HOT TRUB/BEER BASICS.COM
A newsletter of special interest to brewers,
members of the brewing community, chefs,
restaurateurs,
and members of the media that cover the beverage
alcohol business.
Vol. 2 No. 42 --- 31 October 2001
Published by: Peter LaFrance peter.lafrance@beerbasics.com
Journalist, covering the beverage
alcohol industry since 1985.
Author of:
Beer Basics (ISBN 0-471-11936-9)
Cooking & Eating with Beer (ISBN
0-471-31879-5)
visit www.beerbasics.com
If you wish to be dropped from this list
please respond to this posting to peter.lafrance@beerbasics.com
include the word remove in
the Subject: line.
(The subscriber list is the sole property of the
publisher and will not be sold, given or otherwise distributed.)
===============================================
Editor: Claire Zuckerman
(this issue edited by Peter LaFrance)
=================================
Greetings,
Welcome to Hot Trub/BeerBasics.com ...
LATEST NEWS:
Harpoon Stars On Allie McBeal
Pyramid Breweries Opens New Brewpub
Coors Gearing Up Memphis Brewery
ASK THE PRESS:
This week there are follow-up comments on
the "Biggest problem with being a journalist covering the beer beat?"
There are also two more questions on the line:
a) What is your favorite bar-food?
b) What makes a great beer?
I invite your response...
PROMOTIONS - EVENTS - DINNERS - From this issue
through one calendar year.
(All are invited to send events to be included: date,
event name, brief description, contact name & phone/web address.)
I invite your comments and criticism.
Cheers!
Peter LaFrance
Publisher
===================================
LATEST NEWS:
===================================
Harpoon from Mass Bay
will be making a guest appearance on the Fox Network comedy/drama Allie McBeale
next Monday.
It seems that the two
managing partners of a fictitious law firm in Boston are sitting in a pub where
all the members of the firm meet to advance the script.
In this case these two
male characters are in a deep discussion of the females that seem attracted
to them. As they make their cogent points, their two faces frame a Harpoon
light-poster, and then a popular past-middle-age transvestite sits down next to
them and steals the scene.
Charlie Storey, senior
VP sales for Mass Bay, commented to me recently, “Isn't it nice when Hollywood
exercises good taste?
We got very lucky with
the A McBeale placement.”
========================================
Pyramid Breweries has
announced that it has finalized its plans to open a Pyramid Alehouse in Walnut
Creek, CA.
The new Alehouse, a
7,800 square foot 275-seat restaurant and brewery, is located at the corner of
Cypress and Locust
Streets in the
downtown shopping district of Walnut Creek.
The Alehouse will
produce specialty draft beer for on-premise consumption and retail distribution
in the surrounding vicinity.
“We are extremely
excited about opening a new Alehouse in Walnut Creek,” said Nick Walpert, Vice
President of
Pyramid Breweries’
Alehouse Division. “We expect that our remodeling project will take three
months, and we hope
to be open in the
first quarter of 2002.”
For more information
contact Wayne Drury, cfo/vp finance, at: 206/682-8322
Information also
available at: http://www.pyramidbrew.com/about/news.php
And Pyramid Breweries http://www.pyramidbrew.com
========================================
Adolph Coors Company
has invested $68 million to increase brewing capacity at their Memphis,
Tennessee brewery.
Coors is planning to
increase the plants capacity from a current 3.8 million barrels a year to 5
million barrels a year.
Coors hopes to finish
renovation of the plant by February of 2003.
========================================
=================================================
ASK
THE PRESS -
FOLLOW UP:
(Edited
for spelling, sometimes. Essential response is unedited.)
This
week in ASK THE PRESS:
What is the biggest problem with being a
journalist covering the beer beat?
Cheers!
Peter
LaFrance
Publisher
Send
responses to peter.lafrance@beerbasics.com
(Responses
posted as received.)
=================================================
From: Alan Moen alanmoen@televar.com
Peter,
The biggest problem in being a beer journalist
is not covering the beer
beat, but making a living at it. Michael Jackson once asked me if I had a
"day job". I replied, "No, I'm just like you."
Alan Moen
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Lanny Hoff lhoff@mn.rr.com
Dear Mr. LaFrance,
I read your newsletter with anticipation each
time I see it pop into my
email inbox. I appreciate that you take the time to put it together and
there is always something interesting.
I just read the responses you got from beer
writers answering the question:
"what's the hardest thing about your job as a beer writer?" and I
have a
follow-up question: as a guy who works for a new, small importer of fine
beer, how to get a list of all these beer writers together so I can send
them information?
One of the common complaints of beer writers is
that breweries and importers
don't send samples, don't send press releases and never send anything. It
seems to me that beer writers do as poor a job marketing themselves as small
breweries and importers do. If there was someplace where suppliers, both
domestic and imported, could find a list of beer writers, their addresses
and email addresses, it would simplify the transfer of information both
ways. After all, don't we all need each other to survive?
Anyway, if there is a resource like that out
there, let us know so we can
use it! Sending samples directly to magazine headquarters isn't always
effective.
Yours,
Lanny Hoff
==================================
=================================================
ASK
THE PRESS:
(Edited
for spelling, sometimes. Essential response is unedited.)
This
week in ASK THE BEVERAGE INDUSTRY PRESS:
What is a "great" beer?
That
is the question...
Cheers!
Peter
LaFrance
Publisher
Send
responses to peter.lafrance@beerbasics.com
(Responses
posted as received.)
=================================================
From: Rex Halfpenny MIBeerguyd@aol.com
This is an easy
question, much easier then the proverbial, "What's your
favorite beer?" I
have had great beer many times, but a truly GREAT BEER is
the perfect match for
the occasion. That occasion is framed by the
environment, the
company, food if present or called for and, to a lesser
extent, the time of
year. The result is a perfect harmony of all these notes.
That harmony rings in
one's memory to be enjoyed again and again with each
recollection. I have
enjoyed many GREAT BEERS.
Rex Halfpenny
Michigan Beer Guide
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Jason
Alström jason@beeradvocate.com
Freshness is number
one in my book, usually the aroma will tell you
if the beer is fresh
or not. The more obvious is a freshness date
which IMO should be by
law a must on every label ... but that is
another subject we can
get into at another date. When I talk about
freshness I am not
only talking about when it was brewed and packaged
but the freshness of
the ingredients, this could be any where from
bad malt to cheesy
hops to yeast that is on its last leg. When I
get a beer that is not
fresh I tend not to talk about the beer and/or
the brewery at all. No
press is the worst kind of press right? If
they can't keep a
fresh product on the shelf then they are wasting
my time and money.
Consistency is next, why change a beer when it
has reached greatness
or even worse not knowing when your beer has
changed. Consistency
is not hard you just have to try a little. Lastly
a beer that pairs well
with food and does not try to overwhelm the
palate, Belgian style
beers do me just fine when I am looking to
pair with food.
1. Freshness
2. Consistency
3. Pairs well with
food
Cheers!!
Jason Alstrom
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Kurt Epps pubscout@cybernex.net
Peter,
I can only reply in the philosophic sense, since the question is essentially
unanswerable in the absolute.
A great beer is one that satisfies most--if not all--of my immediate
needs in the moment I am drinking it.
Beyond the
complexities of malt,hops, yeast and water (dare I say the tender nuances of
balance contained therein?)
lie the requirements,
sensations and ambience of the moment.
What am I doing at the time?
Eating? That may produce a variety of responses predicated on what is being
eaten and when.
Have I just mowed my lawn on a hot summer's day? Different answer, different
"great" beer.
Am I at a tasting, vertical or otherwise, of a variety of beers?
What month is it? What kind of day is it? How has my day gone?
Am I celebrating something?
Am I sitting on the quay in Hamilton, Bermuda during vacation?
Am I at a coming out party for a new Belgian, Czech, Brit or Sri Lankan
brewery?
Am I relaxing after Christmas dinner with my family's faces aglow (probably like
my own)?
Have the Giants just had an offensive series that exceeded three-and-out?
Am I hoisting a frothy mug while singing the Star Spangled banner in München's
Hofbrauhaus in front of a buxom fraülein holding ten steins?
I think you get the picture.
Great Beer is a matter of the moment, and the moment, like the beer, is an
evanescent, ephemeral thing.
A beer that was good,
but not overly impressive in one instance may be that "great beer" in
another.
Similarly, our
"great beer" at another moment under other conditions may not be so
great.
The right beer at the right moment can make a memory that will last us long
into the winter of our lifetimes--a moment we can take out,
hold in our hands and
use to warm us as our spirit fights off the chill of old age.
Oddly, really bad beers can have the same effect. You always remember the best
and worst of everything you experience
But beer is no different than those special moments in life that we store in
our memory banks and treasure forever.
I can't speak for
others, but I seek as many of those moments--beer and otherwise--as possible.
I love the "Idea of Beer" as much as I love beer.
Sorry to have waxed so philosophic.
I'm going to have an Athenian Lager....and a Gyro.
***********
Kurt E. Epps
The PubScout
You've got to hand it to the Sumerians--inventing BOTH writing AND beer!
Member/NJAB
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Gary
Monterosso WhatzOnTap@aol.com
Peter,
As with anything,
"greatness" is a term that is contingent upon one's own
unique
definition. Dealing with the subject at
hand, however, I tend to
apply that word
infrequently. One component that might
label a particular
beer as "noteworthy"
is its uniqueness.
I begin by asking a
very simple question, "Would I enjoy drinking the beer
again?" Assuming the answer is in the affirmative, I
then attempt to
determine if there are
factors that set this beer apart from most others in
its category.
I also tend to enjoy
beers that are complex with a host of flavors and
sensations taking
place, and avoid assigning the label of "great" to those
that I perceive as
one-dimensional. As an example, there
are multitudes of
highly hopped beers on
the market, many of which offer little to remember,
other than an acidic
bitterness. Does stepping up the IBU's
equate to
quality if nothing
else is worth mentioning or if no other characteristics
can be noted?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Matt
Stinchfield matts@brewingnews.com
Hi Peter:
Michael Lewis of UC
Davis' brewing studies once asked me the same question,
to which I replied,
"It is characterful and free of obvious defects." He
said he liked that
answer, so I'm sticking to it.
Matt Stinchfield
Southwest Brewing News
and Affiliated Publications
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Michael Jackson beerhunter@compuserve.com
How about:
"A great beer is
unforgettably distinctive; impenetrably complex;
irresistibly
drinkable."
Warmest regards
Michael
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Bill Metzger bill@brewingnews.com
Sent: Monday, October
29, 2001 6:20 PM
To: Peter LaFrance
The best I can do is
say that a great beer has "essence". It's almost
indefinable, like
porn, I know it when I see it. A great beer, I know
it when I taste it.
And nearly every one of the beer tasters around
me agree. That's a key
ingredient, as we all can be a little "off" at
times when we taste.
What makes the beer great? Great ingredients, a
careful brewer, and
great care taken to the final product.
Bill
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: John Freyer Fryorama@aol.com
I call a great beer
something that is unlike any other. It
has a certain
uniqueness. It requires creativity from the brewer. It should be daring.
To boldly go where no
beer has gone before.
The beer industry is
like a Baskin-Robbins. Pale and amber
ales are like the
flavor Vanilla. Everyone has one, with very little else to
offer. Me, I'd
try every flavor, then
decide which is best, but it definitely wouldn't be
vanilla, I can get
that anywhere.
John Freyer
3 Floyds
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Ryan Maher mdvbeer@yahoo.com
A great beer
satisfies the thirst and the appetite of its consumer.
Its greatness
should be revealed in each new tasting, offering the drinker an
enlightened experience,
a new subtlety every time the tap is pulled or bottle opened.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: JLipaMDVE@aol.com
After many years of tasting great beer I learned
very quickly the definition of a great beer.
The consumer rules and if they like it then its
a great beer. Our goal should be to educate
consumers to the different style and taste
profiles. Hopefully the consumer experiments
and discovers "their great beer," Very
simple stuff but in fact very true.
joe lipa
merchant du vin
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Chuck Skypeck chuck@boscosbeer.com
Peter,
Ultimately it is the
consumer who deems a beer "great. With that thought in
mind, and the thought that I should try to keep this simple, a great beer is
one that makes the customer say "I'll have another." That strokes
both my
ego and the bottom line.
Chuck Skypeck
Boscos Brewing Company
chuck@boscosbeer.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: HARBORALE@aol.com
Peter,
May there be many more.
With regard to your question, What makes a great beer?
My passion for beer has come as you from my heart. The love of beer and the
many different styles
and flavors has made my life so much more
interesting than as if I was a "BUD MAN". Variety is the
spice of life. A great beer should be very well
made, have a unique flavor, drinkability. Though there
are a few beers I consider great, but I just
don't drink that often. A great beer is a beer I get excited
when I know I'm about to turn somebody onto it.
To see their face and get the feed back on how
good it was.
Sure you can say it's the yeast, the malt, the Noble hops, etc. That's just
good and dandy, that's
your PR talking. The ability to share and be
proud, that makes a great beer.
There are many great beers, I have spent most of my life finding them and I
hope when someone
tries my beers they get the that "hey this
is great beer"
Cheers
SAL PENNACCHIO
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Alan Sprints alan@hairofthedog.com
I think great Beers
need to have a point or lets say, a reason to be.
I think great
beverages are interesting, and thinking about them as we imbibe,
makes us happy.
So if you are happy with what you are drinking, it's great.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: CHalleron@vnubusinesspublicationsusa.com
A great beer is a beer
the jumps off the menu and says "order me--I'm
exactly what your looking for at this particular time." It's not
necessarily the best in regards to the quality of it's ingredients, it's
just the best beer at the time. It could range from Pabst Blue Ribbon at
a
Southern-style barbeque, to Le Fin du Monde at a fine French restaurant, to
a Magic Hat #9 on a hot summer's day, to a well-poured Guinness draught
while waiting for a friend at a pub.
It's a
beer that's in the right place at the right time.
Christopher
M. Halleron
Senior Associate Editor
Beverage World Magazine
770 Broadway
New York, New York 10003
tel: (646) 654-7713
fax: (646) 654-7727
=================================================
ASK
THE PRESS:
What
is your favorite bar-food?
This
week I am asking subscribers who are working journalists
if
they would share with the rest of us their thoughts on the bar-food they most
enjoy when not "working."
Any
food served to a person, either standing or seated, at a bar where they serve
adult beverages counts as bar-food.
What
does a journalist that covers the food beat enjoys when relaxing? That is a
question...
Cheers!
Peter
LaFrance
Publisher
Send
responses to peter.lafrance@beerbasics.com
(Responses
posted as received.)
=================================================
From: CBHaynes@aol.com
No. 9 PARK has the best bar food in town! Nothing list a good beer and a
steak tarter and frites there!!!!!
The best!
Chris
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Russell, Don russeld@phillynews.com
I'd say wings, but then my hands get
sticky and I can't handle a
pool cue. Same goes for mussels.
The kitchen always cooks burgers too well-done.
Stinky cheese is a good match for beer, but it's hard to find
anything but stale provo in most bars around here.
Pretzels -- that sounds good. Nice, hard Pennsylvania Dutch-style
pretzels, piled up in a big bowl, free at the bar, with a pint of ale. And
maybe a jar of hot mustard. That sounds pretty damn good.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Naomi R. Kooker nkooker@rcn.com
Peter,
Hi, sounds like a fun topic.
Something so basic, so good and so simple it's
nearly embarrassing to admit:
chicken wings, hot-hot buffalo wings WITH bones, real bleu cheese dressing
and beer, like a lager.
Other low-down bar food: roasted peanuts, in the
shells; tortilla chips and
good, homemade salsa (heavy on the cilantro); Vietnamese fresh spring rolls.
Cheers,
Naomi Kooker
Naomi R. Kooker
Palate Productions
nkooker@rcn.com
(617) 969-5944
Boston
=====================================
From: MIBeerguyd@aol.com
Hello Peter,
American Beer Month was for Rex and Mary
Halfpenny a very memorable
occasion.
It was ambitious, but Mary and I wanted to really do the
American Beer
Month thing. Based in Michigan, we had the opportunity so we made the time to
DRIVE to both the East coast rally and the West coast rally. A feat that gave
us a very interesting perspective.
We got to enjoy the hospitality of the Stoudt's, the efforts
of east
coast rally coordinator Bryan Pearson of Church Works, the patriotic
surroundings of Philadelphia, and the company of Presidents George Washington
and Thomas Jefferson and a special appearance of Under Secretary of Beer
Westnedge and his scary security team. After thoroughly enjoying our time
there, including beers and a meal at City Tavern, we headed west, using much
the same route as did the pioneers of 1700s and 1800s.
After a stop home to publish the August edition of Michigan
Beer Guide,
we continued the journey west, combining the Oregon Trail and the Louis and
Clark trail. It was fitting that we left Detroit as it celebrated its 300
year anniversary and that the western states were celebrating Pioneer Days.
In Oregon we enjoyed the hospitality of Don Younger and his
very English
Horse Brass Pub and the mini events produced by the great folks at Rogue. Of
course the highlight was the Oregon Brewers Festival, which has grown
remarkably since our last visit in 1991. What capped the experience was being
able to address a crowd of about 300 festival attendees to call attention to
American Beer Month. Jon Graber of Mt Hood Brewing did a terrific job of
setting everything up and running the show from back stage.
The combined experience on both coasts and both rallies in
one very
patriotic beer drinking month made this journey the best time we have ever
experienced on the road to beer. And believe me, we are always on the road to
beer.
The one thing that stood out as needing more attention was
the lack of
mainstream press and the effort we must make to secure their coverage. But
then, this was not about the main stream anyway. To all whose path we crossed
during American Beer Month, thank you for being there.
=====================================
================
NEW
PRODUCTS:
(All
products provided by breweries.
Tasting
notes are done by the publisher in beer-clean 2 oz. straight edged tasting
glasses between 0900-1000 in an aroma-neutral environment.)
(NO
TASTING NOTES THIS ISSUE.)
===================================
===================================
=============================
PROMOTIONS
- EVENTS - DINNERS
*
NEW LISTING
===================================
In a note from Dave
Preston he tells HOT TRUB/BEER BASICS that the Great Canadian Beer Festival
sold out in three hours.
Congratulations Dave…
For information
contact:
Dave Preston Chair, Great Canadian Beer Festival
Certified Beer Judge;
Member, North American Guild of Beer Writers
271 Dutnall Rd.
Victoria, BC, V9C 4B4
Ph 250-474-2411 Fax 250-474-1297
===================================
*REDBONES BBQ HOLDS ANNUAL
NORTHWEST BEER FEST
DAVIS SQUARE, SOMERVILLE, MA -
Northwest beers will be on tap beginning November 9 and will be featured
at two Beer Banquets,
Monday, November 12 and Tuesday,
November 13 at 7:30 PM. Cost is $35.00 per person; reservations are
required and may be made by calling 617- 628 - 2200. Each Banquet includes
dinner, festival beers, games, prizes and speakers. Dick Cantwell,
brewer/owner of Elysian Brewery in Seattle, is the guest speaker both nights.
=================================================================
Philadelphia
Beer Classes
Philadelphia beer maven Jim
Anderson will present educational events exploring beer styles, flavors and
compatibility with foods.
The following sessions are now
available.
THE FALL
SEMESTER OF BEER CLASSES
Jim Anderson is offering the
following instructional experiences. For more information use the following
link - http://www.beerphiladelphia.com/news.htm#calendar
Friday November 2
The Magic of Belgian Beer
The Restaurant School in
Philadelphia
215-222-4200
Tuesday November 6
Beer For Wine Lovers
La Campagne Restaurant in Cherry
Hill, NJ
856-429-7647
Friday November 9
Local Flavors
The Restaurant School in
Philadelphia
215-222-4200
===================================================
*The biggest Belgian Beerfestival
This year on a new location and a
new date:
The biggest Belgian Beerfestival
24 uur van het Belgische
Speciaalbier
3-4 november 2001
Oude Beurs - Meir
(twaalfmaandenstraat) - Antwerp - Belgium
More info: www.24-uur.be