Beer Activist

Beer + Chocolate = Divine

beeractivist — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 03:17:58 +0000

Divine Chocolates and Mid-Atlantic Beers Make a Perfect Pair, Order a six pack of chocolates and get a free copy of my book Fermenting Revolution — a Father’s Day special!

The First LEED Certified Brewery

beeractivist — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 00:58:09 +0000

Brewery Vivant in Grand Rapids, Michigan appears to have become the first LEED certified brewery. Click here to learn more.

Capital City Octoberfest

beeractivist — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 00:46:34 +0000

And where I will be Saturday:

Explore Your Craft

beeractivist — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 00:45:30 +0000

Where I will be tomorrow:

A College President Who Has the Spirit of Beer

beeractivist — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 03:05:57 +0000

This is my favorite posting on beer in a long time.

Darron Collins is the president of the College of the Atlantic, a school where studies are seen through the lens of human ecology. Apparently he understand the human ecology of beer. Read what he has to say about it here, including gems such as this one: “I, as any good beer-lover would have done in this situation, sat down on my barley sack, cleansed the pallet with a bite of pretzel, and reached for my glass.”

1k “Beer Walk” in Crystal City this Weekend

beeractivist — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 23:58:13 +0000

Getting out for a bit of a stroll this weekend. I’ll be walking a whopping one kilometer inside the mall in Crystal City.

Going shopping at the mall doesn’t sounds like something Chris O’Brien would be doing, right? Well, I could be going to get a hearty dose of homophobic christian conservatism at Chik-Fil-A, or maybe to get tweezed at Perfect Eyebrows. Nah, not so much. But then again, they do have a place called King Street Blues, which sounded like it could be cool until I realized from their website that they don’t actually have any live blues there.

No, the truth is I’m not going there to shop. I’m going there for beer. The “1k Beer Walk” to be precise.

The Washington Wine Academy organized this stroll-and-drink event. There will be good beers being dispensed throughout the mall. Pricing is a little confusing but it looks like tickets are $35-$40 on Saturday and only $20 on Sunday, all available online in advance only. A ticket is good for 20 tasting tickets, as well as cheese and bread to keep you going (and also a t-shirt in case you need another one to stuff in your drawer).

The beer list looks decent. A few locals, Port City, DC Brau, and Flying Dog. Several national micros, such as New Belgium, Brooklyn, and Sam Adams. Some German and Belgian imports. A few faux micros like Blue Moon and Leinenkugel (both owned by SABMillerCoors). And a few throwaway beers like Pabst and Old Milwaukee — seriously?!

Put your beer walking shoes on and meet me there. I’ll be in the 2:30pm “heat” on Saturday.

COOP Ale Works

beeractivist — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 04:19:59 +0000

COOP Ale Works looks like they are trying to deal with sustainability issues in their brewery. Their promo video is well done and they seem to be making some efforts by purchasing using wind power, for example.

I do wish though that when breweries claim to use “No additives, no chemicals, no preservatives” they would understand that if they are using conventional grain and hops they are using products produced by many added petrochemicals.

First LEED Certified Brewery?

beeractivist — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 03:48:49 +0000

Yesterday, Jason at Brewery Vivant emailed me asking if I knew of any LEED certified breweries. I was stumped. So I checked the LEED Project Directory. In the project name field, I typed in the search word “brew” in order to account for projects that might have the word brewery or brewing in them, and clicked sort.

The resulting list included what seemed to be entirely projects in the redevelopment of what were once brewing neighborhoods. The only project that looked like a active brewery was Brewery Vivant itself.

So, does anyone know of any LEED certified breweries?

Sixth and I Streets Historic Synagogue Tastings

beeractivist — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 03:06:41 +0000

The next beer tasting at Sixth and I is this Thursday. It’s going to be great. Brewers from five DC-area breweries will be presenting their “Deep Winter” beers: Chocolate City, Baying Hound, Flying Dog, DC Brau, and Lost Rhino. If you already got your tickets, great! I’ll see you Thursday! If not, well…

Lots of people have told me they wish they could attend the Sixth and I tastings but when they go to buy tickets, the event is already sold out. There is a sure fire way to get tickets. Go to this webpage and sign up for the Sixth and I e-newsletter. The tastings are always announced in advance via the newsletter, so get on the list and get in the know!

Brewery Ommegang Fights Fracking in Upstate NY

beeractivist — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 00:35:01 +0000

Brewery Ommegang, in Cooperstown, New York, is warning that it would relocate if fracking is allowed in the nearby town of Middlefield. According to an article in thedailystar.com, court papers filed by Ommegang state that: “Its Master Brewer and Quality Control chemist agree that even if Brewery Ommegang wished to do so, it could not remove many of the toxic chemicals commonly used in hydrofracking, should they be released into the Brewery’s water supply.”

By chance, I am drinking an Ommegang Abbey Ale as I read this article. About ten years ago, I spent a weekend camping near the brewery and passed an incredibly fun and friendly afternoon tasting homebrews and Ommegang brews with their then brewmaster, Randy Thiel, who was so hospitable that he even treated us to dinner.

Good for Ommegang to stand up against fracking. I hope their participation in the lawsuit helps end this dangerous and backwards practice. Read the full article here.