Clamps & Gaskets: News Roundup for Weeks 4/5, 2012

A non-comprehensive roundup
of news of beer and other things.

Weeks 4/5
22 January - 4 February 2012

• 2012.02.04
  Max's Taphouse, in Baltimore, Maryland, to hold its 8th annual Belgian Beer Fest, 17-19 February: 200 different draft beers, 275 different Belgian bottled beers. The draft list, via The Original BeerinBaltimore blog.
  
  
• 2012.02.03
  The Craft Brewers Conference to be held in Washington, D.C., in 2013. As a result, the Brewers Association may be considering temporarily moving SAVOR, the annual beer-with-food exposition to New York City. Via DCBeer.
  
  
• 2012.02.03
  The entire Alan Lomax Folk Collection will be available for streaming, beginning in February, from the Association for Cultural Qquity. Via TechCrunch.
  
  
  
• 2012.02.03
  Blue Marble 2012, a photo of Earth's western hemisphere, taken by NASA satellite Suomi NPP, and posted by the Goddard Space Center, had 3.1 million views after one week: the most views ever for one Flickr photo in a one week period.
  
  
• 2012.02.03
  The Obama administration is considering eliminating the TTB, the agency currently in charge of US alcohol law regulation, and splitting its duties between the IRS and the FDA. Via The Gray Report.
  
  
• 2012.02.02
  Americans ate more meat per capita in 2009 than 1971, but less red meat. Via The Progressive Farmer.
  
  
• 2012.02.01
  Facebook files for IPO to raise $5 billion. Via Yahoo Finance News.
  
  
• 2012.02.01
  We wish you love, peace, and soul, Mr. Cornelius. 'Soul Train' host Don Cornelius dies at 75. Via WUSA9.
  
  
• 2012.02.01
  Joy in repetition. America's minimalist master Philip Glass celebrates his 75th birthday. Via NPR Classical.
  
  
  
• 2012.01.29
  The top 20 selling beers in the US for 2011, according to Symphony/IRI (supermarket sales). No craft beers, as defined by the Brewers Association, but at No. 19 is Yuengling Lager. Via The Business Journal.
  
  
• 2012.01.29
  How and why cider has fizz (or doesn't). Via Cider Apprentice.
  
  
• 2012.01.28
  Analyst downgrades Molson/Coors stock due to reduced buying power of unemployed young males and due to increasing sales of "specialty craft" beers. Via CBS News.
  
  
• 2012.01.27
  Twitter to block specific tweets on a country-by-country basis when the content runs afoul of local laws, but keep those Tweets visible in the rest of the world. On-line protest — #TwitterBlackout — develops against "censorship." Via Washington Post.
  
  
• 2012.01.27
  Washington, D.C. ranks as most literate city in nation, over prior top cities, Seattle and Minneapolis, in list compiled by Central Connecticut State University. Via WTOP.
  
  
  
• 2012.01.27
  "The pint glass is an outdated relic ... that shows little love for the liquid inside." Opinion piece from The Guardian.
  
  
• 2012.01.27
  Independent filmmaker J.R. Richards producing Beer Hunter, a documentary movie about the late beer writer Michael Jackson.
  
  
• 2012.01.26
  Proposed Maryland bill to create a license category for farm breweries. Requires that a percentage of a beer's ingredients must be grown on farm. Via Harford Dagger.
  
  
• 2012.01.25
  Sierra Nevada top operate a 2nd brewery in Asheville, North Carolina; to receive $3.75 million in "economic incentives" over seven years. Beer writer Lew Bryson offers perspective.
  
  
• 2012.01.25
  Washington, D.C. experiences rapid growth in brewery development. Via Washington Post.
  
  
• 2012.01.24
  The Neighborhood Restaurant Group, parent organization to beer bar ChurchKey, announces Megan Parisi —past lead brewer for Cambridge Brewing of Massachusetts— as head brewer for The Yards, an upcoming production brewery (and restaurant) near Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. Via Washington Post.
  
  
  
• 2012.01.24
  Brewers Association announces slate of 60 breweries selected to participate in Savor, a national beer-with-food exposition, to be held in Washington, D.C., 8/9 June 2012. [Eight breweries in Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia included.]
  
  
• 2012.01.24
  A discussion on what defines West Coast IPA? Point-of-origin, hop bitterness, hop flavor, hop variety, unbalance? Via Beervana.
  
  
• 2012.01.24
  AB-InBev President Dave Peacock resigns, the last major official from before the Belgian/Brazilian buyout. Company demands its distributors stop concentrating on "competing brands." Via Brookston Beer Bulletin.
  
  
• 2012.01.23
  "Every town should have a brewery." —Charlie Papazian: 'craft' beer pioneer, homebrew guru, founder of Brewers Association. His 63rd birthday, today. Via Brookston Beer Bulletin.
  
  
• 2012.01.23
  Why the "Protect IP Act" (PIPA) and the "Stop Online Piracy Act" (SOPA) were dangerous for free speech, why they were NOT the way to fight on-line property piracy, and how and why Congress will try again. Via O'Reilly Radar.
  
  

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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 twitter.com/cizauskas.
• The Clamps and Gaskets graphic was created by Mike Licht at NotionsCapital.