The Wort Hog Beer Blog

Part 8c - The Food of Köln

2011-09-19T17:22:00.000-05:00

Köln definitely has its own regional character - the accent, words used, the beer, and the food.

Earlier this month, I described our incredibly delicious meal of raw pork, called Hackepeter, in Wollnitz. When we went to Köln, we noticed that people were eating something similar on crusty rolls. I crudely translated part of our food menu at Gaffel and found that they serve something called "Mett" - ground raw pork seasoned with salt & pepper spread onto bread and topped with minced onion.

Sounds gross, right?

It was amazing! The texture was incredible - soft and slightly chewy, much like cured salmon or tuna sashimi. If you're ever in Köln (or the area) and see Mett on the menu, order it. Raw pork sounds pretty awful, but it's quite the opposite. And I'm rather disappointed it's not more popular here.

Mett for lunch at Gaffel

I also noted a couple of other regional specialties. One was "Kaviar", blood sausage with onions & pickles. The other was "Himmel und Äd", which is blood sausage, mashed potatoes, and applesauce. I tried Kaviar and really liked it as well, but preferred the mett.

"Kaviar" with a side salad. Germans aren't too big on greens.

You can make your own Mett at home. I know, I know, bacteria etc. The key is grinding the meat yourself. NEVER eat raw meat that was already ground when you bought it. If you don't wnat to do this with pork, try it with beef... you'll be making steak tartare, and some great instructions on the process are over on Michael Ruhlman's blog.

Once you've ground/diced the meat (again, see the link to Ruhlman's blog above), dice up some onion (very small dice) and mix it into the meat along with a liberal dose of salt & pepper. You can add some mace, caraway, and/or marjoram if you want, but I don't believe the Mett we had was seasoned with anything other than salt & pepper.

Spread this on a crusty dinner roll or a piece of toast (rye would be excellent for this). Alternately, shape a mound onto a plate, create a little divet in the top, and crack a raw egg onto the top (wash the shell off first), then spread onto toast. I know, sounds disturbing, but it's so delicious. Really, it is.

If you want to try this without making it yourself, bluestem serves wagyu steak tartare on their lounge menu. It's half-price Tues - Fri during happy hour (5-7; 5-6:30 on Fridays), and steak tartare for $6 is a steal.

Part 8b - The Beer of Köln

2011-09-18T16:59:00.001-05:00

Over the course of 2 days, John and I were able to try Kölsch made by 9 different breweries. Each brewery clearly had its on take on the style, but Kölsch definitely has some defining characteristics - and, like Altbier, is served in its own special glass: the 2cl thin-walled Kölner Stange. ("SHTONG-uh".)

Kölsch is a pretty narrowly-defined style, and the following stats come from Eric Warner's book on Kölsch. The BJCP guidelines are even narrower in range. It's a filtered ale typically between 3.5-7 SRM (straw, light gold), has an OG of 1.045 - 1.050, 4.5-5.2% ABV, 16-34 IBUs, and is hopped using only noble hops. It's typically lagered for anywhere from 2-8 weeks (most Köln brewers appear to lager on the shorter end of that timeframe). It should have a soft pale malt flavor character with few fermentation flavor characteristics; it shouldn't be estery, fusely, or fruity. Lagering helps reduce diacetyl & acetaldehyde (green apple) as well.

Similar to Düsseldorf & Bamberg, the beers are often served from cask. The glasses are carried around by the servers in a tray called a Kölschkranz. The tray holds several beers at a time, and in at least a few places, the beers are filled halfway and set aside until someone orders them. The glasses are then filled to the brim and carried out. Unusual and seemingly inefficient, but fun to watch.

Another note about serving is that the person serving Kölsch (called a "Köbes") wears a long blue apron - and is typically male. While we did get our Kölsch poured by a female at one brewhaus (Reissdorf), she wasn't a Köbes. While it's not against the law to hire a female Köbes, it appears that it's just not done.

Kölschkranz at Gaffel

Filling the Stanges. You can sort of see the cable mechanism in the background that Sion uses to bring the casks up from the cellar.

Gaffel am Dom

This was the first Kölsch we had, and it ended up being one of my favorites. It had a lot of sulphur in the nose and was a bit vineous as well. I loved the contrast of the soft pils malt with the prominent (but not dominating) hop bitterness. The sulphur was also detectable in the flavor, but it was slight. I was surprised at this, as I'd have thought sulphur would have been undesirable in Kölsch but it was a rather common characteristic. Regarding the brewery itself, it's right on the cathedral square and the first recorded mention of it is dated 1302. Sadly, it was completely destroyed in WWII but (thankfully) rebuilt in 1955.

You can find Gaffel in some parts of the country; I tend to see it on the east coast. I definitely recommend ordering a glass if you ever see it on tap.

Früh

To contrast with Gaffel, Früh's Kölsch was a lot of sweet pils malt flavor, fruity esters, and had low hop bitterness. I got a lot of apple, pear, and white wine in both the aroma and flavor; it almost seemed like watered-down apple cider. The body was light, and the finish was very dry. While I didn't enjoy this Kölsch as much as Gaffel's, it'd be perfect on a hot summer day. I don't believe you can get this in the US.

Früh was founded in 1904 and made a less-bitter ale than the other breweries at the time. Remember that leading up to the early 20th century, the popular beer at the time (wiess) was bitter and unfiltered. It's suggested that Früh led the transition to the form of Kölsch we know today, though there isn't a lot of information I could find to back that up.

Brauhaus Sion

Similar in age to Gaffel, Sion was founded in 1318 but survived through the world wars intact. Their Kölsch had more of an earthy, herbal hop aroma than the others; the hop flavor was a bit different as well, being a bit peppery (but not spicy). Sion's Kölsch was low in sulphur and a bit "tangy" but low in acidity. Some Kölsch brewers use a little wheat in the grist, and Sion is one of them.

Peter's Brauhaus

Peter's is an interesting brewery, as they brew a pretty broad variety of beer. Though 95% of what they brew is Kölsch, they also make Altbier, pilsner, festbier, and a weizen. We didn't have any of those, though, and I'm not even sure they serve them at the brewhouse. We went to Peter's twice on our trip and had two entirely different experiences. The first night was subdued and laid back; the second time around, we were crammed into this little tasting room that seemed to keep getting more & more crowded. I remember crawling over a table just to get out.

I really enjoyed the beer (less so the 2nd time around, but only because I'd tried more Kölsch by that time and preferred others more). It had a mild floral hop aroma and had a bit more hop bitterness than some of the other Kölsches we had but still retained a solid malt/hop balance.

Malzmühle
In the 13th - 15th centuries, brewers made their own malt and would sell excess malt in the city center for regional breweries and homebrewers. The brewery located at that malt market is creatively named Malzmühle (malt mill), and we stopped in for a tipple.

Like the others, Malzmühle's Kölsch was a bit sulphury but also had a touch of green apple - likely from acetaldehyde. The pils malt sweetness was a bit dominant in this one and the hop bitterness was restrained. The finish wasn't quite as refreshing or dry as I'd hoped and I left this brewery unimpressed.

Päffgen

We were near a now-defunct brewery (zur Täsch) that serves as a beer bar, so we stopped in to try some Päffgen Kölsch (I'm getting a little tired of all the umlauts now). This place was a trip, as the decor inside all seemed to be from Gothic cathedrals.

Later on in our trip, we went to the actual Päffgen brewhaus and enjoyed it even more. The brewhaus is gigantic and full of different rooms. We went in late afternoon and the place was already packed

I really enjoyed Päffgen, though, and wish we could get it in the US. The lightly-sweet pale malt character shone through, but was met with a reasonable amount of hop bitterness and floral flavor & aroma. It was a perfect combination of tartness, malt sweetness, noble hop bitterness, aroma, & flavor, and a touch of sulphur in the nose. This quickly became one of my favorite beers of the trip...

Dom Kölsch

... and then we went to Dom.

Light sulphury aroma met by noble hops and faint pils malt breadiness. Flavor wasn't malty-sweet at all (finally!) and the finish was actually reasonably bitter and dry. It had a little bit of malt sweetness at the end, but really the balance was toward the bitterness of the hops used.

We ended up coming here twice and enjoyed the beer just as much both times. This became the most-liked Kölsch for both of us. And despite Dom being one of the largest Kölsch brewers in the country, their beer is, unfortunately, not available in the US.

Reissdorf

But one Kölsch that is available in the US is Reissdorf! (Pronounced "RICE-dorf") When you think of Kölsch, this is possibly the brand that comes to mind. And while it wasn't our most favorite we had on our trip, it was still quite delicious, and fun to drink at the brewhaus.

Like Gaffel, the Reissdorf brewery was obliterated during WWII. It was rebuilt and brewing again by 1948, making several beers in addition to the Kölsch (such as pilsner & a dark lager).

I thought the aroma of Reissdorf's Kölsch was fantastic. Just a touch of sulphur, but in the forefront were the pils malt & floral hops... and unripe pear. I am not a fan of the fruitier Kölsches, and this was one of them. While the fruitiness & sweetness were not overwhelming in the least, they just led me to enjoy the Kölsch a bit less than those that had a sharper character to them (more hop aroma & bitterness, more sulphur).

That said, as I've been writing about Köln, I've been craving some Kölsch - and Reissdorf is available here in KC. You can get it on tap at Flying Saucer & Grünauer - and if you ask nicely at Grünauer's Wunderbar, they'll even serve it to you in a glass that's similar to a Stange. (I asked if they served Kölsch in a Stange, thinking they'd laugh at me, and instead I got my beer in a cylindrical glass! I love those guys!) Of course, you can get Schlafly's excellent Kölsch-style ale, but if you want a Kölsch from Köln, Reissdorf's is probably the most accessible.

Sünner
For our last dinner in Köln, we had mussels at a place called Bier Esel, which is apparently famous for them; they also serve Sünner Kölsch, which we hadn't yet tried. The Sünner brewery was destroyed in WWII, but like others, was rebuilt and brewing again. I found their Kölsch to be a bit too sweet, however, and didn't care too much for it. The hop aroma & bitterness were quite subdued, and instead the balance was toward pils malt & a moderate amount of apple-like fruitiness. Not my favorite.

The Verdict
I had a wonderful time trying all these variations on Kölsch. We tried beers from nine Kölsch breweries, a little more than a third of the number of breweries allowed by the Konvention to call their beer Kölsch. And here is how we ranked them. Both John and I came up with our individual lists and as it turns out (perhaps not surprisingly), that we ranked them in the same hierarchy.

Dom
Gaffel
Päffgen
Peter's
Sion
Reissdorf
Sünner
Malzmühle
Früh

Next up - the food of Köln.

Part 8a - Köln & the history of Kölsch

2011-09-14T22:50:00.001-05:00

After our day in Düsseldorf, we drove half an hour to what would turn out to be my second-favorite city on the trip, right after Prague. Köln was beautiful and the architecture interesting. And the brewing history there is just about as fascinating. Probably most notable is that the Köln brewers have organized in various forms for over 700 years as a way to protect their industry from governmental interference, black-market brewers (those damn homebrewers!), and external competition.

Kölsch wasn't a style until recently; it's a relatively new style whose form as we know it today is less than 100 years old. It wasn't even a prominent style in the city until after WWII. Its predecessors, though, have an interesting history. Gruit (beer bittered with herbs) was the prominent style in Köln up through the 1400s. A heavier, maltier beer bittered with hops called "keutebier" from the north started gaining popularity around that time, but the Köln breweries disallowed production of this style as a way to protect their products. At the same time, taxation on beer was based on the strength of the beer and new taxes on hops were introduced; this heavy taxation solidified Köln brewery resistance against brewing keutebier. In 1495, however, brewing gruit became illegal and breweries turned to making a lighter version of the popular keutebier to stay in business while avoiding high taxation.

Köln cathedral at night

In the 1800s, when the indirect heated kiln was invented and maltsters were able to kiln malt at high temperatures without heavily roasting or smoking the grains, brewers started making a pale, hoppy, unfiltered pale ale called "wiess" ("veess"... rhymes with "fleece"). Filtered, they called it Kölsch. And a style was born.

Fast forward through French occupation and their dissolution of the brewers' guilds, two world wars, the destruction of several of Köln's breweries, commercial competition, the loss of most of the city's brewers, quickly-expanding love for Pilsners across Germany and Europe, and you have a pretty big threat to Köln's identifying brew. Rebuilding Köln's brewing culture took a few decades, but included the emergence of the Association of Köln Breweries and the Köln Brewers Corporation. In 1986, the Kölsch Konvention declared Kölsch the official beer of Köln and protected it under an appellation. That's why you'll often see "Kölsch-style ale" (rather than "Kölsch") on beer made outside the Köln area.

So with its origins in gruit, keutebier, and unfiltered wiess, we now have Kölsch. We'll get into its modern incarnation next, and I haven't really done the style justice, but I find its history interesting. If you want to find out more, check out Eric Warner's book on the style.

And next... on to the beer itself and some of the breweries that make it.

Part 7: Düsseldorf

2011-09-12T00:11:00.000-05:00

I was going to write about Düsseldorf and Köln in one post, but there's so much to say about each of them, that I've decided to split them into two separate posts. Düsseldorf is home to Altbier, a German ale that's typically known to be fairly nutty & moderately bitter. Our time in the city of Alt, though, proved to us that Altbier is a widely-variable German ale that ranges from nutty & bitter to moderately malty-sweet & floral. If you think about the amount of variation in American Pale Ales, or even IPAs, you get a comparable amount of variation in German Altbier.

Cask at Schumacher

One of the images I remember most from this trip are the casks in various bars. Bamberg's breweries used them, as did those in Düsseldorf (and Köln, which is up next). Some people have this bizarre notion that German beer is served warm; I suspect that comes from the fact that it's not served at "Coldest Beer in Town!" temperatures. Despite that, it's still served plenty cold, but more like cellar temperatures (low 50s). Perfect for being able to smell and taste your beer.

There are several Altbier breweries in Düsseldorf , and we did our best to check out the most notable. Here's a run-down of where we went & what we thought:

Brauerei Schumacher
Very clear, light brown/amber in color. The aroma was sweet, nutty, toasted malt with a bit of doughiness and a floral hop aroma toward the end. The flavor was prominently toasted nuts and bread, with a bit of a floral hop flavor but lingering bitterness in the finish. I was really surprised at how bitter this beer was; it was one of the bitterest beers I'd had on the trip, but the malt character balanced it out some. Even still, this was - surprisingly so - quite a bitter beer.

Zum Schwartze Maus
We walked about 4 miles from Schumacher to Schalander, only to find out that Schalander was closed. So, we found this place across the street that served a couple of different alts. I tried the Frankenheim Alt which, as you can probably tell from their website, is a bit... commercial. It was pretty sweet and presented brown sugar & caramel right away. It almost had a sweet "Ricola" type of malt character that gave way to a toasted almond presence. The hop bitterness was subdued and certainly not in balance with the malt. I wasn't impressed.

Hausbrauerei zum Schlüssel

After a convoluted tram ride from the black mouse pub, we stopped in zum Schlüssel to rest our feet and revive. As you can see in the picture, alt is served in the little cylindrical glasses; they're all about .2 or .25cl. I love this, because I so often want smaller servings of beer, just so that I can taste different beers. But when the place offers one beer, it's kind of an annoyance... but anyway...

This one ended up being one of my favorites. It was very nutty, likely from the Munich malt, and quite bitter - but not as bitter as the alt at Schumacher. It had some spicy hop notes at the finish, adding to the complexity. I really enjoyed this beer; it had a fantastic balance of malt sweetness & toast, hop aroma & flavor, and bitterness in the finish. I'd love to have this available in the US.

In the picture, you can also see the small gray crock in the background. Every single bar & restaurant in Düsseldorf we went to had these on the table. One would hold flatware, another held mustard. I should have bought some of my own. You can't have enough mustard.

Zum Uerige

This place was insane. You probably recognize the name, and it was largely a tourist attraction. However, it was clear they work hard not to turn it into the ridiculousness in places like U Fleků. And, as it turns, out, they had my favorite Altbier of all the alts we tried. The malt character was a bit more complex than the others we had. While it definitely had the toasty Munich malt notes, it must have also had a decent amount of crystal malt in it, lending a bit of caramelly sweetness. You got that initially, but each sip ended with a spicy - and slightly funky - hop flavor with moderately high bitterness.

They keep track of how much you drink by marking your coaster.
Is this because the glasses are so bitsy?

We're coming up to Sticke release time (every October & January), so we should start seeing fresh bottles on shelves of our liquor stores here in KC in the coming months. I'm quite curious about their distilled Stickum (moreso, Stickum PLUS), but haven't seen it here... if you have, let me know where you spotted it.

Funny story about this place; their servers are notorious for being a bit impish. I went to the restroom during our visit, and on the way back to our table, our server fake-punched me in the stomach. German flirting at its finest? Not sure, but it did make me laugh just because it was so off-the-wall. Wacky Germans...

Im Füchschen
This place was a short walk from Zum Uerige, so we stopped in for a small beer (remember, these are 20cl pours of 4.5% ABV beer, which is slightly weaker than 6oz of Boulevard Wheat at a time). Their beer was super-nutty with a scant amount of floral hops. There wasn't much bitterness in the finish at all, which made it very drinkable but also relatively uninteresting. We had one beer and left, but not before noticing that their food menu featured steak from Nebraska.

Overall, here is how I rated the alts we tried, from best to ... not best:
1) Zum Uerige
2) Hausbrauerei zum Schlüssel
3) Schumacher
4) Im Füchschen
5) Frankenheim

It's a good thing, then, that we can get what I thought was the best one here in KC. Granted, it's almost impossible to find the original altbier, but the Sticke is fairly available, and we do get it seasonally.

I told you I had a lot to say. :)

Part 6: Dortmund

2011-09-10T22:38:00.002-05:00

After we left Wöllnitz, we drove across the German countryside to the Dortmund/Düsseldorf/Köln area, stopping in Dortmund for a night's stay before a couple of days in Köln. Dortmund was cute, but nothing too remarkable or notable. We went to the city center for dinner and ended up in "Zum Alten Markt" ("at the old market") that was like a German version of Old Spaghetti Factory. Kitsch everywhere, gigantic portions of mediocre food, and slow service. Its saving grace was the beer, but even then I didn't mind leaving.

Bird cages hanging from the ceiling of Zum Alten Markt.
It was just missing the streetcar in the middle of the restaurant.

We crossed the square to a place called Brinkhoff's and enjoyed a house beer (eh) and a delicious Czech black lager called Krusovice Cerne. Like others we tried in Prague, this one smelled and tasted a bit of plums and dried fruit, but was still light-bodied and easy to drink. There was a touch of roast & coffee in the finish thanks to the dark malt. There aren't a ton of black Czech lagers you can get here, but Bernard Cerne is fantastic - and easily available in KC (at least at Royal, anyway).

Pilsners in this area come in stemmed glasses - not what we know as pilsner glasses - with paper doilies.

I could have sworn I'd read that you could get Dortmunder Export at Zum Alten Markt, but apparently I remembered wrong. Your best bet at getting a Dortmunder Export in the US is going to be via Ayinger's "Jahrhundert" beer, or Great Lakes' Dortmunder Gold (for which you'll have to trade or travel).

Bottom Line - the best beer I had in Dortmund was a Czech beer. I'm sure others have different experiences, but I found most of the local pilsners to be flabby and unremarkable. Pilsner malt graininess, mild hop bitterness, floral hop aroma, and light residual sweetness; nothing outstanding but nothing horrible. Not that I was ungrateful to be there; it just paled in comparison to the other cities we went to. But, the mediocrity was short-lived, as the next day we headed off to Düsseldorf and Köln for some Altbier and Kölsch .

Part 5: Wöllnitz

2011-09-09T23:03:00.001-05:00

I haven't written about our Germany trip in months, and I'm determined to finish this bad boy. Let's do this.

After our evening in Leipzig at the Ohne Bedenken, we trekked out to find packing material for transporting our beers. The plan was to buy a box, tape, lots of bubble wrap & packing peanuts, and check the box as luggage. After a lot of searching in a big mall, we finally found a box, but no packing materials. Batting and fake-snow fluffy stuff from the Christmas decoration section would have to do. We also found some cheap-ass cherry mead (€3 for a 750ml bottle - and it was actually pretty good!) and entertained ourselves with the flat escalators in the mall.

Despite the best engineering intentions, shopping carts are difficult to hold in place on these things.

With our purchases in tow, we headed toward Wöllnitz, which John had read about on Ron Pattinson's blog. Incidentally, on the way to Germany, we also read Stan Hieronymous' "Brewing with Wheat" where he mentions this city's unique style of beer. Gasthausbrauerei Talschänke brews a sour wheat beer there, called Wöllnitzer Weißbier. Beer Advocate & Rate Beer list this as a Berliner Weisse, but it's actually a derivative of an old style called Lichtenhainer - a sour wheat beer made partially with smoked malt.

Smoky sour wheat beer in Germany

The aroma was bready and very citrusy, like a lemon sherbet, with a very faint floral hop aroma at the finish. The flavor was also citrusy, but not so much as the aroma was. The finish was smoky and bready; the wheat in the grist contributed to a light graininess that complemented the citrus character well. We both thoroughly enjoyed it, but I have to admit...

... I liked the Jever better. A very bitter German pils, Jever on tap is something to behold. You can get something sort of close to Jever at Grünauer by ordering a glass of Czechvar, but it won't be nearly as bitter or delicious.

And speaking of delicous? Hackepeter! Take raw pork, add some fresh onion, a raw egg and some spices, toss it on a plate, and voila - deliciousness on a plate. My mother would die knowing we were dining on a plate of raw pork & raw egg, but I am starting to believe that cooking meat ruins it.

A bit of Jever next to some Hackepeter, a pickle, and a giant wedge of butter

It's a regional specialty, and we ran into a variant of the raw pork delicacy in other cities... but first? Dortmund.

And Speaking of Firkins in Kansas City...

2011-08-03T17:16:00.001-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, I was whining about Kansas City’spoor state of affairs when it comes to beers in a firkin around town. I waspretty damn happy to, soon-after, read on the KC Beer Blog that Blanc is consideringdoing cask beer from time to time (sounds pretty tentative, but at least they’reactively considering it).

So I’m excited to hear that the next Rare Beer Night atFlying Saucer (Aug 4th) will feature a firkin of Tallgrass’ “Dream Warrior” - Halcyon with strawberries & vanilla. If you haven’t tried regular Halcyon yet, you’remissing out on a fantastic summer beer that’s light, citrusy, and far lessembarrassing to order than a similarly-refreshing radler. I can’t guarantee thatasking for a glass of strawberry-vanilla beer won’t be embarrassing, but maybethat’s why they named it Dream Warrior (am I the only one picturing Game of Thrones imagery?). It sounds delicious.

Bourbon Cerise

2011-07-31T22:11:00.002-05:00

I love Founders and nearly everything they distribute to Missouri. I also love quality-made fruit beers like BBQ, WI Belgian Red, or Sam Smith strawberry ale. A couple of years ago, I had the opportunity to try Cerise, and I found it a bit over-fruity and sweet, even though I'm a fan of super-sweet fruit beers like Belgian Red. I haven't had it since, mostly because it was just too... fruity.

A couple of months ago, I decided on a whim to get into bourbon. I bought a couple bottles of bourbons I read about online and absolutely fell in love with Eagle Rare 10. Fast forward a month or so, and I'm in Royal liquor looking around for something to drink. I picked up some saisons from Jolly Pumpkin and Stillwater, as well as a 4-pack of Founders Cerise (hoping that perhaps my memory had failed me). When I got home, I drank half a bottle of Cerise and wasn't that impressed.

So, I added about a quarter-ounce of bourbon to that last half of a bottle... and loved it.

Founders needs to barrel-age Cerise. While I'm happy to add an ounce of bourbon to a bottle of Cerise, the oak and bourbon would add significant depth. Without a doubt, cherries, oak, and bourbon are a match made in polyamorous heaven.

So if you find yourself with a chance to drink a bottle or glass of Cerise - or if you are interested in trying the beer with some complexity - get a shot of bourbon to go with it. You won't regret it.

Engine & Cask

2011-07-20T11:49:00.001-05:00

We took a trip to Chicago earlier this year for a homebrewing competition as well as a long weekend getaway. Among some of the typical places we wanted to hit (Map Room, Publican, Goose Island Clybourn), we had our sights set on Owen & Engine. We wouldn't have known about this place had it not been for Elliot (from Waldo Pizza) moving to Chicago and getting a gig there as the Beer Manager. We ran into him last fall and he mentioned the place to us. We couldn't wait to check it out.

Owen & Engine
Photo from Metromix Chicago

There were several reasons we wanted to go (one of them being the stellar British-inspired food menu), but the main one was for the beer engines. They've got four of them set up behind the bar, each with carefully-selected beers available. The place also has 20 separate taps at the bar, again all thoughtful and representing a wide variety - everything from Rodenbach Grand Cru to Bitburger, cider, and Cafe Negro. We had a great time trying a bunch of the beers on engine, as well as those on the standard taps and I recommend stopping here any time you're in Chicago.

I'd really like to see more places in Kansas City offer beer on engine (whether cask or keg), or even gravity-fed from a cask. A few bars around town do haveengines, but they’re rarely ever in use. And while beer on engine can be keggedwith CO2 gas maintained at a low level to keep a blanket over the beer, it’sthe beer in a cask that is really something unique (ever try an IIPA on cask?Amazing difference between its kegged counterpart!). But its shelf life isshort, and the last time I did have something from cask here in town, it hadoxidized beyond salvation. It seems we just don’t have enough interest in beeron engine and/or cask to really make it worth the bar’s time or expense.

However, it looks like St Louis isexperiencing a surge of attention to cask beer. iTap introduced its cask program this spring: they purchasedempty casks and now send them off to various breweries to be filled andreturned. And STLhops.com just announced that Lohr Distributing recently purchased casks for a similar program catering to multiple bars in the STL area.

If the KC beer scene keeps moving forwardas it has in the past 2-3 years, it’s only a matter of time before we startseeing a revival of cask nights and dusting off the ol’ beer engines. I hope.

Great Nebraska Beer Fest 2011

2011-07-15T20:45:00.014-05:00

What are you doing the weekend of August 27th? Consider going to Nebraska.

The Great Nebraska Beer Fest 2011 is going on that Saturday from 1-6pm and is held in the parking lot where Nebraska Brewing Co is located. Tickets are $30. Not convinced? Check out the flyer and this (long) list of breweries...

Nebraska Brewing Co
Twisted Pine
Cigar City
Raccoon River
Crooked Stave
Grimm Brothers
Crow Peak
Granite City
Stevens Point
Great River
Avery
Upstream
Thunderhead
Empyrean
Lucky Bucket
Gottberg
Funkwerks
Spilker
Schilling Bridge
Free State
Crabtree
Freetail
Madhouse
Peace Tree
Tallgrass
Summit
O'Dell
Sprecher
Left Hand
Boulevard
Boston Beer Co
Breckenridge
Tommyknocker
New Belgium
Weyerbacher
Great Divide
Ska
Boulder
Schell's
Rock Bottom
Goose Island

There are a lot of phenomenal breweries represented here, many of which don't distribute to our area. Looks like it'll be a good event to attend. And unless you're a New Yorker, you know Nebraska really isn't that far away.

Sour Beer Week at the Saucer

2011-07-12T12:05:00.005-05:00

As you can probably tell, I've lost a lot of steam in the world of blogging. Work travel has nearly taken over my life, but I've also become a lot more invested in other hobbies & time-consuming things of late. And with KC Beer Blog doing such a great job at covering all things local these days, they make it hard to come up with unique content. Not a bad thing, of course!

However, I received a press release from Flying Saucer today that I can't ignore. SOUR BEER WEEK will be taking place at the end of this month, and there are some fantastic breweries being represented. Monday starts it off with a Goose Island dinner (about which you can find out more on Facebook).

And, as fate would have it, I'm going to be traveling on business for most of that week. Hopefully there will still be some good beers left on tap when I get into town. I may have to stop in on my way home from the airport Thursday, as I'm not sure how much of the Cantillon will last. Then return Friday for Jolly Pumpkin night.

I've been thinking for a while about voting Jolly Pumpkin one of the best breweries no one in KC seems to be talking about much. If you've never had their beer, you owe it to yourself to make the trek to the Saucer on the 29th. As well as pretty much every other night that week.

Swagger adds Sunday hours & a breakfast menu

2011-06-23T10:11:00.000-05:00

Bull E Vard just announced Swagger’s food pairing & beer tasting event tonight with Royal Liquor. Sounds like a great way to do a beer/food pairing without forking over a lot of cash or guaranteeing a food coma.

But what I really came here to post are two other things going on at Swagger. They’re now open on Sundays, AND they’re serving breakfast on weekends! I’ve been waiting for a while for the Sunday hours, as it seems every time I get the urge to go to Swagger, it’s on Sunday. We even walked a mile with some friends one Sunday to go to Swagger for lunch, only to find they were closed (and as we walked away, someone else drove up and tried to go inside.) You'll be able to get your Swagger fix on Sundays from 7am - 9pm.

As for breakfast, it’ll be served both Saturday & Sunday from 7am to noon. No booze served prior to 9am, but I’m not sure anyone will be crying into the biscuits & gravy over that.

BYOB TV

2011-05-15T20:23:00.000-05:00

In case you're feeling nostalgic for beer-related television after the questionably-permanent end of Brewmasters, or if you're dying to add just one more reality-tv show to your addiction, check out BYOB TV over on kofytv.com. The content is homebrewing-related, but entirely relevant to non-homebrewing beer fans as well. And, it's simply entertaining. It's in a reality TV format, meaning there are teams that face a variety of challenges and, toward the end of each episode, potential elimination from the show. At the end of the season, the team left standing will receive a trip to the Pilsner Urquell brewery in Plzen. Not too shabby!

If you've ever listened to Brewing Network's Sunday Session, you'll likely recognize host Justin Crossley and "Director of Difficulty" JP. The first episode starts out with a quiz show style game, where competing teams answer questions about beer, perform taste tests, and guess hop varieties based on aroma. The teams then move on to timed challenges hooking up brewing equipment and finish up with a relay race involving mugs of beer and spent grain. Two of the eight teams were eliminated, with the remaining six going on to episode #2.

Episode #2 kicks off with the six remaining teams making different batches of beer, including a squash-sage beer, one with meyer lemons, and an oatmeal-raisin-cookie beer. But there's a twist that gets introduced, making the challenge even more challenge-y (and you have to watch the episode to see what it is). A judging panel chose to move five of the six teams on to episode #3, sending one team home.

And, finally, the most recent episode's challenge was to build an all-grain homebrew setup from junk. As with most reality shows, a bit of drama occurs within the first ten minutes but all was made right with a bit of compromise. This ended up being my favorite episode; I loved the sprinkler attached to the inside of the cooler-MLT lid for sparging, as well as the terra cotta pot as a false bottom.

Only four teams remain after this episode, and the next one available (aired May 14th but not yet online) involves the teams having to clone a Lagunitas brew. The show's well-made and engaging, and I laughed more than a few times. Happy viewing!

Big Brew Day

2011-05-02T22:05:00.003-05:00

National Homebrew Day is this coming Saturday (May 7th), which means that homebrew clubs nationwide will be hosting Big Brew events. Big Brew is an event where homebrewers gather to make homebrew, share knowledge, answer questions, share love for the hobby, and... drink beer. The American Homebrewers Association (AHA) publishes recipes each year, and this year's are an 1800s style East India Pale Ale, a Wit, and a Robust Porter.

Basically, you show up and talk beer & homebrew while brewing, helping brew, or watching someone else brew. If you're interested in the hobby but have no idea where to start, this is a perfect opportunity to get answers. We've got a few Big Brew days in our neck of the woods put on by a few clubs. Be sure you're there by noon (if not sooner), when a nationwide toast to homebrewing will take place.

The KC Bier Meisters will, as in years past, host Big Brew in the area behind Bacchus & Barleycorn. Festivities start at 10. More info is on the KCBM website.
ZZ Hops' Big Brew day will be in Lee's Summit, also starting at 10am. See their Facebook page for when, where, and contact info.
Jayhops has contact information on their Facebook page as well, if you'd like to attend.

Cheers! And happy homebrewing.

Making Mead - Part Five

2011-04-29T18:00:00.002-05:00

So here we are, the final post in my little series on meadmaking. I'm not a pro, I haven't won meadmaker of the year, and I won't claim to make the best meads I've ever had. But, despite that, I've learned a lot of information over the past 1.5 years that has vastly improved our meads - and one is going to compete this June in the AHA National Homebrew Competition. I've compiled a bunch of resources here to help get you on your way, including where you can find good examples of commercial meads.

Honey

55 pounds of sweet goodness

You can buy honey at any of our local farmers’ markets, but you’re going to find that wildflower & clover are the two types of honey available locally. For varietals such as tupelo, basswood, mesquite, or orange blossom, you’re going to need to find a non-local source. (That said, when Trader Joe’s finally opens up here, you’ll be able to get Mesquite honey there.) Some of the honey providers I’ve used, and that others recommend, are:

Millers Honey
Draper Bee
Bee Folks
Northern Brewer
To find other honey retailers, you can use the National Honey Board's Honey Locator

Tools
I’ve mentioned a few key tools in these posts, but here are the links to them again. Obviously, the standard fermenter, blowoff assembly, hydrometer/refractometer, and other standard brewing tools apply here too.

Lees Stirrer: In addition to your fermenter, you will definitely want to pick up a lees stirrer to mix & degas your must.
Postal Scale: Measuring out your honey is made easy with a postal scale; I bought ours on Amazon and am completely happy with it. I also use this when shipping off beers to homebrew competitions. Sign up for a free account on UPS or FedEx’s website, and you can print out shipping labels after entering destination & weight information online. All you have to do is drop off the package with your label in an affixed pouch; no waiting in line.
Gram scale: I also recommend getting one of these to measure out your nutrients and yeast. It’s also really handy for measuring hops.
pH Strips or Meter: pH is so important to meadmaking, you really need to measure it so that it can be adjusted as necessary. The most economical approach is with pH strips, but I recommend investing in a pH meter. You’ll need to calibrate the meter on each mead day (assuming you’re making it less frequently than every few days), so pick up some solution at the same time. Don’t forget the storage solution as well, which will keep the little probe from drying out.
Mead Calculator: This is such a handy tool for helping you figure out how much honey, water, and other fermentable ingredients you'll need for your batch.

Mead Resources
As I mentioned a few days ago, everyone finds their own approach. What I’ve laid out here is the method we’ve figured out by gathering information from the interwebs, attending NHC, talking to other meadmakers, reading books, and experience. I recommend checking out some other mead resources to see what others are doing and get a different perspective – as well as inspiration. Here are just a few -

homebrewtalk.com
gotmead.com
meadmaking subreddit
mead made complicated
Ken Schramm’s book, The Compleat Meadmaker

Advanced Information on Mead

I'm not even going to try to describe the plethora of information on the BJCP mead page, but please check it out. There is so much good information there, it's a necessary resource for any meadmaker. From information on varietal honey to punching down fruit caps in melomels, to styles, to troubleshooting, you'd be hard-pressed not to find what you're looking for here. This is an incredible source of information on making mead.

Commercial Meads

Winner of a well-deserved gold medal

We can get a handful of meads here in Kansas & Missouri, and I've found the widest selection, all on the Missouri side, at Gomer's Midtown, Royal on 103rd, and Lukas in Martin City. They're typically located with the port & sake, but you might have to ask if you don’t see it. Some brands you're bound to see:

Redstone (CO) - makers of some of the best commercial mead I've had. They make a hopped mead.
Chaucer's (CA)
Pirtle (MO) - I highly recommend their blueberry & effervescent meads. The effervescent just won a gold medal for traditional sweet mead at Mazer Cup! Typically stocked in the Missouri Wine section.
Honeywood (OR)
Lurgashall (England)
Bunratty (Ireland)
Makana (S Africa) - they make a great bird's eye chili mead

There are some fantastic meaderies cropping up all over the country, though. Some of the greats include

B Nektar (incredible meads out of IN)
Rabbits Foot (CA; they make several braggots)
Heidrun (CA; fantastic sparkling meads using méthode champenoise)
New Day (IL)
White Winter (WI; one of my favorites)
Mountain Meadows (CA)

I'm sure I'm forgetting some, but that should get you started.

I haven’t really talked about it, but Polish mead is a somewhat different beast and one I have yet to see here in the KC metro. I know you can find some in St Louis at the Wine & Cheese Place; the traditional bottles are pretty easy to spot. Polish mead typically comes in four strengths: 2:1, 1:1, 1:2, and a 1:3 honey:water ratio. Most are aged on wood for 1-4 years (some are aged up to 25 years), and contain fruit or herbs. The resulting product is a sweet but smooth and rich beverage that is notably high in alcohol. It’s definitely worth trying once (or more).

You can order from many of the meaderies directly, which is probably going to be your best bet since online wine retailers really only tend to carry Chaucer's. Since KS state law doesn't allow direct shipment of alcohol to households, you’ll need to have it sent to a location in Missouri (my house, for example).

I hope you found this information helpful and inspiring. If you’re interested in meeting and talking to other meadmakers, there are a few homebrewing clubs in the KC metro area with members who make mead: KC Bier Meisters, Lawrence Brewers Guild, ZZ Hops, and Jayhops.

Thanks for reading!

Reference -
part one
part two
part three
part four

Making Mead - Part Four

2011-04-27T21:35:00.002-05:00

In the past three posts, we've gone through getting ingredients, mixing them, and going through fermentation & staggered nutrient additions + degassing. Mead fermentation should take about 3 weeks, give or take. We usually give it a month or so to get to our final gravity and let as much yeast fall out as possible. Once fermentation is done, there are a few things you can do:

- Make it sweeter

- Make it more acidic

- Make it more tannic

- Modify the flavor with additional ingredients

- Clarify the mead

Backsweetening

Unlike beer wort, honey is pretty much completely fermentable and your mead may end up a bit dry. Unless you arrest fermentation before it finishes by racking off the yeast and adding stabilizers (an approach I don't trust at all), you'll probably want to add back a little honey to bring out some of the original honey character as well as increase the mouthfeel. If you add more honey to your brand new mead, the yeast are just going to consume it. So, you need to add stabilizers before doing anything else.

Adding campden tablets (potassium metabisulfite.. yeah, yeah, sulfites, blah blah) will hinder any wild yeast in your new mead, as well as help prevent oxidation during transfer. At the same time, adding potassium sorbate will prevent further fermentation by hindering yeast reproduction. I recommend transferring to a new container in this step, so that you get your mead off the sediment to aid clarity. For each gallon of mead you're about to transfer, add 1 crushed campden tablet and 1/2 tsp of potassium sorbate per gallon to your new container. Then, transfer the mead, give it 1-2 days to stabilize, then add any sugary additions without concern of triggering further fermentation.

Adding 1/2 - 1 cup of honey (half a cup at a time) to a 5-gallon batch will usually give you the sweetness you're looking for and will greatly enhance the natural honey aroma that's highly desirable in a mead. If you added fruit in primary, you could choose to add juice at this point as well. More than a cup of honey for a 5gal batch is often quite cloying, but really it's up to you. You're best off boiling 1-2 cups of water, pouring it into a sanitized bowl or pitcher, and adding the honey to the hot water. This will make the honey pourable, thin, and easily mixable.

Once transfer is complete, top off with a blanket of CO2 if possible to prevent further oxidation. If that's not possible, you can sanitize a bunch of marbles and put them into the fermenter to decrease headspace. Or, add water. Or, transfer to a smaller container.

Creating Balance

BJCP Banquet at Summit Brewing Co

Last year at the National Homebrewers Conference, we attended the pre-conference BJCP banquet where there were tables set up with tinctures & mixtures of various mead additions. These included extracts of mint, juniper, ginger, cinnamon, rose petals, and other flavoring additions. There was also a table set up with tannin in liquid and a variety of acids (including an acid blend). We were given cups, mead on tap, and free reign to blend at will. This was one of the many eye-opening experiences I had at NHC last year. It's quite an experience to taste a good mead, add a touch of acid and tannin, and realize how much the already-good mead can improve with a bit of blending. The flavor "pops", the finish becomes cleaner, and it becomes dangerously more drinkable.

Creating Multiple Meads from One

This practice of using extracts convinced me that making metheglin (herbed mead) does not involve adding herbs or spices to the fermenter, but is better off done by creating extracts of ingredients that are then added in small amounts to the base mead. Doing this is simple - soak the desired ingredient in cheap neutral alcohol to create an extract. Then, after a couple of weeks, pour a small amount of traditional mead (2oz or so) into several containers and add varying amounts of the extract to each container with an eyedropper. Figure out which one is most appealing, scale up, and voila - you now have a different mead. Try it with clove, orange peel, chili peppers, cinnamon, vanilla, or anything else you can think of. Another idea? Make a hop tea and add that to your mead.

Better yet, dry-hop! If you dry-hop in a keg, pick up a Sure Screen. It goes right onto the end of the dip tube and makes racking off the hops so much simpler (unless you get hop cones somehow wedged under the tube, causing the beer not to siphon through the transfer tubing, requiring you to have to scoop out and stir a bunch of hops to try to dislodge the cones and generating a huge mess and a lot of swearing - and potential oxidation - in the process. Good times.).

Clarifying Mead

There are two main processes for clarifying mead: wait several months or use a clarifying agent. We're impatient, so we clarify. Alberta from Bacchus & Barleycorn recommended Super Kleer KC one day, so I gave it a shot - and I haven't turned back since. The packet is composed of two pouches; after pouring the contents of the first pouch into your mead, you wait an hour and pour the contents of the second pouch. Give the mead a gentle swirl and wait a few days. After a week or so, your mead will be very clear. After three weeks, it'll be brilliant. I can't recommend this stuff enough and consider it a standard part of every mead batch we do.

After clarifying, package. We keg all our meads, but a lot of people will bottle them & age for as long as it lasts. Mead, like wine, will change as it ages, and almost always for the better. If you take care of fermentation and practice good sanitation, you should be able to enjoy your mead when it's less than 6 months old. The old philosophy of having to age meads for at least 2 years can get tossed out the window.

In my next (and last) post on meads, I'll list out some of the best resources I've found for meadmaking (ingredients, tools, and information) as well as some of the better meads I've discovered - and where to find them. Unfortunately, our selection of commercial mead is relatively poor here in KC, but we're lucky to have a meadery in Weston as well as the option to have mead mail-ordered (in Missouri).

Reference -
part one
part two
part three

Making Mead - Part Three

2011-04-26T18:14:00.004-05:00

Picking up where we left off in part two, we’ve now got two meads that are starting to ferment. Up to this point, all we’ve done is mix ingredients together. Of course, every meadmaker’s process is going to differ in some way. Some meadmakers heat their mead must on the stove, some even to the point of boiling (not to be confused with burnt mead, which is mead that is slowly boiled for several hours to develop complex caramelization). These posts are just one way to approach making mead; certainly, if you make your own, you’ll find your own approach. One thing is certain, however – a healthy fermentation is key, and there are some things you can do to promote one.

Managing your Fermentation

The first few days of fermentation are crucial to making quality mead. During this time, the yeast need a nutrient-rich and yeast-friendly environment to properly and fully ferment the sugars without creating problematic off-flavors and fusel alcohols. A lot of people will say that you have to age mead a few years before it’s even drinkable, but that’s likely because the fermentation didn’t go as well as it could have. Of course, mead does typically age extremely well, and tends to improve over time, but a fresh young mead is certainly drinkable if you make it right.

Specifically, you need to manage the following:

- Fermentation temperature (keep it in the 68-72 range)

- The pH of your must (keep it above 3.2, ideally around 3.4 - 3.6)

- Adequate FAN, vitamins, and minerals

You can check your pH levels with pH strips or a pH meter. If you have pH strips for beer, you’ll need to buy ones that are specifically intended for wine, as the pH range will go lower than the beer strips register. They should go under 3.0. We have a pH meter that we use for both mead and beer, and I love the thing. It’s kind of a pain in the ass to calibrate every time (mostly because I'm impatient), but it’s a lot more accurate and reassuring than pH strips.

If you need to increase your pH, which is often the case because honey is moderately acidic, you can add Calcium Carbonate (CaCo3) or Potassium Hydroxide (KOH). We use KOH because it does not leave behind carbonate, which can leave behind a chalky, salty taste. We create a 2M KOH solution at home (I bought our KOH at Essential Depot) and add the solution in 10ml increments to our 5 gallon batches. Pick up an infant syringe at a pharmacy to easily measure out 10ml (it’s also a great tool for measuring out Star San or Iodophor – 6ml per gallon of water for a properly-diluted sanitizing solution). Wear gloves when you mix & measure this, as it will actually break down the lipids in your skin. Ew.

Degassing Mead

You’ll also need more DAP and Fermaid-K during fermentation, and will add these to the fermenting mead along with your pH adjustments. I learned the hard way, though, that adding these dry powders provides thousands of nucleation sites when added to the mead, causing the well-known mead volcano. You could do a 5-gallon batch in a 20-gallon bucket so that the foam doesn’t spill over the top. Or, you could degas your mead.

You, too, can have your own homemade volcano

Degassing basically removes CO2 from solution through rapid agitation of the must. Guess what we use – yep, the handy dandy lees stirrer. Some people use a whisk, others use brewing spoons, but I’m not that interested in getting a workout when I do my nutrient additions, so I use the lazy method. Sanitize the lees stirrer and the neck of your carboy and whirr away. I usually whisk for about 5-8 minutes and sometimes have to stop to avoid a mead volcano. A lot of CO2 is removed in this process and will allow you to safely add your nutrients without making a mess. Amateur video ahead...

There’s another upside to degassing, though, and that is to lessen strain on the yeast. I’ve read that you need to degas your must because CO2 levels can become toxic to your yeast, but I’ve also read that it’s nearly impossible to get enough CO2 to a level of actual yeast toxicity. What it will do is help keep your fermentation chugging along, and remove CO2 early on so that you get a still mead more quickly than just letting it sit/age for months.

We use the Curt Stock fermentation schedule, which requires 8 days of fermentation care as follows:

Day 0: make the mead, adding 4.5g Fermaid-K and 2g DAP.

Days 1, 3, 5, 7, and 8: Degas only

Days 2, 4, and 6: Degas, then add 4.5g Fermaid K, 2g DAP, and 10ml KOH

That's it. More involved than most beer, but still extremely easy.

Next up, post-fermentation!

Reference -
part one
part two

Making Mead - Part Two

2011-04-25T17:37:00.005-05:00

In my prior post, I talked about the two primary facets of meadmaking that I think contribute the most to making a good-tasting mead: yeast health and suitable honey. Of course, sanitation and proper care go without saying. This post gets into the pre-fermentation details. Most of this information is a result of attending NHC sessions last year, reading Ken Schramm's book, and going through Kris England & Curt Stock's presentation from the 2008 NHC.

A couple of weekends ago, John and I threw together three batches of mead in one afternoon – two fruit meads (melomels) and one traditional. It's so easy to put together, it's almost silly to do just one batch at a time. The most frustrating and time-consuming part of that day’s session was that our honey was fully crystalized and it took about 2 hours – and a lot of boiling-hot water – to get it to a pourable consistency (and even then, “pourable” is an overstatement; it was more like “soft enough to squeeze through the narrow neck of a gallon jug”). It’s worth noting that Tupelo & White Sage won’t likely crystalize at room temperature; in my experience (and I’m not alone), tupelo makes better-tasting mead than white sage, but sage can be a great base for fruit & spice meads as it’s quite neutral.

Weighing the honey on a postal scale
I had added a gallon of water to the carboy prior to adding honey
(the rest of the water got added once I finished with all the honey)

First, Devise a Recipe

I like using the mead calculator on GotMead.com. You can determine how much honey, juice, fruit, water, and other ingredients you need to achieve your desired mead. By playing around with quantity of honey & other fermentables while keeping the target volume the same, I can come up with amounts of ingredients to achieve my desired starting gravity.

To know where your starting gravities should land, you can look at the BJCP’s guidelines for hydromel (light), standard, and sack (strong) meads. For instance, for the pyment I knew I wanted a mead that would be at the upper end of the standard-strength range (around 14% ABV). To know how much honey to use with 4 pounds of grape concentrate (which I know is 68 Brix), I added this in the calculator as a 2nd ingredient with 68% sugar content. With 12 pounds of honey, this brought me to just under the top of the standard category. Perfect!

I'll pick two of the three recipes we did - one melomel (the pyment) and one traditional. Both are 5-gallon batches.

Step 1: Prepare the Ingredients

For the Traditional Mead (OG 1.115):

16 pounds of Orange Blossom honey

4 gallons of drinking water from Hy-Vee

1 tsp of Calcium Chloride to provide calcium to the must & aid fermentation

4.5g of Fermaid-K for yeast nutrition

2g of DAP as a source of nitrogen

For the pyment (melomel made with grapes) (OG 1.111):

12 pounds of Orange Blossom honey

4 pounds of Beaujolais grape concentrate (Alexander's brand, 68 Brix)

4 gallons of drinking water from Hy-Vee

1 tsp of Calcium Chloride to provide calcium to the must & aid fermentation

4.5g of Fermaid-K for yeast nutrition

2g of DAP as a source of nitrogen

Step 2: Assemble the must

Put the water and any juices & herbs into the fermenter, then add your honey. The easiest way to measure your honey is by weight – we put our carboy on a postal scale then pour the honey into the carboy until the desired weight is achieved. Once all ingredients are in there (except for maybe a gallon or two of water), you get to the fun part: mixing.

Before mixing

I don’t recommend doing this without a lees stirrer. I’ve done it a few times without one, and can’t believe it took me 3 batches to finally pick one up. Stirring honey into water by hand is not fun. So, do yourself a favor and get one (and a drill if you don’t have one already).

The business end of a lees stirrer
The little "wings" fan out when the stirrer is in rotation.

The wand end of the lees stirrer just goes right into your drill – sanitize it, hook it up to your drill, put it into your fermenter, and whirr away. Be careful not to scratch the bottom or sides of your plastic container. In a few minutes, your honey should be completely blended into the honey. Add the Calcium Chloride, DAP, and Fermaid-K, mix lightly, then cover your fermenter (with foil, a cap, or a lid) and go prepare your yeast.

After mixing

Step 3: Prepare your yeast

If you’re using dry yeast, you need to rehydrate it. Sprinkling it directly onto the must can cause slow fermentation because you can end up with clumped-up yeast cells, preventing all of the cells from rehydrating and contributing to fermentation. Rehydrating with Go-Ferm will kick-start your fermentation by providing your yeasties with nutrients while they go back to their full & proper shape. Obviously, if you’re using liquid yeast, skip this step.

Fermaid-K, DAP, and Go-Ferm for happy yeast
You'll need a lot of this.

Boil some water and pour it into small containers (we use small coffee mugs, but any small container will do). You don’t need a lot of water – maybe 2/3 of a cup at most. Cover the small containers with foil and let them cool to 115 degrees (be sure to sanitize your thermometer every time you check the water temp). Once you get to 115F, add the Go-Ferm. Cover your containers again and let the Go-Ferm sit in the water while it continutes to cool to about 105F. Once you hit 105, add the yeast and let it rehydrate for about 15-30 minutes. After that time has passed (or if you’re using liquid yeast), pitch your yeast, hook up a sanitized blow-off assembly, place your fermenter in a dark place that’s about 68-72F, and you’re done!

Until tomorrow…

reference - Part One

Making Mead - Part One

2011-04-24T22:39:00.001-05:00

I first wrote about mead a while back (wow, was it really 2 summers ago?) and have continued to learn quite a bit since then. I wrote about making a basic mead, which included mixing honey, water, and nutrients over 3 days ("staggered nutrient additions"). Since then, we've learned a few more details to help make even better mead. In short:

- Yeast health is key
- Your choice of honey matters
- Did I mention yeast health?

Making mead, as mentioned, is essentially mixing honey & water together, then pitching yeast and letting fermentation take its course. No boiling is needed (though some people do boil the must), so preparation is extremely simple. Getting the honey & water mixed together is the hardest part of "brew day". But really the difficulty comes into play once the yeast is pitched.

Yeast Health
Honey is extremely nutrient-poor, so yeast struggles to ferment the sugars. Additionally, FAN (Free Amino Nitrogen) is quite low in mead must, unlike most beer wort. Meadmakers therefore need to add a source of nitrogen in addition to other yeast nutrients. Nitrogen is typically added to must in the form of Diammonium Phosphate (DAP), which is commonly available at a homebrew retailer. Other nutrients to promote yeast growth are found in nutrient blends such as Fermaid K. It's composed of fatty amino acids, vitamins like thiamin & biotin, and various minerals. Like DAP, Fermaid-K is something you can easily buy at a homebrew supply shop.

How about the yeast itself? We typically use dried yeast from Lalvin, but have used Wyeast liquid yeast as well. I really like Lalvin 71B and D-47, but I think it's important to read through a yeast's characteristics and find one that suits your goal well. Lalvin posts all their yeast profiles online. This chart will give you a good overview of the yeast characteristics.

If you are using dry yeast, use a yeast nutrient during rehydration to assist mineral & amino acid uptake. We use Lallemand's "Go-Ferm" product which is, again, available at homebrew supply retailers.

Choice of Honey
When we first started making mead, I was picking up local honey at farmers' markets. The resulting meads were good, but not as good as the ones I was tasting at competitions. I attended a mead session at NHC last year where we tasted raw honey next to resulting mead. What that made me realize was that honeys have their own unique flavors which carry over into the final product; it helped me to understand why a lot of successful meadmakers turn to tupelo and orange blossom honeys again & again.

I found a bunch of honey suppliers online (Millers, Draper Bee, Bee Folks, Northern Brewer) and ordered small containers of tupelo & orange blossom honeys from each. John and I tasted them side-by-side to determine our favorites and ordered those in bulk. I found that the Northern Brewer Orange Blossom was the best citrusy-tasting honey of our selections (we ordered 5 gallons of it), while Bee Folks had the most amazing floral Orange Blossom honey. Bee Folks' tupelo honey is wonderful and creamy and will be our choice for ordering tupelo in bulk.

Bee Folks also offers a ton of varietal honeys, many of which would be great for mead. Blueberry, almond, avocado, and even killer bee honey. I got to taste some killer bee mead at this year's Upper Mississippi Mashout and it was interesting... spicy, peppery, and not my favorite. But worth trying for sure. I can't recommend enough just buying a bunch of small containers of honey from various suppliers and finding out which ones you like best. Your mead will reflect the nuances of the honey you use, so it's incredibly important to select honey that is high quality and tastes good.

So there's your prep work and some stuff to think about. In the next post, I'll talk about actually making mead.

No Flash in the Pan

2011-04-16T10:00:00.008-05:00

We've had a lot of west coast breweries come to town the past three years, Stone being one of the latest. Lagunitas, Moylans, Ballast Point... Deschutes will be making its arrival soon, but there's no appearance I'm looking forward to more than Green Flash - and I'm not talking about the split-second optical phenomenon. This one will hopefully be in Missouri to stay.

I'll never forget my first Green Flash Experience. I was in Richmond, VA, for work and was catching up on some workflow diagrams at the bar. It was "glass night" (buy the beer, keep the glass) for Magic Hat Lucky Kat IPA. I'd never had a Magic Hat beer at the time, and was excited to try its IPA. Ordered one up and was pleased but not thrilled about it. I do still have the glass though - a standard 16oz pint glass that pretty much sums up the beer - not bad, not exciting, and pretty much is what it's supposed to be. (I know, you're thinking, "where can I get this incredible beer??")

I wanted another IPA and was having a hard time deciding between a Moylander and something else. The bartender asked if I'd ever had the Green Flash West Coast IPA. Skeptical, I asked if it was any good. He said, "do you like hoppy?" Yes, I replied. Little did I realize he was asking, "do you like HOPPY?"

And there it appeared before me, in all its grapefruity, piney, resiny splendor, the bitter liquid from San Diego, California that encapsulates all that defines a "West Coast" IPA. Simcoe, Columbus, and Cascade are quickly becoming my favorite hop combo for IPAs. Toss some Centennial in there, and you get WCIPA. Yeah, I know it's not Pliny the Elder (not fair, that's a double IPA), but it's awfully damn close.

And, soon, much easier to get. I learned back in January that Green Flash would begin distribution to Missouri starting this coming summer. I'd say that little tidbit made my day, but I'm actually still excited about it. It made my winter, my spring, and will probably make my summer as well. They make several beers, including a Hop Head Red, which I also love, and a Belgian IPA named Le Freak. Lest you think they only do IPAs, they make several other styles including a Saison and a Belgian Strong Dark.

WCIPA is a fantastic beer that is something to experience and hold as a benchmark for others. This beer is IPA. And will be in Missouri this summer.

Specs -
95 IBUs
7% ABV
OG: 1.070ish
FG: 1.015ish

A Collaboration to make you say Dankeschön

2011-04-15T09:29:00.002-05:00

Those of you who have ever driven into Lawrence KS probably know that it has a sister city: Eutin, Germany (pronounced OY-tin). Eutin's in the very north of Germany, not too far south of Denmark, and is a popular tourist destinations for the Danes. Like Lawrence, it's a hilly city in the middle of flat land. Unlike Lawrence, it has a castle. We need more castles.

This weekend, Free State celebrates its sisterhood with a collaboration beer made with the brewers of Brauhaus Eutin.

We’ve teamed up with the brewers in our sister city of Eutin, Germany to brew a collaborative beer to celebrate the musical and cultural exchanges coming this summer with Lawrence and Eutin residents. On Sunday evening, April 17^th, we’ll host an entourage of Eutin guests at Free State, and celebrate the continued success of this sister city effort. We’ll tap the first keg of Eutin St. Michaelis "Tafelbier" (unfiltered amber lager) at 7:30. Come welcome our Eutin guests!

The Eutin Brewery's Tafelbier is served at the Brauhaus Eutin under their St Michaelis brand, and is approximately 5.5% ABV. It's light, sweet, and not that hoppy in Germany; we'll see how the collaboration version compares. This is probably one of the more unique and clever collaborations I've seen recently. Unfiltered German amber lager made via a collaborative effort by Germans (who make it for a living) and one of the best breweries in the region? Yes, please.

Again, that's this Sunday (April 17th) at 7:30pm in Free State's brewpub on Mass. See you there!

The Maibocks are Coming

2011-04-01T09:00:00.005-05:00

It's that time of year again, when the Maibocks start appearing on shelves and tap handles. We got a preview of this spring seasonal out in Lawrence, when Free State was pouring its Kansas anniversary beer, K-150. It's gone now, I believe, but hopefully you were able to get some while they had it.

Next week, Gordon Biersch will start pouring its Maibock seasonal on Wednesday at 5:30pm. It is accompanied by its Pacific Rim menu, which we also saw last year. I'm not really sure where this association between maibock and banana spring rolls comes from, but I don't go there for the food anyway. Note to American Homebrewers Association members - Gordon Biersch participates in the AHA pub discount program. Get $3 off any food order over $10 when you show your membership card.

And starting this month, we'll be seeing Boulevard's Maibock, Boss Tom, on shelves and tap handles. I really enjoyed this one last year, and look forward to it again. I was going to say that this is my favorite Boulevard seasonal in the non-smokestack lineup, but then I remembered Nutcracker. So, 2nd favorite. It's close. You can already get this on tap at Flying Saucer, and I'm sure other venues have it available as well - or will, very soon.

Some quick stats on Maibock - it's a lager in the bock family, and pale malt flavor dominates the flavor profile. You won't find the high presence of toasty malt here like you will in a traditional bock, or the rich caramelly flavors of a doppelbock. While hop flavor won't be too high, maibock definitely has more hop bitterness & spiciness than the other bocks.

OG is in the 1.060s - 1.070s with IBUs hanging out in the high 20s and low 30s. ABV should be in the mid 6% range. Clean, crisp, malty, but more bitter than the other members of the bock family, it's a great transition from the malt-dominant beers we love in winter to the hoppy, crisp, refreshing beers of summer.

Prost!

Swagger Food Pairing Dinner - This Time, with Whiskey

2011-03-26T08:00:00.000-05:00

I know I typically talk about beer (and mead and cider) on here, but I also enjoy distilled malt beverages (especially rye) and have been keeping tabs on Swagger’s upcoming whiskey dinner. They’re partnering with Heaven Hill distilleries, which produce familiar brands like Evan Williams, Elijah Craig, and Rittenhouse Rye (mmm, manhattans...). And, which provides some of the barrels for Boulevard's barrel-aged beers.

You can read about the details on their website, but here’s a quick rundown of the dinner. It’s $50 per person, and you get:

Mid West Triple Cooked Beef Rib + Evan Williams – Single Barrel

Smoked Trout Hash + Bernheim Wheat Whiskey.

Hand Crafted Hickory Smoked Boudin Sausage + Rittenhouse Rye Bottled in Bond

Smoked Duck Breast in a Pancetta Taco Shell + Elijah Craig – 12yr.

Pecan Pie + Cherry Manhattan (Evan Williams, Evan Williams Cherry Reserve, sweet vermouth)

The dinner will be held at Swagger (unlike their previous pairing dinner, which was held off site), and you can call them at 816-361-4388 to reserve your spot.

National Homebrewing Competitions - AHA and Samuel Adams

2011-03-23T20:30:00.002-05:00

Six packs of the 2010 Samuel Adams Longshot winners should be hitting KC shelves pretty soon, coinciding with a call for submissions for the 2011 contest. Last year’s competition appealed to the creativity in homebrewers, limiting entries only to BJCP category 23, “Specialty.” This category specifically targets those beers that fit into no other BJCP styles (such as American Pale Ale, Witbier, or German Pilsner).

The three winning styles were Friar Hop (Belgian IPA), Blackened Hops (Black IPA, American Black Ale, Cascadian Ale, or whatever you want to call it), and Honey B’s Lavender Wheat (Wheat ale with lavender, vanilla, and honey). You can read more about the winners and their beers on the Samuel Adams website. Or, see below if you don’t want to sign in with your birthdate information – twice.

This year’s entries are open to all 23 beer categories again, and the deadline for receipt is in early May. It’s free to enter, so why not? All the rules & regulations are posted on their website.

Speaking of competitions, this coming Wednesday (March 30^th) is the last day to register your beers with your National Homebrewing Competition site of choice . If you haven’t registered your beers online already, ~~you’d better do it now; nearly 2/3 of the regional sites have been filled~~, you're too late. With nine sites accepting 750 entries, all of them now full, we’re looking at a giant competition this year.

Even if you’re not entering any beers,the AHA National Homebrewers Conference itself is like nothing I’ve ever seen. Homebrew from dozens of clubs all over the country (mostly from the hosting region) show off brewing creativity, techniques like decoction mashing, and – as shown by the “everything is iced” booth last year – a bit of insanity. I wrote about our fun at NHC it last year. This year is in San Diego and promises to be yet another good time.

Evening events aside, the sessions during the day are more than worth the trip. Last year we learned about cask conditioning, finally understood keeving, and gained some invaluable tips about meadmaking. We even got to taste honey & mead side-by-side to evaluate which honeys we preferred and how the final outcomes compared to their original sources. One of the most popular sessions, probably to no one’s surprise, was a discussion hosted by the Weasel Boy Brewing's owners about Going Pro. The room was absolutely packed with serious homebrewers learning what it takes to turn a hobby into a full-blown job.

And no, we didn't attend that session.

=====================

ABOUT THE [Longshot] WINNERS AND 2011 AMERCIAN HOMEBREW CONTEST

Richard Roper’s Friar Hop Ale combines his love of hops with his affinity for spicy Belgian ales. To develop his recipe, Roper created a hybrid of two styles, uniting the big hoppy taste of an IPA with the spicy, fruity flavor of a Belgian. The toasty caramel sweetness from the malt and Belgian candi sugar mimics a Belgian ale, while the big citrus hop notes of an IPA balance the style. A spicy yeast fermentation and hints of orange and coriander round out the brew. Richard’s Friar Hop Ale is a refreshing beer that can be enjoyed any time of year.

Rodney Kibzey’s Blackened Hops is a perfect combination of deep roasted malt character and citrusy hop bitterness. Harnessing eight years of homebrewing knowledge, Rodney found that combining debittered dark malts and citrusy hops yielded a surprising and unique flavor for this brew. Its black color hints at roasted malt and coffee flavors, but it is the big hop character really steals the show. Packed with citrusy and piney American hops, this beer has a big flavor and clean bitterness. This is Rodney’s second LongShot American Homebrew Contest win; he won in 2007 with a Weizenbock and his beer was included in the 2008 LongShot Variety Pack.

Caitlin DeClercq has worked as a member of the Samuel Adams sales team since 2006. She created her Honey B’s Lavender Wheat with dried lavender petals, giving it a fragrant but soft aroma. A citrus tartness and slight sweetness from the honey and vanilla balance out the finish in this California resident’s brew; perfect to sip while kicking back and relaxing.

(copied directly from the link above)

More Love of Crispin

2011-03-17T14:02:00.000-05:00

I was checking out the Flying Saucer calendar today and - how timely ... On the last week of March, Wednesday night is Crispin glass night and Thursday is Four Musketeers night. Though the shape of the glass is still unknown (maybe it's this one!), they're tapping kegs of all four Four Musketeers - all at once - on Thursday the 31st. Descriptions of each are below, taken from Crispin's site.

Athos: Stately, courtly, bold, noble and elegant. Aged in a Cabernet Sauvignon barrel.
A deep plum color lends into the aroma of clover honey with a hint of anise. An elegant refined sweet start moves to a plum honey flavor, with hints of black licorice and a clean rich finish on your mouth.
ABV: 5.7%
Appearance/color- plum, deep purple.
Aroma- clover honey with hints of anise.
Mouthfeel- very full upfront with a clean soft finish.

Porthos: Fun, lively, very full bodied & robust. Aged in a Zinfandel barrel.
A rich red Rose' colored cider with an aroma of elderberry, cranberry & oak. Upon swirling it in your mouth you get a rich, full, lightly sweet feel. Opens to tart, round fruit & rolls into light tannin, with a rounded full finish.
ABV: 6.8%
Appearance/color- Rosé & rich, while still remaining translucent
Aroma- Elderberry, Cranberry, vinous oak
Mouthfeel- Rich, full, slightly sweet

Aramis: Sexy, smooth and silky, fragrant & perfumed. A slightly dangerous edge. Aged in a Merlot barrel.
Pinkish hued with a slight haze, Aramis has an aroma of rose & pomegranate. With a delicate, soft roundness in the mouth, and a light lingering bite. The flavor is subtle with a soft vinous start, while the middle is semi-sweet fruit.
ABV: 5.3%
Appearance/color- light pink, slight haze
Aroma- rose, fruit, pomegranate
Mouthfeel- delicate, soft roundness with light crisp bite.

D'Artagnan: Spicy, lively. Peppery temperament. Aged in a Pinot Noir barrel.
Soft, light, peachy appearance & hue. The aroma is of spicy ginger with faint hints of fruit. A slightly sweet flavor with light ginger notes up front & a round honey dew like finish with a slight hint of warmth.
ABV: 4.8%
Appearance/color- Soft, peachy, light
Aroma- Spicy, ginger, faint fruit
Mouthfeel- Velvety & soft with a backbone of ginger warmth.

See you at Flying Saucer on the 31st!

For the Love of Crispin

2011-03-09T21:52:00.001-06:00

I haven't been much of a cider drinker the past few years, despite the prevalence of cider in the area. We have plenty of options with Woodchuck, Strongbow, Ace, Scrumpy's, Hornsby, and Blackthorn. We even have several varieties of Aspall, which is a fantastic cidermaker out of England. Additionally, Magner's has made its way into the metro area's liquor stores, yet I haven't tried it anywhere but The Gaf on tap and was satisfied with it but not overwhelmed.

Enter Crispin (which also owns Fox Barrel). I tried my first Crispin cider at the National Homebrewers Conference last year in Minneapolis and thought it was quite good, despite it being served over ice. It took a little while to try some again, but on a whim a while back I picked up a bottle of The Saint - apple juice and maple syrup fermented with Trappist yeast (presumably Westmalle). It's very interesting; sweet, spicy, earthy, and fruity - not at all like your typical cider.

Crispin extends its line of Artisinal ciders brewed with ale yeasts with Landsdowne, a cider with added molasses and fermented with Irish stout yeast. I've had it twice, and honestly didn't care for it. The molasses overpowered the aroma and the flavor, and really took away from the depth of flavor. Disappointing, as it sounds more interesting than it actually is. You won't see this here in KC (yet?), and honestly aren't missing much. The Saint & Honey Crisp (cider & honey) are far better, and available at most liquor stores with craft beer as well as Brookside Market.

Those are in the Artisinal series and earn points for creativity, but their Blue Line and Import ciders are just as wonderful and more in line with what you'd expect with cider. I'm a huge fan of the Blue Line brut cider, as it's clean, crisp, and dry and very refreshing. However, I prefer the Brown's Lane traditional English cider. It comes in a 500ml can, and is fermented with both cider yeast and Brettanomyces. It has a strong apple flavor and aroma, but the finish is moderately tannic, completely dry and slightly earthy.

Now where to get it... I've seen Crispin's Artisinal & Brut ciders at Cosentino's in P&L, Brookside Market, and Royal Liquor, but Rimann in Prairie Village has the broadest selection I've seen in the area. They carry a couple of the blue line labels (brut & original), the Brown's Lane, and the Saint & Honey Crisp artisinals. As mentioned, I haven't seen Lansdowne here nor have I seen their limited "Jacket" cider (a blend of all their Artisinal ciders that is aged in bourbon barrels - fantastic cider and highly recommend it if you come across it).

Pick some up for a slightly different take on cider. It's worth it.

Happy International Women's Day!

2011-03-08T16:40:00.002-06:00

What better way to celebrate than to crack open a beer made by a female brewer or a woman-owned brewery? This is by no means a complete list, but what I was able to compile while waiting for a flight home from North Carolina:

Name	Role	Brewery
Eileen Martin	Brewer	Upland Brewing*
Barbara Groom	Brewmaster & Owner	Lost Coast Brewing
Leslie Hdnerson	Brewmaster & Owner	Lazy Magnolia*
Melanie Oxley-Marrero	Founder & Owner	Maui Brewing Company*
Denise Jones	Brewmaster	Moylans
Hildegard Van Ostaden	Brewmaster & Owner	Urthel Brewery
Molly Browning	Brewer	New Holland Brewing Company
Deborah Clarke	Brewer	Abita Brewing
Maryanne French	Brewer	Bridgeport Brewing
Jennifer Henckle	Brewer	Pyramid Brewery
Judi Keene	Brewer	Smuttynose Brewing*
Whitney Thompson	Brewer	Victory Brewing*
Kim Jordan	Owner	New Belgium Brewing
Isabelle Charbonneau	Co-Owner	Brasserie Dieu du Ciel
Rose Ann Finkel	Owner	Pike Brewing Company*
Gina Marsaglia	Owner	Port Brewing/Lost Abbey*
Kim Kavulak	Owner	Nebraska Brewing Company*
Marcy Larson	Owner	Alaskan Brewing Company*
Carol Stoudt	Owner & Former Brewmaster	Stoudt's*
Laurie Jeffries	Owner	Jolly Pumpkin
Tami Norgrove	Owner & Partner	Bear Republic
Rachel Rue	Owner	The Bruery*

*Yeah, I know you can't get this beer in KC, but it's worth mentioning anyway due to the popularity/scale of the brewery.

Prost!

Part 4: Leipzig

2011-03-06T09:00:00.001-06:00

It was a several-hour drive to Leipzig, quite possibly because there was major freeway construction going on that led us to follow detour signs which disappeared after about 20 minutes of driving down country roads. (you try reading construction signs in Czech!) We had a GPS unit, but it kept trying to take us back to the (completely closed) freeway. So, we decided to follow the car in front of us since it had been following all the detour signs … that was working so well (for about 45 minutes!), until it stopped for gas. Thankfully, we started seeing road signs for Dresden, so I knew we had to be getting close.

For reference, here's a map showing our trip to this point (Frankfurt, Bamberg, Plzen, Prague) and through to Leipzig:

We arrived in Leipzig just in time for lunch, but stopped to check in at our hotel and drop off our stuff and the car. Then – Gose time! The only other time I’d had Gose was when I picked up a small bottle of Bayerischer Bahnhof Gose at Lukas Liquor. And there we were in Leipzig, just a few miles away from the Bahnhof itself.

The brewery is one of the only Gose breweries in the world (yes, I know many US craft breweries make Gose, but that’s far from their specialty) and is housed in the old main train station that served eastern Germany and Bavaria, and on south through Italy – hence, Bayerischer Bahnhof (Bavarian train station).

Gose is an old German style that was originally brewed in Goslar but has since been adopted by Leipzig. It nearly became extinct after WWII as a result of brewery nationalization, but experienced a revival in the 50s, near-extinction in the 60s, and second revival in the 80s. Despite its roller-coaster history, the style is likely to stick around for a while now that US craft breweries have picked it up.

The style is traditionally packaged in bottles that are round at the base with a long, slim neck at the top, which we don't really see here in the states (although I did see one at a natural foods shop in Jacksonville). Since Gose's traditionally bottle-conditioned, yeast from the secondary fermentation would rise up in the neck and create a yeast plug. I suppose breweries saved on bottle capping equipment that way...

Traditional Gose bottle

Of course, we started with glasses of straight Gose (so hardcore, I know). It had a prominent citrusy lemon flavor with a tart finish from lactic acid that was only lightly puckering. The lemon paired well with the pils malt grainy flavor and the softness of the wheat. It had medium-high carbonation with medium body & fullness, but the acidity kept it light & refreshing. Absolutely delicious, and perfect after our three-and-a-half mile walk.

Gose, served in its traditional footed glass

Gose is brewed with salt and coriander, but it’s not salty and the coriander is much more subtle than that of a wit. The tartness is quite refreshing, and makes the beer all too easy to drink. That being said, it is commonly served with a shot of syrup in it, much like Berliner Weisse. After having it “pur”, I naïvely ordered a glass with a shot of woodruff. Think liquid Ricola. With a straw.

Bad idea

Because I apparently don't learn a lesson very well, I also ordered a "Regenschirm" (umbrella), which is Gose with a shot of Kümmel (caraway) liqueur - also a regional specialty. Not that it was bad, but the delicate nature of the Gose is completely overwhelmed by any additives. I suppose that’s the point if you’re not a fan of the sour nature of the beer (but then, why drink it?).

Cue more walking. Mildly buzzed and enjoying the sights, we noticed a small wine & liquor store that specialized in scotch. Figuring we’d check it out, we walked in & talked to the proprietor for a little while – and walked out with a bottle of the only Bavarian whisky he had. Note to readers: Germans don’t make great whisky.

Just around the corner from our hotel (yes, this was intentional) was the famous Ohne Bedenken. This is the destination for Gose in Germany – and, most probably, the world. The owner has worked for decades to promote Leipzig’s distinctive sour beer, and he’s done quite well. The place was quaint and we settled in to a table off to the side of the restaurant with a couple half-liters of Bahnhof Gose.

Gose = happy

Gorby (and a small pic of Putin on the right)

The owner came by and commented on us drinking it without syrup - "so sour", he said, but followed that with a comment that he gets a lot of Americans coming in & drinking it that way. This guy was a trip. He was highly charismatic and chatty, and very enthusiastic about the history of the pub and Gose. There were pictures of Putin and Gorbachev inside the pub, and the owner made a point to tell us about how Putin would bring his officers there to drink Gose between 1986-88 and 1991-93.

After our Bahnhofs, we ordered Döllnitzer Ritterguts Gose and were nearly knocked out of our chairs. It was darker than the Bahnhof version and much more sour & lemony with less wheat character. The mouthfeel was a bit lighter and we both enjoyed this quite a bit more than the Bahnhof one. We ended up buying several bottles to bring back to the states with us to share with others.

Owner of the Ohne Bedenkend

You can get some of the Bahnhof Gose around the KC area; Royal carries it, as does Lukas in Martin City. The bottles are small & on the bottom shelf, so you have to actively look for it. I haven't seen it on the KS side, but if you have please note such in the comments. The Döllnitzer Gose isn't distributed in the states as far as I can tell.

For more information on the style of Gose and its history, check out these posts/articles:

Overview of Gose by Stan Hieronymous
Very detailed history & description of Gose by Ron Pattinson, whose website I relied on heavily for building our trip itinerary
Michael Jackson's writing on the style

Part 3b: Prague

2011-03-04T22:16:00.001-06:00

We spent our second (and last) day in Prague walking several miles around the city and, of course, drinking beer. As an aside, despite all the beer we drank and the food we ate, I ended up losing over 2 pounds on this 10-day trip due to all the walking we did. I think I may have found the perfect diet. Now to find a way to afford it…

Budvar bar

Our afternoon kicked off at U Medvídků, another famous brewery/restaurant in the city, and the only one in Prague with a hotel. We grabbed two seats at their fancy copper Budvar bar (click on the picture to make it larger); I ordered a plum ale, a specialty of the house, and John got a dark lager.

Plum Ale

It was interesting to note how prevalent dark lager was in Bohemia, as it’s not really a style we see much of here. Say “Czech lager” and most people think of Pilsner Urquell (or spicy, bitter, pale lager in general). It’s a shame, as the dark lagers are well-balanced, interesting, and not at all heavy.

U Medvidku dark lager

Both are full of pils malt breadiness and noble hop flavor & bitterness, but the dark lager has that extra layer of complexity from the roasted malt. A little chocolate, a little roast dryness, and a touch more sweetness to balance the roast. Not much, though – these are still dry Bohemian lagers that are refreshing and bitter. As I mentioned in my last post, we can get Bernard amber lager here, and I recommend checking it out. I know that MDL on 95th Antioch carries it in the fridge case; you can probably find it in other liquor stores with a good import section.

To continue this tangent, if you haven’t had any Czech lager other than Pilsner Urquell, you owe it to yourself to try something else. I can’t recommend Czechvar enough and prefer it to Urquell (draught, not bottle). It has a wonderful spicy & floral hop aroma & flavor, and the finish has a moderate, lasting bitterness that is clean and balanced with the pils malt sweetness. You can get it on tap at Grunauer and, often, at Swagger. Alternately, you can sometimes get Rebel lager at Waldo Pizza in a brown bottle. I ordered this once on a whim and was very pleased with it. It had a slightly fuller mouthfeel than the aforementioned lagers, and a prominent spicy hop flavor with moderate bitterness.

Can you tell I’m a fan of Bohemian pilsners?

But, to continue with Prague. We had a couple more beers at U Medviku and continued our wandering about the city. Several hours and miles later, we arrived at a bar we weren’t aware of until the prior day: Pivovarsky Klub. It’s owned by the Pivovarsky Dum owners, but is strictly a beer bar; there’s no brewing here. It has the largest beer selection in the Czech Republic and has fantastic food to boot.

Pivovarsky Klub

On tap, they offer six beers by small, local brewers (often one-man shops) and each is named after a person or animal. They also have bottles to consume on premises, or to take away.

Pivovarsky Klub's beer fridge. Includes an $8 bottle of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale

Take-away bottle selection

The place was impressive – and we didn’t even go into the basement. If you’ve seen Anthony Bourdain’s episode on Prague, the pictures should be familiar.

We stayed for quite a while, sampling a handful of beers. I ordered a Bernard dark lager, which was sweet & roasty, somewhat reminiscent of a Baltic Porter without the high carbonation. John had a Herold black lager, which was more chocolately than the Bernard but quite good.

Bernard dark lager

Demon, a "strong lager"... at 5.2%

We wrapped up our evening with a long, meandering walk back to our hotel that included one more stop at a place that sold unpasteurized Pilsner Urquell on tap (as did many bars in Prague). But, as with most bars in Prague, the place was filled with smoke and quickly became unbearable. We called it a night, went back to our hotel, and got ready to depart for Leipzig in the morning.

Part 3: Prague

2011-03-01T23:24:00.002-06:00

At this rate, I'll have all my Germany thoughts done around the same time we leave for another vacation… I left off with us checking out a brewing museum in Kulmbach, heading east across the German border into the Czech Republic. I was getting low on gas but figured it'd be cheaper in the former eastern bloc and held out until we were out of Germany. Much to my surprise, gas was actually significantly more expensive. Instead of being about €1.30 per liter, it was €1.75. That's per liter, not gallon.

Another interesting note about crossing the border was the absolute lack of any formality in doing so. We simply drove across country lines – no checkpoints, no passport review, not even a sign stating "Welcome to the Czech Republic!" The only way to tell we were in another country was a sudden inability to pronounce the road signs.

We stopped in Plzen on our way in to get some lunch. Unfortunately, it was Sunday so most everything was closed. We tried to go to the Bernardus Inn, which features a bunch of Bernard beers. You can get a couple of those here in KC, notably the amber and dark lagers, and I recommend doing so (more on that in another post). They're not what you typically think of when someone says "Czech lager" and they're very good - balanced malt, light roast, and moderate noble hop bitterness.

Almost forgot to take
a picture!

We ate lunch at the Na Spilce restaurant on the grounds of the Pilsner Urquell brewery, starting off with the namesake, of course. I ordered head cheese & bread for lunch, and John got a flat sausage that was coated in red pepper & rolled up into sausage form. It wasn't pretty, but it sure tasted awesome. But as for the beer - it was bready, yeasty, almost slightly fruity in aroma. There was quite a bit of sulphur in the nose, indicating it wasn't lagered too awfully long before serving. The finish was balanced, with lingering hop bitterness and bready pils malt sweetness. I absolutely enjoyed it and wish we could get it that fresh here. Czechvar is a pretty good substitute, however (often on tap at Swagger, and usually available at Grunauer). We ordered a couple more beers and headed on our way to Prague.

Master 18, a sweet dark lager - essentially a Baltic Porter. Very caramelly with some dark chocolate bitterness. Heavy on the dried fruit (raisin, prune) with a sweet finish.

John's Dunkel

U Fleků

It took us another solid hour, plus a couple turns of swearing at the GPS unit, to get to our hotel in central Prague. Once we got there, we stashed our car in the parking lot for the duration of our stay and walked over to the famous U Fleků, which was founded in 1499. It's a big tourist attraction and, as a result, was very crowded; it took us a while to get a spot at a bench table. Unfortunately, it was so damn smoky in the place, we couldn't really enjoy or appreciate the beer. You could have told me it was a smoked dark lager and I would have believed you. There was enough sulphur in the aroma to get past the smoke, though, and also reminded me of a chocolate coffee candy. It actually had moderate body, something I wasn't expecting from what I figured would be a light, refreshing, but lightly roasty lager. We left after our one beer, though, narrowly escaping our demise by smoke suffocation. Interesting place, with a ton of history and opportunities for people-watching, but you can do that elsewhere in Prague without needing an oxygen tank. Yes, it really was that smoky.

U Fleků's dark lager, "Flekovsky Tmavy Lezák 13°"

Sampler tray at Pivovarsky Dum

After a bit of walking around and playing tourist, we headed over to Pivovarsky Dum, a brewery restaurant that makes a ton of different beers (not at all common), including a "beer champagne", aperitif, and even a Russian Imperial Stout! We both got samplers and took a bunch of notes. The sampler included the following beers: Light, Dark, Wheat, Saison, Banana, Sour Cherry, Nettle, and Coffee. My favorites were the dark lager & sour cherry, but the nettle was probably the most interesting. It was quite savory and reminded me of some sort of baked dish, like lasagna. The nettle added a good amount of bitterness, but made me feel like I was drinking wheatgrass. Points for novelty.

Nettle beer

And now, some non-beer pictures of Prague.

"Dancing House" based on a design by
Frank Gehry and Vlado Milunic

Charles Bridge. And a lot of tourists.

St Vitus Cathedral at the Prague Castle

View of Prague from the top of the cathedral. It was unfortunately
hazy for all of our stay in Prague.

One of the cathedral spires

I don't know, either.

Blowing off the dust....

2011-02-25T07:01:00.000-06:00

Now that the 2011 Kansas City Bier Meisters Homebrew competition is over and behind us, it's time to get this thing back up & running. Combine organizing that competition with a new position I started last month, and you have a very busy me... and a very neglected blog.

So to get caught up... let's see here...

Our annual homebrew competition was a lot of work, but definitely fun. We had a lot of great judges & stewards this year and hope to do the same in 2012. If you're a homebrewer and looking for blind feedback on your beers (and meads & ciders), this is a great way to do it. Plus, we were treated to presentations/discussions by Paul Kavulak from Nebraska Brewing Co & Stephen Hale from Schlafly Taproom. Both very personable, interesting, and entertaining guys. It's every year in February, with different speakers each time; if you missed it this year, pay attention this fall when we start planning and posting information to the comp website.
Speaking of home brewing, Nationals is coming up quick. If you want to give it a shot at making it past the first round & into the finals, the deadline is late March. Get to brewing!
I spent a few days in Austin last week and was able to get out to a handful of places. I checked out Lovejoy's and Ginger Man on my own, but spent my third evening getting a tour of Austin from I Love Beer's Lee with the great company of his fellow beer writer (also a homebrewer), Debbie. He wrote a fun summary of our evening out in his blog (check it out!). Though I had a great time visiting several places, for me there were two specific highlights of the trip:

Discovering a new brewery down there called Jester King. I only had two beers from them (a Rye IPA and a barrel-aged Dark Mild - appropriately named "Commercial Suicide"), but both were outstanding. If you get a chance to try anything from them, don't pass it up.
Hanging out at the Whip-In. The place was like nothing else - convenience store meets craft beer bar meets Indian cafe ... and they're adding a brewery in the future. What I particularly liked about this place was that they had two sections of taps: one with craft brews (many of them local), and another smaller one with 'vintage' brews. Among others, they had a St Arnold Divine Reserve #6 on tap, a barleywine nearly 3 years old. Divine indeed.

There are more things of course, but I'll save those for later. Let the blogging resume!

Where Trader Joes' Beer Comes From

2011-01-18T21:27:00.001-06:00

Seeing as we're getting a TJ's here in KC pretty soon, I thought this post that I stumbled upon today was particularly relevant. Trader Joe's, as I think most people know, repackages food made by brand-name producers (Annie's dressing, Stacy's pita chips, Hormel chili, etc). Including their beer.

Thanks to reddit, I came across a blog post that identified its beers. General impression is that we'll get their Firestone Walker made brewskies (especially since they'll soon distribute here), but I suppose we'll only know for sure when they open in the Ward Parkway shopping center later this year. Some examples of TJ beers & their producers:

- Trader Jose's Premium Lager: Gordon Biersch
- Stockyard Oatmeal Stout: Goose Island
- TJ's Vintage Ale: Unibroue
- Mission St Pale Ale: Firestone-Walker

Check out the full list at French Oak TV.

KC Bier Meisters 28th Annual Competition

2011-01-15T20:42:00.000-06:00

We've been busy working on the KC Bier Meisters' 28th annual homebrew competition. I wrote about last year's event, and this year's is coming up in about a month. Our theme this year is "Amber Waves of Grain" with a focus on local, sustainable ingredients and brewing practices - reusing resources like barrels and making beer with local ingredients such as wheat.

Our banquet speaker is Stephen Hale, Chief Brewer at the Schlafly Taproom
Our morning speaker is Paul Kavulak, owner of (and brewer at) Nebraska Brewing Company

Homebrewers, time to get together some of those brews for entry! Entries must be received by Saturday February 5, and judging will be held on February 18 and 19 at Holy Field Winery in Basehor, KS. The entry fee is $7 per entry and online entry and payment are available at the competition website below.

Awards will be given in the 28 BJCP beer, cider and mead categories. Additionally a special Best of Show award will be given to the best beer that uses wheat as a substantial ingredient. If you wish to volunteer as a judge or steward you can do so through the online entry system and your help is appreciated.

Check out our competition website for complete details. And see you there!

2008: The Jeffrey Pine

2010-12-26T10:00:00.001-06:00

A few months ago, we bought some magnums of Anchor's Christmas ale, ranging from 2005 - 2009, and supplemented the collection with a sixer of 2010 Christmas Ale. Because we can't think of any reasonable way to do a proper vertical of all this beer, we're drinking the magnums throughout this winter and collecting our thoughts as we go through them.

The 2008 featured the Jeffrey Pine, which doesn't seem like a very interesting tree until you start reading about its distilled resin (a.k.a. turpentine). I thought all turpentine was the same, but apparently that from the Jeffrey Pine helps with respiratory ailments quite well, and can help with burns & other skin problems. But maybe the awesomest property (which sets it apart from other pine trees) is that the turpentine from the Jeffrey Pine is explosive. Explosive!

But enough botany for today. The 2008 Anchor Christmas ale is a bit different from the two more recent vintages (though not explosive), but it shares several common characteristics. It still has prominent notes of ginger, molasses, anise, dark chocolate, and dried figs, but the vintage has a new property - wine. The aroma definitely has a vinous character, which is something we haven't yet had in any of the newer vintages.

The flavor carries a lot of the same characters in the aroma, but is heavy on the citrus - it reminds me of fruitcake. Rich, sweet, spiced flavor and heavy on the dried candied fruits. As for aftertaste, Mr Wort Hog suggested that it's like those Nestle Nips candies (could there be a worse brand than something that refers to a WWII racial slur?). The 2008 spices are subdued - nothing real prominent like the newer versions, but we still get some nutmeg and mace.

This beer has a medium body, dry finish, and mod carbonation. It's dry like the '09, but has a bit of alcohol warmth we didn't get before. Overall, we like it and appreciate the complexity added by a couple years of aging. There are definitely some pretty consistent themes across the years so far, but the 2008 brought some new complexities that make me interested in the older vintages still hanging about in the cellar. I'd say that the 2008 is more interesting than the 2010 or 2009, but not compelling enough to seek out as a specific vintage. We'll see how the older versions fare in later posts...

The Gift of Current Online Beer Menus

2010-12-24T15:32:00.003-06:00

I love it when beer bars list their current offerings online; conversely, it's frustrating to go to a place specifically because they listed online something you wanted, only to arrive and find out the tap list was outdated.

I was in LA a couple of months ago and spent one evening after work at the Blue Palms Brewhouse. They update their beer menu on a computer at the bar, and project the list onto the wall above the bar. The same list is published to their website. You know for sure, by the minute, what's available. Check it out - it's a pretty cool menu approach.

Free State does a pretty good job of staying current, but it seems they switch out kegs so frequently, it'd be hard to keep their website current unless they updated it daily. They do, however, tweet every day about their daily food specials and when new beers go on tap. I'm not a fan of having to scroll through their tweets, so I usually just call them. There's almost always at least 1 beer they mention on the phone that isn't on their website. Beer Kitchen has been doing a great job of ensuring a current beer list, as is the Foundry. Until recently, Waldo Pizza just threw out general logos on their beer page, and most of them weren't for beers they currently had. Now, however, with their updated website, they give you a full PDF download of their entire - and current - beer menu. (which, by the way, contains some pretty great beers right now - Expedition Stout on tap!)

I hate having to call and ask what's on tap, and I'm sure employees find it a pain to have to track down someone who can answer my question. Kudos to those bars & restaurants who put forth the time & effort to keep an online beer menu that's up-to-date and reliable. To those places that don't publish tap lists online - please consider doing so. It can't be too hard to update at least once a week, and does have an impact on a beer lover's decision to visit your business.

A Year in Waiting: 2009 Anchor Christmas Ale

2010-12-21T15:31:00.002-06:00

image from wikipedia

I'll never forget the first time I went to Monterey, Ca. It was 1995 and my first time to the Northern California coast. It was also the first (and only) time I'd run over a seagull (a complete accident, but it was in front of a bunch of nuns!), and the first time I'd ever seen the majestic cypress tree. The Lone Cypress is visible on the 17-Mile-Drive loop, which also goes past Pebble Beach.

When I saw that the tree on the 2009 Anchor Christmas Ale was the Cupressus Macrocarpa (Monterey Cypress), I instantly recalled this trip. Though I didn't drink any beer on that vacation, I had a lot of chocolate. A lot.

And the 2009 Christmas Ale pays tribute to the Great Chocolate Consumption of 1995 with a heavy dose of cocoa in both aroma and flavor. Right away, you're met with aromas of chocolate and oranges, accompanied by molasses, anise, and cherries. While the 2010 was reminiscent of molasses crinkles, the 2009 brings forth images of well-made fruitcake (not the crappy kind with cheap candied fruit) and chocolate-covered orange rind.

The flavor is heavy on dark, rich, bitter cocoa - the kind you'd only get at a specialty shop... the kind grandma doesn't care for because it's so bitter. The orange character pops up again in the flavor, followed by some spices - notably, clove and mace.

And the body is quite different from the '10. This one is much drier, lighter in body, and more highly carbonated. That lightness in mouthfeel, the dryness - they pair extremely well with the bitter, dark cocoa components of the aroma and flavor.

So far, we favor the 2009. But we still have five more magnums to go.

A Partridge in a Ginkgo Tree

2010-12-18T19:56:00.003-06:00

Back in September, Mr Wort Hog and I made a trip to Goebel Liquor & bought six magnums of Anchor Christmas Ale (2009 - 2005). We weren't sure what we'd do with them, but they were so damn cheap we couldn't leave them there on the shelves. It seems unfair to do anything but a vertical, but trying to drink 9 liters of beer in one go between us seemed a bit ridiculous. Besides, this isn't Oktoberfest. So, over the next couple of weeks, we're drinking them all. Yep, you read that right.

Every year since 1975, Anchor has made its Christmas ale with a different - and secret - recipe and a different tree on the label. This year's tree is the Ginkgo tree (does memory improve with consumption?); we didn't get a magnum of the '10, but did pick up a sixer of the vintage. I think that's probably a more reasonable size for verticals. We're starting with the newest first, so a bottle of the 2010 starts this run of reviews (and yes, I'll actually post them in a timely manner, unlike my still-outstanding Germany posts).

The 2010 has a fantastic aroma; it smells like a molasses crinkle! Tons of molasses & ginger in the aroma, with nutmeg & dried fig not far behind. There were also notes of cherries & juniper or spruce in there, with a little bit of cookie-biscuit (you know, like those British "digestive" biscuits - vanilla, graham, and grain).

The flavor isn't much different, melding ginger, dark chocolate, toast crust, candied orange peel, and a little coffee. The finish is moderately bitter from the roasted malt and a decent helping of hops, but ends a little on the sweet & creamy side.

There are a lot of flavors going on here, and they all pair very well with each other. However, I think a few years of hanging around in the bottle will improve the complexity and depth of flavor. The different components just need more time to "marry". It's definitely worth picking up a six-pack or two and drinking one or two bottles now, saving the rest for next year. The richness and complexity of the Christmas Ale is something that is sure to change over time.

Dashing through the snow with beer throughout the day

2010-12-13T21:19:00.001-06:00

We spent this past weekend in St Louis for another homebrew competition. This time, it was St Louis Brews’ annual “Happy Holiday” competition. Judging was held Wednesday & Friday at the Schlafly Taproom, while Saturday’s sessions were at the relatively new Hill Brewing Company (soon to become Ferguson Brewing Company). We tried a few beers at Hill: Classic American Pilsner, Vanilla Bourbon Imperial Porter, and Chocolate Stout.

If you’re interested in checking out a pre-prohibition pils, theirs is a good one to try. It’s a style that isn’t very easy to find, but is interesting, moderately complex, flavorful, and refreshing. It’s made with barley and flaked corn, so there’s a decent amount of sweetness, but it’s balanced by hop flavor and bitterness and kept light in body by the corn.

In the KC area, if you’re lucky, you’ll find John Barleycorn at Free State. And if you’re in Nebraska, a trek over to Lucky Bucket will land you yet another Pre-Prohibition pils simply called the Lucky Bucket Lager. There aren’t many around, but this is a style that seems to be gaining some interest with craft brewers; keep your eye out for it.

On our way back to KC, we stopped for brunch at Broadway Brewing. We’re probably some of the last craft beer people in KC to go to Broadway, but I’m glad we finally did. There was a live band playing folk music in the back corner, which was perfect ambiance for the cold, snowy day. Broadway's known for focusing on local ingredients, and their menu is a welcome change from your standard pub fare; I had a chorizo & roasted red pepper quiche and Mr Wort Hog enjoyed some lamb hash. On tap was an APA, a Rye Pale Ale, a winter strong ale, and something else that escapes me.

While we were there, they put on their cream ale – replacing the He’Brew Vertical Jewbelation, a blend of the past 7 years of Jewbelations, aged in Sazerac rye barrels. In fact, they had all seven Jewbelations on tap in addition to the Vertical Jewbelation! I was a bit disappointed to find out that these were kegs of *re-brewed* Jewbelations - instead of kegs that had been tucked away for years - but quickly forgot my disappointment in my glass of the Vertical Jewbelation.

If you want any of them on tap, you’ll need to drive to Columbia or Omaha, as those are the closest cities with one of the 88 “chosen” bars. Or, find a gift pack (which has all the beers, an empty bottle as the shamash, and a glass) and drink your way to your own beer menorah!

Bottle Caps: Now Available in Not-Bent

2010-12-06T14:55:00.000-06:00

A recent discussion with a bottle cap collector reminded me of this. When we were at Goebel Liquor back in September, we got to talking to one of the guys working there (who was extremely knowledgeable about beer, by the way... all of the staff there was). He went into the back room and a few minutes later came back with a bottle opener for us. But not any standard bottle opener, oh no.

This is a bottle opener that doesn't bend your caps.

It appears it's just a piece of bored wood with a book binding screw through it. Looks easy enough to make, and removes caps with nary a dent. Pretty darn cool.

Bring Back the Magic

2010-12-05T13:35:00.000-06:00

As you may have heard, tragedy struck outside one of our very favorite beer bars the other night. Eric the Magician, who performs magic tricks for children at Waldo Pizza, was shot in his car after his weekly shift. There doesn't seem to be a known reason for the act of violence, but the three teenagers involved in the crime were all apprehended. One of them, 17, has been charged with assault & armed criminal action.

Thankfully, the gunshot was non-fatal and appeared to incur no permanent brain damage. Eric's still in the hospital, but word is he is doing well. Waldo Pizza has made a couple of updates to their Facebook site, and the latest provides information about a fund set up to help Eric.

We have established a fund for Eric called the Eric Price Help at Hand Fund. You can bring (or mail) your much appreciated donations to either Waldo Pizza location or to the UMB Bank at 8442 Wornall KC, MO 64114. Thank you very much. Please keep Eric in your thoughts!

You can read more on KMBC's site or The Pitch. And please continue to support Waldo Pizza and other Waldo businesses.

Give Beer!

2010-11-30T21:41:00.000-06:00

When Mr Wort Hog & I got married, some of my coworkers pitched in & bought us a six-month "beer of the month" subscription. We got a box each month containing eight bottles of beer - two bottles each of four varieties. While many of the brews weren't life-changing, many of them were beers we can't get here in the KC metro, and some were beers we'd never heard of. All of them were decent, and many of them were quite good. We enjoyed the gift and now that the holidays are approaching, it might be a good gift idea for a burgeoning beer nerd you know.

This is the club we were gifted. With each box, you got a newsletter that described each beer & brewery, and you could get more info on their website as well. You can see the current selections with each membership type on their site as well.

There are several other beer clubs out there; someone's put together a list of quite a few, providing summaries on each.

Happy gifting!

Finding Treasure in Tulsa & Springfield

2010-11-21T21:31:00.002-06:00

A homebrew competition in Tulsa set us out on the road again this weekend. The Fellowship of Oklahoma Ale Makers (FOAM) held their 19th annual homebrew competition at Marshall Brewing Company, Tulsa's first production brewery since before WWII. The master brewer, Eric Marshall, studied in Germany for a couple of years and worked at Victory Brewing before returning home to Tulsa to open up shop.

Tanks @ Marshall Brewing

And his experience shows. They had a Best Bitter, a Robust Porter, an American Wheat with orange peel and coriander, and an India Black Ale on tap there at the brewery for us to sample. All four were fantastic, but the porter & black ale really stood out. The black ale is the first in their "El Cucuy" series and is a great take on this recently-popular style, with notable roasted malt character and both floral & citrus American hop flavor & aroma. Delicious and hard to resist.

Unfortunately, you won't find their brews in KS or MO since they don't yet distribute outside Oklahoma. However, they're working on changing that; keep your eye out for these guys.

In the meantime, if you find yourself in Tulsa, their beers are on tap all over town. We had a bad experience with the bitter & IPA on beer engine at McNellie's, but that shouldn't stop you from ordering a Marshall beer on tap. Or from buying it in the bottle.

As a side note, OK has one of the stranger liquor laws I've come across. Like KS, grocery stores cannot sell beer over 3.2% ABW. Liquor stores can, of course, sell beer over 3.2% ABW - but this is where it gets weird: it must be sold at room temperature. So much for proper storage of IPAs.

Public photo from TripAdvisor

On our way home, we took a detour to Springfield, MO for a visit to Springfield Brewing Company. It wasn't too far out of the way, and its master brewer is Ashton Lewis - also known as Mr Wizard to BYO readers. We each got a sampler, which contained an American Wheat, German Helles, Marzen (their seasonal), Pale ale, Stout (their black sheep offering), and IPA.

Sampler Tray at Springfield Brewing Co

All were enjoyable, but the Wheat & Helles (which they simply called "lager") really stood out. The wheat was hoppier than is typical with American wheats around here, and Mr Wort Hog suspected it was lagered due to a light sulphuric aroma. You'd be missing out on a great American Wheat if you passed this one up.

Part 2: Kulmbach

2010-11-16T11:46:00.001-06:00

Since we had three full days in Bamberg, we decided to take a day trip to Kulmbach, which is about 45 minutes north of Bamberg. We went primarily for the Beer & Bread museum, which is also adjacent to the Mönchshof brewery & biergarten. The Mönchshof line was originally brewed by the Mönchshof-Bräu brewery until the early 80s, when it was bought by Kulmbacher Brauerei (who also owns the EKU brand). We get their Schwarzbier here in the states, and I was anxious to try it fresh off the tap to see how it compared to our boat-aged bottled version we get here.

The beer museum was definitely worth visiting. The bread museum wasn’t really that interesting and, as a result, was completely empty save for a couple of unknowing American tourists. We probably spent a good 1-2 hours in the beer museum, though, marveling over all the old brewing and bottling equipment.

Old bottling system

Cool ship

The museum brews its own beer (and bakes its own bread), using open fermentation tanks. At the end of the tour, you get “Museumbier” and some museum bread to accompany it.

Open fermentation at the museum

Museum bread in solid & liquid states

After our educational lessons on brewing & baking, we settled in to the beer garden for a midday brew. There was a live band playing on one side of the biergarten, entertaining a few dozen Germans there for the afternoon. In typical fest form, they all had interlocked arms and were swaying back & forth while singing along to some traditional drinking songs.

While taking in the sights & sounds, I thoroughly enjoyed my much-anticipated Mönchshof Schwarzbier. This style can be deceptive due to its appearance; it's not rich or creamy, it doesn’t have sharp roastiness, and - as with other German lagers - you won't find fruity esters from the yeast. The version from Mönchshof was lightly roasty, only mildly sweet, and wonderfully dry. It had just enough hop bittering to balance the roast and malt, with a faint hop aroma or flavor (too much would have been unwelcome). Perfect for a beautiful fall day.

The difference between having this beer on tap in Germany vs. from a bottle (or even a mini-keg) in the US was noticeable, but not dramatic. You can find their Schwarzbier in a lot of stores that carry a broad selection of imports.

Or, you can try a similar but more fresh & vibrant version on tap at Gordon Biersch. Put some traditional German drinking songs on your MP3 player, don your headphones, and pretend you're in Northern Bavaria. Eins, zwei, zuffa!

Part 1: Bamberg (again)

2010-11-08T08:00:00.001-06:00

We spent 3 days in Bamberg, so it goes to reason that I'd do more than 1 post about it. My last post focused on world-famous Schlenkerla's annual release of their delicious Urbock.This time, let's take a look at some of Bamberg's other offerings.

Ask a beer lover to name two breweries from Bamberg, and they'll probably name Schlenkerla and Spezial. To no surprise, those were two of our primary destinations.

Spezial Märzen

I ordered the märzen at Spezial, which is less smoky than Schlenkerla's and reminded me of bratwurst: lightly smoky, a little spice (nutmeg, allspice), and minimal hop flavor with subtle bitterness to round out the smoked malt. Mr Wort Hog ordered their lager, which I actually preferred over the märzen. It, too, is smoked, and has a subtle grassy, lightly sulphuric aroma. The fresh pils malt flavor and noble hop flavor were perfectly balanced, as most German lagers tend to be. With a clean, bitter finish, their smoked lager ended up becoming one of my favorite beers we had in Bamberg.

Spezial

Both Schlenkerla and Spezial malt and smoke their own barley, using aged beechwood logs to obtain the smoke character in their beers. Schlenkerla malts year-round, while Spezial malts only in the winter. Since the smoke character of the malt deteriorates as it ages, blending different batches is key to maintaining consistency in the flavor of their beers. Weyermann in Bamberg is one of the most well-known providers of smoked malt and also uses aged beechwood to make its smoked malt.

Not every brewery in Bamberg makes rauchbier, however. Across the street from Spezial is Fässla. We didn't stop in there, but had earlier tried a couple of their beers at a little pub in the city center. I had their Pils and Mr 'Hog got a dunkel. Their pils was fabulous - spicy, floral noble hop flavor with moderately-high carbonation and moderate body. It was very crisp and refreshing, with a lightly sweet grainy pils sweetness at the end. When you're ready for a break from rauchbier, Fässla is definitely worth a visit.

We made two separate visits to Bamberg's oldest brewery, Klosterbräu (äu is pronounced "oi"). It was founded in 1533 and has been owned by the same family since 1851. I ordered their "Braun" beer, thinking it must be some sort of German brown lager I'd never heard of. (since braun means brown, that seems reasonable, right?) Nope, turns out the place was the "Prince Bishop Braun Bier Haus" from 1533-1790 and the beer's a dunkel. It had a sweet, toasty Munich malt character with no hop aroma and low hop bitterness. It was perfect with my traditional Franconian dinner.

My super-awesome dinner at Klosterbräu - ham hock, potato dumpling, kraut, and a dark lager.

An interesting characteristic we found in Bamberg's brewpubs is the large hallway at the large front entrance, called a "schwemm" (shvem). The pathway typically separated the building into halves, with doors going to different dining/bar rooms on each side. Additionally, nearly all of them had a little window where you could walk up and order a beer right from the barrel. Rarely was there ever a line, so it typically took under a minute to get a full half-liter glass of fresh beer.

Window for beer orders at Mahr's

Drinking in the Schwemm

We tried to make it over to Keesman, but they were closed. So, we crossed the street to Mahr's for a beer or two.

We noticed that most of the breweries in Bamberg also made their own schnapps, most of which were distilled from their rauchbier. I bought a couple shots one night at Schlenkerla, and we were quite disappointed that the schnapps had no smoke character at all. I bought a small bottle of the schnapps anyway, as a novelty to bring home. We cracked that baby open one evening and were surprised at how smoky it was! Proof that drinking rauchbier is a complete palate-wrecker.

One of our final stops in Bamberg was Greifenklau, a brewery restaurant situated high up on one of Bamberg's many hills. The dining room was, like most of the places we went to, hotter than hell. I swear, these places had to be at least 75 degrees inside, if not warmer. Perhaps they keep it that way so you aren't too cold to drink beer.

That reminds me. Since our return, I have had about 4 or 5 people ask me, in some form, how I liked the warm beer in Germany. I have no idea why people think German beer is served warm; my best guess is that it's not served as cold as a typical macro lager, and therefore "warm". Most of what we were served was cellar temp, so probably around 50F. Far from warm, and a perfect temp for getting full aroma and flavor from the beers.

Lest you think all we did was hop from bar to bar, here are some other pictures of Bamberg I took while we wandered through town.

Walking up one of Bamberg's many hills

Bamberg Cathedral

Most of the buildings in the city center were half-timbered, and the streets were cobblestone.

More half-timbering

A Hoppy Halloween Indeed

2010-11-06T11:20:00.000-05:00

We drove to Fargo last weekend for the Prairie Homebrewing Companions' 13th annual homebrew competition. Their main speaker was Jamil Zainasheff, a homebrewer known for co-authoring 2 books (Brewing Classic Styles and Yeast: the Practical Guide to Fermentation) and for The Jamil Show, a radio podcast on TheBrewingNetwork.com

Chip from Northern Brewer's BrewingTV was there to capture the weekend, and here's the episode he put together. It's just shy of 1/2 hour and a good overview of what a competition is like. There are a few highlights, including:

Jamil announces that he's opening a brewery in the east bay next year
The PHC's club yeast bank
Our friends Tom & Nancy won the ProAm and get to brew at Summit Brewing in Minneapolis
We won best of show for our Classic Rauchbier!

Check it out.

Brewing TV - Episode 23: Hoppy Halloween & Jamil Zainasheff from Brewing TV on Vimeo.

Part 1: Bamberg

2010-11-02T21:56:00.001-05:00

As I mentioned earlier, Mr Wort Hog and I spent about 10 days in October traveling around Germany and the Czech Republic.We went to cities that have historical significance in beer and were able to try several examples of prominent styles. So, here's the first of several recollections of our trip...

We arrived in Frankfurt on a Thursday morning. It wasn’t long before we were in our rental car and on our way to Bamberg, about 3 hours east of the Frankfurt airport in Northern Bavaria. It was only after booking our trip that we found out Schlenkerla would be releasing their Urbock our first night of arrival. During lunch we learned that tapping would start at 5pm, so we made plans to walk around town until 4:30 or so then head down to the brewery for the tapping.

We ended up arriving around 4pm so we could avoid the crowd rush... As it turns out, all we needed to do was show up some time before 8pm. Before then, the beer garden was relatively empty - entirely different from our experience with brewery special releases in the States. Around 9pm or so, the biergarten was so full, you had to pull your way through the crowd just to move from one place to the next. Bamberg's a university town, and we introduced ourselves to a group of graduate astronomy students who were speaking English... Talking physics and solar flares is quite a feat after about 2 liters of bock.

Biergarten at Schlenkerla

Fresh Schlenkerla urbock is a distant relative of the old stuff we get here. It tasted fresh and smoky without being "meaty"; less like bacon and more like warm campfire. Imagine drinking a lightly sweet bock while hanging out with friends at a bonfire. That's Schlenkerla Urbock.

Fresh Urbock

They tapped keg after keg after keg...

Yeah, he tapped that

October & November mark the release of bock beers throughout Germany. Several months ago, I found a website that listed the dates of dozens of bock releases in the country. I can't find it now, but if you're a Google Master, please send me a link if you find it.

Next up - the other breweries of Bamberg.

You Asked For It

2010-10-27T16:12:00.002-05:00

And now you are getting it.

Boulevard announced via facebook a chocolate beer made in collaboration with Christopher Elbow.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=247671&id=49264934764

Read All About It

2010-10-19T23:12:00.002-05:00

The past 2 months have been utterly insane. Since Labor Day, Mr Wort Hog's been on the road every single week, and I've also been traveling over half that time. Most has been for work, but we did manage to squeeze in a 10-day vacation this month in Germany & the Czech Republic. I typically get some work done on my flights, but every once in a while I need to read something unrelated to my projects. What to read? Beer books, of course. (well, and sudoku puzzles....)

I've finished a couple of beer books this summer, dug into a third one, and have plans to start another once I'm done with that one.

First, Great Beers of Belgium by Michael Jackson. The book is sorted by Belgian sub-styles and includes information about brewers of these styles. Sounds kind of boring, I suppose, but the book really is fascinating. I have learned about how Drie Fontienen has made a business almost entirely on blending beer. Not brewing, but blending. This book also provides a fantastic comparison collection of beers by style, allowing you to pick a couple that you want to try and maybe compare, without having to do a ton of research. I found this book a lot of fun to read through at random, rather than front to back.

Second, Brewing with Wheat by Stan Hieronymous. It focuses on, of course, beer styles made with wheat including Hefeweizen, Wit, American wheat, wheat wine, and a few German styles you won't see very many places: Gose, Berliner weisse, Grätzer, and Lichtenheiner. (I'll be writing about the first and last of those rare styles in a few posts to come, by the way.) Among other things, I found very interesting the explanation of what causes the clove flavor in Hefeweizens and how to manipulate that. Finally, Boulevard's own Stephen Pauwels is quoted several times in the book, and talked to Hieronymous extensively about brewing with wheat. That right there is reason enough for us KC denizens to check this book out.

I haven't started this one yet, but for the science nerds out there, there's a new book by Chris White (of White Labs) and Jamil Zainasheff (homebrewer extraordinaire) called Yeast: The Practical Guide to Beer Fermentation. I am not sure I'll be diving into this one right away, but Mr Wort Hog sure was diggin it on our flight home. And no question why - I still think that the amount of influence that yeast contributes to beer is highly underrated and under-appreciated. Should be interesting and highly informative (if not a bit too chemistry-laden for my preference).

And finally, Farmhouse Ales by Phil Markowski (master brewer at Southampton). It focuses on the very broad category, explaining what characterizes "farmhouse". Fantastic resource, and really dispels some misunderstandings on the beers in this very broad category.

While you're keeping yourself busy reading, I'm going to get back to my blogging and tell you guys about our trip to Germany & CZ. It was a much-needed vacation, and I learned a ton about styles of beer that really aren't that well represented here (alt, dark czech lager, kolsch, etc). Stay tuned...

The Kitchen is Bitchin

2010-09-14T19:39:00.000-05:00

I felt restless today. I worked yet another 10 hour day and still had a few hours of work left to do. Mr Wort Hog was out of town. I needed to be in Westport by 8pm to get my hair cut. What to do with myself?

I decided to head to the 'Kitchen. The newest beer destination in Westport and the new habitant of the old 180 spot, Beer Kitchen offers a combo of craft and specialty beer along with modern (albeit a bit cliché) American cuisine. The food menu's spotted with make-your-own mac & cheese (with applewood bacon, duck confit and truffle oil as a few of the offerings), gourmet burgers (including a bratwurst-patty burger), and plenty of vegetarian items. I ordered the mushroom flatbread, pictured below, which included shiitake mushrooms, brie, pesto, and onion jam (which I love). I wasn't sure what to expect; I've ordered "flatbread" in bars before, and have mostly been disappointed when they bring an under-baked, topping-heavy slice of manufactured pita bread that's bland and one-dimensional. Not here. The crust was cracker-thin, browned and crispy on the edges, and laden with house-made jammy onions. House made! Oh-So-Yum.

Mushroom Flatbread & Scrimshaw Pilsner

Oh yeah, and the beer. I got a Nogne O Saison (now tapped out) and a North Coast Scrimshaw Pilsner, both on tap. Their tap list currently on their site (as of 9/14) is outdated, and I suspect you could probably presume any time that at least one of the beers listed on their website will be gone by the time you get there. But don't fault them for it. The focus is on frequent tap rotation to bring Kansas City some quality draft brews that are interesting, different, and seasonal. They only have 8 taps, so the intentional focus is quality and freshness over quantity.

Overall, a must-visit in my book. My biggest complaint with the place was the music, which was 100% Motown. Perhaps it was because I was there on a Tuesday night. Maybe I was cranky from working a lot. Quite possibly, it's because I'm not a Westport Hipster down with the Motown jive. But honestly, after a couple of beers and a very good dinner, I really didn't mind.

Get some IBUs in an IBA

2010-09-10T08:21:00.001-05:00

Happy Friday!

It's been a long week and I'm glad the weekend is nearly here. To save you from end-of-weekend blues, this coming Monday (the 13th) Schlafly posted on Facebook that they'll be tapping a cask of India Brown Ale at the Foundry in Westport starting at 4pm (happy hour).

What's India Brown Ale? Pretty much what you think. Schlafly's website says, "this unique brew has the color of a brown ale, but the aroma of an American-style IPA. This beer will prove just how complex a brown ale can be."

I haven't had many IBAs, but the couple that I have had are super delicious. Dogfish Head's is the first that comes to mind which, of course, we can't get here. Saranac, though, makes one but I can't recall seeing one out here. I know Lukas in Overland Park typically carries a pretty big selection of Saranac - does anyone know if they carry the IBA? Any other IBAs in town?

Wichita - Home of Aged Craft Beer

2010-09-05T20:26:00.000-05:00

We drove down to the Air Capital of the World this past weekend, primarily so that I could take the BJCP exam. I wrote furiously for three solid hours, trying to let everything I know about beer, malt, water, and styles pour onto the pages. I'll find out how I did in a handful of months...

After completing the exam, Mr Wort Hog and I headed over to Goebel Liquor, home of Rob's World of Beers. There are several refrigerated cases of beer there, and I think about 3 full aisles of beer as well as an entire wall. Selection is not lacking at this place, and you're bound to find something you've never had. But what really sets this place apart is the selection of vintage beer. They have magnums of Anchor's Our Special Ale going back to 2005 (and at $9.99 each, we couldn't NOT buy some!). They had 6 years of Anchor's Bigfoot. Several years of Avery's Mephistopheles, JW Lee's, Ola Dubh, and a bunch of others. These guys have done an incredible job of setting aside beers to age & bring out later. I loved it.

Goebel Liquor

After stashing the beer in our temperature-controlled hotel room, we made our way over to The Anchor and joined most of my fellow examinees for a round and some food. The food was quite tasty (their house-made potato chips were awesome), but the beer selection is really the reason to go. Their draft list seems to frequently update and included Tumbler and Old Rasputin on nitro (yum!). They also have quite a few bottles in coolers, including some Boulevard Imperial Stout.

After a couple of beers, though, everyone parted and we headed over to River City Brewing Company in Old Town (not to be confused with either River City Brewing Company in Sacramento or Jacksonville). It was just a short walk away, and it's always fun to check out the local brewpubs. I tried ordering their oak-aged saison, but they'd just run out of it so I got their ESB instead. I was happy with what I got, but it wasn't anything special. Mr Wort Hog's chocolate bock was a bit on the sweet side, so after finishing off our beers we headed back to The Anchor to wrap up the evening - which included a bottle of that Imperial Stout.

It was a little on the syrupy side and I thought John's observation that it had that occasional aged-stout "soy sauce" characteristic was spot on. It was good, but to be perfectly honest I liked it better when it was young.

The Anchor's Strong Ale Fest is coming up in November (on the 6th) so mark your calendars. It's all day long and is followed by a Hair of the Dog Brunch the next day. Sounds like a fun time, and they're sure to have some excellent brews.

Finding Love in Lee's Summit

2010-08-27T23:01:00.001-05:00

We had a great night last night. Despite driving through traffic for over an hour yesterday (at least it wasn't that insane traffic jam in China) and arriving at the Flying Saucer to only obtain one ticket for CBS, we still had a nice time hanging out with our friend J and Mark from The Hopry. The CBS wasn't as "maple-y" as I remembered it being last year, but it was still an incredible beer. (And it's very possible my palate has changed.) Coffee, bitter roasted malt, dried fruit, vanilla, oak, and just a touch of maple sweetness. Keep an eye out for it next year; the Saucer's had it the past two years in a row, and I wouldn't be surprised if it made an appearance in '11.

We ate dinner, split an 8oz pour of CBS, and figured the night was still young - we had plenty of time to finally go to Gomer's in Lee's Summit. We'd both heard so many good things about it, and I'd recently seen that they had Mikkeller Rauch Geek Breakfast stout in stock. What else were we going to do with our evening?

So, we hit the highway and, half an hour later, found ourselves in a beer wonderland. We walked in and saw an incredible amount of craft beer in refrigerated coolers straight in front of us. (It's worth mentioning, by the way, that they have a fantastic gin selection that rivals Lukas' in Martin City.) They have the entire Mikkeller yeast series, a ton of Belgian beer I've never seen here, and put simply, THE BEST beer selection in Kansas City. By "best" I don't mean the largest selection or the most bottles; they have the most thoughtful and interesting selection I've seen in this city.

We talked to the beer buyer for a while, who's about our age and a major beer nerd as well. He keeps their blog pretty up to date and works hard to ensure their beer selection's current and creative. I just wish they weren't so damn far out of town. However, I now have a reason to go to Lee's Summit at least once a month, and recommend you do the same. I'm embarrassed that I've never been here before. If you're any self-respecting beer lover, you owe it to yourself to make it out there on a regular basis.

In case you're curious, here's what we came home with:

Drie Fonteinen Oude Kriek
Southern Tier Pumking
Mikkeller Frelser triple bock
Cantillon broucsella 1900 Grand Cru
Trois dames grande dame oud bruin
Mikkeller Rauch Geek Breakfast
Rogue Chatoe Rogue OREgasmic
Ska Nefarious ten pin imperial porter
Haand Bryggeriet barrel aged porter (aged in an aquavit barrel)
De Molen Heaven & Hell
Charlevoix Dominus Vobiscum double
Nogne O/Mikkeller Tyttebaer (cranberry wild ale)
Vikings Blod Mead
Pirtle Blackberry Mead
Ben Middlemiss Benediction ale
Mikkeller Monks Brew
Sierra Nevada Tumbler
O'Fallon Pumpkin
Schlafly Pumpkin

Prost!

An Early Thanksgiving

2010-08-25T21:04:00.001-05:00

We popped open a Southern Tier Pumking last night and the temp was below 70F while I drove to work this morning. Fall is on its way and I can't wait. So here I am already thinking about giving thanks to what we have...

My brother and his girlfriend-of-12-years recently came to visit for a week and I think I'm still hung over. We tapped into the Wort Hog Stockpile and my brother brought some beers from Portland (note: Deschutes Jubel 2010 is awesome - worth trading). While we drank our fill of beer we can't get here in KC, I briefly lamented over not being able to get HUB, Russian River, Port Brewing, Smuttynose, Deschutes, Great Lakes, and so on.

However, as we reveled over our piles of empty bottles, Mr Wort Hog and I were both struck by how many great breweries have gained distribution to the KC metro just in the past few years. Hoppin Frog, Ballast Point, Lagunitas, Founders, New Holland, Anderson Valley, Dieu du Ciel, Ska, Moylan's, and others. Of course, even regional breweries like Tin Mill and soon Free State are (or will be) distributed here. There are several breweries we can get here that those on the west coast cannot. Brother Wort Hog was able to try a bunch of Founders while visiting - Devil Dancer, Double Trouble, Red's Rye, Breakfast Stout, and KBS. (Man, I love that brewery.) He also enjoyed some Schlafly, Bells, Left Hand, Breckenridge, New Holland, Odell, and O'Fallon - all breweries whose beers we can easily find at our local liquor stores but aren't available in "beervana."

I often go back & forth between picking up some regular favorites and hunting around the liquor store trying to find the Next Best Thing. After his visit, I was reminded of all of the great beers we can get here and not to take them for granted. (On that note, we also ate our fill of awesome KC BBQ and commiserated with Brother Wort Hog's inability to get good BBQ in the northwest.)

Overall, it was a good visit. We drank our weight in some awesome beer, ate excellent food, and laughed ourselves silly playing Cranium (OK, we only play the green & blue cards - those are the best ones anyway). I'm thankful to be able to share a passion for great beer & food with my kickass brother and his awesome girlfriend, and that they were able to come out here to visit - even if it was 115F nearly every single day.

All the more reason to stay inside and drink more beer.

Canadian Breakfast Stout is Coming!

2010-08-13T15:27:00.002-05:00

The Flying Saucer got a keg of this Founders delicacy back in June and has been holding on to it through the summer... until now. They're putting this baby on for Rare Beer Night on August 26th. They've been tapping some stellar stuff for Rare Beer Night lately, and this one continues the trend.

I probably don't need to say anything more, but JUST in case you're not sure what this concoction is, it's their standard Breakfast Stout that is aged in barrels that were initially used to age Heaven Hills Kentucky Bourbon, then were shipped up to Canada to age craft maple syrup. The result, as I wrote about last year for Present Magazine, "carries smoky flavors from the charred barrels, vanilla notes from the bourbon, and a prominent douse of maple sweetness."

Simply delicious.

More Mikkeller

2010-08-06T18:33:00.004-05:00

I mentioned the other day Mikkeller's line of yeast-series beers and how exciting and innovative this is. Lo & behold, McCoy's is featuring all five of them at their next beer dinner (see the last paragraph on the linked page). I've only been to one other McCoy's dinner but found it fun and entertaining; the food was pretty tasty (a notch or two fancier than what they typically serve) and the crowd was friendly and social.

They're also serving the Mikkeller Chipotle Porter, which was the Rare Beer this past Thursday at the Flying Saucer. I'd been looking forward to this one, so we trekked on down and had ourselves a glass or two. The aroma's wonderful – chocolatey and roasty, much like a rich dark chocolate bar (and it's all from malt – very cool). The flavor was quite similar but also had just a touch of red chili flavor. And then the capsaicin kicked in.

Living on the west coast, I used to have a pretty decent heat tolerance. After three years in Kansas City, however, I am now a self-avowed hot-food-wuss. This beer is spicy. Now, it's not melt-your-face hot, but I've had Thai food here in KC that was less spicy than this beer. It was wonderful, like eating one of those chocolates that has dried chilies in it. I wish this weren't as rare as it is.

You can get yourself a glass of this at the Saucer, or join me at the McCoy's dinner on Tuesday, September 7^th. Tickets are $50 (inclusive of tax & gratuity); you can buy them at McCoys or by calling (816) 960-0866. This is one I'm not going to miss, so I'll see you there!

Ich liebe Grünauer

2010-07-30T19:43:00.004-05:00

A couple of months ago, I received an email from JP's wine bar stating that they were featuring Austrian wines to highlight the opening of nearby Grünauer Austrian restaurant (which replaced City Tavern). I never did make it out for JP's specials, but I did go to Grünauer's website and decided it was worth a visit. Besides, Kansas City is essentially a complete void of continental European food, despite the number of German immigrants to this area; we've been wanting some German food for a while and figured Austrian was close enough.

We drank and dined in the Wunderbar, Grünauer's lounge, and had a fantastic time. Not only was the bar service inviting and personable, the food and drink were spectacular. For my pre-dinner drink, I got "Der Schmutzige" (the dirty one), which is "Black peppercorn and mustard seed infused Monopolowa vodka, Frank's Kraut Juice, beet brine and dill pickle water shaken with vigor and served up with a dill wedge." For someone who loves savory gin drinks, this was delectable. About 80% through, though, I have to admit that my palate was getting pretty tired from all of the goings-on in the beverage. Even still, it was very good; the flavors blended together well, and I appreciated the creativity.

For dinner, we ordered the Schweinebraten and Tafelspitz and enjoyed them both. The Schweinebraten (with dumplings! yum!) was just like I remembered in Germany, and maybe even a bit better. The Tafelspitz (sliced beef with broth & noodles) was surprisingly rich with depth and flavor without being greasy or too thin. We paired our dinner with a handful of Czech, German, and Austrian beers and thoroughly enjoyed our evening there.

After such a great initial visit, we returned this past Thursday night for dinner & drinks, including a comparison of draft versions of Bitburger and Czechvar (the latter of which I am becoming an avid fan) for BJCP "studying". They have several continental lagers on tap (Spaten Bock, Bitburger, Czechvar, Hofbrau, Carlsberg, Warsteiner) as well as a Kölsch and Hefeweizen, and about 7 or so Boulevard drafts. With about a dozen more beers in bottles, there's no lack of malty goodness to be enjoyed. It's inspiring to see dedication of an entire faucet tower to Boulevard, but I'd really encourage you to try some of the European drafts. They're quite different from the bottled versions since they're not light-struck, oxidized, or stale. If you've never had any of the aforementioned brands on draft, you owe it to yourself to have one.

photo from Grünauer's Facebook page

This time, we settled for more typical entrees - Berlinerwurst and Wiener Schnitzel. Both were, again, well-executed and reinforced our affinity for the place. And the service was, of course, friendly, attentive, and timely.

A mention of Grünauer wouldn't be complete without recognition of its huge selection of gin. It's got about 15 (or more?) different gins available for your enjoyment. Really! I check out the gin selection of every bar I go to, and this has to be the largest inventory I've ever seen.

Bottom line - Grünauer has several things going for it and I hope they're here to stay. The food is authentic and delicious, the cocktails are creative and well-executed, the liquor selection is well above par, the service is attentive, and they have a thoughtful beer selection that goes way beyond the typical Euro-lager. I hope you'll pay them a visit and enjoy this place as much as we do.

Style Spotlight: Porter

2010-07-27T21:36:00.003-05:00

I've been a major slacker in studying for the BJCP exam and I need to get my butt in gear if I'm going to pass this thing. One of the areas I really need to work on and excel at is evaluating and describing beers, as well as determining how well the beers fit into defined styles. So, to prepare for my studies, I've been going to liquor stores in search of a handful of beers within the same style category. And finding them all at one store is actually a bit harder than you might think.

I decided on evaluating porters which, in brief, can vary from light-bodied and mildly roasty to moderately-full in body and full of dark fruit, chocolate, and roasted malt character. I'm not going to explain the history and style of Porter; I'll let the ever-eloquent Michael Jackson do the work for me.

A week or two ago, I stopped by Rimann Liquors in Prairie Village and picked up three different bottles of porter. Along with a bottle of Edmund Fitzgerald Porter acquired in Minneapolis, Mr Wort Hog and I shared my three purchases:

1. RHC Old Slug Porter
2. Sinebrychoff Porter
3. Samuel Smith Old Taddy Porter

I purchased them along categorizations in the BJCP guidelines of Brown, Robust, and Baltic porters, but for most purposes, they're all just variations on a theme. Here's the low-down on each beer:

Old Slug Porter (brown porter #1)
Described on the brewery's site as "A delicious traditional porter with a full bodied taste of chocolate, coffee, blackcurrant and black cherry with a good aroma. A near black colour with a good white head when served through a tight sparkler" ... No sparkler in our house, though... Our impression of this was a little less enchanting. It's a bit simplistic, and would be a good beer to drink without really being interested in what I'm drinking. Not challenging or complex, but easy to drink and still a quality porter.

A brown porter should be, according to the BJCP, "[different] from a robust porter in that it usually has softer, sweeter and more caramelly flavors, lower gravities, and usually less alcohol. More substance and roast than a brown ale. Higher in gravity than a dark mild. Some versions are fermented with lager yeast. Balance tends toward malt more than hops. Usually has an “English” character."

Aroma: roasty, dark chocolate, burnt sugar. Decent but it left quickly.
Mouthfeel: medium-light, high carbonation. A bit lighter than I'm used to for a porter, even an English one.
Flavor: roasty, some dark chocolate, burnt toffee, acidic

Samuel Smith Taddy Porter (brown porter #2)
I loved this porter and would definitely buy this one again. Great mouthfeel, nice complex flavor, but not heavy or filling in the slightest. This is a great introduction to porters and would probably be well-liked by those who don't care for (or aren't interested in) the hoppier versions.

Aroma: chocolate, figs, burnt sugar, toast crust, raisins
Flavor: loads of caramelized fruit sugar. I told Mr Wort Hog it reminded me a little of burnt raisins on the outside of homemade scones. Not overwhelmingly roasty; more of a dark toasted bread flavor with dried fruit mixed in there. Yum.
Mouthfeel: almost creamy, medium carb, medium body

Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald Porter (robust porter)
Fitzgerald was probably my favorite of the lot, simply because of the lovely combination of dried cherry and roasted malt character. If we got this here in KC, I'd probably drink this well throughout the winter.

The BJCP guideline states that robust porter "differs from a brown porter in that a black patent or roasted grain character is usually present, and it can be stronger in alcohol. Roast intensity and malt flavors can also vary significantly. May or may not have a strong hop character, and may or may not have significant fermentation by-products..."

I'm not sure I find this description all that helpful, actually. Anyway, here are our general findings:

Aroma: loads of dried cherry, roasted malt
Flavor: low hop bitterness, balanced by malt sweetness & roastiness
Mouthfeel: medium-full body, moderate carbonation

Sinebrychoff Porter (Baltic porter)
The Sinebrychoff website is pretty verbose about this beer. They even give nutritional information (65 calories per 100ml, by the way). I enjoyed this one quite a bit as well and am interested in comparing it with Okocim and Baltika #6 some time.

From the BJCP guideline: "A Baltic Porter often has the malt flavors reminiscent of an English brown porter and the restrained roast of a schwarzbier, but with a higher OG and alcohol content than either. Very complex, with multi-layered flavors."

Aroma: dark dried fruits, licorice, milk chocolate, sweet mild tobacco
Flavor: low hop bitterness, moderate malt bitterness balanced by sweetness, dark chocolate, burnt caramel syrup
Mouthfeel: medium-full body, almost creamy, low-to-moderate carbonation

By the way, you can't get Great Lakes in the KC metro area. (I'm really failing on that "focusing on beers you can get here in KC" aspect, aren't I?) But, a few great porters in the "robust" category that you CAN get here would include porter by Founders (definitely on the hoppy side), Sierra Nevada, Anchor, Bell's, or Boulevard.

Rare Beer Nights - and Mikkeller

2010-07-22T17:09:00.000-05:00

Flying Saucer's on a roll recently with its rare beer nights. Last week featured Mikkeller's Big Worse, which was a wonderfully decadent barleywine full of malt aroma, rich dried fruit flavor, and enough bitterness to keep it balanced. I enjoyed it so much, I didn't realize how quickly I was drinking it until my glass was nearly empty.

Tonight's featured rare beer is Founders' Devil Dancer, a "triple" IPA clocking in at over 100 IBUs and dry-hopped with 10 different hop varieties. I'm sure Devil Dancer will not disappoint these hop-loving Wort Hogs.

Next week is Dieu du Ciel's Aphrodite (or, "Aphrodesiaque" if you're in Quebec), which is a stout brewed with cocoa and vanilla. I've been impressed with nearly all of Dieu du Ciel's beers, Deese Nocturne being probably the sole exception (and a recent rare beer). Aphrodite, though, is a wonderfully rich stout and one you can easily find in bottles around the KC metro (Royal & Lukas both carry it, and I'm sure other stores do as well). And if you ever find yourself in the Montreal or Quebec City area, make a point to go to their brewpub in Montreal. It has wonderful ambiance and about 15 different beers on tap. When we were there 2 years ago, they had I think 4 or 5 smoked beers among the list; impressive.

August 5th, though, is something I am really looking forward to: Mikkeller Chipotle Porter. Apparently only being sold in bottles in Texas, Flying Saucer appears to be getting a keg of it. Sweet! (or, spicy?). While browsing the Mikkeller site, it appears they aged some in bourbon barrels and bottled that too. Awesome.

While on the topic of Mikkeller, I thought their single-hop series was clever and interesting, but not that engaging. What I'm really looking forward to, though, is their upcoming Yeast Series beers. It is truly fascinating to me just how much a strain of yeast can completely change a beer, and I don't think that the beer blogging/reviewing community really pays enough attention to its role. Yeah, we all know that Belgian beers wouldn't be what they are without the signature yeast esters. And "bretted" beers have received a lot of attention lately. But what happens when you make several batches of a simple base beer (say, a strong pale ale) and ferment each batch with a different yeast? Mikkeller has the answer. I can't wait.

Kirschwasser Stout

2010-07-18T22:26:00.001-05:00

It's too hot for me to come up with a clever title for this post. Good grief, it's hot outside. Heat index of 93F at 10pm. Ugh.

And here I am drinking a stout. An American stout sounded really good - roasty, hoppy, dark chocolate... but it needed.... something... So, I looked in the cupboard... gin? No.. vodka? nah... rum? hmm... Kirschwasser? YES!

I picked up a small bottle of Clear Creek Kirschwasser at Royal back in March for a pot of fondue and have quite a bit left. It's the real stuff - not candy brandy or syrupy schnapps, but real kirschwasser like you'd find in Germany. Potent stuff, but delicious and very well made. The distillery (out of my home state of Oregon) makes a handful of craft spirits, this being one of their most easily accessible.

I think the 375ml bottle ran me around $25 or $30 - a bit steep, but considering how long it lasts, it really isn't much. (Especially if you think about how long two or three $10 bottles of beer last...)

I grabbed a 25cL glass we had on hand (about 8 ounces) and poured in about 6oz of homemade American Stout along with 1/2 ounce of Kirsch. And it hit the spot. You get just enough cherry aroma and flavor to complement the roasted malt flavor of the stout, but it's not overwhelming at all. I wouldn't add any more than that, or it would dominate the beer.

It's certainly not something you'd want to toss back after spending a day working in the yard, but it was a perfect way to end a day filled with running errands, cleaning, cooking, and doing other various random things. A great complement to relaxing on the couch with Mr Wort Hog, Kitty Wort Hog, and my laptop.

You can make your own by choosing any good American Stout - Bell's Kalamazoo, Rogue Shakespeare, Sierra Nevada, and so on. And you know, I'm betting Kirschwasser would be fantastic in a coffee stout or a chocolate stout as well. Yum, yum.

Respect My Authoritah!

2010-07-05T20:12:00.003-05:00

This country has some pretty wacky attitudes about alcohol. The legacy of Prohibition ensues in much of our culture, as do the effects of monster lobbying efforts by our major beer, wine, and liquor producers. The combination of those two makes for some interesting legislation. Here's a run-down of a few items that have caught my attention in the past few months.

Abita Brewing in Louisiana created Save our Shores (SOS) "weizen pils" from which 75 cents of every $5 bomber sale goes to oil-spill reparation. It's a slightly strong beer, clocking in at about 7% ABV. And yet - beer over 5% ABV is illegal to sell in Mississippi, and beer sold in bombers are illegal in Alabama... So it can't be sold in 2 of the 6 states with shores affected by the spill. D'oh. I'm sure this fact didn't escape Abita, and I wonder if the SOS has a double meaning. A great article on al.com explains the whole story.
Homebrew competitions in Oregon have been canceled for the rest of the year! State law clearly dictates that "No person shall brew, ferment, distill, blend or rectify any alcoholic liquor unless licensed so to do by the Oregon Liquor Control Commission. However, the Liquor Control Act does not apply to the making or keeping of naturally fermented wines and fruit juices or beer in the home, for home consumption and not for sale." Since homebrew competitions are not held in a person's home for home consumption, they clearly violate state law. Bummer. KATU out of Portland has more information on this story.
Iowa recently changed state law to re-classify beer over 5% ABV. Previously, beer over 5% was classified as "liquor" and therefore subject to higher taxes. And, perhaps more importantly, it barred Iowa breweries from making and selling beer over 5% ABV because of the classification. While ABV doesn't necessarily mean the beer is better (hello Berliner Weiss), it significantly restricted Iowa breweries from exercising creativity and from brewing the majority of beer styles that exist. Thank goodness for activism and common sense.
Home brewing beer in Oklahoma is illegal. But not for long! Oklahomans can brew wine and cider legally, but beer brewing is illegal - until November 1 of this year. It's because of the efforts of home brewers contacting their state representatives that made this happen, and grass roots organization is likely what will change other restrictive laws in the future. Congratulations, Oklahoma, and your law-breaking, beer-brewing delinquents.

It's worth noting that home brewing is still illegal in Alabama and Mississippi. Clearly, our states still have a bit of catching up to do. I don't mind dealing with varying laws in different states, but it's clearly ridiculous to have laws such as those above that apply restrictions based on arbitrary definitions. Thankfully, both the public and legislators in these areas have some common sense.

However, Big Alcohol has quite the influence on state laws yet, and even more control over things like shelf space and taxation. If you're interested in the influences large brewing conglomerates have on our society, and how craft beer organizations are working toward changing both our culture and our laws, check out Beer Wars. It opened my eyes to the amount of influence large brewing organizations have on this part of our culture. I definitely enjoy a Budweiser or Coors (not the light versions), but the amount of power they have on such a wonderful part of American culture turned me off to their products.

I leave you with this on your Independence Day weekend. Celebrate American ingenuity, creativity, and old-fashioned hard work. And keep your thumbs on your state legislators. It's a shame to see outdated perspectives on craft beer and homebrew. Celebrate the removal of creative restrictions, and prost those who step over the boundaries of lobbying and outdated values. Cheers!

Mattingly Closes its Doors

2010-07-03T14:47:00.003-05:00

Damn it. Mattingly Brewing Company's blog post today reports that they're closing up shop; according to STL Hops' note about the closure, they've chosen not to renew their liquor license. Whether they'll reopen at some point or sell the place is unknown. These guys were one of our favorite stops in St Louis, as they offered some interesting and high-quality brews.

You can get two of their beers at the Schlafly taproom - a wheat on tap and an old ale in bottles. I suspect this isn't the last we've seen of their brewer, Drew Huerter, as he's clearly a skilled brewer and should find no lack of interest in his abilities.

Goodbye, Mattingly, and cheers to new opportunities.

NOTE - Thanks to responders for clarifying that Huerter currently works at Schlafly Bottleworks full time.

Style Spotlight: Cream Ale

2010-06-29T22:43:00.005-05:00

A while back, I was trying to do a style of the week. It was going well for a while… and then work got busy – and stayed that way. But I really want to stick with style guidelines and talking about them for a few reasons. One, I think a lot of misinformation about styles swims around on the interwebs - such as the idea that a "Double IPA" is somehow authoritatively different from an "Imperial IPA". I'll never forget getting into a disagreement about that with a bartender in Seattle where I was told that he was right, I was wrong, and there was a reason he was BEHIND one of the country's best bars and I was not.

Someone didn't know how to earn tips.

Two, I'm taking the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) exam in September, and this will help me study. Knowing and understanding different styles is not just based in tasting them, but knowing what properties are typical of the style as well as their history. Finally, I want to focus on commercial examples of beers that not only exemplify styles but are available in the KC metro area. I'm going to stick with the BJCP guidelines for now because I think it's a good – and standard – starting point for style recognition. And seeking out commercial styles that I can get here will only help me study. (Study... yeah, that's the ticket...)

Today's style is Cream Ale, partially because I recently came back from Milwaukee and had a New Glarus Spotted Cow (which you can't get outside of Wisconsin or internet trades. What was I just saying about KC availability?). But also because I think it's a style that has several misconceptions about what it is. No, it doesn't have cream in it. It doesn't have lactose or anything dairy-based at all. And it's not because it's served on nitro or has a creamy mouthfeel (that's called Smooth Ale across the pond). It's actually a pretty old style, one which managed to survive Prohibition (shudder).

So what is it? It's one of the truly American styles (along with California Common) and was initially created by ale houses in the states to compete with American lagers. Though it is fermented with ale yeast (though some breweries, like Genesee, use lager yeast), it's fermented at cool temperatures then lagered for at least a few weeks. Ale yeasts typically throw esters at warmer temperatures, and fermenting them at lower temperatures keeps the fruity esters at bay. It also often includes corn as an adjunct (a very American ingredient!) to create a slightly sweet but still crisp flavor.

The result is a clean, light ale that is neither bitter nor malty, is highly carbonated, and very refreshing. It's the lawnmower beer of the ale world.

Some examples:

- Anderson Valley Summer Solstice Cerveza Crema (I need a beer just typing that out)
- Genesee Cream Ale
- Rogue Honey Cream ale

If you're ever in Wisconsin, do yourself a favor and pick up a Spotted Cow. It's definitely worth tipping (back). har har.

Home from the Great Beery North

2010-06-23T21:50:00.004-05:00

Well, that was a whirlwind. We drove up to Ames last Tuesday night and had dinner at Olde Main downtown then stayed overnight at a hotel nearby. The food was pretty decent, and the beer was OK, but I probably won't go out of my way to go there again. Instead, if you're up in that area seeking out brewpubs, check out Court Ave or Raccoon River.

Wednesday's 4-hour drive took us to just south of Minneapolis, where the 2010 National Homebrewers Conference was held. We stopped at Blue Max and picked up a few cases of beer (MOSTLY REFRIGERATED!!) that we can't get in the KC area, loaded up the car, and headed to the hotel. After we registered for the conference, we headed to Happy Gnome for lunch, which ended up being one of my favorite places. The food was tasty and so was the beer; we got a 5-beer sampler that included, in order of preference:

Surly Abrasive (IIPA)
Tyranena Benji's Chipotle Imperial Porter
Ommegang Zuur (Flanders red)
Fulton Sweet Child o'Vine (IPA)
Dark Horse Perkulator Doppelbock (coffee doppelbock)

I'd heartily recommend the first three; the Fulton was limp and uninteresting, and the Dark Horse was down right undrinkable. Too thin on the mouthfeel, too much coffee, and not enough malt to really be a solid doppelbock. Oh well.

The trip went down a little like this...

Wednesday
BJCP reception at Summit. After dinner and a few Summit beers, we all poured ourselves small glasses of traditional semi-sweet mead and walked around the room where small jars of various tinctures and additives were laid out. Juniper, rose, mint, tannins, acids, and other ingredients were there for us to experiment with blending and tasting. It was a unique opportunity and the most useful thing I took away from it was that traditional mead really needs acid and tannin, just like white grape wine.

Thursday
Seminars started in the afternoon. We went to lunch at Barley John's and enjoyed both the food and beer. I got the sampler (see slideshow) with lunch and enjoyed all the beers, but their porter & wild rice brown were my favorites by a long shot. Sessions took place in the afternoon, and "Pro-Brewers Night" was in the evening. Breweries set up booths around the banquet hall where we could sample their beers and collect brewery swag. While a fun time, the after-party up in the hotel was where to be that night.

Friday
Seminars all day long. I learned about specialty malts, mead making tips, optimal yeast conditions, and maturing beer. There's something special about going to a conference where everyone's hung over at the 9am sessions and no one's trying to hide it.

Friday night was one of the most entertaining and incredible experiences I've had in a while. It's club night, meaning that homebrew clubs can sign up to set up a booth and pour beer made by club members. The extent to which some of these clubs go for this event is amazing; I think my favorite in terms of decor was the MASH unit. Check out some of the photos below.

Saturday
The last day of the conference didn't go without its own merits, though the hangovers were gaining on everyone. I went to sessions on extract brewing, cidermaking, cask conditioning, blind taste tests, and how different sugars affect beer (the base was a tripel). The final social event was a banquet put on by Sean Paxton (homebrewchef) and all the beer was donated by Rogue. Salad, chicken, rice, and dessert - all made with Rogue beer ingredients and paired with a Rogue beer. Check out the menu (scroll down to the "Conference Awards Dinner Menu" section at the bottom).

We didn't win any medals, but two of our beers made it to Mini Best of Show (sort of a semi-finals round for the category), so that was an honor in itself. It's only adding fuel to the fire for next year's competition.

Click on a photo to make it larger. I highly recommend reading the letter to Mark Stutrud (owner/founder of Summit), 5th photo in.

Here's more information on the sessions that were available.
Presentations will be posted when they become available.

Check out the trailer for next year's conference. See you there?

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, to NHC we go!

2010-06-10T19:58:00.005-05:00

Alas! The National Homebrewers Conference is just around the corner, and I'm pretty damn excited to go (except for the 9-hours-of-driving-each-way thing)... Some of the highlights of the conference, for me, include:

BJCP Judge Reception on Wednesday. It's at Summit Brewing Co and will include a talk on cask vs. keg beer as well as a large educational session on varietal honey and mead.
Pro Brewers Night on Thursday. Check out all the craft breweries that will be there. Oh boy oh boy!
Club Night on Friday. Homebrew clubs across the country can sign up to host a booth and share beverages made by their members as well as pimp some awesome hardware. Pro-brewers night is sure to be a lot of fun, and the creativity and skill demonstrated by homebrewers always impresses and inspires me.
Seminars! What would the NHC be without its informative sessions on how to make better beer, mead, and cider? There are a few sessions I can't wait to attend, including the Meadmaker of the Year panel and a session on yeast by Wyeast's quality control manager. And speaking of quality control, KC's own Jennifer Helber, founder of the Boulevard Quality Lab, and KC's Beer Pairing Examiner, will be presenting on bottle conditioning. Way to represent, KC!

Though it's a homebrewer conference, anyone can attend. The focus is on beer education, and many of the seminars cover ingredients, processes, and trends in home brewing. However, all of the topics could be of interest to beer enthusiasts as well. After all, learning about how different yeast strains affect fermenting beer isn't just a homebrewing topic. If that just isn't of interest, you can just buy "social package" tickets, so you can hang out on the town while all the beer nerds attend class, then go to the evening events for all the fun.

In addition to the social events and seminars, part of the conference includes the final round of homebrew judging to determine the national category winners in beer, mead, and cider. Awards are also given to Homebrewer of the Year, Meadmaker of the Year, and Cidermaker of the year. The brewer who obtains the most points during final round judging is awarded the Ninkasi award. You get 6 points for each first place, 4 points for each 2nd place, and 2 points for each 3rd place. You can imagine that winning Ninkasi means submitting a hell of a lot of homebrew...

We've got three beers in the running (American standard & premium lagers and Imperial IPA) and are pretty damn anxious to find out how we'll fare. The awards ceremony is on Saturday night, so we've still got a little while until we find out. Ninkasi is out of reach this year, but you never know what the future will bring...

Summerfest and the Living's Easy

2010-06-06T18:27:00.001-05:00

It's no surprise I'm a fan of Sierra Nevada Brewing Company and their products. The quality of their beer is outstanding, and their commitment to the craft beer community is constant. Everyone knows their Pale Ale, of course, but their German Hefeweizen (Kellerweis) is one of the best I've had from an American brewery. They're coming out with a new seasonal this fall (nixing their Anniversary Ale), named "Tumbler". It's an American Brown in IBUs and original gravity, but hopped with English-style hops (Challenger and Yakima Goldings). But we'll have to wait until late summer/early fall to see that in stores.

You can, however, pick up Summerfest now, and I recommend you do so. It's a Pils brewed with American two-row and Munich malts, and is hopped with both German and Czech noble hops (Perle and Saaz, respectively). The end result is a beer that is light in body, but with plenty of grainy malt flavor and spicy hop aroma and bitterness. There's also a bit of lemon in both aroma and flavor as well, but not enough to take over the beer. The high carbonation and lingering bitterness really make this a thirst-quencher, but a light lager it is not. There's plenty of maltiness there to keep you interested.

I really enjoyed this beer and was disappointed it was the only one I stuck in a mixed six-pack. Next time, an entire sixer it is.

Summer's Here

2010-06-05T22:09:00.002-05:00

There are a few things I love about summer:

Sitting/eating/drinking outside
Fresh summer beer that's light and refreshing

OK, maybe "a few" is an exaggeration.

A couple of weekends ago, we hiked on over to 75th Street Brewery and checked out their brand-spanking-new beer garden. It's in the old Kennedy's space; they ripped the roof right off and slightly redesigned the layout into a great partially-covered beer garden. Some hop bines are growing up one wall and over the top; they should provide some shade this summer and for years to come. There's a bar out there, too. I snapped a couple of pictures with my (new!!) cell phone (that has a camera on it!!):

As a side note, they had a ginger mango wheat on tap for American Craft Beer Week; I ended up drinking an entire pint of it and wanted more. It was lightly fruity and refreshing; the ginger gave the beer a little sweet spiciness, and the mango wasn't overpowering or too sweet. Great for summer, and if you see it there I recommend ordering a pint. My only complaint about it was that I would have liked a bit more carbonated. It was, however, quite enjoyable.

Last night we walked down to Swagger, then back up to Waldo Pizza, for a Friday night on the town. My first pint at Swagger was a $3 Czechvar (known as "Budvar" outside the US & Canada; the Czechvar name is thanks to labeling and trademark laws). I'd never had it on tap before, and it sounded perfect after a 1.5 mile walk in 90-degree heat. I'm always up for a non-skunked Czech Pils, and this one did not disappoint. Cold, grainy/malty, and a wonderful dry bitter finish. I heard one of the bartenders say they ran out, but I'm not sure if she was referring to keg or bottle form. In any case, if you do see Czechvar on tap and don't have an aversion to beers that finish dry & lightly bitter, order up a pint. It's perfect for a hot & humid Kansas City evening.

On our Waldo Pizza stop, I ordered a Goose Island Summertime- their version of a German Kölsch. It immediately imparts a lemony-citrus aroma and follows through with that in the flavor. Body's nice and light and, like the Bohemian Pils, well-carbonated.

We enjoyed our own version of our Waldo-Crawldo, but you can be a part of the official pub crawl in what I think is KC's best beer neighborhood next weekend for $5 (in advance).

Transferring Your Homebrew via CO2

2010-05-20T22:43:00.001-05:00

We made a major improvement to our home brewery last night, one that Mr Wort Hog's been bugging me about for a while. If you've ever had to transfer beer from a carboy to another container, you know what a pain in the ass it can be. We've tried it all - blowing on one end of the carboy cap (too germy), creating a siphon by filling the tubing with StarSan (fails regularly), creating suction by using a turkey baster at the output end of the tubing (rarely works), and squeezing the carboy to create pressure (never got that one to work). The whole carboy + racking cane/carboy cap/tubing assembly was frustrating to no end. And an auto-siphon just introduces too much oxygen to the process, so it's not even a participant.

Enter CO2 transfer.

Mr Wort Hog found some information on the Maltose Falcons website and sent me a link back in, uh, January? I finally took the time to order the parts online and we assembled & used it last night. The verdict? Best way to transfer beer. Ever.

The basic hookup goes like this: Connect a CO2 tank to the carboy containing the fermented beer, which pushes the beer through a racking cane and some beer line. The beer line is hooked up to the keg through a flare fitting, going in through the "out" beer line dip tube and into the keg. The benefits to this are multiple, but the greatest improvement is the introduction of a completely closed transfer - and CO2 purging of the lines. That is, there's no introduction of oxygen (or mouth-based germs) to the transfer. Let's take a look.

CO2 tank > gas line > carboy cap > carboy > racking cane > beer line > flare fitting > keg

From the CO2 tank, we've got a male/female quick disconnect from the regulator to the carboy cap. In the picture below, the keg is to the lower right (yes, that's the regulator peeking out there) and a freezer containing the carboy on the left. And a roll of paper towels lurking in the background.

The gas line then goes into the carboy: A 1/4" flare-to-barb fitting goes into the small little outlet on the carboy cap and a 1/4" nut & 5/16" barb fitting connects that to the gas line. In other words, shove the 1/4" fitting into the carboy cap and the nut fitting into the end of the gas line then screw them together. Here, we have the nut fitting in the gas line secured by a worm clamp. Click on the picture to see a much better picture of the detail.

A racking cane goes through the main opening in the carboy cap (this can take a little smooth talking and cajoling) and connects to beer line. I got the wrong size beer line (it doesn't fit onto the racking cane), so we used a bit of 3/8" ID silicone tubing and a worm clamp to ensure a tight transfer. Hey, it works.

That beer line, then, goes to the keg. The other end of the beer line has a barb quick disconnect that goes to the OUT line on the keg. That's it.

So before the transfer, fill the keg with CO2 and assemble the liquid end (racking cane, carboy cap, beer line, keg disconnect) with sanitizer. Purge some of the CO2 from the keg just to get a bunch of it out of there, then hook the assembly up to the keg before putting it in the carboy, and this will cause the CO2 in the keg to exit via the assembly. You've just purged your liquid lines with CO2.

Put the liquid assembly onto the carboy and turn on the CO2 to about 3psi. This will push the beer back through the liquid assembly and into the keg.

A few minutes later, you've got all your beer in your keg and have minimized its exposure to oxidation.

Sounds like a lot of work, I guess, but I assure you it is FAR less work and MUCH more sanitary (and O2-free) than other transfer methods. I only wish I'd ordered the parts a lot longer ago...

I'll take American Craft Beer History for $200, Alex

2010-05-17T22:49:00.001-05:00

In the spirit of American Craft Beer Week, here's a little bit of trivia about some true American craft beer pioneering. (I'd say pionbeering, but that might be just a bit too much...)

Back in the 1980s, Scott Birdwell out of Houston was in San Rafael, CA for an annual home beer & wine convention, when he met up with Byron Birch. Byron, owner of a homebrew shop in San Rafael, shared with Scott a recipe for a dark ale named "Purple Passion Dark Ale" (I am not sure I'd admit to that). The recipe made a beer that was dark, malty, a little roasty, quite hoppy - and did very well in state competitions as well as with customers. It was, however, way out of style for any of the BJCP brown ale categories, so it never fared well against style standards or national competitions.

Scott enjoyed the beer so much, however, that he decided to create a new "California Dark" category for Houston homebrew competitions (named such as a nod to his California friends). Within a couple of years, the American Homebrewers Association (AHA) added the dark, hoppy style to its style categorizations and named it "Texan Brown Ale" due to the popularization of the style in regional competitions there. Over time, the AHA renamed the style to...

(drumroll, please)

... American Brown Ale.

Yep, the style we know and love today as American Brown overcame prior lives as Purple Passion, California Dark, and Texas Brown. If it managed to survive those, surely it's worth drinking. So there you have it - an American beer style favored and recognized by homebrewers, then popularized by commercial craft breweries. Truly a great example of the spirit of American Craft Beer week.

Beers within this style should be dark in color and should taste slightly roasty (but not as roasty as a stout or porter), chocolatey, malty, and at least moderately hoppy (if not very hoppy). The hops definitely play a prominent role in American Brown ales, and they're typically American (citrusy, piney, resiny). Contrast this to English brown ales that are sweet and malty with a low hop profile (which aren't really available here) or are dry, caramelly, nutty, and also have a mellow hop flavor and aroma (think Newcastle or Samuel Smith Nut Brown).

Probably the first commercial American Brown was Pete's Wicked Ale (brewed by Pete's Wicked, started by homebrewer Pete Slosberg), but some great examples of the style include Bell's Best Brown, Lost Coast Downtown Brown, and Moose Drool (in cans!).

Speaking of home brewing (and craft beer, while we're at it), did you know Bell's Brewing started out nearly 30 years ago as a homebrew supply shop named Kalamazoo Brewing Company?

Now you do.

A Toast to Dad in ALS Awareness Month

2010-05-04T13:00:00.003-05:00

May is ALS Awareness month and, while I normally wouldn’t include this sort of thing on my blog, this is a topic that’s close to me and my family. ALS, more commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a fatal disease that progressively kills your motor neurons until your body can no longer function. Dad was diagnosed in 1999. He was having a hard time holding things and, after ruling everything else out, doctors determined he had ALS. Most people die within 5 years of diagnosis; dad died in 3.

In 1992, Dad had an opportunity to take a temporary job in Heidelberg, Germany for the Dept of Defense. He accepted the assignment and took the family with him over the summer. After a brief return to the states, he accepted a longer contract in 1993 and the family moved to Heidelberg for a five-year stint. I was in college in the states during that time, but got to spend summers in Heidelberg (plus I took most of a year off college to work & travel over there).

My dad left the US drinking MGD and returned drinking German beer – most typically Pils, Dunkles, or Hefeweizen. His experience there completely changed his perspective on beer, which led to my own understanding that beer was something more than Blue Boar.

He took a few trips to Bamberg, home of Rauchbier; it was one of his favorite cities, and I’ll never forget hearing about his discovery of beer that tasted like ham. He took the family to Berlin and introduced me to Berliner Weiss (mit schuss, of course). He also introduced me to Hefeweizen, which I swore had a shot of banana syrup in it no thanks to that Berlin experience. I drank my fair share of Helles and Pils, typically at fests in various small towns we’d visit. And a lot of Grolsch. (I blame that on the clubs.)

And, finally, he introduced me to the concept of proper glassware. He collected steins, krugs, goblets, weizen glasses, and a bunch of other beer-holding devices. My mom’s been gracious enough to let me have many of the glasses he collected, including small samplers from various small-town breweries and fests. My favorite, though, is the Augustiner Edelstoff willi becher glass. I hope to have this one for a long time.

Though Dad was diagnosed with ALS shortly after the family’s return to Portland, his interest in good beer continued. We hung out at Produce Row, Bridgeport, and Horse Brass. We drank Deschutes, Rogue, Widmer, and other good Oregon brews in a city that would, just a few years later, become a major beer destination for beer enthusiasts everywhere. He would have loved what’s happened with craft beer and I have no doubt he would have continued to introduce me to new aspects of the brewing world.

May 25th would have been my dad’s 61st birthday. During ALS awareness month, in honor of my dad and the beer enthusiasm he developed while in Germany, I propose a toast to those who have sparked or shared your interest in craft beer, glassware, beer-related travel, and all other things beery. Prost!

Doug - Dad and Beer Lover
1949 - 2002

To find out more about ALS or how you can help, visit the ALS Association's website. To volunteer for a charity walk, find an upcoming walk near you.

Spent Grain Chocolate Muffins

2010-05-02T11:25:00.006-05:00

We saved some of the grain from a batch of Premium American Lager, with the intention of making some veggie burgers and bread with it. This morning, I had a strong craving for muffins or coffee cake, so I figured I'd throw something together. I decided on muffins and the recipe evolved from there. I looked up the ratios for my base ingredients and made up the batch. And here's the resulting recipe:

Ingredients
- 4oz (8 Tbsp) butter, melted
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup milk
- 3/4 cup flour
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup spent grain
- 1/4 cup old-fashioned oats
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I recommend Ghirardelli)
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt

Directions
Heat oven to 350F.

In a medium bowl, combine the butter, eggs, and milk. In a separate bowl, mix all remaining ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mix until just combined, and pour into a lined muffin or loaf pan. Bake 30 minutes for muffins, 50 for a loaf.

Overall, I'm happy with how these turned out. If I made these again, I'd reduce the butter to 6 Tbsp instead of 8. The butter flavor in these is a bit too dominant for my preference. That's the only change I'd make, though.

I will note here, too, that I used a few substitutions. We were out of eggs so I used my trusty egg replacement tactic I learned in my vegan days: 1 Tbsp ground flax meal + 3 Tbsp water = 1 large egg. It works very well as a binder, but not quite as well as a leavening agent. That's likely the reason my muffins didn't turn out as fluffy as they would have otherwise. I also used Splenda instead of sugar and rehydrated dry milk instead of regular (milk's not really a common thing in our house, but I keep a box of dry milk for baking.) So what you see pictured isn't exactly what's in the recipe above, but close enough.

Each muffin in the recipe above is about 185 calories with 10g of fat, 2g of fiber, and 4g of protein. My version with the flax, dry milk, and Splenda comes out to 145 calories with 10g of fat, 2g of fiber, and 2.5g of protein.

Wild for Raspberry Ale

2010-05-01T15:00:00.000-05:00

I've finally given up and admitted that I like fruit beer. I'm not ashamed. I even bought a six-pack of fruity, malty goodness recently (OK, a month ago): Great Divide Wild Raspberry Ale.

Described as a "beer lover's fruit beer", Wild Raspberry Ale is dry, bitter, and full of raspberry flavor. It smells like pureed raspberries with a little bit of graininess behind the fruity aroma. A little reminiscent of raspberry cobbler.

The flavor is pretty similar to the aroma. Initially tons of raspberry, followed by flavors of baked malt & grain and finished by a balanced, lingering hop bitterness. Mouthfeel is also dry thanks to a moderate-high carbonation level. Perfect for spring & summer!

I found this to be an interesting fruit beer because it's not like most of the ones I've had before. It's not the sweet, fresh, bready Samuel Smith strawberry ale I discovered (and loved!) last year. It's not a Belgian fruit style, so it doesn't have the esters or signature lambic-style flavors that are so common with various Belgian fruit ales. And it's much drier and hoppier than the ever-popular O'Fallon Wheach, Pyramid Apricot, Founder's Cerise, or even New Belgium's Framboise.

So here it is. If you aren't offended by the concept of fruit beer but you often find the sweetness of most on the market a bit too much, this is definitely one to try. It has a ton of raspberry aroma and flavor but is pretty dry and hoppy compared to its fruit-filled peers. I give it a wort hoggy thumbs-up and will likely buy this again.

Rollin down the street, back from Lukas, sippin on John John Ale

2010-04-30T21:41:00.002-05:00

With my mind on my John John and my John John on my mind?

Maybe not. Pretty sure I can't pull that off.

Thanks to FancyPantsBeer's note via Twitter, I was able to procure for myself at Lukas Liquor in Martin City a 22oz bottle of Rogue's latest barrel beer release: John John Juniper Pale Ale. As I mentioned previously, it's their Juniper Pale Ale that's been aged in Rogue Spruce-Gin-soaked barrels. I let it chill for as long as I could stand before cracking it open. The anticipation was killing me.

When I opened the bottle & poured the beer, the aroma was reminiscent of evergreens. I thought of camping back home (what says camping in the Pacific Northwest more than the smell of evergreens and beer?) And then that gave way to... coriander. And the warmer the beer got, the more pronounced it became.

Now, don't get me wrong - coriander is a very common botanical used in gin, and I'm a huge gin fan. The variation and creativity in gin styles and aromatics is nearly endless and it's almost as fun to find a new, delicious gin as a wonderful craft beer. The essential oils from various ingredients lend to spicy, fruity, herbal, and/or woody spirits. Rogue's award-winning Spruce Gin uses a ton of them: spruce, cucumber, angelica root, orange peel, coriander, lemon peel, ginger, orris root, grains of paradise, tangerine, and juniper berries. Problem is, coriander is the one "botanical" that I find really hard to love. It's the main reason I'm not a huge fan of witbier (especially double wit), and it really shines through in John John Juniper Ale.

That said, this is a very good beer and the creativity impresses me. The spruce and juniper do come through, as does the orange peel and the grapefruity citrus from the Amarillo hops. There's a bit of woodiness from the oak barrels, but it's definitely in the background and merely supports the other flavors in the beer (such as, oh I don't know, coriander?). Overall, I'd definitely recommend picking up a bottle of this and checking it out for yourself. It's not suitable for aging, so drink it fresh. I'd love to know what you think and if I'm completely crazy on the coriander component.

I'm curious, though... What did they do with the gin from the barrels? And how do I get my hands on some?

On the Road Again: St Louis

2010-04-28T22:04:00.012-05:00

This post is part 2 of our our homebrew judging adventures this spring. Our trip to the other side of the state was probably one of my favorite visits to date. The weather was perfect (upper 70s and blue sky!), the beer was excellent, and we found some great new places for food. The main purpose of our trip was to judge homebrew at the Garage Brewers Society (GBS) Champion of the Pint competition, but we made a full weekend out of it.

Our arrival in town on that Friday evening was initiated by a small trip to Trader Joes in Chesterfield to pick up some snacks (and mesquite honey to make mead), then a hop over to the International Tap House for some beers. I was exhausted but mustered enough strength and stamina to drink a few beers, including the spectacular Avery Black Tot. Take note - this will be available in bottles at the Flying Saucer's 2nd anniversary bash this Sunday. It's a stout aged in rum barrels that really impressed me - sweet but not cloying, boozy without being hot, and lots of complex fruit character (is that raisin? Prune? No wait, fig?).

Saturday was the competition, and we worked up a hunger judging a bunch of homebrews. We're both big fans of traditional Neapolitan pizza, but it's unfortunately relatively hard to find in most parts of the country. The Good Pie in St Louis brings the style to the Midwest, and with competence.

We arrived around 7pm, made a bee-line for the bar, and ordered the cured meat plate and a couple of beers. The plate came with a good assortment of prosciutto, salami, pancetta, and a couple other items I can't recall. It was served with a piece of olive-oil-brushed pizza crust which was a wonderfully thin, charred, crispy-chewy authentic Neapolitan crust. I'm talking "baked in a wood oven at 900 degrees Fahrenheit for less than two minutes" kind of awesome.

I washed that down with the O'Fallon Wee Heavy that I thoroughly enjoyed, but I wish I'd at least taken a few notes as I don't really remember the specific qualities of the beer (hey, it was a long day). Our main dish was the Pizza Napoli: anchovies, mozzarella, chili, and basil. Simple, fresh, and delicious. It was my first pizza I've ever had with anchovies, and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it - and I would definitely recommend it, even if you're hesitant about fish on pizza. While the tap and bottle lists aren't extensive and their website's out of date, what's on is very thoughtful and current. And if you're dying to know what they do have, it looks like they frequently tweet tap announcements.

We crossed the street to Buffalo Brewing, where we enjoyed very good versions of a double IPA and a sweet stout. Incidentally, the sweet stout was the gold-medal winner of a GBS chili-cookoff competition - thereby earning the right to be brewed & served at Buffalo. Way to support local home brewers, Buffalo! These guys are kind of in a strange location for a brewpub, as there are a few night clubs immediately near by and - as a result - lots of people in fancy clubber garb standing alongside red velvet ropes. Despite that, I recommend checking this place out if you're ever in STL. Every time we've gone, we've had good beer and the staff is always friendly.

We then we took the car back to our hotel before heading off to Schlafly's taproom to close the night. Schlafly was great, as always, and I've written about them before so I won't go into it again here. I sure do love their Kölsch, though, and always enjoy having it on tap.

The next morning, we enjoyed a wonderful brunch at Bridge, another fine beer establishment in St Louis. Owned by David Bailey, who also owns Bailey's Chocolate Bar and Rooster, Bridge offers over 45 craft beers on tap and over 100 from a bottle. What I really liked about Bridge was that they offered any tap beer in a 4oz glass. It's a perfect size for getting a full impression of a beer without growing tired of it - alternately, it provides a great way to sample a handful of strong beers without getting completely wasted.

As for food, we stuffed ourselves silly. We ordered smoked paprika popcorn (good, but not amazing) and a plate of mixed house pickles to start. The pickled grapes were a lot of fun and I was surprised when our bartender said some people get pissed that they include them. We also ordered a board of roasted duck breast on focaccia with cassis conserve as well as a small side of salt & vinegar potato salad. The board of duck breast was HUGE (8 pieces I think) and we didn't finish it, but it was wonderful. The potato salad was neither as salty or vinegary as I expected, which led to a bit of disappointment. I was expecting something like salt & vinegar chips (which I adore), but it was more like cold German potato salad that needed more salt.

Finally, for our main and final course, we ordered a plate of mixed cheese with more focaccia: Methusela from Heartland Creamery, Comté Marcel Petite, and Rogue Creamery Smoked Blue (which turned out to be their regular Oregon Blue, not the smoked-over-hazelnut-shells variety. Bummer.).

Overall, we had a great time in St Louis and no doubt brought home a few thousand well-earned calories to boot. Regardless, I look forward to our next trip out there to explore more of the city's beer destinations. New places seem to be popping up pretty frequently and the craft beer scene is really taking off.

And so this post ends with a nod to St Louis Craft Beer Week. After our last visit, we look forward to yet another one of our own St Louis Craft Beer Weekends.

Juniper and Gin - For the Win!

2010-04-23T19:07:00.003-05:00

Continuing the barrel-aging trend of late, Rogue introduced its John John series earlier this year, starting with John John Dead Guy - Dead Guy Ale aged in Dead Guy Whiskey barrels.

The series is so-named after its master brewer, John Maier, and master distiller, John Couchot. This week, the Oregon-based brewery released the next in the series, John John Juniper. I've been excited about this one for a few reasons:

Rogue's Juniper Ale was my favorite beer for over a year back around 2006ish and I never tired of it. It's still one of my Rogue favorites.
Rogue's Spruce Gin is one of the smoothest, most balanced and enjoyable gins I've ever had. And I've tried a lot of gins.
Gin isn't typically aged in barrels, so they soaked the barrels with their gin with the explicit purpose of making this beer. Now there's a Rogue concept.

It was released this week and should start to appear where Rogue is distributed, including the KC metro area. Unfortunately, the John John series has been somewhat hard to find locally, but I'm starting to see it around. We picked up a bottle of John John Dead Guy at the 23rd St Cork & Barrel in Lawrence back in February or so, and I believe Lukas Liquor and Gomer's in Lenexa now carry it.

Keep your eyes peeled this September for the final beer in this series: Hazelnut Brown Nectar aged in Hazelnut Spiced Rum barrels. I fail to see how that can turn out any way other than delicious. As an aside, it appears Rogue Spirits are no longer distributed to this area (not that they were widely available to begin with). Harry's Country Club was the only place I knew of that even sold any, and Harry himself said the distributor no longer carries Rogue. Bummer.

I wrote this blog post yesterday, with the intention of stopping by Royal Liquor on the way home from work today to see if any John Johns were in stock. Though I had no luck there, I checked out the gin selection and much to my surprise, there was a barrel-aged gin - from Oregon! I had no idea anyone barrel-aged gins and I was absolutely stunned at the timing. I bought that bottle of Ransom Old Tom, sweet & dry vermouths, and made myself a perfect martini* when I got home. If you're a gin drinker, this is a phenomenal gin that is sweeter and more herbal than its non-barreled counterparts (think Ricola). You could almost drink it on the rocks, nothing else with it. It's pricey at $39.99 per bottle, but absolutely worth it.

* Perfect Martini:
2.5 oz gin
.5 oz sweet vermouth
.5 oz dry vermouth
2 dashes orange bitters
Shake with ice, strain into martini glass. Sip, repeat.

Time to Get Out and Drink some Beer

2010-04-20T15:01:00.005-05:00

I'll keep this short & sweet. Get your calendars out.

April 24 - Parkville Microbrew Festival
... As if I need to tell you about this one.
What I love about this in particular is that people from the attending breweries are there. It sure is nice to talk to them about the beer they've brought as well as what they're experimenting with, and is a big reason I like to go to this. The weather's supposed to be stormy - bring your umbrella.

May 1 - National Homebrew Day
Interested in seeing how home brewing works? Check out a National Homebrew Day location. As far as I know, ZZHops, KC BierMeisters, and Lawrence Brewers Guild are all hosting brew days. I'd contact them directly for details, as their websites don't contain a lot of information. Additionally, the BierMeisters will have a couple of homebrews in the works at the Parkville Microbrew festival.

May 2 - Flying Saucer 2nd Anniversary
The KC Craft Beer Examiner has a nice summary of it there so check it out. Flying Saucer's general manager also started an informational thread over on Beer Advocate.

May 4 - Bell's Brewery Dinner at Foundry
Food pairings served with Bell's Sparkling, Oberon, Two Hearted on Cask, and three stouts: Expedition, Cherry, and Java. Reservations required - of course.

May 6 - Royal Liquor Beer Tasting
Over 75 beers available to try, with discounts on purchased beers.
At Royal Liquor on State Line.

May 22 - KC Bierfest
This thing's a month away and they still have 2009's beers listed... hopefully that will be updated soon. Also note it's now in Westport. Maybe this year the new location will help avoid fights and general douchebaggery, but I won't hold my breath.

Apr 24 - May 3 - St Louis Craft Beer Week
Yeah, I know it's not local. But if you feel inspired to make your way out there, many of the events look worthwhile.

Prost!

Swapping out the Goose that Lays the Golden Eggs

2010-04-16T11:48:00.003-05:00

Goose Island has been full of news lately. First, news that they're killing distribution of their Nut Brown & Oatmeal Stout. While I think both of those are good beers, I can't think of the last time I had either of them. I think Bell's Best Brown is a better option for an English Brown Ale (though is only available seasonally), but also quite enjoy Samuel Smith's Nut Brown as well. Regardless, I was initially surprised to see the brewery put an end to the distribution of beers that provide 40% of its year-round selection. But with such a heavy focus now by beer enthusiasts on limited and seasonal releases, it makes sense to focus on more lucrative and marketable products.

Additionally, Goose Island explained on Facebook that "in the competition for fermentation capacity, tap handles, and shelf space, Nut Brown and Oatmeal Stout have been disadvantaged by the increasing popularity of hoppy, wheat, sour, and barrel aged beer styles. We are grateful for the few loyal aficionados who have enjoyed our old friends until the end. To you, we can offer only assurance that the Goose Island brewpubs will continue to brew regular batches of both beers and offer them by the pint and by the growler to enjoy at home."

Presumably, that means we'll be on the lookout for more beers from Goose Island like Sofie, Bourbon County Stout (and its derivatives), and their newest release, Fleur: “A Belgian style pale ale blended with hibiscus and kombucha tea, Fleur is a beautiful, rose-colored ale with an aroma of strawberries and hibiscus flowers. Her flavor balance starts with a hint of sweet, ripe, berry and finishes tart.”

If you're interested in the evolution of Goose Island, you may want to attend Barleys' next Beer School this coming Monday (April 19th) at 6pm. It'll be held at the Overland Park location and costs $8 per person. To get your tickets, call 913-663-4099.

On the Road: Des Moines

2010-04-16T00:03:00.006-05:00

2010 has been the first year of multiple competitions for the Wort Hogs. We started off by entering the Upper Mississippi Mashout, then participating in the KC Bier Meisters annual competition by submitting entries and judging. Last month we headed up to Des Moines to help judge at the IBU Open, and we spent this past weekend in O'Fallon and St Louis to judge at the Garage Brewers Society's first annual Champion of the Pint. On that trip, we not only brought back our 14th medal of the year, we heralded passing 190,000 miles on our odometer. I'm looking forward to passing the 200,000 mark toward the end of the year after driving to the National Homebrewers Conference as well as several more competitions in the fall. I've had an incredible time so far at all the homebrew competitions and our corresponding travels, so I thought I'd make a few posts out of our journeys ... First up: Des Moines.

We were there over the weekend of March 13th, arriving Friday evening after work. We made it a point to hit up a couple of brewpubs, Raccoon River and Court Ave Brewing, as well as a couple of beer bars. Both brewpubs had great beer, and I recommend stopping by both if time allows.

We first hit up Raccoon River and ordered their sampler paddle, which included your standard lineup of an IPA, a red, light ale, brown, stout, a seasonal (porter, I think) - and something I've never had before: a vanilla cream ale. I really enjoyed the beer on my first two sips, but after a while the amount of vanilla extract in the beer wore on me. It was pretty thin in body and lower in carbonation than I would have preferred. I think it'd be quite good on a really hot day with a splash of orange juice and higher carbonation.

We trekked a half mile east to Court Avenue Brewing Company (and by "trekked" I mean "drove"). Mr Wort Hog ordered their Templeton Rye-aged rye ale and I, without realizing how much beer I would end up getting, ordered the massive sampler tray. I did indeed try ALL of their standard lineup (the cask ale and cider were not part of the sampler), and the German Hefeweizen was my favorite. The IPA, really a Pale Ale, was a close 2nd. I have to say, though, that their 21st Amendment ale was amazing. It's a completely different beer from Boulevard's Rye-on-Rye but every bit as delicious. Toffee and vanilla abounded, balanced by a mild spicy bitterness. But mostly toffee. It's a year-round offering now, so I highly recommend your next trip to the D.M. include Court Ave and a glass of this beer.

In the same area of Court Ave Brewing is Royal Mile, a British pub with a decent tap list. Upstairs it houses Red Monk, a Belgian beer bar with a spectacular selection of Belgian beers. We didn't stay long, as it'd been a long day already and we had a long day of judging ahead of us. However, I did get a very spritzy Belgian ale that took about 15 minutes to settle to the point of being drinkable. It came in a green bottle with a green label that had cursive writing and even a special cap to manage the amount of pressure in the bottle. I wish I'd written down the name (it was long and, well, in French), as it was very delicious but hard to drink. I suppose it's a good beer for the calorie-conscious, as it takes forever to consume. By the time your friends are finishing off their 2nd beer, you'll be halfway through this one. I

Our trip wouldn't have been complete without visiting El Bait Shop before getting out of town. There's an impressive number of Rogue beers available there (25 in all, if I'm counting accurately from their Flying-Saucer-like menu), so if you're a Rogue fan you don't want to miss it. The Wort Hogs first laid eyes on each other at a Rogue Public House (and spent many subsequent hours there), so we definitely have an attachment to the brewery... other than the fact that it makes excellent beer.

The atmosphere was laid back and friendly as well, though extremely crowded and louder than any place I think I've been to that wasn't playing live music. The volume in that place was insane, so either avoid the place on Friday & Saturday nights or learn sign language so you can have a conversation. For posterity, check out this video on YouTube showing their taps. Check your speaker volume first.

I would have liked to stop by the Hessen Haus, as it has an impressive list of German beers available, both on tap and in the bottle. It was highly recommended by our Des Moines friends but after a long day of judging and drinking, I was ready to hop in the cab and head back to the hotel room.

Overall, I was impressed by the number and quality of beer hangouts in Des Moines. I'm sure there are others in town as well, but these were the top spots we were recommended by the local homebrewers - and their named spots did not disappoint by any stretch of the imagination. Next time you're in Des Moines, any of these places should satisfy your craving for quality craft beer.