Craft beer takes over Brooklyn, New York

by Jessica Festa on

The Village Voice’s Brooklyn Pour Craft Beer Festival will be held on Saturday, October 15, 2011, from 3PM to 6PM at the Skylight One Hanson in Brooklyn, New York. The event will feature over 100 craft beers from local, national, and international breweries. Attendees can expect complimentary beer tastings (especially of seasonal brews), a souvenir glass, and entertainment. Some of the breweries in attendance include Brooklyn Brewery, Bluepoint Brewing Company, Weihenstephan, San Francisco Speakeasy Ales and Lagers, and many more.

General admission for the event is $40 (the VIP tickets have already sold out).

Not looking to make it an early night? The local biergarden Der Schwarze Kolner will host an after-party for the event. Ticket holders will receive free admission and discounted drinks all night.

Skylight One Hanson is located at One Hanson Place, Fort Greene, Brooklyn. Der Schwarze Kolner is located at 710 Fulton St., right off of Greene Ave. in Fort Greene, Brooklyn.

Dopppio Travel Mug — and more — from Innate Gear

by Pam Mandel on
When you’re a coffee fueled somewhat manic depressive north-westerner, you become obsessed with not just where you get your coffee, but how you transport it from point A to point B. And maybe you’ve got some bleeding heart lefty in there too, so you want something reusable.

Furthermore, you already know you’re drinking too much damn coffee, so maybe you could not fill that insulated mug you’ve been hauling around with you all the way? Yeah, that’s going to happen.

Innate knows you have a caffeine problem. And they’ll enable you with a standard line of insulated travel mugs, but they’ve also got a more modest sized container that you can fill with your four shots of espresso, because whoa, now wait a minute, aren’t you trying to cut down?

Okay, we might be talking about me.

Still, that modest sized little charger fits a couple of shots and a splash of milk; that’s how someone who might be trying to cut down would use it. (Or, you know, you could go to decaf.) It makes me a little crazy that there’s almost no such thing as a small anymore in coffee; why can I not get 4 ounces when I order a small? The Innate Doppio mug holds 6.5 ounces, so that’s a start. Let’s imagine, for a minute, how our barristas will respond to, “Size matters, could I have it smaller, please?” A-hem. Not well. Ask me about the time I asked for a small and the barrista said “I have a medium or a medium” while holding up two different sized cups. There’s not enough coffee in the world to make that okay.

I picked up my pocket tumbler from Innate at the Outdoor Retailer show (here’s fellow Gadling gear head Kraig Becker’s write up of the event), you can get yours from REI. They come in silver in black and a burgundy wine color, but there are also a few cute jelly bean type colors — mine is a springy green. No, it doesn’t have an open/close valve on the lid like Innate’s Americano mug, so you might want to think twice about putting it in the water bottle cage on your bike, but it’s great for filling up at home, then walking to the bus stop, then filling up again once you’ve got downtown and are stopping into your favorite espresso joint, and then, filling up in the office while complaining about how the coffee at work is so much worse than the coffee at the espresso joint and how you really, really, really ought to cut down.

Oh, we’re talking about me again. Where was I? Innate Doppio travel mugs. Cute. Inexpensive. Might help you with that coffee addiction. Or not. That’s what I was saying.

Galley Gossip: Is it okay for passengers to dump their drinks on the floor during turbulence?

by Heather Poole on

Dear Heather, Today I heard an announcement in-flight I’d never heard before and was wondering if you make it often, or ever. After serving drinks, it got a little turbulent and the flight attendants had to sit down. A few minutes later the purser came on and said, “if you’re having trouble controlling your drinks, please just dump them on the floor.” WHAT? And waste all this good wine, I thought. I just chugged mine and it was not an issue, but wondered if anyone poured theirs on the floor. What do you think of this? – Frequent Flying Ron

I’ve been a flight attendant for sixteen years and while I have yet to make a PA like the one you heard, I have suggested doing the same thing to passengers sitting near my jump seat after they rang the call light and then held up their drinks in the air during a rough patch of air. This right after the Captain made the announcement, “Flight attendants take your jump seats now!” When you hear those words, you know it’s going to be bad.

There are four types of turbulence: light, moderate, severe, and extreme.Light turbulence causes a slight, rapid and somewhat rhythmic bumpiness without appreciable changes in altitude or attitude. Sometimes pilots refer to it as light chop. It’s the kind that rocks babies, and even a few overly worked flight attendants, to sleep. The seat belt sign may be on, but flight attendants are still able to conduct the food service with little to no difficulty.

Moderate turbulence is a little more intense. It causes rapid bumps or jolts without changes in aircraft altitude. Passengers will feel the strain of their seat belts. Unsecured objects in the galley may dislodge. Conducting a food service or checking for seat belt compliance is difficult.

Severe turbulence causes large or abrupt changes in altitude. The aircraft may be momentarily out of control. Passengers are forced violently against their seats. Walking is impossible. If flight attendants haven’t strapped into their jump seats already, we may not be able to do so and we’ll have to grab the nearest available passenger seat. If there’s not one open, we’ll sit on a passenger – any one will do. Make sure to hold on to us tightly.

Extreme turbulence rarely happens, but when it does it will violently toss an aircraft about, making it practically impossible to control. Structural damage is possible.


According to the FAA’s website, over a million people travel by air every day. From 1980 through 2008 there were 238 accidents involving turbulence, resulting in 298 serious injuries and three fatalities. Of the three fatalities, two passengers were not wearing their safety belt while the seat belt sign was on. Of the 298 seriously injured, 184 involved were flight attendants. So if you see flight attendants sitting in the jump seats when it starts to get bumpy, it’s safe to assume we’re just trying to make sure we don’t end up in a hospital far away from home or be forced into early retirement!

So is it okay to dump your drink on the floor during turbulence? I’m not going to say it’s okay. But I’m also not going to say it’s not okay. What I will say is we’d rather you do what Ron did and drink faster! Or wait for us to whisk it away when it’s safe to be up in the cabin.

Photo courtesy of MikeCogh

SkyMall Monday: Remote Control Beverage Cooler

by Mike Barish on

Summer’s here and it’s time to kick back by the pool with some ice cold drinks. The problem with spending time outside, however, is that you end up far away from your refrigerator. How is one supposed to keep himself refreshed when all of the Zima is chilling in the kitchen (assuming, of course, that said kitchen is in Japan, where Zima is still produced)? You can’t be expected to get up from your chaise lounge, walk several feet, endure the arctic blast of air conditioning once you enter your home and then retrieve a beverage that is held captive behind some heavy refrigerator door. It’s 2011, after all. Here at SkyMall Monday headquarters, our dog butlers deliver all of our drinks to us, but we understand that such service is not an option for everyone. Thankfully, SkyMall has just what you need if your domesticated animals have yet to learn how to deliver cold liquid refreshment to you. Put your feet up, stay out of the kitchen and quench any thirst with the Remote Control Beverage Cooler.For decades, we’ve been told that robots would make our lives easier in the future. Well, the future is now. From Rosie in The Jetsons to the robot in Rocky IV to Vicki on Small Wonder, robots have promised us easier and more fulfilling lives. Now, the time has come for the rise of the machines. What’s the worst that could happen?

Think that getting up to grab a beer isn’t hard work? Believe that modern conveniences are making us lazy? Well, while you try to open a bottle with your teeth, we’ll be reading the product description:

Get up and walk all the way over to the cooler for a cold one? Not necessary. Just point your remote, and get your drink delivered, no cabana boy required. This fun remote-control cooler holds up to a dozen bottles or cans plus ice, plus collapses for easy storage; make it go forward, back, turn or spin just by adding batteries.

It’s perfect for when your cabana boy is on strike (stop asking for dental insurance, Raúl!) or for when you want to spin your beer in circles to make it explode upon opening.

Of course, the best reason to purchase the Remote Control Beverage Cooler is because you’re a raging misogynist.

Check out all of the previous SkyMall Monday posts HERE.

Yuengling will make its way into Ohio bars

by Libby Zay on

Here is some good news for Ohioans and visitors to the Buckeye State: Yuengling beer will make its way into bars throughout Ohio by the end of the year. Already served in thirteen states up and down the Eastern seaboard, the beer has so far not made its way inland – even though it is brewed right next door in Pennsylvania.

What took Yuengling, a company whose claim to fame is the oldest brewery in the country (as well as awesome and affordable beer), so long to move west? Pat Noone, the brewery’s business development manager, says the company will need to expand its brewery in order to handle the move into Ohio. He also says the company is shooting for an October launch and that the level of excitement in Ohio is “high, very high.” Yuengling must have been listening to Ohioans demands: the state wants the beer so bad there is even a “Bring Yuengling to Ohio” petition circulating around the Internet.

If all goes well in Ohio, perhaps more westward expansion is on the way for Yuengling!

[Photo by muohace_dc, flickr]