Tasting with the Times: Oktoberfest!

One last post for September: I was lucky enough to get invited to participate in another New York Times beer tasting panel, and the story's out in tomorrow's paper...which you can read today. Until it's tomorrow, at which time you'll be reading it, um, today. Then. Tomorrow. Go read it now.

I don't talk much about these sessions: that's Eric Asimov's job, and he does it well. We tasted 24 beers, blind, and then talked them out. I will say that there were a larger number of "in-style" beers than usual, which I found interesting: have American brewers picked up the torch and decided to keep this "more traditional" than the Germans? Maybe. Meanwhile, get those liter mugs: Pros't, baby!

The Fall of the Corn Curtain: Go Tour the Tom Moore Distillery

A somewhat momentous date tomorrow: as of October 1, the Tom Moore Distillery, formerly known as the Barton distillery, is open for tours.

For the longest time, Barton was the Tibet of distilleries, tucked away down a quiet, thickly tree-lined street in Bardstown. They didn't give any tours, even guys like me didn't get in very often. You had to have a reason. Barton sold Ten High, Very Old Barton (that's six years very old), and some other similar "value" brands -- don't knock it, VOB is some damned good bourbon for the price -- mostly in Kentucky. They had their business, they did it, and outside of kicking up their heels a bit at the barrel relay races at the Kentucky Bourbon Festival, they kept a real low profile.

1792 put a crack in the armor. That's their premium bourbon that has done right nicely for them. When it did well, and "Barton" started getting some respect, the folks at Constellation Inc. (the world's largest wine company, the importer of Corona for the U.S.) started to realize that they could be getting in on some of the wild adoration popping up for bourbon distillers. So after a bit of sprucing up -- not too much; you can still see deer in the edges of the woods around the warehouses -- they decided to let you in to see what they do.

"There’s no flash here," master distiller Greg Davis told me (that's him in the picture). "You’ll see a true operation. If you’re a gearhead, you’re gonna go off on this. That’s one of the great things: it is designed to produce bourbon. It's not about touring, not about making things pretty. This is how it’s done, period." That's okay, Greg, there's a place for nuts and bolts, too.

If you're looking to take a tour, they're by reservation only, at 9:30 AM and 1:30 PM. Call Pam Gover (502-348-3774) at least a day in advance to make your reservation. And be sure to ask them what's aging in the bottom three floors of the warehouse; kind of a surprise, there.

Rumors of a Return...

A much-mourned three-time GABF Gold medal winner from Pennsylvania may indeed be making a return. If it comes back this time, you and I are going to do everything we can to make sure it sticks...no matter how much crap I have to take from certain secret admirers.

Sorry to be so Curtinesque in my rumor-mongering, but when you have an open secret like this, you've just got to...no, wait, that doesn't make sense. Okay, what the hell: I am talking about Liebotschaner Cream Ale from The Lion. Sounds like they're seriously considering bringing it back, and I hope they put some money behind it this time. Cream ale is a traditional favorite in eastern PA, and there's no reason why it won't work again. Er...assuming it's still good. Can't wait to find out.

Pinkus Jubilate

Just-arrived from importer Merchant du Vin: the first new Pinkus beer I've seen in a while. Jubilate is a dark lager, also organic, like their other beers. It's not the best dark lager I've ever had, but it's a fine beer: drinkable, full-flavored, no flaws. I had the Jubilate with a delicious dish of pasta Amatriciano, a dish with some heat and big flavors, and the Jubilate grabbed the sweetness, tamed the heat, a great foil for the food. It's a good choice for food, and not bad for just sitting back and drinking, either.

Sierra Nevada Chico Estate Harvest Wet Hop Ale

I don't usually put the whole name of a windily-named beer in the post name: let's just identify the beer and move on, eh? But in this case, every word actually means something.

Sierra Nevada: still the biggest brick-and-mortar microbrewery out there, did it pure: all about the beer, not the advertising. Pioneered American Pale Ale and American-style barleywine, do great lagers as well. Street cred about as solid as you can get in this business.

Chico Estate Harvest: They grew hops right on their brewery grounds. That's their one brewery, which they have so far insisted is the only way to insure consistency, despite how much easier it would be to sell fresh beer in the East with an eastern brewery. They grew them, they harvested them.

Wet Hop: You can't hardly get "wetter" than this, picking them right on the brewery grounds and dumping them directly in the kettle, without even a truck-ride from the fields. Sierra Nevada has been way out in front on fresh hop beers, and now have three of them. Hats off, even though that Southern Hemisphere one is just frippin' nuts. And delicious.

Ale: "Chico." "Ale." This is the yeast that has built the craft brewing industry, a clean workhorse. It is not always my first choice, but when you want a beer that showcases fresh hops like this, it's one of the best. Sierra Nevada has based their reputation on this yeast, and it's proven to be a solid foundation.

Every word is important. That came to me as I drank this big 24 oz. bottle (okay, I split it with Cathy and a friend of ours, Jim Hanyok). The hops leap right out, citrus, pine, and a green freshness. The ale is bigger than SNPA at 6.7%, but it only uses it for firmness, not hugeness. This is a beer that establishes a presence in your mouth, a "whole-palate" beer. It's malty-sweet, it's thumb-solid bitter. Ten years ago, this would have been an IPA. Now it's just "hoppy" and delicious.

I'll definitely be looking for this one next year, and so should you.

Just Write, She Said

The latest poll -- which actually was just a bagatelle, something I threw up to make sure Blogger was working -- attracted a fair amount of interest. About a quarter of you would like me to write more about whiskey, a third would prefer I keep writing mostly about beer, while another quarter just wants me to write more often. Sounds like I'd be best off just keeping on keeping on, with maybe a bit more Penderyn: 12% of you think I need to write more about him.

You're all nuts, aren't you?

Two German Pilsners

I'm slowly -- sorry -- working my way through a bunch of German samples sent to me by a new import company...so new that I've lost the press release and can't find it anywhere online. I'm pretty sure they're either associated with or piggybacking on Schwelmer Beer Imports in Brooklyn, so if you're interested, I'd start there.

In fact, one of the two beers I sampled tonight was Schwelmer Pils. It comes in a cute little 330 ml swingtop bottle with a decorative label, at 4.7% ABV. I remember having Schwelmer beers at a party a few years ago, and this bottle brought that back: quite solid, good malt underpinnings, hops sufficient unto the day, and quite good with tonight's pizza.

The second beer was Lammsbräu Organic Pilsner, at 4.8% ABV. They've been all-organic since 1986, according to their website, which is fairly early even for Europe. They have evidently been at it long enough to get good at it: this was quite nice. Drinkable, not overly crisp, good hop bitterness, and not cloying. Kind of sorry there was only one in the sample box: this is a three-glasser.

(I also had some Puckerfish at Flying Fish tonight, where Mark and I had our most successful signing for New Jersey Breweries so far. The Puckerfish was solidly sour, with the body to back it up, a beer with some depth. Casey Hughes shocked me by telling me it was around 8.2%; it drank like a much lighter beer. If you see this -- and there's not much of it -- grab some. I think you'll be surprised it's Flying Fish.)

We're Definitely Winning

Check out this list of beers available at a special event coming up for GABF Week:

We are hosting a series of brewery features starting at 2:00 PM, showcasing a different brewery and some specialty products. Here is a brief schedule:
Tuesday 10/7 - Avery Brewing - Ale to the Chief, a cask conditioned version of Old Jubilation, and The Kaiser.
Wednesday - Left Hand Brewing - Terra-rye-zd, a black rye (50%) lager that was done in collaboration with Terrapin Beer Co. in GA, Nitro version of Milk Stout, and Twin Sisters IPA.
Thursday - Victory Brewing (!) - Abbey 6 Dubbel, Golden Monkey, Hop Devil, Prima Pils
Friday - Stone Brewing - 12th Anniversary Bittersweet Chocolate Oatmeal Stout, Oaked Arrogant Bastard, Ruination IPA, Smoked Porter, and Cali Belgique.

Okay, you say, big deal. There are special beer events at beer bars all the time, and this is a great line-up, but it's not a fantastic one.

I think it is, when you consider where it's happening: ESPN Zone Denver. Like I said, we are definitely winning. Golden Monkey at the ESPN Zone: YAAAAAAA!!!!!!

Blue & Gray Oktoberfest

A bit out of my local area, but a fun event at a chronically overlooked brewery:

Blue & Gray Brewing in Fredericksburg, Virginia, is having their 6th annual Oktoberfest this weekend. We've been to this in the past, and it's a great time: oompah, sausage, beer, the whole thing, and believe me, the beer is excellent. Check the schedule at the link above, but it's very reasonable (and yes, they're doing it rain or shine; the rain should have passed through by Saturday afternoon). Stop by and see these phenomenally friendly bunch of folks, and enjoy a little Virginia-style gemütlichkeit!

The PLCB Should Still Be Abolished

After over a month, my other blog has lurched back into relevancy: there's a new Reason Why the PLCB Should Be Abolished. This time it's about how the PLCB and The Almighty Liquor Code don't really care about you; they just want your money. You're shocked, I'm sure. Read, enjoy, get pissed off.