We received a great email from Anne who is the co-ordinator of the Finger Lakes Riesling Festival which is held in a town called Canandaigua in New York State USA which is not far from the northern end of the Canandaigua Lake close to the Canadian Border. Anna’s note mentions a fantastic festival in the area which will be held on the 14th and 15th of August this year. Read her note below and if are near the region in August pop in for some of the great craft beer on offer. We would love to hear what you thought of the festival and the beers so be sure to drop us a line.
“I am writing you on behalf of the 2010 Finger Lakes Riesling Festival to be hosted in Canandaigua, NY on August 14th and 15th. Along with having dozens of wineries on board for Riesling sales and sampling, the festival will feature live entertainment, local food and a craft beer tent. We would be thrilled if you would mention this year’s festival in your blog, and would be happy to send you Riesling samples from any of our participating wineries. So far Brooklyn Brewery, North American Breweries, Saranac Beer, Rooster Fish Brewing, Ithaca Beer and Soda Co., Southern Tier Brewing Company, and Ellicottville Brewing Company will be attending the event.”
Thanks Anne and goodluck with the event!
You can see more details about this event at http://www.RieslingFestival.com
We like South Africa, it looks pretty cool, they have hippos, people with funny accents and thanks to the world cup, a new beer. We saw this news story on reuters and it made us want some so we are sharing the video here. Watch and enjoy. Read the rest of this entry »
Well I’ve been doing my bit for the Global Financial Crisis and supporting our struggling brewers, but it looks like a lot of you haven’t looking at this story on News Limited website this week. They claim that beer drinking in Australia is down to a 60 year low. News.com.au says that consumption of beer in Australia is down to just under 4 1/2 litres per person per year. The figures have been dropping steadily since the heyday of just under 6 1/2 litres in 1979. Quite a few factors have come into play including drink driving laws, the huge choice of other drinks like RTD’s and popularity of wine. But the biggest hit would be the price which has skyrocketed especially after the introduction of GST in 2000. I remember this time in 2000 you could hand over $5 and get three pots and change. Now you are lucky to get change for one. Interestingly the statistics show that low alcohol beer has dropped in popularity over the last three years buy about 25% and full strength has got more popular. Most of the loss from low alcohol beer has been taken up by the mid strength brews which are growing strongly.
One of the great Geman Beers is DAB which comes from Dortmund in Germany. The brewery is fairly new in German terms and dates back to 1868 being set up by a few local buisnessmen and their master brewer Heinrich Herberz. Dortmund is located in the North Rhine-Westphalia which is on the central western side of the country not far from the Dutch Border.
Being rebuilt in 1949 after being destroyed in World War II and is now owned by German food giant Radeberger The DAB is a pilsener and like all German beers obeys the Purity Laws. DAB is readily available in bottleshops around the world and is a favorite in German themed restaurants worldwide.
Well I found another treat around at my local bottle shop. VIrgin Blonde- a low carb blonde beer from the Steel River Brewery which is located in New South Wales. The beer has been on the market for a little under 2 years and if the guy in my bottle shop is correct reckons it is very popular. The beer is an organic beer and is fairly pale being made from lightly roasted barley that has been grown organically without pesticides or any other nasty chemicals which has got to be better for you. The grain also hasn’t had the normal fumigation which many of the larger breweries do to their grains. So this beer is not only using healthier products in its production it is low carb so it shouldn’t be too bad on the waistline. Not that it had a problem anyway…eh!
Shipstone’s Crew Fine Amber Ale is another one of Aldi Supermarkets great beer lines and is sold in 330ml bottles either in 6 packs or slabs of 24. This 5.0 alc/vol ale is very nutty and somewhat fruity and has great taste with some real delecate flavors and great value at a fraction of the cost of a similar beer with a known name. The beer is brewed using super alpha hops which leaves the beer with a nice bitterness complementing the fruit and malt. The beer we get in Australia Aldi Supermarkets is sourced from New Zealand, and i’m not sure if a similar product is sold in Aldi stores around the world- we would love to hear from you if you know.
Today’s ‘beer’ is a bit of a strange one and i’m not sure what to make of it. We bought a slab because it was cheap and after the second one I’m thinking it might last a while. The beer is called Amigo it is a Mexican inspired beer which contains a shot of Blue Mexican which is a citrus based Mexican spirit blend. The beer is unique but does have some similarity to the lemon and lime Mexican themed Cerveza style beers which have entered the market recently and reminds me of Desperado the French, Mexican style beer with tequila. I think the secret to enjoying these specialty beers is to enjoy them on their own and not mix their flavors with other types of beer. I will leave the rest in the fridge for a few weeks and give it another try. If you have tried the Amigo we would love to hear what you thought of it. Feel free to drop us a line in the comments! Read the rest of this entry »
Brewed in South Australia by Coopers the Coopers Premium Light is a all malt light beer which has a very refreshing crisp taste and is one of the best light beers on the Australia market at the moment. Unlike the US beer market where light refers to the low carb qualities of the beer, in Australia light refers to a lower level of Alcohol, in this case the beer is 2.9% instead of the usual 4-5% in average normal strenght beers. The beer is available in can, bottle and in draft form although not readily available. Coopers have made great inroads with their Sparkling and Pale Ale into pubs around Australia and with a few more people catching onto the Premium Light as a genuine competitor (and in my eyes winner) to the Cascade Premium and Hahn Light and Boags Light. With its great malty taste ans crispness I’m sure we are going to see a lot more of it. If you have tried the Coopers Premium Light we would love to hear from you on your thoughts!
Japan’s Sapporo Brewery has a wonderful German inspired pils which is available on draft or in bottled form in Japan. This pils has quiet a tasty bitter hops flavor with some nice rich malts and a distinct floral bouquet. The beer is a warm golden brown and the head is very white and like many of the Japanese beers quiet frothy. In fact the beer is so frothy if not poured correctly there are instructions for the perfect beer pour on the label of the cans. This beer is in the higher price bracket on the shelves and is not available all year round. Sapporo produce this beer in special runs. One great beer certainly to be on the lookout for if visiting Japan.
Well we here at Hoppsy cant endorse the don’t drink and drive message enough but sadly (or should we say stupidly) some people still don’t get the message and operate a vehicle with far too much liquor in their system risking their own lives and more importantly others. Well in Japan they are taking an interesting approach with this roadside advertisement we saw recently. Like many of the advertisements in Japan its a cartoon and it features a little guy who has had far to much to be behind the wheel of his vehicle, he’s even got a red nose and is in no state to be driving. We all love having a beer and usually several- it’s not hard to do the right thing and be responsible!
