Ladies of Craft Beer

Posted By: Melissa Ward

When people ask me where I’m from, I tend to be a smartass and say “the entire East Coast.” It’s not completely hyperbolic, seeing that I’ve lived in 5 different states up and down the coast. But while I might proudly call the Philly metro area my home, there will always be a special place in my heart for Upstate NY.

And in Upstate there’s a fantastic city called Ithaca, bordering the beautiful Finger Lakes Wine Region. Ithaca has a green reputation, Cornell University (Go Big Red!), and a growing brewery: Ithaca Beer Co., nicknamed “The Spirit of the Finger Lakes.”

I know my Uncle Larry—Cornell alum and Ithaca native for at least 30+ years (probably more)—favors Ithaca’s Nut Brown Ale; a lot of folks in NY do. For me though, I have to hand it to Ithaca’s seasonal offerings and its Excelsior! series. The other day, while perusing the cold case at my local Wegmans (yet another jewel of Upstate NY), I heard a six-pack of Ithaca’s Cold Front, a Belgian Amber Ale, calling my name.

According to Ithaca’s website, “Cold Front is our Belgian-style Amber Ale brewed in autumn to keep us inspired as the days grow shorter and the nights colder. It’s brewed with European Malts and hops and fermented with a legendary Belgian ‘Farmhouse’ yeast.”

Cold Front stands at 7.2% ABV, technically outside the prescribed limits of a “session beer,” but it’s extremely drinkable as a pint or two. The beer pours a deep amber brown with a fluffy white head. A spicy, Belgian yeast aroma erupted from the glass as I poured—I knew this would be good.

Taking a whiff, the nose is chock-full of spice. Taking my first sip, I’m greeted with a deep caramely sweetness with just the hint of dark stone fruit. Cold Front finishes slightly dry, demanding the drinker to take sip after sip.

What I find particularly clever is that Ithaca’s spring seasonal is called Ground Break. It’s a hoppy American Saison that celebrates spring and the waning of winter. As someone who spent five winters in NY, I can appreciate the care Ithaca’s brewers take to remind us that there are good (and warmer!) things around the bend.

Originally posted 2010-10-19 09:05:30.

Posted By: Theresa Carpine

Last fall, I noticed that Dry Fly Distilling, Washington’s first legal distillery to operate since Prohibition, was selling some of their used whiskey barrels. I don’t have much use for whiskey barrels, so I didn’t think much of it until Boundary Bay Brewery, my favorite Washington brewery, announced that they were aging some of their beers in the Dry Fly barrels.

My hometown distillery and my adopted hometown brewery were joining forces to create craft beer? I was excited, to say the least.

After some weather-related delays, the two quarter-kegs of Boundary Bay beer made it over the Cascades to Spokane for a crowded tasting event at the Elk Public House on Thursday, March 8, 2012. For $7, patrons received a shot of Dry Fly Whiskey and a 12 oz. pour of either Boundary Bay Barrel Aged Imperial Oatmeal Stout or Cabin Fever.

By the end of the night, both quarter-kegs were gone and at least six empty Dry Fly Whiskey bottles lined the bar.

I started off with the stout, while my companions, Jackie and Dylan of Sweet and Stout Cupcakes, tried the Cabin Fever. I really love the Boundary Bay’s IOS as it is, so I was anxious to see how the whiskey barrels had changed the flavor. The aged version seemed less sweet and drier, which surprised me; I find that aging usually adds smoothness to a beer. The whiskey flavor really came out in the finish, which was a stark contrast to some of the original elements of the beer. Tasting the beer and whiskey side-by-side seemed to emphasize the competing flavors, rather than bring them together.

We flipped beers for the second round and I thought that the whiskey-aged version of Boundary Bay’s winter seasonal benefited from the aging more than the stout. Cabin Fever, a spicy winter warmer, took on some of the elements of a barleywine: strong, sweet, and smooth. Here, the flavor of the beer was enhanced and matched by the whiskey.

Full disclosure: I’m not a whiskey drinker and apparently I made a lot of interesting faces while sipping my shot, which I made last both rounds, but tasting each beer with the whiskey created a different experience than drinking the beer alone. Now, if only I had the unaged versions to taste side-by-side with the aged beer! Maybe next year…

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Posted By: Michelle

Image courtesy of Active Beer Geek

Fast forward to present day, me with my iPhone4 and over 200 apps on my device. I do have photos and music and even keep a calendar, but I have totally app-ed out! I spend more time shopping the apps than I do talking on the darned thing. Heck, I even have a BEER folder for all of the beer-related apps I have.

Despite all of my apps, I am by no means the Queen of Apps. I generally do not buy any of the apps I use. I am not sure why I can easily drop dollars at the mall, but God forbid I part with a few cents for a beer app! Also, I hate, and I mean HATE, apps that want me to enter all of my personal information and link their site to my Facebook or my Twitter or my what-the-heck-ever account. I just want to find a brewery in a new city, not open my entire personal life to your community! I get a bit touchy when I have to invent new, or use old, user names and passwords and then invent yet another secret question. Gee, was that a capital letter or a lower case letter? Was that one word or two? My time is too important, and my privacy too guarded, to invite every beer drinking Bertha into my little corner of the world when all I want is some information. I also refuse to be a part of drinking game apps. My professional self and my personal self collide here and I know that drinking games do nothing more than promote the over consumption of alcohol and promote a culture of excess. In my humble opinion.

My perspective is also limited by the fact that I shoot for free apps and I only have the iphone. I have not ever owned and know very little about the Droid, iPad, or any of the other platforms that are out there for app Geeks like me. If you are one of those folks, please add your input in the comments section of this article so that others can benefit from your experiences. You know, inclusivity and all.

Right now, today, and subject to change at any moment or the next time the bus gets stuck in traffic, my phone contains the following beer apps that are listed below. I will try and save you some time and money by describing each one and give you what I hope will be useful feedback. I am not technologically talented enough to include logos, either. Again, this is where you as a member of the LOCB community are invaluable and your feedback needed!

• Brewery Map – Input a location and it is supposed to show you breweries. Tends not to be comprehensive and will only find the well established and large places. Not bad if you are in a new town or live in a large city.
• Beer Match – Puts beer, food and cheeses together for pairings. You can choose the beer, the foods or the cheese and the app will give you suggestions. Pretty fun, but there are times that I could care less what goes with what, as long as the beer is good!
• Beer – Keeps track of your tasting with notes and ratings. You can include a photo of the beer. I logged into mine and realized I had never put anything in this one. I will have to get on that.
• BAC Calc – One of the better ways to gauge your blood alcohol levels if you are monitoring or need to know if you can or should drive. Never 100% accurate, but a nice reference.
• Beer Cloud – Lots of information in there, but it is a bit much for this simple gal. You can input your beers, find what is near, and there are pairing suggestions. Caution – this one will want a profile and such, which you do not have to provide. I found it slow and confusing. Delete.
• Beer Brands – A means by which you can keep track of your favorites or of beers you have tried. You can rate them yourself. You can also look up brands and get a detailed description, pairings, and a bit of history. Caution – the app does want you to connect all your social networking, but it is not required. Simple and easy to use (like me ;0).
• iLoveBeer – Well, it looked good at first. When I looked further, the offerings included Keystone, Miller Light and Bud. DELETE!!!!
• Taplister – Provides information on local pubs and beer places. Great way to see details of the establishment as with hours web site and location, but dependent on the management or app users putting information into the site. If information is there about the beer, it can be useful if you are looking for new taps in your area or if you are out of town.
• Tap Hunter – hmm, not sure about this one. Again, a program to help find beer and or breweries. However, most of the listings I received were about 300 miles away. You can search by beer or by brewery. May be more useful if I lived in a big city.
• A Monitor – another way to calculate or monitor your blood alcohol level. This one is for the visual among us, as it is mostly in pictures. I would shy away from making big life decisions based on the information, but a guide just the same.

Those are what I have and how I found them to be or not to be useful. I am looking forward to feedback from readers and more information on what is out there.

Oh, and don’t even get me started on the ipad and the wonders that wait for me there… with one of those in my hands, you may never see me again!

Cheers!

[Editor's Note: Although Untappd isn't mentioned on this particular list, we here at Ladies of Craft Beer are big fans, as shown by our East/West Coast Brew Crawl Badges with them. Untappd is a check-in service where you can keep track of and review in 140 characters any beer that you drink while earning badges along the way!]

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Posted By: Sara Bryce

Dear Reviewers,

PLEASE REMEMBER: The craft beer drinking community is the life of craft breweries.

My fiancée works as a cellar man for a small brewery. This means he gets to do awesome stuff like get a picture holding “the Golden Keg” or meet unnamed cast members of Cheers at the local Oktoberfest celebration. This also means he gets to do some not-so-awesome stuff, like spending three hours in a crouched position bottling beer, or turning over 40 full kegs on a pinched nerve so that El Hefe can be stored upside down. He comes home most days aching; taking a fistful of ibuprofen and laying on the floor because it’s a flat surface. But, he loves his job.

Did you happen to click on that “El Hefe” link? That’s what I want to talk about today.  Pearl Street Brewery has a limited distribution radius, and isn’t even available throughout all of Wisconsin. And the exact thing that this brewery of nine employees pours its heart into has been reduced to a number rating out of 5 and a few short words, many of which are negative.

You may not realize how little information is available about the smallest breweries on the Internet; but when it comes to the small guys, anything you write about a random beer might affect the purchase of that beer by others. Really.

You.

People will be searching for certain craft beers on the Internet, and they’ll come across your blog or review. Do the craft beer community a favor and help it out a bit!

www.metrobrewing.com/main/index. html

I decided to finally write this out after reading a great comment left by Sam Calagione of Dogfish Head Brewery on a Beer Advocate thread. Yes, even though they may have had a television show, larger craft breweries are still actually small enough to care what you have to say about them on the Internet; and for a good reason. Dogfish Head isn’t sold in Wisconsin anymore, but the most often-heard response to my undying love for them is: “Oh yeah, Dogfish Head. Aren’t they over-rated?” No, they’re just bigger than some other breweries and are actually a recognized name because they put out a wide range of quality brews. I’d call that “hard-working and pretty freaking awesome.” In order for craft beer’s market share to rise, we as a craft beer drinking community need to look past the exclusivity of “we are the 5%” and try being positive and inclusive (some ideas for that can be found in my first post at LadiesOCB). Everyone is going to like something different, and we’ll help our own cause if we concentrate on the beers we like rather than those we don’t.  Sam explains: “that doesn’t mean the one you didn’t prefer sucked. And the breweries you don’t prefer but are growing don’t suck either. Respect Beer.”

There are some reviewers who know the power of Internet word-of-mouth, and I surely appreciate them. One of my favorites is Hoptopia.  The number ratings are usually high, and so one might argue they’re arbitrary; but where the power lies in these reviews are the written portions. Each sentence provides an objective description that gives a real voice to every beer.  I also love the deep connection the blog has with the craft beer community. I was proud of myself when I finally received the “I Believe in IPA” badge presented by Hoptopia on Untappd. Funnily enough, I achieved it after a $75 beer stock-up in Detroit, Michigan when my fiancée and I discovered a Dogfish Head oasis near my parents’ house. Happy Holidays to us!

There are some blogs that are heavily craft-beer friendly yet region-specific, like Cleveland Food & Brews. Even though posts are about Ohio beers, what a great way to spread the word! I’ll be looking for these breweries at future Midwest beer fests. I also have to give a shout-out to the Great Brew Tour.  These guys know how to be blog-positive when it comes to breweries. After a short Twitter conversation with me, Pearl Street Brewery became the first brewery on their 2011 tour. Later on, they blogged about the PSB Double IPA, Dankenstein as well as the sample flight they thought was cool. They gave awesome props to other small Wisconsin breweries, such as Capital Brewery and New Glarus Brewing.

When it comes to truly advocating for craft breweries on the Web, you can’t beat these!

Friends, when you crack open a craft beer, you taste the fruit of blue-collar labor. Think about the men and women who spend their hours assembling boxes by hand, cranking archaic but affordable bottling lines, and driving two hours to hand out free samples at grocery stores. People who talk about their work like it’s the greatest thing in the world, even as they’re wincing through the long hours and the pain.

It’s a labor of love for the craft beer community.

Respect beer.

Review responsibly.

And for goodness sake, enjoy it (It’s beer, after all)!

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Posted By: Theresa Carpine

Summertime in the Inland Northwest means huckleberries! These berries are not cultivated commercially, so they are a rare find at farmers markets or local grocers. Or you can go hunting for them yourself. Despite these limitations, it seems like you can find this cousin of the blueberry in just about everything during July and August in the Northwest—jam, pie, candy, and even beer!

Coeur d'Alene Brewing Huckleberry Ale

For all the less fortunate souls in non-huckleberry loving regions of the United States, I’ve sampled several huckleberry beers from regional breweries to let you know if they’re worth a try during your next Northwest beercation.

Coeur d’Alene Brewing Huckleberry Ale
Despite the brewery’s name, this beer is actually brewed in Spokane, Washington. The brewpub in Idaho closed last year, but the Coeur d’Alene still brews and serves its nine signature beers at the Steam Plant Grill in downtown Spokane.

The bar menu says, “Since huckleberries are not sweet, this is not a sweet beer, like most fruit beers.” The beer itself is a hazy golden ale, straw in color with a foamy head, and the first flavor that hits my tongue is spicy pepper. The tartness of the huckleberries really pop in the middle of the taste, but the finish is smooth and ideal for summer (although it’s hard to remember what season it is in the cavernous bar at the Steam Plant).

The Steam Plant also has several Microbrew Cocktails on their Drinks Menu, including a Huckleberry Beertini, with the Huckleberry Ale, Stoli Citros vodka, huckleberry syrup, and sweet and sour served chilled in a frozen martini glass.

Laughing Dog Brewing Huckleberry Cream Ale

Laughing Dog Brewing Huckleberry Cream Ale
Real huckleberries are blended with Laughing Dog’s year-round Cream Ale, which is fermented with both ale and lager yeast, to create this seasonal beer out of Ponderay, Idaho. It mirrors the straw-hued Coeur d’Alene Huckleberry Ale in color, but offers a stronger fruit aroma and appears to be filtered as well.

As its name might lead you to believe, this cream ale is smooth, but I found the high carbonation to be the defining characteristic, even more memorable than the huckleberry bite. I also detected a strange funk after my first taste, possibly because this is a holdover from last season’s batch? Guess I’ll just have to pick up a “fresh” bottle to compare!

Bitter Root Brewing Huckleberry Honey Ale

Bitter Root Brewing Huckleberry Honey Ale
A huckleberry offering from Hamilton, Montana, this beer surprised me with a slightly amber hue, much darker than my previous selections. The label explains that it’s “brewed with honey and natural huckleberry flavor added,” so I’m assuming that real huckleberries are not used in the brewing process. Still, Bitter Root has the most powerful “fruit” flavor of these three beers, with the honey adding even more sweetness.

Although non-beer drinkers tend to request “your lightest beer” when trying a beer, the Huckleberry Honey Ale is a case where a darker beer would actually be a better option for a newbie. The addition of honey gives this beer the “gateway” qualities of a cider or mead that will help a wine or cocktail drinker transition to beer.

What regional, seasonal beers set some of your local breweries apart from the pack? Leave a comment to share your story!

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Originally posted 2011-08-11 12:15:21.

Posted By: Theresa Carpine

Leading up to Christmas, I’m going to review a winter ale every day from a mix-and-match six-pack I picked up at my favorite local beer shop.

Boulevard Brewing Nutcracker Ale

I can never keep it in my head that Boulevard Brewing is in Kansas City, Missouri. I always think it’s in California or maybe Colorado. Those states have a lot of breweries; it’s hard to keep track of them all. Maybe if I actually make the trek to KC and take an epic brewery tour, I’ll be able to remember its location.

What a relief! A winter warmer that actually looks like a warmer. With a beautiful, unfiltered body and a deep brick-red color, this beer is exactly what I want on a chilly, winter night. The nose reveals some nice herbal notes and just a bit of spice—maybe ginger? The beer itself isn’t overly hoppy, but the hops that are present really complement the sweet malts. I get a bit of a “barley wine” vibe off of this beer, without the high ABV (Nutcracker comes it at just 5.8%).

I also noticed that my beer had a special holiday message from Boulevard “Beer Elf” Laura Dale and, while I was exploring this label feature, I found a fun, one-minute sensory description of Nutcracker Ale video with Boulevard Brewmaster Steven Pauwels.

Fresh hops?! Who knew?

Thanks for joining me in my enjoyment of the Six Beers of Christmas! Happy holidays and cheers!

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Posted By: Theresa Carpine

Leading up to Christmas, I’m going to review a winter ale every day from a mix-and-match six-pack I picked up at my favorite local beer shop.

Spoetzl Brewery Shiner Holiday Cheer

Full disclosure: although technically a craft brewery, Spoetzl Brewery is part of the Gambrinus Company. While the brewery is part of a larger corporation, “Shiner Beers” are still made in Shiner, Texas, where it was originally founded in 1909.

As far as packaging goes, Shiner Holiday Cheer is pretty festive. Out of the bottle, the beer poured a nice ruby/amber color with a thick head. Very fitting for the holiday season, I noticed a cranberry scent in the nose, along with some other indiscernible fruits. My first taste reminded me of malty version of a Pyramid Apricot Ale. In reality, this Dunkelweizen features Texas peaches and roasted pecans in the recipe. The pecans I get, but I don’t think of peaches as a Christmas fruit…maybe it’s a Texas thing.

The beer itself is thin and doesn’t linger on the tongue. At only 5.4% ABV, it’s definitely the “lightest” beer I’ve encountered in this beer series so far. Worth a try, but not something I’d wait for in anticipation each winter.

On Christmas Eve, I’ll be drinking Boulevard Brewing Nutcracker Ale.

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Posted By: Theresa Carpine

Leading up to Christmas, I’m going to review a winter ale every day from a mix-and-match six-pack I picked up at my favorite local beer shop.

Big Sky Brewing Powder Hound Winter Ale

Big Sky Brewing of Missoula, Montana is best known for its Moose Drool Brown Ale, but I’m not a big fan of that style; I think I’ve had it at least once. Truth be told, I have not sampled most of the beers from Big Sky. They all sound great, but since Big Sky is easily obtained in Spokane, sometimes I forget to actually try it. I will have to make a more disciplined effort to explore Big Sky beers in the future.

Wow, Powder Hound Winter Ale was much lighter in color than I expected! Rather than dark tones, this beer features hues of golden amber. It was well-carbonated too, which seemed unusual for a winter seasonal. The nose wasn’t very aromatic; I detected just a hint of sweet caramel. Not sure exactly what to expect in the taste, I got a great piney flavor with my first sip. With such a perfect balance of bitter and sweet, Powder Hound reminded me of an Imperial IPA, which isn’t a bad thing. I just wasn’t expecting these characteristics in a “winter ale,” which, I guess, isn’t technically a style.

I’d definitely drink this beer again, but calling it a winter ale might be a big misleading if you’re expecting a winter warmer or strong ale.

My next beer is Shiner Holiday Cheer!

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Posted By: Theresa Carpine

Leading up to Christmas, I’m going to review a winter ale every day from a mix-and-match six-pack I picked up at my favorite local beer shop.

Laughing Dog Cold Nose Winter Ale

The beers out of Laughing Dog Brewing in Ponderay, Idaho rarely knock my socks off, but they’re reliably good so I’m always willing to try something new out of this brewery. Featuring an adorable yellow lab named Ben on their bottles doesn’t hurt either.

With a pitch black color, a whiff of Cold Nose reveals dark chocolate tones, as well as a slightly herbal aroma. That mix of dark malts and airy hops makes this beer quite reminiscent to a Black IPA (or Cascadian Dark Ale, depending on your region and titular preference). Take a look at the profile of Laughing Dog’s Dogzilla Black IPA and you’ll notice that it has a lot in common with Cold Nose. This beer with a dry, even body finishes with a strong coffee flavor.

A batch of buttery, crumbly Walnut Sandies had just come out of the oven, so I had to have one with this beer; I find that Sandies go well with most beers that are dark and bitter.

For tomorrow, I’ll review Big Sky Brewing Powder Hound Winter Ale!

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Posted By: Julia Taylor

The holidays have arrived and, not only are there an overwhelming supply of cookies, cakes, and candies tempting us at every turn, but our favorite brewers are also releasing delicious, rich, and complex ales in honor the season, which only compounds the holiday spread.  Draft Magazine’s Beer Runner, Tim Cigelske, proposed a holiday beer run streak , where you  run at least one mile and drink at least one beer per day starting on Thanksgiving through New Year’s Day.  Unfortunately, my plantar fasciitis flared up on day 5, so my streak ended before December even arrived.  Luckily, a few days off my feet was all I needed to be ready for my upcoming beer running weekend to Virginia Beach and Williamsburg, Virginia for the Samuel Adams Surf-n-Santa-10 miler as well as tours of Beach Brewing and Willamsburg AleWerks.

Aside from the Dogfish Dash, the Surf-n-Santa  is one of my favorite beer runs;  flat course with ocean views, great swag, and the choice of light or dark beer (Boston Lager or Winter Lager) at the finish.  Before a race it is always important to carb load, so after picking up our race packets we headed over to Beach Brewing.  As the newest brewery in VA (Virginia) Beach, it has been open for 14 months and has become very popular with locals and tourists.  While the Tigershark Red is their best seller,  my favorite was the Hoptopus Double IPA with its balanced malt base, eight separate hop additions, plus a generous dry hopping with Amarillo and Simcoe. This hop goddess was very pleased. Unfortunately, we were a week early for the winter seasonal, a Belgian-style Tripel brewed with spices and rock candy and cranberries added to the secondary; but their Jolly Roger Pumpkin Porter was an excellent consolation with its roasted bitterness rounded with the sweetness of pumpkin pie spices.  We also got a sneak taste of their Anniversary Ale, a wheat wine fermented with Saki yeast.  The floral notes from the Saki yeast were the perfect complement to the wheat flavors and the perfect beer to celebrate this flourishing brewery’s first year.

After a quick dash through VA Beach and a Winter Lager, it was time to get ready for the rest of the beercation. I shimmied my skinny jeans over a pair of recovery tights, slipped my tired feet into a pair of cushioned flats, and was ready for the next stop to Gordon Biersch  to replenish my carbs. A mug of Winter Bock, a full-bodied lager with caramel and toffy malts and a hint of holiday spice, and a bowl of chili was the perfect recovery meal.

Fully fueled, it was time to head west towards Williamsburg.  I have been looking forward to visiting Williamsburg AleWerks  since first having their Bourbon Barrel Porter. If you haven’t tried it, I highly recommend you do, as it is one of the most understated and tastiest barrel-aged beers I have ever tried. After a quick tour through their direct fired brick-clad Peter Austin brew house, it was time to hit the tasting room. A solid line up of beers were on tap, from a refreshing wheat to roasty porter, but the Tavern Ale, an American Brown with a rich blend of  caramel, chocolate, and pecans, was my preferred choice until they pulled out the Pumpkin Ale.  We heard great things about this beer and all was confirmed with this taste, loaded with pumpkin pie aroma and flavor, this full-bodied ale also had the mouthfeel of a pumpkin pie. To further attest the quality of this beer, my conservative father not only paid $10.50 for a 6-pack, he went back later for a case.

Sunday arrived and it was time to head home, but first a stop at Mekong in Richmond, VA.   Mekong is known for their authentic Vietnamese cuisine and the area’s largest selection of Belgian and American Craft beers.  I was glad to see they had Hardywood Park  Singel, a Belgian-style Blonde, on tap since we unable to stop by their tasting room. Hardywood Park is the newest brewery inRichmond, and their Singel, a smooth ale with a complementing fruit and spice balance followed by a dry finish, is their only year-round beer.  Their plan is to focus on seasonal brews, and thanks to some good friends, I had a chance to try their Gingerbread Stout. The  imperial milk stout brewed with fresh local honey and ginger was exceptional, tasted just like a gingerbread cookie.

I hope everyone has plans to include some beer running in 2012, and remember, it’s easier to add distance when you’re counting beers instead of miles.

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