Beer festival horror story

Posted In Beer culture at   

The way blogs work, the most recent article goes on top, so you might see this first, but perhaps you should read “On beer festival season” first.

If that didn’t scare you a little when thinking about beer festivals, this will. Donovan Hall of Spirit World describes his effort to get into the Long Island Beer Festival:

When we get to the Huntington Hilton, we can hear the roar of conversation. The convivial banter of hundreds of people in an outdoor space drinking beer. Through the windows I can see wall to wall people inside, jam packed like commuters on a bus at rush hour. My wife and I head toward the door and a bald guy in a blue sport coat steps up making a sawing motion with his hands like some quarter back had just made an incomplete pass. “If you’re going to the beer festival, there’s no more tickets,” he says.

“But I have tickets,” I say. And I hold up my two tickets to prove it.

“Doesn’t matter,” he says. “They aren’t letting anybody else in. There’s too many people inside already.”

“But I paid $90 for these tickets,” I say.

“Too bad,” he says. “Nobody else can go in.”

Hall didn’t get in. He didn’t get a refund. That doesn’t mean he won’t, but don’t you think these promoters would have realized more than 1,000 people were likely to show up?

On beer festival season

Posted In Beer culture at   

Writing in his blog, Brew Confessions Tom Baker of Heavyweight Brewing writes that beer festival season can go on without Heavyweight.

. . . most of even the well-run fests are no longer sampling events. They are merely opportunities to get pie-eyed on 35 dollars. I don’t know, maybe I’ve just gotten grumpier and crotchety in my old age. I just long for the days in my myopic memory, when festival attendees asked about the beers and styles and cautioned me about pouring a small sample so they could enjoy the rest of the fest. Or maybe that was a dream I had last night.

He finds a balance in his post, pointing out that there are still good festivals, and that some of this may be personal fatigue.

But he leaves you something to think about.

Nine good reasons to drink beer

Posted In Beer culture at   

The Publican reports that many health benefits of moderate beer drinking are unique to beer.

At a conference in Brussels, a researcher said: “The media and public tend to focus on wine. However, the emerging evidence is the real benefits are related to the alcohol itself and so the positive story also relates to other drinks such as beer.”

The researchers noted that moderate beer drinking:

– Reduces the risk of heart disease
– Helps keep blood pressure down and reduce the risk of stroke
– Benefits the immune system meaning healthy adults are less prone to get infections
– Has anti-inflammatory effects which contributes to heart health
– Could play a role in the battle against osteoporosis as it
– Improves bone mineral density which contributes to healthy bones
– Helps fight cancer because of compounds in hops called flavinoids
– Decreases the risk of dementia due to its beneficial effect on preserving brain function in old age
– Can protect against type II diabetes.

Beer Hunter’s book wins Beard award

Posted In Beer culture at   

Congratualtions to Michael Jackson (aka The Beer Hunter) for winning the prestigious James Beard book award for Whiskey : The Definitive World Guide.

It won in the wine and spirits category, besting the much talked about Emperor of Wine.

Whiskey will remind you a little of Jackson’s Beer Companion, which we always thought should have won a similar award. Problem is that the publisher didn’t nominate it.

A-B’s hometown winners

Posted In Beers at   

Following up on the Anheuser-Busch initiative that let drinkers in Ohio and New England choose a beer that A-B would brew for regional distribution.

The winning “hometown beers”:

In Ohio, Burnin’ Helles – “This rich and malty Bock-style lager will tempt you as it showcases the finest domestic malts and the best hand-picked Bavarian Hallertau hops. It’s a true salute to more than 200 years of Ohio’s proud brewing tradition. This beer will appeal to those who have ‘a bit of a devil in you.’ (6.3% alcohol by volume)”

In New England, Demon’s Hop Yard IPA – “Incredibly ‘hopped-up’ and citrusy ale — using domestically grown hops varietals to get the rich and robust flavor. Only one place in New England could provide us with hops this diabolical. (7% alcohol by volume)”

The beers are scheduled to go on tap June 26.

Schell Dark enjoys revival

Posted In Beers, Breweries at   

Schell Dark is udergoing a bit of a revival in Minnesota’s Twin Cities. Call it a retro Pabst-related dark beer thing.

Launched in the 1970s, Schell’s Dark is what co-owner Marti describes as a drinkable dark beer. It’s sweet, smooth and creamy and lacks the bitterness that some dark beers have.

It’s done well with what advertising types call “independent influentials,” those who shun mainstream brands and embrace classics or originals. “There’s a group of people who like to discover old brands or unique brands that have a quirkiness to them,” said an agency account supervisor.

Schell certainly qualifies as an old brand. The New Ulm brewery is the second oldest still operating in the U.S.

[Via Minneapolis-St Paul Business Journal – free registration]

Wisconsin’s Capital needs more room

Posted In Breweries at   

With sales of Capital’s Island Wheat soaring, Capital Brewery in Wisconsin needs to expand. For now that means adding on to its current facility in Middleton.

Long term?

“It’s somewhere down the road,” brewery president Carl Nolen said. “It could be a year from now or three years from now. The way craft brewing is going these days, you just never know.”

Capital production rose 10% in 2005, to more than 16,000 barrels.

[Via The Capital Times]

Chipotle Ale for Cinco de Mayo

Posted In Beers at   

And who doesn’t think of beer when it comes to Cinco de Mayo? It seems every brewery in the world large enough to have an advertising budget has suggested we drink its beer Saturday.

The San Francisco Chronicle has another suggestion: Rogue Chipotle Ale.

As the story notes “Rogue Chipotle Ale certainly does (go with food), with its smoky, subtly peppery palate matching the heat and spice of chile-based cuisine.”

Bottom line: Don’t try to down the heat on Saturday, pick a beer that stands up to it.

Lambics gone wild

Posted In Beers at   

Today a New York Times (free registration) tasting panel tackles lambic beers from Belgium.

Eric Asimov writes:

If you have explored beer and decided it’s not for you, well, I toast your open mind. But if you have exiled beers to parts unknown, I have a radical proposal: Take the time to seek out and try a few lambic beers from Belgium and tell me if these are not as complex and distinctive as many fine wines.

What makes this radical? Even many beer drinkers know little about lambic beer. It’s perhaps the most unusual beer around, truly made in the old-fashioned way. It is not at all easy to find. You will most likely have to seek out a shop specializing in great beers of the world, but I assure you it is worth the effort.

The panel breaks the beers into three categories. Favorites among the gueuze category are Cantillon Organic Gueuze and Lindemans Gueuze Cuvée René, both receiving three stars (out of four). Top dry fruit lambics: Cantillon Lou Pepe Kriek 2003 and Hanssens Oude Kriek, both with three-and-a-half stars.

Asimov touches on the issue of tradition when introducing the sweet fruit lambics.

Now here’s the sticky part, and the reason I hedged before in terming all these beers lambic. As in any community of passionate devotees, serious debate rages over what constitutes authentic lambic beer. This debate focuses on the most popular style, which has penetrated the beer market right down to the deli level. I’m speaking of the sweet fruit lambic beers, which often depart from the traditional methods by adding fruit juice or syrup to the brew, resulting in a sweet, sometimes cloying beer.

The favorite was De Troch Apricot Chapeau (three-and-a-half stars).

A-B goes it alone

Posted In Breweries at   

The Associated Press examines why no other breweries are supporting Anheuser-Busch’s “Here’s to Beer” campaign.

Anheuser-Busch initially touted its “Here’s to Beer” campaign as a way for beer companies to set aside their differences and fight the common enemy of wine and spirits. The St. Louis brewer even sent a vice president around the country to drum up support for the campaign.

The response has been flat. No other brewer has pitched in money to help the effort. The Beer Institute trade group yanked its logo off the campaign after the first television ad ran during the Super Bowl.

“The reality of it is, this program really doesn’t need brewer support,” A-B vice president bob Lachky told the AP. “We kind of always envisioned this thing as being an Anheuser-Busch-led initiative.”

CAMRA picks best cider, perry

Posted In Beers at   

The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) today announced the winners of its search for the best real cider and perry in the UK.

The winners are:

Cider: Hecks Kingston Black – Somerset

Perry: Seidr Dai – Cardiff

Gillian Williams, CAMRA’s Director of Cider and Perry campaigning said: “Commercial ciders are enjoying something of a boon at the moment thanks to lavish advertising, but it should not be forgotten that exceptionally high quality real cider is still being made all over the UK. Just squeeze the juice out of the fruit and leave to ferment naturally. At its best it is a wonderful drink allowing the true fruit flavour to come through to the full.

Visit CAMRA for complete results.

And the light beer winner is . . .

Posted In Beers at   

In the name of public service, Channel 3 in Philadelphia compares light beers, enlisting beer columnist Don Russell to conduct a blind tasting with his neighbors.

Could they offer a solid consensus?

Our taste testers were pretty much evenly split, preferring the Miller, Heineken and Amstel Lite beers.

Only America’s number one selling beer, Bud Light failed to get a thumbs up.

Until somebody tells us the best light beer to drink we’ll have to stay with something heavier.

Meet the hoppier Budweiser

Posted In Beers, Breweries at   

The headline on the front page of the Wall Street Journal – “After Making Beer Ever Lighter, Anheuser Faces a New Palate” – nicely summarizes the story.

Alas, the link will work only if you are a subscriber, so you might want to look for today’s WSJ on the news stand.

Briefly, some of the revelations:

– From 1950 to 2004, the amount of malt used to brew a barrel of beer in the U.S. declined by nearly 27%, and the amount of hops in a barrel of beer declined by more than half. Part of that decrease is due to improvements in how brewers extract flavor from hops. Nonetheless, beer’s taste became steadily lighter.

– Over the past 20 years the IBU’s of most American-style lagers has declined from roughly 15-20 IBU’s to fewer than 10 today.

– Doug. Muhleman, A-B’s group vice president for brewing and technology, says the company didn’t set out to make the beers less bitter. He calls the change “creep,” the result of endlessly modifying the beer to allow for changes in ingredients, weather and consumer taste.

– In the early 1980s, August Busch III ordered that freshly brewed cans of Budweiser and Bud Light be cryogenically frozen, using technology typically employed in preserving human tissue. That means A-B employees can sit down and taste how Budweiser might have changed. For the story, Busch was able to taste cans from 1982, 1988, 1993, 1998 and 2003.

The sample cans demonstrate how “creep” works, the story explains. The difference in taste between two beers brewed five years apart is indistinguishable. Yet, the difference between the 1982 beer and the 2003 beer is distinct. “The bones are the same. It is the same structure,” Muhleman said. Overall, however, “the beers have gotten a little less bitter.”

Now, here’s the news:

“In a little-noticed move Anheuser is loath to discuss, the brewer recently added more hops to its beer.”

From the Journal:

Anheuser didn’t talk publicly about it, but the brewer also recently made changes in its brewing process to correct for over-lightening. In August 2003, Mr. Busch met with hops growers in Oregon and Washington and told them that Anheuser was planning to increase the proportion of hops used in its beers, according to several people who were there.

Mr. Busch confirms the account, saying in a written statement: “I told the growers of our desire to use more hops in our brewing for the purpose of delivering more amplitude and hop flavor in Budweiser.”

How abut that?