The Pick Six – June 15, 2016 – Sodastream Does Beer, Ohio lifts the ABV cap and Virginia Tech’s Fusion Lab Gives Rise to History-Based Video Game

Brews: 

Sweet Tang Lager With Grapefruit – Hamburg Brewing Company, 5.0% ABV – This lager has heavy grapefruit flavors. It lacks bitterness and is heavy on the citrus. It’s very crisp, very tasty, and very welcome on a hot summer day. And, at only 5.0% ABV, very drinkable.

 

All about the Hefe lifting – Widmer Brothers from Portland, OR is releasing its Hefe Shandy again this Summer. The seasonal beer features Hefe’s signature hazy appearance with the addition of lemon drop drops and natural lemonade flavor. It’s the perfect beverage to enjoy on your back porch with fireflies all around and a breeze through your hair. The beer only has 4.2% ABV, so it’s great for keeping you cool when things heat up. You should be able to get your hands on this beverage at a local brew stop near you.

 

 

Games: 

Our Pandemic: 1918 – Virginia Tech (Jackie’s alma mater) has created the Fusion Studio which allows participants across multiple disciplines to collaborate. In this case, a historian, a video game developer, an expert on pandemics and an artist joined forces to create a point and click game that explores the 1918 influenza outbreak. Also worth mentioning that Virginia Tech now has a microbrewery on campus and students can learn about brewing beer and whatnot. I’m glad to see my tuition dollars are being well spent long after I can no longer benefit from them (but I guess there’s always grad school?). The game isn’t out yet but I suspect it’ll be an interesting use of the medium.

 

Oxygen Not Included Announced at E3 – One of our favorite Indie Game studios, Klei Entertainment has announced their newest project, a space colony simulation called Oxygen Not Included. While no firm release date has been released, there is a Steam Page and speculation it will hit later this year or early in 2017. How will we fare as leaders in space colonization? Probably not well but we’ll have a lot of fun failing.

 

 

News: 

Beer on demand going too far? – Sodastream has begun selling their “Beer Bar” product, which allows you to, allegedly, brew a craft beverage at will using their system. They swear you can’t taste the difference but I suspect it’s going to take a lot more than a Sodastream and some flavored concentrate to dupe an actual beer. While I’m curious to know what it’s like, I’m going to sit this one out. I mean, I still have difficulty accepting that gas stations can fill growlers…

 

Ohio Lifts ABV Ban – Previously, if you were an Ohio resident and wanted any beer above 12%, you were out of luck. The state has voted to allow the beers to be sold in the state, but must be labeled “High Alcohol Beer.” Sounds like a reasonable compromise to me.

 

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