Out of the garage and into a bar near you, the boys at Fulton Beer officially launched in the Twin Cities this evening with their tapping of Sweet Child of Vine at The Happy Gnome. I wasn’t able to attend, unfortunately, but I’m really looking forward to trying their stuff.
However, one thing that caught my attention that could possibly be more important than their beer (can’t believe I just said that) is the brewery’s Ful10 microloan program, an innovative initiative that will hopefully help prospective business owners (like, say, fellow homebrewers who’ve always aspired to make the commercial leap) get a running start when traditional channels like banks can’t (or won’t) make loans available. From their website:
At the end of each year, Fulton invests 10% of our profits in our Ful10 fund. When we find a business that could be greatly helped by the amount available in the Ful10 fund, we invest in them and develop a repayment plan that works for both parties. This can take many forms, such as a loan with no regular payments and only a lump sum due after several years, or variable payments made as the business can afford them.
Ful10 makes financing available to entrepreneurs unable to obtain it in other ways. In fact, Fulton was made possible because of this very same type of investment. We were grateful for the opportunity that made it possible to share our beer with the world. Now, it’s our turn to help other entrepreneurs do the same thing.
5:15 a.m. and 37 degrees…
The chill in the air was already seeping into our bones as our group of six rolled up to Surly Brewing in the still of pre-dawn, eagerly awaiting our first taste of this year’s vintage of Darkness. Not a single soul was standing in line on the street, save for a few tents pitched on the nearby lawn and a lone RV parked near the front gate.
We planted our flag in the ground at the head of the line, set up our chairs, and opened the cooler filled with rare and difficult-to-find beers…Russian River Consecration Batch One, Stone Sublimely Self-Righteous, Alesmith Speedway Stout, Three Floyd’s Dark Lord, Ballast Point Sculpin, Jolly Pumpkin Oro de Calabaza, and The Bruery Saison Rue. Within minutes, we were joined by a couple bleery-eyed guys who had driven up from Chicago that same night, and after the obligatory Vikings/Bears and Twins/White Sox taunting, we cracked a few bottles and happily shared some beer with our new friends.
Darkness Day 2009 was successfully under way.
6:15 a.m. and 38 degrees…
A snaking line of fellow craft beer lovers quietly formed down the street as we set up our bean bag boards and started in for what would be a nearly six hour slog before the doors opened at noon.
Thermoses of hot coffee and bombers of good beer were passed around to folks huddled together in winter coats, mittens, and warm blankets. There was a quiet understanding amongst those of us in line…we were a small tribe of beer lovers, gathered from near and far enjoying each other’s company and generously sharing resources to ensure everyone’s experience was a good one.
The cool morning slowly pressed on.
8:05 a.m. and 41 degrees… I took to our small propane camp grill as the sun broke above the horizon, churning out brats and cheddarwurst like a short-order cook.
Several Surly staff and volunteers began rolling in to prepare for the day, including owner Omar Ansari who generously wheeled out not one but two kegs of Coffee Bender for the crowd to enjoy. Unbelievably fresh and potent with intense notes of cold-pressed coffee set upon a rounded backdrop of caramel, cocoa and silky oatmeal. A perfect way to usher in the morning.
9:45 a.m. and 42 degrees…
The tasting table magically appeared out of nowhere 50 feet down line from us, and we quickly brought a number of our bombers to share. Glasses were happily filled with the likes of Port Brewing Santa’s Little Helper, Alesmith Anvil, New Glarus Unplugged Old English Porter and Wisconsin Belgian Red, Three Floyd’s Dark Lord, Captain Lawrence Xtra Gold, and countless others.
Several friends bellied up to the table, including Shawn and Mike from The Beer Genome Project, Brad from Hop Cast, and fellow Twin Cities home brewer Nate (thanks again for the empanadas). We all quickly forgot about our frozen feet and numb fingers with each sip of incredible beer.
11:30 a.m. and 44 degrees… The line weaved several blocks down the road, nearly 800 people holding tightly onto their own special pieces of real estate like burrowed ticks. Volunteers began checking ID’s and passing out wrist bands. A palpable sense of excitement rushed through the crowd as the kilted bag pipers emerged, tuning up their instruments to ring in what promised to be an incredible afternoon filled with Surly’s finest.
12:01 p.m. and 45 degrees… The line quickly poured in through the gates, trampling over the bedding of straw that had been strewn over the muddy ground in front of the stage set up for the afternoon’s line-up of bands. Logistically, the operation was a smooth one, very well-organized to ensure everyone got into the brewery and received their allotment of Darkness in an orderly fashion.
After purchasing our bottles of Darkness, we bought a handful of beer tokens and got a pour of this year’s vintage…utterly divine, and noticeably different from last year with less dominating molasses and sweet malt flavors. Perfectly balanced, likely the best batch yet (more extensive review to come).
1:30 p.m. and 45 degrees…
We mingled outside the brewery, sampling several other fresh Surly beers including Wet, Fest, and Tea-Bagged Furious on cask. The first band of the day, Kruddler, ripped through its aggressive set, a perfect soundtrack to the prolific craft beer enjoyment taking place yards away amongst the Surly faithful. It’d been a long, cold day for our small group, thankfully filled with new friends, incredible beers and many great memories. We left a happy bunch, already looking forward to next year.
Huge thanks to Omar, Todd and all the Surly volunteers for the beer, the time and the effort that went into making it a great experience for everyone.
I was recently invited to a beer sampling over at a homebrewing friend’s house with the general theme of sour and/or funky brews, meaning any beer that puckered your lips or smelled like the Miracle of Birth barn at the State Fair was invited to the table.
The list was impressive, including a number of beers I’d never tried before that aren’t readily available around these parts. Here’s what we sampled:
The Bruery Saison Rue
Jolly Pumpkin La Roja
Jolly Pumpkin Oro de Calabaza
Russian RiverConsecration Batch One
Russian River Consecration Batch Two
Russian River Supplication
New Glarus Belgian Quadrupel
Boulevard Saison-Brett
Brouwerij Verhaeghe Vichtenaar
New Belgium Lips of Faith Transatlantique Kriek
New Belgium Lips of Faith La Folie
Lost Abbey Cuvee de Tomme
Allagash Confluence
Ommegang Ommegeddon
Goose Island Sofie
The wild ale thing is definitely on the rise in popularity, as evidenced by my time at GABF this year, with many brewers experimenting with wild yeast strains and bacteria to give their beers characteristics and outcomes that are very unique, adventurous, and often uncontrollable.
But there were a few misses for me, including Vichtenaar (far too young and sweet to include in this tasting), and Jolly Pumpkin’s La Roja (great fruit aroma, but didn’t get enough of the sour I was looking for).
However, the big winner of the night for me was Russian River’s Supplication, a superbly crafted wild ale that I had the fortune of first trying at Falling Rock in Denver. Somewhat reminiscent of a lambic in its intensely tart aroma and flavor (it gets ya here, and gets ya right here) with some cherry, vanilla, and vinous qualities. Really one of the masterpieces in the category.
Collaboration beers are all the rage these days. But I’d be willing to bet not many breweries have so generously offered to brew a beer with about 400 of their closest homebrewing friends.
Surly Brewing was the site this past weekend for the American Homebrewers Association membership rally, and what a turnout! It was pretty cool seeing a few hundred fellow homebrewers standing in line with their empty carboys, buckets and corny kegs waiting to get their 5 gallon share of the imperial brown ale wort brewmaster Todd Haug whipped up for everyone to take home and ferment on their own. Northern Brewer also provided free yeast packets to anyone who wanted it, so I picked up some Safale S-33, what I’ve read is supposed to deliver some nice English ale characteristics (although some say it’s good for Belgian styles, so we’ll see what happens).
Here’s the breakdown on the recipe Todd used:
82% Canada Malting Pale Ale Malt
10.8% Fawcett Brown Malt
3.6% Dark Candi Syrup
1.8% Fawcett Crystal 85L
1.8% Fawcett Dark Crystal 120L
Bittering –Columbus
Whirlpool/aroma -Willamette
OG 1.085
IBU 64
After sampling a couple glasses of Surly’s new Wet Hop IPA, I got my carboy home without tipping it over in the passenger seat of my car, transferred to a larger plastic bucket with more headroom, and pitched the yeast. Within hours it was bubbling away nicely. Sunday morning when I woke up, the air lock was completely clogged with krausen spewing everywhere…since I don’t have a blow-off tube at the moment, and to prevent another explosive outcome like my imperial stout earlier this year, I pulled the top off and just let it ferment in the open. I’ve had luck with this before, so I’m crossing my fingers no serious bacteria get in there and screw up the whole production.
Word on the street is that people are going to try and save a bottle or two and bring it to the AHA National Conference next June in Minneapolis. The base wort lends itself well to variation, so should be fun to see how other folks decided to ferment and condition.
Big thanks to Omar, Todd and everyone at Surly for the time and effort they put into hosting the event.
Anyone who’s read The Brewmaster’s Table, Garrett Oliver’s eloquent, foundation-laying book on the relationship between food and beer, already understands that creative pairing can take what is essentially a good meal and turn it into a memorable event.
However, for some of us, how you go about determining what types of foods work well with different styles of beers to provide that eye-opening cuilinary experience can be somewhat murky. Tools like Great Brewers interactive pairing guide are very useful, as well as several other resources including Beer Advocate and the Brewers Association (found on the right side of this page).
But as I learned at this year’s media luncheon at the Great American Beer Festival, all you really need to remember about beer and food pairing are the three C’s, according to Julia Herz, craft beer program director at the Brewers Association and one of the country’s more than 50 certified Cicerones (the beer world’s version of a sommelier).
“Finding the beer styles that either complement, contrast, or cut the flavor profiles of food is the real key,” Herz said. “Matching the strength of the food with the strength of the beer is very important.”
For example, a classic complementary pairing would be a nice, malty stout with chocolate cake, as the rich, sweet flavor profiles work to elevate the experience of each. On the flipside, pairing an earthy bleu cheese with a hoppy, bitter IPA is an example of contrasting flavors, with the beer’s bitterness also helping to cut the fattyness of the cheese.
Beyond flavor, beer is also very useful for cleansing the palate, as the fine bubbles work to scrub the tongue with each sip and prepare you for the next bite, unlike wine which has no carbonation.
To showcase these concepts, we were treated to a fantastic five-course meal that included several expert pairings presented by brewmasters from around the country. As I discovered, it’s one thing to have a nice meal and appreciate how a fine craft beer augments the experience. It’s a whole different thing to sit next to the person who brewed that beer, as I did with Brett Porter at Deschutes Brewery, and discuss their thought process that went into making the beer and how they feel it works with the dish.
Ale-peritif Munich and Chocolate Malt, Cascade and Saaz Hops Our meal started off with more of an educational session on the core ingredients of beer, using a handful of malts and different hop varieties to demonstrate how these components impart their flavors in the finished beer. Love the smell of fresh hops.
First Course Buffalo Carpaccio with Avocado Tile and Cajun BBQ Shrimp with Fresh Corn Grits Paired with Manana Amber Lager, Del Norte Brewing and Rocksy Stein Lager, Bend Brewing
A wonderful combination of sweet flavors from the thinly sliced meat and barbequed shrimp that worked well with both beers, but for different reasons. The Manana Amber Lager from Del Norte cut the Cajun spice in its slight bitterness, and the Stein Lager from Bend Brewing delivered a complementary profile thanks to the caramelized wort, a result of the 300 pounds of red hot granite brewmaster Tonya Cornett dropped into the seven barrel batch.
Second Course Organic Greens with Macadamia Nuts, Colorado Peaches, Jicama and a White Balsamic Vinaigrette
Paired with Hottenroth Berliner Weisse, The Bruery
The acidic vinegar and fruit were fantastic with the biting sourness of the Berliner Weisse. The intense effervescence of the beer, akin to a champagne, helped to refresh the palate for each wonderful bite.
Third Course Hibiscus Flower Granite with Fresh Horseradish
Paired with Long’s Peak Raspberry Wheat, Estes Park Brewery While the beer was great, I found the food to be somewhat distasteful, what seemed like a raspberry snow-cone gone bad. I understood their intentions in coupling the sharp tang of the horseradish with the citric raspberry of the beer, but the dish didn’t do it for me.
Fourth Course Three Day Beef Cheek with Mashed Potatoes and baby Root Vegetables
Paired with Black Butte Porter, Deschutes Brewery
As we savored this expertly constructed dish, Brett Porter at Deschutes entertained us with his favorite English saying, “beef steak and porter make good belly mortar.” The dish was anything but a lead weight in my stomach, perfectly complemented by Brett’s Black Butte Porter that he explained is the country’s best selling porter, even though they only distribute to 14 states primarily in the west (amazing!).
Fifth Course Molten Chocolate Cake with Hazelnut Brown Ale Gelato and Garnish of Fresh Chinook Hop
Paired with Hazelnut Brown Nectar Ale, Rogue Ales and Maracaibo Especial Brown Ale, Jolly Pumpkin The density of the cake was amazing, with the gelato elevating the dish with a creamy texture that really worked for me. Sebbie Buhler at Rogue explained that Oregon is the nation’s largest producer of hazelnuts, accounting for 97% of production, and it’s clear they’ve perfected the incorporation of the ingredient in their beer. Both the Rogue Hazelnut Brown and Jolly Pumpkin’s offering were a nice way to cap off what was a very memorable meal.
Contrary to popular belief, attending the Great American Beer Festival is not just all about drinking phenomenal craft beer and celebrating the growing beer culture across our country.
OK, fine. I lied. That is really what it’s all about.
But drinking fantastic craft beer for an important charitable cause… now that’s something anyone can get behind.
Friday afternoon at the GABF I was able to attend the Denver Rare Beer Tasting at the Wynkoop Brewery nestled in Denver’s LoDo district, an event benefiting the Pints for Prostates campaign. Sponsored by All About Beer and BeerAdvocate.com, proceeds from the 450 tickets sold went to help support education and advocacy efforts to promote screenings for prostate cancer, one of the most common forms of cancer in men in this country.
Wynkoop is the city’s first brewpub, founded in 1988 by Denver’s current mayor, John Hickenlooper. And what a cool place for the event…ornately decorated wood décor and furnishings throughout, large timber pillars and pressed tin ceilings dating back to the mid to late 1800s when the building was used as a mercantile exchange for miners and pioneers settling the western frontier. The entire upper level was packed with people clamoring to get a few sips of some incredibly rare beers, including:
Alaskan Smoked Porter 1999 & 2008
Allagash Fluxus 2009
Bison Reunion ’09 — A Beer for Hope Double White Ale
Samuel Adams Utopias 2009
Brooklyn Wild 1
Deschutes Double Black Butte Porter XX
Dogfish Head Raison D’Extra 2006
Foothills 23-year-old Pappy Van Winkle Barrel Aged Total Eclipse Stout
Great Divide Old Ruffian Barley Wine 2008
Harpoon 100 Barrel Series Glacier Harvest ’09 Wet Hop Ale
Highland Big Butte Smoked Porter
Jolly Pumpkin Biere de Mars Grand Reserve 2006 & 2007
Lost Abbey The Angel’s Share 2009 Brandy Barrel Finish
Mich Brett
New Belgium Trip II
New Glarus Golden Ale
Odell Crimson Shenanigans
Oskar Blues Wet & Whiskeyed Gordon
Rogue Ales John John Hazelnut
Saranac Imperial IPA
Sierra Nevada Barrel Aged Scotch Ale
Stoudt Old Abominable Barleywine 2007
Stone 2008 Old Guardian Barley Wine Aged in Red Wine Barrels
Wynkoop Barrel Aged Berserker Mead
We arrived toward the tail end of the event, so unfortunately much of the selection had already poured out. But I was able to get my hands on a few notables, including Foothills 23-year-old Pappy Van Winkle Barrel Aged Total Eclipse Stout, probably the most intense bourbon-style stout I’ve ever had (think Goose Island BCS on steroids), as well as Avery Voltron, an intensely puckering wild ale. I also tried the Lost Abbey Angel’s Share, and New Belgium Trip II, both incredibly solid.
Probably the most interesting beer of the night was Michelob Brett, what I’d consider to be the rarest beer of the lot considering there was only a single experimental barrel in the entire country developed by brewmaster Adam Goodson. According to Adam, they fermented in primary with their standard lager strain, then dosed the beer with brett and conditioned for many months to give it its distinctive leather, barnyard characteristics. A seriously good beer, and much more balanced and smooth in its brett quality than most other beers I’ve had of this variety.
Out of the garage and into a bar near you, the boys at Fulton Beer officially launched in the Twin Cities this evening with their tapping of Sweet Child of Vine at The Happy Gnome. I wasn’t able to attend, unfortunately, but I’m really looking forward to trying their stuff. 
