A Green and Pleasant Land

One of the things I love most about craft beer (and one of the most wonderful aspects of the wildfire-like spread of craft beer in the US) is how, through local beer, you can get a sense of the location itself.

And so I titled my post as I did because in my beer tour of Britain I am reminded of the green and pleasant land from whence the beer came: It is subtle and mild, but rich with history and character.  The Brits have been at this for centuries and have a wonderfully soft touch - teasing out delicate flavor and nuanced character.  Centuries of iterations have led to a equilibrium style that is quaffable - good for long hours in pubs - and tastes of the land, touched my mizzel rain and cool air.

Here in the Pacific Northwest, at the far end of the new world - the windward edge abutting the vast expanse of the Pacific - we take our beers bold and strong, bitter and hoppy.  Our young new-world brewers just discovering the myriad of flavors and experiences craft beer can provide, surrounded by bold and exotic spices with which to flavor their beer.

It is thus a joyful enterprise to collect a variety of British beers, as I did, and enjoy a range of ales from the old country.  The Northwesterner in me led me to a disproportionate number of IPAs, but these are British IPAs, bearing little resemblance to their NW cousins.

They are all of a type however, characterized by a more malty and soft mouthfeel and by the restrained use of more traditional English hops (East Kent Goldings, Fuggles, etc.) that provide a delicate spice.  They were also characterized by the minerally water note that is most commonly associated with the water of Burton-on-Trent.  But I noticed the same even in Scottish beer causing me to wonder if gypsum is a common characteristic of groundwater island-wide or if British brewers add gypsum to mimic the Burton-on-Trent character.

I enjoyed all of the beers, but some definitely more than others.  Here is a breakdown of the great, good and forgettable. Oh and a note about the wonders of modern trade - one can amble down to the local bottle shop and trip through Britain, Belgium, Germany, wherever without leaving the house.  What a wonderful age in which we live.

The Great

St. Peter's IPA.  To me this was the quintessential English IPA, malty and minerally but with a gorgeous hop bouquet that was subtle yet perfect.  This would be a stand-by in my fridge were I in England and I look forward to trying more of their beer.

Belhaven Scottish Ale.  I wrote about this before, but I am generally not a fan of the style as practiced here in the States.  American brewers (or at least Pac NW brewers) have a knack for hop bombs but struggle with malt-forward beers in my opinion. The Belhaven Scottish Ale is perfect - malty but in a restrained way.  Not sweet, thick and sticky but light and balanced by a touch of hops. A real Winner.

Belhaven Twisted Thistle IPA.  Another winner from Belhaven.  Their twisted thistle is a wee more hop forward than the St. Peters and less English as is appropriate - for Scotland is a more wild and windy place.  I believe they use a little Cascade hops as well which gives it a slightly more floral aroma that we are so used to here in the NW.  It is worth mentioning that the Highland Stillhouse in Oregon City features Belhaven beers on tap including Twisted Thistle - it is especially good there). 

Thornbridge Jaipur IPA.  This, to me, is an English take on a Pacific NW IPA.  So it is halfway between a restrained English IPA and a NW hop bomb.  It works spectacularly well.  But it is very expensive, so caveat emptor.

Fullers ESB. Emphasis on the 'extra' - extra big, malty and spicy.  Not a session beer by any stretch of the imagination, but very good. 

The Good

Wells Bombardier.  This takes the prize for the best bottle of all: christened 'Drink of England,' and adorned with the St. George's cross it is all English pride.  Unfortunately my bottle was not in the best condition.  I think this beer is best appreciated on cask, but in the bottle (which is a higher alcohol version) it looses some subtlety.  Perhaps a fresh bottle would make a better impression but I woudl love to try the cask version.  Still, I plan to try again with a new bottle - how can one resist the 'drink of England'?

Greene King IPA.  I had high hopes, but was disappointed.  Could very well be the bottle I had as it lacked a bit of flavor and character.  Felt a bit bland and the aroma was a bit lost.  Not bad, mind, a quite enjoyable quaff, but not among the best.

Moreland Old Speckled Hen. Moreland is now owned by Greene King and I found it a very enjoyable beer but missing that particular something that makes it particularly wonderful.  I suspect, once again, that freshness is an issue. 

The Forgettable

Harviestoun Bitter and Twisted.  This is 'twisted' with Sorachi Ace hops which to some evokes lemon.  To me they evoke unpleasant dill notes.  Some love them, I dislike them.  If you like Sorachi Ace then you should give this a try, I suspect you'll find it very enjoyable.  I did not.

Williams Brothers Scottish Joker IPA.  Again, remember that these are bottles that have traveled far and long, but even given that, I found this beer to be entirely without character.  My 5 year old did like the bottle however...

One of the things I love about British beer is their mild subtlety and this is the very thing that makes trying bottles shipped all the way to Oregon a bit of a risk.  There are some beers that I sense would be superb on cask in England (Bombardier, Old Speckled Hen) that just lose that special character by the time they make it to my glass.  Still BOTH the great and the good beers here are well worth a try and are beers I would buy again without hesitation.  I especially recommend St. Peter's in the bottle and Twisted Thistle on tap.

But perhaps next time I can have them at the source.

And did those feet in ancient time.
Walk upon Englands mountains green:
And was the holy Lamb of God,
On Englands pleasant pastures seen!

And did the Countenance Divine,
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here,
Among these dark Satanic Mills?

Bring me my Bow of burning gold;
Bring me my Arrows of desire:
Bring me my Spear: O clouds unfold!
Bring me my Chariot of fire!

I will not cease from Mental Fight,
Nor shall my Sword sleep in my hand:
Till we have built Jerusalem,
In Englands green & pleasant Land

A Beer Tour of Britain

I am on a bit of a British kick these days in response to officially becoming a British citizen.  And in celebration of my new, and more useful, passport I waddled on down to Belmont Station and bought up a bunch of British ales.  Interestingly, there were almost as many Scottish beers as English.  I wonder why such a high proportion of Scottish beers make it to Belmont station?

I actually was not in the hunt for many, I just wanted to pick up some Belhaven (speaking of Scottish beer) but I was intoxicated by the amazing array of British beer.  I have also been on a bit of a crusade for smaller, more mild ales as too much attention in the NW is on big hop bombs (which I adore, but am not always in the mood).  In addition, there was a bottle of Thornbrige Jaipur highlighted in the great Beertickers film (though at a walloping $8+, I did have a moments pause).

I will try and give some specific tasting notes, but as many of the beers are quite similar, I worry about having enough to say and not ending up sounding like Bill's beer review generator.

It'll take me a while to make it through all the beer, but it has already been a week and I have had a chance to sample a few so here are a few initial impressions.

First, what is up with clear bottles?  Bad enough for the domestic market, but for beer that has to cross the pond and the North American continent (in my case), clear glass is a poor way to make sure your beer arrives at my lips un-struck.  It is certainly true that many of the beers look beautiful in the clear glass bottles, but the risk to the contents is quite high.  Perhaps there is enough awareness in Britain about proper handling of beer that they don't have problems (one expects this must be true or else brewers would not find it worth it).  Perhaps we'll get to a day in the US where we too can admire our beer before even opening the bottle.

Fortunately, so far they have all been in good nick, which is point number two: they are remarkably fresh tasting - perhaps not as bright and vibrant as they might be having not had to make the sea voyage - but very good nonetheless.  Here's to modern container shipping, I suppose.

Third, I associate the mineral quality of the Burton-on-Trent with English ales (e.g. Marston's) but I find a hint of it throughout the beers I bought, including Scotland.  So is this gypsum infused water common there too or do Scottish brewers try and mimic the mineral quality of English ales by adding gypsum, or I am I just imagining it.  I, of course, find it delightful.

Some reactions so far.  For an absolutely delightful and perfectly balanced English IPA, you simply cannot do better than the St. Peter's IPA.  The Beerax was with me during my shopping episode and told me to buy it, he was not wrong, it is superb.  For an more English-crossed-with-Northwest IPA the Thornbridge Jaipur was also fantastic but, as mentioned, quite spendy.  It is well worth a try, however, especially if you like the bigger NW style IPAs.  Another surprisingly big and bold beer is the classic Fullers ESB.  This is a beer that takes the Extra Special seriously and is a malty, hoppy mouthful, it is very good but not a session beer.

The big disappointment so far came from Scotland, the Williams Brothers Scottish Joker IPA.  I found it a dull, muddled mush of a beer - thin in body and weak in hops.  My five year old liked it the best for the joker on the label so there you go...

A Tale of Four Businesses. Part 3: Block 15

Note: Here is the third installment of my four part series on four very different brewing businesses in the Willamette Valley. It is long delayed due to illness and work, my apologies.

It amazed me, when I first arrived in Corvallis in 2006, that there were no brewpubs.  There was a downtown McMenamins, but I am not sure they even brewed there and if they did I never noticed.  Oregon Trail is, as far as I can tell, mostly just a hobby and the Old World Deli leaves a lot to be desired - a pub it is not.  Thus Corvallis seemed a city not only ripe for a nice brewpub but with OSU in residence, a university very much intimately involved in the beer industry - hops especially - it seemed a natural fit.  It was only in 2008, as I was preparing to move to Portland that Block 15 opened and finally Corvallis had its real brewpub.  And, predictably, it has been an immense hit.  So much so, in fact, that it has spawned another brewpub just a few blocks away: Flat Tail Brewing in the old Fox and Firkin location which will be a marvelous place to sit outdoors in the summer.

That Block 15 is a huge success is no accident, Nick Arzner, the owner had vast experience in the restaurant business and knew what it takes to make a successful restaurant.  He also was wise enough to know that his limited experience as a homebrewer was not going to cut it and so he found a veteran brewertop become the brewmaster and make sure his brewery was run right.  This also freed Nick to become the mad scientist of beer - creating a cave of barrels in which wild yeasts run free and Nick climbs about creating what just may be Oregon's finest specialty beer.  I do not say this lightly, perhaps because of his willingness to experiment, or perhaps because he just has that sense about what will make a great barrel-aged beer, Nick's concoctions are masterpieces.

So this is a tale of a business that looks standard from the face of it - a fairly standard Oregon brewpub with good solid IPAs, Pales and Porters - but the brewpub-restaurant is actually the stable economic engine that allows founder Nick Arzner to pursue his true passion: barrel-aged and sour beers.  It is, quite frankly, an inspriation.

Nick and his barrels

Of course for the model to work the rest of the business has to run smoothly and Nick's extensive restaurant background shows - the food and service are excellent.  The brewery itself runs smoothly thanks to brewer Steve Van Rossum who has extensive brewing experience at West Brothers in Eugene and at the McMenamins High Street.   Their regular beers are every bit as good as the specialty stuff and Steve is largely to thank for that.  From the start Block 15 ran smoothly and has been a roaring success since - Nick confirms that they have surpassed all business plan benchmarks comfortably.
Which, of course, frees him both physically and mentally to follow his bliss in his now quite extensive cave of barrels.  His restaurant and brew house takes up roughly one fourth of the city block but the basement now runs under an entirely other building or two and seems to go on and on and on...

One of the coolest additions to the basement is his new, custom-fabricated koelschip.  This is a open tub to expose wort to wild yeasts.  When asked about the type of yeasts and the presence of other bacteria, Nick was unfazed.  For him it is all a part of the great experiment in beer that is his basement.

koelschip

This is also true of his barrel aging process, where brettanomyces, lactobacillus and other wild yeasts and bacteria all comingle.  Some brewers are paranoid about these things to the point of not even wanting brett at all (ala Cascade), but Nick is sanguine.  If he gets cross infection, all the better and more interesting to blend in the end.  This is a man not troubled by needing his barrel experiments to add to the bottom line of the business.

But they will, I had three of the very best beers ever in his basement: Ferme de La Ville Provision, Wonka’s Wit, and La Ferme de Demons. Plus the Figgy Pudding which I was supposed to cellar, but couldn't keep my hands off around the holidays.

The ability to create a successful business and also a barrel aging program is a masterstroke.  It liberates he the barrel aging and blending master to follow his bliss and we, the punters, to benefit. By being able to fearlessly pursue his passion (and by being pretty darn exceptional at it to boot) Block 15 has become the brewery to watch in Oregon.

Scotland Forever: Brew Dog Hits a Homerun

Brew Dog, the boundary pushing Scottish brewery most famous notorious perhaps for the beer sold in a stuffed stoat, has done a brilliant masterstroke: four single hopped IPAs sold together in a four-pack.  Called the IPA is Dead, these beers are hopped with some more exotic hopps: Bramling Cross, Citra, Nelson Sauvin and Sorachi Ace.

I think it is an absolutely brilliant idea. What a great way to really get familiar with hops and the character they add to beer. They use the same yeast and malt bill in each one, so they are all the same ABV, and they hop to the same IBU level.

From Brew Dog:

99% of beers on the market are made with a blend of hops, we want people to get to know the characteristics, flavours and nuances of some the most interesting hops on the planet. The only way to do this was to showcase them in single hop beers. Oh and to use mountains of hops to make sure the resultant beers were positively exploding with their respective hop flavours!

They go on to provide tasting notes:

Citra

The Pacific North West of America is home to the Citra hop. America is not just about cheer leaders, a silly version of football, elastic top jeans and cheeseburgers. They grow remarkable hops and Citra is a killer example of this, embodying all that is good about American hops and then some. A relatively new hop on the block, it may even seduce you into thinking the American Dream is not just a catch phrase to sell movies and elect Presidents. Fearfully hard to resist, this beer is loaded with brash citrus, grapefruit orange, hints of resinous pine and touches of black currant. Devilishly moreish. I am a little bit too obsessed with this beer for my own good.

Bramling Cross

Good old Bramling Cross is elegant, refined, assured, (boring) and understated. Understated that is unless you hop the living daylights out of a beer with it. This is Bramling Cross re-invented and re-imagined and shows just what can be done with English hops if you use enough of them. Poor Bramling Cross normally gets lost in a woeful stream of conformist brown ales made by sleepy cask ale brewers. But not anymore. This beer shows that British hops do have some soul, and is a fruity riot of blackberries, pears, and plums. Reminds me of the bramble, apple and ginger jam my grandmother used to make.

Sorachi Ace

A hop that tastes of bubble gum? Seriously? No, we did not believe it either. But it does! This is one unique, son of a bitch of a hop. Lemony, deep, musty with a smoothness which belies its power. This hop is lemony like a lemon who was angry earlier but is now tired because of all the rage. This hop of Japanese origin is best enjoyed trying to make sushi from your gold fish, or trying to persuade your girlfriend (or boyfriend maybe) to dress up as a Geisha for Valentine’s Day.

Nelson Sauvin

Nelson is a love it or hate it kinda hop. We are cool with that, if we wanted to keep everyone happy we would be brewing Fosters anyway. Sharp as a razor, this New Zealand hop slices its way through your taste buds and is brutally resinous, almost scraping the intense flavours of passion fruit along your poor tongue. There is a huge depth of tropical fruit flavour with astringent gooseberry balanced against the robust malt base. Throw another shrimp on the Barbie mate and you are all set. New Zealand is near Austria, right?

I think Full Sail should get on this, pronto. Why Full Sail?  Well John Harris already does this kind of thing - for example at free hop time, he usually comes out with two or three versions using different hops. Plus they have the resources to pull it off commercially.

Next should be a mild with four different strains of yeast.

Are You a Beer Expert?

Over at Dropping Timber there is a scan of the NASL Kick magazine from May 1, 1976 when the Portland Timbers played the St. Louis Stars.  In it is this little gem:

"A smooth beer is the brewers supreme goal" are you listening oh Craft Brewers of Oregon?

Lest we forget what is a premium beer - I bring you this picture from Jeff Alworth:

Cargill corn syrup tanker outside the old Weinhard's brewery in the pearl.

Ummm...nothing says 'premium' like corn syrup! Smooth...

In Which I Find the Answer

Growing up in Wisconsin, one is always faced with one, seemingly unanswerable, question:what is the point of Iowa?

Fortunately, last night, I think I finally found the answer.  After a long day I arrived home to an almost empty beer fridge, but lo and behold, in the back, a forgotten wonderbeer just waiting for me:

Oh man, did it make my day.

So thanks Matt (the Iowan) for a great beer.

Winning the Future

When Barack Obama talks about the US 'winning the future' though leading the world in innovation and development, I am confident he is talking about this:

Josh Springer may have solved the sports fan’s dilemma: Should I get a beer or go to the bathroom if I want to be back in my seat before the action resumes?
His invention, the Bottoms Up Draft Beer Dispensing System, makes it easier to do both by drastically cutting the time it takes to pour and pay for a brew. After a YouTube video that’s been viewed more than 4 million times and an NFL debut that helped the Jacksonville Jaguars set beer-sales records in a year of poor attendance, Springer’s company has signed an exclusive advertising deal with Anheuser-Busch InBev and is preparing to grow exponentially in 2011.

“We get calls from all over the world daily,” the 28-year-old inventor said by telephone from his home base near Olympia, Wash. “Apparently, you have to wait for a beer all over the world.”

Bottoms Up will make its Houston debut at Discovery Green the first weekend in April, during festivities related to the NCAA Final Four.

Alison Birdwell, general manager for Aramark at Reliant Park, said one or two of the dispensers will be operating at Texans games next fall.

She said the concessionaire also plans to install one or two at Minute Maid Park, although not in time for the Astros’ opening day.

Inspiration struck three years ago at a birthday dinner for his dad, Springer said, when he quieted the table and announced to a skeptical family that he thought he could fill a beer glass from the bottom. Four days later, he’d developed a prototype of a machine that would pump beer through a metal-ringed hole in the bottom of a plastic cup. A magnet covering the hole would then snap back into place. He estimates the process is nine times as fast as a traditional draft system.

It also eliminates excessive foaming.

“It’s gentler on the beer,” he said.

Here is one of the YouTube videos mentioned in the Houston Chronicle article excerpted above, and I gotta say, it works pretty well, though I am not sure how much the cups cost or how recyclable they are.  Maybe if you poke around their site you can find out.