Ran across this little snippet of news from beautiful, sunny and sandy Bahrian:

TWO INDIAN men have been accused of operating an illegal “cottage industry” of brewing and selling alcohol.

One is accused of setting up the brewery in his house and the other of obtaining, possessing and selling alcohol to customers and being an accomplice in manufacturing alcohol.

The first man admitted the charge and the second said he bought alcohol from him, but only for his own use.

Both men, in their 30s, were further remanded in custody by the Lower Criminal Court, which adjourned the case until Monday.

The defence lawyer for the first defendant unsuccessfully requested the court to release his client on bail, but under a travel ban.

Yikes. The guy must be a worse homebrewer than me.

» Via Gulf Daily News

Just a quick update to my earlier note on the Lost Abbey Barrel Tasting.

The full press announcement is now on their website right here.

And a link to the online tickets can be found right here.

The International Herald Tribune has nice article today on what it refers to as “brewery hopping”, or what we all know as “a Pilgrimage” (i.e., visiting craft breweries and tasting the beer).

From the article:

Although beer lacks a major destination such as Napa Valley in California, many beer aficionados are taking vacations that are more like extended beer runs, visiting the nation’s many craft breweries, brewpubs and beer festivals.

I take issue with the first part of that quote. “Napa Valley” isn’t the only wine producing region in the country, it’s not even the best (Sonoma is much better IMHO) — it’s just the most heavily marketed. Beer has lots of great regions — Portland, the Great Lakes, Northern California (including Sonoma), and my favorite (because it’s home) — San Diego.

Real beer lovers, of course, know this, but because these regions don’t engage in all that fancy marketing stuff, “regular people” don’t. Molly and I haven’t taken a roadtrip and visited anywhere near the number of breweries we’d like to (work, kids, school, and life always seem to interfere), but hanging around the San Diego brew scene, we’ve met a lot (and I mean A LOT) of people who are doing just that. A conversation with Beer Pilgrims usually goes something like this:

ME: “So, are you from San Diego?”

PILGRIM: “No, we’re from (insert state/country here).”

ME: “Ah, so out here on vacation. So what have you had a chance to do so far? The zoo? Wild Animal Park? The beach? Sea World, Mountains? Desert? Mexico?”

PILGRIM: “No, none of that.”

ME: “So what then?”

PILGRIM: “We’ve done Karl Strauss, Ballast Point, Pizza Port - Solana Beach and Carlsbad, Green Flash, Oceanside Ale Works and Lost Abbey. Tomorrow we’re doing Stone, AleSmith, Lightning and San Diego Brewing. Then we’ll go over to Alpine.”

ME: “Excellent.”

I think San Diego beer tourism is terrific. For basically the cost of one day at a place like Sea World, you get to see pretty much the entire county — from the city to the beaches, over to the mountains and the desert just beyond. Plus you get to sample a ton of absolutely fantastic beers, meet a lot of interesting (and never pretentious or irritating) people, and generally have a great time.
It’s something I think every true beer lover has to do at least once.

Maybe it’s time breweries, brewpubs, restaurants and beer aficionados got together and started doing some marketing to the masses to promote beer tourism in their region(s) the way Napa, Sonoma, et al do. Some classy travel campaigns could go a long way toward eliminating the “lower class” impression the public has of beer and beer drinkers. (Heck, if the wine guys can make it respectable to drink a $2 bottle of wine, we should be able to make it respectable to drink a $9 bottle of beer.)

You can read the full International Herald Tribune article right here.

(They’ve also got a list and links to a number of breweries and brew festivals around the country.)

Word just came down from Moses (aka Tomme Arthur) himself that Port Brewing’s Hop 15 will be released in 22 0z. bottles this Friday, June 15th.

If you’re not familiar with the beer, it’s an Imperial IPA that gets its moniker from the fact that it’s hopped 15 times with 15 hops at 15 minute intervals during the boil. (Yes, that’s a long boil — you do the math.)

And just for good measure its dry-hopped with Simcoe and Centennial as well.

The result is a big, bold West-coast style IPA with a a big blonde head, light amber color, bold caramel-malty aroma, and great fruity kiwi, grapefruit and apricot notes without any of that weird “fresh lawn clipping” flavor you get in some intensely hopped beers. (I could make a joke about its similarity to a lot of the girls in here San Diego, but I won’t.)

Oh — and Hop 15 weighs in at around 10% ABV, so if you plow through one of those 22 oz bombers on your own you may wake up under your car in Nebraska next to your new wife’s double-wide and her pet pig. (You’ve been warned.)

Señor Arthur says this is Port Brewing’s summer seasonal IPA (the fresh hopped High Tide IPA takes its place in the fall), so if you want a few bottles of an outstanding (and ballsy) IPA, you ought to pick it up now. It’ll be available in all of Port Brewing’s usual distribution states — California, Arizona, Nevada, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, etc. — for as long as it lasts. For those of you outside those areas, I may be able to help for the right price…. (cue maniacal laugh)

» Contact info for Port Brewing / Lost Abbey

One year old Port Brewing / Lost Abbey managed to walk away with a record five medals at the First Annual San Diego Craft Brewer’s Festival this weekend, beating out big name breweries such as Boston Beer, Stone Brewing, and New Belgium for the honor.

Paso Robles’ Firestone Walker did tie Port Brewing for the five medal count, but it also had an 11 year headstart.

Congrats to Tomme Arthur and company! (I hope they remember that I was the first to sleep on the floor of the brewery once they get famous.)

You can see the Full News Release right here.

You can see the rest of the winners from the festival » Right Here.

From the “is that a toad in your beer?” file:

The Australian city of Townsville (the real one, not the Powerpuff Girls one) has landed itself in a bit of hot water over a “Stubby Holder” (aka: the neoprene beer holder/cooler) encouraging people to visit and play a round of “Cane Toad Golf”.

Cane Toads are big toads (some over 5 pounds) with poisonous skin native to Central and South America. They were introduced to Australia in the 1930’s to control sugar cane pests, and now (as it so often goes) they are pests themselves.

Townsville was looking to drum up a little tourism to the North Queensland city with the stubby holder, but Australia’s RSPCA didn’t think it was funny. A spokesman said:

“The RSPCA acknowledges the fact that the cane toad needs to be eliminated ideally but simply whacking a few with golf clubs doesn’t work. Nine times out of ten the cane toad will simply get up and hop away.”

I don’t know how the RSPCA spokesman came by his numbers, but it does make you wonder if there’s a bunch of Aussies knocking back a few cold ones and teeing up toads in order to determine how often they get up and hop away.

Come to think of it, a five pound toad probably is a lot easier to hit than one of those little white balls — especially if you’ve been sampling a few XXXX’s before hand.

Anyone for a round of golf?

» Via ABC News

Port / Lost Abbey Brewing Company formally released it’s first anniversary beer — Ten Commandments, a Belgian-style Dark Farmhouse Ale brewed with raisins, fresh rosemary, organic honey, and then bottled with a secondary wild yeast.

From head brewer Tomme Arthur’s quote in Lost Abbey’s news release:

“I’ve always been inspired by the unpredictability and artistic style of Belgian ales like Fantôme’s Black Ghost… Using mercurial yeast like Brettanomyces in combination with raisins, herbs and honey delivers a pleasant, full-bodied profile and mélange of flavors unlike any other beer.”

I tasted this beer at Lost Abbey’s First Anniversary party last Saturday, and I can tell you that it is gooooood. (As are most all of Tomme’s releases.) Unfortunately, the brewery only produced 280 cases of Ten Commandments this year, so wide distribution is unlikely. I do think, however, that you will be able to order it directly from the brewery (as long as supplies last that is.)

To read the full press release and get a look at the bottle in all it’s glory, Click Here.

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)