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Announcing Session #19 - Deutsches Bier

Lootcorp.com is pleased and proud to announce that Session #19 will be hosted right here! In honor of the start of Oktoberfest, I’ve decided to make September’s topic Deutsches Bier - German beer. I want you all to focus on the wonderful contributions our German neighbors have made to the beer world. You can write about a particular German style you really enjoy, a facet of German beer culture which tickles your fancy, or any other way in which Germany and beer have become intertwined in your life. Bonus points for Bavarian-themed posts.

I’m going to ask that no one submit an actual Oktoberfest trip report unless it really had some profound impact on you - the goal is to dig a little deeper and write about how German beers and beer culture have worked their way into your life (and hearts). Oh, and if you absolutely hate all beers German, that’s fair game, too - tell us why!

So, crack open that Märzen, Kölsch, or Weizen and put some polkas on the iPod - get to writing, and I’ll see you back here in a month!

To participate, simply write up your post on Friday, September 5th, 2008. You can leave it as a comment here, or .

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Planning For Oktoberfest

This was the only Oktoberfest picture
I could find…Honest.

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Fermentation Friday 3: Advice For the Noobs

Ah yes, another glorious Friday, and it also happens to be July’s Fermentation Friday! Fermentation Friday was started by Adam over at Beer Bits 2, and it’s a chance for all homebrew bloggers to sound off on a singular theme at a set date - the last Friday of each month (check out Adam’s post explaining the origins).

This month Fermentation Friday is being hosted by John at Brew Dudes, and he has chosen the following theme: What one tip would you give a beginner homebrewer before they brew their first batch and why? (We can only give one tip, and it can’t be “Relax!”) Thanks to John for hosting, and make sure everyone heads to his roundup post to read everyone’s responses!

I thought about this topic for awhile - I pondered discussing how to make a yeast starter, or how to best avoid boilovers. However, I realized many of the tips I had were based on my system and my process, and might not apply to all brewers out there. After some consideration, I came up with a tip that I think all new brewers can benefit from:

Take it slow, start small, and do things the hard way for awhile.

Too often, I see posts on brewing forums to the effect of “Hi, I think I want to start brewing, should I get the Sabco BrewMagic system, or just go straight to the fully-automated 40bbl pilot brewery?” These posts irritate me… It’s a simple fact that it’s always a bad idea to jump into any hobby with both feet and your wallet - you don’t even know if you’re going to enjoy brewing, and if you change your mind in a month, good luck recouping the several thousand dollars you just dropped. Trust me, I know all about having more money than sense, but start off small! There will be ample opportunities to drop coin on this hobby down the road. Get a decent starter kit for $150 or so, and take it from there.

More important than losing your money, however, is the fact that you are going to miss out on so much that makes brewing fun. Brewing is art and science combined, and part of the beauty is that anyone can do it. If you plan carefully and take your time and learn the ins and outs, you can make beer on a stovetop that will rival a batch made on one of those super systems.

The reason you go for an automated system is predictability - the ability to eliminate lots of variables and produce the same results consistently. Sound good? Not when you are starting out! You want variables, you want to make mistakes, because that is how you learn! Your first few batches won’t be your best - do you want to consistently reproduce mediocre beer? Making mistakes will frustrate you and force you to analyze your methods and equipment. Naturally, you will zero in on areas which need improvement, and your system and skills will grow as you progress in your brewing journey. This is the real joy of brewing - starting out with a vision and trying to make it reality. Sometimes you nail it. Sometimes you don’t. Almost always, you will wind up with drinkable beer, even if it is not exactly what you planned. Once in awhile, something will turn out better than you expected - relish these moments, cherish them, then go out and try to make it happen again!

I’m also a big believer in paying your dues. How are you going to appreciate all of the cool features and automation a system provides if you don’t do it “the hard way” first? Brewing is a lot of work, but that adds to the satisfaction you feel when you pour a pint of great homebrew. What satisfaction will you get from pushing a couple of buttons and watching TV for an hour? Put the work in, make some beer, progress to whatever point you wish - the enjoyment should always outweigh the effort.

So start off small and enjoy the journey. You’ll know when it’s time to upgrade equipment, and you’ll understand why an upgrade will help you. You’ll drink a lot of beer along the way, and have the satisfaction of watching (and tasting!) your skills grow with experience. Most of all, have fun with it - it’s a great hobby!

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Review - Long Trail Double Bag Ale

Perusing the shelves of the local liquor emporium yesterday, I spotted a sixer of Long Trail’s Double Bag Ale. I had tasted this one in the past, but I couldn’t quite remember what it was all about. Always down for an adventure, especially of the beer variety, I whisked it away to my secret beer-tasting laboratory (also called “the basement”). Test results were conclusive: I like this beer.

From the label: DOUBLE BAG - This full-bodied double alt is also known as “Stickebier” - German slang for “secret brew”. The secret is that this brew is so smooth, you’d never believe it has an alcohol content of 7.2%!!! INDULGE IN MODERATION!!!!!

Are those Siamese cows?

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Budweiser Goes Belgian?

I’m sure you’ve all heard the news already - beverage giant InBev raised its offer price for Anheuser-Busch, brewers of Budweiser, to $70/share, and A-B agreed to the takeover. The deal still has to be approved by A-B shareholders and U.S. and Eurpoean anti-trust regulators, but the media is treating it like a done deal.

The proposed merger is interesting on so many fronts. Will Budweiser, the quintessential American beer, now be owned by foreigners? Will InBev succeed in becoming the world’s largest brewer (and fourth-largest worldwide consumer products company)? Will InBev, brewer of Stella Artois and Becks, keep the Budweiser recipe intact as they have claimed, or would they dare tinker with such an American icon?

I really don’t know what this means for the beer industry or the craft beer market. A-B is the largest brewer in the U.S. and enjoys a 48% market share. That’s a lot of beer drinkers, and I’m willing to bet a lot of them won’t exactly be happy about a foreign company brewing their Bud. At the same time, SABMiller and Molson Coors are joining forces to consolidate their U.S. and Puerto Rico operations into a new company called MillerCoors. MillerCoors is expected to better weather the industry storm with a combined 30% market share. Have the craft breweries really brought down big beer?

Craft beer has been enjoying explosive growth for some time now. I have been pleasantly surprised at the selection of interesting beers where there used to be only Budweiser and Coors: a hefeweizen at Penn Station? A blonde ale served at Yankee Stadium?? However, big beer still reigns supreme across the land - sometimes in ways which aren’t immediately apparent. After all, you can find Blue Moon on tap in just about every barroom in my neck of the woods, and that happens to be a Coors offering.

That’s right, big beer has been quietly brewing up their own versions of “craft beers”, as well as buying up stakes in craft breweries. A-B itself owns minority stakes in Widmer Brothers and Redhook Ale Brewery. In addition, Michelob, another A-B brand, has been actually winning medals at the GABF and World Beer Cup…I don’t think anyone can argue that an unleashed A-B brewer is a powerful force, and Michelob’s bold offerings - an “Amberbock”, honey lager, and a Märzen, are supposedly closer to craft quality than the yellow fizzy stuff we’re accustomed to (disclaimer: I have not tried any of those beers, but I’m going to try and find them to do a review in the near future).

No matter what happens, it’s obvious the beer industry is in a period of upheaval. Some of the old standards are being tested, and it will be interesting to see if the big breweries lose market share, and if so, where it goes. I think it is important to support your local breweries and brewpubs now, since if the big boys are going through trying times, the smaller guys might be feeling the pinch soon, too.

So, let me know what you think of these developments. Even if you hate A-B and big beer’s beverages, they have made huge contributions to the beer world in general - for example, big beer is largely responsible for the cold-storage distribution chains across the country which help keep our favorite brews in prime condition by the time our locals get them. I just hope this winds up being a good thing, overall, for the beer community. And InBev had better not get rid of those Clydesdales, or Stella will never again touch these lips.

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Private Tastings 1: Charlie Papazian

Charlie Papazian

I’m very proud to report our first Private Tastings is with none other than Charlie Papazian. Charlie is easily one of the most recognized names in the beer community. He is the author of five best-selling books, including The Complete Joy of Homebrewing and Microbrewed Adventures. He is also the founder of the Association of Brewers, which evolved into today’s Brewer’s Association (of which he is president). If you don’t know who he is, you probably found this website by mistake.

I’m thrilled Charlie was able to take a few moments out of his extremely busy schedule to answer a handful of questions for me. So, without further ado, here is the first in what will hopefully be a long series of Private Tastings!

Private Tastings: There appears to be a divide in the craft beer community - some believe beer is well-served by following in the footsteps of the wine revolution. Others feel that beer should not compare itself to wine. Do you feel the interests of the beer industry are better served by following the path laid out by wine, or by forging a brand new path?

Charlie Papazian: I’m not aware of any “divide” though I’d be interested in being pointed to the direction where that divide exists. 40 years ago, American wine went from cheap rotgut context to now enjoy world class admiration. There’s much to learn in how they did that. The major lesson is “patience” and a vision that American beer deserves a lot more respect than it has received in the past. Beer enthusiasts today realize all the great flavor and diversity that American and other beers can offer. The reason why there is that knowledge is because many people have been working at educating the public for decades; slowly one beer drinker at a time. Beer will never go down the same path as wine. How can that even be imagined? They are so very different beverages. Wine has gone down its path. Beer will go down its path. You don’t have to take any cues from wine to forge a vision and path that leads to teaching people that beer is accessible and can be enjoyed on so many different occasions. And there’s no such truth to the statement “I don’t like the taste of beer”. Show me a person who says that I can make a liar out of them in a heartbeat.

PT: What was the catalyst which led you to found the Association of Brewers and get into the political aspects of the industry?

CP: The Association of Brewers doesn’t exist as the AOB any longer. AOB merged with Brewers Association of America in 2005. I founded the American Homebrewers Association, which in turn morphed into Great American Beer Festival, Association of Brewers and other projects (see www.beertown.org). In 1978 in founding the AHA, it was a desire to create a communication vehicle among beer lovers, who back then were limited to homebrewers.

PT: What inspired you to begin homebrewing?

CP: I was in college drinking cheap uninteresting yellow beer. Someone introduced me to homebrew. I never looked back.

PT: Microbrewed Adventures is an amazing book filled with some unique beer experiences you have been able to partake in. For me, the book really underscored how beer can bring us all together. When you look at the multitude of places, people, and events you experienced, it is obvious that beer is a common thread that is enjoyed and appreciated the world over. Out of all your adventures, which would you say is the most important to you and best represents the universal nature of beer?

CP: This is like asking me “what’s my favorite beer?” I can’t really answer that. Because my favorite beer is the one I’m drinking at the moment. My favorite adventure is the one I just had and looking forward to the next. If you have the emotional state of being in the moment, life provides you with so many great beer adventures. Some simple, some seemingly exotic. In the end it’s about the camaraderie, friendships, and seeking the emotional state some call “pleasure”. What’s wrong with that?

So, there you have it! Once again, many thanks to Charlie Papazian for indulging some random blog author who emailed him a bunch of questions. Drop him a line and let him know how much you enjoyed reading it, and maybe he’ll let me bug him some more!

If you know, or are, someone you think should be interviewed for future Private Tastings, please drop me a comment or an email and I’ll do my best to oblige.

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Session 17: Going Against the Grain Bill - Solstice Edition

Sorry to be posting late with this month’s Session - my wisdom tooth adventure took more out of me than I anticipated, and throwing a holiday in the mix didn’t help any. However, I am a firm believer in “better late than never”, so here’s my belated contribution.

This month’s topic is “drinking anti-seasonally”. Sure, there are certain beer styles that just go well with different seasons - light, refreshing lagers and citrusy wheat beers for summertime, or imperial stouts and sweet, heavy Belgians as the weather cools. You could say there is often a natural pairing of weather and beverage - an icy winter’s night just begs for the warming sensation of a high-alcohol big beer, sipped slowly by a raging fire, while a day of exhausting yardwork under a hot sun deserves a light, ice-cold gulper that won’t go to your head. Enjoying a seasonally-appropriate beverage can accentuate the best of both the weather and the beer, but I don’t think there is anything wrong with coloring outside the lines from time to time.

After all, the weather is but one variable I use when deciding what the perfect beer for the moment would be. Am I eating a barbecue dinner, or enjoying a rich chocolate cake for dessert? Am I sitting on the couch enjoying a Saturday-afternoon ballgame, or am I having a nightcap before heading up to bed? Am I on a brewery tour with the opportunity to try a rare stout, or am I staring at a cooler full of Corona at the beach? All of these things and more come into play, and if my refrigerator contained every brand of beer available, I can guarantee I would be drinking a wide variety of different styles throughout a given season.

I liken beer’s “proper seasons” to wine’s “proper pairings” - red wine is to be paired with beef, white with fish and poultry. But who is to tell me I can’t enjoy a nice spicy shiraz with some blackened catfish, or a crisp pinot grigio with a steak? Such pairing guidelines are meant to be just that - a suggestion, a basic default option which will work, but not a set-in-stone regulation that cannot be broken.

That being said, when I brew I do like to plan around the seasons. I enjoy looking at the calendar and planning what I (and my guests) will be enjoying in the coming months. Perhaps I will brew a barleywine in July to enjoy next February. Or, I might want that pumpkin ale I’m dreaming of to be in bottles by Thanksgiving.

I guess it all comes down to personal choice, and I’m thrilled to have so many styles and options to choose from. If worrying that our beer is the wrong style for the season is the worst we have to deal with, I think we’re doing just fine.

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Judging a Beer by It’s Cover

Every Spring, BYO magazine runs a homebrew label contest, and every year I forget to enter. They just announced the 2008 winners, and I once again kicked myself for missing the deadline. Then I remembered - hey, I have a blog now, and can share my labels with you, my faithful readers. I’m no graphic artist, but I do enjoy messing around with the fine arts - so, without further ado, here are a few labels I’ve made for my homebrew over the years (click any of the labels for a larger picture).

First, my flagship brew, Engine 97 Steam Beer. This beer got its name from an old steam engine running out of Essex, CT. We visited the train once and I took a cool picture of engine #97. It seemed a natural fit for a steam beer, so I put the photo to a Van Gogh backdrop and came up with this:

Another “production” label I made was for a batch of Joe’s Ancient Orange mead I made for a mother’s day present for a few moms in my life. The label was designed for a 375 mL dessert wine bottle, so it is in portrait orientation instead of the standard landscape. This was done very quickly, so it’s not very sophisticated, but I like to think it captures the fun and simple essence of the mead. Either way, the moms seemed to like it!

Now we get into the draft labels. That’s right, folks, as a special present for frequenting my blog I’m giving you the behind-the-scenes tour of the art studio!

This one was created for my Client #9 Apricot Pale Ale. This beer was brewed as the Eliot Spitzer scandal broke, and I decided to pay homage to my ex-governor by naming the beer after him. I never finished it, since I haven’t bottled any of this recipe yet - I switched to kegging around the same time. I also don’t really like the fonts or the text, but it is ready to be finished as soon as I brew another batch.

Finally, here is something I came up with last year, when I had the idea to brew a boysenberry wheat beer but never got around to it. This beer became reality in a roundabout way when I brewed my Sunset Wheat clone recently and decided to sub in my boysenberry flavoring instead of blueberry like Leinenkugle’s uses. If you haven’t already, check out the June WoT post and drop a comment suggesting a name for this beer. Once I get that nailed down, I’ll put the finishing touches on this label.

You may have noticed the nautical flags in each label. My brewery is called Harbor Beer Company, and the nautical flags spell out HarborBeerCo. I’m still working on a logo for a bottlecap or neck wrap, probably something with a lighthouse or boat motif.

Well, that’s it! Let me know what you guys think, and if you have any labels of your own to submit, send them in! If we get enough, maybe we’ll do our own label contest!

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Fermentation Friday 2: Crazy Concoctions

Today is my first Fermentation Friday, the brainchild of Adam at Beer Bits 2, and I’ve been looking forward to it! Unfortunately, I had two wisdom teeth removed, so this is getting posted a bit late. That is my level of commitment to the beer blogging community - not even oral surgery and a tummy full of Vicodin can keep me down.

This month’s Fermentation Friday is being hosted by Travis over at CNYBrew - thanks for hosting, Travis, and I can’t wait to read everyone’s submissions.

I fear my entry might be on the boring side of the spectrum. I’ve had several brews which went bad, but only one I can think of where I created something I would call “crazy”. Until recently, I just didn’t have the space or equipment to brew the way I wanted, so every chance to brew was extremely valuable. I never wanted to waste a brewday experimenting too much. One night, however, a perfect storm of leftover ingredients and boredom gave birth to a Frankenbeer.

I had just mixed up a one gallon batch of Joe’s Ancient Orange mead (I’ll post an article with a recipe and process soon - it is an extremely easy and low maintenance way to start making mead).  I had an extra one gallon jug sitting around, and as I cleaned up from the mead session, I started wishing I could’ve brewed that night. At the time, I was still living in an apartment and making partial-mash beers on the stovetop. I was putting away some equipment when I saw some leftover DME and a half pound each of Crystal 40 and 2-row malt. I knew I had a pack of US-56 dry yeast in the freezer, so I got the bright idea to make a one gallon batch of mystery beer.

I cooked up my wort and went to the freezer where I thought I had some Hallertauer hops. When I realized I had used all my hops in my last batch, I didn’t know what to do. I knew I couldn’t brew this thing with no hops whatsoever, so I was about to toss the wort when inspiration struck (famous last words).

I had read about spices brewers used before hops were common. I just happened to have a bunch of rosemary sprigs sitting on my kitchen counter, so I figured, “why the heck not” (other famous last words). I added some rosemary at 60 and 15 minutes into the boil, chilled, and racked the wort into the jug. I clocked the gravity at 1.040, pitched the yeast, and went to bed.

The next day, the stuff was fermenting like crazy! I started thinking this might turn out to be a great beer! I would post my findings online and be heralded as a crazy and experimental brewer like Sam Calagione of Dogfish Head. I started preparing answers for the inevitable interviews from Brew Your Own and Zymurgy magazines. This was going to be cool!

Days passed. As the mead started smelling better and better, my freakshow brew started smelling worse. It kept fermenting and fermenting, and I started having some doubts. I told myself the slightly rank odor was just fermentation byproducts - after all, no beer really smells good when it’s fermenting. I posted my little experiment on a beer forum and got only one response:

Might make an excellent marinade for chicken.

Finally, the day came to try the concoction. I was filled with nervous anticipation as I poured a bit in a taster glass. I gave it a sniff - hmmm, it was a cross between rotten rosemary and old gym socks. I touched the glass to my lips, tipped it slightly, and…

…spat the nastiest stuff I had ever tasted into the sink. I quickly poured the rest of the “beer” down the drain as well, and threw away the jug for good measure. If I had been thinking clearly I would’ve buried it out in the Rockaways somewhere.

So there you have it - my first foray into “scrap brewing”. It didn’t turn out the way I planned, but I haven’t given up. I have plans to create a garlic brew in the near future - primarily for cooking, but who knows? It might just land me in BYO after all!

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