Leave it to the Onion...

You have to love the Onion. Check out this link and insert a picture of yourself in place of the second guy. Ok, so maybe you don't make your own beer that often, but are you the neighbor that doesn't stop talking about. I am guilty as charged.

http://www.theonion.com/content/amvo/beer_production_threatened_by?utm_source=onion_rss_daily

The Imperial Southern Tier...

Have you tried any of the beers in the Southern Tier Brewing Company's Imperial series? Why not? For me it all started with the Unearthly Imperial IPA. Extreme does not always mean good, however Southern Tier does a great job with these beers.

Unearthly is an insane 11% with 153 IBUs. I give this beer a whopping 4.7 out of 5. It is loaded with floral, citrus and spicy hop flavors and is remarkably drinkable for such an intense offering. This is not a one dimensional hop head beer. Somehow a caramel malt sweetness helps balance it a bit and the mild burn from the alcohol really makes this beer more complex than I expected.

On the opposite end of the spectrum the Imperial Choklat, which also weighs in at 11% abv may just be the ultimate dessert beer. It is brewed with tons of cocoa and delivers and incredible chocoholic experience. It smells absolutely amazing and gets better and better with each sip. Choklat just may be a failsafe cure for the doldrums of winter.

Other beers in the series include: Imperial Punkin, one of the best pumpkin beers I have tried; Imperial Oat, an excellent oatmeal stout; and Imperial Hoppe--weighing in at 10% abv and 83 IBUs. I also have Imperial Big Red and Imperial Jah-va cellaring right now. The Jah-va is an Imperial Coffee Stout brewed with Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee--12% abv and 125 IBUs. I don't drink coffee, but I am so looking forward to cracking this bad boy. I think I will let it sit for at least a couple of months to let it mellow out.

Bottom line, if you see any of these Imperial beers, pick them up, they may not be around forever. Extreme can be a good thing, a very good thing.

A beer oasis in a desert of beerdom...

Last week I traveled to Miami Beach for a few days to attend a museum conference. My expectations for finding new beers were not high, but it ended up being worse than I thought. Whenever I travel in the US, I generally look for a local brew or something that is not distributed in the Northeast. Unfortunately the best beer I could find during two meals was Sam Adams Lager (a good beer, but I kind of get my fill of it in Boston). Of course I did the "when in Rome" thing and had some Presidentes, mojitos, and sangria when eating Cuban food (which was amazing by the way - Versailles on Calle Ocho was excellent).

I did find one oasis in the desert of beerdom. There is a tiny little bar called The Abbey Brewing Company. It is a bit off the beaten path, but not too far from all the commotion on Lincoln Road (a pedestrian area lined with restaurants, bars, clubs, and shops). There are about 10 seats at the bar and maybe 5 or 6 booths--that is it! However, the guest beer draft menu is excellent, they have a nice selection of bottles, and their signature Abbey Brewing Company beers are very good. I tried the Immaculate IPA, Brother Aaron's Quad, and the fantastic Father Theodore's Imperial Stout, which weighed in at 9.5% abv and had a pleasant bittersweet chocolate and espresso malt profile with a good measure of balancing hops. I found it very similar to Brooklyn Black Chocolate Imperial Stout, but with a touch more carbonation. The bartender, whose name eludes me, was very friendly--we spent some time talking about beer (always nice when you are traveling alone and sitting in a bar by yourself).

I tried the one other "beer bar" in the area called Zeke's on Lincoln Road, which had a boatload of bottles to try. I did find a few new beers to add to the list, but they serve the beers without a glass and the only thing you can pour it in is a 16oz plastic keg cup--this just didn't do it for me.

Bottom line is that The Abbey Brewing Company is the only place worth visiting if looking for a true beer bar in Miami Beach.

The many flavors of Anheuser Busch...

I am not sure if this is a bad dream or a sign of the coming apocalypse. A-B has unveiled two new beers recently. Chelada is a lovely melding of those two timeless classics, Budweiser and Clamato Juice (yes clam and tomato juice - repulsive enough without the Bud). The latest offering is Bud Light Lime -- look out Corona, you don't even have to buy real citrus fruit with these bad boys. Keep your eyes out for some of their upcoming releases, Michelob Ultra Slimfast Creamsicle and Devil Dog Stout (two very different markets for these products).

The Alström Bros. strike again...

You really have to give them credit, Jason and Todd Alström are the Kings of Beer in Boston. I was very excited to see the press release for the upcoming American Craft Beer Fest at the Seaport World Trade Center. These guys have done a shitload for craft beer in Boston, but this is over the top. The numbers 75 - 300 - 15,000 bring a tear to my beer. The thought of 75 brewers, 300 beers and 15,ooo people experiencing great beer is amazing. I was excited enough about the Night of the Barrels this Friday (sorry, it is already sold out), but this is an event to look forward to. It is perfectly scheduled for the first day of spring! Buy your tickets early and buy them often. See you at the Seaport.

Here is the link to the press release, which I quote below:


BeerAdvocate to Host the East Coast's Largest American Craft Beer Fest

At the Seaport World Trade Center in Boston, MA

(Boston, MA - January 2008) In keeping with their self-elected duty to bring better beer to the masses, BeerAdvocate founders and brothers Jason and Todd Alström are crafting something big.

Held on June 20 & 21 at the Seaport World Trade Center in Boston, the first annual "American Craft Beer Fest" (ACBF) will feature 3-sessions, invite upwards of 75 breweries, and serve at least 300 craft beers with an expected attendance of 15,000 appreciators of beer.

"It's time," stated Todd Alström, "It's time the East Coast had a large-scale, world-class event that not only celebrates the creativity and growth that's occurring amongst America's craft brewers, but puts the respect back into beer." The latter being a reference to their personal motto "Respect Beer," in which the brothers urge consumers to appreciate the brewer's art respectfully through support, beer education, and responsible enjoyment.

In addition to tasting a wide-variety of beer, ACBF will offer attendees plenty of beer education, including guest speakers, beer & food pairings, one-on-one opportunities to interact with actual brewers, and networking opportunities for beer industry professionals to help them support and bring more awareness to craft beer.

"We're excited to be working with our partner Harpoon Brewery, the Seaport team, and craft brewers in bringing the East Coast a destination event that we hope to grow into one of the largest beer fests in America," added Jason Alström. "Craft beer, its growing number of loyal followers, and the region are ready for an event like this."

Tickets go on-sale in February.

American Craft Beer Fest is a BeerAdvocate & Harpoon Brewery partnership. For general information, please contact the Alström Bros (mail@beeradvocate.com). For sponsorship and marketing opportunities, contact Jeff Lawrence (jeff@weeklydig.com) at Boston's Weekly Dig.

http://beeradvocate.com/about

Superbowl libations...

What will you be drinking this Superbowl Sunday? If you could afford a ticket to the game, perhaps you can afford the ridiculously priced new beer from Carlsberg. For a meager $398 you can pick-up a just under 12oz bottle of their Jacobsen Vintage 1. Hell, with Superbowl tickets selling as high as $77,000 why not pick up a six-pack or two for the tailgate.

We will undoubtedly be bombarded with ads from the likes of Molson, Coors, Miller, Dewey, Cheetham and Howe and the ubiquitous Anheuser Busch who now reminds us that Bud isn't heavy like imported beers and microbrews, it is the Great American Lager...hahaha.

Anyway, back to the main question, what will you be drinking during the Superbowl. I plan on having a couple of Victory Prima Pils and then celebrating the Patriots 19-0 season with a 4 year old Samichlaus lager and a 15 year old Bowmore Sherry Cask single malt whiskey. I figured combining the 15 and 4 year old beverages was a bit smarter than drinking 19 beers.

Enjoy the game.

Beer 101...

I love teaching The Beer Necessities, my wintersession beer appreciation course at Wellesley College. However, it is just that, a non-credit wintersession beer appreciation course where we have a lot of fun talking about beer and tasting some excellent brews. But check out this for credit course at University of King's College in Halifax, Nova Scotia called Brewing Science: The History, Culture and Science of Beer or as students call it, Beer 101. The McKenzie brothers would be proud...eh. I wish this course was offered when I was in college.