Steel Cans are Todays Twitter Craze

I'm sure by this point many of you tweeters, bloggers, and podcasters who dedicate your life to Malt and Hops have heard about Churchkey Can Co., Adrian Grenier's "craft beer" fallback. If you haven't heard, Grenier and his big wig business partner, a Nike Exec, are in the process of releasing the the first steel-canned beer released in 50 years. Churchkey Pilsner will actually require a churchkey to open it. As cool as many of us probably find the concept, there is a reason why aluminum replaced steel to package foodstuff, namely expense. Sure, the cans are made from recycled steel, but how much of the cost of the product will be because of the package? I also can't help but imagine that because of packaging costs, the company taking funds away from product development, leaving the consumer with an inferior product. I also take issue with a couple of men with money trying to cash in on the current craft beer craze with little to no experience in the industry whatsoever. This is why I don't really consider Bomb Beer as craft. Many of the breweries we know are labors of love to the owners/crafters who put in a shitload of blood, sweat, and tears to be rewarded with the success they know today. Just because you have the cash to hire a brewer to make you a recipe and your packaging is shiny, does this really make the final product "craft"? Thoughts?

The Beer Hunter, Olde English, and Conan

I've been a fan of Michael Jackson's writings for several years now, and it kills me to think i never thought to do a YouTube search of the Beer Hunter(slaps head furiously). I have to thank my fellow GSer Seth Bradley of Foodncraft for urging me to investigate. I don't know if it's good that there is enough Beer Hunter to waste my time more than YouTube already does, but its going to get done.

Victory Brewing, Big News, and my love of Pils

While checking my Twitter feed for the first time in days I discovered that today's big news (or at least the last hour)is that Victory Brewing is in the process of opening up a second brewery. Since this news has already been covered by many, I really have no to get that extensive about the news(Here). All I can say is good for them. It makes me happy seeing the little guy make a success of himself, especially when it comes to craft brewing. Expansions like this prove to me that even though I've thought that Victory has produced solid products for years, I'm obviously not alone. Speaking of Victory products, I've been consuming the Prima Pils like a fiend whenever I see it on tap. For most craft beer consumers in the Northeast this is possibly the worst news of the day, but it's a pretty big step for me considering that I had a hatred for the pilsner style that has spanned for at least a decade. I repeat, HAD a hatred. Ever since the nice folks over at Raven Imports brought me a sample of Jever, I've been driven to sample as many German, Czech, and American Craft pilsners as possible to see if they hold a light to noble-hopped nectar that is Jever. Thus far, I've had some good ones from here on American soil, but none of them have come close as the Victory Prima Pils in my book. Since I'm obsessive, and must talk about the same topic over and over to multitudes of people, both industry people and geeks and they will usually tell me the same. It's nice to not be alone. Anyway, I look forward to to seeing a good future for Victory brewing and will be anxiously awaiting the Spring seasonal. Steve out!

APORKalypse Now

This past weekend I attended Aporkalypse, a craft beer and food event dedicated to my favorite source of protein, the pig. Dozens of food and beer vendors collaborated and worked together to bring to NYC an annual event of e-pig proportions. Yeah, it's taken me a couple of days to bring you a meager amount of blogage and photos, but trust me that it was an event worth attending. Although i didn't spend much of my time chowing (3 or 4 small dishes), the sample glass as I was given as I entered the room probably saw between 15-18 pours, some spectacular, some not, mostly great. As far as spectacular is concerned, Southhampton's Abbot 12, Brooklyn Sorachi Ace, and Ommegang Aphrodite were among my favorite. Mary and I also spent a considerable amount of time hanging out with the guys from Bronx Brewery, which is always a pleasure. We both took pictures, but Mary took a few more than I did. As soon as i get a hold of them I'll add them.