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Bistro Barrel Aged Fest Serves Over 70 Beers

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bistro
Today in Hayward, California, the Bistro held their 4th annual Barrel Aged Beer Fest, serving a record number of beers for any festival they’ve thrown, with over 70 beers. The weather couldn’t have been more perfect for drinking extreme beers and there were some wonderful examples there. While I wasn’t able to try them all, here are a few of my favorites, in no particular order:

  • Bear Republic Blackberry Grizz: Slightly sour nose but the tart blackberries really come through wonderfully to pair with rich malt.
  • Lagunitas Crusin’ with Ruben & the Bretts on Cherries: An oh-so-smooth imperial stout finished off with cherries the final three months. Chocolately with tart cherry flavors. Just delicious.
  • Marin Old Dipsea Barleywine Arne Johnson’s barleywine tasting as good as ever.
  • Fifty Fifty Imperial Eclipse Stout 2008 on Pappy Van Winkle Bourbon Barrel: One of the best imperial stouts I’ve tasted on a long time, the barrel flavors are pitch perfect.
  • Avery Voltron: A blend of five different barrel aged beers, so good they probably could defend the universe like its cartoon namesake, Voltron.
  • Black Diamond Imperial Porter: This may be brewer Derrick Smith’s best beer to date. Brewed with cocoa nibs and vanilla beans, the nose is all milk chocolate. With complex spicy flavors that mix well with the overall chocolateyness (not a real word) of the flavor profile, this is a terrific beer for sipping by a warming fire. It reminds so much of hot chocolate for adults, that now I’m curious if you could mull it like Unibroue’s Quelque Chose.
  • Sierra Nevada Scotch on Scotch: Sierra Nevada continues to impress with their range of different experimental and special beers. This Scotch “wee heavy” was aged in a Glengoyne Scotch barrel to give it amazing complexity. A true sipping beer.
  • Moylan’s Wet Hopsickle 2009: A fresh hop beer aged in a Chardonnay barrel. The oak and Chardonnay notes work really nicely with the strong hop character to create some very unique flavors.
  • Russian River Consecration: One of my favorites of the newer Russian River beers, though Supplication was tasting pretty good, too.
  • Valley Brewing Bourbon Barrel Old Inventory Barley Wine: Steve’s award-winning barley wine, still tasting great.

Craig Cauwels, from Schooner's, with Vic Krajl
Craig Cauwels, from Schooner’s, with Vic Krajl, co-owner of the Bistro.

Below is a slideshow of the Bistro Barrel Aged Beer Fest. This Flickr gallery is best viewed in full screen. To view it that way, after clicking on the arrow in the center to start the slideshow, 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 each photo.

Hindenburg Beer Auctioned For £10,000

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zeppelin
The bottle of Lowenbrau beer that survived the crash of the Hindenburg, that I wrote about on Tuesday, was auctioned earlier today, fetching the sum of £9,400, but “with buyer’s premium, the bottle will cost the purchaser £10,810,” or around $18.034. This Is Wiltshire, like most accounts, is claiming “[t]he world record price for a bottle of beer was smashed in Devizes today when a bottle of Lowebrau lager sold for over £10,000. The previous highest price for a single bottle of beer is thought to be around £2,500 and auctioneer Alan Aldridge started bidding at £3,000.” But I continue to be perplexed by the August 2007 sale of a bottle Allsopp’s Arctic Ale that sold on eBay for $503,300. No one has mentioned it at all, though it was widely reported at the time.

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The Lowenbrau bottle that sold today for £10,810.

UPDATE: Whew, finally an answer on the Allsopp eBay sale. It turns out to be a typo, according to New Life Auctions, who looked into the sale. That and a decidedly unfunny joke bid, by a person with “no intention of paying the seller.” And I always thought a winning bid was akin to a “legal contract.” Antique Week has a little more the incident. Thanks to an alert Bulletin reader named Michael for setting the record straight, once and for all.

Pinhead Drinking Statistics By Media Ignore Reality

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The e-mail newsletter sent out Tuesday by Join Together, the anti-alcohol center at Columbia University, included a summary of an item in the USA Today from November 3, entitled Beer With Extra Buzz On Tap Up To 16%. Join Together’s emphasis on the article is about “More States Allowing High-Alcohol Beer” and similarly the USA Today article takes a cautionary tone as it starts out stating that a “growing number of states are moving to allow higher alcohol content in beer, despite concerns from some substance-abuse experts.” While admitting that 20 states “still place some kind of limit on the amount of alcohol in beer,” the recent changes to the alcohol laws in several states, such as Alabama, Georgia, Montana, North Carolina, Vermont, West Virginia, and others, are worrying the usual anti-alcohol folks.

Although they did talk to Paul Gatza from the Brewers Association, most of the voices in the article were from neo-prohibitionist groups expressing their “concerns.” For example, “David Rosenbloom, president of the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University in N.Y., said the more alcohol, ‘the faster you get drunk and the longer you stay drunk. … There’s no evidence that people will drink less, or fewer beers.’ And here’s Chuck Hurley, CEO of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, who said, “Our chief concern is that (higher-alcohol brews) be properly labeled so people understand it takes fewer beers to become intoxicated.”

But here’s why this is a non-story and why author Jessica Leving needs to go back to J-school. What’s not mentioned in this article is that wine and hard liquor, already much stronger than beer, in some cases many times stronger, is already available in those same states who’ve recently raised the allowable alcohol percentage for beer. Higher alcohol drinks have been available since at least 1933, and no doubt for a long time prior to 1920. That an infinitesimal portion of total beer sales can now include some higher alcohol ones is all but meaningless in that light. If someone wanted higher alcohol there’s been no shortage of opportunities for them to find such drinks. When this has come up before, the argument by Anti-Alcohol for why this matters is that more underage people drink beer. But that’s just propaganda. All people drink more beer than wine and spirits, so there’s nothing sinister or unique about beer and underage drinking. In fact, studies by neo-prohibitionist groups reveal that young people really prefer sweeter drinks, like wine and cocktails made with higher alcohol beverages.

The higher alcohol beers they’re all in a panic about are most often more bitter than the average young palate prefers. Those beers are the ones that a small percentage of the population — the beer geeks — want. Sales of those beers as compared to beer’s total is very, very small, I’d wager, and against all alcohol, virtually infinitesimal. So how was that ignored and this non-story published in a national newspaper? How was Rosenbloom allowed to get away with saying “[t]here’s no evidence that people will drink less, or fewer beers” when that’s clearly not true? Simple. Media outlets sell more papers or airtime or whatever by scaring the public and telling stories about what they should fear. What I fear is the lack of truth that accompanies these stories every time they’re told. Despite the fact that Leving at least (unlike many others) tried to include contrary opinions, the piece ends up just giving voice to the anti-alcohol agenda, while not asking the most basic questions that show that agenda to be riddled with misinformation and propaganda.

Subsequent Stumbling Session Scheduled

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The topic of our next Session has been announced and it’s Stumbling Home. Our host for Session #34, James Davoli at Two Parts Rye, describes what he means by that:

It’s time to give a shout out to your favorite watering hole. How good are the beers? Any interesting cast of characters? What are your drinking buddies like? They probably need to be embarrassed on the internet. Now’s the time.

You don’t have to limit yourself to one. Feel free to reminisce about the good old days if you like. Maybe you are a shut-in like this guy, and don’t get out that much, talk about the home bar.

There is a catch. This booze stuff has interesting side effects. That means, you can’t get behind the wheel. You gotta walk, take public transportation, or be a regular supporter of your favorite taxi company. Bicycles are acceptable but you still need to be careful. I have the cracked helmet and scars to prove it. Gotta love the 5 mph one man crash.

Walk back home by December 4 and let us know what you stumbled upon.

FDA Gives Alcohol/Caffeine Drinks 30 Days To Prove It’s Safe

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caffeine
The FDA announced today that they’ve sent a letter to almost 30 manufacturers of alcohol drinks that also contain caffeine. The FDA is giving these companies 30 days to essentially prove that they’re safe. The move is undoubtedly motivated by a bullying letter sent to the FDA in September by 18 state Attorneys General. That letter was itself the product of pressure brought to bear by neo-prohibitionist groups at the state and local level.

From the press release:

“The increasing popularity of consumption of caffeinated alcoholic beverages by college students and reports of potential health and safety issues necessitates that we look seriously at the scientific evidence as soon as possible,” said Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, principal deputy commissioner of food and drugs.

Of the combined use of caffeine and alcohol among U.S. college students in the few studies on this topic, the prevalence was as high as 26 percent.

Under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, a substance added intentionally to food (such as caffeine in alcoholic beverages) is deemed “unsafe” and is unlawful unless its particular use has been approved by FDA regulation, the substance is subject to a prior sanction, or the substance is Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS). FDA has not approved the use of caffeine in alcoholic beverages and thus such beverages can be lawfully marketed only if their use is subject to a prior sanction or is GRAS. For a substance to be GRAS, there must be evidence of its safety at the levels used and a basis to conclude that this evidence is generally known and accepted by qualified experts.

The FDA alerted manufacturers to the fact that the agency is considering whether caffeine can lawfully be added to alcoholic beverages. The FDA noted that it is unaware of the basis upon which manufacturers may have concluded that the use of caffeine in alcoholic beverages is GRAS or prior sanctioned. To date, the FDA has only approved caffeine as an additive for use in soft drinks in concentrations of no greater than 200 parts per million. It has not approved caffeine for use at any level in alcoholic beverages.

The FDA requested that, within 30 days, the companies produce evidence of their rationale, with supporting data and information, for concluding that the use of caffeine in their product is GRAS or prior sanctioned. FDA’s letter informed each company that if FDA determines that the use of caffeine in the firm’s alcoholic beverages is not GRAS or prior sanctioned, FDA will take appropriate action to ensure that the products are removed from the marketplace.

Notice that the press release outlines the rationale for the safety check because of “increasing popularity” by “college students” along with “reports of potential health and safety issues,” also known as anecdotes and stories people made up to scare other people. That’s about as flimsy a reason as I can imagine. They don’t seem concerned about older adults, us post-college folks which suggests to me that it’s not really about safety at all.

I think what bothers me about this is simply how obviously it’s the FDA bowing to pressure from anti-alcohol groups. Last time I checked, caffeine was legal. Alcohol is also legal if you’re the “right” age. People have been drinking alcohol and caffeine concurrently, myself included, for centuries. I’m drinking Tejava (my daily ritual) as I write this and by lunchtime I’ll be ready for a beer, followed by more caffeine this afternoon to fend off the mid-afternoon urge to nap. More recently — though even this was years ago — Red Bull and vodka became a very popular cocktail, mixing the two chemicals caffeine and alcohol. Certain people were worried then, too, but I’ve never heard of any real danger posed from that drink and the many imitations and variations it spawned. Even if they banned every alcohol and caffeine drink, people can, and probably will, go right on mixing them on their own. What’s to stop them? Actually, banning them would likely cause an increase in combination drinking, because people love a taboo.

All that would happen, really, is the harming of a few dozen alcohol companies, which I suspect is the Anti-Alcohols (or AnAl’s) game. Even in the unlikely event that they declare the pairing of the two substances a danger, it won’t, and they can’t, stop people from mixing them on their own. Even if it was made illegal, people would never stop having a few drinks followed by a cup of coffee. It’s absurd, really, like they’re trying to remake the world in the image of a Kafka novel.

Drinking Life & Limb

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sierra-nevada dogfish
You probably remember the big news back in August when Dogfish Head and Sierra Nevada announced they’d be doing not one, but two collaboration beers. The main one is called Life & Limb, while the second is Limb & Life, a small beer made from the second runnings of Life & Limb.

To launch the new collaboration, a beer dinner was held last Sunday at Ana Mandara in San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf. Both Sam Calagione, from Dogfish Head and Ken Grossman, from Sierra Nevada were on hand for the dinner.

Hosts Ken Grossman & Sam Calagione
Ken Grossman and Sam Calagione

Limb & Life, the draft-only “Imperial small beer,” was served with hors d’oeuvres while Ken and Sam talked about their collaboration together.

The five-course meal had two beers paired with each dish, one from each brewery. We started with Limb & Life and then Life & Limb was served as the last beer of the evening, with dessert. In addition, at the end of the night we finagled a bottle of Life & Limb to compare with the draft version. Personally, I preferred the bottle. Bottle-conditioning gave it a richer mouthfeel and added complexity.

I was fortunate to sit with Sam and Ken for the dinner, as they discussed the project. While Sam has done many collaborations with both domestic and foreign breweries over the years, this was Sierra Nevada’s first one. If you can find a copy of All About Beer magazine from around this time last year, you can read my feature story on collaboration beers. I love the growing trend of collaboration beers, especially when, like this one, some thought is put into it. This makes the results more meaningful, and not simply a marketing effort. Everything about it was well done, especially the artwork for the label, done by a children’s book illustrator.

Life & Limb label artwork

Below is a slideshow of the Life & Limb beer dinner. This Flickr gallery is best viewed in full screen. To view it that way, after clicking on the arrow in the center to start the slideshow, 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 each photo.

Beer In Ads #5: Franziskaner Leist Brau

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ad-billboard
The name Franziskaner today is most often associated with the Bavarian weiss beer brewed by Spaten, but originally it was a separate company known as Franziskaner-Leist-Bräu. The word “Franziskaner” means Franciscan, which is why there’s a monk on the labels nowadays. They merged with Spaten in 1922, so today’s ad is undoubtedly before then. Poster companies selling a reproduction of today’s ad all say it’s circa 1930, but given the earlier merger I’m not sure that can be right, unless of course it continued as a separate brand in their advertising. The artist’s name is either Maurus or Maueus, but that’s a close as I can pin it down.

e-maurus-bierre-munich

Hindenbeer To Be Auctioned

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zeppelin
My son Porter, being a somewhat typical 8-year old, loves all things that have to do with destruction. But unlike most kids his age, he has a fascination with historical disasters, especially the Titanic and the Hindenburg. He has at least two dozen books about the Titanic and other sea disasters and three about Zeppelins and the Hindenburg, along with several more general aviation books that include airships. So it was with great joy that I told him today that a bottle of beer that was salvaged from the Hindenburg disaster was going to be auctioned this Saturday.

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Apparently, on the morning of May 6, 1937, firefighter Leroy Smith fortuitously came upon six bottles of Lowenbrau beer and a silver-plated pitcher. Thinking quickly, he buried them, returning later to dig up his booty. He gave five of the bottles to colleagues and kept one, along with the pitcher, for himself. Most of the rest have been lost, though one ended up in the Spaten museum in Munich (and I saw that one a few years ago when I visited Spaten). In 1966, Smith’s niece inherited the two Hindenburg souvenirs, and will now be auctioned by Henry Aldridge and Son of London. Coincidentally, they also specialize in items from the Titanic.

According to the BBC, the burnt Lowenbrau bottle is expected to fetch around £5,000 (or $8,337). The auction catalog for the bottle has the following information:

Hindenburg memorabilia: An extremely rare bottle of Lowenbrau Beer recovered from the wreck site of the Z129 Hindenburg, May 6th 1937 when it crashed at Lakehurst Naval Air Station. It was recovered by local Fire Chief Leroy Smith of the Matawan Fire Department New Jersey, along with 5 others which he handed out to each of his colleagues. The whereabouts of all of these bottles with the exception of one is unknown. He presented one to the Lowenbrau brewery in 1977 where it remains to the present day. The example being offered for auction is sealed, with some of its original label and shows evidence of heat damage. This lot is sold with a provenance package which include correspondence from the Lowenbrau brewery regarding the bottle of beer donated to their Museum, press cuttings and signed copy of a letter of provenance and an account of how Fire Chief Smith came to acquire the bottle.

hinden-auction
All of the accounts of this story, such as by the BBC, the New York Post and ABC News each claim this will be the highest price paid for a bottle of beer, but in August of 2007, a bottle Allsopp’s Arctic Ale that sold on eBay for $503,300.

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Here’s a better view of the Lowenbrau bottle.

Beer In Art #51: Frederick Daniel Hardy’s Home Brewed Ale

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art-beer
For today’s work of art we revisit the Victorian Era, when most large households included a home brewery. The artist is Frederick Daniel Hardy and his painting is entitled Home Brewed Ale.

Hardy-Home_Brewed_Ale
Hardy was born in 1826 or 27 and lived until 1911. Born in Windsor, England, he was originally a musician for Queen Victoria before abandoning it to study art. This painting was created around 1884. Like this work, most of Hardy’s are scene of everyday life for ordinary people.

If you want to learn more about the artist, Wikipedia has a little information, but generally there’s not much about Hardy. You can see more of his work at Bridgeman Art.

Tragic Or Funny?

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Depending on your point of view, this is either tragic or funny. It happened back in June, but one of the passersby, Scott Bradley, shot a video which he recently uploaded to YouTube, and sent me a tweet. He apparently shot the video on June 17, 2009 as he was driving cross country from New Jersey to California. I guess to him it was tragic as he laments that he “was unable to put any beer in my car because my car was full to the brim with all of my stuff that I was moving.” The incident took place near Dayton, Ohio and here’s the account from the Dayton Daily News, which also includes several photos.