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