News: City Brewing plans some layoffs in Latrobe

Tough day for big brewery works all around. The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, is reporting that City Brewing Co. plans to lay off some workers at the former Rolling Rock brewery in Latrobe later this year.

According to the report:

The LaCrosse, Wis. company says the layoffs will occur so it can attract more business and upgrade the brewery’s equipment. The brewery employs about 100 people.

City Brewing bought the Latrobe facility after Belgian brewing giant InBev SA sold the Rolling Rock brands to Anheuser-Busch. Anheuser-Busch stopped making Rolling Rock in Latrobe in July 2006 when it moved production of the beer to Newark, N.J.

City Brewing has been making Samuel Adams beer at the Latrobe brewery for about 14 months under a contract with Boston Beer Co. But Boston Beer has since bought a brewery in Lehigh County where it can also make Sam Adams.

News: Brewer SABMillers sees lager fall

According to the Associated Press Brewer SABMiller PLC recorded a 1.6 percent fall in lager consumption from existing businesses in the first quarter as consumer cut back spending in some countries, chief executive Graham Mackay said Thursday.

The drop followed an extraordinary high growth of 13 percent in the same period in 2007, lower sales in China and “the moderation of consumer spending in some markets,” Mackay said in a statement.

If SABMiller’s newly acquired businesses are included, the group, which makes Miller, Grolsch and Peroni, recorded a 1.5 percent growth in lager sales in the three months ending June 30, 2008, the trading update said.

In China, sales were down 5 percent, affected by the Sichuan earthquake on May 12 which killed nearly 70,000 people, consumer price inflation and higher beer industry prices. In the previous year, sales had grown in China by 25 percent.

News: Denver brew pubs prepare for the DNC

‘Chipper’ Dave Butler has an interesting piece on how Colorado breweries and beer pubs prepare for DNC on Examiner.com.

Butler explains how Great Divide, Avery, Breckenridge and others are rolling out new beers or beefing up their eating establishments in time for Obama-mania.

He concludes by writing:

If you look through the big list of corporate sponsors for the DNC, you’ll find a couple of familiar names on the list.  Companies like Argonaut Wine & Liquor are DNC Host Committee Founder sponsors. The Mayor Hick’s Wynkoop Brewing Company is a Host Committee sponsoring Member. According toCharlie Papazian’s column, Wynkoop will be offering up a special “Obamanator” Maibock strong brew just for the DNC.   Apparently breweries and liquor stores have strong foundations in forging this great country of ours!

Review: Samuel Smiths Organic Ale

A Bitter brewed by
Samuel Smith
England

Poured from the bottle a light orange into a pint glass. Had a very small head and little lacing. Aroma is very grainy and slightly sweet almost citrus like. I was picking up slight butterscotch or caramel aromas. The taste was smooth but under carbonated and nothing that really stood out. It was also just a bit acidic with a stagnant taste following. It was OK is the best I can say.

My ratebeer.com score: 3.1

News: German beer sales down

The German Federal Statistical Office reported Wednesday that beer sales declined in the first half of this year as price increases and newly introduced restrictions on smoking in bars and restaurants added to a long-term decline.

Read about it here.

News: Bringer of the Irish pub in a box to the suburbs dies

 

Restaurant chains Bennigan’s and Steak & Ale have filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection and stores owned by its parent company will shut their doors. From the Associated Press:

 

The companies owned by privately held Metromedia Restaurant Group of Plano, Texas, filed for bankruptcy protection on Tuesday in the Eastern District of Texas, less than two months after Metromedia said it was not preparing to do so. It wasn’t clear whether franchisee-owned restaurants would be closing as well.

While I could say something snippy here I’m guessing Bennigan’s brought plenty of Sam Adams and Guinness and other mid-level craft beers to some far flung areas. Maybe it opened a few people up to craft beer. We all have to start somewhere. I personally have never eaten at one.

Review: Narragansett Lager Beer

A Pale Lager brewed by
High Falls Brewing Company
Rochester, New York USA

I took the bait. This has been around in every beer store near me – both good and bad – on sale at a crazy price. I held off for a few weeks but with a few non beer drinkers coming by I decided to give it a go. It says they have been around for 120 years. I haven’t heard a good – or bad – word about them. Why golly gee, I wonder why? I pour: piss yellow with a foamy head. Smell: Corn, other grains. Taste: Hmmm, better than Bud, does that mean anything. No, it tastes like a sugary water with a skunk like grain taste.  I went back the next day and had another: On a very warm day it wasn’t quite as bad as I reviewed it above. I must have been in a pissy mood. The appearance seemed just slightly better then on first take and it sat a little better (read: less skunky).

My ratebeer.com score: 1.8

News: Boozing Mammal Drinks “Beer” Every Night, Study Finds

Brian Handwerk for National Geographic writes today about a beer drinking mammal that could supposedly drink man under a table. A taste for naturally fermented palm “beer” has turned a tiny Malaysianmammal into a chronic boozer, a new study shows. The pen-tailed tree shrew is the first non-human mammal known to display alcoholic behavior. What’s more, the rat-size animal never gets drunk during its nonstop jungle jamborees. Because the species is considered similar to the ancient ancestors of all primates, its 55-million-year bender suggests that our own taste for alcohol might predate the known advent of brewing some 9,000 years ago. “The circumstances in which these tree shrews consume alcohol could be similar to past scenarios of human evolution in pre-primate or early primate stages [and] could somehow be a link to human alcohol consumption,” said study lead author Frank Wiens, a biologist at the University of Bayreuth, Germany.   I wonder if they sell them as pets.

Review: Unibroue 17

A Belgian Strong Ale brewed byUnibroue (Sapporo)
Chambly, Canada

A really nice, big fluffy head on the pour into a tulip glass. Smells of Belgian sugars, nuts and a caramel like smell. A smooth taste but you can pick up a bit of the alcohol. As it warms this beer gets better and better. The 10 percent hits you after the bottle but the taste of alcohol really mellows over time. It is sweet, rich and a tasty beer. I have enjoyed each year of this anniversary and I hear they get better as they cellar. Can’t wait to try that.

My Ratebeer.com score: 4

Review: Clipper City Heavy Seas Loose Cannon Hop3

An India Pale Ale (IPA) brewed by
Clipper City Brewing Co.
Baltimore, Maryland USA

This brewery just continues to impress me. Their beers tend to move toward the sweet side but for the most part they are well made and well balanced. This beer poured from the bottle an amber color with a nice creamy off white head. The lacing followed me down the mug as I drank on. It had a spicy hop aroma with a slight sweetness that came through. On the palate it was smooth and pleasing. The hop character was strong but was balanced by a sweet honey like taste. It really wasn’t bitter for a hopped out IPA either – not that bitter is bad. In the commercial description Clipper City says they use for Malts: Crisp English Pale, Carapils, and Munich. For hops they mix it up with Magnum, Centennial, Chinook, Amarillo and Palisade. I have to make my way down to Maryland and pay these guys a visit.

My Ratebeer.com score: 3.9