I somehow managed to pull myself out of parental obscurity long enough to write a cover story on Twin Cities homebrewing for Vita.MN.
Big thanks to @esch for letting the STRIB photographer stop by on a smoked hefeweizen brewday to get some shots.
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January 27, 2011
November 16, 2010
How to Fail: The World’s First Self-Hurt Guide
Posted by amm002 under Beer Events, Beer News[2] Comments
Tony Robbins, take note: How to Fail by Aaron Goldfarb is not your average read.
“Goldfarb…” you’re thinking to yourself. That name sounds kind of familiar. And you’re right, as he’s best known around these parts as the man behind The Vice Blog, in my opinion one of the most entertaining and provocative beer blogs around. With his first novel, Goldfarb uses his trademark wit to cleverly bring us the world’s first self-hurt guide, a blue print for failure success (emphasis on the blue). The book completely flips the self-help concept on its head, delivering a hilarious account of one man’s ill-fated journey failing his way through every aspect of life. And when I say every aspect, I mean every aspect. From the website:
In How to Fail follow the misadventures, misgivings, and massive mistakes of this satiric novel’s narrator Stu Fish as he tries to find success in 2010 New York. With hilarious chapters such as How to Fail to Make Your Parents Proud of You, How to Fail to Do Something Productive All Day, How to Fail in Love, and How to Fail All the Way to Rock Bottom, and even more ribald “footchapters” such as How to Masturbate at Work, How to Develop an Addiction, How to Get Usurped by Your Girlfriend’s Ex, and How to Acquire the STD That’s Right for You, there’s not an aspect of life How to Fail doesn’t tackle and offer a terrific non-solution for. All of this is delivered in perfect single serving-size chapters for our modern A.D.D. culture more used to reading blog entries on their phone while riding the subway or waiting in line at Subway than in carefully reading a book.
I’d offer an interview with the author himself, but Goldfarb is currently occupied on a book tour bender across the east coast, hitting 30 bars in 30 days to try and wrap as many vices as possible into a month-long period. I’m guessing it’ll make for amusing fodder for his follow-up book, Everything You Wanted to Know About Shitty Atlantic City Bars But Were Afraid to Ask.
So put the kids to bed, grab a beer, and cozy up to a copy of How to Fail. I assure you, it’ll be the most fun you’ve had failing in a long time.
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September 30, 2010
I pulled together a profile on Surly for the cover of this week’s Vita.mn, check it out.
September 3, 2010
The new label art for this year’s Surly Darkness from local artists Aesthetic Apparatus. Love it.
August 9, 2010
The Tweak Heard Round the Craft World: Beer Advocate’s Top Beers List*
Posted by amm002 under Beer News[15] Comments
Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier, Duvel, Schneider & Sohn Aventinus, Unibroue La Fin du Monde, and even Bell’s Two Hearted Ale…all beers now ranked in the top 20 on Beer Advocate’s newly redesigned Top Beers on Planet Earth list. And for once, I couldn’t agree more.
For many of us who closely follow the general goings-on of the craft beer world, and wait with bated breath as brewers announce the next offering in their [insert name of rare beer series here] or host limited release parties of draught-only mega-hopped DIPA’s and waxed bombers of Russian imperial stouts, you likely fall into one of two camps when it comes to how you’ve historically viewed the Beer Advocate Top Beers list. You either 1) look at the list as holy scripture, a true reflection of the beer zietgeist that accurately ranks the top beers on the planet based solely on objective ratings by site reviewers, or 2) a list of beers that are generally considered by most to be “the best” to be had, but also a list that’s significantly contaminated and largely driven by hype and limited availability versus objective sensory evaluation.
Clearly, I’m in camp #2. And I’ve always looked at the list with a skeptical eye, questioning how beers such as Russian River’s Pliny the Younger, which I recently reviewed with a firm tongue in cheek, could be considered to be one of THE BEST in the world (I think #2 on their old list) when only a few hundred people ever had the opportunity to try it. Is it a good beer? Of course it is. But given the relatively small sample size of reviewers, can it legitimately be considered the best in the world? According to the Alstrom Brothers — the founders of Beer Advocate who recently changed the minimum number of reviews for any beer to potentially make the list from 10 to 1,000 — the answer was a firm no.
And in my opinion, here’s why: Beer Advocate has done a great deal to raise awareness for craft beer made with passion and love by the more than 1,500 craft breweries around our country, and beyond. However, over the years, the community has slowly drifted from fulfilling part of its original stated mission, which is to “wake the masses to better beer options.” In short, it went from truly advocating for craft beer, to acting more as a repository of incredibly inside reviews and discussions on ultra rare, difficult to find beers that only the most determined of beer geeks could ever hope to lay their hands on. Not necessarily what I’d call a truly representative take on how most of the country views the beer category.
So now that Westy 12 is no longer the king of the hill (for now), who are the top contenders? They are beers with critical mass behind them…offerings that a significant number of people view as the best of the best. And in creating a high bar for admission, in one fell swoop we’ve eliminated the majority (not all, of course) of the hype driving many of the old rankings.
To that end, they’ve also created a handful of new sub-lists that break out the rankings by geography, by how poorly they’ve been rated (a “bottom of the barrel” list), and even by how new a beer is to the marketplace (in other words, what beers are getting “buzz”). These newer, often highly limited beers of course have their place…but at least for now, not at the top of the beer world until more folks get on board with them, the economic principle of scarcity be damned.
I can see only good things from this change. This is a much more credible and realistic list. Regular folks who may not be exposed to the craft world may now truly have an opportunity to understand what this thing is all about, and why people like you and me get so excited when talking about the beer we tried the night before. And in looking at the current list, I couldn’t agree more with how many of the highly available beers, including many that are standard bearers of their respective styles, are positioned.
No matter what system or criteria you employ, it will never be a perfect representation. But I believe that this change in criteria was truly a move in the right direction. So now that I’ve made my case, what say you?
* Huge footnote to this post…in many ways, my commentary above was significantly negated, considering moments after publishing this, the “Bros” announced that their shift to a 1,000 review minimum to make the top list was in fact an “experiment” meant to solicit feedback on how the lists were generated. Instead of 1,000 reviews as the threshold, they’ve set the criteria at the mean number of reviews across all beers listed on the site, which currently sits at 105. Is 105 better than 10? Yes. Is it statistically more equitable than using an arbitrary number such as 1,000? Yes. But do I agree with the notion that they’ve significantly minimized the hype factor involved in their ranking system by going this route? Absolutely not. The amended list is largely unchanged, and does nothing to fulfill their stated mission of bringing greater awareness and visibility to “better beer options” for the masses.
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October 28, 2009
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.
FOX 9 covered the event, you can watch the video here. And for more info on where to find them, check out their site for a list of bars and restaurants where they’re tapping.
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.
October 9, 2009
Surly’s latest creation…sounds fantastic.
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: Barleywine, Old Ale, Saison |[8] Comments
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.”
With 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.
September 9, 2009
Dogfish Head just keeps surprising.
You’ve heard of the brewery’s Theobroma…a beer based on the chemical analysis of pottery shards found in Honduras which revealed the earliest known alcoholic chocolate drink. You’ve also heard of Midas Touch, a beer based on trace ingredients found in drinking vessels in the tomb of King Midas in Turkey. And you may have even tried Chateau Jiahu, the brewery’s attempt at recreating a 9,000 year old fermented beverage of rice, honey and fruit discovered in an archaeological dig in rural China.
But I guarantee you’ve never tried anything like Dogfish Head Chicha, Sam Calagione’s latest mad science creation that takes an ancient Peruvian method of using the body’s natural enymes found in saliva to convert corn starch into fermentable sugar.
Yes, you heard me…they chew up the corn and spit it back into the brew.
The beer will be available exclusively at their brewpub in Delaware, so the odds of most of us trying it are extremely low. While some of their beers can be hit or miss (love their IPAs, but a couple others haven’t impressed as much), you gotta love Sam’s pioneering attitude and his knack for telling a good story through his beers. I think it’s a big part of what keeps people coming back for more.
Check out the video below, which documents the labor-intensive process, or read the New York Times’ article from yesterday’s paper.
August 18, 2009
Nice to see beer and food pairing getting a national audience, even if it was 9 a.m.
Gail Simmons, editor at Food & Wine Magazine and of Bravo’s Top Chef fame, recently walked through a number of beer and food pairings on the Today Show, highlighting a handful of broad categories and providing tips on how to make an informed match. While I won’t quibble and debate her on the sweeping statement that white wine = lager and red wine = ale (I understand she had 2 minutes to cover a ton of ground and the point is to get people to be a little adventurous), I think there’s some good stuff in the segment that hopefully got a few folks thinking about some interesting approaches for their next dinner party or night out at their favorite restaurant.
In addition, check out Great Brewers Beer Sommelier pairing tool on the right side of the homepage for a very well-designed and easy-to-use program that gets much more specific and in-depth on flavor profiles and suitable beer selections.
Click image to play
