REAL BEER NEWS

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********************************************** In this issue:

•     200-Year-Old Bottles of Beer
•     A-B InBev Recalls 'Sour' Stella
•     MillerCoors Makes Specialty Beer Autonomous
•     Brewing Industry Awards Head to Burton-on-Trent
•     Earthquake Threatens New Zealand's Beer Supply
•     Blog Watch             - Noteworthy posts
•     Fried Beer Runner-up at Texas State Fair
•     UK Pubs Still the Place to Talk
•     More Than 500 'Citizen' Bloggers
•     UK Pub Celebrates 300th Anniversary

********************************************** 200-YEAR-OLD BOTTLES OF BEER FOUND IN SHIPWRECK Divers have found the world's oldest drinkable beer at the bottom of the Baltic Sea. Three bottles of dark beer were found in a nineteenth-century wreck off Aland, an autonomous part of Finland. They were discovered as the divers tried to salvage around 70 bottles of what is thought to be the world's oldest champagne, which were discovered last month. One of the smaller bottles broke because the fragile glass had a crack in it and the divers and Kalmar Museum senior restorer Max Jahrehorn could immediately establish that it was beer. He said: "One could see the beer inside and that it was beginning to foam and the foam started slowly in the beginning and it accelerated and it was something I didn't expect to see from a ship that has been on the bottom of the sea for 200 years." 'SOUR' STELLA ARTOIS RECALLED About 12,000 barrels (a barrel is the equivalent of 31 gallons) of Stella Artois beer were recalled by Anheuser-Busch InBev after a production error led to quality problems, according to a Belgian newspaper. The problem with the beer brewed in Leuven was caused by pipes that were not cleaned properly after another beer (Leffe) was transferred via the pipes. The Belgian paper reported the resulting beer was "terribly sour." Some of it reached bars in Belgium. But 8,300 barrels shipped to the United States were still en route when the recall was made. The union representing some A-B InBev workers blamed the problem on job cuts and cost reductions implemented by the brewer. MILLERCOORS MAKES SPECIALTY BEERS AUTONOMOUS MillerCoors has announced that it will call its new company focused on craft and import beers "Tenth and Blake Beer Company." "This is a unique and exciting period in the beer business," Tom Cardella, the company's CEO, said for a press release. "With the added focus on our craft and import brands and the talent within our brewing network, Tenth and Blake Beer Company has the opportunity to make an impact and continue to help grow this segment. We're made up of passionate brewers and merchants of the world's finest specialty brews, and we look forward to celebrating the joy of beer with beer drinkers throughout the U.S." The company lists its current roster of beers on its Facebook page: Blue Moon, Leinenkugel's, Pilsner Urquell, Peroni, Killian's, Henry Weinhard's, Grolsch, Tyskie, Lech, Cristal, Cusquena, Aguila, Batch 19, Kasteel Cru, AC Golden brands (Herman Joseph's, Winterfest, Colorado Native) and Sandlot brands. BREWING INDUSTRY AWARDS HEADED TO BURTON-ON-TRENT The recently opened National Brewery Center in Burton-on-Trent will host the 2011 Brewing Industry International Awards. That will be followed immediately by a new Festival of Beer showcasing many of the participating beers. The National Brewery Center, which opened in May this year, was an "obvious candidate" to host the competition, said Ruth Evans, chief executive of Brewing Technology Services, organizers of the Brewing Awards. She said, "We are delighted to be holding the 2011 Awards at this new and very appropriate venue which can accommodate not only the competition but the Festival of Beer. Brewers taking part in the awards now have an opportunity to promote their beer to consumers, which hasn't been a feature of previous competitions and we're sure will lead to more entries from brewers and brand owners around the globe." EARTHQUAKE THREATENS NEW ZEALAND'S BEER SUPPLY The recent earthquake in New Zealand has disrupted supplies from one of the country's largest breweries. A spokesperson for the Lion Nathan brewery said that operations might not return for normal for a number of weeks. Although its main portal in Christchurch, which has stood since the 1850s, was not damaged in the 7.0 earthquake, a nearby warehouse was badly shaken, with much of its beer and wine being smashed. To get the news when it happens visit Realbeer.com/blog and subscribe to the rss feed. Follow us on Twitter at ******************BLOG WATCH****************** Five noteworthy beer-related posts from the blogosphere: Great American Beer Festival Preparations Words for beer (3): the big mysteries Big breweries, small batches - been there, done that? One Hundred Casks of Future Joy Birth of a Brewery ***************ADVERTISEMENTS****************** NH ORIGIINAL - SMUTTYNOSE & PORTSMOUTH PUB & BREWERY New Hampshire's original power-brew team, the region's most popular eating and drinking establishments, and great branded beer gear! Try one of our fine, handcrafted lagers and ales - or - if you're already a fan. Get the gear for yourself and as gifts for your bestest buddies.      HOPUNION - BECAUSE QUALITY HOPS IS ALL WE DO "If you're looking for good hops buy anywhere, if you want Great hops, buy from Hopunion." Hopunion provides the fresh hops, leaf hops, hop pellets, hop extracts, and hop oil the craft brewing industry needs to make the quality microbrews beer enthusiast's clamor for. Hops - It's not just our specialty. It's all we do.      BEAR REPUBLIC BREWING CO. IS GREAT BEER & MUCH MORE Looking for great beer and food? Visit our destination brewpub in beautiful downtown Healdsburg, California. Try an award winning Racer 5 IPA with a juicy burger or taste something different with our daily specials. With 12 beers on tap, you can't go wrong!      CYMBA IS CUSTOM BEVERAGE/EVENT GEAR! Innovative Bottle Opener designs, Leather Coasters, Pint Glasses, and so much more. Buy branded, clean, or custom designed and branded for your business or special event. When you're looking for something well made and memorable, come to Cymba.      CELEBRATE GLASSES ARE BACK AT MIDWEST We found an extra pallet of crystal tulip-style "Celebrate!" glasses in our warehouse, so we're giving them away! Any order over $150 (not include shipping) will include a free 6-pack of "Celebrate!" Glasses. They do a nice job with beer and wine. Enjoy the lush aromas of a hoppy IPA, or the bold fruitiness and oak of a Cabernet Sauvignon.      ********************************************** FRIED BEER RUNNER-UP AT TEXAS STATE FAIR Texas Fried Frito Pie won the Best Taste in the Big Tex Choice Awards at the Texas State Fair, but fried beer got most of the attention. It was one of eight finalists in the Big Tex competition. Other contenders included fried club salad, fried frozen margarita, and fried chocolate and fried lemonade. To make "fried beer" beer itself is fried inside a pretzel-like pocket. "By using our patent pending process, we are able to place beer inside a salty pretzel-like dough, and deep fry it. When you take a bite, beer pours out of the inside pocket of dough," said creator Mark Zabel. There's a patent pending on the process that Zabel claims took three years of work and research. Zabel said he's currently using Guinness in the recipe but might switch to Shiner Bock or a pale ale like Sierra Nevada. UK PUBS REMAINS THE PLACE TO TALK A survey commissioned by Courage Beer suggests drinkers in Britain still consider the pub the best place outside of home for conversation. Among other discoveries: "Fifty percent of those quizzed have made new friends by talking to people in the pub, and the pub (43%) is also the place where you are most likely to strike up a conversation with a stranger, followed by long haul flights (38%) and nightclubs (27%). Britain as a nation of chatterboxes with the average person having 27 conversations every day, lasting an average of 10 minutes each. That adds up to a massive 4.5 hours a day or nearly 100,000 hours or 68 days – every year." MORE THAN 500 'CITIZEN BEER BLOGGERS' There are at least 515 "Citizen Beer Bloggers" in North America, according to the organizers of the Beer Bloggers Conference. In "The State of Beer Blogging" they write, "We define citizen beer bloggers as those who blog about beer or the beer industry and whose blog is not designed to promote a brewery or other business. There are another 45 beer examiners on examiner.com, at least 78 English-language beer blogs in other countries, and probably hundreds of brewery-related beer blogs. These statistics compare to an estimated 1000 wine blogs and 12,000 food blogs." More about the conference: UK PUB CELEBRATES 300TH ANNIVERSARY The Harrington Arms in Gawsworth this month celebrates its 300th anniversary. A beer specially brewed by Frederic Robinson to mark the event is called "1710." Publican Andy Wightman, who lives above the pub with wife Caroline, said: "We didn't realize it was so old but it was a nice shock when we found out it was 300 this year. We have a lot of old pictures up in the pub and it's still made up of lots of small rooms, I think people like the historic feel to it." The pub, originally known as the Queens Head, became the Harrington Arms in 1742, and has only had 21 licensees during its lifetime. ********************************************** MANAGE YOUR ACCOUNT To change your newsletter preferences at Realbeer.com please go to: Just sign in and make the changes you want. If you don't remember your password, you'll find a link to a page that will allow us to email it to you. If you want to unsubscribe, please go to the same address and follow the instructions to activate the account connected with the address you received this newsletter at. 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