113. Now That January's Out of the Way, Let's Catch Up
A month-and-change's worth of updates and thoughts, from Austin drinks to recent work to major headlines.
Hello, friends. I’m happy to be getting in touch here with an issue that’s a look back at the last month or so, especially considering I don’t send these out as much anymore. That means there’s even more to talk about!
Drinking in Texas
In terms of my own drinks exploration this past month, I wouldn’t say it was an incredibly eventful few weeks. I don’t do Dry January, but find that January still stubbornly tends to consist of a lot of resting and recovering from the holiday season and also chores. Lots of chores. So, my one big headline is a trip to Austin and Houston. Drinks-centric takeaways:
When you think about it, it’s a pretty rare opportunity to get to visit a city, especially without leaving the United States, where there’s something pretty different and special about the bar scene compared what you’re used to. In Austin, that’s the fact that you can stumble upon fantastic live music nearly anywhere you go, and, beyond that, there are lots of places with dancing. And I of course don’t just mean folks grooving to the beat, but real, proper Texas two-step. As a lifelong New Yorker, the strength of how this tradition lives on blows my mind and it’s so fun to see it in action.
The two breweries to really write home about that we got to were, very unsurprisingly Jester King and Live Oak. Both are very special experiences in their own ways. I thought I knew what to expect from Jester King just by following them on Instagram, but I was still really taken with just how sprawling and lovely their space is, and also by how lovely every staff member I interacted with was. The fact that I got to spend an hour inside their goat pen, and see just how well they care for their animals there and how tightly woven their programs are into sustainability, honestly felt like an auspicious way to begin a new year. And the beer! I am not a sour drinker, which often includes all styles under that umbrella. When I find a wild ale or farmhouse ale that doesn’t hurt my insides, I usually take that to mean it’s an incredibly well-balanced beer brewed with more deftly dialed-in nuance. And that’s all I had at Jester King. It felt heaven-adjacent to be able to really enjoy two different spontaneously fermented ales.
And at Live Oak, well, it’s a smoked beer haven, so what more do you really need to know? The fact that it’s possible to visit one place and drink a grodziskie, a smoked schwarzbier, and a smoked leichtbier (all excellent, btw) is a gift big enough to make me consider moving to Austin.
Another sort of broad difference I noticed when hitting different cocktail-centric bars in Austin is that there seemed to be an over-arching lean toward sweeter drinks rather than more bitter drinks. Caveats abound here—I didn’t get to a ton of places, and this also isn’t an Austin-exclusive observation by any stretch. It more served as a comparison to how bitter drinks at NYC cocktail destinations skew, and that, while several sweet drinks have made trendy comebacks, I think a lot of cities that hold on tightly to a ~cocktail-destination~ reputation still operate with this—totally bunk—snobbery that positions bitter drinks as superior to sweet drinks and therefore bitter drink enthusiasts as more sophisticated than sweet drink fans. While I happen to very much prefer bitter beverages, I don’t see that amounting to anything in terms of palate superiority, and actually really enjoyed being in a city with a vibrant bar and drink scene that felt much more easy-going and “drink what you like.”
Three bars I loved: Lovebirds is literally the cutest bar I have ever been inside. Half Step Bar was super charming and was running a special menu of cocktails featuring sherry, which was fun. And Mama Dearest was a whole, old-school Southern rock vibe.
Most of the places we went were recommendations from brilliant writer and lovely human Ruvani de Silva, so a special thanks to Ruvani!
What I’ve Been Working on This Month
I interviewed a handful of distillers who are using Kernza for whiskey, over at Craft Spirits & Distilling.
I looked at a little absinthe history, and how it’s being embraced especially by Gen Z today, for Inside Hook.
I wrote a check-in with nonalcoholic beer for PUNCH, along with a round-up of recommendations, the group tasting for which leading to a discussion about how NA brewers’ secrecy could be stalling innovation in the category. My story on that phenomenon is here.
This one made it just under the wire, publishing right as I get this issue ready to go—I looked at how good cocktail-inspired beers have gotten for Food & Wine.
And don’t forget! You can order my Beer Tarot Zine from Bean to Barstool here!
Related to beer Tarot and what I’ve been up to, I recently sent out a whole year’s worth of beer Tarot readings to paid hugging the Bar subscribers. A reading for every month! I am not pushing for new paid subscribers at this time, considering how sporadic content is. But, I do still want to keep everyone updated on what’s going on, in case it might be a consideration in the future.
News & Observations from Planet Drinks
There are pros and cons about not having sent any issues out in January. I would consider it a major pro that I did not have to cover Dry January. Some, like a very small few, breweries used this opportunity to take really lovely stances and meaningfully connect with their audiences, like Marlowe. But, as per usual, others were aggressive in attacking this month and dismissive of people’s desire to take a break from drinking for their own wellness. Personally, I am really tired of the whole January conversation—because as we all well know by now, on one hand, it is not up to consumers to personally keep breweries afloat! You simply cannot bully people into drinking and make them feel guilty if they don’t! How does this still have to be said? But on the other hand, the fact that Dry January has indeed gained so much popularity makes an already always tough time of year for breweries, bars, and restaurants now that much more brutal. And that’s colliding with the perilous reality of the craft beer industry right now, in general. You can’t help but with people spread their dry months out, or just explored overall moderation on a rolling basis. But, until next year…good riddance, anyway, January.
In other news that happened last month…Drizly is no more. This news made me think—because, the drinks delivery + shipping platform I used to work with, TapRm, is also kaput (apparently temporarily?)…and it seems Tavour is still up and running but I never hear about it anymore whereas during the pandemic, every single beer Instagram post featured it…you can’t say drinks delivery just doesn’t seem to be of interest to people; quite the contrary. As is covered in that Eater article linked above, Uber is shutting Drizly down but has alcohol delivery on its Uber Eats platform. If anything, it seems that people don’t want to have drinks delivery be a Whole Thing. They want to be able to spontaneously add a bottle of wine to their Thai order, not go onto a separate app, navigate an abundance of options with poor descriptions, and pay a bunch of exorbitant fees. Is there really a chance we’ll see dedicated, category-specific booze delivery platforms continue, let alone launch in the future?
BrewDog has continued to BrewDog, the latest sign of blatant disregard for its employees’ lives and welfare coming in the form of dropping its commitment to a real living wage. James tWatt’s accidental ode to cringe within the beer industry started hiring staff at the legal minimum wage and froze rates for existing staff. This hits especially hard in London, which has been experiencing skyrocketing costs of living. You can read more about that here. This news came during the same month as the news that Watt is working on a movie about BrewDog’s road to
building an embarrassing fan cult while harming employees and suing former romantic partners you recruited to do spy worksuccess. “Underdog: The Rise of BrewDog,” is a clunky and repetitively titled film that promises to continue the tone-deaf brewery’s tradition of propaganda, and the fact that anyone is actually working with Watt on it makes me ill. And on that note, I want to address the fact that BrewDog has been sneaking back into my inbox via press releases and people I would have trusted to have better values working for them, gladly taking their money, and advertising this work as that of which for a big, impressive client. Erm, as far as I’m aware, no invisible moratorium has been lifted? BrewDog is still…[checks notes] doing evil shit, so, no, I don’t suddenly want to cover their contribution to the NA beer market, thanks.Carlsberg acquired 20% of Mikkeller and, as has been the way for the last few years in craft beer…no one really seemed to care. Or, at least, there was no uproar. Apparently, Carlsberg actually wanted to buy the entire operation but the American company that owns 49% of Mikkeller that wasn’t feeling the move. Founder Mikkel Bjergsø, who will remain CEO, talked about how this deal will help Mikkeller get into more on-premise accounts. It will be interesting to see if this does indeed inject some juice back into the brewery, which has been drawing back on its international taprooms and obviously suffered a major (well-deserved) blow in its image and reputation after years of employee mistreatment came to light; it’s only been slowly working its way back up on a road of amends more recently, and could be a rare example of a brewery actually getting its act together, but of course, that remains to be seen for sure. Read more about the deal here.
Some very good news: Infinite Ingredient launched the Wellbeing Portal! This is a huge step forward in addressing the urgent need for mental and emotional health resources in the craft beer industry, which is just what founder Katie Muggli established Infinite Ingredient to do. Powered by the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, the Wellbeing Portal is a “confidential, easy-to-access and easy-to-use digital hub where craft brewery employees exploring help for themselves or a loved one can learn about substance use disorder (SUD), take an assessment to determine if they are at risk, receive personalized recommendations, and connect to resources and services from Hazelden Betty Ford and elsewhere.” Active now, the portal can be accessed by anyone working at a US craft brewery, or by a family member of someone in the industry. Infinite Ingredient is actively fundraising to keep this program funded in 2025, so if you can, donate here.
Also! Congratulations to some excellent breweries on very well-deserved recognition from the James Beard Foundation! James Beard award semifinalists were announced in late January, and Chicago’s Middle Brow is a nominee for “Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program,” while Bow & Arrow snagged a nod for “Outstanding Bar.” You do indeed love to see it.
Beer Tarot!
For this issue, I pulled the Seven of Pentacles.
Pentacles speaks to money, property, and achievement, and the Seven of Pentacles in particular to perseverance and investment. Perhaps it’s not a very sexy card, but the Seven of Pentacles is about puttin’ in the work and doing it for the long haul. There is no instant gratification here. If you’re hustling for quick results, you’re about to learn that that doesn’t work, that whatever good comes from that won’t last. Instead, what will prove more effective, more lasting, and more fulfilling for you is to take a step back and chart a more long-term course. Don’t cram for the test and risk losing all that knowledge the moment the exam is done when you could consider postponing it (for a set date, this card is definitely not about procrastinating) and really studying and learning so you always have that information and education. Don’t slap duct tape on something instead of learning how to fix it, so it doesn’t break down on you again in a week and cost you even more. Look at the big picture, invest in your future. It doesn’t have to be a drag; it can be a plan you chip away at a little at a time, feeling good about mini-milestones within your progress. And you can be confident that the reward at the end will really last.
This card makes me think even beyond lagering to barrel-aging. We’re talking long-term plans, dedication to a rewarding endgame, and patience—and how all of that proves worth it. Let’s today look at one of Finback Brewery’s annual BQE releases for 2023, the Almond Croissant. Honestly, mostly because I really, really want to drink this beer—I have the utmost trust in Finback to deliver a stellar BA beer, and I must have an iteration based on an almond croissant.
Until next time, here’s Darby in her finest Gucci-inspired jacket at Endless Life.
