Social media is abuzz with consternation with the Brewers Association (BA) and the ticket vendor (Ticketmaster) for the speed at which tickets for the 2013 edition of the Great American Beer Festival (GABF) sold out. Although it did not go as smooth as they would have liked, the ticket sales improved on the pace at which the festival sold out in 2012. According to reports, all member tickets (there were a set number available) sold within 90 minutes when made available for presale. All the remaining public tickets sold out in 19 minutes. Some background on the Brewers Association and the American Homerbrewers Association (AHA).  “The Brewers Association is…

There has been an explosion in America of the introduction of cask ale offerings from craft brewers (usually local brewers).  For those uninitiated, we thought we’d put together a small primer on the basics of cask ale.  Hopefully this will help if you just happen to run across a cask ale offering at a local taproom or you happen to be traveling in the United Kingdom. Cask ale is also called cask-conditioned beer (very similar to bottle conditioning of beer). It is unpasteurized, unfiltered beer which is served from the same cask in which it was conditioned including secondary fermentation. This secondary fermentation in the cask is where the beer…

American Brewmaster is proud to announce their 3rd Annual Piedmont Brewer’s Cup on Saturday, October 20th 2012! The Piedmont Brewer’s Cup is a BJCP/AHA sanctioned homebrew competition that puts homebrewers from NC, SC, GA, VA, MD, & TN against each other in a competition to win the right to claim their place on the Piedmont Brewer’s Cup. The 1st Place Best of Show winner will receive the following: ·         Their recipe remade into a brewing kit for sale at the shop. They will be paid a portion of the profits throughout 2013·         Another portion will go to benefit Pints for Prostates throughout 2013·         They will get the…

  International IPA Day is just around the corner, August 2nd. On Thursday August 2nd, the craft brewing world will raise a collective glass for the iconic and centuries old style, India Pale Ale.   From Wikipedia:  {xtypo_quote}India Pale Ale or IPA is a style of beer within the broader category of pale ale. It was first brewed in England in the 19th century.  The first known use of the expression “India pale ale” comes from an advertisement in the Liverpool Mercury newspaper published January 30, 1835. Before January 1835, and for some time after this date, this style of beer was referred to as “pale ale as prepared for India”, “India Ale”, “pale India ale” or “pale export…

{xtypo_dropcap}Y{/xtypo_dropcap}ou may be wondering, what exactly is a CellarMonk?  If you were to break the word down, then you could define “cellar” as (a room or enclosed space used for storage).  To define “monk” is to say (a person who is a member of a brotherhood, devoted to a discipline).  When taken together we define a CellarMonk as someone devoted to the caretaking of that which can be found in the cellar or can be cellared.   This site is designed for the devotion to beer.  We are here to store and reinforce the vast knowledge of the art of beer and brewing, the enjoyment of beer (from mass market to premium…

Who hasn’t been to a restaurant, bar or pub and ordered and received a beer that just wasn’t right. The problem could have been created at any point along the way after leaving the brewery (perhaps even in the brewery). Andy Sparhawk, the Brewers Association’s Craft Beer Program Coordinator, has written a very good article on just this problem: When Craft Beer Goes Bad: A Guide to Refusing a Beer Have a look at the article and come on back here and vote in our poll. Let us know how your beer did you wrong. Which beer flaw do you run into most when served in a bar/restaurant? {acepolls 2}

Some final preparations for the upcoming Piedmont Brewers Cup took place on Tuesday, Oct 18th.  The competition coordinatior, John Federal, led a group of about eight others in the collection, check-in, seperation and sorting of the multitude of entries to this years competition.    Entries came from across North Carolina and the surrounding states, some from even further away.  The entries had to adhere to some standards of competition (bottle size, cap markings, bottle shape), but not all would make the cut.  The reason for this is simple.  The competition entries, once they are checked-in (entry fee paid), are seperated into their appropriate style category.  Once this is done, organizers…

During a recent visit to the United Kingdom, I had the pleasure of meeting a very unique and, some might say, opinionated Brit.Of all the items that we discussed, his disdain for being served incorrectly by barfolk was the one that shown brightest.He’s been called a “Branded Glass Fundamentalist” by his friends.  We, though, should refer to him as a “Working Glass Hero”.His story is below (in original form).________________________ A Branded Glass Fundamentalist? A man walks into a bar. Asks for a beer. Nothing fancy. The Barman serves him. In a very nice branded glass. But it’s the wrong branded glass. Now if that man happened to be me, my…