[Ryan16]

Recent Headlines: March 3, 2011 (Compiled by the Brewers Association)

Events>>
Brewmasters converge on Ybor City - http://www2.tbo.com/content/2011/mar/03/031016/FXEVNT01-brew-masters-converge-on-ybor-city/life/ - tbo.com
More than 30 Florida breweries will be represented at the annual Beerfest in Ybor City on Saturday. The event, sponsored by the Florida Brewers Guild, has been a sellout for the past three years. "It's becoming a very intense and popular event; we had more than 1,700 attending last year," says David Doble, brew master at the Tampa Bay Brewing Company. In addition to Florida breweries there will be at least 10 out-of-state breweries represented, says Madison Roane, of the Brewers Guild.

Art of Beer at NACC on Friday - http://niagara-gazette.com/nightandday/x831625781/Art-of-Beer-at-NACC-on-Friday - niagara-gazette.com
Like the foam in an ice cold glass of brew, the Art of Beer celebration Friday is expected to be very satisfying to beer lovers and aficionados. "It's going to be a beer lover's paradise," said Bob Drozdowski, director of operations at the Niagara Arts and Cultural Center and co-chairman of the event, which has grown every year since its inauguration five years ago. "The neat thing I hear constantly from people is that there is a very good cross section of people that come, both young and old," said Drozdowski. "We get a lot of the beer aficionados, and we actually even have dump buckets like there are at wine tastings for those who like to swirl and spit."

Lifestyle>>
Details on the Obama White House homebrewed beer - http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/the-beeronaut/2011/03/details-on-the-obama-white-house-homebrewed-beer.html - chicagonow.com
The craft beer and homebrewing communities got quite a surprise on Super Bowl Sunday. No, not Adrien Brody crooning in the Stella Artois commercial. It was the news that the White House Super Bowl party offered up a homebrewed ale along with beers from Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. The Obama Foodorama blog broke the story about White House Honey Ale, made with a homebrewing setup purchased privately by the Obamas, and brewed with a pound of honey from the recently installed White House beehive.

On tour: The 'stainless wonders' of a local brewery - http://www.mukilteobeacon.com/community/article.exm/2011-03-02_on_tour__the__stainless_wonders__of_a_local_brewery - mukilteobeacon.com
A mistake is not necessarily a mistake when brewing beer at the local Diamond Knot Brewery Co. In 2005, a brewer messed up when making a batch of Diamond Knot's IPA.  As tasty as it was, the beer was not the company's flagship beer, so it was sold as the Front Street Bitter, after the location of its original brewpub on Front Street. "It was fantastic beer, and people loved it," said Diamond Knot Brewmaster Pat Ringe.  "I had to go back and try to figure out exactly what screwed up, so we could reproduce it." Diamond Knot, with about 24 other breweries across the state, opened its doors on Feb. 26 for the first Washington Beer Open House, sponsored by the Washington Beer Commission. The open houses allowed beer lovers an opportunity to experience all the "stainless wonders" of the Mukilteo brewery – and, of course, taste some of its beers.

Government Affairs>>
Md. bill meant to lure brewery - http://www.delmarvanow.com/article/20110303/NEWS01/103030376/1002/MARYLAND--Unrest-won-t-stop-Md.-National-Guard-trip-to-Egypt-/Md-bill-meant-lure-brewery?odyssey=nav|head - delmarvanow.com
Maryland Sen. Richard Colburn says Wicomico County's alcohol laws must be tweaked in order to attract the big fish that got away: Evolution Craft Brewing Co. "We're doing everything we can to make sure everything is in place to allow them to locate in the city of Salisbury," said Colburn, R-37-Dorchester. Just shy of reaching its second year of operation, the Delmar, Del., microbrewery has grown so rapidly that its owners, the Knorr brothers, are shopping around for a larger facility. Tom Knorr says they're interested in moving to the former Reddy Ice plant on Elmwood Drive in Salisbury, then converting the spacious facility into a restaurant/microbrewery. Colburn has introduced legislation that would increase from three to five the number of Class B alcohol licenses -- the types used at restaurants -- that the holder of either a pub-brewery or microbrewery license can have. Knorr said the change would open the door for moving Evolution to Salisbury.

Senate passes bill to change Utah liquor laws - http://qsaltlake.com/2011/03/03/senate-passes-bill-to-change-utah-liquor-laws/ - qsaltlake.com
The Utah Senate passed a bill that would change liquor and beer service time, increase the number of restaurant liquor licenses and eliminate mini-kegs in Utah liquor stores, amongst a variety of other changes. Senate Bill 314, which cleared the Senate on Friday afternoon, is designed to make people eat when they consume alcohol, said the bill sponsor, Sen. John Valentine, R-Orem. Utah has one of the fastest-growing restaurant industries in the nation, according to the Utah Restaurant Association. The bill would add 15 new full-liquor service licenses and 25 beer and wine licenses. The bill would also allow an unlimited amount of beer-only licenses for restaurants that only want to serve beer. No additional licenses would be given for bars or clubs in the new bill. However, it makes liquor licenses transferable, so when a bar or tavern is purchased, the liquor license could be included with the purchase.

Beer industry faces off against health advocates over food labels - http://www.sciencemagnews.com/beer-industry-faces-off-against-health-advocates-over-food-labels.html - sciencemagnews.com
OTTAWA - Allergy and health groups are asking the Conservative government to press ahead with new food-labelling regulations even as the beer industry asks to pull out of them. The proposed regulations, published July 2008, would require manufacturers and importers to clearly note potential allergens on labels - an important indication for those with serious or life-threatening allergies. In an open letter to the prime minister this week, those fighting for the new regulations questioned the position of brewers who are asking for an exemption.

Business>>
Changing Lanes: Filmmaker to Beer Brewer - http://www.bu.edu/today/node/12407 - bu.edu
How many careers does the average American worker have in a lifetime? ... For Garrett Oliver, brewmaster and one-time aspiring filmmaker, the mental processes behind creating beer and making films are not all that different. "Both require half-technical and half-artistic inspiration," says Oliver. "If you have lots of inspiration but not enough technical ability, you end up with something like a first student film-filled with passion, but you look at the screen and there's not a whole lot there. It's about having both sides of your brain working." The two sides of Oliver's brain currently work overtime at Brooklyn Brewery, in (where else?)