Follow Sean Inman to the best in craft beer
Onto my second ever American Trappist ale from Spencer Brewery. This time the very modern 16oz canned IPA.
Orange and slightly hazy in appearance. I am getting a lot of pine notes from this IPA. Good hop to malt balance. A bit of a wine grape flavor here too. The bitterness lingers on the tongue. A tiny bit of lemon notes as well. Part of this flavor profile might be due to the fact that it was an October canned beer.
Not too many books with Pericles, Prince of Tyre as a character nowadays but Mark Haddon reaches back to Shakespeare for the weird, The Porpoise. Now, I usually like interwoven stories, stories that span time frames, multi-character arcs and the like. But this story veers away from the opening line and slowly becomes a re-telling of Pericles but with a few names changed (for whatever reason Thasia is now Chloe) and some of the action re-imagined. As if a Hollywood screenwriter had adapted the play but didn’t want to 100% mimic it.
There is also a very weird Dead Shakespeare interlude with another writer of the time that comments on Pericles but says nothing really about the story that we started with. And then the book just ends. SPOILER ALERT – Haddon sets fire to a house and just kills off the main characters that were abandoned a 1/3 of the way into the book. I could totally see a modern take on Pericles but this is not it. Most of the time it just meanders like a boat lost at sea.
Now, I could be extra glib and say for a beer that you should find the worst one in your ‘fridge and leave it at that but I think it better to pick up something aquatic related. So something from Pelican Brewing in Pacific City, Oregon might work. Like their Doryman’s Dark Ale for the twisted turns in this book or you could go sour for the taste in your mouth reading this with SeaQuench from Dogfish Head.
Imagine my surprise to see a bottle of Blackberry Farm Saison on a shelf at Hi-Lo Liquor in Culver City.
This Tennessee saison is a pitch perfect straight-up saison. No bells. No whistles. Just a good malt and a strong yeast to make a beer that is sprightly and chewy at the same time. Getting a lot of clove. Then a grassy rye spice note to it. One of the labels buzzwords is agricultural, and that is spot on. This bottle was priced at $16.80 and I would say that it is worth it. Expecially for those who venture across beer styles.
Normally, I would review a book of Fiction or Non-Fiction for this monthly post that was totally unrelated to craft beer. But this month, I break that rule to talk about Wood & Beer a new-ish release from Brewers Publications written by two heavyweights in the beer world, Dick Cantwell and Peter Bouckaert.
The book covers a lot of ground delving into history, construction, natural resources and microbiology. Mostly, you will know a lot more about wood after reading this book. From the veins and structure of trees to fashioning staves that make up the barrel.
Yes, it is directed primarily at brewers and to a lesser extent home brewers but there are lots of interesting factual nuggets to be found in the pages. One that really stood out for me was that over 85% of U.S. breweries are at least dabbling in using wood in creating beers. That seemed astonishingly high but it does account for the exploding market in barrels and the growing range of types of barrels being used.
I had hoped to read more about how Elysian and New Belgium grew their barrel programs and what they learned, mistakes made and surprise successes. There is a bit about the Foeder Forest and the Salazar influence on the wild and sour beers coming from Fort Collins but I would have lapped up even more. Maybe I will have to wait for Lauren Salazar to write a sour book. There is nothing about Elysian, which is understandable but still a bit disappointing to me.
For drinking with this book, I can give two California suggestions. Amburana Porter from Three Weavers is a lovely dark ale that really showcases the Brazilian wood and imparts tremendous cinnamon notes into the beer. It is one of my favorites from the Inglewood brewery. I have been told it is a limited release but it seems to pop up frequently.
Then, I should say try anything from Barrelworks – the sour arm of Firestone Walker but let’s narrow that down to trying two Bretta’s. Rose and my absolute favorite, Bretta Weisse. They really showcase how oak works on a beer to add layers. These are two very well rounded beers.
Appellation Beer is yet another really cool beer site. I especially love the “rules” and the book reviews which you normally don’t see on beer sites.
Plus if it’s liked by Eric Asimov at the NY Times, it has to be good.