"No, Grandma, Sam Adams really isn't craft beer..." (My ghost of Christmas's past)

For the devoted, beer is like the postman: rain or shine, holidays and birthdays, it always delivers.  For us, craft beer, nay, good beer, has just become the habit of our lives.  We have created and implemented systems that allow our addiction, I mean, hobby, to be at our disposal at any time, ready to fill that bomber sized hole when that dry itch whispers, "beer me."

At home, we have our seasonal stouts and winter warmers and an immediate family that wouldn't balk at seeing us put down these heavy beers with our honeyed ham, but the Winter holidays come with unique social baggage that sometimes doesn't work out for the beer lover.  Here are some holiday challenges and anecdotes of my own personal holidays past, uh, triumphs.

1.  "Hi honey, I know you love craft beer so I got you some Boston Lager..."

There is a reason people think Boston Brewing Co., Blue Moon, and Leinenkugel are "craft beers:" they have lots of money to advertise.  My mom has given up trying to anticipate my beer needs and just has a fridge of High Life decorated as reindeer with pipe cleaner antlers, red pompom noses, and googly eyes.  David Lynch-ness aside, I have learned that a simple conversation can fix the rein-beer situation.  I call my mom up and ask her if she wants me to give her some beer suggestions, or if she wants me to use my expertise to bring some great craft beer to pair with the meal.  This simple act will make you seem polite, engaged and involved with the holiday meal.  Boom.  Good beer and +3 socks. Thanks Mom.

2.  "I can't believe you brought beer.  You know (Aunt or Uncle) Blah-Blah are on the wagon..."

Sorry you missed the memo.  My solution is that when I go to a party or family get together, I always leave the beer in the car, unless I followed my advice from number one where I called ahead. Go in, scope it out, ask a couple of polite, yet subtle questions and figure out if your awesome stash in the car is able to be cheer and joy the whole night.

3.  My Grandma is a Teetotaler.

As a kid, my grandma's fridge was my art gallery.  I apply this to my beer drinking as well.  My grandma's family abstains from alcohol, but I obviously don't.   Solution?  I bring a bottle or two of home brew.  Alcohol is bad, but I made it and Gam Gam is just so proud she can't hate it that much, right?

4. Be A Craft Brew Ambassador

Okay, so you've made the polite phone call, or left the brew in the car, and the situation is clear, but all you see are a bunch of, uh, well seasoned party goers and Michelob Ultra.  It's time to be the dude.  Bringing beer that is delish AND easily accessible is key.  People will notice that you are not drinking the same beer as everyone else and conversation will ensue.  Share the brew, have an impromptu tasting, hand them a Beer Barons business card, be the beer ambassador.  Inform the uninformed and maybe next year, you will be greeted with a Sixpoint Global Warming instead of a Blue Moon.

The holidays don't have to be so bad.  Just try to be mindful of how beer fits into other people's lives and celebrations so that you can share your passions merrily and not feel like an awkward shit when Uncle John goes into detox seizures at the sight of your slightly warmed Cherry Port Chocolate Stout.

Cooking Under the Influence: Old Fezziwig Marinated Pork Chops

This recipe is a variation on one that I found on the Sam Adams website. (The original recipe is online here if you're interested.) I have to say that this marinade was delicious. I expected it to be kind of tasty, but this far exceeded my expectations.


Ingredients
6 ounces (3/4 cup) Old Fezziwig Ale
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup honey
2 teaspoons dried rosemary
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
pork chops


Directions
In a mixing bowl, stir together the ale, soy sauce, honey, rosemary, ginger and cinnamon. Coat the pork chops in the marinade.

I chose to coat the pork chops and then place them in a plastic bag. I poured the remaining marinade into the bag with the pork and letting them sit in the fridge overnight. That gave the marinade time to really soak into the chops.

After letting the marinade soak in, I preheated the oven to 350F, and prepared to bake the chops. The ones I got were relatively thin, and boneless. I was able to bake them for 25 minutes, but you may need to adjust the timing accordingly to best cook your chops.



I wanted the chops to be the star of the dish, so I added some steamed broccoli and some Rice-A-Roni to the plate to finish out the meal. It's definitely a recipe I'll be using again!

POURsuasion: A Shandy is a Cocktail, Not a Beer Style

After my little tryst with #CraftVsCrafty I feel I should warn you dear reader.  We are going further down the rabbit hole...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zE7PKRjrid4

Shandys

Shandys are cocktails, not beer styles- although some of the major beer producers in the US would have you believe otherwise.  

If not a beer style, what is a shandy?  Wikipedia.com gives us a brief glimpse with the definition as "A shandy, or shandygaff, is beer mixed with citrus-flavored soda, carbonated lemonade, ginger beer, ginger ale, or cider. The proportions of the two ingredients are adjusted to taste, usually half-and-half."  I think Todd Coleman gives us a broader look at shandys with his article on Saveur.com 8/9/2007 Oh, Shandy, "...the English ... have a long tradition of mixing beer with other drinks or other types of beer: consider the snakebite (beer and hard cider), the dog's nose (beer and gin), the half-and-half (half porter, half beer), or the black-and-tan (half stout, half lager)."   

Summation: Beer mixed ≈1:1 with some other contrasting flavor beer or juice beverage.

Origins:  "Some accounts attribute the invention to Henry VIII, who purportedly came up with the concoction as a tonic during his matrimonial difficulties; others trace it to the 18th-century novel Tristram Shandy. (The "gaff" in the name is thought by some to be a contraction of ginger and half-and-half.)" - Todd Coleman, Saveur.com 8/9/2007 Oh, Shandy.  Other well known types of Shandy's are: Alstervasser, Potsdamer, Radler, Russ.  The Radler type of Shandy was invented by the Munich gastronomer Franz Xaver Kugler in September 1922. On this particular day his beer started to run out, so he mixed the remaining beer with lemonade and pretended he created the Radler especially for the cyclists so that they could drive home without the risk of falling off their bicycles. 

Again, we see a pretty clear description of the shandy as a cocktail or mixed drink, not as a unique style of beer.

I detailed Greg Koch's response about BMC's (Budweiser, Miller, Coors) attempts at further filling their pockets at whatever the cost to the craft beer industry (and the craft beer drinker) in my last article.  Digging into the world of shandys for this post unearthed that Coors owned Leinenkugel's and Anheuser Busch InBev's [AB-InBev] Shock Top are well known contenders in this line of drinking. Now, let me muddy the waters...  Enter the new beverage, Curious Traveler.  

"The House of Shandy Beer Company is a new craft beer venture from Alchemy and Science, based in Burlington, Vermont. It launched in 2012 with a mission to combine the European Shandy tradition with American ingenuity. Curious Traveler is the first product."

- Charlene Peters, Examiner.com, 8/12/12, A Nice Cold Brew: Curious Traveler  

Established in 2012 by House of Shandy (renamed later to The Traveler Beer Company) it is owned by  Boston Beer Company Inc.  I know this means nothing in and of itself, but put into context Boston Beer Company is also responsible for the creation and distribution of the following beers: Samuel Adams®, Sam Adams Light®, Twisted Tea®, Angry Orchard®, The Traveler Beer Company, Angel City Brewing Company - 2012 Boston Beer Company Annual Report.

The "upstanding craft brewery" owned by Jim Koch (No relation to Greg Koch) is associated with shandys?!  Is this the same Jim Koch who helped pioneer the renaissance in American taste for flavorful, traditional beer as Samuel Adams®?  Whose success became an inspiration and a catalyst to other small brewers? Who today is synonymous with Samuel Adams the largest craft brewer, brewing close to two million barrels of Samuel Adams beer according to their website, BostonBeer.com?  Oh but it is...  In 2012 Samuel Adams introduced their own type of shandy, The Porch Rocker. The final nail in the coffin is Curious Traveler.  

"Alchemy & Science, our [Boston Beer Company, Inc's] craft brew incubator completed its first year and continues to make progress and explore potential opportunities. During the year, Traveler Beer Company rolled out in test markets with its Curious Traveler and Tenacious Traveler shandy-style beers and it is likely we will launch more markets in 2013."

- Nasdaq transcript 2012 earnings results Boston Beer Company Inc. 

/Sets aside Rose Colored Glasses...

In that response mentioned earlier, Greg Koch was taking a jab at BMC, but was he also taking a shot at Boston Beer Company Inc?  I feel like I just found out that there is no Santa Clause.  Going back to earlier, Shandys are a mixture of beer mixed with some other contrasting flavor beer, juice, and/or sparkling pop beverage (Yes it is a Pennsylvanian thing... it isn't soda its POP!).  It makes me chuckle just a bit that BMC beer has to be mixed with pop in order for it to be tolerable... 

It makes me sad to know that Samuel Adams and the conglomerate owning it, Boston Beer Company Inc., are also on board with endorsing and selling the mixing of craft beer with essentially pop.


Shandys ≠ Beer
Lets put a pink umbrella in that to emphasize.

Upon review BMCB (Budweiser, Miller, Coors AND Boston Beer Company) are billing their Shandy beverages as beer. Shandys are not in a separate category on their websites, nor is there any language to help the curious understand that this product is not a beer but a pre-mixed beverage cocktail as of this article's posting date. 

I agree with Greg Koch that this type of obfuscation being used by the BMCB hurts craft breweries. For just Leinenkugel’s Summer Shandy the fringe craft drinker market of this type of mixed drink grew 80% in 2010 (200k and 250k barrels sold). That kind of volume ranks this pre-mixed beer cocktail in with the country's largest craft breweries, and the people drinking it largely don't know that they aren't drinking beer.  

BMCB is making the Shandy (as my DARE officer used to say)  "a gateway drug."  Don't like beer, but love that sweet wine cooler/hard cider? Here try this "Beer"! Now that you are hooked, how about trying our other actual beers! The Germans have been doing this for centuries to help children acclimate to the taste of beer (nonalcoholic of course).  

Like Franz Xaver Kugler in 1922, BMCB are just in it for the money.  Sell more "beer" by cutting it with something else!  Seems very similar to watering down your beer to sell more...  BMCB is kicking this up a notch and applying it to the wine/cocktail crowd and the fringe drinker to pull them in to increase their market share.

If you want to learn more about beer, and take the time to find a style that you like, go to a craft brewery.  Want something clean and crisp with low ABV?  I am sure they can steer you towards their version of a Pale Ale, Lager, or something similar.  Talk to the people there about what they like and what they would recommend based on your preferences. Support the creativity that abounds in your local craft beer community. You'll be surprised at some of the really innovative things that are out there and that are actually beer.  

There's nothing wrong with a beer cocktail (Ever try floating a shot of HopHead Vodka over a DIPA?), just don't hide that fact from me when you are prepackaging it for mass consumption. Lets keep it above board shall we!  Should Shandys have their own column under the mixed drinks category?  Should there be a better distinction by BMCB that these are a mixed beer cocktails and not a beer style? To both I raise my fist to the air and bellow: "Hell yes!"  

Couple this dog and pony show in with the #CraftVsCrafty war for our taste buds and we have a situation where the terms craft and beer get diluted and confusing. We know that big beer companies aren't going to educate potential drinkers, we need to educate ourselves, and sometimes each other.

Sources:
http://www.examiner.com/article/a-nice-cold-brew-curious-traveler
http://www.nasdaq.com/aspx/call-transcript.aspx?StoryId=1209451&Title=boston-beer-company-inc-s-ceo-discusses-q4-2012-earnings-results-earnings-call-transcript#ixzz2VovJROkq.
http://www.bostonbeer.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=69432&p=irol-overview 
http://phx.corporate-ir.net/External.File?item=UGFyZW50SUQ9NTAwMTM2fENoaWxkSUQ9NTQwMDQ2fFR5cGU9MQ==&t=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zE7PKRjrid4
Cocktail Image: Microsoft Power Point
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shandy
http://www.beerpulse.com/2012/03/samuel-adams-porch-rocker-radler-shandy-debuts-in-may/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2338129/Giant-US-firm-makes-Budweiser-crushes-tiny-UK-brewers--naming-beer-childrens-primary-school.html
http://www.saveur.com/article/Wine-and-Drink/Oh-Shandy
http://travelerbeer.com/about/
http://www.eatoutzone.com/Cocktail_with_beer.htm
http://www.germanbeerinstitute.com/Radler.html
http://www.wishfulchef.com/2011/07/german-radler/
http://www.beeroftomorrow.com/mixing-beer-1-the-shandy/
http://www.ratebeer.com/Story.asp?StoryID=27

New World

Creation: New World

Style: Belgian Tripel
Masterminds: Samel Adams
Location: Boston, MA
ABV: 10.0%
IBU: 17
Hops: Tettnang Tettnanger, Saaz
Availability: Year Round
Drinkability: Light enough to prance around and act like a sessionable beer, but has the ABV of a complex beer that will catch you unawares and leave you with your head in the toilet.

Served out of the bomber, cold right out of the fridge.  Pours  a light gold, fizzy onslaught with medium head.  Head will stick around for the entire flavor trip from full pint to empty glass.  The head makes the lacing deceptive, because there is minimal to no lacing present at the end.

Yeasty fruit spice nose.  Notes of apples, pears, cinnamon, peppery clove.  I didn't get the pineapple notes as described by others.

Has distinct flavors.  A very noticeable first, second and finish.  The flavor trip starts with pear, then  to apple, ending with a cinnamon pepper clove with a slight boosey heat.

Ever so slight bitter yeast with a honey sweetness dry white wine finish with a slight toastyness.  Highly drinkable, but high ABV will rein you in to just a few

Serve Warm(er):

Let it warm up to help the complexity of flavors come out, if served right out of the fridge the apple will overpower most other flavors and be very sharp and bright.

O-Dawg: 4

Post-Mortem
To be Frank (not O-Dawg) for a moment, I had this first off of draft at Mo's Irish Pub here in Indy last winter.  It was an interesting lead up to Winterfest which neither me nor my compatriots could attend (or so we thought until The Professor scored last minute VIP through a friend.)

Morose and wanting to hang, the gang got together at Mo's for a Tap Takeover that was supposed to be Upland on all taps.  When we showed up it was half Upland and half Sam Adams.  Since we #drinklocal we went through the lineup of usuals and one seasonal that Upland had to offer.  Komodo Dragonfly BIPA, Double Dragon Fly x2IPA stole the show for me.  Their Winter Warmer... well... lets just leave that one till later shall we.

Feeling adventurous and a little bit curious as to what Ol' Samuel Adams had up his sleeve I started through their Small Batch Series, Barrel Room Collection, and Limited Release Beers that were on tap.  The ones that really stood out for me were New World, Tasman Red, Dark Depths, and Grumpy Monk.  This really surprised me because I love (and still love) Uplands beers.  I did not think a Nationally distributed brewery could withstand the onslaught of awesome local beer.  I stand corrected.

Getting just a taste of the New World I knew I wanted to snag a bottle of it.  Cut to a few weeks ago...  Yes even because Ol' Sam stated it was a year round brew, the little bugger didn't show up in Indiana until just recently.  Go figure?!  Why don't you go get yourself a bottle and see why I kept looking for it as long as I did!

The Big Guy: O brought a bottle of this over earlier in the year. It was one of the better Sam Adams beers that I have had lately. It was a solid Belgian with a big abv, and I have one cellaring right now. After having it for a second time at the Sour Wild Funk Fest though, I am not as in love as I thought I was. I hope it ages well. I give it a 3.

Bloomington Craft Beer Festival

The 3rd annual Bloomington Craft Beer Festival was held on April 13th, and this year, they had a week of lead-up events (which, unfortunately, none of the Barons were able to attend).  The festival was held at the Woolery Mill in Bloomington, and over 50 breweries were in attendance.  There was an abundance of great beer at the festival, but one that stood out to me was Cutters Brewing Company's General Brown.  ZwanzigZ's Ghost Pepper Stout and Upland's Teddy Bear Kisses are also excellent, though this was not my first time trying them.  The very first booth we stopped at was Samuel Adams, where I tried their Cherry Chocolate Bock.  I wasn't expecting much, but it was surprisingly good.

I would say that the Bloomington Craft Beer Festival was an excellent day of craft beer drinking an fun.  I think my only complaint would be the small amount of restroom facilities; at certain times, the lines were ridiculously long.  This event is definitely on my radar for next year.

The mill seen from the parking lot

The crowd waiting to be let in

One side of the festival

The Big Guy: You couldn't have asked for a nicer spring day to enjoy some craft beer in southern IN. The venue was awesome, and there were a ton of breweries that showed up. My favorite for the day was the Stalin's Darkside by Evil Czech. The beer was boozy, sweet big and bold. Other great showings were done by ZwanzigZ (Ghost Pepper Imperial Stout and their The Ticket Chocolate beer). Flat 12 put out some cool stuff with experimental hops involved, but since I am not the biggest hop head it didn't really get me going. Sun King had some fun seasonals that they released every hour, which made them totally worth checking back with throughout the event. It was a great showing by Indiana's craft brewing community.

The only thing I was disappointed with was, the VIP gift. We got a frisbee, or at least I think that's what the gift was. Don't get me wrong, it was awesome to be allowed in an hour early. This would have been worth the added ticket cost alone, but they said you would get a VIP gift. They really shouldn't have bothered with a gift if it wasn't going to be memorable. Beer good, Swag bad.

The VIPs surge towards the beer, knowing they only have one hour to drink before everyone else

Hop infuser was better than I expected, nice sweet and citrusy

The Little Lady: This was a really nice event. The location was totally unique, and added a lot to the feel of the event. There were several breweries there that were new to me, and that's really what I tried to taste while we were there. I wanted to have that new experience and really check out things that I can't get everyday at home. Zwanzigz, Evil Czech, and Country Boy Brewing did not disappoint! We've actually talked a little bit about taking some road trips to their locations to really try out all they have to offer. If you didn't have the chance to try Zwanzig's blueberry and chocolate mixed together you owe it to yourself to try. Amazing- and not just because I'm a girl. The Big Guy and Professor Beer were impressed too.

I was so glad we opted to do the VIP. It got us in an hour before general admission, which meant we could walk around and sample a bit easier. If you're like me and you don't love huge crowds, it's well worth the extra cost. I've already started looking for the 2014 date so we can mark this one on the calendar!