Let’s start with just a few of the beers I found that have what I consider to be unusual names. At the top of this particular list would have to be Mikkeller’s Beer Geek Breakfast Pooh Coffee Cask Festival Edition. Now don’t get me wrong, Mikkeller (as many of you will attest) makes great beer. This one just happens to be made with the most expensive and unique coffee in the world; from kopi luwak beans. Why is that unusual, you might ask? For those of you that do not drink exotic coffee, kopi luwak coffee is unique because the beans have passed through the digestive tract of the luwak (Asian Palm Civet). Closely related to the mongoose and about the size of a house cat, this animal feasts on coffee cherries from the trees and leaves behind the indigestible coffee beans in its scat (pooh). These beans are happily collected by the Sumatran owners of the plantation and sent off to be produced into coffee (sans scat, hopefully). I found no fewer than 11 beers on RateBeer that claim to be made with this coffee and many of those come from top shelf brewers. I am sure that this person is long gone, but wouldn’t it be interesting to talk with whomever was the first person to make “scat coffee”… what were they thinking?

Next on the list of unusual beer names has to be Big Sky Moose Drool Brown Ale. For you city folk and for those of you that live in areas where moose are not found, this is one big, majestic, but ugly animal. This beer is not, of course, made from moose drool (fortunately) and I am sure that those that enjoy it… it is one of the most popular beers in Montana… would agree that it is a good beer. I have only been up close to one moose that had been shot by a hunter (about 1,000 lbs with a 40+” antler rack), but the idea of beer being made from something that smelled that bad sort of turns my stomach. Male moose have the disgusting habit of rolling in their urine to make themselves attractive to the females of their species. Moose hunting season and mating seasons are close together and I have to tell you that I would gladly drink gallons of “skunked” beer to keep from having to drink one tiny glass of beer that smelled like that moose!

Let’s move onto beer with unusual ingredients. The classic here has to be beer made with chili peppers. Sadly, most of these beers, both from the few that I have tried and from looking at the RateBeer ratings are not very good beer. Cave Creek Chili Beer was (perhaps) the first of these to be sold commercially in any quantity. I have tried a small amount of this beer and I was not a very big fan. Novelty aside, the pale lager base beer, the little amount of heat and the small amount of chili flavor just did not mix well together. Something that would be more to my liking would be a darker beer, an Imperial Stout, made with chili. There is a long acknowledged affinity between chocolate and chili pepper flavors. Sierra Nevada makes one called Sierra Nevada Hellraiser Chocolate Chili Imperial Stout that sounds interesting to me because of the chocolate connection. I found 75 beers on RateBeer that have “chili” in their name. If you find one that you like, let me know.

There are also other types of pepper used to make beer and, being the pepper lover that I am, I really enjoy some of these as well. Two of my favorites are Dieu du Ciel Route des Épices, made with black and green peppercorns, and Vermont’s- own Bobcat Café Unrepentant Stout, made with Pippali (Piper longum). The pepper influence makes both of these beers a perfect pairing for a hearty steak dinner or a Montreal smoked meat sandwich (Yum!).

We could not pass by unusual beer ingredients without mentioning watermelon. At last year’s American Craft Beer Festival held in Boston, there were a number of brewers offering beer samples with this ingredient. After having tried quite a few of these, I have to admit that, at least in my mind, there should be room in the beer world for watermelon beer, if it is done right. My favorite watermelon beer, to date, has to be Thomas Hooker Watermelon Ale. Its excellent watermelon aroma does not follow exactly to its taste, but a small slice of red, ripe watermelon plunked into the beer makes for a nice garnish and completes the experience for me.

Lastly, and to the beers that actually got me thinking on this topic, we come to beers that are being target marketed to a select group of people. The ones that caught my eye this week are brewed by Minerva, a small Mexican brewer. These “artisan honey ales”, called Salamandra and Purple Hand, are being produced and marketed toward the LGBT community. The name “Purple Hand” draws reference from the historic 1969 San Francisco protest by the Gay Liberation Front and the Society for Individual Rights at the San Francisco Examiner. These are supposedly the first beers targeted at this group of people and, if the reaction of the Internet media is any indication, this small brewer has hit upon something that other brewers may pay attention to. The initial 500 cases of this bottled beer that Minerva produced sold out quickly and they are, of course, making more. There is also talk of the brewery opening a “Purple Hand” bar in Mexico City and producing other alcoholic drinks targeted at this particular group of people. Being a businessman at heart, I say “bravo” for establishing a new niche market for their products.

Well, I could go on and on about other unusual beers, but I think that I will save some of those for a follow-up article on this same topic on another day. I am a really big fan of the Travel Channel’s “Bizarre Foods” show and like the host of that show, I strongly encourage a similar approach to drinking unusual beer as he has for unusual food… if it looks or sounds good, they only way to find out is to drink it!

My feeling would be that while high ABV craft beers may contain more alcohol than some beers and other alcoholic beverages, I believe that there are some “controls” in place to make these craft beers the less attractive alternative, if I decided that I wanted or needed to simply drink to get drunk.  So, I decided that I would do a bit of research to see if there was any evidence to support my conviction and would bring into question claims such as the one above. I believe that one of the most significant controls in place is one of price… the cost to purchase the alcoholic beverage of choice.  Purchase price has been used somewhat effectively with other vices to discourage overuse… hard liquor and cigarettes carry high tax levies, which are used partially to help fund our government on the backs of people that “need” or use them and partially as a disincentive to purchase too much of them.   I believe that these high ABV craft beers are being singled out in error.  There are, as we will see, much cheaper ways to simply get drunk…

I happened to visit one of my favorite beer stores yesterday and picked up 7 bottles of craft beer for my future pleasure, so I have accurate price information for some craft beers.  I then pulled some advertising flyers out of the Sunday paper to use for gathering additional information about other alcoholic beverages that are currently for sale.  For comparison purposes, I chose a 30-pack (12 oz. cans) of a nationally-available brand of beer and a nationally-available brand of “boxed” wine (5 liters).  I am no mathematician, but I do use spreadsheets quite a bit for my work at a financial institution.  The table below is an interesting study of the costs associated with the craft beers versus the other readily available sources of alcohol to drink.  For the craft beer ABV I used an average of the 7 bottles I bought yesterday and for the ABV of the wine, I used an average for 4 varieties of wine they sell in boxes that were listed on the producer’s Web site.

As you can easily see, of the three, the craft beers are the most expensive way to purchase alcohol for consumption… more than 3X as expensive as the 30-pack and more than 5X as expensive as the wine for approximately the same total amount of alcohol. Could there be an incentive to drink the higher ABV beer and have to drink less liquid to accomplish the same goal… perhaps, but I would only need to drink 2 cans of the 30-pack to roughly equal the same amount of alcohol as 12 oz of the craft beer or the wine.  Do you have to be careful about drinking these high ABV beverages if you intend to drive… absolutely!

I like the idea that these higher ABV brews are available to me right here in Vermont.  I have been drinking them for years, but had to either buy them in another state or drink them when traveling.  Keep in mind that of the 7 bottles of craft beer I purchased, only one of them would have been available to me prior to last year… ask the store’s owner how he felt about my $50 purchase yesterday.  It is a very good thing, who’s time has arrived.  If people are really concerned about what people will buy to get drunk with… stop selling products that target that… I can still buy the “wino” wines MD 20/20 and Thunderbird, not that I would though… force AB-InBev to sell their 30-packs or Vella to sell their wine boxes for the equivalent of what it costs to purchase the craft beers… it’ll never happen.  If you are truly concerned about alcoholism and if you are not going to try and affect the huge market of the national megabrews or boxed wines, which impact a much broader population of people, then why pick on craft beers (err… AB-InBev has *lawyers*).  Price and quality are powerful influences on the market and are the primary reasons that I think that these “detractors” of high ABV craft beers are just plain wrong.

On October 18th, Pennichuck announced that they would be closing up shop after about four years of operation.  No reason was given for the closing.  On October 19th the company announced that it had secured “angel” funding and would not need to close after all.  However, on October 31st the following listing appeared on the NH Craigslist:

Pennichuck Brewing Co is realigning all company assets. We have
multiple listings for Glass ware, grain, tools, growler bottles, 12 oz
bottles, 22 oz bottles, photo copiers, brewery equipment, milk crates, Desks,
chairs, computers, beer, pallets of boxes, 6 pack carriers, If it was
in the brewery and not listed here call or email to see if we have
what you are looking for. You are welcome to come to the brewery to
look at what is selling or just buy the last of the Pennichuck beer
that will be sold for the next 9 or so months until we begin
production again. We are located at 127 Elm St, Milford, NH 03055.
603-261-5957. Email philjewett@yahoo.com

While this listing indicates that they hope to begin production again at some point, it seems fairly unlikely; given that they are selling some of the very equipment and supplies necessary for that process.

I mourn the demise of this and any fine brewer, for whatever reason (I’m sure that the bad economy didn’t help)… its a fact that 80% of all business startups fail within their first 3 years and Pennichuck beat those odds.  As I sit here enjoying one of their excellent beers… IBF winner of the Bronze Medal in 2006 and the Silver Medal in 2007… I can’t help but think of what I will be missing while I wait to see if they are able to resurrect themselves or if, unfortunately, they will simply fade into brewing history.

There is no question that I will be on the lookout for any remaining Pennichuck beers at my favorite suppliers; hoping to gather that last taste of their little bit of beer heaven… or perhaps just stash away enough to see me through for a while  and hope that they get back on their feet.  Either way, I am sure to enjoy whatever I can find.

• Clipper City Brewing Co. – Heavy Seas – “The Great Pumpkin” (ABV 8.0%,  3.2/5.0)
  Bottle/22 – Pours a nice “pumpkin” amber in color with a very small whitish head that fades to almost nothing… low carbonation. Aroma is slightly sweet and almost all pumpkin spice (clove, nutmeg, cinnamon,etc.) and nothing else. Flavor is a bit more complex. Some pumpkin, spices (as noted) and a bit of harsh, unpleasant alcohol character. Slightly bitter and astringent at the end. Lingering bitterness with little else.
• Shipyard Brewing Company – Pugsley’s Signature Series – “Smashed Pumpkin” (ABV 9.0%,  3.6/5.0)
  Draft at Great Lost Bear (Portland, ME) – Poured a coppery amber in color with almost no head and very little carbonation. Aroma is malty and sweet with the expected pumpkin pie spices. Flavor is interesting. I am not usually one for pumpkin beer, but this one was actually quite good. What made it for me was the reasonable amount of spices that were used… not overpowering at all. Plenty of malty sweetness with just enough hops to keep it from being too sweet. This one is actually a good pumpkin beer…

• Weyerbacher Brewing Co. – “Imperial Pumpkin Ale” (ABV 8.0%,  3.3/5.0)
  Bottle/12 – Pours a quite dark orange-amber in color with almost no head and very little carbonation. Aroma is sweet and heavy with “pumpkin” spices… cinnamon. clove, nutmeg, etc. Flavor is not nearly as sweet as I expected, but nearly overpowering with spice. Pumpkin flavor is actually apparent and lend some moderation, along with the hops that sneak in underneath, to the malty sweetness. Finish is slightly bitter and clean… except for the lingering pumpkin spices, which I seem destined to (burp!) relive for a while. Beer is pretty good, actually, but too many spices… a common complaint that I have about this type of beer.

All-in-all I enjoyed all of these beers (I usually do), but the Shipyard “Smashed Pumpkin” really stood out as my favorite.  Seek it out… you will not be sorry!!

Pours a hazy darkish orange-amber in color with an almost non-existent white head.  Aroma is honey sweet and spicy.  Some yeastiness and fruity esters (hefe-like clove/banana?).  Flavor is medium sweet, but the hop bitterness and the sourness of the wheat mostly balance that out.  Belgian yeast, some harsh phenolics (needs aging!)… some orange/coriander.  If I find this again (and I will look), I would let it cellar for a while.  One of the more interesting wheat wines I’ve had.  I liked it…

Definitely worth seeking out.  Another great brew from this quality craft brewery…

Pours a very dark black/brown in color with a medium dark tan head that stuck around to produce some nice lacing on the glass. Aroma is sweet and heavy with dark fruits, coffee and chocolate. Flavor is a bit sweet and fruity (raisins, prunes) to start, but the bitterness of the hops and the dark roasted malts quickly fills in. Lingering sweet and then bitter finish with chocolate and coffee dominating at the very end. Some alcohol, as you might expect with a beer of this strength, but is is not overpowering and fits in pretty well with the rest of the flavor profile. Very complex… Really good…

Definitely worth repeating… yummy!