Dayton City Paper » beer

When size matters, smaller may be better

Kevin Gray — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 14:00:38 +0000

Craft drinkers turn to session beers

By Kevin J. Gray

Photo: Enjoy a hoppy session beer: Founders All-Day IPA

For years, the trend in craft beer has been to go bigger, bolder, more extreme – a movement that gave birth to double IPAs, bourbon barrel imperial stouts and even imperial pilsners and imperial brown ales. But slowly, quietly, a counter trend has been gaining ground – that of the session beer. Unlike their imperial cousins, session beers are smaller and pack less of a punch. Definitions vary, but they tend to be between 4-5 percent alcohol by volume (ABV) and are designed to provide craft beer drinkers options when they want a flavorful beer but not something high octane.

Beer writer Lew Bryson has been at the forefront of the American session beer movement. On his website, The Session Beer Project (sessionbeerproject.blogspot.com), he defines a session beer as having the following characteristics:

· 4.5 percent alcohol by volume or less (although others set the cap
at 5 percent)

· flavorful enough to be interesting

· balanced enough for multiple pints

· conducive to conversation

· reasonably priced

Session beers provide well-balanced craft beer that won’t knock you of your barstool. The higher end of craft beer can be fascinating, offering interesting taste combinations and experimentation with ingredients and processes, but many of these beers start out around 6 percent ABV and go up to as high as, in really extreme cases, 20+ percent ABV. Great if you are planning to slowly sample a single bottle or if you are sharing tastes with other people. Not so great if you are meeting friends at your favorite pub, where beer is not the forefront of the event, where the focus of the occasion is on conversation, not inebriation. That’s where session beers come in. Session beers allow craft beer drinkers to have several pints without stumbling home. They are balanced and understated beers that make way for conversation with friends.

In a recent blog post, Bryson put it this way: “Because in these days of extreme double sour fresh-hopped wild beers … there are a solid number of us who like to simply drink good beer without paying through the nose for it, or going to extreme measures to find it, or carefully, slowly sipping it so we don’t get thrashed or stopping the conversation every three sentences to point out yet another nuance [in the beer that] we’ve discovered.”

Small beers are nothing new. In Belgium, table beers are brews that are as low as 1.5 percent ABV and are meant to be consumed by the whole family with meals. Like American session beers, they foster conversation at the dining room table and promote nuance and moderation. In addition to continental models, American session beers have British origins, where bitters, milds and other small ales can be as low as 3-4 percent ABV. The focus on British session beers is usually less about the alcohol and more about the experience. Bitters and milds are the beers you and your buddies order in the afternoon at the pub, play pool or darts well into the evening and still arrive at work fresh the next morning.

Bryson met with some initial resistance from corners of the craft beer movement when he first posed the notion of American session beers. There was some fear that session beers were to replace the extreme beer trend, but Bryson notes that session beers are just another spot on the spectrum of craft beer. They offer drinkers an alternative to macro-lagers when one wants to drink manageable beers.

And like an extreme beer, a solid session beer takes skill to produce. It’s not enough to simply be low in alcohol. Instead, the beer must also achieve balance of hops and malt, creating a flavor that drinkers want more of. Fortunately, brewers are rising to the challenge. There are a growing variety of session beers available in the Dayton market:

Dayton Beer Company Broken Trolley Blonde Ale (Ohio, 4.6 percent ABV) – Drink locally! The lineup at the Dayton Beer Company taproom includes this sessionable blonde ale. Made with Vienna malt and hopped with Cascade and Saaz, the beer is medium-bodied with a crisp finish. Draft only for now, so have a pint at the source or fill a growler to share with friends.

Founders All Day IPA (Michigan, 4.7 percent ABV) – Releasing this beer as a seasonal a few years back, Founders set out to prove that a session beer does not mean sacrificing hops. The beer starts with a bold, bitter bite that will keep hopheads satisfied, but has enough body that it doesn’t taste like hop soup. Founders plans to start releasing this beer in 12 packs of cans this summer, perfect for the beach.

Stone Levitation (California, 4.4 percent ABV) – Stone was at the forefront of the American session beer movement, releasing Levitation in 2002. Caramel and hops dominate this brew, which is widely available (most Kroger stores carry it) and has become many beer drinkers’ after work go-to beer.

Jolly Pumpkin Bam Bière (Michigan, 4.5 percent ABV) – Taking the bronze medal in the session beer category at Great American Beer Festival in 2009, this beer has proven that not all session beers need to be hoppy. Aged in oak barrels, Jolly Pumpkin’s artisan farmhouse ale is funky and mild, refreshing enough to drink after working in the sun, but complex enough to enjoy any other time as well.

Reach DCP freelance writer Kevin J. Gray at KevinGray@DaytonCityPaper.com

Dayton’s brewery explosion

Kevin Gray — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 14:00:56 +0000

And what to drink while you wait

By Kevin J. Gray

Photo: Tap handles show offerings from Yellow Springs Brewery

Just over a year ago, I reported on three Miami Valley brewpubs in the works: The Dayton Beer Company, Toxic Brew Company and Vitruvian Brew Company. At the time I wrote the article, there was still no locally produced commercial craft beer in the Dayton area. What a difference a year makes.

Dayton Beer Company has been steadily growing since their opening last spring. In fact, the brewery has just upgraded to a larger brew system to keep up with demand and is scouting new locations for a production facility that they hope to open in late fall/early winter.

Meanwhile, movement continues on the other two breweries. After mounds of zoning variances and inspections, Toxic Brew is finally close to opening this spring. The brewery in the heart of the Oregon District has but one or two minor inspections before they are ready to start making beers. Vitruvian is also moving along steadily. The tiny Yellow Springs brewery was working to secure label approval late last year and recently installed their bar in their taproom.

Ohio’s brew license law, which now allows for on-premise taprooms as part of the brewing license, seems to be fueling a modern day brewery boom. In addition to the three breweries above, there are now five more breweries in the works.

The Fifth Street Brewpub seeks to be Ohio’s first cooperatively owned small-batch brewery. Using crowd-sourcing techniques, the brewery has sold approximately 1,500 memberships at $100 each. Fifth Street hopes to open in the first half of this year.

Yellow Springs will likely host not one, but two breweries this year. Next door to Vitruvian, the folks at Yellow Springs Brewery put in long hours over the winter to open. They are now brewing and waiting for their product to mature. An April grand opening is currently in the works.

Centerville may also see a brewery later this spring. Lock 27, located between downtown Centerville and the giant new Kroger’s, will feature a “gastrotap room” that echoes the travels of founder Steve Barnhart, who spent years traveling the better part of five continents. Barnhart is targeting a May opening.

Neighboring Kettering is likely to see a second brewpub – the Dayton Beer Company is also located in the suburb. Eudora Brewing Company has been in demolition mode, renovating their Wilmington Pike location. Eudora will not only brew beer, but will also allow patrons to brew on premise using Eudora’s equipment.

Finally, the Carillon Brewing Company will be taking a more traditional route. Unlike all of the breweries listed above, with their stainless steel tanks and other “newfangled gadgets,” the folks at Carillon will be brewing beer the old-fashioned way. The brewery will be a full-scale 19th century brewery, making beers the way Dayton brewers in the 1800s would have. True to Carillon form, expect costumed interpreters to demonstrate the brewing process. The brewery will be breaking ground this month.

While you wait for our hometown breweries to open or grow, fear not! There are several new or interesting beer locations within about an hour’s drive of Dayton.

Cincinnati was once a brewing powerhouse. Several small craft brewers are working to restore the Queen City to its former glory. The most recent addition to the local beer line-up is 50 West, located on Route 50, just east of the city. The brewery opened last year and has been an instant success.

There are several other Cincinnati taprooms worthy of consideration. Triple Digit is another relative newcomer, celebrating its year anniversary. The brewery is an extension of Listermann’s Homebrew Store, a staple of the Cincy homebrew scene. And while in Cincinnati, be sure to check out the taprooms at Mt. Carmel and Rivertown, two of the city’s “veteran” craft brewers.

Many may be surprised to discover what a craft beer mecca Indianapolis has become. The Broad Ripple area features a number of excellent pubs, including Broad Ripple Brew Pub, Thr3e Wise Men and Brugge Brasserie. The latter specializes in Belgian-style beer and food and offers some phenomenal sours. In Indy proper, Flat 12 Bierwerks makes an exceptional porter and many of Sun King Brewery’s beers score well on beer geek sites like BeerAdvocate and Rate Beer. Ram Restaurant & Brewery has long been a favorite of beer travelers.

Finally, Columbus is no slouch when it comes to craft beer. The city has its own Brewery District, after all. Elevator Brewery and Draught Haus is a cool destination for the architecture alone – the site features a hand-carved, hand split Philippine mahogany bar that complements the rest of the historic décor. Barley’s Brewing Company has been around since the early 1990s and is still a crowd favorite – the highest ranked brewery in the city, according to BeerAdvocate. The aptly named Columbus Brewing Company has an even longer history with Ohio’s capital. The original Columbus Brewing Company was founded in 1830. In 1988, a new brewery opened and paid homage to the original owners of the name.

This year should be a fun one for fans of locally produced craft beer. While our neighbors to the South, West and East currently satisfy our demands for high-quality artisanal beer, in a few short months beer travelers from each of those cities will be headed to Dayton to check out what’s new.

Reach DCP freelance writer Kevin J. Gray at KevinGray@daytoncitypaper.com

Going dark

Kevin Gray — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 14:30:22 +0000

Beers to get you through winters’ final nights

By Kevin J. Gray

Photo: Three great porters from Michigan and Ohio breweries: [l to r] Bell’s, Rivertown and Great Lakes

Winter might be drawing to a close, but now is the perfect time to savor dark, rich beers before the light, bright springtime ales start edging out shelf space. We’re talking stouts and porters, the perennial winter favorites. While these beers lack the Christmas cookie spice of holiday ales, their rich coffee and chocolate flavors warm the body and soul, even if late winter’s chill still hangs in the air. And luckily, we brew some world-class examples of these beers brewed here in the Midwest.

Stouts

When many people think of stouts, they think Guinness, with its tan, cascading head. While the Irish brew is certainly iconic, it is far from the only, or the best, example of a stout. Stouts come in several varieties. Guinness and Irish-style stouts are dry stouts, with an emphasis on a medium body and dry, bitter flavors from roasted barley. Many people may have heard of oatmeal stouts, which are brewed with oatmeal as part of the mash. Oats give the beer a fuller body and a more complex flavor. Sweet stouts are similar in composition to dry stouts but include lactose, an un-fermentable sugar that sweetens the beer. Lactose is derived from milk, so these beers are often also known as milk stouts. Imperial stouts are the bigger, tougher older brothers of dry and sweet stouts. These beers tend to be huge, with a lot of alcohol (usually 10 percent ABV or more) and rich, dark flavors. Coffee flavors are usually present, but big, dark malts create funny combinations in high concentrations, so drinkers may also note dark chocolate and ripe pit fruits, such as cherries and plum, in these bigger beers.

New Holland The Poet – An oatmeal stout brewed in Holland, Mich. This raven-black beer is full on flavor, but low on alcohol (5.2 percent ABV), with a smooth character that makes it a nice bet for a session beer. The Poet is a nice St. Paddy’s alternative for those looking to drink locally.

Founders Breakfast Stout – A coffee-lover’s dream, this Grand Rapids brew melds flaked oats, Sumatra and Kona coffee, and bitter and imported chocolate. As the beer warms, the chocolate and coffee roasts dart in and out of each others’ shadows, daring you to pinpoint where one flavor begins and the other ends. A great choice for breakfast, but limit yourself to weekend brunches where you don’t have much to do afterwards, as this beer clocks in at 8.3 percent ABV.

Hoppin’ Frog B.O.R.I.S. the Crusher – The name stands for “Bodacious Oatmeal Russian Imperial Stout,” and the beer is as big as its moniker (9.4 percent ABV). The robust and roasted dark malts create vibrations of rich, ripe pit fruits on the palate, while the nose is a burst of malt and aggressive hops. Little wonder this beer has taken a gold medal twice in the past five years at the Great American Beer Festival.

Porters

Porters are brown beers with a long history in England. Porters and stouts come from the same stock, and at one point would have been indistinguishable from each other. Today, it is usually the use of roasted barley that distinguishes stouts from porters. While stouts evolved, around the middle of the 19th century, demand for porters died off. By the two world wars, the beer style was virtually extinct. Several decades later, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, porters saw a revival. This was especially true in the States, where microbrewers resurrected the dormant style.

As with stouts, porters come in several varieties. Brown porters tend to be lower in alcohol and a tad sweeter, with more caramel flavors, than other porters. Robust porters tend to be bigger, with more roast character. Baltic porters are the second cousins to Russian Imperial Stouts and tend to be over the top in terms of alcohol and malt flavors.

Rivertown Roebling Porter – The Cincinnati brewers tried an approach similar to some of the stouts listed above, using organic vanilla beans, Peruvian coffee beans and raw cane sugar. The beer tends to be a bit more coffee forward than most porters and clocks in a little lighter than the stouts at 7.8 percent ABV.

Great Lakes Brewing Company Edmund Fitzgerald Porter – This Cleveland beer packs a flavor wallop, with a huge roasty character and a nice bite. With such a big flavor, one would expect a more dominant alcohol presence, but this beer clocks in on the low side (5.8 percent ABV). To many, Edmund Fitzgerald is the perfect representation of an American porter.

Bell’s Porter – For years, this Kalamazoo, Mich. beer has been my “desert island” beer, that brew I would drink if I were stranded in the Pacific with nothing but a magical keg of beer (that continued to refill itself and stay at the right temperature). Try this one with a Dewey’s Bronx Bomber pizza. The roasty bite pairs nicely with the spice in the tomato sauce and cuts through the oils from the pepperoni and sausage. And at 5.6 percent ABV, try a couple.

Making THE beer run

Kevin Gray — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 14:30:10 +0000

Tips on curating a beer festival

By Kevin J. Gray

Photo: John Sulentic pours draft selections at the 2012 MSD Brew Ha-Ha; photo © Jim Witmer

Dayton beer drinkers have unique access to an insane amount of quality beer. We import craft brew from both coasts and are surrounded by breweries in the Great Lakes region. Many local beer festivals, held year round, make it easy to sample these libations.

In addition to writing about beer, I also curate a festival, the MSD Brew Ha-Ha, which talks place this Saturday, Jan. 26. Chairing the event has resulted in some interesting – sometimes painful – lessons learned. Below are a few tips for anyone willing to give it a go – because there’s always room for another beer festival!

Pick a date and a location. Check with local distributors and DRAFT, the homebrew club, to get a sense of the best schedule. With the right location, a beer festival can be held in any season. The summer and fall can be a bit full, so maybe shoot for late winter or early spring.

Get your insurance and liquor license. Next, get your paperwork in order. You will need insurance and a liquor license. Your location may be able to help provide information related to the insurance. Research on the type of license you’ll need. Many events use F class licenses, which are temporary licenses designed for beer events. Search the Department of Commerce section of the Ohio.gov website to see a full list of the licenses and the application process.

Start the license application process well in advance. The process takes a while, and you’ll need the license before you can start talking seriously to breweries and distributors. Brewers and distributors are willing to help, but without a license, they really can’t set great beers aside until you can prove you will actually be able to order them.

Pick a theme. Anyone can order a bunch of beer and serve it to a crowd, but what makes most beer events interesting is the event’s theme. Try to create a one-of-a-kind experience, especially if the event is being held on behalf of a charitable organization. As Dave Boston, owner of Boston’s Bistro and curator of several beer festivals in the area, explains, “[It is all about] anything you can do to make someone smarter about the organization and the beer.”

Most Dayton beer festivals have an underlying theme. Big Beer and Barley Wines focuses on strong and rare beers. AleFest Dayton provides a chance to sample many beers. Joe Waizmann, founder of the event, notes that AleFest “has been very successful accomplishing the goal of introducing the culture of craft beer to the uninitiated and at the same time offering new palate experiences to the hopheads among us.” Cask AleFest, another Waizmann event, concentrates on beers carbonated the old fashioned way, naturally in kegs, while AleFeast pairs food with craft beer. The Jewish Cultural Festival serves kosher beer, while Big Brews and Blues and Beers, Blues, and Food pair all-draft beer with music. The MSD Brew Ha-Ha focuses on beers from Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Indiana and Illinois, spotlighting some of the world-class beers in our region.

Get Organized. The beer may be the centerpiece of your event, but there is a lot more to it than just serving great suds. Seek volunteers; meet early and often. You’ll need help with decorating, food, glassware, music or entertainment, sales, marketing and poster and program printing. It’s too much for one or two people to tackle, so find some eager volunteers and give them a job.

Order Your Beer. This is the fun part. Contact your local distributors: Cavalier, Premium, Stagnero, Heidelberg and Bonbright carry most of the brands in town. Find out who specializes in what. In Ohio, some smaller brewers also self-distribute. Talk to beer geeks to find out who those players are and contact the breweries directly.

When you make your beer list, adhere to your theme but also offer something for everyone. Hoppy IPAs are popular, but not everyone drinks them. Perhaps offer robust stouts, complex Belgians, and some smaller, easier to drink beers for those new to craft beer. And don’t forget soda and water.

Train Your Volunteers. Your guests expect to learn something about what they are drinking, so either staff your event with craft beer veterans or train your servers in advance. Last year, we held a preview tasting for our volunteers so that they could try the different beers and ask questions. It made a big difference the next day.

Have Fun and Learn Something. The day of the event, you may be running around attending to last minute details, but remember to stop and enjoy it. Look around at the people enjoying the beer you’ve provided for them. Stop and talk to guests to get a sense of what they like and don’t like. Because, after all, planning for the next year starts as soon as this one is over.

Be sure to check out the Montessori School of Dayton Brew Ha-Ha this Saturday, Jan 26, from 6-10 p.m. Tickets are $30 in advance/$35 day of. Tickets include a sampling glass and 10 samples of the top beers in the Great Lakes region, including many rare and hard to find beers. Light finger foods are included, and all proceeds go to benefit the school. For more information or to buy tickets, go to brewhahadayton.eventbrite.com or call the school at 937.293.8986.

Reach DCP freelance writer Kevin J. Gray at KevinGray@daytoncitypaper.com

The last drop

Kevin Gray — Wed, 26 Dec 2012 14:00:07 +0000

Beer pairings for the Apocalypse

By Kevin J. Gray

If you are reading this, the Mayans were wrong and the world didn’t end. But that doesn’t mean the Apocalypse isn’t still coming. And when it does, one of the most important decisions you will be facing is what to drink when the end comes. After all, your last moments on Earth call for a solid brew, right? The Dayton City Paper offers a guide to beers that pair with the Armageddon.

Shock Top End of the World Midnight Wheat – This beer makes the list only because of its ubiquity. Shock Top is a faux craft, made by our good friends at Anheuser-Busch, and AB has made sure it is on tap all over town to cash in on the Mayan craze. AB threw in everything but the kitchen sink, including wheat, chocolate malt and chilies. This beer is easy enough to get, but if the world ends, or worse, the zombie apocalypse comes, this is not the beer you want to end on. Let the zombies eat your brain instead.

Rivertown Brewmaster’s Reserve Limited Release Series (Pestilence, War, Famine, Death) – To celebrate the end of days, Cincy brewery Rivertown released a series of beers in 2012, each named after the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. “Pestilence” is an extremely tart hibiscus sour brown ale. “War” is a smoked Irish-style red ale brewed with cherrywood-smoked barley and UK amber malt. “Famine” is a black Bavarian-style wheat ale, darkened with malted black wheat. “Death,” the final release in the series, is a Russian Imperial Stout brewed with Jolokia peppers. Collect all four and host a Book of Revelations vertical tasting party.

Three Floyds Apocalypse Cow, Zombie Dust, and Dark Lord – The Munster, Ind. brewery with a cult following offers several end-of-time options. Apocalypse Cow is a double IPA brewed with lactose (milk sugar), thus the bovine nod. Zombie Dust might just be America’s best pale ale. The beer uses Citra hops to create a distinct hop bite. If this is what being a zombie is like, let me be the first one bitten. Dark Lord is the most rare of the three. It is a monster of a Russian Imperial Stout, released annually at the end of April with a huge party. Find a beer geek with one in their cellar, but try for an older vintage. If the world isn’t ending, the 2012 release needs to lay dormant for a few years.

Great Lakes Brewing Company Blackout Stout – A big, hearty beer brewed in tribute to the blackout of 2003 that left Cleveland, as well as much of the northeastern United States, without power for days. That event fostered ad hoc neighborhood get-togethers, as folks banded together to stay safe. Not a bad approach for the end-times either. Blackout stout is a giant Imperial Stout, dark and rich, at 9 percent ABV.

Brewery Ommegang Ommegeddon – If you like your beers on the lighter-but-funkier side, Ommegeddon might be your exit strategy. The Cooperstown, N.Y. brewery with a penchant for brewing Belgian-style beers released this strong blonde ale with a twist. The twist comes from the use of brettanomyces, which adds funk to a beer, and dry hopping, which adds aroma and bitterness. According to the brewery, “[i]ts dryness and funkiness begat the name of Ommegeddon – for the time when the forces of light and dark battle for world dominion. It’s time for you to pick your side.”

Unibroue La Fin du Monde – The name of this Canadian-brewed beer translates as “The End of The World.” The reference was to European explorers who thought they had reached the world’s end when they hit the shores of North America. The 9 percent ABV Belgian-style tripel mimics a beer that European monks would have made to celebrate special occasions. Not sure the monks had the literal end of the world in mind, but certainly there can’t be a more appropriate reason to pop one of these open.

Left Hand Fade to Black – Originally brewed to commemorate “that time of year when we fall backwards an hour,” Fade to Black would be a fitting curtain call for the end of the world. The seasonal offering by the Longmont, Colo. brewery changes every year, with previous styles including a foreign stout, a smoked Baltic porter and a pepper porter. The 2012 rendition is a Rocky Mountain black ale. The beer pours pitch black and citrus hops compete with dark, roasty malts to create a complex and pleasing flavor.

BrewDog The End of History – These beers are the rarest of rares. BrewDog is known for making strong beers, and at 55 percent ABV, this is their most robust (it once held the record for world’s strongest beer). The Scottish brewer only made twelve bottles, and eleven went on sale. Each of the bottles was packaged in a taxidermied rodent (that’s right, a bottle wrapped in roadkill). Good luck finding one, but if you do, this beer would be a perfect swan song.

Brewmeister Armageddon – This harbinger of doom is currently the world’s strongest beer, clocking in at 65 percent ABV. The brewery advises to “consume [Armageddon] like a fine whisky,” but if the world’s ending, we’re shotgunning this baby.

Bigger is better!

Kevin Gray — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 15:00:42 +0000

Chicago festival takes barrel aging to the next level

By Kevin J. Gray

Aging beer in wooden barrels is a recent trend that marks a return to a nearly forgotten brewing method. Before the stainless steel kegs of the 1950s, most brewers stored beer in wooden casks. By the late 20th century, this practice had nearly died out before craft brewers resurrected the practice, giving it a new twist.

American craft brewers in the 1990s and early 2000s began to discover that aging beers in spent spirit barrels added complex and interesting flavors. Beer geeks agreed, and as a result, in the last decade, the industry has seen an explosion in the number of breweries barrel aging beers.

Local brewer Jeff Fortney, who brewed for regional breweries Wooden Shoe and Rivertown, explained that there are several reasons a brewer might choose to age a beer in wood: “to impact the flavor of the base beer in some desirable way, to create a special, limited, desirable (read: more expensive) beer or both.”

Flavor can change in several ways. First, the flavor of the oak itself can change a beer. As Fortney explained, “oak imparts different woody, earthy, sometimes vanilla and/or tannic perceptions. The degree to which the oak barrel is toasted on the inside will also play a part in determining the flavor impact.” Beers also pick up the flavors of those products aged previously in the barrels, be it the hot flavors of a bourbon, the smoky peat of a scotch or the sweet, caramel flavors from a dark rum. Finally, wild yeasts and bacteria used in farmhouse and sour beers like the porous surfaces of the wood.

Over the course of the last decade, one Midwestern beer festival has been devoted entirely to showcasing beers aged in wood. This year marked the 10th anniversary of the Festival of Wood and Barrel Aged Beers (or FOBAB), held annually at the beginning of November in Chicago and sponsored by the Illinois Craft Brewers Guild.

This year’s FOBAB included 173 barrel aged beers from 60 breweries in 25 states. But this is no ordinary beer festival. What makes FOBAB unique is the breadth of truly unique beers available. The breweries go all out, often producing one-off concoctions specifically brewed for the festival. Some beers may only exist at FOBAB, while others may be barrel-aged versions of popular commercial beers.

FOBAB beers are organized into ten categories:

-Classic Porter/Stout These are dark beers of average strength, with colorful names like Firestone Walker’s Velvet Merkin or Flat 12’s Cow Tipper Milk Stout.

-Strong Porter/Stout These beers are a bit stronger than the first category, and the base beers themselves tend to be top shelf, highly sought after beers. Oskar Blues Wild Turkey Ten Fidy fits here, as does Ohio favorite Barrel-Aged BORIS Imperial Stout from Hoppin’ Frog.

-Barleywine/Wheatwine Here come the big guns – big, boozy base beers soaking in the spirits’ flavors. These beers are deceptively delicious and require pacing. The Barrel Aged Behemoth from Three Floyds was this writer’s pick.

-Classic Styles In contrast to the monsters in the previous category, these are smaller beers, all below 7 percent ABV. These beers are tricky to brew because the oak can be overpowering in the wrong hands. Just the name of Jester King’s Commercial Suicide Oaked Farmhouse Mild attests to the difficulties of this category.

-Strong/Double/Imperial Pale Beer Hopheads, all of your crazy-ass super-hopped industrial strength IPAs fit here. Stone’s OAKED Arrogant Bastard is a beer most folks will recognize. Moylan’s Wet Hospickle XXXIPA 2012 is lesser known, but no less amazing.

-Strong/Double/Imperial Dark Beer This is the catch-all category for dark beers that don’t fit in above. Lots of Belgian quads and Scotch Ales in this camp. Pappy Van Muckle (Sun King) and Extra Naughty Scot (Rock Bottom Chicago) were fun picks.

-Fruit Beer Take a base beer from one of the categories above, drop some fruit in it and stick it in a barrel. Apricot au Poivre Saison from Nebraska Brewing blends oak, fruit and pepper flavors. Kentucky Cherry Bomb by Sun King was a Belgian Quad with cherries aged in Pappy Van Winkle barrels.

-Experimental Beer This is the kitchen-sink category, where the names of the beers are as strange as some of the combinations. Sex Syrup (Rock Bottom Chicago) combined bacon, maple syrup and coffee beans in an Oatmeal Stout. It may be better to just not know what was in Fitch Brewing’s Dirty Sanchez.

-Wild Beer/Brett There’s no delicate way to describe the funky, barnyard flavor that the wild yeast Brettanomyces imparts in beers – these beers literally smell like ass, yet beer geeks love them. Popular choices were Flossmoor Station’s .357 Brett and Against the Grain’s Golden Shower.

-Wild Beer/Acidic Whereas Brett brings the funk, bacteria such as lactobacillus and pediococcus make beers sour. Sour is the new hoppy, so this part of the tasting was packed. Bear Republic’s Tartare was the sourest, but St. Dekkera Reserve Sour Hawaii Ale (Destihl) was a pineapple-flooded close second. Bring the Tums for these beers.

For serious beer geeks, FOBAB is a must. But get your tickets early – the two sessions (afternoon and evening) sold out in record time this year, despite a larger venue and more available tickets. Mark your calendars now and start watching the Illinois Craft Brewers Guild (www.illinoisbeer.com) website in late spring/early summer for details.

Reach DCP freelance writer Kevin J. Gray at KevinGray@daytoncitypaper.com

Is Dayton worthy?

Kevin Gray — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 11:00:49 +0000

Boston’s Bistro’s quest to regain Most Arrogant Bar title

By Kevin J. Gray

Are you arrogant? Think you can drink a beer more arrogant than yourself? If so, get to Boston’s Bistro & Pub from Nov. 9-17 to do your part to make the bar the Most Arrogant Bar in the United States.

Arrogant Bastard is an assertively hopped India Pale Ale made by Stone Brewery. The California brewery prides itself on making beers that challenge drinkers. The beer is bitter, made from excessive amounts of hops, and the back of the label offers this warning:

“This is an aggressive ale. You probably won’t like it. It is quite doubtful that you have the taste or sophistication to be able to appreciate an ale of this quality and depth. We would suggest that you stick to safer and more familiar territory–maybe something with a multi-million dollar ad campaign aimed at convincing you it’s made in a little brewery, or one that implies that their tasteless fizzy yellow beverage will give you more sex appeal. Perhaps you think multi-million dollar ad campaigns make things taste better. Perhaps you’re mouthing your words as you read this.”

For about a decade, Stone has promoted the beer, along with its cousins – Oaked Arrogant Bastard, Double Bastard and Lukcy Basartd (misspelling intentional) – by holding the Most Arrogant Bar challenge. Pubs compete by selling the most pints of Arrogant Bastard over the course of a little over a week. And not once, but twice, the title of Most Arrogant Bar in America has gone to Boston’s Bistro & Pub.

It’s fitting that Boston’s would hold this honor. Long time Daytonians may recall that Boston’s was once located downtown. The bar moved to its current location in 2004. The renovations to the new location took about six months longer than expected, but when Dave Boston, Boston’s owner, was back online, the first beer he served was Arrogant Bastard. So the beer holds a special connection with the bar.

The beer sold well in the new location, and two years later, Boston was encouraged to enter the Most Arrogant Bar challenge. In 2003, the title had gone to another Ohio bar before moving back to California for two years. Dave Boston was hell bent on bringing the title to Dayton and proving that Ohio was once again home to the Most Arrogant drinkers.

Boston’s offered special pricing, serving only beers from the Arrogant Bastard line-up that week. Beer prices were rock bottom, with bartenders filling pints, growlers and even corny kegs (5-gallon soda kegs that homebrewers use to keg their beers). The hard work paid off. Boston’s not only won, they blew everyone else out of the water. The north Dayton bar flew through the equivalent of 18 half-barrel kegs that week of Arrogant beers. Compare this to a normal week, when the bar moves about 10 half-barrels, and you can see what an accomplishment that was.

The win drew attention from Stone. At the time, Mark Zimmerman was a bartender at Boston’s. He had helped Dave Boston with the renovation years earlier. Zimmerman was a Stone devotee, and had applied for a regional sales rep job with the brewery. He didn’t get the job, but when Greg Koch, founder of Stone, heard about Boston’s big win, he flew out to meet the guys who made it happen. Koch took to Zimmerman and offered him a job with the brewery. Two weeks later, Zimmerman packed up and moved to California, where he now helps with promotional events.

In 2007, Boston’s tried to replicate its success. The bar put up a hard fight, moving pint after pint, but that year, the title went elsewhere. The Dayton bar was close, however. Dave Boston found out later that he lost by fewer than a dozen pints. Rumor has it that someone at the winning bar put away 56 pints by himself over the course of the week!

So close to victory again, Boston pushed harder the next year. His bar moved 23 half barrels in 2008, setting a record for Arrogant Bastard sales at that time. The surge worked and Dayton took home the title for a second time.

With its 2008 win, Boston’s set the bar high. Bars around the country responded, pushing more and more Arrogant Bastard Ale. While Boston’s has won the Most Bitter Bar challenge twice (another Stone challenge, this time to sell the most IPAs – Boston’s took home the Most Bitter award for Ohio in 2011 and Most Bitter bar in Dayton this year), since 2008, the Most Arrogant Bar title has eluded Dayton, finding itself often in North Carolina. This year, Dave Boston hopes to bring it back to the state.

Figures for the winning bars are not publically released, but Boston believes the winning figure still hits near his 2008 high water mark. His plan for this year is to push 26 half barrels. This year, look for low beer prices ($3 pints, $7 half-gallon growler fills, and $75 corny kegs), and Arrogant Bastard food offerings (including Arrogant hotdogs, chili and Hungarian goulash). Participants can also sign up for the Arrogant passport program. Go to Boston’s every day of the competition, get your passport stamped and at the end of the competition, receive your Arrogant diploma. Passport holders will also be invited to the exclusive Arrogant party, held when Stone announces the competition winners.

Boston’s Bistro and Pub, 7500 N. Main St., will participate in Stone’s Most Arrogant Bar competition from midnight Thursday, Nov. 9 through close of business on Saturday, Nov. 17. Look for more info, as well as notes about special food and beer releases on Boston’s facebook site: www.facebook.com/BostonsBistroandPub.

Reach DCP freelance writer Kevin J. Gray at KevinGray@daytoncitypaper.com

Beer geek boutique

Kevin Gray — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 14:19:50 +0000

Insane beers at Big Beers and Barley Wines

By Kevin J. Gray

Like craft beer? I mean, really like craft beer? Really good, really big beers? Then get tickets now for Big Beers and Barley Wines, Dayton’s boutique beer event, held Oct. 6 from 4 to 8 p.m. in the Roundhouse at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds.

The annual fundraiser for the Residents Home Association (RHA) was originally planned to be a small beer tasting. But when RHA organizers met with Mike and Donna Schwartz, owners of Belmont Party Supply and Miami Valley BrewTensils, Mike urged the group to go big. With Belmont’s help, the event quickly transformed into a premium beer festival.

Now celebrating its fourth anniversary, the event saw about 300 people in its first year. Organizers are expecting two-and-a-half times that this year. That’s some rapid growth in just four years, although organizers have worked to keep the event intimate – as they describe it, a boutique beer event.

What makes this beer festival stand out from others? For starters, the beer list. Big Beers and Barley Wines is exactly that – huge beers. Beers with enormous flavors and complex profiles. Think beer geek wet dream. Beers so rare you may never see them again. Beers that you will be rushing to brag about on Untappd (Beer geeks, don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about).

When co-organizers Natalie Philips (of Belmont Party Supply) and Pam Skelly (of RHA) put the beer list together, they looked for beers that will amaze people. Big boozy beers with huge flavors, yes, but also quality beers that score highly on beer sites like Ratebeer and BeerAdvocate, where beer geeks vote for their favorites. Additionally, the organizers work directly with breweries year-round to score some truly rare, sometimes one-of-a-kind, beers for the event. This year, for instance, the head brewer and brewing assistants from Maumee Bay Brewing Company, a Toledo, Ohio-based microbrewery, are hand-delivering a keg that they have specially brewed for the festival.

The complete beer list is kept under wraps until the day of the event, but organizers have started leaking some of the beers on the event’s Facebook page. Some of the beers announced to date include:

Great Divide Barrel Aged Old Ruffian – a special-release barley wine aged for over nine months in Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey barrels

Founders Devil Dancer – a triple IPA dry-hopped for 26 days straight with a combination of 10 hop varieties for a fiendish hop bite layered over a demonic malt backbone.

-Mikkeller Barrel Aged Monks Brew – a Belgian Quad aged in bourbon barrels, and Mikkeller Barrel Aged Monks Brew, Raspberry edition. It’s the same beer, this time brewed with raspberries and aged in red wine barrels

-Evil Twin Even More Jesus – a thick fudge-like body, pitch-black color, amazingly overwhelming aromas of chocolate, coffee, dark fruits and muscovado sugar.

-Founders Kentucky Breakfast Stout – a complex imperial stout made with heaps of coffee and chocolate, then aged in bourbon barrels and served on draft.

-Mikkeller/Three Floyds BooGoop – a delightful buckwheat wine brewed as a collaboration by Three Floyds and Mikkeller at De Proefbrouwerij in Belgium.

Where do these beers come from? They come from a lot of hard work on the part of festival organizers and from the generosity of the brewers and distributors. Phillips explained: “The fact is that everybody is really into the RHA. We go out and meet the brewers, we go to the breweries, we talk to the reps and talk about what a great thing this event is. That tends to move the breweries to get involved.”

The fact that 100 percent of the proceeds go to the RHA also makes the event worth supporting. Established in 1966, the Resident Home Association is a Dayton area non-profit that provides quality residential services and support to citizens with developmental disabilities. In addition to providing homes in the community to people with developmental disabilities, RHA provides daily living support and other quality-of-life programs such as a senior day program, transportation and other individualized services such as local outings and trips out of town. With the help of the Dayton beer community, last year the RHA raised over $13,000 for the people they serve.

There’s also a good chance you’ll see a long list of who’s who in the local and not-so-local beer community. Look for brewers and brewery and distributor reps throughout the event. Folks from event sponsors Belmont Party Supply and Miami Valley BrewTensils will be in abundance. Many of the other top local craft beer establishments, including The Trolley Stop, South Park Tavern, King’s Table, Lucky’s Taproom & Eatery, 5th Street Deli, Bee Gees Minit Market, Boston’s Bistro, Blind Bob’s, Jimmie’s Ladder 11 and Harrigan’s act as pouring sponsors. In addition to donating to the event, these establishments provide volunteers to work the tables. That means the people pouring the beer are knowledgeable and can help folks understand more about what they are tasting.

Some survival tips (these are some massive beers, right?). First, get tickets in advance. Some tickets may be available at the door the day of the event, but don’t chance it. Second, arrange a lift home. Again, these are some big beers. Third, eat before you arrive and schedule a half-time to eat some more at the event (Thai 9, Chappy’s and MONCO catering will have food available for purchase at the event). Be prepared to taste some amazing beers, and check the schedule for some timed tappings throughout the event. For more details, check out the event’s Facebook page (www.facebook.com/bigbeersdayton) or their website (www.bigbeersdayton.com).

Reach DCP freelance writer Kevin Gray at KevinGray@daytoncitypaper.com

Join the Club

Kevin Gray — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 13:59:57 +0000

Local beer groups educate drinkers about craft beers and home-brewing

By Kevin J. Gray

Dayton is a great town for craft beer—the local bars offer rare and interesting taps, there are five breweries or brewpubs in various stages of opening in the Miami Valley, our retail shops stock an amazing selection from around the U.S. and the world and the city plays host to a week-long beer celebration and a number of notable beer festivals. But it’s the people that really make the Dayton beer scene what it is. Two notable local groups are working to expand the reach of the “beer people” through education and awareness of craft beer: DRAFT and Brew Sisters.

DRAFT: The Wright Flight of Beers

DRAFT is one of the area’s oldest beer-related groups. The organization promotes homebrewing and craft beer education in the Miami Valley and is organized exclusively for educational, scientific and social purposes. The group has several stated purposes that drive club activity:

-To promote education and enhance public awareness of the craft of home-brewing.

-To provide beginning, intermediate and advanced homebrewers with information, advice and training appropriate to their skill level.

-To encourage members to train for Beer Judge status under the guidelines of the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP).

-To hold tastings and contests.

-To enjoy the company of fellow beer brewers.

-To promote the appreciation of real beer among non-brewers.

-To actively promote responsibility in the use of alcoholic beverages.

In addition, the group encourages brewers to step outside the box and out of their comfort zone in an effort to enhance creativity and understanding.

The group holds monthly meetings on the second Friday night of each month at the local German Club Liederkranz-Turner building, located at 1400 East Fifth Street in downtown Dayton. Meetings start at 7:00 p.m. The meetings generally have an educational presentation at 7:30 with a brief business meeting at 8:00 p.m. Food is available for an inexpensive donation ($1.00 to $2.00).

The club claims about 65 active members, with as many as 50 attending meetings regularly. The DRAFT meetings are typically a relaxed atmosphere. Members and guests bring some beer to share, a tasting glass, and an open mind. The meetings are a great way to learn about beer styles and can be very helpful for homebrewers looking to troubleshoot or hone in on a recipe.

In addition to the monthly meetings, there are other ways that the group seeks to educate Dayton about homebrewing and craft beer, including outreach at local beer-related events. At the Boonshoft Museum’s “Hops Over the Moon,” DRAFT worked in conjunction with Miami Valley BrewTensils to provide samples of homebrewed beer and demonstrated making beer on-site. The group has a presence at most local beer-related events.

Brew Sisters: Women in Beer

The earliest brewers were women. Sumerian women made alcoholic beverages as far back as 1800 BC. In the Middle Ages, women played pivotal roles in household brewing. Yet, in modern times, beer remains fairly male-dominant. The Brew Sisters seek to change that.

Modeled after national groups like The Pink Boot Society and Barley’s Angels, Brew Sisters is an organization of women for the education of craft beer to advance the female craft beer enthusiast. Natalie Phillips, beer manager for Belmont Party Supply, and Pam Skelly, organizer of the Big Beers and Barleywines festival, founded the group in May of this year.

Although the fledgling group is social in nature, the goal of the organization is education. Phillips explains, “This can be something where women can get together and talk about homebrewing, and talk about craft beer, and go out and have a good time while you learn.” The group focuses on all aspects of craft and homebrew and has planned events like brewery tours and homebrewing demonstrations for future meetings (a tour to Cincinnati’s Rivertown Brewery is already in the works).

The group will meet bi-monthly, with rotating locations so that they can patronize the Miami Valley’s craft beer bars. Each meeting will include discussions of different beer styles, as well as pairings of beers with food. The first meeting, held in early June, was at The Trolley Stop and featured eight different beers, ranging in style from hefeweizen to IPA to imperial stouts—all paired with foods. The inaugural meeting drew more than 20 women, of whom 5 were already homebrewers.

Brewout

One of the best ways to learn about beer is to start brewing, and the best way to meet other brewers is at a brewout where local homebrewers gather to bring their gear and create beer. This month, DRAFT will host a brewout at Miami Valley BrewTensils (2617 South Smithville Rd.) on July 14, starting at around 9 a.m. If you homebrew, bring your gear and hang out with other brewers. If you don’t homebrew, come anyway to meet others and to learn more about the process. Members of both DRAFT and Brew Sisters will be onsite and actively brewing and answering questions. Bring a tasting glass and some beer to share.

For those interested in learning more about DRAFT, check out the group’s website: http://www.daytondraft.org. For those interested in joining Brew Sisters, follow the group’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/BrewSistersDayton.

Reach DCP freelance writer Kevin J. Gray at KevinGray@DaytonCityPaper.com

India In Your Face Pale Ales

Kevin Gray — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 21:02:29 +0000

A Bold Summer Choice

By Kevin J. Gray

While some beer drinkers settle into wheat beers, pilsners and similar lighter fare for the summer, others go big and bold, looking for beers with a generous malt flavor and an even larger hop profile. Enter the IPA, or India Pale Ale. Brewing lore traces the history of this beer back to British colonial days. In the 1700s, British troops were stationed in India and hankered for a pint of familiar ale. English brewers obliged, making amped up versions of pale ales. These beers were higher in alcohol than traditional beers and also had a much more aggressive hop presence. Both the alcohol and the hops acted as preservatives, helping the beer survive the long, arduous journey by sea. According to BeerAdvocate.com, the beers were watered down upon arrival for the British troops, but officers and other VIPs would enjoy the full-strength brew.

Eventually, the English IPA was dialed back, with lower malts and hops. This was largely due to British tax law–the lower the malt, the lower the taxes on the beer. And the lower the malt, the fewer hops a brewer needs to maintain a balanced end product. Today’s English-style IPAs range from 5-7.5% alcohol by volume (ABV) and tend to retain some of the malt character, especially caramel malt. They are usually between 40-60 IBUs, a unit derived to measure the hop bitterness of a beer (IBU stands for International Bittering Unit). The hops tend to be floral, earthy or fruity in nature.

As with many contrasts between the Brits and their upstart breakaway colony, the American IPA is a much more assertive, in-your-face type of beer. The BJCP (Beer Judge Certification Program) offers guidelines on each beer style. When describing American IPAs, they have this to say: “An American version of the historical English style, brewed using American ingredients and attitude.” These beers focus on American grains, and more importantly, American hops. Many are brewed with the “C” hops–Cascade, Centennial, and Columbus, which all impart citrusy flavors. Some American brewers also use hops to create pine or resin flavors in their IPAs. In all cases, these beers should have a lower malt flavor than their English-style counterparts. American IPAs tend to range between 5.5 and 7.5% ABV and between 40 and 70 IBUs.

Big American IPAs really took off on both of the coasts, with West Coast IPAs being famous for dominant hop profiles and robust citrus and pine aromas. However, for those looking to drink locally, there are several regional IPAs to chose from that are on par, or better, than those beers brewed on either coast. Below is a listing of readily available IPAs from brewers in Ohio, Illinois, and Michigan.

India Pale Ale

(Goose Island; Chicago, IL; 5.9% ABV, 55 IBUs)

Some of Goose Island’s classic beer styles tend toward the English ale side (their Honker’s Ale is an excellent stateside rendition of a British Bitter), and the India Pale Ale is no exception. The beer is bourbon in color, and pairs well with chicken or pork. Some drinkers note floral and earthy hops against the caramel malt flavors.

Commodore Perry

(Great Lakes Brewing Co.; Cleveland, OH; 7.5% ABV, 70 IBUs)

This English-style IPA is ironically named after the naval officer who bravely battled the Brits in the War of 1812 on Lake Erie. Brewed with a mix of British and American hops, this malty ale packs a punch. Expect to taste fruity or herbal notes, with some mix of citrus hops.

Two-Hearted IPA

(Bell’s Brewery; Kalamazoo, MI; 7% ABV, ~50 IBUs)

Bell’s IPA offering is very much in the American West Coast IPA style, with a huge citrus aroma achieved through dry-hopping, or hops added to the fermentation stage or later. Two-Hearted is hopped exclusively with Centennial hops (and lots of them), imparting citrus and pine flavors against a malt backdrop.

Centennial IPA

(Founders Brewing Co.; Grand Rapids, MI; 7.2% ABV, 65 IBUs)

Like Two-Hearted, Centennial IPA is hopped exclusively with the Pacific Northwest’s Centennial hops. The bitterness from the hops rounds into citrus flavors best described as grapefruit. Look for some lower-profile hints of pine from the hops. Surprisingly drinkable given that the ABV is near the high end of the style.

Crooked Tree IPA

(Dark Horse Brewing Co; Marshall, MI; 6.0% ABV, 50 IBUs)

As with several of the other American IPAs, the brewers of this beer note that it is “Inspired by West Coast I.P.A.s, but brewed with Michigan style.” This means you can expect more big citrus and pine hops in the nose and on the palate. However, expect a bit more malt character than some other West Coast-style IPAs. The lower than average ABV makes this beer very drinkable.

White Rajah

(Brew Kettle; Strongsville, OH; 6.8% ABV, 70 IBUs)

This citrusy IPA is quickly earning a name for itself. Brewed outside of Akron, the beer is assertive, but balanced. It is also brewed in the West Coast style, with big, assertive tropical fruit and citrus in the nose. The malt character is present, but takes a backseat to the huge hop flavor.

Reach DCP freelance writer Kevin J. Gray at KevinGray@DaytonCityPaper.com.