Keep Your Beer Cold With Bio-Insulation!

Dear friends and family; BrewDog has done it again by making THE STRONGEST BEER IN THE WORLD!!!!... but I don't give a shit about that... I want one of those koozies! CHECK THOSE THINGS OUT!

It was announced today that BrewDog has one upped GOD by not only brewing the strongest beer in the world (55%ABV), but they've also contracted MOTHER NATURE to provide their bottles with insulation! There was a 1 case (12 12oz. bottles) yield of the beer they call "The End of History", name derived from the work of famous philosopher Francis Fukoyama. In an attempt to shock and awe the world, they made the standard packaging for one bottle the preserved carcass of scottish roadkill (namely squirrels and stoats). BrewDog is, as a brewery to some, a one trick pony. They've been accused of brewing sub par beer, all the while selling their product by simply marketing themselves in a loud and onerous fashion.

Submitted for the approval of The Midnight Society: The Tale of Some Decent/Douchey Marketing

We hate bad beer! from BrewDog on Vimeo.

BrewDog has been caught up in an arms race to hold the title for brewers of the strongest beer in the world for the past year or so... starting with "Tactical Nuclear Penguin", followed by "Sink The Bismark" and finally (hopefully) topping out with "The End of History". Of course, it's all fine and good to want to make your mark on the world. I haven't had one of these beers and am personally abstaining from doing so... not only because I have a feeling they're all pretty terrible (The End of History is stronger than your standard Vodka at 110 proof), but they're also INSANELY expensive. Tactical Nuclear Penguin was somewhere around $70 for a 12oz. bottle... Sink The Bismark clocks in at the same... however, you could buy nearly a case of either for the same price of 1 bottle of "TEoH" (I love acronyms) which came in at $762 PER BOTTLE! Notice I say they "came" in at that price as "TEoH" was sold out within just a few hours of being announced.

But, as I stated earlier... I don't give a dick about what's inside of those bottles, but rather what's on the outside! Cute ass little Stoats and Squirrels... looking all stately. Do you SEE the ones all dressed up for a formal affair!? what I wouldn't give to fashion a little corn cob pipe for that squirrel's right... paw...(?) Maybe some baby functioning bagpipes for the kilted Stoat? gaaahhh...




so now, what will we see those koozies popping up on ebay for in a month or 2? 200 dollars? 300 dollars? Whatever the cost, I'm sure you will all see how thoughtful a gift this will make for me when my half birthday rolls around... which is actually May 30th, so get on it!

My final hope is that this new style of packaging becomes the NEW arms race... hopefully eventually leading to one of these inside of one of these... or maybe one of these inside of one of these!!! oh the possibilities are endless!


As an aside, I know how loyal you all are as readers and I know that I've been slacking off in my writing for some time now. I wanted to take a moment to let you know that I have been inspired to pick this back up by one of my very goodest friends Jenny. Jenny is an aspiring chef and has begun her very own blog entitled Will Work For Cake. She's chronicling her times through culinary school, publishing some recipes, techniques and the occasional haiku. PLEASE check out her blog and send her some cake as that's clearly her end goal... unsolicited cake.

Throwing Choclate Cake into The Abyss

As any beer geek knows... when presented with even the most simple of questions pertaining to beer, it's easy to start spouting off fact after opinion, often straying so far from the question initially posed to you, it's hard to find your way back. We begin talking about breweries we've visited, brewers we've talked to, the place in town to find the best selection of beer and absolutely everything in between...

I found myself in one such conversation last December while attending my company's holiday party. After being introduced by one of my co-workers to his wife as "the musician and beer guy" (two titles I could never even CONSIDER contesting), I found myself wrapped up in a half hour long conversation focused solely on beer... actually, there was a little bit of music talk peppered in there, but that's for another blog. Nancy was fully content asking a question and then listening to me ramble on about all of my favorite beers and why I loved them so much for what seemed like increments far too long for anyone to tolerate, let alone actually process and be even further curious. After our conversation, we parted ways, headed to our respective tables and enjoyed our respective libations.

Fast forward about a month to when I receive an email in my inbox, simply titled "beer". BOOM!... if there's anything that can pull me out of the painfully mundane droll of administration, it's an email entitled "beer". Nancy went into detail on envisioning hosting a beer party of sorts. My enthusiasm about beer at the holiday party had apparently piqued her interest so much so that she wanted to hold a full 4 course meal with pairings and education all the way trough!

Now, I have no prior experience with hosting any type of beer party, let alone putting together a full dinner pairing, but I was absolutely up to the challenge... provided I could get a little bit of help from a couple of friends.

Over the course of the next month and a half, a menu was nailed down and Jay, Craig and myself were left to do the rest. We did our research and delved into the annals of our beer knowledge to come up with some spectacular pairings for the night. We really wanted to make sure that while we were pouring a few beers that people had likely never heard of or tried before, we were also presenting some solid standbys in order to show everyone there that really, really good beer is easily accessible just about anywhere.

After a brief trip up to bottle barn and a stop off at Russian River Brewing Company, we found ourselves with the following lineup:

Fresh vegetable platter - The Bruery "Orchard White" Belgian style wit beer
Fried Mozzarella and Marinara / Pita & Spicy Hummus - Deschutes "Mirror Pond" Pale Ale
Hearts of romaine salad with pear, candied walnuts and blue cheese dressing - Russian River Brewing Company "Russian River IPA"
Blackened Mediterranean flank steak / Felafel w/ yogurt sauce - Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. "Bigfoot" American Style Barleywine '10 release
Decadent Chocolate Cake - Deschutes "The Abyss" Russian Imperial Stout '09 release

Bonus - Russian River Brewing Company "Consecration" American Wild Ale

All of our pairings worked out from top to bottom... but I have to say that the no brainer of the evening was chocolate cake and "The Abyss". Both offerings that we poured from Deschutes were eye opening beers for me when I first started really getting into craft beer. "Mirror Pond" was the craft beer that introduced me to craft beer and "The Abyss" was my first true beer revelation... the type of beer that starts making you think that you'd really like to earn a living in the craft beer industry. It was wonderful to have finished up the pairings with what was widely considered the best of the night.

Not only did we pair all of the beer with all of the food, but we were there to speak, educate and answer any questions that anyone may have had about beer... and there were plenty of questions. The most exciting observation of the night was not that so many wine drinkers were as excited by and enjoying beer as much as they were, but the simple fact that they were so very interested... though it was also really exciting hearing so many people say "you guys should do this for a living".

There is a true shift coming down the pipe for craft beer. More and more people are interested in what the craft beer world has to offer and events such as this one are the perfect avenue to advocating that which is great beer. I don't know that we stepped away from this dinner with 20 new converts on our hands, but I do know that 20 people came away from a beer dinner that they will be talking with their friends about, telling them what an experience it was. Next time they walk through the beer aisle at Safeway or Raleys, they may grab a case of Mirror Pond... or even ask the gentleman stocking the aisle if they carry Bigfoot or The Abyss... and that makes me feel good.

-Eliott

PS favorite part of the night #2 was seeing everyone's reaction to consecration... As a disclaimer, we made sure to let people know what they were in for and that it was only a demonstration of what beer could be... something to turn their expectations upside down... and it was a success. I liked it with the chocolate cake ;)

The Beginning of a Beautiful Thing

There's a small, yet growing contingency of beer enthusiasts living in Petaluma, CA. We share beer, brew beer, drink beer and talk about beer on a daily basis and while we'd consider ourselves pretty knowledgeable, the sky really is the limit when you're talking about one of the worlds oldest and most popular beverages! Beer is a hobby bordering on obsession for us and while we want to impart the knowledge and enthusiasm we've gained over the years unto others, we're just as excited to learn whatever it may be that you have to teach us!

And so our journey begins! We will make our love public, share what it is that we've got to share and ask you to share with us as well. We will post what news we come across as it becomes available. We will attend local beer events and document as they happen. We will push our tastebuds to the limit as we sample beer from all over the world, sharing with you the good, the bad and the fuggles (wow, that's terrible... like really bad).


Starting out with what's on deck tonight (10/2/09), it's the TAPS Petaluma Grand Opening party! If you live anywhere near Petaluma, chances are that you've heard of TAPS. It's the beer destination that Northern California has been in desperate need of! Located in the historic Petaluma Hotel, TAPS boasts 30 draft lines with domestic craft and Belgian beers as well as a growing bottle list. While Northern California truly does have some of the best breweries in the world, until now we haven't had a beer bar north of San Francisco to visit and enjoy a large array of different brewery's options.

The Grand Opening at TAPS looks to be a pretty solid event with flight tastings of some pretty rare, Northern California beer! Represented will be Moonlight, Drake's, Marin Brew Co. ('06 old dipsea!), Speakeasy and Stone in collaboration with Mikeller and Alesmith (mmmmm alesmith). Additionally, they will be pouring some as yet un-named beers at the back bar as part of the special event (I heard something about brown shugga' verticals?... hmmmm???). To get more information, click this lil' guy . Look for me and my North Bay Beer comrades at the event... we'll be the ones drinking a whole bunch of good beer.


Finally, I'm leaving you with a picture of the beer we enjoyed lastnight; Lagunitas' Lil' Sumpin' Sumpin' (no, not the Lil' Sumpin' Extra, we've still got about half a keg in the kegerator). This beer is categorized on BeerAdvocate.com as an American Pale Wheat... though it drinks more like a crisp IPA with some honey added post fermentation... I know that might not sound to be the most appetizing thing in the world, but trust me when I say that this is a wonderful brew. Its apprearance is quite alluring, pouring a nice light copper, golden color, it's clear as day. As you'll notice, plenty of beautiful sticky lace is left grasping onto the side of my glass as I enjoy this one. It's sweet, bitter with floral hops, refreshing and just crisp enough to make it a wonderful summer beer (released for the first time towards the beginning of the summer of '09). To me, this is one of the better beers that Lagunitas has put out in a while. We paired it lastnight with some Cajun Catfish Chowder which, in my opinion, worked out beautifully. Enjoy and we're looking forward to great times with all!

-Eliott

PS Sorry about that "fuggles" BS from earlier... that was terrible...