Good old Nova Scotian Hypocrisy

The recent glossy colour insert in the Herald from the Province, promoting their "Doers and Dreamers" Guide, has a photo of a cute kid on the front, bottom lef. She looks happy and is sitting in a pile of Nova Scotia pumpkins.

Well that cute kid, along with her sister and parents were deported last year. She is Maria Lua da Silva, the daughter of Paula and Azeitona da Silva, the Brasilian couple who were the core energy behind the capoeira dance centre and troupe in the North End.

It was the height of hypocrisy to deport these people, who were contributing immensely to the cultural wealth of our city and Province, while allowing some other very questionable people to stay. But to add to that by stealing the image of their child to promote our culture, which we denied them, borders on criminal.

I wonder how much the da Silvas are being paid for this use of their daughter's image, or, because they have been tossed out, it is being used without permission or fee? How totally Canadian would that be?

I am sure someone in the media could have some fun with this.

They also used her image on the front cover of their Festivals and Events Guide. Really really insulting, when you consider she was booted out of the country.

Just how many beers can you taste in one day?

I recently was invited to judge the Canadian Brewing Awards, the ones sponsored by Taps Magazine that are held annually up in Toronto.

There were 18 of us, seated in panels of three who worked (yes, it is work) from 10:30in the morning til about 8 pm judging flights o f different style brews from all over Canada.

It was all done blind, so I have very little idea of what actual brand I was judging. One thing I can say, is that if I never have to taste another honey-brown ale again, I won't complain.

The experience was a fun one - I have judged many beer competition before, but they were mostly homebrewing competitions, including two final round sessions at the American Homebrewers Association annual competition. But only three commercial beer comps. In homebrewing, my most recent judging experiences have been best of show rounds, where I am judging beers that have already won a class. So I have been spoiled a bit - the homebrews are simply better at that stage. The judges were all BJCP Certified or better. BJCP Website

This competition was special, in that there were over 300 entries, and they came in 26 styles. I judged North American Premium Style Lager, European Style Lager, Bock, North American Style Wheat Beer, North American Style Red Ale, North American Style Pale Ale/Bitter, Strong or Belgian Style Ale, and Special Honey/Maple Lager or Ale, and the final round of the Fruit and Vegetable Beer categories. A lot of work, especially the 12 Honey Browns that all tasted pretty much the same. Many of the categories were large enough to be split up between two tables.

It was fun, in that I got to see several old friends who I used to judge with, and drink with, back in the old days. And after the judging was done, we got to tie into the remnants of the competitions to check out some beers with the labels on.

I know that the Phillips Brewing Company in BC will be on my list from now on, any of their beers would be nice to have. And it was funny to see the work that the Pumphouse went to - making labels and bottling many of their brewpub only offerings for the competition. A surprise entry was a growler of The Hart and Thistle's Simcoe SmaSh Double IPA. No idea how it did, though, as I did not judge IPA's.

I'll post the results here as soon as I know them. Here they are! One thing different this year is that the judge score sheets will be sent to the breweries as feedback. All I can hope now is that I didn't slag a beer made by a friend here too bad, or worse, slag a beer I normally like to drink. Maybe there is time to put chicken wire over my windows?

Oh, and the answer? 81. That is how many I did.

August 2009 - Wine of the Month

Hans Christian Jost was sniffing a glass of wine handed to him by his winemaker David Beardsall, in the winery in Malagash. "I think this is pretty good on its own, Hans Christian..."

And so wine from a vineyard outside Middleton, far down the Annapolis Valley, became a new budget label from Jost called Valley Roads.

Priced at $9.99 it finally gets a good Nova Scotia grown wine to your table at a price anyone can afford.

The red, a Marechal Foch, is made softer, and very drinkable. It recently won a medal at the All Canadian Wine Awards.

But it is the white, made from L'Acadie Blanc, that I love, and which I recommend to you this month.

Valley Roads L'Acadie Blanc, White Wine, $9.99/750 ml bottle at regular stores, often on a display at the end of an aisle or near the cash.

Here is L'Acadie made without messing with it. And it comes out more reminiscent of Sauvignon Blanc than the Chardonnay-like thing winemakers have been trying to make it into. Could this be the future of the grape? I'll buy it.

The NSLC - The Devil we Know

I know I may be confusing sometimes. It may seem as if I think the NSLC should be done away with, and replaced with a simple flat tax on alcohol. But that is not the case. There is an inherent value in the organization, and some unfulfilled opportunity that needs to accrue to the people of Nova Scotia, that, if created or exercised, would make the organization both a greater asset to the Province, and a real tool in economic generation.

So before some people think I'll be out lobbing grenades at the BLIP warehouse, here are some things I understand to be good about the NSLC (the comments options on Blogger are to correct or guide me, so don't be shy) and some things I think we need to do with it.

Reasons why we should keep the NSLC.

1. Buying power. We are not a large place in the world. Having an organization run at a Provincial scale allows some minor leverage in the world. We recently saw how puny we are when the people who make Lagavulin Single Malt Scotch decided to assign our normal allotment to China. We are but a pimple on the dragon's ass.

We already get a great service in how product is shipped from Europe now, with containers being filled with various product headed here. That is a value to people who drink foreign products.

We need to use the single representative position the NSLC gives us to partner up with other Liquor Boards, Private Stores, and large agencies, as often as possible on group orders, shipping containers, or other deals with large suppliers. Some Atlantic Canadian cooperation has occurred in the past (New Zealand wines all came over on a group shipment, I recall) but we could perhaps do more. Quebec and Ontario are less than 24 hours away, after all, and it is not out of the question to try to piggy back on their shipments too. And maybe we already do - if so - good on ya!


2. Ease of Access. Let's face it. Nova Scotians would drink about the same amount of alcohol if we only had one store in the entire Province. Do you think everyone was sober during prohibition? But the problem arises when you consider how most people get to a liquor store. How many kilometers do we want people to have to drive to get home after buying their "Captain and Coke" and Keith's? The NSLC puts stores, many fully stocked with lots of products that don't sell that well, in places no sane private sector retailer would put that size store. This reduces the annual drunk driver distance total enough to make it worthwhile. To go further, the NSLC has started opening "Agency Stores" in small communities, but ones that are a centre of a local economy (like Whycocomagh, Middle Musquodobit, or Iona). These stores don't offer much variety, but they do provide legal means of access to booze for the Keiths and Captain crowds. And they can order in special for you if you live there. This is a service to the people that is one a government can, and perhaps should provide, and that a private business would be unlikely to provide, for a fair price, anyway.

We need to allow more private stores to open, or at least allow the existing ones to open more outlets. This won't reduce the need for the NSLC to operate the agency stores, but it may allow them to shift their emphasis to places where the goal of reducing trip length is desired. The private stores will always go to the better retail locations, that is how business works, but allowing them to do so, and providing fair access to product will mean more outlets overall, and potential reduction in size or even number of some of the NSLC medium and full size stores. It is illogical to have the private stores limited to one outlet when the NSLC is running around spending money on new retail space and fit-up that private industry would do instead, if it only were allowed to.


3. Good Union Jobs. This needs to be said right off the bat - I am not a big union person. If this were 1932 I would be, but it ain't. The NSLC provides a lot of pretty good paying jobs with descriptions of work that might not be as highly paid if the same work were done at Sobey's. Paying employees well with money that would otherwise go into government coffers is not all that bad - we get it back in taxes and economic energy. Of course the problem is that as with any organization that starts to think it has some power, the union will try to control things, and that is not their job. And then there will be another strike, and we'll have no one to buy booze from, except the private stores who have their own warehousing. And NB Liquor, of course.

Well, the union is about to grow in numbers, as they apparently just let all the casuals in... (I wonder why? Number of voters in the union maybe?). Some NSLC staff take the time to improve themselves, and they are worth it, but someone sitting behind a cash register all day really should be paid the same as they pay at the Superstore. That said, the NSLC needs to train their staff in the specialty business they are in. Then, with the training, the extra wage is justified, and, as with any other industry, the service and profitability should improve with worker knowledge.

This shows already in the private sector, where more trained and knowledgeable staff exist in the four licensed private stores than in all the NSLC and Liquor Licensing Board combined.

My point is this: Raise the bar for the jobs. Then the wages make sense, and the jobs become specialized where qualified people have a better chance at being hired, and the service and product information is better.


4. Buy Local. The strongest form of economic growth is import substitution (Jane Jacobs, Cities and the Wealth of Nations, 1985). Many Nova Scotia stores sell Nova Scotia Products. There are a lot of NS products that are sold in the NSLC, and many would not be there if the system was based on sales only. For every bottle of wine consumed in Nova Scotia that was made or even bottled here, we enrich our economy more than any other way we can via the NSLC.

On a buy local and on principle theme, this could be the best reason to keep the NSLC. If they were willing to commit to the plan. Any micro-brew fan will tell you that the NSLC sticks the local, fresh beer products from Propeller and Garrison (the award winning breweries we have and should be proud of) on the bottom shelves, and never in the fridge. This when they are almost the only brewery products whose quality actually benefits from refrigeration. Because of the Farm Winery regulations, the wineries are happier to sell wine at their winery outlets, because they almost lose money selling through the NSLC and their markups. We have to start thinking of the NSLC as more of an economic arm of government - one that has a role in promoting NS product, not just tolerating it.


5. The NSLC has staff who could potentially advise people on purchases. This means people can learn about the liquor they drink, and drink wiser, drink local, and enjoy their food more. As a Province wide organization, the NSLC could be a leader in the education of the public and the food and beverage industry.

The reality is that there are only a very few people in the organization who know more than the average Joe about the product they sell. And they are mostly clustered in Head Office and the single Port of Wines outlet in Halifax (I said mostly). The NSLC do have a wine course (called "The Gallo Course" because it is part of a marketing ploy from a huge California conglomerate) for staff, but don't recognize the local section of the world wide Association de la Sommelerie Internationale and their local graduates' training and certification. Local people who worked very hard to learn a lot about wine, beer and liquor, who work within the NSLC and know a lot about wine, are not recognized within the organization. Few if any people who have finished the very difficult Sommelier training have yet to be hired by the NSLC in any technical capacity (one former employee, one current employee, and two in process, I think). This is simply lost opportunity.

Instead of seeing the Professional Sommelier association (around 100 full Sommeliers in Atlantic Canada) as a resource to draw from, and to use for staff training, or to attract to the organization for their expertise and interest, the apparently insular and insecure management at the NSLC tends to shun these people, many of whom were or still are their best customers (not a wise move - see Bishops Cellar sales). There needs to be a better dialogue between the NSLC and the Canadian Association of Professional Sommeliers (aka CAPS - the local ASI sanctioned group) such that both groups benefit. There are certainly a few people in the NSLC with the knowledge and expertise to step right into the CAPS organization as active members. Their participation in the profession outside the NSLC, would only make things better for all parties. Recent months have apparently seen a bit of a realization on the part of the NSLC that there are many CAPS graduates in positions of influence in the wine and food and beverage industries in Nova Scotia. So much so, that for the NSLC to continue as a viable purveyor to the food and beverage industry, cooperation needs to improve. I am told that this renaissance (or is it thawing?) is being led by Peter Rockwell, perhaps the best known wine-knowledgeable person in the Corporation. If this is true, it can only bode well for the future of the food and beverage industry in Nova Scotia.


6. Finally, we don't want a privatized NSLC. There is a recent privatization model in Nova Scotia that the NSLC looks very much to be following. And if I were a mucky muck with the NSLC, I might want to follow it too. I knew Chris Huskilson when he was the electrical engineer who had just taken over as Manager of the Western Zone of NSPC (note the "C") at the end. Now Chris makes over a million dollars a year as CEO of NSPI - the now privatized arm of the Province that purveys a commodity to the people on Nova Scotia as a monopoly, or near monopoly.

Just like NSPI, the NSLC used to be a Commission of Government, adherent to all the rules and hiring practices and accountability that pertain to the Civil Service. The NS Power Commission reformed to a Crown Corporation, suddenly immune from such trivial government interference such as oversight of hiring practices, wage scales and so on, with a politically appointed Board. And the NSLC is now a Corporation, not a Commission. Do you see the pattern? If I were in a position of senior management at NSLC I certainly would. That $1,000,000 plus salary would clear my lenses, for sure.

NS Power then, slowly, went through internal changes, with the effects of some outside potential competition, and got to the point where they argued for a sell off to the Private Sector, with a gradual morphing into a stand alone company. One you buy shares in on the TSE. But it is fair to say that their attention to customers has come under scrutiny.

Do we want that to happen to our liquor business, with all the potential benefits that a government run organization could achieve, including those discussed above? How much motivation would one huge conglomerate have to sell NS products on a preferential basis? Would it have any need to provide basic service to remote areas for the same price for a 40 ouncer of the Captain? And how long would those Union jobs last? Would they inherit the control over supply that they now have, and yield it in a manner such that they bankrupt the private stores? The current version of the NSLC has not been able to do this, and some say they have tried, but a privately run business (say it was purchased by Sobey's, or the Irving Blue Canoe stores, or Loblaws) would be much more efficient at eliminating competition.

We know that big corporations focus on volume and not variety. Just look at the range of music in a Walmart compared to the CD's and vinyl at Taz Records. Taz slays Walmart in choice. A big corporation has no incentive to provide specialty products, and can only really do well at schlepping the "Captain Morgan and Keiths" to an unsuspecting public. With as few people working as possible. Variety is lost, sameness triumphs.

And for me, as for many, variety is the spice of life.




So, what am I saying here? I think we need to reassess the NSLC as an arm of government that is mandated to not just turn cash over at year's end. But as more of a marketing board arrangement, buying and distributing liquor products to retail outlets throughout Nova Scotia, but moving out of the pure retail game, and leaving that part, over time, to the private sector. But not all at once. Service to Nova Scotians has to include access, variety, and price competitiveness on the retail side. On the buying side, we need to leverage our position to support the local industries making liquor regulated products, from rum distilleries, to the high end wineries, to nano-breweries and brewpubs, to branches of large mega brewers. At the same time, we can take advantage of the mandate the NSLC enjoys to leverage buying power of imports as much as possible, and to do so in a cooperative manner with other similar buyers.

This should include efforts to have those containers go back to Europe with some NS product in them. Hey, maybe seal skins and meat!

Mediocrity and its Discontent

It was interesting watching how well Sidney Crosby was feted recently in his hometown and home Province. Somehow, the losers have not caught him in their claws and started to drag him down. Not yet, anyway. I wonder when it will happen to the extent that we notice it. It was fun to see Don Cherry blow his mouth off about Sid the Kid a few years ago, and promptly watch all his Atlantic Canada Grapevine restaurants go tubing. That really put him on the warpath, resulting in a measurable increase in the use of MUTE buttons during intermission on HNIC in Atlantic Canada.

But you see, Don Cherry has a few things right. He venerates the success of "our own boys". We here in Nova Scotia seem to do the opposite. When someone actually succeeds, we drag them back down to our level. And we do it on both personal and institutional levels.

We simply have too many government and regulatory agencies where the main required skill set, the most important use of imagination, is to come up with ways to stifle the innovation and industry of others. And to make sure that no one else has any fun, because those who have inherited the responsibility of regulating things that really don't need to be regulated any more, don't know how, or are afraid to have fun. Or their god tells them we should all be unhappy. It is as if there is an assumption that they are as worthy of success as anyone else, despite the differing effort, and therefore no one else has the right to do better than them, and must be brought down to their level.

How else can we explain the total bullshit that Damien Byrne is going through with the Split Crow? How else can we explain the Kafkaesque world that homebrew retailers are being pushed into, where not just alcohol, but everything that yeast can digest is now under the jurisdiction of the NSLC and Liquor Licensing Board? Why is that law still there?

How can we explain the continued existence of the NSLC retail monopoly - an organization that would be out of business so fast all you would hear would be the loud sucking sound of the vacuum created by the absence of the multitude of bureaucratic layers being flushed, if real market competition to it existed. Or, should I say, were allowed to exist. In the short time available, tiny Bishops Cellar has put a noticeable dent in the NSLC's urban restaurant business. This from only one outlet. It would be interesting if they were allowed to be a real business and expand to serve their market in a free world.

Other examples of government inefficiency exist, of course (NS Environment in particular), and it may seem that I am picking on the NSLC, but, well, the name of this blog implies discussion of matters of drink.

I do find it hilarious how the NSLC applies, or self nominates, for retail awards. They are just like African dictators winning elections with 100% majorities. They don't get it. How can you be a successful retailer, and win awards, when you have no real competition, because you, or your owner, controls things such that you have no real competition? I'd win the Olympic sprint medal if no one else ran. Well, maybe. I think you do have to finish.

The point is, there are people in this, and other government, or pseudo-government organizations who view their job descriptions as saying no to new ideas and new products, and who are married to the status quo. They are the "not fail" crowd. If you don't try, you can't fail. There are people who use their position of "authority" to exercise personal opinion and vendetta (or even power!!) instead of allowing others to simply do business. This, when the reality is that to best serve the public interest, which is what they are supposed to be there for, often the very opposite behaviour is required. There ARE things in the NSLC that work, and reasons why I think we need them (more in a later blog) but the NSLC, the UARB, the CRTC, the HDBC and many other "control the people" boards or organizations are simply no longer needed in their current form.

The question we have to ask ourselves is whether we want the status quo, the do nothing scenario, to triumph. Because if they do, we are left, by definition, on the sidelines, catcalling and holding back our own economy, denigrating our winners, and slowing morphing into nothing more than spectators, continuing this practice of social entropy by dragging everything down to one level.

This may well be the "Nova Scotia way". A content mediocrity, going nowhere, and not fast. Sidney, best stay in Pittsburgh.

Revenge of the Turds

I don't know what I can say, but "I told you so". The Harbour Gets Loaded

Big is stupid.

Design-build projects for the public sector cede the value of the designers' knowledge and work from the owner to the contractor, and mean that we get the bare minimum we ask for, and often not what we wanted or we needed.

No one puts their delicate, water-sensitive electrical parts below a hydraulic grade line when they have to live with what is built. Someone cheaped out on something. And someone probably made a very bad decision over whether or not to have a last ditch gravity overflow, maybe even one running down the street, rather than flood the place out and take it down for a year. Who those someones are is not yet known to we ignorant people who are paying for this.

In any event, we can take solace in one thing. The treatment plant really does not do much anyway. When it rains, and it does that every now and then here, even after the plant is "working" most of the poop will still go to the harbour. It will just be a bit cooler and more dilute. But the lobsters will figure that out - they are filter feeders in a fashion.

Bon appetit, y'all.


PS. I hate lobster

Gastropubs, and other abused words...

This will be short. Attention Halifax! The term "Gastropub" came from the development of excellent food menus at pubs that already had high standards for beer and wine and in some cases other drinks in the UK. It was started at The Eagle pub in Clerkenwell, London. Probably the most famous is the White Horse on Parson's Green in London.

I have been there four times. Minstrels, Hart and Thistle, Port Pub - you are not there yet. Port Pub (in Port Williams in the Valley where I ate just today) is perhaps closest, but oh, you need a better serving arrangement (one person covering the deck on a gorgeous day?) and more rotation on the menu. Minstrels needs better beer and wine lists in addition to a more consistent menu, and the Hart and Thistle, while having one of the best beer lists in the Maritimes, and an interesting, if small, wine selection, needs a lot of work in the kitchen. The whole idea is to provide food that is a step up, not just saying you do, thereby abusing the term gastropub.

In fact, gastropub is something others should call you, not a claim you make yourself. It is like someone running around proclaiming "I am beautiful".

Beer Buzz about Town

Just when you thought it was getting a bit boring, beer has been making news all over. From Bud Light Lime to Nash's SmaSh, beer in Halifax just got a bit more interesting this past month.

I know that I am going straight to hell now that I have admitted to buying, with real money that I earned with my own tiny brain, some Bud Light Lime -or is that Bud Lite Lime?. Is "lite" now the American spelling for "light"? Probably. But I digress.

The limey thing tastes like an insipid beer made palatable for use on a hot day by the addition of some acidity and fruitiness. I am not a beer snob (I prefer geek) and I can handle this drink (is it beer?, well, I guess it qualifies) on a hot day. With my capacity and its alcohol content, it is little more than pop anyway.

But on to more serious beer things. With the upcoming Seaport Beer Festival down at the Port of Halifax (and in Garrison's side yard) some recent moves by personnel and introduction of brands have made things interesting.

The Hart and Thistle pub, recently opened on the waterfront where the Harbourside Food Court used to be, the one with John Shippey's Brewing Company (RIP) in it. I was in attendance at the launch of their first two beers made in the old Shippey's brewhouse. They were made by Greg "Quick Mash" Nash, the former brewer at Shippeys, and, as far as most people knew, the current brewer at the Pumphouse Brewery in Moncton, one of the suppliers to the Hart and Thistle.

Nash has had a hard time staying in one place these past few years. I am not sure exactly why - I can say for sure that his presence at every place he has worked has resulted in a measurable and near immediate improvement in the beers. But Nash is an iconoclast - he does things his way, and most of us like the results. But we are not the person who pays him, or pays for his ingredients. And we are not party to all that happens between an owner and a brewer. We are what we are - Maritime Drinkers. Of course, we cannot comment on the beer knowledge or business acuity of the people he has worked for either.

All I can say is that if I had the money to start a brewpub, Nash would be my brewer, and I'd have him working for points on the profit from the beer. He makes great extreme beers, but in my opinion, the best beer improvement he made in his time at Garrison was with the previously anemic Tall Ships Amber. It is real beer now. So while you all may focus on his extreme brews, I call attention to his stable brews. His versions of Garrison Red and Brown were the best they ever made, and his Stout was great. The current brewer is very good, more analytical in some ways than Nash, but the ales seem to have lost the correct minerality and salt that British beers have - perhaps he stopped adjusting the water the way Nash did?

Anyway, it will be interesting to see what happens at the beer festival. No Nash (unless somehow the H&T gets in late) No Lorne Romano (a juvenile fallout between him and Garrison owner Brian Titus last year nixed that). Without Greg and Lorne, two of the best brewers, and their great beers will be missed. Almost as much as the fun they would have brought to the event.

Propeller will be there, though. After three years, have Propeller and Garrison finally buried the hatchet enough to play well with others? Time will tell. Maybe we'll witness a beer squirting battle on Saturday?

Back to the Hart and Thistle. Co-owner Bruce Keith put on a low key, but still classy introduction of the new brewer, new brewpub operations, and two new beers. The beers were both thrown together in a manner that we homebrewers sometimes do, and not what one would call "planned". But because Nash knows what he is doing, and the fact that Bruce had no problem being a hop-monkey for a while, they ended up with a couple of very interesting, very good, and, yes, extreme brews to sell.

Talking with Bruce, I believe the place will fly. The former operation always seemed to have problems with crusty landlord, Ben MacRae. But Bruce and Heather also own and run O'Carroll's and have the same landlord. They have some mutual respect - Bruce speaks highly of Mr. MacRae - and there is something worked out here, and we beer lovers will benefit from that.

In other beer news, Kevin Keefe and sons Brian and Joe have the brewery running again on Stairs Street, just barely south of Massachusetts Avenue in the North End (you Google Map it, I am too lazy). They are selling growlers of counter pressure filled versions of all their old favourites. For you non geeks, counter pressure filling means they will last longer before opening. The ones I have tried (Barley Wine, Ringwood, IPA, Best Bitter) have all been yummy. My brother recently waxed eloquent over how good the Best Bitter Special was from growler. So I think we now have a good reason to go north.

A recent trip to Rogues Roost found the beers, as usual, in excellent shape. The IPA was outstanding, with an almost perfect balance between fruit, malt, hops and alcohol. Lorne may be somewhat hyper (now there is an understatement) but he makes great beer, consistently.

The Rock Bottom, a FOP (ferment on premise) is making some drinkable beers, but is sadly uninteresting. They need to get some more stuff into one or two of their beers for me to bother dropping in more. And their wine list, still an "all Bishops, all the time" list illustrates a lack of knowledge and effort in providing interesting and varied wine to clients.

Propeller is still selling the weizen, a great hot day brew. I am not sure if there is any Pilsener left, but it is on tap in a few places around town, and much better now after some time to age. I last had it at Minstrels, where the Thirsty Duck used to be. Another blog post is coming on the term "gastropub", so I won't abuse it here too. Their growler sales, averaging about 100 per day, amaze me. A total sea change in how beer is sold in town, and it has slipped by the media, the NSLC, and the Keith's and Molson's sales reps - the ones who REALLY control the beer industry in town.

The Friday Firkin at Maxwell's Plum continues to attract beer geeks, and entertain random tourist drop-ins. Except last week, when no cask appeared. We made do with the recent release of Blanche de Chambly on draft there. A perfect hot day beer, its lemony crisp and complex flavours were really exciting and thirst quenching to boot. Yum. The Stigl draft on tap there is a funny story. It arrived by accident. Now the NSLC are trying to flog it as something special. If you have been to the brewery in Salzburg, you probably ended up missing one of the best beer halls in the world, almost across the street at Augustinerbrau, where monks still make real beer - a Maerzen that is like mother's milk. Stigl is another good euro-lager. Period.

The Henry House had Granite Brewery beers in fine shape the other night. But I have to admit, it all soured when a friend of the birthday girl we were all there to celebrate with brought in a small homemade cake for people to share, and sing "Happy Birthday" over. The sever bolted from behind the bar to demand $10 for bringing in a cake. Huh? What about the 18 people the birthday group brought into the bar? I now have to ask myself - why go there? I can get the beers from the brewery anyway, and that place is the farthest walk from my house of all the places in town. And anyone who comes up with a policy like that is an ASS and does not deserve my business. Nine of those people had never been to the place before, were liking it a lot, and now will NEVER go back. Nice business development strategy.

There are some good recent additions to the imported beer list, but they do not come close to replacing what has been delisted in the past two years. Please, someday maybe the NSLC will have someone who knows something about beer in charge of the category? They have gotten a bit better since the early 90's, but still are that strangest of entities, a monopoly over products about which they know nothing.