There have been a lot of changes made by the Brewers Association this year. At the beginning of the year, the BA announced changes they made to their designation of “small” in its definition of a “craft brewer” and just recently, the BA announced changes made to the Great American Beer Festival in that they’ve expanded their competition to include U.S. Territories. What was once strictly limited to the 50 states of the U.S., breweries located in the unincorporated, organized U.S. Territories of Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands will now be eligible to enter the GABF.
I think this is great and hopefully it will encourage brewers in those areas to step up and make a name for themselves. I’ll be watching closely and I can’t wait until one of them brings home a medal!
Washington has a state bird, a state gem, a state dance, even a state fossil, so what about a state beverage? Nope, no official state beverage. One woman, State Representative Barbara Bailey, is looking to change that. At the request of high school students in her district, Bailey sponsored House Bill 1715 which aims to make coffee the official state beverage of Washington.
The idea may seem strange, but if the bill passes, Washington will join 29 other states who rep an official state beverage, ranging from Kool-Aid to tomato juice. I must say I like where Alabama and California’s heads are at, with their state beverages being Conecuh Ridge Whiskey and wine, respectively.
But I find myself asking the question if coffee is the best representation of Washington? Seattle has been on the map for coffee ever since Starbucks opened their first location in 1971, but none of the coffee is grown in Washington. With 60% of the United State’s apple production coming from Washington, why not apple juice? With approximately 75% of the United State’s hop production coming from Washington, why not beer?
An excerpt from House Bill 1715:
The legislature finds that Washington is well known as the espresso capital of the country. The coffee industry is a vital part of the Washington state economy that provides jobs and morning motivation for many state citizens.
Morning motivation – I like that. Best of luck Washingtonians.
The Super Bowl has come and it has gone. With it are a ton of insanely expensive commercials that aired during the big game that people will talk about for a week before forgetting about them. We’ve compiled all of the beverage commercials for your viewing pleasure. If some people had things their way, there would be no alcohol commercials during the Super Bowl. Free The Bowl, put on by the alcohol-hating Marin Institute, held a contest for people to make anti-alcohol videos to raise awareness that alcohol commercials target kids and make them drink more. The winning submission is the last video posted below.
POTUS Obama is into beer and I am into that. We first saw this with the Beer Summit in 2009 and we’re seeing this again now as the White House just introduced White House Honey Ale. Brewed for the President’s Super Bowl party, White House Honey Ale is a homebrewed beer brewed by one of the White House chefs and was made using a pound of honey from the White House beehive.
White House Honey Ale wasn’t the only beer on hand. The White House ordered three cases of craft beer from Hinterland Brewery of Green Bay, WI and Yuengling of Pottsville, PA to represent and pay homage to the two competing teams.
Now I just need to track myself down a bottle, I think it would go nicely next to my rocks glass that belonged to President Bush and somehow ended up in my possession…
$77,000. That’s a lot of dollars. It’s also the winning bid for a 237-year-old bottle of wine. The vin jaune (French for “yellow wine”) was purchased by Swiss aficionado Pierre Chevrier on behalf of an amateur wine group. The late harvest Savagnin grapes were harvested by Anatoile Vercel under King Louis XVI and it would then pass through eight generations of the Marmier family in eastern France, where the bottle sat patiently in a cellar. The bottle was only expected to go for $13,500-22,000 but it reached an incredible $77,000.
There are a lot of laws regulating alcohol. A lot. With that, most of them aim to have the safety and well-being of the people first and foremost. However, others are nothing but archaic and outdated laws that are somehow still held in place by special interest groups that will spark protest and cry “won’t somebody please think of the children!” at the first mention of people wanting to join the 21st century. This brings us to Georgia, one of three states that forbids the sale of off-premise alcohol on Sundays. Having quickly passed through committee with a 5-1 vote, Bill 10 which lets communities decide rather than the state is now headed to the senate where it will be voted on and hopefully passed into law.
The irony, to me, is that consumers can still drink at on-site locations such as bars, restaurants and stadiums. So one can’t purchase a six pack of beer on Sunday and head home just in time to catch their Atlanta Falcons lay the smack down in the safety of their own home, but one can go to a bar and drink all day watching the game and hopefully be sober enough to drive home at the end? That’s not to say that everyone who enjoys a beer at a bar on Sunday in Georgia is getting drunk, but if there was to be a concern with the safety of the public with alcohol related incidents on Sundays, it would seem less likely with those drinking in the privacy of their own home. Seems a bit backwards to me. Or is it more than just that? Jerry Luquire, President of the Georgia Christian Coalition said “Sunday is a special day, whether it’s because of religion or tradition or habit, we just want to keep it this way as much as we can.”
I’ve visited Georgia a few times as a very good friend of mine is from there and thankfully this law didn’t affect me as I planned ahead and purchased more than I could possibly drink in one night on a Saturday evening, but for those that don’t plan ahead, they’re stuck without a drink.
I don’t know what should be more concerning, the fact that the EPA has decided it should regulate toxic substances in tap water, or that the move is “reversing a Bush-era decision” according to the LA Times.
In the LA Times article:
The Environmental Protection Agency took steps Wednesday to curb toxic substances in drinking water, including perchlorate, a chemical thought to threaten the thyroid gland that has contaminated hundreds of public water wells, mostly in California.The agency also moved to set standards for 16 other substances that can invade water supplies and impair human health.
Research by the Food and Drug Administration, among others, found perchlorate contamination in food and water in 45 states, and a small study in the Boston area found perchlorate in the breast milk of nursing mothers.
In the past, industrial users of perchlorate commonly dumped it into unlined pits, from which it leached into groundwater, scientists say. The most heavily affected areas have been Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, Orange and Sacramento counties. California law requires that perchlorate levels be below 6 parts per billion. It was unclear what the federal limit would be. Late last year, a contaminated well in Barstow had a level of 100 parts per billion.
Sounds serious, right? Well not that serious, as the process of regulating perchlorate levels could take up to two years. Drink up that breast milk Boston babies.
Ladies, stumped on what to get your man for Valentine’s Day? Sam Adams and FromYouFlowers.com have teamed up to create the ultimate beer themed basket that will make things simple on your end and will be sure to please him. Sadly, there is no beer in the basket but there is enough of other awesome things to keep him busy. Exclusively available through FromYouFlowers.com, the Samuel Adams “Hoppy Valentines” basket includes:
· 2- Samuel Adams Perfect Pint Glasses
· 2- Samuel Adams Key Chain / Bottle Openers
· 6 oz. Bavarian Noble Hops Flower Buds in a Collectible Glass Hexagon Jar
· Green & Black Maya Gold Organic Dark Chocolate
· 8 oz. Glacier Ridge Smoked Gouda
· 8 oz. Columbus Salame, Butcher Wrap
· 1.5 oz. Jack Allen Sour Dough Rounds
· 2.0 oz. Jack Allen California Pistachios
· 1.8 oz. Jack Allen Chocolate Dipped Truffle Cookies
· 1.5 oz. J&A Fruit & Nut Mix
· Stainless Steel Cheese Knife
· Blue Presentation Tray 17 x 11.5 x 2.5
Retailing for $46, the Samuel Adams “Hoppy Valentines” basket can be purchased on the FromYouFlowers.com website.
