Clamps & Gaskets: News Roundup for Weeks 5/6, 2013.

A bi-weekly, non-comprehensive roundup
of news of beer and other things.

Weeks 5/6
27 January 2013 - 9 February 2013

• 2013.02.09
  Excise tax reduction urged for breweries producing fewer that six million barrels of beer per year. Via Brewers Association.
  
  
• 2013.02.09
  Renowned jazz trumpeter Donaldson Toussaint L'Ouverture Byrd II has died at age 80. Via Wikipedia.
  
  
  
  
• 2013.02.09
  The National Cider Summit, in Chicago, Illinois.
  
  
• 2013.02.06
  King Richard III has been discovered under a parking lot in Leicester, England, where he's been since 1485. Via Notions Capital.
  
  
• 2013.02.06
  Neither rain nor snow nor dark of night ... but the budget. United States Postal Service to end Saturday mail service on 1 August 2013. Via CNN Money.
  
  
• 2013.02.06
  The relative meaningless of stated high IBU ratings for many 'craft' beers. Via Washington Post Food.
  
  
  
  
• 2013.02.03
  The gluttonous Super Bowl feast, by the numbers. Via The Week.
  
  
• 2013.02.03
  "The appearance of competition without any real competition." Steven Pearlstein on Anheuser-Busch Inbev's push to buy Grupo Modelo, brewer of Corona, and on the monopolistic tendencies of the nation's largest brewers and wholesalers. Via Washington Post Business.
  
  
• 2013.02.03
  Maryland's Governor, Martin O'Malley 'corrects' his bet of Maryland beer in wager over the outcome of Super Bowl with California Governor Jerry Brown. Via Brewers Association of Maryland.
  
  
• 2013.02.02
  Groundhog Punxsutawney Phil leaves burrow, does NOT see shadow today, predicting early onset of warmer spring weather. Via The Examiner.
  
  
• 2013.02.02
  He did well. Ed Koch, former mayor of New York City, has died at age 88. Via Yahoo News.
  
  
• 2013.01.31
  Braver new world. For the first time, number of mobile Facebook users surpasses desktop Facebook users. Via CNN Tech.
  
  
  
  
• 2013.01.30
  For first time, researchers have determined the exact structure of the humulone molecules in hops; health benefits may follow. Via University of Washington.
  
  
• 2013.01.29
  How large breweries restrict the placement of 'craft' beers in chain stores and supermarkets. Via Brewers Association.
  
  
• 2013.01.28
  RateBeer releases its list of the best beers of 2013, as determined by its readers.
  
  
  
• 2013.01.28
  'Craft' breweries lose over $5 million a year due to keg losses. The Brewers Association launches a program to help.

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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. Most are brief, and many are re-posts from twitter.com/cizauskas.

The Clamps and Gaskets graphic was created by Mike Licht at NotionsCapital.