Archive for August, 2009

Style Profile: Barleywine

Thursday, August 27th, 2009
Bass No. 1 ale, the first commercial barley wine. Image via: <a title=

Bass No. 1 ale, the first commercial barley wine. Image via: Joyce Images

Don’t let it’s name fool you, Barleywine is still very much beer, albeit one which rivals wines in strength (7-12% Alc/volume) and complexity. This beer was originally brewed by English aristocrats of the 18th century who wanted a strong alcoholic beverage of their own to compete with the wine made by the French with which they were constantly at war. These early barley wines were mostly brewed and consumed by the aristocrats in their private breweries, but in 1900 Bass debuted the first commercial barley wine, Bass No. 1 Ale. Although most wine doesn’t actually taste like wine, it has a flavor and beauty all its own that will quickly make you forget about wine (or anything else for that matter.)

In a lot of ways barleywine is more of a loose guideline that a strict style, there is quite a bit of variety when it comes to what brewers will call a barleywine. Generally speaking though, barleywines start with a solid base of pale barley malt, to which frequently sugar or honey is added. American barleywines tend to match the strongly sweet and malty flavors with an equally strong hop presence, sometimes even dry hopping the beer to give it some added hop aromas. British barleywines on the other hand tend to be more balanced and rounded, with strong dried fruit elements to the taste. However it’s brewed, the hallmark of any good barleywine is a malty, complex body paired strong alcohol notes, while generally avoiding the especially dark and smoky flavors of something like a porter.

Although the style lost much of it’s popularity by the 1960’s, the American craft beer movement has resurrected the style and it has become a favorite among daring homebrewers and craft brewers alike. Due to concerns this style’s name might confuse some consumers, it’s required that all barleywine in America be labeled as “barleywine-style ale.” I’d surprised  if anyone has ever picked up a bottle thinking it was wine, but who knows?

What’s your favorite barleywine? Next time you try one let us know what you think about it by tweeting your beer and adding the ‘#mybeer’ hashtag.

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Style Profile: Porter

Tuesday, August 25th, 2009

porters

Porter is a style that traces it roots to beer cocktails of the 18th century. Although the only modern beer cocktail that most people know is the Black & Tan, in centuries past it was fairly common to mix several beers in one pint glass. A bartender in 1720s London might be expected to blend frequently as many as six different ales into a customer’s pint. As we mentioned in our article on cask ale, (which is how all beer would have been served at the time) beer on cask should really be consumed within a few days after it’s been tapped as it begins to grow stale and loose its flavor rather quickly. of course not all pub owners followed these rules, and there was plenty of stale beers being served in London pubs.

Black & Tan

Black & Tan

Additionally, many of the working class poor could only afford the weakest and cheapest of ales. As a result, many in the lower classes took up the habit of mixing half a glass of fresh, quality ale with half a glass of the cheap, stale stuff. A particularly popular beer cocktail at the time was known as “Three Threads,” which usually combined pale ale, new brown ale and stale brown ale. In order to save the bartenders some time and energy a brewer by the name of Ralph Harwood developed a heavier beer which was designed to mimic the taste of the “Three Threads” brew, much in the same way you sometimes see pre-bottled Black & Tans today. Harwood’s Entire, as it was known soon became quite popular after its release in 1722, particularly among the cities hardworking porters. It was only a matter of time before this style of beer, which was heavier and smokier than most beers at the time took on the name porter, which it’s still referred to today.

Porters later gave rise to stouts, a darker and more robust version of the style, which were originally known as ’stout porters.’ Although the two styles remain closely related and similar in flavor, there are a few key differences that warrant the separation of styles, that’s a topic for another style profile though. Porters are typically made with pale malt base with the addition of black malt, crystal, chocolate or smoked brown malt, but as with many styles, there is a tremendous amount of leeway  in what many brewers will call a porter. Hops tend to be low in the mix, although American porters may have a moderate hop presence.

What’s your favorite porter? Next time you try one let us know what you think about it by tweeting your beer and adding the ‘#mybeer’ hashtag.

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The Process of Dry Hopping

Thursday, August 20th, 2009

Randall the Enamel Animal

Randall the Enamel Animal

Previously we’ve explained what hops are and covered how they are used in the brewing process, but that’s not all hops have to offer. Despite what some companies would have you think, hops are generally added to a beer three times during a boil, once for bitterness, once for flavor and once for aroma. Sometimes though even more hops are added  through additional processes; plenty of brewers have developed new and interesting ways to add that extra hop touch. Although some breweries have devised unique methods all their own, such as Dogfish Head’s Randall the Enamel Animal, there are some more tried and tested methods which many breweries employ. Today we’re going to take a look at one of those, dry hopping:

dry hopping process

Dry hopping is the process of adding additional hops to a beer once it’s been brewed, but before it’s been bottle and carbonated. Usually dry hopping takes place as a part of secondary fermentation. This is an extra step that brewers may take to help add clarity and complexity to their beer, as well as dry hop it.

Once the primary fermentation has been completed and the sugary wort has been transformed alcoholic beer the brewer will transfer this uncarbonated beer to a second fermentation vessel, where the additional hops are added for dry hopping. Because hops must be boiled to release their bittering oils, dry hopping does in no way add to the flavor or bitterness of beer. What it does help with is the aroma, imparting a strong hop aroma that’s unlike anything which can come from normal hop additions. That might not seem like much, but remember our sense of smell is strongly connected to what we perceive as taste. That’s why nothing tastes good when you’re all stuffed up with a head cold–you can’t smell! After settling and mellowing out in the secondary fermentation, a beer will have continued to ferment slightly, aging it and  allowing additional hop aromas from the dry hopping to soak into the beer. The end result is a hoppy and aromatic brew that’s delicious.

Because of the strong hop aromas that dry hopping gives to a beer it’s not used for every style. It’s perfect though for West Coast style IPAs and Double IPAs, which frequently test the limits of how hoppy a beer can be. What do you think of the hop monster brews that some craft breweries make? Next time you try an especially hoppy beer let us know what you think about it by tweeting your beer and adding the ‘#mybeer’ hashtag.

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What is Cask Ale?

Tuesday, August 18th, 2009

casks

Today we’re going to take a look at cask ale, a traditional British style of beer which dates back pretty much to the origin of beer itself. When Shakespeare went to his local pub for a beer, this is how they served it to him. A few weeks ago we explained what bottle-conditioned beer is, which is a helpful starting point as cask ale can be thought of in a lot of ways as bottle-conditioned beer in a cask, which is why it’s sometimes referred to as ‘cask-conditioned.’

The process starts after the beer has been brewed, but remains uncarbonated and unbottled. The beer is loaded into a steel barrel, or cask, similar in appearance to a keg. Additional sugar or wort is added to the cask to restart the fermentation process by the active yeast still in the beer. The yeast goes to work, eating the sugar and expelling CO2 and alcohol. The pressure builds in the cask and the CO2 dissolves into the beer, naturally carbonating it. This natural carbonation also continues to condition the beer’s flavor, smoothing out flavors and mellowing out the hops. Once he receives it from the brewery a pub owner will tap a porous peg in the cask’s hole, known as a ‘bung.’ Excess gas and foam rushes out the bunghole and fining agents are added to settle the yeast to the bottom of the cask. A few days later the bunghole is resealed and the cask-conditioned ale is ready to be served.

Cask Ale Hand Pumps

Cask Ale Hand Pumps

Now the most traditional manner of tapping and serving the cask would simply to have it placed on it’s side, tapped with a spigot and poured into your glass through the wonder of gravity. Due to space, sanitation or various other factors an alternate method was developed long ago. Casks of beer are stored in a pub’s cellar, where it can be kept at the proper temperature (54°F for cask ale) and tap lines are connected leading up to the bar. Because the beer is only naturally carbonated it’s not going to have the pressure to make it up to the bar on its own, unlike modern forced carbonated beer, or soda. To solve this problem a hand pump, akin to the water pump on your grandfather’s farm is used to siphon the beer into a glass. These beer engines, or gravity pumps as they are sometimes known, allow the beer to be poured while preserving the natural carbonation and flavor.

The advantage of cask ale over modern beer is similar to the benefits of bottle-conditioned beer. Because the beer is naturally carbonated by active yeast, it continues to age and condition, becoming more complex and smoother over time. Unlike bottle-conditioned beer though cask ale cannot be aged over a long period of time due to it being exposed to open air. Indeed, cask really should be consumed within a few days of being tapped.

Because of the short shelf life it has and attention that must be paid to it, cask ale began to go out of style in the 1960’s as the bigger brewers began to mimic American style lagers, which are much simpler and economical to store and serve than cask ales. Fortunately British beer drinkers didn’t tolerate this loss of their beer and tradition and the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) was founded in 1971 to preserve this style of beer and the history associated with it. They define ‘real ale’ as “beer brewed from traditional ingredients, matured by secondary fermentation in the container from which it is dispensed, and served without the use of extraneous carbon dioxide,” which basically means cask ale. Although cask ale still struggles in some parts of the UK, thanks to the efforts of CAMRA real ale has come back from the brink of extinction to availability throughout much of the United Kingdom.

Now days you can even find some cask ale at better beer bars and restaurants in America. Next time you see it available do yourself a favor and enjoy a pint of some traditional beer the same way Shakespeare would have. When you do be sure to let us know what you think about it by tweeting your beer and adding the ‘#mybeer’ hashtag.

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Past Pilsners: Other Lager Styles

Thursday, August 13th, 2009

pilsners

Lagers don’t get much attention in the craft beer world, mostly because of the higher level of difficulty in making them compared to ales. As a result many beer drinkers, even craft beer drinkers, often associate lagers with the thin, watery beers made by the big macro breweries like Miller and Coors. In reality, there is a wide variety of different styles of lagers ranging from the hoppy, to the sweet and everything in between. (Not sure what makes a lager different from a ale? Take a look at our article on the subject) Today we’re going to take a look at some lager styles you may not know from Germany, the land of lagers:

Bock/Dopplebock – These nutty, sweet beers were originally brewed by German monks to be consumed as a source of sustenance during fasts.  Their malty flavors are balanced by the smoothness that is a hallmark of lagers. Sam Adams Winter Lager is a great example of the style by an American craft brewer.

As you might expect, dopplebocks (dopple meaning double) are a much stronger version of the style, sometimes ranging to the 7, 8, or 9% alcohol by volume range.  One of the first widely available dopplebocks was Paulaner’s Salavator and as a result many other brewers have taken to naming their dopplebocks with a name ending in “–ator.” Examples include Ayinger’s Celebrator and Spaten’s Optimator. Both bocks and dopplebocks also happen to be associated with goats, which appear frequently on their labels, owing to the fact ‘bock’ can refer to male goats in German.

Rauchbier – This style’s name means “smoked beer” in German and I really could think of no better name. The taste is almost like barbecue. Although there are many different styles of smoked beer, this is the original, tracing its roots back to the 1500’s when smoked beer was pretty much all that was available as cleaner techniques for preparing grains had yet to be invented. Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Urbock is the undisputed signature version of this style.

Eisbock – German for “ice beer,” this is lager which is frozen after brewing and some of the ice is removed,  leaving a more concentrated beer, both in terms of flavor and alcoholic strength, which can range from 9 to 15%. The end result is a rich, sweet and smooth beer akin to brandy, or cognac, great for warming you up on cold nights. Please don’t confuse this style with the ridiculous “Ice” brands of the major macro breweries, such as Bud Ice. While some of them are indeed frozen like an eisbock to increase strength, they don’t resemble the style in any other way. Kulmbacher Reichelbrau Eisbock is one of the better known versions of this style, but it’s still quite rare, as a result of the difficult in producing it.

Dunkel/Dark Lager – This is lager brewed with dark, sweet and rich grains, but balanced nicely by the smoothness of the lager process. It’s not nearly as nutty as a bock, but makes up for it with a creaminess unique to the style. Negra Modelo, while often mistaken for a Vienna lager, is actually an example of the style, and probably the most well known version of it. Try a Blackened  Voodoo Lager from Dixie brewing for an American craft take on the style.  Schwarzbier (black beer) is a very similar style, of which Sam Adams Black Lager is a great example.

Dortmunder Export – A style originally from the town of Dortmund, it’s a light, crisp beer similar to a pilsner but more intense, with a stronger maltiness and hints of honey in it. Like many “export” styles it was made more robust in order to better survive shipment to other countries and faraway lands, however the 5-6% alcohol range may seem light to modern drinkers. This style was once one of the most popular in Germany and much of Europe. The heavy damage Dortmund endured during World War II resulted in this style becoming fairly uncommon today. Try a Great Lakes Dortmunder Gold for an American craft take on this style.

Have any other favorite craft lagers that look past pilsners? Let us know on Twitter! Next time you try one of these, or any other beer tweet what it is and add the #mybeer hashtag to it to let us know what you’re drinking and what you think about it.

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Take a Drink on the Wild Side: A look at ‘Wild Ale’

Tuesday, August 11th, 2009

wildAles3One of the newest and most exciting areas of brewing at the moment is what’s know as ‘wild ale,’ that is beer made with certain bacterium that impart a distinct sour or tart taste to the brew. Generally speaking, as with most things, the last thing you want in your beer is bacteria. Most bacteria that would find it’s way into beer will do terrible things to it, ranging from making it taste bad to making it poisonous.  Brewers however have isolated certain strains of bacteria (such as Brettanomyces Bruxellensis, Brettanomyces Lambicus or Brettanomyces Anomolus, Pediococcus or Lactobacillus) that are perfectly harmless to humans, and can actually give beer wonderfully refreshing tart and sour flavors.beerprocessWILD2

Beer with bacteria added to it for flavor traces its roots back to the Flemish ales of southern Belgium. Traditional beer from this area is often allowed to ferment naturally. What that means is that instead of adding yeast to the brew it’s left out in the open air and yeast which grows naturally in the area finds it’s way into the beer by itself. These yeast strains frequently include the bacterium mentioned above, allowing the beer to develop the tart edge it’s now know for.

Until recently, Flemish ales were the only brews made with bacteria at all. In the last several years however American brewers have begun to experiment with these curious strains, creating all sorts of new beers and styles that simply never existed before.

interlude_french_oak_barrelBecause the special techniques and equipment necessary to make wild ale, there are still only select craft brewers able to make such beer, but it’s certainly something to keep an eye on as American brewers continue to explore a whole new dimension for beer.

Some wild ales from noted American craft brewers:
Ommegeddon by Brewery Ommegang
Allagash Interlude from Allagash Brewing Co.
Temptation by Russian River
15th Anniversary Ale from Avery Brewing
La Roja by Jolly Pumpkin

What do you think about wild ale? Have you ever had a tart beer? Next time you try one of these wild ales tweet what it is and add the #mybeer hashtag to it to let us know what you’re drinking and what you think about it.

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Sam Adams Brewery Tour

Friday, August 7th, 2009

Sam Adams the patriot has a special place in American colonial history, so it’s fitting that Sam Adams beer has such a special place in American craft beer history. Boston Lager, their signature beer, was first brewed in founder Jim Koch’s kitchen using a recipe passed down from previous generations of Koch family brewers. Today it is not only the largest craft brewery in America, after Anheuser-Busch’s sale to InBev, it’s also the largest American owned brewery in the country as well. Sam Adams is actually poised to leave the craft brewery distinction as it continues to expand its operations, but there’s  no doubt they’ll still continue to brew great beers.

With all of this in mind, and the fact that the brewery is located right in Boston, we felt it was only fitting that Beeriety check the place out.

The tour starts in a room full of the brewery’s history:

Some of Sam Adams many awards

Some of The Boston Beer Company's many awards

Then we learned how beer is made and the ingredients that go in it:

Learning about the ingredients of beer

Learning about the ingredients that go into their beer

Then we got to see the brewing process in action:

the brewing room!

Touring the brewing facilities

Finally we got to taste the end result of all this brewing magic. They were as fresh as you’re going to get:

Trying the freshest Sam Adams around

Sampling the freshest Sam Adams around in their tasting room

We found it to be fun, educational and full of free beer at the end. Included in the free samples at the end are a taste of Boston Brick Red, a special brew that’s available only on draft in the Boston area, sales of which help fund local charities. We also got to smell, not taste, a bottle of Utopias, Sam Adams’ special 25% alcohol by volume experimental beer, which can retail for almost 200 dollars a bottle and holds the Guinness World Record for strongest beer in the world; it was a real treat. The best part of course is that the whole thing is free. If you’re in the Boston area, do yourself a favor and check out the tour for yourself.

To see more photos of our trip to Sam Adams take a look at our photo set on flickr.

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Beyond the Seasonals: Alternative Summer Beers

Wednesday, August 5th, 2009

Summer is a great time for beer. When the temperature is hot, nothing’s better than a pint of your favorite beer to cool off. Although plenty of breweries do terrific summer seasonals that go great with the hottest months of the year, there are many traditional brews that also go great with summer, and today we’re going to take a look at them.

1. Hefeweizen - This is a wheat beer of German origin, whose name yeast (hefe) white (weiss, referring to the color of the wheat when brewed) is apt considering the strong presence of both elements in this classic beer. Unlike most bottle-conditioned beer, this is one you actually want to pour the yeast into the bottle as it’s a major part of the style’s flavor. It’s great for the summer months because of its light but full-bodied taste and fruity flavor. There are numerous versions of this style but a personal favorite is Paulaner.

2. Wit – This Belgian style is the other major wheat beer alongside Hefeweizen.  Wit beer tends to be lighter and more lemony than Hefeweizen, but it can still be quite refreshing. Coors’ Blue Moon beer has given this style a good bit of attention in the last few years, but try a Hoegaarden for a version more true to form.

3. Saison - A style which originates in southern Belgium, it was originally brewed in the winter months to be consumed in the summer after intense farm work, which is why it’s sometimes known as “farm house ale.” This beer is light but sweet and frequently spicy, thanks to the pepper which is frequently added to it. Saison Dupont is probably the signature brewery for this style, but Brewery Ommegang in Cooperstown, NY also makes a pretty mean version known as Hennepin.

4. Steam Beer/California Common - This is the only traditional beer style of American origin. It came to be when California immigrants from Germany and Czechoslovakia attempted to make the lager styles they knew from the old country. Unfortunately the warmer temperatures and lack of refrigeration options In 19th century California meant the beer turned into something new and exciting, a hybrid style that combined the lightness of a lager with the flavor of an ale,  a true American original. Anchor Steam, America’s first craft brewery, has since copyrighted the term “steam beer” so other brewers must refer to their versions as California Common.

5. Belgian Golden Ale - Sometimes referred to as Belgian pale ales because of their relatively hoppy flavor, at least when compared to the other beers on this list, this style is crisp and refreshing.  It’s strong carbonation will also leave a huge head of foam in your glass, regardless of how carefully you pour it.  Duvel is the most famous version of this style, but there are plenty of wonderful American versions, such as Brooklyn’s Local No.1 and North Coast’s Pranqster.

This is of course just the tip of the iceberg when comes to amazing brews for the summer time. There are countless other styles that go great with this time of year. Got any suggestions? Tweet what you’re drinking and add the #mybeer hashtag to it to let us know what your favorite summer brew is and what you think about it.

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What is bottle conditioned beer?

Monday, August 3rd, 2009
forcedCarb

Forced carbonation

If you drink craft beer chances are sooner or later you’re going to hear folks throw around the term ‘bottle conditioning’ or ‘bottle conditioned’. Chances are also pretty good that you haven’t a clue what that means. Well, fret no longer, because today we’re going to look at what it means for your beer.

On the most basic level bottle conditioning refers to how a beer is carbonated. Non-bottle conditioned beer, along with most carbonated liquids such as soda and tonic water are carbonated through a process known as forced carbonation. This involves taking carbon dioxide  (CO2) and forcefully pumping it into a sealed container of your liquid of choice. Under the right conditions the CO2 will dissolve into the beer, carbonating it. Once the container is depressurized, for example by popping the cap off a beer bottle, the CO2 rushes out of the beer, giving it that lovely fizzy quality we’ve all come to know and love.

When a beer is said to be bottle-conditioned the process works a bit differently. Instead of artificially carbonating the beer, bottle conditioned beer allows the yeast  to naturally carbonate the beer after fermentation is complete. As you’ll recall from our article on how beer is made, fermentation works by having the yeast eat the sugars in the wort and spitting out alcohol and CO2 as waste products. During fermentation the CO2 is allow to bubble off and escape, but once fermentation is complete and the yeast has magically transformed your sugary wort into alcoholic beer, bottle conditioned beer has a little bit of extra yeast or extra sugar or something else added  to restart the yeast. Once again the yeast produces alcohol and CO2. Since the beer is now bottled and capped before this happens the CO2 produced by the yeast has nowhere to go and dissolves into the beer, carbonating it.

carbonation2

Because active yeast remains in a bottle-conditioned beer,  it continues to develop and age ever so slightly over time. This makes bottle conditioned beer perfect for aging, as it will continue to mature, much like a fine wine. Non-bottle conditioned beer on the other hand has all yeast removed from it before it’s bottled, ensuring the beer will change much slower and providing  a higher level of consistency than the bottle conditioned stuff. This  gives non-bottle conditioned beer a much shorter shelf life than it’s yeasty cousin.

While certain styles of bottle-conditioned beer benefits from pouring the yeast into your glass, such as hefeweizens, the majority will taste a bit off if the yeast makes it into the glass, so when pouring your beer it’s recommended you take care to avoid pouring the last bit with the yeast into your glass.

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