08.31.08

A Year Without the Beer Hunter

Posted in Uncategorized at 4:04 am by Administrator

Here it is, the 30^th of August, and it’s been exactly a year since the world of beer lost its greatest benefactor: Michael Jackson. MJ was really the guy who got the ball rolling for the craft beer world, writing about it when nobody else really did, lifting it up when most looked down upon it, and really inspiring so many beer enthusiasts, including this one, to hoist their mugs on high.

Several days ago, a good friend of mine asked me what beer I would be drinking in memory of Michael. To be honest, I hadn’t thought about that. To be sure, I knew the anniversary was coming, but likely would have just pulled something out of the DBR to remember with.

But thinking of what I would drink to toast MJ, I decided to pick up a six-pack of Anchor Liberty Ale. I certainly could have decided on any number of beers, of course, but thinking back to the now-classic Beer Hunter episode A California Pilgrimage, a beer from Anchor seemed a natural choice.

And so I am enjoying a wonderfully hoppy Liberty Ale out of an etched Anchor beer glass. Next year, it will be something different, because diversity in beer was what Michael was all about. But for now, here’s to you MJ. You may be gone, but you’re certainly not forgotten.

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08.24.08

The South Shall Rise Agin

Posted in Uncategorized at 4:12 am by Administrator

It’s hard to believe how far beer culture and brewing in the southeast have come. When I first moved here from New England in 2001, you could not buy a beer in Atlanta (or the rest of Georgia for that matter) stronger than 6% by volume. That’s all changed, of course, and such silly laws have been abolished here, and in both Carolinas as well.

A  week ago this evening, I sat at the bar at Liberty Tap Room and Grill in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and enjoyed not only two pints of Oskar Blues Gordon from Colorado, but beers of their own making plus local specialties from RJ Rockers and New South Brewing. On tap to boot were craft beers from Terrapin in Georgia, Highland in North Carolina, and even a few imports from way up in Vermont.

When it comes to beer, it seems the south is rising again. And I for one am certainly happy about that.

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