Monday beer links: Style tunnel vision & Belgian newcomers

MONDAY BEER & STRAY LINKS, MUSING 01.09.17

Brewmasters Reflect on 2016 and Look Ahead to 2017.
This question pops up about one third of the way into this very long post (drop it in Pocket): What was this year’s biggest surprise in craft beer? And Greg Engert of Bluejacket and the Neighborhood Restaurant Group in Washington, D.C. answers …

I don’t know if I’d call it the biggest surprise, but it has certainly been interesting to watch the craft beer market change as it further enters the mainstream. With more and more drinkers turning to craft, they are mostly turning to two broad flavor profiles, hoppy and crisp. According to the Brewers Association, IPA continues to dominate, accounting for roughly one-quarter of craft beer volume, while sales of refreshing Pilsners, Pale Lagers and Golden Ales are increasing dramatically. We’ve long known that interest in malty British styles, say, or smoky German Rauchbiers had and could likely continue to wane, but I don’t think we expected that stylistic tunnel vision would narrow to exclude the newly vaulted sour ales, along with classic Belgian ales and even roasty Stouts and Porters.

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The Session #119: Feeling comfortable

Truffle beerThis was not a good beer.

The unpleasant memory of it made its way into my conciousness because the topic for the 119th running of The Session is “Discomfort Beer.” Host Alec Lathma has asked us “to write about which/what kind of beers took you out of your comfort zones. Beers you weren’t sure whether you didn’t like, or whether you just needed to adjust to.” Because he specifies that “this can’t include beers that were compromised, defective, flat, off etc because this is about deliberate styles” I probably shouldn’t be mentioning the beer to the left, because it was flawed.

But, for whatever reason (and probably because our brains are not perfect memory machines), I filed “truffle beer memory” (from France in 2008) in the bin next to “stale cigar and beer smell memory.” That’s my first beer aroma/taste memory, from when I was perhaps 10 years old and my father would host an evening of poker in our basement. I certainly was never even tempted to sneak downstairs and taste the beer. It would be days before that smell would go away and it most definitely took me out of my comfort zone.

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Not-Monday beer links: You happy now, Alan?

German hopyard - because dormancy matters

NOT-MONDAY BEER AND WINE LINKS, MUSING, 12.23.16

Monday I wrote that regular Monday beer links would be taking the next two Mondays off. That remains true, but after Alan McLeod complained and because there’s some good stuff you should be reading, a few it’s-not-Monday links before we head over the Mississippi River and through the wood (yes, I am aware it is a Thanksgiving poem) … If you still need a link fix tomorrow (Saturday) morning try Boak & Bailey’s News, Nuggets & Longreads. Happy holidays.

Father and son bond over beer at all 73 Iowa craft breweries.
This is a road movie waiting to be made. [Via Des Moines Register]

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Brewsters at work

Scratch Brewing and Jester King brewsters at work

Jester King Brewery promoted Averie Swanson to head brewer this week. She replaces Garrett Crowell, who is leaving Jester King with plans to start his own Texas brewery.

That’s Swanson in the background of this photo, with Marika Josephson of Scratch Brewing in the foreground. Swanson joined Jester King co-founder Jeffrey Stuffings and Crowell at Scratch last August, where six brewers assembled collaborated to make a beer that was mashed in wood, boiled in wood, and fermented in wood. Josephson is doing her best to keep wort from boiling over, while Swason stirs the mash for the next batch.

“I’ve never had this much fun,” Swanson said at the time.

Craft Beer Austin has an interview with her.

Session #119 topic announced: Discomfort Beer

The SessionHost Alec Latham has announced the topic for The 119th gathering of The Session on Jan. 6 is “Discomfort Beer.”

For Session 119 I’d like you to write about which/what kind of beers took you out of your comfort zones. Beers you weren’t sure whether you didn’t like, or whether you just needed to adjust to. Also, this can’t include beers that were compromised, defective, flat, off etc because this is about deliberate styles. It would be interesting to see if these experiences are similar in different countries.

Don’t worry, he’s got some suggestions to make it easier, but it will be up to you to decide if this thought works for you.

“Ultimately, familiarity devours discomfort.”