Posted by admin on Feb 12
Posted by admin on Feb 11
Posted by admin on Feb 11
I spend a lot of time in liquor stores. I mean a LOT of time, mostly in the liquor section (as opposed to wine). So I tend to notice when new things come into the Chicago market, and also when things go on sale or are discontinued. Its interesting to see how many products have already come and gone in the few years that we’ve been in the craft distilling business, as well as how many have changed hands among the mega-producers, marketing companies, importers, etc. Its a tough business, and the competition is pretty intense.
At any rate, one of the other interesting thing we’ve noticed is that certain brands sometimes have odd things happen that make their way into the liquor store and/or bar. Here are a few of the examples we’ve seen:
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Posted by admin on Feb 11
The Virginia Distillery Co. expects to be selling a Scotch-style malt whiskey not far from the Blue Ridge Mountains within five years.
Partners Chris Allwood, Joe Hungate and Brian Gray plan to invest $5 million to build the distillery in Lovingston, Va., by the end of the year. In addition to the distillery, the property will have a visitor’s center, warehouse, nature trails and a barley farm. In the meantime the trio is importing Eades Whisky from Scotland.
Located in Nelson County, the distillery will be near several Virginia wineries and breweries.
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Posted by admin on Feb 9
It has been 16 years since Bourbon has been made at the Charles Medley Distillers plant in Owensboro, Kentucky, but that is all about to change.
Trinidad-based rum producer Angostura Limited is pumping $25 million into the distillery and plans to also open a cooperage to make barrels. The move is another sign of the growing global demand for Bourbon and what is expected to be tight product supplies in the coming decade.
Angostura says when the distillery reopens it will be capable of making 3 million proof gallons of whiskey. It takes one half gallon of alcohol to make a proof gallon. It will be at least four years before any Bourbon from the facility hits store shelves.
Angostura also purchased the former Seagram’s distillery in Lawrenceburg, Ind., in 2007.
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Posted by admin on Feb 9
Posted by admin on Feb 8
If you’re ever looking for a good conversation topic, try “disastrous dishes prepared by loved ones.” If it ends up anything like the conversation we had at our last KegWorks Happy Hour, you could be in serious laughter-induced stomach pain before it’s all said and done. Perhaps our growlers of beer inclined us to laugh a bit harder… but upon further consideration and total soberness, it has been determined that some of the stories that surfaced are still pretty damn hilarious and very much worth sharing.
KegWorks Blog readers, eat your heart out on these bizarre tales from the kitchens of our nearest and dearest:
My contribution to the conversation was a series of stories including all of the gory details of the awful creations that my grandfather regularly 
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Posted by admin on Feb 7
Last week I put a call out to the twittering-bloggers for some seven word tasting notes for an advanced Wine Blogging Wednesday post. The panic was set when the editor of the Guardian’s Word of Mouth wanted to make sure there was ’something’, somewhere on the latest WBW theme to link to. I had submitted a post for publication on Word of Mouth and their initial plan was to run it the next day but insisted that there was something on Spittoon in support.
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Posted by admin on Feb 7
South Carolina state Rep. Fletcher Smith believes that members of the armed forces ought to be able to have a drink, even if they are not 21 years old.
Rep. Fletcher plans to introduce a bill to allow military personnel who are 18 years old to purchase alcohol in the state simply by showing their military identification cards. South Carolina raised its drinking age to 21 in 1984 in part because of threats by the federal government to take away highway funding. Rep. Fletcher’s bill could cost South Carolina millions of dollar in federal aid.
Mothers Against Drunk Driving has come out against the bill and officials at military bases in the state say it is against the rules for anyone of any age to drink during basic training.
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Posted by admin on Feb 6
In the beginning was the potato. How it found its way from the South American highlands into those little sacks of McDonald’s fries is a long, adventurous tale involving Conquistadors, Marie Antoinette, and Thomas Jefferson. Millionaires have been made and millions more have died from dependence on that simple, innocent potato. Here, then, is the story of the spud, which reached its crowning achievement only once it had been paired with oil.
The potato seems to us today to be such a staple food that it is hard to believe that it has only been accepted as edible by most of the Western 
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