Beer organization changes name, introduces kick-ass logo
The Oklahoma Malt Beverage Association — the advocacy association for beer distributors in Oklahoma — announced today that they will change their name. The group will now be known as the Beer Distributors of Oklahoma. In addition, the group unveiled a sweet new logo:
The group issued this statement, from President Brett Robinson, about the name change:
“While the Oklahoma Malt Beverage Association brand has served us well for decades, we feel the time is right to become the Beer Distributors of Oklahoma, a name our membership believes more accurately reflects the true mission of our organization. Through our new name and logo we will continue our advocacy and public outreach efforts on behalf of Oklahoma beer distributors and the three-tier system, while educating Oklahomans on the importance of effective state-based regulation.”
The group also announced its team of officers for 2011:
-Chairman – Matt Jett, Jett Distributing Co., Clinton
-Vice Chairman/Chairman-Elect – John Cresap, Premium Beers of Oklahoma, Inc., OKC
-Secretary/Treasurer – Gordon Green, Capital Distributing Co., OKC
-Immediate Past Chairman – Tim Zaloudek, Pope Distributing Co., Enid
-Director – Tommy Hitchcock, Hitchcock Distributing, Inc., Durant
-Director – Lou Moreau, A&B Distributing, Muskogee
-Director – Dan Solie, LDF Sales & Distributing, Inc., Tulsa
-Director – Mitch Zaloudek, Pope Distributing Co., Enid
Five Questions With… Red Earth Brewers
Time for the latest installment in the not-yet-award-winning Five Questions With… series. Today, I bring you Oklahoma’s newest homebrewing club, Red Earth Brewers. Answering our questions is club director of communications Wes Glinsmann.
1. The Thirsty Beagle: It looks like you guys are a pretty new club – am I right? When did you get started?
Wes Glinsmann: Yeah, we’re the new kids in town. We had our first meeting in late October and just had our first tasting (last) week. So we’re still learning as we go.
2. TTB: Why start up the club? Did you feel like there was a need in the central Oklahoma area for such a club?
WG: Really it was mostly about location. There are a couple of homebrew clubs that meet down at the Learn to Brew store in Moore. But it just really wasn’t convenient for those of us in Yukon, Piedmont, Edmond, etc. So Gail (the owner of The Brew Shop at 36th and Penn) and a group of us decided that we wanted to have a club a little more accessible to people on the north side.
3. TTB: How many members do you have? Is the club growing as word gets out?
WG: I’ve been pleasantly surprised with how quickly it’s taken off in less than two months. We’ve got about 70 people on our mailing list, and a little more than that following us on Twitter and Facebook. We’ve averaged 30-40 attendees at our meetings so far. And that’s all been pretty much just through word of mouth. We he hope that as word continues to spread about our group, we’ll continue to grow.
4. TTB: What are some benefits/reasons for the average homebrewer to join a club?
WG: First I would say the people. Homebrewers come from all kinds of backgrounds and all walks of life. But we all have that common interest in homebrewing, craft beers and beer culture. So it’s a great way to meet some neat people with whom you already have a lot in common. Second, I would say it’s a great learning experience. Our members range all the way from people who have never brewed their own beer but are interested in learning to those who have been brewing for decades and are certified national-level beer judges. So there’s a wealth of knowledge in our group. Additionally, we plan to do tastings of our homebrews every other month. So it will be a great opportunity to sample other people’s beers to see what you like as well as get some constructive feedback on your own brews. If you’re already a homebrewer and want to learn some new tricks or if you’ve never brewed your own beer but are interested in learning, joining a homebrew club is a great way to get plugged in.
5. TTB: If someone wants to get involved, how can they go about doing that?
WG: We have a lot of ways to track us down. To get on our e-mail list, they can either send us a message at redearthbrewers@gmail.com or stop by The Brew Shop and sign up. We also post all our meeting notices on our blog, our Facebook page and Twitter feed.
Very nice Wes, and thanks for taking part! As a north-sider myself, I can certainly appreciate some super-local beer fanfare.
TTB ranks the bowl game names
Who among us wouldn’t want our favorite college football team to play in the Poulan Weed-Eater Bowl? Not saying you’d prefer a trip to the Poulan Weed-Eater Bowl over the Cotton Bowl or a BCS bowl or anything, but isn’t it just fun to say Poulan Weed-Eater Bowl as many times as possible? Bowl games like the now-defunct Poulan Weed-Eater Independence Bowl have actually become a staple of the holiday season. Personally, I look forward to bowl season each year to see what the most horrific bowl name will be. In that spirit, I bring you The Thirsty Beagle’s inaugural Worst Bowl Game Name Rankings! We’ll break this down from least horrific to most horrific.
35. Tostitos BCS National Championship Game: It doesn’t get any better than the national championship game. And since practically every game has a sponsor, someone had to go first.
34. Rose Bowl Game Presented by Vizio: I would have put this one at 35, because you gotta love the Rose Bowl and you gotta love a game that refers to itself as a game, but the whole “presented by” thing knocked it down a notch.
33. Tostitos Fiesta Bowl: Props to Tostitos for ponying up for not one, but two bowl game sponsorships.
32. Outback Bowl: I gotta give credit to a bowl game with only two words in its name. On a side note, am I the only one who feels like they should play this game in Australia?
31. Texas Bowl: I’ll give it up to a bowl game that doesn’t even appear to have a sponsor.
30. New Mexico Bowl: I’ll give it up to a bowl game that doesn’t even appear to have a sponsor, part two.
29. Insight Bowl: Narrowly beat out the Foresight Bowl and the Hindsight Bowl when they were deciding on names.
28. Valero Alamo Bowl: Valero sounds like kind of a Tex-Mex-type name, so it seems to fit with San Antonio.
27. AT&T Cotton Bowl: That’s the way to keep it simple.
26. Allstate Sugar Bowl: Keeping it simple, part two.
25. Discover Orange Bowl: Keeping it simple, part three
24. Progressive Gator Bowl: Sounded better than the Stuck in Our Old Ways Gator Bowl.
23. Capital One Bowl: Credit for not tacking a random city onto the game’s name.
22. Chick-fil-A Bowl: If watching this game means seeing more cows in commercials, then bring it on!
21. Hyundai Sun Bowl: Hello random sponsor with no obvious ties to the El Paso area.
20. AutoZone Liberty Bowl: If your car breaks down outside the stadium, there’s worse places you could be.
19. Sheraton Hawaii Bowl: I have no idea what hotel the football teams will stay at for this game.
18. Champs Sports Bowl: I’ve got nothing.
17. Little Caesars Bowl: Something tells me you won’t be able to get a $5 large pizza at the game. Maybe a $5 slice.
16. New Era Pinstripe Bowl: Just because the game is in New York doesn’t mean you’re obligated to call it the Pinstripe Bowl. Just sayin’.
15. TicketCity Bowl: Better than the Get Your Overpriced Bowl Tickets at TicketCity.com Bowl.
14. Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl: There are actually several brands of helicopters I prefer over Bell helicopters, thank you very much.
13. Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl: Here’s your award winner for Bowl That Was Once Fairly Prestigious But Now is Sullied With a Random Sponsor.
12. Military Bowl Presented by Northrop Grumman: This game doesn’t have enough street cred to use “presented by” in its name.
11. R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl: Random+sponsor alert!
10. San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl: Do you have to live in San Diego County to join the credit union?
9. Maaco Bowl Las Vegas: Maybe next year I’ll go to the OSU Football Game Stillwater.
8. AdvoCare V100 Independence Bowl: Just plain old AdvoCare Independence Bowl wouldn’t have worked? You just HAD to throw in the V100, didn’t you?!
7. Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl: When you’re sponsoring a bowl that already has three words in its name, it doesn’t help to double the amount of words in the game’s title.
6. Meineke Car Care Bowl: I don’t know about you, but when I think of tradition and prestige, this is the first bowl name that jumps to mind.
5. BBVA Compass Bowl: Never heard of BBVA, and I’m not sure what compasses have to do with bowl games. Unless you’re trying to figure out how to be a north-south runner.
4. GoDaddy.com Bowl: Automatic low points for naming your bowl after a website.
3. uDrove Humanitarian Bowl: Quick, describe the company philosophy of uDrove in less than 10 seconds. What? You can’t? I can’t believe you’ve never heard of uDrove before!
2. Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl: Would have been better as the Kraft Mac & Cheese Bowl.
And, drum roll please…
1. Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl St. Petersburg: This one hits all the low points. Random sponsor with a random name (Beef ‘O’ Brady’s is a chain of Irish-pub-themed, family friendly sports bars in the Southeast and Midwest) with a city name randomly tacked on to the bowl’s name. Poulan Weed-Eater Bowl, I think you have some competition.
BCS trophy features addition
Just picked up the Beer Championship Series trophy today after taking it in to the shop for a certain addition:
Beer links: Dec. 16
Surfing the world of Internet beer news, I bring you these links:
-The Brewers Association put out this excellent and encouraging end-of-year review of the craft beer industry.
-Interested in what some guys who enjoy running and drinking beer at the same time think about the winter beer season? (Link courtesy Mrs. Beagle.)
-Don’t we all need to know about George Washington’s recipe for a stiff porter? Or Thomas Jefferson’s tavern ale? (Link courtesy Red Earth Brewers home brew club.)
Oklahoma beer news report: Dec. 14
Passing along some odds and ends from the beer universe:
-Choc is bringing back its popular Pete’s Place beer dinners in 2011, the beer company announced this week. The first date is Jan. 14. Reservations can be made by calling 918-423-2042. Gift certificates are available as well.
-In other Choc news, Signature Smoked Porter has made it to the top of the Beer Advocate rankings for the Smoked Beer category. You can see the rankings right here. Pretty impressive feat for a homebrew beer!
-McNellie’s OKC has a limited supply of Marshall Brewing’s seasonal Big Jamoke porter on tap.
-Mustang Brewing Co. recently learned its Harvest Wheat is the recipient of a silver medal in the Beverage Tasting Institute’s 2010 World Beer Championships. This is the second Mustang beer to receive such an honor, the first being Washita Wheat. Congrats guys!
-Looking for COOP Ale Works’ seasonal Territorial Reserve Oak Aged Imperial Stout? The beer is confirmed on tap at Tapwerks in Bricktown. The 2010 vintage was aged in Templeton Rye Whiskey barrels and checks in at 9% abv.
Marshall Atlas IPA 6′ers added to store shelves
Happy Friday beer fans! Quick post this morning, copied from Marshall Brewing Co.’s Facebook page:
Drum roll, please! The moment you have all been waiting for… Atlas IPA is now in six packs on store shelves, joining Sundown Wheat, Old Pavilion Pilsner and McNellie’s Pub Ale. That’s right, all of the Marshall core beers are in six packs! We can hardly believe it ourselves. Cheers!
Good news there. I tried some Atlas IPA on tap at Marshall’s brewery, and it was excellent. I later had a glass at Republic. Still excellent. So, whether you are a fan of big or little bottles, no reason not to get your favorite variety of Marshall beer at your local store now.
The scoop on Redbud Brewing Co.
Yesterday I introduced you to Redbud Brewing Co., the Oklahoma City-area’s latest beer company. Today, let’s learn a little more about the new brewing venture. Here’s my e-mail conversation with Redbud brewmaster Chase Healey:
-The Thirsty Beagle: Are there plans for a location for Redbud in the metro?
Chase Healey: Currently I’m producing the beers at Huebert Brewing Company on the south side. Doing it this way allows me to 100 percent focus on the beer. As capacity becomes an issue, yes we will have to move to our own location. When will that be? It’s hard to say.
-TTB: What are the plans in terms of getting the beer out to the public? Will we see kegs or bottles, or both? And when?
CH: The beer will be in 12 oz. longnecks, 750′s (ml), and a limited amount of keg beer. I plan to have beer out in the later part of January.
-TTB: Speaking of trying the beer, what kind of beers can we expect?
CH: I will be starting with a pale ale in 12 oz. bottles and kegs. It’s an everyday drinking kind of beer with bright hop flavor (and) a touch of bready malt to balance things out. A few other 12 oz. offerings are in the works, so keep a lookout. The 750 ml line of beers will be my Cuvee series. A series of beers that will introduce people to some awesome flavors. These beers will be limited, about 1,000 bottles per release. Cuvee 1 is a Belgian Golden Ale with big fruit and spice notes; Cuvee 2 will be a barrel age version of 1; and 3 will be a blend of 1 and a new beer. Basically, each beer is a blend of the previous, giving the drinker a chance to understand how different elements change a beer. Look for a new Cuvee every couple of months.
-TTB: Who all is involved with this company? Do you have brewing help?
CH: I have no help, aside from my wife, or friend helping with bottling. These beers are 100 percent me, and that’s 100 percent why I’m doing this. My concern isn’t with number of cases sold, or venues that carry the product, my concern is the beer. This is my craft, I’m a brewer, the beers are my artistic expressions. I want to add something unique to not just Oklahoma beer, but craft beer as a whole.
Thanks for the info., Chase. The Thirsty Beagle is looking forward to trying the Redbud products in January. Based on Chase’s work at COOP, we could be in for some strong additions to the Oklahoma craft beer scene. I’ll try to keep readers updated about locations and availability as we get closer.
New brewing company launched in OKC
Several weeks ago I mentioned an exciting development on the Oklahoma City beer scene that I knew about, but was not allowed to mention.
Well, the curtain has been lifted on Redbud Brewing Company. Details are sketchy at the moment — what is known is that former COOP Ale Works brewmaster Chase Healey is heading up the beer-making venture. Chase has been test-brewing at Bricktown Brewery recently.
I’ve got several questions out to Chase and hopefully within the next couple days will give you a full report on what could be another craft brewery in Oklahoma.
Durant feels sorry for Raptors, sits out
Let’s take a stroll around the sports world on a Friday afternoon…
-We’ll start with some breaking sports news: Kevin Durant has declared he will sit out tonight’s game against The Thirsty Beagle’s Toronto Raptors to make the game more entertaining. Although Toronto ticket holders are upset they won’t get to see one of the NBA’s best players, word on the street is fans will give a street-clothes-clad Durant a warm ovation tonight for his thoughtful gesture. The 7-11 Raptors are holding down the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference, however they would be 12th in the Western Conference standings. So, they obviously can use all the help they can get.
-LeQuitter James returned to Cleveland last night with his Miami Heat teammates and laid a sound whipping on the Cavaliers. I was left with two lasting impressions: 1. The Cavaliers suck. 2. In a post-game interview, Lebron referred to continuing his ”greatness” in Miami. He later tweeted that he was referring to the Heat working toward greatness as a team. I’m calling B.S. on that one. In fact, I’m going to go work on my greatness when I get home tonight.
-The NCAA this week essentially said that although the father of Auburn quarterback Cam Newton blatantly shopped his son’s services, they can’t prove that the son knew about it. So, hey, no harm no foul, right? Let me go over this one more time: Dez Bryant gets suspended for a year for lying about something that wasn’t a violation, and Cam Newton gets nothing for his dad trying to sell him to a college for six figures? And this makes sense how?
-Speaking of college football, I think I’m finally ready to put fingers to keyboard regarding the Bedlam game this past Saturday. I will say this: Being an OSU football fan sucks. We went from feeling like we had a great chance to play in the Fiesta Bowl to having the Alamo Bowl be the best game on the table. It’s easy to put into words all the things lost on Saturday: the game, bragging rights, breaking OU’s streak against the Cowboys, the school’s first ever 11-win season, the South Division title, a spot in the conference title game, etc. What’s harder to put into words is the feeling that OSU went from one of the greatest football season’s in school history to pretty much total failure in one game. I hope a week or a month or a year from now I can look back and appreciate 2010 as a great year for OSU football. Now, I just feel demoralized. Well, I guess I’ve always got wrestling and golf.
