Beer

Craft beer advocates of the Northwest, what beer do you judge a brewery by? Is it an Amber, a Red, a Blonde, a Porter, or maybe a Brown Ale? Then again this IS the Northwest. Which translates into lust for India Pale Ales, Black India Pale Ales, Cascadian Ales, Double / Triple / Imperial India Pale Ales. So why in the heck would you want to drink anything different? How about during the Summer? Summer, the one time of the year when water doesn’t inject into your veins like a beer can. That one time of the year when something yellow and clear means more to you than something purple that screams “Oh Yeah!”.  To that we say, where’s our yellow craft beer?! Stepping up to the challenge Firestone Walker announced the released of their Pivo Hoppyt Pils, a spin on the classic light-lager. “Lighter beer styles like pilsner have been hijacked by industrial lager beer in the United States, and it’s time for craft brewers to take it back,” says Brewmaster Matt Brynildson. “Pivo Hoppy Pils is our contribution to the cause.” More on the anti-mass-produced light-lager Pivo Hoppy Pils is a classically rendered pilsner with a West Coast dry-hopping twist. Brynildson cites influences from Germany, Italy and the Czech Republic as instrumental in the development of Pivo Hoppy Pils. Along the way, the brewing team sought to accentuate the traditional pilsner profile with an extra measure of hop character that is reflective of the American craft beer revolution. “A lot of pilsners have the malt element down, as well as the dryness and drinkability, and even the bitterness—but they lack hop aroma,” Brynildson says. “We’re trying to elevate that hop aspect, but we don’t want to beat you over the head with it. I think it makes for a very interesting beer that remains true to the pilsner style with a lot of drinkability.” He adds, “Authentic craft pilsners are still relatively rare. With Pivo Hoppy Pils, we want to do justice to the style and to help the beer drinker rediscover American pilsner as a serious beer.” Look for six-packs and draught configurations of this new release from Firestone Walker. As with everything ‘released’ you are encouraged to nag, yell, scream, and beg, your server to get a case or keg of this beer. Enjoy. Cheers Required reading while staring at your mobile device, drinking a Pivo Hoppy Pils. A Brewer’s Beer… “Pivo Hoppy Pils is a brewer’s beer,” Brynildson says. “At the big beer events, after all the hoopla is over, it is typical for a few of us brewmasters to meet afterward at some bar down the street, and we all order pilsner beers to clean the palate. It’s like a razor that scrapes all the double IPAs off our tongues.” He adds, “Pilsner is one of the most difficult beers to perfect. It seems so simple and commonplace in the world. It’s so light, yet it incorporates so much, which is why any off flavor just comes screaming out. It’s this naked beer that doesn’t hide anything.” German Ingredients, International Inspiration Pivo Hoppy Pils is made with 100 percent German malt, yeast and hops, including the new German Saphir used for dry hopping. Brynildson says that Pivo Hoppy Pils blends aspects of the more hop-driven Czech pilsner style with the bright refined dryness of the German model—along with a New World aromatic twist courtesy of the dry hopping. “Oddly enough, the original inspiration for this beer comes from Italy,” Brynildson says. “It’s a dry-hopped pilsner called Tipo Pils made by Agostino Arioli at Birrificio Italiano, just over the Swiss Alps from Germany in Northern Italy. Ever since I first tasted it, I’ve been dreaming about making a dry-hopped pilsner.” Tasting Notes Pivo Hoppy Pils is a bright straw colored lager beer with playful carbonation topped with beautiful white foam lace. Delicate lightly kilned malt flavors underscore noble German hop character. Hallertau-grown Magnum hops deliver the lupulin foundation while generou

This post from Serious Eats recently came to our attention. Putting beer in a French press? Sounds like a great idea. Back in June 2009, we did some of our own experimenting with a French press and had a great time doing it. We thought you'd enjoy seeing the results of our experimentation. So courtesy of the Wayback Machine, here's our write-up of what happened when we tried combining beer and other stuff in a French press-- Regular readers of this site will know that we aren't above tomfoolery. In fact, you might say that on occasion we can be downright buffoonish. I wouldn't have you believe for a second that we aren't aware that our wanton disrespect for common sense is anything more than a ploy to entertain ourselves and those reading. Our experiments don't always start out with folly in mind - in some cases we're actually trying to prove something. But when a group of us gathers, the chance of hijinks is multiplied exponentially. It all started out like this: Hey Jason, I was wondering if you ever followed up on that coffee/beer infusion thing - I just read about a place doing an Oberon through blood oranges tapping and I'm thinking maybe a french press kinda thing might work... anyway... what did you do? -Mike * * * * * The short of the coffee beer is I took a french press, filled it with porter, and pushed coarse ground coffee through it. Turned beer (Wabash Cannonball Porter) into better beer. -Jason * * * * * I'd like to try that technique with a few other things, so if you'd like to make it into a longer experiment, let me know.... -Mike The result? A beer and food blending experiment of what some might consider epically stupid proportions. We just thought it was fun. And in a few cases, tasty. We plopped down on Jason's porch in Irvington and lined up the following victims: Wabash Valley Cannonball Porter vs. Kroger Private Selection Medium Dark Roast Coffee Upland Wheat vs. Strawberries Harpoon UFO Hefeweizen vs. Bananas Brugge White vs. Oranges Brugge Black vs. Cherries Brugge Black vs. Red Stag Whiskey Bell's Oberon vs. Blueberries Founders Cerise vs. Hershey's Extra Dark Chocolate Bell's Expedition Stout vs. Bell's Double Cream Stout Bell's Hopslam vs. Grapefruit Erdinger Weissbier vs. Cucumber Three Floyds Alpha Klaus vs. Whoppers Malted Milk Balls One thing worth noting -- running beer through a French press might automatically make it worse. Every beer blend seemed to be under-carbonated - an effect that was either caused by the blending or the tools used. Since we didn't try any beer straight through the French press, we don't really know. So much for the scientific method. The bad pairings: Wabash Valley Cannonball Porter w/ Kroger Private Selection Medium Dark Roast Coffee - Tastes like the bottom of a day-old pot of decaf. Jason's note: When I did this previously, I seemed to remember it tasting better. I think maybe fresher coffee would be good (this coffee was ground at least 3 months ago). Upland Wheat w/ fresh strawberries - The most bizarre result. Smells and tastes like warm bologna. Disgusting. Gina's note: I didn't get bologna out of the Upland Wheat/strawberry combination. Harpoon UFO Hefeweizen w/ fresh bananas - Much worse than expected. Tastes like a banana that's been sitting on a shelf in the basement, gathering dust for a few weeks. We added fresh oranges to the mix later. No improvement. If anything, the mix tasted crappier with the oranges in it. The "meh" pairings: Mike's note: The Annoy Ted Division Brugge White w/ fresh oranges - Disappointing, but not terrible. Tastes like a flat Belgian wit with a touch of orange juice. Brugge Black w/ fresh cherries - Sort of chocolately with a little hint of cherry zip. Not great, but not bad. Jason's note: I thought this was a winner of a combo. I suggest that Ted takes this idea and runs with it. Seriously. I also m

The calendar thins out a bit here at the end of May. That's easily explained, though, by the impending Philly Beer Week, which begins May 31. I won't be listing any of the scheduled events here from May 31-June 9 since there's way too many, not too mention they have a website, and an app I believe, that does its job in gathering them all together in one place. Might I put a spreadsheet together

I first encountered Whitewater's new beer Hoppelhammer in The Purty Kitchen last month. It made its debut at the Belfast Beer Festival last November but sold out quickly -- draught and bottled -- long before I got to try it. The recently-refurbished and thoroughly craftified Purty was the Monkstown stop on a recent DART-based pub crawl and that's where I spotted the beer on the blackboard. A bottle was kindly donated by the management and shared around. It was tasty enough to warrant a proper review at a later stage.The opportunity arrived, again unexpectedly, some weeks later on a visit to The Brewer's House in Donaghmore, Co. Tyrone. This village pub has been transformed into a foodie haven while still retaining its essential pubbiness. At the centre of the offer is the beer, and it's likely to stay that way as the on-site pilot brewery is expanded later this year into a full-size kit. There was some remarkably well kept Belfast Ale on cask and surprise Hoppelhammer on keg.This stuff is 6% ABV and very well balanced between the big malt and big hops. Even from the very start the aroma mixes sweet 'n' sticky with a dusting of citrus and sherbet. Colourwise it's a rich dark Lucozade orange. The hops lay the first punch: bittersweet marmalade, followed quickly by a spreading warmth -- it could definitely pass for stronger than it is. I was expecting a layer of toasty malt, like you often get in English IPAs of a similar strength, but none of that is permitted. The hops continue to throw shapes, running through grassy, to tangy and metallic, and finishing on a mouth-watering bitter bite. For all of its power it's a very drinkable beer and I was well able to throw back two pints as an accompaniment to my lamb and in lieu of a dessert.Whether big-and-hoppy is just a fad for 2013, or whether this really is part of a new wave in Irish brewing remains to be seen. I'm just happy to have the 'hammer while it's here and hope that it's worth Whitewater's time to keep it going. Buy it if you see it.

“Crafting a Nation” spends 90 minutes fussing over exactly what makes America’s craft beer so special but never talks taste.

It’s been a little while since we reported on new beers from New Belgium. So let’s get to it already Introducing Paardebloem and Pluot into the Lips of Faith Series family. First off is Paardebloem, another collaboration in what is now New Belgium’s sixth with Salt Lake City brewery Red Rock Brewing. As with prior Lips of Faith beers Paardebloem uses unique ingredients, outside the usual malt & hops. For the new addition to the L.o.F. Series the brewery included peach juice, dandelions, Grains of Paradise, and many other organic ingredients. Thrown into a barrel this beer is blended with brettanomyce, New Belgium’s house Belgian ale yeast, and a touch of wood-aged sour beer. Paardebloem pours a light, hazy gold but will make you sit down at 9%. Second is Pluot, which is made from pluot juice. To the uninformed this is a hybrid of a plum and an apricot and has been described by the brewers as a light golden ale, with fruity aromas and distinct esters. Like PAadebloem this is brewed with N.B. house Belgian ale yeast and brettanomyces. Do not be surprised if you pick up whispers of spice and sense a malty backbone from 10 percent’er. Look for both of these beers to be on the shelf now. As always if you don’t find it at your grocer of bar, ask your server or grocer to buy some! Cheers About New Belgium Brewing Company New Belgium Brewing, makers of Fat Tire Amber Ale and a host of Belgian-inspired beers, is recognized as one of Outside Magazine’s Best Places to Work and one of the Wall Street Journal’s Best Small Businesses. The 100% employee owned brewery is a Platinum-level Bicycle Friendly Business as designated by the League of American Bicyclists, and one of World Blu’s most democratic U.S. businesses. In addition to Fat Tire, New Belgium brews eight year round beers; Ranger IPA, Rampant Imperial IPA, Shift Pale Lager, Sunshine Wheat, 1554 Black Ale, Blue Paddle Pilsener, Abbey Belgian Ale and Trippel. Learn more at www.newbelgium.com.

Wednesday’s ad is for Ruppert Knickerbocker Beer, from 1947. Ah, what innocence … a time when yelling “Boy!” was considered acceptable. He looks more like a milk delivery person, but I assume it’s meant to be at a baseball game, meaning it’s also odd that they’re showing glass bottles. I also love that slogan. “Slow Aged for Finer Flavor.” As opposed to fast aging?

Here is my thumbnail review of my first ever beer from San Diego’s Saint Archer, their pale ale….. “Pours a light orange. Has almost a Nelson Sauvin aroma and taste. Some herbal dankness as well. Almost a white wine set of notes. Bitterness is medium. A bit sharp. I am a bit conflicted on how to rate this.” Here is the description from the brewery, “Balanced toward the hoppy end of the spectrum, this straight-foward, California-style pale is eminently sessionable. Crystal and Munich malts provide a backbone to showcase the bright, citrus, piney notes of Cascade, Chinook, and Simcoe hops.”

I have been on the road all day so am just seeing now that one of my favorite beer bloggers Simon "Reluctant Scooper" Johnson of England has passed away. I never met Simon talked now and then through emails, tweets and blog comments. I completely enjoyed his writing, his optimism, bimbles and - perhaps more than anything else - his sheer interest and joy in so many things. And his humour. Here's his bio:A bloke who likes beer. What, you want to know more? OK. Ex face-painting clown, lives in the English Midlands, works with data, loves pork pie, hates couscous. Married with one barbecue. Knows some brewers and publicans. And politicians. And, ahem, "characters". Has written for papery stuff like Beer (the CAMRA quarterly magazine), Gin & It (UK drinks journal) and Beeradvocate (US beer magazine) but is still holding out to be the pub reviewer for Country Gentleman's Pig Fertilizer Gazette.Not sure many others could have pulled off the craft rope post or levened it with a bit of meaning as he did. And he thought to give thanks, too. He loved Orval. He helped with the grunt work of the OCB wiki. A friend has posted photos of how he spent last Saturday with Simon, goofing around. His sense of infectious fun came in everything he wrote.His blog can be found here and responses to the sad news can be shared on Twitter under the hashtag #RIPscoop. My thoughts are with his family and friends.

West Sixth says logo lawsuit is 'frivolous'; Magic Hat says it tried to work ... - #beer #logos