Abbey Scribe | June 29, 2007

Appellation Beer comments on an article from BusinessWeek that mentions Barrel Aged Beers as an up and coming trend in fine foods and wine.

The post includes several references to Lost Abbey’s barrel collection (one of the largest in the country) and the award-winning beers aged in it.

» Read the full article. (Via Appellation Beer)

Category: News Coverage | No Comments »
Tags:

Tomme | June 26, 2007

Currently, we are the midst of a brewing revolution in this great nation of ours. Craft Brewed beers(for the purposes of my arguement here- beers brewed by artisans, artists and passionate brewers- think non industrialists) are experiencing phenomenal growth. These are the beers that people like Allagash, Avery, Three Floyds and many other brewers make. These are also the beers of my good friend Vinnie who master brews at Russian River Brewing Company.

Vinnie has the amazing series of beers that may or may not be “Belgian Influenced” which all end in the suffix “tion.” We love Vinnie. We love the beers and it’s so much fun sometimes to consider the possibilities in the “tion” sequence. We also recently released a beer called “Devotion” and that sparked a consumer to ask me if I was looking to have a whole line of “tion” beers as well. I mentioned this was not the case but that I have fun with the naming process and have even lobbed a few Vinnie’s way.

So, today I thought I would finally blog about all the “tion” beers you may never see. These are the beers of my imagination and as such only based loosely on moderate innebriation. This is a list of beers that won’t be produced by Vinnie and his merry band of elves then.

10.) Caramelization- An all caramel malt beer. Vinnie abhors the use of caramel malt above a judicious amount. His notion of Judicioius is about 1/10th that of most brewers. He equates it with the Belgian ideals of spicing. If you can discern which Caramel malt he has used, he simply has used too much.

9.) Relaxation- Seriously! There is too much to be done. Vinnie is a tireless worker. I have heard through the grapevine that he works 20 hours a day and has developed a bat like ability to sleep upside hanging from the rafters after he is done dry hopping at night. I am hoping in the not so distant future to acquire this ability. Sort of a Jedi like “I am seeking Yoda” moment.

8.) Guestimation- This is another one of those beers you’re just not sure which style of beer it fits into. Therefore, you are left like most with a best case scenario approximation of where it fits. Me, I chose the word Guestimation as sometimes, we as brewers love to keep people guessing about the beers we’re making. Alternate name- See also Procrastination(keep them waiting too)!

7.) Profligation- An homage beer designed for the thoughtful and those wishing to bow at the altar of greatness that is Vinnie. Barrel aged and becoming increasingly easier to acquire these days. Most certainly, this will see more widespread distribution next year. This is great news for those making the pillgrimage to Santa Rosa to visit their Deity.

6.) Convention- A stronger version of Profligation, this beer brewed once a year will be released at the Winnie Convention. While this Winnie Convention has yet to be santioned by a formal organization, there will no doubt come a day when the faithful “Winnie’s” of the world organize and descend on Santa Rosa each year. You can only earn the Title of being a “Winnie”(wannabe Vinnie) by attempting to clone Pliny the Elder at home. Attempting to brew Pliny the Elder at home gets you bonus points into the club as well.

5.) Consternation- Hell hath no fury like the wrath of a Vinnie scorned. I know. I have seen it. Most are unlikely to have witnessed this. A beer the color of boiling red with vituperative laced bite. A bitter beer that makes an appearance only when the time is right.

4.) Pontification- Another one of those beers that just makes you go “hmm? How did he do it?” And like a magician, he will talk to you with his right hand all the while spiking your glass with Brettanomyces leaving you in awe of his magical powers. I know… I too have been amazed.

3.) Recollection- This is a very heavy beer. It bears the weight of a singular thought- the very thought of recalling a beer based world lacking the infusion of Vinnie. I shudder at the thought each time I recount my world before Vinnie. It’s a very ominous beer to say the least. Thankfully, our world is constantly enriched with Vinnie and as such, we are not force into moments of introspection and recollection of a pre Vinnie Brewing Society.

2.) Speculation- With all these amazing small batch beers being released, it is only a matter of time before he releases the greatest one bottle beer of all time known simply as “Speculation.” As only one bottle will ever be released, the owner is simply left wondering…” I wonder what it tastes like? I wonder if I will ever open it? Screw that, I wonder what it’s worth? ” And this goes hand in hand with all the people who are buying the other barrel aged beers in the hopes that they will be able to pay for their childs college tuition in a Post Vinnie society of brewers(OOOH the Horror!!!)

Drumroll please….. Here comes the Number 1 Beer from Russian River that you’ll never see released.

1.) Vindication- Many years ago, Vinnie gave me well deserved CRAP for naming a beer after myself. He told me he would never do that for one of his beers(name one after himself- not me!) So, if we are ever going to see Vindication, I am guessing that project will fall on my shoulders. The beer will have to be stark yellow lacking any caramel flavor. It will be easily dry hopped in a relaxing manner. We are only left with the best case Guestimation of when this will be. We’re quite certain the label will include a picture of Vinnie seated on the altar. It will most likely be released in conjunction with the First ever Winnie Convention(though not an officially liscensed product) which will force us into some measure of adjudication. He’ll be mad as hell that we used his likeness. The beer will force consumers everywhere to pontificate on whether to buy such a beer. Vinnie will still be one of only a handful of people able to recall a pre Vinnie beer society. There will be mass speculation for this beer. It will initially be offered for $1K per 187ml bottle and the project will crash and burn in Vindication because it’s not like I don’t have enough things going on around here either. I suppose we should get to work on Procrastination Vindication? An homage to our great friend to the north?

Category: Out and About | No Comments »
Tags:

Tomme | June 25, 2007

It’s a simple statement really. For too many, Wine is celebrated and beer is left to apologize for lacking sophistication. Or so it seems. I promised back in my wine infused interview from my last post that I would work on my wine based blog and so here goes nothing.

In the last few months, several authors have found it fashionable to slam beer for apparently “trying to be more like wine and less like beer.” I didn’t realize they had cornered the market on using fancy words to describe the aromatics of fermented liquids. I guess it Christs’ fault? I mean if you want to blame someone, I would start with the Son of God. If he had served beer instead of wine at the last supper or had turned water into beer we might not be having this conversation. So yeah, I blame the Messiah. But I recently finished reading a new book to me called “Fermenting Revolution.” The book actually supports many suppositions that Jesus may actually have been working with Beer(or a barley based beverage) rather than wine in the bible. But, I didn’t mean to digress so far. I want to get back to these oenephiles and sophistication.

Actually, I blame ignorant writers looking to pick a fight amongst consumers who feel that beer is an easy topic. Problem is, beer really isn’t an easy thing to pick on these days. Craft brewed beers continue to see accelerated double digit growth and as such, more and more people are being turned onto the benefits of the explosion of beers that are now available on every corner.

But let’s get back to the article that really caught my attention. It was originally published online by Slate Magazine and titled:

“Beer in the Headlights. Sales are Flat. Wine is ascendant. How did this happen?” It was published on May 30th and has been written about by other bloggers who are much more timely in their writing than I am. In the article the author makes the following assertions in support of wine. I just roll my eyes every time I read them.

Wine marketers have it comparatively easy. They merely summon a picture of a bucolic vineyard or people raising their glasses around a table full of food—they don’t have to sell their selling points.

Unfortunately this much is true. See my post about “Something from Nothing” and you can see that I feel wineries have it too easy when it comes to marketing. They tug at our pastoral strings evoking the beauty of winemaking. Brewing beer does have a disconnect from the land in many ways. It can be problematic to sell Terrior when you’re making beer in the middle of an industrial park one mile from the Highway. Yet, they forget to tell you that numerous wines are made in these same industrial parks. It’s a dirty little secret.

This is why brewers have been frantically pushing beer-and-food pairings lately. Beer—which can be great with food, by the way—is in danger of being left out of the American mealtime, banished to the den (only when pro sports are on) or to the back porch (only for the early rounds of grilling).

Gee, I thought we were pushing beer and food pairings because beer can be a superior beverage when it comes to matching with food. Silly brewers, apparently we’re not ready to graduate to the big people’s table where wine reigns supreme. In reality, we’re already there. Beer and food pairings are working. I see evidence of this everywhere. I guess all the beer dinners that I have attended and presented at this year were really nothing more than a chef trying to placate my ego? But let’s get back to the article. I have more quotes:

Wine is basically an agricultural product (fermented grapes), while beer is the result of a complicated process of manufacture (boiling barley to extract sugars, adding hops and yeast, fermenting the wort that results).

Last time I checked, My barley came from a farmer who tills the soil for a living all the while praying to the Lord his maker for a bountiful crop at harvest. The Hops I use come from another set of Farmers who must tend to their crops during the brutal summer months and pray for no rain at harvest. So I guess that means, they aren’t really farmers then? Mass produced beer down to artisinal beers are ALL produced from living organisms that come from farms. To call beer an engineered product of “complicated manufacture” misses the point. Moving along to the next statement-

This holds true whether the brewer is a medieval English villager or Anheuser-Busch. The hallmark of beer is consistency: A brewer strives to make batch after batch of Pilsener so it tastes the same—and often succeeds without much difficulty. Wine is more variable: The sugar levels and tannins and acidity of the grapes fluctuate from year to year, and so does the character of the resulting wines. This explains why the whole concept of vintages is so central to wine but largely absent from beer.

I would argue that in many ways, beer can be more predictable but even so, ALL beverages will change over time no matter if they be beer or the holier than though Red Wine. The difference is that Domestic Mass producing type brewers strive for consistency. Me, I strive for expression in my beers. I worry not if they vary. What I concern myself with is that they taste great. AND no, I don’t care if you think that beers should always be the same. If that works for you then fine. It doesn’t work for me.

To all the winos out there trying to maintain your romantic notion of life and hillsides with hanging fruit, I have only this to offer. I like Wine too. I drink it often. Yet at the end of the day, your elitist attitudes towards a divine right as the chosen beverage of sophistication may go by the way side. Sure, we have a long road ahead of us. Still in only 11 years as a brewer I have seen numerous mile markers at the side of the road. Each time I pass one, I’m left wondering how many more there are on this road and how quickly we’ll be at the end. I must say, I like what I see.

Category: In The News | No Comments »
Tags:

Tomme | June 24, 2007

Welcome to the Crossroads.

It’s 2007. We are in the midst of what many are calling the most amazing time in the history of beer in our country. So my friends, welcome to the Crossroads of American Brewing. In 30 short years, we have bolted from the basement of brewing and have catapulted ourselves into a pool of the most diverse and progressive thinking brewers in the world. We’ve left our storied but diluted American Brewing History behind us. Now we are fully united as a nation of loose cannons firing shots across every sacred brewing bow in the world. And you know what? It feels good.

Actually, it feels better than good. Why? Because some of the most creative and interesting beers are being made right here in my proverbial backyard.

Sure there is a measure of egotistical Americana involved in a statement such as that. But it’s true. In the last 30 years, we have gone through a revolution of brewing from 65 breweries to over 1400- the likes of which we may never see again. During this transition from pallid watered down lagers to more uniquely American full flavored ales and lagers, we have witnessed the rise of an American Brewing Scene which is inspiring brewers from here to Timbuk 2.

We’ve resurrected styles of beer that were headed the way of the Woolly Mammoth. Extinction is not in our nature as brewers. We believe that our beers live and breathe and that somewhere, even if in a remote corner of South Dakota, there is a consumer who needs our beers. And these days, it seems like there really is a need for these beers.

The internet has fueled a global trading empire for the smallest batch beers. It’s impressive to see beers from Norway and Denmark routinely show up on our bar during samplings. It’s not like that guy walked into his local 7 Eleven and asked them to replace Natty Light. Or did he? I’m starting to see our Wipeout IPA in 22 oz bottles on the shelves of 7 Elevens. I think Global Warming might be causing Hell to slip into some sort of Beer induced perma-freeze? It’s crazy. And at the same time, It’s down right exciting.

So, today I feel like I am truly standing at the Crossroads of American Brewing. We may finally have reached the proverbial Tipping Point- that one place and moment in time where things shift for the better and only later can we look back and view the momentous accomplishments with better clarity. Sir Isaac Newton once proclaimed, “If I have seen further. It is because I have stood on the shoulders of giants.”

A solidified beer foundation has been laid by the pioneers and those who blazed the malted trails before us. These breweries are fully invested and dot the new American Beer landscape. In 30 short years our roads have been carved, paved and continually stretched by the great brewers at Sierra Nevada, Anchor, Widmer, Goose Island, Alaskan Brewing Co and numerous others. And they continue to innovate, experiment and refine their beers ensuring they are delivering a World Class beer at every turn. These are the beers of My American Breweries. These are the beers I think of when I hear the words American Beer.

And for that, I am thankful to have reached the Crossroads when I did. But the coolest thing about Crossroads is that they have several paths leading in and out of the same intersection. In this way, each brewer wandering down the path that is known as American Brewing has an opportunity to set out in differing directions. This is my favorite part of reaching this intersection. Every time you get there, you always get to make a decision about which direction to set off in.

It was inevitable that we would all meet here. When you’re working to grow the whole category of better beer, a party is bound to break out when you start to reap what you have sowed. Today, I see American Craft Beers standing squarely shoulder to shoulder, like giants, at the Crossroads. Our growth numbers are staggering and Americans are clearly embracing flavor and all the excitement our beers offer

During the last 30 years, we have honed our craft and without fail, we have educated the consumer all the while keeping our feet squarely on the accelerator of flavor. In this way, we are consistently delivering new experiences seemingly on a minute by minute basis. Yet, there are always new crusaders joining our cause. The result is that now that we have reached the Crossroads, we get to greet our new fellow brewers who have journeyed to this place as well.

Five years ago, there was no Surly Brewing Co. Captain Lawrence Brewery was only an idea in Scott Vacaro’s mind. And, 60 months ago, there were only a few pieces of scribbles on paper regarding this Lost Abbey. Yet, some of these brewers and their beers now dot the landscape of American Brewing. Don’t for a moment think that people haven’t noticed.

So now that many of us have reached this great place known in my world as The Crossroads, it is our duty to offer assistance to those who have come with good intentions. Those seeking The Crossroads like a miracle diet pill will find only a placebo in their quest. For the Crossroads are not found on a marketing map. You can’t ask a focus group for directions and if you happen to find it mistakenly by the Grace of God, don’t be surprised if an Italian Brewer from Delaware asks you to point your car back in the direction you came from. It was a long tiring road to get here.

We’ve earned the right to be a little arrogant about our beers. Seriously, no where else in the world can you find this level of diversity being exercised at this highest of qualities. In 30 years, we have scaled a massive mountain and we did it by blazing our own trail. Many of us will be seen as the Giants Newton alluded to. But you’ll need to excuse me for a moment as I am not ready to retire just yet. You see the thing about explorers is that they are always looking for the next adventure.

This means that when the time comes to part our ways, we’ll set off going back in a direction possibly from whence we came or potentially, one that we hadn’t realized even existed. Now that I have found this place, I have come to the conclusion that while I like the paths currently leading into and out of it, I typically much prefer the road less traveled.

So, if you see a semi bald brewer wearing board shorts, flip flops wielding and a Chainsaw. Fear not. You have found the fearless author of this tome. Every explorer needs the right tools to navigate his or her way. A chainsaw may be the one piece of equipment that allows me to see the forests from the trees. If you want to meet me at this proverbial intersection, I am always in need of companions. Just make sure you bring enough gasoline to keep the Chainsaw running. As a wise Carpenter once opined, ”We’ve only just begun.”

Category: Around the Brewery | No Comments »
Tags: