V O L U M E 2 7 I S S U E 3
P A G E 3
Ahh, sweet, sweet summertime. Got the lawn mowed, garden planted, grill polished and the garage cleaned up. Now I’ m in my lawn chair having a cool Schell’ s Firebrick and dreaming about the next Brewerianna show. Which for us will be the Nordlager show in Cloquet on July 7th at the famous Northeastern Hotel and Bar. I just can’ t say enough good things about this show. We plan on camping again this year and I think the Legend and maybe Tom T. will be joining us. Try not to miss this one, you will not be disappointed.
I had a mildly exciting find recently. A guy at work had a couple of beer signs and a few cans he wanted to get rid of. Seems he tried to sell this stuff on a garage sale for 10 bucks and nobody bought it. So he asked me. Well, I took a look at it and there was nothing worthwhile to speak of. Except, then I picked up a bottle to gander at. It was an embossed beer bottle from the Purity Brewing Company of Minneapolis, circa 1908- 1920. So I offered him 5 bucks and a deal was made. I know it’ s not a big find but, it is a neat bottle. I have the bottle and if anyone really wants it for their collection, let me know. I’ m sure we can trade a beer or something.
At the 2003 BCCA Canvention in Pittsburgh, Shoeless Bob, Teri and I, we made our way to a liquor store to stock up and bring home some east coast beers. Well, Teri saw a case of Saranac Caramel Porter from Matt Brewing in Utica, New York. We also had a fantastic tour of this Brewery, which is a whole other story. Anyway, we bought a case of it. We had never drunk it but, it sure sounded good. It turned out to be an awesome beer and has become a“ Holy Grail” beer for us. Of course out here on the frozen tundra of Minnesota a person cannot get it, since there is not a distributer in this state. So, having connections in Iowa, such as you know who. Mr. T went and ordered 4 cases special from Cyclone liquors in Ames. To make a very long story short, Tom and I split the booty and Teri and I ended up getting our stash from the Stubie residence in New Ulm town. I think Stubie was watching that beer like a mother Eagle watches her young. When we got to Stubie’ s I tore into a six pack with the veracity of a ravenous Jackal. Yum.
Might as well get my Budweiser rant out of the way. I mean Budwater. Anyway, I have wanted to go and visit Millstream Brewing in Amana, Iowa for quite some time. Over Memorial Day weekend they have a“ Cajun Fest” in Amana. So, that sounded like a good time to go. Well, as I was reading their website,( Cajunfest. net) I thought I’ d e-mail and ask what sorts of beers were available at this event. My thought was that they should at least have some Millstream products but, my gut instinct said, Bud is probably the man at this fest. Sure enough, I got an e-mail back saying“ This event is sponsored by Bud and NO other beers are allowed and you will have to drink Bud or Hurricanes”.
To tell ya the truth, I was sorta looking for a fight, and I e- mailed back with both guns blazing!! I then got another reply back that said“ Give us a break, the fest brings in about 10,000 people and in this way we feel we are supporting our local business.” Now, I can’ t really argue that all those people do not help the local economy, because I’ m sure they do. But, my question is this. You have a brewery right in your own backyard
( which of course is Millstream) and then the fest is the exclusive right of Bud and then you say you are supporting your local businesses??? Something’ s wrong here, at least in my beer soaked mind, it’ s wrong. To me, it would be like, having a Cajun Fest in New Orleans and then not allowing the local Crawfish to be part of the Gumbo. It would be like, having a German Fest in New Ulm and having Bud sponsor it, to the exclusion of Schell’ s. It would be like......... I’ ll stop now. We did not go that weekend but, we will go some other time when Budweiser is not in town.
In the same vein,( I can’ t quit now, I’ m on a roll) I was reading an interview on Miller Brewing Company CEO, Joe Blow. Guess his real name is, Graham Mackay. Anyway, of the many questions that were posed, probably the one of the most interest to me, was his take on the craft beer resurgence / industry in this country. His response was, that it is going to fade, it is inevitable. Of course I can’ t predict the future and he can’ t either but, I somehow doubt his prediction. To me at least, once a person gets a taste for the“ good stuff”, I just can’ t see going back to drinking watered down tasteless beers. I mean, why buy fizz water when you can get just as good and in most cases better beer from your local brewer. Just my thoughts.
OK, I’ m done with my ranting. For those of YOU that are BCCA members and have read and / or looked at, YOUR latest BCCA newsletter, then YOU should know by now that the Schell’ s Firebrick beer can is up for“ Can of the Year” honors. In order for Schell’ s Firebrick to get the“ Can of the Year” award, YOU the BCCA member, MUST VOTE FOR IT. YOU, can do this by, either filling out the ballot in your BCCA newsletter and sending it to the BCCA headquarters,( just filling out the ballot and not sending it in the mail, will not work, it has been tried and failed) or for those that have Internet access,( and know how to use it) YOU can vote online. If YOU can’ t do either one of those, then YOU are out of options. So.... Please take the time and VOTE.
Now for the words of wisdom, that I so happily dispense with sheer pleasure. I was reading a book review about wine by Natalie McLean and I substituted the word Beer for her Wine. Here are a few quotes. Hope you enjoy.“ I’ d love to say that I was born with an exceptional palate, but I think I was just born thirsty.”“ Much as I’ m drawn to its nuances, I probably would not be writing about Beer if it were not for the buzz.”“ Beer is as much about camaraderie as taste, when we share good Beer with good friends, we also share what makes us human: sensual pleasure, conversation, and connection.”
Till next time, Jay.
Jay Martin # 16605