White IPA: a rant just waiting to happen...

Look, sorry to get you excited, but I'm not going to rant about "white IPA." Or black IPA, or strong IPA, or session IPA, or double/triple IPA, or even this insane "zero-hop IPA" that BrewDog and Flying Dog are doing. It's coming, believe it, but not today. Today I just finished my taxes and it's gorgeous outside, so I'm having a beer.

Two beers, actually, both white IPAs, this inevitable verbal reaction to the ill-advised "Black IPA" that has been buzzing about recently, which are apparently a cross of an IPA with a traditional witbier with cloudy wheat proteins, orange peel, and coriander. The question is: will it float your boat?

The first is Saranac White IPA, and it looks like a witbier...only it somehow looks bigger, more solid. I get that effect from the hulkingly lovable Unibroue Don de Dieu, too, so maybe there's something to it. There are also some definite floaters in here, though the beer's quite fresh. The nose? Well, Cathy says "IPA! I get floral hops." But I get orange over top first, and then drill down to the hops. Better taste. That's an interesting blend of hops bitterness, juicy refreshing wheat zing, and the pinch of coriander at the back, and it's all working pretty well for me...until the finish, where the coriander and the hops conspire to really clamp down, though the more I drink of it, the more I grow accustomed to that crush. Over all, quite refreshing, and calling for grilled chicken in a spicy marinade.

The other is Deschutes Chainbreaker White IPA, and it's a polar shift. Much less cloudy, light and airy-looking, and much more wit-like in aroma; weird that the west coaster is less IPA-like, eh? Smells almost classically like a Belgian white: orange lacing (from the peel and the Citra hops?) around fresh coriander, with hints of grassy/piney hops in the back. Very refreshing as the spice and light malt whirl about in the mouth, the orange lofting high on the palate, and finally coming to a finish where the hops do finally make a restrained full entrance. Quite the different execution, deftly delicate, and one that puts me in mind of a hot, dry afternoon in a hillside forest; pulling a sixer of this out of a cold stream would be a great interlude on such a day.

Saranac Octoberfest

I've been a fan of Saranac for years; I mean, years. Drinking Saranac, a good Saranac, makes me realize how long I've been at this. I was enjoying Saranac back in...1985? Wow. And I watched Saranac grow and develop: Saranac Amber, Saranac Golden (a delicious crisp pilsner), Black Forest, Black & Tan, Stout, Pale Ale, Hefeweizen, and for God's sake, Russian Imperial Stout that kicked ass.

I got a 12-pack of samples just before I left on vacation, didn't get a chance to even open it, but yesterday I tore them open: Saranac Octoberfest and Pumpkin Ale. I stuck three Ofests in the freezer as I was quickly putting the last touches on dinner, and when the spuds and pork and onions were ready, I poured two of them into a half-liter willbecker and hit the trough.

This is one damned fine beer. I'm kind of picky about Ofests -- hope I don't have to judge them at GABF -- because the malt character's so crucial, but they've done a great job here. It's solidly medium-bodied -- not too light, not too heavy -- dryly malty, and not glopped up with caramel. It was so good I had the third one, and it didn't mess me all up: 5.4%, a good strength for a beer you want to dive into a bit. I've got three freebies left, but I believe I'm going to have to get more of this.

Saranac Rye IPA

Just a short note about this Saranac Rye IPA I'm enjoying...frankly, it's short because I'm whupped. I've been up since 5:30 AM, shopping, running errands, cooking, shoveling snow (we've got about 10-11" right now, and it's finally starting to slack off)...and I'm about done.

So, the Rye IPA. It's quite brisk, almost light for an IPA, and it definitely has that rye feel to it: spicy/minty, a touch astringent, and yet ... 'oily' in a way on the finish. The hops are there to cut and carry -- Saaz and Hallertau in an IPA; how...Victorious -- and I think this would probably be a great beer with bluefish...I do love bluefish, and it's so hard to find a beer that's good with it.

For now, though...I'm drinking this beer with snow. And that's working, too.

"Bottle shop burning but everyone is ok."

I got a text message from Iron Hill brewer Larry Horwitz while I was in Montreal for the Mondial de la Bière last week (might have something on that for you, might just let Jack tell it and then correct what he gets wrong): "Just talked to keith @ fx matt. Bottle shop burning but everyone is ok." I had my phone turned off, and didn't actually get the message for a while, and what with one thing and another, didn't get the whole story till I got home on Saturday.

I won't re-tell it here, but a fire started in the bottling building. The canning line is destroyed (most of what they do there is Utica Club, but I think they do some contracts, too), the bottling line is down for at least a few weeks...maybe more. The building is old -- though not as old as the main brewery building -- and there was apparently not a sprinkler system. The age of the building kept that from being a problem, but re-construction will have to bring it up to code; much safer, but very expensive, as will be new canning equipment. The company's insurance position was unclear; there has been speculation that the lack of sprinklers probably meant that they were self-insured, but I don't know about that. Lotsa money.

Overall, this sucks. There is, however, some good news. First, the brewery, cellar, and kegging line were not affected, so draft Saranac continues to flow unchecked (get your butts out there and drink it). Second, there has been an outpouring of offers of help from New York's breweries, and it appears that a deal to tanker beer to a relatively nearby canning and bottling facility will be worked out quickly.

This brewery means a lot to me. Saranac 1888 was one of the first 'craft' beers I drank regularly, and I've been a fan ever since. F.X. Matt gave me one of my first significant interviews as a writer, and was always available for an interview, as are Nick and Fred Matt. The folks at Matt have been more than fair to me at all times. I've toured the brewery on many occasions, enjoyed the beer with friends all over the east coast...it's had almost as big a part in my beer-drinking evolution and memory as Yuengling; bigger in some ways. The thought that they might go down was tough to take.

But I should have known they'd survive. I asked F.X. once why he fought to keep the brewery open when the family trust that owned it wanted to sell out in 1989. "I have a stock answer when I’m asked why I fought for the brewery," he told me. "Family pride, stubbornness, and stupidity!" I'm proud to see that the Matt family is still proud, stubborn, and stupid. I would not have it any other way. Cheers, Nick and Fred, best of luck, and we'll keep drinking it as long as you make it.

The Session #8: Beer & Food, Part 2

Tough to get to a WiFi. Sorry not to have put these up in real time, as planned. We're in our room in Durham now, and I'm writing.

Carl and I decided to go for BBQ greatness by going down I-95 to Wilson, and then west across Rt. 264 to Durham. We started lunch, pre-lunch, with some minced pork and slaw at Ralph's in Roanoke Rapids. We checked Ralph's buffet, found it impressive, but offering too much variety for our plans for the day: "This is a marathon," Carl observed. "We need a longer-term strategy." So we got takeout, and enjoyed it in the parking lot with another Saranac Ofest.



Damn me if it wasn't good: the mellow pork, the sharp vinegar/pepper dressing/sauce, and the roundly sweet Ofest. We were disappointed by a lack of smoke in the pork, but weren't about to let that stop our enjoyment. Rain poured down as we passed the slaw and pork and beer back and forth; roaring on the roof at times, gently dripping at others. The mustardy slaw, the pig-sweet meat, and good beer...NC BBQ joints don't really go for beer, you gotta grab it, and it's worth it, and, well, maybe it's sweeter for being slightly illicit. (I had the keys on the dashboard the whole time, BTW; might as well be obviously not drinking and driving.)

We went on down to Wilson, and stopped at Parker's, and ate a big feast...with no beer. Food...with no beer. This was really good, but a big mug of beer would have been better. It yanks me when I can't have a beer, when I'm not allowed to have a beer with my dinner. It rankles me when the New Drys say "You don't have to have beer to have fun" but they won't go with the converse, which is "You don't have to be abstemious to be virtuous." Jerks. Pass me another bowl of minced pork, willya?

The Session #8: Beer & Food, Part I

I'm back in The Session, after two unfortunately badly-timed months where I missed it. This time it's on the theme of Beer and Food, the baby of Captain Hops at Beer Haiku Daily. And...I thought I'd do something by way of a salute to Stephen Beaumont's latest "Taste" column in Malt Advocate, in which he praises the early drink, admonishing us not to giggle at the idea of beer with breakfast.

Indeed. So I'm going to have beer with each meal today, and post three times. Right now I'm at my brother-in-law Carl's place in Chester, VA. I drove down yesterday afternoon (stopping for lunch at La Tolteca, in Waldorf, MD, which we stumbled on in August during a traffic jam and has become a regular stop: chalupa, enchilada, and a cold Negra Modelo) and spent the night, preparatory to driving to the World Beer Festival in Durham. This morning it's scrambled eggs, with tomatoes, munster, and leftover carnitas from last night's dinner. Oh, and a Saranac Octoberfest. It's 9 AM, and I am not giggling, Stephen.

Why this beer? Well, I like the Saranac beers, been drinking them for 20 years. I also figured the maltiness of the Ofest would set off the spicy pork nicely. Let's put that to the test: it's official, I'm a genius! No, really, this is good. The eggs are good stuff on their own, but with the beer in the mouth, things really light up. The beer gives the flavors in the melange the Playtex Bra Effect; it lifts and separates them. (Anyone else remember those ads? I've been wanting to use that phrase for years.) The pork steps out, I can taste the cheese clearly, even the tomatoes taste fresher. The beer's fresh as rain too, easy to swallow and grab for more. Great job on that, cheers to the folks in Utica.

Next stop: barbeque. Wonder if there's places where they'll let me have a beer. Yeek.