Welcome to this FeBREWary edition of the Void. Everything thinks they’re the first or only person that made that pun, but I’m here to tell you, you are most certainly not.
Before we get into that, you should know that DC Beer has opened a subscription patreon where you can get some exclusive content and support this beer website of humble origins. The people who populate this work hard to keep you informed of what’s going on in the DC Beer local scene and keep you up-to-date on the event goings on, a vital public service, so consider tossing them at least five bones a month, more if you want some other goodies.
This weird liminal space known as the Void, however, is here for free. No purchase necessary. I’m sure you’re all thrilled.
As always, we start with the local stuff. Craft Beer and Brewing profiled Scott Janish and Michael Tonsmeire, co-owners of Columbia, MD’s Sapwood Cellars, and home to some of the area’s best beers, in the opinion of this one blogger, and also of lots of other people I respect for more reasons than they just agree with me.
Editor Jake profiles a newbie to the DC Beer scene, Glasgow’s Epochal Barrel Fermented Ales, which has made their way to at least one store and maybe some others soon. As the name suggests, they bring the funk and the ABV in many cases.
Sterling, VA’s Beltway Brewing Company is officially up for auction. You have until March 21 to buy anything you might want.
For Black History Month, Mike Stein offers you a stein (ha ha, get it) of DC Beer Black history, from Chocolate City to Sankofa. Also, the Brewer’s Associated of Maryland talks about their efforts to address the overall lack of diversity in their state’s beer. That of course is far from unique to Maryland, it exists everywhere. One of those quoted in the article is the state’s own Liquid Intrusion Brewing Company, who we also talked to in January.
We’re all just full of puns this time around, aren’t we?
Good Beer Hunting profiled a brewery in Uruguay, in its fledgling beer scene.
Beer and Brewing got into the cold IPA trend, which is a beer brewed with lager yeast that is marketed as an ale, and how that’s actually nothing new.
Some little-known website called The New York Times asks: can craft beer rescue the reputation of malt liquor? We know what Betteridge’s law says, but it’s interesting nonetheless. Who needs malt liquor, though, when you have borg, Gen Z’s version of what every college student drinks in some form, in some container, at some point. Resistance is futile, which for you Zoomers reading this, is a reference to an old show that’s still on the air in a different form.
The more things change, the more they stay the same, example 69 million.
On the labor front, there are two stories worth looking at. The first is an allegation against Athens, GA’s Creature Comforts beer of union busting, which you can see in full here. The other is the end result of BrewDog’s Affected Workers Platform, which issued a final report summarizing the issues BrewDog workers experienced.
In more positive news, here is an example of how to make a job posting:
Someone go work for Holy Mountain.
Finally, against the judgment of Jake, the fair editor of both this website, as mentioned above, and this Void (Editor of the Void has a great ring to it), I will give oxygen to this abomination, a collaboration between what appears to be a decent brewery, even though I have not had the pleasure of sampling them, and Hormel. Hormel Chili Cheese Brew lives. That’s right folks, the crisp, clean taste of the Void is available to anyone who can acquire it.
Dry January may be over, but bad news: you’re still in the Void. See you next month.
