A Beer Making Success Story

Have you ever dreamed of making your own beer? Maybe you thought it would be too difficult, or a waste of time and money to attempt to craft a beer that could turn out to be undrinkable. Maybe, like me you listened to old stories of exploding bottle caps and foul tasting brews that not even the guy down the street, who was known to drink almost anything would touch. Let me encourage you to forget the horror stories and go for it! Become the Master Brewer of you own home brewing kingdom. Making beer has rewards of satisfaction and accomplishment. Not to mention the decided benefit of drinking and serving a great tasting beverage you made yourself. I personally never tire of hearing "This is really good, and I mean really good beer! Where did you buy it?"

This is one of my favorite home brewery stories.
My father was visiting shortly after I had brewed one of my first batches of Brown Ale. He was unaware of my new hobby, so I casually handed him one of my new beers cold from the fridge and waited to see his reaction. He drank it all, but made no comment about how he liked it. I was disappointed, but was relieved that he drank it without spitting any out. The next day, dad asked me where I bought that beer I had served him yesterday. Still not sure if he enjoyed it or not, I hesitated to tell him that I made it myself. Pausing just a moment I said, "I didn't exactly buy it at a store. I made it." Stunned he said "No wonder I couldn't find it in the store! I spent fifteen minutes looking for a plain bottled beer with a silver cap!" He was surprised that home brew could be so tasty. If you have never tasted home brewed beer, I think you will be pleasantly surprised too.

In the weeks to follow the Brew Crew will take you through the steps of crafting your own beer. We hope you will come back to experience the journey with us.
The Brew Crew
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EU Commission Reports Italian Wine Ranks #1!

by the Italian Trade Commission

A reason to uncork and celebrate throughout Italy: European Union Commission reports Italian wines now rank #1 in the world!

Italian wine producers and their U.S. importers are celebrating. After a decade, Italy has regained it's leadership position as the number one wine producer in the world. For the past ten years France has maintained this position. While final data will be released in late January, the EU Commission estimates that at the conclusion of this year's harvest Italy has experience an eight percent growth in production, close to 47 million hectoliters of wine. In comparison, wine production in France has decreased by five percent to 44.4 million hectoliters of wine.

With the 2008 harvest just concluding, Giuseppe Martelli, General Director of Assoenologi (The Italian National Association of Enologists)comments that "overall 2008 was a mixed year depending on the region. Among white wines,strong harvests prevailed in Trentino Alto-Adige and Friuli-Venezia-Giulia. The predominantly red wine regions of Piedmont and Tuscany also appear to have noteworthy harvests."

The news couldn't be timelier for the Italian Trade Commission. From January 23rd through the 30th, the Italian Trade Commission will present Vino 2009- Italian Wine Week, the largest conference on Italian wine ever held in the U.S. exclusively for wine industry professionals.

Aniello Musella, Italian Trade Commissioner and Executive Director for the U.S. remarks "This is a historic moment for Italy's wine producers. Italy has regained it's leadership position in the global production of quality wines thanks to our producers' steadfast commitment to quality." "Vino 2009" he continues "will provide a unique forum for wine buyers and marketers to meet with producers, taste quality wines from all over Italy and discuss important trends and issues relevant to the Italian wine business with the most informed people in the industry." Vino 2009 will kick off January 23rd at the Boston Wine Expo with seminars and a trade tasting. It will continue in New York January 26th through the 28th with a series of seminars led by the nation's leading authorities on Italian wines at the New York Palace and Hilton Hotels. A grand tasting on January 28th will feature more than 250 producers and importers. Vino 2009 will conclude in Miami at the Intercontinental Hotel on January 30th with a seminar and tasting. Five wine producing regions of Italy will be showcased: Abruzzo, Calabria, Lombardia, Toscana and Veneto as well as more that 40 producers from Brunello di Montalcino. For more information, program schedule and reservations visit www.italianmade.com/vino2009
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The Barrel and Brew team is anxiously awaiting January 30 and Vino 2009. We are planning a road trip to attend the event in Miami. It is sponsored by the Italian Trade Commission and all of the major Italian wine producers will be there.
So in February you can read all about our experiences at this major tasting event as well as view photos. We hope to come home with a lot of information to share, and hopefully all of our oenophile friends out there will find it interesting.
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