VTHopHead.com » Opinion/Musing

From the HopPress: A Change of Seasons

VTHopHead — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 16:11:34 +0000

My latest featured article for RateBeer’s The HopPress… posted on Saturday, August 28th.

All of the typical signs are evident that summer is coming to an end and that fall is almost upon us; school began in most local districts this last week, the Champlain Valley Fair starts its 10-day run today and the summer green of the Vermont hillsides are slowly showing a hint of that blaze of color that will be dominant in a month or so.

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From the HopPress: A Beer Industry Checkup

VTHopHead — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 23:09:22 +0000

My latest featured article for RateBeer’s The HopPress… posted on Saturday, August 14th.

It has been a while since I took a more than cursory glance at the beer industry as a whole. What with the economy raising cane in most parts of the world for the last 24 months or so, I was a little afraid of what I might find. Even with some signs of a weak economic recovery beginning here in the US and a few other parts of the world, there are many significant business and personal tragedies left over from the economic devastation that reigned for the better part of 2009 and into most of 2010. For many, the last couple of years have left them financially scarred… a moderate to severe reduction in the value of their retirement nest egg and their real estate investments. The fortunate ones have something of value left to still call their own; the less fortunate are left to try to restructure and restore their personal, business and economic lives.

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From the HopPress: The Taste of Beer

VTHopHead — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 15:26:31 +0000

My latest featured article for RateBeer’s The HopPress… posted on Saturday, July 17th.

Extra! Extra! Not everyone likes beer! While that is hardly news to any of us and sounds exceedingly silly to the average craft beer aficionado, it is clearly the case for many non-beer drinkers and the majority referenced dislike is the “taste” of the beer. I have even found that the so called “macro” beer drinkers don’t really like the stronger (more flavorful) taste of craft beers. Why do you think that is (says me)? It is not, at all, unusual for me to be a more than occasional “inner thinker” and for the last week or so, following a lengthy conversation with a decidedly non-beer drinker concerning my favorite brewed beverage, I have been thinking, quite intensely, about why I like beer. I thought that it might be interesting to other people to learn more about the phenomenon of “taste”, why I choose to drink beer (I like the taste) and some of the factors that might enter into the decision tree in determining whether a person likes beer or even a particular beer… or not

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Beers to Your Health?

VTHopHead — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 15:24:29 +0000

My latest featured article for RateBeer’s The Hop Press… posted on Saturday, April 10th.

In today’s world of chronic information overload, it is often quite easy to find a study or report that supports a “pro” or “con” position on just about any topic. The relative healthiness of beer drinking is not immune to this infuriating phenomenon and there are many recent examples which proclaim that either beer is good for you or bad for you. I wasn’t able to find an example of those two positions appearing on the same Internet media page, but it would not surprise me one bit if that hasn’t occurred somewhere before. Today we will delve into some of these claims and try to make some sense of this topic in a look at beer from a health perspective.

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We Can End This – Fight Hunger in Vermont

VTHopHead — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 18:57:35 +0000

Help Fight the Fight to End Hunger in Vermont.

Go to http://wecanendthis.com/ and help send 150,000 meals to Vermont… Do it *before* March 15th!!

For more information goto http://www.facebook.com/wecanendthis

Socially Responsible Beer

VTHopHead — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 14:44:56 +0000

My latest featured article for RateBeer’s The Hop Press… posted on Saturday, February 27th.

It is fairly common these days for all sorts of businesses to maintain that they include a “socially responsible mission” as a part of doing business with the rest of the world. Beer brewing businesses, of course, are among those which participate in this and some provide outstanding examples of companies altering their business practices to benefit a variety of important societal causes. Gone are the days when businesses can simply give such things lip service, as both consumers and industry watchdogs are ready and able to measure their level of commitment toward environmental stewardship and their support of their community. Not only have many breweries embraced this socially responsible side of their business, many have discovered that this can also mean both higher sales and drive higher profits to their bottom line.

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From the Hop Press: The Great Drinking Age Debate

VTHopHead — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 15:23:29 +0000

My latest featured article for RateBeer’s The Hop Press… posted on Saturday, January 3oth.

I guess that I was not surprised to read this week that the Vermont Legislature had, again, taken up the volatile question of whether the legal drinking age should be changed from the current 21 years back to 18. The reason that I was not that surprised was that this highly polarizing issue has simmered (raged?) in the background of society, occasionally flaring up into the spotlight of the media, for many years.

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