Beer in the news

[cagiva650]

Microbreweries not a pint-sized industry anymore

"Not only does he see consumer tastes evolving toward craft beers, but he also notes the new breed of entrepreneurs who open breweries do it out of passion."

"They say, 'I'm going to open a brewery,' and they're excited about the idea of opening a brewery. And so they go and they make it happen."


http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/ ... -1.3114370

[cagiva650]

This is interesting. An all Nova Scotia beer can't be too far away.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scot ... -1.3163193

[donking]

Nice!

[chicanuck]

Maine Brewer Flavors Beer with Live Lobsters

SEAFOODNEWS.COM [Bangor Daily News] By Dan MacLeod - July 23, 2015 -

This is the Maineiest beer ever.

Oxbow Brewing uses live lobsters and sea salt in the production of its limited edition Saison Dell'Aragosta beer.

During the brewing process, the lobsters are placed in a mesh bag and boiled in a kettle of wort, which is basically beer that hasn't been fermented, brewmaster Tim Adams said.

The lobsters were eaten after they were used to brew the beer, which has 4.5 percent alcohol by volume. The brew has a "subtle brininess and sweetness," according to an AP story.

There are two reviews for Oxbow's Saison Dell'Aragosta on Beer Advocate, including this very specific take on how the beer tastes:

"Pour is pale yellow, light haze, fizzy white head that dissipates quickly. Nose is leathery brett, off firecracker/gun powder, a bit salty, very different. Flavor follows suit with a bit more lemony sweetness. Same burnt sulfur note, light leather, light carb, soft body, salty finish."

Another reviewer noted that the beer "finishes with some salinity and a hint of the lobster. Sounds obvious but this is the perfect summer beer to pair with seafood. Really well done."

Beer and lobster are a classic pairing --but most commonly beer is used in preparation of the lobster, not the other way around.

[mr x]

There's a headline on allnovascotia.com about a brew pub closing for now.

?

[Celiacbrew]

There's a headline on allnovascotia.com about a brew pub closing for now.

?

It's Rogues Roost, they haven't found a new location to move to yet. The website doesn't let you copy/paste or else I would post the article up.

[GAM]

Sept 13 I was told is the last day.

S

[mthibodeau]

http://www.metronews.ca/life/food/2015/ ... money.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Keith]

Cost is lower based in ingredients. But when you take into consideration large investments into high end gear it's far more expensive than picking up a dozen per week. Only thing driving my investment is my passion for the craft.

[mthibodeau]

passion for the craft and variety is probably the reason most of us do this

[Broob]

Saving money is how you justify it to the wife.

[Keith]

Saving money is how you justify it to the wife.

No way I can justify what I have in my basement as saving money haha. She knows all to well I dropped some cash. I justify it as "I quit smoking, this is what I do with my smoking money". She can't argue with that while she is out lighting up.

[Jimmy]

Yeah...can't say I've really saved money by homebrewing.

With that being said, you can definitely get into a decent setup for pretty cheap - no need for high end equipment to brew good beer.

[Keith]

Yeah...can't say I've really saved money by homebrewing.

With that being said, you can definitely get into a decent setup for pretty cheap - no need for high end equipment to brew good beer.

That is true. I was setup and brewing descent beer for a few hundred.... But that was just the beginning.

[LeafMan66_67]

Cost is lower based in ingredients. But when you take into consideration large investments into high end gear it's far more expensive than picking up a dozen per week. Only thing driving my investment is my passion for the craft.

Think of it this way - for example, let's say you have a couple beer on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. So, we'll go with 6 craft beer per week, and for argument sake, let's go with 500ml bottles, at $4 each so you can also have a good variety. $24/week, 52 weeks / year is $1248.00 for one person for beer for one year. Personally, even with upgrades, equipment changeover, etc. Including my kegerator, 10 kegs, 10G brew setup, multiple chillers, filters, carboys, hoses and even a custom 2 tap jockey box, I'm in for less than $2500 equipment over the past 6 years. Over 6 years, that's $420 per year for equipment. I brew, on average, once a month with an average cost of $45, based on six 20L batches and six 40L batches, with ingredients water, cleaners, sanitizers and propane taken into account, yielding 342L finished in kegs for $540. So, $960/year for 342L vs $1248/year for 156L works out to $1.40 per 500ml serving, with lots left over to share with your significant other and friends and still almost $290 less per year.

[Keith]

Cost is lower based in ingredients. But when you take into consideration large investments into high end gear it's far more expensive than picking up a dozen per week. Only thing driving my investment is my passion for the craft.

Think of it this way - for example, let's say you have a couple beer on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. So, we'll go with 6 craft beer per week, and for argument sake, let's go with 500ml bottles, at $4 each so you can also have a good variety. $24/week, 52 weeks / year is $1248.00 for one person for beer for one year. Personally, even with upgrades, equipment changeover, etc. Including my kegerator, 10 kegs, 10G brew setup, multiple chillers, filters, carboys, hoses and even a custom 2 tap jockey box, I'm in for less than $2500 equipment over the past 6 years. Over 6 years, that's $420 per year for equipment. I brew, on average, once a month with an average cost of $45, based on six 20L batches and six 40L batches, with ingredients water, cleaners, sanitizers and propane taken into account, yielding 342L finished in kegs for $540. So, $960/year for 342L vs $1248/year for 156L works out to $1.40 per 500ml serving, with lots left over to share with your significant other and friends and still almost $290 less per year.

Won't disagree that overtime it will pay for itself. However taking the step to go all grain and get some luxury items short term isn't easy on the pocket. Can definitely add up quickly. However once I get the setup where I want it, I'll just have to pay for ingredients and let this the gear pay for itself.

[John G]

I originally got into homebrewing to fill the gap of beer style availability in the early 90's in Halifax (it was a very big gap, more like a canyon actually). Exotic beer then was going to Henry house for a bitter - the only place in town with craft beer (actually, that was probably the only place in Atlantic Canada with craft beer). I brewed up an Irish Stout with a buddy while in 3rd year university - never had anything like it before and was curious. It turned out ok (as ok as a can of malt and a kilo of sugar can) and it sparked my interest in what was really out there for beer that we could not get in Halifax. At the time, friends of the family and neighbours back home in rural NS were into brewing for economy. They brewed cheap crap beer and were happy to pay less than for a case of crap from the liquor store. I can still recall seeing a fermenting bucket of malt and sugar being kept next to the wood stove to make it crank out a finished "product" in a few days. All of these people with whom I still keep in touch with are not brewing anymore, but I still am.

All this to say that my reason for brewing has nothing to do with saving money, although if it happens, great. But I don't really care if it does. Besides, even though it's cheaper to produce than what I can buy, I give away so much that I doubt I'm really saving anything. Plus, I still buy good craft beer and I do not mind paying more for it (as long as it's good, right Nash?).

[NASH]

I originally got into homebrewing to fill the gap of beer style availability in the early 90's in Halifax (it was a very big gap, more like a canyon actually). Exotic beer then was going to Henry house for a bitter - the only place in town with craft beer (actually, that was probably the only place in Atlantic Canada with craft beer). I brewed up an Irish Stout with a buddy while in 3rd year university - never had anything like it before and was curious. It turned out ok (as ok as a can of malt and a kilo of sugar can) and it sparked my interest in what was really out there for beer that we could not get in Halifax. At the time, friends of the family and neighbours back home in rural NS were into brewing for economy. They brewed cheap crap beer and were happy to pay less than for a case of crap from the liquor store. I can still recall seeing a fermenting bucket of malt and sugar being kept next to the wood stove to make it crank out a finished "product" in a few days. All of these people with whom I still keep in touch with are not brewing anymore, but I still am.

All this to say that my reason for brewing has nothing to do with saving money, although if it happens, great. But I don't really care if it does. Besides, even though it's cheaper to produce than what I can buy, I give away so much that I doubt I'm really saving anything. Plus, I still buy good craft beer and I do not mind paying more for it (as long as it's good, right Nash?).

That's right.

[McGruff]

I don't save my yeast and I have to buy water, so my costs are slightly higher per bottle. I am still saving over $100 everytime I make beer. I brew 13 gallons at a time and usually end up with 10 gallons of finished brew. I do participate in the grain bulk buys here in Ontario and buy hops in bulk if available.

[amartin]

I did originally get into to save money, and while that's not my reason for doing it anymore, I'm still spending a lot less than if I had to buy all of my beer through the NSLC. Per bottle costs are probably $0.40 - 0.50 for most regular non IPA beers, although I'm saving a lot through the group buys and reusing yeast. I'm probably $1,500 - $2,000 or so into my equipment after 10 years, and I'm probably spending $300-400/year on maintenance and upgrades, most recent being a 5L flask from Dave for my new stir plate.

[mr x]

http://news.nationalpost.com/news/world ... raft-alive" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Toni]

Interesting move by Heineken.

http://www.theheinekencompany.com/media ... 09/1950299" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[jeffsmith]

Interesting move by Heineken.

http://www.theheinekencompany.com/media ... 09/1950299" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The one good thing this may mean is wider distribution for Lagunitas. Would be great to be able to pick it up at the NSLC like we can now with a few Goose Island products.

[mr x]

Anheuser-Busch buys L.A. craft beer favorite Golden Road Brewing

http://www.latimes.com/food/dailydish/l ... story.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[mr x]

Bier Markt is opening in NFLD in about 6 months.