The next several months will also bring the last gasp of beer festivals before the snow flies here in northern New England. Everyone is, of course, familiar with Oktoberfest, which is traditionally held in the late September to early October time frame. Over the years I have attended many of these celebrations held locally and, while they have been fun, my “bucket list” definitely includes a trip to Munich someday for the granddaddy of this type of festival. Called “Volksfest” in Germany, the statistics of this event are nothing short of staggering, a term which might also apply to some of the attendees. In 2009 (the 176^th anniversary) there were about 5.7 million people that attended the Munich event. These people consumed 6.5 million Liters of strong (6-8% ABV) Märzen beer, approximately 600,000 chickens and the foodstuff equivalent of 84 head of cattle during the 16-day event. The festival grounds include 14 large tents with a seating capacity of about 100,000 revelers. The financial impact of this event is also huge; pushing about 800 Million Euros into the German economy. It truly sounds like the “holy grail” of beer festivals to me!

Next weekend I am planning on attending the 16^th annual Mount Snow Brewer’s Festival in southern Vermont. It is not one that I have attended before, so I am looking forward to it. A bit smaller than the many beer festivals some of you are used to attending (about 25 brewers) the event is held in a breathtakingly beautiful spot. I also plan to attend the 14^th annual New England Homebrewer’s Jamboree, which is being held in Campton, New Hampshire in a couple of weeks. This is also an event that I have not attended before and am very much looking forward to. This event, which supports the Make-A-Wish Foundation with its proceeds, is an opportunity for home brewers from across New England to come and show off the fruits of their brewing skills to their colleagues.

I missed out on Ommegang Brewery’s “Belgium Comes to Cooperstown” festival that was held recently. So popular is this event that tickets sold out on-line in just a few hours. I will have to be more diligent about getting tickets for this event next year. Ommegang beer truly holds a special place in my heart when it comes to craft beer. I consider my first taste of their Belgian Abbey brew (my first taste of any Belgian styled beer) many years ago to be my “craft beer epiphany”; that eye popping event that really impressed upon me how limited I had been about the variety of beers I had tried.

Another sure sign of the approaching seasonal change is the appearance of traditional autumn beer styles… Oktoberfest/Märzen (of course), fresh or “wet” hop brews, autumn Saisons and pumpkin beers. A quick survey of some local bottle shops showed that all of these beer types are slowly working there way onto the shelves of the beer purveyors. In celebration of the approaching fall beer season, I pulled out a bottle of what is perhaps my favorite fall beer last night; Shipyard Brewing’s Smashed Pumpkin. It was from last year’s bottling and I was very pleased with the “mellowing” that had taken place over the last year or so. While most pumpkin brews use larger amounts of spices, which is a distinct negative for me in this type of beer, the spicing of this hefty brew (9% ABV) is much more subtle and the beer is much more reliant on the actual pumpkin flavor. I really enjoyed this beer and I think that it created for me an excellent start into the fall beer season.

Like most summers, this one has gone by far too quickly. Soon we will start the much longer cold weather period that we have here in Vermont. I am not really looking forward to shoveling that first blast of snow, which I know will appear soon enough. Fortunately, I will have the next week of great weather to enjoy and that should make for a perfect segue into the transitional season of fall… autumn colors, harvest foods, beer festivals and lots of great beer to enjoy. All of that will not only give me plenty to think about for the next couple of months, but it will likely provide a welcome distraction from the rapidly approaching winter months. I am sure, however, that by the time those cold months begin to arrive, I will have found new reasons and opportunities to celebrate that coming change in seasons as well.

While I have been a financial supporter in years past, this was my first opportunity to actually work at this fun charitable event. My participation and support of this event was multifaceted and interwoven into a fairly large portion of my adult life. I have written before of my long term love of Harpoon’s beers; those being some of the very first craft beers I learned to enjoy on a regular basis many years ago. For those of you that have not read my CV/”About” on this site, I also spent about 2 years working for the Vermont Foodbank as its Director of Operations, overseeing many of the day-to-day workings of this complex organization. That time of my life was one of the most rewarding that I have spent to date and someday I intend to return to the Foodbank (or an organization like it) to continue my work in support of this worthy effort. The Foodbank, at the time, was experiencing its largest growth spurt to date; growing from an annual statewide distribution of about 2.7 million pounds of food to nearly 6.5 million pounds of food to hungry Vermonters. Since then, the Foodbank has continued to both grow and change in pursuit of its mission to eradicate hunger in Vermont. They now have 3 facilities and a farm within the state to support their efforts. The Vermont Foodbank has grown to be one of the most successful of its kind, nationally, since my employment there 8 years ago. The final facet of my involvement in this day comes from the event sponsorship by my current employer, VSECU. VSECU is, by far, Vermont’s largest state-chartered credit union (47,000 members and $535M in assets) and is where I am currently its Vice President of Information Systems and Chief Information Officer.

Event participants choose one of three routes to ride during this day-long event; 25, 50 or 115 miles. The selection of their route dictates both their entry fee and fund raising commitment. Those that choose the 25-mile route, a circular route beginning at and returning to the brewery, have an entry fee of $40 and no further commitment to raise additional funds. Those that ride the 50-mile route, from Bethel (VT) to the brewery, have a $60 entry fee and an additional commitment of $150 in funds to raise. Those that ride the 115-mile route, from Williston (VT) to the brewery, have an $80 entry fee and also a $150 fund raising commitment.

This year there were about 480 riders that participated in one of the three rides. Those of you that either live here in Vermont or have visited our beautiful state at some time know that none of these rides would be “easy” because of Vermont’s mountainous terrain. The VSECU “team” manned one of several “watering” stations along the routes. We happened to be placed at the last station before the finish at the brewery and at the only station that would see riders from all three routes. I can no longer ride a bike due to serious knee problems, so I was already impressed with all of the riders, but I have to tell you that I was very surprised by the very first riders that came to our station that day. The riders were two brothers, who were clearly “racing” each other instead of just “riding” the route. These two very fit gentlemen, who were participating in the 115 mile ride, rolled into our station a mere 5 ½ hours after starting in Williston, about 103 miles away (we were stationed 12 miles from the finish line). Some quick math should tell you that they were averaging nearly 20 miles/hour (!) on their trek, in spite of the arduous “hill and dale” nature of their route. It was nearly 40 minutes before we saw the next riders from the same route enter our station.

He rode the 50-mile route

The culmination of the event, which is held at the Harpoon Brewery in Windsor, VT, is a chance for all the riders, event volunteers and their supporters to gather to celebrate the day and all of their hard work. This final celebration included a BBQ, put on by the local fire department, some live music and some great Harpoon beer. There were also hot showers available for the riders, should they wish to partake. We got to this celebration a little late, due to our commitments at the relief station, but we arrived to a crowd of a couple of thousand people all enjoying the end of both a very satisfying and very beautiful day.

Events like this one tend to collect money for several weeks after the actual day of the event, so there is not (yet) a final fund raising tally. According to the Vermont Foodbank Web site though, they have collected more than $95,000 to date… over $46,000 more than they had at this time last year… so it appears that they are well on their way to their $150,000 event goal. To give you some perspective of how important that $95,000 is for the Foodbank, just the money raised so far will support the efforts to provide more than 200,000 meals to hungry Vermonters. In a state with a population of only 625,000 people, the impact of this effort can only be described as HUGE!

I am reasonably certain that Harpoon, The Point and the Foodbank will put this event on again next year. The money that this event generates for the “cause” is just too large to be ignored. I am hopeful that my employer will again give me an opportunity to participate in this worthy effort. It’s just one of those fun, feel good events that comes along that you just can’t help wishing to do again. My hat is off to Harpoon for their primary sponsorship of this event and their commitment to provide their considerable assistance to the Vermont community. I already like their beer, but for me there will be a little bit of extra enjoyment the next time that I drink one, as I remember the wonderful day that I spent recently, helping them to support the vital cause of ending hunger in Vermont.

The potential change in spending patterns that all of this economic turmoil might bring could, potentially, have a devastating effect (gasp) on both the purchase and consumption of beer. Fearing the worst and hoping for the best I dove into the depths of my favorite Internet search engine for a look around. In spite of my gloomy outlook as I began this survey, what I actually discovered during this examination was quite an interesting mix of good and bad as well as some ups and downs… not nearly as bad as I feared… for some.

My first look was at the “macro” level. What are the broad indicators that might point to both the current state of the industry as well as foretell its near future? As many have already reported, a recent Gallup Poll shows that the US Drinking Rate is at a 25-year high of 67% (versus non-drinkers). As you can see from the chart below, the all-time high percentage was back in the 1970s. Without being too scientific about it (please), you might also notice that in many instances the period of time following some of the recent economic recessions (‘60, ‘70, ‘75, ‘91, ‘01, ‘09) are also times that the drinking rate either began to increase or was already increasing. Is it possible that the feeling of economic recovery feeds the need to drink or is it that we drink to forget the latest brush with economic disaster?

Whatever the reason for the recent rise in the US drinking rate, shouldn’t this be good news for the beer industry? A closer examination of this trend in drinking levels, however, only produces a sparkle for some, but not all, of the beer industry. During the height of the recession, in 2009, total beer sales revenue worldwide was down 2.7% (2.2% in the US) and world beer shipment volumes were down nearly 2.1% for the year… that trend continued into early 2010. The major beer producing conglomerates took this downturn the hardest. The shares of British-owned SABMiller hit their lowest level in more than 5 years in March of 2009… shares of Belgium’s Anheuser-Busch InBev hit their 5-year low in July of the same year. Definitely one of the darkest financial times recently for these mega-brewers.

As the recession has begun its slow retreat, however, the stocks of both these mega-corporations have slowly recovered to nearly their pre-recession levels; although sales of some of their products still mostly lag behind their pre-recession (2008) levels. Anheuser-Busch, the world’s largest brewer, recently reported a Q2/10 rise in profits of 7.5%… a combination of a 2% rise in beer sales and 5.5% rise in soft drink sales. This translated into a 4.1% rise in profits to US$9.1MM. This most recent growth spurt was fueled by their sponsorship of the football (soccer) World Cup and heavy marketing of their flagship Budweiser beer.

In a twist of fate becoming all too common in today’s world of brewer evolution, consolidation and change, MillerCoors has announced a new name for their craft beer and import division… called the “Tenth and Blake Beer Company”. The name apparently comes from their Milwaukee brewery where Leinenkugel is brewed and the Denver brewery where Blue Moon is made. It is becoming increasingly common for these large corporations to attempt to tap into the raging success of the much smaller craft brewing industry through copycat practices (brewing styles and marketing) and outright purchase of established micro-breweries.

As I mentioned earlier, the worst of this recession was not bad (was very good, actually) for some portions of the beer industry. The craft brewing industry, for example, continued to show strong “legs” throughout this time period. As a matter of fact the Brewer’s Association reports that the craft portion of the industry grew 7.2% by volume and 10.3% by dollars during 2009. This compares to growth rates of 5.9% and 10.1% in 2008. This steady growth rate has apparently continued into 2010 with the projected volume growth at about 9% and the dollar growth at about 10%. That kind of year over year growth in both categories wouldn’t be considered too shabby by anyone at any time; recession or not.

The Asian beer market has also showed surprising strength recently. It has even surpassed the European beer market, formally the world’s largest, both in production and in total annual consumption. Buoyed by a quicker than average economic rebound from the latest recession, the Asian beer market increased by 5.5% in 2009 to 5.6MM kiloliters (15.48MM US Gallons or about 491,000 US Barrels). The European beer market dropped by 5.1% in 2009 to 55.1MM kiloliters (14.56MM US Gallons or 462,000 US Barrels). Asian beer production was lead by increases in Vietnam, India and China. This relatively large Asian increase is made even more significant by the fact that the Asian per capita annual beer consumption is far less than the per capita European beer consumption… leaving us with the assumption that there is greater room for growth in the Asian regions than in the European econosphere.

Recessions can also be a time of transition… of both businesses and people… for better and for worse. The recent past is full of such things… here are but a few:

• International Brewers United (IBU) Sold to North American Breweries (NAB) – This recent transition has had the most effect on me personally. Having spent all of my adult life in Vermont, where IBU’s principle entity (Magic Hat Brewery) is both a social and economic icon. I had earlier written an overview of a visit (The Magic Hat Experience) that I had made to Magic Hat and they had also been included in an article called Socially Responsible Brewing for their significant contribution to the Vermont community over the years. I have to admit that the last several years Magic Hat seems to have lost both some of its uniqueness in the beer marketplace and their “craft beer way”, in favor of the larger market of mediocrity. Magic Hat has produced some really great beers over the years (HiPA, Blind Faith, Ravelle, Thumbsucker) and many of them have been “retired” in favor of the production of beer more suited to “Mr Average Beer Drinker”, rather than the true beer aficionado that gave them their early meteoric rise in popularity. I sincerely hope that NAB chooses to reinforce the brand of the “former” Magic Hat and not the one that it has been recently.

• Anchor Brewing Sold – Earlier this year it was reported that the “original” micro-brewery was being sold. Anchor Brewing, the mother-lode of all current micro-breweries was sold to a group of investors from San Francisco. The new investors plan to expand both the brewing and distilled spirit (Skyy Vodka) businesses. It is my belief that Fritz Maytag, the father of the modern microbrew movement, reached a time in his life (retirement?) where is was time for him to move on (I had similar feelings about Alan Newman, the founder of Magic Hat). In a rather unique convergence of my varying tastes, I recently learned that there is weak association between Fritz and the makers of Maytag Blue Cheese. Hmmm… Maytag Blue and Anchor Old Foghorn… Yum! Thanks Fritz!

• Victory Brewing Co. Increases Capacity, Again – Victory Brewing recently added eight 440-barrel fermentation tanks to its expanded production floor. This effectively increases their capacity by 33%. These new fermentation tanks join four other tanks added to the brewery only about 10 months ago. This most recent expansion will push Victory’s beer production to over 100,000 US Barrels (3.15MM US Gallons) per year. Can you say GROWTH!

In addition to the strong economic signals from many parts of the brewing industry, I also believe that there are strong signs of a healthy microbrewer “farm system”… the homebrewers of the world. I was recently invited to attend the The New Hampshire Homebrewer’s Jamboree held annually in early September. While I have never attended this particular event, now in its 14th year, the consistent number of participating homebrewers… at least 6 clubs and 120+ contest entries this year… in this event from year to year gives me great hope for the future of New England’s brewing marketplace. I am truly looking forward to sampling all of the creations of these beer artisans in September.

When I began this examination, I was truly afraid that I would find that the beer industry had matched the economic devastation of so many other industries over the last several years. What I found, instead, was an industry with few real lasting economic scars. There are, without question, many breweries, brewpubs and bars struggling to make ends meet in the shadow of the emerging “new normal”. Some of this fallout of the weak and poorly run or ill conceived is a perfectly normal part of the natural selection process that all industries are constantly undergoing… recessions just make those changes happen faster and perhaps be more dramatic and visible to us. I still have a very positive outlook for our industry… particularly the craft beer movement. You can be absolutely certain, even as I take stock of the necessary changes in my life to produce my own “new normal”, that craft beer will continue its very strong influence in my future. Cheers to all of you! Now go have a beer!

We have attended this event the last several years and have always seemed to luck out with the weather on the day that we chose to attend. This year was no different and the weather was perfect… sunny and VERY hot… with the temperature hovering near 90F and the dewpoint well over 70F by mid-afternoon. Based on my observations from years past, I would have to say that the event was far better attended than in previous years. By late afternoon, in spite of the oppressive heat, the area in front of the beer tent as well as all of the aisles/roads around the venue had turned into a hot seething mass of humanity.

This year’s event saw 42 teams compete for the title of “The Harpoon New England Grand Champion”. Because this is a KCBS (Kansas City Barbecue Society) sanctioned event judged by KCBS-certified judges, this event’s Grand Champion qualifies for the nation’s ultimate barbecue competition, the American Royal Barbecue held at the end of September in Kansas City. The American Royal Barbecue is the season finale for the grueling competitive BBQ circuit. Spreading over 20 acres in Kansas City’s historic Stockyards District, with nearly 500 teams competing in four culinary contests, The Royal is the largest barbecue contest in the world and can truly be called the “World Series of Barbecue.”

The Harpoon BBQ event is actually two competitions in one weekend… one for BBQ (Saturday) and the other for Grilling (Sunday). The combined scores from both of these contests is used to determine the event Grand Champion. We attended only on Saturday and were able to sample BBQ’d products from several of the event’s competitors. To be very honest, I am both extremely envious and incredibly in awe of the people that try to (and apparently can) distinguish the subtle differences between each competitor’s offerings. We sampled BBQ from several competitors and all of the BBQ that I tasted was outstanding. I would find it very difficult to name a “winner” from those few competitors and can’t imagine trying to select the best from all 42. As we have learned in previous years, it is always a bit of a crap shoot in trying to select your samples carefully in hopes of correctly choosing to taste BBQ from the eventual winner. We were not that fortunate this year, but the all competitors that we did eat from finished in the top 10 overall. The team named the event Grand Champion must have had one of those incredibly rare weekends where everything seemed to come together for them. The team “Feeding Friendz” was named the top team on both days (BBQ and Grilling) and will be headed to Kansas City in September to compete against the BBQ world’s best.

There are other things going on at this event besides just BBQ eating and beer drinking; though I am sure those would be enough for many people. The New England Barbecue Society in cooperation with the Harpoon folks have a tent set up for something called the “Beer and Barbecue University”. Here they conduct informational seminars throughout the day on many topics surrounding, not surprisingly, beer and barbecue. I did not attend any of these session this year, which I have found very interesting in past years, but the tent was packed full of people all afternoon.

The event is also host to the Vermont “Strongman” competition every year. Men and women compete to see who can lift, carry or drag the heaviest objects in several different categories. Though not quite on par with similar, world-class competitions seen on television, it is fairly impressive to watch these folks compete against each other and themselves; feats particularly challenging on such a warm day.

As a final note, I would like to digress a bit from the Barbecue and Beer theme of this article to talk about another of my passions… hot peppers! I have been a chili-head for many years and truly love the “endorphin rush” that comes from obsessively scorching your insides with peppery foods. As you might expect at events like these, there are always a few vendors offering hot pepper products (rubs, powders, sauces, relishes, etc.) for sale. These vendors usually always provide small samples of their products. While I have a very high tolerance for capsiacin (the “active” ingredient in chili peppers) compared to most people, I had a bit of a life altering experience at the hands of one of these vendors. I was “treated” to a very small sample of a hot sauce with the catchy name of “East Armageddon Post Apocalyptic”. This sauce contains elements of the Ghost Pepper (Bhut Jolokia), which according to Guinness is the world’s hottest pepper, and just a touch of pure capsiacin oleoresin. As a result, the sauce is rated at over 1,000,000 Scoville Units. Honestly… this pepper sauce significantly and forever changed my definition of *HOT*. There is not any real flavor to a product such as this, despite what others might say; it is all about the heat, the burn and the “rush” that they produce. Without experiencing that level of heat for yourself, you cannot really imagine how hot that sauce really is. There are many products on the market that are rated even hotter than this one and I can’t imagine what they would be used for, but I am sure that “ego” might play a part in their selection and consumption. While my experience was not worthy of a video on YouTube (fortunately), I did feel the effects of that tiny sample for quite a while afterwards.

I am fairly certain that Harpoon will host this excellent event again next year and I would hope to attend it again. It is a great opportunity for Harpoon to not only showcase their beer, which included their WBC medal winning UFO Hefe, but it also shows their support of the greater New England community. This is a family and pet friendly event that will continue to draw large crowds because of the great food as well as the fun and novelty of watching teams of people compete to claim title as the “best” at producing some of America’s favorite summertime foods.

Organized by the 21-member breweries of the Vermont Brewers Association, the VBF is held every year on the shores of Lake Champlain in Burlington’s Waterfront Park. It is a truly beautiful setting to hold such an event and last Saturday’s hot and sunny weather made it seem that much better. The proximity of the lake and a steady,cooling breeze coming off of the water made the day seem pleasant, in spite of the fact that the temperature reached 90F that afternoon.

As has become the “norm” for the past several years, all three tasting sessions for the event were sold out prior to the start of the festival; on-line ticket sales coupled with “print-at-home” capability make it very easy to get signed up for one or more of the sessions. Unlike some festivals that I have been to recently, the admission ticket is a relatively inexpensive $25, but that price only gets you 15 tickets for regular 3oz beer samples and the higher ABV samples require two tickets. This is in contrast to the increasingly common practice at bigger beer festivals of boosting the admission price while limiting the sample size to 2oz for an unlimited number of samples. I am still on the fence as to which format works better, but I am definitely leaning toward the slightly more expensive smaller/unlimited format. I found that I needed to be quite judicious in selecting which beers I sampled because of the limited tickets and there were many more beers that I would have liked to have tried given the opportunity. More tickets could have been purchased, but I did not feel like taking that route. For me, the opportunity to sample a larger variety of beers far outweighs the quantity of the beer I would get during the event.

The number of tickets sold for each session had been an issue for me at past VBF events, as the number of attendees was far too many and access to the brewers’ tents and other facilities was limited by the sheer number people present. I am very happy to report that they have learned from past events and not only did they expand the venue slightly, but organized the layout of the tents and facilities in a much more sensible way. It is possible that the same number of tickets were sold as for the VBF event I attended two years ago, but it seemed far less crowded and the lines at the brewers’ tents seemed much less long to me. Cheers to that!

The VBF event has taken on a much more “regional” feel to it and nearly all of the brewers present were from greater New England or Eastern Canada. The Abita and Brooklyn breweries were there too, but they stuck out amongst the other, more local brewers. I had heard that other breweries, like Stone Brewing, would have liked to have attended this year’s VBF, but were denied access by the organizers of the event. By my estimation, the larger and better organized venue would have provided plenty of room for perhaps another ten or more brewers, so it should not have been a problem (in my opinion) to allow more brewers access. Personally, I missed not having some of the brewers, like Stone, that have been at past VBF events. I am not privy to the logic used in determining which brewers could attend, but if the goal is a “regional” event, then Abita from Louisiana and Brooklyn from NYC stood out even more as “exceptions” to the other brewers present.

While I did not attend the VBF event with a fixed plan or a theme in mind for my explorations, one definitely emerged for me during the afternoon. One of the good things to happen with this event over the years is the increasing number of Canadian breweries that attend this event. As I moved around the venue visiting these foreign brewers, what struck me was that all of them were offering at least one type of Saison-style beer for sampling. This was in stark contrast the the more common types of beer being offered by most of the domestic brewers. Many/most of my 15 sample tickets ended up being used to sample these Saisons from the north and I have to tell you that I was very impressed with the very high quality beer that these brewers are producing. I was fortunate enough to be able to talk with most of the owner/brewers of these breweries and I am pretty sure that I will be arranging a trip north to visit some of them in the near future. Montreal is only about a 2-hour drive from my house… plus the time I will sit in the line at Customs waiting to cross the border. The four Canadian breweries that attended this year’s VBF are geographically close enough together to be taken in during a 2 or 3 day trip. Sounds like a plan might be coming together…

Some of the other beers/breweries that stood out for me included:

• The Zero Gravity Brewery from Burlington was serving a “Solstice Gruit Ale”. You can read more about what a “Gruit” is in a great article by my fellow HopPress writer Brian Cendrowski called “Gruit: Beer Gone Hopless”. Though I am, without any doubt, an unrepentant hop head, I did not miss the hops one bit in this very interesting and fruity beer.
• The Benelux brewery from Montreal was serving a triple rye Saison, called Ergot, that was probably the “best of show” for me. Unusual because of the rye component and the higher ABV of 9%, it was definitely one of the best Saisons that I have ever had in spite of the fact that it was not true to the exact Saison style of beer.
• The Flying Goose Brew Pub from New London, NH was serving a type of beer not commonly found these days, called Armenian Steam Beer. It was both tasty and true to its style.
• Dieu du Ciel from St-Jerome, Quebec was serving a triple, called L’Herbe à Détourne, made with Citra hops that provided for a truly excellent example of the use of one of my favorite hops.

I could go on about all of the beers that I sampled, but I won’t. Since I had to be selective and because I am a beer collector, the beers that I chose were all some that I had not had before. Beer festivals are an excellent means of building your collection and, in spite of the limitations because of the sample tickets, I still added plenty to my beer list during the event.

The combination of the better organization and the, apparently, smaller crowd at this year’s VBF event will definitely bring me back next year. The VBF is a perfect opportunity to sample beers from the many great brewers of our region. Those of us that live in Vermont are fortunate to have clean air, clean water, beautiful scenery and great beer. I don’t see how it could get much better than that.

Taste is one of those interesting senses that is truly a matter of personal preference and can definitely be influenced by factors external to the food or liquid present in the mouth at the time. Complex and elusive, taste or what most think of as taste, is actually a combination of two of our five senses; taste and smell. The actual/biological taste component of people’s perception is actually relatively simple. The smell component, on the other hand, is exceedingly complex and will only be barely touched by this article. Smell can impart both positive and negative influence on what you are actually tasting and can be, in fact, a significant deciding factor in whether of not you like the “taste” of what you are eating/drinking.

The biology of taste that many of us learned and that I taught to my students many years ago as a 7^th and 8^th grade Science teacher, consisted of only four simple attributes… sweet, sour, bitter and saltiness… and everyone (not just beer drinkers) is very familiar with what taste each of those terms implies. There are varying degrees of each of them to be sure, but little doubt (at least in my mind) about what flavors they represent.

• Sweet is a taste/flavor component found in many beers. The sweetness of the malts or additives (fruit, syrups, etc.) are responsible. Like any of these taste/flavor attributes, too much of any one of them present in a beer can make them unpleasant or completely unpalatable to the taster. I am not a fan of beers that are too sweet and totally avoid those that are cloyingly so.
• Sour is a common attribute of many styles and brands of beer. Lambics, Berliner, Flanders Red/Brown, and Framboise are all beers that exhibit this attribute to some degree. Sour beers seem to have recently claimed a fair amount of market presence/attention/mindshare and are among the most popular amongst serious craft beer drinkers (me included). A variety of fruits and syrups can brewed into or added to these beers types to make them more palatable to the less adventurous or less tolerant of the “pucker” that these beers can produce.
• Bitter is usually brought into the beer through the hops that are used to brew it. As a general rule, the more hops used (as well as the length of the boil) make a beer more bitter. Being the hop head that I am, this is one of my favorite flavor components to beer… while others avoid them or call them “bad form”, I love a good tear your head off hoppy beer… that’s something that I just personally enjoy. There are other ingredients (fruits, herbs, spices) which can also be used to make beer bitter.
• Saltiness is not really a taste/flavor component that I used to associate with beer… that is until I heard of a German beer style called “Gose”. Made with a wheat grist along with coriander and salt, it sounds very unusual. While I have not (yet) sampled this particular style of beer, it is definitely something that I will seek out.

Something that I have had to get used to as I grow older is that things change (Pluto is not a planet… you’re kidding me!) and also can become more complex over time. Like the “new math” that was introduced while I was a teacher, there are now different ways of thinking surrounding the sense of taste and there are now also a few more attributes of this sense that need to be considered as a part of the total package.

• Savoriness, also called “Umami”, is a flavor component more commonly referenced in Asian-style cooking, and refers to the “meatiness” or “richness” of the food. Anyone that has eaten cheap oriental food could be familiar with the “Umami” taste of that food imparted by the monosodium gluamate (MSG) it might contain. While I definitely like meaty and/or rich foods, MSG just gives me a headache… you can leave that out of my beer (and food) and, truth be known, this particular flavor component does not seem to play a large part in beer flavors (that I can see). There is, however, the mythical/legendary “bacon beer” that Brooklyn Brewing is reported to have produced… now that might be interesting!
• Dryness is one of those new flavor factors that can have a definite effect on one’s perception of a beer’s likability. Wine lovers are certainly familiar with this descriptive taste. Typically produced by the tannins or unripe fruit that the wine contains, beer taste can be influenced by some of the same elements. “Tartness” can also be used to describe this particular flavor in beer… particularly those that share the “sour” flavor attribute.
• “Metallic” is a relatively new and somewhat unusual flavor component for me; at least as far as beer is concerned. My recent experience with real oyster stouts from Harpoon and Porterhouse reinforced the need, in my mind, for something to describe the metallic (think mild blood) taste of this type of beer. Not unpleasant at all, mind you, but distinctive enough to justify its own “official” flavor description.
• “Hotness”, while probably not best described as a flavor, can provide some influence over the likability of a particular beer. This attribute is not just associated with the “pepper” hotness that might come from a chili beer, but may also refer (more commonly) to the “burn” imparted by a higher beer alcohol content… the “warming” of the belly that can be found in many beer descriptions.

As I mentioned earlier, taste, like the other senses, can be influenced by outside factors. An aging tongue and mouth can change one’s perception of taste as this sense tends to dull over time. Although my wife is a truly talented cook, I see the results of this “dulling” in the increasing amount of hot pepper that I add to food to make it taste less bland. While it does not affect the “pure”taste attributes like sour and sweet, a stuffed nose or cold can dull one’s perception of flavor because of its affect on the contribution of smell in how we perceive our food. There are foods and chemicals that can also alter one’s taste perceptions. The so called “miracle fruit” (synsepalum dulcificum), for instance, can make normally sour foods taste sweet after eaten.

Like many foods, there is a certain amount of an “acquired taste/tolerance” that plays into our acceptance of certain types of food and drinks. I have done some world traveling and it always amazes me what people consider and accept as “normal” when it comes the food and drink that they consume. It doesn’t always have to be something scary, like eating scorpions, and it definitely applies to the acceptance of the flavor of beers. My perception and acceptance of beer has certainly changed since that first taste, long ago, of a bit of that “nasty tasting” beer from my father’s glass… hardly my reaction these days and not because of my dulled taste buds either. Over time I have acquired a taste for not only the relatively simple (and common) taste of my father’s macro light lager beer, but also for many of the now more than 1,000 different beers I have sampled in the last 6 and a half years. As I have said before, I have never met a beer that I didn’t like; I just liked some of them more than others. Like many favored foods, I crave not only the taste of my favorite beers, but the variety and taste diversity that the world beer market place provides for me… a virtual lifetime of new tasting experiences. Bring ‘em on… I’m ready!!

• Stubby – Used extensively in Europe, Australia and almost exclusively in Canada (1962-86). Range in size from 330ml (11.2oz) to 375ml (12.7oz). Reintroduced by several bottlers in Canada in the early 2000s. The original styles were made of thicker glass and designed to stand up to many refillings. Advantages of this bottle type include smaller storage space, less breakage and a lower center of gravity. Much of the Canadian beer I drank after becoming “legal” came from these bottles.
• North American Longneck (355ml, 12oz) – The Industry Standard Bottle (ISB) for most major brewers in North America. In the US, these bottles are all 355ml (12oz), while in Canada (same bottle shape) the bottle is 341ml, which more closely matches the capacity of the stubby bottles long used in that country.
• Large Bottle (Bomber, 22oz) – The standard large bottle packaging for many American craft brewers (and homebrewers too).
• Large Bottle (750ml, 25.4oz) – The standard large bottle packaging for many European craft brewers as well as craft brewers from many other countries, including the US. Can be capped or corked (typically wire-caged).
• Growler – Typically made of glass with a standard capacity of a US half gallon (64oz), although 2-liter sizes are becoming more common, this container is used primarily for “take out” beer from stores, brewpubs and breweries. Usually has a screw on or swing top closure and, under proper storage conditions, can be expected to keep beer drinkable for less than a week (I try to not go past a couple of days, so that it is closest to “draft quality). Less common is a 1 liter/quart version of this vessel.
• Caguama (Litro) – Mexican in origin and typically 940ml in capacity. Translated this is is the word for a loggerhead turtle and is also called “ballenas” (whale) in certain parts of Mexico. Still sold by a number of Mexican brewers (Tecate, Corona, Sol, etc.) in Mexico. Not to be confused with a beer by the same name, which is brewed in El Salvador by Cerveceria La Constancia (SABMiller) for Kroger Foods.
• Darwin Stubby – Also called the Northern Territory Stubby, this Australian classic is not commonly found these days (expensive if found) and the older bottles are real collector’s items. With a standard capacity of approximately two liters (ranging from 1.25L to 2.25L), the larger varieties are the largest commercially available beer bottles ever offered.
• Beugel (Swing-top) – The classic Grolsch swing-top bottle with the rubber-gasketed porcelain stoppers. Has seen a resurgence recently among homebrewers and some small commercial brewers.
• De Nederlandse Bierfles (pijpje) – Exclusive to the Netherlands, this 300ml (10.1oz) is refillable and typically carries a deposit to ensure its return.
• British Pint – Also know as the London Brewer’s Standard bottle, it has a capacity of 568ml and was intended to be refilled. It has largely been replaced by the non-refillable 500ml (half-liter) sized bottle.
• Half-Liter (500ml, 16.9oz) – Originally adopted by UK and European brewers, the popularity of this size bottle has spread to many brewers across the world.
• Third-Liter (330ml, 11.2oz)- Mostly used by European brewers, there has been some spread of this bottle sized to other world brewers.
• Plastic “Bottle” – Introduced, experimentally, by Miller Brewing in 1998, Miller took this new packaging phenom national in 2000. The unbreakable nature of the multi-layer PET plastic bottles is an obvious advantage, but the bottle’s construction has caused problems with its ability to be recycled, like standard PET plastic.
  
• Aluminum “Bottle” – Known as the “bottlecan” in Asia, this new package was first introduced by Anheuser-Busch in 2004, these containers are made of recyclable aluminum rather than glass. Popular in many parts of the world (Japan, China and US), these containers have many benefits over the traditional glass (or plastic), such as no breakage and valuable recoverability (versus glass or plastic).

I don’t think that it would be proper to talk about all of these bottle types without mentioning importance of the color of the bottle. Typically beer bottles are made of brown, green or clear glass. Likely every beer drinker is familiar with “skunked” beer and the type/color of the bottle that the beer is packaged or stored in has a lot to do with the “skunking” process. “Skunking” is caused, primarily, by a chemical reaction facilitated by the exposure of some of the chemicals found in beer to light. Light causes a reaction between the riboflavin (vitamin B2) found in beer and the isohumulones from the hops used to make the beer. This complex chemical reaction ultimately produces 3-Methyl-2-butane thiol (MBT), which is a compound related to the mercaptans used as a “marker odor” in propane gas and are found in a skunk’s odor (smells really bad!). The color of the glass bottle makes a difference by prohibiting the transmission of light into the beer in the bottle. Brown glass bottles offer the best protection, followed by green glass and finally clear glass, which (obviously) offers no protection of the beer from light exposure.

I hope that this article was as interesting to read as it was for me to research and write. I discovered many things that I did not previously know about bottles used for beer… it is a much bigger topic than I anticipated or expected. There are many other containers used to store beer (cans, kegs, casks, barrels, etc.) and, over time (future articles), I will present a discussion of many of them.

With the nice weather on tap, we will plan to spend a fair amount of time outside enjoying the sunshine and warmth. It stands to reason that we will choose the food that we eat to fit this great weather. To my family, that means cooking food on the grill. My wife is a great cook and she has been working over the last couple of days to plan out and prepare for our weekend meals. As the food picture has come into focus, I have been thinking about what beer I will choose to have with each meal. I am not that fanatical about food/beer pairing, but have been exposed to enough of it by people that are to recognize that there is, definitely, a synergy between certain types of beers and foods. You need to understand that I really like hoppy beer, so there is a certain part of me that believes that a good IPA or Imperial IPA could go with anything. I do like many other types of beer, of course, and I am beginning to broaden my views a little bit as to which type of beer goes best with particular types of food. I’ll run down the potential menu for the weekend and try to give you a sense of what beers might come out of my beer larder to go along with them. With all of my beer travels lately, I have a very wide variety of beer to choose from for these meals. I hope that you won’t be too surprised if I choose something “non-traditional” as a pairing, simply because I like drinking that particular beer or want to try something new.

I grew up in southern Indiana and if you know anything about that part of the country, you know that barbecued pork is a prized summer tradition (year round actually). We will celebrate some of my mid-western heritage by having some of my wife’s excellent barbecued ribs. My wife and daughter, who has joined us for the weekend, are not much into spicy foods (my wife thinks that black pepper is “hot”), so the BBQ sauce on these ribs is a bit on the sweet side. This is one of my favorite meals, so I will pick out something “special” to go along with it. A while back a friend of mine from California was kind enough to send me a selection of Russian River Brewing’s fine beers. In that box was a bottle of Blind Pig IPA. While not available here in Vermont, I have had this awesome beer before and I think that its fruity hop characteristics, good malt balance and medium bitterness will fit perfectly with these ribs.

Some of the “bad” things about getting older are the changes that you need to make in your diet to accommodate health problems and to attempt to keep the “battle of the bulge” under control. There are a number of foods that used to be a more regular part of my diet that have taken a back seat to some of the more healthy alternatives. This is not that terrible, as I like some of these alternatives, but there are some foods we do not eat regularly any more and I miss them. One of those missed items is a good hot dog. While I don’t mind eating turkey or chicken hot dogs and I have even tried tofu hot dogs (not as good), there is just nothing like a “real” natural casing hot dog (smothered in onions with mustard). Unlike many parts of the country, we only get a few days each year with the temperatures at 90F or above. While this type of weather generally calls for a lighter beer (which I will be drinking plenty of in this heat), I think that to combination of the fatty hot dog meat (yum!) along with the onions and a spicy mustard will drive me to a stronger beer for this meal. I have a couple of bottles left of Great Divide’s Hercules Double IPA which I believe would fit the bill in this case. Intensely hoppy, but well balanced, I think that this beer will add to the enjoyment of tasting one of the favored summer meals which I dearly miss eating regularly.

The last of the meals planned for the weekend is very traditional and, in spite of its relative unhealthiness, still can fortunately be found on the Koenemann dietary agenda (occasionally). There is something special about a hamburger that has been cooked over a hot fire that makes my mouth water. Over the years I have enjoyed many different beers with my burgers, but there are a few that have become a favorite pairing. I have found that I really like a good Belgian-style beer with this meal. There is something about the fruity yeast and the subtle sweetness in a good dubbel or tripel that does it for me when I its paired with a good hamburger. I also like a good Scotch ale with a hamburger for the same reasons as the Belgians, but the addition of the peated malts found in the Scotch adds to the smokiness of the grilled meat. I happen to have both types of beer available to me this weekend. For the Belgian, I have a bottle of Allagash Confluence Ale that I have been dying to open. This beer also is made with some Brett, so some sourness will come into play as well. For the Scotch, I have a bottle of Moylans Kilt Lifter Scotch Ale. I have to tell you that I have not decided which of these beers I will choose… it’ll be a game time decision. It is also possible that I will decide on something completely different. That’s what is nice about having a variety of beers to choose from; I can choose to drink whichever one I want at the time.

Regardless of what you choose to eat this weekend or what beer, wine or whatever you choose to pair it with, choose to share the experience with family and friends. This American national holiday is the only one that happens during the summer and I plan to take full advantage of that and the great weather in store for us this weekend. As a reminder to all of you, please make this a safe weekend as well… no drinking and driving and be careful with those fireworks! A happy 4^th to all of you…

Last week I relayed to you my initial impressions (ACBF 2010 – First Impressions) of this, my first big beer festival. Earlier this week Josh Christie provided lengthy insight into his experience at ACBF ( ACBF 2010 – The General Stuff). Josh and I were also joined at the festival by our fellow HopPress writer Carla Companion.

Saturday’s activities began with a nice brunch on the waterfront. Carla joined my son, Jamie, and me at the Atlantic Beer Garden, which sits right next to the Trade Center and offers dining on a deck overlooking the Boston harbor. Carla and I had never met, though clearly we know of each other, and it was really nice for the three of us to sit in this beautiful setting and talk about beer (of course) as well as our past experiences in life. The great food provided an excellent buffer to all of the great beer that we would be sampling soon.

From the beginning it was obvious that the Saturday afternoon session was going to be different than what I experienced Friday night. The crowd was much larger and exhibited a much higher level of “energy” than the night before. While the crowd filled the very large hall, you did not have that feeling of being in a can of sardines as there was plenty of room to navigate around the hall. I am sorry now that I did not take a picture of them, but there was a group of about 20 guys there for someone’s bachelor party. They were easily identifiable by the Kelly green t-shirts they were all wearing. The front of the t-shirt was adorned with what appeared to be BP’s beleaguered company logo (without oil stains on it)… the only visible difference being a line of lettering near the beltline of the shirt that said “BP – Bachelor Party”. The group traveled around the venue en mass, appeared to be having a great time and provided plenty of comic relief for the crowd. I wouldn’t exactly classify them as beer connoisseurs though… their goal for the afternoon seemed to only be one of “inhaling” as many 2oz samples of beer as possible and, from my observations late in the session, they seemed to accomplish their mission pretty well.

I have to admit that I did not make it through the entire Saturday evening session. After more than 9 hours (in the same 24 hour period) spent standing in lines and sampling “gallons” of beer 2 ounces at a time, I had had enough for one festival. Of the 80+ brewers at the show, I had the very great pleasure to visit about 60 of them; not a bad showing, if I do say so myself. In talking to these beer folk, you would be surprised at the variety of impressions/reactions that I received. Most booths were manned by people that were not only willing to talk about their product, but were very friendly and enthusiastic about what they were doing. I was really surprised that there were some brewer’s booths, particularly some of the smaller ones, that were manned by people that really had no interest in talking and simply were there to fill the cups. There was at least one booth that was manned only by one of the event volunteers, who knew absolutely nothing about the beer that they were serving. I hardly think that these brewers (some with fairly well known names) will gain the benefit of exposing their product to the 12-15,000 beer enthusiasts that could have stopped by during one of the sessions. It just did not make much sense to me…

Aside from the larger accommodations for the festival, one of the other significant changes this year was the elimination of the traditional tasting glass that usually accompanies your ticket. This year a compostable plastic cup was provided instead. The cup, made from highly processed corn, had all of the characteristics that you have come to expect from petroleum-based plastic, but these eco-cups are biodegradable and can be completely composted by commercial composting operations. I am sure that the use of these cups saved a ton of money versus the glasses, but one would hope that this was not an entirely profit-driven decision and that care for the environment and a reduction in the use of oil entered into the discussion somehow.

I will not attempt to provide an extensive listing of beers at the festival. Like most beer lovers, even the list of just my “favorites” from such an event is pretty extensive. I do feel compelled, however, to tell you about a few beers that truly stood out for me among the 400+ beers being offered.

• Dogfish Head World Wide Stout – On Saturday afternoon this beer, likely awesome by itself, was being pumped through a container of roasted coffee beans. The combination made for a truly amazing experience for my first time taste of this legendary brew.
• Goose Island Bourbon County Stout – This was being served at the same time as the DFH World Wide only one aisle away. I was fortunate to be able to hit both of these booths early into the Saturday afternoon session, before the line got long and before they ran out. This beer had very intense coffee/vanilla flavor and aroma. This would be the perfect beer to sip and savor while sitting in a rocking chair in front of a crackling fire. This one, a first for me as well, was “best of show” from my perspective.
• Clipper City Heavy Seas Below Decks – While I have both had and enjoyed this beer before, the brewer brought a very special batch that had been aging since 2005. Needless to say, the beer was showing its age extremely well and only barely resembled the much younger offspring that I had previously sampled. Loved it…
• Ommegang Zuur – A Flemish sour brown ale that Ommegang produced in collaboration with Brouwerij Liefmans. Not overly sour with a very complex blend of fruit flavors. The folks at the booth told me that this beer would see higher production and wider distribution beginning in July this year. I was a bit surprised when I saw the relatively low ratings this beer has on Ratebeer. My eventual rating will be higher as I really enjoyed drinking this beer and will definitely look for it again.

It is amazing how much transpires in nine hours of time and I really could go on and on about my experiences at this event. In closing, however, I would like to again thank Beer Advocate and Harpoon, the event sponsors/producers, for providing me with the opportunity to attend this wonderful event. I enjoyed spending time with Carla and the shared experience with my family members at this event will be held near and dear to my heart. While this was my first big beer festival, it will definitely not be my last. The chance to visit with so many brewers in one place and sample all their wares just can’t be beat and I am already looking forward to next year’s event. In conclusion, I leave you with a quote from the Governor of California… “I’ll be baack…”

Click the ACBF Logo for a Slideshow

I have to admit that this is my first really big beer festival and I am very impressed with what I have seen so far. I certainly have been to other, smaller events, but nothing on the scale of this. The event organizers, Beer Advocate and Harpoon Brewery, look to have done a great job of ensuring that some of the issues that I have seen plague other beer fests (long lines, densely packed rooms, too many drunk people) are not an issue here. I spoke briefly with Todd Alström, one of Beer Advocate’s founders, just before the event got underway and he was adamant that they had learned from the problems of past years and that this year’s festival would be the best yet. He said that the larger venue as well as more on-floor staff and security personnel would keep things running smoothly. Although the larger sessions of the three session festival are still to come today, everything that I have seen so far leads me to believe that Todd will be true to his word.

The event is hosting approximately 86 brewers this year. I say approximately, because there were some empty booths last night. Most of the empty slots were for smaller breweries and brewpubs, but Rogue Ales was noticeably absent (damn, I love their beer!). We will have to see if those booths are inhabited at today’s sessions. The brochure that you pick up along with your cup indicates that there would be 400+ beers available. You don’t have to look too far to see that many brewers are using this event as an opportunity to either showcase a special or rare/aged beer offering to the attendees or are using the event as a “test bed” and showing off potential future offerings as well as soliciting crowd feedback about these “experiments”. There are also some brewers that are using this event to introduce/release new beer and there are several of those scheduled for the sessions today.

Of course, I have not had an opportunity to visit all of the booths yet and I have certainly not sampled but a small fraction of the beers available. There are many beers and even brewers here that I have not heard of or ever tried their beers. It is pretty easy to get overwhelmed with the size of the crowd, the number of brewers and the tremendous number of beers available. There are many recognizable brewers here and the temptation would be to focus on those which are most familiar to you. I saw evidence that many had taken that strategy and brewers such as Dogfish Head and Stone had long lines at their booths throughout the session.

I wrote last week about reaching my 1000^th Ratebeer rating (Reflections on 1000 Beers) and being the “beer adventurer” that I am, this type of an event presents a perfect opportunity to take the less traveled road and visit the brewers where there is not that big name recognition and the lines are much shorter. My experience in seeking out some of these less known entities and sampling some of their beers ran the full range of “Wow” to “Meh”. While, as you might expect, many of these smaller brewers produce “average” beer (just like some of the bigger brewers), I did find some real gems from the small guys. Some of my favorite beers last night came from this smaller class of brewer. Element Brewing, only in business since December, was offering a beer they called Extra Special Oak (an oak aged ESB) that was very good. Cape Ann Brewing was offering a very unusual smoked barley wine called Fisherman’s Tea Party . It is made with Lapsang Souchang Black Tea, which has a very smoky flavor, and produces a very interesting as well as a very tasty brew. While I will definitely be visiting the bigger brewers today too, I will continue my quest with the lesser known group of brewers present. That strategy has not only produced some enjoyable conversation, but has led me to some really great beer.

I will be joined at this afternoon session by my fellow HopPress writers, Carla Companion and Josh Christie. Together we will all be providing our personal experiences and views of this major beer event. Look for more ACBF articles in the coming days.