BrewDog has come back (yet again) and regained the title for world’s strongest beer. They didn’t just beat it by a few percent….43% to 45%?, nope. 47%?…nope. ’The End of History’ is a massive 55% ABV!!!! Now, beer that strong doesn’t come cheap. There are only 11 bottles available apparently and they start off at a massive £500. Start saving you pennies, err, won and you had better hurry as I’m sure they won’t last long.
A big congratulations goes out Homebrew Korea member, Ian!!! He submitted to correct answer which was Pabst. Apparently, after ‘much research’ they settled on 6 cans as they figured that was the most a woman could/would carry home for their man (remember, women did the shopping back then).
Ian has won a set of ten, 1L flip-top bottles from GoodBeer. Again, congratulations!
How about a little beer trivia!? As we all know, beer is a pretty amazing thing. People have found beer recipes from over 6000 years ago. The Egyptians used beer to cure over 100 ailments and paid the pyramid workers in beer. By 3000BC they were even brewing atleast 6 types of beer!
My question to you is this…
Who invented the beer six pack and how did they settle on that number?
It’s probably a pretty easy question, but we’ll see. If you know the answer (or think you know the answer) post a comment in reply to this post. The first person to post the correct answers to both parts of the question will get a prize.
What prize you ask??? A case (ten bottles) of 1L flip top bottles courtesy of GoodBeer brewing supplies. A prize worth 54,000won!!!
Jacob Templin, a video journalist from Time Magazine shot me an email the other day with a link to a video about summer beers. Not surprisingly Hite, Cass nor OB are included in the video and none of the beers are available here. I would love to give them a shot though. Check out the link below for the video.
I’ve upload some photos from the SMaSH-off to the Homebrew Korea Facebook page. Sorry it took me so long to get them posted. It was a good afternoon!!! Enjoy.
Willow Garage has come up with a ‘Beer Me’ application for their PR2 Robot. The future is here people!!! Those without kids to run off and get your next beer can now that enjoy that same convenience.
There are a ton of breweries out there these days (nearly 1,600 in the States alone!) and I was just curious what everyones favourites are? This is top 5 breweries, not beer, so take that into account. Personally, I haven’t had much beer from the States so my 5 choices will be very different from others.
I’ve added quite a few options, so sorry for the long list but I wanted to try and cover as much as I could. From 51 ~ 70 are some Canadian breweries. If I missed one of your top 5, I’ll add it for ya.
While Seoul and Korea are home to nearly sixty brewpubs according to the Korean Microbrewery Association (pretty sure this number is actually a bit higher), Pyongyang in the north boasts a whopping 150 brewpubs according to Yonhap News via the North Korean Central News Agency and are “are alive with customers every day”.
The brewpub situation in the South is definitely getting better, but I would still argue that more needs to be done to attract business people and brewers to opening a business. What really needs to be done, and fast, is modifying the outrageous restrictions that basically prohibit all but the biggest of breweries (see Hite, Cass and OB) to bottle and sell their beer in the stores and supermarkets. This would allow for small breweries to operate and sell their beer to stores and would drastically change the beer scene in this country. Can you imagine buying a decent Korean made IPA or an Imperial Pilsner?? Obviously some people are still interested in protecting the big breweries and their stranglehold over the Korean beer market, ironically of which Cass and OB aren’t even Korean anymore. OB was bought out by InBev in 1998 whom then sold it to an affiliate of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. last year.
I haven’t had it in a few years, but I remember the North’s Taedonggang being vastly better than the swill available down here in the South. The article states that the Taedonggang Brewery received a ISO 9001 rating in 2008, meaning it has met global industry production standards. The breweries are also pump out rice beer and black beer according to the article. I would love to be able to try some other North Korean beer and compare it to what’s available here.
Hopefully, sooner rather than later, the right people in power will either read this or will develop a love for quality beer and set in motion a plan to change the restrictive laws prohibiting growth in the Korean beer industry. Quality new breweries and the ability to have their beer sold in local stores is a day that couldn’t come soon enough for myself and many, many other beer drinkers here in Korea.
Sam Calagione (owner of Dogfish Head Brewery) is starring in a new show coming out on the Discovery Channel entitled ‘BREWED’ coming out this fall. They are going to touch on what goes behind the scenes at the Dogfish Head brewery, the history and culture of beer and then embark on a bit of a beer tour to Rome and New Zealand to research the beers of old. It also apparently covers a bit about their new beer, ‘Bitches Brew‘ (a three part imperial stout, on part honey beer), which sounds very intriguing to say the least.
It sounds like an interesting show. I’m looking forward to watching it. Hopefully it’s better than a five part show I just finished called ‘Men Brewing Badly’. It wasn’t a horrible show, but there wasn’t really any brewing going on and barely and beer talk.
See the article on BeerNews.org for more information.
