Yearly Archives: 2006

Dark lager for these dog days of summer

By now, I’m guessing you’re getting a bit tired of drinking wheat beer. Just a hunch – with the dog days of August in scorching mode, those light-body, cloudy ales are the go-to thirst quencher, judging from all the lemons I’m seeing along the bar.

For those looking to shake things up before Oktoberfest sets in, I urge you to … Read the rest

When you’re in a fix, just blame the beer

THIS HAS been a bad week for beer.

First, Tour de France winner Floyd Landis is under investigation for doping, and he quickly blames the “beer or two” he had the night before.

Then, holier-than-thou actor Mel Gibson goes on an anti-Semitic rampage, and his friends and even the police blame it on the beer.

I guess we shouldn’t be … Read the rest

Beer was THE attraction in 1876

ONE HUNDRED thirty years ago this month, Philadelphia kicked off “the most stupendous and successful competitive exhibition the world ever saw.”

Obviously, it did not involve the Phillies.

It was the Centennial Exposition of 1876, a six-month world’s fair on the grounds of Fairmount Park that attracted 10 million visitors. Dozens of colossal buildings were erected for the event, including … Read the rest

The darkest day in Latrobe’s history

“Rolling Rock: From the glass lined tanks of Old Latrobe, we tender this premium beer for your enjoyment as a tribute to your good taste. It comes from the mountain springs to you.” – The 33 words of the Rolling Rock label.

LATROBE, Pa. – No other town in America is so tightly bound to a single beer.

“You think … Read the rest

Don’t blame the booze, blame the boozers

YOU CAN’T buy Colt 45 at the city’s newest beer store.

Under an unusual agreement aimed at keeping lowlifes off its high-priced turf, a Northern Liberties neighborhood group backed off its opposition to the Foodery takeout beer shop after the store’s owner promised not to stock Colt and other cheap malt liquors.

The agreement, which was approved by the city … Read the rest

Going organic: Will consumers hop on Busch’s bandwagon?

YOU DON’T drink organic beer because it’s healthier for you than conventional beer.

You drink it because it makes you feel better about your choices as just another depersonalized consumer in the world’s mammoth industrialized food production chain, a system that devalues labor, rapes the environment and enriches multinational agriculture conglomerates.

Personally, anything with an adequate alcohol kick readjusts my … Read the rest

8,000+ packs of beer on the wall

SALES ARE down, the summer doldrums are kicking in, and the single biggest beer-drinking weekend of the year is upon us.

What’s a Coors salesman to do?

Build the world’s largest beer display, of course.

That’s exactly what Rick Zinger and Ray Sefscik, a pair of energetic Coors salesmen, hope they’ve done inside Duffy’s Pop & Beer in Pleasant Hills, … Read the rest

Craft brewers bothered by Anheuser-Busch invasion

LEO, MY GODSON, just turned 10, so I thought it was about time for him to learn a little about beer.

I bought him some shares of Anheuser-Busch, figuring it’d teach something about brewing, about business and finance; when he’s old enough to cash it in, he can invest the money in something responsible.

Like a case of imperial stout.… Read the rest

Hybrid-hop Simcoe is hot

FORGET Cascades hops. The newest beer craze is Simcoe.

Cascades, of course, is the classic West Coast hop, the small, vine-grown bud that gives beer its aroma, its bitterness, its spice. For 20 years, the fresh, aromatic, grapefruit-like Cascades virtually defined American-made craft beer, and it still reigns as one of the biggest sellers.

But six years ago, agriculture scientists … Read the rest