~ Albuquerque's Craft Beer Revolution ~

[craftbeertime]

@duclawbrewingco #sweetbabyjesus #craftbeer #craftbeerun #craftbeerrun #craftbeertime #duclawbrewing #porter @craftbeerrun @craftbeertime

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TU-BOCK SHAKUR

7.1%  |  20 IBU

You might be asking, “how does Tupac relate to a German-inspired Doppelbock?” It doesn’t. It’s just awesome. This beer has a prominent toasted malt character and sweetness that overshadows a slight hop bitterness. It’s a smooth, full-bodied experience after a proper lagering!

BEERMOSA: GRAPEFRUIT & BLOOD ORANGE STRONG PALE

6.1%  |  60 IBU

Inherent in many hop varieties is an array of fruity flavors. Pairing hop-forward beers with real fruit provides a medium in which these flavor profiles can play off and compliment one another. Beginning with a strong pale ale, 100% pure grapefruit and blood orange puree was added at one pound per gallon of beer post fermentation. Using the fruitiest hops we have, the beer was dry-hopped with 5 pounds of hops per barrel. The outcome is Beermosa: a refined blend of citrus and beer pairing well with brunch and life.

KINDLING

5.2%  |  18 IBU

Kindling is an old classic from Bosque’s past. Crisp and light-bodied, a simple grain bill of pilsner, Munich, and wheat malts was fermented with a German ale yeast that produces a soft and pleasant ester profile.

EQUINOX SMASH

5.8% ABV  |  45 IBU

Single Malt and Single Hop (SMASH) beers are a great way to experiment with and showcase the spectrum of flavors and aromas that come from individual hop varieties. We’re kicking off a 6-part SMASH exploration series with Equinox SMASH. We started with Crisp pale malt as the base and Equinox was featured in the kettle and dry hop. The result is a study in the herbal, earthy, and fruity qualities of this exquisite hop.

3 HOUR SCOTCH ALE

8% ABV  |  18 IBU

Starting with a “wee heavy” Scotch-inspired ale base, the wort was boiled for three long hours in an effort to enhance the sweetness with a deep caramelization. The brewers say it’s like drinking liquid banana nut bread!

MÄRZEN

5.2% ABV  |  20 IBU

This German inspired Märzen was brewed with all German malts and hops. Malt sweetness is balanced by a clean bitterness from Hallertau hops. Slight toasty character from Vienna and Munich malts.

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Cocktail-Inspired Beers Gain Popularity

News by Rebecca Kirkman | Feb 2016 | Issue #109

Brooklyn Brewery’s Improved Old Fashioned, the latest in a growing number of cocktail-inspired beers from brewers like Short’s Brewing, Four Quarters Brewing and Perennial Artisan Ales, hits shelves in early February. Part of the Brooklyn Quarterly Experiment series and the brewery’s third cocktail-inspired beer,Improved Old Fashioned is modeled after the classic rye-based cocktail. “It’s a strong rye beer, brewed with botanicals, aged in WhistlePig rye whiskey barrels, and then infused with a blend of herbs and peels that recreate the character of bitters,” says brewmaster Garrett Oliver, referring to himself as a “cocktail geek.” “Next to chefs, I really think of mixologists as the nearest parallel to brewers when it comes to creativity and flavor creation.”

For its Dealer’s Choice series, Missouri’s Perennial Artisan Ales has found inspiration in its cocktail-focused accounts. A partnership with Jack Rose Dining Saloon in Washington DC yielded a beer modeled after the bar’s signature cocktail, made with bonded applejack, grenadine and lime juice.

It can be a challenge for brewers to achieve a cocktail’s balance of flavors in beer form though. “I pick out dominant flavors and sensations with each drink and then try to reverse engineer it as I write the recipe,” says Perennial brewer Jonathan Moxey, who decided on a cider-beer hybrid with a Märzen malt bill and finished with pomegranate and key lime juice to recreate the Jack Rose. It was released last August.

Another beer inspired by the old fashioned emerged from a collaboration between Short’s Brewing and Funky Buddha Brewing. To recreate the flavor, the breweries blended a bourbon barrel-aged Gruit made with Florida oranges, yarrow and rosemary with a bourbon barrel-aged American Strong Ale brewed with Michigan cherries. Tip ta Tip debuted at the Extreme Beer Festival in Boston this month.

These beers might have staying power, too. Partnerships between mixologists and brewers could have the potential to connect cocktail and beer cultures. Brendan Dorr, an award-winning mixologist, cocktail consultant and president of the Baltimore Bartenders Guild, thinks the trend has promise. “Many cocktail-centered bars don’t focus on the beers quite as much,” Dorr says, “I think it could be one of many things that help bridge that gap.”

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Be a beer geek, not a beer snob

2016 APRIL 28

by Norman Miller

Beer geeks are generally a good bunch – they enjoy good beer and hanging out with other like-minded folks.

But, when beer geeks go bad, they go really bad. They become judgmental, rude and often times, jerks. They become snobs. Beer snobs. Being a beer snob is bad.

It’s not too late. You can stop yourself from becoming a beer snob. Here are six ways to avoid crossing that invisible line.

Don’t judge a beer’s quality by ABV, judge it on flavor.

“The beer is only 6 percent ABV, it can’t be good.” “Session beers are to bland.” “Last year’s version was 11 percent and this year it’s 9 percent. It won’t even be worth buying.” This last one is almost word for word I saw someone post on a Facebook beer group I’m on.

A beer doesn’t have to be high alcohol to be good. Sure, if you’re drinking beer just to get drunk, then ABV matters. But you could do that with a bottle of bourbon much easier. Didn’t you start drinking craft beer for the taste? It was better than what you were drinking. That’s why I started drinking craft beer. I fell in love with the taste.

Don’t get me wrong, there are some amazing high alcohol beers, and there are bad ones. There are also amazing low alcohol beers, and there are bad ones. Worry about the flavor first, ABV second.

Respect the ones who came before.

I get it, I really do. Everyone wants to get the latest greatest beer from today’spopular breweries. But, don’t ignore the breweries that came before the hot ones of today. Too often, you hear people put down these historically significant breweries because they don’t do anything they consider exciting or groundbreaking.

Don’t forget, without breweries like Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, Harpoon Brewery and Boulder Beer, craft beer would be far behind where it is today. Put yourself in the shoes of beer drinkers 25 or 30 years ago, when your best option was maybe Heineken. Now imagine, what it was like to taste some of the beers made from these older breweries for the first time.

You don’t have to drink them, but don’t put them down. They were innovative for their time, and if you actually give a lot of these older breweries a chance, they’re still making good beer.

Big doesn’t equal bad.

Beer fans kind of remind me of indie music fans. They love their favorite bands, but once they become popular or sign with a major record label, they stop listening.

It seems that if a brewery grows or becomes really popular, people begin to ignore them. A business is supposed to grow. If you don’t grow, it becomes stagnant. Should a brewery cap off how much they brew.

If the beer doesn’t change for the worst, why does it matter if a brewery is two or three times as it was five years ago? Why abandon them if it is the same beer. If you like it, drink it.

Treat everyone equally.

This one shouldn’t have to be said, but unfortunately, it does – don’t treat someone different just because of their gender.

I see it far too often on Twitter or on Facebook beer groups – a woman posts something about a beer and the response from a man includes “honey,” or “sweetie,” or if a woman posts a photo of herself drinking a beer, “Nice boobs,” or other words I’m not allowed to use.

And, if the woman dares to disagree with something a beer snob says, the reaction is often way worse than if another man disagrees. Just treat others like you want to be treated.

Don’t judge.

We’ve all been there. We’re at a bar with a great tap list and a member of your group goes for, gasp, a Miller Lite, while ignoring all of the “better” beers on the list.

You shake your head as you order the 9 percent ABV, double dry hopped imperial IPA from Vermont. Then you make a comment, a joke that’s not really a joke. “All this beer and you get that?” “Come on, live a little.” “Why are you drinking crap?”

Craft beer drinkers forget that not everyone – actually a majority of people in this country – not everyone likes craft beer. Some people like the taste of a light American lager. It’s what they enjoy. It’s what they want. And it’s what they order when they go out.

If they like it, does it affect your enjoyment? If not, don’t judge. Don’t look down on them. Let them enjoy their beer like you’re enjoying yours.

Don’t be a jerk.

The biggest difference between a beer geek and a beer snob is a beer snob often times becomes a beer jerk.

They become entitled. They expect to get the best beer. They expect to get tickets to the best events. And they expect things to be exactly how they want them to be.

When things don’t go how they want or expect it, they don’t act rationally. They become jerks.

Don’t be a jerk. Remember what beer is about. Beer should be about enjoying yourself. Beer should be about having fun with your friends over a couple of beers. Beer is not about getting the rarest beer. It’s not about waiting in lines. It’s not about looking down at others. It’s not about getting your way. It should be about fun.

So, if you find yourself being a jerk. Stop. Think. Open a beer. Drink the beer. Stop being a jerk.

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10 Pop-Culture-Inspired Beers

By Jennifer M. Wood  |  October 19, 2013  |  9:32am

Last week, Cooperstown-based Brewery Ommegang announced that it would be re-teaming with the creative marketing minds at HBO to release yet another Game of Thrones-inspired beer—a “Fire and Blood Red Ale,” created in honor of House Targaryen with a label that will pay tribute to its fire-breathing progeny: Drogon, Rhaegal, and Viserion.

Though the newest ale won’t be available until the small-screen adaptation of George R. R. Martin’s fantasy series debuts its fourth season this spring, there are other ways to pay fermented tribute to Westeros, Essos, and many of your other favorite fictional people, places, and things with these pop culture-inspired beers.

1. Take the Black Stout Brewery: Brewery Ommegang City: Cooperstown, NY ABV: 7% Style: Dark Stout No celebration on Game of Thrones would be complete without a never-ending supply of mead, as Peter Dinklage can attest. Which makes the ongoing partnership between Brewery Ommegang and HBO all the more apropos. It all began in March of this year, with the release of Iron Throne Blonde Ale, which quickly became Ommegang’s fastest-selling limited edition beer. So six months later came this spicy stout, crafted in tribute to the mysterious Night’s Watch, which tops a chocolate malt foundation with licorice root and star anise.

2. Sexual Chocolate Brewery: Foothills Brewing City: Winston-Salem, NC ABV: 9.75% Style: Imperial Stout What began as a one-off joke in John Landis’ 1988 comedy classicComing to America (it’s the name of the band that accompanies Mr. Randy Watson in a stirring rendition of “The Greatest Love of All”) has morphed into a potent, cocoa-infused seasonal stout teeming with sweet notes of espresso, molasses, toffee, and dark fruit. Can we get an Ah-men?

3. Heisenberg’s Dark Brewery: Marble Brewery City: Albuquerque, NM ABV: 6.5% Style: India Black Ale Just as Walter White’s signature blue meth has ceased production in the Albuquerque area, so too has Marble Brewery’s fun lineup of Breaking Bad-inspired brews, which became a staple of Marble’s three tap rooms, and made appearances at viewing parties and other culinary events around the city. Served by the growler or keg, brewmaster Ted Rice’s recipes highlighted the teacher-turned-kingpin’s double life with Walter’s White Lie (a tropical-flavored India White Ale) and the more sinister Heisenberg’s Dark, which packed an unexpected citrus punch.

4. Holy Grail Ale Brewery: Black Sheep Brewery City: Masham, England ABV: 4.7% Style: English Pale Ale Originally created in 1999 in honor of Monty Python’s 30th anniversary, Black Sheep Brewery’s funny bone-tickling brew is still in demand more than a decade later. And it lives up to its name with favorable ratings from well-respected industry critics like BeerAdvocate. It’s made with classic Maris Otter malt, old English hops and a pinch of wheat, which the bottle cheekily promises was “tempered over burning witches.”

5. Dayman Coffee IPA Brewery: Stone Brewing Co. City: Escondido, CA ABV: 8.7% Style: Coffee IPA Considering that It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is about a group of friends who own a bar, and that 90 percent of the show takes place within said bar, it only makes sense that a signature brew would follow. Around the same time that Game of Thronesgot its first namesake beverage, so did the gang from Paddy’s Pub, courtesy of a collaboration between Aleman Brewing, Two Brothers Brewing Co., and Stone Brewing Co. A play on the show’s “The Nightman Cometh” rock-opera, Dayman enlivens the hop profile of an IPA with freshly roasted coffee beans, easing the transition from Nightman to Dayman (Champion of the Sun… ah-AH-ah).

6. The Dogfather Brewery: Laughing Dog Brewery City: Ponderay, ID ABV: 10% Style: Imperial Stout Laughing Dog Brewery’s ode to the code of Omertà is released in limited batches each November, making it as elusive as Whitey Bulger for all those years. The 2013 brew—which be made available in 22-ounce bottles and kegs—has been aged in charred bourbon barrels, giving it the sort of dark and smoky texture that Don Corleone would certainly appreciate.

7. Duff Beer Brewery: Eschweger Klosterbrauerei City: Eschwege, Germany ABV: 4.7% Style: German Pilsner For 24 years, you’ve watched Homer Simpson while away the hours at Moe’s Tavern, guzzling down can upon can of the now-iconic Duff Beer. And while the only place to get the show’s “official” brew is at The Simpsons Ride at Universal Studios Orlando, Germany’s Eschweger Klosterbrauerei has been cooking up their own rendition of the red can wonder—which they refer to as The Legendary Duff Beer—and been immune to legal action under European trademark laws.

8. Imperial Stout Trooper Brewery: New England Brewing Company City: Woodbridge, CT ABV: 8.5% Style: Russian Imperial Stout Yet another unofficial beer inspired by an iconic pop culture property, the New England Brewing Company’s Website describes the origins of its full-bodied Imperial Stout Trooper—made with a blend of seven different malts and Northern Brewer hops—as “brewed in a brewery not too far away and not too long ago…”

9. Nosferatu Brewery: Great Lakes Brewing Co. City: Cleveland, OH ABV: 8% Style: Imperial Red Ale Long before there was Eric and Bill or Edward and Bella, vampire lovers were all Team Nosferatu. Released each September—just in time for your alcohol-fueled Halloween festivities—this potent-but-easily drinkable blood-red ale can have you sleeping through the daylight hours if you’re not careful.

10. Wrath of Pecant Brewery: Dogfish Head City: Milton, DE ABV: 6% Style: Brown Ale Pop culture collaborations are a cornerstone of the business at Dogfish Head (the guys even had their own Discovery Channel reality show, Brew Masters, in which audiences got to see them develop Bitches Brew, a limited edition Imperial Stout to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Miles Davis’ iconic album). So it was only a matter of time before they paid tribute to the ultimate example of fandom: Star Trek. In conjunction with BeerAdvocate founders Jason and Todd Alström, the team created this pecan wood-smoked brown ale with plantains and carob for Boston’s 2010 Extreme Beer Fest. Once they had the recipe down, they left the naming up to the public. The bad news? It’s no longer in production (though you can purchase its now-iconic label for just north of $2 on ebay).

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Scrumptious foods you probably didn’t realize could be made with beer

IPA Lemon Bars

Recipe HERE

Ale, Cauliflower and White Cheddar Soup

Recipe HERE

Bacon Cheddar Beer Bread

Recipe HERE

Beeramisu

Recipe HERE

Beer and Honey BBQ Chicken Skewers

Recipe HERE

Beer BBQ Meatballs

Recipe HERE

Beer Bread Grilled Beer Cheese Sandwich

Recipe HERE

Beer Brownies

Recipe HERE

Beer Cheese Chicken Pretzel Sliders

Recipe HERE

Beer Cheese Tater Tot Pizza

Recipe HERE

Beer-Soaked Chili Cheese Fries

Recipe HERE

Black and Blue Mac and Cheese with Guinness Cheese Sauce

Recipe HERE

Drunken Irish Cinnamon Rolls

Recipe HERE

Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Stout Ice Cream

Recipe HERE

Jameson Burger with Guinness Cheese Sauce and Onions

Recipe HERE

Milk Stout French Toast

Recipe HERE

Pilsner Waffles with Amber Ale Caramel Sauce

Recipe HERE

Pull-Apart Pretzel Skillet with Beer Cheese Dip

Recipe HERE

Via EliteDaily

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Women in Beer: A Portraiture Series

By Heather Galanty

The craft beer industry, a notoriously male-dominated sphere, is experiencing a major shift in demographics. Not only are more women enjoying beer, but increasingly they are becoming the brewers themselves.

After reading an article about Local Brewing Co., a brewery owned and operated by two women, San Francisco photographer Natalie Jenks was inspired to create a portraiture series celebrating women in beer. She began this journey in July 2015, becoming increasingly impressed with the various jobs that females were holding in the industry. From her subjects, she quickly discovered that women were occupying positions across the craft beer industry spectrum, fulfilling roles such as brewery owner, brewer, lab manager, beer delivery and marketing coordinator, among others.

In creating these portraits, Jenks desired to emphasize the role of each individual female within the context of her workplace. Interestingly, she learned from her subjects that, unlike many other largely male fields, the craft beer industry is truly one of collaboration, not competition. Women in beer are quickly becoming less of an anomaly, and as Jenks states on her website, “The hope is that we get to a place where it’s not about being a woman, it’s just about making great beer.”

Jenna Blair, Brewery Lab Manager, Speakeasy Ales & Lagers

Erica Talbot, Market Manager Bay Area, Firestone Walker Brewery, Certified Cicerone

Mara San Felipe, Director of Human Resources, 21st Amendment Brewery

Ruth Milne, Delivery & Merchandising, Santa Cruz Ale Works

Tiffany McFarland, Territory Manager, Fieldwork Brewing Company

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6 Churches Turned Craft Breweries

By Heather Galanty

With the number of American craft breweries at an all-time high and an average of two new breweries opening each day, you’re bound to find beer being served in some unusual settings:

Argus Brewery | Chicago, IL | stable built for Schlitz Brewing Co. in 1907

Old Firehouse Brewery | Williamsburg, OH |  retired firehouse

Kellys Brewpub | Albuquerque, NM | 1939 Ford dealership and service station

Breaker Brewing Co. | Wilkes-Barre, PA | former Catholic school and convent

Urban Artifact | Cincinnati, OH | historic St. Patrick’s Church

Yes, you read that right—a church. In fact, there are several craft breweries that have found homes in now-defunct religious institutions, and these holy taprooms are serving up a whole lot more than meager sips of wine on Sundays.

The Church Brew Works | Pittsburgh, PA

St. John the Baptist Church lay dormant for three years until 1996, when The Church Brew Works reopened its doors. The new owners lovingly and painstakingly restored the 1902 building, reshaping the original pews to better fit the new tables and using the extra oak planks to build the bar.

The original Douglas fir floors, which had been hidden beneath plywood for 50 years, were carefully refinished, and the eight original lanterns in the central bay were repainted and re-installed. The stained glass windows remain, and the brewhouse stands on the original altar.

To accompany the stunning setting, The Church Brew Works offers several award-winning brews, including Pious Monk Dunkel and Mad Brewer Maibock, as well as an extensive food menu.

Taft’s Ale House | Cincinnati, OH

Taft’s Ale House occupies old St. Paul’s Evangelical Church, once the oldest Protestant parish in Cincinnati. Unlike The Church Brew Works, Taft’s doesn’t focus on the building’s prior use. Instead, their brewery centers around one of the city’s most famous citizens—William Howard Taft, 27th President of the United States. The brewery’s logo even pays homage to the well-known tale of Taft getting stuck in his bathtub, and the brewery’s Tweets are from the former President’s point of view.

BeerAdvocate recently named Taft’s as one of the best new breweries to open in 2015. Their food menu revolves mainly around versions of tri-tip steak, while their taps boast brews like:

Nellie’s Key Lime Caribbean Ale | American ale brewed with Key Lime juice

Strudelbock | bock brewed with local apple cider and cinnamon

Skronk Juice | rye IPA

Cincinnati Cobra | American pale ale

Urban Artifact | Cincinnati, OH

Another church-turned-brewery in the Queen City, Urban Artifact is a craft brewery boasting a taproom, full bar and live music venue. The taproom, with space for several hundred people, is housed in the lower level of historic St. Patrick’s Church in Northside Cincinnati while the two-vessel, 30-barrel brewhouse is housed in the old gymnasium just behind the church.

With a focus on “wild, funky, tart, mouthwatering and gossip worthy” beers, all of Urban Artifacts’ beers are made with wild yeast and bacteria. Their flagships run the gamut of sourness, offering something for everyone and include:

Finn | Berliner pale ale

Maize | Kentucky common

Cauldron | dry Irish stout

Phrenology | wild IPA

The brewery works to educate their customers on sour beers, understanding that some people need to be introduced to their beer more gently.

Salt Springs Brewery | Saline, MI

Salt Springs Brewery began operations in their upcycled church building in summer 2015. The interior is stunning—the original stained glass windows are intact, including a huge, central window that fills the main seating area with colored light. A large chandelier constructed of deer antlers is suspended over the taproom, adding to the ambiance.

Salt Springs offers locally sourced, seasonal food options, wine on tap and have installed a crowler system, which allows patrons to bring home 32-ounce cans of beer, which stay fresh much longer than their growler counterpart. Salt Springs has a variety of beer on tap, including:

3 Kids in a Candy Store IPA

Old Miner ESB

Big Brown Bunny Porter

McMenamins Old Church Brewery | Wilsonville, OR

McMenamins owns several establishments—pubs, breweries, historic hotels, movie theaters, concert venues—throughout Oregon and Washington, but the Wilsonville location is the only one housed in an old church.

This brewery opened in 2011, exactly a century after the building’s inception as a Methodist church, and offers a family-friendly pub, a brewery and outdoor amphitheater. Their three standard beers include:

Hammerhead, a Northwest pale ale

Terminator Stout

Ruby, a light ale brewed with raspberry puree.

Father John’s Microbrewery | Bryan, OH

In 2013, Dr. John Trippy, a retired oral surgeon, opened Father John’s—a “Heavenly, Devilish Brewing Company”—in a former Methodist church.

The original sanctuary was restored and is available for weddings and other functions. An upscale restaurant resides in the church’s basement, boasting a large menu, including bison that’s locally sourced from a nearby bison farm, also owned by Dr. John.

Outdoors is a beer garden surrounded by high stone walls, with paths winding through to peaceful seating areas. Unlike any of the other churches-turned-breweries on this list, Father John’s displays a crypt that was found during the renovation. A piece of glass has been placed above it so that customers can view the coffin beneath.

Beyond the restaurant and brewing operations, Father John’s also offers “brew your own” sessions, in which customers can brew their own beer with the help of brewery staff.

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What's The Meaning Of IBU?

Craft enthusiasts enjoy exploring the depths of pints uncharted, but they don't sail without navigational equipment. One of the most ubiquitous and least comprehensible methods of navigating the heavy seas is the IBU scale.

The rate of bittering is an important influence on taste as the success in the marketplace of the Dogfish Head brand's 60 Minute IPA and 90 Minute IPA has demonstrated. But an IBU scale is more accurate for measuring bitterness than any method based on the rate of hops addition.

IBU is an abbreviation for the International Bitterness Units scale, a gauge of beer's bitterness. What IBUs measure are the parts per million of isohumulone found in a beer.

Isohumulone is the acid found in hops that gives beer its bitter bite.  Though the IBU scale can be used as a general guideline for taste, with lower IBUs corresponding to less bitterness and vice versa, it's important to note that malt and other flavors can mask the taste of bitterness in beer.

Therefore, a beer with 20 IBUs and a minimal malt character may have significantly more bitter taste than a beer with 60 IBUs and a powerful malt profile.

This has led to some debate amongst the craft community about how useful the IBU scale really is. IBUs aren't always reliable indicators of how beer tastes, depending on the style and ingredients. And the scale itself doesn’t account for a variety of factors that affect the actual taste of bitterness in a brew.

As a Gravity/Hops Ratio chart shows, the more malt that is used in brewing, the higher the gravity will be, or the amount of fermentable sugar in the brew. The higher the gravity, the more hop bitterness will be masked. Also, no two brewing setups are the same, meaning the utilization, or rate at which flavor and bittering elements of hops dissolve into beer is never the same.

Other variables include hop varietals used, the age of the hops, and length of time boiled.

The IBU scale also fails to take into account any other bittering agents – some malts, especially black malt can impart acidity, as can a slew of herbs and spices. In fact, before hops were incorporated into the brewing process, a combination of spice and herb known as gruit was the only way achieve the desired acerbic quality.

Unabbreviated and unexplained, IBUs are little more than a number for the consumer to sink their teeth into. And in the hop-centric American market, bigger and bolder are often equivocated with being better, making high IBU counts juicy pieces of fruit-- a built-in talking point for all parties.

The pursuit of hoppiness has created a literally bitter rivalry between breweries.

Flying Monkeys Brewery of Ontario currently leads the pack with “Alpha Fornication,” which clocks in at 2500 IBUs, blowing runner-up Mikkeller’s “Hop Juice X 2007 IBU” out of the water.

What none of these breweries explicitly state is that the human palate can only distinguish up to around 110 IBUs before it tucks into its shell and retreats down the esophagus.

It could be argued that IBUs have become as much a marketing ploy as a tool for understanding beer. So if IBUs aren’t entirely useful to the common drinker, is there a better scale?

“I do think IBUs can be overstated, and therefore can be misleading to the consumer” said Kevin McNerney, head brewer at 5 Seasons Brewing in Atlanta.

McNerney suggests an accompanying scale to define hop aroma, but in the end, “What’s in the bottle is most important.”

John Isenhour, Associate Professor of Brewing Science at Kennesaw State University, agrees that the best way to measure a beer’s qualities are with the five senses.

“With taste preferences and abilities all over the map, I'm not sure that IBUs in the current state of craft brewing tells the consumer an awful lot. My advice: just try a sample at the right temperature.”

To the brewer, beer is art, and art cannot be quantified. Treat IBUs like an art critique: a resource for insight and appreciation. But take them with a grain of salt. After all, beauty is in the eye of the beer-holder.

02/12/2015By: Jim Dykstra

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IS IT THE END OF CRAFT BEER AS WE KNOW IT?

All About Beer Magazine - Volume 36, Issue 6December 1, 2015By

Harry Schuhmacher

Harry Schuhmacher is the editor and publisher of Beer Business Daily.

Editor’s note: This article appeared in our January issue, and several additional acquisitions and consolidations have occurred since it was written.

Buckle your seat belts. The speed at which sales are happening across the beer industry is frightening, and earlier this summer I had a front seat to one of the more talked-about acquisitions. I was in Mexico, summoned there by Meg Gill, one of the co-founders of Golden Road Brewing of Los Angeles. She wanted to share news that was about to break.

“I’m getting align-ed,” she said in a fake Portuguese accent, “with the Brazeelians!” She was selling out to Anheuser-Busch InBev. Or more specifically AB InBev was buying out two of her three partners, while she and CFO Paul Burgis reinvested most of their portions back into the company and will stay on.

Knowing Meg is a free spirit who doesn’t take commands well from higher-ups, I asked, “Why would you do such an incomprehensible thing?” She shot back, “It was your f__ing idea.” (I had visited the brewery a few months earlier and mentioned offhand, “AB would probably be really interested in a joint like this.”) She continued: “It was the right time for our partners, and I honestly believe in AB’s vision for craft beer in California.”

Such is the future—nay, the present—of beer. Just in the last year, we’ve seen AB InBev buy Blue Point, 10 Barrel Brewing, Elysian Brewing and Virtue Cider, and now Golden Road. MillerCoors has bought a stake in Saint Archer. Firestone Walker sold to Duvel Moortgat. Founders sold a 30 percent stake to Spain’s Mahou San Miguel, and Lagunitas sold a 50 percent stake to Heineken. Constellation Beer is in the hunt for a craft brewer, as is Diageo-Guinness USA and Pabst. And those investments are the ones we know about. Tony Magee at Lagunitas told me that there are “likely hundreds of brewers who have taken private equity money to fuel growth, but they just don’t publicize it because they don’t have to.”

That, my friends, is the dirty little secret of the craft beer industry. Rob Tod of Allagash told me that once you start growing above about 40 percent a year, in the absence of some pretty significant trade-offs, “it’s awfully tough to continue to finance with traditional bank debt for extended periods. Just too capital-intensive a business.” So, after some time, brewers either need to slow things down or seek alternate funds like outside equity.

Building out brewing capacity, it turns out, is very expensive. Once you start growing big, bank debt can’t even keep up with the cost of building capacity. So unless you have a very rich uncle or an angel investor, “selling out” to private equity or a big brewer suddenly becomes a viable option. In fact, if you ranked the fastest-growing U.S. craft brewers you can bet that those brewers have or will soon require private equity money or endure an acquisition.

For those older stalwart brewers who don’t go either route, we’re seeing the founders prepare for the next generation of ownership. Sierra Nevada and Bell’s have active children of founders in the business. Others are handing off their legacies to their employees, like Harpoon and Left Hand.

Increasingly, private equity is getting into the game, including Oskar Blues, SweetWater, Abita and countless others. Depending on which private equity firm is behind a brewery, certainly some or most of them will want a payback within a certain time frame. When that time frame comes up, who will be holding the bag when these breweries come up for sale? I smell a secondary bubble, or at least a secondary big wave of consolidation.

What does this mean for the consumer? Tough to say. If belts suddenly need to get tightened because the money people are involved and demand softens, we could see lapses in quality. If demand remains robust and consumers continue to demand variety it behooves these better-funded companies to provide them. The key is the people—both consumers and the brewers—remain connected despite where the equity for the equipment comes from. Social media is the force that makes up the difference between this capacity scramble and the one in the late 1990s. But that doesn’t mean we will be immune to another shakeout of sorts. There is only so much shelf space and so many tap handles, and with 4,000 breweries and another 1,000 in planning, once the music stops there are sure to be more brewery closures in our future. Profits and returns still matter, even in the craft beer business.

[doxielover7-blog]

Ordinary, Best and Extra Special: How English Bitter Inspired a Revolution in Brewing

Feature by Jessica Boak and Ray Bailey | Oct 2015 | Issue #105

American drinkers, unless they travel frequently to the UK, will struggle to get to know Bitter. It doesn’t translate well into bottles and the best examples derive their character from the gentle carbonation and an almost-but-not-quite imperceptible funk imparted by cask-conditioning; from subtle variations between house yeast strains; and, crucially, from context. Adnams Bitter, for example, tastes better within sniffing distance of the brewery at a wind-battered maritime pub in Suffolk than it does even a hundred miles away in London.

Bitter is the quintessential English beer. Low in alcohol, light bodied, typically amber-brown in color, it seems to represent the essence of a country where pubs are Victorian and emotions are kept in check. Bitter is also, however, what overseas observers have in mind when they dismiss British beer as “warm and flat” and, for a generation of British brewers inspired by the US craft brewing movement, it is merely “boring brown bitter.” This is a shame not only because the subtleties of Bitter can be a delight for the beer geek willing to learn, but also because craft brewing as we know it was built on its back.

In his vital book Amber, Gold & Black, author Martyn Cornell examines the origins of every major beer style and explains how “bitter beer” and similar terms emerged in 19th century Britain to describe various forms of draft Pale Ale. A widely reprinted 1855 parody of aristocratic politician Charles Greville’s controversial memoirs has Queen Victoria serving the Duke of Wellington “a foaming jug of bitter” and this form, without modifiers, became common in the 20th century. By the 1930s, advertisements for Yorkshire brewery Tetley headlined two types of beer, Mild and Bitter.

After WWII, Bitter really took off as pub-goers began to reject Mild Ale, the previously dominant draft beer style. It had grown darker in the preceding 50 years and had also become a dumping ground for spoiled beer both at the brewery and in pubs where so-called “slops” were returned to the casks. Bitter, meanwhile, had long been a “premium” product and, during a post-war period of prosperity and optimism in which Prime Minister Harold Macmillan could say “most of our people have never had it so good,” quality became more important than price.

At the same time, a handful of conglomerates keen to develop brands that could be advertised nationally began to increasingly dominate British brewing. Mackeson Stout was one such product, as was Skol lager, but most were Bitters. Because their marketing nationwide relied on consistency and a clean taste, these particular beers were not cask-conditioned but instead filtered, pasteurized, force-carbonated and shipped in airtight containers. The most famous of this new breed of so-called “keg bitters” was Watney’s Red Barrel, first launched in the 1930s but pushed heavily from the ’60s onward.

Consumers began to fight back against monopoly brewers in 1963 with the establishment of the Society for the Preservation of Beers from the Wood, an organization whose constitution described keg beers as “blown up out of sealed dustbins.” This battle escalated when, in 1971, four young men from England’s Northwest founded the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), a similar but ultimately more successful organization. They too were enamored of the products made by the hundred or so surviving regional family brewers such as Adnams and Theakston’s and one of the founders, Michael Hardman, was particularly fond of the intensely dry Bitters from Young & Co. of London and Boddington’s of Manchester. In his 1973 Beer Drinker’s Companion, Frank Baillie, an early CAMRA activist, wrote: “It is probably the bitter beers that give the most satisfaction to the beer drinker and which exhibit the most marked variation in palate from different breweries.”

CAMRA’s battle with Watney’s, Whitbread and the other colossal brewing concerns was fought largely over Bitter, and when Watney’s introduced a new cask-conditioned Bitter in 1975, many saw it as a signal of the company’s capitulation.

Alongside CAMRA in the 1970s came the very first microbreweries, most of which had Bitters as their flagship brews. Litchborough Bitter, brewed by former Watney’s employee Bill Urquhart near Northampton, first appeared in 1974. Bitters from similar operations like Godson’s in London (1977) and Butcombe in Bristol (1978) soon followed.

As Britain’s microbrewing revolution took off, the wonders of cask-conditioned Bitter inspired key players in the nascent US craft brewing scene, too. In his 2005 book Microbrewed Adventures, homebrewing advocate and Brewers Association president Charlie Papazian recounts a passionate affair with Brakspear Bitter of Henley-on-Thames during an early trip to England, marvelling at the earthiness and astonishing complexity delivered at less than 4 percent alcohol by volume.

Brooklyn Brewery’s Garrett Oliver has also frequently spoken of the moment when his eyes were opened to the wonders of beer, drinking a pint of Bitter in an anonymous pub near Victoria Station in central London in 1983. In his 2003 book The Brewmaster’s Table, he noted that “it exploded in layers of flavor—hay, earth, newly mowed grass, orange marmalade, and baking bread … it was so interesting that I couldn’t stop drinking it … my beer odyssey had begun.”

And the creation of what is arguably the world’s first American-style IPA, Anchor Brewing’s Liberty Ale, was directly inspired by a visit founder Fritz Maytag and operations manager Gordon MacDermott made to the Timothy Taylor brewery in Keighley in West Yorkshire where they tasted Landlord, a notably stronger and more aromatic interpretation of Bitter still marketed as Pale Ale. (Historically, the terms are interchangeable.)

Today in the UK, Bitter is not a strictly governed style and beers bearing that appellation might be golden to red, drily bitter or honey-sweet, rich in hop perfume or rather austere. Depending on strength, they might be called “Ordinary,” “Best,” or “Extra Special Bitter (ESB).” It is easier, perhaps, to say what Bitter is not. Once the classy alternative to Mild, then the conservative alternative to trendy lager, it is now the preferred choice of the anti-hipster—not Double IPA, and definitely not fruit-infused barrel-aged Saison.

“Many breweries here still retain a honest-to-goodness Bitter in their portfolio and there’s a legion of publicans and landlords who would be loath to stop selling it,” says Leigh Linley, author of the 2013 bookGreat Yorkshire Beer. “There’s plenty of typical Northern boasting of being able to brew ‘a proper Yorkshire bitter’ in the brewing scene—it’s a badge of honor, a due to be paid.”

Though Bitter is drunk all over England, those seeking true enlightenment should consider visiting Yorkshire, a noteable stronghold where names such as Samuel Smith, Joshua Tetley and Timothy Taylor are still spoken with respect. In spite of its enduring appeal however, dedicated Bitter drinkers are sometimes to be heard lamenting its decline. According to Adnams’ head brewer Fergus Fitzgerald, their concerns are not entirely unfounded.

“Southwold Bitter is still our best-selling cask beer and its place as No. 1 is probably secure for some time yet, but it has been caught up by Ghost Ship [a hoppy Golden Ale] in the last few years,” Fitzgerald explains. “When I joined Adnams 10 years ago, Bitter was about 70 percent of what we did, but it’s now closer to 40 percent as we have expanded the range of styles we brew, and as tastes broaden.”

Among younger drinkers in the UK, old-fashioned Bitter is not popular, and it is likely to lose yet more market share in the coming decade. Perhaps in 10 or 20 years though, a new generation of drinkers might appreciate it without prejudice as an expression of place and identity—as something to be cherished at their favorite seaside watering hole.

[doxielover7-blog]

Bubbling to the Top: The Rise of Hard Root Beers

The Business of Beer by Brad Japhe | Oct 2015 | Issue #105

Illustration by Kaley McKean

A quick inventory of bottleshop shelves across the nation today would suggest that the craft brewing movement is under siege by a new kind of root beer. Potentially confused with traditional soda, these so-called botanical beers are anything but soft drinks, emerging as one of the market’s fastest growing segments. Buoyed by the meteoric rise of Not Your Father’s Root Beer, 2015 has undoubtedly brought us the Summer of Botanical Beer. But where will it all end? Or will it?

The term botanical beer has gained serious traction of late, yet the practice of brewing with spices and herbs in place of malts and hops dates back thousands of years. In North America, such improvisation coincided with the arrival of the first European colonists. “There is always the old story about the Pilgrims, bound for Virginia but forced to land in Massachusetts because they ran out of beer,” explains Jeff Hamilton, president of Sprecher Brewing in Milwaukee. “Since there weren’t fields of barley and wheat awaiting them, the ‘beer’ that they produced would have been more like today’s root beer made from whatever sugars that they could forage and ferment,” he adds. “That would have included berries, leaves and roots. Likely inclusions could have been sassafras root and wintergreen leaves, flavors that are still very prevalent in modern root beers.”

Since then, those familiar flavors have become ingrained in the American palate, particularly in the Midwest, where the botanical beer boom was born. Sprecher has been brewing traditional root beer in Wisconsin since 1986, now producing over 100,000 barrels annually. Responding to local demand, it eventually unveiled an alcoholic version. Aged in bourbon barrels, the 5 percent ABV ale was the first hard root beer to appear in early 2012.

Several months later, Tim Kovac, a homebrewer and graphic designer, bottled a limited release of Not Your Father’s Root Beer at Small Town Brewery in Wauconda, Ill. Inspired by Dogfish Head’s Ancient Ales series, Kovac focused on the history of Gruit brewing. “There’s some lost heritage there,” says the founder. “These are different styles of beers that people haven’t tried in hundreds of years.” Ironically, though, his brand’s cultish appeal grew out of a product that, by design, smells and tastes precisely like a modern drink. “Though we can’t divulge our recipe, our unique flavor comes from ingredients including sarsaparilla, birch bark and Madagascar vanilla, as well as natural botanical extracts like oak, ginger, wintergreen, licorice, honey, citrus and mint. It took us years to get it where it is today, and countless batches.”

Where they are today is smack in the middle of a mainstream explosion, with distribution channels soon to reach all 50 states, helped in no small part by an exclusive distribution agreement with Pabst Brewing Company. The brand’s skyrocketing success was enough to position Small Town Brewery among the top 10 highest-selling craft breweries of the summer. According to Nielsen, $13.1 million in sales of NYFRB were scanned at off premise stores and chains in July alone.

Under this soaring tent pole, several notable producers have set up shop including Chicago’s Berghoff Brewery with Rowdy Root Beer, and more recently Boston Beer Company’s Coney Island brand with Hard Root Beer. Distributors, in turn, are scrambling to incorporate other hard root beer makers into their portfolios.

The trend is not without its detractors, of course. Many craft drinkers are dismissive of the category entirely, deriding it as the second coming of Zima, or an extension of so-called “malternatives” like Smirnoff Ice and Mike’s Hard Lemonade. And the fact that Not Your Father’s Root Beer is currently produced at a La Crosse, Wis., facility that makes both of those flavored malt beverages certainly doesn’t ease concerns. Plus, as enchanting as it might be for botanical brewers to channel Gruits and ancient ales, hard root beers are typically developed in a conspicuously less quaint process; a high-alcohol liquid consisting primarily of corn, is watered down and used as a canvas upon which layers of sugar syrup and spices are added. For its part, the TTB, the notoriously finicky government agency in charge of label approval, has been surprisingly nonchalant, allowing these products brewed without much—if any—malted barley or hops to carry “beer” and “ale” on their labels.

Distancing themselves from the aforementioned brands, Forbidden Root opted for an alternative approach when entering the market in 2014. Robert Finkel, owner and “Rootmaster” of the Chicago-based brewery, was emboldened by the farm-to-table food movement and his approach therefore focuses on balance versus palate-wrecking, over-the-top, ultra-hoppy IPAs. “Chefs and mixologists have plowed the soil to cultivate palates, and people seem ready for non-hop bombs that they can session and pair,” Finkel says. “Our version is aromatic, not sweet, all natural, oak-aged and drinks like a beer,” he stresses, highlighting the distinctions of his root-based beer, which took two years and 20 unique botanicals to develop. “Adults who love a sarsaparilla profile, yet don’t want a cloyingly sweet experience, and would like to have three, would prefer our beer.”

Forbidden Root is gaining momentum, but not at nearly the same rate as the less-nuanced hard soda segment from which it deviates. Even as the visibility of that segment widens though, a palpable backlash is mounting. Nevertheless, it won’t be enough to beat back the initial deluge of hard ginger ales and orange sodas coming soon to a package store near you.

In the meantime, pubs from coast to coast have found a compromise certain to please lots of people: the hard root beer float. One noteworthy example is served at Idle Hour in North Hollywood, Calif., where a glass of NYFRB is topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and whipped cream made from Ballast Point’s Fugu Horchata Vodka. Beer trends may come and go, but our Great National Sweet Tooth is here to stay.

[doxielover7-blog]

Bubbling to the Top: The Rise of Hard Root Beers

The Business of Beer by Brad Japhe | Oct 2015 | Issue #105

Illustration by Kaley McKean

A quick inventory of bottle shop shelves across the nation today would suggest that the craft brewing movement is under siege by a new kind of root beer. Potentially confused with traditional soda, these so-called botanical beers are anything but soft drinks, emerging as one of the market’s fastest growing segments. Buoyed by the meteoric rise of Not Your Father’s Root Beer, 2015 has undoubtedly brought us the Summer of Botanical Beer. But where will it all end? Or will it?

The term botanical beer has gained serious traction of late, yet the practice of brewing with spices and herbs in place of malts and hops dates back thousands of years. In North America, such improvisation coincided with the arrival of the first European colonists. “There is always the old story about the Pilgrims, bound for Virginia but forced to land in Massachusetts because they ran out of beer,” explains Jeff Hamilton, president of Sprecher Brewing in Milwaukee. “Since there weren’t fields of barley and wheat awaiting them, the ‘beer’ that they produced would have been more like today’s root beer made from whatever sugars that they could forage and ferment,” he adds. “That would have included berries, leaves and roots. Likely inclusions could have been sassafras root and wintergreen leaves, flavors that are still very prevalent in modern root beers.”

Since then, those familiar flavors have become ingrained in the American palate, particularly in the Midwest, where the botanical beer boom was born. Sprecher has been brewing traditional root beer in Wisconsin since 1986, now producing over 100,000 barrels annually. Responding to local demand, it eventually unveiled an alcoholic version. Aged in bourbon barrels, the 5 percent ABV ale was the first hard root beer to appear in early 2012.

Several months later, Tim Kovac, a home brewer and graphic designer, bottled a limited release of Not Your Father’s Root Beer at Small Town Brewery in Wauconda, Ill. Inspired by Dogfish Head’s Ancient Ales series, Kovac focused on the history of Gruit brewing. “There’s some lost heritage there,” says the founder. “These are different styles of beers that people haven’t tried in hundreds of years.” Ironically, though, his brand’s cultish appeal grew out of a product that, by design, smells and tastes precisely like a modern drink. “Though we can’t divulge our recipe, our unique flavor comes from ingredients including sarsaparilla, birch bark and Madagascar vanilla, as well as natural botanical extracts like oak, ginger, wintergreen, licorice, honey, citrus and mint. It took us years to get it where it is today, and countless batches.”

Where they are today is smack in the middle of a mainstream explosion, with distribution channels soon to reach all 50 states, helped in no small part by an exclusive distribution agreement with Pabst Brewing Company. The brand’s skyrocketing success was enough to position Small Town Brewery among the top 10 highest-selling craft breweries of the summer. According to Nielsen, $13.1 million in sales of NYFRB were scanned at off premise stores and chains in July alone.

Under this soaring tent pole, several notable producers have set up shop including Chicago’s Berghoff Brewery with Rowdy Root Beer, and more recently Boston Beer Company’s Coney Island brand with Hard Root Beer. Distributors, in turn, are scrambling to incorporate other hard root beer makers into their portfolios.

The trend is not without its detractors, of course. Many craft drinkers are dismissive of the category entirely, deriding it as the second coming of Zima, or an extension of so-called “malternatives” like Smirnoff Ice and Mike’s Hard Lemonade. And the fact that Not Your Father’s Root Beer is currently produced at a La Crosse, Wis., facility that makes both of those flavored malt beverages certainly doesn’t ease concerns. Plus, as enchanting as it might be for botanical brewers to channel Gruits and ancient ales, hard root beers are typically developed in a conspicuously less quaint process; a high-alcohol liquid consisting primarily of corn, is watered down and used as a canvas upon which layers of sugar syrup and spices are added. For its part, the TTB, the notoriously finicky government agency in charge of label approval, has been surprisingly nonchalant, allowing these products brewed without much—if any—malted barley or hops to carry “beer” and “ale” on their labels.

Distancing themselves from the aforementioned brands, Forbidden Root opted for an alternative approach when entering the market in 2014. Robert Finkel, owner and “Rootmaster” of the Chicago-based brewery, was emboldened by the farm-to-table food movement and his approach therefore focuses on balance versus palate-wrecking, over-the-top, ultra-hoppy IPAs. “Chefs and mixologists have plowed the soil to cultivate palates, and people seem ready for non-hop bombs that they can session and pair,” Finkel says. “Our version is aromatic, not sweet, all natural, oak-aged and drinks like a beer,” he stresses, highlighting the distinctions of his root-based beer, which took two years and 20 unique botanicals to develop. “Adults who love a sarsaparilla profile, yet don’t want a cloyingly sweet experience, and would like to have three, would prefer our beer.”

Forbidden Root is gaining momentum, but not at nearly the same rate as the less-nuanced hard soda segment from which it deviates. Even as the visibility of that segment widens though, a palpable backlash is mounting. Nevertheless, it won’t be enough to beat back the initial deluge of hard ginger ales and orange sodas coming soon to a package store near you.

In the meantime, pubs from coast to coast have found a compromise certain to please lots of people: the hard root beer float. One noteworthy example is served at Idle Hour in North Hollywood, Calif., where a glass of NYFRB is topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and whipped cream made from Ballast Point’s Fugu Horchata Vodka. Beer trends may come and go, but our Great National Sweet Tooth is here to stay.

[justanotherbeer]

Mexas Ranger by Mikkeller (Spiced, Almond Milk, Cocoa, Chili, Black Bean Stout) (6.6% ABV, Denmark). @mikkellerbeer @thewoods_cpa #ale #beer #craftbeer #craftbeerlife #mexasranger #spicedstout #chilistout #mikkeller #denmark #instabeer #thewoods #chapelallerton #brewstagram #beertography #brewpix #beeroclock #beeroftheday #beerporn #craftbeerporn #craftbeerlover (at The Woods)

[doxielover7-blog]

This one sounds good...

[doxielover7-blog]

The Basics of Craft Beer

Craft-brewed beer is on trend in the foodie world. But you don't need to become an expert to identify a good craft-brewed beer. Learning about beer is easy and fun, and best of all, you get to learn by tasting!

Here are some helpful hints to make you an aficionado in no time.

You may have noticed an interesting phenomenon as of late. Are strange new beers appearing on the shelves of local grocery stores and in restaurants? These craft beers from local breweries have been gaining in popularity since the mid-2000s. A lot of them have fun, quirky and sometimes even irreverent labels that may have piqued your interest. Don't be scared! All you need is a little Craft Beer 101 and a sense of adventure!

So, what is a craft beer?

Craft beers are typically from small, independent breweries — so small, actually, that they barely peak at 2 million barrels a year. Also called "microbreweries," these folks focus on creating a traditional local flavor or putting a fun new spin on old favorites. But not all local beer comes from microbreweries. You may find a local brewpub that has facilities where they create artisan brews you can only find in their restaurant. Some of the big boys are also getting in on the game, putting out some fun flavors of their own. These may not be considered "craft beers" by serious connoisseur, but that doesn't mean they're bad, either.

Craft beers often have a more carefully developed flavor than their mass-produced counterparts and you'll see a lot of specialty flavors and interesting combinations. If you're used to drinking one of the Big Three (whose Super Bowl commercials we all know and love), you're missing out on these interesting and sometimes complex brews. And remember, craft beer doesn't mean dark and bold, it just means different.

Craft beers are like fine wines

Much like wine, every craft beer has specific qualities that are affected by its ingredients, the region it's produced in, how long it was fermented and more. Many Americans are only familiar with what's called an American pilsner (a pale lager, i.e., Budweiser). But if you've already ventured into the deeper waters of Sam Adams, you've had something called a Boston lager, which is a bit darker and more robust.

Also like a fine wine, beers should be properly paired with the food you're eating to ensure they don't clash. You'll want to skip the Young's Double-Chocolate Stout if you're having shrimp scampi. But that's not the only similarity. Different types of beers should be served in different types of glasses to allow them to properly breathe and ensure you fully appreciate the unique flavor profile. Some beers should be served in pint glasses, while others should come in steins, chalices or even flutes.

The DNA of beer

For the most part, beer is barley, hops, yeast and water that are allowed to ferment. Different beers use different qualities and combinations of these ingredients, which affect the flavor, color and head (foam) of the beer. Additionally, they may have other ingredients, depending on the type of beer and the season in which it's brewed. Summer beers may have citrus or other fruit flavors, while winter beers are often brewed with spices like nutmeg and cinnamon.

Brew styles

You've probably heard the terms "ale" and "lager." In The States, the lager is king, so if you're a novice, that's probably what you've had. Lagers are crisper and cleaner in flavor, whereas ales are more robust and complex. But there's a third category of beer you may not be familiar with called "Lambic" beers. These beers are bright, sometimes sour or fruity and always unique.

But these are just general categories. The possibilities are as endless as the creativity of the brewmaster! If you're not a fan of Christmas ales because you don't like the spicy flavors, you probably won't like any of them. But if you just find a particular brewery's to have more cinnamon that you care for, don't give up on them altogether. Similarly, the pear flavor in Ace's brand is different than the pear flavor in Woodchuck's. If you think Ace is too tart or dry, try another hard cider brand. The same goes for lagers and Lambics!

Pop quiz: vocabulary

If you're going to add "beer aficionado" to your resume, you need to learn the lingo first. Not only will it help you in those heated discussions with your brew-savvy friends, but you'll start to understand more about what you're tasting.

Body: the sense of fullness or viscosity of the beer on your palate. Beer is usually described as being thin-, light-, medium-, or full-bodied

Complex: beer that involves multiple flavors and sensations on your palate

Crisp: effervescent and bubbly

Hoppy: having a bitter flavor of hops and a spicy aroma

Malty: sweet caramel-like flavors

Mouthfeel: sensations of warmth, carbonation, dryness, etc., on your palate

Roasty/toasty: roasted grain (not burnt) flavors

In addition to this key vocab, you should pay attention to the flavors you're tasting. If you're a novice, it's often helpful to read the labels, where they'll usually describe the beer in mouthwatering detail. Do you taste the lemon (or nutmeg or chocolate)? You can also use your smartphone to search for info about the beer. Don't worry! It's not cheating when you're a rookie. That's how you learn. If there's a local craft brewery near you, you can also do a tour if they offer one. They often come with samples that you taste while real experts describe every sensation.

by Heather Barnett

[doxielover7-blog]

7 Coconut Beers to Drink during the Year of Coconut

Published: 2016-02-18

Many trend-watchers have declared coconut 2016’s flavor of the year. Firmenich, a Swiss company in the perfume and flavor business, credits coconut’s trendiness to the emergence of coconut water at yoga studios. Personally, I’ve observed an emergence of coconut beers at breweries. Here are seven beers brewed with the flavor of the year.

Oskar Blues Brewery Death By Coconut

This Irish porter is brewed with dark chocolate and extra dark caramel malts, coconut, and pure liquid cacao from Cholaca in Boulder, Colorado. This beer, which won a 2014 Great American Beer Festival award in the Chocolate Beer category, comes out once a year in 12-ounce cans.

NoDa Brewing Company Coco Loco Porter

Here’s another chocolate and coconut porter that comes in a 16-ounce can. It’s a year-round offering from NoDa Brewing Company (Charlotte, North Carolina) that’s brewed with cacao nibs and coconut that’s toasted at the brewery.

Creature Comforts Brewing Co. KoKo Buni

It’s not every day you find a milk porter. The Koko Buni is brewed and aged on toasted coconut, cocoa nibs from a local Athens, Georgia, chocolatier Condor Chocolates, and coffee from nearby roaster 1000 Faces. “The name actually comes from the raw ingredients we use in the beer,” says the brewery website. “Koko means coconut in Papiamento, a common language in parts of the Carribean, while Buni means coffee in Swahili, a common language in southeastern Africa.” Look for this beer, Creature Comforts’ first seasonal, in autumn months.

Maui Brewing CoCoNuT PorTeR

This Hawaiian craft brewery has made a name for itself with this coconut porter. Perhaps one of the first widely known coconut craft beers and one of the hoppier coconut beers to boot, CoCoNuT PorTeR is a robust porter brewed with six varieties of malted barley, hops, and hand-toasted coconut.

Funky Buddha Brewing Last Snow Porter

Funky Buddha (Oakland Park, Florida) Founder Ryan Sentz says that his brewery has always focused on “culinary-style beers” brewed with a huge variety of fruit, vegetable, herb, spice, and other flavorful additions beyond barley and hops. The Last Snow Porter is no exception—it’s a rich, creamy porter brewed with coconut and coffee. This beer is an “ode to that special time in Florida where the needle dips just south of 75 degrees.”

The Bruery Mash & Coconut

Here’s an unexpected, but perfect, beer style for a coconut addition: barleywine. This one is aged in whiskey barrels. The base beer for this creation is The Bruery’s English-style barleywine. Added coconut gives this beer a tropical flavor and aroma, which plays well with its existing burnt caramel and vanilla notes.

Schnebly Brewery Big Rod Coconut Ale

A lighter style of beer brewed with coconut is the Big Rod Coconut blonde ale from Schnebly Brewery in Homestead, Florida. This crisp, effervescent beer is balanced with caramel notes from its malt bill.

[lacumbrebrewing-blog]

So about that Project Dank…. I mean Slice of Hefen I mean Project Dank I mean…. are those sea monkeys in that beer? This batch of Project Dank was produced completely unfiltered, producing a incredibly cloudy beer that’s brimming with ripe notes of melon, orange, mango, and only moderately bitter. It may look like a hefe, but trust us, it doesn’t drink like a hefe. On tap now!