Italian beer in the SF Chronicle

Here's a story on Italian microbrews in the SF Chronicle. After all the cocktails of last week, a nice calm beer sounds like a good idea.

News for Thursday

Bourbon is booming. Beer and wine surpass vodka sales by volume in Russia now. Conversely, vodka now outsells scotch in the UK.

SF Events

A couple of things from my inbox: - Magnolia is serving $3 pints all day on Tuesdays, and each Wednesday the brewers will be there to hang out and answer questions from 6-9PM. - (from the True Sake newsletter): July, 2008 - Yoshi's Oakland Half Price Sake Mondays

Yoshi's Oakland is please to announce, due to popular demand, half price sake Mondays will be extended through the month of July! All bottles of sake, including the elegant Yuki No Bosha Akita "Komachi", will be half price for the entire month. Now is your chance to enjoy a bottle - or two- from our exlusive list. For a truly memorable experience, come by on Monday, July 21st, when Tamiko Ishidate from Joto Sake will be on hand as the Sake sommelier for the evening to answer all of your questions.

Itemizing

I just learned that my 2,000 word story on scotch due next Monday was actually due yesterday, so posting may be a bit light for the rest of the week. Here are some things that caught my eye. - San Francisco Brewcraft solves the lack-of-hops problem by introducing a Burningman Hopless Absinthe Ale brewing kit complete with wormwood, lavender, and anise. (What, no fennel?) - Though they're advertising it as a beer pong ice rack, there is no need to limit its use to the "sport." Fill it with water and freeze it to keep ten plastic cups cold on the tray. - Jay from Oh Gosh! tasted 23 orange liqueurs and has now summarized his findings into awards. I think he deserves an award for the effort. - Seamus of Bunnyhugs lists some old-school genever cocktails to try out with the new genevers on the market. - Imbibe Magazine (sorry I'm late with that scotch story!) lists some cocktailian uses for home-grown herbs.

Internet booze news for Monday, May 5

Here are some stories from the around the web. - Art that you drink? That's my kind of exhibit. [via Dowd on Drinks] - Rick Lyke wrote a list of 125 places to have a beer before you die for All About Beer magazine. - Eric Asimov of the New York Times discusses mezcal. - Matt Rowley finds a video on making 60 proof alcohol using wine and a salad spinner.

Treat your beer right

Lew Bryson has a story in Portfolio about how to care for your beer.

I learned about that and other ways in which beer can go bad by doing a series of experiments on some freshly bottled beer from a local brewery. I put it in bright sunshine. I froze it. I slow-roasted it in the oven. I subjected it to eight cycles of chilling and warming. I felt bad mistreating beer like that, but those beers suffered so other beers could be better. Here's what I found.

The short answers are: sunlight is a killer in just a few minutes, hot-cold-hot is no big deal, though avoid huge temperature extremes, and try to drink it fresh.

Now that's what I call recycling

Via Blair:

LONG TRAIL BREWING CO. in Vermont has cut a deal with a local utility to purchase power, for just a few cents more, derived from the methane gas given off by the manure on dairy farms. The brewery, in turn, will contribute mash to feed the cows.

CHOW booze round-up

CHOW.com is just cranking out the booze stories lately. Currently on the front page there are:

• A take-down of Vodka 360's greenwashing
• A terrific Japanese whisky primer by Aaron Gilbreath that even has taste comparison notes to scotch brands
• An analysis of why nose grease tames beer foam
• And why Champagne's AOC is expanding

Belgian showers

The Toronado, a bar that normally specializes in Belgian beers, is celebrating Beglian Beer Month in April, with, I assume, even more Belgian beers than usual. I bet between this bar and La Trappe and The Trappist and Monk's Kettle you could try nearly every Belgian beer on the market. Not a bad way to spend your April.

Green beer

Stephen Beaumont has the run-down on the various types of Irish beers.

Oh my Guinness

Last week Fergal Murray, Brewmaster for Guinness, was in town doing a pre-St. Patrick's Day tour of several cities. We met up at Foley's Irish Pub downtown and had a pint. Part of the reason he was here was to promote Proposition 3-17, a resolution to make St. Paddy's an official holiday. A big whatever to that, but Murray did teach me some interesting stuff about Guinness. Unlike many alcohol products, their work isn't done once the product is in its container, because the visual impact when served is one of the most crucial aspects of the Guinness experience. While other brands may have an iconic bottle or color, Guinness has an iconic fresh pint that must be poured correctly in order to match all the posters. He described enjoying their product in three parts- "crafting of the pint" or watching it being poured slowly and correctly; the "reverence of the pint" or seeing that stereotypical pint with its foamy head (he called this the most important part); and "savoring the pint" or the actual taste of the stuff and the special way you drink it getting the beer from out beneath the foamy cover. All three of those are dependent on the bartender pouring the drink the right way- and they have instructions and training on how to do just that. And they also have teams of people who come into bars to make sure things are running smoothly, that the tap lines are kept clean, and that the servers serve them properly. The hands-on work seems quite a bit different than for spirits, where it's more like, "Here are some cocktail suggestions- good luck with that!"

Bottles vs. cans

Slate has a great analysis of the environmental impact of bottles vs. cans for your beer. It's another one of those questions answered with "It depends." Aluminum mining has bigger environmental impacts, yet the cans are more often recycled. Bottles are heavier and some municipalities don't recycle green bottles (who knew?) so if they're shipped from long distances they're definitely bad. Here's the short answer:

If your chosen tipple is produced very close to home and your town has a robust recycling program, then glass bottles are probably the way to go. But if your preferred suds are brewed far away, by a company that's even mildly eco-aware, aluminum cans are the wiser choice.

But the analysis is interesting, so read the whole thing.

The right glass for every beer

Today's Chronicle has a story on beer glass design to maximize flavor of different beers. It's an interesting read. With all the new Belgian bars that have opened recently I keep seeing new shapes. I ordered a beer that came in a kwak glass- the one in the middle in this picture that comes with its own stand- at La Trappe. I felt embarrassed drinking out of it, like having a plastic Hurricane souvenir glass in New Orleans or a Carlos and Charlie's one in Mexico. I just didn't know!

Belgian text

The text of my Belgian beer bars story from San Francisco Magazine is now online here. And if you're interested, my Aspen travel piece is here.

Dueling Belgians

In the March issue of San Francisco Magazine, I have a story on the three Belgian beer bars that opened in December 2007. (Also, a travel story on Aspen.) At 7x7, the other glossy city magazine, Jordan MmmKay? has a piece on the same topic (bars, not ski towns), with four recommended beers to try. The Trappist in Oakland is a simple place, with only two cheese plates available as food. When I visited there was one server working the whole seating area so it was faster to walk to the bar and pick up pints yourself. They did a nice job with the glassware cooler water jet that lowers the temperature of your glass by a couple of degrees. In North Beach, La Trappe is something between a restaurant, a lounge, and a bar. They have a full bistro menu (but could use more appetizers for those not in search of a meal) with some Belgian specialty foods, as well as a huge beer menu. I recommend getting there early to score a space on the plush seating in the lounge. Also, rumor has it mixologist Victoria Damato-Moran will be working there- which is odd because the place doesn't have a full liquor license. In the Mission, Monk's Kettle is a small, bright space with upscale pub food and two dozen beers on tap. They have a combination of Belgian and other non-common beers, and the place seems always to be busy. Plan to get dinner if you want a table, or just pop in at lunchtime for a few pints (says the writer without a day job).

Cold Porter

Nice story about porters in the Chron today. Also, Celebrator Beer News is celebrating their 20th anniversary with a party on Sunday in Oakland.

SF Event: Strong Beer Month

February is Strong Beer Month once again, and both Magnolia and 21rst Amendment breweries will be putting a list of high-alcohol beers on their menu to help you celebrate. To kick off the party, brewers from both places (both nice guys) will be at the Toronado Thursday Jan 31 to say howdy. Stop by and have a high-octane beer.

SF Event: 80 beers

This Saturday in San Francisco a two-hour tasting event of 80 beers from around the world. The details are here. It sounds worth the money (if a bit short) at only 30 bucks, but the copy on the flier reads like it was translated from a third grade essay in another language:

This enjoyable event will be a Unique opportunity for you to discover New & Exotic beers while gauging stylistic differences against your own preferences. Serving the beers will be Beautiful servers/ambassadors dressed in Specially designed sexy costumes with an around the world theme making for a truly extraordinary experience.

Hopefully the event will be better than its description.

What's for breakfast?

Purely in the interest of alcademic research, I poured myself a tomato-based Michelada this morning. I did roughly equal parts beer and tomato juice, added lemon (because I was out of limes- how did this happen?) and Tabasco sauce. I realize this is hardly the same drink, but I figured it would put me in the ballpark. Well, I have to say the citrus and the hot sauce make the drink- just beer and tomato juice on its own is gross. I get the point of the drink- it's a beer Bloody Mary, light on alcohol with healthy juices- and I wouldn't mind having one from time to time. It's more of a typical morning drink than the tomato-less version, which to me seems lighter and more festive and tropical. A beach drink for days with and without sunshine. Anyway, I'm sorry that you're probably stuck in an office while I'm home enjoying a Michelada. If it helps, I enjoy the other version better.

Bud and Clam

Wow. Get ready for pre-mixed Budweiser and Clamato Cheladas. (Read the press release here.) It sounds absolutely crazy, but the Chelada stands for Michelada, which is a popular drink in Mexico. There are two schools of Micheladas. One is with beer, lime juice, and Tabasco/Worcestershire sauce with a salted rim. That's the one I've most often read about and had in several bars in California and even in Mexico. The other type is this one, a beer Bloody Mary. I've only read about it but obviously it's popular enough that they produced a pre-mixed product and already test-marketed it before launch. And apparently, it's already available in my closest Mexican grocery. I'd try it except I don't eat meat. Maybe I'll experiment with V8 juice instead.

Journey

In my Bay Guardian story that came out today I made reference to Gestalt Haus, the beer bar where they "put in a double-decker bike rack that lures fixie-riding Mission hipsters like a free Journey concert." Now that it's cool to sing along to Journey again the kids just can't stop believing. In a bit a great timing, I just got this press release tonight:

Healdsburg, CALIF. December 18, 2007 — Legendary rock band, Journey, and De La Montanya Winery have come together for the second year in a row to produce a limited edition wine. The De La Montanya family and the band Journey have elected to donate all proceeds to the Greater Bay Area Make-a-Wish foundation.

They're promoting wine for charity to their fellow Boomers but if Journey wanted to make more cash for kids they'd could just sell a couple songs to Schlitz.

Seasonal Beer

I got this announcement of the new seasonal ale for the Park Chalet in San Francisco. Frostbite Spice Ale When strong brown ale gets infused with Juniper Berries, Cardamom, Cinnamon, and Orange Peels you get pure, spicy, holiday excitement! 7.0% ABV That's making me pretty darn thirsty.

Give thanks for beer and turkey

By me, in Friday's SF Chronicle: A new Web site by the Brewers Association wants you to pass on the wine this Turkey Day and pop open a craft beer instead. BeerAndTurkey.org offers suggestions for beer pairings with a range of holiday meals, including roasted, smoked and Cajun-style turkey, ham, goose, salmon and lamb. They also pair beer with side dishes and seasonings, like amber ale with sage dishes and all-malt pilsner, dark lager or red ale to go with buttery mashed potatoes and creamed corn. The site also lists a few serving suggestions (large bottles for easy sharing, multiple glasses for multiple beers), but not all segments of the population will be served by the Web site: There are no pairing notes for Tofurky.

Wet hop beers

Cool article (not by me) in today's SF Chronicle about wet hop beers. Makes me thirsty.

Celebrating harvest is nothing new, but lately brewers have discovered a novel way to reconnect their beer to the land from which its ingredients grow: by adding freshly picked hops to the brew kettle, usually within 24 hours of harvesting. These beers are known as fresh hop beers, wet hop beers, harvest ales or "Lupulin Nouveau," in a nod to Beaujolais Nouveau wine and to lupulin, the sticky, fragrant yellow powder that clings to hop flowers.... When hops are picked, they contain 80 percent water but are slowly heated in kilns to reduce the moisture to one-tenth of the original moisture and then packed tightly into bales for storage and shipping. You can smell the beautiful hop aromas burning off during kilning that are simply lost in the process. With fresh hop beers, whole unkilned hops are used - another similarity to Beaujolais Nouveau, which uses whole clusters of grapes in fermentation. When brewing with the whole, fresh hop cones, subtle herbal, vegetal and earthy aromas and flavors are extracted that can't be produced any other way.

Magnolia Pub's Ten Year Anniversary

Magnolia Pub and Brewery in the Haight is celebrating their ten-year anniversary next week as they launch their annual Thunderpussy Barleywine for the holidays. They're doing a concert at the Great American Music Hall on Monday, and having themed food and beer all week at the pub. Here's the word on what's happening from owner Dave McLean:

The early part of the week is a nod to some of the things that influence us. Mon-Thurs are all 3-course menus (also available a la carte). Monday is an expansion of our ongoing New Orleans night, Tuesday a British gastropub theme, Wednesday the menu is Belgian-inspired, and Thursday is an extension of our fried chicken night with a southern theme. Then on Fri-Sun night we will be running the same 5-course tasting menu each night (not available a la carte, and the whole table must order), which will focus more on David's creativity and be an expression of what can done with the gastropub concept. We will feature our favorite local and sustainable producers throughout, of course. The actual anniversary is on 11/11 (sunday), so the Monday, 11/5 show at the Great American Music Hall is sort of the kickoff and then the week will progress with the menus and pairings and some beer releases like barrel-aged 10th anniversary ale and barrel-aged Belgian tripel and some vintage Old Thunderpussy Barleywine and Smokestack Lightning Imperial Stout. Plus whatever else we can find in the cellar.

A Toast to MJ this Sunday

The Beer Hunter website lists places to join in a toast to beer/whisky writer Michael Jackson and raise money for Parkinson's Disease this Sunday, September 30. In the SF Bay Area, you can join at the Bistro in Hayward, Rogue Ales Public House, and the Toronado.

Jackson memorial fundraiser/toast

Hey bar/restaurant/liquor store owners: this sounds like a good way to pay tribute to beer/whiskey writer Michael Jackson while raising some money to fight Parkinson's Disease. And if you're going to throw an event in the San Francisco Bay Area, let me know and I'll try to get you some press. (Pasted from On The House blog.)

Raise a Glass to Michael Jackson on September 30

If you stock at least one premium craft or imported beer in your inventory – and you know you really should by now – then you have Michael Jackson to thank for it. A true pioneer in the field of beer journalism, the British writer and author was instrumental in the development of the craft beer market, both in the United States and around the world, through his innumerable articles in publications like Esquire and Playboy and his multitude of beer books.

Sadly, Michael passed away at his home in London, England, on August 30, not long after he revealed to the world that he had been battling Parkinson Disease for a decade.

And so, on September 30, bar and restaurant owners across the United States and Canada are invited to help celebrate the great life and achievements of Michael Jackson by hosting a toast to his memory, and along the way raise some much-needed money for the battle against Parkinson Disease. The scheduled time for the toast is 9:00 pm EST, and the way you celebrate is entirely up to you.

Host a party and send a portion of the night’s takings to the National Parkinson Foundation. Contribute the revenue from a specially-designated “Michael’s Memory” keg. Or just pass the hat among your customers, staff and managers. But join in to make this a fitting tribute to the man who did more than anyone to promote the cause of good beer!

Details on how to participate and the official promotional poster are available at www.beerhunter.com. Go there now and add your operation’s name to the growing list of the establishments that will, for one very important night, join together to pay tribute to the memory of the one and only Beer Hunter, Michael Jackson!

Jeeves, Hand me the Royal Goggles

DEVASTATED Princess Diana told her hairdresser that husband Prince Charles "must be wearing BEER GOGGLES to have an affair with Camilla.

Naked hula dancing not distracting enough

Creative beer shoplifting attempt: One masked, but otherwise naked, man hula danced in a convenience store to create a distraction so that his buddy could steal a case of beer during the confusion. Unfortunately it didn't work. Perhaps they should have thought smaller. If I were a convenience store worker and someone offered to do a masked naked hula dance in exchange for a beer, I would have said yes. It would probably be the only thing interesting that happened all day.

Complicating things

I saw two similarly industrial-strength home drinking solutions today. The first is a carbonation system that uses a 20lb CO2 tank and makes enough seltzer for a year. The experimenter wanted to avoid using proprietary Soda Club CO2 tanks so he/she developed this system that only took ten minutes to put together after buying a ton of big parts on eBay. Clever, but kinda ugly. Not so ugly, but much bigger is a self-contained brewery that cost a mere $4,315 to build. Damn!

Goofy Beer

This article lists the Seven Beer Wonders of the World- all the recent goofy beer you've heard about- beer for your dog, pizza beer, bilk, etc.

Speakeasy's hootenanny

By me, in today's SF Chronicle:

Help celebrate Speakeasy Ales and Lagers' 10-year anniversary Saturday with a "rousing, riveting, and spine-tingling blowout hullabaloo" party at the Bayview brewery. The free admission event features live music by Brittany Shane, Crosstops and other bands, a barbecue, and of course, beer. They'll be debuting White Lightning Wheat Beer on tap, made with wheat, oats, orange peel and spices, that you can try in the 10-year commemorative tasting glass. The family-friendly (but 21 to drink) event runs from 2 to 7 p.m. at 1195 Evans Ave. (at Keith), San Francisco; (415) 642-3371.

Beer. In. Spaaaaace!

At Kelly’s Brew Pub in Albuquerque, you can buy beer made with yeast that has flown in space. I just thought you should know.

Bears Eat Beer-Filled Boozer

BEARS EAT DRUNK AT BEER FESTIVAL

Beer festival reveller dies after taking a short cut

By Mark Ellis

A DRUNK staggering home from a beer festival took a short cut through a zoo's bear cage - and was found half-eaten next day.

Amazingly, Branko Jovanovic, 22, was still alive when zoo staff discovered him - despite having a leg torn off and half his face chewed away.

But he died later on his way to hospital in Belgrade, Serbia, after keepers battled to prise him from the jaws of the Tibetan black bears.

Zoo director Vuk Bojovic said: "I will never forget what I saw. The bears had taken him to a corner to eat him, and torn off his leg and most of his face, but he was still alive.

"The bears were really aggressive - they obviously regarded him as food and fought to hang on to their meal. It took ages to get them away from him."

Ghoulish visitors have made the two bears - Masha and Misha - an overnight hit with double the usual number of people coming to see them.

Officials now plan to make it harder to get into the bear enclosure - even though the wall Jovanovic climbed was 18ft high.

And they also hit out at the beer festival organisers.

Bojovic said: "We had warned the organisers to stage it further away.

"We have had all sorts of problems from revellers although we did not think anyone would be stupid enough to enter the cage.

"The area where the beer festival takes place is up on a hill while the zoo is downhill, and the bears' cage has no roof so the drinkers were always throwing things in there.

"Keepers have found beer cans, mobile phones and even used condoms in the cage.

"We warned the organisers that they needed to control their guests better.

"We want it moved to a new location far from the zoo next year."

Taking the Times to Task

On Brookstone Beer Bulletin, Jay Brooks has a nice rant against the New York Times' recent piece, "For Beer Tastes, on Beer Budgets"called "Penny Wise and Pint Foolish," about how an article on where to find cheap, crappy beer is insulting to beer in a way the Times would never do for wine or cocktails.

The two-buck Chuck phenomenon aside, can you imagine stories in the New York Times about finding the cheapest wine or whisky when you’re out on the town? I can’t, and it seems to me this is just another of the countless insults beer endures. Why is beer the Rodney Dangerfield of alcoholic beverages? Why is it so acceptable for the media to take cheap shots (yes, pun intended) at beer without even realizing how insulting they’re being? I don’t think Seth Kugel, or indeed most of the rest of the beer-ignorant press, sets out maliciously to insult beer. They simply don’t know any better. And that may be the saddest fact of all. It might be downright funny if it weren’t for the fact that people read the Times as America’s “paper of record” and believe what is written in its pages. So while I believe the entire media has a duty to try to be accurate, the Times has an even higher standard to uphold.

I think he has a good point, but he also gets off his point in this second quoted paragraph. I don't believe there's anything untruthful or misleading or inherently wrong about the story the Times wrote- but it shouldn't have been printed in the Times. This isn't to say there isn't a place for round-up stories on where to get cheap wine, cocktails, or beer. These are domain of the alternative weeklies such as the Village Voice and websites like CitySearch. Once I wrote a story on how to get your daily nutritional requirements from eating nothing but hors d'oeuvres and garnish for the alt-weekly SF Bay Guardian. I'm not entirely sure I understand the hierarchy there- the free publications are welcome to write about high-end venues but not vice-versa- but it's definitely entrenched.

Brews News

Just some links to beer news today: Where to get cheap beer in New York. Rogue Ales is being exported to China. Scientist uses diffusing acoustic wave spectroscopy to study beer bubbles.

“A lot of effort has gone into figuring out how to get just the right concentration and size of bubbles, and how to produce the perfect head on a glass of beer,” he says. “There are people who work in that industry who know much, much more about that than I do. Could diffusing acoustic wave spectroscopy be useful to them? Maybe. But for me, beer is just a good example of the kind of thing you can do using this technique.”

Homework

Friday afternoon I stopped into the Alembic at the hour when the shift was changing between Josie and Daniel. This is a terrific time to be there. I had the Mellow Yellow, which is made with bourbon, limoncello, and black pepper- one of my favorite cocktail ingredients. Then Josie and I and some hangers-on headed to the Toronado for beers. It seems the Alembic expanded their boutique beer selection by a huge amount and Josie wanted to familiarize herself with the menu. I was only too glad to help her drink what she was drinking and give my valuable tasting notes such as, "It's like a wet lawn where there are elm tree leaves in a pile," and "you set a basket of under-ripe blueberries on stones to keep them off the dirt." Beer tasting is fun, especially with the strange pricey Belgian varieties we were drinking, but I don't enjoy the beer buzz as much as the "normal" liquor inebriation. So after we left Toronado, I drank a couple shots of whisky just to put myself right.

Beer Tasting

On the House has a nice piece up on How to Host a Kick-Ass Beer Tasting. It is all great advice, geared more towards event organizers than casual party hosters. But I think the advice translates well to wine, whisky, and other tasting events too.

The all-star edition

Today's SF Chronicle Wine section is doing a baseball theme for the all-star game. I contributed a quick item on flasks.

Sipping suds at the ballpark

Deceptive device? Sensible packing? You decide. Like a CamelBak worn backward, the Beerbelly (see photo) is a convenient and (optionally) incognito pouch that mimics the bloated paunch on the outside that you'll develop for real after drinking its contents. It might be equally useful for holding cold beer on hot days watching a baseball game as it is for carrying hot chocolate on chilly nights in the kayak outside the park waiting for home runs. $34.95 at thebeerbelly.com.

If you prefer to pad another area, but don't want to haul a seat cushion and three unwieldy cans of beer to the game, you can put the beer in the cushion and carry it all with one handle. The Sippin' Seat comes in five colors, and when you're not drinking out of it you can fill it with air for extra padding. $24.99 at www.cellphoneflasks.com/sippinseat.html.

-- Camper English

Booze News

I checked the booze news for the past week while I was traveling. It was a good week. Tennessee is set to become the first state in the nation to require carding of anyone, without exception, who buys beer for off-premises consumption. Now underage drinkers will have to resort to asking older people outside the store to buy them booze, just like they always have. A study shows that gastric bypass surgery turns formerly hefty people into alcoholic lightweights. The EU voted that legally-termed vodka can be made from things other than cereals and potatoes (such as grapes and maple sap) as long as its labeled accordingly on the bottle. But as far as I know, every vodka that isn't made from corn proudly labels the bottle as such anyway. A manufacturer invents a "cocktail condom" that you use to cover your drink while you leave it so that you can be sure nobody drops date-rape drugs in it while you're not looking. So it's kind of like the don't-drink-my-drink coaster, but with glue. Someone created a pizza-flavored beer. Great idea, combining things that are commonly consumed at the same time into one tasty treat. I always pour a half gallon of milk into my cereal box and keep it in the refrigerator for the month. It turns out that most organic certified beer isn't totally organic- most hops aren't, but you only need 95% of organic ingredients to be USDA certified. In the wake of the bad press, one hopes more hops will go orgo. Heineken launches a new skinny, taller can for its light beer- sort of like the Virginia Slims model of package design. But wait Heineken light? Does it taste like water, with extra-extra water flavor?