TRY THE FREE 6 PACK NEWSLETTER HERE

What’s up, beer geek! This is The Beer Scholar 6-Pack weekly newsletter, a short clean email featuring 6 bulleted links with brief descriptions for each.

Sup beer geeks. Happy birthday to me! The 18th was the day and I'm celebrating in the most hardcore way possible - by visiting my parents in Florida! What that means though, really, is that I get to shed my raincoat, long johns, vitamin D pills, and SAD light therapy lamp for a week. I can verify that the sun is still in the sky in places other than Portland, OR. I'm currently sitting by an open door, in shorts, and I can hear the ocean. I also went with my dad to the Daytona International Speedway today to scope the scene. We got to drive under the track and out onto the infield to watch some racing. The cars were very fast and very loud. 'Twas cool. I'm not that old yet, but I'm considering retiring to FL soon. Any thoughts on that? 
 
Beer of the Week: Yuengling Traditional Lager. In continuous operation in Pottsville, PA since 1829, D. G. Yuengling & Son is America's oldest brewery...and oldest craft brewer because it's still owned by the family! Yuengling is one of my go-to beers when I'm in Florida. We don't get it on the West Coast so there's a bit of East Coast nostalgia in it for me. It's a basic light amber lager that hits the spot on hot days. It's like a Miller High Life but with a touch of toast and caramel. If you're a major nerd you may know that Yuengling is a classic commercial example of BJCP style 2B. International Amber Lager. Yeah, I know there's a dope beer scene in FL, but when I'm here to visit the fam I don't usually make it out for any serious beer action. What can ya do?

SIPPING IN STYLE is a new podcast series about EVERY SINGLE BEER STYLE ON THE CERTIFIED CICERONE SYLLABUS!

This is a complimentary podcast series to my recently released Online Course for the Certified Cicerone Exam. Me & Advanced Cicerone Scott Fielder are your hosts. There are ~80 styles on the syllabus, so we're just getting started. Listen now!

SIPPING IN STYLE EP 1: LAMBIC, GUEUZE, & FRUIT LAMBIC

As always, here are 6 dope links for your Friday 6 Pack. Enjoy.

TBS 6-Pack

ARMOR FOR CATS
Artist creates glorious medieval suits of armor for cats and mice. Check out these bada$$ suits of armor for cats (and mice but whatever) created by Calgary artist Jeff de Boer. Sorry, I haven't been reading much about beer this week, but also like, score for the fun links! 

SOBERTOK 
Let Go or Get Dragged, a Good Beer Hunting series of rambling thoughts on addiction, consumption, and wellness with sober-curious writer Jerard Fagerberg. I've enjoyed these three pieces partly out of morbid curiosity. The most recent was about Sober TikTok. Clearly, people in the addiction situations these folks are in need of more support than they'll receive from a harshly judgmental online quasi-community consisting partly of trolls. And yet, that's what some folks are leaning on. It makes me sad, but it's also fascinating. 

GET YOUR CRISIS COMMS PREPPED NOW
Social media backlash highlights crisis comms value by Matt Kirkegaard for BrewsNews Australia. This is basically a public service announcement for any readers who own a business or who work in PR / social media. As we all know, lots of breweries have blown their own sh1t up by acting dumb on social media and then not handling things properly when they get called out. This is a weird one kinda, because it isn't about abusing employees or DEI issues, it's about continuing to claim on a menu that you use responsibly sourced meat when you actually stopped. The lesson is this -- HAVE A PLAN IN PLACE FOR A COMMUNICATIONS CRISIS! Even if the plan is to call an expert, have one. 

IS BELGIAN PILS A STYLE?
The Everyday Pintje: Searching for Belgian Pils by Jeff Alworth for Craft Beer & Brewing. What makes a Belgian Pils? Belgian malt, for one. It seems that organic Dingemans pils malt is the pick. It's slightly more golden and flavorful than many other pils malts. Some corn is A-OK. Peppery spicy Saaz hops are a must. Ferment with an assertive lager yeast and let it express itself by fermenting in a wide non-pressurizes vessel. It'll be ~5% ABV and will have the light body and crisp finish you'd expect from a pils of high attenuation and high carbonation. I haven't had it, but Jeff Alworth says Halfway Crooks’ (Atlanta, GA) Pintje Pils is the jam.

THE DORK TOWER
It's Official: Mike Flanagan Is Developing THE DARK TOWER As A Series by Scott Wampler for Fangoria.  Stephen King's Dark Tower series is awesome. The 2017 movie with Idris Elba flopped. The story is multi-dimensional and 10 books long so way too complex for a few movies, IMO, and would need several seasons of a show to do it justice. So, this is good news! 
 

Have a lovely weekend, y'all!

Chris