All About Beer Magazine

Sticking a Toe into Philadelphia Beer Week

Posted March 23, 2009 by daniel 2 Comments | Post a Comment

I realized after writing this whole thing, I’m doing the beer journalist stuff. I’m writing up the notes of a trip I took thinking that you’re interested in hearing about it, as in getting a feel for something. You know, photos and facts with some picture painting tossed in.

To be quite honest, that could have more to do with my old habits than anything else. I’m not sure that’s why you’re reading this blog. I promised a front row seat on a personal odyssey and I keep falling back to the tried and true journalistic narrative.

Well, what follows is in that vein.   Philly Beer Week is a great event, although I’m not doing it justice at all, and that bug that had been following me around hit in fullstride  and I ended up in bed for a couple of weeks. I’ve got my Siebel course this week coming up and a review of Randy’s book to write. Hopefully they will jolt me out of my conventionality and get on with the adventure, and stop retreating into irrelevant forms.

How can you get ready for Philly Beer Week, especially if you’re not from the area. I mean we’re talking over 700 events spread out over 10 days, and each one seems as cool as the next. Plus, the local press is agog with beer, the Mayor is tapping the first keg, and this city is running on malt, hops, yeast, water and a few other ingredients.

I had two reasons for the first stop.  Stan picked Tria out as a must visit bar. He was right.  Plus an old friend, Bill Covaleski, was hosting an event there an hour after I arrived.  Better known as one of the two talents behind Victory Brewing, Bill is an artist of taste.  I had his Rauch Porter (a spectacular combination of smoke and caramel) which was on tap at Tria, in the company of a couple of serious beer lovers, including 1997 Beer Drinker of the year,  Jack McDougall.

I tagged along with Victory Brewing Co.’s film crew and snuck into Tria Fermentation  Beer School for an exciting blend of two fav foods — cheese and beer, titled a Victorious Duo.  Did I tell you what Tria stands for? They’re into three foods built around yeast — beer, wine and cheese. Duh.

Bill opened with a lovely quote: “Doing beer education is like writing on a chalk board with one hand and erasing with the other.  We give you information and then give you alcohol to muddle your brain.”

Here are the pairings:

Victory Prima Pils with Andante Dairy Cavatina (Petaluma, CA – goat)  I noticed how the CO2 clears the palate from the creaminess of the cheese. Both had very short finishes and the lemony flavor of the Cavatina matched the herbal, fruitiness of the Pils

Victory V-Saison with Ancient Heritage Dairy Adelle (Scio, OR – sheep and cow) The cheese had a slight yogurt sourness that balanced the beer’s nutty beginning and fruity finish.

Victory Hop Devil with 5 Spoke Creamery Tumbleweed (Lancaster County, PA – cow)

Victory Abbey 8 with Beehive Cheese Co. Barely Buzzed (Uintah, UT – cow)

Victory Rauch Porter with Dancing Cow Bouree (Bridport, VT – cow)

Victory Golden Monkey and Victory Baltic Thunder with Jasper Hill Farm Victory-Washed Winnimere (Greensboro, VT – cow)

Victory Sorm King with Sweet Grass Dairy Asher Blue (Thomasville, GA – cow) and Betty’s Tasty Buttons “Victorius” (Philadelpia, PA)

I barely got started when I had to skedaddle to the tapping of the opening cask, at the Comcast Center, where Mayor Nutter tapped the opening cask (and Yards Brewing Co.’s Tom Kehoe’s hand). The tapping was followed by an award ceremony that focused on entertainment and hilarity.  

Scattered throughout the lobby and the food court downstairs was  about 30 breweries presenting quite a range of beers to the sold out crowd. I’ve put a bunch of photos up on our Flikr pages, which you might enjoy looking over.

For a festival, or a tasting, this was slightly peculiar. Aside from being in the middle of a food court, the crowd related to the beers quite differently. Perhaps it was the size (a few hundred tops), the two floors, or that it appeared as if a large number actually knew each other.

The tables were in the middle of the food court so there wasn’t all the POS plastered all over the place. Just a beer or two, a beer person and a folding table.  The brewery people were also jazzed about their beers. The sheer volume of beer conversation dwarfed what one hears at most beer events. There was a simplicity, a lack of complexity, that made this seriously fun.

The next day was a horse of a different color, Chris DePeppe’s Philly Craft Beer Festival at the Philadelphia Cruise Terminal. Located in the Naval Yards, for all you NCSI fans, the visual atmosphere for this event is rather jaw dropping. I have no idea what the intent of the building was/is, and my lack of true journalist background precluded me asking such an obvious question.

However, the ceiling soared, the vistas went on forever, the windows filled whole walls, and overall it had an aura of 19th century industry. You could imagine ships being constructed in such a cavernous room then wheeled out to the docks. This did afford an opportunity for a more rakish approach to POS display, with brewery reps creeping their signs up huge walls.

Chris and his wife were able to get about a third of the crowd in sort of a pre area that was cordoned off with yellow caution tape.  Quite an amusing visual, about a thousand people jammed together with only a thin gossamer of tape keeping them from a fine collection of beer. When Chris pulled the tape the stampede had all the trappings of a land rush.

At about this time, I was running down completely.  I did visit a few brewers but between the crowds and the flu/cold, I had very little stamina. I spent some time with Bill Metzger of Brewing News Empire and hung out while they led beer bingo.

I finally hailed a cab for the hotel, but couldn’t spend a weekend in Philly without a visit to Monk’s Cafe. I managed to grab a corner bar seat and proceeded to gorge myself on bowls of mussels steamed with different beverages and spices. I left it up to the bartender to select my beer, a steady stream of Belgians, including a rather unusual Duvel Green, a young, draft version of the famous Duvel.

I made it back to the hotel, crashed early and painfully drove back to Durham, loaded to the gills with cold medication.

Extreme follows the Night

Posted March 20, 2009 by daniel 3 Comments | Post a Comment

The next day I returned to the Cyclorama for round two of the Alstrom Three Throw a Party! However, this time I brought a bug. Somehow, during the previous evening with my nose stuck in all those different barrel-aged beers, I’d managed to catch some version of a cold or flu. (Little did I know it was going to plague me for the next month!)

Here I ran into an interesting problem. For the better part of the past 30 years, I’ve run festivals as a way to have fun and make a living. I’ve always viewed my job as an adjunct to the marketing arm of breweries and as a teacher for beer lovers. Events and magazines are my stock in trade, both have huge behind-the-scenes elements.

However, except for the gigantic GABF, I haven’t really spent much time at other beer festivals. I work festivals, not attend! Within minutes, I realized I was having trouble with the crowds. It wasn’t just waiting in line for a good beer. I’m not that prickily. No, it was just the crowds, the press of people. Fortunately, the Alstrom Three had graciously provided a badge that allowed me to slip behind the booths and take notes and photographs from behind the brewers.

From this vantage point I roamed the fringes of the hall, sampling and shooting. (My notes suck again. That’s going to be the major work in progress, keeping good records. The photos are pretty cool though.  Flikr account. )

The Brothers generously included me on a panel moderated by the irrepressible Andy Crouch. The title was something about extreme beer and its impact. I joined Sam Calagione, president, Dogfish Head Brewing Co.; Jeremy Kosmicki, head brewer, Founders Brewing Co.; Richard Norgrove, brewmaster, Bear Republic Brewing Co.; and Paul Sayler, brewmaster, American Flatbread.

Was there anything earth shattering that came of this august group? Aside from come cocky, derisive remarks about session beers, one thing particularly stood out for me: extreme beers require extreme beer-ists. That sharp end of the craft beer spear, the barrel-aged and the extreme beers, may be leading the category or they maybe trying to catch-up to the consumers. It’s a real toss-up.

Looking out over this gathering of beer lovers, I could only see their passion, their love of the work that the people around me were doing. Sure there were some of those “wellies” I think they call them in England or tickers was another word I heard at this event: beer geeks who are more into the geekdom and snobbery than into the beer.

But the Alstrom Three had filled a room to the brim with eager beer lovers and stupendous beers and you could see the chemistry between these enthusiastic palate pushers on both sides of the table. What a rare alignment in the American beer constellation. No wonder the brewers go away from this event pumped.

Here are some of the rescued notes, which don’t reflect the breadth or quality of the beers I enjoyed that night.

Dark Horse Brewing: Double Crooked Tree IPA. Simply huge at 13%, but not overwhelming. Pleasant, accessible, and enjoyable. Hibiscus Trip. Sucrose in the fermentation. Flaked oats and barly for earthy ground to bounce the hibiscus off of.

Ithaca Beer Co.: Brut. Lactic as all hell. James Brown “It’s so funky!” Use oak spirals to get some balance. Alphalpha. New York state hops and honey, with more earthy than spicy or floral notes.

The Bruery: Hottenroth Berliner Weisse. At 3.1% abv, a real treat, sour notes unlike those of the previous night, again, that dusty nose. Odd. Wheat Wine. A lot of alcohol burn, very hazy with some strong candy notes, but a big burn.

Southern Tier Brewing Co.: Choklat. A mocha shake, creamy chocolate from beginning to end, flavor, aroma and finish. Belgian bittersweet. Imperial IPA. Beautiful color, grassy, herbal nose; grandmother’s ginger cookie flavor.

And those were just a few of the great beers tasted during the dual sessions.

Lawyers and their beers

Posted by daniel 0 Comments | Post a Comment

I’ve got a great deal with the best lawyer in the Southeast. Fred Hutchison specializes in the sort of work we need to grow our business, helping get us to where we are today. He’s been there helping us with more than one sticky wicket.

Aside from the usual compensation, what the good folks at Huthison Law like is beer.  Imagine that! A couple times a year I get to stand up in front of the legal crew, including a few other clients, and talk about what I like to talk about, beer.

Here’s what went on two weeks ago:

Altbier, Southampton Public House, Southhampton, NY. This was a treat both in flavor and in story.  Telling the altbier history always piques an audience’s interest, and this beer with its amber color and fruity nose filled in the tale.

Two Hearted Ale, Bells Brewing Co., Comstock, MI. This is my latest jag, Centennial hops. I fell in love with this beer a few months back and have been exploring its attraction to me and most of my gang. All I can figure is the pineyness of the hop finish. Lovely.

Torpedo, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., Chico, CA. A wonderful gem of a beer, very interesting when paired with Two Hearted. The audience split down the middle on these two between the grapefruit citric Sierra and the earthy piney Bells.

Christmas Ale, Anchor Brewing Co., San Francisco, CA. From my stash, this was the 2006 version, which still tasted of holiday spices but not so bright and sharp. The nuttyness of the malt laid down a great background for the aged spices.

1545, New Belgium Brewing Co., Ft. Collins, CO. Okay, this is another gaffe of mine. A while back I wrote of this rare beer, a dark ale, that landed on my desk. Guess what the 1545 is? A dark, Belgian ale. NBB has just opened in this market leading with Fat Tire, Mothership Wit, and this beautiful black beer.  Lots of fruity flavors on the finish and dry crispness on the beginning. Very accessible and exciting.

King’s Peak Porter, Unita Brewing Co., Salt Lake City, UT. Made a mistake with the sequence of this beer following the 1545. I thought it was much bigger. It did have some of the toastiness of a good porter, with a very refreshing finish. Still, it lacked some of the body I, and many of in the audiance, expected from a porter. Note to self; taste beers before presenting them.

Oak Barrel Stout, Old Dominion Brewing Co., Ashburn, VA. This, too, came from my stash and it had gone off.  I don’t know how long I’d had it, but it was a gusher. Note to self: taste all beers before bringing to an event.

The Dissident, Deschutes Brewing Co., Bend, OR. Also from my stash, this beer ranks up there on my all time exotic list.  An old bruin, Flanders-style brown ale, this one fermented for 18 months and included a dosage of Brettanomyces.  Earthy and sour at the same time, very complex and appealing.

The Brothers Alstrom throw a party

Posted March 19, 2009 by daniel 0 Comments | Post a Comment

Yes, it has been a few weeks since the Night of the Barrels and the Extreme Beer Festival, but I’m not the world’s fastest writer (or thinker for that matter)—hey, I’m still trying to run a magazine and a few festivals. But regardless, I need to get up to speed. (Thank you Stan, Steve, Jay, Maureen, and all the others for politely reminding me about the “post” bit about blogging.)

After hearing about the Brothers Alstrom’s work for a couple of years, I had no idea what to expect on arriving at Cyclorama in Boston. The place is beautiful. As the name suggests, the interior of the building is in fact circular and was built in 1884 to house a massive circular painting of the Battle of Gettysburg. (Visit our Flikr account.) The original dome had been replaced with a skylight, adding wonderful highlights to Jason, Todd and Candace’s event.

I had arrived early enough to witness the set up, finding the Alstroms armed with wrenches and whatnot working on recalcitrant draft equipment. After being part of a zillion festivals, I couldn’t help notice the silence. Here were the Alstroms Three putting the finishing touches on some equipment, a few dozen volunteers moving ice around, rinse water, etc. And it was quiet, very quiet.

Night of the Barrels is a brewers event. Volunteers take over the booths and brewers get to mingle with the paying masses, to sample from the hand-selected barrel-aged beers, about 50 plus of them.

My first stop was at Pizza Port, where I got to hang with Tomme Arthur who ran me through his beers. Tomme is a sour beer wizard. Each of his offerings had different takes on fruit, wood, sour balancing. The Veritas 004 punched the fruit a bit more and the Phunky Duck used some oak to tone down the acidic vinegar profile. (It was brewed as the “backbone” for Duck Duck Gooze, a blended sour ale with one-, two- and three-year old beer.) My fav was the Red Poppy, a classic Flanders red ale, barrel-aged with cherries, which had some surprising caramel notes from the darker malts.

Tomme showed me the Cuvee Jeune from The Bruery, with its light, almost sweet candy tartness, followed by a sugary finish. It poured almost still, leading me to think of some meads I’ve had.

I met up with Jim Koch of Boston Beer. He loves this event when he actually gets to wander around trying different beers. Unfortunately, his face as been on too many television screens and he ends up posing for too many photos and signing autographs. Between these bouts of celebrity status, Jim had some fascinating things to say about the beers. He pointed out how wood can send a flavor profile in the wrong direction or enhance a creative recipe.

Here are some of the remaining notes:

Haverhill Brewery: Snowbound. Fermented very dry with a lot of black malts.

Full Sail Brewing Co: Black Gold Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout. Woody to the point of smoky, very short finish with lingering burnt caramel.

Harpoon Brewery: Barleywine. Very hot alcohol, with a lot of pepper in the finish.

Flatbred: Reunion Saison. Made with green and pink peppercorns, very dry without any bite or heat.

Great Divide: Oak Aged Espresso Yeti. Coffee, alcohol, mocha latte, slight hop spice, a lot of bitter chocolate.

That’s about as far as the writing went, or I can read. (I did get some validation when I questioned the absence of a middle in a beer and the brewer told me the owner asked him to pull some malts to save money!) The hit with Night of the Barrels was having all these examples of brewers’ art in one room. Frankly, I thought a few missed their mark. As with all things beer, it is a question of balance. 

It’s easy to do the “more some” with this end of the industry. Add more of this, stick in some of that; but making a way-out beer that is enjoyable to drink takes art. Being able to dissect the sensory profile, that also is an art—my mission for the upcoming year.

This thing called The Club

Posted March 18, 2009 by daniel 2 Comments | Post a Comment

Awhile ago, on a trip to Baltimore with a bunch of city leaders, I was outed as a beer guy.  After all of the different meetings about how Baltimore got so cool, the bunch of us headed to Fells Point looking for a fun evening. As you might guess I don’t particularly fit into the typical bar scene. Loud music, smoky rooms, frozen glasses, and dirty draught lines just don’t ding my dong, if you know what I mean.  

I quickly became antsy and, after announcing I was on the hunt for a good beer bar, left with about half a dozen city officials in tow. It took nearly an hour but we did find a good spot and spent the rest of the evening sampling some fine pints with me as the guide, coach, nudge, whatever. As we wandered back to the hotel a couple hatched this idea of forming a club, The Club, whose meetings would exclusively be guided beer tastings (you can see where this is going already. Right readers?) during which political discussions were forbidden.

For over a year, every six or eight weeks, I lead about a dozen people on a tour of beers. I’ve looked at styles. I’ve done European/American comparisons. I’ve showed off a wide range of odd ingredients.  I’ve even put together a collection of big beers.

When I did the event last month, I thought to use it as a forum for exploring rather than exhibiting.  Could I toss out some ideas and see if, after nearly a year, the club members could get into a dialogue about the beers?

Here are the beers for the February event:

Opening beer:

Bad Penny Brown Ale, Big Boss Brewery,Raleigh, NC

(Just a wonderful beer for socializing over. Close to the session beer definition, it has a lot of caramel in the beginning with a fair bit of hop finish in the end.)

First Pairing

Allagash Fluxus 2008, Allagash Brewing Co., Portland, ME

Left Hand Terra-Rye-Zd Black Rye Lager,Left Hand Brewery, Longmont, CO

(They were out of the Allagash, so I substituted a Terrapin Rye Pale Ale, co-brewer of the Left Hand beer, in a vein attempt to highlight what rye could contribute to the taste.  I took a stab at a slight hint of sourdough flavor.)

Second Pairing

Odd Notion, Magic Hat Brewery, Burlington, VT

Dogfish Head Black & Blue, Dogfish Head Brewery, Milton, DE 

(Here I was a bit of a smart aleck. The Odd Notion, a Pils, has some agave and blue poppy seeds in it and the Black & Blue, a Golden Belgian Ale, is laced with blackberries and blueberries.  Of course all four flavors were noticed as soon as they were named (odd quirk, that). Again, language.  Some of these words, agave for example, are the descriptor themselves.)

Third Pairing

Ommegang Rouge, Brewery Ommegang, Cooperstown, NY 

Kasteel Rouge, Brouwerij Van Honsebrouck, Ingelmuster, Belgium

(Now I was getting silly.  The Ommegang threw out a lot of sour cherry, with some woody background.  The Kasteel delivered a lot of the same, but heading more towards the sweeter end of sour cherries.)

Fourth Pairing

Sierra Nevada Smoked Imperial Porter, Sierra Nevada Brewery, Chico, CA 

Foothills Sexual Chocolate, Foothills Brewery, Winston-Salem, NC

(I originally wanted a bunch of chocolate beers to compare the use of nibs in Foothills with, say, the Cadbury in Young’s Double Chocolate, but no such luck.  Therefore, I thought to put the dry nibs up against some smoked dark malts and see how they compared.)

In conclusion, I really, really, really need to find a way to capture information in the moment and I really, really, really need to find a way to conduct research on my own, someplace quiet. Writing would work.

By the way, I’m off to Siebel next week for the short course on beer tasting.  Should be fun.