MATT ON FIRE - The Beer Connoisseur

Transcription

SUMMER BEERS ARE HERE
RADICAL NEW TOP 50 IN CRAFT
www.BeerConnoisseur.com
MATT
ON
FIRE
The ‘Merlin’
of Firestone
Walker
BREWING WITH
YAZOO’S
LINUS
HALL
BRAT
WARS
Wisconsin’s
Great Divide
Summer 2015 | Issue 19
CRAFT
MALTSTERS
Homegrown Beer
CONTENTS
The Beer Connoisseur® / Issue 19, Summer 2015
6
/ From The Editor
7
/ Contributors
10
/ News
FIRST RUNNINGS
16 / Brewing With…
We ask Linus Hall about taking the plunge into
the role of head brewer and co-owner at Yazoo
Brewing Company.
18 / The Malting of America
Malt sources closer to the kettles are helping
microbrewers and homebrewers get more creative.
26 / Innovators Series:
Matt Brynildson
One of the most decorated brewers in the world,
Firestone Walker’s Brynildson started out in
pre-med before life took a different turn.
16 |
Nashville cat
18 | Amber waves and alternates
2
| The Beer Connoisseur® – Summer 2015
26
|
Visiting the home of the Burton Union
FEATURES
12 / Style Studies
Owen Ogletree underscores the difference between
American Wheat Beer and its European cousins. Plus,
the lagering of porters creates the Baltic style.
72 / Connoisseur’s Corner
A Visit To Craft Beer’s Alternate Universe – by Marty Jones
FOOD & TRAVEL
34 / Wisconsin Brats and Beer
When should they meet and under what circumstances?
REVIEWS
15 / Seasonal Releases
The summer ales are here including cucumber,
peach, raspberry and hibiscus varietals.
38 / Summer Beer Review
It’s been known to rain this time of year. Never fear.
We have the pours.
IMPORT REPORT
38
|
A summer carnival of beers
54 / European News
Antwerp City Brewery becomes a tourist destination.
56 / Showdown in Lochristi
What happens when an American stout meets a Belgian sour?
34 | Just add beer… but when?
56 | Imperial meets classic
COVER PHOTO COURTESY LITTLE FILMS
www.BeerConnoisseur.com |
3
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Issue 19, Summer 2015
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_____________________
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4
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| 5
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From the Editor
6
PHOTO BY STEVE ALVAREZ
I
t’s always a joy when a fresh copy of The
Beer Connoisseur lands on our desks “hot
off the press.” There’s a tactile immediacy
and excitement when turning through
the pages as the images and stories we have
painstakingly crafted come to life.
As much as we love the ink-on-paper aspect
of publishing a magazine about beer, there’s
another arena where immediacy is, well, almost
instantaneous. The online world has touched
and changed the lives of virtually every person
on earth in the last 15 years.
At The Beer Connoisseur, we’ve generally
done the improbable in the face of the radical
change brought on by the Internet – successfully
launching a print magazine in the midst of The
Great Recession along with a website. That says
a lot about the world of beer making, because
it would not have been possible without the
ongoing growth of interest in flavorful beer.
Part of the attraction to our magazine has
been the Beer Review. Each blind review by an
expert judge is a colorful shard in a mosaic that
reveals the world of beer in all its dimensions.
Naturally, we have asked ourselves how
we might move this process online? After many
months of planning and work, that has been
accomplished with the relaunch of BeerConnoisseur.com, where online expert reviews
are now being compiled regularly along with a
wealth of new feature stories.
Getting the review process more interactive
is the ultimate goal. So we have also launched
the Popular Review, where readers can make
their own assessment and score beers. We think
you’ll like its attention to detail and dedication
to the joy of beer drinking.
But before you jump on the Net, consider
the issue you’re holding. In addition to our
beautifully illustrated expert Beer Review, it
contains a definitive story on one of the world’s
top brewers, Matt Brynildson, by one of the
world’s most experienced beer journalists,
Jay Brooks. We have introduced our Brewing
With feature by having renowned beer writer
Owen Ogletree sit down with Yazoo Brewing
Company’s Linus Hall.
Once again getting down to the grist of the
matter, Emily Hutto writes in detail about craft
malting, a significant development in brewing
for pros and homebrewers alike. Award-winning veteran newspaper writer Jim Pedley, a
Wisconsinite, covers the story behind bratwurst
and beer, a not-so-delicate and often passionate
matter of taste in his home state.
There’s much more from all of our regular
departments. Now that the magazine has arrived
in your hands, we hope you find the same joy
and satisfaction we do as you turn the pages.
Contributors
Top Row From Left
Bottom Row From Left
JAY R. BROOKS
(Page 26) Writing about beer for more than 20 years, Jay
is a former G.M. of Celebrator Beer News and currently is
a co-chair of the North American Guild of Beer Writers. He
writes a syndicated column “Brooks on Beer” for the Bay
Area and is a co-founder of San Francisco Beer Week. Jay
can be found online at the Brookston Beer Bulletin (www.
brookstonbeerbulletin.com).
MARTY JONES
(Page 72) An acclaimed beer journalist, publicist
and “Brewbadour,” Marty Jones is one of Colorado’s
most ardent promoters of craft beer and its culture.
The Complete Joy of Homebrewing, an English
degree and a few basic guitar chords changed his
life for the better. Learn about his brewery helping
efforts at www.martyjones.com and hear his beerblessed music at www.martyjones.net.
JIM DYKSTRA
(Page 56) Jim is an editorial assistant at The Beer
Connoisseur who also works as a freelance writer based
out of Atlanta. He lives by the creed “I’d rather have a
bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy.” When
not at the BC offices, he functions as part of a creative
collective housed at www.quaffingtonpost.com.
EMILY HUTTO
(Page 18) Craft beer storyteller, saké specialist and friend
to many a fermentation scientist, Emily is a Coloradobased journalist who has spent many of her days picking
the brains of the country’s best brewers. She’s the author
of Colorado’s Top Brewers and a featured blogger online
for The Beer Connoisseur (www.beerconnoisseur.com).
OWEN OGLETREE
(Pages 12, 16) The founder of the popular Classic City
Brew Fest held in Athens, Georgia each spring, Owen
runs Brewtopia.info and writes for the bi-monthly
Southern Brew News. Full time in beer, Owen has also
served as a beer judge at the Great American Beer
Festival and the Great British Beer Festival.
JIM PEDLEY
(Page 34) A Wisconsin native, Jim once lived within
walking distance of the Miller, Pabst and Schlitz
breweries in Milwaukee. A veteran journalist, he
has worked at the Boston Globe, Fort Worth StarTelegram and the Kansas City Star. He is the founder
and managing editor of RacinToday.com.
7
THE BEER CONNOISSEUR...ONLINE
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FEAR AND LAUGHTER
BOOK REVIEWS
Ralph Steadman and his Flying Dog labels.
by Bob Townsend
A Strange Rebirth and More
BeerConnoisseur.com/articles/
fear-and-laughter-and-first-amendment
8
> WEBSITE ONLY FEATURE <
BeerConnoisseur.com/articles/
book-review-roundup-springtime-beer-reads
THE GRAINFATHER
A DAY IN THE LIFE AT CANTILLON
Brew by the Gallons.
A photo tour of one of Brussels’
finest breweries.
BeerConnoisseur.com/articles/grainfather
BeerConnoisseur.com/articles/day-life-cantillon
TOP LEFT: PHOTO BY RIKARD ÖSTERLUND; BOTTOM LEFT: PHOTO
COURTESY IMAKE; BOTTOM RIGHT: PHOTO BY NICOLAS LANDEMARD
CRAFT BREWERS GET ACQUISITIVE
PHOTO COURTESY OSKAR BLUES BREWERY
A
cquisition mania has continued as craft brewers have
taken a page from the precedent established by AB
InBev’s playbook.
Former Harpoon Brewery CEO Rich Doyle has partnered
with a private equity firm in San Francisco to bring together
major regional craft players under one operational ownership
called Enjoy Beer LLC. The holding
company’s first acquisition was Abita
Brewing Company of Louisiana,
which produced 160,000 barrels
last year and is 21st on the Brewers
Association Top 50 list for 2014.
The owners at Abita, President
David Blossman and his five
brothers, have taken an equity
stake in Enjoy Beer, which plans to
continue acquisitions in other regions.
“As the craft brewing industry
continues to evolve, there is enormous
pressure on brewers to compete against the big breweries,”
said Doyle. “Local brewers like David Blossman at Abita have
been committed to innovation and finding new opportunities
to compete while ensuring the company’s independence and
local roots.”
In a move that also mirrors
AB InBev’s regional strategy,
Colorado-based Oskar Blues
Brewery
acquired
Perrin
Brewing Company of Comstock,
Michigan, which brewed 14,000
barrels in 2014. Fireman Capital,
a family office in Boston, and
West Side Beer Distributing
owner Keith Klopcic helped
finance the acquisition. Klopcic
will take over as the brewery’s
president.
Dale Katechis of Oskar Blues
“Challenging the craft
collaboration
concept
and
taking it to the next level with Keith and the Perrin crew is
exciting,” said Oskar Blues founder Dale Katechis. “Growing
Oskar Blues and engaging new communities across the
country has been a ton of fun and has given us the experience
we can bring to a partner like Perrin to hit the next gear.”
Oskar Blues previously expanded to Brevard, North
Carolina in 2013, enabling it to brew 150,000 barrels
in 2014. The goal in 2015 is to increase distribution
to 42 states.
Craft Owners
Continue Push
In Education
Two major universities located in
craft beer hotbeds have received
major donations from craft brewery
owners in support of brewing
science programs.
Citing the need to support “the
next generation of brewers,” New
Belgium Brewing Company co-founder
and CEO Kim Jordan has announced
a donation of $500,000 to Colorado
State University. Another $500,000
from New Belgium’s philanthropy
program will be donated to the
school, located near New Belgium’s
headquarters in Ft. Collins, Colorado.
Carlos Alvarez, founder and CEO
of The Gambrinus Company, has
announced a donation of $1 million
to support the establishment of a
research brewery at Oregon State
University’s fermentation science
program. “I am particularly excited
to be able to fund this project and
give back to the industry that built my
business,” said Alvarez.
Gambrinus owns the BridgePort
Brewing Company in Portland, which
has maintained a relationship with
Oregon State for 15 years. Most
recently, the school’s fermentation
science program collaborated with
BridgePort on a brown beer that won
a gold medal at the European Beer
Star in Germany. The Spoetzl Brewery
in Shiner, Texas and the Trumer
Brewery in Berkeley are Gambrinus’
other beer-making operations.
11
T
BREWERS ASSOCIATION TOP 50
UNDERGOES BIG CHANGE IN 2014
he changes wrought by
the Brewers Association’s
new definition of what
comprises a craft brewery resulted
in a radically altered line-up when
the 2014 Top 50 Craft Breweries list
was released. In its first appearance
on the list, D.G. Yuengling and Son,
Inc. took over the top spot.
In the past, if a brewer used rice or corn as an
ingredient in its beer (other than selected styles
such as cream ales), they were not regarded as a
craft brewer. That interpretation was changed at
the behest of the BA’s board of directors.
If a brewer has used ingredients such as
corn and rice traditionally, it is now considered a
craft brewer by the BA if it meets other criteria for
size and independence.
The additions have boosted the total annual
production volume of the craft brewers on the list
by 3.5 million barrels, according to the BA’s Chief
Economist Bart Watson, and brought the BA another step closer to its stated goal of 20 percent of
the U.S. beer market by 2020. In 2014, craft brewers under BA guidelines accounted for 11 percent
of the overall beer market and produced 22.2 million barrels.
The 11 percent represented the first double digit share for the BA’s craft segment. The
figure excludes other flavorful beer
producers such as the Craft Brew
Alliance and Tenth and Blake Beer
Company. Overall, the shift continues among American consumers
toward flavorful beer and away from
light lagers.
The BA’s new definition brought
some ironic changes. The Boston
Beer Company, long recognized as the leader
in volume among BA brewers, was unseated by
first-time entrant Yuengling. The definition shift
also allowed Wisconsin’s Minhas Craft Brewery
(formerly Joseph Huber Brewing Company)
to enter the list at number 10 and opened the
doors for Minnesota’s August Schell Brewing
Company (27th) and Rhode Island’s Narragansett Brewing Company (47th).
Blue Point Brewing Company, number 42 on
the 2013 list, was removed after being acquired
by AB InBev in 2014.
Founders Brewing Company, 17th on the list,
announced last fall that it had sold 30 percent of
its equity to Mahou San Miguel, the leading brewer in Spain. BA rules have limited ownership to 25
percent by a non-craft brewer. But the Founders
question has been postponed until next year’s
list appears due to the sale not closing prior to
January 1, 2015.
Nutrition Info OK for Beer Labels
Until this year, the U.S. Treasury’s Alcohol Tax and
Trade Bureau did not allow alcoholic beverage labels to
display standard nutritional information. But after a push of
more than ten years, labels can now state nutrition information using the U.S. Dietary Guidelines. Those guidelines
count 0.6 ounces of alcohol as one serving.
10
Guinness contains 4.2 percent ABV, for example. Using
figures from health.com, the number of carbohydrates in
a U.S. pint of Guinness, which contains 0.672 ounces of
alcohol, would be around 165 calories. But its “per serving”
rating for carbs would be 148 according to the guidelines.
CRAFT BREWERS GET ACQUISITIVE
PHOTO COURTESY OSKAR BLUES BREWERY
A
cquisition mania has continued as craft brewers have
taken a page from the precedent established by AB
InBev’s playbook.
Former Harpoon Brewery CEO Rich Doyle has partnered
with a private equity firm in San Francisco to bring together
major regional craft players under one operational ownership
called Enjoy Beer LLC. The holding
company’s first acquisition was Abita
Brewing Company of Louisiana,
which produced 160,000 barrels
last year and is 21st on the Brewers
Association Top 50 list for 2014.
The owners at Abita, President
David Blossman and his five
brothers, have taken an equity
stake in Enjoy Beer, which plans to
continue acquisitions in other regions.
“As the craft brewing industry
continues to evolve, there is enormous
pressure on brewers to compete against the big breweries,”
said Doyle. “Local brewers like David Blossman at Abita have
been committed to innovation and finding new opportunities
to compete while ensuring the company’s independence and
local roots.”
In a move that also mirrors
AB InBev’s regional strategy,
Colorado-based Oskar Blues
Brewery
acquired
Perrin
Brewing Company of Comstock,
Michigan, which brewed 14,000
barrels in 2014. Fireman Capital,
a family office in Boston, and
West Side Beer Distributing
owner Keith Klopcic helped
finance the acquisition. Klopcic
will take over as the brewery’s
president.
Dale Katechis of Oskar Blues
“Challenging the craft
collaboration
concept
and
taking it to the next level with Keith and the Perrin crew is
exciting,” said Oskar Blues founder Dale Katechis. “Growing
Oskar Blues and engaging new communities across the
country has been a ton of fun and has given us the experience
we can bring to a partner like Perrin to hit the next gear.”
Oskar Blues previously expanded to Brevard, North
Carolina in 2013, enabling it to brew 150,000 barrels
in 2014. The goal in 2015 is to increase distribution
to 42 states.
Craft Owners
Continue Push
In Education
Two major universities located in
craft beer hotbeds have received
major donations from craft brewery
owners in support of brewing
science programs.
Citing the need to support “the
next generation of brewers,” New
Belgium Brewing Company co-founder
and CEO Kim Jordan has announced
a donation of $500,000 to Colorado
State University. Another $500,000
from New Belgium’s philanthropy
program will be donated to the
school, located near New Belgium’s
headquarters in Ft. Collins, Colorado.
Carlos Alvarez, founder and CEO
of the The Gambrinus Company, has
announced a donation of $1 million
to support the establishment of a
research brewery at Oregon State
University’s fermentation science
program. “I am particularly excited
to be able to fund this project and
give back to the industry that built my
business,” said Alvarez.
Gambrinus owns the BridgePort
Brewing Company in Portland, which
has maintained a relationship with
Oregon State for 15 years. Most
recently, the school’s fermentation
science program collaborated with
BridgePort on a brown beer that won
a gold medal at the European Beer
Star in Germany. The Spoetzl Brewery
in Shiner, Texas and the Trumer
Brewery in Berkeley are Gambrinus’
other beer-making operations.
11
e-Yeast Beer, Light American Wheat Ale or Lager with Yeast, Light American Wheat Ale or Lager without Yeast, Dark American
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AMERICAN
WHEAT BEER
In 1986, homebrewing brothers Kurt and
Rob Widmer were producing two brands of
beer at their fledgling Widmer Brothers Brewing
Company in Portland, Oregon: an altbier and
a filtered weizenbier. The beers were selling
so well at the local Dublin Pub that the pub’s
owner asked the brothers to create a third
brand. With only two fermenters, Kurt and Rob
came up with a simple solution by kegging up
a special batch of unfiltered, yeasty weizenbier.
After none of the pub’s patrons ordered this
newfangled, cloudy American-style hefeweizen,
one of the wait staff hatched a brilliant scheme.
She pulled four tall glasses of the golden, murky
12
wheat beer, stuck a lemon wedge on each rim,
placed the beers on a tray and paraded around
the crowded pub. Intrigued by the striking
appearance of the new ale, customers soon fell
in love with the unfiltered brew and catapulted
it to the status of Widmer’s best seller. A new
style of American beer was born.
An American Wheat Beer lacks the clove
and banana fermentation character found in
German weissbiers, with the flavor profile
focusing more on pleasant hop aroma, hop
flavor and bitterness alongside a refreshing,
straightforward wheat and cereal grain backbone. Highly variable in style, American Wheats
The nose of an American Wheat Beer
should offer light to medium whole wheat
bread dough notes with low to moderate fruity
esters and malt sweetness balanced by a low to
moderate citrusy, piney, floral and/or spicy hop
presence. Flavor notes follow suit, making for a
highly drinkable and refreshing beer style.
Light seafood dishes such as steamed
clams, poached salmon, baked cod and
boiled shrimp pair exceedingly well with crisp
American Wheat Beers, as do summer salads
that include acidic dressings, fruit and grilled
meats like chicken breast or salmon. The style
even complements light desserts such as blueberry tarts, sorbet, strawberry shortcake, peach
cobbler and berry parfaits.
BALTIC PORTER
I
n the early 1800s, Europe was awash in
Napoleonic wars, which curtailed the
supply of high-gravity porters and stouts
from England to the countries surrounding
the Baltic Sea. Rather than do without the
cherished strong ales during the tumultuous
times, Baltic brewers took the opportunity to
create versions of their own – often utilizing
lager yeast strains used in local beer styles.
The result became known as Baltic Porter.
Compared to Russian imperial stouts, the
Baltic Porters offer more of a restrained roasted
character and a smooth, full-bodied mouthfeel
with rich, fruity esters and a complex malt
makeup. The malt flavors are “reminiscent of an
English Brown Porter and the restrained roast
of a Schwarzbier,” according to the Beer Judge
Certification Program guidelines. Brewing with
more malt, or a higher Original Gravity, and
the resulting higher alcohol, adds to this strong
European lager’s singular character.
While many versions of the style are
fermented with cold-loving European lager
yeasts strains, a few examples are produced
from ale yeasts – with a slow, cool, primary
fermentation being followed by a period of
cold conditioning to smooth out the fruity
ale esters.
Usually not jet-black in appearance,
Baltic Porters often possess amber, ruby or
dark brown highlights, with most versions
being somewhat clear when held to the light.
Extremely dark versions can come across as
opaque. The style should be poured in a glass
13
ier (Cellar Beer or Zwickelbier – Ale, Leipzig-Style Gose, Belgian and French Origin, Belgian-Style Flanders / Oud Bruin or Oud Red Ales, Belgian-Style Dubbel, Belgian-Style Tripel, Belgian-Style, Blonde Ale, Belgian-Style Pale Ale, Be
range from light, refreshing, somewhat sweet,
sessionable versions to fairly well-hopped
examples backed by a medium-bodied, substantial wheat profile.
Look for a color range of yellow to deep gold,
with haze present in some versions. Proteins
from wheat malt should coat the bubbles and
create impressive head retention.
For this style, most brewers employ yeasts
that produce a clean fermentation profile with
moderate to light complex esters, and American
ale yeasts or even lager strains may be utilized.
Wheat malt should make up 30 to 50 percent
of the grain bill, and hop choices often include
varieties from America’s Pacific Northwest,
Germany or New World strains such as Galaxy,
Moteuka or Nelson Sauvin.
man Origin, German-Style Kölsch / Köln-Style Kölsch, German-Style Brown Ale / Dusseldorf-Style Altbier, Berliner-Style Weisse (Wheat, South German-Style Hefeweizen / Hefeweissbier, South German-Style Kristal Weizen / Kristal Weissbier, Germna-Style Leichtes Weizen / Wei
An American Wheat Beer lacks the clove and banana
fermentation character found in German weissbiers, and they
are often produced with American-style ale or lager yeasts.
spacious enough to support a thick, creamy
layer of tan foam.
Exceptional examples may waft aroma
notes of sweet malt, brown sugar, dark toast,
anise, toffee, caramel, chocolate, dark fruits,
port and spicy alcohol notes. Any hop presence
should be unnoticeable to the nose and lactic
or other acidic notes are never appropriate.
A deep malt sweetness with complex notes
of fruity esters, alcohol, chocolate, light coffee,
blackberry jam, currants, caramel, toffee and
molasses meld on the palate with a moderate
hop and dark malt bitterness that lingers into
a pleasing finish. Continental European hop
flavors from varieties such as Saaz, Spalt or
May
15
2, 20
American Wh
eat Beer
Stats - O.G
.: 1.040 to 1.0
55, IBUs: 15
to 30, SRM:
3 to 6, ABV:
4.0 to 5.5%
Commercial
Examples: W
idmer
Hefeweizen,
Harpoon UFO
Hefeweizen,
Goose Island
312 Urban Whe
at, Bell's
Oberon, Boul
evard Wheat
Beer
14
Hallertau may range from barely noticeable
to moderately low, with the malt bill usually
containing debittered dark malts, Crystal malts
and Munich or Vienna base malts. Compared
to standard porters, Baltic versions boast
enhanced dark fruit and malt complexity in
addition to a well-aged, warming alcohol presence. Oxidative notes of sherry may be present
in bottles that have been cellared.
For a flavor treat alongside a Baltic Porter,
try desserts such as caramel flan, cheesecake
with cherries, fruit tarts or crème brulée.
Pâté, brie or sweet, creamy raw oysters lightly
topped with a shallot vinegar mignonette sauce
also make a superb pairing.
Ma y
5, 2
015
Baltic Porter
Stats - OO.G
.: 1.060 to 1.0
90, IBUs: 20
to 40, SRM:
17 to 30, ABV:
6.5 to 9.5%
Commercial
Examples: Al
daris Porteris
Sinebrychoff
,
Porter, Smut
tynose
Baltic Porter
, Okocim Po
rt
er, Victory
Baltic Thunde
r, Zywiec Po
rter,
Baltika #6 Po
rter
PHOTOS BY
OWEN OGLE
TREE
eat Ale or Lager with
ith Yeast, Light American Wheat Ale or Lager without Yeast, Dark American Wheat Al
Ale or Lager with Yeast, Dark American Wheat Ale or Lager without Yeast, American Rye Ale or Lager with or without Yeast, German
ine Ale, , Robust Porter
er , B
Brown Porter , Sweet Stout, Oatmeal Stout, Irish Origin, Irish-Style Red Ale , Classic Irish-Style Dr
Dry Stout , Foreign (Export-Style Stout, North American Styles, American-Style Pale Ale , Fresh Hop Ale, American-Belgo-Style Pale Ales, American-Belgo-S
Compared to Russian imperial stouts, the Baltic Porters offer
more of a restrained roasted character and a smooth, full-bodied
mouthfeel with rich, fruity esters and a complex malt makeup.
Arriving From Brewers This Summer
BREWER
BEER
NOTES
SCORE
21st Amendment Brewery
Abita Brewing Company
Almanac Beer Company
Avery Brewing Company
Back Forty Beer Company
Bear Republic Brewing Company
Bell’s Brewery, Inc.
Boston Beer Company
Boulder Beer
Boulevard Brewery
Breckenridge Brewery
Cambridge Brewing Company
Cigar City Brewing Company
Devils Backbone Brewing Company
Flying Dog Brewery
Fremont Brewing
Golden Road Brewing
Great Lakes Brewing Company
Green Flash Brewing Company
Lagunitas Brewing Company
Ninkasi Brewing Company
Odell Brewing Company
Pelican Brewing Company
Rogue Ales
Saint Arnold Brewing Company
Smuttynose Brewing Company
Southern Tier Brewing Company
Summit Brewing Company
Terrapin Beer Company
The Great Northern Brewing Company
Two Roads Brewing Company
Uinta Brewing Company
Victory Brewing Company
Hop Crisis
Seersucker Summer Pils
Emperor Norton
Perzik Saison
Paw Paw’s Peach Wheat
Mach 10
Oberon
Summer Ale
Hoopla
Hibiscus Gose
SummerBright Ale
Sgt. Pepper
Cucumber Saison
CattyWompus Belgian Pale Ale
Dead Rise Old Bay Summer Ale
The Brother
Heal the Bay IPA
Sharpshooter American Wheat
Road Warrior
Little Sumpin’ Extra
Wunderbier
Tree Shaker Imperial Peach IPA
Umbrella IPA
Rogue Farms Honey Kolsch
Summer Pils
Hayseed
Choklat & Oranj
Summer Ale
Maggie’s Peach Farmhouse Ale
The Big Mountain Tea Pale Ale
Road Jam
Skipping Stone Summer Lager
Summer Love Ale
This beer does contain hops… Crisis averted.
Seersucker: Looks good on a suit and tastes great as a beer.
The first rule of this Belgian-style ale: drink and enjoy.
Perzik is Dutch for peach, the main flavor ingredient in this brew.
Its memory may be fuzzy, but it knows life’s a peach.
Break the sound barrier with this Double IPA citrus blast.
An iconic beer from an iconic brewer.
93/Issue 3
This spicy wheat ale goes great with zesty cheese.
What’s the Hoopla about? A tropical hoppy Pale Ale.
95/Issue 16
The Gose trend goes through the hibiscus.
“Enjoy poolside or sprinklerside.”
83/Issue 15
This sprightly saison is “certainly a thrill.”
As cool and refreshing as its eponymous gourd family member.
Pineapple and citrus lay adjacent to crackery pilsner malt.
Proceeds go towards Chesapeake Bay watermen.
This massively hoppy double IPA “ain’t heavy, it’s The Brother.”
A citrus-forward IPA for a good cause.
This frisky wheat beer hits the flavor bullseye.
A spicy imperial rye IPA from a San Diego pioneer.
Curious wheat malt complexity with juicy hops.
A crisp German-style kolsch.
Odell shook a tree and this peach-infused IPA fell out!
Protect yourself from summer storms underneath this IPA.
You must bee 21+ before enjoying this.
Equally as good while on a lawnmower or lawnchair.
An underappreciated style, this grissette is done right and light.
Dessert is served.
The Summ-it of all summer ales.
“Wake up Maggie, I think I got a peach farmhouse ale for you.” 86/Issue 15
Earl Grey hops into this “TPA”
A wheat beer with raspberries and lemongrass.
Lemon zest pairs with crackery malt.
For the season of love from The City of Brotherly Love.
15
LINUS HALL
By Owen Ogletree
The respected co-owner/brewmaster of Yazoo Brewing discusses how his microbrewery
evolved into a centerpiece of the lively Nashville craft beer culture.
B
ring up the topic of Tennessee’s top craft beers,
and most local beer devotees will talk about
Nashville’s Yazoo Brewing and founder/owner
Linus Hall. A friendly, knowledgeable, soft-spoken guy who earns immense loyalty and respect from
his employees and fellow brewers, Hall also serves as
president of the Tennessee Craft Brewers Guild.
Linus Hall and wife Lila form the sole Yazoo owners
and investors, and they wouldn’t have it any other
way. Maintaining overall control of the brewery allows
the Halls the freedom to brand Yazoo with their own
down-home charm and values and exercise personal
creativity in crafting much-loved local brews.
BC: How did you take the plunge into the craft beer BC: What advantages does the new brewery offer?
world and open Yazoo?
Linus: Moving allowed us to correct problems with
Linus: Growing up in Mississippi listening to people equipment and overall layout that we had in the origi-
16
nal location. Many of our fans were bummed when we
moved out of the funky old Marathon building. It was
a great place to enjoy a beer but not a great place to
brew one. I made every mistake in the original building
that was possible. For example, the brewhouse was in
a back corner, and this put all other activity on hold
every time we moved spent grain across the brewery
and out the door.
BC: If you could pinpoint one essential detail that you
learned from the early days, what comes to mind?
Linus:
As much as I love brewing, the hardest part
was realizing that this is a business. If you’re going to
make it as a brewery owner, you have to take care of
the business side and step away a bit from being the
brewer. It helps to hire great people to assist in the
brewing process.
PHOTO BY OWEN OGLETREE
argue about whether Bud or Miller is better, I really
didn’t have a good beer until I went to college in
Virginia and lived in an old farmhouse near University of Virginia. Two of my roommates got into the
pot-growing business, but I was more adverse to risk,
so I started homebrewing instead. When I got out of
college and ended up in Nashville working for a tire
company, I homebrewed on the weekends and gave
most of the beer away. I brewed so much, there was no
way I could drink it all. People said my homebrew was
good enough for me to start my own brewery, so in
2003 I invested in a 10-barrel brewhouse and installed
it in Nashville’s old Marathon automobile plant. Nashville didn’t have a packaging brewery at the time, so
we were the only local option outside of the great
brewpubs in town. Because Nashville loves homegrown products, we quickly built a loyal following and
moved to our larger, current facility in 2010.
BC: What’s the most difficult aspect of developing a BC: As president of the Tennessee Craft Brewers
new beer recipe?
Guild, what do you see as the organization’s most
significant accomplishments?
Linus: Well, these days it’s almost impossible to come
up with a beer name with a hop pun that hasn’t already Linus: I’m proud of how the guild has worked together
been taken. But the big challenge is figuring out a way
to incorporate a new brand into your portfolio. If you
are growing quickly, it can be a lot like juggling five
balls. You add one more, and you drop all of them.
We’ve found limited run seasonals to be a solution, as
these are out the door and gone.
BC: Tell us a little about your new wild beer program.
Linus: We are pretty excited about our Embrace the
Funk wild and sour series, and we now have a barrel
warehouse about five miles away. We make the wort
here and truck it over to fill a variety of barrels in the
new space. We’ve got a Flanders red-style ale aged in
freshly dumped red wine barrels, and our Deux Rouges
cherry version won a bronze medal at the 2014 Great
American Beer Festival.
BC: How did you become interested in Belgian-style
sour beers?
Linus: My wife and I always dreamed of a trip to Belgium, but with two kids, life always got in the way.
Finally, we took a couple of weeks off, biked around
the Flanders area, drank some remarkable beers and
came home with a new appreciation for the styles.
I knew I wanted to try my hand at making sours at
Yazoo, and when my talented homebrewer buddy
Brandon Jones researched yeast and bacteria culturing techniques and isolated and banked some cultures
for us, we jumped into sours right away. These beers
will never be a big part of our production, but I think
they’re worth the special effort.
with state wholesalers on almost every issue. Looking
at other states, this seems pretty rare. We’ve reformed
state beer excise tax, raised the ABV of beer allowed
to be sold in grocery stores, and worked with the
wholesalers to make it illegal for big brewers to own
their own distributorships in the state. Brewers are
strong individuals, and trying to get them together on
topics that aren’t burning issues can be like herding
cats, but they usually come through in the end.
BC: If you could go back in time to the start of Yazoo
and tell yourself one thing, what would it be?
Linus:
I grew up when your word and handshake
were as good as a contract. I’ve been burned a couple
of times for things I didn’t get in writing, so now I’ve
learned not to simply take somebody’s word. This is a
business when it comes right down to it. When money
is involved, it’s important to make sure you are covered.
BC: How did Yazoo’s Hop Project series begin?
Linus:
It was basically born out of necessity. The
2008 hop shortage limited us to small batches of
hoppy beers, and we numbered each brand. When
the shortage was over, we decided to keep the Hop
Projects going by trying out experimental hops and
varieties from new markets like New Zealand. We’ve
done 82 different Hop Projects to date. For number
50, we set up a poll to take votes for everyone’s favorite Hop Project so we could make it again. Trouble is,
the votes were spread all over the place, with not one
beer getting a clear majority of votes. In the end, we
just picked our favorite.
BC: What’s your strategy for making the Yazoo
tasting room a fun place to hang out?
BC: Space seems quite tight at the brewery. What
are your plans for any future expansion?
Linus: Construction around our brewery has blown
Linus: We are used to working in tight spaces, and we
up in recent years, with condos going in all around us.
We’re getting big crowds because our tasting room is
a comfortable meeting place to visit after work. There
are no TVs, no live music, no kitchen — just fresh beer
from the source, food trucks, fun tours and great conversation. With Tennessee Brew Works, Jackalope and
Czann’s breweries now close by, people can walk to four
breweries in one afternoon in our local brewing district.
have a little room to grow a bit here in the foreseeable
future. Yazoo doesn’t need to double growth each year —
we have no investors to make happy. If we can add more
markets, that’s great, but if our existing markets continue to grow, it would make us happy to just continue
to fill local demand. Slow and steady is our way.
17
The New
American
Maltsters
Small-Batch Pros, Homebrewers Have New Grain Options
by Emily Hutto
18
| The Beer Connoisseur® – Spring 2015
W
ith more than 3,400 craft breweries in the United States,
it’s hard not to talk about the origin of the beer in your glass.
Now there’s a new development in the industry that has
enthusiasts, especially homebrewers, talking about where the
grains in that beer came from. That development is the micromalting movement, and it’s quickly sweeping the country.
Craft-sized operations are malting and
roasting locally grown grains in small batches
before they turn over their finished products
to homebrewers, professional brewers, and
distillers for mashing into wort. As they establish themselves in various agricultural pockets of the U.S., craft maltsters are further defining what it means to drink local.
Rooted In Homebrewing
When Jason Cody and his family launched
Colorado Malting Company in Alamosa,
Colorado in 2008, an enthusiastic response
from homebrewers caught them by surprise.
Homebrewers wanted to experiment with the
variety of flavors that CMC’s malt would yield,
and they wanted to support a local business.
“The homebrewing community usually
centers around a craft brewery because they
like to drink craft beer, visit with the brewers,
share hops and yeast,” said Cody. In this case
the homebrewers centered around a craft
malting company.
“Homebrewers started to discover that we
were around – a lot of them came across our
website surfing the Internet -- so we picked the
ball up quickly and took care of them,” Jason
said. “I remember lots of experiences taking
trips to Denver in a pickup truck full of grain
to a homebrewer’s house.”
The demand for Colorado Malting’s base
malts eventually meant Jason and his staff
couldn’t deliver to homebrewers’ doorsteps
anymore. Homebrewers couldn’t get enough
of Colorado Two-Row Malt and Colorado
Pilsner Malt, specialties such as Colorado
Belgian Chocolate Malt and Colorado Malted
Red Wheat – or malted gluten-free millet and
buckwheat. In 2012, the company hired an official Homebrew Advocate, Jason’s uncle Tim
Cody, whose exclusive job at the time was
to answer inquiries from homebrewers. “At
that point we were shipping to homebrewers
directly,” said Tim. “I cleaned, packaged, and
shipped every bag of malt that was sold.”
“One of Tim’s responsibilities is to go the
extra mile for homebrewers,” Jason said. “He
spends three to four hours every day fielding
emails from brewers all over the country and
the world. He takes care of every individual
person with technical information and quotes
on products.”
Further increase in demand means Jason
and Tim can no longer ship directly to homebrewers. Instead they’ve created partnerships
with several of the state’s homebrew supply
shops where they can sell their malt in greater
volume. Tim’s title has changed to Gatekeeper
of The Malt and he now functions as an
account executive.
Colorado Malting ships roughly 60 percent
of its malt to professional brewers, usually
working with brewhouses of less than 30 barrels, and the remainder goes to homebrewers.
Despite Colorado Malting’s evolving business model, the interest it gets from homebrewers has never faltered. Perhaps that’s because
CMC gives them the ability to produce a huge
variety of beer flavors that had not yet been
available to them. “Everyone’s malt generally
19
20
understand that. A lot of them are chemists -it’s like having a lab in everybody’s garage.”
There are labs in Colorado Malting’s
garage, too, so to speak. The CMC staff brews
on malthouse homebrew equipment with
each grain they malt. “We brew for product
quality control,” said Tim. “That gives us
numbers to pass on to homebrewers of what
they can expect of all the different grains that
we’re malting.”
“We also like to drink our own beer,”
adds Jason.
Colorado Malting maintains good relationships with homebrewers through educational
programs as well as through homebrew supply
shops. This spring the company helped launch
the San Luis Valley Homebrewers Association
and this fall it will host the Rocky Mountain
PHOTOS COURTESY RIVERBEND MALT HOUSE, GROUSE MALTING
AND ROASTING COMPANY AND ECKERT MALTING & BRWING
comes from the same places – big malthouses
overseas,” Jason said. “With our malt, people
are actually getting to brew beer that’s different; they’re able to taste the region. We’re presenting products that are completely unique
in every way, and that means the possibilities
are endless for homebrewers.”
Homebrewing plays a large part in the
company’s research and development. When
the CMC first considered malting sunflowers as a gluten-free offering, it was the local
homebrew community that helped to formulate the process. “Sunflower turned us on to
the fact that you can use gluten free grains
not typically associated with beer-making to
make beer,” said Jason. “Sunflowers’ complex
proteins help head retention in gluten-free
beer. It was homebrewers who helped us
Top: Brent Manning of Riverbend Malt
House in Asheville, North Carolina quickly
generated interest from local brewers (far
left). Kim Meyer, Dan McCue, Steve Carr,
Will Soles and Twila Henley of Grouse
Malting and Roasting Company prepare
a wide variety of products for gluten-free
brewing (middle). Jim Eckert not only
malts rice, but offers six rice beers at his
headquarters in Chico, California (right).
Bottom: American farmers such as this
one in North Carolina play a key role in
the craft malting movement (left). The
germination room at Grouse Malting
hosts many gluten free grains such as
this organic corn as well as millet and
buckwheat (middle). At Riverbend’s
germination room, starches develop in
the malt before it gets kilned or roasted
to stop the process and preserve the
starches for brewers (right).
Malting Technical Institute. The upcoming institute will bring together industry experts, such
as Dave Thomas, author of the Craft Maltsters’
Handbook, and Bill Owens, president of the
American Distilling Institute. They will conduct
seminars about the history of malt, the state
of the craft malting industry, and how to malt
your own barley at home.
“We’re expecting a large group of homebrewers to come to the Malting Institute,”
said Jason. “To be able to malt at home is the
next thing for homebrewers to get their heads
around. You can buy raw grain from a farmer
and make it into a beer... how cool is that?”
Colorado Malting’s goal was always to
connect the producer to brewers and distillers, Jason said, and also to give brewers,
homebrewers, and distillers tools to take
control of their craft. That same philosophy
applies at many of the craft malting companies popping up throughout the U.S.
Six-Row In The Southeast
“Following the trend of craft breweries,
I see a lot of states getting micro-malthouses
in their areas,” said Brent Manning, co-owner
at Riverbend Malt House in Asheville, N.C.
Riverbend opened in 2011 and quickly generated interest from nearby craft brewers
looking to source their grain locally. The
company is 1,500 miles away from the closest
major malthouse and just down the road from
Asheville’s 19 craft breweries (and counting),
many of which are customers. Not to mention
it is one of the only houses in the country
malting six-row barley.
21
Also called winter barley, six-row barley is planted in late fall and harvested the
following summer. It’s indigenous to the
Southeast region and better suited for North
Carolina’s heat and humidity than its tworowed sister. “We surprise people because
we use six-row barley,” said Manning. “A
lot of people associate it with dry, husky
Going Gluten Free
Grouse Malting and Roasting Company
in Wellington, Colorado is also building its
market through education. This exclusively
gluten-free malting company was founded by
Twila Henley, whose interest in gluten-free
beer started during her graduate studies at
Colorado State University. She was studying
flavors, and not a rich, malt bready flavor
profile. We’re able to really draw out a lot
of rich, malty, sweet flavors though. We’ve
found that you can make a nice full-bodied
pale ale, whether it’s session strength or a
big black IPA.”
“We built clientele through education,” Manning continued. “Sometimes we
homebrewed beer with our own products
and poured it on tours for potential clients.
Within a year and a half of opening, we were
swamped with demand. We spend a lot of time
with shovels in our hands. Today we shoveled
8,000 pounds of malt before lunch.”
22
food science and food safety when she met
a classmate who had been diagnosed with
Celiac disease. “I was struck by her dedication
to this diet,” said Henley about her classmate.
“I remember thinking, ‘There’s gluten-free
bread and pizza crust, so there’s got to be gluten-free beer on the market.’”
There was gluten-free beer, but it didn’t
taste good. “I did some taste tests of gluten-free
beers and I was appalled that they tasted so
terrible,” she said. “They didn’t have the quality characteristics of beer made with malted
barley. So I made it a personal crusade to
develop a gluten-free beer that tasted great.”
PHOTO COURTESY COLORADO MALTING COMPANY
In addition to supplying professional brewers, demand from homebrewers meant Colorado Malting
eventually had to start shipping its malt to homebrew supply retailers.
That’s
when
Henley
started home-malting. She
called a local farmer and
learned that Colorado is
the largest producer of millet in the United States. “I
started sprouting millet in my
kitchen,” she said. “I had a
friend with a homebrew system, so I malted, he brewed,
and we were pretty impressed
by our attempts at brewing
beer with gluten-free malt.”
Much
like
Colorado
Malting, Grouse got up and
running with the help of homebrewers who brewed with the
company’s malted millet,
oats, buckwheat, and more.
They gave feedback about
how it performed in beer and
provided beer recipes using
Grouse’s gluten-free grains.
several commercially made
beers, such as Watchstander
Stout by Ghostfish Brewing
Company,
a
small-batch
brewer in Seattle, and
Oatmeal Stout by Shadows
Brewing Company, a brewpub in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
“Grouse is helping to change
the paradigm of peoples’ perceptions of gluten-free beer,”
Henley said.
Rice on the
New Frontier
Another malting company changing the way people perceive gluten-free beer
is Eckert Malting & Brewing
in Chico, California. The facility is the first in the world to
exclusively malt and roast
rice as a grain for brewing.
‘I did some taste tests of gluten-free
beers and I was appalled that they
tasted so terrible. …So I made it a
personal crusade to develop a
gluten-free beer that tasted great.’
“My goal as a craft
maltster is to bring value
to the industry by providing the highest-quality malt
and roasted grains,” said
Henley. “From the get-go
Grouse offered specialty
malts -- we wanted to supply
roasts that could make dark
beer, for example, which
isn’t a common variety of
gluten-free beer.”
Grouse now provides
gluten-free malts that go into
The owner Jim Eckert, a
homebrewer for more than
40 years and a professional
agriculture researcher for 30
years, first started brewing
with rice when his wife discovered she had intolerance
for gluten. She shared Twila
Henley’s disappointment in
the flavor of commercially
available gluten-free beers
and challenged her husband
to brew a gluten-free beer for
her that actually tasted good.
A classmate with Celiac disease inspired Grouse Malting founder Twila Henley to begin experimenting as a homebrewer with millet
while she was a graduate student in food science and safety. Her company now offers a range of gluten free brewing malts.
24
With support from experimental homebrewers and interest from several craft breweries and distilleries, Eckert’s rice is fundamentally changing the gluten-free brewing
game. Not to mention his beers are broadening the scope of gluten-free products available
on the market.
A Guild of Their Own
Alongside Colorado Malting, Riverbend
Malt House, Grouse Malting and Roasting, and
many others, Eckert has joined a new trade
association for craft maltsters. He likens the
North American Craft Maltsters Guild to the
Brewers Association and statewide brewers
guilds. He predicts a boom in membership.
“Together we’re discovering we can do things
that big malthouses don’t do, and we’re ending up with much more distinct, local beers,”
said Eckert. “We’ve grown tremendously
within the year I’ve been involved, taking on
20 or more new members.”
Colorado Malting’s Jason Cody agrees
there’s plenty of blue sky when it comes
to growth. “I really see craft malting and
small malthouses like ours showing up in
every nook and cranny. This is how beer
used to be made -- what we’re doing is the
roots of beer.”
PHOTO COURTESY GROUSE MALTING AND ROASTING COMPANY
So Eckert started with brown rice syrup and
eventually switched to all-grain batches of rice
beer. “After two years, I decided my product
was good enough to put on the market,” said
Eckert, which he did.
“As a brewer of rice beer I had to build
a malthouse first because at the time no one
else was doing that,” Eckert explains. He
started roasting a variety of different rices -light offerings such as biscuit rice and crystal
rice as well as dark rice and the even darker
gas hog rice. He brewed into a full spectrum
of light to dark beers, including a hoppy black
ale. “Colored rice malt adds interesting character to beers that wouldn’t exist otherwise,”
he said.
To date, Eckert has six rice beers available at his malthouse and brewery, including
a light lager and a dark lager, which are bottled and will eventually be kegged for local
accounts. As far as the malt goes, Eckert will
ship to any interested brewery or distillery,
near or far.
“It’s been slow convincing people that
you can brew with rice,” Eckert said. “The
local homebrewers were very reluctant initially, but still curious. They had lots of questions. They pushed me more than anyone
else has pushed me. Today homebrew stores
purchase the majority of my malt.”
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25
MATT
BRYNILDSON
The Lion, The Bear and The Merlin
by Jay R. Brooks
M
PHOTOS COURTESY DESCHUTES BREWERY
ost former homebrewers who
“turn pro” learn the chemistry
behind the carboy as they
go, but award-winning Matt
Brynildson came to his job with a sheepskin understanding of brewing science in
his back pocket, having graduated from
Michigan’s Kalamazoo College with a bachelor’s in chemistry in 1993.
Brynildson’s original plan was to
become a doctor, and he was initially
part of the college’s pre-med program.
But during his undergrad years, a fellow
student helped him get a part-time job at
26
the Kalamazoo Spice Extraction Company,
or Kalsec, and a gradual course correction
ensued. It was there that Brynildson first
dabbled in hop chemistry and where he
first took up homebrewing.
Brynildson really liked working in the
hop lab, and when graduation neared, he
was feeling burned out from his four years
as an undergrad and decided to take some
time off from academics. He accepted a
full-time position at Kalsec, and so his first
job out of college was as a hop chemist.
After a short time, he was sent to the Siebel
Institute in Chicago for additional course-
PHOTO BY LITTLE FILMS
Innovators Series
work in organic chemistry. While there in
1995, Brynildson learned that Goose Island
Beer Company was building its production
facility on Fulton Street. When founder
Greg Hall approached Matt’s class in
search of prospective employees, the seed
was planted that he could actually make a
living brewing.
By the time he took the cellarman’s
job at Goose Island, his plan to become Dr.
Brynildson was receding in the rearview
mirror. His decision to work at a brewery
for nine dollars an hour left his family,
which had been expecting a medical career,
puzzled and wondering where it all went
wrong for Matt.
But Matt put his chemistry background
to good use. He got the lab at Goose Island
up and running, and helped get its quality
control in line. Within a year, he’d distinguished himself enough to become the head
brewer. By 2000, after a number of years in
Chicago, the Wild West came calling and
a restless Brynildson decided the true big
leagues of craft brewing were on the West
Coast. A native of Litchfield, Minnesota with
German and Norwegian ancestry, he left the
Midwest behind.
27
GO WEST, YOUNG MAN
Brynildson took a job in California at
the newly built SLO Brewing Company in
Paso Robles, whose brewhouse was the
same as Goose Island’s 50-barrel JV Northwest system. But a year later, owner Michael
Hoffman had to shut down the brewery and
the bank stepped in, letting everybody go.
But Matt and another SLO brewer, Jim
Crooks, weren’t ready to give up quite so
easily. What happened next is local legend
around Paso Robles. The bank didn’t lock
the doors or turn off the power. Maybe it
was an oversight, maybe not. So Brynildson
and Crooks came in and kept making beer
while the brewery was still in receivership
and continued filling orders. The idea was
to just hang on and hope someone would
buy the brewery. They both loved the area
and the brewery that they’d poured so
much into. The gamble paid off and their
harebrained idea actually worked.
Brothers-in-law Adam Firestone and
David Walker had founded the Firestone
Walker Brewing Company in 1996 and established the distinctive logo featuring the lion
and bear. They were having modest success
offering English-style ales brewed in a
small space rented from their family on the
Firestone Vineyard estate in nearby Santa
Barbara County. They decided to buy the
former SLO brewery and came to look at it,
talking with Matt about staying on. Despite
showing up at his next meeting with the
new owners in ripped jeans and a tie-dyed
shirt after three straight Widespread Panic
shows in Los Angeles, Brynildson, who
didn’t initially realize the meeting was a job
interview, hit it off with them.
The first task was scaling up the recipe
of Double Barrel Ale, Firestone Walker’s
first flagship beer. Next, he reformulated
Windsor Pale Ale to its current incarnation as Pale 31. By early 2002, they started
bottling Firestone Walker beers.
THE HITS JUST KEEP ON COMING
Brynildson has famously racked up a
serious string of big awards for his beers
28
since moving to California. The first came
in 2001 at the Great American Beer Festival,
when he won Small Brewpub Brewmaster of
the Year for SLO Brewing, the honor coming
ironically after the brewery had shut down.
With Firestone Walker he has won the award
for mid-size brewing company brewmaster
four more times.
At the World Beer Cup, which hosts
breweries from around the world every two
years, Firestone Walker has won Champion
Brewery and Brewmaster four of the six
times the competition has been held.
In 2007, Matt was the recipient of the
Brewers Association’s prestigious Russell
Scherer Award for Innovation in Brewing.
The awards aren’t limited to the U.S.
From 2012 to 2014, Firestone Walker won
the gold medal in the Consumer’s Favorite
category at the European Beer Star Awards
in Munich, an honor chosen by attendees
using a blind tasting.
When asked what he attributes this
amazing success to, Brynildson laughs and
doesn’t have a ready answer. For somebody
so highly awarded and accomplished, he
Innovators Series
PHOTOS COURTESY FIRESTONE WALKER BREWING COMPANY
Despite showing up for his interview with ripped jeans and a tie-dyed shirt, Brynildson hit if off well with David Walker (left)
and Adam Firestone. The brothers-in-law were already successful locally with their Double Barrel Ale.
likes to avoid the limelight and doesn’t
often dwell on his success. “Competition is
definitely a combination of brewing really
clean beers to style and making sure your
beers are entered in the right style.” He’s
also noticed that a lot of the early success
came from the pale ale and more modestly
hop-forward beers along with one or two
other award-winning beers.
Firestone Walker did not introduce an
IPA until ten years after the brewery had
launched – Union Jack in 2007. For most
of the brewery’s life it focused on beers no
one considered extreme. The Double Barrel
Ale was selling so well in the local market
that there was no animus to shake things
up. In the end, it was about nailing those
beers, Matt believes, though he remains
uncertain about precisely why his beers
win regularly. “We focused on laboratory
stuff and trying to brew to specs and really
challenging ourselves to keep things as tight
as we possibly could all the time.”
Nowadays, Firestone Walker is known
as much for its “passion for the pale” as for
its IPAs and barrel-aged beers. That wasn’t
the plan from the beginning. The founders
had a definite idea that they should keep to
their core mission of making good middleof-the-road beers. But Brynildson was
itching to try some new things. He started
playing around with more extreme beers,
putting some into barrels for aging — all
without his bosses knowing about it. This
led to him getting chewed out from time to
time, and Adam Firestone even threatened
his job a couple times. They were worried
about him getting distracted and losing
focus on the flagship beers.
Matt’s
underground
beers
kept
garnering the brewery more and more
attention and awards. Eventually the
powers that be saw the light. When Firestone Walker’s 10th anniversary rolled
around in 2006, they finally let Matt loose
and he created the company’s first “official” barrel-aged beer, known as 10. It was
composed of ten distinctive component lots
including Abacus, Ruby, Bravo, Walker’s
Reserve, Humboldt Hemp Ale, and a 100
percent oak barrel-fermented Double Barrel
Ale. These beers were aged in six different
29
Innovators Series
Top: Brynildson joins fellow collaborators at JD
Wetherspoon in London to toast beers brewed at Marston’s.
From left: Mikkeller founder Mikkel Borg Bjergsø; Australian
brewer Richard Adamson from the now defunct Barons
Brewing; and Ishii Brewing owner Toshi Ishii.
Bottom: Firestone Walker and Brynildson have collected
three consecutive Consumer’s Favorite awards at the
European Beer Star in Munich.
30
Between the barrel-aged beers and
Union Jack as their first IPA, people outside
of the Central Coast of California began to
take notice of Firestone Walker’s beers, and
the brewery began distributing further from
home, keeping pace with the surge of interest
in flavorful beer by adding additional states
to its distribution territory.
BURTON-ON-TRENT
In 2008, Matt traveled to Burton-on-Trent
as one of four brewers from around the
world invited to do a collaboration beer at
Marston’s Brewery for the JD Wetherspoon
chain’s annual International Beer Festival.
It was appropriate that Brynildson was
tapped to brew at Marston’s, which was the
sole British brewer still using a Burton Union
System. Firestone Walker uses a modified
Burton Union System known as the Firestone
Union, which it developed and patented.
Brynildson inherited the system from Firestone Walker’s first brewer, Jeffers Richardson, who tried to talk the founders out of
using it. But they were adamant to use their
winery’s chardonnay barrels after they were
done holding wine. So Richardson took the
Burton Union brewing method and adapted
it for the California Central Coast.
Back in Paso Robles, Matt understandably believed that they would abandon
brewing in used oak wine barrels and brew
in stainless steel due to scale. But Firestone
and Walker felt that process was part of the
brewery’s identity and persuaded Matt to
reconsider. A compromise was reached that
ultimately benefited all of the beer Firestone
Walker makes.
Firestone’s Union system now uses new,
freshly toasted oak barrels. The beer is started
in the stainless brewhouse, then transferred
to the barrels for primary fermentation for
six days, then moved back into stainless
fermenters for a secondary yeast feast. The
Double Barrel Ale that’s bottled contains
20 percent oak-fermented and 80 percent
stainless steel-fermented beer, although at
the brewery you can sample a 100 percent
TOP PHOTO BY JAY BROOKS
BOTTOM PHOTO COURTESY FIRESTONE WALKER BREWING COMPANY
barrel formats to create ten distinctive
component lots that were then blended
together and bottled as 10.
It was a runaway success, and
finally everyone understood how such a
program helped to build the reputation
of the brewery. The barrel program has
grown into Barrelworks, and another
numbered anniversary beer has been
brewed each year since then.
barrel-fermented
version
made on the Firestone Union
system. It’s one of the most
unique ways to make beer,
a method thought to have
been developed by monks
in central England and put
into large-scale practice by
English brewers beginning in
the 1830s.
BATMAN ARRIVES
The brewing community
believes everybody should
have a nickname, especially
in California. It was once
remarked that Matt “is the
one who’s always dry-hopping in the dark.” From
there, it didn’t take much of
a leap off a tall building for
him to be renamed for the
Dark Knight, thus “Batman.”
The dry-hopping practice came about to avoid
getting a mercaptan reaction, which gives beer a
foul smell. “If light hits just
hops, there’s no ill reaction,
but if it hits iso-alpha acids
in the presence of riboflavin — which is present in
malt, it’s present on our skin,
it’s present on a lot of organic
matter — that will create a
mercaptan reaction,” said
Brynildson. “And in this
brewery, we have a whole
bunch of passive solar rays. I
couldn’t tell you exactly how
it happened, but we were
up on top of a tank, and we
had it open for too long, or
something happened when
we were dry-hopping, and
the next thing you know we
ended up skunking a whole
batch of pale ale. So I made
31
Innovators Series
it a rule in the brewery that no one could
dry-hop until the night shift.”
Around the brewery, there was another
nickname that gained currency. Co-owner
Firestone, who came up with the brewery’s
bear and lion theme, began referring to
Matt as “Merlin,” because of his wizard-like
ability to make great beers.
Five years ago, Firestone and Walker
gave Matt the first nickname that really
mattered, which was “partner.” They made
eries that he knew well and wanted to pour
at the festival, many of them not normally
even available in the state. He also asked
each one to pour a session beer and one of
their more rare beers, and insisted that the
brewer be present. Now in its fourth year,
the festival held each May sells out of its
2,500 tickets in a matter of minutes.
Like everything Matt does, it’s the attention to detail that really matters. Whether
creating a beer recipe, a better brewing
Brynildson a part owner of the business,
giving him a small stake in the brewery.
Matt refers to this as “golden handcuffs,”
because it “gets someone fully vested in the
future of the business.”
A TEAM SPORT
Matt insists that brewing is a team
sport, and that all of his success can be
attributed to picking and nurturing the
right mix of talented people, starting with
the owners. “I have to give a lot of credit
to Adam and David because they’re just
absolutely great owners to work for.
They’re pretty hands-off when it comes to
the creative side of things.”
As if everything he touches turns into,
well, a good idea, Brynildson was instrumental in creating the Firestone Walker
Invitational Beer Festival. He invited brew-
32
process, or a collaboration beer, Brynildson
is a perfectionist. You may not think so at
first glance: Matt wears an unkempt beard,
prefers dressing casually and loves jam
bands. But his attention to detail is something you can taste and is obvious in every
glass of Firestone Walker beer. Being around
Brynildson, one can’t help but be taken
by his easy manner and joie de vivre. He
makes it look easy. And as any brewer will
tell you: it’s not. He’s just that good.
As science writer Arthur C. Clarke’s
third law of prediction states: “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic,” and so it is that
beers made so well over and over again will
likewise seem magical. Matt Brynildson as
Merlin seems fitting, a brewer who makes
magic in every batch he brews. Maybe it
was his destiny all along.
LEFT PHOTO COURTESY FIRESTONE WALKER BREWING COMPANY
RIGHT PHOTO BY JAY BROOKS
While researching Hallertau hops in Germany, Brynildson tried his hand at the hop picker. During his visit to Marston’s, he got a
chance to see the workings of the Burton Union, the model used to create the Firestone Union.
Sláinte!
Sláinte (slahn-chə) is a word literally translating as “health” and is commonly used as a
drinking toast in Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man. {Wikipedia}
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33
There’s only one wedge issue in Wisconsin that’s bigger
than union labor. The state is deeply divided on beer and brats.
When should they meet and under what circumstances?
BRAT WARS
The Best and Wurst
by Jim Pedley
34
M
y friend Harvey backed the silver
with red leather interior Jaguar
XJ6 dead center between two
grubby, garbage-strewn campsites
that were pitched near the Turn 3 fence at
Road America.
Located in the glacially carved swells of
Wisconsin north of Milwaukee, the track’s four
miles of undulating asphalt had been drawing
sports car racers and fans from all over the
world for almost two decades. The neighbors
covered in dried mud – who obviously were
Three laps of constant tending later, the
brats had browned up and were shooting mini
geysers of juice onto the briquettes as the cars
wailed past. Into the buns and onto paper
plates they went.
The neighbors, who had watched the
two hoity-toity University of WisconsinMadison alums with mild disgust were
waved over for hot brats and beer that
was actually cold. Harvey could have been
appointed pope had the mud-crusted neighbors been elector cardinals.
‘We are firm believers that brats and beer go together. Drink the
beer and grill the brats. That is as close as the two should get.’
on, like, Day 4 of their stay – rubbed party-ravaged eyes as Harvey began setting up our little section of ground on that hot, muggy afternoon in the early 1970s.
Out of the Jag came coolers, collapsible
chairs, a small folding table and a full-sized
Weber kettle in immaculate black, ready for
assembly. Briquettes were lit and out came a
six-pack of Schlitz cans – the kind you needed
a “church key” to open. To the horror of the
neighbors, the beer was dumped into a foil
pan on the grill rack.
A plastic bag of onions was dumped into
the beer and then a stick of butter. The pan
was placed over the hot grill until bubbles
and steam began to rise. Then a large bag
of brats from the cooler was emptied into
the pan.
About this time, the pace car came up
over the small hill out of Turn 2 and led the
snarling and bellowing field of sports cars past
us on their warm-up lap.
Several roaring, full-speed laps later, the
brats were deemed sufficiently boiled and the
coals at the right temperature to remove the
butter/onion jacuzzi from the Weber and put
the gleaming sausages on the grill grate.
Those lovingly prepared German sausages were memorable. Juicy, perfectly
browned and that wonderful masticated blend
of onions and hops. The snap of the casing,
the burst of steam, the rivers of liquified fat.
That was not the first time I’d had beer brats.
Just the best time. Brats, beer and the supercharged drama of sports car racing. Terrific.
There was hardly universal agreement on the new approach to a very old
food tradition. Not everybody liked it, but
around the time of that muggy day at Road
America boiling brats in a beer bath became
a craze. Bad beer, lore had it, turned great
bratwurst into tremendous bratwurst. And
in Wisconsin, all the proper ingredients
were both near and dear.
The Milwaukee area was a favorite destination for emigrating Germans in the early
and middle decades of the 20th Century.
Among those émigrés were some of the finest
sausage makers (or wurstmachers) and brewers in the world.
Many of the names of the higher quality
brewers are familiar: Schlitz, Pabst, Miller,
Heileman, Blatz. The names of the sausage
makers are less known nationally but revered
35
by the locals. At some point along the way,
their products found their way into the same
pots, and cookouts have never been the same
in the Badger State.
“It’s definitely a regional preference,”
Megan Dorsch of Nueske’s Applewood Smoked
Meats in Wittenburg, Wisconsin says of hot-tubbing brats and beer. “We Wisconsinites love
brats and I think that anyone who is eating a
fresh, unsmoked brat around here, we love giving them the beer bath first.”
The ingredients – with personalized twists
(like seasoned salt, red pepper flakes, hot peppers, garlic) – remain constant: Sheboyganstyle bratwurst, cheap lager, chopped onion
and butter.
The process is also inflexible. Boil until
sausages are cooked and plumped and then,
low and slow (split casings kill the gig) over
charcoal or gas burners. “It adds flavor,”
Dorsch says. “It gives it a rich flavor and it’s
just tradition here in Wisconsin.”
Virtually everybody in Wisconsin
agrees beer and brats are essential together.
Not everybody agrees on what point in the
process they should get together. Forget
about taking sides on Governor Scott
Walker’s anti-union campaign. How do you
like your brats?
College friend Rob Reuteman just won’t
take the plunge on beer brats. “I think it’s stupid,” said Reuteman, a native of Wauwatosa.
36
“If you boil brats in beer, all the essential
spices bleed out of the brat into the beer.
You’re left with a less tasty brat.”
Jon Gabe of Usinger’s in Milwaukee also
says nein to beer brats.
“At Usinger’s, we are not fond of cooking brats in beer,” Gabe said. “Similar to
a brewer who carefully crafts a beer, the
Usinger wurstmachers make sausages that
are spiced just right. When cooked in beer,
the flavor and consistency of the brat
changes. We are firm believers that brats
and beer go together. However, drink the
beer and grill the brats, but that is as close
as the two should get.”
Gabe offered to send The Beer Connoisseur
some brats gratis – if we promised not to mix
them with beer until they were separately
introduced to the mouth.
Joseph Conrad was born, raised and fed
at ground zero of the ground zero of American
wurst making – Sheboygan. He has a third
take on beer, brats and their mating habits –
a simmering pot of onions, butter and beer.
“OK,” Conrad said, “this whole boiling brats in beer stuff is pretty hokey to real
Sheboygan Germans. When I was growing up
you always had a simmering pot for the grilled
brats and that’s where you put them AFTER
the grilling.
“I still like the original method I grew up
with but, with enough good beer – not the
PHOTOS BY SUSAN PEDLEY
All the ingredients are here. But
there’s no consensus on the order.
Should the brats be cooked and then
held in a simmering beer bath until
served? Others strongly suggest to
just grill the brats and serve them
with cold beer. But, there is also a
major faction that most assuredly
avows the brats should be simmered
in the beer bath first, then broiled.
cheap stuff we’d use in the simmer pot – it’s all good.”
Good Sheboygan Germans also apparently either
abhor waste – or love flavor.
“A little known thing was that, the mess left in the simmer pot after the original barbecue grilling, eating, and
partying could be made into what we called brat soup by
adding more cans of beer, cutting up the leftover brats
into chunks, heating and then eating,” said Conrad. “You
needed a young and strong stomach though for that.”
Strength of stomach also comes into play when choosing condiments. Those considered semi-essential include
sauerkraut and a strong German-style mustard. Nothing
green should ever top a brat.
The personal preference here is ‘kraut, standard yellow mustard and a hearty smear of horseradish. Another
personal preference is avoiding the big, doughy rolls that
make sausages look so Martha Stewart-fake in advertisements. A good hot dog bun off a super market shelf will
allow more taste to seep through than will a “roll” from an
upscale French bistro.
The bottom line on beer brats is a wonderful one
from Conrad, which beer lovers certainly should be able
to get behind.
“We do not advocate the par-boiling method,” he said,
“but we never ever turn down good cooked brats regardless
of the method used. Correction, we would turn them down
if inadequate supplies of GOOD beer were not provided.”
With in-state craft brands like New Glarus, Stevens
Point and Lakefront, among others, currently competing
with the traditional German-American brewers, there’s
plenty of good beer available until this debate is resolved.
Or not!
37
BEER REVIEW
JUDGES
OUR JUDGING
PROCESS
The beers were judged by
individual reviewers based on
the merits of the beer and how
well they exemplify specific
styles as defined by the Brewers
Association and the Beer Judge
Certification Program. To provide
the beers with a truly objective
evaluation, each was tasted blind.
The beers were presented to the
judges as numbered entries with
the only identifying information
being the style.
Tom Cannon
Tom has been drinking beer for 40
years, hunting for good beer for 26
years and homebrewing for 22 years.
He is currently an Exam Director
for the Beer Judge Certification
Program and has achieved the Grand
Master II level as a beer judge. He has
visited breweries from Portland, Oregon to Pilzen in the
Czech Republic and is always on the lookout for new beer
experiences.
Phil Farrell
Circling the globe many times and
educating his beer palate for nearly
four decades, Phil is a vice president
of the Beer Judge Certification
Program and a Grand Master III level
beer judge. He has been homebrewing
for 20 years, winning medals and
striking gold at the American Homebrewers Association
national competition. He believes the perfect pint is out
there waiting for him somewhere on planet Earth.
Pete Garofalo
THE SCORE BREAKDOWN:
100 to 96: World Class
You need this beer in your life.
95 to 91: Exceptional
Don’t hesitate.
90 to 86: Very Good
A brew to savor.
85 to 81: Good
Enjoyable but not life-altering.
80 to 75: Average
Somewhat unimpressive.
74 and below:
Not recommended
Just walk away.
38
A Grand Master IV beer judge, Pete
has been appreciating good beers
since the days when locating a tavern
with two “alternative” taps was a
major find. He has been a homebrewer
since 1991 and an active member of
the Beer Judge Certification Program
since 1994. He formerly served on the BJCP Board of
Directors as the Northeast/International representative and
remains active as a judge.
Owen Ogletree
Founder of the popular Classic City
Brew Fest held in Athens, Georgia,
Owen runs Brewtopia.info and writes
for Southern Brew News. A National
Judge as ranked by the BJCP, Owen
has also served as a beer judge at the
Great American Beer Festival and the
Great British Beer Festival. Owen wrote the food pairings for
the Review and the Style Studies pages.
Creature Comforts
Tropicália
96
Style: American IPA
ABV: 6.5%
IBUs: 65
Serve at: 45°
Creature Comforts
Brewing Company
Athens, Georgia
www.creaturecomfortsbeer.com
(706) 621-6595
Distribution: GA.
Judge’s Notes
by Phil Farrell
When I take my first sniff I
am treated to an orgy of mango,
guava, grapefruit, orange and
even a bit of peach and pine with
a little resin on the side. After it
warmed I detected a little biscuit
and green tea. The flavor is hop
fruity, but there is a pine resin,
spice character that balances it
perfectly. I taste a little toasty
malt, maybe a hint of caramel. I
get a palate-cleansing jolt of bitterness in a pleasantly dry finish.
The aftertaste returns to a tropical fruit and citrus theme. This
is not a palate-crushing IPA and
I love the nuances, balance and
drinkability – a “go to” IPA.
Malts: Pilsner, Munich, Wheat,
Crystal.
Hops: Citra, Centennial, Galaxy.
Food Pairing Recommendations
Shrimp creole with french bread; carrot cake.
Cheese: Emmenthaler.
39
Green Flash
Silva Stout
95
Green Flash
Brewing Company
San Diego, California
www.greenflashbrew.com
(858) 622-0085
Distribution: All states except
AR, DE, HI, MS, MT, ND, SD,
WV, WI and WY.
Style: Russian Imperial Stout
ABV: 10.1%
IBUs: 45
Serve at: 55°
Judge’s Notes
by Tom Cannon
The beer starts with a roasted marshmallow, smoky vanilla
aroma with some caramel added – not quite what one would
expect from an imperial stout. In
the glass it’s black on black with
a fluffy dark tan head and pretty
lacing. The backbone of the beer
is a nice Russian Imperial Stout,
but the bourbon barrel conditioning moderates the roastiness
typical of the style, and provides
more than a touch of sweetness
to the beer. The flavor is a nice
blend of coffee, burnt toffee, and
perhaps some cocoa. It’s a complex beer, but it’s well-constructed. Bourbon barrel-aged beers
may have run their course, but
the best of them (like this one)
really stand out.
Malts: Golden Naked Oats, Dark
Crystal Roasted Malts.
Hops: U.K. Golding.
40
Sticky toffee pudding with custard; white chocolate
raspberry cheesecake.
Cheese: Gjetost.
Tastes Great. Less Billing.
The Usinger Family has been making sausage
in Milwaukee since 1880. Five generations of
dedicated family members guarantee that the
sausage you order today will be just as tasty as what
Fred Usinger starting making over 135 years ago.
Usinger’s – America’s Finest Sausage.
Stock up and save 20%
at the Usinger’s On Line Deli now.
www.usinger.com
Enter promo code Beer20
at check out to receive discount.
Valid on line only through 7/9/15. Discount does
not apply to shipping or gift boxes. Cannot be
combined with other offers or discounts.
Usinger’s Famous Sausage | 1030 N Old World Third St., Milwaukee,www.BeerConnoisseur.com
WI 53203 | 414-276-9100 |
41
NoDa
Hop, Drop ‘N Roll
NoDa Brewing
Company
95
Charlotte, North Carolina
www.nodabrewing.com
(704) 900-6851
Style: American IPA
ABV: 7.2%
IBUs: 81
Serve at: 48° to 55°
Distribution: NC.
Judge’s Notes
by Phil Farrell
This is a very pretty IPA. As
you drink it, a foam residue of
your progress is recorded on
the side of the glass. An entire
hop farm of pine, resin, wood
and grapefruit hop aromas slowly arrive as the beer warms.
There is some eventual grassiness, however the “hay” is
more of a bonus than an annoyance. The flavor does not disappoint! All of the hop goodness
transfers nicely from the aroma.
The malt and fermentation are
very clean, supporting the full
metal jacket of hop flavors. The
finish is semi-dry with a hint of
caramel and biscuit. The hop
resins pleasantly linger and are
the dominant factor throughout.
The flavor is phenomenal.
Malts: American barley,
English barley, Vienna, Wheat.
Hops: Chinook, Centennial,
Citra, Amarillo.
42
Ahi tuna with mango salsa; bacon-wrapped scallops.
Cheese: Gruyere.
Sierra Nevada
Hop Hunter IPA
95
Style: American IPA
ABV: 6.2%
IBUs: 60
Sierra Nevada
Brewing Company
Chico, California
www.sierranevada.com
(530) 893-5320
Distribution: All states, DC
and Canada.
Judge’s Notes
by Owen Ogletree
Pungent, earthy hop resins
punch the drinker in the nose
with notes of pine, citrus, grapefruit and even hints of juniper.
Pale malt-driven, this golden
beer achieves impressive clarity
and a moderate, white, persistent
head. Extraordinary hop flavors
burst on the tongue in rich, spicy
waves that seem bold and flavorful yet appealing, agreeable and
not astringent. The moderate
mouthfeel and malt backbone
seem just ample enough to form
a supporting foundation for the
mammoth hop profile, with mild,
fruity esters in the background.
This beer emerges as a fragrant,
intensely hopped IPA with aroma, flavoring and bittering hops
that avoid being catty or overly
earthy. It's a hop lover's dream.
Barbecued shrimp skewers; conch fritters with hot sauce.
Cheese: aged sharp cheddar.
Malts: Two-Row Pale, Caramel,
Flaked Oats.
Hops: Bravo, Cascade, Crystal,
Simcoe.
43
Saranac
Legacy IPA
Matt Brewing Company
93
Utica, New York
www.saranac.com
(800) 765-6288
Distribution: CT, DC, DE, MD, MA,
NJ, NY, NC, PA, RI, VT, VA and
WV.
Style: American IPA
ABV: 6.5%
IBUs: 60
Serve at: 45°
Judge’s Notes
by Tom Cannon
The key to a good American IPA is getting the hops right
and making them taste great.
This beer gets it right, from a
pleasant piney, resiny aroma
to a fresh hop flow in the flavor leading to a smooth bitter
finish. The beer is as pale as a
good IPA should be, dark gold
and crystal clear with a bright
white head. There’s a great hop
punch in the flavor, spicy and
earthy with enough malt to provide adequate balance. This is a
hop-driven beer, though maybe
not quite enough for the professional hop heads. The hops
taste great and work well with
the malt. A subdued IPA, but it’s
a good one.
Malts: North American TwoRow, Munich.
Hops: Cluster, Golding,
Centennial, Citra, Simcoe,
Chinook.
44
Corn dogs with spicy mustard; grilled chicken with chutney.
Cheese: Chabrin.
Southern Tier
Hop Sun
93
Style: American Wheat Beer
ABV: 5.1%
IBUs: 28
Southern Tier
Brewing Company
Lakewood, New York
www.stbcbeer.com
(716) 763-5479
Distribution: AL, AK, CT, DC,
FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, KY, LA, ME,
MD, MA, MI, MN, MS, NH, NJ,
NY, NC, ND, OH, OR, PA, RI, SC,
TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI and
Ontario.
Judge’s Notes
by Pete Garofalo
Thai papaya salad; coconut korma curry.
Cheese: Alsatian Muenster.
Pungent, resinous hops
greet the nose with traces of pine
amidst the leafy, vinous essence.
A low malt presence helps to
support the pear and berry esters. Flavor follows suit, starting
with a piquant hop character
that is impressively fresh and
appealing. Cherry and berry esters spring from the hops, which
are firmly in control. Grainy
sweetness brings the flavor into
balance, but the finish and aftertaste are dry and resiny. This
beer is a hop showcase – from
the huge hop nose, through the
emphatic yet clean bitterness, to
the lingering flavor from start to
finish. Wheat provides a subtly
appealing softness.
Malts: Two-Row, C-60, Wheat.
Hops: Centennial.
45
Cigar City
Florida Cracker
Cigar City Brewing
92
Tampa, Florida
www.cigarcitybrewing.com
(813) 348-6363
Distribution: AL, FL, GA, NY,
PA and VA.
Style: Witbier
ABV: 5.5%
IBUs: 18
Serve at: 45°
Judge’s Notes
by Owen Ogletree
Inviting aromas of coriander,
cumin, cereal grains and slightly earthy notes of wheat and citrus emerge from the glass when
swirled. With a pale gold shade,
pleasant haze and impressive
fluffy stand of white foam, the
beer seems to glow when held
to the light. Refreshing flavors
of slightly sweet malt mingle
with citrus, coriander, lemon, kiwi and honeydew tones,
while the wheat character
comes across as subtle, and any
saison yeast complexity seems
mild. Thirst-quenching and light
in mouthfeel with a slightly
creamy body, this beer ranks as
a well-constructed example of a
classic style with a harmonious
balance of spice, fruit and malt.
Malts: Two-Row, White Wheat,
Flaked Wheat, Flaked Oats,
Acidulated Malt.
Hops: East Kent, Golding,
Styrian Bobek.
Mussels steamed in garlic and white wine; cranberry scones.
Cheese: Tallegio.
46
The Lost Abbey
Carnevale Ale
92
Style: Brett Beer
ABV: 6.5%
IBUs: N/A
Port Brewing Company/
The Lost Abbey
San Marcos, California
www.lostabbey.com
(760) 500-9392
Distribution: AZ, CA, CO, GA,
HI, IL, MA, NJ, PA and WA.
Judge’s Notes
by Owen Ogletree
Sometimes blending two
wonderful things produces unexpected, yet magnificent results.
This beer's bold, piney, resiny,
citrusy American hop personality engages in an intriguing marriage with fruity, spicy, saison
notes and slight wild yeast
complexity – producing an end
product that's balanced, multifaceted, creative and immensely
drinkable. Aromas of light lemon, cereal, and insinuations of
vanilla, meringue, banana, spice
and custard pave the way for palate notes mostly dominated by
American hops backed by traces
of acidity, barnyard, melon rind
and clove. This cloudy, golden
brew possesses attractive orange
hues, a medium mouthfeel and
pleasant, lingering bitterness
and spice that begs another sip.
Gobi (cauliflower) manchurian; bouillabaisse.
Cheese: Humboldt Fog.
Malts: White Wheat, Oats.
Hops: Amarillo, Simcoe.
47
Foothills
Carolina Blonde
Cream Ale
Foothills Brewing
Company
91
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
www.foothillsbrewing.com
(336) 777-3348
Style: Cream Ale
ABV: 4.3%
IBUs: 15
Distribution: DC, NC, SC, TN and
VA.
Judge’s Notes
by Tom Cannon
Cream Ale sounds a bit ordinary, but when done right it
can take “lawnmower beer” to
a higher level. The complexity
to the aroma starts this beer
off right, biscuit malt wrapped
in an appetizing blend of pear
and pineapple. The pour is an
exceptionally clear straw yellow with a creamy head. The
flavor isn’t as fruity as the aroma would suggest, but has a soft
malt flavor and a crisp, slightly
bitter finish. Lawnmower beer?
Sure, but this elegant Cream Ale
is also a great beach or poolside
beer. Sometimes you need to
get away from the bourbon barrel hop monsters and just drink
a clean, crisp beer like this one.
Malts: Pilsner, Wheat, North
American Two-Row.
Hops: German Tradition,
German Perle.
48
Pulled pork barbecue sandwich with coleslaw; shawarma with
hummus and tahini.
Cheese: Asiago Fresco.
Traquair
Jacobite Ale
91
Style: Specialty Wee Heavy with
coriander
ABV: 8.0%
IBUs: 23
Serve at: 45°
Traquair House
Brewery
Peebleshire, Scotland
www.traquair.co.uk
(Imported by Merchant du Vin,
www.merchantduvin.com)
Distribution: All states and DC.
Judge’s Notes
by Pete Garofalo
Salmon gravlax; crab salad.
Cheese: Manchego.
Spicy woodiness greets the
nose followed by a caramel/
toffee malt with a whiff of alcohol. Fruity character includes
dark dried fruit (fig, date, raisin). The flavor focuses first
on the malt then adds a touch
of woodiness, drying out as
spiciness emerges toward the
finish. Alcohol is subtle, but
with a light coconut character
that adds complexity. Maltiness is curiously subdued for
the style. Despite the lack of
malt complexity, the added elements each provide something
that improves overall character. The coriander delivers a
delicate layer of flavor, and the
oak provides a slight edge to
aroma and flavor without dominating. The combined elements
create a whole greater than the
sum of parts.
Malts: Barley.
Hops: Fuggles, Goldings.
49
Smuttynose
Vunderbar Pilsner
Smuttynose Brewing
Company
Hampton, New Hampshire
www.smuttynose.com
(603) 436-4026
Distribution: AZ, CA, CT, DC, DE,
FL, GA, IL, IN, KY, ME, MD, MA,
MI, NH, NJ, NY, NC, OH, PA, RI,
SC, TN, TX, VT, VA, WI and Puerto Rico.
90
Style: German Pilsner
ABV: 4.9%
IBUs: 33
Judge’s Notes
by Pete Garofalo
Fresh noble hops and cracker-like, lightly bready Pils malts
are initially in the forefront. The
hops have a tangy, floral character that sits atop an unexpected
peach/pear fruitiness with a
touch of honey. The flavor kicks
off with a gently grainy malt
that has a slight Graham cracker sweetness. The spicy hop
flavor washes through as the
malt fades, and the bitterness
and alcohol combine to dry the
finish, leaving an herbal hop
aftertaste. The aftertaste leans
toward clean, spicy hops that
are bitter without becoming
harsh. Overall, a crisp quenching Pilsner that goes down easy.
Malts: Pilsner Malt, North
American Two-Row, Acidulated
Malt.
Hops: Czech Saaz.
50
Sage stuffing/dressing; steamed lobster with drawn butter.
Cheese: Havarti.
Terrapin Black Is The New Wit
89
Style: Specialty Witbier
with black wheat and sassafras
ABV: 8.2%
IBUs: 20
BLACK IS THE NEW WIT
Judge’s Notes by Owen Ogletree
Quite an interesting experimental ale, this beer boasts an expansive
range of mild flavors that merge to form a unique black ale with aromas
of dark malts and suggestions of root beer, coffee, cola, burnt sugar,
raisins, plum and smoke. The ale comes across as almost opaque with
a gorgeous stubborn tan head. Flavor observations include raisin,
curaçao, slight spice, kola nuts, toffee, licorice, roasted malt and herbs.
Any spicy rye quality seems subdued in the medium/full bodied palate,
as do the fruity esters and wood tannins. The brew seems fairly slick
and viscous on the tongue, with a lightly sweet, malty finish.
Terrapin Beer Company
Athens, Georgia | www.terrapinbeer.com
(706) 549-3377
Distribution: AL, DC, FL, GA, LA, MD, NJ, NC, PA, SC, TN, VA, WV and
Puerto Rico.
Food Pairings
Roasted pork knuckle;
coconut cake.
Cheese: Brie.
Malts: Two-Row Pale, Torrified
Wheat, Malted Wheat, Rye, Midnight
Wheat, DH Carafa III.
Hops: Sorachi Ace, Lemondrop,
Mandarina Bavaria.
51
Maui Lorenzini Double IPA
New Belgium Slow Ride
LORENZINI DOUBLE IPA
Judge’s Notes by Phil Farrell
I smell a pleasant mix of resin and citrus followed by a little orange
citrus, biscuit malt, and a touch of coconut/tropical fruit. I also detect
some underlying generic spice. The flavor is fuller than the aroma
suggests. I get a lot of resin flavors, some citrus, and a firm, bitter
finish. There is more tropical fruit and citrus in the flavor than in the
nose. The malt is highly restrained for both aroma and flavor. The
resin lingers in the long aftertaste. This is a fairly dry Double IPA with
a firm crisp finish. It’s a pleasant beer, more balanced and much more
drinkable than many Double or Imperial IPAs.
88
Style: Fruit Beer/Double IPA
with blood orange
ABV: 7.6%
IBUs: 68
Serve at: 55°
Maui Brewing Company
Kihei, Hawaii | www.mauibrewingco.com
(808) 669-3474
Distribution: AZ, CA, CO, HI, ID, MD, NV, OR, TX, VA, WA,
Puerto Rico and U.K.
Food Pairings
Roast beef and carrots; curried
lamb in creamy butter sauce.
Cheese: dry Monterey.
Malts: Two-Row, White Wheat,
C-77, Chocolate, Carafa 3.
Hops: El Azacca, El Dorado,
Sorachi Ace, Citra, Amarillo.
SLOW RIDE
Judge’s Notes by Pete Garofalo
A blast of fruity, resiny hops greets the nose with a cornucopia of
tropical fruits: papaya, guava, and pineapple. The citrusy character is
also present in the hop-driven aroma. A secondary bouquet of bready
malt and a hint of corn-like DMS round out the fragrance. The flavor
follows suit, but the fruit types are less defined. Hop flavor is tea-like
with lush fruitiness. Malt does not fully support the weighty hops, but
manages to keep things at session strength with a light grainy character.
The cleanly expressed hops contain a trace of grassy quality. This beer
is thirst-quenching and drinkable, offering an antidote for your hopjonesing without the alcohol and heaviness of a full-strength IPA.
New Belgium Brewing Company
Fort Collins, Colorado | www.newbelgium.com
(888) 622-4044
Distribution: All states, DC except CT, HI, KY, ME, MA, NH, NJ, NY, RI,
VT and WV.
Food Pairings
Sushi rolls; beer-battered
fried pickles.
Cheese: Cacique cotija.
52
Malts: Pale, C-80.
Hops: Amarillo, Citra, Mosaic,
Simcoe, Nelson Sauvin, Nugget,
Centennial, Cascade.
88
Style: Session IPA
ABV: 4.5%
IBUs: 40
Founders Rübaeus
Tröegs HopBack Amber Ale
86
Style: Fruit Beer
with raspberries
ABV: 5.7%
IBUs: 15
RÜBAEUS
Judge’s Notes by Tom Cannon
The beer starts out with a fresh, tart raspberry aroma and pours
a brilliantly clear dark pink with a light pink head. The flavor is a
touch more juicy, but is offset by a nice creaminess to the texture of
the beer, which works well with the sweet raspberry flavor. There’s
nothing really complex in the beer, just a clean, bright fruit flavor
that’s relatively drinkable. Fruit beers are tough not to make too sweet
and cloying, and this one avoids that trap, and has much more right
than wrong. The raspberry is fresh enough, and the creaminess of the
beer really helps. A summer quencher, this one would work in any
picnic cooler.
Founders Brewing Company
Grand Rapids, Michigan | www.foundersbrewing.com
(616) 776-2182
Distribution: AL, AZ, AR, CT, DC, FL, GA, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MA, MI,
MN, MO, NE, NH, NJ, NY, NC, OH, OK, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, VT, VA and WI.
Food Pairings
Bagels with cream cheese;
shortbread cookies.
Cheese: Fontina.
84
Style: American Amber
ABV: 6%
IBUs: 55
Malts: Pale Wheat.
Hops: Crystal.
HOPBACK
Judge’s Notes by Pete Garofalo
The initial aroma is of caramel and toasty malt, followed by woody,
earthy hops that have a pithy character. Moderate strawberry esters
have an overripe fruitiness, with a low-level sour/sulfury quality that
is distracting. The flavor starts off with moderately toasted caramelly
malts that are quickly overtaken by an earthy, vinous bitterness that
lingers through the finish to the aftertaste. Esters are reminiscent of
bruised fruit, with an overripe aspect. The alcohol presence is closer
to the forefront than expected for the style. The impression swings
from light malt to an overriding hop flavor and bitterness that is not as
engaging as in the best examples.
Tröegs Brewing Company
Hershey, Pennsylvania | www.troegs.com
(717) 534-1297
Distribution: CT, DC, DE, MD, MA, NJ, NY, NC, OH, PA and VA.
Food Pairings
Teriyaki chicken wings; Yorkshire pudding with gravy.
Cheese: Cambozola.
Malts: Crystal, Munich, Pilsner.
Hops: Cascade, Nugget, Willamette,
Crystal.
53
The European Report
B E L G IU M T
Carl Kins
wo major brands have introduced new beers. Dubuisson has
launched Bush de Charmes, a barrel-aged beer made by placing
Bush Blonde in oak barrels previously used to store the Charmes
Meursault white burgundy wine.
Duvel is making a beer with wild yeast to be sold at its
Brewery De Koninck in Antwerp. The company is currently
enhancing De Koninck as a destination for Belgians and
international visitors, scheduling a name change to Antwerp
City Brewery this summer. The Stadsbrouwerij buildings
will include a restaurant, chocolatier,
cheesemonger and butcher. The wild yeast beer
will also be available at The Jane in Antwerp,
located in a converted church. It is run by
starred chef Sergio Herman, this year’s Beer &
Gastronomy Ambassador, a position created
by the Beer Society of the Low Countries.
Duvel continues to be creative in all
fields. It has now added “APA” to the label
of its normal De Koninck, which stands for
“Antwaarpse Pale Ale.”
CZ EC H R EPUBLIC T
Micros On The Rise
hings are going very well in the
microbrewery sector. The number
of microbreweries increased 25
percent, reaching 280 in 2014.
Overall production was up by 30 percent.
Two years ago, the Czech Association of
Micro-Breweries estimated that the market
didn't have room for much more than 250
breweries. Reality has forced a review on that
forecast, and now the organization has estimated
the limit to be 400. Other specialists, however,
believe there could be even more opportunities
for microbrewers. Since microbreweries,
new or established, are still predominantly
brewpubs, any town or neighborhood that can
support a big enough restaurant or pub could
very well have its own brewery.
Plenty of new brewers
are seeing the light. The
Viven
beers,
contract
brewed at De Proef since
1999, are now brewed at
the company’s facility in
Sijsele. A 17th brewery in
the Luxembourg province
has opened, called La Brasserie d’Oster. In September,
Brouwerij Het Nest will open
in Turnhout, claiming an investment of $2.4 million.
The rumor mill says about
another 10 breweries will
open by the end of the year.
Max Bahnson
Although the Czech
Brewers and Maltsters
Association has yet to announce the official industry figures
for 2014, the first available estimates indicate a year very
similar to the previous one – a slight growth of not much more
than one percent.
Some breweries have already announced their own figures
and they look positive. With 4.5 percent of the market, Plzeský
Prazdroj had its biggest year-over-year production growth since
the end of the 2010. For the Budjovický Budvar and Bernard
brands, 2014 was another record year.
Other regional breweries have also reported positive
figures. Among them is Pivovar Ferndinand from Benešov,
whose on-trade sales from taps in pubs – a much more
profitable segment – grew by eight percent.
It was in fact on-trade sales that contributed to Prazdroj's
successful year, according to Paolo Lanzarotti. The General
Director of the biggest brewing company in the country
attributes the growth to a campaign to bring people back to
pubs which was launched in 2013.
The European Report is endorsed by Artisanal Imports.
54
Expansion
Continues
Dubuisson, Duvel Introduce New Beers
The European Report
GE R M AN Y Jim Dykstra
Beer Fountain of Youth
C
laiming unique health benefits,
Klosterbraueri Neuzelle wants to
introduce a beer it claims will slow the
aging process. The Neuzelle brewer
say its Bathbeer contains vitamins, minerals and
spirulina, an algae, that provide these extra benefits.
The rejuvenation, it is claimed, can also be achieved
through dabbing it on the skin.
The Reinheitsgebot, however, may prove a big
hurdle since it calls for only barley, water, hops and
yeast to be used in the brewing of beer and remains
the oldest food law in the world. The question is
scheduled for adjudication, which may result in the
product being released in Germany as something
other than beer.
In addition to Germany, Bathbeer (4.8% ABV)
is scheduled for release in the United States, Poland
and South Korea.
UN ITE D K IN GDO M German brewers scored one for the
Reinheitsgebot after winning government
backing to protect their water supplies
from fracking.
The government will allow federal states to
identify “no-fracking zones” to preserve the
quality of ground water used for making
beer and bottled mineral water.
"We need clean water to produce
our beer," said Friedrich Duell,
president of the Bavarian
Brewers Association. “If our
wells aren’t protected our
business is threatened.”
"Fracking is a highF RA C K I NG
risk technology and we've
seen water tainted in other
countries often enough," said
Duell, whose 350-year-old brewery
in Krautheim in the south German
region of Franconia operates two wells.
ST O P
Carolyn Smagalski
W
elsh brewery Celt Experience expects to double in size within the year, due to international
demand for its highly “experimental and strange” craft beers. Exporting to 20 countries,
owner Tom Newman rides the leading edge in markets that include Sweden and the U.S.
where experimental and strange comes with the promise of success. Adding to a base of 15
core beers and three wood-infused big beers, Celt Experience has collaborated with beer celebrities in both
the international and local arenas, including Boxing Cat of Shanghai, Ale Syndicate and Atlas Brewing of
Chicago, BrewDog of nearby Scotland, rock band Super Furry Animals, and Simon Martin of Real Ale Today.
In January 2015, eight Scottish brewers formed the
Brewers Association of Scotland. Its membership
aspires to grow the craft beer industry beyond the
current $46 million mark by tapping local resources
and through innovation and collaboration. …Scotland’s
barley community is abuzz with a $35 million International Centre for the Science of Barley said to be on the way,
including on-site microbreweries and microdistilleries to
monitor the use of newly developed strains of barley in
beers and spirits.
Searching for Free Beer?
In Ireland’s County Cork,
the 9 White Deer Brewery of Múscrai Gaeltacht has your
back. The one-year-old brewery cornered the Irish market
with Saor, Ireland’s first locally crafted gluten-free beer.
Saor, which means “Free” in the local gaelinn language,
was developed by brewer and co-founder Gordon Lucey
without the use of sorghum or buckwheat. He developed
an innovative process of denaturing the gluten in barley
malt to yield a softly hopped, drinkable beer with certified
gluten levels below 20 parts per million.
55
The European Report
L E F T H A N D, D E P R O E F CO L LA B O RAT I O N
WAKE UP WITH WEKKEN
by Jim Dykstra
Every year Dirk Naudts invites an American
brewer to visit Lochristi – a small town in East
Flanders and the home of De Proef Brouwerij –
to brew a special collaboration beer.
De Proef might be the best place in the world
to brew an experimental beer. Its facilities have
been described as the best in Belgium, capable
of producing any style in one of its three brewhouses, which are kept sparklingly clean in
order to avoid any chance of cross-contamination. Even famed pioneer Michael Jackson was
impressed, calling De Proef “the ultimate toy for
the aspiring homebrewer.”
This year, Eric Wallace, co-founder of Left
Hand Brewing Company, got
the call. Wallace is no stranger
to Europe. As the son of an Air
Force officer, he’d experienced
a lot of the continent and its
rich brewing tradition.
Naudts had contacted
Wallace in years past, but
Wallace was preoccupied
with his brewery. Left Hand
has been increasing its
production in the past
few years, producing
75,000 barrels in 2014.
It has also found footing
as the first American
brewery to use nitrogen
in bottles.
“For the last couple
years we’ve just been
up to our eyeballs, too
busy with growth and
projects and everything
else,” Wallace said. “But
this year we finally had
enough bandwidth to do
it.” Next, they just had to figure out what to brew.
At De Proef, the options are endless. In
fact, a large chunk of its business comes from
contract brewers like Mikkel Borg Bjergsø,
who trusts Naudts and his team to produce
any style of beer to exact specifications for his
Mikkeller brand.
Naudts is uniquely qualified, and arguably
as experienced a brewer as anyone in the world.
Before leaving to open De Proef in 1996 with
his wife and fellow professor of brewing Saskia
Warniers, Naudts taught brewing science with
a specialization in yeast propagation at Kaho
St. Lieven, a university in Ghent. Currently,
De Proef averages 10 to 15 brews a day, usually
from different recipes.
Though he is a master of the craft, Naudts
remains a student, and the invitations to American brewers are a way for him to continue
learning. “We don’t know IPAs, porters, or
stouts so much in Belgium. So these are very
interesting projects for me,” he says. Conversely,
56
PHOTO COURTESY LEFT HAND BREWING COMPANY
Wallace, left, and Naudts tried
some of the vast variety of
Belgian yeasts maintained
at De Proef before settling
on a unique approach to
collaboration – blending.
American brewers get a firsthand glimpse into
a world-class European brewery, and have
confidence their collaboration will be brewed in
exacting fashion.
This year’s beer is called Wekken, an 8.9
percent ABV sour Belgian ale whose name
translates to “wake”, which is what it promises to
do to your taste buds.
“We bounced around some different ideas
for the beer, obviously since we were going over
to Belgium to brew, we wanted it to have some
Belgian flavor for sure,” Wallace said. “So we
played around with brewing one of our recipes
with a Belgian yeast strain – De Proef has
hundreds of yeast strains available, but in the
end we settled upon blending our imperial stout
recipe for Wake Up Dead with their Zoetzuur,
and seeing what comes of it.”
De Proef’s Zoetzuur, or “sweet-sour,” is a mix
of Belgian Kriek, or cherry juice, with a complex
mix of malt, hops from both ends of the globe,
and multiple yeast strains that provide the sour
character. It hails from a sterling pedigree, originally having been made for Michael Jackson’s
Microbrewed Beer of the Month Club.
Left Hand’s Wake Up Dead Imperial Stout
is a mammoth 10.2 percent ABV brew, with
Belgium
a whopping seven kinds of malt balanced
with Magnum and U.S. Goldings hops. When
blended with Zoetzuur, it is expected to take on
an entirely new dimension. But it’s hard to say
for certain, because no one will know exactly
how it will taste until it’s done.
The initial taste test was fairly straightforward. The two brewers gathered bottles of
their respective brews and played around with
various blends. Once they settled on a mix,
Wallace noted a brew “nearly black in color,”
with flavors of “roasted malts, licorice and blackstrap molasses…balanced by herbal hop notes,”
and “enlivened by tart cherry notes.”
Next, De Proef brewed what Wallace
described as an “ecto-taste batch” of Wake Up
Dead to ensure they could reproduce it accurately. Once that got the nod from Wallace,
they began the full-scale brew, to be blended
with Zoetzuur.
The fate of Wekken was left
in the hands of De Proef. Though
Zoetzuur is typically not aged
before shipping, Wake Up Dead
matures for three to four months,
and so will Wekken before being
introduced in 750 milliliter
bottles, kegs and on draft.
Wallace expects Wekken
to be out sometime between
“summertime and the third
quarter. It takes quite a while
to age.” While the suspense
may be hard to bear, we’re all
in the same boat. Even Wallace
will have to wait.
“It’s going to be a pretty
cool beer,” he said. “I’m
looking forward to trying
it myself.”
57
Belgium
Germany
United Kingdom
Czech Republic
FEATURED EUROPEAN BEERS
La Grande Blanche
Reinaert Flemish Wild Ale
Zoetzuur Flemish Ale
Lochristi, Belgium
www.proefbrowerij.com
De Proef Brouwerij
De Proef Brouwerij
Lochristi, Belgium
Lochristi, Belgium
Floral and tropical fruit aromas are
followed by soft wheat present on the
palate. The beer finishes with a hint of
hop bitterness and coriander spice.
It displays a bit more body than most
Belgian wits and has 7.5 percent ABV. But
it retains the style’s refreshing character
and should be served relatively cold.
This ale was fermented three times with
two different yeasts, including a strain
of brettanomyces, the “wild yeast”
of Belgium. Notes of brett and spicy
aromatics are in the flavor and it has a
funky, malty and juicy note on the palate.
The beer, 9.0 percent ABV, finishes with
brett and dry hop notes.
The name comes from the Flemish
word for sweet and sour. This unique
ale is made from multi-yeast strain
fermentation with a hint of Belgian Kriek,
or cherry juice added. At 7.0 percent
ABV, it is a subtle and complex blend
where sour is balanced by tart fruit, hints
of wood and a velvety finish.
Lozen Boer
Saison
Grand Cru
Lochristi, Belgium
De Proef Brouwerij
De Proef Brouwerij
Named for the West Flanders restaurant
near the brewery, whose proprietor’s
father smuggled cows from Amsterdam
to Belgium. The beer is dark and rich
with dark fruit spice aromas and flavors.
At 10 percent ABV, it has layers of
depth and complexity and was once a
selection in Michael Jackson’s Beer Club.
A serving temperature of 50˚ to 55˚ F
is recommended.
Brasserie St.-Feuillien
Brasserie St.-Feuillien
Le Roeulx, Belgium
www.st-feuillien.com
Le Roeulx, Belgium
www.st-feuillien.com
This saison from the Belgian terroir is a
traditional farmhouse ale with the rich
savor of the fertile land found in southern
Belgium. A golden blonde ale in color, due
to a secondary fermentation in the bottle
it has a flavor full of nuance and a slight
tang. The St. Feuillien is one of the few
saisons also available in cans.
Grand Cru has a full, dense, lacy white
head of foam. Very pale in color and
brilliantly bright, Grand Cru features a
delicate nose full of subtle hops and fruit
with a backdrop of malt and honey. At
9.5 percent ABV, Grand Cru is dry on the
palate, firm in body and well-attenuated
with a pleasant fruity bitterness and
toasted malt character.
The European Report is endorsed by Artisanal Imports
58

MATT ON FIRE - The Beer Connoisseur

Transcription

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