Although hops are the most recent addition to the basic recipe for beer, there is no doubt that the bitter, aromatic herb has become the star. Its distinctive aroma and bitterness are often the first thing noticed when approaching a new beer.
Ever wonder what happens to empty beer kegs or beer that has sat too long in a keg to be drinkable. Here's an interesting little profile of one company that specializes in handling empty kegs. Who knew?
Here's a website that every beer lover should spend some time getting to know. The International Trappist Association closely guards what products, including beer, can be called "trappist" and carry the Authentic Trappist Product label.
Right now only seven monasteries can put the label on their beer. They include Achel, Chimay, La Trappe, Orval, Rochefort, Westvleteren, and Westmalle. In order to do so, the monastaries must follow certain rules: the beer must be brewed within the monastery walls, it cannot be brewed as a profit making concern, it must be secondary to the monastic way of life and it is to be constantly monitored for "irreproachable quality."
Also, beer isn't the only product these monasteries produce and sell. They have everything from mushrooms to cosmetics to silk paintings.
For a few years now, SABMiller has been contracting with small African farmers for grain for the company's African breweries. The company recently announced that they plan to more than double the raw materials brought in through the program by 2012. With around 82% of the stuff going into beer being imported currently, this seems like a smart move. I don't know a lot about this program - this article is the first I've heard of it - but it seems like a good thing.
What does your choice in beer say about you? I like to think that if I'm drinking a particular beer at a particular time it only says that this is the beer that I'm in the mood to drink.
As reported over at Advertising Age a recent study by the market researchers at Mindset Media shows that the brand and type of beer that we choose - or choose not - to drink places us in specific statistical categories. For example, Bud drinkers are 42% more likely to drive pick-ups, Corona drinkers are 92% more likely to buy recycled products and craft beer lovers are 52% more likely to be fans of the sitcom The Office. (No mention of whether they mean the original British series or the new US version.)
Of course, these are statistics so not everyone will fit the form. But it's still interesting stuff. Makes me wonder if I've been wrong to rail against beer marketers all these years who are selling a lifestyle and not a product. But then there I go thinking like a typical craft beer drinker, being all open-minded and intellectually curious and stuff!
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