Random notes and news from the desk of the Beer Nut.
The weather has started to clear so I guess it's time for me to clear off a few items from my virtual desk here at Beer Nut headquarters.
These are short items that I may expand into full columns later on, right now I feel they only deserve a brief mention here. So without further ado, here is some recent beer news I found notable.
• Is Bud Light even lighter than we think? According to a class-action lawsuit filed in three states, it is. According to a story in the St. Louis Dispatch, former Amheuser-Busch employees have claimed that the brewery watered down several of its beers, such as Budweiser, Bud Light Platinum, Michelob, and eight others. The lawsuits, filed in California, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, charge A-B with the brewery misrepresenting the amount of alcohol in its beers and are seeking damages of more than $5 million each. That's a lot of beer purchasing power.
Apparently, former workers at the brewing plants have asserted they routinely added extra water after the brewing process, just before the beers were bottled.
Now, I'm not a beer snob, but of course I don't think Bud products are very flavorful. What this suit makes me wonder is this: Didn't any Bud drinkers notice? If not, that speaks volumes about the beer. More suits are expected to be filed in other states soon. It will be interesting to see how this case gets settled. Stay tuned.
• I ran into Jerry Noonan, brother of the late, great Greg Noonan, at Sierra Grille last week. He wanted me to know about the Smuttynose release in honor of Greg: Noonan Black IPA. I haven't tried it yet, but I hope to soon.
As many local beer aficionados know, Greg was a native of Springfield and a noted brewing author, brewpub owner (Vermont Pub and Brewery, Seven Barrels Brewery, former founding partner at Amherst Brewing Company), noted consultant, and pioneer of the micro-brewing industry. Smuttynose's Peter Egelston created this tribute to his friend and colleague Greg, with a nod to Greg's having made the first commercially available Black IPA back in 1994, with then-Vermont Pub and Brewery brewer, Glenn Walter. Cheers to Jerry, Peter, and of course, Greg.
• As an iPhone user, I like to protect it with a solid protective case, but not one that adds too much weight or bulk to the phone's sleek design. I use a thin rubbery one from a company called SwitchEasy. but that may have to change. This week I discovered iBottle Opener– a hard-shell slider iPhone case with a built-in bottle opener on the back. I rarely drink bottled beer when out on the town, but as a conversation piece, it might be worth the $20 suggested retail price.