What's in your future at Starbucks? Coffee? Wine?

Coming soon to a Starbucks near you, Beer and your favorite Wine!! A very different kind of Starbucks is on tap. It will serve regional wine and beer. It offers an expansive plate of locally made cheeses — served on china. The barista bar is rebuilt to seat customers up close to the coffee.

Some new ideas for cooking with Beer!!

he Future of American Food: Deep-Fried Beer

Max Read — The Future of American Food: Deep-Fried BeerThe Future of American Food: Deep-Fried BeerAn inventor has come up with a method for deep-frying beer for a competition at—what else?—the Texas state fair. Three cheers for America! So how do you deep-fry beer? Here's the quick-and-dirty recipe:

* 1. Make little ravioli pockets of a "pretzel-like" dough.
* 2. Fill with beer.
* 3. Deep fry for around 20 seconds.
* 4. Marvel at the world, that such a thing as deep-fried beer exists.

I know what you're thinking: Will my hunk of oil-covered starch still get me wasted? Ha—are you kidding?! The 20-second cooking time is "short enough... for the confection to remain alcoholic." Sign me up for 20! No, 100!

Who says Beer isn't good for the economy of Texas?

In these difficult economic times, Texas needs every portion of the economy growing as quickly as possible. The Texas Craft Brewers Guild has just completed an economic study that shows how craft beer benefits the state economy at large, and how H.B. 660 would contribute to economic growth.

The future of Beer

By "Cask" We Mean "Cans"

You can thank one company for making craft beer in a can a reality: Cask Brewing Systems, a small Canadian firm that made their first canning system in response to the then-flagging "brew on site" phenomenon. Amateur brewers were finding their beers were going off too quickly, often because of less-than-optimally cleaned glassware.

Cask created a manual canning system and sold dozens to brew-on-site facilities. In 2002, Colorado brewery Oskar Blues bought a Cask canning system. Now nearly ten years and a handful of fully automated systems later, Cask can't make enough canning systems to keep up with demand. Cask told me the company is backordered until December. "We can't make them fast enough."

What that means for the craft beer drinker is even more canned beers coming online from your favorite breweries over the next year. It wouldn't surprise me if every mid-sized craft brewer has a canned option in the next couple of years. That's excellent news for beer drinkers and can collectors alike.

Will Your Beer Be Here in 20 Years?

Ever think that the future of beer drinking could be affected by the global water crisis? The food and beverage industry is especially at risk as issues of global water scarcity are increasingly more pervasive.

Water conservation efforts are vital to protecting the market for AB InBev products and ensuring that consumers can enjoy Anheuser-Busch products responsibly well into the future.

Brewing a beerable future is contingent upon the use of best practices in water conservation, cooperation with other leading industry experts in reduction goals, and implementing a comprehensive sustainable business plan.

For beer drinkers, news of successful water conservation efforts by AB InBev is a piece of good news indeed. In order for consumers to enjoy AB InBev products responsibly, it needs to be brewed sustainably.

The cycle of sustainability requires that buyers, sellers, and manufacturers commit to natural resource management. Without water, there can be no beer. Without beer, America would be a very different place.

The Future of Caffeinated Alcohol Drinks

FDA had issued the Warning Letters because the Agency’s position is that the products named in the Warning Letters are being marketed in violation of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (the FFDCA).
FDA is issuing Warning Letters to four manufacturers of caffeinated alcoholic beverages.  All of these products are alcoholic malt beverages to which caffeine has been directly added as an ingredient. The manufacturers and their products are:

• Charge Beverages Corporation, which makes “Core High Gravity HG Green,”  “Core High Gravity HG Orange,” and “Lemon Lime Core Spiked;”
• New Century Brewing Company, LLC, which makes “Moonshot;”
• Phusion Projects, LLC (doing business as Drink Four Brewing Company), which makes “Four Loko;” and
• United Brands, which makes “Joose” and “Max.”

The agency has not approved the use of caffeine in alcoholic beverages at any level, and based on the information FDA has reviewed, the agency does not consider the use of caffeine in the beverages listed above to be generally recognized as safe (GRAS).  The Warning Letters should not be interpreted to mean that FDA considers other alcoholic beverages to which caffeine has been directly added to be in compliance with the law.

Cinco De Mayo

Cinco de Mayo - May fifth - is the annual celebration of Mexico's unlikely defeat of the French army and Mexican traitors. Napolean III and his French army won

every war for fifty years. This winning army was combined with the most modern
of war technologies and lots of financial backing. The Mexican army was led by
General Laragosa. The calvary was under Colonel Porfirio Diaz. On May 5, 1862,
Mexico's four thousand army defeated France's eight thousand. Cinco de Mayo
is celebrated in the Puebla state of Mexico and in the United States, as a day of
Mexican pride and heritage. General Laragosa, after all, was a Texas born man.

To celebrate Cinco de Mayo, cheers with Mexican beer, Corona. These cervasas

are best enjoyed with a slice of lime. Margaritas are also a delicious beverage option! Following is easy step-by-step directions so that anyone can make a delicious margarita!

Margarita Recipe

Ingredients:

1 1/2 ounce 1800 Tequila
1/2 ounce Cointreau
1 ounce lime juice
salt

Directions:

First, dip the glass in tequila.
Second, rim the glass by dipping it in a plate of salt.
Third, combine the liquids.
Fourth, shake in a shaker or by placing one cup on top of the other.
Fifth, strain by using a strainer or two cups.
Lastly, pour into a margarita glass.


Enjoy your Cinco de Mayo!!

"Cinco History". 22 March 2006. web. 10 March 2011

"Cinco de Mayo" Encyclopedia Brittanica
"Margarita Cocktail Recipe" 2010 web 10 March 2011