Mama, it’s hot outside; pour me a . . .

Maybe the rest of the world will forsake pale lagers, but that’s hard to imagine in Texas. We’re only a few days into April and it’s already getting plenty hot. When we headed to Threadgill’s yesterday for a bunch of vegetables I could only imagine ordering one beer — Live Oak Pilz on tap.

Mama's Little Yella PilsBut today, assuming the clouds I’m looking at right now go away, when we spend a few hours boating it won’t be with Pilz in hand. Live Oak doesn’t package its beer.

(Yes, responsible boaters don’t drink and drive, but we’ll only be passengers.)

So should I go with beer from a bottle, Saint Arnold’s Fancy Lawnmower, or from a can, the new Mama’s Little Yella Pils from Oskar Blues in Colorado? Sorry, Mama, when there’s a good local alternative the rules of our trip make it easy to pick the beer brewed nearby.

I tell you what, though, I’m wondering why Oskar Blues didn’t hit on this idea before. Hot weather, and cold pilsner in a can makes for one fine match. (In fact, the answer it pretty simply. Since first packaging Dale’s Pale Ale at the end of 2002 the brewery has struggled to keep up with production.) Although, like the brewery’s other beers, Mama’s Little Yella Pils packs a lot more aroma and flavor when you drink it from a glass rather than straight from the can.

Both Live Oak Pilz and Mama have the pleasant grainy/grassy qualities I associate with a pale lager from the Czech Republic. And the all-malt flavors that, let’s be honest, many drinkers think interfere with drinkability. Not you, right?

Not the same as sitting in Domažlice and drinking Pivovar Kout na Šumav? 10°. But in a boat. From a can. This is progress.

 

Will pale lagers dominate forever? Ron says ‘no’

Ron Pattinson writes today about perspective and change. He makes two really important points back-to-back.

The horizon of personal experience influences our view of both the past and the future. We extrapolate the present back into the past. I used to think Bitter and Mild, as I experienced them in the 1970’s, had been around for centuries. It’s a fault repeated in many books about beer. Even brewers have little concept of what went on before they started brewing themselves.

And before you even pause to consider that he gives us more to think about.

The future we expect to be a continuation of the present, with just the odd tweak. Who could have imagined in 1900 that Porter would have disappeared within 50 years? Or in the 1940’s that Mild would have disappeared from swathes of Britain by 1980? Will pale lager continue its domination for another 100 years? History tells us no. Its decline will be unexpected and surprisingly swift.

It is hard to imagine isn’t it? Harder still to think about what might take its place.

 

A bit more American homebrewing history

Maureen Ogle has been adding to “outtakes” about the history of the American Homebrewers Association that didn’t quite fit into her book, Ambitious Brew, and now Charlie Papazian has chimed in as well.

So, what the heck, I dug out a story I wrote for Zymurgy magazine in 2003 about the birth of Zymurgy. It appeared in the 25th anniversary edition.

By the time Charlie is done it may all be redundant. After all, he was there.

Maureen has been posting her outtakes in digestible chunks, but I’m on the lazy side so you’ll find my story in one piece in the library.

 

#32 – Where in the beer world?

Where in the beer world?

Do you think you know where in the beer world this photo was taken?

Please leave your answer as a comment.

The label on the beer is pretty easy to read, so that is probably enough of a hint. Just to be clear, this was taken in a public place — not in somebody’s kitchen or dining room.

 

Beer stuff you should read

A ‘Beer Wars’ sneak preview: A reporter in Boston got a look at a 10-minute chunk of “Beer Wars.” He writes, “What I saw was Michael Moore 101: Little craft breweries like Dogfish Head and MoonShot = Good. Anheuser-Busch, a.k.a. ‘the soulless machine,’ the ‘monopoly,’ the ‘corporate behemoth with their insatiable appetite for growth’ = Bad. Baron takes a page right from the ‘Roger and Me’ playbook, making much of Anheuser CEO August Busch’s refusal to grant her an interview. (Thanks to Andy Crouch for pointing to this from the Boston Globe.)

Oregon craft beer sales fall: December and January shipments for all Oregon craft brewers fell by 5 percent and 7 percent, respectively. But in January and February, shipments for all beer in Oregon actually rose by 10 and 20 percent, respectively. “It would appear trading down from higher-priced, locally-made beer has already begun in earnest,” said Brian Butenschoen, executive director of the Oregon Brewers Guild.

Befuggled: Don’t you love that word? Say it two or three times. You’re smiling, right? Reminds me of the word “bumfuzzled,” which I first heard a small-town high school football coach use long before Bill Clinton got it more attention.

Back to beer. Martyn Cornell reports on an article by Kim Cook titled “Who produced Fuggle’s Hops.” Another bit of oft-repeated beer history is called to question. A good excuse to read about a classic English hop, and see how Martyn uses the word “rotundity.” Befuggled. Rotundity. Befuggled. Rotundity. When you can’t repeat those words quickly you know you’ve had one bitter too many.

I’ll be buying this book: St. Louis Brews: 200 Years of Brewing in St. Louis 1809-2009 is due out in the fall. This hardbound, full color book will feature over 330 pages detailing the history of beer and its importance to the St. Louis region.

Speaking of books I’ve reviewed several of the books in the BeerBooks.com Classic Reprint Series and own still more of them. I think you should be reading them too, something I remembered when I noticed they are all 30 percent to 36 percent off. A quick disclaimer: I’m affiliate, meaning if you click on the ad on the right or some other links here and buy a book then I get store credit (because I don’t own enough beer books). Just so you know I set up the “speaking of books” link without affiliate coding. I’m telling you about this because it’s a good deal for you, not because I want you to earn me a little store credit.