Beer Talk

 With over a year since the last post I think it’s safe to say i ran out of things to say on what was really a commentary on other people’s beer. Not that there isn’t an endless number of things to say, but I’ve grown a little tiresome of being focused on just that. After a fair amount of thought and around 7 months of effort renovating a small shed into a nano-brewery in Somerville MA - the slumbrew lab, we’ve decided to take this little project to a different level. Not entirely sure where this is all headed (or maybe just not willing to say right this moment) but the slumbrew lab offers a far greater range of possibilities for what we might experiment with. It’s safe to say that slumbrew lab is running close to full tilt to get ready for a big pouring event March 19 and then a number of other events shortly thereafter. Also stay tuned for a brand new slumbrew.com which i am more than a little excited about. In the meantime, become a fan of slumbrew on facebook for the day to day ramblings.

 Thinking back over the many, many (many!) beers I’ve enjoyed this past year, one brewery stands out as crafting beers I continuously look forward to and crave. Southern Tier Brewing Company has produced a formidable lineup of beers that is both experimental and original in my book. I think my first experience was the Raspberry Wheat – which I am not a fan of. I came back for the Hop Sun and Über Sun Imperial Summer Wheat later in the year and was hooked though. A constant source of my hop-fix of late has been the Unearthly Imperial IPA – knocking out my regular habit of Green Flash Imperial IPA that was a borderline “problem” in September. Tonight I got my first sample of the limited release Gemini Imperial Blended Ale from Downtown Wine & Spirits in Davis Square. It must have been one of the first bottles available since technically this is a limited release for January 2009. The verdict: Wow. It’s a delicious blend of Unearthly and Hoppe that has all of the hop-blast I’ve come to admire in the former and a super clean finish that comes from the ladder. At 10.5% ABV it’s a real accomplishment to create an imperial beer that balances a tremendous grain bill with delicate and complex flavors.

 I look forward to April Fools Day every year as it stands as a milestone that as the day passes, it is more than a little unlikely there will continue to be major snowstorms in the Boston area. I remember all-to-well the nor’easter on April 1st of 1997 that took everyone by surprise and piled well over two feet of snow on the otherwise bare pavement. For me, it was just plain demoralizing to have made it almost out of a long winter and then to be slammed with so much more snow in April – or was it that masters thesis I was writing at the time.

 The brewery has been quite busy with bottle production on two new additions to the Slum Brew lineup: Attic & Eaves Autumn Brown Ale and The Root of NO Evil Olde Time Root Beer. The Brown Ale is a somewhat hoppy brown that is closer to some Northwest styles than the malty winter beers. The Root Beer is the first of a series I’ll be experimenting with. I’m amused by the experimentation that can come into developing different root beer recipes. The first one is non-alcoholic but future versions will probably contain a low amount.

 Having heard great things about the Fort Collins beer scene but never actually visiting, I was quite excited to see for myself how it rivaled parts of California, Oregon and Washington. Our first stop was the New Belgium Brewery where BGT and I met up again with our friends from Cambridge Common for a VIP tour of the brewery operations with NB cellar man, JR. What a tour and a brewery this turned out to be!!! I remember a few months ago while brewing with Will Meyers that he was reminiscing on one of his visits as being a brewing utopia as he climbed to the top of the fermentor towers. In the 6 hours we spent being guided through every detail of the operation, I can say the same. Not only was the brewing operation a work of elegance from a very pragmatic perspective, but the people that work every day on producing their product are the biggest champions for the company and what it stands for. It’s a model company that many other organizations will rarely achieve.

 On Friday I learned I know very little about whiskey. I’ve always been a beer guy and never really thought much about the other spirits other than that there were some pretty neat looking copper creations that boil stuff and put the resulting condensate in oak barrels for aging. The result is the brown/clearish stuff that would mix with Coke whenever I was at a wedding with a beer selection that ran the gamut from Bud Light to Amstel. So Friday turned my understanding of whiskey upside down and brought an understanding of the craft that goes into making Stranahan’s Whiskey.

Quite possibly one of the biggest draws for heading out to GABF each year is the first stop on the Beer Advocate Friday pub crawl at Snooze – the best breakfast shop in the world. On each Friday morning of GABF week, the Snooze restaurant – famous in the Denver area for its advancement of breakfast – is overrun with a motley collection of beer fans from the evening before looking to regain composure and gain some sustenance for the hours ahead. This year was no exception and after an hour wait to get a table, we finally had the daunting task of arriving at a single choice from the extensive menu. Next stop, was the Great Divide Brewing Co. just a few blocks from Snooze where we met up with the rest of the BA crawl – including the Alström Bros who were looking a little green around the gills. Great Divide Brewing Co.Great Divide was in full swing of a brewing session despite a hundred or so people roaming around every corner of the production floor and tasting room. The brewery is incredibly generous in allowing free tastings, tours and just general mayhem while still trying to get some work done. The biggest change since last year was a brand new bottling line that replaces the bottle smashing machine we were warned to stay twenty feet back from on our last visit. I wasn’t quite in the mood to indulge in the free samples until I saw the Oak-Aged Old Yetti being poured. This is an amazing imperial stout and a perfect way to start the BA crawl.

 We attended just the Thursday evening GABF session this year because our schedule for the week was pretty booked. Since Thursday is the first session it also allowed us to visit the brewery booths before the best brews were gone. Also, last year we attended both Friday evening and Saturday afternoon which honestly was a little rough on the liver. The Friday night session is filled with a larger percentage of people in it more for the sport of drinking, and Saturday night is just a flat-out vomit factory. Last year, we arrived about 20 minutes before the session began and were treated to a line that nearly wrapped a quarter mile around the convention center. This year we arrived an hour ahead of time but were lucky enough to meet up with our good friends from Cambridge Common who were already in line. Since this was our second trip to GABF, we were elevated a little above the general awe of last year to reflect on some of the culture that is at the heart of the thousands of people coming together every year for beer. From the man who wears a burlap hop bag costume, to the green hop hats and hundreds of people wearing homemade necklaces of pretzels, everyone is in this for the common bond of supporting great craft beer. It’s hard to imagine another craft product that has drawn this much loyalty, support and interest.

 What a week this year’s GABF (Great American Beer Festival) turned out to be. BGT and I arrived in Denver on Tuesday evening this year and stayed right through a jam-packed week until a redeye flight on Sunday. Our first stop, almost immediately after dropping the bags was Rock Bottom on the 16th Street Mall. I enjoy quite a few of the Rock Bottom locations around the country but this one is probably my favorite. Of course, the demands of being located in downtown Denver keep the quality and innovation standards up. Nevertheless, it was a really great start to the week. I love the second floor tier of fermentors which must be in place to conserve space, but require hundreds of feet of brewer’s hose. Rockbottom DenverI started out with their American IPA which was really good, and at 6.8% took the edge off the long flight. Other beers of note were their Kolsch, Marzen and a Milk Stout – though I conserved on the Milk Stout as we were to visit the king of all milk stouts at Left Hand Brewery the next day. We were a little early in the week as the crowd was fairly thin, yet peppered with a few beer pros.

It’s been a rainy weekend in Boston, but fortunately we had the Belgian Beer Festival to keep us all sane. Some out of town guests from Bermuda (Samantha & Angela) are technically from more of the wine scene so BGT and I made some solid attempts to sway them over to beer. The Belgian Beer Festival, put together by the Beer Advocate crowd was a great success as usual. It was a great collection of some very unusual beers from around the country and the world. My favorite – as it was in my recent trip to Portland – was the Allagash Interlude. The Allagash beers in general are so impressive and they have yet to let me down. We also had the chance to talk with Rob Tod for a few minutes – which it’s always nice to chat with a guy that has accomplished so much on the beer scene. After the festival, our day continued with a stop at Deep Ellum, the Public House Provisions Store and Roadhouse. Deep Ellum had a great beer selection, but the buffalo wings have definitely taken a downturn from the version they had when opening. Bring back the Rochester wings!