This is a pretty good beer but it is not overly amazing. It is lacking in the hop department and contains mild citrus and floral flavors. It is a bit thin and light for my taste although I do enjoy is light crisp finish. I would recommend Deschute’s Green Lakes Organic Ale over this ale but if you are in the mood for something light and simple this is a good choice. – s

Stefan: 2 Thumbs Up

Zack

At last! My first entry in the Beer Pioneer series. With each new edition, I’ll find and rank beer hotspots in a distant city. Although this time the city is downright contiguous: Phoenix, Arizona … where I currently live. Let’s avoid eye contact with that awkward moment and dive right into the expedition log, which I’ve transcribed from notes taken during my explorations.

Tuesday, November 3rd – Embarkation

At dawn, my goodly wife, Erin, and I will set out with a stout mule and one week’s supply of salted elk. We seek a land where the macrobreweries’ shackles cannot bind our hands.

In the market, I bought a scouting hawk named Google. He reappeared this morn in the “magic window” with news of promising beer settlements. The beast seems to place credence in something called “user reviews”—I know not if I trust this newfangled devilry. But embark we must. Winter bares its teeth behind us.

November 4th through 12th – The West Valley

Per Erin’s request, I’m dropping the half-assed frontiersman act. I hope I can return the coonskin cap.

We’ve braved the liquor stores suggested by Google. Most in the West Valley sold standard fair; few excited me. One proprietor, when asked about craft brews, led me to a freezer and nodded stoically at Blue Moon. I smiled and backed away slowly. (I have no problem with Blue Moon; it just happens to be a Coors product.) Chains like Total Wine, Whole Foods, and AJ’s boast the best selections so far.

But wait! I’ve wandered into one that seems … different. Smells different, anyway. It’s called Magnum’s Cigar, Wine, and Liquor. The exterior mimics an average liquor mart, but inside it reeks of cigars and high society. Bottles housing fine wine and liquor sit regally on shelves, and all along the far right wall you’ll find row after row of beer. Quite a selection, too. The merchandise is a bit overpriced, but if you can handle that and the smoke (and its barely-in-the-West-Valley location), Magnum’s won’t disappoint.

Alas, my search continues. Driving west along Bell Road (where many sub par liquor stores dwell), I see an unexpected sign. It reads What Ale’s Ya. A beer pun!? I stomp the brakes so hard I nearly give my car a Flintstone’s makeover.

Upon entering the store, I don’t notice any bottles—only brewing equipment. It’s a local homebrew store! Modest in size but arranged with purpose, What Ale’s Ya exudes hospitality. The owner, Chuck, approaches promptly but without any obnoxious buy-this-or-you’re-an-idiot salesguy aggression. His manner announces that he knows beer, which he soon confirms by speaking. He showed me the (affordably priced) starter kit, took me back to investigate the barely, and chatted with me about beer for 30 minutes. I’ll definitely be going back to What Ale’s Ya.

November 14th through 22nd – The East Valley

Last night I discovered the BeerFly feature on Beer Advocate. This handy system spits out beer hotspots like a jackpotting slot machine. To be honest, I don’t have the time to visit them all, as I am currently not immortal. But I’ll hit several and report back with favorites.

Whooshing sound!

I’m back. The East Valley was brimming with beer destinations (no fair!), but I returned with two favorites: Papago Brewing Company and Sun Devil Liquors.

Sun Devil Liquors trounced the other stores in the ASU campus area (except Tops Liquors, its sister store, which was almost equally awesome). Inside you’ll discover a dimly lit room that runneth over with bottles. They even have themed areas! My favorite was the “Iron Curtain” section, where they’ve amassed tons of Eastern European imports. I did notice dust on a few bottles, but every beer I bought was fresh. Just keep an eye on those expiration dates.

Oh, the best part! After you enter, fight the urge to bear-hug the bottles on your left and keep walking forward. See that staircase twisting down to the right? At the bottom you’ll find a stylish tasting room with several beers on tap and the rest available for sampling from the bottle. In case you’re wondering, yes, I did wet myself. It was uncomfortable.

Let’s move on to Papago Brewing Company, a little brewpub crammed into a Scottsdale strip mall. It may not sound impressive, but wait till you see their beer menu. Of the 30 beers on tap, I saw craft brews, imports, and several Papago originals. What choice did I have but to sample one of each?

The Papago brew, dubbed Orange Blossom, was a hefeweizen with distinct citrus flavors. Light and refreshing, almost like a witbier—I can understand why it’s popular. Next I chose something more my speed: the Chimay tripel. Huge, spicy malts balanced by subtle hops and earthy yeast … in other words, standard Chimay awesomeness. But the night’s best brew awaited me in The Abyss, an imperial stout from Deschutes brewery. This towering ale smelled of bourbon, coffee beans, and oak; tasted like bitter chocolate and roasted malt; and had the mouthfeel of maple syrup. Yet it was surprisingly drinkable. One word can describe it: balanced.

Papago Brewing Co. respects beer. Each ale arrived in appropriate glassware (the tripel even came in a Chimay chalice!), and the interior design pays homage to great breweries around the world. And I haven’t even mentioned the rear wall lined with beer-stuffed coolers. At Papago, beer lovers can find respite. It’s an oasis for the brew-minded.

One cautionary note: Before you go, you might want to check your tolerance for boozed up college students; it’s just down the street from a state university, after all, and things were getting a little loud by the time I left. But it should be fine for a weekend lunch or midweek dinner.

Conclusion

Because everyone loves lists, I’ve narrowed it down to my top three spots:

1. Papago Brewing Company
2. Sun Devil Liquors/Tops Liquors
3. What Ale’s Ya

For the next Beer Pioneer … I, uh … I actually have no clue which city I’ll explore. It could be LA, Portland, Brussels (quite a jump from Phoenix, I know), or somewhere else entirely. You’ll just have to wait and see. And so will I!

WEDNESDAY: I’m taking Thursday off for obvious reasons, but you can expect a short Thanksgiving beer pairing guide on Wednesday!

 Here is where we have some fun with Beer and Food. I love this part. I like to shake things up and try different pairings that most people don’t try, or may not think would work. When it comes to Thanksgiving foods there are some things to consider right off the bat. A good majority of the foods are very earthy in flavor so there are a lot of options out there to experiment with. I love the way Belgian beers work with the types of food that are being served. The Yeasty qualities of a lot of them work in such a fashion that it is a no brainer to pair them. I almost always suggest, like I said previously in part 1 a Quad such as Rochefort 10 or St. Bernardus Abt. 12, or Urthel Samaranth Quadrium. They are rich and bold beers that go great with the traditional Bird, stuffing, Potatoes, Squash, etc. Those aren’t the only Belgian beers that go with the meal though. Unibroue Maudite, Tripple Karmalite, and Gulden Drak are also favorites of mine for this meal. Without going too much in depth they are strong Belgian Ales that have flavors that lend themselves to the traditional meal especially the Bird itself. They bring out the earthiness in the sage and the sweetness in the turkey.

  That being said if you consider all of the flavors involved, they run from sweet to tart as well. The one thing I tell everyone when pairing with beer is that sometimes you need to let go of preconceived notions about pairing. A lot of you go into this meal, like I used to do as well and say “well hoppy beers are out, too much earthy food going on….not going to pair well.”  This is not true. Being a hop-head, I had to try and find a way to incorporate a good IPA or something hoppy into the meal. If you take a logical look an IPA is a great choice as well. It is very complimentary to everyone’s favorite  side dish cranberry sauce(yes, even the one shaped like a can that someone HAS to have at the meal or they call you a communist and ask you why you would bother making cranberry sauce from scratch when Wal-Mart sells it for 2 dollars a case). You also get a lot of contrasting flavors in the sweet and earthy dishes offered. Playing by the rules in pairing is for people who have basically never tried a different way to do anything. I am not like that, I always test the boundaries of rules to se what happens, and sometimes it’s good sometimes it’s bad.

Since I am a beer dork……here is what I decided to do I came up with “flights” for Thanksgiving to make it a little fun for everyone. I like to mix it up a bit with styles but I like doing a bit of themed pairings as well. One way is to go with a singular Brewery. You can do a favorite or go local if you have access to a local brewery. There is no order of what is a better pairing compared to another, these are just some that I came up with that work well.I will add to this in the next day or 2 so you can go out and have fun for the Big Holiday!

For those of you who have expressed an interest. I would like to draw your attention to the Gloucestershire Ale Trail web-site (http://www.glosaletrail.org.uk/). Apart from telling you where your nearest micro-brewery is, it also tells you where you can enjoy their beers!

Or, you can check out CAMRA’s initative of locAle.  This accredits any pub that stocks beer that is brewed within a 25 mile radius. http://www.camra.org.uk/page.aspx?o=281521

Enjoy!

I attended a session run by the ZONE @ Glyndwr, up at the main campus and was set a project in a group with another graphic design student and other students from other areas of the university.
The project was to design a real ale beer in the spirit of Glyndwr University and Owain Glyndwr the person to appeal to university students. The finalists would then be sent to controversial Scottish Brewer BREWDOG who would pick a winner and may even produce a batch of the beer for the winners to sample.
The team I worked with produced the brand 1412 after the last year the Owain Glyndwr was seen before going into hiding from the English. I found this very useful as it involved working with people outside of the Art School and it upped the tempo to produce a brand and product in just one day.
We presented the design in front of the camera for the judges to view and we were one of the finalists to be sent off to BREWDOG

On a recent business trip I was very fortunate to find myself in Charlottetown on Prince Edward Island (PEI), the extreme east coast of Canada. Always on the lookout for great local beers I discovered that there was only one brewery on PEI, The Gahan House Pub & Brewery.

Located on Sydney Street, ‘Gahan House’ is in the older part of Charlottetown and was built in 1880 by a prominent merchant John Gahan. It’s a very special building that later in its life became home to the ‘Sisters of the Precious Blood’ before becoming a pub/brewery. As soon as I saw the 19th century building I knew things were going to be good, maybe even a religious experience? I mean how could anyone brew bad beer in such a great place? The good news is they don’t, the beer is excellent.

The interior of the building is as old fashioned as it gets in this part of the world and creates the perfect atmosphere to drink quality beer, seven (7) in fact, all brewed on-site by brewmaster Trent Hayes.

Here’s their excellent selection.

A great selection of hand-crafted beers at Gahan House Pub & Brewery

I sampled several (hey I wasn’t driving), the ‘Harvest Gold Pale Ale’, ‘1172 India Pale Ale’ and ‘Coles Cream Ale’. All were extremely fine beers, well crafted and each with their own distinctive characteristics and flavours.  Picking a favourite is difficult but I might have to say the ‘Cole’s Cream Ale’ was my favourite, very smooth, nicely hopped and really easy to drink.

Added to that, the staff were great. I’ve read some negative comments about the service on other blogs but I have no idea why. The service and welcome we received was outstanding, so much so that we were given an impromptu tour of the brewery in the cellar and sampled some of the beers straight from the steel kegs. A real treat.

So, if you’re a beer lover then the Gahan House is a must when you are in, or close to,  Charlottetown and PEI. I for one will wear my “Gahan House Pub & Brewery” with pride!

Nice medium hoppy flavor. Good after taste. Very similar to Ninkasi’s Total Domination except for lacking the strong hoppy flavor. Great blend of malts and spices. – s

Stefan: 4 thumbs up

It gives a gallon of toddy every day, the local ale of Keralites, one third of whom live by extracting it  from this too familiar tree. They give it to the cooperative, that owns a network of distributories. Being the cheapest drink, all workers go direct to the “shop”, after a day of hard work, where, sometimes they spend the whole day’s earnings.

Toddy is collected by cutting the flower bunch, which the botanists call the inflorescence, and collecting the juice coming from the cut, rich in starch and vitamins,  sweet when fresh. Our tapper at home is a family friend. He gives Rs. 50 per tree per month. All this, I learned when Ravi my Bihari son-in-law whanted a “bottle” from him.

If the flowers are allowed to grow, the inflorescencs is cut and used as a boucquet, considered auspicious and a must in marriage ceremonies, when receiving the deity of god, coming home on the back of an elephant, or simly as decoration, during festivals in temples.

The hard cover of the inflorescence, with a net like inside membrane, was used to make a torch, even in my childhood!

Have you seen a whole coconut? It has a fibrous cover, to protect the nut inside, because the whole thing falls down from a height of even fifty feet. It is very, very difficult to peel it (I should enjoy a European doing it even with the sharpest knife!). In Vetekkaran pooja, 12000 nuts have to be broken in front of the deity.  A sharp thick iron bar is planted in the soil, with the sharp end pointing upwards. The fibrous nut is brought down forcefully to hit the instrumet, when a dent is made in the outer cover, without damaging the nut inside. Now they have designed an instrument which is an innovation of this method and can be wielded even by girls.

Ropes are made from the fibrous cover which we call chakiri. it is the traditional occupation of women in the coastal districts of Keralam, from Alapusha to Kollam.The fibrbre comes loose, after soaking chakiri for months in the backwaters. The Coir Board is selling an incredible variety of coir products, including door mats. Global recession has hit this cottage industry too.

Inside the fibre is the hard shell called chiratta. It is a valuable fuel, traditionally used in the heavy ironing box. It is also used as a ladle, by fixing a handle to the shell. Artists use it to carve figures of people, animals etc.

When the nut is tender, the sweet water inside the shell, is a nutritious beverage, now available in most towns. It contains pure glucose which can be given intraveinous, I read somewhere. The soft white kernel is light food.

The ripe kernal is the source of oil, commercially used for making soaps and detergents. A Keralite will not enjoy his food, if it is not laced with coconut oil. Papadam fried in other oils is unpalatable.

The leaves of the tree, resembling in shape, the wings of a peacock, are used for making nets or mats, by weaving the individual blades together. These are used for thatching the roof or making a screen for the open bath sheds, where women take bath.

The tree trunk can be sawn into beams for making furniture, roof of houses etc.

This is my own observation. People leave the root clump, after cutting off the trunk, because it is very heavy and impossible to cut into pieces. Its inside can be scooped out, by a suitable tool, leaving the outside shell which can be used as a big bharani, as we call it, for storing mango pickles etc.

Now you tell me, is there any other tree that gives all parts of its body for human beings?

Its a two Batch day, I’m doing 12 litres a piece and actually taking my time over it. I decided to Mash then Sparge and collect, then Mash then Sparge and collect followed by 2 boils.

AG#13 – Bloody Nelson

Fermentables:
Golden Promise 2090g
Wheat Malt 260g
German Cara Red 260g

Hops:
Nelson Sauvin 60 mins 0 lbs. 0.4 oz 10g (FWH)
Nelson Sauvin 15 mins 0 lbs. 0.4 oz 10g
Nelson Sauvin 0 mins 0 lbs. 0.4 oz 20g (I’ve doubled this from 10g as the hops were smelling good)

Final Volume: 12 Litres
Original Gravity: 1.048
Final Gravity: 1.012
Alcohol Content: 4.7% ABV
Total Liquor: 18.8 Litres
Mash Liquor: 6.5 Litres
Mash Efficiency: 75 %
Bitterness: 34 EBU
Colour: 15 EBC

The Grains, golden promise pale malt, wheat malt, carared malt, 1 tsp gypsum:

New toy with little Brewing calculator on it, mashed in @ 67.7c:

FWH & 1 Tsp Gypsum:

Floaters:

12g of Nottingham Yeast:

20min steep of flame Out hops:

Rehydrated Notts yeast within 1 degree of my wort temp:

All put to bed now, lots of yeast for the 12L length, should get going pretty quick.
I’m not too sure if the CaraRed Malt has done its stuff, looked a bit straw-like in the boiler, will see better at bottling.
Near as damn it hit my OG just a point or two out.

AG#14 – Black Promise

Fermentables:
Golden Promise 1880g
Wheat Malt 260g
Black Malt 100g
Crystal Malt 100g

Hops:
Northdown 60 mins 5g (FWH)
Whitbread Golding 60 mins 5g (FWH)
Fuggle 60 mins 5g (FWH)
Whitbread Golding 20 mins 20g
Home Grown Fuggle 10 mins 21g

Final Volume: 12 Litres
Original Gravity: 1.044
Final Gravity: 1.012
Alcohol Content: 4.1% ABV
Total Liquor: 18.5 Litres
Mash Liquor: 5.9 Litres
Mash Efficiency: 75 %
Bitterness: 36 EBU
Colour: 86 EBC

Grain weighed out, golden promise pale malt, black malt, crystal malt, wheat malt, 1 tsp gypsum, 1/2 tsp Calcium Chloride:

New toy with little Brewing calculator on it, mashed in @ 66c:

Good deep colour, though tastes a bit mild I was hoping for more of the Black malt flavours:

FWH:

WGV going in!:

Home grown Fuggles going in:

Near enough for me:

All done, I just hope the Black malt comes through with the flavour as well as the colour.

Stump Cross Ale

One of the many good things about writing a beer blog, is that people who know and love (or like) you will often see an interesting beer while out on their travels and bring it back to you to try.

My parents did that very thing on a recent trip into North Yorkshire. As they were on their way home from Richmond, they called me to say that they’re picked up four bottles of beer from the Richmond Brewing Company. Two for me, and two for my brother.

Next time I saw them, I collected the bottles, and sure enough, they looked interesting. One was called Stump Cross Ale (named after Stump Cross in Pateley Bridge, obviously) and promised to be “a rich full flavour English bitter” brewed with limestone filtered cave water and the other was Richmond Station Ale, “a golden coloured, fruity crisp ale” named after the historic Richmond Station in which the brewery is based.

Alas, these beers did not live up to my hopes.

Richmond Station Ale

Presumably neither are bottle conditioned (at least neither claim to be so anywhere upon them), and while I don’t believe this is the be all and end all, as CAMRA might, it can often lead to a blander, less exciting beer, and that was the case here.

Both were far from diabolical, but neither seemed to pack any punch, both tasting decidedly similar and strangely watery. While the Station Ale did have a nice malty taste lurking somewhere in there, it tasted more like the kind of beer you’d expect a massive brewing corporation to churn out that the work of a small, independent brewery.

A damn shame, but there are plenty more beers in the sea.

If you wish, you can discover more about Richmond Brewing Company here

Oggi è il 20 novembre. Per me è una data familiare, essendo il compleanno di mia madre, a cui ho dedicato il mio libro.

Ma faccio un passo indietro, a qualche giorno fa.

Sono a pranzo dai miei suoceri, Emilia e Mario. Sto parlando della libreria Edison e di come l’hanno ristrutturata. Emilia, alla quale ho dedicato un intero set su Flickr, mi dice che non l’ha ancora vista. Le dico, che problema c’è, un giorno, finito il pranzo, io te e Ale ci andiamo a prendere il caffè. E lei, no, macché, come faccio, prima devo finire le faccende, e così via. Insomma, declina l’invito. Ogni tanto io e Ale abbiamo questa missione, portarla da qualche parte che non siano le botteghe per fare la spesa o i centri commerciali il sabato pomeriggio. Sicché abbiamo insistito. Niente. Le dico: ma non c’è un posto dove ti piacerebbe andare, sul mare, che ne so? Fa lei: mah, un posto ci sarebbe: al cimitero. E’ tanto che non ci vado. Lui (Mario, ndr) non mi ci porta mai. Dice Ale: possibile che una, di tutti i posti, voglia andare al cimitero? Poi mi viene in mente che a giorni sarebbe stato il 20 novembre, quindi dico: andiamoci venerdì, che è il compleanno di mamma. Emilia sembra entusiasta. Dice: allora venerdì mi sbrigo a fare le faccende e andiamo.

Così è stato. Oggi abbiamo pranzato a mezzogiorno e mezzo, prima delle due Emilia aveva fatto già tutte le faccende. Mario però ci ha informato che il cimitero apriva alle due e mezzo. Indovinate un po’? Io e Ale, per passare mezzora, abbiamo portato Emilia alla libreria Edison a prendere il caffè. Le abbiamo fatto vedere l’ex cinema Lazzeri ristrutturato e trasformato in libreria, ma Emilia è parsa interessata solo ai nuovi calendari coi gattini (e questo dà ragione a Elio e le storie tese riguardo alla scelta della copertina dell’ultimo CD).

Alle 14e30 puntuali siamo arrivati davanti ai cancelli del cimitero appena spalancati. Prima però Emilia ha comprato 4 orchidee. Così, a occhio.

Prima orchidea: Mia mamma. Buon compleanno, mamma.

Seconda orchidea: Mio babbo.

Terza visita (senza orchidea): Zia Franca (mia).

Terza orchidea: Zia Bruna (di Ale, cognata di Emilia)

Quarta orchidea: Zia Liliana (di Ale, altra cognata di Emilia)

Altre visite senza orchidee (ormai finite): Il suocero di Emilia, la suocera di Emilia, il cognato di Emilia, i genitori del cognato di Emilia, i genitori di un altro cognato di Emilia. E forse dimentico qualcuno. Comunque: a un certo punto Emilia, indicando una foto, dice: lo vedi lui? Quella accanto è la moglie. Lui veniva sempre qui a trovarla, tutti i giorni, sistemava i fiori, la tomba, ci si salutava, ogni tanto, quando si veniva. Poi un giorno siamo venuti e l’abbiamo visto in una foto accanto a lei. L’ultima volta era vivo e poi eccolo lì. E poi ha concluso con la mia frase preferita, una perla di saggezza rara (Emilia è un genio!): “Pare impossibile, si finisce.”

E così è anche finita la nostra visita al cimitero, non prima però di aver fatto una capatina a salutare Gilda, che non so chi fosse ma dalla foto sembrava una vecchina molto perbene. Non so se avete notato che Emilia è andata a trovare solo conoscenti o parenti acquisiti. Questo perché lei è originaria della Maremma, e tutti i suoi parenti morti sono sepolti là. Prima o poi toccherà portarcela…

Torniamo in avanti. Dicevo che oggi è il 20 novembre. Mia madre avrebbe compiuto 67 anni. Ho ritrovato questa poesia che ricordavo di avere scritto quando ero all’Isola d’Elba. Mmmmm, periodo buiotto. Si intitola

Happy birthday, mother!

Oggi è il compleanno della madre

che mi ha fatto così complicato

e senza pace.

Oggi è il giorno dell’incertezza,

dei sensi di colpa.

La pioggia fende il buio

e si schianta a terra

battendo il tempo

di un’altra notte

che non dormo.

È lontano il tempo delle carezze.

Io, coi piedi intrecciati,

mi trattengo da esplodere.

Happy birthday, mother.

Ho scritto questa poesia il 20 novembre 2002.

Neanche un anno dopo a mia madre è stato diagnosticato un cancro alla gola.

L’anno successivo le sono venuti due infarti e un tumore alle ossa.

L’anno successivo il terzo infarto le è stato fatale.

E ho fatto una sintesi molto stringata.

Nel 2005, per me, è cambiato qualcosa.

Qualcuno che legge lo sa.

Su Wikipedia ho scoperto che il 20 novembre 1942, oltre a mia madre, è nata un’altra donna con delle qualità. Enjoy.

Sorry, loyal readers: Technical difficulties derailed today’s article. You’ll have to wait till Monday to read about my beer-trek through the desert. For now, I’m revisiting my Halloween feature by extracting this quote from Henry Miller’s 1925 work “Make Beer for Man”:

“Keep your libraries, your penal institutions, your insane asylums … give me beer. You think man needs rule, he needs beer. The world does not need morals, it needs beer. It does not need your lectures and charity. The souls of men have been fed with indigestibles, but the soul could make use of beer.”

-Henry Miller

Heavy stuff. We humans have spent our history erecting things like fortresses and governments and fast food drive-throughs. We’ve built structures that catch on Heaven’s undercarriage. But what of beer, the mortar in our base? Would our skies be less toxic, would our brothers and sisters be less, uh … shot at … if we carried goblets and growlers instead of guns?

Beer nourishes the flesh—pyramids were built on its back, after all, and many monks subsist on little else during fasts. But it also dazzles the mind and girds the spirit. Give me a pint a day and I’d be too blissfully besotted to wage a war or mess with drugs! I’d probably write a poem instead.

Author’s note: Beer isn’t a drug, silly! Which brings me to another quote, from Reverend Lovejoy back when The Simpsons was actually worth watching:

“Once something has been approved by the government, it’s no longer immoral!”

-Rev. Timothy Lovejoy

Indeed.

Monday: Beer trek! Finally! I hope!

(The pictured beer is a Black Butte Porter from Deschutes Brewery. Tasty! And yeah, it’s in a weizen glass. Wanna fight about it?)

Evening people,

I have got Alette Inc, ALE, to show you. Buy set-up from my point of view.

First, we have a nice support level coming in at $32.47. The last close was at $33.10. We are near support, and also the 100day MA, which i use in my analysis. We have been trading in a pattern, close to a range, though not really one. But, basically, buy the dips. We are close to our support line, so i would be waiting for some downside first. Most indicators are pointing downwards, such as the William’s %R.

All analyses, recommendations, discussions and other information herein are published for general information. Readers should not rely solely on the information published on this blog and should seek independent financial advice prior to making any investment decision. The publisher accepts no liability for any loss whatsoever arising from any use of the information published herein.

Produttore: BREWDOG BREWERY (SCOTLAND)

Tipologia birra : ALE BITTER

Alc: 5%

Colore: Ambrara

Birra completamente “ferma” con schium a bolle grosse e poco persistente. Al naso si incontra  lievito,miele di castagne, caramello e odori balsamici. Corpo poco presente come da categoria; i sapori si alternano in modo incostante, inizio nolto morbido e dolce poi un rapido cambiamento e diventa secca e molto amara con il finale più persistente mai avuto da una birra.

Il gioco dei luppoli che da questi rovesciamenti di gusto è notevole e la rende sempre viva e “movimentata” in bocca.  Birra difficile da apprezzare per neofiti ma di sicura la ale più buona e originale finora provata.

Voto: 4,6/5

Produttore: RIDGEWAY BREWERY (REGNO UNITO)

Tipologia birra :  BITTER ALE

Alc: 4%

Colore: Mattone

Schiuma fine bianco sporco. Al naso si presentano odori erbaceum di mandarino e fiori ma senza una particolare intensità. In bocca il corpo è leggero ed il gusto quasi rotondo (impensabile per una bitter) anche se un pò legato.  A dispetto del suo nome l’amaro si rivela solo nel finale senza mai essere pungente.

Questa birra ci ha molto delusi, perché da un produttore come Ridgeway ci aspettiamo molto di più

Voto: 3,3/5

I have a serious backlog of material hanging around in assorted places. I went to a party last Saturday where a number of magical beers were passed around, and here, for starters, are some notes.

Dogfish Head Midas Touch. The birthday girl swears by this, particularly for initiating people who say they don’t like beer. People, if by people I mean drunken nerds, seem to love the golden yellow color. Up front it’s sweetly mellow like a mead; then it gets sharp and pointy and leaves behind a vague memory of lemons and green grass. I like this, but if I had a choice I would rather drop the pretense and drink an actual mead or maybe a barleywine, depending on if I wanted to get lit or not, about which more later.

New Belgium La Folie. Dark dark red, pretty. Dried fruits, mostly tart cherries. Something roasted and sweetish. I liked this very much, and if this is what sour ales are like, I’ll try some more.

The one with the bourbon barrels. I believe it was this, or something like it. Very black, and both delicious and sneaky! I got none of the cream stout flavor from this, unless by cream we mean Harvey’s Bristol Cream. Does that sound contradictory? Very well then, this Bell’s contradicts itself. No straightforwardness but in its tastiness.

What’s the story behind Old Chub, you ask? No idea. The name has me stumped (isn’t chub a kind of fish?), but according to Oskar Blues brewery, it’s a strong Scottish-style ale that “takes care of our deep affections for malt” by incorporating seven different malts, hops from across the pond, and beechwood-smoked grains. Sounds tasty! So why I am reviewing it? Um … because it sounded tasty. I also needed a few good-lookin’ cans for my Should We Can the Bottle? article, so I chose Ol’ Chub for its stylish label—and for the brewery’s outstanding reputation.

The beer pours cola-brown but flashes burgundy in the light. Its tan head dissolves quickly and lines my glass with sticky lace. Dark fruit, molasses, and caramel offer a buffet for the nose, but one taste obliterates my taste buds. Rich malts drench my palate and linger there as licorice, cherries, raisins, chocolate. Late notes of smoke, bread, and bitter hops nearly drown in the over-the-top sweetness (I’d go down with that ship happily!), and a full body with medium carbonation makes each flavor crackle and spark.

A creamy but ferocious ale, Old Chub hides its 8% ABV well. But watch out; it’s in there, and it’ll take you down. Drink warily. If my wife’s facial contortions during her first sip were any indication, the malt kick is nigh overwhelming for beginners, but true Highland warriors will relish the intensity. I wanted to keep on sippin’ into eternity.

Thursday: Beer explorations in Arizona.

Pelforth Brune - like cola with 6.5% ABV. Sounds better than it tasted sorry to say.

(6.5% French make from 650ml bottle) This brown ale, with beige head over a chestnut-brown, nearly cola color body, carried a saccharine sweet taste that was just a little too much for me.  Hits of caramel and a slight creaminess, the overbearing sweetened malt taste gave me more malt soda than beer.  While it was palatable, to have consumed more than one of these would have been a bit of an overdose.

This overly sweetened French beer was had in the Côte d’Azur region while on a hiking trip, and in hindsight, perhaps sticking to the rosé wine  would have been a better idea on this night.  But, c’est la vie! The hiking was at least gorgeous!

Fun little fact, this beer brand is owned by Heineken, and as a subsidiary of their own label, the Pelforth Brewery also make George Killian’s Irish Red.  Oh the sordid world of the beer industry!

If of interest, check out Heineken’s site and their list of brands they own (by country) from Chile to the DRC. Think Murphy’s Irish Stout is owned by the some distant relative on the emerald isle? Nah, just one of the many gobbled up by the Heineken franchise.

Still, at least they aren’t AB In-Bev, which is hands down the leviathan of the beer world (Hobbes might take issue with this citing it as necessary against a state of nature and capricious beer buying, but I would dare to disagree!).  Say the next time you enjoy your standard omnipresent lager, oh maybe a Stella Artois, Becks or perhaps even a Budweiser (the US has so many better beers to offer, please don’t!), and not to mention Hoegaarden, Leffe, and a million other brands, this industry monster rules the market with an iron fist.  Ever wonder why Leffe and Hoegaarden go on sale all the time, and at the same time? Or why they are the only Belgian beers carried in every supermarket and off licence in London?! Economies fo scale! The leviathan prevents better, independent beer from competing, hence the rest of us being forced to consume mass marketed, misrepresented masquerading beers! Hobbes was wrong! Support local breweries! (Did I actually pull this off, I’m not sure).

Nos parâmetros da Lei Alemã de Pureza de 23 de Abril de 1516, a Pale Ale da Eisenbahn não fica para trás em comparação às cervejas estrangeiras. Para os olhos, uma visão magnífica; no paladar, leve amargor de cerveja encorpada, forte. De alta fermentação, com uma espuma consistente e apurada. No começo, amarga; no fim, levemente adocicada. Uma cerveja para apreciar lentamente. Se possível, em meio a uma boa conversa de bar.

A Eisenbahn é uma Microcervejaria de Blumenau, Santa Catarina, que mantém em suas receitas a Lei Alemã de Pureza e tem em sua carta mais de uma dúzia de tipos de cervejas, entre as mais consumidas no país até as mais exóticas e desconhecidas.

Para mais informações: Site da Eisenbahn

Eisenbahn Pale Ale, pelo viés de João Victor Moura em 13/11/2009

joaovictormoura@revistaovies.com

This is a matter close to my heart.  The slow death of the local pub and the real ale drinking that goes hand-in-hand with this.  In the UK around half of our 60,000 pubs are owned by just 10 operators.  This is not a healthy situation to be in.  39 pubs are closing every week!  The names of Green King and Fullers are becoming household names and yet micro-breweries are reliant on government subsidies to survive.  Meanwhile medium sized breweries such as Harvey’s in Lewes have neither the government support nor the operational capacity to compete with the giants at Green King. 

We can see from the Lewes Arms controversy how Green King is willing to put profit above consumer demand.  It is only after petitions and a strong campaign did the pub revert to stocking the local beer (Harveys).  This example however, also highlights what real grass-roots pressure can do.  If you are sick and tired of being offered the same old generic beers then do something about it!

The British beer culture (different to the drinking culture in general) is something that we should all be very proud of.  We produce some of the best quality beers in the world.  I currently have the pleasure of living in Belgian and people often ask me what I think of the beers here. The simple answer is that they often rely on crass flavours and offer none of the depth and subtlety that some English ale holds.  It is only when you don’t have something do you really miss it!

If you are like me and enjoy spending a considerable period of time (and money) in your local then choose wisely.  Follow my golden rules:

1) Choose a free house.  Green King especially is in danger of creating a monopoly over the pub industry. This has negative repercussions for the diversity of real ale that is being produced (and consumed).  If a pub has a big green sign hanging outside of it stay well away!

2) Choose a pub that stocks its beer from a local micro-brewery.  You might think this is hard to find, but increasingly micro-breweries are popping up left right and centre.  If your local free house is not stocking the local breweries then ask why!

For those of you based in Gloucestershire (my beloved shire) here are a few ideas for you to check out if you haven’t already!

• The Woolpack in Slad (Stocks Stroud Brewery and Uley)
• The Blackhorse in Amberley (Stroud Brewery and changing guest ales)
• The Prince Albert in Stroud (Stroud Brewery)

For more information check out the good beer guide or the CAMRA web-site (http://www.camra.org.uk/home.aspx)