The Beer Road

The popularity of pumpkin beers, however seasonally brief, is a difficult thing to ignore.  Even four or more years ago, one could see evidence of their growing popularity.  At least a few examples were available in your grocery or local craft beer store – if you had one in your hometown – and they certainly caught your attention, even if you walked past them for something else to pair with the first chill in the nighttime air, like a favorite stout.  The names of the beers were becoming so instantly recognizable that the brewery name wasn’t needed – Punkin, anyone?  And for some craft fans, the beers themselves were starting to become as much part of fall season traditions as the wedge shaped dessert they often tried to mimic.  Almost certainly, pumpkin beers were becoming the most well known seasonal “style” of beer one could likely think of.  So it’s not difficult to understand that today it almost seems to be a requirement for every brewery put one out on the market.  Perhaps you are one who truly enjoys them, or you only pick up one or two each year to test out whether your tastes have changed enough to do so, but pumpkin beers are definitely here to stay.

But let’s be honest.  Not to dismiss them at all, but pumpkin ales are a relatively innocuous style of beer.  Not that there are great examples – Southern Tier’s Pumking instantly comes to mind, as does many others.  But it’s often said the best of the style do indeed seem to replicate your mom’s pumpkin pie, and after all, who doesn’t like pumpkin pie?  So when pumpkin beers began showing up on store shelves this year, the backlash which this relatively inoffensive seasonal style of brew generated was nothing short of interesting, at least to me.  Technically, it wasn’t the beer that caused the unrest, but the seemingly un-seasonal early arrival of them, which began to occur in early August in most places.  Although the response has begun to fade now with the coming of cooler temps, at the time, the sentiment expressed that many weren’t the beer’s early arrival, and was relayed across internet bulletin board discussions, Twitter, and even in articles in Yahoo Finance and The Denver Post, summarized by Twitter hashtags such as #summersnotover and the more direct #holidayfail (as mentioned in the Denver Post article).  And I swear that I heard a cheer somewhere far off in the distance at the exact moment well known Richmond craft beer bar Mekong posted on their Facebook page this very to the point statement:  “WE WILL NOT BE TAPPING PUMPKINS BEER UNTIL THE FALL, WHERE THE SEASON IS APPROPRIATE”.  Now perhaps you didn’t mind the early arrival, or didn’t care either way, but there seemed to be more than enough kickback to take notice.  So I simply couldn’t help but think that this energized response to pumpkin beers showing up on store shelves in mid August, when most craft fans were still giving the latest low abv IPA a try while sweating through another day on the beach, might have been craft beer’s first official equivalent to shopping malls putting out their Christmas displays mid-summer, or Halloween candy showing up in July.  Could this have been craft beer’s first formal attempt at stretching the seasons, something so many other industries do?  (In their defense, since stouts and IPAs are already available year round, and aren’t necessarily seasonals to begin with, what other true seasonal do they have?  Oktoberfests?  “Winter Warmers”?)

Perhaps breweries wanted to make sure they got theirs out there first, which meant they all did.  Perhaps it was a concerted effort to capitalize on the still surging craft beer interest, and truly make the pumpkin beer season last as long as possible by starting it early.  This is not a statement of blame for either one.  Not in the least.  (I think it’s important to note here that I wrote this post while sipping on a Williamsburg Alewerks Pumpkin Ale.)  I only thought it was interesting to see, and hear, the kickback happen.  It was a curious juncture in time, at which the craft beer movement seemed to so closely follow the traditions of other holiday selling seasons in a rush to market.  But I thought it was even more curious for another reason.  After all, who in their right mind would’ve thought that pumpkin beers would provide what might be considered a small, yet notable, benchmark moment of the craft beer craze?

The Denver Post article which I referred to can be found at this link here.

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It’s always a welcome sight to see local breweries participating in beer festivals happening near their home locations.  Not only do they get a chance to showcase their beers, some of which are likely favorites in the area, but if offers those breweries a chance to participate as a member of the very community holding the festival.  Likely well known in the area already, the brewers themselves are often in attendance, giving them a chance to connect with existing or would be fans of their beer.  Successful festivals, being the annually held events which they are, often feel like a homecoming event of sorts for local breweries in attendance – you know them, you likely enjoy at least some of their beer, so they can often act as a sort of local representative among the dozens or more of breweries there – homecoming kings (or queens) of sorts.

It’s somehow fitting then when a festival or event showcases only these breweries, intended or not, it has a way of feeling like a big thank you for being a part of the community.  And just as “thank yous” are perhaps not said often enough, events like this don’t happen often enough, and when they do might occur as merely a tap takeover at a local bar or restaurant.  However, this Thursday, four local breweries will be featured at a mini-festival of sorts being held in downtown Roanoke.  Sunken City, Parkway Brewing, Flying Mouse, and Apocalypse Brew Works will be the focus of the Harvest Moon Fest, occurring on the roof top of Center In The Square.  The idea behind the event is to give those who attend the festival a chance not only to enjoy the beer being produced at these local breweries, along with what hopefully will be a gorgeous, moonlit evening view of downtown Roanoke and Mill Mountain, but to meet the brewers behind those breweries, and to get a chance to put a face with, well, the beer.

Without a doubt, Harvest Moon Fest feels like a fitting way to toast the growing local craft beer scene:  a festival featuring only local breweries, with the brewers and owners (community members as well, remember) in attendance, under the stars no less.  No wonder the breweries might feel like the homecoming kings – or queens – of the event.

The event is from 6pm to 9pm, and details are available on a Facebook page here.

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Earlier this summer, Roanoke was introduced to a few of Boulevard Brewing’s beers as distribution for the Kansas City craft brewery finally reached the Star City.  It was a moment worth noting not only for the fact that their well received beer would be available to find easily, but perhaps also for the fact that the brewery is one of the most well known in the country, a fact underscored by its spot as one of the largest of craft breweries, usually finding itself hovering around the top ten in production year after year.  The inclusion of such a brewery here is also important simply because its puts another notch on the growth chart for craft beer interest here in Roanoke.  The same will happen when Sweetwater finally crosses over the mountains and lands here as well.

This is all well and fine, but let’s get back to the beer, right?  So far, the brews which have popped up have included Boulevard’s Single Wide IPA, Long Strange Tripel, Dark Truth Stout, and two wheat beers, their 80 Acre Wheat and their Unfiltered Wheat.  Also included is their delicious double IPA, Double Wide, now appearing on tap at Local Roots Restaurant.  Earlier this summer, I wrote that while many bigger, double IPAs can overwhelm with sweetness, taking away from their citrusy, piney goodness, or can, for some, be much too bitter for those new to double IPAs to comprehend, Double Wide might be as approachable as a bigger IPA can be.  The body is medium full, and the malty sweetness is clearly there but not anywhere near sickingly so, and the overall bitterness more than present – it is an IPA after all – but won’t turn your tongue inside out.  For myself, what takes center stage is the mix of citrusy and herbal aromas and flavors – apricot or maybe orange come to mind – and perhaps, as the brewery points out on their website, a bit of mint as well.

With these kinds of characteristics, it’s easy to see why Double Wide can be fairly approachable for non IPA fans, but can also please those who can’t get enough of them.  If you haven’t had the chance to try it, tonight would offer a great chance as Local Roots Restaurant has put the beer on tap, just in time to kick off your weekend.

Also, don’t forget that there is also a beer festival – yes, a beer festival! – is happening just a short drive away in Blacksburg.  Blacksburg’s 5^th annual Brew-Do will once again be held at the First & Main shopping district.  If you’re planning on going, please be aware that much of the parking area at the shopping area is gone due to construction.  Check out the event website here for parking options as well as other information.  If you live in Roanoke, don’t forget that the SmartWay bus is an excellent option for attending the festival, and offers rides for as low as $4 each way.

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If you consider yourself a craft beer curious person, chances are pretty good you’ve had an Allagash White.  Perhaps just now, you heard a voice in the back of your head saying “ah, I remember the first time…”  Given the fairly wide availability of the Maine based brewery’s beers, the relative familiarity which most folks have with the style and that style’s approachability, and the undeniable deliciousness of their White Ale, the beer almost seems like required drinking for anyone interested craft beer.  And though as individual tastes may seem to generally move on to endless streams of extreme IPAs, barrel aged stouts, and possibly to more fringe styles such as sours, I would always question someone who claims to not remember those first sips of an Allagash White, or at the least won’t recognize its worthy place in the tasting experiences of many craft fans.  At least for myself, the beer holds a soft spot for another reason – it not only encouraged a curiosity in craft beer in general, but of course, to investigate the many other well done, delicious and interesting beers Allagash creates.  And isn’t this the way you would hope it would happen every time you taste something even slightly new, from a brewery you might not know much about?  A brewery’s well crafted but more common beer not only prompts you to search further into its “style”, but to also seek deeper into the brewery’s own offerings, finding out that everything else the brewery puts out can more than hold its own, many of which, in turn, becoming respected across the board.  Perhaps this is the ultimate definition of a “flagship” type of beer, if Allagash White can be called that:  a tremendous example for the style, as well as a worthy standard bearer for a superb brewery.

Tonight, Blue 5 gives us all a chance to perhaps revisit those first tastes as well as continue to expand horizons, all within the delicious, ever expanding “confines” of what this one brewery can do as they host a tap takeover featuring Allagash Brewing.  No fewer than ten beers will be on hand, ranging from where some of us began – Allagash White – to much less common beers such as their Interlude.  Here’s the description direct from the brewery’s website for this beer:

“Two yeast strains were used to create this unique 9.5% ABV Belgian style ale. The first, a Belgian farmhouse yeast, establishes the flavor foundations of a classic Belgian-style ale. The second, a house strain of Brettanomyces yeast, brings it to the next level contributing an intriguing myriad of flavors including pear, apricot, graham cracker, and bread crust. Finally, a portion of the Interlude is aged in French Merlot and Sirah oak barrels, which impart a distinctive vinous plum character and a drying, almost tannic finish.”

This type of description continues with many others that the brewery produces.  The use of multiple yeast strains (most of which are “house”, or even proprietary to Allagash), and multiple types of vessels in which to age individual beers are just a couple of the techniques employed the brewery to create vastly interesting tasting experiences.  Perhaps you are somewhat aware of these methods, having had your mind (and taste buds) blown away the first time you tasted their “Curieux”, a Jim Beam bourbon barrel aged Tripel.  I remember the first time I wrapped my thoughts and mouth around the idea:  a bourbon barrel aged…Tripel?  (By the way, the “James Bean”, a coffee infused version of this beer apparently be on tap tonight as well.  Now, wrap your head around that one.)

Wherever your personal craft beer history finds you, a trip to Blue 5 tonight, needless to say, would be a good idea.  From standards that might have led you further into craft beer to beers to ones that continue to push the greater craft envelope, as well as your own palate, there will be plenty of examples to be tried.  No matter how many you end up tasting out, just remember to take a moment and be aware of how deep that soft spot in your heart is becoming for that one particular witbier.  A beer like Interlude almost owes itself to it, in some small way.  And without it, you might not have gotten here yourself.

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