J.J. Ballard's Blog

Reno Ballroom
November 11, 2011 – November 12, 2011

3:00 PM – 3:00 PM

Reno, Nev. will once again turn into the center of the canned microbrew universe this November, as it puts on CANFEST – Reno International Canned Beer Festival, the world’s first canned beer festival, for a third straight year.

More than 30 breweries from around the world including, Oskar Blues, Maui Brewing, Big Sky Brewing and Bohemian Brewing, along with a collection of small craft can breweries and international brews in cans, will take part in the biggest celebration of the canned beer revolutionat the Reno Ballroom, November 12, offering up their canned creations to beer enthusiasts from around the region.  Winners of a judged canned beer competition will be announced the night before the event at an awards dinner at the Silver Legacy. The dinner will feature past award winners and various brewery participants.

CANFEST is the first event of its kind and serves as both a recognition of the fast-growing popularity of canned craft beer and a celebration of the benefits of the aluminum cylinder. Long regarded as a symbol of inferior beer, the can has come into its own in recent years as beer drinkers realize that cans offer superior protection from sunlight and oxygen infiltration, and the containers are much more portable and environmentally friendly than their glass counterpart. CANFEST also strives to be an event that brings quality canned beer to an area of the world it would otherwise never reach. Many breweries that attend CANFEST don’t have distribution outside of their regions.

The notion that world-class beer can be delivered in a can has caught on, and now the number of microbrews offering canned beer is growing at an astonishing rate. In 2002 the first microbrewery began canning craft beer; today more than 130 microbreweries can at least one of their beers, according to the CraftCans.com database. .

If your kitchen has a garbage disposal, you know how easy it makes mealtime clean up. But what you may not realize is that your disposal comes with some pretty important rules. Here are some of the most vital:

Do:
• Insert food slowly. Stuffing it all into your disposal at once can cause clogs and shorten the life of your system.
• Grind hard materials. Many people think food like chicken bones or small fruit pits are a no-no, but they can actually help clean the walls of the disposal.
• Use cold water for at least 20 seconds. This will solidify grease so that it can be ground up. Also, make sure that all food particles are washed completely down the drain.
• Keep it clean. One good way to eliminate drain smells is by grinding citrus fruit peels. You can also add a few drops of dish soap and let the disposal run for a few minutes.

Don’t:
• Use hot water. This will make grease liquefy and build up, which can clog the drain.
• Grind fibrous or expandable foods. The former, like celery stalks and onionskins, can tangle up the disposal. The latter, like pasta and rice, can clog it.
• Turn off the motor too quickly. You’ll want to make sure all food particles are completely ground. Once done, continue to run the water for at least 15 seconds to flush out particles.
• Wash coffee grounds down the drain. While they won’t harm the disposal itself, they can clog pipes and drains.
• Forget to use it. Lack of use can cause rusting and corrosion, which can lead to premature system replacement.

From American Home Shield “Inside & Out” September 2010