I usually like spring… but… well, let’s say no more about that… I also have to admit that it has been a crazy last few work weeks and the news selections might show it. As justice seems to have begun to regain and even resettle upon the nations, not a lot new in the beer news. But let’s record that for posterity, too.
And it is Father’s Day this Sunday in these parts. I’ve never understood it as usually it means teens doing a bad job at mowing the lawn or little kids destroying the kitchen to make you a bowl of their favorite cereal. Yet, the year they all forgot I went and got a burger by myself, fuming. Drunken History shared this ad to the up and the right as a reminder that “Pops” likes beer on this special day.
We start our notifications of events this week from an unexpected but interesting class of plea from the Tand himself:
I’ve been contacted by a local brewer whose yeast has died during lockdown. If any brewer is willing to help out and get the brewery re-started, please follow me and DM in confidence.
I guess the need for discretion arises should the yeast ranchers of the region find out this brewer dropped the ball… or the flask… or something… Conversely, this brewer is back to work and throwing off the shackles of a bad social media habit:
Well the time has come to hang up my internet fingers…with bars and restaurants slowly coming back my brewing duties are getting back to normal so this will be my last Twitter I send out. Thanks everyone for putting up with me Sincerely Smitty poundsign bye.
I had no idea that this space, these information super highways were some sort of filler in the lives of others, that there are more meaningful things to do. How odd… though I do approve the L’nL’ rankings. Just don’t tell Ren that it’s odd. She updated her website with maximum internet finger utility and the results look good:
Beer. Diversity. offers in-person consulting for a variety of businesses, in the following areas of expertise:
– Beer/alcohol purchasing for restaurants and bars
– Staff training (including staff tastings, tasting notes, how to pour product and line cleaning)
– Liaise with sales reps and order handling
– Assistance with creation of a Diversity & Inclusion policy
Also not odd at all is the news that Ron is staying home – and is all the more comfortable for doing so:
Three months it is since I last visited a pub. They’ve been open a couple of weeks here. With distancing rules. Not been tempted, myself. I can wait. It might have been different if they were a bit cheaper. Or offered cask beer. My social drinking has been limited to a few cans down at the “beach” with my mate Mikey. At opposite ends of a park bench. All strictly according to the rules.
I can appreciate that. I have been hardly out and about at all, not yet checking out the newly opened patios. Andy is now nervously gearing up for a first step into the brave new world of practicing safe patio. But JJB is having none of it and is now taking a firm stand, announcing he is opening up his southern English pub’s beer garden with sensible safety measures one way or another by July 8th.:
And yes, I’m willing to accept the consequences if I’m in contravention of the law. I’m not just a licensee but also a solicitor. I take the rule of law very seriously. However the time comes to make a stand when government fails completely.
It’s all Matt wants, his pub back. Elsewhere, I briefly thought Jeff had closed up shop but he was speaking of Beervana is the greater sense of his bit of Oregon, his geographical rather than digital homeland and how the law has not been any more helpfully applied than for that pub above:
A couple weeks back, Multnomah County (ie, Portland) started making preparations to join the rest of the state in Phase 1 reopening on Friday, June 12. Businesses were given no caution as the date approached (or any information, actually), and began making preparations last week for what they assumed would be their first weekend of business in three months. And then, at 7:15 on Thursday night—less than twelve hours before owners would hang up “open” signs—Governor Kate Brown said nyet. “In order to ensure that the virus is not spreading too quickly,” she wrote, “I am putting all county applications for further reopening on hold for seven days.”
Yeesh. A bit more within the lines and according to the rules, Nate has written about one UK brewery has successfully refocused to deal with the pandemic:
Having furloughed the majority of their bar and HQ staff – and having a team of people working on every grant and loan possible in order to help save the business – North focused on online sales which have increased by over 1,000% since lockdown began, making up for the trade lost through selling to pubs… North has worked tirelessly on how they can reopen their bars as bottle shops in Leeds – and in a way that’s safe for their customers and staff alike.
Good. Also good is the news that Pete Brown is self-publishing a new book and wants your money!
My new book Craft: An Argument is out next week! My new Patreon has some exclusive book-related offers. – £3+: access to a deleted section – £6+: a preview of first two chapters from today – £10+: copy of the book, and your name in the back.
This is funny. Apparently it is Ontario Craft Beer Week but the organizers are so disfunctional, not promoting is the new what’s what, as Greg noted:
So, hey, apparently @OntCraftBrewers Week is happening right now even though ocbweek.ca website is gone & it’s not mentioned on the main OCB website & they haven’t tweeted in a month & haven’t posted to Facebook since last July.
[Style. Just sayin’.]
A tie this week for the best two White Claw mocking tweets of the week. The photo to your right and this below:
White Claw tastes like you’re drinking tv static while someone screams the name of a fruit from another room.
Finally, I know it is unkind but I can’t shake the feeling that there is a subtext to why this story was chosen out of all the examples out there:
Disclosure: Brewery Bhavana has been a client of GBH’s brand studio, a separate team based in Chicago… the actual brewing facility—located a mile from the restaurants—did not close. Patrick Woodson stresses the independence of the brewing operations, saying that he had little to no involvement in management of the restaurant and taproom…
There. It’s summer next time we meet. I’ll be happy to put spring away for this year. Worst ever? Maybe. Check in with Boak and Bailey most Saturdays, plus more at the OCBG Podcast on Tuesdays and sometimes on a Friday posts at The Fizz as well. And sign up for Katie’s weekly newsletter, too. Plus the venerable Full Pint podcast. And Fermentation Radio with Emma Inch. There’s the AfroBeerChick podcast as well! And have a look at Brewsround‘s take on the beer writing of the week. Not to mention Cabin Fever. See you next week!