| AUG/SEP
2005 | COLUMNS | HOP CAEN
Heard It Through The Hopvine
By Hop Caen
What's in Your Refrigerator Dept. It's a
traditional question for brewers and beer lovers, but for
the San Francisco Police Department it got a little embarrassing.
Some rather intoxicating evidence turned up after a phone
tip led to an examination of a refrigerator at the SFPD's
Tac Squad building at the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard —
a bottle cap-toss from the historic 19th-century Albion Brewery.
The fridge was stocked with beer and a few bottles of the
hard stuff in the freezer. No word on who, why or when, but
we'd like to know the Tac Squad’s preferred brands …
Speaking of macho beer-drinking, after watching the Tour de
France and the Iron Man Triathlon, I'm thinking we need such
an over-the-top event for extreme beer lovers. How about the
Iron Butt Competition! The event would include drinking 12
pints, eating 1¬2 hamburgers with fries and power-napping
12 hours. I'm in training starting … NOW! Can't wait
to see the T-shirt … XXXXL, of course…
This Bud's for Us Dept. Beer giant Anheuser-Busch
may need to retap fired workers, according to published reports.
A federal appeals court sez the Saint Louis–based beer-maker
may have to reinstate several employees who were fired for
smoking pot at work. That's because the company used hidden
cameras without informing the employees' union. The company
insists that the cameras were in an area where the employees
weren't supposed to be. At least now we know Big Bud-er is
watching…
A Belgian politico canceled a meeting with
a visiting Iranian counterpart because the visitor refused
to lunch with someone enjoying a beer. Now we're getting somewhere!
The "When in Rome" dictum obviously doesn't apply
to our fundamentalist Muslim brothers. Herman De Croo, president
of parliament's lower house, had planned to entertain the
speaker and members of the Iranian parliament during their
visit to Belgium — a country famous for its diversity
of beer brands. The culture clash continued after Iran's parliament
speaker Gholamali Haddad-Adel insisted he would not shake
hands with the female president of Belgium's senate, Anne-Marie
Lizin, who then canceled their meeting. She said in a statement
that Iranians should respect local customs in Belgium, just
as Belgians should in Iran. Imagine how much we could accomplish
if we could just sit down over a good beer…
Can Cans Contain Quality Craft? A recent
edition of the esteemed New York Times had a review of the
nation's top pale ales. Said America's journal of record:
"… our top selection, Dale's Pale Ale, made by
Oskar Blues Brewery of Lyons, Colo., was one of the more aggressive
ales in the tasting, with assertive floral and citrus aromas.
But the ale was so well balanced, so lively and dry, that
its extroversion simply did not matter." The story went
on to lament the fragility of good beer and the importance
of freshness and protection from light. Said the Times: "One
possible solution to the light problem, at least, was staring
us in the face right after the tasting, when the identities
of all the brews were revealed. Our No. 1, Dale's Pale Ale,
came in a can. A can! Not long ago, cans represented all that
was wrong with the assembly-line American beer industry. No
craft brewer worth a copper brew-kettle would even consider
putting his precious ale in a can. But times have changed,
and some brewers say that cans are lighter and easier to recycle
than bottles, and offer complete protection against light."
And you can bet the folks at Dale's in Lyons ain't lyin’
about the can-troversy…
This summer, Ommegang Brewery in Cooperstown, N.Y.,
sponsored a White Nights Ultimate Frisbee Tournament celebrating
the arrival of summer, the sport of Ultimate Frisbee, flying
Frisbee-snagging dogs, and Ommegang Witte beer, which they
call “the Ultimate Beer for the Ultimate Weekend.”
Some 24 Ultimate teams competed in the two-day tourney. The
grand prize was the winning team’s collective weight
in the Ommegang beers of their choice. Mmmmm … With
the merger last year of Portland/MacTarnahan Brewing and Pyramid
Breweries, the new company is still called Pyramid Breweries.
Surely the branding geeks could have come up with something
more inclusive of its distinguished parts. How about PorTarnAmid?
OK, how about MacPortAmid? No? Pyrtarnaport? PyrPortlamac?
Your turn…
Veteran brewer Fal (Algernon) Allen, ex-Anderson
Valley, ex-Pike Brewing, is on his way to Singapore to bring
the blessings of great beer to that light lager–loving
land. Said his Fal-ness, "I am brewing three test beers
for APB at the Elysian in Seattle. I am very excited to be
brewing again! A keg of each of the beers will shipped out
to Singapore, and the Elysian will pour the rest across the
bar. We will be making a traditional English pale ale, a Belgian
wit (with Asian accents) and an American blonde (with a big
rack). Should be fun." Big rack is, of course, brewer-talk
for "transferred from large tanks." We wish you
success, Fal! You never forget your first Singapore Girl (is
that a beer?)…
Send any items you might have to hopvine@celebrator.com.
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