TurboCool Canned Beer Chiller

Posted by Beer Blogger | Beer Gadgets | Posted on June 14th, 2013

Warm beer. Do you think there is someone out there that really likes it? One sick individual with tastebuds long dead that enjoys a non-cold one? For the rest of us, a properly chilled beer is part of what is so enjoyable about a nice brew. We’ve all had times when we have a beer that isn’t ideally cooled. You can make sure your brew is always nice and cold with the TurboCool.

The TurboCool quickly chills your beer cans down to just the right temp without batteries or electricity. Simply put your can of brew in the TurboCool along with some ice and water and pump it for about a minute to cool it down to the perfect drinking temp. The TurboCool is great for in the woods or tailgating as it requires no power but that provided by your arms pumping it. No need for a huge cooler to pack a weekend worth of craft beer cans and keep them cool. The cans aren’t shaken while inside so your beverage is ready to drink as soon as you’re down chilling it. It’s perfect for on the boat where space is at a premium as a bit of cold water from the lake and a small handful of ice will return a cold brew.

Warm beer is something no one wants to mess with. Make sure you can cool your cans anytime and anywhere with the TurboCool. The company is currently funding the production of this beer gadget and hopes to start shipping soon. Get over to their Kickstarter project and get yourself a TurboCool while helping to make this happen. Checkout their Kickstarter page here.

ATOM : A Multipurpose Bottle Opener

Posted by Beer Blogger | Beer Gadgets | Posted on June 12th, 2013

For the beer drinker, a good bottle opener is a must. How else can we get into that precious bottle of brew for quick and easy access. Your standard bottle opener is nice but some want more utility out of a bottle opener. The ATOM is a multipurpose tool that combines a beer bottle opener along with 15 other tools for a handy gadget that fits right on your keychain.

The ATOM comes packed with all kinds of utility. Two different sizes of flathead screwdriver along with two sizes of Philips head. Three sizes of hex wrench. Rulers in both metric and standard. Two files along with a pry bar. A hex bit driver, protractor, and ripping tool plus of course the ever important bottle opener. Unlike the typical multi-tool which requires a good chunk of space in the pocket, with the ATOM, all of that functionality fits right on your keychain. It’s made of high grade stainless steel and then heat treated to stand up to the abuse of popping all those bottles long with all the other applications it has.

Everyone needs a quality tool for when jobs arise. Right not the ATOM is in the final days of its Kickstarter fund raising. If you want one for yourself (available in silver and tactical black finishes) and would like to help fund their project, hurry and do so now. Checkout the ATOM multi-tool on their Kickstarter page here.

Good Clean Beer Soap

Posted by Beer Blogger | Beer Gadgets | Posted on June 7th, 2013

Love beer? We all do. It’s great for relaxing after a long day, as a social lubricant, as a refreshing beverage on a hot day, and for so many other great reasons. There are a million reasons to drink beer but drinking isn’t the only use for beer. I’m sure most of us have had a beer so good we wished we could bathe in it. With Good Clean Beer Soap, your dream of bathing in beer has come true.

Good Clean Beer Soap is a great natural soap made with your favorite beverage, beer. Like your favorite craft brew, this beer soap is made by hand in small batches using natural ingredients. Each beer soap is made with malted barley, essential oils, and craft beer which gives it a great aroma. The malted barley is nutrient rich and helps to exfoliate the skin. Hops are loaded with skin loving amino acids.

Good Clean Soap was nice enough to send me over a sample of Summer Cotton which is infused with Boulevard 80-Acre Hoppy Wheat Beer. Malted barley, hops, and the fresh scent of linens hanging on the clothesline make for a great aroma. The beer soap leaves your skin and hair feeling clean and smooth with a nice light scent. Good Clean Beer Soap is offered in a number of other great aromas made with great craft beer:

• Black Licorice made with Anchor Porter
• Black Raspberry made with Abita Purple Haze
• Clove & Cinnamon made with Redhook Nutbrown Ale
• Southern Cotton made with Boulevard 80-Acre Hoppy Wheat Beer
• Vanilla Bean made with Leinie’s Snowdrift Vanilla Porter

With great ingredients and great beer, Good Clean Beer Soap is the perfect thing to clean up with before a day of drinking your favorite brew or after a long night of drinking. Clean, fresh aromas and our favorite drink with the power to clean things up. Checkout the Good Clean Soap website here for all of their great beer soap offerings.

Léaf Opener: The Minimalist Tool

Posted by Beer Blogger | Beer Gadgets | Posted on June 5th, 2013

Poppin bottle. It’s something all beer lovers love to do. Some like a traditional bottle opener like a church key while others like something more unique like the Bottle Tap bottle opener. Looking for something simple and elegant? Checkout the Léaf Opener, a minimalist tool for opening beer bottles and boxes.

The Léaf Opener is a Kickstarter project looking to make a great looking and functional bottle opener.  The Leaf Opener can be carried in your wallet and is available in a number of different materials including stainless steel or brass and in polished or brushed finishes.  Each Leaf Opener is laser cut here in the USA from solid stainless steel or solid brass making them much stronger than die cast pieces.  The center hole will hold a 1/4″ hex bit should you need to do a little screwing too.  This bottle opener is thin enough to fit in the credit card slots in your wallet so you can have it along at all times, always ready to pop beer bottles at a moments notice.  Holes in the edges make it a great keychain too.  Much better than those cheap 99¢ liquor store keychain bottle openers that break after a month or two of use.  Although the edge of this opener isn’t sharpened, it works great for slicing through the packaging tape of your beer trades to get your hands on the goodies inside with a quickness.

Before you can enjoy that tasty brew, you have to get the bottle open first. A fine bottle opener that will last through countless bottles (and memories those beers create) is a must for any true craft beer fan.  Find yourself a nice one you can be proud of and one that gets the job done well.  Checkout the Leaf Opener’s Kickstarter project with just a couple days left to get on board here.

The Economics of Beer

Posted by Beer Blogger | Beer Books | Posted on May 29th, 2013

We all know that craft beer has been growing for years now. The number of breweries and the overall sales of craft beer continues to climb year after year. It’s fascinating to read about but some of us might be looking for more. For those that are looking for really in-depth reading about the beer sales, The Economics Of Beer may be the thing.

The Economics Of Beer is a collection of papers presented at the first annual Beeronomics conference. Papers cover a range of topics about the economies. While the information presented is very informative in many ways, its incredibly dry. This isn’t something for the average craft beer fan or even the dedicated ones but more likely someone working in the beer industry. To be honest, I tried to read each of the essays but wasn’t able to finish any of them as they were just so dry and uninteresting that I moved on to the next only to find myself at the end of the book. Like I said, not a book for most beer fans or even very dedicated ones.

While not for most beer fans, The Economics Of Beer is an informative collection of papers that those working in the beer industry may be interested to read. It presents an in-depth look at the industry and the sales of our favorite beverage. Grab a copy of The Economics Of Beer here on Amazon.

Bell’s Brewery HopSlam

Posted by Beer Blogger | Beer Pictures | Posted on May 22nd, 2013

It’s safe to say that most craft beer fans love hoppy IPAs. The wonderful aromas and fruity or bitter flavors. What makes that all better? Making it bigger. Double IPAs are loved almost more than your typical IPA. More malt, more hops, more booze. What’s not to like about that? There are some big names in double IPAs and we see more excitement for the return of one more than any other. Bell’s HopSlam release each year in late January is an event that craft beer fans look forward to with mouths ready.

Brewed with six hop varieties and then dry-hopped with plenty of Simcoe hops, HopSlam packs the hop power that true hop heads are looking for. While many stock up on as much of this beer as they can get their hands on (with most places limiting it to around a case per customer), I’ve moved away from buying HopSlam in liquor stores in the past years. To a wonderful beer when fresh but it seems to lose its original luster quicker than any other beer out there. Even a couple weeks after its release it becomes a former shell of itself. Not that it’s bad by any means but knowing what it once was, you find yourself wishing for that once brewery fresh product you’d started with. With my old traditional case a year, even drinking one a day until they were gone lead to the second half of them being less than ideal. We’ve also seen many other double IPAs hit the market since HopSlam first made a splash in the craftbeer world. The honey added to HopSlam and its bigger sweetness when compared to dryer double IPAs out there turn me away in addition to the greater availability of other options make it a hard sell.

While I may not buy as much HopSlam as years ago (with Surly Abrasive Ale highly available in the area and better tasting plus Founders Double Trouble and others), I still enjoy a glass or two of this brew on tap each year. This year I grabbed it at two NE Minneapolis bars. Bulldog NE (pictured here along with Grumpy’s NE. Two awesome spots to enjoy all kinds of craft beer if you’re in the area. With so many killer imperial IPAs out there now, challenge yourself not to get too crazy about HopSlam next time around. Try it in a blind tasting with other brews and I’m sure you’ll find that much of it is the excitement that goes with this beer that does it for ya. But still don’t totally give up on an old friend. Grab a glass on tap when you can.

The Great American Ale Trail

Posted by Beer Blogger | Beer Books | Posted on May 15th, 2013

Seems most craft beer drinkers find themselves wanting to visit breweries where their favorite brews are made. Every trip for every reason seems to see the addition of researching and visiting any brewery or brewpub in the area or along the way. When looking for spots to checkout, there are many resources to look into. Beer sites with reviews and blogs. Those looking for a bit more complete guide should check out The Great American Ale Trail.

The Great American Ale Trail is a guide to brewers, brewpubs, and beer bars across the United States. It features everything from the big name breweries with distribution across much of the US to the small family run operations with brew only available in their small breweries. It features hundreds of entries and is packed with information that should help in planning your next trip. The book includes top ten lists like Best Beer Festivals, Best Beer Cities, and Best Dive Bars for Craft Beer Lovers.

Exploring new spots and enjoying great brews not available back home is part of the fun of the craft beer culture. For those looking to plan their next beer travel stops, The Great American Ale Trail is a great reference to see what is out there and where you may want to stop. Pickup your copy of The Great American Ale Trail right here on Amazon.

Teachings From the Tap: Life Lessons From Our Year in Beer

Posted by Beer Blogger | Beer Books | Posted on May 10th, 2013

For most that get into craft beer, at some point we have the urge to find out how and where it’s all made.  We visit our favorite local breweries and take a tour.  They show us the brewing process and tell us the history of their brand.  It’s a great educational experience and it brings us closer to our favorite brews.  When we travel we also find ourselves looking for breweries and brewpubs along the way to visit.  Places serving beers we can’t get back home or breweries making our favorite beers.  Beer travel has become a common hobby for many craft beer fans.  With so many breweries in this fine country, it’s become hard to sometimes plan where we should go when we travel.  There are a number of books out there to inform us about great beer locations around the US and Teachings From The Tap: Live Lessons From Our Year In Beer is another collection of information from travels compiled by a craft beer drinker.

While many beer books focus on specific countries or regions, Teachings From The Tap is a collection of travels all over the US, Canada, Western Europe, and Australia.  It gives a wide range of information about a very wide range of breweries and beer spots all over the place. This makes for an interesting enough read but makes it much less useful for someone planning their travels in a specific area and makes things a bit all over the place.  The book was self-published where a book put out through a normal publishing agency may have had an agent that would have helped the author focus more and keep things together a bit better.

The information presented in Teachings From The Tap paints a great picture of beer culture and the wonderful breweries all over.  Those looking to plan their own beer travels may want to check it out as it may aid them on their way.  If you haven’t done any beer traveling, now is the time to pick a destination and start looking for places to visit along the way.  Buy a copy of Teachings From the Tap: Life Lessons From Our Year in Beer here on Amazon.

Stone Brewing Enjoy By 05.17.13 IPA

Posted by Beer Blogger | Beer Pictures | Posted on May 8th, 2013

Stone Brewing has been releasing Enjoy By IPA in batches around the US for several months now. With each release of this brew, the bottles show the date that this hoppy brew should be enjoyed by or before. Hoppy beers (and most all beers for that matter) are best enjoyed as fresh as possible from the brewery. Stone has taken that a bit further and put that date right on the bottle. No collaring here. This beer should be consumed the minute you buy it. There’s no better time to enjoy this beer than right now.

Pours a light straw yellow with a light white head of foam. After a while the foam settles leaving a good ring of fluff still stuck around the edge of the glass. Lots of fresh citrus aroma with tropical fruit notes and a light peach. Taking a sip the tongue is greeted with lots of the tropical fruit found in the aroma followed by a blast of hop bite. With 13 different hop varieties packed into this brew, there’s plenty of hoppiness going on here. A nice light peach flavor sticks around a bit in the aftertaste. While the color, looks, and aroma don’t give it away, this IPA weighs in at 9.4% ABV putting it well into imperial IPA territory. The mouthfeel does give away the size of this brew a bit with a bit thicker malt profile than one would find I your typical IPA. A nice dry finish with a light malt sweetness works well here.

Stone is measuring the social media impact of Enjoy By. You can view real-time impact of this tasty brew by visiting the Enjoy By page on Stone’s website. Drinkers can tweet about it using the hashtag #EnjoyBy along with the hashtag for your state’s appreciation such as #EnjoyBy #MN

Beermometer for iPhone

Posted by Beer Blogger | Beer Gadgets | Posted on May 3rd, 2013

Who doesn’t like a cold beer?  While there is nothing finer, no one wants a warm brew (we’re not talking cellar temperature here).  You get home from the liquor store and put a couple of your newly acquired craftbeers in the freezer for a quick chill.  The problem is you never seem to know exactly how long it’ll take to get them to the point you want.  Often times, you pop one of the newly chilled bottles just to find that the contents inside aren’t as cool as the outside of the bottled had seemed.  Beermometer for iPhone solves all your beer cooling woes using science (that awesome thing you’ve heard so much about).

Simply set a couple options and the Beermometer takes care of the rest.  Enter what you’re drinking (bottle, can, etc), how it is right now (outside temperature, room temp, etc) and where it’s going (outside, in the freezer, etc) and you’re set.  The app will then notify you when your beer is just how you want it.  It can email you, send a text message, post a Twitter message, or send a push message to your phone when your brew is ready.  The app knows the outside temperature based on your location and can automatically calculate how long it will take your frosty beer sitting outside to get to just the right drinking temp.  Beermometer used temperature decay to calculate just how long your beer will need to be where to hit what temp.  Looking to enjoy that imperial stout at the perfect cellar temperature after it’s been in the refrigerator for a couple days?  This app can do help.

For craft beer drinkers, most of us strive to make sure we’re using the proper style of glassware, making sure it’s beer clean, pouring the beer correctly, and making sure that it’s served at the right temp for the style.  With Beermometer, we have another tool that can help in the enjoyment of our favorite beverage.  The easy setup and simple design makes use a snap even when you’ve had a couple.  The only problem now is the wait time for that brew to be ready.  Grab the Beermometer for iPhone here directly from the App Store.