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November 30, 2011

Brooklyn Brewery Monster Ale


Even though our Brooklyn Brewery Beertography Contest has come and gone, I got so many great entries that I wanted to share a few. Today's is from Rodney McPhail and features the 2010 Brooklyn Brewery Monster Ale. The 2011 version of Monster should just be hitting stores now so be on the look out and pick up a whole case or nine to cellar for future drinking. Thanks to Rodney for the great submission.

If you would like to have your photos featured on the site, please email them to beertography@gmail.com. Or if you're on the go, you can tag your tweet with #beertography and/or mention me @beertography.

November 29, 2011

Avery Out of Bounds Stout



Today's entry is from Sean Buchan aka beertographer and features Avery Out of Bounds Stout. Sean is an amazing photographer and obviously a big craft beer fan in Denver. Sean is a regular contributor to Denver Off the Wagon where he is currently featured as the man behind the Beer Porn of the Week.

If you would like to have your photos featured on the site, please email them to beertography@gmail.com. Or if you're on the go, you can tag your tweet with #beertography and/or mention me @beertography.

November 28, 2011

Sierra Nevada Celebration



Today's entry is from Shawn aka Take Another Swig and features Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale. For those that don't already know, Celebration is Sierra Nevada's annual holiday seasonal that instead of going the spice route, goes for a nice fresh hop character that's quite refreshing. Shawn was at the Meadowlands in New Jersey celebrating (see what I did there?) a New York Jets win against the Buffalo Bills.

If you would like to have your photos featured on the site, please email them to beertography@gmail.com. Or if you're on the go, you can tag your tweet with #beertography and/or mention me @beertography.

November 24, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving!


Happy Thanksgiving everybody! Hopefully right now you're waking up to a house that's already smelling of delicious foods. Today I wanted to share with you my craft beer pairings with my '09 Thanksgiving meal that I really enjoyed. Above you'll see that I paired my main course of turkey, mashed potatoes with gravy, turnip, stuffing, green beans, sweet potatoes and corn with the wonderful Allagash Grand Cru. This year I'll be trying it with Allagash Tripel. Something about Allagash just always gets me on Thanksgiving.



For dessert I went with Great Divide Oak Aged Yeti. This was GOOD, but at the time I wished I had not gone the oaked route. A regular Yeti or even a Belgian Yeti would have hit the spot even more. This year I haven't quite decided what I'll be pairing it with, but the 2009 Brooklyn Brewery Black Chocolate Stout that's sitting in the fridge is calling my name.

Reminder! If you would like to have your photos featured on the site, please email them to beertography@gmail.com. Or if you're on the go, you can tag your tweet with #beertography and/or mention me @beertography.

November 23, 2011

Petrus Oaked Pale Ale



Today's entry is from Stephen Lyfords and features Petrus Oaked Pale Ale. Anyone ever had this one before?

Stephen takes great beertography on the reg, so definitely be sure to follow him on Google+ as well.

If you would like to have your photos featured on the site, please email them to beertography@gmail.com. Or if you're on the go, you can tag your tweet with #beertography and/or mention me @beertography.

November 22, 2011

Samuel Smith Imperial Stout



Today's photo comes to us from Jym Doolan aka The BrewThusiast. Jym checked this beer into Untappd and then exclaimed, "Wonderful Example of Imperial Stout! Man I love this #beer!" and I have to concur. Sam Smith is pretty easy to find here in NYC, and it's always a go-to when you want something quality. For more craft beer goodness, check out Jym's website thebrewthusiast.com

If you would like to have your photos featured on the site, please email them to beertography@gmail.com. Or if you're on the go, you can tag your tweet with #beertography and/or mention me @beertography.

November 21, 2011

Brooklyn Brewery Beertography Contest Winner



Congratulations to the winner of our Brooklyn Brewery Beertography Contest Robert Rizzolo! His awesome photo of a Pumpkin salivating over Brooklyn Oktoberfest got over 200 Likes on Facebook.

That wraps up this contest but fear not, we will be having more in the future. Cheers!

Hill Farmstead/Cigar City Nor Double IPA


Hey folks, we're back and kicking it off with a great photo. This one comes to us courtesy of Shawn of Take Another Swig. Shawn just visited Hill Farmstead in VT and it sounds like he had an amazing time... and drank some amazing beers of course. Check out our visit up there this past Summer. Shawn was also the runner up in our Brooklyn Brewery Beertography Contest where his awesome shot of his cat complete with vampire cape was very popular. Cheers and thanks to Shawn!

If you would like to have your photos featured on the site, please email them to beertography@gmail.com. Or if you're on the go, you can tag your tweet with #beertography and/or mention me @beertography.

Organic Beer



About 2 years ago, I did something that changed the way I ate. I saw the film Food, Inc. based on the book The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan. I had a strange feeling going into the theatre that it would change the way I live, just as seeing Morgan Spurlock’s Super Size Me in 2004 stopped me from ever eating fast food again. And I was right. Ever since seeing Food, Inc., I’ve attempted to make my diet 100% organic. It’s a near impossible task so I do the best I can, but it never really translated to my beer purchasing habits.



It’s somewhat inherent in the world of microbreweries to have a concerned focus on local, high-quality ingredients and environmental impact. Many breweries employ wind power or other green technologies within their breweries. Sierra Nevada recently created its first-ever fully sustainable brew Estate, which was made entirely with certified-organic ingredients grown at their facility in California.



But the craft beer world as a whole has yet to fully embrace the idea of organic beer. That’s not to say that there aren’t a few great breweries that pride themselves on their all-organic beers. Prime examples being Wolaver’s out of Middlebury,VT and Hopworks Urban Brewery from Portland, OR. Other examples include Bison Brewing, Pigsah, Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing and Peak Organic.



The question remains, why organic? It seems most obvious to me that it’s important to buy meat that has been treated properly, but do the same ideas apply to malt and hops? The short answer is yes. Essentially by buying things that are organic, you are supporting an ideology that is committed to seeing less chemicals being absorbed into the earth.



Granted, organic beers aren’t perfect. As it currently stands, a beer can be certified organic as long as 95% of the ingredients used to make it are organic. Because of this, many breweries will use non-organic hops in a certified organic beer. Seems a little strange doesn’t it? Others felt similarly. Thanks to legislative efforts, by 2013 all organic beers must contain organic hops. Let’s hope that doesn’t impact the smaller organic brewers too heavily.



Now even homebrew shops are selling organic beer ingredients. Take for example Rebel Brewer, an online homebrew store based out of Tennessee. Organic 2-row malt goes for $1.55 per pound versus $1.19 for regular 2-row, a pretty nominal difference. The only lingering question I have about conventional malt is: If one boils the sugars extracted from the grain before fermenting, is that enough to kill off any pesticides that were used in the growing process?

Either way, I expect the amount of organic beers produced to increase with great successes from large breweries like Sierra Nevada and smaller ones like Bison Brewing. And I will welcome that by buying and drinking all the organic beer I can get my hands on.

Here’s to a greener brew.

November 14, 2011

Brooklyn Brewery Beertography Contest Top Ten!



The kind folks at The Brooklyn Brewery have selected their favorite 10 photos of those that were entered into the contest, so now it's time for you to get to their Facebook page and click "Like" on the photo you want to win! So head over to the album on Facebook and get that clickin' finger ready! You've got until 3pm EST on Friday 11/18.