Maxim's Top 25 Beers

Next to the lingerie photo spread of Amanda Bynes is a three page article listing the top 25 beers in Maxim Magazine. I'll be honest with you - I haven't read the actual article. I tried to read it online but they only have 5 beers listed there and urge you to go buy the magazine in stands. In lieu of this, I read the list on A Blog About Beer here.

I'm not sure what their criteria were but I have to say it's a really random collection of beer, some of which I wouldn't have placed on the list. Pyramid Hefeweizen - not my favorite and don't even get me started on Bud Light Golden Wheat and I am 100% sure that Sexual Chocolate (Imperial Stout) – Foothills Brewing was only picked for its name. Have you read Maxim? Definitely the name. Now my husband is a typical guy who isn't too picky about his beer and he likes that Bud Light Golden Wheat. With 20% of the beer listing being canned instead of bottled, it leads me to understand that perhaps this list caters to the typical guy who just likes beer.

It also struck me while going through the list that there weren't a lot of dark beers - are they not fashionable today? Or is it that women can better appreciate the chocolaty flavors of a Porter (there was 1 porter on the list). Go check out the full list at A Blog About Beer here or the partial list at Maxim.

Strike at Anheuser-Busch

Unions. I have such mixed emotions about the power they wield, especially when it comes to strikes that prevent beer from going out. Anheuser-Busch is restructuring its InBev operations in Europe as part of their cost cutting efforts spurred by the major growth it has taken on in the past several years. It was to be expected right?

A Belgian union official said it was calling on the company to withdraw its restructuring plan, which would cut about 800 jobs in Europe, including 263 in Belgium. “We will continue with the blockades and will discuss whether to intensify our action,” he said. -From Real Beer

I get it but let me put it this way - Belgium might run out of beer!!! OK really? They might run out of Stella but out of beer? Disaster is brewing when the supermarkets stop carrying a popular band of beer?

The company employs about 5,700 people. The plan will mean 303 jobs would be lost in Belgium, 386 in Germany, and 42 in the Netherlands. They are also discussing 150 early retirement packages and 70 new positions as part of a restructure. It's necessary to restructure because beer consumption in Belgium has dropped 20%.

Angered by the job losses, union members took 10 managers hostage at the group's Jupille brewery in eastern Belgium last Thursday, but the executives were released unharmed the following day, according to the newspaper.-From CNBC

Now supply trucks can't get in and the beer can't get out because of blockades. What do you think? Justified strike or justified restructure?

Green Wine Standards in California

Going green has become a shallow tag line in many businesses. In California, the wine industry is starting a modest certification program that will help standardize exactly what being a "green" winery really entails. From soils erosion to energy conservation, wineries are invited to rate themselves on 227 practices. To qualify, participants need to meet 58 prerequisites or have a plan to meet them within a year.

This list is not daunting and should be an easily accomplished goal by many wineries. Some are complaining that indeed the list is too simple and that the goals should somehow be loftier.

Seventeen companies volunteered for a trial run, a list dominated by such major industry players as Gallo, Diageo and Constellation but also including smaller properties like Cooper-Garrod in the Santa Cruz Mountains and Honig in Napa Valley.

Still, the current standards are so modest that some in the industry wonder whether they will have a real impact, especially in selling to overseas markets, where strict sustainability certifications like EntWine Australia have been in use for years. Several other California efforts, notably the Lodi Rules program, are already ahead — both in specifics and in conducting outside audits.

A quick look at the baseline requirements reveals the potential for tougher standards. Requirements on water use are vague, requiring only an annual test of water quality for decision-making purposes and some basic water planning. Soil fumigation is allowed so long as there's testing to ensure a problem.

I'm glad that there will be some less arbitrary way of defining a green winery - small steps lead to great things! To read the full article from the SF Chronicle click here.

Beer Week in San Francisco

SF Beer Week 2010 ain't your grandparents' Beer Week. We've got more gizmos and doohickies than a barrel of pickles (or something).

At least that's what the writers from the San Francisco Brewers' Guild say. It looks like an amazing event with locations all over the giant San Francisco Bay Area. I think the Valentine Beer vs. Wine looks fun as do all of the other events - there are over 50 events! I can't even begin to tell you about them but you can go to their site SFBeerWeek.com here and check it out yourself...

Facebook Vitamin Water

A true sign of our times is when a social media platform is used to create a product. Vitamin Water has just launched a new Black Cherry-Lime Facebook flavored drink with Caffeine and 8 other nutrients. Now you can hydrate, take your vitamins and connect with thousands of others on Facebook all at the same time.

What do you think about it - a social experiment gone right or wrong? See their fan page on Facebook here.

French Counterfeiting New Zealand Wine

In China they are counterfeiting beer but in France, something more ironic is happening. A French winemaker was caught trying to pass off his fine French product as a trendy New Zealand wine. That's funny.

But in a humiliating blow to Gallic pride, winemakers have been accused of trying to pass off their bottles as New Zealand produce to cash in on the popularity of brands from down under.

A tribunal in Australia has ruled Loire Valley-based firm Lacheteau labelled its sauvignon blanc Kiwi Cuvee in a nod to the quirkily-named New Zealand and Australian white wines.

Now note - the label does somewhere say that it is a French wine... but the marketing is clearly a knockoff of New Zealand wines which are outselling French ones even in France. For as fiercely as the French defend the "terroir" of the wine, claiming that the region and area each wine is produced is special and protected, they are also noting that their wines are simply being out-marketed in the world.

Jeffrey Davies, a Bordeaux wine expert, said that there was a "nasty irony" about a French producer muscling in on New Zealand's success and it was a sign Kiwis had "beaten the French at their own game".

"I don't know whether this reflects a superior quality among New Zealand sauvignon blanc or their ability to better market their wines."

I am a bug fan of many French wines but their industry continually cracks me up.

To read the full article click here.

Counterfit Beer in China

Evidently there are breweries selling fancy bottles of beer to bars in China, like Corona and Budweiser, that have been refilled with cheaper lagers (is it possible?). The companies responsible for such devious behaviors even go the extra mile to cook the beers once re-bottled to disguise the taste difference. Bar goers don't normally notice any difference.

There is very little in China that cannot be counterfeited – that includes beer too, as the Xishan Bureau of Commerce confirmed on Tuesday when it raided a rented space behind a cement factory in the Majie area that contained more than 20,000 bottles of fake Budweiser and Carlsberg beers.

The secret behind the scam: taking a big, cheap bottle of local Kingstar Beer, splitting its contents between two smaller Budweiser or Carlsberg bottles and a bottle-capping machine to fix caps to the top of the bottles. The total time it takes to increase the Kingstar's value up to ten times – ten seconds.

Evidently, counterfeit alcohol is quite common in China as are many food products, beer just one of many things that can be faked. Even many of the finer hotels carry bogus bottles of premium booze. So what to trust? How about your tastebuds, as long as you don't get sick from that extra bacteria in your drink...

For the full news article, click here.