A Quarter in Every Case® donates 25 cents from each case sold and A Penny in Every Pint® donates $4 from each barrel. Rich Fleischer, a 15-year volunteer firefighter and head brewer for Hook & Ladder states, “In addition to selling award-winning beers, we’re also giving beer enthusiasts in Minnesota a chance to give back to their local heroes in the fire and rescue service every time they pick up a Hook & Ladder brew. That’s what sets us apart from other beers in this extremely competitive industry.” These efforts have raised over $75,000 in the past 30 months alone.

Hook & Ladder’s steady growth is gaining attention in the brewing community. Initially distributed by just one wholesale partner in only the Washington, DC area, Hook & Ladder is now distributed by wholesale partners in 27 states around the country. According to industry statistics by the Brewers Association, Hook & Ladder experienced 688% growth in 2007, the biggest percentage increase among craft brewers providing beers solely through a distribution network.

Hook & Ladder brews two trademark beers. The Great American Beer Festival Gold Medalist Golden Ale® and Backdraft Brown®, which recently received a 95 point rating from Draft Magazine. In March the company will be releasing their third style, Flashpoint Pale Ale. Currently Flashpoint Pale Ale is only available in their variety pack along with a limited edition Belgian Dubbel Anniversary Ale that was brewed to celebrate their five-year anniversary.

For more information please go to Hook & Ladder’s web site at www.hookandladderbeer.com

Owners of Beer Capitol Distributing – Lake Country, LLC
Acquire W.O.W. Distributing Co., Inc.
Major Expansion Underway at Sussex Facility
Beer Capitol Distributing – Lake Country, a limited liability corporation jointly owned by local business leader Aldo Madrigrano and Ronald Fowler, of San Diego, Cal., is acquiring W.O.W. Distributing Co., Inc. All operations and employees of W.O.W. Distributing will continue under new management at the Sussex facility as Beer Capitol Distributing – Lake Country, LLC. Aldo Madrigrano, majority owner of the new company, will serve as chairman and CEO. Mike Merriman will serve as president. Madrigrano, Merriman and Fowler also own Beer Capitol Distributing Co., Inc., headquartered in Wauwatosa, which will relocate to the Sussex facility after completion of a major expansion this summer. Fowler retains joint ownership in both companies and will serve as a member of the board of directors.

“I couldn’t be happier to announce this acquisition, as it represents a new milestone for our businesses and an opportunity to enhance our reputation for exemplary customer service and sales support by achieving shared operating efficiencies,” said Aldo Madrigrano. The facility expansion, already underway, will add about 120,000 square feet of state-of-the-art warehousing and office space.

As part of the transaction, Thomas Madrigrano, Vice President for W.O.W. Distributing, and Gina Madrigrano Friebus, Vice President of Administration, will retire after 25 years of dedicated ownership and service. “Both Thomas and Gina have been integral players in developing W.O.W. into the industry and community leader it is today, and for that I can only say thank you for all of their many years of dedicated service,” said Madrigrano.

With the completion of the W.O.W. acquisition and relocation of Beer Capitol Distributing Co., Inc. to Sussex, the companies will offer Wisconsin retailers one of the industry’s broadest selection of malt beverages including fine quality and domestic beers, mainstream and premium brands, and popular craft beers. Beer Capitol Distributing – Lake Country, LLC will serve retail customers in Washington, Ozaukee and Waukesha counties (Dodge County assets of W.O.W. Distributing were sold as part of the deal). Beer Capitol Distributing Co., Inc. will continue to serve customers in Milwaukee County.

Brands associated with the companies include MillerCoors, Pabst Brewing Co., Crown Imports, Heineken USA, Boston Beer Co., Mark Anthony Brands (Mike’s®), Paulaner HP USA and local breweries such as Lakefront Brewery, Capital Brewery, the Stevens Point Brewery and Tyranena Brewing Co.
Beer Capitol Distributing – Lake Country, LLC and Beer Capitol Distributing Co., Inc. will continue to maintain their reputations as family-run businesses representing more than 70 years experience in the malt beverage industry.

Beer Capitol Distributing – Lake Country, LLC is Wisconsin’s second-largest beer distribution and wholesaling business headquartered in Sussex, Wis. The company sells and delivers quality malt beverage products to 1,900 responsible, licensed retailers in Waukesha, Ozaukee and Washington counties. The company represents over 180 beer brands crafted by the finest brewers worldwide.

Privately held Beer Capitol Distributing Co., Inc., founded in 1981, is the largest beer wholesaler in the state of Wisconsin. The distributor operates offices and warehouse facilities located at 1400 N. 113th St. in Wauwatosa, Wis., and services 2,000 area accounts. Breweries associated with Beer Capitol Distributing Co., Inc. include Crown Imports™, Lakefront Brewery, Capital Brewery, Pabst Brewing Co., MillerCoors, Mark Anthony Brands (Mike’s®) and Heineken USA.

Act Fast If You Want To Taste The World’s Most Expensive & Anticipated Beer
Very Limited Edition Fuller’s Vintage Ale Makes a Perfect Gift
LONDON…For true beer connoisseurs, it’s just not the holidays without Fuller’s Vintage Ale, one of the world’s most extraordinary – and expensive – holiday beers. But this year, only 1200 cases of Fuller’s elegant holiday ale will be available stateside, guaranteeing an early season sell-out. To ensure beer lovers can find this seasonal delight, they are encouraged to contact their liquor retailer now to request the 2009 Fuller’s Vintage Ale.

What makes Fuller’s Vintage Ale so special? Crafted with the year’s finest ingredients, Fuller’s Vintage Ale is bottle conditioned and never pasteurized. This traditional British ale process allows the slow, natural cask-style fermentation to continue in each bottle of Fuller’s Vintage Ale. This year’s offering is brewed with Tipple Malted Barley, Goldings Hops and Fuller’s special proprietary yeast. Mashed and brewed under the watchful eye of Fuller’s Master Brewer, John Keeling, Fuller’s 2009 Vintage Ale will have a richly spicy noise, crisp flavor, and mild Goldings hop finish. As with each seasonal Fuller’s Vintage Ale, each bottle will be hand numbered and individually gift-boxed. Only 160,000 bottles are expected to be filled for the 2009 holiday season – and most of these bottles will be in high demand by Brits, never reaching US beer connoisseurs.

Like a fine wine, Vintage Ale is often collected and enjoyed years after purchase. Because of the active yeast that remains after filling in each Fuller’s bottle, the taste of Vintage Ales matures throughout its five to seven year life expectancy, again much like cask ale. These constant flavor changes is part of the savoury romance of Fuller’s Vintage Ale and its bottle-conditioning. And to this aging process most collectors are keenly aware that Fuller’s Vintage Ale should be stored upright, in a cool, dark location to ensure proper bottle fermentation.

Fuller’s Vintage Ale is available through finer retail stores for $7.99 - $11.99 per bottle. Each bottle then comes in its own dark red carton, making for an elegant gift for the beer aficionado, or an ideal holiday hospitality gift for everyone who appreciates the finer libations in life. For more information visit www.fullers.co.uk.

Paulaner HP USA, purveyor of the world’s finest beers, is headquartered in Littleton, Colo., and imports Paulaner, Hacker-Pschorr, Fuller’s, O’Hara’s Irish Stout, Fruli, Birra Dolomiti and Dixie beers and Vigna Dogarina and Cavallina wines. This list of fine imports is now available throughout the United States at upscale, on-premise establishments. For more information about Paulaner HP USA visit www.paulanerhpusa.com.

AMERICAN DISTILLING INSTITUTE
www.distilling.com
CONTACT : BILL OWENS, AMERICAN DISTILLER, BOX 577, HAYWARD, CA 94543
(510) 886-7418 - bill @ distilling.com

GREAT DISTILLATIONS & SPIRITED EVENTS
DECEMBER 10
Speyside Scotch Seminar - 7-9 PM - $20
Brian Dvoret, National Sales Manager of The Speyside will conduct an exclusive seminar to the first lucky 20 people. Last year, Brian went all out with a dozen of some of the better scotches we have ever tasted out.
Famous Wine & Spirits, 105 E. Roosevelt Rd., Lombard, IL

FEBRUARY 18
Madison Malt Society "Celebration of Amercan Distilling
– 6-10 PM - $55 ($65 VIP)
Edgewater Hotel, 666 Wisconsin Ave., Madison, WI

APRIL 23
10th Annual WhiskyFest Chicago - 6:30 - 9:30 PM - Regular admission: $110 (VIP admission: $150)
Hyatt Regency, Chicago, IL
America's Largest Whisky Celebration, WhiskyFest Chicago will feature more than 200 of the world's finest, rarest, and most expensive, single malt and blended Scotch, Irish, bourbon, Tennessee, Japanese, Welsh, Canadian and other whiskies from around the world to sample in one Grand Ballroom. High-end rums, tequilas beer and other spirits will be represented as well.

MAY 2 – 5
American Distilling Institute Whiskey & Moonshine Distilling Conference
Huber Starlight Distillery, Borden IN

Wanna learn more about Craft Distillers & Distilling, Visit our Craft Distilling Page


DISTILLERS OPPOSE PROPOSED WISCONSIN WHISKEY TAX
The 58-percent liquor tax hike being proposed by the Wisconsin State Legislature will devastate the state's struggling hospitality industry, eliminating more than 1,250 jobs on top of 4,200 hospitality jobs already lost in Wisconsin over the last year, according to an economic analysis by the Distilled Spirits Council.
The tax hike is aimed at reducing drunk driving in Wisconsin.

The proposal, sponsored by State Sen. Jim Sullivan (D-Wauwatosa), would increase the liquor - though not beer or wine - excise tax by 58 percent from around 86 cents per liter to $1.36 per liter, making the total tax levied on spirits products in Wisconsin approximately 50 percent of the purchase price of an average bottle of liquor.

An economic analysis by Council chief economist David Ozgo showed that increasing the liquor excise tax by 58 percent will cause retailers to lose an estimated $84 million in retail sales and cause a loss of 1,250 jobs across the state, mostly within the hospitality sector. According to Ozgo, more than 4,200 hospitality jobs have already been lost in Wisconsin over the last year due to the recession.

"This is no time to impose new taxes," Ozgo noted in the report. "We support the Legislature's proposal to reduce drunk driving, but the bill unfairly targets Wisconsin's 2.3 million responsible drinkers. The ones who should pay for these programs are the ones who are breaking the law by driving intoxicated."

The state's microdistilling industry expressed concerns over the impact the proposed spirits tax hike.
"Now is the worst time for politicians to punish the state's growing microdistilling industry with increased taxes on liquor," said Guy Rehorst, founder of Great Lakes Distillery in Milwaukee, noting that his 3-year old distillery is already challenged by today's economic environment. "Increased liquor taxes will make running my small business difficult even in good economic times - but especially devastating right now. It's wrong for legislators to target small business owners like me who have invested so much already in the state of Wisconsin."
(c) 2009 BizTimes.com

BINNY'S BUYING SAM'S
Combination Ends Longstanding Rivalry
What had been shaping up as a battle between two Chicago family-owned liquor chains came to a quiet end Thursday when Binny's Beverage Depot agreed to buy rival liquor retailer Sam's Wines and Spirits for an undisclosed sum, the Chicago Tribune has learned. The deal, disclosed to top Sam's employees on Thursday, is expected to close by Oct. 19, according to people familiar with the agreement. It is widely expected that the Sam's name will be mothballed and the stores converted to Binny's.

The purchase includes Sam's original store in Lincoln Park and another in Downers Grove. Sam's had recently closed two stores: its Highland Park store, which opened in 2006, closed in September and Sam's South Loop store, which opened in 2007, shuttered in August. The agreement brings to a close a longstanding rivalry between two family businesses both founded in the 1940s that became household names in Chicago. The two chains talked about merging in the early 1990s, but the combination never happened. Rumors of the latest deal surfaced in January. With the acquisition, Binny's grows to 24 stores. The Skokie-based retailer's annual revenue was estimated at $200 million in 2008. Sam's generated about $60 million in sales in 2007, the most recent year for which figures are available.

Both Sam's and Binny's embarked on expansion sprees at the turn of the millennium in a bid to become Chicago's liquor superstore. But they took different paths. Binny's doubled its size by building stores and buying rivals. After adding one store in 2006, Sam's turned to an outside investor. Arbor Investments, a Chicago-based the private-equity firm, bought 80 percent of Sam's from the Rosen family in May 2007, ending the family's control of the business. Brian Rosen, the third-generation scion who stayed on as president with a 20 percent ownership stake, left the firm in December 2008 and became president of Food for Thought, a Lincolnwood-based caterer. A disagreement in the Rosen family over the direction of Sam's led to the sale.

Michael Binstein, whose nickname is Binny, took over the business in 1995 after his father and founder Harold Binstein died. The company, formerly called Gold Standard Enterprises, bought DiCarlo's Armanetti Fine Wines & Liquors in 2005. Family business expert John Ward said the merger could be good for what is left of Sam's. "The new owner, being a family business, will likely take a longer term view and infuse the family culture back into the business," said Ward, clinical professor of family enterprises at Northwestern University's Kellogg Graduate School of Management. "Private equity firms are rarely interested in taking a long term position."

Copyright © 2009, Sandra M Jones - Chicago Tribune

HALF ACRE NOW OPEN
Half Acre Beer, a local craft brewery located at 4257 N. Lincoln recently announced that after a long permit process, that its store located at the brewery opened on October 5th
To quote "In Your Guts," the Half Acre Blog...
The Half Acre store is not a bar and will not serve food. We will sell our beer to-go and the beer & spirits of brewers and distillers we want to support. We will have six draft lines that will allow for sampling and the purchase of growlers (1/2 gallon jugs) to-go. We'll also have a soda that we've made on draft as much as time allows. You can buy our beer in 6packs, 22oz bottles, growlers, 1/2bbl kegs and 1/6th bbl kegs. We'll also sell Half Acre merchandise to outfit your entire neighborhood. Enjoying what we do very much and doing our best to continually offer new / different beer, we will have things available here that might not be available at other locations. Not everything we brew lands in bars, stores and restaurants - it's time consuming and expensive to develop visual identities and distribution paths. The store will allow us to share some of the things that usually don't make it out of the brewery. Basically, the store will grant us some flexibility to readily offer you Half Acre Beer in as many forms possible in the freshest state imaginable."

As a fan of Half Acre's Over Ale and Daisy Cutter, I am quite excited by this recent development. They will also begin to offer formal tours Fridays at 5pm and add Saturdays in the next few months.
(c) 2009 Gapers-Block.com

Ball Corp. Acquires Fort Atkinson Can Manufacturing Plant
Ball Corp. has completed its acquisition of four of AB InBev's U.S. beverage can manufacturing plants.
Broomfield, Colo.-based Ball acquired the four plants and their associated contracts for $577 million, subject to customary post-closing adjustments. In addition to Fort Atkinson, the other plants are located in Rome, Ga.; Columbus, Ohio; and Gainesville, Fla.
The facilities employ approximately 635 people and produce annually approximately 10 billion aluminum cans and 10 billion can ends. More than two-thirds of the cans are produced for leading soft drink companies and the rest for AB InBev, a Belgium-based company that was created when Interbrew acquired Anheuser-Busch Inc.
(c) 2009 BizTimes.com

MillerCoors Tests Draft-Beer Box For Fridge
Product Is Among Latest Innovations From Major Brewers Fighting for Business in a Jammed, Sluggish Market
MillerCoors LLC has begun testing the sale of $20 draft-beer systems for consumers to drink at home, part of a string of new products and package innovation from beer giants grappling for market share in a crowded, slow-growing industry.

MillerCoors, the second-largest U.S. brewer by revenue, has begun testing the 1.5-gallon "Home Draft" for its biggest brands -- Miller Lite and Coors Light -- in about a half-dozen cities, including Dallas, Phoenix and San Diego. The boxed product, which is designed to fit into refrigerators for drinkers to consume periodically, rather than for one-time party use, comes amid packaging overhauls by the U.S. units of Heineken NV and Anheuser-Busch InBev NV.

Sales of major U.S. beer brands are struggling as some recession-weary consumers drink less or switch to cheaper brews. Many of the top-selling brands showed declining sales volume at retailers in the 13 weeks through July 12 compared with a year earlier, according to market tracker Information Resources Inc. Anheuser's Bud Light, the No. 1 brand, saw its sales volume slide 5.5%, while Heineken, the No. 9 seller, fell 15%. (The figures exclude sales at certain retailers that don't share data with such research firms.) "In this economy, we are seeing an increase in packaging innovation" in consumer-goods industries, said Kara Gruver, head of the North America consumer-products practice at consulting firm Bain & Co. "In many cases, it can be less costly [than creating a new product] and a very effective form of innovation."

Chicago-based Miller Coors, a U.S. joint venture of SABMiller PLC and Molson Coors Brewing Co., is testing home-draft packages at a time when one of its major brands, Miller Lite, is mired in a prolonged slump. Despite a new ad campaign this year aimed at revitalizing the brand, Miller Lite's retail sales fell 7.5% by volume in the recent period tracked by Information Resources. Sister brew Coors Light, on the other hand, continues to post sales gains. Analysts attribute its long-running success in part to innovations in packaging, such as "cold-activated bottles," whose labels turn blue when the beer inside cools to a certain temperature.

MillerCoors's new Home Draft systems are meant to be placed upright in a refrigerator, which will keep the beer fresh for about 30 days. The price per ounce is roughly 15% higher than for an 18-pack of the same beer, MillerCoors said. The product, which is recyclable, is aimed at the 30% of beer drinkers who say they prefer draft beer to the bottled or canned variety, said Andy England, chief marketing officer at MillerCoors. "We're really trying to meet that occasion when you just got back from work and want to reward yourself," rather than "the party occasion," he said.

Home Draft -- which carries about 5.7 liters -- bears some similarities to Heineken's five-liter DraughtKeg, which the Amsterdam-based brewer introduced in the U.S. in 2005. But the DraughtKeg generally is designed to consume all at once, unless drinkers buy an optional BeerTender countertop chilling system, which is sold at retailers for about $200. The performance of the DraughtKeg may hint at the challenge MillerCoors could face to woo consumers. The DraughtKeg enjoyed an explosive start in the U.S., but Heineken pulled back on distribution as sales cooled and the company learned the product is most popular around holidays, the football season and other social occasions. Heineken this month began testing the sale of Newcastle Brown Ale in the DraughtKeg format -- about $20 at retailers -- in Chicago, Minneapolis and Southern California. The company continues to focus on innovation in packaging "in a way that reinforces the premium nature of" its brands, said Christian McMahan, chief marketing officer at Heineken USA.

The U.S. unit of Leuven, Belgium-based Anheuser plans to unveil new can and box designs for brands such as Bud Light when the football season gets under way next month. As part of the shift, the company says it intends to better leverage its sponsorship of the vast majority of National Football League teams by creating packages showing the colors or logos of teams such as the Pittsburgh Steelers. Meanwhile, it also will roll out packages with generic colors tailored to college teams in specific regions -- such as red-colored cans in Nebraska, home of the University of Nebraska's Cornhuskers. "It's an opportunity to tap into the passion people have for their teams," said Dave Peacock, president of Anheuser's U.S. arm, which is the biggest American brewer by sales. The company's research has shown that the most loyal consumers of its light beers "associate with sports in a dramatic way."

Brewers including Anheuser also plan some new beers in addition to new packaging. Anheuser intends to test Budweiser Select 55 -- a brew with just 55 calories -- in several markets later this year, as it tries to compete better with MillerCoors's MGD 64, a 64-calorie brew that is off to a strong start. Mass-market brews such as Bud Light, Miller Genuine Draft and Budweiser are roughly in the 100 to 140 calorie range.
(C) 2009 David Kesmodel - Wall Street Journal

CO-OPS FOR HOPS
Wisconsin brewers encourage local crops
A year ago, Tyranena Brewery spent around $30,000 on hops. This year Rob Larson, the brewmaster and owner, says his bill for hops will approach $140,000.

Increasingly, "the small brewer needs a way to control supply and cost of hops and barley," says Jon Reynolds of BrewPlan Inc., a brewery consultant and one of the key organizers of the new Wisconsin Brewers Guild Cooperative. Six breweries — Lake Mills' Tyranena, Lakefront Brewery of Milwaukee, Sand Creek of Black River Falls, Central Waters of Amherst, Bull Falls of Wausau and South Shore Brewery of Ashland — have joined together to work with Wisconsin farmers to grow barley and hops for their beer.

Their agreement is not a formal written contract, but rather, the co-op works with farmers to estimate crop production costs and what the market prices are likely to be at harvest. "If the grain and hops that are grown meet processing requirements such as the content of moisture, protein (barley) and alpha acid (hops), then the brewers agree to take all of the product," Reynolds explains.

Reynolds, a former partner in City Brewery of La Crosse, would like to add members, find ways to reduce harvest and processing charges further by helping farmers purchase equipment and work with secondary processors such as maltsters.

Barley and hops are two of the most essential ingredients in beer, along with yeast and water. Hop prices have risen due to major crop failures in Europe; barley prices in part because of the rising prices for corn. These increases jeopardize small craft breweries especially.

Both hops and barley were major crops in Wisconsin in the 19th century. Hops never really rebounded in the state following pest infestations and a collapse in the hop market in the late 1860s. Barley fell from popularity as farmers here began to grow more profitable crops. Today, much of the barley is grown in North Dakota, Montana and Idaho. Hop production is predominantly in Washington, Oregon and Idaho.

Reynolds attended an organic farming conference last February and floated the idea of local producers working with nearby brewers. He found five farmers who were interested in growing hops and another three in barley. "The cooperative means [the ingredients] could be more readily available, at a more stable price, and grown locally — which is what consumers say they want," says Tyranena's Larson. (For instance, Capital Brewery's Island Wheat, made from grain grown on Door County's Washington Island, has quickly become a major seller.)

Hops can take three years to establish, so despite five growers planting around 35 acres, there were not enough flowers, or cones, for any local beer this year. The cooperative is working with growers to plant several different varieties of hops in organic and conventional growing conditions. Members hope this will pay off down the road. "I have a three-year contract with commercial hop suppliers, but any hops I can get from the co-op will help," adds a cautiously optimistic Larson.

Weather was a factor this year, reducing barley yields for most of the co-op's growers. But in Bayfield County, Eugene "Bo" Belanger of South Shore Brewery and a local farmer harvested over 65 tons of six-row Robust barley that will be transported to Thunder Bay for malting within the week. Belanger says as soon as the grain is malted and delivered to his Ashland brewery, he'll start using it: "We're damn close to making beer with locally grown barley. My silo is empty now!" He plans to use it in the next batch of his flagship Nut Brown Ale, which should find its way into many Madison beer stores within a couple of months.

"This helps farmers who are my neighbors," says Belanger. "Growing it here in my backyard, you can look across Chequamegon Bay and point to where the barley came from. This is how you live up to the title of brewmaster. It's more than just brewing — it's knowing what goes into your beer."
(c) 2009 - Robin Shepherd - The Ishmus

Participating Breweries in the Midwest Hops and Barley Co-op:
- Bull Falls Brewery, Wausau
- Central Waters Brewing, Amherst
- Goose Island Brewery, Chicago
- Gray's Brewing, Janesville
- Lake Front Brewery, Milwaukee
- Sand Creek Brewing, Black River Falls
- South Shore Brewery, Ashland
- Sprecher Brewing, Milwaukee
- Tyranena Brewing, Lake Mills

Amber Ale: Brewing Beer from 45-Million-Year-Old Yeast
An aroma like bread dough permeates Raul Cano's lab. He has just removed the cover from a petri dish, and the odor wafts up from several gooey yellow clumps of microorganisms that have been feeding and reproducing in a dark cabinet for the past few days. Cano, a 63-year-old microbiologist at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, inspects the smelly little mounds lovingly. "These are my babies," he says, beaming. "My yeasty beasties." The dish contains a variant of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, known in culinary circles as baker's or brewer's yeast. But Cano didn't get this from Whole Foods. Back in 1995, he extracted it from a 45 million-year-old fossil. The microorganisms had lain dormant since the Eocene epoch, a time when Australia split off from Antarctica and modern mammals first appeared. Then Cano brought the yeast back to life. This reanimation of an ancient life form was a breakthrough, a discovery so shocking that the scientific community initially refused to believe it. It changed our understanding of what microorganisms are capable of. It also gave the Cal Poly researcher a brief taste of fame. For a while, he thought it might make him rich. It didn't. Now, just when it seemed his babies would be forgotten, Cano has found a way to share them with the world.

Born and raised in pre-Castro Havana, Cano still has a noticeable Cuban accent. After the revolution, his parents were unable to escape the country, but they managed to secure him a visa and a plane ticket to Miami in early 1962. His parents would eventually follow him to the US, but for a few years Cano was on his own in a strange new country. "I was 16 at the time," he says. "I went from foster home to foster home." His scientific aptitude was not immediately apparent. "I wasn't a remarkably good student," Cano says. "I went to community college." He eventually transferred to Eastern Washington University, and there he discovered his calling in a microbiology class. "It was taught by a fungal geneticist," he says. "He was terrific. He became my mentor." Cano got his master's and went on to earn a PhD in microbiology at the University of Montana. In 1974, Cano went to work at Cal Poly, starting out as a fungus specialist. But by the early '90s, he was making a name for himself by examining the contents of fossilized prehistoric tree resin—more commonly known as amber.

Scientists have been cracking open the translucent caramel-colored rock for nearly two centuries in an attempt to unlock the history of the earth. All manner of flora and fauna got trapped in the dribbling sap, and once it solidified and fossilized, the contents were preserved for aeons. "It's a time capsule," Cano says. "Like a Kodak moment from when the amber was formed." The first study of the contents of amber, made public in 1856, yielded 163 species of ancient plant life. More than a century later, amber became sexy again with the advent of gene sequencing and cloning. A 1982 paper by entomologist George Poinar explored the potential for extracting DNA from preserved creatures. The paper caused a stir in the scientific community and inspired Michael Crichton to write his best-selling dinosaur-cloning novel, Jurassic Park, which came out in 1990.

In 1993, Cano worked with Poinar and others to remove DNA from a 125 million-year-old Lebanese weevil entombed in amber. They were able to sequence segments of the bug's genome. But even if they had the full genome, science couldn't—and still can't—clone it back into existence. (Just as well—it's hard to imagine Steven Spielberg creating a blockbuster f/x extravaganza about reanimated weevils. Unless he made them 30 feet tall. With a taste for human blood.)

Two years later, however, Cano actually did manage to pull off an astonishing first—he brought back to life something that had been trapped in amber for more than 25 million years. It started with a chunk of fossilized resin from the Dominican Republic. Trapped inside was an extinct breed of stingless bee. It was dead, of course, but Cano theorized that microorganisms in the resin might simply be dormant. After all, he reasoned, some single-celled creatures are known to enter a hibernation-like state and survive for years with no air or food. Still, few believed that anything could survive after lying dormant for so long. Cano wanted to find out. He took the contents of the ancient bee's stomach, suspended it in saline, and spread it on a growth medium. Amazingly, something woke up and began propagating in the petri dish. Cano identified it as a bacterial spore related to the modern Bacillus sphaericus, which is used to kill mosquito larvae.

Cano's discovery changed science's understanding of just how extraordinarily resilient microorganisms are. "They're the quintessential survivors," he says. "They started when the planet was born, they're going to stay around until the planet is dead, and then they'll just go somewhere else." After publishing the results of his experiment in Science, Cano found himself the center of national attention from scientists and eventually the media. This was the closest humanity had come to the discovery imagined in Jurassic Park.

Over the course of the next year, Cano would crack open several more pieces of amber and bring hundreds of strains of ancient bacteria back to life in his lab. In the process, he began to think there might be a practical use for these creatures. He launched a company, Ambergene, to explore potential biomedical applications. The premise for the venture was that ancient organisms might have antibiotic potential—they'd been out of the ecosystem for so long that nothing today would have a resistance to them. At the time, the approach—dubbed natural product discovery—was very much in vogue. Major players like Merck and Eli Lilly were making serious investments.

Creating a life-saving drug was appealing. Fabulous riches would be a nice side effect. "Altruism's great, but it's not that great," Cano says. He possessed the only known samples of these strains, and he patented his revivification process to further cement his control over them. As the cofounder, part-owner, and chief scientific officer of Ambergene, Cano stood to earn a hefty chunk of any windfall that might result.

To reassure potential investors, Ambergene's board of directors decided to confirm Cano's claims of reanimation. He wasn't the first to attempt to bring tiny beings back to life in this manner. But every previous reported success turned out to be a case of modern bacteria contaminating the amber during the extraction process.

How to Reanimate Prehistoric Microorganisms
Raul Cano proved that single-celled creatures like yeast and bacteria can be revived after lying dormant in amber—fossilized tree resin—for tens of millions of years.
Here's how it's done:
STEP 1 - Procure
Amber is found all over the world and can be bought from brokers (or even on eBay). Prices can reach into the thousands of dollars, depending on size and biological matter trapped inside. (Chunks with insects are most likely to yield microorganisms.)
STEP 2 - Sterilize
To avoid contamination by modern microbes, sterilize the lab environment and clean the amber thoroughly by soaking it in disinfectants, giving it an ultrasonic wash, then dousing it in ethanol and lighting it on fire.
STEP 3 - Shatter
To open the amber, place the sample in liquid nitrogen, where it will freeze and become brittle. At this point, the specimen can be shattered by dousing it with sterilized warm saline. It can also be smashed, ground up, or drilled.
STEP 4 - Grow
Spread the contents of the amber onto a petri dish containing a microorganism food like starch or soy. Not every piece of amber harbors dormant microorganisms—if the petri dish yields nothing, go back to step 1 and try again.

"I was very skeptical," says Chip Lambert, a microbiologist tapped by Ambergene to try to duplicate Cano's results. The company provided him with amber and all of Cano's sterilization and extraction protocols. Lambert doubled all of the cleaning processes and added some of his own. He was still able to duplicate Cano's discovery. Cano didn't mind the company checking his work if it helped Ambergene win financing. He ended up being impressed with Lambert's efforts. "We became friends," Cano says. "I enjoy his company. Besides working with him on some of his projects, we'd socialize, get dinner, maybe grab a beer." (Another team of researchers working with Cano has also been able to duplicate the results.)

In April 1995, during his amber-cracking spree, Cano made another important discovery. A piece of fossilized resin from Burma yielded something that looked very similar to Saccharomyces, brewer's or baker's yeast. This single-celled fungus feeds on sugars and reproduces frequently—if it has enough to eat, a culture can double in population in 90 minutes. "Yeasts are found in all kinds of vegetable matter—plants, fruits, stuff like that," Cano says. "It was fortunate for that yeast to be there at the time so it could become part of history." Cano was fascinated by his find. Unfortunately, this ancient strain of yeast didn't have commercial applications that Ambergene could exploit. And none of Cano's other discoveries were yielding biomedical breakthroughs, either. "We did find two or three microorganisms that produced some new chemical compounds," Cano says. "But they were never pursued, because the company was broke. I was really disappointed."

Ambergene folded in 1997. Cano went back to his lab and pursued other research, like testing petroleum-degrading bacteria in sand dunes. That project scored enormous grants for Cal Poly, as did many of Cano's other research efforts. But he couldn't forget his brush with fame and fortune. "It was a scientific wild ride, like an E ticket at Disneyland," he says. "As you grow older, the thrill of the hunt becomes more and more acute, at least for me." Meanwhile, his ancient yeast—suspended in glycerol and nutrients—lay dormant in a deep freeze.

In March 2006, Chip Lambert happened to meet a guy named Peter Hackett at a ski resort in Lake Tahoe, California. Hackett is a Northern California pub owner and brewer. Before long, the conversation turned to ancient yeast. "It started as a very casual, noncommittal, you-must-be-out-of-your-mind conversation," Hackett recalls. "He told me the story of how Cano revived the yeast, how it resembled brewer's yeast. And then he said, 'Wouldn't it be interesting if we could make beer with it?'" Lambert and Cano had toyed with the idea for 12 years. Before Ambergene went under, the company made a batch on a lark. "We called it Jurassic Amber Ale or T-Rex Lager or something, and it was pretty good," Cano says. It was served at his daughter's wedding, and they even sent some to the Jurassic Park 2 cast party. That experiment had Cano and Lambert itching to release a beverage commercially. But they wanted it to be something respectable.

"Brewing beer is a biotechnological process," Cano says. "I know the essentials; I've taught it in classes. But the skills you need to actually make a quality beer? I had no clue." They needed a professional brewer to take their yeast for a serious test drive. But unable to interest one, they had put the idea on ice.

Hackett, 44, was a cocky upstart in the microbrew world, known for unique recipes like Bushwacker Wheat (made with tangerines, blackberries, and sun-dried mandarins). He hadn't really wanted to spend a cold, miserable afternoon discussing yeast from the Eocene. "But Chip is a very persistent man," Hackett says. "It was the only way I could get him to leave me alone." After some cajoling, the brewer agreed to try making a batch of beer with Cano's yeast.

But Hackett had his doubts about the 45 million-year-old Saccharomyces. Beer is the result of a chemical process that takes place when yeast gobbles up sugars and excretes carbon dioxide and alcohol. The flavor depends heavily on the type of Saccharomyces doing the eating, and very few strains perform well in the hostile anaerobic conditions inside a brewing tank. "It requires a robust cell," Hackett says. "My boss is a single-celled organism. If it's not happy, it will let me know."

Hackett combined the yeast with all the other ingredients that make up his popular Rat Bastard pale ale recipe, so he could easily taste its distinguishing characteristics. During the brewing, the ancient yeast's behavior was unusual, to say the least. "It ferments violently at the start," Hackett says, "then it falls out of suspension and the beer becomes almost clear." From a brewer's perspective, its behavior was schizophrenic: It began like a yeast used in ales, floating at the top. Then it began to act like yeast used in slow-fermenting lagers, settling to the bottom of the tank but not going dormant.

Normally, Hackett ends the primary fermentation process by "crashing the tank"—lowering the temperature to shock the yeast into dormancy. But that didn't work on Cano's yeast. "It was just sitting on the bottom and nibbling on the sugar like a couch potato," Hackett says. A strain that had survived 45 million years in suspended animation was not about to go quietly.

Hackett was prepared to pour the batch down the drain if it tasted awful. But he discovered that the flavor of the resulting ale was unique, and not in a bad way. It was light and crisp with a citrusy, gingery tang. It was definitely worth exploring further.

The brewer began experimenting with the ancient strain. He indulged its idiosyncratic behavior, letting it ferment for an extra month in a cold storage tank. He modified the hops, a plant that adds a characteristic bitterness to beer, to complement the flavor imparted by the yeast.

Cano's Saccharomyces coupled with Hackett's know-how to yield a very tasty libation, which is now made and distributed under the name Fossil Fuels Brewing Company. "We won the lottery," Hackett says. "It's such a random thing. A yeast cell, captured in amber, found by a mad scientist. For it to perform well, for it to perform uniquely ... I wouldn't have bet on it."

Fossil Fuels pale ale caused a stir among beer aficionados like William Brand, a former critic with The Oakland Tribune who raved about it on his blog. He noted its "light copper color and an intense clove aroma." He liked its sweetness and the "intriguing, very odd spicy note" in the finish.

Celebrator Beer News described the ale as having a "complex and well-developed taste profile" with "fruity flavor characteristics and just a touch of lemony sweetness. The fact that it is made with such old yeast is fascinating, and given how good the beer is, no mere novelty."

A 5-gallon glass jug containing hundreds of millions of Cano's yeast cells is sitting on the back porch of Hackett's brewpub in Guerneville, California, 70 miles north of San Francisco. Every half-hour or so, Hackett goes outside and shakes it up a bit. When the sun warms the contents of the jug to 70 degrees Fahrenheit, it'll be ready.

Hackett has been stirring malted barley into 150-degree water in an enormous stainless steel tub. The hot water will break down the starch in the grain, turning it into a sugary substance called wort, which is then diluted, boiled, and transferred to a fermentation tank. When the jar of yeast has warmed up sufficiently, Hackett dumps it into the tank, where it begins to gobble up the wort.

Normally, Hackett could reuse this yeast after separating it from the freshly brewed batch of beer. New characteristics may begin to present themselves as the tiny fungi go through tens of thousands of generations. "Over time, genetic drift can occur," Hackett says. "It mutates and evolves." But for Fossil Fuels' brew, Cano prefers to create new colonies that are as close as possible to the original generation he reawakened from the chunk of amber. His yeasty beasties may not have made him a pharmaceutical millionaire, but he has finally discovered a use for them, and he wants to stay involved in the brewing process.

As Hackett finishes preparing his latest batch, Cano arrives. He has driven up from San Luis Obispo to get a pony keg of pale ale for his own personal use. And Lambert has come up from the East Bay. The scientists sit on stools as Hackett brings out pints of their beer, as well as fries, shrimp, and egg rolls hot from the brewpub's kitchen. They're soon ready for a second round of beer.

Fossil Fuels Brewing will start selling its beer in pubs and restaurants throughout California this fall. The company is creating beer-tap handles with hunks of amber embedded in the tip. A bigger brewery—one capable of bottling the beer when they're ready to put it on store shelves—has been enlisted to take on the commercial production duties.

Cano is delighted with the burgeoning success of Fossil Fuels ale. It'll earn him a little bit of money, and every pint or bottle sold could kick off a conversation about his momentous discovery 14 years ago. His only worry is that the unfiltered nature of this beer means that some of his yeast will invariably settle to the bottom of the glass or bottle, and an unscrupulous brewer could collect that and use it in another beer. The microbiologist has applied for a patent on his strains and has sequenced the genomes so he can tell if someone else has stolen it. "I am the keeper of the family jewels," Cano says. He isn't about to let them fall into the wrong hands.
(c) 2009 - Erin Biba - Wired Magazine

STARBUCKS ADDS BOOZE TO MENU
I'll Take A Venti Beer, Please
After building an empire based on caffeine, Starbucks is mixing it up and giving beer and wine a shot.
Taking a page from Europe's coffeehouse playbook, Starbucks is hoping alcohol may be the silver bullet to boost its stagnant stock price. The grand experiment begins next week in Seattle with a new store called "15th Ave. Coffee and Tea inspired by Starbucks," USA Today reported. Starbucks plans to create two more similar stores in the Seattle area at locations that aren't currently Starbucks stores. And if the concept works, it could be tested in other cities, says Major Cohen, senior project manager at Starbucks.

For Starbucks, which has suffered a humbling mix of closed stores, employee layoffs and same-store sales declines during the recession, the move is an attempt to extend the brand into the evening, when business is typically at its slowest. CEO of consulting firm Brandstream and former marketing chief at Starbucks, Scott Bedbury, said alcohol is common at European coffeehouses.

But Americans may not be ready for European-style coffeehouses, and if not, we may never see booze at our local Starbucks. This experiment could go down in the beverage history books as just another New Coke.

So for now, the lone test store will serve a half-dozen kinds of beer and wine, ranging in price from $4 to $7. If all goes according to Starbucks' plan, this could be a much-needed edge in the so-called coffee wars. The caffeine giant has been in the crosshairs of McDonald's and Dunkin' Donuts for some time now. Perhaps it won't be long before we see the McWine Cooler.
(c) 2009 Olsen Ebright - NBC New York

New Beer Honors Milwaukee Baseball Legend Spahn
Warren Spahn, former Milwaukee Braves pitching legend who played from 1953 until 1964 and won 363 games over his 21 seasons, is being honored with a new beer that pays homage to his nickname and his impressive record.

Spahnie 363 LLC and its affiliate, Oklahoma-based Choc Beer Company, is producing the beer, which will be distributed in the Milwaukee area exclusively through Beer Capitol and W.O.W. distributing company.

Joe Prichard, owner of Choc Beer Company, co-owns Spahnie 363 LLC with Greg Spahn, Warren Spahn's son. The two became friends growing up.

"I fondly remember when dad would pack up the family and hit the road with several cases of Choc beer in the car to visit the Spahns in Milwaukee during the summer," Prichard said. "So came the inspiration to produce a beer that would pay tribute to the American legend Warren Spahn and the legacy of the friendship between a great beer maker and a legendary baseball player.”

Spahnie 363 is the first kolsch-style beer brewed by Choc Beer Company in Krebs, Okla. Brewmaster Michael Lalli has combined Wisconsin malt, imported German hops, proprietary German yeast and bottled conditioning to achieve a smooth, crisp ale that is wonderfully refreshing and serves as a great companion to German cuisine, earthy cheeses and smoked and grilled meats. Spahnie 363 will be available year-round in Milwaukee, Arkansas and Oklahoma.

Man On Lawnmower During Beer Run Charged With DUI
With a revoked license because of a previous drunken-driving conviction, Dennis Cretton shouldn't drive. But authorities said that didn't stop the 49-year-old man from drunkenly driving up to a gas station for more beer — on his yellow riding lawnmower. Cretton was charged with felony aggravated driving under the influence after neighbors reported he was weaving in and out of traffic on his lawnmower Friday night. When deputies tried to stop him, authorities said Bretton drove the mower into his home's front yard, his 12-pack of Milwaukee's Best spilling onto the ground along the way. Cretton was free on $10,000 bond. Calls to his home went unanswered Tuesday.
(C) 2009 Belleville News-Democrat

DRINKING BEER AFTER EXERCISE BETTER THAN WATER
Researchers at Granada University in Spain have come across a discovery that will undoubtedly please athletes and sports enthusiasts - a pint of beer post-workout or match is better at rehydrating the human body than water.
Professor Manuel Garzon, a member of Granada's medical faculty, made the finding after tests on 25 students over several months. Researchers believe that it is the sugars, salts, and bubbles in a beer that may help people absorb fluids more quickly. The subjects in the study were asked to run on a treadmill at temperatures of 104F (40C) until they were close to exhaustion. Once they had reached the point of giving up, researchers measured their hydration levels, motor skills, and concentration ability. Half of the subjects were given two half pints of Spanish lager to drink, and the other half were given just water.

Garzon said that the rehydration effection in those who were given beer was "slightly better" than those who were given only water. He also believes that the carbon dioxide in beer helps quench thirst more quickly, and that beer's carbohydrates replace calories lost during physical exertion. The average person loses around 1 liter (33oz) of water for every hour of exercise in sweat. Rehydrating after a workout is crucial, as a lack of hydration is more likely to make one feel tired, fuzzyheaded, and suffer from headaches. Based on the results of the study, researchers recommend moderate consumption of beer as a part of athletes' diets. "Moderate consumption" for men is 500ml per day, and for women is 250ml per day.
So that explains why Babe Ruth was so good. His method of training was nearly 100 years ahead of its time.
(C) 2009 Cleveland Leader

BAY VIEW BREWHAUS
If you're looking for a part of town offering up homemade brews or live music, Bay View might just be atop your list. And now, the newly opened Bay View Brewhaus wants to lift a bit of the burden and offer you both in the same location. Steve Fix and his father purchased the large ominous building on the corner of Kinnickinnic Avenue and Otjen Street last spring with a vision of transforming the first floor from a wedding reception hall to a hot spot for live, local bands. The building, which still houses a Chinese restaurant in the basement, was completely devoid of windows and natural light. That was until Fix and his father started to make changes. Fix began the transformation of the space by cutting floor to ceiling holes to add large, expansive windows along two walls. The original bar still lines the back wall but Fix added a large walk-in cooler, custom-made wood tables and equipment for a future brewing operation set to start processing sometime in the next couple of months. Fix's main focus, live music, is, aptly, the main focus of the large open space. Adding a center set raised stage, Fix plans to feature local bands, singers and musicians weekly. As he explains, he doesn't intend to mimic what places like the Cactus Club or Frank's Power Plant are already doing. He says his goal is to add to the mix by bringing a broader range of genres to Bay View. As his father reiterates, there's certainly room for each of the venues to collaborate and carve out an individual niche. Fix previously owned and operated a bar in downtown Waukesha. As one of the first to bring live music to the area, Fix says he found it difficult to charge any sort of cover for shows and saw the scene move toward DJs rather than live music. Perceiving Bay View as a community supporting live music venues, Fix made the move Downtown. The Bay View Brewhaus is currently open evenings with set hours to follow.
(c) 2009 Maureen Post - OnMilwaukee.com


AMERICAN DISTILLER
www.distilling.com
CONTACT : BILL OWENS, AMERICAN DISTILLER, BOX 577, HAYWARD, CA 94543
(510) 886-7418 - Bill @ Distilling.com

GREAT DISTILLATIONS & SPIRITS EVENTS

FEBRUARY 18
Madison Malt Society "Celebration of Amercan Distilling
– 6-10 PM - $55 ($65 VIP)
Edgewater Hotel, 666 Wisconsin Ave., Madison, WI

MAY 2 – 5
American Distilling Institute Whiskey & Moonshine Distilling Conference
Huber Starlight Distillery, Borden IN

APRIL 23
10th Annual WhiskyFest Chicago - 6:30 - 9:30 PM - Regular admission: $110 (VIP admission: $150)
Hyatt Regency, Chicago, IL
America's Largest Whisky Celebration, WhiskyFest Chicago will feature more than 200 of the world's finest, rarest, and most expensive, single malt and blended Scotch, Irish, bourbon, Tennessee, Japanese, Welsh, Canadian and other whiskies from around the world to sample in one Grand Ballroom. High-end rums, tequilas beer and other spirits will be represented as well.

Wanna learn more about Craft Distillers & Distilling, Visit our Craft Distilling Page


CARS & STUFF
Tune in to WMSE (91.7 FM) for Mark Dietrich’s Gearhead Show every Saturday from 6-9 AM.
Won’t be long before Mark’s in the tower, calling the action at Great Lakes Drag-Away.

Inspired ? Visit both our "Car Stuff" homepage and our Car Show Calendar.


GREAT FOOD
Coming back strong will be our Food coverage, including Cooking Classes, Demonstrations, Specialty Food Samplings and Dinners, plus Press Coverage on Cooking, Growing & Dining.

Want to see several Food Events ? Hit our Chowtime Food Events Calendar

How about our Food Blog, as we wax ...poetic about Foods we like ?
Visit our Food Times Page

NEW DIRECTIONS FOR SWS.COM
Look for this website to get "livened up."

While we've been updating our Beer & Music calendars (almost) daily, much of the rest of our website will become "re-actived," as well. There's a lot of homepages here, folks.

We'll be adding a mini-blog on this homepage several days a week; Offer you increased coverage on Wine & Spirits, Food, Music, and soon: Cars (& Alternative Fuels), and a few other things, ... besides offer our strong, and soon stronger, Beer & Music coverage.

"Wine & Spirits ?" We've always liked Spirits & have recently rekindled our Wine appreciation. We'll be talking about wines, growers, importers, retailers and wine events.

"Food ?" We plan to add a lot more articles on Growing, Eating, Cooking & Dining.

"Music ?" We plan to talk about bands and musicians before they perform, to help lure you out more often.
We plan to talk about musicians and their instruments, as well.

Another reason for "Food & Music" is that both are served at venues that sell and serve Beer, Wine & Spirits.

"Cars ,...?"
With the price of oil rising to $100 a barrel, horsepower ratings and "fun cars" will soon be a thing of the past. The key now is how to keep mobile, have a nice ride & not spend a fortune.

The glory days were, of course, the 50s & 60s ... The days of the Custom Car, Hot Rod and Restoration.

How do we combine the two (car culture & economy ? )

Several groups are trying, from the 100 MPG prize to Biodiesel conversions,...
E ven musician Neal Young in transforming his 70s Lincoln to electric power.

We'll try, on this website, to let you know more !

Since car design (& restoration) is a form of art, we'll most likely be adding art gallery information in the near future, too.

Fear not: Beer still continues to be a favorite of ours.
We just plan to offer more diversity.

We promise to keep you entertained !!

WJ