Und Drinken!

Guten abend meine Damen und Herren!

It’s that time of year again!  The leaves are changing, the jackets are coming out of the closet, and football season is in full swing.  More importantly though, is the fact that breweries across the country, as well as across the world, are releasing some seasonal offerings such as harvest ale, pumpkin ale, and Märzen (Oktoberfest).  Oktoberfest beer is a slightly stronger, slightly darker, and maltier version of the typical German helles (light) lager produced year-round.  The beer is often associated with a huge annual festival held in Munich in late September and early October which draws millions of people to the city each year.

While I thoroughly enjoy the seasonal change in beer styles, Autumn always seems to be the trickiest, especially when dealing with Oktoberfest and pumpkin ales.  By trickiest, I mean that it’s more difficult to find quality seasonal beer than during the other seasons.  Here are some helpful tips for the Fall to find yourself a nice beer to pair with your favorite bratwurst, schnitzel, or pumpkin pie.

1. Don’t judge a book by its cover.  By this I mean to say that you should smell, taste, and give an honest criticism of a Fall seasonal before purchasing a case of it for your friends at the next get-together.  Many pumpkin ales and Oktoberfests will have very well-designed labels that might make you disregard the fact that they are mediocre at best.  Try beers out on draft at your local pubs or look for liquor stores that sell beer in singles.

2. DO judge a book by its cover.  There are certain things that you can look for on a beer label to help you determine if it’s what you’re looking for.  For example, good Oktoberfest should be slightly stronger than its equivalent year-round lighter version.  Somewhere in the 5.5 – 6.0 % alcohol by volume can be a marker of a decent Oktoberfest.  With pumpkin ale, make sure you know what the alcohol by volume is before you buy it.  If it’s an “imperial” pumpkin ale it will probably weigh in somewhere between 8 – 11% a.b.v. This type of beer is much better suited to pumpkin pie and other seasonal desserts, while lower strength pumpkin ale will be better paired with your appetizer and entrée courses.  Also be sure to look out for the elusive “natural flavor”.  Pumpkin ale should be brewed with real pumpkin and spices such as cinnamon and nutmeg.  Normally these ingredients are listed on the label.  Pumpkin ale with “natural flavor” is nothing more than beer with a shot of syrup meant to taste like pumpkin pie.

3. Be a patriot.  Although I haven’t drank Märzen beer in Germany, I’ve drunk plenty of other German styles in the few times I’ve travelled overseas.  Having compared them to the German beers that are exported to the United States, my conclusion is that German beer is much fresher and significantly more delicious when drank on German soil.  For whatever reason, the German beers that show up on American shelves are often a disappointment.  However, many American craft brewers make spectacular examples of traditional German styles, and there is a much better chance that you’ll find a solid Märzen from an American brewer.  There have been too many times where I’ve found myself questioning why the German bottle in front of me reminds me more of an American macro than a handcrafted beer.

Hopefully this information will help my readers make informed decisions on what to drink and serve to their guests at the myriad social events taking place during this season.

Prost!

Atlantic City Beer Festival part II: After

Hello there!

After promising myself I would blog about the AC beer festival many times, I finally decided to do it as promised in my previous entry.

I arrived at the 2011 Atlantic City Beer Festival “Celebration of the Suds” very excited around 12pm on April 2nd and ready for an afternoon of deliciousness.  I brought a small notepad so that I could jot down my impressions of each beer and remember them later.  This was  very good idea since by the end of the festival I wasn’t interested in remembering much!

I’ll begin with an overview:

The event was held in the Atlantic City Convention Center, which is pretty gigantic.   There must have been at least 50 breweries represented.  Most were American, but some were representing foreign companies.   I sampled 21 different beers, trying to stay away from familiar ones as much as possible.  I’m going to save my readers the tedious task of reading all 21 notebook entries, and I’ll stick with describing the standouts.

There were a handful of beers that made a great impression on me throughout the course of this festival.  Dog Schwarz from Flying Dog Brewery (Frederick, MD) is similar to a German-style rauchbier; they call it a “smoked double lager” and it is excellent.  It has a lovely smoked character to it as well as a creamy texture and a nice roasty finish.  This beer would definitely pair well with smoked meats and cheeses.

The most surprising beer for me was definitely Brùton di Brùton from Birrificio Brùton (S.Cassiano di Moriano, Lucca, Toscana, Italy).  This beer doesn’t exactly fit a precise style, but it closely resembles a Belgian witbier.  It has a lovely spice character in the nose, decently bready body, and a lingering spicy, citrusy finish.  It’s great to see Italy finally producing (and exporting!) beers of great quality.

While I’m discussing European beers, I should bring up 5 am Saint from Brewdog (Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire, Scotland).  This beer is identified as a  ”Hoppy Red Ale”.  According to my notes, it shows its European character by not letting the hops overwhelm the malt, but instead balance it wonderfully.  The hops were felt mostly in the floral aroma and lingering finish.

Getting back to our side of the pond,  Boston based Harpoon’s Imperial IPA from its “Leviathan” series was a standout even among a market saturated with double IPA’s.  Other double IPA’s such as  Mojo Risin’  from Boulder Beer and Gubna from Oskar Blue’s both represented their home state of Colorado very well.  The three aforementioned beers in this paragraph showed me that the style formerly known as a punch in the face can actually show some excellent balance and refinement.   Bravi!

Last, but certainly not least among my standouts is another beer from Colorado: Avery’s White Rascal.  White Rascal is a Belgian style witbier with a beautifully spiced aroma, a crisp, bubbly mouthfeel and a lovely spicy finish.

The festival lasted about 4 hours and was absolutely worth the price of admission.  I encourage anybody on the fence about attending this type of event to go ahead and buy your tickets.  Beer lovers will not be dissapointed.

Until next time, stay thirsty my friends!

 

 

Atlantic City Beer Festival part I: before

Good evening fellow publicans!  It’s been a bit since my last blog post, but i’ve been inspired to write some more since I’ll be attending my first official beer festival tomorrow afternoon.  The 2011 Atlantic City Beer Festival, or “Celebration of the Suds”, is the 6th annual festival of its kind.  The festival is actually beginning tonight (Friday April 1st) but I purchased my ticket for tomorrow April 2nd.  After skimming the website, I found that there are going to be at least 50 breweries represented (mostly domestic) as well as music performances and demonstrations on various beery topics. 

I’m definitely going to try as many beers as possible in the 4 hours allotted, but it’s going to be a task to not get obliterated so that I can still remember which beers stand out and take notes if necessary.  Anytime that you’re drinking many different beers of varying styles, it’s important to remember that your palate will change slightly with every beer you drink.  For example, if your first five samples are very hoppy India Pale Ales, and then you go for a Belgian witbier, you might be slightly dissapointed.  All that hops will be lingering on the back of your tongue and it will distort the flavor nuances of the witbier (or other styles that don’t have prominent hop profiles such as Scotch ale, Irish stout, or some barleywines) 

The way certain beers affect people may differ, as we are all individuals with various preferences and biological makeups.  That being said, I would certainly suggest to anybody thinking about taking beer seriously to think about what the best lineup is for you.  I know that if I have 5 different beer styles that I want to taste over the course of an evening, I’m going to have them in a specific order to maximize the enjoyment of each.  Whether you’re at a beer festival or at a bar with a bunch of friends, this will help make your overall experience more enjoyable.

In a very general sense, the succession of a stylistically varied beery evening should go from weakest to strongest.  This applies mainly to alcohol by volume of each beer (abv) but it also applies to flavor profiles such as hops, malt, spices, and non-malt sweetness such as the addition of fruit or chocolate.    Just like the typical multi-course meal may begin with a salad, roasted or grilled meats as a main course, and end with desserts, a well-designed beer lineup should do the same.  Begin with lower alcohol, low hop profile, usually lighter colored beers (i.e. pilsner, witbier, hefeweizen, dry Irish stout)  In the middle you may want to introduce some stronger hops and stronger malt backbone which typically produces a beer darker in color (i.e. American pale ale, India pales ale, oatmeal stout).  Towards the end of your evening (or afternoon) you want to bring out the big guns.  These will be the strongest beers in alcohol and flavor, and include many different styles such as imperial stout, Scotch ale, imperial or double India pale ale, barleywine, and Belgian style trappist ale. 

There will always be variables in every situation because there are countless ingredients that can be used to make beer, and therefore countless resultant flavors.  That being said, the information above serves as a general guide for those who are interested in improving their drinking experiences.  I hope this ends up being helpful to readers, and I will report on my experience at the AC beer festival in my next post. 

For those interested, May 14 2011 will be the second Beer tasting and pairing at the beautiful Stockton Inn in Stockton, NJ.  The first tasting, which featured 9 different Stouts, was a great success and we immediately scheduled this second event.  The tasting in May will feature beers from New Jersey’s breweries and brewpubs. 

Cheers!

Beer In Review

After reading the latest issue of Beer Advocate magazine, I thought it would be nice to discuss the Top 25′s of 2010 listed towards the back of the issue. 

TOP BEERS OF 2010:

The first thing I noticed when reading this list is that the collective American palate (or at least that of the beeradvocate.com voters) favors strong ales.  Out of 25 selections, 10 are listed as some form of Imperial Stout, 8 fall under the strong ale/barleywine category, 5 are IPAs, and the remaining two are Ryes.  The average alcohol by volume is 10.06%, and not a single one is bottom fermented. 

Having subscribed to Beer Advocate for two years now, I happen to have the same list from 2009.  It reads very similarly, with 10 Imperial Stouts on the list.  The main difference between the top beers of 2010 and 2009 is that while 2009 had 8 foreign beers represented, 2010 had only one on its list.  This leads me to one of two possible conclusions: a. the American palate is becoming more patriotic, or b. American brewers are producing even better beers than they were last year. 

I think conclusion b is more likely, since even in the past year we’ve seen breweries putting out more creative and experimental brews than were found in ’09.  While there is certainly credit to be given to the traditional brewing nations across the pond, Americans are perfecting the same styles on our own soil and then some. 

Top Brewers of 2010:

I am very happy to see that every brewery on this list is American. (can you tell I’m feeling patriotic tonight?)  Last year’s list had the great Samuel Smith Old Brewery from England as its only foreign brewery.  10 breweries remained in the top 25 from last year, notably Russian River (CA), which moved from the #4 spot to the #2 spot.  There are 15 breweries that are new to this list, which says to me that the diversity of American craft beer is still increasing.  We should be very thankful to all the young brewers doing great things in this country.  Even though the craft beer renaissance has been going strong for many years now, new breweries are sprouting up all over the place and they are still raising the already high standards of quality and creativity.  I would like to raise my glass to the American brewer. 

Top 25 Places to Have a Pint:

This list has changed the least in the past year.  I can understand how this is possible due to local customer loyalty.  Being a faithful publican myself, I can understand how many people can be drawn to the same establishment on a regular basis.  Kudos to Monk’s Cafe in Philadelphia, Spuyten Duyvil in Brooklyn, and the Blind Tiger in Manhattan for making the list again.  I encourage those of you in the New York/Philly metro area to make the pilgrimage to these bars. 

Top 25 “Light” Lagers:

This category was not included in last year’s review, and I’m glad that they decided to include this category and represent the session beers that have just as much value but don’t get as much credit as the big boys.  My favorite part of this list is #5 – Samuel Adams Noble Pils.  When I first tried this beer last spring I was ecstatic because I thought it was one of the best pilsners I’ve ever tasted.  For something like this to come from Boston Beer is great because it will help to ween the American macro drinker off the usual suspects and onto something of quality.  Because it’s the largest of the American craft breweries, (close to 2 million barrels per year)  and it is distributed almost everywhere that you see Bud, Miller, and Coors, Sam Adams has always been my go-to “gateway beer”.  Because it’s very easy to find and many of the styles are familiar and not too far from what people are used to, it can be a very good way to get your friends to see the light.

New Jersey Shout-outs:

Being a proud New Jerseyan, I couldn’t resist putting in my two cents about our great state.  The craft beer scene in New Jersey has been behind its neighbors Pennsylvania and New York for some time.  That being said, I would like to point out some cool stuff happening here.  First off, I must acknowledge and congratulate Flying Fish brewing company for their Exit series.  For those who may be unaware, Flying Fish (Cherry Hill) launched their Exit series of limited release beers sometime in 2009.  Six beers have been released, each corresponding to an exit on the New Jersey Turnpike, and they have all been excellent.  Exit 16 (Double IPA) made the list at #23 best beers of 2010 and Exit 11 (Hoppy American Wheat) made the Alstrom Bros. list of beers in 2009.  Also, High Point Brewing in Butler should be recognized for ranking #21 on the top brewers list of 2010.  Before I sign off, I would also like to point out that New Jersey Beer Company (North Bergen) has opened for business.  I have yet to try their product, but I am eager to see what the newest brewery in NJ has to offer.  Cheers to the Garden State.

Stout, Stout, Stout….pt. 3

I talked about the origins of Imperial Stout in my previous post, and I want to discuss two other sub-categories of stout here.  These two are dry stout (or Irish stout) and sweet stout (or milk stout, or oatmeal stout).  I’ll start with dry stout since it’s very familiar to most.  Dry stout is so called because of its flavor profile.  It is made with roasted malt that imparts a roasted flavor note (think roasted coffee).  It is typically a very clean beer with a dry finish, hence the name.  Dry stout is definitely an Irish style, as produced by the most famous brewers in Ireland (namely Guinness, Beamish, and Murphy’s).  Dry stout is usually between 4 and 6 percent alcohol by volume, and has many fewer calories than most people may think. 

Despite what may seem like a market entirely dominated by Guinness and its Irish runners-up, there are many delicious dry stouts being made by craft brewers in the United States.  If you’re feeling adventurous, ask your local liquor store if they carry any craft brewed stouts.  In my home state of New Jersey, I have been pleased to see an increase in the number of liquor stores that carry a wide range of craft beer in the past few years.  If your go-to store doesn’t carry more than a handful of brands, try asking around.  Bartenders and fellow publicans will usually be able to steer you in the right direction.  Dry stout is excellent with raw oysters, and typical Irish fare such as shepherd’s pie or beef stew. 

If you have only had dry stout in the past, sweet stout may seem like a strange concept.  The differences are subtle, yet noticeable.  First of all, let me clear up the name game for you.  Sweet stouts are also known as milk stouts or oatmeal stouts.  The reason some are called milk stouts is because they have lactose sugar added, which the yeast does not like to eat.  The lactose sugar imparts a milky sweet flavor and a milky texture which reminds the drinker of milk.  Oatmeal stouts are so called because they have a percentage of oats added to the traditional barley mixture.  Oats impart a slightly different flavor, but their main contribution to the beer is textural (think oatmeal).  When boiled, oats become thicker and stickier than other grains, and in your glass this translates into a very thick and creamy texture that is quite lovely.  Sweet stout is supposed to be excellent with mexican style mole sauces, wild game, and light chocolate mousse cakes. 

So we have covered some information about different kinds of stouts.  My goal here is to show that stout is not just stout.  There are many different kinds of stout, all with their individual flavor profiles and suggested food pairings.  Luckily for the consumer (you and I) beer labels are very straightforward, and knowing the names of the styles will help you know what to expect.  That being said, this is the perfect time of year to try different stouts.  If you live in New Jersey like I do, you may get snowed in several more times before this winter is over.  After you spend hours outside shoveling your driveways, put your fuzzy slippers on, sit down on your comfy couch and drink a delicious bottle of your favorite stout….I certainly will.    Cheers.

Stout, Stout, Stout….I love Stout pt. 2

Hello folks.  Here is the second installment of my stout post.  I left off talking about how American craft brewers have really embraced the stouts that came from across the pond.  While European beers in a general sense tend to favor a nice balance of flavors with no one character or flavor profile sticking out, American versions of stout tend to be, well, very American.  What I mean to say is that like most things American, American stouts tend to be bigger than their European counterparts.  The greatest difference is in the style known as Imperial Stout.

Imperial Stout is so called because of historical events.  When the English began to export stout to the Czar’s court, they soon realized that the (back then) long journey was too much for the beer to handle, and it arrived completely sour.  English brewers soon figured out that by raising the strength of the beer using more fermentable sugars, it could survive the long journey.  This was the creation of the first (Russian) Imperial Stout.  Fast forward a few centuries, and American brewers begin to take Imperial to another level.  Most American craft brewers make at least one Imperial Stout, and it is not uncommon to see the average one weighing in between 9-10% alcohol by volume.  Because of their tendency to have notes of chocolate and coffee, these beers find the perfect partner in your favorite, most decadent dessert.

Stout, Stout, Stout…I love stout pt. 1

In preparing for my upcoming beer event at the beautiful Stockton Inn in Stockton, NJ, I have been revisiting the wide world of stouts at my favorite beer stores up here in Northern New Jersey.  In limiting myself to drinking all stout, all the time, I’ve really been able to get to know a style of beer that has very often been misunderstood.  Stout is big, rich, bold, roasted, chocolatey, dark, velvety, and a host of other adjectives.  One of the common misconceptions about stout is that because it’s a dark beer it is also high in alcohol.  In fact, some of the strongest beers in the world are yellow to reddish-amber in color, and there are certainly many “dark” beers that weigh in at 5% abv or below. 

The beer style that we know as stout today originated in the United Kingdom in the late 1700′s.  Back then, one of the most popular styles in England was called porter, a dark beer that had flavor profiles of roasted coffee and chocolate.  Some breweries began to brew an even darker, thicker version of porter that they called stout porter.  As one can guess, stout caught on as an extremely popular style and later on was simply referred to by its first name.  So today we have stout. 

The English and the Irish do love their stout, and it is no surprise that the most popular stout in the UK (Guinness) is the most popular stout in the United States, which was flooded with Irish Immigrants throughout its history.  When the beer renaissance was in full swing in the US (roughly the mid 90′s) many craft brewers began to brew stouts in the Irish tradition.  Today there are more than one thousand breweries in the United States, and a vast majority of them brew some form of stout.  Stay tuned for pt. 2