HOT TRUB@BEER
BASICS.COM
Vol. 03
No. 08 --- 13 March 2002
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.
If
you wish to be dropped from this list please respond to this posting to peter.lafrance@beerbasics.com
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Editor: Claire
Zuckerman
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LATEST NEWS:
Study Confirms Beverage Alcohol Benefits
For Women
Nation’s Restaurant News Names Yard House “Hot Concept” of 2002
UK Pub Crawlers Get Hi-tech Support
============================
ASK THE PRESS/CHEFS:
This week I am asking subscribers for their favorite
Stout and food pairing except for
dishes/pairings associated with St. Patrick's Day.
Can you?
Peter LaFrance
Journalist/Author/Publisher
============================
SPECIAL
REPORT:
Interview: A Conversation with Conrad Seidl:
An Austrian Journalist - on food and beer, there and
here.
By Peter LaFrance
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NEW PRODUCTS:
===========================
PROMOTIONS – EVENTS – DINNERS:
(All are invited to send events to be included: date,
event name, brief description, contact name & phone/web address.)
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
=============================
A study, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine,
analyzing data collected from more than 70,000 nurses whose health histories
have been tracked since 1989 and who ranged in age from 25 to 42 when the
research began, concluded that younger women who drink two or three alcoholic
beverages a week have a lower risk of developing high blood pressure than women
who do not consume alcohol. Among the study's participants, the women who had
two or three alcoholic drinks a week had a 14 percent lower risk of developing
high blood pressure than the teetotalers.
For purposes of the study a "drink" was defined as
a 12 oz. (340 ml) can or bottle of beer, a 4 oz. (113 ml) glass of wine or a
1.5 oz (42 ml) shot of liquor.
The data suggested beer might better help women achieve the
apparent protective effect provided by drinking at light levels. The study said
more research is needed into that matter before a conclusion can be reached.
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The Yard House, a multi-unit food service operation located
in Southern California and best known for its American Fusion fare, classic
rock, late-night dining and “the world's largest selection of draft beer,”
has been named one of this year's Hot Concepts! by Nation's Restaurant News,
a leading trade publication for the restaurant and hospitality industry.
The restaurant's name was derived from an early Colonial
tradition of serving 36-inch tall glasses of beer -- or yards -- to weary
stagecoach drivers. Guests sip their favorite ales from yard glasses. For the
more modest consumer, beer is also served by the half yard and in traditional
pint glasses. Each restaurant offers its own unique ambiance, and the common
thread among the quartet is the signature oval-shaped bar with stainless steel
accents, gallery-style lighting, original artwork and an assembly of tap handles.
In December 2002, a fifth Yard House will open in Downtown
San Diego at 4th and Broadway near the Gaslamp Quarter.
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In the United Kingdom a pair of beer-loving entrepreneurs
are marketing a device that straps onto the wrist and directs the wearer to the
nearest pub, according to a story in Britain's newspaper The Sun.
The hi-tech device uses satellite-positioning systems to
determine the wearer's location and prints the addresses of the four nearest
pubs on a screen the “crawler” has strapped to their wrist.
The contraption, called eSleeve, also recognizes the
wearer's voice and can reportedly even help drunken revelers find their way
home, according to Bristol University inventors Cliff Randell and Henk Muller.
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=============================
=============================
This week I am asking subscribers for their
favorite Stout and food pairing except for dishes/pairings associated with St. Patrick's
Day.
=============================
From: Bruce D. Paton chefbbb@email.msn.com
Greetings Peter
In the past I have paired stouts with Ostrich(North Coast
Old #38 Stout),
Buffalo(Andersen Valley Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout) as well
as numerous
chocolate desserts. All of these pairings worked out really
well.
Cheers,
Chef Bruce
From: Terry Sullivan tjs@interaccess.com
Don't laugh. Guinness and potato pancakes. I think it's the sour cream
that does it.
And it's hardly a stout, but you really should try Calder's
80 with
peanut butter cookies.
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From: Ed Westemeier hopfen@malz.com
One of my favorites has always been the stout float.
Tall glass, chocolate brownie on the bottom, scoop of
vanilla ice
cream, fill with your favorite stout and serve with long
spoon and
straw.
Magnificent!
I was first introduced to this by Fred Eckhardt in about
1990, and
have loved it ever since.
Ed
--
Ed Westemeier
--- hopfen@malz.com
Hopfen und Malz, Gott erhalt's
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From: Daniel Bradford
dbradford@brewersadvocate.org
Any locally made stout with a good blue cheese.
Cheers,
Daniel Bradford,
President
Brewers' Association of America
501 Washington St. Su. H, Durham, NC 27701
tel. - 919.530.8140 fax. - 919-530-8160
web - www.brewersadvocate.org
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============================
SPECIAL REPORT:
Interview:
A Conversation with Conrad
Seidl:
By Peter LaFrance
================================
A Conversation with Conrad Seidl:
An Austrian Journalist - on food
and beer, there and here.
The following telephone interview took place just after I
chatted with Horst Dornbusch, of the Dornbusch Brewing Company, Inc. (See issue
Vol. 003 # 007 of HotTrub@BeerBasics).
The Austrian journalist Conrad Seidl introduced himself as a
beer writer. “I am, I think, the only German-speaking member of the British
Guild of Beer Writers.” (I have already heard from fellow member and German
journalist Ina Verstl on that observation.)
Although Seidl comes from Austria, where everyone goes to
cafes and drinks coffee, he claims to prefer beer to coffee. He also condensed
the story of his interest in beer, professional background and writing books
into the following few sentences.
“When I would meet with people I would suggest going to a
place in Vienna, which has a beer from a small brewery about 150 kilometers
away. I talked people into trying the beer. They would listen to me when I
talked about this brewing history and when I saw that people were interested in
listening to what I would talk about… I thought it was time to write it down
and do more research. That’s how I wrote my first book in 1989 and ever since I
have been writing books. Last week I finished my twenty-third book.”
The prolific Austrian had some of the usual comments on the
consolidation of the industry, even in his country. “The most remarkable thing
that has happened is that big companies began to merge. The largest company we
have in Austria is Brau-union this is the largest company in Austria and they
have a market share of just over 60%…” Seidl went on to note that most of the
breweries in Austria produce bottom-fermenting lagers that are very much
similar to each other. “They call them martzen bier but it is nowhere close to
a traditional martzen bier.”
He notes that, “The German Martzen bier can be very
different from an Austrian Martzen bier. Martzen in the true style would be a
father full bodied beer with a ABV of somewhere near 5.5% would have some would
be a dark amber and would be sweet and have some hops to balance that. The
Vienna Martzen is a rather dry beer. It’s a well dry to medium body and has low
bitterness and it is easy drinking but that is the best you can say about it.”
History seems to have taken an active hand in developing the
rather bland Austrian Martzen style. Seidl told me that, “It may have been a
traditional beer seventy years ago before World War II. After World War II we
had price regulation in Austria so the government would fix the price for the
beer that was the premium style of beer between the wars. The Government said,
“What was the premium beer between the wars?” That was the martzen beer so the
government fixed the price for the martzen beer. So what a brewer would do is …
if I have to sell the beer at the low price I won’t make it very good… but the
people still as they had no money they turned to that style and it became
popular. There is, as you said, lots of politics in beer.”
Despite the Martzen situation, Seidl noted that Austrian
breweries are developing beers that have proven very interesting.
“Even the big brewing company can produce good beers,” said.
“In fact they have two remarkable beers; Edelweiss and Zipfer Pils. The pils is
the only beer where they use whole hops and – this is a brewery that brews millions of hectoliters.”
Seidl told me that “Heffeweitzen was virtually nonexistent
twenty years ago, or was confined to places like Salzburg that are close to the
German border. Now you can get heffeweitzen all across the country and you get
very good heffeweitzen. For example, Brau-Union introduced a heffeweitzen,
which is called Edelweiss, and this beer constantly wins awards in the United
States as best imported Bavarian-style Heffeweisen even though it is not
Bavarian but is Austrian. But in style it is a very good example of the
Bavarian product. It is especially the dark version that has the subtle banana
flavor and some cloves. It is still a very refreshing beer has plenty of
carbonation but that is not too filling. It is a wonderful beer.”
Austria has seen a development of brewpubs in a slightly
different way than in the United States. Due to the smaller scale of market,
and other factors of economy, the “traveling brewer” is not unusual.
Seidl told me about one of the rising stars of Austrian
brewing. Herbert Hanghoffer. As Seidl tells it, “This is one person who started as a home brewer and has become
more and more a “visiting brewer” in the brewpubs. He started as a home brewer.
His first brews were from downloaded recipes from the AOB (Association of
Brewers) and reading Charlie Papazian’s book and trying to brew beers that we
couldn’t get here. He brewed fabulous Belgian style beers in batches at home.
We would meet often and he would sometimes give me a bottle and they were all
very good so I would tell him to go to this or that brewpub because they could
use a brewer. I think that you will be hearing about him in the near future. He
will be a traveling brewer as long as he can still keep his job as a computer
programmer.
It is the same around the world I think that people who love
beer and people who homebrew beer come from computer and related industries.”
Your observation on the state of beer in the US?
“Customers don’t accept bad beer any more. It is a very
positive development it kicks bad beer out of the market. You can be sure that
the beer you can buy now is good beer. If you buy Budweiser you will get good.
You will not find bad Budweiser on the shelves. So why would you find bad
microbrew, which is more expensive, on the shelf? So if you want to buy
expensive you should be assured that it is good beer and this is what is
happening in the US at this moment. You get good beer on the shelf. And you
find lost of restaurants that arrange beer dinners and tasting. In many that
don’t hold special events. You can still ask for a sample of say five different
beers and you find wait staff that can recommend that you start with this
flight of five beers, and if you think you like that then I could recommend
something that may need a bit more courage but start with this and then go on
to that. The bar staff has become much more knowledgeable in the last few
years. I mean it’s getting better and better. That is a good message.”
The Brewpubs of North America?
“I notice – Dramatic
changes, and not all that I like. Focusing on the food has made the
restaurant business much more important than the beer business. You find
brewpubs that were good bars, good beer and food selection limited to the
brewery burger and the chicken wings. Then they turn into restaurants with
diverse food where you would want to have good beer but the restaurant manager
doesn’t seem to want good beer because he wants to sell food and only one or
two beers. The brew becomes less and less important and when you come back
after two years you find it’s a high end restaurant and the brewery equipment
has been thrown out except for a few copper remains to make people believe that
it is a brewpub.”
###
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American Distiller
will promote distilling and discussion concerning Whisky,
Malt Whisky, Blended Scotch Whisky, Bourbon, Rye Whisky, Vodka, Gin, Grappa,
Eau de Vie, Schnapps, Calvados, Apple Brandy, Apple Jack, Liqueur, Cognac,
Armagnac, Rum, Tequila, Cordials, Perfumes, Tinctures, Distillation, Pot
Stills, Column Stills, Coffey Stills, and Aroma Therapy. American Distiller is
the journal of the American Distilling Institute.
It is published bi-weekly as an electronic
newsletter in PDF file format, and emailed to all ADI members and A-D
subscribers. A printed and mailed version of the newsletter is available for an
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The ADI has filed for a designation as a 501(c) Non Profit Corporation. Please
visit our Web site at www.americandistiller.com
.
Chairman
Bill Owens
Board of Directors
Stephen McCarthy
Clear Creek Distillery
Lance Winter
St. George Distillery
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Euroholding, Inc.
The American Distilling Institute
Box 510, Hayward, CA94541, USA
510-538-9500 • 510-538-7644 fax
To join: (800) 646-2701
Bill Owens, President
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Steve Costello, Secretary/Treasurer
Alan Moen, Editor
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EVENTS:
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17-24 March
This year, Corporate Ski Challenge and Wayne Wong Lake Tahoe
Classic, held annually at Alpine Meadows Ski Resort, located in North Lake
Tahoe, is expected to draw larger crowds, due in part, to the expansion of the
event into a weeklong celebration, now called the Lake Tahoe Spring Spectacular
set for Sunday, March 17 through Sunday, March 24.
New this year is the Hospitality Games Competition, wine
and beer tasting, and auction with items, such as airline tickets, hotel
stays, ski equipment and more.
Event sponsors include the North Lake Tahoe Resort
Association, Alpine Meadows Ski Resort, Lincoln Navigator, Budweiser and many
more. Funds generated from the auction, 100 percent, will benefit the Juvenile
Diabetes Research Foundation.
Contact: Lake Tahoe Central Reservations, 1-800/824-6348 or
visit www.mytahoevacation.com
PRESS CONTACT:
Pettit Gilwee, 530/583-2138
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2002
13 –16 - 26th Annual Luck O' The Irish Mini-Canvention & Breweriana Show, Fort Mitchell, KY. Call: 859-371-4415;
Contact: http://home.fuse.net/mries/qcc.htm
16 - Schultz and Dooley Spring Breweriana Show, Clifton Park, NY. Call: 518-895-2550
16 - 6th Annual Fairfax Brewfest, Fairfax, CA. Call: 415-453-5928;
Contact: www.fairfaxchamber.org
16 - 3rd Annual Whiskies of the World Expo, San Francisco, CA. Call: 888-748-2400;
Contact: www.celticmalts.com
17-24 - Lake Tahoe Spring Spectacular (See
above) www.mytahoevacation.com
22 –23 - Beer Advertising and Collectibles Show, Augusta, GA.; Contact: www.bccaatlantic.org .
23 - Northeast Wisconsin Beer Festival, Appleton, WI, 800-261-2337; Contact: www.homebrewmarket.com
23 –24 - 9th Annual Great Arizona Beer Festival, Phoenix, AZ. Call: 602-231-0500;
Contact: www.azbeer.com
29 – 30 - 12th Annual Easter Seals Micorbrew Springfest, Eugene, OR;
Contact: jsprague@oregonseals.org
30 – Seventh Annual York County Micro-Brew Fest, York, PA. Call: 717-600-8933;
Contact: www.ggpromotions.com
30 - Split Thy Brooklyn Skull (barleywine tasting), Brooklyn, NY. Call: 215-765-8765;
Contact: www.beerphiladelphia.com/events
06 – 6th Classic City Brew Fest, Athens, GA. Call: 706-254-BREW;
Contact: http://www.classiccitybrew.com/
10 – 13 -- National Craft Brewers Conference, Cleveland, OH, 303-447-0816;
Contact: http://www.beertown.org/
12 – 13 -- 6th Annual Okanagan Fest-Of-Ale, Penticton, British Columbia, 250-492-4355;
Contact: http://www.fest-of-ale.bc.ca/
13 - Reggae on the Mountain Microbrew Tasting Festival, Bear Valley, CA, 209-753-2301;
Contact: http://www.bearvalley.com/
19 - 21 -- 2002 Spring Beer & Wine Fest, Portland, OR.
27 – 28 -- Tap New York: 4th Annual Hudson Valley Beer & Food Festival at Hunter Mountain, Hunter, NY
518-263-4223; Contact: http://www.tapnewyork.com/
4 -- Zymurgist Borealis National Homebrew Day Celebration - Fairbanks, AK, Scott Stihler - 907- 474-2138. Contact: stihlerunits@mosquitonet.com
26 - 28 -- 2002 Oregon Brewers Festival, Portland, OR.
7 – 8 -- Tavern Days Celebration, Croton-on-Hudson, NY, 800-656-1212;
Contact: http://www.belgianexperts.com/
26 - Beer 2001, Brussels, Belgium, 32 (0) 2 474 85 38;
Contact: http://www.beerexportexhibition.com/
21 - October 6 --2002 Oktoberfest Munich, Munich, - Germany
3 – 5 -- Great American Beer Festival, Denver, CO, 303-447-0816;
Contact: http://www.beertown.org/
18 – 20 -- MBAA Annual Convention, Austin, TX, 414-774-8558;
Contact: http://www.mbaa.com/
8 – 9 -- The 6th Annual Great Northeast Beer & Cider Competition/ 9th Annual Great Northeast International Beer Fest, Providence, RI.
Contact: Competition Director: Gregg Glaser, 203-834-0800;
Contact: gregg@yankeebrew.com
Festivals of America: Maury Ryan, 401-272-0980;
Contact: ryan@lovecraft.com
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