mba March 2006

mba@thebarn.com

20 participants
50 discussions

by Mike Behrendt

Just a reminder - The April 1st MHBA Club Meeting will feature a malt tasting. I've collected 46 different malts ranging from 1.4 Lovibond to 600 Lovibond. We'll start with a few base malts, go through the range of Crystal/Caramel malts and end with Chocolate/Black/Roasted. We have malts from the US, UK, Germany and Belgium to compare. Some of the malts are from a small maltster in the UK who still does floor malting and they're the only ones that also give tours. Stop by Tuckers in Newton Abbot and thank Richard. They have a nice brewery attached serving great beer and one of the best beer stores which includes some US craft beer which was interesting. Malt descriptions will be available and you are encouraged to make your own notes. Bring a pencil and some homebrew. A final note - the meeting needs to end at 2pm due to another activity at CSPS hall. So be on time! See you on 4/1. -- //Mike Behrendt MGBehrendt(a)mn.rr.com Those are my principles, and if you don't like them... well, I have others. Groucho Marx

19 years, 8 months

RE: Brewery Creek

by aboyce＠mn.rr.com

Brewery Creek is a charming Bed and Breakfast Inn with a wonderful feature - it has a BREWERY in it's basement, and the beer is GREAT! Several MhBA members toured stopped at Brewery Creek on our way to the AHA National Conference in Chicago three years ago to visit. Also, Jeff Donahue is one of the founding members of MhBA. Stop and stay with them if you can! - Al Original Message: ----------------- From: Jeff Donaghue info(a)brewerycreek.com Date: Wed, 22 Mar 2006 08:07:11 -0600 To: aboyce(a)mn.rr.com Subject: Brewery Creek I hope you remember us. We are that Bed and Breakfast Inn in Mineral Point with the restaurant and brewery downstairs. Maybe you stayed with us? Or maybe you just made an inquiry. This email is an invitation for you to visit our new and improved web site: http://www.brewerycreek.com. We have added a lot and plan to grow the site as time allows. If you have a few minutes, take a look! Feel free to send us feedback on what you like or don't like. We also have a special "take a look at the new web site" offer. Make a reservation to stay with us before April 30th and we will give you a $20 Brewery Creek gift certificate when you check in. You can use it at the Inn, the Restaurant, or give it away. Just mention the "take a look at the new web site" offer when you make your reservation. (Not valid with other offers, specials or discounts.) Write newsletter(a)brewerycreek.com if you would like to get information about restaurant and lodging specials. Thanks for taking the time to read this. Jeff and Deborah Donaghue -------------------------------------------------------------------- mail2web - Check your email from the web at http://mail2web.com/ .

19 years, 8 months

FW: AHA National Homebrew Competition Call for Entries

by Al Boyce

FREE SHIPPING! Bring your beers to the club meeting on April 1 at the CSPS Hall in St. Paul - Noon -3pm. - Al _____ From: Brewers Association [mailto:janis@brewersassociation.org] Sent: Tuesday, March 21, 2006 3:16 PM To: alboyce(a)bigfoot.com Subject: AHA National Homebrew Competition Call for Entries You gave Brewers Association <http://www.beertown.org> permission to send you this email. Please add janis(a)brewersassociation.org to your address book or safe sender list. _____ <http://www.maildogmanager.com/link.html?url=41&client=aobhtml&campaign=749& email=alboyce(a)bigfoot.com> A FRIENDLY REMINDER Entries Due April 3-14, 2006 Help us spread the word and send this message to your friends and homebrew club members. Hang competition posters in your local homebrew supply shops. Think you make some pretty good beer? Show us what you've got against more than 4,000 of the best homebrews from around the world. Last year's prize display stretched over 50 feet! We're expecting even bigger and better prizes for competition winners this year. _____ IMPORTANT INFORMATION Entry Fees American Homebrewers Association Members: $8 per entry Non-members: $12 per entry Not a member? Join online today! <http://www.maildogmanager.com/link.html?url=152&client=aobhtml&campaign=749 &email=alboyce(a)bigfoot.com> _____ WE NEED JUDGES! For the judging contact in your region, see www.beertown.org/events/nhc/judging2nd.html <http://www.maildogmanager.com/link.html?url=296&client=aobhtml&campaign=749 &email=alboyce(a)bigfoot.com> The NHC is an AHA/BJCP sanctioned competition. _____ IMPORTANT DATES First Round Judging April 15 - April 30, 2006 Second Round Judging June 22-23, 2006 Awards Ceremony June 24, 2006 <http://www.maildogmanager.com/link.html?url=37&client=aobhtml&campaign=749& email=alboyce(a)bigfoot.com> For quick access to all you need to know about entering the competition, visit our official website <http://www.maildogmanager.com/link.html?url=41&client=aobhtml&campaign=749& email=alboyce(a)bigfoot.com> . _____ For rules and regulations on entering your beers, click here <http://www.maildogmanager.com/link.html?url=82&client=aobhtml&campaign=749& email=alboyce(a)bigfoot.com> . _____ <http://www.maildogmanager.com/link.html?url=65&client=aobhtml&campaign=749& email=alboyce(a)bigfoot.com> Click Here for Entry Forms 220k pdf _____ <http://www.maildogmanager.com/link.html?url=71&client=aobhtml&campaign=749& email=alboyce(a)bigfoot.com> Click Here for Entry Sites _____ Help us promote the competition in your community. <http://www.maildogmanager.com/link.html?url=80&client=aobhtml&campaign=749& email=alboyce(a)bigfoot.com> Hang up competition posters around your town. Click here to download a poster. <http://www.maildogmanager.com/link.html?url=80&client=aobhtml&campaign=749& email=alboyce(a)bigfoot.com> _____ "Homebrewing is alive and rocking. This spectacular participation by homebrewers from around the world and particularly America really reflects the passion homebrewers have for their hobby. It also resounds with a thumbs-up for the taste of 'full-experience' craft beer." -Charlie Papazian, author of Complete Joy of Home Brewing and founder of the National Homebrew Competition and American Homebrewers Association. _____ The American Homebrewers Association's <http://www.maildogmanager.com/link.html?url=14&client=aobhtml&campaign=749& email=alboyce(a)bigfoot.com> National Homebrew Competition is an international competition that recognizes the most outstanding homebrewed beer, mead and cider being produced by amateur brewers worldwide. <http://www.maildogmanager.com/link.html?url=41&client=aobhtml&campaign=749& email=alboyce(a)bigfoot.com> Click here for more information. COMPETITION LINKS <http://www.maildogmanager.com/link.html?url=80&client=aobhtml&campaign=749& email=alboyce(a)bigfoot.com> Competition Poster / <http://www.maildogmanager.com/link.html?url=81&client=aobhtml&campaign=749& email=alboyce(a)bigfoot.com> Sponsors / <http://www.maildogmanager.com/link.html?url=71&client=aobhtml&campaign=749& email=alboyce(a)bigfoot.com> 1st Round Sites <http://www.maildogmanager.com/link.html?url=14&client=aobhtml&campaign=749& email=alboyce(a)bigfoot.com> American Homebrewers Association / <http://www.maildogmanager.com/link.html?url=37&client=aobhtml&campaign=749& email=alboyce(a)bigfoot.com> AHA National Homebrewers Conference <http://www.maildogmanager.com/link.html?url=18&client=aobhtml&campaign=749& email=alboyce(a)bigfoot.com> Questions? Janis Gross, AHA National Homebrew Competition Director, ext. 134 janis(a)brewersassociation.org Brewers Association 736 Pearl Street / Boulder, Colorado 80302 USA 888.822.6273 (U.S. & Canada only) / +1.303.447.0816 / www.beertown.org <http://www.maildogmanager.com/link.html?url=6&client=aobhtml&campaign=749&e mail=alboyce(a)bigfoot.com> <http://www.maildogmanager.com/link.html?client=aobhtml&campaign=749&email=a lboyce(a)bigfoot.com> _____ Trouble viewing this email? Go to: http://www.maildogmanager.com/page.html?p=0000015Fu8vivypzQm2wyOg+gjQd4oPRJn hQ== _____ You gave Brewers Association <http://www.beertown.org> permission to send you this email. Please add janis(a)brewersassociation.org to your address book or safe sender list. 736 Pearl St., Boulder, CO 80302, US Review our Privacy <http://maildogmanager.com/privacy_policy.html> Policy and Acceptable Use <http://www.maildogmanager.com/acceptable_use_policy.html> Policy. Unsubscribe <http://www.maildogmanager.com/unsub.html?client=aobhtml&campaign=749&email= alboyce(a)bigfoot.com> or manage your Subscription <http://www.maildogmanager.com/unsub.html?client=aobhtml&campaign=749&email= alboyce(a)bigfoot.com> Preferences <http://www.maildogmanager.com/images/maildog.gif> Instantly created and delivered by Brewers Association's Mail Dog <http://www.maildogmanager.com/> !

19 years, 8 months

Saints games are monstrously fun!

by John Longballa

Spring is finally here, at least according to the calendar, and for those of us who can't remember what summer looks like, I offer the above image from a 2005 Saint Paul Saints game. The Minnesota Homebrewers Association will be partying like rock stars at the Thursday, May 18th Saints game. Tickets are $10, and the club has paid for a large reserved tailgating spot, so please let me know at jlongballa(a)newspiritschool.org as soon as you know how many tickets you want to commit to. We'll have grilling and free Saints baseballs, and, well, homebrew! :) Don't miss this one! John

19 years, 8 months

FW: Enchanted Brewing Challenge (fwd)

by Roger Deschner

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: "beer.brian" <beer.brian(a)comcast.net> To: "beer.brian" <beer.brian(a)comcast.net> Subject: Enchanted Brewing Challenge Date: Mon, 20 Mar 2006 09:30:24 -0700 Hear ye! Hear ye! The Dukes of Ale, New Mexicos merriest band of homebrewers, hereby proclaims the inauguration of the Enchanted Brewing Challenge. The EBC is open to all brewers on planet earth and offers an amateur division for all BJCP styles, as well as a pro brewer free-for-all with an annual theme. This years theme is Radical Brewing in the spirit of Randy Moshers book celebrating creativity in brewing. Homebrewers may enter their unconventional concoctions in Category 23 for a chance at a special prize. Pro brewers may enter the Radical Beer Open. Things you should know: o Saturday, April 29 Judging Seminar (competition protocol for beginners) o Friday, May 5 Entry Deadline ($6 each, late entries will be consumed but not judged) o Saturday, May 6 Off-flavor Training Session (and entry check-in party) o May 15-21 Craft Beer Week (discover New Mexico craft beers!) o Friday & Saturday, May 19 & 20 Judging Sessions (judges and stewards needed!) o Sunday, May 21 Radical Post-Competition Party (for judges, stewards and special guests only - rub elbows with well-known radical brewers and help drink the leftover entries) For all the Radical details, including entry mail-in directions, drop-off locations, how to be a judge or steward, lodging and maps, and who to contact for everything else, visit www.nmbeer.org or drop a line to brewer(a)nmbeer.org . --Brian, 2006 King of the Dukes

19 years, 8 months

National Homebrew Competition - FREE SHIPPING for MhBA members!

by allan.boyce＠usbank.com

The qualifying round of the AHA National Homebrew Competition will be held April 21, in Des Moines, Iowa. Entries are due by April 14. The AHA "Club of the Year" will be determined by how well our club members do in the qualifying and the final round in this competition. For this reason EVERYONE IN THE CLUB should send what beers they have available to Iowa for the qualifying round! Tthe club is sponsoring FREE SHIPPING for all dues-paid club members! Rick Oftel has agreed to drive our entries down to Iowa, and the club will reimburse him for his gas money. BRING YOUR BEER(S) to the MhBA Club Meeting on April 1, noon-3pm, at 383 Michigan St in St. Paul. Gera Exire LaTour will have registration materials available for you there - no need to bring anything else, except a check to cover your registration fees. We will help you decide which categories to enter your beers if you bring an extra bottle of each to share at the meeting. Here are the rules: http://www.beertown.com/events/nhc/pdf/NHC06_rules.pdf Summary: * Only one bottle needed! (If your beer wins, re-brewing is allowed for the final round) * One entry per BJCP SUB-category per brewer or brewing team - http://www.bjcp.org/styles04/ * $8 per entry for AHA members, $12 for non-AHA members - payable to AHA (If you want to join the AHA, memberships will be available at the meeting at a $5 discount - $33/yr instead of $38. RENEWALS TOO!) * 10-14oz brown or green glass bottles, crown capped * SPECIAL CATEGORY: NEW ENTRANT - for those who have NEVER entered the AHA NHC before! (ANY style OK!) If you want to enter your beer online prior to the meeting, you can do so at: https://www.regwizard.net/ If you want to fill your entry form(s) out in advance of the meeting, here is a link to the form: http://www.beertown.com/events/nhc/pdf/nhc06_entry_form.pdf Here's a link to the bottle ID form: http://www.beertown.com/homebrewing/pdf/bottleid.pdf NOTE: CIDERS WILL NOT BE JUDGED IN IOWA so they must be shipped to the cider-judging site: Ship to: NHC 2006 Halftime Beverages 2290 South Road Poughkeepsie, NY 12601 If you would like to help JUDGE at the Midwest NHC preliminary in Iowa, contact Scott Dennis at scott.dennis(a)pioneer.com . EVERYBODY LET'S PITCH IN AND HELP YOUR CLUB WIN THE AHA CLUB OF THE YEAR AWARD!!! - Al ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Electronic Privacy Notice. This e-mail, and any attachments, contains information that is, or may be, covered by electronic communications privacy laws, and is also confidential and proprietary in nature. If you are not the intended recipient, please be advised that you are legally prohibited from retaining, using, copying, distributing, or otherwise disclosing this information in any manner. Instead, please reply to the sender that you have received this communication in error, and then immediately delete it. Thank you in advance for your cooperation. ==============================================================================

19 years, 8 months

Zynmurgy Poll: Vote for AMERICA'S BEST BEERS!

by allan.boyce＠usbank.com

VOTE FOR AMERICA'S BEST BEERS!!! MOVE FAST!!! VOTE BY MARCH 24!!! Zymurgy magazine is doing a poll for Best Beers in America! Let's show them that MINNESOTA has some fine beers! Rank and select 20 from the list below, and send to: jill(a)brewersassociation.org or to Jill Redding, Brewers Association, PO Box 1679, Boulder, CO 80306-1679. Jill says: >>While you are compiling your list, please take a few extra minutes and >>write a short review of one of the top beers on your list, in 150 words or fewer. >>Note: this is not mandatory, but will be appreciated. I'M VERY SORRY if I missed listing your favorite Minnesota-made Commercial beer! Please add it in, and email it TODAY!!! VOTE EARLY! VOTE OFTEN!!! :-D - Al MINNESOTA COMMERCIAL BEER CHOICES __Backwater Brewing __Bandana St. Peter Red __Bandana Hop Harvest Pale Ale __Bandana Eagle Lake Pale Ale __Bandana Weizenbock __Bandana Mankato Gold __Bandana Rapidan Brown __Bandana Preston Wee Heavy __Bandana Doppelbock __Barley John's Winter Ale __Barley John's Altbier __Barley John's Little Barley Bitter __Barley John's Stockyard IPA __Barley John's Wild Brunette __Barley John's Old Eight Porter __Barley John's Dark Knight __Brauhaus __Finnegan's Irish Amber __Fitger's Brewhouse Lighthouse Golden __Fitger's Brewhouse Witchtree ESB __Fitger's Brewhouse Big Boat Oatmeal Stout __Fitger's Brewhouse El Nino Double-Hopped IPA __Fitger's Brewhouse Starfire Pale Ale __Fitger's Brewhouse Edmund Imperial Stout __Fitger's Brewhouse 1100 Wheatwine __Fitger's Brewhouse Ole Redbeard Barleywine __Fitger's Brewhouse El Diablo Belgian Golden __Fitger's Brewhouse Jodocus Weizenbock __Fitger's Brewhouse Gandvik Maple Porter __Fitger's Brewhouse Dr Spock Eisbock __Gluek's __Granite City Broadaxe Stout __Granite City Duke of Wellington __Granite City Brother Benedict's Maibock __Granite City Northern Light Lager __Great Waters House Ale __Great Waters Winter Carnival Ale __Great Waters Pot Hole Porter __Great Waters Slapshot IPA __Great Waters Black Watch Oak Stout __Green Mill __Herkimer Handy's Lager __Herkimer Daily Pils __Herkimer Oktoberfest __Herkimer Red Flyer Marzen __Herkimer Tooler's Weiss __Herkimer High Point Dunkel __Lake Superior Special Ale __Lake Superior Kayak Kolsch __Lake Superior Oatmeal Stout __Lake Superior Mesabi Red __Lake Superior Split Rock Bock __Lake Superior Windward Wheat __Lake Superior St. Louis Bay IPA __Lake Superior Old Man Winter Warmer __Lake Superior 7 Bridges Brown __Lake Superior Oktoberfest __Mantorville Stagecoach Ale __Mantorville Smoked Porter __O'Gara's ESB __O'Gara's Sligo Red __O'Gara's Cork Brown Ale __O'Gara's Light Amber Ale __O'Gara's Sassy Sandy Belgian Wheat __O'Gara's Premium Lite __O'Hara's Quarry Rock Red __O'Hara's Golden Honey Wheat __O'Hara's Pantown Pale Ale __O'Hara's Sid's Irish Stout __Rock Bottom North Star Premium Lager __Rock Bottom Itasca Extra Pale Ale __Rock Bottom Erik the Red __Rock Bottom Bighorn Nut Brown Ale __Rock Bottom Stillwater Stout __Schell's Firebrick __Schell's Pilsner __Schell's Pale Ale __Schell's Caramel Bock __Schell's Doppel Bock __Schell's Maifest __Schell's Hefeweizen __Schell's Zommerfest __Schell's Octoberfest __Schell's Snowstorm __Schell's Schmalz's Alt __Schell's Original __Schell's Light __Schell's Dark __Summit Extra Pale Ale __Summit Great Northern Porter __Summit Amber __Summit India Pale Ale __Summit Grand Pilsner __Summit Winter Ale __Summit Maibock __Summit Hefeweizen __Surly Bender __Surly Furious __Town Hall Bright Spot Golden Ale __Town Hall West Bank Pub Ale __Town Hall Masala Mama India Pale Ale __Town Hall Black H2O Oatmeal Stout __Town Hall Hope & King Scotch Ale __Union Station --------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Jill Redding [mailto:jill@brewersassociation.org] Sent: Wednesday, March 15, 2006 2:29 PM Subject: Best Beers in America Survey: REMINDER! Zymurgy needs your vote! In the July/August issue of Zymurgy we'll have our annual survey results of the Best Commercial Beers in America as voted by our readers. The rules are simple: just make a list of the 20 best beers available in the U.S. market and send it, along with your name and where you live, to jill(a)brewersassociation.org or to Jill Redding, Brewers Association, PO Box 1679, Boulder, CO 80306-1679. Survey results are due by Friday, March 24. You can vote for both domestic and imported beers, but the beers have to be available in the United States. We'll tabulate the results and present them, along with clone recipes for some of the top beers, in the July/August Zymurgy. While you are compiling your list, please take a few extra minutes and write a short review of one of the top beers on your list, in 150 words or fewer. Note: this is not mandatory, but will be appreciated. Thanks in advance for your vote, and thanks to those of you who have already voted! Jill Redding Magazine Editor Brewers Association ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Electronic Privacy Notice. This e-mail, and any attachments, contains information that is, or may be, covered by electronic communications privacy laws, and is also confidential and proprietary in nature. If you are not the intended recipient, please be advised that you are legally prohibited from retaining, using, copying, distributing, or otherwise disclosing this information in any manner. Instead, please reply to the sender that you have received this communication in error, and then immediately delete it. Thank you in advance for your cooperation. ==============================================================================

19 years, 8 months

Midwest Homebrewer of the Year Update

by Steve Fletty

Standings have been updated following the Drunk Monk contest. http://sphbc.truthbrew.com/mwhboy/ You still have time to enter the next leg of the circuit: http://www.bossbeer.org/

19 years, 8 months

FW: Gitchee Gumee Brewfest

by aboyce＠mn.rr.com

FYI. It's the same day as the MhBA club meeting, but if you find yourself in Superior, WI on April 1st, it looks like a fun time! 30 brewpubs/breweries! - Al Original Message: ----------------- From: Ben Brausen BenBrausen(a)aol.com Date: Wed, 15 Mar 2006 12:37:31 -0600 To: Sphbc(a)sphbc.org Subject: [SPHBC] Gitchee Gumee Brewfest The Gitchee Gumee Brewfest is coming up on Saturday April 1st (4pm-8pm). Orders for tickets need to be in by March 20th (kind of messed up that they didn't start selling them until now with the date so close). The other option is purchasing the tickets at one of the outlets listed on the website. We went last year and had a great time. You will want to come early to get in line because it gets to be over a block long (we got there about an 30mins before it opened and were 4th in line (we were there before that but hanging out on the track so some people got in line before us)). There are TONS of great beers and brewpubs to goto afterwards. http://www.ggbrewfest.com _______________________________________________ Sphbc mailing list Sphbc(a)sphbc.org http://sphbc.org/mailman/listinfo/sphbc_sphbc.org -------------------------------------------------------------------- mail2web - Check your email from the web at http://mail2web.com/ .

19 years, 8 months

Fwd: Magical Pint

by Jim L. Ellingson

FYI, How to pour a perfect pint of stout. http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-guinness15mar15,1,381929.story?c… >From the Los Angeles Times WINE & SPIRITS Now that's a magical pint Just in time for St. Patrick's Day, Guinness' brew master teaches us the art of "the Pour." By Charles Perry Times Staff Writer March 15, 2006 FERGAL MURRAY starts to pour a Guinness. It wouldn't be true to say a hush has fallen over the pub, but we are paying attention here at Casey's Irish Bar & Grille in downtown L.A. If anybody knows how to pour a pint, it's Murray . he's the brew master at the Guinness Brewery in Dublin. Murray is everybody's archetype of a Dubliner, rugged and curly-haired with an air of wry humor, except that even more than most Irishmen, he's totally focused on Guinness. Guinness is his life; when he's in Dublin, he tastes every batch that's brewed to maintain consistency. When he's not, it's because he's on the road to check out the taps and hoses at bars that serve Guinness around the world and to show "the Pour." There is an art to pouring Guinness Draught Stout, and it's worth knowing, since Guinness is the quasi-official drink of St. Patrick's Day, coming up Friday. The brewery estimates an average of 150 pints of Guinness will get poured every second of those 24 hours. And the proper way to pour it is the reverse of how most beers are poured. With a lager or an ale, or even a Guinness Extra Stout (a different style of stout also bottled by Guinness), you should splash a nice, foamy head into your glass to waft the beer's aroma into the air, then turn the glass at an angle and slide the rest of the beer under the head to keep the carbonation alive. Not so with Guinness Draught, which is about creaminess, rather than sparkle. First you take a pint glass, preferably one that balloons slightly toward the top, a shape that lets the beer form a higher head. While the Casey's staff scrambles to find a proper Guinness glass, Murray sportingly proceeds with an ordinary straight-sided pint glass. The next step is to put the glass under the tap . or the opening of a bottle or can . at a 45-degree angle. "Let it flow down the side," Murray says, "never allowing the tap to touch the head." Pour it about three-quarters full, leaving about an inch from head to rim. Then you set the glass down for what is known as the "settle." Technically, Guinness Draught is more nitrogenated than carbonated. Nitrogen is less soluble in water than carbon dioxide, so it forms a smaller, tighter bubble, creating the distinctive cream-white Guinness head. (A number of beers, particularly microbrews, have also followed the nitrogen route in recent years.) During the "settle," tiny bubbles of nitrogen rise in the dark beer, the roiling currents inside the glass producing a shimmering, cascading visual effect at its sides. "The nitrogen is trying to go back into solution, but it can't because it's not under pressure anymore," observes Murray. After a minute, about a third of an inch of head has formed. Finally, you top up the glass, pouring straight into the head so that it forms a "domed crown" extending a bit higher than the rim. This is the dramatic moment to serve it, with some of those tiny bubbles still struggling to the top, just before it settles into the striking two-tone Guinness look, white on top and nearly black beneath, like a quaffable saddle oxford. When poured right, this head lasts to the end of the pint. Some bartenders like to "paint" a design on top by dribbling a tiny amount from the tap while moving the glass around under it. "I can do the shamrock," Casey's bartender Naomi Schimeck boasts. Now you drink it. "Drink through the head," urges Murray, "so you can taste the sweetness behind it." The creaminess of the head, combined with Guinness' relatively low acidity, creates the odd illusion that you're having some kind of rich milkshake-like drink with a sweet palate but a dry finish. * The Guinness gizmo FOR nearly 30 years, you could only get this sort of beer at bars using a special foaming nozzle for their taps. Then, in 1988, Guinness invented the "widget," a spherical gizmo that creates a surge of nitrogen bubbles when a can is opened. In 1999, the company developed a rocket-shaped widget for the bottled version, designed to give a mini surge every time the bottle is tipped, so the beer will have a draft taste. And in the United Kingdom, Guinness recently brought out an even more techno way of stirring up those tiny bubbles . an electrical gadget called the Surger that bombards a bottle with ultrasonic waves. This sort of thing makes Guinness a rather scientifically oriented brewery, particularly for one that's 247 years old. Murray fits right in. Before studying to be a master brewer in 1985, he had joined Guinness as a research chemist . he had a science degree from Trinity College. Ten years later he was the master brewer, and he stayed on after Guinness merged with the giant beverage firm Grand Metropolitan in 1997 to create Diageo, which owns Smirnoff, Dom Perignon, Cuervo and scores of other brands. Guinness drinkers have voted heavily for the nitrogenated version. However, Guinness Extra Stout, the widget-less bottled brew that was the only kind of Guinness Americans knew for decades, is still around. Guinness was developed during the Colonial period to ship to thirsty British military personnel. To survive the sea voyage, it was given a larger dose of hops and a higher alcohol level. This brew caught on in West Africa, and in 1962 Guinness built a distillery in Nigeria, now the largest market for Guinness after Ireland and the UK. Guinness, says Murray, is brewed in 50 countries. The Guinness in the English, European and American markets is still made in Dublin. A worldwide beer empire based in Ireland. Well, the brewery's founder, Arthur Guinness, did think big. When he took over the brewery property in 1759, he negotiated a 9,000-year lease for 45 pounds (about $79) a year. So what does the landlord think of that deal now? "That's a good question," says Murray. "In fact, I've never even heard of anybody paying. I think the city of Dublin is the landlord, and I'd imagine they're happy enough." -- ------------------------------ * * Dr. James Lee Ellingson, Adjunct Professor jellings(a)me.umn.edu * * University of Minnesota, tel: 651/645-0753 fax 651 XXX XXXX * * Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *

19 years, 8 months

2025

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

2003

2002

2001

mba March 2006