Brew Buzz

So a few weeks ago I went over the Winter Warmer beer style, so it is only appropriate to finish out the year covering the other winter ales.Everyone is probably aware of the Christmas style ale…usually has some strange ingredients and flavors, is often a dark beer, but can also be copper colored. As I mentioned, these styles of beer often are heavily flavored with spices such as nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, spruce tips, cloves and various fruit flavors. They have a unique taste you either love or hate, or are like me and tolerate them in small doses.What are some of the best Christmas/Winter Ales? Well the most famous ones in the US are Great Lakes Brewing Christmas Ale and Anchor Brewing Christmas Ale. I’ve had others, but since this is not my prefered style, then I am biased in a negative way. I’ll say Samuel Adam’s Winter Lager and Old Fezziwig Ale are two to try if you are interested in this style of beer.

I also mentioned the Wassail Style beer and I said I would research it because I was not familiar with it (except for my love of Full Sail Wassail Winter Warmer).  Well it turns out this wassail stuff is a little bit complicated because the style is wide open to the brewers (or cooks) taste.  The only thing common is the time of the year it is made…when its cold outside and typically during the holidays.

The funny thing about wassail is that it’s not really a beer at all. It is a “beer punch” that uses beer or honey mead as an ingredient, and it is served warm.  The typical wassail is made with apples, brown sugar, cloves, allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and some kind of alcohol (beer, mead, hard cider or wine).  As I list these ingredients, it makes me wonder how does a beer follow the style of a wassail? Is a “Wassail” beer a style that would be good to use in a traditional wassail?  That is what I am thinking, because the wassail beers I have tasted have not been spiced beers.

So what kinds of beer would be good for a wassail? It looks like any dark and malty style beer would complement the other ingredients, such as a porter or brown ale. I would stay away the more hoppy ales, such as pale ales and IPAs because the bitterness might overwhelm the flavor.

What is my favorite Wassail? That is easy…it’s Full Sail Brewing Wassail. This is a premium crafted beer with a premium taste.

This week I want to talk about the seasonal Winter Warmer beers.  A few weeks ago Keith asked about why a winter beer would be a “warmer” and not a “chiller” style beer due to the winter weather being cold and crisp.  I made a comment that the beer styles for winter and summer seasons actually have a reverse style preference. So you want a beer that warms you up in winter (strong alcohol, bold robust flavor and heavier), and one that cools you down in summer (easy to drink, crisp, refreshing and lighter).In winter time the weather is cooler and you want a beer that will warm your bones and fill the void in your stomach.  The winter warmer is one with a higher alcohol by volume (ABV) rating than normal beers and actually feels warm going down, similar to a good quality bourbon or cognac.  In my experience most winter warmer brews are 6% and greater, and the best ones are between 7-9%.  These brews are also a little heavier and bolder flavored (not necessarily in fruity or spiced flavors, but in hops and malt flavors) so they tend to fill you up more.  The coloring can range from reddish-amber to pitch black.  This year I even had one that was really light, almost as light as a pilsner.

So you might be asking…is the porter and stout part of the winter warmer style? Well, not really.  Typically porters and stouts do not fall into the winter warmer category, although they are great beers to drink in the cooler months.  The exception is made for stouts that are aged in bourbon barrels.  During the secondary fermentation process the beer is transferred to aged bourbon barrels for a few weeks (or months).  During this time the beer takes on the flavor of the smoked oak whiskey barrel and the former spirits it held, and provides a unique finish to the beer.  I absolutely love bourbon barrel brews.

Here are some of my favorite winter warmers:

• Widmer Brothers Brrr
• Widmer Brothers Brrrbon (bourbon barrel aged version)
• Deschutes Jubelale
• Full Sail Wassail
• Lagunitas Brown Shugga (not produced this year)
• Lagunitas Sucks Holiday Ale (substitute for Brown Shugga)
• Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale
• Big Sky Powder Hound

So the other day I went into one of my local stores looking for something new.  I was presented with a lot of choices, and most of them were very expensive. So now I had to make a choice on which ones I wanted to spend my money on, and how much I really wanted to spend. So I asked myself the following questions…

1) What style or beer was I looking for (or at least in the mood for)?  It is important to pick a beer you are craving or in the mood to drink. Craft beer is not cheap, so it does not make sense to force yourself to drink something you are not going to be predisposed to enjoy.

2) Which beers had I never tried? And are any of them ones I have been wanting to try? Sometimes we get into rutts where we drink the stuff we like…over and over again. I do this all the time when I really like a beer (like my Widmer Brothers Brrr). But as you grow your craft beer tastes, you will want to go out and try new things. I often look for beers that I have never tried, or that are a one-time brew for a special occasion. This way I am able to discover new breweries and even new beer styles.

3) Which ones have the best flavor or will give me the most enjoyment?  My craft beer enthusiasm is all about the enjoyment I get out of drinking these flavorful brews. It also helps when the beer has a higher alcohol content and gives me a bit of a buzz.  So I tend to stay away from the brews that typically have low flavor and low ABV, or ones that have flavors I just don’t like (for me its the spiced, smoked, pumpkin and all around strange flavors).  I know I prefer Pale Ales, IPAs, Wheat, Winter Warmers, Stouts and Porters, but is not to say I will not occasionally go out of my comfort level and try other varieties.

4) How much does it cost? Is the value worth the cost?  This is a tough one, especially if you have no experience with a brewery or the beer in question.  So how do you add value to a beer you have never tried before? You can seek out advice from friends who have tried the beer and know your taste preferences. You can also ask a beer master (if the store has one) or the bar tender if out at the pub. You can use a website like Beer Advocate. There are a lot of beer rating websites, so find one you like and use it to find brews you might enjoy.  Then weigh the rating with the cost and the volume and make a decision for yourself if the value is high enough to justify the cost.

So how did I make my decision? I examined all the beers and picked out the five I really wanted to buy. Most of them were about $15 for a 22oz bottle. I then decided I wanted to stick with a winter warmer or stout. I took out my iPhone and opened www.beeradvocate.com and searched for each beer and compared the ratings. I decided to pick the two A rated brews, one a $16 25oz Bourbon Barrel Stout and the other a $10 4-pack of Russian Imperial Stout (one I have been wanting to try for years). I left the store $28 lighter in the wallet, but I am sure I will not be left unsatisfied.

Listen to the audio segment of the Brew Buzz below:

As our listeners are probably well aware of by now, I am a huge India Pale Ale (IPA) fan.  I drink more IPAs than any other beer style (winter ales come in a close second).  The main draw for me to the IPA is the strong hops flavor and aroma. I also enjoy beers with a higher bitterness rating, the the extras hopping in the IPA makes for great bitter beers. So how did the IPA style come to life?In the early 1700’s Great Britain had a desire to transport “quality” beer to their troops and citizens living abroad in the India colonies. The problem was the heavily malted English ales (remember the ale, beer, and twopenny) easily spoiled on the long boat ride across the world. The solution found was to add A LOT of hops to the ale to assist in preserving it from the heat inside the hull and severe rocking motion of the sailing vessel.

Once the occupation of India ceased, there was no longer a need to preserve the ale. This hopped up ale was not served locally in England, so the majority of the English drinking population had never tasted IPA.  There is a story of an incapacitated ship in 1827 whose damaged IPA casks were sold to local English pubs.  The hoppy ale was a big success and brewers continued to brew and sell versions of IPA locally.

IPAs are basically made up of traditional Pale Ale with lots of added English hops and extra crystal malts (adds a little sweetness to balance out the bitterness of the extra hops).  The American style IPA uses American style hops (like Cascade, Centennial and Columbus) which adds a citrus flavor and aroma.

Listen to the audio segment of the Brew Buzz below:

Over the past several months there has been a lot of talk about craft and micro-brew beers. I am sure a lot of listeners who are long time domestic beer drinkers (Bud, Coors, Miller) are finding it difficult to go outside their comfort levels and try some of these fancy beers that taste so strange.  So it is important to ease your way into this new flavor territory.

I recommend starting off with a “gateway” beer.  One that is not going to overwhelm your taste buds and turn you off to craft beers.  So I will provide a couple choices to start off with, ones that most people can drink and not instantly turn away from the change.

Since beer distributing is a very complicated system, I will call out some beers that are most likely found across the country.

Samuel Adams is one of the first craft breweries to go prime time and show consumers your beer can taste good.  I believe their beer can be found in almost every state.  The closest one to domestic tastes is the Boston Lager.  This is a typical lager, but has a more refined flavor.  Samuel Adams also serves up a variety of styles, and none of them are overly flavorful (just enough flavor to tell it is not a regular beer).  I recommend purchasing a variety 12-pack that contains 5-6 different styles and experiment with the various styles.  They have seasonal releases and right now is the winter classics (Coffee Stout, Porter, Lager, Chocolate Bock, Spicy Ale).  I just got done sampling this variety pack and the flavors were not strong enough for me, but would be perfect for a newer craft beer drinker.

Henry Weinhard also provides a variety of beer styles with more flavor than domestic, but not so drastic.  You can try a Pale Ale, Dark Ale, IPA or Hefeweizen and see if these styles are something you enjoy.  Drink these for a while and then try stronger versions from other local craft brewers.  Henry’s was my entry into craft brew…I really enjoyed the Dark Ale.