What's my favorite beer?

What's my favorite beer?

At The Existential Cask, I answered that question ... with nearly 400 words.

But poet Dave Undis! At his Beer Haiku Daily, he did so succinctly ... with only 15 words.

My favorite beer?
Is it the one I just drank?
No, it’s the next one.

Smoke Out at NEW Capital Ale House

In August and September I had followed the progress of a local homebrewer as he brewed a mild ale for the Pro-Am Competition of the Great American Beer Festival.

He didn't win, but another local area brewer did.

Lyle Brown of Fredericksburg, Va., a National Beer Judge, garnered a silver medal for his Smoke Out, a Bamberg-style hellerbock. He brewed it, based upon his award-winning homebrew recipe, at Starr Hill Brewery in Crozet, Va.

Fellow C.R.A.B.B. (Chesapeake Region Allianace of Beer Bloggers) David Turley reports this morning at his blog —Musings Over A Pint— that Lyle's beer will soon be on tap at all three four locations of the Capital Ale House.

And that itself is a good story as well. Capital Ale House opens its fourth location today — in Fredericksburg, Va.

[UPDATE 2008.11.07: A visit to the Ale House for the tapping.]

Is beer recession-proof?

"Selling beer is a solid business, even during a recession," wrote Matthew Dalton of Dow Jones Newswires on 30 October.

Beer sales tend to resist economic downturns, and in some cases actually increase as consumers switch to cheaper alcoholic drinks.

"Other than a few markets, beer sales continue to hold up, which is not uncommon during times of recession," said Brian Sudano, managing director of Beverage Marketing Corporation in New York.

• Dalton's article is specifically about InBev's purchase of A-B: most analysts still see that as happening, but maybe with some modifications.
• [UPDATE: Is beer recession proof? Argument #2]

Real Beer’s Holiday Blog

From Realbeer.com:

Over the next two months we’ll try to highlight all of the beer-related holiday beers, events and gift ideas that come our way in the hopes of making your holidays this year as enjoyably beery as possible.

Real Beer’s Holiday Blog

Just in case you weren't certain to which 'holidays' this refers:

Cool Yule! ... et cetera.

Chesapeake Region Alliance of Beer Bloggers

In October of 2008, Beer Activist and Maryland resident Chris O'Brien suggested a loose alliance of mid-Atlantic area beer bloggers. It sounded like a viable idea to me.

For acronym purposes (see below), we dropped mid-Atlantic in favor of Chesapeake. And for wieldy purposes, we limited participation to beer bloggers in Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia.

From the six original charter members —and losing a few who have since put away their keyboards— there are 11 writers participating as of July 2010.

Introducing: C.R.A.B.B. — The Chesapeake Region's Alliance of Beer Bloggers

• Baltimore Beer Guy
• Beer Activist
• Beer in Baltimore
• Beer in Baltimore.com [added March 2009]
  
• Belgian beer and travel
• DC Beer.com [added December 2008]
• Beltway Beer [added December 2009]
• HolzBrew [added December 2009]
• Hurra Bier! [added December 2009]
• Musings Over a Pint
• Relentless Thirst [added December 2008]

If you publish a beer blog and you live in the tri-jurisdictional area, drop me a line, or leave a comment, and we'll discuss adding your blog to our alliance.

LAST UPDATED: 2010.07.02

• On hiatus. In June 2010, after publishing one beer haiku every day for five years, Beer Haiku Daily has taken a breather.
• Honorary. Heavy Seas Brewery's Hugh Sisson. Brewery blogs considered a separate category. More: here.
• Honorary. Rob Kaspar of the Baltimore Sun at his blog Kaspar on Tap. Posts infrequently. More: here.
• Graphic created by Eric Delia of Richmond, Virginia, beer blog, Relentless Thirst.