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October 11, 2009

AHA Rally at Surly

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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.   

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October 2, 2009

Food and Beer Pairing Made Easy at GABF

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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.  

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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

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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. 

DSC03065Second 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.

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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

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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.

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October 1, 2009

Denver Rare Beer Tasting at GABF

Posted by amm002 under Beer Events | Tags: , |
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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.

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September 30, 2009

Michelob Tasting at GABF

Posted by amm002 under Beer Events, Interviews | Tags: , , |
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In some respects, one could consider Michelob Anheuser-Busch’s craft brand (if you’d like to take it that far).

Sure, they pump out millions upon millions of barrels of watery, adjunct-laden fizzy beer like Michelob Golden Draft Light, Michelob Ultra (yikes), and the ill-conceived Michelob Ultra Lime Cactus. But, like most of the larger brewers, they’ve flexed their national marketing clout and stolen a page out of the small craft brewers’ playbook to bring out a number of more flavorful beers, catering to what I’d call a transitional craft consumer…folks that reflexively walk into a liquor store to buy their standard case of [insert macro swill here], and instead walk out with a six pack of something like Shock Top. Are they realistically going to sway the 4% of the market that actively seeks out higher quality offerings from small, independent craft brewers? Unlikely, and it’s clearly not their goal. But the sheer volume of A-B’s captive audience makes the marketing proposition for the rest of the beer drinking public a good one for them.

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At GABF, I had the chance to attend a private tasting with Michelob to sample a number of their new and experimental beers, including the recently introduced Michelob Rye Pale Ale, which just hit the Twin Cities market within the past couple weeks. Rye P.A. fits neatly into this oxymoronic category of macro craft, and to my own surprise, I found it to be actually pretty darn good.

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According to Adam Goodson, their head brewmaster I spoke with, they brew with caramel and other specialty grains (he left out what I suspect is the main part of the grain bill…corn or rice), and you certainly pick up a very rich, toffee-like malt flavor that’s complemented by the spicyness of the rye. They also use five different hop varieties including Cascade and Columbus that put it on par with a number of more notable pale ales and IPAs on the market at 50 IBUs. However, I hesitate to call this a straight up IPA, as in addition to rye they also add grains of paradise for a nice pepper note in the aroma, and condition on a bed of juniper berries for a very faint acidic note in the finish. Overall, a pretty interesting beer.

In addition to the commercially available Rye P.A., I also sampled a handful of their experimental beers that aren’t on the market (and likely never will be), including a pear ale and a doppelbock. According to Goodson, at any given time Michelob has between ten to fifteen different beers working their way through the development cycle, with possibly one or two ever seeing the light of day. The pear ale was interesting, fairly light with just a hint of the pear in the aroma, but seemed more like some of their other standard offerings that had been gently infused with pear extract. The doppelbock was a winner, in my opinion, with a nice malty backbone and caramelized flavoring. Of any of the developmental beers, I’m hoping this one makes the cut.

While I perused the beers, I also chatted with Florian Kuplent, an incredibly nice and intelligent guy who leads Michelob’s yeast development group, and learned about the company’s ongoing research that includes a library of more than 300 unique strains, including a handful of Brettanomyces. Interestingly, they used one of these Brett strains for their single experimental barrel of Michelob Brett (seriously), one of the better beers I had at the Denver Rare Beer Tasting charity event during GABF (more to come on that).

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September 29, 2009

The Great Divide Tour

Posted by amm002 under Beer Events, Interviews | Tags: , |
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Skipping your honeymoon to brew your first batch of commercial beer usually isn’t an auspicious way to start your marriage. But for Brian Dunn and his wife, co-founders of the very successful Great Divide Brewing Co., it seems things have worked out just fine. 

The welcoming aroma of toasty malt immediately struck me as I wandered up to the brewery, discretely tucked in an unassuming brick building that at one time housed a 1930s-era dairy. Just a cut-off throw from Coors Field in an industrialized area of downtown Denver, one might miss it if not for the small lighted sign perched on the corner of the facility, or the cluster of GABF attendees and regulars crowding the small sidewalk patio outside while I was there.

DSC03108The brewery took shape in 1994 when Dunn, after traveling the world and earning a graduate degree in environmental studies, realized he wanted to take his passion for homebrewing to the next level. He set about writing a business plan and securing funding from investors. But after coming up about $50,000 short on financing for the business, he made a deal with the city that enabled him to make up the difference in return for ongoing job development and cleanup of the surrounding neighborhood, a relatively destitute segment of the downtown district.

“It was a creative way to get the initial funding we needed, something I didn’t realize was an option going into things.”

The brewery itself is a gritty, cavernous labrynth of rooms, leading from the main brewhouse up front complete with a tangle of pipes connecting mash tuns and fermentation vessels, through a dark, low-ceilinged passageway to the bottling and packaging area, and finally into the cool warehouse lined with pallets of kegs and bottles ready for shipment.  

The brewery’s tap room, a relatively recent addition, greets visitors with some incredible beers like their Hoss, a Marzen-style lager brewed with rye that delivers a spicy, dark-fruit malt character, or the brewery’s Fresh Hop Pale Ale, made with fresh whole hop cones shipped overnight from the Pacific northwest. And according to Dunn, freshness is something he and his staff take very seriously.

“We invested about $100,000 in printing technology for the bottling line to stamp born-on dates on all the beers leaving the brewery,” he said. “Not all of our beers are necessarily meant to be consumed right away, but our customers will be better informed and able to decide whether they want to age the beer, or enjoy then and there.”

The brewery’s sixteen GABF medals (including three this year) are a testament to the quality of their beer, and indicative of their enormous popularity in Denver and markets like the Twin Cities with readily available year-round and seasonal offerings like Titan IPA, Hercules Double IPA and The Yeti.

“Running the brewery hasn’t always been easy…there’s been some very lean years where we weren’t sure if we were going to make it,” explained Dunn. “Our revenue is up 60 percent so far this year, so we’re feeling very fortunate. We’re very excited for what the future holds.”

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September 28, 2009

Roots of an Industry: The Sam Adams LongShot Homebrewing Awards

Posted by amm002 under Beer Events, Beer News, Home Brewing, Interviews | Tags: , , |
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The names Ben Miller, Michael Robinson and Jeremy White probably don’t ring a bell. But coming to a variety six pack near you in April 2010, their beers will be available as this year’s winners of the annual Samuel Adams American Homebrew Contest, more commonly known as The LongShot. 

The competition, which started back in 1996 with just a couple hundred entries, pared down more than 1,300 beers from homebrewers nationwide to four finalists, with two of those beers going on to be commercially developed and sold nationwide. The competition also included a separate employee-only segment that selected one winner from nearly 300 entries submitted by the Boston Beer Company’s non-brewing staff, or just about 80 percent of the company.

I had a chance to talk with Jim Koch, founder of the company and a key figure behind the rise of craft beer in this country, who explained his own Sam Adams Boston Lager started off as a homebrew recipe in his kitchen more than 25 years ago. But according to Koch, “compared to this year’s winning entries, it frankly wasn’t as good.” 

DSC03171With a majority of today’s 1,500 commercial craft brewers first learning the ropes on an amateur level, the connection between homebrewing and the craft beer industry is arguably one of the greatest contributors to the explosive growth seen in the segment over the past couple decades. And Koch sees the competition as a way to highlight the link.

“The diversity of beers at the Great American Beer Festival is mindblowing, and many of these styles are a direct result of homebrewers developing these beers in their garages and on their stove tops,” said Koch. “This competition is our way of celebrating these pioneers, and reminding everyone that the roots of the U.S. craft beer industry are in homebrewing.”

According to Koch, the GABF did not exist twenty-five years ago as the standalone, economically viable event that it has become today. Instead, it was attached (almost as an afterthought) to the last day of the much larger American Homebrewers Association conference. “They were gracious enough to tolerate this handful of nut jobs who tried to go pro,” Koch said.

The winning LongShot beers were, as expected, superbly well done. Interestingly, the two non-employee winners both brewed beers relatively similar from a stylistic standpoint, which had everything to do with the quality of the beers as opposed to marketing considerations, Koch explained.

Michael Robinson’s Old Ale
A malty, English-style ale with notes of dried fruit, nut and caramel. Michael, a homebrewer from New Hampshire, used five different malts in the grain bill, and a distinctively English-style yeast strain to give the beer its character. Coming in at 9% ABV, it’s definitely not your average session beer. Mike was also recognized as a finalist in last year’s LongShot competition, as well as the 2007 Samuel Adams Patriot Homebrew Contest.

Ben Miller’s Barleywine
A dark red beer boasting plum undertones to complement the distinct caramel malt flavor. Ben used five hop varieties to give the beer its citrus nose and bitter finish. This was Ben’s 100th batch of homebrew in just under two years (he’s been busy), and coincidentally just an hour after winning the LongShot competition, he also won a Gold Medal at the GABF for his IPA that he brewed with Jeff Erway, brewmaster at Chama River Brewing Co. in Albuquerque, for the Pro-Am portion of the competition. I’m almost scared to see what this extremely talented homebrewer will come up with next.

Jeremy White’s Lemon Pepper Saison
Judging by the quality of his beer, you’d never guess Jeremy spends most of his time working as a member of the Boston Beer Company’s IT staff. His saison is a beautifully balanced yeast-forward beer with hints of citrus and pepper in the nose, and a light malt character. A truly drinkable beer.   

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September 27, 2009

Craft Beer on a Rocky Mountain High at GABF

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Having never been to Denver, I was fairly certain of two things as my plane touched down at DIA last Thursday. First, I’d likely need some time to acclimate to the altitude. And second, I had no idea what in the hell I was getting into spending three straight days at the country’s largest beer gathering, the  28th annual Great American Beer Festival (GABF). 

DSC03127Taking up the  bulk of the downtown convention center, the GABF is an experience like nothing else. Four hundred fifty breweries from across the nation in attendance, 2,100 beers being poured, and 49,000 fellow craft beer lovers gleefully jostling their way around what I can only describe as the world’s largest beer garden. The festival floor, which was apparently 46 percent larger than last year’s event, was organized by region, with eight different sections making up what was essentially a virtual tour of the country’s breweries. You could neatly park a dozen aircraft carriers in the space taken up by the entire convocation, likely with some room left over.

DSC02992The event is not for the faint of heart, nor the weak of tolerance. But the time spent there gave me a wonderful perspective and appreciation for the more than 1,500 small, independent craft brewers putting their blood, sweat, and in Dogfish Head’s case saliva into what they’re doing every day. The passion in the hall was palpable, made even more exciting with the creative geniuses behind these beers actually pouring their wares to the throngs of craft beer lovers jamming the place, including Sam Calagione at Dogfish, Garrett Oliver at Brooklyn Brewery, Patrick Rue at The Bruery, and Tomme Arthur at Lost Abbey, to name a few. 

With more than 100 breweries and brewpubs in the state, Colorado can easily be called the Napa Valley of the beer industry. And the city of Denver’s support and enthusiasm for the festival (and the industry as a whole) was abundantly clear in the literally hundreds of ancillary brewery parties, charitable events and general beer gatherings at craft beer bars around town like Falling Rock Taphouse and The Cheeky Monk. The people were kind to a fault, extremely knowledgeable about their beer, and eager to show off what was really a very beautiful and welcoming place. It was truly a thing to behold. 

DSC03222The craft beer industry’s growth has been impressive, with a nine percent increase in sales in the first half of this year. But despite the craft segment’s success it still only represents 4 percent of volume across the entire beer category, with the rest largely made up by offerings from macro brewers like Anheuser-Busch, Miller and Coors. That’s an incredibly amazing statistic in my mind, considering the thousands of phenomenal beers out there being made by breweries and brewpubs putting out as little as a few hundred barrels a year, or as much as a hundred thousand. I guess when Jim Koch at Boston Beer Co. jokingly says Anheuser-Busch spills more beer than he makes every year, he isn’t kidding.

But these smaller guys, in particular, are facing not only stiff competition, but rising costs in operating their businesses. In fact, from November 2007 to 2008, the cost of operating a small brewery increased by 39 percent according to the Brewers Association, thanks in part to escalating material prices and energy costs associated with brewing, shipping and other business operations. Despite these issues, and in the face of financial uncertainty we’ve all contended with the past 18 months, the segment has managed to maintain its market share, largely a result of consumer shifts from on-premises beer purchases to in-home enjoyment. In today’s economy, flat can be considered the new up. 

Similar to the craft beer industry’s continued success introducing more and more people to the segment, the GABF also continued its record setting ways, crushing last year’s entries into the beer judging competition by 16 percent. Some statistics of note:

  • 457 breweries in the festival hall (of which 51 were there for the first time)
  • 2,100 beers served at the festival (1,967 poured last year)
  • 49,000 attendees (up by several thousand compared to last year)
  • 495 breweries in the competition
  • 3,308 beers judged in the competition (2,961 judged last year)
  • 78 categories judged + Pro-Am category
  • 132 judges from ten countries
  • Average number of competition beers entered in each category: 42
  • Category with highest number of entries: 134, American Style India Pale Ale

DSC03224Minnesota (and Wisconsin) brewers were well represented, with the likes of August Schell, The Herkimer, Minneapolis Town Hall, Rock Bottom Minneapolis, Summit, and Surly pouring a number of their beers.

Surly was the lone medal winner from the state, taking home a bronze medal for its Coffee Bender in the Coffee Flavored Beer category, getting beaten out by offerings from Oakshire Brewing in Oregon (silver) and Rock Bottom Brewing in Arlington, Virginia (gold). New Glarus in Wisconsin also took home two bronze medals for its Raspberry Tart (Fruit Beer or Field Beer category) and Totally Naked (American-Style Lager category). One of the coolest stats from the competition, in my mind, is the fact that brewers from 38 different states walked away with medals this year…the most geographic diversity in the history of the event, and a great sign that craft is gaining a foothold in more and more places across the country. 

In addition to reveling in much of the fantastic stuff offered by our local brewers, over the course of the three day event I sampled some other unbelievable beers, most notably Black Tuesday from The Bruery, an incredibly good (and incredibly rare) imperial stout that easily took best of show in my book. I was also interested to see that, while most breweries have not subsided in their liberal use of hops, a clear trend seemed to be emerging with the rise and popularity in sour beers, with numerous offerings from a significant number of breweries including this year’s medal winners in the category Captain Lawrence in New York, Iron Hill Brewery in Delaware, and Brugge Brasserie in Indiana.

The rest of the weekend’s beers (at least on the festival floor, Falling Rock is another story), in order of enjoyment:

  • The Bruery Orchard White
  • Brooklyn Brewery Schneider Hopfen Weisse
  • Captain Lawrence Smoke from the Oak Red Wine Barrel
  • Captain Lawrence Cuvee de Castleton
  • Dogfish Head Chicha
  • August Schell Oktoberfest
  • Summit Oktoberfest
  • Surly Coffee Bender
  • Herkimer Gose
  • Stone Vertical Epic Ale 09.09.09
  • Oskar Blues Ten Fidy
  • Deschutes Inversion IPA
  • Mount Emily Ale House The Big
  • Bell’s Wild one
  • Uinta Pale Ale
  • Allagash Confluence
  • Southampton Cuvee de Fleurs
  • Great Divide Hercules Double IPA
  • Dogfish Head Jiahu
  • The Bruery Berliner-Weisse
  • Bear Republic Double Rocket
  • Ballast Point Imperial Porter
  • Alesmith Speedway Stout
  • Stone 13th Anniversary Ale
  • Tommyknocker Imperial Brown Ale
  • Tommyknocker Cocoa Porter
  • The Bruery Black Tuesday
  • Odell Woodcut No. 2
  • Bear Republic Big Bear
  • Deschutes Black IPA
  • Lazy Magnolia Southern Pecan Brown Ale
  • Russian River Pliny the Elder
  • Minneapolis Town Hall Three Hour Tour
  • Elysian Brewing Great Pumpkin
  • Deschutes The Abyss
  • Surly Furious
  • New Glarus Raspberry Tart
  • Cigar City Jai Alai IPA
  • Sierra Nevada Estate Ale
  • Short’s Strawberry Short’s Cake
  • Flossmoor Station Collaborative Evil
  • Kuhnhenn 4th Dementia Old Ale

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September 22, 2009

Denver or Bust

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gabf-391I’m off to the Great American Beer Festival in Denver, the U.S. industry’s largest annual beer gathering with more than 49,000 attendees expected over the three day event at the downtown convention center.

I’ll be taking part in the media track, which includes briefings with Brewers Association executives, special sessions with brewers and craft beer experts on topics such as the future of the industry, and tours to notable Denver area breweries and craft beer bars like Great Divide and the Falling Rock Taphouse. I’ll also be attending the Sam Adams Longshot home brew competition awards ceremony, as well as a handful of meetings with breweries introducing some new offerings into the market.  

Oh yeah…and I’ll also be drinking some phenomenal craft beer. As in a potential 2,100 different beers that will be poured throughout the course of the event (if I get through a tenth of that, it was nice knowing you).

Follow me on Twitter as I’ll be providing live updates throughout the event, and check back here for a series of articles detailing what I’m sure will be a fantastic craft beer weekend.

GABF

 

September 22, 2009

SurlyFest Release at Tracy’s

Posted by amm002 under Beer Bars/Stores, Beer Events | Tags: |
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Tracy'sThings were hopping at Tracy’s Saloon in Minneapolis for the SurlyFest bar release party. Great beer, good food, and very nice company. I covered the event on behalf of Heavy Table, so be sure to check out the story here.

While I’ve hung out in the Seward neighborhood on numerous occasions (usually stopping in to check out the selection at The Blue Nile), I’d never been to Tracy’s before. It was clear to me that this little neighborhood bar, which has been around since 1979, would be a great place to spend a few hours sampling their nice selection of craft beers on tap (a quarter of their offerings are Surly).

Most of the food we enjoyed at the SurlyFest event is not generally offered on the regular menu, but it was a good sign, in my opinion, that Sanjaya and company at the establishment were branching out and experimenting with some bolder dishes. Could mean some great things to come. 

Be sure to check them out if you’re in the area.

 

September 20, 2009

2nd Annual Belgian Beer Fest @ Muddy Pig

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With more than 100 different Belgian beers on draught throughout the weekend, beer geeks in the Twin Cities didn’t need to look far to find some fantastic offerings at this year’s Belgian Beer Festival at The Muddy Pig in St. Paul.  

After helping a friend with some home improvement projects at his house just a stones throw from the bar, my wife and I walked over Sunday afternoon to catch the mid-day NFL games and try some great Belgian ales. Compared to last year, the selection seemed much larger and more interesting, a sign that hopefully we’ll be seeing more of these delicious beers on tap around town.

Verhaeghe Echte Kriekenbier
A beautiful Flanders red. Great amber red appearance, bretty and sour, with a nice biting cherry finish. My wife tried a sip, and thought it smelled like a foot. Mission accomplished.

Rating: A-

Saison Dupont
One of the benchmarks of the style. Spicy aroma, coriander and yeast. Nice bitterness in the flavor, earthy but not barnyard. Enjoyable.

Rating: A- 

Poperings Hommelbier
Tried this for the first time at last year’s event, and still pretty impressed. The Belgians have a different approach to IPAs, but it works. Very distinct aroma, smells like a rose bush. Mellow hop bite, with a subtle bitterness in the finish.

Rating: B+

La Rulles Estivale
A Belgian pale, characterized by a yeasty, toasty aroma and smooth flavor. Almost akin to a German pilsner in some ways. A nice beer.

Rating:  B+ 

La Divine
From Brasserie de Silly, you’d never guess this was a tripel from its dark appearance. But this one surprises you with a sweet maltiness, plenty of toffee notes and candi sugar in the flavor. Creamy mouthfeel. Really liked this beer.

Rating: A

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