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LuceScrew’s Brew Buzz is a segment on The 40cast covering beer enthusiast topics…think of it as Geeky Beer Facts.

This segment can be found in Episode 84 Of The 40cast released on Feb. 9, 2012.

The week after Super Bowl I read an article tweeted by the Beer Goddess (Erin Peters) that was posted on TheStreet.com website.  The article was titled “Why Craft Beer Doesn’t Have A Super Bowl Ad.” When I first read the title I thought the answer was pretty obvious, but I found the facts stated very interesting.

So this year’s game was no different than other years…the beer commercials were dominated by Budweiser products.  As I sat there watching the game I kept asking myself…why? Who are these ads targeting? Is the money spent worth it?  Will these companies get a return on investment equal or greater than the cost?  Overall I was very disappointed in the ads viewed and thought…”what a waste of money.”  So why aren’t smaller craft breweries using the big game as an opportunity to reach out to 100 million people? It’s simple…

Despite the recent growth in the craft beer industry the simple fact is the big beer companies still own 95% of the beer sales in the United States.  Anheuser-Busch is the largest with over 100 million barrels produced per year compared to Yuengling & Sons and Boston Beer Company producing 2.5 million and 2.3 million barrels respectively. Craft brew sales increased 11% by volume and 12% by dollars in 2010 and jumped 15% in dollars the first six months of 2011. These numbers at first glance appear very good, but remember a small percentage increase of a small volume is still negligible.  Craft beer needs to see 200% increases over a few years to really be a formidable competitor in the US beer market.

I originally had a lot of stuff to say about this topic, but over the past 4 weeks I have lost my drive and just can not seem to finish the write-up for this Brew Buzz. Although the audio portion of this Brew Buzz was kind of impromptu, it still has some good conversation on this topic. So forgive me for putting out a half-assed article, but I need to move forward with the other Brew Buzz segments.

Listen to the audio segment of the Brew Buzz below:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 19:03 — 8.7MB)

LuceScrew’s Brew Buzz is a segment on The 40cast covering beer enthusiast topics…think of it as Geeky Beer Facts.

This segment can be found in Episode 82 Of The 40cast released on Jan. 29, 2012.

Listen to the audio segment of the Brew Buzz below:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 16:08 — 7.4MB)

LuceScrew’s Brew Buzz is a segment on The 40cast covering beer enthusiast topics…think of it as Geeky Beer Facts.

This segment can be found in Episode 80 Of The 40cast released on Jan. 15, 2012.

Some of my favorite brews from Lagunitas:

• Lagunitas IPA
• Lagunitas Maximus
• Lagunitas Brown Shugga’
• Lagunitas Lil Sumpin Sumpin Ale
• Hop Stoopid Ale
• Cappuccino Stout
• Lagunitas Lucky 13 and Lucky13.alt
• Wilco Tango Foxtrot
• Undercover Investigation Shut-Down Ale
• Our Own Bavarian Doppel Weizen Ale
• Lagunitas Sucks Holiday Ale
• All the Frank Zappa collection

I have a lot of brewers I really enjoy and will be spotlighting on the show in the coming months.

Listen to the audio segment of the Brew Buzz below:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 17:27 — 8.0MB)

LuceScrew’s Brew Buzz is a segment on The 40cast covering beer enthusiast topics…think of it as Geeky Beer Facts.

This segment can be found in Episode 78 Of The 40cast released on Jan. 1, 2012.

Full Sail Brewing Wassail

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.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 8:35 — 3.9MB)

LuceScrew’s Brew Buzz is a segment on The 40cast covering beer enthusiast topics…think of it as Geeky Beer Facts.

This segment can be found in Episode 77 Of The 40cast released on Dec. 18, 2011.

Grand Teton Brewing Bitch Creek XX

So you have probably heard me talking about “cellaring” beer for 6 months to 2 years in order to age it for better flavor. I am sure you are asking yourselves what I am talking about, so here is your explanation.

What is cellaring? When I talk about putting a beer in the cellar for some length of time I mean setting it aside in a cool dry place for a time period in order to enhance the overall flavor and smoothness of the beer.  This is not recommended for all beers, but certain beers can really benefit from additional aging prior to consumption.

What to cellar? Typically beers with a higher ABV (greater than 6% and above 8% prefered) will benefit.  The reason being some higher alcohol content beers tend to have sharper finishes and may not be as palatable due to the brewer trying (and sometimes failing) to balance the malts and hops and still provide a high octane brew. The hops may overcome the grains, and by aging the brew the flavors mellow slightly.  Beers with higher hop concentrations also can stay fresh longer due to the hops acting as a preservative.  The exception to this rule is the IPA because typical American IPA styles tend to use flavorful hops which tend to lose their distinct flavors over time.  Usually beers with darker coloring are cellar-worthy candidates, although I have had some good lighter colored Belgium Ales.  Bottle-conditioned beers (beers that finish off their fermentation process in the bottle) are good ones because some of the yeast is still present in the bottle to continue eating up sugars and actually evolve the beer to a new level.  The best beers to cellar are barley-wines, barrel-aged and winter beers (full bodied beers with strong malty flavors and higher hop content).

Grand Teton Brewing Wake Up Call Imperial Coffee Porter

How to cellar? So you want to find an out of the way, cool, dark and dry place that does not fluctuate temperature drastically (should maintain about 55degrees Fahrenheit).  The best places are in crawl spaces, basements and closets…and if you are fortunate enough to have the space and money, then you can build your own cellar room in the basement.  Unlike wine, you want to store your bottles upright.  This keeps the yeast and sediment at the bottom of the bottle where it will not affect the flavor.  If possible try to have at least two bottles in the cellar so you can try one at a predetermined time and another at a later time to compare tasting notes of your work.  Oh yeah, you might want to have a log with the name of each beer and the date you placed it in the cellar. Use a label sticker on the bottom of the bottle to index your collection.  Another option is to keep your beers in a cardboard carton and write the dates under each beer.

Why cellar beers?  The main reason is to experiment.  Some might even say it’s a game of chance as you gamble the cost of the beer on the possibility of unveiling a wonderful new beer drinking experience.  I think the best reason to try and cellar beers is to attempt to create a smoother and more enjoyable beer drinking experience from a beer that may be hard to drink at a younger age.  That is why I almost exclusively cellar barley-wines.  These 12-14% behemoths taste horrible until after 2-3 years of aging. Then they become a more deeper flavored and smoother beer to drink.  Cellaring beer also is a lesson in patience and self control. Vic himself said he could never keep a beer for 1-2 years, he would just drink it up.  As we have all learned over the last few months, craft beer is not meant to be guzzled, it is meant to be savored and consumed for the beer tasting experience.

NOTE: In the audio segment I may have overstated the increase in ABV in my example. Thanks goes out to listener John R. from Seattle for writing in and providing good feedback and explaining the why my statement was not plausible.

Listen to the audio segment of the Brew Buzz below:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 27:33 — 12.6MB)