Buffalo is a beer city! Surprised? I was!

As you can see, Christmas was good to me. As a matter of fact, Buffalo wasn't too bad either. I have many new beers to try thanks to family members and the Premier Gourmet. I won’t bore you with the details of my trip to Buffalo but we had great food and saw the Patriots shut out the Bills as expected. The only bad part was the 70 mile per hour winds during the game and the $13 beers. Needless to say, my wife and I were chilled to the bone because we didn't want to break the bank on swill.

Much to my surprise, Buffalo is a beer city. Almost every place we visited had a good beer selection. Anchor Bar (where Buffalo wings were invented) had Dundee Honey Brown, a local brew out of Rochester. The hotel bar had three offerings from Southern Tier, including one of my favorite, Phin & Matt's. Our last night in Buffalo we visited a local bar that had about 10 craft beer taps offering Smuttynose, Dogfish Head and Saranac to name a few. Most importantly, I found the Premier Gourmet, a wonderful store that sells gourmet food, wine and tons of quality beer. We don’t have any stores like this in Connecticut so I had a hard time leaving.

Here is what I picked up on Christmas day and in Buffalo. I think I'm most excited about the Smuttynose Wheat Wine. I have never had a Wheat Wine and look forward to enjoying it. I'll be sure to give my feedback as I drink my way through my new stash. Please feel free to share your opinion on any of these brews. I’ve had some in the past but not all.

Opa-Opa Brewing Company (Southhampton, MA) Red Rock Ale, Light Lager and IPA.

Vermonster American Ale Barley Wine (Rock Art Brewery, Morrisville, VT)

Brewer’s Reserve Limited Edition (River Horse Brewing Company, Lambertville, NJ)
Tripel Horse Belgian Ale (River Horse Brewing Company, Lambertville, NJ)

Carmel Porter (Saranac, Utica, NY)

Irish Red Ale (Thomas Hooker Brewery, Bloomfield, CT)

Syracuse Pale Ale (Middle Ages Brewing Company, Syracuse, NY)

Railbender Ale (Erie Brewing Company, Erie, PA)

34th Christmas Ale (Anchor Brewing, San Francisco)

Winter Bock (Atwater Brewery, Detroit)

Now it’s time for the big boys!!

Smuttynose Wheat Whine Ale (Smuttynose Brewing Company, Portsmouth, NH)

FANTÔME (farmhouse)(FANTÔME Brewery, Belgium)

Saison (NØGNE Ø, Norway)

Blasphemy (Weyerbacher Brewing Company, Easton, PA)

Imperial Extra Pale Ale – Hoppe (Southern Tier Brewing Company, Lakewood, NY)

Imperial Helles Lager – Krampus (Southern Tier Brewing Company, Lakewood, NY)

Stone Imperial Russian Stout (Stone Brewing Company, Escondido, CA)

Stone Ruination India Pale Ale (Stone Brewing Company, Escondido, CA)

Merry Christmas and all that good stuff

I wish you all a happy and safe holiday season with peace, happiness and good beer! I'll be celebrating Christmas in Connecticut and then traveling to Buffalo, NY to watch the Patriots beat up on the Bills. I'll be back next week after consuming a few Ted's hot dogs, wings from the Anchor Bar, a terrible meal from Swiss Chalet (sorry Joy and Jill), Buffalo's local craft beer and at least, two or three Labatt's Blue with my sister in law. Sorry, beer people. It's tradition.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Who said beer doesn’t grow on trees? Have you been to Vermont?

Well, it might not be on trees but there is a lot of it. As if you didn’t already know, craft beer is taking America by storm and it’s getting easier and easier to find quality beer. There is still a lot of work to be done but the future is looking bright! Beer states have popped up all over America with much of the recognition coming from Colorado, California and the North West. As a New Englander, I am feeling a little left out of the mix. Has anyone ever heard of Vermont? Ok, dumb question, but I am willing to argue that Vermont breweries can brew with the best of them. The Green Mountain State is the home to approximately 19 breweries (excluding brew pubs), which isn’t too bad for a state with a population of only 623,000; the second smallest state by population. Now that’s a lot of beer for not a lot of people! If you’re not impressed by that knowledge bomb, what if I told you that you can get to all this quality beer in a short two day trip? That’s a lot of beer in not a lot of time. Tell me that’s not your kind of place. So, if you haven’t already taken a trip to Vermont, book it and check out what they have to offer. Between the beautiful landscape and superior suds, I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Here is a list of breweries that I recommend. Oh, just one line of advice. These hippies and mountain men take their beer seriously so make sure you know beer basics.

Harpoon Brewery (Windsor, VT)
Recommendation: Take advantage of their 100 barrel series. The latest edition is session 25, Rauchfetzen brewed by head brewer, Charlie Cummings.

Long Train Brewing Company (Bridgewater Corners, VT)
Recommendation: Double Bag Ale. This is a malty, full bodied double alt also known as a “Sitckebier” or secret brew. This packs a punch at 7.2 abv and 25 IBU’s.

Magic Hat Brewing Company (South Burlington, VT)
Recommendation: Circus Boy. This is an unfiltered American-style Hefeweizen brewed with Amarillo hops, malted wheat and pale malts. One of my favorite summer beers but it’s available year round.

Orlio Organic Beer Company (South Burlington, VT)
Recommendation: I haven’t had the opportunity to try any of Orlio’s offerings. I see their Common Ale on the shelf at my local pit stop but would like to try their IPA. It’s wet and dry hopped with centennial hops and measures a bitter 56 IBU’s.

Otter Creek Brewing, Inc. (Middlebury, VT)
Recommendation: Stovepipe Porter. Knock one back while sitting in front of a warm fire on a snowy winter night. Don’t forget a piece of local chocolate to make the night complete.

Rock Art Brewery (Morrisville, VT)
Recommendation: Mild Barley Wine. I had this for the first time two weeks ago and it took me by surprise. If I had a second I would have been passing my keys off. It’s brewed with pale, dark crystal, Munich, flaked barley, black and chocolate malts. Hops include Cascade, Crystal, Challenger and Perle.

Switchback Brewing Company (Burlington, VT)
Recommendation: Switchback Pale Ale. I have never been to Switchback or tasted their beers but I have heard good things about their Pale Ale. They don’t bottle so you’ll have to make a personal appearance.

Zero Gravity Craft Brewery at American Flatbread (Burlington, VT)
Recommendation: Pizza and home made beer. Honestly, can you ask for anymore under one roof? I didn’t think so.

Fish bladders in beer? No thanks!

Here is a little beer history for you history buffs out there. This might not be a conversation starter at the Christmas table, but having this knowledge in your pocket might help you feel accomplished in the halls of beerdom.

On April 23, 1516, Duke Wilhelm IV of Ingolstadt in the duchy of Bavaria introduced the Reinheitsgebot (rine-hites-ge-boat) Purity Law to regulate which ingredients can go into beer: water, malted barley and hops. As it turns out, people were pretty smart in the 15th century and learned that brewing was a lucrative industry. Brewers were looking to increase profits by using cheap ingredients to achieve their financial objectives. (Insert Budweiser joke here) Such ingredients included fruit, herbs, fish bladders, eggs, tree bark and what ever else they could toss into the brew kettle. As you can imagine, brewers were making disgusting and sometimes poisonous beer and as a result, the earliest beer people of Germany implemented regulations on the beer industry in the 1490’s. Those brewers who did not comply with the newly instituted regulations were fined and their beer was destroyed.

Once the Reinheitsgebot Purity Law (a.k.a the Bavarian Purity Law) was introduced in 1516, Bavarians were quickly know for their superior suds, and soon thereafter, all of Germany enforced the law. In fact, German brewers still revel in the glory of their quality standard as more than 850 breweries in Germany currently adhere to the purity law. Don't get excited though, it's mostly used as a marketing tool.

The Reinheitsgebot was the oldest food purity law until in was repealed in 1987. Recently, the law has been updated by the Provisional German Beer law, which also allows other ingredients in beer due to the free movement of goods within the European Union. Additional ingredients include rice, corn, millet, sugar or other additives, although, they must be clearly labeled. Don't rush to your fridge to look at the label on your German import. The law doesn't apply to exported beer.

Click here for a translation of the Reinheitsgebot Purity Law.

What did that beer geek just say?

The beer world is full of beer lovers, beer people, beer advocates, beer geeks and beer snobs. If all these beer people aren't intimidating enough, try reading a complex beer article or talking to a beer snob at your local watering hole. In my opinion, beer snobbery and intimidation are the fastest ways to scare off beer people who are looking to expand their horizons. If that doesn't make sense, remember your first algebra class? As I recall, it was a little frightening and intimidating but guidance and perseverance paid off. Anyway, this is my attempt to shed some light on some of the terminology that is commonly used in the beer world. Unfortunately, I'm not the Noah Webster of beerdom so I'll just give you enough information to make you dangerous. For a comprehensive list of beer terminology check out Beer Advocate. By the way, I barely passed algebra so take my word for it when I say beer is much more rewarding.

ABV (alcohol by volume): The common method of measuring alcohol content in beer.

Ale: Family of beer that ferments at warmer temperatures because of the action of ale yeast.

Top fermenting: A term for the ale family of beers, based on the tendency of ale yeast to be active at the top of a fermentation tank.

Lager: Family of beer that ferments at cooler temperatures because of the action of ale yeast.

Bottom fermenting: A term for the lager family of beers, based on the tendency of lager yeast to be active at the bottom of the fermentation tank.

If you want to learn more about ales and lagers click here.

Cask: Traditional container for all beer, in modern times it has come to mean a barrel-type container that is used for real or cask conditioned ale, dispensed via gravity or hand pump at cellar temperatures.

Fermentation: The process by which yeast metabolizes simple sugars into alcohol.

Hops: The cone-shaped flowers of the vine Humulus lupulus, used to give beer its bitterness aroma, and as a preserving agent.

Malt: The grain (often barley) that is allowed to germinate, with the process stopped by heat. The amount and duration of the heat determines the color and other qualities of the malt, which govern the color of the beer and many flavor components.

Barley, two row and six row: Refers to the number of kernel rows in the head of the stalk. Two row is the more commonly used, whereas six row is employed when extra enzymes are required to convert other grains. (Yes, beer and science go hand in hand)

Gravity: Short for specific gravity, or the measure of density of a liquid.

IBU (International Bittering Units): A measure hop concentration in a beer, an indication of the beer's bitterness. The IBU scale is said to range from 5 to 100. Some brewers have tried to surpass the 100 threshold but I have read that there is no real gauge above 100. This is open for debate.

These are terms that you will probably hear the most when reading or talking to beer people. Beer terminology is extensive and I feel that this list is a good start to getting your feet wet. I hope these definitions are helpful and give you the information you need to expand your beer horizons.

All I want for Christmas is...cool beer stuff!!

Time is running short, beer people. Christmas is only a few days away and if you’re anything like me, many of you still have a lot of shopping to do. If you have any beer lovers on your list, let me see if I can help out. Here is a list of ten gifts that beer lovers (including myself) would love to see under the tree. Don’t celebrate Christmas? No problem. If you’re reading this you’re probably a beer person so buy yourself a cool beer gift to celebrate all that is good…the rise of craft beer!

(In no particular order)

1) He Said Beer, She Said Wine: A great book that illustrates how to pair both craft beer and wine. This book will teach you everything you need to know about what you are drinking and what to eat with it.

2) Any book written by the Beer Hunter, Michael Jackson. My personal favorite is Michael Jackson's Beer Companion. It's slightly outdated but has tons of great information about beer styles and brewers.

3) Home brewing is a simple and an inexpensive hobby for the beginning home brewer. Pick up a home brew kit for the beer lover on your list. If anything, you'll get a few free home brews!

4) Tickets to a beer festival. If you live in New England, Beer Advocate will be hosting their annual Extreme Beer Festival on February 15 and 16. If it's sold out, check out this post.

5) An all expense paid trip to a brewery. Don't cheap out, throw a few bucks in for lunch or dinner.

6) A friend with a seasoned palate will lead you to good beer. Make sure they know what they’re tasting with this cool beer tasting kit from tasteyourbeer.com.

7) Don't want to drop $100 bucks on a home brew kit for your loser brother? Go the cheap route and pick up The Big and Easy Bottle Brew.

8) A subscription to Beer Advocate magazine. Beer lovers will love to read about what is happening in the craft beer industry. I know...you can get the magazine for free in the Boston area, but it's a great rag and it's in support of a great cause, quality beer.

9) Need a cool stocking stuffer? Get your beer lover a wall mounted bottle opener. Who wouldn't love to walk into their kitchen and crack open a cold one like your favorite bartender.

10) Budget not an issue? Get your beer lover a kegerator so they always have their (and your) favorite beer on tap. Better yet, make sure your home brewing friend always has their best batch on tap for your weekend visits.

The Social - Hartford, CT, Vol. 2

Attention, Hartford beer people!! On November 29, 2008 Burr Street Brew Blog reported that the restaurant group who owns Half Door and Plan B Burger Bar and Tavern will be opening a new craft beer establishment in Hartford. As promised, I followed up and was able to contact A. Gamble, who was kind enough to provide me with additional information about The Social.

According to Gamble, The Social's open date has been pushed back due to unexpected building issues. They will post the open date (on their web site, I assume) once they get the project back on track.

The Social will offer a blend of Half Door's European beer selection and Plan B's American beer selection under one roof. The Social will be a throw back in time when bartenders hand crafted drinks, muddled fresh fruit and pulled a perfect pint. If that's not enough, The Social is currently working with some regional breweries to age their beers in Bourbon barrels so they can offer unique, cask conditioned vintage beers. The Social is also developing a small plate menu to compliment their beverage line, which will include regional suppliers like Cato Farms (Colechester, CT) with their Belgium style cheese and Pineland Farms (New Gloucester, Maine) natural beef.

First, I would like the thank A. Gamble for taking the time to respond to my request. Based on the little bit of information Gamble provided, I'm extremely excited for The Social to open its doors and so should you, beer lovers. As a beer person and a beer advocate, I am anxious to check out their beverage line and local food pairings. It sounds like their beer selection will be what I hoped for and I'm equally impressed that The Social intends to use beef and cheese from regional and local farms. I am curious to know which breweries The Social is looking to partner with to produce Bourbon barrel aged beer. Hopefully they stay true to their Connecticut roots and use a local brewery like Hooker or The Olde Burnside Brewing Company. In the meantime, I'll keep an eye on The Social's web site for an opening date and post it to the blog as soon as I see something. Good luck Social, hopefully you get through your building issues soon. There are a lot of beer people in Connecticut who demand quality beer.

Tell me a beer story!

This is not new news but its news to me as I haven’t taken the time to follow the malt liquor market of late. I know, it’s part of the beer industry, but it’s not a part that I explore on a regular basis.

According to The Milwaukee Business Journal, MillerCoors, LLC has discontinued their clear malt beer, Zima, which was introduced by Coors Brewing Company in 1992. Production of their clear candy beverage stopped October 10, 2008 because of “challenging malternatives segment sales and declining consumer interest.” I can’t say that I am shocked by that statement, but I can say that I am shocked that Zima has been around since 1992.

Why is this blog worthy news, you ask? In my opinion, it’s not, but I’m sure fellow beer geeks can make the argument that it is. Regardless, this story got me thinking about something more important, the first “beer” I ever had. I remember it like it was yesterday. I was 16 years old and lounging in my grandparent’s basement when a few friends came over to “watch a movie”. My friend, Dave, who lost my parents' trust several years prior over a misdemeanor, pulled a 6er of Zima out of his back pack. It wasn’t long before we cracked the first bottle and passed it around. At 4.8% I was feeling pretty good by the second serving. I would like to tell you that we got really drunk, invited the hot neighbor over and drank all night, but unfortunately, it wasn’t that exciting. Like most male drinking nights, it was a sausage fest with drunken banter followed by sleeping. It’s sad to say but we didn’t even finish the six pack. In fact, I recall finding a full bottle behind the couch several years later. No, I didn’t drink it! By 17 I had graduated to the light beer segment. I like to refer to this point in my life as a transitional period where I was developing my palate for all the craft beer goodness that was to come.

So, I pose the question to you, beer people. What was your first beer and what’s the story behind it? I will take a leap of faith and say that I’m not the only person who started on Zima. Please, beer people, someone make me look good.

By the way, guess what’s replacing Zima on the shelves? You got it, another malt beverage, Sparks and Sparks Plus. Yum!

New England Beer Events - December, 2008

Attention New England beer people. I've made it easy this month and did all the research for you. Here are some beer events taking place in December. Sorry, New Hampshire, nothing to speak of. If I missed anything significant, please let me know and I'll add to the list.

• December 2, 2008: Stoudt's comes to Vermont. 5:00 - 11:00 at American Flatbread in Burlington, VT.


• December 2, 2008: Tuesday Night Tasting with Brooklyn Brewery. 7:00 - 9:00 at Eli Cannon's in Middletown, CT. Eli's has tastings every Tuesday night.


• December 4, 2008: A Taddy Tasting: Happy Holidays from Samuel Smith's, 5:00 - 7:00 at Bauer Wine & Spirits in Boston, MA.


• December 5, 2008: Friday Open House from 5:00 - 8:00 at Thomas Hooker Brewery in Bloomfield, CT. Hooker has open houses the first and third Friday of each month, and Saturday tours and tastings.


• December 6, 2008: 2nd Annual Winter Warmer Pubcrawl. 12:00 - 12:00. Deep Ellum @ High Noon, Sunset Grill @ 2 or 3 pm and The Roadhouse @ 4 or 5 pm in Boston, MA.


• December 18, 2008: Join Publick House Provisions in Welcoming Victory Brewing Co. 6:00 - 9:00 at Publick House in Brookline, MA.


• December 21, 2008: 21 Years of Brewing! 2:00 - 1:00 a.m. at Gritty McDuff's Brewing Company in Portland, ME.


• December 23, 2008: Dogfish Head Night Before Night Before Dinner w/ Sam Calagione. 7:00 - 10:00 at The Dirty Truth in North Hampton, MA.

For you New York readers, here are a few events that might be of interest:

• December 5, 2008: Capital Beer Advocates - Dinner, Brews & Music @ Brown's. 6:30 - 10:30. Browns Brewing Company in Troy, NY.


• December 10, 2008: BeerAdvocate Does Brooklyn. 3:00 - 3:00 a.m. Multiple stops in NYC.


• December 16, 2008: 2nd Annual Winter Beerfest. 7:00 - 4:00 a.m. Sunswick 35-35 in Queens, NY


• December 18, 2008: Winter Beer Night. 6:00 - 12:00 at Barcade in Brooklyn, NY.

The Big and Easy Bottle Brew

I was checking out some homebrew websites and came across The Big & Easy Bottle Brew kit. I haven't had the opportunity to try the kit yet but it looks like it's perfect for the beginner homebrewer who doesn't want to drop a hundred bucks to test the homebrew waters. From what I understand, all you'll need is the kit and a glass to drink out of. The kit includes a 2 liter bottle of wort (unfermented beer) and a yeast tablet. For those who don't like to read directions, all you'll have to do is open the bottle, drop in the yeast tablet, re-close the bottle, and wait 14 days to drink. It doesn't get much easier than that.

The downside is that there are only three styles to choose from: Mexican cerveza, pilsner and red lager. The upside, each kit only costs $9.99. You can also pick up a three pack (pictured above) for $29.99. Sorry penny pincher's, no bulk discount. I'm sure you can find a cheaper kit if you Google "The Big & Easy Bottle Brew".

Here is a review from DJ Spiess on the fermentarium beer blog. Suprisingly, it doesn't sound terrible.

I plan to order a kit in the next few weeks. I'll post a review once I have a fermented beer in hand.