Beer Philosopher - Drink Wisely.

Cask and Ye Shall Receive

2009-07-18T14:49:00.003-05:00

It's official! Mark your calendars for Monday, July 27th! We'll be hosting Schlafly (The St. Louis Brewery) and having a cask party, featuring their dry-hopped brown ale. To accompany this glorious elixir, another one of Kindling Spirits' great dinners will be thrown in. A great meal, and a great cask-conditioned beer, for only $15!

You can't get that kind of treatment just anywhere. As a matter of fact, you can't get that treatment anywhere else in Southern Illinois!

Our last event on July 13th SOLD OUT in record time (with over 50 in attendance!), so you must RSVP (pre-pay only) to Kindling Spirits as soon as you possibly can to reserve your seats. RSVP by stopping in the store, or calling (618) 985-2226.

The event will kick off at 6pm. Be sure to tell 'em the Beer Philosopher sent ya when you stop in or call!

Cheers!

Kindling for the Smokestack

2009-07-14T09:46:00.012-05:00

The second of what we hope will be monthly beer dinners at Kindling Spirits is in the books and the event was a wild success! A huge thanks to Nicole Bean of Boulevard Brewing Co. for helping us get this dinner off the ground and for talking through the fine series of Boulevard beers we enjoyed. The turn out was even better than we could have hoped - although I failed to do an official head count, we easily topped 50 attendees. If you've been in the Kindling banquet room, you know that means an absolutely packed house! A huge thank you, too, to everyone who attended. I saw a few regulars, of course, but I was amazed at how many new faces I saw in the crowd.

We enjoyed several of Boulevard's year-round offerings, including two versions of their Unfiltered Wheat. By two versions, I mean we sampled the beer in the standard 12oz glass bottles that most are familiar with, but we also enjoyed the beer in a new, terrific-looking 16oz aluminum bottle as well (held by Nicole in the photo). A great presentation for this beer and a terrific way to enjoy a well-made American wheat beer in a durable and versatile package. These will be a big hit for outdoor events that don't allow glass bottles on premises. I know I'll take advantage of these new bottles for the remaining Sunset Concerts in Carbondale, assuming we get more in stock in time!

The food, as always, was excellent. While we didn't formally pair the food with the beer lineup this time 'round, the beers still matched well throughout. The Unfiltered Wheat was light and refreshing and complimented the starter course of fresh green leaf salad masterfully. The main course was Kindling's famous steak sandwich and the bolder flavors of Boulevard Pale Ale and Single Wide IPA proved to be a great accompaniment to this course. Finally, and probably the highlight for me, was the foray into Boulevard's Smokestack series of beers - namely the Belgian-style quad, The Sixth Glass. This dark, rich and fruity ale paired wonderfully with the fresh homemade chocolate chip cookies we were served. Decadence! Finally, Nicole was so kind as to bring along several bottles of the new Smokestack Two Jokers Double Wit for everyone to ... err ... umm ... cleanse the palate at the end of the night.

All in all, I was exceedingly happy with how the event turned out and am thrilled to see so much interest in better beer in Southern Illinois. All I can say is that it's about time we start to do things like this in the area because it's clear there is plenty of interest from both beer geeks and the general public. I'll look forward to announcing the next couple of events scheduled at Kindling for later this month and into August. Stay tuned for that info soon.

Saisons Greetings

2009-07-09T10:12:00.002-05:00

My second article for Beer Connoisseur was just posted and it's a timely one for a couple of reasons. For one, the Saison style is one of my personal favorite summertime beers, hands down. Who am I kidding? Saisons are one of my favorite beers regardless of season.

The other reason is that, for the intrepid brewer, saisons are also a terrific style to brew in warm weather as they benefit from a relatively hot primary fermentation. In fact, members of the Aleuminati Alechemists are taking advantage of this fact even now for our third collaborative beer brewing session. I hope to get in on this action soon as well, but with a baby due to arrive any day now, I'm gonna wait until I can focus on the beer again. Until then, you can read about the saison-brewing exploits of Aleuminati luminaries like Ray Grace and Rob DeNunzio right here.

Oh, and if you haven't subscribed to Beer Connoisseur Magazine yet, and want to become a founding member - complete with many additional benefits - I invite you to use my special invitation code when you subscribe. Just enter FBC-0102 in the 'Promotions' field when subscribing!

Cheers!

Boulevard Beer Buffet!

2009-07-03T11:42:00.010-05:00

On Monday, July 13th we're gonna take our usual "Drink Wisely" session at Kindling Spirits down a new path ... or perhaps I should say a new Boulevard!

Boulevard Brewing Co. has partnered with beerphilosopher.com and Kindling Spirits to bring you an evening of great beer, great food and great conversation around the other two!

Beginning at 6PM, we'll host a casual "meet and greet" featuring some fine Boulevard beer in a way you've likely never seen it before - packaged in new aluminum bottles! This is your chance to sample some beer and give the brewery feedback on their new packaging. I don't know about you, but I could definitely fit some Boulevard aluminum bottles in my cooler for upcoming Sunset Concerts! Let 'em know if this is a product you'd like to see hit our local market!

After the meet and greet wraps up, we'll convene in Kindling's banquet room at 7PM for a session of Boulevard beers, including Unfiltered Wheat, Single-wide IPA and the Smokestack Series The Sixth Glass - accompanied by one of Kindling's excellent buffet-style dinner spreads which I'm told will feature a nice salad, chips and their bistro-style steak sandwich.

I can taste it already!

As if that weren't enough, Nicole from Boulevard is gonna walk us through the featured beers during dinner and then break out a special "mystery beer" she's bringing in just for the event. I don't know what it is yet, but it promises to be something unique and elusive. How do you like that, fellow beer geeks?

Seating is very limited, so be sure and RSVP early to get a spot. They'll undoubtedly fill up fast!

Tickets are only $15 each.

Kindling Spirits is located at 1420 Main St. in Crainville, IL (just east of the Carterville crossroads in the old Pioneer Cabin location).

Please RSVP to (618) 985-2226 and tell 'em the Beer Philosopher sent ya!

This is sure to be a terrific night and let's face it, you can't eat a decent meal for this price anywhere else in the region and get great food, great beer and increase your beer IQ all at the same time.

RSVP ASAP!

Pucker Power

2009-07-02T09:24:00.006-05:00

During a recent tasting event I was hosting at Kindling Spirits - a local boutique beer and wine retailer I work closely with - I deviated from our typical course of excellent, but otherwise "common" beer styles - and threw a slight curve ball at my friends in attendance. Grabbing a green-tinted bottle from the walk-in cooler, I proceeded to pry the crown off of the bottle and then draw the cork up and out, resulting in an audible "poof" as the pressure in the bottle released the accumulated carbonation inside.

This was the first indication that my friends were in for something ... different. A crown and a cork. Hmmm ... odd.

Once poured into our house sample glasses (tulip-style, in case you're keeping score), I encouraged the group to let the beer warm a bit by cupping the glassware in both hands, then to swirl the contents vigorously and breathe in the aromas emitting from the glass and into the air. This exercise alone was enough entertainment for me, as I observed peculiar, somewhat contorted looks and a decided grimace or two from those around me.

What my friends were smelling obviously wasn't your typical fare.

The brave souls slowly tilted their glasses and tasted the pale gold -colored liquid inside. The reaction this time was priceless. For some, you would have sworn they'd just sipped pure lemon juice, while another quickly summed up his thoughts on the experience with a definitive, "no." The consensus seemed to be that this stuff had clearly gone bad and anyone with good sense would be crazy to intentionally drink this vile substance to which they'd been subjected. I'm sure many now question my palate, and sanity, as a result.

Good. The process has begun.

The bottle I brought out was a Lindemans Cuvee Rene - a good but not superlative example of the Belgian gueuze style, in my estimation. While the majority of Lindemans beers you'll find in wide distribution are of the sugary sweet variety and not representative of the traditional Belgian lambic beers, this particular beer I find to be an exception and contrary to my audience's reaction, a good "gateway" beer to introduce the uninitiated into the wild and wooly world of sour beers. Cuvee Rene is not overpoweringly sour and contains enough sweetness to round out the tart edges of this spontaneously-fermented beer. It's tame, relatively speaking.

While sour beers are still something of a rarity in many parts of the U.S., we are starting to see a growing interest in these wildly complex (pun intended) beers and several American craft brewers are leading the way. Rather than elaborating on the who and what here, I thought I'd share this surprisingly good read from the L.A. Times on the subject. The article mentions several terrific and innovative craft breweries who are doing terrific things with wild yeast strains and wood these days, like Allagash, Jolly Pumpkin and Russian River.

If you've never had a traditional lambic or gueuze (the Lindeman fruit beers don't count, sorry), I'd encourage you to keep your mind - and your palate - open and try one. Ideally, attend a tasting or a beer dinner where these sour beers are being featured. Often times, the context in which you drink these beers makes a huge difference in how you perceive them. Food pairings, of course, can change an otherwise "offensive" beer into something special. Don't force your palate into submission just because you feel like you'll lose beer geek cred if you don't like sours. They are for many, admittedly, an acquired taste and the pleasure truly is in the journey. Take your time and before you know it, you'll likely be sipping sours with the rest of us wild and crazy people.

Drink Wisely on beerconnoisseur.com

2009-06-26T13:38:00.004-05:00

I'm proud to announce that yours truly is now a writer and blog personality at the brand spankin' new beerconnoisseur.com website. This slick new site is the precursor to the publication of the inaugural issue of Beer Connoisseur Magazine, slated for first publication in November 2009. I'm excited to be a part of this new endeavor and look forward to contributing to the site and magazine as the "beer Styles" guy.

If you'd like to check out my initial column on the website, you can do so right here. If you'd like to become a founding subscriber to the magazine and get some additional perks for doing so, use my special invitation code FBC-0102 when you sign up. Not only will you be one of the first to receive this new magazine when it's published, you'll be supporting my efforts there and ensuring we have a successful launch!

Oh, by the way, this new gig won't replace what I do here or the growing community of beer lovers over on the Aleuminati. I'll do 'em all ... and just sleep less.

Cheers! And please be sure to offer feedback on the column over on the BC site. The more feedback we get, the better my column will be and the better the new website and magazine will be as well.

Good Beer at Sunset Concerts? Yes, You Can!

2009-06-18T12:41:00.005-05:00

The 2009 Sunset Concert series begins tonight at 7pm on the steps of Shryock Auditorium in Carbondale with the reggae stylings of The Arc Band. If you're a local, I'm sure you're already familiar with these early summer concert events. I'm sure you're familiar, too, with the ban on glass bottles on premises. For those of us who enjoy "better" beer, this has meant that we're relegated to drinking mass-produced swill from cans or forgo beer altogether. While these options are fine for some, I'd like to offer a couple of alternatives newly available this year that might just solve the dilemma local beer geeks face each year.

Thankfully, many craft brewers are beginning to utilize the can for packaging these days. It's got a lot of advantages and the myth that the beer will have a metallic taste from the can has been dispelled time and again. While we still lack the availability of many canned craft beers here, we do have a couple of new options just in time for the Sunset Concerts!

New Belgium Brewing Co. in Fort Collins, Co now offers their popular Fat Tire amber ale in cans. This beer offers a more flavorful beer for the buck. You can get a 12 pack for roughly $18.99.

If you wanna try something a little edgier, why not grab a sixer or two of Ska Brewing's Special E.S.B. Not only is it exponentially cooler than the kitchy, trying way to hard to be hip PBR, it actually tastes good. This one is gonna have a more pronounced hop presence than the afore-mentioned Fat Tire. You can only find this beer at the best beer retailer in Southern Illinois - Kindling Spirits in Crainville. Call (618) 985-2226 for availability and tell 'em the Beer Philosopher sent ya!

Either way you go, you no longer have to drink bad beer to enjoy a good time at the Sunset Concerts. Cheers!

Growing Wheat

2009-06-18T07:21:00.001-05:00

Looks like the folks at ABInBev are looking to cash in on the growing popularity of wheat beers by further expanding their Bud Light line to include an unfiltered (really?) wheat beer with a decidedly Belgian twist. How appropriate. Bud Light Golden Wheat appears to be poised to challenge the MillerCoors success found in their Blue Moon beers with this orange and coriander-infused light beer. They also hope to avoid the disasterous failure of the "craft lite" versions of the Miller beers unleashed on a few test markets last year.

While I have to admit it will be interesting to see what the ABInBev folks do with this beer given that Bud Light is the prototypical American light lager and the addition of wheat to the grain bill will surely take this beer in a new direction, I have my doubts. An authentic witbier this won't be, I'm confident, but it might have a bit more character that it's citrus-centric sibling, Bud Light Lime.

Might, I say.

If I were the AbInBev brain trust - and I'm not - I might think a brand facelift for the Hoegaarden product might be a better use of marketing resources and introduce the American mass-produced beer drinking public to an arguably better beer at the same time. That is, if they were looking to release a wit. They're not.

A Bud Light by any other name is still a Bud Light.

Odell Expands

2009-06-10T15:19:00.004-05:00

PRESS RELEASE

Fort Collins, CO - It was golden ales not golden shovels on June 9, 2009, as Odell Brewing Company officially broke ground on its new expansion. The project, which includes an expansion of the existing manufacturing, office, and tap room facilities, will help the brewery accommodate increased and enhanced brewing operations.

“While we are expanding capacity, we are really viewing this as an investment in innovation in both style and process,” said brewery owner Wynne Odell. Not only will the brewery gain much needed space, but it will also improve its creative brewing processes with investments such as a single-serve packaging line and a new barrel aging cellar.

Odell Brewing has partnered with local businesses RB+B Architects, BHA Designs, Northern Engineering, and Delta Construction for the project. The brewery has also incorporated multiple environmentally friendly installations and “green” considerations in its plans.

“The design team made a concerted effort to create a facility that is both healthy and efficient,” said project manager Brendan McGivney.

The brewery will work with Abound Solar on a roof mounted photovoltaic system. Abound’s solar panels, installed by Wirsol, will generate 50 KW of energy, which is approximately 1/3 of the brewery’s summer daily peak demand.

Solar tubes in the brewery’s new warehouse will provide natural lighting, and a day-lighting system will actually turn off light fixtures when this natural light is sufficient. The brewery will also include a water recovery system in its bottling line that will capture clean rinse water and use it for landscape irrigation.

In addition to the building, the brewery will include improvements to its parking, shipping, and overall landscaping. Drought-resistant plants will be used throughout the landscaping, and porous pavers will be used in the parking lot to minimize rain runoff. These porous pavers will be showcased by the city of Fort Collins as one of their Low Impact Development Pilot Projects.

Odell Brewing expects to complete the expansion in early 2010.

Odell Brewing is an award winning brewery, nationally and internationally: 2008 North American Beer Awards – gold medal for 5 Barrel Pale Ale. 2008 World Beer Cup® – gold medal for IPA, silver medal for Double Pilsner, silver medal for Cutthroat Porter. 2007 Great American Beer Festival® – gold medal for IPA, silver medal for Easy Street Wheat, bronze medal for Extra Special Red. 2007 Stockholm International Beer Festival – bronze medal for 5 Barrel Pale Ale. 2007 Australian International Beer Awards – silver medal for 90 Shilling, silver medal for Cutthroat Porter, silver medal for Easy Street Wheat and bronze medal for 5 Barrel Pale Ale.

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A Barrel of Fun

2009-06-02T10:24:00.004-05:00

I'm proud to host a weekly craft beer tasting session at Kindling in Crainville, IL. Occasionally, we'll sample a particular brewey's beers, or maybe a particular style (look for more of this in the weeks to come), but many Monday nights consist of a wide range of samples from a wide range of domestic craft and import breweries making their way to our sampling station by the end of the night.

Last night was no exception, and my good friend Kevin Fear (whose photo work recently appeared in an article on O'Fallon Brewery in the last issue of Beer Advocate magazine) captured this impromptu video of our lineup on display. Fun stuff.

Can you identify all the beers?

Better Beer is Finally Here

2009-06-02T10:17:00.006-05:00

Since the inception of this blog back in 2006, I’ve aspired to provide relevant content with a slant toward local and regional beer news. The problem is that, largely, the local and regional news has always been scarce since the southern half (or so) of the state of Illinois has always been a veritable beer wasteland – at least as far as better beer is concerned. We’ve always heralded the arrival of a new seasonal or special release beer than might have seemed humdrum to some folks in a larger market. The fact is that these occasions were a rarity around these parts. You could always find plenty of the BMC (Bud, Miller, Coors) offerings – not so much the BMC (Bear Republic, Moylan’s, Clipper City).

Notice I phrased the previous paragraph in the past tense.

Over the last couple of months, we’ve enjoyed an influx of a wide range of craft and import brands to Southern Illinois. This hasn’t been so much a gradual increase, but rather an almost overnight appearance, it seems. All of a sudden we’re seeing beers here I never dreamed we would see and, as you might imagine, this makes me very, very happy. Why the sudden addition of Southern Illinois to the “you can find good beer there” club? Several reasons, really.

One, there has been a growing demand from consumers in the immediate area who were tired of drooling over the beer selections found in other markets (even other markets within the state) and were forced to drive at least an hour in one direction or another to find a decent variety. My good friend and fellow beer geek, Rob Gallegly, is a prime example of this grassroots consumer demand. Rob took it upon himself to repeatedly ask for better beer at local retailers, and even inquire if there were distribution channels that might provide a wider craft beer selection down here. His inquiries yielded results, especially on this latter note. I gave him the name of a craft beer-supporting wholesaler up north some time ago – Joe Billhartz – and now Joe is beginning to do for craft beer in Southern Illinois what he’s already done for other areas of the state. To borrow from the McDonalds slogan – I’m lovin’ it!

Heretofore, most (okay, maybe all) local retailers have given a wink and a nod, at best, to craft beer. Several have provided access to a handful of better beers for some time, but the selection was always paltry in comparison to many other markets. One even holds a long-standing annual beer festival, but this event is also largely dominated by the BMC faux-craft beers and only a small selection of true craft brands are ever featured. In the last couple of years, this event has basically become a drunk-fest for college undergrads who see an opportunity to get loaded up on free beer in a very efficient manner. This is not the venue for those who appreciate beer for its own sake rather than its inebriating effects. Granted, Carbondale is a university town and many retailers consider their consumer base to be of the cheap, watery lager-swilling variety. I understand this, but I never understood why a real effort was never made to carve out a niche for local beer-lovers with a more refined and experienced palate.

I would be remiss to mention that this is true, even after my own repeated offers to individually help several of the local retailers fell of deaf, or apathetic, ears. Put simply, I got the distinct feeling that local retailers viewed the craft beer scene as something more akin to a novelty than an actual niche market that could make them money and expand their customer base.

Enter Kindling.

The afore-mentioned Rob Gallegly also alerted me to a new retailer he heard about who was opening soon and interested in getting a varied selection of craft beers in stock. Rob put the owners of the new establishment in touch with Joe Billhartz (who is, by and large, responsible for the availability of many of the craft beers we now enjoy in the entire southern half of the state – Joe works for Specialty Imports Distributing, based out of Peoria) and, essentially, the rest is history. Kindling is already, far and away, the best craft beer retailer in the immediate area and getting bigger and better every day with a selection of close to 100 craft and import brands/labels to date.

Rob and I are both actively working with Kindling to improve and expand the craft beer selection and offer more activities and events around the beer culture. The owners of Kindling understand that there actually is a beer culture in Southern Illinois, and that it can be a rewarding and lucrative endeavor to listen and cater to this clientele. This is something that has been sorely lacking, or missing altogether, in other local retailers. I’m also privileged to host a weekly tasting session on site called “Drink Wisely,” which allows me to share my passion and see the “light bulb” go on for others who haven’t experienced better beer. This has been a rewarding experience to say the least. On average, we have anywhere from a dozen to two dozen people show up every Monday night to sample, and chat about, craft beers. Like the beer selection itself, this event is growing all the time as well.

The funny thing is that now that Kindling is open for business, and the buzz is beginning to reach more ears, we’re now starting to see a couple of the other – previously apathetic – retailers jump on the craft beer bandwagon on a whole new level. Don’t get me wrong, I’m very happy to see it but I’m a little perturbed that it took the threat of direct competition and potential lost market share to wake these other guys up a bit. Maybe it’s an ego thing, but I’ve been trying to tell them this for years. I suppose I should have been talking to their wallets. Capitalism works. I know this because I now have good beer in my fridge.

Another regional distributor, Koerner Distributing, who serve 47 central and southern counties in Illinois are also offering a greatly expanded portfolio as well. Koerner is a Miller Coors distributor, but their specialty and import list is expanding quickly and this is a contributing factor in our new, beer geeky status as well.

Like I said before, our availability still may not rival that of retailers in larger, metro markets but we’re getting there. Just to give you an idea, we now proudly have beers from domestic craft breweries like Avery, Bear Republic, Bell’s, Breckenridge, Dogfish Head, Dark Horse, Founders, Great Divide, Green Flash, Hoppin’ Frog, Lagunitas, New Holland, Southern Tier, Ska, The Lost Abbey, Victory, and a lot more.

Imports? Let’s just say there are a lot. A few notable beers you can pick up right now at Kindling would be Delirium Nocturnum, Delirium Tremens, Duvel, Gulden Draak, Kasteel Rouge, La Chouffe, Maredsous Blonde, Mc Chouffe, O’Hara’s Irish Stout, Schneider Aventinus, St. Bernardus Abt 12. I’m forgetting many, but you get the idea.

Finally, if you’ve been frustrated with the lack of new posts to the blog, now you know why. I’ve been too enjoying our newfound beer to write about it! If you’re a local reader, I encourage you to visit Kindling in Crainville and support a local retailer who is making a difference for beer lovers in this area. In many ways, our beer depends on their success!

Buckbean is Busy ...

2009-05-18T14:17:00.004-05:00

PRESS RELEASE

BUCKBEAN BREWING COMPANY GEARS UP FOR A SUMMER OF EVENTS, ADVENTURE RACING AND FESTIVALS GALORE

Reno, NV (May 4, 2009) --Reno’s only package microbrewery, Buckbean Brewing Company, is gearing up for the summer with a calendar packed full of events sure to please anyone with a love for beer, the outdoors and community.

To kick-off the season, Buckbean announced its partnership with the Big Blue Adventure Racing Series, the largest adventure racing competition on the West coast produced by the well-known adventure racing company 7th Wave Productions. The two entities will travel the West Coast together and provide canned beer for competitors at all 7th Wave Production events, including all Big Blue Adventure Series races. They will be co-promoting each other’s events as well as working on additional partnerships throughout the year.

“We believe it’s a perfect match for our northern California expansion as adventure racing and canned beer are a good fit,” said Buckbean co-owner Douglas Booth.

Buckbean will kick-off the summer in Davis, Cali., May 30, for the 5th annual Citizens Who Care Beerfest. This event, which attracted more than 400 patrons last year, benefits the needs of senior citizens in the regional Northern California area. Buckbean joins more than 30 regional breweries for this year’s event, complete with food, live music and a raffle.

The following summer months are packed with festivals, beginning in June with the 4th Annual Truckee Optimist Brew Fest, Saturday, June 13. About 20 breweries and cider distributors will be represented, paired with live music, food, a silent auction and more. All proceeds support Truckee youth programs and scholarships.

June 27-28, Buckbean will participate in the Great Eldorado BBQ, Brews and Blues Festival for the second year in a row. The festival, which takes over North Virginia Street, kicks off the downtown summer festival line-up, and will feature BBQ food hot off the outdoor charbroil grill, live entertainment and microbreweries from around the world.

Finally, Buckbean will travel to Placerville for the Bell Tower Brew Fest, June 27, featuring more than 30 different microbrews and free entertainment.

July 31, Aug 1-2, Buckbean will head down to Mammoth Lakes, California for the 14th Annual Mammoth Festival of Beers & Bluesapalooza. Set in the pristine mountain area adjacent to Yosemite National Park, the three-day weekend will showcase 70 of the best microbreweries in the country and feature top blues performers.

In the tradition of last year, Buckbean will also be at the Battle Born Derby Demons home games, May 30, June 27, July 11, Aug. 22 and Sept. 26, for some girl-on-girl roller skating action in the heart of downtown Reno.

Other great events and festivals you can lookout for Buckbean in:

· June 6: Night That Never Ends festival in Monterey, Cali., featuring beers from around the world and live tribute bands.

· July 11: Beerfest Live Bluegrass & Beer Tasting Festival inside the Northstar-at-Tahoe resort

· Oct. 13: Mountain Harvest Festival in Quincy, Cali., featuring samplings from award-winning Western US Micro brew pubs, world-class Music, Hot Air Balloon Rally, great items for Silent Auction, family fun and an organic and domestic wine tasting.

For more information on these events, please visit www.buckbeanbeer.com or call 775-857-4444.

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About Buckbean Brewing Company

Buckbean Brewing Company was founded in 2007 by Reno native Douglas S. Booth and veteran brewmaster Daniel B. Kahn. The brewery is located in Reno, NV and currently distributes Original Orange Blossom Ale and Black Noddy Lager. The brewery offers free tastings, tours and is available for private functions. For more information please visit www.buckbeanbeer.com or call 775-857-4444. The brewery is located at 1155 S. Rock Blvd, Suite 490 Reno, NV 89502 and is open Tuesday to Thursday from 11 AM to 6 PM and Friday & Saturday from11 AM to 7 PM.

Too Cool for ... Good Beer?

2009-05-18T08:24:00.004-05:00

A friend of mine sent me this image, along with several other altered bottles and labels. I found this one exceedingly funny. What is it with PBR, anyway? Who decided this would the the "hipster" beer of choice?

What's next, Stag? O wait ...

On another note, if you're in the area please join the Beer Philosopher at Kindling Spirits tonight from 6-8pm for our weekly "Drink Wisely" session. And I do mean session ...

We'll be pouring some stellar (no, not Stella) craft beers that you can only find at Kindling (If you're local, that is). We missed last week due to the storm, so we'll all be ready for some beer therapy tonight! Hope to see some readers there!

Jewbelation

2009-05-15T17:15:00.000-05:00

Here is an interesting presser from the folks at He'Brew (Shmaltz Brewing) about a unique new content they're holding to celebrate the brewery's 13th year. Below is an excerpt from Jesse Cutler, who handles their marketing and PR:

"As part of American Craft Beer Week (May 11-17), Shmaltz Brewing Company, handcrafters of HE'BREW - The Chosen Beer, is excited to announce the launch of a national photo contest inviting consumers to submit Bar/Bat Mitzvah photographs for potential inclusion on the label of Jewbelation Bar Mitzvah: their 13th Chosen Beer in 13 years of Shmaltz. Brewed with 13 malts, 13 hops and soaring to 13% alc, Jewbelation Bar Mitzvah will be nationally available in 22 oz. bottles and a limited amount of draft this September 2009.

Shmaltz Brewing turns 13 this year, which in Judaism marks the year of the Bar/Bat Mitzvah, the coming of age for a Jewish boy or girl. Shmaltz's photo contest runs from now until July 4, 2009; images can continue to be submitted until Chanukah 2009 as all photos will be posted on the Shmaltz website. The "winning" pictures in each of the categories listed below will receive a HE'BREW Bar Mitzvah Gift Set."

PRESS RELEASE

San Francisco, New York, Beyond! - May 2009 America's smallest, biggest and most award-winning Jewish (and now Sideshow Freak) Beer Company, Shmaltz Brewing celebrates its 13th year of delicious beer and delicious shtick with the special release of JEWBELATION BAR MITZVAH: their 13th Chosen Beer in 13 years of Shmaltz. Brewed with 13 malts, 13 hops and soaring to 13% alc, Jewbelation Bar Mitzvah will be nationally available in 22 oz. bottles and a very limited amount of draft for select bars.

Shmaltz Brewing turns 13 this year, which in Judaism marks the year of the Bar/Bat Mitzvah, the coming of age for a Jewish boy or girl. Shmaltz embraces this monumental occasion by inviting consumers to submit Bar/Bat Mitzvah photographs for potential inclusion on the label of Jewbelation Bar Mitzvah. The national contest runs from now until July 4, 2009; photos can continue to be submitted until Chanukah 2009 as all images will be posted on the Shmaltz website.

Shmaltz welcomes pictures of all Bar/Bat Mitzvah men and women (21+ only)! Bring on the braces, awkward suits, frizzy hair, '80s-tastic family portraits with Aunt Linda and Uncle Dan... and celebrate the day you became an adult. The "winning" photos in each of these categories will receive a HE'BREW Bar Mitzvah Gift Set and be featured on Shmaltz's website: "Best Hair," "Best Family Photo," "Most Awkward Moment," "Youngest-Looking Adult," "Funniest Shot," "Best-Dressed," "Best Braces," and "Best Dance Moves."

Shmaltz looks forward to laughing with you, not at you... Please send photos with your name, date and location of event to info@shmaltzbrewing.com. If you are on Facebook, join their group "The Jewbelation 13 Project," and check out some photos they've collected, post your picture, and become a fan of Shmaltz Brewing and HE'BREW Beer.

The national launch of Jewbelation Bar Mitzvah will take place at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver, CO from September 24-26, 2009. This winter, HE'BREW will host special Jewbelation Bar Mitzvah parties in New York City and San Francisco, CA. Since its inception in 2004, Shmaltz's Jewbelation series has been touted by critics receiving top accolades including "5 Stars" from Celebrator Beer News, "Best Holiday Beer" by Pacific Brew News, and 2007's Jewbelation Eleven has a score of 97 out of 100 with Ratebeer.com. A recent issue of Beer Advocate (Volume II, Issue VIII) commented, "Today, Jeremy Cowan of Shmaltz Brewing Company is arguably making some of the best contract-brewed beers in America."

About Shmaltz Brewing Company

Established in San Francisco in 1996 with the first batch of 100 cases of HE'BREW Beer bottled, labeled, and delivered by hand, Shmaltz Brewing Company introduced 6-packs in 2003 and moved its production East to the acclaimed Mendocino Brewing Company's Saratoga Springs, NY brewery. 2003 to 2008 saw over 1000% growth in sales, with over 5 million bottles sold to date. HE'BREW's award-winning lineup includes its flagship Genesis Ale and Messiah Bold as well as Rejewvenator, Origin Pomegranate Strong Ale, Bittersweet Lenny's R.I.P.A., and the "extreme" Chanukah annual, Jewbelation.

Along with their acclaimed line of HE'BREW Beers, Shmaltz introduced its new line of sideshow-inspired Coney Island Craft Lagers(TM) with six featured attractions including Coney Island Lager(TM), Albino Python(TM), Sword Swallower(TM), Human Blockhead(TM), Mermaid Pilsner(TM), and Freaktoberfest(TM). Proceeds help Coney Island USA, a 501(c)(3) Arts Non-Profit fulfill its mission to defend the honor of lost forms of American popular culture in Brooklyn's historic Coney Island neighborhood.

Shmaltz offerings are available in over 25 states through over 30 wholesalers at more than 1500 retail specialty shops across the U.S. including Beverages & More, Whole Foods, Total Wine, select Krogers, and Cost Plus.

Shmaltz Brewing beers have appeared in such distinguished media outlets as The New York Times, CNN Headline News, The Onion, Beer Advocate Magazine, Celebrator Beer News, Ale Street News, The Today Show, Bravo, NPR's "Weekend Edition," New York Magazine, Newsweek, Elle, SELF, Men's Health, BUST, Playboy, Associated Press, Reuters, MSNBC, San Francisco Magazine, The Jerusalem Report, New York Jewish Week, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, Forbes.com and Entrepreneur.com.

For more information, please visit www.shmaltzbrewing.com

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Woodcut No. 2 Coming

2009-05-15T17:08:00.000-05:00

PRESS RELEASE

On June 1st, 2009, Odell Brewing will officially release Woodcut No. 2. The oak aged golden ale was brewed on the brewery’s pilot brewing system. It aged for several months in virgin oak barrels, and then bottle conditioned in cork finish, 750 ml bottles.

The release of the ale was pushed back to allow the beer time to fully carbonate. Odell Brewing’s head of production, Brendan McGivney, had this to say about the delay, “Each Woodcut beer, being truly one of a kind, will behave differently than the last and the intricacies of each offering will not always cooperate with our projected timeline. However, we take great pride in making sure the beer is perfect before we serve it to our customers.”

On May 30, 2009, the brewery will preview the beer at SAVOR: an American Craft Beer & Food Experience. Presented by the Brewers Association, this sold out Washington, D.C. event will highlight the sensory delights of beer for over 1,700 beer enthusiasts in attendance.

“SAVOR has become the most popular and respected beer and food pairing event in the U.S., thanks in part to the participation of many of America’s most innovative and famous brewers and their owners,” said Julia Herz, a spokesperson for the Brewers Association. “The demand for beer and food pairing events and craft beer in general is growing, a fact underscored by SAVOR selling out an incredible eight weeks prior to the May 30 event.”

Hand signed and numbered bottles of Woodcut No. 2 will be available for a suggested purchase price of $24.99. To learn more, visit www.woodcutbeer.com and http://www.SavorCraftBeer.com

Odell Brewing is a an award winning brewery, nationally and internationally: 2008 North American Beer Awards – gold medal for 5 Barrel Pale Ale. 2008 World Beer Cup® – gold medal for IPA, silver medal for Double Pilsner, silver medal for Cutthroat Porter. 2007 Great American Beer Festival® – gold medal for IPA, silver medal for Easy Street Wheat, bronze medal for Extra Special Red. 2007 Stockholm International Beer Festival – bronze medal for 5 Barrel Pale Ale. 2007 Australian International Beer Awards – silver medal for 90 Shilling, silver medal for Cutthroat Porter, silver medal for Easy Street Wheat and bronze medal for 5 Barrel Pale Ale.

# # #

Winds of Change

2009-05-13T17:15:00.001-05:00

... or just winds. Strong ones.

A sincere apology to regular readers who have gone a couple of weeks now without an update to this blog. Several factors had conspired to create the "perfect storm" of circumstances unfriendly to the blogging endeavor. I thought it prudent to offer a brief recap of said factors here and a bit of a prognostication on the future of this blog and others like it I've found myself concerned with in some formal capacity since the inception of beerphilosopher.com back in 2006.

First things first, of course. Although I don't feel compelled to offer excuses for my absence here, and I don't predict that many of you would care to know the details surrounding them anyway, I'll run down my life as I've known it for the past couple of weeks just to give you an idea. You can file this one under "Life: What doesn't kill you ..." category if you'd like. I'll recap these events in chronological order - partly because it just makes logical sense to do so and partly because this is a classic case of the "when it rains, it pours" phenomenon. Again, preemptive apologies if this portion of the post doesn't contain much beer-related information. The last two weeks of my life have confirmed to me what I already knew but could always use a reminder of ... there is more to life than beer. And much of it can be exceedingly less pleasant.

It all started off during that last week of April, as I recall. We found out that my mother in law had significant blockage in her carotid arteries (on both sides) and had to have emergency surgery to alleviate the issue. She did, on the worst of the two sides, and will have to have the other side attended to in about a month or so. This was a scary event for us, as our family is very close and Nelle is a big part of our family's life. I'm blessed to have a terrific mother in law and I'm very glad she's recovering well, but we're still nervously anticipating the next procedure, which always carries significant risks with it. This was the beginning of more to come for our family.

The same afternoon my mother in law was discharged from the hospital, I get a call from my own mother. My mother is in her late 70s and lives close by. She complained (something she almost never does, often to her own detriment) about dizziness, shortness of breath and a general feeling that something wasn't right. When she does this, we all pay attention. We were in the ER that afternoon and remained there through the night and into the next day. Long story somewhat shorter, all preliminary tests came back negative, but the symptoms were still present. After some lengthy observation, it was determined that she suffered some sort of anxiety or panic attack, given the lack of standard physiological diagnosis. Yet another major crisis averted (i.e., stroke or heart attack), although we recognize that stress and anxiety can be every bit as debilitating. Mom spent the better part of day two in the hospital and then was released.

I don't recall precisely how many days later, my wife - who is 7 months pregnant - begins experiencing severe back pain and contractions with some alarming frequency. We waited these out as long as we could, assuming they were Braxton Hicks contractions, and finally paid yet another visit to the E.R. By this time, I really expected that they'd have reserved seats for us in the waiting room and a change of address card for us to fill out so our mail could be forwarded to our new residence. Anyway, another 9 hours in the ante-partum observation unit and we find nothing ... again. At least nothing that shows up on ultrasounds, blood tests, or other "female" exams. Symptoms are there, but no solid diagnosis. Wonderful. Back home we go with marching orders to "watch it" and see if the symptoms diminished. They did, then they returned and still do intermittently. We're told that unless they persist with regularity, while resting, for an extended period of time that they're nothing serious. Tell my wife that.

The morning after the evening we get home from the hospital for the third time in the span of a week and a half, we discover our two-year old son has a 103 degree fever. One trip to the pediatrician later (believe it or not, at a different location than our new hospital digs), a lovely diagnosis of early strep throat. Prescribed antibiotics would do the trick, but not without a missed day of daycare for Owen and work for either me or my wife ... as it turns out, both of us. By Thursday evening of that week, I am not feeling well at all. Given my son's diagnosis, I thought it prudent to pay a visit to my doctor as well. Add me to the list of antibiotic-poppin' members of our household. No strep for me, but the virus was severe enough to knock me out of service for the remainder of the week.

That same night, shortly after the household went to bed, we were treated to a pretty substantial hail storm which woke us all from our infirmed slumber. In fact, one of the worst hail storms I've seen in this region in some time. The largest ice balls I noticed were close to golf ball -sized, but most were about the diameter of a quarter. As we would discover the next morning, quarter-sized hail isn't big enough to do damage to a Nissan Frontier, but it is sufficient to do a job on a 2009 Hyundai Elantra! Oh joy! My wife's car was dimpled with tiny dents on the hood, roof and trunk - hundreds of them.

Thank you very much, may I have another?

Okay, file this one under an addendum in the "no rest for the weary" category. Don't ask for another. You just might get it (I'm hearing a Daughtry song in my head ...)

I'm just now learning that we only got sporadic coverage nationally for some odd reason, but the afternoon of May 8th - a Friday - Mother Nature decided she wasn't done slappin' us around just yet and delivered a storm the likes of which I've never seen in this region. Did anyone outside the area hear about this or is it true we're invisible to the rest of the world, by and large? They've identified the storm in several ways, labelling it a microburst, macroburst, "inland hurricane," derecho and a mesocyclone, to name a few. Whatever moniker you choose, it was devastating to this region. In fact, seven counties in my immediate area (including my own) are now designated as state disaster areas. When I said at the beginning of this paragraph that I'm just now learning we didn't get much national coverage, that is because we've been without power in the better part of the region since Friday afternoon.

We still don't have power at my house as I'm typing this, 6 days later.

The loss of power is no big deal. An inconvenience at best, although I'll admit that a week without electricity is getting a little old. If you haven't been privy to what's happened here, though, we sustained devastation on the scale of a hurricane. Thankfully, a large loss of life didn't accompany the storm (which might explain the lack of national coverage as sensationalism tends to sell better), but it left its mark in a very substantial way. I won't elaborate on my own damage too much here (I did that throughout the last week on Twitter), but suffice to say that the back yard we once knew is gone. Five of the seven trees - we're talkin' big trees - in our back yard are now lying on our back yard in a horizontal position, ripped up roots and all. Thankfully, again, none of the trees fell on our house. Many neighbors weren't so fortunate. Everyone in the region is busy picking up the pieces now and will be for weeks. We'll do more at home when we have power again. They're telling us by Friday ...

So, that's been my last two weeks. What have you been up to?

Obviously, blogging has been ranking pretty low on the list of priorities of late, but as some semblance of normalcy returns, this will surely change. I've had to shelve a lot of short-term plans and projects, but there are a few long-term projects I'm still very excited about and will share more on in the days and weeks to come. For now, though, please continue to visit the Aleuminati and enjoy that thriving community - one that I'm proud to say has a life of its own apart from my day-to-day intervention. My consultant work at Kindling Spirits will, of course, continue as well. I missed this last Monday night's "Drink Wisely with the Beer Philosopher" event for obvious reasons (although Larry was keen on doing a candlelight version!) but I should return for the festivities on Monday, May 18th ... that is, unless something else happens between now and then. I've learned not to rule it out.

I'll update here as often as I can, but I can't place any real predictions of the frequency of new content here in the short-term. Don't worry, this site is far from going away. In fact, I'll be excited to announce some expansion of our reach very soon ... if not here, per se, then elsewhere.

Mysterious, huh?

In closing, thanks for reading my tirade as self-serving and beer-free as it was. I found it rather cathartic, really. I honestly hope things will begin to settle down a bit around here. We've been through quite a lot and I'm in no way seeking sympathy. Rather, I'm seeking some understanding and a viable rationale for my scarcity of late. We'll be back to your regularly scheduled beer soon, I promise!

No, I don't promise ... but I do hope!

Cheers. And I need a vacation. Nowhere prone to storms, please.

I Am A Craft Brewer Video

2009-04-24T12:45:00.000-05:00

In case you hadn't already seen it in the vast beer bologosphere, here is a rather impressive video presentation created by Stone Brewing Co.'s Greg Koch and the folks at Redtail Media. The video was originally shown at this year's Craft Brewer's Conference. This version features over 35 craft brewers and I understand that a "re-cut" version will add even more soon. We'll be sure and post the updated version here when it hits the 'net. Enjoy!

I Am A Craft Brewer from I Am A Craft Brewer on Vimeo.

Horsepower - The Big and the Small of it

2009-04-21T17:15:00.000-05:00

No matter what you might think of the take-over of Anheuser-Busch by the Belgian/Brazilian InBev, in terms of beer, most people still agree that the Budweiser Clydesdale's are one of the most impressive spectacles one can behold. These magnificent creatures have been the pride of the company for many years, and with the changing of the guard at 1 Busch Place, some wonder what will become of this proud tradition.

While this is decidedly a beer blog, I thought I'd take a small departure via Jeremiah McWilliams' Lagerheads blog at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch to shed a little light on this subject. Here's a link to his recent article on the subject.

Jeremiah's follow up post, right here, contains links to a few videos of the Clydesdale facilities and the horses themselves - particularly the biggest and the littlest members of the Budweiser Clydesdale family. Big Jake is a potential Guinness Book of Records holder (upon measurement confirmation) and Cooper is a newly born foal weighing in at a measly 150 lbs! These videos are really worth watching.

Like I said, despite the practical and philosophical differences many of us have with the new owners of A-B, at least the Clydesdale's still exemplify the majesty and tradition of a great American institution. Here's hoping that tradition continues into the future.

Enjoy the videos!

Twitter Heavy Hitters

2009-04-20T12:26:00.006-05:00

Stumbled across this site the other day and I thought it was kind of fun. Twitterholic.com ranks the top-rated twitter accounts over all, and by geographical area, based on followers. Don't know how legitimate (or accurate) it is, but it can be a fun little jaunt into narcissism if you're into that sort of thing.

How do you rank where you live?

I was actually a little surprised by my ranking. My personal account is rates #1 in Carbondale (Thank you, followers!) and my blog's feed tweets is showing up at #3.

The really funny thing is that I don't think I know any of the other top 10 tweeters in Carbondale, save for Chris at #2! Chris is a member of the Aleuminati, by the way, and he vows to catch up to me at #1 soon. I love a challenge ;)

Oh, of course, the Aleuminati has a Twitter account too. Feel free to follow! Better yet, join us! It's quick and free!

Beer Wars is over, but the battle continues

2009-04-17T07:18:00.004-05:00

After having sifted through 64 new email messages in my inbox this morning (many yet unread), largely due to the fact that I decided it would be fun to "live tweet" the play by play of the Beer Wars showing last evening on Twitter, I thought I'd post my post-movie commentary. I have intentionally avoided reading the comments of other beer writers, bloggers and tweeters (?) until I get my own take on things published here. I don't want my opinion colored by anyone else's slant on the movie. I have a strong suspicion, though, that I'll find I'm in good company with regard to my over all assessment. Whether this is a good thing or a bad thing is left to the reader. I'm no movie critic, but here goes.

I can't say that my Beer Wars experience started off with much of a bang. My wife, Erin, and I arrived at the theatre about 10 minutes before showtime and I was struck with how sparse the theatre was as we talked in. Basically, it was the theatre employees ... and the two of us. I don't know that my preconceived notion of how many would attend this film was at all accurate, but I certainly expected at least a small crowd. Once we entered the actual showing, I turned back around and checked the sign to make sure we were in the right place ... I was staring at a room full of empty seats at 5 minutes till 7PM.

The theatre remained vacant, apart from Erin and I, for the remainder of the showing. Ouch.

The film began with a live introduction segment featuring a rather "deer in headlights" Anat Baron, trying to read from a teleprompter that apparently wasn't actually teleprompting. This isn't in any way her fault, of course, but it did seem to be a bit of a harbinger of things to come. After having stumbled through this painfully awkward intro segment, the film commenced ... sort of. Being a documentary-style film on a tight budget, I certainly didn't expect to be blown away with Pixar-esque graphics and Hollywood-level production quality, but I have to say I did expect a little more than what the movie actually delivered. We were introduced to a cartoon character version of Anat giving us a synopsis of her impetus for creating Beer Wars.

The film itself wasn't horrible, but it was -cinematically-speaking - rather choppy and disjointed and I was left wondering exactly where the film was going most of the time. All in all, I'd say that the direction of the film, by and large, lacked a clear vision or purpose. Rather, we were treated to a somewhat random set of mini-segments highlighting everything from Anat's history with Mike's Hard Lemonade (relates to beer, I'm not sure how), snippets and sound bites from various beer-industry notables and the like before the film came into a little bit more focus on our two main protagonists in the film - Sam Calagione from Dogfish Head and Rhonda Kallman, co-founder of the Boston Beer Company (Samuel Adams) turned peddler of New Century "Moonshot" - a caffeine-infused party beer.

Put simply, for my money far too much time was spent following Rhonda around the country and witnessing her numerous rejections for capital to get her party beer off the ground. I have to confess I don't know much about the beer, and from the description of it I don't particularly care to, but given the fact that Rhonda Kallman is not a brewer herself, I could only assume she's trying to sell an "idea", leaving the actual brewing of the beer to be contracted out to the first comer who will fork over the capital to back her concept. Being, admittedly, a devoted craft beer supporter I found this to be a slightly odd focal point for the film. Rhonda's aim seemed diametrically opposite the stated goals of a brewer like Sam Calagione. Perhaps this was Anat's intent, to juxtapose the two disparate ideologies but it didn't come off very effectively in my view.

Although the film spent more time on Mrs. Kallman (for some strange reason), the segments on Sam Calagione were a bright spot in an otherwise disconnected, and potentially boring, film. The format of the features on Sam weren't qualitatively different than those about Rhonda, but Sam is a more compelling personality and his charisma on film was a saving grace. I found myself wishing we could see more of Dogfish Head's operation and the philosophy behind Sam's success. Having read his "Brewing up a Business" book and having seen Sam in action, the film would have been better served by really focusing in on his passion for beer. A passion that really captures the essence of what makes the craft beer industry unique. A concept that narrator, Ben Stein, would unsuccessfully try to grasp during the post-film live Q&A, but more on that in a moment.

A lot of time was also given to discussion of the politics of beer, and the three-tier system in particular. There was a decided bias (not necessarily unfounded) against the current system and it was made clear that the system that was implemented after Prohibition to thwart monopolies in the beer industry has now become a tool by which the big brewing interests stay on top and keep the little guy down. Again, a little juxtaposition here - folks like Jim Koch (of Sam Adams), Sam Calagione, Greg Koch (Stone Brewing Co.) and Dick Yuengling are the little guys, struggling in the shadow of the giants, and trying by hook or by crook to stay afloat and grow where the sun don't shine. Again, I understand the contrasts, but this film just never solidified the classic protagonist / antagonist roles with any real success.

After the film, we were greeted by narrator, Ben Stein (yes, that Ben Stein), who quite simply couldn't have appeared any more put out to be there than he did. After a few more awkward mis-cues with video clips and the occasional "oops, the mic is still on" kind of moments, we get to the live panel Q&A. Sitting in a semi-circle, Ben, Charlie Papazian, Greg Koch, Sam Calagione, Rhonda Kallman, Maureen Ogle, Todd Olstrom and Anat Baron square off. For the most part, Ben Stein's questions seemed to all consist of variation on "why do you do what you do?" Truly riveting stuff. Stein was just plain checked-out, it seemed, and on a couple of occasions he interrupted a panelist who was answering one of his rather feeble questions to have another panelist answer the same question. I think Todd Olstrom was cut off mid-sentence at least twice. He didn't even get to respond to a video clip of him directly blasting Rhonda Kallman's Moonshot beer. Only Maureen Ogle - a noted beer historian and author - sat between the two on the panel.

Again, awkward.

In fact, awkward sums up the entire experience for me. Awkward to sit in an empty theatre, awkward watching the rough, unrehearsed live segments truly bomb, and awkward sitting through what I feel like could have been a viable film given a little more focus and intent. Let me say this, in closing. I have had nothing but positive interactions with the film's creator and director, Anat Baron. We've exchanged emails and she's familiar with this blog and the Aleuminati. I'm sure she's a very nice person and a good film director. Like I said before, I'm no trained film critic, but I do know what works and what doesn't as a consumer. This film, despite the fact that I really, really wanted it to, just didn't work. I hope Anat will continue to pursue her projects and aspirations with regard to beer, but wanting a film to be good doesn't make it so. I've got to be honest and forthright about it - as hardcore a beer guy as I am, I found it a little difficult to sit through.

Beer Wars, the movie, is over but the battle for the hearts, minds and palates of American beer drinkers continues. I'd hoped this film would be a powerful weapon to increase interest and awareness of the beer industry (particularly craft beer), but instead it was a slightly misguided, dud.

Random Acts of Beer

2009-04-10T07:39:00.001-05:00

The next couple of weeks are shaping up to be busy ones where beer is concerned for the 'ol Beer Philosopher.

Tomorrow, Saturday April 11th, I'll be bottling my most recent batch - a monster Brown ale/Porter weighing in at 9.8%ABV when I racked to the secondary a couple of weeks ago. This particular beer has been sitting on American oak chips that have been soaked in a nice, local Chambourcin. If that isn't enough of a twist, I also decided to exclusively use glacier hops in this batch, with three seperate hop additions during the boil (60 min, 30 min and at flame out) I don't have the numbers in front of me, but I believe I ended up right at 60+ IBUs ... a lot for a typical brown or porter, admittedly, but this isn't a typical brown or porter! I'm very anxious for this one to bottle condition for a while and mature. For what it's worth, it smells wonderful right now. We'll see in another month or so.

This coming Monday, April 13th, I'll be back at Kindling Spirits for the "Drink Wisely with the Beer Philosopher" night - an informal Q&A session from 6PM - 8PM where I'll be available to answer any beer-related questions customers might have or just hang out and sample some great craft beer. If you get a chance, please stop in and say hello! I'm really encouraging folks in the southern Illinois area to support this terrific new business and help keep better beer right here in our own back yard ... our formerly beer-challenged back yard, I might add! If you're a true fan of great craft beers from the likes of Avery, Bear Republic, Bell's, Dogfish Head, Flying Dog, Hoppin' Frog, Lagunitas, Ommegang and many others, Kindling is the place in our immediate area to find them. Stop in and tell 'em the Beer Philosopher sent ya!

On Saturday, April 18th, I'll be heading up to Maplewood for the Schalfly Beer Repeal of Prohibition party. Last year's event featured several craft breweries from Indiana, along with a wide range of Schlafly beer of course. This year's festivities will include some notable craft breweries from Tennessee. See my previous post for more details on this event or click on the link above. Last year was pretty chilly; I'm hoping this year will be a bit warmer.

The next day, Sunday, April 19th, I'll be heading to Ste. Genevieve county, Missouri for a visit to the Charleville Vineyards and Microbrewery with some friends. If you haven't visited or heard of Charleville, you might want to plan a visit. Not only is the scenery in this vineyard-laden part of the state breathtaking, but the beers that this little microbrewery produces are really quite good. I especially enjoy their English-style barleywine and Hoptimistic IPA.

Lastly, the "Drink Wisely" Q&A I mentioned taking place at Kindling Spirits is now a regular weekly event. So if you can't make it out this week or next, don't worry. Stop by when you can, say hi, and purchase some fine craft beer right here in southern Illinois. Finally!

Cheers!

Beer and Philosophy ... in Romanian

2009-04-07T07:26:00.001-05:00

So this is kind of fun. I was recently contacted by an Aleuminati member from Romania who runs a beer blog over there called PAUZAdeBERE. Romeo Semeniuc is his name, and he requested an interview for his site. I agreed and the text below is the content of that interview, translated from Romanian to English ... sort of. While the "spirit" of the interview is intact, Google did some funny things to many of the specific word translations making for a bizarre, yet entertaining, read.

Thank you to Romeo for his interest and please visit his website and help him support good beer in Romania!

__________________________________________________________________

I met the philosopher Beer, the real name Shawn Connelly, only in cyberspace, being the founder of online community "The Aleuminati - the [not so] secret society of beer drinkers. Shawn got my attention especially by encouraging "Drink with wisdom, so I proposed an interview for PAUZAdeBERE.info. Look what came out:

PAUZAdeBERE.info: Shawn, I met Beer Advocate, Beer Beer Vanatorul or sommelier. Why Beer philosopher?

Philosopher Beer: Name philosopher Beer has a history apart. Friends, but my wife always said that I thought a lot of beer to drink up. Coincidence or not I have a BA in Philosophy, so I combined the two occupations thinker + Beer = beer philosopher.

PAUZAdeBERE.info: Benjamin Franklin said "Beer is proof caDumnezau loves us and wants to be happy." That means the beer is materialeizarea democracy: I like to tell BERECRATIE. I like to tell BERECRATIE. Ethics is for fans of beer to be registered Hobbies? (I refer here to BeerHnter or BeerSomelier)

Philosopher Beer: Wow, that question. First, I do not want to open a dispute on the fact that those words are really his Benjamin Franklin, although they are too often attributed to him. Whether this gives me a sense of joy every time I hear it zicere. I also like very much and the concept of beer as democracy materialized. Clearly that beer is a reprezentatn freedoms and ideals of democracy, being near the beginnings and subsequent evolution. It is clear that match.

In terms of ethics or lack acesteaia regarding registration of the mark as a hobby I think you rather a brand. Mark is a brand created and subsequently is simply a business. People like Michael Jackson have been noted primarily as experts in the field has a great influence further, so their brand is to identify and trademark ii watch for those who would steal their identity. As far as I know, no one tries to register as a specific brand of beer. Beer itself, is de facto open source.

PAUZAdeBERE.info: Tia's registered mark BeerPhilosopher?

Philosopher Beer: Yes, of course. In these times, intellectual property or any nature is subject to attacks and theft in one way or another. I like to believe in mutual respect of ideas, but ideas and even subject to diversion.

PAUZAdeBERE.info: You can make beer with philosophy and philosophy without beer. What is more special to do philosophy beer?

BeerPhilosopher: Consider that making beer is a philosophy in itself. After a punt by the pragmatic, must contemplate the contents list of ingredients, how these various elements that meet in a marriage desavarasind beer then and how that will further this beer people (or in the case of beer made in house as presents family that was romance) I always like to say that "beer is needed to make beer." Staff are inspired by a good beer. Epicurista Part of me would say that the joy of beers savurarii purpose in itself, but beer is a good fuel for the best filosofari. Pentur me beer and philosophy are inseparable.

PAUZAdeBERE.info: What is your favorite beer you? But the philosopher?

Beer philosopher: I do not have a favorite beer or a favorite philosopher. I enjoyed too many beers and I have too many thinkers enchant you to nominate someone say. I always had a weakness for discipline and aesthetics. The concepts surrounding our sensory experiences and how they influence the world around us are closely related to the way that enjoy a beer or read a good thinker. Eventually, what is more sublime than the sensory experience a taste of quality? Engaged in this process all the senses, the tactile even if tasting is done as it should, and the thoughts and emotions are both. I'm pretty booked for the senses with Bud Light! I 'm kidding.

PAUZAdeBERE.info: Statistically speaking, Romania is in the first 10 EU countries in terms of beer consumption per capita. Including tourists appreciate beer here. You had the chance to try any beer a Romanian?

Philosopher Beer: So far not yet. I tasted beers from all over the world, but I remember have been Romanian. Sorry to say, but I promise that will fix.

PAUZAdeBERE.info: In Romania, the specific literature is dominated by books about wine. Books beer are very few, often being brought from Europe and USA. There is but a segment cititaori who prefer to buy directly from Amazon or eBay. What books of beer you have attention and you want to recommend passionate beer in Romania?

Beer philosopher: Hmmm ... where to begin? Recently I read an extraordinary book, a comparison between beer and comes asemnari and contradictions: "Grape vs. Grain" by Charles Bamforth. It is an excellent work comparative civilization will go the 2 drinks. May "Ambitious Brew" by Maureen Ogle, a depsre fascinating true history of American beer. I do want to watch classic Papazian Complete Joy of Homebrewing and Extreme Brewing by Saturday Calagione.

PAUZAdeBERE.info: Thanks for your time and Good luck!

Philosopher Beer: Thanks for orportunitate! Cheers!

Party Like It's 1933!

2009-04-06T17:05:00.002-05:00

The 2009 Repeal of Prohibition Beer Festival will be celebrated at the Schlafly Bottleworks in Maplewood, Mo on Saturday, April 18th from 12N - 5PM. This year's festivities will include three notable breweries hailing from Tennessee - Blackstone Brewery, Boscos and Yazoo Brewing Company - in addition to the wide variety of fine Schlafly beer, good food and live music on-site.

A repeal of prohibition festival in April, you say?

Yep. And why not. Sure, the ratification of the 21st Amendment to the constitution, which repealed prohibition at a federal level, didn't actually happen until December 5th, 1933 but who wants to wait that long to celebrate that glorious day? Besides, it would be too cold outside to enjoy the event. Although, if memory serves me, last year's event was pretty dog gone chilly for an April afternoon and several of us took to huddling around a bonfire (sans liquor casks) to keep warm.

This year, I'll dress like it's December even though it'll be the middle of April. Live and learn ... and drink better beer in freedom! Here's to the 76 years it's (almost) been since our beer was given back to us.

Hope to see a few of you there. For ticket information, please visit the Schlafly Beer website.

Kindling Beer Dinner - A Recap

2009-04-06T07:30:00.003-05:00

A terrific time was had by all on Saturday evening at Kindling Spirits for the inaugural Belgian Beer Dinner. During the planning stages for this event, it was determined that we would be satisfied if between 12-15 people attended ... by my count, we drew somewhere close to 35! Thank you very much to those who came out and enjoyed five courses and five unique Belgian (or Belgian-style) beers!

Needless to say, I was very happy with the turnout, especially considering this will go a long way toward proving the viability of this type of event - and really this type of a business - in Southern Illinois. Being a native southern Illinoisan, I'm aware of the fact that the local populous, by and large, tend to be a rather casual bunch. Generally speaking, many don't RSVP events, or if they do, they don't show when the event rolls around. Given that this inaugural event was not a pre-pay situation, I initially had my misgivings. I now have to apologize for my skepticism and re-establish my faith in my fellow man.

A little.

I greatly enjoyed the food and beer, of course, but I equally enjoyed meeting a lot of new people. It's always fun to meet people for the first time that read the blog or are members of the Aleuminati. There's just something to putting a face with the avatar ... in that regard, thank you to Mike Sheridan and Charlie Brinza (and friends) for attending.

Charlie is with the Amalgamated Brewing Co. - the driving force behind both the Rotten Apple in Grafton, IL and The Stable in St. Louis - and has invited us up to check out the facilities soon. This is, as I told him, something I've been meaning to do anyway. Charlie tells me that their beers are almost ready to go (all lagers, right out of the gate!) and there are plenty of "guest" beers on tap in the meantime. I'm looking forward to making it in soon ... who knows, maybe the weekend of the Schlafly Repeal of Prohibition Festivities in Maplewood.

Thank you, too, to many of my local readers, friends and associates for helping fill the place and make Saturday an absolute blast. Kevin and Amanda, James and Lisa, Rob, and fellow local blogger, Dave More, and his friend Jo. Finally, I'd be remiss not to thank the fine folks at Kindling for their hospitality, friendship and talents - Diane, Crystal, Sue, Larry ... you guys are a class act!

I'm in your corner, just like I'll be in your door a lot here on out!

Okay, without further ado, here is a recap of the menu to enjoy along with each course captured in photo form courtesy of Dave More. The starter course, which I missed because I was jabbering about the beer we paired with it, was a very nice tray of fruits, cheeses, salami and a Bruscetta bread appetizer that was amazing. In an effort to start things of big, we paired the well-known Belgian strong golden ale, Duvel, with the starter. The dryness and high carbonation of the Duvel was (I'm sure) a nice counter balance to the rich, fatty character of the cheeses and the sweetness of the fruit,leaving the palate clean and ready for the second course.

The second course (and my first) was a fabulous green leaf salad drizzled with a slightly sweet and tart vinaigrette dressing. The salad also contained candied walnuts, as I recall, adding a touch more sweetness to the course. If that weren't enough to prepare the mouth for the more savory courses to come, the salad course was paired with the Belgian fruit beer, Fruli - a rather sweet, strawberry-laden witbier that complimented the salad well and kept things light, especially after the richer, more highly alcoholic, starter course.

Next was the soup - a dairy and beer-based cheese soup that was rich, flavorful and quite filling. The soup was expertly seasoned and really proved to be an effective transition course for the main course to follow. The soup was prepared with, and accompanied by, the Belgian-made Scotch ale, De Silly Scotch Silly. Despite the French name, this beer was neither French, nor silly. The malty, molasses-like sweetness of this beer, right up front, provided a good contrast to the savory flavors dominant in the soup. Highly carbonated for a Scotch ale, this beer also managed to cut through the richness of the soup fairly well and leave the palate clean enough to be readied for the next course. A nice pairing.

The main course was a perfectly cooked (hard to do in this quantity, I'd wager) beef tenderloin with steamed vegetables and garlic mashed potatoes. Another expertly prepared dish worthy of an equally excellent beer. We didn't disappoint. For this course, we chose to pair the tenderloin with the only American-brewed Belgian of the night - Brewery Ommegang's Abbey Ale - a very nice dubbel style ale that matched very well with the beef, providing a hint of dark fruity sweetness to offset

Finally, we were treated to a decadent dark chocolate cake (compliments of Diane, I'm told)with drizzled chocolate and strawberries. The dark, intense chocolate flavor was paired with a really unique fruit beer from Brouwerij Van Honsebrouck called Kasteel Rouge - a Belgian quad, I think, infused with real dark cherry juice. This combination made for a terrific finish to a terrific dinner throughout.

If you haven't made it in to Kindling Spirits, Food & Florals yet, do yourself a favor and stop by. Besides the best beer selection in Southern Illinois, they also offer a vast array of wines (including local), spirits, hard ciders and various other treats. They'll be offering lunch soon too! I've been fortunate enough to sample quite a few items from the Kindling kitchen and I don't think you'll be disappointed at all. If you're "here for the beer," don't worry, we'll do another beer dinner (any ideas for a theme?) in the near future.

Belgian Beer is Near

2009-04-03T07:29:00.003-05:00

Just a last minute reminder that it might not be too late to get in on the terrific Belgian beer dinner at Kindling Spirits, Food & Florals tomorrow night if you've not RSVP'd already!

The last time I looked, the guest list was filling fast, but I'm sure the good folks at Kindling will be willing to accommodate you if you'd still like to attend the dinner. As a reminder, the night will consist of a 5-course dinner, with each course being paired with a different Belgian beer chosen to either compliment or contrast the course (see photo).

I'll be there to help "walk through" each course and explain a little bit about each beer style, its history and the rationale behind the pairing.

For those die-hard NCAA basketball tourney fans, we'll have the games on the big flat-screen as well, so you won't have to miss the tourney ... or the beer!

Tickets are $35/person and the dinner will begin at 7PM, Saturday, April 4th. Make your last minute RSVP call to Kindling at (618) 985-2226 TODAY!

Kindling Spirits, Food & Florals is located at 1420 Main Street in Crainville, IL (just off of Hwy 13 W).