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Presidential brew

Earlier this year, President Obama had a White House beer crafted by his chef, downed a pint of Guinness in Ireland and had a beer summit and now the New York Public Library is going all the way back to our first (beer loving) president to re-create a beer of his time period.

Here is what the press release has to say…“The New York Public Library has teamed up with Coney Island Brewing Company in Brooklyn to create a beer fit for a Founding Father – a porter based on George Washington’s handwritten “small beer” recipe, which can be found in the Library’s extensive collections.

The two institutions are brewing a very limited amount of “Fortitude’s Founding Father Brew” to toast the 100th birthday of the Library’s landmark Stephen A. Schwarzman Building on 42nd Street.”

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Indiana Brewery # 3 – Upland Brewing

Our third stop on the Indian brewery tours is Upland. I have featured their beers a few times on this blog so it’s about time that I talked about the whole place.

They are famous for their sour beers with odd fruits as well as this big beer….
A dark and robust beer brewed in the traditional stout method. Teddy Bear Kisses features an abundance of dark malts and high alpha hops for a powerful impact of roast, chocolate, and sweet bitterness. The lucky few who cuddle up to a warming session with Teddy Bear Kisses sense the velvety malt character, balanced bitter intensity, and soothing chocolate notes created by long aging on fair trade cocoa nibs. Teddy Bear Kisses will make you feel warm and happy inside, but it’s definitely not your childhood cuddle toy.

Baltic Porters are an Eastern European take on classic English Porters. Influenced by Russian Imperial Stouts, Baltics are higher in strength than traditional Porters, and feature multiple layers of flavors and aromas. Badder Elmer’s is a meaty dark lager, utilizing cold fermentation temperatures to achieve a quaffable and clean brew, with malty highlights ranging from nutty to licorice and candy caramels. Fruity aromas lead to a complex malt character and supportive continental hop bitterness.

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colLAboration part 2

If you are a beer nerd in Los Angeles then you had better be in Hollywood one week from today.

The second pop-up biergarten is on the way and this time Avery, Hair of the Dog, Grand Teton, Uinta and many others will be added to the California mix and you can rest assured some goodies will be on tap that you haven’t tried yet.

If you can’t make it. (Better be a good reason) There will be MORE!
Every weekend in July in West Hollywood and then more in various parts of the Southland including an Oktoberfest in September.

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Tuesday’s are for Tapping

I love the LA beer scene but damn if what happens in Portland doesn’t make me green with envy. One thing that I would certainly be doing is hitting the Cascade Barrel House with regularity and especially on Tuesday’s when guests get to tap a weird out there sour beer. Last one was “Apple Pie” (hopefully better than what was in an episode of Justified this year) and this coming Tuesday at 6pm it is …

“Live Honey Rye Ginger.” This NW style sour ale is a honey rye that was barrel aged for eight months before having various types of ginger added for an additional two months. Ginger, rye malts and lemon greet you in the nose. A slight sweet ginger spice and heat sparkle on the palate. A crisp bite of ginger and a lingering honey herbal note lead to a light peppery finish. The addition of candied ginger provides the slight heat and spice. It weighs in at 7.9% and costs $6.50 a glass.

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an obscure tree

Telegraph from Santa Barbara has been expanding selections. First was the Petit Obscura and now and oude Bruin with the name of Arborea. Here is the information on it, “Our wild brown ale has a malty character suggesting dark caramel and dried fruit, and is balanced by a refreshing lactic tartness from the wild yeast used during aging. Cherry-like aromas and a hint of oak round out this sensory experience and make for an extremely satisfying and unique beer.”

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Brew Vault

I don’t know if the cellaring beer craze has peaked or not. It certainly hasn’t with me. But this app might rekindle the fire if it is easy enough to use.

“Brew Vault is a complete inventory and journaling app that allows you to manage your collection. Brew Vault is also an excellent note taking system that will record your most detailed tasting notes. Your notes can then be shared with other Brew Vault members who love craft beer just as much as we do!

Brew Vault’s database is member driven. Your entries help grow the database for all members. Don’t see a beer listed? Add it. Your addition will sync all Brew Vault members.

Brew Vault’s inventory system allows you to track your collection by lot, vendor, quantity, price, bottle size, date, storage location, and more!”

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Beer-Con

This just flew into my beer radar. And I thought I would pass the pertinent info on about it. Has a good panel and you can’t beat San Diego for a beer location. Would be interested if anybody is planning on going and why?

“San Diego’s first craft beer conference that caters to industry players and fans alike will take place on August 27th 2011, promising exclusive access to the top names in the industry, and their expert presentations plus panel discussions on all things relevant to the American craft beer movement. Between informative discussions, giveaways, and an extensive beer garden officially dubbed “Tap Haven,” if you’re an aspiring craft beer guru, you won’t want to miss Beer-Con.

Beer-Con’s impressive line-up of participants includes industry pros like Anat Baron, Director of Beer Wars, Patrick Rue, Founder of The Bruery, Greg Koch, CEO and Co-Founder of Stone Brewing Co, and Bill Sysak, Beverage Supervisor at Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens, to name a few. Presentations are scheduled such as Beer Tasting 101 to Transitioning your Bar/Opening a Brewery, Beer and Social Media, and many more. Check out the official Beer-Con site for a full list of speakers and sponsors. Or visit Beer-Con.com.

Beer-Con is slated to sell out quickly, so be sure to reserve your space today! You can reach us by simply leaving a comment on the Beer-Con website. Beer-Con is a huge step in forwarding the craft beer movement, and we’re excited to meet you at the Handlery Hotel in San Diego on August 27th.”

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Stone Media Day – The analysis

Now that the BIG Stone Brewing news is out in the open air. I want to take a step back and really look at what this means for Stone, San Diego and craft beer in general.

Stone is now putting a lot of projects onto a hopefully large plate. Can they keep up the quality on so many fronts? I believe that they can. They have broad support from the city and community. They have common cause with local brewers some of whom they distribute and I think they have the hard headed gumption to reach 2013. They will need a deep bench of talent to do it. In the following key areas: Hotel management. This can be tricky. They plan to go into this with a company that has expertise. Which is probably the best route. But they will have to monitor and be ready to step in if the Stone ethos doesn’t stay on course. Sour and barrel beers. I am hoping that they have a brewer and staff ready to charge into this field. Could be very exciting but the bar is incredibly high. Cascade, New Belgium and Russian River are high benchmarks.

For San Diego, it is a win-win. More Stone tourist draws spread out to decrease some traffic. And hey, any business opening now is a plus. This also really burnishes the craft beer reputation. Portland and Denver have proven that more can be merrier and this will draw more beer to the region.

For craft beer, I wish I knew. I have a feeling that a Stone backlash will be in the offing. Sam Adams and Sierra Nevada both get “too big” attached to their names occasionally for usually no good reason. I am sure that Stone will get tagged with it as well. But I believe we need all levels of business size to truly compete for the hearts and minds of the beer consumer. A rare beer that only a few can get will not make people put down the bad beer. We need more good beer in more places.