Beer Brewing Sugar

Midwest Brewing Supplies

October 26, 2010

Strong winds and torrential rain are pelting the Midwest, as forecasters predict the giant storm could get worse, becoming the most powerful to hit Illinois in over seven decades.

Dubbed the "Chiclone," the massive tornado-like storm "muscled its way across an area that stretched from the Dakotas to the eastern Great Lakes," reports the AP. Severe thunderstorm warnings blanketed much of the Midwest, and tornado watches were issued from Arkansas to Ohio. Flights were canceled at O'Hare International Airport, a major hub for American and United airlines.

Weather Service Meteorologist Jim Allsopp said the storm could be among the worst to hit Illinois in more than 70 years.

"We're expecting sustained winds on the order of 35 to 40 mph with gusts up to 60 mph throughout the afternoon," said Edward Fenelon, a weather service meteorologist in Romeoville, Ill. He said the storm's central pressure is equivalent to a Category 3 hurricane.

"This is a very different type of event," Fenelon said. "But that does give an indication of the magnitude of the winds. This isn't something you see even every year."

According to The Weather Channel, "in the United States, tornado season generally is in the spring when tornadoes are more prevalent from April through July, with May and June being the peak months." However, just like thunderstorms, "tornadoes can form any time of the year."

Before a tornado, or immediately when you hear a tornado warning, the following plans will help increase your chances of survival:

• Make a Plan: Figure out the best spot in your home and place of work to seek shelter. You should identify the lowest, strongest place, like a basement or cellar.
• Practice Makes Perfect: Regular tornado safety drills can make a difference in an emergency.
• Stockpile: Make sure you have emergency supplies.
• Learn how to shut off the power and gas.

Beer For Homeless

How A Drunk Homeless Man Gets More Results Than You!

Of all the articles I ever wrote about getting fitness results, this one by far will be one of the weirdest, yet most influential. I believe that if we look hard enough there are thousands of life lessons all around us. Just the other day I was fortunate enough to see one. At first I laughed and then I had an "ahh haa" moment. I am willing to bet that after you read this short article you will also see a life lesson unfold.

The other day my beautiful girlfriend and I went for a walk around Union Square park in Manhattan. End of story...yup that's the life story, isn't wonderful? Just kidding... here is what was different with this walk. As we were passing Barns and Noble I noticed a homeless man with a sign. I'm sure you have seen this a thousand times over. But this one was unique. Normally the signs read "I need money for food" "I need money for clothes" "I need money for shelter" etc. However this guy?s sign read "Why Lie, I Need Money For A Beer!"

If you don't see the value in that sign then I better spell it out for you. While 79% of the homeless people asking for money probably intend to spend that money on alcohol, drugs or cigarettes; they are not upfront with their motives. Now this one particular guy was upfront with his goal. He knew what he wanted and wasn't ashamed to say it. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not telling you to make a sign asking for beer money. But what I am doing is asking you to write down your actual fitness goals. Be as specific as possible. Don't be ashamed to say that you want to lose stomach fat and tone your lower back and tighten your thigh muscles. It is perfectly fine with me if your goal is to lose 100 pounds of fat or if it's just to lose 10 pounds of fat. I want you to succeed, no matter how big or small of a goal it is. Did you know that over 96% of all weight loss plans FAIL? That is horrible.

A big key to not being in that 96% of failures is to have definite goals and then to have a solid plan in achieving those goals. So once you have written down your SPECIFIC GOALS you are going to need to rewrite it a few times and place these goal sheets in convenient location in your house, car or work space. You want to be reminded of these daily. After you have strategically placed your goals in eye sight you will need to devise that super plan that will allow you to reach these goals.

This is where I come in handy. I have over 5 years of experience designed weight loss plans. On a weekly basis I assist in helping over 2,000 people reach their goals using the Truth About Abs stomach fat loss program. It is simply amazing to hear all of the wonderful testimonials of happy users. Every day I read emails from men and women who just bought the program but then their fear of success kicks in and they suddenly think they won't have time to do the workouts or they physically won't be able to. I harp on those emails and explain to the user that results takes commitment and commitment takes motivation. Most of the time I am able to motivate them to give the program a go and usually I hear back of their unbelievable success.

I'm sure you are reading this wondering if you could be one of the people in 4% success group. I think you can and really hope you do. Remember in order to do this you should first be completely honest with yourself and write out your goals. Make a few copies of your goals to place around your home, car and office. You?re the only one that can do the two steps I just mentioned. But the next step is one that if you wanted an experts assistance to write out your FITNESS and NUTRITION plan you can get it right away with the Truth About Abs program. Go to http://SexyAbdominals.com/order.html

If you hurry over today you can try out the program for just .95. Yes, you will get full access to the Truth About Abs for only a .95 trial fee. Not too shabby. For the introductory trial price you need to use this special link http://SexyAbdominals.com/trial.html

Beer Bottle Labels

One successful strategy I've employed when traveling in England is not to map my itinerary to landmarks, museums and historic places, but rather, target the most interesting pubs and visit the adjacent attractions accordingly. It's a great way to meet friends and benefit from their knowledge of local lore - and what better way to visit the V & A, the Lowry, heck Buckingham Palace than with a pint or two tucked under your belt. Like most Americans, you'll have elevated your preconceptions of pub life to near mythic proportions, but the beer - "it's warm!", "it's bitter!" and other half-truths may have filled you with trepidation. Well fear not. This three part primer will help introduce you to the world of British beer.

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The Campaign for Real Ale

Two critical abbreviations for any American tourist to familiarize themselves with are MTG: Mind the Gap - the four to six inch space betwixt the railway platform and the threshold of your waiting train, and CAMRA, which stands for - you guessed it - the Campaign for Real Ale, an organization committed to preserving and growing Britain's real ale heritage. In the words of CAMRA they are a 100,000 member strong "independent, voluntary, consumer organization which campaigns for real ale, real pubs and consumer rights."

These guys and gals take beer tasting AND ale-aptitude as relates to the keeping, serving and drinking of beer seriously. And they aren't the only ones. A sister organization Cask Marque consults with brewers, pub and distributors regarding the transport, storage, serving-ware and pouring of beer. When you see the logo shown above displayed on the door or beer menu of a pub, you can be assured the staff has been trained to serve ale the proper way, and that the cask ale will be fresh.

Good Beers Good Pubs

Throw out you Fodors, your Michelins, your Rough Guides, well hold on to your Rough Guide - but the only tomes you really need whilst traveling the UK are the most recent editions of the Good Pub and Good Beer guides. I find the two publications nearly interchangeable, though I may recommend the Pub Guide for new travelers and the Beer Guide for those whose focal point is solidly and unashamedly aimed at beer. No matter, you'll end the afternoon queuing at the loo in the Tate Modern anyway.

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The "Information Architecture" of the guides is exquisitely organized by county, town and post code, with maps and simple iconography to guide you to pubs and breweries who serve cask ale. The details of each pub including hours of operation, accessibility, address and contact information and, most importantly, which beers are on the cask. To top it off a review of the pub, its food and its ale-aptitude, as compiled by local CAMRA members, anchors the listing. In the second half of the book the breweries are described with their brews meticulously reviewed and cataloged by style, ABV and structure i.e.) hops and malts used.

OK. Now that you've got your guides... Let's talk about the beer!

Cask Ale

Also known as real ale. Any stateside fan of a tipple who has tasted a Bass Ale, or a Fuller's ESB, or a Boddington's Ale out of the can or bottle will attest to the tastiness of the end product, but American travelers are less attuned to the major contribution of British brewing - the carefully poured, lightly chilled, traditional real cask ale. Real ale is brewed using hops, malted barley, yeast and water, leaving the end-product to mature in the cask (think: keg) where it undergoes secondary fermentation. The ale is then drawn and poured directly from the cask using traditional handpulls - ornate wooden or ceramic handles decorated with cleverly detailed "clips". This opposed to modern fonts also found in the UK, Europe and brew pubs in the US, that extract the beer using gas cylinders.

By comparison, cask ales hold their head longer, and hold their flavor better than beers that make a big frothy splash out of a CO2 tap. It's a matter of pride of craft more than anything. A cask brewed ale will find its way to the pub immediately upon fermenting - still brewing, while a CO2 keg beer could sit unattended on a warehouse pallet for weeks. I suppose the best analogy is sushi vs sardines - cask ale being sushi (it's fresh) and keg ale, well, its sardines (which as much as I love them are resolutely not).

For those keeping track, a liability of British beer is that for something so awesome in its real, fresh, cask state - it falls way down as a bottled beverage. Belgian ales (Abbeys, Trappists, Golden) fare much better in the bottle, probably because they employ bottle conditioning - i.e.) they still ferment in the bottle. With British beer I find that once the primary fermentation has stopped - unless it is bottle conditioned, the citrusy, flowery, fruity hops character is lost and the malt takes over - rendering most beers to taste alike, with a maltiness that overpowers everything else. It all starts tasting like flat Coca-Cola.

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Micro Brewery Supplies

The law of supply states that the quantity of supply is related to price. So of course the smaller the supply the higher the price. When we deal with the law of demand we have the opposite effect, the larger the supply the lower the price. This is a simple enough rule but often one that is ignored. When you first start looking into what type of business you would like to start you need to consider this rule. Otherwise you could find yourself in a business that has too much competition for too few customers. Or maybe it is going the way of the horse and buggy and becoming extinct.

When considering a business to start you need to determine what the existing demand is for that product or service and also whether the demand is growing, beginning to level off or in fact already declining. One way to tell is by how many new businesses have entered the field within the last few years. You will also want to avoid seemingly hot businesses where you might find yourself entering the field late. When a market is new and growing it is easier to get in on it but if the field has already become saturated with new businesses then you'll probably be squeezed out.

A good example of supply overcoming demand is the microbrewery beer business. While this is still a strong business for existing companies it has been much harder in recent years for new businesses to enter the field. But at one time it was a lot easier as the trend was just catching fire in the United States. Many entrepreneurs opened pubs and launched beer labels during the 1990's with great success. But eventually the market reached that saturation point and new businesses began to fail.

Supply and demand also covers many other aspects of business that you need to consider. The space you lease for example. Hot shopping centers will be more in demand and will cost you more to get in as a result. Wages in a particular industry are subject to change based on the market.

When you consider introducing a new product to market you have to consider the possibility of there being a demand shortfall. This situation would occur if the demand that you projected there would be isn't realized when your product of service is introduced. All of these factors related to supply and demand will have an impact on your business whether now or in the future.

The law of supply and demand can be seen as the great equalizer in business. If you enter into a business with not enough demand you are likely to fail. Whether you are starting a new business or launching a new product or service. Finding out exactly what the demand is as well as the current supply for the venture you are considering is critical to your ability to succeed. If you do not you may find yourself a victim of the law of supply and demand.

Beer Home Brewery

Singapore has Tiger beer, Laos has Beer Lao and Australia has Castlemaine XXXX. Dedicated beer drinkers often arrive in Phuket and aren't quite sure which tipple to sample. Phuket has a range of beers on offer, including a couple that are locally brewed.

Beer Chang remains one of the most popular beers for foreigners visiting Phuket. You can generally rate a beer's popularity by the number of tourists wearing T-shirts and vests emblazoned with the brew's logo. The Beer Chang logo is more seen in Phuket than Ralph Lauren or Calvin Klein. Beer Chang is an average beer that, when consumed in large quantities, can lead to strange dreams and horrendous hangovers.

A less fierce beer is Singha, which is usually a little more expensive than Chang. Singha is the preferred beer of many expats living in Phuket. It has a good, full taste without the brain-wrenching aftereffects of Chang.

For something a bit softer, Leo has a similar taste to Budweiser, although you won't find Leo in most discos and nightclubs. It can, however, be bought in all 7-Elevens and some beer bars. It tastes pleasant and goes down well with a spicy meal.

If you're looking to save money on your beer purchases, you might want to try the cheapest of the lot: Archa Beer. Look for the blue cans in 7-Eleven. Archa Beer is almost never sold in bars, pubs or clubs. Even the local taxi drivers don't appear too keen to drink it. It is certainly an acquired taste and it leaves a heavy feeling in one's stomach, but there are people in Phuket and the rest of Thailand who swear by this beer.

To get into the holiday spirit, nothing beats a can of Phuket Beer. Not only is the can interesting to look at, but the beer is light and fresh and it's easy to drink a can or two without thinking about it. Phuket Beer is, however, not commonly sold around the island, although you can find it at some expat restaurants and bars.

The recently opened Phuket Brewery on Chalermprakeat R.9 Rd in Kathu actually brews its own beer: Pearl Beer. Phuket Brewery is a huge place where people can eat and drink, and the home brew alone makes it worth a visit.

Then, of course, you have Heineken, Bud, Corona, Carlsberg, Guinness and a bunch of other imports. They are usually more expensive than the aforementioned beers, but it all comes down to preference.

Good luck, beer lovers.

Beer Home Making

Beer Home Brewing

Beer Bottle Caps

Beer Pong Table Dimensions

 

Many individuals often wonder what are the best dimensions for a beer pong table, both length and width wise.  Well we did some in depth product testing here at Bar Toys Direct and here is what we found:

 

Length - Our favorite length was 8 feet long for a standard beer pong game.  I had thought I would have wanted a longer table, but the 8 foot was really the perfect size.  We did not like the 7 foot or 9 foot table because near as much.  The 6 foot design was cool as well because of how compact it was and how easily it fit into any room.  The 6 foot beer pong table worked perfectly in a hallway, and as long everyone watches their elbows the 6 foot worked extremely well.

 

Width - The 2 foot wide tables were our favorite, again because of the compact nature.  The wider tables cluttered the room, and it was hard to do anything but play pong on the wide tables.   We easily fit 10 cups on the 2 foot wide table, and I would say it was the ideal size for 10 cup.  Civil war and triples got a tad bit crowded, but still worked well.

 

Weight - Well after 4 minutes of carrying these things up and down the stair course, I can safely say lighter in better.  My favorite was the Red Cup Pong portable beer pong table.  The table had a lot of features that you can see on their homepage, such as the carrying handles.  This really made transport easy, and the things were really well balanced and light weight.  I could not even lug the wooden table down the stairs with the help of my friend.  Beer pong only needs to be so mobile, but I like the idea of having a table that I can bring out to pregame nearby.

 

Surface - The clear winner for surface was the surface of the custom made beer pong tables.  The printed designs trumped any of the handmade and hand painted designs.  I really liked the Red Cup Pong surface on the custom beer pong table we purchased from them.  The custom table had a surface that was very resistant to any spills.  I literally blew the spilt beverages off the beer pong table and onto the floor because of how flat the surface was.

 

Accessories - We liked every folding table.  My favorite accessory was a neon border around a grouping of bottle caps under glass.  The table was custom made by a few college students.  They used their own material, and had the neon donated from Light City Neon Signs.  Cool design, they said they spent 100 hours and well over 0 getting it all done.   You have to respect it.  Other cool things were saw were the attached bottle opener on the Red Cup Pong table.  My third favorite was not so much an accessory but well used piece of Glad wrap that someone put over the cup and had us wondering why we could not sink the last beer pong shot for 20 minutes.

 

Overall - We really liked some of the creative designs, and recommend going all out if you have the resources.  Our favorite table on a budget was the Red Cup Pong Table.  I'll rate the custom beer pong tables that we had from Red Cup Pong the best bang for the buck, but the neon beer cap table was out of this world.  Maybe even out of the beer pong universe!

 

Beer Homebrew Kits

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