Two posts in a month is pretty impressive stuff, I know. What can I say? I’ve been busy doing other things, mainly legal work and traveling. I’ve just returned after a lengthy trip to Britain, perhaps a bit lengthier than I had expected due to the faux-snow attack we had here in New England.
For the purposes of this site, my impressions of the trip can be boiled down to these thoughts. There is a lot of real ale going on in London and its environs and a lot of people are drinking it, both young and old. It could definitely have been the types of bars I was visiting, but we hit a few dozen places over more than ten days and everywhere we went, people were drinking cask ale. Yes, they also drank the hell out of cheap lager beer but cask made a pretty good showing. With that said, on average, the cask ale ran the gamut from undrinkable due to overwhelming butter and “British yeast” notes, at least to my palate (a small percentage of beers tried), to average and fine (most of the beers), to outstanding (also a very small percentage). Had a very bad Fullers ESB at the Old Bank of England pub where I so enjoyed it five years ago or so but an excellent Adnams Broadside down the road and some good HopBack in Oxford. Also, Sam Smith’s pubs were, in terms of atmosphere and beer quality, the tops (Alpine Lager was a savior at times). The other thing that surprised me a great deal was the near complete dearth of beer styles available at these pubs. Even pub’s with great reputations, such as the Market Porter in London with its 8 or so casks, served an overwhelming amount of bitter. Perhaps you might find a golden colored ale that was a touch hoppier but generally speaking it was all bitter all the time. Not a single mild, stout, or porter to be seen (apart from Guinness and the quite enjoyable Export Stout from Sam Smiths). The one exception to this was that I frequently found pubs were carrying Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. I have no particular idea why and never saw anyone order one, but it was there. This sort of style fidelity makes for a pretty boring beer experience after a few repetitious days. Eventually, we had to break the mold with a night drinking lambic at the cheesy Belgian-themed Belgo Centraal restaurant in London. I think we often take for granted the diversity of great beer styles we have available to us in almost any bar here in America, from a gastropub to an Applebee’s. I’ll be perusing the tap handles tonight with a new-found sense of wonder tonight.
Last thought: the Michael Jackson archive in Oxford is truly an impressive sight, with nearly 30 big file cabinets filled with material. Ranging from his own personal tasting notes on what seemed to be every single global brewery to his very personal research into Parkinson’s treatments, it was an illuminating few hours. I was cheered to see that he counted as part of his extensive library a copy of my book, The Good Beer Guide To New England, though I don’t think he ever cracked it. It was also a touch uncomfortably voyeuristic to read the inscriptions many fellow beer writers made in their tomes offered to the Bard of Beer. In my whirlwind visit to the archive, I came across a lot of excellent material and left with many new questions I hope to answer in the future. A fastidiously organized pack-rat, I’m also surprised at just how in demand Michael Jackson was in every imaginable way and how well he documented it all. Along these lines, it was interesting to see just how hard the craft brewing community courted him and tried to curry his favor, starting from the earliest days. Michael counted many brewers (not just crafts) as among his “clients”, an interesting revelation to say the least.
I was also very surprised to learn that despite having been open for more than two years, I was the first person to actually ask to see the archive.
Cheers to the good folks at Oxford Brookes, including the friendly Don Marshall, for their assistance in gaining access to them. I hope to return soon to peruse the rest of the interesting materials on offer there.
Tags: Britain, Cask Ale, Michael Jackson, Oxford, Real Ale
Quiet month around here at BeerScribe.com. I’ve spent most of my time editing the galleys of my book, which will be published in August (2010), and doing assorted legal work. I’ve also been preparing (in a very general sense) for an upcoming 10-day trip to England (London, Oxford, and Dover for the 17th White Cliffs Festival of Winter Ales — mainly strong beer, i.e. nothing under 5%. Gotta love the British). So after sending off the final edits today, I ran some errands and decided to stop by my local package store, Downtown Wine and Spirits in Davis Square.
Visiting Downtown is a little like heading to Saks or Armani to check out the suits. Everything looks great but, generally speaking, you wouldn’t dare think of buying anything. There are two reasons for this line of thinking. First of all, the pricing is generally considered to be 5-10 percent above other local stores. Second, Downtown is where good beer is sent to die a slow, warm death. With very little cold box space, I’d venture to say that 70 percent of the brands available in the store just sit on the floor or hot store shelves under tough fluorescent lighting. Now don’t get me wrong, Downtown has a fantastic selection in theory. And I even occasionally buy age-worthy Belgians from the store’s shelves. And when it comes to fulfilling beer geek wet dreams, Downtown is your spot for eye candy. But like Monet or Amsterdam Red Light District window dressing, the proof is in the close-up. Most bottles are covered in a coarse layer of dust with no idea given as to how long they’ve been hanging around. Stock rotation is not in the vocabulary here. And it’s not as if there isn’t plenty of space available to put in additional cold boxes. To the contrary, space is plentiful, with rack upon rack, shelve upon shelve screaming out for some chill.
So I mainly direct my attention to the cold boxes on my semi-annual visit. After remarking upon how a South Carolina brewery is now selling beer in Massachusetts (a definite sign of either how far craft has come or the beer apocalypse) and noting all the great but dead beers on display, today’s visit culminated in the purchase of some safety choices. First, the American Stout, Babayaga, from our friends Dann and Martha at Pretty Things Beer & Ale Project. That’ll be saved for another day, as will my second four pack of Brooklyn’s perennial aging favorite, the Black Chocolate Stout.
That leaves us with the final offering, a six pack of Boston Beer’s Samuel Adams Noble Pils. I’ve noted a lot of press about this new release and even believe I’ve sampled it on at least one occasion previously, but have no memory of it. As you may know, I tend to be a touch partial to pilsener beer. And since I do not have ready access, despite my suppliers, to Sly Fox’s excellent Pikeland Pils and Victory’s Prima Pils seems to have disappeared from most local tap handles, I was excited about the prospect of having a zesty, zippy German style pils to buy when. say, I’m in Tampa or other less beer-centric places. So in recognition of finishing my edits and reviews on the book, I offer a rare BeerScribe tasting note for the Noble Pils.
Pouring a radiant golden color, with a nicely laced white cloud of foam, the Noble Pils (made with all 5 (?) noble hops), starts off on the right foot. The aroma, however, takes a decidedly malty turn that has me a bit worried. Having spent a week kicking around Berlin and northern Germany last fall, the soulless, malty northern version of the classic German pils style is an impostor of the worst form. 
The aroma here is thankfully a touch zestier than those bastards, with some minerally notes and frankly, an odd parallel to pine cones, both in their evergreen and earthy senses. Medium bodied, the flavor strikes a strong malty first step, followed by a wholly unusual flux of minerally, earthy, fruity, and flinty flavors, not coherent or clean in any sense (like the aforementioned Pennsylvania beauties), but befitting the mixture of the noble hops. The flavor runs from light butter to sweet Euro malt onto a mild but present noble hop bitter base of flavor. Catch a taste at just the wrong time and you’d be forgiven for thinking you detected Cool Ranch Doritos. Yes, that odd, manufactured but fruity zesty quality that is at once attracting and repulsive. Generally speaking, the Noble Pils is a nice if safe beer in the bottle. I can’t imagine circumstances, unfortunately, where I would dare chance its soft gentility to the coarsening rigors of the public house taps where this beer might be found. Sad to say, but I think my hunt for sourcing a good, inexpensive, and widely available German-style pils will continue…
Tags: Boston Beer Company, Downtown Wine & Spirits, Noble Pils, Pretty Things Beer & Ale Project
It is with sadness that I report the Beer Institute’s news that its longtime CEO, Jeff Becker, has passed away after a battle with cancer. From the BI’s announcement:
Everybody who knew Jeff immediately liked him because he was a terrific guy and a true beer guy. Jeff was a tireless advocate and a true champion for all that is good about our great industry. Jeff embodied a spirit of optimism and collaboration – a spirit he brought to work every day right until the end. Those of us in the industry who worked with Jeff are better for it and his presence, commitment and friendship will be greatly missed. Jeff was, first and foremost, a friend, a husband and a father.
Jeff is survived by his wife Brenda and his children Megan and Max. Please keep them in your prayers and raise a glass to a great man.
I’ve interviewed Jeff a few times over the years and once in long form from his hospital bed, a show of his dedication.
In that interview, Jeff talked about the success and future of craft brewers.
In the last twenty-five years, you’ve seen a sustained growth in the craft brewing segment. You have a lot of individuals there who got into it because they thought it was fun and interesting but have turned it in to quite a business. It’s definitely here to stay. People are thinking about succession planning and getting their kids involved and that’s a wonderful thing. It is phenomenal to see the wealth of talent we have available to us, some of which got into this for fun. And now to see them as thriving businesses I think is terrific. The import segment is going to continue to grow and we hope the domestic segment will continue to grow. I think what we are starting to see now is slowly everybody is starting to come back and that is a very encouraging sign for everyone. I think imports and craft beers definitely have a place to stay and I think you see some of the larger brewers doing those same sorts of things. I’m very encouraged about the future and I think that anybody in the industry right now should be.
Our thoughts go out to Jeff’s family and friends on their loss.
Tags: Beer Institute
The Massachusetts Brewer’s Guild has just announced plans for its second annual beer dinner. For the price of a mere 125 bucks you can “[m]ingle, drink and have fun with the founders and brewers from Massachusetts’ best breweries.” To be held on February 27, 2010, at the Exchange Conference Center on the Waterfront, the ticket price includes a dinner prepared by Executive Chef Rich Vellante of Legal Sea Foods and limited release beers and pairings from 22 local breweries. I didn’t attend last year’s event, but word from attendees and the accompanying photos suggest it was a pretty industry heavy event. Here’s the menu if you’ve got a little extra green in your wallet this year.
Venison, black bean and pumpkin chili with cumin crema
Wachusett-Blueberry Ale / Mercury- Ipswich Stone Cat Winter lager
Fish tacos “street-style”
Blue Hills Brewery- Imperial Red IPA / Cape Anne Brewing- Fisherman’s AleChopped salad: romaine, olives, chick peas, beans, olives, New England
artisan cheese and candied bacon
Sam Adams-Boston Lager / BBC- Raspberry Barley wine Style Ale / Mayflower- PorterBailey’s Blonde Ale braised short ribs with soft polenta
Cisco Brewers- Bailey’s Blonde Ale / Haverhill Brewery- “Joshua Norton” Imperial StoutSticky toffee pudding with ginger ice cream
Harpoon Brewery- 100 Barrel Series Ginger Wheat / Cape Cod Beer- Porter
One diligent (or bored) reader over at BeerAdvocate compiled his own Best of BA list, taking the top beer from every style listed on the site. Whereas the ratings sites tend to heavily favor a small number of styles (with Imperial Stouts dominating) to the exclusion of many others (lagers generally speaking), it provides an interesting and across-the-board look at what reviewers consider to be the world’s best beers.
Uerige Doppelsticke
Schlitz Gusto (60’s Formula)
Tröegs Nugget Nectar
Brooklyn Lager
Kuhnhenn Bourbon Barrel Barley Wine
Sixpoint Sweet Action
Coffee Bender (Surly)
Schlafly No. 15
Pliny The Younger
Humulus Lager
Black Tuesday
Sculpin India Pale Ale
Dad’s Little Helper Malt Liquor (Rogue)
Alpha King Pale Ale
American Darling
Gumballhead
Victory At Sea (Barrel Aged) Imperial Porter
Coffee Stout (Central Waters)
Melange No. 3
Supplication
Ølfabrikken Porter
Rare Vos (Amber Ale)
Houblon Chouffe Dobbelen IPA Tripel
R&D Golden Ale (New Glarus)
Trappistes Rochefort 8
Duvel
1809
DeuS (Brut Des Flandres)
Abbaye De Saint Bon-Chien
Bodacious Black & Tan
St. Nikolaus Bock Bier – Brewer’s Reserve
Three (Surly)
Oscura
Theobroma
Lagunitas Sirius Ale
Reality Czeck
Andechser Doppelbock Dunkel
Great Lakes Dortmunder Gold
Trappist Westvleteren 8
Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier Dunkel
Kuhnhenn Raspberry Eisbock
The Perfect Storm
Bitter Brewer (Surly)
Samuel Smith’s Nut Brown Ale
Merrimack Mild
Cambridge House Abijah Rowe IPA
Landlord – Strong Pale Ale
Portsmouth Whipper Snapper
Fuller’s London Porter
Blackheart Stout
Fuller’s 1845
U Fleku “House Beer”
Samuel Smith’s Organically Produced Lager Beer
Hevelius Kaper
Blue Point Extra Special Bitter
Girardin Faro 1882
Haandbakk
La Folie Wood Aged Beer
Guinness Special Export Stout (John Martin – Belgium)
Wisconsin Belgian Red
Prima Pils
Girardin Gueuze 1882 Black Label (unfiltered)
Live Oak HefeWeizen
Baladin Nora
Great Lakes Wolfhound Stout
Brian Boru Old Irish Red
Koshihikari Echigo Beer
Mönchsambacher Lager
Mühlen Kölsch
Weihenstephaner Kristallweissbier
Cantillon Blåbær Lambik
Phunky Duck
Samuel Adams Light
Clausthaler Golden Amber
Spring Bock
Ramstein Octoberfest
Three Hour Tour
Ayinger Altbairisch Dunkel
Augustiner Bräu Lagerbier Hell
Samuel Smith’s Oatmeal Stout
Old Stock Cellar Reserve (Aged In Brandy Barrels)
The Great Pumpkin
Trappist Westvleteren 12
Aecht Schlenkerla Fastenbier
Vanilla Bean Aged Dark Lord
Founders Red’s Rye
Sah’tea
Saison – Brett
Death And Taxes
Berkshire Bourbon Barrel Scotch Ale
Old Chub – Scottish Style Ale
The Wind Cried Mari… Scottish Heather Ale
Smokestack Heritage Porter
La Fin Du Monde
Great Lakes Eliot Ness
Aventinus
Harvest Dance (Boulevard)
Our Special Ale 2009 (Anchor Christmas Ale)
St. Bernardus Witbier
Tags: BeerAdvocate, Rating Beers
Give and Take…