In the past few months a bit of chatter over the slight rise in the cost of beer has risen over the various media venues.  This is to be expected as weakened dollar and fragile global economy has and will continue to drive up the cost of commodities.  Externally influenced factors aside, there has also been a bit of a buzz over higher priced beers whose cost is influenced by factors other than market fluctuations.  There are numerous factors that affect the price of any given beer, and I need not head down a rabbit trail that's already been paved, but I do want to address this particular cause of disgruntlement, as I saw a great case of "expensive beer shock disorder" tonight. At my usual bottle shop tonight I examined a 750 ml bottle of Brooklyn Brewery's latest release of Black Ops, again, for the second week in a row.  There was a certain amount of hype going into the release of this beer, and rightfully so.  The ever respectable Garret Oliver put a considerable amount of TLC into this beer:  11.6%, aged in oak bourbon barrels, and bottle conditioned with champagne yeast. I first saw Black Ops over a weak ...

The ubiquitous beer among beer geeks, for a while, was an IPA.  The style is still extremely popular...some people are simply hop heads.  However, many people enjoy several other styles of beer, and there has been a recent resurgence in sour ales.  Classics and new world versions are beginning to abound.  To me, this is a very nice change.  Sours are perhaps the most interesting and intricately weaved beers, at least in my mind. Yet, they've not achieved the level of popularity that is enjoyed by IPAs, specifically American versions. So what's the new IPA?  Is there one? It seems to me that the new most popular style of beer is not a style at all.  The replacement for the IPA is, ostensibly, the collaboration brew.  This thought stuck me yesterday when I saw that the largest craft brewer (Sam Adams) is doing a collaborative brew with the oldest licensed brewery in the world (Weihenstephaner).  This could likely be the largest collaborative brew currently possible among brewers (unless Budweiser and Miller do a triple-hopped collaborative brew mixed with horse dung...there are ways to improve their product). Think about it.  Collaborative brews have achieved an extremely meteoric rise in popularity (can I really ...

Stagnation and creative atrophy often sets in industries as well as the companies that form them.  In the brewing industry, the greatest example is the post World War II domination of the Macro lager over the beer market.  Post beer reformation, it still occurs.  I am reminded of Autumn and the unyielding commitment by just about every brewery  out there to commemorate the change of season with a pumpkin ale.  There are also those breweries that grow to a large size and forget their creative roots.  They pump out the same stuff, at the same intervals...building new beers and collaborating with other breweries is a thing of the past. Perhaps as Sierra Nevada approaches their 30th birthday they are having a midlife crisis of sorts, because they seem to be ensuring that they don't become an apathetic brewery.  After the recent collaboration with Dogfish head, the brewery announced more was to come, including the release of Glissade, a golden bock, to replace their old ESB spring seasonal. First off, it is incredibly odd and game-changing to up and change a tried and true seasonal, but I think the move is bold, and warranted.  The ESB wasn't bad.  It was actually pretty good, ...

G. K. Chesterton--one of the prolific writers and minds of the nineteenth century--tells a story of an English seaman who, after a series of miscalculations, lands upon an exotic coast, full of ancient pagan statues and lush hills.  The seaman is overjoyed as he thinks he has discovered a tranquil new paradise, but in ironic tragedy he had really landed on a deserted portion of coast on his homeland of great Britain.  The moral of the story is that sometimes we miss some of the beauties of life that have been in front of us for a while.  This is how I felt as I walked out of Boulevard Brewery last week. Having lived in Missouri (Springfield) for six years and spent more time in Kansas City than I can recall, it is a shame that I have never toured the Boulevard Brewing complex.  My repertoire of knowledge concerning their beers has been primarily limited to their session and seasonal beers, all of which are great, but have never dramatically held my attention.  With the introduction of their smokestack series, however, my interest was piqued.  When I read that their head brewer, Steven Pauwels, had created a collaborative brew with Jean ...

It's rare that I jump into the fray on "hot news" where the blogosphere is concerned.  Put simply, everything that needs to be said has generally already been said on a given topic.  However, certain writing will occasionally raise my ire to such a degree that it simply merits a response.  So, I'll capitulate from being ensconced in my ivory tower by coming down and opening myself to critical comments by defending a craft brewer.  Who would of thought anyone would actually have to do that? As you have no doubt heard, BrewDog has now made the world's strongest beer at 32% ABV.  Of course, if naysayers would have it, it's not technically beer at all.  More on that in a moment.  My real problem is not with intelligent dialogue on the topic, it is with dismissive and percile logic used on posts like the one that has elicited my response. The amount of assumptions and lack of thorough intelligence is singularly lopsided as far as this gent is concerned.  Roger Protz is apparently the world's leading beer authority and a very intelligent fellow, but what he wrote will not do and is not enough to convince anybody who is not already of his disposition. ...

Continuing our series on factors (including grains and hops) that contribute to the higher cost of craft beers, let's take a look at yeast.  There are many types of yeast that can be used in brewing.  Oftentimes, a brewer will use more than one yeast in a particular brew.  For instance, a lot of the sour beers that have become more popular in the marketplace use multiple strains. Obviously, the more specialty yeasts or variety of types a brewer uses, the higher the cost of the product. A corresponding lessening of cost is associated with fewer yeast strains.  Our macro brewing friends mostly use one consistent lager strain, so there is lesser cost for those who use this one strain.  Micro brewers, on the other hand, make a variety of styles, include multiple strain styles in a beer, and some even use fresh yeast to bottle carbonate/condition their beer (again, this is extra money for the brewer). So, where does all this yeast come from?  Large brewers are able to purchase lab equipment, propagating equipment, and storage space for yeast specimens, which they keep in house.  Their ability to do this pays the expensive equipment off over the course of time.  They ...

Am I remembering this beer differently?  Did it used to be darker and more stout?  Maybe they did change it a bit.  The last time I drank this beer was about a year ago.  In fact, I drank a bottle that I had aged for 3 years. That aged bottle was really nice to drink, so I was a bit disappointed with this "fresher" bottle.  Don't get me wrong, Bison Chocolate Stout was still good...but it certainly wasn't what I expected.  Here is the skinny on this thinner version of Chocolate Stout. The Pour: It's amazing how one's recollection of a beer can be skewed by time and expectation.  When I poured Bison Chocolate Stout, I noticed that it was not quite as dark as I remembered it being.  In fact, it was less Stout looking and more Porter in approach; light was visible throughout the dark brown/black body and a creamy light brown head sat atop--looked like a Porter. The Nose: When I caught the touches of coffee aroma, I remembered that this was in fact a Stout.  For me, the dividing line of a stout and porter essentially lies along the lines of using Black Patent Malt or Roasted Barley.  I ...

Striking a balance between the new wave of exciting extreme beers and the beers that made them possible can be a task.  Hype, hypersensitivity, and a attitude of lament can make one upset about what he or she hasn't had.  I'm as guilty as anyone, so I'm not pointing the finger.  But isn't it singularly odd how the wider frame of technological advance and the like affect our dispositions?  Think about it: aren't we normally looking for the latest and greatest gadgets?  One begins to feel a bit like Brave New World is happening right under our noses.  Are we doing the same thing with beers?  To quote Homer Simpson, "Our gastronomic capacity knows no satiety."  But maybe that is what happens sometimes; the shear inundation and bewildering variety of beers simply washes us away.  I'm tired of the illusion that I can keep up. What can be done?  I think an appeal should be made here--an appeal for the classics.  Sure, I realize that advances in beer technology, malting, and curiosity drives forward the mechanism of beer styles.  The classics exist because people ventured out.  The same amount of breakneck speed that we have today does not apply, in the ...

This past Saturday my wife and I set out to celebrate our sixth wedding anniversary.  With my dad and stepmother watching the kids, headed downtown.  The several restaurants we were hoping to dine at were either packed or parking was non existent.  After an hour of driving, we ended up at a location not on our list:  The Maumee Bay brewing company. Before you scold me for a brewery NOT being sought out initially, here me out:  My wife is pregnant.  She likes loves beer.  She cannot drink beer right now.  Renouncing apathy, I did not want the poor girl to be forced to watch me indulge in the forbidden fruit.  As it is, with four kids, going out to eat alone is a semi-annual event.  Anyway, there we were at the only Microbrewery in the Toledo area. It is a shame that I have never visited the brewpub, but I had my reasons.  The brewery only one beer sold in stores that is produced by the microbrewery I found to be quite fowl.  You may remember it from our discussion on "sink-worthy beers." Consequentially, I was not jumping at the chance to sample other varieties.  But there we were, and I ...

I have been under the impression for some  time, that success in business requires more than just a great product. The beer industry is no exception. Besides all the obvious ingredients to success (sell-ability, marketing, passion, etc.), the burden lies, primarily, on the owner/founder. Often, greed and extreme egotism results in mediocrity or even failure. With the nation bearing witness, the financial industry has recently revealed the inevitable negative consequence of a top down, 'my wallet isn't heavy enough' mindset. So reading a story of innovative selflessness is not only refreshing, but worthy of repeat. New Belgian Brewery, producers of the shelf worthy line of Belgian style beers (Fat Tire being the most renowned), demonstrates the ingenuity that celebrates not only a love for the product and the inherent creative process, but the reversal of the top down mentality in valuing the toil of employees and thereby encouraging company loyalty. This is reflected in a 'no duh' flavored statement by CEO Kim Jordan: "There's something wrong if making beer can't be fun." And just how does the brewery go the extra mile to make beer fun? (as if beer wasn't fun enough already!) From ...