Clamps & Gaskets: News Roundup for Weeks 22/23, 2014.

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

Weeks 22/23
25 May - 7 June 2014

• 2014.06.06
  How the British supplied beer to their troops during the invasion of Normandy in 1944, if not on 6 June, D-Day, only a week thereafter.
  —Via Martyn Cornell at Zythophile.
  
  
• 2014.06.07
  A look at some of the current legal barriers to craft brewery establishment and growth.
  —Via Project for the Study of American Capitalism
  (George Mason University: Arlington, Virginia).
  
  
• 2014.06.05
  June 5, 2014 was the one-year anniversary of the first documents leaked by Edward Snowden. "While the Electronic Freedom Foundation has been fighting NSA surveillance for years, 2013 marked a new chapter in our battle against mass spying. The documents made it clear to everyone why we care so much, and why they should too. Surveillance affects everyone, in the United States and internationally. <...>Reset the Net is asking everyone to help by installing free software tools that are designed to protect your privacy on a computer or a mobile device. Reset the Net is also calling on websites and developers to add surveillance resistant features, like HTTPS and forward secrecy."
  —Via EFF.
  
  
• 2014.06.05
  Australian scientists now believe that a massive volcanic eruption, 500 million years ago during the Cambrian period, caused the world’s first mass extinction of more than 50 percent of the world’s species.
  —Via Geology.
  
  
• 2014.06.03
  How a "swashbuckling" CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) helped instigate the small brewery revival in the U.K. A British beer enthusiast reviews the new history: "Brew Britannia: The Strange Rebirth of British Beer", by British beer bloggers Boak and Bailey (Jessica Boak and Ray Bailey).
  —Via Tandleman.
  
  
  
  
• 2014.06.01
  "From Grain to Glass" —a documentary on Virginia 'craft' beer— to be released in August 2014.
  —More via producer Take A Penny Productions.
  
  
• 2014.06.01
  Dates for the 2014 (Washington) DC Beer Week have been announced: 17-24 August 2014.
  —Details via DC Beer blog.
  
  
• 2014.06.01
  Esquire Magazine releases its list of "Best Bars in America" for 2014. In Baltimore, Maryland: Rye Baltimore. In Washington, D.C.: Kelly's Irish Times (or Dubliner). In Richmond, Virginia: The Roosevelt.
  
  
• 2014.05.30
  There are 219 'master' sommeliers recognized worldwide (as designated by The Court of Master Sommeliers). Five reside in Washington D.C. and northern Virginia.
  —Via Dave McIntyre (Washington Post).
  
  
• 2014.05.30
  "What does it mean for a beer to be local?" A 'craft' beer bar manager muses on the 'chicken-or-the-egg' economics of brewing a truly 'local' beer.
  —Via Burlington Free Press.
  
  
• 2014.05.30
  General Eric Shinseki resigns as Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, in face of revelations of delayed care for veterans, sometimes months, and its coverup.
  —Via New York Times.
  
  
• 2014.05.29
  Town of Irwindale, California, to allow Sriracha hot sauce plant to remain open, under certain conditions.
  —Via Washington Post.
  
  
  
  
• 2014.05.29
  A graphic depicting the density of bars vs. grocery stores across the U.S. Via Flowing Data. (Spoiler: The state of Wisconsin has the highest density of bars per capita; Delaware, Maryland, and Mississippi are tied for the least.)
  
  
• 2014.05.28
  American poet, author, and civil rights activist Maya Angelou has died at age 86.
  —Via AP.
  
  
• 2014.05.27
  Five rules on ethics for beer bloggers, authors, and journalists.
  —Via Jeff Alworth of Beervana.
  
  
  
  
• 2014.05.27
  Craft beer pioneer, Jack Joyce, founder of brewery Rogue Ales, in Oregon, in 1988 has died at age 71.
  —Via Brookston Beer Bulletin.
  
  
• 2014.05.27
  Scientists in 5 nations are attempting to create the first synthetic version of a yeast cell, developing all 16 chromosomes that make up yeast, by 2017.
  —Via News.com.au
  
  
  
  
• 2014.05.26
  Scientists at White Labs, in the U.S., and VIB Laboratory of Systems Biology, in Belgium, are working to map the genetic 'family tree' of brewing yeasts. The Belgian lab also has plans to use the data from the genomic project to design and breed new brewing yeasts without resorting to genetic modification.
  —Via New York Times.
  
  
• 2014.05.25
  A map to the beer at Nationals Park in Washington D.C., including local 'craft' beer.
  —Via Nationals Review.
  
  
• 2014.05.25
  Steve Hindy, owner/president of the Brooklyn Brewery on a definition of 'craft' beer: "The beer drinker decides what a craft beer is." Interviewed on the Kojo Nnamdi Show on WAMU Radio (NPR, Washington, D.C.)
  
  

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Pic(k) of the Week: Grand stout theater

In grand fashion, the gentleman filled a 'tulip' glass with the dark liquid contents of a bottle of stout.

And, then, we drank.

The stout ale was from Malka, a brewery on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, in Israel. The 'pourer' was Austin Clar, of Sublime Imports, Malka's U.S. importer. The location was Lyon Hall, a European-styled brasserie, found in the Clarendon neighborhood of Arlington County, Virginia (itself a close-in suburb of Washington, D.C.).

30 May 2014.

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Pic(k) of the Week: OMG(ose)!

Gose ¹ was once a 'style' of tart wheat beer popular in, and near, Leipzig, Germany. By the mid-twentieth century, it had died from neglect. Now, in the twenty-first, a few breweries have resuscitated Gose, in its birthland and elsewhere, such as in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A., at Union Craft Brewing.

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What did (does) Gose taste like?

Historical recreations are problematic, but we can surmise that Gose appeared opalescently golden, and, akin to Berliner weisse —the "Champagne du nord"—its upcountry sibling, tasted lemony and sour, almost puckeringly so, and was fairly low in alcohol: 3-4%. It would have had much less of a banana-clove character than does hefe-weizen, its better-known wheat-beer cousin.

Going fully present tense, there are three more things to consider:

Salt is an essential component of the Gose grist, either through a surfeit in the brewing water or an after-the-fact addition. To be sure, brewers have long used the chloride fraction of salts —such as sodium chloride (table salt) and calcium chloride— to enhance sweetness, and they still do in many beers. But, when brewing Gose, they favor salinity over confection, and with an additional dusting of coriander spice.

The final thing might be the most significant (or at least, the most immediately apparent). The sour in Gose is derived from lactic acid, either added by itself or induced via inoculated lactic-acid bacterial fermentation (or, as it may have been originally brewed, via spontaneous fermentation, such as with Belgian lambic). ²

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Union Craft Brewing's Old Pro Gose

At Baltimore, Maryland's 2-year-old Union Craft Brewing, brewer/owner Kevin Blodger 'sour-mashes' his Old Pro Gose, folding a lactobacillus bacteria culture into the wheat/barley mash and letting it concoct, covered, overnight. Jon Zerevitz, co-founder of the brewery, describes the fermentation's next-morning odor as that of a locker room, dumped with sweat-soaked socks(!). Blodger strains off the funkified, soured wort (in brewer's parlance, he lauters it) and ferments that in the normal fashion with 'normal' ale yeast.

Old Pro Gose is one of Union Craft's warm-weather seasonals, draft-only at present. The brewery lists the specifications as:

ALCOHOL BY VOLUME: 4.2%
BITTERNESS (IBU): 10
COLOR: Straw/pale – Gold
MALT: Wheat, Pils, Acidulated
ADJUNCTS: Salt, Coriander Seed
YEAST: Lactobacillus, German Ale

At the recent Maryland Craft Beer Festival, in Frederick, Maryland ³, an unsupecting drinker had quite an amusing reaction to the sour funk of Old Pro Gose. Definitely a Pic(k) of the Week!

For such a relatively low-alcohol beer, Old Pro had a surprisingly full, chewey mouthfeel. It was refreshingly tart with a lemon-citrus flavor. But first, right upfront, unmistakably, there was that aroma like a healthy-sized crumble of blue cheese floating in the beer.

In a good way.

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Operation Overlord: 6 June 1944

World War II Memorial, Washington, D.C.

Seventy years ago, today, an armada of nearly 6,000 ships and boats carrying 176,000 troops¹, 822 aircraft carrying 18,000 parachutists, and an additional 13,000 aircraft flying air support, left England for an invasion of Nazi-occupied France.

It was D-Day for Operation Overlord. It would be the largest amphibious military operation ever attempted.

Here is what General Dwight D. Eisenhower —Supreme Allied Commander for the invasion— told the troops on that day, 6 June 1944.

Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force!

You are about to embark upon a great crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty loving people everywhere march with you. In company with our brave Allies and brothers in arms on other fronts, you will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of Europe, and security for ourselves in a free world.

Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained, well equipped and battle hardened, he will fight savagely.

But this is the year 1944! Much has happened since the Nazi triumphs of 1940-41. The United Nations have inflicted upon the Germans great defeats, in open battle, man to man. Our air offensive has seriously reduced their strength in the air and their capacity to wage war on the ground. Our home fronts have given us an overwhelming superiority in weapons and munitions of war, and placed at our disposal great reserves of trained fighting men. The tide has turned! The free men of the world are marching together to victory!

I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty and skill in battle. We will accept nothing less than full victory!

Good Luck! And let us all beseech the blessings of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking.

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Clamps & Gaskets: News Roundup for Weeks 20/21, 2014.

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

Weeks 20/21
11 May - 24 May 2014

• 2014.05.24
  The highly anticipated Camelopardalids meteor shower – which some predicted could unleash hundreds of meteors per hour – instead produced a lowly 5 to 10. Via Washington Post: more on this new meteor shower (here) and more on the reasons for the poor showing (here).
  
  
• 2014.05.24
  A professional wine consultant lists 10 ways by which he believes 'craft' beer is outmaneuvering wine. Via Charles Gill of Wine Lists USA.
  
  
  
  
• 2014.05.24
  Development of any new hop variety takes about ten years. More on experimental hop variety development and the Hop Research Council, via Julia Herz (of Brewers Association).
  
  
• 2014.05.23
  Saisons without spices; low-alcohol saisons to quench thirst; but few 'farmhouse' saisons. Greg Kitsock of the Washington Post writes about American saisons.
  
  
• 2014.05.23
  A review of SAVOR: the Brewers Association's annual beer-with-food exposition, held in Washington, D.C., 9/10 May 2014. Via DCBeer: many excellent beers, much poor food.
  
  
• 2014.05.21
  A cyber attack has compromised personal data of possibly 145 million users of eBay. Via Reuters.
  
  
• 2014.05.21
  An Australian brewer —Phil Sexton— on how he created BridgePort Brewing's seminal IPA in 1995, emphasizing locally-grown hops and elevated nitrogen levels in malt for development of fruity-esters. Via Jeff Alworth (at Beervana).
  
  
  
  
• 2014.05.21
  "From Grain to Growler" —a documentary on the history and current developments of 'craft' beer in Virginia— is scheduled for release in August 2014. Via Richmond.com.
  
  
• 2014.05.21
  Cornell University study finds that a lipid in barley —barley LTP1 (lipid transfer protein No. 1)— is the "key to perfect beer foam." Via Cornell Chronicle.
  
  
• 2014.05.17
  The "Witteman" system of ale fermentation in the U.S.: how American beers —in the late 19th and early 20th centuries— were produced in eight days. Via British beer historian Ron Pattinson (at Shut Up About Barclay Perkins).
  
  
• 2014.05.17
  Sixty years ago today, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal." Via Wikipedia.
  
  
• 2014.05.16
  National Public Radio's legendary reporter/host/announcer, Carl Kassel, made his final appearance on Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, the networks's current events quiz show. Via Washington Post.
  
  
  
• 2014.05.13
  The rapid rise of hop prices is due not only to a spike in sales of hop-heavy IPAs. Other reasons include: hop prices are in line with other crops; hops are traded globally; the shift from alpha-hops acres planted to aroma hops; a more segmented hop market; the rise of proprietary hops; US hop farmers in structural growth mode. Analysis via Brewers Association.
  
  
  
• 2014.05.12
  The Brewers Association declares 12-18 May 2014 as American Craft Beer Week. Via YFGF.
  
  
  
  
• 2014.05.12
  The Washington Monument re-opens today after 3 years of repairs from earthquake damage. Via NBC Washington.
  
  
• 2014.05.11
  David Del Grande —long-time brewery owner and brewer— disagrees with the Brewers Association's most recent re-definition of 'craft' brewery. "The Brewers Association has watered down the meaning of craft beer." As quoted by NPR Food.
  
  
• 2014.05.11
  "The National Minimum Drinking Age Act, passed by Congress 30 years ago this July, is a gross violation of civil liberties and must be repealed. It is absurd and unjust that young Americans can vote, marry, enter contracts and serve in the military at 18 but cannot buy an alcoholic drink in a bar or restaurant. The age-21 rule sets the U.S. apart from all advanced Western nations." Via Camille Paglia (at TIME Magazine).
  
  
• 2014.05.11
  One wine expert says that wine judging is intrinsically flawed; another, not. Via British wine journalist Jamie Goode (the latter).
  
  
  
  
• 2014.05.11
  Until 1973, the production of 2-row barley malt production in the western United States was dominated by European varieties. The release of U.S. Klages —a cross between the Polish variety Betzes and Norwegian Domen— changed that. A brief history, via AG Weekly.
  
  
• 2014.05.11
  Growing more barley for malting and brewing may be one way in which to improve the entire food system. Via Dan Barber, author of “The Third Plate: Field Notes on the Future of Food” (in New York Times).
  
  
• 2014.05.11
  The National Wildlife Foundation certifies the 'beer garden' at Boundary Bay Brewery & Bistro, in Bellingham, Washington, as a "Wildlife Habitat," which is the only such designation for any brewery or brewpub in the U.S. Via YFGF.

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