Reformulated Beak's Best to return to NABC draft lineup.

Yesterday I made reference to Beak's Best in a posting about the forthcoming Best Of Louisville bash.

Accordingly, it’s as fine an opportunity as any to revisit Beak’s and see what the future will hold for it.

Many of you already know that Beak's Best – named for my cousin, renowned scholar and traveler Don “Beak” Barry -- was the second ale brewed in 2002 by founding NABC brewer Michael Borchers. Originally Beak’s was intended to be a staple of the everyday draft offerings. For a variety of reasons, it didn’t work out that way, and Jesse Williams eventually refashioned it into what we now call St. Radegund, which in terms of style falls into the Extra Special Bitter (ESB, English style) category.

In recent weeks, with the Bank Street Brewhouse expansion underway, we began discussing the desirability of our having a “poundable” house ale for the taproom in downtown New Albany. At the same time, it was recognized that even if our desired niche in the Louisville metro marketplace would be bigger and bolder beers, we’d need something of a more introductory nature – rather like an English-style Best Bitter, lower in gravity (circa 4.5% abv), with an enticing hop nose, and without the heavier body of many other NABC selections. Community Dark fits the bill in some ways, although it may not be sufficiently well hopped to travel far.

The answer is Beak’s Best, recalibrated as a Best Bitter. It will be sold off-premise in kegs, and at the downtown taproom, we’ll it will be served exclusively in the cask-conditioned, hand-pumped version.

The formulation is being plotted, and artist-in-residence Tony Beard will be working on a fresh graphic design. Stay tuned.

Kottbusser ale at BBC (Shelbyville Road), but no blood sausage?

Whenever I have the time to visit the recently remodeled, original location of Bluegrass Brewing Company on Shelbyville Road in St. Matthews, I look to the board for the current roster of seasonal and one-off beers conjured by brewer Jerry Gnagy.

To my way of thinking, Jerry’s rotating beers continue the eclectic and tasty tradition practiced by original BBC brewmaster David Pierce, who continues to craft seasonals and specialties downtown at BBC Main & Clay, albeit as a production breweries outside the smaller-batch brewpub setting. I prefer the classic BBC styles as brewed by Dave, and always enjoy the sometimes demented twists offered by Jerry.

Last Wednesday I stopped at BBC Shelbyville Road for a growler, and saw that something called Köttbusser had just come on tap. The fact sheet at the bar refers to it as a non-Reinheitsgebot ale recipe that includes barley, wheat, oats and molasses, with German noble hops. The body is medium, approaching pale bock mouth feel, and overall, I find it delicious.

Upon reflection, and after a couple of pints of Jerry’s beer, it occurred to me that I’ve been to Cottbus, which is near Berlin, and actually serves as the cultural center of a non-German ethnic minority called the Sorbs. It’s a swampy, bayou-like area specializing in runny blood sausage (look, I tried it, okay?), pickles, ornamental snakes on rooftops, and canoe trips.

Material in German that I’ve found on-line refer to an old tradition of wheat ales in Cottbus, and the non-Reinheitsgebot aspect makes perfect sense considering that the “beer purity law” is Bavarian, and would not have been enforced in a place like Cottbus until well after unification in the 1870’s, if at all -- at least until more recent times. After all, there was still Gose in Leipzig for a while after World War II, even in Communist times.

Beers like Jerry’s new Köttbusser are the perfect ones for me. Not only are they tasty, but they make me think, and while doing so I remembered a wonderful time back in 1991.

Then again, perhaps the Sober Brewer’s making it all up.

Either way, I approve.

A thread: Can a great restaurant serve mass-market beer?

There's been an interesting thread going at the Louisville Restaurants Forum: Can a great restaurant serve mass-market beer?

Here is one question asked, followed by the answer I provided. It isn't tremendously grammatical, but I was in a hurry.

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Can you give me some examples of what would be high quality beers that should be served at a high quality restaurant?

I've thought about this a lot at various times, and the answer tends to change based on recent experiences.

The fundamental thing is to offer a variety of styles, not just a variety of labels/brands. Knowing the difference between styles and labels is the first jumping off point for me.

So ... in no particular order of preference …

Lagers (bottom fermented; clean character)

A true Pilsner with hop character, i.e., Pilsner Urquell; fewer micros attempt this, but if we could get Victory's Prima Pils ...

Dark lager with balls, like Ayinger Altbairisch Dunkel. Amber and malty Oktoberfests fit here, too, but probably should be seasonal.

Doppelbock: Rich, sweet, malty, meant for meat. You haven’t lived until you’ve enjoyed Bavarian-style pork knuckle with Doppelbock.

Ales (top fermented; far wider potential flavor spectrum)

Belgian-style Wit (white/wheat), and Blue Moon does not count. Hoegaarden remains serviceable. Citrusy; hint of sourness.

German style wheat: Schneider or Weihenstphaner, although I suppose Franziskaner is acceptable even if the character is too mild for me. Cloves, apples and bananas.

Belgian Trappist (Chimay red or blue, et al) ... dark, bottle conditioned, vinous, complex malt.

Assorted Belgians and French Bieres de Garde. Among the former, sour reds (Rodenbach), eclectic Wallonians (La Chouffe, McChouffe) and wondrous Saisons (Dupont the finsets example); the French beers are criminally underrated and simply wonderful with many dishes. Ask Chef Clancy if you don’t believe me. American examples of both Belgian and French styles include Ommegang Hennepin, Jolly Pumpkin’s line and Two Brothers Domaine Dupage (sic).

Imperial Stout. Thick, black, intense, oily, viscous. Many good microbrewed versions. Functions much like Port with assertive cheeses, and modifies sweet desserts.

American-style hop bombs, double IPA, etc. Bitterness for contrast, and can also be quaffed sans food.

Local microbrews. To me, preferably on draft, and maybe rotating. Louisville is blessed with excellent small breweries (and there’s Alltech, and many more in Indiana, as Shawn noted).

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Think in terms of style and the possibilities are endless. I didn’t mention everyday dry Stout of the Guinness mold, which remains beautiful with shellfish, and I’m assuming that there always will be a few yellow Eurolagers around for the plain fearful; as I wrote previously, you simply don’t need Budweiser if you have Stella or Spaten.

The point remains that a very good 15-20 beer list can be constructed from what is available locally, and it will cover most of the contingencies. Seasonals can make up the difference.

Earlier someone brought up Maido as an example of a great beer list, and I agree 100%. Using conventional wisdom, you’re washing down diverse sushi and voluminous wasabi with weak golden lager, but chase them with Stone’s hoppy Ruination Ale and it’s a religious experience, indeed.

What was hot and what was not for the Curmudgeon in 2007.

For many years, I’ve steadfastly resisted the temptation to definitively answer frequent questions along the lines of, “So, what’s your favorite beer?”

The same goes for this: “Okay, if you won’t tell me your favorite beer, then what about your favorite style of beer?”

Granted, there’s no reason why newcomers should know the drill, and that’s fine, so if you’re just tuning in, know that any query smacking of “favorite” comes replete with numerous qualifiers, including the time of year, the locale, the food being served, and perhaps even the activity being contemplated – the music, the book, the company.

However, having provided the disclaimer, and now thinking back on a year almost concluded, it strikes me that far more often than not, my beer favorites actually can be loosely grouped by category if I care to take the trouble to record them.

Imperial Stouts
Checking the list of beers being squirreled away for Gravity Head 2008, I noticed that we’re in imminent danger of a baker’s dozen of them being Imperial Stouts. Furthermore, I’ve concluded that this doesn’t bother me in the least. Black, oily, roasted, chocolate tinged, bitter … bring ‘em on, and don’t forget the pickled herring and rugged pumpernickel.

Sour (any sub-style will do, ma’am)
My liver will remember 2007 as the year that Rodenbach Grand Cru returned to Southern Indiana, consistent supplies of Jolly Pumpkin began trickling in on a regular basis, and NABC’s late summer batch of Phoenix Kentucky Komon proved to be the best ever, perhaps owing to the hundred degree temperature in the brewhouse. I can’t get enough of than funky stuff.

Lambic
Speaking of funk, just last night it was my pleasure to introduce a discerning customer to Cantillon Gueuze for the very first time. His enjoyment so influenced me that I made a quick dash to the lambic rack for a bottle of 3 Fonteinen Schaerbeek Kriek and split it with him just to provide an opportunity to taste the unsweetened fruit essence.

Smoked
Barring the unforeseen, the evening of Monday, December 10 will be spent in part quaffing Schlenkerla Marzen somewhere within the hallowed halls of the Trum family’s traditional Bamberg pub. Earlier this year, Rich O’s had four Schlenkerla lagers (and Spezial) on tap simultaneously along with NABC Happy Helmut, which used Weyermann smoked malt. NABC ConeSmoker is aging as I write.

Hops, hops, hops
Yes, they’re in short supply, but I suppose we’ll manage. What will you pay for a fix? I’m prepared to go high, not home.

If these represent what’s hot, then what’s not?

I try them again periodically, hoping that the light bulb might someday ignite, but very few (if any) brown ales in the style of Newcastle made their way past me teeth during the past year, and almost as few American-style browns. A notable exception was Dogfish Head’s Indian Brown, but then that’s hardly typical of the style, is it? It reminds me far more of the Colonial-era molasses ales.

Browns, ambers, reds … yes, perhaps serviceable on widely scattered occasions, but otherwise a waste of valuable drinking time for anyone who has progressed beyond intermediate. Life’s just too short. IPA, please.

Outside of a few scorching days in mid-summer, the broad range of wheat ales, whether German, Belgian or American, again utterly failed to excite me. I’ll drink the European ones for the purpose of refreshment when joyfully present on the continent and beercycling, and of course I’d visit the Schneider brewery in Kelheim weekly if permitted, but there was no biking trip this year.

In like fashion, the biggest disappointment of the year to me was Bell’s Batch 8000. Imperial Wit just isn’t where it’s at even if I continue to adore the brewery otherwise.

And I keep forgetting to try Miller Chill … neglecting to visit Louisville’s pre-packaged Fourth Street Live … let’s see, what else?

Points for pondering, courtesy of the GABF's revised style guidelines.

Early June is when breweries receive their registration packets for the annual Great American Beer Festival in Denver Colorado, which will take place this year from October 11-13.

If you’ve ever wondered, draft beers for the festival's public tasting sessions make their way to Denver in Microstar kegs via Anheuser-Busch’s distribution network. Meanwhile, beers for the medals competition judging must be bottled (or canned) and shipped separately.

It’s doubtful that NABC will participate in 2007, and this decision has nothing to do with politics or my traditional ambivalence about Charlie Papazian's empire. We’re small, money’s finite, and we feel it is better spent taking entertaining tasting trips to regional festivals like this Saturday’s 12th Annual St. Louis Microfest in St. Louis, Missouri, and the Great Taste of the Midwest in Madison, Wisconsin on August 11.

Having noted that, I’m always interested in the yearly tweaking of the GABF style categories and sub-categories, and for this reason I’m reprinting the text of competition manager Chris Swersey’s message to brewers. The complete style list can be viewed here.

These annual refinements represent an effort to match judging criteria to current trends and realities, and while some always represent progress – the addition of American-Style Sour strikes me as indicative of wonderful things – others denote regress, as in the case of German Oktoberfests no longer being distinguishable from Dortmunders. That's quite sad, isn't it?

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The 2007 GABF competition is just around the corner, and I hope that you will enter your beers and be a part of the fun – there’s nothing like the rush you get during the awards ceremony on Saturday afternoon. Be sure to look over the style list and the style descriptions very carefully before submitting your entry form. As usual, there are a number of big changes to the categories that need pointing out – don’t use last year’s category numbers when you complete your entry form!

I also want to point out a recent trend in American-Style Pale Ale, Strong Pale Ale, IPA and Imperial IPA entries. During the past four years, the style descriptions for the American-style Pale Ale family of beer styles have evolved to the point that the essential differences reflect alcoholic strength more than any other single quality. We have received numerous comments from brewers, judges, and consumers which indicate that there is confusion regarding the alcoholic strength of beers entered in particular categories, with respect to the brand name of the beers themselves. For example, a brewery could intentionally under-enter a strong pale ale in the pale ale category, with the idea that the beer might outclass the competition.

The GABF has no intention of policing entries for compliance by alcoholic strength. Analyzing entries is impractical and expensive, and more importantly, this role would subvert the function of the judge panel. Over the years, the judge panel has told us what makes great beer, and we plan to continue to let them. With this in mind, the judge orientation this year will include a taste calibration session that focuses on alcoholic strength, along with a reiteration of the comments that we have received regarding alcoholic strength. Please be sure to enter your beers in the appropriate category based on alcoholic strength as well as other factors.

Okay, here’s a list of some of the changes you’ll see in the style guidelines:

Category 4d – we’ve added Pumpkin Beer as a subcategory to fruit or vegetable beer.

Category 10 – Other Low Strength Ale or Lager – a new counterpart to category 73, Other Strong Ale or Lager.

Category 12 – Gluten Free Beer – This rapidly growing product segment now has its own category.

Category 13a – American-Style Sour Ale – an exciting new category for mixed fermentation beers that reflect American brewing on the cutting edge.

Category 16 – Wood- and Barrel-Aged Sour Beer – ditto.

Category 19 – Smoke-Flavored Beer – greatly expanded subcategories to reflect the broad range of German-style smoke beers.

Category 20 – International-Style Pilsener - Renamed the old European-style Pilsener to reflect the broad origins of adjunct lagers from around the world.

Category 24 - Dortmunder/European Style Export or German-Style Oktoberfest/Wiesen (Meadow) – This category reflects the current market reality that current-day German-style Oktoberfest is indistinguishable from Dortmunder or Export.

Categories 59-62 – Reorganized the Belgian-style categories based on feedback from judges and brewers from both the United States and Belgium.

Category 70b – Added an American-style Imperial Stout. We plan to continue the Pro-Am Competition this year. This is a special competition that will be judged by the same professional judge panel that evaluates all GABF entries.

Good Luck at the 2007 GABF, we'll see you in Denver this fall!