Celebrate Brother’s Day - August 11th
From Widmer…
There’s a day to celebrate moms, dads, grandparents, and even Irishness, but what about brothers?
Brothers are a proud clan. They flush each others’ G.I. Joe’s down the toilet, they sucker punch each other and run away claiming self defense, and when they “grow up” they drink lots of great craft beer. Kurt and Rob Widmer, being the proud, hard working, craft beer making/guzzling brothers that they are, took this matter into their own hands. Turns out the hard work paid off – Portland’s Mayor Tom Potter agrees that brothers should have their own day, and is proclaiming August 11th to be Brother’s Day in the City of Roses (prost to that)!
There’s more good news – Widmer has partnered with Big Brothers Big Sisters Columbia Northwest to raise money in support of kids who aren’t so lucky to have a cool (and obnoxious) big brother in their life. You can celebrate your brother and raise money for BBBS at the same time by sending an awesomely hilarious Brother’s Day e-card from the Widmer Brother’s Day Web site – for every card sent $1 will be donated.
Want more Brother’s Day details? Have questions about the Widmer brothers or their fine brews? Shoot me an email and I’d be happy to provide more information.
Prost to brothers!
Sam
P.S. Don’t worry if you don’t have a blood brother; military brothers, fraternity brothers, and even “brothers from other mothers” are invited to celebrate the special day.
It’s Bass Season…
The 8th Annual CBC Bass and Beer Festival!!!
Saturday is the 8th Annual Bass and Beer Festival. That’s the one where Brewdaddy (AKA CBC owner, Phil) drags a giant grill onto the patio and cooks up his legendary garlicky grilled bass special.
This is an exciting season for Chefs. There’s tons of great, local, delicious and fresh produce in season.
And of course, it’s bass season.
So, every year we put together a little celebration of Atlantic Sea Bass. The menu features 5 courses, each centered on bass. OK, 4 courses + a delicious dessert. Each dish is of course paired with a handcrafted brew.
Chris Punis, General Manager - Cambridge Brewing Company
CBC Bass and Beer Festival 2008
Saturday, July 26 th 5pm-11pm
Reservations Suggested - 617-494-1994
Five beer-centric sea bass dishes each paired with a handcrafted brew. All courses will be available a la carte.
Menu
Soup
Gazpacho - Striped Bass Ceviche
Appetizers
Striped Bass Minute Steak - Marinated Vegetables and Saffron Aioli
Tandoori Spiced Bass Kebab - Jasmine Rice, Sweet Peas, Pineapple Relish
Salads
Heirloom Tomato Salad - Grilled Striper Escabiche
Poached Striper Mediterranean Salad - Red Onion, Cucumber, Kalamata, Fennel, Oregano, Red Wine Vinaigrette
Entrees
Grilled Garlic Marinated Striper - Corn, Collard Greens, Mango Salsa and Crostini
Olive Oil Poached Striper - Patty Pan Squash, Roast Tomato, Fried Eggplant Red Pepper sauce
Roasted Striper - Zucchini, Fingerlings, Double Smoked Bacon Soubise Sauce
Grilled Striper - Creen Beans, Red Potatoes, Roasted Red Pepper Green Goddess
Dessert
Summer Berry Crisp - Vanilla Bean Ice Cream
Executive Chef- David Drew
Brewmaster- Will Meyers
Redhook Sweepstakes Celebrates Draft Day, Fantasy Picks and Trash Talk
Win an Ultimate Fantasy Football Draft Day Party
from Redhook Ale Brewery
Redhook Sweepstakes Celebrates Draft Day, Fantasy Picks and Trash Talk
WOODINVILLE, Wash. – July 22, 2008 – Fantasy football players across the country are preparing for the most important event of the year: their draft day party. As players delve into intense stat checking and hours of ESPN watching, Redhook is offering fantasy football teams the chance to win a draft day party even NFL players would show up for. Beginning July 22, fantasy football fanatics can enter to win a Redhook ultimate draft day party at www.RedhookFantasyFootball.com. Entries must be submitted between July 22 and Aug. 8.
A beer and sports lover’s dream, this $500 sweepstakes prize kit includes a Redhook Toolbox Fridge to keep brews and pint glasses (and tempers) cool. An Ultra Series Flip Video Camcorder allows players to document the debauchery on the sly and use the footage for blackmail as necessary. A 54’ by 36’ Draft Day Board offers color coded player names for easy pickin’ and stickin’ if teams are tired of putting sticky notes on their bulletin boards.
Along with the Redhook fridge, Flip Video Camcorder and the Draft Day Board, winners will receive:
* A “Fantasy Football League Winner” Redhook t-shirt for the champ
* A “whiner” hat for the sorest loser (or baldest guy) in the league
* Eight Redhook branded pint glasses, t-shirts and coasters
Three winners will be randomly chosen on Aug. 8, and the prize packages will be delivered mid-August. Players must be 21 years of age or older to enter; complete contest details are available online at www.RedhookFantasyFootball.com.
Taking out the Trash
Trash talking is an essential component of any sports game, and in particular fantasy football. Because not every player has the skills to keep the trash talk going, Redhook has created a virtual insult library to assist those known for sad and slow comebacks. Beginning Aug. 8, players can visit an enhanced version of www.RedhookFantasyFootball.com to send professionally crafted trash talk e-cards, upload videos of their own clever trash talk quips or show off footage from their draft day parties.
“With fantasy football season fast approaching, we thought it was a great time to combine two things guys love: great beer and talking about football,” said Erin Crum, brand manager for Redhook Ale Brewery. “We created this draft day contest and Web site just for you, fantasy football player, as a way to redeem yourself after your number-one pick blows out a knee in pre-season and you fumble all those snaps playing a friendly game of touch football.”
About Redhook Ale Brewery, Inc.
Redhook Ale Brewery has been at the forefront of the domestic craft brewing segment since the company’s formation in 1981. Redhook brews eight styles of craft beer, including: Long Hammer IPA (the number one IPA in the country), Redhook ESB, Redhook Blonde Ale, Blackhook Porter, and seasonal offerings Copperhook Spring Ale, Sunrye Summer Ale, Late Harvest Autumn Ale and Winterhook Winter Ale. All beer is brewed exclusively in its company-owned breweries – one in the Seattle suburb of Woodinville, Wash., and the other in Portsmouth, N.H. Redhook’s specialty beers are available in both draft and bottles and are distributed nationally through a network of wholesale distributors. For more information, visit www.redhook.com.
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Lowell Beer Works Has Opened Its Doors!
Kat and I were on our way home from Albany, NY today and decided we’d make it a relaxing drive home. We drove the slow and winding Route 2, taking our time and enjoying the sights. We realized that at some point we’d need a little something to eat and thought that a thirst quench beer would round things out quite nicely. We first tried Wachusett, but the fates thought differently and it was closed for the day. Recalling a previous conversation about Beer Works taking over the first floor of Lowell Brewery Exchange, we decided to see if it’s doors were open yet. Happily, upon arrival, we saw that the double doors that formerly opened to the bar area in the Brewery Exchange were swung wide! I have to admit, it was a bit of a jaw dropping experience just walking through those doors. Where the bar had been we saw a reception desk with a smiling host. Straight in front of us (approximately where the bathrooms used to be) was a long bar with stools to seat about 25 people. The bar itself was a sort of textured aluminum, and there were accents of wood and diamond plated aluminum throughout the bar area. Six HD TVs adorned the wall behind the bar to provide plenty of sports action as well.
We quickly made friends with the bartender and found out they’d only been open for about 3 weeks and were still working on getting everything in place. Their first beer, a white ale, is currently being brewed under the watchful eye of the executive brewer from the Canal Street brewery and should be available soon. They only had 7 beers on tap and 2 of those were not listed on the menu…limited, but expected I suppose. Kat chose a Victory Red and I had a 9 Alarm Amber Lager (1 of those not listed on the menu). The beers upheld the positive reputation of Beer Works and were pleasant to our taste buds and tummies.
Looking through the menu, we chose to share an order of the cheesy garlic crustini and a trio of sliders. Our order came out in a timely manner and we were impressed by the generous portions. The crustini was baked perfectly. The sliders, which we all know are almost always over cooked, were a perfect medium pink. The toppings for the sliders were piled neatly on the side of the plate to accommodate those who have a more selective palate - it is always easier to add to a burger than to subtract!
As we were getting finished, we were faced with a small issue! There was a changing of the guards and we had to make nice with a new bartender. Chatting him up a little, we had noticed some windows behind the bar and asked what they were trying to highlight. He said they were waiting on several dispensing tanks to be delivered that would store all the beer to be poured at the taps. We asked him a few more questions about how the brewery was coming together and whether they would eventually be opening the brewing area to tours. On the spot he offered to get someone to provide us with a tour and would simply not take a courteous no for an answer. So off we went (beer still in hand) with the executive manager and two of his subordinates for a personal tour. He walked us through the usual process making special note that the used mash was saved for a local farmer. He also stated that in their other locations brewers fermented and conditioned in separate tanks, but they would be doing both processes in the same tank in the Lowell brewery. Also, the capacity of the Lowell brewery will be double that of any other Beer Works brewery allowing them to accommodate increased sales at the two new Logan Airport locations. After passing the fermenting/conditioning tanks, he showed us the machinery they’d just purchased from a brewery in North Hampton, NH that would eventually make up the bottling line. Lowell will be the first Beer Works location that will have 6-packs available for purchase!
Our final stop on the tour was the room that was eventually to be the private tasting room. Once the brewery is fully operational one of the 3-4 brewers on staff will be leading the tours. Each tour will end at the tasting room where the tour group will taste and discuss the flavors and qualities of the beers with the brewer.
We thanked our guide and his accompanying staff and complimented them on a job well done. We certainly intend on visiting again many times. We look forward to Lowell Beer Works completing construction, so we can see everything in full operation. With the promise of beers we know and love being available and the addition of several “Lowell only” brews, we are excited to return.
Anheuser-Busch settles for 52 Billion in InBev deal
The rumor is no longer a rumor and almost a done deal. Personal, when I shared this rumor within the last few months, I thought that it would stay just that — a rumor. I do not have any personal interest in this deal, but I’ve had a weird feeling in my stomach about this deal.
As you may or may not know, Inbev is not seen as the guardian angel in this deal — watching over the beer industry, making sure that the consumer’s best interest is their number 1 priority. As we watch history play out, it is hard not to look at the past. Just last week, InBev began trying to fire Anheuser’s board. With previous mergers, Inbev took ruthless cost cutting measures and often reduced the workforce along with closing down existing breweries. Some Belgians feel mocked with the sale of Best of Belgium 18 pack in the States (Leffe, Hoegaarden and Stella). Americans are fooled by cool packaging and the strong marketing dollars. Best of Belgium, HA, try saying that to a Trappist Monk.
I will wait to see what happens. I hope that this merger has a positive effect on the craft beer revolution. Buy local. Drink Local. Enjoy Craft Beer!!!
Sean
p.s. If you oppose the merger, visit the following websites to let your voice be heard: SaveBudweiser.com and SaveAB.com.
Notes about the merger:
- $52 billion cash buyout from Belgian brewer InBev.
- Once approved by shareholders, the acquisition of St Louis-based Anheuser-Busch Cos. by InBev will create the world’s largest brewer.
-The combined company is expected to be named Anheuser-Busch InBev.
- Anheuser will be given two seats on the board. The board, which will include Anheuser-Busch President and Chief Executive August Busch IV, will have 14 members, up from 12 currently on the InBev board.
- Anheuser-Busch chief executive August Busch IV, the fifth member of his family to run the 156-year-old firm, pledged just months ago that the company would not be sold on his watch.
- InBev’s offered $70 per share, which is $20 higher than the stock was selling at in early May, before rumors spread of an InBev bid. This is up from their offer in June for $65 per share.
- St. Louis will be the merged company’s North American corporate headquarters.
- InBev was created in 2004 by the merger of AmBev, a Brazilian firm, and Belgium’s Interbrew SA.
- Grupo Modelo, the Mexican brewer of Corona, has both a right to approve a change in control and the right of first refusal to buy back Anheuser-Busch’s 50 percent holding.
- With the combination of Busch and InBev, 357 million barrels of beer will be produced. The merger of SABMiller will be sitting in the distant with no more than 200 million barrels.
- The two companies have about 300 brands, including Anheuser’s Budweiser and Bud Light and InBev’s Stella Artois and Beck’s.
- A-B operates 12 brewing plants around the country and makes its own packaging and labels through its Anheuser-Busch Packaging Group.
- In January, Belgium’s Carlsberg and Dutch Heineken bought the U.K.’s Scottish & Newcastle in a $15.6 billion deal that included Newcastle Brown Ale and 50 smaller brands.
- Eberhard Anheuser acquired the Bavarian brewery in 1860 and renamed it E. Anheuser & Co. His son-in-law, Adolphus Busch, joined the company in 1864 and it was eventually renamed Anheuser-Busch. The company survived Prohibition by selling products ranging from ice cream to root beer.
Here are a bunch of articles written about the merger.
* This Bud’s for who? Belgians (click here)
* InBev to buy Anheuser-Busch for $52B (click here)
* Anheuser-Busch joins global trend with InBev deal (click here)
* Anheuser, InBev Reach A Deal for $52 Billion (click here)
* Outlook: A Glass-Half-Full View of the Budweiser Bid (click here) *** Check this Q/A out, it’s very interesting.
Update on Starr Hill Brewery
I published this initial story in December: “Starr Hill to expand across U.S. with help of Anheuser-Busch”
Here is a follow up …
Sean
2Beerguys.com
Drink Craft Beer, You’ve Earned It!!
Starr shines bright as brewery expansion continues
By The Daily Progress Staff
Six months after striking a distribution deal with Anheuser-Busch, Crozet-based Starr Hill Brewery says its beer can be bought across Virginia, and plans for more Southeast distribution are in the works.
Company founder and brewmaster Mark Thompson said he sees opportunity to build even more national business by focusing on “music” destinations such as Austin, Texas, and Nashville, Tenn.
Starr Hill moved its brewing operations to the former ConAgra Frozen Foods plant in Crozet in 2005, a decision Thompson continues to rave about. Since then, the brewery has opened for public tastings, music and tours, and could have more events soon.
Thompson provided the details and more in an e-mail Q&A with The Daily Progress recently. An edited version follows:
Q. How is the partnership with Anheuser-Busch going?
A. The partnership with A-B has been going extremely well. To have a world class brewer as a business partner helps Starr Hill in every aspect of our business. In addition, A-B’s distribution network is one of the best in the world. The craft brewed beers, such as Starr Hill, have been driving the growth within the total beer industry for the last several years. The beer industry as a whole has been up by 1 or 2 percent while the craft segment has been growing by double digits. For the first time ever, the growth within the craft segment is the driving factor for the beer category as a whole.
This is significant for several reasons. First, the partnership with A-B is truly that, a partnership. A-B wants Starr Hill as much as Starr Hill wants A-B. Starr Hill provides the craft-brewed products that are driving the growth within the beer category and A-B provides the expertise of distribution that allows our brewery to fulfill its mission of sharing the gift of great beer with the world.
The second part of the partnership that helps grow our business centers is the procurement of raw materials. Bottom line is that Starr Hill now has a big brother looking out for our success in these times of global inflation.
Q. Where is Starr Hill being sold?
A. Starr Hill is currently available throughout the entire state of Virginia and the Outer Banks of North Carolina. We are going to roll out into the rest of the state of North Carolina during the next several months. In addition, we are beginning to set up Washington, D.C., to receive [Starr Hill] within the next couple of months. Our plan calls for us to introduce Starr Hill to Maryland by the end of the year.
Our 2009 plans are still not set in stone, but will probably include Tennessee, West Virginia and South Carolina.
In addition, we are exploring the idea of test marketing Starr Hill in several different “music” sites such as Austin, Texas, Cleveland, and Nashville, Tenn. Our niche has always been centered around music. Music and Starr Hill beer is what our brewery is all about.
Q. How has the company been performing? The cost of everything is going up.
A. Sales of Starr Hill are up by over 70 percent, and we will easily hit our objective of doubling our business this year. There are very few things in this world that cross all religions, races, colors and creeds like beer. Every culture on this planet has a fermented cereal grain beverage that they gather around to celebrate their culture’s rites of passage. Starr Hill is here to fulfill the mission of the celebration of life.
Starr Hill’s partnership with A-B provides our brewery a big brother who is looking out for us when it comes time to buying the raw materials for the brewery. It is no secret that there is a worldwide shortage of grains and, even more important, hops, on the world market. Gone are the days that craft brewers could simply buy raw materials from the surplus on the world market. The prices of barley and hops have doubled within the last couple of years. This partnership allows Starr Hill to better compete in a competitive market.
Year to date, the craft beer segment continues to experience strong double-digit growth nationally. This sales growth suggests that the consumer is willing to pay a higher price for our product. Starr Hill is no exception to this national trend. Our sales year-to-date are double what they were last year.
Q. Any new beers or products in the pipeline?
A. Starr Hill has introduced two new packages in the last couple of months with two more to follow shortly. Our first new product is the introduction of our seasonal beers in six-packs. Up until this year Starr Hill’s four seasonal beers have been draft only and required the consumer to sample them at a restaurant or at the brewery.
June 15 of this year we released The Love, an unfiltered wheat beer, in six-packs. Starr Hill has been producing The Love in draft for the last five years, so there is a lot of awareness about this seasonal beer. The Love will be available until the release of our next seasonal beer or until the 1,500 cases are sold. The next seasonal beer is Festie, an Oktoberfest lager beer.
The second new product that we released is called Box Set. Box Set is a sampler 12-pack that includes three bottles of Jomo Lager, Amber Ale, The Love and Pale Ale. This is our summer sampler pack and will be available through August or until the 2,500 cases are sold out.
We will do a winter sampler 12-pack that will come out around Thanksgiving. The winter sampler will have Jomo Lager, Amber Ale, Dark Starr Stout and The Gift (our winter seasonal).
The final new product from Starr Hill is 12-packs of our two most popular beers, Jomo Lager and Amber Ale.
Q. Any plans for a new restaurant?
A. Starr Hill currently operates a tasting room that is open to the public every Saturday from noon to 5 p.m. with tours of the plant at 1 and 3 p.m. The tastings are free and individuals can purchase cases and kegs for take out. We have experienced success with the Saturday tastings for several reasons. First, there is a large tourist trade that comes to Virginia to tour the wineries, and having a brewery on the itinerary makes a lot of sense. Second, Blue Mountain Brewery in Nelson County and the soon to open Devils Backbone Brewery near Wintergreen will give our region a real beer trail for the first time ever.
With the success of our Saturday tastings, the existing wineries, the new breweries, we have seriously considered doing more retail than we currently do. We know that there is a lot of interest in the retail side of our business and that having people out to the brewery to touch and feel the brand provides real value to our mission. We struggle with the fact that we are first and foremost a manufacturer and that retail is a side business.
Another idea that we have been kicking around is to do more special events at the brewery. We are in the process of looking into doing selected special events at the brewery that center around music and beer. At the end of the day when someone thinks of Starr Hill, we want them to think of beer and music. The thought would be to do an event like an Oktoberfest with a regional band.
Q. Still happy about moving to Crozet?
A. I am oftentimes quoted as saying, “They do not build buildings like ConAgra anymore.” I truly believe that Starr Hill is blessed to be in Crozet for numerous reasons. I could not have ever built a building like ConAgra to house the Starr Hill Brewery in.
The similarities to a frozen food factory and brewery are huge for our business. The brewery has more water infrastructure than any other building that I have ever seen. I have been told that the Beaver Creek reservoir (where we get all of our water) was built primarily to service the ConAgra building. It takes five to six gallons of water to make a gallon of beer, so one of our biggest concerns to future growth is having enough water.
In addition to the water coming into the building, the infrastructure for the water going out is just as robust. The sewer system for ConAgra is vast. The building has its own water treatment facility, which is no longer in operation but it gives you an idea of how much water in and water out this building had at one time.
Continuing with why ConAgra is the perfect home for Starr Hill are several other factors. One is that there are two existing steam boilers on site. All of our beer is cooked with steam and the existing infrastructure for steam is immense. Another asset that ConAgra provides is the amount of freezer space. Being an old frozen foods factory, there are thousands of square feet of freezer space that is ideally suited to storing beer. If I were to build a new cooler, it would have three to four inches of insulation, where the old freezers at ConAgra have 12 inches.
Some of the smaller factors are that there are existing drains in the floors, tiled ceilings and docks already in place.
Q. What’s next for Starr Hill?
A. Starr Hill is in the process of bringing in an additional 4,000 barrels of fermentation capacity through the acquisition of more fomenters. In addition, we are in the final phases of creating our new fermentation cellar. We have been working on the new space for the last four months. We have converted the old engine room into our new fermentation cellar.
Our three- to five-year plan still has Starr Hill being available throughout the East and our 10-year plan calls for the brand to be available nationwide. We are very grateful to the support that we have received from Charlottesville and Crozet. We will always consider this our home.
History of Coastal Extreme Brewing - Newport Storm
Here is a brief history of the Coastal Extreme Brewing in Newport, RI.
Original source
Enjoy!!
Sean
2Beerguys.com
The brewery was started in 1999 after Ryan and several friends began homebrewing while attending Colby College in Maine.
They decided to start a brewery and chose Rhode Island because there were no craft breweries in the entire state.
The Hurricane Amber was the only beer the brewery brewed for its first three years. The brewery added seasonal beers, called Storms of the Season, in 2002. In the fall they brew an Oktoberfest beer, in winter there’s a porter, in spring they make an Irish red ale, and for summer, an IPA.
In 2004, the Coastal Extreme started a new series of experimental, higher-in-alcohol beers, the Cyclone series.
“Those are a series of limited-release beers,” said Ryan. “They’re non-traditional styles, usually between 7 and 9 percent alcohol (by volume). Sometimes they’ll be a lot hoppier than traditional styles, or maltier.”
The current Cyclone series beer is Hurricane Henry, a 7.6 percent ABV beer. The style is hard to describe. Ryan calls it a Munich-style dark ale, but it is definitely not traditional.
Other beers that were part of the Cyclone series included Hurricane Frank, which was a Belgian-style witbeer, and Hurricane Gloria, which was a Pumpkin ale.
The one problem is, if you really like any of the Cyclone series, you better stock up. Once they are sold out, they will never be brewed again.
Once a year, the brewery releases a special beer in 750 milliliter, cobalt-blue, corked bottles. The beers are simply named after the year, such as ‘06, ‘07, etc. (Julio’s Liquors in Westborough still has several ’06s on the shelves.)
Each year is something completely different, and they are typically high in alcohol; between 11 percent and 14 percent ABV. The beer is brewed in the winter, aged for a year, and released the following November.
The ‘07 was an imperial stout, while the ‘06 was a strong ale aged in oak barrels. The ‘08 has been brewed, but no details will be released until November.
The only other beer Coastal Extreme brews year-round is the Rhode Island Blueberry. It is brewed using real Rhode Island blueberries, rather than just flavoring, he said.
Visit Norman Miller at http://blogs.townonline.com/beernut/
A Most Enchanting Evening
In 1982 the first artificial heart transplant took place, Michael Jackson [not the beer specialist] scored a monster hit with ‘Thriller’ and Leonid Breznjev, who had awarded himself more “Hero of the Soviet Union” medals than some boy scouts have badges, died.
I got my first computer that year, the venerable Commodore 64, a fabulous piece of electronic engineering [don’t knock it, it was the most successful computer of its day] that cemented my affection for the United States. Any country that could make something this fabulous had to be an insanely great place. Though the fullness of time, and some direct exposure, have given a richer nuance to that sentiment, I will always be a geek. Anyone who has ever owned a Commodore 64 will nod their head in understanding.
In 1982 Thomas Hardy’s Ale was created by the Eldridge Pope & Co. p.l.c., masters of the Dorchester Brewery in Dorset England. This beer was made with the strongest English yeast. The idea was to create a beer that could be kept longer than regular beer. It ripened for 6 months in the cellars of the Dorchester Brewery before it reached maturity. It was to be a limited edition. Bottle “L 29958” was among its number.
In 1987 the ‘Herald of Free Enterprise’ sank shortly after it left port in Zeebrugge, causing the deaths of 193 people, the US budget reached 1 trillion Dollars for the first time in history and the world population reached 5 billion people.
It was my last year in school, the year I met Véronique, nothing more about that will be said.
In that year yeast from Thomas Hardy’s Ale was used by the brewer of Brasserie d’Achouffe to create Chouffeleir Quvae, to commemorate the joyous occasion of the birth of his son.
In 2000 the new millennium got underway [technically, it only started on January 1, 2001] and the Euro was introduced as the standard currency of 15 nations, Sir Alec Guinness died, the USS Cole came under attack in Aden harbor, Yemen, and 17 sailors perished.
For me, 2000 was a transformational year. I changed jobs by joining the ill-fated language technology giant Lernout&Hauspie, the next few years would prove to be a wild ride through the weird and wondrous underbelly of the corporate world. Many people around me were profoundly shocked to see a magnificent ship of enterprise go down so infamously. To me these were mere distractions for they coincided with the saddest period of my life.
That year, a demure flask of Gulden Draak was quietly put on a shelf where it ripened with age.
In 2004, the Cassini-Huyghens probe reached Saturn [words by my mother and me now rest on Titan’s surface], the Boston Red Sox broke the Curse of the Bambino by winning the World Series for the first time in 86 years and a tsunami triggered by one of the strongest recorded earth quakes destroyed the lives of almost a quarter million people.
That year I started on the road to academic excellence by taking the first course in English Literature at the Open University of Milton Keynes. There’s more money in being a hedge fund manager and it’s a lot easier too but language is a challenge that inspires me, what can I say.
In 2004, a 1,5 liters of Gueuze 3 Fonteinen met the bottle of Gulden Draak and they spent some quality time together.
In 2007 [I -really- need to write these things sooner] all these [beer] moments in time came together on one blissful evening at Muriel and Gert’s house. Here, dear friends, Michelin stars are prizes for the runner ups, a pat on the back for the also rans. There is no compare when it comes to these people who have turned the art of professional hospitality [for they once owned one of the finest beer houses in Flanders] into the blissful embrace of warm welcome. Gert has an encyclopedic knowledge of all matters beer but he would scoff at the very notion of clinical academia. Beer is a universe to be explored, it is an encounter to be looked out for, an opportunity to cultivate a life-long passion. Muriel is the perfect hostess. I’ve thought about those words, hesitated to use them because I think I have a rather good idea about how she would respond to them. Then it hit me: precisely because she would react the way I’m sure she would the words stand. It is actually true: Muriel is the perfect hostess. To me she embodies the very spirit of Flanders itself, warts and all, and this so profoundly that I have come to call her by that name [she is aware of that].
We started out on the patio with the Hardy’s Ale, by that time five and twenty years of age. Imagine that, a beer that has reached the ripe old age of a superb wine. Hardy’s masters had created this marvel with yeast capable of making the long journey through space-time, growing stronger as the brew worked its magic inside the bottle. There was nothing shy or timid about it. Almost as dark as Guinness, with a syrupy quality to it, with a rich, almost heady aroma of red fruit. Full in the mouth, strong, a cat’s whisker shy of brutal, the taste of plums on center stage. The aftertaste lasted for the length of the afterglow of the unexpected, but welcome, kiss of a loved one you hadn’t seen in a while.
After Hardy’s Ale Gert opened the Chouffeleir Quvae. Gueuze is one of my favorite types of beer. It’s in a class all of its very own and the strange thing about it is: you can only make it in a very specific area around Brussels, Belgium. In that environment a bacterial anomaly has occurred. When these bacteria communicate with the gueuze brew it gets the specific qualities that makes the beer what it is. That is why we’ve had to fight the European regulation police. They don’t want beer made in open casks. It’s unhygienic! However: if you close the cask, the miracle of gueuze does not happen. It’s as simple as that.
You can take the ingredients and the procedure and make the beer somewhere else, and it will probably even taste good. But what you get won’t be gueuze. How it happens I don’t know. Why it happens, I don’t care. That it happens at all is what is important. Gueuze is the supreme quencher of thirst. It has the most delicious sour touch that takes the bite out of any thirst. It’s not very strong, there are sweeter versions for the people who don’t want their faces to go prune-shaped ☺. For me, gueuze cannot possibly be sour enough. There is no joy greater than a Sunday afternoon spent in great company with 3 Fonteinen gueuze.
Unless, and until, you have had the Chouffeleir Quvae. It is gueuze the likes of which you will never know. It pours a deep amber with a foamy head. Its crisp, fresh aroma stuns the nose. In the taste you know its lineage for the plums that were in the overwhelming bouquet of Hardy’s Ale are available in great abundance in the Chouffeleir as well. And when the taste of sun-drenched red fruit fades away the sharp bite of sourness comes as an aftershock. Tart. Very. Though I am easily given to hyperbole when the fingers dance across the keyboard, I restrain myself when it comes to the description of beer lest it becomes stale and falls flat under the weight of the words. With that in mind, and begging your pardon beforehand, allow me to assure you that Chouffeleir Quvae is nothing short of phenomenal. I was ready to make it my official house beer, one I would gladly share with friends and other loved ones alike. Alack, when I say ‘you will never know’ I was not being smug. Chouffeleir Quvae was a one off. Only 1,800 liters was ever made of it and that was a quarter century ago. A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, the genuine article. Thank you, Gert, for inviting me that day.
Dinner came. Beef stew, a dish that has ‘Flanders’ written all over it. The primary ingredient <schmaltz alert> was love </schmaltz alert>, any other description would be an affront to the hostess. We had the beef stew with the Gulden Draak which, by dint of its protracted stay on a dark shelf, had developed into a refined waltz of malt, syrup and spices. A dark [and this is a tripel] throbbing 10.5% ABV love affair. The second fermentation in the larger bottle had given it more depth, greater subtlety, a perfect partner to great food in an ideal setting. Muriel has a gift for interior decoration, among a great many other things. The warm brown tones, the exquisite library and Sloef [the Great Dane of the family] felt like home away from home.
We finished the meal with 3 Fonteinen Gueuze. It could not possibly have the roar and thunder of the Chouffeleir, it did offer welcome and refined refreshment at the end [well, not quite the end] of a magical evening. It’s dry, amber [lighter than the Chouffeleir, to be sure], a taste of lemon, sour, very dry. Bliss. Gueuze, to the unitiated, can come as an unexpected and sadly not an altogether pleasant surprise. Once you acquired the taste though it’s impossible not to love. A truly magnificent beer [wait, was that hyperbole? Sorry about that]. Properly chilled it’s your best friend on a hot Summer day.
After this veritable fireworks display of one fabulous beer after another, the 18 months old Orval, which would be a fairy tale all by itself at any other occasion, felt like a greenhorn next to the reverend beers we had enjoyed that evening. Yet, at that age, this love child of the friars of Orval has gained a maturity, a round taste, complete… complete is the word. When it’s just bottled it’s a great beer for those who know how to appreciate it [I assumed everybody would instantly take to it, I was quite surprised that this does not seem to be the case. Orval, too, is a taste to befriend over time], at 18 months it has come of age in the most delightful way. Great to close the evening with as it’s a modest 6.2& ABV, almost something you’d give a babe [an old Flemish custom: give the baby a spoonful of beer and you won’t hear a peep out of it all night].
I have had ok evenings, I’ve had good evenings, I’ve had wonderful evenings, I’ve had an evening with Hilde [which, for personal reasons, had a few points over this one], but occasions like these are nothing short of the grand theatre of life, a stage stooped in the age old Flanders tradition of Burgundian living shared with people one loves and filled with great food and even better beer.
This particular evening, dear reader, was not yours unless you were there, I sincerely hope and very much wish for you to have as many like them as you can. I thank the gracious company for their sparkles of mirth, the stars for allowing me to be there, and very specifically Muriel for bringing the spirit of Flanders vibrantly to life and Gert who is a guru in every sense of the word where it comes to beer [he rolled his eyes as he read that, that’s because he has a great aversion of male cow dung, but ye Gods, ne’er were truer words spoken].
Ignace
Here’s an interesting article that discussed how the impact of the Budweizer - Inbev merger might have an effect on the market.
Sean
2Beerguys.com
Drink Craft Beer, You’ve Earned It!!!
War Is Brewing: Are Budweiser’s Sports Sponsorships in Jeopardy?
by L. J. Burgess
Belgian beer-brewer InBev and Brazilian beverage-subsidiary AmBev are prepping a $46 billion offer for U.S. brewer Anheuser-Busch.
The InBev take-over, if successful, would create the world’s largest beverage business by joining the world’s No. 2, InBev, with the world’s No. 4, Anheuser-Busch. The InBev offer spreads out to $65 per share.
If this deal goes down, the two beer brewers, combined with AmBev’s South American soft-drink dominance, might permanently checkmate the coming U.S. partnership of SABMiller and Molson Coors, which will control nearly 30 percent of the $97 billion U.S. market. Anheuser-Busch maintains a 51 percent market share stateside.
To stave off InBev’s bid, Anheuser-Busch is seeking to complete a partnership with Mexican brewing giant Grupo Modelo, in which it already has a 50 percent stake, to strengthen their North American No. 1 ranking.
InBev has warned the American beer giant against such a move citing concerns that any deal would lessen Anheuser-Busch’s appeal and damage share-holder confidence.
With the successful incursion of independent craft-beer brewers in the U.S. marketplace, Anheuser-Busch has attempted to stay relevant. They’ve bought into Red Hook Ale and Widmer breweries in the Northwest and have invested millions in developing and expanding their award-winning Michelob line, adding Amberbock, Honey Lager and Oktoberfest Marzen beers to compete with the Molson Coors in-house developed Blue Moon Belgian White Ale brand, the best-selling beer in U.S. grocery stores.
At the same time Anheuser-Busch’s largest distributor in the U.S. has broken the brewer’s exclusive contract so independent craft-beer brewers can be stocked on its shelves. The high profit margins on niche beers justifies this radical move. Obviously, like dominoes falling, this ballsy move will be duplicated by more of Anheuser-Busch’s exclusive distributors across the U.S. hoping to cash in on the niche-brewer market.
But it’s going take a big deal to keep this merger from happening. After the Yahoo vs. Microsoft fiasco, and with a $65-per-share offer on the table, stockholders worldwide may be trigger happy in this beer-slinging shootout.
Warren Buffett and Busch family members are also stepping into the fray, urging a deal with InBev.
This is going to be huge somewhere down the line, regardless of whether InBev’s offer succeeds or not. How would a merger of this magnitude affect sports worldwide? Anywhere in the world you can turn on a TV and see “Budweiser” plastered on anything that doesn’t move…and yes, some that do, thank you Kasey Kahne. We suck that up here in the states.
How many Miller Lite drinkers choked on their foam when Kurt Busch stepped into the No. 2? Did you switch brands? No, you were loyal in the end, despite all of your griping.
Old-world beers are just as prominent in European motorsports—from the World Rally to Le Mans—and these fans are just as beer loyal as any Natty-Boh drinker in a Dundalk corner bar.
Did you catch sight of any beer cars in the Nationwide race in Mexico City? You better believe Tecate had a hood on the grid.
We’ve already glimpsed some minor beverage skirmishes in NASCAR’s victory lane. Jimmie Johnson blocked the camera’s view of a Coke product so that his Pepsi product could be better seen.
That’s just a soft drink, and it’s already gettin’ ugly.
Will the conglomerates bid so high for event sponsorships that owning a league is cheaper than buying the naming rights? The National Budweiser League? The National Coors Athletic Association? Major Labatt’s Baseball? (Okay, that’s crazy…or is it?) The Kentucky Derby runs Clydesdales? Nah.
With worldwide beer dominance becoming a grudge match, the gloves are off and nothing will be sacred over the next decade, perhaps not even the amateur ranks. Will amateur athletes continue to hide their stipends, or will the cash finally come out of the closet?
When the Olympic Committee meets again it might be to sell out to the Miller Lite Milers, the Heineken Hurdlers, or the Blue Moon Broad Jumpers.
Will resources be so unlimited that, if NASCAR does franchise, Hendrick Motor Sports and Roush-Fenway become the “little guys”? Could they start a flat-out bidding war for NASCAR itself?
Where will it end, or perhaps, more timely, where will it start? Will there be only three beer companies left in the world?
Will we see a Sammy’s Honey Tainted Wheat Harvest Sun Brewed Fall Dry Spell Pale Ale Ford Fusion on the high-banks of Daytona?
My scenarios are far-fetched and certainly not timely as of yet, but one thing is certain: There will be no cutbacks and no quarter given. It’s going to be balls to the walls in a battle for exposure, media bites, and your precious beer dollars…and you get to make the call.
My most urgent concern is, as always…where does Natty-Boh fit in this mess?
What’s your take on this hops-and-barley beat down?
Schools out for summer
The Craft Beer Education Series wrapped up its first six sessions last night with Craft Beer Summer, a blind summer beer tasting in which the Gearys Summer Ale won in the blind voting, followed by the Wachusett Summer in a close second. The series has been wildly popular, luring back many a repeat attendee. Last nights class was about half the size we usually have, given the warm weather and vacation season, but it provided a more intimate environment, and allowed for much more unique dialogue and certainly lent itself to the blind tasting format. We’ll be back in the fall (read: September) to start up the next round of the CBES! Thank you VERY much to all who attended, a special thanks to George for his help last night, and lastly to Sean, I couldn’t have done it without you. See you in September! (for the CBES anyway)
Cheers,
Ian
