Pesky things these Bell's labels. Hard to photograph. A little like taking a photo of a paper grocery bag and making it look dynamic. Don't get me wrong - it is a very fine thing and not utilitarian at all. Pesky, though.
Bell's Kalamazoo is another stout in a range that includes ten or eleven of the style if you go by the BA listings. It pours deepest mahogany under a mocha cream film clingy head. Aromas of more of that dark pumpernickel that was all through the expedition. In the sip, dark bakers chocolate followed by a fruit note that seems to be both cherry and orange marmalade followed by a milky finish with some roasted nut. Again, soft water quaffablity. This are extraordinary beers, these Bells stouts - big BA approval again. At 6% this is the lightest in the six. I have another, their Special Double Cream Stout, then the brown plus Two Hearted Ale as well as the summer ale in the set. This is a good week so far.
One of the founders of Canada's National Beer Policy has suffered a disasterous blow as shelves in his house, put in by the previous owners, revealed themselves to be traitors to the cause, screwed only into the drywall and not into the studs. As a result, he faces a beery Humpty Dumpty of the third degree.
Think of yourself in this tragic moment. Through your empathetic tears, consider helping. Make this a better world. I will be forwarding a package myself to ease the pain and I ask you to do the same. Every beer we share means the terrorists the drywall shelving screwing idiots amongst us do not win.
I like this Brewery Focus thing. The last one, Scotland's Isle of Skye Brewing, isn't done and yet I can start another. Why? Because a pal went to Michigan for work [Ed.: (later) he has revealed himself in the comments.] and all of a sudden, realizing the implications, we made calls to his cell phone before he passed Port Huron and Ryan's Party Source. As a result we are all drinking Bell's this week.
This one, Bell's Expedition Stout, is a 10.5% imperial stout. Dandy. You forget about how dandy imperial stouts are in the summer even though once the sun is down the big minty roasty brew isn't that far off that chocolate pepperminty nutty something you would get at the Mary's Frosty King or Steve's Freezie Snack-shack. Stouts are good. Imperial stouts are gooder. Much gooder.
This beer pours deepest inky brown with a deep mocha foam lacy head. Sweet chocolate and coffee on the nose with a fail wiff of the grain as well. In the mouth you fall off a cliff (Wile E. Coyote style) into the Le Brea Tar Pits of of stout - thick with hot asphalt mineral hidden by swaths of dark chocolate, espresso, mint hops, pumpernickel malt, double cream yeast. Rich and massive with a soft water moreish mouthfeel. Huge BAer approval.
While writing my guide to Czech beers, I tried to include as many strange details as I could — the kind of stuff that would hopefully make the book fun to read, maybe even more than once. Like the date when a small Bohemian town under siege paid off the occupying Swedish army with barrels of lager. The new beer being developed for its ability to treat the symptoms of menopause. The twisted history of Velke Brezno’s Zippich mascot. And so on.
A list I'm working on now consists of the many sweet things made with beer. There’s a new beer cake at one of my favorite pubs in Prague, Pivovarsky Klub. And brewer Frantisek Richter — the man is a genius — just promised that nearby Richter Brewery’s sold-out Pilsner-style ice cream would return soon as a permanent addition to the menu. "It tastes just like beer," he said. "But it’s ice cream."
One saccharine treat sometimes found here is beer jelly, often as a topping for palacinky, aka crepes. But beer jelly is not just a Czech specialty. While researching German beers this spring, I discovered one of the best beer jellies in the universe: Peters, sold directly at the brewery in Cologne. A slightly cloudy deep gold, it has a malty nose with a blast of real Kölsch flavor followed by a lastingly sweet finish.
I’d give it five out of five. And yes — it makes for one heck of a breakfast spread. Now where are those palacinky?
Excellent news last week with the email from Neal Stewart, Director of Marketing with Flying Dog Brewery of Denver Colorado that they are putting up the prize for the next contest here at A Good Beer Blog. You will be pleased to learn that I bartered for swag on behalf of the winner and can report that the prize this go around is a presentation pack of Wild Dog Gonzo Imperial Porter, a t-shirt and a hat to be forwarded from the brewery upon selection. Excellent.
So what is the challenge? I've latched on the word "gonzo" for this one. You know, when I were but a country lad back in the 1970s, the art of Ralph Steadman that now graces every Flying Dog bottle regularly appeared in Rolling Stone often along with the works of Hunter S. Thompson, called the creator of gonzo journalism. It also infused that classic movie that I first saw as a high-school geek at the drive-in in 1980, WHere the Buffalo Roam. Come to think of it, that's the last time I saw it.
So, what I would like is 100 words or less (or more) in an essay (or haiku or photo or pottery) on what "gonzo" means to you now, for you and your beer. Is it how you brew? Is it how you hit all the craft beer festivals? Is it a goal we see off there on the horizon and never reach ourselves? Is it the god you pray to daily? I think it is only appropriate to note that there cannot be any real rules in relation to the submissions. Do what you like, submit it by 4 pm eastern standard time on 10 August 2007 [Ed.: OK, blame the men in suits about the whole calendar thing]. The best submission wins it all and the prize will be winged to you from Flying Dog.
You got questions? We have comments posting power so send them in. And have a look here for past contests.
Like any member of the bar, I think a lot of myself. I think there are not too many documents I cannot wade through and conquer. I think I have met my match, not because it is too complex or on a topic that I cannot grasp but that it is in a language I have never come across before - economic analysis. The book's full title in fact is The U.S. Brewing Industry: Data and Economic Analysis so I should have know. It's that last word that gets me. You are trucking along in a chapter and, whammo!, mathematical formulae. It's never the gaant charts or the flow charts or the pie charts or the multi-coloured graphs that get me - it's the algebra. I think that makes what is called beeronomics econometrics. Click in the picture below and you will see what I mean.
But of course it is more than math that escapes me. Conversely, both authors are professors of economics at Oregon State University [Ed.: Go State!] and they explain their book in this way:
Victor and Carol Tremblay have authored a book The U.S. Brewing Industry: Data and Economic Analysis, MIT Press, 2005. This represents the culmination of almost 25 years of research in which they analyze the important economic issues facing the brewing industry, 1950-2002. These include changes in demand and cost conditions, the causes and consequences of rising concentration, price, advertising, and other firm strategies, and the impact of advertising, excise taxes, and antitrust regulations on the economic performance of the industry. They focus on the macro or mass-producing brewers but also discuss the microbrewery and import sectors of the market. A unique feature of the book is that it provides a comprehensive dataset, including annual industry data on demand and cost variables (1950-2002), annual financial data from the 25 leading brewers (1950-2002), and annual production data from the leading 100 brewers (1947-2003).
For careful readers, you will appreciate this means the statistics pre-date the current craft brewing boom. Craft brewing is described but, as is concisely pointed out in the Introduction, we have to admit craft beer in 2001 accounted for 3% of total consumption - half a percent behind "ice beer". No, this is not a book by boosters by boosters but the cold hearted results of 25 years of economic study brought together in one handy to describe the causes of industry concentration, basic cost issues, pricing and advertising strategies as well as public policy issues. That means it is a great over-view of the whole of the industry and could provide insight to craft brewers whose work now, by my reasonable guesstimate (not a concept in econometrics), now sits at about 4% to 5% of total beer consumption, eclipsing ice beer to stand maybe at half the importance of imports. I say guesstimate because I have not been able to find relative statistics in all
the recent press about 31.5% growth in US craft beer sales over the three years '04 to '06. Nice to have access to a discussion of the economics of the industry that is made up of more than press releases.
So, am I glad I have this book? Definitely? Can I read it in one sitting? Not a chance. I think this is a book to get through gradually, to immerse myself in over a while - and also one to return to as a reference over and over. I expect it could serve anyone well, to give guidance both in relation to key elements of the industry as a base line for data...unless you happen to be an econometrician in which case you can zip through it during your next flight or maybe a lunch break.
I have liked the ales I have had from Wachusett Brewing out of Westminster in central Massachusetts: the winter, their IPA , the summer seasonal and the brown - I like that picture of the brown.
When I last tried this, there was a malty note that I knew I knew from somewhere but I could not put my finger on it. The I started thinking about the name Country Ale and I was wondering what this beer really was. The brewer calls it a light pale ale with a sweet finish and the BAers, 96% of whom approve, call it an APA. But that note a nod to funk that I have only met with biere de garde, especially the blondes from Ch'ti or La Choulette. It is there again this time. Less body than a BdG but malteser malty with notes of pear, cherry and date in an orange amber ale under a fine rim and froth white head. A light black tea astringency cuts a bit but this is a pretty sweet take on a pale ale - which definitely places this far nearer a blonde from the French-Belgian border than an Anglo-Saxon pale ale of either side of the Atlantic.
The famous nude lady sketch beer that outraged Maine or at least some officious Mainers. I never thought such a human condition was possible. Just to make a statement, I bought this 2005 375 ml bottling in Maine at the ever excellent Tully's at York for $8.50 USD. However will I hide the empty from prying eyes as it sits in the recycling box by the curb?
Pinked amber ale under a slightly blushed fine white head, no doubt aware of the circumstances it found itself in. In the mouth, mild vinegar sour over Granny Smith. Not that much barnyardy poo in this one thankfully. There is a bit there but it melds with the over-riding under-ripe gravenstein apple effect. There is raspberry in the way that there is raspberry in raspberry vinaigrette except that there is no sweetness. After, though, you are left with an echo of the raspberry.
Most BAers approve. Do I? I am certainly less shocked having now had a few Cantillons. And I do find this one has a cream or maybe even vanilla note within the sharpness that I can't imagine leaning on before like I do now, seeking a reason to approve. I certainly could see poaching a fillet of sole in this but the butter in the pan would temper it yet I have to admit that it is still more acidic than any white wine or rose I might enjoy. If the same fluid were labeled blanc de blanc, would we care so?
More sour beer studies here.
So who is this William Blogg anyway?This is excellent news:
Alan, you might wish, when you have an idle moment, to take a look at my
new beer blog at http://zythophile.wordpress.com.
Martyn Cornell, you will recall is the author of the wonderful book on the English brewing trade
Beer: The Story of the Pint. I wrote a review of his book over
at my other blog back in October 2003 in the dark days before I severed off my beery posts into this their own universe. Martyn was good enough to
provide comment even though back then I only had seven readers - if you counted me. That was likely my first inkling as to how cheery and helpful a bunch these beer writers are.
Recent entries over at his place include a discussion of a century of drinking glassware, a selection of beers from 1997, 1992 and 1977 as well as his first post where he explains that we are all zythophiles. Joining Ron's new and Pete's newly revived blogs, Martyn is a welcome addition from the UK to the scene and another one that I expect will teach me far more that I could ever have hoped to learn before this information super highway network became so popular with all the kids these days.
