Ultimate Drinking Experience?

On my way home from work yesterday, admittedly via a slightly circuitous route, I popped into the local Barnes and Noble to see if they had the latest editions of the various beer and brewing magazines that I like to read. There was a new edition of Brew Your Own, which is fast becoming my favourite beer related magazine, and as I already had the current edition of All About Beer, I picked up their special edition Beer Traveler. Having driven the rest of the way home with Rammstein in the CD player, I was looking forward to reading about the places where "serious beer lovers" should go in order to get oneupmanship points on the rest of the world.

Naturally I wanted to see what they had to say about the Czech Republic and there was some stuff about Plzeň, for some inexplicable reason it was spelt "Pilzn" on the map Stan Hieronymous' was using (name and address of the cartographers please, so I can send vicious email claiming ignorance!), and about the Eggenberg brewery in Český Krumlov, a place where I saw this most interesting of signs:

Of the rest of the special, I was most interested in the 150 Perfect Places to Have A Beer, a list of which purports to tell the dedicated beer traveler where to find the finest beer drinking experiences. Now, I am not sure how they compiled this list, though I somewhat doubt it was as thorough as the Good Beer Guide, but a couple of things intrigued me, other than why their software couldn't handle some of the diacritics in the Czech pub names.

Speaking of the Czech venues on the list, they were ranked as follows:

1. U Fleků (Prague) - 14th in the overall list
2. Krčma (Český Krumlov) - 44th
3. Czech Beer Festival (Prague) - 54th
4. Pivovarský klub (Prague) - 75th
5. Zlý Časy (Prague) - 83rd

Really? Are you kidding me? The Czech Beer Festival is a better place to get a pint than Zlý Časy or Pivovarský klub? Let me get this completely straight, in the mind of All About Beer, an over-priced beer fest swimming in mass produced swill is better than two reasonably priced pubs with an ever changing selection of quality beers? Apparently the Flying Saucer, of which there is one that I enjoy going to in Columbia, South Carolina, is ranked higher than all the Czech pubs, bar U Fleků. On what basis? Now don't get me wrong here, I like the Flying Saucer in Columbia, and have raved about it many times on here, but better than Pivovarský klub? You're having a laugh surely?

What about other pubs and places I know and have enjoyed pints in? Well, Dublin's venerable Bull and Castle ranks 18th, while the Porterhouse in Temple Bar is 42nd (only 2 places above Krčma? WTF!) and that's it for Ireland, other than the Gravity Bar at St James's Gate.

As for the UK, I don't think I have been to any of the places on the list, but I am not expecting a case of existential angst over the matter any time soon, but if the list is to be believed, the best place to get a beer in the UK is.....the Great British Beer Festival. It would appear that great places to get a pint in the UK are limited to London, Sheffield and Stonehaven. Sorry Burton upon Trent, you have nothing to offer. Sorry Oxford, the Inklings clearly knew nothing about a good place or two to have a pint. Sorry Manchester and area, Tandleman is clearly ignorant of the lack of good watering holes in your neck of the woods. Sorry Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen (home to the BrewDog pub), Newcastle, Carlisle, Birmingham, Cambridge, Norwich, and so and so on.

Of course one man's pivní perfection is another man's hoppy hell, so list's like this must be taken with a large pinch of salt, and I allowed myself a wry smile at the many pubs I love and miss in Prague which didn't make the list. However, forgive me if I am overly cyncial, but surely the best place to get a beer in the world would be the only place you can buy Westvleteren with the blessing of the monks? Where does In De Vrede come on the list?

It doesn't.

A Lazy Look at the Cellar

For some reason, my brain has all the activity of an arthritic slug today. I am sure the cause is not having worked in the Starr Hill tasting room on both Saturday and Sunday, and being asked what specialty beer I would brew to follow the Double IPA which is currently gracing the taps - my answer was a Baltic Porter, something hefty and akin to either the Pardubický Porter or Primátor's lovely Double from back in the Czech Republic. Part of the reason could be the lack of beery joy since June 1st as I decided to take a month off the beer, so rather than witter on today, I thought I'd just put some pictures up of my cellar and some of the delights that await for Thursday and beyond.

The Cellar, large amounts of homebrew in there, and a case of Budvar to boot.

Stout - my favourite beer "style"

A sample of my Unibroue collection.

Some more dark beers, perhaps to save for the rainy days of autumn and chill of winter.

Brewer of the Week

The Brewer of the Week today is one of America's newest craft brewers, based in Atlanta, Georgia.

Name: Jonathan Baker
Brewery: Monday Night Brewing

How did you get into brewing as a career?

Frankly, we stumbled upon it. We were in a bible study and started brewing beer four years ago as a way to get to know each other better. Three of us (Joel Iverson, Jeff Heck and myself) really took to it and we set upon the path of making this our career. It’s been a fun ride.

What is the most important characteristic of a brewer?

We’re still in startup mode, hoping to launch this fall, so the most important characteristic is still TBD. But being very precise about processes and flavors has served us well thus far. Flexibility has also helped, as a brewer (particularly a startup brewer) has to wear many different hats.

Before being a professional brewer, did you homebrew? If so, how many of your homebrew recipes have you converted to full scale production?

We still homebrew as a way to test batches to get to full-scale production. All of our recipes start out as homebrew before they make it to the big system.

If you did homebrew, do you still?

Yep.

What is your favourite beer that you brew?

I’m going to say our imperial pumpkin beer. Brewing with pumpkin is just fun, even if it takes a little longer. I love all the colors and spices we get to work with.

Of the beers you brew, which is your favourite to drink?

It totally depends on who you ask. I love our Drafty Kilt Scotch Ale. Jeff is more of a hophead, he loves the Eye Patch Ale.

How important is authenticity when making a new beer, in terms of flavour, ingredients and method?

Is this a trick question? I’m going to say NOT IMPORTANT AT ALL. Just joking. “Authenticity” can be a pretty broad term. But we think it’s imperative that we are authentic to ourselves and our vibe with all of our beers. We want to brew flavorful, balanced beers that can stand on their own or blend seamlessly into a meal. And we have this in mind whenever we approach a new recipe.

If you were to do a collaborative beer, which brewery would you most like to work with and why?

I’d actually like to work with an up-and-coming Southern distillery here in America, like Corsair Artisan or Firefly Distillery. We love our home and would relish the challenge of working with other new Southern companies to see what we could do to combine flavors and methods to create something uniquely Southern and uniquely us.

Which beer, other than your own, do you wish you had invented?

There are a million and one different beers out there, and it’s so great to try new beers and get a little bit of each brewer’s personality in each sip. That’s the beauty of this industry. Everyone tries everything and learns from everything. I don’t think there’s one particular beer that we wish we’d invented. We want each beer we brew to define who we are and what we’re about, so we wouldn’t ever consider taking that away from another brewer.

I Hate Pigeonholing!

I find myself in somewhat of a quandry, though thankfully not of the kind that leads to existential angst. You see, I have decided that this year I will go ahead and enter the Dominion Cup, Virginia's leading home brew competition. I also plan to enter the home brew section in the local county fair, though this isn't a BJCP or AHA sanctioned competition, but hey, any chance for some glory and being able to call myself an "award winning home brewer". Sit, ego, sit.

I have four beers to enter for each competition:

• Samoset 2009 - my barleywine into which I chucked some dried sweet orange peel
• Black Rose - a very dark Dunkelweizen, almost a wheat stout
• Old Baldy - a 65 IBU American IPA, dry hopped with Challenger
• Experimental Dark Matter - the peat smoked mild

It is the last of those four that is the root of my bafflement, or rather which category to enter it into. Given the style guidelines set out by the BJCP for Mild (11A), a starting OG of 1.052 is too much, though at 4.3% abv the alcohol content is within the given limits, as are the 16 IBUs.

However, given that I used a portion of Peat Smoked Malt in the grist should I enter it in the Smoked Beer Section (22B)? If so, then the question becomes, what is the base style? I have played with the idea that the base style closest to the beer I produced is a Robust Porter (12B), but the hopping is wrong for the BJCP's interpretation of Porter, though ideal for Mild.

There is of course the final option, to enter the beer in category 23, the anything goes world of "specialty beer". The problem there is that I am not convinced that my beer is that much of a specialty. Historically speaking we all know that "mild" doesn't refer to the alcoholic strength of a beer, but rather it was a young beer that hadn't yet become "stale" or "old", so from my understanding of Mild, that's exactly what I have made, just with a dash of lovely peat smokiness in there as well.

What to do, what to do?

A Strong Core

Last week I posted about the importance of getting simpler styles of beer right in order to be regarded as a great as opposed to a good brewer. Of course the phrase "simple styles" specifically referred to the types of beer that have very simple grain bills, perhaps even with just the one malt used, such as a pilsner made exclusively from the Pilsner base malt. As is my wont, I have being mulling over that idea and thinking that while I stand by my original assertion, there is more to being a great brewer than just being able to make a magnificent pale ale, bitter or pilsner.

I got to thinking about the importance of having a strong core range of beer, and how excellence across the core range is also a sign of a great brewer. Having used Sierra Nevada as my example in the previous post, I shall do so again. Their core range consists of the following five beers:

• Pale Ale
• Kellerweis
• Porter
• Stout
• Torpedo Extra IPA

Now, I will be perfectly up front and honest and say that I am yet to try the Porter and the Stout, a major oversight on my part to be sure, especially given my love of darker beers, but one which will be rectified at my earliest convenience. If, however, you look at the rankings these beers get on BeerAdvocate and RateBeer, they are consistently at the higher end of their respective scales. Their core range is thus solid and well regarded by the wider beer drinking community. Of course, Sierra Nevada brew their seasonal and one off beers, and they rate very highly in the ranking sites, imperfect as such sites are.

One off specials add a little sparkle to a brewer's offerings, that it is certain, but when there is a massive disparity in the opinions of the beer drinking community between specials and the core range, you have to ask questions as to whether or not a brewery is really all that great. There are always questions of who a brewery's target market is, whether it is the cognoscenti of the beer world, or the average Joe just looking for something cold and wet to drink when out grilling, or having just cut the grass. But this brings me back to my original point in last week's post, is there anything I would rather drink when grilling than a well made pale ale or pilsner anyway? Probably not.

I guess in some ways I just apt to disappointment when I try a brewery's seasonal and one-off beers and they are light years ahead of the core range as it begs the question, if you can do this style very well, why doesn't the core range reach those heights as well?

Brewer of the Week

Our destination for Brewer of the Week today is Ireland, Dungarvan in County Waterford to be more more precise. It is here you will find one of Ireland's youngest breweries, in what seems to be an ever increasing number of craft brewers.

Name: Cormac O’Dwyer
Brewery: Dungarvan Brewing Company

How did you get into brewing as a career?

After several years as a home brewer my brother in law and I decided to take the plunge and set up our own micro brewery.

What is the most important characteristic of a brewer?

It has been said to me by several people that you have to be slightly mad… I would say that you have to be adaptable, flexible, meticulous and always ready to deal with the unexpected (i.e. slightly mad!).

Before being a professional brewer, did you homebrew? If so, how many of your homebrew recipes have you converted to full scale production?

Yes, I homebrewed for many years before going commercial. All the beers I brew have their basis in a beer I homebrewed, with tweaks along the way.

If you did homebrew, do you still?

Not at the moment. We’re only up and running a couple of months, so things are a bit hectic at the moment. When things settle down a little I’ll fire up the 100L pilot brewery, and start working on new beers. That’s probably as close to homebrewing as I’ll get for now.

What is your favourite beer that you brew?

Probably our Black Rock stout. All that roasted barley gives a wonderful aroma on brew day.

If you have worked in other breweries, which other beer did you enjoy brewing, and why?

Never worked in any other brewery. Straight in at the deep-end here.

Of the beers you brew, which is your favourite to drink?

At the moment I’m loving Helvick Gold. It’s a blonde ale with a nice dose of hop, so is perfect for this weather we’re having (or had!).

How important is authenticity when making a new beer, in terms of flavour, ingredients and method?

A certain amount of authenticity for beer types is important but having the freedom to push the boundaries can lead to some great innovations in brewing.


If you were to do a collaborative beer, which brewery would you most like to work with and why?

It would be great fun to collaborate with another Irish brewery – perhaps Galway Hooker, as they were a great inspiration for us starting our own brewery.

Which beer, other than your own, do you wish you had invented?

Landlord by Timothy Taylor – an outstanding brew. Simple yet complex, I always look forward to having one when I’m going to the UK. Had it from cask in a sailing club in Wales once, found it difficult to leave it behind and sail back across the Irish Sea!

Missing Something?

I am fairly sure that were you to do a straw poll of beer lovers regarding their favourite beer style, you would see beers such as Double or Imperial IPA, Imperial Stout or Barleywine dominating. Naturally I am partial to a drop or two of the heavy hitters, particularly Imperial Stout and Barleywine, but I wonder sometimes if an obsession with beers that are exceedingly hoppy, strongly alcoholic or a combination of both is indicative of being unable to enjoy the simple pleasures of life?

Recently I have had the pleasure, through the good graces of the cyber world, of introducing a few people to Žatec Bright Lager, also known as Blue Label. So far everyone who has tried it has loved it, and in one case it is now available at a local pub here in Charlottesville, Court Square Tavern. One of my friends on trying his first ever Žatec as "amazing" and said that he was "floored" by how good a properly made, Czech style lager is.

This got me thinking about how to tell a great brewery from a good one, and for me it comes done to one simple thing, how good are your basic beers? Whether we are talking about a Bitter, a Pilsner (whether German or Czech), a hefeweizen or a Pale Ale, I think it is these beers that tell you more about a brewery than their special edition Imperial IPA with countless IBUs and several other things that can mask off flavours. In the classic styles there is no room for hiding, so get it right and you're on to a winner, get it wrong and you're on a hiding to nothing.

As a case in point from the American context, take Sierra Nevada. Their big hitters, such as Torpedo, are really fantastic beers, and many of them line the shelves of my cellar, but even though I love Torpedo, I can drink their Pale Ale all night quite happily. The same goes for Kellerweis, their hefeweizen which bares more than a passing resemblance to Primátor Weizen it is that good.

Getting simple styles right is, in my world, the sign of a truly great brewer.