MR.BEER® COMMUNITY

Episode 25 - Cider and Root Beer

Hello again happy brewers! After a short hiatus, we are back again! Today we are talking about two of our alternatives to beer products, cider and root beer. We will talk about the differences in making both, how they differ from beer, and some helpful tips. So listen in and enjoy!! Download an MP3 of this podcast.

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Beer Tasting 101 - A Crash Course

Tasting beer involves a few different senses. The pleasure that comes with consuming a good pint of dark stout begins with watching it's graceful slide into a clean, clear glass. The CO2 does its dance up the side of the glass and the thick and creamy head perched at the top makes a striking contrast with the smooth dark beer. The aroma, spicy, rich, and complex, beckons. It's a shameless invitation to take a sip and savor the intricacies of maybe the most rewarding aspect to experiencing a good beer: tasting it.

Tasting beer can be broken down into these three subcategories: Appearance, aroma and taste. We've decided to have a little crash course in becoming jedi masters, or brewmasters, if you will, of the aspects of experiencing and evaluating a beer. We're going to take the categories one at a time, so stay with me!

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What's In a Name? You Tell Me!

The Mr.Beer Inaugural Fantasy Football Challenge is officially under way! For more details, check out the announcement here!

Nothing brings out creativity like competition. A well placed jibe, an effective insult, or an intimidating team name all have the potential to be the extra point needed to win.  Never to be taken lightly, these intimidation tactics are an essential part of the take-no-prisoners world that is fantasy football. I'm learning this lesson fast and furious as we embark on our inaugural Fantasy Football league here at Mr. Beer. Entries are pouring in, so it appears the first challenge will be gaining a coveted spot in the league. You're just gonna have to leave that up to fate, though, as it's going to be a completely random selection. You might consider sacrificing a pigskin to the gods of football, though.  Or eating exactly two chocolate chip cookies for luck – hey, it apparently works for Brian Urlacher; why couldn't it work for you?

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Craft brewers are "Home" Brewers, Too

So I opened my Google alerts this morning to find that the Associated Press is reporting on a new trend in the craft beer industry: breweries are pulling their beer out of far flung markets in favor of keeping a strong and steady supply closer to home. Certainly I know there must be some economic strategy at work here, but much of what it boils down to, I think, is that “craft brewing,” and “home brewing,” aren't all that different from each other. While the end result differs, the basic motivation is the same. We don't brew to make money, we brew to express our passion for creating unique, exploratory, fearless, and most of all, deliciously satisfying new beers for the people closest to us. For many craft breweries, this means focusing on keeping a dependable supply of beer available in the local markets they call home before worrying about increasing their reach.

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