Death in the Family

Ninety-eight years ago, was born on March 28, 1914 Bohumil Hrabal. Below is a small tribute to the memory of his quote.

"The drunk in no elevated mood in the beautiful, not the dome, not the sky lift arms, not one after the other nascent ideas, the drunk in the day, the most valuable, the hangover, the conscience, the spleen, when the man himself during is ... 

It consists in a hangover the power to the people a new life I want to start .., and besides a hangover mood, at least for me, so thoughts arise, those sober afraid to think about a hangover mood when my body and my soul death is plague, such ideas had unique up me, I would comply amilyenektől other times, but these are the thoughts of the true thoughts of other days, they brought to the people, if not much, but at least slightly forward .. "

Breaking Ground in Beijing

What is more fun then brewing beer and drinking it? Brewing beer with FRIENDS and drinking it! China might not be the example of friend making, restricted as it seems with it's internet access it has allowed brewing to slowly work it's underground magic. Attending the Craft Brewer's Conference in San Diego this year,  Carl Setzer from Great Leap Brewery and Michael Jordan from Boxing Cat Brewing combine forces once back on Chinese soil to create Yunnan Amber. China's first-ever collaboration craft beer infuses Diahong black tea from China's Yunnan province and 

Beer history is made in China. It’s the first ever craft beer collaboration. Beijing’s Great Leap Brewery, and Shanghai’s Boxing Cat Brewery have teamed up to create Yunnan Amber. Great Leap’s Carl Setzer and Boxing Cat’s Michael Jordan attended the Craft Brewer’s Conference in San Diego this year. They saw so many American collaborations, they went back to Asia to do the same.

Yunnan Amber infuses Dianhong black tea from China’s Yunnan province

The burgeoning craft beer scene in China, which — like the country’s nascent wine industry — continues to grow as consumers develop an interest in higher-quality food and drinks, is set to take another step this month as Beijing’s Great Leap Brewing and Shanghai’s Boxing Cat Brewery release the Yunnan Amber, China’s first-ever craft beer collaboration.

The Beijing Home Brewing Society
http://www.beijingbrewing.com/wordpress_en/welcome-to-the-home-of-beijing-homebrewers/

Slow Boat Brewery


Strong ale works
http://strongaleworks.wix.com/qd#!

What: Fresh off the heels of Shanghai’s Sinan Mansions Beer Festival, Beijing’s brewmasters are hosting the capital’s first Craft Beer Festival. Showcasing their beers will be Strong Ale Works from Qingdao, Boxing Cat Brewery from Shanghai, the Beijing Homebrewing Society and local favorite Great Leap Brewing. Admission is 200 yuan and includes 10 tastings and three beers.

When: Saturday, 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Where: Dashilar Art Space, 8 Dawailangying Hutong, Dashilar, Xicheng District

There were taco and Fries with kimchi marmalade and pulled pork.
A bouncy castle for the kids

Deep and abounding thanks to Liz Phung's photostream and fantastic poster logo & poster design. Check out her full camera roll on Flickr

Liz Phung's photostream

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lizphung/with/7356563000/#photo_7356563000

Give TinTurtle a pat on the back for winning First place with a mix team Black IPA that was handled by a round of internationals 

http://www.shanghaiexpat.com/event/2nd-annual-sinan-mansions-beer-festival-21098.html

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/woot-first-place-2012-beijing-craft-beer-festival-332946/

More on the French Beer Tax

The New York Times is in picking up the French tax hike story and debate as many of us beer heads wonder: why only us, how will it effect the present industry and will it deter new consumers?

Only time will tell

More on the French Beer Tax

The New York Times is in picking up the French tax hike story and debate as many of us beer heads wonder: why only us, how will it effect the present industry and will it deter new consumers?

Only time will tell

Tasting: O'hara's Irish Stout 4/5

O'hara's Irish Stout By Carlow Brewing 33cl 4.5% Nitch rated 4/5

We gobbled this beauty down while driving to a rock show, joint in the other hand, laughing at insane Fred jokes. Least to say that the night ended drinking champagne in a fantastically retro apartment sometime around 4am. From what I rambled off onto a napkin while passenger'ing, my tasting notes:

A: cold coffee with a thick tan head filled with large bubbles. A chestnut and soot swirl when held to the light 4.0

S: coffee, toasted malts 4.0

T: All coffee and straight malt. A bitter sweet chocolate taste, like baking chocolate and a a great spiced/earthy hop kick when finishing 4.0

M: very dry 4.0

O: Not very creamy, but not needed as the soft head cushions the sipping. At 4.5% there is no stopping the classic representation of an Irish Stout with a dryness and a smooth drinkability intended to keep you up all night singing. 4.0

picture by _TooL_

Tasting: O'hara's Irish Stout 4/5

O'hara's Irish Stout By Carlow Brewing 33cl 4.5% Nitch rated 4/5

We gobbled this beauty down while driving to a rock show, joint in the other hand, laughing at insane Fred jokes. Least to say that the night ended drinking champagne in a fantastically retro apartment sometime around 4am. From what I rambled off onto a napkin while passenger'ing, my tasting notes:

A: cold coffee with a thick tan head filled with large bubbles. A chestnut and soot swirl when held to the light 4.0

S: coffee, toasted malts 4.0

T: All coffee and straight malt. A bitter sweet chocolate taste, like baking chocolate and a a great spiced/earthy hop kick when finishing 4.0

M: very dry 4.0

O: Not very creamy, but not needed as the soft head cushions the sipping. At 4.5% there is no stopping the classic representation of an Irish Stout with a dryness and a smooth drinkability intended to keep you up all night singing. 4.0

picture by _TooL_

Hop farms in cities of the future?

Facting out that beer has a place in the imaginations of the prophets

Reading a book today called Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson, which is on the list top 100 Sci Fi books ever written, that I downloaded in audio version because idle hands are the devils work. Brewing and reading, you say? Oh yes! She does that. 

The meek point of the moment is that there is a killer chapter where the Protagonist (conveniently named Hero Protagonist)  gets into a rather bloody stand off with the Antagonist (not actually his name) in a hop field. Can't say that there is a lot of description about the hops or more then a sentence as to why there is a hop farm in the middle of a city at all, but the mention of beer related things makes my hairs prick up. I was flattered that a book written in 1995 would host enough knowledge of the plant to set a battle scene in a field of them. Stephenson goes as far as to discrib the sticky, sweet marijuana like smell that fills the air. Today, craft beer is rather hip, but in the mid 90's it was still slightly underground. 

The obvious conclusion, ladies and gentlenerds, is that we have a home brewer gone Science Fiction writer on our hands!

Who also seems to know a thing or two about gaming, as he is mystified by the recent debates over WoW gold farming in China. Look it up.