On The Newsstand: Men's Journal Presents "America's Best Beers"

We were perusing a recent issue of Men's Journal on the subway the other night, and were pleasantly surprised to see (in their October 2008 issue) an article entitled "Best Beers 2008: American Brewmasters Take Over." Inside the issue was a number of beer recommendations - we'd like to summarize them here, as it's a genuine pleasure to see the liberal Mainstream media finally approach a topic like this without their bias and politics and geegaws and whatnot. Anyway.

Their article presented these beers in the following format: they'd list a "popular" beer and note that if you liked it, you should try their recommendations. All beers were described in detail (we won't list that here). Some blanche at this type of format; we like this - the world of craft brewing is a complicated one, and we're all in favor of trying to give newcomers a "way in," as it were, to help find what kinds of brew matches what they already like.

Anyway:

If you liked Sierra Nevada, they recommended Smuttynose Shoals Pale Ale, Full Sail Pale Ale, and Stone IPA.
If you liked Guinness, they recommended Deschutes Black Butte Porter, Alesmith Speedway Stout, and Dieu Du Ciel Peche Mortel.
If you liked Pilsner Urquell, they recommended Stoudt's Pils, Trumer Pils, and Two Brothers Dog Days Dortmunder-Style Lager.
For Blue Moon drinkers, they recomended Ommegang Witte, Ramstein Blonde, and Penn Weizen.
Like Samuel Adams Boston Lager? Try Southampton Altbier, Lakefront Organic ESB, and Elysian The Wise ESB.

Also recommended? Seven American craft brews that "are setting a new standard for the next generation of beer." These include:
- Russian River Brewing Co's Beatification Lambic
- Allagash Hugh Malone
- Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron
- Captain Lawrence Xtra Gold
- Jolly Pumpkin Luciernaga
- Lost Abbey Angel's Share
- Southern Tier Unearthly Ale

We're genuinely chuffed to see such thoughtful coverage of craft beer in a mainstream press.

Our hats are off to you, Men's Journal.

Beer and Politics

We here at Beerjanglin' prefer to remain apolitical -- at least as far as this here site is concerned -- and yet we were intrigued by an October 15, 2008, article on the free-market advocate Reason.com called "How Your Beer Bought John McCain's $500 Loafers." (Hat tip to my brother-in-law Scott; the article has tons of helpful reference links.)

On one hand, it is a criticism of McCain and what the author perceives to be McCain's disproportionate wealth, but it's also a damnation of the antiquated distributor laws that are decades old, and that actually prevent free commerce between states for apparently no good reason.

According to the article, these "three-tier" laws are to the benefit of the wholesaler, but to the detriment of the customer. The wholesaler, the article asserts, simply marks up the price of each alcoholic beverage 18-25% for the trouble of distributing it. The distribution lobby apparently is trying to ban alcohol sales over the web so as to close a loophole in which they would not be the middle-man.

The article certainly paints the alcohol-distribution industry as one that is woefully out of date, especially in the wake of free trade and a global economy. (The article also accuses Anheuser-Busch of "distributors to drop the products produced by its competitors."

The article cites four main arguments by the wholesale industry:

1. Wholesaling allows a bottleneck by which the government can collect all their alcohol taxes in one convenient location.
   
   
2. Wholesalers act as a quality-control protection agency against poisoned and/or tainted beer.
   
   
3. It creates 91,000 jobs and a $15 billion on the national economy (both claims the article questions)
   
   
4. The wholesalers are a gatekeeper that regulate the distribution of alcohol from brewery/winery to consumer, since alcohol is, in fact, a drug.

On a micro level, it's clear that it doesn't make sense for states to create an alcohol bureaucracy that limits the free commerce of beer, wine and spirits. It's a Good Ol' Boy Network policy that does nothing for consumers other than make beer more expensive and harder to obtain.

Pump Station Wins Gold at GABF

Congratulations to the Albany Pump Station for winning the gold medal for American Style Brown at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver. Trust us, Kick Ass Brown is a well-named beer indeed. This is the third time this beer has won gold in Denver. Not too shabby.

Historic Van Dyck Restaurant Sold at Auction

The Van Dyck Restuarant and Brewery, at one time a landmark Schenectady jazz club, has been auctioned off to a pair of brothers who already run several successful restaurants in the city. The Van Dyck, which has been closed for roughly a year and a half, is located in Schenectady's historic Stockade district and had been the only brewpub in the city until its closing. While this place has incredible potential (and, it would seem, the right owners to finally realize it), the sad news is that the brewing equipment will be sold off separately in an auction on October 22.

Beer O' the Moment: Middle Ages XIII Anniversary

Around these parts, we are enormous fans of Middle Ages Brewing, an absolute local treasure located at 120 Wilkinson Street in Syracuse, NY. For thirteen years, the brewery has been English-style ales (and no lagers) to the region. Most of their beers having a very distinct ringwood yeast flavor.

Since their tenth year, they have been releasing "Anniversary" ales around this time. Their first of this series, the Tenth Anniversary -- now known as "Middle Ages Double India Pale Ale," but known as "The X" to my friends and me -- is a triumph of intense bitter hops and thick English malts. The Eleventh Anniversary, a double wheat, was not quite as successful commercially, but a fine, thick beverage nonetheless.

The Twelfth Anniversary is an outstanding, roasted porter with mocha and caramel notes that goes down almost in an almost unfairly smooth manner. And this year, they unveiled the Thirteenth Anniversary, which they bill as an Imperial Wheat. At 9.5%, it's certainly got some pop.

I have mixed feelings on this particular offering. First of all, what is it? It's not that I need every beer I drink to be precisely defined, but I do like to know what I'm getting into. The Beer's creators call it an imperial wheat. Beeradvocate calls it a "Herbed / Spiced beer." To me, it feels like an incredibly thick hefeweizen.

First let's discuss both the look and the beer's thickness. It's very very thick looking. Cloudy as all get-out, and dark orange, like a thick apple cider. Any head that was there disappears almost immediately, and it leaves no trace of its existence on the glass.

The feel of the beer is no small matter. I had this out of a half-growler. (Having had the sample at the Middle Ages tasting room, I wasn't so sure I could finish a full jug.) The beer is very thick and milky like a hefeweizen, but it also has some fizzy and bubbly qualities, like a typical Belgian ale. The issue here, however, is the beer's staying power. Hefeweizens are a dicey lot to begin with, since they can range from fresh and banana-y to overly thick and swampy.

I had good luck with this one. Since it is relatively fresh and not much-traveled, I was able to finish the entire 32 ounces with little incident or change to the viscosity of the beer itself. However, I would be remiss if I didn't mention that a friend of mine who bought the beer at the same time at me reported a bad turn of the beer into a syrupy, sap-like texture, which doesn't lend itself well to the beer. Take that for whatever it's worth.

As for the aroma, the banana/clove smell that we all associated with hefeweizens are all there. There is, however, a citrusy fragrance as well and the wheat comes out in a later sniff. The scent would tend to indicate a half-hef, half-wit concoction. (By that I mean half-witbier, not half-witted attempt at beermaking; the Middle Ages folks are as good as it gets.) But there is also a certain pungence to the smell. It's not bad, but it's tenuous.

The taste is where we get down to brass tacks: it vascillates between a strong hefeweizen and an extra thick witbier. The girl pouring at Middle Ages found it curious that I would say it was "sour," but I sense a certain Belgian ale sourness. There is, as the website says, plenty of orange and coriander, and the spices that come along with them. But I also detect a certain amount of cinnamon flavor. It's strength alone is impressive, if not thirst-obliterating.

From top to bottom, it's a solid beer, but not necessarily one I crave, nor one I would necessarily purchase again. This is certainly not an indictment of Middle Ages itself, as that particular company has taken thousands of dollars of my money, and I wouldn't take a penny back. (I've got a full growler of their Old Marcus sitting in the fridge right now.) But it's only fair to say that this beer isn't for everyone, especially those who are iffy on hefeweizen-style beers.

Reminiscing on Labor Day

How best to celebrate a day that marks the unofficial end of summer but was also created as "a day off for the working citizens"? Well, for starters, it should probably include outdoor activities, and it had better involve little to no work. Got it! The deck at Brown's brewpub should fill the prescription nicely (sometimes it's rough being the Hannibal of the family). A couple of great local beers, maybe some steamers - yup, that'll do. Now to convince the wife... How does a hike at Peebles Island State Park sound? Don't worry, I'll haul the baby around. We could stop at Brown's afterwards.

It was just that easy; she's pretty cool sometimes, the wife. We stopped on the way to take a gander at the majesty of Cohoes Falls. After a short hike at Peebles Island, we gazed at the scenic vistas created by the confluence of the mighty Mohawk and Hudson rivers. We watched a pair of feuding squirrels. We even saw a deer, although the little one was more interested in the girl with the light up sneakers if front of us. Sure, we had our fun. It was pretty great, actually. And then it was time to go to Brown's and enjoy the fruits of our labor.

We started off with an order of steamers and a couple of beers, fresh and spicy IPA for me, nice banana-y Hefe for the lady. The steamers are a dozen fresh Littleneck clams steamed in the brewery's own brown ale with butter and fresh garlic. By thunder, those little buggers are delicious! I have it on good authority that a bit of Italian bread dipped in the steamy juices ain't bad neither.

We followed it up with Troy's Pulled Pork Sandwich, tender pork coated with Brown's signature Cherry-Raspberry Ale based barbecue sauce, all piled on a kaiser roll and topped with melted cheddar jack cheese. I paired that tasty little number with a crisp, Saaz hopped, Tomhannock Pilsner, while the lady enjoyed her first Hefe enough to order up another. Simply delectable, scrumpshalicious. Brewer's fries dipped in Cherry-Raspberry barbecue sauce are also a taste sensation.

What's the point here? I'm not sure there is one, other than I had a kick ass Labor Day and Brown's is a wonderful place. We had a great time without even going inside! Sorry for all the personal tripe, suffice to say that nature is pretty sweet and Brown's is even better. My crazy little cutie of a baby girl even got at least eleven compliments for every time she vomited on the deck! Better than her old man's career ratio, I assure you.

River Horse 12 Pack

Every time I had ever bought River Horse Hop Hazard, it has been an older bottle, and has gone a bit soft. Although liquid butterscotch doesn't sound like all that horrible a beverage, the Hop Hazard incarnation is not exactly the best way to experience such a confectionary delight. I blame the distrubutors and stores from which I had picked it up rather than the brewer themselves.

So when Wegmans started carrying left-of-center beers, one of the surprising offerings was a twelver of River Horse, which I had not seen any specialty beer store in the area, let alone a grocery store.

The four beers in the twelve-pack are a Special Ale, Tripel Horse Belgian tripel, the aforementioned Hop Hazard and River Horse Lager. Each was given an interrogation by Officer Taste Bud, whose office is in my mouth. I apologize for that last sentence for several reasons.

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First up to bat was the SPECIAL ALE, which they call and ESB but seems to be a bit more than that. The color is a light cranberry red. It's clear except for that hazy fog on the glass. A half-finger of foamy off-white head sits atop the bubbly brew. Nice to look at.

Though the label categorizes this beer as an ESB, it smells like a barleywine, with that strong aroma of alcohol, as well as lots of dark berry and raisin. It has that "leathery" quality that so many darker beers give out. In a blind sniff-test, I wouldn't have pegged this as an Extra Special Bitter.

The taste is strong barley malt, and also gives a puckery sour flavor. Some leathery malt in the flavor here as well, almost like a porter in how dark the malt is. There is some sweet-n-sour dark berry here as well, as well as hints of roasted caramel. The hops are of the English variety and very subdued. The malt is strong and thick, as is the consistency; it's full-bodied on the palate like a cream ale.

So far so good, this is a "special/select" ale with some bite, but it's quite drinkable. It's substantial for just one but okay if you feel like snagging another one.

---

The next one came up a little later in the evening, and in retrospect was probably not the beer to finish off with. It's not that it isn't a fine beer, it's just that the TRIPEL HORSE packs quite a wallop. I mean it's only 10%, so who wouldn't have thought it's the one to have right before nighty-night time.

Out of a tall weizen glass, this beer pours a massive puffy head. It's clear and glassy, but ... there are some wonderful chunks of yeast (I hope) floating about. The head goes down eventually, but the floating sediment and carbonation remain.

Ironically, the thick head hides some of the aroma by blocking it from escaping. What little I am able to extract from it nasally is that of a trademark spicy Belgian yeast and malt. There is a tad of chlorine in the aroma, but I'll pretend I didn't smell it.

The first sip gives some sharp crystal malts but that come handcuffed to some sharp crystal malts with some caramel. There is a strong alcohol bite that I probably should have expected. Otherwise, it's actually deceptively mild. It doesn't at all fetishize the spicy Belgian aspect of it, which also makes it easily drinkable. It's very smooth for a Belgian tripel, especially one that's 10% abv. The feel is butter and honey, rather than champagne or orange juice pulp.

This one surprised me, a really easy-drinkin' Belgian, and though it's strong, it's not at all extreme. Nice curve-ball.

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Ugh! I'm only halfway through this difficult slog? I decided to save the remainder for a few days later. I finally decided to give a shot to the beer which I had always previously caught at a bad time -- HOP HAZARD. The look, to paraphrase the Talking Heads, is the same as it ever was: nice, very cloudy dark orange. The head does disappear almost immediately, which is a bit of a downer. It is the color of apple cider, and would be gorgeous if it could just retain a little bit of head.

The aroma gives off some decent woody hops, and with the dual hints of butterscotch (not overwhelming this time) and sour apple. This is how it's supposed to smell. The smell is actually pretty complex, because further down the line, we get some nutty, toasted malts, as well as alcohol-soaked raisin, and all under the woody pine hops.

As for the taste, the first sip gives a nutty bitter malt, similar to a dry amber ale. Hints of raisin and black licorice (I'm not usually a fan but it works here as an accent). It's a darker brew than expected. Some caramel comes out when it's about half gone, and warmer. And there is the most unusual aftertaste of peanut?

Hop Hazard feels dry and a little bit ashy, but the thickness is nice. It's a very nice, toasted and complex ale. Sure it could be considered a pale, but a dark one -- if that's even possible.

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Last but ... well, least, is the RIVER HORSE LAGER. I don't mean to crap on this beer, but when are brewers going to realize that there is really only so much you can do with lagers.

I must say, it seems that a lot of brewers are trying to have it both ways, in that they load up their mixed 12-packs with nine solid offerings, and then add one for the "non-beer drinker" or commercial beer drinkier. Magic Hat does it with "#9," Ithaca Brewing does it with the (in my opinion) undrinkable "Apricot Wheat," and Dundee does it with "Honey Brown."

Well, it's here so I might as well pound it. It pours a decent sunny golden color with a mass exodus of carbonation bubbles. There is a thin layer of head that resembles Italian ice. It's very clear, as is typical for the so-called "lager" style.

The aroma is lagery, but clearly made with real barley and not adjuncts. It's a fresh, biscuity malt, with just a touch of that sour apple. It's middle of the road, but inoffensive as many lagers can often be.

The taste is a very solid lager flavor, and we all know what that entails. It does have a slightly citrusy taste, but not from the hops, oddly enough. The malt is slightly bready. The sour apple and butterscotch that were present in the Hop Hazard also make an appearance here. And there is a welcome, tangy bubblegum flavor toward the end. It's actually quite pleasant for a summer lager.

The consistency is pretty predictable, with a thin and watery body. It's not unpleasant but there's not much to say about it. All told, it's not a bad lager by any stretch, it's just kind of run-of-the-mill with some extra flavors thrown in. Highly drinkable but not a skirt blower-upper.

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At any price below $15, this is a pretty decent twelve-pack, with two very good beers, and two other good ones. Do what I do and bring it to a party and give the lagers out first. But do see that you make sure to get it somewhat fresh as it seems to go bad quicker than most.

Whither Party Source

[Note: The views expressed in this post are those of the writer only and is not intended to represent those of the rest of the Beerjanglin' stable.]

When I think of the Party Source in Syracuse, NY, I think of the film "Gladiator" from the year 2000. The film won the Academy Award that year for Best Picture, though in reflection it is a mediocre movie at best. But when compared against the very weak competition of the films of 2000, "Gladiator" somehow stood out as the best of its peers.

The Party Source, located in the ugliest green building on Erie Boulevard East in Syracuse, is not a great beer store by any stretch, but's probably the best we have.

It caters mostly to college kids, selling blocks of Busch and Natural Ice by the gross, and finding ways to move keg after keg -- despite New York's ludicrous keg laws, which in my opinion actually encourage binge drinking rather than suppress it.

The store is built like an open warehouse that is half-empty. When you walk in, to the left you see nothing but empty floor space, with the occasional odd case of macro-lager that someone decided to put down.

Straight ahead is the register, and toward the far wall is a cooler that has a decent mix of commercial and craft brews. It's a nice selection and would be the envy of almost any grocery store.

On the floor are cases upon cases, often set up in some kind of geometrical order, but not at all pleasing to the eye. They are usually stacked no more than two cases high, rather than in a tall display, and you usually have to step over them rather than go around them.

The wall to the right is what keeps me going back: it's a collection of craft brewed six packs organized nicely by brewery and country. To the far left of this wall is the seasonal selections (this month it's Southern Tier Harvest, Dogfish Head Punkin, and Long Trail Harvest, to name a few). Strafing to the right will show a collection of European and "European style" brews, mostly from England. And about halfway down the wall come all the micro- and craft brews we love so much. This wall is what makes Party Source a destination beer store.

The reason that I keep coming to Party Source is because it is the only beer store in the area where you can purchase off-the-shelf mixed six packs that are not confined to a few select brews that the store allows you to buy. In other words, you can try any one bottle of beer, and just pay the a la carte price for it. Other than it's above-average selection, this is the one aspect of Party Source that makes it worth repeat visits.

I must say, however, that the store has been going downhill for a while now. And I want to briefly share my experience there Friday, which was frustrating, disappointing and disheartening.

First of all, there is a rack where the "unsold" beers go that can be bought individually by the bottle. These beers, by and large, have been in the store for months and months, and often have dust on them. They are not sold at any kind of discounted price, such as $8.99 a six pack, which would be a fair deal. The beers I have selected from this shelf have often been old and musty -- not always, but sometimes. It would behoove the owner of the store to come up with some sort of pricing compromise so that he can move these beers off the shelves, and as well as giving the paying customer a bit of a price break.

The selection that the store carries has been disappointing lately. It's not that they don't carry a great deal of excellent beers, because they do. But they haven't been rotating the selection as well. In other words, every time I go, there are usually no more than 5-6 new beers at any given time. We are left with the same selection that we have had previously, and who knows how old they are -- since most beers don't have a "brewed-on date" on the label.

What was most disappointing Friday was the service.

The old curmudgeon that runs the store is always in an apparently foul mood. He answers the most basic questions with a sort of "why are you bothering me?" tone. But he knows me. He knows my face and he gets money from me on a consistent basis. I once dropped $90 there for little more than a couple of six packs. I am what you would call "a regular."

So Friday, I bought a mixed six pack (possibly coming up for a "6Pac" review) and two regular six packs: Southern Tier Harvest Ale and Victory Storm King Stout. The old curmudgeon was standing at the register and on the phone, so I placed my items on the shelf to patiently wait for him.

He hung up the phone and looked as if he was about to ring me out. Suddenly, the phone rang again, and he picked it up and decided he was more interested in talking to the person on the phone than ringing out the familiar face standing at his counter.

I have worked in customer service capacities for a good portion of my life, and one of the cardinal rules you go by is that if a customer is waiting for you, you don't turn your back on them, whether on the phone or not. And if you do get a phone call, all you have to do is make eye contact with the person at the counter and give them the "one second" sign. (Mouthing "one second" is a nice bonus.) The curmudgeon not only stopped paying attention to my transaction, but he actually turned around and walked away, turning his full attention to the prospective customer on the phone. (He mentioned someone who had called before that needed over 120 thirty-packs of Natural Ice for the evening and that Party Source the only place he would be able to get it. Yeah, the SU and LeMoyne kids are definitely back in town.)

So I stood and waited. And waited a few more minutes. The Party Source only has one register, and so no more than one transaction can take place at a time. An oafish employee saw that I was waiting, and to his credit, attempted to make his way to the register to ring me out, but the curmudgeon was "hogging" the register and the oaf had to nudge him out of the way.

The oaf took my mixed six pack and removed all the bottles from the holder, giving me a "How's it goin', boss?" for my trouble. With a big sigh, he looked up each beer in his computer as if he were using a Lexis-Nexis search, painstakingly placing each beer back into its respective compartment. When he was done, he sighed and said, "Those mixed beers are a pain in the ass," before giving me my total.

Now, if I may digress for a moment: I'm sure that scanning each individual beer is a pain in the ass. I've worked retail before, and it's always harder to scan multiple items. But maybe, as the beer distributor, you should a) find a more efficient way of scanning these items, b) stop offering singles altogether or c) keep your frustration hidden from the customer. The mixed six packs are the only reason I go to this place more than only every six months or so. There are other places -- like Brilbecks, Galeville and now Wegmans -- that have good selections of six- and twelve-packs of beers, and their employees don't make you feel like you're inconveniencing them.

Anyway, the guy said "Have a good night, boss" to which I gave an uncharacteristically curt "Yup" before walking out the door with beer in hand but not satisfaction in my shopping experience.

I'm frustrated, because there is no reason that this store can't be a world-class beer hub, along the lines of Oliver's in Albany, Finger Lakes Beverage in Ithaca or Beers of the World in Rochester. Space is being completely wasted in this building, which is located in a burgeoning beer-centric city. The city of Syracuse is a growing beer community, and the store would be ripe for not only expanding the floor space, but dialing up the selection as well. Any city that can make profitable enterprises out of Clark's Ale House, the Blue Tusk and Al's Wine & Whiskey would benefit from having a central marketplace for bringing home all the finest beers from around the country.

Instead, while it's still probably the best we have, it all comes off as very half-assed. And worse, there is no joy in the store; it doesn't make you feel like you are in any kind of beer haven, but rather a warehouse selling widgets. It's too bad that some enterprising company can't come in and give the Party Source a run for it's money, and maybe force them to step up their game.

Syracuse deserves better.

The Beer Hunter Remembered

Michael Jackson

1942 - 2007

Beer O' The Moment: Tröegs Hopback Amber

Picked this one up on a recent foray through northern Jersey. Luckily, Bergen County blue laws allow the purchase of beer on Sundays. Electronics geeks are not quite as fortunate. No, seriously. No electronics can be purchased in the Garden State's most populous county on Sundays. You can't even by pants there for crying out loud!

Tröegs Brewing Company is a pretty well thought of brewery based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. None of their stuff makes it to Upstate New York, so I jumped at the chance to grab a sixer of the flagship, Hopback Amber. Sure, I would have loved to get my hands on some Nugget Nectar or Mad Elf, two purportedly fantastic Tröegs entries, but this stuff surely does in a pinch.

Here's how the Brothers Trogner describe it:

Tröegs Brewery’s Flagship beer, HopBack Amber Ale derives its name from a vessel in the brewhouse called a hopback. As the ‘wort’ is being transferred from the brewhouse to fermentation it passes through the hopback vessel. Packed full of fresh whole flower hops, the wort slowly circulates through this vessel extracting the essence of the aromatic hops. This vessel adds more time and more hop character that creates a fresh, spicy taste and rich caramel note that defines this signature ale.

Deep amber in color under a huge creamy head. The aroma very apparent, bold and spicy with a slight floral character. Balanced with caramel malt, this well-rounded amber ale has an up-front floral spice that builds with a flush of sweetness

Our very own Bill, as only he can, expounds on the virtues of Hopback Amber thusly:

Appearance: Thick fluffy head. Ruby red with brown tinge. Glassy but with a haze and nice body.

Smell: Awesome combination of some dark caramel and bitter, woody hops. Hops evolve into a citrusy aroma. Really outstanding smell.

Taste: Toasted, roasted caramel malts, but with a latter bitter taste. Bold on both fronts and challenging. Both the piney hops and the malt are powerful flavors.

Mouthfeel/Overall: Thick and chewy. Creamy and viscous; really nice. Overall, a bold and challenging brew. Smooth, dark and bitter. Very good beer, all things considered.

Me? This is the third of these I've had over the past four or five days, and I've enjoyed each one more than the last. At first, I thought it was solid, but no match for, say, Ithaca Beer's über hoppy red ale, Cascazilla. I'm still leaning that way - gotta love the hopping Ithaca gives both Cascazilla and Flower Power IPA - but Hopback Amber is no pushover. It's a pretty caramel/orange beer with a great nose. An everyday drinker with a nice, bitter finish. I'd buy this stuff pretty regularly if getting it didn't involve entering New Jersey. Score one for the Trogner Bros.

Retro Beers

In the September 2008 version of All About Beer magazine, Don Russell writes and article called "Retro Beer," which chronicles the rise of beers like Pabst, Rheingold and Genny Cream Ale among hipsters and ironic college types.

The piece speaks of how these beers went from hokey third-rate relics to wink-and-a-nod artifacts which trucker hat wearing twentysomethings drink not for taste, but to feel connected to another time, and connected to the beers their dads drank. (The article, in fact, has a very interesting angle about how a desire to connect to our fathers might the strongest subconscious rationale behind this new trend.)

Personally, I'm not sure I'm buying it.

I know several people who drink good beer, and yet express a mind-boggling affection for Pabst Blue Ribbon. It's one thing to celebrate the retro kitch culture such as a wonderful place like Philly's own Bob and Barbara's Lounge, which is awash in long-forgotten PBR ad campaigns of the past. It's another to swig down a can of PBR and actually fool yourself into thinking it's a premium beer.


There is a place for these kind of beverages; I would have felt positively out of place at the outskirts of Wrigleyville in Chicago drinking anything other than tallboys of Old Style, or hunkering down at a townie bar in Rochester and ordering Bud over Genny. And truth be told, Utica Club is actually a decent beverage.

But truthfully, I don't need to hear another fratboy in a pre-tattered straw cowboy hat and Che Guevara t-shirt telling me that Blatz is superior to whatever I'm drinking, any more than I need someone telling me that "Speed Racer" is better than "The Venture Brothers."

It's one thing to dress in an ironic, postmodern way to assert some sort of hipster aesthetic; it's completely another to try and fool your taste buds.

CNN Brew

Item!

Something unusual that I came across at The Onion's blog about the Democratic National Convention.

It appears that CNN has taken over a local Denver tavern, naming it the CNN Grill (at least according to the blog, and since this comes from the deadpan Onion, its veracity is uncertain).



At any rate, there now apparently exists in this universe CNN Brew, a red ale brewed right in Denver, Colorado, apparently by Breckenridge Brewery. For what it's worth Fox News apparently isn't serving alcohol.

Beer O' the Moment - Brown's Brewing ESB

While the weather is still nice, I encourage -- nay, implore those of you who live in New York's Capital District or the "Collar City" in particular, to visit the Brown's Brewing Taproom, located at 425 River Street in Troy, NY, off the banks of the Hudson River. Not only is the atmosphere pleasant both inside and out, but the food is top notch. Oh, and the beer is pretty damn good.



One beer in particular caught my fancy, one that is only available (as far as I can tell) directly from the brewery itself: Brown's Extra Special Bitter. As far as I can tell, it is only available from the taproom in a 22-ounce bottle, but it is worth the detour.

Before I give you my impressions, here is what Brown's says about this beverage.

...a deliciously sturdy ale that’s dead-on true to its English heritage. Full-bodied, with a classic toasty malt palate throughout, our ESB finishes fresh and hoppy. Carbonated lightly, and poured via a slow pour tap, Brown’s ESB is an outstanding example of one of Britain ’s finest gifts to civilization.

You've heard an intelligent opinion. Now mine...

The color is absolutely gorgeous; a hazy, radiant dark orange. A large and fluffy head peeks over the lip of the glass. A heavy jetsam of carbonation floats to the surface. The bishop's collar of lace around the top of the glass is big, thick and wonderful. Just a tremendous appearance.

The aroma gives initial sniffs of caramel that are a sweet balance to a nicely toasted malt. Yes, it does have some bitterness in the mild but flowery hop smell, but that is balanced by that solid malty base. The malt does dominate the nose.

As for the taste, it's an excellent roasty -- but not at all burnt -- malt. Again, the caramel fulfills the promise of the aroma. Though there are some mild flowery hops, the malt really dominates, like a fine English ale. The barley is sweet but bready, like a pub ale. And just a hint of nuttyness in the malt.

The feel of this beer is smooth, but with just a little pop at the end. Not too thick or too thin, and highly guzzle-able. It's one of those beers that is gone before you even realize you were half done with it. I have one regret about buying this bottle and that's that I didn't buy a case of them.

Growing Hops Outside the Pacific Northwest

This story from the Wall Street Journal is not the most informative article on hops you will ever have the pleasure of reading. Then again, it's from the Journal, not Beer Advocate. Little different audience they're appealing to, I guess.

Target demographic aside, it actually does make for a pretty interesting read. Apparently, given the recent meteoric rise in the price of hops, some newcomers across this great nation are trying their hand at growing the flowery devils on a commercial scale. The article gives a quick synopsis on the circumstances that led up to this turn of events before briefly profiling a handful of these farms, including one in particular that caught our eye:

Many new hop farmers are focused on selling to brewers in their region. Rick Pedersen, a farmer in Seneca Castle, N.Y., began growing hops in 1999 but wasn't able to start selling them until just few years ago, when the Ithaca Beer Co. in Ithaca, N.Y., became a customer. He is part of a budding revival of hops production in the Northeast, with farmers in states such as Pennsylvania also participating.

"It's not an easy thing to just start up from scratch," Mr. Pedersen says, adding he's still "not even close" to recouping his investment...

Until the 1920s, New York state was the nation's hotbed for hops. However, two diseases -- downy mildew and powdery mildew -- crippled production, and the industry began moving to drier Western climates less susceptible to mildew. Today, nearly all of the nation's hops are grown in Washington, Oregon and Idaho

The Ithaca Beer referenced is the delightful (and lamented) Double IPA, which I believe is on indefinite hiatus due to the current hops "situation". Pederson Farms has also supplied Victory with fresh hops for their harvest ale for the past few years as well as Brown's Brewing for their tasty New York hopped IPA. Brown's has since opened their own small bottling operation and planted over 800 hops rhizomes in Hoosick, New York with an eye to the future. More on that, hopefully, sometime in the uh... future.

Beer O' The Moment: Lionshead

Sometimes, the situation doesn't call for sipping a 10% abv imperial stout by a roaring fireplace or quaffing a nice Belgian quadrupel with King Albert II*. No, sometimes the temp is pushing 90 and you're on a glorious rooftop deck tailgating before a Phillies - Dodgers game in South Philly with a bunch of really good dudes, most of whom you've known for a decade or more.

*He's the king of Belgium, silly!

Times like these, when the sun is shining, and the laughs are flowing and you're all just riffing - maybe MC Hammer is on the stereo - times like these are what a beer like Lionshead was made for. Throw a couple of cases on ice. Twist the caps off a few of 'em. Maybe take a minute (possibly 15) to puzzle out the rebus under those caps. Fire up the grill. Enjoy.

Oh, the beer itself? It's a lawnmower beer. A rooftop deck beer. Again, those certainly have their place. It's highly drinkable, especially at icy temps. Fairly crisp, with some corn and a faint hop presence somewhere in there. It definitely cuts the dust. And the mustard. The Lion calls it a "deluxe pilsner", which may be a bit of a stretch, but there ain't nothing wrong with it.

It doesn't hurt at all that this stuff retails for thirteen bucks a case. Or that it's brewed at The Lion Brewery in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, one of the few remaining old time regional breweries in the northeast. Oh yeah, if you watch carefully, you just might see it on an episode of The Office.

A Big Crazy Mix-Up

Since I feel like I'm running out of beers to try, I have decided to do something revolutionary. I had a six pack of Saranac and a twelve pack of Dundee and decided to mix it up a little. Literally!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

I took three beers and did a little "round robin" pouring half of each into a pint glass with half from the other two. The three beverages I used were Saranac Pale Ale, Dundee Porter and Dundee Wheat. Please note, I had intended to use Dundee Pale Bock but I screwed it up and poured the wrong one. Ah well, let's check the results...

SARANAC PALE/DUNDEE PORTER

The beer pours a mahogany reddish brown. It's slightly darker at the top. A finger of thick ocean foam head. It's thick, but also shiny and glassy.

In the aroma, the crystal malts of the Pale overshadow the roasted malts of the Porter, but only barley ... barely. The slightly piney hops in the pale do make a difference in breaking through the thick malt. It's a bit too sharp in the spiky malts.

The tastes are strange bedfellows. The pale flavors (hops, crystal malt) are the first flavors, and then a mild roasted, nutty malt kicks in. It evolves throughout the sip, but the flavors clash rather than getting along nicely.

The feel is thick and creamy, and chewy and chunky. Has some nice body, with a small bite on the way down. It's not the runaway success I had hoped for, but it's an interesting change of pace beer.

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DUNDEE WHEAT/SARANAC PALE

The look is a hazy light orange. The thick head dissipates quickly. Leaves a nice icy lace. Overall the appearance is a nice cloudy thickness.

The smell is some bittering pilsnery hops floating atop a thick banana-ish wheat aroma. Some mild citrusy sweetness, which actually blends nicely with the clove in the wheat.

The sweet citrus and banana/clove taste give this makeshift brew a decent bubblegum flavor. And though the flavors are strong, they are disparate, thought it is a surprisingly decent mix.

The feel is thick and sticky. It's creamy, and the wheat beer definitely has the influence on this one. All told, it's actually a solid mix. The hops and wheat play nicely in the sandbox.

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DUNDEE PORTER/DUNDEE WHEAT

This one was the real shocker.

The appearance is a thick, cloudy brown. The head disappears quickly. It looks very thick.

The aroma is, at first, an uneasy mix of the roasted malt and some wheat. It has the aromatic effect of a dark Belgian ale. The wheat and the roasted malt. It takes on a smoky quality.

The taste has a real, dark Belgian ale flavor, oddly enough. It's a really surprising mix of two good flavors. Not too shabby at all. The rich caramel flavors meet the wheat flavors, as well as a subtle tobacco kick.

The feel is milky but smooth. Really decent. Overall it's like a dark Belgian ale. A surprisingly good little concoction. Smoky, rich and deep.

None of these were the unmitigated triumph that I had secretly hoped for, but they were all drinkable, and were a decent change of pace idea when all you have is the same stuff you've been drinking for weeks on end.

Hopefully, we will become bolder and wiser in our choices, selecting brews that are unbalanced with other brews that are unbalanced. It is this attempt to bring together the yin and yang (the Yuen and Yueng?) of beers in those that are lacking that zen balance. I'm making a list as we speak.

Battle of the Brews at Saratoga Race Course

It's hard to find any real details, but the Adirondack/Saratoga chapter of the American Red Cross is presenting the 11th annual "Battle of the Brews" at Saratoga Race Course on Friday, August 22, from noon to 4:30 p.m. It will be held in the “Big Red Spring” area. This is the biggest weekend of the Saratoga racing season with the 139th running of the Travers Stakes, aka "The Mid-Summer Derby" on Saturday.

Tickets for the event are $25 per person. That price includes a commemorative 2008 pint glass. Last year, tickets went for $15 in advance and $20 at the door, and the glass would have cost you $5 or $7 depending on your ability to plan ahead.

Sixteen breweries will offer approximately three beers each for sampling and voting:

Adirondack Pub & Brewery

Anchor Brewing Co.

Black Dog

Boulder Beer

Brewery Ommegang

Brown’s Brewery

Cooper’s Cave Ale Company

Green Mountain

Harpoon Brewery

Long Trail Brewing Co.

Magic Hat Brewing

Olde Saratoga Brewing Co.

Paper City Brewery

Saranac Brewing Co.

Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.

Switchback Brewery.

Awards for People’s Choice and Judge’s Choice will be presented. Looks pretty solid, actually. Seeing as I will be at the track already, perhaps a little "field research" is in order.

You can get more information by calling the local American Red Cross Adirondack Saratoga Chapter at (518) 792-6545, or e-mail reehlc@usa.redcross.org. Proceeds benefit the Red Cross.

Head to Head: Saranac IPA vs. Dundee IPA

Today we are pitting against one another two of Upstate New York's premier mid-sized breweries' hoppier offerings in a new feature we like to call "Head to Head." I tried to think of a catchier name but let's face it, when your research involves drinking it sometimes takes you out of the zone.

The breweries discussed today are both going through a rebirth of sorts. Saranac (aka F.X. Matt) weathered a major fire in late May of this year. Luckily, the fire, while harmful, was not enough to keep Saranac from brewing for more than about a month.

Dundee Beer, on the other hand, while not having to endure any kind of blaze, has been going through a transformation of its own, dropping the "JW" from it's moniker and coming up with a whole new design and identity for its flagship brand. Dundee appears ready to be taking its rightful place among the major regional breweries, not only by making a concerted marketing effort built on beer tradition, but also by improving the quality of the beer itself (which you will read about in an upcoming post). The brewery is looking to shed its image of being the brewer of Genny and a couple of marginal microbrews. And the way it's been flying off the shelves in the Syracuse area, it appears that the eye-catching new designs are working.

Today we decide to compare the IPAs of these two proud, venerable breweries, and see which one can reign supreme as Upstate New York Mid-size I-90 Brewery Champ. Let us begin...

• The Look:
  
  Both beers have an almost identical golden color, though Dundee's is slightly darker. Saranac is more clear and see-through, while Dundee has a bit more haze on the glass. The head retention goes to Dundee by far, in that its head sits proudly atop the liquid, while Saranac's head is minimal and fades quickly. The Saranac looks more watery, and while they both sweat on the outside of the glass, Dundee just looks a bit thicker, like an ale. Both leave a decent Brussels lace on the glass, but again Dundee is thicker and more pronounced.
  
  Advantage: Dundee.
  

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• The Aroma:
  
  Saranac's IPA has a fine pine-hop aroma, with some citrusy notes of lemon and lime. It's a more flowery and sweet-smelling hop. The hop on the Dundee side is also a woody smell, but the aroma comes through less, ironically because of the thick head that is blocking many of the scents from coming through. The malts are what makes these ales smell markedly different: the Saranac has pale, crystal malts bursting through, while the Dundee is more roasted. The Saranac is just more aromatic.
  
  Advantage: Saranac.
  

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• The Flavor:
  
  Here is where the rubber meets the road, as they say. Both of these IPAs have very nice flavors, but they are decidedly different. The Saranac IPA has a woody, pine hop flavor, which is mild but does well with the sharp crystal malt flavor. There are sweet fruity and flowery hop flavors emerging. The malts in the Saranac are more "spiky" and sharp, giving the impression of a heavily-hopped pale ale rather than an IPA.
  
  The Dundee on the other hand, is more bold. It has a deeper "ale" flavor, with the malts deeper and more roasted than the sharp crystal malts in the Saranac. There are mild caramel and butterscotch notes coming through, giving off a more complex flavor than the Saranac. The malts are what separates these two beers.
  
  Advantage: Slight edge to Dundee.
  

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• The Feel:
  
  The Saranac is more "spiky" and fizzy; it's got a sharper feel with more bubbly carbonation felt on the tongue. (Ironic because the Dundee looked much more carbonated in appearance.) The feel of the Dundee is thicker, more like a pub ale. It's more creamy and buttery than the Saranac. This one is based on personal preference I suppose, but to me...
  
  Advantage: Dundee.
  

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• The Verdict:
  
  Both of these beers are very worthy, mild IPAs. The Saranac is really a pale ale that has been hopped a little extra. The Dundee is a milky, buttery ale with more balance and more pronounced malt flavors, which in turn make the hops shine through just a bit more. While both of these are worthy selections, I would have to declare...
  
  WINNER: DUNDEE

So in a nail-biter, High Falls just barely edges out the descendents of F.X. Matt on this one. To be sure, both are very solid middle-of-the-road IPAs, so please don't use this as a reason not to buy the Saranac IPA. In fact, if you get the chance, pick up a twelve-pack of each and help support both the local economy and the craft-brewing industry. The more you buy, the more they'll make

Brunswick Barbecue and Brew

There is a new brewpub on the scene in New York's Capital Region... almost anyway. Goose Gosselin, former headbrewer at Malt River in Latham and most recently an assistant brewer at Olde Saratoga/Mendocino*, has opened his own barbecue joint in Cropseyville (just outside of Troy). The barbecue has been getting good reviews so far, and Gosselin hopes to start brewing some time this fall.

*In addition to Malt River and Olde Saratoga, the Goose has also worked at Boston Beer Works, Union Station in Providence, and Buzzards Bay Brewing. Pretty solid resume, that.

We were never huge fans of Malt River's brews; they were hit and miss, mostly. How much of that was due to its location in a dying mall and the inability to turn beers in a timely manner is anybody's guess. We only visited a handful of times, probably not enough to make a true judgment of the brewer's prowess. Gosselin certainly has his fans, including one Mr. Lew Bryson:

7/30/08: Got an e-mail from Gary "Goose" Gosselin yesterday, formerly of Malt River: he's opened Brunswick BBQ & Brew in Brunswick, NY, east of Troy on Rt. 2 (3925 State Hwy 2, Brunswick, 518/279-9993). They're open but not brewing yet: he hopes to be brewing in the fall. Good to see him back at the kettle!

Pretty exciting stuff, really. Even an average brewpub is a wonderful place and good barbecue is always welcome. This makes for tantalizing possibilities of beer runs beginning at Brown's in Troy, heading east on Route 2 to Brunswick Barbecue and Brew and then turning for the Madison Brewing Company (where the beer is okay, but the food is scrumpshalicious) in Bennington, Vermont. Or Pittsfield Brew Works in, umm, Pittsfield, Mass. Or lots o' good stuff in North Adams, Mass. Hell, it could lead us anywhere really. The possibilities are dizzying!

Middle Ages XIII Anniversary Celebration

Hey, if you're in the area, it's certainly worth a stop. Cheers to one of our favorite breweries on making it into their teens.