Washington Post Beer Madness

So, the other day I threw my application in to the Washington Post's Beer Madness beer tournament. The tournament, obviously inspired by the NCAA March Madness college basketball tournament, pits hometown favorite craft brews against each other to see who emerges victorious in a tasting panel. This year (I'm not so sure about previous years,) they're allowing readers to take part in the tasting, but there's a catch - each entry has to have one sentence (yep, only one) which lays out your beer credentials, or should set you apart from other readers to get the spot, and you have to list your favorite five American craft beers. On the application, I indicated that I once wrote haiku for beer, but that I no longer had a copy of it. It turns out, I was wrong. The following was written prior to Portsmouth Brewing Company's 2009 Kate the Great release. They allowed three entries

One last drop remains.

An oily tear chicanes slow.

A warmth reconciles.

Pulsing painful drone.

Ruby digits taunt sleepers.

Monday morning comes.

A drinker’s pub math.

Wallet’s loss gains a soul’s joy.

The whole breaks even.

At the time, I was living in Boston and my beer fanaticism was growing at an alarming rate. Having grown up in Michigan and being exposed early to Founders Kentucky Breakfast Stout (which I've been so very lucky to have had every year since about 2004 or 2005) I tend to believe the hype about Russian Imperial Stouts. I was so excited for Kate Day, but I was very very broke and didn't have access to a car that could get me an hour north to Portsmouth, NH to the Smuttynose/Portsmouth campus so I decided the only shot I had at getting a couple bottles of Kate was through their contest. It turns out I didn't win, but that's what I figured.

On Second Thought

While considering my proposal for the Restaurant Draft Project, I think that would not be a very considerate thing to do without first talking to the restaurant or bar manager, asking them whether they would like to take part in a "draft audit," and then giving them the results rather than just posting them online. If I feel still feel like moving forward with it, we'll see.

An Apology, and a Return

It's been a very, very long time since I last posted here. I can say things have been very crazy on my end - I've had 2 family funerals, myself getting engaged, losing my job (which at times required crazy 14+ hour days) - all of which kept me from thinking about blogging. Well, that being said, I'm ready to come back pretty shortly to the world of beer blogging - possibly beyond. I'll keep everyone posted, but look for a march comeback.

I'll leave you with this, an interesting article about scientists researching a beer that was found in a shipwreck. Sounds to me like something Dogfish Head might have some interest in, given their previous "Ancient" beers.

Good Beer on a Budget 3: Stoudt's Fat Dog

As opposed to usually where the thought storms into my mind "Maybe I should write a blog post... ah, nevermind, I'll do... anything else," tonight I actually will publish a post! Tonight, I'd like to share with you the wonder of the Fat Dog.

Taste: Similar in many ways to Brooklyn's Black Chocolate Stout, another of my favorite good beers on a budget, this like liquid chocolate velvet cake (without being overly sweet.) The mouthfeel is fairly thick without being like Southern Tier's Choklat, which is like Syrup. This beer is excellent, there is a subtle hint of coffee, a decent amount of dark chocolate that becomes more intense and builds up to a sizable amount if you're like me and can't just have one. For those of you that are partial to beers that are utterly delicious, you simply MUST try this. It's a self described "Imperial Oatmeal Stout," which means it will have a tendency towards being a little more sweet. This beer is in my wheelhouse for sure.

ABV: This beer is no shrinking violet, checking in at around 9% ABV. You'll definitely get what you pay for in terms of taste and warmth. I actually like the fact that it's not above 10% because that means there'll be more showcasing of the flavors than the hot-ness of the ABV. After two, you'll be warm and pleasant... and possibly be ready for bed.

Price: This is the best part... ready for it? How about now? Ok... $11 per 6 beers! Oh hells yes! I actually am physically struggling not to bolt off the couch to hit Total Wine down the street and pick up another Sixer... I think I can exercise some self control (but who would want to if you could get some of this stuff?)

Bottom Line: Like stronger stouts? Are your favorite Nature Valley bars the Dark Chocolate ones? Do you fancy chocolate cake? Are you alive? Ok, then run, don't walk, to the store and acquire some of said beverage, it's beer geek ambrosia.

Possible Project - Draft Reports

So, I'm thinking of starting a project and wanted to see what everyone thought. I'd like to start keeping a log of where I go to have a beer relative to the cleanliness of their draft lines. This way, I could provide a service to beer geeks and restaurants alike (theoretically) I'll lay out the methodology of the project will all the possible problems I can think of.

First, I would need to choose a craft beer that's widely, if not almost universally available, that I'm very familiar with the taste - This is trickier than it sounds. I have to be careful not to eat anything extremely bold for lunch at work or on the weekends that could possibly alter the tasting experience in any way. Because I don't have access to any sort of technology to test for pediococcus or lactobacillus beyond my tongue, it's essential that I plan ahead. Also, I need to choose a beer that doesn't exhibit many of these flavors (a kind of funky almost cheesy taste or a butterscotch-y taste akin to diacetyl tainting.) The first couple beers that come to mind are Sam Adams Boston Lager and Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. I'm going to try to avoid sweet or belgian style beers, as I think their flavor profile makes it difficult to detect problems with draft lines.

Second, I need to devise a point based rating system. My initial thought was to have a three or four point system, as these flavors can be difficult to detect. I'm guessing a three point scale would be the best, where a bar/restaurant would be awarded three points if their beer had no detectable tainted flavors.

Finally, I think this would need to be based, unless egregiously bad, on at least two visits and post the average. I think this might assist in taking the error out of this project.

Why do this? I very intensely dislike bars and restaurants that take wine seriously when it comes to storage, serving, etc. but not beer despite the fact that more and more of these places are offering craft beer. If you're going to serve a product, at least have the courtesy to serve it as the producer intended (if that's not yourself.) I encourage people to drink better beer at better establishments.

As a Sidenote to Previous Post

Watch the Video - I love these guys over at BrewDog, they remind me that brewing should always be fun... Dan Paquette over at Pretty Things also did a fantastic job of this by his strange sense of humor in his videos.

Link

I suck at Blogging - also, Extreme Beers

See post title. Also, I want to throw a quick notice out here on an article I read over at Gizmag. This article really nicely sums up the escalating "arms race" of extreme beer.

Link

I'd also like to just update people on the "politics of beer" that is the "rhetoric of extreme beer" if you can call it anything.

There are two sides, one headed by Brewmaster at Brooklyn Brewery Garrett Oliver who is opposed to use of the term "Extreme Beer" because it is an extremely unflattering title that makes one think of beer for the sake of ABV and not flavor. The other side is taken by Sam Calagione of Dogfish Head (unsurprisingly) who believes that the title is symbolic, if anything, of the development of beer beyond the boundaries of what's normally considered "beer." Essentially it's a clash of cultures - Sam arguing for the "radical" and pushing beer beyond its boundaries and Garrett the traditional, that beer should be respected categorically.

I personally am in the middle, but I'd say I side more with Mr. Oliver than I do Sam, but it's obviously not for lack of respect - I think that Dogfish Head will always be one of my favorite breweries and, now that I live in Alexandria, I will look forward to frequenting their Alehouses. Anyways, I think Mr. Oliver is right, a single beer beer, at the end of the day, should be acknowledged as part of something greater than itself categorically. This is not to say that creativity in brewing shouldn't be encouraged and hybrid styles or beers made with "funky" ingredients or fermented with bacteria shouldn't be considered beer or welcomed with open arms. America, as a country, I believe has done a good job of being extremely creative within the boundaries of beer with the advent of Imperial beers and spins on every genre imaginable, etc. . I don't think the title "extreme beer" is necessary. Ultimately, I don't believe these two arguments are mutually exclusive - Sam can brew a 20% Abv "American Strong Ale" with whatever he wants and it will be considered beer, and that use of anything further to set it apart is unnecessary.