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Masters Degree in hoppiness

From the Oregonian and a Portland Business Journal article:

“A new aroma hop breeding program will be created in the College of Agricultural Sciences at Oregon State University in Corvallis.

A gift pledge of $807,000 from Indie Hops, a Portland-based hop
merchant, will support the new program, which will be led by Shaun
Townsend, a research associate and hop breeding specialist at OSU.

Indie Hops already has provided $200,000 to OSU’s Thomas Shellhammer, holder of the Nor’Wester Professorship in Fermentation Science, to foster research in new techniques for developing aroma hops and to study aroma hop chemistry. The new hop breeding program will work closely with Shellhammer’s lab to study hop essential oil composition and how individual oil components impart the characteristic flavor and aroma to beer.”
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This means in a few years we might get the next Citra or Nelson hops. IPA’s will not be the same.

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Sly Fox IPA

sly-fox-rt-113-ipa

Loyal readers are now probably sick of my chirpy introductions to beers that I want to try. How I only seem to really love special reserve beers or canned IPA’s. Sorry folks! Here is another one from one of the canning pioneers Sly Fox…
“Available only in 22oz bottles at present, Rt. 113 was the beer customers most requested be added to the brewery’s canned releases.

Rt. 113 will join Pikeland Pilsner and Phoenix Pale Ale as year-round releases and also still be packaged in the 22oz size.”

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from persimmons to pecans

On the heels of persimmon comes this new 9to me) beer from Texas.
512-whiskey-barrel-aged-double-pecan-porter

The label reads:“(512) Double Pecan Porter is a robust porter accented by locally grown roasted pecans and subtly enhanced by aging in recently emptied oak whiskey barrels for two months. For this first-ever bottling, only one 200L barrel was bottled. Notes of chocolate, coffee and pecan marry with the subtle flavors of vanilla and whiskey to make this a wonderful winter warmer worth sharing and savoring.”

My hope is that the pecan flavors can overcome the whiskey. Some aged whiskey or bourbon beers lose some of the nuances that I prefer.

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Persimmon Lambic?

Just when you think the beer world has pulled all the rabbits out of the hat, here comes another new idea…
upland-persimmon-lambic-2
from the Indiana brewery…
“The persimmons were provided by Aaron Persinger, a local singer/songwriter who is currently the drummer for Rev. Peyton’s Big Damn Band.”
They have a whole slate of fruited lambics coming this year, including KIWI!

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Fermenting Revolution

A new beer book! I am going to need a bigger bookcase if this pace continues.
ferment

Saving the World with Beer – Chris O’Brien is a beer activist. He advocates the craft beer movement, which he argues is better for the environment and the community.

(Thanks to Good Food from KCRW for bringing this to my attention!)

You can get the book from Amazon.com HERE

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Half Acre + 3 Floyds =

a Helles?
half-acre-three-floyds-invasion
Yes, indeed. I have yet to try Half Acre, but after watching them on HopCast, I really want to sample their line-up. The two 3 Floyds beers that I have had were fantastic so this should make for a great beer.

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50 from 50 – Idaho

Idaho has some great craft brew. Unfortunately, not a lot of great craft brew distribution. Grand Teton has a larger territory and I picked up a DIPA that may have been past it’s prime. If I had drunk it a couple of weeks earlier, the review would probably be better.
idaho

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The Firkin for February 2010

There was an interesting post on Beer Advocate awhile back about buying a spot during the Super Bowl for the “I am a craft brewer” video put together by Greg Koch from Stone Brewing. Some people thought that an opportunity to showcase craft beer to a massive audience was missed since the ad rates were lower this year than last.

Here is my reasoning as to why it would be not an effective use of hypothetical money.

A) You are not targeting the most receptive audience. It is mostly men who are probably not leaving their brand anytime soon. Not exactly the low hanging fruit. I would rather target specific people who could be turned into beer geeks who would then turn the person next to them. Food Network would be logical. NPR as well. Even Sports Illustrated would be a better sell.

B) One time ads don’t register. Unless you follow up with the message, it stands the chance of being trampled. Look at what the Republicans do. Say the same thing over and over, until people believe it. Be it true or not. Say it once and it gets lost.

C) I would rather support local organizations in overturning some of the flat out bizarre liquor laws this country has on the books. As I mentioned in the January rant, there are some outdated ideas that need to be purged.

The main reason why 1 measly 30 second spot no matter how many people view it isn’t enough is because we need to really educate people about beer. 30 seconds does not convey the nuance needed. What about sour beer, the history of Imperial Stouts, proper glassware? Instead of a quick hit, we need sustained informed beer knowledge being passed to receptive minds.

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Defense against the Dark Beers – Baltic Thunder

Since I am not the best dark beer critic, I delegate to someone who really digs the dark side. Here is another quick review…

Surprising aroma of citrus…Medium head, beautiful mahogany color. Complex flavor profile, full caramel roastiness finishing in a medium bitter. Definitely bitter on the back end.
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Paired with a meatball sandwich. Probably not the best choice for this beer. Would have been better with pastrami or pot roast.