The random stuff thread

Zaph

There doesn't seem to be an off-topic/chat thread, so I thought I'd start one so as not to pollute a proper thread with a mention of Bud Light. This is from John Oliver's excellent Last Week Tonight (Sky Atlantic, Monday nights if you haven't seen it yet), an alternative take on a current Bud Light ad.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4p8LylVs_g

BaZmO*

I suppose the "What beer are we drinking this week, too?" thread is used a lot as the OT thread but it makes sense to put it all here instead.

Lovely Bloke

Could be bad news for the likes of Drinkstore

Link

Have you had alcohol delivered to your home? You may have broken the law

THE ISSUE OF alcohol home deliveries was raised in the Dáil recently, among growing concerns under 18s are using the method to get access to alcohol.
It’s not illegal to have alcohol delivered to your house from an off licence or shop, but paying for it with cash upon delivery might be.
In general, when ordering alcohol a person must pay on the premises or via a credit card online or over the phone.
However, a recent DPP ruling has questioned this. Hugh Greaves, coordinator of the Ballymun Local Drugs Task Force, said the Dublin North West Area Joint Policing Sub-Committee is seeking a review of a decision which found that paying with cash on delivery isn’t illegal.

limnam

considering anyone with a current account has access to a visa/debit card i dont see how this would be an issue?

oblivious

limnam wrote: »

considering anyone with a current account has access to a visa/debit card i dont see how this would be an issue?

its not a direct payment as far as I am aware. The payment is held in a buffering account the "pending transaction". This is the card and allows separation of the a/c and payment from each other.

limnam

oblivious wrote: »

its not a direct payment as far as I am aware. The payment is held in a buffering account the "pending transaction". This is the card and allows separation of the a/c and payment from each other.

the problem is with cash payments at the door.

not online / over the phone transactions as far as i can see so the fact that the electronic transfer is in the "air" shouldn't be an issue as it's not a cash based transaction at the door.

oblivious

limnam wrote: »

the problem is with cash payments at the door.

not online / over the phone transactions as far as i can see so the fact that the electronic transfer is in the "air" shouldn't be an issue as it's not a cash based transaction at the door.

yeah true

From what said NOffLA "so it is not permitted to accept payment on delivery. " so any payment is out!

"Where the alcohol has been pre-paid and is being delivered, proof of age in the form of a garda age card is required."

Would a general tick the 18+ box work I wonder

limnam

oblivious wrote: »

yeah true

From what said NOffLA "so it is not permitted to accept payment on delivery. " so any payment is out!

"Where the alcohol has been pre-paid and is being delivered, proof of age in the form of a garda age card is required."

Would a general tick the 18+ box work I wonder

i think a verification step at sign up should work.

scan in passport or what have you.

So you don't need to identify for each transaction the responsibility is then on the account holder

L1011

How many people pay at the door at all? I used to when my local offlicence did delivery, but that was when they could deliver til 12:30 and you'd get the urge for some more at about 11:30... I'd imagine most of the "proper" online services have 100% or damn close to card payments.

Said local offo required you to drop in to register with ID to get deliveries and to a fixed address/list of addresses, albeit it was definitely abused all and sundry by people using their older brothers/sisters account, etc. Kept the local Garda station happy at the time though.

BaZmO*

The power of yeast.

http://www.sciencealert.com/researchers-figure-out-how-to-make-home-made-heroin-without-poppies

"It might take many more years to produce a high-yielding strain. But once it exists, in theory anyone who got hold of it could make morphine in their kitchen using only a home-brewing kit. Merely drinking tiny quantities of the resulting brew - perhaps as little as a few millilitres - would get you high. 'It probably is as simple as that,' says Dueber. 'The beer would have morphine in it."

irish_goat

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/jun/03/lidl-embraces-craft-ale-craze-following-success-with-upmarket-wine-sales

Lidl getting into craft beer. Doesn't say if the Irish stores will be stocking any but I imagine they'll follow suit.

BeerNut

Lidl already has an Irish craft beer range, brewed by Rye River.

irish_goat

BeerNut wrote: »

Lidl already has an Irish craft beer range, brewed by Rye River.

The article is promising "premium" craft beer though. :P

BeerNut

Kingfisher and Tyskie, then?

BaZmO*

And we think we're the only ones that complain about price.....

Evil Twin Brewing get a private email slating them over prices.

Dearest Evil Twin(s),
First and foremost, let me say that you folks make some excellent beers, and I have the utmost respect for your brewers. I’ve had some average ones here and there, but the vast majority of your portfolio is top notch. What I do not particularly care for is the disgusting, offensive, pompous, and entirely bu@l**** price point at which you set your beers.
Yes, bombers are one thing. You can sell a 6% beer as $10 bomber, and you won’t hear much fuss, even though you should. You might even be able to sell it for $12, if it’s a really, really well-made beer. But you guys, oh I bet your team of sales assho*es could (try to) sell it for $20…am I right?!
On the other hand, the pricing of your four packs and six packs is insultingly exorbitant at best. I could reference most of your catalogue in making this point, but instead, I’ll focus on two key examples. First, three to four years ago, your Hipster Ale was being sold for $3 a can plus tax in the southern states. It was seemingly not being sold in larger packs at that time. Considering that it is an average American pale ale on a good day, and its alcohol content is the norm for the style, that was absolutely absurd. Since then, both the price point and the packaging (now in six packs) has changed. It seems clear that you all learned your lesson on that one, but yet you continue such indecency with most other beers. The latest example is your NomaderWeisse Berliner Weisse.
I should note here that I work for a Colorado brewery and intricately understand the costs and labor of making certain styles. Sour/tart beers can cost more and take longer to make, and I am always happy to pay a little extra for good people’s labor. Unfortunately, that is far from the case here. Just yesterday, I saw your Berliner Weisse being sold for $18.99 a six pack, plus tax. I realize that much of this might be markup by the local liquor store, but even on the East Coast, I’m hearing of prices from $13-15. I’ll settle on $15 as an average from here on out. Sadly, $15 per six pack implies that you very well might not be “good people,” as such a price for a 4% beer is highway-****i&g-robbery. There’s no way in hell that this beer costs that much to make, and the industry provides a number of examples as evidence. Anderson Valley (CA) sells a couple of great 4.2% goses, both for $9-10 a six pack, while Westbrook (SC - where you brewed this god-forsaken beer) sells their excellent gose at the same price and size.
I imagine you guys would argue that, as gypsy brewers, you pay more for the use of facilities, and as a result, have to pass much of that cost on to your customers? Let me remind you all that you have chosen this path; nobody forced you to brew without a permanent location. Financially, you folks are barely getting by, or you’re raking in the cash. I’m guessing that the reality is closer to the latter, and in that case, might I suggest buying some equipment and backing off of those who want to be your loyal customers? There’s no excuse for gouging your customers just because you don’t want to stay put or shell out for your own system.
Yes, you could also argue that Dogfish Head started this model, and that you’re just following in their footsteps. The difference is Dogfish Head puts obscure, rare, highly sought-after ingredients in many of their beers and still manages to charge at least 10% less than you guys. Another example of high pricing is Ballast Point, who seems to be riding the overhyped wave all the way to $14-15 six packs of their Sculpin IPA. And guess what?! It makes them look like total assho#es, and everyone knows it! I can name 10 IPAs that are just as good as, if not better than, Sculpin, and for that reason, I never buy that beer in liquor stores. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, don’t let your social media lackey go on Twitter and compare the pricing of heady, also bu*l****, foodie juice blends to your beer pricing. Everyone knows those juices are laughably overpriced, but more so, what the fu@k does the price of trendy juice have to do with the price of your beer?! If you guys are too damn stupid to figure it out, comparing someone else's offensively overpriced thing to your offensively overpriced thing isn’t helping your already weak defense. In terms of any other defenses or counter-arguments you might have, I’ll be frank and say that I don’t really care to hear your propaganda. I’ve formed my opinion, and there’s a near-absolute chance that nothing you can say will change it.
More eloquently, I’ve always loved much of your portfolio, but I’m becoming fed-up with being treated like a source of income, as opposed to a member of a group that you folks need to survive. You’re already one of the biggest jokes of the industry with your childish sibling bickering, so why not stop there, and treat everyone else in the world with some ****i*g respect?
Yours truly,
Chris Klein

Guy gets slated and then retracts his comments.

Hahahahaha - as I said, do as you please. I think his underwear is fabuuulous.
I realize that sending the email, even just to you two, was a mistake, yes. Overzealous, yes. Rude, definitely yes. Perhaps, you have literally nothing to do with the price point, seems unlikely, but ok, yes. Perhaps, the best thing that will come out this is I’ll be able to say I got into (and beat) in an internet-trolling contest with the owner/founder of Evil Twin, yes. But, sincerely, I apologize, you win.
Cheers,
Chris

Turns out the guy is an employee of another brewery. He boss then gets involved.

Absolutely his own opinion, he has been dealt with internally, we absolutely apologize the rant he sent, and it’s in no way reflecting our views or opinions. We hope this won’t ruin any goodwill between us. We’ll buy you guys some beers during GABF, please look us up. Cheers!
Danny Wang - Overlord/Head Brewer
CAUTION: Brewing Company - Denver, CO

Lovely Bloke

irish_goat wrote: »

The article is promising "premium" craft beer though. :P

Are you saying RR don't produce premium beer?

Careful now.

Mesrine65

Found a couple of pint bottles of Guinness lurking in the shed yesterday, best before date 09/08

Tasted superb :eek: :cool:

Zaph

Mesrine65 wrote: »

Found a couple of pint bottles of Guinness lurking in the shed yesterday, best before date 09/08

Tasted superb :eek: :cool:

They were extremely fresh compared to this bottle of beer

MonkstownHoop

Zaph wrote: »

They were extremely fresh compared to this bottle of beer

And I bet he won't even drink it :-)

irish_goat

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-33175395

Molson Coors being caught out over Doom Bar not be brewed in Cornwall.

BeerNut

Nice to see a bit of serious negative publicity over this. Hopefully it'll make brewers a little more likely to be honest about where their beer is brewed.

BeerNut

Nice little telly docu about Simon Lambert's in Wexford:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uktMNoNdxx8

mikeecho

Are there any pubs in killarney town that offer lots of craft beers, or a bierhaus.

Heading out on the town there soon, and don't don't want to be stuck with Heineken, Coors and Guinness for the night.

irish_goat

mikeecho wrote: »

Are there any pubs in killarney town that offer lots of craft beers, or a bierhaus.

Courtney's has a decent selection I believe. You can do a tour of the Killarney Brewing Company as well.

BeerNut

Yeah, Killarney Brewing has 30 or 40 taps around the town, I believe, and Torc has a few as well. If the pub you're in doesn't have either, there's a fair chance the one next door will. But Courtney's seems to be the main specialist.

Hotblack Desiato

What is it with those stupid plastic inserts in the neck of most (but not all) spirit bottles in Spain?

Just brought back a litre of Jameson from the Canaries as I always do when I'm on holidays (€14 vs €42 and politicians think that there is such a thing as cheap alcohol in Ireland??)

Bought in a shop I've used several times before over the years, Spanish paper tax seal present and correct on the bottle cap

I always lever these insert things out as I hate the slow, splashy pour they give, and have done this loads of times with no problems but somehow cracked the neck of the bottle this time :eek: emptied out a 1 litre PET sparkling water bottle and poured it in there - should be OK for a few months in that anyway I'd think - lots of supermarkets and duty free shops in Spain sell plastic half litre spirit bottles which are presumably PET as well.

mikeecho

Hotblack Desiato wrote: »

What is it with those stupid plastic inserts in the neck of most (but not all) spirit bottles in Spain?

Just brought back a litre of Jameson from the Canaries as I always do when I'm on holidays (€14 vs €42 and politicians think that there is such a thing as cheap alcohol in Ireland??)

Bought in a shop I've used several times before over the years, Spanish paper tax seal present and correct on the bottle cap

I always lever these insert things out as I hate the slow, splashy pour they give, and have done this loads of times with no problems but somehow cracked the neck of the bottle this time :eek: emptied out a 1 litre PET sparking water bottle and poured it in there - should be OK for a few months in that anyway I'd think - lots of supermarkets and duty free shops in Spain sell half litre spirit bottles which are presumably PET as well.

For that price, I'd live with the slow pour bottle.
As for the plastic bottle, it'll be fine.

Personally, I would put it into a few smaller plastic bottles ( filled to the brim) to reduce it's exposure to oxygen.

Hotblack Desiato

We're not talking long term storage, it definitely won't last past Christmas

I'll probably fire it into a cleaned screw-top glass wine bottle next time we have an empty one.

I've bought spirits in quite a few European countries, but have only seen these insert yokes in Spain, anyone know why?

mikeecho

I opened a jameson yesterday... it won't see next month

mikeecho

Hotblack Desiato wrote: »

I've bought spirits in quite a few European countries, but have only seen these insert yokes in Spain, anyone know why?

I always thought it was an anti tamper device to stop bars from watering down spirits.

(I have on occasion been known to be wrong about stuff)

L1011

mikeecho wrote: »

I always thought it was an anti tamper device to stop bars from watering down spirits.

(I have on occasion been known to be wrong about stuff)

Based on the countries that seem to have them all having slightly dodgier reputations, I've always thought that too. Also stops refiling a "premium" bottle with something cheaper.