It’s always good to find a new extension to a hobby. I have kept a birding life list for decades but, you know, I’m am pretty lazy about adding to it in any organized way. Because you have to go out there and look. Out into the world. Into the woods and fields. Just look that that chaos! What a pain in the ass. So happy was I that I was advised by eldest to add the free Merlin app from Cornell University to my phone. Not only does it identify the birds you can hear around you but it records and archives the sounds with a handy graph that looks like a seismic chart. Did you know I had a Swainson’s Thrush in the tree by my house or Magnolia Warblers down the street? I didn’t. But now I do. All very exciting – especially as all that is required of me is to find a spot and stand still. The Kingbirds come to you. I can even doze off as the device gathers the data. Excellent. I bet it pairs well with the backyard and a beer.
Speaking of the high sciences, I always like to report on the Beeronomics Society news when I get an email update on their doings. Rather than the usual sort of beer experts, they are a group of global academics with (get this) credentials from peer reviewed institutions! They don’t get together all that often but they have announced a meeting in Bordeaux, France tentatively set for June 24 to 27, 2026. Please support my funding drive to send me to that event – with, yes, a two week lead up climatization prep there ahead of time and, yes a two week cool down afterwards… also there. Ahhhh… Bordeaux. Their website may be tremendously out of date in terms of form and content, but their newsletter I got by email this week did mention a new book to find out there on your travels, The Brew Deal: How Beer Helped Battle the Great Depression by Jason Taylor of Cntreal Michgan University who discussed it on YouTube:
During the final stages of Prohibition, the US government allowed the consumption and sale of “non-intoxicating” beer, which was at or below 3.2% alcohol-by-weight. Beer’s return—permitted with an eye toward job creation during the Great Depression—was one of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s earliest New Deal policies. In this book, economic historian Jason E. Taylor takes readers through the rapid resurgence of American breweries and shows how beer helped spark a sharp recovery in the spring of 1933.
And continuing with their sociological studies, Boak and Bailey wrote this week about finding themselves in a culture over twenty years behind in terms of the interior public smoking scene:
We’d assumed that smoking bans had come into place in most countries in the orbit of the EU, or that are tentatively working their way towards membership. In Serbia, though, it turns out that the smoking ban introduced in 2010 exempted bars, cafes and restaurants. Small establishments can choose to ban smoking if they want to. But based on our observations in the past week, very few opt for anything but ashtrays on every table… If you’re someone who spends a bit too much time hanging around outside taprooms and craft beer bars, puffing away in the cold and the drizzle, you might want to consider Belgrade for your next holiday.
I grew up with smoking in bars until my early 40s but have absolutely no interest in going back. Elsewhere, Katie has been in Spain and I am, you know, really frikkin’ jealous:
I love Spain. Every region is so different but so familiar, the same searing hot sun shining down in golden waves, touching everything with a little magic. I particularly love Spanish ham, and last night at a bar in a tiny alleyway I was served some of the most delicious acorn-fed lomo I’ve ever had in my life. Salty, melting, rich, served on paper.
Ahhh… Spain. Very very jealous. OK, back to the eggheads in lab coats, in this week’s “Hey That Sucks” news in the medical sciences, the New York Post has reported on a study published in “Environmental Science & Technology” found that 95% of 23 tested beers across the US contain cancer causing forever chemicals – and there are more in someplaces than others:
The study found a strong correlation between PFAS concentrations in municipal drinking water and levels in locally brewed beer — a phenomenon that has not previously been researched. While the study did not disclose specific beer brands, it identified that beers brewed near the Cape Fear River Basin in North Carolina exhibited the highest levels and most diverse mix of PFAS. Beers from St. Louis County, Missouri, also showed significant PFAS presence. The findings suggest that standard water filtration systems used in breweries may not effectively remove forever chemicals, highlighting the need for improved water treatment strategies at both brewing facilities and municipal treatment plants.
And it was the week for Stan’s monthly Hop Queries report and of note this time was the agri-science horticultural news of great crops from Australia and New Zealand. He also shared a secret about the frankly anti-terrioristic efforts behind one old pal of mine, Bell’s Two Hearted Ale:
…for Bell’s, the quality of the Centennial is quite important. But a few years ago, I learned that when you drink a Two Hearted you can’t say, “Yes, that’s Centennial from Crosby Hops.” Or from Segal Ranch, or CLS Farms. Or other farms that supply Centennial to Bell’s. The team at Creature Comforts Brewing in Georgia was excited in 2022 when they were brewing a collaboration beer with Bell’s, because that beer was to include “Centennial from Bell’s selected hops” along with five other varieties. Bell’s vice president in charge of operations John Mallett, since retired, explained what that means. After carefully selecting 500,000 pounds of Centennial each year from multiple farms, Bell’s creates a master blend that does not smell or taste of a single farm.
There. Now… let’s take a pause here so we don’t forget to consider the arts, too. And don’t forget that at the end of the month for now and forever, we have The Session. Phil Cook is hosting this week who explains the topic:
I’d like to take us out of the ‘real world’ for a moment to share the beers and pubs in art and fiction that have grabbed our attention, whether they were sublime, surprising, moving, amusing, somehow significant, or symbolic of something — or awkward and out of place, if you like. Gather your thoughts, or keep an eye out over the next few weeks, and let’s enjoy them together at the end of the month.
Fine. Art. Got it? Done with that? Now… back to the grim reality of today. Remember those tariffs? We’ve heard about their effect on aluminum cans and glass bottles, but Utah’s KUER radio reported on the effect of tariffs on brewers who rely on rare ingredients like Kiitos Brewing which relies on fonio*:
“It’s the most expensive grain we’ve ever purchased, because it is coming from West Africa,” Dasenbrock said. “They’ve already kind of signaled that the price that we had been quoted will not likely be the price when it arrives.” That price swing is because of the Trump administration’s tariffs. In April, the president slapped tariffs on about 90 countries. Since then, some products have been exempted while other tariffs have been postponed… For Dasenbrock, the rapidly changing landscape makes it difficult to pinpoint what his expenses will be. “Day by day, it’s 10%, it’s 50%, it’s 1,000%. Oh, no, wait, just kidding, it’s 10%,” he said. “It’s virtually impossible to predict what your costs are going to be in an environment like that.”
Ahhh… Utah. [Nope. That just doesn’t work in the same way.] And where the tariffs aren’t hitting hard, breweries continue to close and, in Germany, brewers are even – sounds a bit exotic in these times – going on strike as Jessica Mason reports:
…the growing concern among beer fans is that, without resolution, beer production at Krombacher could also be cut during the summer months… Isabell Mura, deputy NRW regional chair of the NGG and managing director of the NGG South Westphalia explained that the strike falls just before the beer-hungry holidays of Ascension Day and Pentecost and warned that summer thirst could also suffer since reduced beer production would then also make barbecues and summer festivals drier.
And speaking of both the moo as well as the lah, Jeff wrote about how one economic development agency – a concept rife with chin rubbing questions – in his home state of Oregon helps and perhaps fails to help industries, like brewing, there:
It’s possible Travel Oregon is killing it with other industries; the state is also famous for its wine, coffee, cuisine, and agricultural and natural resource plenty, not to mention its non-industrial and amazing outdoor activities. Neff quoted folks who said it was great, and I have no reason to argue with them. In terms of making the case that Oregon is a unique and special place for beer in the US, with a deeper culture and history than you’ll find anywhere else, not so much. Travel Oregon’s brewery information is out of date and sparse, and the map is even more out of date and inaccurate. Those deficits are a big part of the reason I wanted to create Celebrate Oregon Beer. Since I was really the main critic, I just wanted to heavily caveat my comments to say they only applied to beer.
And David J himself has a new project on the go, the Desi Food Guide that builds upon his work to date inclusing hs book Desi Pubs and his newsletter Episodes of My Pub Life:
Although the question of where serves the best mixed grill is very important, explaining the reasons why desi pubs were set up in the face of racism, segregation and hostility seemed far more pressing. The book resonated with readers because it wasn’t a shallow interaction with desi culture but a deep dive into modern British-Asian history. Desi Food Guide will continue where the book left off and delve into the stories behind dishes made by those often overlooked or superficially covered by online influencers. I will use my many decades as a journalist to tell their stories and interview those who may be shy but have a special tale to tell. I will visit restaurants, cafes, food trucks and, of course, pubs to detail one dish a week that you have to experience.
That sounds very interesting. You can sign up here. Finally, Pellicle took us to Pigalle Beer Bar in Tokyo where the selection is the owners’ personal collection more than the result of curation. The work this week is provided care of author Reece Hugill, where he found an old friend on offer :
I, too, was a bit taken aback by this. Memories of warm bottles drunk in my youth, often a misguided Christmas present, are not positive. Forced-down, tepid pints in suburban chain pubs with dirty lines are even worse. It took me two visits to Pigalle before I overcame this, and plucked up the courage to join the locals in their favourite beverage… the Old Speckled Hen is their “toriaezu biru” which means that it’s the initial beer you order to start yourself off, without thinking, or looking at the menu, before diving into whatever you fancy next. Something to shrug off the world with.
What a great idea. Baselining as opposed to mainlining. Well, that is it for now. A bit of a quiet week. The King visited. I didn’t drive to Ottawa to see him. Next time maybe. And until you and I meet again, please check out Boak and Bailey every Saturday (…as long as all their holiday fun doesn’t get in the way…) and Stan (….back again this Monday and very nice of him to notice what I wrote). Then listen to a few of the now rarely refreshed Lew’s podcasts and get your emailed issue of Episodes of my Pub Life by David Jesudason on the (sometimes even but never) odd Fridays. And maybe The British Food History Podcast. Maybe? And Phil Mellows is at the BritishBeerBreaks. Once a month, Will Hawkes issues his London Beer City newsletter and do sign up for Katie’s wonderful newsletter, The Gulp, too. Ben’s Beer and Badword is out there with the all the sweary Mary! And check out the Atlantic Canada Beer Blog‘s weekly roundup. There is new reading at The Glass which is going back to being a blog. Any more? We have Ontario’s own A Quick Beer featuring visits to places like… Michigan! All About Beer has given space to some trade possy podcasts and there’s also The Perfect Pour. Plus follow the venerable Full Pint podcast with an episode just last month!. And there’s the Craft Beer Channel on Youtube. Check out the archives of the Beer Ladies Podcast. That’s quite good but, hmm, they’ve also gone quiet this year. The rest of these are largely dead. And the long standing Beervana podcast …except they have now stood down. As has We Are Beer People. The Share looked to be back with a revival but now its gone quiet. And the Boys Are From Märzen podcast appears suspended as does BeerEdge, too. VinePair packed in Taplines as well. All dead and gone. There is more from the DaftAboutCraft podcast, too. Nope – that ended a year ago. The Moon Under Water is gone – which is not surprising as the ask was $10 a month. Pete Brown’s one cost a fifth of that – but only had the one post. Such is life. Such is beer podcasting and newlettering!
*Fonio.