HOT TRUB@BEER BASICS

HOT TRUB@BEER BASICS.COM

Vol. 03 No. 28 --- 30 October 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

Include the word “remove” in the Subject: line.

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Publisher: Peter LaFrance

Editor: Deven Black

From Behind The Bar: Chris Halleron

On The Loose: Kurt Epps

On The Beat: Alan Wax

Travel: Sharon McDonnell

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FROM THE PUBLISHER

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LATEST NEWS:

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AOB AND SLOW FOOD USA SHOW AT THE SALON DEL GUSTO

On October 25^th 2002, the Association of Brewers, Slow Food U.S.A. and more than 10 American craft breweries collaborated at the Taste America part of the Salon del Gusto, the world’s largest international food festival. The following is a report from the offices of the Association of Brewers.

“Salon del Gusto ran Oct. 24 through Oct. 28 in Torino, Italy. In 2000, the first Salon del Gusto attracted more 130,000 people to taste the best artisan foods from around the globe.

“The primary purpose of representing American craft beer at this event is to improve the image of American craft beer internationally and nationally,” said Charlie Papazian, the president of the Association of Brewers. “Our intent is to represent the American craft brewing and beer industry to show the world some of the best craft beer products.”

This year’s Taste America features taste seminars that focus on such topics as chocolate, corn, wild Alaskan salmon and dinners that feature sustainable seafood and locally grown produce of the Piedmant region of Italy.

The centerpiece of Taste America is the mercato or marketplace, where the Association of Brewers and Slow Food U.S.A. share two booths sponsored by the U.S. Embassy in Rome. These booths showcase more than 35 American craft beer brands that will be featured at the festival’s workshops.

Papazian will be co-leading two workshops, featuring Alaskan wild Salmon and Alaskan beer. The other workshop features American and Irish farmhouse cheeses paired with American craft beer. Garrett Oliver, brewmaster of Brooklyn Brewing Co., N.Y., U.S.A., will host an “extreme beers” workshop, featuring several other American craft beers.

More than 15 individuals representing seven American craft breweries are attending the Taste America. The breweries represented are: CH Evans Brewing Co., N.Y.; Brooklyn Brewing Co., N.Y.; Left Hand/Tabernash Brewing Co., Colo.; Odell’s Brewing Co., Colo.; Flying Dog Ales, Colo.; Pelican Pub, Ore.; Deschutes Brewing Co., Ore.; Alaskan Brewing Co., Alaska; Stone Brewing Co., Calif.; Kona Brewing Co., Hawaii.

Slow Food, an Italian association founded in 1986 that seeks a rediscovery of authentic culinary traditions and the conservation of the world’s quality food and wine heritage, organizes the Salon del Gusto.

Slow Food U.S.A. is a non-profit educational organization dedicated to supporting and celebrating the food traditions of North America.

The Association of Brewers is a not-for-profit, educational organization based in Boulder, Colo., U.S.A. devoted to making quality beer and brewing knowledge accessible to all.”

For more information contact:

Cindy Jones

Sales and Marketing Director

Association of Brewers

303.447.0816 x 144

cindy@aob.org

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HARPOON DOUBLING BOSTON BREWERY CAPACITY

Harpoon Brewery, one of New England's largest specialty brewers, has begun installation of more than $1.5 million worth of new brewing equipment at its Boston facility, a project that will eventually double the company's production capacity.

The installation will take approximately 10 weeks to complete and includes four brewing vessels, the largest of which has a capacity of more than 10,000 gallons.

Boston Mayor Thomas Menino dedicated the new equipment Oct. 25 amid construction at the South Boston-based brewery.

"We are excited about our new brewing equipment because it will enable us to continue to brew our high-quality beers while keeping up with the increasing demand for Harpoon in Boston," Rich Doyle, Harpoon CEO and co-founder, said in a statement.

Founded in 1986, the Harpoon Brewery produces 70,000 barrels of beer a year. The company employees 65 people at its Boston and Windsor, Vt., breweries.

http://boston.bizjournals.com/boston/stories/2002/10/21/daily50.html

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OHIO ADJUSTS ABV LIMITS FOR BEER

Since 1933, Ohioans have not been allowed to sell beer containing more than 6 percent alcohol. Now, brewers and retailers can brew beers that are traditionally brewed at 12 percent alcohol by volume.

The primary result will be a few new selections of ``craft'' beer in brewpubs and on store shelves.

The bill sailed through the Ohio legislature this year with bipartisan support. Among the co-sponsors were House Majority Whip James Trakas, R-Independence, and House Minority Leader Dean DePiero, D-Parma. Both men are from Greater Cleveland, home of Great Lakes Brewing Co.

The Great Lakes' year-round selection of beers range from 3.9 percent (Locktender Lager) to 5 percent (Eliot Ness). But now the brewers of Northeast Ohio are getting ready to introduce imperial stouts, doppelbocks and barley wines. These brews can reach 10 percent alcohol by volume as a rule.

It is expected that brew pubs will enjoy more of an advantage than the microbreweries, which bottle their beer for retail and rely on distribution to on premise establishments.

Great Lakes, which does both, will test a few new concoctions in its downtown Cleveland pub before putting anything into stores.

Northeast Ohio's microbrewers have undergone a major thinning since the craze peaked in 1995. At least five operations have run dry, including the highly decorated Liberty Street Brewing Co. in Akron's Merriman Valley, and Burkhardt's, which once had pubs in Green and Medina.

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OLAND BREWERY ADDS VOLUME IN HALIFAX

At the Oland Brewery in north-end Halifax Saturday, a crane installed new fermentation tanks that will be used to produce more than a million bottles of beer. Each tank stands more than six stories high

The tanks arrived by barge from Quebec on Friday and made the trip to the brewery under police escort early in the morning. It took two hours to haul the tanks, each weighing more than 18,000 kilograms (8,00 lbs.), through the city. They’re part of a $14-million expansion.

Two cranes and a 400-ton hydraulic crane lifted the tanks over the top of other tanks, and through the hole in the roof of the building built to contain them. The tanks will be producing beer by March.

bware@hfxnews.southam.ca

http://www.canada.com/halifax/dailynews/archives/story.asp?id=411B07DA-79D0-446F-B323-16BB6F57F7BF

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SPECIAL REPORT: AN EASY GETAWAY FROM THE BIG EASY

By Sharon McDonnell

Sure, it's hard to tear yourself away from the "Big Easy" where the good times continually roll. But throw off those Mardi Gras beads, tear yourself away from Bourbon Street's raucous jazz and blues clubs, and less than 45 minutes north of New Orleans you'll find charming small towns, unspoiled nature, arts and antiques, and, oh yes, gourmet food.

You'll also find the top regional brewery in the Southeast, Abita Brewing Co., whose beers are now sold in 30 states. I was floored by the ambitious menu at Abita Brew Pub, also located in the town of Abita Springs, where many dishes are made with Abita craft beers. Barbecued crab claws sauteed in a BBQ sauce flavored with rosemary and Abita Amber beer, a lager with a smooth, malty, slightly caramel flavor and Abita's most popular brew, were so sensational I had to force myself to taste another appetizer. Crawfish cake, served with fried tomatoes, is topped with a remoulade of Turbodog -- a dark brown ale with a sweet chocolate-toffee-like flavor, Abita's second most popular beer.

The baby back ribs entree is marinated in stout, grilled with Purple Haze, Abita's crisp wheat beer which tastes faintly of raspberries -- added during secondary fermentation -- and doused with a BBQ sauce flavored with Abita root beer, made with pure Louisiana cane sugar. (Rib fans, take note: Wednesday is all-you-can-eat ribs night, with one free beer, for $13.95). Quail is topped with a blueberry glaze laced with raspberry-perfumed Purple Haze, served on a bed of andouille (spicy sausage) stuffing, while a double-cut pork chop topped with Abita root beer glaze is served on a mound of cornbread stuffing. Jumbo fried shrimp topped with a honey pecan meuniere sauce were beerless, but sweetly scrumptious. So was the jambalaya with chicken and andouille, with a side of crawfish cornbread.

Of course, gumbo, the smoky, spicy soup crammed with seafood or chicken, and seafood po-boy sandwiches bursting with fried shrimp, oysters and catfish -- staples of southern Louisiana Cajun and Creole cuisine -- are offered. But so are Mediterranean seafood pasta with marinara sauce, Greek salads and hamburgers.

"We put beer in most of our food -- we like to have fun with it -- and try to take from different regions, unlike, for example, a German brew pub," said Peter Johnson, sous chef at the

115-seat restaurant, which features an outdoor patio. "We have very stiff competition here in the New Orleans area," says Vula Essaied, Greek by birth, who owns Abita Brew Pub with her Tunisia-born husband, Martin.

The Abita brewery, located about a mile away, offers weekend tours and tastings. "The lagniappe is all the free beer you can drink," adds Ms. Essaied, using a common Louisiana word which means a little something extra. Founded in 1986, the brewery this year underwent a major renovation, expected to triple its brewing capacity. It boasts the only Merlin wort boiling system -- designed to use 75% less energy and reduce evaporation, made by Steinecker, a German manufacturer -- in the US.

Abita Springs is located in the New Orleans Northshore area, in St. Tammany Parish, directly across Lake Ponchartrain from the city. Nature-lovers, not to mention those eager to burn off some calories, will enjoy the Tammany Trace, a 31-mile rails-to-trails path ideal for bicycling, running, horseback-riding or strolling that stretches from Abita Springs to Lacombe and beyond.

The Tammany Trace passes one deeply eccentric attraction that pokes fun at the Southern sensibility, the UCM Museum in Abita Springs. Artist/inventor John Preble has transformed thousands of found objects and, let's be frank, junk, into whimsical animated displays that come alive at the push of a button -- like a 30-foot tableau of Louisiana's River Road, where a plantation sits next to an oil refinery and trailer, near a motel, bar and BBQ joint. In his tableau of a New Orleans jazz funeral, skeletons rise from tombs and musicians sway. Martians gawk at a Mardi Gras parade in another display.

"Kind of like my hobby that got out of hand," Preble describes the UCM -- pronounced You-see-em -- which he converted from a gas station. Don't miss the 24-foot alligator with textured skin made from spray-foam insulation and eyes made from beach balls, which seems to be the state animal; the shrine to Elvis; the Airstream trailer attacked by aliens; and the maze built from thousands of popsicle sticks.

Covington is an artsy small town of a more conventional nature nearby, filled with art galleries and studios, where live oak trees shade attractive homes. At Hasslock Studios, I watched majolica being hand-painted, and admired its high-quality selection of beautifully-decorated ceramics for sale.

Swamp eco-tours are everywhere in Louisiana. On the Northshore, boat tours of Honey Island Swamp's eerie landscape of bald cypress trees draped with Spanish moss -- with alligator sightings practically guaranteed -- are offered by several companies in the town of Slidell.

Much cuter and more fun, in my opinion, were the llamas, giraffes, deer, bison and many other animals who ran toward our covered wagons at breakneck speed for feeding time at the Global Wildlife Center. Called the biggest free-roaming wildlife preserve in the US, this 900-acre preserve in Folsom (the furthest from New Orleans of the towns I've mentioned) has over 3,000 animals, many rare or endangered. A group of wide-eyed second-graders who watched a giraffe give birth in front of their wagon found their tour educational in more ways than one.

For more information contact the St. Tammany Parish Tourist Commission

at www.neworleansnorthshore.com or 800-634-9443, Abita Brewing Co. at www.abita.com , and Abita Brew Pub at 985-892-5837.

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BEER & THE HUNGRY VEGAN: DINNER IS SERVED

By Kurt Epps

with Peg Zwerver

Craft beer brewers don’t have an easy gig. Sure, beer lovers may think that making beer everyday may be the best job anyone could have, but there’s more to being a microbrewer than just making the beer. Homebrewers can do that.

Microbrewers have to market and sell their beer, at least if they want to remain viable in an unforgiving and often cruel business where rewards are not measured by income, but by medals and the biggest indicator--public recognition and acceptance of your product. In a culture where less than six percent of all beer consumed is craft beer, getting the public to be aware of your product is critical. Getting them to try it: even moreso.

That’s why Tom Baker of Jersey’s Heavyweight Brewing (the little brewery that’s bigger and smaller than most) has the right idea. Tom eschews the medal scene, but he and his beers are seemingly omnipresent at many tastings and festivals. A growing number of beer bars are sprouting his trademark taps in the shapes of paint brushes, sticks, hammers and smoking billygoats He simply wants people to try his beer and enjoy it.

Many people, first in Jersey, then in the greater metro area, and now across the country are doing just that. In fact, he recently sent a cask of his Perkuno’s Hammer as a gift to the Great British Beer Festival for the organizers to enjoy, not to evaluate. They wound up giving it a Silver medal, declaring it America’s second best beer—and it wasn’t even entered in the competition.

I spoke to Tom and wife Peggy at a recent Jersey beer dinner. Tom frequently co-sponsors dinners with local Jersey brewpubs to help boost awareness of the NJ beer scene. They had just flown in from San Francisco (no, their arms weren’t tired), where Heavyweight’s beers were featured at a different kind of beer dinner—a totally vegetarian one.

Held at the Millennium Restaurant (246 McAllister St.) under the auspices of Executive Chef Eric Tucker, the dinner was dubbed the Chile Pepper Dinner. It featured the Heavyweight beers that are becoming household words across the nation among lovers of big, bold craft beers: Stickenjab, a hoppy, 6.4% altbier; Perkuno’s Hammer, a thunderous Baltic Porter, Biere d’Art, a biere de garde in the saison family and Baltus, a big brown ale.

The beers were paired with vegan delicacies from a very extensive menu:

Starters - paired with Stickenjab Alt

Roasted pimento roulade with herbed white chocolate ‘cheese’

Chanterelle mushroom and aji chile ceviche

Sauteed Spanish pimento de Padron & red pepperoncini

Jalapeno on a stick with persimmon

Candied chipotle toasted pecans

Appetizer - paired with Biere d’Art

Indian Flatbread (chile, garlic & potato); toasted lentil, peanut & coconut salad;

Bhindi chutney; warm melon & coconut curry

Pan-Asian Dumpling (Japanese eggplant, shitake mushroom & sunchoke);

Five-spice Kobocha squash puree; fried shallots; Asian pear salad;

Tamarind & Thai chile oil

Intermezzo

Avocado sorbet; black truffle gelee; habanero aspic

Entrée - paired with Baltus O.V.S. ale

Chile Relleno – beer batter fried chile poblano; seitan & pecan asado filling;

Chilhuacle ranchero sauce; pozole & nopales salad;

Cape gooseberries

Exotic Mushroom Black Bean Cake – Hen of the Woods, Clamshell, Shitake & Cauliflower

Mushroom & greens; black bean cake; coconut mashed yams;

“Uncle Junior’s” yellow pepper hempseed Mole; hearts of palm, citrus &

jicama salad; mojo verde

Dessert - paired with Perkuno’s Hammer Imperial Porter

Mole chocolate pinenut brownie; raspberry chipotle sauce; coconut, jalapeno & chocolate

Chunk sorbet; cilantro & mint syrup

Apple pineapple ancho strudel – vanilla pina sauce; mango habanero sorbet; passionfruit

& red pepper caramel

Chef Tucker, author of the menu above, had met the peripatetic Baker at some beer fest, fell in love with Baker’s brews and invited him out to Frisco for the event. Baker and his wife are both vegetarians and jumped at the chance to see how Tom’s brews paired up with the non-meat fare.

Apparently they matched up very well, because Baker was inundated with requests from attendees to send his beer out West. The irony wasn’t lost on Baker, who once claimed that his goal was “to have some guy in California want my beer and not be able to get it.”

Selling his beer in beer-knowledgeable California would certainly give options to help any chef discover the culinary--and monetary--rewards good beer and food pairings can bring. Vegetarian beer dinners are relatively new, and it is likely that more vegetarian-prone chefs will be picking up on this beer dinner’s success. When the vegetarian public begins to pick up on it, beer will have made another important inroad on its quest to enjoy the same status as wine when it comes to food pairing.

But they won’t be able to get Heavyweight beers to match up with their food on a regular basis. One reason is that finding a distributor in the Golden State to handle one Jersey guy’s beer may not be easy. Another is that not many Jersey beers get Left Coast press, though east coast beer lovers read about, know and enjoy the beers of the West often.

For now, Californians will have to hope that some other local chefs will look for this rising star in the east, build a beer dinner series and invite Baker to co-host their event, because, short of coming to Jersey, that’s the only way they’ll get to enjoy Baker’s Brews.

And given his penchant for perambulation, if they build it, Baker will come.

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NEW PRODUCTS - PROMOTIONS – EVENTS – DINNERS:

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REDBONES NORTHWEST BREWERS BANQUETS

Dates: Mon, Nov 18 & Tues, Nov 19, 2002 @ 7:00 PM

Throughout November, Redbones taps a selection of Northwest craft beers rarely available in the East. Two dinners highlight the month. They feature speaker/brewers: Dick Cantwell from Elysian Brewing, Fred Bowman from Portland Brewing, Steve Lovin from Siletz, Fal Allen from Anderson Valley, and Sebbie Buhler from Rogue.

Location:
Redbones
55 Chester Street
Somerville, MA

Admission: $35.00 per person, tax and gratuity included

Reservations: Required. Call 617.628.2200
For information: Call 617.628.2200 or visit www.redbones.com

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GREAT INTERNATIONAL BEER FESTIVAL & GREAT INTERNATIONAL BEER COMPETITION

The Great International Beer Festival and the Great International Beer Competition return to Providence, Rhode Island on November 8 and 9. This year marks the ninth year for the festival and the sixth year for the competition, both held at the Rhode Island Convention Center.

Previously named the Great Northeast International Beer Festival and the Great Northeast International Beer Competition, the two events are greatly expanded in scope this year, bringing in more beers from around the country and around the world. This expansion necessitated the dropping of the word Northeast from the events' names.

The Great International Beer Festival, held on Saturday, November 9, expects to attract approximately 5,000 people during the afternoon and evening sessions. Over 300 beers will be offered from at least 60 breweries.

The Great International Beer Competition, taking place on Friday, November 8, expects to draw several hundred professionally brewed domestic and imported beers and ciders. The beers and ciders will be judged in blind tasting panels by professional brewers. Gold, silver and bronze awards will be awarded in style categories.

Information about the Great International Beer Festival and the Great International Beer Competition is available from Festivals of America: www.click2beers.com , 401-274-3234. Brewing News.com is the media sponsor for both events.

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NOVEMBER

1-3 – 25th PINT Bokbierfestival, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, www.bbf.htm

2 – 4th Annual AHA Teach A Friend to Homebrew Day, Anywhere You Happen To Be,

888-822-6273, www.beertown.org/AHA/

2 – Maine Brewer's Festival, Portland, ME, 207-771-7571, www.mainebrew.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

22-23 – 10th The Great Canadian Beer Festival, Victoria, British Columbia,