In a way, I was thrilled.  I am looking forward to some respite from this insane heat and humidity that is part and parcel with living in Missouri, but really, brewers…there are other  ingredients that are associated with fall.  And yes, I realize there are other seasonal brews out there–like the many various renditions of ‘Oktoberfest’ beers–but the hallowed pumpkin beer always hordes coveted beer shelf realty space.

I just don’t get it…both from a taste perspective and from a business perspective.  No, I don’t like pumpkin beers, not even the revered Dogfish Head Punkin beer.  But at least I am willing to concede that just because I don’t like a particular style of beer doesn’t mean that my opinions are industry standard.  Beer is subjective.

But from a business perspective, were I to open a brewery, my absolute last choice for a fall seasonal beer would be a pumpkin beer; and this is a decision based off logic, not my flavor preferences.  Why?  It’s simple.  Consider this metaphor:  Imagine that you want to buy a new shirt.   You live in a world in which humanity only produces fluffy pirate shirts.  As you head to any of the many shirt stores, you notice a new one.  You go in.  The store has plenty of fluffy shirts, as you presupposed, but there in the back is a rack of t-shirts of various colors.  What would you be inclined to buy, price being the same?

The t-shirt, of course.  Even your most stick-in-the-mud being needs a little change…that’s why fall seasonals even exist.  What the purveyor of colored t-shirts did, is create uncontested market space. Your typical brewery who decides to pump out yet another pumpkin beer now has to fight for market space amongst craft beer drinkers.  Even if their new pumpkin beer tastes like the sweat of God, it has too much competition.

Perhaps this dawned on the folks over at the Bruery when they drew of the recipe for their yam beer.  Or maybe they just hate pumpkin as much as I do.  You know what reminds me of fall (flavor wise)?  Caramel Apples.  Now that would be an interesting flavor profile for a beer.  Another flavor that reminds me of fall is roasted nuts.  The sky is the limit when it comes to beer.  Why settle for the industry standard?

I myself am going to work on creating my own fall seasonal…what flavor profiles remind you of fall?

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There are practically as many designations (many self given) for the beer carouser of discriminate taste as there are beer styles.  Some approach such labeling with contempt; others with open arms.  But perhaps an less oft discussed designation is the the “Beer Know it All.”  We all remember the know it all in second grade.  He/She jumped at the opportunity to lavish his/her unsolicited wisdom upon you, and quite often that wisdom was incorrect.

I stumbled upon “the beer know it all” the other day.  The store had a fairly decent selection of beer.  As I was admiring it I noticed a woman with a list in her hand.  She looked confused, but I didn’t want to impose my knoledge upon her, uncertain that she actually needed any help.  I’d rather the vast beer knowledge in my temple be solicited.

A man stocking the beer cooler walked by and she asked him for help finding “filtered wheat beer” for her husband.  His response, laced with confidence, gave me a chuckle and bears repeating:

Uh, yeah, we don’t have any filtered wheat beer.  (actually they did, which I pointed out to the lady later:  New Belgium Sunshine)
We have some unfiltered wheat (here he points out Boulevard’s Unfiltered Wheat) but you wouldn’t want it any way.  Unfitered wheat is cloudy (correct!) and very sticky…in fact, I can’t even swallow the stuff…it’s too sweet…they didn’t filter out the sugar.  (say waht?!?!)

He pauses, the woman looks perplexed and she asks for a suitable substitute.

Hmmm…you should probably go with an IPA…they were made for war and shit (he really did say “and shit” but at least he sounded like he might get this one right).  They made these beers more bitter ’cause they had to ship them farther.  They put extra yeast in the bottle, so by the time the beer got to the soldiers it was really alcoholic.  If you buy and IPA and let it sit for a few years, it will become really alcoholic…I know…I’ve done it (were did he get that from?  He then lets his mischeivious “yeah I got drunk…REALLY drunk” grin out of the cage)

He began carrying on more, but I tuned it out.  All said and done though, it was interesting and humorous.  Odds are, at some point in time, I have been that guy.  I try to be informed when entering into any conversation, but I know I’ve gaffed.  I don’t recount the story to ridicule the guy or to try and elevate myself as being more informed, rather to point out that in a world full of know-it-alls, you cannot take for granted that what you are reading/listening to is legit, especially here on the interweb, a special place full of “experts.”  I bet that lady explain to her friend he new found knowledge of IPAs and perpetuates the error unaware.

Have you run into any “beer know it alls” lately?  Oh, by the way, I bet you didn’t know that Trappist Beers are called “Trappist” because the monks brewed the beer to lure drunks into caged traps where they would then practice necromancy on them.  It’s true.  Trust me.  I’m an expert.

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Since we don’t delve too much into our personal lives, some of you may or may not know details of what goes on for us on a day to day basis.  But in the interest of getting to know you better and for you to do the same, I’m going to write a bit of recent personal history.

Andrea and I moved to California slightly over one year ago for her to work on a Ph.D, and it was very tough from the beginning.  The whole thing started with me trying to transfer with a company (Lowe’s) that I had been with for about a year and a half.  The whole time I was an exemplary employee.  But lost in the amorphous mass of corporate structure, I had to take what was only a part-time job here.  On top of this, I was working another part time job, and so I was driving about 1 ½ hours a day.  When I landed a full-time job elsewhere, I was thrilled.

Well, it turned out to be a place with quite possibly the highest level of disfunction imaginable.  At any rate, my time there was brief (4 months), and I was then beginning my 4 ½ month journey of being jobless.  I had found a way to scratch out a meager existence with some savings and a bit of other routes and came to my wits end.  About this time, and I won’t give the details about this (except to say that everything turned out fine), I had to get a colonoscopy.  I don’t recommend ever getting one.

At any rate, let’s just say that the last 4 ½ months were pretty rough for several reasons.  I have no food, no job, my pets’ heads were falling off (either you get the reference or you don’t)—I wasn’t liking California during this time.  (When it rains, and it rarely does rain here, it pours.)

However, I did learn some valuable pieces of information about myself and began to have a lot of clarity concerning my thoughts on several issues.  Something happened not long ago that made me really rejoice: I got a three-pack sample from Buckbean. (See, this is related to beer!)  That might sound trite, but it was the proverbial straw that, in this case, mended the camel’s back.  About four weeks ago I landed a job that seems like a reward for my time of tribulation.  It’s going to be a great place to work, the benefits and pay are great, and I’m going to get some management experience, which will perhaps help for a future brewery.  Furthermore, I’m going to be meeting some very talented people would could very much design some beer labels.

Well, I’d made it through the storm and the sun was beginning to smile upon me again when it decided to come out full blast.  I’ve gotten a new motivation for the future of the brewery and have met some people who may really be able to help with the startup.  In fact, I am seriously looking into the nano idea in the meantime.  Time after time, recently, things are beginning to look up.  Of course, the good beer stuff is part of the equation, which is what makes this, in my mind, a justifiable post for the site.

Part of why I wrote this post is because I want to be able to share the full gambit of what is happening in my (mostly beer) world.  But I like the idea of hearing where you guys and gals are at and where beer is bringing you joy; the little things matter.  Conversely, I know that some of need to hear that life can be bipolar like this and that things will get better.  I don’t remember the last time life for me was just so-so.  It’s either famine or feast.  Anyway, I guess you could generically say that I’m sharing from the heart but, to me, there’s nothing generic about authenticity.  What about you people?

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As we sat listening, sipping, and enjoying, B.B. King was playing, and he said something that got me thinking about how widely cheap beer still permeates our culture.  First of all, having seen the beers that were stocked, I was already considering the fact that bad beer is still a massive part of the way things are.  However, B.B. really got me pondering. He talked about the blues and feeling good, which is stock material for a blues singer.  Then he mentioned something about drinking Bud Light.  When he said it, I thought about how great a job they’ve done to dominate the beer world.  Also, I thought about how uncritical the average person is about beer.

To be fair, I have blind spots of uncritical acceptance, but I try to keep learning along the way.  I just found it to be interesting that an artist who is known for being one of the all time best blues players—a connoisseur of the blues, if you will—was not a consumer of other great goods.

Not that I’m being critical of the King in particular.  In fact, I hold him in the highest regard.  I’m just glad that he’s more critical of blues than beer.  Of course, his job is to bring the blues.  Maybe ours is to bring the brews.

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The home we are moved into is great—nearly double the square footage of our old home—but it needs a LOT of work. Black mold, water damage, a forest in the backyard (which I already cleared and am now covered in poison ivy from head to toe to where the sun don’t shine), and overall ’70s feel, complete with shag carpeting.

Moving in and looking at the amount of work that needs done was overwhelming, and the first few days we couldn’t even sleep there. The house did not feel like “home”, but a project…that is until the first night we actually slept in the house and we were able to crack open a couple of brews for the first time and spend some much needed alone time.

The New Pad Is Refrigerator-less (bringing on the class)

I am sure plenty of folks might roll their eyes and sigh, “Always bringing it back to beer, huh Nate,” as if beer is the absolute matrix that determines my life. It’s not. But it is a big part of who I am, and let’s face it, alcohol has always been a celebratory beverage, whether it’s being smashed on the side of an ocean liner in a christening ceremony, or if Jesus Christ makes a special batch of wine to celebrate a wedding in Cana.

Opening that beer—which was a Boulevard Pale Ale, by the way (have to drink a Missouri beer for the first night in our new home)–transformed the unfamiliar into the newly familiar, and I felt quite peaceful with each sip.

Beer: It makes a house a home. (I know you were waiting for a cool beer cliche)

Now that I’m settled, I will be posting much more frequently. I have sincerely missed the interaction with the friends I’ve made through this site, as well as the site itself. While I have a home, I am now jobless…so all you praying type out there, offer up a petition for yours truly when you have a moment.

Cheers,
Nate

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I admit that this is probably a similar post on a beer that I wrote about craft beer zombies about a year ago, but it’s also a bit different.  In that post, I mentioned that proclivity to keep drinking the same thing.  This post is more about those of us who simply follow the crowd.  A good word from a friend or someone you trust or respect is one thing. Sound advice is sound advice.  But it’s blind to follow off the cliff of destruction.  Perhaps this is overstating the case a bit, but it is undeniable that there are lemmings among us.  Drink this, not that.

Some would have us believe that their top beer pick is along the lines of Nirvana, Enlightenment, and rolling on ecstasy at the same time.  I’ve been fighting with the idea that listening to the “experts” is the best course of action.  If you want the reputation of expertise, you have to earn it.  So, my encouragement is to listen to the experts with a grain of salt, listen to the proclaimed ones with a mountain of it, and, above all, become one yourself.  I don’t want to imply that I’m one, but I want to be…that’s just an aside to what I really want to say.

Exploration is key when it comes to discovering.  I like to think the reason why some of us love to learn is because we explore for ourselves.  The path of discovery isn’t well trodden.  When I listen to too many people about the hundreds of beers I have to try, I miss out on many of the ones that I should.  All this to say, which I think is consistent with what we’ve said in the past, don’t listen to us about a beer (or anyone else for that matter), see for yourself.  Blaze a path and tell us about your hidden treasures, not as “you have to try this beer.”  Maybe as “you have to try trying.”

I didn’t have any of our readers in particular on my mind when I wrote this post; I just had what was on my mind.

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Reading the article made my blood boil a bit.  Why?

I too, was set up by Christian County, MO police in a similar raid some years ago.  First allow me to tell  my story, and then set up the illogical nature of these raids.

I was working as bar tender at a Ruby Tuesday on a VERY busy night.  I had no time to converse with my customers and was slinging drinks at a furious pace.  This is great for the patrons…in a rush I tend to over-pour.  In walked a young, attractive girl who orders something retarded like a Midouri Sour.  She ordered the drink in a flirtatious manner.  Even though I’m busy, I say, “No problem…let me see your ID.” She rummages through her purse and then states, “I must have left it at home.” I reply, “Sorry, I cant serve you ten.” She says, “Pleaaaase!”  “Sorry, I can’t,” I reply.

After she leaves a dude with a mustache comes up to the bar and asks for my manager.  I run and grab my manager.  They talk in a corner, and then holler for me to come over.  The with the mustache explains that He was an undercover cop and had just set me up.  He said, “Congratulations, you passed the test.  Had you not, you’d be in cuffs right now.”

Even though I “Passed the test” I wasn’t happy.  Here I am a college student, father of two, slinging drinks to provide for my family, and this guy set me up with the intent that if I failed I go to jail?  What if I’d failed?  Even though I’m a law abiding citizen, it would be EASY to forget to ask for an ID form someone that looked of age when your getting slammed on a Saturday night.  The more I thought about it, the more I got wrong.  Here’s why.

The whole scenario of a “set up” seems to fit into the logical fallacy of Tu Quoque: Two Wrongs Make a Right.  The problem is that the law officials are CREATING a crime to be solved.  In my five years of bar-tending, that was the ONLY time that I ever had to decline a drink for lack of authentic age identification.  The problem did not exist until an underage girl (isn’t a crime on the behalf of the the underage purchaser as well?) was sent in by cop–whose job it is to stop crime–to create a crime in a place where there was no history of delinquency in the area of serving in minors, in order to hopefully arrest me, the innocent bartender.

Two wrongs make a right fallacy (or even the ends justify the means):  1) Serving an Alcohol to a minor is WRONG.  2) The crime DID NOT exist until created by the police.  They created evil to fill a non existent void.  WRONG  3) Intended result?  Get a POTENTIAL lawbreaker off the streets before he messes up for real.  Do the ends justify the means?  Do two wrongs make a right?  Regardless of whether the logic stands, the ethical nature of the sting is questionable.

Shoot, with that logic we should just exterminate our race since we as humans all have a potential for evil.

For the record, a few months after my incident, a bartender in training who was getting his rear handed to him on an extremely busy night served beer to a minor who was a part of a sting, even after we (I) passed the first test.  I personally knew the guy.  He was prude.  He just was so busy he lost his head and barely made eye contact with the pawn asking for the beer.  He got fired that night, went to jail ,had to pay lawyers and fines, and ended up having to drop out of college.

Does it make sense to create a crime in order to solve it?

What are your thoughts on the subject?

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I do care what’s in my beer.  I care that it’s a quality product made with malts, hops, water and good yeast.  In short, I care that the beer I’m drinking doesn’t have fillers and cheap production.  But for breweries to have to list ingredients like ginger, the reviled addition for Peter, is a discomfiting proposition to me.  The example I used on Peter’s post and the one I’m going to use here deals with Wit beer.

The exotic spices used in Wit beer are notoriously hard to pinpoint.  Some of the world’s best tasters may have a guess, albeit an uncertain one, as to which ingredients are actually used.  The mysterious appeal and subtle qualities of a Wit beer are essentially based on these “secret” ingredients.  Now suppose the ingredients of the Wit are required to be disclosed.  First off, the proprietary aspects of the beer would be revealed.  Obviously, the amounts are not disclosed but the basic structure of the beer is.  Is it fair to require the disclosure of ingredients based on what others might find distasteful?  I don’t think this is enough to dictate an ingredient list.

Known allergens are a different matter because of health risks.  In the event of those allergens, there should absolutely be a distinct and explicit reference to the said allergen.  In fact, I’m sure it’s a legal requirement.  Thus, I don’t think allergens are the real issue here.  The question is whether or not an ingredient list should be required.  For me, the answer is a resounding no.  To force this takes away proprietary uniqueness from the brewer (I noted this above).

We might think that because this is required of food that we have it on beer as well.  But even Ketchup leaves room for a unique product.  I can’t count the number of food labels that list several ingredients and then the word spices.  So, would listing two row malt, crystal malt, yeast, hops and various spices really solve the issue?  How much of a particular spice needs to be in the beer to make it a list worthy?  These are the sort of questions that we would have to ask.  Perhaps in the end we would have to have beer label that are even more specifically navigated than the Ketchup label.

Let’s be honest here, generally speaking, the drinker will only be out a beer or a six pack worth of cash.  I look at it like buying a salsa that you might not like.  Now you know you don’t like it through experience.  What’s more, we are in the internet age and while many of us beer reviewers avoid other reviews of the beer we are drinking, the information about most of these beers is out there.  The reason for avoiding the reviews is obvious.  One doesn’t want read reviews to influence how he or she thinks about the beer.  However, a beer with a disliked herb or spice that is pronounced enough to note is not really a secret in a beer review.  Therefore, the spice could be avoided.

The temptation is to think that because everyone can taste it, what’s the big deal about having to disclose it?  But I’m sure many of us know the philosophical concept of slippery slope argumentation; the problem with this type of logic is that stopping points are fluid and eventually the lowest common denominator is reached and required.

(As a side note: Matt [in the comments section] has stated that the ATF has a technical requirements for listing things like ginger but that just listing “spices” is the way that brewers get around it.  If so, I’m glad that brewers can get around it.  Furthermore, the requirement seems to extend not to labeling information but product; which of course means that it has to be somewhere but not necessarily on the label.)

Another point that Peter brings up is that he would like to see ingredients that are not common for the style listed.  This is exactly what I don’t want to see.  The reason I don’t is that what makes the beer not “common for the style” is the uncommon ingredient.  So, what makes the beer different and unique?  Uncommon, if you will, is that is has a specific ingredient.  I could personally see the listing of the unique ingredients as being detrimental to experimentation and exploration.  Instead of searching for one’s own unique path, there might be a temptation of act based on what other unique additions others have done.  The point it obvious.  The very thing that makes the beer unique for the style is the very thing that will be required to be listed…?  I’m not a fan.

However, these are all dwarfed by what I see as the biggest problem with the line of argumentation.  In the comments, Peter notes that he thinks ABV should be required on all beers.  However, the reason for the disparity of listing, listing over certain amounts, or listing at all is the fact that individual states are allowed to legislate.  The real problem of forcing the listing of ABV, unusual ingredients that pose no danger of allergy, or encouraging uniformity across the board is that there is only one entity that could make this happen.  I’m sure you know who I’m talking about.  I think that last thing we need is more government involvement.  This is the same government that put the three-tier system in place.  Yes, I’m arguing guilt by association.

Thomas makes a good implicit point (and Matt’s explicit point) in the comment section when he says breweries don’t have access to a lab.  The implicit point is higher cost of obtaining various points of information.  This is the other side that would come with government requirements or even voluntary involvement, more cost for the brewery which will be passed on to the consumer (this would be yet another competitive edge for the big boys as they already have labs, which are figured into their product cost).  So, this requirement would not simply be a “pain in the arse,” as Lee implies in the comments section; it’s about cost and uniqueness.  Thomas’s other point that the ATF doesn’t want to imply health benefits by listing various aspects to a brew is well taken.

I want to be fair to Peter.  He says that he is against regulation.  But the only way that what he is stating is going to happen is one of two ways: either the brewers agree to do it themselves or the government makes them.  I personally don’t think either would be good for business.  After all, what about those of use who don’t like a certain hop or malt that much…shouldn’t that be listed, too?

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One night we were playing cards at the Reinhardt household, and I decided to crack some cellar beers.  A few beers stick out, but one in particular is at the front of my mind as I write this: a Kiwi lambic from Upland.  This beer was terrific.  I personally noted one slight off-tone to the brew, but it didn’t really detract from the beer as a whole.  But I’m not here to write a review or get you to buy that particular beer.  Actually, I want to share something that I found particularly surprising.

My brother has been pretty into beer for a couple of years now, and he is particularly fond of lambics.  He loved the Upland offering.  But that’s not really the surprise.  My sister is normally pretty game to try any beer that’s put in front of her.  She always approaches a beer with an open mind.  To my surprise and delight, she really enjoyed the beer and was talking about getting some sours when I came to town next.  She’s not a beer fanatic by any means, but she absolutely fell in love with this lambic.  Interestingly, the lambic is not of the sweet Lindeman’s variety.  No, this is a truly sour version of the style.

This set me to thinking about how approachable and refreshing lambic is as a style.  If the drinker doesn’t like sour or vinegar flavors from the start, it’s hard to make the case.  Otherwise, I’m relearning some lessons.  Different people have very different taste, so it’s not a forgone conclusion that you move them from Bud to Sam Adams Boston Lager or whatever else.  Sometimes, it’s gauging an open mind and going from a Bud to a sour lambic…now there’s an interesting thought.

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So, I had an idea (not sure if it’s going to flop or fly) that involves making a simple statement and then asking our readers to finish the thought.  I think it will be fun and all of us will get to know each other better.  Without further ado, here is the first statement.

“I love hops in a beer because they…”

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