The Beer Road

A Tale Of Two Dogs: English Brown Ales and the Beginnings of My Beer Road

•March 24, 2010 • Comments Off

Most good road trips have two things that make them memorable and a blast – the first, yes, some planning, but secondly, some definite room for chance. One of the first stops along my road to better beer was no different. As I started out, I wanted something that wasn’t too terribly complex, or too much of an acquired, difficult to get-my-taste-buds-around taste. I knew to probably stay away from too much of a hoppy, overly bitter taste – this might be a tough way to go at first. I knew that I already cared for a somewhat toasted-malt characteristic, which came from my liking of some of the malty Oktoberfest style beers. I had read somewhere that brown ales sometimes exhibited those kinds of flavors, and might be a good place to start a trip into different styles of beers anyway, so away I went. The planning was done, and now my choice of which brown ale to try is where chance came into play. I think I will always remember the first brown ale I tried, and not just because it was a first along my road to better beer. It was also just very good – most of the reviews on beeradvocate.com are very positive, but I chose it not knowing this at all – all I thought was that the brewery had a good reputation, and that’s how I came to buy Smuttynose’s Old Brown Dog Ale. That night, with the ‘dog’ sitting by my side, I felt at home – the way you feel after coming in from the cold to a warm fire in a comfy place. Old Brown Dog is a malty beer lover’s dream, it turns out: it has great richness of sweet malt without at all being heavy. It tastes of things that since then, I have grown to look for in other beers – flavors of dark fruit; for example, flavors of plum and raisin, and it just tastes darn good. There is very little noticeable hop presence, which is one slight difference with the next brown ale that I tried – Avery Brewing’s Ellie’s Brown Ale – to me, there are a fair amount of similarities in flavor, delicious maltiness, the dark fruit flavors, but the Ellie’s has a bit more hoppyness to it for perhaps a more balanced taste. Both the Ellie’s and the Old Brown Dog Ale are generally categorized as “English” Brown Ales, in difference to American Brown Ales, which, like most beer style labels, can be somewhat loose in definition. There seems to be a couple things that lean that definition one way or another. One is that the categorization refers to only where the ingredients are grown. It seems to me, though, after doing some reading, that English Browns generally have less of a hop presence, so what you get is a beer that has a very malty character, which can be either complex or quite simple in complexity. The key is that they tend to revel in that delicious toasted malt flavor, and have barely detectable to little bitter element to them. It turns out that both of the examples I have given come pretty well respected, and were fairly easy to find. Someone could always look for labels with dogs on them – Both the Ellie’s Brown Ale and the Smuttynose Old Brown Dog Ale feature lovable brown dogs on the labels, which is common to Brown Ales. One article I read mentioned that this stems from an old English saying about going out to “walk the dog” which basically really meant “I’m going to the bar”. Certainly, there are several ways to start off down that road into trying different styles of beer, but this one worked for me. I don’t think it would be stretch to say that it would be a good one for just about anyone curious about different styles like I was at the time. These two English Browns were a good first stop on my road trip to better beer, and beer appreciation. Typically, they steer a bit clear of a hoppier, more bitter beer, which can be a difficult, bracing first try with beer. Instead, they can feature a delicious, sweeter, maltier, and nuttier flavor. Despite the darker color, they are light to medium in body and tend to be easy to drink, and at certain times of the year, such as in the cooler months, just seem to fit. A few examples to try: Smuttynose Old Brown Dog Ale, Avery Brewing Ellie’s Brown Ale, Samuel Smith Nut Brown Ale, Bell’s Best Brown Ale.

Posted in The Road Map - One Guide To Better Beer, Style by Style.

Beer Gear Evolution 101

•March 21, 2010 • Comments Off

I don’t know too many people who enjoy good beer that do not own a tshirt from their favorite bar, restaurant, or pub. These are also the shirts that get worn until the printed logos of the places they represent sometimes outlast the places themselves, before eventually fading as well – or worn until the shirt itself is ready to fall apart, looking like the next stiff wind might disintegrate them into dust. I’m no different from other owners of t shirts like these – over the years I’ve collected several tees from places that remind me of good trips, good vacations, and for me also had the one requirement of a decent selection of beer. These shirts are somehow markers of all these things.

I still buy shirts such as these occasionally, but for a true beer lover, is there a next step in evolution of these sorts of t shirts? (My girlfriend would now take this opportunity to tell me natural evolution would be to finally put on something with a collar.) But is there a next step, a more clearly defined symbol of one’s love of good beer?

It would have to be something that speaks directly to the appreciation of the beer itself, right? A shirt with which the ink, threads, or screen printing knows no loyalty to a particular place, but simply to the beer. Yes, there is such gear out there.

I first started noticing shirts like this a few years back, being sold out of a booth at Roanoke’s Microfestivus beer festival. Scott Balthaser (a.k.a. Saint Obnoxious, Scott’s fictional alter ego) was manning the table, and featured comfy, heavyweight printed shirts mainly featuring classic sayings about beer. Two years ago I bought my first one, which I still wear with pride today – “The immense importance of a pint of ale to the common person should never be overlooked”, a rule of thumb I have to admit I live every day. I’ve recently asked Scott to track down another, featuring one of those famous beer related sayings that Ben Franklin may or may not have said. Scott’s kept in touch, and this has been one of the nicest things about him, he’s been very responsive to my emails. He and his alter ego St. Obnoxious, which the website refers to as a “bungling, but well-intentioned, beer drinking calligrapher and aspiring T-shirt magnate with a great sense of humor who tries to use his creativity to put a smile on your face”, run the beer lover’s clothing business both at booths at festivals and from the site itself (www.stobnoxious.com). There are several different designs, and several different sayings to choose from. One of my favorites is the shirt sharing the secret “The best beer is where the priests go to drink”. There are other items on the website as well, such as beads, mugs and caps. New shirt designs have just been released too.

Barring the occasional collared shirt that you’ll see me in, these t shirts are definitely the next step in beer appreciation gear. Scott will be back at Microfestivus this summer. I’ll be there too, probably displaying as well as probably buying more of his products, featuring some classic and true ode to one of the world’s oldest beverages. The only thing better than a shirt dedicated to a place where the beer is located is one devoted to good beer itself, after all.

Posted in Random Thoughts.

I’ll Take My Green Elsewhere Today

•March 17, 2010 • Comments Off

Perhaps I shouldn’t mind all the green food coloring that is making its way into beer today. After all, I imagine (and hope) that most of the coloring that’s being squeezed into glasses and mugs is going into your typical megabrewery, run of the mill light beers that are found on tap everywhere, and maybe anything will help those beers, including a different coloring. Nonetheless, I’m pretty sure that I’ve only had “green beer” maybe once in my life, and I’m happy with that. I never really wanted the stuff anyway, and perhaps that should’ve been a sign of good things to come. A couple times I headed out with friends late only to find that restaurants had run out of the coloring – yeah, gosh darn it.

Other beer drinkers who do happen to aim a little higher than emerald tinted light beer today will head out for a Guinness. Admirable, definitely – yet to me, a bit odd all the same. After all, it’s a far cry from Bud Light to Guinness, and for many, a stout like Guinness is a bit of an acquired taste. But I often think that if these people can enjoy this once a year, or occasionally, then there might be plenty of beers out there they might enjoy, but never try.

So, for that reason, and definitely because you’re not getting me anywhere close to your little squeeze bottle of green coloring, I propose taking today to try something different altogether – there are lots of Irish style Red Ales that are out there ready to try, and many that I haven’t tried myself. I’ve looked up a couple online, and I’m not sure what I’ll be able to find, but two things are for sure – today, I’ll celebrate by trying something new, since that seems just as appropriate for a celebration as anything, and two, threat of being pinched aside, it won’t be colored green.

Posted in Random Thoughts.

Myths, Monks, and Good Beer

•March 12, 2010 • Comments Off

So many of the beers that I enjoy and then blog about are those “other” beers, you know, the ones which are mostly kept in their own separate cooler case at your local market. The ones from the other cooler…queue the eerie music, right? One cooler is mostly beers whose names are two words – ready? -second word…“light”. When people do glance over at those other beers, you can almost hear the thoughts spinning. As if there’s something odd about them. If you could hear those thoughts, you’d hear the same kinds of comments one would voice if upon hanging out with your best friend for the first time in a couple weeks, you see to your amazement that he has somehow managed to grow a second head. They’ve been ostracized to their own cooler, after all, and there must be a good reason for it, right? And come on, they even have strange labels on them with pictures of things like dogs, skeletons sitting on barrels, goats (goats? What’s up with the goats?), and…monks? I mean really, I don’t hang out with monks, and while I’ve never had the chance to hang out with monks, honestly, this doesn’t really sound like much of a good time to me.

So there they sit, all those oddly named and oddly labeled beers. Some people will come and go, grab their case of whatever on special and will never wonder these thoughts, but some will. Some, like I did once, edge closer to the case and look and wonder what all these beers have to offer – but then, to so many, the reasons not to try something different start to edge into those thoughts. That’s when the myths start rolling around in one’s head. Like so many myths, these statements are way too general and do not account for the vast variations in tastes and flavors beers can have.

I heard the first one just recently, and focuses on ales. “I don’t care for ales, they all taste bitter, or heavy, or just are just too different.” Ok, this is akin to trying blue cheese and saying you don’t care for cheese at all. There are simply too many varied kinds of ales, and within those generalized styles, each individual beer can be very different from the next.

Darker beers are “heavy” or more filling than lighter beers. Someone with this opinion might try a dark (or “black”) lager, for example, or perhaps a brown ale – while color might make someone think a beverage is heavy due to a darker color, these beers and others can be quite light in body, as light as just about any run of the mill golden colored lager.

Those other beers are too bitter. Honestly, this one can be both true and false. But the fact is, this is not true as a blanket statement for all the beers someone hasn’t tried and certainly isn’t a good reason not to try something in “that other cooler”. Sure, many craft beer lovers do enjoy hopped up, more bitter beers. But this is certainly not true for all. There are plenty of flavorful, smaller, craft brewed, well made beers that are delicious in their celebration of malty, sweet flavors. This equates into wonderful toasted or roasted tastes that instantly fit in on a cool fall evening. Some of these beers have flavors that are reminiscent of things such as dark fruits, plums, raisins, and more. Think English Brown Ales, bocks, and doppelbocks for examples.

Darker beers are higher in alcohol content. Again, not necessarily true. Familiar with Guinness perhaps? You couldn’t force the slightest bit of light through most stouts, they’re as dark as night – but can weigh in as low as 4% ABV. That’s just barely over most run of the mill, commonly found lagers.

There are plenty of myths that people can have about those beers in the other cooler. But there is too much variation in taste, flavor and body to rule them all out. To those people who wonder about trying something different, sure, there will be some beers that might not agree to someone’s individual tastes. But on the flip side, there are way too many being produced to which those same people would agree taste absolutely delicious. Personally, I hope even more people will take a glance at that other cooler. Articles around the internet note that craft beers seem to be continuing their trend upwards in popularity. And what of those monks on the labels? Throughout history, monks were at the forefront of the development of good beer, and frankly, beer in general. So you might not want to hang out with them, but I would ask…don’t you want to know what they have known about good beer for a very, very long time?