Yesterday was Christmas day and I was sitting around doing a whole bunch of nothing while gazing blissfully through a tall goblet of Jubelale, one of my all-time favorite beers. I think in archaic English, what I was doing would be called “contemplating my cups.” Just the same, after pounding the whole bottle, the boozy effect started washing over me and I got to thinking about what the hell I was going to do with myself in the coming year. The thought of another 52 Anchorage Press columns, six Celebrator Beer News pieces and the mundane chore of churning out page after page of this weekly drivel felt depressing. It’s all about commitment. Sometimes it seems that I’m writing so much that I’m robbing myself of the opportunity to get out there and really enjoy the beer. I just don’t get out enough any more. None of this is serious, of course; I’ll be writing about beer until my fingers fall off or my liver shits the bed, and maybe beyond that.
Maybe it’s just because the holidays depress me. No, I can’t say they depress me; they slow me down. I’m used to running around with my wig on fire all the time and come Thanksgiving and Christmas Day, when I have the time to visit them, all of my favorite watering holes are closed and I have to drink by myself at home. The shrinks all say that ain’t a good thing, but it hasn’t stopped me yet. I think I’ll have another beer while I start writing next week’s piece.
On top of that, there for a while the Anchorage Press really pissed me off. First, they published an issue without my column in it. It was something about space. I was furious. This was the first time in 10 years and 500 painstakingly written and delivered issues that I’d been cut. I’d walked over hot coals to get my column to the Press, even hand writing it while overseas, faxing it to Ms. Fermento so she could type it up and get it in on time. “That’s gratitude for ya,” I thought. No amount of begging and pleading would change my then editor’s mind. I felt slapped squarely across the face. The next big bomb came when the paper decided to cut the Fermento shtick. I reminded them (none of them had been there over a year at the time and I’d outlived nine editors and even the paper’s publishers to remain the longest standing writer in the paper) that the whole Fermento thing wasn’t my idea in the first place, but the feedback I always got after the clown thing sort of burned in and people got to liking it, was that it was a very positive addition to the paper. Older editors and the previous publishers even told me that people picked up the Press just to see what goofy thing Fermento was up to, even though they didn’t drink beer. They told me it was sort of a comic strip of sorts. No amount of begging and pleading could turn the decision around. Apparently a senior editor or publisher or someone way up top (the paper is pretty nameless and faceless compared to what it used to be, at least when it comes to their relationship with me as a contributing columnist) thought that people would rather see a picture of the beer or label so they could identify the product in a liquor store. Apparently this would sell more ad copy. Then they had the audacity to want ME to provide the art. I laughed openly. So, they stumbled around with it themselves and put a picture of the wrong beer in a couple of different times before they dropped art in the column all together. Oh, it gets worse, but I think I’m adding too much detail to get to the point I want to make, which is significant.
Over many beers, I had to remind myself of something. I’ve never been into the column for money. There were times when the paper was struggling and I told them to just pay me when and what they could, I didn’t care about the money. And that was true. I would have written for free. And to the paper’s credit, they always paid me for every column, even if it took them a couple of weeks to catch up. I was fine with that.
I had to remind myself that I was really privileged to be able to write a column about beer each and every week and have my work critically reviewed by some serious professional writing expertise (the editors) and then have my work undergo the scrutiny of upwards of 140,000 readers (not all of which read my piece, of course). And, I had to remind myself that I felt that what was doing was for the greater good and that I’d always considered myself an ambassador of good beer with a primary focus on the local stuff. Alcohol gets so goddamned much bad Press these days that the column became my way of fighting back while achieving other purposes.
Oh, and did I mention I like to write? Some people can draw. Others can sing. Some make great music with complicated instruments. Some people craft things with their hands. Amazingly, some people do all of these things. To me, banging away on the keyboard is like playing a piano, and although the song is usually out of tune and sloppily set to the music, the words that appear on the screen are music to me. And, it just happens to coincide with something I love more than just about anything else: good beer. So, I guess you could call me a drinker with a writing problem. I’m just fine with that.
Nothing’s going to change. To the Press’s credit, they would love to have Fermento back, but they can’t afford a graphic artist that can do those special, magical things with the Fermento character. So, if you’re reading this and you want to volunteer, I’d be interested in knowing what it would take. Who knows; if you’re just a goof like me, but take your work seriously enough to do something with it, this might lead to something down the road. I certainly can’t offer much more than that except free beer whenever you’re around. Give it some thought and get in touch; I’m not going anywhere, except to go get another beer while I get more excited about the coming year.
Alaskan Brewing Company’s Barley Wine has been released and if it’s not on the shelves by the time you read this, it will be shortly, so keep your mug handy. This is the second year that this big beer has been bottled, so you vintage collectors should take note. Accolades continue to heap after the beer swept the Toronodo Barlely Wine Festival competition in 2007 and then a bronze at the 2008 World Beer Cup. The beer’s been around since 2003 and has gone through numerous incantations, but it’s always good. Even if you’re not from around here, you just have to love the label that depicts a dog team, musher and sled crossing snow cast in blue against a fiery red sky aglow with the northern lights. It’s fitting for the substantial beer that’s now conveniently wrapped in glass along with relatively wide availability on tap around town.
My first sample this year revealed a just slightly haze mahogany beer that poured thick out of the bottle and produced minimum head. Admittedly, my sample may have been a tad too cold, but thick and low head are not defects in big barleywines like this one. The nose, is big, fruity, and floral and earthy with hops. There’s a good citris-y contingency as well. I love the big fruity element in this beer this year. The alcohol, at 10.4 percent might seem obvious because it’s easily found in the nose, but it’s quite smooth in the sip. There’s lots going on in the beer including the medium and dark malts, hints of chocolate and tropical fruit and even some sweet candy-like notes, but the real hallmark in this beer is the balance. Nothing is fighting with anything else and all of the elements seem to dance nicely together, all the way through the surprisingly clean finish. I expected more aggressiveness in the hops because I guess I’m used to big hops in American barleywines any more, but this was a real treat. I’m actually AFRAID of how much of this I could put away before noticing it.
A lot of times, big beers like this, and especially barleywines, can stand from a little additional aging. This beer would age well, but it’s ready to drink now. It might attenuate a bit more with some age, and for sure I’ll be putting some down in my vintage collection, but I’m not going to hold back from tossing it back every now and again while it gracefully ages.
Sometimes I reach into my beer refrigerator and just pick something I haven’t had in a long time. On Sunday(12/21), when I woke up and started writing about beer to support the Press and the blog, it made me thirsty. I couldn’t have what I was craving (a goblet of Het Anker’s Gouden Carolus Noel) at Café Amsterdam so I flip-flopped into the garage in my bedroom slippers for something else. Because I had two bottles and it just sounded shocking to a Sunday morning palate, I pulled a bottle of Dogfish Head’s Midas Touch. Hey, there’s nothing like a 9 percent alcohol beer for pre-breakfast as long as it’s done in moderation, right? I had to let it warm a bit, but I tend to keep the beers in my outside refrigerator a little colder. I rationalize that a few degrees cooler ensures longer shelf life, but there’s nothing scientific behind my feels-good assumption.
The brewery describes the beer’s recipe as “…coming from the oldest-known fermented beverage in the world. Our recipe showcases the known ingredients of barley, white Muscat grapes, honey & saffron found in the drinking vessels in King Midas’ tomb. Somewhere between a beer, wine and mead, this smooth, dry ale will please the Chardonnay or IPA drinker alike.”
As suspected, the initial pour released aromas of booze and spices. All of the ingredients including honey, white Muscat grapes and saffron can be easily identified in the beer’s almost musky aroma. I find the honey and saffron to be a bit competing in the nose, but it wasn’t overpowering and remained interesting. Tart and slightly sour elements came forth as well, but seemed prudent in the cornucopia of ingredients in this beer.
The not-perfectly-clear yellow/orange beer pours under a nondescript white head that dissipates quickly and races to the edge of the glass to hang out for the duration. As for the flavor, blindfolded, you might not think you’re drinking a beer and rather tasting something more along the lines of a wine, given the beer’s lack of malt character, formidable alcoholic strength and tartness. Not being a wine-drinker, I don’t have a style to compare it to, but it reminds me of a sweet-ish white wine. Do not consider these descriptive comments harsh or condemning for the beer; it’s just different. The honey manifests itself nicely in this brew and the finish is dry and surprisingly clean for what’s in the beer.
The first time I had this beer a couple of years ago, I didn’t much care for it, but didn’t have the chance to sit, sip and enjoy it. It’s not a quaffer, it’s a sipper, that’s for sure, and this time, in the early morning hours, I was able to be more contemplative with it and thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s one that defiantly grows on you. This is an ale that would pair aptly with a broad cross-section of foods because it has the cutting power given the sourness and alcoholic bite. It could be served in between dishes as a palate cleanser too.
I just got a couple of Deschutes Brewing Company’s Buzzsaw Brown, the brewery’s first seasonal release of the year. It’s not here yet, but it’s on the way. Anticipate it; it’s very good. It’s deep amber/light brown in color and rocks up a pretty decent tan head. It holds. A sweet, biscuit/malty aroma wafts forth from under this topper with hints of fresh Pacific Northwest hops. I might even be fooled into thinking this was a winter seasonal, but it’s just a steadfast, robust brown ale with plenty of character.
The flavor follows the aroma adequately, and the hops represent themselves just slightly more aggressively across the palate than through the nose based on the touch of bitterness that balances the sweetness. The hop flavor is decent enough, but not overwhelmingly complex, which is actually probably a benefit for this beer because it’s not designed as a hop-forward beer. It’s an easy drinker as well at 4.8 percent alcohol, so more than one’s not inappropriate.
Following the Deschutes seasonal line is a nice ferment merry-go-round that crosses all the spectrums of hops, malts and interesting combinations of yeast and various brewing techniques that makes each release anticipated and inspiring. Tie this in with the Bond Street Series of beers and the brewery’s mainstream flagship line up, all of which are solid beers that are well entrenched in the Alaska market at good price points, and sometimes it’s tough to reach for something else.
The name of the beer is a nod to a history of hardworking sawmill workers that worked the wood on the banks of the Deschutes River. The industry was especially concentrated in Bend, where the brewery is today.
The press release that came with my beers indicated that the beer paired well with meatloaf and mashed potatoes, or even a veggie burrito. That all sounds good to me, but I pounded my second one with a salami sandwich on cheese bread and it was perfect. Use your imagination.
Another new one to grab this week is Lagunitas Brewing Company’s Ruben & The Jets. This is the latest in the brewery’s series honoring the late Frank Zappa in color and character. The ale is brewed in honor of the 40th Anniversary of the release of the album by the same name. The brewery’s worked closely with Zappa’s mother and the labeling is done with permission of the Zappa Family Trust. How could the family not be overjoyed of such a celebratory series that helps immortalize this crazy guy?
According to product description, the beer is a “Pepper stout…big and dark with a silky smoothishness and a style known by those in-the-know as BobbaDooAyDoo.” Okay, I’ll let you digest that and the beer. The brewery continues to implore you to “Drink With the Vast Minority.” I can go for that. There’s no denying that this beer might just be for the “Minority.” The big-ish 8.2 percent Imperial-ish stout rounds most of the corners in the style, including some aromas of roast, chocolate, fruitiness, caramel and toasted grains, and yes, a hint at that alcohol and white pepper inherent in the beer. The beer pours red/black and almost opaque in the glass and settles under a rowdy brownish head. The flavor follows with a pretty good blast of roast character, some background fruitiness, bitter chocolate and coffee, some brown sugar and yes, the heat of the white pepper and just noticeable alcohol. The full-bodied beer is amply carbonated that offsets some of the fullness and adds to a creamier palate. Overall, it’s a very good beer.
If you’re looking for something more conventionally unconventional from this anything but conventional brewery, the perennial Brown Shugga has hit the streets here in Anchortown. In 1997, originally intended as the brewery’s Old GnarleyWine Ale (barley wine), the brewery botched the recipe with too little malt and tried to make amends by tossing in a whole shitload of brown sugar. The brewing staff was sent out late at night to raid local stores of off of the brown sugar available. Something like 400 one-pound boxes were procured and within hours were emptied into the brewkettle and the cardboard remnants littered the brewery floor. The brewers feared a disaster, but were smart enough not to pour the resulting liquid out and ran it through its fermentation paces. The resulting beer was noteworthy indeed, and with some tweaks and adjustments over the years, what you find today is a sought-after annual release of an eclectic, but delicious beer.
Nothing came in this week from our local breweries and brewpubs to pass on about what’s on tap and what specialty beers we might expect this week, but my suggestion is that you get out there and find out for yourself. Remember, think globally, but drink locally!
Happy Holidays!
The views expressed on the Dr. Fermento blog site are not necessarily those of the drunks he associates with, but rather the exclusive byproduct of his self-inflicted liver degradation and delusional inebriate lifestyle
Dr Fermento Beer Calendar
01/16/09 Eagan Center 2009 Great Alaska Beer and Barley Wine Festival 3 pm $30
01/17/09 Eagan Center 2009 GABBF Connoisseur’s Session TBD TBD
01/17/09 Eagan Center 2009 Great Alaska Beer and Barley Wine Festival 5 pm $30
01/28/09 SubZero Microlounge Celestial Meads Dinner (Asian/Indian Fusion Cuisine) TBD TBD
02/06/09 Snow Goose Basement Entries Accepted for 2009 Rondy HB Competition 11 am $2 per entry
02/07/09 Snow Goose Basement 2009 Rondy Homebrew Competition Judging 10 am Free
02/22/09 Café Amsterdam BJCP Exam 10 am TBD
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