What a rude awakening for Bud guy, he and the Millers-Coors guys are soon going to find themselves standing with the many craft-beer producers in the corporate lobby of 7-Eleven vying for cooler space in the one of the corporation’s nearly 6000 U.S. stores.

7-Eleven has contracted City Brewing Company of LaCrosse Wisconsin to brew two beers under the “Game Day” name; a light lager and a premium lager. 7-Eleven wants to take advantage of what they think is a need for premium American lagers at a low price which was spurred on by the weak economy.

I can only hope that 7-Elevens foray into cheap macro-lager will open up some free cooler space for the higher priced craft beer sector, providing a tiered offering to their customers. In other words, I hope they tell BMC to go find shelf space elsewhere as to not compete with the Game Day brand. I can only hold slim hopes and being a realist, I doubt they can build a brand identity big enough to put the macro brewers on the defensive. In reality, this move  will probably make cooler space for craft brewers even more scarce with “Game Day” being merely added to the already Macro-imbalanced selection of beers that 7-Eleven currently offers.

I wonder if they will tap into the latest Growler trend by offering “Big Gulp” versions of the beer?

I dare you to go try one and report. I swear we won’t make fun of you…

For those techno-geeks out there like myself, you may know that a prototype next-generation I-phone turned up on the ground recently at a German-Style Biergarten in California. Gizmodo, a popular blog for techno-geeks gleefully published pictures and a sort of pre-review of the new phone.  Not only does Gizmodo have the prototype, they have also located the young man responsible for losing his precious cargo whilst imbibing in frothy things German. One of the final texts sent before the phone was left behind simply read “I underestimated how good German beer is…”

As a beer-geek though, I must call out Gizmodo’s constant reference to German ales; yes the Germans do make ales (e.g. weissbier, Kolsch, Alt) but there had to be a lager available in that biergarten somewhere!

Speaking to our young Apple-engineer friend:

“Be sure to check out the trip to Bavaria I have put together for September but please leave your prototypes at the office!)”

Check out the full Gizmodo story here:

http://gizmodo.com/5520438/how-apple-lost-the-next-iphone

What the heck is going on with Proud Eagle Distributing and Appalachian Power Park? Apparently they have decided to “sit-out” West Virginia’s craft beer revolution in lieu of selling as much swill (Bud) and pseudo-classic swill (Yeungling) that their trucks can carry. Save for Starr Hill Pale ale, everything else at Power Park is terrible!

It’s a damn shame that the management at Power Park signed a ”single source” agreement akin to a fast food restaurant going Coke or Pepsi; the result is limited choice for their customers. Why would they do such a thing? Does Proud Eagle singularly serve them better than if they had two or three beer wholesalers delivering a variety of beer to them? Does Power Park have an issue with delivery truck parking? Do they get some kind of special deal? (Which would be  illegal per WV Law by the way?) I think not. I think it’s just the management at Power Park being lazy… “Why think? It’s only beer, right?”

I attended the season opener tonight and believe me when I tell you that I was not the only person disappointed by the de-volving beer selection at the taps. In fact, it was nearly demanded of me that I write this article to complain about the lack of decent beer! The best beer available was in bottles from the roving beer salesman who is affectionately known as “The Elder Beer Man”. He had a bit of Starr Hill Pale Ale at the beginning of the evening, but ran out quickly.

Last year, I wrote a blog praising the fact that Mountaineer Brewing Company’s beers were available at the park, but now it’s more difficult to find any of Mountaineer’s beers in Charleston than finding an honest politician. West Virginia’s best local beers are not available at the park as they were last year because all of the tap-space as been taken by a pseudo-classic beer called “Yeungling” (which I think translates from “Old German” to mean “Cash Cow”)

Look, I hate having to “dis” anybody, especially since I know a few of the good folks that work for Proud Eagle, but I have to be intellectually honest and tell all of you that unless the beer landscape changes with the times at Power Park, they will be chronically on my “S%^*T List”…

I haven’t really posted a rant for awhile so I  hope I made up for lost time…

On a recent Saturday the “Beers to You” tasting panel took to the road. Our destination was Fayetteville, WV to visit what is now the nearest brewery to Charleston, Bridge Brew Works. As the crew entered the nondescript industrial metal building, we were greeted with the lovely aroma of banana and clove from the fermenter of hefeweizen that was billowing out its foamy krausen into the overflow drain. BBW’s shiny new brew house was first fired-up on New Year’s Day and has been cranking out solid beer ever since (except for a small hiccup with the glycol chilling system). Ken Linch and Nathan Herrold make up the Bridge Brew Team. Nathan was a former assistant brewer for West Virginia Brewing Company honing his skills under then head brewer Ned Strauser. Ken is a recently retired officer from the Public Health Service, a former home brewer and now co-brews with Nathan on the Premier Systems brand 15-Barrel brew house. Ken’s small 15 gallon home brewing set-up serves as the pilot brewery.

Bridge Brew Works decided early on that they were not restaurateurs but brewers, so they decided to set up their business as a small regional micro brewery that brews to serve the local retail and restaurant markets. The very successful Pies and Pints in Fayetteville feature all of the BBW beers on tap and will do the same in the Charleston location when it opens. Ken told me that BBW will utilize their right to self-distribute wherever practical but are going to use existing beer wholesalers to penetrate many areas of the state; Charleston will be among those areas. Currently all of the BBW beers are available in ¼ barrels and 1/2 barrels but a 750ml bottling line will soon be added.

Ken and Nathan made a purposeful decision to figuratively build a bridge with their beers; concentrating their beginning efforts on classic styles that can help transition West Virginians into drinking better beer. The three BBW beers we tasted were nothing short of solid but could garner a bit of a yawn from ardent hop-heads. I think their choices of recipes are based on sound logic that does not preclude them going a little crazy when they want to. BBW’s brew house leaves them with maximum flexibility for doing lagers and ales. Currently two out of the three of the debut offerings are lagers. The upcoming seasonal release will be the Bavarian Hefeweizen that was fermenting during our visit.

Here is a run-down of the Bridge Brew Works beers that we tasted…

Long Point Lager – Ken and Nathan call this their transition beer, designed to entice the typical but adventurous macro lager drinker into drinking a more flavorful and bolder craft beer. This beer is definitely sits squarely in the middle between malty and hoppy. It reminds me of a German helles lager beer with just a touch more flavor and aroma hops and has 4.61%ABV.

Bridge Brew Ale- I would call this one an almost English ESB, but would be considered a heavyweight for the English at 5.6%ABV. Bready malt is accented by ample hop bitterness. This beer is bready, even biscuity but I would not call it complex- but it’s not supposed to be…

Black Lager- This was a really popular beer for all on the BTY team. A bit too porter-like to win any German Schwarzbier honors, but this beer stands on its own as a complex dark lager with raisin and bit of roast, almost like toasted raisin bread. We hope this remains year round in the Bridge Brew Works arsenal.

We wish the boys very good luck and we look forward to the availability of BBW beers in the Charleston area soon!

 KenLinch (L) and Nathan Herrold (R) stand proudly in front of their brew kettles with an unorthodox yet appropriate “Mash Paddle”

“The Beers to You Team”  (most of them), are enjoying Nathan’s tall tales (and his free beer!)

Much to the chagrin of my enemies, I am not dead nor am I injured… I have been very busy juggling my “day-job” along with hosting a few really successful beer related events. I am writing this from my cozy hotel room in Albany New York.

I have a few items of beer news to lay on you.

First and foremost and although I might be considered biased, I can proclaim that the West Virginia Craft Beer Society’s Feast of Ales last week was a huge success. The event organizer Travis Carrow and the chef Marion Ohlinger really set the bar high for any planned sequel, selling out two nights and everyone leaving happy. The best part of the story is that my selection won for the battle of the beers; Ayinger Ur-Weisse paired with a blueberry pablano and goat cheese tart. Travis’s pairing of Great Lakes Commodore Perry was hampered by the fact that the pablano pepper’s heat and spice were very subtle.

Stay Tuned for details of my next item; The BTY tasting Panel visits Fayettville’s Bridge Brew Works. (I don’t want to water down the story, so be patient!)

Tonight, I am signing on from Albany after my visit to really great little pub called Mahar’s Public Bar. This little place serves decently great beers in a great local pub atmosphere where board games and books abound. The pub has several craft beers on tap, along with six beers served via authentic cask and beer-engine. I drank two session brews; a mild from Middle Ages Brewing and also a best-bitter from the same. Both were very good. To top off my English Pub experience, there was a little curry place right next door where I sat for a lamb curry dinner. Yum!