Cool article in the Chicago Tribune.
"I really reject the notion that beer is meant to be collected," Laffler said, referring to some of the bourbon barrels he used to brew Goose Island’s now-retired Bourbon County Rare. "Beer is a reflection of time and a moment. It’s not meant to be kept forever."
I’d love to see this happen, but I really doubt that it will. The practice is called corkage and is currently legal in restaurants that do NOT have a liquor license.
The liquor lobby is incredibly strong in Maryland and I can’t see them giving up any control unless they are compelled. More details here.
| This brew has been in the works for quite some time. It is for my neighbor, Dick, who is a pretty zany guy. When we moved in, I started getting him hooked onto “better” beverages. It has been both fun and entertaining.
Lately, one of Dick’s favorite beers is Hoegaarden; aka, that refreshing orange-flavored beer. This was a special batch as he was able to join me for the brew session (#53). It is really just Jamil’s recipe but I tuned it a little for my system. |
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| This article from the Baltimore Business Journal caught my attention. “Three restaurants — Della Notte Ristorante, the Black Olive and Capital Grille — earned the Best Award of Excellence. The ranking is the second-highest award dished out by Wine Spectato” Am I the only one who thinks Wine Spectator missed quite a few restaurants with excellent wine lists? Some of the entries on the overall list are questionable at best. Just my $.02. |  |
Via Stan Hieronymus – Pierre Celis has died. He brought wit, AKA “Belgian White”, back from the dead in the form of Hoegaarden and the now defunct Celis Brewing in Austin, TX . Thank you Pierre – well done mate.
| No, I wouldn’t even think of trying this myself, but this interesting nonetheless. He is giving up all food and attempting to live solely on beer. Check out this link for the full story. |  |
"Three hundred or four hundred years ago, a group of Paulaner monks in a Bavarian region had made a stronger beer in a town called Einbeck and they called it bock. The monks started making a stronger beer, a double beer, called doppelbock," Sorensen said. "The story goes the monks would give up eating and literally would drink this ‘liquid bread’ to sustain them through their Lenten fast."
It allows 18 shipments per year, but Maryland citizens are only allowed to buy wine shipped directly from wineries. The bill does not allow people to buy wine from retail outlets or auction houses.
Sorry everyone – you aren’t going to be shipping in that hard to find beer.
Hooray – some of my civil rights were actually restored today. Maryland has finally done what 37 states have previously recognized.
It’s clear that this bill isn’t everything that everyone wanted, but it represents progress and I’m glad to take it. With that said, I still feel that the distributors are entirely too strong in this state. Short and simple – their lobby killed the effort to be able to buy wine from any retailer.
UPDATE: More info here.
Considering that Sen. Joan Carter Conway was instrumental in not allowing the bill to get out of committee last year, this is great news.
Conway later states the obvious…..
"We’re going to give you something," Conway told the group. "It might not be something you’re all going to be happy with."
Stay tuned.
This article from the BBJ says that Baltimore City, Baltimore County and Frederick County all support this effort. I’m all for it, but doubt it will get the traction it needs to really happen.
The simple fact is that the restaurant association is against this because this is cutting into their highest profit margins. It is a reality that restaurants charge 2-3x the wholesale cost they are paying for liquor, wine & beer.