Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Drinking In The Freedom Trail

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With Boston’s rich heritage and being arguably the birthplace of our revolt and eventual revolutionary split from the British, it’s hard not to wave a flag and explore the city’s history when you’re there. So the day after the Craft Brewers Conference, I went on an all-day walking tour of the city, most of it spent along the Freedom Trail, a 2.5 mile self-guided tour of 17 historic sites from Boston’s history, and particularly its role in and prior to the Revolutionary War. There were also several old bars along the trail that I was keen to see, especially since last August I’d done some research into America’s Oldest Bars. So join me on a four-part photo journey of my day Drinking In The Freedom Trail. When you get to the end of each section, just follow the link to the next part.
 

Part 2 includes a visit to the Bell In Hand, which opened in 1795.

And in Part 3, the Green Dragon Tavern is across the street.

 

To begin the four-part photo tour, Drinking In The Freedom Trail, start with part one in the photo gallery.
 

Draft Beer Manual Published

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One of the most interesting things announced at the Craft Brewers Conference in Boston last week was the Draught Beer Quality Manual published by the Technical Committee of the Brewers Association, in collaboration with all of the large brewers, as well. As a result of working with virtually the entire industry, the manual should become the industry standard for all things concerning draft beer. The committee was headed by Ken Grossman, of Sierra Nevada Brewing, who is known for his attention to detail and thoroughness. Everyone I know who’s looked at the manual so far has nothing but high praise for it. If you own or work in a bar or any other place that serves draught beer, or are simply interested in the subject, you should get a copy of the manual. Happily, it’s available free of charge online at DraughtQuality.org as a Wiki and the entire thing can be downloaded as a pdf, also free of charge. It includes just about everything you ever wanted to know about draught beer.

 

Roadhouse Craft Beer

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The last night of the Craft Brewer Conference in Boston, I went out to dinner with some friends, including Greg Koch (from Stone Brewing), Tom McCormick (from the CSBA) and Nancy Johnson (from the Brewers Association) and several new friends.

The Roadhouse Craft Beer & BBQ is a sister restaurant to the wonderful Publick House, just a block away in the Boston suburb of Brookline.

The gang at our table. Yes, I had frites, you can read the review, of course.

The evening was actually an event for Shorts Brewing in Bellaire, Michigan. Of those I tried, I most enjoyed the Rich’s Rye IPA, made with a generous 40% rye malt, though the Huma-Lupa-Licious IPA was quite nice, too.

Tom McCormick and Nancy Johnson, begging for a new birthday photo (since I’ve been using the same one since New Orleans).

Next door to the Roadhouse was the Publick House’s bottle shop.

While waiting for our cab back to downtown, Todd Alstrom and Greg Koch engaged in what I learned was a time-honored tradition where they punch one another in the arm, a contest I should hasten to point out Greg never wins. Here, Greg waits in anticipation of the blow to come.

Todd kept his perfect record that night, too.

 

Bar Wars

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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.)

 

Barley Wine Festival Video

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If you were at the Toronado Barleywine Festival on Saturday, perhaps you noticed a guy walking around shooting video. That person was Steve Atkinson, and he’s put up a pretty cool six-minute video of the festival and judging. You can watch it below.

 

2009 San Francisco Barley Wine Festival from Steve Atkinson on Vimeo.

 

Bear Republic Annexes Zeitgeist

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zeitgeist
I ran into Tom Dalldorf at the Magnolia vertical barley wine tasting, and we drove over to Zeitgeist, where Rich Norgrove, brewmaster at Bear Republic Brewing, was on hand for a meet the brewer event. We slipped in and out long enough to shake hands, take a photo, and slink away so we could get to our beer dinner on time.

bear-zeitgeist
Part of the Bear Republic brew crew (on left) with Rich and his wife Tami.

Rob Tod Rocks The Trappist

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After the Double IPA Festival on Saturday, I stopped by The Trappist in Oakland to see Rob Tod from Allagash, who had flown in from Maine a few hours before. We got a call from him when he touched down while we judging at the festival. The week before, while attending a charity event and schlepping some kegs, Rob slipped on the ice and two full kegs smacked together on his hand, breaking three fingers, dislocating two, and flattening his wedding ring. He saved the ring with a pliers — now that’s love! I figured if he could endure all that and still fly in for SF Beer Week, the least I could do was drive a few miles to see him. He was in surprisingly good spirits, but that might easily have been his terrific beers showing their medicinal uses. I finally had a chance to try the collaboration beer, Fedeltá, that he made with the brewers from De Struise. After a day of Double IPAs, it was a welcome change, and quite delicious.

No two-fisted drinking for 6-8 weeks.

 

Top Ten Tuesday: Top 10 Pub Pet Peeves

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For my second Top 10 list I’m feeling grumpy, due to a nasty cold that’s knocked me for a loop. So my list will reflect that, the things that drive me batty when out in public, be it at a beer bar or restaurant, anywhere really, where beer is served that’s a public space. I know most bartenders are hard-working men and women who deserve our respect — and I have a great many friends in such positions — but there are times when the bad ones really drive me balmy. Likewise, customers are often complete jerks to not only the staff but everyone else in the bar, too. I can’t stand to be around these dim bulbs for very long either. I’m not sure which is worse: that they’re being so incredibly rude and/or stupid or that in most cases they don’t even seem to realize it. Add too much alcohol, and the effect is magnified. Such obliviousness to those around them is perhaps the most annoying feature of immaturity, as children are naturally self-centered. As they grow, they learn to care about people other than themselves. But I find that the very idea of respect for others is becoming an old-fashioned, quaint notion. See, I told you I was feeling cantankerous. And I’m feeling old today. The half-century mark is itself one less than 50 days away, and I’m feeling it. I understand I should be thrilled that I have pain, because it should remind that at least I’m still alive. But it feels as if my body decided to remind me by visiting upon me every ache and pain I’ve ever had all at one go. Oh, the humanity! Anyway, here’s List #2:
 

Top 10 Pub Pet Peeves
 

Smoke I normally don’t care if other people smoke, but it in an unventilated space like the average bar it gets in the way of enjoying the beer and the company. I know this is a controversial subject, but as smoke has a tendency to drift, smoking sections make about as much sense in a bar or restaurant as they did on airplanes.
Mobile Phones I know it’s the 21st century and I’m no technophobe, obviously, since this is written using a computer and I use a crackberry when out, but I don’t want to hear your phone conversation. If you get a call, take it outside, or at least somewhere more private.
Ordering Off-Menu I find this especially annoying at brewpubs, but to me it’s just as odd at better beer bars, too. When you go to one of these places it should be for the beer, if not the combination of beer and food. So why order a low-calorie light beer from a macro brewery (whether foreign or domestic) or even anything from one of those large beer companies. If you’re at a brewpub, you’re at the source, the place where it’s being made. It’s the reason the place was built and you couldn’t get a fresher beer unless you made some at your table. But still, every now and again you’ll see someone in there nursing his Bud Light, usually straight out of the bottle. It’s even more prevalent at better beer bars. If some bar saw fit to carry some of the tastiest beers money could buy, why on Earth would anyone settle for the ordinary? I suppose the likeliest answer is that person got dragged to the bar by his friends, but could he (or she) muster no better imagination than to order one of the most common beers on the planet? Is advertising and marketing that effective? Sadly, it probably is. And don’t get me started on the person sipping their glass of wine at the brewpub. Really, you couldn’t muster the courage to try the house special? I love wine, but if I’m at a beer place, I’m drinking beer.

Lemons If I wanted a lemon in my beer, I would have asked for one. Just because some people don’t mind — or have been persuaded to think it’s a good idea — to have a lemon wedge in their beer doesn’t mean everyone wants one. And once it’s in there affecting the flavor of the beer, it can’t be undone. So the sensible thing to do would be to ask first, or bring it to the table on a plate, thereby leaving the choice up to the customer. Now why is that so difficult?
Poor Selection This used to be more of a problem than it is today, at least where I live. But there was a time when many bars carried just the macro beers along with a few macro imports, and nothing else, not even Samuel Adams, Anchor or Sierra Nevada. Nowadays you’ll usually find at least one of those three in even the seediest bar. But would it kill a bar to carry just a few beers beyond those? Apparently it never occurred to the owners that people might want something else.
Untrained Staff There’s nothing worse than asking the bartender or waitress about a new beer on the menu and finding out they know nothing whatsoever about it. In some cases, they don’t know the first thing about what they’re serving at all, which I find bizarre. I just can’t imagine the lack of ambition or curiosity that would lead to such apathy. But beyond that individual server, I think it reflects most poorly on the owners who obviously didn’t care that the person representing their business knows absolutely nothing about what they’re selling.
Frosted Glasses What I find most amazing about this abhorrent practice is that it is usually presented as a bonus and when turned down, no matter how graciously, appears to completely confound. The bar that serves frosted glassware believes they’re giving their customers added value, a kind of bonus, while in reality they’re actually ruining the beer. I’ve been served Chimay in a frosted chalice and when I asked — politely — if I could have it in an un-frosted glass, my waitress looked at me like a dog who’d just been shown a card trick. Why would I not want a frosted glass?, her expression seemed to convey. She acted as if I’d hurt her feelings, and our service plummeted for the rest of the meal.
Just the Bottle Why do some bars bring just the bottle or can, forcing me to ask for a glass? Bars should always serve beer in or with a glass — and the appropriate one at that — or at the very least ask me if I want one when taking my order. Sheesh.
Beer Gone Bad and/or Dirty Lines Being served a beer that’s gone bad is a worrying sign on several levels. Is the beer unpopular or is the entire bar? Were the lines not cleaned recently? Most better beer bars understand how important this is, but many average ones don’t seem to get this simple fact. Or is it that they don’t realize the beer has gone bad? Either way, the end result is unhappy customers — or at least the ones who can tell the difference.
Too Cold Despite the marketing barrage trying to convince us that ice cold beer is best, I want to be able to actually taste the beer I’m drinking. That’s why I ordered it. And serving beer too cold seems to be the most pervasive problem in American bars, hands down. Beyond a handful of good beer bars that actually care about the beer they’re serving, most just don’t seem to get that their beer is too frigid.

 

Also, if you have any ideas for future Top 10 lists you’d like to see, drop me a line.
 

Top 5 Bars?

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Under the title “Pub Crawl,” Men’s Fitness magazine chose “America’s five best bars for beer lovers,” a pretty audacious claim right out of the gate. Their five:

  1. Freakin’ Frog (Las Vegas, NV)
  2. The Map Room (Chicago, IL)
  3. Kennedy School’s Courtyard Restaurant (Portland, OR)
  4. Spuyten Duyvil (Brooklyn, NY)
  5. Brickskeller (Washington, DC)

I don’t know if their list was meant to be in any particular order, but this is how they were listed in the article. These would be mine, at least today. Tomorrow I might feel differently, who knows.

  1. Toronado (San Francisco, CA)
  2. Monk’s Cafe (Philadelphia, PA)
  3. Falling Rock Taphouse (Denver, CO)
  4. Horse Brass (Portland, OR)
  5. Brouwer’s (Seattle, WA)

Mine are simply in the order that they came to me as I put down the first five that came to mind. It’s been years since I’ve been to the Brickskeller, unfortunately, and that’s probably the only reason they’re not on my list. Sorry Dave, I’ve got to get out East more. As I write this, many more come to mind, but that’s the way these lists are.

 

As a bonus, they also list the “Best Micro Brews,” but at least these were chosen by Ray Daniels and Julie Bradford Johnson. This list is pretty good, if fairly safe. I like all of these breweries though, naturally I would have chosen perhaps a slightly different list. Also, a lot depends on what criteria you use as to what standards you look at in determining the “best micro brews.” What does that mean exactly? Anyway, here’s their list. I’ll have to think about what ten I’d choose.

 

  • Allagash Brewing Company
  • Brooklyn Brewery
  • Deschutes Brewery
  • Firestone Walker Brewing Company
  • New Glarus Brewing Company
  • Odell Brewing Company
  • Rogue Ales
  • Russian River Brewing Company
  • Sierra Nevada Brewing Company
  • North Coast Brewing Company

 

Best Bars in America, According to Esquire

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In the lastest issue of Esquire magazine, they list their choices for the “best bars in America,” 51 in all. There are some good places to be sure, but I must question any list of great bars that doesn’t include the Toronado — especially one that seems to favor dive bars. And perhaps more curious than that obvious oversight is the fact that last year’s list not only also overlooked the Toronado but contains none of the same bars as this year’s list.

And while there are certainly other quibbles with the list — Rick Lyke details quite a few — to me this is the crucial fact that makes it impossible to take seriously. Any bar worthy to be considered the best in America would undoubtedly have become so over time and would also be great year after year. You’d expect that a bar that made the list this year was probably pretty damn good last year and one on last year’s list still decent this year. The notion that none from last year are on this year’s list and vice versa makes this purely a literary exercise. Esquire explains it by saying that it’s not an “overhaul of last year’s list. Those bars are still great, and we still drink in them. Think of the list [from last year] as a Hall of Fame.”

So I understand that Esquire wants to have new places to write about each year and their readers likewise would want to read about new places to try, too. But then it can’t possibly be considered a list of the “best” bars, just a collection of good bars that they believe are praiseworthy. That’s not a bad thing, I looked over the list with considerable anticipation and interest. The sensational title did set me up for certain expectations that went largely unfulfilled. And I suspect I’m not alone. A quick Googling of Esquire’s best bars in America reveals that local community websites, forums, etc. all over the country are discussing it, lamenting omissions, bitching about whole cities missing and questioning the choices. And I think it’s that provocative rubric that sparks such a furor. It’s likely that Esquire not only counted on that but actively designed the list, at least in part, to be debated. Because it’s becoming increasingly obvious that getting people talking about your article, magazine or website is the real goal and anything that stifles that, such as accuracy, full disclosure, or calling it by a less volatile name would all not create the same amount of buzz. Personally, I loathe this trend. It creates a situation where it’s more advantageous to be outrageous than truthful or reasonable. Ann Coulter, for example, is a master of this technique. It’s a reminder that the goal of modern journalism is not informing the people, accurate reporting or even keeping an appearance of impartiality. It’s all about selling advertising and making money. And without standards, the easiest way to do that is simply by being provocative and outrageous. Of course, picking the best bars in America is an inconsequential exercise when compared to the many more important issues that the press misleads us about on any given day, but the technique and goal is the same — and the subject is my stock in trade, which is why I’m talking about it at all.

But even with all of that, the Esquire effort is rife with problems. Despite using several writers to compile the list even they admit there are issues with their method.

We haven’t patronized every bar in America, though we’re working on it. For the parts of the country we’ve never had the honor of drinking in, we asked our friends — the most knowledgeable and passionate of whom is Esquire drinks correspondent David Wondrich. Despite our connections, we’ve clearly shortchanged some great cities and have no doubt overlooked some great bars.

Obviously with a task as broad and large as trying to declare the best bars in America it’s going to be difficult to consider every bar, but not doing so, or even trying to be somewhat comprehensive, makes it largely a futile effort in the end. But all it really would have taken to make it a valid effort would have been to change the title of the article to “Our Favorite Bars in America for 2007.” But that wouldn’t have created the buzz that publishing a flawed article and declaring the choices to be “the best” has done. To me, that’s the worst kind of tabloid journalism.