Hop and Malt prices hit home

Someone please explain to me how it costs $8 to ship 3 pounds of malt from Columbia, MD to Hanover, PA (roughly 50 miles) but it costs $20 to ship a 55-pound sack of Munich malt from Champlain, NY to Hanover PA (roughly 500 miles). Unfortunately it would probably cost me $8 in gas to drive to Columbia, MD and back. But there definitely isn't a direct relationship there.

At any rate, the effects of the price hike in malt and hops due to several agroeconomical factors is already being felt. Take for instance Northern Brewer's footnote on hops, and the outright unavailability listed on their hops page. "Temporarily Out of Stock" is a recurring sight on MoreBeer's page as well.

It's definitely going to be a rough year. Hopefully we'll have enough beer to cry in...

Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from OSBC!

Christmas time is definitely my favorite time of the year. In terms of beer, it's a no-brainer: holiday ales, barleywine, etc. Brewers roll out their special batches for the season. Bell's released their Special Double Cream Stout, which goes really well with dark chocolate chip cookies by the way!

Part of my treasure trove of presents was a bottle of Stone Double Bastard and St. Peter's Winter Ale. Proof the wife does pay attention, even when I think she's not. Gonna have to keep an eye on her...

Wherever you are, enjoy the holidays!

Cheers!

Brooklyn Monster 2007

I was pleasantly suprised to find a sixer of Brooklyn Monster Barleywine at my fav bottle shop the other day. As I said in the Devil's Milk blog post, I love barleywine---and the Monster doesn't disappoint. Sporting Willamette, Cascade, and American Fuggle hops, it's a tasty interpretation of the English style. This year's rendition clocks in at 10.8% so there's plenty of warmth for these cold nights.

Personally, I'm more partial to the English-style barleywines---the exception being Avery Hog Heaven, an American-style barleywine and probably my favorite of that style. But in many cases, the line between American-style barleywine and Double IPA tends to get blurred by liberal doses of hops. With barleywine, it's not solely about the hops. Maybe the Left Coasters can manage to show some restraint for once.

"Yeah, and maybe I'm a Chinese jet pilot."

Happy Holidays!!!

Flying Dog packs up and moves

Looks like Colorado-based Flying Dog Brewing Co. is packing its bags and moving east to Frederick, MD. As you may know, Flying Dog bought Frederick Brewing Co. a few years back. Flying Dog is moving all of its brewing operations to Frederick; the sales, marketing and administrative staff will remain in Colorado.

That means more beer for us---special release parties, events, etc!

Cheers!!