Sometimes the phrase “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure” can truly hit home.  Andrea and I have some friends near San Diego and went to visit them this past weekend, which led to me obtaining some seriously nice oak barrels.  How did it happen?

Well, our friend has started growing grapes on his property in an attempt to make his own wine.  This year’s batch was actually pretty good. Last year, however, was not what Tom expected.  The long and short of it is that he counted on ambient yeast (i.e., the yeast on the grape skins) to give him his desired fermentation.  No such luck.  Some bacteria also got a hold of the wine and soured it.  Too bad for Tom’s barrels, they became unusable…for wine, that is.

Concurrent with Tom’s vine mania is my mania for lambics.  I’ve had a couple of these fun beers going for almost a year.  When Tom told me that his barrels were “no good,” I knew they were perfect for my purposes.  So, the day that Andrea and I got back, my lambics got transferred into the wine barrel…man, I love beer!

Not all beers are created equal, including Odell’s De-con-struc-tion Ale.  It’s not that De-con-struc-tion is bad…it is astonishingly superb.  I first had a sip of this beer at a KC Gents meeting, which is a group of guys in the KC Metro area who get together to drink and discuss beer.  I don’t know who brought it, but they win best beer of the night in my opinion.  Anyway, I only had about a 4 ounce pour of the beer and it blew my mind enough to birth a conviction in me to seek out a full bottle (around $15) which is not an easy task for a guy who is unemployed.  Fortunately for Christmas my wife’s parents bestowed upon me a gift card to Gomer’s Fine Wine and Spirits in Lee’s Summit, MO.

Buying a bottle of something that struck you and that you’ve only had a smidgen of can be a risk.  Was the beer really that excellent?  Did the mood/ambiance alter my senses?  Did previous beers alter my senses or confuse my palate?

Not in the case of De-con-struc-tion.  Reading up on the beer, I loved it even more, as it employs the fine art of blending–but not just blending, blending of pilot brews (oak aged) with the final recipe.  From the Brewery’s website:

A Method of brewing based on isolating first principals and making pronounced through pilot brewing the desired elements that contribute to the overall flavor. A Golden Ale created by blending the final recipe with its own barrel aged pilot beers fermented with wild yeasts. Each individual barrel contributes a unique flavor from the wood chosen and the cultures resident to achieve subtle complexities that develop(ed) over time. A beer which starts sweet, filling the mouth with fruit-like esters and a mild spiciness, changing to a tart and lingering flavor reminiscent of grapefruit living amidst an earthy, citrusy hop aroma. Define flavor for yourself in this constantly evolving liquid expression.

Having been reading up a good deal on the history and art of barrel aging and blending, primarily in the Flander’s Tradition, I have to say the beer nailed it.   The beer is mixed as such:

• 44% Ale
• 33% Ale aged in oak
• 20% Bourbon
• 3% Wine Barrels

Many may recall that I am not a huge fan of bourbon in beer…but it works with this one.  The beer is pleasantly wild yet blessed with ungodly proportions of smoothness.  Bretty and buttery,  fruity and citrusy.  The slightly hop forward nature balances out the oak.  There is nothing more irritating than a beer that tasted like your chewing on a piece of wood.   De-con-struc-tion manages the oak flavors as subtle nuance.  The 10.5% ABV is well masked by the fruity complexity of the beer, so bee careful.

I really cannot–nor do I want to–explain in adjectives and metaphors how delicious the beer is…it just has to be experienced.  This is one beer that broke my heart at the last sip, as I wish I had several bottles more.

Have you had it?

By now I am sure the entire  beer blogosphere has published an article tittering with excitement centering on a recent discovery of intact bottles of beer from the 19th century pulled from the depths of a Baltic Sea ship wreck.  I don’t blame them.  As I read the article I myself began to titter with excitement.  There’s no point in re-writing the stories (I counted 180+ through google news), but I do want to point out what struck me from this discovery.

1)  The press is describing this as an “Ancient” discovery.  Ancient?  Are you kidding me?  I hardly think of the early 1800′s as ancient.  What’s mind boggling, is that this is being haled as the “one of the world’s oldest preserved beers.”  It got me excited to realize that there has to be an older beer out there and that inevitably it will be found.  Then again, the oldest beer in my collection is 30 years old, so the Finn’s have me beat as 200.

2)  Yeast.  What an amazing organism!  My Homebrewing hobby has and continues to elicit profound respect for the tiny asexual fungi that are responsible for converting sugar into booze.  In fact, the other author of this blog, Mike, and I frequently talk about the amazing character and adaptability of yeast.  To think that after 200 years at the bottom of the sea, yeast were found by scientist in those aged bottles that are still intact.  I would love to get my hands on a copy of the strain should Finnish scientists be able to revive them.  Additionally, as one of the articles states, at the time that the discovered beer was brewed, little was known about yeast and how it worked.  I am pent up with excitement to hear what type of strain was the predominant strain in the batch.

Sam Calagioni of Dogfish Head no longer has a handle on the market of analysis and reproduction of ancient brews.  If scientists are able to grow and ferment using the strain, they’d seem to have a one-up on authenticity.  BUT, will they?  All this thought on ancient yeast actually reminded me of Weihenstephan Abbey Brewery, known as the world’s oldest continually operating brewery.   The oldest known record of Weihenstephan producing beer is 768.  One has to wonder…are there any elements of the original yeast used still present in its offspring the brewery uses today?  Each time we touch a glass of Weihenstephan to our lips, we may be ingesting yeast cells that are of a much more ancient lineage than that of the cells discovered in the Baltic Sea.

Which brings me to the fulcrum of my excitement:  Each sip of beer makes the ancient past as relevant as the next day, whether it be salty acidic brew from a sunken ship, a Weihenstephan, o a beer born in my kitchen.

Why do people eat a hamburger rather than Spam?  Why do people like a Ferrari better than a Pinto?  It seems the answers to these questions is somewhat obvious (cost prohibitive aspects to the Ferrari aside).  Quality, quality, quality.

It is intriguing when those who are unfamiliar with craft beer ask the question, “What’s fueling craft beer’s growth?”  So, here is the two cent answer: quality. Well, variety, too.

It seems that America has been undergoing a slow revolution in its flavor matrix.  With the at-handedness of food shows, internet ordering of hard-to-get ingredients, and “atypical” restaurants, we are literally being exposed to a world of foods and flavors.  Hopefully, the oft quoted statistic, that Americans essentially eat the same eight to ten basic meals, is becoming a thing of the past.  The average America is starting to demand better foods, more flavors, deeper variety.  All for flavor.

What happens to people when they’ve decided to no longer settle for vapidity in their foods?  They start exploring flavors and start seeking out new experiences.  Why should beer be any different?  What happens when people will no longer settle for a post-prohibition and hegemonic monopolization of their beers?  Well, craft beer is born.  We are awakening from our post-prohibition angst and finding that beer vs. no beer is no longer a legitimate distinction to make. We are finding, like our foods, a whole new world of possibilities.  Possibilities where enjoyment, complexity, and flavor are replacing excessive imbibing as a primary pursuit.

In short, if you need to ask what is fueling craft beer’s growth, look no further than your plate. I hope it’s evolved over time.

Every day it seems like another electronic, real time, internet based forum/community is born.  Myspace, FaceBook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc., and the latest…Untappd.  Untappd is much like Twitter, but less schizophrenic in nature.  Instead of telling the world what you are doing at any given moment, you merely tell them (other Untappd members) what beer you are drinking and where you are drinking it at any given moment.

As this is a blog, and every blog is op ed in nature, I am just going to come out and say it:  Untappd bugs me.  Before I say why, let me assure you that if you are an untapd member, I think nothing less of you.  I do no think your less intelligent than the average guy/gal.  I do not think your sinister…I just don’t care if your drinking a Red Ale at John Doe’s pubs.  But my irritation goes beyond having to muddle through even more pedantic FaceBook updates (most folk link Untappd with FaceBook) than I did before.  There are two capital reasons that really are at the root of why I will never get an Untappd membership.

1)  The internet is the most capacious  revolution since the industrial revolution, and perhaps the most world impacting phenomenon to occur ever.  For all it’s glory and wonder, it has it’s flaws.  It creates bubbles of unchecked capitalism and–more detrimental–has altered human relationships.  Now, I know that social networking sites like FaceBook and Twitter (both of which I utilize) can help friends who live miles apart stay in touch.  It can create new relationships.  I’ve met and hung out with several pals who were once just profiles and avatars on these sites.  But one thing these sites have done, in my opinion, have limited the depth of relationships that friends once had, primarily by making the friendship an egocentric one.  For the most part, the point of these sites is to tell the world what YOU are doing.  FaceBook, Twitter, and now Untappd assumes that the user is the center of the relationship, and that everybody is just dying to know what your doing or what your drinking.

As a result, I…and several other sociologists…have noted that instead of having a several close friends, a person has many, many, more trivial relationships.  I’m not saying that this is you, but it may be one of your friends.  I’m not the only one who echos these concerns; check out this short clip:  Life Inc.

2) The biggest irk is that I am afraid that Untappd trivializes what, as Sean Inman from beersearchparty like to say, “the end purpose of beer is.”  That’s right, beer has a purpose, actually, many end purposes.  Id say my favorite end purposes of beer is the conversation it enhances when drink it with like minded friends.    Untappd rewards its members by drinking more and different beers with certain “badges.”  I recently looked at some of the beers that were needed to attain to a certain badge level, and the beers were pretty obscure, rare, hard to come by beers (at least around here!).  When I see, “so and so got the ‘crazy big IPA badge’ (fictional badge)  today” it seems like that Untappd update relegated the “end purpose of beer” to mere bragging rites.

Is that what beer is about?  To feel warm and fuzzy that you drank more and different beers than the next guy?  Is that why you tell the everyone your having a given brew…to let them know that they are not having it?  Now, there is a time an place for telling the world that your having a brew.  I frequently mosey over to sites like The Brew Club, Mike Loves Beer, Simply Beer, The Drunken Polack and many more (who may very well have Untappd memberships), because they let me in on the experience they had while drinking the beer in their reviews. Let me tell you, experience is a very “end purpose of beer.”  And if I’ve had the beer in review I can participate a bit in conversation.

Essentially, I feel like Untappd distracts from the human and beer experience.  Like I stated earlier, I have nothing against Untappd users or even the creators of Untappd, we just may hold different opinions.  Let’s face it…the world is full of contrasting opinions.  Even when two folks disagree over a matter, after hearing the other side, while they may not come out altering their opinion, they at least may have altered their perception and grow a bit from learning the other side.  So while we may disagree, just know that it is only out of my love for human relationships and beer, that I offer this opinion.

Now it’s your turn…let us know what you think in the comments below!

Home brewing.  What can I say, I love it.  I love making it, I love thinking through my recipes and learning new tidbits about it.  My current tradition has been to not really care about peeling labels or making my own.  This shouldn’t be mistaken as merely a utilitarian use of beer.  I just have been more concerned about only the actual beer’s flavor aesthetics.

I think that’s changing.

Recently, several people have taken upon themselves to help in the creation of my beer labels.  This unsolicited kindness got my mind thinking about design.  For this reason I’ve started the process of drawing up some preliminary designs for my beer and have, despite myself, found it to be a type of brewing catharsis that I formerly knew nothing about.

Isn’t it interesting that the world of brewing offers so many passions (and newly found passions) that you might have never know otherwise?  I think so.  For me, there is a wider statement that should be made.  My beer just keeps giving back to me.  In some sense it has created a neurological junkism that continues to open up my mind and my world.

Several times on the site, I’ve appealed to the fact that my commercial beer purchases have seen a drastic decline.  In fact, I’m not sure that the word drastic captures the change.  It seems, in short, that it’s certainly about beer…but it’s perhaps about more than beer itself.  A whole new world of passions have been awoken.  And that is something that I sorely need sometimes.

What about you?  Do you make your own labels?  Has beer opened up your world?  I’m dying to know just know a little more about beer through your passion.

I refuse to ridicule someone for drinking “crap” beer…you know, anything brewed by a “Macro Brewery.”  Why?  First, negativity is far less conducive to communicating a better idea, and two, I’d be making fun of myself because I wasn’t just born into this idea that there are better beers out there.  I, like many others, were weaned from MGD to IPA.

That being said, I do try introduce friends and family to better beers.  Always, across the board, the number one complaint against craft beer is not that it tastes bad (although often acclamation is necessary), but that it is TOO EXPENSIVE.  And the complaint bears some validity, though at times I have been know to argue otherwise from a broader alcohol perspective.   But I get it.  I mean, I love me some sour beers.  I would drink a tongue twisting, lactobacillus born beauty everyday if I could, but I can’t afford it.

But there is a compromise, and I have proof.

At the grocery store I happened to notice that Boulevard’s Pilsner was actually CHEAPER than BudLight.  Boulevard’s Pilsner was priced at $5.59 and Anhueser Busch’s BudLight was priced at $5.99   Even better, Boulevard’s Pilsner is actually a really good beer.  When I’m in the mood for a good session pilsner to drink at a picnic or on my back porch in the summer and I don’t have any homebrewed Pilsner on hand, I’ll sometimes grab Boulevard’s Pilsner.  It’s clean, crisp, full flavored, bready…and a hell of a lot better than BudLight.

The great thing is, is that Boulevard’s Pilsner isn’t a leap for the macro drinker.  When weaning a baby off powdered formula or breast milk, you start introducing whole MILK not Coca Cola, right?  So doesn’t it make sense to offer that Miler Light zombie a better tasting (yet familiar) Boulevard Pilsner that actually costs LESS than what their used to?

I am sure that keen eye can find these deals in other cities from other breweries.  I’ll tell you what I’m doing…I’m keeping these pics on  my phone, so that the next time somebody gripes, “Craft beer is just too expensive,” I’ll whip out exhibit A and exhibit B and hopefully make a convert.

Oftentimes I would love to brew during the week but find that it is not really that plausible after work…or…it wasn’t.

I’ve recently rediscovered the joy of brewing lower gravity (most recently a mild) brews. In the past, my brews have tended to be pretty big, wheat heavy, or fairly involved.  Large grain bills that take up quite a bit of space also take up a great amount of time.  The sparge time is, in my opinion, the (no pun intended) sticking point.  For all these reasons, I was afraid to start a brew after work.  Who wants to slave over a brew deep into the hours of the night?

I actually don’t mind, but now I’ve found an easier way. Smaller beers (in terms of gravity) are much easier to deal with during a work night.  I’m trying to increase the amount of beers I’m brewing to…well, let’s just say that I’m glad I have a two person household (government is something else). So, what’s a better choice than a relaxing evening of brewing while drinking a homebrew?  I mean, what am I going to do, watch T.V.?  I’d rather M*A*S*H than watch it anyway.  It’s four hours well spent.

Do you do the brew on a weeknight?

While in some corners of the world, spit (saliva) is a must-have ingredient when making a good brew, here in the United States we try to keep the spit out.  Saliva contains more than a few microbes and bacteria that would love to feast on the sugar in wort, or residual sugar left in a fermented batch.  Many homebrewers, like myself, like to siphon their concoctions from vessel to vessel.  In fact, if you are using a glass carboy, aside from dumping a fermented batch of beer (which would stir up yeast and defeating the purpose), you HAVE to siphon the brew.

To siphon a beer from vessel A to B, suction is initially needed to pull the beer from the vessel that has been placed higher than the receiving vessel.  After the beer has traveled down the tube further than the level of the starting vessel, gravity kicks in and pulls the remaining beer. To get that initial suction, a lot of homebrewers simply put the end of the tube hanging out of the higher vessel into their mouth and suck.  It does the job, but allows for bacterial infection.  *note* I forgot to take a picture of my own siphon set-up.  photo credit goes to http://bahua.com/bbs/.

Today, I transferred a freshly fermented beer into a secondary vessel where it will Lager for five weeks.  There was a bit (though not much) residual sugar in the beer, and I wanted to keep my slobber out.  Unlike a lot of homebrewers, I DO NOT have all the fancy-schmancy gadgets, like an AUTO SIPHON that utilizes a hand pump to initially suction the beer. I know…it’s only $10.  BUT, when you have five kids and student loans, ten bucks is a lot less trivial.

Just because I’m not willing to shell out $10 for an auto siphon does not mean that my beer should suffer.  Even for those willing to shell cash out on every brewing gadget imaginable, there are many who just haven’t gotten to upgrading to the auto siphon, as it does not come with most starter kits.  Besides, I love solving problems, so here’s how I siphon my beer from carboy to carboy without getting any slobber in it.  I bought a 3 inch tube that is just slightly bigger (like a sixteenth of an inch) bigger than the main tube proceeding from my upper carboy.  I slip this tube on top of the main tube and achieve a snug fit.  I put my mouth on this three inch tube and suck.  When I see the beer coming down the tube, I quickly pull it off and allow the beer to drain into the secondary fermenter.  It’s kind of like a homebrew condom, and I’ll bet it’s easier to clean and sanitize than the auto siphon.

There you have it.  Five cents, problem solved, and I get that warm and fuzzy feeling that only comes when you feel like you have beaten the system.  Enjoy the pics below!

Below is an amazingly cute picture of beer and my one year old…but first, a few words.

I cannot help but occasionally write about the melding of two passions of mine:  Beer and kids.  You see, I love beer, and I love all five of my kids…and before you ask, no, I do not love the brews more than the bambinos.  So isn’t it natural that the two should coalesce into a post or two?

I want beer to be a very natural part of life for my kids; so much so, that when they come of age, beer is not some forbidden fruit to be consumed in large quantities.  I do not want my kids to drink it for drinkings sake.  I don’t want my kids, when of age, to run down to the local gas station and pick up a 24 pack of Bud Light, and drink one after the other like some sort of monotonous routine.  So occasionally, I give my kids a teaspoon size sip of a brew.  At their young age, their palates and minds are so wide open, that the more different flavors you get them used to, the less picky they’ll be.  And, since one day I am sure one of my kids will be president of the United States of America, I am snubbing the potential for a Bush/Broccoli incident in the butt right now.

Anyhow, Ivan–my youngest–saw me pour a brew and had his mind made up that he was going to get it.  When I would not allow him a sip, he was stretching his fat little hand towards the glass for about fifteen minutes.  Eventually he even tried climbing up on a chair to get the brew.

Now, please share any beer and kids stories…I’d love to hear ‘em.  Post a picture in the comments section even, if you know some basic html.  And if you don’t have any kids and beer stories, feel free to tell my boy is the cutest thing you’ve ever seen.