Clamps & Gaskets: News Roundup for 2011 Weeks 2/3

A non-comprehensive roundup of the week's
news of beer and other things.

Weeks 2/3
8 January 2011 - 22 January 2011

• 2011.01.22
  A new Virginia brewery: Blue Lab Brewing Company in Lexington, Va. Via Rockbridge Weekly.
• 2011.01.21
  The Brewers Association announces the lineup of participating breweries for 2011 Savor, the annual beer-with-food exposition, 3/4 June, in Washington, DC.
• 2011.01.21
  Birthday in Beer: beer (and golf) writer Tom Bedell

• 2011.1.21
  A profile of Port City Brewing Company, a soon-to-open Alexandria, Virginia, production brewery. Via DCBeer.com.
• 2011.01.20
  Facebook bans beer blog Musings Over A Pint, then rescinds ban. Offers no explanation.
• 2011.01.19
  Freakonomics asserts that the cost of a wine is a dominant factor in perceiving the quality of a wine, more so than varietal, tannic structure, etc.


• 2011.01.19
  Beer writer Lew Bryson questions the validity of the new guidelines for 'session beer,' as promulgated by the Great American Beer Festival.
• 2011.01.19
  The 20 most powerful people in US beer business, via Beer Business Daily. A 'craft beer' maker the No. 1 spot for the first time.
• 2011.01.19
  Again, neither rose nor cognac for Edgar Allan Poe. For the 2nd year in a row since 1949, a 'mysterious' visitor fails to appear at poet's grave in Baltimore, Maryland.
• 2011.01.19
  Nine breweries are among 71 businesses awarded Good Food Awards. Via RealBeer.com.


• 2011.01.17
  The 50 best bars in the U.S., via BarFinder.com. The 100 best beer bars in the U.S., via Draft Magazine.
• 2011.01.17
  Brooklyn Brewery fires up the brewhouse in its new 50,000 barrel facility. Via BeerNews.org.
• 2011.01.17
  Discovering the remnants of an Iron Age Celtic brewery of 2,550 years ago, in Germany. Via Science News.
• 2011.01.16
  “Totally pointless categorization of something that is the same shit." Beer writer Stephen Beaumont on Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones and beer styles.


• 2011.01.16
  A list of who's who in jazz on Twitter, via Elements of Jazz.
• 2011.01.15
  Washington D.C.'s legendary Town & Country Lounge, at the Mayflower Hotel, closes.
• 2011.01.15
  Catoctin Creek Distillery in Loudoun County, Virginia, is that county's first distillery since Prohibition.
• 2011.01.15
  Did a thirst for beer spark civilization? Maybe, says biomolecular archaeologist Patrick McGovern. Via The Independent.
• 2011.01.13
  Virginia Governor McDonnell outlines a new, scaled-back, retail-only plan for privatizing the state's ABC (liquor, some Virginia wines) stores.


• 2011.01.13
  Mid-Atlantic beer news: Jim Lutz -past Sales Director at Flying Dog Brewery in Frederick, Maryland- now President/CEO of Coastal Brewing, in Delaware, parent company of Dominion Brewing and Fordham Brewing.
• 2011.01.13
  The Brewers Association releases its 2011 Beer Style Guidelines.
• 2011.01.11
  Washington Post's take on the Brewers Association's change of definition of craft brewery from 2 million to 6 million barrels.
• 2011.01.11
  Evidence of a 6,000 year old winery discovered, oldest confirmed.
• 2011.01.10
  Flags at half-staff throughout the nation for the victims of the shootings in Tucson, Arizona.
• 2011.01.10
  New Burley Oak Brewery to open in Berlin, Maryland, but later than expected. http://burlyoak.com
• 2011.01.10
  Wikio has announced its January 2011 rankings for US wine blogs. At the top position is Dr. Vino
• 2011.01.10
  Wikio has announced its January 2011 rankings for US beer blogs. At the top position is Brookston Beer Bulletin.
• 2011.01.09
  Could a craft brewer end up in the White House: John Hickenlooper, Colorado's new governor. Via beer journalist Jack Curtin.
• 2011.01.09
  Yoga: the antidote to the alcohol hangover?


• 2011.01.08
  Post merger with Gordon-Biersch, has Rock Bottom begun cracking down on brewer independence?

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• Clamps and Gaskets is a weekly wrap-up of stories  not posted at Yours For Good Fermentables.com. Most deal with beer (or wine, or whisky); some do not. But all are brief, and many are re-posts from my Twitter account: twitter.com/cizauskas.
• The Clamps and Gaskets graphic was created by Mike Licht at NotionsCapital.