Lautering.com

Sam Adams marathon beer to make running marathons a lot more fun

Josh — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 15:50:53 +0000

You know what goes well with extreme physical exertion? Just like any other situation, the answer is beer. To that end, Sam Adams is developing the perfect product for the 2012 Boston Marathon.

In Boston today, The Boston Beer Co. will release “Sam Adams Boston 26.2 Brew.” From The Boston Globe:

The Boston Beer Co., best known for its Samuel Adams line of craft brews, said it is preparing a special commemorative beer to mark the 2012 Boston Marathon.

The company is planning to unveil “Samuel Adams Boston 26.2 Brew” at a news conference scheduled for Thursday at the Samuel Adams Brewery. At the conference, Boston Beer is expected to formally announce its first-ever partnership with the Boston Athletic Association, which manages the Boston Marathon.

The association’s Joann Flaminio and marathon veteran Bill Rodgers are expected to join Boston Beer founder Jim Koch at the event.

A quick bit of Googling tells us that a 150 pound runner will burn 100 calories per mile during a marathon, or roughly 2600 total calories. If the new Sam Adams marathon beer comes in at 160 calories per bottle, which is how many calories Sam Adams Boston Lager has, you’d be free to chug 16.25 beers, run the marathon, and not gain a pound.

Runners high, 16 beers, and no beer belly? Why not? It’s already been reported that non-alcoholic beer speeds marathon recovery.

Craft beer in China: Beijing sees second craft brewery, American-style demand

Josh — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 16:26:44 +0000

From Slow Boat Brewing

Beijing, China has two craft breweries, but demand far outpaces supply. Between the already-established Great Leap Brewing, and the upstart Slow Boat Brewery, Beijing residents can’t get enough.

From the Wall Street Journal:

With the recent opening of Slow Boat Brewery in Beijing, the city’s number of American-style microbreweries officially doubled — to two. But according to both brewers, there’s a growing and largely untapped market in China’s capital as disposable income rises and beer-swilling residents clamor for more variety at the pub.

Late last year, Slow Boat held an evening tasting of its beers, whose flavor resembles brews of the U.S. Pacific Northwest such as Sierra Nevada. The beer ran out in just 45 minutes, despite the brewery quadrupling its offerings to four kegs from a prior event.

“It was a little embarrassing,” said the brewery’s chief executive Chandler Jurinka, though he added that it was also an encouraging sign of demand.

The debate about ingredients between the two is fascinating, given that I’m personally working on a tea-based Pale Ale recipe myself:

Great Leap and Slow Boat take differing approaches when it comes to ingredients. Slow Boat uses nearly all imports, including malt, hops and yeast, because it’s “comforting for local Chinese to know the ingredients aren’t Chinese, because of all the food scandals,” Mr. Jurinka said.

By contrast, Great Leap uses local hops and highlights a range of Chinese ingredients, from Sichuan peppercorns and Yunnan coffee beans to organic honey from Shandong province and a variety of teas. ”You don’t have to import quality,” Mr. Setzer said. “You can have good-quality things that are made in China, using existing ingredients.”

Rethinking the IPA: A lot of hops, but what else matters?

Site Admin — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 15:35:42 +0000

From flickr user epic ever

It’s February, and Bell’s Hopslam and Troegs Nugget Nectar are hitting shelves as I type this (Troegs just rereleased Nugget Nectar in their tasting room today). As hoppy beer arms race rages on, just as it has for years, some breweries are rethinking what it means to write an IPA recipe.

From the Washington Post:

Wildeman Farmhouse IPA, from Flying Dog Brewery in Frederick, is an IPA fermented with a Belgian saison yeast and seasoned with a secret spice that the brewery declines to identify. It was originally brewed for In de Wildeman, a beer bar in Amsterdam. The reintroduction of the beer, this time as a year-around brand, gives Flying Dog two Belgian-style IPAs. Raging Bitch is fruitier; Wildeman has a dry, peppery, almost tannic finish.

Widmer Brothers Brewing Co. in Portland, as part of its Rotator series, has released Spiced IPA, a collaboration with Paul Sangster and Chris Stawney of the San Diego-based homebrewers club QUAFF, Quality Ale and Fermentation Fraternity. “A year ago, we asked the members to develop a new IPA. We didn’t tell them who we were, just that it was a big national brewer,” said Widmer brewmaster Joe Casey.

The winner, chosen from among 25 recipes, includes malty Assam black tea, ginger, cinnamon, clove, star anise, black pepper and cardamom. The flavorings are blended by a Portland company called Tao of Tea. In their raw form, the ingredients are immensely fragrant, like a freshly baked fruitcake. In the beer, the ginger emerges strongly up front, the black pepper dominates the finish.

Sam Adams Tasman Red is one of the better beers in this class I’ve had. A fantastic red IPA, it takes the bucketful of hops in each bottle and pairs it with a thoughtful approach to malt. Nugget Nectar gets it right for similar reasons, even if it’s closer to an IPA than the new breed of spicy beers (though it is billed as an imperial amber).

All of this raises the question many brewers have long asked: where does one style begin and another end?

Homebrewing on President’s Day: George Washington’s and Thomas Jefferson’s beer recipes

Josh — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 15:26:36 +0000

From flickr user multiple trees

While many Americans have a three-day weekend to celebrate the birthdays of some of their first and greatest presidents, it’s a perfect weekend to homebrew. We’ll be doing a buckwheat honey IPA of our own, but, in honor of the holiday, here are two recipes from American homebrewing pioneers: George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.

Here’s Washington’s:

To Make Small Beer

Take a large Siffer [Sifter] full of Bran Hops to your Taste. Boil these 3 hours then strain out 30 Gall[ons] into a cooler put in 3 Gall[ons] Molasses while the Beer is Scalding hot or rather draw the Melasses (sic) into the cooler & St[r]ain the Beer on it while boiling Hot. let this stand till it is little more than Blood warm then put in a quart of Yea[s]t if the Weather is very Cold cover it over with a Blank[et] & let it Work in the Cooler 24 hours then put it into the Cask—leave the bung open till it is almost don[e] Working—Bottle it that day Week it was Brewed.

Jefferson had an approach that is easier to replicate in your kitchen. Thinking of brewing in honor of the forefathers, well, Thomas Jefferson’s beer may be achievable:

8 lbs pale malt
4 lbs wheat
1 lb molasses

1 1/2 oz east kent goldings 60 min
1/2 oz east kent goldings 10 minutes
american ale yeast

When will Troegs Nugget Nectar be released? Here’s the Nugget Nectar release date

Josh — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 01:58:12 +0000

In February, the question we hear slightly less than “When will Bell’s Hopslam be released?” are from people wanting to know what the Troegs Nugget Nectar release date is. We wonder ourselves, given that we’ve wondered whether it’s the best beer we’ve ever had.

We had heard rumor that the brewery was running behind schedule, possibly due to their recent move from Harrisburg, PA to tourist-destination Hershey, PA. That appears to be true. Troegs has announced that Nugget Nectar will be sent to wholesalers between February 16 and February 24. Many retail outlets have been saying to expect Nugget Nectar to hit the shelves in March.

So, there you have it: You may be able to find it the last week of February or the first week of March.

Macrobrewers to make cheap beer more expensive, push people to premium beer

Josh — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 12:45:16 +0000

From flickr user michaelallroy under a CC license

Beers like Natty Lite, Miller Lite, Bud Light, and PBR are getting a price increase to drive cheap-beer lovers toward more expensive brands. Macrobrewers expect this will mean a transition to beers like Budweiser or other brands they own, but I can’t help but think it will also drive them to craft brewers.

I’d expect breweries like Sam Adams and Sierra Nevada to be beneficiaries of the move, mostly because they’re on many of the same shelves. Also, in states where you can actually get it, Yuengling will probably also see a nice boost in sales.

From AdAge:

As brand manager for Keystone Light, Elina Vives would seem to be in a tough spot these days. The below-premium beer made big gains in the past few years as the economy tanked. But with trends improving, MillerCoors, along with Anheuser Busch, is raising prices on budget beers in a move to get drinkers to trade up to more-expensive brews such as Miller Lite and Bud Light, which struggled in the recession.

“What they’re really trying to do, both of them, is drive business to the premium brands where they make more money,” said Benj Steinman, president of Beer Marketer’s Insights. But for Keystone, which is owned by MillerCoors, that could mean losing momentum that made it one of the fastest share gainers in all of beer. So what’s a brand manager to do?

Also, as a side note, I had no idea Bud Light was so much more popular than Miller Lite. It’s all bad, but when I’m somewhere and don’t have much of a choice, I always grab Miller Lite first.

Minnesota to allow breweries to serve beer directly

Josh — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 12:59:13 +0000

From Flickr user Minnesota Historical Society

Look out Minnesota — you’re about to get brewery-served beer and a few new jobs thanks to Surly brewing.

Legislation allowing a Brooklyn Center brewery and other Minnesota beer-makers to serve their brews directly to customers at their establishments cleared a state Senate panel Wednesday, after a concerted social media lobbying effort by Surly Brewing Co. helped soften opposition from the powerful liquor lobby.

…

Brooklyn Center-based Surly is seeking the change as it plans a $20 million brewery, restaurant and entertainment center. Owner Omar Ansari told lawmakers the expansion would boost state tax revenues by allowing his company to employ 85 construction workers and 150 permanent workers at its new complex. He also pointed out that Wisconsin and other states allow brewers to serve beer where it’s made.

This is the type of thing that makes sense, helps local business grow, provides more jobs, and supports good beer.

Forget bread, make spent grain beer cookies next time you brew

Josh — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 12:59:03 +0000

From flickr user San Diego Shooter

We’ve been big fans of our brewers spent grain beer bread, but what about spent grain beer cookies? We’re so excited by the idea, we haven’t even had time to test the recipe.

Blog Omnomicon posts this recipe that seems like it would add something to the must-bake list after brewing.

Nutty Spent Grain Chocolate Chip Cookies

Adapted from a recipe featured by Seven Bridges Cooperative.

1/3 cup peanut butter
2 tbsp melted butter
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
1.5 cups spent grains (or alternatively, 1.5 cups of your favourite grain meal, prepared and still wet)
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped nuts

Mix in the peanut butter, regular butter, sugar, milk and vanilla. Then add the flour, baking soda and salt. Once that’s all mixed, stir in the nuts and chips.

Bake on a greased cookie sheet at 425F for 8-10 minutes until the tops are just getting golden, but before the bottoms burn. Let sit on the pan for about five minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool.

Makes about 2 dozen cookies

Man gives up food for Lent, replaces it with beer

Josh — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 12:05:07 +0000

: from flickr user randomthursday

One Iowa man has decided to bravely go where few have gone before: he’s given up all food for lent, and replaced it with beer. But while outrageous, it’s not as crazy as it may seem at first.

Hold your giggles. You may assume that this is a high-falutin’ excuse to stay schnookered for a month and a half, but that’s not the case. We think. Wilson calls this a “historical study,” an attempt to live like a seventeenth-century monk. To sustain themselves during Lent, monks subsisted on a high-calorie, carbohydrate-crammed beer dubbed a doppelbock.

To sustain himself, Wilson, a veteran homebrewer, teamed up with the folks at the local Rock Bottom brewpub to create the Illuminator Doppelbock. It packs a hefty 288 calories per 12-ounce dose and a potent 6.67 percent ABV.

I’ve referred to many beers as “bread in a glass” simply because they seemed substantial enough to serve as a meal. But for as much as I love beer, I wouldn’t want t0 do it for over a month.

Sierra Nevada to begin canning beer

Josh — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 13:59:51 +0000

from flickr

Tailgaters and campers rejoice, great news from Sierra Nevada: later this year, it’s going to be easier and lighter to take their beer with you.

Our canning line should be in the building near July 4. It will be a couple of moths to get it up and running, but should start seeing Pale Ale in cans in late 2011.

We’re on the fence about what other beers to release, but I think we’ll have a couple of different brews available.

Cans will only be a small part of our output, but we’re excited to see how they’re received.

There are so many places where you can’t or won’t bring glass…up here in the foothills it just doesn’t make a lot of sense to bring a bunch of bottles with you in your backpack! This is really the reason we’re going for this.