Red Ale

Our fresh hopped Red Ale has been getting some great feedback from some of my friends who have had the chance to try it. It is my normal Red Ale recipe with some fresh Cascade hops from a friend of a friend's garden.

The hops give it a Pacific Northwest style ale bend instead of fitting squarely into an Irish Red or American Amber category. I like it a lot, but not sure I like it better than the original recipe. I would call it a tie. I like the creamy head that stays with the entire glass of beer, but I wanted it to be a little deeper red (it is more orangy red). It all tastes the same, but when you create a recipe you have a particular idea of what it should be when it grows up.

I like a little maltier and/or hoppier beer for the fall, and this definitely fits the bill. It isn't a winter warmer, however. I would like to brew a winter warmer (English Old Ale, or perhaps the German Alt) this winter, but next up is our yearly debacle called Pumpkin Ale. For some reason, my brother and I seem to make a major mistake every year (something different each time) on this beer. It is an advanced beer with probability of stuck mashes and low yields, but we also have made a fair amount of bone head mistakes. At least every year the beer is drinkable (more or less), but we have learned a lot from doing it year after year after year. Maybe this year will be the year we nail it.

Right now, the Red Ale is in its prime, and I highly recommend trying it if you can get over to my brewery in the next month.

Update: Do I Have What It Takes?

I know many of you would want to know what ever happened to my application to serve beer at the Tap Room at my local brewery. To answer my question in the title: No, I am sorry, I do not apparently have what it takes.

It came as no surprise to me, really. Although, I believe I would have been good at the job. The long and short of it; I have had no prior serving experience. Actually, a week after I applied, I saw the advertisement for the same job appear on craigslist. This is never a good thing for a prior applicant. In this economy, (and any down economy, in fact) experience most often trumps knowledge, and almost always tops enthusiasm. All I really had going for me was a deep desire to do the job, which is virtually impossible to express.

I later asked the Tap Room manager what happened to my beer. He said he put it into the employee stash. It probably hasn't even been drunk by anyone yet. I hope that who ever there gets to taste it really enjoys it. It won't seem like such a waste to me then.

All About BEER

While at the Rare Beer Tasting, I got handed a free copy of the latest issue of All About Beer, a magazine "Celebrating the World of Beer Culture". I have never read this publication before, and after getting through about 80% of it, have decided it is a pretty good mag.

I get my by-monthly issue of Zymurgy from the American Homebrewer's Association, which is dedicated to homebrewing, beer styles, and testing and tasting beer. I like getting it, and usually read it cover to cover in about an hour. I think actually, All About Beer is better, except it doesn't convey much brewing information

I have been coming back to All About Beer for about two weeks now, and every article in it has been able to capture my attention, even though I didn't think some of them would. The magazine is published 6 times a year and costs $20. I think I will get a subscription when the economy improves for me. If I am lucky, they will publish in alternating months with my Zymurgy subscription (so I have something new to read every month).

Oh Please, not Another Beer!!!!

Great American Beer Festival, Denver, CO

It has taken over a week to process the experience of the Great American Beer Festival.

I know I should not complain. I know I should not lament. I live here in Denver, so this event is open to me every year. I should feel lucky. Right now, I just feel lost and small.

The Great American Beer Festival event an event that is true to its name....it is Great like the Grand Canyon is Grand. The problem is, like the Grand Canyon, the Great American Beer Festival can not be absorbed or comprehended like Clark Griswold tried to do on the South Rim. It is simply too big, too vast. It also has the same problems as many of the crown jewels of the National Park System. There are too many visitors, and it is being loved to death.

The Brewer's Association has made great strides to make sure that every year runs a little better than the last. In recent years they have added member's only entrances for all of the night sessions, and have a Saturday day session for member's only.

I attended the member's only session for the first time this year, and while just as crowded as any of the night sessions, it wasn't quite as crazy. I appreciated that. I also attended with my brother, which was also a first for me.

We stood in line, got in, got our tasting glasses, and headed to the back of the hall without too much trouble and only an expected delay. This way we avoided a lot of the crowd. We proceeded to taste whatever sounded interesting. I usually try to taste as many of my favorite styles of beer (Brown and Oktoberfest and beers brewed with Pumpkin). Unfortunately, again this year, brown ales are not in favor. Oktoberfest and Pumpkin beers are more popular because the festival is held in the fall, but many of the Pumpkin's were out as of Saturday Afternoon. Almost every brewery had a light beer and at least one offering in the Imperial or Double range. IPAs, of course, were everywhere.

Even so, I had a few beers of just about every style. My favorite beers from my beer stained notes were: Stewart's Old Percolator Coffee Porter (Bear, DE), Shipyard's Sea Dog Pumpkin Ale (Bangor, MA), Barley Island's Dirty Helen Brown, which won the gold medal for American Brown Ales (Noblesville, IN), Left Hand's Oktoberfest (Longmont, CO) which was a ringer that I had at Lagerfest, Drake's Red Glare Red (San Leandro, CA), Buffalo Bill's (Hayward, CA) Pumpkin Ale, Vino's (Little Rock, AR) Oatmeal Brown, and Magnolia's (San Francisco, CA) Porter.

My brother and I tasted until we couldn't taste any thing any more, and we estimated that if we had a 1 oz. taste on average every five minutes (taking trips to the bathroom and a little break for food into account), we sampled over 60-70 oz. of beer each, perhaps only 4-5 pints of beer. That works out to be about $9 per pint for the $45 ticket. Expensive beer. We also did not linger in any of the non-beer booths or events, and I always kick myself afterwards. The problem is, the session is only 4 hours (we stayed only just over 3) and you get hyper focused (and drunk) about trying beer. We just plain forgot to stop and smell the roses. Oh, and I forgot my camera, again!

This event is just too big, too vast. It would be nice to spend perhaps 2 hours each session trying beer, and an hour or two loitering around the other booths, digging the vibe, people watching (not to mention the silent disco...you have to see it to understand), but that would be an even more expensive way to experience more of the beer and information offered. I had more fun at my other tasting events this year (Lager Festival, and the Rare Beer Tasting), even though I enjoyed more of the beer I tasted at GABF. The brewers were more accessible, and the servers somewhat more knowledgeable about what they were serving at the smaller events. Too bad you can't camp at the GABF like you can at the Grand Canyon, so you can take more of it in.

Penance

Rare Beer Tasting, Denver, CO

On the day I was leaving for my brief visit to Detroit, a message was posted on the American Homebrewer's Association list server that volunteers were needed for the 1st Annual (I hope) Denver Rare Beer Tasting, called Pints for Prostates, benefiting USToo, an organization dedicated to helping prostate cancer survivors, their spouses/partners and their families. The event was organized by Rick Lyke, a prostate cancer survivor himself, and encourages men in a non-threatening way to take charge of their health and get the PSA screening. Next year is my 40th year, and it will be time for me to start getting regular checks myself.

I was lucky that I checked my e-mail while I was at the airport, as I was free on Friday, and there was nothing in the world I would have rather been doing.

So on Friday morning, I headed off to Wynkoop Brewery in Lower Downtown (LoDo) to volunteer. The event was being held in Wynkoop's pool hall on the second floor above the bar/restaurant, and brewery facilities. Now if you have never been to Wynkoop, it is Denver's first brewpub and it was started in 1988 by now Denver Mayor, John Hickenlooper. The pool hall is the entire second floor and is a large, open space with 20 foot ceilings and perhaps 20 tournament sized billiards tables. I can tell you a secret, too. Pool is free in the afternoons, and the beer ain't bad either.

I checked in with Rick Lykes, the event organizer, and was sent to help hang the brewery signs above the serving stations. Not that they really needed my help (they were almost done), but I tried to be as helpful and friendly as I could. After that, I was told to choose a brewery to serve for. As luck would have it, Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales would be serving their 2006 and 2007 vintages of their Biere de Mars. I still felt bad for not going to visit this brewery when I was in the Detroit Area. This was my chance to meet these guys, and try their beer.

When Mike (VP of Sales) and Ron (Brewer/Owner) arrived, Mike recognized my name when I introduced myself. I apologized profusely for canceling my tour with him (he called it "standing him up") and for the rest of the afternoon, he made fun of me for that, as well as discussing Molson on my blog....that's fair. At least he read the blog. Then, disaster was realized.

As I said, Jolly Pumpkin sent two vintages of the same oak aged beer for the tasting. Two things were discovered: 1. not all of their beer arrived at the festival (about 1/2 of it was missing), 2. The ink on the labels that told which vintage was which was printed with water soluble ink. So, they had half of their beer, and they didn't know which they had. #2 was partially my fault, as 1/2 of the beer was on ice when I arrived, and I added (thinking I was being helpful) the other half to the bin. Luckily, they know their beer and were able to determine that most of what had arrived was their 2006 vintage. As a result, we were pouring 1 oz tasters instead of the festival's three ounce limit.

The beer itself is a Biere de Mars, which traditionally is a maltier version of a Biere de Garde, a darker version of the Saison (French for Session). Jolly Pumpkin's version is oak aged and bottle conditioned and utilizes Brettanomyces yeast (often referred to as Brett) to give it a sour taste. It was described to me as more like a Sour Flemish Brown Ale than its Saison roots. The 2006 vintage was oak aged for 27 months and bottle conditioned for a year and a half. It was sour, but very drinkable. I think it was around 7% ABV. Any way you cut it, it was a very special beer indeed.

Most of the festival goers were true beer experts and aficionados, and a few people who didn't know a thing (with more money than sense) about beer. All were very nice, even after we ran out of beer. I was told once and again while I was serving, that Jolly Pumpkin's Biere de Mars was the best beer at the festival. I was hoping that I was representing them well, as I was extremely proud to serve this special beer from my home State of Michigan.

After we ran out, I was free to join the tasters. I got to taste almost everything. I missed Wynkoop's Mead, by only about 1 minute. As I arrived, the were unscrewing the tap handle. I also missed Sam Adams Utopia, and Brooklyn's (Wild 1). I was told that perhaps the wrong beer was sent from Dogfish (Raison d etre, instead of Raison D' Extra), and Brooklyn's beer was very limited (like ours). I especially enjoyed New Glarus' (Wisconsin) Golden Ale. I got to speak directly to New Glarus' Brewmaster, Daniel Carey, a rock star in the craft beer world (in my opinion) about his beer and starting a brewery from scratch. His wife (who runs the brewery) hand labeled the brewer's notes on the bottles. I also liked Allagash's (Portland, Maine) Fluxus (Ale brewed with sweet potatoes and pepper), New Belgium's (Ft. Collins, Colorado) Trip II, and Bison's (Berkeley, CA) Double White. I spoke briefly with Bison's brewer (as I had been in their brewery in 2006), and he said that he was forced out of his location due to zoning violations. He could have used my expertise as my career is dealing with zoning, and my passion beer. He is now brewing in Ukiah at the Mendocino Brewing Company on the south side of town (I have been there, too). Still, no beer was better than "my" Biere de Mars. In my opinion (as with many others), it was the best beer of the festival.

I can't wait until next year, I have already offered to volunteer again, and will do so as long as I am allowed or able. My many thanks to Mike and Ron at Jolly Pumpkin. If you happen to be (or live) in Michigan, check out Jolly Pumpkin's Ales in stores, or at their two brew pubs (on Main in Ann Arbor, or up in beautiful Traverse City). My winter's are better here in Denver, but Jolly Pumpkin makes me want to move back home even more. I hope I paid my penance for skipping Jolly Pumpkin while in Michigan.

Evening at the Joe

Joe Louis Arena and Downtown Detroit, Michigan

We headed down to Joe Louis Arena for a pre-season Hockey game between the Detroit Red Wings and fellow Original Six team the New York Rangers. Before heading down, we hit the Detroit Beer Company.

The Detroit Beer Company is part of a new renaissance in Downtown Detroit. The revival of Downtown Detroit is centered around the new sports complexes, casinos, and the connections via the inter-downtown transit loop (and mayor Colman Young's boondoggle), The People Mover.

Downtown Detroit is still a down-trodden and under utilized place, but the small signs of life have provided access to areas that in my childhood were too dangerous to visit. We actually parked on the s

treet, went to the brewery, and took the People Mover on to the game and back without

any trouble.

It was Friday night and the Brewery was crowded. The brewery is nestled into the basement, and the serving tanks are located above and around the bar on the first floor of the Hartz Building. We sat up on the second floor where there is an additional bar and restaurant area. The waiter was busy, and didn't know all that much about the beers he was serving, but did check for us if there were any brewer's discounts (there weren't any).

My group ordered a number of different beers based and I got to sample them all. I mostly enjoyed the Porter (which Brent got) and the Detroit Dwarf (German Altbier) which I got. The

Detroit Dwarf is named for the legend of the

Nain Rouge, a dwarf with red boots or fur, that appears as a small figure around Detroit, and is thought to be a harbinger of doom for Detroit. That dwarf must stay pretty busy. The beer itself is a strong coppery golden ale that is complex and balanced. It won a gold medal at the GABF in 2006. I had that and their IPA, and was done drinking for the day....my job was that of driver designate.

The Red Wings pulled it out in the third period, which was nice, and we headed back to Liberty Street for the nightcap, but I drank diet coke....despite my desire for a mild ale. A perfect evening, except for my aching feet.

If you go to the Detroit Beer Company, I suggest finding a quieter time to visit, perhaps during the day or on a non-game night for the Lions, Tigers, or Red Wings. Perhaps then you can sit at the bar, and take a little time to enjoy their great offereings.

Walking Washington Street

Downtown Ann Arbor, Michigan

It is rare that you can actually pub crawl from brew pub to brew pub. They are still relatively rare as far as bars go, and often, it makes sense to disperse rather than co-locate breweries as it insures a local following and a "hometown brewery" designation. Even in Denver, while you can pub crawl to 4 or 5 breweries and brewpubs as well as a couple of specialty beer bars, the walk between them can be as short as 2 blocks and as great as 10 depending on your route and destination.

A college town is a perfect place for a brewery, it introduces newly minted beer drinkers to a premium product and establishes brand identification. There are special places where more than 1 brewpub can exist. Ann Arbor, Michigan has 3 brewpubs located within 1 block of Main Street on Washington Street, and another brewery just opened up a shop around the corner on Main.

My brother and I hit Ann Arbor early in the day on a Friday. We wandered around the Quad, and soaked up some nostalgia on our lives in Ann Arbor. Neither of us attended school there, but both spent a lot of time there (I more than my brother). If these breweries existed at the time, we no doubt would have lingered downtown even more. We had an early lunch (without beer) at Cottage Inn Pizza (a local favorite of both of us). I could start a blog on pizza, too, so this is good stuff.

I have to come clean. I have always loved Ann Arbor. It is a vibrant college town, with an active arts and entertainment community, with turn of the century architecture, tree-lined streets, and an educated populace. If I ever find myself moving back to Michigan for a job (now that sounds more funny now that I wrote it with the unemployment rate in Michigan at 15%, but in my house it is 100%, so who knows, right?) I would choose to live in Ann Arbor (or at least the Ann Arbor area including my old hometown of Plymouth). The fact that there are now at least 4 breweries there is icing on the cake. Because the 4 breweries are so close together and all downtown, I believe that there is room for more neighborhood breweries in this town.

In my time allowed, I was able to hit 3 of the 4 breweries. I wanted to hit the Jolly Pumpkin on Main (the newest of the 4), but my palate was ruined after the three, and Jolly Pumpkin is known for their flavorful and artesianal beers. I couldn't fairly taste their beers.

We started on West Washington and worked our way eastward.

Grizzly Peak

Located at the corner of West Washington and Ashley Street, the Grizzly Peak Brewing Company was one Ann Arbor's first breweries, opening its doors in 1995. As I recall, the location was a bar that my friends and I used to frequent prior to its brewpub incarnation. The building itself is a 100-year old building, and the interior is warm and inviting. The bartender was a little rude and short as we inquired about the beers and any possible Brewer's discounts (American Homebrewer's or Brewers Association, none at this location). She warmed up a little later when talking about beer. It was nice that she had (and was willing to share) some knowledge. We tried a number of their beers, the stand outs being their Pale Ale on cask at the time, and their Red Ale (always our safe bet). I didn't keep any notes, but was a little disappointed in more than 1 of the samples I tried.

Their brewery is located up front in their window and looks to be a 5-10 barrel system. Interestingly, their brew kettle was surrounded by brick. I had not seen a system like that (seems like an old school set up), and wonder about utilizing the bricks thermal efficiency. I could imagine that a mash tun would best benefit from the brick, helping to maintain a constant temperature during a long conversion period. In the brew kettle, you want wort to heat up fast and cool down quickly. Perhaps, they move the hot wort out of the kettle and benefit from the thermal efficiency upon moving the next batch in quickly.

Arbor Brewing Company

The Arbor Brewing Company opened its doors also in 1995 (I am not sure who was first) has a different personality than Grizzly Peak up the street. The Grizzly Peak is polished, feels somehow, more corporate, more intense. It is not to say its bad, but the feel of the Arbor Brewing Company is different, laid back. Maybe the Grizzly Peak caters to the professional crowd, and ABC is more the Birkenstock crowd. I fit in more with the Birkenstockers, especially these days. The Arbor Brewing Company could fit well into downtown Boulder, and reminds me vaguely of the Mountain Sun in Boulder. Grizzly Peak feels more like the Boulder Brewing Company (to be comparative).

Everyone at the Arbor was super nice. The bartender was my favorite of the trip in both knowledge and friendliness. The brewers were setting up outside on the street for their Oktoberfest Celebration, but were nice about me poking my head in for a few pictures (and getting in their way). My favorite beer was their Oktoberfest ('tis the season, after all), but I was a little disappointed

while tasting some of their other offerings. The beer felt thinner then I though the styles they were representing should be. I didn't try everything I would have liked to, and but time and good sense

would not allow it on this trip. I think I would have enjoyed other beers in other contexts, but I think I would enjoy the food the best at Arbor. They have an initiative to produce foods that are natural, organic, and local. This also means that their menu changes to reflect the local harvests. I was hungry again, but my mission on this day was beer.

The brewery is located behind the bar and is a modern looking 7 barrel system. They also have a location in the neighboring college town of Ypsilanti with a 21 barrel system and distribute their beers within the State of Michigan.

Blue Tractor BBQ and Brewery

We moved up the hill and another block eastward to the Blue Tractor. This is a modern student hang out. The interior was painted black, the serving tanks above the bar gave the outfit a decidedly industrial feel, and everything had that bolted to the floor and easy to hose off feeling of a freshman bar. The bartender was a fun loving gentleman. We also were running out of time, so we didn't stay as long as we would have. We had Wings tickets and had to meet friends and head downtown to the Joe in the evening. I was really getting hungry and the BBQ was smelling delicious (we ate BBQ twice on our way back to Denver....I think Blue Tractor was the reason). Here, I had my favorite beer of the street. It was their Red Ale. It was so close to the Red Ale I brew, so it felt like they brewed just for me. They only had 4 or so offerings, but we didn't get to sample them all. Again, we need to come back for the food and the beer in this fun bar.

The brewery facility is located downstairs (behind a locked door) along with a subterranean lounge that connects with the Mojito Bar next door. The basement is pure Ann Arbor bar and is reminiscent of a prohibition era speakeasy....very cool.

Overall, I had positive impressions of all of the three breweries, but all for different reasons. My brother loved most of the beers he had, and mentioned that he sort of wished we didn't have Red Wings tickets for the evening, as he would have liked to hang out for the Oktoberfest celebration. This is a huge statement. I LOVE (live, breathe, etc.) beer, and like the Detroit Red Wings (and hockey in general). My brother LOVES (lives, breathes) the Detroit Red Wings (and hockey in general), and likes beer. But the vibe of Ann Arbor; the good beer; it felt like we belonged...and we do. No matter who you are, everyone will feel welcome in at least one of the Washington Street Breweries. Perhaps more are on the way in Ann Arbor. I hope so.

Next time, we will hit Jolly Pumpkin, I promise, but I think we will need a day or more to process it and take it all in, and I didn't want to hurry that experience, so we skipped it. I had set up a tour at their facility that I had to cancel as well, and I have been remorseful ever since.