There Is No Such Thing As Too Much Beer
15 Sep 2011 1 Comment
in american ale, anheuser-busch, Anniversary Ale, beck's, Beck's Oktoberfest, beer, Beer Advocate, budweiser, craft beer line, feastive ale, Goose Island, Hudepohl Festival Bock, Hudepohl Oktoberfest Bier, InBev, nut brown ale, oatmeal stout, Shiner Oktoberfest, Spoetzl Brewery, St. Arnold Brewery
The science of tasting beer can be a hilarious subject. Take a look at members’ reviews over at Beer Advocate, where some brews are hailed as the second coming, while others, for the crime of being produced by companies owned by international corporations are banished to the outer darkness, the unholy ones, as it were. All of this of course, is quite arbitrary, especially when beloved breweries, such as The Goose Island Beer Company in Chicago, receive an Anheuser-Busch Inbev offer they could not refuse.
It should be noted that Goose Island chose to discontinue producing their Nut Brown Ale and Oatmeal Stout before the acquisition. Their concentration on the beer connoisseur segment of business, emphasizing expensive, oak barrel aged products, seemed far away, from the Goose Islands I sampled in the last century, which were modestly priced ales of great character. Such is the nature of change, as the old cliché goes. But one thing I do hope for, is that Goose Island returns to bottling their Christmas Ale into 12 ounce bottles, instead of the 22ounce version, given the silly name of bomber, so in vogue with the craft beer crowd. With a few exceptions, most bombers means you are going to spend a lot of money for 22ounces of beer. Three $9 bombers means you are paying $27 for a five and a half pack of beer. I gather that many believe that this leads to a superior drinking experience. Equally, many believe that if a beer is modestly priced, it must not be good, and many a fine recipe is dismissed because it is not expensive enough. Delegating many tasty recipes to condescending terms such as a good gateway beer.
I bring all of this up because of recent tastings of different Oktoberfest beers, which are popping up everywhere. Take Beck’s Oktoberfest from Bremen, Germany. A fest beer given the Oktoberfest designation in the United States, since only the brews within the city limits of Munich are allowed to use the name in Germany. Beck’s, now a part of the Inbev global portfolio, still makes a very tasty Marzen lager for fall, using only the four classic ingredients.
Or take Shiner Oktoberfest, probably the lightest take on Marzen. Where a doughy palate is simple and direct. The 96 Anniversary recipe, called a seasonal ale on the bottle. But this is where geography plays into the picture. The Spoetzl Brewery, being in Shiner, Texas, has to designate any beer above a certain alcohol level as ale, regardless of the fermentation method. The geographic location also helps explain why this recipe has a lighter approach: it gets very hot in Texas. Different parts of the country have different requirements. There is certainly room enough for all to be enjoyed. 
When Cold Beer Counts
10 Aug 2011 Leave a Comment
in anheuser-busch, Avery, beer, brooklyn lager, budweiser, heineken, InBev, stella artois, Uncategorized
There is a famous scene in the John Cassavettes movie Gloria where Gena Rowlands, walks into a bar in the morning hours and asks for a beer. “What kind?” the bartender asks. Which Gloria (Ms. Rowlands) replies: “Cold.”
I didn’t fully appreciate this until after 16 days of plus 90 degree temperatures. In such a climate, “cold” is the most important attribute. In the hot summer sun, beer in a can seems quite suitable, so I have to laugh when the so-called craft brewing world announces the craft can revolution. Which I gather provides an excuse to sell their crafted creations in aluminum, dispensing with the notion that beer is always better in glass bottles.
There is of course resistance to that notion among those taught that glass was the last word in beer packaging. Brown glass bottles has always been a selling point with Samuel Adams, who so far have resisted the craft can revolution. A movement that now includes Avery, Brooklyn, Abita, and many others.
This is also where the marketing distinctions become a bit of a blur. In fact the term craft beer seems a useless designation, unless it simply means more expensive beer ($18 for a six-pack of cans?). And now the game is afoot, to convince all those glass bottle drinkers, that beer in a can can be just as good, after all those years of complaining about ‘metallic taste’.
It would be interesting to have a blind taste test to determine if you can actually taste the difference. Much packaging depends on psychology. How else can it be explained why so much time and resources is devoted to finding the right button to push? There is a dirt into gold aspect to this. Back in the 1980′s, the Mexican migrant worker cooler known as Corona became the sought after yuppie drink of choice, knocking off Heineken from its throne as the Number 1, U.S. imported beer.
This marketing coup was upstaged by another when Stella Artois, makers of a Belgian working class lager convinced the world, or at least the part that had money to spend, that Stella is a fine representative of “cinema, cuisine and culture”.
It should also be noted that Heineken, Stella Artois, and Corona are all available in bottles and cans. International branding doesn’t want to miss an opportunity. The redesign of AB Inbev’s Budweiser logo is a good case in point. Heineken pull tabs on their cans are green, Budweiser’s are red. Obviously, package design is enormously important, although the vast majority of consumers hardly even consider it. Marketing beer at this scale very often means promoting an imaginary lifestyle. Its not just beer, you might say, but a way of life.
The Meaning of Pure Beer
01 Dec 2010 1 Comment
in american ale, anheuser-busch, beer, Beer Advocate, craft beer line, dogfish head, Fritz Maytag, hudepohl amber
I recently ruffled some feathers over at Beer Advocate when I invoked class warfare by stating that anyone who spent $44 for a 22 ounce bottle of Goose Island Bourbon Stout was a fool. What the hell do I know? other than having a working class appreciation of this ancient beverage, I know nothing about matching cigars with beer. Cigars? Nicotine poison combined with liquid bread? Thanks but no thanks. Whether it is some successful business type cleverly able to manipulate the money supply, so they can live out La Dolce Vita, or Brooklyn brew master Garrett Oliver; if you think cigars and beer belong together, you are being an elitist snob, whether you care to admit it or not.
Beer Advocate as a web site has plenty of folks with all kinds of opinions, but to be honest, I really don’t belong there. What do I have in common with someone discussing the merits of purchasing a $100 bottle of twelve ounces of beer? Absolutely nothing. Despite the level headed approach employed by the two brothers who created the site, too often the members wander off into yuppie drivel, totally unconnected from beer’s historic implications. Their rational usually proceeds along these lines:
1. Craft beer good. Giant (macro) beer bad.
Never mind that there are plenty of so-called craft brewed beers that are actually lousy. I will not bother to name brands because a beer seeker can find this out themselves. What is important to this line of thinking is that beers that the craft beer crowd doesn’t care for, like adjunct grain pale lagers, are not only reviled but actually hated. What is even more strange is the people who complain about corn in beer, have no problem seeking out rare stouts stored in bourbon barrels. If I remember correctly, bourbon, is made of at least 51% corn.
Which leads me to being asked recently what is pure beer? Pure beer, in the Bavarian Purity Law sense, is beer made with four ingredients: barley malt, hops, yeast and water. A rigid criteria to be sure, and one that was all but abandoned when new world all grain versions of golden pilsener became the American standard, until folks like Fritz Maytag noticed that flavorful beer was almost completely lost, at least on the national front. Of course what followed was the so-called craft beer revolution, where emphasis was placed on the purity of the recipe, such as Samuel Adams lager being allowed to be sold in Germany as beer.
Well one thing led to another and pretty soon all kinds of styles were being given new world treatment: from India Pale Ale, to Russian Imperial Stout, to wassails brewed with nutmeg, cinnamon, and pumpkins. But the true meaning of pure beer remains the same, no matter what experimental brewers like Dogfish Head Brewery create.
Which is why I am surprised when a pure beer recipe is offered, is not often acknowledged, nor very well received. A case in point is Budweiser American Ale, the giant brewer’s pure beer take on American ale. A well made beer that has been given a short leash just because it is made by Anheuser-Busch. The very same indifference applied to when their Michelob brand reverted back to an all malt recipe. Remember: craft beer good, big beer bad.
Here in Southwest Ohio, the arrival of Hudepohl Amber Lager is hardly even acknowledged. A tribute to the non golden, non all grain beer made for the German immigrant population in the middle of the 19th century. It is straight forward, direct and good. The kind of beer made
before golden lager took over the world. Modestly priced, the only elite factor is whether you know about it enough to seek it out. It certainly won’t increase your cachet with the crowd over on Beer Advocate.
The Beloved Return Of Holiday Beer
26 Oct 2010 Leave a Comment
in anheuser-busch, beer, bock, chocolate bock, christmas, holiday beer, porter, Sam Adams, samuel adams, wassail, white ale, winter classics
It’s still early. Halloween hasn’t even arrived. But the release of beers seems to go on forever. Case in point: Samuel Adams Winter Classic Collection: probably the best selection ever for this annual sampler. For The Beer Doctor, there is not a single bad selection in the lot. As someone who has seen this offering over many years, I can honestly say this. Gone from the group was the always questionable Cranberry Lambic, which over the many years it kept reappearing I never met anyone who actually said they liked it. Gone too, are the thrown-ins from years past; the Sam Adams Light, the ridiculous lemon concoction known as Coastal Wheat, which was so bad that last year I abstained from buying the collection, which was sad, because that eliminated the possibility of drinking 2 of my favorites, Holiday Porter and Old Fezziwig Ale. Thankfully this year, that has been corrected. Joining these and the Winter Lager, is the extraordinary Samuel Adams Chocolate Bock and their Belgian style White Ale, along with their flagship brand, Samuel Adams Lager.
I often forget that my enthusiasm for flavorful beer often does not translate well to those unaccustomed to it. Watching people try these beers for the first time, folks who normally drink products like Bud Light, is an exhibition of bewilderment and complete surprise, especially upon discovering, sometimes for the very first time, that real beer actually does have real flavor. For the one quarter of the world’s beer drinking population who normally drink their Bud Light, this must come as a bit of a revelation.
The inclusion of the Chocolate Bock is a holiday treat. I have not been able to get over the focus of this recipe, using a bed of Ecuadorian dark chocolate nibs to produce a smooth as silk chocolaty masterpiece.
Old Fezziwig Ale, their beloved Christmas wassail is always welcome. I remember when this first came out, over 15 years ago, when it was in a 25.4oz bottle. As welcome now as then, a delicious festive experience.
This is equally true of their London-style Holiday Porter. It is difficult to imagine winter without having this, at least once.
The White Ale, a very good take on Belgian Whit, is a more interesting version of the beer style gone mainstream by Coors Blue Moon. Very crisp and lively, and very easy to drink.
In fact, as I said, these are all good. A very auspicious sign for the coming holiday season.
The Beer Doctor’s Guide For Approaching Beer
01 Jan 2010 1 Comment
in adjunct lager, anheuser-busch, beer, business, genesee brewery, Jim Koch, Little Kings, Pabst, Sam Adams
A new year brings with it a desire I have had for a long time to tackle the subject of beer from a beer lover’s viewpoint.
It has taken quite awhile on the search trail of this miraculous, human culinary invention, to arrive at these discoveries. The path has seen many articles of misinformation foisted on the unsuspecting, mostly for the sake of marketing. Here are 2 current examples:
1. Craft Beer is good, giant brewery beer is bad.
2. Giant commercial brewing interests are incapable of making good beer.
The term craft brewed is most often used as a catch-all description of beer with an abundance in flavor. All beer drinkers are guaranteed a right to enjoy only the highest quality beer. Proclaims Samuel Adams founder Jim Koch, in the Samuel Adams Beer Drinker’s Bill of Rights.
Further down in the declaration it states: III. Use of adjuncts such as corn syrup, rice or corn grits is strictly prohibited as it lightens the true character of a fine beer. Which is a convenient way to make you feel guilty if you actually enjoy drinking Pabst, Genesee, or Little Kings, or any other American “all grain” lager.
Craft brew puppies buy into the vast corporate conspiracy that created these adjunct monsters, supposedly for the sake of the old bottom line. Never mind that much of this simply flies in the face of actual history. How golden lager took over much of the beer drinking world because there was an absolute fascination with its clear golden color. Or that the use of corn and rice was an American invention of necessity, because back in the 19th century there was simply not enough European malts to supply this thirsty country.
Much has been said about national beers being devoid of personality. Again the assumed narrative of why this came about ignores the obvious fact that the brewing industry was nearly destroyed by the temperance religious zealots, and their political enablers, who created Prohibition. Legislation which combined religious cultural intolerance with anti-German hysteria. It is not surprising that things became bland, because after Prohibition was repealed, there were many restrictions placed upon beer that were downright ridiculous (I mean, have you ever heard of 3.2 beer? Sunday “small beer” in the state of Ohio for many years. At one time it was the only beer allowed to be sold in the Miami university town of Oxford, Ohio.). Beer over 6% abv was not allowed to be sold in this state, until the beginning of this century. Home brewing, of which Jim Koch created his first kitchen batch of Samuel Adams, was not legal until Jimmy Carter was President.
So this points up to the obvious question: Do you love beer? I have found over the years that this a very good starting point for approaching this wonderful topic, which I hope to explore in this series. You know the old saying: Do it with love, or don’t do it at all.
Cheers!
Thank you is my only prayer.
A HAPPY BEER
02 Jun 2009 Leave a Comment
in american ale, anheuser-busch, beer, budweiser, Magic Hat Brewing, Widmer Bros
As the year moves toward the summer solstice, thoughts turn towards the summer beers that this year I haven’t even sampled. With the exception of one: Wacko, the deliciously red colored ale from The Magic Hat Brewing Company, a surprisingly full bodied work, even if the alcohol level only clocks in at 4.5% abv. But the finish of this well made ale reflects Magic Hat’s distinct personality, probably mostly due to the use of their own yeast.
I know I said I just sampled one summer offering, but I forgot, I also tried Widmer Brothers Brewery’s Drifter Pale Ale, a complex yet subtle flavor profile, with a harmonious balance of malt and hops, that is very gentle and yet very flavorful. Odd too that this is of a much higher strength than Wacko (5.7%), but with a much lighter body. Incongruous viscosity, so to speak.
In terms of beer development, this is probably the best of times. Craft brewers (which is a misnomer, since brewing any good beer involves craftsmanship, but more on that in a moment) and large brewers, continue to present new offerings, whether it is a bold flavor experimental recipe, or a revival of beer brands made in an earlier time; such as the return of fully krausened Old Style, the revival of original Schlitz, and the revival of a beer long ago associated with the Cincinnati Reds: Burger.
Which reminds me of a remarkable statement I came across by Joe Schiraldi, Vice President of brewing operations at The Left Hand Brewing Company. It seems that Mr. Schiraldi recently attended some “craft” brewing conference, where some keynote speaker went out of his way to trash the so-called macro brewers. Joe took offense at this because Mr. Schiraldi knew, that the craftsmanship and quality control done on a large scale, is just as important as a tiny brew kettle. And even more important where the innovations and knowledge discovered by the titans of beer business, that are now used by everyone, from craft brewer to home brewer. Anyway, Joe Schiraldi said this: “The title of the latest block buster movie BEER WARS elicits this response from me: “No thanks… I would prefer to make happy beer to promote peace, understanding and detente among all people.”
Which is the way I see things myself. Once upon a time I too adhered to the beer snob credo that found it necessary to criticize what someone else enjoyed drinking. Ah but I was so much older then, I’m younger than that now, as Saint Bob would say.
Another good example of this happened on a thread at the Beer Advocate web site. The topic posted was why there was so little respect for Budweiser American Ale? I posted a comment that I thought A-B did a great job at creating a highly drinkable ale, of consistent quality, now available nearly everywhere. I received one angry response that said: “I would never buy that garbage.”
Which made me wonder what was considered to be garbage? The Cascade hops? The two-row barley malts? Or simply the fact that it is brewed without any adjunct grains? Strange too that such language is employed at Beer Advocate, who uses the credo: “respect beer”. Does that only apply to the boutique breweries who obtain cult like status? Or does that apply to the traditional role of beer as the drink of the people?
The term respect beer means for me, having some appreciation for all the work and love that went into you being able to enjoy the beer that you have, whatever the recipe style. To simply know, that the people engaged in producing that brew were involved in a positive activity. As the folks at The Bear Republic Brewing Company say: make beer, not bombs.
Thank you, the only prayer
The Beer Doctor
A Shortly Before October Surprise
24 Sep 2008 Leave a Comment
in american ale, anheuser-busch, beer, budweiser, Dundee beers, saranac pumkin ale
Now that the season has turned, it is good to see the return of an annual fall favorite, that being Saranac Pumpkin Ale. Although there are quite a few good pumpkin ales, this brew from F.X. Matt is the wassail the world was waiting for. A rich, carefully spiced brown ale that has become a distinctive, welcoming seasonal. In limited supply, this is worth pouncing on if sighted.
The folks over in Rochester, New York, who helped Matt Brewing after their fire last May, also have a very good seasonal gift. Dundee’s Oktoberfest is a delicious, modestly priced marzen style lager that is close to perfect for this time of year.
Lastly, (and this post is intended to be brief) I would like to mention a very happy surprise, and that is Budweiser American Ale. Everybody, including yours truly, has railed against much of Anheuser-Busch’s products. Oddly, it was more than a decade ago that A-B planned to make a Budweiser Ale, but shelved it, just before going into production, for fear, it was said at that time, of diluting the Budweiser brand.
Well after Bud Light Lime and the many fruit infused Michelob versions, making an all malt, dry hopped ale, seems quite in order. What was absolutely shocking, given Bud’s propensity to be middle of the road, that this is an ale of real character. Beer elitists will scoff at this giant corporation’s creation, but as The Beer Doctor, it is my job to report my honest reaction. This is quite good indeed.
I hope this brew becomes popular and successful. So instead of just taking up more shelf space with dubious, demographic invented creations, we will have one more good choice, of beer that is worth drinking.
“Blessings of your heart, you brew good ale.”
William Shakespeare
My only prayer is Thank You.
