Top beers of 08
DRAFT Magazine has released its list of top beers for 2008. Even The Thirsty Beagle can admit several of these are rather obscure. Sound off in the comments section if you’ve tried any of these. Here’s the article: http://draftmag.com/magazine/articles/21
Mustang Brewing Co.: Part 2
Here’s part two of my conversation with Oklahoma City’s Tim Schoelen of the Mustang Brewing Co. In case you missed the first part, Tim plans to unveil a new line of beers in the metro area this year.
The Thirsty Beagle: Do you have a location secured for the brewery? Any idea about a specific opening date?
Tim Schoelen: Our home office will be in Mustang. Rather than building one, large brewery, we plan to have a central business office and smaller production facilities throughout the OKC metro. Mustang Golden Ale will be available in kegs late Spring. We debated about whether or not to introduce bottles first. Kegs felt like the right thing to do to make sure we are in the hands of the die-hard beer fans in Oklahoma City. Those are the folks that are going to tell us whether we have a beer that’s drinkable. Bottles and/or cans will hit the market in 2010.
TTB: Give me a sense of the scope of this operation: Are we talking a mom-and-pop deal, or a significantly larger commercial enterprise?
TS: We’ve tried to be careful so far in calling our operation a Brewing Company, rather than a Brewery, but the two terms are often interchanged. All of my partners have solid business backgrounds. Our goal is to incrementally build the business and establish a strong, regional presence. We hope to be the Shiner or Pete’s Wicked of Oklahoma. We understand, though, that you need to crawl before you can walk. To meet demand, some of our beers will be brewed here in our own facilities, while others will need to be produced under partnerships with other breweries.
TTB: Tell me a little bit about your flagship beer, Mustang Golden Ale. What other beers/types of beer should we be expecting?
TS: Our research showed that over 70% of the beers sold in Oklahoma City are lighter-styled beers. That’s what we wanted in our flagship beer. Mustang Golden Ale is one of the easiest drinking beers I have ever tasted. My great grandfather owned a saloon in Kansas City. He called this kind of beer a picnic beer – something you can drink all day while hanging out with friends. It’s not a light beer by any means, but it’s not so heavy that you feel full after drinking two or three. It’s flavorful, but not too hoppy. We are extremely pleased with how it turned out. Our early tasters gave us rave reviews. In addition to Mustang Golden Ale, we plan to brew two seasonal beers a year. One will be something lighter for the Spring and Summer – maybe my Dad’s Belgian Wit recipe – and the other will be something heavier for the colder months. I’ve always been partial to Scottish Ales in the winter time. We’ll have to see what people request. We want to brew something OKC will be proud to call their own. If there are enough people who want it, we’ll brew it. Beer will be our mainstay, but we may move into ciders, lemonades or teas, as well.
So there you have round two of our conversation. Check back for the third and final installment.
New brewery to open in metro
Everyone knows about the Choc brewery in Krebs, and around Oklahoma City, the Bricktown and Belle Isle breweries. Well it looks like we’ll be getting another brewery in the metro area. I received an e-mail the other day from Tim Schoelen, an Oklahoma City man who wanted to let me know that after two years of development, he is starting up a brewery called Mustang Brewing Co. The brewery will be in Mustang, and the flagship beer, Mustang Golden Ale, should be available within the next couple months. The Thirsty Beagle is giving you the latest scoop on this development, folks, and over the next couple weeks I’ll provide you with a running conversation with Schoelen. Here’s Part 1 in our conversation:
The Thirsty Beagle: Are you a native Oklahoman?
Tim Schoelen: I grew up in Stillwater and Oklahoma City. After graduating from OU, my work relocated me to a number of different cities including San Antonio, TX, Charleston, SC, Charlotte, NC, Milwaukee, WI, and Dallas, TX. My wife, two kids and I moved back to Oklahoma in 2005.
TTB: Are you getting into beer from another line of work?
TS: My background is in healthcare consulting. I’ve been lucky to work for some great companies such as GE, Ernst & Young, and Accenture.
TTB: Why are you opening a brewery?
TS: Because of my work, I’ve traveled to cities all over the country. A favorite thing to do when I go somewhere new is to sample the local beer. It sounds kind of hokey, but a local brew says a lot about a place. Whether you are sipping a Palmetto Porter in Charleston or an Old Style at Wrigley Field, you get a sense for the people and their tastes. I have always been really proud to tell people that I am from Oklahoma. The people, the open spaces, and all the growth we have seen in the past 10 years make OKC one of the best places in the country to live, work and raise kids. With all that’s going on here, I always wondered why we didn’t have a local beer. My dad is an avid homebrewer and passed his skills along to me. One hot, summer day we were sipping one of his newest creations — a Belgian Wit, if I recall correctly — and talking about the Oklahoma economy. I told my dad, “We need a local beer.” That night I called some of my closest friends to get them on-board. We agreed to a general concept, and started working on getting our brewery off the ground. Almost two years later, we’re just a few months away from launching our first beer.
Check back for new entries as I bring you more about Mustang Brewing Co. You can also see more about the brewery by going to www.mustangbrewing.com.
Now that’s dedication!
Today, The Thirsty Beagle gives you perhaps the most dedicated (or crazy) beer drinker you may ever know. A man in Edmonton, Alberta, opted to return to a hotel bar on Saturday to finish his beer. He was returning from being STABBED IN THE CHEST! Here’s a snippet from the Edmonton Sun newspaper:
“A man who was stabbed at the York Hotel opted to return to the bar to finish his beer rather than seek medical attention.
Police responded to the downtown hotel located at 10401 96 St. just after 9 p.m. Saturday with reports that a man had been stabbed.
When they arrived, they found the victim at his table drinking beer.
“He’s got a minor poke to his chest, but he’s not giving us any details,” said Staff Sgt. Regan James. “You can imagine the level of his concern was not that high.”
No suspects had been located and cops said the victim was uncooperative with them.”
There are times when it’s all right to not finish your beer. The Thirsty Beagle would venture a guess that a knife-stab in the chest would qualify as one of those times.
Just how many pubs do they have over there?
More somber beer news as it pertains to the economy. There’s a report out today that says British pubs closed at a rate of 39 a week during the last half of 2008. That’s a clip of almost six pubs a day shutting their doors. It all adds up to about 44,000 job losses in the industry in the past couple years. The Thirsty Beagle has this question: Just how many pubs do they have in the United Kingdom, anyway? The British Beer & Pub Association (How can I apply to be president of that association?) reports that nearly 2,000 pubs closed in 2008. That would be the equivalent of each state in the United States shuttering 40 pubs/bars in the past year.
Basketball player reveals beer is key to success
If you ever wondered if beer could help you get a promotion, complete that long overdue home improvement project, or score a hot date, wonder no more. Apparently beer is the key to any number of things. Just ask Dallas Mavericks guard Jason Terry. Terry is so thrilled with the impact beer is having on his game, he’s even decided to start drinking it during basketball games. OK, so he wasn’t really drinking that beer in the photo at right; just toasting the Dallas crowd after making a shot in a recent game. But if I could just convince my boss that beer on the job is the way to go, we’d really be getting somewhere. Speaking of basketball, both of our big college teams are in action this weekend. OU is at Texas A&M, and, in the game that I’m intrigued with, OSU is at Baylor. Just what kind of team is this OSU squad? Everyone knows they don’t have a legitimate post presence. But like former OSU star Tony Allen said before the Cowboys Final Four game against Georgia Tech, it’s all about buckets. Any of OSU’s four regular starters — Eaton, Anderson, Harris and Muenelo – and Keiton Page off the bench, can make any number of shots. I’m interested to see if OSU will be able to out-shoot people. On any given night, if three of those five guys really have it going, they’ll have a chance. This may be a team that comes into the conversation when we’re talking about first-day byes in the Big 12 tourney. Especially considering the rest of the Big 12 as a whole is not necessarily tearing the basketball world apart. Of course, in any given game, they could also be out-rebounded by 20 and give up like a 40-point night to a dominant post player. Let’s just start with Baylor on Saturday and then see where they stand.
Beer helps endangered species
Admittedly, a beer called Blind Salamander Pale Ale doesn’t sound very enticing. If you were to purchase a six-pack, though, you may come away feeling pretty good about it. The beer is a creation of Fort Worth-based Rahr and Sons Brewing. The brewery has created a line of beers called the Rare Breed series. A portion of the sales go to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation to benefit endangered species in the Lonestar State. Considering that, I’d be willing to give Blind Salamander a try. The Thirsty Beagle can report that on a recent trip to the Dallas area, I tried Rahr’s Blond Lager and came away quite impressed. And it seems the brewery is going the extra mile when it comes to being environmentally sound: The company uses 100 percent renewable electricity in its brewery and has a fleet of hybrid Priuses for staff to drive.
Can we throw a couple goats in there, too?
Speaking of beer and meat (mentioned in the post below), here’s a story about someone else who apparently likes beer and meat. To sum up: A guy got in trouble with the law in California when he tried to trade his 14-year-old daughter’s hand in marriage for beer, meat and $16,000. I think there’s at least one major difference between this guy and The Thirsty Beagle: Although I do like beer and meat tremendously, I don’t believe I would trade a child for beer and meat. Even if the pot was sweetened with $16,000. And here’s a good question: Where did the 18-year-old groom-to-be get $16,000? I know when I was 18, I wasn’t getting anywhere close to sniffing $16,000 in cash. And if I had beer and meat, I was keeping it!
Some good beer news!
So the global beer economy is in the tank. Mega-national brewers are weeping. Small-town brewmasters are lamenting. Can’t we have a sliver of hope that we’ll hear something good about beer these days? Leave it up to The Thirsty Beagle to find a nugget of beer goodness to deliver to you wrapped with a tidy bow. Get ready for this, because if you’re like me — meaning you love meat and beer, and especially meat and beer together — this is big news: A new study found that marinating your beef in beer helps reduce the cancer risk associated with eating cooked beef. I can hear the trumpets of joy sounding now. Look out grocery store meat counter — it’s steak time for me this weekend!
Some bad beer news
Today must be official depressing beer news day. To wit:
-Danish brewer Carlsberg announced it is cutting jobs due to the weak European beer market.
-SABMiller said its beer shipments were down sharply in the third quarter.
-The country of Poland says its beer industry is struggling.
