Archive for the “beer” Category

Early in my blogging career, I spent a good portion of time proclaiming the horrible-ness of bands and music that I didn’t like. I had great reasons! They were musically unsound, boring, unchallenging copy cats of different bands that I also hated. What I found quickly is that this caused many arguments, bad feelings and general discomfort between myself and my friends who liked these bands. I was a music snob. I was a hateful, arrogant, uncaring music snob. I realized that and made a change.

When I noticed the same actions rising in myself about beer, I moved pretty quickly to stop it. If there is one thing that annoys me more than anything about the beer community it is the percentage of beer “evangelists” that hold court over their subjects and what they drink. I will not name names, but I will say this…Attacking those you wish to convert hasn’t worked for centuries in religion, what makes people think it will work for the current craft beer movement?

We all know that Creed sucks and so does Bud Light. These are facts that most people have accepted and have moved on from. What we, as the “knowing” have forgotten is that there are still millions, even billions in the case of Bud Light, of people who love the product. Is it in my best interest, as a proponent of craft beer, to walk into a bar, announce to the patrons “you’re drinking swill peasants!” and then take the stage to announce why hops, malt and yeast mixed “the right way” create a much better drink made for kings…oh and if you don’t like it, you’re stupid.

I grow weary of talking to people, reading tweets from people and hearing podcasts by beer experts, some who are even owners of breweries, announcing that the common man’s beer is crap.  Why would you do this? “You suck, but buy my beer!” is not the best slogan I have ever heard.

So what am I going to do about it? Simple! I will share. Beer is a social drink…if you aren’t sharing it, you’re misusing it. Take this to the next level. We all have friends who love Bud, Miller, Coors and all of their mass affiliations. Really…the best thing you can do, is accept it. People like it! And honestly, without these companies, there would be no craft movement! We’d be drinking homebrewed whatever we could get our hands on, or whatever corn extract fermentation we could find at the store. Here are some simple steps to accepting that other people like what you consider bad…

1. Share something you consider good. If they don’t like it, share something else. There are so many good beers and styles, finding a beer that fits the taste of individuals should be relatively easy!

2. Communicate about the process. Talk to someone about how beer is made, why fresher ingredients make a difference.

3. Watch Beer Wars! Understand why certain beer companies are the way they are and get a fresh perspective on it. Don’t settle for “your beer sucks, mind doesn’t” as your argument.

4. Accept that not all people will like what you like. Be smart. Don’t cross the line and keep someone from trying great beer because you are arrogant.

5. Don’t be a douche. I hate Bud products, but I would rather buy a pitcher and share it with a friend than lose that friend over something unimportant.

We all need to be beervangelists if we are passionate about sharing the good news. The difference is that we don’t need to throw our bottles in the faces of our friends as if they were adversaries in a war. It’s suppose to be about sharing a libation, communicating and having fun…not about conversion to a cause and spitting hatred. Perhaps the best thing we can do is just have a PBR (in a can of course) and enjoy an afternoon with a friend.

About 4 months ago I came to a big decision in my life. Staring at 3 bills (or 25 lbs shy of 300), I decided that I needed to do something to get into better shape and lose some weight. With this decision came the realization that I needed to both diet and exercise. As far as diet goes, I had not shown any pretext for being able to show will power when it came to food and drink. As far as exercise goes, I have horrible ankles and was generally sedentary and didn’t do a damn thing that might be considered physical activity, barring the occasional Wii golf game. I was a complete slob, for lack of a better way to put it. I was growing close to going up yet another size in pants and other clothing options. I refused to move to 3X shirts…that was THE final straw in a long list of final straws that led to my decision.

With that decision I had to muster self control and start eating well, or at least better. Everything I use to eat, I cut in half and I dropped fried fatty foods that are eaten too quickly to notice the sensation of being full. I cut the amount of cheese I ingested. I ate more vegetables as snacks and dropped my calorie intake to about 1500 calories per day. I also used Wii Fit to get myself into what I refer to as “gym shape”. Before starting this journey, I would get winded walking quickly to the end of my driveway to get the trash can. I needed to get into a shape that would allow me to use the cardio machines at a gym long enough to actually make them useful and not be in pain the entire time because of my knees and ankles. Through this, I discovered that carrying 272 pounds is not good for knees or bad ankles. I lost 19-20 pounds just by doing cardio and a little yoga on the Wii Fit, but hit a major plateau.

This plateau made me examine my calorie intake again. I was still drinking regularly, but moderately (2 drinks per day) and had cut back some of the frequency of that moderation. I was journaling my calorie intake and was including the beer in my calories. I was also working out between 25 and 40 minutes a day with the Wii Fit. I hit snag and for about 3 weeks, I bobbed around 255 lbs with no movement lower or higher. I needed a change. 2 things came to mind.

1. I needed a more rigorous workout routine. Jogging in place and doing step aerobics were no longer cutting it as far as what I was doing. I could burn many more calories with better equipment and a better regimen.

2. My calorie intake was too low. 1500 is good for starvation, but with calories being consumed from my daily total with alcohol, I needed better calories and more of them to keep stimulating my metabolism.

Because of these 2 things, I made 2 more decisions. I joined a gym and discovered the beauty of cycling. As well, I decided to further limit my intake of alcohol. I no longer had cheap beer just for the sake of having beer with dinner when we went out. I also cut back on the big beers that I regularly enjoyed. 2 barley wines are far more calories than 2 pale ales because of alcohol content. I looked for more sessionable beers with lower alcohol by volume, not for sessions of 4-5 beers, but for healthier drinking. Through this whole process, I came up with some discoveries for those who love beer, but want to be healthier.

1. Alcohol is not a bad thing. In moderation, its a great thing! Learn to have some self control and don’t think that because you didn’t drink 2 on Tuesday, you can have 4 on Saturday. Beers are not rollover minutes. Binge drinking is not good for your system.

2. If you do drink more than you intend, which can happen, you can work it off in the gym. It will hurt more. Alcohol naturally dehydrates, thus causing headaches and other baddies that accompany binge drinking. Because of this, drink more water than you drink alcohol and the gym won’t be as painful the next day.

3. Knowing when I am going to drink, or planning my drinking ahead of time, allows me to plan my workouts so that calories are taken care of ahead of time. I typically ride the cycle for an hour on days that I plan on meeting friends for drinks. This allows me to be more social and not be a killjoy because of my diet. Noone likes a buzzkill at a bar.

4. Taster glasses are a miracle made of glass. If you are going to have a big beer, split it with a friend in 6 oz taster glasses! If getting drunk isn’t the point, and honestly it shouldn’t be in the context of this conversation, then what does it matter if you have 6 oz instead of 12? You can enjoy the beer for taste without over-indulging.

Dieting sucks. So does exercise. The worst thing about both is that with old school methodology, the need to cut calories and become very rigid in both practices causes them to suck more and interest can be lost. If interest is lost, then its all moot and weight loss won’t happen. I had to take a step back and decide if I was going to punish myself daily and take things that I truly enjoy out of my life in the name of losing weight. I think that you can see by my blog here and if you know me, by my actions and beer-geek-speak, I enjoy beer as a hobby, a passion and as a method to be social with friends and strangers alike. None of those things are bad if done moderately.

Weight loss can be achieved while enjoying alcohol, and do not let anyone tell you otherwise. By making some small changes in my life and the way I look at beer in general, I am now very close to 40 pounds lost. The key, in drinking, dieting and even exercise, has been moderation. Who judges moderation for you? I hope it’s you and I hope you do it well. There are many resources on the internet that cover what moderation is in practice both psychologically and in actual practice. I challenge you to read them before you give up something you truly enjoy. Remember that too much of a good thing is still too much!

Very soon, we will have some new reviews up and some new beer/homebrewing talk!

This week I got to go to an event in Knoxville, TN named Codestock which, btw, was (“is” since I am writing this on a break in sessions) awesome.  Having lived in Knoxville for 2 years, I have enjoyed a beer or 3 from the Downtown Grille and Brewery on a couple of occasions, but I hadn’t really thought about it as far as taste and style adherence because I was in very social settings.  Last night, while being social, I was able to try a couple of their brews and pay a little more attention to what I was consuming and the food I was pairing with it.

The beers themselves are actually brewed under the moniker of the Woodruff Brewing Co. Head brewer Al Krusen works to deliver some solid “olde world” styled beers. The company’s standby selections include the White Mule Pale Ale, The Woodruff IPA, a Stout, Nut Brown, Porter and one of my favorite styles, an Alt.  Thursday night, at the conference pre-party, I enjoyed a pint of the Alt. Their version of the alt is a fine specimen. It is a nice balance of bitterness and malt and fits the style right on. Being that this style of beer is much like the English Bitter in a few ways, it would make a great session beer.

Friday night, since I didn’t stay very long Thursday night, I and some friends walked up from the keynote location to the restaurant and got dinner. Because there was a 25 minute wait for a seat, I headed to the bar to choose a pale ale. It was happy hour, so for $2 I got a pint of the White Mule pale ale. Perfectly hoppy and with a strong malt base, this beer was a revelation. I love pale ales and this one hit the top of the list after 1 taste. I would put it right up with Great Lakes Brewing Burning River and Olde Hickory Tablerock as favorites that I will look for any chance I can.

With dinner, I decided to go with the Woodruff IPA. I had thought I would be stepping up in intensity, but the beer, while darker and a little more alcohol, was not hoppier than the White Mule. At first, I felt a little down because of this, but once my ribeye arrived and the beer was paired with the seasoning on the meat and the delicious cow I was devouring, it came alive. The website says that the Woodruff IPA is reminiscent of Knoxville IPA’s. I was not aware there was a historical element to the beer I was sampling, but I salute the history that influences the making of this beer.

It is clear to me, after spending some real time at the restaurant, that the brewers take an honest historical approach to the crafting of their beers. It is also severely evident that they take into consideration the food that will be paired with their brews. The White Mule Pale Ale was so good, I bought the shirt. Literally. I look forward to many return visits to the restaurant to see what else these guys can do!

I dare you to click the link above and find out about all the beery goodness that will be going on across the nation next week! I double-dog dare you!

Now that you’re done with that, notice that unless you live in middle Tennessee, you can’t really enjoy one of the couple of events that are going on in the fine state in which I live.  Looking at Virginia, I would have to travel several hours.  Even looking at “Beer City USA” Asheville, NC, which is a little over an hour away, there are only a couple “official” activities that are listed. I expected more out of Asheville, but that is another conversation. What I expect out of my area is at least a little more than nothing. We have 2 local breweries, neither of which with facilities to serve their own beer past growlers, but we have them available.  We have nearly 20 restaurants (I counted) that claim to have more craft beer than most establishments.  The distributors in our area are getting more of the beers we want….so where’s the fail?

The local economy has caused at least one place I know of that might have events based around this week to close down, at least temporarily.  When it comes to things of this nature, our area seems to only really want to visit a place that would cater to our craft beer sensibilities after they have closed due to lack of patronage.  It’s frustrating…really.

So where is the silver lining?

1. Personally, I will try to get to places I don’t normally go next week for a craft beer. It only takes 1 beer to celebrate, so I invite my friends locally to celebrate with me.
2. I will share my homebrew with people next week. Hopefully, I will get a chance to share with people who normally drink the big brewers, but if not, I will at least enjoy my own brew in my own home.
3. I will visit one of the local breweries and fill a growler with their beer. The cost isn’t much and the enjoyment is almost always more than the price.
4. I will launch CraftBeerTricities.com this month.  It will be rough to start with and is really a grass roots effort to increase knowledge and cooperation between patrons, restaurants, stores and distributors.  The gameplan is falling into place and I look forward to getting it rolling. Any help would be appreciated.
5. I will work over the next year to create relationships with local business owners in order to create events, no matter how small, to celebrate this observance.

This is my manifesto.  I will work to make this area a cool place to grab a drink and break away from the typical top 5 pilseners on tap.

Recently there has been quite a buzz in the craft beer world concerning Fedex and UPS discontinuing relationships with online beer retailers.  I never really had a dog in that race, seeing as how shipping always outpriced the beer I was ordering, I never clicked past the total screen that gave me the shipping cost.  I just couldn’t justify it in my mind…even for Pliny the Elder.  <gasp>

All the Fedex and UPS stuff has done for me is further bring my hatred of the distribution model of beer in America to the surface.  If you are not familiar with this system (even tho you really are), visit Wikipedia here.  It is essentially an archaic set of rules born out of prohibition that regulate how beer is distributed.  Wonder why you can order wine online and shipping companies will send it right along…but with beer, if you tell them what you are sending, they will not?  This is why.  You cannot ship across state lines into a state that obeys the 3 tier system rules because you are circumventing the middle man.  I could drive over to Asheville, NC, buy up some Pisgah Brewing beer and ship it to someone in another state….as long as I never labeled it as beer.  However, because that would leave the distributor out of the loop (thus the cash), I would be breaking laws.

Does this stop people?  No.  Does it suck?  Yes.

I have always felt like we didn’t get the beers we should get in my area.  I live at the cross roads of NC, VA and TN. I have to visit all 3 in a day to get the selection I really want to have.  Is it my fault because I am a demanding consumer?  I wouldn’t think so.  Where is the fault?

A good way to see some of the fault placed squarely where it should be is to rent or buy the movie Beer Wars.  It is not an overwhelmingly rapturous movie, however, it clearly states the issues facing smaller breweries and consumers in a world run by giant organizations.  Because of the movie I now know that:

1.  Budweiser spills more beer on their bottling line in one day than Sam Adam’s makes in a day.

2.  Budweiser either owns or has a majority of the distributors under contract in America and typically will not deliver beer that is not under their umbrella.

3.  MillerCoors and Budweiser HAVE seen losses over the last few years in market share, but still own enough of it to get eye level real estate in the cooler aisle…and where do most people find the beer they buy?  Eye level.

So it is because of this wonderful system that brewers I would love to have cross the mountain from NC to TN cannot afford to do so.  I can get what I can get and travel to get the rest.  I am not complaining, BTW, about my selection so much as just venting about a system that hinders an even greater selection.  I know now that beers I have heard hyped repeatedly online like Russian River’s Pliney the Elder, the Younger and others will never get to me unless something amazing happens to get them here.  I am constantly surprised to see things get to my area and it just should not be that way.

We are clinging onto Prohibition era laws like a baptist to the KJV.  These old laws make us feel safe because capitalism is “working”.  In this case, however, it is not.  Smaller breweries struggle to get their feet on the ground and we the consumers are making back alley trades via the intertubes to wet our appetites with new brews.

Watch Beer Wars and enjoy it.  I did.  Even for someone to whom all of this information is old hat, the movie is a good representation of the sentiment of a generation right now.

Haven’t done a real “state of the blog” in a while, so I thought I would catch any readers I have up on what is going on around here.

I recently brewed what I have dubbed “Winter’s End Wit” as a celebration of the end of cold weather.  I brewed it on a day when I had multiple friends over, an impromptu sharing and tasting of beers and cooked out.  The entire day, except for trips in to check the boil, etc.  was spent on the back porch enjoying the sun.  I had a nice looking set of what I call “sunglasses raccoon eyes” going the next day.  We had some tasty beers shared in tiny tasting glasses which made drinking for 7 hours straight MUCH easier.  I urge anyone else to do the same.  Use smaller glasses, save your kidneys. 

Back to the brew…As I almost expected, I got an intense lack of conversion with  the amount of unmalted wheat I used and missed OG by about .010 points.  This is the first time I was that far off.  The beer should top out about 4% and will make for a delicious spring session beer, which is fine as well.  Much like Bob Ross, we have happy little accidents unless something affects the taste.

I am currently gearing up for the Hickory Hops festival in Hickory, NC.  I have attended the last 2 years and overall this is by far my favorite festival that I have attended.  This year, they are preparing for about 8 new breweries and about 40 total.  If you are interested in going, get your tickets and be sure to let me know so we can meet up.

In the vein of meeting up, I want to share that I have tried to be very active in the name of Beercentric on Twitter.  I have networked and made contacts that are turning into some really neat conversations and opportunities.  My goal is to visit a brewery on the way to Hickory and then visit another brewery in Nashville in May.  I would love to visit a local brewery every 1-2 months and do a review here on the site.  If it works out, awesome.  If not, at least I will get these 2 done.  I do not have a brewery in mind yet for Friday April 16, so if anyone reads this that has a brewery, let me know if you are in the area between Johnson City, TN and Hickory, NC….that means you Asheville!

I have continued sporadically with the 3 word reviews on Twitter and will do a post compiling some of those real soon.  I need to find a more concise way of doing them, just so tracking them is easier with hashtags.  More on that later…

Again, if you don’t follow me on Twitter, my handle is @beercentric.  Do it…you won’t regret it.  You may become apathetic, but regret will never happen. 

A link to http://sessionbeerproject.blogspot.com/ was broadcast on Twitter this morning by @maggiejane.  After checking the site out and really enjoying the content and appreciating the intent of the site, I decided to share it as well.  The Session Beer Project is a great initiative that is aimed at getting bar owners to have at least 1 session beer (besides Guinness) in their bars.

A session beer is a libation that is less than 5% ABV by most definitions, but according to the site 4.5% and can be consumed in higher quantities because of the lower alcohol.  This would be an incredible movement to get behind so that one could enjoy themselves more safely without sacrificing flavor or being forced to choose one of the major US lite beers that are normally the choice of the masses in these cases.  Get behind the movement and visit these guys often for information on tasty brews!

On Twitter, I decided to start doing short 3 word reviews of the beers I try.  It’s easier than writing out a whole formal thing and really works into my laziness and schedule.  Each week I will try to combine them and post them here with additional notes.

Rogue Yellow Snow IPA

Twitter Review – Three word review of the Rogue Yellow Snow IPA: 1)Citrusy! 2)Balance 3)Tasty I would give it a 4 out of 5 stars.

Notes:  This hits you in the nose, mouth and throat with hops.  The citrus is strong in this one.  It has a definite grapefruit taste and the smell has a flowery, almost lemony scent to it.  It pours a nice pale color and is honestly one of the best IPA’s I have ever had.  The aftertaste does not linger, but it has a crisp bit at the end of the swallow that makes it possible to session this thing.  You may not taste anything for a couple days after the session, but it’s definitely tasty enough to do so.

Meantime Coffee Porter

Twitter Review – Three word review of the Meantime Coffee Porter: 1)Crisp 2)Java 3)Lingering. I would give it 3.5 out of 5 stars

Notes:  Great smell.  It’s like lifting a cup of coffee to your nose.  The taste is good and is definitely a porter with coffee beans added, but is not as good as a couple others I have had recently.  The Valdex from Pisgah Brewing and Java Head from Troegs are both really good and are slightly better than this version.  However, this has a good flavor and sticks to your tongue, much the way a good coffee does.  The aftertaste is nice, so when it lingers, its a good thing.

Magic Hat Winter Lager

Twitter Review – Three word review of Magic Hat Howl Winter Lager: 1)Nutty 2)Dark! 3)Bite. I would give it 4 out of 5 stars. Very good beer!

Notes: This is not what I have come to expect from Magic Hat.  To be honest, after #9, which is pretty good, I haven’t really fallen in love with any of their beers.  Matter of fact the weird Wacko very nearly turned me off their beer all together…brewing with beets my a$$.  Despite all that, I was pleasantly surprised with the Howl Winter Lager.  They darkened this beer to the point of nearly impeding all light from coming through.  It creates a nice reddish glow around it tho.  The taste is nutty and hoppy, but not IPA hoppy.  The aftertaste is a typical lager aftertaste with a a crisp bite from the carbonation that when mixed with the hops, makes it very refreshing and not heavy at all.

I meant to post this update about three weeks ago, but life happened and I am just now getting around it.  My apologies.  One of my resolutions in the new year is to update to this site more frequently.  Since I don’t have a blog of my own anymore, this is really my only outlet.  So, sit back and enjoy!

My wife and I visited Asheville, NC this past weekend and we visited our usual spots.  Except this time, I actually was able to eat and drink at Jack of the Wood!  But first things first.  We started out at my favorite place in Asheville, the Thirsty Monk.  I had some legendary…wait for it…Belgian beers.  A few of note were the Delirium Noel (holiday Belgian ale), Brother Theolonius (excellent Abbey Ale), and a double black IPA whose name escapes me (but it was incredible!).  We ventured on to Jack of the Wood, where I enjoyed a couple of the Green Man Double IPA (definitely one of the better ones I have ever had on tap!).  At that time I realized that the Tennessee-Vanderbilt game had started, and luckily, we stumbled into the Bier Garden only to find the game on the big screen!  I enjoyed another of the double black IPA from earlier and an Oatmeal Stout (either Highland or another local brewery).  Asheville never disappoints though.  If you’re a beer lover, and you haven’t been to Asheville yet, I feel sorry for you.  For more information on all things beer in Asheville, visit the blog for Bruisin’ Ales.  It has lots of great links and information for upcoming tastings.

I haven’t posted here in some time.  I admit that I have neglected both of my blogs.  To be honest, more times than not I just want to drink beer and not think about the taste, smell and all of that so that I can write a post.  I have given into that feeling pretty often.  As well, life, work and everything else has come along and kept me too busy to post here or on QuadrantRush.com.  I sorely want to make this site bigger than it is, but I have had very little contact from people who want to write with me.  This site may dry up completely, but I will do my best to keep it going.

In the meantime, I have had time to do quite a bit of research on homebrewing and food/beer pairings.  In the last month I have really been focusing in on what I want to do as far as homebrewing.  It has been casual for about 2 years with it kicking up to a more serious state the last few months.  I brewed the Irish Christmas Stout that I mentioned previously and tastings so far have revealed that I really did this one right.  I am very happy with it.  That doesn’t mean too much given that I am biased, so I look forward to others trying it out.

My wife took a bigger role in brewing a small batch and is claiming our Blackberry Red Ale as her own.  It is in primary fermentation this week.  I will move it to secondary this weekend and add the blackberries.  It is already sweet because of the honey we added during the boil, so I expect it to be quite tasty when we are finished.  In the pipelines I am trying to decide between a Double IPA, using some of the 4 ounces of whole leaf cascade hops I was given OR a Cranberry Wit.  I do know that in January or February we are considering a mead.  So any suggestions there would be cool.

I attended my first meeting of the State of Franklin Homebrewers club last night.  It was truly enlightening and one of the most interesting nights I have spent discussing beer and, in general, getting to know some new people.  I look forward to future meetings and plan on joining the group next month.  I look forward to brewing in the coming year just because I know I will have a wealth of knowledge I can draw from going forward.  If you are local to the Tri-Cities, I would suggest you follow the link above and check the group out.

Again, if you are reading this and feel the need to write about beer, brewing or food pairing, please email me at ernpacATgmailDOTcom and I will add you to the site so you can start posting immediately.