(photo ripped from WKTV)
My bloggy silence (don’t ask) has to break over this terrible news: Utica’ NY’s F.X. Matt, makers of Utica Club and Saranac (and contract brewers of, among many other brands, Brooklyn Brewery) have had a fire this evening in the building that houses their canning line. Details are still not totally in- the cause of the fire and the full extent of the damage, for example, but a few things are clear. First of all, although two employees seem to have been hospitalized, there are no deaths or even serious injuries reported: Great news. Secondly, there does appear to be some danger to the fumes. Large amounts of plastic are also stored in this building, for wrapping six-packs and so forth, so there is concern over toxicity. Additionally, the blaze is not too far off from a large amonia tank, which, if it heats up too much, could be explosive. The building itself is already definitely going to come down due to structural damage from the heat and now water. This seems to be a substantial blaze, sadly.

Notwithstanding, Saranac is hardly finished as a company, and it seems likely that the elegant tasting room and the main brewing operations will emerge unscathed. NY’s Governor David Patterson has already commented that “the state will help out with economic development aid or whatever [is] needed,” and ower Fred Matt himself described the setback as only “a speedbump” (link here)

Further developments in the comments as necessary. Link here to video of owner Fred Matt on WKTV, and the story on WSYR.“

It’s been a while since I did my beerly duty and covered the local beery events scene here in WNY, but with Spring, well, springing, to say the least, there’s just too many things going on to ignore. So, I thought I could probably whip off a succession of short posts/announcements in that direction…

First up, then, Alternative Brew’s Beer Club- it sounds like a lot of fun… and some serious work as well. I’ll let the image speak for itself on the details, but I’ll add that I know Paul will have some fantastic selections available throughout the event, things you do not often or ever see around here. I’d say that even if you’re not clubbing, late-April to June will be a good time to stop in there. They’re located at 3488 Sheridan Dr., and a schedule of events (music, tastings, cigar night, &c.) can be found that their website (linked above).

For whatever reason, I’m really currently fascinated by two German styles that are often overlooked: Kolsch and Altbier. We’ll save the former for another post, but seeing Uerige, a classic example of the Altbier style the other day down at The Village Beer Merchant, (and it comes in a way cool swing-top no less,) I had to indulge. This brewery was founded in the mid-1800’s by a guy who went by ‘uerige’ Willem, or grumpy Bill. If that’s not enough, here’s the short version, it’s simple: You really ought to try this beer.

A bit of background, first. Alt means ‘old’ in German, and what is meant by old here is an older style of brewing. But really, it might better be said to be an older style of fermenting because Altbier is an ale, and ale-brewing in Germany was quite eclipsed by lager brewing once lager yeasts were identified and put to intentional use. Despite this, by BJCP standards Altbier falls into the Dark Hybrid category, because the ale is fermented at quite low temperatures for an ale yeast, in the lower 60’s. This cooler fermentation–and subsequent lagering at temps in the high 30’s–severely limits the production of fun, yeasty byproducts like esters (fruity flavors) and phenols (spicy flavors) which are often present in ales. Instead, the malt flavors can come to the fore, driven by German pilsner malt, aided by additions of Munich, crystal, and possibly even some small amounts of darker chocolate or black patent, mainly for color. Hopping rates are moderate, enough to provide a definite hop bitterness to counterpoint the malt, but not to overwhelm; Spalter is a frequent choice. This is a classic session beer style, since a.b.v. is in the 4.5%-5.5% range, depending on the specific substyle: the BJCP guide outlines both 7A, Northern German Alt (the typically weaker), and 7C, Düsseldorf Alt. In point of fact, however, today’s example is technically neither.

True enough, Uerige is from Düsseldorf, but you might see on this bottle some small gold lettering- it reads sticke. What the BJCP guidelines say of this is that is that it designates a somewhat stronger (and darker) version of the style. The brewery’s own website makes it clear that this is an export-only version, for the US market. In Germany, their twice-a-year-only sticke is brewed to 6.5%, but this export version comes in at only(!) 6%. Perhaps to make up for this, they also offer (again, export only) a doublesticke, which boasts an a.b.v of 8.5%. The lore behind the sticke is kind of cute, I guess: the word is an old-German one, and means ‘whisper,’ derived from another word meaning ’secret.’ Back in the day, the brewer would occasionally dump in, oh, a bit more more malt (and then of course more hops as well), and when this beer was finally ready and tapped, well.. word got passed around, it seems.

pssst, Fritz- go to brewery Uerige; ask for beer from the third tap from the left!!!

Nowadays as one might expect, the twice-a-year occasion is well publicized and has in fact jumped to the top of my “beer-travel” list. So, the skinny:

Aroma: (10/12) A sweet malt aroma predominates, with some caramel. Light banana (esters); faint floral but dusty hop aroma. Some faint DMS (pilsner malt?), but no diacetyl.
Appearance: (3/3) Medium-copper, slight red; very clear. Thick, foamy head lasts a minute, two; leaves some protein near rim but otherwise no lacing & remains a tracing around the edge.
Flavor: (17/20) Malt sweetness hits strong, the DMS from the nose is present here two but there is also toast flavor and long-boil caramelization. Hop bitterness comes through at the end of the sip but does not linger overlong, ok for style. Certainly not dry, only a hint of alcohol.
Mouthfeel: (4/5) Medium body, medium carbonation with small bubbles; near creamy texture. Faint alcohol heat, no asringency.
Overall Impression: (9/10) This is a very refreshing and easy drinking beer which nonetheless maintains a fair amount of malt character. The overall impression is not at all unlike a good amber (Vienna/Munich) lager, though the minimal esters give it away.
Total: (43/50)
[This total puts it slightly below “world class example”, but I am technically judging it to the wrong category, as I explained, so that seems right]

Of course, in truth there’s no way my scoring here isn’t slightly wack. As in biased. In the points more than in tasting, I like to hope. But yeah, it’s not as though I’m blind judging it, which is truly critical. Nonetheless, I can certainly say with all honesty that this is worth having at least one of in your life, if not outright traveling to Germany for!

I didn’t really know what category to judge it to, was the issue here. They bill it as an Imperial Chocolate Stout. Ok, but it’s not a Russian Imperial Stout (13F)- and though it’s got flaked oats, it’s not an Oatmeal Stout (13C). So, is it Category 23- Specialty Beer? If that’s the case, then I am definitely out of my league trying to apply BJCP standards to it; I’m only getting the hang of tasting for style! Tasting for no-style? It boggles my mind.

Still, let’s break it down… after pouring into the recommended glassware, a snifter, at 48 degrees, I get
Aroma: Huge chocolate nose with a whiff of alcohol; no yeasty odors at all and certainly no DMS or diacetyl. There is also a hint of roated malt, but the chocolate is predominating.
Appearance: very dark indeed, but not inky: under a bright light, the very edges show liminal ruby hues. A puffy 1-finger medium-tan head dissipates quickly forming a ring around the edge of the glass: alcohol. Swirling also produces slight legs.
Flavor: Like drinking chocolate- ok, slightly alcoholic and slightly carbonated chocolate. Still, there is only a hint of roasted malt flavor, though not sweetness, in the middle of the sip, and no hop flavor at all. However, the hops are evident in the overall balance of sweet and bitter. The finish yields some alcohol vapors up the nose, but no alcohol flavor is evident. The sip also ends dry, but not overly so.
Mouthfeel: medium-low carbonation; silky-smooth (oats), a bit of heat from alcohol; dry, but not astringent.
Overall: I really like this beer, and I happily drank it down, 22oz (even at 11% abv.) I would say, though, that it does really lack much malt dimensionality. While I totally enjoyed it as a fully chokolaty beverage, I can say that for a beer, I miss a bit of malt sweetness: it all seemed like chocolate sweetness, to me. Still, this beer beckons very strongly for the next sip, and only a fool would fail to oblige it.

I’m not going to embarrass myself by trying to assign points; as I said, to style? Which? But I do definitely recommend getting a bottle if and while you can! Props to Vinnie @ The Village Beer Merchant for scaring up one of their holdouts in the walk-in.

OK, so- another thing I should be practicing is, duh, judging beer. Ideally, I’d go about this by selecting some beers that have been recently given the Commercial Calibration treatment in an issue of Zymurgy, wherein renown beer judges give the once-over to a commercial style. Then I’d have something to compare what I come up with. I’ll get to some of those, but I thought I’d kick it off with a simple “what-i’ve-got-right-now” review. And off we go…

I’ll try to judge it as a Category 10a, American Pale Ale (though I recognize that might not be what Rogue thinks it is!)

Aroma: The aroma is driven by PacNW hops, resinous and piney; underneath lies a bit of caramel malt sweetness. No esters, no phenols, no DMS- very clean. (10/12)
Appearance: Pours out with a stiff three-finger head; color is a medium copper with pure red highlights, perfectly clear (3/3)
Flavor: The sip presents a sweet malt start but quickly gives to hop bitterness with plenty of piney and woody dimensions. Absolutely free of diacetyl, for an ale you might be mislead. The finish is given over to even more oily hop flavor, which coats the throat on the way down. (17/20)
Mouthfeel: A bit of mineral hardness underscored with medium carbonation; some astringency towards the finish (4/5)
Overall Impression: This beer strikes me as a classic example of the american pale ale, loaded with “C” hops but balanced by just enough sweetness to let you get away with it; pair it with some smoked salmon in a balsamic reduction! (8/10)
Total: 42 (of 50)

Well… that seems a fair score, but I’ll have to see what the kids down at BA are saying by means of comparison. What do YOU think?

Among the myriad reasons for some paucity in my posting is that at long last, I’m digging in and studying up for the Beer Judge Certification Program’s exam. Our local brewing club, the Niagara Association of Homebrewers, is sponsoring an exam at the end of April, so we’re also convening most Saturday mornings between now and then to go through the various points recommended in the interim study guide and tasting the examples outlined in the 2008 style guidelines. Turns out, by the way, that’s a lot of beers. Excellent! Our review group is a nice mix of first-timers and some continuing education/already certified types, so we have a good time and a nice depth of experience.

This is often thought to be a pretty intimidating exam, but I look very much forward to it. Calibrating my palate is the most critical part as far as I’m concerned- I feel I have a pretty thorough knowledge of materials, process, and history and maybe only a fairly good grasp on sub-style parameters. But I’ve always worried that my sense, or language, for any particular flavor might or might not be aligned with those of ‘professionals,’ so to speak. This is one way to get there. And of course, if I can at all strive to be an active judge, I’ll get to meet a lot of people, try a lot of homebrews, and it should generally benefit my personal appreciation, brewing, and punditry/beer-o-visual activities, I hope. So la-ti-da on that.

So, one of the things I happen to know as a person with a background in cognitive psychology is that, when it comes to studying, the most reliable strategy is to practice like you will be tested. That is, simply re-reading things (notes, presentations, books, whatever) might be necessary but is certainly not sufficient. If, as in this exam, you’re going to be tested in open-formats, you should study by writing. Ergo, the aim of this piece is as much to entertain you as it is to practice. Here, I’ll imagine I’ve got ~12 minutes to answer the ingredients/process question they might pull on barley/malting. The study guide puts it thus, I think:

“Explain the malting process, identifying and describing the different types of malts by their color and the flavor they impart to the beer. Give the styles with which they are associated.”

Malting is the process by which raw barley is germinated to the point where insoluble starches become available for mashing, and as well, enzymes necessary for conversion during mashing become activated. In essence, the barley is allowed to germinate under controlled conditions. When the acrospire- what will become the stem of the plant-is the length of the kernel, the barley is considered fully modified- all the starches have become soluble. In fact, by this point some of the starches will have become sugars to power the growth of the plant. At this point, the maltster will dry the malt out, ending the germinating process. Undermodified malts require the brewer to essentially complete this process in the first stage of mashing.

Once the malt is dried, kilning it to varying degrees will lead to different malt characteristics (colors and flavors) in the final beer. Pilsner malts are the most lightly kilned, and as a result, impart little toasted or roasted flavors and little color. Pale Ale malts are kilned at slightly higher temperatures, lending them a small degree of Maillard reaction flavoring. Amber or brown malts are darker still. All of these base malts can be mashed by the brewer to produce sugars for fermentation. Other malts are processed in such a way that their available starches and enzymes are destroyed in the process, so these specialty malts lend only flavor and color, but no sugar, to the process. Highly kilned malts such as chocolate and black patent are examples of these. Caramel malts are essentially mashed by the maltster just prior to kilning, leading to varying degrees of caramelized sugars in the final malt depending on temperature and time and measured in Lovibond.

Some malts are highly associated with particular styles of beer. Examples include the famous beechwood-smoked malts from Bamburg, Germany, which provide distinct smokey flavors to classic Rauchbiers such as Aecht Schlenkela. Amber lagers such as Vienna are driven by the malt of the same name, and Munich malts as well. The darker, roasted flavors of chocolate and black patent malts are mainly associated with porters and stouts, but with a light touch can also provide color and depth in a traditional schwartzbier, or dark lager. And of course, traditional pilsners absolutely require the lightly kinled pilsner malts in order to have their light color and soft malt sweetness.
—
OK: Times Up!
I don’t know how many points’ that’d be worth, but it doesn’t seem terrible. cheers-

True, they’re been hyped pretty thoroughly over on another site, but I know some of my readers refuse to be seen over there. And anyway, I’m personally very excited about this: after all, I live a short walk away from both them and soon-to-open Wine Thief, so my beery life’s about the get much, much better. Ok, manifesto over… what’s shakin’ down at the VBM (as it will invariably be known)? I’ll tell you what: You have to get there, if it’s at all in your hood or on your way from one place to another. Or even if not. It’s true. They got it right, as far as the beer goes. The rest may be mandatory–and even superb–but I’ll limit myself to the beer.

I’ll also preface this by saying that a) they did comp me a growler (thanks!) though i bought the glassware, and b) they would probably want me to point out that their shelves were not even entirely stocked quite yet- though I think I managed to be there late enough in the day to get a pretty good picture. Well, 10-15 pictures.

Thoughtfully positioned on shelves near the back of the large front windows (beer hates light), a scant 6-7 shelves hold beer. Amazingly, their selection is both broad and deep, and really, in the amount of space they’ve devoted to it, it packs a punch: it’s a concentrated beer tour that weighs in slightly on the side of US micros but doesn’t in any way fail to provide generous selections from the most critical foreign producers. In their space, they’re just going to have to restock frequently, since only a few of each specific label can be hanging out at once. And hopefully, they will have to. The only difficulty of breadth is moving the stock- invariably, some beers will be favorites, trends will come and go, but without heavy traffic, some of the beers in the long tail may start to acquire dust. Folks: buy broadly! Certainly, it’s all as fresh as it comes this week, so there’s an idea. Organizationally, I thought they did the right thing in sorting things roughly by country, though sure, most do. England/Scotland; Germany; Belgium were clear, and the US micros were also grouped by region more or less.

Their cooler was similarly dense, though the chilled selection was balanced a bit more on the side of US micro. Still, as the photo indicates (and that’s only about 1/3 of their total cooler space), here again they’re stocking a nice range. I was particularly pleased to see some of my favorite west coast brands there, including Great Divide, Avery and Anderson Valley, and I expect some Stone and Lagunitas are also on the way. MIA? Mendocino Brewing Company–made now also in Saratoga Springs–would be nice; If they could get their hands on anything made by Tomme Arthur, I’d probably loose my shit. Closer to home, it’s always cool to be able to select a Flying Bison, and they’re also stocking Erie Brewing Company (from PA), Middle Ages from Syracuse and not shockingly, Saranac. Dogfish Head is on the way, VT is in the hizzy (Long Trail, Magic Hat) and while I could get psyched over some more love for the Michigan/Wisconsin scene, the NE was certainly pretty well showing. Did I miss the Allagash? After Ommegang (check! On shelves), they’re one of the best American producers of Belgian-style beers out there, no question about it. Not in the cooler, but the entire spectrum of Rogue’s bombers were awaiting your perusal as well. Oh yeah, I could go on all day here.

Another point worth mentioning: all the great new canned beers are also represented. I spied Sly Fox, Butternuts and New England Brewing Company all in effect. Bring ‘em down to the beach, or park (or any of those places bottles are unwelcome,) with you this summer! Maybe The VBM will add Brooklyn Lager in cans, too, on down the line?

Most exciting, they have a growler station, as the lead photo should have made clear. The reusable (please, reuse them!) growlers cost $2.98, the 64 oz pours are priced depending on the beer. You can see the 7 taps online when I was there, including a favorite among the waitstaff set, Delirium Tremens, and my choice, Sly Fox’s Helles Lager. Coming soon, possibly by the time you are reading this, are Unibroue’s Trois Pistoles, Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout, and Phin & Matt’s from Southern Tier. On down the line, Brian informed me that they have an order in for a quite rare beer from Japan, Hitachino Nest Red Rice Ale made with… very good: red rice. Count me in on that, yo! Notice also that the tenth tap will remain reserved for draft soda: Good for the bairns, as they say.

So finally: the city, and better yet, my particular neck of it, finally has a beer store with all the beers you, I, want to drink. I couldn’t be happier. Premiere and Consumers will of course still have a place in accessing the widest variety of beers- Consumers in particualr, with their many growler locations, will continue to provide a huge variety of fresh beer to the thirsty masses. I especially hope this has positive effects for the likes for both Holly Farms on Allen St. and Frontier on Grant, two businesses that are often overlooked but pioneered stocking some beyond-the-usual offerings. Still, there is no question that for the local beer freak, the arrival of VBM is welcome indeed.

Village Beer Merchant
547 Elmwood Ave. 14222
716.881.1080

(as for Sly Fox’s Helles: light golden color, spot on; nice bit of DMS in the nose (Pilsner malt, I suppose) and very light hop aroma; taste is medium-sweet malt with a slight biscuit quality and a light touch of hop in the finish- crisp and clean, and certainly a good session beer. I would probably judge it to be a good example of the style, though, I’ve only had one classic example: Mahrs, in bottle; about three weeks ago in fact.)

(all photos ripped, thanks to Caltech/Stanford)

Apparently, the more wine costs, the better people think it tastes- not just subjectively, but even as viewed through the cool, empirical eye of fMRI and scientific psychology. The neuroimaging data was accompanied by this lovely graph of behavioral data, which demonstrates the researchers in essence turning a $90 bottle of wine into a $10 one. Not, of course, that they probably recruited sommeliers for the study- but that would be a bold next step, of course.

This article crossed my path, and I immediately thought “hey, if it’s true for wine, then… hurm.” And indeed, the researchers themselves say

For example, knowledge of a beer’s ingredients and brand can affect reported taste quality, and the reported enjoyment of a film is influenced by expectations about its quality,”

Well sure, knowledge and expertise in a domain certainly change how you experience things within it, that’s not a huge shock. But does it make sense for price to be one–or the only one–of those factors? Only if you assume that price = quality, and of course, that might have some truth to it, but there is not a perfect correlation. And notice the difference between the BBC and the Bloomberg take on the story- differing attitudes to consumerism certainly separate us and our historical forbearers.

Still, I guess this means that the hops shortage is going to make my Anchor Liberty Ale taste better- but not my homebrew so much.

One of the sure signs of the impending present holiday season is the arrival of strange beers and packaging. I’m not talking about the release of all the Christmas/holiday style beers- that’s certainly great in- and of-itself. But no, I refer here more to interesting packaging options, which come to us from both the craft brew world and the macros. For example…

A sampling of the offerings at Wegmans–and they’re not really a beer store, per se–will reveal some pretty exciting deals, illustrated above. On the left, you have Budweiser’s repackaged ‘holiday’ offering- comes with a stein! Is it better than normal Bud? You’ll have to ask someone else.

Above that, Grolsch rolls out their special 1-liter bottle: just like the 16-oz swing-top, but bigger. Which makes homebrewers happy, even if they have to find someone to drink the contents of the bottle for them first.

Below the Budweiser, you have their special holiday repackaging of three classic Belgian brews. When I say ‘they”, I do refer to Anheuser-Busch, since they now distribute Hoegaarden, Leffe and Stella Artois for InBev. (They also distribute Grolsch, which is probably why all three are sharing shelf space with NYS craft-producer Saranac.) Nothing special about this, just a convenient way to sample some Belgian classics.

At the end of the far aisle, two more interesting seasonal presentations are evident. Commanding the top of the dispay is Otter Creek’s World Beer Tour- actually, a set of three 22-oz bombers packaged with an Otter Creek glass- and really, its a nice piece of beerware at that. It’s not too tough a call to imagine drinking their Anniversary IPA, Scottish Ale and English Ale from one, and in fact, I felt compelled to buy 2 so as to have a pair. Certainly the best holiday deal I’ve come across yet.

Below that, some lingering bottles of Sam Adam’s fall seasonal Imperial Pilsner, made with extreme amounts of Hallertau hops. And really, extreme is no understatement. I like hops as much as the next guy, but I found this offering a bit over-the-top. Still, I drank all four: Wasting beer is anathema to BOV.

Which leaves us with that mysterious package gracing the bottom of the same shelf: the Beers of America Collection. I felt I’d better give it a try last year, I didn’t know it was an annual event… but it is near impossible to find any information about this collection online. They appear to be brewed by this company, and can certainly be found in reviews at sites like Beer Advocate, but I still find the entire set to be a bit dodgy. Still, having gone through the beers last year, I can certainly say that they’re all perfectly competent, if unthrilling, examples of the styles they are meant to be. If memory serves me, I thought in particular that the Steam Beer wasn’t bad. Better than the beers, though, was the literature that came with. I held on to my copy, since it provided an excellent overview of the development of brewing styles in America, I felt. If you’re hoping to turn on someone to the world of American craft beers, you could certainly do worse than this introduction.

So, a quick round-up of some of the seasonal beer deals out there… I’m sure I’ll hit a proper beer store one day soon, and will dutifully report on the zany holiday offerings therein when I do. I know Consumer’s will be rocking their usual magnums of Anchor Christmas ale… I’ve sort of always wanted one… and surely, someone else out there wants to foist cool glassware upon me. Check in!

I decided to check out the beer knowing really, honestly, nothing about it. Which, really, is a great way to approach a beer. Not long afterwards, BOV’s crafty video editor, Marc, found this link and info:

BUFFALO from Brouwerij Van Den Bossche is dark, almost black, top fermented Belgian style stout. In 1907 “Buffalo Bill’s” Circus from the US played on the town square of Sint-Lievens-Esse. The brewery workers arranged for a young apprentice to watch over the brew kettels. He did, but he forgot to stir and Buffalo was born. The New Buffalo was created to commemorate 100th Anniversary of that event.

A cute story, indeed, from their website. What makes a stout “Belgian-style,” you ask? Roll the tape!