Monthly Archives: November 2011

My Antonia

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I last had this at our Octoberfest celebration. I don’t often buy bombers, but my wife has bought me a couple of treats recently.

They say:

My Antonia started out as a Collaboration beer when Sam [Calagione] brewed it at Birra del Borgo outside Rome, Italy with owner/brewer Leonardo DiVencenzo in October of 2008. In 2010, we began brewing My Antonia here at Dogfish Head brewery in Delaware for U.S. distribution.

My Antonia (named after the Willa Cather read), is a continually-hopped imperial pilsner.

It pours a pale straw; what little head there is is white and fizzy. There’s a little chill haze. Slightly floral aroma with a hint of some spice (pepper?). Flavor is bigger than it looks, with a big malt backbone and a bitter finish.

This is good stuff. I’ll be having this again. Soon.

Namaste

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Namaste is a customary greeting from the Indian subcontinent. (You can read all about it at the Wikipedia entry.) It was originally brewed as a collaboration to help raise funds for 3 Fonteinen, which lost a whole bunch of beer that represented about a third of their annual revenue. At the time, Sam Caligione said

The gesture Namaste represents the belief that there is a Divine spark within each of us that is located in the heart chakra. The gesture is an acknowledgment of the soul in one by the soul in another. In other words it is a show of mutual respect and admiration – a great single word summary of the inspiration behind this brew.

Dogfish Head also says about the beer

A Belgian-style White made with dried organic orange slices, fresh cut lemongrass and a bit of coriander. This beer is a great summer quencher.

This is another limited-release brew that my charming wife got for me. It pours a pale, clear yellow with a white, fizzy head. You can definitely smell the coriander and orange in the aroma, but it’s not overpowering. It is light on the tongue, with that classic Belgian white spice and the carbonation.

It’s not my favorite style, and this’d be better in the Summer, but I’d gladly have it again.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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On this day that is far too often associated with gluttony and over-indulgence, we hope that you take some time to reflect on the things for which you are thankful.

The Hop Talk crew is thankful for our families, close friends, and our many blessings. Oh, and beer. Really thankful for beer.

Widmer Brothers Pitch Black IPA

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They say:

Pitch Black IPA takes you to the dark side with our take on Cascadian dark ale. Debittered black malt lends a midnight hue along with rich, toasty malt flavor. Generous doses of alchemy and cascade hops provide a complex herbal aroma and subtle citrus note, balanced perfectly by a smooth Widmer Brothers finish. Embrace the dark side.

Black IPA, or Cascadian dark ale, is the latest fad on the craft beer scene. Not quite a hoppy porter, too dark for an IPA, it’s a new style and not without a little controversy.

But don’t beer people love to argue about beer styles?

It pours a deep brown with ruby highlights, but somehow not as “thick” as a porter or stout. Aroma is subtle, with some roastiness. Hop aroma is light. Medium body. Flavor has some more roastiness but is offset nicely by the hops. The flavor gets a bit richer as it warms.

I don’t know if I’d make this a regular selection, but I’d gladly have it again.

Widmer Brothers Pitch Black IPA

Bud Light Platinum

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Last week news came out about an addition to the Bud Light line: Bud Light Platinum. An (apparently) long-rumored higher-alcohol version, ostensibly to grab on to some of that craft beer cachet. Rumor says it’ll be 6% ABV, where most of your industrial-brewed light lagers are 4½-5%.

Huh?

I…what?

Okay, this just doesn’t make any sense. Every craft beer fan I know will practically run screaming (or laughing) from anything that says “Bud Light” on the label. At least with the faux craft beers (Shock Top!) they’d catch people who didn’t know any better. Then again, the faux craft beers they’ve come up with so far are at least better than their usual offerings. Why not do more of that? I can only think of two rational reasons to do this. One is to keep people who might be considering jumping ship to craft beer for the higher alcohol content from going that way. I mean, to someone used to (ahem) American Light Lagers, barley wines must be especially scary. The other, and more likely I think, is that some people are looking more alcohol content, and are considering wine or spirits. They’d rather stay with beer, but don’t want to associate with malt liquors.

Interestingly, all of the comments on that article basically call it a stupid idea. (Maybe that’s normal for Ad Age; I wouldn’t know.) My favorite quote from the comments: “I’ll stick to a nice 9-10% IPA. Sorry, my desire for good craft beer overrules my marketing expertise. Plain and simple … brew a better product. I do like the Clydesdales though.”

Seriously, what the heck is going on here? I’d love to hear some other analysis.

Seattle Fishmongers and Henry Weinhard’s

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Seeing this offer to catch some fish at Pike’s caught my eye and made me miss Seattle. If you’re out there, I dare you to give it a try and say those guys at Hop-Talk made me do it!

From November 1, 2011 through February 29, 2012, Henry’s fans from across the Pacific Northwest will have the ability to enter for a chance to catch fish at Pike Place, by texting the word “CATCH” to 90464 or entering through the Henry Weinhard’s Facebook page.  Ten finalists will be announced in March, 2012 and will have a chance to catch fish alongside real life fishmongers at Pike Place Fish Market in May.  In addition to a trip to Pike Place Fish Market, “Today’s Catch” finalists who complete a “six-pack” of catches will win a year’s supply of Henry Weinhard’s, awarded in the form of a prepaid card.  For complete rules, visit the Henry Weinhard’s page on Facebook.

I’d love to try Henry Weinhard’s new IPA but I have not seen it on the east coast. (not sure if it has enough IBU’s anyway). If you’re out in Seattle, go visit all the great pubs out there and let me know your favorite.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hops data – suitable for framing

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Who doesn’t love a good infographic? I love ‘em. Any time someone can take dry statistics and turn them into a compelling graphical representation has really got something.

A guy who’s got that something is Zeke Shore, a graphic designer by trade, and a home brewer.  He’d been working on some data visualization that would illustrate the oil and acid content of hops to develop better recipes. After a couple of years of refinement he’s “done”.

The result is a beautiful chart showing bitterness and flavors/aromas. He’s making it available as a 24″ × 36″ print on natural white textured paper. Put it in a frame and you have a wonderful gift for the home brewer in your life. (The holidays are fast approaching, after all.)

Hops Chart - Visualizing Bitterness Flavors & Aromas of Beer Brewing Hops

Regular alcohol consumption linked to increased cancer risk

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Here we go again. Now it appears that if you’re a regular to heavy drinker, you have more chance of developing cancer. And not just a single type, either. Alcohol has been linked to cancer of the breast, liver, colon, pancreas, mouth, throat, larynx, esophagus, and (recently) lungs.

For some of these cancers, such as lung, larynx and colorectal, the cancer risk only sets in when people drink heavily—three or four drinks a day on a regular basis. But just one drink a day raises the risk for cancers of the mouth and esophagus, several studies show.

And the risk of breast cancer starts to rise with as few as three drinks a week, according to the U.K.’s Million Women Study, one of more than 100 studies linking alcohol consumption and breast cancer.

Wall Street Journal: Raising the Chance of Some Cancers With Two Drinks a Day (‘ware the WSJ.com paywall!)

Will this make me drink less beer? Probably not. Just like when there was a study that showed that moderate consumption of alcohol reduced the risk of heart disease, I didn’t start drinking more.

In all things: moderation.