Omnivore Atlanta

Love at the Pub tells the story of the Brick Store

I am so glad Rocktober is over, because that means that it is Novembeer. Although I don’t expect Gov. Purdue to declare it officially, I am herewith designating this as the unofficial silly pun name for this month. Novembeer is when we all get together with our loved ones and give thanks for beer. It is also that time of the year when the breweries release their winter seasonals and holiday beers. It is a good month.

There is a lot to look forward to this Novembeer if you are a beer lover, including a new Taco Mac, the release of Love at the Pub, the story of the Brick Store Pub, a host of beer dinners and tastings, and a slew of new beer releases, both local and from beyond Georgia. Here are a few of the highlights of just the next two weeks!

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Light Beer: Stone Levitation Ale

It’s that time of year again, where Bud Light Lime pulls its “seasons change, tastes don’t”ads and starts running its “Summer. Not just a season, but a taste” ads. Well, I’ve tasted summer and it is way better than Bud Light Lime. Commercials like these give the impression that summer beers have to taste like Gatorade so as not to interfere with your pickup game of football with the Girls of the Southeast Conference.

Certainly, summer calls for beer with a lighter body, a drier finish, moderate alcohol, and perhaps a bit of citric tartness. Sweet, thick, roasty, and potent beers do lose some of their appeal in hot weather. Still, the desired characteristics can be achieved without sucking out all the flavor. Additions of specialty malts, spices, and fruit can all make a beer more palatable on a hot day. More importantly perhaps, the right hops can add citrus, spice, and floral aromas and flavors, along with quenching bitterness. (more…)

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Rx for Beer Blahs: Mama

Take two and call me in the morning

Oskar Blues Brewery, makers of Dale’s Pale Ale and Ten Fidy Imperial Stout, have released a Czech-style pilsner called Mama’s Little Yella Pils that should prove popular this summer. The Lyons, Colorado-based Oskar Blues has made a name for itself as one of the first craft breweries to sell their beer in cans rather than bottles. Cans are easily recyclable, more easily handled, require less energy to produce, and can be taken many places where glass bottles are not allowed, such as the park, the beach, or the pool.

Mama’s Little Yella Pils is modeled after the classic pilsner from the Czechoslovakian region of Pilsen that inspired the original Budweiser. A generous amount of pale malts and German specialty malts give this interpretation a firm, grainy body, while the Saaz hops provide a fresh, floral aroma and a crisp, dry finish. The modest 5.3% ABV keeps it in the realm of an everyday quaffer. Yella Pils is available now in 6-packs of bright yellow cans. Unfortunately, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau rejected their tagline on the can, “Take two and call me in the morning.” Don’t ask me why.

Firkin Saturdays at the Brick Store Pub

The Brick Store Pub will be tapping a fresh cask of real ale every Saturday at noon, just in time for sidewalk season. The first offering this past Saturday was the Russian Imperial Stout from Thornbridge Hall Country House Brewing Company, an amazingly rich, smoky stout with a dark-fruit tang and notes of chickory and bittersweet chocolate. If you weren’t there, you missed it, since the firkins only last a couple of days and this was the only one shipped to Georgia. Coming soon will be Gwatkins Yarlington Mill Cider, the CAMRA Gold Medal Champion Cider of Great Britain in 2002. (more…)

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Three-way, anyone? Stone, Jolly Pumpkin, and Nogne O Special Holiday Ale

Stone Brewing Company
Escondido, CA
9.0% ABV

Once again I am late for the party. I just picked up this holiday collaboration, and I wish I had done so earlier because this one would have been great with the Christmas goose (if I had had a Christmas goose). No worries; this wassail-like ale with a hearty ABV and a complex laundry list of additions should age wonderfully for next year. If you see it around, pick up a few and sock some away to break out at the end of the year. There are three different bottles, each with a note from one of the three brewers.

Mitch Steele of Stone, Kjetil Jikiun of Norway’s Nøgne Ø, and Ron Jefferies of Jolly Pumpkin in Michigan got together on this one, and each brought a little something to the pot–juniper berries from Norway (actually sourced from Italy), chestnuts from Michigan, and sage from Southern California. The enticingly spicy aroma will awaken holiday memories of evergreen, berries, and nutmeg, and the taste has a noticable earthy nuttiness. Dry, woody malts and a faint mincemeat-like sweetness linger under the tang of rye malt and caraway seeds. Cocoa and chickory in the center carry over into a long, dry, herbal finish of anise and cranberry. The body is firm and smooth, but not particularly creamy, with a warm alcohol, bordering on hot. The herbal flavors are tea-like, and I could see drinking this warm like a toddy to soothe flu symptoms (disclaimer: I am not a doctor). Complex and unique, if a bit raw, I am looking forward to trying it with a bit more age on it.

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It’s that time of year where we reflect on the past 12 months and consider what happened and whether it was good or bad. Oh, and we make a bunch of lists. Here are mine:

Best of 2008

Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron. Aged in a giant vat constructed of Palo Santo wood, a dense aromatic wood from Paraguay that is more commonly used for wine, this strong brown ale has a remarkable vanilla-oakiness and a deep, roasted malt character. Building the 10,000 gallon tank, the largest wooden beer vessel built in the United States since Prohibition, proved to be its own special challenge. Procuring such a large amount of the wood was difficult since there are few large pieces, and it is over three times as hard as oak, dulling saw blades and defying nails and screws. It’s an interesting story, but how does it taste? Terrific. Like a great single-malt whisky, it seems to draw out the earthy, woody essence of the roasted malt. Herbal elements of licorice, tobacco and coffee bean are held aloft by a raft of softly sweet vanilla, molasses and cherry. Warm without being boozy, and delightfully complex, it is a treat to have it in the regular rotation from Dogfish Head. (more…)

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Stone Smoked Porter
Stone Brewing Company
Escondido, CA
5.9% ABV

Stone’s Arrogant Bastard draws the most attention, thanks to its cocky attitude, but don’t overlook this sultry gem that is brewed with a portion of peat-smoked malt. The aroma of this nearly black ale is an intoxicating blend of fresh-ground coffee, smoke, earth and leather. The coffee is not as prominent in the taste, with roasted malts, bittersweet chocolate, mild smoke, and earthy peat dominating. The Chinook and Mt. Hood hops provide a low-key herbal, woody counterpoint that evokes cedar, anise, and caraway. Creamy and smooth upfront, the finish is a bit tingly and lingers nicely. The solid carbonation keeps the medium-full body from feeling heavy. This flavorful ale would pair nicely with a rich, fruity dessert or a good cigar.

(photo courtesy Stone Brewing Company)

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It seems like ages ago, but probably just the late 90s, that I wandered in to the liquor side of a package store in Lebanon, Tennessee of all places, and found among the Chimays and Duvels a gargoyle-adorned bottle that dared to call itself Arrogant Bastard. On the back was a lengthy manifesto that declared:

This is an aggressive beer. You probably won’t like it. It is quite doubtful that you have the taste or sophistication to be able to appreciate an ale of this quality and depth. We suggest you stick to safer and more familiar territory–maybe something with a multimillion dollar ad campaign aimed at convincing you it’s made in a little brewery, or one that implies that their tasteless fizzy yellow beer will give you more sex appeal. Perhaps you think that multimillion dollar ad campaigns make a beer taste better. Perhaps you’re mouthing your words as you read this.

This was exactly the kind of challenge that appealed to my then rapidly expanding beer ego, as well as my childish sense of humor. I immediately purchased one of the big, 22-oz. bottles and took it back to my hotel room to drink it out of one of the plastic cups wrapped in plastic on the sink. A swirl of flavors greeted my tongue from caramel stickiness to pungent funkiness. It was like the nectar of the Gods.

I went back the next day and bought two more to take home. Whenever I was in Tennessee, I made it a point to pick some up. When the repeal of the 6 percent cap on beer in Georgia came, the first thing I looked for was Arrogant Bastard, but it was not to be found. Now, after 4 excruciating years, it is finally here.

After much anticipation, Stone Brewing Company of San Diego County, California is finally bringing its attitude-laced portfolio of beers to Georgia. Rumor was that the brewery did not feel that they could meet the demand in Georgia, and that may still be true, as many are chomping at the bit now to have a regular supply of Arrogant Bastard Ale, the quintessential West Coast-style IPA, and the highly-rated Russian Imperial Stout.

The official kick-off party is scheduled for Mon., Sept. 22 at the new Taco Mac Metropolis in Midtown. They will have 12 Stone beers on tap: the aforementioned varieties, plus Pale Ale, Smoked Porter, Ruination DIPA, Levitation Ale, Oaked Arrogant Bastard, 2006 Double Bastard, 12th Anniversary Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout, 2007 Old Guardian Barleywine, and the recently released 08.08.08 Vertical Epic (they have produced one of these each year starting with 02.02.02).

The event kicks off at 5 p.m., but the kegs will be available all day. Scott Sheridan from Stone will be on hand to answer questions. I plan to report further on this when I get my hands on some of these beers. Stone beer dinners are also scheduled for the Brick Store Pub on Tues., Sept. 23 and Trappeze Pub in Athens on Wed., Sept. 24.

Are you worthy?

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