New Belgium Brewery of Fort Collin, Colorado, is here honored for the company’s integrity, ingenuity, and the amazing quality of its high production level brewery. A forward thinking, 100% green company which shares its profits with its workers, New Belgium has consistently contributed innovative brewery techniques, while at the same time maintaining ancient and venerated beer traditions, such as its 1554 Enlightened Black Ale. Kudos to the first beer company to recycle its waste grain and harvest methane from it! This full circle renewable energy source now contributes 30% of the energy required to produce over 450,000 barrels of beer annually.

Dogfish Head Brewing Company, a smaller brewer located in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, is here honored for ingenuity and fearless experimentation in the realm of brewing. These brewers have gone where few dare to go, preparing beers of up to 18% A.P.V.! Using admixtures such as raspberries, raisins, blueberries, chicory, and coffee, Dogfish Head has prepared some mighty interesting and mighty tasty concoctions. Brewers of the Midas Touch, Dogfish Head has even created a facsimile of a brew scientists discovered only traces of on urns in King Midas’ tomb. A true blend of tradition and experimentation. But you’ll have to go to Delaware to sample some of their latest innovations: small scale craft spirits!

Spoetzl Brewery, of Shiner, Texas, is a middle-sized brewery (much bigger than a microbrewery at 300,000+ barrels per year) that has, just in recent years, ventured into the craft beer market. Spoetzl is here honored for returning to the craft beer traditions from the precipice of the homogenized U.S. beer fad. For many years, the Spoetzl Brewery kept mainly their Shiner beer going, but now has distribution for many craft beers, in addition to their rather main-stream tasting Shiner and Shiner light. All of this is, in part, to Shiner’s centennial beer program, which started in 2005. The centennial program began producing one special edition beer in small batches at the end of each quarter. With this foray into the realm of experimentation, the brewers at the Spoetzl Brewery found flavors that were received quite favorably. Spoetzl’s Shiner 96 Märzen Ale, Shiner 97 Bohemian Black Lager, Shiner 98 Bavarian Style Amber, and Shiner 99 Munich Style Helles Lager, are all high quality craft beers worthy of recognition along-side the best microbrews of the day.

Rogue Ales, of Newport, Oregon is a brewery which has maintained an exacting level of perfection with its recipes while keeping an open mind toward new innovations in brewing. With brews as diverse as Soba, Hazelnut Brown Nectar, and the Juniper Pale Ale, Rogue has demonstrated it’s willingness to live up to its namesake. Yet still, for all this invention, Rogue beers are remarkably reliable – one bottle will always taste like the next, even with such extreme different flavors. Here’s another great thing about Rogue Ales: they are all without preservatives or pasteurization.

Saint Arnold Brewing Company, of Houston, Texas, is here honored for their dedication to serving their community with traditional, well made craft beers. You may not have heard of St. Arnolds unless you have visited central or east Texas. This is because St. Arnolds is more devoted to serving their immediate community than they are in expanding their distribution. St. Arnolds certainly stands a part from the other breweries in this list, being a straight-forward craft brewery with an honorable dedication to traditional beer styles. St. Arnolds has had quite a time dealing with the destruction of Hurricane Ike, but they are moving into a new location and will surely be up and running again soon.

These have been Kegerators.com’s five most distinguished domestic brewers of 2008.

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"Gadget" Mini kegerators are a new retail item that helps you to enjoy cold beer without the expense of owning a full-on kegerator. Mini kegerators are becoming a more and more affordable way to ensure that you have draft beer on the go. Most brands come with a variety of options, such as DC power, cleaning kits, and temperature control. Mini kegerators that dispense 5 liter mini kegs are made by Krups, Heineken, Avanti, EdgeStar, Vinotemp, and other companies as well, so there are a variety of models to choose from.

These gadgets are currently priced right around $200 - $300. For all practical purposes, the less expensive units do just as good a job as the more expensive ones. For example, the Avanti Mini-Pub Kegerator retails for about $230, and the Vinotemp Mini Keg Beer Dispenser retails for about $100 more - $330. The Avanti has the benefit of being more compact, and the Vinotemp has a better temperature regulator. So, unless you have really exacting temperature requirements for your beer, you might as well get the more inexpensive brand – it is more likely to fit in the trunk or boat, or whatever you are traveling in. General compact-ability is a feature of most mini kegerator gadgets – at least, compared to the mini fridge kegerator or a full-blown kegerator. For this reason, these compact mini kegerators have enjoyed popularity among the draft beer fan crowd.

One of the great advantages of the mini kegerator is that they come with AC and DC power supplies. This allows you to run the mini kegerator off of your car, RV, or boat battery, even solar systems can power these mini kegerators. This makes it easy to take a small amount of beer (standard mini kegs hold 5 liters) out for a picnic, boating, or car camping trip. Mini kegerators can also be easily installed into your RV or boat as a semi-permanent appliance.

New advances in refrigeration technology may see a whole revolution in the way we cool all manner of things, including beer. Researchers at Penn. State have made headway in electromagnetic cooling devices. These devices operate without the use of a compressor or of Freon, and, if commercially viable, will produce machines that are much more compact than the bulky fridges we are used to. On top of this, Ben and Jerry’s, the famous ice cream men, have developed a way to cool their dessert via sound waves. By using a machine that employs pressurized helium gas and ethyl alcohol as a cooling medium, they keep their ice creams at a delightfully cold level.

The increased popularity and availability of kegerators is likely to create an industry that is capable of harnessing these new technologies and putting them to good use. It seems clear that, with this latest invention of the mini kegerator, the kegerator industry is willing and capable of incorporating new, inventive ideas into its arsenal of products. In short, we are sure to see more and more interesting forms of kegerators in the coming years.

The new options that these mini kegerators provide give fans of draft beer an excellent opportunity to enjoy draft beer in a variety of settings. While in the past, draft beer fans have gone to great lengths to install kegerator systems in their R.V.s, now it as simple as shopping around for a convenient new appliance. Some day, we may see mini kegerators replacing coffee makers in the office (certain offices, anyways), or at least be seen side-by-side with them. As it is, we will see them on the beach, the mountain retreat campsite, at sea, and at the omnipresent tailgate party. Draft beer to-go has become a reality at last.

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Margaritas have a long history going back to as early as 1934. The first machine-made frozen margarita mix was invented by chemist John Hogan in 1971 in the Dallas, Texas region. Mr. Hogan is widely recognized as the inventor of the frozen margarita machine. His secret was the application of pure cane sugar to sweeten up the drink for mass consumption. The IBA Official list of Cocktails standard recipe for a margarita is 7:4:3 (7 parts tequila, 4 parts Triple Sec, 3 parts fresh lime or lemon juice). This drink is usually served over ice or mixed in with shaved ice, which is more common.

Priced from $60 to $130, home appliance margarators come in many variations on the same theme. Makers include many little known names (as far as kitchen appliances go): Helman Group, Empire Engineering, Blendtec, Breville, Cecilware, Daiquiri Whacker, Hamilton Beach, On The Edge Marketing, Saniserv, Sensio, Tailgator, and Waring. Some better known brands also have margarators on the market: like Kitchen-Aid, Cuisinart, Margaritaville, Nostalgia Electrics, Oster, and Viking. Restaurant grade machines are likely to cost upwards of $400, so this new appliance brings a new availability to the realm of margarita machines.

Nostalgia Electronics is the maker of such wonderful machines as the cotton candy machine, popcorn machine, milkshake machine, and many more. From them, we see in the realm of home margarita machines the MOS-400 Margarita Oasis™ Frozen Drink Machine ($109), the MMA-600 Margarita Mania Margarita, Smoothie, Daiquiri & Frozen Drink Maker ($112.00), and the HSM-590 Margarator Machine ($99.99, the original margarator). Nostalgia Electrics also makes kegerators, both full size and mini-kegerators. Nostalgia Electrics even provides us with recipes for their device:

Basic Margarita
2 to 2 ½ C tequila
An entire 1 ¾ liter bottle margarita mix

Strawberry Margarita 1 ½ C tequila
1 L margarita mix
16 oz quartered strawberries (fresh or frozen)
Salt

Strawberry Mango Margarita
1 ½ C tequila
2 C margarita mix
3 C mango juice
16 oz quartered strawberries (fresh or frozen)

While margarators of all brands are available through many outlets, the new website margarators.com is a great site to see all that margarators have to offer. From small home or travel appliances to machines industrial restaurant applications, margarators.com has it all. One nice aspect of the site is the article section, providing different viewpoints on the margarator phenomenon.

If you are a margarita fan, it is sure that you will want a margarator. The question is, which one will be the best for you? For travel purposes, Nostalgia Electrics Margarators are the clear choice. These units are relatively compact and easy to power from car or home. If you are looking for a more serious margarator, you may want to take a look at Margaritaville’s Tahiti Frozen Concoction Maker DM3000. This unit is pricey (about $600), and takes up some counter space, but for a big party, its all you’ll really need. This unit blends and ices 3 gallons of margaritas at a time, in three different pitchers. This unit allows the most flexibility for serving different types of drinks that I have seen.

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Many kinds of beer work well with oysters.  Porter, Stout, IPA.  Strong flavors work well to cleanse the palate in between bites so that the fishiness of the oysters is not overwhelming.  A good, clean break in between bites is highly desirable.  In regions where beer choice is limited, beer is still preferable to non-alcoholic drinks.  For raw sea foods, a hard liquor is helpful for keeping any rouge bacteria in check.  Tequila and Sake shots especially, although please don’t mix.

If you are talking about grilled fish, grilled salmon, mussels, prawns, your best bet for a complimentary beer is a dark beer.  Porter, Schwarzbier, Stout, all go well in this setting.  I recommend the black lager especially for enjoying beer and oysters a hot or warm day.

Lighter beers have their place, too.  Certainly for broiled or boiled fish, shrimp, mussels, a pale ale, a pilsner, or even wheat beer can be quite complimentary.  Bitters and IPAs can also help break down the oily taste of deep fried sea foods (very popular).  A good idea to wash down a plate of fish and chips.  This would be my choice for raw, shucked oysters, especially when I am enjoying them on the gulf coast of Vera Cruz in Mexico.  I always like to stop for raw oysters when traveling in that region.

One place where you can sample all of this and mix and match is Richmond, Virginia’s River City Beer & Seafood Festival in June.  Over 40 varieties of beer show up among vendors, brewers, and chefs at this festival annually to celebrate the union of microbrew and seafood.  Music is provided by the festival, and samples are provided for a festival fee.  For $25, you can buy a festival sample mug to enjoy unlimited samples from the brew selection.

Another festival honoring this tradition is the Confluence Wine, Beer, Seafood & Music festival in Oregon state’s Douglas County on the Oregon Coast.  Admission is only $7 at the door or $5 in advance. Confluence means "the flowing together of two rivers or more rivers."  The festival is held at just such an intersection, at Gardiner, Oregon, just two miles north of Reedsport.  A confluence is also "a coming or flowing together, meeting, or gathering at one point."  The perfect name for an event which gathers so many different aspects together under one banner.

Brewers in the land down under have found a way to express their love of beer and seafood. From Australia comes a unique beer designed specifically to enhance the flavors of seafood.  According to Blue Bottle Beer’s website:

"…[we've joined] American hops with German yeast, Australian barley and fused it with the cleanest water. We then added our unique ‘zesty finish’.  Bluebottle Beer ® is a seductive blend of lifted aromatics, bitterness, and a citrus sting to enhance the flavors of the sea."

This would seem to go well with broiled, boiled, or BBQ’ed fish and seafood.  The zesty citrus sting they allude to gives me the idea that some Belgian ales would also enhance a seafood meal. 

Recently, when I went to eat at San Antonio’s Water St. Oyster Bar, I encountered the particular mix of Chimay with some Arcadian style cooking, and I must say I was quite pleased!  The especially spicy styles of cooking coming from the Louisiana area need a powerful beer to balance them best.

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EdgeStar Kegerator 
Under $400.00
This kegerator from EdgeStar is the most affordable full-sized kegerator on the market today. The kegerator stores up to a full sized half shell Sankey standard keg and is perfect addition to your home for fall entertaining. See Kegerator Details

Haier BrewMaster Kegerator
$529.99
This is the Honda Civic of kegerators. Durable, dependable and you will get a lot of mileage out of this machine. The kegerator will hold a full sized keg or multiple homebrew style kegs when modified with a dual or triple tap tower. The auto defrost, temperature control and cooling plate are nice features too.  See Kegerator Details

Beverage Air Kegerator 
$1,399.00
With this heavy-duty kegerator you can keep your keg cold with precision. Perfect for the serious draft beer aficionado, this kegerator comes with a stainless steel worktop and high quality refrigeration components. This kegerator would probably last a lifetime, so if you need a workhorse this is your kegerator. See Kegerator Details

Mini Keg Dispenser
$159.99
Ever seen the 5 liter mini-kegs at the supermarket? Well here is a 5-liter dispenser/cooler that will keep your favorite beer or soda ready-to-serve cold. Features include an easy flow design, drip tray cover, brushed aluminum door panel and indicator light. HelmanGroup.com

Kenmore Kegerator
$594.99
This kegerator is a nice full sized unit with all the bells and whistles of the Haier BrewMaster kegerator. This unit stores a half-barrel keg, so your favorite beer is always on tap. You can also store quarter-barrel kegs and mini kegs. Store pickup at Sears is a nice option for those looking to save a few bucks on shipping costs.  See Kegerator Details

Sudsbuddy Kegerator 
$1,399.98
A truly stylish kegerator that definitely is thinking outside of the box. Made of polyethylene plastic, this kegerator is dent-resistant and weighs less than 60 lbs making it easy for portability. It even has a cigarette-lighter adapter. How cool is that?. See Kegerator Details

Viking Kegerator 
$2,899.00
If you are an appliance snoot that only lives for the finer things in life, then I would like to introduce you to the Viking kegerator. This is the Lamborghini of kegerators. Stick this beauty next to your outdoor Sub-Zero and Wolf range to wow your guest and serve delicious draft beer. See Kegerator Details

Perlick Kegerator 
$2,889.00 
This ultra-slim kegerator defines luxury. It is designed with fully integrated depth to allow flush fit with surrounding cabinetry. If you are thinking of installing a kegerator into your cabinetry or you are a contractor designing a  home bar, you can’t go wrong with this ultra modern kegerator design. See Kegerator Details

Fridgidaire Kegerator 
$1149.00
This is for all you old school beer lovers that built a kegerator when you were in college out of an old refrigerator. Well, here is a beautiful replica made by Fridgidaire. It features a freezer on the top to store cold mugs and accommodates Up To a 16-Gallon Keg.  See Kegerator Details

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The trend comes as the stainless scrap price has more than doubled in the last five years, making an empty 18-pound keg worth more than $13, according to price data for steel scrap sold in Chicago.

Hawaii actually passed legislation making beer-keg theft a crime. They may not have needed the law since existing theft laws probably would have covered it. But just for good measure, they passed it anyway.

Pacific Business News reported back in May:

Hawaii beer wholesalers reported the theft of more than 350 beer kegs last year, up sharply from the 30 stolen in 2006. Nationwide, approximately 300,000 of the stainless steel containers are stolen annually.

"This is a huge problem," Tim Lyons, legislative liaison for Anheuser-Busch Cos., testified in favor of the law. "It has just escalated beyond any reasonable proportion."

"Metal keg theft is a growing problem because they can be redeemed for fast cash at scrap dealerships," added Lance Hastings, Western regional director for state government affairs for Miller Brewing Co.

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Well… It’s that time again. Time to give away a really expensive appliance in return for a few laughs. If you have not already heard, we are running a video contest asking the question, "What would you do for a kegerator?"

This is your chance to get crazy stupid-creative and impress the judges with your mad director skills. The lucky winner will receive a free kegerator and forever enrich their lives with kegerator companionship.

The skinny on the contest is as follows:

1. Make a funny, shocking, cool, stupid or impressive video showing us "What you would do for a free kegerator".

2. Submit your video to YouTube or Google Video.

3. Fill out the form here and you could win a free kegerator.*

Good Luck and go crazy!!

Deadline to submit a video: August 31th

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One aspect of custom kegerator design is the right choice of beer faucets. For example, equipping your kegerator to handle stout ales will require the installation of a new faucet shank with a stout-specific beer shank. The stout beer faucet connects to standard beer shanks, so at least that part of your installation will be the same as for regular beer faucets. These stout shanks pour at a slower rate to allow the stout to develop it’s head properly without gaining too much carbonation. Long-nosed “European” style beer faucets can also help – especially if you are having troubles with over-foamy beer.

Custom tap handles always help you to identify which beer is flowing through which tap. By having a large selection of handles, you can be sure to have the right handle for any occasion. There is no real difference in the function of the beer faucet tap handle unless you are short on overhead space.

The only custom kegerators I have seen that have space issues regarding tap handles are the sidewall mounted R.V. kegerators. These kegerators bring all that you need to your outdoor vacation, and enhance the value of your R.V. as well. Outdoor systems look to be built into already existing outside panels. Systems are on the market for either indoor or outdoor serving, and run off of the R.V.’s standard twelve volt power source. Building your own R.V. kegerator install is a bit of a daunting task, so I recommend seeking professionals if you are worried about damaging your R.V.

If you have confidence in your abilities, you may be able to accomplish this. The inside tap seems far easier that the outside tap configuration, but I suppose this depends on whether your R.V. has a convenient panel location for an outside tap. Keeping your keg cold and keeping it from over-foaming seem like the biggest challenges for a road-trip style kegerator. Really, I see no reason why building a kegerator out of your R.V. fridge would be much more difficult that building a non - R.V. kegerator. Most R.V. refrigeration units are not large enough to be well suited for making kegerators, due to their small size, but if your is big enough, the most important part of this operation would be locating the coolant lines in the refrigeration unit and also checking that power or gas lines are not in the way. A non-refrigerated draft system is be easier – it would require keeping your keg on ice, and probably insulated as well.

Brewers at the fledgling Carson & Hall (www.carsonandhall.com) have developed a novel way of lighting their custom kegerator – by using a unique LED tower which changes color as the beer flows through it. Designs like this are complicated and hard to pull off, showing a great amount of ingenuity and diligent work on their part. I highly recommend checking out their futuristic design.

Brewers are ingenious people, and with a passion for beer unmatched by other beverage fans. New innovations in custom kegerator design are always on the horizon. Keep your mind open and the new ideas flowing like the beer they represent – custom kegerator design is on the rise, and a growing market.

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It is hard to stomach, but let me be the first to say: Newcastle in a can is better. I have always disdained canned beers ever since I started home brewing. Glass preserves the flavor, I used to say. Well it turns out that the clear glass bottles that Newcastle comes in don’t preserve the flavor as much as the opaque aluminum can. This is entirely understandable: sunlight is well known as a degrader of hop character in beer. This is why most ales of Newcastle’s quality are served in brown bottles. When Newcastle is drunk form the can, however, I must say that the taste improves. I can sense the light hop character I never before had in the beer, and it just seems fresher. Well, at least now I know: it isn’t always the container, but more what they put in it!

Of Guinness, it is always heard: much better in Ireland. There are many potential reasons for this, and I do believe it to be true, but if you live in the states, what can you do? It makes sense that Guinness at the brewery is made the same, whether in Ireland or the United States. It is my belief that from every moment after the keg of Guinness leaves the brewery here in the states, or is hauled off of the boat, it is at risk. This is partly because the beer is extremely sensitive to temperature changes. If it is not kept cool throughout transportation, it will undergo changes. If the tap system at the bar has hoses that are the wrong length, the carbonation will change. And the most obvious difference is that seemingly 99% of barkeeps in this country do not know how to properly pour a pint of Guinness! All the rest might as well be left up to chance, but it is high time that uninformed barkeeps in this country learned how to do it right. For those of you who have not been to Ireland, this is how you do it: First, pour roughly 2/3 of the pint full, at a slight angle of the cup. You then let this settle. It usually takes about 45 seconds for the initial pour to settle. Then you top it off and hand it to the patron. If you want to get fancy, you can make a leaf or such design in the foam on top, like they do with lattes. This method of pouring is the proper way, and allows the perfect degree of carbonation and proper head. If you are hazy on any of this, you should plan on going to Ireland to see how it’s really done. I recommend flying into Cork.

From Scotland, we have a true treat: in the ancient tradition of Heather Ale, Fraoch! This is a hop-less, or Gruit-style ale that is a little expensive, but well worth it! This craft ale is made in Scotland by Williams Brewing Company, and represents an elusive tradition of brewing that goes back 2,000+ years. The beer itself is a malty and rich amber with unusual bouquet. The beer is infused with both Heather and Sweet Gale, and imparts a lively inebriation to the imbiber. If you are a beer fan, you must drink this ale before you die! If you are a home brewer, try making some just to keep a 2,000 year old brewing tradition alive. The Fraoch website has some great reading materials on the history of heather ale viewable at: http://www.fraoch.com/history.htm

As delightful as it has been, I must now be off to dream further dreams of ales imported from the land of Morpheus. Until next time, drink it in good health!

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Texas has a long history in beer – both drinking and brewing. In addition to the long-standing Spoetzl Brewery (the makers of Shiner beers), and the ubiquitous (if watered down) Lone Star, new micro-brews are taking the state by storm. With solid traditional and inventive ales, newcomers like Saint Arnold and Real Ale Brewing Company are challenging the old hands to do better than what they’ve done. This battle seems to be playing out to the benefit of Texas beer fans.

The great history of Texas beer starts with the building of the massive Lone Star Brewery in San Antonio in 1884. Adolphus Busch, of Anheuser-Busch, started the enterprise along with some local San Antoners and created the first large mechanized brewery in Texas. But Lone Star beer came much later (1940), and the brewery first pumped out bottles of Sabinas and Champions.

While San Antonio was busy brewing for the local populace, a group of brewers in Shiner, Texas had big plans. This group started one of the most enduring breweries in the nation, Spoetzl Brewery. The brewery first started operations in 1909, and changed hands in 1914 with the coming of immigrant Kosmos Spoetzl. Spoetzl had studied for three years the art of brewing in Bavaria, and served out his journeyman-ship in Cairo, Egypt, making beer for the Pyramid brewery there. Making his traditional family recipe, Spoetzl garnered a following, and then prohibition hit. The brewery somehow managed to survive by selling ice and “near beer”, and weathered the storm from 1919 until 1935. Although prohibition was hardly enforced in Texas during this time, due to fierce controversy, it affected large breweries greatly, and Spoetzl was able to avoid much trouble by dealing strictly with locals in a 70 mile radius and selling his near beer. The Shiner website points out that Spoetzl was very forgetful, though, and sometimes would forget to remove the alcohol from his beers. Tsk, tsk.

Starting in 1994, Houston’s Saint Arnold Brewery opened their doors, and is widely acknowledged as Texas’ oldest craft brewery. Named after the patron saint of brewing, St. Arnold is a brewery that has always had a mind towards the utmost quality. With a hard working staff of only seventeen people, St. Arnold still pumps out ten varieties of beer every year – five varieties continuously, and five seasonally. Even though they’ve been in business for over 13 years, St. Arnold’s maintains it’s dedication to serving their local beer drinking community.

Other micro-breweries started popping up throughout Texas around this time. As early as 1993 in Austin, Texas, the Waterloo Brewpub began selling it’s beers in half-gallon growlers, fighting against laws that inhibited microbrewery operations. Sadly, this brewpub is now closed due to rent increases, depriving Austin of it’s first micro-brew-pub.

In 1996, the Real Ale brewing company opened up in Blanco, Texas, not too far from Austin in the hill country. Although Real Ale is not, by international standards, “Real Ale”, by U.S. beer standards, who can hold it against them? According to the U.K.’s CAMpaign for Real Ale, Real Ale can only be used when describing beer that is "brewed from traditional ingredients, matured by secondary fermentation in the container from which it is dispensed, and served without the use of extraneous carbon dioxide". Although the Real Ale Brewing Company uses the finest ingredients, it certainly cannot be held to CAMRA’s standards.

Possibly as a response to these breweries and others, such as 512 Brewing, Live Oak, Independence, and Rahr & Sons, all micro or craft breweries, Shiner has recently produced a small batch craft brew to celebrate 96 years of brewing. A little known style of beer called Martzen, the Shiner 96 is much stronger than most offering from the company, weighing in at 5.8%.  Traditionally Martzen, which is German for March, is a beer brewed in march and enjoyed during the autumn months. According to the Shiner website, this ale was drunk at the royal Bavarian wedding ceremony that started the Oktoberfest celebrations.

It is good to see larger breweries getting back to their roots, and embracing the folk lore that is rightly their heritage. This seems to be a growing trend in brewing: brewers highlighting the social context and history of the beer they brew. Beers that get too big seem to lose their character – both taste-wise and lore-wise. Shiner is doing a good job of maintaining both. They just needed a little prodding from the (little guys) competition.

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