Great article HERE about the hot-rock styles of beer.
Beer DVD reviews
Today, I watched “Beer Wars” and “The American Brew” back to back. I think that they both have their strong points but American Brew wins my Beer Oscar.
The American Brew is way too short (in a good way) and I really enjoyed the clips left on the cutting room floor. It shows the basics of making beer along with a brief history of beer in America. And it has great commentators including Daniel Okrent, Charlie Papazian, Fritz Maytag and Dick Cantwell among others. It has a specific aim and it hits it straight on. Since, I love educating people about beer and its turbulent history in America, this is a great tool to use.
Beer Wars on the other hand has a major beer flaw in it, though it is not a dramatic flaw. The focus is on Sam Calagione from the wonderful Dogfish Head and on the creator of Moonshot Caffeine Beer and Edison Light, Rhonda Kallman. To a lesser extent it is a screed against the three-tiered distribution system and the dominance of ABINBEV / SABMILLERCOORS.
Both Sam and Rhonda have wonderful entrepreneurial spirit. But Sam understands that he is a brewer first and second and third and a salesman fourth. Rhonda is all sales all the time and that hurts her. She becomes a product not a craft. I totally understand why the beer community is so mixed on this movie. On one hand it celebrates creative beer and then extols the wonders of marketed beer. It is good drama but not good beer.
100th Beer Post!!
Thanks to the advice of Tomm Carroll, I checked out BoHo in Hollywood. Open since March of this year, it is a odd spot. Great big picture window but on the inside it is eclectic old boy’s club / library. Very interesting and very busy.
I had two vastly different beers. First off was Dogfish Head’s 90 Minute IPA. Very interesting. This is a strange observation to make but it tasted thick but not in a stout or porter way. Not something that you drink fast. For an IPA, not a hoppy aroma or taste but you can really tell you are drinking a big beer. I will have to taste the 60 minute to compare.
Secondly was the Rogue Chocolate stout. Oh was this good. Great Aroma of chocolate and malt. I could spend hours just taking in this great smell. And it was so easy to drink. This is a really good beer. Great with dessert.