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A Good Beer Blog

• 

  Illinois: Oh Brother!, Tripel, Two Brothers, Warrenville

  Posted: March 11th, 2010, 2:36am CET by Alan McLeod

  This is a really interesting tripel. Not a just a candi sugar bomb, there's a lot of earthiness in there. Not funk. Earth.

  It's made by the same folk at Two Brothers Brewing who made that Domaine DuPage I had last fall. It doesn't show on their website but, then again, this page was last updated on 14 April 2009. It pours a swell aged pine with a rim of white. On the nose pale malty sweetness meets loam. Not dirt. Loam. In the mouth pear juice, a bit of white pepper and twiggy pine herbs like rosemary. The label says "we brew it from pilsner malt, candy sugar and some very non-traditional hop choices." It's almost like cross between Findu Monde by Unibroue and a biere de garde like 3 Monts. A beer for a rib-eye steak.

  There is some yeast sediment in the neck. I have no idea what that means as it's been upright in the stash for months. Hefty at 8.5%. Value priced at 5.99 a bomber in South Bend, Indiana. BAers show respect but not the love. I like it plenty.

Knut Albert's beer blog

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  Norwegian beer scene coming of age 2

  Posted: March 10th, 2010, 9:27pm CET by knutalbert

  The other story about beer in Norway is connected to Hurtigruten, what used to be the coastal steamer along the Western coast of Norway, now a fleet of cruise ships doing the Bergen-Kirkenes round trip in two weeks. These ships are filled with well heeled tourists during the summer season, enjoying the fjords, the coastline and [...]

The Brew Site

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  Suggest a new beer for Fort George Brewery

  Posted: March 10th, 2010, 8:12am CET by Jon

  Fort George Brewery over in Astoria, Oregon, is busy this month: not only are they celebrating their third birthday coming up on March 14th, they’re also holding a contest to suggest their next new beer. From their blog:

  We here at Fort George take being a Public House very seriously. It has been because of our great customers that we have been able to grow and better our business and for that, we would like to give back. Fort George Brewery would like your ideas for a new beer that could be made in our brewery. If you would like to see a new style of beer, would like us to try something new with our beers, or have a recipe of your own that you would like to see pouring at Fort George, submit an entry and it could end up being brewed!

  All beer entries must be able to be made with our American Ale Yeast or our Belgian yeast. The beer selected will be based on quality, creativity, availability of ingredients, and by how delicious it sounds. You may submit as many entries as you like but only one beer will be chosen.

  Click through to the blog to get the details on how to submit your beer idea. You have until April 10th to get your entry in.

A Good Beer Blog

• 

  UK Labour Adds Two Dimensional Pub Minister

  Posted: March 10th, 2010, 1:46am CET by Alan McLeod

  Wow. A Pub Minister for Britain! Great! Has he got a Ministry staffed with people who do work? No... but he has a ministerial task force, drawing on five Whitehall departments. Is he actually given the time and resources to make change? Well, there is that thing coming up... that election. The Daily Mail notes:

  A new government will be in place in less than 12 weeks, Labour or not, and Chancellor Darling is expected to unveil the last Budget of this parliament on March 23. This isn't time enough for Healey to win a campaign to Save the British pub.

  If this was such a great idea, why didn't the UK government introduce it in the previous 675 or so weeks since they gained power? Right now they trail in the polls by 5% to 7% but, to be fair, that is half of what they were behind by at Christmas. And is he the man for the job? While 5 or 6 pubs are closing a day 130 families lose their homes a day in the UK. Healey, who is also Minister of Housing, has described repossession as 'the best option' for struggling homeowners according to The Daily Mail.

  Sure, it's just politics heading into a tough election but that is the point - it's just politics heading into a tough election.

Knut Albert's beer blog

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  Announcing the Mikkeller beer bar

  Posted: March 9th, 2010, 2:07pm CET by knutalbert

  Going to the beer festival in Copenhagen? So you thought the rather short opening hours of the festival meant you had some time to stroll along in the city, visit the Little Mermaid, visit the National Museum of Arts…. Nope.  Mikkel Borg Bjergsø, yes, that’s the Mikkel of Mikkeller fame, will open a beer bar. In Copenhagen. [...]

The Brew Site

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  Session #38 announced

  Posted: March 9th, 2010, 8:32am CET by Jon

  The roundup for Session #37 has been posted (hmm, seems a little sparse; I don’t see mine or several others I remember reading listed there yet…) and the topic for The Session #38 for April has been announced:

  With Kate the Great Day a recent memory and the day of the Dark Lord fast approaching, I started thinking about what beer or beers that I would get up at 4:00 in the morning, drive across state lines, stand in a long unmoving line in the cold and rain for the chance to taste with a crowd the size of Woodstock.

  So here is my question to you (with a couple addendums).

  What beer have you tasted recently (say, the last six months or so) that is worthy of their own day in the media sun?

  And to add a little extra to it, how does “great” expectations affect your beer drinking enjoyment?

  AND If you have attended one of these release parties, stories and anecdotes of your experience will be welcomed too.

  The host for April is Beer Search Party. The usual rules apply: publish your Session blog post on Friday, April 2nd, and shoot an email or leave a comment on the host blog. And be sure to read all the others posts that day, too—putting the “group” in “group blogging” you know.

A Good Beer Blog

• 

  This Monday's Bullet Points Of Beery Interest

  Posted: March 9th, 2010, 1:49am CET by Alan McLeod

  Ah, bullet points. When you haven't got enough for a post there's always enough for bullet points. They are the putting green to a round of 18. The hot dog to the BBQ. But enough of my lazy blogger admissions and let's see what is going on out there:

  • Craft beer in the US had another good year in 2009 according to the trade association, Brewers Association. Apparently, craft brewers sold 9,115,635 barrels of good beer. The Brewer's Association works with an annual production of less than 2 million barrels. So does this mean when the next brewer goes over the 2 million barrel mark that we will get a press release stating that there has been a 20% drop in craft beer sales? Sam Adam's PA plant has about that much capacity alone. So, that'll happen soon, right?
  • Speaking of the state both south and west of New York, I hear that there's been some hoosegow raids down in Pennsylvania.Brewer's may be getting a chill. Lew's smoking mad. Jack's losing it. Andy makes a valid point, however. I wonder what would happen in Ontario of un-permitted beers were being sold? Likely a license suspension. Yet it does seem like a silly law.
  • Ticker alert: Guam now has locally-branded beer. Everyone else: as you were.
  • I don't understand the panic at the Beer Wars blog. Unless it's a dead cat bounce. Even a dead cat will bounce if you drop it from far enough. It's a stock market phrase. But I don't think this is really a dead cat bounce at all as this is the point: "The choice is yours. You can keep complaining about what’s wrong with the film (don’t get me started on Avatar) or you can embrace it (flaws and all) and help spread the word about craft beer to a whole new audience." Actually, no - I don't have to make that choice. I can ignore the work, however well intentioned, as an ineffective advocate for the cause. But is it?
  • Perhaps Pennsylvania needs true leaders of vision like the UK's Gareth Epps, candidate Liberal Democratic Party for Reading East. He declared "I am proud to be speaking up for community pubs, local brewers and consumers." Hmmm... is that actually possible? Can one stand up for corner stores, the local bakers and bread eaters? Maybe you can. I would also like to point out that he works for a major infrastructure project, specialising in community consultation and I have no idea what that means.

  That's a fair bit going on for a quiet late winter night. It's not all quiet. Ron's off somewhere at a festival where he is drinking stouts and lambics. Sounds alright by me.

Hedonist Beer Jive

• 

  SOUTHERN TIER’s “OAK-AGED UNEARTHLY”

  Posted: March 8th, 2010, 6:36pm CET by Jay

  This is the first bomber I opened from my recent acquisition of East Coast beers from MM, the fella that more or less turned me onto SOUTHERN TIER BREWING and their incredible line-up of intense & wonderful beers a couple years ago. Now they’re one of my top 5 favorite brewers in the world, and the creators of the finest India Pale Ale to ever pass my lips, GEMINI. Now you may know that ½ of GEMINI is made up of another outstanding Double IPA from the Southern Tier family – UNEARTHLY. We reviewed that one right here. Now there’s an OAK-AGED UNEARTHLY. You know it’s totally gonna rule. And yes, it totally does.
  SOUTHERN TIER OAK-AGED UNEARTHLY is truly all about the oakiness. You smell it, you taste the wood, and it lingers on the top of your mouth for a few heartbeats past the swallow. A very crisp beer, OAK-AGED UNEARTHLY brings forward the piney hops, and layers in a sweet undercurrent and a thin-to-medium body. If the sweetness is coming from the 11% alcohol, I can’t tell, but it would stand to reason. Again, it’s more oaky than it is hoppy, and really “renders” like a finely aged beer. Didn’t think you could do it this well with an IPA. I don’t know what else to say, folks. When you’re on a winning streak this hot the way SOUTHERN TIER are, why would you even listen to a piker like myself? Another flat-out superb beer from one of our nation’s best. 9/10.

Knut Albert's beer blog

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  Beer festival among the hops

  Posted: March 8th, 2010, 4:37pm CET by knutalbert

  If you want a contrast to the big festivals in the European capitals, and still want to go away for a good beer experience, I think the first Hallertauer Bierfestival  in Attenkirchen, Bavaria could be a nice place to go. It takes place on 28 -30 May, and it’s organized by the village community. They promise 54 beers [...]

A Good Beer Blog

• 

  Oregon: Black Butte XXI, Deschutes Brewery, Bend

  Posted: March 7th, 2010, 2:44am CET by Alan McLeod

  I am delighted that samples from Deschutes get through the solid mile high maple soaked wall that is the US-Canadian border but disconcerted nonetheless. Should I be drinking a beer that says "best before 17 October 2010" or should I not? In this weekend's spirit of not being so anal about these things let's open it and see what we find.

  At 11% it is hard to argue that this is not infanticide. The beer could easily have laid in the stash for a decade. It pours an inky mahogany with a mocha rim and foam. On the nose, dark chocolate as well as some mineral notes of coal on top. Rich and supple in the mouth, it is a light dark chocolate liqueur yet with a grainy texture that speaks to its making. Had I waited, it might have been so much more complex but at this young point in its career it has a freshness that is quite compelling. Still, over time acids would arise in a year or so which would cut the chalkiness of the finish and complement the acids from the hops. The sweet of the malt lingering there would likely break down into a more interesting collection of flavours than the present hint of icing sugar. Yet it is compelling and I am grateful for the efforts that got it to me.

  Huge BAer love.

The Brew Site

• 

  The Session #37: When to Drink the Good Stuff

  Posted: March 6th, 2010, 6:17am CET by Jon

  Three years ago this month The Session celebrated its inaugural Friday with the topic of Stouts. This month, The Session’s third birthday, we have an entirely apropos topic: When to drink the good stuff, hosted by The Ferm.

  Finding a drinking occasion that lives up to the reputation of the bottle and the story of its acquisition is not a dreadful struggle to have, but it is a struggle nonetheless. When my good friends are over and we have had a few other beverages, will we still be able to enjoy my cave aged Hennepin that I bought after my tour of the brewery and have cellared for ten years? Will I miss it like I miss that four year old Golden Monkey?

  In March, The Ferm has the honor of hosting The Session, a monthly assemblage of beer bloggers to opine on a shared topic. The March 2010 topic is “The Display Shelf: When to Drink the Good Stuff.” The topic is open ended and the rules of The Session are close to nil. You can use your post to be persuasive or therapeutic. You may choose to tell a story of a great bottle you once opened or boast of your own beer collection.

  As I write this post up, I’m enjoying a 2007 vintage bottle of The Abyss—partly in appreciation of this month’s topic, partly to celebrate The Session’s anniversary (enjoying an Imperial Stout in a nice symmetry with that first month of stouts), partly “just because.”

  All of which leads into the best answer I can give of “when to drink the good stuff”: I don’t know—it’s entirely up to you.

  What? Too anticlimactic? Well, there’s no way around it—beer can be such a subjective topic and everyone has their own tastes and preferences. The only one who can tell you when to drink that prized beer is you.

  But if you can hold on to that beer for ten or more years? My hat’s off to you.

  Now if you’ll excuse me, I believe I’m going to enjoy the last of this ‘07 Abyss…

  

A Good Beer Blog

• 

  Session 37: Let's Bust Open The Stash.... Maybe....

  Posted: March 6th, 2010, 1:03am CET by Alan McLeod

  Stash. It's one of the best words in the entire beery lexicon. I like it so much a picture of mine serves as the background of my Twitter page. No, not page... presence. It really is a Twitter presence. And, you know, it is a thing of comfort and joy, the stash. I wrote a post about my stash in 2005 and am wondering how long before that I was using the word. Back then it was about 40 bottles. Now it's about 200. I don't like to go beyond that as stuff just gets too old. I cull the stash by giving away beer. I cull it by drinking. And I preemptively cull it by living in Canada where no one really can get the good beer into the stash either by sales or samples. Yet, they are in there. A few excellent rare bottles. Buffered by a few almost excellent rare bottles. Buffered by more good but not quite excellent, hardly rare bottles. They are in there. At the back. Under boxes. Hidden. I can hear them.

  But enough about me. What's this edition of The Session about?

  The Ferm has the honor of hosting The Session, a monthly assemblage of beer bloggers to opine on a shared topic. The March 2010 topic is “The Display Shelf: When to Drink the Good Stuff.” The topic is open ended and the rules of The Session are close to nil. You can use your post to be persuasive or therapeutic. You may choose to tell a story of a great bottle you once opened or boast of your own beer collection.

  Oh. dear. See, it's all fine to talk about the stash but to actually go in there and get into the rare stuff... well... I don't know. I'll get back to you later tonight.

  Later: A 2006 Doggie Claw will help me think about this. One of the last bottles from the unfortunate shipment of late 2006. This bottle is rare because it is hard to get on the east coast of North America and also because it was through so much with me. And because it has mellowed. The slightest pffft on opening, the lightest carbonation, a syrup body, the most delightful barley wine I have ever had. Yum.

  But does that answer the question. Let me think about that a bit.

  Later still: a bottle of Gale and Co Conquest Ale bought at least five years ago for, according to the label, $3.99. A cork pop and, hmm, the waft is entirely lambic. Gorgeous. Like 50% Thomas Hardy Ale plus an equal amount of that cruelest beer. Or maybe one third to two thirds. Amazing. You figure out the proportions. Best have another wee think about what's going on here.

Knut Albert's beer blog

• 

  Norwegian beer scene coming of age

  Posted: March 5th, 2010, 5:57pm CET by knutalbert

  A few recent news items related to the Norwegian beer scene shows that this is no longer just an arena for a few enthusiasts. It’s like Science Fiction after Star Wars, craft beer is going mainstream. First of all the Norwegian Brewer’s association, which, without much fuss, has recruited most of the micro breweries of the [...]

Hop Talk

• 

  Session #37: When to drink the good stuff

  Posted: March 5th, 2010, 4:34pm CET by Al

  ©Hop Talk – Use of this feed on other sites without express permission is prohibited

  The Session is a monthly one-day event held by beer bloggers around the world, where they each post their thoughts on a unified theme.

  This edition of The Session is sponsored “SirRon” at The Ferm.

  The Session #37: Announcement – The Display Shelf: When to Drink the Good Stuff

  Finding a drinking occasion that lives up to the reputation of the bottle and the story of its acquisition is not a dreadful struggle to have, but it is a struggle nonetheless. When my good friends are over and we have had a few other beverages, will we still be able to enjoy my cave aged Hennepin that I bought after my tour of the brewery and have cellared for ten years? Will I miss it like I miss that four year old Golden Monkey?

  The topic is open ended and the rules of The Session are close to nil. You can use your post to be persuasive or therapeutic. You may choose to tell a story of a great bottle you once opened or boast of your own beer collection.

  I have only just started experimenting with cellaring some of my beer. Even before I discovered craft beer I’d believed in the idea that “fresh beer is better beer”. I mean, take away most of the water, add some flour, and you’ve got bread. What bread tastes better after sitting for some length of time? Even after my craft beer epiphany I still gravitated toward “pale” brews, which still benefit from being drunk fresh.

  As such, I haven’t really run into the problem of setting something aside “for a special occasion”. (I do however, have a bottle or three whose siren song I’m resisting so that I can have it later this year.) Most of my friends are beer fans themselves and appreciate those rarer, “special” beers. Those that aren’t, well, they either bring their own beer or I choose something just for them that helps keep them away from the stuff they just wouldn’t appreciate. Those occasions are few and far between, though. I moved away from most of my close friends and only see them occasionally. My wife, while she enjoys a nice craft beer, doesn’t like the high-gravity stuff that does well with aging. That usually just leaves little old me to enjoy those beers I’ve been saving.

  Then, of course, there’s the “don’t postpone joy” philosophy. I remember in my youth I got my mother a candle shaped like a rose or something. Well, she wouldn’t burn it because it was too nice. Years later, we discovered it in the attic. It was completely malformed, the fragrance was gone, and even if the wick would have held a flame it wouldn’t have melted evenly. Instead of enjoying it soon after receiving it, she saved it for a special occasion and never got to enjoy it at all. My wife likes to paint these one-of-a-kind pottery bowls which are just lovely, but rather than leave them to gather dust on a shelf, she uses them. A couple of them have small chips out of them as a result, but she has enjoyed them. Why wait?

  Writing this reminds of two things. One, if I’m going to cellar more beer I need to get a bit more organized as I don’t really know what I have or how long it’s been in there. But, then, doesn’t that go against the “spirit” of beer? Beer is simple, approachable. If I’m going to start cataloging my purchases by vintage and judging whether or not the occasion is “worthy” of a bottle, doesn’t that send me careening down the path to one of those annoying oenophiliacs we all know? Still, I know that there are some rather tasty beers that become even more tasty with just a little time and patience, and who wouldn’t want that?

  Secondly, I’m reminded that I haven’t gotten together with friends—to chat over some good beer—in an embarrassingly long time. This is something I will need to rectify very soon because, to me, being with friends is more than enough reason to celebrate.
  

  submit_url = 'http://hop-talk.com/2010/03/05/session-37-when-to-drink-the-good-stuff/';
  

  Related Posts:

  • Session #12 announced: Barleywine
  • Reminder: Session #28 – June 5, 2009
  • Session #20: Beer Memories
  • Session #24 announced: Tripel
  • Session #31: Magic Hat Wacko
  • Powered by Contextual Related Posts

  
  

  

GourmetBryggeriet

• 

  Nordstrøm spiller til GB´s kundedag den 10 marts 2010…

  Posted: March 5th, 2010, 11:28am CET by lars

  “Januar” er blandt P3´s mest spillede radio hit og om kort tid kommer Nordstrøm med en ny CD. GB inviterer kunder og fans til intim koncert og fest på studenterhuset nu på onsdag.
  Er du kunde eller ønsker at blive det, så ring eller skriv til Anders Kleinstrup på mail ak@gourmetbryggeriet.dk eller telefon nr. 51 37 36 13 og tilmed dig.

  Læs mere om Nordstrøm her…

   - hør sangen her:

  29. September, 2009

Hedonist Beer Jive

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  YOU SAY LA TRAPPE, I SAY KONINGSHOEVEN – LET’S CALL THE WHOLE THING OFF

  Posted: March 5th, 2010, 7:00am CET by Jay

  Last September I finally had my first beer from famed Dutch Trappist brewer LA TRAPPE, who market their beers in the US under the KONINGSHOEVEN brand. It was their QUADRUPEL, and you may recall that I thought it was “shockingly bad”. A huge surprise, too, because people the world over seem to love this one. It also generated some of my favorite comments on this blog, including this one from Niklas: “You've lost your damn mind, son. Recalibrate your palate and try again. Disgraceful.”. So the other night, my first night in Barcelona on my trip a couple weeks ago, I took Niklas’ advice and recalibrated my palate. Then I ordered a LA TRAPPE BLONDE, this time under the native La Trappe branding. Now granted, I had this right after a CHIMAY BLUE in a beautiful Belgian chalice, and man o man is that a great beer. I think the ubiquity of CHIMAY Red, White (“Cinq Cents”) and Blue keeps me from drinking it except when it’s the best choice on a restaurant menu, but that BLUE is something special.
  Anyway, I’ve definitely got a beef with LA TRAPPE/KONINGSHOEVEN after my second sub-par beer from them. I mean, really folks – this stuff’s just weak. LA TRAPPE BLONDE is thin, bland and almost like a lager, and it has this cloying perfumed smell that also shows up in the taste. Some yeastiness is present, way way back in the distance, placed there as an afterthought. It might quench one’s thirst, yet there are a lot of ways to do that, starting with water, which is the superior drink in my book. It’s so far removed from the masterworks of the other Trappist brewers – ROCHEFORT, ORVAL, WESTMALLE, WESTVLETEREN etc. – that it’s truly in a remedial class by itself. 4.5/10.

A Good Beer Blog

• 

  Botswana To Regulate Traditional Beer

  Posted: March 5th, 2010, 2:42am CET by Alan McLeod

  Traditional beer? The only solid access I've had to information about traditional beer drinking patterns in southern Africa is what I read a couple of years ago in Xhosa Beer Drinking Rituals by Patrick McAllister. Botswana is apparently taking steps to bring traditional beer under the nation's general liquor law regulation. Trade and Industry Minister, Ms Dorcus Makgato-Malesu is reported to have said that issues of traditional beer are sensitive and need extensive consultation. Other politicians have chimed in:

  Gaborone South MP Kagiso Molatlhegi, whose constituency includes Bontleng and Old Naledi welcomed the idea saying shebeens need to be regulated as a matter of urgency, adding that there is too much noise pollution in his area because such businesses are not uncontrolled. Adding his voice to the debate Gaborone West South MP, Botsalo Ntuane criticised government's stance on alcohol saying it was antisocial...

  It's important stuff. Such important stuff that there appear to be rumours that traditional beer saves one from serious illnesses. Maybe such misconceptions are among the reasons for the government anti-alcohol campaign in Botswana.

  I seem to see sorghum beer is called chibuku when sold commercially. One manufactureer describes it this way: "Chibuku has a sorghum malt dominant flavour. There is a biting taste due to the continuous fermentation. It has a thick texture and has thick foam." Jay posted way more about aspects of neighbouring Zimbabwe's beer culture which should also help the curious amongst you but could it be we are all just needing our own thick and biting chibuku?

  So, why are there no craft brewers holding chibuku bashes? Could we chilly North Americans handle it? Martyn wants his South African beer basket and maybe so should we all.

For The Love Of Beer

• 

  Alpine Nelson - Golden Rye IPA

  Posted: March 4th, 2010, 8:54pm CET by Don Thompson

  Alpine Beer Company's Nelson is a Golden Rye IPA that's brewed with Nelson Sauvin hops from New Zealand. This is a unique hop that isn't very prominent in American micro brews. An added twist comes from the addition of rye in the malt bill. It comes in at 7% ABV. I cracked a fresh bottle and this is what I thought:
  
  
  
  Bomber pours into my glass a deep orange/yellow with a two finger creamy, bubbling white head and superb clarity. Aromas start with a distinct tropical, pungent, fruity hop explosion. Grapefruit melds in with a nice spicy rye character. There is somewhat of a vinous, white wine character lurking within as well. Quite the lovely aroma.
  
  First sip brings a plethora of fruity, resinous, pungent hops upfront with bold mango and grapefruit flavors. Spicy rye mixes in beautifully. Flows down with a good kick of bitterness that's well placed. Lingering fruity hops on the palate. Delicious!
  
  
  
  Mouthfeel is crisp and smooth with perfect carbonation. This one is exceedingly easy to drink and just amazingly enjoyable. A top notch IPA and I love the addition of rye and the Nelson Sauvin hops. Seek it out if you have the ability!
  
  Overall this earns a rating of Amazing.
  
  
  One of the tastiest IPA's I've sampled!
  
  Again, feel free to swing on over to www.alpinebrewing.com and check out their full line of great brews!

  
  

  

Hedonist Beer Jive

• 

  NAPA SMITH AMBER

  Posted: March 4th, 2010, 1:00pm CET by Jay

  NAPA SMITH BREWING are upstart entrants hailing from Northern California’s wine country, a total family brewery (The Smiths!) who employ a longtime veteran named Don Barkley as their head brewmaster. They’re starting to catch on with the hoi polloi here in the Bay Area, and I remember reading a review of their BONFIRE IMPERIAL STOUT on a blog (Brewed For Thought, probably?) that made me rush out and buy one. It’s still in the fridge, awaiting the proper imperial stout star alignment. My only other experience with them was tasting their IPA on draft a few months back, and I scored that one a 7/10, which you best believe is better than yr average beer.
  Draft is also how I encountered NAPA SMITH AMBER a few weeks ago as well, this time at the SF Ferry Plaza Building’s burger restaurant Taylor’s Refresher (which has its roots in the Napa Valley, and which sells this beer in their St. Helena location as well – I know ‘cause I saw it there). This is a really classic and slightly left-of-center amber ale. No, it’s not an imperial. It’s a tingling, somewhat bitter red ale, quite sweet as times and full of robust, mouth-filling malts that add a lot of character. It tasted absolutely like I want one of these to taste, “very 1990s”. Back in the 90s, the amber beer was my go-to style; I didn’t know about Belgian beer yet. Every microbrewery (that’s what we called them, kids!) has one, along with a wheat beer, a pale ale and a pilsner. This harkens back to that time, and adds that curveball hoppiness and bitterness that’s more a hallmark of the past decade. Nice. 7.5/10.

The Brew Site

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  Empire Strikes Back

  Posted: March 4th, 2010, 8:58am CET by Jon

  I’m sure the movie is the first thing you think when you see the title of this post, but in fact it’s the name of the latest limited-release beer from Double Mountain Brewery. In fact they’re holding release parties tomorrow and Friday, and thanks to the Bend Beer Blog I know that Friday’s release party is being held here in Bend, at Brother Jon’s Pub.

  (I’d completely overlooked this, since I saw the “Moon & Sixpence Pub” in Portland as the first location and assumed it was all Portland.)

  I had to read this line about the beer from the Double Mountain blog and smirk, though:

  EMPIRE STRIKES BACK is a concept beer that answers the question, “what happens when you make a big Northwest-style IPA with all-English malt and hops?”

  Um, you have a traditional English IPA?

  Yes, completely snarky because it’s a silly concept question. But to be fair, it’s Double Mountain, so I’m sure the beer will be very good.

  The release party at Brother Jon’s is from 5 to 9pm Friday, the 5th.

A Good Beer Blog

• 

  The Hobby Of Not Drinking Everything

  Posted: March 4th, 2010, 1:57am CET by Alan McLeod

  Good article in the Los Angeles Times today by Evan George on the hobby of the beer stash. The hero of the story is Mr. Arrieta:

  To grab a beer, Israel Arrieta doesn't just stroll to the fridge; he has to walk out his back door to the side of the house, where he pries a chicken-wire screen off a basement window and scrambles, crab position, down a wooden ladder. Several minutes later, he emerges cradling half a dozen cool, dusty bottles of beer. Arrieta, 27, keeps his beer in the closest thing to a cave: the crawl space under his parents' North Pasadena house.

  We also read about a 55-year-old who writes for the film industry, a retired medic, a Raytheon engineer from Glendale but it's Arrieta, the guy who keeps his beer in a dirt crawl space behind chicken wire, who makes the story. He sums up the hobby as "not drinking everything just because you have it" and I suppose that is why I do it, too, as well as simply because I have to hunt out my beer an buy in mass purchases living, as I do behind the great mapled curtain of national denial.

  One of the other stash nerds also pointed out that "If you just age all the bottles for 10 years and drink them in a month, that doesn't make sense." I don't know if I necessarily agree with that as I am quite comfortable with the idea that a beer like a wine can be on point or past it. I want it when its best because who really needs to be exposed to a beer that is "cloyingly salty, more like Kikkoman than a Boston lager"? Gak.

Nyt fra Ølakademiet

• 

  Carlsbergs månelanding (DR)

  Posted: March 4th, 2010, 12:00am CET

  - Denne øl er for Carlsberg, hvad månelandingen er for amerikanerne. Det var ordene, da chefbrygmester Morten Ibsen lancerede tredje og sidste øl i i Vintage-trilogien: Vintage No. 3, en Pale Barley Wine med en alkoholprocent på 15. Prisen er 2010 kroner, en beskeden stigning fra sidste års udgave, der kostede 2009 kroner.

GourmetBryggeriet

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  Verdens bedste porter og mælk fra de fynske alper… hvad har det med hinanden at gøre ?

  Posted: March 3rd, 2010, 8:59pm CET by lars

  Landmejeriet A/S …. så er Fynsk Forår Vintage 2010 snart klar til salg, men skynd dig at bestille en af de nummererede oste. Vi har kun lavet 21 stk., og mange af dem er allerede reserverede.
  Fynsk Forår Vintage 2010 er en spændende fusion mellem fuldfed lagret gouda og porter støbt landost. Flemming vil de sidste 2 fredage optil påske have smagsprøver at den fynske fusion og verdensnyhed i Gourmetbryggeriets butik. Se åbningstider her…

  Kombinationen af den lagrede gouda med klar…

  e saltkrystaller og landosten, som er støbt med Ølfabrikkens Porter (der flere gange er kåret blandt verdens bedst) er resulteret i en verdensnyhed i Danmark…
  I weekenderne optil påske vil Claus fortælle om osteprocessen i butikken og uddele smagsprøver.  Vil du høre mere om Fynsk Forår Vintage 2010 eller mejeriet iøvrigt, er du velkommen til at skrive på vores oste blog eller ringe på telefon 62 64 13 84. 

For The Love Of Beer

• 

  Alpine Duet IPA

  Posted: March 3rd, 2010, 8:42pm CET by Don Thompson

  Alpine Beer Company is located in Alpine, CA and opened up shop in 2002. They have now expanded once already and opened a pub in their building as well. They have produced some awesome brews, including a nice list of amazing IPA's such as Pure Hoppiness, Nelson and the Duet I am drinking now. They have also brewed a lambic and a kriek along with other treats like barrel aged barleywines. Here are my thought on the Duet. A 7%ABV IPA that was brewed with Simcoe and Amarillo hops.
  
  Fresh bomber pours into my glass a wonderful peach color with amazing clarity and a half inch of creamy white head that leaves some spotty lacing. Enticing. Aroma is all hops! Tropical fruit, grapefruit, green hop resins, floral accents and a bit of spiciness. Really shows off the Simcoe and Amarillo. Mellow caramel sweetness in the background.
  
  
  
  First sip brings all hops upfront. Citric, tropical, herbaceous with green leafy resins. A bit floral with a mellow underlying sweetness from crisp light malts. Flows down with a bitter kick and lingering hops on the finish.
  
  Mouthfeel is smooth with fast moving carbonation making this brew immensely drinkable. This is just a damn good IPA that I would be buying many bombers of if it was available locally. If you have access to this consider yourself lucky!
  
  Overall I would give this a rating of Great. Super drinkable stuff!
  
  Check out more from Alpine Beer Company by surfing over to [www.alpinebrewing.com]

  
  

  

Hedonist Beer Jive

• 

  TWO FRESH ONES FROM CANADA

  Posted: March 3rd, 2010, 11:53am CET by Jay

  Friend of Hedonist Beer Jive “MP” graciously donated several Canadian ales to our cause during his recent business trip to San Francisco. While we never actually met, this fine representative of his gold-medal winning hockey powerhouse of a country actually dropped off several beers at the front desk of his hotel for me; all I had to do was pick them up and then commit to drinking them. Done and done. There are little craft breweries spread across Canada; my recent visits to Toronto confirm that you can even run a world-class beer bar serving nothing but great Canadian artisanal beer. I recently completed the second part of my commitment to MP and drank the beer he so kindly provided me – here’s a report on two of them.
  SCOTCH IRISH CORPORAL’S BITTER BROWN ALE – This Ontario brewer allow you to make no mistake about their heritage, and they reflect it well. This make a classic copper/brown ale (I’ll bet they love how Beer Advocate categorizes it as an “American brown ale”), very close in flavor profile to an ESB, with a light caramel taste and mild but noticeable hopping. The caramel is akin to those light tan-colored ones, not the rich and intense sugar bombs so popular with candy makers these days. This beer is bitter for sure, also a bit nutty and buttery. At 4.3% alcohol, it’s probably the easiest-drinking beer we’ve had in a long, long time. Please note that I enjoyed this in my rarely-used “Dusseldorf stein”, pictured above. It’s a high-quality beer that I’d definitely like to grab on tap at some point in life. 7/10.
  GREAT LAKES DEVIL’S PALE ALE – Yeah, I was hoping this one would be devilish, too, what with the big “666” on the can, but – no. It’s a metallic English pale ale, totally thin and bland, all malts and bitterness and almost completely lacking in flavor. It pours dark, so that’s something. Sorry, MP, but I can’t condone this sort of alemaking, even if you guys are better in hockey and all that. 4/10.
  
  More Canadian beer chicanery to come!

The Brew Site

• 

  Oregon Brewers Festival 2010 beers

  Posted: March 3rd, 2010, 4:18am CET by Jon

  The beer list for this year’s Oregon Brewers Festival has been posted, and it’s pretty impressive! There are all the usual suspects, of course, but there are a few standouts that caught my eye:

  • Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale from Boulevard Brewing
  • Hibiscus Ginger Beer from Caldera Brewing
  • Dogfish Head (TBA)
  • Exit 4 from Flying Fish Brewing
  • Sofie from Goose Island
  • Le Freak from Green Flash Brewing
  • Strawberry Cream Ale from Laht Neppur Brewing
  • Coconut Porter from Maui Brewing
  • 7 Grain Saison from The Bruery
  • Reggae Junkie Gruit from Upright Brewing

  Seems like a lot of new appearances in this group, and it’s always nice to see far-reaching breweries making an appearance at the Brewfest.

  There’s a nice showing of some of the (relative) Oregon newcomers as well: Hop Valley, Mt. Emily Ale House, Natian Brewery, Seven Brides Brewing, Southern Oregon, Upright, and Vertigo. (Did I miss anybody?)

  All in all, based on the list in place so far, looks like it’s shaping up to be a great ‘Fest this year.

• 

  Reminder: The Session is this Friday

  Posted: March 3rd, 2010, 3:03am CET by Jon

  Don’t forget The Session is coming up this Friday, the 5th: the topic is “The Good Stuff” (when to drink it). Since it’s the anniversary of the first Session, and given the topic is “good stuff”, I may well open a 2007 Abyss to commemorate it.

A Good Beer Blog

• 

  Michigan: Reserve Special, Dark Horse Brewing, Marshall

  Posted: March 3rd, 2010, 2:22am CET by Alan McLeod

  Marshall, Michigan. I would like to spend a few days there, drinking Dark Horse beer. The only think better than Dark Horse beer is the extraordinary fountain in the centre of town. It's a small town, under 6,000 people. So, it's pretty good that they have at least two extraordinary things there.

  I was there last August and spent less than an hour. Picked up a bunch of beer and this is one of the last, a 7.5% black beer. I'd call it a stout but what do I know. Very nice. Dark chocolate coloured ale under a mocha rim. In the mouth, plenty of dry cocoa powder and date enriched to short of the point of licorice but you can see the licorice from here. And an attractive rich consistency like the cocoa powder hasn't completely dissolved. The integration of the hops adds to the dark chocolate effect, a slightly mentholated effect. I would love to have this with BBQ.

  The BAers have the love. And now available in New England.

The Brew Site

• 

  Pyramid (Spring) Fling Pale Ale

  Posted: March 2nd, 2010, 8:31am CET by Jon

  Ah, Pyramid. Between owning MacTarnahan’s, being owned by Magic Hat, contract brewing at several locations, it’s tough to know what’s what with them. I still remember the Pyramid of the ’90s and early ’00s, with their Apricot Ale and Snow Cap in particular as strong, leading beers, so I’ve been a bit confused over the various branding changes they’ve undergone over the past few years—if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, and I never thought their old identity or branding was broke.

  But that certainly shouldn’t stop me from enjoying the fruits of their latest efforts, their Spring seasonal, Fling Pale Ale. This is one of the three types they sent me just over a week ago, and the one I have yet to have tried (I’ve been drinking and reviewing the other two over the years).

  Fling is an American Pale Ale at 5.2% alcohol by volume; it’s moderately hopped (36 IBUs) according to their site, though brewed with three different hops.

  Appearance: Pale gold in color, clear. Bubbly—lots of beading—but a minimal pale tan head on top.

  Smell: Fresh and floral, green grassy hops. Bright. Toasty-sweet malts, raw bread dough. Nice!

  Taste: Surprising rush of bitter hops up front, not what I expected from the fresh floral notes. Clean bitterness, resiny and earthy, kind of a dandelion bitterness. A bit of cracked wheat in the malts, otherwise relatively mild.

  Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied with a crisp finish.

  Overall: A nice fresh pale ale with big hops—well-played for the Northwest crowd. Otherwise I’d call it a fairly standard pale ale.

  On BeerAdvocate, it scores an overall grade of B-. On RateBeer, it scores 3.08 out of 5, and is in their 46th percentile.

Hedonist Beer Jive

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  I LOVE YOU BUT I’VE CHOSEN SURLY DARKNESS

  Posted: March 2nd, 2010, 7:00am CET by Jay

  If that title’s a little off-putting, check this out and you’ll see why I had to appropriate it. So here we are. SURLY DARKNESS. The 18th finest beer in the land. You know, every time we drink one of these over-hyped beers I’m in total anticipation at the first sip. Is this going to be an OMG OMG OMG mother of all beers, a la BROOKLYN BLACK OPS or THE ABYSS? Or will it give me a much-needed chance to post a jaded, curmudgeonly review about overhyped beers, a la PLINY THE YOUNGER or DREADNAUGHT IPA? That’s just one dimension of the anticipation, my friends. Then there’s – oh yeah right – the taste & enjoyment of the beer itself. Who could forget about that part of the experience? Let’s get to it, shall we?
  SURLY BREWING came to my attention thanks to their punk-rock vibe & brewers all ratted out in tattoos, along with a lot of early excitement about the beer itself. Radical. Aaron from The Captain’s Chair was kind enough to send me SURLY FURIOUS, which totally knocked me for a loop, and the big boy, SURLY DARKNESS. Darkness doesn’t pull any punches, even out of the gate, featuring a member of recently-reunited garage punk band The Mummies on the bottle itself. It pours jet black with a beautiful head of coffee foam, and smells of barely-filtered coffee, some earthiness, and alcohol. 10.3% of this is alcohol, so that adds up. Then you get into it, and like a lot of these intense imperial stouts, it’s roasted, bitter chocolate and hops all the way.
  Only a few sips in and I realized that despite the ingenuity that went into this one & the large, aggressive roastiness (which I often love), its filmy texture and chalky mélange of flavors would prevent it from being one of the greats. I drank the whole thing, looking for things that I'd love, and only found things that I liked. Say you removed any limited-edition, once-a-year whatsis, and conveniently forgot that people stand in long, freezing lines to buy this beer, and instead got a nice 10-ounce pour in a fancy-pants glass? You’d say, “thanks, that was real nice, now how about a different beer – maybe a blueberry pale ale or a goddamn ice water with lemon?”. I’m totally glad I tried this, I’m a better and more complete man for it, but I can’t in all due justice go with anything greater than a 6.5/10.
• 

  MORE THAN ONE WAY TO FOLLOW THE HBJ

  Posted: March 1st, 2010, 6:02pm CET by Jay

  You guys are probably pretty technically sophisticated, right? So I don’t need to tell you that there are other ways to get your Hedonist Beer Jive ranting-n-raving delivered to you besides clicking on a bookmarked link every day or two. Or Googling “Hedonist Beer” every time you remember that we exist, and that you haven’t come to visit in a while. Here are a few ways to “enhance” your HBJ experience:
  1. Follow us on Twitter. Or more specifically, follow me. I try to post a "chirpy" (I think that’s what they’re called) every time I write something here. I’m @jayhinman.
  
  2. Add Hedonist Beer Jive into Google Reader. Google Reader, if you don’t use it, is an amazing way to stay on top of the many stellar blogs out there. Just cut this link – http://hedonistbeerjive.blogspot.com – and paste it into the “Add a Subscription” field in Reader. Then every new post will be there for you to marvel at, aggregated with all the other stuff you’re interested in. Easier that that – click on the “Subsscribe to HBJ” link you see on the right comlumn here, and just add it that way. You can even make it a box on My Yahoo, if that’s something you use. (Me, I set up a My Yahoo page in 1997 or something, and I’m too lazy to make the switch away from it).
  3. Got an iPhone? Get Byline. BYLINE simply takes your Google Reader feed and displays it beautifully on the iPhone. I think it’s the application I use more than any other in the iPhone. It’s a couple bucks, but come on – you’re worth it.
  Just a few ideas, you don’t have to take ‘em or anything, but we’d like to crack 200 average daily readers in 2010 (we’re still holding strong at about 130 a day) and maybe these tech tweaks will help make it happen.
• 

  DUPONT’S SURPRISING “LA BIERE DE BELOEIL”

  Posted: March 1st, 2010, 10:38am CET by Jay

  In the US, BRASSERIE DUPONT means saisons. Amazing, delicious saison-style ales from Belgium – yeasty, complex and refreshing. There’s SAISON DUPONT, DUPONT AVRIL, FORET, and several others. They’re all fantastic, seriously; to a beer, these are wonderful ales that I could drink anytime and anywhere. It took my trip to Spain a couple weeks ago to taste something of theirs that was dark and different, and when I ordered it, I didn’t even know it was a DUPONT thing. I found a big bottle of LA BIERE DE BELOEIL in the beer fridge at LA CERVATECA in Barcelona, and my pal AS and I split it with relish.
  
  As I gingerly poked, uh, “tasting notes” into my iPhone, I saw that LA BIERE DE BELOEIL has some foreign gobbledygook on the bottle that said “Dupont a Tourpes”. You mean those Saison Dupont fellas? Well now how about that? To me, this is a classic Belgian dubbel, ripe and strong with the taste of dates and figs, with a thin body, strong aroma, and a sharp bit of zinging spiciness that’s rock solid. Over at Beer Advocate they’re calling it a “Belgian strong pale ale”. Hoooo-kay. This is a “meal” sort of beer, a big, bad complex 8.5% ABV sort of ale that will stand up to freshly-slaughtered animal of some kind. And so classically Belgian. Really top-tier stuff. Let me know if you see this one in the US after grabbing a bottle for yourself first. 8/10.

A Good Beer Blog

• 

  Can't They Get The Rules Of Betting For Beer Right?

  Posted: March 1st, 2010, 1:25am CET by Alan McLeod

  You may have heard that Harper and U.S. President Barack Obama bet a case of beer each on the outcome of today's Olympic men’s hockey final. Apparently, because Canada won, Obama now owes Harper a case of Molson Canadian. If the U.S. had won, Harper would have owed Obama a case of Yuengling beer. How embarrassing for us and another missed opportunity that tells us how little craft beer has entered into the general conversation.

  And did they even get the bet right? It is one thing for young hockey players not to know the difference but how can national leaders, at the top of their respective international trade teams, not put the best they have to offer? This bet? It's like a bet for a bag of ketchup potato chips against a box of Ring-a-Dings. And didn't they get the basic idea of the wager wrong? When the Red Sox played the Rockies in the 2007 World Series, Senators from Massachusetts bet a box of seafood and other east coast treats while Senators from Denver wagered prime beef and other food from Colorado. Shouldn't Obama have to consume the Canadian beer as part of his losing the bet? Isn't the whole point, after a Canadian win, to have the President of the United States say "you know... I was thinking... I wasn't going... to like... this Canadian beer... but I gotta say... it's not... that bad."

  And apparently even this was a re-do.

• 

  Breaking Down Walls Between Producers And Customers

  Posted: February 27th, 2010, 11:58pm CET by Alan McLeod

  Jack Curtin dropped an idea into the discourse today that I think is really worth exploring:

  One of the secret strengths of craft’s little corner of the beer world has always been the breaking down of the walls between producers and customers. Add in the even stronger bond between brewers and homebrewers are you have one of the primary factors in allowing crafts to continue to thrive and grow even in a terrible economy, second only to consumer perception of quality and value for their hard-earned dollars.

  There is a lot packed into that short paragraph. Three ideas really and the fourth of their ranking. He got thinking this way in response to an article in The New York Times this weekend about the ways craft brewers are reaching out to their customers. Let's have a look at Jack's ideas and flesh them out a bit.

  • The walls between producers and customers: this is an important idea but I think one that is frankly overplayed by the craft brewing trade including commentators. Most consumers will never meet or certainly not have the kind of relationship that is shared between people who work in the beer trade at all levels. That is why I like to say love the beer not the brewer. We can like the brewer just fine but have to be wary of ideas like "supporting" a "craft beer community" as opposed to being watchful for respect of beer lovers in the marketplace. Similarly, we have to be careful in response to claims that brewers are celebrities or even rock stars. Worse, we have claims that beer knowledge is specialist knowledge that requires only "real" writers doing the describing. These things put distance between the consumer and producer and even confuse the marketplace though fostering snobbery.
  • The bond between brewers and homebrewers: when I started my interest in good beer, it was through homebrewing. I was in London in the mid-80s and brought back a few books, a few collapsible plastic kegs and some other stuff. The best writing about beer at that time seemed to be all about home brewing. When I started blogging about beer back in 2003 I could find very few other bloggers who weren't focusing on making it themselves. Craft brew and home brew were connected though people trying to replicate the good beers they were finding in the shops. I don't know if that is so much the case anymore. I have a sense that the next wave of craft beer drinkers may never have met a home brewer.
  • Consumer perception of quality and value: what product shouldn't be judge as a matter of quality and value? Claims that value is not a vital principle to a beer fan sound to me like claims to a captured market. Sure there are real beer hounds who will spend stupid amounts to travel to the one pure source of that one unattainable beer but no one is building an industry to serve that luxury hobbyist. It's really about getting the six park into a million grocery carts.
  • The relative place of these three principles: You can see where I am going. For me the last idea is the most critical aspect about where the good beer market is right now. In the states, more and more good beer is getting into grocery stores. In the UK, more and more cask ale is being sold in pubs. Widespread access to and enjoyment of good beer at a good price is the golden goose. Without that event of a value-based consumer choice, good beer will be stuck speaking to the converted, to the same faces seem at beer fests, to the same names on the bylines.

  Maybe there really isn't an enemy of good beer - other than perhaps complacency - as long as we trust it is a product that has the quality and value that sells itself. This is an organic process that builds slowly overtime. And it's a process that has been proven over the last 20 years of market growth. If placing more people in breweries to teach them about how it is made is what we need to do now, well, that certainly says we are past the time when home brewing was the way to good beer. But it's not about breaking down the walls between the producer and consumer so much as teaching the consumer about the product and production of good beer.

The Brew Site

• 

  Bend Brewing Company turns 15 today!

  Posted: February 27th, 2010, 7:26pm CET by Jon

  There’s been almost no fanfare or publicity for this—indeed, even I almost missed it if not for my wife—but Bend Brewing Company is turning 15 today and celebrating in grand style:

  Saturday, February 27th marks the fifteenth anniversary of the BBC. The anniversary party will last all day, beginning at 11:30 a.m. with half-priced appetizers and $2.50 pints of beer, both of which will be served until closing time that evening.

  From 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., visit the BBC Garage Sale. Miscellaneous merchandise, including shirts, hats, pint glasses and more, will be offered at very good prices. Guests will also have the opportunity to win tons of great raffle prizes from 5 to 10 p.m.

  From 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., enjoy live music on the patio from The Buck Rodgers Band, known far and wide for their progressive alt rock with a twist of psycho-billy and infused psychedelic jams. Fire pits will keep revelers warm as they boogie, and a server will be on hand to ensure crowds are adequately fed and watered.

  In the 15 years since Bend’s second-ever microbrewery opened, what’s remarkable about it is how little it’s changed: they are still in the same building, with the same overall decor and atmosphere, and (largely) serve up much of the same menu over the years. They exist in a popular niche in Bend and done a great job nurturing that niche.

  Even for all that, what’s more remarkable is what has changed: the quality of the beer. When brewmaster Tonya Cornett came aboard in 2002, she helped put BBC on the map, so to speak, from a craft brewing perspective: with Great American Beer Festival and World Beer Cup awards for HopHead Imperial IPA and Outback X, among others, as well as other awards, BBC has become a beer geek’s destination (and has helped cement Bend, Oregon in the “Beer Pantheon” along with Deschutes Brewing and other great brewers in town).

  Happy 15th to Bend Brewing! I plan to enjoy come down and enjoy some of the party today.

• 

  Hop Press: Canvolution

  Posted: February 27th, 2010, 5:12pm CET by Jon

  My Hop Press article for today—”Canvolution“—takes a look at the canned beer segment of craft brewing (something which I have passing familiarity with) to serve as both an introduction and an advocacy piece. Oskar Blues, 21st Amendment, and Canfest all get nods.

A Good Beer Blog

• 

  The Women Every Real Canadian Male Has A Crush On...

  Posted: February 27th, 2010, 1:53am CET by Alan McLeod

  

  Truth be told, every Canadian male has a deep and abiding crush on every member of the woman's hockey team and photos of them drinking beer just feed the flame. We have commercials where the players kick doltish men like us all on the ice. They sell us social networking tech. While we have to work on their taste in beer, these are the sweethearts of the nation. Goalie gear, baby. Oh baby.

  Did Richard Lautens of the Toronto Star get the best picture of the moment?

  

The Brew Site

• 

  Big Beer Week: Noël Des Géants

  Posted: February 26th, 2010, 7:00pm CET by Jon

  I suppose you can’t talk “Big Beers” without mentioning (at least in passing!) Belgium. In this case, it’s a Christmas beer: Noël Des Géants from Brasserie Des Géants in Wallonia, the French speaking half of Belgium; I picked it up shortly after Christmas without knowing much about it (but it was a good price).

  It’s not just a big Belgian beer in terms of alcohol however (8.5% by volume); “géants” in French literally means “giants” and the town of Irchonwelz in which the brewery is found has an annual “giants march.” I’m not sure what such a spectacle would look like but it sounds like one of those things that should go on the list to see someday.

  Appearance: Nut-brown and cloudy, with a rocky, impressive tan head.

  Smell: Rich and sugary with only the barest hint of fruit. A touch of flossy cotton candy and maybe bubblegum; caramel malts and brown sugar.

  Taste: Spun sugar in the mouth, makes me think “sugarplums.” It’s toffee-rich caramel and a hint of smoky malt; a rummy note hinting at its strength. A little more alcohol heat at the back of the mouth. Very rich but holding “Belgium” in check.

  Mouthfeel: Chewy and sharp—bright effervescence and some alcoholic astringency on the tongue.

  Overall: Sweet, rich, cloying, yet a bit restrained. Decadent and tasty.

  On BeerAdvocate, it scores an overall grade of B+. On RateBeer, it scores 3.4 out of 5 and is in their 80th percentile.

A Good Beer Blog

• 

  An Olympics And Beer Story That Makes Some Sense

  Posted: February 26th, 2010, 2:12pm CET by Alan McLeod

  I still wonder what the average Latvian thinks about all this but at least this story makes a little more sense than needing to shut public booze sales and politicians drunk driving. Yet the International Olympic Committee is not amused:

  Nearly an hour after the Canadians won their third consecutive Olympic gold medal with a 2-0 win over the Americans, the players came back out on the ice in the near-empty arena, smoking cigars and swigging champagne and beer. (Rebecca Johnston even tried to drive the zamboni.) "I don't think it's a good promotion of sport values," Gilbert Felli, the IOC's executive director of the Olympics, told the Associated Press after learning about the celebration. "If they celebrate in the changing room, that's one thing, but not in public. We will investigate what happened."

  Gold. Literally. What's that IOC? Leave it in the locker room? Hide your beer drinking?? What a joke. Remember, these are Canadian hockey players and remember what the Russian goalie said when the mens team gave them the boot the other night: "They came like gorillas coming out of a cage."

  Yet is that what we are? Is that what the world sees? Are we really the wild men and women of the north, clubbing and hammering poor Russians and American athletes as mere foreplay for a good beer? Sadly, no one appears to have taught the women's hockey team on the ways of good beer. Does she really need to be sucking down a Molbat macro-blurt?

Hedonist Beer Jive

• 

  THE HEDONIST BEER JIVE 2010 GUIDE TO MUSIC

  Posted: February 26th, 2010, 7:00am CET by Jay

  There’s probably a contingent of folks who came to this beer blog at some point from one of my now-defunct music blogs – DETAILED TWANG or AGONY SHORTHAND. Others reading this probably have zero interest in obscure, sub-underground, dirty pop, garage rock and noise from around the world, and would much prefer this post to be about the SURLY DARKNESS beer I had two nights ago or another dig at PLINY THE whatever. As it turns out, me pontificating about beer has won out overall; I only have the quote-unquote “bandwidth” to write pithy posts about beers I’m drinking than my former free time to engage in long-ish posts about bands & records – though I do have yet another music blog currently active called HIGH WATER EVERYWHERE. But yeah, I sure miss posting mp3s, and trying to force my musical opinion on others.
  To that end, let me present to you a slight diversion from our normal programming, and give you my gift to the craft beer and extended community: THE HEDONIST BEER JIVE 2010 GUIDE TO MUSIC. It’s a set of 27 songs from this past year, some even released just the past couple of weeks, that I find to be outstanding work by the youth of today. They’ve been gobbled up from a variety of other sites, bought straight from iTunes, or came off of old-school CDs that I actually bought. I’m constantly prowling for new stuff – just like I do with beer; in the blood, I reckon. In order to successfully enjoy this collection of mp3s, you have to be okay with a little bit of dirt and grime; with sometimes loud-ish guitars, and with Australians. I know that’s a leap for some of you. These 27 tracks can be burned to a CD if you like, or popped into iTunes or your “Zune”. You’ll find them to span the gamut from buoyant, garagy pop music (Dum Dum Girls, Happy Birthday, Rantouls) to unrelenting psychedelic noise (Kurt Vile & the Violators, Major Stars) to disjointed, stuttering post-punk (Wet Dog) to straight-up punk moderne (Overnight Lows, Black Jaspers).
  
  The common thread is that this is the music I’m loving right now, and I sure hope you do too. Track listing and link to download is below – beer talk returns next week. Please go buy this stuff in iTunes or a store or wherever it is you do your shopping if any of this happens to catch your fancy.
  
  Track listing
  
  1. Jail La La – DUM DUM GIRLS
  2. Girls FM – HAPPY BIRTHDAY
  3. My Wet Tongue – HAPPY HOLLOWS
  4. Little Green Hat – THE RANTOULS
  5. Lower Leg – WET DOG
  6. Clarence – SIC ALPS
  7. (A Girl Called) Saccharine – DAN MELCHIOR’S BROKE REVUE
  8. City of Rotten Eyes – OVERNIGHT LOWS
  9. Smear – AN EXPERIMENT ON A BIRD IN THE AIR PUMP
  10. Walkin’ Out – THEE ALMIGHTY HANDCLAPS
  11. What Started The Noise – SUPER WILD HORSES
  12. Purgatory – DICK DIVER
  13. Vorpal – WHITE MYSTERY
  14. Wandering – THE YOLKS
  15. I Wear Black – TY SEGALL & MIKAL CRONIN
  16. Little Bit of This – THE RANTOULS
  17. El Jita – PUFFY AREOLAS
  18. Malfunction – USELESS EATERS
  19. Smart Car – BLACK JASPERS
  20. Freudian Slips – BIG TROUBLES
  21. She’s So Crazy – MICKEY
  22. Still 16 – THE RANTOULS
  23. Vietnam – HAPPY HOLLOWS
  24. Aaron – WHITE MYSTERY
  25. Denial – KURT VILE & THE VIOLATORS
  26. Sugar Boat – THEE OH SEES
  27. The Space You Know – MAJOR STARS
  
  
  Download “The Hedonist Beer Jive 2010 Guide To Music” (this is a .zip file)

For The Love Of Beer

• 

  Coast Brewing HopArt IPA

  Posted: February 25th, 2010, 9:30pm CET by Don Thompson

  Oh yeah, I still have a beer blog don't I?? Apologies for the lack of posting, the chaos of daily life has gotten to me recently. Well, I am back and this time with a bomber of IPA from Coast Brewing in North Charleston, South Carolina.
  
  Pours into my glass a super hazed dark orange with a half inch of creamy bone white head on top that leaves spotty lacing on the glass. Aromas are a mix of pine, grass and citrus upfront with herbal accents. Slightly spicy with a caramel and mild grainy kick.
  
  
  
  First sip brings a mix of pine and citrus fruits upfront with spicy herbal hop oils. Slightly grassy it is met by a solid creamy malt featuring caramel and a light toast. Flows down and finishes with a solid bitter kick but is well balanced overall. A tasty IPA.
  
  Mouthfeel is creamy and smooth with a great body that goes down easy. Overall, a tasty IPA that brings the hops but doesn't go overboard. Glad I had a chance to try it!!
  
  Overall, I gave this a rating of Enjoyable. Tasty IPA!
  
  Check out more from Coast Brewing over at [coastbrewing.com]

  
  

  

The Brew Site

• 

  Big Beer Week: Widmer 84/09 Double Alt

  Posted: February 25th, 2010, 7:00pm CET by Jon

  Widmer’s 84/09 Double Alt was actually a beer that showed up last summer to celebrate their 25th anniversary—but I missed it the first time around somehow. Fortunately the Brew Shop here in Bend still has a few bottles, so I snapped one up.

  84/09 is basically a double-strength version of their famous and pub-only Altbier, the first beer they brewed and what was notorious, in the early days, for being the “only true Alt” brewed outside of Dusseldorf, Germany (at least, according to some aficionados). It’s 9.8% alcohol by volume and if you can still find a bottle or two I’d say grab them.

  Appearance: Mahogany brown with red highlights when held up to the light. Woody putty head.

  Smell: Old Ale notes, malty and alcoholic, spicy phenolic notes. Leather and molasses and a bit roasty.

  Taste: Spicy and malty, tobacco, nutty and hoppy with spiced earthy notes. A touch hot with alcohol but with a nice sipping character.

  Mouthfeel: Full-ish bodied with a dry finish and a bit of heat.

  Overall: Warming, tasty, like a spicy, leathery Old Ale. A little different but nice.

  On BeerAdvocate, it scores an overall grade of B. On RateBeer, it scores 3.18 out of 5 and is in their 60th percentile.

Hedonist Beer Jive

• 

  THE HOT KNIVES BEER BOOK!

  Posted: February 25th, 2010, 10:07am CET by Jay

  Before there was THE VICE BLOG, there was HOT KNIVES. Hot Knives was and remains a food blog with a heavy, hedonistic emphasis on great beer. They remain one of the best reads out there, and when these guys decide to cook some food and drink some craft ale, they get their hands dirty and go for it, then write about it with aplomb and panache. Now they’ve taken their beer writings – or at least the best of ‘em – and collected it into a mini-book called GREATEST SIPS. I just got mine in the mail yesterday and haven’t dug in yet, but just skimming through it, I was already laffin’ a bunch. I can recommend it in advance, mostly because I’ve read the posts that are collected here. It’s kind of cool, too – the publisher they’re using does this just-in-time thing too, where they only print it when you order it. You can do so here, and tell them the HBJ sent ya.

The Brew Site

• 

  Big Beer Week: Ten Fidy Imperial Stout

  Posted: February 25th, 2010, 7:56am CET by Jon

  Imperial Stout is one of those styles you would never expect to see come from a can, yet Oskar Blues Brewing is doing just that with their Ten Fidy, a burly motor oil of a stout that’s 10.5% alcohol.

  Oskar Blues is of course most famous for being the first all-canning microbrewer, producing big bold beers that turn the general notion of canned beer (that of being weak industrial brew) on its ear. Ten Fidy takes that a step further, putting a huge and delicious beer like an Imperial Stout into a can (and one with a rather innocuous but great design)—rue the unsuspecting person that grabs and chugs this by mistake. It may well be the only canned Imperial Stout out there.

  Appearance: Pours thick and oily from the can, very little carbonation though a chocolate-brown head builds up a bit after the pour. Dark brown/black and thick.

  Smell: Sweet coffee, rich and syrupy like molasses. Doesn’t really move beyond “thick and sweet” in the nose.

  Taste: It’s very sweet in the mouth too, dark chocolate that’s liberally sweetened with coffee liqueur. The alcohol is hidden well, dangerously so. Roasted malts (more coffee-ish) without being astringent or too bitter.

  Mouthfeel: Thick and syrupy, a creamy full-bodied presence.

  Overall: Decadent chocolate-y sweet, very nice. It’s sweeter than I’d expect, but that doesn’t hurt a bit.

  On BeerAdvocate, it scores an overall grade of A. On RateBeer, it scores 4.09 out of 5 and is in their 100th percentile.

The Champagne of Blogs

• 

  Porky the Pork Pig in a Bacon Blanket

  Posted: February 25th, 2010, 5:51am CET by Dave Selden

  All these beer reviews lately, you’d think this blog was about … beer. Au contraire, my friends (French for “nuh uh”). If you’ll point your attention to the navigation over there on the right side of this page, you’ll note a mysterious, delicious category called “Meat Stunts.” That’s where you’ll find instructions for home made bacon, the legend of the curiously named “La Caja China,” and our last Superbowl centerpiece, “Snack Stadium XXXL.”

  After last year’s surge in post-game web traffic, I knew we had to do something spectacular this year. This time, inspiration came in the form of a slab of shelf-stable Broadbent pepper bacon I acquired from bacn.com (now owned by baconfreak.com). The predictable thing to do would have been to chunk it up into lardons (French for thick-ass pieces of bacon) or simply slice it thick for superdelishtstic BLT’s. But the meat stuntman in me wanted to stuff it with something.

  

  So of course I went to the best stuffing of all: more pork. I picked up a whole pork loin from Gartner’s, along with some pork sausage-stuffed pork tenderloins. If you’re counting, that’s four types of pork product so far.

  

  I had a plan going in, but it was just a bit of stray cholesterol until I actually opened up the slab. I had no idea how much room there was in there! I got so excited I forgot to take photos of the assembly process, so instead I’ll let you digest the photo below, and describe what’s going on after the break.

  

  Back? Not what you were expecting, was it? Heh. So the body’s the pork loin, sliced at one end to form a mouth. Inside the “mouth” are two garlic cloves acting as incisors, and the traditional apple. A couple more garlic cloves form the eyeballs, and two apple slices form the sow’s ears. The legs are those sausage-stuffed tenderloins I mentioned, with garlic toes (Mmm, garlic toes). Now, I wanted this thing to actually be tasty, and I was a bit concerned about overwhelming samplers with a lot of grease. This creation was going to be wrapped in bacon for a few hours, after all. So before I tucked her in, I sprinkled her back and legs with fresh rosemary “bristles” and lots of chopped up garlic “garlic.” Beneath the sow, I cut some drainage slits in the bottom of the bacon blanket.

  

  I set the oven to 350, and tried not to open it every 15 minutes to see how my monster was developing. The house smelled … so delicious it was actually almost sickening. Imagine a foggy morning so thick you have to turn your headlights on. Now imagine that fog in your nose, and the whole thing smells like bacon, rosemary and garlic. It was difficult to concentrate. But four hours later, I pulled the pig and … wow. I wish you could have tried it. It was delicious, and those that could get past its eerily lifelike appearance were able to taste all four meats in one bite. Best of all, no one got sick, despite the Russian Roulette-like meat game we played. Four chances to get trichinosis, but all cylinders came up empty.

  Soooo-ey!

  

  

A Good Beer Blog

• 

  Question: What Beer For Canada Against Russia?

  Posted: February 25th, 2010, 12:14am CET by Alan McLeod

  There are few phrases more evocative for a Canadian of my early middle age than "Canada Russia".

  When I was nine I heard the final game of the 1972 series broadcast from Moscow on the car radio sitting in a parking lot in Middleton, NS. We won. We were not always successful in the international head to head tournaments after that and into the '80s but we quickly came to love or at least fear the Soviet National anthem. We loved or at least feared Vladislav Tretiak and Valeri Kharlamov. To fill the emotional need, there were any number of tours across the country where Canucks and Ruskies beat their heads against each other.

  In 1984, I saw a touring Soviet national team play in Halifax against Canada's Olympic training team. The evil team had eight guys called Sergei which the announcer at the rink pronounced as "Sir-jay-ee." We cheered when the Canadians rushed toward their end. When they let loose slap shots from beyond half we winced silent winces expecting the goalie or the boards behind the net to crack from the awful force of a Marxist-Leninist totalitarian Moscow Red Army player's sheer power.

  In the 1987 Canada Cup, Mario and Wayne destroyed them in a game so exciting that I had to turn off the TV and only knew Canada won when the wintery neighbourhood erupted out there, outside the windows of the house, car horns blaring to the horizon. Then there was Gorby, then there were Russian players in the NHL, then the bear seemed to fade a bit. Then they got good again. I have no idea what will happen tonight but over half all Canadians will watch the TV tonight to watch a quarter-final game. Because it is Canada against Russia.

  What beer to have?

  Later: Turns out the beer is Unibroue's Edition 2005, a 10% Extra Strong Ale on Lees under an old school "U with grain" logo. And Canada scored its first goal between the pop of the cork and my first sip. It pours a dark brown with a thin white rim. Dark plum and dark chocolate on the nose. Gorgeous in the mouth. A mild menthol effect fades into plum and cola, ginger and nutmeg, apple butter and tobacco. A little oily but not too heavy. Plenty of BAer love.

  Two nuttin' for Canada 12 minutes into the first period. Excellent. Three nuttin' a minute later. Oh my. Oh my oh my oh my.

The Brew Site

• 

  Big Beer Week: Stone/Maui/Schmidt Kona Coffee Macadamia Coconut Porter

  Posted: February 24th, 2010, 7:00pm CET by Jon

  You almost can’t think “Big Beer” anymore without Stone Brewing coming up somehow. Most of their beers would easily qualify for a Big Beer Week review, so how do you go bigger? Select one of their collaboration beers, of course! These are “big” not only in a strength and style sense, but also in ambition and creativity.

  Hence, the collaboration between Stone, Maui Brewing, and homebrewer Ken Schmidt to produce Kona Coffee Macadamia Coconut Porter, a monster of a beer at 8.5% that just oozes “Hawaii.” It’s probably a first in commercial brewing; coffee beers are common, and coconut has been used by several breweries (Maui of course being the most prominent), but I don’t know about macadamia nuts—and all three together? Yeah.

  Interestingly, unlike a lot of big beers coming out these days, this is only available in 12-ounce bottles (rather than the 22-ounce bombers everyone seems to be using). That makes for a nice serving size but the price is steeper than what you might be used to: $8-9 for the 12-ounce. It’s worth it, though.

  Appearance: Coffee-black with barest ruby hints at the light. Light cocoa-colored head is creamy and fine.

  Smell: Rich coffee and dark chocolate with hints of coconut; roasty-sweet without being burnt.

  Taste: First impression is a sweet, thick dark chocolate syrup and coffee—dark mocha. There’s a buttery, nutty essence and the coconut comes out lightly in the back. It’s like Death by Chocolate Cake times 2. Absolute dessert in a glass.

  Mouthfeel: Syrupy and thick with a touch of dry from the roasted malts giving way to sticky sweet layers on the tongue.

  Overall: Pretty amazing.

  On BeerAdvocate, it scores an overall grade of A-. On RateBeer, it scores 3.91 out of 5 and is in their 98th percentile.

Knut Albert's beer blog

• 

  Sad news from Nørrebro Bryghus

  Posted: February 24th, 2010, 11:53am CET by knutalbert

  According to beerticker.dk, who also quotes various Danish media, one of the pioneers behind the Danish craft beer movement, Anders Kissmeyer, has been fired by the owners of Nørrebro Bryghus. Despite a wide range of inventive beers, collaborations with brewers around the world and a high media profile, the brewery has been losing money at an [...]

Hedonist Beer Jive

• 

  HOMAGE TO CATALONIAN BEERS – MOS’KA!

  Posted: February 24th, 2010, 9:00am CET by Jay

  While in Barcelona last week I did what I always do on work-related road trips, which is seek out the local ales for consideration (and comfort). Time was when I’d poke around obscure record shops, or maybe go to a museum or something, but now it’s pubs and beer bars like LA CERVETECA and CERVECERIA EL FLABIOL, the two best places I discovered in Barcelona for deep contemplation of Spanish (and Belgian) craft beer. At the former, I discovered a brewer from Girona, Spain called BIRRART MOS’KA. This guy (Josep Borrell) is on a one-man crusade to bring exceptional artisanal craft beer to Spain, and currently bottles four beers, all with a similar 12-ounce bottle design. I “considered” two of them, and brought another one home in my suitcase. Let’s discover together what I thought of them.
  The first was MOS’KA TORRADA, and it’s a real humdinger. TORRADA is an artisanal amber beer that’s smooth and creamy and pours a nice red-tinged brown. Really, really flavorful – with strong malts, honey, and some hops that linger. TORRADA includes loads of sediment for you sediment fans out there. Picture a less-yeasty, more creamy version of a Belgian amber and you’re in the ballpark. I loved it, and after this and the RUNA ALE we talked about two days ago, it’s when I knew I’d stepped on beer paydirt in Barcelona. 8.5/10.
  
  The other MOS’KA product I poured down my throat is called MOS’KA POMA. Spanish speakers in the audience may recognize that word translating as “apple”. And you’d be exactly right! Think of this one as a bitter apple wheat beer. It’s got that certain special I-don’t-know-what that I discovered in all the local brews; maybe it’s the water, but the local beers here just taste different than the imports and our own US micros. Fruity and citrus-packed, with a little bit of lemon and a TON of carbonation. A strange sort of pale ale that was not a thirst-quencher per se, but really one to work on slowly. And yeah, it was really good as well, just a notch down from the TORRADA at 7/10. I brought a MOS'KA NEGRA home in my bag, so we’ll talk about that one another time, OK?

A Good Beer Blog

• 

  Further Olympic Related Drinking Problems

  Posted: February 24th, 2010, 3:59am CET by Alan McLeod

  It is inevitable, I suppose, that folks get all whipped up and excited when the big event comes to their town but this is getting a little weird:

  A B.C. government MLA is facing drunk-driving charges after an evening of Olympic-related events. In statement issued Tuesday afternoon, North Vancouver-Seymour MLA Jane Thornthwaite apologized for her behaviour... The B.C. Liberal MLA, who has three children, was driving home at about 1 a.m. on Tuesday when she was stopped at a North Vancouver RCMP road check. A spokesman for the RCMP said a 51-year-old female driver came to their attention – he would not confirm it was Ms. Thorthwaite – and the driver provided a breath sample that indicated her blood alcohol level was over the legal limit of .08 per cent.

  I am not so much interested in the gotcha of the story so much as how, when combined with the instantly beloved beer drinking gold medal winner and the crowded streets out of control, it does paint a picture of what a pervasive and intimate - yet hazardous - role drinking has within Canadian culture. It's hard to place. We are comfortable pushing the pounding back, don't navel gaze too much about it. We even make it a point of pride in any number of contexts. What must it look like to others?

The Brew Site

• 

  Big Beer Week: Deschutes Jubel 2010

  Posted: February 23rd, 2010, 10:00pm CET by Jon

  Though every year Deschutes Brewery brews a draft-only version of their Super Jubel—a double-strength Jubelale—only twice have they bottled this beer: once in 2000, and now again in 2010. (Respectively known as Jubel 2000 and Jubel 2010.) This time around this Jubel 2010 “Once a Decade Ale” is bottled in 22-ounce bombers and wax-dipped as part of Deschutes’ Reserve Series of beers. And (you’ll recall) that the Brewery sent me a bottle.

  It’s 10% alcohol by volume, and is aged in Oregon pinot oak barrels (or at least, part of it is). The Brewery calls it a “deeply dynamic presentation of the flavors found in… Jubelale” which is a bit marketing-ese but also gives license to say “like Jubelale, but different!”

  Appearance: Very dark red-brown; you can just see ruby when held to the light. Finely-bubbled half-finger of tan foam.

  Smell: Sweet and boozy, reminds me of a Barleywine with molasses and dark fruit. Brown sugar? Cloyingly roasty.

  Taste: Sweet, almost syrupy on the tongue, and it hides the 10% well. What I’m getting are various layers of sugar—caramelized, beet sugar, molasses, licorice, burnt sugars, toffee, and more. I’m actually envisioning cooking white table-sugar in cast iron until it caramelizes. Something strikes me as “Belgian” in a way, too; perhaps hints of candi sugar or even star anise in the licorice?

  Mouthfeel: Full and thick and sticky. Leaves a very pleasant sweet aftertaste.

  Overall: A winner, fun to drink but one you shouldn’t take lightly. However, I think it’s a bit over-balanced towards the sweet and while “fun to drink,” this is the first Deschutes Reserve Series beer that I would rather have in a 12-ounce bottle—or split the 22-ounce among a friend or two; it’s almost too cloying for me to drink by myself. I’d really like to put this away for a year or more to see how it ages (which I plan to do).

  On BeerAdvocate, it scores an overall grade of A. On RateBeer, it scores 4.06 out of 5 and is in their 94th percentile.

Knut Albert's beer blog

• 

  Bring on the Belgians!

  Posted: February 23rd, 2010, 10:55am CET by knutalbert

  The New York Times has conducted a blind tasting of  20 Belgian and Belgian style golden ales. A beer from Jolly Pumpkin got the highest ranking. And while you’re there, check out their story on beer in Vietnam, too. Sorry if the photo does not highlight real classy Belgians. I just needed something to remind me that [...]

The Brew Site

• 

  Big Beer Week: Anchor Old Foghorn

  Posted: February 23rd, 2010, 7:46am CET by Jon

  Let’s start off our Big Beer Week reviews with a classic: Anchor Old Foghorn, the venerable Barleywine from one of America’s oldest craft breweries. Barleywine is one of my favorite styles of beer, and Anchor has been producing their Old Foghorn since 1975—I wrote “classic” above, and to my mind this beer sits in the pantheon of American Barleywines.

  The current bottling has a strength of 9.4% alcohol by volume (their site gives a range of 8-10%, which makes me think it possibly varies by batch—or year). Here’s Anchor’s description:

  Old Foghorn is highly hopped, using only Cascade hops. It is fermented with a true top-fermenting ale yeast. Carbonation is produced by an entirely natural process called “bunging,” which produces champagne-like bubbles. Our “barleywine ale” is dry-hopped with additional Cascade hops while it ages in our cellars.

  Appearance: Hammered copper in color that’s deep red when held to the light. Nice tan head that broke down to lacy rings.

  Smell: Rich and aromatic, nicely fruity when I first opened it; sweet brandy character after that. Toffee, vanilla, maple, leather, lightly peppery.

  Taste: Smoky wood and a touch of cherries; honey-caramel sweet and has that luscious brandy alcohol heat and sipping character. A bit cloying, a bit plummy, a touch of leather and perhaps star anise.

  Mouthfeel: Think and syrupy and slightly sticky; eminently satisfying on the tongue.

  Overall: Superb—balanced, mature, perfectly sippable, simply one of the best Barleywines out there.

  On BeerAdvocate, it scores an overall grade of B+. On RateBeer, it scores 3.85 out of 5 and is in their 98th percentile.

Hedonist Beer Jive

• 

  HEY, LOST ABBEY MAKES A FRAMBOISE

  Posted: February 23rd, 2010, 7:34am CET by Jay

  I started this blog back in early 2006, and back then the only experience I’d had with tart, sweet Belgian lambics were the ones from LINDEMANS. These are available even in corner liquor stores in the US, and I learned pretty quickly that these mass-produced lambics, decent enough as they are, use fruit adjuncts (gasp!!!) instead of real fruit. I remember taking a beer appreciation class in 2005 – which actually inspired me to create this blog – and the guy just relentlessly bagged on LINDEMANS and the fact that they didn’t stuff real bushels of raspberries or dozens of real peaches into their beers. Since then I’ve regrettably barely skimmed the world of the lambic. People who love this stuff really love it, and me, well I just don’t know yet. I had a CANTILLON FRAMBOISE back in 2009 that was so puckeringly perplexing that I couldn’t even score it, giving it an “Uncertain” rating.
  At CITY BEER STORE the other night, I noticed that LOST ABBEY had a new beer on draft, LOST ABBEY FRAMBOISE DE AMOROSA. I marveled over the fact that I hadn’t tried a new one from these guys in well over 18 months, back in their glory days of 2007-2008 when new bottles were showing up on the shelves every month. Why not try their Framboise? Well guess what folks, it’s excellent. This is everything what I’d want a tart, ultra-fresh raspberry beer to taste like – packed with fresh and zinging yeasts, and puckering on the mouth but not so that you stop what you’re doing to clear the palate with water (which is what I had to do with the CANTILLON – rookie!!). It’s Belgian-style, full-stop, made right down there San Diego way. It’s absolutely drinkable and a much better intro to the style than those “adjunct” beers – right? You know Tomme Arthur and the gang don’t mess around. 8/10.

A Good Beer Blog

• 

  Craft Brewers Break Ranks And Use Rice

  Posted: February 23rd, 2010, 12:24am CET by Alan McLeod

  

  One of the silliest things I have ever come across in all these years of yapping about good beer was last year's infomercial made by US craft brewers titled "I am a Craft Brewer." It included many mutual back pats and self-pinned blue ribbon statements including the pledges that they do not put corn in their beer, they do not put rice in their beer. One year later, such "honouring and holding true to their craft" - as the infomercial claimed - is seemingly not so important to New Jersey's Flying Fish Brewing as they have decided to put rice in their beer... or at least one, their not yet released Exit 16 Wild Rice Double IPA:

  Although no longer home to forests of giant cedars and salt hay marshes teeming with aquatic life, the Meadowlands is still an amazingly diverse ecosystem providing vital animal and plant habitat. In a nod to a once common food plant here, we’ve brewed this beer with wild rice. We also used brown and white rice, as well as two malts. Rice helps the beer ferment dry to better showcase the five different hops we’ve added. Lots and lots of them. We then dry-hopped this Double IPA with even more-generous additions of Chinook and Citra hops to create a nose that hints at tangerine, mango, papaya and pine.

  Wow! Sounds really interesting. Who knew that rice would help showcase the hops in a craft beer? Who knew that trying three different rices would be interesting? Maybe someone who actually tried?

  Look, there is no reason to get all freaked out finger pointy, screaming hypocrisy or go over the top some other way. We just need to thank our stars that human invention knows no such bounds. And, like Wisconsin's New Glarus and its corn beer Spotted Cow, good rice beer has already been done before as Michigan's Kuhnhenn Brewing Company has made a Double Rice IPA (DRIPA) according to the BAers.

  Promising never to make beer with corn or rice? It's like promising to never make beer in casks or to only make beer in casks. Make beer from turnips for all I care. As long as you make it tasty and sell it to me at a fair price, what does it matter to me?

The Brew Site

• 

  Big Beer Week

  Posted: February 22nd, 2010, 7:00pm CET by Jon

  February is a short month, which is why Theme Week almost slipped away from me—but not to worry! I do have a plan!

  Something about February always says “big beer” for me (like when I hosted The Session back in 2008 and declared it Barleywine season): perhaps it’s the depths of winter when a big, warming beer is comfort food, perhaps it’s simply the daylight hours are growing visibly longer and it feels contemplative. Regardless, this month’s Theme Week here at The Brew Site is all about the beers that are “big” in some way—Big Beer Week.

  I have plenty of big beers to review—of course, it helps that I splurged some of my Christmas money on some high-strength specialties, and of course everyone’s dying to know how the Jubel 2010 turned out, right? (And needless to say, I won’t be covering the Pyramids this week.)

Knut Albert's beer blog

• 

  Holidays in France?

  Posted: February 22nd, 2010, 3:23pm CET by knutalbert

  If you go for the beer, you should look for the regions with the highest beer consumption per capita. This was unashamedly nicked from the blog Strange Maps.

Hedonist Beer Jive

• 

  HOMAGE TO CATALONIAN BEER, PART ONE

  Posted: February 22nd, 2010, 11:00am CET by Jay

  So you'll never guess where I was last week. Oh OK, it was Barcelona, Spain. Yeah, crazy, right? I may travel a lot for my job but getting an overseas pass - even if it's in cramped coach with an inconvenient flight change and a load of discomfort - is a new one. Last year I was in Madrid and Seville for pleasure and did, in fact, try to ingest local craft beer there with not a lot of luck (here's my dispatch about Madrid's NATURBIER). I casually mentioned to a couple of fellow drinkers at December's Pacific Coast Holiday Beer Fest that I was heading to Barcelona in February, and they burst with enthusiasm about this place called LA CERVETECA that was an absolute must-visit. Was it ever. Given that I had five nights in Barcelona, would the fact that four of them included visits to La Cerveteca surprise you? Yeah, this place is that great.
  Jeez, where do I start? OK, I'll keep this and my next post limited to the Spanish (dare I say Catalonian) craft beers that I tried, though I found multiple unheard-of Belgian ales and other wild cards on this trip that I'll write about later. If you've heard anything about a burgeoning artisanal beer culture in Southeastern Spain (I hadn't before this trip), let it be said that there's no friggin' doubt about it. There is now some outstanding beer from this part of the world, and my cup raneth (??) over with the bounty of the region thanks to my targeted visits to La Cerveteca and CERVECERIA EL FLABIOL, both of which I researched via Beer Advocate's invaluable "BeerFly" beer-related travel guide. LA CERVETECA is just amazing - a beautiful, open, German-style beer nook where you drink while standing over barrels and which has local beer on draft and a deep selection of micros from around the world. Funny enough, outside of their many local beers (this has got to be ground zero for Catalonian beer), they also have heavy stock from CANTILLON, NOGNE Ø, AECHT SCHLENKERLA, FLYING DOG (!) and ANCHOR BREWING (!!). The guys that run and work the place are exceptionally friendly and even speak a little inglés, which helped me and my drinkmates in picking out the best in Spanish beer, stuff we may never see again.
  Foremost on the list is the beer pictured above, one that I absolutely loved and had on draft twice - MASIA AGULLONS RUNA ALE. This is served on hand pump at La Cerveteca, and it's a superlative bitter brown ale. It has a giant frosty head of foam, and is remarkably fresh tasting. Tingling bitterness and lots of exciting dark fruit flavor - prunes, nuts, and some caramel. My friend PW, a guy weaned on UK ales, said this is one of the most exceptional British-style ales he'd had in a long while. I thought it was like a cask brown ale with wildly more hops & fruits than expected, all the while being light, refreshing and low-ABV. RUNA ALE was the highlight of the trip, drink-wise. 9/10.
  
  Another interesting one I got to try is from a local outfit named DeDUES called DeDUES CERVESA D'AUTOR. I was actually gently warned against this by the proprieter of Cerveceria El Flabiol - he called it "unusual and indescribable" - but I thought it was kinda cool in its 13-ounce bottle, if exactly as he described. It's sort of like if you decided to make an "imperial" English bitter, then ramped it up with more hops and a really strange collection of yeasts. Mahogany red, chalky, bitter, and totally unique. Intriguing, but probably not something I'd want to try again. 6/10.
  I'd tell ya more but I'm getting too thirsty just typing this stuff. Coming up - the beers of BIRRART MOS'KA and more....!

A Good Beer Blog

• 

  Olympic Celebrations One Big Binge-o-rama

  Posted: February 22nd, 2010, 3:05am CET by Alan McLeod

  Call the Neo-probes! Athletic competitions now proven to lead to binge drinking as Vancouver struggles to keep up with drunk jet setting gangs of cow bell ringers and fans of third-rate curlering nations. Jet setting Olympic public boozing is apparently something we are very good at in Canada:

  “Due to an unprecedented number of intoxicated people, we must do what we can to ensure the Games are safe for everyone,” said a spokesman for the province’s liquor licensing branch Sunday. “We’re taking a measured approach that still allows people to have fun and feel confident that they will be safe while doing so,” he said... Vancouver Police said they are prepared to ask for more early-closing orders to tackle public drinking, drunkenness and disorder on city streets, after being granted similar orders for Saturday and Sunday. Police spokesman Const. Lindsey Houghton said there was a noticeable spike in people bringing booze into the downtown core on the weekend.

  And it's not just the crowds in the streets who are booze fueled. We Canadians proudly celebrated the gold medal celebrations by our own Jon Montgomery, the fastest guy to go head first down an ice chute on a sled: "I don’t subscribe to necessarily all the things typical athletes do, and for me a pint now and then is a good thing,” he said... “I go out to parties with him, and he finishes the party,” said teammate Mike Douglas. He finishes the party. That's why we love him. He walked around chugging from a pitcher of beer after the victory pretty much like he did, above, at the Skeleton World Championships in Feb. 2008. And during an interview, a fan tossed Montgomery a mickey of rye, which he stuck in his back pocket. That's why we love him. He is us.

  We are such bad examples for ourselves.

  Update: Huffington Post has the photos and a video:

  

• 

  A Good Goat Cheese Likes A Belgian Pale Ale

  Posted: February 21st, 2010, 3:18am CET by Alan McLeod

  Years ago, when I was thinking about extra part time jobs I might take on, I had this idea that I could set up an ice cream van that dispensed soft serve goats milk cheese. The brand was going to be "I Can't Believe This Came Out Of A Goat!" It never happened.

  This evening I was reminded of the idea when I pulled a chunk of bouc émissaire, a young raw goat milk cheese by Fromagerie Chaput of Quebec. Tangy creamy goodness with just that hint of goat. Goatiness is a bit of a twist for the English-speaking palate even if it makes great strawberry softie swirl. But it's just fine with spicy Belgian pale ale like Zot or the Het Anker Margriet I picked up at the LCBO today, on sale for an insanely cheap $1.80 a bottle. Tang on tang. I imagine a tripel or saison would do the trick as well. Or not. Style goes only so far to explain actual taste.

  Is this pairing? I suppose. But if it was pairing it would be monogamous and that would be the end of the explorations. And, worse, it might even be an arranged marriage where I tell you that it's the best thing going so you better take my word for it. Rubbish. You might hate this combo. Go find your own damn goat cheese.

The Champagne of Blogs

• 

  KLCC Microbrew Festival in Eugene

  Posted: February 20th, 2010, 9:19pm CET by Bruce

  Several accomplished beer writers (John Foyston, Lisa Morrison and Abram Goldman-Armstrong), bloggers (Portland Beer) and somehow BS Brewing were invited by Travel Oregon and Travel Lane County to visit Eugene for the KLCC Microbrew Festival and spend Zwickelmania with local brewers.

  I give this fest high marks, more than 50 breweries and 110 beers, a homebrew competition, vendors selling classic vinyl records, live music and a People’s Choice Award (won by Hop Valley’s Alpha Centauri). The lines and crowd were very manageable, hardly waited more than 30 seconds for a fill and it’s a pretty standard $1 ticket per taste and your $12 admission gets you an actual glass taster. Proceeds benefit the listener-supported station.

  

  Definitely the most interesting aspect of the festival was the inclusion of a collaboration brew, where participating brewers each developed their take on a (get this…) Belgian Style Cascadian Dark Rye Ale. In the description of the beer below they used the phrase “Because we can,” perhaps because some said “Oh no, you didn’t?” Overall, I think each of the beers suffered from being a bit of an over-engineered concept, any two of the three (Cascadian Dark, rye malt, Belgian yeast) would have been fine, but all three together created some odd flavors regardless of the skill of the brewer making the beer. A good thing to remember is just because you can doesn’t mean you should.

  

  Dave in his quest to drink 999 different beers over 999 days reviewed Ninkasi’s entry here.

  Aside from the collaboration brew, there were handful of seasonals but most brought beers that are available in some form here in Portland. That didn’t crush our enthusiasm for seeking out old favorites like Maui Brewing’s IPA and breweries we’ve never tried such as Wakonda Brewing’s Imperial Pilsner.

  As our Twitter post summed it up that night, it’s like a mini-GABF but instead of beer geeks there are college girls and old hippies. I would definitely recommend checking the festival out in future years, either on its own if you’re in the area or as a part of of a beer weekend to check out the all great breweries in the area.

  More on our Zwickelmania trips later…

  

Hedonist Beer Jive

• 

  THE MAYFIELD “ICONOCLAST” SERIES, AS CONTEMPLATED BY A MERE COMMON MAN

  Posted: February 20th, 2010, 10:00am CET by Jay

  Perhaps you saw those bottles of $42 beers from a hitherto-unknown California beermaker called MAYFIELD BREWING hit the shelves of Whole Foods last year. “The Mayfield Iconoclast series?”, you asked yourself, as I did – “…How do I not know a thing of this nectar that must be so richly magnificent & otherworldly that it is able to garner twice and thrice the price of other already too-expensive beers from celebrated brewers the world over?”. I suppose that everyone who saw the three fancy bottles of MAYFIELD ICONOCLAST in their three fancy flavors asked themselves that, unless you already knew the back story, which I didn’t and still don’t. It is inevitable in this explosive abundance of artisanal craft beer that the market would evolve to support ever-higher price points, and as a good capitalist, I’m very much in favor of the market working out whether this gamble on the highest of the high end is a good one for John Aldrete, a one-man operation who started Mayfield Brewing in 2007. Yet forgive me my skepticism against the price multiple vs. other world-class beers would be equaled by a quality multiple as well. I decided to head to a rare Mayfield tasting at the very same Whole Foods where I first espied it to find out.
  As part of SF Beer Week, Mr. Aldrete, accompanied by his helpful, glass-stacking 8-year-old son, was doling out 25-cent pours of his three beers in the wine section of San Francisco’s 4th Street Whole Foods one evening. I threw down a big $1 so I could try all three – and then some! The tasting was done very much the way a Napa Valley wine tasting is – a little bit goes into your glass from the luxuriously-appointed bottles, you swish it around, you chat with the owner, and you get maybe three swigs to form an impression. Given that, it was actually somewhat hard for me to get a read on the first one, ICONOCLAST AURORA. Aldrete called this an “altbier” infused with white wine, or perhaps it was aged in white wine barrels. Hmm. It sure tasted like wine to me, closer to chardonnay than altbier, and perhaps that’s where this high price-point stuff is coming from. Market this as a beer for people who love wine, and the market just might bat an eyelash your way.
  
  Next was ICONOCLAST ECLAT, which I swear he called a “IPA”, aged in oak wine barrels. I could care less what someone calls anything as long as it’s good, but this small pours were making it hard to get a bead on anything. What do you want for 25 cents, right, Hinman? Shut up and sip your wine-beer. As suspicion mounted, Aldrete delivered the counterpunch in the form of ICONOCLAST NOCTURNA. Hold on here. This is incredible. A creamy imperial stout aged in port wine barrels, Nocturna tastes like a fantasy port/stout dream beverage, so delicious I made it my “bonus round” selection just so I could contemplate its magnificence again. You want 42 bucks for a big bottle of this? Why not? It’s a big party, your fanciest fancy-pants friends are coming over, and you want to bust out something that everyone’s going to swoon over and make you a superstar to both your beer and your wine-lovin’ friends. In other words, most couples you know – or should I say that I know, couples where the husband drinks beer with me, and the wife drinks wine with my wife. A ha. I’ve just divined the MAYFIELD ICONOCLAST angle, and at least with NOCTURNA, everyone will be happy and gay that you spent $42 to help get them that way.
  I intend to ask Mr. Aldrete for an interview in the near future so we can all learn more about this stuff (seems like a totally humble, friendly and knowledgeable guy), but for now, let me say that it is indeed possible that this is no sleight-of-hand hocus pocus. I’d love to hear what you think if, in fact, your lips have graced the sides of a glass with Mayfield Iconoclast beer in it.

The Brew Site

• 

  Received: A sixer of Pyramid

  Posted: February 20th, 2010, 9:05am CET by Jon

  These came today:

  

  A six-pack consisting of two each of (Spring) Fling Pale Ale, Haywire Hefeweizen, and Audacious Apricot Ale, all from Pyramid Brewing. Looks like they came in connection with my Hop Press blogging, though I’m not sure where the reviews will ultimately show up—there or here. Either way, it’s all good.

A Good Beer Blog

• 

  If You Are Gonna Sin, Please Really Really Sin

  Posted: February 20th, 2010, 2:50am CET by Alan McLeod

  Maybe one day I will ask a bartender for a gin with a shot of whiskey as well as a splash of rum. But if I am ever in Nebraska I now know I don't dare add a dribble of beer to that cocktail:

  A Prohibition-era law still on the books makes Nebraska the only U.S. state to ban bars from serving drinks that mix beer and liquor, and some lawmakers are trying to make the restriction history, ABC News reported Feb. 17. The law prohibits bars from serving drinks like boilermakers and Irish Car Bombs -- the latter a shot of Bailey's Irish Cream and whiskey dropped into a glass of stout.

  Now, it's been a long time since I had a boilermaker, a high school staple, but it's like all the anti-neo-prohibitionist / neo-prohibitionist talk out of the UK - what the heck were these guys thinking? It's wrong to dilute the strength? Boggles the mind. Maybe it's all this Olympic chest thumping up here talking but, once again, it is so weird to read about a society where you may have the right to have a drink but you may have to fret about how you have it. We just make sure that our beer ads have no reference to actually drinking the stuff. Now that makes sense.

Hedonist Beer Jive

• 

  ELYSIAN & GREEN FLASH CORONATE “THE RED QUEEN”

  Posted: February 19th, 2010, 11:56am CET by Jay

  So after saying publicly on the Twitter that I wasn’t going to be attending any of the back-slappin’, shuckin & jivin’ SF BEER WEEK events, I turned coat & went to the unveiling of ELYSIAN BREWING and GREEN FLASH BREWING’s collaboration saison THE RED QUEEN last week. This took place at City Beer Store in San Francisco on a Wednesday night, and truly, I chose this event more out of convenience than anything else, seeing as how I’ve bagged on Elysian’s beers in the past & was only a fan of the Green Flash half of the partnership. And though I don’t know who’s truly pulling the strings with this beer, let it be said that Elysian is definitely getting a halo effect at a bare minimum from helping to produce this outstanding beer. Allow me to tell you about it.
  
  THE RED QUEEN is a dark orange saison to die for. Fruity, incredibly juicy and just-out-of-the-vat fresh, this beer takes the saison sideways. It has a wonderfully earthy smell, which is something you’d expect, right? But it made its mark with me for its robust flavors of tangerine, honey and yeasts, all mingling together in one of the more fruit-forward farmhouse ales I’ve ever tasted. I’m willing to bet there are some similarities in pedigree with the GREEN FLASH SAISON I wrote about before and which currently resides in the Hedonist Beer Jive 75. That’s a picture of THE RED QUEEN right there, and yes, that’s the dollar I tipped for the privilege of being able to drink one. I don’t know if it’s a one-shot-and-done sort of beer or if there’s a potential for bottling & draft accounts, but like the Green Flash Saison from two years ago, this one’s easily scoring a big 9/10 on the HBJ scale.

GourmetBryggeriet

• 

  GB har 2 øl med til Ole Madsens 6-oplukker-felt-middag…

  Posted: February 19th, 2010, 11:44am CET by lars

  Få en hyggelig aften med vennerne eller veninderne og smag på Ole’s favoritter. Han vil levende fortælle det lige er dem, der har fået 6 ud af 6 oplukkere. Inkl. en let pølse anretning. Ole Madsen er Ekstra Bladets faste øl anmelder hver lørdag samt medstifter af ’Danske Ølentusiaster’.

  Fredag 26. marts kl. 18.30 i Pressen.
  Rådhuspladsen 37, København.

  BEMÆRK; Medbring udskrift af din kvittering som billet.

  Vi skal smage på følgende 10 øl:

  Pilsner Urquell
  Pilsner Urquell er den originale pilsner fra Plzen i Tjekkiet! Bryggeriet Plzenský Prazdroj revolutionerede ølbrygning i 1842 ved at lave verdens første lyse lagerøl. Pilsner Urquell er ligeledes blandt verdens bedste pilsnerøl - gylden og ædelbitter med vidunderlig markant smag af humle og den friske blomsteragtige duft fra Saaz humlen. Alc.vol: 4,4%

  Tanglefoot
  Dette er en lys gylden ale, der har en blomsteragtig tør aroma og en frugtagtig smag med aromatisk humle, som giver øllet lidt bitterhed i eftersmagen. En frisk øl der kan tiltale mange, der ikke normalt drikker øl. Denne ale har vundet bronze i 2000 ved ’International Beer & Cider Competition’ i kategorien ’Premium Ales’. 4,7 %.

  Oude Kriek Boon
  En spontangæret øl med en flot rødbrun farve og et lyserødt skum. Aromaen og smagen er en blanding af kirsebær og træ, og i smagen også en smule mandel. Den har en god bitter eftersmag.6,5 %.

  Choko Stout, Svaneke Bryghus
  Kraftig chokolade duft spredes når øllet skænkes op og det nøddebrune skum står smukt i glasset. Den sorte farve tillader røde nuancer foran en lyskilde, medens at den første tår af-slører en moderat fyldig Stout, der mætter knapt så meget. Fire forskellige slags malt, der i blandt chokolade og karamel malt, sætter sit præg og humlen er fint afstemt dertil. Drikkes snildt til desserter eller en eftermiddagsstund. Undergæret. 5,7% alc. vol.

  Double Brown Ale, Svaneke Bryghus (Wildcard)
  Er flot mahognifarvet og skum-hatten efterlader fine blonder på glassets rand. Duften udgøres af bergamotte, te og nyslået græs. Det første smagsindtryk er frisk og citral, med en svag, men kompleks bitterhed, afløst af karamel, mandel og kulsyrens prikken. Både over- og undergæret. 5,7% alc. vol.

  FinAle, GB (Wildcard)
  FinAle var den ene af de to første øl, som GourmetBryggeriet lancerede på flaske i sensommeren 2005. FinAle har en dyb rødgylden farve med en kraftig og ganske tæt beigefarvet skumkrone. Skumkronen er vedholdende og efterlader et stormasket slør i glasset. Kulsyreudviklingen er moderat sprudlende. FinAle byder på en rig komposition af frugtige toner fra både fermenteringen og den tilsatte amerikanske aromahumle. Frugtigheden kan give mindelser om grapefrugt og hyldeblomst. Underliggende fornemmes en fyldig bund af malt, der også giver aroma af krydderier og nybagt brød. FinAle har en frisk og krydret smag med en kraftig bitterhed, der ligger længe i munden. Den store mængde amerikansk aromahumle giver en langvarig kraftig eftersmag. 6,5 %.

  Westmalle Dubbel
  Dette er en mørk trappist øl, der er brygget på karamel og hårdt ristet malt. Den har en meget fyldig og frugtagtig smag. Skummet er flot og fyldigt og bliver til sidste dråbe. Den bør nydes i pokalformede glas. 7,0 %

  Limfjords Porter
  Limfjords Porter er en øl, som brygmester Peter Klemmensen bragte med fra Urban bryggeri i Ålborg. Det er nok en af de mest fyldige danske øl. Den er brygget på blandt andet røgmalt og engelsk lakrids. Porteren har en meget intens og fyldig smag.7,9 %.

  Hancock Gambrinus Dark
  En ægte dansk Bock øl med en meget stærk og rig smag, som blandt andet kommer af en Langtidsgæring på 26 uger. Den mørke farve kommer fra brugen af karamelmalt og øllet får en mere sødlig karakter. 9,8 %.

  Barley Brew, GB
  Barley Brew er en smuk rødgylden barley wine med en fed og fyldig skumkrone, der changerer fra cremet over i hvid, og som langsomt aftager til en smuk klinge i glasset. Barley Brew dufter kraftigt af sødmefyldte, modne frugter og har en stor vinøsitet med dens kraftige alkoholprocent. Der er en frisk tone af cascadehumle i slutningen karakteriseret ved en duft af citrus og hyldeblomst. Barley Brew har en kraftig, fyldig smag med overvægt af malt og alkohol. Der fornemmes en fin bitterhed, som trækker en flot efterbitterhed. Mundfølelsen er fyldig og syrlig med stor alkoholfylde. 10,5 %.

  

Hop Talk

• 

  Guinness cupcakes

  Posted: February 19th, 2010, 4:00am CET by Al

  ©Hop Talk – Use of this feed on other sites without express permission is prohibited

  We had company over this evening, so the wife pulled out all the stops, including baking some cupcakes made with Guinness.

  Delicious.

  They were moist and delicious. My wife, who doesn’t like stout, loved them.

  We found the recipe at Big City, Little Kitchen

  cupcakes (makes about 2 dozen)

  • 1 cup Guinness Stout
  • 1 stick, plus 1 tbsp, unsalted butter
  • ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa
  • 2 cups dark brown sugar
  • ¾ cup sour cream
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tbsp vanilla extract
  • 2 cups flour
  • 2-½ tsp baking soda

  glaze

  • 8 oz cream cheese
  • 1-¼ cups confectioners’ sugar
  • ⅓ cup milk

  Preheat oven to 350°F.

  Butter a muffin tin or use paper cups.

  Combine the Guinness and the butter, chopped into 1-inch chunks, in a large sauce pan, and heat to melt the butter. Remove from heat, and whisk in the cocoa and sugar. In a bowl, whisk the sour cream with the eggs and vanilla, then add to the beer mixture. Sift together the flour and baking soda, and fold into the batter. Pour into muffin molds and bake for 25 minutes, or until inserted cake tester comes out clean. Let stand 10 minutes, remove from muffin tin, and cool completely on a rack.

  Using a mixer, whip cream cheese until smooth, sift in sugar, and beat. Add milk, and beat until smooth. Spread glaze over cooled cupcakes.

  Update: Not manly enough for you? Butch cupcakes for men
  

  submit_url = 'http://hop-talk.com/2010/02/18/guinness-cupcakes/';
  

  Related Posts:

  • Old Chub French Onion Soup
  • Guinness Extra Stout
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  • Guinness 250th Anniversary Stout
  • Choose That St. Patty’s Day Beer!
  • Powered by Contextual Related Posts

  
  

  

A Good Beer Blog

• 

  Question: What Claims To Fame Can't Good Beer Make?

  Posted: February 19th, 2010, 1:49am CET by Alan McLeod

  

  I think the forces of anti-neo-prohibition are at it again. I have never been sure who the anti-neo-prohibitionists are but that goes for neo-prohibitionists as well. They each stand for everything good as well as everything else and in the end look a lot like each other. Best of all, they aren't really a "they" at all. It's just folks thinking about something and needing to make a generalization about it in order to make sure that the equation "X=good" means "X=what I like already".

  You see it when someone can write: "... none of it will work because the ‘misuse’ of alcohol isn’t nearly as bad as the government or the corporate do-gooders would have us believe" without the slightest evidence to back it up other than following it with reference to "the puritanical anti-drinking movement." Safe to say, when you see this sort of thing you are dealing with the closed mind of the anti-neo-prohibitionists... or neo-prohibitionists depending on the brand of outlandishness foisted upon your eyes.

  You also see it in other ways. Self congratulations. Chest thumping king of the hillery. First prize giving. Now, I like Jeff Alworth as much as the next guy but he is getting a lot of responses to his suggestion that in his home state of Oregon "we are abandoning the larger quantities of cheap beer for the smaller quantities of good beer" and, as a result, has determined that craft beer has become "competing cultural model for alcohol consumption that encourages healthy behavior." Well, just as we understand that there are actual social issues in the UK related to alcohol use (even if cask ale isn't to blame) we also realize people are cutting back and shifting drinking compared to past decades for any number of reasons which are related much to the shift caused by Jane Fonda's exercise VHS tapes as well as the breakdown of family life being based on post-work male bonding in bars in favour of driving children around in mini-vans to their incessant activities (though craft beer may add a 1% shift plus or minus.)

  One of the oddest first prizes you see fans of craft beer giving each other is the "I drink less because I drink craft beer" blue ribbons. My experience of craft beer drinkers has been somewhat less purifying than that - though, to be very fair, witnessing the huge amount of pleasure that Stan got from a very small portions of very good beer was a revelation. Frankly, I think a fair measure of craft beer consumption is pretty much the same as non-craft beer consumption. Some have a little and some have a lot. In Pete's words it's about "managing their arc of inebriation in a way with which they feel comfortable" - aka the buzz even if a tasty buzz.

  So, given all that tell me this: do you really drink less? Do you drink less because you are older? Because society has shifted? Because craft beer is a drink for people over 30? And if you don't drink less than you did when you were in undergrad... what the hell is wrong with you?

Nyt fra Ølakademiet

• 

  Få øl i 2. verdenskrigsbunker (Urban)

  Posted: February 19th, 2010, 12:00am CET

  På Østerbro i København er øl-butikken Bunker Beer åbnet. En bunker fra 2. verdenskrig danner rammen for den nye butik, der sælger nordisk øl og om ikke så længe også øl fra eget mikrobryggeri HokNberg.  
  Bunker Beer, Edvard Griegs Gade 14-16, 2100 København Ø.
  

• 

  Brygger kurser (www.brewingschool.dk)

  Posted: February 19th, 2010, 12:00am CET

  Den Skandinaviske Bryggerhøjskole er åben for tilmelding til følgende kurser:
  Diploma Master Brewercourse, Certificate in Brewing & Packaging, Brewing Course
  Mere information og tilmelding på www.brewingschool.dk

A Good Beer Blog

• 

  Wisconsin: Stone Soup, New Glarus, New Glarus

  Posted: February 18th, 2010, 5:59am CET by Alan McLeod

  A Belgian pale ale from the USA's Upper Midwest. This one smells good. Either that or I smell really bad. I've just finished two 16 hour days so it is not beyond the realm of possibility. But I've been in a jacket and tie the whole time. So it's likely the beer or the guy next to me was inordinately polite.

  Medium pale golden ale under a thin rim of white. Apple and pear on the nose with a little nutmeg. More in the mouth framed in a sweetish effervescent rich ale. Plenty of bready yeastiness. Dryish ending with black tea and twiggy hops and that lingering spice. A reasonable session beer at 5.3%. Part of a New Glarus mixed 12 pack that made the trip from near Lake Superior to the east end of Lake Ontario. A respectable level of BAer respect but probably not enough.

Knut Albert's beer blog

• 

  Michelin starred pubs

  Posted: February 18th, 2010, 2:47am CET by knutalbert

  If you want really good food with your pint, the Times has a list of the ten British pubs with Michelin stars.
• 

  No mercy from BrewDog

  Posted: February 17th, 2010, 10:13pm CET by knutalbert

  The mad Scots are at it again, provoking some, delighting some. Even stronger this time, 41%. And it’s called Sink the Bismarck! Go watch their new hilarious video!
• 

  How do you define a blogger?

  Posted: February 17th, 2010, 4:06pm CET by knutalbert

  While I blog in English, it is obviously not my mother tongue. I have a question for native English speakers reading my blog today. Some time ago I took part in a competition arranged by the Scandinavian office of the national tourist board of a country in Northern Europe . The invitation ran like this: Are you [...]

The Brew Site

• 

  Great Arizona Beer Festival

  Posted: February 17th, 2010, 8:40am CET by Jon

  I did not know that Arizona has had a “Great Beer Festival” that’s been going on for more than two decades—Arizona not generally being known as a big brewing state—but indeed they do: early next month the 22nd annual Great Arizona Beer Festival is getting underway in Tempe. (I also just posted the press release about it, which caught my eye.)

  March 6th and 7th is the Festival, and $40 will get you in and get up to 23 three-ounce tasters. It’s all for a good cause, too: 100% of the proceeds will benefit Sun Sounds Foundation of Arizona, a reading service for people who are blind.

  There are a ton of other events besides just beer tasting, too—look at the press release for the list. And you can take a look at their beer list; while there are some big names on that list it looks like there is a very good amount from Arizona brewers (and possibly other Southwest brewers—I’m not as well-versed in my U.S. Southwest brewer geography as I am for the Pacific Nothwest. For obvious reasons).

Hop Talk

• 

  Pyramid in Seattle

  Posted: February 17th, 2010, 4:51am CET by Ron

  ©Hop Talk – Use of this feed on other sites without express permission is prohibited

  I’m in Seattle this week and from the view of my hotel room and hot tub I have a clear view of Safeco Field and Pyramid Brewery. It was a long day of travel from New York, we were tired and hungry, and I was very thirsty.

  Pyramid offered up their standards along with some from MacTarnahan’s from Portland. We ordered the sampler where we could select five of our choice. We skipped the wheats and the IPA; the wheats because we are tired of them and the IPA because I knew I was going to order a pint of it anyway.

  My wife liked the MacTarnahan’s Amber the best, but liked all of the samples except the Sling Shot, an extra pale ale. My favorite was the Pyramid Fling Pale Ale. The Thunderhead IPA was also very good. It was not in-your-face hoppy, and a pleasant IPA.

  The pub fair was well done, but nothing special you can’t find other places. we grabbed a six pack of the MacTarnahan’s Amber and we will probably be back for another visit.

  

  

  

  

  
  

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  • Beer & Wing Festival
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Nyt fra Ølakademiet

• 

  Verdens stærkeste øl (MetroXpress)

  Posted: February 17th, 2010, 12:00am CET

  Det skotske bryggeri BrewDog har sendt en ny øl på gaden med navnet Sink the Bismarck. Med en alkoholprocent på 41 er det verdens stærkeste øl. BrewDog anbefaler, at man ikke drikker Sink the Bismarck som almindeligt øl men i små mængder, som når man drikker spiritus.

• 

  Danske bryggerier i verdenseliten (Ratebeer)

  Posted: February 17th, 2010, 12:00am CET

  Det er ikke nogen skam at blive nummer 13, 38 og 52, når man konkurrerrerer med 9600 bryggerier fra hele verden. Hjemmesiden Ratebeer kårer hvert år verdens bedste bryggerier. På årets liste finder man Mikkeler, Nørrebro Bryghus og Amager Bryghus på de nævnte pladser. Der er iøvrigt amerikanske bryggerier på ni af pladsernei i top ti.

Knut Albert's beer blog

• 

  I knew the extra beers would come in handy

  Posted: February 16th, 2010, 7:56pm CET by knutalbert

  The municipal water supplier in Oslo has asked all households to boil their water, as, for reasons unknown to me, they have failed to disinfect the water for a day or so. Luckily I have a few bottles of alternative liquid refreshments in the basement. I mean, there are limits to how much coffee I can [...]

GourmetBryggeriet

• 

  Gårdbutikken har åben hver fredag

  Posted: February 16th, 2010, 5:24pm CET by lars

  Gårdbutikken har åben hver fredag mellem 12 og 17, desværre er der allerede udsolgt af Gul påske, men alle øvrige påskevarianter:
  Grøn Påske
  Saison Påske
  Happy Easter
  Creme Spring Ale
  Samt vores øvrige sortiment er i butikken.

  Flemming har lavet nogle flotte kurve med påske-øl og glas til kr. 200,-. God værtine/vært gave. Flemming laver også kurve mod bestilling – ring og bestil på 46 32 60 45, så er de klar til afhentning fredag efter 14.00.

  Så der er stadigvæk pale ale på tilbud – udløbsdato 16. april 2010 – kr. 60 + pant for 24 stk.

  

A Good Beer Blog

• 

  Fully Expect 48% Beerish Stuff Has Been Made

  Posted: February 16th, 2010, 1:51pm CET by Alan McLeod

  

  And it sits in a bottle waiting for the appropriate marketing moment for a price of 127 dollars. Between you and me, I don't really care that it is all about marketing but I also do not care to try this or any other loony strength beer. Drinking it isn't the point. Consider this statement:

  "Beer has a terrible reputation in Britain, it's ignorant to assume that a beer can't be enjoyed responsibly like a nice dram or a glass of fine wine. A beer like Sink the Bismarck should be enjoyed in spirit sized measures. It is important that you be careful with this beer and show it the same amount of sceptical, tentative respect you would show an international chess superstar, clown or gypsy."

  If it weren't for peeking at the use of "sceptical" I would have spat my coffee on my keyboard when I hit the word "enjoyed." Given that we are about ten weeks past 32%, and about as many days past 40% there can't be a heck of a lot of thought going into the recipe. Or the aging. It's all just a variation on Garrett Oliver's comment about the idiocy of the world's saltiest food. Gak even if gak with a ideological point.

  Makes me yearn for beechwood aging all of a sudden. A technique with a purpose related to flavour even if you don't like the flavour.

The Champagne of Blogs

• 

  Dinner With the Widmer Brewers

  Posted: February 16th, 2010, 9:08am CET by Bruce

  It’s great to have a beer blog and an excuse to drink beer, but I guess we should actually add some content more than once a month.

  A couple of weeks ago, the fine folks at Widmer invited us over for dinner to celebrate the release of W’10 Pitch Black IPA. Due to the enormous success of Brrr, W’10 was already in stores, but that didn’t deter our enthusiasm for this Cascadian Dark Ale.

  

  I’ll leave a more detailed review of the beer to Dave at 999 Beers but I really like W’10, easily my favorite in the series, challenged only by W’07 that eventually became Drifter.  I think it’s a safe bet we’re going to see a lot more Cascadian Dark Ales this year and that style will be the choice of backyard BBQs and camping this summer. It’s a great blend of roasted malt flavor and hops without being too heavy.

  

  I was joined for dinner by brewer John Eaton who generally works the overnight shift at Widmer. I was a great opportunity to discuss the entire W series at Widmer, the collaborative creative process and the success of 07 and 06 turning into Drifter and Brrr in the company’s line. In general, the brewers get together and discuss a few different styles and then they work together to hash it out and determine what that year’s W beer will be. It’s a great opportunity for the brewers to flex their creativity outside of the company’s standard brews.

  It also seemed some at Widmer were a little miffed/disappointed at the lack of success of W’09, the Belgian Golden Ale and to a lesser extent 08’s Crimson Wheat. In thinking about the Belgian Golden, it reminded me of Bridgeport’s Supris and a similar tepid response.

  It makes me think that major production brewers such as Bridgeport and Widmer become well known for certain styles and the consumer just doesn’t think of them as an outlet for something so different. I’m certain that in addition to letting brewers create new styles, the W series also helps Widmer stretch the consumer’s mind and while a certain year may not sell as expected, it can help open the door for future, more commercially successful new styles.

  You can learn more about W’10 and the W series by going here and can find Widmer Brothers on Twitter and Facebook.

  

The Brew Site

• 

  So you always wanted to own a brewpub…

  Posted: February 16th, 2010, 8:22am CET by Jon

  The Elliot Glacier Public House is for sale. Where is Elliot Glacier, you may wonder? In the small community of Parkdale, about 17 miles south of Hood River. We’ve driven by it, once, but did not stop (we were on our way home with a load of fresh-picked fruit).

  Elliot Glacier is a seven-barrel brewpub with—based on the accounts I’ve been reading—a magnificent view of the north face of Mount Hood from their back patio. It was built in 1937 as a theater and was renovated into its current incarnation in 1997. Very casual, as well—with a small open kitchen that only serves up the basics.

  The interesting thing is that the building and business both are for sale for only $470,000. That’s not bad at all, it seems to me. I wonder how good business could be in such a small community, of course, but they’ve fared well(?) for 12+ years so far.

  Found via Lisa Morrison (the Beer Goddess!) on Twitter.

A Good Beer Blog

• 

  Dutch News: "The Consumer Is Being Taken For A Ride"

  Posted: February 16th, 2010, 1:23am CET by Alan McLeod

  Back from a few days on the road and I am shocked - shocked!! - to find out there is an underworld of bootlegged beer out there. The news today comes from the Netherlands but this could be happening in your home town:

  People drinking a beer in Amsterdam have a big chance of it being an unbranded brew. Hospitality businesses are serving illegal beer en masse to get out of stranglehold contracts they complain they have to sign with the established brewers like Heineken... Many cafe and restaurant-holders quietly put unbranded barrels under their taps, because they can save 25 to 50 euros on purchasing and the customers do not taste the difference, Amsterdam newspaper Het Parool reports. The unbranded beers come from brewers with overcapacity in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. Insiders in the drinks trade believe that 60 percent of the established hospitality businesses take this route.

  Hmmm: "because they can save 25 to 50 euros on purchasing and the customers do not taste the difference." Isn't that odd. In what other product category could a merry oligopolist demand "stranglehold contracts" when the consumer can't perceive a distinction between the oligopolistic version from a discount one? And then there is that idea in the story's headline: "Most Heineken Beer in Amsterdam is Fake." Can a beer actually be fake? Sure the branding may be stolen and now doubt an example of widespread commercial fraud - a zwendel even - but does that make the beer in your glass fake beer? If you can't tell the difference? Isn't it really just switched? Or is there something so elemental in Heineken or other macro-brews that can be falsified in such an elemental way?

Hedonist Beer Jive

• 

  DIEU DU CIEL's "SOLSTICE D'HIVER"

  Posted: February 15th, 2010, 7:00am CET by Jay

  Another day, another knockout beer from Montreal, Quebec's DIEU DU CIEL - or as they like to call themselves when they get excited, DIEU DU CIEL! This time we're talking about SOLSTICE D'HIVER, a winter seasonal that reached my eyes & ears via a number of channels, both online and off. The talk was that these guys make a ton of great beers, and yet besides the trophy-laden PECHE MORTAL, this was their flat-out best. I'm inclined to agree - this barleywine is totally top-tier stuff.
  It comes in a 12-ounce bottle and that's OK cuz it's a big'un - 9.8% alcohol. SOLSTICE D'HIVER is a warming, sweet barleywine, without a lot of the intense hoppiness you'll find in some versions of this style. The taste is burnt sugar, maybe a little pineapple if you can believe it, and that delicious maltiness that gives off quite an aroma. You can smell that it's a high-ABV beer, but not necessarily taste it. Absolutely wanted another glass, and that doesn't happen to often with the big boys. I'm hooked on this outfit's beers, and I'll keep buying them as I see new ones. 8.5/10.

Nyt fra Ølakademiet

• 

  Tysk brygmester klar i Rækker Mølle (Jyske Vestkysten)

  Posted: February 15th, 2010, 12:00am CET

  Rækker Mølle åbner snart igen. Thomas Horacek, 32 år, har solgt sit bryggeri i Schönwald, Tuyskland, og har overtaget bryghuset. Han har ikke planer om at genåbne restaurationen men vil koncentrere sig om at brygge øl, når bryghuset på ny er godkendt af de veterinære myndigheder. - Det bliver billigere at købe Rækker Mølle-øl, siger Thomas Horacek til Herning Folkeblad. Produktionen forventes at blive på 20.000 flasker per måned.

A Good Beer Blog

• 

  Really? Is It Really That Unbelievable?

  Posted: February 13th, 2010, 2:49pm CET by Alan McLeod

  I have to admit that I never had any plan to attend the Vancouver Olympics given that they are thousands of miles from my part of Canada and, this weekend at least, I am in a region so vastly different from there - if only because there is snow on the ground and freezing temperatures. But if I were there "unbelievable" is not the word that would come to mind:

  "It's unbelievable," said Sukh Mattu, who waited for a table at four downtown establishments before giving up at each. "There are lineups everywhere and everything's overpriced. There should be more beer gardens." Many venues are being criticized for their inflated prices. Irish House is charging $9 for a plastic cup of Guinness, for example, while German Fan Fest is charging $8.25 for a beer. Brandi's Show Lounge is charging $10.25 for a pale ale during their special "Olympic hours."

  Are we bad hosts? That is the sort of thing that creeps up the nape of one's neck when you hear allegations of gouging. But - really - beer gardens in Canada in February? Don't you go to events like the Olympics assuming that this is not a bargain hunting expedition? Wouldn't you even pay more at a major league sporting event for any given regular season game? Look, I am not trying to defend the Olympics. There's a wee bit too much of the old goose step in its legacy for that. But moaning about being dinged during this sort of gathering is a bit naive.

Hop Talk

• 

  Perfect Black & Tans

  Posted: February 13th, 2010, 2:00pm CET by Ron

  ©Hop Talk – Use of this feed on other sites without express permission is prohibited

  I’ve been experimenting with different black and tans lately. I am looking for the perfect “tan” to go with the creamy, sweet, and not very strong tasting, Guinness. I’ve heard all the arguments between Harp, Bass, and what is “authentic”, but what I am looking for is what tastes the best.

  I have tried some IPAs with the Guinness and they are a bit too strong. So far my favorite so far is a local pale ale, Brown’s Pale Ale, but still not great. I’m beginning to wonder if the simple, weak, Harp isn’t the best companion… What are your thoughts?

  On a related note, my family got me a turtle for Christmas to assist in pouring a black and tan. If you are not familiar, it is used over a glass to help float the Guinness on top. It works really well; and my daughter even allowed it in my kitchen because it is a multitasker (bottle opener too).

  

  Black and Tan (with some pizza)

  

  The mulitasking turtle

  
  

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Knut Albert's beer blog

• 

  Animal Planet

  Posted: February 12th, 2010, 4:51pm CET by knutalbert

  I had to share this, but blame Barry.

Hedonist Beer Jive

• 

  RUMINATIONS ON "PLINY THE YOUNGER"

  Posted: February 12th, 2010, 11:11am CET by Jay

  I've long slogged through life with the cross to bear of being what seems to be the only human alive who believes RUSSIAN RIVER's PLINY THE ELDER double IPA to be a "lesser" beer. Sure, it's good enough, but after careful contemplation of 5 glasses or bottles of it, I think I'm pretty certain that it's in the lower third of the Russian River (arguably our country's finest brewer) panoply, and it's a little south of average for the ultra-hoppy, Double IPA style. I find this opinion raises the hackles of the many who feel PLINY THE ELDER to be manna from heaven, and I've enjoyed some of the comments on this blog calling me heretic, "Judas" and whatnot.
  Then there's the fabled PLINY THE YOUNGER. This beer comes out only once a year, and it's the 11% ABV, souped-up version of the Elder, and when it appears in its exceptionally rare handful of locations (usually just in a few California bars), it's snapped up & glugged down like a cooler full of Gatorade found after three parched days in the Gobi Desert. Right now it's actually tied with TRAPPIST WESTVLETEREN 12 on Beer Advocate's "Top 100 Beers" board as the single greatest beer in the entire world. Now me, I'm a San Francisco resident, and both Plinys are brewed about 80 minutes north of me. The fact that until a couple days ago I'd never tried RUSSIAN RIVER PLINY THE YOUNGER was a crime against drinking, and seriously lowered my credentials as a, um, "beer journalist" and maker of tastes. So when I got the email from Oakland's excellent beer bar THE TRAPPIST that they'd have a keg of this liquid gold on tap for a few hours, I drove- nay, I sped - over there after leaving work early to ensure I'd get to finally ingest a glass of the greatest beer on god's green earth.
  
  Now you readers of this blog, you know I try to be a teller of truths, while holding a little bit of my tongue in my cheek at times. But I can't fathom this PLINY THE YOUNGER thing either, I just can't. Yes, it is ludicrously hoppy. It smells like a hop bath, and the only beer I've ever had this intense was DRAKE'S HOP SALAD - which, let the record show, is the better beer. I can't say that this is really that amazing of an experience. It is strong, it is well-constructed, but the sort of consciousness-raising beer experience one expects from the world's great beers? No, it's nothing of the sort. It's an experimental, kick-your-ass, hoppy ale that you'll remember for its intense bitterness and that's about it. And around here, my friends, that's what we at Hedonist Beer Jive like to call a 6.5/10.

The Brew Site

• 

  The Beer Hacker: Brewing on the cheap: Revising estimates

  Posted: February 12th, 2010, 8:34am CET by Jon

  Returning to the series of articles about the economic impact of homebrewing, we re-examine previous cost estimates based on new information.

  When I started this series, hops at the local Brew Shop were selling for $5 to $6.50 per two-ounces of whole flowers, and that was what the various estimates were based on. Since then, the price of whole hops has dropped to $3.25 to $3.95 per two-ounce package, so here I present some updated figures.

  (Note: the online prices of hops are still averaging around $5-6 per two ounces, so it’s possible that hop prices in your area—if you have a local homebrew shop—are still similarly priced as well. But there is currently a hop surplus (a reaction to the hop shortage several years back), so I would expect to start seeing those prices go down sooner rather than later.)

  Without further ado, here’s our updated pricing chart:

  Ingredient	Price	Price (online)
  Malt extract syrup – 7 lbs.	$18.00	$16.50
  Malt extract – dried – 3 lbs.	$11.00	$11.25
  Malt extract – dried – 1 lb.	$4.25	$4.40
  Grains – per pound	$1.90	$1.45
  Specialty grains – per pound	$2.25	~$2.00
  Hops (whole leaf)	$3.25 – 3.95	$5.50+
  Liquid yeast	$6.50	$6.00 – 10.00
  Yeast – dry	$1.25 – 3.95	$1.20 – 4.00
  Corn sugar – 1 lb.	$1.25	$1.00 – 2.00

  And, here’s an updated table of costs by style:

  Style	Price
  American Pale Ale	$31.15
  English Bitter	$34.77
  India Pale Ale	$43.35
  Double/Imperial IPA	$54.92
  Brown Ale	$31.07
  Porter	$37.09
  Stout (basic)	$34.40
  Imperial Stout	$71.17
  Hefeweizen (basic)	$29.95
  Cream Ale	$29.15
  Belgian Witbier	$35.93
  Barleywine	~$70

  Not a huge difference from the original estimates, but every little bit adds up.

Hop Talk

• 

  It’s Bud-a-licious!

  Posted: February 12th, 2010, 3:27am CET by Ron

  ©Hop Talk – Use of this feed on other sites without express permission is prohibited

  So what does everyone think about Bud Light Wheat? Discuss!
  

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A Good Beer Blog

• 

  I Have Never Really Bothered With The Pour

  Posted: February 12th, 2010, 2:46am CET by Alan McLeod

  There are many things that can get attached to an idea or experience. I presume the more precious or particular the key advice, the more likely you are dealing with a barnacle that needs scraping off the hull of your given ship of life.. or a consultant hunting for someone to bill. Like this mystic wisdom about pouring your beer:

  There’s more to pouring a beer than you may think. Pouring a beer improperly can pollute wonderful aromas, cause an improper release of CO2, and hinder the flavors of the beer. If you want your beer to fulfill its potential, consider this advice...You want to cock the glass a certain way depending on the style of beer. If the beer is highly carbonated, tilt the glass at a 45 degree angle and start pouring down the side. Wait until a third of the pour you want is in the glass, then tilt the glass upright and pour in the center. If the beer is lower in carbonation, start pouring downwards into the center of the glass earlier. A head the width of two fingers is a good rule of thumb for what you are looking for, Deman says.

  I have never been particularly anal about how to pour a beer but even I would not look for a two inch head on a low carbonation style like mild. You'd drive the life out of it. But no doubt I've been a lifetime beer polluter and had no idea. Better rule of thumb: do what you like when you pour your beer and it probably works for you.

Nyt fra Ølakademiet

• 

  12 nye diplombryggere ()

  Posted: February 12th, 2010, 12:00am CET

  Den Skandinaviske Bryggerhøjskole har i februar 2010 udklækket tolv nye diplombryggere, der alle klarede sig gennem eksamen. Læs mere

Hedonist Beer Jive

• 

  SCHNEIDER WEISSE “ORIGINAL”

  Posted: February 11th, 2010, 2:21pm CET by Jay

  I have an until-now unarticulated but dormant beer resolution for 2010 to actually drink a few German beers and try and develop some level of expertise on the great ones. I’m not a lager guy, but I totally love the hefeweizen, the dunkel weizen and even the hardcore eisbock, and I truly need to drink more of the original masters and less of the American copycats in order to get the proverbial big picture – and have fun whilst doing so. To that end, I ordered a SCHNEIDER WEISSE “ORIGINAL” the other evening at Café Biere. They had this beer listed as “ORIGINAL AMBER”, and that’s certainly fair since that’s its color, but this is rich, delicious dark hefeweizen all the way.
  Tart and actually a little hoppy, this beer is probably closer to the “dunkel” side of the wheat beer tipping point, but who’s counting. It has an exceedingly fresh taste and smooth mouthfeel, giving it that whole I-could-drink-this-all-night feel that moves units & gets the German people good & drunk. Keep in mind that the brewer behind this, SCHNEIDER & SOHN WEISSBIERBRAUEREI, are the same masters behind AVENTINUS beers and the recent excellent collaboration with BROOKYLN BREWING. These guys don’t mess around. Definitely recommended. 7.5/10.

Knut Albert's beer blog

• 

  More praise for Olympen

  Posted: February 11th, 2010, 4:06am CET by knutalbert

  Pub of the Month in the Inside Beer newsletter is Olympen in Oslo. A good choice!

A Good Beer Blog

• 

  Ohio: Edmund Fitzgerald Porter, Great Lakes, Cleveland

  Posted: February 11th, 2010, 4:00am CET by Alan McLeod

  What is it about Canadian craft brewers? American's have a brewery called Great Lakes on the south shore of Lake Erie so we need one on the north shore of Lake Ontario. We have a New Brunswick brewery that just happens to come up with styles and names for beers that have been used for years next door in Maine. Vermonters make a beer called Number 9 so, wouldn't you know it, one pops up recently in Ontario. Most oddly there are Hoptical Illusions south and, later, north. And, now, we even are claimed to have taken the "R" from Racer 5 and stuck it on a line called Red Racer.

  I don't blame the beers - any of them. The beers are innocent in such matters. And in some cases tasty as with Ohio's Edmund Fitzgerald Porter. Cocoa, coffee and date aromas with a strong yogurty tang wafting waftingly off a dark mahogany ale with a thin tan rim. In the mouth, cocoa and date and nut maltiness meets black tea and weed hoppiness all mixed together with a swirl of that chalky or even yogurty yeast. A lovely, complex beer that came in a mixed 12 pack bought at a CNY Wegmans for under 16 bucks. Crazy value. BAers have it bad for this one.

  Remember - don't blame the beers. These branding consultants know not what they do.

Knut Albert's beer blog

• 

  Pub history seminar

  Posted: February 10th, 2010, 12:48pm CET by knutalbert

  The Pub History Society, in cooperation with the British National Archives, has a seminar on pub history on 20 February. Speakers include Jack Adams revealing ‘Lost London pubs’, Patrick Chaplin looking at aspects of the history of darts’,  ‘Pub Signs and Names’.  David Roe will give a slide presentation about the history of pub signs and [...]

Hedonist Beer Jive

• 

  ITALIAN CRAFT BEER, UH, I GUESS

  Posted: February 10th, 2010, 11:17am CET by Jay

  Mention “Italian beer” to any beer drinker with a moderately-evolved palate, and until two years ago those two words would have been met with hoots of derision & outright mockery until you were forced to hang your head in shame. Nothing’s worse that getting all psyched up for a nice Italian meal, only to find the only beer choices being those “premium” Italian beers PERONI and MORETTI. Gross. Give me Coors Extra Gold or Blatz Light any day. Word on the street is that there’s this new wave of Italian brewers, bold risk-takers in the middle of one of the world’s great wine countries who are crafting incredible artisanal ales, some of which are starting to be sent over into North America for beer dork contemplation. Me, I’ve been looking for the right beer to get involved in the Italian scene. I believe based on last night’s evidence that I am still looking.
  
  Johnny over at MONTEREY DELI – the outstanding beer store/market a mere two blocks from my house – got in this new Italian beer in a funny-looking bottle by an Italian brewer called ORO DI MILANO called RISERVA SPECIALE. He hadn’t tried it yet, so I decided that I would. It may be that I’m “breaking” this beer in the Northern Califorina market. It’s a dubious honor. ORO DI MILANO RISERVA SPECIALE is definitely a major jump above the Italian macros, but considering that those are undrinkable, it’s a small step to scale. This one’s still trending toward the “macro ale” side of the ledger, with an intense, off-putting malty sweetness that really defines and overwhelms the beer. It’s 8.2% alcohol, but the sugary sweetness tastes like a by-product of the malts, and I dunno, it’s just not done in a way that hits me where I live. Light, nearly opaque amber (they call it a “brown amber ale”), this has a thin-to-medium body, with tastes of really light caramel and even liqueurs. Yeah, that’s it – it’s like those cheapo liqueur-filled candies you get in those phony chocolate bottles of Jameson Whiskey, except this has a grainy, malty beer taste instead. I’m none too impressed. Who out there knows of a really stupendous Italian beer I can drop some coin on instead? 5/10.

The Brew Site

• 

  The next Session: The Good Stuff

  Posted: February 10th, 2010, 4:33am CET by Jon

  Next month, March 5th, is The Session’s third birthday: that’s right, three years ago March, the first Session stormed the internet on the topic of Stouts—”Not your father’s Irish Stout,” as suggested by Stan (who also came up with the idea of The Session).

  So it’s entirely appropriate that March’s theme—brought to us by SirRon of The Ferm—is “When to Drink the Good Stuff“:

  Finding a drinking occasion that lives up to the reputation of the bottle and the story of its acquisition is not a dreadful struggle to have, but it is a struggle nonetheless. When my good friends are over and we have had a few other beverages, will we still be able to enjoy my cave aged Hennepin that I bought after my tour of the brewery and have cellared for ten years? Will I miss it like I miss that four year old Golden Monkey?

  In March, The Ferm has the honor of hosting The Session, a monthly assemblage of beer bloggers to opine on a shared topic. The March 2010 topic is “The Display Shelf: When to Drink the Good Stuff.” The topic is open ended and the rules of The Session are close to nil. You can use your post to be persuasive or therapeutic. You may choose to tell a story of a great bottle you once opened or boast of your own beer collection.

  Friday, March 5th. Be there.