Of course, the very words “cream ale” mean one thing and one thing alone to a WNYer, and that’s surely Genesee, or Genny Screamers as you might know them. This staple, brewed continuously in Rochester, NY since 1960, is not generally thought of as especially craft-brewed, or upscale, but the cream ale style is an American original that predates all these new American mutants- “Imperial” everything, and “Oak-aged” everything, for example. While the High Falls version of the beer is actually blended from regular Genesee lager and (no longer sold separately) 12-Horse Ale, Cream Ale can be brewed as a single batch, adhering to AHA/BJCP guidelines. In this case, it falls into category 6, Light Hybrid Beer, along with notables like German Kölsh and American Wheat/Rye. What makes it a hybrid style is that, while ale yeast is used, it is treated more like a lager- including lower tempratures for fermentation and as well, a cooler-still temprature for conditioning. Expect none of the esters that usually accompany an ale, but rather, a very clean beer.

Foremost, Cream Ale should have a smooth mouthfeel (hence “cream”), resulting from a combination of high attenuation (few residual sugars, and so what you might call dryness), and medium-to-high carbonation levels. Visually, you’d expect a rather light, crystal-clear, straw-colored beer- and lots of bubbles, naturally. The bouquet should be light overall, and neither dominated by hops nor malt. You will also possibly detect a slight vegetal or cooked-corn odor which is the result of using corn to provide sugars for fermentation. The flavor will be similar to the aroma- a kiss of hops, a hint of sweet malt, and potentially slight dimethel sulphide (DMS; a cooked-corn taste,) though in the main, DMS is considered a flaw. Cream Ales are definitely easy drinking, thirst quenching lawnmower beers, and there is nothing at all wrong with that.

Today, numerous brewers are making the style their own, and I had cause to quaff a bottle of Sirius, the offering from Petaluma, California’s Lagunitas brewery the other day while enjoying a fine Buffalo summer afternoon. Like is so often the case when a classic style is reinvented, Lagunitas has take some liberties with the specs, in this case with the strength: this is a high-gravity (O.G. 1.072) interpretation, coming at 7.6% abv. What I poured into my glass had a middling copper color with only a hint of red and a reasonable head that diminished, but left some lacing at the top. The mouthfeel was less creamy that I was expecting- I suspect that this example is a bit over-attenuated, leaving too few residual sugars to fill out this dimension of the beer. Flavor-wise, Sirius is considerably hoppier than an Genny. The style guidlines max hop bitterness at 20 IBUs, while Sirius packs ‘em in up to 40.63. As a hop-lover, I didn’t mind, but your mileage might vary. I also detected some light corn flavor, perfectly appropriate here, and as well, a hint of that alcohol. Overall, I don’t know how good of a cream ale it is, but it was easy enough to drink.

So, if you’re looking for a traditional cream ale, try a Genny (assuming you didn’t grow up with them!). If you’re feeling adventurous, give Sirius a try (I’ve seen this at both Consumers and Premier). Other cream ales on the market right now include Anderson Valley’s Cervesa Crema (I’ve seen this on tap at Coles), Pete’s Wicked Wanderlust (don’t know where to find that ’round here) and for readers just to the west (and north), Sleeman’s Cream Ale.

Among the purposes of the Beer-O-Vision blog is to bring you news of upcoming events- and as you might expect, the summer is jam packed with ‘em. In relative chronological order, this summer’s beery/brewy offerings are…

06/21 | 8:00 p.m. | Tasting at Alternative Brews | 3488 Sheridan Dr. |
Beer-O-Vision will be on-the-scene; beers include Homegrown Hemp Ale from the C’est What? Brewpub in Toronto, Golden Fleece Maibock from Erie Brewing Company, and (read it again, it’s ok) Miller Chill… what, are you going to condemn it before you actually try it?

06/23 | 2:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. | Buffalo Brew Tour | $50.00 | reservations via 716-512-8410, or steve@buffalobrewtour.com
This tour will hit some of Buffalo’s beery landmarks, including the Flying Bison Brewery, The Pearl Street Grill & Brewery (try “The Village Idiot” India brown ale), the Buffalo Brew Pub, and Ulrich’s Tavern. In addition, you’ll be able to get some Custom Brewcrafters (From RaCha) at Gabriel’s Gate.

06/23 | 1:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. | New York Wine & Cidre Festival | $20, pre-sale; $25 at door | Tix here or at participating restaurants, below

Come taste what local NY wineries have to offer at this wine tasting and farmers market. Farmers Markets and Restaurants will open at 1:00-6:00 tasting will be from 2:00-6:00. We have over 25 New York wineries/cideries with over 100 opportunities to sample. Enjoy the entertainment, New York state produce from our farmers market and the following great restaurants, Ulrich’s, Steel Drum, Bistro Europa and Sample. Tickets are $20 pre-sale, $25 at the door and includes a souvenir wine glass. Tickets are limited so buy your tickets early.

Now, normally, I wouldn’t give much any press to a wine event, but the cider aspect got me hooked- even though I assume there’ll be commercial ciders to try, many homebrewers (of beer) eventually tackle cider and mead, so… potentially Niagara Traditions will be there doing a demo- you’ll have to go to know!

07/11 | 7:30 p.m. | Mr. Goodbar Goodbeer Club | $20.00; $15.00 pre-pay | check website or call Bobby @ 430-1169
Another edition of the Goodbeer club, though this far ahead, we don’t know what the lineup looks like yet. We do know, however, that as usual 1) it’ll be good, and contain anywhere from 8-12 beers; 2) the accompanying food will be excellent; 3) there will be massive givaways at the end of the night and 4) the Beer-O-Vision crew will be on hand, taping for Episode 4. Come one, come all!

07/15 | 3:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. | Cole’s IPA Fest | $20.00 | check website or call 836-1499
If I have it right, this is the second annual IPA fest that Mike and Co. have put on… I didn’t make it last year, but the Beer-O-Vision cameras will be on hand this year as the hoppy showdown goes down. Don’t miss it!

07/20 | 5:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. | Empire State Brewing & Music Festival | Clinton Sq, Syracuse NY | $32.40 ($35.00 at gate if available) | more info at website
It’s about a 2.5h trip east to Syracuse, NY for this festival, but holy crap, batman: This is one big o’l festival! Plenty of music and loads of food (including Dinosaur BBQ- yeah!) not to mention an impressive list of breweries. Some I’m looking forward to are: Captain Lawrence, Sackets Harbor (both NYS), and from further afield, I love Bear Republic (Hop Rod Rye beat most breweries to the now-trendy adjunct, I think) and Smuttynose. Be the ultimate NYS Summer Beer Fest Freak and drive east & south the next day for…

07/21 | 9:00 a.m. - 11:00 p.m. | Belgium Comes To Cooperstown | SOLD OUT, SLOWPOKE!!! BETTER CHECK EBAY!!!
This year, the folks at Ommegang made a decision to limit the number of available tickets and to nix day-of sales, in an effort to keep the renown festival as good as possible. So, if you missed the boat this year (I did- they sold out on June 5th, actually), consider planning ahead for next year. Pop open a L’Achouffe (or perhaps a Three Philosophers or a Duval) wherever you happen to be on the 21st, and maybe I’ll talk to some of the lucky attendees at…

MORE TO BE ADDED: WATCH THIS SPACE!

Considering how much we put into them, and of course, how much we like what we get out of them, you might imagine we’d give a little more respect to the humble beer glass. Jim Koch, owner of Samuel Adams certainly wants us to. Disparaging of the standard, straight-sided pint glass that dominates the American bar (and which is, frankly, best used only as half of a Boston shaker), Mr. Koch enlisted the help of scientists and engineers to design glassware optimized for beer.

You might wonder how much the glassware can affect your experience of drinking beer. As it happens, the answer is “enough to matter.” Consider the world of wines, where the correct stemware is not just a matter of flavor but also a measure of sophistication- the faux pas of serving Chablis in a big ol’ Bordeaux glass is hard to overestimate, I’m sure. Beer drinkers don’t take it to quite that level, but nonetheless, the craft-brewing scene has lead to an increasing awareness of the role of glassware, beyond that of simple advertising.

Glassware has even had an influence on beer styles. The most widely known example of this concerns the rise of popularity of Czech & German pilsners in Europe at around the same time as transparent and mass-produced glassware was introduced. Drinkers could appreciate the translucent, golden effervescence of the style, and as a result, opaque beers began to fall by the wayside.

As regards the new Sam Adams glass, only part of the design addresses strictly aesthetics; the other features come straight from modern psychological science, specifically aspects of flavor perception. In particular, these features tend to enhance the aroma of the beer, and since flavor is the experience of both taste and smell, anything that alters concentrations of aroma will also change the overall flavor profile.

The aspects of the design which do this are: micro-etching on the bottom of the glass, the bulbous shape, and the reworking of the angle of the lip of the glass (the rim of which is slightly beaded). The micro etching provides nucleation sites for CO2, which means that the beer has a healthier and longer-lasting head of foam. This in turn helps keep aromatics productive throughout the length of the beer. The shape of the glass—like a brandy snifter— also aids in concentrating the bouquet. By giving the lip a slight and appealing curl, the beer is delivered a little further back on the tongue than with a straight-edged glass, to where there is a somewhat higher density of taste buds than the very tip. And the beading on the rim increases turbulance slightly as the beer comes into the mouth, releasing more gas and thus again increasing the olfactorary side of the flavor equation. Like Thomas Dolby, these glasses will blind you with their sicence- and hit you with technology.

So, is the new glass just a promotional tool, or does it really deliver? Having had the opportunity to drink a number of different beers (and other beverages) from them over the course of a few weeks, I believe they absolutely enhance the experience. I’ll admit there must be some dimension of the experience that is derived purely in the mind, I mean c’mon… these glasses are BADASS! On top of that, the principles of perception that these glasses exploit are sound, and I sensed extra olfactory action to be sure. Will they make your beer “better?” As Jim Koch puts it himself, they’ll make a Sam Adams taste more like a Sam Adams; they’ll also make a PBR taste more like a PBR. Whether you like that or not is up to you!

My thanks to Dennis at Colter Bay for the glasses. For an extra feature on these glasses, and other WNY Beer entertainment and news, check out the third episode of Beer-O-Vision, due in about two weeks. It, and past episodes, are available to stream or download at: Beerovision.com

Think Local: Drink Local!

Ok, it’s not quite like that, maybe. Still, this crossed my intertubes yesterday:

BRUSSELS - Belgian beer exports have been on the rise for a number of years now, but since last year Belgium is exporting more than is consumed in the country itself.

In 2006 Belgian beer exports rose by 15%, while the amount of beer consumed in Belgium itself fell to under 90 litres per Belgian for the first time ever.

So it seems that rising exports and dwindling consumption have conspired to render Belgium a net exporter of beer. Should we worry? Well, no. As long as Belgian breweries are doing well, that’s great- it means we’ll be able to continue to buy their many fantastic beers.

However, it also reminds me that one of the joys of being a beerophile/beergeek/total beer nut is that in order to get the best, freshest samples, you must actually travel; and Elvis Costello knows that “travel broadens your mind/till you can’t get your head out of doors.” While I do love the fact that I can wander over to Premier or Consumers or even Holly Farms on Allen and purchase beers from all over the world, it’s also true that the expanding of your horizons that goes along with studious beer travel is a great thing for you and for the world. Moreover, there is an environmental aspect to the “Think local, drink local” mentality. The shorter distance the beer travels from the brewery to your mouth, the less energy is consumed (and again, the fresher the product you are consuming is, as well). And of course, for the ultimate in freshness, you can brew your own.

So, I guess my thoughts on this news are dichotomous. I certainly want Belgian breweries to be doing well, and I applaud the idea that I don’t have to travel to Belgium to taste one. On the other hand, credible Belgian-style ales are being brewed much closer to home as well- here, here and here, for example, and so I give great thought to what I pick up off the shelf to quaff back at home, letting “closer is better” guide my decision-making.

This was the scene down at the Niagara Association of Homebrewer’s annual event, Brew On The River. The concept is very simple- Bill invites the club to kindly invade his driveway on Grand Island, overlooking the lovely Niagara River for a day of brewing, eating, drinking, and hanging out. It’s always a fun time, and it’s usually an excuse for the club to tackle some kind of crazy brewing project- this year was no exception.

Now, last year, three of us “new” members (shout out to Shawn and Joe here) essentially ended up with the dangerous (yet strangely gratifying) job of ferrying really hot rocks from the fire to the kettle for an authentic Steinbier. We actually managed not to burn ourselves or anyone else, and using loads of bailing wire, we managed to fashion some great rigs for popping rocks into, and out of, the kettle. The only hitch was that we really didn’t have quite the right kind of rock (turns out, graywacke is what you want if you can get it) and many of them split upon hitting the wort. I think that wort had some extra mineral content! But, the beer did come out awesome- I had some at the NAH/Sultans picnic, and maybe at one other meeting since. It had a great caramel complexity, and a sharp color if I recall, and I hear there may be some left even, somewhere.

So but this year, an Egyptian gruit-style beer was on deck. (Funny, because I wore open-toed sandals just to avoid carrying hot rocks again!) Two aspects of this beer that I caught were especially historical. A gruit-beer is basically any un-hopped style of beer, as all beers were before the widespread use of hops occurred. So, this beer’s sweetness was matched against wormwood. I think among other things, but I didn’t catch it all. The second aspect of this beer that was also an historical re-creation was that the grist was composed of actual pieces of bread (baked specifically for this beer) and sprouted, unmalted barley. Check out the mash tun:

I’m looking forward to drinking that one! They seemed to get good conversion, but I didn’t catch the O.G., and I also failed to catch what kind of yeast they used, maybe it was a Belgian of some sort. Anyway, I’ll report on it more when it’s done.

As for myself, I pulled off a quickie partial mash + extract brew- I knew I didn’t have a lot of time because I had visiting relatives, so I figured something easy might be better. Also less equipment to haul and clean. Style-wise, I don’t even have a clue on this one, maybe it is an American Amber Wheat, but then there’s quite a bit of Aussie Coopers to it. All I know is I just hit the supply store in a whirlwind, pulling out ingredients left and right. One sad story, though… I was so anxious to use a new hop, Glacier, all the way through, a real one-hop brew. Alas, I left them on kitchen table, and ended up bumming hops from Bill (thanks again!!!) Even the best laid plans, right? So even had I a fairly specific thing in mind, it would have had to withstand some tweaking. Frankly, I like brewing by the seat of the pants as much as hitting the marks, so I’m not fussed. Since it was in the end such a strange brew, I have decided to call it:

Flesh-Eating Zombie Beer
(for 5 gallons)
3.3 lbs Coopers Light malt extract
3.3 lbs Coopers Wheat malt extract (50% wheat, 50% barley)
Enough Muntons Light DME to hit 1.068 SG (about 2.5 lbs for me)
approx .5 lbs Weyermann Carared (15-25L)
approx .5 lbs Carastan (~30L)
approx 3 oz. English Crystal (30-40L)
(the last three steeped at 150-154 for .5h)
.5 oz Perle (9%AA) at 60 min
.25 oz Spalt (~5%AA) at 15 + 1tsp Irish Moss
.25 oz Spalt at knockout
Coopers Dry Ale Yeast (I prepared about 1/2gal of starter over two days before brewing)

This beer really took off- I pitched the yeast when I got home (having already cooled it down before transport back from G.I.) and it was happening within 15-20 minutes- by one hour, the airlock was frankly buzzing. Of course, it started off at around 1.068-1.070, and it is fermenting at about 64. I am a little concerned about the hop levels, but I’ll give it a taste when it’s time for the secondary and figure I can dry-hop with those glaciers, still, if aroma is an issue. Here it is in repose in the basement Ale Closet:

(You can see some of my Mead Experiment No. 1 there, lit-up by the flash, now over a year old and ready for a final vertical tasting… ah, but that is another post!)

We’ll come back to the Flesh-Eating Zombie Brew as it progresses… here on day 4, it’s slowed to a bubble every 21 sec or so; I like to rack over to secondary when that slows down to below 30 sec, generally- maybe later today, or tomorrow.

Saturday June 30th: Leave Ulrich’s at 3:30 and return between 11:00 and 11:30

$45 per person includes game ticket, limo bus, beer on the bus, and snacks on bus: What a deal!

We’ll be visiting Rochester’s famed beer bar, The Old Toad, and then going out to the ball game. Why see another town’s ball team when you can go to the Bisons? Besides the general camaraderie of the Hasenpfeffer Club, Frontier Field has one of the best beer selections in baseball. That’s right, you can sip on one of a number of Rohrbach’s beers while watching the Red Wings get destroyed by the Bisons under the lights! This trip promises to be lots of fun.

Past Hasenpfeffer events have been great fun as well- last month’s trip to Riverside included a stop at the Flying Bison brewery, and members as still buzzing—er, talking—about the amazing Ukranian Club building featured on the April trip. Future events are in the works- the next trip will be to the Waldfest on Sunday July 15th between $25-30 per person for bus-ticket, beer on bus, and two tables with 2 kegs of German beer. Come One, Come All!

For more Hasenpfeffer info, contact Jim Daily down at Ulrich’s Tavern: 855-8409 or online at Ulrichstavern.net

Short post, just to inform WNYers, that Belgian Red Ale Rodenbach is currently on tap down at Allen Street Hardware. I actually discussed this very beer–well, ok, the Grand Cru, actually–in the last episode of Beer-O-Vision, so click on over to that if you want to know more. But the short story is that it is a fantastic and relatively hard-to-find-on-tap sort of beer, so take advantage is my advice.

Kirk Out.

If you’re reading this, you might very well already know what Beer-O-Vision is, or aims to be once we’ve fully developed it. But possibly you’ve stumbled here via some other route, and honestly, you may have even seen one of the first two episodes and thought “Cool, but… what is it?”

I’ve been waiting a bit to write any sort of B-O-V manifesto, only because I knew WNYMedia was about to go through some upgrades and I figured it would be best to get this up at the time the new site goes up. So, here we are…

I’ve been pushing the somewhat awkward term “Internet Video Magazine,” which I think captures the idea effectively, if gracelessly. Certainly, it is not a “vlog,” in that it’s not really meant to be the video equivalent of a blog- it’s not like a journal. Rather, I’m aiming to have a bevy of regular segments, such as interviews, reviews, news, brewery tours, homebrewing events, competitions and well… others I haven’t even conceived of yet, I’m sure. In any month’s episode, you’ll get some subset of the different segments. A good example- the “From The Beer Seller” segment, where we do a little pop-up-video over some old beer ads… We’ll probably forgo that in the upcoming episode, but it’ll be back. We have a lot of those ads, so it’s always there for us. One thing that is going to be at least relatively consistent is the use of the Goodbeer Club as a homebase for between segments- but we’ll be visiting other local tasting events as well. In fact, look for us at Alternative Brews on 21st June for their tasting; that segment will probably go into Episode 4.

And of course, we’re paying a lot of attention to production and quality- ultimately, this may be mostly distributed on the intertubes, but it is also TV-ready. Indeed, we’re aiming to make 24-min episodes to allow time for advertising in the offline world, probably also in the online world. I’m not really Mr. Entrepreneur here, but at the same time, it needs to sustain itself. I hope I can manage that without becoming a tool, we’ll see. But when the when the Blue ads start coming up, I’m just saying… you’ve been warned.

So anyway, that’s the format. What’s the point? Well, more than anything, it’s fun to produce and it will add to the growing buzz surrounding craft beer—the fastest-growing segment of the beverage industry lately—and homebrewing. Simply, I am a big ol’ beer & brewing enthusiast with a soapbox, and I wanna use it. As it happens, for me, that enthusiasm is wrapped up in all sorts of other aspects of my life (politics, environmental concerns, education, regionalism, advocacy, economics, history, design… new media, just to name a few!), but at the end of the day, there’s also the idea of joining the beer advocacy bandwagon.

For too long, beer has been denigrated, regarded as capable of only being a simple beverage, mass-produced and mass-consumed, and as such, not worthy of scrutiny, art, intrigue, or innovation. This attitude drove the massive industry-wide consolidation that resulted in such limited choices for style at least until the late 80’s and early 90’s. Of course this scene has really changed, and more and more people are aware of the variety and possibilities of beer- like I said above, it’s a fast growing market segment. But despite that rosy picture, for most people, beer remains almost purely functional. Craft beer market share can grow so massively precisely because it is still a very small part of the market overall. But to me, beer is bested by other choices, like wine, only for lack of a good marketing campaign. In today’s artisinal beer world, you can pay loads of money for aged beers of a complexity and caliber to rival any wine. Enough. If that fancy restaurant is going to have a wine list or a sommelier, they should give beer as mauch attention as well.

So I like the idea of helping to amp up the message on good beer… and that’s the why of Beer-O-Vision. And surely, that’s enough gabbing for the time being.

Well… the long-awaited second episode, for your viewing pleasure! I have to say, I’m very happy with it, and I think Marc did a hell of a job on the editing. It still represents only about 75% of our total concept–we’re thinking there will be a couple more segments each episode, and of course, shameless whoring advertising–but it conveys the idea much better than the introductory segment, definitely.

I suppose errata is always going to be an issue, so let’s just get this out of the way really quickly: I know that the brewmaster at Brooklyn is named Garrett Oliver, and not the reverse. They’re a long time favorite brewery of mine, I have his book and have read him widely elsewhere… I don’t know why I had a brain fart on that. But, in my defense, my thesis advisor was named Merrill Garrett, and so, it is true that I’m a little more used to storing that word as a surname than as a given name. Still, Mr. Oliver, should you happen upon this- my apologies. At least Mike got it right!

Also, Bobby @ Mr. Goodbar spells his last name “Rabb”, not “Raab,” but this we can fix eventually, when we have time or cause to re-render the thing.

Thare the mistakes I’ve caught so far, and just barely at that, but I expect some others will pop up. Whatever. We have twice as many monkeys in this episode as in the last, and to me, that’s a sign of real progress.

Ok, then- here it is!

Well, not too beery, but nonetheless, beerful at least.

The most recent trend in craft beer and beer marketing circles seems to be beer and food pairing. I couldn’t be happier for it. Not only does it help to highlight that beer has immense range and flexibility when it comes to flavors, but I like to think it will also help accord more respect to beer as a beverage. It’s not that I don’t like wine, but I do feel beer has mainly been out-marketed by the wine industry, when it comes to “cuisine,” if you will. My life will become immeasurably more pleasant when I can walk into any bar and choose a local craft brew, but also when I can go into the kind of restaurant that has a separate wine list and find a beer list as well. In fact, creating that sort of demand among patrons is precisely what motivates me to do my bimonthly beer & food pairing down at Delish! on Elmwood.

So, I digress a bit, but all of this is to say that when I find that special restaurant that has a fine fine beer list and as well, knows how to match beer up (or better still incorporate it,) with their chow, I’m a happy camper indeed. While Buffalo doesn’t actually have any specifically cuisine à la bière restaurants, we do have Shango. It was there I found myself with family on a Friday night and was treated to an extraordinary dish. Behold:

Ok, I’m no expert food photographer, I know, but I hope you get the gist of it, anyway. It was a very special pork chop, grilled to perfection and served with a glaze that incorporated Abita beer. I could have done the obvious and enjoyed it with a bottle of the same, but upon some consideration, I went instead for Unibroue’s excellent Trois Pistoles, a dark belgian ale with just the right sort of malt complexity, I thought, to go along with this dish- and boy was I right on that. The smokey notes in the pork went very well with the flavors of malt in the beer, and the mild carbonation did a great job of collecting flavor on the way down, leaving my palate clean and ready for the next bite. Suburb!

So, a tip of the hat to Jim Guarino at Shango for coming up with this extraordinary special dish.