Here’s a tip: If you steal a mobile phone, and someone calls you on that mobile phone to tell you you’ve won a crate of beer, don’t give them your address.

» Thief betrays himself for free beer (via Reuters)

The British have all the good commercials. You may have already seen this, but I found it to be rather funny, not to mention a good idea. I’m wondering if I can do this to get my husband to clean the house… and something else. (Forget one pint — I’ll use a whole six pack if that’s what it takes to get the house clean and avoid frustration.)

Watch the Carlington Commercial:

Hey look — A couple brainiacs have come up with a mathematical formula that can accurately predict how the bubbles in the head of that beer in front of you will change over time.

W00t!

According to the report published today in the journal Nature, Robert MacPherson of Princeton University in New Jersey and David Srolovitz of Yeshiva University in New York, have developed a formula that explains how the tiny bubbles that make up beer foam grow.

From the Reuters article:

The formula explains how the tiny bubbles that make up foam grow — an explanation that could lead to the development of products such as metal shrink wrap… The possibilities include “the heat treatment of metals or even controlling (the) head on a pint of beer…”

Well, I don’t know about metal shrink wrap (I have enough trouble with the plastic kind), but I can tell you that you don’t need a room full of math geeks to control the head on a pint of beer — good hand / eye coordination is more than enough.

Still, you have to admire the guys who developed the formula. I mean, most of us just sit on a barstool and pay someone else for beer. Those guys figured out a way to get someone to pay them. (I’m sure it took years of “study”.)

Ain’t science great?

» Read the article (via Reuters)

We just learned last night that Port Brewing’s Josh Miner will be taking over as head brewer at Drake’s Brewing Co. in San Leandro, Calif.

Josh was head brewer at the Pizza Port in San Clemente, Calif. (where he brewed up many an amazing beer) before moving on to become the assistant brewer at Port Brewing’s Lost Abbey. However, years ago, shortly after he graduated UC Davis (where he studied — what else — brewing), he actually got his start in the craft brewing business at Drake’s. So in many ways he’s returning to his roots.

I know Tomme Arthur and company are going to miss him at Port Brewing, but I’m sure they’re also very proud of Josh. Josh said that he’s learned a lot about the craft after working with a brewer like Tomme (who likes to push boundaries), and he’s looking forward to putting some of that knowledge to work with his own creations. We’re looking forward to it too. (Plus I love Drake’s IPA, so now I have a reason to go up to the Bay area and score a few bottles.)

Let’s all raise a glass and toast to Josh and wish him the best of luck. Cheers!

Whilst passing the time over a few pints with an English chum of mine the other day our conversation turned to English Pubs and their most interesting names. (Notice how I sound all English there?)

It’s always seemed to me that, unlike pubs and bars here in the States which are named mostly for their location or owners, English pubs get their monikers by jamming together two seemingly unrelated nouns – one or both of which of which is/are usually animals (e.g. “Swan and Trumpet”, “Dog and Pen”, “Moose and Squirrel”, etc.).

My new English friend tried to explain that this naming convention was one steeped in tradition, and that all the names had real significance.

“Bollocks,” I said. (Actually, I used the American version, but you get the point.) “English pubs get their names from guys who’ve had a few pints and are simply writing down the first two items to come to mind – probably inspired by the shapes of the stains on the wall.”

Sure, English pub names are more fun than “Hennesey’s Pub”, or “Fifth Street Tavern”, but naming them isn’t some dark art revealed only to the island dwellers living south of Hadrian’s Wall.

“In fact,” I said, “I can throw together a random word generator that’ll spew out English pub names with no effort at all.”

So I did. And now you can reap the benefits.

If you’ve ever wanted an English Pub (or several) with a really good English Pub name, now is your chance. Simply use my super-duper-English-Pub-name-generator, and as quick as you can say “Bob’s your uncle”, you’ve got yourself an authentic English Pub name. (Sorry, beer, building and football hooligans not included.)

Enjoy!

» English Pub Name Generator
(Opens in a pop-up window)

The gang at The Lost Abbey (aka Port Brewing Company) is celebrating the brewery’s first anniversary in a couple of weeks with a big first birthday party loading with special tastings and a couple of (very) limited releases of new additions to their already impressive beer lineup. (I swear they’ve got more medals than a Latin American general).

Master Brewer Tomme Arthur is so busy “…pushing more envelopes than a mailman on crytal meth” (to quote Ben McFarland in the new April/May 2007 issue of Celebrator), that he hasn’t had a chance to update with website with the good news.

So as a public service to all you beer lovers, here’s the details of what promises to be an epic (yes, epic) event:

The Vitals

• What: Lost Abbey / Port Brewing Co. 1st Anniversary Celebration
• When: May 5, 2007 – 12pm to 9 pm
• Where: Lost Abbey / Port Brewing Co. (the old Stone Brewing facility), San Marcos, San Diego County, CA
• How Much: $15 at the door. Gets you 8 tasting tickets and entre to the taco bar featuring the food of Port’s own Vincent Marsaglia.

So what’s going to be there? Check this out:

On Draft
All of the following “house” beers throughout the day, plus special appearances beers from the past year that were specially stashed for the party.

• Amigo Lager
• Sharkbite Red Ale | Beer Advocate | Ratebeer.com
• Wipeout IPA | Beer Advocate | Ratebeer.com
• Hop 15 | Beer Advocate | Ratebeer.com
• Red Barn Belgian Farmhouse Ale (including a keg from the very first batch) | Beer Advocate | Ratebeer.com
• Old Viscosity Stout | Beer Advocate | Ratebeer.com
• Judgment Day Belgian Dark Ale (newly released) | Beer Advocate | Ratebeer.com

Plus a preview of a new beer

Devotion: This six percent ABV Belgian Style Blonde ale is dry hopping right now. It won’t be available in bottles until mid-May, so attendees will be the first to try it.

From the archives of the barrel room

• En Garde - Barrel Aged Avant Garde
• Amazing Grace - Barrel Aged Lost and Found
• Older Viscosity 2006
• The Angel’s Share - Aged in Bourbon Barrels (not Brandy)
• High Tide IPA - the last keg in existence
• Santa’s Little Helper 2006 Imperial Stout

But wait there’s more!

There’s going to be two new bottle releases that day as well.

• Cuvee de Tomme - This is the first release of CdT to be barrel blended. Only 420 bottles will be sold. There will be a maximum of 4 bottles per person. $15 per 375ml cork finished bottle.
• Ten Commandments - Lost Abbey’s once a year Anniversary beer. (A new generation of Dark Farmhouse Style Beer many of you knew in an earlier incarnation as Pizza Port’s SPF 8.) This year’s release saw Brettanomyces added at bottling, so it’s guranteed to be something special. It will be $12 per 750 ml cork finished bottle and no limit on the number of purchases (plus 10% off on a case), but there’s only 280 cases, so wide distribution of this one is unlikely.

And as if all that weren’t enough, Tomme has also hinted strongly that there’ll be a few other surprises at the event. (And Tomme’s surprises are always good!)

If you want more information, you can call them but you may have to leave a message since they don’t have a dedicated phone answering person. Better yet, if you drop me an email at “beerbuddy (at) mybeerpix (dot) com”, and I’ll get you the answers you need ASAP.

Here’s the Brewery address:

155 Mata Way
Suite 104
San Marcos, CA
Tel: (760) 891-0272

» Map & directions to the brewery

– Cheers (and see you there!)

Quick update
Yes, it’s OK to re-publish this info on your own website. You don’t need to ask. (A linkback would be nice though.)

The Brewers Association is reporting that craft brewing is the fastest growing segment of the alcohol industry. With 17.8% growth in 2006, it eclipse’s big beer’s 2.4%, and it’s darn close to double wine’s growth.

Check out the chart below.

Admittedly craft brewing is a tiny fraction of the overall alcohol market, and even among craft brewers there’s just a handful that produce the lion’s share of the beer (78% of the craft beer sold is produced by just 50 of the 1400 craft breweries in the country), but still, 18% growth is nothing to shake a stick at.

Additionally, it’s important to note that the data for this chart is based on supermarket receipts and not liquor store, specialty store and restaurant receipts — all of which are more likely to carry and sell craft brews (especially locally produced craft brews) than the local megamarket. But nonetheless, I think it’s a positive sign.

The one thing I wouldn’t want to see come out of this is some sort of market collapse like we saw with the “dot bomb” bust in 2000. Back then there were too many mediocre companies fueled by speculative money chasing a fickle market with a short attention span. Same could happen here. We’ve got a lot of people brewing beer all chasing limited shelf space and a target market that may well get tired of beer and move on to… I don’t know… fermented carrot juice.

Then again, we may just be returning to a period when all your best beers are brewed locally for local tastes.

I hope that’s the case.

» Read the full story (also includes data on the 50 largest breweries)

A week from Saturday (April 21st) is the 3rd “Anniversarye” celebration at Backstreet Brewery in Vista, Calif.

Brewer Dave Lusk gave me run down of events planned for the day, which includes 11 Backstreet brews on tap (plus the usuals from Stone, et al). Celebration beers include:

• Anniversarye IPA (excellent and only $2.50 a pint that day)
• Arnold on Nitro: 9.1%. (aka Arnold Stoutsenegger – their winter release – on Nitrogen) Beer Molly loves this stuff.
• Magnus Old Ale: 9.4% — Backstreet’s American Strong Ale, with brewer dave’s personal twist.
  They’re also going to be raffling off swag like Lamppost Pizza gift cards, T-shirts, glasses, growler totes and more. (Molly actually one a couple of pint glasses at last year’s event. Amazingly, neither one has been broken yet.)

The party runs all day, but take this tip from an insider: Get there around 2 or 3 to secure a good spot at the fire ring, near the bar. Any later and the place gets packed; you won’t be able to get a seat and trying to elbow up to the bar to get a pint means a long wait until the overwhelmed bartenders notice you (unless you set your hair on fire or something. You’d probably get served right away then.)

Hey, and if you do turn up, look Molly & me up. Look for the people drinking from the mugs numbered 29 and 51.

Need more info? Their phone is 760-407-7600

» Directions to Backstreet Brewery & Lamppost Pizza

– Cheers