Keeping your craft beer crafty: Part 2 - Serving

It’s time for the second installment of the “Keeping your craft beer crafty” series with a few notes on the lost art of serving. Believe it or not, as important as storage is to ensuring the deliciousness of your brew, the temperature and pouring method are instrumental in contributing towards the beer’s integrity.

Most "standard" beers taste fresher if served as soon as possible after purchase. (This seems obvious, but we're all guilty of letting bottles lurk around the back of the fridge for six months).

The art of the perfect pour

When dispensing a keg with an air-pump, relatively quick consumption is best - at least for beer quality, if not the consumers - to prevent any remaining beer from oxidizing and tasting "stale" and going flat.

When pouring a bottle, there are two ways to go: either dump the beer down the center of the glass, blowing out excess carbonation (making it taste more draft-like) and releasing its aroma; or "sneak" it down the side of the glass, preventing over-foaming and preserving the bottle's extra fizz. We all grew up being told that you want to limit the “head” that forms when you pour a beer too fast. That is not necessarily true, as exploding bubbles in the beer’s “head” release aromas, adding to the overall experience of drinking the beer.

...but not too cold

The most important element of serving a beer, however, is temperature. Ales can be served at a cool 55 degrees F - what the English call "cellar temperature" - and lagers can be served around 48 degrees F. The logic here is simple: the colder the temperature, the less you taste (this holds true for all foods, not just beer). And before you ask, this is exactly the reason why Coors Light markets their beer as “cold as the Rockies” and “serve ice cold” with the “cold and super-cold, mountains turn blue” nonsense. Remember, the colder the beer, the less you taste. Let’s just say it’s not in Coors’ interest for their customers to actually taste their product.

By contrast, the more flavor a beer has, the better it will taste at warmer temperatures. Cleaner, lighter ales (such as cream ales) can work well closer to "lager" temperatures. Darker, stronger lagers (bocks, doppelbocks) can benefit from approaching "ale" temperatures. But only the richest ales (stouts, strong ales, barley wines) should be served near room temperature.

To be continued...

Here’s to craft-brewed happiness… Cheers!

Searching for Crafty Beer

Not exactly what I mean by "big beer"

There are a lot of important questions to ask yourself once you’ve decided to become obsessed about beer. The most obvious is “What kind of delicious craft beer do I want to drink?” But equally as important is “Where can I find this wonderful stuff?”

Beer plebes don’t know how easy they have it, as they can find their mass-produced, corn-based yellow beer in 6, 12 and 24 can or bottle packages in every grocery store, gas station or beer store across America. Then again, ease of acquisition is probably one of the factors that cause a person to drink inferior beer. But craft beer is a little trickier.

The craft beer section is becoming more common

Grocery stores are getting better about stocking crafty beers than they were a few years back. Some are better than others, but for the most part, your local grocery store sells regional craft beer in addition to the big three. Failing that, they will probably sell Sam Adams, which is always a fine choice. Same applies to Super Wal-Marts and Super Targets. If you’re lucky (or live in a populous area), you’ll probably have access to a grocery store that goes out of its way to stock the shelves with deliciousness. In my neck of the woods, we have a grocery store called Wegmans that understands the demand and has a very impressive selection of great beer from across the US and other parts of the world as well.

But try as they might, the grocery stores aren’t quite there yet. The real gold mine is in smaller specialty beer and wine stores. These can be national chains like Total Wine or local mom and pop jobs, but by in large, these kinds of operations exist wherever you are and they are the absolute best place to go. They are usually owned and managed (and in many cases staffed) by people who are knowledgeable and passionate about beer. They go above and beyond in order to stock their inventory with anything and everything they can get their hands on.

The revolution will not be televised

The best and most universally accurate advice I can give is to find beer nerds and follow them to wherever they get their brew. The wonderful thing about them is that they’re always willing to share their experience, especially with newcomers. Plus, they travel in packs making them easy to spot and stalk.

Here’s to craft-brewed happiness… Cheers!

The Brew Review: Faster, Bigger, Better, Bolder (Gradually, Quietly, Steadily)

In today’s brew review, I’ll be discussing a collaboration beer called “Faster, Bigger, Better, Bolder (Gradually, Quietly, Steadily).” I know what you’re thinking: “What kind of a name for a beer is that?!” It’s actually a neat story.

And it has a cool label too. Everything you want, nothing you don't.

FBBB(GQS), as I’ll be referring to it from now on, is a collaboration between the crafty brewers of Dogfish Head Craft Brewery from Milton, DE and The Bruery from Placentia, CA. It was created as an homage to the contrasting lifestyle views of American excess set against the more humble and traditional ways of Japan. According to Dogfish’s website, FBBB(GQS) was brewed with kumquats and The Bruerys seven spice schichimi togarashi blend along with sake yeast. The Bruery reports that the beer is spiced with ginger, cayenne, white sesame seeds, black sesame seeds, poppy seeds, and nori, that were added to a base blonde ale that was created using two kinds of rice. Replacing the typical orange peel included in shichimi and whole kumquats that were pulverized and added to the whirlpool, giving the spiced beer a kick of fresh citrus. A blend of sake yeast and The Bruery's house yeast was used to ferment this beer into a dry and complex ale, different than anything you've likely had before. Talk about a crazy recipe!

As if that wasn’t enough to make this a really cool project, one dollar from each bottle sale was donated to rebuilding Japanese breweries and households that were destroyed during the 2011 Japanese earthquake.

I really enjoyed this beer, likening it to a very complex saison. The citrus and spicy notes were outstanding; mouth-feel was thin and crisp – truly a treat to drink. Perfect summer session beer, though at 8.25% ABV, it can sneak up on you in a hurry.

***FACT THAT WILL PROBABLY PISS YOU OFF*** FBBB(GQS) was created in the summer of 2011 in a very limited supply, meaning it is very hard to find now. Not only that, the breweries don’t know when (or even if) they’ll ever make more of it. So perhaps you should read this review as more of cool story about brewers being creative and raising money for noble causes than as a recommendation to scour the Earth looking for this amazing brew. I was lucky that my beautiful wife just happened upon a bottle of FBBB(GQS) at our neighborhood Total Wine one day.

Here’s to craft-brewed happiness… Cheers!

Dry-Hopping: When normal hop additions aren't enough

Like so many things in life, India Pale Ales come in all shapes and sizes. If you’re a hop-head like I am, you know how insanely hoppy IPAs can be, ranging from a mild citrusy bitterness (like Belle’s Two Hearted Ale or Stone Pale Ale) to a sharp, punch you in the teeth bitterness (like Dogfish Head’s 90 Minute IPA or Sierra Nevada’s Torpedo).

Hops, wonderful hops!

You’re probably aware that IPAs get their distinct flavors and aromas from hops. But surprisingly, it’s not all about the amount of or variety of hops the brewer uses. Equally as important as the quantity and quality is the timing at which they are added to the beer. The processes by which hops are added to beer are just as varied as the beers that rely on their flavors and aromas.

During normal brewing sessions, hops are added at least twice. The first addition occurs at the beginning of the boil to extract the alpha acids contained in hops that provide the bitter flavor needed to offset sweet barley malt in beer. Brewers also add a late hop addition in the last 5-10 minutes of the boil to enhance aroma, but even this technique loses some aromatic oils that evaporate rapidly in the boil.

Dogfish Head Craft Brewery's
"Sir Hops Alot"

But when crafting extreme IPAs and other hoppy styles, an extra shot of hops can be exactly what the doctor ordered. Enter dry hopping: a process in which hops are added to the fermenter or keg after fermentation. Dry hops add no bitterness to the beer, but the technique does add fragile aromatic oils that are normally lost in the boiling process. Dry hops are allowed to soak in the finished beer for anywhere from several days to several weeks, resulting in a burst of hoppy aroma.

This process is not something the big three commercial brewers would ever consider, but more and more craft brewers and home brewers are venturing into dry-hopping and other non-traditional hop treatments for their brews. Dogfish Head, for example, has created an invention called “Sir Hops Alot” that continuously adds hops throughout the boil. The possibilities are endless!!!

Here’s to craft-brewed happiness… Cheers!

The pursuit of the perfect porter

If there is one style of craft beer that is underrated, disrespected or even completely forgotten about, it’s the porter. I would be willing to bet that most people, if asked to name one porter, would struggle, even though you’ll probably slap yourself if I told you the obvious answer is Guinness Stout.

Tall, dark and handsome

It’s a shame because, when made correctly, the warm, rich flavors of roasted barley that are the meal ticket of a porter are so wonderful that they could arguably be called the most coveted beer flavors that one could seek. I know the hop-heads would shout “Blasphemy!!!” at even the mention of a style not known as IPA being the most coveted, but as a hop-head, I can admit that sometimes, I’d rather go dark, roasted, smoky and rich.

So what is a porter? The style originated in London in the 1730s during a volatile period in brewing history. The British Crown, outraged by the rampant use of hallucinogens in beer and its adverse effect on the overall health of society, had just outlawed all but a few ingredients that could be used in brewing. This meant that Britain needed a new beer, and with the industrial revolution in full swing, and efficient brewing practices all the rage, a new beer, brewed with dark, roasted barley malts, was what they got. A blue-collared beer for a blue-collared society.

Porter was the first “mass produced” beer style in the world – not in a Budweiser “let’s cut cost by cutting ingredients” way, but in a consistent “same result every time” assembly line way. Interestingly enough, the style never stayed the same for more than a generation, as each brewer in each brewery put his own spin on the product. This experimentation led to the creation of strong porters, otherwise known as stouts.

Before long, the English countryside favorite known as pale ale invaded the metropolitan scene and replaced porter as the new fad. The Irish took the dark style and ran with it in Ireland but the “London Porter” was all but dead.

A delicious example of an American Porter, courtesy
of the Great Lakes Brewing Co in Cleveland, OH

Fast forward a few hundred years or so and bring it across the pond to America and we have all but forgotten about these wonderful dark mysterious industrial beers. Sure, we have gotten very good at brewing up delicious stouts, and there are a few brewers here in the States that make superb porters, such as Dominion Brewing Company’s Baltic Porter and Great Lakes Brewing Company’s Edmund Fitzgerald Porter, but in reality, porter is still the proverbial undiscovered country in American brewing. Of course, if the American Pale Ale is any indication, when American brewers set out to tackle the style of porter, we will perfect it and make it “the world’s best.”

Here’s to craft-brewed happiness… Cheers!

The Brew Review: Sam Adams Alpine Spring

Alive with the
sound of music?

Today’s brew review is of the Boston Beer Company’s Sam Adams Alpine Spring Unfiltered Lager. I was excited about this because it is a new addition to the Sam Adams cavalcade of craft beers, and as I have a great deal of admiration and respect for Jim Koch and his team, new beer offerings are always a cause for excitement. It should be noted that Alpine Spring has replaced Noble Pils as Sam Adams’ spring seasonal release.

The first thing that I noticed with this beer is the strong lemon zest aroma which dominates the nose and overwhelms any other scents that would’ve otherwise been noticeable. The lemon notes continued on the front and back of my taste buds as I drank the beer, but were well-balanced by the noble Tettanang Hops and subtle malt flavors provided by the two-row barley. The mouth feel was light and crisp and color was hazy and golden, much like a Helles lager should be. My initial assessment was that it was easily drinkable and with a 5.5% ABV, it was a decent session beer.

The other thing to note on this beer is that it is unfiltered… which is becoming a major trend in the craft brewing industry. In spite of the buzz word, unfiltered beer actually is filtered, but by different processes than filtered beer. What makes it a “thing” is the enhanced flavors, aromas and appearance that not filtering everything out of beer gives the finished product. Not to mention the added nutritional benefits from leaving nutrient-rich yeast and malts in the brew.

My criticism has nothing to do with the beer, but rather with Sam Adams marketing and release schedule. Everything I thought about this beer was good until it occurred to me that it is January. This beer is well suited for spring and summer where citrus zest is a welcome aroma and flavor, but not as a winter beer. Winter beers should be heavy, malty, spicy, smoky, etc. Not light, crispy and zesty. What’s amazing to me is that they ARE marketing this beer as a spring seasonal release, but yet here I am able to purchase and drink it in January.

Aside from a confusing release party, Sam Adams Alpine Spring is good and I recommend it, though hopefully you’ll be more prepared than I was for a summer beer in winter.

Here's to craft-brewed happiness... Cheers!

Keeping your craft beer crafty: Part 1 - Storage

Just like many of us, craft beer can be high-maintenance. And just like high-maintenance people, craft beer needs to be coddled, respected and treated right. Enter the “Keeping your craft beer crafty” series, where I will give you tips on how to make sure your delicious brews stay delicious.

Best man cave ever!!!

Where should I store my beer?

There are two environmental factors that lead to premature beer death. The first is heat. Many craft beers are not pasteurized, helping them to taste fresh and more full-flavored. However, it also means that extended exposure to warm temperatures may cause them to lose their freshness (particularly if they are unfiltered). This isn’t to say that they have to be stored in a refrigerated place (like a refrigerator), but somewhere that is at room temperature or below is ideal.

The other craft beer killer is light… sunlight to be exact. Over exposure to sunlight can lead to skunky smelling beer. Brown glass bottles help mitigate this threat to an extent, but a dark place like a cellar or pantry is best for prolonging your beer’s life.

A note about aging:

They're not old; they're experienced.

There is something to be said for maturing (or aging) a strong craft beer – ales containing more than 7% ABV are best suited for this kind of thing. Be sure to store your aging beer in a cellar or cellar-like place that is around 55 degree Fahrenheit rather than an ice-cold refrigerator. Corked bottles should be kept on their side; crown-capped bottles should be stored upright.

To be continued…

 

Here’s to craft-brewed happiness… Cheers!

It's not half full; It's completely empty!!!

I don't mind an empty bottle,
as long as I get to help empty it

A few months back, a friend of mine (we’ll call him Matt) had a less than enjoyable experience with a six pack of delicious craft beer he purchased from his local grocery store. The incident occurred when he returned from the store only to find that one of the six bottles of Dominion Brewing Company’s Hop Mountain Pale Ale was completely empty. It was still sealed, but totally devoid of beer. Needless to say, Matt was beside himself and being an advocate of truth, justice and the American way, he decided to e-mail the company.

In a matter of days, Matt received a response from the company - the President and CEO of the company. Matt was told that what had happened to him was completely unacceptable and, as an apology, he was invited to tour the brewery in Dover, DE as a VIP on a Saturday morning, prior to the public tours for the day. Of course, as Matt’s beer consigliere, I was also invited to attend this event.

The Dominion/Fordham Brewery facade

The tour began at 9:30am on a Saturday when we were met at the brewery by Dominion’s bottling and packaging manager, John Novotny. After sampling three of Dominion’s and Fordham’s wonderful craft beers in the tasting room, John took us on a personal tour of their facility, explaining the process, as well as every piece of equipment, in profound detail. Along the way, we stopped back in the tasting room for refills. When the tour was over, we once again retired to the tasting room where we made sure to try all of the remaining brews they had available. The President and CEO, Jim Lutz, also showed up and asked us to try an experimental bottle of their Bourbon Stout, complete with malty vanilla and Jack Daniels notes. Of course, we had no problem accepting his offer. Before leaving, we were given complimentary Dominion and Fordham Brewing Company pint glasses and the brewery’s gratitude for continuing to be loyal customers.

This is a story that highlights a reoccurring theme in the craft brewing industry: doing right by the customers. Dominion didn’t have to do any of this. They could’ve returned Matt’s money, or sent him a free six pack of beer (they actually did send him a free six pack of beer in addition to the tour). But, unlike the big beer producers (Bud, Miller and Coors), craft brewers care about their customers and bend over backwards to make sure they remain happy with the beer. At the end of the day, I guess the glass was half full after all.

Here’s to craft-brewed happiness… Cheers!

The Digital Mash Tun

What is a mash tun?

A mash tun of the converted water cooler variety

A mash tun is a vessel used during the brewing process in which milled grain and hot water are combined, resulting in the sugars and enzymes from the grain being separated from the grains themselves. After soaking for 1-2 hours, the water, sugars and enzymes (or wort) are drained from the mash tun and boiled into delicious beer. That is a very simplified and condensed account of the actual process, but for the purposes of this blog entry, it will suffice.

In a similar process to the one described above, "Inspirations from Inside a Mash Tun," will hopefully act as a digital "vessel" in which I can combine beer stories, recipes, reviews, recommendations and other sources of beer inspiration in order to create a depository of beer enlightenment for the wandering craft beer seeking soul.

I'm a home brewer and a self-diagnosed beer geek. I have expended a lot of time and effort immersing myself in my obsession, and now I'd like to share what I've experienced with anyone willing to listen (read). I hope you find inspiration in these posts the way I have.

Here's to craft-brewed happiness... Cheers!