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Comment on Declaration of Beer Independence by Os Cruz

Os Cruz — Wed, 16 May 2012 18:20:00 +0000

x_Os Cruz @njbeernerd:twitter www.newjerseycraftbeer.com

Comment on Craft Beer Bars – Its About More Than Selection by Sjjn

Sjjn — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 19:07:00 +0000

Love No. 1 – so true. Went to NY Beer Company when they first opened and they tried to pour my beer (Jonas Broncks Pale) into a frozen pint glass. I asked them not to.
C’mon guys. You specifically open a craft beer bar and then try to serve in frozen glasses. Luckily I’ve been back and it seems they’ve raised the temp of the glass case significantly.

Comment on Beer Ed: How To Clean a Growler by Tipping: When should one do it? |

Tipping: When should one do it? | — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 14:53:06 +0000

[...] First, filling a growler properly to ensure freshness is not as simple as pouring a pint. It needs to be filled with care and done properly to ensure freshness; ie: capped on foam, not a lot but a little meaning there is no air in the container. Secondly, by designs growlers are a flawed vessel. Many are brown making it hard to determine where the fill level is, also the narrow neck tends to lead towards foaming issues causing there to be more work involved then simply pouring a pint. Lastly, half the time customers will come in and not have a cap or have an unclean growler. I am not going to get started on what an unclean growler can do but to read about how to maintain your growler properly click here. [...]

Comment on Contract Brewing, Good or Bad? by Beltway Brewing Co.

Beltway Brewing Co. — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 19:32:00 +0000

I definitely think it is fair to question the passion put into a beer where the contract-ee may not be involved in the brewing at all. That’s why the contract-or (host brewery) should be looked at, as well. Is it a food production facility that cranks out energy drinks, sodas and sometimes beer, all when they’re not too busy with their own brands? Turning all control of your beer to someone like that sounds VERY risky.
I just hate to see when a consumer’s opinion of a beer immediately turns sour when they find out it’s “contract brewed” due to the vast amount of scenarios (mentioned above) that could be going on. People need to not worry about labels so much and 1) consider each beer/brewery on a case by case basis and 2) appreciate what they’re drinking on its individual merits. With all the new brands emerging today, if it’s not a consistently quality brew, it won’t last anyway.

Comment on Contract Brewing, Good or Bad? by Seth Mellin

Seth Mellin — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 16:17:00 +0000

Those are all valid points. A true distinction does need to be made between “contract” and “partner/tenant” brewing since there are some great “tenant” breweries where their brewmaster is just using another breweries equipment and that is fine with me.

I am not trying to say all “contract” is bad but if you just send a recipe off to another place to be brewed for you by their staff and you don’t have a person you picked to be the brewer for it, I question the passion that will be put into that beer.

As for your point about a marketing guy and a homebrewer I have to 100% agree with you on that.

Comment on Contract Brewing, Good or Bad? by Beltway Brewing Co.

Beltway Brewing Co. — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 16:10:00 +0000

There also needs to be a distinction made between “contract” brewing and “partner” brewing. Those terms are often used interchangeably. A partner brewing arrangement is when a “host” brewery allows a “tenant” brewer come and produce their beer on the host’s system. A lot of arrangements that we casually refer to as “contract brewers” are often closer to a partnership.
Either way, to issue a blanket statement that contract brewing is “good” or “bad” is not fair since there is a huge range of differing arrangements out there. Some arrangements, like the ones where some marketing guy has an idea for some quirky flavored malt beverage that he just needs some brewery to produce for him, I would categorize as “bad” for the craft beer movement. But the arrangement where a truly brilliant homebrewer, that doesn’t happen to have a million bucks in the bank to build their own brewery, contracts an existing brewery with excess capacity to produce his or her beer so he/she can get it to market when they otherwise wouldn’t have the means… now that’s great!

Comment on Beer Ed: Glassware by Craft Beer Bars - Its About More Than Selection |

Craft Beer Bars - Its About More Than Selection | — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 14:49:56 +0000

[...] glass. Some beers are stronger and will benefit more from a tulip and/or snifter style glass (Glassware 101). Don’t be offended if you order a beer and are not being given a pint. You are being [...]

Comment on Growlers: Clear, Brown or Steel by Mike

Mike — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 16:46:00 +0000

I like brown or black. I prefer my black growler from ABC in Mass as it keeps the light out completely. I also have a cobalt blue swing top from ABC and it looks pretty but lets light in

Comment on Growlers: Clear, Brown or Steel by Seth Mellin

Seth Mellin — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 22:09:00 +0000

I can certainly work on that.

Comment on Growlers: Clear, Brown or Steel by Laura

Laura — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 22:03:00 +0000

I did NOT know that stainless steel growlers even existed!

How about a post on how to clean a growler? I always struggle…