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Winning your weight in beer

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A man named Stephen Wood recently was the winner of a Greene King “Win Your Weight In Beer” drawing.

The story doesn’t measure how much he weighted, or won, but in case you wondered how much beer that might be . . .

There are several variables – different beers will vary slightly in weight. But beer is slightly heavier than water (8.3 pounds per gallon), so a man 175 pounds (a guess looking at Wood’s picture) would win about 20 gallons. That’s the contents of almost 9 cases (24 12-ounce bottles) of beer.

Doesn’t “win your weight” sounds like more?

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Deschutes rolls out a traveling beer barrel

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Deschutes Beer Wagon

Oregon’s Deschutes Brewery has built a a portable pub in the shape of a giant beer barrel. It will roll through several Seattle neighborhoods over the next few weeks.

The enormous barrel, fabricated by Hollywood designer Eddie Paul, makes its first appearance at the Fremont Oktoberfest September 21-23, then stops at the Red Bull Soapbox Race September 29. During October, the rolling barrel, accompanied by food and music from local bands, opens its taps in Capitol Hill, Wallingford and South Lake Union before returning to the Queen Anne-Fremont neighborhood.

Each Neighborhood Hops event will feature a selection of Deschutes beers, including Mirror Pond Pale Ale, Black Butte Porter and Inversion IPA. A rotation of pre-release beers will also be available, including the new Green Lakes Organic Ale.

Admission to the Neighborhood Hops events is free. Pints of Deschutes Brewery beers and food from local partners will be available for purchase. Proceeds from the events will be donated to a variety of local non-profits including the Puget Soundkeeper Alliance , protecting and preserving Puget Sound for more than 20 years, and Gilda’s Club Seattle.

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Thieves drive off with city’s supply of Moosehead

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Using two stolen trucks, thieves made off with two trailers full of Moosehead beer yesterday, stealing a total of 114,000 bottles and cans from a Toronto-area loading yard.

Moosehead drinkers in Ontario would be wise to stock up today,” spokesman Joel Levesque said. “We expect it may take until early next week to replenish the stolen beer.”

Levesque said the brewery was scrambling to arrange replacement beer to stock bars and retail stores.

“Our biggest fear is there will be a shortage in the Toronto area. That’s a lot of beer,” he said, before adding a partisan marketing comment. “It strikes us the thieves obviously know what the consumers want.”

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Pizza beer finds its way into bottles

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Pizza beer, first a homebrew, then a novelty that sparked a joke on the Tonight Show, soon will be sold in the Chicago area in bottles.

St. Charles homebrewer Tom Seefurth told the Chicago Tribune that the beer made with tomatoes, garlic, basil and oregano will begin production at Sand Creek Brewing Company in Black River Falls, Wis., within weeks and should be available by early November.

Formally known as Mamma Mia Pizza Beer, it will likely retail between $7.99 and $8.99 per 6-pack at stores including BinnyÂ’s Beverage Depot.

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The legend of Miller Chill grows

Posted in Beers, Breweries, Trends on   

Brew Blog, sponsored by Miller Brewing, reports “Anheuser-Busch appears set on creating a brand to fight Miller Chill, according to Beer Business Daily.”

BBD reports that A-B appears to be conducting Internet market research surveys to gauge consumer interest in brands with Latin influences. These bear more than passing resemblances to Miller Chill.

There’s no disputing Chill’s success:

Miller hopes to sell 400,000 barrels of Chill in its first year. That would put Chill on roughly the same sales level as Foster’s Lager, Miller’s biggest import.

In supermarkets, Chill is outselling such established brands as Dos Equis, Michelob Light, Heineken Light, Beck’s, Blue Moon White, Samuel Adams Boston Lager and Rolling Rock, according to data from AC Nielsen. Supermarkets account for around 20% of U.S. beer sales.

Meanwhile, A-B already has Bud and Bud Light Chelada in the marketplace.

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Coors plans more high-end beers

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Coors Brewing Co. has created a new subsidiary, AC Golden Brewing Co., that apparently will attempt to take advantage of growing consumer interest in what are generally called craft beers.

“The high end is where it’s at. So it seems logical they would put a lot more focus on the high end,” Paul Gatza, director of the Brewers Association, a Boulder-based industry trade group, said of Coors.

Coors has had great success with its Blue Moon White Ale, which outsells all the craft brands except Samuel Adams Boston Lager and Sierra Nevada Pale Ale – and has even topped them in recent weeks.

Coors, a unit of Molson Coors Brewing Co., disclosed its plans for AC Golden Brewing in an e-mail to its employees and distributors that called the new subsidiary a “brand incubation brewery.”

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Lagunitas ‘Kill Ugly Radio’

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Kill Urlgy Radio LabelAs promised last year, Lagunitas Brewing in California has released the second beer in its Frank Zappa series.

Kill Ugly Radio, featuring the inside album art from Zappa’s second album, Absolutely Free, is in stores now. Last year Lagunitas brewed Freak Out! to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the release of the first album by Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, and Kill Ugly Radio commemorates the 40th anniversary of the second.

Lagunitas founder Tony Magee obtained the permission of the Zappa Family Trust to use the original album art for both.

The beer itself? A hefty 7.8% and not surprisingly brimming with West Coast hops, a blast of citrus and Northwest pine, and unapologetic bitterness.

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Rogue Nation picks Turkey as official bird

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With an eye toward Thanksgiving, the Turkey has been named the official bird of the Rogue Nation.

An e-mail missive from the Rogue News Service explains:

To commemorate this momentous occasion Rogue Juniper Pale Ale has been dedicated to “the turkey in each of us.” An axe and the dedication have been added to the serigraphed 22oz bottles and Juniper Pale Ale tap stickers.

The Pilgrims were ale drinkers and most likely enjoyed beer at the first Thanksgiving. According to the Nation’s Department of Agriculture turkey is not just for the Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s table but is honored daily by consumption. Even if some do not eat turkey the bottle is a perfect gift for their turkey friends.

According to Garrett Oliver, author of the “Brewmaster’s Table”, the question most often posed to sommeliers is “What wine goes best with turkey dinner?” The answer, he says, is beer!

Under those conditions it isn’t clear how turkeys might feel about this “honor.”

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The Dunkelweizen, Irish Red referendum

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Samuel Adams contest choices

Boston Beer Co., brewer of Samuel Adams beers, has begun conducting tastings around the country where consumers can help pick one of the beers that will be sold in the 2008 Brewmaster’s Collection 12-pack. The winning beer will also be sold in six-packs.

This year’s contenders are a spicy, fruity (particularly banana) Dunkelweizen and rich, caramel-accented Irish Red Ale.

In similar contests, a Brown Ale won voting in 2005 while Honey Porter bested a Smoked Lager in 2006.

Information about where to find a tasting event is at the Samuel Adams web site.

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First pumpkin beer of the season spotted

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Jack's Pumpkin SpicePay no attention to those thermometer readings in Dallas or Cincinnati, pumpkin beers are on the way and fall can’t be far behind.

Anheuser-Busch this week announced the return of Jack’s Pumpkin Spice Ale, first released in 2005. More pumpkin beers distributed nationally, regionally and locally will soon follow.

Brewed with seasonal spices and Oregon-grown Golden Delicious pumpkins at A-B’s Fort Collins brewery, Jack’s (5.5% abv) pairs with traditional dishes such as turkey dinnners and pumpkin bisque, but also others like like teriiyaki chicken and mild Italian sausages.

“For adults who’ve never tried a pumpkin beer before, we’d encourage them to experiment with Jack’s,” said Florian Kuplent, brewmaster, Anheuser-Busch, Inc. “Because the pumpkin and spice flavors are so well-balanced and subtle, Jack’s doesn’t overpower foods and makes for an ideal culinary experience. Year after year this is one of our favorite beers to brew and we hope beer drinkers who enjoy trying new flavors will sample this seasonal ale.”

Jack’s Pumpkin Spice Ale is brewed with two-row, caramel and carapils barley malts, a blend of imported and domestic Hallertau hops and domestic Saaz hops.

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Sacramento Brewing shines at California fest

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Sac-squatch Scottish 80 schilling from Sacramento won Best of Show in judging as part of the California Brewers Festival. The festival itself is Sept. 15 in Sacramento.

Nectar IPA, brewed at Firestone Walker, and Allagash White were awarded honorable mention in the BOS judging. Nectar IPA won the IPA category and Allagash White was the top wheat beer. Judging took place in 13 categories.

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The ‘Latinization’ of American beer

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Don Russell (Joe Sixpack) reports on the “Latinization” of America, specifically American beer.

So, what’s driving Latin American beer sales? Immigrants surely are a big part of it.

An estimated 45 million Latinos live in the United States. Naturally, many reach for familiar brands from their homelands. But that isn’t the only reason you see more and more people with limes stuck in their longnecks.

Russell suggest that the melting pot in action is “something that should be welcomed by every beer lover.”

He’s also candid about the beers themselves, writing: “As explorations go, Latin American beer isn’t exactly Mount Everest.”

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Hobsons Mild honored as best beer in Britain

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Hobsons Mild from Hobsons Brewery in Shropshire was judged to be the best beer in Britain at the Great British Beer Festival at Earls Court.

Roger Protz, one of the finalist judges and Editor of the Good Beer Guide said: “It’s a great victory for a traditional British beer. It’s bursting with flavor and, unusually for a Mild, it’s got plenty of hop character.”

Nick Davis, Director of Hobsons said: “What a great surprise! It’s a nutty mild and despite being only 3.2% abv it’s packed full of flavour. I would like to thank all the team at Hobsons in Cleobury Mortimer for their outstanding work in achieving this prestigious award.”

The Silver award went to Mighty Oak brewery in Essex for their Maldon Gold. The Bronze was awarded to Green Jack brewery in Suffolk for Ripper.

Milds
Gold – Hobsons Mild
Silver – Nottingham Rock Mild
Bronze – Brain’s Dark

Bitters
Gold – Castle Rock Harvest Pale
Silver – Twickenham Crane Sundancer
Joint Bronze – Surrey Hills Ranmore Ale & Fyne Piper’s Gold

Best Bitters
Gold – Purple Moose Glaslyn Ale
Silver – George Wright Pipe Dream
Joint Bronze – Fuller’s London Pride & Nethergate Suffolk County & Station House Buzzin’

Strong Bitters
Gold – York Centurion’s Ghost
Silver – Inveralmond Lia Fail
Bronze – Brain’s SA Gold

Speciality Beers
Gold – Nethergate Umbel Magna
Silver – Little Valley Hebden Wheat
Bronze – St Peter’s Grapefruit

Golden Ales
Gold – Mighty Oak Maldon Gold
Silver – Oak Leaf Hole Hearted
Bronze – Otley 01

Bottle-conditioned Beers
Gold – O’Hanlon’s Port Stout
Silver – Titanic Stout & Wye Valley Dorothy Goodbody’s Wholesome Stout
Bronze – Wapping Baltic Gold

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Oregon Brewers Festival 2007

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Posted by Banjo Bandolas

Oregon Brewers Festival

Don’t ya think every Beerfest should start with a parade? I’ve just returned from way too much fun at the Oregon Brewer’s Festival and the parade really set the mood for me.

The OBF has begun with a walking parade for several years but due to excessive indulgence on my part at the brewer’s dinner and after parties the night before; I’ve never managed to drag my body from the sack in time to make it. This year I made myself a promise to join the parade.

8am Thursday morning: The birds were singing and children playing when I pried my crusty lids apart.

“Damn birds! Damn kids! Knock it off out there! Don’t you know some of us have sensitive nerve endings this morning? Noise pollution! That’s what it is! Now get out of here before I sick Michael Moore on you!”

There were a dozen or so people already at the Rogue Ales Public House on 14th & NW Flanders when I arrived at 9am for the special pre-parade Oregon Brewer’s brunch that was set to begin at 10am, and they, like me, expected a large crowd. We weren’t disappointed. By the time the doors opened I’d say there were a hundred people waiting. By the time I’d finished eating that number had doubled. Ah, there’s, nothing like a pint, a nice breakfast, and a big build-it-yourself Bloody Mary to get a growing boy off on the right foot in the morning.

Many of craft beer’s movers and shakers were in attendance. Tom Dalldorf of Celebrator, the Widmer Brothers, Jay Brooks, Fred Eckhardt, Rogue’s Jack Joyce, and Don Younger of Horse Brass to name a few. The air was filled with excited chatter as we donned our official parade T-shirts and tuned up our kazoo’s. Portland Mayor, Tom Potter, would lead our raucous band on a winding journey of 18 blocks through downtown Portland to the pot-o-gold at the end, the Oregon Brewer’s Festival at the Tom McCall waterfront park.

PBS was there to document the occasion as part of an overall piece on the entire event. Don Younger mentioned the folks from the Food Channel were also in town doing a piece on OBF.

Oregon Brewers FestivalMayor Potter and Event Director, Art Larrance of Raccoon Lodge Brewery led the way, followed by the wail of bagpipes from the Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue Pipe and Drum corps, the Monks carrying the symbolic opening ceremony cask, and then the rest of us playing our kazoo’s for all we were worth.

The walk was brisk and joyful; the people of Portland along the route came out of their homes and businesses to cheer us on. Before I knew it we were at the river gathered around the cask. Salivating as Mayor Potter gave his OBF opening spiel and tapped the cask. The opening beer was a tribute ale by Rogue dedicated to brewer Glen Falconer’s memory called Aged Glen Anniversary Ale. The ale was a dark amber color with a sweet malt aroma. A nice balance of caramel malt flavor and citrus hop with a mildly dry finish. Not bad guys . . . not bad at all, one of the best strong ales I tasted at OBF.

Oregon Brewers FestivalI worked down the list of the OBF’s most notable beers. Next year I’ve got to remember to bring some crackers or something. After the first bad big beer I was having a hard time tasting anything while my mouth recovered from excessive IBU levels. Sorry, I may live in the Northwest but I’m not a big fan of overly hopped beer with huge IBU’s. Hops have a place in my beer and my tongue begs for a little balance and diversity . . . but that’s just me. I don’t eat habanero chili’s either.

I cleansed my mouth with a nice pale ale and began again. As I worked my way down the line I found some exceptional beers that stood out from the pack:

Hopworks Urban Brewery; Christian Ettinger, formerly of Laurelwood Brewery is opening his own place in Portland. Now here I’m about to contradict my previous statement. Because even though the Hopworks IPA has an IBU of 71, I found the light amber beer to be balanced and enjoyable.

Flying Fish Brewery, a New Jersey brewery you don’t hear a lot about over on the right coast, brought a great beer to the table with its Flying Fish Bourbon Barrel Abbey Dubbel. This rich, complex dubbel was aged in bourbon casks. It exudes a fruity nose and generous malty body and has a dry almond-like finish with a little alcohol burn . . . gantastic!

Fifty-Fifty Brewery – Donner Party Porter. Tahoe (really Truckee) is the new home of renowned Midwest brewer Todd Ashman and the Fifty-Fifty Brewery (opened in May). I’m an unabashed fan of the porter style and the Donner Party Porter lives up to Todd’s reputation for well planned, impeccably brewed beers, I look forward to the aged porter that’s in Jack Daniels barrels now, but it’s hard to imagine how this could be a better.

Lompoc Brewing – SummerAid, a light golden ale, so easy on the palate, a perfect cleanser after too much big beer on a hot day.

There you have it, my take on the offerings at the 2007 Oregon Brewers Fest. No I did not try all 73 beers, but I did make a dent in that list.

Editor’s note: This was probably the most blogged about festival ever. The Beervana wrapup will lead you to more blogs or visit RSBS and look for OBF posts.

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Portland International Brewfest

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Posted by Banjo Bandolas

“The Greatest Beers You’ve Never Heard Of!”

Please excuse my late report on the PIB event last weekend. It’s been so long since we’ve had rain here in Oregon I believe my brain cells were drying up and flaking away. Today brought a blessed downpour and I feel like my brain is getting back to its normal, albeit abnormal by medical standards, functionality.

Portland international Brewfest

Oregon is at the tail end of a heat wave and the temperature was just a touch above my comfort level as I navigated the narrow one way streets of downtown Portland, to the Park blocks of the Pearl District. I looked forward to a wonderful evening of rare and unusual beer at PIB, the Portland International Beerfest. PIB’s advertising claimed “Over 100 rare beers from 15 countries!” That was enough to lure me up over a hundred miles from Hippytown (Eugene, OR) to the big city two weeks before Oregon Brewers Fest.

The Portland International Beerfestival, or PIB, is a smaller version of SIB, The Seattle International Beerfestival, a large and popular annual event held at the end of June in Seattle. I found SIB to be a huge, throbbing festival that reflects the amped-up Starbucks culture of Seattle, whereas PIB is small, laid-back, and very much a reflection of its host city. The event strives to bring you “The Greatest Beers You’ve Never Heard Of!” a bold ambition when you consider the attendee’s are residents of Beervana.

Portland international Brewfest

I was given 10 tickets and a 4 oz. sample glass for my $20 entry fee and I wanted to make the best use of them before resorting to buying the dreaded EXTRA tickets at $1 each.

I scanned the program. There was an impressive list of beers, and in some cases breweries, I’d never heard of. Each beer cost 1, 2, 3, or 4 tickets depending on “swank factor” (according to event organizers). The general consensus I and my fellow imbibers came to was the number of tickets had more to do with the AMOUNT of that particular beer the organizers had been able to procure rather than any “swank factor”.

I was happy to find no impenetrable throngs around the pouring stations. I didn’t see a line of more than two or three other people at any particular station. People were very relaxed, and many brought their dogs and came prepared to enjoy the fest with cards or backgammon sets.

I was driving and had to keep my intake within reason so don’t expect a long list of tasting notes here. I tried some great ones, some good ones, some bad ones, and some truly awful swill.

Portland international Brewfest

I selected a light beer to start off. I’d heard of Zatec, the new import from Merchant Du Vin, and made a beeline for the booth. Zatec bears the name of the region it’s been brewed in since 1004, Zatec Czech Republic, located in the world famous Saaz hops region. The beer, a bright and sparkling lager, was a light, well balanced blend of malt and hops with a very clean, slightly fruity, finish. This is my idea of a perfect summer thirst quencher. I rank it high with my other new favorite summer beer, Haymaker, an extra light ale by Portland’s Bridgeport Brewery.

Okay, now my palette was prepped for something a little more complex. Direction came from Alan Shapiro of SBS imports who mentioned his Brewer’s Reserve Signature collaboration ale by Tomme Arthur of Pizza Port Brewery and Dirk Naudts of DeProef Brouwerji. They designed the beer with four different malts, saccharomyces and brettanomyces fermentations, and some aggressive west coast hopping with three different varieties. The result was a delicious malty blend of citrus notes and hop bite with an underlying yeast tartness. It was the most unusual beer of the fest for me and I recommend it. I understand it will be available first thru Michael Jackson’s Rare Beer Club.

Moving down the line, I felt the old compulsion many of us fall prey to, beers with weird names. Being an Oregon Duck fan how could I resist a beer called “Sick Duck”? The full name is Sick Duck Rum-Barrel Imperial Stout. It’s an 11% abv barrel-aged Imperial Stout from Washington’s Flyers Brewery. The pouring at PIB was the first time Flyer’s beers had been available in Oregon. This special version of Sick Duck was a monster Imperial Stout that had been aged in barrels that previously contained French Oak and Pyrat XO Reserve, a 15 year old Caribbean rum. This is a big beer, not for the timid! Molasses and caramel notes complimented the strong bourbon nose and taste followed by an unexpectedly nice finish, in short quite enjoyable, but thank god it was only 4 oz.

The success with Sick Duck led me down a garden path, and I made a few missteps. Old Engine Oil lived up to its name as total swill. Another clinker was Black Boss Porter, a 9.4% abv Baltic Porter that could have, in my humble opinion, doubled for a pancake topping.

Portland international Brewfest

My next choice didn’t take a lot of thought, when I saw the Ommegang Three Philosophers on the list I went directly to the booth, cleansed my palette, and apologized to my mouth with two servings of that truly great beer. Though Brewery Ommegang is located in New York State, Three Philosophers actually has roots in Portland. There was a contest where readers of Realbeer.com were asked to describe the perfect beer. A Portlander came up with the winning words and Ommegang went to work bringing the description to life. Three Philosophers was born. Three Philosophers is a blend of Belgian dark strong ale and Lindeman’s Kriek. It produces a nose of sweet cherries, malt, vanilla and with slightly sour Kriek notes.

My double indulgence in Three Philosophers left me ticketless. I decided this was as good a stopping point as any. The two Portland police officers talking to a couple departing festival goers reinforced my decision and I said goodbye to the Pearl District and P-Town.

I came to PIB somewhat doubtful they could pull off the bold claims of their advertising, I’m happy to concede they hit their mark and look forward to next years list of “The Greatest Beers You’ve Never Heard Of!”