Anyone hiring at the moment?

[Simon Batistoni]

On Sep 30, 2009, at 9:19 AM, David Cantrell wrote:

> On Tue, Sep 29, 2009 at 10:18:15AM +0100, Nicholas Clark wrote:
>
>> On the other hand, the Japanese managed to make decent lager from  
>> rice.
>
> [citation needed]

The problem with Japanese lagers is that they're generally quite bland  
- Kirin, Sapporo and Echigo Koshihikari all fall into that category.

That said, I do quite like the Echigo with sushi when I'm not in a  
Sake mood.

On the other hand, there are a few fantastic Japanese ales made with  
rice. No idea if you'll find them anywhere in London, but Hitachino  
Nest Red Rice Ale and Hitachino Nest Japanese Classic Ale are both  
fantastic.

Some Whole Foods stock them in the US, so you might be able to get  
hold of them in a Fresh and Wild somewhere.

>> How come America can't?
>
> I would have thought that the general shitty state of US beer was more
> due to prohibition shutting down all the small brewers - a situation
> that is now being fixed as more small brewers spring into existence.

I'd actually go so far as to say it *has* been fixed - loads of small  
craft brewers have sprung up or expanded in the 5 years I've been  
living here, to the point where my first task in any new city is to  
seek out a liquor store and see what the local microbrew scene is like.

This coming from someone who was convinced that he'd never have a  
decent beer again when he first moved Stateside.

And the fact that Sierra Nevada is now large enough to export a  
significant amount of beer outside the US is... well... generally a  
good thing (although, personally, they're not my favourite; they have  
a worrying tendency to over-hop, and I think the beer in general  
suffers a little from the scale it's now being brewed at).

For me, though, the ultimate sign of Real Beer Victory in the US is  
the fact that Anheuser-Busch felt threatened enough to develop  
"Budweiser American Ale", a faux-craft-ale that, whilst still  
revolting swill, is slightly less awful than their usual pisswater,  
and at least acknowledges the idea that there is, in fact, a world  
beyond pisswater.

sb