Two hundred miles straight up, traveling at 17,000 miles per hour and circumventing the earth over fifteen times a day, is the International Space Station or Sapporo Space Brewing HQ. The largest brewery in Japan has taken brewing to new heights, literally. Sapporo’s, newest concept is beer from barley grown in space. Sapporo has taken the third generation of barley plants that were originally budded on the International Space Station and has enough to create about a hundred bottles of the “Space Brew”. No word yet, when and if it will be available for public consumption, but if it is the zero-g beer should cause quite a stir. To say the least, this technique is pretty far out, but it shows the lengths that brewers are willing to go to push craft brewing to its limits.

I was chatting with some friends down in Pacific Beach yesterday, when it occurred to me that I had it all wrong. I thought Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was going to be this summer’s blockbuster, runaway hit. No. Hell no. Everyone, well more specifically, every girl in the country it seems, is going to be lining up this weekend to be the first to see the hugely anticipated Sex and the City movie.

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I created this mixture out of boredom and, well… we didn’t really have anything else in the office in the order of cocktail ingredients. We only had Skyy Vanilla Vodka and a party keg of Virgil’s Root Beer. While Wine Mutineer, Alan Kropf, watched in horror, I lifted the experiment to my lips. To my pleasant surprise, the concoction actually was a resounding success. Continue Reading »

Wine is an idea very much rooted in tradition and history, so when something new and innovative comes along, it tends to cause a stir. I was stirred this morning when I caught wind of a new kind of cork alternative, called, well, it is actually so new it does not have a name yet (though “the breathing screwcap” is a possibility). The mystery closure was invented by UC Davis Business Graduate student Tim Keller. Tim has also been trained as a winemaker, and has been honing his skills in the field over the last ten years.

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I drink a lot of vodka, so don’t get me wrong.   It has its place.   Lately though, I’ve been exploring cocktails that don’t use vodka.  My  thought behind this is that vodka is really good at one thing: getting  people very drunk, very quickly.  Vodka is defined as a tasteless,  odorless spirit.  So, with exception to the alcohol, it really isn’t adding much to your cocktail.  It’s like alcoholic water, which again,  has its place.  Why not use a spirit that will add complexity and  flavors to your cocktail?  Continue Reading »

By tomorrow we should all be celebrating the success of NASA’s Phoenix Lander, due to set down near Mars’ North Pole in the late afternoon.  Ramp up is set for 4:30pm and the automated landing process is expected to last about an hour.  This marks one more hurdle leaped by NASA, but more importantly lines us up: right on time to discover faster than light travel later this century.  Continue Reading »

Go to the store and pick up Chimay Ale, it is a must try.  Here in Southern California, you can find them at Ralph’s grocery store, which leads me to believe you can find them at any respectable supermarket.  I happened to buy the Chimay Ale White, which is their triple fermented ale. Chimay is one of the largest importers of Belgian Ales, but don’t expect great complexity; only a nice approachable Belgium triple. Make sure you use the correct chalice while drinking this as it does affect the nose, and that affects the taste.  This is an oversized example so that you don’t strain your eyes.  If you don’t have a chalice, then a red wine glass would be the best substitute. 

While you taste think: spice, clove and fruit.

Mutineers do things their own way, and when I heard about Rolling Rock beer’s attempt to advertise on the moon, I was intrigued.  No, they haven’t actually advertised on the moon as of yet, but they have managed (or so they claim) to destroy Mt. Fuji.  They call it “moonvertising” and it involves shining a massive green Rolling Rock logo on the moon.  Rolling Rock has been generous enough to share their pseudo-technology with us to help get the message of Mutineer Magazine out to the world.   (Actually, anyone can get a message on the moon, we just like to feel important).  So cheers to Rolling Rock, and viva the Mutineer!

Go take a look at Rolling Rock’s Moonvertising page, www.moonvertising.com