TheWeeklyBrew.com – The Ramblings of a Kitchen Chemist

My laptops power cord has ceased functioning again which means that a review of OPA is on hold. I will however try to get some stuff done in the mean time.

As a beer lover I have often received the gift of beer from friends and family. I’ve also been asked many times what beers to give as gifts. With the holidays upon us it seemed relevant to discuss what constitutes a good beer gift.

How to pick that special beer.

Most people look at any beer over $10 a bomber as overpriced. The sad part is sometimes they’re right. Not all beers are created equal and that’s something to keep in mind, especially if you want to find that perfect beer. First off consider what the person likes. Are they a fanboy of any particular brewery? If so you might consider  looking for rare beers from that brewery. Look for things like 1 or 2 year old beers, vertical set ups (different year releases pf the same beer), or just really hard to get limited editions. For example if they are a Deschutes Brewery fan you could consider a vertical set up of Jubelale, a hard to find bottle of their 20th anniversary wit, or a line up of the 2009 Bond St series. A good site is liquidsolutions.

What if they don’t have a favorite brewery? Then the next step up is style. My cousins husband is a big fan of IPA’s, especially Stones. When she wanted to get him a special beer  for his birthday I gave her a short list of IPA’s similar to Stones. Beeradvocate is very handy for figuring this out as well as a person with a good knowledge of beer. Verticals apply to style as well. Not every beer drinker understands what happens to their favorite beer as it ages. For many vertical tastings are an eye opening experience.

Lastly what if they’re pretty dead set in their beer drinking ways? My grandparents are Busch light drinkers and nothing but Busch light. In this case I’d refrain from buying them beer as a gift. If your adamant though then look at paraphernalia pertaining to that beer. If their not the kind that enjoys beer related decor then you could look at getting cases of their favorite. This is especially handy if they drink a higher priced beer.

I spent yesterday searching for charts on hopping rates for various Burton brewers, but it all came to naught. The only one I’ve managed to dig up are IPA hop rates from Designing Great Beers. These figures were compiled into a book by Amsinck called Practical Brewings and put into a table in Designing Great Beers. I’ve spent a good two hours today trying to locate the original figures from Amsinck online since I know there is more info that Daniels left out of his book. Sadly Practical Brewings is not in any online archive yet and since it was published in 1868 and doesn’t seem to have been rereleased there seems to be no chance of snagging a copy.

The figures in this table are from 1868 (the year it was published) and also from Burton brewers. From the late 1700’s through the 1800’s strong ales and heavily hopped beers were more in vogue so these figures by no means represent the rates of original London IPA’s

It’s worth noting that Amsinck narrows the field on what an IPA is apparently not on wether it was named IPA or exported to India, but rather on these 9 obscenely high hop rates. This skews the hop figures for IPA’s

Ok, raise your hand if you knew about this. Anyone?? Beuller??

I have no clue why there is a National Lager Day nor could I find out. In fact if it wasn’t for Rachel listening to the radio this morning I still wouldn’t know. Anyone have anymore on this obscure holiday? Regardless of why it exists it’s a good excuse to drain a couple pints of good lager. I recommend Friesian Pilsener from Leavenworth Biers. Ironically I think it still happens to be on tap at Venti’s.

In case you’ve forgotten today is the 76th year that liquor has been legal in the US. The Volstead Act was passed on October 28 1919. By January of 1933 the Cullen-Harrison Act had actually made sessionable beers legal in the us, so the 21st wasn’t actually what made beer legal. So today raise a glass to the complete end of prohibition and remember Roosevelt’s words still ring true, “What America needs now is a drink.”

CapitolTaps has a good writeup about the 21st.
sorry about that. I did plan on linking, but I only had a few minutes to write something and spaced it

There’s a cartoon on theoatmeal that’s been making the rounds on the Internet that claims to have 20 Things Worth Knowing about beer. The problem is alot of the “facts” aren’t even correct and wouldn’t have taken much fact checking to get right. It’s been awhile since I’ve done some Beer Myth Busting so I figured it’s time to get at it again.

1) Babylonians were the first brewers

Babylonians were not the first people to brew beer. They didn’t invent it either. They did however write a poem to Ninkasi that described the process of making beer. This by no means make them the first brewers.

2) The Vikings believed a goat with magical beer producing nipples awaited them in Valhalla.

Heiðrúnis a goat with nipples that produce alcohol but it’s not beer. Both Heiðrún the goat and Eikþyrnir the hart grazed on the leaves of the tree Lærað. Heiðrún’s teats produced mead which ran into a culdron from which the Einherjar drank. The Einherjar were the warriors that died in battle and therefore recieved high honors.

3) Pilgrims stopped at Plymouth Rock instead of Virginia because they were low on beer

The pilgrims faced many challenges that prevented them from getting to Virginia. They were low on supplies, they’d arrived far later in the year then planned, and they couldn’t get any further south safely. A decision was reached and Plymouth Rock became their home. The myth arrives from a statement from one of the colonists “We could not now take time for further search or consideration, our victuals being much spent, especially our beer, and it being now the 19th of December”

4) India Pale Ale was hoppier and higher abv then all beers so it could survive the trip to India so the British troops could have their beer.

The actual wording of the myth is one of those stories that make you feel warm and fuzzy. There are multiple things wrong though so I want to really pick this one apart in a longer post at a later date. First off many beers at the time were highly hopped and high in alcohol. Secondly the British were shipping beer long before the IPA. If beer couldn’t survive ship voyages prior to the IPA then the British were just foolish for doing it. Thirdly the most likely theory for the idea of IPA is that a enterprising brewer realized that most ships returned to India empty since it was such a self sufficient colony. Seeing that profits would be higher in India due to low shipping rates and lighter alcohol taxes he jumped on the opportunity.

Why read another take on the ale fest? Why read yet another list of what one particular blogger will be drinking? Apparently because some people (lookin at you Beermented) think you guys want to here about it. Of course read Jeffs at Beervana since he posted his list today too.

Making my list is difficult. I won’t be able to get any work off for it so it looks like I’ll show up on Sunday afternoon. This means no special tappings for me and also the possibility of a beer or two being tapped out. Also I’ve chosen a new strategy. Normally when I go to a fest I take one of two routes. Either I look for beers that sound good regardless of availability or I take the route I took at the Spring Beer Fest this year which was make it an open to close affair and attempt to sample every beer.

This year I’m treating it more like a trade show. I tried to rule out beers that I can easily find and stock in the fridge, regardless of whether or not it’s a beer I want to try at the fest. I failed at that though. Another thing is I’m trying to limit myself to my 10 tokens this year and not purchasing extras. Beers that our one offs get priority followed by potential purchases. As a side note I talked with aformer blogger about us both tossing up our tasting notes from this fest.

Here’s my initial List of beers I want to try. Keep in mind it may change when I show up, and depending on tokens I may not try all of them.

Jim ‘09

Jim is a one off festival beer every year and always seems to be worth trying for most people.

Kronan

There are three baltic porters this year. Kronan is from Hopworks with Eel River and Lauralwood also bringing baltics. Of the three I trust Hopworks more to get it right. The other two are higher on the IBU’s and Lauralwoods is much higher in ABV then the other two. Hopworks it is.

Holy Herb

I’ve heard alot of great reviews of Upright, but the thing that cinches this as a certainty to try is it’s brewed with hyssop. I love herbal beers and look forward to this one.

Unconventionale

Ninkasi can be hit and miss on quality and I’ve had a hard time with them. Their spring reign was one of my favorite beers this year though. Once again this is an herbal ale brewed with lavender, tarragon and heather.

Drunkel

Seven Brides is the only brewery that has really won my loyalty. Jeff is a great guy who is involved with and supports Salem’s homebrew community. Hopefully their Strong Ale is more on style then some of their other beers.

Lips of Faith

There are a couple of the series I’ve wanted to try and haven’t. Since New Belgium will be pouring them I will hit their station. I may not get a sample though depending on what’s pouring.

Sang Noir

I’ve never made a secret that I like sour beers. Sang is a Flanders Red

Barrel-Aged Old Baba Yaga

This beer just sounded intriguing since the day I first checked the regular beer list so it’s on my list

Very Ill Tempered Gnome

I’ve been on a Barleywine and Old Ale kick lately so Barleywines will be sampled. This is probably numero uno on my list of barlywines to try with the lost barrels of mirror mirror coming in second

So far these are the priorities although North III, Velvet Merkin, or Scaldis Noel may easily be subbed in

Friday night at f/stop Niki was bartending, and she brought up an interesting point. How much does what we’re supposed to taste influence what we’re supposed to taste?

Back when Dennis brought Hop Yard Dog to our brewers dinner I was surprised. I wasn’t surprised because it was an amazing beer, but because it had much more hop flavor then his test batch that I tried. On the list of pale ales I’d stock it didn’t even make the long version, but it was better then that test batch. Last week though Dennis kegged this pale ale and Kirk purchased a keg to pour at f/stop.

First night I was there when the Hop Yard Dog was on tap Kirk and I dissagreed on wether or not it was a good pale ale. Thinking he could convert me I guess Kirk got me a taster of it so I could try it. First thing I noticed upon smelling the beer was a slightly soured milk odor. The bad part was it carried the taste associated with that smell onto the back of the tongue. I described the taste and smell to Kirk and he looked at me funny, then later he tried the beer again. When he did he noticed the same thing.

Friday rolled around and once again Hop Yard Dog came up, this time with Nikki pouring and Chuck at the bar with me. Both Chuck and I got tasters of the beer so I could prove that the smell and flavor were there. Chuck didn’t notice anything on the smell, but on the taste he found it, right where I’d said it would be on the back of the tongue.

Nikki pointed out though that both Chuck and Kirk had tried the beer previously and never noticed the flavor or odor. So, could my telling them what to look for caused them to find it? Or when they knew what they were looking for was it just easier to find what was there?