Why to go to Brew at the Zoo

Just in case you might be the ONE person who reads this blog AND is trying to decide whether to go on Sunday or not:

1) your ticket gives you the chance to see the whole Maryland Zoo before going back for beers.

2) Hidden away amongst the drafts today, and not depleted at closing: Sierra Nevada Southern Hemisphere Harvest Ale, Sierra Nevada Bigfoot, Stone Oaked Arrogant Bastard, and Stone Old Guardian barleywine.  Kinda makes Olivers 3 Lions look tame, no?

Beer Events in DC next week, and MORE SAVOR tickets to be won!

The Washington Post's All We Can Eat blog reports on several notable beer events in Washington D.C next week leading up to the big SAVOR shindig on the night of Saturday the 5th, and offers its readers several possible ways to enter drawings for tickets, which sold out in minutes a while ago.

Disclaimer: I won two tickets to SAVOR last year via one of those ways.  I respectfully withdraw from competition this year, having secured instead one of the few media passes rationed out by the Brewers Association.  (I didn't make the media cut last year.)

On a related note, Capitol City also had to pull some rank and strings to make it into the fest this year--read all about it at the blog link, including a report from former Cap City-Baltimore brewer Mike McCarthy.

Wanna buy a beer bar?

Midnight Sun reports Taps in Federal Hill is for sale on Craigslist--17 taps, $375K or best offer for the business, or $795K for the whole thing.

A REAL World Cup Beer

No, not the "World Cup of Beer" that was recently held in North Carolina.

Brewer Stephen Jones of Pratt Street Ale House, a native of England, of course pays more attention to the World Cup than to Major League Baseball or NFL (except that the latter two arguably produce more traffic for his establishment).  So I should have expected the following in my e-mail:

BULLDOG BITTER: Brewed to celebrate the World Cup ... a classic English Best Bitter, sessionable and thirst quenching, 4.3% abv, brewed with Halcyon Pale Ale Malt, Crystal Malt, Roasted Barley and Malted Wheat. Amber in colour, medium bodied with a balanced hop profile (Kent Goldings and English Fuggle). This will be available on draft and a limited number of casks, and will be $3/pint during the games @ The Pratt Street Ale House .... Three Lions on a shirt and a Bulldog spirit .... Come on England (though we'll probably lose to the US in the first game!!!)

Now I'm just waiting for some sarky American brewer to come up with a true American beer (probably an overhopped pale ale or extreme beer) to sell at that game called "Bulldog Biter".........

Ummmm...... That's Resurrection?

Ladies and gentlemen (well, whoever is reading this), I have tasted the Brewer's Art Resurrection from a can.

Well, at least that's what the cans said.

No Idea Tavern in South Baltimore was the first to alert me (and others) to the arrival of their order of cans of the "new" elixir, brewed and canned under the supervision of BA brewer Steve Frazier at Sly Fox in Phoenixville, Pa.  They started with a special on the beer last night, but I was unable to get there yesterday, so when they opened today at 5, I was there.

So, how is it?  The title of this post says it.

It seems like a plainer, stripped-down version of Resurrection, as if someone had fermented it with a lager yeast instead of a Belgian yeast.  The flavors of the malt and hops are there, but not that third dimension, that Belgian-styled funk.

To confirm our suspicions, fellow bar patron Mark King and I shared a 750ml bottle of the bottled Resurrection, brewed at the same brewery.  It confirmed what we already knew: the bottle conditioning of the bottled beer produced a richer, fuller, and more developed and complex  (Mark said "sweeter") beer than what was in the cans. 

The folks who will be falling over themselves to drink this are likely the ones who know enough to pass similar judgment.  I've seen similar effects with other beers that I have sampled in multiple forms--Guinness, Smithwick's, Boddington's (all nitro), Oskar Blues and Victory products.  The cans somehow lack that certain something.  But this was by far the biggest change I had seen, as if some major multinational brewing conglomerate had taken over.  (I continue to allege that New Belgium's beers have been "dumbed down" from their original presentation in 22-ounce bombers to 12-ouncers; I have to give the benefit of the doubt to a ten-year gap in samples.)

Go on, folks.  Try it for yourself.  But if you're a Brewer's Art regular, don't get your hopes up.

(Thanks again, Mark, for sharing with me--and by extension, us.)

Tonight's fun

Pick between a firkin of Stillwater Stateside at Metropolitan, cask night at Max's, and Red Brick Station's "They Made Me Do It" Blueberry Ale release party 7-close, $2 blueberry ales and shooters, half-price featured wings, and live music.  Oh, and perfect weather for a refreshing, lighter-weight, fruit beer, too.

The Beer Scene at Camden Yards

As reported by fellow beer writer Martin Morse Wooster:

I finally made it to Camden Yards last night. The place has changed. OUTSIDE PITCH magazine died...They don't have a "scalp-free ticket zone" anymore...and, in the most shocking development of all...

THEY GOT RID OF THE RIBS!!!! (They were good ribs.)

They do have beer, though. Here's what's in the craft beer stands:

Heineken
Fordham Copperhead
Flying Dog Snake Dog
Heavy Seas Classic Lager

I assume the Heavy Seas Classic Lager is what used to be called Clipper City Gold. I of course gave Hugh Sisson my custom. This is a pretty good beer to have with the nourishing peanut.

They jacked up the prices by a buck to $7.50. I hope the brewers got some.

Diageo has also entered the park in a big way. They now have Bacardi stands selling you dacquiris and margaritas for $8. And they also have "Jeremiah Weed tea-flavored vodka" with lemonade. Although this beverage violates one of the Fundamental Laws of Drinking, namely, "Don't Drink ANYTHING with 'Weed" in the title" (The sentence, "Dag, thass good weed" should NOT be used with alcoholic beverages!) this drink sounds so disgusting that I must have at least one.

Parking Rates to Double in Fells Point, Federal Hill, Mt. Vernon

From today's Baltimore Sun:

The cost of parking in some of Baltimore's most popular neighborhoods soon will double as part of an effort to close the city's $121 million budget gap.
Metered parking rates will jump to $2 an hour in Mount Vernon, Harbor East, Federal Hill, Fells Point and downtown as soon as the changes can be implemented, according to an item approved by the city's spending board Wednesday.
The higher rates bring Baltimore in line with nearby cities such a Philadelphia, New York and Washington and will expedite turnover of parking spaces, making it easier to find a spot, according to the city officials.  The higher rates are expected to bring the city $3.1 million in revenue. City Council members are contemplating raising the rates in other neighborhoods in an effort generate additional funds.

Looks like it's time to get one of those MTA transit-pass Charm Cards they've been working on for seven years and $90 million......  oh, wait--some more..............

Interesting targeted advertising............

I was perusing a blog post at the noted Libertarian website Reason.com.

There was an ad on the side for Lagunitas IPA.

Hmmmm.

And now, Brew at the Aquarium!

The National Aquarium in Baltimore is getting in on the beer-as-a-charity-fundraiser theme with their "Beyond the Boardwalk: On Tap!" event on the evening of June 26th, which closes out their month-long Beyond the Boardwalk celebration. Beers are advertised from Heavy Seas, DuClaw, and Flying Dog; advance ticket prices are from $15-55 depending on drinking or designated driving and optional aquarium admission.