So why am I rambling? Even more importantly, why do I continue to beat this worn drum? Inspiration. People, words, actions, beers… they all drive more than just emotions out of me. There are times I think or say “it’s just beer”. There are times where I defend Craft Breweries fight against big beer as defending “business”. In this case, I’ve picked to use the word “Artisanal” instead of the broader Craft Beer label.

So here’s the inspiration, Shaun Hill’s interview with Vanity Fair. Give it a read, you may disagree with me. You may turn around and say, “Os, you’re just a Hill Farmstead fanboy”. Ok, perhaps there is some bias. My next example may also be biased. This past weekend I was down at Tired Hands again. I spoke to Jean Broillet IV, he had just returned from a trip to Chicago from brewing with Pipeworks. He mentioned how amazed he was to find beers that he could have envisioned having been brewed by himself. He said it was crazy to see two breweries with similar “art”. That’s where the title of “Artisanal” comes in. I chose to focus on the art of the beer these smaller breweries are making. There’s a reason why Jean was so in awe when he got that feeling from someone else’s beer.

Now to the conundrum. Distribution. It seems to be the most polarizing argument in the craft beer scene. We all seem to be fighting to help craft beer grow… so what’s the deal with me not being able to get these beers? Now, we can argue about how to do things “better”, but that always seems to only work for some people. Are the fans 5 states away getting the short end? Are the locals getting overlooked? What affects the prices? Demand? Supply? I deserve and should have the right to buy that beer dammit!

Well, that is where art comes in. This product is near and dear to some breweries. I have nothing against a Craft Brewery looking to just make good beer and make good money from it. I also have to respect an artist who does not want to compromise his craft. Shaun Hill’s words in that Vanity Fair article seem to reflect the passion for his beer that far exceeds the overall business success that we try to help craft breweries attain. That’s not to say that Shaun Hill is not successful in beer or in business. He has ZERO debt and he is making some of, if not THE most sought after beer in the world.

So why not respect what they are doing with their art? Why not let them be? I wouldn’t change a thing about these breweries, unless it was their vision to do so. I think they’ve earned the right and the respect to sit back and just appreciate what the next step may or may not be. Would I love to have Hill Farmstead or Tired Hands 5 minutes from my house? Absolutely! Would I want them to overproduce and make it to the shelves out here? I’m not so sure. I would hate for the art to be compromised.

Make it a point to go out and visit these places to appreciate what they are, not just their “products”. I know it’s not easy or even doable for everyone, but that’s why you also have great local breweries (like Carton and Kane for me in NJ) that I can get to if I feel the need to visit a place with great beer.

the new brettanomyces aroma wheel by Dr. Linda Bisson and Lucy Joseph at UC Davis

The image above illustrates the many aromas (and tastes) that are produced by strains of Brettanomyces. Brettanomyces, or Brett, like many wild yeast has a long history of being an unwanted infection in the fermentation world. By that I mean that both the beer world and the wine world have/had given it a bad connotation when speaking of it in the respected products. Brett in it’s natural state is wild, uncontrollable, unwanted. The appearance of Brett in beer or wine was considered a contaminant.

While the wine world still shuns Brett, the beer world has embraced it in the recent past. Looking at the aroma wheel, it would seem that the offensive aromas and flavors would be the reason why wine people have stayed away. Beer people on the other hand have looked at the positives. The Craft Beer community has sought to gain some sort of control over Brett. They have domesticated the yeast and have aimed to produce a complexity of many of the beautiful flavors and aromas described in the wheel.

As brewers continue to experiment with different hops and different yeast strains to produce an array of aromas and tastes, they also have found that within just Brett alone, they can cultivate a great variety. While I paint a pretty picture of what is being done with Brett by brewers, there also seems to be a disconnect with those consuming these Brett’d beers. Actually, it’s been a 2 step issue. Years ago (and even heard a lot today), Brett had been associated with “sour”. This misconception that Brett should be producing “sour” as it’s primary role in a beer was quickly shot down by the beer geeks. However, the proposed standard answer was also flawed. To differentiate a sour beer from a Brett’d beer, the beer geeks began to overuse the word “funk”. While funk is one of the possible aromas/flavors, horse blanket, barnyard and the like were very limited descriptions to what was actually being done.

For instance, Chad Yakobson of Crooked Stave (one of my favorite beer makers in the world) who has had his long running Brettanomyces Project running which turned into his starting Crooked Stave, considers “funk” as a vague term that lumps together a lot of other independently important flavors. What we need to start embracing separately is the fruity, the spice, the woodsy, the floral.

I hope that this great aroma wheel will help not only other’s acceptance of Brettanomyces, but also will assist us in acknowledging all the complexity and beauty that can come from our friend Brett.

From L to R: Teku, IPA, Tulip, Shaker

Recently, glassware has come into the public light more than usual. From articles written by people ignorant to the rich history of the beer culture accusing craft beer of trying to copy wine, to critical beer drinkers who feel some beers are pure propaganda from some of the larger craft breweries.

It’s that very glass from Dogfish Head and Sierra Nevada that led me to conducting this experiment.  As a beer glassware enthusiast, I was intrigued by the “IPA glass”. Shortly after it’s release I was able to speak with one of the people at the NY unveiling of the glass. Anne Becerra, NY’s first female Certified Cicerone is a highly respected beer connoisseur. I picked her brain and she told me that there was a definite improvement to an IPA drinking from this glass. Recently, an article that quotes her as one of the sources performed a taste test with the IPA glass and a standard pint. The results were all good for the IPA glass except for one person, that person did not like the smell or taste of IPA’s so that made sense.

This IPA glass created some controversy. Early on the hype was met with some backlash that the breweries (mainly DFH) were just being gimmicky for attention. Later, it was found out that this glass produced by Spiegelau used the base design of a glass that already had been made by Riedel as the O Red + White glass.  We later learned that it was never denied. Instead, some tweaking to the bowl to cater to the aromas of an IPA is what would make this glass unique.

Controversy aside, if you are a believer that glassware can affect a beer, you could see how the shape of this IPA glass would improve on the standard Shaker Pint.

Shortly after the release, I was given the IPA glass as a gift. I posted a picture of it and it was quickly spotted by Augie Carton of Carton Brewing. He, like I, geeks out over beer and glassware. His immediate response was that this O glass would not stand up to the glass that was being used at Birreria in NY. I took my glass to Carton that weekend and he brought one of the Birreria glasses. Low and behold, the Birreria glass was a Teku Rastal glass. That is one of my favorite glasses and a highly regarded beer glass. We sampled his 077xx DIPA in both glasses. The results were so drastic that I decided to take it up a notch at home.

On to the throwdown! I lined a Standard Shaker Pint, a Teku Glass, a Tulip Glass and the IPA Glass and filled each with my favorite DIPA. Now Heady Topper already has very potent armomas that you can’t mask in the worst of vessels (including the can from which Alchemist Brewing encourages you to drink). The rankings finished as follows:

1. Teku – the aroma and taste developed a complexity that stood out from all the other glasses.

t-2. Tulip – a smooth smell of the hops that hit many different notes. Great swirling and always a great beer glass.

t-2. IPA glass – the only noticeable difference was the aroma lasted longer and seemed to be replenished by the stem. The downside is the the heat transferred from hand to glass. While many beers get better as they warm, that’s not what I look for from an IPA.

3. Shaker Pint – I was surprised that the smell was a lot stronger coming from the pint. That was likely due to to me being able to fit more of my nose/face in the glass. The aroma however pungent was a single not of citrus and what smelled more boozy.

After all is said and done, a great beer is  a great beer regardless of the glass, but if you do want to get a bit more out of your beer, glassware can make a major difference.

The six flavors covered will include:

• Acetaldehyde
• Isoamyl acetate
• Diacetyl
• DMS
• Trans-2nonenal
• Infected

These classes are great for homebrewers, brewery reps, distributors, aspiring Certified Cicerones, aspiring BJCP judges and any beer enthusiast looking to educate themselves and their palates a bit more.

The fee ($23) will cover the cost of the kits along with the beer we will be spiking and other incurred expenses. As some of you may know, these kits are not cheap. Ordering for a large group allows us to share the cost and have the same training for a lot cheaper. We will be ordering from the renowned Siebel Institute of Technology (World Brewing Academy) to assure we deal with only top quality materials.

Signups are limited and will be capped at 22 people per session to allow for significant pour sizes. To have a spot reserved, you must visit the Copper Mine in North Arlington starting Wednesday March 20th at 3pm and pay the cover fee. If you have any issues getting to the Copper Mine Pub to sign up but would like reserve, please contact me at “Heysmartbeerdude at Gmail dot Com”.

Classes start sharply at 1pm. Please try arriving at least 10 to 15 minutes early to avoid missing out on any of the class material.

Since seats are limited there will be NO REFUNDS.

Looking forward to meeting, speaking and learning with you all.

Cheers,

Os Cruz

As you all know, on December 14th of last year, Sandy Hook Elementary school and the township, family and friends of Newton Connecticut were victims of a horrible tragedy. This horrendous incident touched a lot of people around the world. There were so many people donating that the town had asked that the donation of supplies stop as they had too much to even know where to put them or what to do with them. With that said, donations of money to help charities, families and the rebuilding of the schools is still needed.

Over on Beer Advocate, one of the members of the site (Brad from Dallas, Texas) arranged a LIF in order to inspire people to donate. A LIF (or Lottery It Forward), is basically a giveaway. In this case, Brad promised to give away some of his personal beer in a raffle to anyone who donated $10 or more to any one of many chosen charities. Brad, not directly affected by the tragedy, was looking to do a good thing. This led to more members (or BA’s as they are referred to) not only donating money to charity, but more donating their beer as incentive to get more people to sign up. So much so that some gift boxes had to be turned away (including mine). The founders of the site (the Alstrom Brothers) Todd and Jason have even allowed a little more freedom to Brad in order to keep this organized and going.

Even though the LIF entries closed last night, people are still donating and have already gone over the $8K milestone.

Cheers to you Brad, all the BA’s involved and essential, the Craft Beer Community.

2011 saw some new breweries take front stage as some of the better new breweries in the world. Hill Farmstead likely topped that list and is the standout brewery that made it to the forefront of beer geek treks, and rightfully so. This year alone I made the 5+ hour voyage twice (not much compared to some other beer lovers out there). 2012 however, saw a few breweries put a stamp on their legitimacy.  Locally, here in NJ (as I referenced in my last post) Carton and Kane both asserted themselves as the top breweries in NJ. Both breweries had their first year anniversaries this year and both show no signs of slowing down. Other breweries across the country had similar years. During my trip to GABF, I fell in love with Crooked Stave in Denver; so much so, that I signed up for their second year of the Cellar Reserve Membership. Funkwerks in Fort Collins, CO also stepped up as one of the newer breweries that are likely here to stay. While far on the West Coast, David Logsdon (formerly of Wyeast) really put out some amazing beers with his new brewery Logsdon Organic Farmhouse Ales. With Crooked Stave, Funkwerks and Logsdon you see the rise in Farmhouse/Funk/Wild/Brett focused breweries shining in the industry. A personal favorite style that got more recognition this year was the Berliner Weiss. Funky Buddha down in Boca Raton Florida celebrated their 2nd anniversary and have really brought the Berliner Weiss to another level. The aforementioned Carton brewing in NJ also had two phenomenal takes on this style. The Highlander Weiss was tart and refreshing and Monkey Chased the Weasel (with mulberries) was a personal favorite. These low ABV styles may be a trend to look for in the coming year.

On a personal note, 2012 ended with the fruition of Queen of Hops in November. It was my favorite project to date, I got to work with some great people and feel like it was a success. I plan on more craft-beer-centric projects this year to go along with round 2 of QOH.

Also, El Salvador (the country where I was born) now has it’s first craft brewery in Brew Revolution! Owner/Brewer Andy Newbom is a really cool dude that moved down to El Salvador to introduce craft beer to a country that has had a rough history.

One of my favorite things that happened this year was the big blow to the black market craft beer sales. EBay had long been the source of black market craft beer. With prices soaring, bottles being hoarded and beers not in their prime, the craft beer trading community had a huge scarlet letter on it. While many were pushing for this to stop, I credit Shaun Hill of Hill Farmstead for the biggest push to end this. Sure, some sales are still happening on other sites, and there are some things that have snuck in on EBay under the guise of collectibles (see Westy 12), but the action received by EBay was a big win for craft brewers.

Looking forward, in 2013 you can expect more features in the media covering craft beer. I look forward to seeing more people pushing to drink local beer. I also expect to see craft beer gain more respect in the culinary world as a more than suitable alternative to wine. Locally, I’m excited to see what Rushing Duck does in it’s first full year. Even more local (as in here in NJ), I cannot wait to see my friend Bob Olson’s brewery, Bolero Snort, take off.  As Draft Magazine points out, Night Shift Brewing in MA, DESTIHL from IL (who was all the buzz at GABF) and Tired Hands in PA are other breweries to keep an eye on in the coming months.

All in all 2012 was a great year for Craft Beer. I could tell you how certain things need to stop. I could tell you my resolutions. Instead, I will just say go out there and drink what you want and support this amazing community as we continue to grow.

Cheers,

Os

To start, let’s go with “Drinking Local”… Now, the push for drinking local is not a new thing by any means. Eating local and supporting local businesses have been quite the movement for years now, and for good reason. The reason I bring this up on this post is because a recent study showed that “local” was a better/easier selling point for beer than “high quality”. Now, for the novice beer drinker this makes a lot of sense. I mean “high quality” can be thrown around as an opinion. Not to mention, if you are looking to try a new beer (in most cases craft beer) you are assuming all craft beer is “high quality” as opposed to macros. Now the more seasoned craft beer drinker hardly needs a selling point. They know what they want, either the brewery or style of beer. Again, in that case a new “local” beer could be a great selling point. The disconnect occurs when the customer is truly seasoned and knows that they prefer a brewery from another state and are not too fond of their “local” brewery.

Hold on to that last thought. This is where I enter the other topic of the Craft Beer “Bubble”. Now many of you long time beer geeks, much like myself and the the industry in general have striven for one thing. What we all wanted was to have good craft beer readily available. Unfortunately, along the way we see a lot of side effects that we quite don’t care for. If you’ve been following craft beer for some time, you will be familiar with the current state of craft beer. I’ve seen people chase bottles for the hype. Either because it’s cool or because they want to profit from it, the hype is something that cannot be forever sustained if it’s not solely based on the love of the craft/beer. Now, please don’t misunderstand me. I too believe craft beer is here to stay. I do believe the numbers will continue to grow. It’s only now that the number of breweries is back to what it was in pre Prohibition times. The Craft Beer Bubble, however, will come into play when the speed of the growth of craft beer “drinkers” or should I say consumers begins to slow down. The overabundance and over-saturation of the market with beers and breweries will become an issue. This is when the “bubble” itself “pops”. That is to say, something just won’t last. This is  a natural cycle and will always happen in craft beer. We won’t ever be reduced back to what we had two decades ago, but there will be casualties whenever the bubble pops.

Here is where I have to bring the two things together. With more and more talk about the craft beer bubble, we’ve had some big names in the industry give their opinion. Many of which point out that the people who have not been around as long and have jumped on lately will be the likely casualties of the bubble popping. This is where my personal opinion and feelings come in to play. Being in NJ, I’ve watched two newer breweries create the most hype that I’ve ever seen in the state. Not because they are new or trendy or any sort of gimmick. Carton Brewing out of the Atlantic Highlands and Kane Brewing out of Ocean are making some of the best beers I can order in a bar or restaurant. Not just some of the best beers made in the state, they are making beers that can stand with the best in the country. They get it. Their beers show that they are true to the craft. With all due respect to the older breweries in NJ, I have not felt enticed to speak up about any NJ Craft Brewery until Carton and Kane came along. In the end, when the craft beer bubble pops, I would be willing to bet on these two newer breweries outlasting many of the older breweries.

While I have focused on NJ here, I can say the same about some of the newer breweries that quickly became favorites of mine the last few years including Crooked Stave, Hill Farmstead and Funkwerks. So in my opinion, drink what’s good. If it’s local, even better… and those that are doing it right will survive and Craft Beer Bubble burst.

Dogfish Head in MD closed up until future notice.

Dogfish Head Boarded Up

Meanwhile here in New Jersey, good friends at Carton Brewing and Kane Brewing are also preparing for Sandy.

Carton in the Atlantic Highlands posted this picture of their version of “Higher Ground”

Carton Brewing on “Higher Grounds”

Kane Brewing in Ocean is also taking precaution and getting their grains off the ground.

Kane ready for Sandy

Please remember to keep safety first. I’ve knocked on my elderly neighbor’s door to let them know that if they needed anything before, during or after the storm that I’d be here for them. Please do the same for anyone that may need help.

In the meantime, we are trying to organize a 6pm EST toast on Untappd. #SandyUntappd

Cheers! Stay Safe and dry friends.

Untappd filled a need/want by many beer enthusiasts who already were on Beer Advocate. Beer Advocate is a site that enables users to post reviews and keep track of Hads, Gots and Wants. The Gots and Wants section in conjunction with the message board of community forums is the place to go if you are looking to do some beer trading. I always use BA reviews as a reference to find out more about beers (styles and overall ratings) when I’m not familiar with them. If BA is not your cup of tea, try their biggest competitor Rate Beer. You can find BA and RB shelf talkers and ratings at many bottle shops nationwide.

For up-to-date news on all things beer, Beer Pulse is my go-to site. Always on top of new releases and anything else news worthy in the beer world.

My two favorite CraftBeer-Centric sites with some of the best written articles are CraftBeer.com and All About Beer Magazine. Both sites are full of insightful pieces and more from some of the Craft Beer Industry’s best writers like John Holl and Win Bassett.

Also, it seems these days that some of the most useful sites are the ones focused on the local scene. For me it’s New Jersey Craft Beer that’s run by friend Mike Kivowitz (plus a great crew with him) that I was happy to help with in it’s early stages. For NY info I always check out Chris O’Leary’s Brew York site and in PA there’s Philly Tap Finder and Drink Philly .Keep an eye out for something in your area, I’m sure there is a site to help.

This next site is what I always use when travelling or trading out of state. It seems to be one of the lesser known (unless you’re a BA or RB trader) sites that people really appreciate when they first find it. Seek A Brew allows you to compare distribution between two different states. A column for each state and a third column for shared distribution.

I also want to plug my friend John Kleinchester’s Beertography site. Cool contests and awesome beer pictures.

Finally, one of the greatest resources these days for almost anything is Twitter and Facebook. Both social media sites are rich with enthusiasts full of knowledge in the Craft Beer Community. Don’t forget to follow your favorite breweries’ Twitter and Facebook accounts as many are very interactive and break a lot of news on there.

While I have the every day cravings that can go from hop bomb DIPA’s to thick and warming Imperial Stouts, I’ve noticed my more frequent than not gravitation towards Farmhouse and Sour styles (I’m being vague here). Now, I know I’m not the only one and certainly far from the first to make this transition. I know plenty of enthusiasts that know far more about sours, wild yeast, brettanomyces, funky yeast strains and bacteria like lactobacillus than I could ever pretend to know.

What intrigues me are these small breweries that are mastering these styles. Farmhouse style ales, the most famous being Saisons, were once thought to be a dying style. Before that they were considered beers for the working class. The funky, earthiness produced by the yeast strain of Saisons (and other yeast/bacteria) was thought of as undesirable. Fast forward to today, and these tastes are sought after. “Horse Blanket”, “Barnyard”, “Haystack”, all these terms can actually be thought of in a favorable way. Sour beers or Wild ales on the other hand were embraced by a smaller group of fans of Lambics, Geuzes and the sort. Spontaneous fermentation was something that was avoided for a long time as well though. Sour was a taste that was thought of as “not belonging” in beer.

However nowadays, with the large growth in experimentation of barrel aging and domesticating wild yeast, brewers are learning how to control the yeast and bacteria and know when a desired result is met with the ever changing life of an unpasteurized ale. Some brewers like Allagash are even going more bold with the use of coolships and just letting the wild yeast infect and do it’s thing. Yep, I said “infect”. That’s what these sours are, whether purposely or not, they are technically “infected” by wild yeast.

So why the long ramble about Farmhouse and Wild ales? For the past year and change I’ve liberally walked around telling anyone who would listen to me that Hill Farmstead in Vermont was my favorite brewery. They could do no wrong. Sure, they make great hoppy beers and even great porters. What really jumps out however are their Saisons and Biere De Gardes… the country taste that quite accurately reflects the old barn that they brew out of.

In my last post about GABF, I went to add on that I fell in love with Crooked Stave and Funkwerks. Both breweries that are not shy about sours and funks and the use of (even 100% at times) brettanomyces. Add these breweries to Hill Farmstead and other favorites like Jester King and Freetail who are doing some amazing things in these categories. We now see more small breweries popping up with these specific styles being their focus. Logsdon is the latest brewery that I’ve been lucky to sample and have also fallen for it quite a bit.

The point? None, other than to proclaim my love for these new/old styles. Perhaps also, I’d like to remind everyone that your palates do and will change and you may or may not like something eventually, but it never hurts to experiment. Much like modern cuisine, even something that was once thought of as a last resort or poor man’s food; if properly prepared could be one of the finest things you’ll ever have.

Cheers,

Os