Then I commended mirth, because a man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry: for that shall abide with him of his labour the days of his life, which God giveth him under the sun.<\/em><\/p>\n Good advice as we face the coming of August and the shortening of days. What else is going on? First up in booze news, that one time staple of waiting rooms thoughout North America, Time<\/em> magazine, had an article at the end of last week about another \u201conly zero is safe<\/a>\u201d health statement \u2013 this time by the Dutch Health Council \u2013 and the author Tim Brinkhof makes observation which I might have thought would have beeen aired before:<\/p>\n As populations age, healthcare systems become overburdened, and governments fail to sufficiently expand or change those systems, preventing preventable diseases is more vital than ever. But herein also lie some of the issues that de-normalizing alcohol consumption brings to light, including its overlap with other, equally pernicious public health crises. In many countries, alcohol consumption has already been decreasing for years, especially among young people. Yet, despite the dwindling popularity of both alcohol and cigarettes, various\u00a0cancers, not to mention other serious conditions like diabetes and depression, have all been on the rise\u2014again, especially in\u00a0young people.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n So if we do live in an increasingly poisoned global eco-system where skills and social interaction become less and less valued, there may be plenty of other causes of harm which at least place the clinky and drinky in context. Not a comfort but at least perhaps an excuse. And the world might just need all the excuses it can get these days.<\/p>\n And, in another form of concession, Knut<\/a> has noted a small relaxation of Norway\u2019s liquor laws with a few odd requirements to move some transactions out of the<\/p>\n \u201cThe Government wants to make it possible for tourists and visitors to enjoy more complete and integrated travel experiences. We are therefore proposing that alcohol producers be allowed to sell their products directly to visitors,\u201d according to John Christian Vestre, Minister of Health\u2026 A license to sell self-produced alcoholic beverages may only be granted if visitors are offered a paid visitor experience with an educational component, designed to increase knowledge about the production process, products, or local traditions.\u00a0The scheme would also include limits on the amount that may be sold to each visitor during a single visit.<\/em><\/p>\n So, it would appear that you would have to pay to take the same educational experience each time that you go to the producer\u2019s location to buy something to drink. Perhaps similarly odd is the tale of regulation\u00a0out of Wisconsin as a politically active brewery, Minocqua Brewing Company<\/a>, has received notice from the state\u2019s Department of Revenue that its license is being revoked. Owner Kirk Bangstad is insensed:<\/p>\n Bangstad said the DOR is \u201ctrying to shut down the state\u2019s most progressive brewery for violations that can only be described as laughable.\u201d\u00a0He said in the post that he received the letter two weeks ago, and the brewery has tried to rectify issues identified by a DOR agent over six months.\u00a0Bangstad provided a chart explaining what violations were allegedly in the document from the DOR. Those include unauthorized running of a retail outlet, violation of shipping laws and untaxed beer possession in an unpermitted warehouse\u2026\u00a0Bangstad, who admits to owing taxes to the state, says the \u201cpunishment doesn\u2019t fit the \u2018crime.\u2019\u201d He says the revocation is tied to organizations against his political leanings, and claims his beer has been boycotted by distributors and stores because of his political statements.<\/em><\/p>\n Careful readers keeping notes will recall the news last March<\/a> that the brewery announced that beers would be free on the day that President Trump dies. Could have been that. Or calling the guy Shitler.<\/p>\n Back on track,\u00a0Pellicle\u2019<\/em>s feature this week is by ATJ who finds himself in Italy, face to face with thirty years of Tipopils<\/a>:<\/p>\n When he opened the brewpub, it was only the third in Italy. In the same year, Teo Musso opened Baladin in the nearby region of Piedmont, to the west of Milan. Things weren\u2019t easy, as there were no suppliers of raw materials for smaller breweries. Agostino\u2019s father\u2019s connections in the brewing industry got him certain supplies, including brewer\u2019s yeast; up until then, he had been using baker\u2019s yeast, which he admits \u201cwasn\u2019t that good.\u201d He also initially faced resistance from locals, with some saying that Tipopils was served too warm. He recalls an elderly local threatening him with a stick, bellowing that Italy was a wine country, before adding \u201cI don\u2019t drink your beer!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Bellowing!!! More subdued\u00a0news out of Ireland<\/a> as reported by Jessica Mason in Drinks Business<\/em> which leads to some interesting consideration of the local standards used to measure the what is a global retraction<\/a> of interest in beer:<\/p>\n According to the latest figures from the Drinks Industry Group of Ireland (DIGI), Ireland\u2019s average alcohol consumption per adult fell by 2.1% last year to 9.30 litres of pure alcohol (LPA). This marks a drop of more than one third (35.6%) since consumption peaked in 2001.\u00a0 The data has revealed that consumption habits are changing in Ireland and although beer was the most popular alcoholic drink of choice for Irish consumers last year, with a 42.1% market share, it actually experienced a 2.7% drop in total volume sales. Wine\u2019s popularity has more than doubled since 2000 and \u2026 spirits saw a small lift in volume of 0.2%, giving it a 22.4% share of the market\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n Notice the LPA measurement standard. Annual litres of pure alcohol consumed per capita. A handy and hard to fudge measurement.* In a market where brewers are reducing strength<\/a> quite aggressively to fit into taxation schemes while reducing input expenses, it would appear to me to mean that where the average strength of a pint drops, the number of pints sold may stay steady even while annual LPA may drop. If NA beers are included that could have quite an effect of the figure.<\/p>\n And David J.<\/a> used another term this week that I was not familiar with \u2013 white label beer \u2013 which I take to be the equivalent of what we would call a grocer or restaurant chain\u2019s house brand:<\/p>\n After a taster I could tell it was a very familiar tipple, and the locals shared my raised eyebrow. I took the plunge though mainly out of embarrassment in a busy bar.\u00a0I slowly realised this was a pint of\u00a0Greene King IPA\u00a0and at \u00a35.50 was probably the most expensive one I\u2019ve bought. It was the drink my father loved, and I had the same nostalgic East Anglian hit with every sip. It\u2019s just as\u00a0Directors Bitter-fan Alan Partridge would say \u201cThey\u2019ve rebadged it; you fool!\u201d\u00a0Now you would think this pint (which was superbly conditioned) would lead me to write an article hoping to spark universal outrage especially as it is nearly \u00a34 cheaper nearby. But I asked an experienced publican for his thoughts and he said, \u201cit\u2019s naff, so I don\u2019t do it, but honestly drinkers love seeing it\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n There was a time over a decade ago when a certain consulting brewer in Ontario worked with a number of craft startups who, not surprisingly, collectively offered a range of pale ales with surprisingly similar and unsurprisingly uninspiring taste. Still, my only thought is that these sorts of things are only offensive if the price point is offensive.<\/p>\n Speaking of offensive and price point, apparently wars and tariffs as rolled out by the US adminisration has not done wonders for Boston Beer<\/a>\u2018s bottom line:<\/p>\n Freight rates rose more than 35% year over year, adding pressure even as lower volumes helped offset some shipment costs.\u00a0Aluminum, energy and tariff exposure also remain concerns. Boston Beer expects tariff costs of $20 million to $30 million for 2026, which could limit the upside from pricing and productivity.<\/em><\/p>\n I love finance talk. Always seeking the positive: \u201clower volumes helped offset some shipment costs<\/em>.\u201d Interesting, too, is that the article didn\u2019t mention beer at all. Unless that is what is meant by \u201colder growth engines are losing momentum<\/em>\u201c\u2026 maybe.<\/p>\n Tariffs are of course also an issue here in Canada which this story just up the eastern seaboard out of New Brunswick on the situation faced by Moosehead<\/a> illustrates:<\/p>\n About 10 per cent of Moose\u00adhead beer is shipped to the U.S., but with a 50 per cent tar\u00adiff it will be a \u201cchal\u00adlenge\u201d to con\u00advince Amer\u00adic\u00adans to buy New Brun\u00adswick beer, accord\u00ading to Andrew Oland, pres\u00adid\u00adent and CEO of Saint John-based Moose\u00adhead Brew\u00ader\u00adies.\u00a0\u201cWe ship a fair amount of beer to the U.S., and if these (tar\u00adiffs) actu\u00adally go through, it\u2019s going to reduce if not elim\u00adin\u00adate the amount that we\u2019re ship\u00adping to the U.S.,\u201d Oland said in an inter\u00adview.\u00a0\u201cAt the same time, I\u2019d say we all know that we\u2019re in a very com\u00adplex situ\u00adation with a very volat\u00adile trad\u00ading part\u00adner. It can change tomor\u00adrow.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n I haven\u2019t sought out any Moosehead brews since they cancelled Ten-Penny<\/a> but I do see that their lager is now on sale<\/a> so\u2026 who knows. As we consider that, here\u2019s some notes:<\/p>\n Note #1<\/a>: \u201cThe viaduct is a dominating presence.<\/em>\u201d Via<\/a> Jeff via<\/a> Stan, we read a tale of contrition from the beer columnist with the Duluth News Tribune, <\/em>Dave Hoops, including but not at all limited to these admissions<\/a>:<\/p>\n I wrote about brewers as geniuses and drinkers as audiences. I wrote about taprooms as destinations, not workplaces. I wrote about \u201cthe market\u201d as if it were weather, not rent, debt, distribution contracts, burnout, stainless steel leases, tap handles fought over inch by inch\u2026 The older I get, the more I think the local scene was never a scene. It was a set of favors, habits, arguments, second chances, borrowed jockey boxes, anniversary parties, charity kegs, bad batches forgiven and good batches remembered, people showing up because showing up was the point. I used to fly past that in search of the new thing, the national thing, the beer people elsewhere were already talking about. I should have stayed longer with the room I was in.<\/em><\/p>\n Relatedly, a\u00a0very stretched stretch<\/a>.\u00a0Still, I do now have a sudden hankering for a Landlord. Similarly, I have a hankering for a Hoegaarden what with this from The Tand<\/a> and this as well from Boak and Bailey<\/a>:<\/p>\n We got out of the food and beer pairing game years ago, having failed to be convinced by the supposed miraculous effects of matching food and beer \u2013 especially if the food has any oomph.\u00a0What we do tend to find, however, is that Witbier goes with almost anything. And by \u2018goes with\u2019 we mean that it remains tasty and enjoyable in its own right; rarely gets in the way of the food; and often enhances it.\u00a0We\u2019re always pleased to find Hitachino Nest White Ale on the menu at Japanese restaurants, for example. And, of course, there\u2019s always Hoegaarden, our old pal, which contrary to what you might have heard is\u00a0still an excellent beer.<\/em><\/p>\n I could have easily had a second or third serving, but right ahead of me was the hardest part of this hike, the fairly steep slope, the uphill one. It wasn\u2019t very long, just 3 km, but I\u2019m still not in the shape I wish I was. The climb surprisingly went well, I managed without even slowing down my pace. It must have helped that it was all in the woods, and beautiful, with no sign of civilisation to be heard or seen. The rest of the way to my destination, however, would be somewhat less fun. Not because it was ugly, far from it, but because it was almost all in the blazing sun\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n Speaking of pub crawls, Martin<\/a> reminds us that sometimes the march comes up short in other ways:<\/p>\n Dodington is really just a gorgeous long street that takes you out of town\u2026 and there\u2019s nothing to actually DO\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n And finally, Will Hawkes has adjusted his monthly newsletter London Beer City<\/em><\/a> to provide a free monthly sampler story and an annual subscription to the entire publication for a mere \u00a310. The first free offering<\/a> is the story of a pub in the city\u2019s Docklands between the wars:<\/p>\n It\u2019s October 1933 and you\u2019re on the corner of the West India Dock Road and King Street, in the heart of London\u2019s Docklands. On your right is a pub with a sign reading, simply, \u201cCharlie Brown\u2019s\u201d. And across the road, almost in the shadow of the London & Blackwall Railway\u2019s low-slung brick viaduct, is another pub with another sign, which also reads \u201cCharlie Brown\u2019s.\u201d\u00a0How could this be? The answer lies in the story of Limehouse, a slice of dockside East London that, for more than 30 years at the start of the 20th century, was the capital\u2019s most feverishly fetishized neighbourhood. Why? Because, since the 1880s, Limehouse had been London\u2019s first Chinatown \u2013 and that brought with it extraordinary public interest, fuelled by prurience and racism.<\/em><\/p>\n That\u2019s it. Next up, August. Back to School TV ads and a scramble to make something of the weeks of summer that remain. As you fret, please check out Boak and Bailey posting on Saturday<\/a>\u00a0and adding to their fabulously entertaining footnotes week after week at\u00a0Patreon<\/a>. And do look out for more of Stan\u2019s \u201cOne Link, One Paragraph<\/a>\u201d format. \u00a0Then hunt out something in someone\u2019s archives! Leave oblique comments on someone\u2019s post from 2009!! Listen to a few of\u00a0Lew\u2019s podcasts<\/a>\u00a0and get your emailed issue of\u00a0Episodes of my Pub Life<\/em><\/a>\u00a0by David Jesudason on certain Fridays. And Phil Mellows is at the\u00a0BritishBeerBreaks<\/em><\/a>. Once a month, Will Hawkes issues his\u00a0London Beer City<\/em><\/a> newsletter. Do sign up for Katie\u2019s wonderful self-governing totes autonomous website featuring\u00a0The Gulp<\/em><\/a>, too. \u00a0Ben\u2019s\u00a0Beer and Badword<\/a><\/em>\u00a0remains on pause but there is reading at\u00a0The Glass<\/a>\u00a0which is going back to being\u00a0a blog<\/a>. Any more? We have\u00a0Ontario\u2019s own\u00a0A Quick Beer<\/em><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0All About Beer<\/em>\u00a0is still offering a range of\u00a0podcasts<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 and there\u2019s also Mike Seay\u2019s\u00a0The Perfect Pour<\/a>. Plus follow the venerable\u00a0Full Pint<\/em>\u00a0podcast<\/a>! And there\u2019s the\u00a0Craft Beer Channel<\/a>\u00a0on Youtube as well as the archives of the\u00a0Beer Ladies Podcast<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/abetterbeerblog427.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_3226.jpeg\")
<\/a>Here was are. Even though full seven months will soon be behind us, the mid-year slide now begins. So you take the little day trips in the sun instead of those little afternoon naps that you might have had in June, back when there was plenty of time. Have you had enough ice cream yet? No, have more. Go get some! You could run those hiking shorts you\u2019ve worn all summer through the wash first, though.\u00a0 And read your Scriptures as you wait for the spin cycle to conclude \u2013 or at least Ecclesiastes 8:15<\/a>:<\/p>\n
Note #2<\/a>: Gin with your afternoon tea isn\u2019t at all about boozing. No way.
Note #3<\/a>: Imran Rahman-Jones has a survey for you to fill out.
Note #4<\/a>: \u201cThe French commitment to le pic-nic must be addressed.<\/em>\u201c<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/abetterbeerblog427.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/forest-225x300.jpg\")
<\/a>Max<\/a> went on another march from pub to pub in Czechia. I think of these things as being urban pub crawls but, as illustrated, he finds himself in some pretty remote spots:<\/p>\n