Beer Review...Victory Prima Pils

What better to drink on a cold night this week than a Pilsner.  Okay, maybe not, but I can't remember if I've ever even tried this beer before, so I gave it a shot.  Below are my thoughts on it.

Beer: Prima Pils

Brewery: Victory (Downington, PA)

Beer Style: German Pilsner

ABV: 5.3%

IBU: ?

Hops: Whole flower German and Czech

Malts: Imported 2-row German

Other: n/a

Appearance: light gold; brilliantly clear; good white head but not much retention

Aroma: some malt; some spice; low aroma overall

Flavor: bitterness that lingers; dry

Mouthfeel: light body; good carbonation

Overall:  crisp; clean; bitter; refreshing

Bottle Cap Rating: 3.5

Overall, I must confess that Pilsner is not my favorite style, though I don't have a lot of experience with it.  Therefore, I want to appreciate it and learn more about it so that I might be fully informed.

Cheers!

Beer Review - Off Color Scurry

So in my quest (what's your quest?  get it?  oh, nevermind.) for more beer knowledge, I want to start learning more about specifics for beer styles.  So, I now have the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) app on my phone, which gives me all the specifics for all of the official beer styles.  So, last night I settled down with my notebook, beer style app, and a beer.

Off Color is a pretty new brewery in Chicago with new distribution to the Upstate.  One of the brewers is a former Goose Island guy, who left after the AB InBev takeover.  While at the Community Tap the other day, I picked up a single of Off Color's Scurry, described as a Dark Honey Ale.  The official beer style for this one is Altbier.  Below are some notes on Scurry.

I'm a fan of the simplistic artwork

Beer: Scurry
Brewery: Off Color Brewing (Chicago, IL)
Beer Style: Altbier (Dark Honey Ale) - Ale
ABV: 5.3%
IBU: 18
Hops: Strisselspalt, Northern Brewer, and Hallertau Hersbrucker
Malts: Pils, Dark Munich, Wheat, Chocolate, and Flaked Oats
Other: Honey and molasses
Appearance: light brown color; very clear; not much head poured
Aroma: malty with low hop aroma
Flavor: bitter but smooth; some sweetness and caramel; nearly non-existent hop flavor
Mouthfeel: pretty light; good carbonation
Overall: clean and crisp; balanced malt and bitterness
Bottle Cap Rating: 4

Overall, I tend to be a fan of Altbier, and this was a delicious first taste of Off Color's offerings.

Cheers!

Value Yourself in the New Year

I got away from the blog for awhile, but with the new year starting, I am vowing to get back to it on a regular basis with the goal of covering a short topic daily.

With that being said, I began 2014 with having lunch at Twain’s Billiards and Tap, a brewpub in Decatur, Georgia.  Now when I think brewpub, I think of an establishment that is a full-service restaurant and serves just its own craft beer that is brewed on the premises.  Twain’s offers a full menu of food, serves the beer that is brewed there, and it also has an extensive menu of bottled/canned beer that isn’t brewed at Twain’s.

 This last item is mostly okay with me because the list contains a good selection of craft beer, many of which are local (even others brewed in Decatur). 

The disconnect, however, is that this bottled/canned list also contains several of the usual, macro suspects.  Why does a place that brews its own craft beer and has at least ten of them on tap at all times feel it necessary to have these macro bottles/cans?  Why does a place that brews its own craft beer and has at least ten of them on tap at all times AND has a very extensive selection of craft bottled/canned beers feel it necessary to have these macro bottles/cans?

A few possible reasons jump out at me right away.  Maybe they decided to keep serving these macro beers for their regular customers since they didn’t start serving their own beer until ten years after the opening of the establishment.  Maybe Twain’s recognizes that not everyone is a craft beer drinker and just wants to offer options to those people in order to get them in to eat food, play pool, etc.  Maybe the distributor is the culprit by making sure they get bottles of Bell’s Hopslam as long as they sell Budweiser.

Whatever the reason, is this approach a good idea, bad idea, or are you wondering why in the world I even brought it up?  While my opinion is certainly not meant to be a condemnation, I would have to say I don’t agree with the approach.  Twain’s is a small, local business that provides quality, artisanal craft beer.  The craft beer community is very tight and I am completely fine with having guest taps and offering other craft beers where craft beer is brewed.  However, I just get a feeling that when the macros are offered, this is devaluing the beer that is lovingly crafted just on the other side of the wall. 

 

Is business hurting because these macros are offered?  No.  Would business drop if these macros were taken off the menu?  Probably not, as hopefully the macro drinkers would give the beers brewed at Twain’s a shot.  I’m certain a suitable replacement or two could be found. 

 

With the globalization of the world, too much has become homogenous.  I cherish the individuality of local bars and restaurants, and I don’t need to be able to count on seeing something familiar wherever I go.  So, stay true to that craftsmanship and value all that goes into it.

Cheers!

In the Unlikely Event of a Water Landing...Drink Beer

I travel to Nashville a lot for work, so I have been loving Southwest's non-stop service between there and Greenville.  The only problem is that every so often, the times of the non-stop flights don't work with my schedule, and this happened to me recently while in Nashville for a conference.  Instead of that wonderful flight that gets me home with less than an hour in the air, I had to connect through Chicago (though I did get to have a Chicago Dog) with a somewhat lengthy layover, basically quadrupling my travel time.

Multiple flights in one day...that just sucks!  Unless, however, we are talking multiple beer flights!

For those who don't know what a beer flight is, it is basically a sampler of usually four to six beers, each of which is typically four ounces.  Additionally, let me say that I know beer flights can be a beertender's worst nightmare at certain busy times, and I can totally empathize with that.  However, I still feel beer flights are a great way to experience a wide range of beers in both an economical way and a responsible way. Flights provide universal love to beer drinkers in the form of allowing newbies to figure out which beer(s) they favor when it comes time to switch to a pint and in the form of allowing crazed veterans the opportunity to try as many beers as possible to accumulate badges and reach 1,000 distinct beers on Untappd.  Ummmmm, that last part doesn't describe me at all.

Anyways, just this week, I took a quick trip up to Asheville, Beer City USA 2012, for a short beercation.  While there, I "went on" five different flights at four different breweries within a 300 yard radius in five hours.  This series of flights allowed me to try 25 different beers, a feat not possible with pints  I'll take those kinds of flights any day over those two flights I had to take to get home from Nashville.

Breweries hit up on this particular South Slope (what this part of Asheville is known as) crawl included Wicked Weed, Asheville Brewing Company, Green Man, and Hi-Wire.  Burial would have been included had they been open...sigh.  Some of the highlights were getting to try Wicked Weed's Serenity, which just won a gold medal at the Great American Beer Festival over the past weekend, having the always delicious Fire Escape jalapeno pale ale at ABC, exploring Green Man's series of historical beers brewed with original recipes, and experiencing the now completed tasting room at Hi-Wire, equipped with the original Nintendo and a delicious Ringmaster Red Rye. 

Whether you are a rookie wondering the difference between liquids, gels, and aerosols, or a veteran in the pre-screening program, I encourage you to sit back, relax, and enjoy the flight.

Cheers!

Quest for Beer and Food Marriage

Menu

I attended my first beer dinner last night at the Trappe Door, and it was absolutely delicious and a tremendous amount of fun.  The dinner consisted of six courses, each creatively paired with a beer from Quest Brewing Company.  All four core Quest beers were on display in addition to a bourbon barrel aged version of the Ellida IPA and a special saison collaboration beer between Allen (Trappe Door chef) and Don (Quest brewmaster).  Below are some pictures of each of the courses.

Amuse bouche - watermelon tartare on top of a meringue then topped with bee pollen and cilantro paired with Wormwood Ale

Popcorn soup - corn soup drizzled with chili oil, honey, and topped with freshly popped corn paired with Ellida IPA

Smoked duck with plum BBQ sauce and pickled jalapeno paired with Smoking Mirror Smoked Porter

Garden salad with mole vinaigrette, potato croutons, spiced pecans, tomatoes, and pineapple tomatillos paired with Kaldi Imperial Coffee Stout

Pork scallopini with lemon ice cream sauce, leek mashed potatoes, and grilled scallions paired with Golden Fleece Belgian Pale Ale

Lemongrass creme caramel paired with Buffalo Trace Bourbon Barrel Aged Ellida IPA

Cheers (and bon appetit)!

Where's the Beef...or Coconut, or Peppers, or Chocolate, or Orange?

A beer name is crucial in terms of peaking a potential consumer's interest enough to turn that person into a consumer and hopefully a repeat consumer.  A name frequently incorporates specialty ingredients that were used in the brewing and/or flavoring of a beer, whether it be coffee, chocolate, bananas, peppers, etc.  I appreciate this, as it gets my senses all jazzed up in anticipation of aromas and flavors to come.  However, I hate nothing more than to take in that aroma and get not a trace of the ingredient(s) mentioned.  "That's okay," I tell myself.  "I'm sure I'll pick up the flavor when I take a sip.  Damn...nothing!  What gives?"  I understand everyone experiences different aromas and flavors from beers, but ones billed with special ingredient(s) should be easily identifiable by everyone. 

I have had this experience happen only a few times but feel it is worth mentioning.  Last night was one of those experiences.  Having just returned from vacation at the beach and still feeling tropical I guess, I decided to try one of Stone Brewing Company's 2013 Collaboration beers, R&R Coconut IPA.  This collaboration was done with Rip Current Brewing out of San Marcos, California.  Let me say that this was a terrific IPA, but I detected absolutely no coconut aroma or flavor.  Absolutely none!

Other instances of this that come to mind include Chipotle Ale by Rogue Ales and Castaway Chocolate Orange IPA by Thomas Creek Brewery.  I'm a little more forgiving on the chipotles, because I understand the peppers can fade with time.  But I don't understand one with both chocolate and orange in the name, yet I pick up on neither of them.  Again, don't get me wrong, I really enjoy Castaway as a nice IPA, but I want to experience the chocolate and orange.  I want those peppers to give me a little burn with some smokiness.  I want that tropical coconut sensation to transport me to a sunny beach.

As I won't go off on a business tangent on this particular post, I'll just suffice it to say that when a beer name includes specific ingredient(s), please make sure the ingredient(s) come through loud and clear.  My senses and I would greatly appreciate it.

Cheers!

IPA Day...Just a Marketing Ploy to Sell Beer, Right?

National IPA Day was yesterday, and it seems nearly every brewery across the nation was having an event to celebrate.  And if they weren't hosting an event, they, at least, acknowledged the day via social media and encouraged craft beer lovers to enjoy their beers in celebration.  Founded only two years ago in 2011, it has become a wildly popular day for the craft beer scene.

IPA Day, you say.  This is just a marketing ploy to sell beer, right?  This is just big business taking advantage of a random day in August to create buzz and have a spike in beer sales.  This is corporate America tricking us into thinking we are getting something special when we can really get the same offering the other 364 days of the year.  This just screams of conspiracy theory!  How dare these businesses do this to us!

Wait a minute.  How dare these businesses do this to us?  Do what?  Afford us the opportunity to drink deliciously crafted beer while spending quality time with our friends and family, listening to great local bands, and eating amazing food?  Man, that sounds just awful.  How could we be tricked into such horrible things?

The American Marketing Association defines marketing as, "the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large."  Essentially, marketing is an exchange in which all parties perceive value. 

If value is not perceived by one or more parties, then the exchange doesn't have to happen.  Nobody forced us to celebrate IPA Day yesterday.  There was perceived value in doing so, so we did. 

In addition to the aforementioned delicious beers, time with friends and family, great music, and tasty food, we got a midweek escape from life, an opportunity to learn new facts, and an opportunity to experience new sensations.  There could have even been the chance to meet new people that could forever change the courses of our lives.  Whoa, that last one is pretty deep, right?

And as for those big businesses, they aren't big businesses at all.  The craft breweries are mostly small businesses that are locally owned and operated by our fellow community members.  Sure, IPA Day creates value for them by selling beer (immediate money) and creating customers (future money), but there is much more value in it for them than that.  Craft breweries have a passion for what they do and the product they offer, so they simply get the satisfaction of sharing their craft with us to experience.  They get to do what they love and get paid for it...we should all be so lucky.  They also get the satisfaction of bringing the community together.

Speaking of the community, or society at large, there is value to be had here as well.  I think we all agree that a happy and content society makes for a good one.  Quality of life is important, and events such as IPA Day function to provide us with a high quality of life.  These events keep society balanced in terms of working hard and playing hard...the lubricant that keeps the societal wheels turning, if you will.

As you see, events like IPA Day are not attempts at pulling fast ones on us.  They are valuable tools to keep life stable  and enjoyable.  Oh yeah, they are also valuable tools to allow me to have an IPA aged in bourbon barrels (pictured below) as a nightcap.

Cheers!