In the on-going question of how beer does in an economic downturn — a.k.a. The Recession — here’s another angle. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, Bar Wars, many high-end restaurants are converting part of their spaces into bars, serving less trendy pub fare and even featuring beer. (Thanks to Sage from My Beer Pix for sending me the link.)
The annual Belgian Beer Lunch put on by the Toronado took place on Sunday, April 5, beginning at 11:30 a.m. The “lunch” ran to 12 courses, paired with 20 beers (and countless mores used in cooking) and finished up at dinner time, a little after 5:30 p.m. The food was done, for the second year, by the Homebrew Chef, Sean Z. Paxton. Though highly anticipated, it nonetheless did not disappoint. It was another startlingly original and delicious meal.
The Toronado was transformed into a fine dining establishment, with place setting at the bar, the back tables and each four-person table running along the wall.
After the meal, a table in the back room raises a toast to Sean, the beer and a wonderful way to spend a Sunday afternoon.
For many, many more photos from this year’s Belgian Beer Lunch at the Toronado, including each course, visit the photo gallery, or each individual gallery, as the photos are separated into three galleries, as follows:
Maureen Ogle, author of Ambitious Brew, sent me the following update on New Albion Brewery founder Jack McAuliffe, which she received from Jack’s sister Cathy earlier today:
Jack is still in the trauma ICU. He’s much more alert, so he can communicate by nodding or shaking his head. He’s still on the ventilator, so he can’t talk…warning to all of you smokers! Smokers have to spend more time on a ventilator in a situation like this than non-smokers!!!
The brewpub chain BJs Restaurant Brewhouse is planning to put their newest location in Marin County, their first in the county and their 14th in Northern California. It’s a rumor I’ve been hearing for several months now, but a well-placed inside source has all but confirmed that it’s going to take place. The new location will be at the Northgate Mall in San Rafael, occupying the corner space that was formerly a Blockbuster Video store. It’s actually a good location, on a prominent corner that’s part of the main building but with no entrance from inside the mall. No word on whether the location will brew or be fed beer from a hub location. But since it’s not too close to another brewing location it’s entirely possible they will brew at the new Northgate location.
BJs operates 85 restaurants and brewpubs in fourteen states, with at least three more planned, not including the San Rafael location.
April brings our 26th monthly Session, a.k.a. Beer Blogging Friday, courtesy of my favorite big galoot, Lew Bryson, whose smokin’ hot topic this month is rauchbiers, smoked beers of all stripes, though I’ll let him tell you what he was thinking.
Before we get carried away with this health craze [after last month’s lagers], I’d like to invite everyone to join me out back of the barn, where we’re going light up some smoked beers.
There may be more smoked beers than are dreamed of in your philosophy, Horatio; it’s not just rauchbier lagers from Franconia. Within the last year, I’ve had a strange smoked wheat beer, light and tart, that local brewers insisted was a re-creation of a Polish grodziski beer; a lichtenhainer, another light smoked wheat beer; several smoked porters; the odd Schlenkerla unsmoked helles that tastes pretty damned smokey; and, yeah, several types of smoked lagers. You’ve got three weeks, is what I’m saying: go find a smoked beer.
Because I’m not going to tell you that you have to like them, how you have to drink them, or whether you can have an expensive one or where it has to be from. But I do insist that if you blog on this Session, that you drink a smoked beer that day.
| Sadly, I was unable to find one of the beers I really wanted to enjoy today, but I could not find a rauchbier from Bamberg anywhere in my neck of the woods. I suspect if I’d made the trip into San Francisco, City Beer Store probably would have had what I was hankering for. They at least have Schlenkerla Rauchbier on their beer menu. This got me thinking about place as a concept, as in is there a best place to drink a specific beer? Do some beers require that they be consumed in a particular place to get the most out of them? I suspect some will even find asking such a question a bit too snooty — Alan? But while I believe that for most beers it is, in fact, a somewhat moot, perhaps even silly, question, I think that for a very few beers that the old real estate saw “location, location, location” may indeed apply. You can undoubtedly see where this is all leading, it’s not exactly smoke and mirrors. I’ve long appreciated smoked beer, but generally have felt it’s a very limited style because it needs just the right circumstances or just the right food for me to choose to drink one. |
They’re not the ideal choice in a variety of settings. They don’t go with a lot of different meals. They’re just not all-purpose beers by any stretch of the imagination. Unless ….
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Unless you’re in Bamberg, Germany, where Rauchbiers are still king, that is. In Bamberg, Rauchbier is as ubiquitous as Bitters in England. As the German Beer Institute reminds us, “once upon a time, all beers were Rauchbiers, so to speak.” Huh? Well, they continue. “With the ancient kilning methods of drying green brewer’s malt over open fires, all grains picked up smoky flavors and passed them on to the beers made from them.” Almost all of today’s beers are made with malt that has been dried without using an open flame so any smokey or even roasted character is far more muted, if even noticeable at all. But for some reason, in Bamberg they remained popular through the years and that popularity continues up to today. And here’s where the concept of place comes in. As I said, I can “appreciate” a good smoked beer, which is a sort of code that means while I can discern differences, can prefer one over another, and even very much enjoy the experience, it’s not a beer I often want an entire liter of. But when you’re there in Bamberg, at Shlenkerla or Spezial, downing multiple liters it not only feels okay, it’s positively the best thing you can do there. Anything else is almost wrong. My trip to Bamberg in 2007 was spent with a dozen beer journalists at the Schlenkerla tavern. With rich heavy dishes on a misty cold November evening, I couldn’t imagine a more perfect beer for that night. And that’s a particularly striking example for me of when place really does matter for the particular beer you’re drinking. |
So back in California, it’s a relatively cool, but sunny, spring day. No German Rauchbier, but Alaskan Smoked Porter is as good an American substitute as I can imagine. Though technically a porter, it’s deep black color and thick tan head could make anyone mistake if for a stout, at least in appearance. The nose, of course, is another matter. The smokey aromas are unmistakable, and the Alderwood Alskan uses gives it different aromas than the typical rauchbier, in fact different from most other smoked beers entirely, giving it a singular nose. It has a silky smooth mouthfeel and a dominating smoke quality, naturally. A few times before I’ve had it with smoked salmon that Alaskan Brewing owner Geoff Larson has hand-carried from Anchorage. The salmon is smoked using the same Alderwood used for the beer and as you’d expect, it’s a match made in heaven. They compliment one another perfectly. I’ve never been to Alaska, but I wonder if the Smoked Porter tastes even better there under the glare of the Aurora Borealis? Again, it’s a really wonderfully well-made beer, with just the right amount of smokey character with rich malt notes and a creamy, dry finish. But I don’t think I’ll be able to finish the 22 oz. bottle by myself, not without it turning suddenly into a more frigid day or without some thick, meaty stew to have with it. C’est la vie. I think maybe it’s time to go back to Bamberg … or Alaska.
Reuters has an interesting two-minute video report called Beer Still Recession Proof?.
The upshot, according to the report, is that “the next hot area of growth is not in established light beers, they say, but in specialty craft beers that can command premium pricing, even in a recession.” The “next” hot area? Aren’t we already there, and haven’t we been there for awhile now? Craft beer’s been growing at double-digit rates for a few years now while macro brand growth has slowed considerably and in some cases has dipped into negatives. What about that is future tense?
One curious head-scratcher. Do people really not choose spirits because they’re too lazy to make a mixed drink themselves? That just sounds preposterous, but who knows?
I meant to write about this yesterday, but you know how it is with these things. So, as usual, I procrastinated. But according to Russian River Brewing, on Wednesday they finally released the long-awaited, highly anticipated Procrastination, the newest of the -tion beers. Here’s the description from Russian River:
Yes, Procrastination, a Belgian-style Herbed beer, was tapped just in time for our 5th Anniversary this weekend, and will only be available on draft at our pub! We have all been waiting patiently for years, watching it on the “Coming Soon” section of the chalkboard, wondering when and what Procrastination will be, and, voila! The wait is finally over! This Belgian-style beer is made with fresh, locally grown Sonoma County herbs. It weighs in at a whopping 9.3% ABV and 72 BU’s… clearly not for the average beer drinker!
So, is Natalie and Vinnie pulling our legs? Probably.
April 2nd is World Autism Awareness Day again, and, like last year, I’m using the holiday as an opportunity to go off topic because my son Porter was diagnosed with Autism when he was three. I wrote about my experiences with Porter’s autism last year, and little has changed from that account. Over the past year, Porter has continued to do well in school, especially academically, and he’s made good progress this year making friends and interacting with the other kids at school, an area he’s traditionally had trouble with.
So this year I’ll just point out some good links if you want to learn more about autism. Here’s the official website for World Autism Awareness Day. There’s a touching post on Right Pundits, and Mark Foster has some interesting thoughts on Deconstructing Neurelitism. And here’s the Autism Speaks page for today’s holiday, and they also have a page for sponsored events.
I think I’m going to initiate my own tradition beginning this year, drinking a Porter each year on April 2 in support of Autism Awareness. Won’t you join me?
Porter this morning in our backyard.
And practicing the newly found sport of making funny faces.
No, not the yellow kind or even pure driven snow, but the Chinese beer Snow has overtaken Bud Light as the world’s best-selling beer, at least according to Plato Logic, a UK-based beer market data company. They’ve just published their latest World Brewer Factfile and Bud Light is apparently no longer the reigning king of beers, at least in terms of beer produced.
But as Jeremiah McWilliams points out in Lager Heads, A-B vigorously disagrees with the rankings, arguing that Snow’s numbers are a total of the brewery’s output, which included 25 line extensions. Budweiser and Bud Light alone easily overtake Snow without even having to resort to Bud Lime numbers. Snow is, of course, owned by rival SAB Miller so pride may have more than a little to do with these rankings.
But as a Reuters story explains it, “Plato lists the top six beer brands as the Snow range of beers followed by the Bud Light range (my emphasis), including Dry and Ice, at 55.6 million hectoliters, Budweiser at 43.4 million.”
And as Williams reminds us, A-B itself separated the Bud and Bud Light brands into two “mega-brands,” each having their own family of brands and considers them now separate and distinct from one another.
From Anheuser-Busch’s website:
As Budweiser begat Bud Light, each brand is in the process of becoming its own powerful, distinct brand family. Budweiser has added Budweiser Select, Budweiser & Clamato Chelada and Budweiser American Ale to its mix, giving adult beer drinkers the variety they want from a brand they trust. Bud Light has added Bud Light & Clamato Chelada and Bud Light Lime in 2008, offering a wider scope of beers and enhancing the Bud Light brand as consumer tastes and needs change.
So I’m not sure they get to have it both ways. All the other brands include line extensions, too, but Budweiser and Bud Light are separated into their own brands expressly because A-B wanted it that way. Only these results have caused them to rethink that strategy, at least for purposes of spinning this story in which they’re seen as no longer being number one, which can’t be good for shareholder and market confidence.
Here are the Top 6, according to the survey:
The numbers are in hectoliters. |
Today was the 20th anniversary of Marin Brewing in Larkspur, California. I met a few friends there for lunch and to try the two special beers Arne had made for the occasion. One was his Tripel Dipsea Belgian Ale — always a fave — and the other was a new 20th Anniversary Old Ale, which Arne described as a “young old ale.” Founder Brendan Moylan regaled us with hilarious tales from the last two decades. Good beer, food and company, that’s how to celebrate an anniversary.
Brewmaster Arne Johnson and founder Brendan Moylan inside the brewhouse at Marin Brewing.
For more photos from Marin Brewing’s 20th Anniversary, visit the photo gallery.