musing

America’s #1 rated brewery?

I’m passing this along because even though it’s not exactly new I hadn’t seen it until the other day and it strikes me as too silly not to point out.

The headline in Madison, Wis., reads: “Feud brews between Capital, Bud.”

Capital Brewery outside of Madison wants to trademark the phrase “America’s #1 Rated Brewery.”

Anheuser-Busch objects, and the legal challenge consists of documents totaling more than 150 pages.

Capital’s trademark application is based on an award from the 1998 World Beer Championships, which are held by the Beverage Tasting Institute. Capital ended the year ranked seventh overall with an average score of 90.6. The six top brewers were all from Europe, hence the phrase “America’s #1 Rated Brewer.”

I’ve rambled on enough here (and of course will again) about the folly of assigning numbers to beer. And although the BTI often gives high scores to beers I really like I wouldn’t base a decision to buy a beer based on their scores or tasting notes.

But now I’m thinking, 150 pages of legal documents . . . A-B seems to be taking this seriously. Maybe I should as well.

On second thought, it’s still nothing but silly.

10 beers that changed the Chicago area

By guest blogger Steve Herberger

Stan hit on a thought provoking and fun look into modern brewing history with his “10 Beers that Changed America.” Some of us have different perspectives of the micro revolution, depending on where we experienced the new wonder of good beer. So Stan asked if I wanted to add my 10 Beers and opinions based on a midwest viewpoint, here are my thoughts, though I reserve the right to hedge based on failing memory over 23 years!

Please chime in, especially if you’re from the Midwest.

Spreacher cap1. Sprecher Amber (I believe was their start up brew) – the first Micro I remember hearing about in this area right around the time it opened in ’85. I can remember seeking out the brewery for a tour and purchases, parking in the lot of a closed factory close to where I*knew* the brewery was according to the map (pre-Internet and MapQuest), seeing a train blocking my route, crawling tentatively between 2 coupled cars and announcing, “There it is!” What a great tour and great beer – supplied by Randy Sprecher himself.

2. Goose Island Honkers Ale – from its first intro at 1800 Clybourn to distribution around the world. I was there too, when they opened in ’88 – what a grubby looking neighborhood the Clybourn corridor once used to be. Thanks to GI, it’s now one of the most busy retail areas in Chicago.

3. Bell’s Amber – because it’s their flagship brew and started a mini-revolution of local brewers who brewed for themselves and their customers, not what the market dictated.

4. Capital Garten Brau – the original Helles from Kirby, and what tha’ – lager from a micro?!

5. Alpha King – 3 Floyds. No matter other opinions, I personally think this started the “extreme” trend — at least in hop-bombing.

6. Gray’s Oatmeal Stout – A world class stout from a small micro that’s still going strong after 20 years or so.

7. Mad Hatter – New Holland Brewing, the start up brew from a brewery that continues to produce outstanding products. (A tie with Michigan Brewing who landed the Celis White rights and recipe).

8. Riverwest Stein Beer – Lakefront Brewing, a cross between the upstart Bell’s and Capital’s recognition of the local heritage. Not to mention the Klisch brothers small pilot brewery on Milwaukee’s Northeast side that grew into a larger micro that hasn’t lost its roots in home-brewing. I remember my first taste of the Steinbeer from a tap at the brewery – man, what nectar.

9. The Bitter End Pale Ale – Cask Conditioned/Real Ale from an American micro? In a small Chicago suburb, no less? You betch’a!

10. Goose Island Bourbon County Stout – I have to give the nod to this because it highlights the progression, evolution, and advancement of what’s becoming a world class brewery right in my own back yard.

Runners up – The previously mentioned August Schell Pilsner because its discovery got me interested in good beers that could come from small, regional breweries – in 1984 those were becoming near to extinct. And I’ll even nod to the New Glarus Belgian Red, if for no other reason than it beat its peers at their own game – can’t argue that, not to mention the success and other great beers from the Careys since 1993.

A toast with, and to, Liberty

Good morning and Happy Fourth of July.

I’m almost ready to begin lautering (you start brewing early in the morning on these hot summer days in New Mexico), so two quick suggestions for the holiday:

– Head on over to the Champagne of Blogs and read Our Second Sudsy Salute to America. Topical and regional.

– Drink a glass, or two, of Anchor Liberty Ale. Has there ever better a more appropriate name for a beer to drink today? Remember its place in history. This Cascade-accented beer was essential in setting us free of the U.S. beer monoculture.

To Liberty.

East Coast versus West Coast

Beer chessMissed this story about the difference between East Coast and West Coast beers, most notably IPAs, by Greg Kitsock when it first appeared in the Washington Post a couple of weeks ago.

When it comes to hoppy beers the differences aren’t just East-West. Try an IPA, or Imperial IPA, from the Northwest, then one from Southern California and you’ll find similarly diverse beers. (Last year the San Diego Tribune riffed on Garrett Oliver’s suggestion we make San Digeo Pale Ale an official beer style.)

These are differences we should embrace, rather than arguing if one version is better or that the brewers who make beer to a particular taste are more talented. (This article didn’t do that, just to be clear.)

Beer in wood: The old is new again

Is this your tongue?You already knew this, but this beer in wood thing isn’t exactly new. For centuries brewers fermented and conditioned their beer in wood because they had no alternative.

And some didn’t quit that long ago.

Wisconsin and Minnesota newspapers are carrying a story about the challenge the the Wisconsin Historical Society has in figuring out what to do with a couple of 100-barrel (3,100 gallons) casks donated by Stevens Point Brewery in Steven Point. Some were used until 1995.

Stevens Point Brewery had 28 “vats” in various sizes to get rid of when it switched from wood to steel. Some were converted into hot tubs or pizza ovens.

Dixie Brewing in New Orleans was still still aging some of its beer in 1912-vintage Cyprus wood tanks until Hurricane Katrina shut down the brewery in 2005. Dixie is rebuilding, but it seems unlikely the tanks will be used again. Dixie only phased out its wooden fermenters in 1987.

The photo at the top was taken in Bube’s Brewery in Mount Joy, Pa., in 1995 – before a microbrewery opened within the complex. I came across these wooden fermenters when I walked through an unmarked door in the basement. I’m not sure if you can visit this area these days. (Perhaps Lew Bryson can tell us).

Back to Wisconsin, where the story is about the challenge Joe Kapler, museum curator for the historical society, faced in finding a place to store two 9-foot-by-8-foot vats.

In the long run they will be displayed at the historical society in Madison in an exhibition on beer-making.

“You can talk until you’re blue in the face about the history of brewing in Wisconsin, and words and images are indispensable. But objects, in their intimacy, or their scale in this case, help people connect with things on a tactile level,” he said.

“Just having these two objects will go a long way in telling the story.”

Beer history. Preserve when you have a chance.