Tour Founders’ beer caves, prep for Game of Thrones, visit the house that beer cans built and enjoy America’s most popular beverage. It’s the most serious of beer news in this week’s roundup.
Grand Rapids: A world of pure imagination
Willy Wonka’s Golden Ticket may have met its match. And we don’t mean the recent Bud Light Golden Can promotion. Founders Brewing Co. announced that five lucky beer enthusiast would get an opportunity to tour the Michigan brewery’s barrel-aging caves. The reclaimed Gypsum mines stretch for six miles under Grand Rapids and are home to the bourbon barrels that age such renowned beers as Kentucky Breakfast Stout and Backwoods Bastard. Entrants must submit their idea for a “dream” barrel-aged beer. But, just a concept won’t cut it. The entry must include the ingredients, name and artwork for the label. The winners will be invited to the brewery for a tour of the caves replete with samples from various barrels along with a two-night stay at a local hotel and $500 in travel vouchers. They will be wined and dined by the Founders team and get tickets to the annual Black Party. The caves are home to some 7,000 barrels in various states of aging.
Cooperstown: Ommegang always pays its debts
The latest Game of Thrones themed beer from Brewery Ommegang has been revealed and it’s a nod to the appropriate action one should take when approaching the Iron Throne. Bend the Knee will carry three different labels each baring the seal of a different leading Seven Kingdoms tribe: Lannister, Stark and Targaryen. The beer is a golden ale brewed with wildflower honey and comes in at 9% ABV. “The subtle noble and floral hop contribution adds to its delicateness, and the beer finishes smooth and dry,” Ommegang President, Doug Campbell, told GQ. Bend the Knee follows seven previous iterations of the series, Iron Throne (blond ale), Take the Black (stout), Fire and Blood (red ale), Three-Eyed Raven (dark saison) Seven Kingdoms (wheat ale), Valar Morghulis (dubbel) and Valar Dohaeris (tripel). The beer is scheduled to hit the shelves in late May in time for the premier of the show’s seventh season later this year.
Houston: So many activities!
The Super Bowl is so much more than just a football game. Festivities last the entire week and the whole host city is on display. In Houston, one suggested activity was a visit to The Beer Can House. The residence, almost entirely adorned with beer cans, is the handiwork of homeowner John Milkovisch, a retired upholsterer and amateur exterior designer. Milkovisch “got sick of mowing the grass” and buried it in marbles and rocks. He then turned to the house itself, covering it with flattened beer cans consumed by him and his wife for “practical and decorative reasons.” According to Ripley’s Believe It or Not, the house is blanketed in an estimated 50,000 beer cans. “I guess I just thought it was a good idea. And it’s easier than painting,” explained Milkovisch. The house is currently owned by the Orange Show Center of Visionary Arts proving that art truly is in the eye of the beer-holder…
Nation: Beer, America’s drink
Beer is still the most popular alcoholic beverage according to a Nielsen Harris poll. Beer topped wine and spirits with close to four in ten regular drinkers reaching for a pint glass. Beer drinkers also proved to be in it for the long haul, with devotees stating it was their preferred tipple two years ago and 10 years ago. Wine drinkers were more fair weather with many saying they preferred a different quaff 10 years ago. “While many consumers will increasingly drink across all three major adult beverage categories, they still have their ‘preferred’ drink type,” explained SVP of Nielsen’s Beverage Alcohol Practice, Danny Brager. “At the same time, all consumers are not alike, and various demographic groups clearly have different favorites. For some, that ‘go to’ choice hasn’t changed a great deal, but for a significant percentage of those who favor wine today, they did prefer another beverage type 10 years ago. Both life stage changes over that period of time as these consumers have aged, as well as today’s younger generations being more open to wine, are likely driving those changes in preference.”