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For all your beer-related news, updates, and just "I had a great beer last night" stories. There wasn't a thread (that I could find), and I had beer news, so here it is.


Regarding Craft Beer and what's been happening: Bitter battle between Big Beer and craft brewers gets uglier

Quite a good article by the CBC, covering both Canada and the USA, with a bit of who owns what in both countries. Basically, a number of places that used to be craft beer no longer are! Anheuser-Busch InBev has been buying up smaller places that are doing well, and they're not even the only ones doing it. That alone I don't have a problem with, but the "still marketing them as craft beers" seems a bit sketchy, especially at conventions/competitions.

Toronto's Summer Craft Beer Fest is on this week, featuring local, southern Ontario beers from craft brewers such as Redline Brewhouse in Barrie, Hometown Brewing of Nolfolk County, Barley Days Brewery in Prince Edward County, and Niagara's Oast House.

But alongside those microbreweries are names like Labatt's Mill Street, Creemore, owned by Molson Coors, and California's Lagunitas Brewing company, owned by Dutch giant Heineken NV.

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Ya it's the same beer, but it's not the same business.

Particularly concerning IMO is this though:

"AB InBev has been buying out true indie craft breweries and then continuing to market them as if they're still true indie craft breweries." said Sam Calagione, founder of the popular Delaware craft brewery Dogfish Head Brewing, who believes the lack of transparency goes even further.

Last month Dogfish Head Brewing asked to have its beer removed from beer rating site RateBeer after word got out that ZX Ventures, backed by AB InBev, had bought a minority stake in the site last year.

"Once we found out about it we wanted nothing to do with RateBeer anymore even though our beers are very highly rated on there because we just thought it was a massive conflict of interest."

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Buying up smaller guys? That can be fine, as long as it wasn't done via predatory practices. Buying up the review sites? Not cool.

Eriol said:

Buying up the review sites? Not cool.

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I hadn't even heard of RateBeer before. I'm a BeerAdvocate man myself.

But, yeah. No. Not cool.

In terms of my beer News, my number 1 favorite beer is the Magic Hat Elderbetty. It was a summer seasonal, but they discontinued it a few years ago. Well they brought it back as part of a special 12 pack and I definitely have bought a few 12 packs just for the 3 of those that came with it. Hopefully it spurs them to release it on its own again next summer.

Eriol said:

There wasn't a thread (that I could find).

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Well there was, but it closed.

New Belgium's 1554 is still the only beer I can comfortably go through an entire bottle of in one sitting. Still haven't learned to enjoy the taste of anything else.

--Patrick

My favorite not-super-rare-and-annoying-to-find is probably Gulden Draak. If I'm back in Spain, then anything by Maset del Lleó (great small brewery, my parents buy it by the truckload). I also have a soft spot (nostalgia) for Estrella Damm. I find it at my local package store from time to time... Of all the things to import, why Catalan Miller Light?

If it's slim pickings, then pretty much any variety of Franziskaner will do, or Guinness.

La Fin du Monde for me, with Maudite or Trois Pistoles coming second.

They're all made in Quebec by a brewery that does Belgian style beer. It actually beats out the best Belgian stuff I've had.

Oh, and Toronto has a Brewery called Amsterdam. They've got a big brewery restaurant on the waterfront and had been making single batches of various styles and experiments to sell on tap just there, along with having several cellared bottles from limited runs.

One of those cellared beers was called Recidivist, a 10% barleywine in a wine-sized bottle. So tasty. I drank 2 of them at the Amsterdam Brewhouse watching Brazil get hammered by Germany. I was quite hammered myself.



(And that was before halftime)

Gruebeard said:

La Fin du Monde for me, with Maudite or Trois Pistoles coming second.
They're all made in Quebec by a brewery that does Belgian style beer. It actually beats out the best Belgian stuff I've had.

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Most of this household is a big fan of Unibroue and its ales. Fin du Monde for Cranky, Éphémère for Kati, Noire de Chambly for me (since it's a black ale like the 1554), and either Maudite or Don de Dieu for the father-in-law. They're also the same people who make the yearly "vintage" ales for Trader Joe's. Some day you should ask Cranky to tell you how he battled an entire bottle of Terrible by himself.

--Patrick

DarkAudit said:

I hadn't even heard of RateBeer before. I'm a BeerAdvocate man myself.

But, yeah. No. Not cool.

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I hate BeerAdvocate. So. many. fucking. snobs...

PatrThom said:

Well there was, but it closed.

New Belgium's 1554 is still the only beer I can comfortably go through an entire bottle of in one sitting. Still haven't learned to enjoy the taste of anything else.

--Patrick

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There used to be a pub here that served 1554. But I never ordered it correctly.

"I'll have the 1776, er 1066, nope? the 1945 then..."

Mathias said:

I hate BeerAdvocate. So. many. fucking. snobs...

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Hey now, you could say that about any website that caters to a close-knit community of peopHEY WAIT A MOMENT.

sixpackshaker said:

There used to be a pub here that served 1554. But I never ordered it correctly.
"I'll have the 1776, er 1066, nope? the 1945 then..."

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I keep remembering it as 1880-something.

--Patrick

I myself prefer Cinquante.

New Belgium generally puts out good stuff. Fat Tire is still my go-to beer. Probably said it here before, but it was better when it was still naturally carbonated, and came with the yeast sludge on the bottom, and the much higher ABV. But it's still good. A buddy of mine in college always wore a Fat Tire hat back in the 90s. He was from CO (can't recall how he ended up in SC for college, other than it is a good school), and everybody always asked him what it meant. Then we went to the Grand Canyon together in 97, and they were serving it at the bar at the North Rim. The whole group of us fell in love with it, and to our delight, New Belgium started distributing nationally with the year.

Michigan beer = best beer. My favorite everyday beer is probably Bell's Amber.
Though while it's in season I prefer Oberon, their spring-summer unfiltered wheat ale.
Favorite unicorn beer is probably No Rules by Perrin Brewing Company:

papachronos said:

Michigan beer = best beer.

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I'm embarrassed for choice.
I live right between Bell's, Founders, Arcadia, and New Holland.

--Patrick

PatrThom said:

Most of this household is a big fan of Unibroue and its ales. Fin du Monde for Cranky, Éphémère for Kati, Noire de Chambly for me (since it's a black ale like the 1554), and either Maudite or Don de Dieu for the father-in-law. They're also the same people who make the yearly "vintage" ales for Trader Joe's. Some day you should ask Cranky to tell you how he battled an entire bottle of Terrible by himself.

--Patrick

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It sounds like you have far easier access to these beers than I do. I pretty much have to go to Quebeec to find them.

Gruebeard said:

It sounds like you have far easier access to these beers than I do. I pretty much have to go to Quebeec to find them.

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I have to smuggle mine into Nova Scotia.