Roundtable Barrel Aging Advice Courtesy of Brew Your Own

Barrel aging beer has become increasingly popular amongst home brewers and craft breweries across North America. Here's an interesting 2008 article from Brew Your Own magazine which examines barrel aging programs from several breweries:

http://byo.com/videos/item/1274-professional-barrel-aging

Last Best Brewpub Opening Soon In Calgary

I often talk about how exciting it is to be a beer fan in Alberta at the moment. There seems to be new breweries and beer focused bars opening up all the time all over our province. Just off the top of my head, I know of several new breweries opening soon in Edson, Red Deer, and Edmonton. A little further south, a brand new brewpub is opening up in Calgary called Last Best. It's owned by the Bear Hill chain of brewpubs, which consists of Jasper Brewing, Banff Ave Brewing, and Wood Buffalo Brewing in Fort Mac.

Last Best is not only the newest, and possibly largest, brewpub in the heart of downtown Calgary but it is also a distillery. It's not open yet, but will be soon (as in within the month).... Here's some links to keep up:

http://www.lastbestbrewing.com/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Last-Best-Brewing-Distilling/579794618783583?sk=timeline&ref=page_internal

https://twitter.com/lastbestbrew

Beer Curious: Edmonton Beer Tour

So, I've been talking about how great it would be for Edmonton or Calgary to have an organized beer tour for a while. Well, here it is. The Edmonton Heritage Council has organized a historic Edmonton beer tour. As far as I know, at the moment it is a one time event happening on April 18th. The $85 five hour tour takes you to Edmonton's past and present beer haunts and comes with samples, food, souvenirs and the opportunity to sample a beer that was specially made for the tour by Alley Kat.

Here's the website for more information and tickets:

http://citymuseumedmonton.ca/events/brew-curious-yegs-brewing-history/

10 Important Advances Made Because Of Beer

Here's a fun little read my sister sent me a little while ago:

http://listverse.com/2015/03/02/10-important-advances-made-because-of-beer/

Alberta Beer Festival Season Is Upon Us!

Yes, the snow is melting, the birds are singing, and Alberta Beer Festivals are coming up on the calender! I have attended and worked several Alberta Beer Festivals and I have seen first hand how they've grown and become more awesome every year! If you've never been, I can assure you that these festivals are not giant beer bashes attended only by frat guys looking to get drunk. Rather, these are a fun and exciting celebration of beer attended by all kinds of people! You don't only get to sample from over 500 different beers but can also attend short seminars on beer and meet the brewers themselves!

Calgary's International Beerfest is coming up in just over a month and Edmonton's Craft Beer Festival is in June. Tickets are on sale and can be purchases on their website here

New Brewery Opening Up in the Yukon this Spring

For a long time, Yukon Brewing has been the only game in town in Whitehorse, however, now there's a brand new nano-brewery popping up called Winterlong. The owners, who are a husband/wife team, are planning on brewing less than 350L a week at the moment and selling it evenings and weekends while keeping their day jobs. They have been homebrewing for over 8 years and have now decided to try their hand at brewing professionally.

Here's the link from CBC:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/new-whitehorse-nano-brewery-to-open-this-spring-1.2955404

And here's Winterlong's website:
http://winterlongbrewing.com/

Red Deer Advocate - An all-women brew

Here's an article about our Calamity Jane Pale Ale from the Red Deer Advocate:

Red Deer Advocate - An all-women brew

International Women's Day Beer Ready For Sale in Olds, AB

Well, our beer celebrating International Women's Day is made and ready to go starting tomorrow, March 5th at 5pm at Just Jacks in Olds, Alberta! We will also have it for sale at the Olds College Brewery in bottles and in growlers. I will update when and where this will be available in Edmonton and Calgary as soon as I know.

This beer was formulated, brewed, filtered, kegged, and bottled entirely by the women of the Olds College Brewery and part of the proceeds are going to help a Central Alberta charity and the Pink Boots Society.

The Beer Mile?

I think we've all enjoyed a few beers from time to time after completing a punishing run or workout.... I know I have. But have you ever heard of the Beer Mile? This is a real thing......

Here are the rules: Drink a beer (at least 5%) out of a regular sized beer can (355ml), run a quarter mile X 4. So, on a standard track, you chug a whole beer and then run a lap 4 times. If you puke, you have to run a penalty lap. Also, no shotgunning or super wide mouth beer can lids allowed.... That's cheating and this is a real sport!

http://www.beermile.com/

The current champions of this amazing feat are James 'The Beast' Nielsen (4:57) of Canada and Beth Herndon (6:17.8) from the USA

So, friends.... let's do this! Unless, you're too scared.......

Starbucks Stores in Canada Selling Beer and Wine

Yes, it's true. Select Starbucks store locations in Canadian cities are going to start selling beer and wine by the end of the year. The changes are going to take place in some locations in Toronto and other large cities across the country. This new concept for Starbucks has had a successful run in the United States already and now they're bringing it up to us!

I'm really looking forward to this change, myself. Personally, I like going to places like Remedy or Sorrentino's in Edmonton because you can go with a group of people, some of whom want a hot beverage and others who want a glass of wine or beer, and everyone gets what they want. It comes down to the more options a customer has, the more likely they'll find something they want off your menu.

I'm not sure which Edmonton Starbucks locations will make the change, but I'm going to keep a look out!

Here is a link to a Huffington Post article about the new changes to Starbucks:

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/02/04/starbucks-booze-delivery-canada_n_6613544.html

Steam Beer

In this week's blog post, I sort of wanted to pay homage to a style of beer that you don't hear a lot about anymore: Steam Beer.

This style is now referred to as California Common because Anchor Co. has trademarked the name, 'Steam'. The style was invented in the late 19th century in the western United States during the early days of the gold rush. It was made using a lager yeast but, due to lack of refrigeration, had to be fermented at warmer ale temperatures. For those who don't know, lager is usually fermented at around 10 C while ale is fermented at around 20 C. This resulted in a lager that had a lot more fruity esters that are typical of many ales but not traditional lagers. This became an incredibly popular style around the west and was consumed with great gusto by the miners and other labourers. It was seen as a cheap beer made for hard working people. It also became a popular style in the Yukon during the days of the gold rush and through the early 20th century. O'Brien Brewing and Malting Co in Klondike City, YK made, 'home grown steam beer' from 1904 to 1920.

There are several explanations as to why it was called Steam Beer. The one that I find most likely is that when the brewery would cool down the wort to 20 C in shallow open fermenters, water vapour would rise off the hot liquid, giving the appearance of steam. Another explanation is that when the wooden barrels of steam beer were vented before dispensing, a hiss would be emitted from the excess CO2, which sounded like a steam engine.

Today, there are few commercial examples of the style and Anchor Co. continues to be the most popular one. There are very few styles of beer that originated in the 'New World', but this is one that is pretty unique to the wild frontier of the American west. So, Cheers!

Here's a bit more on the history of the beer in San Francisco:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0xq0ETO3wc

International Women's Day Brew: Calamity Jane Pale Ale

About a month ago the other women in the brewing program at Olds and I decided that it would be fun to do a beer for International Women's Day (March 8th). We figured this would be a fun opportunity to get together and brew something for charity in the spirit of the greater brewing sisterhood.

The brewing industry is undoubtedly male dominated, but beer itself, which has been around for over 10,000 years, has been brewed by women from the very beginning and we wanted to show that the female brewing spirit is still alive! In fact, we're doing this brew in conjunction with several other female brewers worldwide that are part of the Pink Boots Society http://pinkbootssociety.org/about-us/

We made a Pale Ale with a late Cascade addition at 25 IBU and 5 SRM. We also added a heap of late hops in the recipe to really amp up the flavour and aroma. I don't want to give away all our secrets.... but it's going to have some gittyup!

Keeping with the western theme of Olds, we're calling the beer Calamity Jane Pale Ale and it will be available starting in early March in Olds on tap and in bottles as well as on tap in select locations in Edmonton and Calgary. Part of the proceeds will go to support the Central Alberta Women's Shelter http://cawes.com/ and the Pink Boots Society.

Here are a few pictures from our brew day and links to our facebook and twitter accounts so that you can keep up with when/where our beer will be available as well as other goings on in our program.

https://www.facebook.com/OCBrewmaster
https://twitter.com/ocbrewmaster

Beer Advertisements That Appeal To Emotion

As I've mentioned before, I'm currently taking a class on marketing in the beer industry and I wanted to share this. We've been talking about different ways that companies can get and hold the attention of the consumer and how that can change over time and space. For example, we no longer see the 'beer jingle' commercial, which was very popular in the 50's and 60's. It can be argued that sex always sells, but that can also become so formulaic that it just turns people off and advertisers have to keep clever and keep appealing to their audience if they want to remain relevant.

Budweiser has been around for a very long time. It can be hard to keep fresh when you've seemingly done it all and conquered the beer world. I'd go as far as to say that they've got the funny and sexy commercials down to a science. In the past couple of years, however, their big Super Bowl ads have turned it around and appealed to peoples sentimental emotions. They've been doing commercials with Clydesdale horses forever, which do make people go, 'Aw', however, they've now introduced a puppy into the mix.

Maybe this advertisement doesn't make you want to run out and buy a Budweiser or maybe it does. But it's got to make you feel at least a little warm and fuzzy on the inside. I'll admit, I teared up just a little.

Beer Tourism: Chodovar Beer Spa

There is a magical place in the western part of the Czech Republic called Chodova Plana and it is home to one of the oldest beer spas in the world.

Yes, beer spas are a thing in the Czech Republic because they are smart and awesome while we are super lame and bathe in stupid old water!

This wonderful utopia is not only a spa but also home to the brewery, Chodovar, as well as a hotel and two restaurants. You don't ever have to leave for anything!!!!!!!!!! Apparently, there is some good hiking and biking trails in the area (the Cheb region), but who cares about that?

The history of brewing in the area goes back to the 12th century when a dog named Albi came across a spring of some magically delicious mineral water. Immediately beer was brewed with the soft water and the people rejoiced! The official start date of the brewery is 1573, however, when the Sliks family began operations.

The brewery has had it's ups and downs..... 450 years will do that to you... but they continue to thrive today. They now produce over 90, 000 hectolitres of beer a year!

The beer bath itself is a mix of the mineral water, beer, grains and herbs and is supposedly all very beneficial to your health.

Here's the link to the spa: http://www.chodovar.cz/id216en-beer-wellness-land.htm

And here's a link to the tourist website that will guide you through this and other beer tour fun in the wonderful Czech Republic: http://www.praguebeergarden.com/czech-tours/post/beer-spa-chodovar

Na zdravi!

Doc Brown's Belgian Blonde Experiment!!!

So, I brewed my first beer of the new year the other day. I decided that soon I'll be in the mood for something 'spring like', so I decided on a Belgian Blonde with two different yeast strains. I put Wyeast Trappist in one carboy and Wyeast Belgian Saison in the other.

Its base is Pilsen plus a bit of aromatic malt and some wheat. I hopped it with some Hallertau and tada! The Belgian Saison is fermenting away nice and steady, however, the Trappist got a little saucy on me and went blahhhhhhh grrrllllllll all over the damn place. So, I had to make a new blow-off situation to accommodate its attitude!

And since this is the first brew of 2015 (and the future in Back to the Future), I am calling it Doc Brown's Belgian Blonde Experiment!

The Beer Jingle

This week for my Beer Marketing class, I  thought I'd post up a series of old timey beer ads that feature the 'beer jingle' and animation. These types of commercials were clearly popular in the 1950's and 1960's. We don't see anything like this in today's beer advertisements.... Would you like to see this type of 'animation jingle commercial' come back into popularity? Perhaps minus the blatant sexism?

Carling's:

Pabst Blue Ribbon:

And one more non-animated 'sexist dinner party' jingle commercial from Schlitz:

Whale Testicles Beer, you say? Can I Get Pregnant From This?

Icelandic microbrewery, Stedji  is introducing a beer made with fin whale testicles, which are smoked in sheep feces. The beer is being released to celebrate the month-long celebration of Thorri, which is in honour of the Norse god, Thor. This whale testicle beer is called Hvalur 2, which is a sequel to last year's Hvalur 1, which was made with milled fin whale bones.

Both these beers are incredibly controversial and have sparked tons of outrage from various animal rights organizations. The Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society has stated that these beers are nothing but a "cheap marketing ploy" and that this endangers an already endangered species.

Stedji claims that these beers are being made in the tradition of their Viking ancestors, who were no strangers to eating testicles.... what do you think?

Here is a link to the brewery's website and a link to a USA Today article discussing the controversy surrounding the beer:

http://www.stedji.com/hvalur-1-2.html
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2015/01/13/iceland-brewery-whale-testicle-beer/21714213/

Non-Commercial Beer Commercial

I think most people can agree that there is a general formula to beer commercials.... young people in the outdoors playing Frisbee, girls in bikinis on jet skis, attractive people having a way better time at the bar than you ever do.... and so on..... So, I thought I'd post one of my favourite beer ads in recent memory that takes a bit of a different approach. 

Here is an unconventional beer ad for New Castle Brown Ale that aired during last year's Super Bowl featuring Anna Kendrick complaining that she got screwed over for the endorsement. Does it do a good job selling the product or is it just a funny commercial?

Last Semester Kick Off!

Well, I've been off on Christmas vacation the last month or so and haven't had much opportunity or reason to update the old blog. Also, I read the entire Hunger Games series, which took up a fair bit of my time :)

I did of course take home a ton of beers that I brewed over the last four months for Christmas presents and such.... I brought back our Olds College Wet Hopped Pale Ale as well as my own Babcia's Best Bitter, Heartbreak Porter, Highway 2 IPA, and Ginger Beer #2.

Packing up the car to go home. And yes, that is a full carboy of IPA in the back seat (driving beer up and down the highway really gives it just the right amount of oxidation, ya know).

And here is the Christmas Eve sampling of many beers.

A new semester, however, spells new blog entry requirements for courses I'm in. This time around I'll be blogging at least once a week about various issues around beer marketing and things going on around the industry in general. I'll also be offering my own musing on those subjects as well as keeping a bit of a log of the things I'm brewing through the semester.

So, Happy New Year and keep on keeping up with Lisa's last 4 months in Olds, Alberta.