Stan Hieronymus

Session #11: Lost in translation

HofbrauHaus

So the sign on the side of Hofbräuhaus Las Vegas read “Double Bock Beer is here.”

My first thought Wednesday was, “This looks like my beer for The Session.” No, it didn’t read “doppelbock” but Samuel Adams calls its excellent doppelbock-style beer Double Bock. So perhaps the Germans figured that was a term Americans would better understand.

Hofbrauhaus Double BockWhat a dunce. They meant a strong beer in the manner of a bock, in this case a helles bock (akin to what many know as a Maibock). As you can see, golden (lighter than appears here), strong at 8% abv, but not at all like the doppelbock “invented” by the monks of St. Francis of Paula in Munich. Not a beer you’d call [fill in the blank]-ator.

A good beer, rich and full of flavor, bright and fresh, showing no wear and tear after its journey from Germany.

I’m not sure how to characterize Hofbräuhaus Las Vegas. On the one hand, it is located only a short walk from Las Vegas Boulevard and across the street from the Hard Rock Hotel — a perfect fit for adult fantasyland. If you’ve already been in the pseudo-Irish pub in New York New York or had your picture taken next to the replica Eiffel Tower up the street then you might shrug at this faithful reproduction of the original Hofbräuhaus München.

However, it is operated by the same owners (and I don’t know what that means its relationship is to InBev, which brews Hofbräuhaus beers) as the Hofbräuhaus in Munich. It’s not as big, but the large single-room restaurant with wooden tables and benches has an inviting beer hall feel. The food is excellent and the beers come from Germany.

(This makes it different than the Hofbräuhaus in Newport, Ky., which brews its own beer.)

We went primarily because he plan to visit the original Hofbräuhaus in Munich in the fall. And it was a heck of a lot more enjoyable than the last “brewery” we visited in 2007. More about all that next week.

The Session: Brewvana hosts this 11th edition of The Session, a monthly gathering of bloggers to write on a single topic. Head that way to read about actual doppelbocks.

What do beer people really want to read about?

Michael Jackson and Blue Moon.

Those were the most popular search terms that brought readers here in 2007. Looking at lists of the best read posts at several blogs I read got me poking around the stats at Appellation Beer, to see what you were reading and to try to guess why.

I was surprised this final post of the year will be the 299th, more than double 2006 and a lot more than I expect in 2008. An explanation about why week after next, when we’re back from an Internetless shakeout cruise that’s practice for a trip we expect to occupy much of 2008 and 2009.

Anyway, I won’t be finishing 2007 with a list of “top beer stories” (we already know the biggest one is also the one that still makes us terribly sad). I do recommend Don Russell’s look back with some make-you-smile predictions.

And I can tell you that the search terms that are trending up are Firestone, beer sommelier and Michelada.

Make of that what you will, as well as this list of the best read stories here during 2007:

1- Michael Jackson: Journalist
2- Russian River Brewing expansion update
3 – Blue Moon: Peter, Paul & Mary or Trini Lopez?
4 – 10 Beers that changed America
5 – New Beer Rule #2: IBUs and IQs
6 – And now . . . Imperial Hefeweizen
7 – Firestone 11 and a ‘Tale of Two Matts’
8 – Globalization versus local versus variety
9 – Fantasy Beer Dinner #1: Neal Stewart
10 – A million dollars worth of beer?

See you next week in time for The Session #11.

Flying Dog’s mixed 8: Better than Little Kings

Flying Dog Garde DogA while back I asked why breweries put some of their strongest beers in bigger bottles. Yes, they are nice to share with a friends, but sometimes you don’t want 750ml of a 12% beer.

Additionally, smaller bottles can sell for less (even if the per ounce price goes up because we still have to pay for glass).

Enter Flying Dog’s Canis Major series for 2008, which will be available in two versions. One mixed four-pack features a 12-ounce bottle of each the Canis Major style. The second option is a mixed eight-pack of 7-ounce bottles, two of each style.

Flying Dog is in a unique position to do this because when it acquired the former Frederick Brewing facility in Maryland last year it also picked up a bottling line that can handle 7-ounce bottles. That’s because Frederick was brewing Little Kings — the cream ale in small green bottles familiar to those of us who grew up east of the Mississippi — under contract.

The Canis Major high gravity series includes Gonzo Imperial Porter, Horn Dog Barley Wine, Double Dog Double Pale Ale and a new beer, Cerberus Tripel.

These beers are not outlandishly strong, but each qualifies as a nightcap, when you might prefer to sip from a snifter.

As well as adding the tripel to its lineup in 2008, Flying Dog is making “Garde Dog” Biere de Garde its spring release. When these two are available I’ll try to post drinking notes, perhaps at Brew Like a Monk.

Allagash christens its American coolship

It wasn’t two years ago that Allagash Brewing founder Rob Tod returned from a trip to Belgium with other American brewers and talked about the fermenting beers under the influence of wild yeast:

“I am inspired to maybe try it some time, but these beers really seem like an art that takes years to master. I don’t know if Allagash can afford to focus on them enough to do them justice. We have enough on our plate as it is.”

Sometimes you can’t help yourself. Check out this video at YouTube:

Allagash built a separate coolship (“koolschip”) facility at its Portland, Maine, brewery. Head brewer Jason Perkins supervised the first brew to go into the flat, open fermenter late in November and begin spontaneous fermentation. A film crew was on hand to capture history in progress.

Perkins called it “an epic event.” No kidding.

“A lot of the stuff we are doing today really goes against most modern brewing techniques,” he said.