2010 Beerdrinker of the Year Finalists Announced

The three finalists for the 2010 Beerdrinker of the Year were announced this week.  (See the excerpt below from the Wynkoop's press release.)  I hope you can all make it down to the Wynkoop on the afternoon of Saturday, February 27th for the National Finals.  I'll be the short guy in the white wig and robe!

Phil Farrell, a Cumming, Georgia commercial pilot, homebrewer, and beer judge. He has tasted beer in every country in Europe, 1000 of the world’s pubs and 400 brewpubs. He’s known to many in the beer community as the “Chicken Man” because he’s hauled his homebrew club’s mascot, a rubber chicken, around the world and photographed it with thousands of beer people.

His philosophy about beer: “Beer is first and foremost a social drink. It is the most flexible and universally affordable fine beverage there is. Every social gathering and every food item is enhanced with beer. Beer is the greatest gift ever given to the human race and meant to be shared with others.”

William Howell, a Sterling, Alaska, college administrator, retired Navy officer, homebrewer, and beer educator. In 2007 he created a new course for Kenai Peninsula College entitled The Art and History of Brewing, and has traveled extensively across Alaska and the West in pursuit of great beer.

His beer philosophy: “I have been a lover of craft beers since 1984 and a homebrewer since 1989. Since my retirement from active duty I’ve been really been able to “get serious” about beer. I decided it was time to start giving something back to the world of craft beer that had given me so much.”

Logan Perkins, a Denver, Colorado beer enthusiast who has tried nearly 5,000 beers in 45 states, 21 European countries and 5 Asian nations.

His philosophy of beer drinking: “Drinking beer is about enhancing the quality of life through flavors, feelings and friends. I love beer alone, but especially enjoy sharing it with others. I believe in handling, collecting and tasting beers with the same respect as a wine lover. I try to keep everything in moderation, including moderation itself.”

Back in the Brewery

One of the prizes awarded to the Beerdrinker of the Year is a batch of beer brewed in their honor for the following year’s competition. It is hard to believe, but the 2010 BDOTY competition is right around the corner. (Saturday, February 27^th at 2:00 pm at the Wynkoop.) So it was time for the Wynkoop to brew a beer for me.

Last month I was approached by the Wynkoop’s master brewer, Andy Brown, about what type of beer I wanted the Wynkoop to brew. The perfect beer immediately came to mind. The Wynkoop brewpub is world famous for its cask-conditioned English style Ales hand pulled from the cellar using their traditional beer engines. I happen to have an Angram beer engine/hand pump in my basement, and every year for my big Screaming Blue Monkey party I brew a cask Ale called “Old Rabbit” for the guests. It is always a crowd favorite, and I knew this beer would be a natural fit for the Wynkoop’s system. So the decision was made – the Old Rabbit. Andy and I worked together to scale my recipe up, and yesterday I spent the day in rubber boots at the Wynkoop with him brewing away.  (The 5,299th batch in Wynkoop history.)

The Old Rabbit is an Old Ale made with an English Maris Otter base malt, lots of chocolate & crystal malt, along with Brer Rabbit molasses added with the first hops in the brew kettle. (hence the name) It is dark, rich, fruity and complex. People usually don’t know molasses was used in the brewing process unless I tell them. It lends a slight smokiness and caramelized sugar flavor to the Ale. Andy wanted to add his touch to this beer, so he renamed it “Auld Rabbit”… which made me wonder why I had never thought of that! The Rabbit is currently fermenting as I type and will be tapped around Valentines Day. I’m sure there will be plenty left for the 2010 Beerdrinker of the Year National Finals on the 27^th. If you are in the Denver area, come down to the finals and experience the theatrics and fun of the event. And you can let me know what you think of my beer.

If you want to brew your own Auld Rabbit, start with Maris Otter, add a generous helping of English chocolate and 60 deg L crystal, and add 5% (by weight) molasses to the brew kettle. Make sure and use mild molasses and don’t get carried away with the addition, because it can easily be over done. Too much and your friends won’t even drink it! The hops play a secondary role in this beer, so use three additions at 60, 40 and 20 minutes (before the end of the boil) with an alpha acid/weight combination that will yield about 30 IBUs at the end. Shoot for an original gravity of 1.065 and use a well attenuating English Ale yeast. Serve it “warm and flat”, preferably from an authentic British beer engine. I hope to see you in February!

Aloha!

Work has taken me back to Hawaii and I have a quick update for beer lovers on the islands.  Hawaii is not always the easiest place to find a wide variety of beers, and due to its remote location, drinks usually don’t come cheap either.  Even for locally made crafts.  (Which have to import almost all of their ingredients except water.)  But on this trip I found a real gem with a great selection and at reasonable prices – The Yard House on 226 Lewers Street in Waikiki.

Upon arriving here on my trip last month I took a Waikiki shuttle from the airport to the Hilton Village where I was staying.  The bus driver immediately sprang into hospitality mode before we left the airport grounds.  (I think the natives are programmed from birth to be eternally happy and gracious hosts.)  He provided us with island history, customs, a geography overview, debunked myths, etc.  And as we neared our hotel and crossed into Waikiki I distinctly remembering him saying, “you are now entering Waikiki…  everything just got real expensive.”  Hawaii is the most expensive state in the union to visit, and Waikiki is the most expensive part of Hawaii.  So when I found the Yard House directly in the center of tourist central I tried to set my financial expectations.

I’m a variety freak so I love the Yard House near my home in Golden, CO.  And I was pleasantly surprised to find the same great selection of beers in Waikiki - along with reasonable prices.  I started off with a six-pack sampler, which consisted of three Lost Coast Brewery (Eureka, CA) beers - Great White, Downtown Brown, and Alleycat Amber, and three beers from Mehana Brewing (Hilo Hawaii) - Mauna Kea Pale Ale, Humpback Blue, and Hawaii Lager.  Six wonderful five-ounce beers for $9!  Thirty ounces for approximately what one would pay for a pint across the street.  And after I finished the sampler I started drinking my way around the rest of the world for $6 to $7 per beer.  Understandably all of their beers are market price, so the cost fluctuates depending on the request.  (Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to come off as a total cheap skate, but I always drink more comfortably knowing I’m not getting ripped off, not to mention that the money saved probably means another round.)

The Yard House offers 100 beers on tap from the U.S., England, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, the Czech Republic, Australia, Mexico, Japan, etc. This includes a solid representation of local micros from Maui Brewing Company, Kona Brewing, and Mehana.  I’ve stopped by four times already, and ate there twice.  As a beer lover I highly recommend the Yard House for good food and a great selection of reasonably priced beers from Hawaii and around the world.  It is a short walk from the beach and right in the middle of where Waikiki is happening.   That is all for now, I have to head to Lulu’s surf club and watch the sun set.

French Beer

One of my favorite (non-beer) sayings is, "The French Impressionists were very talented at a technique known as French Impressionism."  It is always fun to poke fun at the French.  They are a people that are acutely proud of their culture and products - but for some reason they also make an easy target.  I suppose one could also say, "French Brewers are the best in the world at brewing French beer."  Obviously the French are much better known for their wine and cheese than beer, but they do make some good beer.  And, as a beer lover, if you are interested in seeking out a French specialty, I recommend you take an atlas to the liquor store with you.  France is located squarely in the wine belt, but its northern border with Belgium is an area of transition into the beer belt.  In my experience, the further north the brewery (the closer to Belgium), the better the beer.

Surely some of that beer brewing brilliance from one of the world's greatest brewing countries spills over the border into northern France.  This is somewhat ironic since over the centuries the Belgians have borrowed techniques from the French, which has led to some of worlds greatest beers brewed by them.  The art of barrel aging and blending their beers were no doubt influenced by their southern wine-making neighbors.  And many Belgian beers have characteristics closer to wine than beer - for example being dry and sour instead of malty and bitter.  Belgium is at a crossroads between Germany, France and England, and their "anything goes" creativity is a product of local expertise and borrowed practices.

There is one broad beer category that straddles the border between Belgium and France called "Belgian and French Ales."  This category includes the similar styles of Saison, Farmhouse Ale, and Bière de Garde.  (Note however, it is always risky to try and categorize any beer from Belgium or its border regions.)   Last weekend I had a excellent example of such a beer from this category - Brasserie St. Germain's Page 24 Noel from Aix-Noulette, France.  Aix-Noulette is located in French Flanders just south of the western (a Flemish) portion of Belgium.  French Flanders was originally part of the Courtship of Flanders in southern Netherlands.  Over the years borders have changed, Belgium was created, and most of Flanders is now in Belgium while the southern section was ceded to France along the way.  And unlike the Flanders region in Belgium, the inhabitants of French Flanders now speak, almost exclusively, French instead of Flemish.

Page 24 Noel is a 6.9% abv beer that falls into the Bière de Garde category.  (The name means "keeping beer" - a beer usually intended to be cellared/matured)  I was extremely impressed by this example of the style.  It pours a copper color with a solid head and has an aromatic bouquet.  Its flavor is well balanced with earthy, spicy, and fruity notes that transition into a mildly phenolic finish.  All in all a balanced beer with great character.  Brilliant!

The Page 24 Noel I drank was packaged in a ceramic swing-top bomber and came compliments of my beer of the month club.  (http://www.beermonthclub.com)  This beer may be hard to find in the U.S., but if you can get your hands on one, it is one great example of a wonderful French beer.

Search for the 2010 Beerdrinker of the Year

Just a quick note for you beer lovers out there seeking to be the next Beerdrinker of the Year.  Your beer resumes need to be emailed into the Wynkoop no later than Thursday, December 31st.  Your resume must include  your beer philosophy, details on your passion for beer, and your 2009 beer experiences.  It should "detail the entrant's understanding of beer and its history and importance to civilization, and the entrant's efforts to educate others to the joys of great beer."  And all of this can not exceed three 8.5 x 11" pages in 12-point font.  There are a few other rules, so make sure and check out the official Beerdrinker of the Year web site for all of the details.

As an example, and to view the resume that got me into the finals, check out my 2009 resume.  All of the beer resumes received by the Wynkoop are reviewed  and thinned down to the top 10, at which point they are sent out to a panel of experts around the country to select the three finalists.  Those lucky three will be flown to Denver for the finals on February 27th, 2010, at which time seven wigged & robed judges (of which I will be one) will ultimately select the winner.

The winner will receive free beer for life at the Wynkoop, $250 at their local brewpub or beer bar, apparel, and their name will be engraved on the Beerdrinker of the Year trophy at the Wynkoop Brewery.

A good resume will take some work, so hopefully you've already started, or are touching up a previous year's application.  (I submitted a resume in 1997 and 2005 before my 2009 resume got me to the finals.)  If you are reading this blog you are surely a beer lover, and I encourage all of you to take a shot at the ultimate beer accolade!

Primo Beer!

Growing up in Montana in the mid '80s, listening to the Surf Punks was the closest thing most of my buddies and I got to visiting a beach.  I can't remember the specific song (help me out if you know), but in the middle of one of their pieces, a band member interjects, "Primo Beer".  I always thought he just meant, "great beer".  But then I was informed by one of my more worldly friends that Primo was a brand of Hawaiian beer.  (Remember brah, our exposure to island culture was limited - so I didn't know any of this.)  That was 25 years ago, but I still remember this clearly.

Well, I just returned from our 50th state, and I finally saw, and had the pleasure to drink, a Primo!  This is somewhat weird, because I was in Hawaii three years ago, drank plenty of beer, and never saw that brand on any bar or restaurant's beer list.  If anyone has more background on these guys, please add a comment.  This brewery dates back to the late 1800s, but I believe they were silent for some time.  Anyway, they're back.  And that is a good thing.  What I expected was a bland American-style mass produced lager-type of beer.  It was light, clean and refreshing, to be expected given Hawaii's climate, but a touch richer in color than the garden variety mass produced lager.  The flavor was also pleasing with more body than the big guys.  This is all off of memory, because I did not take notes, but very pleasing and refreshing.  If you can find a Primo give it a shot and let me know what you think.  I'd call it a superior, local substitute for the big guys when you're on the islands.

Now I'd like to segue from clean & light beer to coconuts.  There are now several breweries in Hawaii (nine according to http://beervana.blogspot.com).  Probably the best known is Kona Brewing.  During my short stay on this trip I sampled a Coco Loco Coconut Brown Ale from Kona Brewing, and I also found another coconut beer, Maui Brewing Co's Coconut Porter.

First I'll start with Maui's Coconut Porter.  Their motto printed on the bottom of the can is "...Like hot chicks on the beach."  I'm not sure how that relates to their beer, but it is fine with me.  This 5.7% abv beer won a gold medal in the Herb & Spice Beer category at the 2006 World Beer Cup competition.  For a moderate strength beer, it packed a lot of flavor.  The coconut used in this beer is "hand toasted" according to the label.  I could detect some coconut flavor, but in my opinion it lent more of a toasty or roasted barley type of flavor to the beer than anything else.  The coconut played the same role as roasted barley and turned the Porter into more of a Stout tasting beer.  It was a very pleasant, albeit heavy, beer.  It probably even tasted better, because I drank it at LuLu's Surf Club in Waikiki as I watched the sun set into the ocean.  It doesn't get much better than that.

The second coconut beer I had that evening was Coco Loco Coconut Brown Ale from Kona Brewing.  Coco Loco was a much different beer than the porter.  Basically a traditional Brown Ale, but spiced with coconut.  I was not able to detect the coconut in the flavor nearly as much as I picked it up on the nose.  Very effervescent.  A very "tropical beer" aroma if there is such a thing.  Much lighter and more refreshing than the Porter, and like the Porter, also an excellent beer.  I'm not much of a gadget beer guy, but after seeing two coconut beers in the same day, I figured it must be some sort of a Hawaiian specialty and that I should try them.  It was a pleasant change up.

Securely on board with the craft beer movement, Hawaii now has something to offer beer lovers.   Most bars still serve the obligatory brands (Stella, Bud, etc.), but if you like to drink local, try out Primo for something light and refreshing, or hunt down an offering from one of the other craft breweries, which usually offer the full slate of traditional styles from Golden Ales, to Hefeweizens, to Pale Ales, to Stouts.

Enough about Hawaii.  Tomorrow morning I'm off to Montana for Christmas where it is safe to say I probably won't be watching any sunsets into the ocean.  I'm trading in my Aloha shirt for Sorels.

Beer of the Month Clubs

One of the things that really helped me learn more about beer and beer styles was being member of a “beer of the month” club.  Two friends and I signed up for such a club back in 2000 (it was originally a Michael Jackson club, and was later purchased by C&H Clubs Inc.) and we’ve been members ever since.  I’ll never forget our first shipment.  It was a beer that, at the time, I had never heard of – Olde Suffolk by the Greene King Brewery in Bury St. Edmunds in England.  This beer blew me away.  It is Old Ale made by blending a two-year-old oak aged beer called Old 5X and their Best Pale Ale (BPA).  Though once common, the practice of blending is now very rare in England.  (But still widely practiced in Belgium.)  Olde Suffolk is a very complex dark ale, providing a slight oaky tartness along with earthy hops, a sold malt body, hints of dark sugars, and a mineraly English finish.  Needless to say I was sold on the club after this first shipment.  Not all of the selections have been as good as the first (that would be an impossible task), but their selections seldom disappoint.

Joining as a team like my friends and I did helps us keep the cost down while still getting to sample new, usually difficult or impossible to find, beers each month.  Initially we were subscribed in the International category, where we received two six-packs of two different beers each month.  So we each got four beers – two each of two different types.  Recently we switched to the International & Domestic category where we each get four different beers – two of which are domestic and two that are International.  It doesn’t sounds like much, but our club allows us to order more of any particular beer, so if we find a special gem in our monthly selection there is a way to get more.  Anyway, the point is, there are different categories and options to suit different beer drinker tastes.

I love variety, so this club has been perfect for me.  Not only do we get four different types of beers each month, but also they are often styles that may be something we would pass up at the liquor store.  So we’re “forced” at times to try something we normally would not think of.  Obviously some offerings are better than others, but I’ve never been disappointed, even on the styles I would have never though of buying on my own.  And each shipment comes with history about the style and the brewery, as well as tasting notes and suggestions for things like serving temperature, serving glass and food pairings.  So it is truly a learning experience that really helps develop beer knowledge as well as a better understanding of history and geography.

Our club costs $43/month, or about $14 per person.  I handle the payment, delivery and distribution.  My counterparts direct deposit their payment into my bank account each month so we don’t have to worry about much about exchanging money.   So we enjoy teaming up.  With that said, most probably join alone.  No problem with that either - more beer for them!

If you want to sample unique specialties every month and learn more about beer in general, I highly recommend such a club.  (I’m a long time member that has enjoyed it so much I joined a second club of theirs called the Rare Beer Club.  It is similar except I receive two rare specialties, usually strong beers packaged in cork finished champagne bottles.)  If you’re not sure how well you’ll like such a club, start off with a three-month subscription and try it out.  You may end up like me and still be a member nine years later.  Since Christmas is right around the corner, it also makes a great gift for any hard-to-shop-for beer lover.  For more information about C&H’s Beer of the Month club visit their web site at http://www.beermonthclub.com/join-gift.htm.  I’m not advocating any particular club; these guys are just the ones I’m familiar with.  If you have other recommendations, please drop a comment.