New Beer Friday, Beer City USA Edition (May 17)

Preamble by Steve Siciliano

As much as we here at Siciliano’s enjoyed the busyness of the past three weeks—the judging of our annual homebrew competition, our sponsorship of the Big Brew on the Calder, showing celebrated author Stan Hieronymus what a fantastic craft beer culture and a vibrant homebrewing community we have here in West Michigan and, finally, the homebrew seminars last Friday and the 10th Annual Homebrew Party on Saturday—I would be less than honest if I didn’t admit that this past Sunday the Siciliano’s team heaved a huge, collective sigh of relief.

Personally, I felt like a 50-pound bag of 2-row that had been run through our motorized malt mill. But when on Monday we heard that Grand Rapids was voted Beer City USA for another year, this time by a landslide, we all were immediately and magically reenergized—so reenergized, in fact, that we began discussing how we would make next year’s events even better.

Speaking of the annual homebrew competition, I would like to congratulate Michael Carr of the Cass River Homebrew Club for winning Best of Show with his American IPA. Michael plans on purchasing some shiny new Blichmann Engineering equipment with his $500.00 cash prize and will be brewing his winning recipe in the near future at Perrin Brewing.

I can think of no better way of celebrating the repeat honor of being recognized as the best craft beer city in America by toasting and re-toasting the title with one or more of the following new and/or returning beers at Siciliano’s.

New (and Returning) Beers at Siciliano's

• New Belgium Rolle Bolle, $1.69/12oz - "Rolle Bolle is a wonderfully fun Belgian yard game and a delightfully easy summer ale. Brewed with monk fruit and soursop it stays true to the Belgian tradition of playing with beer and all that goes into it. Roll on" (source).
• New Belgium Fat Tire, 1.59/12oz (can) - "Named in honor of our founder Jeff’s bike trip through Belgium, Fat Tire Amber Ale marks a turning point in the young electrical engineer’s home brewing. Belgian beers use a far broader palette of ingredients (fruits, spices, esoteric yeast strains) than German or English styles. Jeff found the Belgian approach freeing. Upon his return, Jeff created Fat Tire and Abbey Belgian Ale, (assuming Abbey would be his big gun). He and his wife, Kim traveled around sampling their homebrews to the public. Fat Tire’s appeal quickly became evident. People liked everything about it. Except the name. Fat Tire won fans is in its sense of balance: toasty, biscuit-like malt flavors coasting in equilibrium with hoppy freshness" (source).
• Atwater Uber Ursa Imperial Pils, $2.89/12oz - "An interpretation of an original pilsener. Clean, strong, dry, and supper hoppy. In Germany this is called an Ur-Pils. Here in America, we call it an Imperial Pils. Brewed with two-row and Cara pils malts, with Magnum Tettnang and Herkules hops" (source).
• Avery Karma Ale,  $1.99/12oz - "We believe in Karma. We suspect most of you do, too. It truly is a global concept. Very simply put, "you get what you give." Inspired by this principle and the wonderful farmhouse and pale ales of Belgium, we've created Karma Ale, a decidedly fruity and estery ale, intricate in body and nose, all driven by a unique Belgian yeast strain. Remember, good things DO happen to good people. Here's to being good!" (source).
• Anderson Valley El Steinber, $2.69/16oz (can) - "Borders. We’ve crossed into uncharted territory with our newest release, El Steinber. In our somewhat unusual take on the style, we add Midnight Wheat malt to give this lager its dark brown color and roasted Indio-Hispano blue corn to lighten the body and create a unique, toasty flavor. German pilsner malt and Saaz hops round out this beer producing a crisp, clean finish and smooth drinkability that is perfect for any occasion" (source).
• Brooklyn Summer Ale, 1.69/12oz - "Brooklyn Summer Ale is a modern rendition of the "Light Dinner Ales" brewed in England throughout the 1800's right up until the 1940's. They were also called "luncheon ales" or even "family ales", because they were refreshing and flavorful without being too heavy. We brew our Brooklyn Summer Ale from premium English barley malt, which gives this light-bodied golden beer a fresh bready flavor. German and American hops lend a light, crisp bitterness and a citrus/floral aroma resulting in a beer with a very sunny disposition. FOOD PAIRING Excellent with salads, seafood, quiches, and lightly spicy dishes. It's also great at a brunch. SPECS Style: English Style Light Dinner Ale Malts: Two Row British Malts Hops: German Perle and American Cascade, Fuggle, and Amarillo Alcohol: 4.5% by volume Original Gravity: 11 Plato" (source).
• Abita Golden Ale, $1.69/12oz - "Abita Golden is a crisp, clean continental lager. Just four ingredients is all it takes: American malt, Mt. Hood hops, German lager yeast and pure Abita spring water. As the name applies, Abita Golden has a brilliant gold color" (source).

Vander Mill Cider | Now in 16oz Cans

• Vander Mill Hard Apple Cider,  $2.99/16oz - "We use a unique blend of Michigan apples to balance acidity and fresh apple flavors. This is a very approachable cider that is lightly carbonated and should be served cold in a pint glass" (source).
• Vander Mill Blue Gold, $2.99/16oz - "This semi-sweet cider has a very well balance of sweetness and acidity. We use our traditional cider as a base and blend in blueberries. This gives Blue Gold its deep and rich color. A very approachable cider for the novice, and refreshing for all" (source).
• Vander Mill Totally Roasted Cider, $2.99/16oz - "This cider was specially made for a draft customer in Grand Rapids, MI.. We are using over 4 lbs. of homemade cinnamon roasted pecans in a 30 gallon batch of this limited edition cider to bring you Totally Roasted. You will notice that soaking pecans in cider brings a unique texture and taste to the drink. We use cinnamon and vanilla during the roasting process and follow that up by adding whole cut vanilla beans to the cider. These subtle tastes certainly make this a cider all it’s own" (source).

Cheers!

Siciliano's Suggests a Six Pack for Summer

A super summer sixer

By Doug Dorda

Lately we hear it more and more: “Hey, can you suggest some summer-y beers?” The requests seem to have been spurred on by the general swath of good weather that we have been seeing over the past weeks. I myself lust for the lazy sun-drenched afternoons, tubing down rivers, extended camping trips, and piling food onto a charcoal grill.

It is no small wonder that people, myself included, take advantage of summer seasonal beer offerings mid-spring in an effort to provide their taste buds with a preview of the season to come. In the spirit of easy strolls on the beach and wild, lingering sunsets, I'm suggesting six of my favorite beers to complement the season of sun.

• Sam Adams Porch Rocker, $1.59/12oz - A wonderfully crisp and refreshing ale that is imbued with the flavor of tart and slightly sweet lemon. An American take on the Bavarian raddler.
• Anderson Valley Summer Solstice, $1.99/12oz - Per their website, “A cream soda for adults.” Enough said. 
• Shiner Ruby Red Bird, $1.49/12oz - If Summer Solstice is a cream soda, this is a ginger ale. Red Bird is packed with thirst quenching ginger and grapefruit that are only too inviting on a hot summers eve.
• Sierra Nevada Summerfest, $1.59/12oz - A no frills, Bohemian-style pilsner that balances earthy hop notes with an exquisite underlying malt nuance.
• New Belgium Shift Pale Lager, $1.59/12oz - It’s hard to describe the beer better than they do in this video.
• Brewery Vivant Farmhand, $2.69/16oz - A farmhouse ale with enough fruity spicy funk to end up drying on the palate while being complex enough to leave the drinker contemplative. 

Bear in mind that this is just one person's suggestions, and I could easily write two more blog posts for two more six packs. I would, however, love to hear from you folks about your favorite summer beers. Please comment with your own six pack suggestions that we might all perhaps discover something new for this summer.

The 10th Annual Homebrew Party: The Boss' Recap

By Steve Siciliano

During the peak of the Homebrew Party last Saturday, Stan Hieronymus walked up to me with a smile on his face and a tasting glass in his hand. I hadn’t seen him for a few hours but I knew he had been busy mingling with the homebrewers, graciously signing both their new and dog-eared copies of Brew Like a Monk, Brewing with Wheat and For the Love of Hops, sharing his encyclopedic knowledge of brewing with them, answering their questions, tasting their homebrewed beer. “This is quite extraordinary,” he said, and then, “How did it all begin?”

I had to think for a moment. It had been ten years since that first party in a Polish Hall on the lower west side. “We thought it would be a good way to bring the homebrewing community together,” I said finally. I just couldn’t think of a better answer.

The party has grown and evolved over the last ten years. It has certainly gotten bigger. I think it has gotten better. But the reason we threw that first party ten years ago remains the same.

This is all about community.

We'll have more pictures from the 10th Annual Siciliano's Homebrew Party in coming days. Stay tuned!

New Beer Friday, Homebrew Seminar & Party Edition (5/10)

Stan Hieronymus

By Chris Siciliano

After hosting a successful event like last weekend's Big Brew on Calder Plaza, you'd think the crew at Siciliano's would take a Saturday off. Not so with this bunch. Another big weekend for area homebrewers kicks off this afternoon (Friday, May 10), with celebrated beer writer Stan Hieronymus signing books at Siciliano's from 3 to 5 p.m.

If you can't make it up to Siciliano's for the signing, don't worry. Stan is also speaking at this year's annual homebrew seminars. The seminars are scheduled to take place from 6 to 10 p.m. tonight in the covered pavilion at Johnson Park in Grand Rapids. Stan and our other speaker, Walter Catton—who is opening a distillery in Holland—will each speak at length and answer questions on their respective areas of expertise.

Enthusiasts interested in attending the seminars are not required to purchase tickets in advance—cost for the seminars is $5 payable at the door. The same is not true for Saturday's 10th Annual Homebrew Party, however. Unfortunately, tickets for this event sold out weeks ago and, at this point, anyone without a ticket will have to wait until next year to attend. If it's any consolation, here's the list of the latest beers to arrive at Siciliano's Market.

New (and Returning) Beers at Siciliano's Market

• Arbor Demetrius Barrel Aged Sour Double IPA, $17.49/750ml - "Arbor Brewing Company is proud to offer this exclusive, limited-edition, hand-packaged and bottle-conditioned ale in the Belgian Aged Pale tradition. Our interpretation of this rare Belgian style was created by aging our Larry Hoppe Double IPA for six months in gueuze-innoculated oak casks and then bottle conditioning for a minimum of two months. The result is a unique ale with a bright golden hue, moderate carbonation, and a burst of complex fruity, spicy, sweet-tart, and earthy flavors, with a quenching acidity in the finish. As with most bottle-conditioned ales, there may be a thin layer of sediment on the bottom of the bottle. For best results, uncork slowly and decant gently into a glass without disturbing the sediment" (source).
• Oberon Mini Kegs, $19.95/5L mini-keg - "The five-litre cans feature a new design every year and have become somewhat of a collector's item. This year's look features a canoe paddling through a waterway that's an amalgamation of Michigan rivers and lakes. The design comes from Kent Elliott, Creative Director at Black Lab Five in downtown Kalamazoo" (source).
• Bardic Wells Apple Clu, $10.49/22oz - "Honey apple wine with hops. Bardic Wells' Clurichaun is a perfect tribute to its mischievous Celtic namesake. With each lightly carbonated sip the combination of honey and hops mystifies the senses. Its potency is wryly belied and by the bottom of the bottle, Clurichaun has elusively worked its magic" (source).
• Bardic Wells Raz Clu, $10.49/22oz - "Honey raspberry wine with hops. Bardic Wells' Clurichaun is a perfect tribute to its mischievous Celtic namesake. With each lightly carbonated sip the combination of honey and hops mystifies the senses. Its potency is wryly belied and by the bottom of the bottle, Clurichaun has elusively worked its magic" (source).
• Vivant Big Red Coq, $2.69/16oz - "Citrus with mango & pineapple notes give way to a big malty character. Made with our house Belgian yeast to give it that Vivant-ness you would expect" (source).
• Right Brain Dead Kettle IPA, $6.49/22oz - "Dead Kettle has a nice hoppy nose with them exploding on the palate. Very refreshing for the hop heads. It’s Dead Kettle, because during the first handful of brews, the kettle would die. So John made due and stumbled onto this. A happy accident. We also got a new guy to fix the burner unit. Oh, dry hops really help" (source).
• Kuhnhenn Simcoe Silly Ale, $5.89/12oz - "This Pale American Belgo style beer was 2010 GABF’s silver medal winner. It has notes of spicy pineapple, mango bubblegum aromas which comes from the unique marriage of a special Bel-gian yeast and an American Simcoe hop. This beer has an initial soft malt sweetness with orange fruitiness and finishes with a hoppy dryness" (source).
• Kuhnhenn Aldebaran, $5.89/12oz - "An Imperial Red IPA made with caramel rye malt and many other exotic malts. Made with very generous quantities of Summit and Newport hops, this beer is quite a balanced treat. Our brewers decided they wanted more out of an IPA so they used a Belgian yeast strain giving it a wonderful Belgian like aroma" (source).
• Unity Vibration Bourbon Peach Kombucha, $7.89/22oz - No commercial description available.
• Unity Vibration Kombucha Pale Ale, $7.19/22oz - "No commercial description available.
• Dogfish Head 61 Minute IPA, $2.89/12oz (2 bottle/person limit) - "The continually hopped India Pale Ale brewed with Syrah grape must" (source).
• Left Hand Twin Sisters Double IPA, $10.09/22oz - "Thanks for purchasing another offering in our series of "Big Mo" Beers. For as long as people have inhabited Colorado’s Front Range, the Twin Sisters have had a strong impact on Colorado residents. The views from atop the 11,428’ peaks are breathtaking and afford sweeping views of the entirety of Rocky Mountain National Park. As an expression of admiration we have crafted an ale that exhibits a profound impact all its own. At 11428 IBU’s (just kidding), Twin Sisters is a mountainous testament to hops, and that they bring. A feeling of ease and relaxation become apparent for all whom would dare to climb it. So for all that enjoy summiting ales with copious hops additions to achieve a felling of contentment and awe, we offer Twin Sisters Double IPA" (source).
• Southern Tier Plum Noir, $9/2922oz - "Plums are a diverse group of species, with somewhere between 19 & 40 varieties depending upon whom you ask. We’re using what we consider to be the best to brew with. the Italian plum has beautiful dark skin & the flesh is perfect for fermentation. Plum Noir’s mild sweetness is derived no necessarily from the many malts we use. A bit of plum flavor is present as well as earthy, toasted grains, & hints of caramel with mild coffee overtones" (source).
• Southern Tier 2xSteam Double Uncommon, $1.99/12oz - "Brewed with 2 varieties of hops and 3 types of malts. ABOUT THE BEER STYLE: Double Uncommon BREWED SINCE: 2013 ABV: 8.0% FERMENTATION: Lager yeast at ale temperature, two varieties of hops, three varieties of malts COLOR: Deep Gold EFFERVESCENCE: Light carbonation NOSE: Earthy, woody, slight mint aroma FLAVOR: Lightly toasted malts with woody and earthy hops, subtle but firm bitterness BITTERNESS: Low BODY: Low-medium SERVING TEMPERATURE: 40-45ºF GLASS: Nonic pint, mug AVAILABILITY: Spring-summer / 12oz (6pk and 24 bottle cases) / Draught CELLARING: 40-45ºF" (source).
• Odd Side Ales Simcoe Sensation, $1.99/12oz - "Session IPA" (source).
• Atwater Traverse City Cherry Wheat, $1.99/12oz - "TC is the cherry capital of the world and now Montmorency Cherries from this colorful town in Michigan’s 'Up North' have made their way into a wheat beer for the ages, for a taste that’s totally cherry" (source).

LO Nuevo Sorbo A Sorbo 2010 Garnacha | Featured Wine

LO Nuevo Sorbo A Sorbo 2010 Garnacha, $10.49/750ml - "Mildly smoked red bell peppers mingle with freshly ripened cherries in a cascade of medium tannins that leave the palate pleasantly dry." (Tasting notes from Doug Dorda and Sarah "Cheetah" Derylo) 

Vote GR for Beer City USA

Let's Lay Claim to the Title of Beer City USA

By Steve Siciliano

Like every Grand Rapidian who is passionate about craft beer,  I am hoping that our town retains the coveted designation of Beer City USA. I’m not going to present a litany of reasons as to why Grand Rapids is more deserving of this honor than the other cities in Charlie Papazian’s poll. Plenty of folks have already done that, sometimes with extreme jingoism and prejudice, in the comments section on the online polling website. While I certainly believe that our city deserves the Beer City USA designation, at the same time I have to admit that there are other cities around the country that are equally worthy of this moniker. Since this is the case, I see no reason why we have to wait to see if the title is once again bestowed on us—we should just simply claim it.

What I’m suggesting has precedents. Detroiters call their city Hockytown despite the fact that each of the other six original NHL cities can also lay claim to that moniker. Tampa is known as Cigar City even though Miami probably produces just as many stogies. There are many cities around the world that are known as “the city of churches.” The lesson is this—if we want our city to be known as Beer City USA we just need to begin calling it Beer City USA.

I believe that all we need to accomplish this is a coordinated marketing campaign. If a few of our more visible businesses and institutions begin changing their names there will be a trickle down effect. I think Beer City Arena has a nice ring to it, as does the Beer City Grand Hotel, Beer City State University and Beer City International Airport. It wouldn’t take long before we would be seeing Beer City Pizza, Beer City Tool and Die, the Beer City Café, etc. Maybe the last three options are more viable.

Let the other cities around the country slug it out each year for the arbitrary title. Grand Rapids will be the real Beer City USA, in part, because we say it is, and mostly, well, because we know it is.

Help render the bossman's argument unnecessary. Vote now for Grand Rapids as Beer City USA for 2013.

Roadbelly: A New Michigan-Centric Foodie Magazine

By Chris Siciliano

We're helping spread the word about Roadbelly, a hip new Michigan-centric foodie magazine currently in the works from a collection of the area's most creative (hungry/thirsty) people. Here's the description from their website:

Roadbelly is about uncovering real, honest food & drink, and telling the stories. A crew of more than 20 creative, award-winning individuals from photographers, writers, editors to illustrators, programmers and designers have committed to launch RoadBelly. We strive to motivate. We hope to inspire. We are for purpose, NOT for profit. You won’t find any ads in here. Roadbelly is awesome chefs and grassroots eats. Slow food, surly brews, meads, and more. So hitch a ride with us as we seek out pure, edible, drinkable joy.

A free, downloadable preview of the magazine—including a story I wrote on bread/baking—is available now on the Roadbelly homepage, with the first full-length print edition coming this summer. Learn more about the Roadbelly mission by watching the video below.

Roadbelly Website Promo from John Boros Productions on Vimeo.

2013 Big Brew Event on Calder Plaza: The Boss' Recap

By Steve Siciliano

The weather was perfect, the truck with the brewing water showed up on time, the buildings surrounding the Calder Plaza are still standing and Coldbreak Brewing’s custom-built six-manifold chilling station worked admirably. In other words, the major concerns that caused me a sleepless night on the eve of the first annual Siciliano’s sponsored Big Brew on Calder Plaza never came to pass. There were a few minor hiccups of course—hiccups are inevitable when putting on an event of this size and scope—but in the coming weeks we’ll do some hindsight evaluation and figure out the ways that we can make the second annual Big Brew at the Calder even better.

As I was visiting with the brewing teams on Saturday I was amazed by how everyone was so excited to be a part of this event. That alone made all the planning, hard work and that sleepless night worthwhile. The Siciliano’s team did the planning but in the end it was the forty-eight brewing teams that should receive the major recognition for making this event what I consider to be a huge success.

I would like to thank Grand Rapids mayor George Heartwell for taking the time to visit with the brewers and for participating in the country-wide toast to the culture of homebrewing.

Special thanks to Boyd Culver and the Coldbreak Brewing team and to Greg Masck for his truly invaluable assistance. We couldn’t have pulled this off without them.

Mashing in

Stay tuned to The Buzz. More photos from the event are coming soon.