New Beer Friday - August 31 Edition

By Chris Siciliano

In all the years I worked the floor at Siciliano's there was one beer-related question that was asked exponentially more than any other: "Do you guys have that beer from Colorado, Fat Tire I think it's called?" Used to be we could only say, "Sorry, no, it's not available east of the Mississippi." As of Monday we can finally say, "Actually, yes, we have plenty."

That feels pretty good and tastes even better. It also leaves a void to be filled by another question. My guess is it will be this one: "Do you guys have that beer from California, Pliny the Younger I think it's called?"

Not yet we don't. But judging from the current trend, maybe it's only a matter of time.

New (and Returning) Beer

• New Belgium Fat Tire, $3.99/22oz - "Named in honor of our co-founder's bike trip through Europe, 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. Together with co-founder, Kim Jordan, they traveled around sampling their homebrews to the public. Fat Tire won fans with its sense of balance: toasty, biscuit-like malt flavors coasting in equilibrium with hoppy freshness" (source).
• New Belgium Red Hoptober, $3.99/22oz - "Fall is here and with it our seasonal ale, Red Hoptober. Shining like autumn leaves in a globe glass this beer pours a dark and lovely garnet as it builds a bright, inviting head. The Eldorado hops are bold and present with a distinct, piney flavor while the caramel malt and roasted barley provide a backbone to stand Red Hoptober upright. Centennial and Cascade hops offer hints of citrus, tickling the nose, while the tongue carries a subtle, roasty tone that pairs pleasantly with the warming bite of bitter. Red Hoptober is perfect for shortening days and campfire nights" (source).
• New Belgium Ranger IPA, $3.99/22oz - "Bring out the hops! This clear amber beauty bursts at the starting gate with an abundance of hops: Cascade (citrus), Chinook (floral/citrus), and Simcoe (fruity) lead off the beer, with Cascade added again for an intense dry hop flavor. Brewed with pale and dark caramel malts that harmonize the hop flavor from start to finish, Ranger is a sessionable splendor for all you hopinistas" (source).
• New Belgium Trippel, $3.99/22oz - "Our Trippel Belgian Style Ale (pronounced triple) opens with a bold blast of hops that slowly gives way to the fruity esters implied by our Belgian yeast strain. In the Belgian tradition of brewing singles, doubles and triples, Trippel is the strongest with the longest fermentation. Remarkably smooth and complex, our bottle-conditioned Trippel is spiced with a trace of coriander" (source).
• New Belgium Shift Pale Lager, $2.29/16oz can - "New Belgium employee-owners work in shifts to brew to life world-class beers. Those efforts are rewarded daily with a shared end-of-shift beer. We’re passing that welcomed occasion onto consumers in this lightly-hopped Shift Pale Lager. From work to play, from bottle to can, from bold and heavy to refreshing and sessionable; Shift salutes the shift in occasion, package and beer. So, go ahead and get your Shift beer, you’ve earned it" (source).
• Kuhnhenn Braggot, $9.69/12oz - "Gold to amber color. Strong earthy honey aroma, medium sweetness, honey dominates over the malt character. Pours a nice head. This mead is made from Michigan Star Thistle honey. Braggot is made from 2/3 honey and 1/3 malt. It required 1 year of aging for this mead to reach maturity. This Braggot will handle age beautifully. We recommend you try a bottle today and an aged one in a few more years. This mead is carbonated naturally in the bottle, so there will be a yeast sediment int he bottom. Recommended serving temperature is 50 F. This example is one of just a few Braggots available in the world" (source).
• Dogfish Head Punkin, $2.59/12oz - "A full-bodied brown ale with smooth hints of pumpkin and brown sugar. We brew our Punkin Ale with pumpkin meat, organic brown sugar and spices. As the season cools, this is the perfect beer to warm up with" (source).
• Harpoon Pumpkin UFO, $1.69/12oz - "Imagine a pumpkin vine wound its way in a field of barley, and a brewer harvested it all to make a beer. Add Northwestern hops and a blend of spices, and you’ve got UFO Pumpkin. The malt combination provides a smooth body and slightly sweet flavor, which balances perfectly with the earthy notes derived from the pure pumpkin. And like all of our UFO beers, UFO Pumpkin is unfiltered so all the wonderful flavors are right there in your glass" (source).
• Breckenridge Autumn Ale, $1.79/12oz - "Our fall seasonal combines the malty goodness of a German lager with the clean crispness of an American ale. Brewed with Munich malts and a delicate blend of Bavarian hops, it's a full-bodied treat with a nutty-sweet middle, a warming alcohol level and notes of toasted grains. A pre-winter winner" (source).
• Arcadia Jaw Jacker Ale, $1.79/12oz - "Jaw-Jacker balances our finest malted barley with a bit-o-wheat and is complimented with a citrus hop kick and just the right amount of cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice for a nice marriage of pumpkin pie and beer. Made in the fall to celebrate the changing of the season" (source).
• Jolly Pumpkin De Viento, $15.79/25oz - "A dark and smoky sour Saison full of rich aromatic coffee and the spicy heat of a secret Algerian spice blend. Proceeds go to the Dexter Relief Fund" (source).
• Sierra Nevada Tumbler, $1.59/12oz - "As the nights grow cool, the leaves on the valley oaks begin to turn and fall. In honor of this yearly dance, we bring you Tumbler Autumn Brown Ale and invite you to enjoy the show. We use malt within days of roasting at the peak of its flavor to give Tumbler a gracefully smooth malt character. So pour a glass, and grab a window seat to watch as the leaves come tumbling down" (source).
• St. Ambroise Pumpkin, $2.59/12oz - "Brewed with victory malt and has a less pronounced hop profile that allows the spices to come to the fore and contributes to a harmonious, balanced brew. September to December" (source).

Picture of the Week

Sierra Nevada Brewery brass kettles
(Read the account of the Boss' trip to SN by clicking here)

Cheers!

Greetings from Beer Camp

By Steve Siciliano

Last week Barb and I accompanied Siciliano’s Homebrew Contest 2012 Best-of-Show winner Russ Smith on a three-day visit to the Sierra Nevada Brewery in Chico, California. Russ and fellow Muskegon Ottawa Brewers (MOB) member Tim Borreson participated in Sierra Nevada’s 87th Beer Camp during which they and fellow campers designed and brewed a beer that they named “On The Rocks Scotch Ale.” (Hot rocks were immersed in the boiling kettle.) We should be seeing a few kegs of this creation in our market within the coming months. While Barb and I did not attend Beer Camp we were given a tour the brewery’s state of the art facilities and were treated to exceptional food and outstanding beer in Sierra Nevada’s taproom and restaurant.

After flying into Sacramento, we set off on the hour and a half car ride up to Chico. We had time to kill so Tim used his phone to search for a brew pub and we found one in Yuba City. Sutter Buttes Brewing takes its name from the Sutter Buttes, a range of eroded volcanic lava domes that abruptly rise above the flat plains of the northern Sacramento Valley just west of Yuba City. We were all impressed with this little brewery’s solid beers and excellent sandwiches.

When we arrived in Chico, we checked into our hotel then immediately made the short drive to Sierra Nevada where we met up with Russ and Tim’s fellow brewers and the SN employees who run the two-day camp. While sipping a pint of Kellerweis in the pub portion of the taproom/restaurant I surveyed the large, high-ceilinged room. Elegant may be a word that seems incongruous when describing a brewery’s taproom; nevertheless it appropriately depicts the atmosphere created by the beveled stained glass, polished copper and dark oak.

But while the taproom and restaurant are indeed elegantly appointed the atmosphere is anything but stuffy. The casually dressed, eclectic crowd was a mix of tourists and locals and among the folks enjoying a pint in the pub were Sierran Nevada owner Ken Grossman, his brother Steve, and head brewer Steve Dresler. Later that evening we all gathered in the adjoining restaurant where we were treated to more Sierra Nevada taproom offerings and an excellent dinner.

The next day after lunch in the restaurant Barb and I along with Kent Beverage sales rep Jim Paauwe and his wife Vickie were given a tour of the brewery. Sierra Nevada is currently the sixth largest brewing company in the United Sates, a fact that was underscored by the two hours it took us to walk through the extensive facilities (stopping occasionally, of course, to sample from the bright tanks). Everything about the state of the art brewery was impressive—the huge mash tuns and the gleaming copper kettles, the immense stainless steel fermenters, the seemingly endless rows of bright tanks and the high-tech bottling and packaging lines. That evening we attended a concert in The Big Room, the brewery’s onsite live music venue, where we enjoyed another delicious meal and, of course, more pints of Sierra Nevada beer.

On Friday, while Russ and Tim were brewing with their fellow campers, we took a day trip with the Paauwes to LaRocca Vineyards, a family-run, totally organic winery (no chemicals, no added sulphites) located in the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas. We were warmly greeted by patriarch Phil LaRocca who gave us a brief tour of his small facility and then brought us out to a high-sloping vineyard planted with cabernet sauvignon and pinot noir. It is indeed a wonderful experience for a home winemaker to taste varietal grapes you pluck from the vine while listening to the winemaking philosophy of a twenty-five year professional. Afterwards we sat on Phil’s wooden front porch, looked out at the vineyards and tasted his excellent wines. Three hours later we were still looking, and still tasting the wine.

Local Group Protests Beer Labels, Names

In this photo from Buzz archives
people wait in line for KBS, NOT to protest.

By Joseph P. Sprinklehead, roving Buzz reporter and resident satirist. In other words, the dude who makes stuff up.

Grand Rapids, Michigan - A spokesperson for The Association Dedicated to the Eradication of Naughty Words from Craft Beer Labels (ADENWCBL) has announced that members of the national organization will be holding a demonstration this Saturday outside a popular Grand Rapids brewery.

Maurice Potter, head of the West Michigan chapter of the ADENWCBL, said yesterday that members from chapters from all across the country will be gathering outside Founders Brewing's Grandville Avenue location to protest the brewery’s use of “highly objectionable words” on one of its bestselling beer labels.

“There’s absolutely no reason why they have to use dirty words to market their product,” Potter said in a phone interview, noting that companies such as Anheuser-Busch and MillerCoors have enjoyed great success with their portfolios of inoffensively named brands. “Look at Bud, Miller, Coors, Keystone and Natural Light. Those are all clean, wholesome names. I could go on and on.”

Potter said he understands why a brewery would want to use a unique name to draw attention to a product but believes there are plenty of non-offensive words in the English language with which to do this. “I get the whole marketing thing,” he said. “In fact I took a couple of courses at an online university.” He suggested that Founders could change Dirty Bastard to “Grubby Person Born of Unmarried Parents” and Raging Bitch, a beer produced by Maryland’s Flying Dog Brewery, could be changed to “Seething Female Canine” with no adverse effects.

Tuesday Review: Glenkinchie 12 & Isle of Jura Superstition

By John Barecki

Before getting into specifics, I would first like to touch on some facts about the general regions where Scotch whisky comes from. There are five distinct areas (as well as Campbeltown, which is hard to get) where whisky is made: the Highlands, Lowlands, Speyside, Islands and Islay. Each individual place adds different characteristics presented by the terroir, or land features, usually in the way of air, water, ground, plant life and so on. I will start with my favorite at the moment, Islay.

Situated off the mainland, this island of Islay hosts eight different distilleries that create for the most part a high octane flavourful whisky that usually has a medicinally, peat-smoke-filled palate accompanied by a balanced malt note and a bit of brininess brought on by aging by the sea in open-air facilities (ex. Laphroaig, Ardbeg, Lagauvulin).

Next we have the Highlands, which encompass the north, west and east of the mainland. Whisky from here can have a wide variety of tastes that include dry to sweet as well as a touch of smoke and peat. A few good distilleries in this area include Glenmorangie, Dalmore and Edradour. Moving on, Speyside is the largest in the way of sheer numbers, holding half of all Scotland's distilleries. This area produces a mellow, sweet, and particularly fruity malt and is home to the Macallan and Glenfiddich. The Islands and Lowlands are the final two of the bunch and are both part of my Scotch review this week.

The Islands are similar to the Highlands in that they can range from light and sweet to malty and peat smoked, but predominately balanced (ex. Highland Park, Isle of Jura). The Lowlands are interesting in that they employ a triple distillation method used only by a handful of whisky makers in the world, Jameson and Woodford Reserve to name a couple. The malts produced are light and smooth, usually having a floral, grassy taste with subtle delicate aromas (ex. Auchentoshan and Glenkinchie). The two malts I will be touching on in this review are the Glenkinchie 12 year and the Isle of Jura Superstition. Both superb examples from their separate regions, and both very enjoyable.

The Glenkinchie 12 Year ($59.95) is made in the outlying farmland around Edinburgh and is the replacement for the original 10 Year. Bringing a more mature whisky to the palate, it's a typical Lowland whisky in that it is fresh and light in character. The nose is full of grist and fresh grain character with some subtle sweetness. On the palate it is quite smooth which is typical to most triple distilled whiskies: a nice light pear with notes of lemon, some cereal grain and a bit of grassy taste (in a good way). The finish has just the slightest hint of peat and is followed by an absolutely lovely apple brandy taste that lingers until you wash it back with another sip. This is a great before and after dinner dram and a great introduction to the world of single malts.

Isle of Jura Superstition ($56.98) has an Egyptian ankh symbol on the bottle which roughly translated means eternal life. The superstition goes that if you pour your dram with the ankh in the center of your palm you will be granted good health and fortune. The whisky itself is a blend of single malts of various ages all three to eight years old, but they throw in a touch of 20 plus year old to create depth and complexity. The whisky pours a golden amber, floating a dessert-like aroma full of caramel and sweet cereal notes with cinnamon and just a slight smoke peeking through at the end. On the palate it is well rounded, frosted spice cake with dark fruit and a light underlying white pepper. With water added it subsides into the young bare bones reflected in the barley flavors reminiscent of a wee heavy or young barley wine. The finish holds on just enough to make you go back for more.

Michigan Beer Cup, Recap

The Michigan Beer Cup & Homebrew Festival took place August 16-19, 2012. Here's our official recap of events.

Photo courtesy of the
MI Homebrew Fest Facebook page

By Greg 'Swig' Johnson

To fill the void left by the Michigan State Fair, several Michigan homebrew clubs and businesses have stepped in and stepped up to create the Michigan Beer Cup. Now in its third year, this is a great competition for homebrewers across the state to bring forth their best efforts and to get them in front of judges. 

Siciliano's is proud to be a part of the sponsorship for this contest as well as the resulting homebrew festival, which, speaking from experience, is a blast to attend. Think Siciliano's Annual Homebrew Party and then multiply by ten since this festival spans several days with camping and more beer from more people and even more homebrew clubs.

Generally speaking, it's an exciting time in the Michigan craft beer world. Grand Rapids is tied with Ashville, NC for Beer City USA, seemingly countless breweries are opening all around the peninsulas, and every day brings more homebrewers to the hobby all of whom are helping to advance the craft. We are extremely proud to be a part of the homebrewing and craft beer movement and look forward to even grander events to be hosted in Michigan.

With all that said, I would love point out the winners and honorable mentions from the West Michigan area. I hope I spotted them all. (For the complete list, go to this website.) But first we will honor the overall awards.

Michigan Beer Cup - Overall Award Winners

MBC Club of the Year 

Kuhnhenn Guild of Brewers 

Best of Show, Beer 

Tom Lebel

Miss the Buss Common, 07-B California Common 

Best of Show, Ciders 

Jeff Carlson

Westside New England Cider, 28-A New England Cider 

Best of Show, Meads 

Mike Winnie

Beam Mead, 26-C Open Category Mead 

West Michigan Honorees (Club affiliation in parentheses)

Jeff Carlson (Primetime Brewers) 

Peach Ridge Cider, 27-A Common Cider - 2nd Siver 

Westside New England Cider, 8-A New England Cider - 1st Gold 

Westside Cherry Cider, 28-B Fruit Cider - 2nd Silver 

Sweet Heat Jalapano Cider, 28-D Other Specialty Cider or Perry – Honorable Mention 

Westside Atomic Cider, 28-D Other Specialty Cider or Perry – Honorable Mention 

John Applegarth (Primetime Brewers) 

Common Perry – 27-D Common Perry - 1st Gold 

Joel Kamp & Chris Carr (Muskegon Ottawa Brewers) 

Berlin Burb, 23-A Specialty Beer - 3rd Bronze 

Brent Zomerlei (Primetime Brewers) 

London Calling, 08-C Extra/Special Strong Bitter – Honorable Mention 

Ross Ziegenthaler (Muskegon Ottawa Brewers): 

Willows Old Nessy, 09-C Scottish Export 80/- – Honorable Mention 

Chad Zomerlei (Primetime Brewers) 

60 Shilling Ale, 09-A Scottish Light 60/- – Honorable Mention 

Stoned Porter, 12-B Robust Porter – Honorable Mention 

Jason Warnes (Brewsquitos) 

10-A American Pale Ale – Honorable Mention 

23-A Specialty Beer - 1st Gold 

Dave Secord & Kevin Christensen (Yeast Coasters) 

14-C Imperial IPA – Honorable Mention 

14-B American IPA – Honorable Mention 

Joel Kamp (Muskegon Ottawa Brewers) 

Wild Chunky Monkey, 16-E Belgian Specialty Ale – Honorable Mention 

Super Freak Stout, 23-A Specialty Beer – Honorable Mention 

Troy Redder (Muskegon Ottawa Brewers) 

Squirrel Killer Saison, 16-C Saison – Honorable Mention 

Kevin Christensen & Trevor Delabare (Yeast Coasters) 

B3, 18-C Belgian Tripel – Honorable Mention 

I would like to take this moment to congratulate all who participated. Awards or no, your participation helps to ensure that events like this continue to to happen in the future. I especially would like to commend those who received medals: your diligence and due process has proven fruitful. I tried to list all who were mentioned from West Michigan. However, if I have missed someone from our region, please inform me and we'll update the list.

For more information on these awesome events, please check out the links below:

• Michigan Homebrew Festival Website
• Michigan Beer Cup Website

Finally, a big thanks to all the organizers for putting this even together. Thank you for your continuing and relentless commitment to homebrewing in the state of Michigan.

New Beer Friday - August 24 Edition

iPod, Siciliano's style

By Chris Siciliano

Anybody who's been by the store lately will have maybe noticed the Pod sitting pretty in the back parking lot. We'll leave it up to you our loyal readers to devine the Pod's true purpose at Siciliano's, though the least we can do is give you some options from which to choose. See below for your list of choices, all eminently believable, but only one of which is true.

The Pod is there because (a) we need more room to store all that extra product we intend to sell during our annual homebrew sale; (b) Siciliano's is moving to the small town of Rye, PA, where the streets are awash with the slightly spicy, hoppy brew after which (we believe) the town is named; (c) in an effort to devote himself completely to the pursuit of homebrew, one obsessive homebrewer has set up camp in the back parking lot; or (d) the Pod is empty, an elaborate ruse set-up only for the purpose of this New Beer Friday.

Any guesses which (if any) is true?

New (and Returning) Beer

• Lagunitas Imperial Stout, $4.79/22oz - "Dark and thick like your favorite dessert with a Bonus. Highly roasted malted barley, and plenty of it, gives the beer uncommon richness and smoky, roasty depth… kinda like a hydraulic sandwich in a glass" (source).
• Harpoon 100 Barrel Series #43 - White IPA, $6.69/22oz - "Citrus and floral hop notes complement this refreshing, slightly spicy beer" (source).
• Harpoon Octoberfest, $1.49/12oz - "Several malts, including Munich and chocolate, deliver the malty character. The delicate hop aroma is not overpowering and the Willamette hops provide a gentle bitterness which balance well with the residual sweetness" (source).
• Avery The Kaiser Imperial Octoberfest Lager, $8.19/12oz - "The Kaiser once said, 'Give me a woman who loves beer and I will conquer the world.' If the Kaiser and his significant other had tipped this bottle, we’d all be 'sprechenden Deutsch!' We took all that is good in a traditional Oktoberfest – gorgeous, deep copper sheen, massive malty backbone and spicy, floral, pungent noble hops – then intensified each into this, an Imperial Oktoberfest" (source).
• Southern Tier Harvest, $1.69/12oz - "Harvest Ale is our celebration of the changing weather and the sowing of hops and barley that will be used in our upcoming brews. We usher in the fall with a classic English style Extra Special Bitter of the highest order. Deep ruby in color with an even deeper hop flavor… in fact, we throw fresh English hops into every brewing vessel, then dry hop after fermentation to impart a zesty kick. This beer has real hop character that mingles with fresh malted barley for an experience that will make you wish it were fall year ‘round" (source).
• Southern Tier Phin & Matt Extraordinary Ale, 1.69/12oz - "A beer so fresh and tasty the duo put their names on it" (source).
• New Holland Ichabod Pumpkin, $1.79/12oz - "Ichabod combines malted barley and real pumpkin with cinnamon and nutmeg in a delicious and inviting brew. A rewarding complement to many dishes, Ichabod pairs well with autumnal foods such as poultry and root vegetables. After dinner, try it with your favorite dessert!" (source).
• Atwater Blocktoberfest, $1.69/12oz - "Brewed with 100% German malt for a rich taste and amber color" (source).
• Point Oktoberfest, $1.19/12oz - "Originally brewed a couple hundred years ago to celebrate the betrothal of the Crown Prince of Bavaria, we’re helping keep the tradition alive by brewing it every fall for all of our royal/loyal followers. We continue the celebration by traditionally brewing this special malty amber lager in August and September. Blue Point Brewing’s Oktoberfest lager is stored cold for two months to ensure its distinct smooth flavor" (source).

Picture of the Week

Beer Camp, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co,
Chico, CA 

Cheers!

Learning Tradition at Great Lakes Traditional Arts Gathering

By John Barecki

Two weeks ago my now-fiance and I experienced the Great Lakes Traditional Arts Gathering (GLTAG) on Drummond Island on the east side of the upper peninsula. This program has been going on for close to 20 years in the hopes of keeping traditional teachings alive. In past years, the event was held on Bois Blanc Island just east of the Mackinaw bridge. Just this year they have acquired the land on Drummond and will be there for at least five years.

If you go to the event's website, it reads "Celebrating our Region’s Rich Heritage through Meaningful Learning Experiences," and if you truly immerse yourself in this world you will come away with an adventure of a lifetime. Besides being on one of our beautiful islands of the Great Lakes, you have your pick of classes specializing in one of the following: finding and identifying food and medicine in the plants around you; historic technology and crafts; metal, fiber and textile arts; language and oral traditions (this year's native tongue was of the Anishinaabe people). There are also classes in using nature as your building materials (for birch bark canoes, for example), wilderness navigation and weather prediction, and an introduction to falconry, just to name a few.

The program lasts four days and they pack in a lot information. Each class could easily take up the entire day, but the instructors take in the allotted people and allow anyone to sit in and listen. The island itself is gorgeous and very easy to navigate, with a portion of Alvar landscape to the north. Alvar is a type of landscape made up of limestone plains and is only found in four other areas on the planet; it supports a handful of plant species that only exists there. While in the area, we tracked down the fossil ledges on the lakeshore which do in fact hold fossils of corals and other lifeforms from another time a breathtaking sight. This is where I proposed. [Editor's note: Congratulations, John and Rachael!]

Overall the things we experienced, the people we met, and the new friends we made are enough to make us participants for life. I can fully recommend this to anyone that has any interest in where we came from as a people and how we can better ourselves in something meaningful.