Beer Buzz 009: Layoffs, nucleation & space beer
Beer Tap TV News:
Beer Buzz is the weekly show that will keep you informed and updated on all the things going on in the beer world, from the noteworthy to the nutty. Know something we don’t (which is highly likely)? Email us at AlwaysHoppy@BeerTapTV.com and share the news… we just might use it.
Show Notes:
ABInBev “cans” 1,400 U.S. workers
In what is being a called a “workforce reduction” the Belgian/Spanish owners of ABInBev, in all their infinite “wisdom” (who in the use actually likes Stella exactly?), are going to can approximately 1,400 salaried positions, affecting about 6 percent of the company’s total U.S. workforce.
Bastards.
About 75% of those are based at the brewer’s corporate headquarters in St. Louis, while other reductions will occur in field and brewery locations. What’s more, an additional 250 U.S. positions that are currently open will not be filled, and an additional 415 contractor positions will be pink slipped.
Boy, those foreigners sure didn’t waste time hacking up an American institution, did they?
New Belgium glassware nucleates your beer
New Belgium Brewing in Fort Collins, Colorado (makers of Fat Tire Amber Ale), has some nifty new glassware. Using science and technology, the traditional Belgian globe shaped glasses will have bike-shaped etchings on the bottom which creates a bubbly nucleation. This “nucleation” results in rolling carbonation throughout the beer that will help enhance the beer’s flavor by delivering a greater olfactory experience.
Lots of big, scientific-y words to say: It makes the beer better.
The new glass holds 13.5 ounces and is made of thicker, more durable glass. It has a beaded lip and a narrow opening that enhances the beer’s bouquet. The reinforced stem keeps hands your paws from warming the beer and thus allows the beer to remain at the desired temperature.
The Lost Abbey creates two beer clubs
2009 Patron Sinners and Saints Club
Sinners Club
They started the Sinners Club in 2008 — due to its popularity they’ve increase membership from 225 to 350 members. It contains the rarest beers from their barrel room, many of which are produced in very limited case quantities. Patron Sinners get two 375ml bottles every other month beginning in January of 2009 – Membership is $235 (which does not include shipping of the beers; this is processed via a credit card on file for each shipment). All 350 member slots are already SOLD OUT,so if you want to find out what beers you’ll be missing go to the website (www.lostabbey.com)
Saints Club (200 Members Total)
The Patron Saints Club consists of two 750 ml Lost Abbey beers shipped every other month beginning in February of 2009 — total of 14 beers. $160.00 (which does not include the shipping costs for the beers; shipping costs are processed via a credit card on file at the time of each shipment). Again, check out the site for the list of beers in this club.
Both clubs offer a 10% discount on all non-special release beers, brewery purchases and merchandise at the brewery. Does not apply to Keg Purchases.
Sapporo to hold tastings of first “space beer”
We may not have flying cars like the ones envisioned in the old Hanna-Barbera cartoon, The Jetsons, but don’t think mankind is resting on their laurels. We do have the International Space Station.
And what have the astronauts and scientists been doing up there in the vacuum-y climate of deep space?
Making beer.
Barley used in a new space beer — a collaborative effort between Japanese brewer Sapporo and Okayama University biologists — is actually a third-generation offshoot from the original barley plant stored for five months inside a Russian lab on the space station. Sapporo has made 100 liters of the out of this world beer, named Sapporo Space Barley, but it’s not for sale.
In January Sapporo will hold tastings of the world’s first space beer…. which apparently tastes just like regular beer. “Regular beer” being relative of course. But if you want to try some… don’t hold your breath. Only thirty couples, selected via lottery, will be invited to the events at the company’s six plants from Hokkaido to Oita Prefecture. It’s already been tested on both lab animals and Sapporo employees, so it should be safe to drink.
If you are one of the very lucky few who get a sample be sure to give me a shout. I want to know if this brew does in fact taste like “regular beer.”
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