Clamps & Gaskets: News Roundup for Weeks 1/2, 2016.

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

Weeks 1/2
3 - 16 January 2016

• 16 January 2016
  A date in U.S. history that should live in ignominy. National Prohibition, the 18th Amendment to the United States Constitution, was passed on 16 January 1919, and took effect a year and a day later, on 17 January 1920. It would not be repealed until 5 December 1933, with the passage of the superseding 21st Amendment.
  —Via YFGF.


• 16 January 2016
  Iran frees Washington Post correspondent Jason Rezaian, 3 others.
  —Via Washington Post.


• 16 January 2016
  President Obama declares State of Emergency over lead in Flint, Michigan, drinking water.
  —Via Washington Post.




• 15 January 2016
  
  • Wikipedia, the Internet’s “free encyclopedia,” first went 'live,' 15 years ago, 15 January 2001.

    On January 15 [2016], Wikipedia officially celebrates 15 years as the Internet’s “free encyclopedia,” cataloging humankind’s achievements in real time. In that time, it has hastened the end of Microsoft’s Encarta encyclopedia and supplanted Britannica as the dominant reference work in English. While the digital landscape has changed drastically over the last decade, Wikipedia has not, and still delivers that rare site that strives for neutrality and accuracy, all with no commercial advertisements.

    —Via Washington Post.
  • The hoaxes that appear on Wikipedia, and the volunteers who search for them.
    —Via Washington Post.
    
  • A 2005 study in the journal Nature found that the information provided on Wikipedia is almost as reliable as that of the benchmark, Encyclopedia Britannica.
    —Via Washington Post.


• 15 January 2016
  The photographic-historical resource, Flickr Commons was begun eight years ago, 15 January 2008, as a collaboration with the Library of Congress. In 2016, over 100 public and private institutions are partners with Flickr Commons (including the U.S. National archives and the U.K. British Museum). All have released significant portions of their photographic libraires online, into the public domain.
  —Via Flickr Commons.


• 15 January 2016
  The 'next' 'craft' beer takeover? UnTappd sold to NextGlass; "to continue just as we have." Untappd surpassed the 1,000,000 users mark in early 2014.

  Founded more than five years ago, Untappd lets beer lovers share the beers they are drinking with others, also letting them include photos, location, ratings and descriptions of the beers. It has grown to nearly 3 million users.
  
  Next Glass, which launched in November 2014, lets you scan possible wine and beer purchases with your portable device and then gives you a rating and other information about what's in the bottle.

  
  —Via USA Today.


• 12 January 2016
  "I will count to three. There will not be a four." British stage and film actor Alan Rickman, known for his roles in the Harry Potter movies and Die Hard, has died, of cancer, at 69.
  —Via Guardian.



• 12 January 2016
  AB InBev sells $55 billion in bonds to finance its more than $100 billion purchase of SABMiller, the second-largest bond sale on record.
  —Via Wall Street Journal.



• 12 January 2016
  The American Malting Barley Association has announced its year 2016 recommendations for malting barley varieties. The AMBA recommends that farmers on the East Coast switch from Pinnacle, a low-protein variety, to a new variety, ND Genesis, also low in protein, but with better foliar disease resistance and higher yields.
  —Via Craft Brewing Business.



• 11 January 2016
  Bert Grant and the day in 1984 when he first created "American Imperial Stout."
  —Via Charlie Papazian at The Examiner.


• 11 January 2016
  British beer historian Martyn Cornell responds to the new drinking guidelines issued by the U.K. Chief Medical Officer: "Pleasure versus risk, the honest alcohol debate. In the health-and-drink debate, pleasures of drinking are seldom discussed, and never calculated."
  —Via Zythophile.


• 11 January 2016
  Singer, songwriter, actor David Bowie, "the infinitely changeable, fiercely forward-looking songwriter who taught generations of musicians about the power of drama, images and personas," has died at 69.
  —Via New York Times.




• 10 January 2016
  British beer historian Martyn Cornell responds to the new drinking guidelines issued by the U.K. Chief Medical Officer: "Pleasure versus risk, the honest alcohol debate. In the health-and-drink debate, pleasures of drinking are seldom discussed, and never calculated."
  —Via Zythophile.


• 8 January 2016
  The Chief Medical Officer of the United Kingdom has announced new guidelines on alcohol and drinking: oth men and women should regularly drink no more than 14 units of alcohol per week, the equivalent of six small glasses of wine or five pints of beer at 5% ABV strength. Pregnant women should not drink at all. Guidelines in the U.S. recommend that women should not exceed one standard drink per day and men should no more than two. That equates to 12 units a week for women and just over 24 for men. The new UK advice also suggests that there is no safe level of drinking -- and any amount of alcohol can increase the risk of cancer, according to new research.
  —Via CNN.


• 8 January 2016
  The eleven oldest operating breweries in the United States.
  —Via Thrillist.


• 7 January 2016
  U.S. government revises its "Dietary Guidelines for Americans;" releases 8th edition, for 2015-2020.

  If alcohol is consumed, it should be in moderation—up to one drink per day for women and up to two drinks per day for men—and only by adults of legal drinking age. For those who choose to drink, moderate alcohol consumption can be incorporated into the calorie limits of most healthy eating patterns. The Dietary Guidelines does not recommend that individuals who do not drink alcohol start drinking for any reason; however, it does recommend that all foods and beverages consumed be accounted for within healthy eating patterns. [...]
  
  One alcoholic drink-equivalent is defined as containing 14 grams (0.6 fl oz) of pure alcohol. The following are reference beverages that are one alcoholic drink-equivalent: 12 fluid ounces of regular beer (5% alcohol), 5 fluid ounces of wine (12% alcohol), or 1.5 fluid ounces of 80 proof distilled spirits (40% alcohol). Drink-equivalents are not intended to serve as a standard drink definition for regulatory purposes. [...]
  
  To calculate drink-equivalents, multiply the volume in ounces by the alcohol content in percent and divide by 0.6 ounces of alcohol per drink-equivalent. For example: 16 fl oz beer at 5% alcohol: (16 fl oz)(0.05)/0.6 fl oz = 1.3 drink-equivalents. [...]
  
  When determining the number of drink-equivalents in an alcoholic beverage, the variability in alcohol content and portion size must be considered together. As an example, the amount of alcohol in a beer may be higher than 5 percent and, thus, 12 ounces would be greater than one drink-equivalent. In addition to the alcohol content, the portion size may be many times larger than the reference beverage."

  —Via United States Department of Agriculture, and Department of Health and Human Services, at Health.gov


• 6 January 2016
  California declares a State Of Emergency over a leak at a natural gas well ouside of Los Angeles releasing 1,200 tons of methane daily.
  —Via Huffington Post.




• 6 January 2016
  Seventy-five years ago, on 6 January 1941, President Franklin Roosevelt spoke on the fundamental values of American democracy, with “four essential human freedoms” at its core: freedom of speech and expression, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear.
  —Via The Nation.


• 5 January 2016
  Pianist Paul Bley has died at age 83.

  Bley, a key figure in modern jazz for six decades, worked early in his career with jazz masters Charlie Parker and Lester Young before becoming a champion of electronic music and an inspiration to younger musicians, including pianist Keith Jarrett and guitarist Bill Frisell.

  —Via Washington Post.


• 5 January 2016
  Pierre Boulez, the French composer and conductor who was a dominant figure in classical music for over half a century, has died at age 90.

  Mr. Boulez belonged to an extraordinary generation of European composers who, while still in their 20s, came to the forefront during the decade or so after World War II. They wanted to change music radically, and Mr. Boulez took a leading role. His “Marteau Sans Maître” (“Hammer Without a Master”) was one of this group’s first major achievements, and it remains a central work of modern music.

  —Via New York Times.


• 4 January 2016
  Robert Stigwood, the impresario who managed the Bee Gees and produced the 1970s blockbusters “Grease” and “Saturday Night Fever,” has died at age 81. —Via Washington Post.


• 4 January 2016
  What is a modern bottled 'mild ale'?

  First, it has to put sweet malt and flavours from sugar at the forefront, but that doesn’t have to mean that it has to be sickly or lacking in character. Bitterness can work, but excessive perfume just seems wrong. Roastiness also jars, suggesting that some brewers remain in thrall to out-of-date history that declares mild to be a degeneration of porter, which it isn’t.

  —Via Boak and Bailey.


• 4 January 2016
  Fun with numbers. Nielsen, a global information and measurement company, says the rate of 'craft' beer growth slowed in the latest 4 week period reported (through 19 December), up only 4.3%, half the 8.7% annual pace. [U.S.] Brewers Association disagrees with metrics; says the rate of grwoth is up. —Via Beer Marketer's Insights.

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• Why is 3 January the first day of the first week of year 2016 at Clamps & Gaskets? The ISO (International Organization for Standardization) week date system is a 'leap' week calendar system that is part of the ISO 8601 date and time standard which has 52 or 53 full weeks, that is, 364 or 371 days, rather than the Gregorian 365 or 366 days. Weeks begin with Monday. The first week of a year is the week that contains the first Thursday of the year (and, hence, always contains 4 January)." Following American custom, I begin the week on Sunday, rather than Monday per IOS.
  —Wikipedia
  
• Clamps and Gaskets is a bi-weekly wrap-up of stories  not posted at Yours For Good Fermentables.com. Most deal with beer (or wine, or whisky); some do not.
• The Clamps and Gaskets graphic was created by Mike Licht at NotionsCapital.


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