Small Beers

In the craft beer world, or at least what I've seen from it, there seems to be something very gauche about talking about getting drunk. It's in poor taste, it seems like. BeerAdvocate's longtime mantra has been "Respect Beer." Drinking beer to get drunk, apparently, doesn't fall into the whole "respect" box. It's kind of like we treat the drunkenness that beer can cause as an unpleasant side effect. I don't buy that. I like drinking beer, and I like its side effects. I'm not talking about getting falling down drunk (though that happens occasionally). I also would be aghast at doing something like funneling, for example, a Bourbon County Stout. That's a beer that's meant to be savored, not expedited into your gullet. But I'm not sad when I have a few craft beers and unwind a bit. Or even a lot, so long as "a lot" isn't to a puking level of excess.

I'll say something else that's not going to earn me much praise either. I buy beer based on ABV. Not entirely, but I definitely look at cost/ABV ratios when I go and buy a six pack. I like a little bang for my buck, and I don't think there's anything wrong with that, but maybe that's just me. If I'm looking at two comparable beers in terms of quality and style, I'm buying the one that's got the better ABV/cost. It's one of the reasons I came to love, and still love, Dogfish Head. When I went to the brewery this past summer, our guide said to us, "We make high alcohol beer. We're proud to make alcohol beer. We like drinking high alcohol beer." What went unsaid was that we (me, DFH, lots of other people) like a responsible buzz.

So what's the point of all of this? Well, a while ago on Twitter, @StephWeber, posted this article by Ken Weaver, on the death of the session beer. I read it, and it got me thinking about by intake. This line of thinking has synergy with making inroads into the non-craft beer population, but that's a post for another day, I guess. The article makes great points (and is very well researched), but it's somewhat at odds with my beer/drinking paradigm.

Well, today I bottled the Belgian wheat that I accidentally made by pitching Belgian yeast into the wort for an American wheat. It came out wonderfully, and is only 4.5%. Tons of flavor packed into what is a very sessionable beer in terms of ABV. To be honest, I would never normally buy a 5% beer because the cost/ABV ratio would be too high. It seems like imperials are getting a little played out. Seems like everyone's got a big beer. Whether it's a DIPA or Imperial Stout or on occasion an imperial porter, pilsener, or red ale, everyone's doing something huge. But there aren't a lot of breweries doing small beers. Brew Dog took the idea to the extreme (BrewDog, extreme? I'm shocked, shocked I say!). Anyway, maybe this could be a new trend from breweries, small beers almost in the style of the culinary amuse-bouche. I haven't brewed long enough, nor have I admittedly done enough research yet, but it seems to be that making a low ABV, but incredibly flavorful, beer has got to be difficult. Like in an amuse, every ingredient has to bring something to the table and in just the right proportions to make a cohesive product.

This was more an introductory post about something I want to do more research on. I may play around with some 3 gallon batches to see what I can make sub 3%. I'll keep you all posted. Anyway, I wanted to put this out there because it's something I've really been thinking about the past couple of days.

Thoughts on the viability of a small beer revolution?

Cheers,
Bill

How Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines Made Me Realize How Much I Love Hops

So, I just got back from a four day cruise with Royal Caribbean. It was a great time. Excellent food and entertainment. Fine facilities and for the most part warm and competent staff. The boat is an absolute wonder. A small city on the seas that seems like it would be unfazed no matter the weather. This was my first cruise experience, and I thought it was great. I enjoyed it very much...except for one thing.

Around the two day mark, after drinking "deals of the day" and other assorted fruity concoctions, margaritas, martinis, and some lagers, I realized how much I missed craft beer. Especially hops. From memory, here was the long and the short of the beer availability on board:

Bud, Bud Light, Coors Light, Miller Light, Singa, Kirin Ichiban, Kirin Light, Red Stripe, Heineken (bottle AND draft), Foster's, and, of course, Corona.

When you went to the 'Two Poets Pub" the list expanded just a little bit to include Newcastle Brown, Boddington's Pub Ale, Blue Moon, and Guiness.

Notice anything? I did up front of course. This is the standard macrolager fare. In offering this "variety" of beers, Royal Caribbean is essentially offering the same beer...with 15 different labels. Sorry for painting with such a broad brush, but macrolager is macrolager. Yes Guiness, Newcastle, and Boddington's, and Blue Moon are all different in their own way, but the rest? Might as well be interchangeable. It's bullshit, but it's standard at this point.

The wine list on this boat was not entirely populated with Sauvginon Blanc or Pinot Grigio. So why is the entire beer menu populated with fizzy yellow adjunct-filled water? Would it really kill Royal Caribbean to have some Sierra Nevada Pale Ale? I'm not talking about having DFH Palo Santo Marron on tap, but something ANYTHING with some hop character would've been much appreciated.

Back to the beginning of this story, around day two I started realizing that I really was craving hops in a bad way. I was literally jonesing for some cascade hops. A Green Flash West Coast IPA would've sent me over the edge of happiness. But it wasn't to be. I had to wait to get home and have a Sierra Nevada Torpedo. I'm much happier now, but was it really necessary to make me wait four days? I guess it was since the prevailing opinion is that Bud Light and Miller Light taste different enough that something that ACTUALLY tastes different doesn't need to be included. Maybe next time I go on a cruise that'll change.

Cheers,
Bill

Multiple Beers Under My Belt

Six batches under my belt now.

- The bitter brown
- A kitchen sink pale ale (nicknamed the abortive ale because I messed it up pretty badly)
- Northern Brewer black IPA kit
- A to Z Brown Ale from Sam Calagione's Extreme Brewing
- Belgian Wheat (funny story there, I'll write it up soon)
- Imperial Red (screwed this up too)

I saw all-grain brewing for the first time two weeks ago. I think I might make the leap pretty soon. I guess I should get extract straight first.

This is a terrible entry. But I feel guilty about not writing here. I'll work on that soon.

Cheers I guess.