Oktoberfest

For Beer drinkers, this is the best time of the year. WHere Beer drinkers from all over the world can gather together for over two weeks and consume mass quantities of beer.

 

Did you know:

• The first Oktoberfest took place in 1810.

• The festival was created when the King and Queen of Bavaria invited the citizens of Munich to celebrate the marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria to Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen.

• The real festival takes place in Bavaria.

• An average of 6 million people per year attend the Bavarian festival.

• Oktoberfest begins 16 days before the first Sunday in October.

• It is estimated that a third of Munich's production of beer are consumed at Oktoberfest.

Beer Leads Cal Researchers to Discovery in Flies

By William Brand, STAFF WRITER

BERKELEY — Flies love Sam Adams Winter Lager. That may not seem too surprising — after all, it's great beer. But for a team of University of California, Berkeley researchers, the news was astounding and has led to a serious scientific breakthrough.

It wasn't exactly the beer, it was the carbon dioxide in the beer that drove fruit flies wild. The flies, the Berkeley scientists have discovered, have special taste receptors that are sensitive to carbon dioxide — the stuff putting the fizz in beer.

Where Does The Term "Mind Your P's & Q's" Come From?
In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts. So in old England, when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them to mind their own pints and quarts and settle down. It's where we get the phrase "mind your P's and Q's".

A model poses with a beer for media to promote the International Berlin Beer Festival. Every year more than 240 breweries from 80 countries present 1,750 different brands of beer.

Beer Still America’s Drink of Choice
 
Gallup’s annual update on Americans’ drinking habits shows beer again topping wine as the adult beverage of choice.
The poll received much attention in 2005 when wine - which consistently ranked below beer - jumped ahead, 39%-36%.
Beer returned to the top, being favored by 41% of those who drink.

Molson Coors Creates Unit For Super-Premium Beer
(AP) GOLDEN, Colo. Molson Coors Brewing Company is forming a business unit to cultivate super-premium beer which is one of the fastest growing industry segments.

The new AC Golden Brewing Company will be designed to build on the success of Coors' Blue Moon Belgian White Ale which had double digit growth in the first quarter.

The company told employees about the developments in an email last week and a Coors spokeswoman declined additional comment Thursday.

Analysts say other large brewers are pursuing similar strategies to tap into the higher-end beer market which has experienced strong growth in recent years.
 

A waitress pours a pint of beer during the annual Belgian beer weekend at the Grand�Place in Brussels August 31, 2007. More than 30 Belgian breweries present a selection of their best brews.

 

Drinkers Raise Glass to Free Beer With Offer Loophole
LAGER drinkers are stocking up on thousands of cans of free beer thanks to a loophole in a promotional offer.

Punters have been forwarding vouchers via e-mail, which entitle the bearer to a free four-pack of Fosters Twist lager from off-licenses Threshers or Haddows.
 

And despite the coupons only being redeemable for one pack, staff have been giving away free beer because a glitch in the shops' till system means they are unable to tell if it has already been used

An Edinburgh Threshers manager said the lagers were flying off the shelves.

The manager, who wanted to remain anonymous, said: "We got a new delivery of 60 packs on Tuesday and they sold out that day - all to people with vouchers.

"We have no way of recognizing whether a coupon has been used already."

Red-faced Threshers bosses said there was little they could do to prevent the sting, which could see them hand out 10,000 free beers worth £40,000 by the time the offer expires on September 9.
 

Worlds Oldest Trademark?

The familiar Bass symbol, a red triangle, was registered in 1876 and is the world's oldest trademark.

 

A native Bolivian shaman sprays beer to bless a woman as part of the celebration of the Virgin of Urkupina on the outskirts of La Paz August 15, 2007. The annual festival consists of breaking a stone from the boulders that line the La Paz River, purchasing objects in miniature that the person wishes to acquire in real life and having those objects and the rock blessed by a shaman as well as inside a Catholic chapel in honor of the Virgin.

 

What Would George Thorogood Drink?
Straub Brewery in Pennsylvania’s Allegheny Mountains, the smallest remaining “old-style” brewery in the country, has rolled out a third brand. More