Swallowing Trends

Everything follows trends. Fashion, music, campaign slogans, and even something as geeky as web design. For any beer geek and even the casual beer explorer, you are probably aware that the hot style of beers have been the imperials. Imperial Russian stouts, Imperial Pilsners, and the mother of all Imperials, the Imperial India Pale Ale.

For those of you who don't really understand what it means for a beer to be imperial, here is the lowdown. Imperial beers are usually high in alcohol, which mean they have been made with more malt. The higher malt creates more sugar in the brewing process, which means more alcohol is produced in the fermenting process. WooHoo! But with that boost in sugar and without anything else, it will be too sweet of a brew. To balance out this sweetness, brewers add massive amounts of hops, beer's bittering element, and in the case of the Imperial IPA, they add an insane amount of hops. These are the qualities of all imperials, regardless of style.

The interesting thing about trends is that one thing can happen and derail it all. For imperials, that bump has happened. The key ingredient to make an imperial beer is hops. Without hops, an imperial becomes an out-of-balance sweet ale. Hops prices have sky rocketed due to poor crop seasons in the U.K. and eastern europe. The United States' crop production was average, but unfortunately there was a massive fire at a large warehouse and a portion of this years hop harvest burnt up. In addition, hop stockpiles usually are turned into extract for large commercial brewery stockpiles. It is believed that those stockpiles are gone. To make matters worse, much of land that once was cultivated for hop production has gone to more valuable and less fragile crops. As a homebrewer and the last in the long line of those requiring hops, I have seen prices on a few ounces of hops almost double and many are not even in stock. All in all, hops are scarce.

Does this mean that your favorite hoppy beer is is on the verge of extinction? Nope. Many brewers have contracts with farmers and will probably keep on brewing without a change in recipe. But I believe that brewers will be less likely to create a whole new line of beer that require massive amounts of hops. They will continue brewing their hoppy beers because they have built an expectation with their customers, but in the next few years don't expect as many newly developed beers that require lots of hops.


With the fall of thick gold chains came the rise of hammer pants. This too will happen with beer. Now, I am not usually the one that enjoys making predictions, but I think I might have an idea where brewers might stray with these low hop reserves. Beer drinkers have gotten used to these interesting beers that challenge their palette and if brewers don't have hops then they are going to have to create something else to grab our taste buds.

There are two possible avenues I see brewers taking. One is barrel conditioning. I have already begun to see an influx of porters, stouts and other ales conditioned in used wine, wiskey, bourbon and even sake casks. They impart oakiness, vanilla, burnt carmeliness and the most interesting, a sharp sour twang. The sourness is usually imparted thru a yeast strain called Brettanomyces. Typically, this strain of yeast is not a good thing to see in your beer, but when used on purpose, the beer can get interesting. The yeast is already living within the barrel as red wine makers like to use it in low levels to help develop complexity and an aged character. All I know is that it can do some funky stuff with beer and I like it.

The other path that I see breweries following is digging deep into their recipe chest and pulling out their oldies, but goodies. There are many styles of beer that do not get much play today. I have already discussed the Berliner-weisse; then there is the Rauchbier, a smoked malt beer; the Alt, german for old and has a big malt taste; Saison, a crisp french farmhouse ale; or maybe Bier De Garde, another french ale but more malty than the Saison. All of these beers play more with grain and yeast rather than with hops.

These older styles are more likely a short term fix while the other stuff is aging in old barrels. Or maybe we will see a mixture of these old styles of beer conditioned in the oak barrels. I could easily see a Gueuze Lambic, a spontaneously fermented wheat ale, conditioned in an old Pinot Noir barrel.

While some may not be as excited about my Pinot Lambic as they are about an imperial coffee stout, one thing for sure is that when ingredients go scarce, the chefs begin to cook with what they have. For me, as long as it keeps my interests peaked and something other than a bud in my hand, I will be happy.

Cheers!

Confessions of a Recovering Extreme Beer Drinker

Ok, I admit it. I am in remission. I have been an extreme beer drinker for sometime. Double Wit ale? Sure, never had that before (sorta hard to finish a pint). If there is a a double IPA cask conditioned in Pinot Noir oak barrels on a pull cask, serve it up please. I think you get the point.

In my defense, I think NYC has something to do with it. Things in this city are never enough. You get used to this lifestyle that is so fast past that is constantly striving for more and more. NYC is a distilled version of that good old American ingenuity and determination. Get 2 weeks of work done in a day? Sure thing, bye-bye life & so long friends! Could ya stuff 30 different flavors into one beer and make sure its 14% alcohol? Make it a pint while your are at it. I am a busy person, I don't have 6 hrs to kill in a pub downing endless pints of bitter. I need my fix and I want it fancy (Is this another symptom of NYC dwelling?). Extreme urban living and beer drinking go hand in hand.

But as I said, I am recovering. I have had it with cramming as much as possible into my life. I am tired of pushing myself to consume any edgy type of beer. If I don't slow down at times, I am going to come away with a really shitty taste in my mouth.

In an attempt to at least address some of this. I have been drawn more towards the more mundane, yet drinkable beers. My brewing guru Mark, or Harvey as he is know in his brewing circles, likes to brew very classic and easily drinkable beers. Go out to a bar with him and you will soon find out why. Let's just say, taunts of being a pussy and having to make up for lapped sessions have something to do with it. While I haven't strayed as far as Mark, I have been enjoying the simpler side of life.

So here are a few beers that I have been enjoying lately. All of them are local and cheap:

Southampton Secret Ale - $6.80 for a 6 pack

This is the first beer I have had from Southampton. I didn't know what to expect from such a cheap beer. I was damn happy that I didn't stress out about having to find the perfect beer. I took the chance and all was good (In the end, it still is beer. How could you go wrong?). The Secret Ale is an Alt, meaning "Old" is a well balanced brown ale with a smooth malt backbone. Not too hoppy and damn drinkable. This totally hit the spot on a hot night and I consumed the six pack within a week. Really tasty, easy to drink, and hands downs a super deal.

Ithaca Nut Brown - $7.50 for a sixer

I like Ithica. They walk on the wild side too, as I mentioned in my 1st post. But, thankfully, they know how to build a easy, drinkable beer. This one is a nice strong malt ale that is a little lighter on on the hoppy, crisp bite but damn does it have a nutty aftertaste. It is a great beer to drink with a variety of cheese. If you enjoy a nutty cheese or cheese and nuts, grab a six pack of this beer and play with your favorite cheeses. Maybe a nuttier cheese will diminish the nuttiness of the beer or vice versa. I dunno. Relax, drink this beer and eat some good cheese. I am sure it will be great either way!

Brooklyn Pilsner $8~9 depending if you plan ahead or take it easy and pay a few extra by grabbing it at a bodega

For some reason, this beer from Brooklyn always gets lost between the Brooklyn lager and the Brooklyn Weisse. It has great dry, crisp malt flavor to it with a touch of honey oat-i-ness to it. Makes me think of breakfast cereal, but beer, which in my world is a great thing. Plus, it is really tasty cold on a hot day. Pick it up or order it at a bar, it is worth a try.

So, take a moment from the hurly burly that is NYC. And if you are like me, take a break from the crazy beers as well. Sit back, pop open a few of these easy, tasty, but cheap, local beers, and cool down on one of these last summer nights. And if you want, relax a bit more by sticking the tips of your fingers down the front of your pants, Bundy-style. No one's lookin' and if they are... whatever.

Technorati Tags: experimental, style: Alt, style: Nut Brown Ale, style: Pilsner

Bring on the Timid Beer

My older brother Ian drives like a bat out of hell. This has been the case since I was a teenager. Once, when I was riding shotgun in a friend's car, Ian blew past us driving at his normal clip. Our friend offered his perspective on Ian's need for speed. "Anyone can can break the speed limit, but it takes a true genius to break the minimum speed limit." 45 minutes and 10 miles later, we caught up with Ian.

With this story as a backdrop, I have an idea. So many brewers today are attempting to push beer into uncharted territories. Brewers are trying to figure out how to add more body, more hops, more alcohol, more, more more. Kudos to them and I look forward to enjoying their spoils of exploration. Want some names of beer to try? How about Dogfish Head's Golden Shower, an imperial pilsner. Besides possibly the best beer name ever ( can you imagine popping over to your local watering hole and asking the bartender for a Golden Shower?) it has a slightly sweet taste with a hint of orange followed with a nice soft punch of hops and cognac on the back end. Believe it or not, but this is based off the same style as a Budwiser. Or how about Chouffe Houblon Dobbelen IPA Tripel? This beer has a head of white frothy meringue, a nice hazy yellowish hue, a bit of honey, followed by the most wondrous gift of hops that can only be produced by the magical Amarillo hop. As with this consistent upward thrust, both of these beers double the alcohol levels of what most beers produce.

But with these two examples, it leaves me asking, is the only direction we can go is up? Up in hops, flavor and alcohol. But where is the exploration on the other side of this coin? The question I pose is, why not down?

Anyone who has been to brunch with me knows that I hate restaurants that serve only breakfast food for brunch. I don't like eggs, don't drink coffee, and the idea of eating something sweet for the first meal makes be go into some kind of diabetic shock. That leaves me with eating lunch for breakfast. Now this next statement might worry those that love me and will encourage attendance to one of those meeting that suggests you take it one day at a time. I forgo the risk for the sake of beer and all those that enjoy it. Why not make a big flavored beer that has practically no alcohol and serve it for breakfast. Something like a lightly carbonated, low alcohol, full bodied sweet lacto stout sounds like a dream.

If you have not yet tried a sweet lacto stout, run out and grab Hatachino's Nest's version of the style. It is easy to come by and does the style well. They use lactose, or milk sugar, which does not ferment, but adds an sublime, silky smooth, milky taste to the stout. The roasted barley in the stout brings a rich, nutty, almost coffee-like flavor to it. For you history buffs, during the civil war, coffee beans were as hard to come by as a black man serving in the confederate army, so the soldiers used to drink a hot brew of roasted barley as a substitute. It tastes kinda like watered down coffee.

Now, here is the part where I create my rational for drinking beer for breakfast while not looking like a complete alcoholic. If everyone on the planet can drink coffee for breakfast, then why can't I get a low alcohol version of the sweet lacto stout style which has a similar taste profile to that of coffee? I mean, the Irish have been drinking stouts for breakfast for centuries. Oh wait, that probably didn't help my case. But seriously, if the alcohol is minimal, but the flavors are that of coffee and milk, why not? (pretty weak rationale, huh?)

So I call on all the experimental brewers out there. Tap in to this unexplored region of beer, the Mount Everest of beer, if you will. Show me what type of geniuses you really are by pushing the minimum and not just the maximum. And when you do deliver, I promise I will add it to my list of things to consume for breakfast, no matter what social awkwardness may arise!

Aiii, It's Hopzilla!

Last week, A few friends and I ventured to the Extreme Beerfest in Boston. Despite having a stupid and uncreative name for what should be a celebration in creativity, the Extreme Beerfest is a expo where breweries get to parade their most recent experiments.

What is a beer experiment? To explain this, I need to first explain what it isnt. Most beer is the light, refreshing kind that isn't bad on a hot day. If comparing it to food, this type of beer is the chips and salsa that any Mexican restaurant serves before dinner. It is fine, you know what to expect, and will hold till your real food arrives. Then there is the craft beers. They are refreshing, enjoy developing specific styles while packing in some great flavor. This type would compare to poblano pork Sopes with crema fresca. It has some serious flavor and a clear tie to it's heritage. Lastly, there are the experiments. These beers bend, break, and demolish styles while punching you in the face and kicking you in the junk with flavor. Going back the mexcian food analogy, it is like charred Habanero pepper marmalade spread on a buttery, corn and chorizo scone. Sounds great, right? Yes, but with limits.

The Beerfest (I have left out Extreme cause it irritates me so) was like three hours of stuffing that habanero marmalade and chorizo goodness down my gullet. The idea sounds magical, but the problem with the event was that after a few samples, I could no longer make any balanced opinions because my taste buds were rebelling. I even went back towards the end of the event and re-tried one of my more favorite beers (a double IPA from Ithica) and I could not taste any of the qualities that I had loved.

I am sure that you, my dear reader, is saying to yourself, "Well, no shit!". But I think this brings up a good point. Besides just tooling around in the brew shack, what is the point of these beers? If you can't go to the pub, order a pint and truly enjoy it, then why experiment?

I believe that we are at an interesting point in beer's history. American breweries are being inventive with everything from ingredients to methods of brewing because they are not bound by traditions like the German's Reinheitsgebot. They also have a crowd of people, like myself, that want more quality beer on the market and are willing to experiment and develop their tastes. This environment spawns the experimental beer, but in order for these new beers to work, I believe we need to be willing to experiment with new ways of enjoying these new beers.

Wine has been experimented with for centuries. We have red, rose, white, desert, sherry and thousands of variations with in each class. You do not pour yourself a big glass of sherry. Like wise, why is it that pubs that serve these monsters try to offer you a pint or even a half pint of some of these beers. I wonder if there is too much testosterone among beer drinkers? People love to chat about how they just tried some overly hopped beer. Who cares? Whoopdidoo! You were able to slug down a pint of a double imperial smoked poter. Cool, but did you enjoy it? Could you notice the malt complexities or the hoppy finish towards the bottom of the glass? I doubt it cause these beers by their sheer design, will eventually overpower your tongue.

I believe that we, as beer consumers, need to stop treating these monsters like beer and treat them like what they really are. They are the sippers. The little glass'd beer that kicks you in the junk (or junkette) every time you bring the glass to you lips. And if you are worried about strolling up to the bar and coming back with a teeeny-tiny glass of beer. FAGAETABOUTIT! You don't think those guys that sip a small glass of fine scotch whiskey are pussies, so why are you when you do the same with some serious beer?

Oh and one of my favorite beers from the fest? Dogfish Head's Festina Peche, a peach flavored champagne-like wit ale! Perfect for summer, now only if summer were here now!

p.s. - I would like to dedicate my first post, posted on President's day, to Jimmy Carter. Thanks for the Homebrew, President Carter!