DUST BOWL BEER

Okay, I do not want this to be a downer, but reality reveals the economy has come up short and money continues to dry up and blow away. Not good for the quality beer drinker, who see their favorite brands being yanked up up a dollar or more, and this being a dusty summer, what can a thirsty seeker do? Well, first there is the inexpensive beers: mostly adjunct grain lagers, sometimes with added ferment-ables, or ice brewed, for a bit more of a kick. Then there are those renowned retrospective classics: Pabst Blue Ribbon, Burger Classic, Old Milwaukee, etc… forget the aesthetics of glass bottles, the aluminum can will have to do. Despite the disparaging of beer in a can, the Ball corporation produces what is undoubtedly one the most efficient packages in the world, with a water based coating that completely eliminates the possibility of any metallic flavor, since the beer never actually touches the aluminium.
Beer is somewhat expensive in the state of Ohio. For economic classification, I’ll start with beer that costs 50 cents for twelve ounces. This of course includes those 24 ounce dollar cans, which of late includes Icehouse, Labatt Blue and Labatt Ice. After that there is the one dollar for twelve ounces tier, which includes $2 “oil cans” of Foster’s, the one time Aussie beer now brewed in Georgia and Texas. Also a 24 ounce bottle of Samuel Adams Boston Lager, which is the least expensive of their entire line.
Budweiser American Ale fits into this group, a twenty two ounce bottle for $1.79.
The first part of this summer has been economically tough, from county property taxes to tires for the family car. There other personal family catastrophes that I will not bore you with. Suffice to say that when I dropped in at my local beer store a few weeks back, the owner pointed to the recently acquired Anchor Summer Beer, which I replied, after noticing the $10 price tag, “No, I can’t do that, that is way above my pay grade.”
Which brings up a recent incident with Pyramid Breweries Curve Ball, a one time Kolsch-style summer ale that now sports new urban graphic packaging. But the beer itself incredibly, was absolutely awful. The package claims the beer is “a deceptively delicious diversion”… think again sports fans. The other sting to this was that Curve Ball retails at $9.57, tax included. Nothing bites like losing money on a very lame beer.

Imagine The Surprize

Fifteen years ago when the craft brew world was starting to go into orbit, few at the time would have imagined that the orbit is permanent, or L5 as they say. Recently sampling  Great Lakes Grassroots Ale, I was struck by the fact a brewery located in Cleveland, Ohio could produce an herbal farmhouse style of ale, found in Belgian and French farms, and somewhat rare, even in their countries of origin. Mind you, it is not my favorite beer, but the Belgian yeast strain, combined with the herbs, keep this in authentic context. On the bottle’s label, it is referred to as a mild ale, which when you see that it is 6.2% abv, they are using the term mild in the Belgian sense of the word. In British vocabulary this ale would be deemed strong.
But there is certainly something to be said about sitting in the backyard, on one of the warmest days so far this year, amidst abundant foliage and sunlight, and pouring this beautiful golden ale into what could be rightfully called a performance ale glass,  which exhibits this beer in all its saison glory.

Brewers in the United States are very interested in all different styles of beer. Take Andygator from The Abita Brewing Company in Louisiana. A big southern take on the traditional German Mai bock. Packaged into a 22oz bottle (a bomber as the beer crowd calls it) this 8% golden boy, is most definitely a bottle for two. If you open this while alone, well its time to get happy and responisble ( by not performing any tasks that require responsibility). Time to sit back and enjoy the malty golden nectar.
Which brings me to a point I would like to make. As The Beer Doctor, I was schooled in tasting by Beer Hound James D. Robertson, who taught me as a taster, its my job to meet any beer’s recipe halfway. In other words, if I am sampling a beer brewed with corn grits, say Straub or Pabst for example, I am not going to compare it with an all malt recipe. To say that beers made with adjunct grains are inferior is to deny the history of brewing (especially in the United States) that brought them about. Whether it is macrobrews or craft brewed, these marketing terms are incredibly overrated, because in truth, it is the recipe that counts, and how it is put into production. Of course branding has something to say, when it comes to satisfying the ticklish consumer palate. That is why Heineken Lager is sold in green bottles. Why Corona is sold as some fantasy beach vacation, rather than the dull migrant cooler that it actually is. Stella Artois is another marketing coup, taking a rather common table lager from Belgium, and making it “Reassuringly Expensive” as it was touted in England up until a couple of years ago.
The price of beer is often used as a way to determine the quality of the beer. After many years in the trenches, so to speak, I can assure the dear reader that this is not so. But people believe what they want to believe, so I am not at all surprised  when I observe someone forking out serious dough, for a six pack of something I would consider not worth buying at half the prize. Such is essential human freedom, and bless us all for deciding what each of us  wants to drink.
The recipe is the thing that will catch the conscience of The Beer Doctor. Whether it is new world or old world or downright acrchaic (such as brew lagered for months in stone caves). If it tastes good or interesting, it is going to be counted. Cheers!