What the Baltics have done for beer

What the Baltics have done for beer - stout and porter to be precise.

    

        

Frozen Beer ?

Want to try a beer that has been frozen, then thawed to leave just an unfrozen heart of ice?  Try Russell Brewing Company's ice bock on tap at Bitter (16 West Hastings, Vancouver.)  Check out the newest restaurant of Sean Heather in this article by Mia Stainsby of The Vancouver Sun.

US Beer sales climb

U.S. Beer Sales Climb To Nearly $100 Billion On Strength Of Craft, Premium Brews

Total US beer sales rose 2 percent in 2011, to $98.94 billion, this was largely becasue of the demand for craft, imported and premium beer, according to statistics from the Beer Institute.

Beer sales were especially strong in bars and restaurants. Revenue grew 3 percent in that category, while so-called "off sales," at places like liquor stores, convenience stores and supermarkets, rose less than one percent. The Beer Institute said that 56 percent of the money Americans spent on beer last year was spent in bars and restaurants -- though higher prices on-premises meant that a full 81 percent of the total volume of beer was purchased for off-premises consumption.

The most sluggish category in the beer market was standard domestic beer, as it has been for several years. Things are rather dire. A September report by 24/7 Wall Street on the grievousness of the state of big box American brewers showed that sales of marquee brands plummeted by more than half between 2007 and 2010.

Tiffany Hsu of the LA Times attributed the disparity between mid-shelf sales and those for premium brews to the lingering impact of the recession on middle-income consumers, who have traditionally been the most enthusiastic consumers of domestic beer.

That -- or people realized, after tasting ethereal nectars like Victory Moonglow and Unibroue Fin Du Monde, that beer isn't supposed to taste like "soapy water."

~ HuffPost Food, Canada

Tecte

Now available in Gastown's La Casita (Mexican) restaurant in Vancouver, BC; Cerveza Tecate is a relatively hard-to-get beer in Canada, even though it is widely available throughout the U.S.   This beer was developed by Alberto Aldrete in 1944.  He took over an old brick building that orginally produced vegetable oil, and turned it into the dominant beer in Baja California.  His beer company was eventually taken over by the Cuauhtemoc brewery, which also produces Superior, Sol, and Dos Equis; but Cerveza Tecate is stilll brewed in its Baja facility.

Bitter Tasting Room

The Heather group has done it again; the highly anticipated “Bitter” opened their doors this winter with great success.

Nestled near the corner of West Hastings and Carrall at 16 West Hastings Street, the Bitter Tasting Room balances industrial chic with warm pub-style informality. Bare brick walls, exposed beer kegs and open kitchen sit well with the simple but comfy furniture.

From the moment you walk in you can’t miss the 12ft high beer coolers. The wall is stocked with English ales, Asian lagers, German wheat beers, local craft porters and dozens of others. The place was alive with energy and everyone having a great time. Taking a seat in a small table on the side of the bar I had a great view of the horse shoes shaped bar and the kitchen.

Enjoy the look of the large pretzels, scotch eggs and pork pies, I felt like I had been transported back to London.  Smoked sausage, house sauerkraut and whole smoked ham hocks are also on the menu.  2 flights are served every night, rotating ever couple of days. It is a beer fans heaven and hard to choose what country to start you taste in.

If you’re a beer lover, this is a must visit.

~ Colleen

Chocolate + Beer

Don't know if it gets better than this!

Chocolate + Beer = A winning combination.  Read all about it here.

Samuel Adams

USA's best selling craft beer is:

Located in Jamaica Plan, Mass, the Samuel Adams brand sold 2.5 M bottles of this stuff in 2011.
Read all about the top 20 craft beers in the USA here.

According to the Brewers Association, a "craft beer" must produce 6 M barrels of beer or less annually, and generally use traditional methods to create their malts, but incorporate unusual additives to create unusual flavours.  With micro breweries springing up everywhere it is said that the majority of Americans now live within 10 miles of a brewery!

Funniest Beer Names

Never mind the best, check out the funniest beer names!