History Lesson: William S. Newman Brewing Company

A week away from my thirtieth birthday, I received an early birthday present from my dad - a package that included a card, some beer money, and three books. One of the books? The Simon and Schuster Pocket Guide To Beer, by Michael Jackson. Published in 1991, it's an interesting read - it's a guide to the different types of beer - which is invaluable in and of itself - as well as a tour of the beer world as it was 16 years ago. It's interesting how things have changed.

I was paging through the "United States" section, which was divided into sections. As of this writing, there were a scant 41 brewpubs, microbreweries, and major brewers from Washington, DC to Maine. Wow. How far we have come!

Of more interest, though was the entry under "Newman." It reads, "The first micro-brewery in the East, at Albany, New York, was ahead of its time and paid the price. Albany Amber Beer, a fruity lager/ale hybrid with some hop bitterness, is now produced under contract at F.X. Matt."

Interesting! The first microbrewery in the East was in Albany? I wanted to know more. So, it was off to Google!

Here's what I found out: the William S. Newman Brewing Company, named after master brewer Bill Newman, was founded in 1981. Newman apparently learned his craft in England and brought brewing to, well, downtown Albany, at 84 Chestnut Street - about a block away from Empire State Plaza. Aside from the aforementioned "Albany Amber," he brewed a Pale Ale.

It was the first microbrewery east of Colorado, apparently. Among those working there? Jim Koch, who would later go on to found the little-known Samuel Adams in Boston. Of Newman, Jim notes:

These little microbreweries were starting up and that really got my interest. I actually worked in Bill Newman's brewery in Albany. He was the first guy who started a microbrewery east of Boulder. I came away thinking, OK, the idea is right. I knew that it was possible to make world-class beer here in the United States.

Additionally, Newman Brewing apparently anticipated the trend of serving beer in growlers. In the early 1980s, according to this BeerAdvocate.com article, "Newman Brewing in Albany, NY used to sell soft plastic gallon containers of their beer. Apparently if you brought the empty back to the brewery, they'd replenish it with more beer." Growlers didn't make the scene until 1989.

Newman Brewing was pretty prominent. How so? It was profiled in this July 1983 article in Time Magazine, during which Newman claimed $130,000 in sales in 1982. Not too shabby at all. It was also profiled in Atlantic Monthly in November, 1987. (Grateful thanks to the kindred souls at A Good Beer Blog for preserving that through transcription.)

What happened to the William S. Newman Brewery? As articles like this recent one from the Albany Times-Union note, it went out of business. But when? I'm not sure.

As best as we can can figure, it departed the Albany scene around 1989-1990 or so, well before I moved up here. I'd be interested to know about the demise of the Newman Brewery, as well as what - if anything - Bill Newman is doing these days. (If you know more, use the comments section - thanks!)

At the end of the day, there's an interesting irony at hand - that Albany, which really isn't much of a beer town, actually played a pivotal role in the microbrewery movement. Fascinating stuff.

The Shifty Fifty - An Endurance Test, Part 1

It seems a universal truth for the average beer drinker that we have all been more or less forced into drinking beer when we didn't want to. This tends to be a somewhat common thread throughout college, where beer tends to become not only a vehicle for intoxication, but also a sort of recreational activity in and of itself.

Long and many have been the hours -- for nearly any of us who have graduated to what we like to call "good beer" -- that we have had to trudge through so many delivery methods of bad beer: Power hours, keg stands, beer pong, flip cup, funnels, shotguns, three-man, drinking games, card games, board games, dares, double dares, the physical challenge.

It's a miracle, given the amount of morning-after agony these games have given us, that we ever continued to drink beer. Certainly, after a particularly sadistic number of waterfalls in some round of "Kings," even the heartiest drinkers would understand if we had given up on the fizzy yellow stuff for good. And yet here we all are.

And with this caveman-like philistinism seemingly behind us, we had assumed that the task of trudging through unwanted beers was likely a thing of the past, that the barbarism of forced alcohol intake was a mercifully distant memory. This was, however, before we discovered the Shifty Fifty.

Shifty's is a semi-charming, quasi-townie bar (plus a few bikers here or there) on Burnet Ave at the edges of the Eastwood section of Syracuse, New York. We have been going there on and off for the better part of 7 years, and our experiences have been ... shall we say, inconsistent. (For whatever it's worth, at least 4 of the bloggers who write on this here site spent the last "normal" evening of our lives there, watching a Monday Night Football game on September 10, 2001.)

We recently discovered that the bar was doing a promotion called the "Shifty Fifty," in which patrons are assigned a number and a light blue card with 50 beers listed on it. When you finish all 50 beers, you receive some sort of prize, but more importantly, you receive the self-esteem of having accomplished a task. Nay, a challenge.

Fellow scribe Willie Moe and yours truly signed up for this little experiment several months ago, and decided to chip away at it over several months, hoping to finish the 50 beers within a year's time. It didn't seem like that much of a challenge. Fifty great beers, and we get a t-shirt or something at the end of the mission. It's better than running a marathon or getting your PhD, right?

We didn't foresee a couple of challenges, from an encounter with a strange (seemingly crack-addicted but not homeless) man who asked us to buy him beer several times even though I gave him a $5 bill, to some struggles with the Gimli-esque barkeep. But little did we know that perhaps the greatest struggle we would face would end up being those fifty beers themselves.

Shifty's likes to consider this fledgling promotion a sort of "beer tour around the world," where you can sample 43 bottles and 7 drafts of all different styles of beer. This is a fine idea, however, they may have forgotten to take into consideration that many of the "fine" beers from around the world, while celebrated in their own native countries, run the gamut from mediocre to pure and utter crap.

By this beergeek's calculations, there are actually 31 quote-unquote "drinkable" beers (62%), or beers that we would order without a list forcing us at hole-punch. Peruse the lists below. [Note: This is, of course, my own opinion. What may be drinkable to me, might not be drinkable to others, and vice-versa. If I trash your favorite beer here, please don't take offense. Holes punched to the left of the name of the beers in the pictures below indicate they have been "crossed off" the list.]

The front page is promising. Perhaps Spaten aside, the drafts are all safe, competent picks -- with the exception of the superior Middle Ages ImPaled Ale. Of the bottled beers on the front page, only the Carlsberg and the Dos Equis Amber are beers we would thumb our noses at in regular circumstance. (Notice we knocked those two out pretty early.) So far, so good, we'd say.

The top of the reverse side is where the rubber really meets the road. Though there are a healthy number of fine offerings (the two Ithaca brews, the two Magic Hat selections, the Cooperstown Nine Man/Old Slugger tandem), the majority of these beers were not ones for which we would plop down money in a normal situation. Some, admittedly, we hadn't tried, yet we somehow had a feeling about. (Pacifico? Grolsch? Dos Equis Special?) It was this top half that would test our mettle in this enterprise.

On the second half of the reverse side, it appeared our luck changed for the better, with a couple of old stand-bys (Sam Adams, Saranac, Sierra Nevada) and a couple of our favorites (Stone Smoked Porter, Southern Tier IPA/Phin & Matt's Extraordinary Ale).

You may notice that we have been efforting to save the best for last. By my calculations, there are actually only three beers remaining that we "have to try." It's much like when the cable company only gives you certain channels you want if you order them with some sort of multi-channel package. The three mandatory beers we have left are Dos Equis Special, Pilsner Urquell, and St. Pauli Girl. After that, we are looking at a flavor feast. At press time we have completed 28 of the beers available in this endeavor, and will provide you with part 2 when we have completed the job. Wish us luck.

Until then, some random notes and glib ratings on the "questionable" (and sometimes suprising) selections we were forced into:

Whitbread Pale Ale: Heavy yeast flavor (sure it isn't "White Bread" ale? oh ho ho!), the yeast overshadows all other flavors. There is some pale malt. It mellows out a bit as it warms. It's fizzy and bubbly. B-

Brooklyn Summer Ale: Smells very wheaty with orange and a hint of lemon. Nice yeast and wheat combo. Light and a bit fizzy. The wheat/orange combo is predominant. Refreshing. Thickens up as it warms. B+

Tsing Tao: Corn/rice with a slightly thick feel. Tiny hint os orange peel. Leaves a thick film. Almost a weak witbier since the wheat is what comes out most. C+

Sierra Nevada Porter: Very dark, great head. Smells sweet. Light coffee flavor, balanced nicely with the sweetness. Really balanced and great. A really superb porter. A-

Peroni: The only smell is rice and corn. Italians should stick to surrendering and stop brewing. Very average. Tiny bit creamy. Not very good. C

Carlsberg: Actually a nice head and some good lace. Looks good, tastes bland. Very not good. C-

San Miguel: Straw yellow. Smells very bland, tiny hint of orange. Interesting. Unusually creamy. Almost has a honey flavor. Cloying sweetness with every sip. Molasses? Kind of a taffy pull. C+

Lowenbrau Original: Bland yellow color; dull and clear. Mild wheaty sweetness in the otherwise dull malt taste. Kinda smooth, relatively speaking. Actually not awful. Subpar?: yes, but not awful. The wheaty taste counteracts the sharp bitterness. C+

Sam Adams Boston Ale: This is actually a seriously refreshing change from the fizzy yellow stuff I've been downing. What strikes me here is how smooth and butterscotchy it actually is. Decent. B-

Old Speckled Hen: Decent golden look with some surprisingly decent head. Great lace. Maybe because of the clear bottle, but it's somewhat skunked. Pale lager-flavored malt. I have to blame the distributor for still transporting this in clear bottles. Surprisingly, there is a buttery smooth feel. C+

Negra Modelo: The color is light and clear brown. Not much smell at all. Tastes like a brown, somewhat watery. Not terrible, but again, subpar. A little roasted malty film. C+

Southern Tier - Phin and Matt's Extraordinary Ale: Fantastic, lovely hop smell. Slight chlorine aroma, but hops cover it. Grapefruity citrus taste, sweet, love it. Sweet ultra pale, lots of hops. B+

ECP Approved - Slick's

Once, many Genny's ago, a man asked me to show him "The Best of Schenectady". While I won't say who that man is, I will say he resembled Brad Pitt, and he liked beer (above is an artist's rendering of said event).

So what was a Schenectadian to do? Where could he bring him so that this traveller could see the best of the Electric City? The answer was easy: Slick's Tavern.

Boasting giant sandwiches, a warm atmosphere, and friendly service, Slick's is the best bar in the electric city. Did I mention the beer? Over 40 bottle varieties, ranging from Otter Creek to Genny Cream. They also have a guest tap that rotates regularly, and second tap that presently features Molson. The latter tap has also featured the likes of Matt's, Rhiengold, and Pabst. A better variety has not been found in the Electric City.

But don't just take ECP's word for it. A recent review of Slick's stated:

"Slick's is a place for men. Real, hard-working men looking for a real meal and real value. And that's what they get."

Sounds like the readers of certain beer blog, no?

So I urge you, come visit the Electric City, and see the Best we have to offer. You can't go wrong...It's ECP approved!

Quick Take: Blue Moon Honey Moon Summer Ale

When one thinks of microbreweries, they might think of Blue Moon. Then again, they might not. It depends on how much you know about beer, I suppose. For the unitiated, Blue Moon has quickly become a brand name for unfiltered wheat beer served at a wide variety of bars with a dainty little slice of orange as a garnish. For the initiated, Blue Moon is the demon spawn of Coors, unleashed to distract attention away from true craft breweries.

I tend to fall somewhere between the two; I can remember trying a Blue Moon somewhere between 1997 or 98 and enjoying it because it was different from my normal, ice-beer swill, but in the last couple of years, I've learned that I can do better with regards to Belgians and wheat beers.

That being said, today, circumstances (a visit to Lionheart in downtown Albany on $2 Tuesday) led to me trying a new variety of Blue Moon: their so-called Honey Moon Summer Ale.

The verdict: disappointing. One of the things I like about Blue Moon is the unfiltered wheat taste; I have a great affinity for unfiltered wheat beers. However, the Honey Moon is a filtered beer. The wheat taste is there, but the generally light coloring (it resembles a light pilsener in color more than anything else) and taste leads me to believe that the presence of wheat in the beer has been somewhat diminished. The website claims it uses malted white wheat, but it doesn't have a great effect in the beer. The honey in question is interesting; it's definitely clover honey as opposed to a more refined honey, but it really doesn't add much to the beer beyond an initial taste.

It's drinkable, that's for sure; but it's not the kind of beer I'd have more than one of. Ultimately, you can do better.

Beer in Mind: UBER SUN

In a new segment for Beerjanglin' I am gonna bring our readers, of which there are dozens, DOZENS, a look at some new or newer brews. Mostly ones I'd like to wet my palate with. Today we're taking a look at the Southern Tier Imperial Summer Wheat, The Uber Sun.

"It is through the movement of the universe that life presents itself in transformation. It is in this spirit that we make UberSun, a tribute to the dynamic energy of summer."

Basically this is an Imperial Hop Sun, and I think we all know there ain't a thing wrong with that! Made with a combo of 2-row pale malt, wheat malt, and some fine centennial hops...

"The alignment of wheat and barley through this hop-infused brew embodies the solar system itself.....This may be a difficult task, but one our brewers revel in! They brew a galaxy of taste into every batch. Uber Sun is the ultimate experience that will challenge you with every sip."

The Hop Sun, while not our favorite Southern Tier offering, is surely a solid brew, and with 8% ABV, the Uber Sun looks to be another winner, in our books. The early reviews of this are very good, scoring an average 4.23 (out of 5) on Beer Advocate. We, for one, cannot wait to get our hands on what promises to be a little slice of "Hop Heaven!"

"Uber Sun is clean and full of flavor, but don't pull an Icarus-this is one big beer! Pour a glass or drink straight from the bottle, it's meant to be consumed wisely with friends between summer solstice and autumnal equinox."- Southern Tier

Bottoms Up!
-Willie 3:16

Craft Beer Continues Upward and Outward Trend

"As sales of craft beers -- mostly local and regional smaller-batch brews -- continue to soar amid an otherwise sluggish U.S. beer market, arrivals of well-known but previously unavailable beers are becoming significant events. And craft brewers and retailers are going to greater lengths to stoke them."

In this article from Advertising Age, we learn that craft beer sales continue their impressive growth, up 18% in dollar sales in supermarkets in 2006, compared to 2.4% for beer overall. Likely as a result of this figure, supermarkets are stocking 20% more craft-beer products than a year ago. This strikes us an important sign, as the vast majority of beer drinkers are purchasing theirs at supermarkets along with the weekly groceries, not in specialty stores. Small steps to be sure, but important ones. Additionally, the launch of Colorado's New Belgium Fat Tire Amber in Minneapolis is compared to the hysteria surrounding the introduction of Apple's iPhone, Shiner Bock has a successful launch in Chicago thanks in part to viral marketing to displaced Texans, and craft beer's surging popularity is likened to that of Coor's in the 70's! It seems like more than a few things are happening in the Midwest. Sure, we've now given you the Cliffs Notes version, but the story is still a solid read (and not too long, ADD boy). Check it out.

Sierra Nevada Anniversary Ale?

Quick note:

I was reading BeerAdvocate this evening (okay fine, well into the night) hoping to get some information about Sierra Nevada Harvest Ale, which may have been the greatest pint of beer I have ever had. I tend to mention the Sierra Harvest with the frequency that Walter Sobchak might mention Vietnam.

Anyway, I came across some news that Sierra is going to be releasing a new brew this month called Sierra Nevada Anniversary Ale. It will be a one-time release.

Other than the hop type (I believe the Harvest used Simcoe hops, whereas the Anniversary uses Cascade hops) and perhaps some of that caramel business, this seems to be extremely similar to the Harvest Ale. They have completely different ABV %s (Harvest=6.20%, Anniversary=5.90%) so I'm under no illusion that they are the same beer, but has anyone heard about this?

Here is how BeerAdvocate describes it:

Brewed to celebrate 27 years of the pioneering of the craft beer movement, this beer is an American Style IPA with a distinct Sierra Nevada twist; a generous amount of Cascade hops to produce a big fragrant pine and citrus hop aroma, which is balanced by the sweetness of two row pale and caramel malt, and finished with additional Cascade dry-hopping for good measure. Anniversary Ale is a medium-bodied, well-hopped ale that finishes with a slight malt sweetness. Released August 2007.

If you have any information on this brew (since Sierra's website is surprisingly closed-lipped), please leave a comment. Or you can email us at beerjanglin@gmail.com. More importantly, does anyone know whether the Harvest Ale will be released? And when? And where? And how far would I be willing to drive to have some? (Answer: Schenectady, at least.) Developing...

Beer o' The Moment: Stone Ruination IPA

Stone is one of the best breweries going, in this fair nation. Now unfortunately I have not had the means to get to Stone, which, alas, lies on the complete other side of the country, in the sunny California. Now if you live out west, especially in the southern California area, you should really take a trip to the Stone Brewery. Now if you are like myself, and getting there is not quite as feasible, you can, and should, check out their website. Stone has many happenings going on from Beer and Book Night to Mike's Beer Cheese Night (Harpoon's not the only one mixing cheese and beer) to movie night (Blazing Saddles is the next late night movie). Needless to say, it doesn't take long to see that the folks at Stone know what they're doing.

In fact they even manage to brew a few good beers here and there, one of them being the BOTM: Ruination. I happened upon the Ruination, at one of my favorite haunts, Clark's Ale House. The Ruination is a hophead's dream come true. Here's how the fellas at Stone describe this bad boy:

So named for it's "ruinous" effect on your palate! This massive hop monster has a wonderfully delicious and intensely bitter flavor on a refreshing malt base. One taste and you can easily see why we call this brew, "a liquid poem to the glory of the hop!" Those who seek, crave and rejoice in beers with big, bold, bitter character will find true nirvana in Stone Ruination IPA.


Couldn't put it better myself. The Ruination pours a beautiful amber with very little head. Although filled with hoppy goodness, the piney, hoppy smell is not more subtle than you may think, as it emanates from your glass. But once you dive it's like a taste bonanza! Whatever the heck that means? You can taste the hop and piney goodness, but there is a good flavor balance going on. The bitterness is poweful, but it doesn't "ruin" this baby from going down smooth. Maybe even smoother than other beers of the same nature. This is probably, without a doubt, the best IPA I've ever had. The guys at Stone sure do know their way around a fermenter. On my scale of swill to liquid awesome this rates a............LIQUID AWESOME!


Bottoms Up!
-Willie 3:16

Harpoon IPA Cheddar Cheese

Pairing craft beer with food has become almost de rigueur. Some of the foremost advocates of beer are predicting that it will be undergo a revolution similar to the one that transformed wine a few decades ago. No less an authority than Brooklyn brewmaster Garrett Oliver says "beer is a far better accompaniment to cheese," and compares matching beer with cheese to a "hug" while calling wine and cheese pairings a mere "handshake." If you're scoring at home, craft beer (1.) is in the midst of a revolution, (2.) pairs nicely with food, and (3.) may go better with cheese than wine does. But how about a cheese made with beer?


Two fine Vermont companies, Harpoon Brewery (they purchased the former Catamount Brewery in Windsor in 2000, in addition to their original Boston location) and Cabot Creamery, headquartered in Montpelier, have combined forces to help us answer this important question. We've long thought of Cabot in connection with beer (even before it became cool) because there is a Cabot production facility located right next to the Otter Creek brewery in Middlebury, VT. Cabot must feel pretty strongly about combining beer and cheese as well, as their web site has a page dedicated to comparing the similarities of their cheeses share with craft beers and some basic pairing suggestions. They even offer a Beer and Cheddar brochure! We especially enjoyed this bit:

Much like aging a premium cheese, or producing a fine wine, brewing a quality beer with a distinct personality is a craft unto itself. Today, there is no excuse for enduring bland, processed cheese or drinking mass-produced, watered-down beer. From rich dark stouts to refreshing pale ales, from spicy to fruity, smoky to herbal, somewhere out there is a brew for every taste and every occasion. To enhance the experience, Cabot offers a wide selection of tasty, all-natural cheeses to complement the new breed of American ales and lagers.

Amen!

The IPA cheddar acquitted itself nicely as part of a grilled ham and cheese panini (Black Forest ham, cheese, red onion, and our own blend of Whalen's spicy horseradish sauce combined with yellow mustard, on local Mastoriani Bros. multi-grain bread, which gets perfectly crispy on a panini press). Accompanied by a pint from a fresh growler of spicy Mendocino White Hawk IPA from Olde Saratoga brewery, it made for a better-than-decent quick meal.

A plate of sliced IPA cheddar and pretzel crisps paired quite nicely with a Cascazilla "Monstrously Hoppy" Red from Ithaca Beer Co. It's hard to screw up beer and cheese, and maybe it's just a mental thing, but this cheese does seem to go almost perfectly with a well-hopped beer. Harpoon IPA is not something that we typically keep on hand, but at some point we're going to have to try that pairing as well.

Harpoon IPA Cheddar is a bit spicier than the norm, presumably due to the flavouring process. The cheese is cut into blocks and then soaked in Harpoon IPA for 24 hours. It is then drained, packaged, and stored at 45º F for four weeks. In addition to the spiciness, it is quite creamy, and not overly sharp. We don't necessarily detect it, but Lady Bojangles swears it tastes a lot like beer. Overall, it's an excellent cheese, and fairly unique. It also makes one wonder - is this soaking beer in cheese thing something that we could try at home? It does sound fairly foolproof.

Cabot calls this effort their most innovative to date. You can read the press release here.

Midwestern Summer Beer Update

It's been a tough summer for any NYS beer lover transplanted to the Midwest. Fortunately for me, while I do enjoy a good beer, I've still got a lot of that junior high kid in me whose first full beer was the Piels he stole from his father's personal stash nearly 20-years ago. So it is that, now as I sit here gulping down Old Style's and cursing my shitty window unit A/C, I am once again reminded that as it was in the beginning, as it is now and as it always shall be, in some ways it's still all about the alcohol.

However, no amount of alcohol can really dull the trauma of the first summer Chicago has spent with no Bell's Oberon to refresh us and the even more perplexing vanishment of the Summit Hefeweizen from the Heartland, the best place to sit outdoors and drink an imperial pint on a Sunday Morning anywhere on the planet. Plus as our gas prices remain the highest in the country, it's made the regular beer excursions of past summers a lot harder to make this summers.

So take away Bell's and the Summit at the Heartland and field trips to New Glarus, Delafield or the Bent River, and what are you left with? Surprisingly, there is still a lot going on. The microbrew revolution has finally moved beyond the Hopleaf and has begun catching on all over the city.

And while it's still comical to walk into a bar and look up at the beer list on the chalkboards behind most bars and see things like "Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, California, Goose Island Honkers Ale, Chicago, Fat Tire, Colorado, Goose Island 312, Chicago, Miller Lite, Milwaukee..." It's still nice to notice the Rogue invasion in places like the Edgwater Tavern, the Allagash White at Kuma's Corner and the explosion of bars like Small Bar, a neighborhood place that specializes in good brews and Pub food. If only they could get their prices down under 7.50 a pint for a Spaten Hefe-Weizen.

Yes, the microbrew revolution is finally catching on here, and while it's nice to be a part of it, without Bell's, it's sort of like being introduced to the Grunge revolution in the Summer of 1994 when Candlebox ruled the airwaves and Kurt Cobain had left just recently enough for the whole world to still feel the void, A void I find myself filling more and more these days with the Goose Island 312 or the Summer Brew, the Candlebox brews of the microbrew scene.

So that's pretty much the way the beer scene has played out this summer in Chicago. Not a whole lot of excitement in terms of good beers, but still there is something to be said for the saturation of the market. As for me, I'm pretty much stuck up here in the Northeast Corner of the City where I am content to stick to sucking down my $3.50 Franziskaner Hefe-Weizzen imperial pints at Champions and the Bubble while I fantasize about the El Rojo Diablo at the Bullfrog Brewery in Williamsport, PA, the Bohemian Red at the Kraftbrau Brewery in Kalamazoo, MI, and of course a wonderful midsummer nights dream dancing with Oberon in the Beer garden @ bells. All of which are adventures that will be detailed on entries to come.

Quick Take: Magic Hat Kerouac

The folks at Magic Hat continue to frustrate us.

By all accounts, they are a class operation that really does a great job of not only marketing their product -- their Vermont-based beers are all over Central New York -- but also remaining interactive with their "fans," getting them to vote on beers, come up with names, and decide which batches should stay and which should go. They seem to be true advocates of the craft of brewing.



Additionally, they are constantly refining their product, turning over their product very efficiently for each season, and putting out new, sometimes experiemental beers. Some of them are fantastic (Roxy Rolles), and some of them didn't quite hit us the right way (Jinx).

But our main problem is that they don't always seem to make the most sound decisions when it comes to their beers. They market the hell out of their #9 (and rightfully so, given that it's probably the East Coast's number one "gateway beer" for non-beer drinkers), but it's impossible to find Roxy Rolles at this time of year.

Also, according to Wikipedia, they have discontinued brewing their decent Blind Faith IPA and pleasant Fat Angel pale ale. [Note: I won't mind this so much if they start pushing their Hi.P.A. a little harder and come out with a comparable pale ale.]

On a quick jaunt to Clark's Ale House recently, we noticed that Magic Hat was offering a brew of whose existence we had not been aware: Kerouac. (The beer is not mentioned on Magic Hat's website.) Since all the Magic Hat brews have a kind of hippie vibe, the name didn't really intrigue us as much as some of the other "tribute" beers we had tried in the past -- notably He'Brew's tribute to Lenny Bruce and Lagunitas's homage to Frank Zappa. (Besides, we read On the Road and it bored the shit out of us.)

We asked the barkeep what kind of brew this was, to which he replied "beet ale." Given the name of the beer, we had assumed that the bartender had meant "beat ale," as in the Beat Generation of Kerouac, Ginsburg, Burroughs, etc. Who would make a beer out of beets? But it soon became apparent that this brew was certainly not normal.

It pours a very bright red that looks more like some kind of juice that would come from an empty jar of cherries. It does not look like beer. It was at this point that we figured out that it truly was a "beet ale". The smell is almost non-existant; it is a very slight cherry (or we suppose beet) smell, but very slight. The rest of the smell is a bitter malt. The taste doesn't offer very much in the way of blowing our proverbial skirt up. There is that same bitter Bavarian malt taste that the smell foretold, but really not much else. It's almost like a winter ale, but without any of that tart sweetness whatsoever. And although the feel of the ale is a relatively welcome creamy viscosity, the drinking experience overall is simply dull. Ironically, because the beer is so bland and inoffensive, it's actually a pretty easy drinkin' brew. Still, Kerouac Beet Ale seems a long way to go for a pun.

We will always be rooting for Magic Hat, because we think it's got the right spirit for the beer-drinking public. Furthermore, we would rather have a brewery that takes risks and comes up with new and exciting batches, as opposed to those breweries that play it safe and dull. But this beet ale didn't quite get the job done.

Beer O' the Moment: Dogfish Head Festina Pèche

Dogfish Head is known for pushing the envelope when it comes to their beers, hence the motto, "Off-centered ales for off-centered people." There is Midas Touch Golden Elixer, originally called "the oldest known fermented beverage in the world," and formulated based on residue found in drinking vessels from the tomb of the real life King Midas, which supposedly dates to 700 B.C. Midas Touch was displaced in seniority with the introduction of Chateau Jiahu, a fermented beverage of rice, honey and fruit reconstructed from remnants in 9,000 year old pottery found in a Northern China province. 120 Minute IPA is a mind-blowing 20% ABV and 120 IBUs, and sells for roughly $10 per (450 calorie!) 12 oz. bottle.

Anyway, you get the picture; Dogfish Head is not afraid to push the envelope, or even to tear it wide open. It doesn't always work, but it ain't boring, either. We weren't all that enamored with their sour peach lambic offering, Festina Lente, at last July's Belgium comes to Cooperstown festival at Brewery Ommegang, but that doesn't a second peach-based beer, Festina Pèche, isn't worth a try.

Described on the label as a "Malt beverage brewed with peach concentrate," Festina Pèche is Dogfish Head's admittedly unique version of a Berliner Weisse, fermented with real peach juice. At 4.5% ABV, this is a bit stronger than is typical of this style, a real shock coming from these guys. It pours a pale straw yellow with a foamy white head that quickly disappears, leaving only a ring of lace around the edge of the Belgian-style chalice. The tart peach aroma is present, but not at all overpowering, as there are also hints of apple and wheat present. The taste is very sharp and sour, but with some dry sweetness coming through from the peach and malt. There is almost no hop presence detectable. This one is a very interesting drinker, definitely helped out by the strong sun overhead on a hot summer day. Though Berliner Weissebier is a low ABV style basically designed as an all day summer drinker, this version seems a bit too much to have more than a couple at a time. It did prove very quenching, and very different than most typical summer offerings, though. Did we mention that it is somewhat sour?

Dogfish Head compares Festina Pèche with Pinot Grigio, and recommends pairing it with chicken or fish, which sounds about right to us, as it definitely has a wine thing going on. Pick up a four pack during one of those unbearable dog days of August and see what you think. We promise you'll have a unique experience, at the very least.

What the brewer says:

A refreshing, neo-Berliner Weisse fermented with honest to goodness peaches to (get this!) 4.5% abv! Because extreme beers don't have to be extremely boozy! Available in 4-pack and draft during the sweaty months. Sadly, there are only two breweries left in Berlin still brewing the BerlinerWeisse style which is characterized by its intense tartness. There were once over 70 breweries in Berlin alone making this beer! In addition to fermentation with an ale yeast, Berliner Weisse is traditionally fermented with lactic cultures to produce its acidic or green apple-like character. It is delicately hopped with a pale straw color and served as an aperitif or summertime quencher. To soften the intense sourness, Berliner Weisse is traditionally served with a dash of essence of woodruff or raspberry syrup.

In our Festinal Peche since the natural peach sugars are eaten by the yeast, the fruit complexity is woven into both the aroma and the taste of the beer so there is no need to doctor it with woodruff or raspberry syrup - open and enjoy!

The C.H. Evans Brewing Company At The Albany Pump Station

Ive been in Albany for just over four years, and there's always been one place that I've found to be reliable for quality in food and drink: the C.H. Evans Brewing Company At The Albany Pump Station. Located in (naturally) an old Hudson River pump station in the near vicinity of Quackenbush Square in downtown Albany, the Pump Station (for short) has been my go-to in my adopted hometown for quite some time. It's been the place my parents come when they're in town, where I've met up with out-of-town friends, where I've had first dates, and where I've gone to unwind after a difficult day at the office. It's a very versatile bar and restaurant.

The menu at Pump Station is pretty solid. Recommended appetizers include a sizeable nacho platter, buffalo chicken tenders, tempura-battered calamari, or, in a wild-card, Thai peanut wings. If you're going to stay for a meal, you can choose from a variety of sandwiches (I'm partial to the Pump Station Burger, which is infused with their Kick-Ass Brown Ale – more on that later – and the Turkey Burger, which is satisfyingly spiced with sage and served with a cranberry mayonnaise), or you can order an entrée. We have yet to be let down by the food at the Pump Station after several years of semi-regular patronage.

Ultimately, the main attraction at Pump Station is the beer. The Evans family brewed beer in the Albany area for generations, peaking in popularity during the Wilson administration. Neil Evans, the proprietor of the Pump Station, has assumed the family name, and given what we’ve seen through the years, has re-established the Evans name in beermaking.

Some of the beers that are currently on tap and my thoughts on them:

• The aforementioned Kick-Ass Brown: A two time winner at the Great American Beer Festival (2000, 2002) for best American Brown Ale, this has been a consistent winner at the Pump Station. I can't think of a time when this hasn't been available. It's got a wonderful, deep-caramel color, and it features a nice blend of hoppiness and malt taste. It's the kind of beer that is deeply satisfying regardless of season.

• The Pump Station Pale Ale has not been as constant; in recent months, they've changed the formula (I think). It's more aggressively hoppy than it was in the past, and it's got a great lingering pine taste. I used to overlook this beer, but no more. It's moved to the front of the pack.

• The Quackenbush Blonde and the Scottish Light are two sides of the same coin; neither has any particularly distinguishing characteristics. They're drinking beers for the lumpenproletariat, which is not necessarily a bad thing – after all, the proprietors probably make more money from soccer moms on“wild nights out”than they do from a dude like me.

  

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• Currently, they're featuring the Evans Wit (a really nice unfiltered Belgian wheat beer with tastes of orange and coriander) and, curiously, a Smoked Hefeweizen (I've yet to try this, but color me intrigued). They're not currently featuring their normal Hefeweizen, but trust me, it's delightful – a touch lighter than the Evans Wit, if you would.

• Currently, the featured stout is the Evans Extra Stout, with tastes reminiscent of Cuban coffee and chocolate. This might be one of my favorite beverages in the area on a mid-winter's night, unless they're brewing their Imperial Stout – which they serve in a brandy-snifter and will warm even the most unreachable heart.

The ambience at the Pump Station is pretty great. The brewery equipment is omnipresent without being intrusive; given the overall-industrial feel of the place, it fits in quite nicely. It's simultaneously spacious and intimate; if you're going to go to Pump Station on a date-night, we highly recommend a spot in the back of the restaurant by the fireplace. It'll help. Trust me.

If you're in Albany, you gotta get to the Pump Station. Brown's Brewing Company, in Troy, might have the nice deck, and the Van Dyck, in Schenectady, might evoke the wistful sighs of 'what could have been,’but the Pump Station is the real deal, and delivers on all levels, every time. If only there were more places like it in the Capital Region.

Beer O' the Moment : QPC Edition - #4

Amazingly, Saratoga racing season starts tomorrow, and that means it's time to wrap up our Quixotic quest for the perfect canned beer to occupy our cooler on our day(s) with the ponies. Our fourth challenger is something of a wild card, Ballantine XXX Ale. Legend has it that Ballantine was quite the tasty pale ale in its day, though those days are now long since past. In its current incarnation, Ballantine is owned by Pabst (though the label reads Falstaff), which itself is really nothing more than a corporate entity with a veritable who's who of formerly big name beers in its stable, most of which are now contract brewed for them by Miller. Pabst's impressive line of beers (not linkable, but seriously, check out these names) and lack of actual breweries is probably worthy of a post in itself, but we'll concentrate on the beer in hand for now.

Ballantine was founded in Newark, New Jersey in 1840 by Scottish immigrant Peter Ballantine, who had previously worked at a brewery in Albany prior to relocating to be closer to the New York City beer market. By 1877, it was the fourth largest brewery in the United States, and the largest that produced exclusively ales. The company struggled a bit and was sold out of the Ballantine family following Prohibition, but by 1950 had become popular enough to rank number three among U.S. breweries. The decline was fairly swift after that, as the brand was acquired first by Falstaff, which in turn was acquired by Heilman, which was soon acquired by Pabst. Pabst closed their last actual brewery in 2001, but the beers remain.

The very now "America's Largest Selling Ale". From the can, it pours a pale golden straw colour, with a finger-thick head that quickly dissipates to faint ring canned version that we purchased comes in an eye catching bright green aluminum ensemble decorated with an ovular logo bearing the famous Ballantine XXX Ale name, along with the interlocking three ring symbol (purity, body, flavor) and this dubious phrase: around the edge of the glass. The scent is a not unpleasant cross between faint hops and faint skunk, with a bit of sweetness underneath. That sweetness carries through to the flavour. It tastes not unlike a Genny Cream to be honest, which is certainly not a bad thing. This one is available at popular prices, proved to be surprisingly drinkable, even somewhat enjoyable, and it would certainly not be out of the question to quaff a couple while watching incredibly expensive horses race around in circles only to finish in the wrong order.

Contender: Ballantine XXX Ale
Style: American Pale Ale (sorta)
ABV: 5.5%
Price: $3.99 for six 12 oz. cans
Verdict: Room for a couple in our cooler

Not to be Taken for Pomegranate!

Over this past weekend I, being the lover of a good wheat beer that I am, partook of a Saranac's newest seasonal offering their Pomegranate Wheat. Now, not being as in to the darker beers as the rest of the Beerjanglin' lot, summer is the perfect time for me. You see summer is the perfect time for wheats, and lighter fare, while your stouts, and dark whatnots take a bit of a back seat. Which means I am in hog heaven, folks! Drink it in! But back to the beer at hand, the Pomegranate Wheat. Now, I'd be lying if I said that my choice was not partially, or completely influenced by the bear with sungalsses juggling, what I would assume to be pomegranates, on the label. For you up and coming breweries out there, that's how you move product, juggling bears! I'd also like to see more monkeys on labels, but that's just my humble opinion. But there's a lot more to beer than the label. In my book, presentation counts for at least 41% of my overall rating, the other 74%, well that is what's behind the label! Now from the label it's on to the aroma, and this had a subtle, intriguing, and yet inviting aroma. I've never smelled a pomegranate before, but I envisioned myself sitting in a pomegranate orchard, soaking up the sun, without a care in the world, as I took in it's sweet smells. After letting it's delicious scent waft into my nostrils for a bit, I decided to go in! It was light, as are most wheats, with the pomegranate providing just enough red tint. Sitting there, with the sun refracting through it, it was just begging to be consumed, so who was I to argue? Down it went, smooth and refreshing! There was not a lot of lingering aftertaste, which I like and not an overpowering fruit flavor about it. The fruitiness is noticeable, but not so much as to make the guys out there feel unmanly. Now is this the best wheat beer I've ever had? No. But it is definitely the best pomegranate wheat I've ever had. I say that to say this. Saranac rarely let's me down and this time was no different, as this a welcome addition to there Beer of Summer lineup, great for picnics or BBQs, and a great way to break in some newcomers to the world of good beer. On my scale of "swill" to "liquid awesome", I give it a "more than pleasurable"!

Bottoms Up!

Landmark at the Grog Shoppe

The Landmark Beer Company is a small brewery based in Syracuse. Currently, all of there beer is brewed at Wagner Valley where we, coincidentally, happen to be heading later today. The Grog Shoppe, aside from being wonderfully named, is a bar and restaurant located on Erie Boulevard in Schenectady. They've always had a decent beer selection and some pretty fine burgers, but seemed to have lost some business and cut back on their late night hours over the past couple years as more popular watering holes have opened in the area. This morning, however, we discovered that the Grog Shoppe is featuring Landmark's Vanilla Bean Brown and doing quite well with it. How perfectly lovely! Perhaps we'll even get a chance to try the new Landmark IPA there. This will be explored further at our earliest opportunity.

Beer O' The Moment - Fisherman's IPA

Fellow hop-heads, take note.

After brief flirtations with English Ales and Ambers, we're back to our one true love: India Pale Ales. You know, the beers that those of us with masochistic tendencies like to drink to punish our tongues. The kind of beers that make the hottest hot sauces at BBQ rib-joints so much worse. The kind that require full glasses of water in between to mellow out the harshness of the bitter, bitter hops.

And we found a surprisingly good one.

The Cape Ann Brewing Company is a seemingly small brewery located in Gloucester, Massachussetts. They make 4 year-round brews (Kolsch, Amber Lager, IPA and Winter Lager) and two seasonals (Pumpkin Ale and Doppelbock), all under the name "Fisherman's". Their Fisherman's IPA was a nice little session India Pale we tried since we liked the label so much.


Cape Ann Brewing's website describes the Fisherman's IPA thusly:

64 IBU's , 5.5% ABV. Same exceptional quality 2 row barley as the [Fisherman's] Brew [amber lager], flavored with 6 exotic hops for a distinct hop character! Well balanced and very flavorful.

We couldn't put it better ourselves. But we'll try anyway.

First off, the look of this beer is damn near perfect. It pours a big, thick and chunky dark orange. It's cloudy like a glass of cider. It has a big, proud head that just hits the rim of the glass without spilling. (How does it always know?) It's beautiful to look at. Even the lacing is good. It's the ideal IPA, visually. It's so good I almost didn't want to drink it, but you can't drink your IPA and keep it too.

The aroma is a fantastic-smelling cavalcade of piney and bitter hops, with that fresh-smelling "wet-hop" aroma. (You hop-heads know what I'm talking about.) The pale malt aroma is a nice counter-accent. There is also a surprisingly pleasant oak flavor added for no apparent reason. Looks good, smells good. How about the most important thing?

The flavor is seriously bitter, woody hops. The pale malt base is the perfect balance. The hops are seriously, SERIOUSLY bitter, but yet they have a nice sweet finish that grants mercy upon our ravaged tongue. The hops are wet and oily, just the way we like 'em. And that bitterness dulls as it warms, so all the flavor is there, but less of the palate-abuse toward the end. It does leave a bitter film on the tongue.

It's full-bodied and thick, but also goes down smooth; a difficult balancing act. Now, we're not going to lie to you and say you'll be able to tangle with this bitter old sea merchant all night long, but it's perfect when you just want a blast of hops, but also want it balanced -- as opposed to some overloaded, Pine-Sol smelling, classically over-hopped Imperial IPA.

This Fisherman is a bitterness you should catch.

A Visit to Empire Brewing Company

If memory of five years' past serves, the subterranean environs on Walton Street occupied by the Empire Brewing Company are slightly more inviting on a typically snowy Syracuse evening in January than on a picturesque, blue skied July afternoon. Nevertheless, our schedule (and consummate journalistic dedication) dictated that this was the time for our long-awaited return. It took a few minutes to adjust from the bright sunlight of the street above to the considerably dimmer surroundings at the bottom of the stairs leading to the bar's entrance. At first, the overwhelming sensation was merely that of loud noise. Surprisingly for a Monday at just after noon, there was a live blues band playing, and they were plenty loud. As we became more comfortable in the surroundings, it became apparent that the band was merely a duo, and a pretty solid one at that. It also became clear that there was plenty to take in beyond the music. The wall that runs behind the bar is brick, with several glassed archways revealing the stainless steel and copper beer tanks in the busy brewing area. The rectangular, three sided bar is made of darkly polished wood with stools for fifteen or so lucky souls. We were seated in the dining room adjacent to the bar area, which contains a couple of booths and maybe a dozen tables. Handsome portraits of full pint glasses in varied settings decorate the walls and serve to whet the appetite, and a row of windows on the far end of the room give a worm's eye view of the sidewalk above. The Empire seemed to be doing a pretty healthy lunch time trade, mostly business types, and a couple of families with young children, though few seemed to be sampling the house specialties, given the hour. We laboured under no such teetotaling limitations, however, and ordered the sampler straight away. A minor complaint is that no proper beer list was provided, with a chalkboard affixed prominently on the wall of the dining room serving as our only clue as to what beers were available on draught, and no descriptions of those beers. There was no indication that any of the promised guest taps were available, although that was hardly of interest on this visit. The sampler consists of seven 4 oz. glasses, five regulars and two rotating seasonals (we could tell because the paper tray liner was pre-printed with this info) and is quite reasonably priced at $6. Full pints sell for $4.

Sampler:

1. Skinny Atlas Light - Light (shocker!) and easy to drink, but with a surprisingly pleasant sweetness and bite. Better than expected
2. Amber Ale - Supposedly their flagship, this was easily our least favourite. Not bad, but not very interesting either. None of the hoppiness that they claim. All the beers we tried seemed a bit thin, with this being the biggest offender. Just okay.
3. Pale Ale - Not a sharp hop flavour at all, but it improved as it warmed. A very enjoyable drinker.
4. Black Magic Stout - Creamy and smooth, but without much of the chocolate or coffee flavours that should have been more apparent. Again, a bit thinner than we'd like.
5. Downtown Brown - A little malty, a little sweet, plenty good. A very solid regular offering.
6. Hefe-Weizen (seasonal) - Beautiful, cloudy yellow colour, with a nice banana-y thing going on. Maybe the best of the lot, though the weather on this day certainly did not hurt.
7. Golden Ale (seasonal) - Likable enough, with a pleasant sweetness to it. Probably not the follow-the-sample-with-a-pint type, though.

Overall, the beers were very drinkable and well-made, but there was nothing of the "blow my skirt up" variety. Some of this might be attributable to the legend built up in our mind, some to waiting for more than a month past opening to be legally able to serve their beers. It was disappointing that the sampler did not include two of the more interesting sounding beers available, the Mightly Fine Barley Wine and Blueberry Wheat. A sampler should live up to its name and offer a tasting of every house beer available, pre-printed tray liners be damned. We are usually reluctant to judge a place based on one visit, and this place is even more of an exception than the norm. The beers were good and were guessing they'll only get better.

A definite bright spot is the eclectic menu and its popular prices. We were thrilled with our choice of the Andouille Po' Boy ($8), a deliciously spicy, grilled sausage topped with fried onion straws, hot mustard and smoked gouda. We also heard plenty of positives about the Angus Cheddar Burger ($7.50), Thai seasoned Turkey Burger ($8)and the seasoned fries. The menu also includes such intriguing selections as Fish Tacos ($7.50), Indonesian Beef Lettuce Wraps ($8), Catfish Burrito ($14), and, of course, the Empire's formerly famous Gumbo ($4). The food alone is reason enough for a return visit, even without the distinct possibility of great beer. With the ownership, brewing experience and history involved here, average beer is not a long term probability. We're planning another visit to the Empire soon, and judging by our working lunch companions' jealous looks at our sampler, we won't be the only ones.

What's Italian for Alcoholic Water?

Why that would be Peroni of course! Peroni is the lager brewed by, big surprise, Birra Peroni Brewing Company in Rome (although it was founded in Vigevano). Peroni is not distinctive in flavor, color or aroma. Now I went to the Peroni website, but found it was all in Italian! Go figure, right? Luckily I took two semesters of Italian in college, so I'm pretty sure I got the gist of it, and will translate for you, the loyal reader:

"Founded in the mid-19th century, Peroni is an age old Italian beer, filled with tradition, heritage, and water. Strained through dress socks and aged to perfection in a workboot, Peroni gives that essence of the old country. When the time is right, we keep on adding water till you can barely taste the alcohol. This also helps give Peroni it's brilliantly clear look. It has long been rumored that Peroni is actually the liquid inside levelling tools. This is not true. If it were people would continually be breaking levels to get at this sweet nectar, and we could not have that."

Now, of course it's been several years since I've cracked open an Italian book, so this is a loose translation, at best. The Peroni lager is about as good as Tsingtao, or Budweiser, which is to say it's not. Very good that is. Now, it has come to my attention that my review of Tsingtao, may have been a bit harsh, so I hope to give Peroni a little bit fairer review. This beer is only good for a hangover. It's basically what a Bud drinker would drink to make them look classy and international, which of course, they are not. It's thin in color, texture, aroma and, most of all, taste. Now the Peroni Brewing Company is best known for it's pilsner offering, Nastro Azzuro, so maybe the lager is not the best way to judge the brewery, but for now it's all we've got. And based on the Peroni lager, I implore Italians to stick to making pastas and sauces, which is a nice way of saying, "Stick to your day job, Italy!" Final rating: Drinkable if forced or if participating in an Italian beer pong tournament




Bottoms up!

Belgian Brew Fest Revisited

We were rummaging through some of our old beer literature (before we had refined our rating system) and came upon a small notebook we kept one year ago to the day at the Ommegang Brewery's Belgian Brewfest.

As is our custom, we tried to keep an ongoing log of our beer-tasting experiences. Predictably, the handwriting gets worse and worse as the event goes on. But here, for lack of a better post, and to mark the one-year anniversary of our trek to Cooperstown, I present our brief -- some might say glib -- ratings of each beer.

NOTE: Two different scales were used for rating purposes. Bill used a letter-grade system, Javen used a four-star (****) system. Hopefully this will not be too confusing. Due to our ever-worsening mental state on that date, we can't always read our own writing from the event; please excuse spelling errors and/or mislabeled beer. We had a very good time at the brewfest, but our penmanship suffered, partially due to our slight inebriation, and slightly due to the fact that I was writing n a 4.5 x 3.5 inch notepad which had been dampened by the torrential monsoon that came down about halfway through the festival.

The Beers:

Brooklyn Blanc
Bill: B+, Javen: *** (out of ****)

Victory Whirlwind
Bill: A-, Javen: ** 1/2

Flying Bison Barnstormer
Bill: B, Javen: ** 1/2

A'Chouffe Houblon
Bill: C+, Javen ***

Middle Ages 11th Anniversary (Double Wheat)
Bill: B+, Javen: *** 1/2

Stone (not sure which, just says "2006", maybe the Vertical Epic 06/06/06, possibly Old Guardian)
Bill: B+, Javen: ** 1/2

Avery Reverend
Bill: B, Javen: ** 1/2

Avery Salvation
Bill: B+, Javen: ***

Dogfish Head
Bill (Raison D'Etre): B-, Javen (Festina Lente): *

Otter Creek Holy Otter
Bill: B, Javen: ***

Otter Creek Otterbahn
Bill: B-, Javen: ** 1/2

The Shed - Hoppy Illumination
Bill: B, Javen: ***

Appalachin Hefeweizen
Bill: B+, Javen: ***

Appalachin Grand Cru
Bill: B, Javen: ***

Butternut Dark (or maybe Bark) Sleep
Bill: B, Javen: ** 1/2

Butternut Weinniessie
Bill: B, Javen: ** 1/2

Weyerbacher Prophecy
Bill: B, Javen: ***

Weyerbacher Merry Monks
Bill: B-, Javen: ***

Troegs Holiday
Bill: B-, Javen: ***

Troegs Naked Elf
Bill: B, Javen: ***

Iron Hill Belgian Wit
Bill: B, Javen: ** 1/2

Unibroue Fin du Monde
Bill: B, Javen: ***

Blanche de Chamble'
Bill: B+, Javen: ** 1/2

We won't be attending this year, however, we assume the festival will somehow soldier on without us.