Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Stout & Cheddar Soup

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This tasty looking recipe was featured on Chicago’s ABC Channel 7, created by Michael Pivoney, Executive Chef at Marion Street Cheese Market.

 

Stout & Cheddar Soup (makes 6 servings)

 

  • 2 Tbsp. canola oil
  • 1 stick unsalted butter
  • 3 stalks celery, diced
  • 2 jumbo carrots, diced
  • 1 medium white onion, diced
  • 1 stalk of leek, diced
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • ½ cup all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup rye flour
  • 2 bottles of stout beer (premium quality such as Guinness)
  • 1 quart chicken stock (vegetable stock may be substituted)
  • 1 tsp. thyme
  • dash of Worcestershire sauce
  • dash of tabasco
  • 2 cups finely-shredded cheddar cheese (premium quality)
  • Kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper

 

Method:

In a large soup pot, heat the oil and butter then saute the celery, carrots, onion, leeks and garlic over medium-high heat for approximately 10 minutes – until the onions are translucent Add the flour and saute over medium-low heat for approximately 8 minutes until flour is slightly brown and has a nutty scent. Whisk-in the stout beer and simmer for five minutes, then add chicken stock and thyme and dashes of Worcestershire sauce and tabasco. Continue to simmer and when mixture begins to thicken, slowly add the cheese, whisking constantly until well-combined. Season to taste with salt and pepper, then allow the soup to simmer over low heat an additional 30 minutes.

Puree the soup in a blender and serve hot.

 

 

Random Beer Names

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I’m not entirely sure why this exists, but I did have fun with it — so perhaps that’s enough of a reason — but Strange Brew, a Canadian software company that makes programs for homebrewers, also has an online Random Beer Name Generator. My first beer name:

Flying Squirrel-Mash Oud Bruin

Being a huge fan of Rocky & Bullwinkle, I thought this one was a great name for a beer. But some others were equally intriguing, such as Craptacular Loch Ness Monster Tripel, Barney and Spiderman’s Transgendered Bière de Garde and even The Squid Formerly Known As Winston Churchill’s Unbefreakinglievable Pilsner. I don’t know how many names are in there. I tried quite a few and never got a duplicate. Give it a try. Let me know your best ones.

 

A Sad Commentary

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We’ve had the Big Three — Bud, Miller and Coors — for so long now that it would probably take me a few years to stop using the term. In the UK, once upon a time it was the Big Six; and they included Allied Breweries, Bass Charrington, Courage Imperial, Scottish & Newcastle, Watneys, and Whitbread. Until yesterday, only S&N remained. With the announcement earlier today of Carlsberg and Heineken’s buyout of Scottish & Newcastle, the last vestige of a bygone era will soon disappear, as well. England’s esteemed Financial Times today has a somewhat sad commentary on this entitled Few Crying into Beers at Decline of Big Six Breweries. As they observe, the change in the beer market and the mergers that began around 1989 have now come to a final solution, and with no one left to mourn them.

Here’s a few statistics. Since the turn of the century, imported beer to the UK has increased by 50%. During that same time, the number of large breweries fell by two-thirds. Today, a mere six remain, with 34 more considered regional breweries. Since the 1980s, the number of breweries has actually tripled, but that’s because of the UK’s own microbrewery revolution, which today includes over 500 small breweries whose total production accounts for only 2% of the nation’s beer market. Before today’s buyout, Heineken enjoyed only 1% of the total British market, but after the deal is approved they will have something in the neighborhood of 30%, making them Great Britain’s biggest beer company.

Maybe none of this matters. After all, as the FT’s editorial makes clear, British pub-goers, publicans and pub operators, and even CAMRA’s real ale aficionados will all be dishearteningly unmoved by today’s news. I can’t help but think that’s a mistake. So much of our early microbreweries owe such a great debt to the heritage and history of English ales that it seems a shame to let this dismal milestone pass so cavalierly. Perhaps I’ve romanticized these old breweries too much, but I don’t feel the same loathing for their products or their business practices that I usually do for our Big Three. That may simply be the 1,000-mile expanse of ocean separating me from everyday contact, who knows? But even though the British beer industry is nowhere near deceased, this is just one more wound that will again forever alter its landscape. I, for one, in the words of the immortal Edgar Allen Poe, “am drinking ale today.”

 

Carlsberg and Heineken Buy Scottish & Newcastle

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It looks like the brewing brouhaha involving several large multi-national beer companies that I wrote about last week is going to be resolved more quickly then anybody had anticipated. The Carlsberg Group and Heineken today agreed to a $15.3 billion buyout of Scottish & Newcastle. The deal is structured such that Carlsberg will get sole ownership of BBH (Baltic Beverages Holding), giving them access to the lucrative Russian beer market, and will also receive S&N’s markets in China, France and Greece. Heineken will gain control of S&N’s markets in Great Britain, India, the United States and a few others. Business experts don’t seem to think there will a problem in getting the deal approved or with any counter-offers.

 
Note: Portfolio’s online website has a good overview of this story, too.

 

Gone To the Dogs?

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There was a goofy little item in today’s Taipei Times entitled Dog Brought Into Vet After Having One Too Many concerning Dingo, a Labrador from Austria, that could scarcely stand and smelled “like a beer hall.” His owner took him to see the vet and found he was drunk, not as it turned out, however, from drinking. What happened is the dog ate some fresh yeast dough that he stole off his master’s kitchen table. Apparently “[a]lcohol had formed inside his stomach as a result of the fermentation process. That left poor old Dingo drunk.”

Curiously, while looking for the drinking dog icon above, I came across an AP story from almost a year ago about a pet shop owner in the Netherlands who designed a beer specifically for his dog.

From the AP story:

[The pet shop owner] consigned a local brewery to make and bottle the nonalcoholic beer, branded as Kwispelbier. It was introduced to the market last week and advertised it as “a beer for your best friend.”

“Kwispel” is the Dutch word for wagging a tail.

The beer is fit for human consumption, Berenden said. But at euro1.65 ($2.14) a bottle, it’s about four times more expensive than a Heineken.

Apparently it’s also made with beer extract. Yum.

 

St. James Gate For Sale?

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Back in October of last year, I got slapped around quite a bit when I suggested that Guinness had closed St. James Gate already, as I heard the rumor quite some time before that it was in the works and had sort of figured that the deed had been done. Turns out I was wrong, but not as wrong as some of my critics supposed. I was just ahead of my time. A friend returned recently from Dublin (thanks Chris) and sent me this article from the Irish Independent entitled Last Orders for Brewery as Sale Looms.

The article begins:

The closure of the iconic Guinness brewery at St James’s Gate in Dublin could be one step closer after drinks giant Diageo appointed three sets of consultants to oversee the sale of the prestigious Dublin site. The move away from the city centre could net Diageo a windfall of up to €3bn for the 56-acre plot.

In an effort to keep this from happening, city councilors passed a motion trying to make sure that by law there must be a brewery at the current location. It is believed that “this could restrict future development at the site, thereby reducing its market value.” So it appears that even the City of Dublin is trying to keep Diageo from closing down the nearly 250-year old Guinness brewery at St. James Gate. But if I had to guess, as an international conglomerate, I imagine Diageo will figure out a way around such a small obstacle as that if they really want to unload it.

 

 

Alphabet Soup: A-B Enters the Fray Between S&N and CG for BBH

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This is a story that’s really been going on for some time now, at least a year, probably more. In a nutshell, the BBH (or Baltic Beverages Holding) was created in 1991 by a 50/50 joint venture between Oy Hartwall (a Finnish brewing group) and Procordia Beverages, best known for Pripps (then a Swedish company). The plan was to acquire breweries in the lucrative areas of Russia and the Baltic. And little by little, they did just that. But in 1995, another Swedish company, Orkla, bought Pripps an created a new company, Pripp-Ringnes, only to then merge with Carlsberg in 2000. As a result, the Carlsberg Group became a 50% owner of BBH. Two years later, Scottish & Newcastle bought Hartwell and that’s how we got to today, with BBH being a 50/50 joint venture between Carlsberg and S&N. In the meantime, BBH became the owner of 19 breweries in Russia, Kazakhstan, the Ukraine, Uzbekistan and the Baltics (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) which gives them a commanding share of the market, nearly 40% of the fifth largest — and possibly fastest growing — beer economy in the world. Not surprisingly, the predatory nature of corporations generally means that other companies have developed in interest in BBH.

Lately things have heated up with potential take-over bids. The main players have been primarily the Carlsberg Group and Heineken, both of whom have attempted hostile takeover bids to wrest control of BBH from S&N. The negotiations have been very public and quite contentious with accusations of bad faith and underhanded dealings flying around so fast and furious it’s like a blizzard. I’ve been following it somewhat casually but haven’t written about it before now. What’s changed? Today the London Telegraph is reporting that Anheuser-Busch is considering “a potential £4.6bn bid for full control of BBH.”

From the Telegraph article:

S&N already owns 50 per cent of BBH alongside Carlsberg. But the Edinburgh-based brewer is preparing a bid for full control of BBH as part of its defence against Carlsberg, which is plotting its own £10bn takeover bid for S&N as part of a consortium with Heineken.

S&N’s plan would be to finance a bid for BBH by offering a 25 per cent stake to a minority partner.

Anheuser-Busch has long coveted a place in the rapidly expanding Russian beer market and replacing Carlsberg in a new joint venture with S&N would offer it part ownership of the country’s leading brewer.

I was pretty sure A-B had a long-standing relationship with Carlsberg. They definitely used to distribute Carlsberg and their Elephant Malt here in the U.S. It’s interesting to see how quickly any loyalty they might otherwise have felt to Carlsberg over their years of business together goes out the window when the dollar signs twinkle in their eyes. This whole scenario reminds me of your average Godzilla movie where the giant lumbering monsters of business do battle with each other while at the same time stomping on and smashing to bits the very world in which they, too, live. Whatever happens to those flattened buildings (and people) destroyed in their wake are somebody else’s problem, they’re simply externalities. We’re merely the frightened tiny ants of people who can do nothing except watch as they destroy our city.

Rhetoric aside, it will certainly be interesting now to see how this plays out. I know Heineken desperately wants a bigger piece of the Russia beer pie. That’s specifically the reason they bought Krusovice from the Radeburger Group last year. As for A-B’s interest, with slowing sales of domestic beer, I can only imagine they’d love a quick fix like this.

 

Tender Is The Beer

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Here’s an interesting looking gadget. Heineken teamed up with Krups, the people who make those high end coffee machines, to create the BeerTender. Essentially, the BeerTender is a mini kegerator that holds 5-liter kegs. As fr as I can tell it’s already available in eight European nations and beginning March 1 will be sold in the U.S. at Williams-Sonoma stores. At least that was the announcement made at this year’s CES in Las Vegas, which began on Monday.

It’s a beautiful looking piece of equipment and would be great if it could be used with those 5-liter kegs of German beer you see everywhere. I sort of doubt they will, though, they’ll probably only work with Heineken mini-kegs and the other brands they deign to package them in the minis.

Here’s some info about the BeerTender from the Unofficial Heineken USA BeerTender Fan Site, BeerTenderUSA:

Imagine…fresh Heineken and other European beers on tap whenever you want it.

The Heineken BeerTender … is a personal draft beer (or draught beer, if you prefer) system for home use. The system consists of a draft beer dispenser and the exchangeable BeerTender kegs each holding and chilling four liters of premium European beer. While at-home beer taps are nothing new, the BeerTender system is unique in its size, style and function.

The recyclable BeerTender four liter keg is inserted from above into the BeerTender, which keeps the beer cold and fresh for up to 30 days from the first glass. Then run the keg’s plastic tube to the BeerTender’s tap and you’re done. It’s that simple. Inserting a keg takes less than 15-seconds.

Heineken has also made the Krups BeerTender sold in France and the ones coming to the US compatible with its standard five liter DraughtKeg kegs (which are available in most US supermarkets) by using a special tube (a five-pack comes with the BeerTenders sold in France and to be sold in the US). Replacement five-packs will be available after March 1 at www.BeerTender.com.

In the US, Heineken is preparing for the launch of the BeerTender on March 1, 2008 after performing a market test in Rhode Island. The current US DraughtKegs, while compatible with all BeerTenders (with the special tube) will not dispense all the beer. To answer this, Heineken is introducing a BeerTender compatible US DraughtKeg (five liters) that comes with the special tube and has a bigger carbonator inside. That keg is will be available nationwide in both Heineken and Heineken Light. Other European beers are available in Europe.

Operating the BeerTender is a snap. While some models have computer operation and temperature controls with an LCD display, pulling a beer is as simple as pulling the BeerTender’s handle. And if you’ve got kids, you can easily remove the BeerTender’s handle. Best of all, the beer only touches the easily removable spout under the handle, making clean-up between kegs a breeze.

BeerTenders are not cheap. List price in the US will be $400, with street prices down to $299. European versions are just as expensive.

It would certainly look great sitting on the bar, if only it didn’t have that Heineken label on it. Damn.

 

Rhinodrinking

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While researching an article on beer aromas last night, I stumbled upon this disturbing little gem from RU Tube, which looks to be the Russian YouTube. Since I don’t want to be the only one with this image burned into my psyche, I thought I’d share it. Take a look — press play — you know you want to.

 

 

Pearls to Schwarzbier

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London’s famous Pearl Restaurant, located a stone’s throw from the Holborn tube station, is situated in a grand old bank building, the former Pearl Assurance Company’s headquarters. Inside there’s granite everywhere, opulent chandeliers and modern decor. Their food seems to be reviewed favorably by just about everybody and executive chef Jun Tanaka has one of the best reputations in the London restaurant scene, having worked at at least seven Michelin-rated places over the past decade before his own oyster opened to reveal the Pearl. He’s now “worked with beer gourmand Gustavo Bertolucci to find the best beers to match his dishes.”

While I don’t know if a schwarzbier will be on the actual beer list, it was the closest style to swine I could find. What hints that are given, in a story in Wine & Spirit Magazine, sound quite tasty.

Combinations include Kasteel Cru from Alsace to match salmon in filo with pomegranate, cauliflower and walnut salad and Innis & Gunn Oak Aged Ale with spiced loin of venison. Greenwich’s Meantime brewery’s Chocolate Stout is also being recommended as a partner to desserts.

It’s certainly nice to see more and more high end restaurants finally embracing beer as a part of the fine dining experience.