How Many Ounces of Beer in that Pint?
There’s nothing more annoying than the short pour, right? Bartenders and servers who don’t fill your beer up to the point where the head arches over the top of the glass tend to piss off customers. But how about ones who do fill up the glass, except that the pint glass they’re using is actually a couple ounces short of a pint? The Wall Street Journal reports on the (unfortunately growing) phenomenon, which was first documented by a Pacific Northwest jack-of-all-trades.
Jeff Alworth, a Portland, Ore., beer blogger, university researcher and a founder of the Honest Pint Project, has been testing suspected short-pouring bars, in some cases measuring his beer-glass capacity by the men’s room sink. His group collected more than 400 names in two weeks for an online petition urging state regulators to enforce a 16-ounce rule. And at one point, he was posting the names of bars that didn’t measure up on his Web site. But in response to complaints, he now has taken to listing the names of establishments serving full pints in bigger glasses.
More on the Honest Pint Project from its originator, Beervana blogger Jeff Alworth, here. Honest Pint Project on WSJ coverage of said Project here.
I’m happy to see that BridgePort, my favorite Portland brewhouse, pours an honest pint, according to Beervana.
One final point… The legislator noted in the piece who wants to spend tax dollars to enforce the pint, when the Honest Pint Project seems to be bringing things into line nicely–and without taxpayer money–wouldn’t get my vote.
Beer for Dogs (Pairs Well with ‘Beggin Strips’)
If you’re a pet owner, you know that beer isn’t something you want to share with your dog. (Apologies to Hosehead, pictured.) But that was before Holland’s kwispelbier (which in Dutch means tail-wagging beer), the healthy, beef-flavored, non-alcoholic brew for man’s best friend.
Kwispelbier just saw its debut in England–where it’s sold by retailer Pets at Home under the “Dog Beer” label.
Dogs are overjoyed. Just ask this pair of Weimaraners, happy kwispelbier slurpers they. Or some unemployed scientists.
Or you could ask jolly Helen Pearson.
Dog-owner Helen Pearson, 58, said she disagreed with [Dog Beer] because it encouraged people to drink alcohol.
The housewife, from Sherwood Avenue, Chaddesden, [England,] said: “If it’s that good for the dog’s health, you would be able to get it from a vet.
“There shouldn’t be bottles for dogs that look like that.”
Um, yeah. Anyways, there’s no word if Dog Beer is going to cross the pond just yet. An American competitor, Happy Tail Ale, is on “indefinite hiatus.” Still, if you act fast you might still be able to pick some up here.
P.B.R.I.P.
Achtung Bier Kosten, Ja?
Peter Suderman, who more-than-capably edited my interview with Anthony Bourdain and my piece on Chicago’s foie gras ban, and who kindly threw a shout out to Crispy, has a great piece at Reason on the green reasons lurking behind spiraling beer prices.
[B]iofuel subsidies… are pushing more farmers to ditch their barley crops—which are necessary to make beer*—in favor of crops that earn them lucrative subsidies from regulators trying to fight global warming. Topping the list of these subsidized crops are rapeseed and corn, ingredient which are used in the creation of biodiesel and ethanol-gasoline fuel blends which supposedly reduce the greenhouse gasses that cause global warming.
Thanks to these crop shifts, the price of barley has doubled in the past two years, an increase that eventually gets passed along to consumers. Some brewers have raised their prices already, and many others are planning on raising them soon. German beer drinkers are already feeling the hit on beers like Erdmann’s Ayinger, which raised its price from 6.10 euros to 6.40 euros over the last year. That’s roughly fifty cents a beer for Germans who consume an average of more than 30 gallons of beer person each year.
I’m working on a piece of my own that explores the issue from a hoppy-beer-fan angle. More from Peter here.
Big Changes in Big Beer
Miller, the Pepsi of beer, is introducing a line of craft-brewed Lite beers. People like em, too. Love em, even.
[W]hat does it mean when the nation’s second biggest brewer takes its most popular beer and does it up, craft-style?
It’s confusing, analysts say, but it makes sense for a company like Miller Brewing Co. as it woos today’s drinker, who wants more flavorful brews. It also makes sense from a money standpoint because craft beers are growing faster than the overall beer segment, and they command higher prices.
Miller, hoping to latch on to part of that growth, announced this week it’s introducing a trio of different styles of Miller Lite, which it hopes will lure new drinkers to the craft segment.
The Miller Lite Brewing Collection, which will be nationwide by September, features variations on the brewer’s biggest brand, Miller Lite: wheat, amber and blonde ale styles, all popular among craft brewers.
The craft lites are being sold as “Lite done right.” More here.
Meanwhile, Budweiser, the Coca-Cola of beer, is spinning off Michelob, the Fanta Grape of beer.
Senate Candidate Brews Up Handy Beer
U.S. Senate candidate Steve Novick (D-Oregon) has a thirst, a prosthetic hand, and a sense of humor.
Like all politicians, Oregon Senate hopeful Steve Novick wants to be seen as the kind of guy you’d like to have a beer with.
And Novick hopes it’s a “Left Hook Lager,” a beer concocted for the campaign by a Eugene-based brewery and named in honor of the metal prosthesis the candidate sports in lieu of his left hand.
Since it’s a political story, somebody’s got to be whining about something.
Political opponents noted Tuesday that Novick’s campaign has failed to obtain the requisite permits from the Oregon Liquor Control Commission to sell the alcohol.
More here. Novick’s campaign website here.
Hops Bracketology
Spitting in the face of the dreaded hop shortage — which is driving up prices and shelving some good beers — is this year’s National IPA Championship. It’s a bracket-y contest, just in time for March Madness, in which thirty-two of the nation’s best IPAs go 3 oz. sample cup to 3 oz. sample cup against one another.
An added bonus, compared to the real March Madness, is that to the best of my knowledge none of the beers are coached by Mike Kriezcyziewisiszkzikwkwizwski (pronounced “sha-CHEF-skee”).
Deadline to enter is February 23. I’ll be in Atlantic City, NJ for the Atlantic City Beer Festival when winners are announced there on March 8.
Find more on the contest here. Download and print your bracket here. And check out the contestants here.
Beer: Kegs, Not Regs
MSNBC has up an excellent survey of various state beer deregulation efforts. While deregulation here (as everywhere) is good for consumers, writer Lew Bryson notes that deregulation might harm the clever souls who fashioned their business practices to live just on the edge of many a stupid state law.
Some of those businesspeople worked hard within the system to bring Pennsylvania a variety of beer that is second to none. The six-pack-shop guys went deep in pocket for a more expensive bar license so they could sell us the single bottles we craved. The laws were ridiculous, and I’m glad to see them disappearing. But these guys were our beer comrades, they fought the revolution with us, and now we’re going to send them into exile, saying essentially, work harder or starve.
I’d feel worse, but I suspect they’re going to land on their feet. They were, after all, the men and women who were beating the hell out of the system already. The beer-store owner I talked to was one of them. “I’ll have to put in shelves, and I maybe won’t be able to carry as many beers,” he said. “But I’ll do it.”
More here. I grew up with these dandy alcohol regs, which are also slowly going the way of the dodo, even when good changes are shot down at the ballot box.
Have a Beer with a Presidential Candidate
The National Beer Wholesalers Association is running the first poll worth taking in this election, asking which presidential candidate you’d like to have a beer with. Barack Obama is currently well ahead.
Find the web poll at the aptly named whodoyouwanttohaveabeerwith.com. Beer named after a politician here. One named after a presidential brother here.
