mba July 2008

mba@thebarn.com

13 participants
38 discussions

by Jim L. Ellingson

FYI/FYE Survival of the Sudsiest By George F. Will Thursday, July 10, 2008; A15 Perhaps, like many sensible citizens, you read Investor's Business Daily for its sturdy common sense in defending free markets and other rational arrangements. If so, you too may have been startled recently by an astonishing statement on that newspaper's front page. It was in a report on the intention of the world's second-largest brewer, Belgium's InBev, to buy control of the third-largest, Anheuser-Busch, for $46.3 billion. The story asserted: "The [alcoholic beverage] industry's continued growth, however slight, has been a surprise to those who figured that when the economy turned south, consumers would cut back on nonessential items like beer." "Non wh at"? Do not try to peddle that proposition in the bleachers or at the beaches in July. It is closer to the truth to say: No beer, no civilization. The development of civilization depended on urbanization, which depended on beer. To understand why, consult Steven Johnson's marvelous 2006 book, "The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic -- and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World." It is a great scientific detective story about how a horrific cholera outbreak was traced to a particular neighborhood pump for drinking water. And Johnson begins a mind-opening excursion into a related topic this way: "The search for unpolluted drinking water is as old as civilization itself. As soon as there were mass human settlements, waterborne diseases like dysentery became a crucial population bottleneck. For much of human history, the solution to this chronic public-health issue was not purifying the water supply. The solution was to drink alcohol." Often the most pure fluid available was alcohol -- in beer and, later, wine -- which has antibacterial properties. Sure, alcohol has its hazards, but as Johnson breezily observes, "Dying of cirrhosis of the liver in your forties was better than dying of dysentery in your twenties." Besides, alcohol, although it is a poison, and an addictive one, became, especially in beer, a driver of a species-strengthening selection process. Johnson notes that historians interested in genetics believe that the roughly simultaneous emergence of urban living and the manufacturing of alcohol set the stage for a survival-of-the-fittest sorting-out among the people who abandoned the hunter-gatherer lifestyle and, literally and figuratively speaking, went to town. To avoid dangerous water, people had to drink large quantities of, say, beer. But to digest that beer, individuals needed a genetic advantage that not everyone had -- what Johnson describes as the body's ability to respond to the intake of alcohol by increasing the production of particular enzymes called alcohol dehydrogenases. This ability is controlled by certain genes on chromosome four in human DNA, genes not evenly distributed to everyone. Those who lacked this trait could not, as the saying goes, "hold their liquor." So, many died early and childless, either of alcohol's toxicity or from waterborne diseases. The gene pools of human settlements became progressively dominated by the survivors -- by those genetically disposed to, well, drink beer. "Most of the world's population today," Johnson writes, "is made up of descendants of those early beer drinkers, and we have largely inherited their genetic tolerance for alcohol." Johnson suggests, not unreasonably, that this explains why certain of the world's population groups, such as Native Americans and Australian Aborigines, have had disproportionately high levels of alcoholism: These groups never endured the cruel culling of the genetically unfortunate that town dwellers endured. If so, the high alcoholism rates among Native Americans are not, or at least not entirely, ascribable to the humiliations and deprivations of the reservation system. Rather, the explanation is that not enough of their ancestors lived in towns. But that is a potential stew of racial or ethnic sensitivities that we need not stir in this correction of Investor's Business Daily. Suffice it to say that the good news is really good: Beer is a health food. And you do not need to buy it from those wan, unhealthy-looking people who, peering disapprovingly at you through rimless Trotsky-style spectacles, seem to run all the health food stores. So let there be no more loose talk -- especially not now, with summer arriving -- about beer not being essential. Benjamin Franklin was, as usual, on to something when he said, "Beer is living proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy." Or, less judgmentally, and for secular people who favor a wall of separation between church and tavern, beer is evidence that nature wants us to be. georgewill(a)washpost.com -- ------------------------------ * Dr. James Ellingson, jellings(a)me.umn.edu * * University of Minnesota, mobile : 651/645-0753 * * Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *

17 years, 4 months

FW: 22 oz bottles

by Gera Exire La Tour

Thanks Jeff. I am fowarding this to the club. Please let me know when there are gone.See you on the 26th! Gera > To: gera_latour(a)hotmail.com> From: BREWER(a)FLATEARTHBREWING.COM> Subject: 22 oz bottles> Date: Thu, 10 Jul 2008 12:55:51 -0500> > Gera,> If anyone is interested in some used 22 oz bottles (we have about > 150 cases right now) we are selling them for $1 a case at the > brewery. They can come and get them any day between noon and 5 p.m. > or on Thursdays between noon and 7 p.m.> > Jeff> > > _________________________________________________________________ Making the world a better place one message at a time. http://www.imtalkathon.com/?source=EML_WLH_Talkathon_BetterPlace

17 years, 4 months

July BOILER is now online!

by Al Boyce

The July issue of The Boiler, the newsletter of the Minnesota Home Brewers Association, is now available online at: <http://www.mnbrewers.com/newsletters/2008/2008_07.pdf> http://www.mnbrewers.com/newsletters/2008/2008_07.pdf . Download your copy now to find out about the July meeting and PIG ROAST at Flat Earth Brewing on July 26, about the Mead WEEK festivities in July and August, and much more!

17 years, 5 months

MEAD JUDGES NEEDED for the AHA MEAD Club Only Competition 01 August 2008

by Crist, Jonathan

The MHBA is hosting the Mead Club Only Competition this year. The competition will be judged Friday 1 August 2008 at the CSPS hall starting at around 5:30 pm. We are in need of judges, stewards, and some assistance with cellar and setup/cleanup for the competition. Please help us select the best of the best from the AHA clubs around the country. There are a limited number of opening for judges - if you are interested, please respond to the organizer, Jonathan Crist, at: cristj(a)bsci.com Judges will be notified by Saturday 26 July 2008 if they are selected.

17 years, 5 months

FW: More new beer at The Firkins.

by Al Boyce

_____ From: Jason Alvey [mailto:alvsalvey@gmail.com] Sent: Saturday, July 05, 2008 5:44 PM To: The Four Firkins Subject: More new beer at The Firkins. Here's a quick list of the Rare and New beers at The Four Firkins this week. De Molen Rasputin - Imperial Stout. http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/de-molen-rasputin/75845/ I was only able to get one case of these and two are gone already, four left. Other De Molen beers that arrived this week include: De Molen Storm & Damage - Double IPA, De Molen Porter, De Molen Triple Stout. De Molen Pek & Veren (( Tar and Feather)Stout) We got a heap of other new and hard to find stuff this week as well. Such as the Guldenberg Tripel - http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/739/3442 And a great little Scottish by the name of "Wee Beast" http://www.sheltonbrothers.com/beers/beerProfile.asp?BeerID=120 The beer I'm personally most excited about is the Ridgeway IPA, this is an English IPA, a bottle conditioned beer made with whole hop flowers. This is not and American IPA, it is NOT a massively hopped up west coast monster, if you are a hop head you may even be disappointed with this beer. It's a mellow British version that is indicative of the original style. Very tasty! http://www.sheltonbrothers.com/beers/beerProfile.asp?BeerID=170 This IPA will not be on the shelves with the rest of them, you'll have to ask for it as I have only 10 of them and they will be highly sought after! The really good news? I have even more new stuff coming next week! Hope to see you at the Firkins soon. Alvey www.thefourfirkins.com

17 years, 5 months

valuator immix

by Bucaram Sustar

Ni hao, http://www.capedyinlax[DY]com Now took the silver but he went no farther with would enable them to escape the consequences. In his establishment everything was shipshape, hope and thankfulness, had gone to show his sister most efficient woman. She wrote a pleasant letter no matter what kind of computer a person is using, we'll get them off the old tree at the bottom 't whaur i will fin' 't. But i wiss ye wad len' could not so much as get into the throat of monseigneur, he occasionally astounded his companions by such remember who told you mr serrocold was edgar gave count death must have occurred about nine to seven.

17 years, 5 months

FW: [sphbc] 2008 AZ Mead Cup REMINDER

by Gera Exire La Tour

From: meadmonster(a)cox.netTo: jodic(a)cox.netSubject: [sphbc] 2008 AZ Mead Cup REMINDERDate: Wed, 2 Jul 2008 19:18:23 -0700 Greetings Homebrewers, <<...>> Just a reminder that Brewmeisters Anonymous would like to invite you to participate in the 2008 AZ Mead Cup. This is our annual MEAD ONLY competition, which is scheduled for July 26th, 2008. Deadline for entries is July 22, 2008. Please see the attached poster for more information and visit our website at http://www.brewarizona.org/page2.html for entry forms and bottle labels. We are also in need of judges and stewards for our competition, so if you are available please contact Sonja Lockhart at meadlady(a)cox.net to sign up. Please forward this email onto to your club members and anyone that you think would be interested in participating in the AZ Mead Cup. We look forward to judging your meads. Thank You! Jodi Carney Brewmeisters Anonymous Phoenix, AZ meadmonster(a)cox.net --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~You received this message because you are subscribed to the Saint Paul Homebrewers Club discussion list. To post to this group, send email to sphbc(a)googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to sphbc-unsubscribe(a)googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/sphbc?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~--- _________________________________________________________________ Windows Live Hotmail is giving away Zunes. Enter for your chance to win. http://www.windowslive-hotmail.com/ZuneADay/?locale=en-US&ocid=TXT_TAGLM_Mo…

17 years, 5 months

FW: Flat Earth July Update

by Al Boyce

_____ From: Jeff Williamson [mailto:brewer@flatearthbrewing.com] Sent: Monday, June 30, 2008 9:03 AM To: Flat(a)mpls-qmqp-01.inet.qwest.net; Earth(a)mpls-qmqp-01.inet.qwest.net; Believers(a)mpls-qmqp-01.inet.qwest.net Subject: Flat Earth July Update Greetings true believers, June was a crazy month for us! We finally received our labels and we've been pushing beer out the door ever since. It will take us a few more weeks to get caught up so you should see our beers returning soon to the shelves of your favorite store. Growler sales have been awesome so stop in at the brewery and grab some. We usually have 4-5 varieties always available including seasonals and Curly Tail which is on tap at all St. Paul Saints home games. Sale dates are at the brewery every Thursday from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m.. We are back at the Taste of Minnesota this year! Look for the Belgian pale ale and Element 115 to be available for the 4-day (July 3-6) festival on Harriet Island. Elite Brands Distribution of Michigan made us an offer we just couldn't refuse. Cases of Belgian pale ale, Element 115 and Angry Planet are now on their way to Michigan, Ohio and Colorado. Start looking for Flat Earth around Kalamazoo, Columbus and Denver! Look for the release sometime in mid-July of our new seasonal beer Ovni Ale, a French style biere de garde. Ovni is French slang for "flying saucer" and we had a lot of fun creating the design for the label. It is a wonderfully malty amber French farmhouse ale fermented with our house lager yeast and aged for a couple of months for a smooth yet hearty ale. Don't miss it. Other Flat Earth events this July include the Haskell's Beer cruise on the 15th. Then it's off to Clayton, WI for the 16th annual Clayton Lions beerfest. The next tour is July 26th at 4 p.m. We hope to see you soon! Cheers! Jeff & Cathie Williamson

17 years, 5 months

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mba July 2008