All About Beer Magazine » Culture

Triple Threats

John Holl — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 17:55:50 +0000

On the island of Nantucket in Massachusetts, Cisco Brewers, Nantucket Vineyard and Triple Eight Distillery live in harmony and serve libations that can please any kind of drinker, any kind of taste.

Stand for just a moment with your back to the large white event tent and soak in the scene. Directly in front of you is the winery and its tasting room. To your left is the distillery, where aging barrels hold copper-colored liquid and other spirits. Across the stone plaza and to your right is the brewery itself and its pale ales, sour brews and one-off concoctions that delight the palate. All of this is in just one location on the island of Nantucket in Massachusetts, in what CEO Jay Harman calls “Boozney Land.”

It’s where Nantucket Vineyard, Triple Eight Distillery and Cisco Brewers live in harmony and serve libations that can please any kind of drinker, any kind of taste. It’s a triple threat, a hat trick, and becoming more common around the United States.

The wine boom of the 1970s and 1980s led into the craft beer revolution that began in the decades after and continues today. Now artisanal distilleries are gaining momentum. Most beverage entrepreneurs have long been content with running one business, but there are a growing number of breweries—including Rogue Ales, Dogfish Head, Samuel Adams, New Holland and others—that are adding distilling to their operations. There are wineries linked to breweries, including Wagner Valley in New York, Old North State in North Carolina, Corcoran Vineyards in Virginia and Firestone Walker in California.

Only a handful of companies, however, try all three.

Pick Your Poison

“You have to be a little crazy,” says Bryan Siddle, director of operations at Missouri’s Crown Valley, when asked why he would chose to run a winery, brewery and distillery. All three play a part in a tourist destination crafted by Siddle, south of St. Louis in Ste. Genevieve. In addition to the libation-making facilities, there are lodging, a restaurant, cattle and buffalo farms, a golf course, soda-making facilities and—wait for it—a tiger sanctuary.

“The hardest part is that is different. I have three bottling lines for three different products. Then there is the marketability, the production and making sure each is made consistently,” Siddle says. “It’s not easy.”

So why do it? “Well, wine is out of style, craft beer is hotter than Hades, and craft distillers are getting hot,” he says. Siddle is trying to have something that appeals to everyone, to entice people to visit Crown Valley and then stick around for a while afterward. He hits all the demographics with what he offers, but admits there are people who come to the brewery who don’t visit the winery and vice versa.

“You get so many types of personalities that for us, with agritourism, it makes sense to have many different beverage operations,” he says. The winery was conceived in 2000 and opened two years later. Three years after that, he opened a sparkling wine facility. Noticing the trend (and because of his own fondness for beer—his grandfather was a brewer at Stag in Illinois), in 2007 he converted an old schoolhouse into a brewery. Then, for good measure, “I said, Why not just do some spirits?”

Carillon Historical Park to House First Brewery in an American Museum

Joe Baur — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 06:26:14 +0000

Carillon Brewing Co. will brew beer at Carillon Historical Park in Dayton, OH, using equipment and techniques from the 19th century.

Carillon Historical Park in Dayton, OH, is set to become the first museum in the United States that produces and sells its own beer using equipment and techniques from the mid-19th century. Costumed actors will demonstrate the historic process, producing wine, cider and cheese along with ample amounts of beer for patrons to enjoy.

The $3 million brewery will be in a new building in the museum’s Kettering Family Education Center. Carillon Brewing Co. is set to open at the end of 2013 on the 65-acre campus, joining 30 exhibit buildings and structures.

The idea was proposed at a meeting in 2006 with Brady Kress, president and CEO of Dayton History, which runs the park. “[We] laid out about 200 new initiatives that we were going to start and map out,” he recalls. “One of those was a re-creation of a 19^th century brewery.”

In its heyday, Dayton and surrounding Montgomery County boasted close to two dozen breweries, wineries and distilleries. “All of them had their own stories and personalities with the individuals who started them,” Kress says. “And we wanted to create something where we could not just reproduce some product, but most importantly demonstrate the processes using period tools and techniques to teach all of our 160,000 annual visitors those 19^th century stories.”

Emphasizing that brewing will be the facility’s main purpose, Kress adds, “The building that we’re constructing and designing [will be] copying architectural details from other mid-century commercial buildings built here in Dayton.”

Within the walls of the brewery, Carillon will brew a variety of styles. “Since we’re focused on the middle of the 19^th century, it provides a unique opportunity for us to do both ales and lagers and talk about that transition and what that meant from a cooling standpoint, and be able to talk to all of our guests about top- and bottom-fermenting yeasts.”

Vail Miller Jr. of Heidelberg Distribution Co. provided the lead gift to get the Carillon project off the ground. “My great grandfather, Albert W. Vontz, was a brewer,” Miller explains. “When he sold his Cincinnati brewery, Old Vienna, he became the Dayton distributor for Heidelberg Brewery in Covington, Kentucky.”

Miller and Kress first discussed the idea over a few cold pints. “It was during our conversation over beers when the conversation turned to Dayton’s rich brewing history and the current reality—we don’t have any Dayton local breweries in operation,” Miller says. (That changed in 2012 with the opening of the Dayton Beer Co.) Miller decided that supporting the brewery would be a perfect way to celebrate civilization’s 10,000-plus-year infatuation with beer, not to mention Heidelberg’s 75^th anniversary.

“Remaining dollars were private donations from our members and donors here at the park,” Kress says. Funds will be used to pay for everything from construction of the facility to costuming for the interpreters.

Operation of the facility will require a brewer. “We’re discussing whether it would be advantageous for us to find a current brewer or if it makes more sense to find a historic trades interpreter that can learn those processes, instead of trying to reverse engineer it,” Kress says. He and his staff are open to either option, so long as nothing is lost in the interpretation and teaching of the techniques and challenges brewers of that time faced, before the advances modern brewers enjoy today. But beyond learning the techniques, Kress wants a brewer who will help design the brewery.

“We want them to be part of the team that puts the finishing touches on the facility,” Kress says. “We’re going through the below-ground, mechanical pieces and putting the blueprints together for the structure, and we want to have somebody here for a year prior to opening, so they help lead that process in creating our 19^th century brewery.”

What Makes a Holiday Beer?

Don Russell — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 00:01:41 +0000

Looking at the shelves this season, it occurs to me that Christmas beer must’ve been invented by atheists.

Only non-believers completely lacking in dogma could embrace this anything-goes style of beer, a style that not only irreligiously rejects the confines of formal classification but whose original purpose was nothing less than the blasphemous inebriation of partakers on the otherwise solemn occasion of Christ’s birth.

Just take a look at some of the bottles who take the Christmas name in vain.

Great Lakes Christmas Ale is made with honey.

Schlafly Christmas Ale is made with juniper berries.

Blue & Gray Christmas Cranberry is made with, yup, cranberries.

Moylan’s White Christmas is made with rye and wheat.

And Bristol Brewing Christmas Ale is made with just about everything in your mother’s spice cabinet.

Anchor has proclaimed “Merry Christmas & Happy New Year” with tree branches and licorice.

And forget about Abita—it changes the recipe for its Christmas Ale every year.

Van den Bossche Father Christmas is corked. Sly Fox Christmas Ale comes in a can.

Gritty McDuff’s Christmas Ale is an ESB, Goose Island’s is a brown ale. Three Floyds Alpha Klaus Xmas is a porter. Weeping Radish Christmas Bier is a doppelbock.

Don’t look for any definitive guidance on the import aisle: France’s Brassier La Choulette makes a biere de garde for Noël; Brasserie Dubuisson’s Scaldis Noel from Belgium is a strong dark ale; Germany’s Brauerei Mahr makes a Christmas Bock; Harvey’s Christmas Ale from England is a barleywine. And forget about Denmark: Its Mikeller Red/White Christmas is a mix-and-match blend of British red ale and Belgian witbier.

The only thing they seemingly share in common is their head-banging potency that gives “Silent Night” a whole ‘nother meaning—especially when it’s labeled “Stille Nacht” and it contains no less than 12 percent alcohol.

Heretics! Infidels! Pagans!

Session Beer Revolution

Alastair Bland — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 20:23:05 +0000

In 2006, bigness was in style. It was the height of the extreme beer revolution, and though pale ales, IPAs and other classics remained the backbone of the craft brewing industry, America was burning in the high heat of extreme beer fever. Dogfish Head was just assuming national celebrity status, “imperial” renditions of almost all styles were emerging, the battle to brew the strongest beer was gaining ferocity, and high-alcohol beers aged in booze barrels were becoming the next exciting trend. Internet beer rating forums were expanding, and the favorite brews among many of the most active members were, almost inevitably, the big ones.

So when High & Mighty Beer Co.’s owner Will Shelton named his newly released ale “Beer of the Gods,” he plainly had his tongue in his cheek. For the beer, an American blonde, contained just 4.5 percent alcohol—sort of a brewing spoof on the trends of the time. But at least one person—beer devotee and explorer of styles Max Toste—took Beer of the Gods seriously. Toste was then rounding up an inventory to serve at his soon-to-be Boston beer bar, Deep Ellum, and when he opened doors in early 2007, the first beer that he put on tap was not an imperial chocolate stout, or a sour Belgian-style, or a barleywine aged in brandy barrels—but the modest little blonde named Beer of the Gods.

While some people may see "session" as a pejorative term, more brewers are starting to see it as a selling point.

“Frankly, I was sick of high-alcohol beers,” says Toste, who would soon add dozens more beers to his list. “I didn’t want to serve people something in a thimble and charge $9 for it. I wanted to serve people beer that they could drink 2 pints of and feel good about and not fall off their stool.”

The Multi-Pint Sit-In

Today, many others have joined in what seems to be a collective shift in interest away from extreme brew bigness and toward lesser, lighter styles—and Toste credits Beer of the Gods as the beer that sparked what may be a movement, and the return of the so-called “session beer.” By now, we’ve all heard the talk—the praise and appreciation for low-alcohol but flavorful beers conducive to all-day sipping and unlikely to get a person needlessly drunk. Many advocates of the category point out that session beers were once mainstays in Britain, where the active pub-going lifestyle was built long ago on light beers that allowed long, multi-pint sit-ins. In modern times, many of us drink at home—even while typing reviews into the keyboard—making “session” a challenging concept for many to embrace. The word is even a turnoff to some for its unhealthy implications of steady, daylong drinking. Shelton at High and Mighty says he never labels a beer as “session,” recognizing that many people see it a pejorative term.

But for some brewers, the word “session” is a selling point. Consider Notch Brewing, a Boston brand that has built itself on nothing but low-alcohol beers. To date, “The Notch” consists of three year-rounders and a rotation of seasonals, mostly traditional styles popular in Europe. Founder Chris Lohring, a veteran East Coast brewer who bottled and distributed his first Notch batch in March 2011, says the personal frustration of being unable to find low-alcohol American beers prompted him to brew his own.

“Almost nobody else was brewing the beers that I wanted to drink,” he says.

Lohring went commercial after conducting a few pub-special test batches and concluding that other people were also looking for downsized beers. Later, the roughly 4 percent ABV beers disappeared quickly from Boston-area outlets, like Craft Beer Cellar, home to some 600 craft beers by the bottle and can.

“We started selling (The Notch) the second it came out,” Suzanne Schalow, the shop’s co-owner, says. In the summer of 2011, the Notch pils became one of the shop’s top-five sellers, she says—and in the year since, demand for Lohring’s beers has grown steadily. He notes that in the past 18 months, five other Massachusetts breweries have introduced a session beer.

In the Shadow

Jim Clarke — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 19:50:10 +0000

Beer has deep roots in South Africa. That’s no surprise, since it was colonized in the 17th century by the Dutch and later by the English. In addition, some tribes such as the Zulu and Xhosa have a history of sorghum and maize-based brewing. The brewing industry there is younger, however, dating to the 1895 founding of Castle Brewery, which catered to the mining industry after gold and diamonds were discovered in the area around Johannesburg. A century of consolidation, aided by anti-apartheid embargoes that led foreign companies to withdraw from the market, and eventually South African Breweries (SAB) controlled 98 percent of the country’s market, selling a number of brands including Castle and Carling Black Label. Internationally, of course, SABMiller is the second-largest brewery in the world.

So there’s a lot of pale lager to be had; Macrobrewing has been no more creative in South Africa than elsewhere in the world. But the end of apartheid 18 years ago opened up the outside world to South Africans once more, and as they traveled, many brought a taste for other styles of beer back home with them.

Some of the leading craft breweries in South Africa are going head to head with South African Breweries by making golden lagers their flagship products.

American craft beer got its start exploring ale styles that the macro companies didn’t offer, but some of the leading craft brands in South Africa are going head to head with SAB by making golden lagers their flagship products.

Going Head to Head

“Our premise was to make a Pre-Prohibition style lager,” says Ross McCulloch, founding partner in Jack Black Beer—an all-malt beer with no additives or preservatives, which is in fact named for a brewer who operated in upstate New York in that period. Their original recipe, developed while McCulloch was living and working in Canada, “was a lot more bitter, but we decreased the IBUs a few points” in response to feedback from South African consumers. They ferment it a bit warmer than is usual for a lager, lending it some more fruit expression in a way akin to a California common, and use three sorts of hops: the local Southern Promise for bittering and Cluster and Saaz hops for flavor and aroma.

McCulloch feels session-style beers with moderate alcohol are an important bridge for educating South African beer drinkers and that stronger, more flavorful styles don’t yet suit South African drinking habits.

Distribution in America

Ken Weaver — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 19:06:50 +0000

If you were to ask fellow beer drinkers to describe their favorite brewery, where would they start? They’d probably mention things like stainless-steel tanks, certain flagship and seasonal offerings, pot-bellied growlers, the smell of steeped barley, intermittent beardedness, the tall rubber boots… What about their favorite retailer? Perhaps they’d start with the beer aisle or the line of bar stools, the chalkboard menu, the pub fare, the secret beer selection they keep in the back, their favorite bartenders…

But what if you asked about their favorite distributor?

A good number of people will be confused by this question. A few might reasonably presume you’ve had one too many. The slightly more adventurous ones will make an honest attempt, at least. Trucks with brewery logos. Folks wielding handcarts… A warehouse?

Of the individual components of the three-tier system that governs how beer travels the consumer in the U.S.—from producers (breweries), to distributors and wholesalers, to retailers—the middle tier is generally the least visible by a wide margin.

Of the individual components of the three-tier system that governs how beer travels to the consumer in the U.S.—from producers (breweries), to distributors and wholesalers, to retailers—the middle tier is generally the least visible by a wide margin. Distributors function as the go-between: charged with transporting beer efficiently and safely while (exceptions are plentiful and will be discussed below) operating independently of the other two tiers.

It’s also arguably the most politically charged tier, with the exact details legislated on a state-by-state basis. Those details can skew in favor of a state’s larger or smaller breweries, depending on whether things like self-distribution are allowed (permitting a brewery to serve as both producer and distributor) and whether such allowances have a size limit. Arguments can be made that the three-tier system inhibits the growth of the U.S. craft beer scene, while similarly convincing arguments can be made that it’s the reason we have one at all (especially when looking at distribution laws in other countries). The truth is, almost always, somewhere in-between, and often dependent on where one’s positioned in relation to things. To solidify the point: this is the only tier you’ll hear beer drinkers arguing about getting rid of entirely.

For avid argument seekers, it’s the perfect topic to add to one’s repertoire.

Politics aside, the three-tier system and its variations thereof ultimately serve to shape the selection of craft beer available at one’s local retailer. Breweries both large and small have to negotiate the resultant constraints and opportunities afforded by the ever-changing details of the middle tier. And craft beer’s continued success hinges on its ability to do so effectively.

Over-the-counter hangover remedies

Greg Barbera — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 18:48:26 +0000

Last Round

A natural supplement that comes in a 2.4 oz bottle, Last Round is a blend of kudzu root, stevia leaf, green tea leaf, ginko leaf and Ural licorice root. It tastes something like a Ricola cough drop and they recommend one bottle before bed and one bottle when you wake up. Worked for me.

Blowfish

Two effervescent tablets. They recommend you take this when you wake up with a hangover. Kind of like the modern version of Alka-Seltzer, you plop two tablets into a glass of water and drink it once the fizzing stops. Made up of aspirin and caffeine, Blowfish is good for headaches but not necessarily hangovers.

Bytox

Billed as a hangover prevention remedy, Bytox is different in that it is a patch. An all-natural blend of vitamins (A, B1, B2, Be, B5, B6, B9, B12, D, E, and K) with some acai berry throw in for good measure. The trick with this is that you’ve got to apply it 45 minutes before consuming alcohol and then keep it on for at least 8 hours after you’ve stopped drinking. Oh, and you need to apply it on a dry, hairless area. Which is why I never tried this because an area like that does not exist on me.

Anatomy of a Hangover

Ian Lloyd — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 18:28:41 +0000

“Never again is what you swore the time before.” These song lyrics from Depeche Mode
summarize our feelings about the curse of imbibing: the hangover. The symptoms are unmistakable: headache, body aches, nausea, fatigue and perhaps tremors. It is of little comfort to know that despite its widespread prevalence, medical science has not developed a cure for the hangover. Studies have shown that more than 75 percent of men and women have experienced a hangover at least once in their lives. Another 15 percent experience hangovers monthly. So what works and what doesn’t? My answer might not make you feel better, but at least you will understand why you feel so rotten.

Despite widespread occurrence of hangovers, there has been little research done to find a cure.

What exactly causes veisalgia (the medical term for an alcohol hangover)? Sadly, no one knows. What science does know is that hangover symptoms have a notable impact upon society. “Specifically on lost productivity the last estimate for Canada was [published] in 2006,” tells Dr. Tim Stockwill of the Centre for Addictions Research of British Columbia. Dr. Stockwell is referring to a report written by Dr. Jürgen Rehm and associates for the Canadian Centre for Substance Abuse (www.ccsa.ca). In this 2006 report, $23 million dollars and 227,000 days in were lost to reduced activity due to short-term disability from alcohol abuse in the year 2002. In the United States this figure is closer to $148 billion. The toll is especially hard on college students. One study, published in the June 2000 edition of the Annals of Internal Medicine, found that 29 percent of students reported having to miss classes to recover from a hangover. Despite the widespread occurrence of this tragic, albeit self-induced, malady there has been little research done to find a cure.

The Cause, Mostly Theoretical

There are many theories about what causes a hangover. The most plausible theory is that excessive alcohol consumption causes dehydration and electrolyte imbalances. We all know that beer can act as a diuretic (something that makes you urinate more). “Excessive alcohol consumption can interfere with pituitary secretion of vasopressin”, explains Dr. Dan Martinusen, Clinical Pharmacist specializing in kidney disease for Vancouver Island Health Authority. Vasopressin, or antidiuretic hormone, normally helps the kidneys reabsorb water. With less of this hormone around, your kidneys are unable to conserve water causing you to make more trips to the washroom. This is why there are so many port-a-potties at beer festivals.

“The resulting diuresis (increased urine production) may lead to rapid dehydration and subsequent shrinking of the dura mater surrounding the brain.” Dura mater is a connective tissue lining that surrounds the brain and spinal cord connecting it to your bones. Dr. Martinusen further explains that one possible cause of headaches is contraction of this dura mater. He continues, “this is certainly a plausible theory for headache symptoms during an alcohol hangover.” Electrolyte imbalances often follow excessive urine output. Sodium and potassium are carried away in the urine. Symptoms of mild dehydration include thirst, dry mouth, dizziness, nausea/vomiting and muscle cramping. Dehydration may be further worsened if vomiting, diarrhea or excessive sweating is present.

Tapping Community

Whit Richardson — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 22:42:51 +0000

If you ask David Flynn what prompted him to buy a membership share in Seattle’s Flying Bike Cooperative Brewery last year, he’ll give you an honest answer. “I have no idea.”

Like many fledgling breweries, Jeff Young and the group at Black Star Co-op are seeking out non-traditional ways of running a brewery—and a business.

It was a purely emotional decision, he says, driven by a love of beer, brewing and community—three things in one package that struck the right chord. “I heard they were putting Flying Bike together and just had a gut feeling that it was something I needed to be part of,” says Flynn, a tech recruiting professional.

In retrospect, Flynn can list dozens of reasons why it was a brilliant idea to get involved, but at the time a gut feeling was all he needed to invest $150 in a lifetime membership in the cooperatively owned brewery, which has, as of late May, 515 members and is growing steadily. The brewery itself doesn’t exist yet, but the cooperative is active, sponsoring events and holding homebrewing competitions for members, of which the winning recipes are brewed under partnerships with other area breweries. “Building a business that is owned and managed by the community it serves just strikes a chord with me,” he says. “Oh, and that business is a brewery? Well that is just icing on the cake.”

Flynn is not alone. Around the country, startup breweries are adopting nontraditional business models and tapping their communities for the funds and sweat equity it takes to get a brewery off the ground. Cooperative breweries. Brewer co-ops. Community-supported breweries based on the CSA (community-supported agriculture) model pioneered by local farms. Crowd-funded breweries. They’re all on the map now, and it’s the engaged communities and individuals like Flynn who are the driving force behind a new generation of breweries. The alternative business models and community support are also allowing a new cadre of entrepreneurial and creative brewers to enter the profession who otherwise may never have been able to make that leap.

The Rising Tide

While small breweries have always needed to be creative to stay viable, the increase in alternative business models and creative funding methods in the craft brewing industry are due to the success that craft brewers experienced in the past decade, says Julia Herz, craft beer program director at the Brewers Association. “The small breweries of today are now in a much different position than they were in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, because it seems like the financing is much more open and available because of the success of the overall segment of craft brewers,” she says.

Old World Revived

Ben Keene — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 22:36:28 +0000

Is it accurate to call gose, a salty, 1,000-year-old German wheat ale, mainstream? The answer from Brewmaster Brian Edmunds at Breakside Brewing in Portland, OR, is decidedly yes. “We actually do—or have done—a number of different ‘Old World’ styles at different points,” he says.

Goslar, a historic district in Lower Saxony, Germany, is not only known for its half-timbered houses, but also for gose, first brewed there a thousand years ago.

Which is understating things somewhat. In addition to brewing an impressive four varieties of gose, Breakside also has released a grätzer, a Devonshire white ale, a Dortmunder Adambier, a Franconian kellerbier and a Belgian grisette. Not bad for a business that not long ago celebrated its second anniversary.

As the number of craft breweries has steadily increased, some newcomers have sought to define themselves by expanding beer’s playbook. True, small brewhouses limit capacity, but they also allow for experimentation. Besides that, not everyone is eager to compete for a slice of the coveted—and crowded—India pale ale market. So, in an effort to distinguish their brands, or in some cases simply test to their brewing prowess, enterprising businesses such as Breakside are branching out by rolling back the clock.

German Gose

Owing its name to the Gose River in Lower Saxony, gose is thought to have originated in the 10th century, possibly earlier. Located in a region known for its mineral wealth, the breweries in the town of Goslar likely developed their uniquely local beer with the help of a salty water supply. The grain bill consisted of wheat and barley malt in roughly equal proportions, with the scale usually tipping toward wheat. Spicy coriander commonly overshadowed a mild hop profile, and fermentation was spontaneous. The style’s popularity surged in the 18th century, when brewers in nearby Leipzig took to gose, but World War II and then the Cold War nearly doomed it to the history books. In Germany, Brauhaus Goslar, Bayerischer Bahnhof and Ritterguts Gose GmbH still produce this pale, medium-bodied and slightly sour ale, but until a few years ago, it wasn’t a beer anyone was likely to stumble across in the United States.

Edmunds isn’t the only gose revivalist, and Breakside is far from the only brewery tinkering with historic recipes. In Mount Pleasant, S.C., Edward Westbrook of Westbrook Brewing made a Lichtenhainer, a grätzer and a gose this year, inspired in part by Stan Hieronymus’ Brewing with Wheat. Instead of adding lactobacillus to achieve the desired sourness in both the Lichtenhainer and the gose, however, Westbrook relied on sour wort instead.

Edmunds, on the other hand, began by tasting Bayerischer Bahnhof Leipziger Gose. Starting with a traditional interpretation of the old beer, he initially used Weyermann malts, green coriander from a local farm and fleur de sel to produce a bright, aromatic final product. But he didn’t stop there.

“We’ve riffed on the gose style in more progressive ways by making a version with salt plums and another with lemongrass, tomatillo and smoked salt. Also, I prefer using a Belgian yeast strain,” he explains. “I find the softer ester/phenol profile to work really well with the salt and coriander.”