Day 1 Colorado Beer Trip

(click on pictures to make 'em bigger)


Thursday, May 21st, 2009 Again, due to my limited vacation days this year, I was forced to work a half day on Thursday morning. Not ideal, but doable. The clock struck 11:00 and we were off! Or so we thought. We fought the Marq2 construction downtown and finally made it to 35W. Remember that TV commercial where everyone is tailgating and having a good time and then they pan out and you realize they are all on the freeway? Well this was just like that except without the barbeque grills, beers and happy people. I knew there was major construction on 35W south and should have avoided it altogether but I wasn’t thinking. Half an hour behind schedule and the Civic was finally in 5th gear.

We made some time up on the road and arrived in Des Moines at 2:45. First stop was at The Court Avenue Brewing Co (or CABCO). Most people were still working so when we walked in it was pretty quiet. Naturally we sauntered over to a table by the glass separating the brewery from the dining room. As I did throughout most of this trip I started with the sampler. This was about the coolest (and heaviest) sampler rack as I had ever seen. It seems that about as much creativity as goes into the beer goes into how various brewpubs serve their samples and this was no exception. See picture. I usually sample beers from lightest to darkest in color with the exception of really hoppy beers. They usually do a number on my taste buds so I save those for last. I really enjoyed all of the beers I tried as each of them was unique and all its own. So many times I’ve been to brewpubs and besides color they were all really similar. Not here. I especially enjoyed the Belgian White (Wit). It was brewed with Curacao orange peel and it really added a nice citrusy punch, very refreshing. We got to speak with brewer Mike Gauthier later and he mentioned it was much sweeter than previous versions and more so than he likes it. I thought it was great but would love to try a drier version someday. I also enjoyed the Kaplan Hat Hefeweizen. More clove than banana than most American Hefes and a nice grainy malt backbone. It was a very clear beer so I asked if it was the Krystal style… no, just nicely flocculating yeast. That might also explain the unique yeast flavor characteristics. I really enjoyed talking with the brewer and learning some of the joys as well as the challenges of being a brewer in a brewpub. He talked about the pressures of keeping production up with demand; a constant battle between brewer and bar manger. He also talked about how frustrating antiquated beers laws can be. For example, in Iowa you can’t brew beer stronger than 6.2% ABV but you can sell it stronger. So it’s hard to compete with the Belgian Beer bar down the street which often has beers on tap 15% or higher. After visiting for a while he took off for the bar rather quickly. I assumed there was a question that needed addressing or something, but no… he went up to grab a specialty beer. 21st Amendment Ale. This brew named in honor of the Volstead Act is their Rye Pale Ale aged in rye whiskey barrels from Iowa distiller Templeton Rye Whiskey. A 2008 barrel aged beer festival Silver medal winner. What a barrel aged treat, the whiskey really shines through. Low in carbonation and very smooth. One of my favorites on the trip. Had a great time at CABCO but alas, on to the next!


Thanks to the great crowd of beer gurus on BeerAdvocate I was introduced to a beer bar in Des Moines with over 100 beers on tap, El Bait Shop! It’s located right by the Iowa Cubs stadium and there was game that evening so it was beginning to get busy. This biker bar (think spandex not chaps) boasts one hundred and five beers on tap. How do you decide? I went with a recommendation and tried the Rogue Imperial Pilsner and I really liked it. It was high in alcohol, very fruity in aroma, clover and honey and a rich powerful noble hop aroma blurring the line between floral and spicy. Mmm I could drink a few of these. The last beer I tried when we were there was Raccoon River’s IPA. Raccoon River is another brewpub in downtown Des Moines that didn’t quite make our short list. I was happy to get the chance to try one of their beers but was disappointed once I did. It could have been old, but it seemed very dumbed down. The hops had all faded and the malt presence was a bit more than it should have been. I also detected a little butter. Oh well, it would take more than a diacetylic amber to bring me down. This eclectic place was really comfortable, the taps were just begging for the camera and the food was awesome. I am a big supporter of the “When in Rome” menu theory* so I had to try El Garlic Bait Burger. This minced garlic infused burger topped with American and Gouda cheeses and barbeque sauce melted in my mouth AND in my hands. What a delectable gooey mess, yum. We finished our beers, licked our fingers, polished off every last crinkle cut french fry and hit the road. Omaha or bust!

BEER THIS! DA

*If there is an item on the menu that features the establishment’s name I tend to lean toward it. When in El Bait Shop, do the El Bait Burger.

ROAD TRIP! Tasting beers to Colorado and back.

On June 8th I begin my studies with the American Brewers Guild. That will consist of ten hours of lecture per week plus another six hours of studying for 29 weeks. Add that to my full-time job and a second part-time job and any free time will disappear. I thought I should have one last hurrah before going underground for the next seven months and a beer trip sounded good. While both my vacation days and budget are limited this year we decided to take a road trip and do it over the Memorial Day weekend. Colorado is definitely a beer Mecca so it was off to the Centennial State.

Our trip included stops in Des Moines and Omaha along the way followed by stops in Fort Collins, Longmont, Denver and Golden. The itinerary included a couple of stops in Boulder and Lyons as well but due to some rescheduling we weren’t able to make it. Missing Boudler was disappointing but that just means we’ll have to go back.

We had a lot of great beers – I tasted 105 different beers in all. We had a lot of good laughs – Carolyn even had beer coming out her nose at one point. We made a bunch of new friends and even got to catch up with some old ones. We met some great people in the brewing and beer bar business and had about as great a trip as we could have imagined.

Inspired by another beer blog I follow (Thanks Kris and Mag), in the coming days I will be blogging in more detail about our daily visits to the local beer scene. Check back soon and often.

DA

Convert This!

I’ve read various blogs recently arguing Craft Beer vs. Macro Beer. The argument is never about which is better, but always about why craft beer is better than macrobrewed (mass produced) beer. For the most part I’ve stayed out of this like I do most debates. My Mom is nearly full blooded Norwegian which makes me nearly half and we Scandinavians like to avoid conflict. If you keep your mouth shut, it can’t get you in trouble. However, I feel it’s time to comment, especially since this week is American Craft Beer Week.

How do I feel?

My feelings on the matter are simple… if you like the way it tastes, drink it. The problem is that I am confident many people think Bud, Miller and Coors products taste good. Are they wrong? Not necessarily. Do I think they taste good? No, but I also don’t think they taste bad either. In fact I don’t think they taste much at all. But just because I don’t think they taste good doesn’t mean they can’t taste good to someone else. But what if that’s all they knew? I believe a conversion to craft beer enjoyment begins with a little education and some good old fashioned persistence. How many of you liked the taste of beer the first time you had it? I certainly didn’t and I would bet a majority of you didn’t either. I learned to like it though. As they say, it’s an acquired taste. Some younger drinkers are lucky to have started with craft beers but many of us older guys did not. But that doesn’t mean we’re a lost cause. Why did we start drinking light lagers in the first place? Certainly not because they tasted good. For a long time in this country that was all that was available. And if Light American Lagers are all you know (like me until I was 24) chances are you’re not going to go into a bar or liquor store and buy anything else.

I remember my junior year of college. I was just barely legal. Not a rookie beer drinker by any means, but turning legal means going to bars and making your own decisions on what to drink. One evening I ordered a Sam Adams. Holy crap did that taste horrible. I didn’t know what it was that I was tasting but it wasn’t beer. I even remember buying one for a friend on her 21st birthday as a joke. Sadly I went back to old reliable. I wish I hadn’t given up on old Sammy so easily. More importantly, I wish I would have had a friend to tell me what it was I was tasting, that is was normal, in fact intentional and to tell me that people actually enjoy that flavor. I would have become a craft beer drinker a lot sooner if someone had educated me and told me it was okay to explore those flavors.

Well, I didn’t have to wait long. Three short years later my family took a trip to England. I was forced by some pretty persistent (and evidently brilliant) uncles to drink what the locals drink… and I fell in love. By that time, the American Craft Beer scene was nearly 20 years strong and I had no idea what I was missing. When I came back state-side my beer life made an about-face and I have never looked back. My uncles introduced me and educated me on the wonders of different beer flavors. While many of the beers I drank in jolly old England are not available here in the States, I began seeking out beers that compared to them (in my rookie palate’s opinion). Eventually the evil Sam Adams became my best friend.

Although the craft beer scene was long past the infancy stage in 2000 it was still rare to find anything but macros or common imports on the majority of restaurants tap lists. Sadly this is still the case in many places, but it is getting much better. We are lucky here in the Twin Cities to have a local brewery like Summit. Most places around town have Summit’s flagship beer Extra Pale Ale on tap and it’s a pretty dang good beer. For me my go-to beers when dining out became Summit EPA and Sam Adams Boston Lager. Now here’s where it gets interesting. For a while I actually thought that Sam and Summit tasted “pretty much the same”. Many of us know that this is most certainly not the case but at that point that’s what I perceived. Eventually my palate matured as I tried new things. As my tongue became barraged with new flavors, bitterness, sweetness, spiciness, roastiness, etc it actually got more refined. I was able to perceive and identify new flavors and distinguish similar beers from each other. And I’ll tell you what, my friends, there is nothing more exiting than that. I remember the first California Common I tried. Gross! What is that stinky rotten cheese aroma? And what’s that bitter/tart flavor? That can’t be healthy! Well as things progressed I learned that those were Northern Brewer hops, a defining character of this style. “Stinky cheese” and “tart” became “woodsy” and “rustic”. Once I knew they were intentional and unique I became more open minded and began enjoying the complexities that set this style of beer apart from others.

I challenge you.

Let’s back up a little bit and follow the progression of Sam Adams in my life. For the first thirteen years Sam Adams was around I had never heard of it. First time I tried it I hated it. Tried it again and again and I started to enjoy it, but still compared it to every other hoppy “dark” beer. Eventually it became individually unique and even more enjoyable. So I challenge you today, in the spirit of American Craft Beer week, convert a friend or two. It’s not an overnight conversion but you just might be the person to flip the switch and redirect a friend down the ride of their life. I’m not sure if craft beer sales will ever equal (or heaven forbid exceed) macro beer sales, but it’s worth a shot. We have a wonderful opportunity here to start, or I should say continue, a revolution. Light Lager lovers are curable and I truly believe that craft beer drinkers are irreversible. Convert someone today!