MerzBrau Cellars is a NYC centric craft beer blog
It's New Years Day 2013 and I'm ticking off a resolution! Never mind this is a few years late. I wanted to start this blog a while back but too much work and the lack of a good name got in the way...or that's my excuse. The content to start will at least be more educated. More about the name at the end of the post.
The blog of course is going to be about craft beer passion, knowledge, and experiences. I'm fundamentally concerned with quality, sharing, educating, and raising the level of discourse about what I'm into. I'm a geek by education, trade, and personality. But I'm not a snob. I'm not shy to say I have a soft spot for ice cold Budweiser in a can, provided it is enjoyed in the right context, usually a concert for me. I hope primarily to help form or become part of a community that promotes quality and learning over hype. By doing this on Tumblr I want to spare the other social streams of my friends who are not beer friends or interested in it.
Why do I have something to say worth listening to?
I grew up in the Pacific Northwest and was exposed to the end of the microbrewery bubble there at a very "early" age. My high school was even a few blocks from the awesomely bad Olympia Beer brewery, a cult classic. You could smell the wort on our football fields! But my real craft beer zeitgeist happened circa 2003 or 2004 when I happened to order Unibroue's excellent 9% ABV Abbey Trippel, Le Fin Du Monde. I was blown away, not to mention a little tipsy from just one beer! Since then I've visited nearly 150 beer places around the county and abroad. I've drank an estimated 2000-3000 unique beers across many dozens of styles. I've spent countless hours soaking up craft beer culture in all its mediums. I'll eschew humility this once and say I know a ton about beer that is worth sharing, more than almost anyone I've met personally that hasn't been in the industry for a while.
Check my ratebeer profile for the latest stats and reviews
http://www.ratebeer.com/user/127913/
These are some of the topics I feel strongly about and I will likely incorporate:
Aging and cellaring - I almost started a business around this recently. Cellared beers are the height of my geekery right now. Some beers, like some wine, can be aged for years and even decades. The results can be subtle or dramatic and surprising. As craft beer culture matures in the US this small trend will become important as it takes its place in our cellars, closets, and menus.
Freshness and serving - On the flip side the vast majority of beers are best drank as fresh as possible. Unfortunately this is the reason why most German and British beers don't cross the Atlantic at all or in good shape if they do. Differences in freshness, storage conditions, serving temperature, pour, and glassware can all add up to a profound impact that will make you rethink a beer or miss out altogether.
Reviews, ratings, and palate - While I don't want this blog to be a stream of verbose beer reviews--that's boring--I do have ideas for interesting beers, breweries, verticals, and horizontals that will help to educate both my palate and hopefully yours. I rate and review as many beers as I can on www.ratebeer.com. I have found that reading other reviews while writing my own is a great way to educate my palate. Ratings are also a great way to avoid bad beer.
IPA Haters - Seriously, you don't like hops!?! Who are you and why are you reading my blog. OK, ok...I get it. I even had a period of no-IPAs after a particularly intense hop bomb laid waste to my palate and turned me off. But I came back to the right side and am verifiably addicted to hops again. Let me be your 12-step guide. It's for your own good. You'll thank me!
Beer travel - The short story is use www.ratebeer.com and go. I've done just that for the last 5+ years while on the road for work criss-crossing the county and even the Atlantic. There are some incredible pockets of craft culture and beers you won't get in your local bottle shop ever. Take my advice, leave with spare room in your luggage!
Craft hype and trends - While a rising tide lifts all--a very good thing--local markets are flooded with beers that shouldn't been released or shouldn't have left there own county. Some of it is great but much of it is unfortunate and particularly American in a bad sense.
Big / Extreme beers - I love big barrel aged beers as much as any serious craft beer nerd. However, if a single beer is capable of provoking a hangover it had better be worth it. Too often they aren't.
NYC beer places and events - I've been lucky enough to live and explore NYCs vibrant and fast growing craft beer scene over the past four years. Not only do you never have to drive here, but there are likely a handful of solid walkable options almost anywhere in the city.
Home brewing - I am a fledgling home brewer with a few modestly decent batches under my belt.
Food pairing - I am going to be a contrarian on this topic, in part at least. Beer people always go on about how beer is so much better than wine for pairing with food. While I have had sublime experiences most beers will overpower food with any subtlety. Some of the best craft beer establishments serve food that is of inexplicably low quality and poorly matched to the beer. Wine is a much safer bet for fine dining, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try. As food and beer cultures mature in the US I expect this to get better if we all keep trying and tone down the foodie faddishness for more quality and context.
Other interests - The name of this blog references the noise musician Merzbow and Merzbau, the work of art by Dada related mid-century German artist Kurt Schwitters. "Merz" to Schwitters was a word he made up to refer to the commercial detritus that he used to assemble his art. While not art, a blog about stuff is somewhat analogous. My tastes run a bit differently than most craft beer culture and I may sprinkle that into the mix. While noise is on the extreme end of my music tastes I plan to share about food, coffee, art, design, and music occasionally.
So if you are interested please follow along and chime in whenever you are inspired.
Happy New Year!
Brian Merz
