The Beer Snob's Guide to Beer

Christmas Beers

2010-12-12T19:41:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I've posted here and for that I apologize. As 2010 comes to a close, I will make a commitment to post once a week, save for vacation.

I want to take a minute to talk about Christmas beers. There are two ways to look at this: 1. Beers brewed to be enjoyed at Christmas, and 2. Beers to give as Christmas gifts.

If you're reading this there's a pretty good chance you like good beer. Maybe you prefer a hop heavy beer that's kind of like a double-barreled shotgun blast of pine cones in your mouth. Maybe you prefer a more deftly balanced brown ale. Perhaps it's the crisp and clean lagers that strike your beer fancy. Regardless of what you like, you'll never look a gift beer in the spout. Even if somebody buys you something horrible, like Bud Dry, you know full well you can simply re-gift that swill to some idiot who will love it.

Of course the best way to go is to buy local. If you're buying for somebody who lives out of town, the typical stuff from your local brew pub is going to be exotic. Another nifty trick is to collect beer as you travel. Putting a sampler sixer of beers from various places together over the course of a few months is also really cool. Even if every beer in the package is garbage, there's something to be said for trying a bunch of different beers.

Now, the best way to handle the multiple location pack is to focus on one style. In the US, virtually every brewer views their pale ale as the flagship beer. With a few exceptions, pale ales are where craft breweries start.

Now if you know your beer buddy isn't into hops you can go with porters and stouts. I consider myself a hop head but I love a nice smoky porter.

Christmas drinking is best kept local. As my friend we'll call Bob will tell you, cold and blustery nights are perfect for a good winter warmer. Winter warmers are bull-bodied ales that ease back on the hops and balance the malt with spices. Some are more subtle than others. 21st Ammendment Brewery out of San Francisco makes a Winter Ale called Fireside Chat. This beer first struck me as very good, but after a while I found the spices a little overwhelming.

Locally I have access to threw very good Warmers. Great Lakes Brewing Company has a legendary seasonal with the clever name, Christmas Ale. This is a subtle beer that is easy to drink. It's not too heavy, hoppy or spicy but it is a fast moving beer. GLBC has a hard time keeping up with demand and reportedly doesn't fulfill keg orders to bars that don't keep a GLBC tap running all year.

Columbus Brewing Company has a simply named Winter Warmer that has a little more body. There's almost a hint of bitter chocolate in the beer which might be the Maris Otter Malts. Rumor has it they have a very distinctive flavor.

I also like Thirsty Dog's 12 Dogs of Christmas Ale which is similar to Christmas Ale but with a bit of nutmeg. It's not overpowering and the body seems just a bit fuller than the other two Ohio offerings mentioned here. All three beers are excellent, for the style.

Another one worth mentioning is Shiner's Holiday Cheer. Now this is a little weird, but somehow it gets pulled off in the end. Shiner takes a dunkelweizen adds pecans and peaches to the brewing process. Since the peaches aren't added to the mix after the fact, their influence is subtle. It's almost an aromatic note, but there's some peach aftertaste as well.

I shouldn't like it, but I do, granted I have never had more than one in any given sitting so it's possible that this particular holiday offering gets tiresome midway through the second round.

Word Association

2009-03-31T09:19:00.001-07:00

Easter

Bunny

Hops

mmmm...beer

Again I need to apologize for not being a very good beer blogger. In my defense, I’ve been really busy with my regular 9-5 (which is really more like 8-6) and I’ve picked up a freelance writing gig that actually requires my skills as a beer consuming expert. So there.

Anyway, I’ve not shirked my responsibilities as a beer drinker and I’m happy to report that I have three excellent beers to tell you about. Two of them are probably going to be hard to come by unless you have a keen beer buyer who is aware of Southern Tier Brewing Company. I know I tend to give STBC a lot of credit but trust me, it is well deserved.

Southern Tier seems to have drawn some inspiration from Dogfish Head and spends a lot of time crafting assertive recipes for its Imperial Series. One of them is called Iniquity. This is an Imperial Pale Ale that happens to be black in color. Thus the name Iniquity. This beer doesn’t play by the rules. Pale Ales by definition aren’t supposed to be exceptionally dark but craft brewers do not play by rules.

Of course Southern Tier didn’t just tinker with naming conventions and slap an IPA badge on a stout. This beer has a lot of the characteristics you’d expect from a double IPA. It’s not as viscous as a stout and certainly not as sweet. The beer has the citrus notes you’d expect from what has become the classic representation of an Imperial IPA hopped with the normal areas of Pacific Northwest hops. By nature, an imperial beer is double the strength of its standard counterparts but in spite of its bombastic appearance, Iniquity is surprisingly drinkable, which is a word I hate to use because all beers are drinkable, but you really expect this beer to be one that you enjoy in small quantities. It’s not hard to go through a couple of pints of this one.

Southern Tier’s other offering of note, one that has been making its rounds for a while now, is called Unearthly. It’s another Imperial Pale Ale but this one is traditionally hued with rich amber tones. It’s aggressively hopped, more so than Iniquity, and even brings more ABV to the party weighing in at 11% to Iniquity’s 9%. This beer smells like a pined forest after a rain storm and tastes like it too. In a good way, provided you enjoy hops. If you have to compare it to other beers, think Stone Ruination or possibly Dogfishead 120 Minute IPA, but don’t make the mistake of thinking that it’s just a facsimile. Unearthly might draw inspiration from other beers but it’s definitely impressive enough to stand on its own.

The third beer I enjoyed this past weekend might be distributed just a bit more readily than Southern Tier’s offerings. Lagunitas Brewing Company dabbled in a little chemistry and perfected a couple of hop extracts that they packed into an crystal clear amber ale that might prove to be one of the most unique offerings on the market this year.

Hop extracts are commonly used by bigger brewing companies to cut costs and minimize the possibility of their watery fizz bombs being cloudy. Normally craft brewers don’t lose a lot of sleep over such things because craft beer lovers know that trading flavor for clarity is a cardinal sin.

Well, Lagunitas managed to do both. What took me by surprise was how this light this beer is compared to the vivaciousness of the hops. Popping open the bottle was like setting off a hops bomb and pouring the beer brought back memories of First Blood where Rambo dives into the pine trees. Looking at the beer I was worried that it was going to taste like somebody brewed up hop tea, which is something I’ve tried and can honestly say I did not like. Hops aren’t so good when they’re unescorted. You need that malt to balance it.

Apparently Hop Stoopid was engineered to deliver more in the aroma department than you actually get when you drink the beer. Oh, it’s still hoppy, but not so much so that you feel overwhelmed. The beer was balanced really nicely and I enjoyed every sip. I was actually sad that I only bought one 22 ounce bottle, but I had a sampler of Flying Dog on hand to ease my misery.

Hop Stoopid wasn’t my favorite beer of all time. I still prefer a nice, filthy ale complete with suspended yeast and grain solids that settle to the bottom of the bottle leaving behind a gooey film. It sounds gross, but great beer is not for the squeamish. Still, I see more Hop Stoopid coming to a campsite near you. I have a feeling that it could be my favorite beer after a long hike on a hot day.

Ho, Ho, Ho

2008-12-12T13:19:00.000-08:00

Everybody seems to offer some sort of Christmas ale. I mean everybody. Coors markets a seasonal under the Blue Moon umbrella, our wonderful friends at AB spew out something with a catchy name under one of their divisions and even European brewers get in on the act by marketing a number of dark ales with a Christmas theme. Some are actually really good while others are just rebadged stock beer sent to the US to trick consumers. That doesn’t mean they’re bad, just not as special as you might think.

When you’re buying beer as a gift there’s really no wrong way to go. Buy me a case of Bud Light and I’ll graciously accept it. Gifts are always appreciated. At the very least I can keep it handy for gatherings where not everybody shares my taste in beer or, if I receive the gift early enough, I can re-gift it to somebody who will really enjoy it. There’s nothing wrong with re-gifting, by the way, which is why I love to make a gift of booze. I often buy alcohol knowing that the person who receives it might very well give it to somebody else. That’s fine. It’s as good as giving away money. Of course we don't give away money because it looks like we didn't put any thought into the gift even though we don't put much thought into gift cards but alcohol isn't like that. Everybody likes to get alcohol as a gift.

So you don’t have to be intimidated by the selection of Christmas beers. It’s really hard to go wrong. That being said, there are some fantastic beers to keep an eye out for.

Great Lakes Brewing Company offers a great Christmas Ale. It’s one of the best on the market. Like most Christmas ales it has higher alcohol content, and it’s a little less bitter than the other beers they offer. Great Lakes does a good job of not over spicing this beer which is sometimes a problem with Christmas ales. The hops lend a nice scent of pine and impart a touch of citrus that pull the rest of this big-bodied beer together.

Sadly, Great Lakes is offered in a limited area so a lot of people never get to try this one.

Leave it to Rogue to satisfy national demand with a great beer. Santa’s Private Reserve is a bold red ale that has a nice malty body that has a profile like roasted chestnuts and a nice piney finish from the hops. When Christmas ales go wrong, and some do, they either go too heavy or too light on the hops. Rogue strikes a perfect balance here.

Southern Tier Brewing Company is also hard to find but if you can track their beers down you should try their imperial Christmas offering; Krampus. Lately Southern Tier has been drawing inspiration from obscure mythological resources and Krampus represents the dark half of Christmas lore. This beer, is a strong imperial Helles lager that packs a lot of flavor. It’s big and aggressively hopped.

If I’m being honest I think Southern Tier is reaching for marketing angles with the history/mythology gimmick but that doesn’t detract from the fact that they make outstanding beer and Krampus is no exception. If you can get a hold of a bottle you should open it and have a sip or two. Or the whole damned bottle. But be warned: this is an imperial beer which means it’s got a high alcohol content. That could be a good thing if you have to weather the holiday season with extended family.

I’ll be enjoying these beers in the days leading up to Christmas, when I buy beer as a gift I try to find things that are really unique. Unfortunately I can’t write about one that I was really excited to find until after Christmas because one of the four or five people who read this blog is getting it and that would spoil the surprise.

One that nobody is getting is a beer I was dying to try all summer long. Then it was released and bought up before I could try it. It’s a special beer from Dogfish Head called Theobroma. This is a beer based on a recipe that the crazy brewmasters at Dogfish Head believe was served to kings and sacrificed to the gods by ancient Mayans. The beer features ancho chilies and Central American cacao along with honey, annatto and traditional brewing ingredients.

I expected a dark and nutty beer that lacked subtlety. I thought it would be good because Dogfish Head doesn’t make beer that isn’t but I was looking for something really primal. What I got was a beer that is as nuanced and refined as it gets. Theobroma delivers a wine-like experience complete with the 10% alcohol content. Unlike other high ABV beers this is light and clean in flavor. It’s tart and smooth with delicately sweetness and just a tiny bite from the chilies. You can’t compare Theobroma to other beers because Theobroma really doesn’t fit into any modern beer category. It’s a beer in the broad sense of the term, but you can’t find anything like it. It’s not even fair to compare it to the other experimental brews that Dogfish Head has had the sheer audacity to put on the market. You’d be better off comparing Theobroma to a sparkling wine like a tart Cava or a citrusy Proseco.

I loved this beer from the first sip but it took me a couple of days to take it all in. I’ve been waiting for this beer for half 10 months and had an image in my head of what it would be like. That image was shattered from the first pour.

Theobroma is still tough to find. It was a limited release in 750 ml bottles. Several beer/wine people I talked to were perturbed that they couldn’t acquire more than a case at the time of the initial release and it might be a year or two before Dogfish Head beefs up the output to accommodate the surprising demand. It’s worth looking around, however. There are some stores, such as Whole Foods, that often move merchandise like wine and beer from one store where it might not be selling to one where it is. I think that’s how I got my hands on two bottles.

Yes, I still have a bottle on hand but it’s mine. I love giving beer as a gift but I have my limits. I might not open that one remaining bottle until I know I can get another. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give it as a gift. Especially if you know somebody who likes it.

American Idiot

2008-11-19T10:56:00.000-08:00

I hate to admit that I actually tried Budweiser’s American Ale. I did it at the behest of a gentleman who works for one of my favorite brewing companies here in Ohio. He insisted that I need to understand just how bad that beer is. Apparently the consensus among craft brewers is that this beer won’t steal business away from them at all. If anything it might embolden a handful of Budweiser fans to try a real craft beer.

Having sampled American Ale, I find that hard to believe. I’ve often said that there’s no such thing as bad beer. I’ve been wrong. Somehow the brilliant minds at the AB corporate office managed to make a beer that’s truly awful. This beer won't coax regular Bud-drinkers into the craft beer arena. It's just not true enough to the form.

The good news is that it’s cheap. I bought a 24 ounce bottle for just $1.49. The bad news is that I poured half of it out and tossed the bottle into the recycling bin. Hopefully the marketing guys at Sierra Nevada don’t read this: a 24 ounce bottle of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale retails for twice what American Ale goes for and it’s worth five times as much.

Mind you, SNPA is not the best pale ale on the market. It’s very good, but there are a number of beers I like better. I’d take both of Great Lakes Brewing Company’s offerings (Burning River and Commodore Perry IPA) over SNPA any day of the week and twice on Sundays, but SNPA is a really good beer and it’s widely available. I really like all of Sierra Nevada’s beers but I’m not biased toward them at all. I make the comparison because I know that’s the beer the buffoons and Budweiser had in mind when they formulated American Ale. So when I tell you I’d take one 12 ounce bottle of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale over a case of Budweiser American Ales, I’m not saying it because I’m beholden to the label. I have great respect for the company and what they've done, but I don't owe them anything...they just make a consistently good selection of craft beers that I can get my hands on easily.

American Ale is malty, but it’s not hopped very well. It tastes a bit like molasses and has a very flat finish. I’ve seen people publish tasting notes on this beer but I don’t know why. It’s not very inspired. It’s a little sweet and feels sticky. It was so un-enjoyable that I still wonder if I picked up a bad bottle. It just seemed like it wasn’t finished fermenting.

I knew this beer was going to be bad. I knew that AB would chicken out on the hops. When you compare what craft brewers put into their beers with the amount of hops commercial brewers use the difference is staggering. I’m sure bean counters and executive brewers thought that the recipe was off when they first looked at the hops bill and eventually the suits prevailed. The guys who were first contracted to come up with an American Ale probably walked off of the project.

Of course hops is only part of the problem. The beer lacks body as well. I don’t know if they used an abundance of corn and rice in this recipe and darkened the color with food dyes but it doesn’t seem like roasted barley was part of the process. I’ve got to believe that Budweiser’s take on American Ale came in with half the gravity of your typical craft-brewed pale ale.

The thing is I really made an effort to put my bias aside. I’ve made it clear that I have a beef with Budweiser but I left my grudges at the door when I tried this. It didn’t have to be lousy because I wasn’t going to drink it anyway. Even if, by some miracle, this beer tasted better than similar ales I still wouldn’t buy it. I support craft brewers because they are creative. I love trying new beers and craft brewers love to come up with more aggressive recipes. You’ve got to support that industry. It’s just a coincidence that the big commercial brewers can’t seem to concoct a good craft-like beer. I don’t have to hate them…they just make it so damned easy.

Coincidentally I sampled another mundane seasonal offering from AB. It was some sort of pumpkin spice beer that was on tap at a local bar. I tried a blind sample. I saw they had some sort of a pumpkin ale I’d not yet heard of so I tried it. It was watery and bland so I asked the bartender who made it and he confirmed my suspicions. AB tried to pull the same thing with a winter cask ale last year as well. If that beer actually saw the inside of a cask I’ll eat my shoes. I think they took Amber Bock and threw a pinch of nutmeg in it to make it seem Christmas-y. Maybe, just maybe, they threw some wood chips in the tanks that may or may not have been part of a cask at one time. I doubt they went that far.

So venture into this brave new world at your own risk. I’m quite certain that most of the people I know who read this blog won’t find American Ale the least bit drinkable but I’m sure you’ll try it just to see if it’s really that bad. Trust me, it is. I was surprised by how awful it was. Don’t spend money on it. See if your local bar will pour you a sample from the keg and minimize the misery. Then you can wash it down with something worthwhile. Of course, I fear that any bar that has this crap on tap probably won’t stock something redeeming. You might want to sneak a bottle of your own in. Don’t do it without protection. You won’t want this beer lingering on your palette any longer than it has to.

Pumpkin Beers and Dead Guy Ales

2008-11-18T10:49:00.000-08:00

Too much time has passed since my last review and that's unfortunate because I missed out on telling you about all the great Oktoberfest Beers. I'm a bad reviewer. Somebody should dock my pay.

Still, there's a lot of great beer to be had heading into Thanksgiving. You can still get your hands on a number of great pumpkin ales. A lot of people shy away from pumpkin beers because they're afraid that the taste is going to be too strong and sometimes you will run into a beer that's too thoroughly laced with cloves, nutmeg and pumpkin puree. That doesn't mean all pumpkin beers fall into this trap. In fact, most brewers have mastered this seasonal offering to the point where beer fans mark their calendars so they don't miss the release dates.

Dogfish Head makes one of the best and it's still available in most places. Punkin Ale is a smooth malty beer with brown sugar and pumpkin flavors. It's a basic pumpkin brew that doesn't overdo the spices normally associated with these beers. Punkin Ale is basically a nice strong brown ale that has a sweet nutty flavor imparted by pumpkins used in the brewing process. This beer goes perfectly with Thanksgiving dinner.

Southern Tier Brewing Company offers a bold imperial pumpkin ale known as Pumking. It's a big beer that comes in at 9% abv. That's a lot of heat for a beer but you wouldn't know it drinking this one. It's smooth and a little sweet. This beer is a little more assertively spiced than it's Dogfish Head counterpart but it's balanced nicely in this complex copper-hued ale. Pumking has a nice malty sweetness to it and it tastes a bit like pumpkin bread. An imperial ale might be a bit heavy to imbibe with Thanksgiving dinner but this beer would be a great substitution for that extra slice of pumpkin pie. It's a really interesting beer to drink because the flavors are so complex. Every time I drink it I find myself trying to identify certain notes. It's an enjoyable project that I'll look forward to completing over the next several years.

It's been 15 years since Rogue first offered the ubiquitous Dead Guy Ale, a maibock first brewed to honor the Day of the Dead celebration. Now, as if Dead Guy wasn't enough, Rogue has beefed up the recipe and offers Double Dead Guy Ale. This is a strong ale that brings a lot of flavor to the party. Roasted malts and and Cascade hops combine to blend flavors of caramel with notes of citrus. The beer finishes smoothly with hints of dark chocolate.

If you haven't had Dead Guy Ale yet Rogue would probably like to know what rock you crawled from under so they can find a distributor, but you don't have to feel obliged to work your way up. Rogue is an excellent brewer and Double Dead Guy is much more than just an extra strength version of their most popular beer. No prerequisites are required.

There you have it, several great beers to consider. I'm sorry for the delay between posts. I'll be back soon to outline Christmas Ales and some interesting beers for holiday gift giving.

Hit the Road, Bud

2008-09-24T07:35:00.000-07:00

Budweiser has been promoting its latest entry into the American Beer Market: Budweiser American Ale. From what I can tell through my research this is going to be a knock off of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, the granddaddy of the craft brewing craze.

It makes me sick.

Brewers like Sierra Nevada and the Boston Beer Company took big risks when they invested heavily in their craft beers and expanded their markets. Today there are certainly better beers to be had than Sam Adams and SNPA but you have to honor the courage and influence those beers have had. Ken Grossman and Paul Camusi started off as home brewers who launched a micro brewery in 1979 and Jim Koch worked hard to establish his Samuel Adams brand derived from his grandfather’s recipe. Both beers are explosions of malt and hops that are so assertive most beer drinkers are taken aback. It’s just too much beer for some people, which is why craft brewers, in spite of their tremendous creativity, hold such a tiny share of the market. Their following is loyal, but the market segment is small.

Anheuser Busch is not hurting for money. They’ve dominated the global beer market for decades. There are simply more people who enjoy their bastardized pilsner than there are people who enjoy a complex ale. That’s fine. I’m not going to rage against popular opinion. But over the years AB has taken cheap shots at craft brewers, the art of making a good ale and now, since they can’t convince craft beer fans to come back to Bud, they’ve opted to invade the craft beer market with their own entry.

I haven’t tried this beer. I thought about it because I try to review beers on this site but I can’t. Anheuser Busch has done nothing to advance the art of brewing. They don’t encourage home brewing like the craft brewers do. Jim Koch so admires home brewing he invites people to submit their best recipes to the Boston Beer Company to have it bottled and distributed nationally. Other craft brewers, like Rogue, offer home brew kits online so you can replicate your favorites in your own home. That’s what craft brewing is all about. It’s about loving beer, and the people who brew it. It’s about respecting other craft brewers.

Anheuser Busch would gleefully destroy the craft brew market. And that’s what American Ale is all about. Maybe a few Budweiser fans will try it and like it but the real target are all those beer snobs who spend $10-15 a six pack on craft beers.

American Ale. As if they invented the concept. It’s long been understood the quintessential American ale is the more complex version of pale ale crafted by our best and brightest microbrewers. Nobody in that market has the audacity to claim it as an original style but along comes Anheuser Busch and its marketing team. Now they claim they’ve created a new style. Yeah, after taking 8 years to reverse engineer Sierra Nevada’s flagship beer.

I’m positive I would find this beer lacking. AB always has some corporate hack doing something to render a style impotent and this won’t be an exception. I won’t review this beer, however, because I don’t want to spend one thin dime on this product. It’s shameless. It’s just rude. Budweiser stands for everything that is wrong with beer and I refuse to take part in their attempt to undo everything good about it. I love craft brews and I won’t stand by and watch the likes of AB invade their niche.

Where was Budweiser back in 1980 when all of this started? Now that there a lot of great independent brewers make a decent living selling great beer you want to come sniffing around? No thanks, Bud. Take your bottles full of corporate swill somewhere else. You’re not welcome here. Not now, not ever.

Cans can

2008-09-13T11:28:00.000-07:00

I believe that bottles are superior to cans and I'm not alone. However there are great arguments to be made in favor of cans. Cans allow ZERO exposure to light, they are lighter, consume less space and recycle more easily. Some even claim that cans offer a better seal. All these arguments make sense and being a green weenie I can back cans on the environmental argument alone.

It's hard to find good beer in cans. There are some decent European imports that are available in four packs featuring pint sized cans. Most of these cans contain a nitrogen widget that replicates a pub pour. If I'm being honest I'm not a big fan of nitrogen. I don't mind hand pulled beers but for some reason the nitrogen seems to mute some of the flavor profiles. Unless I'm drinking a cask conditioned stout, I like some carbonation. Maybe that's just me.

Domestically speaking, crap comes in cans. Bud, Coors, Miller, Iron City, Schlitz, Pabst. Bleh. No thanks. I don't know if it's the crappy beer or the can but often when I drink out of cans, which is a rare occasion, I get the sense of something metallic in the beer. It's almost as if the acid in the hops picks up a tinny flavor from the can. Now this might be because there isn't enough body in the beer to protect the hops or maybe the beer is in the can too long. Perhaps all the rice and corn used by the mega "brewers" is to blame. I'm not an expert on the subject I just know that this is what I taste. I'm happy to blame the beer, but I don't find mega brews nearly as objectionable when they come from a bottle or a keg. As objectionable. Budweiser still makes me want to punch somebody.

Not too long ago, I tried some beer from a can that was pretty damned good. In fact it was excellent beer. It was from a little brewing company in the Twin Cities knows as Surly.

Surly Brewing Company offers a number of really nice beers. I was particularly pleased with Furious which is an aggressively hopped ale featuring Golden Promise malt, a popular malt found in a number of premium Scotch Whiskeys. The beer is what you would get if a Scottish Ale hooked up with an IPA and had a bastard love child. It's sweet, it's bitter and doesn't always play well with the other kids. Go ahead and laugh but don't try to follow a Furious with something lighter like a wheat beer. You won't taste it.

Surly also makes a refreshing session beer called Bender. This is truly a blend of several styles with influences coming from brown ales, porters and traditional pale ales. It's got a lot going on and you'll want more. Fortunately it's not too high in alcohol at 5% ABV so you can indulge.

When I was up in the area I managed to sample a limited release of Bitter Brewer. This is an English Bitter that is dry hopped for 14 days. The dry hopping gives it more edge than you'd expect out of a traditional English Bitter which really drives home the point of Surly. These people don't follow rules. They brew beer they like and let you have some. If you don't like it, they don't really care.

All of the Surly beers are offered in cans and the can doesn't seem to diminish the quality of the beer. Part of that is because these beers don't stay on the shelf for long and part of it is because Surly doesn't hold back on the flavor. A four pack of 16 ounce cans is going to set you back about what you'd pay for a 12 pack of domestic swill but you get what you pay for. I'm sure the guys at surly would be happy to piss in a few cans and cut you a deal. It might taste better than Bud too.

Does this mean everybody should use cans? I don't know. Surly's beers aren't being shipped across the country the way Sierra Nevada's beers are. Surly doesn't even have a regional market like Great Lakes, so maybe cans aren't out of the woods yet...but if you happen to get up to the twins, go ahead and snap one of these guys open. You won't be disappointed.

So long, Bud...sort of

2008-07-15T10:05:00.001-07:00

Once again I’m way behind on reviews. I have to write about my recent trip to the Twin Cities, the beer I sampled along the way and a couple of pretty wild beers I tried recently. I’ll get to that soon.

The beer and financial world was taken aback recently by Belgian conglomerate, Inbev’s aggressive acquisition of Anheuser Busch. While a dedicated beer snob such as myself couldn’t care less if the world never sees another drop of Bud Light, it’s important to note that Inbev has assumed control of a number of major beer brands and so far nothing has changed. Canadians still enjoy their Blue even though Inbev purchased the Labatt Brewing Company a few years ago. So far, the biggest change we might see in the AB family is the liquidation of non-beer business interests. Later we might see Inbev sell off or drop less popular brands but the flagship will remain untouched. That’s good news for Bud fans.

Before we all start throwing a pity party for dear old Bud, let’s remember that Anheuser Busch is a bit of an evil corporation in itself. This is not a little brewery that got swallowed by an unscrupulous powerhouse. This was a corporate consolidation of capital.

The same sense of greed that brought forth ill-conceived products like Tequiza and Bud Dry is what prompted the corporate executives at AB to broker the liens on their souls to Inbev. If anything this purchase is good for the consumer because Inbev actually respects the consumer and aspires to sell products they want, rather than hypnotize the masses into believing that Bud Light will make them sexy.

For years AB has been struggling with what to do about the craft beer revolution. Initially it was dismissed as a trend and ignored but as craft brewers grew and more people ventured into the business , the marketing people at Budweiser got nervous. Their most recent advertising campaign promoting the mythical “American Lager” that is Budweiser was intended to be a staggering uppercut thrown at the craft brew industry. The uppercut missed.

You can spin your pasty yellow lager anyway you like but the growing number of people who love craft beers aren’t buying it. Everybody who knows anything about beer understands that AB’s top brand is based on a stolen recipe that was watered down to maximize profits. The legacy of the American Lager is one of cowardice and greed. Granted, most people prefer it but AB’s problem is they weren’t happy with most people. AB never liked dealing with competition from so-called microbreweries.

When craft-brewers united to fight against liquor laws that limited the sales of stronger beers AB was right there with checkbook in hand supporting the opposition. Why would a company that made billions hawking near beer want to compete with more robust beers? Better to keep the status quo and limit consumer choice.

Small brewers and consumers prevailed throughout the 1990s as many of the states allowed for the distribution and sale of stronger beers. Arbitrary limitation still exist but for the most part consumers can buy Imperial Stouts, Belgian Tripels and Double IPAs right next to those cans of fizzy nonsense George Clooney got paid a mint to promote. Having failed miserably at keeping market restrictions in place, AB recently switched to using Rob Riggle of The Daily Show, to promote the intricate perfection of Budweiser. Lagers, Riggle says in one spot, are clear and don’t hide imperfections.

Except for that one glaring imperfection some of us like to call lack of flavor, Rob. Clearly that was an overt shot at US craft brewers who specialize in the art of ales. Especially big, dark, unfiltered ales sometimes poured straight from the cask at room temperatures. They aren’t for everybody, but why was Anheuser Busch so determined to convince people that they’re inferior? To Budweiser? Please.

So maybe I’m enjoying this recent acquisition by Inbev with a sense of glee. Inbev’s been managing to make a killing around the world without insulting the intelligence of beer aficionados or assaulting the artisan brewers who continue to cultivate the rich culture of brewing. Maybe now AB will stop picking on the little guy and stick with doing what it does best. Which is market products.

Making Up Time

2008-06-27T12:19:00.000-07:00

Life has a funny way of sneaking up on you. I haven’t had a lot of time to publish any reviews or thoughts on beer but I’ve managed to squeeze in my fair share of pints. Hey, if you have to choose between writing about beer and drinking beer I think it’s obvious what the best option is.

Fortunately most of my drinking has come by way of sampler packs. I reacquainted myself with Goose Island by partaking of their seasonal sampler which featured four excellent beers from this Chicago craft brewer.

Headlining this pack was the Summertime, a very crisp Kolsch style ale that would fit into a discussion about session beers rather nicely. It’s a golden colored beer with a nice balance of hops and malt. It’s lighter in body than most of your ales and comes in the bottle with a 5.0% ABV so it’s not going to have you wobbling on the back nine if you choose to drink on the links.

Speaking as a notorious hop head and big beer drinker I can honestly say that I like this beer. Sometimes Kolsch falls a little flat for me. They’re either too sweet or they end up with a weird metallic taste because the acid from the hops doesn’t get checked by the malt. Goose Island Summertime is a very well balanced beer I can enjoy.

Goose Island’s signature beer is the Honker’s Ale which is a very nicely balanced trandtional session bitter. It’s amber in color and has a nice hop balance. Like a true English bitter it’s relatively low in alcohol at 4.3% ABV but unlike a lot of ambitious beers with a low ABV, Honker’s has an excellent flavor profile. In fact, of the various true bitters available, Honker’s is at the very top.

Of course, I’m not happy without hops. As well-crafted as those beers are I still enjoy a good IPA and this mix pack was kind enough to provide three of them for my drinking pleasure as well. For my tastes this was the best beer in the bundle but only by a narrow margin. Goose Island’s take on IPA isn’t nearly as outlandishly hopped as a lot of the offerings out there which makes it unique. As much as I love hops I have to admit that there are times when they can be too strong. It’s like hot sauce. I can eat wings covered in meltdown sauce but I’d be lying if I said I could taste anything except the heat.

Hops are different in the sense that they don’t numb your senses but they can overpower a beer. Sometimes I like the sensation getting whacked in the mouth with a pine tree but there are times when I want to enjoy the total beer experience. Goose Island IPA delivers enough hops to eliminate any confusion as to the style, but leaves enough of the malt behind to allow you to appreciate the effort that went into this beer. Trust me, this beer isn’t weak even by IPA standards. It delivers hops, but it doesn’t rely solely on hops to make a name for itself. It’s a really nice beer.

Rounding out the pack was another dandy offering: 312 Urban Wheat. This is another one of those wheat beers that can help skeptics overcome their reservations about hazy hefewiezens. 312 packs enough hop character to balance the sweetness of the wheat and Goose Island’s brew crew doesn’t fiddle around with a lot of other nonsense that would bring bogus flavors to the party. It’s a wheat beer with old school beer sensibility.

But wait, there’s more…..

I also enjoyed a sampler pack from Flying Dog. In fact, Flying Dog’s popularity might be the fact that it promotes its Mixed Pack sampler nationally. Flying Dog started in Colorado but brewing operations moved to Frederick, Maryland to accommodate demand. Flying Dog is best known for the funky packaging featuring artwork by Ralph Steadman. Fortunately the creativity is not squandered on lousy beer as the Mixed Pack quickly proves.

Doggie Style Classic Pale Ale is really the centerpiece of the collection and it is a very nice representation of what American pale Ale is all about. It’s got a hearty dose of Cascade hop aroma imparted in the dry hopping process and enough malt to hold up to it without being heavy. At one time this beer defined hops but over the past few years other brewers have gotten more aggressive. Doggie Style is still a great beer, it’s just not the trendsetter it once was. That’s not a bad thing. It’s got a light amber color, 5.5% ABV and a clean finish that makes the next sip as good as the first. Doggie Style is a very drinkable beer.

In-Heat Wheat is more of a traditional wheat beer. Flying Dog claims to use a proprietary yeast that imparts hints of banana and cloves. That’s probably not going to attract a lot of first timers but you really have to be thinking banana to pick up on that flavor. The clove flavor is there but it’s not as cloying as you might think. Since tradition German Perle hops are used this beer is on the malty side. I like it but not as much as I like wheat beers that are more assertively hopped.

Old Scratch Amber Lager is another nice beer that seems similar to a Dortmunder. It’s a little darker and sweeter than a Pilsner. This isn’t a beer that’s going to change your life but it’s a good beer that won’t let you down.

The same can be said the Tire Bite Golden Ale. It’s like a traditional Kolsch, not too bitter, not too sweet and a low enough ABV to let you drink it as a thirst quencher. Again, it’s a very good beer…just not a world beater.

Snake Dog is the IPA of the pack and as IPA’s go it’s really pretty good. They dry hop with Columbus hops and flavor it with Warrior hops. The result is a citrusy aroma and a really dry finish. When I first tried this I was expected something with very little in the way of nuance but as IPA’s go this beer’s well balanced enough to appeal to beginners while still providing certifiable hop heads with enough to chew on.

My favorite beer of the pack is also one of the best porters you’ll find on the market. Road Dog Porter is robust and malty with subtle hop bitterness that keeps it clean. There are hints of chocolate and coffee as is the case with any good porter but because this beer is hopped nicely there’s a warm smokiness playing in the mix as well. It’s not listed as a smoked porter but it certainly has the character of one. It’s very nice.

If you’re one of those people who insists that there’s a meaningful difference between stouts and porters this is the beer that will prove you wrong. The term “stout” was derived from breweries that used it as a way to describe the volume of malt in their porters. Back in the day Road Dog would have been designated “extra stout” because it’s such a big beer. At 6% ABV, Road Dog’s not going to be confused for the massive imperial stouts on the market but it’s still a pretty strong brew and it’s highly enjoyable.

So there you go. I think I made up for missing a few entries. Now go out, buy a mix pack and see if you agree.

Happy Anniversary!

2008-06-02T11:19:00.000-07:00

Avery Brewing Company of Boulder, Colorado recently marked its 15 year anniversary. Established in 1993 this ambitious microbrewer has cranked out its share of big beers perhaps most notably The Reverend, which is a dark Belgian-influenced quadrupel and The Beast, a Grand Cru that ships out at more than 16%ABV. In addition to a number of hefty brews Avery also offers a couple of very nicely balanced beers such as 14’er ESB and Ellie’s Brown; both of which are very flavorful, remarkably drinkable and worthy of their own reviews.

A number of brewing companies enjoy celebrating their anniversaries with limited releases that feature subtle and/or overt nods to the year being commemorated. Sometimes that will be reflected in the original gravity while other companies try to finish with an alcohol content that reflects the year. Avery simply dubbed this year’s anniversary ale 15. 15 is a strong Belgian ale that makes use of the brettanomyces yeast I previously mentioned in reference to Ommegang’s Ommegeddon.

The wild yeast derivative imparts a funky, fruity flavor and a considerable amount of acidity in the flavor profile but the finish isn’t as dry as one might expect. Avery makes use of hibiscus flower and figs as well as white pepper. There’s a lot going on in this beer and the finish isn’t quite dry enough for my taste. I very much enjoyed this beer as it combines the attributes I enjoyed in Ommegeddon and Rejewvinator but the combination of brettanomyces and white pepper leaves a pungent taste behind rather than a clean finish. It’s not to say that the aftertaste is unpleasant, just the aftertaste is prolonged. This beer’s ABV is listed just under 8% but it certainly tastes and feels stronger.

A lot of people won’t like this beer. It’s a fairly typical American take on Belgian ale and the flavors are pretty aggressive. To those who aren't very astute in this genre it might even seem that the flavors are competing with each other.If you like Belgian Ales you should give this one a try but if you’re still nervous about throwing $6.00 down on a 750ml bottle of Hennepin you might want to leave this beer for the big boys. It's a very good beer and the fact that it makes productive use of brettanomyces should be intriguing. A lot of brewers are playing different strains of this wild yeast and before long it's likely every brewing company worth its salt will have its own signature strain that imparts a unique flavor profile to the beer.

And because I don’t want to leave any readers thinking that there’s a Belgian bias afoot I’d like to mention another beer I had recently: Heavy Seas Loose Cannon Hop3 Ale. It’s been a while since I’ve sampled this nifty IPA from the Clipper City Brewing Company out of Baltimore and it’s too bad I hadn’t reacquainted myself with it prior to the IPA diatribe I posted earlier. This “hop-cubed” beer looks gorgeous with a rich amber color. The hop aroma is pronounced and the beer’s finish is dry with a lot of acidity. 3 pounds of hops are used three ways: In the kettle, in the hop back and, of course, via dry hopping.

The beer has an ABV of 7.25% and because it is so aggressively hopped it is not a beer you want to drink too much of. The acidity from the hops will come back to haunt you if you over imbibe. Like most big beers this is one to sip and savor while your buddies polish off a bucket of Coors Light longnecks. After that you can switch over to one of those session beers we talked about last week. Then you can work on finding some new friends.

Session Beers

2008-05-27T14:18:00.000-07:00

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.

The Blend Trend

2008-05-23T06:13:00.000-07:00

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 then 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.

Belgian Battle Royale

2008-05-20T09:54:00.000-07:00

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.

Rejewvenator

2008-05-18T08:06:00.000-07:00

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.

Ratings

2008-05-14T13:25:00.000-07:00

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.

Chipotle Ale

2008-05-09T08:27:00.000-07:00

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.

But I don't like Wheat Beer

2008-05-07T09:41:00.001-07:00

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 use 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 great 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.

Pale Ale or IPA?

2008-05-06T10:36:00.000-07:00

India Pale Ale is the standard by which all American craft beers are judged. Why? Well that’s hard to say. Perhaps it’s because the spicy varieties of hops, such as the Willamette and Cascade, grown in the Pacific Northwest fit well in that classic Anglo-ale. And while its roots are firmly entrenched in typical English efficiency, IPA available in the US by far surpass anything exported by our British friends.

Most people don’t know the difference between an IPA and a Pale Ale and in all honesty by today’s standards it’s very difficult to tell. What set India Pale Ale apart was the fact that it was stronger so that it could withstand a long trip from England to the imperial colonies in India. Regular concoctions such as stouts and porters would actually rot on the way and less hearty pale ales would become overpowered by the flavor of the oak casks they were delivered in. The recipe was ramped up to increase the alcohol content and more hopes were used to improve the finish of the product when it was finally poured. It’s worth noting that the technique of dry-hopping became widely practiced because of this style.

Before long IPAs became the favored beer of the British Empire. Just about every brewer was cranking a version out which eventually led to the nullification of the style. As brewers cut corners the beers became less distinguished from the likes of session beers with lower alcohol content and less flavor. For quite some time Bass was the standard by which all Pale Ales, India and otherwise, were judged and thanks to the likes of macro-brewed, corn-fed American lagers, Bass was good.

Figuring out who started the craft beer trend in the US is like trying to sort out the origins of Hip Hop. Everybody’s got a story and they're sticking to it, but you have to give Sierra Nevada Brewing Company credit for at least being a significant influence. Anchor Brewing made some waves with its “Steam” beer in the early 1980s, although it is not a steam beer at all and some pretty shady legal maneuvering by Anchor allowed them to copyright the name. Anchor makes a lot of good beer but a lot of people take issue with the misappropriation of the “steam” designation.

Sierra Nevada cranked out Sierra Nevada Pale Ale way back in 1980. Jim Koch founded the Boston Beer Company in 1984 and while his flagship brew, Samuel Adams Boston Lager is--well, a lager-- it certainly has the body and spirit of an ale. Other notable brewers shaping the craft beer landscape came on the scene later. That doesn't mean they didn't set the bar higher or change the way people thought about beer but somebody had to open the door. So let’s give Sierra Nevada its due. Ken Grossman turned everybody on to hops and the revolution (or is it revelation?) continues.

That being said, there is still the pesky issue of distinguishing the difference between a regular Pale Ale and the India Pale Ale. In all honesty it would appear that the difference varies from brewer to brewer. Most beer geeks believe that an IPA has some oak to it in order to properly pay homage to the oak casks that the original IPAs journeyed halfway around the world in. Some believe it’s a matter of strength or specific gravity.

Personally I need to do more research. Just about every brewer worth your time offers a Pale Ale and most have taken the leap and tinkered with a recipe to offer an IPA as well. That means it’s important to get one of each, set them side by side and let the analysis begin. It's hard work but it's got to be done.

A great place to start is with Great Lakes Brewing Company. Great Lakes offers one of the best Pale Ales on the market in Burning River Pale Ale. It’s a very nicely balanced beer with a somewhat piney aroma from the Cascade hops. At 6% ABV it’s not a watered down version of an IPA and the medium body doesn’t overwhelm you with malt. Burning River is simple a very versatile and easily drinkable beer. You can knock a few back over a game of cards or serve it up with a nice steak or even some spicy ribs.

Great Lakes also offers a wonderful take on the IPA. Commodore Perry is a strong (7.5% ABV) beer with aggressive hop flavor and aroma. Where Burning River has a dry citrusy finish, Commodore Perry is just a little fruit-like at the end. It’s subtle but the beer does have a little more malt to offer so there’s a slightly sweeter aftertaste which works nicely with the aggressive hop character this beer starts with.

Commodore Perry and Burning River are generally available side by side in your local beverage store. That’s assuming you’re lucky enough to live in an area that Great Lakes distributes to. If so, buy a twelve pack of each and prepare to do a side by side comparison. You won’t be disappointed. Normally when I compare a company’s IPA to their standard PA I come away with a definite favorite. Often the IPA will leave me thinking that the PA is watered down. That’s not the case here. Buring River is its own beer and while I think I might choose the Commodore Perry over Burning River if I had a gun to my head, there are some things I like better about it.

While we’re in the Cleveland area, let’s talk about a very special beer offered by Buckeye Brewing Company. Most people in Ohio are (or at least should be) familiar with Buckeye’s Hippie IPA. It’s an assertive IPA very much in the style of the Pale Ales made famous by the Pacific Northwest brewers. It’s a very good example of what a true IPA should be.

For some reason, Buckeye wanted to up the ante just a bit and the result is its 76 IPA. The name is derived from the original gravity which tops out at 1.076. A little orange peel is added at the end of the boil and when this beer is finally conditioned the result is a big beer with big flavor. At 7.9% ABV, 76 might be infringing on barley wine territory but there’s nothing syrupy about this beer. It’s all IPA. Buckeye only release 1,000 22oz bottles of this beer each year. As aggressive as this beer is there’s still plenty of nuance. Subtle flavors aren’t overwhelmed by the hops and the citrus finish enhanced by the orange peel ensures that the malt won’t overstay its welcome.

In the big world of beer, Buckeye 76 India Pale Ale is among a number a great offerings out there but when you limit that search to IPAs it’s hard to find a better beer that embodies everything the style is defined by. So far, when I’m looking for a real, honest-to-goodness IPA, Buckeye 76 India Pale Ale can’t be beat.

Note: Yeah, there's a little home cooking going on. I fully admit that I'm partial to local products and in the world of craft brewing, that's a good thing. Of course, Burning River won gold at the last three World Beer Championships and Commodore Perry snagged a gold in 2008 in its category so I'm not exactly alone in my praise. As for Buckeye Brewing, write me off as a homer if you will but don't let that stop you from trying it.

Review: Ommegeddon

2008-04-30T07:39:00.000-07:00

The phrase “champagne of beer” has been trademarked by Miller as a promotional slogan for its relentlessly disappointing High Life brand. I first tried High Life when I was in college and thought it would be a big step up from the Busch Light Draft I was drinking on a regular basis. Boy was I wrong. It’s companies like Miller that give beer a bad name.

Beer can be complex and refined. Beer can be nuanced. Beer can also be spicy and assertive. There are thousands of great ales that can give the very best wines a run for their money and there is indeed a champagne of the beer world. Coincidentally that champagne of the grain originally hails from a region not all that far from where champagne was born. In fact, monks created the very first bottle conditioned Trappist Ales in Belgium when most people were soaking stale bread in water and letting it ferment.

Belgian ales come in corked bottles and open with a refreshing “pop” just like champagne. Because fermentation occurs in the bottle they are more bubbly than other beers and bubbles are part of what makes beer so special. Belgian ales tend to have an alcohol content ranging from 7% to 12% by volume. There are some that creep closer to 20% but that’s getting into a different category of beers altogether. Generally a really nice Belgian ale or Belgian style ale will bring 10% abv to the table.

Belgian ales and their cousins, French farmhouse ales, are among the most flavorful beers on the market. Subtle spices and even tart fruits are often employed throughout the brewing and fermentation process to lend unique character to the final product. This is not a “flavored” beer where crap is added to the bottle but rather a beer with flavor. The ingredients are part of the fermentation process. There’s nothing wrong with a hint of apricot, pumpkin or some cardamom as long as it grows with the beer. Belgian ales accomplish that and the influence can be enjoyed throughout the craft brewing industry. Don't shy away from flavor just because you didn't like Tequiza.

One of the best brewers for the money is a nifty operation out of Cooperstown called Brewery Ommegang. Where most Belgian imports run about $14 for a 750ml bottle, Ommegang can offer a better beer for half that. This brewery is actually a division of Duvel Moortgat, one of the heavy hitters in the Eurpopean market. Duvel invested into Brewery Ommegang back in 1997 when it first opened and now owns the brewery. As far as I can tell the brewery has maintained its independent personality.

A great example of that personality can be found in a very recent offering, Ommegeddon. This beer is a blond ale with an 8% abv. It’s dry hopped which gives it a nice crisp finish and they use a special strain of yeast known as Brettanomyces. This yeast is most common in the wine industry and it brings in an interesting flavor component because it produces some acid as a byproduct. Sometimes Brettanomyces can be too pungent which makes it a bad fit for a lot of brewing applications but in a robust Belgian ale the assertive yeast is right at home. Combined with the dry hops it makes Ommegeddon a very satisfying beer.

Ommegeddon has a crisp citrus flavor that comes through even when the beer is served colder than it should be. Most Belgian style ales should be enjoyed at a temperature around 50 degrees but thanks to the dry hopping and the acidity brought to the bottle by the yeast you can get away with pulling this bottle out of an icy cooler and enjoying it at your favorite tailgate party.

That’s if you can get it. Ommegeddon was a limited release that has proven to be very popular. The fact that it, like all Belgian style ales, can be cellared makes it a collectible beer. If you happed to see one on the shelf at a local wine shop, pass on the petite syrah and shell out $11 for this. You won’t regret it.

The Speech

2008-04-29T10:52:00.000-07:00

I love beer and find myself regaling far too many people with tales of beer loved and lost.
Most people like the watery American standards that have to be served at the freezing point lest the consumer realize that they’re drinking something that tastes like water would taste if you rinsed out a real beer bottle. Others think that Amber Bock and Kilian’s Irish Red are big beers that push the envelope. That’s OK. There was a time when I thought the same way. Granted that was before the craft brewing revolution picked up steam, but still, I was there.

Rather than allow myself to become a beer bully, I figured I’d focus my energy and passion for that timeless concoction into this blog. Then I can stop making people feel bad about drinking things labeled “Lite”. It’s not their fault they have no taste.

The one place I’ll won’t keep my opinions…yes that’s supposed to be plural…to myself is when I’m in a brew pub. To me there’s nothing quite as offensive as walking into a place that takes pride in making its own beer and ordering up a Coors. I know, you’re thinking that Coors was once a craft brew too, right? Well you’re wrong. The personality and passion that went into the original products have long since been watered down to appease the nubile palates of college kids. Today it’s all about the marketing. Beer? People will drink anything if somebody sexy tells them to.

Even if you want to convince yourself that Bud, Miller and Coors are all real beers the fact remains that you’re in a brew pub. Do you go to Morton’s and have Sizzler deliver your steak? Then why would you walk into Barley’s and order domestic swill? It’s just plain rude. The mega breweries have reduced the brewing process to its simplest form and minimized their overhead by cutting corners. They use pelletized hops rather than fresh because it saves space, they use special blends of yeast that ferment faster and then they relentlessly filter their beers to make sure that anything resembling character is removed. Pasteurization + homogenization / bastardization = marginalization.

The brew master at your local brew pub nurtures small batches of beer. Small brewers take pride in exploring the world of beer and improving their products. They work with local suppliers and create unique brews that reflect their communities. How can you walk into a brew pub and order a beer that’s designed to have no identity? It’s like going home and passing on Mom’s meatloaf in favor of a Big Mac. Even if mom’s meatloaf turns out to be a little dry she still made it with love, right?

Of course brew masters rarely disappoint. They won’t put something on the bar that they aren’t proud of. The only reason most brew pubs offer domestics mega-brews is because their hoping that the knuckleheads who order Bud will at least try a sample of one of the house beers and have the epiphany.

The other big beer mistake is Euro-brews. Heineken and Amstel are not good beers by any stretch of the imagination. College kids are tricked into thinking they are because they're supposedly exotic, that's why everybody claims to like Coldplay. Heineken is consistently skunky because it sits in green bottles and Amstel is just a European attempt to market Budweiser under a different label. Coldplay is like a watered down version of U2 with a gelded facsimile of Sting fronting the band...they're pretty skunky too.

Talk about German beers all you want and rave about English ales until people sing God Save the Queen but at the end of the day the best beers in the world are brewed right here in the USA by craft brewing companies. Craft beers are so good that the big European brewers have sent analysts to the US to sample craft beers and crack the mysterious code. The problem is that when the Euro-brewers think they have the craft market cornered, somebody, like Allagash, ages an ale in a bourbon barrel and the whole revolution starts anew. Even the Trappist Monks of Belgium could take notes from some of the brewers here in the US. Hoppin' Frog makes a great Belgian style ale and Ommegang’s selection of beers is better than anything I’ve had from across the pond. Unibrou also makes some very interesting beers that challenge the Belgian imports.

Even the stalwart stout of the beer world, Guinness, has stiff competition from upstarts who thumb their noses at tradition and load their stouts with aggressive flavors. It’s hit Guinness so hard that the company is scrambling to figure out a way to balance its tradition with some of the new techniques like using more finishing hops to spice things up.

The world of beer is huge. There are bars that have 100’s of different beers on tap and you won’t see a Coors or a Miller emblem on any of them. Why would anybody waste time on the same old swill?