I’m not huge on the name, though it is fitting for this beer. Kettlehouse, it seems, has concocted a brew that is designed to go along with your active lifestyle.

Sports Recovery Beer is a light, caffeine-infused ginseng concoction that is designed to augment your activities rather than inhibit them. Not that beer inhibits things, but a couple Doublehauls can make me want to take a nap on the couch rather than mow the lawn.

I tried the SRB on Friday, and it is a great warm-weather beer. My buddy Al poured me a sample before I could tell him I’m caffeine intolerant, but the beer was very tasty with a bready, yeasty dryness and a chewy malt spine. The caffeine, which Al says is a little more than a Pepsi, but less than a Pepsi Max, hit me when I got home, but what’s a few hours of tossing and turning when you’re having fun and drinking good beer.

I am curious what you might think of this beer though. Whether you’ve tried it or not, let me know what you think of the idea of beers that incorporate the same ingredients as other health-minded products. You know the drill.

Prost,

GG

People always ask me for lists. Favorite IPAs, favorite Montana beer, favorite beer in the world.

I’m a journalist, I haven’t tried everything yet; therefore I must remain objective. At least until I’ve tried everything.

But, I’m going camping in Yellowstone National Park for a week, so I’ve thought long and hard about what I’m going to bring for beer, and I think I’ve formulated a bit of a list.

Portability is a must. Glass bottles, while great at home because I recycle them for homebrews, are not great while camping. Cans are a much better way to go.

Pigs are even better.

Now that we’ve established the mode of transportation, we have to figure out which beer to fill it with. Temperatures in the park are supposed to be in the mid 60s to mid 70s. Not too bad, in fact, that’s great camping weather. So I want a beer with some taste and heft to it. I don’t need something super light, because it’s not going to be super hot.

A pig of Doublehaul from Kettlehouse would be perfect, but you’ve got as much chance of getting that as you’ve got of getting a trip down the Colorado River this year.

So, instead, a pig of Eddy Out Pale Ale will do, and we’ll grab cans of Doublehaul for when we’re hiding from the late-afternoon thunder showers.

A pig of Hellgate Honey Hefeweizen will be a great backup beer for those periods of warmer weather. My wife will appreciate this as well. I should tell you that we are not the only two consuming this beer. We have friends up from Oregon, and we advocate fun and safe camping experiences, especially when it comes to alcohol.

A few cans of Old Chub from Oskar Blues will make for some good evening sippin’ beers, while a six-pack of Dale’s Pale Ale will keep those thirst buds in check if the evenings are warmer.

Camping beer is all about the weather. The warmer the weather, the lighter and drier the beer will satisfy you. Cooler weather might give you a thirst for something a little bigger. But any car camping can really be an opportunity to grab some great beers and sip them in the comfort of a pleasant flame from your fire pit.

Cans of beer are easier to transport in and out, but if your in a car, you can bring what you like.

Here is a list of my top five camping beers regardless of weather:

1. Doublehaul

2. Dale’s Pale Ale

3. Gordon

4. Caldera IPA

5. Ten Fidy Imperial Stout

Yes, they are all canned beers. But they are good beers, and I’m all about the adventure without the impact.

You’ll likely not hear from me for a week. I hope that’s OK. Even beer bloggers need a break. Or at least my wife does. Please check in next weekend for an update on Betty’s for Beer and a recap of some of my adventures in Yellowstone. Don’t stop coming back. We’ll be back soon.

Prost,

GG

Philip McClary posted this:

A little diddy for the cause
http://www.whenweplayed.com/AB%20&%20Inbev%20by%20Phillip%20McClary.mp3

I would have saved it for the 4th of July, but it’s too good to hold on to.

“Have a drink with Mother Freedom and tell InBev to kiss your glass.”

GG

McDonald’s, Coca Cola, Starbucks. Each is a recognized brand around the world. I remember when the first McDonald’s opened in Moscow. The lines to get a Big Mac where four-blocks long.

Like it or not, those products are what the world associates with the west, the United States of America. They are our calling card, our best foot forward.

I wade into this again with some trepidation. My last post started a small firestorm of comments, a veritable verbal battle between St. Louis lovers and Belgian believers.

InBev wants to buy Budweiser and take it global, to make it the world’s beer.

I have a hard time seeing the commercials for Bud in the same way that Coca Cola so successfully used the feeling from the United Colors of Benetton and “The God’s Must be Crazy,” to market their brand as a beloved world brand.

Some market watchers say Budweiser can be successfully marketed in China, where tastes run more to the thin, watery product known as the King of Beers. But in Europe, the brand faces the steep wall of cultural preference for strong, traditional beers.

InBev says it can help Budweiser become the brand it was meant to be. What does that mean? And who wants a world beer anyway? I love that I can have a different IPA in Southern California than I can have in Billings, Montana and every town in between. The last thing I want to see when I go to Europe or China is a million and one Budweiser umbrellas covering diners at streetside cafes.

Budweiser should remain an American brand not only for the good people who work there and the fact that it represents what we are all about as one of the most prominent family run businesses in this country, but it should remain an American brand to protect everyone from the Budweiserfication of the world.

Diversity is good. Choices are good. Beer is good. Don’t let InBev make Budweiser a world brand.

www.savebudweiser.com

Prost,

GG

Sorry it’s late.

Beer blogging is not as easy as people might think. Being a journalist, I have to walk a fine line between outright advertising, being an advocate and covering the industry with some degree of journalistic integrity.

My job as a blogger is to create a forum for two-way communication between the newspaper, the brewing community and a younger generation of people not used to reading newspapers.

The idea is to get them excited about dialoguing as a way to keep everyone involved in matters of importance to the community as a whole.

That’s a tall order, but one that I’m excited by because it means that I’m communicating with people who are like me. People who have the same interests in life.

Beer is a conversation. I’ve been saying that for a long time. It’s more than just a craft industry that has seen some success in recent years, it’s getting back to a time when we lived in communities wholly supported by local industries, the biggest and most community centric often being the brewpub.

Beer is the impetus for stimulating local conversation. So much so that the details of our independence were fomented not just by spilled tea sloshing against a Boston shoreline, but by the ale in the tankards of those men and women sitting around wooden tables on a fiery hot Philadelphia summer.

Beer doesn’t have to be the conversation, though it often is. Beer is simply the solution by which conversation slides easily among a group of people.

I’ve been talking for 30+ years. I’ve been talking about beer for more than 12 years. I’ve been blogging about beer for three years, and I’ve been the Grizzly Growler for nearly one wonderful and exciting year. (The blog turns 1 on July 3)

Thank you readers for checking back in from time to time. You’ve helped make GG the most successful blog at the Missoulian, and you’ve helped promote craft brewing around the region.

Join me as I celebrate one year over the course of the next several days. After a year of blogging, this beer lover needs a break. I’ll be going on vacation next week, with no way of posting, so I’ll leave a few reviews and maybe a video or two so that someone can post them and keep you coming back.

Prost,

GG

Since moving to Missoula a year ago last weekend, I’ve heard many comparisons between this town and it’s eastern counterpart. Eastern U.S. that is. Asheville, North Carolina is often on the lips of Missoulians who either hail from there or who’ve been through and say the town reminds them of Missoula.

That’s all well and good. I’m sure it’s a great town, and I look forward to visiting some day. But the thing that interests me is that Asheville now has six breweries and a population only slightly larger than Missoula.

So for those who poo poo the idea of new breweries in and around Missoula, too bad, too sad. A population of nearly 70,000 will indeed support more than three breweries.

The Wedge Brewing Co., opened in early June, making it Asheville’s sixth brewery, which apparently qualifies the town as a beer town, according to various Internet sites that rank such things.

With two breweries slated to open in Stevensville within the next year, and Missoula Brewing Co. possibly starting up a local brewhouse in the future, Missoula, the Bitterroot Valley and Western Montana in general form a craft-beer epicenter for the inland Northwest.

And Missoula is every bit a beer town, especially if you look at the growth of its micro brewers locally and regionally over the last year. And Asheville’s median age is a little older than Missoula, 39 versus 30 respectively. That means there are a lot of beer drinkers who haven’t yet discovered the nectar of the gods. But they will, and that thirst likely will translate into beer sales, especially for fresh, local beer.

Just some beer for thought.

Prost,

GG

This video about Lewis and Clark Brewing Co. is courtesy of my good friends at the Helena Independent Record.

And please click here to read about the brewery in Divide Magazine’s new feature: Beer Me!

Prost,

GG

Mark your calendars, Highlander beer will flow from Missoula tap handles for the first time in more than 40 years this Friday. It won’t look or taste anything like the original, but that’s a good thing for craft beer lovers. Highlander has been reinvented as a Scotch-style ale rather than the Western light lager it once was. What remains is the great name, the tartan plaid and the legend of Western Montana’s most famous brewery.

Bob Lukes wants those of you with memories and stories of Missoula Brewing Co. and Highlander beer to come to a reunion party and coming out party for the new Highlander this Friday.

Here are the details:

There will be a reunion of the former workers / spouses from the Missoula Brewing Company at the “reunion party” at Sean Kelly’s, starting at noon on June 20th. If you know of any former workers, please tell them about this!

The Highlander Beer Kickoff Party in Missoula will be at Sean Kelly’s on June 20, 2008. Highlander Beer will be $1.50 a pint until 10 PM. Come join us for the opening party.

Read more about Highlander here.

Prost,

GG