Lew_Bryson

This is a constant topic of discussion among west/east coast brewers, writers, and aficianados, and the general concensus is clearly that west coast brewers in general tend to lean heavier on hops, and west coast drinkers in general seem to like it that way. There's not a lot of argument about that, except in the vein of eastern brewers and drinkers saying 'we do too make/drink hoppy beers!' and their western counterpartst saying (with an amused chuckle) 'No, you don't. You just think you do. Here, try THIS.' The east tends to hew more to the traditional styles...though this is changing as the eastern brewers are playing catch up (catch up and pass, in some cases). I was just at an "East meets West" event where five western brewers (CA and CO, not PNW) came east to duke it out, hopwise. Damn near every beer there was 60 IBU or better, some over 110. It was a pretty even fight. Thing is, it's like asking for evidence that Wisconsiners like cheese. It's a fact of life, and everyone knows it. Wilson really only seems to think it's a bad thing because he has moved there and would like some more options.

Hey, Rust, good to see you again! And Cook, good to see you, since you didn't introduce yourself so formally... Who Killed Kenny?

What a night... I've finally recovered enough to get online. Two big shots of whiskey at midnight turned out to NOT have been a good idea... But the beer, oh my. Perkuno's Hammer was a big pillow of solid malt, the Nodding Head IIPA was in beautiful condition and packed with a great blend of hops flavor and esters, and the General Lafayette Scotch Ale was deliciously sweet and tongue-tingling. Second round faves were the Brewers Art green peppercorn triple (good description, cdh: pepper flavor without the heat), Legacy Duke of Ale's sly hoppiness and good condition, and the surprising Weyerbacher Scotch Ale -- never one of my favorites of the brewery's line, but damn was it good last night. I only realized this morning that I completely missed the Troegs Nugget Nectar! I am kicking myself over that. Good to see so many people out--out the door! God, over thirty people standing on the sidewalk in freezing breezing temps for half an hour TO GET INTO A CROWDED BAR AND DRINK REAL ALE! There was no entertainment, no great cuisine, no celebrities in there, and certainly no "beautiful people," believe me. It was all about the beer, and that is fantastic. I was working for the first hour, doing interviews for a piece on Chef Jim Coleman's nationally-syndicated "A Chef's Table" radio program. We HOPE it works, but there was a LOT of "ambient sound!" I'll let you know if it makes the schedule. Oh, and Rich: the last picture, of Gates and his nephew? The guy on the right is the notorious wandering beerophile, Randall "Woody" Chandler. He's written for Ale Street News as "The Beer Pest."

Good luck, then, and...don't expect to see me this week, it's Friday the Firkinteenth, and the Grey Lodge has FIFTEEN FIRKINS pouring real ale from 6 to close! So I've got work to do, y'know?

I did a float with Perkuno's Hammer Baltic Porter and my local dairy's (Goodnoe's) black raspberry ice cream. The two clashed until they mixed, and then it was fantastic. The dark pit fruit of the Porter and the creamy razz in the ice cream really hit it off.

Boddington's is classified as an ordinary English bitter. Pretty smooth stuff, not much hop flavor. But it IS a bitter. Eh, "bitter." The Brits call Bass an IPA. Keep in mind that "bitters" are really only bitter in comparison to milds, which aren't bitter at all, and Boddington's is a relatively emasculated bitter. As for the sledgehammer...I like it, every now and then. All things in moderation, including moderation. But by all means, say something about it, that IS what this is all about. Hell, if we don't talk about things, that would be truly ridiculous. But don't get curmudgeonly with me about not getting out -- I'm on your side! I didn't get out much at all when my two kids were little. Now that they're 12 and 10, I get out more often, and my consumption of draft has gone up, and I like that. Generally speaking, draft is better. Which makes me happy. And since I'm in such a level-headed mood...Tighe, Seattleites, and especially you, Malarkey...if I DO get out to Seattle later this year, I expect to get guided to some places with something other than hops, hops, and hops. At which time I will consider recanting. Deal?

Boy, you said a mouthful. Too many American brewers think the way to make a great beer is to throw in more hops. Some of them have moved on to malt bombs. But so many are scared to death to use anything but that damned clean and soul-less Chico 1056 yeast. American brewers are just starting to mess about with yeast. There are obviously exceptions to this, but they are just that; exceptions. This is where Euro-brewers still have the clear advantage. Hey, we've come a long way in 30 years, a LONG way. I expect we'll continue to improve. And...hops definitely have their place. It's just not the only place.

The only thing worse than irrationally defensive locals is when non-locals who are from or have lived in "real cities" resort to condescension and insults when we hicks in the sticks don't immediately kow-tow to their superior knowledge and worldliness... Lew, the part of the thread you missed is where several of us tried to point out to Wilson that experiencing the true breadth and depth of northwest beer offerings might require him to drink some of it out of a glass. He dismissed this as an unreasonable proposition, which I, and I suspect most serious beer drinkers from anywhere, find rediculous. Tighe, you're over-reacting. I have nothing but love for Seattle; been there twice, can't wait to get back, might go later this year. I do NOT think it's provincial or unsophisticated, I'd rather go there than any west coast American city. Except maybe San Diego, where the beer's REALLY hoppy. BUT it has been my experience over the past 15 years that PNWers and Seattleites/Cascadians in particular have a big blindspot about their craft-brewed beer. It's really hoppy, and it tends to all be hoppy, across the range, with a very small selection of other styles. Now I like hoppy beers: HopDevil, Two-Hearted Ale, Racer 5, 90 Minute IPA, Alpha King, they're all great. But I like to have other choices, and the PNW is NOT known for its other choices (other than your aberrant "hefeweizen"), and rightly so. And I didn't miss anything in the thread. Wilson either doesn't like to go out, or he is somehow restrained from going out...so how is he going to get draft? I have to admit, though...quoting Boddington's and Anchor Steam as a defense of "I like hoppy beers"...is a bit lame. Better come up with something hoppier if you want to be taken seriously, because you're not even convincing me with those!

There's been some issues with opening the Friday night beer chat session on StarChat, the No Bull Inn. StarChat limits "unregistered" rooms to five participants. Right now, it appears I'm the only one who knows how to register rooms, and if I get there too late, only five people get in. So here's how to register the room. Do what I do every week, and go to StarChat's Help page and read it. StarChat Help page You'll have to have a registered nickname: if you don't, there's instruction there on how to do that, too. It's not easy, but it's not too difficult, either. You have to open the room first, and then go back to the initial screen and register it. StarChat is a clunky system, but it does what we want it to, so... Hope this helps!

You've just described the characteristics of any half-way serious beer place in Seattle. I refuse to accept that beer scene in the PNW is anything less than one of the most diverse and interesting anywhere. If you want to try to judge it by what's available in grocery stores or in the average 5-handle bar, you're simply missing the boat entirely. Refuse what you will. I talk to people in the PNW every week about beer, and while they do say that Seattle's selection is probably the widest in the region, it still does not have the variety of the East and Chicago. Fact is, there's no way to prove this, and there's no POINT to proving it. Wilson's point is that he finds the beer selection in the PNW not to his liking, and what might he be missing. All I've seen in response is that there must be something wrong with him, because the PNW is beer heaven. Does that sound reasonable to you? Probably does. You can always tell a PNW beerlover...but you can't tell 'em much.

Wilson, my man, I'm with you...on most of this. I spent six days in Portland, OR, in 2001. It was great, fantastic for beer. I was swimming in IPAs, porters, pale ales, and ambers. But man, by the fifth day I was absolutely jonesing for a good lager, an ale that was under 6% ABV or 40 IBU. YES, there are exceptions in the PNW, but that's exactly what they are: exceptions. These guys need to balance their beer diet. If I went into a beer bar and all they had were hoppy ales, porters, and "hefeweizens," I wouldn't be back too often. My local usually has three Belgians, two IPAs, a couple stouts, four lagers, a porter, a hefeweizen (a REAL one, and that's where I'm not with you: Widmer/Pyramid/Redhook's hefeweizens are a waste of space in my book), and maybe four other beers of varying styles: Scotch ale, Baltic porter, ESB, what have you. VARIETY is the spice of our beer life, not hops! Hops are a crutch for people who don't know how to brew properly. Any brewer can throw another bale of hops in the kettle. Let the war continue.

In case anyone's keeping score at home...I wound up going to Blue Moon Cafe, on Aliceanna st. in Fells Point. Great little place, excellent food (I had Dmitri's Burritos, scrambled eggs, cheddar, fresh house-made salsa (fairly dry, not that goopy shtuff), and hash-browns rolled up in flour tortillas and topped with a reasonable amount of add'l salsa and cheddar), and the coffee was exceptional. Service was great, too. I'd be very happy to go back tomorrow.

Been there, done that on the Cross Street Market, and that seafood bar/counter/stand-up eats place is GREAT, plus they serve beer in the biggest damned plastic cups I've ever seen, like a kid's beach bucket without the handle. They even have a couple beers that aren't slop. Anyone know about the food at Jimmy's? I like atmosphere too, but...ya can't stick a fork in it!

Getting good draft Guinness at bar relies on three things: the turnover, the temperature and gas pressure on the line, and the cleanliness of the line. Of these three, the most likely to ruin your pint is the first one. Best way to find a good jar is to go to a place that sells a LOT of it. My calls in Philly: Fergie's, Irish Bards, Black Sheep. In NYC, the best pint of Guinness I've found is at Maggie's Place, where it's so perfectly poured it's positively meticulous. And Guinness is to stout as Bud is to lager? Please! It's become fashionable among the geekerie to bash Guinness, but the stuff is what it is, the premiere Irish dry stout, the very definition of the type, the beer other dry stouts compare themselves to. It is NOT a milk stout, nor an oatmeal stout, nor an "export" stout, nor an imperial stout, nor a porter. It is Guinness, and it is the touchstone.

I'm going to Baltimore on Friday and Saturday to do research for a brewery/bar guidebook. I'm bar-hopping to exhaustion Friday night (fatigue, not pass-out, I gotta stay sober enough to take notes), and I'm going to need lots of really great coffee and a rib-sticking breakfast Saturday morning. So...what's the best non-chain place in Baltimore for breakfast? I want coffee, and biscuits, and shellfish, and pie, and maybe some local breakfast favorite I'm not aware of. And I would rather starve than eat at Denny's or some other damned chain restaurant pit. Educate me, hon!

Dick, Your info's correct...mostly. The Huber Brewery's one of the few pre-Prohibition survivors (there are about 12 left). And yeah, returnables are more expensive than throwaways these days, with the cost of energy and replacements, and thicker glass... Berghof Dark is essentially the same brew as Huber Bock, and both of 'em are still a good deal, IMO. But Miller didn't raise the price on Leinie's to cover overhead and advertising. Miller lets Leinenkugel run that place, they just provide loans and advice. The Leinenkugel family still calls the shots. The price went up because selling beer at $6 a case is just a fancy way to go broke. As for Lowenbrau, Miller ruined that brand. The Canadian-brewed version never had a chance, so they've gone to the German version. Once they get its good name re-established (deservedly, IMO: the stuff's pretty good), they may re-intro the Dark. And not to rub it in, but...You better get you some Yuengling and prepare to watch the Iggles!

It's great that someone finally ran an ad in which guys realize they "can't taste my beer!!!!" Gotta be Ultra. It's ludicrous that it's a Miller Lite ad.

I saw DeuS for $23.99 at State Line Liquors in Elkton, MD, just off I-95. But...I had my first taste of DeuS on New Year's Eve, and my bro-in-law (Carl, visiting from Richmond), my wife, and myself all found it interesting, highly carbonated, but ultimately not very enjoyable. I'm supposed to be getting a sample bottle in the mail from Manekin, and I'll give it another shot, but last night's experience was pretty negative: very dry, almost painfully fizzy, and one-dimensionally spiced. Not a winner for us. On the other hand, the Avery Old Jubilation was great, had a sip of Bushmills three-wood that was delish (don't tell no one, but I also tipped some of this very distinguished whiskey in my egg nog and it R*O*C*K*E*D), and had a couple of VERY estery "beta version" bottles of the Clipper City Winter Storm, nice stuff, reminded me strongly of the late lamented Brimstone Big. I also shared some "boilo" with the bro-in-law, a Lehigh Valley/PA Coal Region traditional bootleg liqueur. Boilo (and I'm not sure that's the right spelling, it's an oral tradition) is a mix of booze (usually based on bourbon, rye, or blended whiskey), citrus, and spice, sometimes drunk warm, and almost always delivered in a mason jar. We got ours from a friend in Pottstown, and it was quite tasty at 1 AM, aromatic and delicious. A pretty good New Year's Eve, and we had another good day today. Started with 'bella and cheddar omelettes, hit the D&R Canal bike path along the Delaware for a ride with the families (4 of mine, 4 of Carl's), then came home and ate cheese (brie, 3-year-old NY cheddar, Huntsman, and some delightfully stinky goat cheese I got at DiBruno's), tapenade, guacamole, and Old Bay-spiced steamed shrimp while the pork and kraut roasted. Today we drank Geary's Hampshire (going year-round didn't hurt this venerable Ringwood strong ale), Weyerbacher Winter (good, but could be a bit bigger), Weeping Radish Winter (tasty doublebock), and a nip off a Tröegs Oatmeal Stout before I tipped the rest in the roasting pan over the kraut (sacrifices must be made: stout makes a GREAT mess of kraut). The pork was delicious, the kraut excellent, Carl's red cabbage (vegetarian!) surprisingly delicate, and another bottle of the Clipper "beta." Finished up with Burmester 20 year old tawny port, capuccino, and a big snort of Baker's bourbon. Happy New Year, folks! Lew Bryson

I got two pints and one bottle of Hop Wallop, and it's practically gone. The second batch will be bottled December 30th, so get your reservations in now!

Wonderful thread, I wanna play too! My top 5 WOW bourbons (and one rye): 1. Hirsch/Michter's 16 Year Old 2. Wild Turkey Kentucky Spirit 3. George T. Stagg 4. SAzerac Rye 18 Year Old 5. Old Forester Birthday Bourbon 2003 (Spring) My top 5 all-night-long bourbons: 1. Baker's 2. Jim Beam Black Label 8 Year Old 3. Buffalo Trace 4. Van Winkle 15 Year Old 5. Henry McKenna Bottled in Bond And my top 5 incredible bargain whiskies: 1. Elijah Craig 12 Year Old 2. Jim Beam White Label 7 Year Old (KY only) 3. Pikesville Rye 4. Wild Turkey 101 5. Old Forester Gawd, I love whiskey. But let's talk about those definitions. By federal regulation: 1. Bourbon whiskey must be made from a mashbill of at least 51% corn. There is no top limit, there is no stipulation about what "small grains" are used. (The small grains always include some malted barley for enzymes in the mashing, and either rye or wheat (or both; there are some experimental 4-grain whiskies being tried out right now).) 2.The spirit must finish distillation at no MORE than 160 proof. 3. It can enter the barrel for aging at no more than 125 proof. 4. The barrels must be new, charred, white oak barrels; no re-use of barrels for bourbon, it's once and done. 5. NO colorings or flavorings may be added to the whiskey. 6. It is bottled at a minimum of 80 proof. 7. It must be aged for a minimum of two years. If it is aged less than four years, the age must be stated on the label (Jim Beam White is aged for four years and one day; they refer to it as "birthday bourbon"). Note that there is no requirement that bourbon be distilled or aged in Kentucky to be called "bourbon." Check out a bottle of Virginia Gentleman or Hirsch (which was distilled and aged in Pennsylvania) for empirical proof. All bourbon whiskey is sour mash these days. Rye whiskey follows the same regulations, except it's mashbill is a minimum of 51% rye. Tennesee whiskeys, like George Dickel and Jack Daniel's, follow all the same regs as bourbon, but must add an additional step, the "Lincoln County Process." This entails filtering ("leeching," the distillery calls it) the unaged whiskey through ten feet of sugar maple charcoal before it enters the barrel. I like my bourbon neat, splash of branch, or on the rocks when it's hot, and I do like a rye and ginger ale hiball with a slice of lemon. I used to drink a lot of mint juleps...till the day I was making one in the kitchen and glanced out the window to see my dog peeing on the mint. Haven't been able to bring myself to have one since. If you get the chance, you really should make it to the Kentucky Bourbon Festival. It's held in the fall in Bardstown, KY, and it's a blast. Lew

it's not actually. That's just where the Pabst offices are. It's really brewed by Miller. Lew

Victory has not entered the GABF competition, to my knowledge, and I have never seen them at GABF. I am surprised that Dogfish HEad didnt win any medals, but that's just how it goes, I guess. Stoudt's hasn't competed at GABF for the last 3 or 4 years, after being shut out of any medals a few years back. Some breweries like DFH don't fare so well because so many of their beers don't conform to style guidelines. Victory entered once (they were not on the floor, just sent beers for judging) and got shut out. They took a closer look at what went on, and decided not to enter any competitions that charged fees; they didn't like the concept. FWIW, I somewhat agree. They HAVE won awards, but in competitions where they are "entered" by the people doing the judging (US Beer Tasting Championships, Malt Advocate Brewery of the Year, top 50 on www.beeradvocate.com). Stoudt's has won an impressive number of medals over the years, but... well, I definitely believe there is a bias in the judging. Judges and stewards hotly deny this, but I can't see how it isn't there. I don't mean to imply a malicious bias, but rather an unintentional one. Every year I get a list of the judges for the GABF. Every year the number of judges from New England is smaller than the number from overseas. Every year the number of judges from the west is predominant. These judges are voting for what their everyday tasting tells them is the right beer. They like what they know. Understandable, but biased. Leastways, that's my take on it. And indeed, Dogfish Head is way out of the style categories, as is Magic Hat. GABF does a good job, but it's far from the final arbiter of the best beers in America. Lew

Long over, I realize, but...Meteor does make a witbier that's quite good and in the style. Maybe that's it? Last I knew the beer was still being imported -- sporadically -- by Le Bec Fin, the famous French restaurant in Philadelphia. Lew

The "artisanal" beers are indeed a case apart, but I'd have to disagree about Meteor. This Alsatian pilsner is most definitely a cut above most "premium" pilsners made outside of the Czech Republic and Bavaria, with the delicious soft malt character and firm bitterness of the Bohemian beauties. I'm always happy to enjoy a bottle of 3 Monts or Duyck or Sebourge, but I'm equally happy to slop my way through several tall glasses of fresh, foam-crowned Meteor. Point of reference: Meteor is, to my knowledge, the only beer to have sought (and gained) permission from Prazdoj to use the "pilsner" appellation on their label. In my opinion, it is a permission that has been well-earned. Never lose sight of the beauty of good lager beers. It is often obscured by the tarnished reputation of mass-market lagers, but that would be to throw out the Bugatti with the Yugo. After all, they are both automobiles. Lew

What's "mass produced"? Over 100,000 bbls. a year? Over 1,000,000? And what's "lager"? Pilsner knock-offs like Bud and Heineken and Corona, or ANY lager? Assuming the million barrel mark and light, fizzy beer as lager...My votes go for: Pilsner Urquell Yuengling Lager Fresh draft Heineken Singha Sam Adams Boston Lager (east coast production, preferably draft) If we can go smaller production, my vote would be for Augustiner Edelstoff, one of the best liter-after-liter beers I've ever found. And Penn Pilsner's not bad either, Penn Dark's even better. Lew