Projo Beer Blog

PORTLAND, Maine -- A Massachusetts beer importer has been granted permission to sell beers in Maine with labels showing Santa Claus and bare-breasted women.

The decision to let Shelton Brothers sell Santa's Butt Winter Porter and two other European beers reverses a decision last fall to deny the company's application to sell the beers in Maine.

After the denial, the Maine Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit on behalf of the Belchertown, Mass., company in U.S. District Court in Portland accusing the Maine Bureau of Liquor Enforcement of censorship.

Read the full Associated Press story.

England won the World Cup -- the World Beer Cup, that is.

Peter Genovese, a reporter for The Newark Star-Ledger, wrote a fun story this week about a beer-tasting competition modeled after soccer's World Cup.

The competitors included a beer from each country that made it to the round of 16 in the soccer matches.

"This competition had all the drama and intrigue of a World Cup match, with two exceptions — the playing field was a conference table, and participants weren't flagged," Genovese writes.

The Judges included Genovese and two guys who've won the Beerdrinker of the Year competition, which, Genovese explains, is "described as 'America's premier competition for beer lovers,'...based not only on how much you enjoy and appreciate beer, but how much you know about beer history and production."

The final's matched England's Samuel Smith's Nut Brown Ale against Mexico's Negra Modelo.

In background about the judge's, Genovese mentions that Australia's Cooper's Sparkling Ale is among his favorites. That beer happens to have won another World Beer Cup competition that's drawn headlines.

In Genovese's competition, Australia was represented by Foster's Special Bitter, which was knocked out of the semifinals by Negra Modelo.

The story lists all of the beers in the competition if you want to do your own judging.

Are you tired of drinking green drafts on March 17 and looking to celebrate this St. Patrick's Day with a real Irish beer?

You might want to check out epicurious.com, which offers a guide to Irish beers and Irish-style beers.

Here's some of what it says: "Joe's Bar down the street may be serving green lager this St. Patrick's Day, but in Ireland the color of beer year-round is black -- as in dry, roasty stout, the Blessed Trinity being Guinness, Murphy's, and Beamish. Poured slowly, to allow the prized creamy head to form, these three beers are as emblematic of Eire as shamrocks and Celtic crosses."

Do you have thoughts on these beers or any others to help make St. Patrick's Day special?

Imagine, if you haven't already, walking into your kitchen, turning on the faucet and pouring yourself a cold beer.

Is that your idea of the perfect kitchen? A miracle even?

Well, it happened to a woman in Norway, according to this story from the Associated Press:

OSLO, Norway (AP) -- It almost seemed like a miracle to Haldis Gundersen when she turned on her kitchen faucet this weekend and found the water had turned into beer.

Two flights down, employees and customers at the Big Tower Bar were horrified when water poured out of the beer taps.

By an improbable feat of clumsy plumbing, someone at the bar in Kristiandsund, western Norway, had accidentally hooked the beer hoses to the water pipes for Gundersen's apartment.

Read the full story.

This weekend's find was a Bavarian beer from Ayinger Brewery. It was on the shelf with the big 17oz bottles of beer. The one bottle cost 4 dollars, which is a lot, but I wanted to try something out of the ordinary. (Research for the blog).

>> Continue reading: Ayinger Beer