DrFermento.Net

Yeah, I’m a farmer.  I’ll admit it.  I may as well.  I know that coming from a flaming, out of the closet Type-A business professional and writer, this might seem a little odd, but it’s a great diversion at night in between writing and other computer-based chores.  At first I thought the game was a little childish, but will admit total addiction and may seek professional counseling later in life. Well, after I reach level 70 in Farmville, anyway.

The nice thing about this pseudo-farming gig is that I’m free to farm how and when I want.  And “how” I want usually involves drinking beer.  I never thought I’d see the day where I’d be plowing with a big harvester, seeding with a big seeder, and merrily chugging along chugging good beer. 

I do have one complaint.  Thus far I cannot plant hops or two or six row barley on my farm.  Nor can I go in and buy brewery components.  I wonder if I could develop an application called Beerville and whether or not it would be successful enough to make me rich.  I wonder if it would be successful enough to pay for my beer.  Maybe I’ll just keep farming and remain hopeful that someone in the bits and bytes department of the application producers likes good beer enough to instill at least some beer related stuff into the application. 

At the right level I’d like to move from homebrewing to commercial brewing.  I’d score enough to get a bottling line and a canning line.  The harvest would be in cases and kegs, not strawberries and corn.  Instead of getting gifted cows, horses, cats and penguins, I’d get beer fans and draft accounts.  I could upgrade to bigger fermenters and conditioning tanks when the time is right.  Instead of a harvester, I’d drive a delivery truck.  Oh, and I’d sell my spent grain to the farmers in Farmville to feed their livestock. 

Am I dreaming?  Perhaps.  But with a beer in hand, that’s what makes my world go around.

A sure sign of spring in Alaska is the announcement of the annual Great Alaskan Craft Beer and Homebrew Festival that’s held in Haines every year.  This is the event’s 18^th year.  I’m proud to say that I attended the very first one in this beautiful little community.  I’m also ashamed that I haven’t been back since.  I have no reason other than time and the logistics of getting there (it’s a 770 mile road trip one way).  Maybe this will be the year.  A road trip across Alaska in the spring seems in order! 

The event spans two days and includes a professional homebrew judging, a fabulous beer dinner and of course the festival itself.  The homebrew competition is held  on Friday, May 28^th.  This event is held at the Klondike Saloon on the fairgrounds in Dalton City.  This will be followed by a five course gourmet dinner at 6 pm at the Harriet Hall, also on the Fairgrounds. 

The festival itself is a one day event and features beers from all over Alaska, focusing heavily on the breweries from the Southeast part of our state.  The festival takes place on the fairgrounds between 1-5 pm on Saturday, May 29^th.  Naturally the trip takes some careful planning, but it’s a great way to see a good stretch of our state with a worthy destination.  The year I did it, we loaded up the kids in the motorhome and made a week out of it.  It was a blast, and my field beerespondants that head down on an annual basis rave about the experience since it’s just gotten better and better every year.

Not that it’s probably of any significance to the average consumer, but another thing I really like about this festival is that the organizers take care of the visiting breweries and distributors very nicely.  First, the event helps sponsor the Alaska Brewer’s Guild by donating $100 for every Alaska brewery that show up.  Second, remote, visiting breweries are given two complimentary tickets for the $120 per person gourmet beer dinner.  Finally, they are also given up to $100 to help pay for travel.  That’s a ton more than can be said for the annual Great Alaska Beer Festival held in Anchorage ever year.  Our breweries and distributors to great lengths (both literally and figuratively) to support these beer events and often at significant cost.  Kudos to the committee organizing the Haines event for recognizing this and doing something about it.

More detail is forthcoming, but if you have some genuine interest, contact the event organizer, Kelly Hostetler at the Southeast Alaska State Fair office at (907) 766-2476 or email her at fairdirector@aptalaska.net.  Spring is definitely on the way!

Because the Spenard Roadhouse is so close to work, Ms. Fermento and I decided to duck in on Friday night (3/5) to grab a pint and a bite to eat as a prelim to making some beer rounds in town.  We got there just at about 5 pm and the place filled up quickly.  The crowd seemed to be an even mix of folks there to enjoy beer and those that ducked in for some of the restaurant’s combination of comfort food and upscale fare. 

I opted for Denali Brewing Company’s Mother Ale because I hadn’t had it in a while and because despite comments about it not fitting exactly into a particular style, it’s wonderful just the same.  For those of you style Nazis out there, remember, if every brewer adhered to a strict style, we’d probably all be enjoying nothing more than the basics and absent would be that joyous creativity that makes exploring beer, stylistic or not, so damned much fun. 

I have my favorites at the Roadhouse, but wanted to try something different, so I opted for the Jambalaya.  Our waiter seemed very hurried, but not pushy or snappy; just choppy and quick.  He took half the order and disappeared.  We chuckled; the place was busy after all.  I settled in to my pint of Mother Ale and thoroughly enjoyed this very fresh, lighter, easy drinking beer with a great balance of malt and hops.  I love the way that the slightly malt-forward beer features the hops, but not obtrusively.  The bitterness is just past balancing and extends into the finish of the beer and lingers some there, but balances the malt perfectly.  The sweet centered beer was the perfect warm up. 

The meal came out quicker than I expected and I was only half way through the pint, which wasn’t by design.  Knowing that the Jambalaya is on the spicy side, I thought an IPA would make a better cutter, but wasn’t about to slam the reminder of the pint to find a more perfect pairing.  Needless to say, the food overpowered the drink, but I was fine with that. 

The Jambalaya was good and fully flavored, but in my humble, culinarily-challenged world, a bit soupy.  By the time I’d dug out all the goods that included salmon, halibut, chorizo, tiger prawns, and jasmine rice, I had enough flavorful base of spicy tomato broth, pico de gallo in the rest of the plate to eat up another entire serving of the very delicious, delicate, fresh jasmine rice.   Instead of asking for more rice, I just robbed Ms. Fermento of about half of the Roadhouse’s signature tater totts. I could have eaten a double serving of those all on my own.

The tap line up, at least as of a week ago, included:

Sleeping Lady Brewing Company’s Braveheart Scottish AleAlaskan Brewing Company’s Amber

Moose’s Tooth’s Fairweather IPA (a more apt pairing for the jambalaya)

Midnight Sun Brewing Company’s KolschKassik’s Kenai Brew Stop’s Moose Point PorterMoose’s Tooth’s Spenard Nite LifeKenai River Brewing Company’s Milk Stout 

Rather than rush right home to get on the quill, we elected to duck into Café Amsterdam to check out the fermented goods there.  One of the things I love the most about Café is that regardless of whom I run into there, whether I know that person or not, the conversation is always about beer.  That was the case on Friday night.  I ran into someone I’d met before, in a mutual, beery setting, and we discussed the merits of our pints and explored his hard core foray into the brewing world.  I did this over a goblet of St. Barnardus Tripel.  Mine was warm-ish in the glass, but dangerously enjoyable with all of the requisite spicy phenols, light malts, lighter peppery essence, and noticeable booze presence that defines the style.  Adam was our capable server and made sure our cups were full throughout the experience. 

Unfortunately, the quill was calling and I couldn’t dilly-dally, even over the finest fermented available, and we had to leave.  I had visions of eggs benedict in the morning, promptly at 10 am when it’s legally okay to serve beer in the great State of

Alaska. 

Beers on tap included:

Alaskan Brewing Company’s Rauchbier, Barleywine 2008 and 2009Rogue Ale’s John John Dead Guy AleMidnight Sun Brewing Company’s Ale Slayer, Sockeye Red and Kodiak Brown AleIntergem’s Grand CruJendrain Jeidrenoville IV SaisonKenai River Brewing Company’s Brown Ale

Denali Brewing Company’s Chuli Stout

There were more, but I ran out of time and writing ability to record them all. 

St Patricks’ Day is next week.  I’m not a fan of green beer.  Guinness is great stuff, but I won’t celebrate by exclusively filling my gut with it.  I’m too ugly to get pinched so I may or may not wear something green.  But we’re all different and I’m sure there are going to be parties galore around town.  There are more, but be sure to check out the Calendar section of my rant for some listings. 

On Friday, March 12, look for the release of the first beer in Midnight Sun Brewing Company’s Pop 10 Series of Beers.  Freeloader, a double-brewed red IPA will be released on that day. 

What’s double brewed, you might ask?  Within the traditional brewing process, mashing is the process of converting the starches to soluble sugars using the natural enzymes in malted barley and other brewing grains.  Once the conversion is complete, water at a specific temperature is used to pull the sugars away from the grain and the resulting liquid is the unfermented beer, which is called wort. 

Midnight Sun did a very unique thing to create Freeloader.  First, they made a batch of red IPA using the traditional mashing and sparging process.  The wort sat in the brewkettle while another batch of beer was started in the mash tun.  This time, rather than using that temperature specific water to run the sparge, the wort from the first batch was pumped back over the grain and used to pull the sugars off.  This resulted in a bigger, bolder beer.  Double the fun and double the flavor?  Wait, that’s gum. 

Either way, this noteworthy beer will be available draft only and if you want to be one of the first to get a shot at it, hit the brewery’s loft on Friday the 12^th.  If you’re a fan of the new little café upstairs at Midnight Sun, note two things.  First, on St. Patrick’s Day, look for some corned beef and cabbage that can be paired excellently with a broad variety of the great beers on tap up there.  Second, don’t forget that the kitchen in the loft starts serving brunch on March 20^th.  From there forth, brunch will be available on the weekends.  I’m hoping for some hangover breakfast foods the be paired with some hair of the dog that’s on tap there. 

The brewery’s also starting a new Dusty Beer Night program where on select Mondays, pulls from the brewery’s extensive vintage collection will be exclusively paired with select dishes.  This gig can’t happen every Monday night due to the risk of depleting valuable vintage stock, but the brewery thinks this is a great way to feature select blasts from the past and reward MSBC loyalists with good food and highly specialized beer. 

Are you interested in mead but don’t know a lot about it?  Have you been enjoying the beverage but would like to get a little more involved in it?  Here’s your chance.  On Sunday, April 18^th from 5-8 pm, how about attending a mead judging class at Café Amsterdam?  Who cares if you never intend to judge the stuff; I can tell you from personal experience that learning how to professionally evaluate a beverage is the best immersion course there could be.  For $20 you will be guided through each of the varying styles of meads in a lips-on experience designed to enhance your knowledge and enjoyment of this mystic, alluring and incredibly tasty beverage. 

This is the second running of this class and it’s back by popular demand.  The first class, held on Sunday, February 7^th, filled up in less than 24 hours, so it would be wise for you to sign up immediately if this is something you want to do.  Reserve your seat by calling Café Amsterdam at (907) 274-0074; I’d do it quick. 

The La Bodega Liquor Store in the University Mall has been well known for bringing in the best of the best, and especially the new stuff as it arrives up here from out of state and abroad.  Okay, there are other liquor stores that get the same stuff in, of course, and maybe even before La Bodega, but it seems that La Bodega is in better touch with customers since for whatever reason, I hear about the new beers first directly from the store via their email distribution list.  This week is no exception.  I found out last week, immediately after pressing “send” on my blog, that some noteworthy new stuff is again upon us. 

In an era where bigger seems to be better, things are “downsizing” a bit at Rogue Ales.  This isn’t a bad thing.  It just means that noteworthy brews such as their Russian Imperial Stout are now available at La Bodega in smaller, easier consumed 7 ounce bottles.  I find great favor with the little “nips” as I like to call them.  These sampler-sized bottles are probably a bit more premium priced than going for a full on 22 ounce bomber, but I’ll pony up so that I can enjoy more variety. 

On the other end of the scale, Rogue’s Double Chocolate Stout is also available now in the decorative 750 ml ceramic swing top bottles.  This is the bigger brother to the brewery’s flagship chocolate stout, an American style with plenty of Cascade hops to make things interesting, but with the richness of both chocolate malt, real chocolate, rolled oats and a hint of roasted barley to keep things moving right along.  This is a good party bottle and would make for a good after dinner sipper at your next get together. 

Also re-arriving is Unibroue’s incredible Quelque Chose, (which means “something else” in French Canadian).  This is indeed a special beer. It’s designed to be consumed either very warm (mulled) or over the rocks.  It defies the description of beer in some respects.  This cherry beer has been around as far back as 1996 and I think I have at least one bottle of every vintage since then.  I find it best served warm and the trick can be achieved by using a double boiler or even just putting the bottle (uncorked) in a pan of warming water.  You don’t want it scalding, but much warmer than just luke warm is the best.  The brewery recommends about 160 degrees F if you really want to get anal about it, but just warming it to the point where there’s some steam trailing out of the top of the bottle generally is a good indicator.  The main thing is that you don’t want to pour this stuff into your average kitchen grade pan.  Unless you have almost sterile stainless steel, I’d recommend heating in the bottle and decanting directly to a glass or better yet, an insulating mug. 

The first thing you’ll notice is the aroma. This beer wafts off a wonderful combination of sweet cherry essence and some background malt and even hints of alcohol. I find it very alluring.  Some people complain that it’s a bit like cough syrup, but my nose is bigger than most so maybe I’m getting more of the brewer’s intention in the beer. Hints of vanilla also rise off the beer and even some clove essence.

The flavor is very cherry like and very enjoyable. It tastes very fresh to me and seems to even clear my sinuses when I drink some.  Don’t expect a bunch of malt or hop character in this beer, or even any carbonation for that matter.  It’s rather thick across the palate, but really tasty.  This is a great winter warmer and a lot of fun in front of a fire, or even outside in the snow around a camp fire. 

I did make it into Humpy’s Great Alaskan Alehouse this weekend (Sunday 03/07) because something good for breakfast, along with some good grog, sounded good.  I opted for the Hangover Skillet, which I get the impression is along the lines of the old Hogg Brother’s Café Trough.  It was okay, but a bit spicier than I’d anticipated, but it wasn’t anything my Christoffel Bok couldn’t handle.  Ms. Fermento opted for the traditional Eggs Benedict which is always good at Humpy’s, and of course I shamelessly robbed from her plate.  This was fine, because my bock came out way too cold, so it was either embarking on the cupped hand tour, or just waiting it out.  The beer was served in a goblet and came to me crystal clear, chestnut/amber in color and sporting some very alluring rubies when held to the light.  I just love the full-on, malt forward, sweet nose on this beer with plenty of swirling melanoidins to back up the aroma after that first delicious sip.  This is a good, chewy bock with rich

I must be back in Humpy’s good graces because they’re sending me the beer menu again.  No, there was just a gap in turnover there after Christoff left and I finally have a contact there again willing to provide the menu.  The rules haven’t changed; just note that Humpy’s goes through enough beer that a list sent to me on a Monday is likely going to be different on Friday when I typically post the blog; so take it with a grain of salt.  For your sake, I hope the Christoffel Bok  is still on tap. I had this with my Hangover Breakfast on Sunday morning (3/7) and found the beer incredibly good (as I expected).  Anyway, here’s the list!

Wheats / Fruits                 Pyramid Heffeweizen                Lindemans Framboise ####                Pyramid Apricot Ale(Local)   Moose’s Tooth Hard Apple                Spire Apple Cider #