I cracked open the Kerberos Tripel tonight, from the Flying Dog promo package I received last Friday. It's Flying Dog's version of a Belgian, er, Tripel style of ale, and they've put some effort into recreating the "Tripel experience."

(I just made that up. Basically, they've tried to be faithful to the style by using appropriate malts, European hops and even taking the unusual step—unusual for a big brewery anyway—of bottle conditioning the beer.)

Flying Dog must have fun naming their beers within their dog theme, and this one especially. Kerberos (or Cerberus) in Greek mythology was the three-headed dog of the god Hades; three heads → triple → Tripel (style) → get it? Okay, that was probably more fun for me, but still.

This beer is 8.5% alcohol by volume, and I decided to do something unusual and serve it up in a large snifter (I don't have a goblet, which would be more appropriate).

Appearance: Hazy amber-gold colored beer, with an off-white head that dissipated quickly but left a nice ring of lacing.

Smell: Sugary, fruity (a bit sour), a hint of the alcohol heat. Belgian candy sugar and a tad estery.

Taste: Belgian-sweet base with a hoppy bitter kick. A sense of winter root vegetables and a touch of Belgian funk. Some white pepper spiciness and you can tell there's some alcoholic punch hiding in there.

Mouthfeel: Crisp and clean with a lingering hop bitterness... an effect not unlike the aftertaste/feel of a (good) Swiss cheese.

Overall: Nice job on this one; pleasantly spicy and funky and a good sipping beer.

On BeerAdvocate, there are only eight reviews so far and they average a grade of B. On RateBeer, there are similarly only nine reviews, and it scores 3 out of 5 (no percentile calculation yet).

...an event which I've blogged about in the past but somehow managed to sneak up on me this year. I must be losing my touch!

American Craft Beer Week (May 12-18), which is celebrated annually, highlights the industry and culture of craft beer. This year, breweries and beer makers will also recognize their collective charitable contributions. For the first time ever, the Brewers Association announced U.S. craft breweries' charitable contributions, and for 2007 they are estimated to be more than $20 million.

Various breweries around the country are participating; check out the Brewery Events page to see if there are any in your state near you. For instance, according to that, Deschutes Brewery has The Abyss on tap all week long.

So you'd better get moving.

Earlier in the week a nice writeup of Tonya Cornett of Bend Brewing Company hit the Oregonian, and it's been making the rounds. Cornett is the first female brewer to win a Champion Brewmaster award at the World Beer Cup this year, which is the occasion for the article.

Congrats, Tonya! (Belatedly.)

Central Oregon brewpub Silver Moon Brewing—whom I've mentioned several times around these parts—has broken through the "brewpub boundaries" and is bottling some of their beers in 22-ounce bombers.

(Previously, you could find growlers at some of the better-beer-selection stores around here.)

My friends Paul and Sandi had mentioned this to me a while back, but it jarred my memory today when I saw two of the bottles. Hound's Tooth Amber Ale and one other that I forget right now. Next time I'll try to snap some pictures.

Friday I received the latest promotional package from Flying Dog: six beers highlighting the new Kerberos Tripel release, the new Canis Major 4-Pack container (containing one each of their Canis Major series, of which Kerberos is one), and two additional beers that won awards at this year's World Beer Cup.

For those keeping track at home, these are the beers that came in the package:

• Kerberos Tripel
• Gonzo Imperial Porter
• Horn Dog Barley Wine
• Double Dog Double Pale Ale
• Old Scratch Amber Lager (World Beer Cup winner)
• Wild Goose IPA (World Beer Cup winner)

(The Wild Goose is from their other brewery in Maryland.)

Here's a photo of the package:

I can't think of a brewery doing more right now to create a grassroots buzz than Flying Dog; they're really putting the effort out there. Naturally I'll be writing about these beers in the coming days.

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