CHICAGO—Brewing giant MillerCoors LLC plans to test-market a new beer called Batch 19, which is based on a pre-Prohibition recipe, as part of several initiatives aimed at rejuvenating sales in the sluggish U.S. market.

MillerCoors will start selling the new brew next month in draft in bars and restaurants in Chicago, Milwaukee, San Francisco and Washington, said Peter Swinburn, chief executive of Molson Coors Brewing Co., which co-owns MillerCoors.

Mr. Swinburn said in an interview that Batch 19—named for the year, 1919, before Prohibition began—is designed to attract consumers looking for "a true, authentic, original beer." He said Keith Villa, master brewer at MillerCoors, found a recipe in the archives of Coors Brewing Co. Read more...

Adam Leemon - Adam the Wine Guy Twitter Facebook http://www.adamthewineguy.com/

Michael Riboli - San Antonio Winery, Los Angeles, CA Twitter http://www.sanantoniowinery.com/
(tasted: Maddalena Pinot Grigio $9, 2007 Windstream Chardonay $25, 2008 San Simeon Pinot Noir $18, San Antonio Cask 520 Bourdeaux Blend $28, 2007 Riboli Family Vineyard Cabernet $50, 2008 Maddalena Riesling Montery $11, Bodega De San Antonio White Sangria $6)

Jonathan Mitchell - The Palm Restaurant, West Hollywood, CA Twitter Facebook http://www.thepalm.com/
(tasted: 2007 Grgich Hills Chardonnay Napa Valley $42.00, 2005 Grgich Hills Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley $60.00 http://www.grgich.com/

David Breitstein - The Duke of Bourbon, Canoga Park, CA http://dukeofbourbon.com/
(tasted: 1989 Louis M. Martini Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve, Duke's 25th Anniversary
Cuvee, 1994 Louis M. Martini Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve, Duke's 30th Anniversary Cuvee http://www.louismartini.com/

David Breitstein - The Duke of Bourbon, Canoga Park, CA http://dukeofbourbon.com/

(tasted:Villa Sandi Prosecco http://www.villasandi.com/, Villa Jolanda Moscato http://www.sanantoniowinery.com/,   Marotti Campi  Xyris 2007 Sparkling Lacrima)

Natalie Bovis-Nelsen - The Liquid Muse http://www.theliquidmuse.com/ 

(tasted: The Last Word - gin, lime juice, maraschino liqueur, green chartreuse)

Adam Leemon - Adam the Wine Guy http://www.adamthewineguy.com/

(tasted: 2006 French Camp Vineyards Zinfandel Barell sample http://www.frenchcampvineyards.com/, 2007 Maddalena Vineyards Paso Robles Zinfandel http://www.sanantoniowinery.com/, 2007 Blackstone Zinfandel http://www.blackstonewinery.com/, Infinity White Blend Infinity White Blend — 60% Grenache Blanc 40% Viognier — Central Coast 2008, Infinity Red Blend — 50% Syrah 50% Grenache — Central Coast 2008 http://www.drinkinfinity.com/)

Derek Buono - Beer Magazine http://www.thebeermag.com/ & Brian Lenzo - The Blue Palms Brew House, Los Angeles, CA http://www.bluepalmsbrewhouse.com/

(tasted: Spring Seasonal Fling Pale Ale http://www.pyramidbrew.com/, Port Brewing Shark Attack West Coast Double Red Ale http://www.portbrewing.com/, Hopsecutioner IPA http://www.terrapinbeer.com/, Once-A-Decade Ale http://www.deschutesbrewery.com/)

Boulder, CO (March 8, 2010) - The Brewers Association, the trade association that tabulates production statistics for US breweries, today released 2009 data on the U.S. craft brewing industry. In a year when other brewers saw a slowdown in sales, small and independent craft brewers saw sales dollars increase 10.3 percent and volume increase 7.2 percent over 2008, representing a growth of 613,992 barrels equal to roughly 8.5 million cases.

Overall, U.S. beer sales were down approximately 5 million barrels (31 gallons per U.S. barrel) in 2009.

"Beer lovers continue to find great value and enjoyment in fuller flavored craft beers," said Paul Gatza, director of the Brewers Association. "Americans have an increasing appreciation of craft beers  Read more...

(CBS) New research suggests women who drink a moderate amount of alcohol on a regular basis, particularly when red wine is the drink of choice, are less likely to experience long-term weight gain than non-drinkers. 

The study, conducted by researchers at Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital, surveyed almost 20,000 women and asked them about their drinking habits over the course of 13 years. The alcohol-free women gained the most weight.

The research, published Monday in the American Medical Association's Archives of Internal Medicine, says there's no clear link between alcohol consumption and weight gain -- a claim that flies in the face of long-held medical thinking. 

Experts, however, are quick to remind women  Read more...

Reporting from New York - Quick, which of the following is not allowed in New York: riding the subway without pants, performing a play in public while naked, or buying wine at the grocery store?

If you chose the last option, perhaps you've been following one of the liveliest debates to emerge from otherwise dry budget talks in the state capital, Albany, where politicians struggling with a dire fiscal crisis see wine as an antidote.

New York remains one of 15 states that limit wine sales to liquor stores. But the proposed 2010-11 budget would open sales to grocery stores to generate an estimated $250 million in revenue from new liquor licenses.

In this bastion of liberalism -- home to the city that never sleeps, a burgeoning local wine industry, and a mainly urban populace  Read more...

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Maynard James Keenan, one of rock's most enigmatic personalities, is having the time of his life these days not only as leader of the hydra-headed project Puscifer but also as a winemaker. Gone, at least in public, is the angst-ridden man we saw fronting the megasuccessful Tool and A Perfect Circle, bands that redefined heavy alternative rock.

A bawdy group with a rotating cast, the musical part of Puscifer resumed its multimedia U.S. tour in Atlanta on Tuesday. The winemaking Mr. Keenan appears in "Blood into Wine," a documentary that had its Feb. 19 premiere in Scottsdale, Ariz., about two hours south of this former mining center and ghost town that's home to his Caduceus Cellars and Merkin vineyards as well as his handsome wine-tasting room and his Puscifer store, which sells distinctive clothing and other branded materials.  Read more...

Casidy Ward & Timothy Milos - Hidden Ridge Vineyard, Napa, CA http://www.hiddenridgevineyard.com/
(tasted: 2004 Hidden Ridge Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon, 2005 Hidden Ridge Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon, 2006 Hidden Ridge Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon)

Eric Greenspan - The Foundry on Melrose, Los Angeles, CA http://www.thefoundryonmelrose.com/
(tasted: Wines of The Accidental Wine Company http://accidentalwine.com/: 2008 Domaine du Tariquet Ugni White Colombard http://www.tariquet.com, 2007 Montebuena Rioja)

Dan Dunn - The Imbiber (Author: Nobody Likes a Quitter and other reasons to avoid rehab: The Loaded Life of an Outlaw Booze Writer) http://www.theimbiber.net/, http://www.playboy.com/imbiber

Steve Livigni - La Descarga, Hollywood, CA http://www.ladescargala.com/
(tasted: Rhum J.M Agricole, Martinique; Ron Diplomatico Anejo, Venezuela http://www.rondiplomatico.com/; Zaya Gran Reserva 12 Year Old Estate Rum, Trinadad)

Adam Leemon - Adam the Wine Guy http://www.adamthewineguy.com/
(tasted: 2006 Slipstream Fastback Shiraz, 2006 Heartland Director's Cut Shiraz http://www.heartlandwines.com.au/, 2006 Massena "11th Hour" Shiraz Barossa Valley South Australia http://www.massena.com.au/)

To grab a beer, Israel Arrieta doesn't just stroll to the fridge; he has to walk out his back door to the side of the house, where he pries a chicken-wire screen off a basement window and scrambles, crab position, down a wooden ladder.

Several minutes later, he emerges cradling half a dozen cool, dusty bottles of beer.

Arrieta, 27, keeps his beer in the closest thing to a cave: the crawl space under his parents' North Pasadena house. To test it out years ago, he crawled down on a 100-degree afternoon holding a thermometer. It read 60 degrees.

"Light and temperature are going to be your enemies," Read more...