Smart Advertising for Craft Beer

Advertisers are getting smart. I heard an ad on a local radio station today for a restaurant that was promoting their great craft beer selection. With that phrase, my ears perked up and I started listening. All because they added that one simple, little word: craft.

Image courtesy of www.stlmag.com/Blogs/Relish

See, I don't care if you've got a great beer selection, because that's so run-of-the-mill. That probably just means you have both kinds of beer: AB-InBev and SABMiller. But if you've got craft beer, well, that's a whole 'nother story. A Clydesdale of a different color, as it were.

Slightly-modified image compliments of clydesusa.com

The craft beer industry continues to grow, and consumers are seeing the benefits of that growth. For example: choices! When someone advertises craft beer, you can usually expect that the selection will be pretty great, with a variety of breweries and styles. Consider McCleary's Public House in Marietta, PA (less than 1/2 hour drive from York). My wife and I love to dine there, and I always take a few minutes to peruse the craft beer menu, which is broken down by style. (Their online beer menu is not quite as well laid out as their printed one.) Similarly, consider Victor's Italian Restaurant in York, PA, another favorite of ours (and about which I've previously written). Their rotating "beer bible" acts as your guide to fun for the evening. Both places advocate craft beer, and craft beer enthusiasts show thanks by frequenting their establishments. Win-win.

So if you're in advertising and you're reading this, I hope you've picked up on the fact that you need to use the word "craft" in your beer ads. Because craft-beer geeks won't listen if you don't, and plain-beer drinkers won't notice if you do. Prost!

New Brewery Planned in York, PA

There's a new brewery and tasting room planned to open in York, PA this summer. In July 2013, East York can expect to become the home of Baldy Beard Brewing Company.

These guys are well on their way to starting up the new nanobrewery, but as I'm sure you an imagine, there are probably a million things to consider. With a brewery, of course, you've got to get federal and state licensing. And if that's anything like waiting in the DMV [1] just to update your driver's license photo, well, I'm sure they've got a lot of waiting to do. Even so, their brewing system has already been completed and is ready to be shipped, so please hurry up, PA officials!

I haven't had any of their beer yet, of course, but I can assure you that if it is as good as their creativity, it is going to be rockin'. If you want to see what I'm talking about, check out some of their updates over at their Kickstarter campaign. Speaking of their beer, check out this nice graphic they've put together:

Baldy Beard has also put together an interesting-sounding series called "The Peculiars". These are unique, special-release beers that we can expect to be surprised with on occasion. Some examples include:

• RumpelSTOUTskin - a mixed berry Belgian imperial stout
• Hoppenheimer - a Belgian dubbel IPA
• Missiletoe - holiday Belgian strong ale coming in around 15% ABV(!) and with notes of cherry and vanilla (yum!); limited release in November

I love the creative names they've come up with. I also love their slogan, "Unconventionally brewed, unconditionally loved", as well as their Twitter hashtag, #DrinkWithFriends. All around, I'm pretty excited for this new brewery and tasting room!

Though they haven't received all of the final approvals, Baldy Beard has a good location picked out, and they're working on raising the funds for renovating the place. That's the purpose of their Kickstarter campaign [2]. You can donate as little as $1, but if you pledge at least $10, there are some pretty sweet rewards for you as a backer. The more you pledge, the more cool things you get! Backers need to pledge at least $17,000 in this campaign, or Baldy Beard gets nothing [3]. At the time of this post and after adding my own pledge, 113 backers have pledged $11,350 toward Baldy Beard's goal of $17,000. With only 6 days left, Baldy Beard needs your help! I suggest that if you live in the Greater York, PA area and/or love craft beer, you should definitely consider pledging some money to Baldy Beard's cause. Please also consider "friending" them on Facebook, following them on Twitter, and helping them to promote their cause. We can always use more craft beer in York! Prost!

3/5/2013 Update: Baldy Beard's website has launched! Check it out at www.baldybeard.com.


Footnotes:
[1] Actually, my wife and I just updated our driver's licenses this weekend and were pleasantly surprised at how quickly the process went. Yorkers, I highly suggest hitting up the Runkle's location on Roosevelt Avenue. Of course, if everyone starts going there...
[2] If you're not familiar with Kickstarter, it's a crowdfunding website that allows new businesses to solicit funding from the market in order to get started. Assuming word gets around quickly enough, what a good way to see how much the people want your business!
[3] The way Kickstarter works is that if you pledge money toward their campaign but they don't reach their stated threshold, you do not owe them the money that you pledged. Of course, I'd much rather see them reach that threshold so that we can have some more craft beer in York!

Mudhook Brewing Beats "York Curse"

A year and a half ago, I remember reading a blog post by Philly-based author and beer blogger Lew Bryson. He talked about "The York Curse", whereby establishing a successful brewery in York, Pennsylvania seemed to be impossible. Many had tried; none had made it. At the time of his post, another start-up had just come on the scene: Mudhook Brewing Company. Lew said that if Mudhook were to still be in business in January of 2013, they would have broken "The York Curse". Well, I just checked my calendar, and the time has come to congratulate Mudhook! Way to go, guys!

Mudhook's Storefront

The brewpub is located on the beautiful Cherry Lane, and rather uniquely, it also connects to Central Market York, which is where the brewing actually occurs. The inside space is intimate (there might be 20 tables) and has a warm, inviting atmosphere. It is perfect for a casual dinner with a group of friends. Their pub fare is making me hungry just thinking about it.

The Inside Space (photo from MudhookBrewing.com)

So what's a "mudhook" anyway? Well, they explain that on their site. It's an anchor, which is exactly what Mudhook wanted their brewpub to be for Central Market York: the anchor, the premier place to go in York. In somewhat of a twist, they chose to use a fishhook for their logo, rather than an anchor.

And of course, I've got to talk about their beer! Each of the beers they offer is named in keeping with a fishing theme, which ties in with the fishhook in their logo. Their anchor brews (ha!) include The Panfish Pale Ale, The Hook Hopper IPA, The Redeye Irish Red, and The Deep Sea Stout. They also throw in some seasonal brews, and I have to say, I absolutely love their Oktoberfest (pictured below). They also offer a nice selection of local wines, which is good for my wife who does not like beer.

Mudhook's Oktoberfest is Extremely Tasty

Mudhook has certainly contributed to York's recent cultural upswing. If you live in the Greater York, PA area or happen to be visiting, I recommend that you plan on checking out this atmospheric brewpub. In fact, schedule permitting, I'd be happy to grab a burger and brew with you. Hit me up at JustinsBrewReview@gmail.com, or let me know via Facebook, Twitter, or Google+.

Mudhook, we raise our glasses to you for breaking "The York Curse". Here's to many more years of success. Prost!

National Lager Day

December 10th is National Lager Day, another one of the random "Hallmark holidays" for beer lovers. [1] I celebrated with a couple Yuengling Traditional Lagers at our favorite local restaurant, The Conewago Inn, or as my wife and I like to call it, "The Inn". If you ask me, there is nothing more "American" than enjoying a classic, time-tested Yuengling brew. In this area, a "Yuengling Lager" is such a standard that you don't have to ask for it by name; you simply ask for a "lager". I like that.

In honor of Lager Day, I'm going to share a few tidbits about the tour of Yuengling's Pottsville, PA brewery that my wife, Diana, treated me to as an anniversary gift one year. (Yes, I know - my wife rocks!)

Front of the brewery. That's Diana at the bottom left.

Established in 1829, Yuengling is America's oldest brewery. It is a 5th generation family-owned operation. The tour guide told us that the current owner, Dick Yuengling, is grooming his daughters to be the 6th generation of owners. Pretty cool stuff.

Here's a picture of the guy that writes this blog

Yuengling also has a brewery in Tampa, Florida (we didn't get a chance to tour the Tampa facility that day...). I'm fairly convinced that they opened the Tampa location for the older Pennsylvanians who retire to Florida or at least spend their winters there. Makes it easy to find their favorite lager. Okay, you got me; that's pure speculation on my part. At any rate, Yuengling is obviously doing something right, because they have continued to exhibit steady growth over the years.

Part of the bottling line

The brewery is in an old building that was obviously not set up with lean systems in mind. First of all, the brewery is situated in a multi-story building, so it is more difficult to complete the manufacturing process. Also, the building is old so things are much more "cramped". I suppose people must have been shorter and smaller back in the day, because it seems like old buildings are always so much more compact than the buildings of today.

Old buildings are often not without opulence.
Here's a stained glass ceiling in one area of the brewery.

It's amazing what you can do in a small space though, because Yuengling produces 2.5 million barrels [2] of beer annually. Google's conversion calculator tells me that's 630 million pints! But compared with the big boys of brewing like AB InBev's Anheuser Busch, Yuengling is tiny [3]. I'm having trouble finding production numbers for comparison at the moment, so I'll go the other way. Compared with many other microbreweries, Yuengling is big! Consider that Dogfish Head Craft Brewery only produces 75,000 barrels a year. Also consider that when Tröegs moved from Harrisburg to Hershey, they planned to double production to 60,000 barrels a year.

Kegs in the cellar / conditioning area

Wrapping up now, the coolest thing about Yuengling was that you could tell it was steeped in tradition and rich in history. The tasting room at the end of the tour had an awesome old bar. The cellar where they condition the beer still had evidence of the Prohibition years [4]. In fact, there were still portions of the brick wall that government officials had erected in an effort to keep people from accessing the cellar, thereby effectively eliminating any chance of making beer.

Yuengling tasting room bar
(Photo courtesy of http://goo.gl/Oz9F6)

I very much enjoyed taking it all in. If you live within a few hours driving distance of Pottsville, I highly recommend making the trip to Yuengling for a tour.

I hope that you enjoyed this National Lager Day by celebrating with your own favorite lager. Thanks for reading, and as always, prost!

----------------------------

Footnotes:
[1] Wow, that opening line was extremely reminiscent of the beginning of my last post. I really gotta get a new hook...or blog more frequently than once a month!
[2] The unit "barrels" is abbreviated as "bbl", but I didn't use it here because I'm not sure how many people are familiar with that abbreviation. Also, I think it's silly that the abbreviation has two Bs. Here's an interesting article that tells where that second B comes from: http://goo.gl/kSLin.
[3] Even so, the Brewer's Association does not consider Yuengling to be a craft brewery because they do not meet the third of three criteria. A craft brewery must be 1) small, 2) independent, and 3) traditional. Even though Yuengling is not considered to be a craft brewery, they are a microbrewery.
[4] On December 5th, we just celebrated the 79th anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition, aka Repeal Day.

Yorktoberfest 2012 Video

Here's my video from Yorktoberfest 2012. More detailed post to follow.

Credits:

Cast -

• Justin Mann
• Man #1
• Man #2
• Man not Appearing in this Film
• Lots of extras
• Wik
• Als0 wik
• Als0 als0 wik
• Wi n0t trei a h0liday in Sweeden thi yer?
• See the l0veli lakes
• The W0nderful teleph0ne system
• And mani interesting furry animals
• Including the majestic m00se
• A M00se once bit my sister...

We apologize for the fault in the credits. Those who were responsible have been sacked.

• Cameo appearance by Will Ferrell (at marker 1:54)
• M00se Trained by Yutte Hermsgervordenbroti
• M00se Choreographed by Horst Prot III
• Miss Taylor's M00ses by Hengst Douglas-Home

We apologize again for the fault in the credits. Those responsible for sacking the people who have just been sacked have been sacked.

• Director - Justin Mann
• Writer - Justin Mann
• Producer - Justin Mann
• Music - the CD that happened to be playing when I recorded this (in between bands)
• Cinematography - Justin Mann
• Editing - Editing? We don't need no stinking editing. (Or at least, we didn't use no stinking editing.)
• Casting - Justin Mann
• Set Decoration - Yorktoberfest organizers (especially Matthew) and vendors
• Costume Design - GAP
• Makeup Department - Absolutely N/A
• Visual effects - Wee Wowem LLC
• Stunts - Evel Knievel and Robert Overcracker
• Transportation - my wife, Diana

Closing Thoughts:

Thank you, Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Full credit to you for the crazy credits and M00se references.

What is Oktoberfest?

It's a beer and a festival! This year marks the 179th Oktoberfest, which started yesterday and will last for 16 days. Held in Munich (Bavaria, Germany), Oktoberfest is the world's largest fair, with somewhere around 5 or 6 million attendees each year (1). During the festivities, visitors consume almost 2 million gallons of beer.

Beer maids and waiters must be able to carry 10 beer-filled mugs at a time. (3) (7)
(Image Source: http://goo.gl/75eOZ)

The Oktoberfest tradition started in 1810 (2) to celebrate the October 12th marriage of Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig to the Saxon-Hildburghausen Princess Therese. The citizens of Munich were invited to join in the festivities which were held over five days on the fields in front of the city gates. The main event of the original Oktoberfest was a horse race! Anniversary celebrations were held annually thereafter, which each becoming larger and more elaborate, including the introduction of carnival rides. (3)

Underneath one of the big tents at Oktoberfest 2012.
(Image Source: http://goo.gl/malIv)

Oktoberfest beer is a variety of the Märzen style, which I discussed in a previous post about smoked beer. Like all German beer, the Oktoberfest beer is brewed according to strict German standards called the Reinheitsgebot (4), which has been in effect since 1516. Also known as the German Purity Law, Reinheitsgebot precisely defines the four ingredients allowed to be used to brew beer: barley, hops, malt, and yeast (3). While I'm a big fan of innovative craft beer, I can certainly respect the brewing traditions that Germany has upheld all this time.

I've tried a few different Oktoberfest-style beers this year, including:

1. Tröegs' Scratch #73 "Fest Lager", which they've unofficially dubbed OkTröegerFest. At 5.5% ABV and 35 IBUs, this yeasty lager was growler-worthy. I very much enjoyed this one-off and would be appreciative of another appearance next year (hint to the Trogners if you're reading this!). You can read more reviews on BA and RB. Justin's Brew Review gives it an "A-".
2. Yuengling's Oktoberfest was also rockin'. However, it was a limited release because Yuengling does not have the capacity (5) to produce seasonal brews. I had difficulty finding any to try, but I did receive a sixer thanks to my father-in-law who was able to purchase an entire case! I'm milking it (beering it?) because I don't want to run out too quickly. BA likes it better than RB, but Justin's Brew Review gives Yuengling's offering a solid "A".
3. Samuel Adams calls their version Octoberfest (yes, they Americanized the beer's moniker). It is both excellent and available. Boston Beer (brewer of the Sam Adams brand) rarely disappoints in my opinion, and this is no exception. If you like the Oktoberfest style beer, you should go get yourself some of this. It rates well on BA, and RB ranks it very highly for the style. Justin's Brew Review gives it an "A+".

The mayor of Munich ceremonially taps the first keg at Oktoberfest 2012.
(Image Source: http://goo.gl/7eucr)

Many places throughout the world hold their own (smaller!) version of Oktoberfest. Locally in York, PA, we have the 2nd Annual Yorktoberfest coming up on October 27-28. My wife and I will be attending, so let me know if you'll be there too -- we can toast a brew. Also, look for a post after the event. You can read about my experience at last year's Yorktoberfest here (a "live" post) and here (a more detailed, follow-up post).

How are you celebrating Oktoberfest? Are you planning on attending any festivals? Wearing lederhosen? (6) Or drinking Oktoberfest-style beer? Let me know in the comments or send me a message on your favorite social media site: you can get me on Facebook, Twitter, or Google+.

Prost!


Footnotes
(1) Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oktoberfest
(2) Note that the math does not add up: 2012-1810 = 202, but this is only the 179th festival. That's because the fair has had to be canceled 24 times due to cholera epidemics and war (3).
(3) Source: http://www.vistawide.com/german/oktoberfest/oktoberfest.htm
(4) I love long German words! This one is pronounced RYN-hytz-geh-boht. You can listen to the pronunciation here.
(5) Sources: a tour of Yuengling's Pottsville, PA brewery that my wife took me on over a year and half ago that I have yet to blog about (yes, I'm behind) and http://www.brewbound.com/news/yuengling-introduces-second-seasonal-oktoberfest
(6) You can get a nice, basic pair of lederhosen (leather pants) for a mere 165 euros ($215) here.
If you really want to go all out, you can get some premium pants for $325 on the same site. They also sell dresses and other authentic German garb on that site.
(7) The Guinness world record was set in November 2008 by Bavarian Anita Schwarz when she carried 19 full beer steins (5 in each hand and 9 on top) that weighed a total of about 90 pounds over a distance of 40 meters and placed them on a table without spilling a drop. (Source: http://www.harrimantravelbooks.com/Oktoberfest_Facts_Tips.html and Image Source: http://goo.gl/DmTPw)

Homebrew, Take 2

Earlier this year, I wrote about my first experience trying a homebrew: an Irish Chocolate Stout made by my neighbor, Matt. A few months later, I had the pleasure of trying another round of homebrews.

The first is a Chocolate Almond Milk Stout, also made by Matt.

5.0-5.5% ABV; 31-34 IBU
Appearance: Opaque brown with caramel-colored head
Smell: Sweet alcohol - definitively stout
Taste: At first sip, it was a subtle flavor. As I continued drinking, I noticed it was light on chocolate, was "milky", and had a great stout flavor.
Mouthfeel: Medium; fizzy with a kick of carbonation.
Overall: Subtle flavor in an excellent stout. Maybe a little too much carbonation but a very good brew.


The second is an IPA, made by Matt's father-in-law.

I don't know the specs on this one, but I'd guess it's a sessionable beer, maybe 4.0-4.5% ABV.
Appearance: Orange hazy hue with a thick, off-white, frothy head.
Smell: The familiar comforting smell of hops, sweet and inviting.
Taste: At first sip, it was inviting and very drinkable. As I continued drinking, I noticed that there was a somewhat low bitterness factor. It was smooth and easy to drink with a welcome little kick. Possibly a hint of orange. A slightly bitter aftertaste, appropriate for an IPA.
Mouthfeel: Medium; smooth; definitely not thin.
Overall: Not as kicky of an IPA as I expected, but a great spot-on flavor.


I'm wondering what homebrews my readers are working on these days. Share your beery creativity by:

1. leaving a comment below
2. Tweeting @BrewReviewMann
3. circling Justin's Brew Review on Google+
4. find Justin's Brew Review on Facebook
5. sending an email to JustinsBrewReview@gmail.com

Blogging about beer is fun, and I'd really love to have some two-way conversations with other beer lovers. Prost!

Back to the Brew-ture

It has been quite some time since my last blog post. If you already knew that without me telling you, then I owe you an apology. I just finished what was undoubtedly the hardest semester of my post-graduate coursework, and this Saturday, I will be walking across the stage to receive a Master of Business Administration degree. It was a rather enjoyable ride, and at the same time, I'm glad it's done. Time to get back to living life again. Also, time for some brew-reviewing!

As I alluded to in my last post, even though I haven't blogged in a while, I haven't stopped sampling the brewski. Today's sampling comes from our recent trip to Victor's Italian Restaurant in York, PA[1]. First on tap today, we have my first Sun King beer, Ring of Dingle, which is a 4.7% ABV dry Irish stout. Coming to us from Indianapolis, this stout was very smooth to drink, as a stout should be. Regarding the flavor: what can I say but wow! This amuse bouche was a delight, even with the bit of a bite in aftertaste. I'd drink it again. Surprisingly, there are no ratings on BeerAdvocate or RateBeer at this time.

For being a "Sun" King, this beer sure is dark!

Next up, I tried Roy Pitz Brewing's Lay Down Stay Down. Ah. May. Zing. Seriously. This local brew (Chambersburg, PA!) was extremely smooth, yet bright. Weighing in at 9.0% ABV, this Belgian strong ale was an instant favorite of mine. I loved the deep, dark flavor profile that jumped from the glass. It was very much like a brown ale (think Newcastle), but it was "bubbly" like the Belgian it is. I was super-impressed with this one. While BeerAdvocate doesn't have a rating for this yet, I was surprised that RateBeer gave "Lay Down" the smack down at a low 58 points (and only 30 points for style!). Regardless, Mr. Pitz, I'll be back.

One of these will bring you out of the Pitz, regardless of its moniker.
(Three or four is a different story.)

That concludes this post. I look forward to bringing you some more brew reviews in the not-nearly-as-distant future, relatively speaking. I've missed this! Hope you enjoyed the post. If you've got any comments on this post or have any ideas that you'd like to see me write about for future posts, leave me a comment below. And as always, you can get me on my Twitter handle: @BrewReviewMann. Prost!

[1] If you live in the area, you should make it a point to stop by Victor's. We loved the food and ambiance! The restaurant is in an old church, so there's definitely a lot of character. They have live music all the time. And they have a better-than-decent selection of beer...but you don't have to take my word for it!

The Session #61: What Makes Local Beer Better?

I'm back from my sabbatical from blogging...for now anyway. I didn't mean to take a month off! I've been going through a bit of a dry spell, but only in terms of writing -- I've been sampling new brews, so I've got some notes for future blog posts. But for this post, I'd like to take the opportunity to respond (a couple days late) to a question posed by beer blogger, Matt, from the Hoosier Beer Geek. Actually, the question is part of an ongoing monthly series of questions called "The Session".

The Session, a.k.a. Beer Blogging Friday, is an opportunity once a month for beer bloggers from around the world to get together and write from their own unique perspective on a single topic. Each month, a different beer blogger hosts the Session, chooses a topic and creates a round-up listing all of the participants, along with a short pithy critique of each entry. This month's topic is local beer. Here's the question for The Session #61:

Local Beer - "The term is being used by just about every craft brewer in the country. What does it really mean though? Is it more of a marketing term or is there substance behind the moniker? This month I want to think about what makes local beer better? I'm not just talking about the beer itself, although it's the focal point, but what makes local beer better? My connection to local beer is far from thinking that my beer is actually 'local.' Maybe you don't agree with me, and you can write about that. Bonus points for writing about your favorite local beer and the settings around it being local to you."

I'm not really sure what is so unclear about the term "local beer". It seems pretty straightforward to me: local beer is simply beer that is brewed locally. Am I missing something here? Take Liquid Hero Brewery, for example. There's no marketing gimmick here. It's simply three guys brewing beer in York, PA. That's local beer (for me, anyway).

Of course, not all the ingredients are grown locally. But who would expect that to be the case? After all, beer pretty much has its roots in Germany, and many hops and malts used to brew beer still come from Germany. Consider Lancaster, PA's own Lancaster Brewing Company. According to their website, the Lancaster Lager "showcases a balance of malt, along with German and European hops", including 2 Row Pale and Caramel malts as well as Hallertau and Saaz hops. Doesn't matter. The "outsourced" ingredients are "imported" and then brewed by local people. Sounds like a local beer to me.

So back to the question: what makes local beer better? I have to say that the quality of local beer is not automatically better simply because it is local. Let's face it -- some breweries just know how to make better beer than others, and it has nothing to do with proximity to where you live! However, the fact that it is local may make the whole experience better. For instance, take one of my favorite (and local!) breweries: Tröegs Brewing Company. (To be clear, I think the quality of their beers is superb.) I love the experience associated with visiting their brewery, which we affectionately call "T2". They have created a whole world for craft beer enthusiasts (you can read about my recent experience here). In their tasting room, I appreciate the opportunity to sample their brews, especially something from their Scratch Beer Series, and before leaving, I am always sure to have my growler filled with one of their finest. I enjoy walking through their self-guided tour, and to show my local brewery pride, I usually hit up the gift shop for some new paraphernalia too. The whole experience of gathering together with other craft beer lovers at this local venue is not something that would easily be duplicated for non-local beer. And even if it could be duplicated, I wouldn't feel the same pride I feel when I know I'm enjoying local beer.

Hope that answers the question to your satisfaction. What do you all think? What makes local beer better? Leave a comment below or send me a Tweet (@BrewReviewMann). I'd love to hear from you!

Homebrew: Irish Chocolate Stout

Irish Chocolate Stout, the homebrew variety.  Not my homebrew, mind you.  I enjoy drinking craft beer, but I would not have the patience to craft it myself.  I'll leave that to people like my neighbor, Matt, who supplied this great beer for my tasting pleasure.  (Incidentally, I found out about Matt's affinity for beer when we ran into each other at Yorktoberfest, which I wrote about here and here.)

This was the first time that I've ever had the opportunity to try a homebrew, and I certainly hope it won't be my last!  I was impressed with how professional it tasted, especially since Matt tells me he brewed it in his kitchen!  I feel like it was something I could have bought at the local Mix-a-Six (even though there really aren't too many of those local to York, PA...but I digress).

Being that this is a homebrew, I was expecting to write that I didn't have any beery stats for you.  In fact, I even drafted the following:

Sure, homebrewers can have their beer analyzed at a laboratory in order to figure out the ABV and IBUs [1], but that costs money [2].  Precious money that could be put right back into crafting more beer.  I don't know about you, but I'd forgo the numbers in favor of more beer!

But it turns out that I was wrong - Matt tells me that the ABV should be around 4.5-5.0%, and using the beer's specific gravity, he feels that it's probably closer to 5.0%.  Also, the IBU was around 36-37.  He gave quite a few other details too - I'll share a few here.  The chocolate flavor was introduced using an extract.  (Incidentally, his next chocolate brew will use cocoa powder for comparison.)  Matt says, "I let my beer carbonate in the bottle.  It's an old school technique, but I think it allows the flavor to come through a little better and smoother than pushing CO2 through it in a keg."  It sounds like it takes at least two months until the beer matures:  one week in the primary fermenter, two to three weeks in the secondary fermenter (a glass carboy [3]), and about a month to age.  After that, Matt says he tests one bottle a week until he feels it's ready to drink.

Speaking of being ready to drink, let's get to the good stuff!

This stout was as dark as can be.  The frothy, caramel-colored head dissipated shortly after pouring.  A cursory whiff put me in mind of Tröegs JavaHead Stout [4].  A deeper inhalation brought a sweeter smell, almost a Hershey syrup scent.  My tastebuds soon realized the sweet flavor.  The initial impression: sweet, just like the smell.  As the liquid washed over the back of my tongue, the stout flavor kicked in.  Aftertaste was sweet as well, though not sickeningly so.  It had the right balance of strong stout and chocolaty sweetness to satisfy.

A very smooth, easy-to-drink beer, which backs up Matt's assertion that bottle carbonation lends to a better, smoother brew.  Overall, this Irish Chocolate Stout was excellent!  So do you craft your own brews at home?  What interesting combinations have you tried?  I'd be interested to hear what you have to say!  Just leave a comment or "tweet" me @BrewReviewMann.  Prost!

Footnotes:

[1] One of Justin's Brew Reviews's most popular posts, "How Does Your Beer Measure Up?", goes into more detail about ABV, IBU, and color.
[2] In the same post referenced in Footnote 1, I mentioned that you can have a laboratory perform this test on your beer for about $10.  Unfortunately, I did not cite where I found this information - I apologize for that oversight.  I just "Googled" it and found a helpful blog post informing readers that White Labs performs this testing for a reasonable amount of money.  For your consideration, homebrewing reader.

[3] Having no idea what a glass carboy was, I had to look it up (see picture on right, courtesy of this blog).  I've seen these before and knew that they were used in homebrewing, but I had no idea that it was called a carboy!  Wikipedia says that a carboy's capacity is typically five to fifteen gallons (that's 40 to 120 pints according to www.onlineconversion.com) and that they are also known as a demijohn (anyone else thinking about "Music Man" now, or is it just me?).

[4] Admittedly, I reference Tröegs' brews a lot.  What can I say?  I love 'em!  That being said, this comparison should speak volumes.

Yorktoberfest 2011 Follow-up

Here's a follow-up to my "live" post from Yorktoberfest.  I said I was aiming to try all the varieties of craft beer at the festival...and I was close.  Looking back, I only missed one - Tröegs JavaHead Stout - which I already know is an enjoyable brew.

I took my pint glass from tent to tent, and the barkeeps faithfully filled it up.  Each 2 to 3 oz sample provided just enough to fill up the bottom of the glass and for me to savor the flavor.

Here's a comprehensive list of the beers they proffered and some quick tasting notes*:

1. Tröegs JavaHead Stout
2. Tröegs HopBack -- "hoppy"!
3. Tröegs Dead Reckoning Porter -- amazing! not as smooth as a typical porter; it has a bit of a bite
4. Stoudt's Scarlet Lady Ale -- surprisingly not as complex as other ales
5. Stoudt's Oktoberfest -- strong-ish and fizzy
6. Stoudt's Heifer-in-Wheat -- clever name, great taste (banana!)
7. Stoudt's Gold Lager -- classic golden liquid
8. Springhouse Brewery Seven Gates Pale Ale -- bitter aftertaste
9. Spoetzl Brewery Shiner Bock -- not as dark as I expected
10. Spaten Dunkel -- smooth, almost like you're not drinking anything; would make a good session beer except for the 5.5% ABV
11. Sixpoint Vienna Pale Ale -- the right amount of hoppiness, just the way a beer should taste!
12. Sixpoint Brownstone -- similar to a porter but has more of a mild, nutty flavor
13. Rogue Dad's Little Helper -- a black IPA (mmm!) strong on the hops!
14. Magic Hat Circus Boy -- a good summer brew, light and refreshing
15. Lancaster Brewing Company Shoo-Fly Porter -- smooth; light flavor of shoo-fly (my favorite pie!)
16. Hauser Estates Jack's Hard Cider -- "local Adams County apples put to good use", said the vendor
17. Dogfish Head Festina Pêche -- love Dogfish Head, didn't love this brew (tart, juicy)
18. Anheuser-Busch, Inc. Shock Top -- an always enjoyable summer beer

Also, I did some digging into why York's own LiquidHero and Mudhook breweries were not represented at Yorktoberfest, much to my (and I'm sure others') chagrin.  The organizers of Yorktoberfest were not immediately available for comment, but it was rumored that the "big boy" distributors may have pulled rank over the newbies and blocked them from the event (politics, ugh).  LiquidHero was undeterred.  A representative commented, "we supported this fest and we also made alot of new friends this weekend from people coming over to our brewery after this beerfest...we love the revs and we love york county...and we are here to stay".  That's the spirit, fellas!  You truly are our LiquidHero!  Prost!

* BeerAdvocate.com recommends not reviewing beers at fests for a variety of reasons: "small sample sizes...loud environments, slew of smells, and tasting of numerous beer styles back-to-back. [...] Doing so does a disservice to the brewer and could mislead others." (Source: http://beeradvocate.com/articles/637)

Yorktoberfest 2011

I'm coming to you "live" from the 1st Annual Yorktoberfest in York, Pennsylvania!  The event is being held at Sovereign Bank Stadium, home of the York Revolution baseball team.  Let me tell you - it is a blast!  There are lots of people here enjoying vendors, music, food, Pennsylvania wines, and best of all, craft beers from the region.  There are brews here from Tröegs, Lancaster Brewing Company, Magic Hat, Shock Top, Stoudt's, Sixpoint, Rogue, Dogfish Head, and Spaten.  I'm aiming to try them all!  As part of the beer pass, I received a free pint glass and access to limitless samples of great craft brew.  If you're in the area, you should stop by - the festivities are going on till 5 today.  If you can't make it today, you can stop back tomorrow between noon and 5.

I was looking for beers from York's own Mudhook and LiquidHero breweries, but to no avail.  Both of these breweries are very new to York, and I think it's very exciting that York is being infused with some beer culture.  But I'm very disappointed that they are not represented here.  Why would the very city's own breweries not be represented?  Regardless, I love that the "craft brew scene" seems to be gaining momentum in South Central PA, just as it is everywhere in the US right now.  I'm hoping that it lasts! (Relevant side note: DRAFT magazine has indicated that there are plans to open 600 brand new craft breweries in the US by 2013!)

This is the first blog post I'm publishing via my smartphone, so please forgive me if there are any issues - I just wanted to post this "live" in order to bring you the breaking beer news here in York, PA.  I'm going to attempt to attach photos. (Edit: After publishing this post, I found that all the pictures were at the top. I've since edited them using my PC so that they are now in-line with the text.)

For more info, check out www.yorktoberfest.com. Prost!

The glass is half full, my friend.