Free Republic

A zoning committee has ordered a northern Wisconsin brewery that has supported Democratic political figures to close its doors. The Oneida County committee revoked Minocqua Brewing Company's permit on Wednesday, Wisconsin Public Radio reported. The committee members said owner Kirk Bangstad violated prohibitions on outdoor sales. Bangstad told the committee he has allowed people to sit outside the establishment but insists he's really just being punished for his liberal views. Bangstad ran for Congress as a Democrat in 2015 and for State Assembly in 2020. Among the beers the brewery offers are Evers Ale, named for Democratic Gov. Tony Evers,...

Having grown up in New Jersey, there are plenty of things about the state that I’m not particularly proud of. MTV’s “Jersey Shore,” for example, was not the best look, particularly not for Italian-American New Jerseyans like yours truly. And I remember feeling plenty of secondhand embarrassment watching residents turn every little statewide oddity — from full-serve-only gas, to Action Park’s dismal safety record — into points of burning pride to be loudly squawked about in mixed company. But that embarrassment was just personal. It’s nothing like the professional mortification I’ve felt for the past year watching my home state...

Microscopic signatures of malting could help reveal which prehistoric people had a taste for beer. Ancient beer is difficult to trace, because many of beer’s chemical ingredients, like alcohol, don’t preserve well (SN: 9/28/04). But a new analysis of modern and ancient malted grain indicates that malting’s effects on grain cell structure can last millennia. This microscopic evidence could help fill in the archaeological record of beer consumption, providing insight into the social, ritual and dietary roles this drink played in prehistoric cultures, researchers report online May 7 in PLOS ONE. Malting, the first step in brewing beer, erodes cell...

Over on this thread discussing what has become of Fox News ratings the conversation slipped into the famous New Coke fiasco, and then onto discussion of what happened to Schiltz beer. This seemed like far too important a topic not to have it's own thread. Especially given the onset of summer. So lets have your opinions, good or bad, on the many regional American macro-brews of days past, both the survivors and the many more dead soldiers. Pictures are greatly appreciated!

ANCIENT BEVERAGE BREWED IN MILWAUKEE MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN — NPR reports that archaeologist Bettina Arnold of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and her research team worked with Lakefront Brewery to try to re-create an alcoholic beverage that had been placed in a bronze cauldron and buried in a grave sometime between 400 and 450 B.C. in what is now Germany. The recipe was based upon the research of paleobotanist Manfred Rösch, who analyzed the residues in the Iron Age cauldron. He found evidence of honey, meadowsweet, barley, and mint—ingredients in a type of beverage known as a braggot.

Before devoting his time to defeating the British in the Revolutionary War and being the first president of the United States, George Washington enjoyed brewing his own beer. A handwritten recipe for "small beer" created by Washington in 1757, while serving in the Virginia militia, has been published by the New York Public Library. The recipe, which was found in Washington's "Notebook as a Virginia Colonel", lists the ingredients as bran hops, yeast and molasses –... "Take a large Sifter full of Bran Hops to your Taste," Washington instructed. "Boil these 3 hours then strain out 30 Gall into a...

The First Lady’s office confirms that the White House chefs made one batch of beer using about a pound of honey from the First Lady’s honey hive, on the South Lawn of the White House. The chefs used the traditional methods to brew the beer, and the First Lady’s office confirms that the Obamas paid for the equipment. The batch was made so that the nearly 200 Super Bowl guests – from members of Congress to celebrities like J-Lo -- could sample the new beer.

Brewers cleverly conquer shortage of hops just in time to get the season's beers on the shelves Early this year, brewers and beer drinkers (and beer writers) fretted about a worldwide shortage of hops, a key ingredient in beer. Prices went up $1 per six-pack – and higher. Brewers talked of experimenting with alternative flavoring products. Some wondered if they would need to eliminate hoppy beers altogether. But now, shelves are filled with aggressive fall seasonals – ales and marzens and pilsners boasting impressive hoppiness. What happened? Community. Craft brewers are trading hops, letting smaller brewers piggyback on large hops...

St. Louis—In what could be the biggest disaster since Hurricane Katrina, Budweiser—after being sold to Belgian based InBev—has immediately plans to change the formulation for their beer. The change comes to reflect a European style of beer, giving it a more “fruitier and nuttier taste,” a veritable Bud “spritzer.” The beer, known to the common working class man, will now appeal to the most erudite of Americans. The “King Of Beers” will indeed have a flavor made for a king, flushing years of perfection down the toilet.

"European bankers and the dollar holocaust" OK, this article isn't finished yet, but I was thinking like "why not publish what I've written so far beforehand, the topic is a highly important one and people here on Free Republic aren't whiners, sure they'll forgive me for saving this draft for later forum abuse and instead I could go treat my sore European intellect to some Absolut and b-movies". I'm on holiday, actually. The unfinished article (please comment!!): "Personally, I'm not born of banking stock. My forebears here in Sweden (yes, I am, again, trying to write an article in English...

CANBERRA (Reuters Life!) - Australians, long regarded as a nation of beer drinkers rivaled only by the Germans, seem to be turning soft, or sober. After 113 years, the country's biggest selling beer, Victoria Bitter, or VB, is to be produced in a mid-strength version to keep pace with the country's fast-changing beer tastes. VB, with its distinctive green label, has since 1894 been a staple of hard-drinking backyard barbecues, student revels and football games, not to mention healthy overseas exports. Now brewer Foster's has decided for the first time to produce the beer in a weaker yellow-label version with...

A university professor has set aside all the popular opinion by saying that beer is a healthy beverage--if not more healthy--than wine, bringing cheers to all the beer lovers. Charles Bamforth, chairman of the food science department at the University of California at Davis and an Anheuser-Busch endowed professor, told food scientists assembled here Tuesday that beer contains valuable B vitamins, such as B12, folic acid and niacin, as well as antioxidants, such as polyphenols and ferulic acid. Bamforth, author of the book Beer: Health and Nutrition says beer also has soluble fiber, which is good for digestion, and the...

Sonkajarvi, Finland (AHN) - Could you carry your wife 250 meters on your back through an obstacle course? That's what one husband from Estonia did to win his wife's weight in beer, and even set a world record doing it. Sandra Kullas and Margo Uusorg won the race Saturday with a winning time of 56.9 seconds. They were among 40 couples who competed in the annual race. The course included pools and hurdles. The men could run or walk while carrying the women on their backs. The championship was being held for the 11th time and evokes the legend of...

See for example this thread first. More important than ol' Britney Spears Is this list of the 50 worst beers Tho' it is quite a fight The worst ones are "Light"-- So open a Stout and say "Cheers!"

Rep. Patrick Kennedy (news, bio, voting record) crashed his car near the Capitol early Thursday, and a police official said he appeared intoxicated. Kennedy said he had taken sleep medication and a prescription anti-nausea drug that can cause drowsiness. Kennedy, D-R.I., addressed the issue after a spate of news reports. His initial statement said: "I consumed no alcohol prior to the incident."'Later, however, he issued a longer statement saying the attending physician for Congress had prescribed Phenergan on Tuesday to treat Kennedy's gastroenteritis.Kennedy said he returned to his Capitol Hill home on Wednesday evening after a final series of votes...

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- A House subcommittee Wednesday approved a bill allowing the sale of stronger beer in South Carolina.

Russian army rescues kegs of beer Russian troops have retrieved 10 tonnes of beer trapped under the Siberian ice after a week-long operation. A lorry carrying the beer was lost while crossing the frozen River Irtysh, near the city of Omsk, about 2,200 kilometres (1400 miles) from Moscow. The driver managed to jump out after the ice gave way, but the lorry and its cargo sank. Six divers, 10 men with electric saws and a tank pulled the beer kegs - but not the truck - to safety. Beer going cheapWith temperatures reaching -27C, the rescue mission was fraught...

MILWAUKEE - The latest fight in the U.S. beer battle is a matter of taste. Miller Brewing Co. says rival Anheuser-Busch has altered Bud Light in the past year to make it more bitter and bubbly, rolling out the claim about Bud Light in national television ads that began airing Friday. The company said data it has collected show Bud Light's bitterness and carbonation rose from last year. Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc. called Miller's claims "another marketing ploy" and complained to cable networks that the statements are false. Now, 10 of 32 cable networks contracted to run the commercials have put...

WASHINGTON (CBS) President George W. Bush, ignoring Moscow's objections about his trip to former Soviet republics, said that Russia should treat its neighbors with respect and not fear the rise of new democracies along its borders. Bush on Friday opened a fast-paced four-country, five-day journey to mark the 60th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany. The president will meet on Saturday with the leaders of Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia. For these Baltic countries, the end of World War II did not bring liberation. Instead, they traded Nazi oppression for nearly five decades of Soviet domination. "This is a bittersweet...

Luis Manuel Orama says he just wanted to make a little homemade moonshine for Christmas. But the Lee County Sheriff's Office says a wood-burning fire used in the fermentation process got out of control late Thursday, engulfing the outdoor still and spreading to his detached garage with three vehicles inside. Orama, 52, was charged with second-degree arson and possession of a still to manufacture liquor. He told investigators he was making moonshine for Christmas. Authorities said the fire caused about $50,000 in damages, but no one was hurt. Investigators later found several propane tanks behind the garage and empty jugs,...