Bottle Conditioned

Well, in true form, I’ve totally dropped the ball on posting here. Sorry. However, as I was putting the final touches on our Christmas menu, I thought I’d post it here for ya’ll to see how Molile and I are approaching the issue of pairing beer with a holiday meal.

We’ll be visiting my parents for the Christmas dinner, which incidentally will actually be this Saturday night (Dec. 22). We’re off to Mollie’s parents’ house after that to spend the actual Christmas day. So, my parents are preparing the meal, and Mollie and I have taken on the charge to pair and provide the beer for the evening. Here’s what we’ve got:

Course 1: Salad with Feta Cheese, Mandarin Oranges and Sweet and Sour dressing
Beer pairing: Avery White Rascal Witbier - we think the orange and coriander notes in this beer will pick up nicely on the sweet fruit notes in the salad. Also, we’re hoping the sweetness of the beer and salad help to temper each other, a great example of pairing beers using the “complementary flavors” technique.

Course 2 (Entree): Oven Roasted Turkey with herbs, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green beans, yeast rolls and cranberry. (Is this Thanksgiving or Christmas?!)
Beer Pairing: Bluegrass Brewing Company Altbier/Rogue Dead Guy Ale - both of these beers exhibit a nice maltiness with a sweet caramel backbone and a bready finish. We are aiming to pick up on the caramel flavors in the skin of the turkey and the bready notes in the stuffing. In addition, the intensity of these beers is suck that neither will overwhelm the delicate flavors in the meal. Lastly, both of these beers are hopped just enough to hopefully marry nicely with the herbal qualities in the turkey and stuffing. Potatoes will benefit from the bready notes as will the yeast rolls.

Course 3 (Dessert): Chocolate Tort with Strawberries, Chocolate Mousse and Whipped Cream.
Beer Pairing: Lindemann’s Framboise. Here we’re looking to match the fruit between the strawberries in the dessert and the raspberries in the beer. We’re also looking for a nice contrasting flavor note between the chocolate and the funky fruit and tartness in the lambic.

Course 4 (Digestif): We’ll be ending the night with some sort of big Imperial Stout or Porter. Not sure which one just yet, but I’ll update here when I find out.

Hopefully, all these pairings should work as we intend them to. Remember, this season, beer will pair better than wine with your meal! Grab some great craft beer and introduce your family to these wonderful flavors.

Have a Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year, and remember….this year, make it beer!

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We’ve finally moved into the merchandise department.  Starting today, you can now grab some great craft beer related apparel and other such stuff, direct from Davis on Draft.  We’ve got t-shirts, buttons, magnets, hoodies, etc…  To grab some stuff, just check out the banner over on the right hand side of this page that says “Wear your beer”.

Wouldn’t you love to show up at your next party with a button that says “Cheap Beer Sucks”?  Grab one today!

(Sorry about the temporary use of this blog as an advertisement :)  Actual real, worthwhile posts are upcoming.  Tonight, we’ll be attending the Avery Experience in Nashville - a tasting of Avery beers that includes 15 different samples.  A full report on that coming tomorrow.)

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Turns out, when you get interviewed at GABF, it actually DOES make it out somewhere. Such is the case with me, and a short little bit I did at Flying Dog. This was the odd chance of me sitting on the other side of the microphone. So, without further adieu, here ya’ll are:

You’ll also see us randomly sitting in there doing a short podcast from GABF. Give it a listen and complete the experience.

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“Think about the best beer you’ve ever had…now, get ready to top it”

This was the opening line of the Budweiser commercial that I just saw while watching some football this afternoon.

Are they really wanting this challenge?

Way to spend more of that oversized marketing budget guys…

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Last night, we attended a Sam Adams tasting and voting event here in Nashville.  Pretty cool stuff.  I was all prepped to do some live blogging from the event, but I don’t have my new phone, nor the blog set up for it yet…coming soon tho, live blogging!

Overall, the event was a bunch of fun.  I was duly impressed with the rep from Sam Adams, and his ability to explain beer correctly to the audience.  Too often, people leading beer tastings (many time someone who just works at the distributor) don’t know anything about beer.  This guy knew his stuff.

We were able to sample the Boston Lager, Sam Adams Light, Honey Porter, Octoberfest (sic), and Brown Ale.  The Boston Lager was served to us in the new Sam Adams glass (albeit, only about 1/3 full, so the true wonder of the glass was stifled).  We’ve tried the new glass before, and I’ve got to say - we’re pretty impressed.  Awhile back (about a year ago), we did a tasting comparing the Sam Adams glass with a standard pint glass.  The Sam Adams glass was much better, especially in the aroma department.  We were able to keep the glasses that we used during the event, so it’s nice to have a couple on board now at the house.

The other beers were as expected, and were typical for Sam Adams.  However, the cool part was when we were able to vote on the next seasonal.

Two beers are up for the spot:  an Irish Red and a Dunkelweizen.  I was enamoured with the idea of Sam doing a Dunkelweizen, so I was probably biased toward that particular beer, but nonetheless, we gave both an equal shake.

Both beers looked beautiful.  Aroma on both was fairly weak, with the Dunkel having a slightly better presence in this area with notes of banana, phenols, and light spiciness.  The body on both of the beers was average, with the Dunkel again coming out slightly ahead. 

Taste was where the rubber met the road.  The Irish Red tasted thin with very little malt depth and complexity and that signature Sam Adams bittering profile.  I thought the hop choice was a bit strange.  The Dunkel had a better profile, with the same notes as the nose plus a nice fruity background and a lingering fruity finish.

Overall, the Dunkel was clearly the winner.  That said, however, the Irish Red is currently winning the contest, which is unfortunate.  The group in attendance last night overwhelmingly chose the Dunkel, however, we seem to be at odds with the rest of the country. 

We’ll see which wins.  Natually, I hope the Dunkel does, but whatever.  Still, it’s a pretty cool way to get the consumers involved, and not a bad marketing plan either.  No doubt, there will be quite a bit of this seasonal bought when it finally turns up in stores.

The night was fun.  We met some cool folks, drank some good beer, and had a great time.  I won a Sam Adams hat, while Mollie was able to snag a set of 4 acyrllic pint glasses (not sure why they’re plastic, but they’re good for the pool or something of that sort).  If this contest happens to swing through your city, make sure to check it out.

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I feel like this blog is becoming one giant rant.  Sorry about that.  I’ll try to curb my future tirades and present more information here that is actually useful…not simply me spouting off

But, until that time, here’s another interesting discussion I’d like to begin, and would really love some input from others out there in the beer community.

I’ve noticed an interesting trend in tastings (be it beer, wine, liquor, whatever) - they attract the wrong crowd. 

Well, at least, sometimes.

Case in point:  Last night, we attended a tasting at a local beer/cigar shop here in Nashville.  Aside from the fact that there was zero glassware (see the previous rant on this blog), I was excited to try some new beer, learn about the brewery, and engage in beer conversation with like-minded individuals.

I realized, about halfway through the tasting, that the conversation I was interested in wasn’t really going to happen.  Why?  Wrong crowd.  Completely.

I’ve noticed this at other events.  For example, earlier this summer, Nashville played host to a very large beer tasting event called the Music City Brewer’s Festival.  We were lucky enough to have a booth at the event and represent the craft beer industry and our charge to educate more people about craft beer.  I noticed, however, that the vast majority of the people in attendance didn’t care about learning about or tasting craft beer - they simply wanted to get drunk.

Now, I realize that drinking large amounts of alcohol could potentially hamper your ability to think logically…but come on…this doesn’t make any sense at all.

Let’s look at the logic.  If someone’s goal is simply to drink as much as possible in order to get drunk, then they’re firstly not interested in taste.  For them, it’s alcohol delivery that is key.  So, to be as efficient as possible, they ought to either drink liquor or drink cheap mass market beer.  Remember, for the vast majority of these folks, getting drunk for cheap represents the epitome of the mission. 

So, this is where the math starts to break down.  The average 12-pack of swill costs somewhere in the neighborhood of $10-$12.  This provides the user with 12 cans of easily drinkable (I realize that this characterization is a sliding scale, but go with me here) alcohol water in 12 oz doses.  Generally speaking, the drinker (depending on their level of “experience”) will achieve their goal before finishing this 12-pack of beer, giving them an estimated drunk/dollar ratio of 1 dU (drunk unit) to approx. $10.

Why then, do these people choose to attend a festival with tickets that start at $30 and result in the same output of 1 dU?  The cost analysis here is mind-boggling.

Seriously though, I don’t understand it.  How does one organize a tasting and attract the correct clientèle?  Attracting the wrong crowd can undoubtedly ruin the experience for those interested in pursuing an educational opportunity.  One thought is to simply price the event out of reach of those simply interested in drinking, not tasting.  However, this seems to unfairly punish those who are interested in tasting by putting the burden on them.  Smart marketing could achieve the goal, but how clever would you need to be?

Has anyone had a good experience in setting up tastings at reasonable prices while attracting the correct group of customers?  Or are we simply relegated to always having to deal with the drunks?  Should we start setting up events called “drinkings” instead of “tastings” and see if the public starts to discern the difference?

I’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences on this.  I don’t want to come off as a “tasting snob”.  Certainly there are times where I simply just drink beer.  But I want to preserve the opportunities for tasting beer as well.

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Thanks Tennessee. Way to ruin an otherwise great beer tasting event.

Mollie and I attended a tasting tonight, hosted by a distributor here in Nashville, that was spotlighting Appalachian Beer Company. We arrived early at the beer store hosting the tasting, and decided to grab a beer while we waited. We grabbed a couple beers (mine was the Harviestoun Brewery Old Engine Oil and hers the Chocolate Stout by Fort Collins Brewery), paid for them, and proceeded to the lounge to grab a seat and enjoy our apertif before the tasting. We walked up and stopped at the spot where we normally grab a glass and pour the beer.

No glasses. Anywhere.

A quick inquiry to one of the employees revealed the truth: the health department had come by earlier and demanded they stop serving beer in glasses until they purchase a separate license. No pouring a beer from a bottle to a glass. Customer can’t pour their own; customer can’t bring their own serving vessel. Nothing. No glassware. Period. (In fact, this goes for not just glassware, but plastic, etc… ANY container whatsoever.)

Dismayed, I pressed further for an explanation. Evidently, according to the state law, beer cannot be transferred from one vessel (a bottle) to another (a glass) without proper licensing. Sure, you can serve it to patrons in a bottle, but god forbid you put it in a glass.

Say it with me….”What?!”

Yeah. Ridiculous. As I continued through the tasting, drinking beer from a bottle like a college frat kid, the gravity of the situation stewed on me. What kind of logic dictates this type of law?

I’ll answer that…none.

This, to me, is about nothing but money. Money to fill the state coffers by taxing alcohol in a backhanded and unfounded manner. Enter the neo-prohibitionists.

I’ll blog more about the tasting later, but I don’t feel like I can give an accurate review of the beer, as I was relegated to drinking out of a 1″ glass hole. I don’t blame the shop necessarily, as they are working hard to get the proper permits in place so that they will have glassware for their next tasting (a Sam Adams tasting in two weeks). I applaud them for the quick action to correct this problem.

What really irks me is the gall of the state lawmakers to craft laws that have absolutely zero basis in logic, but then, I suppose that’s the mantra of most government workings.

I realize this is a pretty scattered rant, but it’s getting late and I haven’t had much time to put this together in my head in a nice organized manner. Suffice to say, it bothered me enough that I wanted to write something tonight in order to assure I sleep a bit better.

Here’s what I want from you, the reader of this blog (all 2 of you): Tell me, under what line of logic can you base a law that requires a special permit in order to transfer beer from a bottle to a glass? Are we honestly that caught up in legislative red tape that our beer stores can’t even serve a beer correctly? This is where politics starts to really affect beer, and we’ve got to make sure it doesn’t get any more ridiculous than this.

So, tell me… how does this law make sense? I’m eager to read the responses.

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Today is the first Friday of September, and thus, it’s beer blogging Friday, otherwise known as “The Session”.  This month, the theme is “The Brew Zoo”, with beer bloggers all writing about beers that have animals on the label or in the name.  I’ve got some cats, dogs, otters and monkeys coming later tonight….check back later for the full show!

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Sorry for the slow week -  I’ve been out of town and quite busy otherwise, including writing tasting notes for the upcoming beer blogging Friday event - The Session.

That said, I did want to at least post briefly and point out a great blog post by Lew Bryson this week on beer snobbery and elitism, with respect to Fat Tire.  Now, let me preface this by saying I’ve not had Fat Tire yet.  We can’t get it here in Nashville, and we haven’t traveled far enough West yet to grab some and give it a shot.  Want to mail us a bottle?

Anyway, although I’ve never had it, I’m fully aware of the controversy and conversation surrounding this beer.  Two camps seem to set up - a true “love it or hate it” scenario.  Unfortunately, however, it seems as if the “hate it” camp hate it for the wrong reason.  Not because they don’t like the beer - because they think they shouldn’t like the beer.  Uh oh.  Bad move for craft beer drinkers.  We don’t want to become elitist here. 

I’ll admit, there are times I’ve made passing comments about a few beers because of the wrong reasons.  Redhook, in particular.  Because of its association with AB, I’ve been skeptical about the quality of the beer.  Now…I want to make this crystal clear:  Even though I’ve had hesitation regarding the quality of Red Hook, I’ve not passed judgement until I’ve tasted it, and even then, my basis for critique is based off of the taste, nothing else.  I don’t particularly enjoy their beers as much as other craft beer (and yes, I do consider it them a craft brewery), but that doesn’t preclude me from making my own decisions based on taste and letting other folks make their own decisions.  In short, my not liking the beer doesn’t come from the fact that they are associated with AB, but rather starts with the taste, and then I look to other factors such as ownership for an explanation…not the other way around.  That’s very important.  I certainly don’t dismiss it as not being a craft beer, and I certainly don’t look down upon people who enjoy it.

Read Lew’s post.  It’s very interesting, and I think, spot on.  Sam Adams and Sierra Nevada are under the same sort of pressure from the beer geekerie lately, and that’s sad, considering that they are both pioneers in this field.  Support your craft brewers and make decisions based on what they should be made on - taste.

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