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Breakside’s unusual collaboration

First there was Avery-Brown-Dredge. A collaboration between beer bloggers/writers and BrewDog. And now Portland’s Breakside Brewing has taken a similar tack. Inviting local beer notables to help create beers.

The first three sound really good and the last one will certainly be different. Here is the list (that is probably gone by now, they were tapped on the 4th, but hopefully this will be an annual event!)

Lisa Morrison of Beer O’ Clock fame – Meyer Lemon Kolsch
John Foyston beer writer for the Oregonian – NW Alt
Saraveza the great beer bar – Strong Saison
Margaret from the great Brewpublic blog – a beet beer!

I love that it includes all walks of beer lovers. The more the merrier!

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L.A. is brewing

For those of you playing at home, here is the current brewery list for LA. My list expands to include a larger slice of the Los Angeles area.

Up and Running
Eagle Rock
Ladyface
Nibble Bit Tabby
Skyscraper
Angel City
El Segundo
Strand

in the mash tun (so to speak)
Henson
Ohana
Pipe Dream
Pilot Brewhouse
Kinetic

And check out this L.A. Times article about the up and comers.

When the newbies come on line, LA will be in double digits.

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1,000 – part 1

I have now rated 1,000+ beers on RateBeer. and it is time to break down into some real statistical geekery.

Over the last few weeks, I have been parsing the data to look for interesting trends or factoids from my craft beer drinking. Not just the usual top 10 / bottom 10 (though that’s here too).

So let’s dig into the numbers……
First, my average score was 3.14 out of a possible 5.00. Which to me is good because it means I am not being too generous or too stingy with my scores. It also signifies that I am not drinking crappy beer.

And speaking of, here are the bottom 10 finishers….
Tecate 1.80
Ukiah Willits Wit 1.80
Eagle Rock Sriracha 1.80
Liefman 1.70
McMenamins Jalapeño Wheat 1.60
Miller High Life 1.50
The Bruery Provisions Series: Salt of the Earth 1.50
Game Day Ice 1.40
Coors Light 1.40
Budweiser 1.20

The usual suspects are here so I will skip flogging that vortex bottle but there are a couple surprises. First off, I hate peppers and scovill heat so the Sriracha and Jalapeno are only here because of that, not due to anything else. The Liefman is there due to exceeding amounts of sugar which may are may not have been part of the plan. The huge shock to some (who haven’t tried it) is the Bruery being in the bottom. Well, the beer tasted like salad dressing and smelt worse. And the worse sin was it took a lovely style that I adore and made it undrinkable.

Kern River Citra DIPA 4.40
The Bruery Chocolate Rain 4.30
Magic Hat #9 4.30
The Bruery Melange #1 4.30
Ballast Point Victory at Sea 4.20
BrewDog Punk IPA (5.6%) 4.10
Hair of the Dog Cherry Adam from the Wood 4.10
The Bruery Loakal Red 4.10
Hair of the Dog Matt 4.10
Russian River Sanctification 4.10

I don’t think there is too much to argue with here. Magic Hat is probably rated too high (1.24 higher than the average Ratebeer score) but both times I have had it on a hot summer day and it has delivered. The Punk IPA is probably a skosh over as well but still within a 1/2 point from the average.

More 1000 ratings data coming up on future posts.

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Session # 52

As host of Session #52, I’ve decided not to focus on the substance of beer, but the material that plays a supporting role. Bottles, coasters, cans, labels, ads, tap handles, church keys, hats, t-shirts, tip trays, glassware and signs have been collected by fanatics ever since beer has been sold. These objects constitute the world of breweriana, a term that surfaced in 1972 to define any item displaying a brewery or brand name. The majority of highly prized objects are from the pre-prohibition era, but ephemera from every period in brewing history, including craft beer, finds a home with each beer drinking generation.

So what old or new beer related items do you collect and why? It’s that simple. This is your opportunity to share the treasured objects your wife or husband won’t let you display on the fireplace mantle. You don’t need to be a major collector like this guy to participate. In my mind, just a few items constitute a collection. Maybe you have mementos from a beer epiphany or road trips? You can focus on a whole collection or tell the story behind a single item.

I saw this topic and thought to myself that the craft beer ephemera that I hold onto is pretty pedestrian.

I have a big bowl holding a bunch of bottlecaps for a possible future project. Maybe a table like the ones at Saraveza in Portland, where the caps are displayed in colorful patterns under glass. I just need to keep collecting caps to bring that project to life. Also I need to learn how to be handy as well.

I have some empty bottles around. A Laurelwood Deranger Red. A traditional Gose bottle, some of the Stone Brewing collaboration bottles. But since I hate to dust and my wife can see it, hear it and smell dust particles, I keep the bottles to the minimum to avoid having to spend time dusting instead of drinking.

What I spend the most time on are my books of brewery coasters and beer labels. Each page organized by location. So there are multiple California pages, Oregon pages and the like. It will eventually be quite the pictorial chronicle of my journey through beer.

So that is it. No man cave with neon signs. No signed bottles. No framed photographs of me with beer luminaries on the walls. Just a full fridge and memories.

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which hop is this?


My beer buddy Richard had a sighting of the new Latitude 48 single hop box from Sam Adams. I suggest picking one up. 48 is made up of 5 hop varietals. So this pack showcases each one individually. Hallertau, EKG, Simcoe, Zeus and Ahtanum. Plus the regular 48 that has all included.

I have sampled the Ahtanum (strong with intial citrus taste) and the Simcoe (which is all bitter all the time). I’m saving the Zeus and Hallertau for last.

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Thank Heaven for Beer – The Brewery

You read that right. From blog to brewery. And you can help make the dream a reality….

…by clicking HERE to see their presentation on Kickstarter.

And after you have done that, tell your friends, write about it, tweet it, get this video under the nose of anyone who loves craft beer and can pony up even just $5.00.

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In the Tap Lines for June 2011

June brings another month of new brew news. Here are the other highlights:

~ e-visits to three breweries in my adopted state of California, again
~ video reviews of beers from Iron Fist
~ Three suggested beers to buy this month
~ I will tap the Firkin and give my opinion on the craft beer world
~ my 2011 Beer challenge will enter the letter writing phase
~ … and Session # 52 will pose an interesting view on the beer world
~ And an analysis of my first 1,000 beers reviewed on RateBeer
~ plus many more posts about new beers, beer products and breweries

Here are two events to get your June started in the Los Angeles craft beer world:
1) June 11 – Blue Palms Ultimate Brown Bag party

2) June 4 – ColLAboration # 2

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The Firkin for May 2011

I read this thought provoking post on NPR and it got me thinking about the craft beer world in both good and bad ways.

Back before the revolution of good beer, to try the best beer in the world required a European vacation. Now to try the best would require months and months of time, all the frequent flyer miles you have and an extra liver.

There is just TOO MUCH worthy beer out there. But that is a good thing. I like that there is an embarrasment of riches. Unlike the movies, where you might look at what’s playing and go, “Is that it?”, with beer you can rest assured find something good practically anywhere in the US and the world. And this will eventually entice all the industrial water lager drinkers to come over to the flavor side. So it is a seeming win-win. (Which is also a movie that I need to see).

But here is the downside on both a personal and consumer level. It is hard to grapple with the fact that I won’t have a majority of the beers that I wish I could. All these one-offs in Portland, Oregon or Portland, Maine. Anniversary beers from Alabama that never make it to bottles. Heck, even a lot of the brews that I post about will never make it to my ‘fridge.

But I am coming to the point in my beer drinking life where I am OK with that and I am starting to want more people to come to that realization to.

There is no need to go chasing after “beer whales”. Enjoy the fruit in your backyard and if a special beer shows up, try it. I’m not advocating an unadventurous spirit. But don’t pass up 10 good beers that you have had for the “special one” that might be good. Because the relentless hunt will only lead to dis-satisfaction.

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California Growler Challenge – May Update

Letters to politicians. In enough quantity and on a topic with no blowback can be powerful tools to get a law passed. And barring that, they can at the very least get politicians aware of the issue.

So with that in mind. Here is a sample letter about the California growler issue:

I am a proud and vocal consumer of craft beer that is brewed in our fine state of California and I would like to bring your attention to a small but important issue regarding how craft beer is legislated.

Brewers across the state sell growlers. A portable and recyclable glass container that can hold up to 1/2 gallon of beer. Right now, I cannot take a blank growler to a brewery and purchase their beer. I am forced (sometimes not unwillingly) to buy a specially branded growler from that brewery. But then I cannot take that growler anywhere else and use it.

So if I live in San Francisco and want to bring some beer back from Green Flash Brewing in San Diego. I have to hope they sell the beer I want in regular bottles or buy a growler that I can only use at Green Flash and not at Anchor Brewing.

There is a way to fix this inequity. A Brewed in California growler. A growler that can be taken anywhere in the state and filled at participating breweries. I would buy one (because we want to reuse and help the environment) and then I would buy more beer which will help business around the state. And who knows how many visitors to the state would buy them as keepsakes and for use on trips through the Golden State.

Please take this into consideration. Thank you for your time and service to California.

Sincerely,

YOU

Once you have copied or altered to your liking, go HERE to find your local representative.

Remember to keep things cordial and respectful. Foul language and attitude are only going to distance people from the cause.