Ancient Fire Beverage Blog

Who Is Ancient Fire?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 12 Jul 2017 13:47:00 +0000

As we begin to ramp up the buzz around Ancient Fire Mead & Cider we thought we would take a moment to share more about who we are and what our mission is.

Founding Team

Jason Phelps has nearly 15 years of fermentation experience and has experimented with the production of a vast range of beer, wine, cider and mead styles during this time. Jason has been and is regularly featured as a guest on several craft beverage related podcasts including GotMead Live and the Tap Handle Show. Jason is regularly contacted by hobbyists and commercial producers for feedback and advice on fermentation protocols and other beverage production topics.

Since beginning to enter amateur homebrew competitions in 2006 Jason’s creations have been awarded with 120 medals, and 50 of those have been for mead and cider in just the last 6 years alone!

Jason has also been a presenter at the annual WineMaker Magazine Conference three times, and has seen his writing and photography published by both WineMaker and Brew Your Own magazines several times.

Jason is a BJCP Certified Beer and Mead judge and is planning on attaining the same certification for cider in 2017 or 2018. In his role as a judge Jason has provided feedback on both amateur and commercial products at competitions all over the country including: the National Homebrewers Competition, the International Mazer Cup, the Northeast Regional Homebrew Competition, the WineMaker Magazine International Wine Competition as well as numerous other regional and local competitions.

Jason is a 25-year veteran of the technology industry having worked for or consulted with companies including CIGNA (now Prudential), Gillette (now P&G), Evergreen Solar, Fidelity Investments, Loomis Sayles, Pioneer Investments and most recently Amadeus Hospitality. Jason’s responsibilities have ranged from software engineering to customer support, including his current role as a team lead and Scrum master for small teams of software engineers. For a number of years Jason worked as an independent consultant, creating direct relationships with customers and helping them use software and technology to grow and succeed.

Margot Phelps is a Project Management, Process and Operations professional with over 20 years of experience in various industries. Margot has leveraged her Masters Degree in Organizational Leadership to work with companies to implement organizational change, improve communication and streamline processes in an array of business areas including product management, operations, sales, accounting, regulatory compliance and marketing. In her current role as a Product Owner for Amadeus Hospitality Margot is responsible for the product direction of vendor integration and cloud service products helping create the future of hospitality and travel worldwide.

Working alongside Jason, Margot has over 10 years of fermentation experience, and continues to learn about the craft beverage industry and the production of world class products. Margot continues to develop her sensory analysis and evaluation skills, and is working towards attaining BJCP Mead Judge Certification.

Over the last four years Margot has played an integral part in facilitating the administration of the Northeast Regional Homebrew Competition and has also acted as a steward and competition staff at a number of other local, regional and national homebrewing competition events.

Purpose, Values & Mission

The Ancient Fire team has a very simple purpose, to produce delicious and distinctive beverages that bring joy and happiness to our customers, and to have fun while doing it.

Along with this simple mission we have a set of values that further conceptualize the reasons Ancient Fire exists and will be successful.

Craft world-class, distinctive and high quality beverages.
Be committed to curiosity, creativity and experimentation in all that we do.
Foster the education and experience of both team members and consumers. Be ambassadors for mead, cider and unique fermented beverages.
Promotion of community and culture through the creation of authentic and meaningful relationships with vendors, consumers, industry peers and the community at-large.
Responsible social consumption.
Continuous innovation and improvement of both products and services.
Having fun and spreading joy.

Like so many stories, the story of Ancient Fire began with difficulty and challenge.

Ancient Fire was the name that the Margot and Jason associated with their home-brewed fermentations over a decade ago. The genesis of their homebrewing hobby was an experience with cancer (Jason, 2003) and a resulting desire to take a different path in life. With a newfound appreciation for life and all of its little moments, Margot and Jason quickly developed expertise for producing high-quality beers, wines, meads and ciders. As the passion grew it became clear that sharing their creations with others created substantial joy, and in those moments where family and friends raised glasses in celebration it was clear that something special had been born. Over the ensuing years Margot and Jason were honored more than 100 awards for their creations, further fermenting (pun intended) the significance of their still extensive homebrew projects.

The name Ancient Fire is a reference to the sun and was taken from a line in the IMAX movie Seasons. In the segment of the movie from which this phrase is drawn the theme is of celebration, including celebrating the bounty of the Earth, the seasons which drive food production, and the many cultural customs humans have for celebrating the life giving force of the sun. To Margot and Jason the name Ancient Fire seemed fitting to represent the joy and celebration that had been found through their distinctive fermentations, all of which are agricultural products and would not be possible without the sun.

Commercializing these creations is the next step in spreading this joy and celebration with the hope that the Ancient Fire team can inspire everyone to fully and completely enjoy their own lives and everything they bring.

So that is who we are and what is driving us. We are embarking on an exciting journey and we hope you will join us!

Cheers!

Margot & Jason

When #!%& Gets Real!

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Phelps) — Tue, 30 May 2017 22:08:00 +0000

I mean really, real, you dig?

Ancient Fire is getting a big boost this week as Jason focuses full time on the project. Jason has left the Software Engineer building!

We are generating all sorts of buzz for what we are doing through local tastings, pod cast interviews and industry events, but we are still very much underground. We've not yet moved ahead with swag, a web site or any specific visual branding, but fear not, it is coming.

For now the best way to keep tabs on what we are doing is by liking us on Facebook at:

Ancient Fire Mead & Cider

Gather Around the Ancient Fire

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Phelps) — Mon, 06 Mar 2017 13:15:00 +0000

Gather around the Ancient Fire everyone, we're going to tell you a story. More like we're going to share more of the unfolding story of Ancient Fire Mead & Cider.

Have you liked us on Facebook yet? While we will continue to update our blog as things progress, Facebook is where the day to day updates, including photos and shares from elsewhere in the mead industry will be found.

Please like Ancient Fire Mead & Cider on Facebook!

Startup activities are still moving along at a slow and measured pace. We feel like we want to do it right, rather than do it fast. Our fellow entrepreneurs continue to confirm this way of thinking.

We are still scouting for a location, and we continue looking in Derry, Londonderry, Manchester and Hooksett.

We recently held our first consumer tasting. The feedback on both the meads and ciders as well as the process was very insightful and helpful. Thank you Lyn, Dave, Kelly, Angel, Eric and Sam for your help. Having friends and fans assist us in determining what our starting lineup might be is very exciting, and we have several more tastings planned as we head into Spring.

We have also been busy piloting lots of different recipes. We have eleven new session mead recipes that will be kegged and ready to drink soon. We can't wait to share them all!

We also have a busy event schedule this Spring. Jason will be heading to the Mazer Cup on Wednesday March 8th to help judge, compete in the home competition and network with industry peers and enthusiasts. He will also be attending our second in-person meeting as members of the American Mead Makers Association (AMMA), the trade association focused on the mead industry.

Mead Free or Die is also fast approaching. On Sunday April 30th the judging for Mead Free or Die will be held at Moonlight Meadery in Londonderry, NH. The competition organizers are actively seeking entries and volunteers (both judges and stewards). You can get more information and register online.

We've also entered the National Homebrewers Competition again this year. This is actually only our second go at this competition and having had a mead advance to the final round back in 2013 we are hoping good things for our entries which include a beer, a cider and several meads.

Please like Ancient Fire Mead & Cider on Facebook!

Cheers!

Margot & Jason

All The Buzz About Ancient Fire Mead & Cider

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Phelps) — Fri, 21 Oct 2016 13:13:00 +0000

Behind the scenes activity for Ancient Fire has been brisk recently. There are a few different activities in flight including, business planning, the search for a location, a marketing ramp up and of course lots of pilot batch work.

Our business planning efforts have been the biggest focus, and the exercise of putting together a rational plan has already paid off, even if the plan isn't yet complete. It is amazing how much you learn about what you are trying to do when you sit down to document the process. ;)

We haven't found a location yet, but the hunt is on. In Londonderry and Derry New Hampshire where we live there is a vibrant community of craft beverage producers, and ideally we would like to be sited right in with them. We have looked at potential locations in both Derry and Manchester, with more to investigate this week and next. Once we secure a location we can take a big step in filing our paperwork with the TTB.

Marketing to build brand awareness will be a persistent activity. Our new logo (at the top) is being circulated and the feedback has been both interesting and useful. There may be some enhancements coming, but for now we are going with it because we believe it is largely there. I think one of the biggest things to keep in mind is that it is your brand, that the best brands use the imagery that works for them, and they always assume up front that engaging people to tell the story so that the brand resonates, and better over time, is how you build a successful brand around your graphics. We will be starting to work on a web site, but for now updates and engagement are available at the Ancient Fire Mead & Cider Facebook page. Give us a Like to keep up to date on our journey!

( Release night for 'Fear of a Black Braggot' at Lithermans Limited )

Marketing ourselves before we open is challenging since we can't make product to share and sell. A few weeks back we partnered with Lithermans Limited Brewery in Concord, NH to make a braggot, a style of mead/beer hybrid, and released it from their tasting room. We based the braggot on the Lithermans Tangled up in Bruges, a saison, to which we added wildflower honey, blackberries and black pepper. We named it "Fear of a Black Braggot", and it had plenty of flav and game. On release night Margot and I spent time in the tasting room talking to patrons about beer, mead and our plans for Ancient Fire. It was fun and so worthwhile to help people get to know who we are, as well as build excitement for our launch in 2017. And the feedback on the braggot was exceptional!

( Prepping some ingredients for 'Pumpkin Spice Girls' )

Pilot batch and recipe development work is definitely a big focus for me right now. While I've got dozens of recipes from 10+ years of mead and cider-making kicking around, I am shifting around the style and presentation of some of them to go commercial so I need to make a lot of batches to work out some details before I need to do it at scale. We bought two used 7 barrel fermenters last week, so at least I know how big my next leap is going to be. ;) We will be working in 10-15 gallon formats starting next month when we get a sizable amount of cider from a local farm.

Our session meads, the term session for mead meaning 5-8% ABV, have been received very well and ongoing recipe development is slowly honing in on a lineup that will be worthy of a launch. I am also pursuing ideas for hoppy and sour offerings for this product line. We are hoping to sell lots of flights and growlers of these meads in a rotating lineup to be keeping people coming back to the tasting room, which we will be calling the "Meading Room".

On the dessert mead side we have been experiment with all sorts of flavors including revisiting work with chili peppers that has been a consistent favorite. Maple syrup, vanilla, coffee and chocolate are all getting a workout these days. Fruit meads made earlier this year are tasting very well, and should be fun to get feedback on. A new project I did on a dare is a pumpkin spice mead named "Pumpkin Spice Girls". It is coming along nicely and having tried some pumpkin infused ciders recently I can definitely see why if it is done right squash flavored beverages are quite enjoyable. Gotta use real pumpkin though.

All of the pilot work is leading to a round of tastings with family, friends, brew club and co-workers to solicit feedback. This feedback will be useful to help us further profile people's tastes, but also gauge what products might experience less friction to sell and the value people attach to the products and their quality.

So that's the current buzz (bee jokes, yes!) about Ancient Fire.

Cheers!

Jason

Dinner On The Side Of A Mountain - #TasteCamp

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Phelps) — Tue, 21 Jun 2016 18:58:00 +0000

Dinner on the side of a mountain in Fayston, Vermont

was the scene for the final night of TasteCamp in June 2016.

What is TasteCamp?

The concept for TasteCamp, created in 2009 by Lenn Thompson, executive editor of the New York Cork Report, is a simple one: getting enthusiastic journalists and bloggers together in a region that is new to them, to taste as much of the region’s offerings as possible and speak to as many winemakers, cider makers, brewers, distillers and other producers as possible over the course of a weekend.

Most emerging regions in the world would love to get their products in front of new audiences, but it can be a challenge. With TasteCamp, the new audience comes to them.

This is not a junket — attendees pay their own travel expenses, including their hotel rooms and meals. Through generous sponsors, some meals may be discounted.

The 2016 location for TasteCamp was Vermont, including stops in Bethel, South Royalton, Waterbury, Shelburne, New Haven, and Fayston.

Vermont and I have a long history (35+ years of trips) and the bounty of its food and drink is well known to me. Having said that I would be remiss to not make the point up front that after spending a couple days in Vermont in early June for TasteCamp, I came home having learned and discovered plenty. It was well organized and extremely educational.

Over the course of two days I had the pleasure to enjoy wines, ciders, beers, meads and spirits crafted by a number of different producers, with all of it paired with or nearby to local foods also carefully prepared by passionate artisans.

In a follow-up post I will run down my beverage highlights, and for the balance of this post I will share some pictures of sights along the trip, the good times associated with them, as well as something more about that awesome side-of-the-mountain setting for the Saturday night dinner.

Sing it loud brother! Todd Trzaskos got us kicked off at La garigista.

La Crescent vines at La garigista and Marquette at Shelburne Vineyards.

Winery dogs. Not a violent movie. ;) La Garagista and Fable Farm.

Wines, ciders and beers, oh my! (Stowe Cider in the center)

A motley group of beverage explorers! La garagista vineyard.

The producer markets were fabulous. Whetstone Ciderworks shared this beautiful display.

Lots of interaction with producers.

Shelburne Vineyards

Lincoln Peak Winery

Eden Ciders & Windfall Orchards (Saturday producer market)

Agriculture everywhere. Just like home!

BBQ dinner at The Prohibition Pig. Cheeses, bread, olives, pulled pork and potato salad.

Wise words, and portents of things to come the next day. ;)

This is the view from the edge of one of the fields at Ploughgate Creamery. Magnificent!

Setting up for the BYO dinner. No explanation needed. The cooler on the trip out was

unkind to cheap the Ancient Fire labels, but they were consumed nonetheless.

The location for the dinner on the final night was excellent, but so was the food, which over the weekend was prepared by Fresh Tracks Farm, Cabot, Vermont Smoke & Cure, Thistle Hill Farm Cheese, Prohibition Pig, Costello's Market, Ploughgate Creamery, Jasper Hill Farm, Fat Toad Caramels, The Mad Taco Company and The Hen of the Wood. The company was also unmatched and the socialization generated many laughs and smiles. Everyone in the group has their unique take on the food and beverage world, and getting the chance to interact with everyone I did was both enjoyable and inspiring.

Telling the Ancient Fire story, including where I am going next is always a pleasure, and I am always grateful for the kind feedback I get. I look forward to sharing more of that story soon.

I'd like to share special thanks to Lenn Thompson, Todd Trzaskos, Remy Charest, all the producers, and everyone else who helped put on this event. I really enjoyed it, and I look forward to a few new stops on my upcoming trips to the state. Much love Vermont!

Cheers!

Jason

News of Ancient Fire

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Phelps) — Tue, 19 Apr 2016 00:56:00 +0000

Honey bees around the mash tun on a recent brewday. Very Ancient Fire!

For my some of my long time blog readers the name Ancient Fire is known as my "brand" of homemade fermentations. Using that name I've written lots of blog posts and traveled myriad roads learning about food, beverage and culture. Along the way I've always met a lot of great people, many I still know, and some I hope to reconnect with real soon. Good times!

Ancient Fire (story about the name) is stronger today than ever before, but just not nearly as public.

That's going to change.

Not long before I stopped my blog writing (in 2013) I reflected on the goals I had for myself early on.

I had been searching for the thing that made sense for me. Luckily, I had found it. Sensory training and competition judging. After a couple years of volunteering at local competitions I decided to really dig in and make something of that instead of writing. That was a solid choice.

WineMaker Magazine Competition, 2016

In the time away I've gotten BJCP Certified as both a Beer and Mead judge. I've logged many hours of competition judging, judge coordination, judge training, individual and panel sensory training, hosting workshops, attending faults training sessions, reading (lots!) and many, many, many hours fermenting beers, meads, wines and ciders from a ridiculous list of ingredients that hasn't stopped growing steadily since 2005!

I continue to make a lot of different beverages, as well as participate in industry-wide activities promoting beverage production by both amateurs/enthusiasts and professionals. I judge in a lot of competitions, and I am learning, developing my palate; and getting better at it every time I get the chance. It is amazingly rewarding as a brewer and judge to help others get recognized for the great stuff they make, as well as help them learn to judge to grow the community supporting the local homebrew scene.

I've also won a few awards for my creations going back over a decade now. I recently won medals numbered #98 and #99, both for Cysers (apple mead). I won the first at a brew club internal competition for a Mesquite Cyser. The most recent was a Second Place for a Buckwheat Cyser at the International Mazer Cup, the most difficult mead-only competition in the world. I still compete here and there, but I tend to not judge in competitions in which I enter anymore. I stress out too much.

One other recognition from a couple years back is that I have always been more comfortable "doing" in settings of my own choosing, so the events I've decided to get involved in did, and continue to give me the paths and connections I want to follow and make good from. That's just how I am. I channel my time into activities selected in that comfort zone, and really, through them I better understand the "localness"of different endeavors we might choose to take on. The real lesson is that most of what we find great, be it in wine, food or anything else is all about the relationships of the people who do it. I feel that in search of greatness we have to find people and places that resonate with us to help create passion. The company I keep is definitely not settled based on all the crazy ideas I've been kicking around, and that really will be a big part of the next adventure.

Let's get to business. Here is what I expect I'll be sharing here:

Educational development for process and sensory training
Hosted training events
Helping new producers and products get launched
Collaborations with commercial producers
Trip reports
Presentations and resources
Personal training goals and milestones
"How To" content and discussions (active in FB groups for this)
Production plans and updates (as our own shop takes shape, more later)

Yes, you did just read that I firmly said I am going to open some type of beverage business. There isn't more to say now, but I will when there is. There is plenty to do. You won't miss me talking about. ;)

I'm signing off as I always did,

Cheers!

Jason

A Loss of Words

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Phelps) — Fri, 12 Jul 2013 13:51:00 +0000

( A salsa judge at the World Championship

Chili Cook-off in 2010. )

There are fewer words here than there used to be. I'd bet on that continuing. And this is not a surprise to me.

In April of 2010 when I gave my 18 month old winemaker's journal (blog) a shot in the arm I was full of ideas and energy. It was a birthday present to myself. "Go do something", was the idea. And I did. Over three plus years I have achieved some of what I initially set out to do. I tasted, sampled, wrote, took photos, networked, laughed, sighed, sponged up information, provided education to others and did a fair bit of traveling. I changed courses many times and for many different reasons. I still do most of these things and with gusto! The early goals I didn't achieve have been superseded by so many others, some I have nailed, some I haven't; and some just not yet. Some weeks I wrote a lot and some weeks I wrote less. I wrote, shared, read, shared, commented, debated (argued), shared and along the way I have learned so much!

I continue to enjoy all of the experiences this journey affords me, and most of all I genuinely appreciate the many people I continue to "meet" along the way. I have never met some of these people in person (yet), but there are things we have in common so we get each other enough that we have a great dynamic in a networking context. I continue to carry on relationships with some of the people I've met while others are more often a friendly face in the more business-y realm of food & beverage events. All of them are part of the "family" however weird that ends up being in one city or another. I still look forward to these days.

But I just don't write about this stuff anymore and I don't spend much time on social media plugging my work and keeping tabs on the beverage media. Why? Well, it's complicated I guess.

Late last year (2012) I felt my drive to write about and share my experiences waning. I reformulated my approach, a natural and not unexpected reaction given the 2+ prior years, and kept plugging away. But I wasn't digging it. The idea of throwing a bunch of words together, using a euphemism here, and sharing them as a way of expressing my experiences secondhand just wasn't resonating anymore. Things change and I know myself well enough to know that when I lose interest in something there is nothing good in trying to keep it going. So I won't.

From some reflection I came to realize that my goal of "go do something" was never intended solely to mean blog about my life nor that it should necessarily create something new and permanent. So setting aside some of the activities I picked up while out "doing something" when they no longer interest me is not a crime. It isn't even failure. It is quite the opposite actually. Here is what I am keeping:

I have more time for dates with friends (yes this is you Margot) where we get to sit around the table eating, drinking and socializing. We all want to do this and we all love it.
I still make a shit-ton (I saw a joke this week that in the UK that is shite-tonne, he he!) of beer, mead, cider and wine and I share it with friends, all the time!
When I travel I can strike a better balance of food/beverage visits with other things of interest. Some of it is just baked in. Portland, Oregon and the Oregon Brewer's Festival anyone? Week after next.
With other aspects of my life (work, family, community) being as dynamic as they are for anyone else my life isn't as harried. I know I can't do everything and I can balance all of what I am doing better now.
I am less structured and more open to just exploring things. That is what I get out of bed for.
When I see you I'll have stories. They weren't on the blog so we'll have something to talk about for sure!

It is OK to miss the words. I'll miss my words too, but not because I regret changing my priorities but because when blogging was my priority I really had fun sharing my days with all of you. It is good to have memories that make you smile. I have fun doing lots of different things and following my interests is keeping things plenty exciting so I am sure to keep racking up good memories. See you on the trail!

Cheers!

Jason

Now Hear This – Sony Walkman W & The Grateful Dead

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Phelps) — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 12:43:00 +0000

When I share product reviews they are exclusively food & beverage related. This week I will depart from that truth to tell you about the experience I've had with the Sony Walkman W Meb Keflezighi Edition.

I received my Sony Walkman W as a perk from Klout.com. I’m not a runner, one of the intended audiences, but I do walk a lot, hike and work out in the yard & gardens quite a bit. And working out in the yard is where I found the Walkman W to be a fantastic product.

I've been on a binge with the yard-work in the last couple of weeks. Between getting the existing gardens prepped & planted, clearing for new gardens, new landscaping in the front yard and some spot seeding I’ve probably spent almost an entire work week out there since Memorial Day weekend. Margot has helped with the work quite a bit, but during the times where we have worked in separate parts of the yard or when she was working elsewhere I've enjoyed taking my music with me as a work.

The Sony Walkman W is a about the side of a normal pair of headsets, with small modules at each ear for the electronics and a rubber coated cable connected the two. It has a USB plug for charging and to transfer music. It is designed to be water resistant, not swimming waterproof though, but more so sweat and rain-proof. I've tested both of those scenarios successfully.

The sound quality of the unit is exceptional. My music of choice the last couple of weeks has been live recordings of The Grateful Dead and the Jerry Garcia Band. Some of the audience recordings have good sound quality on their own and others have a bit more of the ambient noise. Even at the max volume the Sony Walkman W does a great job of making the music sound great. I don’t know exactly what the battery life is in practice (the web site says 8 hours), but I haven’t run out in between chargings which have been sporadic since I have been using it.

( A glimpse of what some of all the hard work has been about. )

I'll take a quick detour to share an observation specifically about my choice of music. The pairing of audience recordings of the Grateful Dead and yard work turned out to be superb, bordering on ethereal. The Dead never played the same show twice so the improvisational and organic quality to any collection of live recordings is part of the allure. Working in the garden is connective exercise, human with earth, and that activity and the music seemed linked in a spiritual way. I prefer to listen to live music outdoors, it just feels better, and I think the experiences I have had in the yard these last few weeks are an extension of those feelings. With the added rush of the physical labor I was genuinely happy even after long, hard days of labor.

I would highly recommend the Sony Walkman W to anyone who I active and would like to take their music on the go. It is light, comfortable, powerful and has enough storage (2GB) to listen to unique tracks for at least a few hours. The product retails for $69 at Sony's web site. Don’t worry about it getting sweaty or wet, it will keep on truckin'!

Cheers!

Jason

Keeping a Garden

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Phelps) — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 17:11:00 +0000

I've helped with or have kept my own gardens since early childhood. Something about working with the soil, the living plants and then eating like a king has always resonated with me because of those experiences. A big thank you goes out to my mom & dad for exposing me to the activity. Those were good times!

Last year (2012) was the first good year using our original gardening plan when we moved in 11 years prior. Why didn't it work early on? We had too many trees. We got dozens of them cut down in 2011 & 2012, resulting in lots of sun. The tree removals, roof replacement and re-siding projects in those same years also collectively exposed and/or destroyed lawn, gardens and spaces with plenty of biomass and mess to deal with. Yay!

Clearing and re-purposing those areas has allowed us to expand our gardens, both for eating and sensory enjoyment. We picked a few more areas to clean up recently and as of the time of this writing we weren't yet done with this years' enhancements. Margot was epic in loading and moving the topsoil, but don't expect her to be announcing a change in career to landscaping any time soon! Between the two of us we have spent about a work week out in the yard so far this year, but based on the way it looks it has definitely been worth it.

( This is the herb garden cleaned up, soil spread and ready to plant. May 26, 2013 )

Salad vegetables and herbs are the most important food plants for me to grow on my own property. I love fresh, raw tomatoes; they just scream summer to me! The kitchen herbs basil, oregano, rosemary, sage and thyme are so easy to grow, smell fantastic and liven up all our summer meals. Estate grown hot peppers go into lots of summer dishes and in back to back years I expect a large harvest as well the creation of a new special fermented beverage to honor the crop. The sweet and spicy mead last year was really out of sight! This year we also decided to try potatoes, garlic, onions and leeks. Margot calls it our "hash brown" garden. Makes sense, so just go with it!

We kept the number of herb plants constant (I lied, we added orange mint but planted it elsewhere), but a couple perennials that didn't come back gave us better space to work with. We'll be eating basil already for dinner tonight. The sage wintered like a champ and we've already steeped some in lemonade for the house cooler for the summer season. Eating from the garden right out back is a true joy!

( Ready to plant vegetables. May 26, 2013 )

I also planted hops and strawberries from a friend in 2012. They did very well during the first season and this year are really off to a great start. I hope to get a small crop of each when their seasons come.

( Hallertauer hops, year two. May 28, 2013)

We also decided to pluck out some small ornamental trees and replace the area with a rose garden. That is one of the plans that hasn't been completed yet, so I don't have photos to share!

And with that let's get to the rest of the photos. The captions will guide you along this year's projects.

( Getting the herbs planted is always fun! May 30, 2013 )

( The "infamous" hash brown garden. From the left, front to back.

Potatoes, onions, garlic, leeks. The hops are on the far right. May 31, 2013 )

( The tomatoes and peppers are really happy a few days after planting. June 5, 2013 )

( There is activity in the potato bed as of today. June 5, 2013 )

( The strawberries are going to be made into a drink.

Cute idea to have a "cocktail garden". June 5, 2013 )

( After a few days of sun and water, the herbs are really happy! June 5, 2013 )

This year we also cleaned up the area where we removed our front hedges. Some fill and crushed stone made for a nice clean look. Margot found rustic planters to put annuals in along the front. Looks smashing!

( Front of the house. The grass seed is already down by now. May 30, 2013 )

( The back of our house is finally worth looking at! May 30, 2013 )

So that's where I have been lately, and with a few more projects and hours to go, it's where I will be for a few for weekends.

Cheers!

Jason

WineMaker Magazine International Amateur Wine Competition 2013 Results

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Phelps) — Tue, 21 May 2013 12:24:00 +0000

So the first order of business was to update the awards page. I posted the link on FB with the following:

Shameless, yes. Boastful and proud, yes. The guy I am, yes. But make no mistake, this is serious business.

80 total awards. 28 for mead of which 26 have come in only the last 12 months!!! More career stats: 40% win rate. And that is with an average of 8 entries per contest. I've missed placing in a contest 1 time in 7 years. I work like crazy to keep my unruly mad science in check, but I also seem to get results. I am happy to be here learning these crafts as well as having the opportunity to share it all with you. Thank you for propelling me day after day!

Ancient Fire Awards Page

The 2013 WineMaker Magazine Competition boasted 4,564 entries, the most ever. Entries came from 50 US states, 8 Canadian provinces and 9 countries.

The full PDF results are available at WineMaker Magazine International Amateur Wine Competition 2013 Results

For anyone who might have missed our weekend Twitter & FB updates, we took home 7 medals (out of 12 entries) including 3 - Gold, 3 - Silver and a Bronze. 6 were for mead.

Cheers!

Jason

My Half Full Glass - May 14th, 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Phelps) — Tue, 14 May 2013 11:21:00 +0000

This is actually last week's HFG, but shit happens. I also had a bottle of wine on deck to include this installment, but with allergy season in full swing my nose just wasn't gonna do it. And now I'm on to the next thing, so here it is!

Ommegang Three Philosophers

Three Philosophers is a Belgian Quad, a high ABV Belgian beer for which there is also a growing number of domestic examples worth drinking. The most recent release of Gravitation from Smuttynose caught my attention earlier this year and I've wondered how it compared to the offering from Ommegang.

Ommegang is known for their true-to-style Belgian beers as well as paving some new ground, and I can't say I have ever been disappointed with one of their beers. This Quad was not what I expected however, but in fairness there isn't anything wrong or off about it. It is just much drier than I expected. All of the aromatic and flavor notes are representative, dried fruits, dark sweet fruits, a breadiness and some spices. The alcohol is moderate at 9.7%, and is not a detractor. In the mouth it's all there, but it is very subtle because of the low residual sugar.

Having had a few homebrewed versions that are sweet and viscous I checked the BJCP Style Guide to see what the ranges in the different attribute categories might be. Category 18E, Belgian Dark Strong Ale is where a Quad could be classified. The alcohol is expected to be between 8 and 11% and the bitterness low. As for the sweetness, there are two sub-styles, Trappist & Abbey, that differ greatly in this aspect, while retaining considerable similarities otherwise. OK, glad I checked. The BJCP style guide is one of the ways I have been learning about beer styles and the two different versions (based on dryness) of Belgian Dark Strong Ales was something new to me!

At the end of the day this is a sweet style of beer for me, which is a good thing to know. I haven't ventured to make a Quad yet, but I do like Belgian beer so after trying a few more who knows!

Cheers!

Jason

Now Hear This – Kid Rock Helped Me Make Better Beer

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Phelps) — Wed, 08 May 2013 00:44:00 +0000

( Us from the night in question. )

Where: Somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean onboard the Carnival Destiny cruise ship

When: April 2012, late at night

What: Me joking that I could create a lime-infused ale that is better than Bud Light Lime, not that that is really that hard…

I’ll be honest, I struggled to find what I personally consider worthy beer options at the bars while on the Kid Rock Cruise. If you are a Chillin’ The Most cruiser and are reading this, take no offense. I make my own beer and over the years I have lost my taste for the big three brands (Bud, Miller, Coors), but I believe people should drink what they like. Drink freely my friends.

During one of the evenings on the cruise Margot and I sat outside enjoying both the warm night air and the people watching. The people watching on the cruise was epic by the way. I hit the bar and decided on a couple of Bud Light Limes. As I was drinking my beer I remarked “hey this isn’t so bad” and began talking about how I might craft something similar at home. Margot was goading me on, asking me to express how I really felt about Budweiser and got it all on video, but the video isn’t SFTB (safe for the blog) so you’ll just have to imagine it.

As I thought about it over the remainder of the weekend I figured a basic American ale containing both wheat and corn would be a solid blank slate to layer on some lime. Having worked with citrus flavors in my home fermentations before I knew that a multi-phased approach would work best. I added dried lime peel to the hot wort just before I chilled and strained it, and then fresh lime zest after I transferred the beer to the secondary fermentation container. Finally, lime juice was added at bottling to help bring it all together and lock a solid zip of lime into each bottle.

My plan worked. The beer was brewed on July 4^th, 2012 and we set about enjoying it about a month later. We actually used the same beer base to make a lemon shandy, a beer that went on to take a first place in a brewing competition later in the year. But I digress.

Everyone who tried the lime ale had positive words for it, and some people drank every bit of it in sight each time I chilled some down. It is a light-bodied beer and early on the effect of the corn was not very apparent. We just drank the last of the batch this past weekend and just like when I’ve brewed with corn in the past a rounded, sweetness developed with age. In the first few months after the beer was brewed the lime complex in the beer was potent, adding considerable tartness and crispness to each sip. Nearly a year later the lime was much mellowed, but still present.

Skip to the current day. I brewed a fresh batch of lime ale on my birthday last month, nearly one year to the day I hatched the plan in the first place. The recipe for the beer (provided below) has been slightly modified, but the first dose of lime (dried peel) was added at the same time and the fresh lime zest will be as well. At bottling however I will be using more lime juice, and all of it freshly squeezed rather than bottled.

Getting an earlier start on the second batch means it will be conditioned and ready to go for the summer drinking season, where I expect it will be consumed even more quickly, meaning I won’t be able to say I finished the last of it ten months later.

As for Kid Rock, he needs to get his ass to my house to try the creation he inspired. If you are reading this Bob (I’m dreaming, but one has to do that now and again) the invitation is open and we can retreat to the basement with openers and straws and see what comes of it!

And with that I’ll leave you with a video from the sail away show from the Kid Rock Chillin’ The Most Cruise #3. I can still hear my favorite Kid Rock songs reverberating across the sand and sea while I stood in the sun enjoying the simple things in life, like when and where.

( This video is not my own, but it kicks ass so I shared it! )

Cheers!

Jason

Ancient Fire Lime Ale 2013

SRM: 4.6

OG: 1.050

IBU: 14.5

Mash time: 30 min

Boil time: 45min

4lb Pilsner Dry Malt Extract

1lb CaraPils

1lb Flaked Wheat

1lb Flaked Corn

1oz Hallertauer hops (45 min)

0.5oz Cascade hops (5 min)

0.0oz Cascade hops (post boil, 5 min)

1oz dried lime peel (post boil, 15 min)

Zest of 6 limes (secondary, until bottling)

Lime juice (amount TBD, at bottling)

Maurivin brewing yeast, 1 liter starter

My Half Full Glass - May 2nd, 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Phelps) — Fri, 03 May 2013 14:00:00 +0000

Finger Lakes Reds with Grilled Steak Tips

The producers of the Finger Lakes are sharing their wines through a series of virtual tastings again this year including several in the month of May which is Finger Lakes Wine Month. If you are curious about the wines from the region these tastings go a long way to help you understand what is possible.

In the past I have participated in the Riesling and White Wine tastings so for this most recent series I selected reds. The sample kit included the following wines:

Prior to the 8PM virtual tasting I opened each of the bottles and gave them a taste. As I considered the sensory feedback I fired up the grill and got the steak tips going. A summary of our initial impressions goes a little something like this:

The first taste of the Fox Run 2010 Lemberger set high expectations for the flight. Earthy & spicy in the nose with tart currants, dark berries and a healthy dose of black pepper. Upon returning to this wine for a second taste both my wife and I found the nose to be a bit funky and there was also a prickle on the tongue that was not there previously. Neither was profound enough for us to think the wine was flawed, just noticeable different between tastes. I came back to this wine today and the nose was the same but the prickle on the tongue was gone. I'm not going to knock this wine for a subtle funkiness that doesn't detract from the rest of its attributes.
The Goose Watch 2010 Lemberger is a different style from the Fox Run, softer and more fruit forward. It is medium to full in body and smells like a dark berry jam with a restrained spicy component. Very quaffable.
The Rooster Hill Cab 2011 Franc/Lemberger blend is a bit floral in the nose with a healthy dose spiciness. In the mouth it is very peppery and the combination of spice, acidity and presence of fine tannins creates quite an experience. On its own this wine was my favorite of the six.
The Wagner 2010 Reserve Pinot Noir leads off with crushed red fruits both in the nose and mouth. It has enough tartness to keep everything lively and has a subtle tannic profile. This is a very straightforward, smooth and eminently drinkable Pinot.
The Heron Hill Ingle Vineyard 2009 Pinot Noir was off to us. Some volatile elements in the nose came off as a chemical in nature. The flavors were unblemished and the balance of acidity/tannins was good. I also returned to this wine today and found the odd elements in the nose to be subdued, but the wine was very acidic and tart compared to the tasting the night before.
The McGregor 2008 Black Russian Red was a new-to-us wine and producer from the region. The grapes are also nearly new to us as well. It pours very purple and has a nose that blends dark fruits, dried flowers (even sweet tobacco), spices and wet earth. The wine is tart and dry with dark berry flavors, balanced acidity and fine tannins. I look forward to finishing this bottle!

Once dinner was ready we got down to round two. In addition to grilled steak tips we also had a pine nut couscous and Brussels sprouts on our plates.

We brought wines in to try two at a time. The two that paired best were the Rooster Hill and McGregor Vineyard wines. The Fox Run Lemberger paired nicely as well, but we were giving it some air (see the notes above) and thought it might do even better overall on day two. The Goose Watch wine was too fruity for the pairing. Yes, the Pinots were overrun by the beef and marinade, but I didn't have any salmon on hand! The spice notes and acidity of both of these wines were the assets that made them work with the steak. The marinade on the steak was both sweet and spicy so a wine with some body and spice character of its own would be destined to work best.

After dinner I headed to the computer to watch the live stream from the tasting event, listen to Q&A from participants and interact with folks in Twitter who were tasting and sharing notes on the same wines. The most important message I heard producers relating to those participating is that their region is distinct from others and they need to continue to work to figure out which grapes work best and on which sites in order to continue to improve the wines. The specific questions about how Lemberger does in the region affirm this notion. Peter Bell from Fox Run indicated that while Pinot Noir is hard to grow anywhere in the world, including the Finger Lakes, Lemberger is proving to less fussy and produces quality wines when sited in a number of places around the region. Eschewing comparisons to other wine-making regions all of the winemakers assembled kept the focus on what their regional experiences are telling them and what work they are doing to continue to grow given the conditions they find in their vineyards.

This event was, as they always has been, a great way to learn more about what the producers are doing in the Finger Lakes region. Thank you to all the producers who participated and the Finger Lakes Wine Alliance for organizing the tasting series again in 2013. Being able to celebrate Spring and Finger Lakes Wine Month with delicious wines and seasonal grilling definitely made me smile!

Cheers!

Jason

I'm Ten Years Cancer Free!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Phelps) — Wed, 01 May 2013 15:18:00 +0000

( Me and my team in 2011 kicking some cancer ass! )

In the last week or so plenty of people have asked me what it felt like to turn 40. Well, it really didn't matter to me in the stereotypical way people think of it. Let me illustrate.

Then: I was diagnosed/treated for cancer and turned 30 in the midst of it. Yuck!

Now: I turned 40 on Monday and was given the good word just today that I am free of cancer for 10 years running. Hot damn!

Which one would you choose? See why turning 40 is so awesome for me? I'm better now than when I was 30 and so happy to be here to say that!

This is cause for celebration, and trust me I'll be doing plenty of that; so should you if only because celebrating a great story even when it isn't your own makes us human. But there is more to this than hoots, hollers and cheering.

The war on cancer has not been won. We've barely advanced our pieces on the board. My cause for celebration is a reminder of the battle we wage and why all of us need to get involved. It's a fight for life, and none of us are safe.

Fight back for Hannah, Bill, Pete, Rhonda and Noah who carry on their own personal battles. Celebrate all the survivors who remind us that hope is not lost. Fight back for your children, spouse, mother, father, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, neighbors, co-workers and yourself. Remember those we've lost and whose presence at our side as we fight propels us forward to victory. Get involved for any reason you want, but get involved.

Click below to make a donation to the American Cancer Society Relay For Life.

http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/RelayForLife/RFLCY13NE?px=1344507&pg=personal&fr_id=52043

Thank you!

Jason

Now Hear This - Music with Soul

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Phelps) — Wed, 01 May 2013 00:41:00 +0000

This is the inaugural column of Now Hear This, a weekly music-themed article that will showcase the strange interplay between music and beverages which may only exist in my own mind. Maybe it will make sense, maybe it won't. Maybe you will be inspired to check out new-to-you music and beverages as a result of reading it, or maybe you will dismiss me as crazy. Fine by me! Either way each week I get to share something of the inspiration that propels me onwards with only the hope that I might entertain you.

This week's topic is music that have soul. What does this mean exactly? When I was mulling this new column over I remembered a piece by Steve Heimoff in 2012 that touched on the topic of soul in wine and used a music analogy, hearing Marvin Gaye’s "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" as a kid, to set the tone. Heimoff was riffing on the thoughts of another writer (Lisa Airy for the Baltimore Sun) after having read their treatment of the question "What does it take to be great?" in the context of wine. There are two points from the original author that Heimoff specifically crafted his piece around that to me answer the question I asked above. They are “A …wine [that] is a very real combination of scent, flavor and texture that is seamless, multi-faceted, and unending from first sip to swallow, from first sip to last sip.” and “The experience [of a soulful wine] should be such a sensorial onslaught as to capture your complete and undivided attention.” Whether it is wine or music those two statements sum up the concept of soul I am hinting at, multi-faceted, intensely textured, sensorially captivating; demanding complete and undivided attention.

I'm late jumping on the Ben Harper train. He's already been underground and indie, has already gone big and won awards, been the "it" musician and best I can tell has now settled into his unique stride entertaining loyal fans with performances worldwide, producing for others and giving time & resources to the many global causes he is outspoken about and supports. Ben Harper's music has a vibrant soul, and based on what I've read about him personally, so does he.

I recently caught "I'm In I'm Out And I'm Gone: The Making of Get Up!"on Palladia. The show is part making of and part studio performance for the new Ben Harper & Charlie Musselwhite collaboration, "Get Up!" At the time I first watched it I knew next to nothing about Harper and absolutely nothing about Musselwhite, and technically I still don't. But the music commanded my attention. Harper on slide guitar (his signature style which of course I would learn more about after downloading more of his music) and Musselwhite on harmonica is a real sensorial onslaught. "I Don't Believe a Word You Say" is my favorite track from the "Get Up!" disc.

The video above is a the performance of "I Don't Believe a Word You Say" from the Get Up! special. Turn it up loud and listen to the different layers from the musicians. It may be stripped down musically, but is isn't simple and has plenty of soul.

During the special on the making of Get Up! Both Musselwhite and Harper talked about how they met (at a session with John Lee Hooker no less) and that they were “following a feeling” and “letting the music lead them” which brought them to where they were right then. Talk about tuned in, switched on and paying attention!

After the special was over I headed to the cloud. I have been 13 year member of Emusic.com and once I found the Ben Harper page I bounced around the artist bio and album pages to get a feel for what was available and downloaded a cross section of studio and live tunes that I could chew on. Amongst the songs I downloaded there is one I keep coming back to, "The Will To Live". I specifically like the live version of it from the "The Will To Live: Live EP" originally recorded during the 1997 world tour. With lyrics like those below I don't think it is very hard to expect the song to have a bit of soul.

"I met a girl whose heart was on the right hand side

And upon the left an angel did reside

They told her mother that she never would survive

But she kept the rhythm and is still alive, she's still alive

And we must all have the will to live

Oh, you got to have the will to live

Oh, the will, oh, the will

The will to live

..."

I couldn't find that particular version online but this one is similar and should provide context. After listening to the song I immediately stopped to think about what it really means to have the will to live and why don't more people live life to the fullest without having to have experienced calamity for perspective? I've been lucky enough to gain perspective after personal health problems, but I don't think that is required to be able to grasp the soul of this song.

The slide guitar on this track (the live one I specifically like) initially comes across as just behind the bass in the texture stack, then it jumps forward and for the rest of the track they trade places with the guitar also bouncing from right to left and back. It takes focus to absorb it all. Another stylistic facet for Harper is a soulful whisper in his vocals, which is clearly evident on this track. At about four and half minutes (or so depending on version) into the track a group of vocalists, Harper included, create a lullaby type medley that Harper stretches out to nearly the close of the track. There is something so human and soulful there. I'm profoundly touched by it. Examples of this soul exist throughout Ben Harper's collection. If you aren't familiar with Harper and dig an eclectic mix of blues, folk, soul, rock and plenty of energetic guitar playing find this music and stick it in your brain!

So what about the beverages? I am going to go with a pairing rather than deconstruct the soul of a particular drink this week. The music on the Get Up! record offers a lot to take in with its mix of both mellow and up-tempo blues. It immediately made me think of Bourbon, a great example of the harmony of mellow and lively elements in a glass. I watched the special a second time with a glass of Blanton’s Single Barrel Bourbon in hand and it was a fine pairing indeed. The Bourbon is complex in its own right, with a nice balance of sweet and smoky elements which played off the music very well. It occurred to me that a cigar might have been a nice addition, but I’ll save that for another day.

Sane or crazy, you decide. Hopefully it was entertaining!

Cheers!

Jason

My Half Full Glass - April 25th, 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Phelps) — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 11:34:00 +0000

White Birch Ol' Catty Flemish Sour

Hanging out at the Cask & Vine bar can be dangerous. Four beer flights help you experience what's been newly tapped and then a full glass of something that catches your fancy can make for a dangerous night!

Last weekend the Ol' Catty Sour from White Birch (a soured version of their Ol' Cattywhompus Barleywine) was on tap. I will say that I am developing a taste for sour beers and with the experience I do have I know what I like and don't in this style. Beers that are sour for sour's sake and don't have a lot of character in their own right just don't do it for me.

The White Birch Ol' Catty Sour is NOT one of those beers. It's actually sweet, and sour! Brown in color with a wonderfully rich & malty full body and earthy hops you'd be good enough there. The sour, but not too sour, tangent adds depth to this drink. Because it is also sweet the sour profile doesn't taste forced or out of balance. My Facebook message on this beer finished with "damn, I love this beer!" I guess I was having a good time.

Meinklang Burgenland White 2012

Last night (April 24, 2013) the topics of bio-dynamics and Austrian wine were showcased on #winechat. I received the sample kit and popped the bottles open earlier in the day to do my tasting and note taking. The first wine I tasted was the Meinklang Burgenland White 2012 a blend of Welschriesling, Gruener Veltliner and Muskat Ottonel. I'm a sucker for fresh & fruity white blends and this one definitely drew me in. Bottled with some of its own carbonation the wine is a bit prickly which adds a surprising but very workable dimension all of its own. This wine makes a perfect summer sipper. It does need to be chilled to be best.

Aromas of white flowers, crushed herbs and tart, white fleshed fruits (tart apples, pears) blend together nicely in the nose and mouth. The finish is crisp and prickly but does have just a little sweetness left before it exits. There was plenty of conversation about this wine during #winechat and having enjoyed it on the first really warm Spring day we've had in New Hampshire made it easy to consider how this wine might pair well with the inevitable backyard parties of Summer.

Thank you to Austrian Wine USA for hosting #winechat and for the producers who participated. Not having a lot of Gruner experience I was taking in a lot of the feedback from others to help put these wines in context. I purposely decided to make an Asian-inspired salad for dinner tonight so that I can return to the Sepp Moser and Nikolaihof Gruners to experience more of what they offer!

Cheers!

Jason

My Half Full Glass - April 16th, 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Phelps) — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 13:04:00 +0000

Cider Rules

Last Wednesday night I had the honor of talking about cider as a guest for #winechat. Prior to the event I tasted through several styles to remind myself of the incredible diversity in cider-making traditions around the world. I also wrote two posts (Cider Tales and More From The Orchard) on the topic of cider to help those unfamiliar with it learn more about a beverage that I both make and frequently enjoy.

One bottle I had on hand that didn't open was the Newtown Pippin from Original Sin. The Newtown Pippin apple has a great American story, originating in Long Island, NY and spreading to many locations including Virginia where both Thomas Jefferson and George Washington grew it. In modern times it is considered an heirloom apple variety and is largely used in cider-making, although it can be found at farm stands in the Eastern part of the United States. I've never actually eaten one, but have had it in cider form several times.

The Original Sin Newtown Pippin is a dry, sparkling cider that pours a light gold color. The aromas are tart apple, crab apple and apple blossom to me. In the mouth it is dry, but not bone dry, with very straightforward tart apple flavors. What I like about this cider is the balance. Dry, tart ciders can often create a sour sensation pretty quickly. This one is more gentle, not creating a big mouth pucker until late in the finish.

Aged Homemade Wine

I've only been making wine for nine years and for the first several of those years I made small enough quantities that most of it was consumed within the first year of its life. More recently I've made wine in higher volumes as well as have branched off into other beverages (cider and mead) so more of my wine has been able to age.

I recently uncorked a bottle of a Cabernet blend (Cab Sauv & Ruby Cab) made in the Spring of 2008 from buckets of juice. The wine drank well early on and I had hoped it would age. It has aged and well enough to be drinkable, but it has not really improved at all with age; not that I expected it to. When I made this wine I still had minimal experience with the process, and the ingredients I used were good, but not the best out there.

The wine is drinkable on its own, but comes off a little sweet and a bit candy-ish. The candy / bubblegum nose is a dead give-away for methyl sorbate in homemade wine, a chemical byproduct from the use of Potassium Sorbate as a stabilizer, and potentially in a larger than necessary amount. Lesson learned. I've rarely come across this attribute in my wines so for this to be found in wines I made nearly 5 years ago shouldn't be a surprise. So what to do with the wine?

Cut it with Coca-Cola, add some ice and enjoy a wine cocktail!

Cheers!

Jason

More From The Orchard

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Phelps) — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 14:31:00 +0000

( Apple blossoms right down the street from me in the Spring. )

Yesterday I offered up a bit of a primer on cider. A little bit of historical context, characteristics & regional variations, how it's made and producers you should know. It was a lot of information but I hadn't covered all the topics that I wanted to. Today I'm back with reviews of recent tastings, some tips on pairing cider with food and a little bit about my own experience making cider at home.

Cider Reviews

I try new ciders whenever and wherever I find them. I developed a taste for cider growing up in New England. Occasionally the fresh pressed cider from a local farm had gone a little hard and while I don't think I knew about the potential alcohol in it, I did like the tartness and minor carbonation. I never got to drink much of it, it was usually spirited away upon detection that it had gone "hard", but I enjoyed it nonetheless. When I did begin to drink alcohol, legally of course, I consumed cider frequently. For me it was a much better alternative to light beer when I had the funds to buy just for myself.

Samuel Smith Organic Hard Cider

Samuel Smith Organic Hard Cider is medium dry with plenty of sweet & tart apple to go around this is a very enjoyable cider. There is a floral element to this that you will also see mentioned in quite a number of other reviews. Knowing what apple blossoms smell like, I have orchards on my street, I do agree that is what the aroma is most like. At 5% ABV this cider won't do a lot of damage in moderation. To me this is a classic commercial version of English cider.

Angry Orchard Ciders

The ciders from Angry Orchard are relatively new and until recently I hadn't tried all the varieties available in 12oz bottles. I haven't yet tried Ice Man or Straw Man from the Cider House Collection. Both the Crisp and Traditional ciders are straightforward with the Traditional being the drier, sharper and more tart of the two. The Crisp tasted too juicy and fruity to me, but it isn't a bad cider to sit back and enjoy. The Ginger version is more interesting still, but I found the ginger flavor to be somewhat hidden by the apple aromas and sweetness. I found the Elderflower to have a skunky nose and it just wasn't a combination that I enjoyed well enough to want to drink it again.

Sarasola Basque Cider

Pours hazy and with an orange tint. The aromas are tart and sour which follows through in the mouth. The cider is funky, earthy, acetic, sour and much more interesting that I expected. The apple aromas and flavors are there but are very much masked by the Brett and sour elements. This reminds me of some of the sour Belgian ales and lambics I have had. The reviews at several of the craft beer sites for this cider were decidedly not positive. It left me wondering if the reviewers didn't know that Basque cider isn't like American cider.

Woodchuck Ginger

I've been drinking Woodchuck ciders for as long as I can remember them being available (1991) but I had never had the ginger which has only been out less than a year. This is the best ginger flavor I have had in a cider, and something I hope to replicate in a cider of my own in the next season. The cider itself is dry so the ginger stands out with a potent spicy character and apples as the backdrop.

Bantam Wunderkind

Bantam Cider Wunderkind is the best new cider I have had in some time. It pours pale straw in color and crystal clear. The tart apple and floral notes in the nose drew me in. Flavor wise this cider offers a spectrum and tart and sweet apple flavors and hints of ginger. I would highly recommend this to anyone who can find it in or around Massachusetts where it is made.

Etienne Dupont Organic Cidre Bouché Brut de Normandie 2009

Ciders made in Normandy, like Etienne Dupont, are a real treat. In the traditional style there are unfiltered, barrel aged (fermented in part with native yeasts and sometimes Brett) and massively carbonated. This one was no slouch on any of those points. It poured and orange gold color and threw up apples, yeast funk and barnyard right away. In the mouth the cider apples reign and hints of spices come and go. There is some residual sweetness but it is kept in check by the acidity and carbonation. I bought a small bottle of this particular producer and now I know to buy the big one the next time.

Links to Older Reviews

Crispin Cider (Review #1, Review #2, Review #3)

Eden Iced Cider

Albermarle CiderWorks

Peconic Bay Winery Hard Cider

Bonny Doon Querry (An apple, pear & quince cider)

Silver Mountain Ciders

Pairing Cider with Food

Food & beverage pairing has become somewhat of a sport in the United State media, and I’m not sure that has been entirely beneficial. Matching food & beverages has an immense amount of subjective quality to it, and while most of the basic rules are valid, the focus on “perfect pairings” is driving people nuts.

Cider is an old beverage, a rustic beverage, and thus consumers of it anywhere there is a healthy cider-making tradition have tried it with absolutely every food-stuff available. This means there should be lots of experience pairing cider but it also serves to stoke the fires of subjective judgments of which regional foods & ciders go together best. We've lost a lot of the cider tradition in the US so our experience with it on the table isn't as tangible as it could be. It's coming back though. Let’s take a look at some of the basic rules in terms of cider & food pairing. No matter whether you are new to cider or not some of these suggestions will open up exciting possibilities for you to try.

( Up close with some apple blossoms. The smell is so wonderful! )

Dry, highly carbonated ciders can be paired much like Champagne and sparkling wine. The most significant difference is that the aromas and flavors are more focused around apples, but in versions that have balanced flavors it shouldn't cause pairing problems. So this means pairings with lots of different appetizers, especially fried ones, tapas, oysters and shellfish.

Cheese is the ultimate pairing tool for me, but I am a sucker for cheese! Cheddar, especially aged types, pairs well with cider. Dubliner, an Irish import, is particularly nice with both dry and medium dry ciders. Goat cheese pairs nicely as well, and even better with added fruit or a chutney. Funky cheeses can pair well with cider, and if you match some funk with funk (French & Spanish ciders) you might make magic! Blue cheese is a good match for sweeter ciders.

Poultry and cider can be paired very well, and I've often found cider to be the best match for something like Thanksgiving dinner and the convergence of all those textures and flavors. Roasted chicken with herbs and a medium dry to dry cider is a combination that I've enjoyed many times.

Desserts and any sweet treats containing apple can be paired with cider, and the basic rule of matching sweet with sweet does apply. Fresh baked apple pie with a glass of ice cider is a combination sure to please!

Making Cider At Home

Making cider at home is a straightforward act. I recently wrote a post about "scrumpy" and I presented a countertop version of it that only takes a couple weeks to ferment and is consumed before the fermentation is complete and without any fining or filtering. Check out Adventures in Fermentation - Scrumpy to see how it's done.

Cider-making at home can be much more elaborate, and if you ask my wife she'll tell you I've gone there and will likely go even bigger the next time. I made my first hard cider in 2005. I have access to fresh pressed cider from several local farms so getting the ingredients has never been a problem. I've made hard cider from varietal juice, Mutsu in particular, as well as the "house blends" from five area farms. The only consideration about the starting product that I have made up to this point is that it can only be UV treated, but NOT pasteurized. Living sweet cider makes the best hard cider. The results have spanned a broad range, from really tart, sour & dry to gently sweet with a beautiful nose of apples and apple blossoms. Duplicating the best outcomes has been hard because each new season of apples is different.

In 2009 I embarked on a big cider project. I was interested in making several different styles of cider from the same source. I started with 35 gallons of fresh cider. I used different yeasts and finished some of the ciders with homemade fruit syrups. All of the cider I made for this project was still. I had lost a fair bit of cider in 2007 to overcharged bottles and I was loathe to see that happen again.

( The seven carboys around the outer ring are from the 2009 project. )

The outcome was very educational. The unflavored cider made with the traditional cider yeast was good, but the least interesting. The ciders made with a Sweet Mead yeast were naturally a bit sweeter and had a more complex nose. The ciders made with cherry, strawberry and raspberry fruit syrups ranged in sweetness with the raspberry one tasting like raspberry/apple candy. The best outcome was the unflavored cider fermented with Rudesheimer yeast which is actually a yeast used to make German Riesling wines. The complexity of the cider was beyond all of my wildest imagination. I named it "Rudy" and coveted each bottle that I pulled from the cellar to enjoy. That cider went on to win a first place at a regional homebrew competition and the feedback from everyone who tried it was overwhelming. If there is ever a cider I would like to recreate, it would be this one.

( Open apple blossoms. They are nice, but boy do they create a lot of pollen in the neighborhood! )

With the exception of pressing the fruit myself everything else about cider-making at home has been the same as it would be for a commercial producer, albeit on a smaller scale. In 2013 I do plan to make a larger volume than I have made in the past. I plan to blend ciders from multiple sources, use several different yeasts and even barrel age some. I've also considered using cryo-extraction to create the base for an ice cider, but that has to wait until winter comes again in New Hampshire, something I am not thinking about at all right now! I will likely get the chance to crush and press my own apples this year too. One of my brew club friends has access to lots of fruit from a family orchard and with a little bit of elbow grease I hope to bring home my hand pressed cider and make something delicious with it.

Onward to #ciderchat!

Once again there is a lot of information here. To me cider is really exciting and sharing all of this information was an exciting task. I look forward to answering questions and sharing experiences during #winechat tonight.

So what I am going to be drinking tonight during the cider conversation #winechat? I have some homemade scrumpy that I will start off with then I am going to open a bottle from the Dooryard series made by Farnum Hill and maybe a bottle of Newtown Pippin from Original Sin Ciders.

Cheers!

Jason

Cider Tales

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Phelps) — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 01:44:00 +0000

The apple tree is considered by some as the oldest cultivated tree in the world, but with its exact origins both unknown and hotly debated we can really only go so far back before what we know about how apples were grown and used gets pretty sketchy. The flipside is that the hot debate confirms that apples were grown all over the Old World and migrated to New World locations with explorers and settlers. I led off with this because I wanted to the following statement to be as believable as possible. Where there are apples there is hard cider.

I will let the reader discover the numerous perspectives on the history of cider, some of which can be explored via the links below.

With the identification of the mysterious process of fermentation some eight to ten thousand years ago (Pasteur only documented the science in the mid 19th century), anything that had sugar in it was fair game to have been used to make drink. This includes fruits, honey, cereals (grains, rice) and other sources of sugar like cane. And apples weren't excluded. We don't have to travel forward in history too far to find the evidence that where there were apples there was cider. SO, what else do you need to know?

There is a lot to know about cider both old and new. "But Jason what's the most important information to know about cider?" Well, that really depends on two things. First of, because cider is made all over the world, it is going to take time to experience enough of it firsthand to really worry about all the particulars. Second, and to me most important, is figuring out what you like. When seeking out and sampling ciders it pays to have a sense of how they work on your palate. And that is where the different style elements or characteristics come in to play.

Cider Characteristics

Carbonation - Ciders come in sparkling AND still styles. The range of carbonation can be from Champagne-like to soda that is going flat. Still cider will rarely present any carbonation at all, but some versions maybe pettilent, much like some bottlings of mead.
Aroma/Flavor - Traditional ciders, those made with heirloom or cider-making apples, are much more likely to have tart apple driving both the nose and palate, and may often be sour. Ciders made with dessert or sweet apples will be much more juicy and sweet smelling/tasting. The choice can be born of tradition or cider-maker choice, and every cider house may make different choices based on the types and quality of apples available each new season.
Texture/Body - Cider can be bone dry and very light, but it can also be sweet and viscous with just enough acidity to manage a reasonable level of tartness. Some cider-makers filter their ciders and other do not. Some bottle conditioned ciders may pour hazy from the bottle re-fermentation, while most high-volume commercial ciders are crystal clear and are force-carbonated during the bottling process.
Additional Ingredients - Cider-makers can be very creative and most often when they are, we all benefit. Added fruits (cherries, pears, etc), spices, maple syrup, honey, unique yeasts and barrel aging all influence the finished cider differently.

Regional cider traditions can be broadly classified in terms of the different characteristics , and here are some of the most common regional variations:

English (West) – Traditionally are farmhouse style ciders that are most often cloudy and made from tart cider apples.
English (East) – More often made dessert apples, filtered for clarity with an overall light & dry profile.
France (Normandy/Brittany) – Most of the cider produced in France is made in the northwest regions where cider-making has been ongoing for hundreds of years. A range of ciders, dry to sweet and most often sparkling are produced.
Canada (Quebec) – several styles of cider are produced in Quebec, but most notably is the Cidre de Glace, or ice cider. The production of these ciders is much like ice wine, frozen fruit is pressed to extract concentrated sugars. These ciders are exquisite and are well worth seeking out.
Canada (Outside Quebec) – Traditional dry, sparkling ciders are produced in several Canadian provinces. I recall enjoying some BC-made cider in a pub on Victoria Island, but sadly I enjoyed that night so much that I forgot to find out who the producer was.
United States (New England) – along with the Mid-Atlantic states New England is where ciders were first produced in what would later become the United States. Styles vary and the availability of both traditional cider AND dessert apples means that versions resembling old English styles as well as modern styles can be found readily. Several large and many small producers exist in the region. Ice cider, having migrated over the northern border with Quebec is notable in Vermont.
United States (New York & Mid-Atlantic) – Has a similar cider making history to New England. Several small to medium sized producers making both traditional and modern styles of cider.
United States (Upper Midwest) – Michigan and Minnesota are home to a number of cider producers making a range of styles.
United States (West Coast) – Cider is made by a growing list of producers from Washington to California. I’ll be seeking out more West Coast cider on several upcoming trips.
Germany – Called Apfelwien this is a variation I have yet to try. Research suggests it is tart and sour, but that variations do exist.
Ireland – Typically medium dry, filtered and force carbonated.
Spain – Several styles exist both in the regions of Asturia and Basque Country. Traditional versions are tart and sour. I don’t have much experience with these but have read about the long cider-making tradition and included the reference to peek curiosity for those travelling to Spain or looking for Spanish food & drink.

Cider is produced and consumed in quite a few other countries, but at smaller volumes than the countries/ regions listed above. We have to remember that where there are apples there is cider, but sometimes just not that much.

Production Process

Cider at its simplest is the juice of crushed and pressed apples that is fermented with either ambient or cultured yeasts.

Apples must be prepared before they can be fermented and this involves crushing them, often called scratting, and then pressing the pomace to release the juice. The pressed juice is then transferred into barrels or tanks for primary fermentation. (The photo on the below on the right is from a brew club purchase of cider from 2011. I made a couple of nice ciders from the 20 gallons I purchased!)

The primary fermentation proceeds until almost all the sugars are consumed by the yeast. At this point the nearly complete cider is racked (transferred) to clean vessels for the completion of the fermentation and aging. Typically ciders will complete fermentation in about 8-12 weeks and are ready to consume in the un-finished form shortly thereafter.

What happens next is very much a cider house choice. Some ciders are aged in old barrels for years, while some ciders are bottled and released young. As mentioned above some ciders have added flavors which may require additional fermentation and aging time as well filtration depending the type and texture of the added ingredients.

Bottling takes one of two paths, a Champagne-like secondary fermentation in the bottle (sometimes called charging or bottle conditioning) or the forced carbonation of sterile filtered ciders. Enclosures range from corks & cages (again like Champagne) to traditional crown caps used for beer. Bottle size ranges from 12 oz to 22oz or 750ml containers.

Ciders You Might Find at the Store

Cider is produced all over the United States and is also imported from other countries. Many of the domestic producers are small in scale and have limited distribution so unless they are local to you it is unlikely you will easily find their products. Cider is inherently a local beverage, and the best ones are made close to the apple source, making them hyper-local. There are several major domestic and imported brands that you should be familiar with. This brings me to a rule that I use to guide my beverage explorations. As a producer’s volume increases the number of human hours per ounce of beverage drops and if you experience this growth curve first-hand you will notice a point when the quality and character of their flagship products plateaus or even drops off. If you experience these products later in the producers’ evolution you may be underwhelmed. Looking back to their history might help contextualize these experiences for what they are. This isn’t a hard and fast rule and the threshold for different beverages and producers isn’t the same. For producers who have a diverse lineup of products, those that remain in small production might not suffer this fate.

How does the guidance above apply to cider? Well, the big brands have volume and distribute their product as far as they can to support that volume as well as future growth. Their products are worth trying and will help you understand the breadth of options available. That said, it is an absolute surety that well-made versions from local producers will be more interesting, more creative and elicit a much more joyful response from people who experience them. The major brands are viewed as a benchmark for the cider industry broadly, but only because much of the remaining production is made “under the radar” of the public at-large. Traditionally products may not bear any resemblance to the "big" commercial products, and we have to take care not to overlook them.

Major Brands You Should Know

Magners (Ireland) – available in bottles and on draft in many locations. This is bottled under the Bulmer’s name in Ireland where cider is quite popular.
Strongbow (England) – available in bottles and on draft in pubs with a more English profile to the drink selection.
Woodchuck (US, VT) – available in bottles nationwide, and on draft in some locations
Angry Orchard (US, OH) – available in bottles nationwide. I have yet to run into it on draft, but I don’t know that it isn’t available that way.

Regional/Imported Brands You Might Find Nationwide

Devil's Bit (Ireland) – a delicious import that is available here and there.
Crispin (US, MN) - Although Crispin is now owned by MillerCoors, the products continue to be to made to the brand standards and are very enjoyable. Their standard offerings are delicious but some of their specialty versions include adjunct sweeteners (maple, honey) and are fermented with beer yeasts. The added character is well worth seeking out.
Farnum Hill (US, NH) – a gold standard for cider in my opinion. Both dry and sweeter styles are made, including varietal versions from heirloom or cider apples like Kingston Black.
Samuel Smith (England) – another import worth seeking out. Should be found more easily, especially in craft beer shops.

Local Brands You Should Seek Out

Foggy Ridge Cider (US, VA)
Albermarle CiderWorks (US, VA)
Bellwether (Finger Lakes, NY)
Peconic Bay (Long Island, NY)
Eden Cider (US, VT - Iced Cider & Aperitif styles)
Silver Mountain Ciders (US, NH)
Champlain Orchards (US, VT)
Bantam Ciders (US, MA)

I have enjoyed ciders from all of the "local" producers immediately above and would highly recommend them. Finding them will most likely require a trip to the region of origin, but that is changing slowly.

Phew, that's a lot of information on cider. But I'm really just getting started. Tomorrow I will share information on three more topics including reviews from recent tastings, cider & food pairing and my experiences making cider at home.

Cheers!

Jason

My Half Full Glass - April 4th, 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Phelps) — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 12:02:00 +0000

Chateau Le Bonnat 2010 Graves Blanc

I can't say that I am a fan of White Bordeaux because I've have never really had that many. But when I have had them I have typically enjoyed the experience which begs the question of why I don't seek more of them out. Who knows, life is just like that I guess!

I came by this particular selection, Chateau Le Bonnat 2010 Graves Blanc, in a Bordeaux combo pack from Lot 18 and if I recall the price per bottle was just shy of $17, which is about the current average price for the label according to sites that track price trends.

I opened the bottle for no particular reason or occasion and I don't even remember now what I had for dinner with it. Clearly getting off track with the blogging has created some undesirable outcomes!

The wine is a blend of 66 percent Sémillon and 34 percent Sauvignon Blanc, with 6 months of oak aging. I found conflicting information on whether just the Sémillon was aged or the blend. I am guessing just the Sémillon. I was met with white flowers (or maybe citrus blossoms), herbs and a bit of stone in the nose. There was also a touch of nuttiness as well. The flavors were predominantly unripe peach with a dose of tart citrus that picks up in the middle through the finish. The wine has a creamy texture with a bit of body on the palate, but does remain crisp with a clean finish and a touch of acid in the exit.

I would recommend this wine as a worthy example of Graves Blanc and a decent value. If you are looking for a versatile white and can find it for under $17, go for it!

Smuttynose Gravitation

I had the most recent release of this beer on tap over dinner with my wife at Cask & Vine (a place I will share more about soon) in Derry, NH.

Gravitation is part of the Big Beer series from Smuttynose Brewing located in New Hampshire. At 12% ABV the word big is apt. Categorically this beer is designated as a Belgian Quad and this particular beer is made with a range of specialty malts and raisin syrup to create its unique character.

The beer is a light brown color and smells/tastes of dried fruits (raisins, prunes), unrefined/raw sugars and malts. The alcohol is not entirely balanced and easily perceptible. The beer goes down smoothly enough making it insanely dangerous. It is sweet, but there is a crispness or sharp edge to it that keeps it from coming across as cloying.

As I was researching this beer I reviewed the comments on it at Beer Advocate. Clearly the reviews are mixed and not having much experience with the style I can't really confirm or refute any of it on a technical basis. I did enjoy it, and so did Margot, so when consumed socially rather than with my reviewer hat on, I humbly suggest that this beer is hugely enjoyable.

Cheers!

Jason

Home-brewing Is Messy & Noisy But Is So Worth It!

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Phelps) — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 13:05:00 +0000

I've been home-brewing nearly ten years now and several things have been constant during my experience. The mess and the noise. I am going to cast these ideas specifically in terms of making beer, something I am doing a lot of in 2013, but my experiences with making mead, cider and wine are very much the same.

Home-brewing is messy. I make more of a mess and spend more time cleaning up than I do actually brewing. I brew with extract, although I have switched to a partial mash technique and dry, versus liquid, extract in the last year or so. Dry malt extract is a funny substance. It is a fine powder so it kicks up dust pretty easily which means I usually end up with a small coating of it near my scale and vessel I am measuring into. Even a small amount of moisture, steam for example, turns the dry malt extract sticky, and if you don't get any excess wiped up quickly it dries and is oh so fun to clean up!

Wort, unfermented beer, is another messy character. Having blended water, malt & hops together this should be no surprise. Spilling wort in the wrong place can create a nice mess and having a boil over during the initial brewing can be a real pain to clean up. I watch my brewpot like a hawk and I haven't had a boil over in almost 3 years now. That last time I did have a boil over I had to wait until it dried so I could de-clog my burner. That was a huge buzz-kill on that brewday! I've never taken any pictures of these types of messes so I can't share the visual. If you've ever experienced it firsthand you know what I'm talking about!

Cleaning in general is the part of home-brewing that will always consume a huge amount of time. Equipment is cleaned & sanitized before you use it (the pic above is a table full of cleaned equipment) and then again afterwards before is it put away for the next brew session. That means lots of time at the sink, the application of several kinds of cleansers and sanitizers and a fair bit of both hot and cold water. My cleaning work always takes a toll on my hands and until the day is done I can't put anything on them because it would transfer to the equipment that I am trying to get or keep clean.

None of this is really a burden and I am not complaining about any of it, but a bit of honesty in pursuit of homemade beer can at least ensure folks new to the craft know what to expect. With experience you can mitigate the effects of the mess and manage the cleaning so that you can enjoy standing around the brewpot in the sun with a tasty homebrew.

Less of a labor-inducing issue but still constant is the cacophony of sounds released by home-brewing. Propane burners, boiling wort, air locks & blow-off tubes are just some of the sounds. For folks that use pumps and more sophisticated brewing rigs I bet there are other sounds I am not accustomed to from my low tech approach.

The last several high gravity (more sugar) beers I have made required a blow-off tube that was terminated in a pitcher of water. And boy did they make a racket! One of them is still going along albeit at a reduced pace from 10 days ago when it was brewed. I went down to the basement at one point and didn't initially know what the gentle pounding on the ceiling was. It was the CO2 being expelled into the pitcher from the fermenting beer on the floor above!

I took a short video of that recent brew on the second day of fermentation. If you watch closely you can see the bubbles being expelled into the pitcher, but with the sound on and the volume up you can also hear the noise it makes. Luckily you can really on hear it in the adjoining rooms on the same floor and as I mentioned from below in the basement.

Now that I've carried on a bit about some of the joyous challenges of home-brewing you might be wondering what I have been making and what is on the future brew schedule.

So far in 2013 I have made the following brews:

English Barleywine
Double IPA
Belgian Style Braggot
Moylan's Kilt Lifter Clone (a Scotch Ale)
Stout Braggot (currently in a used whiskey barrel)
Maple Wheat Wine
Belgian Dubbel

The Belgian Style Braggot and the last three above are still fermenting and/or aging.

Over the winter I also created three mini-batches of braggots (mead/ale hybrids) that also contained fruit or cider. All three have been bottled and two of the three have sampled well. My primary takeaway was that a light ale based braggot with fruit, like raspberries, is a nice beer; but the honey might not be best used in this way. The cider-based versions have a sour tinge to them, something that might not find a happy home in a broad audience. Interesting experiments nonetheless.

We are switching over to brewing lighter beers for Spring over the next month or so, which includes:

Orange Wit
Lime Ale
Double Pilsen Ale

We are also going to need to fill our two new barrels again soon so we have a Russian Imperial Stout (our first ever) and a Smoky Chocolate Ale on the schedule for that purpose.

( One of our one-used whiskey barrels from Balcone's Distillery in Texas. )

As you can see we are quite busy with the home-brewing right now!

All of the work is worth it, especially when you get to share your homebrew with friends. I usually forget all the hard work in between brewing sessions so I don't grow anxious about my next one.

Cheers!

Jason

My Half Full Glass - March 21st, 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Phelps) — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 16:03:00 +0000

After a month-long break I am trying to get back on terms with my weekly posts. Some things have calmed down and others stay as insane as they were when they knocked me off track. Such is life!

This week is a celebration of drinking local with both a locally made spirit and a local mead. Do you drink local?

Flag Hill Distillery White Mountain Moonshine

I took my first sip of the Flag Hill White Mountain Moonshine whilst outside brewing a pot of beer on a sunny yet cold & windy day. I am sure the environment had something to do with my first impressions, but since they were quite positive I think the setup only ads to be mystique of drinking local moonshine!

I don't have a lot of experience with white/un-aged spirits so I don't really know how to describe them very well. The nose definitely has a punch of alcohol and reminded me of high proof vodka. The more I thought about it the more I realized that there is a greenness to the nose which I can only link to the corn and gently malted barley being un-hidden by barrel aging. The nose is slightly sweet, but not abundantly so.

In the mouth this drink is sweet, and at 90 proof it does warm quickly, but there is not the harshness or burn that you do find in undiluted 'shine or white dog that you might get served out of an unlabelled container. Some of amount of grain flavor was accessible to me, but I again don't feel qualified to say much more about it.

Because I was around the brewpot I thought of other communal functions where this tipple, and the cute little 375 ml handle bottle is just really cool, might fit in well. Campfires and cigar night with the boys both came to mind.

I purchased this at my local NH Liquor Store at $18.99 for the 375ml bottle. Yes that is a bit pricey, but I know, like and appreciate what the folks at Flag Hill do so it was worth it to me.

Sap House Meadery Vanilla Metheglin

I got some cheerful personal mead-making news this week in the form of a silver medal at the 2013 Mazer Cup for my vanilla mead. Realizing I hadn't sampled but one commercial version, from Moonlight Meadery (review from 2011), I sought out one made from Sap House Meadery in Center Ossipee here in New Hampshire.

Vanilla is a really wonderful spice but I don't think most people really ever experience it fully and completely. Imitation vanilla is not vanilla. The fake aromas and flavors don't do it justice. You need vanilla beans, and good ones from Madagascar or India to really understand what vanilla smells and tastes like. When you then go the next step and steep the beans in a mead (with sufficient alcohol of course) you end up making a slightly less pungent version of vanilla extract, but one you can drink! Only then can you really appreciate vanilla as it really is.

Because vanilla beans are the seed pod of the Vanilla Orchid, real vanilla will exude floral essences and anyone who loves to explore the world with their nose should spend some time with a good vanilla bean; it is heavenly.

The Sap House Meadery Vanilla Bean Mead is a local wildflower honey mead flavored with Indian Vanilla beans. The nose is very floral, both from the honey and the vanilla, and definitely inviting. The finish is sweet, but really medium-sweet like a natural cream soda versus a syrupy uber-commercialized version.

Both the honey and vanilla are accessible in the mouth and the tartness that builds from mid-sip and fades through the finish helps define the flavors nicely. Whether you drink this on its own or use it to add vanilla to a cocktail it tastes very real and classy.

Nicely done Sap House Meadery!

Cheers!

Jason

Where In The World Am I?

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Phelps) — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 11:07:00 +0000

Dear Readers,

It's been almost 3 weeks since my last post, which is a pretty unusual break for me. So where in the world am I and what I have been up to? Well I'm not in an exotic or undisclosed location, and I certainly haven't been writing!

A confluence of person and professional circumstances have precipitated this break. It is my sincere desire to get back on track when time permits, but I don't know when that will be yet. The time away has offered little opportunity in the way of reflection, but I have had dalliances with how my personal beverage hobbies (making all manner of stuff, sensory exercises, competitions, travel to experience new & interesting beverages) align with content I could share with you. This could mean additional changes in frequency and the types of subjects I share here. I figure that would be a good thing, whenever it occurs.

In the meantime please enjoy the writings of a few food & beverage bloggers that I frequently enjoy.

The Passionate Foodie
The Wine Zag
1 Wine Dude
New York Cork Report

Cheers!

Jason

Boston Wine Expo 2013 – Thank You & Highlights

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Phelps) — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 18:14:00 +0000

The 2013 Boston Wine Expo has come and gone. Overall I thought it was another well executed and well attended event. There were many wines, lots of foods to sample, an array of lifestyle vendors and all together I saw lots of smiling faces.

Thank You!

A number of thank you’s are owed. The organizers of the Boston Wine Expo took great care of a group of bloggers who were on hand sharing their experiences and creating buzz for others who might be watching the social networks for updates about the expo. My two-day admission to the Grand Tasting was comped, I was provided with tickets to give away to readers (Congrats to Kurt, Liz and Wayne!) as well as a discount code to share with blog visitors who might be interested in attending.

( Bloggers and wine reps tasting & learning at the Boston Wine Expo. )

During the event there was a "Blogger Lounge" overlooking the expo floor where coffee and water was available, and several times each day vendors were invited to pour wines and engage with us on the labels they represent in a more personal setting. Volunteers working in the lounge were able to answer questions on where seminars were located and what other facilities were available at the show. Nicely done!

Thank you's go out to

Resource Plus (Sharon, Janet and others)

Boston Guild of Oenophilists

Seaport World Trade Center & Seaport Hotel staff

All the vendors, sponsors, supporters

Boston Express (for getting me there and back safely both days)

Attending the Expo both days I had the pleasure of cruising the show floor looking for interesting wines with several groups of friends. It was great to meet Liz (@travelwinechick) in person. I had a great time with Richard (@RichardPF), Kurt, Christi, Todd (@vtwinemedia), Wayne and Meredith. Marie (@mariepayton) and I missed each other on Sunday afternoon, but it turned in to a cute joke about whether I was really there! Chatting with Terry (@drinkinsider) and Ray (@frenchoaktv) about beverages was fun as always! It was also nice to see Elizabeth and Matthew, at the Finger Lakes tables no less, fellow NH food and wine explorers who I've run into a couple time at events. I didn’t cover as much ground as I originally planned (I'm always optimistic!) and some of the highlights I’ll share next were worthy of a return visit on the second day so I could share them with friends who hadn’t tasted them yet.

One suggestion I have for the event organizers is that it would be eminently more helpful to attendees who might want to “plan ahead” to have the vendor list and floor map electronically (a PDF would be fine, but smart-phone-app it if you think that will help) for review ahead of the event. Would delivering the label and vendor information via a smart phone app be better here? Actually I don’t think so, and not just for this information specifically. Something more social in nature (like the Second Glass Wine Riot App) might indeed be successful with the right features and promotion.

The Social Media café in the middle of the expo floor had tweets from the event scrolling and the folks from Drync were promoting their direct shipping app active for the wines from the event in this same location. I don’t have an iPhone so I didn’t get involved in the Drync smartphone app activity.

( Social Media Lounge )

The first-thing-in-the-morning trade sessions are always the best opportunity to learn more about the wines, where they are from and how they are made, something I use to take the “pulse” of the industry. There just aren't as many people to fight through. I heard a number of reps talk about freshness, concentration of flavors but not necessarily color in red wines, and more restrained use of new oak. The recent vintages are primarily 2009 and 2010 with many reps suggesting that these years either are already or are beginning to taste well. Plenty of 2007 and 2008 wines were also poured, and I’d have to cross reference my notes before I could say which of the two groups was legitimately tasting better.

One aspect of the event that I had some conversations about on Saturday but really witnessed first-hand visually on Sunday was the change in balance between wine & food/lifestyle vendors and non-wine floor space. There appeared to be fewer tables pouring wines. On the flip side the event didn’t seem any less well attended, and I heard great things about the food, so until more feedback comes my way can't say whether this was a good or bad change.

During the afternoon sessions, when the crowd at each table was generally much larger, I took more opportunities to talk with fellow expo attendees. I love the diversity of the attendees to events like this. I talked with two women about their “wine" club (started as "book") and the challenge of consistently finding values that are both new and interesting. I sent them over to check out the Spanish and Portuguese wines where I knew they will find wines that fit the need. The three of us also talked about sensory exercises that groups of wine enthusiasts could use to sharpen their tasting skills which they can then turn around and use to explore and better develop a sense of what they like. I was excited to have a wine culture conversation with them, because in the end the Boston Wine Expo wouldn’t really be successful if it didn’t increase the desire of casual and enthusiastic drinkers to explore more of the world of wine. I really hope these two ladies do in fact check out my blog and email me their wine questions. I’d love to share what I know to help pick the next destination in the journey.

Hey Jason, how about the wines?

Highlights from the Boston Wine Expo 2013

(in no particular order)

Berlucchi Franciacorta Sparkling Wines

Sparkling wine is a constant curiosity for me now. I think it is the texture. There is so much range and I am always looking for new and interesting textures to try. The elegance of the Berlucchi Franciacorta sparkling wines was joyful to experience. Both were crisp and clean with fine, prickly bubbles. The rosé style was just a hint sweet, pale pink in color and tasted of crushed, dried flowers.

Chateauneuf-du-Pape & Rhones

I didn't spend enough time at the Chateauneuf-du-Pape & Rhones tables because I didn't find anything that really grabbed me. The most recent vintage of both seemed leaner and more austere to me than the profile in minds-eye.

The Finger Lakes Region

The Finger Lakes region had a great presence at the Boston Wine Expo again. As a disciple of the products AND the region I have tried enough of the wines and visited some of the region to know that there is little chance one would be disappointed to visit and taste. Get out the word!

With a combination of wineries, wine trail groups and the local winery associations the Finger Lakes region had 10 tables in total! I tasted some of the Riesling at Wagner Vineyards, the Gruner at Dr. Frank's, Seyval from Hunt Country, the Ravines 2011 Dry Riesling and Game Bird Red from Heron Hill, which I found particularly interesting. I heard great things from others about many of the same wines as well as both the Cabernet France and Meritage blend from Wagner.

I had a chance to talk with Katie Roller and Stephen Lee from Wagner about their Expo experiences. They both agreed that there had been lots of consumer interest in the wines and they were answering lots of questions. I brought several groups of friends by to check out what the region is doing. It made me realize I need to plan another warm-weather trip to the area!

Finger Lakes Wine Country

Finger Lakes Wine Alliance

( Lots of activity around the Finger Lakes tables! )

Garrafeira Vinho Tinto Alentejo 2002

Of all the red wines I tasted at the Expo Grand Tasting this wine was the most interesting. It has a spiciness to it that is so complex. I easily detected black pepper and brown spices, but there was so much more that was elusive. I am still somewhat unfamiliar with Portuguese wines so I can only rely on feedback from friends that suggests that this spicy attribute is something I can explore more with wines from different parts of the country. Exciting!

Moonlight Meadery

Nobody is going to be surprised that I mention Moonlight after a tasting event. Rock solid as always. Fran was working the table when I visited with friends and he nailed some rather specific fermentation questions (asked by a friend) with confidence, which of course made me smile. I got to taste some Utopian, which is always a pleasure. The current batch is tasting drier to me than I recall. I might have to invest in some to do further periodic tasting!

( Experienced Romance by the Glass with Moonlight Meadery. )

Codorníu Raventos Sparkling Wines

You got it, more sparkling wine!

I tasted the Anna Codorníu Rosé in the Blogger Lounge on Sunday and tasted the Brut at the Codorníu Raventos table a bit later that day. Both are crisp and focused, and the rosé being as dry as it is it finishes with a blast of tart red fruits.

Corte Di Dionoso Amarone

This wasn't the best Amarone I tasted all weekend, but it was a very delicious start. I didn't write the vintage down but I believe it was a 2007. Richly fruity but with a surprising angularity and dryness to it. The typical stylistic sweetness was not in the proportion I expected for a young wine. Still being a medium plus bodied wine it finishes with an restrained sweetness that almost tastes like it was made in the lean vintage.

Stay tuned for a post on the Soave & Amarone seminar I went to on Sunday of the Expo.

Neige Sparkling & Neige Cidre de glace

Beverages made from apples and I are great friends. Sparkling ciders made with heirloom, vintage and traditional cider apples can be all as elegant as Champagne, but bring their own unique aromas and flavors thanks to the apple. I love them.

The Neige Sparkling Apple Wine has a balanced apple profile with flavors of both tart cider apple as well as those I more associate with dessert apples. It is plenty carbonated and served cold would be a fine stand in for something sparkling made from grapes. The cidre de glace (ice cider) is viscous liquid apple sugar. Definitely a very fine taste and an example where hard work and a concentration of resources can create something highly sought after!

Son Prim Petit Celler CUP

This wine is from the new-to-me region of Mallorca, which is the largest of the Balearic Islands off the Mediterranean coast of Spain. Made from a blend of Mantonegro, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot this wine presents a good balance of fruit and earth with an interesting savory element to the finish. This was the boldest and most characterful wine of the offerings from Son Prim in my opinion.

Roberto Ceraudo Rosé

Both of these rosé wines are made with the Gaglioppo grape in Calabria, Italy. The silver label is aged in old barriques and the copper label is not. Both wines were very straightforward and smooth with the expected hints of lees and oxidation/oxygenation from the barrel aging in the silver label version. The ability to taste the same wine made in two ways was an exciting opportunity. In research the wines, they are not yet distributed in the US, found the following article from The Wine Traveller on the wines and their producer.

La Guardiense Guardiolo

I don't have a lot of experience with the grape Aglianico, but I do know that when used to make a decent wine the grape adds a layer of wildness to the mix that excites me. This wine also includes some Sangiovese, a combination used in many areas where both grapes are grown in Italy. The wine is flavorful but not demanding, dry with a nice thread of acidity that builds through the finish. A very food friendly wine and also one that could take a chill and bring refreshment on a hot day. And all for likely between $11-13!

Those are only some of the highlights from the weekend. I estimate I tasted about 100-120 wines over the course of two days, and while my perceptions were mixed, there were plenty of wines that would be worth another taste in a different setting.

Next up will be separate posts on the two seminars I attended during the expo. One was on Bourbon and the other included both Soave and Amarone!

Cheers!

Jason

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

My Half Full Glass - February 21st, 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Phelps) — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 14:51:00 +0000

Tie Kuan Yin Oolong Tea

I don't really know anything about tea, and I know absolutely nothing about this style or this source (is it reputable or not to start?), but I do know that the tea tastes wonderful!

The text on the side of the tin says that it is an Oolong tea from the Anxi area of Fujian Province in China. The Wikipedia entry confirms the particulars and also has some interesting information about the style and origin. Other web sources identified this style of Oolong as much desired and typically heavier than its siblings.

For me the tea is nutty and earthy, toasted also comes to mind. It is medium bodied with a touch of acidity or tartness in the finish. I've enjoyed it both warm and cool.

What I do know about Oolong tea is that many varieties can be brewed more than once, and in some cases the second or third brewing is the most desirable. I have tried this on a limited number of occasions with several different styles of Oolong experiencing a range of second and third running's; some I liked more than others.

I typically buy my tea at C-Mart on Lincoln Street in Boston. They have a broad selection of basic bulk teas and plenty of "interesting" varieties in bag form. Teas designed for specific maladies are not something I would recommend trying however. I would rather work by varietal and know up front about any added flowers or plants in a more straightforward way!

C-Mart is not a tea shop, actually a full service Asian grocery which is also useful, so I don't believe the teas are "fine" in anyway. That said my experience with several dozen varieties of tea from there has been positive. I typically look for the clean, newer contains and some can be opened to inspect the date sticker on the vacuum sealed package to find the teas that have been sitting in the store the shortest time.

Cheers!

Jason