The June Session has been announced over at Geistbear Brewing Blog: Beer Festivals.

As Summer approaches we are in full swing of beer festival season, so it seemed the perfect topic for the June Session. Do you have a favorite beer festival you like to attend or a particular memory of inspirational moment at a festival? Or perhaps talk about what you would like to see out of festivals or perhaps the future of them. All is fair game, I look forward to seeing where people take this topic.

This really only applies, I suppose, if you're local to (Central) Oregon. But my friend Simone is having a big garage sale this weekend, and they're getting rid of some homebrewing equipment, and as a favor I'm running the list here if anyone's interested:

• Primary Fermenter (5 gallon carboy)
• Stainless Steel Soda Tank (5g)
• Aluminum Keg (5g)
• Bottling Kit
• Black Metal Wart Cooker (5g)
• Copper Coil (wort chiller)

Anyone have any interest? Contact me if you do and I'll put you in touch.

I get various press releases and such sent to me, most of which I run, but they're always about beer. But today, I got one promoting Magners Irish Cider. I'm out of the cider loop, so even though it's a typical PR piece, it was interesting enough for me to comment on it.

Here's the meat of it:

This year, many Americans will be picking up the Irish tradition of drinking Magners Irish Cider "over ice."

Magners is the only hard cider imported from Ireland and has a crisp, refreshing taste. Often referred to as the "wine of Ireland," Magners is less filling than beer, more refreshing than wine, and not as sweet as artificially flavored malt beverages. Additionally, Magners is 100% naturally Gluten free, providing refreshment for over 3 million US consumers who cannot drink beer.

Magners is made from juice derived from 17 varieties of apples which are grown in Clonmel, Ireland, and specifically chosen for cider production. Magners has 4.5% alcohol and only 215 calories per pint bottle. Magners is now available in over 20 states in pint bottles, draught and 11oz bottles. A pint bottle will run anywhere between $5.50 and $7.00.

The interesting points to me:

• The "only hard cider imported from Ireland"—is it really? Is there much in the way of Irish cider in general?
• Gluten free, which I can see being a big selling point (though all cider is/should be gluten free).
• 17 varieties of apples(!).

Perhaps I should start checking out the cider segment of the market.

Deep Cover Brown Ale. Left Hand Brewing. I hate to say it, but right off the bat Left Hand commits the cardinal website sin: an all-Flash site. Even worse, the front "page" of the site is an age verification check—and regular readers know how I just love those. I hate to go off on a tangent here, but having an all-Flash site is about the worst kind of web presence a brewery could have; there are no direct URLs to link to, I can't copy and paste text at all, there's no accessibility, it's resource-intensive...

Okay, enough. I'll write a Beer Hacker article soon on the subject. In the meantime, back to the beer.

It's an English Brown Ale, very easy drinking at 4.23% alcohol by volume. It came with my Beer of the Month selection earlier in the year.

Appearance: Deep copper-brown beer with a thin and fizzy cola head that fell almost right away.

Smell: Very prominent notes of caramel and roasted brown malts. A touch of chocolate, maybe hazelnut.

Taste: Nutty and buttery, with a nice interplay of some lightly caramelized sugars and roasty, coffee-like grains. Not burnt in character at all, though—it's much more of a roasted nut / toasted granola character. Sweet with very little hop character.

Mouthfeel: Smooth, a little syrupy though it's lighter than medium-bodied.

Overall: Very pleasant nut brown ale—roasty without being harsh or astringent or burnt at all. Tasty.

On BeerAdvocate, it scores a grade of B. On RateBeer, it scores 2.99 out of 5, and is in their 43rd percentile.

This isn't the typical type of press release I usually get from Anheuser-Busch; but it's a worthwhile effort so I'm running it.

As Teens Gear Up for Prom and Graduation, Retailers Employ Tools to Prevent Sales to Minors

“No Sale, No How, No Way.” It’s what teens who may attempt to buy alcohol during prom and graduation season will hear from retailers who are on alert and committed to helping prevent underage drinking. That’s according to a new poll that shows preventing minors from obtaining alcohol is a priority for those who sell or serve it. According to the Retailer Exchange survey, the vast majority of America’s retailers are doing their part to help prevent underage drinking. In fact, 93 percent report using ID-checking materials and consider them effective in preventing alcohol sales to individuals under 21 years of age.

Read full press release

Consider this my Cinco de Mayo post—though I actually missed the boat on the beer and was drinking some "Jose Cuervo Golden" margaritas. (The pre-mixed one they sell, rather than homemade.)

Last week I noticed Trader Joe's had two new house beers under the label "Trader José's." They're Mexican style beers, a light and dark lager (think Corona and Dos Equis). Even though I'd made a mental note to pick some up for today, I didn't.

Instead, Mario on Brewed for Thought has a post today about them. With a picture, and worth the read.

Also, they show up on BeerAdvocate as well.

Otter Creek Pale Ale is the pale offering from the Vermont brewery of the same name. At 4.6% alcohol, it's definitely an easy-drinking session beer.

(I had received this as one of the February Beer of the Month beers.)

Appearance: Clear and copper-colored; head was generous and off-white, though fell quickly.

Smell: Doughy malt with a green hop scent... Cascade hops, though it's not as intense as Northwest Pales.

Taste: Crisp and bitter in the mouth, with a woody hop character. A bit earthy and spicy, too. Malt is pretty neutral.

Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied and very dry character from the hopping... nice crisp aftertaste from it.

Overall: Perfectly decent American Pale Ale, light and crisp... works as a casual beer, a warm-up, or a palate cleanser with the hop crispness.

On BeerAdvocate, it scores a grade of B. On RateBeer, it scores 3.24 out of 5 and is in their 65th percentile.

First Friday of the month means it's time for The Session! That's when (beer) bloggers across the web all write about a selected theme having to do with beer.

This month's topic comes to us from London-based Boak and Bailey: How did it all start for you?

Continuing the “Beervangelism” theme, we’d like you to write about the moment when you saw the light. At what point did you realise you were a beer lover / geek / enthusiast? What beer(s) triggered the conversion? Did someone help you along your way, or did you come to it yourself?

In short; how did you get into good beer?

I have two answers, and I can't say for sure which came first because the mists of time have worked their magic on my memory and my chronology is a bit mixed up. Both answers related to things happening within a fairly short period of each other which is why I can't quite remember... it's a bit of a "chicken and egg" problem in that sense, I guess.

It was the mid nineties, we were living in Spokane, and—being in my early twenties and going to school—the cheaper the beer I could get, the better. Sadly, I was a big drinker of Keystone Light, mostly because it was available at Costco for $7.99 per case. But I wasn't overly particular; sometimes I'd "splurge" and pick up Miller Genuine Draft—in bottles!—and at some point I graduated to Molson Ice. (Had the higher alcohol content, natch.)

I was certainly aware of the existence of craft beers; Deschutes was a big thing in my home town of Bend, and I'd probably tried various micros from time to time. But—well, it's a familiar story, so I won't bore you any more with it.

One of the first things to raise my beer awareness and start me down the path was my friend Geoff insisting I try some microbrewed beer one night while we were at Ichabod's North, and he bought a pitcher of Widmer Hefeweizen. The beer was orange and cloudy and smelled like fresh bread. My first impressions: thick, yeasty, bready, crisp, bracing, and the most delicious beer to pass my lips ever, at that point. Seriously, it was that good, and it really opened my eyes to what was happening with craft beer.

The other thing that happened was my introduction to homebrew. This was around the same time, and my friend Justin—who was also getting into good beer—brought over some homebrewed beer that a friend of his had made. It was Toad Spit Stout, the Irish stout recipe from Charlie Papazian's New Complete Joy of Homebrewing. (Yes, I intentionally linked to the second-edition version knowing perfectly well there's been a revised edition released.)

That Stout was far better than I frankly expected it to be, and opened my eyes to homebrewing the same way that Widmer's Hefeweizen opened my eyes to microbrew. I was hooked. I bought Papazian's book and it became my bible. I started homebrewing—clumsily at first, naturally—and explored Spokane's tiny craft beer scene.

(A big help in this was Jim's Homebrew—the best beer and homebrewing store in Spokane. Not only a homebrewing store, they had (have) several big refrigerator cases filled with craft and import beers—so I got to try a lot more beer than I would have otherwise (there were no other stores in Spokane at that time offering a variety even remotely like Jim's).)

After that, I had the bug. Ever since I'm always looking to try new beers, new breweries, and learn something new. Back in 2004, I went online and "officially" launched The Brew Site... and the rest, as they say, is history.

Two Oregon Breweries Win Grand Champion Brewery Awards at the 2008 World Beer Cup

Five Portland breweries claimed a total of nine medals at the 2008 World Beer Cup held Saturday, April 19th in San Diego, California giving Portland the distinction of being the most medaled city in the world’s most prestigious international brewing competition.

BridgePort Brewing Co., Hopworks Urban Brewery, Pyramid Breweries and Widmer Brothers Brewing Co. led the way with two medals each. Laurelwood Brewing Co. claimed one medal from the elite panel of international judges who awarded 268 medals from among the 2,864 different beers from 644 breweries across 91 beer styles.

Highlights from the 2008 World Beer Cup included two Oregon brewmasters winning the prestigious Grand Champion Brewery award. Grand Champion Brewery awards are awarded in five different brewery size categories.

Read full press release

(With apologies to Stan's "Monday Morning Musings" and Rick's "Tuesday Tastings" and others who have themes of that sort. "Tuesday Tidbits" is not going to be a regular named feature here. I don't think. I just liked the alliteration.)

→ Don't forget this Friday, May 2nd, is the 15th Session. The topic is "How did it all start for you?"

→ I've been drinking through an old six-pack of novelty beer from Las Vegas—from the "Vegas Valley Brewing Company" (which no longer exists, and warrants a longer post)—that I picked up at least eight years ago, I think. Needless to say, it was stored poorly and the beer didn't make it. I diligently took notes on the first three I drank, though, and I'll have quite a bit more to write about it. The moral of the story: two things. First, beer is meant to be drank, not (necessarily) saved. Second, if you're going to save beer, cellar it properly!

→ Lots of blogger reactions to the news of Magic Hat Brewing buying Pyramid Brewing. I don't really have anything to add to the story—everyone else is doing a great job with it—other than to (selfishly) hope that we might see some Magic Hat beers filter out to the west coast sometime soon...

Go Oregon brewers! :)

Figures released today [April 24th, actually] by the Oregon Brewers Guild show 2007 was a banner year for Oregon’s craft brewing industry as production across the state grew at a rate of 8.1 percent. Total beer production for the state was approximately 860,000 barrels, or 285 million bottles of beer. That is an increase of more than 64,000 barrels, up from 796,000 barrels in 2006.

The industry posted strong growth despite increases in hop and barley prices, the two main ingredients in craft beer. Portland, Oregon currently has 32 microbreweries within its city limits, more than any other city in the world. The state of Oregon has 64 brewing companies operating 90 brewing facilities, with strong growth anticipated throughout 2008.

“The impact of the brewing industry stretches far beyond the breweries themselves,” said Brian Butenschoen, Executive Director of the Oregon Brewers Guild. “A strong production year supports a variety of local products including barley, hops, yeast and glass producers as well as providing nearly 5,000 family wage jobs and a draw for tourism across the state.”

Oregonians don’t just love to make great beer, they love to drink it, too. Of the beer brewed in-state, more than 11.4 percent, or 308,000 barrels, were purchased and consumed in Oregon. For draft beer, that percentage is even higher, with Oregon breweries producing 42 percent of all draft beer consumed in the state. This is the highest percentage of local craft draft beer consumption in the country. 2007 marks the first year that Oregon brewers have sold more than 300,000 barrels in state. A barrel is equal to 31 gallons or 13.77 cases or 331 bottles of beer.

“For years we’ve been producing some of the best and most unique beers in the world,” says Oregon Brewers Guild President Van Havig. “No wonder Oregon is known as Beervana and has become a mecca for craft beer enthusiasts.”

Oregon’s largest craft beer producer is Widmer Brothers Brewing Company of Portland, which produced 283,000 barrels in 2007. During 2007 one of Oregon's smallest breweries to open, the Heater-Allen Brewery in McMinnville, produced 36 Barrels.

The Oregon Brewers Guild is Oregon’s non-profit trade association for the state’s independent breweries. The Guild, which receives no state funding, comprises 59 brewing companies, 30 associate or supplier members and more than 1,860 enthusiast members or S.N.O.B.s (Supporters of Native Oregon Beer). For more information, see www.oregonbeer.org.

I've been remiss in posting this press release, and I promised I would (I got sidetracked with Theme Week). St. Louis' second annual Heritage Festival is coming up May 8 through 10, and Anheuser-Busch and their "Here's to Beer" campaign is a big proponent of it. In fact, A-B even offered to pay my way if I wanted to go—though I couldn't make it.

There are even some photos of last year's event after the jump.

If you missed last year’s inaugural St. Louis Brewers Heritage Festival held in the city’s historic Forest Park, then picture great beer and delicious food from some of the area’s finest restaurants, and 15,000 adults underneath blue skies enjoying various beer styles and toasting with friends. The festival proved to be one of the most popular new events in 2007 for both beer aficionados and those new to the beer scene, and should be on every St. Louisan’s “must attend” list this year.

Continue reading

Lakefront's stout offering is their Fuel Cafe, which is brewed with coffee from (and for) the actual Fuel Cafe in Milwaukee.

That's actually about all I can tell you about this beer. It's nearly 6% alcohol and there is a lot of coffee character going on here—is it caffeinated, perhaps?

Appearance: Nice and black; when I held it to the light, there's a bit of cola brown at the edges. Head was brown and broke down relatively quickly.

Smell: Black roasted malts and dry-roasted coffee... a hint of smoke; oily.

Taste: Nicely dry and bitter with a creamy "coffee syrup" kind of thing going on. Pleasant and drinkable, a solid dry stout.

Mouthfeel: Firm and dry, fairly smooth. Not too chewy but a nice presence.

Overall: Solid, back-to-basics stout. The coffee adds a nice character.

On BeerAdvocate, it scores a grade of B-. On RateBeer, it scores 3.11 out of 5 and is in their 53rd percentile.

Lakefront's Eastside Dark, a dark lager (Dunkel Lager), is the type of beer I imagine the nineteenth-century German brewers were producing in America—and in Milwaukee in particular—prior to the introduction of the Pilsner.

Their own description of this beer:

The rich, coffee-like aroma and flavor of this fine, dark, Bavarian style lager is derived from a precise blending of three different specialty barley malts. Unlike many other dark beers, East Side Dark doesn't have a bitter aftertaste. Instead, your palate is greeted with the rich body and balanced flavor that only this beer can deliver. Art in brewed form.

I don't honestly know about "art in brewed form"—I can think of a few beers that I would apply that to—but it's still a fine beer. 5.52% alcohol by volume.

I originally reviewed this beer back in 2006; read that here. I wasn't originally very impressed, but this time around was much more positive.

Appearance: Dark brown in color—mostly opaque but with red-orange edges. Tan, putty-colored head.

Smell: Bready and grainy—almost a rye and molasses character. Grassy hop notes, kind of like green wheat.

Taste: Lots of grain and malt notes... rye/pumpernickel. Some chocolate, some light coffee, rich brothy notes. Clean with a bit of a tang.

Mouthfeel: Clean, medium-bodied, a tad astringent from darker malts.

Overall: Enjoyable, drinkable.

On BeerAdvocate, it scores a grade of B. On RateBeer, it scores 3.24 out of 5, and is in their 65th percentile.

I've mentioned before how Oktoberfest is one of my favorite styles, and Lakefront's version is a worthy contribution.

Again, not much more to say... it's a pretty straightforward beer. At 5.7% alcohol, it won't knock you down.

Appearance: Hazy orange color tinged with gold and topped by an off-white, creamy head.

Smell: Malty with a touch of darker malts and a slight sourness. Otherwise, fairly clean with a light hop profile (very light).

Taste: Rich and malty with dark breads and a hint of spiciness. Sweet and buttery. A bit lighter than I'd be expecting in the style, but it doesn't detract at all.

Mouthfeel: Lightly medium-bodied with some nicely complex structures going on in the sweet body.

Overall: It's a tasty example of the style... I'd be happy to drink it again.

On BeerAdvocate, it scores a grade of B-. On RateBeer, it scores 2.84 out of 5, and is in their 32nd percentile.