As spring arrives, so do the beers more appropriate to the season; a return of beers more suited to the warmer weather and a transition between the heavy/alcoholic beers of winter and the much lighter beers of summer. Traditionally these spring beers have included some of the broad category German bockbiers, but also include a number of other beers (depending upon which “expert” you choose to believe); Belgian wits and other wheat beers of various types, fruit beers, Saisons and stouts seem to round out everyone’s list.

Bavarian brewers are famous for their “beer for every season” approach to beer making and there is, in truth, a bockbier for every season except summer. Most bocks are lagers (top-fermented weizenbocks are ales), tend to be darker in color, quite malty and can run anywhere from around 6% ABV to more than 24% ABV; as evidenced by the Utopias Dopplebock by the Boston Beer Company. Typically produced in the fall, when barley and hops are plentiful, these beers are then stored or “lagered” for longer periods of time to produce the mellow drinkability that they are famous for. The types of bock most commonly associated with the spring season are the dopplebocks and the maibocks.

• As the story goes, the hearty dopplebock beers were originally produced by the Paulaner monks around Munich to sustain them during their Lenten fast leading up to Easter. These monk-produced brews first became available commercially about 1780 and were readily embraced by the German beer-loving public. As with this original dopplebock, which these monks called “Salvator”, many names of dopplebocks end in “-ator”. Dopplebocks, literally “double bocks”, tend to be higher in alcohol than their regular cousins, but retain their intense, malt-focused flavors; without much hop bitterness or hop flavor. Examples of dopplebocks would be Ayinger Celebrator, Thomas Hooker Liberator and Brooklyn Brooklynator.
• Maibocks, literally “May bock” and also known as Frühlingsbock (Springtime bock) or Helles/Heller bock, tend to be much lighter in color (almost blonde) and more highly hopped than the traditional bocks. Maibocks are truly a transitional beer which fit nicely in between the winter Starkbier (”strong beer”) season and the summer season when the Helles and Weissbier style beers return to the liter steins of the beer gardens. Examples of maibocks would be Smuttynose Maibock, Rogue Dead Guy Ale and the new Sierra Nevada Glissade Golden Bock.

There are other beers that are considered to be “spring beers”, either because they follow the German tradition of changing seasons or simply because that is when the brewer releases them annually.

• Stouts, Irish stouts in particular, are included in springtime beers mostly due to their association with the March St. Patrick’s Day celebration. These Irish or “dry” stouts typically are very dark in color and lower in both hopping level and gravity than most of their American cousins. Traditional examples would be Guinness Draught and Murphy’s Irish Stout.
• Spiced beers, such as Belgian Wits and ginger beers, are associated with spring due to their lighter character and the wake-up call for the senses that they provide. This is not dissimilar to the higher hopping level of the German maibocks, which is intended to break one out of the winter doldrums. Examples of these might include Avery White Rascal or Long Trail Brewmaster Series Winter White.
• From my experience, most of the fruit beers that appear to be associated with springtime seem to be simply a matter of release timing from the breweries. I sure that the same reasoning as for the spiced beers could be applied, but I found no such references. A good (and delicious) example of this would be Dogfish Head Aprihop which comes available in March and April every year.

Whatever your excuse, use the harbinger of spring to break away from the traditional winter brews you have been drinking and find something new, fresh and different to brighten up your world. After all, spring only comes once a year and if you are like me, you see that as the perfect opportunity to find great beer rather than simply a return to warmer weather.

History of Belgian Beer

Beer, being an ancient beverage, was first brewed in the Middle East about 10,000 years ago. Beer made its way into Europe about 5000 BC along two broad routes; Eastern Europe and along the Mediterranean. The Gauls, one of the early ancestors of the modern Belgium natives, were responsible for both the widespread brewing of beer in this area as well as the invention of wooden barrels and their first use for beer storage. With the fall of the Roman Empire, the churches gained rule of the land and the first monastic breweries appeared around the 7^th century. In the 14^th century, under heavy influence from the Germans, hops began to be added to beer brewed in this region. It was also around this time when the it was widely believed that beer was safer to drink than water; the brewing process eliminating some of the more common water-borne diseases of the time. Brewing continued its growth in popularity up until the religious wars of the 16^th century and French Revolution. These two events were nearly responsible for wiping out the brewing industry in the region, when many of the abbeys and monasteries were destroyed. The rebuilding and reconstruction period which took place after the French Revolution was responsible for expanding the brewing industry away from the monasteries. The growth of the industry and the number of Belgian breweries continued to increase until its peak of over 3,200 in 1900. The devastation and lack of brewing ingredients during the First World War caused a steep drop in the number of these breweries; reaching about 2,000 by 1920. The economic crisis of the 1930s and then the Second World War caused the continued rapid decline in brewery numbers to only about 755 by 1946. Since then, mostly industry consolidation has been responsible for reducing the number of Belgian breweries to about 100-125 today; these being made up of a relatively small number of very large (some internationally owned) breweries and many smaller regional breweries which collectively produce approximately 600 different Belgian beers. Nearly half of the the beer produced in Belgium today, roughly 9 million hectoliters (about 238 million US gallons or 7.56 million US barrels, if you prefer), is exported across Europe, to the UK and to the US.

The Styles of Belgian Beers

Apparently the beer “experts” cannot agree how many “official” styles of Belgian beers that there are. The AHA, BJCP and nearly every Web site I could find (even those from Belgium) about the subject listed something different; sometimes varying widely from site to site. For the purposes of this article I will describe 10 broad styles of Belgian beers. These 10 will cover the vast majority of the beers produced in the region.

• Trappist & Abbey – While they are similar in style, there is a very important difference between “Trappist” and Abbey” beers.
  • A beer is a “Trappist” only if it is a manufactured by Cistercian monks. The Cistercian monasteries are divided into two great orders, of which one is historically attached to the Abbey of La Grande Trappe, in Normandy, hence the name “Trappists”. There are only 7 breweries allowed to use the “Trappist” label; 6 of those are in Belgium and 1 is in the Netherlands. Some examples of Trappist beers would be Chimay Bleue and La Trappe Isid’or.
  • Abbey beers are generally brewed under license by a commercial brewery, using the name and recipes of an abbey that has ceased brewing itself. Very few of them are actually made within the walls of a monastery, and the brewery is often far from the abbey that gives its name to the beer they produce. Some “abbey” beers are even simply named after an abbey ruin or local saint without any connection with an existing monastic order. The term “Abbey Beer” has been widely used and the Union of Belgian Breweries recently introduced the “Certified Belgian Abbey Beer” label to distinguish those that are actually affiliated with a Belgian Abbey. Examples of Abbey beers would be Grimbergen Dubbel and Leffe Blond.
• Strong Golden Ale – Strong golden ales are fruity, top-fermented beers of pale golden color with a long-lasting foam, and a very high alcoholic strength ranging from 6 to 9%. Examples of this particular style would be Duvel and Delirium Tremens.
• Sour Ale – Belgian red-brown sour ale, or ‘Flemish old brown’ is a unique style produced in the region of Roeselare, in the South-West of Flanders. The color comes from reddish barley malts used for its brewing, and from a long maturation in oak barrels. Red beers have a raw and fruity taste, sometimes not so far from Lambic and the derived fruit beers, although the manufacturing of these families of beers are completely different. They are often filtered and pasteurized, with an average ABV around 5.5%. Examples would be the Belgian Verhaeghe Duchesse De Bourgogne and the Belgian-style Nørrebro Viking Oud Bruin.
• Saison – Saisons, French for “season”, are regional specialities once typically brewed in farmhouses or small breweries in Wallonia, mainly in the province of Hainaut. Traditionally, these beers used to be brewed in the winter to be consumed during the summer. Saisons are typically golden to orange in color, fruity, yeasty, hoppy with moderate bitterness, and medium in alcoholic strength. Examples would be the Belgian-style beers Nørrebro Saison Lambic Pinot Noir and Ommegang Hennepin (a Cooperstown, NY-based, Duvel Moortgat-owned brewery).
• Lambic & Gueuze – Lambic is brewed from a grist composed of 70% barley malt and 30% unmalted wheat. Then the wort is exposed to the air which provides the wild yeasts that will start the fermentation process. Aged hop (thus less bitter) is added for preservation. Lambic is matured for at least two years in oak barrels. Young lambic is slightly sour, old Lambic has greater acidity. Gueuze is sour and sometimes harsh, usually without bitterness. The color is golden to light amber. Carbonation can be champagne-like. An example would be Boon Oude Geuze.
• Pils – A Pils is a bottom-fermentation (lager) beer, light straw to golden color and crystal clear. Hops are dominant with a slightly bitter taste and a long and delicate, almost floral flavor. The beer is always filtered and saturated. It contains an average 5% of alcohol. It is a highly thirst-quenching and digestible beer that one must drink cold. Examples would be the common Stella Artois and its superior American cousin Victory Prima Pils.
• Amber Ale – Amber Ales are somewhat similar to Pale Ales made in Great Britain. Some are labeled as Ale, others as Special to distinguish them from standard lager beers. They are top-fermenting beers with an amber color obtained by using a colored or caramelized malt. They are slightly hopped with soft aromatic hops, a yeast taste, and a spicy and soft savor. Their spicy taste is often derived from the yeasts used, but sometimes spices are actually added. The alcohol content is slightly higher than in Pils. Examples would be Dieu du Ciel Dernière Volonté and Ommegang Rare Vos.
• White Ale – White beer is usually brewed from equal quantities of pale malted barley and raw wheat, sometimes with the addition of oats. It is spiced with coriander seeds and dried Curaçao orange peels. Examples would be Alchemist Sterk Wit (2004 Gold at GABF) and Allagash White.
• Special – Under the type “Special”, unsurprisingly, we find a great diversity of beers that do not fall into a well-defined category. These beers are often the product of a brewing tradition attached to a given region, but some are on the contrary the creation of innovators. An example would be Gulden Draak.
• Fruit Beer – Fruits, juice or extracts have been added to beer for a very long time, especially with Lambic. Kriek (cherry) and Framboise (raspberry) are two traditional styles, famous in Belgium. Peach is also a common addition to this type of beer.
  Kriek is Lambic fermented with sour cherries, traditionally coming from Schaerbeek (a district of Brussels). The cherries are left in for several months, causing a refermentation of the additional sugar. Typically there is no sugar left at the end of the fermentation, thus traditional kriek has a fruit flavor without sweetness. A traditional example would be Lindemans Kriek and a non-traditional (gluten free) example would be Alchemist Celia Framboise (2009 Gold at GABF).

I can’t imagine anyone not being able to find something that they really like in all of that. Little question as to why it is relatively common to hear that someone likes “Belgian beer”. When you do hear that, of course, you can nod your head knowingly… and then scratch your head and wonder just which of the “Belgian” styles of beer they might be talking about.

Top of mind for me on this subject lately has been this weekend’s annual “Mardi Gras” event organized and supported by the Magic Hat Brewing Company of South Burlington, VT. This event, in its 15^th year, is focused on community entertainment and the financial support of a local not-for-profit; the Women’s Rape Crisis Center of Chittenden County (WRCC). The weekend includes bands and other entertainment at quite a number of venues around the Burlington area and is capped off by a Mardi Gras-style parade on Saturday afternoon (today) which includes bands and floats. Even though it is winter still and snowing (again), the parade will go on and everyone will have a great time. For those of you wondering, the people on the floats do throw strings of beads into the crowd during the parade, but the standards of conduct for receiving one of these strings is far lower than that on Bourbon Street in a similar situation… besides being a family-oriented parade, it is just too cold for that type of thing (not that cold would stop some folks, of course). The event, as you can imagine, is heavily publicized by the media and I am certain that its impact on the Magic Hat beer business far outweighs any expenses which they might incur for it. After all, when you are in one of the bar venues and listening to a great band, whose beer are you going to be drinking? This event is, obviously, a great example of a brewing business contributing back to its community. Over the years this event has not only raised tens of thousands of dollars for WRCC, it has cemented in the minds of the Burlington community the notion that Magic Hat cares for more than just profits; it cares about people too. Good for business… good for the community… a win/win that benefits everyone. You’ll hear more from me about Magic Hat in a future article.

Another shining example of a brewer embracing social responsibility as a part of their core business model is the New Belgium Brewing Company in Fort Collins, CO. New Belgium has long held these principles and, in fact, has developed their entire corporate culture around them to ensure that they remain ingrained in how they do business on a daily basis. Upon a quick survey of their Web site, you will find a page entitled “Alternatively Powered”. At the very top of this page is their statement of their social mission:

“Alternatively Empowered means making business decisions based on minimizing environmental impact, encouraging the growth of our employee owners, and being a socially responsible contributor to our community. It’s rewarding, challenging, and educational. It’s what makes us New Belgium.”

To me, that statement alone speaks volumes on how New Belgium sees their role in this world; not just as producers of great beer, but as a member of and participant in both the local and global communities in which the rest of us live. It is also important to note that they see this responsibility entirely within the context of their brewing business. From my observation, the most successful implementations of business social responsibility share one important characteristic; this mission does not include things which are outside of their direct control or sphere of influence. New Belgium proudly lists, in some detail, 10 things that they are currently doing to enact this mission (see the site for complete details) and all of these meet this important criteria. You should also note that these initiatives encompass the full range of their business:

1. Efficiencies in the brewing process – they have installed a high efficiency brewing kettle that requires less energy to boil the wort and they have included a means of capturing excess heat from the brewing process and recycling it for further uses.
2. Utilize green design in their building – this includes lighting, HVAC and building materials.
3. On-site treatment of their wastewater – pretreatment of their wastewater allows them to capture both methane and a nutrient rich sludge before discharge.
4. On-site energy production – utilize the methane captured in the wastewater treatment process to generate both heat and electricity (co-gen). They are able to produce up to 15% of their electrical needs from this process.
5. Use of wind-generated electricity – in spite of its additional costs, 57% more expensive than traditional sources, the employee-owners insist on using this renewable energy source.
6. High Involvement Culture (HIC) – described on the site as a “3-legged stool”; includes open-book management, employee ownership and participative decision making.
7. Sustainable eventing – minimize the environmental impact of all New Belgium events.
8. Actionable Advocacy – they are members of 1% For the Planet, which means that, through donations and fund-raisers, 1% of their revenue goes to environmental non-profits. They advocate for alternative transportation and have an active public speaking/education program.
9. Constant Benchmarking – constant measurement to ensure that the business is financially sound and that the non-financial socially responsible goals are being met.
10. Partnering to Support Innovative Technologies – the sludge collected during wastewater treatment is being used by to produce high protein fish food for aqua-farms. This project is a partnership with another company.

Craft brewers are not the only brewing companies to embrace social responsibility. The “big boys” see both the PR and potential financial benefits of being socially responsible too.

• SABMiller and its subsidiaries
• Anheuser-Busch and Responsibility Matters

I see all of this as a growing awareness of the brewing community of the need to care about more than just brewing beer. Today’s consumers are looking for more in a product than just its quality and price; they look beyond the product to the corporate philosophy of the company which produces it and to the people that work there. To many, it is not just a matter of producing the best beer in the world; it is also about the production of that beer in such a way that it does not do harm to the rest of us and production by a company that sees itself as a good corporate citizen in the broader community that we share. Insist on quality and insist on corporate social responsibility… its a win/win for all of us.

I had the great pleasure to recently visit Stephen Wood at his Lebanon, NH homestead and the home of Poverty Lane Orchards. Poverty Lane Orchard produces the apples which are used to make the traditional, old-world style ciders sold under the name of Farnum Hill Ciders by Stephen and his family. Some of you may remember an excellent article from about a month ago by one of my fellow Hop Press writers, Joe McPhee, who wrote about his visit to Farnum Hill last summer in an article entitled “A different brew – Farnum Hill Cider” .

Even though Lebanon, NH is only about 55 miles from my house and a place that I visit quite a few times each year, I had no idea that this orchard existed; nor was I aware of the wonderful cider produced by its owners. The orchard is not that far from town; very near the Lebanon airport, you take a winding road up Farnum Hill, past the Lebanon Police department and you can’t miss the prominent sign at the end of the drive. The property consists of all the things that you would expect there to be at a multi-generational apple farm… quaint older farmhouse, old barn and an open garage with tractors and other typical farm equipment. Stephen and his family no longer live in the farmhouse, which is now used as their business headquarters, and the barn no longer houses any farm animals (except for Newton, their very friendly yellow lab); it now houses the two businesses that Stephen runs; UnCommon Apples and Farnum Hill Ciders.

I spent a good part of an afternoon with Stephen talking about and tasting a lot of cider. After a brief tour of the property Stephen provided me with an overview of how Farnum Hill got to be where it is today. The traditional ciders that Farnum Hill produces have their roots, literally, in Europe. Many of the apple varieties grown at Poverty Lane to make cider with are from England and France, with a few American heirloom varieties mixed in. Most of them have names that are unfamiliar to the apple-eating public… Dabinetts, Yarlington Mills, Ashmead’s Kernel, Kingston Black, Esopus Spitzenberg and Ellis Bitters. These cider-destined apples make up about two thirds of the 15,000 trees grown on the 80 acre orchard. Stephen describes most of these traditional cider apple varieties as unpalatable as “eating” apples, but each of them has important contributing characteristics that can be used to make good cider.

During our approximately two and a half hour meeting, Stephen walked me through the 16-20 month process that it takes to produce most of the Farnum Hill ciders. This all began with a discussion of what makes a good cider. When I proudly proclaimed that I had made hard cider once and described how I went about it, Stephen was very quick to point out (gently) that, from his perspective, I screwed it up. My cider (a “cyser”, actually) contained honey and raisins in the recipe. The Farnum Hill ciders contain no such additions or adjuncts. He then told me that great cider, in his opinion, starts in the orchard. Stephen, not surprisingly, considers himself an apple grower first and a cider maker second. He was adamant that the goal of making good cider was to take the quality of the fruit from the orchard and to “touch it” as little as possible before getting it into the bottle and ready to drink. The cider maker needs to respect the fruit and ensure that the fruit is the focus of the end product and not what you do to it or add to it. While similar to the philosophy of wine makers, it is in distinct contrast to that of beer makers; where you (hopefully) begin with quality ingredients, but the process and what gets added to the beer likely defines the end product. Stephen laughed when he told me that beer brewers make terrible cider makers because they can’t resist the temptation to “touch it”. Unfortunately, I resembled that remark…

Once he had impressed upon me the fundamentals of what makes a good cider, we then moved to sample and taste many of the components that make up Farnum Hill Ciders. In stark contrast to what you find in the wine industry, with many wines focused on “varietals” of various types, all of Farnum Hill’s end-product ciders are “blends”; made up of, in some instances, many different apple variety ciders. The blending of the various cider characteristics from the apple varieties allows surprisingly precise control over the acid level, bitterness, tannin levels and fruitiness of the finished product. As with both beer and wine making, there is a fair amount of “chemistry” involved in the process of taking fresh fruit and turning it into cider. Stephen was quite knowledgeable about this scientific side of his business and even though I have a background (a college degree actually) in Biology/Biochemistry, he tested my rusty knowledge of this complex process. Our tasting began with some of the simpler cider components… specific blends of cider from apples that produce a desired effect; acid, sweetness, fruitiness, “funky” sulphide flavors and others. These would be combined with a cider “base” to create the desired final product. We moved quickly through these components to the tasting of cider in various stages of production “readiness”, including the base blend that will be used to produce some of his 2010 ciders.

Once he got me through the production process to the point where his products were bottled, we began to sample some of their commercially available ciders… Farmhouse, Semi-Dry, Extra-Dry, “sparkling”, “still” and even some of their specialty ciders; Ashmead’s Kernel ‘08 Reserve and Kingston Black ‘07 Reserve. With each tasting, Stephen pointed to the varying characteristics of each brand and related each of those back to the cider components that we has sampled previously. For all of you beer fans, the flavor profile of the Kingston Black cider surprisingly included just a hint of the flavor of dieceytl, the same“buttery” or “butterscotch” flavor found in certain types of beer. While not intentionally produced, it is produced naturally in the Kingston Black apples grown in this part of NH, it adds another rather unique flavor component to this excellent cider.

I have to admit that time that we spent “sipping and spitting” our way through their cider making process was extremely enjoyable. Stephen has a remarkable amount of knowledge about both cider and wine making and was willing to share it all with me. It was evident that he absolutely loves what he does and this is reflected in both the quality of his product and in the success of his business. He expresses a business goal of continuing to produce high quality traditional ciders and to promote and encourage their production elsewhere. He feels that helping to grow the market for these ciders should, in turn, help him sell more of his own. A visit to the Poverty Lane Orchards Web site and the pages dedicated to the Farnum Hill Ciders will give you some sense of the acclaim that these ciders are receiving in the marketplace. You will find these ciders in small stores and cooperatives in the New Hampshire and Vermont as well as some of the finest restaurants in New York City. During our time spent together, Stephen not only managed to make me a “convert” concerning the pleasures of traditional ciders, but perhaps even more importantly for him, he has turned me in to “consumer” of his fine ciders and one that will definitely seek out his fine product to enjoy in the future.

In a recent interview with Jeff Baker, the Bevy’s Beer and Wine Manager, Jeff indicated that they carry more than 850 varieties of beer and other malt beverages and he proudly proclaims that this number represents every beer that can legally be distributed and sold in Vermont. This number continues to rise as their distributors find more brands willing to sell beer in Vermont. For those of you that don’t know, Vermont is a pretty small place with only about 600,000 people spread across the whole state and about an eighth of that population concentrated in the greater Burlington/Chittenden County region. That fact, coupled with an only recently changed (2008) beer law, which finally allowed beer to be sold with a higher alcohol content than 8% (now up to 16%), has previously made it pretty difficult for many major national craft beer brands to either take a chance on the higher costs of distribution and sales in this state or even sell some of their better lines of beer here due to the legal ABV restrictions. Jeff agrees with me that the passing of the 2008 beer law was a significant game changer for the beer marketplace in Vermont and that both national brands and local distributors are finally realizing that Vermonters really like craft beer and want to have access to all the best brands that the rest of the country has access to. He points to the fact that prior to the law change less than two years ago, they were only able to carry about 450 varieties of beer. The explosion of the beer market has driven up their sales too; now totaling more than 1500 cases and about 100 kegs of beer per week.

In talking with Jeff, I discovered knowledge much deeper and varied than one might expect at a beer and wine store. Jeff tells me that this is actually the second time that he has worked for Jen and George. The first time was when he was attending nearby St. Michael’s College where he received a degree in Philosophy. Back then he says that his work was mostly focused on “schlepping” kegs and other relatively unsophisticated jobs. Jeff left the BW and Vermont for a time when he moved down to Boston to attend Boston College, where he received his Masters in Philosophy. During that time he also began to build his knowledge about wine. He has received the Wine Diploma and Certificate from the Elizabeth Bishop Wine Resource Center at Boston University and, though not yet a Sommelier, is a member of the International Sommelier Guild. Through his employment at the Wine Gallery in Boston, who also carried a “boutique” line of beer, he gained his first real introduction to the world of fine craft beers. After spending some time in Florida working at ABC Fine Wines and Spirits, Jeff returned to Vermont and at the behest of George and Jen, also returned to the Beverage Warehouse. Since returning, Jeff has taken over the duties of managing the BW wine and beer selections from Jen, who did this work previously.

Jeff seems to be the perfect person for his job. He is extremely easy to work with and has an obvious love for what he does. I had absolutely no problem arranging a time to meet with him or in getting him to talk about his favorite beverage topics for more than an hour. Jeff backs up this easy manner with considerable knowledge of the beer that he sells and a deep understanding of what good beer is, which I believe can only come from actually tasting/drinking/experiencing lots of different kinds of beer. Jeff’s latest creation, which demonstrates some of this understanding, is a locked cabinet containing some of the BW’s rarest and most expensive beers. It also happens to contain some vintage beer selections of Jeff’s own doing, as he has recently started cellaring a small selection of beers in their warehouse for future sale; Stone Old Guardian is one good example of what has been set aside to be aged.

In addition his other duties, Jeff has also been instrumental in both creating and updating the Beverage Warehouse web site. This includes Jeff’s Beverage Warehouse B(eer)-Log , a blog he uses to keep his more tech savvy customers informed of the upcoming BW events (in-house beer tastings and whatnot), Jeff’s personal reviews of both beers and places he likes and, of course, the current list of beers that have either been newly added to the BW stock or have returned to availability.

My final questions to Jeff centered on his own personal tastes in beer. While he insisted that he enjoys many different types of beer, Jeff quickly let me know that beer, for him, falls into two broad categories; Belgian beers and non-Belgian beers, with the Belgians being his preference. We then had a somewhat lengthy discussion about many aspects of Belgian beers (which happen to be among my favorites too) and why they are so popular. My last question of the day and the one question that any serious craft beer drinker just HATES to answer… of all all the beers here in the Beverage Warehouse today, which would be your favorite? After a bit of “whining” about the question (I would do the same) and continued insistence on my part, Jeff finally selected De Dolle Oerbier as his “favorite” (if he could only have one). This beer is not, yet, on my Ratebeer ratings list, but after Jeff’s recommendation, I look forward to giving it a try as I am certain that it will be a good one.

I have been a Beverage warehouse customer for many years and they will definitely continue to see me from time to time as I look to add to my growing Ratebeer beer collection. For any serious craft beer drinkers traveling to the Burlington area, the Beverage Warehouse is a destination well worth considering for a look at the best beer selection available in and, perhaps, the best place to buy beer in Vermont.

As any good coach would, I have begun to think seriously about what the day’s lineup will consist of; the match-up of the beers and the snacks that will come into play during the game. My wife, a staunch Patriots fan, will be handling the snacks lineup and I, of course, will handle the beer selections. While planning ahead is good, keep in mind that some of the players in either list may actually end up being game time decisions, as there is a good variety of both snacks and beers that could participate in the event.

Up until recently, I have simply enjoyed drinking beer simply for the beer itself; never really taking into account the event, surroundings or the food that I would be eating when choosing what beer to imbibe. A number of recent articles I have read, including two really good ones by my Hop Press colleague Steph Weber (Pairing With Pizza and Beer School: Beer and Food Pairing – The Basics), have got me thinking about the relative importance of what beer (or type of beer) gets paired with what food. I am definitely not one of those snobby types about the beer that I drink… there are clearly situations when a Bud Light seems like the most appropriate beer for me to be drinking and I do enjoy it when that happens. As I begin to explore the world of beer/food pairings, I am certain that I will maintain the same open mindedness about making those selections. I like good beer and I like good food, so it should not be that difficult to come up with some combinations of the two which add to the overall experience, if I choose to consciously make that type of connection. I have decided that the annual event on Sunday, because of the fact that a variety of food and snacks will be available throughout the day, would be the perfect opportunity to begin to explore this topic.

As I said before, the actual snack lineup is still up in the air until game time, but I have a rough idea of the potential players. I thought that it would be fun to run down the potential list of those snacks and consider which beers in my fridge might go well with each of them. I just visited one of my favorite beer stores (the Beverage Warehouse in Winooski, VT) last week, so I have a wide variety of different beers to choose from… you’ll hear more about the Beverage Warehouse in a future article of mine. You should know that I have not yet tasted the beers listed in the pairings below and that, of course, will add to the excitement and intrigue as I move through the day. My pairings are simply based on the styles of the beers I have selected coupled with the reviews of my fellow Ratebeerians who have already sampled these beers.

The Potential Line Up:

• Salsa and Chips – A favorite snack for me, though because my wife will share it with me, I can’t make it as hot as I would like it. I have selected Hitachino Nest Red Rice Ale, a traditional ale, to have with this snack.
• Chips and Dip – We like the old standby, onion dip and potato chips. The hops and bitterness of the Rogue Mogul Madness should help cut through the saltiness of the chips and creaminess of the dip.
• Cheese and Crackers – We keep a variety of snacking cheeses in the house. I am a “chilihead” as well as a hophead, so one of my favorite snack cheeses is Cabot’s Habanero Cheddar, which can be pretty spicy. The hoppiness of the Nørrebro North Bridge Extreme as well as its higher alcohol content should go well with this fav of mine.
• Buffalo/Hot Wings – My wife and I differ on our heat level preference for this snack, but mine will be spicy (as I can stand them) and the Flying Dog Raging Bitch should go well with them.
• BBQ Pork Ribs – My wife’s BBQ sauce is both sweet and spicy and the Brewdog Chaos Theory should work fine with these excellent (yummy!) ribs
• Veggie Pizza – We make our pizza from scratch with yeast dough fresh from the local deli and a variety of vegetables in the tomato-based topping. Duvel with its bready yeasts and fruity esters should enhance the flavor of one of my favorite foods.
• Brownies – Chocolaty and chewy with chocolate chips, they should go nicely with the flavors of Cisco’s Captain Swains Extra Stout

Regardless of which of these foods I actually end up eating on Sunday, I am sure not to go hungry. Choosing a beer to have with each of them that will complement and enhance the experience of having them together should prove to be an interesting experiment; one which I am definitely looking forward to.

The consumption of alcohol in this country has been a significantly debatable issue since the mid-1800s when the temperance movement began to gather both supporters and momentum. Their efforts, of course, eventually resulted in the 1920 18^th Amendment banning the production, sale and transportation of alcohol for consumption; the Prohibition era began. While certainly making it illegal, the new law did little to reduce alcohol consumption in the US… the rise of the “speakeasy”, the “bootlegger” and the efforts of organized crime saw to that. Prohibition became increasingly unpopular, particularly during the early part of the Great Depression, and in 1933, with the ratification of the 21^st Amendment, Prohibition was ended. Unfortunately that did almost nothing to clarify the sale and consumption of alcohol in this country; if anything, it made it worse. Both state and local governments, who, prior to Prohibition, had already been active in passing their own regulations concerning the sale and distribution of alcohol, seemed to go into “overdrive”; passing every conceivable variation of regulatory restriction you could imagine. That phenomenon continues to this day with new laws both restricting and relaxing the sale of alcohol going on the books every year. There are whole Web sites dedicated to the documentation, ridicule and humor of some of these laws, so I will not take the time to go into any of that here; although it might be fun and interesting to do so in a future article.

The federal government again waded into this debate in 1984 by passing the National Minimum Drinking Age Act which required all states to raise their minimum purchase and public possession of alcohol age to 21. States that did not comply faced a reduction in highway funds under the Federal Highway Aid Act. All states are currently complying with this law; although as evidenced by the debate currently underway here in Vermont, not everyone is happy with that.

I am not one to do something simply because everyone else is doing it (well… perhaps when I was younger, maybe), but in comparison to much of the rest of the world, the US seems significantly out of step when it comes to its drinking age and its drinking laws. Very few countries (I found less than 10) match the US at 21 years for alcohol purchase and consumption and only in certain parts of India was it higher (25). There are, of course, countries of the world where the sale and consumption of alcohol is not legal, but these are few. A fair number of countries make an age distinction between drinking and purchasing. Many countries make a distinction between the age that alcohol can be consumed in public versus privately. Some countries even define specific circumstances where it is legal to allow children as young as five to consume alcohol. However, for the vast majority of the world’s countries, the age of 18 is considered the legal public drinking age. Does the 21 year drinking barrier produce the desired effect? According to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control), the number of surveyed youths under age 18 reported having a drink within the last month dropped from 59% in 1985 (right after the minimum drinking law was passed) to 40% in 1991. However, by 1999 this percentage had crept back up to 47%. According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 75 percent of 12th graders, two thirds of 10th graders, and two fifths of eighth graders have consumed alcohol. It looks like the the old adage that “where there is a will, there is a way” may be true in this case. A pattern not unlike what the Prohibition laws produced, from my perspective.

One of the common arguments that you hear for maintaining the current drinking age of 21 is the reduction of alcohol-related automobile accidents and deaths among younger drivers. As I discovered, there is an important distinction made by many between automobile accidents/fatalities which are “alcohol-related” and those that are “caused by alcohol”. An accident is considered alcohol-related even if it is a non-occupant (pedestrian, cyclist, etc.) that has the legally measurable blood alcohol content. For our purposes and to try to eliminate any confusion, I will use statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which tracks some thing it calls “alcohol-impaired-driving” deaths; the driver was legally alcohol-impaired in these accidents, therefore a “drunk driving” death. The latest NHTSA figures that I could find (2008) indicate that about 32% (11,773) of the 37,261 traffic fatalities were caused by “alcohol-impaired-driving”. Teens (16-20) accounted for 17% of all drivers who were involved in drunk driving crashes. By contrast, the 21-24 age group accounted for 34%, the 25-34 group accounted for 31%, while those from 35-44 years of age accounted for 25%. If you look back at the NHTSA statistics for 2005, 16% of “alcohol-impaired-driving” crashes involved the 16-20 “teen” group. While I am not (far from) a statistician, the fact that the percentage involving teen drivers does not change much gives one the sense that the 21 year barrier does not appear to provide the desired effect.

I don’t think that there is an easy answer to this issue. There is no question that the barrier of 21 limits some access to alcohol by teens, but as evidenced above, it clearly does not prevent it and probably never will. The teen years by definition are “formative”; when these young people will begin to lock in patterns and habits that may continue the rest of their adult lives. While it is certainly true that a pattern of alcohol abuse could be one of those developed during this period, I contrast that line of thinking against the potential benefits of removing the “mystique” of alcohol from these questioning minds. If these young people are going to continue to seek out and drink alcohol, as the statistics above show (even if you don’t agree with my proposed conclusion) would we be better off opening that exploration to the rest of us, rather than driving it “underground”? Restrictive barriers of this type (Prohibition or drinking age limit or teen abstinence or whatever) rarely seem to produce the desired results. As a former classroom teacher of the teen age group and a father of two grown children, my experience has been that non-confrontational open discussions and factual education, rather than restrictive rules, produce better results. Something to consider perhaps?

The book The Great Beer Trek: A Guide to the Highlights and Lowlites of American Beer Drinking, was originally published by the Stephen Greene Press in 1984. A revised version of the book was published by Viking/Penguin in 1990. The revised version of the book, the one that I have, updates some of the peripheral information provided by the author, but leaves the basic story of the author’s 1978 “trek” intact. Between these two publishings, more than 32,000 copies of this book were sold here in the US. In 1995 the book was translated and sold into the Japanese market where some there seem to credit this book for starting the worldwide microbrew revolution we are in today.

In 1978, Stephen Morris packed his wife (Laura) and dog (Guinness) into an old van and set off across the country from Boston on a coast-to-coast 100-day 20,000-mile beer adventure which takes them all the way to Yakima, Washinton. Their trek would take them to all of the then existing American breweries. At that time in US history, this was only possible because the 1500 or so breweries that had sprung up after Prohibition had dwindled, through attrition and consolidation, to only 42 large brewing companies, which at that time produced nearly all of this nation’s beer. The annals of their trip includes visits to these hallowed beer sites with familiar names as well as a descriptive (sometimes humorous) running commentary of the local American beer scene at each stop along the way, a lament of ghostly breweries of days gone by and an interesting analysis of the American culture and society from the viewpoint of a beer drinker.

The book is well written and easily holds your attention; particularly for those of us old enough to remember some of the nearly 1500 breweries that no longer exist. At various points in their journey it became, for me, somewhat of a trip back into my childhood in the Midwest to recollect then familiar brewery names such as Stoh, Carling, Sterling (my father worked here when in college), Falstaff and Wiedermann’s. Morris does not shy away from poking humor at many of the locals they encounter along the way and attempts to answer some of the more pressing questions concerning their local beer preferences. One of my favorites… do you know why Texans like their beer in long-necked “bar bottles”?… ‘Cuz they’re tall! Before any reader from Texas takes offense, you should know that I was born in El Paso and have every right to make fun of us Texans.

As the book winds down to the end, the trek has ended and Morris looks back on his travels and muses about the changes taking place in the beer industry. The full-bodied and full-flavored beer being imported from Europe and other countries was beginning to have its effect on the beer market place as Americans began to discover that there was more to beer than the bland offerings of the remaining national mega-brewers. Homebrewing has become legal again and the age of the microbrewery has begun.

We have come a long way since Morris’ original beer trek; there are now over 1500 breweries in this country again and craft beer sales are beginning to make some real inroads into the sale of beer in the US. The notion that all of these breweries could be visited in a single trip is extremely unlikely (but worth dreaming about perhaps). While I doubt, very seriously, that I will write a book about my own beer trek this summer, if that happens, I may take the time to collect my thoughts and write about it here. The beer world is a big place now and no matter where I go, like Morris in his book, I plan to savor the experience of both the beers I drink and the culture which surrounds them.

Shaun E. Hill, Brewer

A quick look at Shaun Hill would tell you that he is not very old (30 something), is confident but not arrrogant, has a good sense of humor and has that mischievous sparkle in his eye that tells you that “trouble” may not be too far away. Talk to him for just a little while though and you uncover a sharp mind, a good memory and a strong conviction for things that he believes in; brewing great beer in particular. Shaun’s young age effectively masks a wealth of both brewing and life experiences accumulated in a very short amount of time. Previously a brewer at The Shed Restaurant & Brewery and Trout River Brewing here in Vermont, Shaun has spent much of the last 2 years (20 months) as a guest brewer for Anders Kissmeyers at the Nørrebro Bryghus brewery in Copenhagen, Denmark. During his time at Nørrebro Bryghus, Shaun not only assisted in brewing their normal slate of brews, but also used his own experience as an American brewer to help create new and unique brews for this excellent Danish brewer. For his next adventure, Shaun is about midway through the process of starting his own brewery, the Hill Farmstead Brewery, on his family’s land in Greensboro, Vermont. Shaun’s family dates back to about 1788 in this rural area and his three-times great grandfather ran a tavern (Aaron Hill’s Tavern) in Greensboro in the early 1800’s.

The Beers

The six beers that were included in the tasting session, were all developed by Shaun along with his friends and fellow brewers at Nørrebro Bryghus. These beers are representative of just some of Shaun’s considerable brewing talents. All of these beers are barrel-aged and bottle-conditioned.

• Saison Lambic Pinot Noir
  While I have had a number of other blended beers before, never before have I had a blend of a Saison and a Lambic. I have to say that this marriage of the two sour-style beers works extremely well. The flavors of the Saison portion work to provide some distraction from the more potent sourness that the Lambic portion brings to the mix. Although aged in a French oak Pinot Noir barrel for 4 months, I did not find that the oaky flavor that one would expect was strong and, indeed, it ended up just being one of many flavors present in this surprisingly complex beer. Shaun talked about the Lambic that he selected for blending in with this beer, one of the legendary Drie Fonteinen Lambics, and how he would miss this particular brewer’s beers now that they have stopped producing. For me, this beer was one of the real highlights of the evening and someday (tomorrow?) I will wish that I could sample some more of this truly excellent beer.
• SEVEN Imperial Stout (Niepoort Barrel)
  The second beer in the tasting series was an Imperial stout that had been aged in a port wine barrel. Niepoort is, in fact, a Portuguese Port wine producer that provided the aging barrel. The recipe for this beer was the collaborative effort of 7 Danish brewers (including Shaun). Shaun told us that combining the 7 recipes proved challenging and produced a collective grain bill of 17 different malts and a host of hops as well as portions of more “exotic” ingredients like coffee, fig puree and cocoa nibs. After fermentation, the beer was aged for 7 months in the Port barrel. Although the quality of this beer was not in question and I enjoyed it immensely, it had several characteristics (harshness for one) of an Imperial stout that had not yet reached its pinnacle and could use some additional time to age and mellow. Very complexly flavored, no doubt a result of the large number of ingredients and the Port barrel aging. I also found the alcohol (12% ABV) made it a bit too boozy.
• SEVEN Imperial Stout (Bordeaux Barrel)
  Like the beer above, this was an Imperial stout which was a collaborative effort of the 7 brewers, but this one was aged in an American oak Bordeaux wine barrel for 7 months. Again, no question of the quality, but this was my least favorite of the beers in the tasting flight. The intense flavor character of the American oak coupled with the heavy Bordeaux wine flavors was just simply too overpowering and masked nearly all of the flavors of the fine Imperial stout that lied underneath in this flavor behemoth.
• Viking Oud Bruin
  Shaun explained that the basis of this beer was a Belgian brown brewed by a Master Brewer class at the Scandinavian School of Brewing. After brewing, the beer was then aged in an oak Spanish Tempranillo wine barrel for 10 months with the addition of some Brettanomyces and Lactobacillus. I have to agree with Shaun’s assessment that, if not for the fact that this beer was produced in Denmark, it could easily be labeled as an “American wild” style of beer; a style that I happen to like. The beer was a complex mix of flavors which included mild oak, red wine and berries as well as a background hint of the roasted malts in the Belgian brown. The sourness was a bit unique (to me) in that it seemed hit you right on the back of the tongue. Crisp, very clean finishing and quite enjoyable.
• Little Korkny Ale (Niepoort Barrel)
  For me and many others at this tasting event, this beer was the “best of show”. At its inception, this beer was a hefty barley wine and probably a decent brew in its own right. But you take this good barley wine and you age it for 9 months in a stainless tank and then another 12 months in a Niepoort Port wine barrel and what you end up with is pure heaven in a glass. A clear reddish brown in color with a thick/oily palate and malty sweet aromas to begin, the beer then exhibits a great variety of flavors and aromas as it warms. Roasted malts, dark fruits, caramel/toffee, nuts, oak, vanilla and chocolate are but a few of the flavors that you might uncover in this very complex brew. Near the end of the sample, when the beer had nearly warmed to ambient temperature, the beer (to me) took on an almost tawny port character that was extremely satisfying and left me wishing that I had my own private stock of this beer that I could tap into and savor for the next 10 years or so.
  I am not sure if Shaun could reproduce this beer here in the States, but in my humble opinion, it would worth it to give it a go, as it is one of the best beers that I have ever tasted.
• Little Korkny Ale (Cognac Barrel)
  Like the beer above, this rendition of Little Korkny began its life as a barley wine that was aged for 9 months in a stainless tank. From there it was placed into an oak Cognac barrel to age for 12 months. While producing an excellent beer, this Cognac-barrel process did not (in my opinion) produce a beer of nearly the quality and stature that the Niepoort-barrel process did. Although quite a few of the same flavors of the Niepoort-barrel brew are present (roasted malts, dark fruits, caramel/toffee and nuts), in a fashion similar to the SEVEN/Bordeaux-barrel beer described earlier, the Cognac effectively masked many of the flavor characteristics of the barley wine underneath; which is unfortunate given the obvious quality of this barley wine base.

As a brewer and in spite of his already impressive CV of brewing experiences, Shaun is really just beginning what will undoubtedly be a brewing career filled with many more high points; and some lows too, I suspect. I truly look forward to following Shaun as he picks his way through the brewing world of the future. Shaun plans to have his Hill Farmstead Brewery producing beer for sale by Memorial Day this year and I can hardly wait to make the short trek to Greensboro to see his operation and sample some of what I fully expect to be some excellent brews. Good Luck Shaun!!

What is “Organic”?

Consumers today are bombarded with every type of organic product; organic vegetables, organic meat, organic skin care products and the list goes on and on. The use of the term “organic”; once a symbol of “purity” or good for the environment has, unfortunately, been degraded to be simply a marketing buzz word which is used to entice purchase by the more affluent members of our society. Generally, people are most familiar with (and passionate about) the organic foodstuffs; both plant and animal. The use of the term “organic” on any food product label is controlled, in the US, by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) and the USDA (US Department of Agriculture).

The USDA maintains a program called the National Organic Program which dictates a strict set of rules which must be followed for any agricultural product to be labeled “certified organic”. These agricultural rules and standards spell out under what circumstances products must be produced in order to qualify and broadly (I have tried to distill hundreds of pages of regulations) consist of:

• Prior to organic certification, farms and food production facilities must submit a detailed application, outlining the nature of their operation, the production/handling processes they use, and the products they produce. This is called an Organic Systems Plan and must be approved by the USDA prior to inclusion in the National Organic Program.

• Crop Production – In order to qualify, crops must be produced on fields which have been free of a long list of prohibited substances (chemical fertilizers and the like) for at least three years. The standards even dictate how so called “natural” fertilizers, such as animal manure, can be used on these fields. Genetically modified organisms are prohibited, of course.

• Livestock Production – In order to qualify, food animals and the products produced from them, including meat, milk, eggs and all byproducts (cheese, etc.), must be produced in an environment substantially free from non-qualified feed (limits on food supplements and additives) and using acceptable health care practices (limits on chemicals, drugs, hormones, antibiotics, etc.).

• Food Handling and Production – In order to qualify, food must follow strict FDA guidelines for safety, be produced so as to limit the exposure to “non-natural” techniques in preparation, strictly control what other additives are included during production and follow strict guidelines for post-production handling and treatment.

• Inspection and Verification – In order to qualify, farms and food production facilities are inspected at least annually by a cadre of third-party inspectors or certifiers, which look at both their farming and/or food production procedures and process to ensure that those outlined in their Organic Systems Plan are being followed. These inspections can be announced or unannounced and also include a review of the company’s purchasing records to, again, ensure that the rules are being rigorously followed.

• Food Labeling – In order for a food to carry the USDA “Certified Organic” label, it must be produced according the the rules above and must contain 95% organically produced ingredients with the other 5% of ingredients being listed on the USDA National List (approved non-organic products) and only if organic ingredients of the same type are not commercially available.

The History of Organic Beer

Let’s be clear about this; since beer’s “invention” nearly 5000 years ago and prior to the introduction of chemical fertilizers during the “Agricultural Revolution” in the 19^th century, all beer would have probably been considered “organic”. After the introduction of these soil amendments, even the ancient German Beer Purity Law of 1516 (Reinheitsgebot) did not protect these chemical elements from “contaminating” the beer that we drink. Organic beer was reintroduced to the commercial world about 1980 by the German brewery Pinkus-Mueller after their brewmaster became disenchanted with the quality of the commercially available barley produced using these chemical enhancements. In the US, commercial organic beer did not make its appearance until after the USDA setup the National Organic Program. In 1997, Robert and Morgan Wolaver opened what would eventually become Wolaver’s Organic Ales in Santa Cruz, California. Wolaver eventually purchased the Otter Creek Brewery in Middlebury, Vermont in order to solidify his organic beer production. Otter Creek was recently purchased by Long Trail Brewery, another Vermont brewer, but Long Trail will maintain production of the Wolaver’s Organic line of beers as well as the other fine Otter Creek brews. Since that time there have been dozens of organic breweries open both in the US and abroad (Germany has over 30 of them). Organic beer has even caught the attention of the mega-brewery Anheuser-Busch, which began production of some organic beers in 2006.

The Value Proposition of Organic Beer

As I stated near the beginning of this article, the sanctity of what “organic” is supposed to be has been severely tainted by the commercial marketing machine. However, the important distinction of being “certified organic”, because it’s use is legally defined by the strict rules set forth by the USDA and the FDA, continues to provide “legs” and momentum to the overall organic marketplace; the organic beer market included. In 2008, organic beer sales reached approximately $41 Million in the US. Even though that is still a tiny fraction of even the $6.3 Billion craft beer volume for the same year (which was only 6.3% of 2008 total US beer production), it still represented a 21% increase in year-over-year organic beer production, a hefty increase by anyone’s standards. The economic problems of 2009 into 2010 may cause a sag in the meteoric growth of this market for a few years, but I would hazard a guess that annual growth in organic beers sales is here to stay, at least for a while.

If you talk to the some of strongest proponents of the organic food movement, they will tell you that organically produced food and beverages are better for you, because they do not contain traces of the chemicals and additives used to produce “normal” food products, and that they taste better. I personally think that it is an easy conclusion that we would probably be better off without the chemicals and additives that most commercially produced food products contain; though I have to admit that my diet still does not contain a large portion of these foods. When it comes to purchasing organically grown fruits, vegetables and other foodstuffs there is also no question that they cost more and in many cases that price difference is significant. I would like to think that this price difference is due to the higher costs of production due, in part, to the shorter supply of these ingredients and the stringent rules for their growth or manufacture, but I wonder if that is entirely the case. As to the claim that organic foods taste better; I am not sure that applies to the organic beers. The taste of beer, good or bad, is definitely a personal opinion and everyone’s will be slightly different. I have tried a number of organic beers and some have been very good. However some have not been so good and I would not try them again. There are still many that I have not tried yet and my quest for good beer marches on.

The continued success of organic beer (and other organic products) will be heavily influenced by the same market forces as non-organic products; cost, availability, profit and the mind of the consumer. There is no magic bullet when it comes to convincing the broad market that your product is better than another and organic beer brewers have already discovered that. Right now, in comparison the 1000’s of other beers available to consumers, organic beers are still a virtual unknown to many/most beer drinkers. While I am certainly aware of these beers and will continue to try new ones as I run across them, I will not be limiting my beer choices to organic-only anytime in the near future.