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.
Welcome to another Monday [Ed. Note: Tuesday. I'm bad at things. – BD] edition of The Void, coming to you from scenic Charleston, SC (not pictured here). It’s a jammed week this week, a complete linkocracy coming your way. Grab something cold to drink because you’re going to need it.
Liz Murphy of Naptown Pint says Maryland legislators should treat all brewers equally. She says that of the three bills in front of the Maryland legislature, two are meant to favor large-scale breweries such as Diageo, which is slated to build a Guinness brewery in the state. The state is at a bit of a crossroads in terms of brewing law. Call your representatives and make sure they have your interests in mind when they consider these changes.
In more positive local news, for those of you who like to laugh while drinking beer, Denizens will host a monthly comedy show in their taproom starting March 9th. Also, Hardywood has hired two new brewers to their team.
Baltimore magazine talks beer in and around the Baltimore area.
BYT picks this month's essential DC beer events.
Here we are again with sexist beer marketing, the gift that keeps on getting re-gifted over and over again. Ben’s Beer Blog spoke with brewers who made some sexist-branded beers in Ontario, Canada to get their take on why they did it and what they thought they had to gain. The answers are not great. This story is also not going away. What a load of double-dry-hopped bull.
Lucky Peach released a guide to large-scale Asian lagers, pairing them with your favorite foods from regional cuisine. If you’re more into regional craft, this will guide you through the history of craft beer in South Korea. Also, a new tax structure could mean Japan's craft beer scene is due for a boom.
While we’re on the subject of lager, the A.V. Club calls Pilsner the gold standard. Really, the early era of craft attempted to destroy Pilsner because the early era of craft saw their primary competition as marketed “true Pilsners” like Miller Lite. The reality has since changed a bit, craft has readily embraced lagers, and we’re all better drinkers for it.
But don’t count out the dark stuff. Michael Stein wrote here of Right Proper's Shawbecker Schwarzbier, which I was fortunate enough to have, and it is as good as he says it is.
But what about the JOOOOOOCE!?!??!
All right fine, we’ll talk about the juice.
Cryo hops, or as you've commonly heard them called, lupulin powder, is all the rage in the juice bombs flying out of breweries all along the east coast this days. Stan Hieronymus has the story of its uses in brewing and how it's still a work in progress in terms of what it actually brings to the beer. And oh man, is it ever a work in progress. Beersoakedboy has an absolutely awful looking picture in this article. As with any cutting-edge technique there are some, uh, bad products out there. Buyer beware.
It’s time to take a break to watch turtles eating beer packaging. Don’t worry, it's all edible.
Let’s talk about Untappd ratings.
(booooooooooooooooooo)
No no, wait, this is actually good. Dan Bortz of Porch Drinking says he stopped rating them and that you should, too. Particularly on high-volume drinking days, your taste buds just won’t have the same ability once you reach the end. Also, your priors are showing.
Who here has a beer cellaring procedure of some sort? {raises hand} Mike Zoller of Porch Drinking says maybe it's time to stop doing that. Go ahead, drink those members of this list of 144 of the best BA imperial stouts today. And be careful with the wax.
Kona Brewing is getting sued because consumers say its bottled beer is not a Hawaiian product. But at least it doesn’t have Cap’n Crunch in it.
All About Beer lists the the 10 most interesting breweries in the US. Some of the names you’ll recognize. I have to say, the OEC Brewing story is by far the most interesting of the group to me.
Readers of Craft Beer dot Com have spoken. The best beer bar in each state has been chosen. No surprise, DC’s best is ChurchKey. Feel free to drink at all the rest as a goal in life.
Brewdog is crowdfunding yet another venture, a craft beer hotel in Columbus, Ohio that would feature craft beer spa treatments and an in-shower beer fridge. Whatever happened to punk rock and authenticity?
A fruit IPA from Anchor? A fruit IPA from Anchor. Feel free to either think this is fine or a sign of the coming apocalypse.
Brooklyn’s Garrett Oliver shares a week in his life with Grub Street.
Portland, Oregon is getting a session beer bar, or as it was once known, a beer bar.
Bryan Roth chronicles Highland Brewing in Asheville, NC in this week’s long-read.
And he gives us whatever that monstrosity is.
We have reached the end of the screaming for this week. Be careful not to crumble into dust. And please, don’t drink bad beer.
