Blog (sort of) Abroad: Chicago

I took my first trip to Chicago this week, and took in two of that city's institutions: the Cubs and Goose Island Brewery. I've had Goose Island beers before, but I really wasn't aware that they brewed so many diverse styles. After arriving in Wrigleyville, we headed over to the company's brewpub on North Clark Street, about a 1/2 block from Wrigley Field.

First up: I tried the Honker's Ale, which is listed in their "session" beer section and is a pale ale. I very much enjoyed this beer: very smooth maltiness that provides a good background for the "C" hops. I could have stayed with this beer all night long, except for the fact that they had so many other beers to try!

One of my friends, "K" had the Green Line Pale Ale, while "D" had the Nut Brown Ale. I chose the latter for my second beer. It was what you would expect a nut brown ale to be, malty with just enough hops (Fuggles I think or some derivative).It was pleasant enough, although I thought that the diacetyl was a more than what is recommended for the style.

Food-wise, we went with nachos with beef and an order of buffalo wings. The plate of nachos were HUGE. I took a picture, but it didn't come out very well. The wings were very good, too.

Following this, we headed over to Wrigley Field to see the Cubs take on the Colorado Rockies. If you are a baseball fan and haven't been to Wrigley Field, you have to go. You won't regret it. One of the most appealing things about the ballpark is that it really is in a neighborhood, with plenty of bars and restaurants for the crowds.

We had very good seats, we sat in the first row in section 129, which is along the first base side. (Interesting note #1: the Cubs' dugout is on the third base side, rather than the first base side, which is more common. The only other team I know that used to do this were the Baltimore Orioles, when they played in Memorial Stadium.)

(Interesting side note #2: we actually heard an usher address a patron as "gimpy." I'm hoping that he was a regular or something.)

At the ballpark, I was advised to bypass the usual mass-produced swill and order "Old Style." Guess what? It pretty much tastes like mass produced swill. I'm probably offending someone. The website says the beer is "authentically krausened--" that is, fermented using the yeast from previous brewing--but I couldn't tell the difference. It's actually brewed by the Pabst Brewing Company.

Following the game, we returned to the Goose Island Brewery, but we were pretty much done since we had been up since 4am. "K" and I returned to the beers that we had drank earlier that evening: "D" was more adventuresome and had a Pere Jacques. It was in the style of a strong Belgian Ale. It was ok, but it was a little too boozy for my taste.

All in all, a very good trip. If I get out there again, I'd like to take the Chicago Beer Tour, which gets great reviews on TripAdvisor. 

Beer Review: Heavy Seas Dubbel Cannon

Happy Easter! Yet another day for the rabbits and bunnies in my neighborhood to continue destroying my yard. The only difference is that they pay us back in candy and chocolate eggs on this day.

We hosted a somewhat atypical Easter dinner. Rather than simply buy a honey-baked ham, I grilled some kebabs and served those. Luckily, the weather held and it was a good day (with the exception of some drama in morning). I figured that pretty much any beer would go with this table, so I selected Heavy Seas Dubbel Cannon, which was released just a week ago. I also picked up a six-pack of Peg Leg Imperial Stout, which I'll review later this week.

Dubbel Cannon is a "Belgian Style IPA," and according to the label is a variation of Heavy Seas' Loose Cannon but using a dubbel yeast. I should have purchased some Loose Cannon to see if I could tell if the malt bills were identical. Unfortunately, I didn't read the description until after I was home.

The beer pours with a rich, thick-bubbled mostly white head that remains at least through the glass I'm currently drinking (more than 15 minutes now since I poured). The color is a clear copper. Unlike many other IPAs, the aroma is not overly hoppy but somewhat subdued. At the same time, you don't get that raisin/plum aroma of a dubbel.

Taste is nice compromise between an IPA and a Belgian beer...not sure if I can really taste the dubbel flavors. Hops are understated, and really enhance the maltiness of the beer. I'm not sure what hops are used, but I do not believe they are any of the "C" hops (Cascade, Chinook, etc), though I am not an expert. The mouthfeel is about what you would expect from an IPA. It has a pleasant aftertaste, a combination of the hops and the Belgian flavors.

 This is a very good beer; indeed, it is already among my favorites of Heavy Seas; Peg Leg, my other purchase of the weekend is the other. (Note: I apologize about the orangish tint of my photos. I don't have the best light in my basement.)

Saturday Night Special: Stone Brewing Company's Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale

I had noble intentions on Saturday: repeat the previous weekend's event of pairing a beer with good cuisine. But the weather really got in the way of things. Because of other events that day (my son's baseball games) I wasn't going to have time to cook. So we had resigned ourselves to eating out. My intention was to go to a pretty good restaurant and make sure I had a good beer. Unfortunately, the terrible weather cancelled the games and it was so bad out that we didn't want to travel far for dinner. So we left it up to my son to pick (which can sometimes be a bit dangerous, but he had earned it with a good report card). He picked a Japanese steakhouse near our home. Out went the beer pairing idea!

Not that the food was bad--it wasn't, just your typical teppanyaki--but a good beer selection they do not have. For some reason, I got a Leinenkugel Summer Shandy, which I instantly regretted. Just not a good beer. Did not go with my meal (filet mignon and shrimp, teppanyaki-style) at all. It really just tasted like hard lemonade, and not particularly good one. 

After leaving the restaurant, I wasn't particularly satisfied with my beer choice, so I stopped by a liquor store on the way home (not my usual liquor store). I picked up Stone's Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale, which was served in a bomber.

Now, it has been awhile since my last glass of Arrogant Bastard, but the Sublimely reminded me a of that brew: pours with a thick beige head, strong hop presence apparent on first pour, and a dark mahogany color. There was some malt presence at first, but the hops (I don't know what variety: not Cascade or Chinook, something earthier but not noble) are what really come through. Rather than fade out, the hops really come through in the finish, and leave a somewhat strong aftertaste. Not unpleasant, just strong.

I couldn't really decide what grade to give the beer. I think it would be great with BBQ or another grilled meat (though not chicken)--something smokey which I think could stand-up to the hops. Another idea: perhaps something Indian or Thai, where the spiciness and bright flavors of those cuisines would contrast with the dark flavors of this beer.

Over the course of this week, I'll try to plan a meal and pair it with an appropriate beer. Any suggestions?

Heavy Seas Dubbel Cannon Release Party

One of Lager On!'s intrepid reporters made his way out to the Heavy Seas Dubbel Cannon Release Party on Thursday, April 14th at Victoria's Gastropub in Columbia, MD. Overall, it sounds like it was a great, very well attended event. Below are his impressions.

Beer Impression: This is a very nice Belgian IPA, with a slight American twist (hoppy). It is unfiltered and has a nice dark amber color. The beer has a solid malty backbone with the wonderful tropical fruitiness of a Belgian ale and nicely layered with some spicy hops. Complex and delicious.

I sampled the cask conditioned version which one HS brewer stated wasn't ready. Thus, it was slightly under carbonated which resulted in a little head that dissipated too quickly. I think this contributed to a bit more sweetness then appropriate, but I found enjoyable.

Sounds like this is a beer worth waiting for!

The event: The restaurant and bar were packed. Victoria's Gastropub and Heavy Seas did a good job marketing the event, parking was very difficult, seating was impossible at the beginning. Joel and I almost gave up. Glad we didn't. At about 7:30, there was some breathing room, and a table. We spoke with Tristan Gilbert (one of the brewers) and his fiancé for about 30 minutes. Topics spanned a very wide range, from the growth rate of hops to why the ABV in beer effects to exponentially instead of linearly. It has to do with the amount of sugar and what slack your kidney can deal with while your liver is dealing with the alcohol. Interesting. We spoke with Tori (VGP owner) and I told her that she needed a stammtische.

For those whose German might need a little work, Stammtische is essentially a regular get-together (I had to look it up).

I'd like to give a special shout-out to @HoyaFan_1994 for going to the event and writing this up for me, and for the pictures. Also, thanks to Victoria's for putting on this event!

Dawson's Liquors Beer Dinner at Adams Ribs

Looks like Dawson's Liquors of Severna Park has come with details for their Stone Brewery Beer Dinner at Adam's Ribs.

Place: Adam's Ribs North (same building as Dawson's)
Date: Monday, May 2nd
Time: 6:30 pm

Looks like there are four courses. Reserve early! With the quality of the food and the quality of the beers---they're starting off with Vertical Epic 10-10-10--space will go quickly!

Beer Events and Baseball (or other sporting events)

In addition to my wife and kids, I love beer and baseball. Particularly the Baltimore Orioles. It's great when there are events in the local area that enable me to enjoy all three at the same time. Fortunately, there are a number of great events out there that do combine all three!

I'm not talking just getting the $8 special at Camden Yards, the Bowie Baysox (the Orioles' Double A affiliate) actually host beer dinners each month at their ballpark, Prince Georges Stadium. A few years ago I went to one where Stoudts Brewery (from Adamstown, Pennsylvania) was the brewery represented. The beer was excellent, and the overall experience was very good, since we got to watch the game from the lounge in the upper deck.

While it wasn't your typical beer dinner (it was a buffet, rather than a five or six course meal), I appreciate the effort the Baysox and their staff put into putting it on. I can't quite remember what the all the beers were or the food they served (it was almost two years ago!)  but I'm glad they're continuing to put these on.

The full calendar and details of the monthly dinners can be found here, but here's the ones coming up:

April 16: Festa d'Italia (Bonus: This is Betty White Tribute Night!)
May 12: Mexican Cantina
June 15: Salute to the Irish

I can't find which breweries or specific beers are going to be served, but I imagine that they will be themed accordingly.

I'm not sure if other minor league parks are doing similiar things--I checked online and none of the other teams in Maryland appear to offer them--but it seems like a good idea. I also checked to see if Coca-Cola Field, home of the Phillies' Triple A affliate the Lehigh Valley IronPigs offered beer dinners but they do not. That seems like a perfect match, since Pennsylvania is home to many fine breweries (the Allentown and Bethlehem Brew Works in the Lehigh Valley stand out in my mind, but there are plenty of others).

Favorite Homebrewing Books

Just as there are a lot of books and resources for learning about beer, there are nearly as many dealing with homebrewing. My homebrewing library, while far from complete, holds a number of books that I consider essential for the homebrewer.

How to Brew by John Palmer. This is a must-have book for both the beginning and the advanced homebrewer. Palmer has walk-throughs for extract brewing (what is normally the first step in homebrewing) and all-grain brewing. In addition, he explains the science behind mashing for the layman. I've only made one of his recipe (Oak Butt Brown Ale) which I made following his all-grain directions (it was my first all-grain batch, and turned out quite good). His appendices also have clear-cut directions for building things like mash tuns.

Extreme Brewing by Sam Calagione. Yes, that's Sam Calagione from Dogfish Head Brewery. A lot (but not all) of the recipes in here are of the high-alchohol, extreme flavor--hence the title, and many are from the DFH brewery themselves. Not as essential as the Palmer book, but still a very good book mostly for beginners. It's a high gloss production, a lot of good pictures but some consider it low in substance--for instance, all the recipes are extract based. Still, it does give a lot of good recipes. A friend made the "Round the World Tripel," and it was one of the best homebrews that I've ever had. One knock against it (and the Mosher book that I describe below) is that many of the recipes call for exotic (read hard to find or expensive) ingredients.

Radical Brewing by Randy Mosher. Mosher's book is more geared to the intermediate to the advanced brewer. That is, those who are at least partial mashing or doing all-grain brewing. It is possible to brew the recipes given using extracts, Mosher describes how very well. I've made at least two beers a dubbel and a porter if you must know) from this book, and both turned out pretty good.

Designing Great Beers by Ray Daniels. This is definitely directed to the advanced homebrewer: one who is making their own recipes and entering them into beer judging contests. Daniels conducts a statistical analysis of the winning or placing beers (by style) at the National Homebrew Competition for several years, and analyzes the grain bill, hop bill, and yeasts used. It also has some good history for each style.

In a nutshell, that's about half of of brewing library. Actually, maybe less--I've lent books out so I'm not really sure what else I have.

Beer and Food Review: Weyerbacher's Merry Monks

As promised. Last night (Saturday) I made a garlic shrimp pizza and wanted to pair it with a beer. I had a fairly definite idea of what I wanted the pizza to be like:

• White pizza, with a mixture of mozzarella and gruyere cheese;
• Shrimp cooked in garlic;
• Sliced garlic arranged over the pizza.

I had to make some concessions to ingredients we already had (some pepperoni that we had) and children. Our kids are pretty good eaters, but we worried that the sliced garlic might be too "spicy" for them. In the end I ended up mincing the garlic. (No complaints from the kids, by the way). I used the pepperoni on half the pizza. Overall it came out quite good. A picture is on the right.

The beer pairing I wasn't so sure about. I just wasn't sure what I wanted. In the end I ended up visiting my local liquor store which fortunately has a tremendous selection of craft beers. I knew I didn't want an IPA--the hops would have overpowered the shrimp and the gruyere. Likewise a weizen beer. My choices (in my mind at least) were a Belgian blond ale or a lager. I decided to go Belgian.

Enter Weyerbacher's Merry Monk Traditional Belgian Golden Ale. I've had Weyerbacher brews before and have always been impressed. I've had an opportunity to check out Beer Advocate: it rates a B on that site. I would agree. BA classifies it as a tripel rather than a Belgian golden ale--IMO, the difference between those styles (as defined in the BJCP style guide) are so minor I wonder that they are distinct styles. It is 9.3% alcohol by volume (ABV), so it isn't a light beer by any means.

My first impression upon popping the cap were that typical spiciness of Belgian yeasts, with some floral notes. Once I began pouring it, these became even more pronounced. The color is very pale yellow with a bright, dense white head with fine bubbles. It dissipated rather quickly though. As you can tell, I didn't have a goblet handy so used some pilsner-like glasses that I've had for years. I will attest that the serving temperature was correct (prob around 45 degrees).

The spiciness was apparent right away--and I knew that I had a tripel or golden ale. I disagree with at least one of the BA reviewers who said that it had a heavy maltiness--not so to my palate. There was also very little hop presence. (Note that according to the BJCP style guide, this is perfectly style appropiate.) It might have just been this bottle, but it didn't seem highly carbonated. Looking at this glass, you would think that it would have been very effervescent, but it didn't really seem that way. Or it could have been all the cheese and garlic in the pizza that made it seem less so.

Over all, I enjoyed my Merry Monk, although I probably won't pair it with a garlic, shrimp, and gruyere pizza again. The estery spiciness didn't really complement the pizza, at least to me. I should have gone with something a bit more delicate, like a wit beer.

Good Starting Points to Learn About Beer

What's there to know? Buy a six-pack, head home, open it and drink it. What else is there?

If you want to keep thing simple, that's probably enough. But beer is a fascinating beverage, both historically and chemically.

There are a lot of resources out there on the web, including the BJCP, Beer Advocate (though in my opinion, BA is not well suited to beginning beer lovers), and others. Books abound as well.

My favorite beer book by far is The Brewmaster's Table. Written by Garrett Oliver, brewmaster for The Brooklyn Brewery, it covers beer's ancient history (starting with the Sumerians I believe!) to the modern era--where beer diverged into the myriad of styles that we see today. This is where the book really gets interesting. Oliver covers the regions where these styles orginated. The real focus of the book is how the different styles complement foods. But the book is enjoyable on many other levels as well, and in my opinion can serve as an introduction to beer. I did a much more in-depth review of this book back on Homebrew Exchange, I'm going to see if I can't dig that up and post it.

The works of the late Michael Jackson (not the late pop singer) are also a good starting point. I have Michael Jackson's Beer Companion:Revised and Updated. This covers beers around the world. It's a bit pricey, and at one time was difficult to find. I think my wife got mine used. A smaller, more practical book by Jackson is the Eyewitness Companion Guide to Beer. This is a smaller, pocket edition that has short synapses on breweries around the world and their most popular brews.

Again, there are many books out there that will start you out on appreciating beer. Sometime down the road I will cover books and resources I've successfully used to homebrew.

Welcome to Lager On!

Welcome to Lager On! a blog where I'll be discussing one of my hobbies, homebrewing and beer.

Throughout the course of a week I typically get a couple of questions about beer, or a referral to try a beer. Most of my friends and acquaintances realize that I'm somewhat of a beer aficionado, and that I took and (barely) passed the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) to be come a Recognized beer judge. With two kids, I don't have as much time to judge or homebrew as I used to, but I still like to try different beers. Also, very occasionally I travel and get to sample local brews.

This is my second, more modest attempt at blogging about beer. I once co-administered a website called Homebrew Exchange. Unfortunately, life got in the way of administering that site, and one day I tried to login and found that hackers had taken it over. So we got rid of it.

While that was the (I hope) temporary end to my beer blogging days, I still manage to do some homebrewing and also to judge some local contests. And of course sample good beers wherever I might be.

Hope you enjoy my musings on what I believe is the most important beverage in the history of civilization.