Holiday Stout Series (Dark Horse Brewing)

    So in northern Virginia we only have three suppliers of beer that we can sell so far, Dark Horse Brewery, Twisted Pine Brewing, and Innis and Gunn. In the Richmond market out craft department does so much with the local that these brands just don't pop when I think about what beers we carry. Around town, a lot of the retailers don't carry all of the core items, they just carry the ones they want. Stores also organize their specialty departments by style and seasonality which makes it impossible to establish a brand outside of a huge display. When brewers like Dark Horse provide something with a limited quantity, everyone wants it. We call these people cherry pickers, and they are bad for the business. Beers like this stout series are a gift from the brewery to the retailers and customers who have supported them all year. Dark Horse probably keeps production low on these beers because of the cost involved and risk of what it would mean to not sell through the production.

I will swap this picture out once I get all 5

    Dark Horse is the second horse in the race in the great state of Michigan. Founders (also from Michigan) has a well established reputation for producing quality beers, and is best know for their stouts . . Uh oh! So the stout series is a five part set and I plan on saving one of each until I have them all. Every month since October a new flavor has emerged each slightly better than it's prior. Haley and I both agree that the blueberry is going to be a tough one to top. This month the Smoked Stout should be coming out, and in February the plead the fifth comes out. I am glad I picked these up, they are great. The pulse in town is all about IPA's with enjoy by, lagunitas sucks, and hop slam hitting stores, but I appreciate what dark horse has done here. Check them out at www.darkhorsebrewery.com

Craft Beer Bar Mitzvah (A book review)

     I appreciate every single person involved in the brewing, marketing and distribution of all types of beer. Since prohibition is has been a business with many hurdles and obstacles that have been dealt by many. Those who have dealt with them the best have come out the other side as pretty successful business men, who can honestly claim a labor of passion. In the following review of this book and brewery I am trying to focus on the positive points I found from reading this book while drinking these beers. L'Chaim!

    I picked up a Jewbelation 16 this year after reading and hearing about it from several different sources. It was not the first beer I have had from Schmaltz Brewing but it was the first one that really got my attention, so I got on the Internet and looked up their website. I found this book listed there, so I made a purchase as an investment towards my beer career. 

    The book began as a story of a man fresh out of college looking for the solution to his unemployment, and lack of passion for the work that has survived him so long. He hadn't really much of a craft beer experience or opinion but the scene around him in California was electric at the time. Jeremy Cowan figured if he could come up with clever shtick, or marketing he could create a brand that could maybe provide an income. He quickly learned the beer business the hard way, by making a lot of mistakes. It seemed he was so sure the gimmick would sell that he couldn't hit the curve balls of not having well backed marketing support, or industry experience in Hop crisis or Keg crisis. He had all of his beers brewed by other companies who could help him. His early luck by landing Anderson Valley as a brewer may have been the only thing that got him through to today. 

   The logistics of running a brewery are more easily realized by a person who has their hands in more of the total business. You have to have a good idea of best case and worst case scenario when racking up serious credit card debt to try to get a brewery off the ground. A wholesaler can be your biggest asset in helping you get the most out of your marketing dollar, and believe me they aren't making but a small percentage themselves off your product. 

     The best thing that happened to Hebrew brewing was the extreme beer movement. This movement really pushes the needle on what is acceptable as beer. Some of these ales are 30% alcohol and taste like gasoline. Jewbelation is the anniversary ale that is made every year around Christmas and is as potent as the celebrated year. It however is a good beer for aging, being very boozy.

      My honest opinion is that Jeremy Cowan has put the work in to complain about his string of bad luck, but as a consumer, I don't want to hear it. There are new breweries popping up everyday, and they have a lot of plans based on the strength and weaknesses of what have come before them. "Cowboy up!" like Butch says, pull your cowboy hat down over your ears and you boots up. Those of us on the distributor side wouldn't be caught dead without our six shooters.

Long Strange Tripel (Boulevard Brewing)

    It is indeed a long strange trip and this new work endeavor is just another leg of it. I am now subjecting myself to even earlier mornings and longer days with a lot more driving to the great white, concrete north. Yes, Nova, the area that as a Richmond native I have dared not to venture in the first thirty years of my life. The legend speaks of a land of rude business types in a hurry, chasing that golden ring, blind to the rat like maze they are stuck in and part of. There are so many different nationalities that communicating has become difficult. The weaving streets and loops of interstate are just stupid, especially when behind the wheel of a box truck. The saving grace for me is the variety and scale of the craft beer scene. I also enjoy being 90 miles from my accounts on weekends.

    I did a sort of dry run, went to the area just to see what product was in the market and meet some retailers. My eyes were wide open to brightly colored packages and names I have never heard before. I needed some assistance and asked around the warehouse what to look for that was only available in NOVA. The one beer that everyone mentioned was Boulevard Brewing. Boulevard is known for being one of the biggest breweries in the mid-west. It has been in existence since 1989 which would make it the awkward younger brother of the Pioneer breweries of the early 80's. I like 750ml bottles and the smokestack series is there for me.I have to admit that this tripel was very true to style and well balanced. I recently drank a #3 Stingo English ale, which was a departure from what is typically found on your grocers shelves. My judgement is still under review. I may have to drink my way through their entire portfolio, if that's even possible. Get online and check out all their offerings at http://www.boulevard.com

Christmas Ale (Anchor Steam Brewing)

Due to a promotion at work, I no longer have the small laptop that I used for this blog. Hopefully I can adapt to this change but entries may not be as frequent.
For Christmas I had a few beers in mind to try. I went to total wine, once upon a vine and finally to Libbie market. I was able to get all of the beers I had been looking for in one stop. It was a little last minute shopping. I bought some big bottle goose island stuff and two magnums of Christmas Ale by Anchor Steam.
I had secretly been harboring negative feelings about this beer for years but my new found respect for the old timers allowed this purchase. This is the 38th year that anchor has made this ale. Every year the ale recipe gets tweaked a little, and the tree on the bottle changes. It was a medium bodied beer that had a nutty almost piney flavor. I shared it with 4 people and they all liked it. It makes a good gift, and will be a regular holiday treat in my house. Read more about their history at www.anchorbrewing.com!

Smartmouth Brewing Company (Norfolk Va.)

    Norfolk now has to make room for two local breweries. Smartmouth brewing got off the ground in November of 2012. The principal owner, porter, left his career in law to get more serious with his hobby of home brewing. He is extremely modest about his experience making beer but has a good sense in what a brewery and tasting room should look like. The tasting room is contemporary simple and industrial. Smartmouth already has a line of merchandise including t-shirts, hats, magnets, and growlers. They even offer an aluminum insulated growler with flip top. The core beer line up includes a IPA, an amber, and a saison. These beers have found several on premise homes in Norfolk, as the big chalk board at the tasting room shows over 40 taps in the market. 

  

      The location of this new brewery is convenient to those leaving work in the city or heading out from the ODU campus. The parking was very limited and the seating situation the weekend before Christmas was sparse. There didn't appear to be room for music, outdoor seating or a food truck. It has been these things that have grown Hardywood into the place to be, on a mild winter or cool summer evening. I also would like to see more variety in what they brew. All of the beers they currently produce are known for the hop flavor. I just saw today where they are producing a porter for January. I'll get back down there sometime I'm sure.

Brrr Seasonal Ale (Widmer Bros. Brewing)

     Craft beer has become the most interesting part of the adult beverage business, and this snowball began in the late 70's and early 80's. Jimmy Carter passed a law allowing home brewing and the innovation that began in basements led to small breweries across the U.S. Breweries like Anchor Steam, Widmer Brothers, Redhook, and Sierra Nevada got into the game as pioneers. Each brewery was known for one type of beer that they really knocked out of the park. Sierra Nevada essentially invented the American style pale ale, Redhook killed it with the E.S.B., and Widmer began the American wheat beer. These breweries have carried on with what they do well for forty years but to stay relevant today they have brought new beers to market.

    All I have ever known from Widmer is the hefewiezen and the drifter pale ale. This year they have had a seasonal in the market, the brrr. Brrr is a 7.2% ABV warmer that starts with hop nose and spicy first impression but this beer finishes sweet and mellow. I appreciate they took a chance on a red ale. I would definitely say it is a step in the right direction but it's not what is going to get this brewery back on the map.
   Maybe the rotating series of IPA's will do it. IPA's have remained to top selling craft beer category, and with over 40 varieties of hops in existence the possibilities are endless. Widmer has also released a reserve series of big bottles that include some darker porters and stouts. It is important that they get a knock out drinkable beer that the masses can enjoy to draw people back to the widmer name. They have been beaten down on price, so you can pick up widmer for less than what most premium craft beers cost.
    So please check out the beers and changing landscape at Widmer Brothers, they have come all the way from Washington state. Check them out online or follow them on facebook at widmerbrothers.com

Quad (Legend Brewing Company)

     Since senate bill 604 has past it has become massively easier for brewers to get out of the basement and onto the shelves at your local store or on tap at your corner bar. We have gotten a new brewery at a rate of about one a month in the state of Virginia. There are now over ten breweries with in two hours of Richmond. Legend brewing began in the basement of a building in south side in 1994. Before there was a full scale restaurant and deck there was a small sampling bar. Legend has waived fair well to Richbrau and enjoyed being the only beer of Richmond for a short while. Legend has built a reputation around providing a huge portfolio of beers, 6 year round beers and around 20 rotating small release beers that are highly anticipated. They have remained very relevant in today's craft beer market.

     The Quad is a Belgian style very strong ale that is nearly 11% ABV. It has a very floral note which hides the boozy flavor you would normally get with a beer this high in alcohol. I would really suggest that you enjoy this beer out of a glass with a round shape like the one in the picture. This shape will help get the bouquet of the beer in your nose and the extra surface of the glass against your hand will slowly warm the beer to optimum temperature for tasting. This is a beer that is probably drank and a colder temperature than intended by the brewer desired for optimum flavor, much like brandy in a snifter.
     Also this time of year Legend is offering their chocolate porter which is the most anticipated seasonal offering crafted this time of year. I have had good success unloading cases of the rich porter but usually only get one opportunity to order it before it is all gone. If you live here in Richmond and will be traveling for the holiday, pick up some of these limited creations to share with family. I would even suggest buying a couple of Quads and putting them away to compare against next years batch.
    Legend has done a great job ingraining itself in the fiber of Richmond as a unique local for great experience and taste. They are working on spreading distribution to adjacent states which should sustain their growth for years to come. I always encourage that everyone get out to the brewery, surround yourself in this process that makes the beer so much more real. Check out what events and things upcoming at www.legendbrewing.com