Monday, December 17, 2012

Monday Morning Second-Hand Brews News Update: 12/17/12

I have no creative words to roll us into the weekly Monday morning update of newsy notes to share with you, so let's get on with it.

PHILADELPHIA
~ Nice checklist of what makes Brauhaus Schmitz a must-destination for foodies, beer geeks, and, well, just about anyone looking for a unique dining and bar experience in Philadelphia. I'll admit I wasn't aware of the Foie Gras Liverwurst, but now that I am....well, you know what comes next :)
~ On my most recent cross-country flight, I finally got around to reading Philly Beer Scene magazine back issues. This time, it was an excellent article by Mike Scotese (aka, "Scoats" of Grey Lodge Pub) about the group trip he joined in on earlier in 2012 to Belgium to brew the 2012 version of Philly Beer Week's collaboration beer.

EASTERN PA, NJ, DE, AND OTHER NEARBY PARTS OF MID-ATLANTIC
~ Also in the Aug/Sep issue of Philly Beer Scene that I mentioned above was a peek behind the mash paddle at Iron Hill's "medal machine", Bob Barrar.
~ And, still one more solid article from the same Philly Beer Scene magazine (y'think they might have something right going on over there?!) came in the form of a Lew Bryson-penned State of the Session Beer (my words, not his).
~ Brooklyn Brewery hosted a hurricane relief party recently and the results are in. This was a New York City Brewers Guild project; the group was formed earlier this year and the cooperation seems to be paying off.

THE REST OF PLANET BEER
~ Bryson and Beaumont recently wrote spot-on columns for Ale Street News. I would love to be able to link you over there; but, sorry to say there's no electronic version to link here. Topics were similar: Bryson's was entitled "Are You Enjoying Your Beer?" (with great snippets like: "What have we become? That which we most despised: we have become like wine snobs..."; "...and what the strike temperature was..."; and "Geek less, enjoy more") and Beaumont's was "In Praise Of Simplicity" (with nuggets like: "...collaborative effort featuring a specific moss gathered by virgins from the slopes of a remote Andean mountain" and "simple does not necessarily need to equal boring". Hopefully, you've been able to see the paper versions for yourself. If not, maybe one day there'll be links that I can forward along to you.
~ And, finally, none of this will matter in the least on 12/22 if ancient "predictions" come true at some point on 12/21. Yet, it was more fun stuff from Greg Koch and the Stone crew when they documented Koch's trip to the ruins of Caracol in Belize. He cracked open a beer on the stone remains of one of the pyramids. What could go wrong?! Did he reverse the prediction or hasten it? Only time will tell.




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