Beer Spotting

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As I was perusing the Internet today I came across this post http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/04/26/BUOD1D55P1.DTL . If you don’t feel like following the link it basically says that Fritz Maytag has sold Anchor Brewing to a pair of investors that want to preserve the brand yet expand its market share.

Is this possible can you preserve a brand yet change it? I love Anchor Steam. I like to think of it as a “wedding beer”. You can take a keg to a wedding and ever single beer drinker will be happy. Craft beer drinks like it and yellow beer drinkers will think they have elevated themselves. The only problem is I know of only one place that I can find it on tap, The Treehouse Cafe, thank you Arny.

Why is this beer special? Well in America it is the only beer that can be called a steam. Anchor trademarked the name back in 1981 and has succesfully defeneded their trademark every where but Canada. I believe Shakespeare said it best “A lilly that festers smells not so sweet as a weed”. You can call it steam but it’s not.

What is Steam Beer? It’s the same as a California Common. A beer brewed using lager yeasts fermented at ale temperatures. But the romance of the beer comes from the story. Back in the day Anchor didn’t have a traditional way to chill the wort indoors so they had to pump it into shallow bins on the roof of the brewery and use the winds of the pacific to cool it. And of course while it cooled there would be huge billows of steam coming off the brewery. That’s the story I heard, and I am sticking with it. I know some brewers like to think that it has to do with letting steam of the boil due to carbon dioxide build up but YAAAWWWNNNN…wheres the romance in that?

If you haven’t tried it, try it. If its been awhile get it. It’s the real deal.

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What makes a good event, I ask myself this question quite frequently. Then people like Tammy and Rob from Tizley’s come up with an idea that is so simple, so elegant and dare I say sosimple I feel silly for not thinking of it myself. A mid year training run on Oktoberfest, it’s the Ausueben Oktoberfest!

So what are the components of a great Oktoberfest? Beer-check. Elysian Brewing Co. will be pouring six of their amazing beers including a few you may not have seen before. Food-check. Chef Rob is the man, have you tried his potato salad, its amazing. Ladies in those sexy little Dirndl’s-check. I have been told that both Tammy and Laura from Elysian will be there in all their German splendor. I think that just about covers it. Six beers, great german food, fun outfits.

So here’s the deal Thursday April 22nd, 6pm, Tizley’s call or email for reservations 360-394-0080 admin@tizleys.com. See you there!

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You know it’s spring when the reps are out peddling all thier newest, best and brightest. Glossy sell sheets have been stacking up on my desk for the last few weeks so I thought I would fill you in on what’s caught my eye.

First, local boy and all around nice guy Mike Hale will be releasing his spring seasonal six pack the Hale’s Kolsch(my second favorite Hale’s beer) in the next week or so. The info I received is that the Nut Brown sold faster than expected and they are ready to let the sunshine in with their crisp, sessionable Kolsch. Also be on the lookout in late April early May for the Hale’s Ale’s Seattle Beer Week beer in kegs and 22′s.

Next up are the 30th Anniversary Brews from Sierra Nevada. You should be able to find the first one on the shelfs and in select tap line ups as we speak. A robust stout ale brewed with the Godfather of Craft Beer Fritz Maytag. The remaining three should be landing every 3 months over the course of 2010.

What can you expect? more collabeerations. A Imperial Helles brewed with Charlie Papazian and Fred Ekhardt. An American Barley wine brewed with the forever inspirational Jack McAuliffe. Finally finishing off the year with a Brewery Reserve Oak Aged Ale. This is going to be a good one, a blend of Sierra Nevada’s three most popular ales: Oak Aged Bigfoot, Celebration and the Pale Ale, generously dry hopped and ready to cellar.

Next up is the new release from the folks over at Oscar Blues, The Gubna. I’s a huge 10%, 100 IBU Imperial IPA. If you haven’t been drinking these crazy canned beers you are missing out. I highly recommend the Gordon’s IPA and the Ten Fiddy Imperial Stout. Huge delicious beers from unlikely packages. The Gubna is out now, I drank one last thursday and it was big and sweet, the only complaint I have is that it had a touch of that vegetal quality alot of Colorado IPA’s seem to have. All and all it was really good.

Let’s see, I hold in my hot little hand a copy of the new releases from the folks at New Belgium in their Lips of Faith series. It’s going to be a busy year.  I will list these by quarter. for the second quarter we have a new beer and a returning favorite. The Belgian Style Blonde and Erics Ale (sour peach ale). In the third quarter we see two new beers, the Belgo IPA and a Imperial Berliner Weisse (first of its kind as far as I know). Finally in the fourth quarter a colabeeration with Allagash Brewing that they aren’t giving up any information on and La Terrior. I am very excited about these. No one makes sour beers like New Belgium.

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Just got word, and this time it’s for real, Tizley’s will be tapping a firkin of Quilter’s Irish Death from Iron Horse at 5pm on St. Paddy’s.

If you are unfamiliar with Irish Death here’s what the brewery has to say about it: Created by the brewery’s founder, Quilter’s Irish Death is what we call a dark, smooth, ale. Any attempt at classifying it just ends up sending beer geeks into a style guidelines diatribe. So forget style guidelines. Is your pursuit of micro beer about tasting copies of a style that fit guidelines anyways? (Neither is ours) Irish Death is a malt bomb. We lovingly refer to it as beer candy. We heart our candy store. While tempting to session this beer, the name is a necessary reminder that despite the surprising approachability, this beer weighs in at a hefty 7.8% ABV.

This beer is a beast and has taken the peninsula by storm and can be found everywhere good beer is sold. Unfortunately you will only find the firkin at Tizley’s and only on St. Paddy’s day.

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I found a major score the other day in Gig Harbor. I sell beer, hard to get beer and I get free beer, lots of free beer. One of the hardest to get beers that I never get for free is Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA and somehow Harbor Greens has a shelf full of it. I don’t remember when they got it but its at least a year old.

This beer is not for everyone, but here is the beer as described by Sam Calagione- Brewed to a colossal 45-degree plato, boiled for a full 2 hours while being continuously hopped with high-alpha American hops, then dry-hopped daily in the fermenter for a month & aged for another month on whole-leaf hops!!! By far the biggest I.P.A. ever brewed! At about 18% abv and 120 ibus.

It’s hardcore and it’s one of the few IPAs that actually get better with age. I had a bottle that was 3 years old and it had transcended beer and had changed into what could best be described as a hop ice wine. The citrus notes of the hops changed to a apricot/grapefruit flavored nectar that was sticky and delicious. Do yourself a favor drop 10 bucks at Harbor Greens on this amazing beer, I don’t know when it will be back again.

On a side note, if you doubt the popularity of Dogfish Head my spell check just corrected my spelling of the word Calagione. That’s the founder of Dogfish Head and that means it’s pretty damn popular.

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Who likes free beer? I like free beer. So of course when I got the invitation to the Hale’s Ale’s ground breaking  I went. The food was good and the beer was cold (Mongoose IPA and Kolsch). Rubbing elbows with the “who’s who” of Silverdale is not really my thing and I mainly went to get information from Mike as to what we can expect.

Here is the info I gleened from my conversation with Mr. Hale. The new pub is going to have the capacity for 280 people including the outdoor patio seating. They are going to have all the Hale’s Ale’s favorites on tap plus 10 guest handles of beers as local as possible. Unfortunatly you are going to have to wait till the 4th of July to belly up to the bar.

I don’t know about you but with Silver City in shouting distance it makes for a very convienient pub crawl.

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After months of back alley dealings and hushed bar room conversations we have finally decided to get the ball rolling on a beer festival for the people on the peninsula. The first meeting is planned at an undisclosed location but here is what I can tell you so far.

June 20th-26th will be the first (hopefully annual) Hopstock! It will be a series of brewers nights, dinners, pub crawls, food pairing events spread over a weeks time all culminating in a massive festival type event. The calendar is being put together, logo’s are being designed, brewery’s are being pestered for there time. The response from participants has been strong and as it sits now promises to be a full week.

If you are a restauraunt, bar, bottle shop, brewery and would like to participate contact me at beerspotting@hotmail.com. Check back for updates as they come in.

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This is for all the die hard IPA fans out there. Tonight in Tacoma at the Parkway Tavern they will be tapping what could be the holy grail of IPA’s. Pliny the Younger. This event has not been advertised, this same keg blew in 20 minutes at Brouwers last week.

Besides the Younger they will be tapping an Elder, Bear Republic Apex Double IPA, Hair of the Dog Blue Dot and Southern Tier Oaked Unearthly. Forgive me for talking about an pub across the bridge but I know that the beer geeks out there would want to know.

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Monday February 22 Europa Bottle Shop on Front St. in Poulsbo will be hosting a tasting for the public with Iron Horse Brewing from 5pm-7pm. Come down and taste the new Black IPA.

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Due to a scheduling conflict ( Ranger IPA kick off and Mud Honey show) Beer Panel is cancelled for this week. Keep checking back for the next date.

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