As this blog enters its fifth (gulp, yes, fifth) calendar year, it has covered many bacon-related concoctions. There was of course this bacon flavored vodka in 2009 and this bacon flavored beer in 2010.

Although it’s not clear that any of the earlier-featured bacon-related products contained actual bacon, it was only a matter of time until something like Bacon Brown Ale came along. It is Ale Brewed with Buckwheat and Bacon, made by Uncommon Brewers, of Santa Cruz, California. The brewer explains:

We’re not faking our flavor with smoked malts, Bac-O Bits or other tricks that some breweries are using to create their bacon beers … . There’s real cured pork in that beer.

Even though the government would probably not allow anything resembling a health claim regarding normal beer, wine or spirits — whether tongue in cheek or not — everyone seems to have a soft spot for bacon. The TTB-approved label does indeed proclaim that “bacon makes everything better.”

Related Posts:

• Vodka Distilled from Milk (3)
• Very Modern Spirits (2)
• Two Products, 24 Flavors (2)

I do believe this Olde Bay Saison label raises at least a few legal issues. First of all, I sure hope the brewer had permission to use this famous branding. McCormick owns the Old Bay seasoning brand and probably would not have a sense of humor about any unauthorized uses. Even if the beer is loaded up with the same seasoning, and even if the reference tends to be flattering. I can not imagine that changing one letter (from Old to Olde) is likely to help any more. The total production for this ale with spices seems to have been tiny, so that may help somewhat more to avoid problems.

A second legal issue is that, such a beer needs formula approval, before label approval and production. To get formula approval, it is usually necessary to provide a detailed ingredient list to TTB. It can be very difficult for anyone to get ingredient details (beyond what FDA typically requires on a food label’s ingredient list) about famous and protected products like Coca-Cola, Angostura Bitters, or Old Bay. TTB typically needs to check for artificial flavors, allergens, colors, and use-rate limitations, and this can be very difficult to do without a complete ingredient list of the sort that McCormick would be unlikely to provide to the brewer here (The D.O.G. Beverage Co. of Westminster, Maryland). So this raises the question of whether this beer actually contains Old Bay seasoning, or TTB did not require details about all 18 ingredients, or D.O.G. somehow got hold of the ingredient list.

Related Posts:

• Intoxicating Candy: Bubble Gum (2)
• Happy Ten Ten (0)
• Wine Without Sulfites (9)

I was driving along and heard perhaps the perfect confluence of beer, TTB, fruit, and a multimedia extravaganza (plus history, my sister in law, etc.).

NPR ran a story about The Pawpaw: Foraging For America’s Forgotten Fruit on September 29, 2011. The pawpaw is a creamy, mango-like fruit that grows along the banks of the Potomac River. Experts say the pawpaw is “every bit the rival of a perfect peach or apple. And these fruits have had thousands of years of breeding to make them taste good.” So good that a pawpaw newbie exclaims (at about 3:50): “Mmm, very good. Wonderful flavor. On my tongue, it says this is something new and wonderful and that I should continue it.”

It did not take long for a beer company to grab onto the pawpaw fervor. In discussing how the fruit plays into locavore trends and does not travel well, NPR’s Allison Aubrey talks with Garin Wright of Buckeye Brewing (at about 6:10):

AUBREY: But at a pawpaw festival earlier this month in Ohio, people were showing off, at least one way of extending the pawpaw season. They make pulp from the fruit that can be canned and frozen. And even use it to make beer. Garin Wright of the Buckeye Brewing Company in Cleveland wasn’t convinced the taste of the pawpaw would come through in his brew, but it did.

GARIN WRIGHT: I really think that I got freshness out of that pulp that you can really smell and taste in the beer I made, so it’s awesome.

Garin’s label is here. I say extravaganza because the blog post is here, the audio is here, the video is here, 163 comments are here, recipes are here, the transcript is here, and so on. I say sister in law because my kids started calling Aunt Paula “pawpaw” from their earliest months. I say TTB because NPR’s street interviews (on the video) are 100 feet from the old TTB building (across the street from the current NPR building). Finally, I say history because Lewis & Clark, and Thomas Jefferson, were apparently big pawpaw fans according to NPR.

Related Posts:

• Sparks and Caffeine: Nearly Extinguished (8)
• Zubrowka (1)
• Yerba Mate (2)

Made with beer? Check. Tastes like eggs? Check. Artificial sweetener and colors? Yes. And more alcohol than Pabst Blast. This is the Egg Nog Beer experience.

Related Posts:

• Beer with Garlic (0)
• Whey Neutral Spirits (0)
• Vodka Distilled from Milk (3)

Fox and Reason have a good video about the recent brewhaha over beer with caffeine.

The video features John Stossel, Nick Gillespie, and Rhonda Kallman (owner of Moonshot, Beer with Caffeine). Among the highlights:

Rhonda says FDA’s ban is “clearly a case of the government over-reaching. … My Moonshot Beer is nothing like these Four Loko drinks.” FDA:

didn’t fully research it … they put the onus on the small entrepreneur to have a scientist. … It’s 5% alcohol by volume and less than a half a cup of coffee of natural caffeine. It’s a great combination. … They won’t stop here. Where will they stop?

Sen. Schumer won’t stop at calling these drinks a “blackout in a can.” He goes further to suggest they may be a death wish in a can. And here, Iowa takes a step toward going much, much further (toward banning any mixture of cola, coffee or Red Bull with alcohol, at bars and restaurants).

Near the end of the video, Rhonda points to her petition to save Moonshot. She seeks to distinguish it from the circa-2010 Crunk, Four Loko and Joose products, and explains:

For the time being, Moonshot has ceased production due to [the FDA ban]. … Three of the products targeted are high alcohol, high caffeine and high sugar “juice” drinks sold in oversized 23.5 ounce cans and targeted to underage drinkers. The fourth was Moonshot ’69 – an all malt, craft-brewed pilsner beer that bears absolutely no resemblance to these high alcohol, high caffeine sugary drinks. … There is nothing new about adults combining caffeine and alcohol. Who hasn’t enjoyed a rum and Coke, Irish coffee, Kahlua or espresso martini? The question should be what levels are appropriate.

Related Posts:

• FDA and FTC Banish Four Loko and Joose (2)
• Sparks and Caffeine: Nearly Extinguished (8)
• TTB Not OK with Vitamin Wine (3)

TTB/ATF first allowed this brand name in 1997, for a malt beverage with natural flavors. A 1999 approval is shown above on the left, and the most recent approval is on the right above. Just a few months after the the 2008 approval, Anheuser-Busch apparently killed Tequiza in favor of Bud Light Lime. At this point, it’s gone almost without a trace, like Champale, Zima and other fading memories.

A lot of the branding stayed the same over the course of twelve years and 29 label approvals. But the legal description got trimmed considerably, during that time, to remove all references to the “NATURAL FLAVOR OF MEXICAN TEQUILA.” This part apparently went too far for the Tequila industry, or TTB, to accept, even if the brand name and agave references did not.

By way of another example, from the movies, Little Fockers probably would not be PG-13 if spelled with a u.

Related Posts:

• Is Beer the New Wine? (2)
• Happy Ten Ten (0)
• FDA Cider, Apples and Nutrition Facts (0)

Because of that fancy umlaut, it is possible that it’s about something other than what you are probably thinking about at this very moment. But then again, now that I have watched the “banned Böner beer commercial” on YouTube, I am pretty sure I will decline if and when anyone offers me one of these. All these other labels didn’t bother us too much, but perhaps this one goes just a bit too far, such that you will have to Google the ad for yourself, so long as you are not easily offended. (Maybe the wit:prurience ratio was higher on the others.)

Böner Beer is made with orange, lemon, coriander and other flavors.

Related Posts:

• Manly Parts and Booze, Part 5 (0)
• Rum with a Dash of Porn (0)
• PimpnHo: Almond Flavored Wine (3)

FDA handed a giant gift to Red Bull here.

The FTC handed a humongous present to Red Bull here.

Other actions are expected imminently, as legions of other regulators rush in to exaggerate the dangers (it looks like soda, it’s “loaded with caffeine,” it’s like a “plague” and “toxic”) and ignore evidence to the contrary. This follows many state actions in recent weeks. Presto, problem solved! We eagerly await the evidence that young people cut back on alcohol, or cut back on co-consumption of  alcohol with caffeine. We hope it’s better than the current leading study; it purports to highlight the dangers of the pre-mixed products such as Four Loko, Liquid Charge, Joose and scores of others — without ever having examined any such products. Instead, the O’Brien study reviewed products so different they are not even within the scope of yesterday’s governmental actions (none of which, after some dexterous sleight of hand and misdirection, stopped it from instigating the above actions).

We believe caffeine and alcohol raise plenty of important public policy issues, whether they are combined or not, and they warrant serious deliberation. But many of the deliberations so far reflect political pressures more than an even-handed review.

November 18, 2010 Update:  TTB lands another blow, against caffeine added to alcohol beverages, here.

Related Posts:

• Sparks and Caffeine: Nearly Extinguished (8)
• Rhonda’s Fight to Save Moonshot (0)
• TTB Not OK with Vitamin Wine (3)

Earlier this week we mentioned that Short’s provides plenty of good things to write about. Here is another beer to back that up. If you don’t want to put some beer in your s’mores, maybe you should at least consider putting some s’mores in your beer.

S’more Stout is stout brewed with graham crackers, chocolate and marshmallows.

Related Posts:

• Vodka Distilled from Milk (3)
• The Beef is Here (Meaty Booze 5) (0)
• Pizza Beer (4)

Well it’s all good stuff but is it good together? Here is Bloody Beer. The people at Short’s also provide plenty to write about, such as this gem. Bloody Beer is beer brewed with tomatoes, with added pepper, celery seed, horseradish and dill. From the description, it looks like the tomatoes are added during brewing but the rest is added after.

Related Posts:

• Whey Neutral Spirits (0)
• Vodka Distilled from Milk (3)
• Tomato Wine (11)