Frenemies

Reports are out that Coors Light has surpassed Miller Light to be the number 3 bestselling beer in the US, behind Bug Light & Budweiser. One of those stories can be found here. Coors latest marketing messaging sticks to one point, only that it should be VERY COLD. (I agree. Kills the taste.) What is funny is that Miller and Coors are supposed to be helping each other, being owned by the same company nowadays. Looks more like sibling rivalry. Clip of the info below:

Miller Lite's sales last year totaled 17.7 million barrels, down from 18.35 million barrels in 2007, according to trade publication Beer Marketer's Insights. Meanwhile, Coors Light's sales increased 2.6%, to 17.75 million barrels compared to 17.3 million barrels.

Coors Light and Miller Lite are the nation's No. 3 and No. 4 brands. The top selling brands are Bud Light, at 42 million barrels, up 0.1%, and Budweiser, at 23.1 million barrels, down 6.1%. Rounding out the top 10 are Natural Light, Corona Extra, Busch Light, Busch, High Life and Heineken.

Overall U.S. beer sales increased 0.5% in 2008.

One Second Superbowl

Have you heard about this yet? Please don't say no. Anyway, I think it's clever, and if they end up running 30 of these things, I'll be disappointed. Stick with one. See here for the "rejected" ads, and be sure to click on the part that tells you what $30 million could buy you, besides a SuperBowl spot. What do you think? If this is post-game Sunday, what DID you think?

This is the most awesome thing I've heard all day

I'm buried in work. Up to my eyeballs. Truly. But I spied this on Dan's Gone Mild blog, & I had to post about it quickly. To the Dead Canary Brew crew, just tell me what I can do to help support, beyond becoming a dedicated customer in the future.

Totally ripped off, from Dan's blog:
In 2009, Kansas City will have another brewery opening up, this time in the West Bottoms. Dead Canary Brewing is a woman-owned and run new brewery, setting up in the West Bottoms down off 12th Street, among the haunted houses and great old brick buildings.

Folks, this could be amazing.

They are setting up Beer Pong and Dodgeball Leagues. They are creating a taproom. They are committed to brewing practices that are green and sustainable. They got started on this journey by brewing naked.

Most importantly, they are creating "high content, high flavor, knock you on yo ass beers." Beers like Cat House Stout - (Dry hopped mint chocolate imperial stout), Local No. 12 - (lemongrass maple strong ale), Speakeasy IPA - (honeysuckle grapefruit IPA), Bathtub Barleywine - (copiously hopped barleywine), and Chickory Rhubarb Imperial Porter.

Chocolate for Friday

Received the below message from 75th Street Brewery today. Still not clear what the brew could be classified as, but sounds good.

Even Darth Vader can't resist the force of the brew we've got on tap now at 75th Street...

Chocolate Assent

75th Street's master brewers are releasing this rich brew to you TODAY!!
Chocolate Assent's dark brown color pours to match the six pounds of Colombian dark chocolate within the brew. The assent's aroma is full-on malty caramel with hints of the chocolate cacophony to come. Your palate will be challenged at first sip with a smooth bitterness start [reminiscent of your first chocolate chip cookie] before the lingering bittersweet chocolate taste tags along. This brew is a go-getter [as in GO GET A GROWLER] that suits a cozy night by the fireside.

But don't plan on us providing the fire. Spark it yourself.

Stop in for a pint TODAY for FIRKIN FRIDAY, January 9th at the 75th Street Brewery in Waldo.

Cheers!

Good, Fast or Cheap - you can only pick 2

I've read roughly one million articles on how people are changing their consumer behaviors based on the crappy economy, but this one takes the cake. According to The Australian, BEER drinkers feeling the pinch of the economic downturn are engaging in their own form of supply-chain simplification and saving money by brewing at home.

Really? My assumption was that brewing would probably be more expensive, and at least in my case, of debatable quality. Or inconsistent at the very least, in the beginning.

Black Ops

Remember my little hey-let's-break-the-law-and-send-booze-thru-the-USPS episode? My sister-in-law returned the favor by sending me some Brooklyn brew. I received a bottle of Brooklyn Brewery's Black Ops Imperial Stout last week. I waited for the right moment to break it open, which turned out to be Sunday, the night before my husband and I had to return to work after 10 consecutive days of vacation. Aaaannnnnd, thud. But I slept very well.

Regardless, a strong imperial stout was perfect for the winter evening, and this is definitely a STRONG one. According to Beer Advocate info, Brooklyn Black Ops was aged for four months in bourbon barrels, bottled flat, and re-fermented in the bottle with Champagne yeast. There were 940 cases produced. The label looks much prettier in RL than here in the picture I ripped off of someone else's Flickr.

I kept the 750 ml bottle on my kitchen counter top for more than a day, so it was definitely room temperature by the time I poured the dark, motor oil colored stout into 2 pint glasses, and waited for the abundant dark tan head to settle down before we tried it. The first whiff seemed to contain some of the bourbon barrel character, but to be honest, mostly all I smelled was raw alcohol. Well, it is an 11% ABV beer. It kind of intimidated me, but only because it was a school night. The taste starts with dark roasted malts, chocolate and coffee flavors, maybe a little vanilla, a little bourbon burn, and ALCOHOL. A mostly direct quote from my husband went something like this, "This might be a great evening after all." I refrain from conjecturing what he meant by that.

All I know is that he polished off his glass long before I did. This was a sipper for me. Good, smooth, with the alcohol burn becoming less apparent with each gulp, but still a sipper. I couldn't really imagine having too much of this, but one pint was perfect. I had to get up early in the morning for the first time in almost 2 weeks. Blerg.

New Years Resolutions

I like to keep things simple, so I don't have a long list. I am putting them here to keep myself honest, to check in on from time to time. Resolutions are very easy to make and very difficult for me to keep.

1. Be healthier, meaning just to eat less crap and get to the gym an average of 3 times a week.
2. Drink less beer, in terms of volume, and better beer when I do.
   
3. Make sure my house is CLEAN, not just picked up, on a weekly basis. (Monkey hate clean.)
4. Start homebrewing this year. (This is more of a process, meaning I have a lot to learn and purchase, and a full dance card otherwise, but it is something I always wished I knew how to do.)

What resolutions did you make?