Daily Loaf

I go crazy for flavorsome brown ales, so I am totally thrilled to finally have access to Smuttynose Brewing Company’s Old Brown Dog Ale, a recent newcomer to the local market. Hailing from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Smuttynose concocts a variety of excellent beers — a delightfully peaty porter, an IPA bursting with Amarillo hops flavor, a big huge quad, a monster Russian imperial stout, and so on. Today, I turn my attention to their delectable brown ale, which won a silver medal at the Great American Beer Fest. Read the rest of this entry »

Quality of life for insatiable hopheads living in Florida has improved substantially within the last few months. A colossal beer from San Diego’s Stone Brewing has entered the local market, leaving a mass of traumatized taste buds in its wake. Stone’s website describes Ruination IPA as “a liquid poem to the glory of the hop, so called because of the ruinous effect on your palate.” And let me assure you, this is not a clever marketing statement; it’s the honest truth.

Hops are female flowers from the plant Humulus lupulus, which are used in brewing to add aroma and bitterness. Alpha acids in resin secreted by the hops are mostly responsible for the bitter taste and subsequent IBU (International Bitterness Units) rating. On average, most brews rate between 15 and 45 IBUs. Stone Ruination has over 100 IBUs. To achieve this catastrophic bitterness, Ruination IPA is brewed with high alpha acid Columbus and Centennial hops and then finished with a hearty Centennial dry hopping to enhance the brew’s Humulus lupulus smells and add another layer of aggression to the brew’s overall flavor.

Now, let’s talk IPA (India Pale Ale): Read the rest of this entry »

Garrett Oliver is the man; the philosophy reflected in his book, The Brewmaster’s Table: Discovering the Pleasures of Real Beer with Real Food, speaks to my holistic sensibilities and makes my mouth water for fine brews and food prepared in the old school tradition — from scratch with fresh ingredients and no preservatives or other modern food science. But Garrett Oliver doesn’t just write rousing books; he also brews exceptional beer. Since becoming the brewmaster in 1994, he has propelled Brooklyn Brewery to high status among the top 40 breweries in the nation.

I love Brooklyn’s year-round lineup; the seasonal Oktoberfest Marzen is on par with the authenticity of Hacker-Pschorr Oktoberfest and the buttery, peppery Local 1 is the definition of Belgian strong light ale. The Brewmaster’s Reserves and Limited Releases — Black OPS, Blast Imperial IPA, Flemish Gold, Manchester Star, and Savoir Faire — are all crazy delicious. So are the innovative collaborations with Schneider Brewery — the Brooklyner- Schneider Hopfen-Weiss and the Schneider-Brooklyner Hopfen-Weiss.

A new addition to the Brooklyn lineup — Local 2 — is a dark ale crafted from German pilsner malt, English chocolate malt, Belgian dark sugar, New York state raw wildflower honey, citrus peel, Belgian yeast, and hopped with Perle, Aurora, and East Kent Golding hops. After brewing, a secondary fermentation takes place inside the corked, 25 ounce bottle. Read the rest of this entry »

Florida Micro Beverage has been putting in serious work. This local distributor of beer, wine, and soda has picked up a slew of new products for the coolers of local beer bars and shops. Among these exciting brews — extensive lines from North Carolina’s Highland Brewing Company, Fort Collins Brewery out of Colorado, and Erie Brewing Company from Pennsylvania.

Erie Brewing turns out a superb product mix, including Railbender Scottish Ale, Mad Anthony’s American Pale Ale, and Presque Isle Pilsner. The brewery’s product naming celebrates Pennsylvania’s history, particularly the people and places involved. Their current seasonal, Drake’s Crude Oatmeal Imperial Stout, takes its name from Edwin Drake — as in Drake’s Folly for all the history smarty pantses — the first guy to successfully drill oil in Northwest Pennsylvania.

Drake’s Crude Oatmeal Imperial Stout definitely lives up to its gooey industrial nomenclature. As it pours into an American pint glass, the bulky black body supports a frothy cap of khaki head that reduces to a thin layer of diverse sized bubbles. Read the rest of this entry »

Think about the massive amount of performance pressure within an industry such as beer. Certain recipes mark milestones in the evolution of brewing, like Pilsner Urquell,  which defined a new style of beer and took its name from the region where it originated. You’ve got experimental breweries like Dogfish Head, partnering with university archaeology departments to analyze residue found on ancient pottery, crafting a modern brew from these ingredients so that we can appreciate beer as it might have tasted in its more ancient forms. That’s a hard act to follow. How about this — currently operating European commercial breweries date as far back as the year 1040. Serious beer intimidation.

And then there’s Terrapin Beer Company from a tiny college town in Georgia. In 2002 their only beer, a Rye Pale Ale totally unknown except for the few places in the vicinity of Athens, GA where you could find it on tap, took first place in the American Pale Ale category at the Great American Beer Festival. I’d say that’s strong performance in the face of pressure.

Today, Terrapin produces a great number of kick ass beers. Read the rest of this entry »

If you know me on a personal basis and are planning a trip anywhere outside of Florida, prepare to be handed a shopping list and an envelope of cash. There are a few things I will need you to bring back for me. As further compensation, upon your return, we will gather with the expressed purpose of getting bombastic in celebration of beer that can’t be found at local retailers.

This is a story about beer nerds — myself and several friends — getting together with recently obtained out-of-town travel brew, along with some mail-order finds. We sat in my living room with this load of beer joy and giant plates of edam, cheddar, and wheat crackers, and surrendered to a marathon of serious beer business.

Read the rest of this entry »

For some reason, pseudo beer drinkers everywhere have become enamored with a certain amber ale that goes by the name Fat Tire. As a beertender, I couldn’t go one night without being on the receiving end of some nonsensical harangue about how Fat Tire is the best beer ever made and every bar in the world should have it on tap. Folks, I’m here to tell you, and I might catch a fair amount of sass for this, Fat Tire is the Schlitz Malt Liquor of the New Belgium product line.

Before I begin, I’d like to point out that the company responsible for brewing Fat Tire demonstrates admirably sound environmental practices and crafts outstanding beer masterpieces like Le Terroir, La Folie, and Abbey Grand Cru. Let me make this perfectly clear; I’m not dissing on New Belgium Brewery. This diss is directed specifically toward Fat Tire Amber Ale. It is, perhaps, the least good beer produced by New Belgium, yet it’s wildly fashionable even in areas where it isn’t available. I am convinced the popularity of this foul brew is purely a result of the want what we cannot have phenomenon coupled with euphoric delusions brought on by travel situations. Read the rest of this entry »