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Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Beer Saints: St. Florian

May 4, 2021 By Jay Brooks

Today is the feast day of St. Florian (250 C.E. – c. 304 C.E.). He was born in the ancient Roman city of Aelium Cetium (present-day Sankt Pölten, Austria). He joined the Roman Army and advanced in the ranks, rising to commander of the imperial army in the Roman province of Noricum. In addition to his military duties, he was also responsible for organizing and leading firefighting brigades. Florian organized and trained an elite group of soldiers whose sole duty was to fight fires. He’s the patron saint of Linz, Austria, Upper Austria and Poland; chimney sweeps; soapmakers, and firefighters. But more importantly, he’s also the patron saint of brewers, coopers and barrel-makers

He’s probably best known for being the patron saint of firefighters and against flooding and fires; and he’s most often depicted emptying a pitcher to put out a fire. Apparently the reason he’s also a patron of brewers and beer lovers because both are also known for emptying pitchers. And because the pitcher is often shown as wooden, he’s become a patron to coopers and barrel-makers, too.

Saint Florian, by Italian painter Francesco del Cossa, 1743.

That is also the reason that Sonoma County firefighter Aron Levin, along with his wife Amy, opened St. Florian’s Brewery in Windsor, California. Unfortunately, due to the recent wildfires in our area, plus the pandemic, the brewery is temporarily closed right now, but hopefully will reopen shortly.

Filed Under: Beers, Breweries, Just For Fun, Related Pleasures Tagged With: Austria, Barrels, Religion & Beer

Session #138: How Much Wood …

August 3, 2018 By Jay Brooks

log
For our 138th Session, our host is Jack Perdue, who writes Deep Beer. For his topic, he’s chosen The Good in Wood, by which he means beer being stored in wood or otherwise flavored with it.
wood
Here’s his full description of the topic:

Wood has been used for millennia to store, transport and flavor beer, wine and spirits. Today, the relationship between wood and beer has regained its popularity with brewers and drinkers as observed in the prevalence of bourbon-barrel-aged beer and sours. This topic is deep and wide and meandering, romantic and historic, personal and professional.

I will suggest a few themes to stir your imagination on “The Good in Wood” but of course you can choose your own path.

  • Historic uses of wood through a beer lens
  • Physical characteristics of wood and that relationship with beer
  • Professional and personal experiences such as wood-themed beer festivals or tours
  • A favorite wood-influenced beer style or experience, e.g. your first bourbon barrel-aged beer, a special Flanders red moment or why you don’t like a lambic
  • Other, let your imagination run as crazy as a wild ale

session_logo_all_text_200

So this month I’m going to use The Session to be the old man telling the kids to get off of his lawn as he shouts into the wind. Let me start by stating this. I love barrel-aged beers. I’ll repeat that, because it may come up later. I love the complexity that’s added by a beer spending time in a wooden barrel. Over ten years ago, in 2006, I took issue with an article in a Wisconsin newspaper in which the writer — who called himself the Beer Man — declared that bourbon barrel stouts were “just a fad.” I said he was wrong twelve years ago, and I say without fear of retribution that he’s even more wrong today. If anything, they’re more popular than ever, and not just stouts, but wood-aged and barrel-aged beers of all sorts of types. They’re so popular now that many brewers have told me it’s getting harder (and more expensive) to just find barrels to use for aging their beer. And many of these beers are amazing.

But here’s my caveat, and the one that appears to make me the odd man out, the old curmudgeon. As barrel-aged beers have become more and more extreme, almost like an arms race of bourbony proportions, many of these beers have lost their beerishness. I have had many debates and/or arguments on judging panels, panel discussions and at casual tastings, which clearly show me to be the outlier, over how much wood is too much wood. I’ve found that many people seem to think there is no threshold too far, that the more a bourbon-barrel beer tastes like bourbon the better, even when it no longer resembles a beer. And I just can’t abide that.

woodchucks-chucking-wood
How much wood…

To me, it’s a bourbon-barrel “BEER.” If it no longer tastes of beer at all, it’s not really a beer anymore, but a malt-based bourbon.* Why not just drink a glass of bourbon? This type of extreme beer just overwhelms your tastebuds with only one sensation: whatever the original barrel once contained. But to my way of thinking, it should taste like the base beer style, and accentuated with the added flavor of the barrel, which should add complexity and layers of unique and/or new sensations. Instead, many just dull your senses by hitting you over the head with unbridled bourbon, or whiskey, or whatever. What’s the point? It seems to me that it’s become extremeness for the sake of extremeness, like a snake eating its own tail.

Ouroboros

I completely understand that this is simply a matter of personal preference and shifting tastes or styles. At least it is on some level. But the style guidelines for both the World Beer Cup and GABF make clear that I’m not alone in my curmudgeonly ways. To wit, the 2017 guidelines for GABF for both the “Wood- and Barrel-Aged Beer” and the “Wood- and Barrel-Aged Strong Stout” state the following:

Used sherry, rum, bourbon, scotch, port, wine and other barrels are often used, imparting complexity and uniqueness to beer. Ultimately a balance of flavor, aroma and mouthfeel are sought with the marriage of new beer with wood and/or barrel flavors.

And even though I’ve read this passage aloud to make my case, some people still prefer the bourbon bombs with no beerishness whatsoever. I get that people like what they like, but this one just confounds me, because they seem to have lost sight of what these beers were intended to be or should aspire to be.

The 2015 BJCP guidelines for “Wood-Aged Beer” also makes the same point:

Flavor: Varies with base style. Wood usually contributes a woody or oaky flavor, which can occasionally take on a raw “green” flavor if new wood is used. Other flavors that may optionally be present include vanilla (from vanillin in the wood); caramel, butterscotch, toasted bread or almonds (from toasted wood); and coffee, chocolate, cocoa (from charred wood). The wood and/or other cask-derived flavors should be balanced, supportive and noticeable, but should not overpower the base beer style

In the end, it comes down to what a brewery can sell. If consumers want bourbon-barrel aged beers that taste more like bourbon and almost nothing like beer, that’s what breweries will keep making. If they sell out of every vintage, who am I to say they’re wrong? But I still find it a crying shame that it’s become harder to find the truly exquisite barrel-aged beer that really does deliver a complex melange of unique flavors, that “marriage of new beer with wood and/or barrel flavors” that doesn’t “overpower the base beer.” Those beers are sublime; a thing of beauty. Give me one of those beers any day.

beer-barrel

*: For purposes of this discussion, I’m ignoring Utopias, the Brew Dog/Schorschbräu world’s strongest beer fracas, and all other beers made to prove a point about beer strength, pushing boundaries, etc. Is that fair of me? Maybe not, but I’m going to do it anyway.

Filed Under: Beers, Just For Fun, Related Pleasures, The Session Tagged With: adjuncts, Barrels, Beer Styles, Bourbon, Cask, Wood

Over A Barrel: The Next Sessions Looks At The Good In Wood

July 24, 2018 By Jay Brooks

session-the
For our 138th Session, our host will be Jack Perdue, who writes Deep Beer. For his topic, he’s chosen The Good in Wood, by which he means beer being stored in wood or otherwise flavored with it.
wood
Here’s his full explanation of the month’s topic:

Wood has been used for millennia to store, transport and flavor beer, wine and spirits. Today, the relationship between wood and beer has regained its popularity with brewers and drinkers as observed in the prevalence of bourbon-barrel-aged beer and sours. This topic is deep and wide and meandering, romantic and historic, personal and professional.

I will suggest a few themes to stir your imagination on “The Good in Wood” but of course you can choose your own path.

  • Historic uses of wood through a beer lens
  • Physical characteristics of wood and that relationship with beer
  • Professional and personal experiences such as wood-themed beer festivals or tours
  • A favorite wood-influenced beer style or experience, e.g. your first bourbon barrel-aged beer, a special Flanders red moment or why you don’t like a lambic
  • Other, let your imagination run as crazy as a wild ale

beer-barrel

To participate in the August Session, simply post a link to your session post by commenting at the original announcement on or before Friday, August 3.

Filed Under: Beers, Just For Fun, News, The Session Tagged With: Announcements, Barrels, Beer Styles, Cask

Patent No. 1985739A: Vehicle Body For Barrels

December 25, 2016 By Jay Brooks

patent-logo
Today in 1934, US Patent 1985739 A was issued, an invention of Paul Murray, for his “Vehicle Body For Barrels.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes these claims:

My invention relates Ito vehicle bodies for the transportation of barrels and particularly for the transportation of half barrels of beer.

The objects of my invention are to provide the economical and efficient handling of beer half barrels.

US1985739-0
US1985739-1

Filed Under: Beers, Just For Fun, Politics & Law, Related Pleasures Tagged With: Barrels, History, Kegs, Law, Patent

Patent No. 616336A: Means For Racking Beer

December 20, 2016 By Jay Brooks

patent-logo
Today in 1898, US Patent 616336 A was issued, an invention of Emil Kersten, for his “Means For Racking Beer.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes these claims:

The invention relates to means for racking beer contained in casks partly filled with chips or shavings, for attracting and retaining the heavier substances forming part of the products of fermentation, and for fining the beer.

The object of the invention is to provide a new and improved means for first drawing the beer in a perfectly pure and fine state from such cask without causing the beer to become turbid when running close to the sedimentcovered bottom and chips in the cask, and then drawing the remaining portion of the beer from the cask with as little sediment as possible.

US616336-0

Filed Under: Beers, Breweries, Just For Fun, Politics & Law, Related Pleasures Tagged With: Barrels, Cask, History, Law, Patent, Science of Brewing

Patent No. 222696A: Improvement In Apparatus For Pitching Beer-Casks

December 16, 2016 By Jay Brooks

patent-logo
Today in 1879, US Patent 222696 A was issued, an invention of Albert Grossmann, for his “Improvement in Apparatus for Pitching Beer-Casks.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes these claims:

I have invented a new and useful Improvement in Apparatus for Pitching Beer-Casks, of which in the employment, within the keg, cask, or barrel, of a pitch-consuming device, by which the pitch is prepared or melted and fitted for use, the apparatus employed consisting, in the instance here given, of an extensible tube mounted upon a suitable base and adapted to extend to or near the bottom of the keg, cask, or barrel, so as to permit the ingress within the keg of a fire to melt the pitch, a suitable chimney being provided for the escape of the smoke or vapor, and means employed for regulating the extension of the tube and for stopping the consumption of the pitch.

US222696-0

Filed Under: Beers, Just For Fun, Politics & Law, Related Pleasures Tagged With: Barrels, Cask, History, Law, Patent

Patent No. 777463A: Barrel Holder

December 13, 2016 By Jay Brooks

patent-logo
Today in 1904, US Patent 777463 A was issued, an invention of Albert M. Woltz and Charles A. Suman, for their “Barrel Holder.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes these claims:

The invention relates to a barrel-holder, and has for its object to improve the construction of barrel-holders and to provide a simple and comparatively inexpensive one adapted to be readily applied to a counter and capable of ready adjustment to suit the height of the same.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of this character of great strength and durability adapted to readily engage barrels of different sizes and capable of enabling the same to be conveniently swung to a position beneath the counter to arrange the barrel out of the way and from under the counter when it is desired to obtain access to the contents of the barrel.

US777463-0
US777463-1

Filed Under: Beers, Just For Fun, Politics & Law, Related Pleasures Tagged With: Barrels, Cask, History, Law, Patent

Patent No. 551167A: Truck For Barrels Or Other Vessels

December 10, 2016 By Jay Brooks

patent-logo
Today in 1895, US Patent 551167 A was issued, an invention of Henry A. Kobold, for his “Truck for Barrels or Other Vessels.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes these claims:

My invention relates to a device for grasping kegs, barrels, casks, and other vessels having projecting flanges or rims at their ends like the chines of kegs and barrels, whereby the same may be conveniently and readily conveyed from place to place or raised and lowered along skids in loading and unloading without the necessity of touching the hands to them.

My invention has for its primary object to provide a device of this nature which Will be capable of readily grasping the vessel in such a manner that the latter may be easily rolled and guided to the desired place, the cylindrical form of the vessel being utilized in giving it locomotion.

US551167-0

Filed Under: Beers, Breweries, Just For Fun, Politics & Law, Related Pleasures Tagged With: Barrels, History, Kegs, Law, Patent

Patent No. 637826A: Combined Corkscrew And Valve For Beer Pumps

November 28, 2016 By Jay Brooks

patent-logo
Today in 1899, US Patent 637826 A was issued, an invention of Frank Preston, for his “Combined Corkscrew and Valve for Beer Pumps.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes these claims:

The invention relates to a combined corkscrew and valve for beer-pumps.

The object of the present invention is to improve the construction of beer-pumps and to provide a simple, inexpensive, and efficient device designed more especially for use at picnics and for private use and adapted to serve as a corkscrew and capable of enabling the proper pressure to be maintained on a keg or other receptacle of beer or other liquid to maintain the same in a fresh condition until it is entirely consumed.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of this character adapted to be readily carried in the pocket and capable of being quickly applied to a receptacle.

US637826-0

Filed Under: Beers, Just For Fun, Politics & Law, Related Pleasures Tagged With: Barrels, Cask, History, Kegs, Law, Patent

Patent No. 184795A: Improvement In Vent-Valves For Casks

November 28, 2016 By Jay Brooks

patent-logo
Today in 1876, US Patent 184795 A was issued, an invention of Herman F. Peter, William A. Klinge, Paul Assman, and George Schweikert, for their “Improvement in Vent-Valves For Casks.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes these claims:

Our invention relates to an improved vent-valve for casks, &c.

The invention consists, first, in the combination, with a perforated valve seat, formed on the end of a screw-threaded stem, of an elastic valve and strap or holder, to admit air to a cask, barrel, or other receptacle; second, in the combination, with the valve seat and its stem, of a guard or cap, removably secured to the stem of the valve-seat by a set-screw, whereby the valve is protected and its displacement prevented third, in the combination, with the stem of the valve-seat, constructed. with a conical bearing, of a nut having a conical bearing and an interposed elastic ring, whereby the ring may be set out by forcing the conical bearings toward each other.

US184795-0

Filed Under: Beers, Just For Fun, Politics & Law, Related Pleasures Tagged With: Barrels, Cask, History, Law, Patent

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