The Beer Tap

Pumpkin in my beer?

If you have been beer shopping over the last few weeks, you have probably noticed at least one pumpkin beer on the shelves.  This seasonal offering seems to be gaining in popularity.  Even Anheuser-Busch is getting in on the game!

Pumpkin as a brewing ingredient is hardly a new phenomenon.  Back in colonial times, brewers often used pumpkins as a source of fermentable sugars.  Barley was still grown back in Europe and was either scarce or expensive.  Deprive a man of beer and its amazing what he is willing to try to get a good buzz.  These old recipes often called for dried pumpkins.  I have no idea what that would taste like, but I cannot imagine that it would be great.  Pumpkin by itself can often be pretty bland until you add that magic pie spice.   

Today, pumpkins are roasted and added to the mash to provide both flavor and some sugars, but only as an addition and not as the primary source of fermentables.  Modern beers also add flavor from the inclusion of brown sugar or any number of the spices that make up pumpmik spice: cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, mace, and clove.  For the pumpkin flavors to shine through, the addition of these ingredients needs to be subtle.  From what I have tasted, the beers offered today offer a wide range of flavors.  Anywhere from really sweet and spicy to subtle.  Grab a few today for the Halloween weekend and see which one you prefer!

Here are just a few brewers offering a pumpkin beer:

• Shipyard - Pumpkinhead Ale
• Dogfish Head - Punkin Ale
• Anheuser-Busch - Jack's Pumpkin Spice
• Lakefront Brewery - Pumpkin Lager
• Buffalo Bills Brewery - Pumpkin Ale

City Beer Store - San Fran

When I was in San Francisco this past summer, I stopped by a relatively new beer store.  The surrounding neighborhood had me a little worried about the quality of the store, but I quickly realized that this was a great find.  They have a great selection of craft beers including the majority of beers brewed in the Bay area.  The cool thing is that they offer all of the beer as single bottles which gives you the freedom to "mix-a-six" and try a greater number of beers.  Another cool feature is the ability to drink the beer that you buy there at the store with the owner, Craig Wathen.  He'll even provide insights into the beer's flavors much like you would get at a wine tasting.  Craig is also well qualified to provide the info since he used to work in the industry for a craft brewer.  There is a cost associated with drinking the beer in the store, but I think its well worth it.  A beer will still cost you less than at a bar!  The store also had four beers on tap while I was there to sample and drink as you shop or even while you sit in their comfy chairs.   

If you live in SF and you like to try new beers, you have to stop in!  Just visiting the city?  Consider this the place to stock up on beers to take home with you.

City Beer Store is located in the South of Market area of San Francisco at 1168 Folsom St.  To get information on their selection or store hours, call them at 415-503-1033.

Dogfish Head: Anything Goes

Two weeks ago at the GABF, I got to spend a good bit of time at the Dogfish Head Brewery table.  Since I was living on the west coast for two years, my access to their full portfolio of beers was limited but I knew they made some very unique brews and were bringing some of their pub only exclusives.  Actually...unique doesn't even come close to describing the beers they make.  Dogfish may be the most innovative brewer in all of the US.  All style guidelines and "rules" get thrown out the window when they create a new beer.  Here are a few of the beers I tried that weekend: 

90 Minute IPA (9% ABV, 90 IBU) Served through "Randal the Enamel Animal" (pictured on the right).  This device is a filter housing packed with a half a pound of whole leafhops and is added to a beer line leaving a keg.  90 Minute is an Imperial IPA, which means its much stronger than your standard IPA in terms of alcohol, hops, and malt.  A beer like this has to have a great malt backbone to stand up to the extreme hopping rate or else the beer would be poorly balanced.  The alcohol in this beer dissolves out the oils from the whole hops in the cylinder adding to the bitterness and hop aroma.  The 90 Minute IPA is a great beer on its own, but the addition of hops right before the glass added a new element of freshness.  Their website says it all...This device "induces the most pungent and glorious fresh hop experience known to man."

Red & White (12% ABV) This is what you get when you take a Belgian Wit (with a lot more alcohol than you would normally see in the style) and put it into French Oak pinot noir barrels for 2 months.

Black & Blue (12% ABV)  According their website, this is a golden Belgian Ale made with over 300 lbs of fresh blackberries and blueberries.  A good combination of flavors: fruit, tart, and Belgian yeast flavors.  The berry flavor was wonderful and one of the best I think I have had.  You can tell that they jammed this beer full of fruit during fermentation!

Festina Lente (7% ABV)  This beer won a bronze medal at the GABF and was another "off-centered" creation.  Much like a normal lambic beer, it is created in a tag team effort using yeast and bacteria which gives the beer a sour flavor.  Festina is then aged on oak chips and 400 pounds of Delaware peaches.  This one really made me pucker!  A bit sour for my tastes, but worth trying if you get a chance.

Liquor de Malt (?% ABV) As you may have guessed, this is malt liquor and like many American beers uses corn as a major ingredient.  However, Dogfish takes a more craft approach and uses red, white, and blue corn.  The corn flavor is apparent immediately but not so overpowering as to make you think you are eating corn from a can.  Packaged in a 40 oz bottle with a logo bearing ghetto cooler. 

Not all of these beers are for everyone, but you can always count on big, bold flavors when drinking a Dogfish Head beer.  If their beer isn't available in your area, be sure to keep an eye out for it when you travel.  I promise its worth the extra effort! 

Sam Calagione, the Dogfish Head founder, pouring Festina at the GABF.

On the street bar review

I got a call from my friend OC on Friday about a bar he was drinking at in Atlanta.  I've been wanting to add posts about good places to drink beer so I asked him to send me some info.  Here is what he had to say... 

"Attached is the website for the Brick Store.  A pub in the Decatur area of Atlanta.  Check out the Belgian beer list. Its unbelievable! The rest of their beer list is pretty amazing as well.  This place was like the Gingerman on steroids.  The atmosphere was awesome, and we even had a pretty good dinner.  Great brunswick stew and shepards pie.

I had the Kasteelbier Brune, Rochefort 8, Westmalle Dubbel, De Koninck, Blaugies La Maneuse (very awesome saison), Maredsous 8, and a Liefman's Frambozen for dessert (this was a great raspberry wheat, very rich).

I don't think there is a valid excuse not to stop into this place if you are in the area…"

OC went on a mission at the GABF to find all the Belgian style beers he could that were made in America so if he says its good, I trust him!  The Gingerman is a bar in Houston that also has a lot of beers.  Typically around 50 or so plus seasonals.  If you happen to be in the Atlanta area, be sure to check this place out.  I know I will!  Just checkout this list of beers they have: Belgian List.

Do you know of a place that has a great selection of beers?  Send me a review and I'll add it to the blog.  In the future, I hope to develop a list or database that includes beer freindly bars and stores across the US.  A few other sites do this, but they tend not to be current and often lack any details.  Maybe we can fill the void.

Born on Date: 1993

Last weekend at the GABF, I stopped by the Alaskan Brewing Co. booth because I am a big fan of their Smoked Porter and well…it was right at the entrance.  The beer is very subtle for a smoked beer and well liked by many beer drinkers across the US.  The company smokes some of the malt before brewing using alder wood which is also used to smoke salmon.  For those who have never tried a smoke beer, it probably sounds strange but, if done right it can be a great treat!

Once at their booth, I discovered that they were offering vintage beers as far back as 1993.  Yes…the beer I drank was 13 years old!  I also tried a 1996 and the 2006 again for comparison.  In case you did not know, not all beers go bad a couple of months after their “born on date”.  Many beers do need to be consumed sooner rather than later, but there are some types of beers that, like wine, can age for long periods of time and continue to drink well.

So what allows a beer to age for a long time and still be good?  First, a beer needs to be  handled well to ever have a chance at being good 1, 2, or 3 years down the road.  Alaskan Brewing Co. has kept all of their beer in a dark cooler in their warehouse for the entire 13 years.  Heat and sunlight are enemies to any beer and can cause off flavors.  Second, their beer contains ingredients that have been smoked.  Think about smoked meat and how much longer it lasts.  There is a preservative nature to smoking food.  Finally, their beer contains some yeast which helps to absorb any oxygen added to the bottle during packaging.  The yeast uses the oxygen in their normal reproduction cycle as they continue to live in the bottle.

Smoked beers are not the only ones that can age well. There are a few other styles that also age well.  Barley Wine and Imperial Stout both tend to age well over time.  Each of these beers contains a high level of alcohol, sometimes higher than 10% ABV.  Many enthusiasts will buy extra beer of these styles each year to stash in their fridge to try a year or two on down the road against current batches.

So what happens over time as the beers age?  Flavors mellow.  Hop aroma (if present) fades.  Smoke characteristics tend to be less assertive.  The change in flavor parallels the development of a good Cab that may be a little too tanic when released.  You buy the bottle, cellar it, and open it later.

Overall, I found the 1993 and the 1996 Smoked Porter to be very smooth and the smoke flavors to be very well balanced against the normal roasted grain flavors common to porters.  A wonderful surprise and I hope they continue the tradition next year!

GABF Photos

Here is a link to Flickr to check out my photos from the GABF.  More posts on what I saw and learned in the next few days.  I have a ton of stuff to post so keep checking back or sign up for RSS or email.  My move is finally done and I should have time all weekend.

www.flickr.com gt_ramblin's GABF 2006 photoset

Day Two at GABF

Saturday was another great day in Denver at the GABF.  The fetivities kicked off at 12:30 and people were lined up for blocks just to get in!  I began the day by taking some friends from Houston to some of my favorite west coast breweries.  This area also had the stage where medal winners were announced throughout the afternoon.  As winning beers were announced lines quickly formed as people rushed to try those beers.  Some of the highlights of the afternoon...a wood-aged version of Sierra Nevada Bigfoot, a passion fruit beer from Kona, drinking Utopias with Jim Koch (Sam Adams founder), eating at the Wynkoop Brew Pub in LoDo, and drinking one of the local beer bars dry ("Sorry but we are out of that also." was a common phrase!)

Here is a link to the winners.

More to come this week as the movers deliver my computer and I can dowload pictures and video from the festival.