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.
The Void is back
(The Void is back)
I could no longer sit on the sidelines of beer conversation, especially in a the midst of a shutdown that has brewers looking at potential lost revenue thanks to the inability to get label and recipe approval from a furloughed agency. Bill Butcher of Port City says this causes problems for more than just breweries.
(Full disclosure: said Void writer is a federal employee in his dayjob and is essential, so he has worked without pay since before Christmas. Not that he’s bitter or anything.)
Look, I'm not the only one who's bitter, ok?
I especially came back since I saw a member of Congress tried to go onto the floor with a six pack of beer and was denied. Clearly I need to be House Speaker. I heard that you don’t have to be a member of Congress to be House Speaker. Starting my campaign today.
Earlier, someone mistook that blueish colored can as Bud Light and panic ensued, as if it mattered what beer a member of Congress tried to take onto the House floor. But as you can see, it is indeed Westbrook and this member is from South Carolina. None of this should be surprising.
It isn’t just new beers awaiting packaging that have been delayed, but entire brewing operations. This comes on the heels of a a bankruptcy of a significant brewing equipment manufacturer, adding yet another layer of problems that some breweries-in-planning have had to deal with in the past several months.
Weak.
WHO WANTS TO READ ABOUT CANNED BEER?!?!?
Wait, no, come back, this one is important, I promise.
It’s Allagash White and it's coming in cans to select markets where people drink a ton of it. Do you want to see it in cans where you are? Well, drink it in bottles and on draft first, hosers, what do you think this is, a charity?
Two well-known breweries are embroiled in a lawsuit but not for the usual reasons. This seems much more serious than the usual C&D.
The farewell tour for Charlie Papazian from the BA is about to come to an end.
If you remember from previous Voids in a past life, this space dedicated words to ridding beer culture of the exclusionary toxicity of things like sexist labels and racism. Let’s see how that went while I was gone.
About as well as I expected.
I guess there’s still a place for my voice here after all.
It’s good to be back.
