Last night the bro and I attended a special invitation-only sneak peek
of "The American Brew," a film commissioned by Here's To Beer that
celebrates the history of beer in America. The event took place at LIR
Irish Pub & Restaurant in Boston (why LIR?), who worked with Here's To
Beer to offer some craft beers and snacks. Honestly, I stuck with
Michelob Lager (all-malt) and Demon's Hop Yard IPA. This wasn't to
kiss-ass, as many media-types do in these situations, but rather the
craft beer being offered was simply in bad shape; a highly-oxidized
Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA wasn't a nice way to kick-off the night and
put me off trying the other bottled craft offerings, but the Michelob
Lager and Demon's were fresh and just fine.

Anyway, it was just that: a sneak peek and more of a social mixer of
Anheuser-Busch and local media, as the screening featured no sound and
looped on 6-bar TV sets. We got our hands on preview copies of the one-
hour documentary back in February, so the highlight for us was getting
to hangout and chat with film producer and director Roger Sherman,
Brewers Association president Charlie Papazian, Anheuser-Busch
brewmaster George Reisch, and Tom Shipley from "Here's to Beer."

Though George and Charlie were introduced as "stars of the film," and
in attendance to help promote it, as Charlie corrected: "Beer is the
star." So for those of you anti-macro beer geeks who are scared to buy
and try the "Kool-Aid," I can assure you that this documentary is not
a big advert for Anheuser-Busch, it's a celebration of beer, where
beer is indeed the star on an unbiased stage. So whether you're a
newbie, beer geek, or industry professional ... I can't imagine anyone
not enjoying "The American Brew."

In fact, I highly recommend picking-up a copy of the DVD at
herestobeer.com. It's only $5.49, shipping is free, and it's actually
pretty damn good. Not only is the production quality excellent, but it
captures beer's rich and complex history in the US (from the colonists
to prohibition to today), contains tons of interviews from brewers,
authors, and industry icons, as well as 42 minutes of extras from Paul
Brady (breweriana collector), Carol Stoudt (first female brewer), The
21 Club (NY speakeasy), Maureen Ogle (author), Daniel Okrent (author),
Charlie Papazian (grandfather of homebrewing), Daniel & Julie Bradford
(All About Beer), Michael Jackson (The Beer Hunter), Fritz Maytag
(Anchor Brewing Co.), and Danny Meyer (restaurateur).

The industry really needs more of this kind of promotion, education,
and unity under beer vs. questioning if something is "craft beer" or
not (how about questioning if it's good or not?). So, cheers to Here's
To Beer and all of those involved for making an effort to elevate the
image of beer!

Still afraid of the Kook-Aid? Try it for free: set your DVRs to record
"The American Brew" this Saturday, April 7, at 10pm EDT on A&E (and
2am on April 8). The airing on April 7 also coincides the 74th
anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition. To boot, BeerAdvocates
tuning in should get a nice, albeit short, surprise.

On a side-note: Jason grabbed a stack of DVDs and plans on sending
them to the Prohibition Party, as well as Rep. Richard Laird (D-
Roanoke, Alabama) and Rep. DuWayne Bridges (D-Valley, Alabama); who
both recently voted "no" against better beer in Alabama. We'll keep
you posted.

http://beeradvocate.com/smack/archives/2007/04/978382