The new label art for this year’s Surly Darkness from local artists Aesthetic Apparatus. Love it.
August 16, 2010
Two years in the ground, and my hop bines are finally starting to show some production.
At the beginning of the growing season, I transferred my three bines to a sunnier location in the backyard beneath an existing clothesline pole that I planned to use as the backbone of my trellis system. I trained the bines to grow vertically, using some metal garden stakes and strong twine to create a simple support structure tied to the top of the seven foot pole. From the pole, I then ran a series of thick pieces of clothesline to my garage, providing about 25 feet of additional runway for the bines to grow horizontally.
The idea seemed to work well, as the longest of the Cascade plant’s two stalky trunks has grown to about 18 feet so far this year. Small hop flowers are beginning to emerge from the winding runners, with a few legitimate cones taking shape. It’s a pretty cool feeling knowing that I’ll be able to harvest these guys and use in one of my own beers before the end of the year, perhaps in a fresh “wet hop” style pale ale.
Unfortunately, the Fuggle and Horizon bines haven’t fared as well, only reaching five or six feet with no flower production, which is in line with their growth last year. In fact, the Fuggle bine looks like it is nearly dead, with most of its yellowed leaves withered away to the point where it now more closely resembles Charlie Brown’s Christmas tree.
I haven’t done a ton of research into it, but I suspect these species may be more temperamental than Cascade, as I really didn’t do much in the way of fertilizing (thus the yellowed leaves, likely an iron deficiency), and I watered only occasionally when Mother Nature hadn’t provided recent moisture. Anyone else growing these hops with any luck?
Some pictures from the weekend:
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.
August 9, 2010
Hello friends, it’s been a while. My apologies for letting this little beer-soaked corner of the Internet go to seed. But I think I’m back, at least more regularly than I have been of late.
Since brewing a traditional hefeweizen back in March (which turned out fantastic, despite a mucky sparge), it had been nearly five months since I broke out the mash tun and brew kettles, by far my longest hiatus since I began ardently home brewing about five years ago. So I went back to the recipe vault to pick something well-suited for the coming fall season, with football and leaf raking around the corner.
After some debate between a saison (which is still on the agenda in the near future) and a pumpkin beer (again, something I’ll do soon), I opted for a fairly standard brown ale, probably a little more American in attitude than your traditional English Northern or Southern varieties thanks to the somewhat aggressive hop schedule. The genesis of the recipe itself, which some of you may recognize, comes from the Surly AHA Rally wort provided by Todd Haug, with some minor variations. It’s the same general recipe I employed for my Wild Rice Brown brewed earlier in the year, minus the wild rice, and I also backed off on some of the base malt this time around to try and bring the alcohol down a bit.
Here’s what I went with:
OG: 1.058
FG: 1.015
IBU: 43
ABV: 5.5%
SRM: 16
Single infusion mash at 152 degrees F
Boil Volume: 6.5 gallons
Batch size: 5 gallons
8 lbs. Castle Pale Ale Malt
12 oz. Brown Malt
4 oz. Caramel 80
4 oz. Caramel 120
1 lb. Brown Sugar
1 oz. Willamette (60 min)
1 oz. Willamette (30 min)
1 oz. Columbus (2 min)
Wyeast 1335 British Ale II
The brew day itself went fine, however I think I collected the wort too quickly (about 20 minutes) as my efficiency was horrendous. I missed the mark on the OG pretty dramatically, coming in at 1.040, which will likely put this beer at the 4% ABV range after it ferments out. Technical failings aside, it’s not a big deal in my opinion, as it should make for a more sessionable beer.
As if the excitement of brewing my first beer in ages wasn’t enough, I also invested in a new digital temperature controller that allowed me to convert my basement refrigerator into a fermentation chamber. It was stupidly simple to set up, and I’m now in full control of my temperature settings instead of leaving fermentation in the whimsical hands of Mother Nature depending on how hot or cold the ambient air in my house happens to be.
With this newfound control, I’m planning to brew an Oktoberfest this coming weekend, my first attempt at a lager. I’ll let you know how it goes.
April 27, 2010
Best and Worst of Dark Lord Day 2010
Posted by amm002 under Beer Events, Rating: A Plus[17] Comments
There are certain awe-inspiring events that happen in one’s lifetime that are difficult to explain to those that have not already experienced them. Watching Wizard of Oz on mute set to Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon…finally seeing that damn 3D sail ship in the stereogram picture…and realizing that Michael Stipe wasn’t singing “Let’s pee in the corner.”
Attending the Woodstock carnival that is Dark Lord Day at Three Floyd’s Brewing in Munster, Indiana also falls neatly into this camp.
Having bravely ventured to Indiana (a feat in and of itself) for two consecutive Dark Lord Days, I can safely say the event is a beer festival like no other, complete with thousands upon thousands of raving craft beer fanatics from all corners of the globe descending on Three Floyd’s like a swarm of locusts to revel in the glory of Dark Lord, a Russian Imperial Stout that is considered by many to be the premier example of the style.
Joining me on our multi-state Kerouac-esque journey this year were a couple of notable beer blogger friends from the East coast, including Aaron at The Vice Blog and Dave at The Drunken Polack, as well as Stu from local blog Friday Night Beer and my social media-averse brother-in-law (love you @Steve). During the various legs of the trip, we also ran into numerous other beer brethren including Ryan (aka @esch), Shawn and Mike at Beer Genome Project, Beckel at Legal Beer, Dean (aka @ibeyou), and of course Mike and Nate from Thank Heaven for Beer.
The weekend included stops at local favorites Stub & Herb’s, Town Hall and Barley John’s; a brief visit to Surly for some swag; lunch at Ale Asylum and a tour of New Glarus Brewing near Madison; as well as a post-Dark Lord Day dinner outing to Flossmoor Station on Chicago’s South side. But in lieu of regaling you with a blow-by-blow transcript of every second of the trip, I’ll provide a greatest hits (and a couple misses) list from the weekend, as there were plenty of both. Here we go…
Best Beer of the Trip – Isabelle Proximus
Dave at Drunken Polack lugged along a few notables to sample at Dark Lord Day, including this whale of a beer that completely blew my mind. A collaboration brewed a couple years ago by Dogfish Head, Lost Abbey, Avery, Allagash, and Russian River, it’s one of the most softly rounded, imminently drinkable sours I’ve ever tried. Musty hay, a hint of sweetness amidst the sour, a definite A+. Notable Runners-Up: Oak-Aged Popskull, The Bruery’s Black Tuesday, and New Glarus Cran-Bic.
Worst Performance Carrying a Case of Dark Lord – Some Dude with Ripped Underwear
If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought I was at a grand finale on Fourth of July as the unmistakeable popping sounds of scores of people accidentally dropping their cases of Dark Lord on the street peppered the area. People stood staring for minutes at their broken bottles as if they were going to magically patch themselves back together like the evil robot in Terminator 2…too bad tears aren’t a suitable adhesive. And not to gross anyone out, but what’s with the torn Underoos on this guy? Word to the wise – hold the case from the bottom next time.
Best Homebrew – Mike’s 44% ABV Freeze-Distilled Strong Ale
I was floored by the quality of this unique brew conjured up by Mike at Thank Heaven for Beer. He started off with 45 pounds of grain for the five gallon batch, fermented with an alcohol tolerant yeast strain to get it to about 22% ABV, then freeze distilled the rest to eek out a few small bottles of this amazing beer. It seriously reminded me of Utopias in its liqueur-like characteristics, and man was it drinkable. Runner-Up: Nate’s “Three Kings” Triple, brewed with gold flakes, frankincense, and myrrh.
Best Dark Lord Variant – Oak-Aged Dark Lord
I’m not one to complain about good old regular Dark Lord, whether from the bottle or served on draught. But the other variants offered up at the Three Floyd’s brewpub are worth mentioning (both good and bad). Vanilla Bean Aged Dark Lord (right), oft-cited as the best of the bunch according to Beer Advocate’s legion, tasted just fine but something with the vanilla bean aging process gave it the consistency of a sludgy milk shake and it turned me off a bit. The Oak Aged version, on the other hand, was something to behold. And ironically, it smelled and tasted more like a nice subtle vanilla than the other version thanks to the oak, without overwhelming it.
Most Impressive Brewery Facility - New Glarus
I gotta say, I wasn’t sure what to expect driving down desolate, winding roads in the Middle-of-Nowhere, Wisconsin. But once we rolled up the hill to New Glarus Brewing and its commanding view of the Swiss-style hamlet below, I was immediately in love. The new brewery is one of the most impressive facilities I’ve ever been to…state-of-the-art brewhouse at its core, with a beautifully appointed tasting room geniously plunked in the middle of the gift shop. Not only did I walk out of there with a nice buzz, but also a bag filled with T-shirts, tap handles, and various other baubles.
Most Impressive Brewpub – Flossmoor Station
Man, these guys make some nice beer. Located in the middle of a tony neighborhood south of I-80, Flossmoor is in an old train station that’s been converted into a brewery and upscale restaurant. Their IPA knocked my socks off with its wonderful floral aromas and intense bitterness, and I also picked up a bottle of their Pullman Brown for home perusement. If we go back for DLD next year, a visit to Flossmoor for a more proper sampling of their other beers will certainly be on the agenda. Runner-Up: Ale Asylum, which surprised the hell out of me with their very good bar food (get the pulled pork sandwich) and their impressive roster of beers (try the Bedlam! Trappist IPA brewed with Citra hops that lend unique aromas of tropical fruit).
Oddest Beer Consumed – 1995 Sam Adams Triple Bock
At last year’s Surly Darkness Day, we met a couple really cool guys in line from Chicago who had driven up the night before completely unpreprared with not a beer between them. As any good Minnesotans would, we took them under our collective wing and indoctrinated them into the ways of drinking 10% ABV bombers of Russian River Consecration at 8 a.m. To repay the kind gesture, they tracked me down at DLD and offered up their slew of impressive beers…but amongst them all this one stood out. A 1995 Sam Adams Triple Bock? I had to try it, if for nothing else to see how terribly far gone it had become. My suspicions weren’t off by much, considering the cork snapped in the bottle, with the rest disintegrating into flakes as we attempted to pry it out. The beer poured like a gloppy mess with zero carbonation, and tasted like someone had soaked a Werthers in a glass of warm water for a few hours. One of the Chicago guys literally gagged and vomited after sampling it. I’m sure it was a good beer…right around the Y2K scare.
Best Beer Festival Innovation – Golden Tickets
The thought of inviting a few thousand drunken friends over to my house to trample the flower bed, leave piles of trash in the backyard, and potentially piss off my neighbors with debaucherous behavior doesn’t sound like my idea of fun. So I think the folks at Three Floyd’s should be commended for opening their doors to, what is by all accounts, a mob scene. And one of the things that keeps this whole thing running relatively smoothly is their Golden Ticket idea, which I think is a good one. Everyone there with a ticket is guaranteed beer up to a certain time, and everyone (hopefully) walks away happy. It’s especially nice for people like me traveling from several states away to comfortably know you won’t leave empty handed. Granted, the tickets were tough to come by thanks to a crashing e-commerce website, but they’ve acknowledged the issues and plan to remedy next year.
April 13, 2010
They’re finally here…the much sought after Golden Tickets for Dark Lord Day 2010.
This year’s trip to Three Floyd’s Brewery in Munster, Indiana will be a little different than last year, primarily because of the motley crew that will be joining me for the weekend including Aaron at The Vice Blog, Dave at Drunken Polack, Stu at Friday Night Beer, my brother and brother-in-law, and a few other friends.
We have alot on the agenda, and I’m hoping we can squeeze it all in…on the way down Friday we’re hoping to make a stop at Ale Asylum in Madison for lunch, a visit to New Glarus for a tour and tasting, dinner at Goose Island Clyburn in Chicago, and of course all the Dark Lord fun we can handle at Three Floyds on Saturday. I’m also looking forward to showing off some of the best beer spots the Twin Cities has to offer to my out of town friends flying in on Thursday, with stops at Town Hall, Stub & Herbs, Barley John’s, and Muddy Pig.
More to come on what’s sure to be another memorable beer road trip!
April 5, 2010
Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Posted by amm002 under Rating: A Minus | Tags: Bourbon Whiskey |[15] Comments
Haven’t reviewed something like this in quite some time.
Buffalo Trace Distillery in Kentucky has been producing some of the finest bourbons around since 1857, and during Prohibition was one of only four distilleries in the country granted a permit to continue operations to produce spirits for “medicinal purposes” (show me the doctor that would prescribe this stuff!). The distillery is a virtual trophy case of whiskey accolades, winning more than 50 industry awards since 1990 including two-time distiller of the year from Whisky Magazine in 2005 and 2007, and a nod from Wine Enthusiast as distiller of the year in 2006. Clearly, these guys know what they’re doing.
But as any painfully honest stock broker will tell you (ha!), past performance does not guarantee future results. However, as this dedicated beer connoisseur will also tell you, a whiskey has to be pretty damn good to spur me to write a review on it.
Blended from up to 30 different barrels, Buffalo Trace pours with a butterscotch appearance, viscous legs streaking down the glass and a fairly spicy, peppery nose, I’m guessing an attribute of the rye used in the mash bill (which coincidentally comes from Minnesota, at least in part). Wonderful aromas of vanilla, honey, and maybe even some floral mint. I’m not an expert, but I thought bourbon couldn’t technically be higher than 80 proof, and this one comes in at 45% ABV. Regardless, you know you’re drinking a hefty whiskey when your eyelashes are lightly singed from the vapors each time you bury your nose in the glass. The taste is impressive, with flavors of sweet honey, caramel, lightly charred oak, and molasses. As beautiful as the legs are on this bourbon, the body is surprisingly thin with alcohol heat in the finish, lingering for quite some time into mellow notes of vanilla and oak.
Rating: A-
Where I Got It: Gift, but you can find it at Surdyk’s, Zipp’s or MGM Liquors, among others
Availability: Year-Round
Price: About $25 for a bottle
March 31, 2010
Hefeweizen Brewday (er, Night)
Posted by amm002 under Home Brewing, Recipes | Tags: Hefeweizen |[4] Comments
I think I learned what it is to be a patient man this evening.
Toward the end of the work day I caught the brewing bug, and after some quick recipe formulation I settled on a fairly standard Bavarian hefeweizen recipe, using half malted white wheat, some pils, and Munich for a bit of character. I also opted for a couple ounces of German Tettnanger hops to help balance things out, although with this beer the defining characteristic certainly comes from the Weihenstephan yeast strain that will deliver a fragrant banana and clove aroma. Amidst all of this, I had the foresight (or so I thought) to add some rice hulls, considering what I already knew about the gummy nature of wheat in the mash and how long sparging can take with this kind of grist.
After more than an hour sparge with less than half my brew kettle filled, I felt like giving up watching the torturously slow trickle of wort dribbling out of the tun. I didn’t actually get boiling until nearly 10 p.m., long after I’d started the process. What should have been a pleasant after work brewing experience turned into a tiring brew night. But that’s the way homebrewing goes some times. On the plus side, I had plenty of time to destroy nearly every microbe in my house sanitizing the hell out of all my brewing equipment.
Here’s the recipe I went with:
Single infusion mash at 152 degrees for 60 minutes
Boil volume: 6.5 gallons
Boil time: 60 minutes
Batch size: 5 gallons
OG: 1.053
FG: 1.013
ABV: 5.1%
IBU: 19
SRM: 7
5 lbs Malted White Wheat
4 lbs Pilsner
1 lb Munich
0.5 lb Rice Hulls
0.5 oz Tettnanger (4.8% AA) @ 60
1 oz Tettnanger (4.8% AA) @ 30
0.5 oz Tettnanger (4.8% AA) @ 2
Wyeast 3068 Weihenstephan Weizen
March 28, 2010
Summit Unchained Series India Style Rye Ale
Posted by amm002 under Rating: A | Tags: Rye Beer |[6] Comments
It just keeps getting better.
Summit’s India Style Rye Ale, the third in their increasingly impressive Unchained Series, is just a superb beer. Brewer Mike Lundell incorporated a variety of rye malts in his creation, including Rye, Crystal Rye, Chocolate Rye and Flaked Rye, as well as several high alpha hops including Summit and Citra that make this a wonderful hybrid-style ale.
Pours with a beautiful amber coloring and thick rocky head of carbonation. I could smell this beer for hours and not get bored…like walking into a neighborhood bakery with loads of bready rye up front, and a pronounced citrus hop aroma. I’m also getting some type of earthy note, like fresh green onion. The taste is wonderful, a fleeting cocoa sweetness with some light caramel and roast that quickly cascades across your tongue into a dry, rye spicyness. Hops are certainly there too, about 60 IBUs that remind you this beer isn’t all about the rye. Mouthfeel is very full, great carbonation and lively spice that envelopes the senses. The beer clocks in at 6.3% ABV, but it drinks so well I wouldn’t mind having a few of these in one sitting.
Overall impression, while this is certainly one of the better rye beers I’ve ever enjoyed, the masterful balance is really what stands out in my mind as its defining characteristic, the best of both hops and bready malt. Like the previous two Unchained offerings, this is one of those beers you wish would find its way into Summit’s year-round lineup.
Rating: A
Where I Got It: Byerly’s Maple Grove
Availability: Limited Release
Price: $9.99 for a six pack
March 23, 2010
Fading Hops
Posted by amm002 under Beer Styles, Home Brewing, Interviews | Tags: Hops |[17] Comments
Hops can be a beautiful thing. Bitter, floral, and full of life. In fact, one of my greatest-ever fresh hop experiences took place one day on a golf course in St. Paul…at the turn I bought a hot dog and a Summit EPA on draught from a newly tapped keg. I took one sip, and the hops just exploded off the beer. I promptly threw away the uneaten dog, as there was no sense in confusing my palate. I wanted to completely enjoy the freshest tasting beer I had have ever come across.
But we’ve all heard it before…
“Nice IPA, but it’s been on the shelf for a few months and the hops have really faded.”
I’ve certainly noticed this phenomenon in commercial beers, as well as my own home brew, and don’t doubt that many styles such as pale ales, IPAs and some lagers really do benefit from being enjoyed as freshly as possible to get that true hop bite and wonderful bouquet. On the flipside, other styles such as barleywines can benefit from aging to let the hops mellow out and fade into the malty background over time.
But what’s the science behind it all? How much DO hops really fade over time? Does age have more impact on aroma, or does it also affect bitterness? At what point do hops start taking a noticeable nose dive…a couple weeks? a month? longer?
To try and find some answers, I first turned to Ken Grossman, founder of Sierra Nevada and one of the pioneers of the craft beer industry in this country. Sierra Nevada’s Pale Ale is considered by most to be the protoypical hoppy American ale, a hop bomb in its day that helped define an entire category and pave the way for literally thousands of other American-style pale ales and IPAs over the past several decades. Starting in 2002, the brewery began growing nearly three acres of hops on its own grounds, primarily focused on Cascade and Chinook used exclusively in their Estate Ale series, with a more recent four acre addition in 2008 that has made room for some experimental varieties.
According to Grossman, hop degradation is a complex mix of variables, at an early stage determined by how the hop was grown and handled prior to brewing.
“We actually have been focusing on hop aroma analysis and hop chemistry for many years, and have devoted significant resources in this area,” Grossman said. “Just to name a few variables, the crop year and harvest maturity can have a great influence. If you are using dried hops – rather than fresh picked – kilning methods and temperature will have some influence on aroma. Storage conditions after harvest will also change the aroma characteristics greatly. Some of the ‘noble’ aromas in European hops are thought to be from warm storage and oxidation directly after harvest, and some types of hops develop ‘cheesy’ off flavors if not stored cold.”
Once hops are used in the brewing process, a whole different set of complex variables come into play. The bittering and aromatic characteristics of hops come from resins in the hop flower, which are made up of alpha and beta acids. Different hop varieties have different levels of each acid, making some more desirable for bittering as the alpha acids are isomerized in the brew kettle, and others better for lending a floral nose thanks to the beta acids left behind after boiling.
“From addition times in the kettle, dry hopping, loss of oils from different fermentation temperatures, and fermenter design, the list of variables impacting aroma and bitterness goes on and on,” said Grossman. “But in a nutshell fresh hops are better in our opinion, if you are looking for lots of clean robust aroma.”
Tom Nielsen, Sierra Nevada’s senior research analyst focused on hop degradation, says that their research has shown that after about two and a half to three months, hop aroma in a packaged beer, derived mainly from beta acids in the hop flower, has already started to diminish significantly. It’s a sentiment backed by Patrick Langlois at Great Divide in Denver, brewers of notable hoppy beers including their Fresh Hop Pale Ale, Titan IPA, and Hercules Double IPA. “Hops tend to dissipate in three to four months, which is why that is the recommended shelf life for most of our beers.”
According to Nielsen, agitation during shipping can be a significant contributing factor to degradation in aroma. As a beer sits on delivery trucks and eventually finds it way to your local liquor store, the beer’s aromas can be kicked up through the head space and slowly forced out of the crown liner, a process Sierra Nevada refers to as scalping. Nielsen also says oxygen will destroy hop aroma very quickly, whether naturally over time, or through the bottling process.
“We’ve found the hop aroma of a fresh beer shipped overnight from Boston compared to the same beer that just sat here in Chico was very much reduced,” said Nielsen. “This degradation doesn’t noticeably impact bitterness. But since aroma plays a significant role in your perception of taste, it can greatly influence your overall enjoyment of the beer.”
Gerri Kustelski, director of quality assurance at Summit Brewing in St. Paul, agrees.
“Organoleptically, there may well be discernable changes,” Kustelski said. “Bitterness can be masked by oxidation and aging, and aroma even more so. You begin to slowly lose the aroma imparted by dry hopping fairly quickly, possibly within several weeks. Packaging and distribution processes including shipping and temperature control can affect the flavor stability of beer and, thus, affect the perception of hop aromas and bitterness.”
The relative levels of alpha and beta acid compounds in a packaged beer also lends perspective to how sensitive and fragile hops can be.
“Aroma compounds are typically measured in parts per billion, compared to bittering compounds which are evaluated in parts per million,” Nielsen said. “If you lose half of your aroma compounds through agitation in shipping, that’s a much more dramatic degradation compared to bitterness. When you’re talking about aging a beer for many years, like our BigFoot Barleywine, the bitterness will eventually fade and change character, but generally speaking aroma is the first component to quickly fall out.”
Once the beer does arrive at your local bottle store or watering hole, some retailers take extra steps to ensure their beer loving customers are able to enjoy the product as closely as possible to how the brewer intended it.
“We certainly do take extra steps to make sure the beer you buy is as good as it can be,” said Jason Alvey, owner of The Four Firkins in St. Louis Park. “We keep the store as cold as we can so even the beer that is not refrigerated is nice and cool. We eliminate sunlight and filter all our lights for U.V. which can of course create a chemical reaction with the hop acids and skunk the beer. But by far the one thing that has the biggest effect is product turnover. We do not have beer that sits around on our shelves for months and months, so the beer you buy from us is as fresh as it can be. Unless of course you are buying a vintage beer that has been carefully aged in one of our climate controlled cellar fridges!”
The bottom line: if you’re interested in getting that full-on, hoppy experience in both aroma and flavor, heed the advice of many hop heads out there. Fresh really is best.
