RETRO ELECTRO electric beer delivery truck

Happy Earth Day! We’ve talked a lot about how beer and homebrewing can be good for the environment and brewers who consider the impact of their business on the earth, but this is really cool. A Canadian brewer has converted an antique truck to electric to deliver their beer. They apparently are known for using vintage vehicles for delivery but wanted to be more green.

From Wired.com

Steam Whistle communications director Sybil Taylor likens the truck to the company’s signature brew: a centuries-old Czech pilsner recipe recreated with the latest in modern technology. “Retro Electro is the same in that it takes the stylings and the body of the vintage truck, but with the electric motor it has a modern conscience,” she said. “And, it saves the truck from the metal scrap heap.”

…

The truck is used for deliveries on a 20-mile route around Vancouver, and can hold two kegs and 10 cases of beer. Steam Whistle expects the truck to have a 9-year lifespan, which would save the company $45,000 in gasoline costs at current prices.

Lots of pics, video, and more at steamwhistle.ca/retroelectro/

It’s interesting that Idaho doesn’t have a beer on the map. I lived there for four years and I can think of several decent brewpubs but can’t think of any breweries that distribute. Either the Idaho market is wide open for a good brewery or no one in Idaho reads GOOD.

What do you think? Do you agree with the poll results or is there a better beer in your state?

56 beers in 1 minute!

The BottomsUP system uses magnets to fill plastic cups really, really fast. It’s obviously meant for ballparks and other venues more interested in fast pours than good beer but a home system is supposed to be available in 2013. I wonder if there will be real glasses available. If not, it will never be popular with the craft beer crowd.

I also would like to know how they push the beer so fast without making too much foam. Proper carbonization depends on a perfectly balanced draft system. If you pushed the beer that fast out of a regular tap, you would end up with mostly foam. However they did it, it’s impressive.

Here are a couple of videos of the BottomsUP system in action:

via Wired

Moderate drinking of ale and lager can cut the risk of diabetes and high blood pressure and even help people lose weight, doctors say.

The Spanish researchers suggest combining beer with exercise and a healthy Mediterranean diet high in fish, fruit and vegetables and olive oil.

Beer contains folic acid, vitamins, iron and calcium and has the same health benefits already attributed to moderate wine drinking, researchers found.

And they blamed fatty foods like chips, a lack of exercise and binge drinking for beer bellies in Britain.

Courides founded the Intercourse Brewing Company (intercoursebrewingco.com), which she named after the rural Pennsylvania Amish community of Intercourse, ironically a dry town. The name always prompted giggles whenever a younger Courides, who grew up about an hour away in Collegeville, visited with her parents.

It was also hard to ignore the suggestive names of surrounding towns: Blue Ball, Mount Joy and Bareville.

“I couldn’t believe no one had done it yet,” said Courides, at 23 one of the youngest independent brewers in the United States. “The town names are just so funny, and it’s real.”

Beer names like Blue Ball Porter, Bareville Pilsner, and Mount Joy Light, along with a suggestive logo and slogan (May your spirit be light and may you always enjoy Intercourse) are sure to get beer drinkers’ attention.

Hopefully, the beer is as good as the branding.

I thought to myself I could do that! And started Beer Utopia on St. Patrick’s Day 2008 with some help from my friend Eric Britt.

From there we moved to the kitchen of our house and had my wife Heather Collins (www.girlphotog.com) help with shooting. See she has shot for History Channel, A&E and the like so this would be easy.

By episode #3 we had 2 sponsors and a co-host.

Episode #6 we moved out on the deck

That review of Flying Dog got the attention of Neal Stewart(@NealStewart on Twitter) then the marketing director for Flying Dog and we had a real beer sponsor.

Episode 16 and we had a fancy open and graphics thanks to Cliff Brannon (leapoffacliff.com) along with doing live streaming events.

Episode 21 and we were paid to stream live during the Great American Beer Fest (GABF) in Denver, CO. We were internet rock stars.

Just as we were gaining momentum the recession hit and no more sponsors, but we tried to keep going doing live streaming shows. They were fun, but we had a lot of technical difficulties.

Soon it was too time consuming and with no funds coming in I called an end to the show. In that time off Heather and I were blessed with the birth of our youngest son, James, (BTW we have 5 kids total) now 8 months old. We have tried to keep the Beer Utopia website up and current(thanks to my friend Joel Gardner that writes great posts and is our resident home brewer) while trying to figure out how to make money using web video and beer. I have not figured out a business model that works yet but we will be re launching the show soon for my love of doing it and the love of beer and hopefully the rest will fall in place.

I have recently found Top Gear and have fallen in love with this show. Now my goal is to see if I can make a Beer Show as good as Top Gear (With no budget).

Top Gear Season 12 Episode 3 – full episode

Cheers!

Brant Collins

Admiral of Ales

Koch, who employs just 12 sales reps to cover a 35-state territory, says he relies on web sites like beeradvocate.com and ratebeer.com, as well as social media like Twitter, to get the word out. (via The Washington Post)

So follow @StoneBrewingCo on Twitter to see if the  Total Tap Tower Takeover Tour is coming to your area. Don’t forget to follow us as well @Beerutopia

End of History beer in squirrel and stoat encased bottles

We’ve written before about Brew Dog Brewery, the Scottish brewery that likes to push the envelope of brewing. Their latest extreme beer really takes the cake, though. It’s not enough to create a 55% ABV beer called “End of History”, they decided to stuff the bottles into dead animals (WTF?) and sell it for £500 (about $750US).

This 55% beer should be drank in small servings whilst exuding an endearing pseudo vigilance and reverence for Mr Stoat. This is to be enjoyed with a weather eye on the horizon for inflatable alcohol industry Nazis, judgemental washed up neo-prohibitionists or any grandiloquent, ostentatious foxes.

The End of History: The name derives from the famous work of philosopher Francis Fukuyama, this is to beer what democracy is to history. Fukuyama defined history as the evolution of the political system and traced this through the ages until we got the Western Democratic paradigm. For Fukuyama this was the end point of man’s political evolution and consequently the end of history. The beer is the last high abv beer we are going to brew, the end point of our research into how far the can push the boundaries of extreme brewing, the end of beer.

This blond Belgian ale is infused with nettles from the Scottish Highlands and Fresh juniper berries. Only 12 bottles have been made and each comes with its own certificate and is presented in a stuffed stoat or grey squirrel. The striking packaging was created by a very talented taxidermist and all the animals used were road kill. This release is a limited run of 11 bottles, 7 stoats and 4 grey squirrels. Each ones comes with its own certificate of authenticity.

Sorry, all 12 bottles have been sold.

Abita Brewery's Save Our Shore Charitable Pilsner

We recently posted a press release from Abita Brewing Company about their S.O.S. Beer which is being sold to raise money to assist those impacted by the oil spill disaster. See press release here

We were able to interview David Blossman, President of Abita Beer, and he was kind enough to answer a few questions:

1) An unfiltered Weizen Pils with 7% alcohol is an unusual brew. Did you create the beer especially for the SOS campaign or was it something your brewers were already working on.
We created the beer just for the SOS campaign. It just seemed right to make a big brew for such a big cause. Our goal was to brew something that beer aficionados would talk about and enjoy, yet still be very drinkable for the average craft beer lover. I think the unfiltered weizen pils is perfect. It has a beautiful gold color and the pleasant hop bitterness balances out the sweetness of the malt. The beer finishes with a nice dry hop aroma. We hope it sells very well and raises a lot of money for the SOS foundation.

2) Why did you choose to distribute the Charitable Pilsner in 22oz bottles instead of 12oz bottles?
We want to raise money for Charity, but we also want to raise awareness around the country about the dire situation here on the Gulf Coast. The size of the bottle gives us a big canvas to get that message out there. It was also a question of timing. We wanted to get the product out there so we could start helping right away. The 22 oz bottle meant we could hit the market sooner. Instead of dealing with two suppliers (6 Pack wrap and label) we only have one supplier for the 22 oz bottle.

3) How much money has been raised so far and how much do you expect to be raised?
We’ve raised over $8,000 from merchandise sales alone since we announced the SOS project. The SOS brew won’t reach shelves until later this month and we are very encouraged by the interest in the product. After hurricane Katrina we raised over $550,000 with Restoration Pale Ale and I think SOS can be just as successful.

4) Where exactly is the money going?
We have established “SOS – A Charitable Fund” that will assist with the rescue and restoration of the environment and helping people and their families survive this disaster. The Northshore Community Foundation administers the fund and 100% of all the money will go to charity. An advisory committee made up community members will ensure that the funds get into the hands of the folks in need quickly and efficiently.

5) How long will S.O.S beer be available?
SOS will be around for at least a year and we’ll keep making it as long the need is there.

6) If I do not get Abita S.O.S. in my area, can I still contribute?
You can purchase merchandise, like t-shirts, hats, car magnets and other items at our website sos.abita.com. 100% of the net proceeds go to the SOS fund. You can also make a direct tax-deductible donation to the fund at the site.

Full disclosure: BeerUtopia.com is running Abita S.O.S. banner ads on our side free of charge to help spread the word about this charity.

Hoping to build on the craft-brewing and local food movements, N.C. State University researchers in Raleigh and a handful of farmers in the mountains are growing experimental plots of hops, the cone-shaped flower clusters that brewers add to beer for bitterness and aroma and as a natural preservative.

Jensen, who is growing on land once used for tobacco, said it’s a huge amount of work but one of the few crops that, on paper at least, could bring in decent income for farmers, which is what led her to try it. Hops can sell for more than $10 a pound in small quantities, and it’s not unusual for an acre to yield more than 2,000 pounds. (Read full article)

I will be trying to grow some Hops here in Arkansas and will keep you up to date with my success or failure. But at $10 a pound it’s worth a try.