Follow Sean Inman to the best in craft beer
When I see or hear about Breweries from small, small towns, I smile. It shows me that the craft beer movement can thrive anywhere.
So it is with great pleasure that I introduce you to Winthrop, Washington and the Old Schoolhouse Brewery.
They have 7 beers in their main tap list as well as their reserve series. The ones that jump out at me are the Backcountry Coffee Stout made with beans from a local roaster. (Always a good sign) and their award winning Hooligan Stout.
No this isn’t a freeway in Los Angeles. This is a bayou beer.
From Bayou Teche Brewing comes the first bottled batch of LA-31 Biere Pale . Lazy Magnolia is bottling their product because they have no bottling line yet, but that hasn’t stopeed Bayou Teche.
LA-31 is an American version of a Belgian Pale Ale. A late hop addition an American yeast strains give LA-31 a mellow bitterness and intense hop flavor over a continental malt base.
Two other brews are due from their tiny hand-crafted brewery, a dark beer called LA-31 Biere Noire, and a wheat known as Duck Blind Cherry Wood Roasted Wheat Biere. They will only be in kegs for now.
It would be downright un-American not to have a bomber of this on Independence Day.
“Hop heads rejoice! Our latest seasonal, Summer YuleSmith Holiday Ale, is scheduled for release in late June. Packaged in a red and blue 22 oz. bottle, Summer YuleSmith is a bold and flavorful Double IPA. An abundance of American varietal hops gives this beer its’ signature flavor and aroma profile, full of citrus, pine, and grapefruit-like characteristics. The hops also lend balance to the malty sweetness, adding to the overall smoothness of the body and mouthfeel.”
TODAY: GERMANY V. ARGENTINA
Germany did not get an easy road, did they? First they get England, who even when not playing well, are not an easy out. Then they get an Argentina squad that took apart a pretty good Mexico team.
My beer of choice for this tilt is a completely German style, kolsch. Fru Kolsch is a prime example of this light and refreshing brew.
If you have the appropriate glassware (it is called a stange which is German for pole). By all means use it. It really does affect the taste and aroma.
This is a brand spanking new brewery in Pendleton, Oregon. So new that their website isn’t up and running yet. Eastern Oregon and Washington should probably create a chaffeured brewery crawl because it is a hot scene.
They have so far brewed a British IPA, porter, hefeweizen, amber, and most recently a NW style IPA.
Check out the owners YouTube video HERE
TODAY: HOLLAND V. BRAZIL
OK. I am stating in advance that I am cheating here. The beer for this round of action comes from the US. But the brewer is NEW HOLLAND. See how tricky I am?
The beer is…well, let me have the brewery explain…”A kölsch-style beer, Full Circle is a refreshing celebration of our brewery’s belief in balance. The soft, well-rounded malt character, light hop profile and crisp finish bring us back around to the familiar tastes of classic, thirst-quenching beer. A perfect session beer, we recommend Full Circle with fish, grilled vegetables, grilled sausages, and just about anything else served on a patio.”
At 4.9 abv, you can watch the game with a few of these and still referee better than the officials this year.
The chosen topic: Craft Beers Inspired By Homebrewing. How has homebrewing had an affect on the commercial beer we have all come to love? Feel free to take the topic in any direction your imagination leads you.
Write about a beer that has its roots in homebrewing. Write about a commercial beer that originated from a homebrew.
Write about a professional brewer you admire who got their start in homebrewing before they went pro. Write about a professional brewer who still homebrews in their free time.
Write about a Pro-Am beer tasted either at a festival or a brewpub. Write about an Amateur / Professional Co-op you’ve had the pleasure of experiencing (such as The Green Dragon Project).
Write about commercial brewers using “Homebrewing” as part of the marketing. Write about the Sam Adams LongShot beers, whether good or bad.
With this opportunity, I would like to rant about an imbalance that I feel needs to be focused on to keep the craft beer world lively and engaging and most importantly, growing.
We need more female home brewers. Alot more. I know most homebrew clubs have female members, maybe even sub-groups comprised solely of women. That’s great. Keep it up. But this industry is tilted far to the male side and we need to get the percentages rising on the female side of the ledger.
I have my personal reasons why the craft beer community needs to embrace this idea and it stems from a theory of mine.
My theory is that home brewing is the minor leagues for the craft beer world. That means the more women brewing at home means the better the chance that they might go pro. If your club has 20 active members and only two or three are women, the chances that one might start a brewery are not good. But if there is a large and active female membership then the odds become better. And there is no better time than now, there is mentoring available through the Pink Boots Society, there is publicity available through great writers like the Beer Wench, Lisa Morrison and Christina Perozzi, there is even a documentary in the works about female brewers.
I say all this in enlightened self-interest. I love craft beer. Spend way too much money on it. Spend way too much time writing and reading about it. But if we don’t expand our horizons to recipes from a new perspective, new styles or re-imaginings of current favorites then the world of craft beer will crash into the reef of Double IPA’s and Russian Imperial Stouts and not be able to extricate our way out. We might end up, god forbid, stagnating. Not only as an industry as a whole but in individual beers.
We as bloggers need to push, cajole, entreaty as much as possible for more women in home brewing and more women drinking and creating a big craft beer tent as big as a Munich beer Hall in September.
P.S. I just know the best beer of 2011, 2012 and beyond are out there so keep it up homebrewers!
P.S.S. Click HERE to see the Session hosts posting on the topic.
Last month I yawped about some southwest breweries, but since July is Oregon’s time in the sun (literally), I will post about Oregon beers. And I will try my best to focus on non-Portland based brewers.
First though, here is a sampling of beer events that I believe are the highlights of the month.
CRAFT BEER MONTH KICK-OFF – McMenamin’s Hillsdale 7/1
PUCKERFEST – Sour beers at Belmont Station 7/9-7/15
INTERNATIONAL BEER – Portland International Beerfest 7/16-7/18
I promise to get back to happy beer news with the next post today but it seems the State Government of Oregon has reinterpreted ORS 471.403 so as to ban home brew competitions!
IN OREGON! IN 2010!
Now I think the Tea Party (aside from choosing an ironic name, since they are represented by chosen politicians before being taxed) is too “me” first and community second but when government does stupid crap like this, you can see why the anger has arisen.
Enough vitriol by me. Check out this well written post by Lisa Morrison, one of the leading lights in the Oregon beer scene. After reading, please write to the Oregon government and let them know as a purchaser of beer from Oregon, you think they have misread the law.
I have been slack in recommending other beer blogs lately. But Draft Magazine was running a vote on best beer blogs so it rekindled the fire to let you all know about other cool beer blogs out there.
First up is The Drunken Polack. I go to his site just to check his updated chart of the beer that he has stored. Blows me away everytime.