Maine was fairly slow to jump on board the microbrew train being one of the few times, perhaps, that the state’s motto, Dirigo (”I lead”) isn’t quite appropriate. The first microbrewery of note didn’t begin producing until 1986 - D.L. Geary Brewing Company of Portland. The company’s first main stream product was Geary’s Pale Ale.

Twenty years later, Portland’s Maine Brewers Guild (nonprofit) is thriving. The company promotes breweries, brewpubs and the beer industry in Maine. They even have their own web site, Drink Maine Beer.

If you’re not up for traveling the state on a brewery tour (and why not?), you can sample some of Maine’s best beers at the Maine Brewer’s Festival. The Festival is held in Portland during the first weekend of November - I may have to make a trip back up!

Let us know your favorite local microbreweries! Enter this month’s contest! Click here to find out how to win!

(c) Brew Ha-Ha, 2008

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Thankfully, folks in the state of Maine have the good sense to sell beer and wine in grocery stores (much like my home state of North Carolina) which means that we were able to pick up all of our shopping for the week at Food City (the local grocery) - including some brews. “On tap” at our lakeside cabin this week are some Maine-brewed beers. We’re giving Shipyard Brewing Company a try (the bottles say “hand brewed and bottled” in Portland) and Gritty’s (also brewed and bottled in Portland).

We’ll let you know what we think of these Maine breweries…

In the meantime, let us know what you think of your favorite breweries - and win some cool beer merchandise. Enter this month’s contest. Click here to find out how to win!

(c) Brew Ha-Ha, 2008

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Why did Pabst change the name of their beer to Pabst Blue Ribbon?

And here’s your answer:

Pabst changed the name to Pabst Blue Ribbon since it was the first beer to win a blue ribbon at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893.

The 1893 World’s Fair also marked a few other firsts… Aunt Jemima syrup, Cracker Jack, Cream of Wheat and Juicy Fruit gum also made their debuts alongside diet carbonated soda and hamburgers, which were introduced to the United States.

Apparently, it was quite an event!

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And lest you think it’s all a big publicity fan, Simpson has a response for the haters:

Yes, I work out and take care of myself, but I also like a cold beer once in a while.

So there.

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The most recent face of beer is, in fact, Jessica Simpson. The blonde singer/actress is not the spokeswoman for Stampede Light Plus, brewed by Stampede Brewing Co of Dallas, Texas (I’ll warn you before you click - the theme song is really annoying).

According to the Dallas Morning News, Simpson will appear in ads for the beer. Reportedly, she has also secured 15% of the brewery - no further details are available yet. Simpson has said that she is “always looking for ways to diversify my portfolio with good ideas and good people.” That portfolio expanded to include a new perfume, Simpson’s “Fancy”, and beer as of this month.

I’m guessing that Stampede is trying to capitalize on Simpson’s new “country girl” image with the campaign - we’ll see how that works out for them. You can read what Beer Advocate had to say about it here.

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Schlitz Beer, It Made a City Famous

It was “the beer that made Milwaukee famous.”

And it’s back.

Pabst Brewing Co. began rolling out its original formula Schlitz beer on draft in several Midwest cities in mid-June. It will hit bars in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Milwaukee and Chicago in the next few weeks.

Schlitz beer was, at one time, one of the most popular beers in America. The Schlitz brewery was founded by Joseph Schlitz, a German immigrant to Milwaukee, in 1850. After the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, Schlitz donated thousands of barrels of beer to Chicago, which had lost most of its breweries. The brewery then expanded to Chicago and substantially increased distribution.

By the 1970s, the brewery was the second largest brewery in America (you can hear their claims as to demand in the commercial below) - but it didn’t last long. A decade later, the company was on life support and was finally acquired by Stroh Brewery Company. In just a few years, under the Pabst Brewing Company umbrella, Schlitz had all but disappeared, distributed in cars and bottles in limited areas.

Until now.

The original formula Schlitz is making a comeback - on draft!

You can check out the brewery’s take on the reintroduction here.

Before you rush off to grab yourself a Gusto, you have to watch this old commercial featuring Lionel Richie, his hair and the Commodores:

Ahh, nostalgia (not to mention that, in that ad, Lionel’s hair is as large as daughter Nicole’s entire body).

Psst, if Schlitz isn’t your favorite beer, let us know what is… Leave your comments on this prior post to win some great beer merch.

(Image: AllPosters.com)

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According to the BA, the Top 10 Craft Brewing Companies by Beer Sales Volume
for 2007 were:
1 Boston Beer Co.
2 Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.

3 New Belgium Brewing Co. Inc.
4 Spoetzl Brewery
5 Pyramid Breweries Inc.
6 Matt Brewing Co.
7 Deschutes Brewery, Inc.
8 Boulevard Brewing Co.
9 Full Sail Brewing Co.
10 Harpoon Brewery

In comparison, the Top 10 Overall Brewing Companies by Beer Sales Volume for 2007 were:

1 Anheuser- Busch Inc.
2 Miller Brewing Co.
3 Coors Brewing Co.
4 Pabst Brewing Co.

5 Boston Beer Co.
6 D.G. Yuengling and Son Inc.

7 Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.

8 New Belgium Brewing Co. Inc.

9 High Falls Brewing Co.
10 Spoetzl Brewery

Did any of these make your list of favorites? Enter this month’s contest! Click here to find out how to win!

(c) Brew Ha-Ha, 2008

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Who didn’t show up for the London Beer Festival? Alistair Darling, though clearly he was on the minds of festivalgoers.

Members of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) protested the UK beer tax outside of the festival in London, England.

The British beer tax is the highest in the EU, ringing up at more than 80p per pint. Taxes for other spirits in Britain are just as high, as part of the recent national budget.

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In case you’re looking for another reason to go organic when it comes to beer, consider this: additives in beers are not strictly regulated in all countries.

And when I say additives, I mean, oh, say, carcinogens.

The Chinese beer industry, one of the top beer producing countries in the world, was found to include formaldehyde in 95% of beers brewed in the country as recently as 1995. Yep, formaldehyde.

Chinese brewers verified that this was true but claimed that the additive “does not pose a threat to public safety,” according to Xiao Derun, director of the beer branch of the China Alcoholic Drinks Industry Association. The chemical is reportedly used because it is a cheap way of preventing sediment from forming during storage.

Later that same year, the Korea Food and Drug Administration said it had decided to test Chinese beer imports for formaldehyde before allowing them to clear customs. The Korean FDA tested 13 brands of Chinese beer and found average formaldehyde levels to be 0.132 parts per million, below the legal limit.

Yes, that means there is a standard in Chinese law that allows formaldehyde in beer. The law allows 2 milligrams per litre; and even “organic” Chinese beer may contain formaldehyde up to 0.2 milligrams per litre. The World Health Organization has a recommended maximum limit of .9 milligrams per litre; this means that Chinese laws allow for more than twice the recommended WHO limit.

Despite the claims from Xiao that their studies found “no domestic beer that exceeded the set limits”, the China Business Times reported that a 2002 survey of 19 domestic brands conducted by the National Food Quality Supervision and Inspection Centre found the average formaldehyde content to be 0.31 milligrams per litre, more than 50% in excess of the limits.

In response to consumer concerns, Chinese mega-brewers Tsingtao and Yanjin no longer use formaldehyde in their beer. What a relief.

Those that continue to put formaldehyde in beer insist that it’s safe. It is worth noting, however, that numerous studies have labeled formaldehyde as a carcinogen. Not that the spectre alone of getting cancer from beer isn’t enough to convince me to stick to the major Chinese breweries this day, but I just can’t shake the image of formaldehyde being used for embalming corpses (shudder). Pass me another Samuel Smith, please.

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One of the frustrating things about Pennsylvania is that it’s nearly impossible to sample a new beer outside of a bar without buying a whole case (stupid beer laws, don’t get me started). One of the things that I love about vacationing in Maine is that you can pop into local stores and buy just one or two beers - a nice option when you’re in the mood to try something new.

A few years ago, I was itching to try some of the organic brews hitting the market. Chris was a bit skeptical. And we didn’t want to end up with a case of something we’d hate - so it was nice to have the option of picking up just a couple of different bottles while on vacation. Some of those that we sampled - especially the Samuel Smith organics - have become favorites. It was incredibly hard to local them outside of the smaller beer specialty stores until the last few years when they hit the mainstream markets.

Organic beer sales are actually skyrocketing, according to the Organic Trade Association, with sales more than doubling from 2003 to 2005, even while beer sales overall fell slight.

Larger breweries are taking notice. The now Belgian owned Anheuser-Busch produces organic brews - a sign that organic is perhaps more than a trend. Two of the first organic products to hit the market from A-B did not even flout the Budweiser name. Wild Hop is brewed at the A-B brewery in Fairfield, California, and Stone Mill is brewed at the Red Hook brewery in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

While larger breweries are making an impression in the organic market, it’s the smaller breweries who are leading the way. In 1999, California-based Eel River Brewing Company became America’s first certified organic brewery (as an aside, nearly ten years later, the brewery became the nation’s first biomass powered brewery).

Other popular organic brews include Wolavers, Peak and, as mentioned earlier, Samuel Smith (all Samuel Smith beers are also vegan).

So what makes a beer organic? It’s made the same as regular beer, but under USDA standards, to be labeled “organic”, at least 95% of the ingredients must be produced and grown without the use of chemicals and pesticides.

No junk in your beer? Always sounds good to me!

Do you have a favorite organic brew? Tell us your favorite by clicking here. You can win some cool beer merch!

(c) Brew Ha-Ha, 2008

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