Speaking of Beer

Prebeer Preamble: What’s sleek and colorful on the outside, fizzy and yellow on the inside? Your daddy’s beer can, that’s what. These days, more and more small breweries are rediscovering these aluminum marvels of light and durable packaging, and the stuff they put inside them just might make your daddy do a spit take. I’m once again joined by bro-in-law Dave Cavanaugh as we do some old-fashioned 12-oz curls with some newfangled beer.

Beer #1: Dave and I first crack open a Dry Heat Hefeweizen from Arizona’s own Mudshark Brewing Company. After absorbing the shock of a canned hefe, we sample it looking for signs of aluminum taint. We’re out in the toasty climes of my front yard drinking wheat beers; does the setting favor the drinking experience?

Interbeer Interlude: Beer As Folk. “Ron Jones of the Brewery Collectables Club of America.” Beer can collections are the stuff of nostalgia for the post-boomer generation. But it turns out the hobby is alive and well in the 21st century. Mr. Jones, a higher-up in the official brewerania enthusiast organization, fills us in on the state of collecting.

Beer #2: Warm-up beers dispatched, Dave and I now grab a couple of Dale’s Pale Ales from Colorado’s Oskar Blues Brewery. Craft beer in a can and Dave’s hefe-luvin’ sensibilities both get their toughest test, as we pour this hop monster of a pale ale down our gullets. Have we discovered a new favorite camping beer or is it just too much?

Beer Geek Moment: “Beer Can History.” Cans are a surprisingly recent development in the beerniverse. Where did they come from, and where are they going? Spend a few minutes with us and you’ll find out!

Postbeer Postscript: It’s hard not to factor the packaging into the scores, especially when it comes to the “holistic” category. Which aluminum-clad brew takes the day? Tune in and see!

 

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Twelve months after sending that first gulp of Old Peculier into the podosphere, I’m here with a little birthday present for you listeners. The usual format is gone, but fret not as it will return next time around. Instead we have listener voicemails, contributions from fellow podcasters, occasional strolls down memory lane, and lots and lots of numbers. Also, the winner of the Homebrew Kit Give-away Contest is announced, and there’s a surprise message from a highly unlikely source!

…AND NO SINGING!

 

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Turns out folks like their beer.

Robotic Beer Launching Refrigerator – The best home videos are here

If you’re blessed with an eclectic beer distributor in the Western United States, look for these. Otherwise, go out and find the best beer you can possibly find in a can.

Mudshark Dry Heat Hefeweizen [alternatives: Pyramid Hefeweizen, Shiner Hefeweizen]

and

Dale’s Pale Ale from Oskar Blues Brewing Co. [alternatives: Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, Three Floyd's Alpha King, any west-coast IPA]

If you haven’t divined the theme yet, think about the shelves lining the walls of your dad’s basement den.

Click “Play” below and thrill as fellow beercaster Father Spoon from Should I Drink That? chugs a bottle of Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA (as featured on SoB Show 7). Father, thy name is metal!

…but he writes a splatterific monster story!

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Prebeer Preamble: Every now and then a brewery comes along that simply grabs the spotlight. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, the Delaware brewery Dogfish Head is definitely a phenomenon, and today’s show examines the experience of their envelope-pushing brews. My lovely wife Carolyn joins me as we take a little walk on the Dogfish side.

Beer #1: To call it a “beer” is a stretch, but our first beverage, Midas Touch, is definitely bursting with stories. Find out about history and science as we spend some time in the shared wedge of the beer-wine-mead venn diagram.

Interbeer Interlude: Beer As Folk. “Sam Calagione” SoB’s Eastern Seaboard corespondent, Mr. Tee Morris (a.k.a. “The Contributor That Won’t Go Away”), had the opportunity to chat with the founder, owner, and head brewer of Dogfish Head Brewery at last year’s BookExpo America. Thrill as Tee quizzes Sam on the role of hops in brewing, and be prepared to be surprised about which of his beers Sam keeps perpetually on tap in his home. Good stuff, this….

Beer #2: Carolyn and I now veer more firmly into beer territiory with style-buster Raison D’Etre. Is it a spicy brown ale? A hopped-up belgian? We grapple with this half-pony, half-monkey monster until it all makes sense. Could it be that Carolyn might actually–gulp–like beer?

Beer Geek Moment: “Beer Styles” To break the rules one must first know the rules. Playfully experimental breweries like DFH are infamous for flouting the guidelines. But just who makes these rules and how did they come about in the first place? Tune in and find out!

Postbeer Postscript: There is no scoring category for “originality”, so these beers didn’t break the curve. Still, some surprises await in the tallies. Oh, and I apologize, deeply and profusely, for the way this episode wraps up. Really…really, I do.

 

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There’s been a recent spate of links folks have sent me, to wit:

Thanks to Eric, I know about a gizmo that’ll chill a beer can in seconds. Now, if only more craft breweries would get with the canning thing (like Oskar Blues in Colorado and the Mudshark Brewery in balmy Lake Havasu, AZ), we’d be in business!

Are you throwing a kegger, but not sure how much beer to buy? Never fear, the Kegulator is here! Just input vital stats like how many folks are coming and how hammered they’re going to get, and it’ll spit out exactly the quantity of beer you’ll need. No more returning half-empty kegs (or pounding too many beers the next day in order to save face) for you!

And on a more serious note, Virginia McLean, one of the original folks who inspired what ultimately became Pete’s Wicked Ale, has been stricken with a form of bone cancer. Pete and his old skool pals have reunited to create Reunion Imperial Brown Ale to raise money and awareness. Check out the link and see what you think (and look for audio from fellow beercaster Rick from Pacific Brew News). Of course, the Farpoint Media family has also been touched by the spector of cancer, so if you’re in a donating mood, swing by Michael and Evo’s Wingin’ It! website and help out Joe Murphy, a.k.a. Randy Inuendo, a.k.a. Mason Rocket. It’s a good karma thing to do…

(Tee Morris enjoying a little pick-me-up)

PreMicrobrewed Preamble: March is Speaking of Beer’s first anniversary, and I’ve gone CRAZY!!! Nah, I’ve just got lots of good content and I’m in a festive mood, so I’m going to throw out a couple of bonus shows this month, of which this is the first. I babble on about the calendar and once again beg for voicemails (remember the homebrew kit contest?), then turn it over to my homies on the East Coast for the fun.

Interbabble Interlude: “MicroBrewed from RFD“. My partners in beercasting crime, Tee Morris and Phil Rossi, record a beery night out with some pals, including Thomas from the Command Line Podcast. They start off in reasonable shape, but you can tell before too long that this particular night out is going to get ugly…(part 1 of 3).

PostMicroBrewed Postscript: Babble….babble….babble…Oh, and I spill the goods on the beers for the next “real” show!

 

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