Thirsty Thursday–Summit’s Great Northern Porter

Because it’s cold and northern-like, I figured on a beer from a land both cold and Northern for today.

If you’re from a Southern location, you just can’t relate to what is happening in my neck of the woods. Unlike many around here, I’m not complaining. Snow and a better version of cold is one of the reasons I returned to these parts. Here’s what the weather’s been like: snow, cold, snow, melting mud, cold, snow, snow, some warming, then cold. After yet another whitening early this week (which followed two days that reached the 50s and 60s), we’re in a meltingish phase.

For the last two days, the County hasn’t allowed the school buses on the gravel roads, so we have to cart the boys a couple miles to pavement in the morning and pick them up in the afternoon. While our road isn’t as rutted as some, my Jeep is a muddy mess. Last week I picked up some equipment in Des Moines and one of the guys helping me load was all: “Dude, you been out four-wheelin’?”

“Uh, sorta. Just daily life stuff. Getting a gallon of milk. Coming home from work. It’s where/how I live.”

This winter is all my fault. I asked God for it, and He gave it to all of us. Sorry. Next year won’t be this bad. It’s just that I’ve been away for so long. This one had to be a good one. Or a bad one. Depending on how you look at it. I’m enjoying it. But it’s getting old, I’ll admit.

So, anyway, a beer from up North: Summit Brewing Company’s Great Northern Porter, from St. Paul, Minnesota. Lotsa roasty goodness here. I had this beer on tap once, served way too cold. It was the last beer before heading off to a concert and we decided we were a bit short on time. I had to just drink it. It was good, but hadn’t warmed enough to really bring out the flavors. I drank it in a situation that was unopinionformable, if you don’t mind me making up words.

This time I’m at leisure. I could stick this in the microwave if I wanted. I’ve done it before. But no. Just let it hit its stride. Ahh. There it is. Roasty, almost a touch acrid, but just a suggestion. Tasty. Their website mentions a lightness of body and I won’t disagree with that. I wouldn’t care if they mashed it four degrees higher, but then I wouldn’t care if they didn’t.

Nice. Check it out if you get a chance.

Thirsty Thursday–happy day

It’s a great day for a guy like me. At 5 pm, I showed up for the city council meeting. I wore my sweet Irish hat to look all sophisticated and whatnot. That was canceled out by the part about me having holes in my paint-speckled pants–I’d forgotten my change of clothes in my rush to get to work on my building.

I put my hat on my holey knee and sat with good posture and a gentle smile as the mayor worked his way through the agenda. Finally, it was my turn. And the good news is…

They approved my liquor license!

There is no bad news.

A bloody good day for a beer loving guy like me. I’m not sure if my mom will be proud, but I’m sure she’ll not be surprised that this is where my life has landed. Of course, all the way home, I contemplate the appropriate celebration beer. Something big. Something bad.

No. Something everyday awesome. I love porter. That would be perfect.

To the fridge I went. Since the only homebrew I have in 22-ounce bombers these days is my porter, I didn’t take the time to label them with the all-important “P,” which denotes to me the bottle’s contents. I just grabbed a bomber.

I forgot that Jimmy left a beer behind last time he was here. It was a bomber. It wasn’t a porter. I noticed when it poured an odd, but lovely orangey-amber. I noticed when it didn’t smell so roasty. I noticed when it didn’t taste all choco-roast-a-coffee-licious.

Obviously, I’m a talented beer drinker. Certified judge, even.

It didn’t matter that it wasn’t a porter. A gift from a friend made it a brewvana moment. Thanks for the beer, Jimmy. It was perfect today.

Thirsty Thursday–Rogue Monk Madness

As soon as he got finished with his hair appointment, my bro-in-low Kyle was ready for a beer. He’s been grooving on the Rogue lineup in his Walk with Better Beer, and recently snagged a bottle of Monk Madness for us to try.

With excitement and good cheer, Jimmy and I obliged, neither having tried this one previously.  I’d been looking forward to this one. I could have approached it with a bad attitude, thinking, ah, this is gonna suck and not taste no Belgian.

You see, I was aware that it utilized Rogue’s signature PacMan yeast, itself a far cry from what one might expect from the character of a Belgian yeast. And since Belgian beers are so marked by their yeast…

But not me, friends. Good attitude, just interested in what this beer might offer.

What doth Rogue say?:

“Monk Madness Ale is brewed with 12 ingredients: 2-row Pale, Belgian Munich, Belgian Special B, Weyermann Melonodon, and Amber Malts; Belgian Nobles, Chinook, Amarillo, Centennial, and Summit Hops; along with free-range coastal water and Rogues proproetary PacMan Yeast.”

What doth Wilson say?:

I liked it. Was it packed with spicy, yeast-driven phenols? No. What was it then? I found it to be an exercise in what malt can do. The Belgian Munich, Belgian Special B and melanoidin came forward in a tasty way. The hops were there for balance and support only. Using these ingredients, Monk Madness is a nod to Belgium without being Belgian.

In perusing Rogue’s website, I noticed that, due to a shortage of the specialty malts, this beer is not in production during the winter of ‘07-’08. I don’t know when the last batch was brewed, but that could mean that this bottle has been sitting around a while. It’s held up well. This was a nice beer, and one that would go well with about any meal, as far as I’m concerned: burgers, cheeses, pancakes.

I don’t know about you, but I’ll drink this beer again.

Thirsty Thursday–catching up and getting ahead

Kyle, Jimmy and I haven’t done Thursday together for several weeks, so this time, it was really a matter of catching up. Jimmy had two new homebrews I hadn’t tried and I had two he hadn’t tried. We also cracked open a bottle of Sprecher’s Black Bavarian. It smelled great, but tasted oxidized. Not a date to be found on the bottle, but I’d guess this one had been around a while. I look forward to trying this again in a fresher condition.

I didn’t take any notes, as I was brewing in an effort to get ahead. I’m scheduled to take possession of the building for my restaurant within the next few days. Once I get that building, I’ll feel bad taking a day to brew, so I’m burning the midnight oil instead: ten gallons of porter, five of which have coconut in the fermenter.

Thirsty Thursday–Sampling Sanctuary

Once upon a time, on September 2, 2007, Wilson brewed his first Flanders Red. He’s very patient. He knew this would take some time.

Sanctuary spent a week in primary fermentation. It went from a gravity of 1.061 to 1.008 in that time. On September 11, 2007, Wilson racked the beer to secondary, and added Wyeast 5335, as well as one ounce of French oak chips, which had been soaked in 7 Deadly Zins.

Five months have passed. The fermenter just sits there, taunting. Wilson remains committed. It will be better later. He figured on bottling in May of 2008. Eight months seemed a good compromise. He didn’t want to wait a whole year (certainly not two or three), but knew that six months would not be enough.

Wilson’s the kind of guy that can wait. He always saves the cherry for last. But at some point it would be fine, dandy, appropriate and necessary to take a sample. That was this week.

The Sample

On one hand, I should point out that it had reached 1.006, but on the other hand, I want to know how it tasted.

It was a lovely, rosy caramel color, clear and tempting. The aroma was a fascinating burst of vanilla which eventually gave way to some acidity and fruity malt character. The flavors were really a melding of light cherry/red currant malt tones and a touch of acidity/sourness. A waft of alcohol drifted past. Nothing dominated. Swished in the mouth, the character of the oak became apparent beyond the amazing vanilla aroma. Oak and Zinfandel came forward and lent a tannic, dry coating to the mouth.

Of course, it was flatter than a pancake, so one has to pull out the old imagination to envision how this will taste in the end. It will taste good, he decides. But he’s looking forward to a stronger sour character. Will three more months suffice? He’s almost skeptical. Since he’s patient, he might just wait a little longer. Will it be a year? He doesn’t know.

Regardless, it will indeed be a Sanctuary. It will be, like today, brewvana.

Thirsty Thursday–lime research

I don’t really believe this, but I’ll say it anyway. You can’t always drink beer.

Sometimes one has other work to do. And for me this week, that has meant putting some thought into margaritas. Work, work, work. I’m opening a Mexican restaurant in a couple of months, and with a lot of groundwork laid, as well as red tape happening in other areas of the adventure, I find myself with time to think about my beer options. And my margarita options.

So, with nose to the grindstone, Michelle and I sat down to three different versions of margarita. Then I had a beer.

In the coming weeks, we’ll probably try about 20 other variations on the theme. Work, work, work.

Then I’ll have a beer.

Thirsty Thursday–Kyle’s First Batch

The Good Beer Army strengthened its numbers this past week by one more as Kyle popped open the first bottle of his first batch.

This knucklehead of a brother-in-law couldn’t just settle for starting out with a pale ale or an amber. He had to fool around right out of the gates. He is a true homebrewer at heart.

Fond of Rogue’s Hazelnut Brown Nectar, Kyle was determined to emulate this libation. Unfortunately, he couldn’t find hazelnut extract. Instead, he improvised with black walnut, nutting up the nut brown in a different direction. The beer was tasty with the black walnut mingled with chocolaty notes, a noble First Beer, as are they all.

Three Blind Macros

A couple of week’s ago, Kyle, Jimmy and I sat down with three cans of beer, nine cups and a pen.

We labeled the bottoms of the cups to reflect what would be inside: Bud Light, Coors Light and Miller Lite. Then we numbered the cups, poured and tasted. Blind tastings are fun and sneaky, and I’d always thought it would be interesting to sit down with three macros and compare and contrast the beers.

I took notes and found many of the same words describing the three beers: grainy, corny, crisp, thin and sulphur. However, they were clearly three different beers. One had a more prominent aroma, one had a more pronounced flavor, and the third was clearly the least engaging, trounced by sulphurs that I couldn’t enjoy.

As we sat down, I wanted to choose my favorite of the three, and also see if I could pick which was which. I expected that I would prefer the Miller Lite, as I always thought that Miller Genuine Draft had more flavor than most macros. Kyle sat down the newly converted craft beer lover who will always maintain a soft spot in his heart for Coors Light.

Of the three, I accurately guessed the Bud Light glass–it was the sulphury one which I did not care for. I ranked it Number 3. I liked the aroma of Miller Lite best, but chose Coors Light as my overall favorite to drink on a hot day after cutting the grass. Its flavor seemed a little more rounded, something that surprised me. I thought I remembered that flavor from years ago as well as I thought I could remember, gauge and guess Bud Light’s.

Even more interesting, Coors Light came in last on Kyle’s drinkability list. Poor guy.

Lotsa revealing fun. Give it a try.

6 women, 6 decades, 6 beers

A tasting to engage women in brewvana

Is it any wonder that there are few female beer enthusiasts? With the macro-breweries focusing on babes in bikinis rather than flavor and education in their advertising campaigns, it doesn’t take a brain surgeon to figure that women are a little turned off by the whole beer scene.

The Bud Girls. The Swedish Bikini Team. Drink our beer and you’ll be cool. Drink our beer and good looking women dig you. From a brewvanic perspective, that’s a fat lot of crap. And very unfortunate for the craft brewer, who doesn’t have the resources to compete with the deep-pocketed macros’ advertising budgets. Doubly unfortunate, because the microbrewers are crafting styles to which women might be attracted. If only the little guys had the exposure.

I asked renowned female brewmaster Teri Fahrendorf her thoughts on women’s aversion to beer. “What I have found, with people who say they don’t like beer, is that generally they don’t like yellow lager beer. They don’t like the sulfur or corn or rice flavors.” Fahrendorf suggests targeting flavors to hone in on the perfect pint for the drinker at hand. Coffee lovers tend to groove on porters and stouts, for instance. Women often prefer the fruity nuances of ales over lagers.

From Fahrendorf’s perspective, women are less likely to enjoy spilled beer-and-puke environments. If it’s a brew pub that caters to lighter styles, women may not be won over. Me neither, as these joints seem populated by those there to be seen, rather than those there for a tasty pint. Like many women, Fahrendorf is put off by what she calls “the cheesecake factor,” the “sex sells” mentality of advertising.

With my Save The World Through Beer mentality in my pocket, I set out to do a little research that will surely benefit all of Beerdom. I’ve already learned that women can’t resist flowers or Stan Getz playing softly in the background, but what could possibly be the right beer(s), and what could possibly get them to imbibe?

The Plan

I decided a tasting was in order, but not just any tasting. I needed to have women, but not just a smattering in my age group. I needed lots of age groups: could I really track down six different women from six different decades? With the help of my new comrade Donna, mover and shaker in this small Iowa town, yes I could.

Donna was concerned that they wouldn’t all like beer. “Perfect,” said I. As long as they’re willing to a) drink, and b) sample the free beer I planned to provide, all the better. I knew that it was likely that many of them would only have experienced a light American lager. No wonder they (thought they) didn’t like beer. And with all that advertising turning them off? This was just the audience I wanted.

Once we gathered our crew, a twentysomething on through a seventysomething, I set out to walk them through a wide range of beers, from light to dark, with offshoots into several different flavor profiles. Miller Lite served as a baseline to everyone’s reference point for “beer.” New Belgium’s Mothership Wit kept things light, while bringing in new dimensions and ideas for flavors that a beer can possess. Then came my homebrewed Bon Scottish Ale, a Scottish 80 shilling that would give us a flavor reference leaning toward malt character. Next, I wanted something dark and roasty, so I chose Young’s Double Chocolate Stout, simply because I’ve witnessed several women enjoy it. To represent hops, I brought along the easy-to-find Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. Finally, we would tempt Fate with a Monk’s Cafe Flemish Sour Ale.

My goals for the evening where basically twofold: educate and expose these women to a different side of “beer,” and obtain feedback for how women might be drawn into the world of craft beer.

The Tasting

First off, it was a whole lot of fun. I provided a little background on the brewing process, as well as the ingredients involved. We talked about aromas, flavors, mouthfeels. We talked about their drinking experiences and preferences (which ranged from beer to mixed drinks to wine to margaritas to straight up tequila). And we talked about macro-advertising’s failure to engage them. Of the group, the Twentysomething walked in the door as the most adventurous beer drinker, and the Seventysomething told me beforehand that it was pointless for her to come, because she didn’t like beer (sounded like my Granny before trying my saison–”That’s better than just plain old beer.”).

“Perfect,” said I. I had one that she would find engaging.

I actually had two Fiftysomethings, which gave me a seven-pack of noisy, rambunctious, thoughtful and sweet participants. Lots of lively banter. They even filled out notes and answered questions on my little handout.

The Verdict

Of the six beers on the menu, the Belgian wit, New Belgium’s Mothership Wit came out on top, followed by my 80 Shilling, the Flanders red, Miller Lite, Young’s Double Chocolate and Sierra Nevada’s Pale Ale.

What did they have to say?

Mothership Wit: the 20 (Yes, I’m objectifying them by calling them numbers. There’s no offense intended. I’m bad with names, and many of you wouldn’t know them anyway, and I don’t want to type out seventysomething over and over again) noted that it was “fruity, tangy, floral” while the 50 and 70 both said it was “lemony.”

Scottish 80 Shilling: there were five uses of the word smooth (from 20, 30, 40, one of the 50s and the 60) while the other 50 and the 70 wrote some version of “don’t care for it.”

Flanders Red: 30 said, “good after dinner beer,” 60 said, “too much vinegar,” while 70 (my beloved near-grandmother, Norma Jean Mosman) admitted “I liked this beer.” However, on a scale of one to ten, she only gave it a six.

Miller Lite: 40 said,”I like its ‘lightness’,” while a 50 called it “too bitey” and 20, 60 and 70 used variations of the word mild.

Young’s Double Chocolate: This one didn’t perform as well as I’d hoped. 20 said, “Love it!” While most everyone noticed coffee and chocolate aromas and flavors, no one else loved anything but the aroma.

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale: 30 piped up, “This tastes like real beer,” while her mother, one of the 50s said, “really don’t like this one.” A house divided, I guess.

The Numbers Game

I had all the participants rate each beer on a scale of 1 to 10, just noting their own personal, subjective enjoyment of the beer. In looking at their “scores,” I found it interesting that it was almost a perfect flow of youngest with the highest scores to the oldest with the lowest scores:

20: averaged 5.8 (favorite beer was Young’s Double Chocolate)

30: averaged 5.5 (favorite beer was a tie: my 80 shilling and the Monk’s Cafe)

40: averaged 4.3 (favorite beer was Mothership Wit)

50: averaged 4.2 (favorite beer was my 80 shilling)

50: averaged 3.5 (favorite beer was a tie: Mothership Wit and Monk’s Cafe)

60: averaged 4 (favorite beer was my 80 shilling)

70: averaged 3.3 (favorite beer was Monk’s Cafe)

I’d hoped to turn more folks onto the Young’s Double Chocolate Stout, but the wit won out. As I suspected, the Flanders red intrigued everyone. Two tasters rated this one as their favorite of the lineup. This jives with Teri Fahrendorf’s thoughts when dealing with a wine drinker who may not care for hops. Interestingly, the hop profile of the Sierra Nevada was a loser to everyone but 30, who had the most diverse taste. 30 was also a fan of the 80 shilling and the Monk’s Cafe.

The average for the highest-scored beer was a meager 5.7.

What about the advertising?

I asked my panel of women how brewers might better engage them, and had several good responses:

20 said: “Point blank, breweries could do a better job explaining their different beers in their commercials.”

Wilson says: Yep, but the small brewers can’t afford to advertise during the Super Bowl, so consumers have to find the info out themselves. Once you’ve discovered craft beer, it’s easy to turn to the Internet for information on beers.

30 said: “Women (buy based on) labels, cool names. Education (would help)”

40 said: “They could start by not focusing on men.”

Wilson says: But how?

50 said: “Show women enjoying beer.”

The other 50 said: “The breweries need to let you taste one ounce of maybe three or four to learn what you might want.”

Wilson says: If you show up to a brewery for a tour, there’s almost always free samples involved. Another great place for tasting is at a beer festival, something mighty scarce in small town Iowa. A small dose of exposure like this might be the catalyst for getting them out on the festival circuit, the taproom, the brewery tour and the beer aisle.

They challenged me to put on a festival. I’ll start with having good beers in my restaurant. Doing tastings there. Somewhere down the road, in conjunction with a community event, sure, I’ll put something extra together. A full-blown festival? Maybe. It’d start way small, but I’d agree that it’s a good idea, as there are men in these parts that also need to be enlightened on Good Beer.

Fahrendorf also suggests advertising that takes a biographical form. There are many good female brewers, including ones at Budweiser. Showcase their skills. Further, breweries could focus on women-oriented brewery tours, and special tastings, as well as encouraging women to homebrew and learn about beer and beer production.

Throwing Down the Gauntlet

It’s a process. No matter how it’s done, that initial exposure is what needs to happen. While they’re flirting with the craft beer crowd, Bud, Miller and Coors may not take the lead on engaging women in a meaningful way. And since smaller brewers have limited resources, it’s up to us: the already converted.

We run our mouths constantly about beer, so it shouldn’t be too much for me to ask everybody to step it up a notch. Many of you already volunteer at festivals, a great way to help the cause. Many of us preach to our circle of friends and family. My cousin Suzannah directly benefited from growing up in a household where I was constantly bringing over beers for her old man to try. Now a college grad, she drinks the good stuff.

So I’m here to challenge you. Organize a tasting like I did this week–with people you don’t necessarily know. Get out of your comfort zone and stop preaching to the choir. Get up with a female friend, co-worker or relative and have them rustle up a houseful of women. Brighten their day with beer. Teach them. Care for their well being like never before. You have nothing to lose, and I guarantee you’ll have fun. If a hundred of my readers did this twice a year, they’d reach 1,200 potential beer lovers. If 200 did it, well, I’m not that good at math. In any case, we’d be starting a snowball down the mountain. A very good snowball. I’m sure the small, craft breweries would appreciate your help.

(This isn’t a request, it’s an order. I expect you to report back and tell us how it went.)

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A Smattering of Good Beer and Woman Stuff:

The Road Brewer (the aforementioned blog, by Teri Fahrendorf)

Pink Boots Society (Fahrendorf’s compilation of female brewers, one of the most inspiring and beautiful web pages I’ve ever viewed)

Taking the Beard out of Beer (Melissa Cole’s Girls Guide to Beer)

The Best of American Beer and Food (Lucy Saunders pairing and cooking with craft beer)

A Beer Sort of Blog (by a Beer Sort of Girl)

All About Beer (edited by Julie Johnson Bradford)

The Queens of Beer (an old Brewing Techniques article)

Beer for Chicks (Christina Perozzi–the beer chick/sommelier)

2007 Beer Drinker of the Year (Diane Catanzaro takes the prize)

2001 Beer Drinker of the Year (Cornelia Corey was the first female to win eternal glory)

Boak and Bailey (a husband and wife beer blogging team–Boak gets bonus points because she’s a Zeppelin fan)

My Beer Pix (Beer Molly and Beer Sage[her husband]’s beer blog)

This list, like so many others, could go on and on. In fact, it should go on and on. It’s a beautiful thing, a little piece of brewvana.

__________

Big thanks to Donna and all the beer drinking girls who were willing to indulge me this past week.

Big thanks to Teri Fahrendorf for contributing to the cause (for this post and the bigger cause).

Tasting photos by Jake Wilson, 11. Bottles opened by Tom Wilson, 8. Thanks, guys.

Thirsty Thursday–Flying Dog Pale Ale

Since Flying Dog Pale Ale is so widely available and, like many beer enthusiasts, I’m such a whore, it’s been a long time since I’ve had this beer.

Lest we forget in our search for the next “wow” beer of our life, there are many good beers sitting on the shelf that we ignore. To me, this is one of them. I sipped this puppy last night while my brother-in-law Kyle brewed the first beer of his quickly improving life, and I found myself very satisfied, and kicking myself for not drinking it more often.

While these guys are well-known for the art on their labels, one of the things I’ve always liked are the scales they include that gives the shopper a little clue as to what’s inside the bottles: Light v. Dark and Malty v. Hoppy

This was a good one. Let this be a lesson to ya: go drink a good beer you haven’t had in a while, simply because it’s easy to find. Others in this category I look forward to revisiting are Rogue’s Dead Guy Ale and Sam Adams’ Cream Stout.