Top 5 Beer Cities & America’s Best Beers

October 6, 2009 By Jay Brooks

mens-journal
Men’s Journal yesterday released their annual lists of beer, both America’s Best Beers and The Top Five Beer Towns in the U.S.. Let’s look at the top five cities first.

San Diego
New York City
Portland
Philadelphia
Chicago

It’s nice to see San Diego get some much-deserved love. While I think New York has improved in it’s beer scene over the last few years, I still have a hard time seeing it as being superior to Portland or Philly. Of course, Men’s Journal, like many periodicals, is published in New York and it’s been my experience (I lived there for several years once upon a time) that New Yorkers have an over-developed sense of their central position in the world. Naturally, I would have liked to see San Francisco on the list, but really it’s the Bay Area in total that’s most deserving, not that just the city’s scene isn’t good, too.
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As for the beers they highlight this year, it’s a pretty good list, I’m happy to say. I especially love their introduction, where they reveal what many of us in the beer world have been saying for a few years now: “American craft brews now dominate” around the world. Finishing with “[n]ow there’s no reason to travel farther than your nearest specialty grocery store for a perfect beer.” If only the grocery chains would catch up and stock a wider range of good beer.

The list is divided into five broad categories; ales, lagers, dark beers, Belgian-style and cutting edge. Authors Christian DeBenedetti and Seth Fletcher then chose three beers of each kind to come up their top 25. As subjective at these lists can be, I have to say Men’s Journal is getting better at picking their top beers. While there are plenty of other beers I might have put on such a list — as any two people would undoubtedly choose different beers — I can’t really quibble with any of the beers they picked, save one or two, but not even enough to mention. I’ll have to do my own list one of these days.

Oregon Brewer Cuisinternship Winner Announced

October 5, 2009 By Jay Brooks

Oregon Bounty, who is the sponsor of the Cuisinternship contest to find interns for seven uniquely Oregonian artisan and craft pursuits, has begun announcing the winners, one each day.

The Brewmaster Cuisinternship winner was announced this morning. From the many entries, the finalists were whittled down to seven. From those seven, I chose three finalists. The winner was then chosen by Jamie Emmerson, brewmaster at Full Sail Brewing in Mt. Hood, where he’ll spend his beer-filled week.

The beer intern winner was Kevin Kozlen of Bloomington, Illinois. Here’s his video entry. Here’s what Kevin should experience:

Along the shores of the mighty Columbia River Gorge, Kevin will get a week-long lesson from some of the country’s craft brewing pioneers. From the hop farm to the mash tun to the microscope, he’ll feel, smell and taste beer from beginning to end. If he can tear yourself away from the tasting table, he’ll be able to explore the charming town of Hood River, unofficial U.S. capitol of windsurfing, beer drinking and hanging out.

Congratulation, Kevin. Have a great time.

Framing Beer Announced For Next Session

October 4, 2009 By Jay Brooks

Andrew Couch at I’ll Have a Beer has agreed to host our 33rd Session and he’s announced his topic for it. And for those of us who are numbers geeks, it has nothing to do with Rolling Rock.
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Instead he begins with this wonderfully enigmatic tale:

My sister once told me a story she had heard about a sculpture exhibit: on the winter day it opened, the artist placed a coat rack next to the door. Predictably, the patrons hung their coats on it. Each day the artist moved the rack a bit closer to the rest of the exhibit, until the day came when the visitors chose not to use the “piece of art” for their coats. That day the artist placed a sign on the coat rack that stated simply, “Art begins here.”

Framing is a concept often associated with politics, but which in reality can be applied to virtually anything. Couch goes on to explain what he’s looking for, discussing the philosophy of framing beer and how to apply it to next month’s Session.

Imagine persuasively describing craft beer to someone who has until now entirely missed out, maybe in a sales situation. Perhaps it’s a brown ale and you can can describe the caramel and toast flavors, or it’s a pale ale and you have fruit or herbs from the hops. You might start having to defend yourself if it’s an IPA and those hops taste earthy, resiny, or particularly bitter. You’ll definitely meet some resistance if your favorite is an imperial anything, brimming with intensity and a sharp kick, or if you’d like to convince a person of the credibility of a sour beer or anything for which you must use the word ‘funky’. Each of these descriptions is inevitably an attempt to ‘frame’ the beer, putting the consumer in the proper state of mind to drink it.
For better or worse, in everyday situations beer comes with a label. This label very really ‘frames’ the beer inside. The fact that the beer comes commercially-produced signals the presence of investment (if not skill). A style name or tasting notes indicates the general characteristics to expect. If you know the brewery the beer is framed with your past experiences. Even the label art will affect your expectations for the beer.
What role does this framing play in beer tasting, especially for ‘professional evaluators’? Relate an amusing or optimistic anecdote about introducing someone to strange beer. Comment on the role a label plays in framing a beer or share a label-approval related story. I have not done much blind tasting, and I would be intrigued to hear about this ‘frameless’ evaluation of beer.
And drink a beer. Ideally drink something that you don’t think you will like. Try to pick out what it is about that brew that other people enjoy (make sure to properly frame the beer!).
Extra credit will be given for specific mention of the Post article prompting this topic, or for use of the phrase “priming the pump”.

Get framing. See you in November.

beer-framed

Beer Raped Your Daughter and Gave Her Gonorrhea … Again

October 1, 2009 By Jay Brooks

Thanks to Anat Baron for tweeting this my way, but it seems that the storm clouds are once again gathering over ridiculous propaganda aimed at beer. Luckily, Reason Magazine — a periodical I’ve written for — is on the case in a piece entitled Beer Raped Your Daughter and Gave Her Gonorrhea. Again.

It concerns a Washington Post editorial where two doctors argue out of — one hopes — a sense of fealty to their Hippocratic oath that more expensive beer means lower consumption, less problems, less issues, less greenhouse gas emissions, less poverty, less .. well, you get the idea — the world will be a magically better place if only there were more taxes on beer. Of course, we’ve been down this argumentative road before and their statistics, like others before them, don’t add up. They never do, but that doesn’t stop them for spouting off and making this shit up, because they seem to be taking the approach of a lie repeated often enough becomes a fact over time. As a member of The Angry Arm of the Alcohol Lobby, I say bullshit.

Here’s their nut job argument in a nutshell:

One way to reduce the harmful effects of heavy drinking is to make drinking more expensive: the more a drink costs, the less people drink. This is true of young people, pregnant women and even heavy drinkers. Research indicates that a 10 percent increase in current alcohol excise taxes — that is a penny for a beer — would result in less drinking, especially among underage drinkers, reducing rape, robbery, domestic violence and liver disease. A tax increase of 3 cents per beer would cut youth gonorrhea by 9 percent.

So more expensive beer means less rape, less STDs, less domestic violence and all manner of other horrors. Because that’s the way it’s worked as cigarette prices have kept going up, right? Here’s how Reason looked at this argument:

I’m going to pull out that last line one more time in case you, like me, sometime skim over blockquotes too quickly:
A tax increase of 3 cents per beer would cut youth gonorrhea by 9 percent.
Look at the lovely young lady at right [an old Budweiser print ad of a couple fishing]. If only a three cent tax on that Budweiser could have saved her from the heartbreak of VD.
Messrs. (Drs.?) Sederer and Goplerud have taken the fine art of vaguely claiming that “studies show…” to a new level. Obviously, the argument here is that lots of beer makes people more likely to rape, pillage, etc. and that pricier beer means less consumption. A quick Google reveals that they’re pulling from 2000 study that looked at beer taxes and gonorrhea rates in various states. Reason, of course, tore this study a new one back when first made the rounds. Key passage:
[David Murray of the Statistical Assessment Service, a non-profit think tank in D.C.] does yeoman’s work pointing out the junk reasoning at the root of so much junk science. This one was a high, hanging curve for Murray, who said the CDC’s thinking was on the level of “the sun goes down because we turn on the street lights.”
The really interesting thing is that the CDC, in effect, agrees with that criticism. It buries its assent, however, in an editorial note that says the findings “do not prove a causal relation between higher taxes and declining STD [sexually transmitted disease] rates.”

To get a sense of how bad their math is, just look at their assertion that a 10% increase means only one penny more in excise taxes. That would mean that the taxes now would be 10 cents for that to be true. Are they? Not even close. There’s a federal excise tax on beer, and then a state one, too, and the amount varies widely from state to state, making that line ridiculous on its face.

And they trot out this old saw:

It has been 18 years since federal taxes on alcohol have changed. If all spirit taxes had increased at the consumer price index and been taxed like liquor, federal taxes on a shot of spirits would have increased by 10 cents, a beer by 21 cents, and a glass of wine by 24 cents. Making that adjustment now would raise $101 billion over 10 years, without state tax increases. Equalizing the tax among beer, wine and spirits, without inflation, would raise $60 billion over 10 years.

Don’t you believe it. I’ve examined this argument thoroughly before in Here We Go Again: Beer & Taxes and Why Alcohol Doesn’t Get A Pass, among others, and it’s nothing but vicious propaganda. And propaganda made even worse by virtue of it coming from medical doctors, who people tend to believe have their best interests at heart. They don’t, of course, doctors have their own interests at heart, like everyone else. Just look at how they attacked the idea of health care reform, beginning all the way back in 1948 when a P.R. firm hired by the AMA actually coined the term “socialized medicine” to scare people into making sure we wouldn’t have universal health care in this country. That’s how much they care about you and me.

If you track these things, like I tend to, you’ll notice that the attacks on alcohol have been getting more frequent, more virulent and more mainstream. You don’t think that could have anything to do with pharmaceutical ads proliferating while alcohol ads are highly regulated and restricted? Nah, must be a coincidence. Now where does your daughter hang out? I want to buy her a beer.

GABF 2009

September 29, 2009 By Jay Brooks

This year’s Great American Beer Festival was another terrific event and the week flew by faster even than in previous years. Between judging, media events, the festival itself, beer dinners and other side events it was a very full week. I tasted an enormous amount of great beer, ate some terrific food with that beer. I saw many old friends and made plenty of new ones. What more could one ask for from a GABF week?

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George Wendt, Nancy Johnson, and Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper at the GABF Awards Ceremony.

Jeff Bearer, Stan Hieronymus, Stephen Beaumont, me and Rick Lyke @ Great Divide
Jeff Bearer, from Craft Beer Radio, Stan Hieronymus, Stephen Beaumont, me and Rick Lyke @ Great Divide’s annual Media Reception.

Vinnie & Natalie Cilurzo, from Russian River, with Ron & Laurie Jeffrie, from Jolly Pumpkin.

Nicole Erny & Matt Brynildson Toasting the End of GABF Week at The Falling Rock

Below is a slideshow of my time at GABF this year. After clicking on the arrow in the center to start the slideshow, you can also click on the button on the bottom right with the four arrows pointing outward on it, to see the photos in glorious full screen. Once in full screen slideshow mode, click on “Show Info” to identify who’s in the photos.

For pictures of the GABF awards ceremony, see the GABF Awards 2009 gallery.

GABF Winners 2009

September 28, 2009 By Jay Brooks

On Saturday, the winners of the Great American Beer Festival were announced. A total of 234 medals were awarded in 78 categories (gold, silver and bronze). California breweries took home 39 of the 234 awards, or about 17% of the total. Only Colorado, with 44 medals, won more. Oregon won 22 and Washington 13, making them 3rd and 4th, respectively. My birth state of Pennsylvania came in 5th, with 12, with only the top five in double digits. The top winners by state were:

Colorado — 44
California — 39
Oregon — 22
Pennsylvania — 14*
Washington — 13
Michigan — 9
TIE: New York, Virginia — 8
TIE: Illinois, Maryland — 7
Montana — 6
Wisconsin — 5

* According to Jack Curtin, the 2 medals won by Iron Hill were actually brewed in Pennsylvania (though they were entered in Delaware because that’s where their corporate headquarters are located) so Pennsylvania should have 14 and be in 4th place instead of 5th. Because I don’t want to get into a debate about which A-B or Miller brewery their medal winners came from and how that might also alter the state medal counts, I’ll just let Jack have his way this time.

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The Great American Beer Festival by the numbers:

457 breweries in the festival hall
2,100 beers served at the festival
49,000 attendees (includes brewers, volunteers and ticket holders)
3,000 volunteers
495 breweries in the competition
3,308 beers judged in the competition
78 categories judged + Pro-Am category
132 judges from ten countries

And the winners are:

Category: 1 American-Style Cream Ale or Lager, 24 Entries
Gold: Milwaukee’s Best, Miller Brewing Co., Golden, CO
Silver: Hamm’s, Miller Brewing Co., Golden, CO
Bronze: Red Dog, Miller Brewing Co., Golden, CO

Category: 2 American-Style Wheat Beer, 19 Entries
Gold: County Seat Wheat, Blind Tiger Brewery & Restaurant, Topeka, KS
Silver: Shredders Wheat, Barley Brown’s Brew Pub, Baker City, OR
Bronze: Double Eagle Ale, Rockyard Brewing Co., Castle Rock, CO

Category: 3 American-Style Wheat Beer With Yeast, 43 Entries
Gold: Haywire Hefeweizen, Pyramid Breweries, Seattle, WA
Silver: Hefeweizen, Widmer Brothers Brewing, Portland, OR
Bronze: UFO Hefeweizen, Harpoon Brewery, Boston, MA

Category: 4 Fruit Beer or Field Beer, 104 Entries
Gold: Raspberry Creek, Breakwater Brewing Co., Oceanside, CA
Silver: Magnolia’s Peach, BJ’s Restaurant & Brewery, Huntington Beach, CA
Bronze: Raspberry Tart, New Glarus Brewing Co, New Glarus, WI

Category: 5 Herb and Spice or Chocolate Beer, 85 Entries
Gold: Stillwater Rye, Montana Brewing Co., Billings, MT
Silver: Imperial Chocolate Stout, Rogue Ales, Newport, OR
Bronze: Rude Elf’s Reserve, Fegley’s Allentown & Bethlehem Brew Works, Allentown, PA

Category: 6 Coffee Flavored Beer, 45 Entries
Gold: Dude! Where’s My Vespa?, Rock Bottom Brewery – Arlington, Arlington, VA
Silver: Overcast Espresso Stout, Oakshire Brewing, Eugene, OR
Bronze: Coffee Bender, Surly Brewing Co., Brooklyn Center, MN

Category: 7 Specialty Beer, 21 Entries
Gold: Chateau Jiahu, Dogfish Head Brewery, Milton, DE
Silver: Palo Santo Marron, Dogfish Head Brewery, Milton, DE
Bronze: Drunken Angel, Rock Bottom Brewery – Chicago, Chicago, IL

Category: 8, Rye Beer, 21 Entries
Gold: Crazy Jackass Ale, Great American Restaurants, Centreville, VA
Silver: Blue Point Brewing Co. RastafaRye, Blue Point Brewing Co., Patchogue, NY
Bronze: Hoss, Great Divide Brewing Co., Denver, CO

Category: 9 Specialty Honey Beer, 36 Entries
Gold: Countdown Honey Brown, Thunder Canyon Brewery, Tucson, AZ
Silver: George’s Fault, Nodding Head Brewing Co., Philadelphia, PA
Bronze: Midas Touch, Dogfish Head Brewery, Milton, DE

Category: 10 Session Beer, 27 Entries
Gold: KinderPils, Triumph Brewing Co. of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
Silver: Firestone Xtra Pale, Firestone Walker Brewing Co., Paso Robles, CA
Bronze: Bam Biere, Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales, Dexter, MI

Category: 11 Other Strong Beer, 44 Entries
Gold: Cardiff, Glenwood Canyon Brewing Co., Glenwood Springs, CO
Silver: Winter Wheatwine, Rubicon Brewing Co., Sacramento, CA
Bronze: FiftyFifty Imperial Stout, FiftyFifty Brewing Co., Truckee, CA

Category: 12 Experimental Beer, 32 Entries
Gold: TPS Report, Trinity Brewing Co, Colorado Springs, CO
Silver: Bloody Beer, Shorts Brewing Co., Bellaire, MI
Bronze: Brabant, Avery Brewing Co., Boulder, CO

Category: 13 Out of Category – Tradationally Brewed Beer, 82 Entries
Gold: W ‘10, Widmer Brothers Brewing, Portland, OR
Silver: Brooklyner-Schneider Hopfen-Weisse, Brooklyn Brewery, Brooklyn, NY
Bronze: S1NIST0R Black Ale, 10 Barrel Brewing Co., Bend, OR

Category: 14 Gluten Free Beer, 10 Entries
Gold: Celia Framboise, The Alchemist, Waterbury, VT
Silver: Redbridge, Anheuser-Busch, Inc., Saint Louis, MO
Bronze: Celia IPA, The Alchemist, Waterbury, VT

Category: 15 American-Belgo-Style Ale, 51 Entries
Gold: Exit 4, Flying Fish Brewing Co., Cherry Hill, NJ
Silver: The Crow & The Sparrow, Rock Bottom Brewery – Chicago, IL
Bronze: Temperance, Mountain Sun Pub and Brewery, Boulder, CO

Category: 16 American-Style Sour Ale, 32 Entries
Gold: Rosso e Marrone, Captain Lawrence Brewing Co, Pleasantville, NY
Silver: Raspberry Torte, Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant, Wilmington, DE
Bronze: Diamond Kings ‘09, Brugge Brasserie, Indianapolis, IN

Category: 17 Wood- and Barrel-Aged Beer, 33 Entries
Gold: Humidor Series IPA, Cigar City Brewing, Tampa, FL
Silver: Red Woody, Goose Island Beer Co., Chicago, IL
Bronze: Red Brick Anniversary Ale 15, Red Brick-Atlanta Brewing Co., Atlanta, GA

Category: 18 Wood- and Barrel-Aged Strong Beer, 110 Entries
Gold: Cereal Killer Barleywine, Arcadia Brewing Co., Battle Creek, MI
Silver: Barrel Aged Gonzo, Flying Dog Brewery, Frederick, MD
Bronze: Duck-Rabbit Barrel Aged Baltic Porter, The Duck-Rabbit Craft Brewery, Inc., Farmville, NC

Category: 19 Wood- and Barrel-Aged Sour Beer, 45 Entries
Gold: Bourbonic Plague, Cascade Brewery Co. LLC, Portland, OR
Silver: Vlad the Imp Aler, Cascade Brewery Co. LLC, Portland, OR
Bronze: Phruit Phunk, Nodding Head Brewing Co., Philadelphia, PA

Category: 20 Aged Beer, 32 Entries
Gold: Horn Dog Vintage 2007, Flying Dog Brewery, Frederick, MD
Silver: St. Bob’s Imperial Stout, IL Vicino Brewing Co., Albuquerque, NM
Bronze: Winterfest 2008, Utah Brewers Co-op, Salt Lake City, UT

Category: 21 Kellerbier/Zwickelbier, 27 Entries
Gold: Hell In Keller, Uncle Billy’s Brew & Que, Austin, TX
Silver: Natural Born Keller, Devil’s Backbone Brewing Co., Roseland, VA
Bronze: Red Rock Organic Zwickel Bier, Red Rock Brewing Co., Salt Lake City, UT

Category: 22 Smoked Beer, 43 Entries
Gold: Smokejumper, Left Hand Brewing Co., Longmont, CO
Silver: Up In Smoke, Fat Head’s Brewery & Saloon, North Olmsted, OH
Bronze: Diesel Imperial Smoked Porter, 21st Amendment Brewery, San Francisco, CA

Category: 23 International-Style Pilsener, 13 Entries
Gold: Gold Leaf Lager, Devil’s Backbone Brewing Co., Roseland, VA
Silver: OE800, Miller Brewing Co., Golden, CO
Bronze: Gold Mountain Pilsner, Silver City Brewery, Silverdale, WA

Category: 24 German-Style Pilsener, 48 Entries
Gold: 106 Pilsner, Rock Bottom Brewery – Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI
Silver: Pilsner, Chuckanut Brewery, Bellingham, WA
Bronze: Troegs Sunshine Pils, Troegs Brewing Co., Harrisburg, PA

Category: 25 Bohemian Style Pilsener, 39 Entries
Gold: Vermont Lager, Otter Creek Brewing/Wolaver’s Organic Ales, Middlebury, VT
Silver: Gordon Biersch Czech Pilsner, Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant Group, Broomfield, CO
Bronze: Bell’s Lager Beer, Bell’s Brewery, Inc., Galesburg, MI

Category: 26 Munich Style Helles, 31 Entries
Gold: Saint Arnold Summer Pils, Saint Arnold Brewing Co., Houston, TX
Silver: Where the Helles Bill?, The SandLot, Denver, CO
Bronze: Gordon Biersch , Golden Export, Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant Group, Broomfield, CO

Category: 27 Dortmunder or German-Style Oktoberfest, 20 Entries
Gold: Move Back, The SandLot, Denver, CO
Silver: Greenside Up, The SandLot, Denver, CO
Bronze: Capital Bavarian Lager, Capital Brewery Co., Inc., Middleton, WI

Category: 28 American Style Light Lager, 25 Entries
Gold: Budweiser Select, Anheuser-Busch, Inc., Saint Louis, MO
Silver: Keystone Light, Coors Brewing Co., Golden, CO
Bronze: Michelob Ultra, Anheuser-Busch, Inc., Saint Louis, MO

Category: 29 American-Style Lager or Premium Lager, 34 Entries
Gold: Coors Banquet, Coors Brewing Co., Golden, CO
Silver: Miller High Life, Miller Brewing Co., Golden, CO
Bronze: Totally Naked, New Glarus Brewing Co, New Glarus, WI

Category: 30 American Style Specialty Lager, 23 Entries
Gold: Keystone Ice, Coors Brewing Co., Golden, CO
Silver: Pre-Pro, Coors Brewing Co., Gol, Golden, CO
Bronze: Steel Reserve, Miller Brewing Co., Golden, CO

Category: 31 Vienna Style Lager, 25 Entries
Gold: Vienna Lager, Chuckanut Brewery, Bellingham, WA
Silver: Vienna Lager, Devil’s Backbone Brewing Co., Roseland, VA
Bronze: Clipper City Marzhon Vienna Lager, Clipper City Brewing Co., Baltimore, MD

Category: 32 German Style Märzen, 45 Entries
Gold: Dogtoberfest, Flying Dog Brewery, Frederick, MD
Silver: Reines Marzen, Dry Dock Brewing Co., Aurora, CO
Bronze: Rocktoberfest, Rock Bottom Brewery – Long Beach, Long Beach, CA

Category: 33 American Style Amber Lager, 45 Entries
Gold: Durango Colorfest, Durango Brewing Co., Durango, CO
Silver: Killian’s Red, Coors Brewing Co., Golden, CO
Bronze: Michelob Marzen, Michelob Brewing Co., Saint Louis, MO

Category: 34 European Style Dunkel, 21 Entries
Gold: Dunkel, Chuckanut Brewery, Bellingham, WA
Silver: Gordon Biersch Dunkles, Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant Group, Broomfield, CO
Bronze: Dunkel, AC Golden Brewing Co., Golden, CO

Category: 35 American-Style Dark Lager, 15 Entries
Gold: Session Black Premium Lager, Full Sail Brewing at Riverplace, Portland, OR
Silver: Roadrunner Red Lager, Thunder Canyon Brewery, Tucson, AZ
Bronze: Saranac Black Forest, Saranac/F.X. Matt Brewing Co., Utica, NY

Category: 36 German Style Schwarzbier, 34 Entries
Gold: Schwarzbier, Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant, Wilmington, DE
Silver: Schwarzbier, Chuckanut Brewery, Bellingham, WA
Bronze: Dark Helmet, Titletown Brewing Co., Green Bay, WI

Category: 37 Bock, 40 Entries
Gold: Troegenator, Troegs Brewing Co., Harrisburg, PA
Silver: May Bock, Backcountry Brewery, Frisco, CO
Bronze: Fornicator, Piece Brewery, Chicago, IL

Category: 38 German Style Doppelbock or Eisbock, 21 Entries
Gold: The Kaiser, Avery Brewing Co., Boulder, CO
Silver: Samuel Adams Double Bock, Boston Beer Co., Boston, MA
Bronze: Carbonator, Glenwood Canyon Brewing Co., Glenwood Springs, CO

Category: 39 Baltic-Style Porter, 16 Entries
Gold: Duck-Rabbit Baltic Porter, The Duck-Rabbit Craft Brewery, Inc., Farmville, NC
Silver: Danzig, Devil’s Backbone Brewing Co., Roseland, VA
Bronze: Veles Baltic Porter, FireHouse Grill & Brewery, Sunnyvale, CA

Category: 40 Golden or Blonde Ale, 43 Entries
Gold: Golden Spike, Tustin Brewing Co., Tustin, CA
Silver: Kiwanda Cream Ale, Pelican Pub & Brewery, Pacific City, OR
Bronze: Red Rock Blonde Ale, Red Rock Brewing Co., Salt Lake City, UT

Category: 41 German Style Kölsch, 43 Entries
Gold: Kolsch, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., Chico, CA
Silver: Clearwater Kolsch, Ram Restaurant & Brewery (2), Tacoma, WA
Bronze: Stoudts Kolsch, Stoudt Brewing Co., Adamstown, PA

Category: 42 English-Style Summer Ale, 33 Entries
Gold: Light Rock Ale, RJ Rockers Brewing Co., Spartanburg, SC
Silver: Surfer’s Summer Ale, Pelican Pub & Brewery, Pacific City, OR
Bronze: True Blonde Ale, Ska Brewing Co., Durango, CO

Category: 43 Classic English Style Pale Ale, 33 Entries
Gold: Mactarnahan’s Amber, Pyramid Breweries, Seattle, WA
Silver: Mirror Pond Pale Ale, Deschutes Brewery, Bend, OR
Bronze: Hopfish, Flying Fish Brewing Co., Cherry Hill, NJ

Category: 44 English-Style India Pale Ale, 40 Entries
Gold: Beech Street Bitter, Pizza Port Carlsbad, Carlsbad, CA
Silver: IPA, Goose Island Beer Co., Chicago, IL
Bronze: Brewer’s Alley India Pale Ale, Brewer’s Alley Restaurant and Brewery, Frederick, MD

Category: 45 American Style Pale Ale, 108 Entries
Gold: Sweetgrass IPA, Grand Teton Brewing Co., Victor, ID
Silver: 44 Pale Ale, Colorado Brewing Co./Draft House, Boulder, CO
Bronze: Tumble Off Pale Ale, Barley Brown’s Brew Pub, Baker City, OR

Category: 46 American-Style Strong Pale Ale, 70 Entries
Gold: Racer 5 IPA, Bear Republic Factory Five, Cloverdale, CA
Silver: Hopshot IPA, Beaver St. Brewery, Flagstaff, AZ
Bronze: IPA Nectar, Firestone Walker Brewing Co., Paso Robles, CA

Category: 47 American-Style India Pale Ale, 134 Entries
Gold: Union Jack, Firestone Walker Brewing Co., Paso Robles, CA
Silver: Sculpin IPA, Ballast Point Brewing Co, San Diego, CA
Bronze: Blind Pig IPA, Russian River Brewing Co., Santa Rosa, CA

Category: 48 Imperial India Pale Ale, 77 Entries
Gold: Organic Ace of Spades Imperial IPA, Hopworks Urban Brewery, Portland, OR
Silver: Denogginizer, Drake’s Brewing Co., San Leandro, CA
Bronze: Hip Hop Double IPA, Hollister Brewing Co., Goleta, CA

Category: 49 American Style Amber/Red Ale, 78 Entries
Gold: Organic Rise Up Red, Hopworks Urban Brewery, Portland, OR
Silver: Red Rock, Triple Rock Brewery and Alehouse, Berkeley, CA
Bronze: Hop Head Red, Green Flash Brewing Co., Vista, CA

Category: 50 Imperial Red Ale, 36 Entries
Gold: Shark Attack, Pizza Port Solana Beach, Solana Beach, CA
Silver: 547 Haight – The Toronado San Francisco’s 20th Anniversary Imperial Red Ale, Pizza Port Carlsbad, Carlsbad, CA
Bronze: Organic Deranger Imperial Red, Laurelwood Brewing Co., Portland, OR

Category: 51 English Style Mild Ale, 17 Entries
Gold: Sara’s Ruby Mild, Magnolia Gastropub & Brewery, San Francisco, CA
Silver: AK Session, Snake River Brewing, Jackson, WY
Bronze: Coyote Moon, Snipes Mountain Brewing Inc., Sunnyside, WA

Category: 52 Ordinary or Special Bitter, 45 Entries
Gold: Big Rapid Red, Beaver St. Brewery, Flagstaff, AZ
Silver: Cutthroat Pale Ale, Uinta Brewing Co., Salt Lake City, UT
Bronze: Numbers Ale, Red Brick-Atlanta Brewing Co., Atlanta, GA

Category: 53 Extra Special Bitter or Strong Bitter, 47 Entries
Gold: ESB, Redhook Ales – Woodinville, Woodinville, WA
Silver: Motorboat ESB, SweetWater Brewing Co., Atlanta, GA
Bronze: Colorado Boy IPA, Colorado Boy Pub & Brewery, Ridgway, CO

Category: 54 Scottish Style Ale, 29 Entries
Gold: Railbender Ale, Erie Brewing Co, Erie, PA
Silver: Kilt Lifter, Four Peaks Brewing Co., Tempe, AZ
Bronze: Cold Smoke Scotch Ale, Kettlehouse Brewing Co., Missoula, MT

Category: 55 Irish Style Red Ale, 32 Entries
Gold: Ridgetop Red, Silver City Brewery, Silverdale, WA
Silver: Colorado Boy Irish, Colorado Boy Pub & Brewery, Ridgway, CO
Bronze: Saranac Irish Red Ale, Saranac/F.X. Matt Brewing Co., Utica, NY

Category: 56 English Style Brown Ale, 41 Entries
Gold: Longboard Brown, Rock Bottom Brewery – La Jolla, CA
Silver: Buster Nut Brown, Ska Brewing Co., Durango, CO
Bronze: Good Grief Brown, Pizza Port Carlsbad, Carlsbad, CA

Category: 57 American Style Brown Ale, 43 Entries
Gold: Dirty Helen Brown Ale, Barley Island Brewing Co., Noblesville, IN
Silver: Cheyenne Cañon Ale, Bristol Brewing Co., Colorado Springs, CO
Bronze: Great American Brown, Pizza Port Carlsbad, Carlsbad, CA

Category: 58 German Style Altbier, 35 Entries
Gold: Bismarck Altbier, Dry Dock Brewing Co., Aurora, CO
Silver: Boca Alt, Brewzzi West Palm, West Palm Beach, FL
Bronze: Gordon Biersch Alt Bier, Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant Group, Broomfield, CO

Category: 59 German-Style Sour Ale, 13 Entries
Gold: Berliner Weisse, Southampton Publick House, Southampton, NY
Silver: NBB Love, New Belgium Brewing Co., Inc., Fort Collins, CO
Bronze: Bad Kitty, Brugge Brasserie, Indianapolis, IN

Category: 60 South German Style Hefeweizen, 66 Entries
Gold: Top Heavy Hefeweizen, Piece Brewery, Chicago, IL
Silver: U-Boat Hefeweizen, Dry Dock Brewing Co., Aurora, CO
Bronze: Wiezen, Redhook Ales – Portsmouth, Portsmouth, NH

Category: 61 German-Style Wheat Ale, 38 Entries
Gold: Hefeweizen, Triumph Brewing Co. of New Hope, New Hope, PA
Silver: Weizenbock, The Covey Restaurant & Brewery, Fort Worth, TX
Bronze: Upslope Dunkel Weizen, Upslope Brewing Co., Boulder, CO

Category: 62 Belgian-Style Witbier, 53 Entries
Gold: ZON, Boulevard Brewing Co, Kansas City, MO
Silver: Belgian White, Big Dog’s Brewing Co., Las Vegas, NV
Bronze: Wits End, Great American Restaurants, Centreville, VA

Category: 63 French- and Belgian Style Saison, 56 Entries
Gold: Saison Vautour, McKenzie Brew House, Glen Mills, PA
Silver: Belgian Summer Ale, Great Adirondack Brewing Co., Lake Placid, NY
Bronze: Saison Du Bastone, Bastone Brewery, Royal Oak, MI

Category: 64 Belgian and French-Style Ale, 41 Entries
Gold: Carnevale, The Lost Abbey, San Marcos, CA
Silver: Demolition, Goose Island Beer Co., Chicago, IL
Bronze: Collaborative Evil-Sacramento, Sacramento Brewing Co., Sacramento, CA

Category: 65 Belgian-Style Lambic or Sour Ale, 29 Entries
Gold: Duck Duck Gooze, The Lost Abbey, San Marcos, CA
Silver: Red Rock, Big Rock Chop House & Brewery, Birmingham, MI
Bronze: Supplication, Russian River Brewing Co., Santa Rosa, CA

Category: 66 Belgian-Style Abbey Ale, 58 Entries
Gold: Signature Dubbel, Choc Beer Co., Krebs, OK
Silver: Tripel, Allagash Brewing Co., Portland, ME
Bronze: Deschutes Brewery Quad, Deschutes Brewery, Bend, OR

Category: 67 Belgian Style Strong Specialty Ale, 70 Entries
Gold: Revelations, Pizza Port Carlsbad, Carlsbad, CA
Silver: “100”, The Covey Restaurant & Brewery, Fort Worth, TX
Bronze: Father Damien Abbey Ale, Maui Brewing Co., Lahaina, HI

Category: 68 Brown Porter, 38 Entries
Gold: St. Charles Porter, Blackstone Brewing Co., Nashville, TN
Silver: Lazy Jake Porter, Long Valley Pub and Brewery, Long Valley, NJ
Bronze: Black Butte Porter, Deschutes Brewery, Bend, OR

Category: 69 Robust Porter, 57 Entries
Gold: Pt. Reyes Porter, Marin Brewing Co., Larkspur, CA
Silver: Mocha Porter, Rogue Ales, Newport, OR
Bronze: Pirate’s Porter, Sullivan’s Black Forest Brew Haus & Grill, Frankenmuth, MI

Category: 70 Classic Irish Style Dry Stout, 19 Entries
Gold: Dark Starr Stout, Starr Hill Brewery, Crozet, VA
Silver: Three Steve Stout, Cambridge House Brew Pub, Torrington, CT
Bronze: Pub Dog Black Dog Stout, DOG Brewing Co., Westminster, MD

Category: 71 Foreign Style Stout, 20 Entries
Gold: Space Stout, Laurelwood Brewing Co., Portland, OR
Silver: San Quentin’s Breakout Stout, Marin Brewing Co., Larkspur, CA
Bronze: Whiteface Black Diamond Stout, Great Adirondack Brewing Co., Lake Placid, NY

Category: 72 American-Style Stout, 22 Entries
Gold: Liberty Stout, Gella’s Diner and Lb. Brewing Co., Hays, KS
Silver: Troegs Dead Reckoning, Troegs Brewing Co., Harrisburg, PA
Bronze: Stonefly Oatmeal Stout, Third Street Aleworks, Santa Rosa, CA

Category: 73 Sweet Stout, 27 Entries
Gold: Cow Stout, Pizza Port Carlsbad, Carlsbad, CA
Silver: Cream Stout, Redwood Brewing Co., Flint, MI
Bronze: Steel Toe Stout, Ska Brewing Co., Durango, CO

Category: 74 Oatmeal Stout, 31 Entries
Gold: Ernest’s Silky Smoove, Pizza Port San Clemente, San Clemente, CA
Silver: Oatmeal Stout, Schooner’s Grille & Brewery, Antioch, CA
Bronze: Sleeping Dog Stout, Chama River Brewing Co., Albuquerque, NM

Category: 75 Imperial Stout, 56 Entries
Gold: Gonzo Imperial Porter, Flying Dog Brewery, Frederick, MD
Silver: Yeti Imperial Stout, Great Divide Brewing Co., Denver, CO
Bronze: Sexual Chocolate Imperial Stout, Foothills Brewing, Winston-Salem, NC

Category: 76 Scotch Ale, 37 Entries
Gold: Reed’s Wee Heavy, Pizza Port Carlsbad, Carlsbad, CA
Silver: BagPiper’s Scotch Ale, Fegley’s Allentown & Bethlehem Brew Works, Allentown, PA
Bronze: MacPelican’s Wee Heavy Ale, Pelican Pub & Brewery, Pacific City, OR

Category: 77 Old Ale or Strong Ale, 29 Entries
Gold: Old Scrooge ‘98, Silver City Brewery, Silverdale, WA
Silver: Outback X, Bend Brewing Co, Bend, OR
Bronze: 4th Dementia Old Ale, Kuhnhenn Brewing Co., Warren, MI

Category: 78 Barley Wine Style Ale, 54 Entries
Gold: Old Inventory Barley Wine, Valley Brewing Co., Stockton, CA
Silver: Treblehook, Redhook Ales – Woodinville, Woodinville, WA
Bronze: Old Ruffian Barley Wine, Great Divide Brewing Co., Denver, CO

Large Brewing Company and Large Brewing Company Brewer of the Year: Coors Brewing Company, Golden, CO; Dr. David Ryder

Mid-Size Brewing Company and Mid-Size Brewing Company Brewer of the Year: Flying Dog Brewery, Frederick, MD; Robert Malone

Small Brewing Company and Small Brewing Company Brewer of the Year: Dry Dock Brewing Company, Aurora, CO; Dry Dock Brewing Team

Large Brewpub and Large Brewpub Brewer of the Year: Pizza Port Carlsbad, Carlsbad, CA; Pizza Port Brew Guys

Small Brewpub and Small Brewpub Brewer of the Year: Chuckanut Brewery, Bellingham, WA; Will Kemper

2009 Great American Beer Festival Pro-Am Competition

Gold: Herbal Joe’s Columbarillo IPA, Chama River Brewing Co., Albuquerque, NM
Brewmaster: Jeff Erway, AHA Member: Ben Miller

Silver: Alright Already Amber, O’Fallon Brewery, O’Fallon, MO
Brewmaster: Brian Owens, AHA Member: Jim Yeager

Bronze: Time of the Season, Upslope Brewing Co., Boulder, CO
Brewmaster: Daniel Pages, AHA Member: Brian Patterson

Below is a slideshow of the award ceremony at GABF. After clicking on the arrow in the center to start the slideshow, you can also click on the button on the bottom right with the four arrows pointing outward on it, to see the photos in glorious full screen.

I shot all of the winners, but there are several that were not focused or for other reasons didn’t turn out well. Also, you may notice the clueless photographer and/or his camera in the bottom of many of the photos. It was very difficult to shoot around him and he seemed completely oblivious to the fact that there were a dozen or more people behind him also trying to to photograph the winners. The people in the photos haven’t yet been identified yet, but I wanted to get them up as soon as possible. It will take me a bit longer to add that detail, because the winners don’t get to the stage in the same order that their names are called, making it tougher to label them.

Brewers, if you want to use any of the photos, feel free to click on the link in the upper left hand corner marked “Back to your GABF Awards 2009 set” on Flickr (or one of these links). From there, click on the photo you want. Then click on “All sizes” followed by “Original.” When the original is displayed, there will be a link called “Download original size.” Click on that to download the highest resolution of the photo. If you use it in a place where it makes sense to attribute it and link back to the Brookston Beer Bulletin, that would be appreciated, but it’s not strictly necessary. Enjoy.

2009 Longshot Winners

September 26, 2009 By Jay Brooks

This year’s Longshot American Homebrew Contest winners were announced this morning in Denver at a brunch hosted by the Boston Beer Co. during GABF week. Here are the winners:

Michael Robinson — Old Ale
Ben Miller — Barleywine
Jeremy White (Sam Adams employee winner) — Saison

One More For the Cameras
The Winners Pose with Jim Koch

Below is a short slideshow of the Longshot Winners reception. If you click on the button on the bottom right with the four arrows pointing outward on it, you can see the photos in glorious full screen.

Below is a video of Jim Koch announcing the winners of the Longshot competition.

Chess & Beer Don’t Mix

September 11, 2009 By Jay Brooks

While many sports and games are invigorated by adding a few tasty beers, such as poker or ping pong, not all of them are so enhanced. Take chess, for example. It seems self-evident that clouding one’s mind with alcohol would take the the much-needed edge off your game. But I guess it’s not as obvious I might have supposed.

Reuters is reporting that French Grandmaster Vladislav Tkachiev, the 58th highest ranked player in the world, showed up drunk earlier today to play a match at an international chess tournament in Kolkata, India. According to Reuters, eleven moves into the game, “he could hardly sit in his chair and soon fell asleep, resting his head on the table.”

India’s Praveen Kumar was awarded the win on technical grounds, as Tkachiev was “unable to complete his moves within the stipulated time of an hour and 30 minutes.” I guess it’s hard to play chess when you’re passed out asleep. Although reprimanded for his, uh, performance, he will be allowed to complete the tournament.

When I was in high school, our chess team actually lobbied successfully to have their game declared a sport, with an eye toward having cheerleaders at the matches. The chess cheerleaders never materialized, but it occurs to me that they might have done wonders to keep Tkachiev awake through his match. Out of curiosity, do spectators at high level chess tournaments drink beer while watching the chess matches?

Win An Internship At An Oregon Brewery

September 9, 2009 By Jay Brooks

Oregon Bounty, which promotes travel to Oregon and specifically its local food and beverages, is sponsoring a very cool contest. They’re offering seven “cuisinternships” to local artisan businesses. You can be an intern chef, cheesemaker/choclatier, distiller, fisherman, rancher, winemaker, or — the coolest of the seven — craft brewer. Winners get an all-expenses paid trip to Oregon which includes round-trip airfare, six-nights lodging, and $1,000 cash spending money. You’ll then intern for five days.

You can enter online with a two-minute video and/or your 140-character essay on why you deserve to win an Oregon Bounty Cuisinternship. That’s basically a twitter post; a tweet. The deadline to enter is coming up; it’s Friday September 18. There’s also an FAQ if you have any questions about the contest.

The brewery Cuisinternship is with Jamie Emmerson at Full Sail Brewing in Hood River, Oregon. I’ve known Jamie for a long time now, and he and the staff of Full Sail couldn’t be nicer people. Plus, Hood River is an absolutely gorgeous part of the world.

Here’s a sample of what you’ll be doing if you win: Tour the Great Western Malting and Hop Farm, learn about mashing and the mash tun, learn about sparging and the lauter tun, understand the spice of the beer and the contributions of the hops and kettle, pitch the yeast (the magic ingredient), look under the microscope in the lab, partake in bottling at 500 beers per minute, fill kegs, and — most importantly — taste the rewards of your hard work. Whew, that doesn’t sound too bad, does it?

Here’s how the website describes it:

Along the shores of the mighty Columbia River Gorge, get a week-long lesson from some of the country’s craft brewing pioneers. From the hop farm to the mash tun to the microscope, you’ll feel, smell and taste beer from beginning to end. If you can tear yourself away from the tasting table, explore the charming town of Hood River, unofficial U.S. capitol of windsurfing, beer drinking and hanging out.

I’ve also been asked to judge the submissions and help pick the winner, so be sure to answer the question. “Why do you deserve to win?”

cuisinternships

Macro Beer Prices Finally Going Up

August 28, 2009 By Jay Brooks

abib
(updated below)

Anheuser-Busch InBev (ABIB) announced a couple of days ago that come fall, their prices would be going up. MillerCoors also made it clear that they would be taking a price increase as well. The Wall Street Journal reported that “Anheuser-Busch InBev NV, the largest U.S. beer seller by revenue, and MillerCoors LLC will increase beer prices in the majority of their U.S. sales regions, the two companies said Tuesday.” Bloomberg added that, at least for ABIB, “the plan has met with “general acceptance” from retailers.”

Finally. This will probably end up being controversial — though it shouldn’t be — but I think that’s very good news. For a long while now, the major beer companies have all kept their prices to consumers artificially low to maintain their volume sales. Part of the reason is simply the competition among one another — the big guys that is — and none of them wanting to be the company that blinks first. I’ve watched this for many years, especially when I was a beer buyer for a chain of California stores, when each year the big companies would try to keep their price increases as small as possible. Now obviously, no company wants to raise its prices too much, but in the big beer business the increases over time have not kept pace with inflation and especially with the rise of ingredient costs and other factors, such as transportation, fuel, etc. There are likely several reasons for that, but chief among them is needing to keep sales volume up in order to maintain and increase the share price. And so over the past decade or two, none of the big beer companies have taken prices increases up as far as they otherwise would have if they were just looking at the cost to wholesale/retail price ratio. Even with the economy tanking, eventually someone has to blink. ABIB, with the InBev predisposition toward profit at all costs, seems poised to end this period of artificially low price points.

A side benefit for them, though most likely merely an externality, is that the price difference between the average big beer and a craft beer has widened, giving the impression that the macro beers are a far greater value. That’s because most craft brewers have not had the resources to do likewise and the price of their beer is more realistic, taking into account all their costs for ingredients, transportation, staff, and costs of doing business. A few have tried to keep the price to wholesalers down, but the increase in hops, barley and fuel over the last two years has made that increasingly difficult, even for the larger craft breweries. If ABIB raises their price (and MillerCoors follows suit, as they usually do) to more realistic levels, the price differential between a big beer and a craft beer should decrease, making it more likely that consumers might trade up to a craft beer, if the difference isn’t as great in doing so. Because of the economy, that’s already happening to some extent, with craft beer being seen as an affordable luxury from two directions. One, some people are trading down from more expensive bottles of wine or spirits to more affordable craft beer and, two, people trading up and treating themselves to a nice of bottle of beer, which isn’t stretching their wallet as much as a more expensive beverage. But if the price gap shrinks, we should see an increase in craft beer sales.

On the other hand, although it’s not a popular stance, I’ve long thought that craft beer should be more expensive than it is. It should be priced according to its value instead of against the more popular, but inferior tasting products. Organic food offers a good analogy. Organic food is more expensive to grow for a variety of reasons and thus costs more in the grocery store. But if people aren’t willing to pay a little bit more for it, it will disappear entirely and we’ll have little choice in the food we eat. Luckily, many people recognize that organic food, despite its more expensive price tag, offers additional benefits that make its increased price worthwhile. In a sense, you get what you pay for. If organic food tastes better, is healthier for you, often keeps money in the local economy, and is better in the long run for the planet’s sustainability, paying a little bit more for it isn’t just a good idea, but a moral imperative. I believe the same applies to craft beer.

We all tend to look for whatever is the cheapest and often forget about what “value” even means. I’m as guilty as the next guy, but I try to consider it whenever possible. We’ve all been indoctrinated with the idea — the “Wal-Mart Syndrome” — that value means cheaper, but that’s just not the case. If I pay more for a better constructed (and probably more comfortable) pair of shoes, and they last twice as long as the cheap pair, the expensive ones are the better value. Similarly, if I spend more more for a bottle of good beer, it will taste better and I’ll enjoy it more, making it a far better value.

A motto for this idea could be “drink less, enjoy it more.” That might not work for large companies that depend on volume, but there plenty of small sustainable craft breweries for whom that model would work perfectly. All we have to do is be willing to pay the price.

UPDATE: The L.A. Times ran a story yesterday entitled Is the Price Increase Justified?, citing a supply management expert, Bob Zieger, who took “issue with the idea that “general commodity prices” are behind beer price increases.” He continued:

“After all, beer is not made from a combination of pork bellies, copper and cocoa. Its key price drivers, like hops and barley, are actually not experiencing a serious price increase right now. If there was ever a time to blame commodity costs for a necessary price increase, it was last year,” Zieger said.

As any brewer can tell you, hop prices have not returned to the levels they were three years ago, nor have barley prices, though they have abated a little better than hops. Of course, hops and barley aren’t the only cost increases, as fuel and transportation costs have skyrocketed, too. Naturally, Zieger has a blog — doesn’t everybody? — called Supply Excellence where he expands his criticism. I think it’s unfortunate that the L.A. Times cited him as an expert because while he may know a lot about supply management and commodities generally, he doesn’t know the brewing industry, its particularities and the history of this issue. This gives a bad impression, I think, since it’s the only criticism they cite and in fact his thoughts were the story. While he’s certainly welcome to voice his opinion — and it was interesting to read his full blog post — it seems odd, and perhaps even a little wrong, for the L.A. Times to do a story calling into question one of the reasons given for an increase of beer prices without having any contrary opinion or indeed any person connected with the beer industry who knows anything about it. That just seems like irresponsible journalism to present one man’s opinion as a news story. Isn’t that what the op-ed section is for?

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