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!

Live from Tröegs Brewing

Mural in Entrance (File Photo*)

Thought it was time for another "live" post, so I'm coming to you today from Tröegs Brewing's new facility (fondly known as T2) in Hershey, PA. I'm hanging out with some other craft brew lovers and Justin's Brew Review readers -- good times, good people, great beer. In true Tröegs pride fashion, I'm wearing my HopBack Amber Ale t-shirt. While this is not the first time I've been to T2, it is the first I've had a chance to write about it. Let me say that if you have not been here yet, you should really take the time to do so. There's no time like the present - come on out!

Currently, Tröegs is only offering self-guided tours, but their website tells us of plans on offering a low-cost, taste-as-you-go, guided version coming in late February of this year. If I understand correctly, you'll even get a souvenir pint glass out of the deal -- not too shabby! Back to the self-guided tour: when you come in the front door, keep going straight through the doors and you'll enter the tasting room. There are multiple barkeeps at the impressively long bar, which includes a growler fill-up station (actually, they have an automated machine that is fun to watch as it fills the growler).

The Impressively Long Bar

After you grab a brewski at the bar, take it with you as you hang a right and enter the self-guided tour area. (Don't worry - you can come back for more later.) It's a nice setup -- they have signs that describe each step of the brewing and bottling process. It's not nearly as intimate (read small) as their old Harrisburg brewery (read about the tour I took there just over a year ago), but it's definitely impressive, modern, and a bit more touristy (makes sense - it's only right down the road from Hershey Park). At the end of the line on the tour, you enter the gift shop area where you can pick up Tröegs paraphernalia and/or (probably "and") some cases to go.

Growler Filling Station

Alright, gotta go tend to my Pale Ale. Hopefully, you can make the trip to Hershey and visit this great new facility that Tröegs has crafted--like their beer--for the pleasure of all. Prost!

Thankfully, this sign was not on the entrance doors.

* The photo I used of the 2-story mural in the brewery entrance is a file photo because it is not currently there. I asked the Trogner brothers what happened, and they said that they are repairing multiple cracks in the wall. Never fear - they assure me that "it will return".

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.

Christmas Beer

The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud and drinking beer.  Christmas beer, that is.

Just like I'd never heard of Beer Nog until my recent post, I have never heard of Christmas beer.  But apparently, there really is such a thing.  I was reading about it on the blogs [1] and thought to myself, now there's something I've gotta try.  So while we were in the greater Pittsburgh area for Christmas, I stopped by Bocktown again (previously posted about them here).  I knew they wouldn't disappoint - they had an entire cooler dedicated to seasonal beers!  So I picked up the most appropriately-named brew they had: Christmas Ale.

So what does a Christmas beer taste like?  I was expecting notes of pine or peppermint, though I can't say I was excited for either one of those flavors in a beer.  Gingerbread would have been good, though (hint to all brewers!) [2]  Turns out that at least this particular libation was nothing like that.

BeerAdvocate.com (BA) classifies Breckenridge Brewery's "Christmas Ale" as a Winter Warmer.  What's a Winter Warmer, you ask?  BA describes it, in part, as having a "big malt presence, both in flavor and body. The color ranges from brownish reds to nearly pitch black. Hop bitterness is generally low, leveled and balanced, but hop character can be pronounced. Alcohol warmth is not uncommon." [3]

As you can see from the picture above, Christmas Ale had a very dark reddish-brown hue with an off-white, frothy head.  There was nothing particularly distinctive about its smell - it smelled like...well, beer.  The taste was about the same as the smell - nothing special and tasted like a plain ol' beer.  Of course, there's nothing wrong with beer tasting like beer - I was just surprised it didn't have some special flavor to it.  The ale had a medium mouthfeel [4], and it had a slight carbonation-like bite to it.  It was a little bitter and had a bit of an aftertaste, though not unpleasant.  All in all, this Christmas beer was okay, though I don't need to have one every Yuletide [5].

BeerAdvocate rates it a 79, while the Brothers [6] rate it an 83.

RateBeer.com rates it a 57 overall with a harsh 12 for style, which they classify as an American Strong Ale.

Granted, I've only had one Christmas beer, but I'm wondering - is Christmas beer a gimmick?  What do you think?  Leave a comment to discuss, or send me a Tweet: @BrewReviewMann.

As Jon says on his blog, TheBrewSite.com, Beery Christmas and a Hoppy Holidays!

______

Footnotes:

[1] For readers not familiar with the phrase "the blogs", it is simply a way of saying that authors on more than one blog were discussing this topic.

[2] BeerAdvocate.com, a favorite reference of mine, lists a few different gingerbread beers here.

[3] Source: http://beeradvocate.com/beer/style/47.  You can also read about the many other styles at this link.

[4] I've never really talked about mouthfeel on Justin's Brew Review before, so a quick tutorial is in order.  Mouthfeel is the perception of body in the beer.  Body is typically classified as light, medium, or full.  Each style has an appropriate amount of body to be expected.  (Taken from http://www.alabev.com/taste.htm)

[5] As I was typing "Yuletide", I had the thought that it would make a good Christmas beer name.  So I BA'd it (akin to "Googling" something, but on BeerAdvocate's site instead of Google - okay, yes I made that up...but I'm hoping it catches on!), and sure enough, there are a few Yuletide beers available.

[6] "The Brothers", Jason and Todd Alström, started BeerAdvocate.com in 1996.  Read about it here.

A Taste of Brew Reviews to Come

Quite unexpectedly, I made out on the Christmas gift front, largely due to a generous gift from my wife's cousin, Nick (thanks again!).  I received 18 unique beers, which means you can expect some upcoming brew reviews!  Of course, it'll take me quite some time to get through all these, so please be patient!

Here's a list of the beers (from left to right):

Front row

• Sixpoint Brewery's Autumnation (6.7% ABV)
• Williamsburg AleWerks's Tavern Ale (5.6% ABV)
• Blue Mountain Brewery's Blue Mountain Classic Lager (5.3% ABV)
• Starr Hill's Double Platinum (8.6% ABV)
• 21st Amendment Brewery's Fireside Chat (7.9% ABV)
• Pabst Brewing's Stroh's (4.6% ABV)

Middle row

• Williamsburg AleWerks's Pumpkin Ale (8.0% ABV)
• Blue Mountain Brewery's Lights Out Holiday Ale (7.0% ABV)
• Williamsburg AleWerks's Washington's Porter (6.4% ABV)
• Williamsburg AleWerks's Coffeehouse Stout (5.4% ABV)
• Port City Brewing's Monumental IPA (6.3% ABV)
• Williamsburg AleWerks's Red Marker Ale (5.0% ABV)

Back row

• Southern Tier Brewing's Pumking (8.6% ABV)
• Thirsty Dog Brewing's Old Leghumper (6.7% ABV)
• Stone Brewing's Stone IPA (6.9% ABV)
• Stone Brewing's Stone Levitation Ale (4.4% ABV)
• Stone Brewing's Oaked Arrogant Bastard Ale (7.2% ABV)
• Stone Brewing's Stone Pale Ale (5.4% ABV)

I look forward to enjoying these brews and sharing my tasting experiences with you.

Trusting that you all had a wonderfully Merry Christmas.  Prost!

Beer Nog

Just in time for the holidays - a recipe for Beer Nog!  I had never heard of such a thing until the November / December 2011 issue of DRAFT Magazine (if you have your own copy, just turn to page 14).

Mmm, Beer Nog!
(Photo Courtesy of http://draftmag.com/new/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Noggin-239x300.png)

So how do you make Beer Nog?  Glad you asked!  The article and recipe in DRAFT Magazine was provided by Joe Stange of ThirstyPilgrim.com:

Ingredients:

• 4 ounces strong ale*
• 4 fresh eggs
• 1/2 ounces Bourbon or dark rum
• 2 dashes ground nutmeg or mace
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1-1/2 cups whole milk
• 1 cup cream
• mixer
• serving glasses [1]

Instructions:

1. Separate the eggs.  Beat the sugar into the yolks until smooth.
2. Stir the milk and cream into the yolk mixture.  Add 1 dash of spice and the whiskey or rum.  (Some recipes call for as much as 4 ounces of liquor; here, a bit of warmth is welcome, but too much can overwhelm the beer's flavor.)
3. Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form; fold into the nog mixture.
4. Pour the beer into the serving glasses [1] and add the nog mixture.  Optional: Reserve some of the cream, whip and add a dollop to each glass.  Spring 1 dash of spice on top and serve.

Serves: 4

* barleywine, Belgian strong, Christmas beer, or otherwise

I plan on mixing up my own batch of Beer Nog this holiday season -- how about you?  Looking forward to raising my glass - Prost!


[1] In his post on ThirstyPilgrim.com, Joe says that the DRAFT Magazine article said "snifter" rather than "serving glasses" so I made the correction here.

Beer Resources

In case you were wondering, it has been a little while since my last post.  I admit - I've been slacking!  But only in the beer blogging arena.  I've got a lot of ideas, so it's time to do a little writing!

Resources - that's the topic of today's post.  Besides Justin's Brew Review (shameless plug), what other sites, books, magazines, etc. are available to us fellow beer lovers (or otherwise interested readers)?  There are a LOT.  Seriously.  I'll name quite a few here and will undoubtedly miss a LOT.  Get the point?  Okay, good.  Here we go.

Websites:

• BeerAdvocate.com (affectionately known as BA) -- from their website, BA claims to be a "global, grassroots network, powered by an independent community of beer enthusiasts and industry professionals who are dedicated to supporting and promoting beer".  So what does this mean?  It means that if you want to learn about beer and tell others what you think about beer, this is the site for you!  This site appears to be very popular with beer snobs and geeks but is quite accessible to all.  Like most anything these days, they have built a social element in to their site.  (Check out my profile!)    Final item: their motto (read "credo") is "Respect Beer."

• RateBeer.com -- along with BA, RateBeer is highly referenced by beer reviewers.  From their website, RB writes that they are "widely recognized as the most accurate and most-visited source for beer information. RateBeer is an independent world site for craft beer enthusiasts and is dedicated to serving the entire craft beer community through beer education, promotion, and outreach".  This is a good place to visit to see what others think of a certain beer.

• beer.findthebest.com -- This unique "beerfinder" site helps people to track down, locate, and otherwise identify the right beer for them.  Their database allows the user to filter results by beer, brewery, country, style, ABV, "smart rating", and even calories.  As I suspected, the "smart rating" is a weighted average of ratings from multiple sites (The Opinionated Beer Page, BeerAdvocate.com, RateBeer.com - unless you've managed to find and imbibe a bottle of the now retired Hazed and Confused, hopefully some of these sound familiar).  The site claims to "present you with the facts - stripped of any marketing influence", which sounds like a good idea to me.  We don't need the marketing hype - we want to know what our fellow beer drinkers think!

Apps for your mobile (and also websites):

• Untappd -- Their slogan is *Drink Socially*, so you can take a guess at what this app is.  The world of social networking...coming to a pint near you.  From their website, "Untappd is a new way to socially share and explore the world of beer with your friends and the world. Curious what your friends are drinking or where they're hanging out?  Just check out their profile where you can toast and comment on their beers! Untapped will offer you beer recommendations based on what you and your friends have been enjoying, so you'll have no reason to not try something new!"

• Pintley -- More social beer e-drinking.  From their website, "Pintley is a new kind of beer website--one that only recommends beer you're sure to love.  Unlike other beer sites, Pintley doesn't just know beer; it also knows you. [1] Pintley learns from your ratings and tasting notes to understand exactly what pleases your palate the most, so you can be your own beer expert."

Books:

• The Oxford Companion to Beer by Garrett Oliver -- This is a very new book (published only two months ago in October 2011), and there has been quite a bit of discussion on the beer blogs about it.  The hardcover list price is $65 [2], and at the time of publication, Amazon has it listed for $39.  That's quite a deal for a 960-page book! Also according to Amazon, the book "features more than 1,100 A-Z entries written by 166 of the world's most prominent beer experts".

• Tasting Beer by Randy Mosher -- This is an excellent reference book for all things beer.  Published in February 2009, this 256-page paperback book is the "insider's guide to the world's greatest drink".  From Amazon, "Mosher explores and explains the tasting experience, guiding readers to a better understanding of how every batch of beer is affected by recipe formulation, brewhouse procedures, yeasts, fermentations, carbonation, filtration, packaging, and much more. Readers will learn to identify the scents, colors, flavors, and mouth-feel of all the major beer styles".

• Pennsylvania Breweries by Lew Bryson -- You may recall that my last blog post was about Lew.  Not only is he author of this book (and others), but he is a beer blogger.  And hopefully a beer blogger soon to have a TV show about beer blogging [3].  But I digress.  The 4th edition of PA Breweries was published in September 2010 and provides a comprehensive look at PA's 73 breweries and brewpubs [4].  I believe you can also pick up a copy at nearly any of the breweries mentioned in the book - I know for sure I've seen copies for sale at two of my favorite breweries, Tröegs and Yuengling.

Magazines:

• DRAFT Magazine -- I subscribe to this well-written, bi-monthly publication.  It is an entertaining look at beer throughout the United States today.  It includes articles on beer, food, travels, and a combination of all three.  They always review a handful of beers from a few different beer styles.  At the time I'm writing this, you can subscribe for a year (6 issues) for $20, or you can opt for the more economical 2-year subscription (12 issues) for $30.

• BeerAdvocate Magazine -- Published by BeerAdvocate.com [5], this monthly publication is yours for the low subscription fee of only $15 per year (12 issues).

There is also a multitude of beer blogs available for your reading pleasure.  I encourage you to check out the "Blog Roll" in the right-hand column of Justin's Brew Review.  The "Blog Roll" is simply a list of some of the blogs I follow.  They're pretty good...but you don't have to take my word for it!  Prost!

[1] It's scary when you think about how much information about us is actually "out there" for the whole world. While only slightly off-topic, check out this article (12/15/2011) about the amazing amount of information Facebook collected on someone in a year's time--including information that was supposed to have been deleted or removed.
[2] So that means you pay $75 at a brick and mortar bookstore, right?
[3] He needs our financial support.
[4] Although with the ever-increasing popularity of craft beer, I'm sure that there are more PA breweries and brewpubs around today. In fact, I'm sure of it - I know of three in York County, PA alone:  South County, Mudhook, and LiquidHero.  Lew also chronicles book updates online.
[5] Bet you wouldn't have guessed that if I hadn't told you.