Saturday afternoon rolled around, and the sweet smell of booze, malt and hops poured out of our pale and yellowed skin as the three of us sat cooking like fried eggs on the aluminum outfield benches of the brand new Yankee Stadium.
I choked back the occasional involuntary puke belch, my stomach churning like a laundromat washing machine. The Vice Blogger repeatedly wiped flop sweat from his brow, squinting in the piercing sunlight to catch a glimpse or two of the game when his jackhammer of a headache would allow. And my brother-in-law spent nearly two full innings on a zombie-like expedition to find a cold bottle of water…anything to relieve the dehydration-induced misery we were all feeling after a hard day and night of serious craft beer appreciation.
This was no place or time to drink good craft beer. It was the furthest thing from our minds. This wasn’t even a place for a bit of macro hair of the dog. No, we were detoxing, and hard.
A chorus of cat calls erupted from around us, depending on the flow of the game. Nomar Garciaparra stood in the batter’s box, five years out of a Red Sox uniform yet still drawing the heated ire of diehard Yankees fans surrounding us. Compared to the Metrodome, where the worst thing you may hear coming from the mouths of Twins fans was some type of Lutheranized insult (“I tell ya, what an ooooverpaid jerk he is”), these Bleacher Creatures weren’t messing around. I was amazed at their continued need to have a one-way, lengthy conversation with players that clearly couldn’t hear them, and if they could, wouldn’t care.
“Sid dawn ya fuckin’ bum! Oh yeah? Well why don’t youse suck on deez!”
“Whaddya think dis is? Triple A ball?!! Do your fuckin’ job you freagin’ pile of…”
And this from the old women and children.
The Oakland A’s were easily handling the Yankees, so we cut our torture short in the seventh and caught a cab out of the Bronx and over to Harlem, home of Dinosaur BBQ. Most people that know me also know how much I love good BBQ. I used to work at a BBQ joint for several years in college, have been learning to use a smoker this summer, and am always the guy who loves taking over a grill, even when it isn’t my house or party. Now, one normally doesn’t think “New York City…good BBQ”, but after seeing this place on some Food Network television show a couple years ago, I made a mental note to visit the establishment the next time I was in town. I was excited to check it out.
For those familiar, Dinosaur is somewhat reminiscent to Famous Dave’s, Minnesota’s answer to pulled pork and smoked brisket, minus the faux antique wall ornaments and servers in goofy pit crew uniforms. The greatest feature, of course, was the impressive draught list at the bar, something most BBQ juke joints fall down on. Allagash, Troegs, Stone, Dogfish Head, Brooklyn Brewery, and Ommegang, just to name a few.
I perused my options, and quickly settled on a Smuttynose IPA, a small brewery out of New Hampshire named after a small island off the state’s coast. The brewery distributes as far west as Wisconsin, yet I’ve never seen it on my various road trips out to Hudson. The IPA poured with a great building head filled with pine and intense citrus hop aromas. I could already tell this was going to be a winner. The taste was extremely unique, about as bitter of an IPA as I’ve ever had. The interesting part was how the hop bite slowly strengthened, similar to the growing heat of a habanero pepper, dancing off the taste buds long after the beer had gone down. I was very impressed, an A- kind of beer.
The beer also went very well with the heaping plate of both regular and garlic chipotle pepper sauce hot wings we ordered as an appetizer. These weren’t your average, puny wings…they were nearly full-size wings (and legs) with a quarter pound of good meat hanging off each of them. And the sauces they were smothered in were nothing short of amazing. Embarrassingly, we ate so many of the wings that by the time we got to the bottom of the plate, all three of us were stuffed to the gills, with no room left for a main course. So having been to Dinosaur, I still have not tried any of their other more popular regular offerings. Next time.
After a much needed afternoon nap to digest the BBQ and sleep off the last bit of hangover, we saddled up and made our way down to Greenwich Village and The Blind Tiger Ale House, one of NYC’s finest craft beer bars. Compared to Rattle n’ Hum and The Ginger Man, which were both relatively spacious by New York standards, The Blind Tiger specializes in cozy. The place was wall-to-wall craft beer lovers when we walked in, with only one empty seat available at the bar. We quickly grabbed it, and within a few minutes the folks around us took off, making room for our small group.
Blind Tiger’s draught and bottle list was fantastic. Nearly three dozen different taps, and tons of vintage stuff like Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout 2007 (on draught!), several J.W. Lees Harvest Ales from years gone by, Thomas Hardy 2004, Scaldis Noel 2007, and many others. They also serve up a handful of ever-changing casks, which if you sit there even for a modest length of time will change before your very eyes…everyone in the bar pauses when the bartender climbs up the step stool to erase the old offering from the chalk board and etch in the new one, like gamblers watching an oddsmaker at the sports book in Vegas. And as if fantastic beer weren’t enough, the bar also partners with a fine cheese shop down Bleecker Street to offer a number of pairings, something we didn’t get to try this trip but something I’ll definitely make a point to do next time around.
We started in with Aventinus Doppelbock on draught, something I’ve had before in the bottle, and was as equally impressed by its presentation from the tap. It’s about the smoothest, easiest 8% ABV wheat beer you’ll find anywhere. We also tried River Horse Hop-a-Lot-Amus Double IPA, one of the cask offerings available. A nice beer, expectedly ultra-hopped, and unique in the sense that it was a “real ale”, unfiltered and unpasteurized, which lent its own set of taste, aromatic, and mouthfeel nuances.
The crescendo of the evening was popping a bottle of Brooklyn Black Ops, which in addition to being a bourbon-barrel-aged imperial stout adventure in a bottle, may be one of the most difficult beer bottles in the history of beer geekdom to photograph. Not as much of the bourbon notes as I expected with this, which differed in opinion slightly from my drinking cohorts, but I did get a nice nose of chocolate, coffee and a tiny bit of banana. They apparently use champagne yeast to bottle condition, but it didn’t emit the kind of frothing head you might imagine. Taste was that of roasted malts, espresso coffee, and a bit of vanilla from the bourbon barrel. Mouthfeel a little thin compared to others in its category, but overall a very fine beer, likely an A-. And a very nice way to end what was a great trip to a city that should certainly be counted as one of the great beer destinations in the country, if you know where to look of course.
Most days, I wake up, head to work, and if I’m lucky, I may cap off my drudgery with a nice beer or two. Usually a homebrew, but maybe even something highly rated on the Beer Advocate “Best Of” list. While spending a long weekend in New York City, I may have completely outdone myself, reaching heights not likely to be attained again any time soon. Some may not immediately think of NYC as a beer town, at least compared to other locales out West. But after hitting up Brooklyn Brewery, a few of the best craft beer bars in America, and a stop at one of the tastiest BBQ joints I’ve come across north of the Mason-Dixon, I think NYC should be near the top of every beer geek’s list of places to go.
Westy 12 & Rochefort 10
Along for the ride and serving as our very gracious tour guide of the city was my good friend Aaron over at The Vice Blog, New York’s favorite beer blogger, who joined my brother-in-law and me at our hotel to kick off the weekend with your average, run-of-the-mill tasting that included a few beers you may have heard of…Westy 12, 8 and Blonde; Dark Lord 2009; Lost Abbey Angel’s Share Brandy Barrel-Aged 2008 and Bourbon Barrel-Aged 2009; and Rochefort 10. Just standing in the presence of these assembled beers, I almost didn’t want to ruin the moment by cracking the first bottle open. But that of course would be ridiculously stupid.
We started off with a blind tasting of Westy 12 and Rochefort 10 (which some deem to be nearly identical), and surprisingly showed that not only was Westy 12 the significantly more desirable beer (much maltier and sweeter, in our collective opinion) than Rochefort 10, it made Rochefort 10 seem more akin to a poorly concocted homebrew than a finely crafted Trappist quadrupel. Really…I’m not trying to be insulting or funny, the beer smelled faintly like vomit or rancid cheese, which completely surprised me. The taste was OK, though.
The Angel’s Share bottles were excellent in their own right, certainly both A-level beers. The Brandy Barrel-Aged version, from my understanding, is the one that gets knocked for its lack of carbonation, but it didn’t bother me in the least. Both versions poured with a huge, full-frontal assault of booze and dark malts, very reminiscent in that regard to Goose Island’s Bourbon County Stout or Founders Canadian Breakfast Stout. Burnt malt and coffee notes with both, and a medium mouthfeel. I really enjoyed both of these beers, tough to say which is better.
After a phenomenal afternoon session, I felt a little like Han Solo emerging from his cell of carbonite as we stumbled out into the blindingly sun-drenched streets of Manhattan. We pushed on to Rattle n’ Hum, a fairly new beer bar a block from the Empire State Building that immediately makes any beer lover feel like they’ve hit the big leagues. Nicely appointed, warm wood throughout, and arguably one of the most impressive tap and bottle lists I’ve ever seen this side of Belgium. A true beer oasis.
After sampling a handful of great beers including Stone Russian Imperial Stout, Sixpoint Northern Lights, Dogfish 90 Minute and Weihenstephaner Hefeweiss on draught, we asked the bartender if she per chance happened to have an extra bottle of Alesmith Yulesmith floating around somewhere behind the bar. Not seeing it on the menu, but hearing rumors that it had recently been on the premises, we figured it was worth a shot. Lo and behold, she emerged from the depths of the beer cooler with a nicely chilled bottle and plunked it down in front of our bulging eyes.
This being my first ever Alesmith tasting, I didn’t have much to compare it to when it came to the brewery itself, but Yulesmith really knocked my socks off. It’s a double IPA billed as a holiday beer, which like Sierra Nevada’s annual Celebration Ale series always makes me scratch my head a bit. I guess out in California, hops equal holiday cheer.
Poured with a nice billowing head bursting with citric hops and spiciness. Beautiful malt backbone, a great balance between the sweet and bitter. Slick and oily from the hop resins, leading to a lingering bitter finish. Really a nice example of a very well put together West Coast IPA. I’d give it at least an A.
Nicely pickled, we continued the beer parade by catching a cab for Brooklyn Brewery to check out their happy hour and sample some of their finest. After a long and winding drive through several very hip Brooklyn neighborhoods, we arrived and walked in to an amazing scene. Tons of craft beer lovers (and a few folks who clearly didn’t realize how good they had it) packed into a very cool warehouse space amidst an ambience-inducing bottling line and handful of bright tanks. Right up front, they also had a great display of antique beer bottles, most of which were from former breweries in the city. A great touch from what I assume is the consummate historian and renaissance man himself, Garrett Oliver.
We sampled a handful of their stuff on draught including Blanche de Brooklyn (a yeasty witbier), Sorachi Ace (a very peppery saison, part of their Brewmaster’s Series) and Intensified Coffee Stout (one of the best coffee beers I’ve ever had, in league with Surly Coffee Bender and Great Divide’s Yeti). The single line to get a beer at the pouring station was a mile long, but somehow we were able to bypass all of this by making friends with the bartenders. After a few beers, we decided to share a bottle of Local 1, a Belgian pale, having recently favorably reviewed their Local 2. Very nice, a delicate use of malt and hops, but nothing too mind blowing. Probably a strong B-level beer.
After getting our fill at Brooklyn Brewery, we somehow found a cab, which was a bit of serendipity given our location in a somewhat desolate part of Brooklyn, and made our way to The Ginger Man, another highly regarded New York craft beer bar. I’d provide some pictures from the experience, which like Rattle n’ Hum was jaw-dropping in the number of hard-to-find and vintage stuff on hand, but I was frankly too mesmerized with a snifter of Goose Island Night Stalker to pay much mind to the camera. Deep chocolate nose, booze in the back end from the hefty 12% ABV, and a very full, solid mouthfeel throughout. Certainly an A-level kind of beer, if only for the fact that it lasted approximately 2 minutes before I’d guzzled it all down.
Later this week: Dinosaurs BBQ and The Blind Tiger
At some point along the way, the thought creeps into the mind of every serious homebrewer.
Spend years perfecting your craft, churning out batch after batch to zero in on the perfect recipes. Develop a business plan. Revise the business plan. Make connections, and possibly consider outside investment. Convince your spouse that this is in fact not an insanely crazy idea, and yes honey, we will indeed have enough money to pay the bills and keep the kids in diapers (fingers crossed). Find a brewhouse, likely used, and a place to put it. Contract with a malting company. Navigate local city zoning ordinances. Figure out distribution strategy. Flip the switch, and pray that the beer lovers flock.
Easier said than done, of course. And entirely oversimplified.
But this is the long and winding path taken by many brewers, including Eric Biermann, founder and brewmaster of what, if he has his say over the next year or so, will eventually become the Twin Cities newest microbrewery, Lucid Brewing.
Anyone named Biermann almost doesn’t have a chance to do anything BUT brew craft beer. And brew craft beer he has…hundreds of batches over the past 10 years refining his stable of recipes for what he hopes will be a core line of balanced offerings with potential for artisan-style seasonals. Lucid is proof positive that, despite the Minnesota state legislature’s best efforts recently with its proposed (and failed) brewery excise tax, brewing culture and industry is still strong and thriving in the state.
I had a chance to talk with Eric recently, and discuss what it’s like taking the plunge into the world of microbrewing entrepreneurship.
THE CAPTAIN (ME): Tell me about Lucid Brewing…what sparked the idea and what’s your vision?
ERIC BIERMANN (EB): I’ve been homebrewing for about ten-ish years. It all started when my friend Jeff and I went to happy hour at the Old Chicago in Apple Valley. Old Chicago became our hookup for our new gateway drug known as craft beer. As a matter of fact, our addiction had us finishing our first World Beer Tour in a little more than a month. Amazing…spend a bit more money on your beer and get some awesome flavor.
I ended up moving to Uptown and started frequenting the Old Chicago there and the peanut bar at Williams. Then out of nowhere, Jeff comes over to my house with a beer kit. What, you can make your own beer? It’s legal? The next thing you know I’m buying an all-grain system from a guy named Collin at Midwest Supplies (by the way, a few years later, my path crossed with Collin again…he’s the guy making the awesome beer I often drink at Barley John’s). The all-grain system has grown more complex, as has the beer. I’ve always had a passion for cooking, and brewing beer is just another form of cooking. The Minnesota Home Brewers Assocation has been great for beer – I have gotten to know a lot of local brewers and have learned a lot. I also took a Beer Judge Certification Program course a few years back which really introduced me to the technical side. Over the years, I’ve just gotten more and more interested in all aspects of beer production: the ingredients, flavors, body styles, and clarity you can create.
As for venturing into the commercial side, the idea really took hold at a bar in California (surprise, surprise). My wife and I were skiing and snowboarding in Tahoe and we were working our way through a local brewpub’s sampler. They had a variety of beers that were pretty good, not anything particularly extreme – unlike what you see in a lot of beers today – and they seemed to have a good business going. I started mentally comparing them to all the beers I have made and just realized that my brews could stand up against any of these. You can do the wild, extreme beers, but also do great beers that can appeal to a broader audience that may normally gravitate to macro-produced beers. Thankfully I’ve had a lot of friends and family to test on. My trick was to create a beer that appealed to them, without muting its flavors, but by balancing the different aspects of the beer and by changing some of the ingredients to round out the flavor. I knew my recipe was where it needed to be when both my macro-produced beer drinking friends and my home brew friends both really liked the beer.
ME: Are you working with anyone else to get things off the ground?
EB: Currently, this is a venture between my wife and me. We are open to other partners depending on what they bring to the table. Friends and family have been supportive, but some think we may be somewhat on the crazy side.
ME: What types of beers are you planning to focus on? Any particular styles, historical approaches, seasonal considerations?
EB: I cannot say for sure which beers Lucid Brewing will begin brewing first. This final call will be made when we are closer to being in production. Lucid Brewing will be offering a variety of styles, some of which may not meet any particular style. The main line of beers will not be extreme in nature, but more balanced and well-rounded. Lucid Brewing does have plans to offer a second line, which may be our seasonal offering, that will be more artisan in design and method. Don’t be surprised if you see a few open fermenters in the brewery or a few other old school items. We’d like to experiment with local ingredients or organic, if possible.
ME: What influenced these stylistic decisions?
EB: We just love having fun with beer. We brew all kinds of styles as well as experiment off the “defined” style guidelines. The basic criteria is that it has to use good quality ingredients, taste good and be fun. And we hope that gets across to the people that drink it. We are looking more to complement a good and growing Minnesota craft beer market. I think people are always thirsty for something new and different, and we can certainly offer that. We also hope to offer some great alternatives to macro-drinking consumers. We weren’t necessarily looking for gaps in what’s currently out there, but we do have a few ideas – it’s early yet.
ME: How long have you been working on the recipes?
EB: Some base recipes go back several years and are where we want them to be. Other recipes have only been brewed once. It’s exciting to see what you get from a recipe you had for years, that makes a very tasty beer, and change one thing to find out what type of overall impact it has on the beer. More exciting is when a recipe is completely created from scratch, something that has never been done before, does not meet a particular style, just doing some research and applying what you know about ingredients and putting it together. Sometimes these new recipes come through needing only a minor tweak and other times they make me rethink the entire recipe. This is something I can do currently on a small scale to make sure the recipes are in order when the production brewery is online. Most exciting is when someone tries your beer and has the Frank the Tank response, “Fill it up again….!”
ME: I see on your blog you’re planning to attend brewers school early next year.
EB: I’m currently taking a chemistry class and will be taking another this fall. In January I start brewing school with the American Brewer’s Guild, which will wrap-up the following summer with an internship.
ME: Where are you in the process right now with the actual facility and brewhouse?
EB: Right now I’m doing a ton of research on equipment size, pricing and availability. We also have been scoping out several locations. Once we narrow down the location selection, we will begin procuring production equipment. We have ordered our pilot brewhouse, which should be delivered the end of August.
ME: Any consideration for location?
EB: The for sure thing is that the location of the brewery will be in the Twin Cities metro area. I personally want to locate the brewery in Northeast Minneapolis. The reality of this depends on many things aligning, including a few planets. We briefly explored Wisconsin, but even though I grew up in rural Minnesota, our family really likes living in the “city” and we do not want to move to a more rural area to take advantage of Wisconsin’s friendlier brewing laws.
ME: What kind of advice or consultation have you sought through this process? Talk to any other local or national brewers?
EB: I have chatted with many brewers that have been generous in their advice to me. Most of my consultation has been with brewers of recently-opened breweries or soon-to-open breweries. Other consultation has come from a few equipment suppliers. As we get closer to ordering equipment, I will be seeking the services of a professional brewery planning consultant.
ME: I notice on your blog you’ve attended some industry events, like the recently held Craft Brewers Conference in Boston. What was your experience there like?
EB: The overall experience was awesome. The craft brewing industry as a whole has been doing quite well and the energy at the conference reflected it. My wife and I went on numerous brewery and brewpub tours and sampled many different beers. The days were long, but the knowledge gained from the seminars and networking was invaluable for someone in our position. We talked with brewers from as close as Brooklyn Center to as far away as Norway and many more from all over the United States. Some of the connections have been great resources in helping to make some difficult decisions and others have been great for just chatting and comparing ideas. I’ve also attended a few classes held locally by the Master Brewers Association of the Americas.
ME: What’s your general timeline for being production-ready?
EB: Original target is fall of 2010, but don’t be shocked if we’re pushed back to spring or summer 2011. Unexpected things are expected when starting a brewery.
ME: How are you packaging?
EB: We’ll initially be available only in kegs, but hope to get bottling within a few months. Of course, we will be filling growlers and bombers from the start.
ME: Distribution strategy?
EB: This is still up in the air, but we are leaning towards starting with self-distribution. Lucid Brewing will make sure its capacity can fulfill the local market demand before distributing to regional and national markets.
ME: What’s been the most rewarding thing about this experience so far?
EB: I am apt to say it’s the learning process. It is a big step to move from the home brew size up to the production brewery level. There is a ton to learn and thankfully there are resources available to get the necessary education.
ME: How about the most challenging?
EB: Being able to decipher through an equipment supplier’s bid and figure out what is and is not included. Then do the same with another equipment supplier’s bid and attempt to compare the two.
ME: Any unexpected hurdles or roadblocks?
EB: So far so good but it’s still early. Keep your fingers crossed and wrapped around a good beer.
ME: What’s in your beer fridge right now?
EB: Well, mainly stuff I’ve made: 100% Willamette hopped IPA, Schwarzbier, Classic American Pilsner, Mayan Chocolate black ale, Cherry hefeweizen, American hefeweizen, Saison, another IPA, cream ale, Russian Imperial Stout, and a couple cans of Colt 45 (It works every time). I’m sure there are a few other items I bought tucked in the beer fridge somewhere.
No worries, my friends. I’m first and foremost a craft beer guy. But after tonight’s dinner hosted by Crispin Cider at The Happy Gnome, I may be making a bit more room for the cider category.
You know you’ve shown up to an event when local gossip-columnist C.J. is seated at a table nearby. Aside from the people-watching and local celeb sightings, there was of course excellent fare from executive chef Matt Hinman, paired with Crispin’s three year-round offerings and their soon-to-be released Honey Crisp Unfiltered, the first in a line of planned Artisanal Series ciders. Here’s the menu and critique (and for another perspective, check out Jim Norton’s story at Heavy Table):
Amuse-bouche Braeburn apple crêpe and cured salmon Chive and cream cheese béchamel, salmon caviar
I was certainly intrigued with this one. The chive and cream coupled with the delicate crepe and smoky salmon really worked. Kind of wished this was more of a full course in some way, as one bite was a cruel teaser (but I suppose that’s the point).
First course Frisée and fennel salad Peaches, pancetta, St. Pete’s blue cheese, apple cider vinaigrette
Paired with Crispin Original Light
A great salad. As my friend at the table commented, it was one of those masterfully crafted dishes where every component has its moment in the spotlight. Very tasty, and surprisingly the Crispin Light held up very well to the authoritative blue cheese on the plate.
Second course Achiote poached Alaskan halibut Green curry and apple cous cous, celery root bisque, yellow curry oil
Paired with Crispin Original
Of the five courses, probably one of the least interesting. The nice level of heat from the green curry was its only saving grace. The halibut could have been a little more intriguing, as opposed to simply serving as a vehicle for the curry, but then again I’m not sure what else you can do with something like halibut. Nice texture combination with the apple cous cous. The Crispin Original really added a nice mellowing touch in opposition to the heat from the curry.
Third course Seared amish chicken breast Roasted cipollini onions, baby carrots, broccolini, thyme-apple foam
Paired with Crispin Brut
Definitely my least favorite course. Chicken was tender, nicely cooked. But the foam was sort of weird, didn’t really impart much flavor. And the carrots gave me the feeling like I was eating grandma’s pot roast…not in the sense they were mushy or overcooked, but more like they were just “there” and didn’t add anything, kind of lowered the sophistication of what I was experiencing. The Crispin Brut was great, probably my favorite of their three regular offerings. A building astringency in the finish, which was a welcome change of pace from some of the sweeter and more savory flavors on the plate.
My favorite course of the night, and the one that seemed to have the highest degree of difficulty in pulling off given all the very unique flavors going on at once. Never had a full-on buffalo steak before, and I found it to be noticeably more dense and “stringy” than beef. The connective tissues in the meat were very apparent, which could have been more about the medium rare serving than the meat itself. But I enjoyed it, very flavorful. The pork and mushrooms also were good, but the fig (while interesting from an execution standpoint using a flame to sear the sugars) was a bit undercooked for my liking. I’ll come back to my take on the Honey Crisp Unfiltered in a moment…
Fifth course Crispin cider poached apple Izzy’s ice cream, walnut tuile, cinnamon and crispin caramel
Paired with Crispin Honey Crisp Unfiltered
Dessert was great, as expected. How do you go wrong with Izzy’s? But Crispin’s new Honey Crisp Unfiltered was the surprise of the evening for me. Much more akin to a hefeweizen in its unfiltered appearance, and a witbier in its yeast-forward aroma and flavor. Very bready, with a touch of floral honey and clove. In other words, it was about the furthest thing from a cider that you’d expect. The apple took a serious back seat to everything else going on. According to the Crispin representative at my table, they plan to do more of these Artisinal Series ciders (maybe ginger-infused, maybe Minnesota maple syrup?). I think they have a real winner on their hands with this one, if the goal is to appeal to a wider audience of craft beer enthusiasts that may not have considered cider before.
From the members of HomeBrewTalk.com comes a very cool video patterning after the recent “I Am a Craft Brewer” video organized by Greg Koch at Stone. Watch closely…Sam Calagione at Dogfish Head makes a very brief cameo appearance.
I brewed the beginnings of a lambic-style ale recently, using a wild yeast cocktail that’s supposed to mimic the native strain found in the outdoor air of the Pajottenland region of Belgium. This weekend, I finally got a chance to brew a kolsch-style ale, a beer particular to Cologne, Germany. I can’t technically call it a kolsch, of course, since the Kolsch Konvention of 1986 prevents it (similar to the legal protections on other kinds of beer categories, like Trappists, or many wine varietals). To call it a kolsch, it needs to be brewed within the city limits, and currently only about 20 or so breweries make a true interpretation of the style.
Kolsch is an interesting beer as it is fermented like an ale, but the end product is more akin to a delicate lager…kind of a “hybrid” beer. Some very soft esters, little to no hop aroma, and a crisp, dry finish. It’s one of the only ales that comes out of the German brewing tradition, and for a homebrewer like me without a temperature controller to aid in lagering, it seemed like a fun beer to try.
While I brewed, I enjoyed a couple nice glasses of Pilsner Urquell and Founders Centennial IPA, both great beers in their own right. I used a pretty straightforward recipe for a 5 gallon batch, based on a bit of research perusing various recipes online:
10 lbs. Pilsner malt
0.5 lbs. Munich malt
2 oz. Spalt hops (in boil at 60 min.)
Wyeast 2565 Kolsch
Single step mash at 152 for 90 minutes. Boil for 90 minutes.
Target OG: 1.050
The brewing itself went very well…hit the mash temp, nailed the target original gravity, and pitched a healthy starter. I’m fermenting at about 68 to 70 degrees, and after it’s done I’ll throw it in the beer fridge at 40 degrees to lager for a few weeks. It should help settle the proteins and clear things up for a cleaner looking beer.
I think this might be my first hefeweizen review, and there’s a reason behind it. More often than not, I tend to feel like wheat beers can be thin and fairly one-dimensional. I think about beers — as nice as they are in their own right (because trust me, I know they have their own set of rabid fans) – like Goose Island 312 Urban Wheat or Bell’s Oberon. The wheat just doesn’t do as much for me in the complexity department like most other grains, specialty malts in particular. Thus, I don’t generally drink them.
After recently enjoying Aventinus, a weizenbock, and now this hefe from Weihenstephaner, I’m beginning to slowly change my mind on the broad category*.
An almost luminescent golden, hay colored cloudy pour. Massive billowing head, with a banana boat-load of fruity esters and a light gingerbread clove effect. A pleasing warmth in the nose.
Taste was more on the clove side versus banana, a bit spicy with a brief bite in the finish, all backed with of course a healthy dose of wheat. Medium-full mouthfeel, which as I noted is better than what I’ve come to expect with most hefes. Pretty light on the alcohol front, only 5.4% ABV. The beer paired extraordinarily well with my homemade shrimp chowder, the banana and clove becoming much more pronounced and pleasing after each spoonful of cumin- and cayenne-infused chowder.
This is just a simple, straightforward and glorious beer. I guess if the billing on their label as “World’s Oldest Brewery” is true, they’ve got a bit of a head start on the rest of us when it comes to mastering your craft.
Rating: A+
* I’m trying to branch out in the homebrew department with wheats, as well, having just brewed a lambic-style ale. However, on second thought, lambics have just about nothing in common with your average hefe aside from the initial grain bill, so scratch that.
Let’s just get this out of the way right up front. The Duchesse is the most wonderfully foul, rank, and abhorrent beer I’ve ever had. Just don’t ask me to try it again.
It’s a Flanders Red, which stylistically means you better get ready for a puckering experience worse than the last time you told your boss they looked good in that searsucker suit. Brewed with lactobacillus, these beers emit a piercing and intensely tart, sour characteristic. It’s essentially lactic acid in a bomber. Despite their attempts to blend younger and older versions of the beer to help balance some of this out, you’re still in for a shock.
Poured with an appealing reddish coloring, fairly clear, but with a bit of yeast sediment. Pretty big, yeasty head. Smelled like a dank bath rag that’s been sitting in the corner of your tub for a week. Spoiled and sour, a moldy rancidness. However, you have to understand, stylistically that’s not a knock because that’s exactly what they’re going for. But from a personal preference perspective? Meh. They age the beer in an oak-barrel for a year, but you don’t really get any of that in the nose. The sourness dominates. You do, however, pick up a somewhat perceptible aroma of anise.
Taste is very sweet right up front, some kind of darker fruit, maybe prunes. But it quickly fades into more of the biting sourness. In fact, the beer is intensely prickly. It climbed up the back of my throat and invaded my nasal membranes. I almost choked up a few times, it was all-encompassing. My eyes watered.
You’d think at this point that I’d put the snifter down and move on to another beer. But no, I don’t give up that easily. For this is the highest rated Flanders Red on Beer Advocate, and by god, I was going to savor it.
They call this beer “The Burgundies of Belgium” on the label, and I think it’s aptly named as this beer is probably more similar to wine than it is to your standard ale. Stylistically, I realize this is one of those benchmark beers, and that’s weighing heavily into my rating. I mean for chrissake, it won the Gold Medal at the World Beer Cup. But I only appreciated it from an R&D standpoint…it’s definitely not a beer (or style) I could drink even occasionally.
From Westy 12 to Founders Kentucky Breakfast Stout…this is shaping up to be “Fantastic Beer Week” at The Captain’s Chair!
Until recently, Founders was one of those highly revered craft breweries that was unfortunately not distributed in the Twin Cities, along with the likes of Stone, DFH, Three Floyds, and Russian River. Beer geeks far and wide drove countless miles to more beer-friendly locales to get it (i.e. Hudson, Wisconsin), spending loads of money and savoring every last drop until their next venture out.
That all changed recently, and we now have ready access to what seems to be Founders’ entire line of year-round and seasonal offerings. I’ve been slowly procuring and sampling their stuff, and from what I’ve had to date, I’ve not been disappointed. A very solid brewery.
In that same vein, their entire line of Breakfast Stouts is amazing. To commemorate their launch in the Twin Cities, their local distributor held a handful of tasting events at Twin Cities bars, and I was fortunate to try the fairly rare Canadian Breakfast Stout over at The Muddy Pig. Over-the-top and aggressive with its intense aromas and massive ABV, but I completely admired it in an appreciative, beer geek kind of way. I’ve also had a few bottles of their original Breakfast Stout on my beer shelf for some time now, a very well-rounded beer. But their Kentucky Breakfast Stout, the most highly rated of the bunch (currently #8 on Beer Advocate’s “Top Beers on Planet Earth” list), has always eluded me.
I stumbled upon it, or should I say it stumbled upon me, down at Dark Lord Day in April when an extraordinarily soused woman came over to our little group camped out on the lawn in front of the brewery, looking to make some beer trades. Fortunately, I’d brought along a load of Surly stuff for just that reason, and after a quick conversation I convinced her to trade a bottle of KBS for a can of Surly Furious and Bitter Brewer. Quite a value for me, and she was clearly pleased with her end of the bargain considering she’d never had any Surly. I like when everyone walks away happy.
I popped KBS to see how it stacked up to some other imperial stouts I’ve been imbibing of late, including my own. Poured very thick with minimal head. The “Kentucky” in the name comes of course from the fact that they age the beer in oak bourbon barrels for an entire year. Big bourbon, vanilla and caramel in the nose, tempered by some chocolate and coffee. I love one reviewer’s comments on Beer Advocate — “Like getting beaten over the head with a sack of fresh Colombian coffee and then getting a swirly in a bourbon barrel.” The taste is silky smooth, expertly balanced considering the 11.2% ABV and 70 IBUs. Tons of dark, roasted coffee and chocolate. It’s basically everything in an imperial stout I look for…rich, warm and pleasing with infinite depth in complexity. The mouthfeel was the only surprising aspect, not as viscous as I would have expected up front.
I’ve now been to the mountaintop of the beer world, folks. Or, so the hype goes.
Rather extended video review of Westy 12, including a bit of back story up front from my friend Rob who procured the beers straight from the monks at St. Sixtus, and then a couple minutes of us enjoying the beer. Sorry about the watermarks in the beginning and end, I need to get some decent video editing software (read: not freeware or trial versions).
“Sid dawn ya fuckin’ bum! Oh yeah? Well why don’t youse suck on deez!”
For those familiar, Dinosaur is somewhat reminiscent to Famous Dave’s, Minnesota’s answer to pulled pork and smoked brisket, minus the faux antique wall ornaments and servers in goofy pit crew uniforms. The greatest feature, of course, was the impressive draught list at the bar, something most BBQ juke joints fall down on. Allagash, Troegs, Stone, Dogfish Head, Brooklyn Brewery, and Ommegang, just to name a few.
The beer also went very well with the heaping plate of both regular and garlic chipotle pepper sauce hot wings we ordered as an appetizer. These weren’t your average, puny wings…they were nearly full-size wings (and legs) with a quarter pound of good meat hanging off each of them. And the sauces they were smothered in were nothing short of amazing. Embarrassingly, we ate so many of the wings that by the time we got to the bottom of the plate, all three of us were stuffed to the gills, with no room left for a main course. So having been to Dinosaur, I still have not tried any of their other more popular regular offerings. Next time. 
