, some of B.C.’s liquor laws go back many years,” Attorney General and Minister of Justice Suzanne Anton said when the review was announced.

“In concert with industry and citizens, we are looking to make practical and responsible changes which promote consumer convenience and economic growth in the province, with a strong eye to maintaining public safety and protecting the health of our citizens. ... Once the public consultation process begins in September, British Columbians can let us know how they would like to see B.C.’s liquor laws reformed.”

The review will be lead by Parliamentary Secretary for Liquor Policy Reform John Yap. But reform won’t be easy because many of the stakeholders are nervous about change. For example, the Union of B.C. Municipalities (UBCM) has expressed concerns about changes that don’t involve the interests of local governments because of the impact those changes can have on neighbourhoods and community events.

“Local governments have used ... zoning and business licensing powers to ensure that neighbourhood concerns such as noise, parking and nuisance issues are minimized,” the UBCM states. “UBCM would like to see these measures maintained going forward.”

There are a few related issues that deserve attention and input from the bar and restaurant industry and from members of the public. The first is that B.C. has among the highest liquor prices of any jurisdiction in North America. But unlike any other industry in the world, where a business would receive wholesale pricing based on volume purchases, bars and restaurants are required to pay the same amount as liquor store patrons and they receive no volume discounts, even though they resell the products.

This is one of the problems the B.C. Restaurant and Foodservices Association has raised. That and the industry’s inability to buy product directly from private suppliers.

We have a mixed system in B.C., where 670 private liquor stores – which are mostly small and medium-sized businesses licensed to sell liquor at retail – compete with 197 B.C. government liquor stores. More than 40 per cent of all retail liquor sales in B.C. are generated by sales through private liquor stores. Government stores pay their unionized shelf stockers and cashiers as much as $23 an hour, plus an estimated $8 an hour in pensions and benefits. Private stores are more market driven, and they pay $12.50 an hour for, in essence, a job that involves stocking shelves and operating cash tills.

A question that needs to be addressed is this: Should the government be in the retail sale of alcohol at all, or should it be left to the private sector, with the government acting as a distributor, importer, buying group and regulator?

If the distribution and sale of liquor is essentially a tax collection function, could the provincial government earn more revenue for health education and social services if it got out of retail but stayed in the distribution business?

Acting as a buying group to obtain better pricing is the elephant in the room. Even though the B.C. Liquor Distribution Board (LDB) is the third largest buying group in the world, it doesn’t act like one. It doesn’t aggressively negotiate with liquor suppliers for the best prices possible, or for volume rebates the way Wal-Mart or Costco do.

It actually tells suppliers of certain products to charge more, not less. In part, it’s because of something called social reference pricing (SRP). The policy is that if the price for alcohol is high, people will drink more responsibly and they will consume less. However, if SRP worked in practice, California – where the price of wine is much lower – would have very high levels of alcoholism, and B.C. – with some of the highest alcohol pricing in the world – would be a province of teetotalers.

That isn't the case.

Mark Hicken is a wine lawyer in Vancouver who produces a liquor industry newsletter called winelaw.ca. He has reservations about the LDB acting as a wholesaler and negotiating on price. “I'm not sure that they would be very good at it,” he says.

“I think it would be better if they simply acted as tax collector ... which is really what they are doing now, except that it may be the world's least efficient tax collection system ... it costs the provincial government $300-million to raise $900-million in revenue from liquor sales.”

The consultation process is expected to be completed by Oct. 31, 2013, with a report produced by Nov. 25.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-o ... e14198026/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[benwedge]

Should the B.C. government get out of liquor retailing?

The consultation process is expected to be completed by Oct. 31, 2013, with a report produced by Nov. 25.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-o ... e14198026/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

That is a really long way of saying "yes."

[mr x]

Should the B.C. government get out of liquor retailing?

An important policy review is under way in British Columbia, with significance for all businesses in the bar, restaurant and liquor sales industries.

The mandate is to consider all aspects of liquor policy – including control and distribution – and to provide recommendations to will help create a licensing system that does the following:

The recommendations must ensure that government revenue is maintained or increased, that health and social harms caused by liquor are minimized, that economic and social interests are balanced with public safety, and that the public interest of British Columbians is protected.

Yes, many of these principles contradict each other.

The last major review of B.C.’s liquor laws occurred in 1999, partly in response to Planet Hollywood’s failure to get a liquor licence at its then-flagship Vancouver location because it had too many TV screens. That review led to the relaxation of many rules, in particular the requirement that patrons had to order food with a drink in a restaurant holding lounge. Many B.C. restaurants are now essentially bars, and it hasn’t led to a proportionately higher level of alcoholism or drunk driving convictions compared with other provinces.

Nor has it led to the to the zombie apocalypse.

The B.C. government has sent more than 10,000 letters to liquor licence holders for their input and scheduled to go live this month is a website where members of the public can provide their input.

The province’s liquor laws are often referred to as “draconian,” “byzantine” and “antiquated,” and a lot of them have their roots in the prohibition era. Even the B.C. government has described the laws as inefficient and outdated. “Right now, some of B.C.’s liquor laws go back many years,” Attorney General and Minister of Justice Suzanne Anton said when the review was announced.

“In concert with industry and citizens, we are looking to make practical and responsible changes which promote consumer convenience and economic growth in the province, with a strong eye to maintaining public safety and protecting the health of our citizens. ... Once the public consultation process begins in September, British Columbians can let us know how they would like to see B.C.’s liquor laws reformed.”

The review will be lead by Parliamentary Secretary for Liquor Policy Reform John Yap. But reform won’t be easy because many of the stakeholders are nervous about change. For example, the Union of B.C. Municipalities (UBCM) has expressed concerns about changes that don’t involve the interests of local governments because of the impact those changes can have on neighbourhoods and community events.

“Local governments have used ... zoning and business licensing powers to ensure that neighbourhood concerns such as noise, parking and nuisance issues are minimized,” the UBCM states. “UBCM would like to see these measures maintained going forward.”

There are a few related issues that deserve attention and input from the bar and restaurant industry and from members of the public. The first is that B.C. has among the highest liquor prices of any jurisdiction in North America. But unlike any other industry in the world, where a business would receive wholesale pricing based on volume purchases, bars and restaurants are required to pay the same amount as liquor store patrons and they receive no volume discounts, even though they resell the products.

This is one of the problems the B.C. Restaurant and Foodservices Association has raised. That and the industry’s inability to buy product directly from private suppliers.

We have a mixed system in B.C., where 670 private liquor stores – which are mostly small and medium-sized businesses licensed to sell liquor at retail – compete with 197 B.C. government liquor stores. More than 40 per cent of all retail liquor sales in B.C. are generated by sales through private liquor stores. Government stores pay their unionized shelf stockers and cashiers as much as $23 an hour, plus an estimated $8 an hour in pensions and benefits. Private stores are more market driven, and they pay $12.50 an hour for, in essence, a job that involves stocking shelves and operating cash tills.

A question that needs to be addressed is this: Should the government be in the retail sale of alcohol at all, or should it be left to the private sector, with the government acting as a distributor, importer, buying group and regulator?

If the distribution and sale of liquor is essentially a tax collection function, could the provincial government earn more revenue for health education and social services if it got out of retail but stayed in the distribution business?

Acting as a buying group to obtain better pricing is the elephant in the room. Even though the B.C. Liquor Distribution Board (LDB) is the third largest buying group in the world, it doesn’t act like one. It doesn’t aggressively negotiate with liquor suppliers for the best prices possible, or for volume rebates the way Wal-Mart or Costco do.

It actually tells suppliers of certain products to charge more, not less. In part, it’s because of something called social reference pricing (SRP). The policy is that if the price for alcohol is high, people will drink more responsibly and they will consume less. However, if SRP worked in practice, California – where the price of wine is much lower – would have very high levels of alcoholism, and B.C. – with some of the highest alcohol pricing in the world – would be a province of teetotalers.

That isn't the case.

Mark Hicken is a wine lawyer in Vancouver who produces a liquor industry newsletter called winelaw.ca. He has reservations about the LDB acting as a wholesaler and negotiating on price. “I'm not sure that they would be very good at it,” he says.

“I think it would be better if they simply acted as tax collector ... which is really what they are doing now, except that it may be the world's least efficient tax collection system ... it costs the provincial government $300-million to raise $900-million in revenue from liquor sales.”

The consultation process is expected to be completed by Oct. 31, 2013, with a report produced by Nov. 25.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-o ... e14198026/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[mr x]

Not sure about this move....

http://www.thecoast.ca/RestaurantandBar ... r-goes-big" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

HFX Sports Bar & Grill goes big

Now that hearts have healed from the loss of longtime nightclub The Palace (1721 Brunswick Street), brotherly business partners Michel and Marcel Khoury are ready to reveal what’s been a two million dollar secret. That’d be HFX Sports Bar & Grill, the mammoth sports bar/lounge/restaurant hybrid that’ll move in to the downtown space this fall.

“We noticed that the business has changed quite a bit from the old days,” says Marcel Khoury, who’s family has ran the former Palace and The Alehouse since 1987. “Not as many students coming out, numbers heading downtown not the same. Trends, demographics and even habits have changed.”

The inconsistency of the Palace’s crowd was its demise in the end, forcing it to close suddenly in April. “We want to be in this for the long haul,” says Marcel. “It’s the business we know. We want a seven-nights-a-week business, like The Alehouse.”

And that’s why they’ve invested that two million in HFX Sports Bar & Grill, a bright new space inspired by the place the Khoury brothers have seen in their travels, and their own vision—a softened version of the typical sports bar.

“We’re blessed to have in this location,” says Marcel of the 11,000 square foot space that neighbours the Metro Centre, home of the Halifax Mooseheads and Rainmen. The bar’s main feature will be a wall of in 16 LED panels, flanked by even more LED screens, for maximum sport enjoying. And you’ll barely have the opportunity to miss a point with 90-plus other screens throughout the venue, bathrooms, stairwells and booths included. A curtain wall will also be installed along the Brunswick Street wall, lighting up the long-time dark room and giving patrons a view of the busy stretch below.

While the emphasis is definitely on the sports fans, the Khourys want HFX Sports’ comfortable, welcoming space to appeal to a wider crowd—from families to after-work wine— with its glitzier lounge vibe, upscale but mid-priced pub food, a private lounge for rent and an attached sports apparel shop.

Marcel Khoury says he's not trying to compete with the city's other popular sports pubs, which is why he and his brother have aimed to make HFX Sports something the city hasn't seen.

"A vibrant city needs a vibrant downtown," he says, with high hopes for October for an opening date.

[mr x]

Police can’t grab Barrie brewery after grow-op bust
Judge rules that Molson plant, secretly converted to grow marijuana, can't be handed to law enforcement after raid.

A Newmarket judge has ruled the former Molson Brewery property in Barrie belongs to its owner, and not police.

In October 2010, the province put a restraining order on the 35-acre property in an attempt to seize is under proceeds of crime legislation.

Back in January 2004, police found 30,000 marijuana plants in the former brewery, with beer vats used as hydroponic greenhouses. The street value of the drugs was $30 million.

Several people were charged with drug production offences and they later pleaded guilty.

The former Molson brewery in Barrie, after it stopped making beer, discreetly became a grow op, unbeknownst to the countless drivers who passed by it daily on Highway 400. zoom

In 2009, the OPP launched Project Birmingham to find the leaders behind what was, at the time, Canada’s largest grow op. Twelve people were charged with being involved in a criminal organization and production of marijuana, and police put a banner on the Molson Brewery site to let the public know its $10.75-million listing was being put on hold.

After more than two years in court, property owner Fercan Developments Inc. won its battle to keep the property Wednesday.

“The judge — after this lengthy hearing — found there was no merit whatsoever,” said Greenspan.

“He accepted completely the evidence of Mr. DeRosa, that he was a straightforward and honest businessman, and he had no knowledge of what was taking place.”

Greenspan said he “felt very strongly” about the Crown putting his client through more than 35 days of a hearing and at an “enormous personal expense” despite it had no evidence to support its contention DeRosa knew what was going on.

“They were trying to send a message to an innocent person? There’s no message to be sent when you cause a disruption in a person’s life, huge legal fees and all sorts of problems in terms of their schedule and getting on with their daily business,” he said.

Greenspan said it’s unusual in a criminal case for legal costs to be awarded, but he intends to an application to recoup his client's legal fees.

As for the property, off Barrie’s Fairview Road just north of Park Place, Greenspan said there are a few outstanding litigation matters and it won’t be back up for sale immediately.

Ringleaders of the operation eluded police for years. Arrests finally came in 2010, including Robert Derosa, 51, whom a judge called “one of the controlling minds” of the grow op after he was apprehended in Cuba. Derosa was sentenced in 2011 to seven years in prison.

http://www.thestar.com/news/crime/2013/ ... _bust.html#" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[pet lion]

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/0 ... n-your-gut" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Auto-Brewery Syndrome: Apparently, You Can Make Beer In Your Gut

by Michaeleen Doucleff
September 17, 2013 4:10 PM

Most of us prefer drinking fermented beverages,€” not producing them in our gut.

This medical case may give a whole new meaning to the phrase "beer gut."

A 61-year-old man — with a history of home-brewing — stumbled into a Texas emergency room complaining of dizziness. Nurses ran a Breathalyzer test. And sure enough, the man's blood alcohol concentration was a whopping 0.37 percent, or almost five times the legal limit for driving in Texas.

There was just one hitch: The man said that he hadn't touched a drop of alcohol that day.

"He would get drunk out of the blue — on a Sunday morning after being at church, or really, just anytime," says Barbara Cordell, the dean of nursing at Panola College in Carthage, Texas. "His wife was so dismayed about it that she even bought a Breathalyzer."

Other medical professionals chalked up the man's problem to "closet drinking." But Cordell and Dr. Justin McCarthy, a gastroenterologist in Lubbock, wanted to figure out what was really going on.

So the team searched the man's belongings for liquor and then isolated him in a hospital room for 24 hours. Throughout the day, he ate carbohydrate-rich foods, and the doctors periodically checked his blood for alcohol. At one point, it rose 0.12 percent.

Eventually, McCarthy and Cordell pinpointed the culprit: an overabundance of brewer's yeast in his gut.

That's right, folks. According to Cordell and McCarthy, the man's intestinal tract was acting like his own internal brewery.

The patient had an infection with Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Cordell says. So when he ate or drank a bunch of starch — a bagel, pasta or even a soda — the yeast fermented the sugars into ethanol, and he would get drunk. Essentially, he was brewing beer in his own gut. Cordell and McCarthy reported the case of "auto-brewery syndrome" a few months ago in the International Journal of Clinical Medicine.

When we first read the case study, we were more than a little skeptical. It sounded crazy, a phenomenon akin to spontaneous combustion. I mean, come on: Could a person's gut really generate that much ethanol?

Brewer's yeast is in a whole host of foods, including breads, wine and, of course, beer (hence, the name). The critters usually don't do any harm. They just flow right through us. Some people even take Saccharomyces as a probiotic supplement.

But it turns out that in rare cases, the yeasty beasts can indeed take up long-term residency in the gut and possibly cause problems, says Dr. Joseph Heitman, a microbiologist at Duke University.

"Researchers have shown unequivocally that Saccharomyces can grow in the intestinal tract," Heitman tells The Salt. "But it's still unclear whether it's associated with any disease" — or whether it could make someone drunk from the gut up.

We dug around the scant literature on auto-brewery syndrome and uncovered a handful of cases similar to the one in Texas. Some reports in Japan date back to the 1970s. In most instances, the infections occurred after a person took antibiotics — which can wipe out the bacteria in the gut, making room for fungi like yeast to flourish — or had another illness that suppresses their immune system.

Still, such case reports remain extremely rare. Heitman says he had never heard of auto-brewery syndrome until we called him up. "It sounds interesting," he says. But he's also cautious.

"The problem with a case report," he notes, "is that it's just one person. It's not a controlled clinical study."

[brufrog]

The new East Coast Living has my "round up" of new craft breweries. Of course it is already out of date, which is a testament to the exciting scene we are developing. You can see the article's opening pic here on my FB site: https://www.facebook.com/Craig.Pinhey.FrogsPad" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[derek]

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/0 ... -gut[quote]
Auto-Brewery Syndrome: Apparently, You Can Make Beer In Your Gut

[/quote]

Damn! You beat me to it.

Police can’t grab Barrie brewery after grow-op bust

I sure wish that article had made some attempt to determine what, if any, relationship there was between Vince DeRosa (owner of the property) and Robert Derosa (convicted of masterminding the grow-op). It seems to defy coincidence that they wouldn't be related, despite the tiny difference in the spelling.

[mr x]

Apparently there are 3 brewers talking about the explosion in craft beer tomorrow on cbc radio one, maritime morning I think.

[NASH]

Apparently there are 3 brewers talking about the explosion in craft beer tomorrow on cbc radio one, maritime morning I think.

I'm going to take a jab at it; Kevin, John, and Jeremy

[brufrog]

And why might you say, that, Greg? I don't things are exploding at the Granite Brewery at the moment.

[mr x]

I just can't imagine a media moment on beer in Nova Scotia without Titus.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4

[mr x]

Maybe this story is Friday. Don conolly did the promo spots yesterday, but for some idiotic reason, didn't repeat the date at the end. I assumed it was today, but maybe not...

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4

[mr x]

Sorry, it is on, just after the 8am news.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4

[mr x]

Apparently there are 3 brewers talking about the explosion in craft beer tomorrow on cbc radio one, maritime morning I think.

I'm going to take a jab at it; Kevin, John, and Jeremy

hahahahaha

Did they ask you?

[LeafMan66_67]

I think Nash had a little bit of insider info on that one! Also wondering how long ago it was recorded.

[mr x]

It was good to hear Kevin describe the hops production in NS is proper terms - gardens.

[brufrog]

One man's garden is another's orchard (field?)

[NASH]

Apparently there are 3 brewers talking about the explosion in craft beer tomorrow on cbc radio one, maritime morning I think.

I'm going to take a jab at it; Kevin, John, and Jeremy

hahahahaha

Did they ask you?

No, Jeremy was in last Tuesday when he was in town for it

[jherbin]

It was good to hear Kevin describe the hops production in NS is proper terms - gardens.

Some farms in NS have a couple of acres in at this point, think 1200+ plants each. There's a farm in NB with 13 acres. As someone who hates all those dangerous cleaning chemicals, I thought you'd appreciate the moderate scale of small, a spray-free hop field. I much prefer it to the 'convetional' monoculture of Washington/Oregon, where they chemically defoliate their hops and chemically fertilize/constantly till the soil. As more breweries get on board, local hop production will continue to ramp up.

[mr x]

Oh, I do appreciate the effort, but in reality, there are a lot of people with gross misperceptions of the viability. I still haven't seen one that doesn't run off free labour. Also, this was twice tried on this coast, and the results were failures. Not to say that will happen again, but I see the money in packaged beer, not so much the ingredients.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4

[jherbin]

The money is in the packaged beer in the end, but people are starting to realize that beer is an agricultural product, and will support products they believe are most in line with their values - many brewers and consumers are willing to pay more for local products to get an industry off the ground. If they mobilize that hop harvester that's in malagash now (170 plants per hour, its supposed to pick), that will make for a lot more efficient farms in the area. New industries will develop with hard work and persistence, not abject skepticism.