August gets a bad rap, but maybe the beer events and releases will cool you down in between federal holidays
Greetings and salutations, once again, as we venture into the Void. Another month has begun. Some would say the worst month. I don’t know, I feel like there’s a substance we could drink to all help us through this trying month.
Wait, wait… no. That’s not what cooling off is about this month.
I know what we all need, a cheap, tall, ice-cold PBR… coffee.
Not even 50 words into the Void and we’re already off the rails.
Let’s get our heads screwed back on straight and focus on the local. If this were broadcast, this is where some fancy intro music or montage bumper would occur, but instead, we’re online so all we have is this.
You can vote for the best area brewery in WTOP’s annual poll here. Most of them are in Virginia so I guess we should just change our name and get it over with.
Phil Runco had a two-fer since we last Voided, first being an interview with the Denizens Brewing crew about their new spot in Riverdale Park, Maryland and their new PGC Premium Lager, brewed to christen the new spot and pay homage to their new home. And there’s been a crucial update to this story:
Secondly, he and the BYT folks gave you the draft picks for August. I don’t know, looking at this list, August doesn’t seem so bad, does it?
Also, Jake is here with your new releases.
Before we get too far away from Julie Verratti of Denizens, she had the awkward position of being a guest on the podcast where this happened. She was not part of the discussion, but said later she responded offline to Chris Funari and the crew. There we some tweets of support from fellow industry writers:
But, it’s clear the comments caused enough of an uproar that it was a bridge too far for BevNet. I don’t know Chris personally, but the comments were out of bounds and he apologized for them. But, as a person who’s been in broadcasting for over a decade, I can tell you I have seen people fired for less. Sometimes if you play with fire, even if your reputation is sturdy, you can get burned. It’s always up to the individual employer to determine punishment and sometimes that can seem unfair to an outsider. Perhaps there is also some missing context. But, a true professional has to learn. And the comments reflected poorly on the hosts of the show. Judging from the support he’s received, he will probably land on his feet.
The Nats closed a craft beer stand again, much to the chagrin of attending fans. Fritz Hahn gives a possible reason and the subsequent thread says maybe the Nats should communicate what to do in these situations in a better fashion.
In Barred in DC’s attempts to make lists for every potential bar scenario you desire, here are the places where you can drink at 8am, if, uh, you want to do that.
In another awkward incident, a couple were racially profiled by Angry Orchard security personnel during a marriage proposal on site. AO initially said staff would receive sensitivity counseling, but later added the manager on duty and the security personnel in question were replaced. In related news, the Boston Globe says craft beer has a diversity problem. That’s isn’t quite what Garrett Oliver had in mind with his comments, though.
High Life break? High Life break.
IPA day came and went. You probably had one. Don’t lie to me. I know folks that say they don’t like the haze partake in the haze occasionally. Oh, sorry, there are other IPAs that aren’t hazy? I couldn’t hear you over the sound of 69,000 pounds of hops splashing into a boil. Here are 34 of the hottest IPAs in the country, and hey, SOME of them might be clear!
In related news, here are what 20 brewers said are the worst trends in craft beer. Only a couple have to do with IPA trends. Friend of the Website Jeremy Danner chimed in. One of the trends had to do with seltzer, which not only isn’t going away, but, like every trend in alcohol, is getting turned up to 11.
Part of the seltzer trend has to do with lower calorie, lower alcohol options (the 11.5% “imperial seltzer” notwithstanding). Summer trends (or maybe longer-term trends?) show that lower ABV options are all the rage. Heineken had a successful alcohol-free beer launch and AB-Inbev is following suit.
Jeff Alworth had a couple of articles recently, first about the macro-ization of craft, specifically the 15 pack and other oddball packaging decisions pertaining to scale, and the fact that the beers you drink may be more about the time spent drinking them than the beers themselves.
Finally, AB-Inbev was banned for 3 years from selling beer in one of the most populous cities on Earth. The decision is subject to appeal.
I hope you’ve had fun reading and, as always, sorry about all the tweets. This is an evergreen tweet… in a post… in the Void.
