Well it has been a while and I needed cheering up. This joke is probably an acquired taste, just like whisky or beer. Or is it that you cannot remember that you had to acquire the taste through lots of practice. Every night for two weeks a man walks into a bar and orders three glasses of whiskey to be lined up in front of him. Finally, the bartender asks why he does this. The man says, “One shot for me and one each for distant friends.” One night he comes in and orders just two shots. The bartender is puzzled and asks, “Did one of your friends die?” The man says, “No, I quit drinking.”

Beautiful photograph, courtesy of Garry De Long  

Being the ignoramus that I am I was curious to find out what Irish Red beer is.  It is something to my shame that I had never come across or tasted. This is what I discovered. Firstly it is a beer with the following characteristics.  Reddish in colour (of course) full body, and a sweetish, sometimes buttery palate.

I then came across this fantastic site Sallys Place  by Sally Doersam entirely dedicated to Red Beers.  He is an extract but why not visit to find out more. Hopefully this will become an official beer style at some point bt it is worth reading the history.

In recent years red beers have flooded the beer market. Some are targeting the craft beer market while others are squarely aimed at the mass beer drinkers market. Historically red beer styles have been somewhat obscure, but they are now making their mark on the American craft beer culture. The increasing awareness and growing sophistication of the American beer aficionado has catapulted the reds into the limelight. The color red is both a powerful and inviting visual stimulator and as a beer color helps sell the product.

A brewing renaissance, kicked started by the legalization of homebrewing in 1976, is underway. It is gaining momentum at ever increasing rates with more Americans acquiring an appreciation for fine flavored beer on a daily basis. The number of microbreweries, brewpubs, and regional specialty breweries has grown from 19 in 1985 to 1,086 by the end of 1996. The megabrewers, regional brewers and small brewers have scrambled to market red beer in recent years, and now there is a myriad of red beers on retail shelves.

Red in the name of a beer is not enough to qualify a beer in the red style category. For example, the only thing red about Red Dog beer from Miller's Plank Road Brewery is the dog on the label. In all other aspects it is the same old run-of-the-mill American light lager like most national brands. Another example of a beer that has nothing red about it other than its name or label is Red Stripe lager from Jamaica.

Distinguishing characteristics in beer, whether a German pilsner, English bitter or American pale ale, begin in the brewing process. Using specific types of specialty malts in the mash gives red or amber beers their distinctive color. Primarily caramel or roasted malts render the reddish hues as well as unique flavors. Unfortunately there are some unscrupulous breweries that add red coloring to their beer to achieve the desired color, then dub it a red beer.

Red beers come in the form of both ales and lagers. Let's examine briefly what distinguishes an ale from a lager. After beer has been brewed and it enters its fermentation stage, the brewer "pitches" yeast which converts sugars into carbon dioxide and alcohol. The type of yeast and fermentation temperature determines whether a beer is an ale or a lager.

Ales are brewed with top-fermenting yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) at warmer temperatures for a short duration. Lagers are brewed with bottom-fermenting yeast (Saccharomyces uvarum) at cooler temperatures for a longer duration. Originally, all beers were ales, but with the advent of refrigeration and the better understanding of yeast, lager beer was developed and quickly grew in popularity.

American red lagers and ales are not recognized beer styles but rather are styles created by slick beer marketers trying to appeal to novice beer drinkers. Nevertheless, brewed with the appropriate malts to achieve a reddish color and characteristic flavor, they are closely akin to American amber lagers and ales, which are recognized styles. Red beer styles originating in other countries include the red beers of Belgium, Germany's Vienna lagers, and Irish red ales.

Red and amber lagers available in the U.S
Killian's Red was one of the early reds on the American beer scene. First brewed in 1864 as Ruby Ale in Enniscorthy, Ireland, it was dubbed Killian when in 1956 the brewery closed and George Killian Lett licensed his beer to be brewed by Pelforth in France and Adolph Coors Co. in Golden, Colorado.

Although Coors' version of Killian Red was first brewed as an ale, Coors now uses a lager yeast to make it lighter bodied to appeal to America's mass market. It bears a malt accent and is fermented at warmer temperatures to give it a hint of ale character. Slow roasted caramel malt gives Killian Red its color. Despite garnering a silver medal in the amber lager category at the 1996 Great American Beer Festival, it does not stand up well to today's competition.

Frederick Brewing Co., Frederick, Maryland, brews in its family of Blue Ridge beers a fine amber lager, which is a classic, clean, Vienna-style beer. Medium copper in color, with a healthy hop flavor, it offers a nice body and a bit of malt sweetness from the crystal malt, with a low, soft bitterness. Perhaps a bit less of the slightly toasted note seen in the style from some other brewers, but very well done. It earned a bronze medal in the Vienna lager category at the 1996 World Beer Cup competition.

Leinenkugel's Red Lager, brewed by Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Co., Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, makes legitimate claim as a family-operated business, but is owned by Miller Brewing Co. One of the better beers from under the umbrella of a megabrewery, it is brewed with five specialty roast barley malts and two varieties of hops.

Exhibiting a deep copper color, this lager has a nice lingering head and a soft hop aroma accented with a gentle maltiness. The flavor is hearty with a nicely balanced hop flavor that carries through to the end. The body is medium to full, but served too cold (below 50 degrees Farenheit) both the flavor and head are diminished. Leine's Red beat out Frederick's Blue Ridge Amber Lager for the gold at the 1996 World Beer Cup.

The immigration of German brewers to Mexico as well as Central and South America in the 1800's and 1900's inspired true-to-style Vienna lagers like Negra Modelo from Groupo Modelo in Mexico City. It offers a pleasing creamy, malty character and goes down remarkably smooth. Dark auburn in color, it is especially palatable with food.

Red Wolf Lager, brewed by Anheuser-Busch, St. Louis, has a deep pale to brownish color. Where's the red? It has little head retention and only a faint, dry-toasted aroma. Its low flavor profile has a hint of sweet malt and a dry over-toasted barley flavor that hangs on the palate -- another boring American lager. Although it was the bronze medal winner in the American amber lager category at the 1996

I have reproduced in part a facinating article by Allison Van Duson from Forbes.  She has looked at the cummulative recearch in recent years that looks at the positive health effects of drinking beer in moderation.  Of course their our downsides and this is notthe case for everyone.  Anyway very interesting are the positive effects in terms of fighting age related diseases. The picture inset is of Harry Patch   who is one of the very few surviving World War One veterans.

A decade's worth of health research shows that regular, moderate beer intake--one to two 12 ounce glasses per day for men and one for women--can be good for you, especially if you're facing some of the most common diseases related to aging.

Experts say wine tends to get most of the attention when it comes to the health benefits of alcohol primarily because of the French paradox, a reference to the relatively low rate of heart disease in France in spite of a diet high in saturated fat. The idea is that daily sips of Merlot make the difference.

Eight Healthy Reasons To Drink Beer

But a number of studies are showing that moderate consumption of alcohol, including beer, can have similar heart healthy effects, including making men 30 to 35% less likely to have a heart attack than those who abstain.

"Wine is still on moral high ground," says Charlie Bamforth, chair and professor of the department of food science and technology at the University of California, Davis, "but beer deserves just the same acclamation."

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Interest in the health effects of beer has been growing over the past eight to 10 years in tandem with a rise in the popularity of craft beers--usually defined as products of brewers who make fewer than 2 million barrels a year, says Nancy Tringali Piho, a spokeswoman for the National Beer Wholesalers Association.

Unlike many mass-produced beers, craft beers tend to be brewed with a particular focus on flavor, appearance and aroma. Their appeal has attracted an upscale audience that's curious about the beverage and how it compares with wine health-wise.

The news is good, particularly for baby boomers, many of whom are dealing with obesity and high blood pressure, a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke.

Alcohol, including beer, in moderation raises high-density lipoprotein or HDL, known as good cholesterol, says Dr. R. Curtis Ellison, chief of the section of preventive medicine and epidemiology and professor of medicine and public health at the Boston University School of Medicine. It also appears to have a favorable effect on the lining of blood vessels, making them less likely to form a clot or for a clot to rupture and plug an artery, and may help protect against Type 2 diabetes.

"People should realize that a little bit of alcohol on a regular basis decreases the risks of aging," says Ellison, who specializes in researching, among other things, the relationship between moderate alcohol consumption and chronic diseases.

And earlier this month researchers at the National Institutes of Health released a study showing that frequent drinking in moderation may protect men from death due to cardiovascular disease. Men who reported drinking 120 to 365 days a year had a 20% lower cardiovascular death rate than those who drank one to 36 days a year. Overdoing it, however, can have the opposite effect. Men who knocked back five or more drinks when they did indulge had a 30% greater risk for death via heart disease.

Beer may also give your brain a boost.

Adults over age 65 who drank one to six alcoholic beverages over the course of the week turned out to have a lower risk of dementia than non-drinkers or heavier drinkers, according to a 2003 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Likewise, a 2006 report that appeared in an American Heart Association journal showed that a drink or two a day might be linked to better cognitive function in women.

Consume With Caution
Of course, beer isn't good for everyone. Other studies have shown that consuming two or more glasses of alcohol a day may increase a woman's risk of breast cancer, and few medical experts will suggest that a non-drinker take up the habit just for the health benefits, when exercise and a good diet can produce similar benefits.

And Bamforth says he's not so sure that the growing selection of organic beers, those that don't contain sulfites, chemical preservatives and are made with mostly, if not all, organic ingredients, or beers flavored with antioxidant-laden super-fruits will have much of a health impact. It's the alcohol content, as well as vitamins and minerals, in beer that has proved to make a difference.

More important, he doesn't recommend that people think of beer as medicine. Beer is something to enjoy, he says. Just don't feel guilty about indulging.

"In moderation," Bamforth says, "it's part of a wholesome diet.

Hard times ahead for craft and microbrewers as the costs for barley and hops continue to rise.

Hops are now going for $35 to $45 a pound, a big jump rom $3 to $5 this time last year. Barley rates are also up nearly 40 percent. The drastic price increase can be attributed severe weather ruining crops, high demand, and the increasing popularity of ethanol pushing farmers to plan corn instead.    Costs will likely not go down until agricultural and market conditions change.

In the United Kingdom taxes have been raised on drinking spirits and beer.  The Chancellor or the Exchequer Alistair Darling slapped 4 pence on a pint of beer and a staggering 55 pence on a botle of whiskey

David Grant, managing director of Lancashire's Moorhouse's Brewery, branded the measure 'vicious and unwarranted'.

He added: "This tax spells disaster for many traditional pubs at a time when they already have their backs to the wall with spiralling costs and the smoking ban. The Chancellor's actions will, I believe, be the death knell for many more pubs, especially in the north west where community pubs are really struggling to survive."

As it is getting closer to St Patricks day I thought I would revive a post I did early in the year featuring and excellent recipe for green beer. The normal way is to add food coloring to your a lighter beer say lager, and then mix it in. Often blue food coloring is best.

Well rather than using food colouring, which doesn't really work with Guinness, here is a simple and effective recipe for turning beer green. No nasty food colouring or unnatural additives necessary. If anyone has else has a recipe for turning Guinness green please let us all know.

Its not a cocktail it is just turning Beer Green with natural colours. and then perhaps add some spices to flavour.
(Make 2 Glasses)
100 Gram of spinach.
2 mint leves.
small green chilli

Grind above and filter it,
take any light coloured beer mix it. and it look superb green with fantastic flavor.
chilli can be excluded if you do not like it.

An Australia brewer is launching a beer that it says helps fight global warming.
All the greenhouse gases produced through the life of a Cascade Green, from the picking of the hops to the empty bottle landing in the recycling bin, have been offset, the company said.

This is done by purchasing certified carbon offsets from the government-accredited Hobart Landfill Flare Facility, which captures and recycles gases, in Tasmania, where the Fosters-owned Cascade brewery is based.

Cascade Green's marketing manager Ben Summons said all of the carbon offset costs of the new beer will be absorbed by the company and will not be passed on to consumers.

The beer, which is also low carbohydrate and is classified as a "premium" beer, will sell for 17.99 dollars (16.97 US) for a six-pack of 330ml bottles.

Unfortunatley though as far as I can tell this is a beer produced by Fosters with a huge TV advertising and marketing budget.  Ah well another PR spin jumping on the environment wagon.

In search of the perfect pint.  The UK actor Neil Morrissey famed for his 'Bob the Builder' childrens show voice over and his hit  sitcom from the 90's 'Men Behaving Badly.  Is launching his own brand of beer as part of a new UK TV Channel  4 series. The show will see him set up a microbrewery as he searches for the perfect pint.

The actor is working with friend Richard Fox and advertising and brand agency Antidote to launch the brand. It is understood the agency has been approached to develop the branding and positioning of the beer but has also been offered a stake in the brewery.

The three-part series, called Neil Morrissey’s Perfect Pint, has been commissioned by Jamie Oliver’s production company Fresh One and talkbackThames.

The series will follow the Men Behaving Badly star and Fox searching for the perfect pint of beer at a variety of festivals before moving on to a home brew kit. The pair then decide to buy a microbrewery and make the beer on a commercial scale.

Morrissey says: “Beer should not be just for men with sparrows in their beard or lager louts. I want to create the everyman’s ale.”

It is understood that Morrissey and Fox are forming a company that will launch three beers later this year.

It is understood they are talking to Sainsbury’s about gaining listings.

Antidote was founded by former Bates executive creative director Tim Ashton in 2003, and the pair are not thought to have decided on the brand name, although it is thought that Morrissey and Fox are considering using their own names.

The show is due to be aired this summer with filming taking place now.

Sorry it has been quite some time since I posted one of my regular 'man walks into a pub jokes' again.  This time the theme is bears. I unearthed these ones after digging deep. Many thanks to Studio Four in OZ.

A bear walks into a bar an says to the bar tender, “I would like a bourbon and...... a coke.” The bar tender says “What’s up with the big pause?” The bear said “I’ve had them all my life”

A bear walks into a bar in Billings, Montana and sits down. He bangs on the bar with his paw and demands a beer.
The bartender approaches and says, “We don’t serve beer to bears in bars in Billings.”

The bear, becoming angry, demands again that he be served a beer.

The bartender tells him again, more forcefully, “We don’t serve beer to belligerent bears in bars in Billings.”

The bear, very angry now, says, “If you don’t serve me a beer, I’m going to eat that lady sitting at the end of the bar.”

The bartender says, “Sorry, we don’t serve beer to belligerent, bully bears in bars in Billings.”

The bear goes to the end of the bar, and, as promised, eats the woman. He comes back to his seat and again demands a beer.

The bartender states, “Sorry, we don’t serve beer to belligerent, bully bears in bars in Billings who are on drugs.”

The bear says, “I’m NOT on drugs.”

The bartender says, “You are now. That was a barbitchyouate.”

The label on a bottle of Dorothy Goodbody Wholesome Stout, featuring a young woman wearing a revealing dress, has escaped censure from drinks industry body the Portman Group in the UK, despite a complaint that it is sexually suggestive.

The Independent Complaints Panel decided that the label did not breach the Portman Group's Code of Practice, which prevents companies from associating their drinks with sexual success. So it would seem that Dorothy has friends.  

You have to dismay at the political correctness of it all.  Nobody complained when second world war pilots painted similar motives on the noses of their aircraft.  Perhaps if you are in mortal danger then political correctness does not apply?  Anyway I am glad that the Portman Group saw sense this time.

This stout is brewed by the Wye Valley Brewery.   If you would like to check out the beer advocates review go here 

I just read an article on how successful Diageo and Heineken have been working with local farmers in Sierra Leone and Ghana at growing sorghum crops.   It seem to be their intention to supply their African breweries with this locally sourced ingredient. 

Numerous Sorghum species are used for food (as grain and in sorghum syrup or "sorghum molasses"), fodder, and the production of alcoholic beverages. Most species are drought tolerant and heat tolerant and are especially important in arid regions. They form an important component of pastures in many tropical regions. Sorghum species are an important food crop in Africa, Central America, and South Asia and is the "fifth most important cereal crop grown in the world"  It is interesting to note that African slaves introduced sorghum into the U.S. in the early 17th century.

Here is an extract from the FT article, it will be interesting to see how this all develops given the rising cost of barley and hops.

Heineken and Diageo, which owns the stout brand Guinness, started work with Brussels-based European Co-operative for Rural Development more than a year ago on a five-year project to encourage farmers to produce sorghum in Ghana and Sierra Leone.

For both companies, which make beer as well as non-alcoholic drinks from malted barley throughout Africa, the project was a chance to develop local sources of agricultural raw materials and also to help local economies.

Both companies have been importing barley into many of the African countries – the grain traditionally used to brew beer – to make their drinks. Although barley is one of the world's most common grains, it is not widely grown in Africa since it grows best in countries with cooler climates such as Russia and Canada.

But transportation costs and the rocketing price of malting barley, because of strong global demand, have made importing barley to Africa more expensive than ever. Hence the appeal of making beer with locally produced grains such as sorghum.

lthough African farmers have long grown sorghum, a hardy crop that grows easily in poor soils and is used in porridge and beer, big brewers such as Heineken and Diageo have been reluctant to become reliant on local farmers. They were unsure whether farmers could produce the right variety, and whether they could ensure consistent supply.

The project, which has received some $2.8m in funding from the Common Fund for Commodities – a branch of the United Nations – as well as Heineken and Diageo, aims to establish a sustainable production chain so the companies can rely on getting supplies from local farmers. It also aims to show farmers that there is a long-term future in growing sorghum. “Farmers need to build confidence that the market is there,” Mr Knipscheer says.