Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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The Times Goes For Extremes

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There was another terrific article by Eric Asimov in the New York Times yesterday about extreme beers called A Taste for Brews That Go to Extremes. Although admitting not everybody likes the new extremism, Asimov certainly does and the article also includes several Bay Area beers, including ones from Lagunitas, Mad River and Moylan’s breweries. And there’s a great quote from Brendan Moylan, owner of both Marin Brewing and Moylan’s.

“We’re the same country that put men on the moon, and we’re taking the same approach to beer,” said Brendan Moylan, the founder of Moylan Brewing Company in Novato, Calif. “We passed the rest of the world by ages ago, and they’re just waking up to it.”

The Times also did a tasting of several extreme beers, and happily included two well-known brewers in the process: Garrett Oliver, from Brooklyn Brewing, and Phil Markowski, from Southampton Publick House. Despite their initial derisiveness over the very pursuit of extremeness, even they found beers they enjoyed. 90-Minute IPA from Dogfish Head was the group’s favorite, followed by the Double Simcoe I.P.A. from Weyerbacher and Maximus from Lagunitas. There’s also a Beers of the Times feature where you can listen to the tasters talking about their favorite beers.

 

Beer Without Borders?

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There was an interesting little piece in Canada’s McGill Daily today, about their alcohol laws. I knew about them to some degree and was at least aware that beer from one province couldn’t necessarily be sold in another without a high tariff. Essentially it’s the same as if you couldn’t sell beer from Oregon in California without a ridiculously high tax that made, for example, Deschutes Black Butte Porter as expensive as Westmalle or Chimay. Naturally, it was done this way to protect local and regional businesses from outside competition but it seems weird that Canada would feel that way about their own provinces. But perhaps we just take the interstate commerce laws we have here for granted. Are the majority of other countries set up with porous state borders or are they protectionist? I’ve never really looked at that, does anybody know? I’ll be interested to hear what my Canadian friends think about this. Stephen? Alan? Greg? Anyone else?

 

Funny Camel, Serious Beer

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There’s a nice profile in Haaretz of a new Israeli brewery, the Dancing Camel Brewing Co., which opened last August. It’s the brainchild of David Cohen, a former New York accountant who followed his dream to open a microbrewery in Israel.

From the Haafretz article:

Cohen, a long-time amateur brewmaster, now aims to challenge the traditional Israeli palate and introduce casual beer drinkers to a taste beyond just Goldstar or Carlsberg. For Rosh Hashanah, Dancing Camel made a pomegranate beer and after Sukkot, an etrog (citron) flavored brew was introduced. Last month’s Hanukkah offering was a delicious stout with cherry and vanilla flavors, similar to the traditional holiday sufganiya jelly donut.

Their regular lineup of beers includes a Pale Ale, an India Pale Ale. a Hefe-Wit and a Stout. Seasonal fare includes a Cherry Vanila Stout, The Golem (a big 9.5% beer) and Six Thirteen Pomegranate Ale, which was made as a seasonal for Rosh Hashana. The name has an interesting story, too:

In Talmudic lore, the Pomegranate is reputed to contain 613 seeds, corresponding both to the number of commandments in the Bible and the number of nerves in the Human body. The pomegranate’s place on the Rosh Hashana table (as well as inevitably, the table cloth) is a timeless tradition in the Jewish home, reflecting the wish that our blessings for the New Year be as abundant as the seeds of the “Rimon”. A delightfully refreshing pale ale with the unmistakable earthy fruitiness of pomegranates. At 5.8% abv, Six Thirteen — 5768 allows for indulgence without guilt. Truly a beer worth praying for.

 

Interestingly, He-Brew’s first beer, Genesis Ale, was also flavored with pomegranates. The article also mentions that Dancing Camel is one of only a handful of microbreweries in Israel, suggesting that their craft industry is just getting off the ground. Cohen is quoted as saying that “his audience is growing more receptive. Israelis are not necessarily drinking more beer, but drinking better beers.”

Dancing Camel seems to have a nice sense of humor and I love their motto: Funny Camel, Serious Beer. And I think it’s cool that he’s trying not only to do traditional styles but also to use local ingredients to create something new.

“Part of the point is not just to come over here to brew an English ale. My intentions were to use Israeli spices, and ingredients. If not for the barley and wheat, then at least for the spices to give it something completely Israeli.” Mr. Cohen flavors his beers with local ingredients like date syrup, cilantro, oranges and cloves.

 

Big Beer Fest Next Week

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Next week begins the eight annual Big Beers Festival in Vail, Colorado. There are quite a variety of different events going throughout the three-day festival. TO see for yourself, check out the schedule online. Tickets can also be purchased online.

From the website:

Imagine a World Class Winter Wonderland of fun activities in the beautiful Rocky Mountains of Colorado…and then top off your trip with a World Class International Beer Festival, complete with Brewmasters’ Dinners and Seminars by some of the world’s most innovative Brewers…

Join us for the Eighth Annual Big Beers, Belgians and Barleywines Festival Weekend! Come up to Vail to experience the event that beer connoisseurs are raving about. Homebrewers, Professional Brewers and Industry Gurus alike speak highly with regard to the unique format, the unusual international collection of beers, the organization and the overall quality of the event. For those of you who are Big Beers Festival veterans, this Eighth Annual event promises to be exceptional, touting two new seminars and an additional beer dinner!

 

1.10-12

Big Beer Festival (8th annual)

Sponsored by High Point Brewing in Denver
Vail Marriott Mountain Resort & Spa, 715 West Lionshead Circle, Vail, Colorado
970.476.4444 (hotel) / 970.524.1092 (sponsor) [ website ] [ tickets ]

 

SABMiller Gets A Blue Tongue

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SABMiller announced yesterday that they are purchasing Australia’s Bluetongue Brewery in a joint venture with Coca-Cola Amatil Limited to be known as Pacific Beverages Pty Limited. The purchase price was not revealed though it is estimated to be around $20 million USD. It has also been reported that they are considering building a greenfield brewery to brew additional brands for distribution by Pacific Beverages in region including Peroni Nastro Azzurro, Pilsner Urquell, Miller Genuine Draft and other Miller brands.

Bluetongue was founded in 2003 in Newcastle, New South Wales. They have an annual capacity of over 50,000 hectolitres and make five different beers: Bluetongue Premium Lager, Bluetongue Premium Light, Bluetongue Traditional Pilsner, Bluetongue Alcoholic Ginger Beer and Bondi Blonde (a low-carb beer). In their four-year history, Bluetongue has shown remarkable growth including 70% over the past year. Earlier this year they even hired Paris Hilton as a spokesperson for Bondi Beer. And Bluetongue is Whale Safe Beer.

 

According to the press release, here’s the story of the brewery’s name:

Bluetongue’s name originates from the blue-tongued lizard, one of Australia’s favourite native creatures. They are about 30cm long, have a large fierce looking head and are easily recognised by their bright blue tongue which they stick out to warn off predators. Blue-tongues are often found basking in the sun in the Australian bush and in backyards across suburban Australia.

 

Pacific Coast Brewing’s “A Taste of Holiday Beers”

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The 19th annual holiday beer tasting at Pacific Coast Brewing in Oakland is this Saturday from Noon to 4:00 p.m. Sad to say, I’ve never managed to make it to this one but everybody tells me it’s a great event.
 

 

12.8

Pacific Coast Brewing’s Taste of Holiday Beers (19th annual)

Pacific Coast Brewing, 906 Washington Street, Oakland, California
510.836.2739 [ website ]

 

Drink, Drank, Drunk: Who’s Number One?

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Last year, the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development surveyed per capita consumption of alcohol across the world and ranked the top fifteen. They ranked them a bit differently than most of these surveys do. They looked at the raw amount of alcohol consumed each year per person rather than the number of servings. This apparently had the effect of equalizing the results across beer, wine and spirits since they all have very different amounts of alcohol.

Below is a table of the results:
 

NationLiters Per Capita Annual Pure Alcohol ConsumptionLiters Per Capita Beer ConsumptionLegal Drinking Age
1. Luxembourg15.584.416 (beer)
18 (spirits)
2. France14.235.516 (beer)
18 (spirits)
3. Ireland14.2131.118
4. Hungary1275.318 (to purchase—none for consumption)
5. Czech Republic11.8156.918
6. Spain11.583.816 (drinking)
18 (purchasing)
7. Denmark11.589.918 (bars only; otherwise no limit)
8. Portugal12.959.616
9. Switzerland11.257.316 (beer)
18 (spirits)
10. Austria11.1108.316 (beer)
18 (spirits)
11. Germany10.5116.814 (beer)
16 (wine)
18 (spirits)
12. United Kingdom10.49918 (for purchase)
13. Belgium10.39316
14. Netherlands10.17916 (beer)
18 (spirits)
15. Australia9.8109.918

 

As a result of the methodology, the top fourteen are all European countries and only the last nation lies outside of the EU. Previous studies, along with this new one, seem to point to social, political and cultural factors — along with tax structures — to account for this seeming anomaly. The new data, which includes 2006, is available from the OECD for a pretty hefty amount — much more than my budget will allow — but there is data from previous years available if you dig around. And while the numbers have changed over the decades, from year to year they change only slightly so we can see where other countries below the top fifteen probably fall in the rankings. Looking at 2003, the last year I could find with complete statistics, the top 15 are almost exactly the same (only numbers 14 and 15 are reversed). So below those, here are some of the likely remaining rankings (based on 2003 data).

 

  1. Finland
  2. New Zealand
  3. Korea
  4. United States
  5. Poland
  6. Italy
  7. Canada
  8. Japan
  9. Slovak Republic
  10. Sweden
  11. Iceland
  12. Norway
  13. Mexico

 
The U.S. barely cracks the top twenty and Canada comes in at Number 22. You can also see how beer consumption is very different from overall alcohol. The top ten for beer are:

 

  1. Czech Republic (156.9)
  2. Ireland (131.1)
  3. Germany (116.8)
  4. Australia (109.9)
  5. Austria (108.3)
  6. United Kingdom (99)
  7. Belgium (93)
  8. Denmark (89.9)
  9. Luxembourg (84.4)
  10. Spain (83.8)

 
There is a note, however, in the raw data excel spreadsheet indicating that Luxembourg’s data does not “accurately reflect consumption by residents, due to significant levels of consumption by tourists and cross border traffic of alcoholic beverages.” That seems to suggest that data for Luxembourg is overstated and that it may not be as high as expressed in this study. So if we throw them out of the beer consumption list, the Netherlands slide into the number ten spot with liters per capita of 79.

So, while there’s nothing terribly surprising here, I thought it was an interesting peek at who’s drinking what and how much around the world.

 

Dogfish Downtown Brooklyn

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Downtown Bar & Grill, located in the Cobble Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York at 160 Court Street, will be hosting a pretty spectacular tasting of Dogfish Head beers on the 27th of November, including the debut releases for 2007 of World Wide Stout, Pangaea, and Golden Era, along with seven other Dogfish Head beers on draft. The festivities will begin at 6:00 p.m.
 

 

Chocolate’s Popularity Began With Beer

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A new article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a government journal, has determined that ancient Mesoamericans, as long ago as 3,100 years, were using cacao — the stuff chocolate is made from — in a beverage that bears a remarkable similarity to beer. Pottery vessels not unlike the one below recently discovered in Honduras have been found to have residues inside them from cacao plant. It is believed that the beer-like drink was a status symbol used during celebrations in the ancient society.

From a Reuters article:

One of the researchers, anthropologist John Henderson of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, said cacao beverages were being concocted far earlier than previously believed — and it was a beer-like drink that started the chocolate craze.

“What we’re seeing in this early village is a very early stage in which serving cacao at fancy occasions is one of the strategies that upwardly mobile families are using to establish themselves, to accumulate social prestige,” Henderson said in a telephone interview.

I think this is part of the process by which you eventually get stratified societies,” Henderson said.

The cacao brew consumed at the village of perhaps 200 to 300 people may have evolved into the chocolate beverage known from later in Mesoamerican history not by design but as “an accidental byproduct of some brewing,” Henderson said.

The style of the 10 small, elegant serving vessels suggests the cacao brew was served at important ceremonies perhaps to celebrate weddings and births, the scientists said.