I like to be well-educated in all things beer. To do so, I read a lot about beer and of course I fully immerse myself in the subject by drinking as many varied styles as I can find and comparing them to published information on the style, or even the lack of style. My beer refrigerator doesn’t share space with food. I’m not trying to protect the beer, just make enough room for it. My refrigerator is in my garage and sits comfortably emblazoned with brewery magnets, stickers and cut up six packs that tickle my fancy in a splash of color.
People often ask me what I read to become so studious in beer. My bible remains the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) Style Guidelines. I have a copy at home, at work, in my truck and down in Hope where I spend most of my weekends. The guidelines offer a framework into which beers can be categorized and evaluated. There is some argument that evaluating every beer against the guidelines is nerdish and turns the beer student into a style-Nazi, but like anything else, the guidelines need to be used as a basis, not a bible. Still, the guidelines remain rich in information about what’s generally accepted in various beer styles including technical information, some history, general information and some noteworthy commercial examples against which a given beer within the style can be compared.
Another huge resource is Michael Jackson’s World Guide to Beer (1977). Some argue that this is a dated reference, but it remains hallmark because it was Jackson that spent the time to turn world beer chaos into order by classifying styles within regions and offering a rich history of the influence of beer across the country. I also hugely appreciate Mr. Jackson’s engaging, colorful writing style. He’s gone now, have passed away this August, but his words remain as delicious as the beer he so eloquently wrote about.
Because I don’t currently brew beer (I homebrewed for 10 years, made over 250 batches and even presided over Anchorage’s homebrew club, the Great Northern Brewers), I don’t find the interest in the technical side of the art. This is dangerous and I know I’m remiss. One technical read on my shelves is Evaluating Beer. To know beer is to know how to evaluate it correctly and to harness the horsepower of your God-given five senses. This book shows you how.
I have two full small shelves of beer books, but to describe each would be daunting and might bore you, so I’ll dispense with the rest. In terms of periodical literature, I read All About Beer, The Beer Advocate and of course, The Celebrator Beer News, a publication that I write for. Some would argue that the more mainstream beer periodicals are placating and kowtow to the industry. Some of this may be true. I used to subscribe to Zymurgy, a homebrewer’s magazine, but got tired of looking for text between the advertisements. I especially enjoy The Beer Advocate. Founders and Chief Executive Advocates Jason and Todd Alstrom established the magazine to get away from the mainstream and these two guys and their contributors call a spade a spade. I especially appreciate the dicey commentary on not only the beer, but the industry that surrounds it. Both the Beer Advocate and All About Beer have sections that evaluate and rate different beers each month and I especially enjoy seeing how my perceptions compare when I find a match between something they’ve covered and something I’ve sampled. In particular, I appreciate the Advocate’s no-holds-barred approach. If the beer sucks, they’re not afraid to say so through both an A-F rating scale and harsh commentary. In the October 2007 issue, the rated Gouden Haven Premium Pils Lager, ostensibly from Maarse, Holland an F. The evaluators opined “Wow, we did not think beer could taste this processed and tooled to the point of not being drinkable at all. Extremely difficult to finish the bottle let alone what was left in the glass – we finally gave up on this one. Simply avoid this beer.” Believe it or not, that was one of the more benign bad write ups coming from the rag.
Ms. Fermento is another great source of beer information because she reads every issue of the Anchorage Daily News and clips articles on anything beer-related and puts them in my in-box in my hope office, which is an old plastic Anchorage Times newspaper tube, the kind I used to see as part of mailbox ensembles. Ms. Fermento doesn’t drink beer aside from an occasional sip to help sort out my own perceptions, but she’s been around the fermented art long enough to be able to identify individual hop varieties by smell. It’s just good to have someone close at hand to bounce impressions off of once in a while when I get caught in the quandary of not being able to bail out a flavor or sensory perception.
Then there’s Jason Ditsworth, a local homebrewer with a palate that should be insured, akin to the way famous pianists insure their hands and fingers. I do not have the best or most refined palate, although I am a BJCP Certified Beer Judge. Jason can bail out an ingredient or a brewing effect or defect from a mile away and I’m forever awed by his analytical prowess. I’m also indebted to his Job-like patience with my pesky, incessant questions and begging of him to share his sentiments on beers both good and bad.
Finally, there’s our local brewing and beer establishments and retail outlets that keep me in a target-rich environment. It’s easier for me to be studious here in beer-rich and palate-mature Alaska than it would be for someone in Arkansas.
In summary, if you want to enhance your understanding, awareness and enjoyment of good beer, read about the stuff, drink lots of it, take notes, share your thoughts and drinking experiences with good friends and travel widely to suck in as much as you can.
I have a new course of study that I’m excited about. I’m enrolled in the Cicerone Certification Program. The program is set up by Ray Daniels, prominent beer author and President of the Craft Beer Institute. The objective of the program is to teach people who serve beer (as apposed to sommeliers, who serve wine) how to properly serve beer to customers. This seems like a simple concept. Open the bottle or can, or pull the draft handle, fill the glass and plop it down in front the drinker, right? I’m teasing you because any serious beer lover knows there’s infinitely more to properly serving a beer than that.
The primary elements within the course of study include beer storage, sales and service, beer styles and culture, beer tasting and flavors, brewing ingredients and processes, and pairing beer with food. There are three levels of certification including Certified Beer Server, Certified Cicerone, and Master Cicerone. Each requires increasing levels of proficiency and study to obtain.
If you haven’t figured it out yet, the vast preponderance of servers care enough about what they do, they’ just don’t know enough about the product they’re serving and don’t appreciate its fragility and ease of ruination from poor habits. They also typically don’t know a ton about beer in general, which can be frustrating or even misleading to the customer. This program aims to fix some of that.
You don’t have to be a server, publican or restaurateur to take the for-cost exams. If you’re interested, log in to www.cicerone.org, register and explore the site.
I’ve been getting a lot of email lately concerning the changing face of the Anchorage Press and my long-running column within it. Immediately noticeable is a reduced column length and the conspicuous absence of my ugly mug and the Dr. Fermento character in various incantations. Some people have actually expressed their disdain to the publisher through email, and this is all good, but some explanation is in order.
Last year, the paper was sold and picked up by a different publisher. Much of the long-term staff defected the paper as a result. With new management came new ideas on what makes a paper work. The current regime is re-shaping the look and balance of the paper, and the Brew Review didn’t escape unscathed. My publisher believes there’s more value in a graphic display of a beer or brand than there is of some beer clown with an upbeat happy attitude and the overall writing goal of making people thirsty for beer. He believes that people are more apt to seeing a picture of the beer I’m writing about and being able to find it on a liquor store shelf. Remember, it’s ad copy the fuels the Press coffers and if establishments get the sense that my column sells beer better by displaying the product, they’re more likely to invest advertising dollars.
Although I disagree, it’s not my paper. I remain honored that I have a weekly venue to espouse the merits, subtleties and effects of good beer in our community. I remain fiercely proud of the Fermento shtick, and sometimes this gets in the way of rational thought. It was the paper itself that coddled and fostered the Fermento image and encouraged me to keep using it. In the earlier era, it was the paper’s philosophy that the Fermento images provided entertaining bait to the written word and that seekers of good suds were intelligent enough to ask a retailer for the beer if they couldn’t locate it themselves.
Another recent change has been trimming my column length from around 950 words a week to 750. It’s noticeable on the page, and although chopping 200 words doesn’t seem like a lot, long term readers of the Press and recently this blog know full well I can write volumes about the beverage I love, so there’s some sting in this recent move as well. In fairness, it forces me to become a better writer, framing my thoughts in tighter, more concise and impacting format.
So, before you complain, try to understand the machine that drives the continued success of the paper. It isn’t all about Fermento, it’s about good beer and I’m starting to take a less selfish, less self-aggrandizing approach to what I contribute. If the paper fails, so does a crucial venue to provide both beer lovers and neophytes alike with another learning tool about the art and craft of brewing and beer enjoyment. Keep reading the Press and my column; I’m not going anywhere. You can always find Fermento here too if you need a fix.
The Fermento blogsite was established entirely because I felt that my (now) 750 words a week about beer remains insufficient to herald what our local brewers contribute to the face of beer in Alaska and how national and international beer shapes our palate and beer culture. I made the move to establish a full-blown website over a year ago. I loved the visage of the Great Northern Brewers website and commissioned the website designer to use his creative prowess to do something nice for me. Rob Robul was the genius behind the GNBC look and I commissioned him to build me a site. After a number of months of working on the site on and off, Robul simply abandoned the project and to date, after ripping me off for $250 in seed money, remains largely unapproachable.
Enter Rob Weller of Specialty Imports. Without any influence on my part, Rob created this site on his own and without my awareness until I got an email one day linking me to my own new web address. Rob wasn’t trying to make me happy, he simply saw the need, like I did, for another place to get information about beer. Don’t thank me, thank Weller and Specialty Imports for your weekly dose of Fermento drivel. I remain honored and indebted to Weller for giving not only me, but you another hopefully valuable resource in your quest for good beer.
The site continues to evolve and with limited time to throw at it, it will grow and improve, if I have my way. I struggle with format, content and cohesiveness on the site, ad beg your comments and suggestions. Eventually I intend to move to a full blown website with pages, links and features all designed to enhance the Alaskan beer drinker’s connection with beer here and around the world.
I’m not a techno-dweeb web kind of guy and struggle with working the whole thing. Recent thoughts include finding another designer and forking out more struggling-artist dollars to build a no-shit website to reach my goal. I’d also like to find someone in the beer world to help manage the whole thing because the more time I have to screw around with design, formatting and web-maintenance, the less time I spend in a writer’s pulpit delivering the written goods. If I could find someone I could pay in beer, it would be the perfect match. Talented and thirsty? Get in touch.
This little gem rolled in from the Channel 9 News in Denver. Apparently a thirty-five year old Hebron, Connecticut gent got a good drunk rolling but ran out of beer. Rather than risk driving to go get more he declared his own sorry situation an emergency and called 911 repeatedly and asked emergency services to bring him more beer. The police eventually responded, but not to deliver the goods. The resourceful beer lover was hauled off, ostensibly to sober up.
There’s still plenty of seats at the November 12, 7 PM Tap Root Café German Beer Tasting. Six beers and tasty Tap Root appetizers will set you back $25, which is a deal, all things considered. Clay Brackley from the Snow Goose Restaurant and Sleeping Lady Brewing Company has teamed up with Tap Root and La Bodega’s Pamela Hatzis to put on the gig, and I’m guessing he’s going to be the emcee. Tap Root’s stepping up in the world when it comes to beer tastings. The German Beer Tasting will be followed by a Christmas Beer Tasting on November 26th, a Homer Brewing Company beer release on December 7th and a Midnight Sun Brewing Company Seven Deadly Sins Party on December 29th. Stay tuned for details.
I’m a Bah Humbug kind of guy and when I see Christmas stuff starting to emerge before Thanksgiving, I take exception. Unless, of course, that “stuff” is beer. I’m pleased to recount that we’re already enjoying the spoils of major craft beer seasonal releases including the venerable Jubelale from Deschutes Brewing Company, Wassail, Alaskan Brewing Company’s Winter Ale, Wreck the Halls from Full Sail Brewing Company and others that hail the season ahead. In fairness, these beers are winter seasonal beers, not Christmas ales, so all is fair in beer and lore. More and more pours in including new selections available at La Bodega in the University Mall. Go for Ridgeway’s Bad Elf, Very Bad Elf, and Serious Bad Elf. Corsendonk’s Gift Packs, and Delirium Noel. I’m suspecting by the time this blog is posted, more seasonal selections will be available at La Bodega and elsewhere. Toward the end of the blog, peruse the Humpy’s beer list to discover a section devoted to Christmas beers which adds Midnight Sun Brewing Company’s CoHoHo Imperial IPA and St. Feuillien Cuvee de Noel. A last minute update from Pamela Hatzis of La Bodega shouts in theworld-class Nogne-0 beers from Norway. We’d received the Pale, Porter and incredible Dark Horizon (not to be missed, even at $19 a bottle), but new is the Brown Ale. I haven’t tried it, but given the stellar quality of the others we get, I’m hankering for a sample.
I had a chance to sample Lagunitas Brewing Company’s Brown Shugga, a seasonal release that’s headed this way. Ostensibly a barley wine style ale, this old-ale’ish beer has an interesting history. When the beer was first produced, Lagunitas seriously underestimated the amount of malt needed to bring the beer to target gravity. An immediate “search and procure” mission was launched and brewery associates surged forth from the brewery that evening and bought just about every available box of brown sugar from local retailers to augment the brew. Over 400 one pound boxes littered the floor of the brewery as fiendish brewers augmented the beer with enough fermentables to bring the beer to score. Initially deemed a disaster, over time, the beer mellowed and today, a great beer continues to augment our seasonal selections. This 9.9 percent wobbler imparts an even balance of Pacific Northwest hops and malt and undeniably, hints of brown sugar. A sweet cereal-like aroma wafts off the top (think Post Super Sugar Crisp) along with some light fruit notes and the telltale scent of booze. The crystal-clear, amber/brown beer leaves an off-white ring of head around the top of the glass, and not much else, but that’s to be expected in a beer of such formidable viscosity. The flavor follows the aroma with just less hop presence except in forward bitterness that ebbs and flows into the finish. Pine and earthy-like flavors abound throughout the sample and the combination of the hops, brown sugar and malt lend an almost ginger-like reminiscence in the end. This is a very full beer, reminding the drinker that it’s designed for sipping, not quaffing, and the heat of booze after the swallow commands respect.
Great Divide’s Hibernation Ale migrated north recently. At 8.1 percent this beer falls firmly in the old ale style. The product description reads: “Since 1995, Hibernation Ale has been our celebrated winter tradition. This robust, dry-hopped ale has a malty richness balanced with a complex hop profile and heart, warming character.”
Aroma: Malt forward with sweet undercurrents and a dose of somewhat perfume-y hops. Some caramel and light toasted notes. Low roast elements. Alcohol surprisingly not evident in aroma. Less than indicated dry hop character.
Appearance: Crystal clear red/copper color, light ring of just off white head.
Flavor: Even balance of malt and hop bitterness at first, followed by alcohol flavor and warming. Some toasted elements. Some coarser hop flavor surrounding a baseline caramel sweetness. Some nutty character. Chestnuts? Finishes dry
Mouthfeel: Reasonably full on the palate and smooth and creamy overall
Overall Impression: Rather ho-hum in the winter beer department. Not alluding to the need for spices, but the festive element of a holiday beer is absent. If Hibernation is referring to something, it’s what the booze is going to do. The beer is definitely strongly reminiscent of the old ale style, and that’s what it’s supposed to be, so it gets high marks for fitting the style. Still, the beer seems “different” from the brewery profile, but if you like something strong, this would be a good pick.
This month’s edition of All About Beer magazine features Norwegian beers, and rightfully so. Despite oppressive taxation and strict control of the industry, this nation’s expensively produced and priced beers are starting to show a real craft beer influence and that’s welcome on this side of the pond. I’ve covered the venerable Nogne-0 beers before, and this week picked a beer from the Haand Bryggeriet (“Hand Brewery”) called Dark Force. The brewery calls this percent eccentric a Double Extreme imperial Wheat Stout.
The brewery describes the product: “This Imperial really strikes back. From a strange country, really, really far away, comes the only Imperial Wheat Stout in the known Universe. One again, the “Hand” brewery – four guys brewing in their spare time on an absurdly small scale – boldly goes where no brewery has gone before!”
Aroma: Strictly imperial stout-ish rather that wheat-ish. Okay, correction, some of a wheat’s signature tartness emerges off the top with a boat-load of fruitiness. From there, it’s an even balance of both hop and malt aromas. It’s fruity to the point of being apple-like. Sweetish in the nose with hints of the alcohol Some dark fruit character that overwhelms the malt, but not in a bad way. Some drier, Munich or Vienna malts evident? Light anise/licorice notes.
Appearance: 100 percent solid opaque brown/black beer. Even holding a flashlight to the side doesn’t penetrate to determine clarity. A full, rich head divides by two colors initially, somewhat lighter brown on the top with a darker brown base.
Flavor: Big and bold dark malts with ample roast and black patent evident, with ample, but just more than balancing bitterness. The bitterness in the beer is attributed as much to the malt as the hops. Finishes dry. Alcohol isn’t evident. Some hop flavor, but it’s well in the background of the strong malt component. Some tartness from the wheat.
Mouthfeel. Very light astringency, perhaps from the malt/hop/booze combination rather than any defect. It’s drying on the gums and teeth rather than the sides of the mouth. Full on the palate. Alcohol contribution is evident in the warming swallow.
Overall Impression: This is more of an imperial stout than an imperial wheat. The wheat element is there but seems to get confused in the beer’s boldness. Still, it’s a wonderful beer and I’d easily drink more.
Closer to home, over at Glacier Brewhouse this week, expect the standard tap line (Blonde, Amber, IPA, Oatmeal Stout and Hefeweizen) and a Beam Stout and Bohemian Pilsner from outside the mainstream. According to brewer Kevin Burton, overseas, the entire Czech Saaz hop crop was recently wiped out by some kind of blight and his copiously dosed Bohemian Pilsner just increased in value. “If you want to taste Czech Saaz, do it now or wait until next year,” he said.
Glacier’s got reason to celebrate. On November 03, 2007, Glacier’s Beam Bock took a gold medal in the Classic Style section of the Festival of Wood and Barrel Aged Beer in Chicago. I needled Burton to immediately get this stuff on draft at the bar at Glacier, and he just said “not yet.”
A quick announcement for Midnight Sun Brewing Company. The somewhat mainstream Oosik Amber has been completely reformulated. Declining sales of the beer prompted a thorough re-evaluation of the product. The brewers and staff were asked what THEY thought about the beer and sheepishly, they all admitted to not drinking it themselves, so why would anyone else want to? This isn’t necessarily an indictment of the beer as much as it is testimony to the brewery’s penchant for the extreme. I think the Oosik Amber is just overshadowed by the bigger, more impressive beers that have become mainstream for Midnight Sun. Still, declining sales are declining sales and a decision had to be made to re-formulate or scrap the beer. Brewer Gabe Fletcher and the gang rolled up their sleeves and got to work.
The resulting product is logarithmically better than its predecessor. One fundamental change is a reformulation of the malt profile. Also cleaning up the beer is extended cold aging. Now the beer more resembles a Marzen and the delivers a crisp, clean toasty character, hops primarily in the background and a clean refreshing finish. This was an excellent upgrade.
Dr Fermento Beer Calendar
11/12/07 Tap Root Café German Beer Tasting 7:00 PM $$??
11/15/07 Kinley’s Midnight Sun Beer Dinner/Tasting $50.00
11/20/07 Snow Goose GNBC Meeting at the Goose 7:00 PM
11/23/07 Midnight Sun Arctic Devil Barley Wine 2007 Release 6-9 PM Free
11/26/07 Tap Root Café Christmas Beer Tasting 7:00 PM $$??
11/29/07 Brouwer’s Café Big Wood Festival (Seattle) ?? $$??
11/30/07 Arctic Brewing Supply Bigfish Entries due 10:00 AMFree
11/30/07 Midnight Sun Pride Belgian Style Strong Pale Ale Release 6-9 PM Free
12/01/07 SubZero Bigfish Homebrew Competition Judging ?? Free
12/07/07 Tap Root Café Homer Brewing Company Beer Release 8:00 PM $$??
12/08/07 Goose GNBC Christmas Party 7:00 PM $$??
12/14/07 Midnight Sun Lust: Belgian Style Dark Strong Ale release 6-9 PM Free
12/29/07 Tap Root Café MSBC 7 Deadly Sins Party 8:00 PM $$??
02/08/08 Goose Fur Rondy Entries accepted 11 AM – 6 PM Free
02/09/08 Goose Rondy Homebrew Competition 10:00 AM Free
Here’s the Humpy’s lineup for the week, with some deviation:
Wheats / Fruits
Moose’s Tooth Wild Country Raspberry Wheat
Pyramid Apricot
Lindemans Framboise ###
Golden Ales / Pilseners / California Common
Midnight Sun Gold Strike Kolsch
Reissdorf Kolsch *
Anchor Steam California Common
Leavenworth Friesian Pilsner Lager
Pale Ales / E.S.B.’s (medium hop bitterness)
Alaskan Pale Ale
Homer Old Inlet Pale Ale
Moose’s Tooth Polar Pale Ale
Bass Ale
Deschutes Mirror Pond Pale Ale
Elysian ‘The Wise’ E.S.B. (GABF Gold Medal)
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
India Pale Ales (med - high hop bitterness)
Humpy’s Sockeye Red by Midnight Sun
Moose’s Tooth Fairweather I.P.A.
Avery I.P.A.
Dogfish Head 60 Minute I.P.A. *
Fish Tail Organic I.P.A.
Lagunitas Imperial Red Ale * (7.6%)
Stone Oak Aged Arrogant Bastard *
Belgian Ales
Blue Moon Belgian White Ale
St. Bernardus Grotten Brown ###
Strong Belgian Ales (Alcohol by Volume over 7.5%)
Midnight Sun Wrath Belgian Double I.P.A. # (8.2%)
Chimay Cing Cents Triple #### (8%)
Delirium Tremens ### (8.5%)
Gouden Carolus Classic ### (8%)
Koningshoven Quadrupel Trappist Ale ### (10%)
Pike St. Monk’s Uncle Triple # (9%)
Unibroue Maudite ## (8%)
Seasonal
Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier ##
(Original Smoked Marzen)
Avery ‘The Kaiser’
Imperial Oktoberfest Lager # (9.37%)
Barley Wines
Ipso Facto Barley Wine 2002 ed. ### (10.5%)
Amber Ales / Bocks / Dopplebocks / Scottish
Alaskan Amber Ale
Midnight Sun Oosik Amber
Silver Gulch Copper Creek Amber
Mac Tarnahan’s Scottish Ale
Sleeping Lady Espresso Bock
Brown Ales
Kassik Brew Stop’s Holiday Nut Brown
Midnight Sun Kodiak Brown Ale
Porters / Stouts
Alaskan Smoked Porter 2007 ed
Kassik Brew Stop’s Moose Point Porter
Deschutes Black Butte Porter
Great Bear Oatmeal Stout
Homer Odyssey Oatmeal Stout
Great Divide Yeti Oak Aged Imperial Stout # (9.5%)
Guinness Stout *
Christmas Special Ales
Alaskan Winter Ale
Midnight Sun Cohoho Imperial I.P.A. # (8%)
Full Sail Wassail
Full Sail Wreck the Halls
St. Feuillien Cuvee de Noel 2005 ### (8.5%)
8 oz glass $6.50/ 13 oz glass $9.50
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