Clamps & Gaskets: Roundup for 2010 Week 35

Week 35
29 August 2010 - 4 September 2010

• 2010.09.04
  The 'World's Oldest Beer' pulled from an early 19th century shipwreck in the Baltic Sea. http://bit.ly/dbnuS2


• 2010.09.04
  This September and October, Young's Ram Rod will be available on cask, the first time in 5 years, but only in the UK. http://bit.ly/anvD04
• 2010.09.03
  Shark Week on the Potomac River? Fishermen catch TWO 8 ft+ bull sharks. http://bit.ly/alyfZS
• 2010.09.03
  A national survey claims that the nation's worst drivers are found in the Washington, D.C. / Baltimore, Maryland area. http://bit.ly/aUMgIf
• 2010.09.03
  Bottles of wine to be lowered to trapped miners in Chile. http://retwt.me/1OBXV
• 2010.09.03
  The problem with the Black India Pale Ale beer style: it has no connection to India and it is in no way pale. From Andy Crouch at Beer Scribe: http://bit.ly/dBKdcN
• 2010.09.02
  It was this photo [http://yfrog.com/2mhdmdj] posted to Twitter that fist alerted the 'traditional' media to the gunman and hostage situation at the Discovery Channel building in Maryland. http://bit.ly/9KoSYD
• 2010.09.02
  1996 was the zenith for 'craft' beer ; 1997, only one year later, its nadir. http://bit.ly/c91m2R
• 2010.09.01
  A Tale of Two Wine Harvests. Hot and early in Virginia; cold and late in California. http://bit.ly/bozWNA


• 2010.09.01
  35 years later, heroes of the Vietnam War are reunited, decorated: http://n.pr/cX6wRC
• 2010.09.01
  "I expected DC Beer Week to be a bacchanale, but it turned out more of a wedding ceremony." Via Greg Kitsock of the Washington Post: http://bit.ly/9JHlX2


• 2010.09.01
  Oktoberfest comes twice to Fredericksburg, Virginia, in September. http://bit.ly/bNZ1fg
• 2010.08.31
  Pairing jazz and beer: National Public Radio listens to Miles Davis' Bitches Brew while tasting Dogfish Head's homage beer of same name. http://ff.im/-pXXqa


• 2010.08.31
  Should a brewpub fill growlers with cask-conditioned ale? Several brewers respond: http://bit.ly/br0QiQ
• 2010.08.31
  Sleuthing the mysterious origins of the words 'beer' and 'ale': http://bit.ly/cFEi7I
• 2010.08.30
  National Beer Wholesalers Association's online Alcohol Law Forum can help keep you up-to-date on legal developments: http://bit.ly/bM13UQ
• 2010.08.30
  What economic malaise? Washington State brewery boom: ~20 applications in 2 months http://wp.me/pevlF-3lR
• 2010.08.29
  What's a 'CE'? Know your beer volumetrics: http://bit.ly/d2vlIE
• 2010.08.29
  What's a 'CE'? Know your beer volumetrics: http://bit.ly/d2vlIE

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• Clamps and Gaskets is a weekly wrap-up of stories  not posted at Yours For Good Fermentables.com. Most deal with beer (or wine, or whisky); some do not. But all are brief, and many are re-posts from my Twitter account: twitter.com/cizauskas.
• The Clamps and Gaskets graphic was created by Mike Licht at NotionsCapital.

Pic(k) of the Week: A Good Lunch

Slices of Tallegio & Cheddar cheese, sips of Italian red wines, chunks from a fresh baguette: what more lunches SHOULD be!

Sampling 'big' Italian reds —Nero d'Avola, Chianti Classico, Brunello, Barbera, Barolo, Amarone— on an early afternoon at Planet Wine, in Alexandria (Del Ray), Virginia.

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• Pic(k) of the Week: one in a weekly series of personal photos, usually posted on a Saturday, and often of a good fermentable as subject.
• Caveat lector. As a representative for northern Virginia wine & beer wholesaler Select Wines, Inc., I sell many of the wines imported by Winebow.

Clamps & Gaskets: Roundup for 2010 Week 34

Week 34
22 August 2010 - 28 August 2010

• 2010.08.28
  Mayan 2012 prediction? Sun storm to hit with 'force of 100m bombs.' http://bit.ly/bNQS6W
• 2010.08.28
  From beernews.org, more analysis of the 11.9% growth of US 'craft' beer during the first 6 months of 2010: http://bit.ly/bnlNWw
• 2010.08.28
  If pumpkins aren't yet in season, how can 'pumpkin' beer already be on the shelves? A Baltimore, Maryland brewer waits for the harvest. http://bit.ly/9DcuHo


• 2010.08.28
  Virginia brewery Starr Hill stars on cable network's 'Top Chef'. http://fb.me/F77Zhcds
• 2010.08.27
  Howard Mandel's Twitter campaign '#jazzlives' is one year old and thriving. http://goo.gl/fb/npsdE
• 2010.08.27
  Stevie Ray Vaughan: the blues guitar legend died 20 years ago today. http://bit.ly/9uPzzO
• 2010.08.26
  Pending national legislation that would limit interstate beer and wine distribution: http://bit.ly/9leet8


• 2010.08.26
  The 1st Mid-Atlantic Red Fruit Festival (aka Tomato) announced for 24 September in Washington, D.C. http://bit.ly/cNCjOE
• 2010.08.25
  The City of Philadelphia proposes a license and fee for bloggers. http://bit.ly/90bg7b
• 2010.08.25
  Chablis: the gold standard of unoaked chardonnay. http://bit.ly/bClrBI
• 2010.08.25
  The father of US 'craft' beer comes out of retirement. The story of Jack McAuliffe and New Albion, 34 years later: http://bit.ly/alrYg6
• 2010.08.24
  Oscar Wong, owner of Asheville, North Carolina's Highland Brewing Company to be first recipient of Savannah Craft Brew Fest Craft Brew Pioneer Award. http://bit.ly/cOB4p4 [pdf]
• 2010.08.24
  "Malt vinegar was beer once, and it seems to remember." -Garret Oliver, of Brooklyn Brewing, on pairing French fries & English bitter. Quote via Orr Schtull of Washington City Paper.
• 2010.08.24
  "The use of modern techniques & equipment to ensure quality beer doesn't mean the beer isn't a worthy product." An essay on technology by an English brewer: http://bit.ly/cffs8t
• 2010.08.23
  Why Twitter can work for your business, and how it can. A primer. http://bit.ly/94GfZH
• 2010.08.23
  How do you pronounce "Nevada?" You're probably wrong! http://su.pr/22TeMz


• 2010.08.23
  Once 26% of the US beer market, the mighty Budweiser beer has fallen to 9.3% share, and is still falling. http://bit.ly/aYgVOF
• 2010.08.23
  Once 26% of the US beer market, the mighty Budweiser beer has fallen to 9.3% share, and is still falling. http://bit.ly/aYgVOF

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• Clamps and Gaskets is a weekly wrap-up of stories  not posted at Yours For Good Fermentables.com. Most deal with beer (or wine, or whisky); some do not. But all are brief, and many are re-posts from my Twitter account: twitter.com/cizauskas.
• The Clamps and Gaskets graphic was created by Mike Licht at NotionsCapital.

Max's 3rd Annual German Beer Fest (& those gravity kegs)

It may be the little sister to the Belgian Beer Fest, but the September 10-12 German Beer Festival at Maxs Taphouse in Baltimore, Maryland, is still full of good beer. Maybe it's the lagers, or maybe it's the less than astronomical rates of IBUs and ABVs (with exceptions!), but this informal festival seems to bring out less geeky rambunctiousness and more Gemütlichkeit.

From the website and email:

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Sept 10-12, 2010
11am to close each day
NO ENTRANCE FEE
Over 50 German beers on draft:

1809 Berliner Weisse
Ahornberger Dark Märzen
Aecht Schlenkerla Urbock
Aecht Schlenkerla Märzen
Aecht Schlenkerla Helles
Bitburger Pils
Erdinger Hefeweizen
Erdinger Dunkel Weiss
Erdinger Oktoberfest
Franziskaner Hefeweizen
Franziskaner Dunkel Weiss
Gunter Brau Amber Märzen
Hartman Amaber Märzen
Hofstetten Aurora
Hofstetten Bio Honigsbock
Hofstetten Granit Bock
Hofstetten Kueblebier
Koning Ludwig Hefeweizen
Langbrau Amber Märzen
Mahrs Weisse
Mahrs Unfiltered Pils
Mahrs Ungespundet Lager
Rothenbach Dark Märzen
Schneider Aventinus
Schneider Aventinus Eisbock
Schneider Edel Weisse
Schneider Hopfen Weisse
Schneider Weisse
Spaten Dunkel
Spaten Lager
Spaten Oktoberfest
Spaten Optimator
Steigel Lager
Uerige Classic
Uerige Dopplesticke
Uerige Sticke
Warsteiner Dunkel
Warsteiner Oktoberfest
Warsteiner Pils
Wurzburger Oktoberfest
Wurzburger Pils

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General Manager/Beer Manager Casey Hard says that his list is 80% completed. In addition, at current count, he has 20 bottled German beers, and more than 10 German gravity kegs. He continues to work on securing more draughts. Beers will be served in mugs, Maßkrugs (one-liter steins, pronounced "mahss"), one liter boots, and some 2-liter boots (modeled below by long-time bartender Jamie).



A riff on those 'gravity' kegs ...

I noticed a Washington, D.C., area beer bar recently mentioning that they would be serving German firkins at an event they would hold.

Well, not really.

The term 'firkin' explicitly refers to a 9 UK gallon cask, or, as measured in US terms, 10.8 gallons. The Germans don't measure in gallons; they use the metric system. A common size for a German keg is 50 liters, which roughly corresponds to 13.2 US gallons. More to the point, a firkin is a cask, a vessel in which a secondary or tertiary re-fermentation occurs. Though one might encounter kellerbier —lager re-fermented in a keg, or served unfiltered from a tank, such as zwickelbier— a German brewer would bemused to hear her kegs referred to with a British term.

Here's a picture of a Reisssdorf Kölsch keg, which has a spring-loaded bung, on its side near the bottom, through which a bartender can insert a tap.


Since extraneous CO2 is not used to push the beer through the lines, serving it by gravity tap will result in a less gassy mouthfeel —similar to beer from a cask. And, yes, the beer is unpasteurized —as are many kegged beers, by the way— but it is not a cask! It is filtered, kegged beer, that can also be dispensed via a 'standard' draught system through a top spear and coupler.

Take none of this as disparagement. Fresh, well-made, full-flavored lagers (and ales, such as Kölsch) can be sublime.

Pic(k) of the Week: Got beer?

It's Sweetness the St. Bernard. His flask, unfortunately, was not filled with beer.

The photo was taken at the 2008 Capitol City Brewing Company Oktoberfest, in Arlington, Virginia. This year's festival is scheduled for Saturday, 2 October 2010. More information is available at the festival Facebook page.

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Pic(k) of the Week: one in a weekly series of personal photos, usually posted on a Saturday, and often of a good fermentable as subject.

'Craft' beer sales reach 8.7% of total US market

According to the Symphony IRI Group, sales of 'craft' beer were up 11.9% in the first half of 2010. As comparison, sales of the beers of the top 10 'mainstream' brewing conglomerates decreased by more than 5 million cases. For example, Anheuser-Busch Inbev sales were down 1.9%, SABMiller/Coors down 2.4%.

Here's the really big news. In recent years, 'craft' beer sales have comprised about 5% of the total US beer market. During the first half of 2010, they dramatically surpassed that level, reaching 8.7%.

The Symphony IRI figures account for sales at retail outlets such as grocery stores, beer/wine shops, etc., but do not include draft sales. They were presented to the Brewers Association —a trade group for US brewers producing less than 2 million barrels— during an online conference yesterday

Of the top 'craft' breweries, New Belgium grew the most, up 28% in sales dollars. Sierra Nevada Brewing's Torpedo an IPA named for a special piece of hopping equipment— grew 200% versus 2009, best among the top 15 'craft' beers.

Ray Daniels tweeted the results as they were announced. Beer Advocate aggregated those tweets. Jay Brooks summarized them. Stan Hieronymous compared the results to those from 2006.

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Preliminary figures released in early August showed that 'craft' breweries had sold approximately 4.6 million barrels (31 gallons = 13.78 cases) for the first six months of this year, versus 4.2 million in the same period last year. That's 9.1% growth, which, although robust, doesn't quite match the 11.9% number above. Does that discrepancy indicate lower growth —or loss— for sales of draught 'craft' beer? I don't know (even though anecdotally I wouldn't believe so.) I look forward to the Brewers Association publishing a more thorough recap and analysis.

Clamps & Gaskets: Roundup for 2010 Week 33

Week 33
15 August 2010 - 21 August 2010

• 2010.08.21
  Music and food, and beer of 4 Virginia breweries at the 2nd annual Brew Ridge Trail Music Fest. http://bit.ly/ca8nGnI
• 2010.08.20
  DC Beer Week begins Friday, 20 August, continues through Saturday, 28 August. http://bit.ly/9SR5L6


• 2010.08.19
  13 arrested for ... smoking, in Falls Church, Virginia, restaurants: http://bit.ly/cDKBFn
• 2010.08.19
  Computer chip maker Intel purchases internet security company McAfee for $7.68 Billion. http://mash.to/2rOwn
• 2010.08.19
  SABMiller/Coors has established a 'craft' beer department, something Miller did once before ... in 1995. http://bit.ly/9aKnRO
• 2010.08.18
  Chardonnay, when unoaked, has a place at the summer table. Wine from the Maconnais, in Burgundy, France: http://bit.ly/cHL
• 2010.08.17
  Anheuser-Busch targets the Craft Brewers Alliance for a possible takeover: http://bit.ly/9gWPFf
• 2010.08.17
  What exactly IS a stone fruit? Richmond, Virginia's Secco Wine Bar explains: http://bit.ly/dgLdOx
• 2010.08.17
  Austrian Pinot Noir the best in the world? The surprising results of an international 'blind' tasting. http://bit.ly/bVjjlf
• 2010.08.17
  New York State gives a grant to the Brooklyn Brewery for a major expansion: http://bit.ly/9M8reM
• 2010.08.17
  The number of brewing plants vs. the number of brewing companies: setting the US historical statistical record straight. http://bit.ly/a4iDm7
• 2010.08.16
  Hurricane Katrina destroyed his prints, but NOT the negatives. Herman Leonard —photographer of the jazz scene of the 40s, 50, and 60s— has died at age 87. http://bit.ly/c80yOA
• 2010.08.16
  At Saratoga, trainers are feeding their race horses Guinness rather than carrots. http://bit.ly/czYoDT


• 2010.08.16
  Now brewed by SABMiller/Coors, Baltimore, Maryland's venerable Natty Boh beer makes a comeback. http://bit.ly/cPjwYO
• 2010.08.15
  Now she's singing with the angels. Abbey Lincoln, 80 —jazz singer, songwriter, and actress— has died. http://bit.ly/cz3qAB
• 2010.08.15
  "An aptitude for transformative potentiality. Nuances imparted by degeneration." How and why beer can age gracefully (and which particular brands do so exceptionally): http://bit.ly/9Qw7d7

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• The couple pictured above, smoking, was NOT among those arrested. It remains legal to smoke OUTSIDE of a Virginia restaurant.
• Clamps and Gaskets is a weekly wrap-up of stories  not posted at Yours For Good Fermentables.com. Most deal with beer (or wine, or whisky); some do not. But all are brief, and many are re-posts from my Twitter account: twitter.com/cizauskas.
• The Clamps and Gaskets graphic was created by Mike Licht at NotionsCapital.