On Soul
There's a whole lotta soul under those caps. - Click for source.
Some big news in the beer world this week was AB InBev’s announcement that they will be opening Belgium beer cafes, sort of akin to the influx of Irish pubs 20 years ago. For such stories, I like to depend human filters such as Stan Hieronymus at Appellation Beer Blog. Stan sorted through an article to find a key quote. One line caught my eye:
“You don’t build create a Belgian beer cafe in five minutes,” De Baets says. “It’s generations of owners and customers that build the place, and then give a soul to it.”
De Baets is Yvan De Baets, masterbrewer and co-owner of De la Senne brewery in Brussels. Stan sees De Baets as a trusted mind in the beer community. So, by proxy, I trust him as well.
Regardless, the part that really struck me was the fact that an authentic Belgian beer cafe has a soul. That’s the biggest difference between an actual Belgian beer cafe and whatever AB InBev will establish in every mall and airport across the country. The idea of the soul of a place (or things – that’s coming) speaks to me. It feels like the clear difference between the authentic and corporate is the soul.
How does a place or thing develop a soul? As suggested above, it’s the people who frequent a place. It’s experiences and memories that contribute to a soul. I suppose that’s not entirely different from people, but we tend to have souls to begin with (if you believe in that sort of thing). All the marketing in the world cannot construct a soul. If anything, the sterilized, watered-down, corporate aesthetic that is sure to pervade these AB InBev beer cafes will hardly leave room for a soul to develop.
Anything corporate tends to be soulless. Despite what Mitt Romney tells us, corporations are not people and they have no soul. Of course, an authentic Belgian beer cafe isn’t technically able to have a soul either, but try telling that to its loyal patrons. For anyone who has a regular place at which they socialize and imbibe, said place is a living, breathing thing. So, such a place can have a soul. It just takes a while to develop.
Before you all jump down my throat for discounting anything corporate, I’ll admit that these places and things can have a soul. It’s just more difficult in a corporate model. Apple products have a soul, even when some of their corporate actions are a bit soulless. Some of the old auto factories in Detroit certainly had souls as the center of their communities…until they were shut down and their jobs were sent south of the border. (I’m not talking about Ohio.) There are other examples, but I don’t think it’s nearly as prevalent as the non-corporate world.
Like the Belgian beer cafes, craft beer has a soul. It’s in the people who found breweries and brew the beer. It comes from the cicerones and beer enthusiasts. Homebrewers almost certainly play a role in the soul of craft beer as well. While corporate beer depends on its own people, hard-working, salt of the earth kinds of people, it’s not the same thing. Any semblance of a soul is sucked out corporate rice adjunct lagers when you find the Budweiser you get in St. Louis is exactly the same as the one you get in Hong Kong or Germany. Corporate efforts to standardize their product everywhere strips it of its humanity and its soul with it.
Craft beer demonstrates its soul through the characters who represent it. Although Boston Beer Co. has nearly outgrown its craft beer status, Jim Koch remains the face of Sam Adams beers and continues to fight for the company’s soul. Better examples might be found at Dogfish Head (Sam Calagione), Stone (Greg Koch), Russian River (Vinnie Cilurzo), Jolly Pumpkin (Ron Jeffries), Stillwater (Brian Strumke), etc. All these people are not only advocates for their industry, they are also personality that encapsulates their breweries. This personality and humanity gives these breweries soul.
Soul is how I separate what’s indie and what’s not. No, I’m not talking about that kind of soul, but it can fit my definition if need be. I’m talking about the same kind of soul that goes into craft beer. It’s that soul that can only be associated with humanity that defines indie rock. Can a band on a major label have soul? Sure. However, so many musicians are constructed or manipulated in a way that strips their art of any kind of soul.
Music, like all art, is tougher to pin down to what has soul and what doesn’t. It’s so much more subjective. Also, all art comes from a very human place, meaning that just about all of it demonstrates a soul at work. So, I won’t go much further into what constitutes soulful music and what doesn’t. I have a post on the way about what’s indie. That should suffice to define my criteria.
Anyway, the original point is that something that is indie, craft, artisanal, whatever demonstrates soul or soulfulness. The human component should be strong in order for that soul to exist. As producers grow and become more corporate, some of that humanity and consequently the soul is lost. So, the next time someone asks why you choose to drink that craft beer, tell them it’s because it has soul.
Do you like dark beer?
I HATE it when a server asks whether or not I like dark beer. Dark beer is not a style. Dark beer does not contain more nutrients. Dark beer is just dark. Typically, a beer’s color is caused by the type of grains used in the brewing process. It often accompanies certain flavor profiles (roasted, chocolate, raisins, etc.), but it’s not limited to just one. There are big differences between porters, strong dark Belgian ales, bourbon barrel aged Russian imperial stouts, and Doppelbocks.
So, dark beer is just a way for people to describe beers who don’t know anything about beer. That’s why my beer club had some fun and decided to do a tasting featuring only dark beers. After a few objections, folks warmed up to the idea and ran with it. The following is what we drank in reverse order. (Keep in mind that each sample was maybe a couple ounces. So, I didn’t get as tanked as it may seem.) I’ll see if I can remember what each beer tasted like…
Mikkeller Black – I tweeted that this was maybe one of the best beers I’ve had this year. Whatever it was, it was really intense. So smooth despite all the heat. I look forward to drinking this one again as I have one sitting in my cellar/closet.
Shmaltz Bittersweet Lenny’s R.I.P.A. – This beer is so ridiculously full despite its reasonable price point, much like all the Schmaltz/He’Brew beers. To be honest, at this point in the evening, my taste buds were beyond shot.
Avery & Russian River Breweries Collaboration Not Litigation Ale, Batch# 2 – I don’t know whether or not this counts as a dark beer, but we drank it anyway. After a load of heavy beers, though, it just didn’t stand up. Still, it’s a nice beer and surprisingly strong.
AleSmith Brewing Company Wee Heavy – Much milder for this style, IMO. I was sort of surprised that it wasn’t more impressive, but what can a Wee Heavy do with a bunch of stouts?
BrewDog Abstrakt – Strange, but totally worth the sips I was able to have.
Brooklyn Brewery Local 2 – Nice beer. Somewhat delicate among the heavies, sort of like all Brooklyn brews.
HaandBryggeriet Odin’s Tipple HaandBryggeriet – A big, shining example of an imperial stout done right. Or so I think.
Life and Limb 2 – This one was sort of a letdown. Too subtle or too “boring?” More on that concept later this week.
He’Brew Rejewvenator (Year Of The Grape) 2010 – I really liked this one. The grape really comes through. Despite my hesitancy to buy He’Brew fruit beers, this one and the Pomegranate beer are really good.
Treble Kicker Black Francis Imperial Stout – The bourbon has all but disappeared from this beer. The chocolate is still there, however. I’m looking forward to seeing how this beer ages.
Schlafly Reserve – Imperial Stout (2010) – Man, this beer could use some time in the cellar to age. It’s just too much bourbon and basically tastes like the barley wine. I bought one with the intention of aging it. So, we’ll see.
Atomic Cannon American Barley Wine – John is a homebrewer in our group. He did one of those deals where you brew a barley wine and turn around to use the spent grains to brew a ESB. I don’t know about the ESB, but this barley wine was superb. Tons of flavor and aroma like most great American barley wines. It could have been a little more carbonated, though.
Schlafly Reserve – Imperial Stout (2006) – The local Schlafly rep showed up with this bottle and we were glad he did. Where the younger version was overpowering with it’s bourbon flavor, this one had settled quite a bit. Gone as well was the thick, syrup-like mouthfeel of Jr. I loved this beer a ton. One interesting thing we learned was that the batches before 2009 (I think) were aged in either Maker’s Mark or Jack Daniels barrels. Today’s batches are aged in something else. (The rep couldn’t remember.) Whatever the difference is, get back to the 2006-2008 versions ASAP!
Hantverksbryggeriet Kosacken (Prototyp X) – I don’t know where this one came from, but it was a decent stout. (It’s a stout, right?) A couple of us were struggling to figure out what’s that thing that makes it taste so Scandinavian. Could it be juniper? I don’t know, but most of the beers from that region taste the same. From what I gather, double stouts are the “lighter” version of imperial stouts, body-wise.
Casa de Elwess Nuts About Porter – Jade is president of our little club and has recently taken up homebrewing. The beer showed up a bit flat, but she brews a nice porter. This one featured hazelnut, which had me a bit weary, but it wasn’t too overpowering.
Schlafly Black IPA – This beer was not officially part of the tasting, but the Schlafly rep showed up with a keg and most of us tried some anyway. It’s a decent Black IPA/Cascadian Dark Ale. It’s not too roasty and the hops have a nice presence. It’s not a hop bomb like some BIPA’s, but it’s pretty good. Several of us felt this would be a go-to beer if it were regularly available.
Update: Here’s the proof in picture form…
Top 5 Beers in My Cellar
The following list is based on my anticipation for cracking open the following beers. I may have some beers that are rated better or that I may actually like more, but this is more of a list that highlights some oddball beers and beers I just can’t wait to open. Some I’ve had already, but some will be new to me once I open them in the coming months or years.
5. Allagash 2010 Odyssey and 2009 Interlude – The Odyssey was scored in a Yankee Swap last Xmas. I have no idea what’s inside. The Interlude was found while on a business trip in Richmond, VA. Again, I have no idea what’s inside. Anything barrel aged and produced on a small scale by one of the more respected American craft breweries has me intrigued. Now, if they’re terrible, the brewery’s mystique will fade. However, I suspect these beers will be pretty awesome.
4. 2009 Alaskan Barley Wine – Someone told me that they had this beer and vintage at a beer festival recently. It was the hit of the fest according to this one guy, but I trust his opinion. That’s why this beer’s days are numbered and I’ll be cracking it open at some point this winter.
3. Never Forget Barley Wine – This was the barley wine I had planned for my daughter’s first birthday. I didn’t get around to brewing and bottling until a few months after her birthday, but quite a bit of it has been consumed, leaving me with only two bottles. At some point, I’ll open one to see what happens. The other may have to wait until a significant birthday. 18? 21? We’ll see.
2. Cantillon Lou Pepe – This one I just bought this past week. At $22, several factors are at play. First, I could only justify buying one as I had already purchased three bottles of something else that day. So, I will have no idea what it tastes like. This may mean that this one has a short stay in the cellar/closet. Second, the high price point makes me hesitant to just open it for any old reason. Regardless, it will be saved for a special occasion, of which there will be plenty with the oncoming holiday season.
1. Stone Vertical Epic Series – With 11/11/11 happening, another in the series of beers not meant to be consumed until after 12/12/12 hits stores this week. My sister’s birthday happens to be December 12th and the goal is to consume as many of these as possible – in a commemorative glass – on or more likely after her birthday next year. We’re now one year and beer closer. I currently have ’08-’10. My sister grabbed a bottle of ’11, but I may grab another when it arrives here next week just to be sure. It will be a surprise no matter what the beers taste like. Hopefully they all do stand the test of time.
A Few Beers I’ve Enjoyed Over the Last Week+
For whatever reason, I’ve backed off of straight beer review posts. Still, I do drink a fair amount of beer and thought I’d share a few from the past week.
Founders Backwoods Bastard – I might as well have skipped the beer and gone with something stronger. The beer is super boozy, malty sweet, oaked to hell, and flat. At 10%, I could get more bang for my buck with something stronger like whiskey, bourbon, or scotch. Either way, it just made me sleepy. I’ll have to save the other three bottles to see how this beer mellows.
Jolly Pumpkin Weizen Bam – I swear that Jolly Pumpkin just brews variations of its popular Bam Bier and there’s nothing wrong with that. I opened this beer and stepped away to retrieve a glass only to find that the bottle had exploded all over the counter. I often don’t get a chance to enjoy the full 750 mL of a Jolly Pumpkin as this happens a lot. Still, the activity doesn’t take away from the beer, if anything, it only adds to it. Present is that Jolly Pumpkin funk and what turns out to be a rather cloudy beer. Surprisingly, the beer is rather flat after the initial onslaught of beer on my countertop. The sourness in this version of the Bam series is not as sharp as the original, but plenty enjoyable.
Boulevard Saison-Brett (2011) – Apparently, there’s more of this beer lying around as a fellow beer enthusiast showed up at a gathering with a bottle. The sharpness missing in the beer above comes tenfold in this beer – as expected. This is a bucket list beer and I’m thankful it graces our shelves once a year.
Pretty Things Beer & Ale Project Hedgerow Bitter – I’ve had a couple of Pretty Things beers in the past. This brewery gets a lot of attention, mostly due to their lack available, queer brewery name, and unique artwork. However, my experience with the brewery has been somewhat disappointing. This beer came through, however. As an English Pale Ale, my expectations were already lowered, but this is a pretty solid beer. The bitterness is most dominant and welcomed. I don’t know whether the lowered expectations or just the fact that this is a really good beer. Either way, Hedgerow Bitter was thoroughly enjoyed Friday night.
Barley Legal Collaboration #1 – I hang out with these guys who brew every Sunday. Often, the recipes and ingredients are their own, but they like to help folks brew their beers (my Simcoe-Dependency was brewed there) as well as collaborate with whoever is interested. Recently, we gathered to brew this beer. I wanted it to have a molasses feel without getting too heavy. So, I contributed brown sugar and molasses. The results are a pretty amazing old ale-like beer. It’s super boozy and sweet with a surprising hop bitterness. It’s one of the more complex homebrews I’ve had and really worth the efforts of the entire group.
Schlafly No. 20 Volume 3 – Citrus Witbier – I had this beer a couple of times this weekend. The first was in the midst of a tasting that involved many of the other beers on this list. So, this little witbier didn’t stand up. The nose was citrusy and included the proper amount of funk. However, the results on the tongue were lost among all the other beers sampled. I gave the beer a second chance as I watched my Buckeyes stick a fork in this miserable season with a loss at Purdue. Alone, the beer is a solid witbier. The missing flavors from the night before were there when the beer was enjoyed alone. This beer would be perfect for a fish recipe I tried a while back.
Ska Euphoria Pale Ale – I had a moment to kill at a favorite water hole. This seasonal was on tap. I had purchased a full sixer last year and sort of struggled to get through it. It wasn’t that the beer was bad, I just grow tired of the same beer over and over. Anyway, I thought I’d have a glass on tap now for my annual indulgence. This beer is the dry, bitter APA I’ve been craving as of late. So, I may have to reconsider my aversion to the six-pack.
Founders Breakfast Stout – I don’t actually like coffee stouts. However, this one is different. The trouble with most coffee stouts is that the base stout is thin and relatively unremarkable so as to showcase the coffee flavors. Founders takes another route and brews a solid imperial stout with loads of coffee. The flavorful beer balances flavors of coffee, roasted malt, molasses, and a touch of bourbon. I will, however, need to be sure to drink these beers quickly as coffee fades much in the same way hops do in IPA’s.
He’Brew Genesis 15:15 – Lord have mercy! What a conglomeration of flavors and booze. This is a whole lotta beer at 15% ABV and including multiple fruits aged in barrels…You can only imagine all that comes with this beer. I had a snifter of the stuff at a bar and will hang on to a bomber to see how well it ages.
Straffe Hendrik Quadrupel – Someone had one of these when I was done drinking for the evening. The discussion surrounding it had me intrigued. I looked to buy the beer in a store a few days later, but couldn’t justify $18 for a four-pack I wasn’t even sure what I would be getting. Luckily, I found a bottle at a bar and took the plunge. This is the quad of all quads. Deep, dark, rich, complex, reeking of raisins and fig. And it’s huge at 11% ABV, but you don’t notice the booze which can be dangerous.
There have been other beers, but this is what I’ve had lately. You can follow me on Untappd. I don’t leave much insight there, mostly just keeping a list. What have you been drinking? Have you had any of the above beers? Tell me what you’d like in the comments.
My Response to Drinkify
Carrie Wade thinks she’s really funny, so funny that she posted this atrocity on my Facebook wall. Really? We’re supposed to believe that Pavement pairs well with 1 PBR? What, because they’re like hipster slackers of something? Eff that.
I’m taking it upon myself to pair some bands with beers that make sense. Comment freely or suggest your own pairings. The wrong that has been created on Drinkify must be stopped. I mean, we’re trying to build coalitions up in this joint.
Pavement – Saison
I considered choosing one beer for Pavement but settled on a style instead. With a band like Pavement, it depends on the record. Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain might require the smooth quirkiness of a Boulevard Tank 7, but Wowee Zowee is a Boulevard Saison Brett all the way. The Saison is one of the more versatile styles out there. These beers can be loved or hated, depending on one’s mood, but they are generally appreciated. The range of flavors (earthy to citrusy to sour to bitter) is only equaled by the range of Pavement’s discography. Also of note is that Stephen Malkmus represents the entirety of the Stillwater lineup of artisanal Saisons.
Wilco – Schlafly American Pale Ale
What goes better with dad rock better than a slightly hoppier pale ale from the St. Louis area? Wilco, of course. This easy-drinking lesson in hoppiness is the perfect beer for the dad who wants to still show that he’s cool without drinking anything too bitter or high in alcohol. I mean, he does have to drive home. I also considered Three Floyds’ Alpha King, but figured it only paired with Wilco’s more obtuse work like A Ghost Is Born.
Fiery Furnaces – New Belgium La Folie
They’re both difficult to love sometimes, but if you put forth the effort to find what’s good, it’s totally worth it. Because of this, both have the most loyal of fans who must learn to ignore all the judgmental stares from their peers for choosing to like something so difficult. I considered several more artsy, more difficult bands (Joan of Arc, Beat Happening) along with other Flanders red ales (Duchesse De Bourgogne, New Garus Wisconsin Belgian Red). The pairing just seems right.
Guided By Voices – Bell’s Two-Hearted Ale
I realize that Bob Pollard drinks Bud, not sissy craft beers, but the classic IPA is perfect for macro-arena rock from the midwest. I was torn on several bands and IPA’s, but I settled on two classics. The best part of the IPA are all the variations it’s birthed along with other possible pairings. Dinosaur Jr ruins your eardrums like a Stone Ruination IPA (which is really an imperial IPA) ruins your tastebuds. Other Stone varieties also pair well with similar indie outfits such as Cali-Belgique (Yuck) or the 15th Anniversary Escondidian Imperial Black IPA (Chavez). Of course, there’s always old standbys like a Modus Hoperandi (Superchunk) or Lagunitas Hop Stoopid (Archers of Loaf)…I could go on and on, but there are other beers and bands to pair.
Where was I?
Sonic Youth – Founders Canadian Breakfast Stout
There is a ton going on in a Sonic Youth record. Layers of rebuilt guitars and alternate tunings upon alternate tunings create a cacophony that’s all their own. And over the years, SY has grown into almost a completely different band. While they sound nothing like themselves 30 years ago, only they could have evolved the way they have. This is much like Canadian Breakfast Stout, the much hyped and oft-cited imperial stout of the moment. At the moment, there’s a lot of noise in that beer. The suspicion is that it will undergo a Sonic Youth-like metamorphosis while in the bottle that sits in my cellar. I’ve had a taste, but I can’t wait to have another.
Sufjan Stevens – He-Brew Genesis 15:15
Speaking of having a lot going on, this musician and beer pack a whole lota flavor in relatively small packages. Sufjan Stevens brings one layered opus after another from his home in Brookly, much like the brewers at Schmaltz/He’Brew. The religious imagery and connotations are undeniable…This is a pairing made in heaven.
Wild Flag – Avery/Russian River Collaboration not Litigation
The members of Wild Flag were never in any danger of suing one another, but they have collaborated to create one the year’s best records. The Avery/Russian River collab is nearly as caustic and full of riot grrrl power as Wild Flag is. Plus, at nearly, 9% ABV, it makes you as woozy as one might feel after a Carrie Brownstein windmill combined with a Mary Timony classic rock non-riff. Confused? You should be.
I think I have more, but it will take some time to sort them out. In the meantime, what are your favorite beer/music pairings? Do you like any of the pairings I suggested above? Do you have a better pairing for the bands and beers I listed here? As usual, leave some comments.
The Night Before Stout Day
So, Thursday was International Stout Day. I’ve been cutting back, so I had no stout (or any beer for that matter) on Thursday. However, as one blogger put it, I was “pre-loaded for the holiday.” Instead of having a stout on ISD, I enjoyed what might be the most hyped stout of the year: Founders Canadian Breakfast Stout.
Yes, I already have a bottle. There’s some debate out there as to when is the best time to crack open said bottle. I planned to open mine at some point before the end of the year. Now, I won’t have to as I’ve had a glass-worth of the beer and now I can age it away in my cellar. And there’s good reason…
Our best beer bar is located in a restaurant called Sycamore. Sycamore hosts the most incredible beer dinners. Wednesday’s affair featured Founders and their lineup of badass beers. The night featured a firkin of Harvest Ale and, more importantly, a keg of the highly sought after Canadian Breakfast Stout, or “CBS” as the beer nerds call it.
Anyway, for $10, I received a glass of CBS. It was too cold at first, so I warmed it as best I could while sipping slowly. There’s tons of bourbon, but I was surprised to taste so much coffee in this beer. Had it not been for the oak, bourbon, and thick, syrupy mouthfeel, I could have sworn it was Founders Breakfast Stout and not the CBS. Still, this was a sticky mess of a beer. The sweetness from the maple syrup was almost overwhelming. I felt my mouth and hands were sticky in the same way the are during a pancake dinner when I was a kid.
The beer was lot to handle with all that stickiness and the inevitable heat from all that alcohol. However, as is typical of the North American beer geek, this hot, sticky mess was a glorious drink to behold. So, we drank it all in one evening, picking apart what may be a top-5 beer for anyone.
Like I said, I’ll hold onto my bottle of the liquid gold. My wife wants me to sell on eBay for a $100, but I could never do that. First, I want to see what it tastes like after being aged a bit. Second, I don’t know that this beer – nor any beer – is really worth $100. It was good. I don’t regret the $10 I paid for my glass, but no one should have to pay $100 for a beer.
After we were all nearly done with the CBS, a beer club member pulled out a Black Tuesday from The Bruery. Now, that beer is a behemoth. Imagine a Dogfish Head World Wide Stout (if you’ve had one) with a huge bourbon and oak presence. Then, imagine that 18% slobber-knocker in a 750 mL bottle. Yeah. Let that sink in for a moment.
So, that’s how I prepped myself for International Stout Day.
The Oxford Companion to Beer Controversy and What it Means to the Rest of Us
I’ve been watching the debate over the Oxford Companion to Beer from a distance. It seems that the largest single document of beer history and general information is wrought with errors. Some are historical inaccuracies while others are simply internal errors that should have been avoided. The book was heralded as major achievement in beer scholarship before it was released. Now, it’s being ridiculed all over the beer blogosphere.
There are a few places one can look for clarification, if you’re interested. Stan at Appellation Beer has started some interesting conversations on the topic, as usual. The resulting comments to Stan’s posts are always insightful. He has a knack of attracting such discourse. A new favorite of mine is Martyn Cornell’s Zythophile where some of the controversy has originated. (FWIW, Zythophile is an impressive blog documenting beer’s history in great detail by Cornell, a well-respected and accomplished beer historian/expert.) However, the place to go for OCB controversy headquarters is this wiki. That’s where you’ll find every mistake as it’s revealed in addition to a rebuttal from author/editor Garrett Oliver and links to most of the important criticisms.
Regardless, it’s a hot topic throughout the beer community. (That’s right, I wrote “community.”) I’ve attempted to question the critiques and have been largely shot down as my enjoyment of beer is not nearly as dependant on beer’s history as it is for others. That’s fine. Beer history isn’t for everyone. Still, my main point is to not throw out the baby with the bath water. The OCB is an achievement with or without historical and editorial errors. Apparently, the technical articles (~400 pages worth) are impressive enough to warrant a read. Others disagree.
I’m not nearly as passionate about the history of beer as some seem to be. So, I had to think of something where the history does matter to me. To some degree, that would be indie rock. How would I feel if the Oxford Companion to Indie Rock was filled with historical inaccuracy and lazy editorial work?
Luckily, Michael Azerrad already took a stab at this with his seminal work Our Band Could Be Your Life. Granted, Azerrad only covered the independent years of thirteen bands, but they were probably the most important bands to indie’s history. As far as I can tell, his book contains no significant errors. I’ve read a ton about all of these bands (some of them whole books of their own) and I never noticed a problem. I guess that’s what the beer historian community wants as well. I get that.
Another book I’d add to the OCIR would be John Sellers’ excellent Perfect from Now On: How Indie Rock Saved My Life. This book’s detailed history of indie rock is told only from the perspective of the author. However, it covers a wider range of bands and sets a timeline for indie’s trajectory, culminating with some fantastic stories about Guided By Voices. Sure, it’s a memoir, but it’s an essential read for understanding indie rock.
Garrett Oliver of Brooklyn Brewery fame as well as the author of several great beer books of his own was the editor for OCB. The indie rock equivalent has to be Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore. Moore has not only lived most of indie rock’s history, he’s curated it in one way or another, hence the six degrees of Thurston Moore. Accuracy would be assured with Moore at the helm.
When I consider the above books and Moore, I cannot fathom errors such as the ones people are finding in the OCB. If an OCIR revealed as many errors that I could identify, I’d be highly disappointed. I don’t know that I’d be angry, but I could imagine Chuck Klosterman being upset for being left out and not able to help fix rather avoidable problems. So, this helps me see the critics side of things.
All that said, I will wait for the second edition of the Oxford Companion to Beer as long as Oliver and his contributors take each criticism and error seriously. You all should probably do the same as it’s an expensive book. Otherwise, little will change, leaving us with a frustratingly flawed book. In the meantime, I’ll stay out of the debate (aside from this one post) and consider some other books in the meantime. Retromania anyone?
Session #57 – Beery Confessions: Guilty Secrets/Guilty Pleasure Beer
This month’s session is “Beery Confessions: Guilty Secrets/Guilty Pleasure Beer” which is not the sort of thing budding beer bloggers want to share. We have reps to protect. However, if anything, it should demonstrate that even I will stoop to a lesser beer out of sheer pleasure and not just necessity. I’ll skip the opportunity to tell you about an embarrassing drunken escapade. There are just too many of those to share. Instead, I’ll stick with the guilty pleasure angle.
This past summer, my wife and I traveled to Spain, spending much of our time with a close friend. Spain is not known for great beers, but I had a lot of fun searching out the best. There were fresh pilsners to hold me over and even a few interesting craft finds. Overall, I can’t complain about the beer I had, but there is one beer choice I made on several occassions that I’m not completely proud of.
As most beer nerds do, I checked out the tap handles at every bar, cafe, and restaurant we passed. While in Barcelona, we would often hang out at the cafe just below the apartment we were renting. Like most, smaller establishments, they had two beers on tap from the same brewery: Damm. One tap was reserved for the brewery’s flagship beer, Estrella Damm, while the other was reserved for my new guilty pleasure, Damm Lemon.
Yes. The beer geek who goes for 10% imperial stouts and DIPA’s measuring close to 100 IBU’s chose a shandy. The Damm Lemon (or “damn lemon” as it became known in our circle) was comprised of six parts cervaza to four parts lemon. It was the weekest of session beers in that it was low in alcohol (3.1%) and even lower on anything resembling beer.
My first clue should have been when I finally decided to order a damn lemon. First of all, my Spanish is terrible. I try to piece together what to say, usually pronouncing everything with a French accent. So, I think I asked for a “cervatha de la lemón.” I don’t know whether the girl laughed at my lame attempt at ordering in Spanish or the fact that I was ordering a shandy. Somehow, I suspect both. She corrected me and told me it’s called a “lata” or something that sounded like that. I drank two and recieved the same odd look both times. The second time around made me think that I was choosing a girly drink. Normally, this doesn’t bother me, but my inner-12-year-old cringed at the thought. Although, in retrospect, it may have been more of a case of “Why is this old guy drinking a kid’s beer?”
When our friend arrived in Barcelona, I introduced him to Damm Lemon and he loved it. we made a pact to purchase a sixer one night for dinner. The agreement was realized one evening after a long day of sight-seeing, tapas, and plenty of drinking. We were already a little buzzed. So, some 3% lemonade beer wasn’t going to hurt. We dutifully finished the entire sixer despite tipsiness to start with and what I remember to be a rather decadent dinner of various things soaked in olive oil, bread, lots of pork products, and a boatload of cheese.
I tasted many good things during my trip to Spain, but none could be quite equal the guilty pleasure Damm Lemon turned out to be. We even tried ham-flavored potato chips and that doesn’t seem as guilt-inducing as a shandy. Still, I don’t regret a thing and would likely do it again.
Homebrewed
I’ve hinted and shared bits of information concerning two homebrews I currently have around to consume. Well, I’ve had a chance to enjoy and share these brews with others. That’s given me some insight into what I have inside all those bottles taking up space in my cellar. The numbers denote the how many batches I’ve done. There has been a cider and a couple of collaborative projects, but these put me at 9 and 10 batches of my own doing.
Batch #9 – Black Francis Imperial Stout (recipe)
This was to be part of a Christmas gift for people, particularly family, but that idea went out the window once we counted up the souvenirs we purchased in Spain. So, I’ve been drinking and sharing this beer, especially now that the weather has turned a bit.
Black Francis is a relatively big imperial stout (9% ABV) aged with oak chips, cocoa nibs, and vanilla beans all soaked in bourbon. Soaking the chips creates an effect similar to a bourbon barrel, but it actually allows for mor surface to touch the beer than a barrel. I wish I had aged it longer, but I worried about a potential exposure issue and I’m impatient with beer.
The beer itself contains an overwhelming amount of bourbon in the nose, but one can catch a bit of the chocolate if he’s paying attention. The vanilla doesn’t come through on its own. It seems the vanilla just augments the other flavors in the beer. The oak comes through a bit under the bourbon, but this may be the vanilla as the two components often bring the same flavors to a beer. I’ve used cocoa nibs before without much success. The vanilla, however, brings the chocolate out a bit. I’m hoping to save a few bottles to see if the bourbon subsides a bit, making room for the vanilla and chocolate to come forward.
Batch #10 – Simcoe-Dependency IPA (recipe)
This is my third go at this brew. The first was an extract beer and a huge success. The second time I tried to brew the beer, my thermometer boke in the wort, causing me to dump the entire batch. This time around, I brewed an all-grain batch with friends. Many remember the first batch and have been looking forward to trying this one.
Simcoe-Dependency is a single-hopped IPA, meaning that I only used one hop for bittering, flavor, and aroma. The Simcoe hop is one of my favorites. It adds a catty, grapefruit-like presence to a beer. For my money, it’s the most potent, identifiable hop out there and is the ideal hop to be solely featured in a beer. All my favorite single-hop commercial brews are Simcoe-specific.
This batch turned out rather different from the first. It’s dryer and features the slight tartness from the hop more so than I’m accustomed. The aroma isn’t as awesome as I remember, causing me to think that doubling the amount of hops in the dry-hop could have made a huge difference. The dryness comes from the dry yeast I used that seemed to eat up all the sugars, dropping my final gravity lower than expected. A sweeter beer might have showcased the hops better, but I have no complaints.
Another interesting aspect of the IPA is the patience factor I alluded to in my summary of the stout. For some reason, I have grown impatient with the time it takes to properly bottle condition my IPA’s. I brewed one in the spring as well as this one more recently. Both were not what I expected on the first few tries. However, as they sit around, they become more complex and the hop presence grows to favorable levels, almost completely changing the flavor and aroma of the beer over a matter of days or weeks. If there’s a lesson to be learned from these two brews, it’s that patience can make a world of difference between a good beer and a great one. Also, relax, don’t worry, have a homebrew.
Top 5: Session Beers
I’m starting over with this Monday top-5 list feature. Instead of five random things, I’m going to do an actual top-5 list based on some theme or topic. Some will be beer focused; others will be primarily about music. There might even be room for something else, but every list will make sense.
Argue with me in the comments. However, be aware that these lists are based on my opinions and feelings at that very moment and could change tomorrow.
For this week’s list, I’m listing my top-5 session beers. A session beer, according to Beer Advocate, is a beer that registers at no higher than 5% ABV. This post isn’t intended to question the validity of this definition or to argue the finer points of a session beer. My intention is basically to list five beers that could be enjoyed throughout a period of time with drinking buddies. The idea that there is a huge difference between a 4% and 5% beer is ludicrous and somewhat arbitrary. For the purpose of my list, I’m drawing the line at 5%.
5. Schlafly Kölsch – Honestly, there were some hoppy pilsners and sweet bocks I wanted to include in this list so as to represent all the decent lager alternatives that are out there, but all my favorites don’t meet the 5% standard I set above. So, I’ll go with a Missouri beer in Schlafly’s Kölsch, the closest an ale can get to being summary and lager-like. The beer is a pleasantly crisp, clean drink during the hot Missouri summers.
4. Stone Leviatation Ale – If you want the hops and malt presence of an American IPA/DIPA without drinking yourself under the table, Levitation is the way to go. The bitterness and floral aroma we hopheads crave is there only in a much lighter package. I’m not one who likes to limit a beer to a style, but this one still manages to adhere to the boundaries for an amber without boring me to sleep. This is seriously one of the best hoppy beers you can drink while standing.
3. Jolly Pumpkin Bam Biere – It’s no secret that I love oddball breweries who tinker with style and fermentation processes to create lovely beers. Jolly Pumpkin is one of my favorite breweries and Bam Biere is a go-to whenever I can find it on tap. Even a 750 mL bottle won’t put me under when a beer like this measures at 4.5% ABV. It’s a dry, earthy Saison that also features a pleasant amount of bitterness. This is a fine example of a beer that can be low in alcohol and big on flavor.
2. The Bruery Hottenroth Berliner Weisse – I love what The Bruery does. Aside from Dogfish Head, I’m not sure another brewery makes beer that is more ideal for the dinner table than The Bruery. This beer is an example of the under-brewed style of Berliner Weisse. The Bruery adds lactobacillus and brettanomyces to the beer to attain a certain tartness, but it seems that this may be a departure from more traditional brewing methods of this style. Either way, it’s a beautiful beer and something one can enjoy all day long.
1. New Glarus Wisconsin Red – It’s funny to me to include a “Wisconsin Red” to the list after what transpired this weekend, but I would be an idiot not to include this beer on my list. In fact, Wisconsin Red has a permanent spot on my all-time-favorites list. From the first time I tasted it, I knew that I would always have to have a bottle of this nearly perfect beer in my cellar. Whenever someone heads to Wisconsin, I always ask them to bring me back a bottle. The tartness of the cherries is nailed without the overwhelming presence of cough syrup. It’s light and flavorful, pairs well with all kinds of food…I could go on and on about Wisconsin Red, but I’ll stop there. Maybe I’ll do a proper review when I finally open the bottle I have.
What are the session beers you like most? If you have an issue with my arbitrary definition of a session beer, let me have in the comments.
On a programming note, look for reviews of Eleanor Friedberger watching the World Series, Sebadoh battling me on the Twittersphere, and a post a day for the month of November.
For more on session beers, follow The Session Beer Project.
Beer and Pavement 
15 comments