Editor's Note [Greg Kitsock]: It might seem like hyperbole to call brewpubs an "endangered species," inasmuch as their numbers and output are still increasing. But with the economy tanking and the price or raw ingredients soaring, brewpubs are very vulnerable. Many restaurateurs are going to take a look at all that stainless steel equipment and wonder if it's worth the investment.

Selling it off would open up space for more tables and chairs, increasing the revenue stream. Ceasing to brew would mean a lot less red tape when it comes to licensing, as well as eliminating a source of liability in the event a customer tripped over a hose or got sprayed with hot water.

And there are so many production breweries making great beer. Why not sell the tanks and be content to sell other people's brands?

It would be a shame, however, if a large number of brewpub owners reached that conclusion. Beer Activist Chris O'Brien, author of Fermenting Revolution: How to Drink Beer and Save the World tells us why:

Fight climate change. Conserve resources. Reduce waste.

These are ambitious goals being pursued by scientists, government agencies, businesses, environmental advocates, and concerned citizens everywhere. But is it possible for craft beer drinkers to make a difference too?

Consider a few of the environmental impacts from beer. New Belgium Brewing in Fort Collins, Colorado recently conducted a study to quantify how a six pack of Fat Tire ale contributes to climate change. They discovered that over fifty percent of the greenhouse gases related to Fat Tire was emitted as a result of the energy consumed by the refrigerators at beer retailers. Another big chunk was emitted during the production and transport of the glass bottles used to package the beer. The third biggest carbon impact came from the agro-chemicals and energy used to grow and malt barley.

The good news is that New Belgium is already taking great strides to limit their contribution to climate change. For example, they source renewable energy to power their brewery. They are also considering packaging some beer in aluminum cans, a lighter and more compact packaging that requires far less energy to recycle than glass. New Belgium is also brewing their Mothership Wit with organic ingredients grown without petroleum-derived fertilizers and pesticides, another small step that helps to slow the climate crisis.

But the fact remains that most of the greenhouse gas emissions occur at the point of retail. That’s a tough issue for brewers to tackle but is there anything a climate-conscious beer drinker can do about it? Could the answer be as simple as visiting the nearest brewpub?

Brewpubs utilize a couple environmentally preferable packaging options: reusable kegs and refillable growlers. Most kegs are made of stainless steel or aluminum, both of which are materials that have relatively high recycling rates in the U.S. Kegs are also more optimally shaped so they take less space in coolers so the coolers can be smaller and use less energy.

Now dispense that keg beer into a growler that will generally be emptied within one day, requiring little or no refrigeration. Growlers are made of glass just like standard 12 and 22 ounce beer bottles but every time a growler is refilled, its ‘embodied energy’ is spread out over a longer and more useful lifecycle, making it less energy intensive with every reuse.

A true lifecycle assessment comparing the environmental benefits of a beer served in a brewpub to a glass bottle of beer would account for a variety of other factors that complicate the equation, such as how the customer arrived at the pub. Let’s assume, for the sake of argument, that customers drive cars whether they are buying beer at a grocery store or a brewpub, so there is no net additional expense or reduction of energy during that part of the formula. On the other hand, with very few exceptions, the glass beer bottles arrived at the grocery or beer store in a truck fueled with petroleum, whereas the beer in the brewpub was merely piped from a storage vessel to a serving vessel within the same building.

Based on these packaging and dispensing options and the lower levels of energy needed for refrigeration, brewpubs are starting to look like a better bet for someone concerned about reducing the environmental footprint associated with their beer drinking. Now consider one additional factor: fresh flavor. It’s hard to get a fresher beer than one served at the point of production. Since quality suffers when beer is exposed to light, heat, and oxygen, foreshortening a beer’s lifespan from fermentation tank to beer drinker has the benefit of improved freshness and flavor. Score one for brewpubs.

Unfortunately, not many brewpubs in the Mid-Atlantic region are using organic ingredients yet. But now that Clipper City has converted their Oxford line to be certified organic, local craft connoisseurs have the option of locally produced bottled organic beer. What are the environmental trade-offs of a non-organic draft beer compared to an organic bottled beer? The complexity of the issue is almost mind-numbing. But I do know one thing. As the number of brewpubs in America continues to grow, and more brewers shift to organic ingredients, life keeps getting better for beer drinkers.

Mmmmm, 19 handcrafted beers...since it was only about 11am when we arrived, there were only a handful of people at the restaurant, and our waitress was super friendly and sent the brewer over to chat with us. He mentioned that the pub's first anniversary had just passed, and expressed his passion for brewing creative beers. So...19 beers, how to choose? I spent many minutes pondering the possibilities. The beers were listed on cute illustrated chalkboards:

Our waitress explained that there were two different seven-brew samplers offered, one of them featuring the stronger ales on the draught list, and I knew that destiny was calling me. With the sampler, I received tastes of: The Regulator Plum Ale, Highland Heather Scotch Ale, Spring Maibock, White Lightning, Sommer's Espresso Stout, Old Wylie's IPA, and Nobleman. I also got to taste Last Chance Vienna Lager, Shepard's Crook Scottish Ale, Wicked West Coast Stout, and Perfectly Pomegranate - eleven beers tasted out of a possible 19 - not too bad for a Saturday morning!

So how did they measure up? I was actually surprised by some of my top picks! Breaking away from my traditional loves, I was quite smitten by some of the original flavors Rivertowne had to offer.

Nobleman - A German Alt Bier, with clean fresh hoppy flavor and a good level of bitterness, it struck me as an IPA-lite, in the best possible way - not overly thick or cloyingly bitter, this was refreshing and flavorful.

White Lightning - A spiced Belgium White, White Lightning also had a clean, fresh finish. This was a well-balanced beer - mildly fruity/flowery from the orange and grains of paradise, with just a hint of spiciness to tease the palate but not overwhelm.

Espresso Stout - Sweet and strong, with great coffee flavor, one of the best coffee beers I've ever tried.

Perfectly Pomegranate - Fruit beers are hard to get exactly right, but this is one of the exceptional ones - fruity and smooth, refreshing but not too sweet, this is a perfect summer beer.

The Plum Ale (a little bit of knock-you-over-the-head plum fun) and the IPA are also worth a shout out, though not quite as exceptional as the rest. Everything was actually quite pleasant and drinkable; the only one I probably wouldn't drink again is the Lager - a fine example of its style, but not one of my favorite things. Also worth noting - the Pacino sandwich with homemade chips - yummy! Overall, Rivertowne was really great, and I'm happy that it was our first brewery visit of the trip.

The Germans have a saying: Bier ist flüssiges Brot - beer is liquid bread. It's literally true - combine grain, yeast, water and a little sugar and depending on how you treat it, you'll either wind up with a crusty, fragrant loaf or what's known in my circles as a Frosty Adult Beverage. Bread and beer are among the earliest known purpose-made human foods; so intertwined are the histories of baking and brewing that some scholars credit the dual invention of bread and beer as a fundamental force in the emergency of human civilization.

Fast forward to present-day Oregon, and a thriving industry of "craft brewing," the art of making small-batch beers (and ales, and porters, and stouts) with flavors and ingredients as distinctive as the people who make them. And July is the perfect month to celebrate the brewers' craft.

It's hard saying just how many craft brewers call Oregon home. The Oregon Brewers Guild lists more than 75 member breweries (not to mention the multiple brewpubs of such small-brewer-gone-large operations as Rogue and McMenamin's). It's a sign that even in a region better known for its wine, the craft beer business is booming.

If you're working on eating locally, why not drink locally, too?

Right here in the Albany-Corvallis area we have three terrific brewpubs, each making and serving distinctive hand-crafted brews. The variety is remarkable, from traditional beers and ales to exotica brewed with fruits, berries, chocolate and chili peppers - even handcrafted root beer for those who don't care for alcohol. Many are available on tap at other local pubs and restaurants, and to take home from the brewery to accompany your (locally grown!) meals, by the keg or by the jug.

Now, I'm not suggesting you go out and get tanked. Far from it. Hand-crafted beer deserves the same respect and attention as hand-crafted food. Take your time; savor and enjoy. I can nurse a pint of Calapooia Porter (for one instance) all evening long and come away more satisfied than if I'd swilled a six-pack of undistinguished brand-name beer. Add time for food and conversation, and there's no cause to leave a brewpub in a less competent state than when you walked in the door.

If you haven't visited one yet, July is a great month to start. Here are the three fine craft brewers local to me, oldest first:

Oregon Trail Brewery, housed in the Old World Deli on 2nd Street in downtown Corvallis, is the grand-daddy of Mid-Valley craft brewers, dating back to 1987, when the microbrewing industry was just getting a foothold in Oregon. Owner Dave Wills, who rescued the brewery when it nearly ran aground with financial and quality control problems in the early '90s, and brewmaster Jerry Bockmore have built a loyal following with a select variety of distinctive brews, including an award-winning Brown Ale. Enjoy a pint alongside your choice from the deli's extensive menu of sandwiches (or legendary chili and lasagna), catch a little local talent on the funky little faux-European stage or take home beer by the keg or "party pig" for your next barbecue.

Calapooia Brewing Co. is the two-year-old incarnation of what started life as Oregon Trader. Owners Mark Martin and Laura Bryngelson bought the business in 2006, and they've nurtured it to the point where they now produce 11 different regular brews, from their most popular Yankee Clipper IPA to a Scottish Ale that will knock your socks off, plus seasonal specialties. The little pub, at the corner of Hill and Water Street in what used to be Albany's riverfront industrial district, is bright and comfortable, the food menu tasty (mmm, hand-made burgers!), and most weekends there's a local band playing in a corner otherwise devoted to darts. While the pub itself is small, they've converted part of what was the warehouse garage to sheltered outdoor seating - a little low on ambience, but a nice place to enjoy a beer and a burger on a warm night. They're licensed to sell their beer for off-premises consumption in handy, refillable 1/2 gallon "growler" jugs, as well as kegs. The 'Pooia, as its fans call it, is the closest thing I've found to a cozy neighborhood pub, so I visit fairly often. Besides, I have a soft spot in my heart for any pub that regularly celebrates International Talk Like A Pirate Day.

Block 15 is the new kid on the mid-Valley craft brewing block. Located in the historic Gazette-Times building (more recently, a succession of pizza joints) at the corner of 3rd and Jefferson in downtown Corvallis, Block 15 looks like an upscale pub, brews several excellent beers (and root beer!) right on the premises. Owner Nick Arzner is committed to finding local sources for both its beer-making and food menu wherever possible, with a commitment to sustainability that means, among other things, recycling brewery byproducts into animal feed and compost for local farmers. Brewer Steve van Rossem has cooked up an inspiring range of traditional and "freestyle" beers and ales, including some exceedingly tasty Belgian-style specialty ales. (Update: Nick tells me they also sell all their beer in take-home growlers, and have begun selling kegs.) The kitchen menu features what, in my opinion, is the perfect beer-and-food combination: Slow-cooked barbecue, smoked on the premises, using locally sourced meat, including succulent baby-back ribs a couple of nights a week and the best pulled-pork sandwich I've eaten west of the Mississippi. Summertime entertainment includes a Blues, Brews & Barbecues" event each Wednesday featuring local acoustic blues players.

One of these July nights, the kitchen's going to be too hot for cooking. Why not try a brew pub? And if you do, be sure to wish them a happy Craft Beer Month.

Since we were new to Faultline, I decided to get acquainted by way of the sampler:

The Winners:

Kolsch - a solid example of my favorite style of light beer (local Lightning Brewing makes my favorite), crisp fruity flavor that doesn't overwhelm

India Pale Ale - I was skeptical at first, since they claimed to brew it in the English style, and I'm a West Coast IPA kinda gal, but this had strong flowery aroma and clean bitter flavor - good stuff.

Spring Bock - malty with a fresh bitterness to balance.

The Not-Quite Winners:

Hefe Weizen - Couldy, fruity, and fresh, everything a good hefe should be. Didn't quite crack the top three, but I liked it.

Irish Stout - More smoky and less smooth than I was hoping, but an enjoyabe brew.

Best Bitter - draft and cask versions - I wanted to like this beer a lot, but it fell into the "drinkable but not exceptional" category. Not something I would have again on cask - it's lacking the strong, rich flavors that make cask beers great, this one just seemed like a draft beer gone warm and flat.

Beers I wouldn't order again:

Dunkel Weizen - like the Bitter, I really wanted to like it. Since I liked the Hefe Weizen, and this is ostensibly similar but darker, I actually thought I would...but I did not. I guess the fruity flavors overwhelmed the dark malty flavors, I just didn't find it well balanced or compelling.

Golden, Pale Ale - these two were virtually indistinguishable to me, even in side-by-side tasting - light, bland, boring. Granted, these are not my favorite styles in general, but a lot of mircobreweries make their versions with enough flavor to be interesting, and a good Pale Ale (Stone, Sierra, Kona) should be hoppy enough to have some character . At Faultline, I'll happily stick with the other styles.

We've visited El Toro Brewing in Morgan Hill before, so I was already aquainted with some of their beers. Worth mentioning are their "Extra Hoppy" Poppy Jasper Ales, where they start with their signature beer and add dry hop it with different varieties of hops, so you can order them side-by-side and compare the finishing characteristics of different kinds of hops. This is cool. This time, I was in the mood for extreme hoppiness, so I tried a Duece Imperial IPA, which delivered all of the bitter hoppy goodness I was after. I followed that up with a Blackraspberry Ale, a darkale infused with fruit concentrate - no subtle flavors here, this was fruity! Not something I'd have everday, but fun once in a while. El Toro is definitely worth a visit - the beer list is long, and they're all quite drinkable. Next time I just have to remember to wander about town and find some Poppy Jasper jewelry to go with my Poppy Jasper Ale!

Je retrouve ma vie de Montréalais. Et de Québécois.

Bon, techniquement, je suis de retour depuis le 26 avril. Mais ça prend un certain temps pour se remettre dans le bain, pour se réintégrer, se réadapter. Un peu comme un retour de terrain. C'est pas simplement un déménagement. C'est un changement de vie.

Mais, voilà, je sens que ma nouvelle vie commence. Après les déménagements en rafale (22 depuis décembre 2000), je peux m'intégrer de nouveau à la vie montréalaise.

C'est d'ailleurs la vie sociale qui me permet de sentir que je suis de retour. En tant qu'animal social, j'ai besoin de la vie sociale pour me nourrir. La journée d'hier a été particulièrement fructueuse de ce côté. Tant pour ma vie personnelle que professionnelle, d'ailleurs.

Petite chronologie partielle...

Dîner stimulant avec Olivier Charbonneau. Discussions sur le droit d'auteur et autres sujets motivants.

Après-midi passé sur le campus de Concordia, y compris la bibliothèque Webster et le Java U «Mezz». Observation sauvage d'un milieu qui me correspond.

Petit 5 à 7 informel au Benelux. Discussions sur la musique et la bière. Opportunité d'écriture payée, offerte sur un plateau d'argent, sans que j'aie eu à demander quoi que ce soit.

Et le «Premier mercredi» de YULBlog. Discussions fascinantes avec plusieurs personnes. Quelques «pingues»:

YulBlog: l'écosystème idéal pour un papillon social. ;-)

Bref, je suis un poisson qui retourne à l'eau. Le galop du naturel s'est fait entendre.

Une des choses que j'ai «remarquées» (ou, plutôt, «que je retrouve avec plaisir»), c'est la possibilité de parler ouvertement, sans trop se soucier du qu'en-dira-t-on. Pas exactement une question des règles tacites de la vie sociale. Plutôt une question d'attitude. Un «vivre et laisser vivre» qui me manque parfois, au sein de la vie sociale nord-américaine non-québécoise. Après avoir dû m'adapter à des contextes où la pression sociale est tangible («à couper au couteau» ne semble pas si exagéré), je me retrouve.

L'opportunité d'écrire pour de l'argent me motive. Pas tant pour le montant lui-même. Mais pour les ouvertures que cette première opportunité peut créer. J'ai pas tendance à vendre mon écriture. Mon écriture, j'aime la donner. Et c'est pas que j'aime la pop-psy, mais c'est amusant pour moi de penser à ma «personnalité orale». ;-)

Ça faisait un moment que j'avais pas écrit un billet aussi personnel. Ça fait du bien.

Prosperity, so they say.

(Click image for Washington Post video)

Ireland's booming economy is providing younger folks with higher paying jobs far away from their rural homes. At the end of the day, after a long commute, more of these folks are opting for drinks at home in front of the television or weekend vacations to the continent rather than popping down to the pub for a slow round with the neighbors.

The article goes on to describe how this is leaving many of the older rural inhabitants stuck lonely and at home when they would rather be celebrating birthdays, anniversaries, funerals and other special occasions with the community at the pub.

What's at stake when pubs close down? The art of conversation, says one pubgoer. Live, participatory music as well. Another community member (in the video above) says when the village pub closed it was like "a sudden death in the family." And when it reopened, "everything back to life again."

I wrote a chapter in Fermenting Revolution about how so-called "third-places" like brewpubs can help rebuild community bonds in the U.S. Click here to read my Spring 2008 column in American Brewer magazine on the same topic.

First of all, he runs his own business, Bishop Brand, selling punk rock records, books and movies out of his basement. Okay, so that's not all just about luck. He probably works his ass off and barely eeks out a living.

But, he's also lucky because he lives about five minutes down the road from a great brewpub in Phoenixville, PA called Sly Fox Brewing. I've spent a couple memorable afternoons and evenings there with him and wish I had that kind of brewpub just minutes from where I lay my head.

But let's talk about real luck. We're talking the luck o' the Irish here. Since Terry lives so close to Sly Fox and loves good beer as much as he loves punk rock records, he signed up in January for the Sly Fox's annual St. Patrick's Day Boot Camp. Boot Camp is basically a customer loyalty program with prizes. The more you go to the pub between January and March 17th, the more raffle tickets you get.

St. Patrick's Day arrives. Terry and his wife Amy go to the pub for the raffle drawing. Terry claims: "I go to the Phoenixville pub several times a week." But I know the truth. Terry goes there just about every damn night. So his raffle tickets had accumulated mightily. His chances of winning something were above average. It's a wise approach - hedge sheer luck with lots of hard work, i.e. drinking at the pub every night.

The hard work paid off. "My wife was checking the numbers and when they went up on the board, we, and everybody else, just went crazy." The luck bastard won the grand prize - a trip for two to Ireland.

Congratulations Terry and Amy!

Pictured: Sly Fox owner Pete Giannopoulos, Terry Bishop, Amy Coleman, and Sly Fox bar manager Corey Reid.

A couple citizens in Takoma Park, Maryland (the neighborhood next to mine, and where my office is located) started a petition asking people to pledge support for what I'd call a "beer-positive" venue in the space of a closed-down restaurant in downtown Takoma Park.

Their Takoma Pledge website says:

If the community can attract a restaurant like Colorado Kitchen, Pizzeria Paradiso, or Franklin's to Old Takoma, will you commit to eating lunch or dinner there 6 times in the restaurant's first year? What about 12 times? Or 24 times?

Two of the three restaurants mentioned in the petition happen to specialize in beer. Franklin's is a funky, locally-owned brewpub with a gag-gift novelty attached to it that also happens to be the best takeout beer store within miles of its Hyattsville, MD locale. Pizzaria Paradiso is an excellent pizzeria with two venues in downtown DC. The Dupont venue has an okay beer selection but the Georgetown location has a bar downstairs called Birreria Paradiso with a beer menu that rivals any of the best beer bars in DC. They also host beer and food pairing events on a regular basis. Colorado Kitchen is a quirky, attitude-driven restaurant with praise-worthy cuisine in the northern tip of DC. I've only visited once and I'm afraid it was at the end of a bachelor party weekend, so although I know they had beer, I don't recall much beyond that.

Two out of three ain't bad, but clearly the folks behind this petition have a penchant for the finer side of beer and enjoy drinking it in a unique, locally-owned restaurant. Who can argue with that?

So far, the petition has gathered the signatures of 340 people pledging to eat 13,450 meals!

Did I mention that the location of this proposed restaurant is about a one minute walk from my office? If you live in the area, please go take the pledge!

Saturday in Montreal found me suffering a slight case of The Morning After The Night Before, with an empty stomach calling for something tasty and a little greasy, so I was glad when Paul went out to grab a Coke and discovered a promising looking breakfast place just around the corner. Restaurant Mosaik (5201 St-Laurent) was, as the reviews promise, a perfect place for a hangover breakfast - a laid-back vibe, friendly staff, good coffee, and food that's a step up from diner fare without being too chi-chi. A nice touch was the inclusion of a serving of creton, a traditional Québécois pork pâté that I'd never tried before - horribly unhealthy, I'm sure, but really tasty on toast.

After breakfast (well - given the time, it was closer to being lunch), we took a wander around the neighbourhood and checked out a small location of SAQ, the provincial liquor store chain. Since beer is available in grocery and corner stores, the government-run stores don't carry much of it, but they're worth a visit to check out the selection of ice cider, a delicious beverage indigenous to Québéc that's filled with appley goodness.

A bit more wandering, and then we headed towards Little Italy to spend some time at Vices & Versa (6631 St-Laurent), a beer bar and "bistro du terroir" that recently celebrated their 4th anniversary. We'd gotten advance advice from several people that we absolutely had to check this place out, and all of that advice was right - it was easily the highlight of our weekend. The space is big and airy but still cozy and comfortable; the food is perfect for a casual beer bar (sandwiches, small pizzas and cheese plates, all made fresh with many local ingedients); the music is fantastic (assuming you enjoy indie/underground rock); and most importantly, there are 29 taps, all dedicated to Québéc microbrews.

Meeting us at V&V was Fred Cormier from Microbrasserie Hopfenstark, a brewery based in L'Assomption (30 km from Montreal) that's been around for just over a year, but which already has a great buzz in Québéc. An extremely friendly and talkative guy, Fred filled us in on the story behind the brewery (short version: he was tired of spending so much money on beer, so he decided to start making his own), as well as explaining the names of some of their beers, many of which have a politically aware and socially progressive bent. V&V is his regular hang-out, and they have several Hopfenstark brews on tap, including their delicious Station 16, a saison brewed with rye, and one of four saisons made by the brewery. This relatively rare style is one of my favourites, so finding a brewery that makes four of them made me happy (although I'd be happier if I could buy their beer in Ontario...).

Fred headed out for some deliveries, and while we would've been happy to stay at V&V well into the evening, we had promised to meet some folks back at Dieu de Ciel!, so we eventually had to take our leave. Before settling in at DDC! for the final session, a couple of us headed down the block to Super Marche Rahman (151 Laurier ouest), a dépanneur that declares itself to be "La Paradis de la Bière". I'd call that a pretty fair assessment, as aside from pop, smokes, and a handful of other sundries, the entire store is filled with beer, mostly from Quebec microbreweries, and all available in single bottles. Our main goal was to pick up some of the bottled Dieu de Ciel! beers just in case our planned stop for the next morning was out of any of them, but we also snagged a few bottles of the just-released Unibroue 17 and a few other odds and ends.

Finally, it was back to DDC! to settle in for the night. Dany from the night before joined us, as did Fred from Hopfenstark (who generously brought us an assorted dozen bottles of his wares to bring back to Toronto), some RateBeerians from New York who happened to be passing through town, and a couple of other locals that we knew. Much beer was enjoyed - including numerous glasses of the heavenly Péché Mortel - and at some point in the evening, I ate what I thought was a prosciutto and brie sandwich, but according to my bill for the evening, it was actually an Ass Sandwich. Which appealed greatly to my inner Beavis and/or Butthead. Good times.

And we even managed to keep the drinking to a much more mellow pace than Friday, which meant that we all awoke at a reasonable time and in a reasonable state on Sunday, and got cleaned up, packed, and on the road by 9:30. Perfect timing, as we hit the borough of Verdun at 10:00, just in time for the opening of Métro Joannette (349 de l’Église, Verdun), a grocery store known for having the best selection around of Québéc craft beer. We all did the kid-in-the-candy store thing for an hour or so, and drove away with a very full trunk.

By mid-afternoon, we reached Kingston, and had a late lunch at the Kingston Brewing Company (34 Clarence Street, Kingston), Ontario's oldest brewpub. (Photo stolen from A Good Beer Blog, since I foolishly forgot to take any myself.) While I try to respect my elders, it must be said that many of the beers in the KBC line-up are mediocre at best. My favourite beer in the place was the Dragon's Breath Pale Ale, which isn't even brewed on site - it's so popular that they contract it out, with McAuslan currently doing the honours. (Not to start any rumours, but it actually tasted a lot like McAuslan's St. Ambroise Pale Ale to me...) Still, the place has a great atmosphere, with an immeasurable amount of brewery paraphernalia covering pretty much every surface, and the food is more than decent. Worth a stop if you're in the area.

After lunch, it was home to Toronto, where it only took me 2 weeks to get this second part of my trip report posted, which is actually pretty good considering my past track record. Watch for some follow-up posts with reviews of some of the beers I picked up on the trip. (I would say that these posts will be up "soon", but considering I have three other things to get around to writing about first, it'll likely be a while yet.)

I've only visited Montreal a few times, but two of those visits have played a pretty big role in increasing my interest in craft beer.

The first time was in 2000, when I attended the first instalment of MUTEK, an electronic music and arts festival that is held there every May. My time there happened to coincide with Mondial de la Bière, Montreal's renowned beer festival, so I headed down to check it out one afternoon. I had always been a microbrew drinker, and enjoyed trying new brews here and there, but Mondial exposed me to beers and styles that I'd never heard of, let alone tried before, and it inspired me to expand my beer horizons once I returned home. Still, it remained more of a casual interest than the obsession it has since become.

It was my next visit just over two years later that helped push me over the edge. I headed there with a friend primarily to represent Piehead Records, a small record label that my wife and I were running at the time, at a concert by three artists we had signed. But we also spent a lot of our weekend visiting some of Montreal's brewpubs and beer bars - including the now semi-legendary Dieu Du Ciel! - and we came back with a trunk full of weird and wonderful Quebecois beers. A couple of weeks later, I discovered RateBeer, and the inevitable slide into complete beer geekdom soon followed.

Last weekend, I finally made a long overdue return visit to Montreal with three of my regular beer pals, and the focus of the trip was beer, beer and more beer. Hell, we even stayed in the apartment above Dieu Du Ciel!, so you know that we were serious.

Aside from some messy traffic on the way into the city proper, the drive to Montreal was pretty uneventful, and we arrived in the late afternoon - perfect timing, since most bars in Montreal seem to open at 3 PM (or as they call it, "15 heures") . After a quick unloading of the car, we retired to Dieu Du Ciel! (29 Laurier ouest) for a pint or two to get us primed for the weekend. In the 5+ years since my last visit, the reputation of DDC! has grown immensely, most notably due to the deserved success of their imperial coffee stout Péché Mortel, but also due to their willingness to constantly experiment with new brews in new styles. During our visit, their 15 taps included several Belgian ales, two stouts, an IPA, an American Pale, a Barley Wine, a Saison, an Alt, a Kölsch, two unique and distinct wheat beers, and more. While I haven't travelled enough to make a definitive statement of fact, I think it's a fairly safe bet to say that DDC! is one of the best brewpubs in Canada, if not all of North America.

Still, there's more to Montreal than DDC!, so we headed downtown for dinner and some pub-crawling. First on the itinerary was L'Amère à Boire (2049 St-Denis), a three-level brewpub and restaurant with a very open, loft-like feel. For some reason, it struck me as the sort of place that would attract a mature and intellectual college crowd. The food was better-than-average pub grub with nice presentation, and the beer was quite impressive all around. They specialise in German- and Czech-style lagers, such as their Cerna Hora Pilsener and Vollbier Vienna, although they know their way around an ale as well, with their Imperial Stout and Boucanier Porter (the latter on cask) both being excellent.

We were joined at L'Amère by local RateBeerian Dany (aka Glouglouburp) who led us to our next destination, Le Saint-Bock (1749 St-Denis). A combination brewpub and beer bar, they've been open for just over a year, but the comfortable, grotto-like space feels like it's been in use for much longer. Dany recommended that we eschew the house beers in favour of a few of the guest tap offerings, so we took his advice and ended up with some pretty excellent choices including Les Trois Mousquetaires 1870 Baltic Porter (one of my favourites of the whole trip) and Hopfenstark Saison Station 55 (a unique Saison-IPA hybrid).

On our way our of St-Bock, we stumbled across another pal from RateBeer who I know only by his RB handle, Goldorak, and he joined our increasingly inebriated crew as we headed to Le Cheval Blanc (809 Ontario est). Open since 1986 - making them Montreal's oldest brewpub - they're known to many via the bottled Cheval Blanc beers of varying quality brewed by Brasseurs RJ under a licensing deal. But from most accounts, the beers brewed on-site at the artsy tavern tend to of a higher standard. Being half in the bag by the time we got there, none of us were in any condition to make any serious judgements, but the Imperial IPA and Barley Wine that we were served seemed to be enjoyed and appreciated by all.

By this point, it had been several hours and many beers since dinner, so it was unanimously decided that some food was in order. And when you're in Montreal, and it's late, and you're drunk and hungry, there's really only one acceptable option: Poutine! Once little-known outside of Quebec, this classic comfort food dish of French fries topped with cheese curds and gravy is now common across Canada and even into some American cities, although the curds are sometimes replaced with grated cheese or cheese sauce, which just won't do for poutine purists. For the real deal, it's curds or nothing.

Like any local delicacy, it's always best to let a native take the lead, and one of the Montrealers in our group knew of a place just a couple of blocks from Dieu Du Ciel!, so we hopped a cab and headed up to Chez Claudette (351 Laurier est). As promised, they served some killer poutine, including some traditional and not-so-traditional variations. I ordered a version called "Pata-Chou" with cole slaw on top - not something I could imagine ordering in a sober state, but it was surprisingly tasty. And of course, I ended up with the nickname "Pata-Chou" for the rest of the weekend.

Plates cleaned of grease and fat, we trekked back to Dieu Du Ciel!, and while there was some initial interest in continuing the drinking, and long day of travel started to catch up with us, so we bid adieu to our tour guides and headed upstairs to bed. (Did I mention how awesome it was to stay upstairs from the pub?)

And 1100 words is enough from now, so the story of Saturday will have to wait for another post.

Brewer's Brewing, a new brewpub in Beaufort, South Carolina has a link on their homepage labeled "Brewer's Is Green." Quoting directly from the web page, here's a run down of the green efforts enumerated therein. Let's see what they are calling green.

Concrete is 100% green and we will be using it for our main bar and the bathrooms, we threw in oyster shells and recycled glass in the mix.

The phrasing here is confusing. I'm not sure if they are claiming that concrete, in general, is 100% green or if the concrete they are using is green. Presumably it's the latter since conventional concrete is by no means inherently green. Regardless, the term "100% green" is troublesome since it is a such a vague claim. It's cool that they integrated "recycled" glass in it but I think they mean "reused" glass, because recycling glass would be silly if all they were doing was using it as a filler in concrete. The oyster shells are an appropriate touch since presumably they originate from the nearby coast.

Dakota Burl is a unique bio-based material, which exhibits the beauty and elegance of traditional burled woods. The material is created from agricutural fiber and sunflower hulls, making this a beautiful environmental hardwood. This product is being used for all our dining tables.

Sounds cool. Ag waste products in general are a good for "waste-cycling," i.e. turning waste byproducts into new marketable products especially when they are replacing what might have otherwise been petroleum-based products such as plastic tables. Furthermore, the Dakota Burl website claims the product has zero VOC emissions.

All of our bulbs through out the restaurant will use (cfl’s) compact flourescents lights and will al be run through a Lutron dimming system.

That's great. What's even better is that a claim like this will be irrelevant in a few years. Last December, President Bush signed the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 setting new efficiency standards for electric lights, effectively mandating the phaseout of incandescent light bulbs in the US beginning in 2012.

Any surface that has paint on it will be coated with Sherman Williams Harmony Sure Green paint which has no odor and no (voc) volatile organic compounds.

Cool. Low and no VOC paints should really be standard for virgin paint. This benefits paint workers, employees, and customers by improving the indoor air quality of the brewpub, so folks can stick their nose in the glass and just smell beer instead of nasty indoor air pollution. I'd rather get a headache from having one too many than from huffing VOCs any day.

One no flush urinal from Kohler will be used in the mens bathroom. This unit alone will save 40,000 gallons a year.

It may sound funny but these new waterless urinals are going to be all the rage very soon. Mark my words. There is huge interest in the institutional purchasing sector for these things. I had my first waterless urinal sighting just a couple months ago in Millheim, PA at the new Elk Creek Cafe and Aleworks.

The worlds most efficient water heater will be installed for the whole brewpub. This unit is made from A.O Smith and is has a rating of 94% efficiency.

I'm guessing it must be this one. But it looks like there is even a 99% efficient water heater available out there. Not sure if they have different kinds of sizes or performance issues.

All three Toilets will have a High Efficiency Toilet valve from Sloan Valve. Push the handle up for liquid waste and it will flush with 1.1 gallons and push down for solid waste for a flush that uses 1.6 gallons. The handle is also coated with an antimicrobial agent that protects against the transfer of germs.

I've seen these in other countries but they haven't really caught on yet in the U.S. I think people are confused about how to use them. Hopefully there will be a little sign near the toilet showing people how to use the toggle on the handle.

Bath room partitions are made from 100% recycled plastic from psisc out of Columbia SC.

Neat, they are even supporting a South Carolina-based business with this option. PSISC stands for Partition Systems Incorporated of South Carolina. I'll just try to ignore the image on the company homepage depicting two young girls in a bathroom dressed like cheerleaders. Um, that's really just kind of creepy.

All in all, these efforts seem quite worthy and I'm guessing they've made other environmentally preferable choices that haven't made it onto their 'green' web page yet. For example, their flagship beer, Paddler's Pale Ale, is organic. I wish these guys were open last summer when my family visited the beach in South Carolina. Guess I have something to look forward to if we go back this year!

So many choices...so little time.

Tom posted this note on the Beer Advocate website:

We will offer four primary things at Earth: great flatbreads, intriguing wines, the best beers you never had, and a comfortable space to enjoy the company of others. BTW, for those of you that don't know, our company name represents our focus on creating and running a sustainable, green-built restaurant.

Cool. A new "green" brewery and its within daytrip distance of DC! I'm very curious to learn what he means by "sustainable, green-built" and plan to find out as soon as I can make a trip up there. One hint that he really gets "sustainability" is that Earth "won't have any TVs."

Woo-hoo! The world is a wonderful place. The only way this could be any better is if it were in Washington D.C. instead of the Philly area.

Congratulations to Larry Lynch-Freshner from Boulder Creek, CA for Best of Show and Grand Prize winner of the western division for his organic "Bad Weather Barley Wine." Larry gets to brew his recipe with the Santa Cruz Mountain Brewery.

Congratulations also to Richard Lawrence from North Falmouth, MA, the Grand Prize winner of the eastern division for his organic "Wu Wei Wit." Lawrence gets to brew his recipe with the Otter Creek Brewing Company (makers of Wolaver's Organic beers).

For a complete list of the contest winners, click here. And mark you calendar now for next year's National Organic Homebrew Challenge.

The judges pictured here were hard at work tasting and scoring entries in the Nat'l Organic Homebrew Challenge. Thanks to all the judges and stewards for their hard work, and to Gordon Biersch for the space.

WHEN: Sunday, December 2, 2007, 3-5pm

WHERE: From 3-4pm, I'll be speaking at the Shirlington, VA public library, 4200 Campbell Avenue, Arlington, VA 22206 (the environmentally-designed Shirlington Library is worth a visit in its own right - they are currently applying to the US Green Building Council to have the facility recognized as a LEED certified green building); then from 4-5, we'll move across the street to Shirlington's new radical cafe/bookstore Busboys and Poets for a book signing and organic beer reception.

WHY: Learn how to Drink Beer and Save the World!

COST: Absolutely free.

MORE DETAILS: See the events listings on the Busboys and Poets website here.

Need another reason to come out for this? The Capitol City Brewing Co. has a brewpub right across the street in Shirlington. Their "Fuel" coffee stout is just the buzz you need on a chilly Sunday afternoon!

In the past quarter century, ownership of beer companies has been expanding and contracting at the same time. Overall, there are more independently-owned breweries in the U.S. But both nationally as well as globally, fewer companies take much bigger slices of the pie.

As the craft brewing renaissance expands in places as diverse as Russia, Vietnam, Italy, and South Africa, the number of small breweries grows. Yet three of the world’s largest beer companies have been formed by mega-mergers within the last five years, creating truly global giants the likes of SABMiller, InBev, and Molson Coors.

Annually, the world’s five largest brewing companies (the three above, plus Anheuser-Busch and Heineken) produce about 750 million hectoliters of beer, earn $65 billion in revenue, and employ a quarter of a million people. Nearly one in every seven beers in the world is produced by just one company: InBev, Earth’s largest beer corporation by both volume and revenue.

As most American Brewer readers are well aware, Anheuser-Busch dominates the domestic market, producing almost 50% of America’s beer. Simultaneously, the number of microbreweries has grown to over 1400 since the movement first took hold in the late 1970s. But all of America’s craft breweries combined represent under 5% of the country’s beer sales (measured by either volume or revenue), a fraction of the size of even the smallest of the three biggest brewing companies operating in America.

But 50% market share isn’t enough for Anheuser-Busch. The mandate of corporations is growth. When market penetration reaches a plateau, the only way to grow is through acquisitions. So A-B has been buying up stakes in craft breweries. The latest is a 49% ownership share in Old Dominion.

So what does the exhortation to “support your local brewery” mean when your “local” brewery is owned by a global corporation?

The first question from most customers after such a buyout is whether the beers will change. And, of course, the company issues assurances that they will preserve the integrity of the beer. But is this the right question? After all, its not unheard of for craft brewers to “change” their beers. Beers evolve and there’s nothing inherently wrong with that. However, the last thing I would expect Old Dominion’s new owners to do is drastically alter the current beers. For one thing, they know customers will revolt if they come blasting in with too many changes right away.

Besides, craft beer is seeing strong growth in demand while industrial beers have hit a ceiling. Why would Anheuser-Busch buy a craft brewery and then dumb down the products, destroying the most valuable asset? But there are other assets that, by definition, Anheuser-Busch can’t buy: small size and independent ownership.

According to the Brewers Association, to be called “craft,” a brewery must be small, independent, and traditional. Small means annual production under two million barrels –unless Old Dominion grows overnight by at least a factor of ten, there is no immediate danger of surpassing this production threshold. Independent means: “less than 25% of the company is owned or controlled by an alcoholic beverage industry member who is not themselves a craft brewer.” By this last definition, Old Dominion is no longer a craft brewery. Even the beer itself, according to the Brewers Association, is no longer craft beer because “craft beers only come from craft brewers.”

In a blind tasting, no beer judge is ever going to say, “hmm, the aroma suggests this comes from a brewery more than 25% owned by a non-craft brewery.” So why does independent ownership trump what’s in the bottle? Because beer has long been more than just a delicious liquid made from “traditional” malted barley.

Beer is deeply intertwined in the fabric of society. From the economic to the intangible, locally-owned breweries deliver social value better than global companies. Let’s look first at the economic benefits of local ownership.

A 2002 study conducted in Austin compared the economic impact of a Borders Books and Music with two local businesses in the same neighborhood. For every $100 spent at Borders, the study found that $13 flowed back into the community in wages, expenditures, taxes, and other expenses. Whereas, the comparable figure for Bookpeople and Waterloo records, the neighborhood book seller and record store respectively, was $45. The two independent stores yielded a local economic impact more than three times higher than the big box national chain.

In 2004, a larger study was conducted in the Andersonville district of Chicago. Ten local businesses, including four restaurants, were compared against ten chain store competitors. For every square foot occupied by a local firm, local economic impact was calculated at $179, while each square foot occupied by a chain firm offered just $105. The study also found that local businesses paid more to staff, spending an average of 28% of revenue on labor compared to 23% by chains. Local firms procured local goods and services at more than twice the rate of chains and contributed more to local charities and fundraisers than their national counterparts.

Economics aren’t the only social advantages to local ownership. Today, breweries are literally our neighbors. The majority of Americans now live within ten miles of one. Most of these are actually brewpubs, places where people go to drink beer in their neighborhood. For that matter, even most production breweries have adjoining pubs or tasting rooms where regulars congregate to socialize.

Studies conducted in British pubs have shown that a majority of patrons rate social interaction higher than alcohol consumption when asked why they go to pubs. Brewpubs go a step further than pubs. Not only are they locally-owned, they actually make what they sell – that’s a radical concept in a world where most goods are manufactured abroad and shipped around the world before reaching customers. Customers value the intimacy provided by brewpubs with strong social networks that include not just regular patrons, but brewers and owners as well.

Ownership by faraway corporations is alienating. That’s the opposite feeling most people seek when they drink craft beer at their local brewery. Local ownership and on-site production help to revitalize beer drinking as a means of community-building, emphasizing the values of social interaction over the value of financial transaction.

Support your local - “craft” - brewery.

virtualpolitik: Strange Brew

My tone is clearly much less formal than Losh's. Hope it still fits and doesn't bring down the quality standards expected from her blog.

Quoth Losh's post:

Doesn't consigning brewing of coffee and beer in private homes eliminate third spaces for social interactions with a cross-section of people and opportunities for discussions and debates? Isn't it like putting yourself in a cul-de-sac with a garage door facing the street in that you aren't participating with neighborhood businesses? Enkerli strongly disagreed, since beer-making involves large quantities, parties, and collective beer making sessions. He thought that it was a powerfully social activity and one that was often situated in specific neighborhoods.

Probably overstated my disagreement about eliminating third spaces. Was mostly trying to describe what I had observed from the beer and coffee world(s). Basically, wanted to emphasise that making coffee or beer at home is just one of several activities done by members of those networks. And those activities often push people to go and consume beer or coffee outside the home.

Actually, discussing this is helpful to me because it reinforces the point that what I'm observing has more to do with "craft beer culture" (or "culinary coffee culture") than with homebrewing (or making coffee at home).

Haven't tried to find out whether or not homebrewing and home coffee making might prevent meaningful interactions between coffee/beer geeks and "the rest of the (local) community." Really, that's not my type of work. My impression is that those DIY activities might have those "decreased participation" effects in some contexts but such effects haven't been apparent to me on any occasion during the last few years of observing and participating in beer and coffee geekery.

To be clearer, and specifically focusing on (beer) homebrewers. Making beer at home has become a fairly common activity in North America since the 1980s (when the legal status of homebrewing in the United States was finally cleared up). But my focus isn't beer making as an activity. It's a social network which revolves around "handcrafted" beer. This is one network I have been connecting with for several years, now. And, IMHO, it's the core of the so-called "craft beer revolution."

Many people brew beer at home for purely financial reasons. While these are technically "home brewers," they are not taking part in the social and cultural dynamics that I aim to eventually describe academically. In fact, while those "thrifty brewers" are known to the "beergeek" crowd, they are considered as complete outsiders to the "craft beer revolution." Typically, those who brew for financial reasons use cans of hopped malt extract and dextrose powder to make beer. On the homebrewing side of the craft beer movement, all-grain brewing (making beer from scratch, with the malted barley, hops, yeast, and water) is the normative method.

I guess we could use terms like "casual," "dedicated," "careless," "serious," "extract," and "advanced" to make distinctions between those types of "homebrewers." But we're talking about such different worlds here that emphasising these distinctions seems irrelevant. So, when I talk about "homebrewers," I almost always mean "serious, dedicated, advanced brewers who care more about beer quality than about costs."

(It's quite interesting that, in OZ, the term "homebrewer" refers to people who make beer at home to save money while "craftbrewer" refers specifically to people who brew beer for "serious" reasons.)

The homebrewers I tend to talk about aren't casual brewers, they often spend rather large amounts of money on beer and brewing equipment, they frequently send their beers to large competitions, and typically belong to brewing associations ("brewclubs"). In the United States, many of them are card-carrying members of the American Homebrewers Association. AHA membership gives them access to a rather "serious" technical magazine on brewing techniques (Zymurgy) and discounts at local brewpubs all over the United States (and some parts of Canada).

The typical brewclub has monthly meetings as well as a number of beer-related events. In large urban areas, brewclubs can have a very elaborate structure, with annual fees, bulk purchasing accounts, etc.

The keen observer with an eye toward folklore might notice that these sound like the "quilting bees" which were served as a way for North American women to unite and eventually form "grassroots movements." Given Losh's political bent, I feel compelled to note this similarity, even though I care fairly little about political involvement on the part of homebrewers.

Interesting that Losh should say that I teach "folklore and ethnomusicology" at Concordia. While I do teach a course in the anthropology of music which is, in fact, labeled "ethnomusicology," the courses I've been teaching at different institutions in the past five years were all in anthropology. However, I did serve as an associate instructor for a large course in folkloristics at Indiana University for three semesters during part of my Ph.D. coursework at that institution. And I do consider "folklore" to be among my fields of specialisation.  Of course, Losh probably got her notion about my teaching from the fact that I'm finishing a Ph.D. at Indiana University's Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology. ;-)

Anyhoo...

Some brewclubs also serve as "beer appreciation" groups, similar to wine-tasting (and emphasizing the fact that beer is chemically more complex than wine). While beer-tasting can be a solitary activity, sampling beer with fellow homebrewers (and beergeeks) is common practise for serious beer-lovers. Perhaps more importantly, homebrewers frequently use a set of guidelines while tasting beer. These guidelines, from the Beer Judge Certification Program, often serve as a shared knowledge base for "beer literacy." The BJCP's main purpose is to train judges for homebrewing competitions. When I eventually do publish some academic work on craft beer culture, I'll need to have a rather large section on the BJCP, competitions, and so on. Among homebrewers, I'm known as a vocal opponent to the BJCP guidelines. I do recognise, however, that they serve important functions in the context. (I simply happen to think that there is more to beer than evaluating it through set standards and I see the effects of the BJCP guidelines as broadening the gap between actual beer appreciation and the general public.)

One thing which was already clear to me when I gave a talk on craft beer culture at an surprisingly pleasant food and culture conference,  is that craft beer culture is geek culture. As geek ethnographer Jenny Cool was present during the conversation which triggered Losh's reaction (Cool and Losh are friends), I actually wanted to steer the conversation toward the issue of geek sociability, using homebrewers as an example.

Homebrewing is social because geeking out is social

(To simplify things a whole lot, someone could say that "geeks" are something of the "somewhat sociable" equivalent of "nerds." To caricature, the type of sociability involved is that of the stereotypical "basement hacker." Some of "them" might in fact be antisocial human beings. But "they" become less unfriendly with like-minded people. Especially when "they" feel there is "smartness parity" in terms of intellectual prowess. Going on a limb, someone could say that what has been happening in the last thirty years, thanks to computer-mediated communication, is a steady increase in the opportunities for "basement hacker-type nerds" to interact with one another. These interactions might occasionally lead to meaningful social relationships. In the context of increased social capital given to computer-savvy people, geekness becomes almost cool and geeks are "more social" (according to a broader social group) than the "nerds" who had been stigmatised for so long.)

Homebrewing as an activity was facilitated by changes in its legal status (and by the alcohol regulations in general). Beer geekery is embedded in the increased prominence of online communication. Pre-Internet beer people were pretty much just "beer nerds." Today's beergeeks are almost all Internet-savvy and many beer-related activities happen through mailing-lists and websites. (Usenet newsgroups used to be fairly important but, since 1994 or so, mailing-lists and websites have pretty much taken over.)

As is the case with many other groups, online interactions give way to face-to-face interactions, friendships, and elaborate support systems. Meeting at brewpubs to sample beer and "talk shop," beergeeks are bonding. And this type of bonding often creates strong... bonds. I personally have a large number of anecdotes which reveal the strength of the bonds among beergeeks. And, as a social scientist, I'm fascinated by the phenomenon.

Going back to Losh's points(!), I might say that beergeeks are connecting more with broader social groups than the homebrewers she seems to have had in mind. Using the "think global, drink local" motto, beergeeks (including homebrewers) are situating themselves in complex social systems. They/we talk about important social and political issue.

And we do drink good beer.

In any case, I was reading the new issue of The Advocate, which some guy drops off at our door every month, and noticed a quote from this Jerry McCoy fellow saying that the historic Silver Spring Fire Station No. 1 "may become a Matchbox Pizza restaurant and microbrewery."

Now I had read that the folks who own Hook and Ladder Brewing Co. have been working on a deal to buy this building and convert it into a brewpub but I hadn't heard this "Matchbox" name being used until now. As soon as I read it, I suspected it was a chain or franchise or something - it just has that ring to it. But, thankfully, googling turned up the existence of no such chain.

So I checked the Hook and Ladder website and found an article that appeared in the June issue of the Maryland Gazette that also quotes McCoy talking about the pending brewpub and referred to it as a model that he hopes could be used to preserve other historic buildings in Silver Spring. Clearly an advocate of local business, he even said, "There is nothing sexy about chain restaurants." So, I'm hoping this means Matchbox is not a licensed chain but just a clever name that the Hook and Ladder guys devised as a tie-in to the whole firefighting theme. Other than Franklin's in Hyattsville, this will be the only non-chain locally-owned brewpub in the Washington metro area.

All this talk of fire and beer is making me thirsty. Unfortunately, my closest fresh beer option is the Rock Bottom in Bethesda - one of the larger national brewpub chains. Their beer is good and the service is usually decent as well. However, I must whole-heartedly concur that, as a chain, the place absolutely lacks soul. Gigantic TV screens intrude in just about every corner of visual space and loud vapid pop-oriented rock booms over any attempt at a conversation. But then, there is the beer...

Earlier this year I was at the Chicago Green Festival doing a talk about drinking beer and saving the world. After the presentation, I was loitering around my publishers booth, signing autographs and fending off the screaming fans, and suddenly John Greenfield appeared! Hadn't seen him in years but it turns out his life has taken a turn for the decidedly beerier. He's involved in a Chicago group called Bring Back the Draught.

The group has four (and counting) neighborhood-based chapters dedicated to draft beer. John's group, the Ukrainian Village Draught Beer Preservation Society, has a saying: "Yak pobachu pyvo, ne proidu mymo." Translated, this means "I will not walk past a beer, when I see it near."

The group says they:

"will work to support taverns in Chicago's Ukrainian Village community. There are 29 bars in the neighborhood, liberally defined as the area bounded by Division St., Ashland Ave., Grand Ave. and Western Ave. To pursue the goal of drinking in every bar in this (roughly) square mile, the Society will meet sporadically at various watering holes."

To this I say: Budmo! Which apparently means "may we live forever."

This past summer, John combined his dedication to draught beer preservation and with his commitment to bicycling and set off on ambitious journey. He biked from Portland, OR to Portlan, ME. He visited dive bars and brewpubs all along the way and blogged about it at Bars Across America. Now he is working to turn this adventure into a book. I can't wait to read it!

Craft beer brands teem with images of the natural world. But the paper products used to package those brands rely on forest resources that are disappearing at alarming rates. In this issue, I’ll explore how breweries can reduce their impact on forests while cutting expenses, aligning craft beer’s natural brand with business practices that protect nature.

Why Bother?
I make beer not forest products, so why should I worry about forests in the first place? Consider these facts:

1. The pulp and paper industry ranks first in use of industrial process water, third in toxic chemical releases, and fourth in emissions of air pollutants known to impair respiratory health.

2. The U.S. is the largest consumer of paper in the world. The average American uses more than 730 pounds of paper a year. Less than a third of this paper contains any recycled content.

3. The U.S. paper industry is the country's largest single consumer of wood. If current trends continue, the industry's timber use will outstrip supply within ten to twenty years.

4. Ninety-nine percent of the virgin content in U.S.-made paper comes from trees. Almost half of the trees cut in North America are used for producing paper.

The health of the world’s forests at stake, here’s what brewers can do to move beyond using nature as a brand and start protecting real habitat.

Save Green: Trees and Money
Paper is a good place to start. The easiest way to save paper, including the kind that’s green, is to adopt efficient office practices. Skip unnecessary paper printouts, install duplexers on printers, and set computer defaults to double-sided printing. These reductions will lower your costs by reducing the volume of office paper you need to buy.

Then make sure the paper you do buy contains post-consumer waste (PCW) recycled content or comes from non-tree pulp like kenaf, hemp, or even “bier paper” made from spent hops, malt, and yeast and used beer labels (40%-60% beer labels, 5% to 20% beer fibres, 30% to 50% totally chlorine free virgin pulp). If you’re currently using 100% virgin-pulp paper, switch to at least 30% PCW. Paper with this minimum recycled content is widely available at price parity with virgin paper. Or go further and upgrade to 100% PCW paper. Although these papers can cost more, it’s still possible to save money overall by increasing paper efficiency and getting bulk discount prices through groups like the Recycled Products Cooperative. For example, the City of Portland, OR switched all of its paper from 30% PCW to 100% PCW and still managed to reap a net savings of $10,000 annually. Visit the Conservatree web site for a complete listing of recycled papers.

Another important consideration is chlorine. Chlorine is a toxic bleach used in the paper production process. Virtually all chlorinated organic compounds exhibit at least one of a wide range of serious toxic effects such as endocrine dysfunction, developmental impairment, birth defects, reproductive dysfunction and infertility, and cancer, often at extremely low doses. Many are also significant health hazards to employees in workplaces where they are used. Choose paper products that reduce or eliminate the use of chlorine. Look for PCW paper that is certified “Process Chlorine Free (PCF)” and virgin paper that is certified “Totally Chlorine Free (TCF).” Furthermore, select papers with the minimum brightness suitable for your needs. Whenever possible, avoid expensive coated or colored papers. Recycling paper with color or coating can produce more waste and harmful substances than untreated paper, and is not included in some recycling programs. Ask for vegetable-based inks and environmentally benign pigments. Most commercial inks use petroleum and toxic metals. Vegetable-based inks including soybean, linseed, corn, cottonseed, canola, China wood, and rosin are widely available, lighter on the environment, and easier to remove in recycling.

Finally, maintain paper recycling throughout the office. Establish or improve an office paper recycling program or organizational policy to ensure the raw materials for recycled-content papers are always available.

Even bigger savings, both environmentally and financially, can come from changes in packaging and promotional materials. Reduce the basis weight of coasters, napkins, paper towels, and promo materials like shelf-talkers, posters, and table-tents. The type of printing job will determine what grade of paper is required, but there is often a range of basis weights within a given grade. By choosing, for example, 20-pound paper instead of 24-pound paper, an office using only two reams per week will save 104 pounds of paper annually, equivalent to receiving 10,400 free sheets of paper per year.

Specify post consumer recycled content when sourcing your six pack carriers and case cartons. Great Lakes Brewing Company’s cardboard packaging is made from 100% recycled, 50% post consumer waste, which explains why they call it their “eco-carton”.

Wash Your Hands of It
How many times have you seen a server plunk down a giant pile of napkins? It’s easy to cut your napkin purchases down by half or more by simply training staff to serve a reasonable quantity of napkins. Consider placing a stack of self-dispensing extras on tables and bars making it easy for customers to get more when needed. Even better, upgrade to organic cotton napkins (cotton is the most chemical-intensive crop in the world), and wash them with non-chlorine bleach or have them professionally wet-cleaned (like dry cleaning but without the harmful chemical perchloroethylene).

Here’s a guaranteed paper and money-saver. Get rid of paper towels in the bathroom and switch to hand dryers. You’ll be paid back quickly through savings on energy, maintenance, and janitorial costs. A study by the World Dryer Corporation concluded that one of their customers could switch from paper towels to wall-mounted dryers and see annual savings of: 587 trees, 690,000 gallons of water, 34.5 tons of solid waste, 103.5 cubic yards of landfill space, and almost $90,000 (including electricity costs), with less than a six-month payback period including the cost of installation. The Xlerator hand dryer is a good bet. It’s high-velocity air stream dries hands in 10-15 seconds. Use their online cost calculator to see how much money you’ll save by wiping your hands clean of paper towels.

Pallets
Single-use wood pallets are an environmental nuisance, but the Summit Brewing Company of St. Paul, Minnesota has taken a major step toward making pallets more palatable. The company uses pallets made from wood certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). FSC certified products adhere to strict standards for socially and environmentally sustainable forestry. "Supporting sustainable forestry is a smart business investment for us," said Christopher Seitz of Summit Brewing Company. “Buying FSC certified pallets allows us to uphold our company values while encouraging forest management practices that protect clean water resources—an essential ingredient in quality beer. We especially like the direct connection between well managed forests in the Mississippi River watershed supplying wood for our pallets and protecting the quality of the water we use for our brewing."

Another strategy is to use pallets made from recycled plastic that can be reused many times over rather than conventional single-use wood pallets. This isn’t possible for every brewery since it requires empty pallets to be returned to the brewery, but when that is possible, breweries can save pallets of money while eliminating a disposable forest product. Consider a single-use wooden pallet that costs $7 versus a recycled plastic pallet that costs $45. The upfront cost is more, but the savings add up quickly since the plastic pallet lasts for hundreds of trips and requires no maintenance. Disposable wood pallets, on the other hand, can damage products with their splinters and fasteners that dent or rip cartons; they also hold moisture, harbor bugs, and add to waste hauling fees.

Use the Freshpak web site to calculate prices of wood versus plastic pallets.

Make Beer, Save the World
Paper, napkins, hand towels, cardboard packaging, pallets – in every case it’s easy to reduce the impact on both forests and financials. A solid bottom line means you can focus on more important things, like making good beer and saving the world.

The first one was in Fairfield, near Sacramento, where I squeezed in visits to the River City Brewing Company and Brew It Up. River City was a friendly, comfortable place with some decent beers, although their Belgian White tasted much more like an American Wheat (a style which doesn't do much for me). Unfortunately, the pub is located in a Disney-fied shopping plaza. I suppose its a good thing that at least there is one locally-owned business that makes its primary product on site, to serve as a counterpoint to the cookie-cutter crass chain stores surrounding it.

Brew It Up was a bit more interesting and they had no fewer than 21 of their own house beers on tap including at least 3 or 4 pale ales and countless others. The bartender was friendly and sitting at the bar was great - happy hour is a flight of 8 tasters and a half priced appetizer menu that was so cheap I have already forgotten how much it was. Ironically, we missed Sacramento's Pyramid Alehouse which happens to be situated inside the government office building where our conference hosts actually work! My dream is to one day work above a brewpub - only I want to own it too.

Yesterday I stayed in Manhattan Beach, a laid back beach community on the southern side of Los Angeles. My colleague, friend and host was extremely hospitable and, sharing an interest in good beer, chauffered us to the Manhattan Beach Brewing Company, a cozy place where the plank salmon dinner special was delicious but the watron was somewhat lacking in skills. First my hefeweizen was served with a lemon wedged into the glass, which seems to be more common in California than it is in DC, but which I dislike wherever I am. Then I got an IPA that looked and tasted like it had been sitting in a pitcher for a couple hours. I sent it back and got one that was so remarkably different in appearance that I had a hard time understanding how the waitress could have not noticed how off the first one was. Anyway, she was polite and smiled and made good with a new pint even as she swooped in and removed a half-finished glass of porter one of my colleagues was drinking. We finished our dinner and sought better beer service elsewhere. Namely, a brewpub tourist attraction type joint called the Union Cattle Co., which is home to a real live, I mean dead, mechanical bull. We missed the Mexican wrestler pictured here.

Now I'm in Santa Monica staying at the historic art deco Georgian Hotel. From my window I see the beach where they filmed Bay Watch, and then there is just endless ocean disappearing into a vague foggy haze.

My happy hour destination is the Library Alehouse, a Santa Monica Certified Green Business. Coincidentally, this morning one of my favorite bloggers, greenLAgirl, showed me the actual Santa Monica Public Library - not the one that sells beer - which is located in a LEED Gold certified green building. But about the Alehouse, I was disappointed to see that the beer list on their web site doesn't include any organic beers but it does have mostly craft beers, including some from Anderson Valley and New Belgium, both of which have implemented many sustainable business practices. I read on the Santa Monica Green Business website that they incorporate organic ingredients throughout their menu and compost their kitchen waste. Strange that their own website doesn't mention any of this. I'll just have to go check it out for myself to see if The Library is really the place to go for some green beer.

The Pike brewery and pub is located in the bowels of Pike Place Market in downtown Seattle. The last time I was there I was dodging tear gas and trying to avoid being arrested. It was during the "Battle of Seattle" where over 50,000 protesters from all over the world shut down the WTO and kick-started the decline of this anti-democratic global trade cabal.

(Left to right: Greg Kitsock, mystery man, Jim Dorsch, Drew Cluley. Greg and Jim edit and publish Mid-Altantic Brewing News and American Brewer and also organize the Beer Gazetteer events.)

In an onslaught reminiscent of the rubber bullets and pepper spray, Drew riddled us with eight rapid-fire beers in just two hours. He began with Naughty Nellie wheat beer, named after the madam who ran a building Pike occupied; the house Pale Ale and ESB; a terrifically aromatic and chewy Kilt Lifter Scotch Ale brewed with a handful of peat-smoked malts and aged with wood chips sterilized with Lagavulin single malt Scotch - my favorite beer of the night; and a classic West coast IPA.

Then, as if we weren't already feeling the impact, Drew pummeled us with three strong ales in a row: Monks Uncle Tripel, which he described as projecting a distinct character of "brewers feet" due to the "wild" Belgian yeast strains used to ferment it; next was XXXXX Stout, pronounced "five ex Stout," which he referred to as having an aroma of cigar; and finally the Old Bawdy Barley Wine, further riffing on Pike Place's history of adult recreation.

A few bullets of wisdom I caught from Drew:

• Washington is the first (and I think only) state to establish a State Beer Commission, an agency with the mission of promoting Washington's beers. Makes perfect sense considering that states have commissions for many of their other native products.
• The Naughty Nellie is brewed with organic malts because Pike owner Charles Finkel is keen to produce organic beers.
• In reference to how many small brewers share a spirit of cooperation, he commented, "We don't 'compete' so much as we go to each other's festivals hoping we'll take home more medals."

Night number two of the Beer Gazetteer series will be this coming Monday, featuring Tom Schlafly from the St. Louis Brewery.

They say it may be open by September. Check their site for updates.