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Hello and good evening.

I realize it has been a few weeks since I last blogged, but that is good news for you because I have been getting charged up for these next few posts. I realize that it is currently the Christmas season and you are doubtlessly salivating mentally at the prospect of discussing winter seasonals, which we will do. Later. We have more pressing things to discuss.

My travels have begun and so has my exploration of new biers from the far reaches of the world (sort of). I have just returned from a trip to Oahu and still have the taste of Hawaiian micros on my tongue.

My first stop in Honolulu (bier wise) was a well-hyped bier bar called "Yard House", of which there are many in the southwestern US, as well as the Midwest and Florida. They boast of having 150 biers on tap and want to appear to be THE place to throw back a glass of something fermented. In my second post, you may recall that I broke down what I deem to be the important elements of a great drinking establishment. If you really paid attention you may have noticed that I said that bier selection makes up a quarter of the pie-chart of bar-excellence. Well they get that quarter because the selection was pretty good. The bar itself, while being nearly half full, was still too noisy for decent conversation due to the music being turned up to 11. There were many TVs showing videos of extreme sports which came in handy since conversation was getting the short end of the attention stick. Service was a little slow, and the booths were about 12' deep which meant that bathroom breaks necessitated asking a half dozen people to get up. Food selection seemed decent for a restaraunt, if not pricey (hello Waikiki). Overall this bar was somewhere in the realm of decent to tolerable. However there is a single remaining detail which managed to upset my bier-nerd sensibilities and single-handedly guarantees that I will never be found in another Yard House again.

The glassware. Hearkening back once again, you will notice that I briefly mentioned the importance of appropriate glassware in my second post. I did so briefly because I did not want to reveal to you, dear reader, the full extent of my bier nerdiness and thereby possibly scare you from my humble blog. I promise not to get too nerdy this time either, just bear with me for a paragraph.

The importance of aroma is an element often overlooked by the casual bier drinker, but not by the serious brewer. As he or she prepares their recipe for what will undoubtedly be God's gift to bier, careful additions are made in the malt and hop amounts and hop boiling/steeping schedule to ensure that this baby will smell like a gift from God. Now, where does aroma come from? It is released by the head on your bier. Ahhhh, hence the importance of combining the perfect ingredients with the correct extent of carbonation and the proper pouring technique. Now you are on to it. If a bier is poured without an appropriate head, or if it never had the proper ingredients/carbonation level, then there is a great chance that the aroma Mr. or Ms. future-brewmaster intended for this brew is not finding its way into your nostrils in proper fashion. Granted some biers are meant to have a ton of aroma, and some are meant to have a little. I will contend here, in the safety of my blog, that all biers are intended to be smelled. Do not for a second neglect that most important of senses. If your nose can alert you when it senses the pheremones of someone to chase after, it certainly also is there to make a great first sip as good as a smelling the perfume on someone during a great first kiss. With that in mind, the hopeful brewer may as well have never gone the extra mile for your nose if some hurried bartender poured a bad pint, or even worse, some frivolous bar owner chose inappropriate glassware.

At the Yard House they pride themselves on serving bier in goblets (they mean globes), pints and "half yards." Sigh. A half yard glass is an 18" abomination that holds 32 ounces, is extremely fragile, and does nothing for your bier.

It would be hypocritical of me if I declared myself too snooty to try out this container of such mysterious repute. I ordered one up like a good tourist and asked for it to be filled with a Hawaiian micro I was not yet aware of called Hawaiian Sunset by a brewery called Keoki. I knew I had really done myself in when I saw that the bier was almost exactly the same color as the one I had brewed for 7 months. Upon further inspection, I found that my eyes had not failed me as this bier was almost exactly the same as the one I had spent a year of my life covered in. I drank the whole thing like a good tourist. Why not order two pints? I definitely should have, that way I could've changed biers after the first.

So here's what I learned. 1.) Once you've consumed about 2/3 of your half yard, every time you tip it back for another drink the bier is foamed up by air rushing through the narrowest point in the neck as the helpless beverage attempts to follow gravity's commands to your mouth. The result? A foamy, aerated, unavoidable mess not unlike the aftermath of incorrectly drinking a boot at the Stube, which can be avoided given proper orientation of the toe (sideways is safest). Bear in mind that unlike the boot, no amount of rotation will fix the half yard's fluid dynamics issue. Only a universal boycott of such a silly container can save the bier. Do it for me. 2.) Those Hawaiian breweries are noble in their desire to make good handcrafted drink for their fellow islanders and visitors alike. Unfortunately, hops just don't travel very well, especially in such warm, moist climates. The result was that the biers I tried commonly tasted of stale hops (or just plain not fresh), or were severely under-hopped, likely due to the hop crisis mixed with the expense of having hops shipped across 2,500 miles of ocean. Under-hopping might also be a taste issue- perhaps they prefer much much milder biers? I'm sure I'm in danger of not giving them the benefit of the doubt here, so correct me where I'm wrong. 3.) Wailua Wheat is fabulous. Kona has added passion fruit to this bier for a tasty twist on the well-known hefeweizen, which I enjoy as my palate is a lover of tropical fruits. This is also a clever ploy given the hop issue- there was little, if any noticeable hop bitterness in this bier, but that's not too outlandish given what is common for hefeweizens from the western US. So really it's a great adaptation to their conditions. Brilliant.

I hope you didn't miss me too much. I'll do my best to be more regular in my posts, given internet access and a keyboard as I head into Montana and Colorado in the next 10 days. Until we meet again, go out and drink a bier from the glass the brewer intended for it. Prost!

Duffman is planning a little vacation

I should have been Duffman for Halloween. If you don't know who I'm referencing, he is the mythical superhero from the Simpsons who basically represents the kind of gods that people in this industry appear to be. We give out free bier with reckless abandon, we are muscular, good looking and thrust rather than point to give directions.

To be completely honest there has been a huge number of times this past year when I have felt mythical and have found myself thrusting in various directions. My job is an easy conversation starter, granted a person doesn't first comment on my cape. I have lost weight and gained muscle due to the physical nature of my job, and have also gained a bit of wisdom about bier and the industry. It has been surprisingly great at times. Not always.

The downside to working in a production-oriented position is that you often find your life under the control of a non-sentient process that requires sacrifice and requires it often. Many of my close friends know that I have had to work either on Saturday or on Sunday every week for the past year with a few exceptions. I am also either showing up to work at 5 am or am getting off work at 5 am, take your pick they both are uncomfortable for me. There have been tantrums on my end, like when I was originally scheduled to work Saturdays this fall, meaning that I was scheduled to miss every single Husky football game. Tantrum. There was the time when we were short staffed by a coworker taking time off for his honeymoon which coincided with my own brother's wedding. Tantrum.

Despite my drama, things have worked out every time, and life has gone on. However, I have had to do some deep thinking over the past weeks and months, and have decided that the year here at the brewery has been a year well spent, but that it is time to move on. Here's what that looks like (as far as I can tell).

I'm planning on spending the next two months traveling. I will spend Thanksgiving at my family's home in Spokane, I will return to Seattle to run a half marathon on Nov. 25th, then will fly to Hawaii to watch the Huskies' final game of the season. Following that trip I will roadtrip through Montana to Colorado and will return to Seattle by Dec. 15th for the annual tacky sweater Christmas party at my house. After that I plan to spend time before Christmas in Spokane with my family. On Dec. 27th I will fly to Honduras for roughly two weeks to visit my aunt who has been doing medical mission work there for almost three years. I should be back in Seattle somewhere around January 10th. After that I am contemplating a trip to New York and possibly one to Anchorage as well.

Now, I'm not the kind of blogger who will inform you of the intimate details of my life/plans on a regular basis. In this case, I will lean closer toward that style in an attempt to tell you about biers that I get to try throughout my travels, as well as bars and breweries that I visit, especially when I'm in Honduras as it will be my first trip to Central America since 2001.

In the meantime I'll do my best to keep this space updated with my thoughts/observations/gibberishes as often as is reasonable. Thanks to those of you who are willing to read this nonsense. May the beginning of this holiday season fill you with some joy and some winter seasonals. Prost!

My (until recently) Pumpkin Problem

The other day I found myself at Tangletown drinking pumpkin ales with a couple of old friends and thought to myself, "self, these pumpkin biers are becoming a pretty big deal." It seems like any brewery with the capacity to make seasonal biers has dabbled in the pumpkin.

As I am with many hot new popular trends, I was skeptical. Why add pumpkin? Is pumpkin ice cream really that good? Are pumpkin seeds really appetizing? I don't find myself craving the innards when I carve jack-o-lanterns, so why should we put this stuff in bier? I figured we were eating pumpkin ice cream because all other fruits had been exhausted by the ice cream industry. And pumpkin seeds were the result of sunflower seeds' success resulting in seed companies wanting to draw more people into their chew-and-spit eating department. Pumpkin bier, huh. Sounds about as good as some domestic "Michelada" style aberration of decent drink.

Here is a short discussion of what I had and what I thought. I'm trying out my skills at bier evaluation for the first time. I'm not very good at it, and if you find yourself in strong dissagreement, please educate me.


Elysian Dark O' the Moon Pumpkin Stout. Playful in the nose, both with roasty chocolate aroma and hints of cinnamon-like spices. My first taste was gentle, very smooth indeed. The stout's bitter nature is here complemented with the taste of pumpkin pie and something like carrot cake. It finished cleanly, credit due for a nicely brewed example of a stout, well balanced with the pumpkin presentation. Nice bier.

Elysian The Great Pumpkin Imperial Ale. Imperial ales are by nature strong in both bitterness and alcohol, so I was ready for a wild man. What I smelled was less of a pumpkin pie spice and more like actual gamey pumpkin innards like I mentioned before. This made me more nervous, so needless to say I was amazed by how nicely it tasted. The hop bitterness was there immediately, like it always is, but then the alcohol warming was followed side by side with a genuinely pleasant flavor of sweet pumpkin meat. This bier is what turned it all around for me. Elysian involved pumpkin in the mash, the kettle and the fermentation of this bier, and their labor worked with incredible success to present to the drinker mr. pumpkin in all his glory.


After these I also tasted a very rich scotch-style pumpkin ale, but was unable to remember its name or enough of the details to warrant a description. And that imperial ale knocked me about to Mars so my pallet was done working for the day.

If you found yourself disliking my criticism of the way pumpkin gets slathered all across this season, I hope you will see now how I've learned that there are gems out there amongst the slatherings. I probably need to stop doubting the hot new trends so quickly without first doing a little research. I don't know why I so mistrust the public opinion. Perhaps it is because the most popular bier in the country is But Light. Then again, the folks who encouraged me to try pumpkin ales aren't exactly Bud Light drinkers. PBR and Rainier are their go-to's, and I'm definitely not too cool for vitamin R. Prost!

The Wonder of Wheat/Wit/Weizen

Let's Talk Wheat Biers. There are a broad variety of wheat biers available to quench your thirst, but how can one tell them apart? Let's see if we can't break this down a little.

Wheat biers generally contain a larger proportion of malted wheat than other top-fermented ales (at least 50%). It is quite common to see wheat included in the recipes of several of the biers you drink, often placed there to add smoothness in mouthfeel while also helping with head retention (foam that lasts). The main difference is, then, that wheat biers have much more wheat in them, hence the name. They are typically golden to amber in color with a theme of tartness that is shared among German Weizens and Belgian Wits. I have found wheat biers to be easily drinkable, and thus accessible for those odd folks who claim that they don't like bier. Maybe they just haven't discovered the biers that like them. Besides lambic, I find all of these biers to be easy to get into and light on the palate. So if your friend doesn't know what to order, and they're new to bier, look no further.

I believe that the Bavarian region of Germany is responsible for most of the wheat biers we see nowadays. There are five basic styles: Kristall Weizen (filtered/clear wheat), Hefeweizen (Unfilitered/wheat with yeast), Dunkelweizen (Dark wheat), Weizenbock (Strong wheat) and Berliner Weisse (Berlin-style).

Kristall weizens are widely available summer refreshers in Bavaria. I believe that tartness is what makes wheat biers good for quenching thirst, and Kristall weizens in the past could commonly have been found with a lemon slice hugging the brims of their glasses. This is a custom that has made its way here to the US, but we break tradition in that we will put lemon in any wheat bier, not just filtered ones. Try: Weihenstephaner Kristall Weissbier

Hefeweizen is a very popular bier to have with breakfast in Bavaria alongside sausage and bread and it has definitely blossomed here in the northwest. Although breweries like Widmer Brothers and Pyramid label their wheat biers as hefeweizens, I find them to be considerably less tart and dry, with a much weightier body than examples from Bavaria. Traditional Bavarian hefeweizens will have obvious notes of clove and banana, and you may also find some apple, plum and bubblegum flavors too. These fruity flavors come from the interaction of the wheat with crazy Bavarian yeasts. The reason you do not find these flavors in such proportion in American wheat ales is because a more conventional ale yeast is typically being used. It should still be fruity, but maybe a bit less of a wild man. Try: Schneider Weisse, Franziskaner Weissbier, Hacker-Pshorr Weissbier, Ayinger Bräu-Weisse, Ayinger Ur-Weisse, Pyramid Hefeweizen (Oregon), Widmer Brothers Hefeweizen (Oregon)

I only mention weizenbock as a style because I want to talk about Erdinger Pikantus. This is one of the most mysterious biers in the world to me (alongside Duvel) because of the delicate balance between strength (7.3% alcohol by volume) and malt character. The fact that a powerful bier like this one could still bring forth amazing subtle dark fruit flavors is amazing to me. If you’ve never had this bier before, you aren’t living the full life you could be. You can find it typically at any Whole Foods. I think that God probably likes this bier.

Berliner wiesse is one of those strange styles of bier that undergoes not only a yeast fermentation, but also is treated with bacteria, giving it mouth-puckering sour bite. This bier isn’t even consumed by itself- Berliners typically add raspberry or woodruff syrup to it to add sweetness. Definitely not typical for what you see around here, but worth a try if you can find it. Try: Berliner Kindl Weisse, Schultheiss Berliner Weisse

While Germany imposes its Reinheitsgebot, or purity law on all biers made inside the country, Belgium is quite the opposite. The purity law declares that bier must only have four ingredients: water, malt, hops, and yeast. In Belgium, it seems like they will throw anything into bier including (but not limited to) spices like coriander seeds, herbs like chamomile, and fruit like orange/lemon zests, cherries, pears and raspberries. So in the context of how “pure” Germans like their bier, it is fitting that Charlie Papazian refers to Belgium as the Disneyland of bier.

One style of wheat bier from Belgium that you absolutely cannot miss is the “white” or wit (say vit). These biers take the fruity flavors and spiciness and simply kick it up a notch. Or ten. They use Curaçao orange peels and coriander seeds in fermentation which adds extra tartness, as well as some minty, peppery flavors from the seeds. Instead of lemon, you may sometimes find these biers with an orange slice on the glass. If you're not sure whether or not you want fruit, take my advice: JUST GO WITH IT IT'S DELICIOUS. Don't listen to those commercials that try to tell you bier can't be consumed with fruit. That's like trying to tell David Bowie and Prince not to wear makeup. Seriously if this bier style doesn’t set your mouth into a salivating frenzy then I think you ruined your mouth. Try: Hoegaarden, Blue Moon Belgian White (Colorado), New Belgium Mothership Wit (Colorado)

Lastly, there is Belgian lambic, which is probably one of the wildest (literally) things I’ve ever tasted. Imagine this: after preparing the wort for fermentation, they simply spray it on the floor, open up the windows and allow the wild yeasts to come in and have at it! There is only a small area in Belgium where they can do this- outside the town of Lembeek, near Brussels where there are orchards all over the place. Typically lambics are “pungently sour, low in bitterness, very effervescent, peculiarly aromatic, aged for years and wonderfully and strangely addictive.” (Papazian) If you’re into Belgian biers then this is worth a try. Take mental notes when you try these biers, then come educate me. They’re a little bit intimidating. Try: Cantillon Gueze-Lambic

I'm once again not confident that any of this has been helpful, but I hope there is at least one bier here that you haven’t had before that you’ll now feel emboldened enough to go out and try. I love talking about this stuff and have tried not to bury you in details. Mostly I’m hoping that this could be a launchpad for some folks into the rest of the bier world. If you find yourself really enthralled with wheat biers, then I think you're not far off from seriously delving into some good, life-changing ales and lagers. Until then, Prost!

A Bier for all Seasons

I am a huge fan of seasonal biers. The industry is rich with special biers for every season, and even for the transitions between seasons.

Currently we are just at the end of Oktoberfest season where Germans drink a bier they call "wiesn" or "festbier" (they don't refer to is as oktoberfest). Oktoberfest began as a celebration of a wedding between King Ludwig I and Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen on October 12th, 1810 in Munich. All of the citizens were invited to come help celebrate, and the place that the celebration took place was named Theresienwiese (Theresa's Fields). That word, Theresienwiese, has been shortened over time to the German word wiesn (pronounced "veesun") to refer to the bier which is consumed out of the tradition started in Munich in 1810. The oktoberfest celebration is still running today- it typically goes from the third weekend in September until the first Sunday in October. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oktoberfest)

So there's your history, all for a great purpose. Oktoberfest biers (wiesns) are traditionally a little higher in alcohol than a simple light lager and are also of a color that is quite magnificent. Think of the bright red-oranges of autumn and you're well on the way. Being lagers of high quality, wiesns are also vividly clear, smooth, and rich with the flavors of fall. Not to mention easy to drink. Many folks who come to the Stube for the first time ask what bier they should start with. If they like bier, then I will recommend a wiesn. If they don't have much experience with bier, I may go for something lighter like a hefeweizen or a light lager (but I secretly want them to drink something with some color in it).

The point of all of this is to say that I think seasonal biers are incredibly valuable because they help us to enjoy each season for the great things about it, instead of so often waiting life away until winter (if it is the fall) or until summer (if it is the spring). I feel that of all seasons, fall gets slighted the most for its cooler weather, increased precipitation and the beginning of classes for young scholars.

I find fall as an excellent time to wind down from the near-explosive amount of activity found in summertime. We're all trying to get every last drop that we can out of summer and somehow we still feel slighted when it's gone.

It is also a time to break out some of the cool weather gear for afternoon and evening walks through the neighborhood. I love that- getting to wear clothes you haven't worn in months. Something about that feels fresh and new and exciting to me, which is quite contrary to the language of decay and murk that gets attached to fall by weathermen and cynical Seattleites.

So cheer up student and warm weather enthusiast! Carve a pumpkin, eat hot pie with ice cream and drink some wiesn. Go to a state fair and look at livestock and eat crazy fried foods. Go hike in the rain and snuggle up around the fireplace afterward. Go to a football game and cheer with all you've got, then go get a celebratory bier afterward and try to carry on a conversation with your ridiculous hoarse voice. You have been given the opportunity to enjoy life today. I'm sure tomorrow could also be great, but please don't slight today because it carries in it as much potential for fun as yesterday did, and look at how great that was. So it can be today.

Prost!

The Stube

It would be decently hypocritical of me if I didn't put Die Bier Stube (dee beer shtoobeh), or simply "The Stube", at the forefront of the picture of my bier infatuation. It is my home away from home, not because I spend more time there than I spend at home, but because when I am there it has all of the warmth, laughter and company of home. And at this point, just about everybody there does know my name.

I mentioned in the end of my last post that I'm there at or by 9:30 on every Sunday. Why Sunday you ask? For me, the loveliness of this bar often comes when there are few other folks around. I like being able to sit at my favorite table, I like being able to hear myself think, and I also like being able to talk to Kessler. Mr. Kessler Dixon is my bartender. He is my man (not in every sense). Kessler is one of the most fun-loving, outgoing, well-spoken yet humble men I've ever known. If there were a pie chart expressing what it has taken to make the Stube my bar, I'd dare to say that 33% of the pie is Kessler. Not joking. The right server can turn a lousy bar setup into something really special. Not to say that the Stube is poorly arranged, the bench style seating is great and the 3 flat screens can help generate conversation (or save you from it) in moments when you've lost the words.

So what are the remaining 67% of the bier pie? The bar itself deserves 33%. Five percent of which goes toward the actual layout. Are there restrooms that you feel okay touching with your bare skin? Darts are a plus, movable tables are nice, coaster supply is helpful, as is open seating- that way new friends can find their way to the table without having to awkwardly weave their way through the place like a lost child.

The remaining 28% from the bar goes to the bier (25%) and food (3%) they serve. Yes, I know, I just said that the bartender is more important than the bier. What if they can't pour a half liter of Hacker-Pschorr Weisse Dark? What if they play Clay Aiken albums and the TV is always turned to the CW? What if they don't remember your name? What if they card you every time you come in? What if they don't rinse your glass all the way, leaving horrible foam-dissipating detergent behind? Let's face it, the right bier served incorrectly is a waste of that brewery's time. They made that product to be enjoyed under certain conditions (temp, style of glass, amount of head), and straying far from them will greatly reduce the enjoyment you will get from it. "As long as it has alcohol in it" I heard some of you just say. Then buy wine. Don't fork over $8 a liter for bier that is a bastardization of something worth keeping true to design. Or go to a happy hour and drink PBR, which I enjoy, but not at the Stube. I go out to the public house for more than just bier, I go for fellowship. If I wanted, I could go to Metropolitan Market, or QFC or Whole Foods and buy a bottle of Ayinger Bräu-Weisse. I can get the bier all over the place; it is the atmosphere that is induplicable.

Also, the Stube has excellent bavarian pretzels with two kinds of mustard. If you're ever uncertain whether or not to get a pretzel, ask AJ. He's the pretzel tzar.

The final 34% goes to the people with which you go out. The company, to me, gets the edge over the bar and the server because they are what give a bar staying power in my mind. Having a great bier, served correctly in a nice place is worth telling friends about. Having those same things with a great group of dynamic, interesting, cultured friends is worth bringing friends to.

If you've ever been to the Stube with us on a Sunday, you may know what I'm talking about. Typically it is a group of 6-10 of us, but every once in a while that group swells to more than 30. It is a place that is worth bringing friends to because if they like good German bier, and they like you, they'll probably have a good time. (http://www.diebierstube.com/)

Do you have a bar like this? It doesn't have to be the Stube. Maybe you don't fancy bavarian hefeweizen (wiesn) or bocks, doppelbocks, schwarzbiers and oktoberfests. Maybe Kessler rubbed you the wrong way. Well that's okay, not everybody fits everywhere, that's what makes the earth worth exploring. Prost!

First Sips

Well here we go. I've been needing to do this for a while, and thus it begins.

My intention in blogging about bier is primarily to share my passion for great bier. There may be a few other themes that wedge their way into this space from time to time, however; as with most things in life, I find it of great importance to keep the main thing the main thing.

I plan to talk about biers I've had recently, the breweries that produce them and the bars (or stores) at which I came across them. I'll give some color to the experience when necessary and let you know what I thought. Don't agree with my opinion? I won't be surprised, that's why it's my opinion. Go out and find your own if need be.

I will warn you in advance that I claim no superiority: I don't fancy myself an "expert" on bier, and feel quite frankly that what I do know is mightily limited by the amount of time I've paid attention to what it is I'm consuming. I'm still young and although this limits my experience, I think it gives me an element of objectivity over the old bier hippies who have already decided which 1% of all biers deserve their approval. I'm still fresh on the scene, and if you find yourself keeping up with these writings I bet you are too.

Hopefully this blog will also not become too much of an excuse to go out more than the 1-3 days per week that I currently do. I don't think my salary or liver can afford it! Besides, overconsumption is for the under-appreciative.

I'm not sure if any of us will come away from this blog with more wisdom, but if we do I'd consider it successful. Don't feel obligated to read this blog, particularly if you're one of the people to which I often rant. I'm putting digital stylus to papyrus here so that maybe we can talk about a different slice of life every once in a while. I'll still love talking bier, but perhaps the moderation that has so long evaded me will return.

Please forgive any inaccuracies you come across, and feel free to write me corrections. Prost!