Starting a brewery is unique experience. If you’ve never been involved in it yourself, it’s hard to appreciate what goes into it.

Nick Nunns of TRVE Brewing gives us a look behind the scenes in this video. TRVE is opening Denver in the Spring of 2012 in the up and coming Baker neighborhood.

Construction at TRVE before opening

This is the first video in a series we are planning on. We’ll follow Nick from before the brewery opens, to shortly after, to a year or so down the line. It will be cool to see the progression.

Let me know if you’re into this, and if you have any questions or comments for Nick, leave them below.

It’s hard to believe, but today is the two year anniversary of this blog.

Man a lot has happened. I’ve met a ton of cool people, drank copious amounts of delicious beer, and even launched a business over at The Homebrew Academy.

To celebrate, I’m going to highlight the top posts from the blog. I didn’t celebrate the 1 year anniversary, which in a way is nice because it gives me 2 whole years of posts to choose from.

These are based on site stats, buzz in social media, and just some of my favorites.

I hope you enjoy. Thanks to all my readers for making this thing fun and here’s to many more years of writing about the good stuff.

Top Posts and Favorites

Best rant – “Hey Bartender, Give me a Real Domestic”. It felt good to air it out on this one.

Most fun to produce – The Creative Rebirth of Beer Cocktails. Getting to film at Euclid Hall with Mr. Cicerone while drinking early on a Sunday – priceless.

Best silly post – 5 Movie Characters I’d like to Drink a Beer With. This one got a bunch of comments and responses on Twitter. What are your 5?

Best industry post – The Rise of the Craft Beer 4-Pack. A lot of research when into this one (relatively speaking of course) and it turned out great.

Most inspirational – 10 Examples of the Beer Hunter’s Brilliance. If you love good beer writing, you’ll love these quotes from one of the best.

Best guest post – Why Fresh Hop Ales Can Be Deceiving. Heather dove deep into the world of fresh hop ales and found some surprises.

Top Homebrewing Posts

1 – How to Make a Yeast starter. Not only the top homebrewing post, this is the top post I’ve ever published on the blog in terms of views. The word is out – yeast starters make better beer.
2 – Yeast Washing. This one is close behind the starter video. I give the yeasties a bath and show you how to save money on brewing. Always a good thing.
3 – How to Build a Kegerator Collar. Ah, my kegerator. How I love thee. This video of my build took off like a rocket and insprired many other brewers to build their own kegerator, as you can see in the comments.

Top Beer and Food Posts

1 – Microbrew Beer Can Chicken. I stuck an Oskar Blues Old Chub in a chicken and people loved it.
2 – Roasted Garlic IPA Mashed Potatoes. I made this recipe created by The Homebrew Chef Sean Paxton and continue to make it on a regular basis. It’s amazing.
3 – What Cheese Pairs Best with an IPA? Easily the most delicious video I’ve ever made as I got to combine two of my favorite things.

Most Discussed Posts

1 – What’s Your State’s Dream Team Six Pack? – I show off the new Colorado mix 6 pack and get feedback from readers about their picks. It turned into a really useful guide if you do any traveling.
2 – 20 Beers We Take for Granted. We take soooo many beers for granted. I could add 100 more since writing that post. Add your list to the comments if you haven’t already.
3- My Untappd Code of Ethics. A recent post that really struck a chord with people. So far I’ve stuck to my code, but there is a lot of beer drinking ahead of me.

What were your favorites? Any I didn’t mention?

QR code marketing is on the rise everywhere, but the beer industry has really taken off with it.

In the video I take a look at 5 different ways they are being used and walk you though each campaign’s experience. 1 liquor store and 4 breweries are featured.

Let me know in the comments where you’ve seen QR codes being used. If you have no idea what a QR code even is, here’s the Wikipedia article on them.

You’ll need a smartphone and a reader app to scan the codes.

• Android: I use QR Droid
• iPhone: QR Reader

If you guys like these marketing case studies I’ll do more of them. Cheers.

2011 is behind us and what an eventful year it was for beer. What will we see in 2012? Who the hell knows, but I’m going to give my predictions nonetheless.

1. The beer style of the year? We’ve seen IPAs, black IPAs, barrel aged beers, Russian imperial stouts, and sours have surges in popularity in recent years. I’m going to call 2012 the year of the the big lager. Imperial pilsners, schwarzbiers and entirely new lager concoctions will be the hot thing as brewers try to stand out from the crowd.
2. Asheville will finally be defeated as BeerCity USA. After a three-pete in 2011, another city will rise up and take the throne from Asheville. I’d like to say it’s Denver, but we do awful in this poll. I predict San Diego or Portland will take it.
3. Homebrewing will continue to go mainstream. It enjoyed time in the limelight when the White House brewed a honey ale. Tech celeb Wil Wheaton got hooked on it. The Discovery channel aired Brewmasters to a national audience and The Brewing Network guys even got in on the TV action in a local way.
4. Homebrewing will be legalized in Mississippi. The dedicated team at Raise Your Pints has been fighting hard for brewer’s rights and I think this is the year that the state will wise up. Sadly, I don’t think Alabama will legalize it this year, at least not when idiots like this are in charge.
5. Washington D.C. will emerge as a great beer city. It’s been coming. SAVOR gets bigger and better every year, a lot of new breweries are opening, and some in the area are already bringing home medals.
6. Corporate branded beer will become a popular marketing strategy. We saw more and more of this in 2011. Companies have found that putting their logos on their own beer is pretty cool.
7. Another major craft brewery will be acquired by one of the big boys. The Goose Island event will become more and more familiar.
8. Sierra Nevada will open up a brewery in North Carolina. There’s been a ton of speculation and I think the rumors will be confirmed in early 2012.
9. Brewery membership programs will take off. The Bruery, Crooked Stave, and Flying Dog are a few that have them. Extreme beers geeks will find that membership has its privileges.
10. Miller-Coors will ramp up their craft beer production and polarize craft beer geeks who will realize that it’s actually pretty good but they don’t want to admit it.
11. Session beers WILL NOT be the big thing in 2012. People have been predicting it for years, and although they’ve grown in popularity, it hasn’t been a major shift. Big beers will continue to dominate. This is America after all.
12. AB-Inbev and SABMiller will merge. Boom! Gotta put a bold one in there. Yes it’s out there, and it would have some antitrust issues, but I’m going for it. Hey, it’s not totally out of the blue.

What am I sure about?

I’m sure we are about to hit a major milestone. Take a look at the graphics below and tell me what it is.

Click for large version

Here’s to sharing a great 2012 with you all. Cheers!

Well, I’ve finally moved out of the Stone Age. I got a smartphone.

For being a pretty tech-savvy guy, it’s surprising that it took me this long to ditch the mini-fridge. I wish I did it sooner because this Galaxy Nexus is sweeeet.

Now that I can get in on the app craze, it’s time I start using Untappd. Ok I’ve actually been a member of Untappd for a year, but if you thought I only drank 80 beers in a year, then, well keep thinking that ; )

I used it on and off via the website, but after a late night out I never cared to log in and check-in my beers from my computer.

So armed with a smartphone, I’ll now enter the community of regular users. But first, a code of ethics. Why you ask? Because I’ve witnessed certain behaviors on Untappd and would always think to myself “No way I would do that.”

This is getting those thoughts into writing, so here we go:

My Untappd Code of Ethics

1. Untappd is not a competition for me. I don’t care how much beer other people drink and have no desire to “beat them” at drinking. Some people brag about how many check-ins they have. I say get a life and hit the gym. I use Untappd primarily for tracking my own beers. The social aspect is fun, but it’s secondary. I really just want to remember what beers I’ve tried.




2. I will not let Untappd make me a jerk in social situations. If I am in the middle of a conversation, I will not check-in beers or check my feed. Live in the moment, not through technology. This one really applies to smartphone use in general.




3. 2 ounces is the minimum for a check-in. This basically means that a sip is not a check-in. 2 ounces is a common serving size for tasters and enough to experience a beer. A lot of people say tasters shouldn’t count and only a full beer should. To them I say “I don’t care what you think” and “Go look at rule #1.”




4. I will not cheat, because that’s just stupid.




5. I will not share my check-ins on social networks unless I add value. I’m not going to blast every single beer I drink to Facebook and Twitter. I’ll only post beers if it’s something I think people might be interested in, in which case I’ll add context in the form of a comment and/or picture.

There it is.

I don’t expect people to adopt the same code. This is for me and me alone.

I am curious though about what you think. Do you agree or disagree with any? Do you have ones I left out? Let’s hear from you Untappd users.

By the way, here’s my Untappd profile. Be my friend?

You drink good beer, now it’s time to decorate your house with it. So take down that blinking neon Busch Light sign and put up something classy.

The folks at Easy Canvas Prints were kind enough to give me this canvas for review. They specialize in turning photos to canvas.

You provide your own photo, so I took this one of Great Divide Yeti and Odell Friek – two amazing Colorado brews.

But what if my beer pictures look like crap?

I can understand if you don’t want to decorate your house with a blurry photo taken from your iPhone. Here’s the good news – I know a guy.

Sean Buchan is a Denver buddy of mine and a badass photographer. Beer photos are one of his specialties. Also check out the beer porn photos he does for Denver off The Wagon.

If you want to buy one of his photos to use for a canvas, email him at sean@mackinnonphotography.com. He can also do something custom, if you have a certain beer in mind.

You can get 50% off the canvas by liking Easy Canvas Prints on facebook.

I could see myself getting another one of these for the beer cave. A bright green hop canvas would really lighten up the place.

Brussels sprouts aren’t exactly “mouth watering.”

In fact, I’d be surprised if they’ve ever caused a mouth to water in their entire history. If they have, it’s probably because they were made with beer.

Stone Brewing has turned boring Brussels sprouts into something you actually want to eat by what else – infusing them with beer. Stone Pale Ale to be exact.

They serve this dish at their restuarant, Stone World Bistro and Gardens, which I had the pleasuring of visiting on my trip to San Diego last summer.

The recipe is given in the new book The Craft of Stone Brewing by Greg Koch, Steve Wagner, and Randy Clemens. It’s a great book, and if you order it I recommend also getting The Brewer’s Apprentice which was also recently released by Stone.

I’ve been given permission to reprint the Brussels sprouts recipe, so here you go:

Stone Pale Ale & Garlic Stir-Fried Brussels Sprouts Recipe

• 1 pound brussels sprouts (about 4 cups)
• 1/4 cup canola or vegetable oil
• 1/4 pound pancetta, diced
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 cups (12 fluid ounces) Stone Pale Ale
• 1/4 cup vegetable stock
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Finely diced tomato, for garnish
• Shaved or grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, for garnish

Set up a steamer with 1 to 2 inches of salted water and bring the water to a rolling boil.

Put the brussels sprouts in the steamer, cover, and cook until slightly tender, about 4 minutes. Drain and immediately transfer the brussels sprouts to a large bowl of ice water to halt the cooking and preserve their bright green color. Let them cool in the ice water for about 1 minute, then drain. Lay them on a clean dish towel and pat dry. Cut them in half vertically, right through the core.

In a large wok or cast-iron skillet, heat the oil over high heat until it begins to shimmer. Turn the heat down to medium. Add the pancetta and cook, stirring occasionally, until it begins to brown. Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Turn the heat up to high, add the brussels sprouts, and cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, 4 to 5 minutes.

Add the beer and continue to cook over high heat until the liquid is mostly evaporated. Deglaze the pan by adding the vegetable stock, stirring and scraping up any browned bits that may be affixed to the pan.

Season with salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with the tomato and Parmigiano-Reggiano. Serve immediately.

So how did mine turn out?

I had these beautiful pictures of bright green Brussels sprouts shimmering in their beer coating, but of course I accidentally deleted them from my camera.

You probably don’t believe me and think I burnt them to a crisp. Hey, I’m not a great cook, but when it comes to cooking with beer I step up my game.

Anyways, they came out great. Unlike some recipes, you use a lot of beer in this one (a whole bottle) so the pale ale definitely comes through. It does add some bitterness, so I don’t recommend substituting with Ruination.

This recipe certainly made me enjoy Brussels sprouts more. I can’t eat them as a main course (as they suggest), but they’re perfect as a side dish.

Give them a shot. I bet you can get the kids to eat them now.

Reprinted with permission from The Craft of Stone Brewing Co.: Liquid Lore, Epic Recipes, and Unabashed Arrogance. Copyright © 2011 by Stone Brewing Co. and Randy Clemens. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, Berkeley, CA. Photo credit: John Schulz Photography.

Every now and then I do a contest for my newsletter readers where I ask them a question and the randomly selected winner gets a box of my homebrew mailed to them.

About a month ago we did a contest where I asked – “What are you drinking for Thanksgiving?”

It was still October so I wasn’t sure what the response would be. “Would people have put any thought into what they’re drinking a month from now?”, I thought.

Rule #1 – Never doubt the resolve of craft beer drinkers.

Over 100 people responded with their beer plans. The responses included well thought out food pairings, beer selections for every course of the meal, and tons of homebrewers bringing their own creations to the party (this made me happy).

So here on Turkey Day Eve, I’d like to share with you a few of the responses and hopefully hear what you have planned.

What about me, you ask? I’m headed to the mountains for some snowboarding. When I get back, there are only two things on my mind – Dry Dock Bligh’s Barleywine and watching my Ravens take on the 49ers in the Harbaugh Bowl.

What the readers are drinking

My first reaction to the question, “What are you drinking on Thanksgiving?” was… Billy’s Homebrew, especially that molasses stout.
- Martin, who funny enough, ended up winning the contest

I will be taking a bunch of my homebrews back home to share with the family.
Saison for the football game. A pear cider for the ladies based on EdWort’s recipe but substituting 3 G of pear juice for apple. Then we’ll work in a pumpkin ale for the big meal. Afterwards, a nice rauchbier. For those looking for something a little darker I have a Baltic porter. And then for late night I have a barley wine. I hope I have all the bases covered!
- Jeff

This Saturday we’ve got a big shindig with 4 kegs of homebrew (16+ gallons): Coffee Stout, Zombie Jesus Scottish Ale Lite, Vienna Ale, and Scottish IPA (think big malt and hops). Since those will be drained this weekend, I’ll be looking to brew my first all grain batch in 2 weeks which will be Coffee Stout, so Thanksgiving will be Coffee Stout in the keg plus bottles of the previous 4 brews.
- Phil

I have an Allagash Curiex that I’ve been holding onto and I believe that will be a good time to drink that. I am also going to brine a turkey in some of my homebrew, thinking about doing the brine with my pale ale and making Sean Paxton’s Roasted Garlic IPA mash potatoes to go with it.
- Wick

Most likely, I’m going to have a pumpkin ale homebrew to go with dessert, but also going to pick out a variety of Oktoberfests and stouts, to hopefully convince some non-craft beer drinkers to come to the bright side
- Mike

I think I will kick off the evening with my Pineapple, Toasted Coconut Wheat Ale (The Malibu of Beers). Once I feel like it is summer again, I will open a 12oz Chimay Grand Reserve. Now that I have jumped ship to Belgium, I will then move close to home with an Allagash Four, or perhaps the Ghoulschip, set to release this Monday. The desert will be piles of pumpkin cheesecake and Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout. Or maybe a Youngs Chocolate Stout drizzled over Caramel Swirl Ice Cream. The possibilities are endless!
- Joe

I do all the cooking and get up at 5:00am to get ready. Really is my favorite holiday of the year. Probably stick to my Home Brewed DIPA, Maybe an Apricot IPA, then a mix they taught me last week at Brewzilla here in Cleveland. Southern Tier was serving Pumking and Creme Brulee together. Wonderful!
- Thom

Happy Thanksgiving. Do it right and drink the good stuff.

Have you heard about the tweeting, beer dispensing vending machine named Arnie?

If not, you can read about it here.

In short, it’s for the employees of the Arnold advertising agency in Boston. Talk about a pleasant work environment.

As a beer geek, I wanted to find out more about the brews this thing is popping out. Below is a Q&A with Greg Murphy, the self described Social Media Manager and Resident Brew Master at Arnold Worldwide.

Q&A with Greg Murphy, Arnold Worldwide

Who brews the beer for the vending machine?
A team of 3-4 people, including myself, brew the beer at Barleycorn’s in Natick, Mass., which is a Brew on Premise (BOP) business.

How were the beer styles decided? Were there requests from Arnold or was it mainly up to the brewer?
The beer styles are based on level of expected popularity, seasonal styles and, now that the machine is in operation, ratings. The first run was up to the brewers and, going forward, we’ll take the preferences of the agency into account. For our first run, we brewed six styles of beer: a Pilsner, a German Alt (old style) ale, an IPA, an Oktoberfest (like Spaten), a Kölsch and a Scottish Ale.

The article mentions the employees are involved in the brewing process. How are they involved?
We have a core team that works on the project and brews the beer, but we encourage anyone from the agency who’s interested to join us at Barleycorn’s to learn and help with the process. The employees at Barleycorn’s help oversee the process as well.

Has the vending machine converted anybody to craft beer who previously wasn’t a fan?
I’ve heard of several folks who have tried new varieties because of the machine. People who usually “stick to Miller” have the opportunity to try some new styles. We’d like to think it will encourage others to check out other small breweries.

The machine has a “data visualization feature”. Do you know which beers are the most popular?
The data visualization allows users to see their beer consumption history. Our highest-rated beer since the launch on November 2 is our Kölsch

End of Q&A

A few comments. The fact that these were made at a Brew on Premise was surprising – I figured they were made at a contract brewery. I’ve said before that I like the BOP idea and this is a benefit I hadn’t thought of. You could turn it into a sort of employee bonding experience (and then drink the fruits of your labor).

The range of beer styles is impressive. I was expecting a stout, pale, amber, and brown, but to see that they made an Alt and Scottish ale says something about the evolution of American beer culture.

Thanks to Greg for the responses.

This is one of those things you talk about with your buddy at the bar (“Dude, what if the vending machine at work served BEER!?!”) but never expect to actually happen. Very cool.

Now does that data visualization feature correlate beer sales to worker productivity? ; )

It’s all about what’s in the bottle…right?

That’s the argument of us craft beer advocates. Forget the Superbowl commercials and prancing horses. Judge your beer on what actually matters – how it tastes.

It sounds logical, but our looney brains aren’t hardwired to make decisions based on utility alone.

I came across this article about a study which put Coke and Pepsi head to head in a taste test, but with a few twists.

The first trial was a standard blind tasting, and the results were 50/50 as they typically are when Coke is pitted against Pepsi. The interesting part is that when people were told what they were drinking, 75% preferred Coke and 25% preferred Pepsi.

On top of that, parts of the brain started lighting up when people were drinking Coke that didn’t light up with Pepsi. The parts of the brain related to memory & cultural influences showed activity with Coke, but not Pepsi.

From the article:

“So the emotional imagery that Coke has made part of its brand, with varying success, seems to embed in people’s brains. And Pepsi’s reliance on celebrities? Two of their most visible spokespeople, Brittany Spears and Michael Jackson, may forever be associated with the brand but are probably not helping it too much today…The brain studies suggest that Coke’s iconic brand and arguably stronger cultural connection may in fact make a difference in preference.

The brain studies suggest that Coke’s iconic brand and arguably stronger cultural connection may in fact make a difference in preference. And that preference is linked not just to taste (hello, ventrolateral prefrontal cortex) but also memory-related brain regions that are related to cultural influences.”

So in the blind taste test people are split, but because of Coke’s successful branding, people have more of an emotional connection and actually prefer Coke when they know it’s Coke.

You Can’t Fight Biology

This really isn’t too surprising. If you tasted beers made by the Dalai Lama and Adolf Hitler, wouldn’t lean you towards Mr. Lama’s brew? Associations count and skew what we “should” prefer based on utility (flavor) alone.

It’s not only in drinks.

Why do people drive Mercedes or use Macbooks? Sure they’re great products, but there’s more to it. It feels good to use these brands. They touch us at an emotional level.

Craft Brewers Need a Strong Brand

I’ve talked before about competition in the craft beer industry and I’ll say it again – making great beer won’t be enough to compete.

Brewers need to establish an identity that is memorable, emotional, and worth talking about. Yes, that involves marketing.

But marketing isn’t a four letter word.

It just has a bad wrap in the beer industry because of how it’s been done by the big boys: dishonest, sleazy, and gimmicky.

Look to craft brewers like Stone and Dogfish Head on how to do it right. Effective brand marketing not only makes you stand out among competitors, it influences how people perceive your beer beyond flavor. The brain tells us so.