Wet-Hopped Beers: The Last True Seasonal?

Fall is a great time for beer.  Of all the “drinking festivals”, Oktoberfest is probably the most beer-friendly (at least “good-beer”-friendly).  Millions the world over raise liter after liter of strong, hearty lager to toast Prince Ludwig.  Pumpkin ales are among the most heavily-anticipated seasonal beers of the year – who doesn’t love that warming, spicy note to prepare us for cool weather?

Lately, though, it’s become clear to beer lovers that the “seasonal” moniker is being applied more liberally than ever before.  Brewers & distributors seem to be in a race to get their time-sensitive beers on the shelves, a mixed blessing of what’s become a very competitive market.  We at the House are certainly not absolved of this practice, having tapped our first pumpkin ale on August 1^st.  Beermakers & sellers definitely play fast & loose with the definition of “season”, to the frustration of some – Sixpoint Brewing decried this year’s early appearance of pumpkin beers.  Many brewers use frozen pumpkins or puree, making a harvest-time irrelevant.  And thanks to temperature control technology, Oktoberfests no longer have to be stored in caves over the summer, & saisons (French for “season”) can be brewed year-round.  Like most foods, beer styles are pretty much available all the time, whenever the craving strikes.

And we at the House have no problem with that!  We’re all for having a broad selection of styles & taste available to the thirsty faithful.  However, there is a big exception when it comes to this whatever-whenever availability, & one that’s especially exciting to those in the know.  This time of year is when hopyards harvest their cones.  Many are shredded & turned into pellets or just frozen whole, but lucky are those that get picked & immediately sent to the brewery for used in the freshest of the hoppy beers: the wet-hopped harvest ales!  Using fresh, or “wet” hops even before they are air-dried, gives pale ales & IPAs a fresh, bright, inviting aroma & flavor.  Southern Tier & Great Divide make some great examples, & Sierra Nevada even brews fresh-hopped beers for each of the Northern & Southern Hemisphere harvests.  As the hops have to be used as freshly as possible, these beers are truly time-sensitive beers that reinforce the concept of “seasonal”.  Defy modern beer & food consumption with a truly season-appropriate beer; these things can’t be rushed, so stay tuned at the House for arrivals as they come in!

What the Firkin?!

Like Mardi Gras & Super Bowl Sunday, the Oktoberfest celebration in Munich is one of the world’s great parties.  Literally, tons upon tons of beer & food are served to tens of thousands of revelers every year for two weeks, this year starting on September 22nd.  The House will take its own part in this worldwide feast just 3 days before, on Wednesday, September 19^th.  To help us celebrate, we’ll be joined by Penn Brewery’s Pete Vicinski, who’ll pour Penn’s classic Oktoberfest lager from the first firkin ever tapped at House of 1000 Beers!

What’s a firkin?  It sounds like a dirty word, but it’s not.  A firkin is a barrel, denoting a measurement equal to 72 pints.  Specifically in the beer world, firkins are used to serve beers that are cask-conditioned.  Normally, kegged draft beers are often filtered of yeast & served with carbon dioxide (or nitrogen) forced into them, which gives them their head & fizz.  Instead of being force-carbonated, cask-conditioned beers are put inside a barrel with the yeast still actively working, fermenting the beer & creating natural carbonation in the process.  Think of when you get a beer that’s bottle-conditioned (the kind with the yeast at the bottom) vs. one that was force-carbed.  Cask-conditioning is, simplistically, bottle-conditioning writ large. 

Tapping a firkin is the most exciting part!  The firkin is placed on its side on the bar, the bartender holds the tap in hand by the firkin’s mouth, & with a mallet in the other hand, gives the tap a good whack or two to drive the tap into the firkin, usually shooting a few squirts of beer in the process!  (See the photo above)  A spile is placed in the top to release air, & the beer is poured by gravity right off the bar, like a picnic cooler – firkins are also called “gravity kegs”.  Because the yeast is still active, the beer is considered to still be “alive” & should be consumed within about 48 hours or risk spoilage.  The beer that comes from cask-conditioning is smooth & velvety in texture, with unique flavors produced by the still-active yeast.

So let us pull a pint for you this Wednesday as part of our Oktoberfest “pre-game”, & be part of a first for the House.  Prost!

Photo used from John Hoyston’s Beer Here blog

R.I.P. Tom Pastorius

Beer drinkers in the 'burgh collectively shed a tear today.  Following the exuberance & celebration of yesterday’s Steel City Big Pour, it was announced in an obituary that Tom Pastorius died peacefully three days ago.  The founder & long-time president of CEO of Penn Brewery, Pastorius was an icon in Pittsburgh beer culture & introduced so many in the area to interesting, flavorful craft brew.  Though Pastorius’ influence in the company began to dwindle in the past several years, he was still recognized as the face of the company & a progenitor of good beer in Pittsburgh, with an emphasis on authentic, quality German lagers & ales like those he’d experienced in the halls & biergartens of their country of origin.  Though he may be gone, the spirit of his labor can still be tasted in the crisp snap of a Kaiser Pils or the rich, malty warmth of a St. Nikolas Bock.  There was a feeling of joy that so many felt on hearing the news that, after a short period of outsourcing, the brewery returned home to the old E&O building on Vinial St.  For more history on Penn Brewery & Pastorius’ work, visit www.pennbrew.com .  Farewell to Tom, we now drink to his legacy.

National Dog Day

Today marks the 9^th annual National Dog Day.  Why today?  Search me!  But who needs a reason to celebrate the loving companionship between a dog & their owner? 

When it comes to beer, cats have been more traditionally tied in with the life of a brewery – in the old days, a good mouser was vital to the preservation of grain from invasive rodents.  But all it takes is a quick look at the shelves of a good bottleshop to realize that the canine is celebrated widely among brewers.  There’s the famous Flying Dog Brewery, with each of its beers’ names following a dog motif, & especially well-known for Ralph Steadman’s expressive dog-inspired label art.  There’s Thirsty Dog, with its dog-themed double-entendres, like the bawdy “Old Leghumper” Robust Porter, with label photography to match.  There’s Laughing Dog, which also uses funny dog puns (have you tried their imperial stout, The Dogfather?).  Scotland has its boundary-pushing iconoclasts, BrewDog.  And aside from names, some breweries have dogs as their “patron saint”:  Lagunitas’ beers depict a bust of the brewery dog on every bottlecap & many labels, & Jolly Pumpkin’s “Bam” series was named in honor of their resilient pup.

In tribute to your favorite tail-wagger today, swing by the House & take a look at some of our canine-inspired brews.  We’re currently pouring Flying Dog’s Underdog Atlantic Lager, Dogfish Head’s (it’s a fish, but close enough!) 120 Minute IPA & Sah’tea & Great Divide WOLF-gang Doppelbock (okay, maybe that’s a stretch…).  Or take a walk through our shelves & “adopt” a few beers to take home with you!  Just please – alcohol & hops can be toxic to dogs, so it’s best not to share your brew with your buddy.  Happy Dog Day!

The Tulip Glass

A glass is a glass is a glass.  As long as it’s clean & holds the beer long enough to get it to your lips, it’s done its job, right?  To an extent, yeah – a good beer should be able to speak for itself, regardless of what kind of glass it’s in.  But if a beer can speak, the right glassware can act as a microphone & make it sing, amplifying & clarifying the notes.  And let’s not forget that a good glass can make a beer look damn fine – we drink with our eyes first, & presentation can play a big part in our appreciation of a beer.

The stemmed tulip is about as close to a perfect beer-drinking glass as has been invented.  It’s most often associated with Belgian beers (& everyone knows you can’t argue with the Belgians when it comes to beer!).  The tulip design is all about aroma delivery: the inward taper around the neck holds the aroma, while the outward flare of the brim supports the head, delivering those assertive, deep smells to the nose.  The stem lets you hold the beer without hand heat warming the body of the beer too much, & the bulb allows bright highlights to show through like a Christmas tree ornament.  Like I said: damn fine.  No glassware collection is complete without at least one tulip (or Poco Grande, as they’re also known), & they work great with Belgians, wheats, IPAs, barleywines, really anything.  A fun exercise is to taste the same beer in a regular pint & then a tulip, side by side, & see if you notice any difference.

The Duvel tulip is a classic, & Duvel was practically made for this style of glass.  The original Belgian golden ale, Duvel is known for its glowing gold body & huge, effervescent head, which is why its crafters designed a notoriously large tulip for this complex ale.  For a limited time, the House is giving away a Duvel tip with the purchase of 750 mL bottle of Duvel.  Or try a Duvel on draft, or any other beer, for that matter!  Your beer has a voice – make it loud & clear. 

Le Coq & the History of Imperial Stout

Among fans of good beer, few styles are as universally loved as the Imperial Stout.  Flavorful, assertive, full of comforting notes of chocolate, dark fruit, roast coffee, & wrapped in a warming blanket of alcohol, the Imperial Stout is a big, boozy bear hug of a beer.  You’d be hard-pressed to find a beer geek who doesn’t have at least a couple of these bad boys in their personal top 10, & a third of the Top 100 Beers in the World on BeerAdvocate fall into the Russian Imperial Stout or American Double/Imperial Stout categories.  It’s a style that’s beloved, experimented on, & sought after (take a look at 3 Floyds’ Dark Lord Day, a pilgrimage for the hardcore beer nerd). 

Legend has it that the Russian Imperial Stout, as it’s traditionally known, has its origins in international relations.  Russian Tsaress Catherine the Great, on a trip to England, found stouts to her liking, & wished to have them imported to her home land.  The ruler was displeased to find that the beers didn’t survive the trip across the continent, & to satisfy her, English brewer Thrale’s concocted a stronger, more robust stout that would retain its character all the way to the Baltic ports.  Thus, although English in origin, the term Russian Imperial Stout was born, & the term “imperial” is now used by modern brewers to describe any version of a beer that is stronger, fuller, & boozier than its “non-imperial” counterpart. 

The death of Thrale’s owner left the original RIS in the hands of prominent British brewer Barclay Perkins, who shipped this powerful stout throughout Europe; one of its biggest distributors was the Belgian Albert Le Coq, who, at the request of the Russian government, moved to Russia & began brewing the stout within the country’s borders to dodge import taxes.  For years, Le Coq’s stout was the standard-bearer for the RIS style, until the Bolsheviks seized & nationalized the company in 1917.  The beer was the stuff of history, until about a decade ago when brewers in Estonia & England collaborated to resurrect the recipe & Le Coq was born again! 

Today, B. United International, importers of the renewed Le Coq label, bring this piece of beer history stateside.  The House is proud to carry Le Coq Imperial Extra Double Stout alongside other classic English examples such as Wells’ Courage Russian Imperial Stout & Thornbridge’s St. Petersburg Russian Imperial Stout.  Pick up a few, do a side-by-side comparison, or just sip & reflect on the origins of an iconic style of beer.  International relations never tasted so good!

IPA Day

The India Pale Ale, or IPA, is an acquired taste.  On first try, few who tip a glass of that bright orange or amber fluid, smell the buoyant citrus zest & pine, & taste the aggressive bitterness are immediately won over.  Some turn away, never to return.  “I like beer – just nothing hoppy”.  It’s the beer equivalent of the “anything but rap & country” line.  But for those who’ve taken to the boldness, the complexity, the challenge of the IPA, there’s no turning back.

The IPA is English in origin.  There’s the apocryphal account of English brewers tapping the preservative properties of hops to make a stronger, more bitter Pale Ale that would survive the long voyage to British troops in India.  Less romantic, but probably closer to the truth, is that people liked the taste & aroma of hops & wanted more of them (& IPAs happen to pair well with spicy Indian food).  The English may have invented the IPA, but American craft brewers have taken the style & brought it to new heights.  Whereas most European hops are used for balance & subtle seasoning, American brewers found a panoply of aromas & flavors in American hops & pushed them to their limits, creating explosive, expressive IPAs that expanded the boundaries of beer as most drinkers knew it!  In the decades since the beginning of the craft movement, the IPA has become the quintessential American craft beer style, made by nearly every brewer in the country & beloved by beer fans all over.

It’s this recognition & love of the IPA that’s behind the 2^nd Annual IPA Day on Thursday, August 2^nd, 2012.  Join The House in celebrating the best that hops have to offer with some world-class examples of the style, including Cigar City’s Jai Alai, Fathead’s Head Hunter, Firestone Walker Double Jack, & Dogfish Head 90 Minute - all on tap!  Grab yourself a sampler & explore the ins & outs of the hop, with half-a-dozen 6 oz. samples for $14, or choose from our scores of IPAs in bottles & cans, including classics from Bell’s, Stone, Lagunitas, & Green Flash, as well as plenty of newcomers & trendsetters.  Whether you’re a tried-&-true hophead or just “cone-curious”, come to The House & discover that bitter can definitely be better!