http://www.kristv.com/news/store-owner- ... -murder/#_

You don't steal two cases of another man's beer...period.

Ice Harbor - Fresh Hop IPA

Tried this with my lunch fare today. It caught me by surprise as I've not had the fresh hop IPA style before. It is exactly what it sounds like and quite pleasant.

Hop Devil by Victory Brewing

Bought a six at the local grocery (Harris-Teeter). They usually have a reliable stock of craft beer (Bell's, Lagunitas, plus regionals like Dogfish Head, Starr Hill, and Flying Dog) but I'd never seen this one there before.

I'm glad I picked it up - it's a very smooth IPA with lots of flavor... kind of caramelly even. Plenty of hops but not overdone. I've also had Victory's double IPA (Hop Wallop), a very good beer, but this one is a notch above it.

I had tried that one a couple months ago, on the way to a get together, I stopped at a small gas station of all places. They had all the generic big name stuff and Hop Devil, it seemed out of place so I snapped it up. I'm not a huge hop fan (but don't dislike it either) I recall liking it, just not a favorite is all.

#shutnado for beer:

MILWAUKEE (AP) — The federal government shutdown could leave America's craft brewers with a serious hangover.

Stores will still offer plenty of suds. But the shutdown has closed an obscure agency that quietly approves new breweries, recipes and labels, which could create huge delays throughout the rapidly growing craft industry, whose customers expect a constant supply of inventive and seasonal beers.

Mike Brenner is trying to open a craft brewery in Milwaukee by December. His application to include a tasting room is now on hold, as are his plans to file paperwork for four labels over the next few weeks. He expects to lose about $8,000 for every month his opening is delayed.

"My dream, this is six years in the making, is to open this brewery," Brenner said. "I've been working so hard, and I find all these great investors. And now I can't get started because people are fighting over this or that in Washington. ... This is something people don't mess around with. Even in a bad economy, people drink beer."

The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, or TTB, is a little-known arm of the Treasury Department. The agency will continue to process taxes from existing permit holders, but applications for anything new are in limbo.

View gallery."In this Oct. 3, 2013 photo, Mike Brenner, owner of …
In this Oct. 3, 2013 photo, Mike Brenner, owner of Brenner Brewing in Milwaukee, stands in front of …
"One could think of this shutdown as basically stopping business indefinitely for anyone who didn't have certain paperwork in place back in mid-August," said Paul Gatza, director of the Brewers Association, which represents more than 1,900 U.S. breweries.

Any of you dabble with home brewing?

I tried a pint of something new over the weekend, We went to a trendy restaurant that had several dozen craft beers on tap, what better time to try something new?

I had a Founders Reds Rye
Very hoppy, you hop heads might enjoy this one! Very crisp, very citrusy and spicy. It had both a grapefruit smell as well as a fairly strong grapefruit taste. This was both odd and delicious at the same time. Not flavored mind you, the flavor comes from the hops used so it's all beer, not a fruity froo froo bastard. Pretty darned good stuff I would recommend highly. Not for those who don't care for hops mind you.

You Yanks and Europeans need to try some of our Aussie beers. Our beers are generally quite bitter, big names are XXXX (four ex), VB (Victorian Bitter), Thooeys or Hanh. A couple mates of mine went to Thailand not long back, and they came back with what was known as Chang Beer. Not sure how to explain it, but it's smooth and goes down real easy, not necessarily a good thing because a carton can disappear rather quick. Oh and for all those that imagine Aussies sitting in the pub drinking a Fosters, it doesn't happen. I don't know anyone that drinks a Fosters let alone any local pubs that serve it. Ozzie.

VB is ok, and Tooheys not bad at all. But I steer well clear of the Castlemain muck as much as I do the Fosters. I also find Australian beer sweet and malty rather than bitter. The general view of Australian beer is that it is where the US was 15-20 years ago, and where Britain was 30-40 years ago - doinated by mass produced and bland beers with a few regional alternatives.

That may be unfair, though - is there a growing craft beer scene in Oz?

China and Thailand (and other SE Asian countries) are making some nice crisp lager beers. Many use rice as well as barley, which gives a 'cleaner' taste (although with less depth). Japanese Asahi is a good example of that.

Top 20 beer brands in the UK
Stella Artois
Foster’s
Carling
Carlsberg
Budweiser
Carlsberg Export
Kronenbourg 1664
Beck’s
John Smith’s Extra Smooth
Tennent’s
Guinness Draught
Stella Artois 4%
Grolsch
Carlsberg Special Brew
Reroni Mastro Azzurro
San Miguel
Corona Extra
Heineken
Boddingtons
Old Speckled Hen

Of course I don't hold anybody accountable for what the masses drink. The craft beer movement is happening despite the popular swills out there

Never sure why Fosters is so popular here. I blame Paul Hogan.

By craft beer, I assume that is what we refer to as Boutique beers here in Oz. Years ago you'd go to the bottle shop/liquor store and all you would have is at most 12-18 beers to choose from max. Now there are literally hundreds of different brands. A few of the interesting ones...

Bare Foot Rangler
Yak Beer
XXXX Summer
Dr Tims Traditional Ale Cans
Blue Tongue Premium Lager
Pure Blonde
James Boags

You know what, I'll just post the link for the bottle shop site

http://danmurphys.com.au/beer-cider

Ozzie.

haha, I almost laughed out loud! I most certainly am NOT a "Pumpkin and Pineapple guy" I did mention a few pumpkin beers that were ok, decent at best and fun for the season and a recent post mentioned a WONDERFUL beer (rated world class by the way) that had a pineapple taste thanks to the hops used, subtle pineapple or citrus flavors do not make a beer "pineapple flavored" and I am no froo froo beer drinker! I do experiment with just about any beer and have had my share of frro froo's and even found drinking ONE every so often to be an ok experience. I also admit that when it comes to mixed drinks, I am (often times) girly as charged!!!

I also stated long ago that Randy and I are more alike than he may think.
I do enjoy hoppy beers more than he does but probably a bit less so than does SloTerp (I did turn him on to at least one he loves). I tend to prefer a maltier lager with subtle to major hop influences. The hoppier ones not appealing to randy but the less so that would. Randy, have you tried Great Lakes Brewing Companies, "Eliot Ness" yet? From what you have stated in the past, that one is going to turn you on!

I absolutely have to disagree with Randy 100% on his craft beer statement however! While he is of course correct in saying SOME of these craft beers are absolute crap. But part of that is due to taste preferences (for example, Ommegang Brewery is rated as high as any other you will find but I have not had a single beer from them that I even think is "fair" ...just not to my liking at all) and some is due to the fact that hey, not everyone makes great tasting beer! But that being said, of ALL my favorite beers, NONE are from the major brands, the big guys produce swill they may have an option or two that is decent (I don't mind Michelob Amber Boch or Coors Killians Irish Red for example but these are not favorites by any means) You simply can not find a major producer who makes anything better than fair and Randy himself in his past postings has not mentioned one really good beer made by a major producer while he has in fact suggested several good beers all made by small craft breweries. The bottom line is, not all craft beers are good and all major producers beers are indeed poor AND every "good to excellent beer is brewed by a craft brewer. That makes Randy's statement absolutely incorrect. Stick with craft beers, weed out the bad (that you most certainly WILL find) and stay away from the big boys and you will do just fine!

I'm pretty sure Elliot Ness is readily available around here, Randy. I think Harris-Teeter usually stocks it. Check out Great Lake's Edmund Fitzgerald Porter - one of that brewery's best products.

Bad or good is a matter of taste and that applies to both Randy's dislike of many 'craft' brews (or perhaps it's just his dislike of the term) and Tom's dislike of the macrobrews.

I have a strong preference for micros but will drink Miller Lite on occasion. We ate at a Korean restaurant a few nights ago and I chose a Lite over the awful swill that gets exported from Korea. Maybe passable is the OB Golden but this restaurant only carried Cass (I just threw up a little in my mouth thinking about that one).

Randy, our options are getting better in Ashburn, as well. Ate at Ford's last weekend and I was very impressed with both their food and draft selections. There's also that new brewpub/restaurant in Restaurant Park (The V or some such awful name) that has a great draft selection. Supposedly they'll be brewing their own beer in the future.