Misc News – Aug 25

Cumberland Brewery came to the Indiana Microbrewers Festival and have put up a small slideshow.

The HBG's 3rd anniversary party had a personal video from Sam Calagione.

Rodney gives an excellent review the Rock Bottom Brewer's Dinner. Excellent dinner and an excellent review. Oysters Rockefeller with Happy Pils. Ummmm.

All about NABC's Beak's Best American Bitter and Elector Imperial Red Ale.

Great Fermentations in Indy has three offers for you.

• Aug 24 – Sept 15 is their annual Bulk Grain Sale. 2-row pale/50lbs/$36. Maris Otter/55lbs/$62. Castle Pale/55lbs/$55. Etc. See their website starting tomorrow for a full list and order form.
• They also annually contract for a blend of apple ciders specific for fermentation. Get your airlocks ready and order by Oct 6th for an Oct 10th pickup. $6/gallon.
• The really neat news is the offer of a carboy trade-in. Upgrade your clean 5-gallon glass carboy for a brand new 6-gallon one for only $10.

Patrick's Kitchen in Zionsville gets ink in the Indy Star.

There's lots coming up through September (and there's much more on the Calendar):

• Sat, Aug 29 - Alefest, Dayton, OH.
• Sat, Aug 29 - Brew at the Zoo, Louisville. 4-9pm. $40/$50.
• Sat, Aug 29 - NA 1 Night Stand. A pub crawl through New Albany. 3pm-midnight.
• Fri, Sept 4 - Lambic by the Glass at RichO's.
• Fri, Sept 4 - Brew Ha-Ha, Cincinnati. Fri 5-12, Sat 4-12. Starring JJ Walker and Victoria Jackson.
• Sat, Sept 5 - Crown Liquors, Noblesville. Beer Bash to Battle Cancer. Noon-4pm. $20/$25.
• Sat, Sept 5 - Power House / Columbus Bar IPA Fest starts. IPA's throughout the month.
• Sat, Sept 12 - Zoo Brew - Potawatomi Park, South Bend. 7-10pm. $25-$35.
• Sat, Sept 12 - Batesville Oktoberfest. Lil' Charlies.
• Sat, Sept 12 - Hillbilly Haiku American Music Festival. Upland. Bloomington.
• Mon, Sept 14 - Lil' Charlies Grand Opening of the Brewery.
• Thurs, Sept 17 - Tapping of Rocktoberfest. Both Indy Rock Bottoms, 6pm.
• Fri, Sept 18 - Mad Anthony Golf Outing, Auburn.
• Sat, Sept 19 - Mad Anthony's Octoberfest. Fort Wayne. 2-6pm $25.
• Thurs, Sept 24 - Sandwerka starts at RichO's. Celebration of all beers Bamburg.
• Thurs, Sept 24 - Great American Beer Festival, Denver. Sept 24 – 27. Barley Island, Brugge, Mad Anthony, Rock Bottom, Sun King, Three Floyds, and Upland  and 443 other breweries will be pouring.
• Thurs, Sept 24 - Indy Whisky & Fine Spirits Expo. hundreds of Scotch, bourbon, and other whiskies. For Pink Ribbon. Vine & Table. At Montage. 6:30pm-9pm. $50/$75VIP. Reservation needed.
• Sat, Sept 26 - Cystic Fibrosis 10th Annual Festiv-Ale 3-7pm. Opti-Park, 820 E 66th St. $40/$50.
• Mon, Sept 28 - Granite City tapping of Oktoberfest. Buffet for Mug Club members.

Beer terms that sound bad part 1. Flocculation, dry hopping, and more.

Brooklyn’s bacon brew.

The Advertising Standards Authority in Britain has banned a Axe the Beer Tax Ad by the British Beer & Pub Association because it is inaccurate. Turns out the tax is more like 39%. "the BBPA will certainly make this clear in any future advert we do." article

European numbers are off. From the BelgianShop:

"Beer sales across West Europe fell by more than 4% in the first half of 2009 – the equivalent of 580 million litres, leading beverage research agency Canadean’s Quarterly Beverage Tracker informs.
According to experts, beer sales have been hit hard as consumers across the region tighten their purse strings by shunning bars, pubs and restaurants. ‘Cocooning’ a term not used since the downturn of the early 1990’s has been resurrected to describe the trend for drinkers to stay at home to entertain family and friends rather than eat out or go to a bar to socialise.
In some markets smoking bans and increased duty have contributed to amplify the level of abstinence. Nowhere is this best illustrated than the Netherlands where an excise duty increase and a smoking ban in cafes has triggered a considerable 9% decline in beer sales in the first half of 2009.
Beer in particular has been unable to capitalise on any switch from on to off premise; people drink less beer when they do not go out so regularly, analysts claim.
The third quarter is the most influential on commercial beverage sales and the performance in July, August and September will dictate the overall performance of the year. Hot temperatures in July and August or an Indian summer in September could make the volume performance more respectable.
Beer sales are predicted to end the year 3% down, Canadean advised."

Here's a prediction by the Associated Press that "Anheuser-Busch, maker of Bud Light and Budweiser, and MillerCoors, maker of Blue Moon and Miller Light, both say they're going to raise prices. But neither brewer would say how big the increases would be." article In other news, August will be followed by September this year.