First Things First, Second Things Second

Much has happened since neglecting my favorite web site, due to crazy local events. I refuse to bore you with those details, so let me get to the subject at hand: Beer!
I am sure by now almost everybody has tasted their fall marzen, or what is commonly called Oktoberfest. I usually sample as many of these as possible, but this year I slacked off a bit, but still had time to try the Kostritzer version from the black bier people in Germany. A change of pace from the caramel malt laden versions around, like Samuel Adams Octoberfest.
But the caramel malt profile has become synonymous with autumn beers in the United States. As the weather turns cooler the body has a need for more malts, which makes super hop productions seem out of season for the moment.
Since it is autumn and we are rapidly moving towards Halloween, I do want to mention one of my favorite seasonal productions, that being Saranac Pumpkin Ale.
Many compare this beer to pumpkin pie, although I do not eat pumpkin pie as a rule. No, what I like about this pumpkin ale is the recipe. I prefer it over Brooklyn Brewery’s Post Road, which Matt Brewing does the contract brewing for.
About a month ago I attended a distributor trade show where Rochester, New York brewer Dundee had samples of their Oktoberfest. A very good take on the style, that is not as widely distributed as it should.
I also got to sample Sierra-Nevada’s Chico Estate. A complete “in-house” brew, using hops grown by the brewery. It was quite good, but time limitations prevented the kind of serious, sit down contemplation this smooth ale demanded.
At the very same show (hell, it might as well been called a party) the Schlitz Gusto folks were in full promotional mode. Schlitz Gusto is the trade book name for the revived early 1960’s formula of Schlitz, before the marketing geniuses came up with the idea of tweaking the recipe, to supposedly produce more, while using less ingredients. That lead to the ultimate disaster where Schlitz, the number one beer in America since World War II, lost its market dominance to Budweiser, and never gained it back. As a kid, I heard beer drinking adults refer to Schlitz as “Shits” when the reformulated suds turned people away in droves.
But corporate amnesia was in full play this evening. Like Microsoft wanting you to buy 7 and forget all about something once known as Vista, the Schlitz Gusto had not only tied in to their daddy or granddaddy’s beer, with its Schlitz classic logo, they even had buttons promoting it as the beer of choice for the 1969 Woodstock music festival.
I also had to marvel at the riffs being used by the sales representative. Not only was he promoting Schlitz with quite a bit of gusto, he also had on hand their strong (8.5%) malt liquor, which he made a distinction that it was not malt liquor (which is in fact, a rather ambiguous term) but a high gravity lager.
Which was also in full play at this trade show, the distinction between craft, regional retro and corporate has becomes pretty much of a blur. I know the so-called craft brewers want to seperate themselves from the rest of the brewing industry, but is that actually possible, or is it by now, just another marketing ploy? I mean after trying Samuel Adams Coastal Wheat, how is it different than other big brewer’s wheat productions? From Coors’ Blue Moon to Bud Light Golden Wheat?
As I stated in a previous post, the recipe is the final deciding factor. Consolidation of brewing interests can reek havoc on a beloved brew. Take what A-B Inbev as done to the venerable Bass Ale. Corporate concerns have forgotten all about the character of this famous ale, that once upon a time, in Burton-On-Trent England, was brewed with gypsum mineral rich water that provided a somewhat chalky but delicious finish. None of that is present in the concoction now sold as Bass.
Luckily, some recipes have not been changed, or in rare cases, actually improved. Two of the early winter arrivals are outstanding: Avery’s Old Jubilation Ale and Flying Dog’s K-9. Both of these examples show that if you are going to fork out some serious money for a six pack of beer, it had better be worth it. In the case of these two, I would say it is.
As always my only prayer is thank you.

NEW BEERS IN THE NEW YEAR

2009 is proving to be an interesting year.  The arrival of Samuel Adams Blackberry Witbier is a very pleasant addition indeed. Too many fruit flavored beers miss the mark, but that is not the case with this recipe. A thirst quenching, delicious beer that, at 5.5% abv, is substantial enough to be enjoyed anytime of the year. A welcome addition to the Sam Adams permanent portfolio.
Another addition to yearly production is Sierra Nevada Torpedo IPA Ale. An orange-copper colored pour that is lively, with a surprisingly subtle, hops rich nose. “Torpedo” refers to the “hop torpedo” method created by Sierra Nevada, to uniquely dry hop this ale, which is only logical, from the brewery known for its obsessive hops personality. An uncompromising American IPA, well designed for those who love this brewing style, where intense hop floral resins combine with malts to create a complex, citrus-layered palate, that finishes as long as the day therein.
The same can be said for their annual barleywine style, Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Ale 2009, where the hug malt presentation does not escape Sierra Nevada’s hops assertion. This was an “extreme beer” long before anyone had coined the term. A welcome selection for post-holiday, dead-of-winter. A seriously deep brew with complex bitterness, for those who can sip and enjoy, a truly heavy beer.
A very good seasonal now available is Pandora’s Bock from Breckenridge Brewery. A lively dark copper pour, with a rich malty palate, offset somewhat by hops, making it rather doughy in the finish. Four different malts are used, along with a traditional Bavarian lager yeast, and Strisselspalt and Chinook hops, combine well to perform their magic. A tasty, beautiful presentation.
Matt Brewing has released their St. Patrick’s Day offering, with their Saranac Irish Red Ale. A festive, pleasurable event in the Irish amber style. Nothing is out of place here. A tasty drinkable beer, from start to finish. Have a case or two of this, for a crowd.
In the state of Ohio, in February, six packs of beers from Mendociono Brewing Company are on sale at $6.99 (+). A very good offering is their White Hawk Original IPA, with its subtle (as opposed to overwhelming) aromatic nose. Like nearly all American versions of India Pale Ale, this is aggressively hopped to say the least.
Hoppy beers have become quite a rage amongst beer seekers lately, and there are plenty of examples to choose from. White Hawk is Mendocino’s year round offering, and at 7% abv, it is a couple of notches in strength below the hops blow-out, extreme, “Imperial” versions. But there is plenty of flavor here. There is more of an apricot note in the citrus palate, fairly mild and finishes long.
Another interesting offering is Mendocino’s Black Eye Ale, a rich dark pour with a reddish undertone. This “black and tan” combines Black Hawk Stout with their Eye Of The Hawk Red Ale, producing a smooth malty, 6.5% abv, presentation. Here hops and malts blissfully co-exist. There are many flavor notes here, but why get ponderous? This top fermented blend is designed for drinkability (in a 22oz bottle at that), which it most certainly is, with a silky smooth finish.
Bock beers keep arriving this time of year. This season Jacob Leinenkugel Brewery decided to revive their brewery’s first 19th century recipe. 1888 Bock is dark amber in color, and a gentle malts showcase, serving as a reminder that bock beer  has been a part of the American beer vocabulary for a very long time. The use of pale and dark malts keeps this tasty and festive.
Last but not least, Anchor Brewing Company’s Anchor Bock, is a very fine example of American bock. A luxurious, deep brown pour, that combines barley and wheat malts to produce an outstanding beer, with many flavorful notes. This is the first time I have sampled this beer, and the fact that this was a fresh sample, made this a very glorious experience.
Cheers!

A FATAL GLASS OF BEER

This is a story about baseball and beer. Okay, it is not about any ballpark, since I don’t have the scratch to throw away on that. This is about a few carefree (mindless?) hours watching a televised baseball game, from an air conditioned beer cave basement, complete with a forty year old refrigerator that I swear, will continue its chilling function, as long as there is electricity.
Now if the game being televised is the Chicago Cubs from Wrigley Field, advance planning requires that I travel to place where I can obtain Heileman’s Old Style, the unofficial but nevertheless, the beer of the Chicago Cubs. But since planning is not always in place, and I seek a beer within very short walking distance, InBev’s Labatt Blue is usually the alternative. But on the night of the all-star game, they were completly sold out. The store’s owner put forth another solution:
“How about some Budweiser? For the Beer Doctor I have 18 bottles for eight dollars.”
$8 ? I thought, even with states taxes that is less than $8.60 !
Sold I said and buy it I did. This proved to be a huge mistake.
I have not tasted a Budweiser in 9 years. The last six pack was their millennium edition, during a Monday night NFL game. It was pretty bloody awful.
This time, with a “born on” date of May 30, these bottles were well within their 110 day window for freshness. The first thing I noticed was the colour. It was more golden than it was 9 years previous. The nose too seemed a bit more malty. As to the taste…
A bland refreshing coldness is the gist of it. Even the one time cloying sweet presence of rice seems to have vanished.
Suddenly I remembered someone had left a bottle of Pabst Blue Ribbon in the fridge. I thought, it is time to do a taste test, reviving the clash of the titans that occurred back in 1893.
Anyone who wants to know more about this history should take a look at Maureen Ogle’s Ambitious Brew: The Story of American Beer.
There has been a fascination with pilsner style beers ever since they were introduced. Part of this was due to an expansion of the working class, who saw for the first time, to order a golden coloured carbonated drink that aesthetically competed with upper crust champagne. So vitally important that the beer be not only golden but clear. This is what lead Anheuser-Busch to use beechwood strips during fermentation, to collect those unsightly particles that would still be floating around. Their discovery of using rice as an adjunct grain proved to be a goldmine to this very day. They also started bottling Budweiser to make sure you got the Genuine article. Soon there after, they began shipping the beer cold, using refrigerated railroad cars.
Leaving the land of rice for corn, Pabst Blue Ribbon pours with substantial foam. There is some flavor and it has more of a finish. As in 1893, Pabst beats Bud. In fact that is where the self-congratulatory Blue Ribbon comes from.
Perceptions can be very fickle. I remember a time when yuppies, or at least people who thought of themselves that way, frowned upon Budweiser as “the working man’s beer”. For them, the beer you preferred was Miller High Life in returnable long neck bottles. Pabst, voted America’s best in 1893 (according to Pabst) was now relegated to the bottom of the hillbilly ladder. But times changed, and Bud, with the help of Hollywood, soon became hip again. Pabst enjoyed a resurgence as the rockabilly beer of choice.
All of this macro-brewed investigation has left me nearly exhausted. The night of the all-star game, which went late into extra innings, all I had were these bottles of Bud, so bland that they became undrinkable, no matter how cold or what glass was used. Even drinking it straight from the long neck just didn’t cut it. Cold water was a welcome alternative.
This brings up something I want to state, because, as the Beer Doctor it needs to be said. Four of the worst beers in the world. They are: Budweiser, Warsteinner, Stela Artois, and Corona. Which makes me appreciate the efforts by those U.S. brewers who take the flavor of  their beers seriously.
I can not name them all, but some of The Best Brerwers In The United States, would surely include The Boston Beer Company, The Anchor Brewing Co., Penn Brewing, and F.X. Matt. The recent controversy over InBev’s purchase of Anheuser-Busch, brought charges that foreign ownership would prompt them to change Budweiser’s recipe. Considering the marketing driven swill that nearly everyone embraces, I think they’ll keep it cold and fresh and lousy, the way it is suppose to be.
I was recently asked, what is the great national lager. I would have to say Samuel Adams Boston Lager. What a surprise to the Bud light crowd, a beer with actual flavor.
Peace and thank you.