The author in his natural state\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n Here we are again. Me, I am semi-bachelor boy this week as the last two kids moved into their own places across town over the summer and the Euro-eldest is hosting herself and an aunt. So\u2026 here I am and, obviously, I have, you know\u2026 chores. Winter, after all, is coming. Which more obviously means I am pulling out and inspecting the state of my sweater vests and cardigans, rearranging the coffee mug shelf, writing about 1820s taverns<\/a>, preparing a powerpoint for a late October presentation on beer related newspaper notices 1790s to 1840 from my fair City \u2013 and doing anything or nothing else I can think of to avoid being useful like putting my hand on a caulking gun or emptying out the eavestroughs. All as I scratch at the mosquito bites from just crawling through the tomato patch out in the yard earlier this week. Best to stay inside. Winter is, after all, coming.<\/p>\n Before moving on the news, a note from the editorial staff. I was reading in The New Yorker <\/em>by Jill Lepore oddly titled \u201cBot or Not\u201d in the physical magazine but \u201cAre You A Human<\/a>?\u201d online. Two things stuck out bluntly in the article. First, the function of reCAPTCHA gatekeeping online isn\u2019t about you clicking the botton to tell them you are a human but to watch you as you click to determine how your cursor movement proves you are. Plus the moment taken to do so allows the bot to scour your activity to back up your claim to humanity.* The other thing noted is this:<\/p>\n \u2026at this point there are more bots online than people. To deal with this problem, businesses retain bot-detection and bot-management firms, a specialty within the field of cybersecurity. Their task used to be to block bots, but, with the rise of agentic A.I., that has changed. Now the problem is how to let in the good bots (like the avatar you send to the Gap to buy you a new pair of pants) and keep out the bad bots (like the thief trying to scrape the data of every Gap customer).<\/em> **<\/p>\n All of which is to say that it is becoming a bit harder to find actual real stories online to read and share with you. Thankfully, a number of you message me one way or another with tips. In the comments, via BlueSky, by email and via DMs, too. Tips are fabulous. Always appreciated. Unless you are a bot. Unless you are that Vietnamese A.I. slop farm<\/a> that\u2019s just layering digital shit upon shit. You suck.<\/p>\n Japanese brewer Sapporo says it will move some beer production from Canada to the US after\u00a0new tariffs on Canadian beer took effect on Tuesday.\u00a0The move follows the introduction of a 50% tariff on beer imported from Canada. For companies shipping beer\u00a0across the border, that means\u00a0significantly higher costs.\u00a0Chief strategy officer Rieko Shofu described tariffs as \u201csomething out of our control,\u201d telling Bloomberg that the beer giant would \u201cmove ahead with local production.\u201d\u00a0Sapporo did not immediately respond to the BBC\u2019s request for comment. The company plans to shift production of its non-alcoholic beer, currently made in Canada for US customers, to the US by the first half of 2027.<\/em><\/p>\n Sapporo\u2019s Unibroue<\/a> operations in Quebec remain unaffected for now. Late in the evening on Tuesday, the Wizened Orange Fuzz announced that not only are there going to be tariffs but complete import bans<\/a>:<\/p>\n The White House posted five new executive orders Tuesday evening that exclude certain Canadian products from being imported into the U.S., alcohol among them.\u00a0The administration is also adding more Canadian goods to the list of those that are subject to 50 per cent tariffs.\u00a0A sweeping ban on Canadian booze is set to take effect on Sept. 29.\u00a0\u201cThe following products of Canada are excluded from importation into the United States,\u201d says Trump\u2019s ban on Canadian alcohol, going on to list beer, wine, cider, whiskies, vodka and other spirits.<\/em><\/p>\n Interestingly, however, they also announced the lifting of tariffs<\/a> on other Canadian goods of equal value. Things we sell that Americans actually need like toilet paper and concrete. I live by the border as you know and that last item is a relief locally<\/a> as limestone is made into cement around here from quarried stone that is burned in a massive kiln. The resulting powder is then sailed by cargo ship the few miles south to Oswego<\/span> NY<\/a> across the lake<\/a> where the cement is used to make city sidewalks and skyscrapers. Another thing we will think about tomorrow as we remember<\/a> the twenty-fifth.<\/p>\n Elsewhere and more happily, Knut<\/a> has written about three breweries who were showing their wares when he visited the Trondheim Brewery Festival including the northernmost brewery in the world:<\/p>\n Svalbard Bryggeri, the northernmost in the world, was present for the first time. The founder of the brewery, Robert, has had an uphill battle to get it all started.\u00a0The first obstacle was the legislation \u2013 the production of alcohol was banned in Svalbard. The bureaucracy was bewildered and not particularly eager to do something about it, but years of lobbying finally gave fruit. The first brew was made in 2015.\u00a0There are more challenges in running a brewery under arctic conditions \u2013 water supply is one of them. But the water treatment for the brewery has a side effect \u2013 they also supply clean drinking water to the local community.\u00a0They have their own brewery tap in Longyearbyen, Vinmonopolet and pubs and bars on the Norwegian mainland also offer their beers. Norwegian airlines have Svalbard beer on some of their routes\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n Coming up on twenty years ago<\/a> (!) when this was a multi-author beer blog, Knut wrote about traveling to find Kroa, what was then the most northerly bar in the world, back when Svalbard was known as Spitzbergen. Svalbard Bryggeri appears<\/a> to be about a kilometre north of Kroa.<\/p>\n To the south, Boak and Bailey have begun their reports on their vacation to the Czech Republic including thoughts from\u2026 err\u2026 sorry\u2026 impressions of Prague<\/a> as well as from Brno<\/a>. Other than them needing to take tips from Ron<\/a> on insightful breakfast buffet reportage, these are fabuous descriptions with this caveat from their BlueSky<\/a> account:<\/p>\n We landed on this \u2018impressions of\u2019 format a few years ago because we dread anyone thinking that we\u2019re daring to offer a \u2018definitive guide\u2019 to somewhere we\u2019ve only visited on holiday. Our very first blog post back in 2007 was carefully titled \u2018Nice places to drink in\u2026\u2019 for the same reason.<\/em><\/p>\n Bravissimo! And always a great reminder that it is wise to first listen to the person\u2019s views from there\u2026 wherever \u201cthere\u201d is. Then\u2026 go wander around there (or anywhere) yourself and report back on that, too.<\/p>\n Reporting back himself is Will Hawkes. His monthly London Beer City<\/em><\/a> newsletter features the history of The Pembroke<\/a><\/em> of Earl\u2019s Court \u2013 previously The Coleherne<\/em> \u2013 probably London\u2019s most famous gay pub:<\/p>\n It appeared in Armistead Maupin\u2019s\u00a0Babycakes\u00a0(\u201cHe walked several blocks past high-windowed brick buildings to a gay pub called the Coleherne \u2026 He ordered a gin and tonic and stood at the bulletin board reading announcements about Gay Tory meetings and \u2018jumble sales\u2019 to benefit deaf lesbians.\u201d) and the Stranglers\u2019 1977 tune\u00a0Hanging Around (\u2018I\u2019m moving in the Coleherne\/ With the leather all around me \/And the sweat is getting steamy \/But their eyes are on the ground \/They\u2019re just hanging around\u2019). Freddie Mercury and Kenny Everett were regulars\u2026\u00a0 The Coleherne was well-established by the 1970s; it had first attracted gay customers in the 1950s, at a time when it was becoming a centre for jazz, too. Trinidadian pianist Russell Henderson first played here in 1962, launching its golden era. Sunday lunchtimes in the 60s and 70s brought together a diverse range of musicians, from British R&B pioneer Graham Bond to \u201cPhilly Joe\u201d Jones, who played with Miles Davies. The likes of Mick Jagger and Georgie Fame came to enjoy the music.<\/em><\/p>\n Somewhat related but perhaps for another snack bracket is The Telegraph<\/em><\/a>\u2018s weekly question on cultural matters asked what is the perfect quantity of beer? The responses were largely identical:<\/p>\n Jim Henny wrote: \u201cAs a nearly 50-year-old male, I can\u2019t think of any scenario where I might order a half. Might as well not bother.\u201d I also enjoyed this, from Ron Giddnes: \u201cMy wife\u2019s plain-speaking Geordie uncle, when asked whether he wanted a pint or a half, replied that he had tried a half once but didn\u2019t like it.\u201d Malcolm Monaghan, meanwhile, identified a genuine hazard of smaller measures: \u201cA friend went through a short phase of switching to halves, in an attempt to reduce his alcohol consumption. It was a disaster. He\u2019d scoop the wee measures, and ended up drinking about 50 per cent more than the rest of us who were on the pints.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Halfs are for boozers! Who knew? Who can afford such self-subterfuge? As we consider that in these tightening times, here are some notes:<\/p>\n Note #1<\/a>: product placement tie-in alert! I haven\u2019t visited the fam in Scotland to hit the pubs for some years now as Euro-daughter has been playing that role BUT I have some sympathy to this opinion from Alcohol Focus Scotland as set out in The Times<\/em><\/a>:<\/p>\n Carolyn Lochhead, chief executive of the charity Alcohol Focus Scotland, took a dim view of the Tartan Army chanting \u201cno Scotland, no party\u201d while boozing in Boston\u2019s bars. Lochhead, in a new blog, expressed concern that alcohol consumption is what makes Scots fun and that it had been woven into the public consciousness\u2026\u00a0Hamish Husband, from the Association of Tartan Army Clubs, said Lochhead was not wrong to suggest football fans took great delight in drinking exploits.\u00a0However, he noted that the fans had given $10,000 to Hasbro Children\u2019s hospital cancer unit and about $5,000 to the Rhode Island Pipers, and other good causes had also benefited.<\/em><\/p>\n The article also notes that Scottish overall consumption as measured in pure alcohol is down about 20% since just 2017. Which is good. (By comparison, however, the percentage reduction for party without Scotland remains at 100%.) Not so good, however, for the clinky PR folk seemingly writing for influencers and, you know, bots who seem to have landed<\/a>, for now, on lumping together the concept that the young have \u201cincreased spending on travel, hospitality and alcohol in the past year<\/em>\u201d to fudge the drop in spending on drink. I hear young people today are spending more on [rent+drinking] as well.<\/p>\n Conversely and speaking from a more reality based reality, BMI<\/a> continues to trace the drop in US craft beer sales with a fabulously named expert in the field, Bump Williams:<\/p>\n Retailers \u201calready making some early \u2018calls\u2019 on shelf space for 2027 and unfortunately, craft once again seems to be on the block for losing more space,\u201d Bump wrote. But Bump also took \u201ccloser look\u201d at total craft to \u201chopefully persuade some retailers NOT to toss ALL craft into the beer-grinder of lost causes because roughly 1\/3 of all craft brand families are enjoying some growth.\u201d In aggregate, craft declining at steeper pace than total beer. Segment $$ sales down 4.6% while total biz down 3.6% in NIQ yr-to-date thru Aug 15. Tho that\u2019s less of a gap than last yr when total beer $$ were down 3.2%, craft -5.2%.<\/em><\/p>\n Another sort of shift has been discussed by Eric Asimov<\/a>, who regrets the move away from cabernet sauvignon \u2013 as it\u2019s been tagged as something of your aged parents\u2019 wine:<\/p>\n A lot of bad, unbalanced, over-the-top cabernet wines have shaped these attitudes. In the heyday of American cabernet sauvignon and Bordeaux, say, from 1985 to 2010, which coincides with the most influential period of those wine publications, the prevailing style of Napa cabernet increasingly became the high alcohol, sweetly fruity oak bomb. Many Bordeaux were so highly polished that any distinguishing features had been eliminated.\u00a0These wines have rightly receded in popularity, though they still have their fans. Yet I fear their legacy has been to turn people off from the grape rather than the style. This is a shame, but it is not unusual.<\/em><\/p>\n As we see in craft beer, we might have been oversold<\/a> the idea of the obscure or even the obscured as the new and improved. And Jeff<\/a> may be describing a similar shift of sorts when it comes to the fresh hop beers of Oregon this year:<\/p>\n I noticed this trend last year, and it seems even more prominent this year: breweries using fresh hops as an accent in beers with high loads of conventional hops. The effect is a diminished or absent fresh hop note (in what may otherwise be great beers). During fresh hop season, I don\u2019t merely want great beer, though; I want beers that glow green. As breweries begin to downplay the fresh hops, this worries me\u2026 brewers, use MAOR fresh hops! Make them glow green!\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Green! Speaking of which and finally, did you know that Nottingham<\/em> was originally called Snotengaham<\/a><\/em>?*** \u00a0This is not a fact I picked up from this week\u2019s feature in Pellicle<\/em> by Pete Blackburn which, otherwise, provides a very interesting view into the revivial of Nottingham\u2019s beer scene:<\/p>\n The famous Shipstones \u201cStar,\u201d and the Robin Hood silhouette of Home Brewery, proudly adorned those buildings. Streets hummed with the pungent scents of malt and hops, and hundreds of pubs carried their names.\u00a0These breweries sponsored Nottingham\u2019s two football clubs. You chose your team: Nottingham Forest or Notts County. And then, you pledged loyalty to \u201cShippo\u2019s\u201d or Home Ales.\u00a0Those legendary local breweries are now long gone, joined in their demise by the much-loved Mansfield and Hardy & Hansons breweries. But while their landmark buildings, still standing, now serve other purposes, a new cast of beer and brewing advocates are putting Nottingham firmly back on the map.<\/em><\/p>\n Fabulous. And that is it for now. A goodly selection this week. Until we meet again, please look to Boak and Bailey\u2019s postings on each and every Saturday<\/a>\u00a0along with the coincidenal and fabulously entertaining footnotes week after week at\u00a0Patreon<\/a>. They do put in the effort. And do look out for more of Stan\u2019s \u201cOne Link, One Paragraph<\/a>\u201d format. Scour the world for tips then let me know. Then hunt out something in someone\u2019s archives! Leave oblique comments on someone\u2019s post from 2009!! Listen to a few of Lew\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>\u00a0newsletter. 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 *The article also explains that the \u201cwhich images have a bicycle?<\/em>\u201d test is really used to train the borg behind the internets to read images like a human. And the \u201cwhat letters and numbers are these?<\/em>\u201d test actual is used to correct errors in scans of books. The borg doesn\u2019t give a shit about you and your identity confirmations. You are already on lists.<\/small> The author in his natural state\u2026 Here we are again. Me, I am semi-bachelor boy this week as the last two kids moved into their own places across town over the summer and the Euro-eldest is hosting herself and an aunt. So\u2026 here I am and, obviously, I have, you know\u2026 chores. Winter, after all, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7059674,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[141792,119663,104566,12167,102378,141793,105,11922,182,104564,12430,104565,141794],"tags":[5685,3171,13054,3767,4641,7184,667,1416,40590,1820,388],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-7059673","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beer-stuff","category-czech","category-diners-and-restaurants","category-economics","category-england","category-measures","category-music","category-norway","category-politics","category-pubs","category-scotland","category-tavs","category-vessels","tag-autumn","tag-beer","tag-beery","tag-blog","tag-coming","tag-cooler","tag-cozy","tag-good","tag-hints","tag-news","tag-notes"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"view](\"http:\/\/abetterbeerblog427.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Napping.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>Now with the beery news. Let\u2019s start with the bigger picture, the Canadian-US tariff battles<\/a> continue and have already had a serious effect on Ontario\u2019s brewing industry:<\/p>\n
Note #2<\/a>: BREAKING!! \u201c\u2026.you\u2019ll be rewarded with a mild ranch dressing flavor\u2026\u201d<\/em>
Note #3<\/a>: London\u2019s Mayor loves the nightlife.<\/p>\n
**The New Yorker<\/em>, Aug 17 edition, page 20.<\/small>
***Snottingham!!<\/em> How mah-chur<\/em> of me. What\u2019s that? Well, sure, I don\u2019t disagree. It could well be beneath you to be reading this sort of stuff.<\/small><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"