(reposting for  anthrocoon)

(For those of legal age and please drink responsibly) Beer fans,past couple years we at  Brewfurs at Furaffinity have held an informal get together the Fri of the Con around 4:30 or 5p at Sharp Edge on Penn...Penn Ave a couple blocks from conv ctr;same side as August Henry's.mwalimu isn't making AC this yr but I will again..let me know if interested.We don't anticipate having to reserve tho..usually we're near the front.Look for the drunk raccoon.

http://anthrocoon.freehostia.com/mapp.jpg

:usermwalimu: here. About three weeks ago I upgraded my 5-year-old dumb phone to a smartphone, a Samsung Galaxy 5 with Android. Since then I've been delving into the world of apps, including related to beer. Since I was already familiar with the BeerAdvocate website I decided to get their app first, and have used it a couple of times to help select beers to purchase at my local store. RateBeer also has an app but I haven't tried it yet. I also got one of the BJCP Style Guidelines apps (there are at least three) and there are numerous apps for homebrewers.

What beer-related apps do you have on your smartphone?

If you don't know your way around the various beer styles, or if you're not sure which ones you may or may not like, here is a good place to start.

http://www.craftbeer.com/style-finder

Anthrocon is coming up in just a couple of weeks, which means time for another meet and greet.

It will be held at 4:30pm on Friday, July 4th at the Sharp Edge Bistro on Penn, just a block or so from the Westin and even closer to the Courtyard. It's where we've held it the last two years, in no small part due to the selection of micro/craft beers at Sharp Edge and the happy hour prices on Belgian drafts.

If you're going to be at AC we hope you'll come join some of your fellow beer enthusiasts to talk about one of our favorite subjects. Looking forward to seeing some of you there!

Beer lovers of FA, here is a Tumblr page you should check out: http://beerlabelsinmotion.tumblr.com/

I few weeks ago I got to do beer judging for a round of beers at a local homebrew competition. I used to judge sometimes for the AHA National Homebrew competition back in the early 1990s (as a first-round judge; I don't have anywhere near the qualifications to be a final round judge). It's a rewarding and interesting experience, judging beer, and it's been too long since I did it.

Judging beer gives you a chance to examine several beers closely, take note of what makes one good and another not-so-good. The entrant identifies what style a beer should be judged under, and the judges have to judge it against the BJCP style guidelines for that category. As the process forces you to really study the beer and what makes it good, it really helps you to develop a finer appreciation for the nuances of beer flavor, aroma, mouthfeel, appearance, and so forth.

Getting certified as a beer judge is not an easy process, and one which I have yet to attempt. Most competitions need enough judges that they will accept less experienced judges like me to do some of the judging. If you've never thought about beer judging (or never knew that such a thing existed) I would encourage you all to give it a try.

 AnthroCoon has announced he will be holding a Brew Furs Meet, Greet, Eat and Drink, at 4:30pm on Friday, July 5 at the Sharp Edge Bistro Penn, just down the block from the Westin and Courtyard hotels. Half price Belgian drafts and $1 off other craft and import drafts 4:30-6:30. Head on over, meet and chat with other beer lovers and homebrewers.

A big thank you to AnthroCoon for heading this up in my absence.

If you'd like to see more Brew Furs meets at furry cons, please feel free to organize one and send me the info. I'll be glad to post a journal here to announce it.

Some of you may recall that last year I ( mwalimu, the group admin) organized a brewfurs meet and greet at Anthrocon last year. I will not be attending Anthrocon this year. I've already had one inquiry about doing it again this year, and my response is if anyone else wishes to organize such a meet, please feel free to do so. If you choose a date and time, message me or post it as a shout, and I'll put up a journal announcing it. By the way, that goes for any convention where someone might like to arrange such a meet.

Now, on an unrelated subject, there has been some press in recent months on "craft vs. crafty" beers. I should say first of all that the following is primarily with regard to US beers and breweries. I'm sure there have been similar issues in other countries - in fact I believe there were similar types of issues in the UK that led to the formation of CAMRA - so if you're not American, feel free to chime in with your country's version of this.

In general, it is a "craft" beer if it comes from an independently owned brewery, not above a certain size (measured by annual production), that has at least one major headline beer that is all malt. If the beers are produced by a larger megabrewery (or a brewery that is substantially owned by one of these megabreweries), or if it is brewed with adjuncts, grains intended to lighten the flavor of the beer rather than enhance it, while giving the appearance of being a craft brew, it is said to be a "crafty beer" (rice and corn tend to lighten a beer; other grains such as rye, wheat, and oatmeal impart additional flavors and add complexity to it).

Some major "craft" brands that are actually operated by megabreweries include Shock Top and Blue Moon. A number of regional brands that use adjuncts include Leinenkugel, Point, and Shiner. And there have been a few craft breweries that have been bought by major breweries that so far still produce the same craft beers, such as Goose Island. Often it is not obvious from the labeling that a particular "craft" beer is actually from a larger brewer. Some of the larger brands that are still true craft breweries are Samuel Adams, New Belgium, and Sierra Nevada.

The problem is that the major megabreweries are often known to work the wholesale/distribution system to their advantage, to convince retailers to give more of their scarce shelf space to their brands and less to the real craft brewers, who are increasingly in demand from consumers. They have often lobbied for laws at the state level that impose difficulties and limitations on small craft brewers while having little effect on the megabrewers. And there is a matter of transparency, the principle that consumers have a right to know who produces the beers they drink and make and informed decision. Consumers who truly want to support the craft brewing industry should be able to do so without finding they've been duped into buying a "crafty" beer.

If anyone has something they would like to post to the group for discussion that's related to the subject of beer, send it to me in a note for consideration. The following topic for discussion was submitted by a watcher:

Does anybody else notice how much negative crap we get these days, just because we like alcohol? I mean, I play a lot of racing games. I have one name that is dedicated to my weekly (or by-weekly) drunken driven fun (DRUNKDRIVIN). These days, when I play without existing friends, nobody will talk to me. People go out of their way to avoid me, without even trying to see who I am, just because of my name. It didn't used to be that way. Even 5 years ago, gaming was much friendlier. What happened?!

I will post my own comments in a reply.

If any of you are going to be at Furry Connection North this weekend, be sure and attend the "Intro to Beer and Mead Brewing" panel on Saturday 4/13 at 11:00am.

Let's go ahead and make this official...

What: Brew Furs Meet and Greet
Where: Sharp Edge Bistro Penn
When: Friday June 15 at 4:00pm

Happy hour, with reduced prices for certain beers, doesn't start until 4:30, but we can socialize and order food while waiting for that time to roll around. I'm told the happy hour crowd starts to pick up about 4:15 so this should give us a chance to get our group somewhat established before it gets too busy.

I'd like to plan a brewfurs meet and greet for all the furry beer enthusiasts who will be at Anthrocon.

Location: This is my first time to attend Anthrocon and I'm told there aren't any brewpubs within walking distance. Sharp Edge Bistro on Penn is said to have the best selection of beers in the vicinity of the convention center so that's probably where we'll go, but I'm open for other suggestions. Feel free to refer to the Dining Guide.

Time: Undecided; please take a look at the schedule, and suggest a time you think would work well. Unfortunately it's probably impossible to avoid scheduling it at the same time as something else someone would like to attend.

Here's hoping to get this pulled together and meet some of you!

Yesterday I did a thing on Facebook where you were supposed to see how many out of 100 beers listed you've tried. I didn't score as high as some of my beer-loving friends and relatives.

But one of the others (a high school friend whom I haven't seen in forever) posted a comment to the effect that he thinks some of the ones listed aren't really beer. They all looked like beers to me so I asked him to elaborate on his comment. He said he doesn't consider stout or lambic to be beer, and doesn't really consider ale to be beer either. Say what? That's like saying anything other than beef isn't really meat.

It reminds me of one friend, a beer enthusiast himself, who had a couple of extra tickets to the Great Taste of the Midwest beer fest in Madison, WI (a great fest, by the way, which I highly recommend - if you can get tickets). He invited along a couple of his buddies. When they got there, the buddies were like, "What's all this stuff? Where's the Budweiser tent?" Even now, when the whole home/craft/microbrewing revolution has been going for more than 30 years, there are still people who think the only real beer is Bud/Miller/Coors.

I did a presentation tonight on bock beer. It went well and we got to sample some good commercial examples of bock beers. (Note that a few of the best known commercial examples, such as Shiner Bock and Michelob Amber Bock, don't really qualify as bock beers since their original gravity is too low.) If you want to try a couple examples of the best bock beers, I'd recommend Ayinger Culminator Doppelbock and Kulmbacher Eisbock.

And it's definitely on my radar for a style to shoot for next batch of homebrew, though there are several others I'd like to try. Maybe an IPA such as a Three Floyds Alpha King clone?

The winter ales and holidays have started hitting the stores. I'm sipping on a Smuttynose Winter Ale as I type, and it tastes wonderful. Medium dark, nice lace on the glass, a toasty, malty flavor, easy on the hops. I have two more in my fridge to try, and I'll be checking out the liquor store to see what else shows up.

Of course, there's still time to catch the pumpkin spice ales that have been out since September. I had an excellent one from Tommyknocker. I was lucky - the store sold out of it by the next week.

Lots of fine brews to sample as the days get shorter!

This Saturday is National Homebrew Day. Are you doing anything special?

I'll be working with my homebrew club to do a demonstration brew at a local liquor outlet that sells homebrew ingredients and supplies.

At Furry Connection North, one of the extras that sponsors were treated to is beer in the sponsor lounge. Two of the offerings this year were from Motor City Brewing. One was their nut brown ale, and the other was their hard cider (technically not beer but close enough for our purposes). I'm not sure what the third was - the conbook says Cass River Blonde Ale but I'm almost positive there was a wheat beer too. I think it was Bell's Oberon Ale but I'm not positive (and I'm uncertain whether it was a substitute for the Cass River or if both were offered). At any rate it was a most pleasant surprise to see beer offered as an official amenity in any capacity at a furry convention.

I'm especially pleased that FCN offered craft brews instead of something like Bud Light. Maybe not what I would have chosen, but then I'm the sort who when I go to a beer fest I want to try the tripels, doppelbocks, super IPAs, and bourbon barrel aged cherry stouts.

Yeah I know, realistically you don't want to push the envelope too much with a crowd that doesn't consist primarily of beer enthusiasts, plus it's probably best to steer clear of the beers that would cost more or have higher alcohol content, so if it really were my choice, I'd take all these things into consideration too.

Uncle Kage like to tell the story of how free beer was offered at least once at Eurofurence. Have any other furry cons included beer as a part of the package?

So here I am, creating a group here on FurAffinity. I hope I'm doing this right...

The current avatar is a stock image. If you know of a nicer one, or have the inclination and the talent to create one, we'd love to see it.

If you have friends who have an interest in beer, please drop them a note and let them know we are here! Spread the word around to any furry fans who enjoy fine ales and lagers, so we can share our enjoyment and appreciation of this fine beverage with one another!

And by all means, feel free to tell us what you'd like to see here on  brewfurs.