As craft brewers dabble with stronger recipes craft beer lovers often find themselves using the alcohol content of a beer as an indication of its quality and if we’re being honest it’s not without merit. Utah is a state that imposes unusually arbitrary liquor laws that go to great lengths to weaken the strength of alcoholic beverages. These laws affect the drinks you order in a bar as well as the beverages you can buy from a store. Sadly, these laws affect craft brewers as well which is unfortunate because Utah is a rugged state that attracts adventurous people…a perfect environment for brewers to dabble in exciting recipes.
I picked up a couple of six packs on a recent visit to Utah and found myself very unhappy with both a wheat beer and a pale ale offering. There was no body and the hop flavor was flat. I started reading the label and found that both beers came in at just 4% ABV. A high alcohol content doesn’t always mean a beer is better but a lower ABV will affect how much and what kind of malts make their way into the recipe. If a beer doesn’t pack enough malt then the brewer has to back off on the hops lest the beer become too acidic. I won't name these companies because I fear that the reason their beer falls short of my standards is because Utah is run by religiots who don't know when to tend to the plank in their own eyes.
Brewing is pretty complicated. A beer can be very heavy and still be low in alcohol but it’s going to be on the sweet side. Beer is made from grain and grain is composed of carbohydrates which are just complex sugars. In the fermentation process a special bacteria consumes the sugars and produces alcohol. That takes some of the sweetness out of the beer and the alcohol leaves behind a bit of a bite. It’s not really a flavor so much as it is a sensation of warmth, however the manner in which alcohol reacts with your senses as well as the remaining compounds in beer is a major factor in the beer drinking experience. Too much alcohol, however, can overwhelm the subtle flavors of beer making it more astringent.
The better pale ales tend to clock in at 6% ABV with IPAs cresting 7%. This isn’t necessarily a hard and fast rule as exceptions always abound but if you see an IPA with an ABV below 6% you’re probably going to be disappointed and if you encounter a beer with a double digit ABV it's probably going to seem more like a barley wine regardless of what the brewer calls it. Rogue's Imperial Pilsner is a great beer but it's a cruel joke to play on somebody who is still impressed with Urquell.
This is why “lite” beers have such little flavor and some of them actually have a metallic aftertaste. That’s not the can, my man, that’s what happens when hops don’t have enough malt to play with. The hops and the alcohol combine to form flavors reminiscent of iron, copper or, in some rare cases, blood. That’s why “lite” beers are always served so cold while the craft brewers beg you to enjoy your beer at a more flavor friendly temperature.
But that doesn’t mean that there isn’t a place for beers that have a lower ABV. The British were particularly fond of “session” beers which were brewed to be consumed in larger quantities. Because of suspect water quality, Europeans were forced to use alcoholic beverages as a means to quench thirst. Wine drinkers are familiar with the notion of “patio” wines. These are lighter, fruitier wines served cold on hot days. They aren’t intended to be served with dinner or as an aperitif but rather as a thirst quencher.
The same is true of beers. The very first Pilsner was created as an alternative to water just as session beers, such as Extra Special Bitters were just an ale answer to the thirst problem.
And before we get too nostalgic let’s be honest: early beers weren’t very good. Aside from a handful of monks in Belgium aspiring to make champagne from grain, most beers were strictly functional. They were either designed to get you drunk or quench your thirst without the inconvenience of dysentery. Taste was of little concern.
Session beers were popular because they were a healthier alternative to well water. As water treatment plants made water safe to drink brewers had to improve the flavor and quality of those session beers to maintain a market for them. That’s really where Extra Special Bitters (ESBs) came about. These are lighter ales that have enough bitterness to impart a dry finish.
Now it’s important to note that while Britain was cranking out barrel after barrel of these so-called ESBs, Germans, Czechs and Slavs were brewing filtered lagers like the ubiquitous Pilsner and the similar Dortmunder. The dry bitterness of the hops cleansed the palette and had a refreshing quality. Today these beers are enjoyed for that crispness but originally they were very basic beers with utilitarian aspirations.
Because lager yeast is bottom fermenting and does its job in cooler temperatures it can produce a lighter beer with more clarity. That’s why Pilsner-inspired lagers became so popular in the US after larger concentrations of German immigrants began to populate the Midwest. With access to plenty of grain and fresh water, German brewers were able to introduce a whiskey-drinking country to beer. Prior to the German invasion people were subjected to rudimentary brews like steam beer. Ales were produced in limited quantities but major brewing operations weren’t undertaken until Germans brought their lagering techniques in from afar.
Craft brewers tend to specialize in ales. The reason is because ale yeast is can tolerate warmer temperatures and ale yeast is a little more forgiving when it comes to fermenting more aggressive recipes. Craft brewers love to delve into the history of beer and seek out old recipes that were forgotten once the world began its infatuation with the year-long consumption of the bastardized Pilsners relentlessly brewed by the major brewing companies.
Craft Brewers embrace the old concept of seasonal brewing. Winter is the time for big barley wines and winter warmers served at cellar temperatures. Imperial stouts and robust porters can be enjoyed from early fall to early spring and you can’t go wrong with a hoppy pale ale but when it’s really hot and you aren’t ready to call it a day it’s hard to beat a cold Pilsner. Or a session bitter. Rather than surrender the summer to light lagers, craft brewers have revised some of the old ESB recipes and now offer a traditional session beer as a counterpart to the ever popular golden lager.
What’s important to remember with ESBs is that, like Pilsners, they aren’t designed to be exceptionally bitter but rather just clean enough to have a dry, thirst-quenching finish. They aren’t supposed to be aggressive or filling. Often, when beer drinkers sample an ESB they expect to be hit with a burlap sack full of hops. That’s a mistake. This beer isn’t heavy enough to handle the acidity of an abundance of hops.
Great Lakes Brewing Company does a fantastic job answering the call with its Moondog ESB. This is a traditional light ale with British sensibilities that takes its name from Alan Freed who coined the term Rock and Roll and organized the first Rock concert, the Moondog Coronation Ball in 1952. Moon Dog ESB is a 5% ABV beer with a light rusty golden color and a crisp hoppy flavor. It might be a little darker than your traditional British bitter but that color doesn’t come at the expense of imparting too much sweetness or an unbalanced nuttiness you’d expect from toasted barley malt.
You can’t compare this to an IPA which is what a lot of reviewers do. ESBs aren’t brewed to go toe to toe with big ales so hopheads are going to find this beer a little on the wimpy side. However, when compared to a Pilsner or any of the mega-brewed American lagers being peddled in the latest add campaigns Moondog reigns supreme. It brings a little ale nuance to a segment of the market previously dominated by sterile lagers.
Sadly, most people can’t get past the name ESB. Great Lakes tries to educate the consumer with a description on the packaging but the average beer drinker who would find this beer very appealing won’t dare to try it. They’ll stick with the mass-marketed swill. Even if they’re convinced to sample Moondog by a hophead friend they’ll still allow perception to get in the way of enjoying a true-to-form session beer.
Moondog ESB is proof that you can tone down the ABV and still have a great beer. It’s the kind of beer you want to drink while you play softball or horseshoes this summer. You don’t sacrifice flavor and you can still plow through the better part of a twelve pack (over the course of a day, I hope) without the pounding head and lost chunks of time.
I’d like to mention two things in closing. First, there could be some different points of view on the history of beer. I’m not a historian and can only convey facts as they have been presented to me over time. So feel free to offer some thoughts but remember: you’re not my professor and this wasn’t a thesis. Second, I don’t have a problem with lagers per se, it’s just that most lagers tend to be exceptionally clean. For some people that’s a good thing. Beer God, Michael Jackson once opined that lagers are like white wines while ales are like reds. I don’t know how accurate that is because I’ve had both white wines and lagers that have a lot of character but it’s probably the best way to quantify the difference to a newbie.
There are lagers I like and I’ve had some really tasty Pilsners. Some of the craft brewers are really starting to push the envelope with lagers and the conventions that compelled Michael Jackson to compare lagers to white wines are starting to fade. Still, like Mike, I skew toward the ales. I like my bread crusty, my cheese smelly and my mustard spicy so it stands to reason that I like my beer with some hair on it. It’s just an opinion, take it for what it’s worth.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Friday, May 23, 2008
The Blend Trend
I don’t like to say negative things about beer. I know I’ve already taken more than my fair share of shots at the bigger corporate breweries but I really do try to focus on the positive aspects of beer. There are too many great beers out there to waste time lamenting the travesties of Chelada style beers or Leinenkugel’s Summer Shandy.
But it must be done. Leinenkugel’s makes some really good beer, not necessarily great but definitely better than average. There are exceptions that you might want to avoid. Leinie’s Berry Weiss and Honey Weiss beers are just a bit too sweet for my taste. I’m not opposed to fruit being mixed in the brewing process but when flavors are added after the fact it gets risky. The problem with these two beers is the fact that they aren’t bitter enough from the start to offset the sweetness. Columbus Brewing Company offers an Ohio Honey Wheat that pulls it off but that’s the exception rather than the rule. Wheat beers generally get so much sweetness from the malt that adding a sugar after the fact can push them over the edge. At least for me.
The thing is, even though I’m not crazy about the sweet wheats, I can drink them and once I convince myself that I’m not drinking beer I can enjoy them in the same manner a person enjoys White Castles. You’ll never confuse a slider with haute cuisine but that doesn’t mean you can’t gulp down a sack of ten from time to time. Berry Weis is like that.
The major offense in the Leinie family is Summer Shandy. This is a blend of lemonade and beer. Apparently this is popular in Europe but then again so is Coldplay. ZING. This beverage starts of with a whole lot of lemon, develops on odd beer-like flavor in the middle and finishes with the strange flavor of meat. That’s right, I said meat. Every time I’ve tried this shandy I swear I ended up with a taste in my mouth very similar to the taste I get after eating a sausage. This is not a good thing when you’re drinking beer.
I don’t think you’ll get the same sensation. I’m pretty sure I just lack the frame of reference to classify the aftertaste but whatever I’m left with is unpleasant. I don’t really care for the mingling of lemonade and beer in the first place but when I’m squinting into the bottle wondering if there is a half-chewed hunk of kielbasa floating around in there it’s just awful. Awful. And I feel comfortable saying so because the minute you pour lemonade into beer you no longer have either.
Cheladas are Mexican-inspired beverages that blend tomato juice and beer. What you have to understand about these drinks is that Mexico is home to a lot of really crappy beer. Corona is popular in the US but only because that beer is marketed so aggressively. In reality it’s not a whole lot better than Budweiser. If you have a lime shoved in your bottle that lime goes a long way to mask how uninspired Corona really is. There are a few good Mexican Beers, such as Negra Modelo and Dos Equis but the majority of Mexican beer is pretty lousy.
So Mexicans play with their lousy beer by mixing things into it. One of those concoctions is Chelada. Basically that’s a beer with Bloody Mary mix in it and because of the growing Hispanic market, AB has started bottling Budweiser with tomato juice cocktail right at the brewery thus watering both of them down. Yummo. These beers have a niche in the Southwest and the reach is expanding in other markets because of the monkey see principal but that doesn’t mean these products are good.
I’ve tried a Chelada and all I can say is that it didn’t taste like meat. I also didn’t taste like beer or tomato juice. I’d say it was a little bit like drinking that pink water that pools on the top of the ketchup after the contents of the bottle start to separate.
Now I’m not going to get on a high horse and say that beer shouldn’t be mixed with anything but when you think about the artistry and craftsmanship that goes into a really good beer…a craft beer…why would you do anything to diminish the final product? You can if you want but you should be very judicious in what you go throwing into your beer. I spend too much money on my beers to be fiddling around with them.
There are exceptions. A number of stouts, particularly chocolate and coffee stouts, go great with ice cream. If you haven’t tried a stout float, buy a bottle of Young’s Double Chocolate Stout and spill a few ounces over a scoop of high quality vanilla bean. It’s outstanding. Lambics also pair well with ice cream and sorbet. Bell’s Java Stout is another good float medium.
Another great idea is to blend beers. Collaboration not Litigation Ale is an example of a beer that was born by mixing two together and Ommegang’s Three Philosophers is a Belgian style ale that is blended with a bit of lambic. Of course we've all had a black and tan. Imagine if you replaced the overrated Guinness and Bass with a smokey imperial stout and a dry-hopped American pale ale.
I even had a Bloody Mary that featured a splash of Guinness but I’m pretty sure that the Guinness had little influence on the final result. There was so much horseradish, Tobasco and lime in that mix a pint of Guiness would have struggled to make its presence known.
Again there are no rules. Beer is about making people happy. If you want to spend $10 on a four pack of Nosferatu and mix it with Diet Sprite, go for it.
But it must be done. Leinenkugel’s makes some really good beer, not necessarily great but definitely better than average. There are exceptions that you might want to avoid. Leinie’s Berry Weiss and Honey Weiss beers are just a bit too sweet for my taste. I’m not opposed to fruit being mixed in the brewing process but when flavors are added after the fact it gets risky. The problem with these two beers is the fact that they aren’t bitter enough from the start to offset the sweetness. Columbus Brewing Company offers an Ohio Honey Wheat that pulls it off but that’s the exception rather than the rule. Wheat beers generally get so much sweetness from the malt that adding a sugar after the fact can push them over the edge. At least for me.
The thing is, even though I’m not crazy about the sweet wheats, I can drink them and once I convince myself that I’m not drinking beer I can enjoy them in the same manner a person enjoys White Castles. You’ll never confuse a slider with haute cuisine but that doesn’t mean you can’t gulp down a sack of ten from time to time. Berry Weis is like that.
The major offense in the Leinie family is Summer Shandy. This is a blend of lemonade and beer. Apparently this is popular in Europe but then again so is Coldplay. ZING. This beverage starts of with a whole lot of lemon, develops on odd beer-like flavor in the middle and finishes with the strange flavor of meat. That’s right, I said meat. Every time I’ve tried this shandy I swear I ended up with a taste in my mouth very similar to the taste I get after eating a sausage. This is not a good thing when you’re drinking beer.
I don’t think you’ll get the same sensation. I’m pretty sure I just lack the frame of reference to classify the aftertaste but whatever I’m left with is unpleasant. I don’t really care for the mingling of lemonade and beer in the first place but when I’m squinting into the bottle wondering if there is a half-chewed hunk of kielbasa floating around in there it’s just awful. Awful. And I feel comfortable saying so because the minute you pour lemonade into beer you no longer have either.
Cheladas are Mexican-inspired beverages that blend tomato juice and beer. What you have to understand about these drinks is that Mexico is home to a lot of really crappy beer. Corona is popular in the US but only because that beer is marketed so aggressively. In reality it’s not a whole lot better than Budweiser. If you have a lime shoved in your bottle that lime goes a long way to mask how uninspired Corona really is. There are a few good Mexican Beers, such as Negra Modelo and Dos Equis but the majority of Mexican beer is pretty lousy.
So Mexicans play with their lousy beer by mixing things into it. One of those concoctions is Chelada. Basically that’s a beer with Bloody Mary mix in it and because of the growing Hispanic market, AB has started bottling Budweiser with tomato juice cocktail right at the brewery thus watering both of them down. Yummo. These beers have a niche in the Southwest and the reach is expanding in other markets because of the monkey see principal but that doesn’t mean these products are good.
I’ve tried a Chelada and all I can say is that it didn’t taste like meat. I also didn’t taste like beer or tomato juice. I’d say it was a little bit like drinking that pink water that pools on the top of the ketchup after the contents of the bottle start to separate.
Now I’m not going to get on a high horse and say that beer shouldn’t be mixed with anything but when you think about the artistry and craftsmanship that goes into a really good beer…a craft beer…why would you do anything to diminish the final product? You can if you want but you should be very judicious in what you go throwing into your beer. I spend too much money on my beers to be fiddling around with them.
There are exceptions. A number of stouts, particularly chocolate and coffee stouts, go great with ice cream. If you haven’t tried a stout float, buy a bottle of Young’s Double Chocolate Stout and spill a few ounces over a scoop of high quality vanilla bean. It’s outstanding. Lambics also pair well with ice cream and sorbet. Bell’s Java Stout is another good float medium.
Another great idea is to blend beers. Collaboration not Litigation Ale is an example of a beer that was born by mixing two together and Ommegang’s Three Philosophers is a Belgian style ale that is blended with a bit of lambic. Of course we've all had a black and tan. Imagine if you replaced the overrated Guinness and Bass with a smokey imperial stout and a dry-hopped American pale ale.
I even had a Bloody Mary that featured a splash of Guinness but I’m pretty sure that the Guinness had little influence on the final result. There was so much horseradish, Tobasco and lime in that mix a pint of Guiness would have struggled to make its presence known.
Again there are no rules. Beer is about making people happy. If you want to spend $10 on a four pack of Nosferatu and mix it with Diet Sprite, go for it.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Belgian Battle Royale
It seems I consume beer faster than I can write about it. Karen splurged on a massive bottle of Gulden Draak by Van Steenberge out of Flanders. For somebody who abhors beer she does seem to pick great selections on a regular basis. Van Steenberge cranks out a number of fine beers, notably Piraat, Augustijn and Celis White. Gulden Draak has been around and regularly captures high honors in a number of tasting competitions.
Gulden Draak is a dark tripel ale which is distinctive as most Belgian ales tend to be golden in color. Draak smells, looks and feels more like a Barley Wine…and with an ABV of nearly 11%, it’s got that kind of punch. It carries a boozy aroma but the flavor is remarkably complex. It’s brings to mind tart fruits and coffee. While there’s a substantial mouth feel to this beer, it has a surprisingly dry finish and a slightly sour aftertaste. Pleasantly sour.
I hadn’t intended to drink the entire 1.5 liter bottle and I am happy to say that I did reserve about 16 ounces in a smaller container for the next day but I was surprised at how drinkable it was. That’s probably not a good thing considering this beer’s got to pack a staggering number of calories which is why it’s best to consume this beer with lighter fare such as fruit and strong cheeses that will enhance the subtle flavors.
Gulden Draak might not be the kind of beer to drink on the beach with friends this summer but it will keep for a long time in a cellar as all strong Belgian ales do. Buy it now and substitute it for a bottle of Cabernet on some cool evening. It’s a beer brewed to be served at cellar temperatures and sipped with friends.
Speaking of great Belgian Beers I recently read a review on a Trappist tripel ale from Westmalle Abbey. Westmalle Tripel received a perfect score from Draft magazine logging a 100 in the recent ratings guide. I’d heard of Westmalle before but a lot of places don’t carry it because it’s pricey. I’ve balked at getting it for this very reason but last night I went ahead and invested $5.00 in a pint at Whole Foods.
Sometimes I see beers that are interesting but they come at a steeper price than I want to pay. I start to think about the other beers I can buy for the same money. Do I spend $15 on six Oaked Arrogant Bastards or get a 12 pack of Great Lakes? Of course if you keep applying that logic to the argument you’ll end up with a case of Pabst Blue Ribbon. You’ve got to draw the line.
So I look at the price per beer and consider what I would pay for a pint in a bar. $5.00 for a pint of Trappist ale seems steep but when you consider that some bars will charge that much for a pint of Bud Lite, it’s worthwhile. By the way, if you know of a bar like that, stop going to it.
Wetmalle turns out to be a damn good beer. It’s a very nicely balanced tripel with all those delightful bubbles a bottle conditioned beer is supposed to have. I don’t do ratings but as great as this beer is I don’t know that it’s worthy of a perfect score. I found the beer to be a little on the acidic side. It’s a dry beer that doesn’t trick you with overpowering flavors but I think I’d take Ommegang’s Hennepin over Westmalle Tripel.
That’s not to say that Westmalle isn’t a fantastic beer. I believe my review is more than a little tainted by Draft’s take on this product. If you have a chance to try Westmalle you should take it because you might think I’m completely insane.
And that’s the thing about taste. Everybody is different. I harbor a serious hop bias which is why I don’t care much for current British Ales. That bias drifts into my appreciation for wheat beers and Belgian ales as well. I appreciate the history of British beer, but the current offerings on the market have a malty sweetness that tastes like molasses that I feel needs to be offset with stronger hops, but some people like that syrupy sweetness and that’s fine.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that Westmalle Tripel is an outstanding beer that everybody should try. Had I not read the flattering review I doubt that I’d be inclined to offer a counterpoint but a lot of people will read that score and think that the Belgian ale story begins and ends with Westmalle. Nothing could be further from the truth. I would be thrilled to receive Westmalle Tripel as a gift and I will happily advise friends and family to order it if they never had it before but that doesn’t mean this is the best beer on the market. Among the best? Sure. It’s just that there are too many great Belgian Ales to make any superlative claims about Westmalle. Gulden Draak is a tripel as well and it provides a completely different experience. For some people that will mean better but they have to try it.
There you have it: a battle of the Belgians...Two true Belgian tripels waiting to be contrasted and compared. I didn’t mean for it to turn out this way but these two beers really illustrate the range and complexity of the art of brewing. If you can get your hands on both you’re in for a real treat. You can tell your friends that you’re doing research and maybe even write off the bar tab as a business expense.
By the way...I'm not an accountant.
Gulden Draak is a dark tripel ale which is distinctive as most Belgian ales tend to be golden in color. Draak smells, looks and feels more like a Barley Wine…and with an ABV of nearly 11%, it’s got that kind of punch. It carries a boozy aroma but the flavor is remarkably complex. It’s brings to mind tart fruits and coffee. While there’s a substantial mouth feel to this beer, it has a surprisingly dry finish and a slightly sour aftertaste. Pleasantly sour.
I hadn’t intended to drink the entire 1.5 liter bottle and I am happy to say that I did reserve about 16 ounces in a smaller container for the next day but I was surprised at how drinkable it was. That’s probably not a good thing considering this beer’s got to pack a staggering number of calories which is why it’s best to consume this beer with lighter fare such as fruit and strong cheeses that will enhance the subtle flavors.
Gulden Draak might not be the kind of beer to drink on the beach with friends this summer but it will keep for a long time in a cellar as all strong Belgian ales do. Buy it now and substitute it for a bottle of Cabernet on some cool evening. It’s a beer brewed to be served at cellar temperatures and sipped with friends.
Speaking of great Belgian Beers I recently read a review on a Trappist tripel ale from Westmalle Abbey. Westmalle Tripel received a perfect score from Draft magazine logging a 100 in the recent ratings guide. I’d heard of Westmalle before but a lot of places don’t carry it because it’s pricey. I’ve balked at getting it for this very reason but last night I went ahead and invested $5.00 in a pint at Whole Foods.
Sometimes I see beers that are interesting but they come at a steeper price than I want to pay. I start to think about the other beers I can buy for the same money. Do I spend $15 on six Oaked Arrogant Bastards or get a 12 pack of Great Lakes? Of course if you keep applying that logic to the argument you’ll end up with a case of Pabst Blue Ribbon. You’ve got to draw the line.
So I look at the price per beer and consider what I would pay for a pint in a bar. $5.00 for a pint of Trappist ale seems steep but when you consider that some bars will charge that much for a pint of Bud Lite, it’s worthwhile. By the way, if you know of a bar like that, stop going to it.
Wetmalle turns out to be a damn good beer. It’s a very nicely balanced tripel with all those delightful bubbles a bottle conditioned beer is supposed to have. I don’t do ratings but as great as this beer is I don’t know that it’s worthy of a perfect score. I found the beer to be a little on the acidic side. It’s a dry beer that doesn’t trick you with overpowering flavors but I think I’d take Ommegang’s Hennepin over Westmalle Tripel.
That’s not to say that Westmalle isn’t a fantastic beer. I believe my review is more than a little tainted by Draft’s take on this product. If you have a chance to try Westmalle you should take it because you might think I’m completely insane.
And that’s the thing about taste. Everybody is different. I harbor a serious hop bias which is why I don’t care much for current British Ales. That bias drifts into my appreciation for wheat beers and Belgian ales as well. I appreciate the history of British beer, but the current offerings on the market have a malty sweetness that tastes like molasses that I feel needs to be offset with stronger hops, but some people like that syrupy sweetness and that’s fine.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that Westmalle Tripel is an outstanding beer that everybody should try. Had I not read the flattering review I doubt that I’d be inclined to offer a counterpoint but a lot of people will read that score and think that the Belgian ale story begins and ends with Westmalle. Nothing could be further from the truth. I would be thrilled to receive Westmalle Tripel as a gift and I will happily advise friends and family to order it if they never had it before but that doesn’t mean this is the best beer on the market. Among the best? Sure. It’s just that there are too many great Belgian Ales to make any superlative claims about Westmalle. Gulden Draak is a tripel as well and it provides a completely different experience. For some people that will mean better but they have to try it.
There you have it: a battle of the Belgians...Two true Belgian tripels waiting to be contrasted and compared. I didn’t mean for it to turn out this way but these two beers really illustrate the range and complexity of the art of brewing. If you can get your hands on both you’re in for a real treat. You can tell your friends that you’re doing research and maybe even write off the bar tab as a business expense.
By the way...I'm not an accountant.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Rejewvenator
The fist time I saw a bottle of He'Brew beer from Schmaltz Brewing Company I was intrigued. I generally try to avoid getting caught up in packaging but when it comes to craft beer a label tells you a lot about a company. I find that the brewers who express a sense of humor and enthusiasm for their products usually back it up with really good beer. I liken it to the album covers of the late 60s and early 70s. Brewing is an art and artistry is expressed on many levels.
That's not to say that a cute label always leads you to good beer. A lot of marketing gurus are well aware of the labeling techniques employed by craft brewers such as Stone,Rogue and Flying Dog. Fortunately a trained eye can spot the differences between a marketing campaign that comes from the heart and a one that was hatched in a soulless corporate boardroom.
Schmaltz plays the Jewish angle with a keen sense of humor but when you read about the thought and effort that goes into the He'Brew line of beers you realize that this is not just some shtick employed to corner the Jewish market. This is good beer that is worth trying.
I've sampled several of their beers from the powerful Jewbelation 11 to the well-bodied BITTERSWEET LENNY'S R.I.P.A.. So when I popped into Bob's Bar for a pit stop on my bicycle commute and spotted Rejewvenator I had to give it a try.
This is a strong ale classified as a half dopplebock, half Belgian dubbel. They use lager and ale yeast in the fermentation process making this brew a true hybrid. It's a beer that commemorates the Jewish new year and is intended to be a strong summer ale. It's a limited release beer which also means that it might not make it to the fall harvest. The hook with this beer is the use of fig juice in the brewing process. It pays homage to the importance of the fig in ancient Jewish culture and lends a unique hint of sweetness that really brings out the complexity of the malt.
The beer is big, brown and has plenty of hop punch. At 8% ABV it's definitely one that will knock you down if you try to drink it all night but in all honesty, craft beers aren't made to be pounded all night. I actually drank this beer, which came in a 22 ounce bottle, very slowly even swishing sips in my mouth to isolate the distinctive flavor of fig. It's subtle...so even if you don't like figs you can still try this beer and enjoy it. My fear in sampling this beer was that it would be too figgy but He'Brew beers are too well-crafted to fall into such a trap. The figs offset the aggressive hop presence to provide a very smooth-drinking beer.
Get this one while you can.
That's not to say that a cute label always leads you to good beer. A lot of marketing gurus are well aware of the labeling techniques employed by craft brewers such as Stone,Rogue and Flying Dog. Fortunately a trained eye can spot the differences between a marketing campaign that comes from the heart and a one that was hatched in a soulless corporate boardroom.
Schmaltz plays the Jewish angle with a keen sense of humor but when you read about the thought and effort that goes into the He'Brew line of beers you realize that this is not just some shtick employed to corner the Jewish market. This is good beer that is worth trying.
I've sampled several of their beers from the powerful Jewbelation 11 to the well-bodied BITTERSWEET LENNY'S R.I.P.A.. So when I popped into Bob's Bar for a pit stop on my bicycle commute and spotted Rejewvenator I had to give it a try.
This is a strong ale classified as a half dopplebock, half Belgian dubbel. They use lager and ale yeast in the fermentation process making this brew a true hybrid. It's a beer that commemorates the Jewish new year and is intended to be a strong summer ale. It's a limited release beer which also means that it might not make it to the fall harvest. The hook with this beer is the use of fig juice in the brewing process. It pays homage to the importance of the fig in ancient Jewish culture and lends a unique hint of sweetness that really brings out the complexity of the malt.
The beer is big, brown and has plenty of hop punch. At 8% ABV it's definitely one that will knock you down if you try to drink it all night but in all honesty, craft beers aren't made to be pounded all night. I actually drank this beer, which came in a 22 ounce bottle, very slowly even swishing sips in my mouth to isolate the distinctive flavor of fig. It's subtle...so even if you don't like figs you can still try this beer and enjoy it. My fear in sampling this beer was that it would be too figgy but He'Brew beers are too well-crafted to fall into such a trap. The figs offset the aggressive hop presence to provide a very smooth-drinking beer.
Get this one while you can.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Ratings
Somebody asked me why I don't have a rating system. It never occurred to me that I should implement one so I thought about it and decided it wasn't for me. I don't want somebody to feel that one beer is better than another just because I said so. I love beer and I want to share that love.
A lot of publications and websites like to give beers ratings. I don't like it. People who know me will tell you that it's because I'm lazy and not very good at math. That's partly true but the real reason is because my enjoyment of a particular beer is going to be influenced by a number of factors. I do read the reviews but I put very little stock in the score or grade applied.
Asking me to pick my favorite beer is like asking me to pick my favorite band or my favorite movie. If I can manage to nail down a top five in either category you can bet that list will change 20 minutes later. I say top five because I have never been able to narrow it down further and my list is going to be influenced by my mood at the time. I know that Coldplay won't ever make my top five bands but outside of that it's a crap shoot.
So if I did score beer on a 100 point scale it stands to reason that the same beer could receive different scores on different occasions. On as hot day I'm not going to be as enthusiastic about an Imperial Stout I would have run naked through a blizzard for in January. So if I happen to sample a beer that I simply wasn't in the mood for at the time is it fair to stick a number on it?
The other problem with rating beer is that everybody likes something different. Arrogant Bastard Ale is a beer I find myself consistently happy with but a friend of mine thought it tasted like Drano. Granted, that friend is more of a "lite" kind of guy and I'm using the term friend loosely. More loosely after his reaction to the Bastard.
Some people like hops, others prefer malty beers. My brother-in-law is a Pilsner guy who struggles with the bigger beers I enjoy. He likes a good pale ale but double IPAs are too much beer for him. I prefer a crisp finish and I'm a big fan of dry hopping but I still enjoy beers that aren't as aggressively hopped. Is it fair for me to allow that bias to influence the grade I would give a beer?
So I don't quantify things. I talk about the beer and focus on the impressions I have when I'm drinking it. I don't chug beers but I'm not going to fawn over a 2 ounce pour for 20 minutes so I can talk about mouth feel and chewiness. I hope I never describe a beer as chewy. I like to enjoy the aroma of a good beer, I take note of the color and clarity (clear isn't always better), but what really matters is how it tastes. Ultimately we are putting the beer in our mouths so I tend to address that.
A lot of publications and websites like to give beers ratings. I don't like it. People who know me will tell you that it's because I'm lazy and not very good at math. That's partly true but the real reason is because my enjoyment of a particular beer is going to be influenced by a number of factors. I do read the reviews but I put very little stock in the score or grade applied.
Asking me to pick my favorite beer is like asking me to pick my favorite band or my favorite movie. If I can manage to nail down a top five in either category you can bet that list will change 20 minutes later. I say top five because I have never been able to narrow it down further and my list is going to be influenced by my mood at the time. I know that Coldplay won't ever make my top five bands but outside of that it's a crap shoot.
So if I did score beer on a 100 point scale it stands to reason that the same beer could receive different scores on different occasions. On as hot day I'm not going to be as enthusiastic about an Imperial Stout I would have run naked through a blizzard for in January. So if I happen to sample a beer that I simply wasn't in the mood for at the time is it fair to stick a number on it?
The other problem with rating beer is that everybody likes something different. Arrogant Bastard Ale is a beer I find myself consistently happy with but a friend of mine thought it tasted like Drano. Granted, that friend is more of a "lite" kind of guy and I'm using the term friend loosely. More loosely after his reaction to the Bastard.
Some people like hops, others prefer malty beers. My brother-in-law is a Pilsner guy who struggles with the bigger beers I enjoy. He likes a good pale ale but double IPAs are too much beer for him. I prefer a crisp finish and I'm a big fan of dry hopping but I still enjoy beers that aren't as aggressively hopped. Is it fair for me to allow that bias to influence the grade I would give a beer?
So I don't quantify things. I talk about the beer and focus on the impressions I have when I'm drinking it. I don't chug beers but I'm not going to fawn over a 2 ounce pour for 20 minutes so I can talk about mouth feel and chewiness. I hope I never describe a beer as chewy. I like to enjoy the aroma of a good beer, I take note of the color and clarity (clear isn't always better), but what really matters is how it tastes. Ultimately we are putting the beer in our mouths so I tend to address that.
Friday, May 9, 2008
Chipotle Ale
Baskin –Robbins changed that way people thought about ice cream. Most people think of Ben and Jerry’s when they think of exotic flavors and they deserve credit for having the courage to experiment with some pretty outrageous concepts most of which never make it to a cone. However, Baskin-Robbins set the bar pretty high back in 1945 when they aspired to offer 31 favors. It’s not as if the world was only eating vanilla when they came along but they offered a wider variety of flavors to a bigger customer base than anybody before them. Now there’s no fear in the ice cream industry and consumers welcome the creativity. If you happen to be in Columbus, track down Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams to sample what will surely become the next big flavor: Thai Chili Ice Cream.
The craft brewing market place is a hot bed of creativity. Most craft brewers are pretty adventurous and many blur the line between brewing and alchemy. Magic Hat is widely known because of a popular ale known as Number 9. A lot of people drink it and love it without realizing that it is brewed with apricots. It’s not exactly what people think of as a fruit beer because the tart apricot actually blends with the hops and the fruitiness is very subtle. It’s amazing how people don’t read labels.
There are also a number of really delicious pumpkin ales readily available shortly after Labor Day. A friend of mine, who we’ll call Bob for the sake of anonymity, was reticent to try a “pumpkin-flavored beer” but after a grueling rafting trip down the Upper Gauley Bob decided to give it a try. It was cold, free and the only beer available at the time. Bob was pleasantly surprised. We’ll discuss these in more detail later.
Other favors that make their way into beer with pleasing results include chocolate, coffee, bananas, and chili peppers. One of the first beers I tried in the chili pepper category is a simple lager by Black Mountain Brewing Company in Cave Creek, Arizona called Cave Creek Chili Beer. Chili Beer is really pretty simple: it’s a standard American lager with a Serrano pepper shoved into the bottle. The pepper gives the beer a pretty serious kick.
Alone the beer is average by craft brewing standards though it has become popular enough that the actual brewing process is farmed out to a larger brewer in Mexico but it’s hard to resist the marketing ploy of a green Serrano pepper suspended in a bottle of beer. And if you’re industrious enough to coax that pepper from the bottle it’s actually quite tasty. It would be interesting to collect a few dozen of these beer-laden peppers and make a salsa out of them. Interesting, but tedious…I can drink a lot of beer and I love to cook but I don’t have the patience to harvest those peppers.
While Cave Creek Chili Beer is not exactly what most craft beer aficionados look for in a beer it’s a good product and worth a try. Rogue, however, is an iconic craft brewing company with plenty of brew-cred and they offer a much different take on the concept of chili beer: Rogue Chipotle Ale.
Rogue readily admits that they simply added smoke jalapeño peppers to their American Amber Ale but the result is a very nuanced offering. Chipotle Ale doesn’t overwhelm you with raw heat, but rather generates a pleasant warmth and the smokiness of the chipotles blends nicely with the sweetness of the malt. It’s a beer that would actually compliment spicy food but it still has enough depth where it could provide an interesting contrast to a chocolate desert. Rogue even suggests blending this Chipotle Ale with its Chocolate Stout to create a black and tan mole. Sounds pretty good to me.
I recently enjoyed a cool Chipotle Ale after knocking out 10 miles on a bike trail. I found it to be refreshing and invigorating. In this case it was paired with original flavor Sun Chips which proved to be a more intriguing combination than you might think. The nutty sweetness of the chips really brought the malty body of the beer forward. The moderate heat of the peppers was at the finish but I wasn’t left reaching for my water bottle. Rogue’s Chipotle Ale is a very well-balanced beer and while the flavor of the peppers is undeniable, they are a welcome addition. This is a complex beer with a lot of character and sure to become a favorite if you give it a try.
The craft brewing market place is a hot bed of creativity. Most craft brewers are pretty adventurous and many blur the line between brewing and alchemy. Magic Hat is widely known because of a popular ale known as Number 9. A lot of people drink it and love it without realizing that it is brewed with apricots. It’s not exactly what people think of as a fruit beer because the tart apricot actually blends with the hops and the fruitiness is very subtle. It’s amazing how people don’t read labels.
There are also a number of really delicious pumpkin ales readily available shortly after Labor Day. A friend of mine, who we’ll call Bob for the sake of anonymity, was reticent to try a “pumpkin-flavored beer” but after a grueling rafting trip down the Upper Gauley Bob decided to give it a try. It was cold, free and the only beer available at the time. Bob was pleasantly surprised. We’ll discuss these in more detail later.
Other favors that make their way into beer with pleasing results include chocolate, coffee, bananas, and chili peppers. One of the first beers I tried in the chili pepper category is a simple lager by Black Mountain Brewing Company in Cave Creek, Arizona called Cave Creek Chili Beer. Chili Beer is really pretty simple: it’s a standard American lager with a Serrano pepper shoved into the bottle. The pepper gives the beer a pretty serious kick.
Alone the beer is average by craft brewing standards though it has become popular enough that the actual brewing process is farmed out to a larger brewer in Mexico but it’s hard to resist the marketing ploy of a green Serrano pepper suspended in a bottle of beer. And if you’re industrious enough to coax that pepper from the bottle it’s actually quite tasty. It would be interesting to collect a few dozen of these beer-laden peppers and make a salsa out of them. Interesting, but tedious…I can drink a lot of beer and I love to cook but I don’t have the patience to harvest those peppers.
While Cave Creek Chili Beer is not exactly what most craft beer aficionados look for in a beer it’s a good product and worth a try. Rogue, however, is an iconic craft brewing company with plenty of brew-cred and they offer a much different take on the concept of chili beer: Rogue Chipotle Ale.
Rogue readily admits that they simply added smoke jalapeño peppers to their American Amber Ale but the result is a very nuanced offering. Chipotle Ale doesn’t overwhelm you with raw heat, but rather generates a pleasant warmth and the smokiness of the chipotles blends nicely with the sweetness of the malt. It’s a beer that would actually compliment spicy food but it still has enough depth where it could provide an interesting contrast to a chocolate desert. Rogue even suggests blending this Chipotle Ale with its Chocolate Stout to create a black and tan mole. Sounds pretty good to me.
I recently enjoyed a cool Chipotle Ale after knocking out 10 miles on a bike trail. I found it to be refreshing and invigorating. In this case it was paired with original flavor Sun Chips which proved to be a more intriguing combination than you might think. The nutty sweetness of the chips really brought the malty body of the beer forward. The moderate heat of the peppers was at the finish but I wasn’t left reaching for my water bottle. Rogue’s Chipotle Ale is a very well-balanced beer and while the flavor of the peppers is undeniable, they are a welcome addition. This is a complex beer with a lot of character and sure to become a favorite if you give it a try.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
But I don't like Wheat Beer
Blue Moon is now readily available in every bar and grocery store. What's funny is that millions of bottles have been consumed and the beer has quite a following but nobody seems to realize that it's a wheat beer. People also don't know that it's brewed by Coors which is because Coors feels that the association would ruin Blue Moon's brew cred. And they're right...most craft-brew fans can't drink enough good beer to wash down the contempt they have big corporate breweries.
In spite of my disdain for mega-breweries I have to give Coors some credit for having the sense to brew such a true-to-form beer. Blue Moon is very similar to traditional Belgian white ales and the inclusion of coriander and citrus zest in the brewing process is something very gutsy for corporate behemoth. Back in 1981 Coors had the foresight to reformulate an old recipe and offer Kilian's Irish Red to the masses and for a while I loved it. Kilian's was a beer that helped me make the transition from cheap collegiate swill to craft beers. So Coors isn't completely evil. Anheuser-Busch might be, given their shameless and ill-advised attempts to stagger into the craft beer market, but Coors is OK.
Thanks to Blue Moon we have a growing number of people who can look you straight in the eye and tell you that they don't like wheat beers. Granted most of this attitude comes from the fact that Blue Moon is almost always served with an orange slice, which actually diminishes the flavor and body of the beer.
Wheat beers, or Hefeweizens as they are called in Germany, come in many forms. The origin of Hefeweizen comes form necessity. Some brewers had access to wheat so they used it instead of barley. The result was a much nuttier and slightly creamy version of beer. Wheat beers are proof that the ballyhooed Bavarian Purity law is a complete and total sham designed to put smaller brewers out of business centuries ago.
Anheuser-Busch, not to be outdone, purchased a stake in Widmer Brothers in order to more widely distribute Widmer's Hefeweizen. Again, Widmer Brothers produces a great product and the brilliant minds who brought us concoctions like Bud Dry were wise to leave the brewing the the brothers.
Widmer's Hefe however, does not provide a departure from the standard wheat beer genre. Like most white ales it is not very hoppy, instead relying and acid from citrus sources to balance out the sweetness of the wheat. They're good and they have a well-deserved following but they aren't for everybody.
Sadly, Coors effort to provide a respectable wheat beer at a frat party price backfired a bit because too many people think that if you've had one wheat beer you've had them all. That's simply not true. There are numerous styles of wheat beer ranging from light to dark, and sweet to brutally bitter. There are wheat wines that can stand up to great barley wines and wheat stouts that are better Guinness.
A wheat beer that defies convention is a seasonal offering by Southern Tier called Hop Sun. You notice a big difference in Hop Sun as soon as its poured because it's been dry-hopped. That means it's got a nose not unlike a pale ale. It's also a filtered wheat beer which might be a bit of a sacrilege but it's still a fine beer. It took me a few sips to get past the fact that it wasn't cloudy but when I finally put tradition aside and judged the beer on its own merits I really loved it and most beer drinkers would feel the same way. Hop Sun is a wheat beer that refuses to submit to conventions, which makes it an excellent choice for those people who took two sips of a Blue Moon and decided they don't like wheat.
Hop Sun is lighter and has a lower alcohol content (4.5%) than most craft beers but that doesn't mean it can't hold its own. What it lacks in gravity it makes up for in flavor. This is a great beer to throw in a cooler and drink at a BBQ. It's an all day beer.
Of course Southern Tier offers a more traditional take on wheat beer with Heavy Weizen but don't confuse more traditional with typical. Heavy Wezen is a big unflitered wheat beer that gets a nutty flavor from the weizen yeast used in the fermentation process. It's not a light beer by any stretch of the imagination but because it is properly hopped it defintely finishes more like a beer than some of the more popular wheat ales. This is not an all day beer...at 8% ABV, two pints can put you out.
No matter what anybody says (especially some bloated king back in 1516) wheat beer is real beer. Just because you don't like seeing orange slices in your beer doesn't mean you should close the door on the thousands of other beers derived from wheat. Once you sample a few more wheat beers (because you won't live long enough to try them all) maybe you'll be ready to try a soba ale or two. Beer knows no limits and neither should beer drinkers.
In spite of my disdain for mega-breweries I have to give Coors some credit for having the sense to brew such a true-to-form beer. Blue Moon is very similar to traditional Belgian white ales and the inclusion of coriander and citrus zest in the brewing process is something very gutsy for corporate behemoth. Back in 1981 Coors had the foresight to reformulate an old recipe and offer Kilian's Irish Red to the masses and for a while I loved it. Kilian's was a beer that helped me make the transition from cheap collegiate swill to craft beers. So Coors isn't completely evil. Anheuser-Busch might be, given their shameless and ill-advised attempts to stagger into the craft beer market, but Coors is OK.
Thanks to Blue Moon we have a growing number of people who can look you straight in the eye and tell you that they don't like wheat beers. Granted most of this attitude comes from the fact that Blue Moon is almost always served with an orange slice, which actually diminishes the flavor and body of the beer.
Wheat beers, or Hefeweizens as they are called in Germany, come in many forms. The origin of Hefeweizen comes form necessity. Some brewers had access to wheat so they used it instead of barley. The result was a much nuttier and slightly creamy version of beer. Wheat beers are proof that the ballyhooed Bavarian Purity law is a complete and total sham designed to put smaller brewers out of business centuries ago.
Anheuser-Busch, not to be outdone, purchased a stake in Widmer Brothers in order to more widely distribute Widmer's Hefeweizen. Again, Widmer Brothers produces a great product and the brilliant minds who brought us concoctions like Bud Dry were wise to leave the brewing the the brothers.
Widmer's Hefe however, does not provide a departure from the standard wheat beer genre. Like most white ales it is not very hoppy, instead relying and acid from citrus sources to balance out the sweetness of the wheat. They're good and they have a well-deserved following but they aren't for everybody.
Sadly, Coors effort to provide a respectable wheat beer at a frat party price backfired a bit because too many people think that if you've had one wheat beer you've had them all. That's simply not true. There are numerous styles of wheat beer ranging from light to dark, and sweet to brutally bitter. There are wheat wines that can stand up to great barley wines and wheat stouts that are better Guinness.
A wheat beer that defies convention is a seasonal offering by Southern Tier called Hop Sun. You notice a big difference in Hop Sun as soon as its poured because it's been dry-hopped. That means it's got a nose not unlike a pale ale. It's also a filtered wheat beer which might be a bit of a sacrilege but it's still a fine beer. It took me a few sips to get past the fact that it wasn't cloudy but when I finally put tradition aside and judged the beer on its own merits I really loved it and most beer drinkers would feel the same way. Hop Sun is a wheat beer that refuses to submit to conventions, which makes it an excellent choice for those people who took two sips of a Blue Moon and decided they don't like wheat.
Hop Sun is lighter and has a lower alcohol content (4.5%) than most craft beers but that doesn't mean it can't hold its own. What it lacks in gravity it makes up for in flavor. This is a great beer to throw in a cooler and drink at a BBQ. It's an all day beer.
Of course Southern Tier offers a more traditional take on wheat beer with Heavy Weizen but don't confuse more traditional with typical. Heavy Wezen is a big unflitered wheat beer that gets a nutty flavor from the weizen yeast used in the fermentation process. It's not a light beer by any stretch of the imagination but because it is properly hopped it defintely finishes more like a beer than some of the more popular wheat ales. This is not an all day beer...at 8% ABV, two pints can put you out.
No matter what anybody says (especially some bloated king back in 1516) wheat beer is real beer. Just because you don't like seeing orange slices in your beer doesn't mean you should close the door on the thousands of other beers derived from wheat. Once you sample a few more wheat beers (because you won't live long enough to try them all) maybe you'll be ready to try a soba ale or two. Beer knows no limits and neither should beer drinkers.
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