Women to Worship Goddess of Beer
Aug 6, 9:26 am ET
LONDON (Reuters) - British beer lovers have enlisted the
support of a Sumerian goddess in their efforts to shake
off the masculine image of their favorite tipple.
Fed up with the drink's beer bellied image, the Campaign
for Real Ale (Camra) said on Tuesday it had adopted the
goddess Ninkasi -- said to have created a recipe for beer
4,000 years ago -- as patron in a bid to attract more
women to the pumps.
"We think real British beer is something to be proud of
and it should be marketed to women as well as men,"
said Camra's Mike Benner.
"Almost all the advertising we see on our TV screens...
is a real turn off for women. Ninkasi, the new Goddess
of British beer, is here to change all that."
Ninkasi, worshipped by one of the world's earliest
civilizations in what is now Iraq in around 3500 BC, is
thought to be one of the early brewers of beer.
She was worshipped by both men and women at a
time when ale was made and served exclusively by
women.
Camra decided to adopt the cult after its research
revealed that less than a quarter of British women
had tried real cask ale in a pub, Benner said.
Almost a fifth of women polled by Camra said they
thought it was an old-fashioned drink, while a third
believed it was "unfeminine."
"Brewers need to present beer in a more original
and modern way if they are going to build a following
with women," Benner said in a statement. "It needs
to be a little less Inspector Morse."
To tempt female taste buds, the society is launching
a range of 10 "female friendly" ales at its Great British
Beer Festival in London this week.
While none is brewed to the recipe used by Ninkasi,
Benner said the 10 beers on offer demonstrated the
wide variety available.
He added that women would also not be expected to
drink the beer in the same way as ancient Sumerian
women -- from bulky clay jugs through lengthy drinking
straws.
The annual Great British Beer Festival is on at London's
Olympia from Tuesday to Saturday. Some 45,000 beer
lovers are expected to attend.
Camra surveyed 1,000 people across Britain in June this year.
OK, I just thought about trying to use positive reinforcement to describe the weather last week-end. Last thing I knew was that the mosquitoes were having a bang up time with all the spiced up blood available last week-end. I also heard that the guy that sells and services basement sump pumps is working overtime. Same goes for the tarp makers, umbrella manufacturers, and motorcycle tire makers with big-ol knobbies!
I look forward to seeing some of the e-photos. My film model remained dry but unused. I still have interesting images in my mind of the fire ring surrounded by a water donut, the human anchored tarp, the judging session in the screen tent, and the sunshine on Friday and again today.
There is the image of those two webbers just doing their thing as large tree branches missed them by inches! And those characters making mead and braggot. Hope the labels and titles do the brewing session justice.
You all deserve a thank you for sticking out there so long. Believe me, if I could have thrown my stuff in a trunk, turned on the heater, and windshield wipers, I would have thought about leaving early too.
The corn was great. The beans were just right. I hope the cast iron pot and owner are soon reunited. I liked the chicken and the marinade and it was great having all that food pre-prepped in plastic bags.
The best thing about lousy weather is it makes it hard to repeat an event so the weather forecast for next year is slightly warm, breezy, and quite dry. Yes, that would be fine.
Take care happy campers. Hope you have dried out by now.
Rick Oftel
DON'T FORGET!
Bring your guitars, flutes, banjos, harmonicas, mandolins, digeridoos,
penny whistles, kazoos, tubas, glockenspiels, etc for a little Saturday
afternoon jam at the campout!
See y'all there!
- Al
One last minute request for the campers reading this list. If someone has a few extra pounds of C02, please bring it along. I have two partially filled "little guys" that contain about 3 pounds total. I also have a 5 connector manifold and two regulators. We may run a little short on (I hate to divulge this) gas this week-end and I just don't have room for a 10 or 20 pounder.
The contraption leaves Minneapolis in two hours.
Rick
Greetings all from the biker in the club. It's true that the many scooters on the highway will be traveling west to Sturgis and points beyond but this true blue biker is only making it west to the campout. Believe it or not, the scooter is making the trip with a couple of webbers, 3 or 4 kegs, camping and cooking equipment and the club cooler. If I break down, everything is in the trailer and it is a standard 1-7/8 inch hitch!
Hope everyone is ready for a really enjoyable and laid back campout. Mike and I will be cooking a bunch of BBQ stuff over charcoal and wood. Hope you enjoy the treats.
Al is rumored to be bringing some musical instruments and I promised NOT to bring the slider trombone so you just never know what will happen.
Just remember the MHBA "Chair Rule." You bring your own chair and can repeat the "IT'S MY CHAIR" chant at any time.
Also be nice to Dawn. She is rumored to be bringing her giant squirt gun. Keep on her good side if you don't want to get wet!
See you on Friday
Rick
Thanks for all the replies about the tubing. I was looking for a local retailer
before going online for it. Rick, I was going to use it on the suction end of
my pump (from the mash tun only seeing as though it costs about $5 a foot).
It is rated at -75F to 280F and has a longer life span than other products.
Maybe you others with RIMS or HERMS could point me in another direction for
tubing.
Paul Johnsen
"good enough" seldom is
If you can believe the forecast, it's camping weather this weekend. Lows maybe into the 50's highs in the lower 80's. Should make for a great campfire. Bring some wood if you come. Don't forget it's AHA mead day on Sat. Bring plenty of that too!
Mike Moranz, President
Minnesota Home Brewers Association
A while back I posted a link to an article by Tim Webb
titled The End of Excellence. The article was a
rather gloomy prediction for the future of brewing in
Belgium. The following article from Malt Advocate is
Stephen Beaumont's response.
The Duvel You Say!
by Stephen Beaumont
[The following text copyright 2002, Malt Advocate,
Inc.] The spring of this year saw Belgian beer in the
news. Ordinarily, this would be a good thing, since
the breweries of this tiny northern European country
are generally credited with the production of some of
the world's most interesting beers. But what has
propelled Belgium's eclectic assortment of brews to
center stage this time was not their excellence, but a
combination of reduced consumption at home and
criticism from abroad.
Item: On March 27, Reuters news service reported that
beer consumption in Belgium had dropped by
approximately a quarter in the past two decades. The
average amount of beer drank per capita in 2000, the
report said, was about 98 liters, down from 131.3
liters in 1980.
Item: Tim Webb, the noted British beer writer and
author of three editions of The Good Beer Guide to
Belgium, Holland & Luxembourg, has gone on record as
stating that he now finds Belgian beer in general to
be "increasingly dumbed down" and the country's
brewers set on a path of "producing easily made,
tolerable, mediocre beers in place of the great
classics."
Taken together, these items might seem to spell
tragedy for the Belgian brewing industry. But with a
little dissection, it becomes readily apparent that
all is not as bad as it seems.
Let's begin with the per capita situation. Beer
consumption has dropped in Belgium. Significantly. But
so what?
Beer drinking has dropped in almost every country in
the western world for the period noted in the Reuters
story. In my home nation of Canada, for example, where
we like to think of ourselves as serious beer
drinkers, the number of liters of beer consumed per
capita in 1980 was 86.1. By the year 2000, that had
dropped to about 63 liters, a decline of-surprise!-a
little over 25%, the same as in Belgium. In the United
States, the drop was less dramatic but still
significant, from 91.98 liters per capita in 1980 to
85.52 in 2000. New Zealand, Germany, Switzerland, the
U.K.-the results are the same, only the percentages
differ. Simply, we westerners are drinking less beer.
Period.
Mr. Webb's comments are more problematic, and have
sparked some serious and occasionally vitriolic debate
in certain quarters. But just as the per capita
numbers hide a greater story beneath their surface
gravity, I believe that there is more to Tim Webb's
criticisms than meet the eye.
While I have not had opportunity to speak with Tim
Webb since the publication of his controversial
opinion piece, "On the Ending of Excellence," which
may be found at
http://belgianstyle.com/mmguide/press/timweb .html, I
have read a significant amount of the man's work and
have digested his comments within the context of those
writings. I should note, however, that I am offering
only my opinions here and have no intention of
impugning the character or integrity of Mr. Webb, who
has done much in the past to celebrate the beers of
Belgium. It's a big beer world and there is room for
many views.
At the outset, Webb makes some valid and excellent
points. I, too, have been disappointed by Interbrew
brands tasted over the past several years. While I
still regard the famous Hoegaarden White with respect,
even as I acknowledge that it is not the flavorful
blanche I recall, I now view several other Interbrew
beers I once enjoyed with, at best, resignation and
ambivalence. What happened to Leffe Radieuse?
Hoegaarden Grand Cru? Julius? One Toronto beer
destination recently received a very limited quantity
of Verboden Vrucht, which once upon a time would have
had me bolting to the bar for a bottle within a week.
Now I find that months have passed and I still haven't
bothered.
Others of Webb's criticisms are equally valid, I
believe. My tastes find that neither Liefmans
Goudenband nor Rodenbach Grand Cru are the ales they
once were, although the latter to a lesser degree than
the former. And his point that Belgian brewers may be
missing out on a developing market for 'elite' beers
by such dumbing down of their classics is well made
and taken. But is the situation really as dire as all
that?
In the midst of Webb's parade of complaints and
warnings, he takes specialn aim at the Trappist
breweries, at one point calling to task the "new
simplicity" of the Dubbel and Tripel of Westmalle.
Westmalle Tripel? Simple? The same golden ale I but
two nights ago presented to a table of expert
sommeliers, and thus rendered them almost speechless
with its complexity? Surely not!And yes, I know that
Westmalle and Chimay and perhaps even some of the
other Trappist breweries use hop extract in place of
whole or pelletized hops in their beers. But rather
than disgust, this practice evokes in me amazement
that they can coax such extraordinary flavors out of
the syrupy slop. A couple of years back I visited
several of the Trappist monasteries in a single trip,
and the one which impressed me the least with its
beers was the same one that touted its use of real
hops, no extract allowed-Achel.
Webb also bemoans the lack of new beers to take the
place of those he feels have been lost. Well, perhaps
it is my lack of experience relative to his-Webb was
discovering Belgian beer back when I was still naively
sipping from the domestic mainstream trough-but I find
at least a few great new brews every time I visit.
Several years ago it was Ellezelloise, born in 1993,
with their excellent La Quintine Ambr�e and
almost-as-impressive Hercule. Last 24 Hours of Beer
Festival in Antwerp, it was Duysters, a six-year-old
brewery, and their Loterbol, which I thought a
superbly balanced 'Belgian India pale ale,' but which
Webb discounts in his Guide as "unmemorable" on draft
though "lightly spiced (and) wheaty" in the bottle.
Agree to disagree, I suppose.
Further, there is good news even among the veteran
breweries. To my palate, the beers of Cantillon have
not tasted this good for years, perhaps ever.
Martin Wetten, the U.S. importer of Gouden Carolus,
tells me that the Anker brewery that makes the brand
has lately been sold back to the original family
ownership. Christian Bauweraerts of Brasserie
d'Achouffe reports that he is cutting back production
of his often so-so seasonals to concentrate on
expanding the market for the eminently laudable La
Chouffe and McChouffe, and also adding a tasty eau de
vie de bi�re to his stable of brands. And Armand
Debelder of Drie Fonteinen has separated his family's
restaurant from the brewery so that he can bring more
of his wonderful and unapologetically traditional
lambics to aficionados around the world.
So yes, beer in Belgium is changing, as it is all
around the world. (Webb also reserves some harsh words
for his home beer market in Britain, but I was pleased
with roughly 80% of what I tasted during a recent
two-week visit.) Some of those changes are bad and
others are good, and the bad deserve criticism as much
as the good merit celebration. My complaint with
Webb's column is that there is simply too much of the
former without any balance by the latter.
__________________________________________________
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Yahoo! Health - Feel better, live better
http://health.yahoo.com
Here is a link to a new article from Tim Webb. The
article is about the "dumbing down of some of
Belgium's finer beers. It was recently published in
Dutch by Belgium's OBP and Hollands PINT. The UK's
CAMRA backed out of publishing it so this may well be
the articles first appearance in it it's native
language.
John
http://www.cmg.net/belgium/clubhub/message/stories/dumbdown.html
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Sports - Coverage of the 2002 Olympic Games
http://sports.yahoo.com
A toast tonight to honor Gordon Knight, former co-owner of the Wolf
Tongue Brewpub in Nederland, Colorado, who died a hero on Tuesday.
Knight was the third person claimed by the Big Elk Fire, near Rocky
Mountain National Park, a toll which has shaken Front Range residents.
Many of us visited Wolf Tongue while it was open. He was also involved
in the Estes Park Brewpub, and the Twisted Pine and High Country
microbrewries in Boulder.
Among those interviewed in the article below is our good friend Jim
Parker, Knight's former business partner at Wolf Tongue, and before that
on the staff of the American Homebrewers Association. Parker is himself
regarded as somewhat of a hero, for his brave and ultimately successful
battle against cancer.
The following article appears on the front page of today's edition of
the Boulder Daily Camera, and may also be seen online at
http://www.dailycamera.com/bdc/mtn_towns_news/article/0,1713,BDC_2428_12997…
Roger Deschner rogerd(a)uic.edu
------ begin forwarded text ----------
The Daily Camera, Boulder, Colorado
Pilot's father: 'He was my great hero'
By Justin George and Christine Reid, Camera Staff Writers
August 1, 2002
They say Gordon Knight veered his doomed helicopter away from
firefighters on the ground as one last selfless act.
If he had lived, friends said, he wouldn't have taken any credit.
He rarely did.
At home, he kept his Great American Beer Festival Gold medals - honors
that breweries customarily turn into television commercials - in a sock
drawer.
During the Vietnam War, he earned a Purple Heart flying helicopter
missions, something his father never knew.
"He never told me that," said Knight's father, Leonard Knight. "He never
did brag much."
Friends, relatives, business partners and firefighters said much the
same about Knight, the 52-year-old Boulder pilot killed Tuesday when his
Lama helicopter crashed five miles south of Estes Park while fighting
the Big Elk fire.
When his aircraft was in trouble, instead of setting it straight down
where two crews of firefighters were working, Knight steered away to
avoid endangering their lives, said Marc Mullenix, Boulder Wildland Fire
Division chief.
"That's just the kind of guy he was," Mullenix said.
Knight was born and raised on a cattle farm near Scottsbluff, Neb.,
where he was a state-champion wrestler. He joined the Army and flew
scout missions and troops into battle during the Vietnam War.
"He was my great hero," his father said. "He was my best friend."
Later, Gordon Knight flew tourists in Hawaii. He also worked as a
commercial pilot in places such as Indonesia and Africa.
He was the first pilot for Life Flight rescue service in Des Moines,
Iowa, said Michael Whipp, a 32-year-friend and business partner, who
first met Knight taking a physical for the Army.
Knight met his wife, Susan, while shuttling near-death victims from car
wrecks to hospitals in Des Moines. She was an onboard nurse, Whipp said,
and the couple later worked for Flight for Life in Denver.
Knight began fighting wildfires about 26 years ago and at one time
co-owned a business with Whipp that contracted helicopters to the U.S.
Forest Service and other agencies battling wildfires.
He was known for his proficiency in dropping buckets of water with great
accuracy, firefighters said. Since June 1, he logged more than 200 hours
fighting fires, including the Hayman fire, Colorado's largest ever.
He was directly credited with saving homes from the Million Fire near
South Fork in the Rio Grande National Forest in Rio Grande County.
When not fighting fires, Knight made award-winning beer. He won three
gold medals for the beers Renegade Red, Twisted Amber and Coffee Porter
at three different breweries he co-owned over the years.
"He was one of the finest brewers in the country," said friend Jim
Parker, who co-owned the Wolf Tongue Brewery in Nederland with Knight in
1998 and 1999.
Parker entered Knight's Coffee Porter in the Great American Beer
Festival in Denver after Knight would not.
He won gold.
When Parker faced cancer more than two years ago, Knight borrowed
beer-making equipment and re-made a beer the pair had sold in Nederland
called Mr. Hoppy.
Knight sold the batch, renamed Sir Hoppy, in the Denver area and gave
$2,000 of the proceeds to his ailing friend. He never told Parker about
his plan beforehand.
"He just does not want to take any credit for anything, ever," said
Parker, who now lives in Oregon.
Parker remembers Knight dipping into his pockets and giving employees
advances they never had to pay back.
That was a surprising act for a frugal businessman who "could make a
dollar scream" when he ran the Twisted Pine Brewery in Boulder, said
majority owner Bob Baile.
But, Baile said, Knight was a generous man outside of work expenses.
He once drove almost 150 miles to the Royal Gorge in southern Colorado
every Thursday during a summer to take over an injured race-car driver's
day job flying weekend tours over the scenic chasm.
He gave the salary to his friend's wife.
"It was always someone else first," said Baile, recalling Knight's anger
when Baile framed the gold medal for Twisted Pine's Twisted Amber and
hung it with Knight's name in the brewery's entrance.
But he was as careful and meticulous a businessman as he was a brewer,
Baile said.
"His whole life was conducted by the book," he said, a sentiment echoed
by firefighters.
Friends and firefighters were not surprised that Knight's last words
came over the radio quietly and calmly:
"Helicopter going down."
A public memorial service honoring Knight will be at 5 p.m. Friday at
Planet Bluegrass, 500 W. Main St., in Lyons.
Camera Staff Writer Greg Avery contributed to this report.
Contact Justin George at (303) 473-1359 or georgej(a)dailycamera.com.
Copyright 2002, The Daily Camera. All Rights Reserved.
