My thoughts on news from elsewhere…

  • Quit the winein’ and cheese it up! Cheese and beer are a match made in heaven, and Serious Eats isn’t just confirming it, they’re offering up thoughtful pairings that work together. Read on for their recommendations—you never know the right beer with the right cheese may make you like a beer you never thought you’d enjoy or a cheese you never thought you could handle… now can you handle that?
    If you’re extra curious, take it to the next level: There are creative cream-creations out there that incorporate beer right into the mix like Grafton Village Cheese Company‘s cave-aged Truckle, washed in Otter Creek‘s Stovepipe Porter.
    Cheese and Beer Go Together Better
    By Martin Johnson
    Serious Eats, December 28, 2010
    That said, you can’t just pair any cheese with any beer and expect bliss. You need to consider the flavors in what you’re drinking and what you’re eating. Here’s a primer on pairings that work…
  • Uh, in stark contrast to my last Press Pint… some recent failed fit-ness shed light on my lack of “successful” physical activity of late (a few too many 12-oz curls, har har… but, really.) I’ve always been pretty active and have never been a fan of dieting. But I do let my busy schedule get in the way of “actual” how-you-say “exercise” …and eventually the results become more noticeable (ie too much huff-puff up a hill… a steep one, but still, not like the good ol’ days). Anyway, my point: it IS possible to stay healthy and keep enjoying good beer, you just have to do it to it, and it doesn’t hurt to throw a few veggies in every now and then, right? … sobering? Maybe, but it’s nice to get outside.
    Good News, and Bad
    By Realbeer.com
    When an advertising agency, S. H. Benson, conducted market research during the 1920s to find out what people liked about a well known stout and people responded that they felt good when they drank the stout, the slogan “Guinness is Good for You” was born…
  • Beer and food go together like… beer and food (or peas and carrots, whatever). And lesser-known, though growing in popularity, is the practice of pairing beer with food the way we do wine… beer is perfect in that its natural acidity helps the mouth balance the flavors of the food. But what if you had beer and food…. combined (oh, and FRIED, yeah.)? Sounds pretty good to me, as long as there isn’t that “pizza-bites effect” where the inside bursts out and scalds your mouth, ruining eating for the next week. ouch.
    Deep-fried beer invented in Texas
    By Nick Allen
    Telegraph , August 31, 2010
    The beer is placed inside a pocket of salty, pretzel-like dough and then dunked in oil at 375 degrees for about 20 seconds, a short enough time for the confection to remain alcoholic.
  • Today is “Mustache Day” at Dogfish Head Brewery, how fun is that? One of my very earliet beer memories is of my sister and I as kids—pint-sized if you will (I will)—giddily urging our dad to “make a mustache,” which he would do using the frothy head of his freshly poured beer as it clung to his own, real mustache. For some unknown reason this was consistently a tremendous hit with Becca and me…
    Mustache Day At Dogfish Head
    August 27th is a pretty important day!
    There are many reasons why, but here are a few that stand out…While all these items are important and fascinating, perhaps the most wonderful thing about Friday, August 27th is that it is MUSTACHE DAY at Dogfish Head Craft Brewery. It’ll be all mustaches, all day — grow a mustache, bring a mustache, bring a pic of you when you once had a mustache, even wear a fake one…
  • Like I wrote in my inaugural post about Yuengling, I think the mentality of a brewer says a ton about the brewery’s status as  “craft brewer.” Yuengling‘s still got it and so does Sam Adams. Any great brewery that helps the world realize the promise of microbreweries is a good thing for this industry–so I guess this is growing up.
    Small Brewer Outgrowing Label
    By Abby Goodnough
    The New York Times    , June 8, 2010
    In a world where Nabisco sells “artisan” Wheat Thins, the designation of Samuel Adams as a craft beer seems perfectly fair.
  • I love Guinness… so much so that I donned a beak and tailfeathers in honor of the stately stout this Halloween. But interesting facts that fall by the wayside when people discuss this dark draft: it has less calories than many light beers, less alcohol than its fellow brews, and, as it turns out, fits snugly in line with the current antioxidant craze.
    Is Guinness Really Good for You?
    By Lisa Bramen
    The Smithsonian: Food & Think     , March 17, 2009
    There is some good health-related news on the Irish front: You know those charming old Guinness beer ads that proclaim it to be good for you? Turns out, they might be right—though not for the reasons originally thought.
  • I’ve had my share of  homebrew intrigue, but a severe lack of storage (let alone prep) space has held me back. Thank you Brooklyn Brew Shop for providing a solution for all us apartment-dwelling wannabe beeristas.
    Quitting Their Jobs to Focus on Beer
    By Jennifer 8. Lee
    The New York Times    , September 22, 2009
    Stephen Valand and Erica Shea started the Brooklyn Brew Shop earlier this year, selling gallon brewing kits sized for New York apartments.
  • I don’t drink much water. I should, but I don’t. Good thing beer is about 90% water, right? And good thing these Portland, Oregon, brewers took control of their water!
    Holy Water
    By Brian Barker
    Portland Monthly    , October 2009
    Portland brewers rally to save their craft’s most sacred resource.
    If Jesus had been a Portlander, he might well have chosen to turn water into beer. After all, a big reason Stumptown is the nation’s Holy Land for microbrewing stems from our superior water, courtesy of the Bull Run watershed.
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