beers of conviction

Let’s call it Local Craft Beer Week

American Craft Beer Week begins today.

There have been times during the last 12 months we’ve not been able to find craft beer nearby, but those have been rare. Local craft beer can be more of a challenge. So I pass along this photo stolen from the Cigar City blog.

Cigar City beer at Whole Foods

I you read some of the Whole Foods signage closely you’ll notice all is not what they’d like you to think, but it’s hard to argue with something this simple.

As I’ve already written Craft Beer Week is not top of mind for us this week. Following New Beer Rule #5 — It’s only beer — we’re headed for Yosemite National Park.

 

Odell on regional beers – What’s big enough?

Beer giantI’m only about seven months behind on this, but here’s a great quote from Doug Odell of Odell Brewing in Fort Collins, Colo., that appeared last October in Modern Brewery Age:

“I like the idea of regionalism in consumer products. I like the idea of independent coffee shops, hamburger stands and ice cream that’s made in your own town. That way you can go different places, have different products, and get different versions of things. Being a regional brewery fulfills my idea of doing that. You come to Ft. Collins, and you can get beers you don’t get in Indiana. I think regionalism is important for the health of independent brewers. Not everyone can be everywhere.”

I think that stands on itself, but blogs are supposed to include commentary, yes? So I point you to Maureen Ogle’s ongoing followup to Beer Wars. (Sorry, it never goes away.)

Her points about entrepreneurship are fair enough, and worth considering through the lens of history. Which she does. But when I read what Doug Odell has to say, when I think about talking to Bob Sylvester in his tiny brewery then I’m pretty sure some brewers will be content to serve a limited audience really good beer.

 

Session #27: A wheat beer cocktail

The SessionThis is my contribution to The Session, hosted this month by Joe & Jasmine at Beer at Joe’s. The topic is beer cocktails. Visit Joe and Jasmine to see what everybody else is writing about.

A couple of years ago during a tour of New Belgium Brewing arranged for the press brewmaster Peter Bouckaert poured samples of the brewery’s Frambozen, a beer released for winter drinking. I told the person next to me that we liked to mix one part Frambozen with two parts Pyramid Snow Cap. Apparently Bouckaert was eavesdropping because he looked at me, narrowed his eyes and said, “Ooohh, a blender.”

Guilty as charged . . . sometimes. We go through stretches in our house when we blend beers and even make cocktails that include beer and non-beer ingredients. Right now we’re not doing much mixing, in part because of travels, but also because we’re happy to let brewers do it for us. In all my life I’m probably never going to take “a little bit of this” and “a little bit of that” and come up with anything like we bought at Cantillon.

But today is The Session. So I thought about suggesting an old favorite. Like a cocktail Stephen Beaumont dubbed “Any Port in a Storm.” His cocktail calls for two ounces of port and a 12-ounce bottle of Storm King from Victory Brewing in Pennsylvania. Works with other imperial stouts as well. Really good for watching stars on a cool New Mexico night.

And I considered something, well, weird. We’ve got this book titled “Beer and Good Food,” written in 1958 by Myra Waldo, that has some strange recipes.

For instance, “Lamb’s Wool.” You “combine 1 cup applesauce and 2 cups of ale in a saucepan and heat; remove from heat just before the boiling point. Add 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract and 1/4 teaspoon powdered ginger and stir well. Taste — you might want to add a little sugar if the applesauce is unsweetened. Drink while hot.”

We can do better than that, can’t we? I figured that out at lunch. During our unexpected pit stop at home we’ve managed to visit a few local breweries (including brewpubs). Today we had lunch at Chama River, where brewer Jeff Erway explained to me why my favorite Class VI Golden would be more like the beer I remember by the time we’re back in August (a yeast issue). Daria had Doble Gringo, a big (6.8% abv) and bold beer brewed in the manner of a Belgian wit.

An excellent beer all on it’s own. But what if we took a growler home, and dosed it with a measure of New Glarus Raspberry Tart? Not sure how much; probably best to start small and add more if necessary. No doubt that Raspberry Tart’s flavors would both compliment and complement the wheaty qualities of the Gringo.

One problem. We don’t have any Raspberry Tart. So, like you, I’m left to imagine.

 

French Laundry loves local beer

OK, it’s not the French Laundry restaurant in Napa Valley ($240 tasting menu, hard-to-get reservations, $50 corkage fee if you bring your own wine), but French Laundry Café & Market in Fenton, Michigan, has announced it will pour only Michigan beers.

In a press release, bartender Jon Foley says the restaurants’s nine handles will offer “the spectrum of styles, coming from a variety of Michigan breweries including Arbor Brewing, Arcadia Ales, Atwater, Bell’s, Darkhorse, Dragonmead, Founders, Frog Island (Michigan Brewing Company), King’s, New Holland, Sherwood, Short’s and The Livery.” Featured selections will be posted each week at the restaurant as well as online.

“This marks a major triumph for us as a business, especially in our solidarity with the Michigan brewing industry,” says owner Mark Hamel. “We believe Michigan makes the best beer in the country and now there’s finally going to be a place to get consistent Michigan draft in Genesse County.”

Looks like a place to head for American Craft Beer Week.

 

Pilsner Urquell: 5 weeks does not equal 3 months

After touring the Pilsner Urquell brewery last November I promised that when I got a chance I’d take a look at Michael Jackson’s video report from 1989 (the Beer Hunter series) to compare what he saw then with what Pilsner Urquell says is how long they’ve “always” lagered beer.

Michael Jackson at Pilsner Urquell

I tell you, that’s one great half hour of video. Discovery really needs to reissue the three hours of video in DVD form (before our VCR dies). Incredible details about the wooden vessels the brewery was using, the coopering, the whole process. I love watching Jackson wander through the caves, and the Hitchcockian moment where a giant barrel appears to be stalking him. You get thirsty seeing him march around open wooden fermenters, then he climbs a ladder to loom over one and explain that this is one of the things that make Pilsner Urquell different, presumably better. He says that others in the industry have told the brewery it is crazy not to modernize but that its leaders swear they won’t abandon open fermentation. Sigh.

But back to the question at hand. These days Pilsner Urquell lagers its beers five weeks, claiming this is the same amount of time as when Josef Groll first brewed the beer in 1842. On the other hand, the Beer Hunter report in 1989? “Three months,” which on my calendar is one quarter of a year (13 weeks).