Damn Statistics

In the craft beer world, hype can push brews and breweries to mythical status. Most of the top ones can back it up. When it comes to Three Floyds Brewing Company, I can throw out tons of stats about how popular their beer is.  Ratebeer.com's recent ratings put them at the top of heap for Best Brewers for 2009 and 2010. Various incarnations of their (brewery only-don't call us) Dark Lord Imperial Stout always anchor the Top 10 of sought-after beer lists.  In the just released Beer Advocate Best of 2010 issue, their Imperial IPA, Dreadnaught, was in the #12 spot of Most Wanted Beers and All-Time Top Beers on Planet Earth lists.

Their massively dry Black Sun Stout has been riding the top of the Beer Advocate and RateBeer Dry Stout list until it recently slipped to #3 on both. This is easily the driest Stout I've had, with underlying hints of licorice, chocolate and coffee. But they're barely there.  It's all about the hoppy dryness.

Alpha Klaus, their Christmas Porter, is currently the #7 American Porter on Beer Advocate and the #7 Imperial/Strong Porter on RateBeer.

Their 12%ABV sipper Behemoth, an immense and complex Barleywine, sits at #7 on RateBeer and Beer Advocate's Barleywine lists.

So....yeah...that all made me thirsty...um...what was my point here...?...that was it I guess...


Oh yeah...OK...we got a case of each of these, plus one of Gorch Fock, their German-style Helles Lager.

Have @ it. They won't last long. (Thanks, Lincoln, you rock)

Happy Anniversary to BGH!

Yeah...I can't believe it either.  I've been pumpin' out this garbage for a whole year? My wife has finally stopped accusing me of turning every trip out of the house into a blog-able event, but that's probably cause she seems to have given up on this whole beer geek thing just being a phase. And that's true, cause I've had too many awesome brews and met too many cool people to go back now. I'm sure you know what 'back' means (if not it's initals are BMC).  I think it actually started with a Pete's Wicked Ale about 15 or so years ago, with some Samuel Adams Boston Lager and Sierra Nevada Pale Ale to really get it rolling.  Maybe some Leines Red thrown in, back when that was the closest thing we got to craft beer.

Amazing where we have gotten to since then, with what's left of the free enterprise system allowing craft breweries to meet the demand of what the customer wants with a slow growth of microbreweries nationwide.  I knew the transformation was complete when my hometown of Tampa, formerly a law-inhibited, beer wasteland, fostered the growth of one of the better small craft breweries in the country, Cigar City. Now, head brewers for sought after breweries are rock stars and the beer geek nation chases after every small batch release with the vigor of a dog humping your leg. Craft beer fans now know much more about the ins-and-outs of the convoluted 3 tier distribution system simply by having to deal with the difficulties of getting the beers they want to try.  Every trip to another state includes a stop at a liquor store to find stuff they can't get at home.  Every trip to another city includes a stop at their best brewpub (it's not just me, is it?). All this interest then seems to lead to more knowledge of the mind-boggling array of different styles, which leaves some saying, "Hey, I want to try to make some myself". And there you have a boom of homebrewing and home brew clubs.  Interest in good beer seems to be increasing by the day, which makes those sought after brews that much harder to get, with our logical step being a blog to keep our customers in the know and our phone from ringing off the hook.  That was a year ago on Febuary 11th.  Wow...a friggin year. (I think the tradition for a 1st anniversary gift is paper...aren't beer labels made of paper...?...aw, you shouldn't have...)

But I'm not gonna go back and talk about all the crap that happened in the last year or complain about snarkism on BA or come up with some list of the most important craft beer events "as I see it" from the last year. I'm gonna look forward, cause there's some cool beers coming out and some cool stuff we've been working on for the store.

-It's gonna be a big month for New Glarus, with their next seasonal, Road Slush Oatmeal Stout, reaching the store next Thursday, the 11th, and the next Unplugged, Cherry Stout, getting here the following Thursday, the 18th.  Their new year-round Moon Man Pale Ale should be here around the end of the month.

-I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of Bell's Batch 9000, an Imperial Stout.  Bell's makes many spectacular Stouts and I have high expectations for this one.

-Surly doesn't package distribute outside of Minnesota, but I can't wait for 16 Grit (Abrasive Ale) in cans and the Four release.

-We're being told that Dogfish Head's new brewery expansion will result in all of their beers being available to us at some point in the future.

-On the Founders front, we've haven't gotten any feedback on Nemesis availability, but we have been guaranteed a case of KBS (March 13th release).  That won't last long.

-Oskar Blues will be releasing a new seasonal, Gubna, a single hop (Summit) Imperial IPA, around March 1st.  It will available through November to offset Ten Fidy.

-David Anderson from Dave's BrewFarm will finally be practicing his love on the world (thanks President Bush) with his first 6-pack release, Matacabras, coming next week.  All the green/wind/sustainability stuff aside, Dave's a great guy who makes great beer. He's gonna be huge!

-Ale Asylum and Great Lakes are hoping to extend their distribution to us early this year.  I'm looking forward having some Hopalicious, Triple Nova and Edmund Fitzgerald in my fridge.

-I've been hounding Lincoln Anderson from Three Floyds, who seems to have graciously knocked some heads together, resulting in at least some level of availability on their tasty seasonal bombers...soon hopefully. Dreadnaught baby!

-Furthermore will have a new brew coming out this year, and we're hoping to get a case of Thermo Refur, Aran's ode to his favorite vegetable, the beet.

-We're working feverishly on the 2nd Annual Casanova Beer Cave Festival, which will be held in the caves on Saturday, May 1st.  We already have some very cool commitments, including something special from The Bruery.

And all of that is just in the next couple months.  I see no reason that this barley pop roller coaster won't keep rolling forward with innovative brewers creating new brews for us to enjoy.  And isn't that what it's really all about?

Extra! Extra!

Wilson, Wisconsin Brewer See's Light at the End of the Tunnel!

No, Dave Anderson isn't dead.  But after much waiting, he's finally got some 6-pack bottles of Matacabras ready for the world. If you haven't had Matacabras, it's an awesome Belgian Dark Ale that weighs in at 8%ABV (maybe more).  I'm sure this will become DBF's flagship brew and a local favorite.  We hope to have it in store the week of Monday, February 8th, and are tentatively (that means it might not happen) planning an in-store tasting with none other than Mr.Anderson himself on that Friday, the 12th, from 5-7PM.  We will also be tapping our keg of Matacabras in the restaurant for the "1stEva" off-site draft pouring to commemorate the release.

In other DBF news, Dave and Pam "knocked their socks off" at last weekend's Isthmus Beer Festival in Madison. There's a blog recap here. Dave also said that the next DBF brew in sixers will probably be Cow Pie Stout, with my personal favorite Aubexxx coming out in bombers later.

Chocolate-covered Cherry

Into beer cocktails? I'm not sure if this qualifies, but while we still have it on tap, the restaurant is now pouring a Young's Double Chocolate Stout/New Glarus Belgian Red mix for a limited time. The sweet cherry of Belgian Red and the heavy chocolate of Young's DC combine to make a great dessert beer. Stop in for a pint...or four (not that we condone over-imbibing or encourage our bartenders to overserve anyone...I'm just saying...it's tasty and you may want more than one...or two...). So...yeah...anyway...thank you for your time.

Huzzah!

Congratulations are in order for 2 guys I am lucky enough to call friends. 

Jon, the GM at Stub & Herbs, has used a truly kick-ass tap list to put his place at #11 on the new Beer Advocate Best Beer Bars list in the newest issue of the magazine.  I was there a couple weeks ago and had 21st Amendment Monks Blood and Avery The Beast.  Crazy.

Ed at Heritage has used his infectous passion for everything beer to put his store at #26 on Rate Beer's Best Beer Retailers List. As I've said before, Ed could sell underwear to a pornstar and putting on cool events like Beer Geek Christmas seems to be paying off.  (Can I have my Life & Limb now?)

Both these guys are doing the dirty work and we're benefiting.  Congrats fellas.

Good News/Bad News

"For a quart of Ale is a dish for a king" -W.Shakespeare

Ever heard of a beer ranger?  Me neither.  Sounds like a cool job title, if not a cool job. I guess any job that has the word beer in it would be an acceptable (if not totally gnarly dude!) vocation.  New Belgium employs beer rangers, who travel the country making sure stores have what they need and bars clean their tap lines every 2 weeks, in a "selfless dedication to keep taps flowing and shelves stocked". They are a New Belgium "ambassador of good beer, good cheer and champion of quality assurance".  Sounds quite noble, almost Knights of the Round Table-like. The Fort Collins, Colorado brewery has chosen to dedicate their first ever leap into the deep pool of hoppiness that is India Pale Ale's after these hard-working defenders of all things New Belgium. I'll let them give the specifics:

While IPA is not technically a Belgian style, it was recently agreed upon that a hoppy offering from New Belgium was in order. Simcoe, Chinook and Cascade hops lead off the beer, with Cascade added again for dry-hopping. We're talking three pounds of hops per barrel resulting in a bright, citrus blast of hops riding a substantial, malty base. Pale and dark caramel malts bring out the hop aroma and flavor from start to finish. Ranger IPA offers 70 IBUs and is 6.5% ABV.

The bad news is that New Belgium won't be releasing the year-round Ranger IPA until February 1st. The good news is that we just received their new Folly sampler packs which, in addition to having 3 of their next (also as yet unreleased for this year) seasonal, Mighty Arrow Pale Ale, contains 3 Ranger IPA's. Along with Trippel, Abbey and Mothership Wit, Ranger will now make up their Explore series, which is given different, simpler labeling.  A good way, methinks, for NB to get their house in order.

Could It Be?

In news that has nothing to do with the store, but everything to do with my own personal happiness (despite what will be the unfortunate draining of my bank account) Deschutes Brewery out of Bend, Oregon just announced on their Twitter page that they hope to expand distribution into Minnesota sometime in 2010.  If pressed on the issue, I would say that my 2 favorite breweries are Three Floyds and Deschutes, with Deschutes Abyss being my hands-down favorite beer.  Their Black Butte XXI Imperial Porter would be a close third behind FFF Dark Lord.  Yeah...it's that good.  I just drank a bomber my brother sent me of their Flanders-style Brown Ale Dissident over the weekend.  Their brewers are so concerned about the bacteria from this brew that when they bottle this tasty sour they bring in a totally separate bottling line. Their Barleywine Mirror Mirror and Imperial IPA Hop Henge are also very good, not to mention a very solid 6-pack line. With Three Floyds, New Glarus and Stone available on this side and Deschutes and Surly across the river, local beer geeks will be in a very enviable position (and with lots of good trade bait). You may now rejoice in the streets.

Chris Staples is still awesome

Since I haven't heard from them lately, I had a few questions for Furthermore Beer's minister of propaganda Chris Staples.  They expanded their distribution into Philadelphia last year, which sounds like a strange jump until you find  out that head brewer Aran Madden is from Pittsburgh.  Chris said,"Pennsylvania is going well. Philly has beer and is drinking it. Pittsburgh gets their first order in two weeks. We picked it because Philly asked for us and is a killer beer city and because Aran is from Pitty."

After begging (so far unsuccessfully) for a case of this years Thermo Refur, which is unleashed upon Madison and Milwaukee March 1st, Chris did divulge that Furthermore will have a new brew coming out this year.  He would not say what it will be, but judging from their current stable of beers, something involving Colt 45 yeast and South American rabbit snot can't be too far off base.  Anyway, we'll be looking forward to it...and having another Makeweight.

Puttin' the Imperial in Saison

Ah......the beauty of modern communication.  While trading emails with Jeff Schaefer from New Glarus Brewing, it came up that they still had some Unplugged Imperial Saison at the brewery if we were interested.  Well, of course we were....and now it's here.  If you haven't had it, it's a  8.7% ABV Saison made with ginger and grains of paradise.  It has a much thicker mouthfeel than a typical Saison, with a rare Belgian yeast that gives it an amazing apricot flavor.  This beer is very sharp with a tart finish, but it has a nice sweetness mixed in that makes it very drinkable. Every once in a while you have a beer that is unlike anything you've ever had.  This is one of those times.  That would also apply to their Unplugged Olde English Porter, which we also managed to score more of.  In an attempt to mimmick the way authentic English Porters used to be made, half of the batch was sour fermented, giving it a flavor that ends up tasting like a chocolate Lambic, sour but not acidic.  Both of these brews really impressed me, so at the very least, come in and get a single.

Calling All Hopheads!

Please help us drink this keg of Bear Republic Hop Rod Rye at The Nova.  This is a hopheads Imperial IPA, brewed with 18% rye malt, that brings plenty of bite to cover the 8%ABV.  And there's a bit of caramel under there to keep it reasonable.

Get the Fever!

"Excuse us for the delay, we will now begin with the New Glarus seasonal lineup for 2010."

What's this...!...a Bock without a goat on the label?

The first 2 months of this year will bring 2 seasonals, a new Pale Ale that will be made the rest of the year, plus an Unplugged, so I'm sure I'll be busy trying to keep up with availablity. First up we have Cabin Fever, a helles or pale bock made with clover honey from Pure Sweet Honey of Verona, Wisconsin.  They also used pale and caramel two-row malts from Wisconsin and European hops. It has a rich, golden color, but still holds a smooth 6%ABV. Despite saying "Honey Bock" on the neck label, this beer isn't especially sweet.  It has a light, effervescent mouthfeel, the light hopping balancing out the sweetness on the finish.  The use of honey seems to contribute to that lightness, but it still has a nice malt backbone that gives it a bit more complexity.

Lost Bread

We call it French Toast, but the French call it lost bread.  It's their way of salvaging old bread.  While I don't know that too many of us use stale bread to make it anymore, it's a staple at our house.  (Anything you can get a 6 year old to eat becomes a staple...until they decide they're sick of it).  I use raisin bread from Cub, but any version of that will do. It's really the creme anglaise that makes it.

Creme Anglaise

1/3 cup milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 egg yolks
1 1/2 tablespoon sugar

Combine the milk, cream and vanilla in a small saucepan and heat through.  Whisk the yolks and sugar together in a medium bowl.  Gradually whisk 1/2 cup of the hot milk mixture in to the yolks to temper, then return mixture to saucepan, whisking constantly.  Stir over low heat until the mixture thickens and a spoon leaves a trail through it, about 5 minutes. Do not let it boil or the eggs will cook.  Chill.

French Toast

2/3 cup dark Belgian abbey ale such as New Belgium Abbey, North Coast Brother Thelonious or Westmalle Dubbel
2/3 cup milk
4 egg yolks
4 tablespoons sugar
pinch of cinnamon
6-8 slices of raisin bread
Butter
Brown sugar

Beat the beer, milk, egg yolks, sugar and cinnamon in a large bowl until smooth.  Heat a large skillet or griddle to moderate heat and brush with butter. Briefly soak the bread in the batter.  Put pieces in the pan, sprinking each side with brown sugar before flipping.  Flip a couple times to get a nice carmelization, but be careful not to burn. 

Serve topped with creme anglaise.

Go back to bed.

Get 'Em While They're...Fresh

Well...it may have 10%ABV, but Bell's Hopslam ($17.99, 6-pack) isn't hot (that's a brewers term for a beer that has too much alcohol presence).  The orange and grapefruit bouquet from the hops in this DIPA are awesome, with thick citrus body and a pine bite on the finish that gets subdued by honey sweetness. It's a joy for Imperial IPA lovers and is highly anticipated every year, with many threads on RateBeer and Beer Advocate updating which stores have it in around the country. It's dangerously drinkable for a 10%ABV brew and getting it fresh is a treat. It's only out for the first couple months of the year (if that) so.........have @ it.

First up....

I just got confirmation that the first New Glarus Unplugged in the Days of Yore Tour 2010 will be....

Cherry Stout.

This medium bodied stout, previously done in 2006, was aged on oak.  It brought a combination of tart cherries and caramel sweetness, with an underlying chocolate flavor.  While it was more cherry ale than stout, it definitely had a richness that should make all the Belgian Red fans happy.  We should have it in store by mid-February. 

In other Unplugged news, we hope to have more Olde English Porter coming, as well as, strangely enough, more Imperial Saison, their tasty Belgian made with grains of paradise.

Time to Makeweight

Another January, another run of Furthermore Makeweight ($11.99, 6-pack).  Almost makes it worth dealing with subzero temps on a daily basis. If you haven't had Makeweight, it's a crazy combination of English, American and Belgian style ales that comes out tasting very balanced, with the Belgian candy sugar up front, bringing an 8.5%ABV with it.  The sweetness is offset nicely by mild dose of Kent Goldings hops. This beer gives the odd sensation of having alot going on, yet it's also focused, with a combination of  a peppery spice and caramel sweetness. Brewer Aran Madden does a great job of unequally blending these styles to make it work, but I would expect no less from him.  The lineup of Furthermore beers proves he's quite adept at coming up with beers that challenge us, and this is one of their best.

Baby New Year !

Congrats to Tyrrell and Jenni on a baby boy born early Friday morning.  Stella has a brother from another mother. (That's an actual pic above)

Bobby's in the house

Following on the heels of last week's visit from Santa, the baby new year, who we affectionately call Kyle from GB, just rolled through the door with some Three Floyds Robert The Bruce ($11.99, 6-pack).  You haven't had a Scotch Ale until you've had RTB, which in my worthless opinion is head & shoulders above the rest as the best I've had. Ring in the New Year with Bobby.

Thanks Santa

Seeing as how, among other things, Saint Nick is the patron saint of brewing (look it up), it's no surprise that he left a treat under our beer geek Christmas tree.  No, it's not his homebrew, it's Dogfish Head Worldwide Stout ($8.99, 12oz).  They are currently listing this monster at 18% ABV and 70 IBU's. Sightings of this brew are as rare of those of Santa himself, so have @ it.

Oh, Christmas (Beer) Tree...

"Sometimes when I reflect back on all the beer I drink I feel shame. Then I look into the glass and think about the workers in the breweries and all of their hopes and dreams. If I didn't drink this beer, they might be out of work and their dreams would be shattered. Then I say to myself, "It is better that I drink this beer and let their dreams come true than be selfish and worry about my liver."

Merry Christmas everyone.

Beer Wars

Got home last night and sat down on the couch with a bomber of Deschutes Black Butte XXI and a copy of Beer Wars.  Both were pretty damn good, especially with my new Miller Lite Taste Activator Glass....what...?...it works...I think...

If you've been living under a macro-beer rock for the last six months, Beer Wars is a warts-n-all documentary made by the former president of Mike's Hard Lemonade about the beer business.  More specifically, craft beer versus the big beer companies.  Miller and Coors generally get off pretty easy here, as director Anat Baron sets her sights on industry bully Anheuser-Busch/InBev, their borderline monopoly and heavy-handed influence on the beer market.  She does a nice job of going deep into the macro breweries attempts at brain-washing through advertising and media saturation.  The one thing she doesn't say is it's our own fault.  America has a high percentage of sheep who believe everything they see on television, especially, but not restricted to, ridiculous beer marketing. They even believe reality television is real. There's a classic scene where devout Coors/Miller/Bud drinkers can't tell the difference between the 3 beers, showing that they obviously don't give much thought to what's in their hand.  She also gets into the daily battle for shelf space in stores, something we deal with all the time (and can't get free tickets for.....damn it).

While the movie is interesting and gets into some good stories, especially Sam Calagione's brewery expansion (and being sued by AB for using the word chicory in a beer name), the best highlights are probably just Greg Koch from Stone cutting up. For us beer geeks, the most interesting parts of this DVD are the deleted scenes and the post-movie panel discussion hosted by Ben Stein.  It looks like she agrees, as she's thinking of editing together some of the unused footage and has a page on the site where you can vote for who you'd like to see more of.  I wonder if she's got anymore Todd Alstrom beatdown footage? Awkward! Us beer geeks are mellow most of the time, except when non-craft brands try to pass themselves off as craft beer, it seems.

The thing that hits home most here is that we all wield power with our spending choices in the marketplace. Not just with what we drink, but with every company we choose to support by buying their products. When we blindly buy what they're selling, we're condoning the way they do business and enabling them. Unfortunately, most of us don't seem to care enough to be qualified to make those choices.

The only place you can buy the DVD is the Beer Wars site, for $19.99.  I'd say it's worth it, but the store bought a copy, so I'm not really qualified to......