Zipfer Urtyp -- Direct from Austria

Joe's wife's relatives came over from Austria for a visit last week and brought a suitcase stuffed with cash--no wait, stuffed with Zipfer and cash, the pride of ZIPF Austria. Now isn't this just the best way to kill two birds with one stone? Bring beer to the US for Joe and make space in the suitcase to take back Tiffany, Cartier, and who knows what else at half price?

As you can see, this is a delightful looking beer having a beautiful straw golden color and a bright-white lingering head (take my word for it--in this picture it does look gray but it's really white). It looks in the glass much like Bud and with carbonation about the same. As I stuff my large size 12 nose deep into the Pilsener glass, my cilia are excited by a faint but sharp hop essence.

On first sip, honey comes to mind followed by bitterness. To me, it is a mouth-full and feels much larger than the nose would lead me to believe.

This is my first taste of this beer and with 5.4% ABV, I am impressed. While I find myself enjoying American craft beers more these days, there's nothing like keeping your options open for a bit of Austrian beer every now and again.

Joe, next time, can you ask for more of the same and while you're at it, a suitcase of Linzer torte?

Christmas Brew Plans

I have been pondering what sort of beer to brew this Christmas for family, friends, and various FAs. I totally lost track of time this year and I think it's a little late for a proper lager. So.... I'm seriously considering a variation of the Harpoon IPA adding dry-hopping using my home-grown Cascade hops in the secondary fermentation. Oh! I finally picked up a wort chiller at the Beer Solution down in Wilkes-Barre, growing weary of always having to plan ahead far enough to have ice available for chilling. Stay tuned.

It ain't over `til it's over

On Thursday we took a couple of colleagues, M and F, out for a farewell lunch at Juanito's, an excellent Mexican place in Red Bank. This place has authentic Mexican fare that's not that expensive and always muy bueno. Juanito's is a BYOB so J and I hit a package store a few minutes before noon and were lucky enough to find a nice cuisine-complimenting beer, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, holding court amongst a wall of cowering and insipid lagers in the reach-in. With package in hand we walked over to Juanito's and went in.

(Total attention deficit sidebar here: You know, I wish I could get my home-brew's to have the hop finish of the Sierra Nevada. That's the cool thing about homebrewing--if at first you don't succeed, hop, hop, and hop again. I'm going to dry-hop next time and see if I can't get my beer to finish hoppier.)

After lunch and three Ales (whoever said the liquid lunch is dead should be shot!), I got up and started to preach from my chair about how F and M were models for me in terms of energy and committment they brought to their jobs. Further, all that I learned from them that has made me a better developer. My sermon ended just after I was able to blurt out that I wished them the best in their future endeavors. After seconding these sentiments all around, we toasted the two into the future.

The plan after, was to meet at the Lincroft Inn to give M a going away he wouldn't soon forget. J and I arrived early and this still being strong Lager country, we proceeded to quickly down a mug of that which is the elixir of a coal-country man such as myself, Yuengling Lager. The first led to the second which led to the 3rd and after we gave up and started to head back, and as we were going out the door, figuring we had been stood up, our crew arrived consisting of M, R, and J. We went back in, sat down and ordered another round to toast M once again. Are you keeping count?

A little later, J came in, down from RB, ordered some wings all around and we dug in. At this point having been going for a good three hours we had thirsted up an awful hunger. J, being a long-time colleague of M's, ordered a magnum of Dom at this point, saying that it's an old custom coming from the areas they worked previously (part of a large, no-longer-viable, telecommunication equipment manufacturer headquartered in New Jersey that shall remain nameless).

Dom all around!

(Just before this, M arrived and being in training for the NYC Marathon [Good Luck M!]), was in the middle of tapering and would only sip.) We toasted M and reminisced for the rest of the afternoon. Having a 2.5 hour drive to get home, J and I left the crew at about five.

I'm gonna miss these guys. They were survivors who got off the island before the coming hurricane. I wish them all the best and thanks for the memories.

1st Annual Oktoberfest at One Guy Brewing

Beer from stichfass tap burbled into glass to the strains of oom-pah music; `kraut-laced Brats burst hot from the grill adorning plates of fresh hot German potato salad; old friends greeted each other bilingually in German and English; new friendships were forged over glasses of Oktoberfest beer; good conversation and laughter filled the air. Today at One Guy Brewing's 1st Oktoberfest, everything great about Oktoberfest was on display in the tap-room in Berwick.

One Guy Brewing opened their doors in celebration of Oktoberfest to the delight of hundreds of like-minded fellow Oktoberfesters, on a bright, warm, mid-October day in Eastern PA.

Three beers were featured today. On-tap was the Oktoberfest beer, a malty thirst quencher that serves as the ultimate transitional brew that gently takes the drinker from breezy summer days to the brisk Winter days soon to follow; Seasons Wheatings, the dark, mysterious stranger that tantalizes the senses with exotic spiciness and punch, and the Peach Wheat, with its hint of peaches that reminds us of the lazy, hazy, fun-filled summer days just passed.

What does it all Mean?

Read this for a pretty picture of where we may be headed as a country.

The way I see it, things aren't gonna be the way they were for a long time--this is why we need to appreciate what we have and how to make do with what we don't, who we are and how we act. Things like family, friends, nature, and good times, are gonna be the coin of the realm going forward.

It's gonna be hard, but we can do it.

The Lion Brewery Oktoberfest

S and I and a cast of epic proportions thoroughly enjoyed ourselves at the Lion Brewery's Oktoberfest Saturday night in Wilkes-Barre.

We drove down from Mountain Top, parked at Mohegan Sun and took the shuttle bus over to the brewery about 10 minutes away. We got there around five and walked out of the bus to the accompaniment the mid-Autumn Sun's fanfare and the first thing I noticed different from last year was the layout of the grounds that were rearranged in a more open and spacious manner. There was a huge tent in the center of the grounds to the east of the brewery that was packed with people enjoying Brats, Clams, Pulled Pork sandwiches, pizza, felafel's, potato cakes, haluski, and of course beer. Around the perimeter of the grounds were the beer tents and the food stands. At the southernmost end was the band shell where the bands were performing, and in front of that was a large open area where the mob could gather to enjoy the music. There was a strolling accordion player resplendent in his authentic alpine German entertainer's garb, enchanting and delighting the crowd, adults included. It's nice to see that the Accordian is still getting its due! To the northeast were the carnival rides which included a ferris wheel, swinging chairs, and more, making this an Oktoberfest like the one in Munchen and one that everyone could enjoy. Last year, everything seemed to be crammed into half the space, and everyone I ran into seemed to enjoy the extra space and thoughtful layout changes.

Most of the beer tents were serving the Stegmaier Oktoberfest and the Stegmaier Midsummer White. But down at the Northern end, was another tent serving some of the Pocono beers of which I had never tried any. When I saw the Pocono Pale Ale, I had to try it, and let me tell you that that was my go-to brew for the night. She was a wonderfully balanced malt-hop beauty, a bit top-heavy if you know what I mean, and with a copper-toned blush about her once the wind blew her dirty blond hair aside. To my nose she smelled of the mountains and to my taste, sweet goodness with a nice bit of Cascade hop. An excellent beer that I'll be going back to again.

As late afternoon made way to crisp early-evening, a four-piece band that goes by the name of The Five Percent was on stage. They played a lot of covers well and did a nice version of Wonderwall. I may be wrong but I seem to remember them closing Friday night last year. Later, I discovered that they also create original music but I didn't detect anything original in their set on Saturday. They were followed by 40 lb Head who, let me tell you, can ignite a crowd. They got my attention when the lead singer urged the crowd to join in as the band launched into Blitzkrieg Bop and I Wanna be Sedated. I joined in with the Hey, Ho, Let's Go chorus and started to hop around a bit--it was the beer hopping at this point, I here to tell ya. Sadly, they didn't play the songs fast enough or with enough chain saw edginess--I guess there will only ever be one Ramones. Sigh.

When we arrived there were maybe a thousand revelers enjoying themselves. There were singles, couples, families, throngs hourdes and groups of friends of all persuasions partaking in this most German of celebrations. When we left there were proably twice that and a long queue of partiers waiting to get in.

We missed C, L, and D who got there just as we were leaving, but we did manage to bump into a former coworker of S's, Kathy and her husband Joe from Hometown, and we caught up with them all the while enjoying the atmospherics.

Kudos to whomever arranged the shuttle buses, as the bus stop was easy to find on the Mohegan Sun property due to the profuse signage, the buses were running very regularly (probably every 15 minutes), and the bus left us off right at the brewery entrance.

The thing that strikes me about Oktoberfest is that there's nothing quite like it. That is, there's no similar event I know of, where families and friends can get together, have fun, and enjoy good food, fun, music, and beer. Thank you Lion Brewery!

How much beer do you drink?

I recently read here that Poland was #18 in terms of per-capita beer consumption at 69.1 liter per person. The US comes in #12 at 81.6 liters per person, and the #1 beer drinking country is the Czech Republic at something like 151 liters per person. I figure that I drink just about the US average, and I think I drink quite a lot. It makes me wonder given there are a lot of non-drinkers out there, just how much the real beer-lovers consume?

So 81.6 liters is about 86 quarts which is 21.5 gallons. Thats equivalent to about 229 12 oz bottles. Not much is it? On second thought, maybe I do enjoy more than an average amount.

Na zdrowie!

Oktoberfest Marzen Beers

Here's a good article in Beers of the Times where they taste 20 or so beers in the Oktoberfest Marzen style.

Where am I?

What day is it? Did I sleep through yesterday?

Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA

After watching the stock market tank today, I debated with myself as to whether or not I should crack into the 120 minute IPA I've been cellaring for a few months--to see if I could drown my sorrows in something on the order of less that 120 minutes. That's gotta be why it's named that, no?

The debate went something like this: Drink it, you know you want to... And then: Don't drink it, the market's gonna fishtank even more tomorrow and you'll really need it then. And back: Listen, drink it now. It will help you sleep and realize that there may be no tomorrow. And finally: No, save it for when you are holed up in the cellar, you've run out of all other beer and food, and you just can't go on any longer.

Tomorrow: Does Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA cure a Wall Street Hangover?

Paul Newman 1925-2008

I was saddened to hear of Paul Newman's passing this past week.

I've always admired Paul Newman for his acting. Who doesn't love the coolness he imbued in his roles in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Sting, and The Road to Perdition? Always in control. Unflappable. Watching him you just knew he could handle anything with aplomb.

I looked up to Paul Newman for his philanthropic work, too. And as a matter of fact when I was in college, in one class we were asked to name someone we looked up to and I named him for this very reason. Anyone who can take his celebrity and direct it to something good, is ok in my book.

The same coolness he brought to the roles he played on film, he brought to the race track on race day. He raced sports cars, those cool exotic machines that go fast and turn both left and right. I saw him race back in the late `80s or early `90s at Watkins Glen. Although he drove different cars in different classes, at the time, I think he was driving the Spice SE89P #002 Oldsmobile V-8 powered beast in the GTP (Grand Touring Prototype) class. I don't remember how he did but that's besides the point. I saw him up-close walking behind pit row and in that stride you could just see the same coolness he brought to his character portrayals. I didn't say anything to him, but I should have.

I hear he liked beer.

Let's lift one in memory of Paul Newman: Actor, Racer, Philantrophist, Beer Drinker. May ye rest in peace.

Georgetown Deli in Autumn

S and I try to rendezvous once a week and this week we were looking for someplace new to try when she suggested the Georgetown Deli. My first thought as I was struck by wanderlust, was that I needed more gas to make it to Georgetown in DC but no, it wasn't that Georgetown but the Georgetown much closer to home. She was referring to the Georgetown Deli--it's next to the Big Cow on 309 in Wilkes-Barre Township.

We met at 5:15 on Friday, went in, and were immediately impressed by the great cold and warm beer selection displayed in the reach-in cooler to the left and arrayed on shelves around the place. Beer here, can be purchased by the bottle or six-pack, for drink-in or carry-out. They have many familiar brands like Dogfish Head, Weyerbacher, Lancaster Brewing Company, and Victory as well as the even more familiar names like Miller and Budweiser. I even saw a few Belgian Dubels lurking on a shelf. What I'm trying to say is that the Georgetown Deli has a beer for every budget and a beer for every taste.

I ordered a Pepperoni sub and S ordered the Reuben with sauerkraut. Meanwhile, we started to wander around to find something to have with our sandwiches. I wanted to try something that fit the season and when I targetted Weyerbacher AutumnFest, I knew my search was over. I picked a six (wanting to prolong our evening to nightfall) and popped the cap on the first. It poured with a one-inch creamy off-white to tannish head with a georgous amber color fortelling the soon-to-come kiss of falling leaves upon God's green earth. In the nose there was very little hops aroma to speak of; upon the tongue there was the unmistakenbly pleasant and easy-drinking taste of malt as is want of the Oktoberfest beers. This beer is very drinkable and is a nice transition from the refreshing summer Weizens to the winter warmers. I recommend it.

About then, our sandwiches arrived and we learned that the Big Cow has a name. I did not know this. It's name is: Three-Oh-Nina. Interchangably, nine-ah or ni-na according to our server who informed us that the cow is owned by her family and has been for many years.

Our sandwiches were delicious, the beer was delicious and the company was delicious. If you're looking for an easy-going and inexpensive place to grab a quick deli-style meal, the Georgetown Deli is a good place to try.

You know, some of my earliest memories of trips uptown consist of me and my brothers and sister, in the car, eagerly watching the world go by and excitedly pointing and laughing as we passed by the Big Cow. We enjoyed it then, we enjoyed it yesterday, and I hope we'll get the chance to enjoy it again. Mooooooooo!

Harvest Time: Hop Picking and Drying!

Me and my Dad just finished drying our first picking of Cascade hops and we ended up with three dry ounces of scentilating hops from the two vines.

We started by only picking those cones starting to turn a little brown. Then we laid out the cones on a screen in a single layer, took the screen to a dry location and elevated it to allow air circulation over and under the hops. We put the screen in an area where it had just ambient air temperature, so we didn't use any sort of forced drying. It took about a week and a half to dry the cones at normal PA late-August air temperature. For storage, we put the hops in a double-freezer bag until we need them.

We left a ton of green cones for a second picking this week. With what I'm beginning to learn about wet hopping, I may have to do up an IPA using this second picking. Check out mybeerbuzz.com for a posting from Weyerbacher about their Harvest Ale that uses this technique.

Bacon and Beer

As followers of this blog know, I love cured meats in the form of kielbasa, sausage, and butt cheeks, paired with beer. I just discovered that Jimmy's No. 43 in the East Village is having a Bacon and Beer tasting this coming Monday night (9/8/2008) in association with Sixpoints Craft Ales. They will be pairing Sixpoints beers with various artisanal bacons. While I haven't been to Jimmy's No. 43, I have heard good things about their beers and food. The last time I was in the East Village with J, it was a Saturday afternoon/evening pub crawl and unfortunately Jimmy's was not open yet when we crawled by. Listen, Jimmy's is at 43 E. 7th St. which is just down the block from 15 E. 7th St. which is home to McSorley's. I strongly suggest if you're in the neighborhood this coming Monday night you stop by.