ALERAISERS

The Beer Of the Week for the week of 8/29/2011 is:

Bridgeport’s Highland Ambush

Straight outta Oregon comes a new angle on the venerable Scottish Ale. This Wee Heavy starts with a fizzy blast across the palate followed by strong flavors of toasted malt and hints of vanilla.
The ale spends the first part of its life in bourbon barrels and features a well-blended collection of natural flavors that give a quality representation of the style. The only question was the hops and where did they go? Overall a solid selection for a post toil Saturday evening starter.

3.2/5.0

The Beer of the Week for the week of5/23/2011 is:

Red Hook’s Long Hammer IPA

From the Red Hook Website – “The distinctive India Pale Ale style was developed by British brewers in the 1700s in order to create a sturdy beer that could survive long sea journeys to far-flung colonies where troops eagerly awaited the arrival of this sublime liquid refreshment. Long Hammer takes the traditional IPA brewing process one step further by dry hopping, or adding hops at the end of the brewing process with Cascade hops to give a wonderful hop aroma but not the overpowering hop taste. Long Hammer IPA is the beer you find yourself reaching for again and again, no matter what the occasion.”

That was a whole lot of keystrokes just to let us know that the Long Hammer IPA is dry hopped like every other IPA on the craft scene.  Sarcasm aside, I think RH deserves credit on moving away from the 100+ IBU categories while keeping the ABV at a stout 6.5%. The craftsmanship required to bring about this balance of refined boldness, high gravity, and smooth bite make the Long Hammer stand out (Albeit in a reserved way) among a crowd of alpha-acid dripping zombies.

On the technical tasting side the beer is nothing to write home about.  Almost everything about it, from the thin bubbly head to the bronze and copper color point to an IPA of average quality. The effect on the palate is brief and hardly memorable along with a curious aroma that must wear glasses and spend all of its time in the library on Saturday nights. It’s not a bad beer, worth the sub $10 price tag for a six pack but, I just can’t place it in the current landscape of craft brews. More than a pale, less than a DFH 60, still better than a warm Colt .45 by a long shot.

2.8/5.0

Purchased at Publix Canton, GA

The Beer Of the Week for the week of 4/21/2011 is:

Samuel Adams’ Imperial Stout

Imperial Stout. The two words bring a sense of power and nobility to beer, inspiring mans need for pleasure. Wild in their flavor, and strong in character they are worthy of a spot in any beer drinkers fridge.

Sam Adams has recreated the original recipe made for the Russian Imperial Court of Catherine II. Most people associate Russia with cold war politics, gulags, and the KGB. What you might not know is that while our nation was fighting for its independence in the late 17th against English oppression, the brewers in England were supplying the Imperial Stout I speak of to the empire of mother Russia. What’s this mean? Not a damn thing. Except that you can credit the throne of Catherine the II with the purchase of a most excellent style of beer.

Sam’s version has a clean aroma of coffee and tastes of aged barrels scorched in the cold nights of the 18th century. The taste has hints of new wood as compared to the elder scotches I have consumed making me skeptical of this beer as a true replica of the old days. I love a good Boston lager but this stout tastes a little fresh to have come from so long ago. The mouth feel is clean with a hint of carbonation that makes the sweetness of this beer fall right in line with a tall Starbucks latte… at almost 10% ABV you get what you pay for. All things considered you could do a lot worse at the top shelf of your local Kroger beer cooler.

2.5/5

Purchased at Kroger, Exit 14 – Interstate 575

The Beer Of the Week for the week of 2/17/2011 is:

Lagunitas’ Hop Stoopid

From their site:  ”For those mornings when you have to cut right to the chase, this is the one. Sure to blast through just about anything still lingering from the night before, this mouthful of Hops and huge rich Malt has a gaurantee built right into the name!”

Something about the name HOP STOOPID appeals to me when placed inside the context of beer. After having a Lagunitas (pronounced lah-goo-KNEE-tuss) IPA at a local Taco Mac awhile back I knew this brewery could handle its hops. At 102 IBU this beer called out to me from behind the cooler glass like a window girl in the red light district of Amsterdam. I can’t really describe the character of this beer, after some research I found that Lagunitas used as many different types of hops as possible to create this brew. I can only image the horror on the faces of professional beer judges as they tried to untangle this complex web of… damn… well… Let me just say this beer scared me for life. It pours a sun bunny bronze to warm copper color… clear as crystal. The carbonation leaves a finger sized head of stringy, bubbly, fast to retreat lacing. Hops are the main attraction to the other senses. There is a warm, earthy bitterness that pours across the palate hiding a sweet surprise in the after taste. The coating on the inside of the mouth remains for several minutes… begging for another sip to absolve the palate of such carnal pleasures. If malt liquor was ale, this would be it.

3.1/5.0

After getting into a discussion with the PR and Management departments here I found myself knee deep in a topic I thought was left far behind in my misspent beer drinking past.  Having become a craft brewer and pursuing the finer points in the process of creating and tasting premium quality lagers and ales, I was slapped directly in the face with a brown paper sack full of that ungodly creation malt liquor. That’s at least what I thought at first pass when this whole discussion started, and then the curiosity monster took hold.

Usually when I hear someone say malt liquor I think of a family of beer sold only to people who have zero respect for their surroundings and the people they might be seen with. This stems from the idea that malt liquor is:

1. Cheep
2. Incredibly intoxicating

Notice the cheep part comes first. Malt Liquor was created in the mid to late 30’s in an attempt to do more with less.  Times were tough in America, so tough in fact the government in a mind boggling change of pace admitted that it was wrong to deny the common law abiding citizen a drink and repealed prohibition.  Now comes the new problem of satisfying the huge demand for the legal, good stuff again. Farmers were not in the best of shape at the time, so finding a steady supply of fermenting grain was a challenge.  The mission was to provide a quality beverage with superior “kick” to ensure the customer was getting full value for his hard earned money without a steady supply of raw ingredients.

The Daddy of the Big Four – Oh

Clarence “Click” Loerber is credited as the father of malt liquor and solving this brewing conundrum.  His creation Clix is considered to be the first legally distributed malt liquor to the masses and was born in 1937. Its success was limited as a lot of things were between “The Great Depression” and post WWII recovery.  It did however prove that a market existed for a beer of its type. Why it was called malt liquor is somewhat of a mystery though, as most any beer can legally be defined as malt liquor depending on the whims of the politicians at the time.  It’s my guess that Malt Liquor sounded more sophisticated and would be used as a marketing ploy to distinguish the high gravity stuff from the regular session beer that was to be had. This backfired horribly as you will soon see.

The Devil and his Due

Malt Liquors were a new twist in the world of American beer and needed to build a dependable base if they were to gain ground in the industry.  Being of less quality to produce and bragging about the contents of the beer could be a problem as was the fact that federal law prohibited the labeling of malt beverages with any indication of their potency (ABV) at the time.  These problems and others bring us to the “Country Club”.

Made by Goetz the malt liquor was targeted directly to the middle and upper class American white male that might be found with his clubs on the back nine and a little extra money in his pocket from a hard day of hustling his buddy’s on the golf course. This launched quite a few follow up brands each equally targeted to a particular demographic.  As different as these names were the one constant remained that malt liquor was being used as a marketing tool to appeal to individual groups and classes of people.  This is one of the first major examples of “Market Segmentation” in brewing.

The follow up to Country Club was Colt .45 another high gravity lager that avoided the direct approach to segmentation and decided to push the legal limits a bit. The original artwork for the package was dangerously close to being in violation of the  afore mentioned statue but the ATF gave them a green light anyway. The kicking colt and tribute to one of the finest calibers of firearms was born.  Still to this day it remains among the best selling malt liquors.  By not trying to appeal to any one market segment and sticking more to the content of the product, Colt .45 created an enduring brand that could be openly sold to anyone without those strange questions being asked.

Civil Rights and Malt Liquor

During the civil rights movements in the 50’s and 60’s a new demographic became available to target.  Here the lines between culture, demographics, and marketing become a little hazy.  According to printed statistics at the time, African Americans consumed more malt liquor than any other malted beverages. This of course was hardly scientific data but regardless, the campaign to win the hearts and minds of African Americans with malt liquor was underway.  From the 1960’s forward advertisers and brewers of American beer saw African Americans as the primary consumer of malt liquor and the most profitable segment to advertise to.  This lead to all the eggs going into one basket and the clear statement that malt liquor was being sold and advertised along racial lines. This association with racial politics is likely the pink elephant in the room that has stepped on the back of anything called malt liquor in America and can be directly linked to its targeted advertising strategy.

The Way Forward

Having become a tool of advertising and being placed in the front lines of racial politics the prospects for malt liquor looked dim but, sales were on the up and up. This rise in profits fueled the expansion of the advertising machine and more African Americans were seen in print and television ads with a can of malt liquor in their hands.  Targeted marketing again proved to be a moderate success among consumers and gave malt liquor a new home. Over time the machine that was created around malt liquor began to produce strange and somewhat crude products with the potential negative effects being obvious. Advertising for malt liquor began to slide toward the more sexual side and its innuendo’s became more audacious and objectifying.

Not all of the ads were of questionable character, but the majority of the time malt liquor was being shown as the drink of choice to help men (and mostly African American men) achieve easier sexual conquests and portrayed women as simple objects of a malt liquor fueled mans desire. Need I say more about the dangers of bad and irresponsible advertising?

Anheuser-Busch (now INbev) attempted to enter the ecosystem that was becoming malt liquor with their products including Budweiser Malt Liquor, King Cobra, and finally Hurricane. After failing with their namesake, the advertising created by the largest and most successful brewery in history fell right in line with the demeaning and objectifying content created by older players in the game.  Hurricane even landed the company in a political free for all with the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence and the BATF.  This failure by AB to muscle into the world of malt liquor is the defining point in the chaos that Click’s creation had fallen into.

The Warm Backwash at the Bottom

Malt liquor is the product of a good idea being exploited to the lowest common denominator. At its conception the need for an inexpensive high gravity lager was clear. Its creation was a stroke of genius and utter folly at the same time. With a questionable ingredient list and brewing process, followed by a distinctive namesake and restricted marketing environment the current condition of malt liquor is not that surprising when rationalized 70 years later. Had malt liquor not have been stained by a history of irresponsible advertising and questionable brand names, there is a possibility that it might have evolved into a mature and worthwhile beer you could enjoy in a local pub anywhere, or maybe even with your Big Mac combo (Dream on).   Unfortunately it now appears to be a dying brand and likely will not be seen in the next century.

Already two major craft brewers have tried to bring this American creation back to life with premium recounts of the old recipe. I have yet to try either but the ingredients for Rogue’s “Dad’s Little Helper” can be found here and would be a good start for anyone wanting to resurrect a fallen part of American culture.  Dogfish has also created a more exclusive version called “Liquor De Malt” complete with brown paper sack and official company stamp. Both have received solid reviews from critics and hopefully will be first in a new line of American high gravity lagers with a tilt toward the premium side of things.

Salute to the fallen and Cheers!

malt@aleraisers.com

Source: Kihm Winship 2005 http://home.earthlink.net/~ggghostie/maltliquor.html

May 16th to the 22th marks the weeklong celebration of Atlanta’s craft beer brewers, drinkers, and businesses involved with the quiet but most certainly positive side of the American beer industry. In our culture craft beer plays such an important role that the House of Representatives has passed a resolution (HR 1297) acknowledging  the ideals that make up craft brewing and supporting the ongoing efforts of the Brewers Association.  Drink up!

Atlanta Craft Beer week is the local rendition that runs parallel to the American Craft Beer Week which is held in Boulder CO, home to a large number of the nation’s best craft breweries.  To celebrate locally many pubs and restaurants around the metro area are holding special events to mark the first ever Atlanta Beer Week.

Kegs, firkins, and barrels of high quality, totally unique craft beer are being opened and poured with several never to be seen again or repeated. Local breweries are holding special events and tastings to emphasize the effort and skill that goes into craft brewing. The founders of the local breweries will also travel to several bars and pubs to talk about the craft and help people understand why craft beer is so important to themselves and their businesses.

A list of local businesses that celebrate the craft can be found here, with times and locations for the festivities.

The Dunwoody Beer Festival

For 9 years now the local businesses of Dunwoody GA have worked together to bring 35 different breweries with over 100 different beers together, in one place, for one day of sun, fun, and suds.  The project has generated over $180,000 and this year will likely reach the $200,000 mark. Leave it to beer to keep the money flowing in a flat economy.

The festival was held at Perimeter mall in Dunwoody GA and was sponsored by The Dunwoody Restaurant Group and Rock 100.5 FM.  Proceeds went to Camp Twin Lakes a non-profit dedicated to helping children with serious illnesses enjoy life.

Inside the tents it was all about the beer.  By 2:30 pm the grounds were crowded and any areas of shade were at a premium.  Even the most interesting man in the world broke a sweat, and yes it does smell like cologne.

Most of the old standby brands were well represented with reps from Inbev, MillerCoors, and Sam Adams dispensing glass after glass of perfectly crafted brew. None unfortunately had any new offerings or extra ordinary creations to write home about.  Local brewers Sweetwater and Terrapin where both onsite and had plenty of the local fresh stuff to go around. Both local IPA’s were spot on in taste and body providing a welcome distinction from the other more well known tents.  Of notability was a small brand from Hampton Georgia called “Jail House Brewing Co.”  Their selection of beer was small but potent as is the mission statement.

“If you believe in the little man, small towns and big flavor, then you’re one of us!”

I was in no condition to do a serious review of their beer but, the Breakout Stout had a solid flavor and was paroled from any taste defects.  The brew is created in an old jail house rehabbed into a modern brewery.  Tours are available on a regular basis with paid sampling. Currently the brew is only distributed to local pubs and businesses around the Hampton and East Atlanta area in draught.  A full location list can be found here for anyone interested in the Jail House experience without the crappy tattoos and bad relationships.

Cheers!