March 30 | Misquote Ben Franklin Day

Adorning the wall of one of the newest beer bars in the Valley is this quotation.

"Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy." - Ben Franklin

It's one of the most persistent myths in beer.

Bloggers Take Inventory.

Ah, the craft beer world. Full of good people. There was even a #beerpeoplearegoodpeople hashtag on twitter for some time although it seems to have lost considerable steam.

We say our industry is 99 percent asshole free. - Sam Calagione 

I'm reasonably sure that Sam Calagione may have uttrred some variation of this in the Beer Wars movie. I'm positive that I've heard him relate the same idea prior to reading it on the web. Regardless, there it is in the dcist last October and I'm here to disagree, not in kind but in degree.

Charter Oak Brewing. Stop Comment Spamming

Over the last week or so, this blog and at least 30 other beer blogs have been hit with comment spam by Charter Oak Brewing (Google results here).

Competing to Compete: How to Avoid Kickstarting A Dead Horse.

Arizona Wilderness Kickstarter

This month brings the first 2 of 3 Kickstarter brewery start-up campaigns that I know of and I'd like us all to consider the ramifications. Kickstarter is an online service where creative projects can pitch an idea and folks that want to support that idea can contribute. The campaign has a goal amount and a time frame. If the goal is not met, the prospective donors are off the hook. There is no ownership of the enterprise. You support the idea with your dollars if you want to help make it happen.

Given the recent popularity of this concept for start-up breweries, the potential for over-saturation exists. I predict that we'll probably see as many as 8 campaigns this year. Even a modest contribution of say $20 here and $50 there begins to add up.

Post AZ Beer Week 2012 Thoughts

Get it out of your heads, Phoenix. We're just as good or better than anyone else at putting on a beer week. I overheard almost every out of state brewer or rep asked the question by an eager beer drinker, "Are we as good as ____?" and I walked away before the question could be answered. I know the answer. Just a few metrics to prove my point: