360015 Sat Jan 13 22:49:50 -0800 2007 2 33 Food Media and News 0 2186100 This is a great beer magazine – another wonderful effort by the Alstrom brothers. Todd and Jason Alstrom run BeerAdvocate.com and they’ve been promising this magazine for a while – looking for people to sign on for subscriptions at their site and at the beer festivals they sponsor. So it’s been eagerly anticipated for some time. It doesn’t disappoint. The magazine has lots of columns – some you might expect (featured beers, schedules of beer fests and events), but some that are quite new and refreshing, including style profiles, homebrew, and a Beer News section that is full of recent and interesting shorts – for example a ditty on PBR sponsoring NPR shows! (Kinda like McDonald’s sponsoring Frontline, if you ask me.) There are some interesting articles – and they aren’t all in the beer purists mode. One talks about using cans instead of bottles – the new coatings developed in the 80’s really preclude the “metal tasting” issues, and there are a lot of advantages, including no light (no skunking), and less oxidation. Lots of ads – which is a good thing, from my perspective. It’s an introduction to a lot of labels I would not otherwise see. Nice semi-glossy finish – easy to hold and read. All in all, a great start, and all one can hope for is that this level of quality will continue. You can subscribe at their site: http://beeradvocate.com/ Sat Jan 13 22:49:50 -0800 2007 10312 applehome 1 2187097 Haven't seen the magazine yet. Heard of its impending arrival. We're all about canned beer, though- Dale's Pale Ale is a house beer for us. Sun Jan 14 05:52:10 -0800 2007 2186100 12626 ted 2 2187616 The article mentions Dale's Pale Ale, from Oskar Blues Brewery in Lyons, CO. They were one of the first to use the new equipment from Cask Brewing Systems to can their product. Until Cask made this system, canning was prohibitive to small brewers as the older systems cost too much - also the blank cans had to be purchased in huge numbers. Cask negotiated with the Ball Corporation to drop the minimum order. Thanks to Cask, we will probably start to see more and more craft brews in cans. Sun Jan 14 15:27:04 -0800 2007 2187097 10312 applehome