May 16: Open Source and Beer
If you're gonna try brewing your own beer anytime soon, check out the Open Source Beer Project. If you're just interested in learning about beer recipes or brewing, also read through it. It's a good read.
I came across an article the other day about a brewer located in Weed, California. They were being ordered to stop selling beer with "Try Legal Weed" printed on the bottle caps.
Brewer must stop using 'Legal Weed' bottle caps
Since 1994, there's a federal law against drug references on alcoholic beverages. I had never really considered that there were federal regulations regarding beer labels, but of course it makes sense that there would be. These rules are enforced by an agency: Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, or their acronym, TTB. I guess ATTTB was too much.
Anyways, I was thinking about these laws, and wondered more about them. So, I looked up the homepage of the TTB, and started looking at the TTB Beer Regulations. Naturally, I clicked through to the section labeled 'Beer', and from there, found myself reading the page on barrels and kegs, where I found this:
"on the bung"?
As everyone who's heard of Beavis & Butthead knows, Beavis always wanted "TP for his bung hole."
Turns out that a "bung" is the stopper that keeps the beer in the keg. The bung hole is the opening in the keg that gets tapped, so that beer can flow out.
*The more you know!*
Brewer must stop using 'Legal Weed' bottle caps
Since 1994, there's a federal law against drug references on alcoholic beverages. I had never really considered that there were federal regulations regarding beer labels, but of course it makes sense that there would be. These rules are enforced by an agency: Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, or their acronym, TTB. I guess ATTTB was too much.
Anyways, I was thinking about these laws, and wondered more about them. So, I looked up the homepage of the TTB, and started looking at the TTB Beer Regulations. Naturally, I clicked through to the section labeled 'Beer', and from there, found myself reading the page on barrels and kegs, where I found this:
May be shown as the only location on the bung, or on the tap cover, or on a separate label attached to the keg;
"on the bung"?
As everyone who's heard of Beavis & Butthead knows, Beavis always wanted "TP for his bung hole."
Turns out that a "bung" is the stopper that keeps the beer in the keg. The bung hole is the opening in the keg that gets tapped, so that beer can flow out.
*The more you know!*
April 19: Beer: Now harder (and easier) to get!
There's been talk for months about how beer is getting more expensive. I previously blogged about it too.
Here's an article from the LA Times about the rise in beer prices. It's actually a good read, and it points out that the rise is not just because of the demand for biodiesel, but due to other factors.
For example, during the mid-late 1990s, there was a surplus of beer ingredients due to new, high-volume varieties, and lots of extra acreage. Apparently the barley and hops store very well for long periods of time, and since there wasn't an increase in demand to match the increase in supply, the excess was put into storage. This excess product pushed down prices, and hops/barley farmers actually started going out of business. As with lots of big things, there were a variety of factors leading up to this.
Then, for the good news: Denver, CO is allowing liquor stores to open on Sundays. Previously, 3.2% was the legal limit for sale on Sunday. It doesn't say if it was a.b.w. or a.b.v., but it doesn't matter, since the law is changing. The article doesn't talk about any real opposition to the change, except from the people who used to profit off the 3.2% beer sales, but of course they're unhappy -- they're losing sales!
Dry laws just seem like such an archaic concept anyways. If someone really wants to drink on a Sunday, they'll buy on a Saturday. Screw prohibition. Sure, there's people who get caught up in one thing to the point where it interferes with their lives, but it seems like most of us can moderate ourselves. It's like elementary school where one kid screwed up fun for everyone else.
Here's an article from the LA Times about the rise in beer prices. It's actually a good read, and it points out that the rise is not just because of the demand for biodiesel, but due to other factors.
For example, during the mid-late 1990s, there was a surplus of beer ingredients due to new, high-volume varieties, and lots of extra acreage. Apparently the barley and hops store very well for long periods of time, and since there wasn't an increase in demand to match the increase in supply, the excess was put into storage. This excess product pushed down prices, and hops/barley farmers actually started going out of business. As with lots of big things, there were a variety of factors leading up to this.
Then, for the good news: Denver, CO is allowing liquor stores to open on Sundays. Previously, 3.2% was the legal limit for sale on Sunday. It doesn't say if it was a.b.w. or a.b.v., but it doesn't matter, since the law is changing. The article doesn't talk about any real opposition to the change, except from the people who used to profit off the 3.2% beer sales, but of course they're unhappy -- they're losing sales!
Dry laws just seem like such an archaic concept anyways. If someone really wants to drink on a Sunday, they'll buy on a Saturday. Screw prohibition. Sure, there's people who get caught up in one thing to the point where it interferes with their lives, but it seems like most of us can moderate ourselves. It's like elementary school where one kid screwed up fun for everyone else.
April 16: Hail the Ale
I was at BarCampOrlando and met Chris from Hail the Ale. He was at BarCamp with a shirt telling people to follow him on Twitter, with offers of beer throughout the day. I didn't manage to grab a beer with him, but I liked his site, and I hope to drink with him soon.
Hail the Ale!
Hail the Ale!
April 15: New Beer's Eve!
I haven't posted in a while. It's got nothing to do with laziness, I assure you. :) I've just been waiting for something as awesome as this. Last Monday was the 75th anniversary of beer being legalized after Prohibition. Monday, April 7, 2008.
Back in 1933, after 14 years of no real beer (only .5% alcohol-by-volume), they legalized 3.2% a.b.v. beer. Of course, that's still light, but .5 was a joke.
Oh yes. I'd dance too! I'd grab the first bottle I could, find a cop, and ask him for a bottle opener.
Bonus Fact: Rhode Island was the only state to not ratify the 18th Amendment, which created Prohibition. Go R.I.!
Back in 1933, after 14 years of no real beer (only .5% alcohol-by-volume), they legalized 3.2% a.b.v. beer. Of course, that's still light, but .5 was a joke.
"There was dancing in the streets and lines outside brewery doors ... It was a big date, for sure," Herz said.
Oh yes. I'd dance too! I'd grab the first bottle I could, find a cop, and ask him for a bottle opener.
Bonus Fact: Rhode Island was the only state to not ratify the 18th Amendment, which created Prohibition. Go R.I.!
February 24: Save the world with bottled beer.
Instead of "99 bottles of beer on the wall", here's "99 bottles of beer are the wall".
This next one is a discussion of building a solar water heater out of beer bottles. Maybe these guys should hook up with the beer bottle wall fellas, and build a wall-solar heater.
I wonder if making a beer-bottle wall and filling the bottles with water would act as a temperature buffer. They'd absorb heat during the day, then release their heat at night, helping regulate the temperature without heaters or air conditioning. I remember reading something about how prehistoric man used to sleep in caves because the walls would store heat during the day, then keep them warm at night. Hence the name "cavemen". I don't know if it's historically accurate, but it makes sense from a scientific perspective. It's why places that have a lot of water have narrow temperature ranges, whereas deserts go from 100-degrees in the day to 20-degrees at night.
This next one is a discussion of building a solar water heater out of beer bottles. Maybe these guys should hook up with the beer bottle wall fellas, and build a wall-solar heater.
I wonder if making a beer-bottle wall and filling the bottles with water would act as a temperature buffer. They'd absorb heat during the day, then release their heat at night, helping regulate the temperature without heaters or air conditioning. I remember reading something about how prehistoric man used to sleep in caves because the walls would store heat during the day, then keep them warm at night. Hence the name "cavemen". I don't know if it's historically accurate, but it makes sense from a scientific perspective. It's why places that have a lot of water have narrow temperature ranges, whereas deserts go from 100-degrees in the day to 20-degrees at night.
January 20: Beer Chips
I was walking through Publix today, and found Beer Chips. Pretty straightforward concept: they're potato chips with beer as an ingredient. I was buying some Pete's Wicked Ale, which is quite good (actually tastes like iced tea!), and figured I'd give them a shot.
If you decide to check out their website, be sure to turn off your speakers first. Not only do they have a pointless splash screen, but they also have a "bar background noise" clip playing constantly in the background. It's a pretty cool idea for a website, until you spend more than 10 seconds on the website and realize that it just annoys you. Especially if you're sitting in your living room drinking a beer, which I am, which is specifically *not* at a bar. I don't want to listen to some generic bar noise, I just want to know about your potato chips.
Which are pretty tasty, by the way. They're not the greatest potato chips ever ever, but they do go well with beer. In addition to beer, they also throw some sugar and honey in the mix, so they're kinda like a cracker jack potato chip. Salty, crunchy, and a bit sweet just to mix it up. They're just like a regular potato chip, no sticky crap on them. I guess they dehydrate the beer aspect of things and just flavor it like a regular chip.
The bag in the store was only a 2 oz bag, which is pretty small (it was about a buck fifty). On the website (turn your speakers down!) they will ship you 4 bags which have 9 oz of chips, for $19.99, with free ground shipping to anywhere in the US. I guess that means continental United States. That means not you, Hawaii citizens. That's the price you pay for living in paradise.
One interesting note: they specifically do not ship via air because the potato chips will explode if not in a pressurized area of the plane. Which thinking about it, does make sense. I wonder how long it took them to figure that one out.
Anyways. Try some Beer Chips. And drink Pete's Wicked Ale. It's real nice, real smooth, and yes, it really does have an iced tea flavor to the beer.
If you decide to check out their website, be sure to turn off your speakers first. Not only do they have a pointless splash screen, but they also have a "bar background noise" clip playing constantly in the background. It's a pretty cool idea for a website, until you spend more than 10 seconds on the website and realize that it just annoys you. Especially if you're sitting in your living room drinking a beer, which I am, which is specifically *not* at a bar. I don't want to listen to some generic bar noise, I just want to know about your potato chips.
Which are pretty tasty, by the way. They're not the greatest potato chips ever ever, but they do go well with beer. In addition to beer, they also throw some sugar and honey in the mix, so they're kinda like a cracker jack potato chip. Salty, crunchy, and a bit sweet just to mix it up. They're just like a regular potato chip, no sticky crap on them. I guess they dehydrate the beer aspect of things and just flavor it like a regular chip.
The bag in the store was only a 2 oz bag, which is pretty small (it was about a buck fifty). On the website (turn your speakers down!) they will ship you 4 bags which have 9 oz of chips, for $19.99, with free ground shipping to anywhere in the US. I guess that means continental United States. That means not you, Hawaii citizens. That's the price you pay for living in paradise.
One interesting note: they specifically do not ship via air because the potato chips will explode if not in a pressurized area of the plane. Which thinking about it, does make sense. I wonder how long it took them to figure that one out.
Anyways. Try some Beer Chips. And drink Pete's Wicked Ale. It's real nice, real smooth, and yes, it really does have an iced tea flavor to the beer.
January 17: Beer per person per year
I found a report by Kirin, a Japanese brewer. It breaks down beer consumption per capita for countries around the world. The Czech Republic drinks more beer than any other country, at almost 160 Liters per year, per person. The United States is #13 with 81.6, almost half that of the Czechs.
As pointed out here, this means that the average Czech person drinks more bottled beer than they do bottled water.
Bonus: How not to toast with beer. A truly rare photo.
As pointed out here, this means that the average Czech person drinks more bottled beer than they do bottled water.
Bonus: How not to toast with beer. A truly rare photo.
This is one for Futurama fans. In "The Route of All Evil", Bender brews a beer inside himself, using his torso as a carboy. Brilliant idea. If I had a robot torso, I would brew beer in my torso as well.
So there's this guy named Simon Jansen, who clearly has a lot of spare time. But, it's spare time well-spent. Turns out he's handy with with fiberglass, wood, paint, and electronics. So he built a functional, brewing Bender. Spectacular. This guy researched and paid attention. He made his Bender speak, building a custom voice box using the exact CPU that the show claims Bender was powered by. The level of detail is great, and he documented all of it. Definitely check this out.
Also, from the not-so-sad department: Bootie Beer, a beer organization in Central Florida (Winter Park, near Orlando), has gone out of business. I call them a beer organization because I think they just labeled someone else's beer and added some clever marketing. Never tried it, and I don't miss it.
So there's this guy named Simon Jansen, who clearly has a lot of spare time. But, it's spare time well-spent. Turns out he's handy with with fiberglass, wood, paint, and electronics. So he built a functional, brewing Bender. Spectacular. This guy researched and paid attention. He made his Bender speak, building a custom voice box using the exact CPU that the show claims Bender was powered by. The level of detail is great, and he documented all of it. Definitely check this out.
Also, from the not-so-sad department: Bootie Beer, a beer organization in Central Florida (Winter Park, near Orlando), has gone out of business. I call them a beer organization because I think they just labeled someone else's beer and added some clever marketing. Never tried it, and I don't miss it.
January 14: Take that spambots
Ohh, smack. Got a CAPTCHA hooked up to this blog. That'll keep the comment spam to a minimum.
That or I'll get a better blog. Right now I'm using Nucleus CMS, and it's interesting. I might switch to WordPress. That's what the whole universe uses.
Edit: For anyone who happens to stumble across this page, and is looking for solutions, check this out: http://faq.nucleuscms.org/item/45
How did this not show up faster in Google? For shame, algorithm!
That or I'll get a better blog. Right now I'm using Nucleus CMS, and it's interesting. I might switch to WordPress. That's what the whole universe uses.
Edit: For anyone who happens to stumble across this page, and is looking for solutions, check this out: http://faq.nucleuscms.org/item/45
How did this not show up faster in Google? For shame, algorithm!
