Southern Beer Appreciation

"Southern Beer Appreciation" is a phrase that could apply equally to both the appreciation of beers from Southern breweries, and to the appreciation of beer by folks living in the Southern United States. The Southern Beer Society is a recently formed online organization whose stated goal is "to help foster beer culture in the Southern United States by providing beer lovers throughout the region the information they need in order to become better informed about beer-related matters in the South." This new site went online in January 2008 and is still in the formative stages. The project is being spearheaded by three friends; Jeremy (beerbuddha), a beer consultant for a beer and wine shop in New Orleans, along with Vicky (LifeIsgood) and Ken (barefootbrewer), both of whom hail from Mississippi. Jeremy describes the vision behind the SBS:

We are seeing breweries, brewpubs and top quality beer stores starting up left and right. Speaking of beer stores; the number 1 and number 2 stores on Ratebeer's Best Beer Retailers 2008 were Knightly Spirits in Orlando and Bruisin' Ales in North Carolina. Our food is tops in the country so the beers we brew won't be that far behind. I'll be honest, as an organization and website we're still in search of our identity but we know what we want to do and that is educate Southern consumers about not only craft beer but craft beer brewed in their own backyard. We also want to be an informational tool for those looking for quality beers in the South, homebrew information and also legal information regarding beer laws in their states.

I may be a bit biased, but Southern food is tops in my book, so why not promote craft beer to go along? The main activities at the site currently are the discussion forums and news updates. There is also an extensive list of Southern breweries posted. The group plans to continue adding Southern craft beer-related resources.

Speaking of craft beer in the South, recent figures from the Brewers Association show that the Southeast region showed the largest growth in the nation in craft beer sales. As seen in the accompanying map, the Southern states in general showed significant market growth:

PowerHour: Crafts Growing Fastest in Southeast

On February 21, Dan Wandel, Senior Vice President with Information Resources, Inc. (IRI), presented an in-depth look at beer sales in 2007 during the latest edition of the Brewers Association’s PowerHour Teleconference Series.. Wandel tracks beer and alcohol beverage sales in five distinct retail channels: grocery stores, drug stores, convenience stores, big box retailers (warehouse stores, club stores, etc.), and liquor stores. With special focus on the craft brewing segment, Dan discussed statistics gleaned from the extensive IRI product database and presented some market forecasting for 2008.

Mr. Wandel reports that the Southeast region of the U.S., comprised of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi and South Carolina, was the fastest growing region for craft brewer sales, with nearly 32% growth over 2006. The Great Lakes, Mid-South and Plains regions also posted craft growth of over 20%. Another piece of news from the presentation is that seasonal beer sales have passed pale ales as the top-selling craft beer concept or style.

On that note, I've got some new (to me) beer from Terrapin Brewery in Athens, GA. I think I'll break that out tonight.

Capital Ale House Incentives Approved

As reported in today's Free Lance-Star under the somewhat confusing headline "City giving $100K to Capital Ale House", the Fredericksburg City Council has passed a $100,000 incentive package for the Richmond-based Capital Ale House:

Capital Ale House will get $100,000 in incentives from the city of Fredericksburg to build a bar and restaurant on Caroline Street.

The council approved the incentives package last night on a 5-2 vote, with council members Debby Girvan and Marvin Dixon opposed.

Girvan said she wanted the city to study the impact Ale House could have on similar existing downtown businesses.

"I would feel more comfortable if we knew what impact it was going to have downtown," Girvan said. "Until then, I think I'm going to have to not approve it tonight, but I want to make it clear that I think this is a good business and I welcome it to the city."

Dixon said he didn't think the city should incentivize the business "for a number of reasons I'm not going to go into."

City Economic Development Director Kevin Gullette said Ale House will provide "something that we are sorely lacking downtown"--a private business willing to put on large events that will draw lots of people to the historic central business district. Ale House puts on special events around St. Patrick's Day, Oktoberfest and other yearly celebrations at its other locations.

In response to Girvan's comments, Councilman George Solley said he had asked other bar owners downtown what they thought about Ale House's plans.

"The opinion of the people who run those establishments is pretty much uniformly that Capital Ale will help their businesses by drawing people downtown who would not necessarily come downtown," Solley said. "I don't think we need a formal economic study to realize that."

Vice Mayor Kerry Devine agreed.

"I think it goes directly with what we are trying to do, building up our evening clientele downtown," she said.

To echo Mayor Tomzak's remark to Capital Ale House after the vote, "Welcome to the 'hood." The Ale House presence downtown will be good news for craft beer aficionados, for other downtown establishments, the downtown evening-life, and the City coffers. Officials estimate they will bring in $1.7 million in new revenue over the course of the 10-year agreement. The FL-S article gives further details on the incentive packages. Other downtown restaurant owners will surely be inspired to upgrade their craft beer offerings. Capital Ale House was recently voted the 8th best beer bar in America for its downtown Richmond location, and the Innsbrook location was ranked 11th. The restaurant receives kudos not only for their craft beer selection but for the numerous events they sponsor at their locations. There are some folks in the area griping about encouraging this type of business, but they should realize it's more than just a great beer bar.

I hope to follow the progress to opening day very closely and post updates here. Ale House President Matthew Simmons has offered me access to the site to take pictures and report on the work being done. You'll be able to follow those reports here.

Trappist Beers - Rochefort

[Installment #5 in a series]

The Brasserie de Rochefort is located at the Abbey of Our Lady of Saint Rémy. Originally founded in 1229, the abbey was destroyed in 1560 and later rebuilt beginning in 1664. There is evidence of brewing activity on the site as early as 1595 and brewing has continued uninterrupted since 1899.

Three beers are produced by the Rochefort monks; Rochefort 6 and Rochefort 8, both of which are Belgian Strong Ales, and Rochefort 10, a Quadrupel. According to the official abbey website (in french) the monks brew four times per week (Monday through Thursday). They do not sell directly to the public, and bottle only in 330 ml bottles. The numbers 6, 8, and 10 do not directly correspond to alcohol level. Instead they refer an old measuring unit of the density, the Belgian legal degree, which corresponds to the density of the wort before fermentation.

We continued our Trappist beer exploration starting with a bottle of Trappistes Rochefort 6. The date code stamped on the label stated L 21 02 12 08:23. I understand that indicates an expiration date of 2012, meaning a bottling date of February 2007. Poured into a large wine glass, the beer is a russet-orange color with a thick beige head. The head drops to a thin layer with moderate lacing. The aroma is muted with notes of caramel, spice and dark fruit. The flavor profile is on the mild side as well. Some dark cherries and bready yeast can be picked out, but there's no particular flavor that stands out. There is a bit of alcohol warmth noted that's more than I expected from the 7.5% ABV. The mouthfeel is smooth with a cider-like tang. The Rochefort 6 was an easy to drink beer that presents a very subtle aroma and flavor profile.

Next up was a Trappistes Rochefort 8. The bottling code on this one was L050912 08:21, indicating a bottling date of September 2007. The 9.20% ABV beer poured a dark (rootbeer) brown, and even with an easy pour developed a thick foamy beige head. Lots of sticky lacing is left as the head drops. The aroma has notes of banana, clove and yeast. The taste of the Rochefort 8 is malty and complex, with hints of vanilla, milk chocolate and brown sugar. There's a slightly bitter aftertaste though the beer finishes cleanly leaving little behind. The mouthfeel is highly carbonated. The Rochefort 8 offered a stronger flavor profile than the 6, but was still on the muted side.

Both of these beers were more subtle and milder than the other Belgian Trappist beers we've had so far. They would probably do well in keeping the palate cleansed when paired with some flavorful cheeses. Rather than as evening sippers, they may serve well as warm afternoon refreshments.

The first post in the series is here.

Oak Aged Temporary Insanity Imperial Stout from Blue & Gray

In a recent newsletter, Jeff Fitzpatrick of Blue & Gray Brewing announced that they have been aging about 100 gallons of Temporary Insanity Imperial Stout in oak bourbon barrels for the last 4 months. The barrels were from the neighboring Smith Bowman Distillery. The brewery is asking newsletter subscribers to vote on a name for the limited release beer. Voting ends Thursday, after which they'll need to have the new label approved by Virginia ABC in order to sell the beer. Jeff says that could take from one to eight weeks.

Today I had the chance to have a preview of this beer. The beer pours a dark cola-brown with a light beige head which persists as a thin ring. I reviewed the Temporary Insanity Imperial Stout a few months ago and this bourbon barrel aged version has a distinctive flavor from the original. The aroma is noticeably that of sweet bourbon. There's a hint of chocolate malt as well. The aging has smoothed out the flavor and there is little of the hop bitterness of the original. The flavor of the whiskey is prominent. Roasted malt and dark chocolate notes are detected. There's a warming alcohol presence as well. I don't know the actual ABV, but my estimate it's on the higher side, maybe close to 10-12%. The aftertaste adds a slight hop bitterness.

Thanks to Jeff for the opportunity to review this yet-unnamed beer. I found it very easy to drink, and it will be a nice fit for the cool Virginia evenings still in store this season. When the oak aged Insanity Stout is ready for sale, don't delay getting in line. I for one will be anxiously awaiting the release.

New name announcement here.

2008 Beer Drinker of the Year - Virginia Sends Another Winner

I just saw this posted over at The Aleuminati. The Wynkoop 2008 Beer Drinker of the Year award this year goes to Matt Venzke of Yorktown, VA. This is the second year in a row that the winner has come from Virginia. Last year's winner was Diane Catanzaro of Norfolk, VA. The 2005 winner was Tom Ciccateri of Alexandria, VA. Nothing yet posted at the Wynkoop web site.

I'll update this post as more info becomes available. Meanwhile you can see Matt's Aleumenati profile here.

Update, Feb. 26: Jay Brooks has a press release and photo at the Brookston Beer Bulletin.

Capital Ale House Receives Preliminary Incentive Approval

As mentioned previously, Fredericksburg officials are considering $100,000 in incentives to help bring the Capital Ale House to downtown Fredericksburg. The first of the incentives were approved in committee on Thursday. In "Ale House gets $25,000 grant" the Free Lance-Star reports:

Capital Ale House received approval Thursday night for a $25,000 grant to help offset nearly $1 million in renovations at its planned Caroline Street location.

Fredericksburg's Economic Development Authority approved the grant on a 4-1 vote. It's contingent on City Council's approving the rest of the $100,000 incentive package for the Ale House.

and...

[Ale House President Matt] Simmons said renovation and preservation work is estimated at $950,000. The business plans to take down the yellow-stucco facade on Caroline Street to expose the bricks that likely lie behind. It'll gut the interior, refinish the hardwood floors and leave the original brick and wood beams exposed.

"We really like the fact that this is an old building," Simmons said. He wants to "bring it back to as close to what it was as possible."

It is nice to see the City taking steps to promote economic growth downtown. Capital Ale House is expected to add 70 jobs, about half of them full-time and generate $2.8 million in sales per year. The Council memorandum and Capital Ale House application for the grants is available on the Fredericksburg City web site here. I'll plan on going by the site of the former Chords restaurant regularly to report on the progress there.

Read all Capital Ale House updates here.

An Ommegang Evening, and a little more

I got together last night with my regular drinking buddies for an eclectic evening of beer tasting. Jerry had been given an Ommegang gift pack for Christmas and was generously saving it until we all could enjoy it together. So Jerry, Frank, Tom and I planned to gather at Jerry's house to drink the Ommegang and a number of other tasty brews. When I arrived Frank and Jerry were already enjoying some Sam Adams Boston Lager. "We didn't know when you'd get here so we started with some Sam." So I had one as well, to prime the pump so to speak. A large spread of crackers, cheeses, fruits, vegetables and dips had been prepared as well to prepare for the evening.

We enjoyed some snacks before settling down to business. First up, Ommegang Hennepin. This Farmhouse Saison pours straw-yellow with a thick billowy head. The aroma is a nice blend of floral hops and earthy yeast. The taste is lightly sweet with orange and apple fruits, and slight hop bitterness. The 7.7% ABV is only barely noticeable. We all enjoyed this one very much.

We opened the Ommegang Three Philosophers next. This interesting beer is a blend of a Belgian dark strong ale and a cherry lambic, Lindeman's Kriek. The pour brought forth a rich mahogany liquid with an off-white head that dropped fairly quickly. The aroma of cherries was at the forefront along with some other dark fruits and sweet malt. After the first taste, none of us were sure we were going to enjoy this. The dark cherry flavor comes out initially, followed by the rich, sweet malt backbone of a Belgian dark ale. It was slightly tart, and somewhat astringent. The 9.8% ABV can be faintly detected in both the aroma and taste. However, I continued drinking and the flavor grew on me. Perhaps some of the initial impression was influenced by coming right off the Hennepin. In the end, Frank and I both decided we liked this one, Jerry passed on finishing his portion.

After the Three Philosophers, Tom finally arrived. Now, our buddy Tom usually prefers his Goldschläger over the beers the rest of us drink and Frank made sure there was a bottle of this cinnamon schnapps on hand, but Tom is always game to try a few beers with us. (I figure if Tom can handle the flavor of the Goldschläger, we'll find a strong beer to his liking sooner or later!) At this point we briefly changed gears, Jerry wanted to try the Cottonwood Low Down Brown Ale he had brought back from a recent trip to North Carolina. Following the strong flavor of the previous beer, this English Brown Ale from Carolina Brewing had a challenge standing up. But we were here for enjoyment, not an ordered tasting. The aroma was faint with just a bit of malt and nuttiness coming through. The flavor was sweet malt with a bit of roasted chocolate. The general consensus was it left us wanting more out of the beer. To be fair, this is decent English Brown Ale and perhaps in another grouping it would present better.

Okay, now we were ready to get in to the third Ommegang beer in the box, Chocolate Indulgence Stout. This beer is made with dark Belgian chocolate. Chocolate Indulgence pours a very dark brown with a thick tan head. It certainly looks like chocolate! The aroma of dark bitter chocolate is very strong and to me it was almost off-putting. Besides the chocolate (dark cocoa, not milk) I noted some dark fruit backed by a faint tartness. The flavor was full of cocoa bitterness, along with some roasted malt that lingers in the end. The beer is only 7% ABV but a bit of alcohol warmth comes through in the finish. The mouthfeel was moderately carbonated and not as thick as I had expected. The general consensus was a drinkable beer but we enjoyed the prior two Ommegang selections more.

At this point I opened the Victory Baltic Thunder I had brought along. I reviewed this beer not too long ago, but hadn't yet had the chance to share it with friends. I gave a quick "history" of the beer as we drank it. I seem to recall it was around this point in the evening we started singing the "B, double E, double R, U N" tune thanks to Tom over at Yours for Good Fermentables. The group was unanimous in our enjoyment of the Baltic Thunder.

After returning from one of his trips to Raleigh, Jerry showed up at my door bearing gifts; a six pack of Highland Kashmir IPA and a 4 pack of 2006 Samichlaus Bier. The IPA was consumed a while ago, but I promised to bring some of the Samichlaus along when we did the Ommegang tasting and we decided to open one now. Samichlaus pours a clear dark amber with a thin head. After the dark or cloudy beers we'd been enjoying so far this was a marked change. There's little carbonation and the aroma is sweet malt and alcohol. The flavor is syrupy sweet but not in a bad way at all. There's a dark fruit aspect to it as well. It is apparent that this is a high alcohol drink (14% ABV) and meant to be sipped. The mouthfeel is slick and warming and everyone enjoyed it very much. I had tasted some 1995 and 1996 vintage Samichlaus recently and decided I really wanted to put some away for a few years. However, this drink is such an enjoyable nightcap that I'm not sure my stash will stay untouched.

At some point a bottle of Piedmont Porter from the Minhas Craft Brewery in Wisconsin made an appearance. What immediately struck us was the label. This had to be the smallest text I've ever seen on a beer bottle, and it was in a script font as well, making it all but impossible to read. We passed it around and all tried to pick out bits of the text. Granted, we've all got 40+ or 50+ year old eyes but this was crazy! The beer poured a very dark brown, with some red showing through at the edges. The thick off-white head dropped rapidly. A faint, but typical porter aroma of roasted malt with a hint of smoke. The flavor was roasted malt and dark chocolate with a thin but highly carbonated mouthfeel.

Tom had left us by this point, and a basket of roasted peanuts in the shell and made it to the table. We opened another bottle of Samichlaus and settled in to sit and sip for a while. Eventually someone looked at the clock and we decided to call it an evening, just barely finishing within the same day we started.

Admittedly my notes from the evening are limited, and, shall we say, scratchy. Most of this was written from memory and will likely be edited when the other participants send corrections! However, the purpose of the evening was to spend time with good friends and enjoy some good beers, which we did quite successfully. And isn't that what beer is all about?

From St. James Gate to Your Floor

Mountain Lumber Company in Ruckersville, VA produces antique wood flooring from old wood gathered from abandoned factories, mills, barns, temples and even breweries. Their product line includes Entique™ Guinness® Oak flooring made from brown oak reclaimed from the brewing vats of the original Guinness Breweries in Dublin, Ireland. The company has a short entertaining film about the Guinness vats here.

According to the company's web site:

The wood in your floors comes from the great brewing vats, ... each capable of holding some 722,600 pints of stout. Brown oak was used because it had the strength and grain to handle the stress of the process. Knots, which could give way, were filled with tiny hand carved wedges tapped in for extra strength. Many of those details were saved and can still be found in the wood.

In the late 1900's Guinness® replaced the wooden vats with metal. Some were stored and rescued by Mountain Lumber. We were able to import more than 100,000 board feet of 100-year-old oak staves. That wood was kiln dried, re-milled and transformed into the wonderful European Cooper's Oak™ you now enjoy.

Now, if I ever get around to finishing off the basement, this would make an interesting addition.