beer

Editor’s Note: This sponsored column is written by Nick Anderson, beermonger at Arrowine (4508 Lee Highway).

About ten years ago, I took my first job in a wine store.

My role at that shop began as a stock boy — keeping the shelves clean and full, carrying boxes out to people’s cars, loading deliveries into the store. While I was relatively well-versed in beer and beer styles at the time, I knew next to nothing about wine. It was my manager who noticed in conversation that I knew a thing or two about beer and asked me if I wanted to learn about wine.

I’ve likened the next four months of my life to learning a language by immersion (pun only somewhat intended): I tasted every wine every distributor would bring by to try to sell us, taking notes on each as we went along. After closing the shop, my boss would open a ‘mystery wine’ and have us talk about what we thought of it and what we thought it might be before revealing what it was. I was given examples of wines that were ‘typical’ of a region and/or grape varietal, to become familiar with the expectations and descriptions generally assigned to them. After four months I was brought on as a full-time employee selling wine to customers and contributing my opinion to our buying team. Over those first four months one thing I did very little of was read wine reviews.

In the early months of my wine education I read reviews only sparingly. This avoidance of the big-time wine critics was by design: densely written reviews with overly poetic, impractical language and descriptors no normal human being would have a reference for often discourage those new to wine. The argument could be made that these critics are writing for a more experienced audience and therefore should write in greater detail, but all too often it feels like they are simply trying to make the reader feel less intelligent and sophisticated than they are.

As a wine drinker, I think this style of writing not only exacerbates the insecurities of those just learning about wine, but it also reinforces the image of the Wine Snob that is so popular around the world — America in particular. It was only after I started to feel comfortable with my own frame of reference to various wine regions and grape varietals that I began to regularly scan magazines like Wine Spectator and Wine Advocate — and even then, I was careful to read them as coming through the filter of one person’s palate rather than instructions on what I should be perceiving.

I mention all of this because I feel like craft beer writing is becoming almost as overwrought. With so many writers vying for the same number of eyeballs, it seems that too many of us are straining to prove our ‘expertise’, and it’s frankly off-putting. I’ve been guilty of this over the years: when I first started my beer blog, I thought the only way to assign any value to my opinion was to write long missives and identify as many odd aromatic/flavor notes as possible. I came to find my own writing annoying — hell, it was annoying to write like that on a regular basis — and a betrayal of my opinion that at its most base level, my job is about people being able to relate their own experiences in simple enough terms that we all come away understanding each other just a little bit better.

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Editor’s Note: This sponsored column is written by Nick Anderson, beermonger at Arrowine (4508 Lee Highway).

The government shutdown that began Tuesday morning is big topic of the week nationally, but especially in our area. Thousands of government employees are currently off the job, waiting to see if congress can reach an agreement that will reopen the ‘non-essential’ departments and parks that are either closed or largely empty right now. With the last government shutdown occurring 17 years ago when I was in high school, I hadn’t even considered how the beer business might be affected by the shutdown, but sure enough, it is.

There are two main issues for the craft beer industry to deal with during the shutdown. By the numbers, the largest of these issues is the Treasury Department’s Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) ceasing approval of new beer labels and recipes. Beer news site Beerpulse estimates that 400 labels per day won’t receive approvals during the shutdown, based on the over 110,000 labels that TTB had approved over the course of 2013 through the end of September. More immediately detrimental to the health of craft breweries is the Small Business Administration halting approval of new loans for the duration of the shutdown. As the rhetoric heated up in D.C. ahead of midnight on Tuesday morning, breweries like San Antonio’s Alamo Beer Company raced to complete paperwork and get approval for their SBA loans before the deadline, which Alamo did Friday afternoon.

Closer to home, Alexandria’s Port City Brewing Company has felt the effects of the shutdown. I asked Port City’s founder Bill Butcher about difficulties they were facing after he mentioned to me on Twitter that they were trying to deal with an SBA loan ahead of the shutdown. Butcher told me that Port City “…had to scramble ahead of the shutdown in order to expedite all of our paper work to get everything in before Monday.” Fortunately, Port City got the paper work in and had their loan approved over the weekend, but even with that they’re not yet in the clear: Butcher noted that “if something comes up that we need to change during this period,”—meaning the duration of the shutdown—“it will not be possible.”

Regarding the TTB halting label/formula approvals, Butcher said “We have some exciting and innovative beers in the works, some of which have formula submittals, and all of this is on hold. This will delay getting our new beers brewed and out on the market.” Not every department is closed, however: my email conversation with Butcher revealed that the government still sees fit to interact on at least one level with craft breweries, saying “We will continue, of course, to file and pay our Excise taxes as required. These TTB offices are not affected by the shutdown.”

Of course.

Take care out there if you’re stuck waiting to go back to work. Until next week.

Cheers!

Nick Anderson maintains a blog at www.beermonger.net, and can be found on Twitter at @The_Beermonger. Sign up for Arrowine’s money saving email offers and free wine and beer tastings at www.arrowine.com/mailing-list-signup.aspx. The views and opinions expressed in the column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ARLnow.com.

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Editor’s Note: This sponsored column is written by Nick Anderson, beermonger at Arrowine (4508 Lee Highway).

Earlier this year Brewery Ommegang in New York released Iron Throne Ale, the first in a series of beers inspired by Game of Thrones, the hit HBO television show.

Drawing from food mentioned in George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series of books that Game of Thrones is based upon, Ommegang is crating beers that they imagine would play well with cuisine like “honeyed chicken,” “roasted onions dipped in gravy,” “beef and bacon pie” and “barley and venison soup” — all of which appear in the books as meals enjoyed by the greater and lesser classes of Westeros.

Iron Throne was a Blonde Ale, with crisp wheat malt notes accentuated by the use of lemon peel and grains of paradise. Not that all that many people got to try it: someone somewhere in the chain of command severely underestimated the popularity of the books and the show, and the production run of Iron Throne was much smaller than its demand. I managed to get three cases for Arrowine, not knowing it was so limited that I probably shouldn’t have been allowed even that many. All three cases sold out in an afternoon.

It seems Ommegang has learned its lesson, as Take The Black Stout is arriving in Virginia at much greater quantities than Iron Throne. I’m hoping that the precedent is now set for future Game of Thrones beers, and we won’t have the same supply issues as we did with the first beer. As for Take The Black Stout itself, I can only go by what I’ve read so far — as of press time the beer will be either on its way or just delivered to Arrowine, and I couldn’t get an advance sample to check it out.

Ommegang itself counts caramel and chocolate malts among the ingredients in Take The Black Stout, with the most interesting being licorice root and star anise. At 7% ABV, is sounds like Ommegang is continuing the theme established with Iron Throne, with the series being flavorful but not so strong as to be unapproachable by the wider audience the Game of Thrones beers will attract.

Chris Morris at New Jersey’s Star-Ledger was lucky enough to try Take The Black Stout last week, and mentions in his review that it reminds him of a beer he had once tried that was aged on cedar wood. That notes seems to indicate that the spices aren’t as overpowering as some might fear; downright mild in comparison to beers like the star anise version of Stone’s Imperial Russian Stout from a couple of years back. We’ll all get the chance to discover it this weekend after its arrival.

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Editor’s Note: This sponsored column is written by Nick Anderson, beermonger at Arrowine (4508 Lee Highway).

We got a beer in at Arrowine last week that we’d never seen before in Virginia: Green Bullet, a “Triple IPA” from Green Flash Brewing Company in San Diego.

I’m normally not a fan of the Triple IPA designation (I think calling something “Double” or “Imperial” IPA is enough warning of its strength — a personal preference, nothing more), but with Green Bullet checking in at 10.1% ABV and 100 IBU, giving folks a head’s up by calling it a Triple IPA is fair.

While I don’t often partake of very strong “hop-bomb” IPAs anymore in my down time, I’m finding myself making an exception with Green Bullet: it uses two New Zealand hop varieties — Pacific Gem and the Green Bullet hop it’s named for — to create a bold, rich hop experience that never goes too far with the bitterness and demonstrates a clean palate of tropical fruits and sharp citrus. There is a grassy, almost minerally characteristic to beers that prominently feature New Zealand hops, and Green Bullet manages to hold on to that despite the ripeness of its fruit notes. If you see it out-and-about and like very hoppy Ales, I definitely recommend it.

Now, while I mentioned we hadn’t seen Green Bullet before in Virginia, that doesn’t mean it is a brand-new beer. Green Bullet was actually first released in 2011, as Green Flash’s ninth anniversary Ale. Green Flash brewmaster Chuck Silva had been exploring New Zealand hops and came upon the still relatively unknown Green Bullet. Silva had been looking to go in a different direction for Green Flash’s ninth anniversary, and New Zealand’s uniquely spicy and floral hops inspired the creation of Green Bullet. Following its initial release, Green Bullet was only made for a handful of special draft-only batches before the Green Flash crew decided to finally make enough of it for a national bottling run.

Like with Green Bullet, occasionally a beer meant for a limited or seasonal run proves popular enough that it becomes a permanent fixture of a brewery’s lineup.

If you look at the packaging for Lagunitas Li’l Sumpin’ Sumpin’, you’ll see it says “Un-Limited Release”; that’s because Sumpin’ Sumpin’ was only intended to be a summer seasonal when it was first released in 2008. Sumpin’ Sumpin’ was a hit immediately after being release; so much so that in 2010 it became part of the Lagunitas year-round line, and is now one of their most well-known and beloved beers.

Stone Ruination IPA is another limited beer that worked its way into the permanent line, though it took some time to get there. For Stone’s second anniversary, they doubled the amount of hops in their flagship IPA; fans enjoyed it so much Stone brought it back for their third and fourth anniversaries as well. On Stone’s fifth anniversary, they decided to go plaid (Spaceballs-style) and doubled the amount of hops used in the Fourth Anniversary Ale. Stone Fifth Anniversary was a sensation, and joined the year-round lineup as Ruination IPA.

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Editor’s Note: This sponsored column is written by Nick Anderson, beermonger at Arrowine (4508 Lee Highway).

It only hit me the other day that for all of the ‘Beer 101’ we’ve done over the past couple of years, I hadn’t written a full-on Pumpkin Ale column yet. Last year I did a recap of a Pumpkin Beer tasting held at my home with friends, but that was it. With all of the talk about the early release of Pumpkin Ales this year, it’s worth taking a few moments to look at the surprisingly long history of Pumpkin Beer, dispel some of the myths about it, and revisit how ‘seasonal creep’ happens with beer — a topic I initially got into with this column last year.

Not unlike Cider, the history of Pumpkin Beer in early America is one of making due: malt was hard to come by in the New World, and pumpkin meat was a plentiful native source of fermentable sugar. Pumpkin Beers remained popular through the 18th Century, but were supplanted by the proliferation of Lagers made with newly plentiful wheat and barley crops — pumpkin became thought of as unfashionably antiquated and old-timey. Save for a brief everything-old-is-new-again return to prominence in the mid-19th Century, Pumpkin Beer was largely forgotten.

Fast-forward to the early 1980s, when the American craft beer revolution was beginning to spread: A new era of exploration and experimentation with recipes both new and very old led to the rebirth of Pumpkin Ale. The modern Pumpkin Ales tend to place an emphasis on spice notes usually seen in pumpkin pie — cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, allspice, etc. — than simply on the gourd itself. Today arguments resume every year over which Pumpkin Ale is the best, which are too spicy, and which aren’t spicy enough. Here are a couple things to keep in mind as Pumpkin Ales continue to take over beer shelves during the next few weeks:

Pumpkin has its limits: Spices can easily be overdone, but pumpkin itself only imparts so much flavor into a beer, even when used in large quantities. There are some Pumpkin Ales that feature the gourd more than others — Post Road by Brooklyn Brewery comes to mind — but even some of the beers that do use enough spice that much of the pumpkin character is lost.

Size matters: Enjoy a spicy Pumpkin Ale, but don’t want anything too sweet and ‘dessert-y’ feeling? Take a quick peek at the ABV on the label, if it’s provided. As with any other alcoholic beverage, a higher ABV gives the perception of a richer feeling on the palate. Getting into the 8-9% range with Pumpkin Ales can make them feel sweet — cloying, even — and can prove to be a step too far for some.

That’s probably not fresh pumpkin, and you shouldn’t really care about that: I know that sounds like some sort of blasphemy coming from me, and considering the emphasis placed on freshness in craft beer. But where are pumpkins being harvested in spring for brewing a beer in late spring/early summer to hit shelves in mid/late summer? There are a couple breweries who hold out for fresh pumpkin (Sixpoint Autumnation is one, and Rogue is making an Ale with pumpkins from their own patch), but for the most part it’s coming out of cans. Before judging, think about it this way: with pumpkin not heavily influencing flavor as we established above, it’s not as if you’re losing the intense, vibrant flavor that you would if you used old hops as opposed to fresh. Also, you’re going to tell me all the pumpkin you used to make that pie filling last year was made from fresh pumpkin? In this case, I say there’s nothing wrong about using any kind of pumpkin.

So, why did Pumpkin Ales show up so early this year, with some arriving more than a month earlier than usual? As annoying as seasonal creep is, the bottom line truth is that it pays to be first: people tend to buy the first seasonal offering they come across, and then stick with it. Another reason is that the growing demand for Pumpkin Ales is forcing larger brewing commitments, with producers starting earlier to make more in an effort to sate market demand. Check out this great breakdown of the situation from Schlafly, whose Pumpkin Ale is among the most popular in this area.

I know you all have some favorite Pumpkin Ales — what have you been getting into so far this year? I’ve been really enjoying the new Devils Backbone Ichabod Crandall; it’s been giving Schlafly a run for its money in my home. Share your recommendations, sightings, and comments below. Until next time.

Cheers!

Nick Anderson maintains a blog at www.beermonger.net, and can be found on Twitter at @The_Beermonger. Sign up for Arrowine’s money saving email offers and free wine and beer tastings at www.arrowine.com/mailing-list-signup.aspx. The views and opinions expressed in the column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ARLnow.com.

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Editor’s Note: This sponsored column is written by Nick Anderson, beermonger at Arrowine (4508 Lee Highway).

The joy of being an enthusiast, no matter your interest, is in perpetually discovering new things.

In my job I’m lucky enough to be able to try some of the best, most rare, and most cutting-edge beers available, but I’m most happy when I find a new ‘go-to’ beer. The resurgence of Lagers along with the growing popularity of Session or ‘sessionable’ Ales has created an environment where there are just as many new ‘everyday’ beers as there are Imperial IPAs, Stouts, and barrel-aged monsters. Many of these beers have taken the route of the so-called Session IPA — hoppy Ales that tend to be in the range of 5% ABV. As Session IPAs increase in popularity, though, defining them becomes more difficult.

San Francisco’s 21st Amendment brewery was ahead of the curve with their Bitter American, a dry-hopped English Special Bitter that clocks in at 4.5% ABV. Recently, Schlafly has come along with a canned session series with an excellent 4.5% IPA. The most popular of the hoppy Session Ales, though, has been Founder’s All Day IPA. All Day is 4.7%, and combines the light feel of an easy-going Pale Ale with a punchy hop character more forward than you would usually find in a beer of its strength. I’m a big fan of All Day IPA; it’s a delicious beer and a great one to keep around and share with friends (especially now that it’s available in 12-pack cans). My personal favorite hoppy beer, however, was Terrapin Easy Rider: a summer seasonal that not only qualified as a true Session Ale at 4.5%, but featured a wonderful malt character and a hop profile more akin to a full-on IPA. Unfortunately, after the 2012 run Easy Rider was discontinued.

Recently, Terrapin released 12-pack cans of a beer called RecreationAle. RecreationAle is a re-working of Easy Rider that dials back the malt a bit (for more of a straight Pale Ale character) and features hops like Amarillo and Centennial, with Galaxy used for dry-hopping. I was excited to try RecreationAle, and it didn’t disappoint: it manages to pack enough hoppy bite and tropical fruit notes thank to the Galaxy to satisfy IPA fans while carrying an earthy character and a sharp, flinty feel. The 12-pack cans are just the icing on the cake for me; it’s as if the crew at Terrapin knew exactly what I was looking for in an everyday beer and decided “well, we’ll make it for everyone, too.”

My greater point, rather than just saying “RecreationAle is awesome and you should try it” (though it is and you should), is that the success of All Day IPA has created a trend, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Many breweries will rush to bring their own “All Day” to the market, but like all trends the wheat will be culled from the chaff: the result being a slew of new everyday Ales for all of us to enjoy. Enjoy, everyone. Until next time.

Cheers!

Nick Anderson maintains a blog at www.beermonger.net, and can be found on Twitter at @The_Beermonger. Sign up for Arrowine’s money saving email offers and free wine and beer tastings at www.arrowine.com/mailing-list-signup.aspx. The views and opinions expressed in the column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ARLnow.com.

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Editor’s Note: This sponsored column is written by Nick Anderson, beermonger at Arrowine (4508 Lee Highway).

Sometimes in a job like mine, something comes along that fills a need you weren’t even sure you had.

Such was the case when a local distributor started coming around with beer from an importer called Uplifters Spirits. The Uplifters portfolio is small but full of some of the most exciting classic German Ales and Lagers I’ve tried in a very long time. The subtle bitterness and pinpoint grassy character of Schonramer Pils along with the smooth, bright, fruity nature of the Hopf brewery’s Wheat Ales made me take notice of what Uplifters Spirits had to offer, but it’s been the beers of Klosterbraueri Reutberger that I’ve really been taken with.

From a tradition of brewing stretching back some 300 years, the beers of the nuns of the Reutberg Kloster continue to impress, even if it’s tough to pin down just who is producing the beer today — but more on that later. First, the important bit: what the beers are like.

Export Hell is lush, with a sweetness to its malty character that makes it feel much bigger than 5.1% ABV. Those who find old school Lagers a little nondescript would do well to try Reutberger Export Hell.

At 5.2%, Export Dunkel isn’t much stronger than a traditional Schwarzbier, but there are significant differences. What separates Export Dunkel from a standard Black Lager is the smoothness of its mouthfeel, and the emphasis placed on allowing the yeast character from the Export Hell to carry through with the addition of some wonderful chocolate and toffee notes. The roasty acidity found in Schwarzbier isn’t present in Export Dunkel, which contributes to its easy-going nature.

The most recent arrival from Reutberger is the Josefi Bock. St. Joseph is the patron saint of the Reutberger cloister, and this strong Lager is brewed yearly in his honor. Unlike the Export Lagers, Josefi Bock more than lives up to the strength expectations of modern drinkers; at 6.9% ABV it’s even a bit strong compared to other Bocks. The 50/50 split of dark and light malts used gives Josefi Bock just enough sweetness while allowing the exact right amount of hoppy bitterness and alcoholic heat to come through, keeping the beer from feeling cloying.

Now for the weirdness. It is said that Kloster Reutberger introduced Bavaria to the Export Lager style, wherein a Helles or Dunkel Lager is made to be stronger for the sake of travel, but that’s the kind of claim that often can’t be proven. Despite Reutberger’s website stating that the cloister was founded in 1617, the Uplifters Spirits website notes for Reutberger Export Hell claim it was first brewed in the 1400s.

Information on the history of brewing at the Reutberg cloister is patchy, though much of the fog can be chalked up to my less-than-competent German. What is generally accepted is that initial brewing began at Reutberg in 1677, after the nuns established an early tradition of enjoying a good brew after a hard day of farming work during the cloister’s first few decades. The ensuing 336 years have seen various closings and re-openings of the Reutberger brewery, including its purchase in the mid-1920s by a brewer’s co-op.

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Editor’s Note: This sponsored column is written by Nick Anderson, beermonger at Arrowine (4508 Lee Highway).

This past week saw the 2013 edition of DC Beer Week, a celebration of all things beer in the Nation’s Capital.

Events featuring the breweries of the District, Maryland, and Virginia have been taking place all over the city, while others focused on favored styles and breweries from the rest of the U.S. and around the world. With a couple of surprise announcements and some new beers hitting store shelves, this DC Beer Week has been sending a signal not just to beer fans here but around the country that the DC area is arriving as a go-to beer city for enthusiasts; especially with it taking place only a few months after DC hosted this year’s Craft Brewer’s Conference.

Breweries like Maine Beer Company, Kansas City’s Boulevard Brewing, and Perennial of St. Louis all have been featured at DC Beer Week events. The Black Squirrel hosted an evening of North Carolina beers on Tuesday night, including Foothills Brewing, Green Man, French Broad, Big Boss, Pigsah, Aviator, Olde Hickory, and Mother Earth Brewing (which is soon to arrive in Virginia, by the way — keep an eye out). While that was happening, Meridian Pint had an event called “American Sour Belly”, with nothing but American Sour Ales arranged by pH level — they even had free antacids at the bar for those in need, which was a nice touch. Of course the big stars of DC Beer Week have been our local breweries. Devils Backbone, 3 Stars, DC Brau, Chocolate City, Port City, Blue Mountain, Flying Dog, Wild Wolf, and more all have been taking turns in the spotlight.

Beyond the dinners and tap takeovers, some news has been breaking during DC Beer Week. Falls Church’s Mad Fox Brewing Company announced plans to open a taphouse in the District to compliment their brewpub in Virginia. DC’s Atlas Brew Works set a date for their first draft shipments to hit bars and restaurants in the city (scheduled for the second week of September), and Sunday will see DC Beer Week close with a special sneak-peek barbecue at the soon-to-open Bluejacket, which is expected to open for business in September.

This week also saw the arrival in Northern Virginia of 3 Brothers Brewery. Based in Harrisonburg, 3 Brothers opened only in December of last year as a joint venture between — wait for it — a trio of brothers who grew up nearby. 3 Brothers’ bracing, crisp Pale Ale The Great Outdoors and their citrus-punchy, aggressively bitter IPA Hoptimization hit N. Va. shelves and taps this week, with more to hopefully follow soon.

Long a haven for those seeking a variety of beers from around the world, the DC area is finally spawning bars, brewpubs, and breweries that are gaining the attention of the wider craft beer audience. It appears that at least a couple of our local breweries are bound for popularity beyond our region — we may even have a national brand or two growing in our area. This is a great time to be a DC beer geek: we get to watch the growth of a new industry before our eyes, and see the rest of the world come to know our area for what we’ve always known it to be — one hell of a good beer town.

For info on the remaining DC Beer Week events from tonight through Sunday, check out DCBeer.com. Until next time.

Cheers!

Nick Anderson maintains a blog at www.beermonger.net, and can be found on Twitter at @The_Beermonger. Sign up for Arrowine’s money saving email offers and free wine and beer tastings at www.arrowine.com/mailing-list-signup.aspx. The views and opinions expressed in the column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ARLnow.com.

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