BEER

[Zarathustra]

Thanks! Sounds like fun.

Of course, all this depends on the batch turning out well. If it sucks, I'll have to retract the offer. (But I haven't made one that sucks, yet.)

[Zarathustra]

umm . . . . about that trading thing . . . I drank it all. Sorry.

The hop harvest is in, and I'm ordering a year's worth of hops at once. So I'll be brewing again in a few weeks. Maybe next time.

[Savor Dam]

Understood. Let me know when/if another trading opportunity comes around. The particular item from this end may no longer be Full Sail Grandsun of Spot IPA, but there are many fine limited-release selections from Full Sail, Deschutes, and other Northwest brewers. We can discuss what is available when the time comes.

[drew]

Last night, I bought a sixer of


It was as skunky as ... well...a skunk!!

I've never tasted skunky Heineken before, but Whooo-wheee...ALMOST undrinkable


Luckily I had a sixer of

A fine Haligonian Micro-brew, to wash it down with.

[Zarathustra]

Savor Dam, cool. I'll let you know.

Drew, the reason Heineken gets "skunky" is because of the green bottles. They let light in, which interacts with hop oil compounds and produces a chemical that is also in skunk spray. Nasty!!

If stored out of the light, they should be fine. But it doesn't take long for a green bottle beer to get "light struck." Beer should only be stored in dark amber bottles. I have no idea why companies still do this. It's common knowledge among brewers.

Which Garrison was that? On Ratebeer.com, their highest rated are the imperial IPA and the black lager. I've never heard of Garrison.

[drew]

www.garrisonbrewing.com/homepage.html

Yeah, I guess it must have been an old case at the Liquor Store.
That's why I buy sixers...so they don't have a chance to go bad.

[Menolly]

October 28, 2009

BEERS OF THE TIMES

Call It Stout, Though It Isn't
By ERIC ASIMOV

PEOPLE get stuck on the word stout. It confuses, the way it connotes size and fleshiness. And the color, too — inky, impenetrable black — suggests mass and power. As a result, many people think stout is a formidable blockbuster of an ale, heavy and alcoholic, just the way they assume darker roasts of coffee have more caffeine than lighter roasts. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Stout in its classic form is one of the lighter ales, paradoxically full-bodied yet delicate. For years, my go-to midday brew was draft Guinness Stout, a once-rare beer that has become easier and easier to find in New York in the years since the city’s beer consciousness was raised. Aside from the enticing flavors of roasted barley and coffee, a properly pulled pint is low in alcohol, around 4 percent, fractionally less even than Bud Light. It’s probably wishful thinking, but I like to think a midday stout aids the digestion. I know it improves the imagination.

Where 20 years ago I might have scoured the city looking for the few places that served draft Guinness (the canned and bottled versions never achieve the same lightness of texture), nowadays fine stout is everywhere, courtesy of the craft beer revolution. As they have with so many other genres of ale, American brewers have seized on the myriad styles of stout and made them their own. At a shop with a good selection of beers, one might easily see Irish stout, English stout, oatmeal stout, extra stout, milk stout, cream stout, chocolate stout, Russian imperial stout, even blueberry or vanilla stout.

These styles may vary greatly in their flavors, and they may range from dry to quite sweet. Some require an added element, like lactose for the milk and cream stouts, or oatmeal for the oatmeal stouts. Other flavors like coffee or chocolate may be achieved by roasting barley, though occasionally coffee or chocolate may actually be added. Yet they all retain the combination of full-body richness, lightness of texture and relatively low alcohol that is characteristic of stout. All, that is, except Russian imperial stout, the anti-stout, embodying so much that stout is not. Imperial stout was brewed especially, the story goes, to appeal to Russian royalty. It is high in alcohol, massive, powerful and sometimes powerfully sweet.

Look where imperial stout got the czars. The classic stouts are what fascinate me, so when it came time for the tasting panel to survey the beer scene again, we decided to sample dry American stouts. Our tasting coordinator, Bernard Kirsch, had quite a bit of leeway, so we ended up with a group of beers that included conventional stouts, oatmeal stouts, milk and cream stouts and even a Canadian stout. In the end, we tasted 19 bottles of what we’ll agree to call North American stout. Florence Fabricant and I were joined for the tasting by Tony Forder, a publisher and editor of Ale Street News, a consumer publication, and Richard Scholz, an owner of Bierkraft in Park Slope, Brooklyn.

It’s not always easy to know what you’re getting without careful examination of the label. Bernie also included two beers that strayed awfully far into the imperial realm. One, the Double Stout (should have been a dead giveaway, no?) from Green Flash Brewing in San Diego, was so sweet we couldn’t judge it in the context of the rest of the beers. The other, Big Bear Black Stout from Bear Republic Brewing in Healdsburg, Calif., seemed more of a hybrid — bigger and a bit sweet, but complex, balanced and delicious. It was our No. 7 beer, though we might have ranked it higher had we not been focusing on lighter stouts.

The Big Bear was 8.1 percent alcohol, and the Green Flash 8.8 percent. All the rest were 4.5 percent to 6 percent regardless of style, which did vary. Some of the stouts were brisk and dry, with malt flavors and a savory edge to them that I loved. Others had a light sweetness to them — the oatmeal stouts and even more so the milk and cream stouts.

Not surprisingly, some of the stouts had a pronounced aroma of pine and grapefruit — a sign of American hops. You most likely would not find such distinct hop aromas in Old World stouts, which rely on more restrained English hops, but it was a pleasant addition. All the beers we liked best were well-balanced, with characteristic aromas of roasted malt.

Tony, perhaps emboldened by the fact that we weren’t in Dublin, said he preferred most of these New World brews to “watery Guinness.” Richard, with a nod possibly toward Tony’s British heritage, suggested that Americans prefer English stout, with its fuller, rounder character, over the lighter, dryer Irish style.

Either way, our No. 1 beer, Black Hawk Stout from Mendocino Brewing, which has breweries on both coasts, evoked visions of classic Irish stouts. It was light and dry, yes, but graceful and deliciously refreshing, too. I could see it easily becoming my new midday or ballgame tipple. Would somebody please get Yankee Stadium on the phone?

It’s a good thing Bernie threw in that Canadian beer, because the St. Ambroise oatmeal stout, from McAuslan Brewing in Montreal, was No. 2 on our list of North American stouts. It was bigger and richer than the Black Hawk, with the smoothness and slight sweetness that come from adding oatmeal to the malted barley.

Personally, I very much like the oatmeal stout style. Samuel Smith’s from Britain is the classic example. Two other oatmeal stouts made our Top 10. Arcadia’s Starboard oatmeal stout, from Michigan, was savory with an unusual yet pleasing bitterness from hops that strayed from the classic style, while Barney Flats oatmeal stout from Anderson Valley Brewing also had a savory quality, but didn’t seem as complete as the Starboard.

We particularly liked two others, which epitomized stout’s ability to balance full-bodied richness with a light texture. Both Steelhead Extra Stout from Mad River Brewing in northern California and Out of Bounds Stout from Avery in Colorado offered the extra dimension of fruitcake aromas and flavors as well as the more typical roasted malt.

A word about milk and cream stouts. Historically, these were said to be rather feeble stouts, made palatable for the ill and infirm by the addition of lactose. One version, Mother’s Milk from Keegan Ales of Kingston, N.Y., made our list at No. 10, though it was a tad sweet. I personally am a fan of a British cream stout made by St. Peter’s. You have to admire a genre versatile enough to nurture the ill and appease emperors.

[Zarathustra]

Interesting article. I didn't find much to disagree with, except for the dislike of Russian Imperial Stouts. These are the most flavorful beers produced in any style. Massive, roasty, alcoholic, bitter, sweet, thick, etc. Some are aged in bourbon barrels, some have chocolate or coffee added. They are just the most complex beer you can brew.

The one I sent you, Menolly, is close to this:

Not surprisingly, some of the stouts had a pronounced aroma of pine and grapefruit — a sign of American hops. You most likely would not find such distinct hop aromas in Old World stouts, which rely on more restrained English hops, but it was a pleasant addition.

It was really a "hoppy porter," I supposed, since I didn't add the roasted barley traditional in most stouts. But pretty close nonetheless.

[Menolly]

This gets as serious as wine rankings, eh?

Serious Beer Pairings for Thanksgiving
Posted by Maggie Hoffman, November 19, 2009

"Malty beer resonates with the caramelized skin of a turkey and brings out the herbal flavors in stuffing."



If you want to eat like the Pilgrims this Thanksgiving, you should probably get busy hunting for deer and wild ducks. But if you want to drink Pilgrim-style, you just need to get yourself some beer!

The colonists believed that beer was usually safer to drink than water and worried about drinking their barrels dry. After dithering too long over where to locate their settlement, the passengers of the Mayflower finally chose Plymouth just before a harsh winter began. William Bradford wrote, "We could not now take much time for further search [for an ideal destination,] our victuals being much spent, especially our beer." They urged the next boat of Separatists headed toward Plymouth to bring about 10,000 gallons of ale and some malt for homebrewing.

Historical accuracy aside, beer works with Thanksgiving food. Malty beer resonates with the caramelized skin of a turkey and brings out the herbal flavors in stuffing. Beer's carbonation and bitterness cleanses and refreshes the palate between bites.

But not just any beer will play nice with classic Thanksgiving dishes. Hoppy IPAs (and other beers on the bitter end of the scale) are out of sync with the sweet and earthy flavors of the Thanksgiving feast. But a wide variety of styles pair beautifully with turkey, stuffing, and even sweet potatoes. We tasted 20 bottles of beer (over the course of three nights) with many plates of Thanksgiving food and came up with these eight stellar pairings to be thankful for.

The Winners

Recommended Thanksgiving Beers

• * Bière de Garde (Southhampton Brewery)
  * French Style Country Ale (Two Brothers)
  * Ashland Amber (Caldera Brewing)
  * Singel Ale (Witkap Pater)
  * Kerberos Tripel (Flying Dog)
  * 2° Below (New Belgium)
  * Frambozen (New Belgium)
  * Levitation Ale (Stone Brewing)

Following Brooklyn Brewery brewmaster Garrett Oliver's recommendation, we started our Thanksgiving experiments with a few examples of Bière de Garde. This earthy French-style farmhouse ale is a beautiful gold color and sometimes comes in festive Champagne-style bottles. We particularly loved Southampton Brewery's version, which had a nutty caramel flavor that matched up well with sweet potatoes. This beer is smooth but a little funky, with hints of sweet fermented apple. It's a little musky and toasty—very nice with food. We also really enjoyed the Domaine DuPage French Style Country Ale from Two Brothers Brewing in Illinois, which was a little fruity but dry, with restrained bitterness and hints of apricot. The caramel flavors in both of these beers were lovely with the crisp skin from the turkey.

A slightly less musky option for Thanksgiving pairing is a good American amber. We liked how Caldera Brewing Company's Ashland Amber complemented the earthy flavors in the meal, particularly the mushrooms in the stuffing.

Two other very successful pairings were Belgian (and Belgian-inspired). The Singel Ale from Witkap Pater was bright and yeasty with a pronounced pineapple-juice flavor. This hazy golden beer had notes of thyme and sage (as well as hints of banana) that worked well with both cranberry sauce and turkey (a difficult feat.) You could serve this refreshing, festive beer in champagne flutes, and even non-beer drinkers would probably enjoy it. The Kerberos Tripel from Flying Dog was another hit, complementing the stuffing with its rich buttery flavor and hint of sweetness.

Two surprise hits were provided by New Belgium Brewing in Colorado. Their winter warmer, 2° Below, was festive and interesting. Walnut and maple syrup notes added another dimension to the stuffing. This beer isn't a pushover, but it complemented the meal seamlessly. New Belgium's Frambozen was rosy red and smelled like raspberry jam, but it was more subtle than we expected, and not too sweet at all. The fruity flavor was fun to taste with the turkey and the stuffing—it was almost a stand-in for cranberry sauce without reminding us of melted Jolly Ranchers.

While we're not sure we'd recommend it to non-beerdrinkers, we think the Levitation Ale from Stone Brewing also deserves a place at the Thanksgiving table. This intense brew has herbal, piney flavors and lingering toasted malt. A hint of cinnamon and peat make this earthy beer a good companion for turkey and stuffing.

Not full yet? Don't worry; we'll have beer pairings for pie next week.

[Zarathustra]

I haven't had Southhampton's Bière de Garde, but the style is wonderful. Lot's of character without being overwhelming. Kerberos Tripel is good, but there are better tripels. The only other one I've had is Levitation Ale, and even though Stone is probably my favorite brewery, I don't recommend this one. It's 180 opposite of every other beer they make--very light, low calorie, low alcohol, watery. Intense? You've got to be kidding me. Try their Double Bastard Ale for intense.

I'm surprised how many of these recommendations are Belgian-style beers. I love Belgians, and I would have no problem pairing them with American Thanksgiving, but it's still a surprising recommendation. I'd also like to see some good malty American strong ales in there, or perhaps a barleywine like North Coast's Old Stock Ale, which has notes of gingerbread and brown sugar. There are also lots of holiday ales this time of year, pumpkin ales, spiced Christmas Ales, etc. Dogfish Head brews some odd beers that would fit right in with this list--fruity, woody, pumpkin, honey, etc.

I think that an English ale--Fuller's Vintage Ale--would work wonderfully. At $7 a pint bottle, it's quite a treat. But it's the flagship premium ale from a wonderful English brewery. An extremely malty brew with notes of bourbon and vanilla.

[lorin]

[Savor Dam]

^
Goes well with her post in the Pizza thread in this forum.

[Menolly]

*snort*

except for one word...
...dèjâ vu

[lorin]

uh oh......this has been up before? sorry, missed it

[Menolly]

No, no...
I'm teasing SD.
He changed pizza from beer in his comments in each thread.

[Harbinger]

This is Kid Rock's new beer. It's described as:

"It's delicious!" said Elizabeth Hussey, 25, of Shelby Township, after her first sip. She praised its "lean aftertaste" and "crisp, summery" savoriness. "It's not heavy in your mouth; it's light on your palate," she said, comparing it to a Sam Adams summer lager.

"I like it, it's a workin' man's beer,"

"It's a good sipping beer," says Derek Lecki, 21, of Davisburg. He's on his fifth cup.

It just tastes like good American light beer, a regular beer and a light beer, an everyday beer.

Redneck Lager. Lovingly crafted by Kid Rock, an amateur brewer in his spare time. I'm not gonna lie; I'll try it if I run across it.

[drew]

Gunna have me some of this tonight:

[Zarathustra]

A bar manager cheated death in a knife attack when his beer belly protected his vital organs.

Doctors told Snaz Martin, 43, he was "almost certainly" saved by his midriff after a drunk customer stabbed him with a three-inch blade.

"The doctor said I could have died but my organs were protected by a bit of extra fat," said the tubby landlord, who runs the Britannia Inn in Gillingham, Kent, U.K.

link

Beer. . . is there anything it can't do?

[Palm Lake Mustachio]

My current beer of choice is McEwans Champion Ale - 7.3% and bursting with flavour, I can't get enough of it right now!

[Zarathustra]

I've had McEwans IPA and was not impressed. Never tried the Champion, but I notice it's ranked significantly higher on Ratebeer.com.

I'm brewing this weekend for the first time in many months. I can't wait to fill the house with steam and the aroma of hops.