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Fresh Flick and a Fresh Beer.

~ Bearcat ~ 2 Comments

Brewed in the Burg

This past weekend GK Visual and SaraBozich.com released Brewed in the Burg, a documentary now available online at Vimeo. This film debuted during Harrisburg Beer Week to resounding praise.

I caught it then but now that it is online, I wanted to take the time to really digest the film. It was an opportunity to pick up on all the nuance and ideas kicked around by the Who’s Who of the Harrisburg-area craft beer industry. It is an impressive line up of interviews:

So I hunted down the freshest local beer I could find to enjoy while watching. I found the perfect beer. It was a Crowler of Pizza Boy’s Murren River IPA; a super fresh batch tapped just two days prior (7/12/15).
The Murren River was piney and dank in the nose. Heady as hell, this straw colored American IPA is excellent from start to finish. Well bodied with a great clean mouth feel it providing a firm head that laced the glass perfectly. Murren River had a slight sweetness that was cut with balanced piney and citrus hops. The finish is of orange and a subtle hint of earth and grass. It came with a long dry finish that belies the easy drinking tones. This beer clocks in like a Cruiserweight with 7.6% ABV but drinks well below its weight class.

I loved this beer and it merges perfectly with a important quality of craft beer discussed within Brewed in the Burg. Right in the middle, it discusses the importance of freshness. This is the obvious and unassailable advantage of drinking local craft beer. It is impossible to get a beer as fresh as I did today any other way. This matters. It tastes better and you are getting the beer exactly as the brewer intended.

The other themes discussed are true of any craft beer community: supporting local business, fraternity between brewers, friendships cultivated among beer drinkers and a love for great beer.

The way this film is true to Harrisburg is the people on which it focuses. It could get easily lost that this documentary is about just craft beer brewed in Harrisburg. What Sara and GK Visual have done is weave a story about local brewers, small businessmen and women, beer drinkers and people that write about it or just enjoy drinking it. These are salt of the earth people that are doing extraordinary things in an extraordinary industry. Stick around and watch the outtakes… This was a great reminder that these are just hardworking people; many of them making good on a dream.

Craft beer becomes a conduit for telling their story. That is the take away from Brewed in the Burg. The slickly shot and edited documentary is about the people that make the local craft beer industry possible.

Please check out the video at http://vimeo.com/gkvisual/brewedintheburg and use the tip jar. Brewed in the Burg is a movie worth a couple of your bucks. This doc will give you an understanding of how a sublime Intangible Ale, a crisp Sunshine Pils or whatever you are nursing at ZerØday got into your glass. Through people’s hard work and dedication to the craft of brewing beer.

Hops ‘N’ Clocks

~ Bearcat ~ 3 Comments

Rod Smith and Chad Rieker from CKW with their Major Award

This past Friday The National Watch and Clock Museum hosted their eighth annual Hops ‘N’ Clock beerfest in Columbia, PA.  This was the fourth time I have attended this unique and perennially sold out event.  The National Watch and Clock Museum is one of those great secrets of Central PA.  It’s a hidden gem.  Since opening in 1977 it has grown from less than 1,000 pieces to more than 12,000 artifacts and time pieces detailing humanity’s efforts of tracking the passage of time.

In early July each year the museum invites local brewers and restaurants to take over the building and ply visitors with tasty libations and light fare.  For a small donation ($30) you get a ticket for three hours with a up to a dozen breweries and a near equal number of restaurants each offering generous samples with the opportunity to check out the entire museum.

This year saw a great lineup of Lancaster and York based breweries including, Gift Horse Brewing, Wacker Brewing, Lancaster Brewing Company, Liquid Hero Brewing, and Columbia Kettle Works; as well as Roy Pitz Brewing, and Troegs. Bailee’s Homebrew & Wine Supplies had an assortment of homebrewed beers and offered tips for prospective and established homebrewers. The fest was not all beer with J & J Miracle Mead and Wyndrindge Farm poured samples of a mead and hard cider.

A number of great food options included two from Columbia; Prudomme’s Lost Cajun Kitchen and Bully’s.  Both restaurants have impressive and well curated beer selections if you are ever in the area.

Music was provided by Fire in the Glen playing a lively mix of traditional Irish and Scottish folk/drinking songs.

The sold out event was well attended but not overbooked.  It was easy to get a refill with more than enough of time to try all the offerings.

Many great libations were on hand but some of them stood out more than others:

Odin Stök by J & J Miracle Mead is a fully fermented buck wheat honey mead.  It drinks dry and heavy; tasted of buck wheat honey but lacked any of the sweetness.  This was my first time trying mead and it was an interesting experience.  Clocking in at 18% ABV, Odin Stök was for sipping and would make for a nice after dinner drink.

Citra Wheat by Gift Horse Brewing Company was a well-executed American pale wheat ale with a healthy dose of Citra hops.  Dry and citrusy it made for an easy drinking beer that stood up well among a room full of good brews. Gift Horse’s Roasted Irish Ale was also good with plenty of roasted malts and bready notes.  Gift Horse is still working towards completing their brewery in York but once it is done I plan to pay a visit.

Rülpsen Meister by Liquid Hero Brewery is a Roggenbier.  If you have not heard of the Roggenbier style you can be forgiven.  It was a first for me as well. I don’t know if Rülpsen Meister was true to style as it was my first but it did have a great rye spiciness along with a solid body while being quaffable.  If you get the chance to grab one of these it is highly recommended.  Each year that Liquid Hero has come to this event they bring a surprising style or uniquely brewed beer.  It’s shows commitment to the event and is really appreciated.

Bitter Beer Face by Bailee’s Homebrew was a 100 IBU pale ale that lived up to the great name.  The homebrew was an impressive tasting beer regardless of it being brewed in someone’s garage; I assume.  A intensely bitter pale ale dosed with a variety of hops.  It provided a dry long finish that showed off the resin and dank flavors.

Citra Session by Columbia Kettle Works was the best beer I had all night.  It was perfectly executed and showed off the Citra hop flavors beautifully. Heavy in citrus and tropical notes in the nose with a slight grapefruit.  It was properly bitter with a clean and light mouthfeel and a crisp finish.  Easy drinking and refreshing, Citra Session stood head and shoulders above the rest.  I was also not the only one to think so highly of the most local of brewers attending as Columbia Kettle Works won the “People’s Choice Award.”  Columbia Kettle Works is a short five minute walk from the museum and had plenty of local support.

Hops ‘N’ Clocks was a great event that supports a great museum.  If you would like to attend next year look for it the first Friday after the 4th of July with tickets going on sale in early June.  It is a great time and provides needed support for a community trust and you will be hard pressed to find a more unusual atmosphere for holding a beer festival.

Defining Craft Beer

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Reinheitsgebot

A lot of hay is being made these days over the definition of “craft beer” and “craft brewer.”  Recently it appears most of these arguments stem from opposing legislation called the Fair BEER and Small BREW Acts. When boiled down, these are tax bills. Seeking to create tax relief for either small brewers (what you typically think of as craft) and big brewers (AB, MillerCoors, or The Macros). As much as I would like to wax public policy and argue that “one man’s tax relief is another man’s tax loophole” this specific issue is moot as the legislation is all but dead.

But these bills did leave the beer community with one interesting question: “Is The Boston Beer Company (AKA: Samuel Adams) a Craft Brewer?”

The question is born out of the proposed legislation’s definition of “craft brewer” being set at less than six million barrels annually.  Assuming the continuation of their current rate of growth, Boston Beer would be a macro by definition sometime in or around 2018 when it is projected to produce more than six million barrels annually.

Bryan Roth over at This Is Why I’m Drunk postulated, reasonably so, that the volume of hard tea and hard cider produced by Boston Beer has resulted in it no longer being just a beer company. Simply stated, beverages other than beer are boosting the profit margins, significantly so, that the craft brewer distinction is reasonably in question. He makes an interesting and valid point in regards to The Boston Beer Company.

But I think the question still remains… What makes a brewery “craft?”

I am going out on a limb here but I don’t think it is based on volume. It is not based on an arbitrary number of barrels produced per year. That is exactly what the figure six million barrels is, arbitrary.

To me craft brewing is about the art of brewing and a philosophy. It is about being committed to the product and the customers who buy the product. There is an entire community of beer drinkers in this country that are committed to drinking real beer. This sub-culture is made up of beer snobs, beer geeks, beer evangelists, home brewers, and community and regional breweries. In many cases once regional breweries now have bi-coastal operations and/or nationwide distribution. If there is one thing all these players have in common it’s a stake in the industry they love.

To define this fine libation and the people that make it as being craft or not craft based on arbitrary volume numbers does nothing to help understand the product nor the people making and consuming it.

So I offer this definition:

Craft Beer (krăft bîr)

n.

A fermented alcoholic beverage brewed by practitioners with the best ingredients, skilled artistry, manual dexterity, ingenuity, and exceptional quality.

Is this definition perfect? Probably not. I am not quite that arrogant and I am sure Budweiser would say their adjunct lager swill fit that definition to a T.

So maybe this is just a start to having a serious discussion about what makes craft beer, craft brewers and craft beer drinkers the incredible movement it has become. Because arguing it’s about volume says nothing about what is really important…making and drinking good beer.

Postscript:  As I wrote this I really tried to develop in as few words as possible what defines craft beer. But this is just one guy’s musing about beer and brewing. What you see above is my best shot at it. Others certainly can do better. What may be necessary is for American craft brewers to adopt their own version of the Reinheitsgebot, The German Beer Purity Law. This could be a way for the craft beer industry to define itself. 

It would be up to brewers to determine what it means to be craft and to do so with intent. This should be done as a recognized understanding and commitment for the sake of the consumer.

The incredible limitations of the German Purity Laws obviously do not fit for the American craft beer industry but the intent at its heart does. An incorporation of guild regulations, adhered to by brewers in the collective, could help an industry experiencing skyrocketing growth and stave off the potential fallout of a bursting bubble in the years to come. It would be a promise to the consumer that the product adheres to strict and exacting standards and that it is of the highest quality.

Is doing this very, very difficult? Yes. But as Nicolas Winton said “I work on the motto that if something is not impossible, there must be a way of doing it.” This is not impossible.

Celebrate Independence Day with Beer Brewed by Independent Brewers

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The Fourth of July is a great holiday and this year it makes for a three day weekend.  Friends and family getting together to cookout, hang poolside, stay out late playing cornhole and drinking beers.

What is not to love?

If you are hosting or will be visiting a Fourth of July party this weekend here are some beers you should consider picking up.  All are available in cans (or a Crowler) that way you can just throw them in the cooler and forget about it.  No time to over think it or pick out the proper glassware.  This is beer for drinking.

Paideia by St. Boniface Brewing Company – I raved about this beer when I wrote about St. Boniface a month ago and it is perfect for this weekend.  Citrus and tropical notes in the nose and well balanced. It is quaffable while being very flavorful.  I would take this over any Session IPA.

801 Small Batch Pilsner by Uinta Brewing – Light bodied and smooth, this pilsner was described to me by a friend as a “creamier version of Miller Lite.”   That is spot on and a compliment to both its flavor and drinkability.  801 like any decent pilsner is perfect for downing during the high heat of the afternoon.

Summer Love by Victory Brewing Co. – While being what I assume is the official beer of summer over at Stouts and Stilettos it is also a damn fine beer for drinking while watching a baseball game. It has a great Citra hops finish that draws you back to the beer sip after sip.  It is so very good and probably the easiest beer on this list to find.  Great for the whole summer or while watching fireworks on Saturday night.

Snapshot by New Belgium Brewing Company – This unfiltered wheat beer is refreshing with plenty of citrusy hops and a slightly sour finish.  The use of lactobacillus in the fermentation gives this beer a subtle and easy pucker.  Snapshot is sweet and tart with its soft lemon notes and really delivers a great flavor.  This one is just outside the norm for a wheat beer and I loved it.

Jammer by Sixpoint Brewery – Jammer is slightly salty, slightly sour like a fine Gose should be.  It is so easy drinking that you will be thankful that is only comes in at 4.2% ABV.  As refreshing as they come and the semi-dry finish will make the six pack disappear quickly.  A little hard to find as the first run kind of sold out but worth the hunt if you can track some down.  According to Sixpoint more is on the way.

White Thai by Westbrook – A cloudy Belgian white beer brewed with lemongrass and ginger root this beer has a great citrus flavor upfront followed by a slight spiciness in the finish.  The Sorachi Ace hops give this beer a white wine like undertone on which the lemon and ginger notes play.  This beer will play well at the Fourth of July that takes itself and the food seriously.

Hater’s Tears by Pizza Boy Brewing Co. – If you are looking to fill a Crowler to take home or to a party I suggest this Gose.  It is crisp and refreshing and has the added bonus of thumbing your nose to people that complain about the price of very high quality, very low quantity beer.  I wrote about the controversy that sprung this beer to life and after having a glass of this beer, I recommend it.  Though it is a bit unusual to say…the beer is as great as the glass it came in. (Seriously, click the link.)

Now grab a hot dog with some spicy brown mustard (as God intended) and crack open one of these tasty beers to celebrate the birth of our nation.  Cheers and happy Fourth of July.

Juxtaposed Breweries Help Define Community Brewing

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Even given the explosive growth of the craft beer industry it may seem strange to say that sleepy little Elizabethtown, PA has two breweries. Moo-Duck Brewery opened eight months ago and has a wonderful location a stone’s throw across from the beautiful train station. Then, this past week Cox Brewing Company opened its doors to the general public for growler fills.

A fellow beer drinker and I decided to visit the two during an especially rainy day. What we came to find is two completely different approaches to craft brewing.

Our first visit was to Cox Brewing Company. Cox is a veteran-owned brewery started by Nick Cox and Tim Kreider. Pulling up to the industrial park located brewery you immediately get a sense that these guys are passionate about their service to this country and brewing beer. The winks and nods to military service are everywhere but are not overwhelming and tastefully give it character.

Three beers were on tap: Liberty Lager, 82nd Amber Ale and CH-47 IPA. Talking with Nick and Tim about the beers showed they had put thought into their product and its place in the local market. Cox makes beer for people that may not have considered trying a craft beer. The three brews are as approachable as the men brewing them.

The Liberty Lager is a pale lager brewed for the guy that likes an ice cold Budweiser tallboy but wants something with a bit more bite, or to support a local business. The beer was dry and clean with a easy noble hops bitterness in the short finish.

82nd Amber Ale was the best of the three with a great color and a thick frothy head that sticks to the glass. Medium bodied with a proper malts and hops balance for the style. Tim put this beer as between a Yuengling and Sam Adams and that description nails it. The guy that regularly orders a “lager” at the bar would be wise to consider this one.

CH-47 IPA is a crisp ale with a easy drinking bitterness. CH-47 is not bombed out with hops but instead provides a gateway for the first time IPA drinker. Clean in the start with a slightly dry finish it would make for a nice compliment to a burger.

Brewing beer requires hard work and can be described as an investment of “blood, sweat, and tears.” For Nick and Tim this looks to be true. They are investing themselves in this business. In fact, Tim lost three fingers building a Jockey Box; due what I assume is to an accident with a saw.  Nick and Tim are committed and passionate about both beer and veteran service.

When asked if they plan to sell pints at the brewery they expressed a focus on continuing to to serve their bar and restaurant customers in the area. They do fill growlers and offer generous samples at the brewery making it well worth a visit.

Our next stop was Moo-Duck Brewery; a short five minute drive from Cox. I have visited Moo-Duck about a half-dozen times since their opening and after about eight months I feel like they are starting to hit a stride. The beers are coming into focus; as exemplified by their two seasonal beers now on tap.

Honey! Strawberry Blonde is brewed with 48 pounds of fresh local strawberries, carefully picked and cleaned by hand. By the pictures in the link you can see they are the tiny, bright red variety; these I personally favor. The only thing the beer missed was tiny seeds to pick out of your teeth. Crisp and refreshing but not overly sweet. Its soft pink hue and bubbly light body complimented the flavors well. Strawberry in the nose and slightly tart and sweet in the finish. It was wonderful and the perfect example of what is possible with local seasonal brewing. It is highly recommended.

The last beer of the day was Big Sit Summer Ale, another fruit beer made with lemon and orange peel and dosed with orange blossom honey. The citrus tones are evident in the nose and the honey comes across nicely in finish. Light and refreshing with lemon and orange coming though as equals playing well together. Eminently drinkable this is a great beer to enjoy on your back porch.

Kristen Brubaker was tending bar and again greeted me with a warm welcoming approach and was quick with a refill of my glass. Talking with her that day and with Mike previously reveals the different approach this couple has compared to their new neighbors. Mike (the brewer) and Kristen are former environmental educators. This permeates their approach to both the brewing and the business. These beers and the food they offer are based on what is local and fresh and are just outside the mainstream.

These two breweries are juxtaposed in many ways that provides a fascinating look at the different approaches available within this booming industry. Cox Brewing Company and Moo-Duck Brewery are servicing the same community in different ways; both in brewing style and business plan.

While Cox is sticking to traditional styles, Moo-Duck is trying daring variations on the classics. Cox is servicing local restaurants and only recently started selling growlers. Moo-Duck is slinging the beer at their own bar and only going into restaurants and bars cautiously; as they pointed out in a recent Beer Busters podcast.

But both are clearly committed to the community. Cox is partnered with veteran charities that they support and are doing good by those that served. Moo-Duck partners monthly with a local charity to offer a “charity brew” providing 50 cents from each pint sold.

Moo-Duck and Cox are both an example of what community brewing is capable of providing.  Breweries historically had been and should be part of the community they service.  Seeing this develop in Elizabethtown is adding to the quality of the community.  “Drink local” is not just a slogan. Drinking local beer is good for the economy and for the industry. So if you are in or near western Lancaster county or just passing through… give these two a try.

Celebrating 20 Years of Off Center Thinking and Brewing

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Some people live a charmed life.  Sam Calagione always seemed like that kind of guy to me.  20 years ago this week Sam founded Dogfish Head Brewery in Milton, Delaware.  Over the past two decades the brewery has grown into a 175,000 barrel behemoth in craft beer, Sam has become a spokesperson for craft brewing, and few others have done more to move the industry forward.

Everyone knows Dogfish Head.

I have the pleasure of visiting Rehoboth about two to three times a year.  I have run the Dogfish Dash, and will again this year.  The brewery in Milton is a great place to visit and I always make a stop at the brewpub. The brewpub is where to check out what strange one offs and new brews are on tap. When it comes to Dogfish… If they brew it, I will buy it.

My favorite time to visit the brewpub is during the off season on Wednesdays.  Way-back Wednesday is when they tap an aged keg of beer (at least 2 years old) and offer some tasty bottles for sale out of their cellar.  In the early spring of 2009, I purchased two 2006 bottles of 120 Minute IPA, and then I promptly put them away for a special day.

120 Minute IPA is described as “the Holy Grail for hop heads.”  Though the “whale” status on 120 Minute IPA has diminished due to ever changing tastes and wider availability, this beer still delivers a phenomenal experience.  The two hour boil while continuously being hopped and the month long dry hopped aging process leaves you with a beer that is 15-20% ABV and a palate wrecking level of bitterness.

To celebrate 20 years of off center thinking and brewing I opened the nine year old bottle of 120 Minute IPA and poured it into a DFH IPA glass.  The aging process produces significant changes in this brew.  The hazy golden hue turns to a deep mahogany.  The hop oils disappear and leave behind a sweet strong brew.  The harsh astringency of alcohol is mellowed; still boozy but more inviting.  The nose is somewhat oddly of maple and cherries with a slight orange tone.  This full bodied beer comes across as downright heavy.  Sipping brings forth rich malts with cherry and brown sugar sweetness.  This beer is sweet but without a saccharin-like finish.  It’s a proper sweetness.  Light in carbonation, and long lasting in the finish, a 12 oz. bottle will last all evening or split perfectly between two.

I have yet to find a beer that is capable of such dramatic change via aging as this one. After resting for a number of years it can take on the depth and complexity of a top shelf after dinner cordial.  A fresh 120 and a well-aged one are only discernable as the same brew by the label on the bottle.  It is a magical transformation.

The general rule is “hoppy” beers must be consumed fresh to get all their dank, resin, citrus and pine like flavors at peak.  But this beer is the exception.  I much prefer it aged 5 or more years and I am very happy that I have many more sleeping quietly in the dark waiting for their day.

Dogfish Head and Sam Calagione are champions for an entire industry.  They make great beer.  Period.  But their 20 years of success are not based on a charmed existence or good luck.  Anyone that has watched Beer Wars or the short lived series Brew Masters knows that their success is based on hard work, an exacting demand for quality, and unrelenting desire to push the envelope.  I think it is clear that this brewery is aging just as well as their top flight beer. They both are just getting better with the years.

Believing Your Lying Eyes

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When enjoying a beer the first sense that is engaged is vision.  The look of a beer says a great deal about it before you take the first sip. Be it a thick opaque porter, a clean and clear pilsner, or a hazy hefeweizen the look of beer often communicates what is coming.  It can be the classic and inviting cascade of a nitro infused Guinness or it can be overly pale yellow of a Rolling Rock; each says something important.

But what happens when you play against type?

Stone Brewing Company through its Stochasticity Project released Master of Disguise an Imperial Golden Stout.  A beer brewed to have the flavor, body and character of a stout but the golden hue of a pale ale.

The beer came in a 22oz bomber and I poured it into a stemmed tulip glass.  It was as clear and as crisp looking as a golden pale ale; it looked just as advertised.  The head was thin and disappeared quickly.  The nose is immediately of coffee but it is not overpowering.  It is joined by slight, gentle notes of chocolate and roasted malts.  The mouth feel a bit deep not unlike a stout but closer to a full bodied porter.  This comes from an abundance of oats. The oats show as the backbone and balance all the flavors and allow the beer to lace beautifully along the glass.  While it starts with roasted coffee and malts, as the beer warms up the esters of the hops open up.  The finish is proper with coffee and cacao flavors lingering.  This well balanced beer clocks in at 9.7% ABV but this is never is evident.

While the trend of Black IPAs took off and was hot before burning out, I don’t see this beer as starting a trend.  It was certainly a delicious beer and an interesting experiment in brewing; it just does not have the complexity and the essence of the other very highly regarded Stone Brewing stouts.  Is this “essence” lost when you change the natural color of a beer?  If I had enjoyed this beer in a blind test I feel like I would not have guessed it as a stout.  There lacked a certain velvet and silk like quality that you get from a full bodied, thick stout…but this was damn close.

So the real question is… Did they pull it off?  I think so.  While the body was a little light, the beer had plenty of stout characteristics to pass.

I would recommend this beer for novices that are put off by the concept of a thick black stout.  Some people can’t get past the look of a stout beer and tend to just order perceived lighter fare.  Master of Disguise would be a great way to introduce imperial stouts.

Postscript:  I think Master of Disguise is just another in a long line of beers that are blurring the line of what it means for a beer to be “true to style.”  Black IPAs drove this conversation for a long time but as they faded from interest so did the discussion.  This beer alone will do little to reignite the debate.  The boarder question is “How committed are brewers to being true to style?”  In homebrew competitions and beer festivals of note this is a critical component. But how important is it to the typical craft beer drinker?  As the industry moves further and further outward via expansion how far will brewers push to make something new?  I don’t know the answer to that question but I am looking forward to thinking about it while trying a ever changing number of strange brews.

Pittsburgh Brewing Company’s Craft Movement

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In 1979 the “We are Family” Pirates won the World Series. A couple month later the Steel Curtain cemented its legacy and the franchise had its dynasty with its fourth Super Bowl. Pittsburgh having branded itself as the Steel City became “The City of Champions.”

But as the city raised banners in glory to their sports franchises, the bottom was falling out of the steel industry. By the end of the decade nearly the entire industry was decimated and all those middle class blue collar jobs it provided had gone.

It’s a story we all know.

What people are still coming to realize is that the sooty skyline has cleared, Pittsburgh is now “America’s Most Livable City” and the steel has been replaced with the silicon of robotics and Internet companies. “Mama Steel” has been replaced by Daddy Tech.

Yinzers still consider themselves as from a steel town and you would be hard pressed to find a people more loyal to their hometown. Yinzers are protective of Kennywood, Isaly Chipped Chopped Ham and Iron City Beer. These are not products and businesses but community trusts.

The latter, specifically Pittsburgh Brewing Company, has changed hands multiple times in my lifetime and has exited the city proper but still tastes like home.

First locally brewed adjunct lagers, once the prince of blue collar libations were pushed aside a homogenized industry decades ago.  Later, craft brewing returned the importance of regional beers of every variety.  This leaves local brewers like Pittsburgh Brewing Company in an strange place; local but no craft.  They are being squeezed by the conglomerates and by the upstart craft brewers.

Iron City will always be the perfect companion to a “cap and cheese” at Primanti’s but it’s not going to find its way into the discerning beer drinker’s fridge and its not big enough to compete with AB, Miller and Coors.

To address this shift, Pittsburgh Brewing Company established the Block House Brewing line of beers. To see what it has in store, I purchased their Summer Break and Double Chocolate Bock.

The Summer Break opens with a hazy orange yellow pour with a sweet and citrusy nose. The beer is well carbonated with a light mouthfeel. It is excessively sweet. The flavors of grapefruit are intense and only quenched by a sweet lemonade finish. The beer is very, very sweet and did not exactly agree with my taste. It comes in at 5.0% ABV and is as light as a summer beer should be. College students are summer break are going to love it.

The Double Chocolate Bock was much better. Chocolate in the nose with a slight hint of roasted malts. This medium bodied bock has good mouthfeel and is properly balanced. The chocolate runs through and through but only plays one note.  It tends towards the milk chocolate side and does not provide the bitter dark favor of cacao.  Its was a different take on a nice style of beer. While not as saccharine sweet as the Summer Break this beer too sits at the sweet side of the scale.

Both of these beers show Pittsburgh Brewing Company is trying to move beyond IC Light and Old German as they must.  Summer Break and Double Chocolate Bock are a good first effort. The trend of seasonal offerings will be a benefit to Block House as they roll out their IPL and Pumpkin Ale. This will allow for refinement and improvement.

While Pittsburgh as a city has redefined itself and emerged as a city with a brightly shining future, it’s most famous brewery still has work to do but appears to be well on their way.

Pittsburgh did not turn around its fortunes in a day. It took decades and it was not a straight path. It’s brewery is on the same course. It’s working hard. It’s making changes and its betting on new craft focused brands. If it can do half as well as the folks it serves it will be in great shape.  I’m quite hopeful. These beers are a huge step forward from Olde Frothingslosh and Augustiner and that is a great thing.

When Big Beers and Big Brewers Go Big

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Arrogant Bastard Ale will always hold a special place in my heart when it comes to beer drinking.  It was an early influencer in developing my appreciation for the Strong/Ole Ale style and eventually Barley-wines.  As a friend of mine stated on Untappd “[This is] the beer that made me fall in love with craft beer.”  I think that is probably true for lots of today’s craft beer drinkers.  Still, it is often easily dismissed by beer snobs who are frequently chasing the new styles or most limited of releases.  But Stone never disappoints with this ale; it’s truly a world class American Strong Ale.  Further, Arrogant Bastard has been the base for a number of other fantastic beers over the years.

It has provided Double Bastard, a winter release that takes all the flavors of the “lighter” ale and goes to 11.  I once split a three year old magnum of this crazy brew with some friends and needless to say it got us all absolutely wrecked. Be careful with that one.

Lukcy Basartd Ale (not a typo) married the two above with Oaked Bastard which showed off the ability of Stone to blend various beers and marry them together in such a way as to take an already exceedingly complex ale and give it enough personalities to require institutionalization.

In 2013 Stone released Crime and Punishment.  Crime was a cork and cage bottle of Lukcy Basrtd aged in Kentucky bourbon barrels with an assortment of hot peppers.  Punishment was Double Bastard given the same treatment.  Stone basically took the two ales and drove them off a cliff in a burning car.  They were amazing even if the mere thought of them still gives me heart burn.

Oaked Bastard, my favorite of the lot was a beautiful beer that poured a deep rich mahogany color with a bright white head.  Its subtle wood notes in the nose and finish were glorious and refined.  But it was sadly discontinued last year to make way for Arrogant Bastard Bourbon Barrel Aged.

Recently I procured a 22oz bottle of Arrogant Bastard BBA and after the news of Sepp Blatter stepping down from the head of FIFA, I felt there was never going to be a better opportunity.  In case you are unaware Sepp Blatter is an arrogant, evil, bastard of a man but this is a beer blog so I will just leave a link.

Arrogant Bastard BBA was a good beer but when held up to its kin I am a little worried. The beer pours a dark mahogany color as is true to the lineage.  The head was nearly nonexistent but that is not unusual for BBA beers.  Nose was malty, sweet with a bit of rye. Only the faintest hint of Kentucky bourbon could be determined in the nose.  The mouth feel is medium bodied and not adversely affected by the time held in a cooper’s handiwork. The changes to this great beer by the barrel aging though are in a word… underwhelming.  It is welcome to have a BBA beer with no astringency but it also came without the bourbon.  I regularly praise brewers on their ability to deftly evoke subtly in flavors.  To play at the edge of a flavor profile and not to go crashing through. But this one just never showed up.  It is kind of sad. Look, this is a good, tasty beer but it just never lived up to its pedigree.  It just makes me feel sad that Oaked Bastard is gone.

Postscript – I wonder if volume is the issue with this beer.  Black Note, KBS, Bourbon County and other BBA beers are in such short supply finding just one bottle is often enough.  Arrogant Bastard BBA is being sold on tap, in 22oz bombers and six packs.  It appears to be pretty widely available as far as I can tell.  Stone is a huge operation with nationwide distribution (and sights even further).  Kentucky bourbon barrels are 53 gallons and used barrels are in high demand.  To my mind there is an interesting question:  Is Stone going high volume with what is by nature a low yield product thus resulting in an underwhelming beer?  I can’t answer that specifically that but it seems like it could be the issue.

Strawberries and Beer: Together Again For the First Time

~ Bearcat ~ Leave a comment

  Right now driving around Central PA the farm stands are all open and there is one piece of produce that is at peak: Strawberries.

Let us forget for a minute my last post about summer beer and their light and crisp flavor profile and instead focus on what pairs right with a fresh bowl of ripe red sweet and slightly tart strawberries.  In my opinion these tend to be malty, heavier beers that contrast the natural flavors of the berries.

My fist pick is ¿Impending Descent? by Troegs.  This gonzo Russian Imperial Stout gets released each November so I buy in bulk to enjoy it on occasion throughout the year and have been ageing a large number as a running vertical. If you have one tucked away, pairing it with some fresh local strawberries will work out perfectly.  The copious amount of malts (six varieties) provide for various flavors of dark chocolate, vanilla, and coffee.  The roasted malts work wonderfully with the sweet tart fruit. If this beer has been cellaring for a time the pine and resin hop notes will have muted and left a perfect pairing.  If you can’t get a hand on ¿Impending Descent? I suggest picking up the always available Javahead Stout or racing out to the Hershey brewer right quick and picking up a growler of Scratch #192 a velvety smooth and decadent chocolate stout.

Palo Santo Marron by Dogfish Head Brewing will pair nicely.  The caramel, vanilla, and wood flavors from this 12% ABV brown ale will marry wonderfully.  The roasted notes along with molasses and a round mouth feel just work.  This is a world class beer and would be right at home with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and some strawberries.

Samuel Smith Organic Strawberry Ale is a wonderfully crisp and tart fruit beer from the world famous English brewers.  Smooth malts with a soft mouth feel and subtle strawberry finish will be intensified by local fresh berries. This beer is easy drinking at 5% ABV. I would pair this with a strawberry and baby spinach salad with a light poppy dressing for dinner.

After dinner consider opening a bottle of Southern Tier’s Crème Brulee Imperial Milk Stout.  This beer is the pinnacle of Southern Tier’s very highly regarded Blackwater Series in my opinion.  Remarkably this beer tastes exactly like its name sake.  In fact, it is downright magical in likeness.  Cream, vanilla, and burnt sugar come straight through with a long sweet lasting finish.  This 9.6% ABV full bodied beer has an exceptional mouthfeel and would be a fine addition to a strawberry shortcake dessert.

Cheers.