St. Patrick's Day Parade at Blue & Gray Brewery

The 6th Annual St. Patrick's Day Parade and Celebration will take place this Saturday, March 15 at the Blue & Gray Brewery in Fredericksburg. The day's events begin at 10:00 AM and the parade kicks off at Noon. The fun continues until 3:30 PM. Blue & Gray events are family-oriented and always a lot of fun. Of course, plenty of excellent Blue & Gray beer will be available as well!

Meal tokens (Corned beef, cabbage, potato, and a beer!) are only $5.00 in advance and the brewery donates the $5.00 to local volunteer fire and rescue units. Advance purchases can be made at the brewery and a few other locations around town. Check the Blue & Gray website for the latest festival details. See you there!

Washington Post Beer Madness, NIPAC results

The Washington Post announced today the details of their second annual Beer Madness Tournament. The judging panel, comprised of 9 readers and columnist Greg Kitsock, gathered a few weeks ago at the Brickskeller in D.C. to sample 32 beers, and through elimination arrived at a champion. The Post will dole out the the results over the next few weeks, with the winning beer to be announced on April 6. The website has information on the panelists and the 32 beers selected for the competition.

In a another competition, the The National IPA Championship (NIPAC) winner was announced yesterday. The winner in this competition, which was carried out over several weeks in different cities, was Green Flash IPA from the Green Flash Brewing Company of California. You can see the complete results here. My pick for the winner, Two Hearted Ale from Bell's Brewing, was the runner up. Having enjoyed Green Flash IPA as well, I certainly won't argue with that result.

FABTS March Meeting

On Saturday, 20 local beer lovers met at Bangkok Boulevard for the March gathering of the Fredericksburg Area Brewing and Tasting Society. As usual, Chad and the folks at Bangkok Boulevard were most accommodating. Chad filled in a few missing items in the beer line up from the restaurant's stock. The theme for this month was English Ales; Ordinary Bitters, Premium Bitters, and Extra Special/Strong Bitters (ESB). In all, 26 commercial beers were sampled, along with 4 home brews brought in by members.

Bitters are low ABV beers, with a mild flavor profile of low bitterness balanced with malts. Many are session beers, under 4%ABV, allowing the drinker to enjoy several with friends without feeling the effects of the alcohol or numbing the taste buds. During our tasting session, a number of the beers elicited comments such as "There's nothing there." Of course, we weren't there to enjoy multiple pints of the beer, so perhaps we weren't imbibing in the proper manner for the style. One thing that I believe may have contributed to the comments is we're slowing coming out of Winter here and many of us have spent the last several months enjoying decidedly non-sessionable beers such as Imperial Stouts, DIPA's, Barleywines. Could be we're just spoiled. There were quite a few excellent beers tasted. Perhaps Summer is when we should be focusing on these beers.

In the Ordinary Bitters, I believe we only had one on the list, Tetley's English Ale. I had this one for the first time just week or so ago, and did enjoy it. The 2 ounce sample yesterday seemed lacking, which points back to my theory noted above that these beers are properly enjoyed in larger quantities. There were a number of standouts yesterday. Coniston Bluebird Bitter was notable among the Premium Bitters, as was the classic Fuller's London Pride.

Moving on to the ESB's, Morland Old Speckled Hen was poured from a nitro-widget can and was quite enjoyable. For comparison, we followed that with the same beer from a clear glass bottle. That beer was light struck and not very enjoyable. That brings me to something else I noted from the session. We seemed to be hitting a higher number of off-flavor beers. Whenever you sit down and try 20-25 different beers, the odds are that one or two will have been mishandled in some way. (Add to that there are a number folks in the group especially adept at picking out these off flavors.) The majority of the beers we sampled were imports and travelling long distances gives more opportunity for mistreatment. There were also a number of beers bottled in clear glass. As this isn't a style that's overly popular with many Americans, stocks may sit on the shelf longer. Off flavors may be more noticeable in these mild flavored beers. Whatever the reason, our dump buckets filled faster than usual.

Daleside Ripon Jewel Ale was another memorable beer. A nice combination of bready malt and bitter hops led me to make a note to look for this in the future. Two other classics from Fuller's, the ESB and Fuller's 1845 were both impressive. We also sampled a Lakefront Organic ESB, the same beer I reviewed for this month's session. Unfortunately this batch was infected. The beers I have at home are from a different batch according the labels and didn't have this issue.

Chuck Triplett, frequent contributor to DC-Beer and the realbeer.com forums, and Ray Johnson, organizer of the Blue Gray Breweriana show, drove down from Northern Virginia for the meeting. Chuck brought with him a couple growlers of beers we aren't able to get in this area. The first was Bill Madden's ESB from Vintage 50 in Leesburg. This ESB was probably the hit of the day. Unfortunately by this point I was enjoying good conversation with friends and was not taking notes, so I have nothing specific to say other than it was well-received and enjoyed. Bill has a well-deserved reputation for fine beers and this was no exception. We also were treated to the "Bitter American" from Old Dominion brewery. Recently some local folks have taken to making disparaging remarks about Old Dominion based on the partial ownership by Anheuser-Bush, and some recent changes in the beer lineup and personnel at the brewery. However, from messages posted on DC-Beer, and from tasting this beer, OD seems to be on the right track.

Home brewed beer is welcome at any meeting. This afternoon we were treated to four examples. Again no notes, only memory. A Rauch Dopplebock from Lyle was enjoyed first. Several of the members had tried this at the Blue Gray show last month and spoke highly of it. You need to be a smoked beer fan to enjoy this one. I am, and I did. Dave brought in more of the smoked pumpkin beer he's brought to a couple of meetings recently to get opinions on how the beer holds up over time. The smokiness has decreased, allowing more honey flavors to come through. Two members brought in porters. Rick's enjoyable beer was labeled "HSP" for Hop Shortage Porter. Scott's porter was also pleasing. He remarked that he didn't think the ABV was as high as he was hoping for, though the beer still had plenty of flavor.

As usual the gathering made for a very enjoyable afternoon. I tried a number of new beers and met a couple of new friends. What else could one ask from an afternoon devoted to beer? Upon my return home I learned that we had just recently lost power, an outage that lasted 6 hours. We had evening plans for dinner with friends at a neighbor's house. Fortunately most of the food had been cooked by the time the power went out, and the gas stove still worked. It turned out to be an enjoyable evening despite the hum of a generator in the background.

The next FABTS meeting is planned for April 12, at Kybecca. The theme for the month will be "bocks" of any type; Doppelbock, Eisbock, Maibock, Weizenbock are all included. Be sure to check the FABTS web site for more details. Hope to see you there!

The Beer Guide from RateBeer

I picked up this inexpensive book a few weeks ago. The Beer Guide is a compilation of user reviews from ratebeer.com for over 2,700 beers. This pocket guide lists the brewery, the style, and ABV for each beer. Also included are a few user review quotes for each beer. Editor Josh Oaks doesn't hesitate to include negative user comments as well. To illustrate just how subjective beer tastes are, in many cases the users quoted give contrasting opinions. The 100 point RateBeer scale has been converted to a 5-star system for quick analysis.

I find the reference most useful when I want to quickly lookup a beer and get some basic information such as style and ABV. The book would be handy to carry also when shopping for beer away from home, when one might not be familiar with the beers available in the area. While I rarely choose to buy a beer based solely on user reviews at RateBeer or BeerAdvocate, it's handy to have some basic offline information. The Beer Guide also includes a chapter on food and beer pairings by Stan Hieronymous. This is an inexpensive reference that's proven to be quite handy. I'll definitely be taking it with me when I travel.

The Session #13: Organic Beer

The March edition of The Session is hosted by Chris O'Brien over at The Beer Activist. Chris has chosen the theme of "Organic Beer" for us to ponder this month. A quick search made it apparent that none of my regional breweries produce any organic beers. Clipper City Brewing in Baltimore will be releasing its Oxford Organic Ales line in April. However, that is not soon enough for this Session.

A friend returned from a recent trip to North Carolina with a six pack of Lakefront Brewery Organic ESB and I decided to focus on that for the Session this month. The beer was brewed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and purchased in Raleigh, North Carolina. I am immediately struck by the irony of brewing an environmentally friendly beer and then shipping it 900 miles, although that is certainly a shorter distance than many commercial brews are shipped. Lakefront Organic ESB is brewed with 100% certified organic ingredients. Information on the brewery's organic production can be found here. When the USDA was recently pushed by large breweries to allow non-organic hops in organic beer, Lakefront Brewery lobbied against the change.

Lakefront Organic ESB pours a slightly hazy amber-copper color. There's a thin off-white head that drops quickly leaving a thin ring, with very little lacing. The malt aroma is strong with bread and caramel notes. I don't detect much in the way of hops in the aroma. The taste is yeasty malt, with just a touch of fruitiness. The bitterness is on the low side, though there seems to be more hop bitterness left in the aftertaste than is experienced initially. The mouthfeel is light and smooth. This was an easy drinking beer without any strong flavor profile. It was on the low side of Extra Special Bitter, but a very nice mid-afternoon treat. I drank the Lakefront ESB to spice up a quick lunch of frozen pizza. And for that it served quite well. The low initial bitterness level was actually enhanced when paired with the pizza.

Was I expecting a flavor identifiable as organic? I probably subconsciously expected some organic sense to the beer, much like those organic breakfast cereals that end up tasting like milk-soaked cardboard. Thankfully, the taste profile was just beer, no cardboard.

Be sure to visit the Session Roundup at The Beer Activist to see a summary of all this month's posts.

Minor Dementia Bourbon Barrel Imperial Stout

Jeff at Blue & Gray Brewing has announced the winning name in his "name that beer" contest. Subscribers to the brewery's email newsletter were given to chance to suggest, and then vote on, a name for the brewery's new oak bourbon barrel-aged imperial stout. The new beer will be called "Minor Dementia Bourbon Barrel Imperial Stout".

Jeff provided background on the beer's namesake:

William Chester Minor was Union Army surgeon and served at the Battle of the Wilderness in May 1864. W. C. Minor later made many scholarly contributions to the Oxford English Dictionary while confined to a lunatic asylum. Minor had to punish fugitive soldiers by branding them with a D for "deserter". Some were Irish immigrants, which would later play a role in Minor's dementia delusions.

There's more history on William Minor at the Crime Library website. Shortly after Minor moved to London from the U.S, he came to the attention of English authorities. In the early morning of February 17, 1872, he shot and killed George Merrett of London. Interestingly Merrett worked at the Red Lion Brewery and was on his way to work when he met his end. This new beer is a barrel-aged version of General Sickles Temporary Insanity Imperial Stout, which is named for another Civil War veteran once described as "separated not only from family but from reality".

A request for label approval has been submitted to Virginia authorities. Upon approval the beer will be available for sale. Stay tuned.

My review of the beer is here.

Reminder: FABTS Meeting Saturday

The Fredericksburg Area Brewing and Tasting Society meets tomorrow (Saturday, March 8) at Bangkok Boulevard. The meeting starts at 1:30PM. This month we will be discussing (and tasting!) English Pale Ales. The meetings are always a lot of fun and very informative. $5.00 gets you a seat at the table. Come by and join in the fun. Bangkok Boulevard has great food too! More meeting details here.

Clipper City Dinner with Lucy Saunders

Wednesday evening I had the pleasure to attend a fine beer and food event at Tuscarora Mill in Leesburg, VA. Chef Patrick Dinh prepared 6 dishes from The Best of American Beer & Food. The author of this cookbook, Lucy Saunders, along with Hugh Sisson and Tom Cizauskas, both of Clipper City Brewing were our hosts and all regaled us with interesting information about beer, food and Clipper City.

Since I'll be marking half a century of life in a couple of weeks, my ticket to the event was an early birthday gift from my wife. It wasn't feasible for both of us to get away to attend the dinner as it was a 2 hour drive from home, and on a "school night." So Colleen said I should go AND spend the night in Leesburg to avoid the long drive home after dinner. Clipper City is one of my favorite breweries, and that we're fans of Lucy Saunders' book is no secret to readers of this blog. So this was an exceptionally special gift. (Dear reader, your envy is forgiven, I am indeed a lucky man.)

The Menu

Course 1: Lager Steamed Mushroom Dumplings with MärzHon Sweet and Sour Sauce, served with Balto MärzHon

Course 2: Angry Shrimp "Szechuan" Style, served with a fresh cask of Loose Cannon Hop³ Ale

Course 3: Fennel Crusted Rack of Lamb, with Barley Risotto and Peg Leg Stout Sauce, served with a fresh cask of Peg Leg Imperial Stout

Course 4: Holy Sheet Glazed Angus Skirt Steak with Cumin Pepper Onions and Raclette Potatoes, served with Holy Sheet Über Abbey Ale

Course 5: “Hooks 1 Year Blue” with Nut Bread, Pear Coulis and Micro-herb salad, served with Below Decks Barleywine (2007 vintage)

Course 6: Coconut Cream Pie Dessert with Hang Ten Marshmallows, served with Hang Ten Weizen Dopplebock (2007 vintage)

Now that you are salivating, let me add that the experience exceeded all expectations. Chef Dinh prepared a repast extraordinaire. All of the pairings worked extremely well. You will notice in the list above, not one, but two casks. Good beers on cask are not common finds, but this night we were treated to two casks of fresh ale.

The six beers selected for the evening were served in order of increasing ABV. I knew we where in for an extrAARGHdinary experience when by the third course the beer was already up to 8% ABV!

One topic of discussion during the evening was "are cask ales better than their non-cask versions?" That's probably a rhetorical question as they are often different beasts and hard to compare. However, when I was enjoying my fresh-casked Peg Leg Stout, I remarked to Tom Cizauskas that this was the best Peg Leg I'd ever tasted. The flavor is full of roasted malts and chocolate, highly drinkable with just enough bitterness to keep it interesting. The casking really smooths out and blends the flavors. If I had to pick one course as my favorite, I'd say it was the lamb and Peg Leg Stout.

Before the second course, Lucy Saunders, Hugh Sisson and I were discussing how to pair beer with spicy food. Does one want a highly hopped beer to accentuate and continue the flavor on the palate, or does one want more of a palate cleansing beer with the food? Well, I don't believe there is a definitive answer. But we do know in this case, the Loose Cannon Ale was a perfect match for the "Szechuan" spice of the shrimp. The spice wasn't fire-hot but it was very present, and the hoppy ale enhanced the flavoring on this dish. This pairing gets the vote as my second favorite course of the evening.

It was a pleasure to finally meet in person, both Lucy and Hugh, having had only electronic exchanges with them in the past. And it was fun to meet up with Tom Cizauskas again. Besides beer-related conversation, we both enjoyed a laugh over our fond remembrances of phonograph records. Of course I dropped another hint for a Clipper City dinner in Fredericksburg. :-) Shawn Malone, and the entire staff at Tuskies, did a superb job in presenting this dinner. If you find yourself in Leesburg, be sure to visit Tuscarora Mill. When it comes to craft beer and food appreciation, suffice it to say, they get it.

In the top photo are Chef Dinh, Lucy, and Shawn. At the bottom, Shawn and Tom successfully tap the Peg Leg Stout.
More photos from the evening are posted here.

Update, March 9: Tom Cizauskas has posted his notes on the dinner here.