beers of conviction

Meantime plans to revive London brewing history

Meantime clockMeantime Brewing Company in London has signed a £5m deal with the Greenwich Foundation to excavate, renovate and recommence brewing at the Old Royal Naval College.

“London is the home of India Pale Ale, Porter and Stout but – in time honored British tradition – we have allowed this rich heritage to be forgotten,” Meantime brewmaster Alastair Hook said for a press release.

“The pubs and breweries in our capital were once the envy of the world and in terms of commercial, industrial and social importance their impact was immense. The brewery exhibit and Meantime brewhouse, along with the cellars and bar will do everything possible to recapture and present the visitor with the full glory of this fascinating age.”

There was a brewery on the site of the Old Royal Naval College from 1717 until around 1860. Its function was to supply the retired and injured seafarers, inmates of the Royal Hospital, with their daily ration of beer. The current building was constructed in 1831, substantially altered in 1843 and subsequently all but demolished.

A press release states, “Meantime will produce its own London Porter that will replicate the beer produced by the brewery in the early 18th century.” And, “The defining character of these beers would have driven by Brettanomyces yeasts and Lactobacillus and Pediococcus bacteria harbored in the pores of the wooden tuns used to store the beer. The beers would have been stored for a minimum of 12 months.”

Meantime some time ago created mini-websites with the history of London Porter and
India Pale Ale, two of its beers that have been particularly popular in the U.S. market.

Well worth your reading time . . . and two beers equally worth seeking out.

Flying Dog Garde Dog: Thumbs up or down?


Let’s start with what the brewer has to say: Matt Brophy of Flying Dog Ales talks about the intent behind the seasonal Garde Dog, as well as the way it tastes to him.

Please notice that near the end he says, “We put our own spin on it.”

Not to duck Christopher’s call for less description/background and more guidance/criticism, but how you rate this beer depends in part on what you expect from it. Had I sampled it looking for one designed to replicate Lost Abbey’s Avant Garde I would have been disappointed and likely suggested “thumbs down.”

But I like the Garde Dog. If I could buy it fresh (many Flying Dog seasonals don’t reach New Mexico, and you always have to worry about how they’ve been treated) I would. So if we are treating this like a light switch, good or bad, this beer is good. Unlike the previous biere de garde I drank, Castelain Blond, a generally dependable beer that was old, lifeless and a bit sour.

Like many other beer bloggers (just do a Technorati search) I received a bottle directly from Flying Dog, assuring freshness. I prefer it that way.

It’s no wimp at 5.8% abv, but not as strong (and hence as complex) as more traditional versions. Perhaps the flavor is a bit fruity for the style, but it blends well with lager malt sweetness and spicy hops, leaving an impression of fresh bread. Maybe it’s going to taste earthier after some time in the bottle . . . although since it’s capped rather than corked there’s less chance it will take on a musty character (or is that TCA?) that would make it more “authentic.”

By then it will be up to somebody else to tell you it is good. And I may well not agree.

Fat Tire in cans: No foolin’

You are bound to see some April Fool’s posts today in the beer blogosphere, but the news that New Belgium Brewing in Colorado almost certainly will be packaging Fat Tire in cans is real.

I simply missed the story in the The Fort Collins Coloradoan until now.

Fat Tire is the only one of New Belgium’s brews that will be available in cans and will be packaged in a 12 pack, capitalizing on the brand’s popularity.

“It’s a little more versatility in our packaging,” spokesman Bryan Simpson told the newspaper, and it provides another option for people to take cans of Fat Tire to places they couldn’t take glass bottles, such as concerts and other outdoor activities.

Given New Belgium’s commitment to sustainability this makes perfect sense. Aluminum cans are 100% recyclable into new cans, and recycling 40 aluminum beverage cans saves enough energy equivalent to one gallon of gasoline, according to the Aluminum Association Inc.

Oskar Blues in nearby Lyons triggered something of micro canning revolution in 2002 when it installed a small canning line at its then-tiny brewpub.

Added April 2: New Belgium has issued a press release indicating cans will be available in June.

Palo Santo Marron: A beer and a movie

So would you pair Palo Santo Marron (shortened to Palo Santo for the rest of this post), the latest release from Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, with popcorn?

Probably not, but it is tempting simply because the beer comes with a movie. Dogfish Head has enclosed “Take Time” with the first 10,000 four-packs of Palo Santo with a note that the length (19 minutes) of the documentary about making the beer coincides with the optimal time it takes to finish a snifter of the 12% beer.

As you can see, Dogfish made the video available on YouTube in two parts. I put the second part here because you get right to the nuts and bolts. Start at the beginning if you like.

Watching it (while drinking the beer, of course) the thought occurred to me that had there been DVDs and YouTube in the 1970s this is something Robert Mondavi would have done. Sorry to introduce wine and marketing but it’s relevant. The story behind this beer won’t fit on a neck label or in a Twitter feed.

Watch them head into the back country of Paraguay and shoot bullets at the tree this wood comes from. Or listen to Bill Wehr talking about the largest wooden brewing vessels (holding 10,000 gallons) built in America since Prohibition.

Now back to the beer. Were I to play the “describe this beer in one word” game with Palo Santo that word would be “bark.”

Not in the sense of a dog howling at the moon. Bark as in wood. Aromatic and intense, unlike anything I can remember, blending with a boatload of flavors that test the list of beer descriptors posted yesterday. Add chalky, charred and gritty for starters. That’s meant as a compliment.

Monday morning musing: When is Orval best?

OrvalFollowing up on the notion put forth last week by Ron Jeffries about “beer moments” and echoed by Andrew Mason take a look at Lew Bryson’s post about “discovering” Orval.

This particular Orval was just five weeks past bottling (at the monastery pictured to the right). Given that Orval undergoes refermentation in the bottle it might have tasted different two days later, surely would have two weeks later . . . and then realize this is a beer that people lay down like wine, eventually hauling out bottles they may have cellared for many years.

The moment Orval is at it best not only differs from bottle to bottle, but depends upon the drinker. For Lew, the revelation was a quite young bottle.

A couple of years ago I asked brewers just back from the “Extreme Brewing” trip Sam Calagione of Dogfish Head led to Belgium to suggest beers that a newcomer to more assertive beers might try. Vinnie Cilurzo of Russian River Brewing had this answer:

“At first glance it might seem to extreme for a beginner, but, here is my thinking: When the beer is young there is little Brettanomyces (wild yeast) character, yet lots of hops. In my mind, the hops are more complex than your typical American IPA or Double IPA. As the beer ages, the Brettanomyces comes forth and melds with the hops. Over time, the Brett can come and go.

“I was amazed when we tasted several vintages of Orval. The two-year old Orval was so full of Brett. At five years the Brett had diminished, yet at seven years it was even more bright than the two-year old. This is what I like about Orval; it is a beer that can age. Orval can age with the best of wines. Orval elevates beer to a level of wine in that it can age, and change, and be a different beer. In a way that is what we are trying to do with a lot of our beers.”

Pilsner Urquell– Having written in some length about the Samuel Adams glass developed by Boston Beer it seems fair to mention report hat Pilsner Urquell plans to distribute more than one million of its newly designed glasses to restaurants and bars throughout its Czech homeland.

Those bothered by the unusual shape (or perhaps we should say shapes) of the Samuel Adams glass will be glad to know that this one looks more like you’d expect. And for good reason.

Designer Ronny Plesl explains, “Czech customers are very traditional, and for a designer, this is a big challenge. I am a modern designer, I design a lot of very modern things, but for Czech beer, this is not possible. It must be something in the middle. A modern design, with a traditional face.”

The Sam Adams glass was designed to present Samuel Adams Boston Lager at its best. Is this one meant to make Pilsner Urquell taste better?

“Well the taste of beer is dependent upon many things, and this new glass has not been designed to change the taste, but instead to preserve the foam on top of the beer for much longer. So that is the main advantage of the new glass from our point of view, and indeed that’s the thing that will improve the experience of our consumers the most.”

Remember what Charles Bamforth said about foam.

– A list of the “Best American Beer Bars” at ForbesTraveler.com has received plenty of blogosphere attention and comment so I’ll pretty much pass on the latter.

Clearly an impossible task to do in 10 verses. Who you gonna leave off to get the Horse Brass Pub in there? (I’d venture that Chris Black of the Falling Rock Taphouse, which is on the list, would volunteer to pull his own pub to right that wrong — telling us something about the owners of both the Horse Brass and Falling Rock.)

Anyway, among the discussions online is why no place in Philadelphia gets a mention, particularly Monk’s Cafe and Standard Tap. Then, in conjunction with Philly Beer Week (now in full swing) Philadelphia Weekly compiled its own list of Philly’s Top 50 Bars. Standard Tap is sixth on that list, Monk’s is 14th.

No. 1? Grace Tavern.