Beer Style of the Week – Brown Ales – Week 8

Brown Ale was adopted and raised in the English countryside in the late sixteen hundreds to the gentile, yet proud Mild Ale family. He was a fire-roasted malt, and therefore required special care by dedicated brewers of the day. And he was very special indeed! Smooth and silky with a hint of smoke, sometimes nutty, and tad chocolaty, he was less hoppy than his Pale cousins and leaner than the Porters he ran with on occasions. He started his own family in the early 1700s. Continuing in his tradition of being Mild, he clung to his deep-routed belief that his family be brewed with 100% fire-roasted brown malts. Years passed as Brown’s offspring grew up and sought a life of their own. One married into the Hoppy family. They in turn adopted cute little Pale Malts into the hoppy brood. One was welcomed into the family of Porters. Alas, one of Brown’s offspring landed on hard times and fell into the hands of poorer and sometimes unscrupulous brewers. No longer fire-roasted, cheap malts added and sometimes dyed to look brown, it was a sad affair. In a short period of time cheap hybrids and offshoots of the fabled Browns became quite acceptable to the thirsty masses. Folks on a budget could have cared less. Any beer would do. The pure bred Browns were relegated to just a few loyalists of the day. But, as the old saying goes, what goes around comes around again. This is most true if you happen to be a worthy beer style.

The Brown Ale style (and that is varied) seems to be making a steady comeback in the hearts and minds of easy-drinking beer-lovers everywhere. Hail Brown!

Browns from the land of Origin

Newcastle Brown Ale from Scottish and Newcastle Brewery in Edinburgh, Scotland may be the Brown Ale that comes immediately to mind. At 4.7% ABV, it leans towards its Mild Ale roots.

Samuel Smith’s Old Brewery Nut Brown Ale – Tadcaster, England – 5% ABV

It pours a shiny nutmeg brown color with a fast-fading off-white head along with some webby lacing.

I love the nutty, earthy aroma at first pour. Sweet malty and tea-like smells mingle with a light whiff of fruit cup and bread dough. A very distant smell of cut green wood is noticed.

The flavors are incredibly uniform and tasty without any off tastes or weighted flavor profiles. Nicely balanced!

The nutty malty sweetness is tempered with tea-like, light citrus and a faint pear-like fruitiness. Mild alcohol fuminess peeks through in perfect harmony.

The mouthfeel is slick, not oily. A little buttery, not thick.

Delectable liquid brew!

Belgian Brown

Corsendonk Pater Abbey Brown from Oud-Turnhout, Belgium is a stronger Belgian-style variation of the Brown Ale. Bigger, bolder and sweeter than the English versions, this Brown supplies a fairly strong alcoholic punch. 7.5% ABV

Brown’s New England Ancestors

Smuttynose Old Brown Dog Brown Ale – Portsmouth, NH – 6.7% ABV

Is a nice Americanized Brown Ale with a bit more of an alcohol profile that your English version, yet true to form, has distinctive Brown roots. Quite good!

Shipyard Brewers Brown Ale – Portland, Maine – 5.4% ABV

The brown shoe polish color is true to the style. A foamy beige head rises fast and holds over the top. Fairly good retaining lace throughout.

Sweet malt and fruit bread smells, blend with a bit of citrusy and tea-like aromas. A faint whiff of peaty whiskey is perceived.

The earthy, peaty malt taste is upfront. A doughy wheat bread taste is followed with tea-like and fruit cup flavors. A little limey citrus and distant whiskey taste are ever present.

It's a fairly deceptively dry body, with just enough smoothness to make it gulpable.

Tell anyone in the UK that they are drinking an original brown ale and they won't bat an eye lash. Except for the slightly elevated alcoholic kick, there is no discernible difference.

Easy to Find in New England

Dogfish Head Indian Brown Ale – Milton, Delaware – 7.2% ABV

Now this is what a strong Brown Ale should taste like! I've always been partial to Brown Ales, but lately it seems, they're getting harder to find. Now this one comes along and raises the bar - so to speak - as to what the style can and should be (even if this particular one is substantially more potent - nearly a hoppy Baltic Porter, but a bit more sweet and subdued.

It pours a dark cordovan brown with a nice firm tan head on top. Lots of sticky lace clings to the side of the glass. The aroma is strongly of rich chocolate malt, coffee, floral hops and mildly of alcohol. The ample sweet malt body is rich in dark chocolate; crème brulee burnt top, fresh bread and faint touch of licorice. Grapefruit, mild lime and hint of metallic tang provide a nice bitter counter-balance to the malt. A pleasant warming alcohol seems to bring all together.

Browns are extremely versatile when pairing with all kinds of foods. For mild browns, consider creamy cheeses, or Swedish Meatballs, or sweet ribs. A nice Nut Brown will quell the heat of Spicy Chili. Stronger Browns go well with Hot Turkey and Gravy sandwiches and can be used in preparing Beef Stews. Try the Corsendonk Brown to make Beef Carbonade, the traditional dish of Belgium. Good stuff, Brown Ale!

So the Brown Ale is back and in many traditional and exciting new ways! The next time you pour yourself a Brown ale, give the glass a knowing nod and a friendly wink. Don’t worry, everyone in the room will understand.

Cheers!

Quote: “Life isn’t all beer and skittles; but beer and skittles, or something better of the same sort, must form a good part of every Englishman’s education.” – Thomas Hughes, English Lawyer/Writer (1822-1897)

New England beer-loving sports fans invade NYC…daily!

New England beer-loving sports fans invade NYC…daily!

There are Red Sox-loving, Yankee-hating beer bars in every town, large and small throughout New England, but where does the diehard boisterous fanatic from Sox Nation dare tread in the lower heart of Yankee Nation?

Professor Thom’s 219 2^nd Avenue, East Village NY! That’s wheyah!

Professor Jerry Thomas, as legend has it, is the "Father of the Cocktail and First Celebrity Bartender in America". Let’s just hope, for the sake of his soul, was a lunatic New England sports fan.

Half Beer bar, half Sports bar (with an in-your-face New England slant). Most everyone in the place are loudly routing for the Pats, Sox, Bruins or Celtics and lustily booing the Yankmees, Knicks and Rangers. You would think there would be silent indifference towards the Jets of New Jersey, but that is not the case. No sir! The J-E-T-S! - S-U-C-K!

You see, this sports bar is smack dab in the bowels of Lower Manhattan where real New England sports fans gather to mispronounce words with the letter “R” (ah), while enjoying a wonderful variety of fresh beer and good pub grub.

The bar and seating area is long and narrow. There are LCD screens all around, including some small ones for individual seating areas, plus a gigantic widescreen hanging on the back wall. The service is prompt and courteous (a real oddity considering the location).

The waitress memorized the beer list (see below), with the exception of not knowing which Bell's beer was on tap at the time. She rushed to the bar for confirmation! Our food (mostly from the appetizer menu) arrived tasty and hot. The Nachos were large enough for four hungry men. The hot wings were very spicy and had a near perfect crunchy, crisp skin and tender and meaty inside. The bar pizza was thin but crusty with a zesty sauce and plenty of well-tanned cheese on top. On a separate visit, we tried the Steak Sandwich and Chicken Quesadilla. Both were huge and delicious!

Here's the draft list:

Fuller's ESB

Delirium Tremens

Radeberger

Harpoon IPA

Harpoon UFO

Harpoon O Fest

Yuengling

Magic Hat #9

Guinness

Brooklyn Lager

Bell's Amber (ESB during my visit)

Ciders on Draft:

Ephemere Apple

Blackthorne Cider

Bottles:

Chimay

Duvel

Rogue Hazelnut Ale

Rogue Shakespeare Stout

Lindeman's Lambic Ales

Victory Golden Monkey

Bell's Two-Hearted Ale

Bell's Stout

And sad to say, the usual suspects from the Mass Mega-Swill brewers, who shall remain nameless, are taking up valuable tap space.

Upstairs is a turn of the century-style loft, featuring a 20’ vaulted ceiling, an oak and mahogany bar transplanted from the famous Mayflower Hotel, and a grand chandelier. It’s a great place to book for a medium-sized party.

One minor complaint of mine is that it can become rather crowded and the music gets cranked up a bit too much at times. So by the next morning, your head will be pounding, your eardrums aching and vocal cords stripped of their timber (especially after a close Sox/Yanks game.)

It is a bit unusual to hear the distinctive accents of so many Red Sox, Celtic, Bruins and Pats fans in attendance in this East Village sweet spot, but once inside its all-so-natural and oh so much fun!

Professor Thom’s

219 2nd Avenue
New York, NY 10003
(212) 260-9480

http://professorthoms.com/

Cheeahs!

Quote: “The waiter’s hands that reach

To each his perfect pint of stout

His proper chop to each.” – Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892)

Craft Beer is a very complex and sophisticated beverage!

So, what goes into the beer before it goes into you?

I have a friend, a wine-loving friend. Let’s call him Jacques (pronounced “jock”) Toutite (pronounced “too tight”).

Jacques Toutite is of the mistaken belief that wine is a far more complex and sophisticated beverage than beer. If he were a real person, he would have actually said so!

S'il vous plaît, Jacques! Not to start any debates with other wine “connoisseurs” (translation: blowing wind out one’s butt) -- there is no debate. Beer is by far more complex and diverse than wine. Don’t get me wrong. I like a nice glass of red wine on occasions, but to be frank, wine is sort of the simpleton of the alcoholic beverage family. “Duh, I’m wine. I’m made with mashed grapes and some yeast. I sit around in a dark vat (sometimes I get to go into another dark vat) until someone calls me wine. Do dee do dee do!”

Well, Jacques might say, “Zee grapes are subjected to many different soil and weather conditions. They must be harvested at the right time. Zee wine must undergo exacting fermentation conditions, including temperature and aging!”

Excusez-moi, Monsieur Toutite! It’s the same thing with beer, only there are more ingredients to deal with, and the fermentation processes is way more complex and exacting. Including your varietals and different blends, there are hundreds more distinct beer styles than wine styles, and within those distinct styles, there are more varieties, and within those varieties many more subtle and not so subtle differences. Thousands upon thousands of sub-varieties within all of the sub-styles. Hell, some brewers even add a little “complex” wine into their brewing vats.

Beer is so complex, yet so rewarding to research. It’s never-ending! You can be sure a new style is being created right now as I type! Yeah!

Well, what makes beer so complex? Why are there so many styles?

The Ingredients

Water – Simple rule: The cleaner and purer the water, the better the chance that the brewer can control the final outcome of his/her brews. Although lesser-quality water will be filtered and then purified by boiling during the brewing process, it’s only natural that clean, fresh spring water will lead to a beer without any unwanted flavors or odors. Some brewers prefer using mineral water, which will lend a distinctive taste to the beer. Some beers are made with natural hard water, some with natural soft water. Many of the old established breweries were built upon wells thousands of years old. The water from these particular wells provides unique chemical compounds containing natural salinity, calcium, iron or other minerals found nowhere else on the planet. If the brewer is a damn, he/she will take into account their water source and use that to their advantage to brew a distinctive high quality beer.

Barley Malt – The Body of Beer - The Color of Beer - The Sweetness of Beer - Malt may be regarded as the foundation on which beer is made. There are two-row barleys (two rows of grain per ear), and six-row barleys. Two-row is more expensive and is used to produce more of the traditional styles of beer, whereas six-row barley produces a rawer and sharper-edged brew. Brewers may use either or both to their advantage to brew beers of unique qualities. Malt, when prepared for brewing beer, is extremely sweet. The effort to prepare and rinse the processed barley results in the amount of sweetness in the finished product.

Hops are the natural counterbalance to malt’s sweet nature. The type of barley and the degree to which it’s roasted help determine the beer’s color and flavor. Generally, the longer you roast the barley, the darker the beer. The more malt you use, the more body your beer will have. Some specialty beers are brewed with wheat malt or oatmeal, or a dose of rye. German Light Crystal, Biscuit Malt and Pale Ale can impart flavors from lightly sweet to herbal to cereal-like. Medium-roasted malts such as Caramel, CaraVienne, or Munich impart a richer, fuller and nuttier taste. Chocolate, Roasted Barley and Black Patent Malt are among the many barley malts used in brewing dark beers, known for their coffee, molasses and chocolate flavors.

Lately we have noticed an influx of gluten-free beers made with sorghum. Now our gluten-intolerant friends can suffer beer hangovers just like us!

Alternate Malts and Adjuncts - Cheaply made beers may use corn (maize) or rice in place of the more expensive barley malts. Corn is also sometimes used solely as a clarifying ingredient, and sometimes to aid in the fermentation process, and in some cases, does not cheapen or adversely affect the taste of the beer. Grits, malt syrups, rice or dextrose sugars may be added to stretch the malt product. Wheat beers are generally 50% - 100% wheat, with varying degrees quantities and roasting times. Oats, though heavier and oilier in consistency than barley, are a fine additional choice for thick, sweet stouts.

All beers need some fermentable sugars to convert to alcohol. The Belgians for centuries have used candi sugar, an inverted sugar, to help fuel their ales in orbit. Honey, the main fermentable ingredient for Mead, has also been widely used as a fermentable for ale.

Hops – The word “hop” is shortened from the Anglo-Saxon, “hoppan” (“to climb”). Usually hops are the “Star” of beer. The sharpness, dryness and bitterness of a given beer are derived from the type and amount of hops used. Hops also serve as a natural beer preservative. In this brief guide the bitterness imparted by the hops may be defined as metallic, tea-like, resinous or citrus. The citrus types may be further clarified as grapefruit, lemon, citrus zest, or limes. Hops with high alpha acid percentages are bittering hops. The hops used for aroma and flavor contain a lower alpha acid percentage. These are known as finishing hops.

However, brewers do not always follow this generalized rule. By blending and mixing different hop varieties, the brew master can create beers with unique flavors and aromas. Hops for brewing may be in whole hop flowers (which, surprise, have a more pronounced flowery profile), compressed whole flowers, pelletized hop pellets or hop extracts. Target hops are the most popular hops in the UK. and Challenger, Kent Golding, Brewers Gold, Bullion, Fuggles are hops traditionally associated with the U.K. Centennial, Cascade, Chinook, Crystal, Mt. Hood, Galena, Nugget, Perle and Willamette are basically US grown (mostly in the Northwest) hops. Styrian, a Slovenian grown Fuggles-style hop is becoming quite popular worldwide. Tettnanger, a mild hop with wonderful floral aroma and the very sharp edged and spicy hop, Hallertau hail from Germany and perhaps the most well-known hop, Saaz come from the Czech Republic. Summit, Zeus and a hop named CTZ possess the highest percentage of Alpha Acid at around 18%. Galena and Nugget possess weigh in at around13.0%, while Crystal and Saaz contain the lowest Alpha Acids at 3.3% and 3.8% respectively. But don’t be fooled by the alpha acid rating of individual style hops in a particular beer, because when adding an abundance of a lower rated alpha acid hop, you can easily make up the difference and produce a very bitter and acidic brew.

Yeast – Beer yeasts transform malt sugars into alcohol. There are top-fermenting, or ale yeasts, which ferment at warmer temperatures. These are the oldest form of beer yeasts. Ales, some porters, stouts, Kölch and most wheat beers use top- fermenting yeasts.

Bottom-fermenting yeasts ferment at lower temperatures and are used to ferment the newer style (19^th century) lager beers, such as, Pilsners, Bock, Marzen, Oktoberfest and malt liquors. The invention of refrigeration in the 1880s revolutionized and greatly boosted the lager style. Serious brewers closely guard their yeasts strains, because they can maintain distinct, subtle yeast flavors and manipulate alcohol levels in a way that is very difficult to duplicate. Yeast can impart flavors and aromas ranging from citrus and cloves to sweet and astringent. Some specialty brewers allow wild, air-borne yeasts into the beer vats to create truly unique ale flavors. Trappist monks may be the foremost experts of wild yeast brewing techniques. One thing we can all appreciate about yeast is, they are cool little critters!

Now, keep in mind we haven’t even scratched the surface of all the methods and details of brewing a batch of any craft ale yet. Maybe that can be the focus of another article. But, now my head hurts from thinking too deeply and I am thirsty.

Cheers!

Quote: “Without question, the greatest invention in the history of mankind is beer. Oh, I grant you that the wheel was also a fine invention, but the wheel does not go nearly as well with pizza.” - Dave Barry

Beer Style of the Week - Spring Beers

Beer Style of the Week – Spring Beer – Week 6 of 52

We normally don’t need a lot of help welcoming in the spring, but there are those cold drizzly days where winter’s clammy grip is still felt deep in the bones. And one way sure way to counter this gloom is to sit back with some Spring Beer and let the foul weather run its course.

The Spring Beers of today are various off shoots of Europe’s Biere de Mars or Mars Beers. Several Bock beers such as Maibock or Helles Bock (from the Lager family) can easily slide into the Spring Beer family, although that style tends to find itself tapped in late May when springtime is in full blossom and the weather is warming. Geezers, (though now maybe I’m one myself by some standards) from the WW II generation were under the impression that bock meant “bottom of the barrel”. The real meaning of “bock” is literally billy goat. The name might have come about by the painful thoughts of the head-butting-like effects on the brain after a night of downing way too many amped up bocks. Another plausible explanation may be about an old pagan belief that the beer style was first brewed during the year of the goat. Traditionally, the Spring beers undergo a long fermentation of summer barley malt and fall hops throughout the winter. Spring Ales should be smooth and well rounded, as well as slightly strong (5.4% - 8.0% ABV). Double bocks and Eisbocks are a topic for a separate discussion.

A Taste of The Real Biere de Mars

Jenlain Biere de Mars – Brasserie Duyck – Jenlain, France - 5.4% ABV

750 dark green bottle. Freshness date is indecipherable.

Served in a Corsendonk goblet.

It pours a clean golden color with a snow-white head on top with loads of trailing and sticky lacing.

A refreshing smell of wildflowers spring forth. Smells of sweet malt and barn grains inch forward, as does a whiff of resinous hop and mixed fruit.

The taste is certainly in its own class. Bready malt, lightly sweet, with an edgy resinous and citrusy hop bite. A light taste of tart, un-ripened fruit cup lingers throughout.

It looks lighter than it actually is. The malty body is fairly rich, though the fine effervescence lends the illusion of a thinner-bodied ale.

This is a very refreshing brew with a clean finish. Goes well with any creamy cheeses and light poultry or pork dishes.

The Real Spring Things (German Mai Bocks)

Einbecker Mai-Ur-Bock – Einbeck, Germany – 6.5% ABV

Initially this brew comes across as a tad unruly with alcohol the dominant presence, both in aroma and taste. By the second, third and fourth gulps the hops begin to assert themselves and take center stage. The amber/orange color stands alone in the beer world. I had to keep looking at it and holding it to different lights and upgrading my initial appearance rating. The flavor profiles are extremely complex, that too required a raise in points. The ample malt body never achieves a platform of its own. It instead plays a wonderful supporting role to the competing stars. The off white head’s performance is marvelous, though brief. Einbecker, by the way, is the inventor of the bock style. Because I was unsure of my ability to accurately rate this unusual style beer with one bottle, I found it necessary to drink a second. Excellent decision if I do say so!

Hofbrau – Ur Bock – Munich, Germany – 7.2% ABV

16.9 oz. dark brown bottle. Served in a pint glass

It pours a deep golden amber with a full off-white head and a smattering of lacing.

A hay-like and sweet malty aroma dominates. A faint smell of citrusy and spicy hops is in the background.

Full bodied caramel and sweet biscuity malt lays a solid foundation for the citrus and spicy hops. A slight metallic taste develops late, as does a vodka-like alcohol hit.

Supposedly, this is a taste of an original style from 1614. Nice!

New England Spring Ales

Mayflower Brewing – Spring Hop Ale – Plymouth, MA

12 oz. dark brown bottle. Packaged on Date stamped on label.

Served in a SA etched fluted glass.

It's a deep coppery amber color with a 1" fast-fading white head. Some sticky and trailing lacing.

Almost IPA-quality resinous hop nose. Some citrusy and flowery aromas vie for attention, as does a light smell of rye toast.

The taste reminds me of some rye ales at first gulp. The edgy hop bitterness gives way a bit to a honey and malty sweetness.

A very tasty brew and a nice beer to welcome in the spring.

Will pair nicely with grilled burgers and brats.

Longtrail – Pollenator Spring Ale – Bridgewater Corners, VT – 4.6% ABV

12 oz. brown bottle. No freshness date notice.

Served in a Samuel Adams etched fluted lager glass.

It pours a lovely golden amber color with a solid 2 finger off-white head and some sticky rings of lacing.

The aroma is pale ale all the way. Hoppy citrusy and dried hay smells rise out and fade rather fast.

The taste falls into the pale ale family as well.

Cutting citrus and metallic hop bitterness are ever so slightly tempered with English malt.

It's dry and lightly sweet and finishes clean.

I don't know why it's a Spring Ale. The brewer can call it anything he or she wishes, but there's nothing that shouts "Spring" about it.

Narragansett Bock – Narragansett Brewing Co. – Providence, RI

16 oz. can. No freshness date, except for some code stamped on the bottom.

Served in a tall Harpoon Nonic glass.

The color is a brassy amber with a fast-fading white head. Thin wisps of webby lacing cling to the glass.

A grassy, wet hay smell dominates, followed by a light peaty malty aroma. A mild citrusy smell is followed by slightly boozy white rum fuminess.

The malt and hop flavors are fairly evenly matched. Bready dough, honey sweetness, metallic and citrusy hop bite and a separate and unmistakable rummy alcoholic punch all greet the buds in random order. A very faint taste of orange zest peeks in.

It’s an usual bock in that the flavor profiles remain distinct and apart, even as it warms.

This is definitely one of the better beer values ($6.50 a 16 oz. sixer, no less) in the New England area.

So whatever the brewer’s interpretation of the Spring Beer style, you can see that left with many diverse choices as to how we allow the spring to run its course. As of this writing the weather remains in the grip of winter, so I’ll have another couple bocks and/or Ur Bocks.

Quote: “How much beer is in German intelligence?” – Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900)

Prost!