Each week, Tony Budny pens SCREAMING INTO THE VOID and looks at the best in writing and social media conversation around the biggest issues in beer. If you feel something should be included, have a tip, or just want to sound off, feel free to look him up on Twitter @DrinksTheThings or email DCBeer.
Another Void week on DC Beer dot com has arrived, and we have much to report on the local news front.
Local rabble-rousers Bardo have shuttered the Trinidad location and are full steam ahead for their opening in Navy Yard. Bardo also seemed to suggest that Bluejacket may face some difficulty keeping their closing times past 10pm when their license comes up for renewal [Ed. Note: LOL, okay]. I dunno, perhaps the general attitude toward its previous neighborhood and disagreeable attitude had something more to do with it than the actual letter of the law.
Also, Columbia Heights neighborhood spot Kangaroo Boxing Club is closing its doors in January. I always enjoyed the food, the atmosphere, and the staff there. I hope their new endeavor is just as good.
Montgomery County, Maryland’s growing pains in terms of changing liquor laws continue, as two small businesses oppose a change in law that would allow Total Wine to expand into the county.
And maybe ChurchKey will get the disco back. No, they’re not adding a disco ball, and no, you are not required to wear bell-bottoms.
Sean Dalton, your thoughts on the development?
Finally, apparently there’s a craft angle to the new MGM casino, according to Fritz Hahn:
Meanwhile, you can now have that “hop aftertaste" you crave without getting drunk but with three times the sugar. I think I’m going to make hop flavored toothpaste if this takes off.
Hops. You can’t escape them. They will soon show up at your door proselytizing Citra with little pamphlets about alpha acids.
SIXTEEN PACKS OF CRAFT BEER EVERYONE. I’ll be impressed when I can get sixteen packs of Pliny at my local grocery store.
A smart fridge? Looking forward to this fridge holding your beer hostage when your WiFi goes down.
Many breweries have released their 2017 calendars. I’d like to focus on Founders for a second. Founders makes some of the best barrel-aged beers, and they're adding more to their portfolio in 2017. One in particularly has gotten my attention. After a very, very good crop yield this year, there's a cherry beer on their list. If you are a long team reader and follower of this humble beer writer, you know that I have been bitter about the retirement of Cerise, a beer I had and felt was underrated. The popular Rubeus replaced it in the portfolio, but I have longed for Cerise's return. Now, this beer hasn’t been said to be Cerise, but the base beer sounds an awful lot like it, which is close enough for me. I will drink Frootwood by the case if it's anything close.
Also, if you are a long-time reader, you know that I am a social justice beer drinker. And this week, Bryan Roth has called the Brewers Association to action to stand up for their core values and beliefs instead of turning away and expecting something to happen. This statement goes for all of us. I have called for the BA to make a statement once before, and I will do so again: your encouragement as an organization will go a long way to showing breweries that the things listed within are unacceptable.
These tweets from Carla Lauter display the point:
And if you’re wondering just how far the beverage industry has to go, observe Buffalo Trace, which makes the Pappy Van Winkle bourbon variants among others, so it’s visibility and popularity in the industry needs no introduction:
Laura Bell of Bell’s Brewery discusses representation in the industry among other issues with All About Beer.
Yeah. Pretty much. Might as well make it glow and called it Nuka-Brew.
See you all next week. Hope your tree has lots of beer under it and… on it?
