musing

What is wrong with this picture?

Nuevo Mundo Draft Bar, Lima, Peru

Jennifer Talley judging beer in PeruWhy do so many beers on the menu board at the Nuevo Mondo Draft Bar in Lima, Peru, contain 6.1% alcohol by volume? Yes, that is a 6.1% Berliner Weisse on the board and elsewhere I drank a 6.1% beer called “Kolsch.”

Because in Peru breweries pay less tax on alcoholic beverages (not just beer) with 6.1% abv to 12% abv than they do on those with less than 6%. As you know, in the rest of the world beverages with more alcohol are generally taxed at a higher rate.

Which might be why Jennifer Talley, author of Session Beers, began her presentation at Copa Latinoamericana de Cervezas Artesanales wondering out loud why she had been invited to judge and speak.

Monday beer links: Diversity done right, and wrong

BEER AND WINE LINKS MUSING 04.30.18

Thanks to Alan McLeod for nicely summarizing much that was written about CAMRA and cask last week, so we can pass on it here. And because Boak & Bailey commented on Mark Johnson’s essay about the beer bubble I’m mostly inclined to pass. But I will ask you these questions. Do you occasionally notice something noteworthy in the “real” world and think, oh, yeah, that’s just like beer? Or see something in the beer world (within the bubble of your choice) and think, there’s a lesson in here for my life?

Hop Take: It’s About Time Craft Beer Focused on Diversity.
The Brewers Association obviously made a great hire by recruiting J. Nikol Jackson-Beckham as its diversity ambassador. This is a fact: “As much as I love the [beer] community and feel at home, it’s always been pretty apparent that there [are] not a lot of folks that look like me,” Jackson-Beckham said. And that needs to change. But I’m not sure how I feel about a headline that suggests its time to focus on diversity. Maybe the difference is semantic, but it feels like the focus should be on assuring a process is in place that makes diversity commonplace. (And, no, I do not want to get involved in another Twitter discussion about semantics and this topic.)

Melvin Brewing’s Founder Discusses Sexual Harassment and Future of the Company.
Backlash in Bellingham.
Melvin Brewing was not the place to be for Bellingham Beer Week. This might be related to J. Nikol Jackson-Beckham’s mission.

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Monday beer links: All that glitters isn’t hops

BEER AND WINE LINKS 03.26.18

Essential oils in hops
Something’s Brewing in the Lab: Beer Without Hops.
Industrial brewing yeast engineered for the production of primary flavor determinants in hopped beer.
I’ve written a bit about this in the next Hop Queries newsletter (which goes out Tuesday), so just three quick points. First, we’re not talking hopsless beer. The full report (second link) has the details. Second, the researchers have focused on two key compounds (linalool and geraniol), but hops contain more 500 compounds and scientists have not identified what (if anything) they all add to aroma and flavor. It is one thing to create a “hoppy” flavor. It is another to replicate Citra (not that folks aren’t trying; Hop Queries also digs into blending research this month). Third, genetically modified yeast.

Glitter Beer: The Full Report.
Glitter Beer Sparkles as Spring’s Craft Beer Trend.
Those who said “this too shall pass” about juicy/hazy IPAs may want to brace themselves. Jeff Alworth gives it the full Beer Bible treatment. A lot more details, for instance, about glitter here than sahti in his book, which allows for considerable comment about the food safety factor. This is not to suggest that breweries are adding anything that will harm you, but it reminds me that far too many brewers are casual about filing the proper government paperwork when a beer will only be sold on draft. They are legally required to obtain formula approval when adding any ingredient that is not on the TTB approved list. Some I have talked to think it is necessary only when seeking label approval for packaged beer.

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Monday beer links: Hamm’s, beer goggles & gardens

BEER AND WINE LINKS 03.19.18

30 of the (Best?) Cheap Macro Lagers, Blind-Tasted and Ranked.
Long ago, pitching an editor to keep his own Pocket Guide to Beer series alive, Michael Jackson characterized James Robertson’s books (such as the Great American Beer Book, published only a year after Jackson’s World Guide to Beer) as derivative, which I think was unfair. His “great experiment” included very organized tastings that drew from a diverse group whose members scored beers on specific criteria. And they used the full spectrum when evaluating beers, so flipping through one of Robertson’s books with scores and finding a beer that received a 17 is more common than one that received 92.

Originally, 90 was the highest score possible (if all six tasters gave a beer 15), but Robertson later converted the numbers to a 100-point scale because, well, that’s the American way. The Beer-Taster’s Log included more than 6,000 tasting notes — remember that in 1995 there about 800 breweries in the United States, compared to more than 6,000 today. It is a fascinating resource, and not only because it rates four different vintages of Harley-Davidson Heavy Beer (27 in 1993, a great disappointment compared to 53 in 1990).

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Exit through the bottle shop

Altes Mädchen Braugasthaus

If a beer writer falls down in a bar and there’s no one there to hear it, do they make a sound? Or do they just Instagram it instead?

– Pete Brown

Craft Beer Store, Hamburg, GermanyThe photo at the top was taken at Altes Mädchen Braugasthaus, a sprawling brewery, bakery, restaurant, biergarten and bottle shop in Hamburg. (Customers pass through the Craft Beer Store entering and leaving.) As well as Ratsherrn beers brewed on site, there’s plenty of other beer from small and larger breweries inside and outside of Germany. It is a fine place to land after a day or two of Christmas markets and other Hamburg experiences, such as the sobering St. Nikolai Memorial and museum.

The evening and the beer were different than at Banana Jam Cafe in Cape Town, South Africa, at Brewberry in Paris, at Turtle’s Bar & Grill in Shakopee, Minn., at Cervejaria Unika on a Brazilian hillside, or at scores of locations I somehow ended up in last year. And that is how it should be. It’s not like I didn’t already know how big and diverse the beer world is, or that sharing time over beer shouldn’t be just about the beer.

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