All About Beer Magazine

What’s with Homebrewers?

Posted March 25, 2010 by daniel 1 Comment | Post a Comment

I had the pleasure of once again addressing the James River Homebrew Club at one of their meetings at Legends Brewery, Richmond, VA. These are the guys who will be handling the beer for the upcoming World Beer Festival – Richmond, and a perfect bunch for the job without a doubt.

So, how could I tell, on walking into the room, that this was a bunch of homebrewers?

On a recent flight from Atlanta to Phoenix I noticed a particular tone to about half of the passengers. A lot of black clothes, flat billed hats, diverse facial hair, dead-eyed stare; clearly all members of the same tribe. A few questions to my seat mate and I learned all about the motocross event the night before and even met the 5th place winner.

Homebrewers aren’t quite that easy to pick out. Sure, they have a similar appearance, but not that distinctive. The middle girth could be wider than norm, but not universally. Just a little rough around the edges, possibly. Maybe. Definitely no drama or ostentatiousness.

But it’s more in the attitude. The room buzzed with bonhomie. Everyone had a grin on their face, a conspiratorial grin. And they could talk, almost exclusively about beer. A sample glass was in each person’s hand and they were all tasting from a wide range of homebrews brought in by club members.

Now think about that. This is a crack bunch of amateur brewers, medal winners, certified judges, and serious beer dudes. And you bring in your own beer and offer it up?

There in lies the defining characteristic of a homebrewer. Their amazing self-confidence. Frankly, often completely justified. I had some painfully beautiful beers that night that were a wonder to enjoy.

As I recently wrote about my experiences with SweetWater’s Brewer Your Cask Off, homebrewers are supremely assured and knowledgeable about what works and doesn’t work in homebrewing. Whether they are correct or not is a whole other question. To paraphrase an old saw: you can put three homebrewers in a room and have four different opinions about any and everything.

The James River Homebrew Club is no different. They are passionate about brewing. They enjoy a heated discussion, no feathers get ruffled. And they make drop-dead gorgeous beers. They have no qualms about sharing their beer because they know it is the best that they are making and they are going to make even better soon.

So, readers, if you don’t know any homebrewers I suggest you go make some friends. For the price of a bit of tendentious beer geek talk, you’ll experience some wonderful beer and wonderful company.

Let me hear from you readers; what is it with homebrewers?

And the Casks and Crowds Came

Posted March 23, 2010 by daniel 0 Comments | Post a Comment

What an event. A tent in the SweetWater Brewery parking lot full of more than 80 casks. Now, lest you think they were a bunch of English ales served cool but not cold and under-carbonated but not flat, each one represented the vision and aspirations of a person or a business with few ties, if any, to a commercial brewery.

Leave it to SweetWater to dream up a beer festival, Brew Your Casks Off, where their friends—lots of retailers, some charities, a few homebrewers, several beer scribes, many beer publications (including yours truly)—knocked themselves out to each make a cask ale. Amateur hour!

Then SweetWater goes and sells tickets to the event.

The top four judged brews and the People’s Choice winner will be recreated and served at the upcoming SweetWater 420 Fest this April 17th and 18th in Candler Park!

Given that the beers were made by amateurs, the range in quality was surprisingly tame. I found few if any were awful, a bit more weren’t too interesting, but a very large majority were fun and enjoyable to drink.

I judged the “worst of show” and, while about half of the bad beers were not pleasant, the winner of the worst got the title not so much because the beer was bad, but because it had so much chili pepper in it you couldn’t drink it. It was smoking, for real.

As for my beer, Paradise Porter—well, it was interesting. True to plan, it did end up tasting just like a Christmas ginger snap cookie and, to be honest, the first few sips were a lot of fun. However, the fun faded faster than a teenager’s crush and then it just hung around in the mouth as the drinker hunted desperately for the splash bucket.

As a veteran festival producer, I enjoyed the crowd scene most of all. Everyone was talking about the casks, like this was the ultimate scavenger hunt. They were holding up their programs, going over the numbers, chasing down cool sounding beers and passing on recommendations. The customers were all over this concept, and with good reason. It was different. It was fun. And the beers were pretty cool.

I’ve already got some ideas on how to break into the winner’s circle next time.

2010 JUDGES PANEL AWARDS

1^st: Fontaines | Hop n’ Spicy (#32)

2^nd: Gibneys | ELT Ale (#49)

3^rd: Taco Mac | PNS Reserve (#11)

4^th: Locos | Moose Brew (#79)

PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD

Cypress Street | Knobzilla Vanilla Oatmeal Stout (#50)

BIGGEST LOSER

Raging Burrito | Raging Xocolate (#37)

The Atlanta Humane Society was voted best charity and took home a check of $1,876 from Brew Your Cask Off.

Brewing My Cask Off!

Posted March 15, 2010 by daniel 1 Comment | Post a Comment

As the cab pulled up to SweetWater Brewery, I knew there would be trouble. But for whom? Read More…

Beer and a Sense of Place

Posted March 11, 2010 by daniel 0 Comments | Post a Comment

Twice now, I’ve helped grow a beer community. First time was working for Charlie Papazian at the Association of Brewers where a posse pushed the Colorado beer culture into the stratosphere. The second was here in Durham, NC, where a wasteland has become a mecca in an eye blink. Both times, festivals were the leading edge, gathering beer lovers in one place and sharing that sense of being of the same tribe—the Beer is Good Tribe.

Now we’re at it again in Columbia, SC. If you missed round two of the World Beer Festival-Columbia, you missed something special. This is an eager beer town. There are maybe a dozen “influencers,” passionate beer lovers driving the evangelical mission. What’s pretty cool is the local industry seems as excited as the zealots. There’s a beer retailer who can’t help enough. The homebrewers are eager and passionate. The wholesalers are all on board, too. With Flying Saucer and Mellow Mushroom smack in the middle of nearly 100 retail license holders, it is a serious beer market. The pieces are in place.

And we add the forum. This year, attendance was up 25% and the crowds couldn’t be nicer—after all, it is South Carolina. Lot’s of pleases and thank-yous. The volunteers who sign-up, show-up. The convention center people propose solutions to problems that haven’t happened, yet.
And when last call happened, everyone just walked out!

Here’s a few beer notes from the floor.
Coast Brewery was out of their well-respected Kölsch, but their IPA was well-crafted, with a very herbal finish.
Foothills tapped a cask of Total Eclipse Stout for the VIP Lounge. Very soft, as a good cask ale should be, the stout finished with some very well-rounded chocolate notes, slighty toffee even.
Malheur from the Brewery De Landtsheer, Belgium was one of the treasures of the night. Coffee brown, it had a crisp, toasty nose. A study in malt that began with a lot of roasted nuts and finishing with lots of yeasty spiciness.
Wells’ Banana Bread Beer could be one of the more unusual beers, because it does have a distinctive banana bread flavor and it works. Take the breadiness of a classic ale and add in those deep notes of banana, rich and heavy, and there’s something unusual and special here.
I did have to follow that with Atwater Block’s Vanilla Porter, which always reminds me of crème brûlée.
Of course, a good dose of hops will balance all this sweetness. Victory Brewing consistently delivers sharp beers. Their HopDevil had a long fruity, tangy, dry finish lingering for quite some time.
I next settled in with a Stone Levitation. This one suffered from being too cold, so I dove into a plate of pulled pork. When I returned, the hop bite scoured the back of my mouth with just a hint of sweet malt to offset the rich hopping levels. This is a very, very bright beer with an amazingly long finish.
A quick stop at Chimay where I discovered the Blue was already history (these Columbians are pretty savvy) so I asked for a serving of the Red. There is a lot spice in the Chimay portfolio. This one had a spectacular pepper finish. A serious dinner beer.

Thomas Creek Double IPA, very toasty, roasted malt, with a musty, hoppy finish. Rich and sharp at 12.5 percent ABV and 143 IBU.

I can only imagine what year #3 is going to bring for this exciting Columbia, SC market.  Next year’s fest is going to be pretty interesting.  Put it on you calendar and be sure to stay an extra day or two.  Great place to hang out.