All Kinds of Interesting Information About The Grumpy Troll

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel wrote up a very nice, albeit brief and summary, article about The Grumpy Troll on Monday. The article makes some really interesting references that might be worth looking into.

Reference Number 1
The whole point of the article was to congratulate Mark Duchow, brewmaster at The Grumpy Troll, on his gold medal from the World Beer Cup, held last weekend. We'll add to that, and say "Congrats to Mark and the whole group over there at The Grumpy Troll." The brewery received the award for its Baltic Porter, a thick and delicious hoppy, roasty, cold-fermented ale. Two other breweries won awards: Lakefront won a silver medal for its Traditional German-Style Bock; Miller won a gold and a bronze in the American-Style Specialty Lager category for its Steel Reserve and Mickey's Ice, respectively. (seriously? Mickey's Ice? I'm going to have get me a case of that stuff and check it out - it keeps winning awards, Mickey's also won at the Great American Beer Fest - anybody down for some grilling and Mickey's Ice?)

While only three Wisconsin breweries won, a number of our breweries didn't even participate, for example, Ale Asylum, New Glarus, Furthermore, Viking, Hinterland, Tyranena, and Rush River. Though none of these breweries even makes a Baltic Porter, so The Grumpy Troll's medal is safe. This isn't to take anything away from Lakefront, either - like the lottery, you can't win, if you don't play; moreover, Capital did participate, so what does that say about Lakefront that they beat out Capital, a brewery renowned for its German-style bock beers. But, I think it would be interesting to see how many medals Wisconsin could take if all of our breweries participated in these things.

Anyway. Congrats to The Grumpy Troll, Lakefront and Miller.

Reference Number 2
Nestled into the middle of the article, is a really interesting tidbit of information that I have been holding off on saying anything about, but that I find really fascinating.

Duchow was back at work Monday, planting some hops in Dane County that will eventually be used in the beers created at the Grumpy Troll.

When I spoke with Mr. Duchow back in February about his Iced Maggie, he had mentioned this project to me. Eventually, I will write much, much more about this, but I wanted to make sure that everyone saw this. Best way to negate the effects of a hop shortage? Grow your own.

The Grumpy Troll is growing its own hops. Lakefront is growing its own hops. Kent Palmer, author of Madison Magazine's "Bottle Half Full" column, has called on the University Research Park to add Wisconsin hop-hardiness to its agenda.

So, here's something to chew on while I work up a full article about this exact topic: if all of the Wisconsin brewers (I don't know, via the Brewer's Guild or something?!) chipped in some funds and rented land, could they grow all the hops they needed and not have to rely on external suppliers?

Reference Number 3
"But federal alcohol regulators vetoed the use of the word "Amnesia" on a proposed label for the beer, which Welshinger plans to bottle for carryout sales at the brew pub." I've talked to a lot of people in bars and on the streets - you know, random, every day people, like you and me. Almost to a person, they are surprised that the federal government regulates the text on beer labels. I can't say that I'm surprised, and I find it moderately interesting that other people are. In any event, yes, the Federal government has a whole division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms dedicated to making Rob Larson's life miserable. In any event, apparently the Feds think that putting "Amnesia" on a bottle will imply a promised effect of the beer. And, that cannot be countenanced. So, boringly, the labels on The Grumpy Troll's bottles of Baltic porter will call it the "Baltic Porter." And, by the way, they only intend to sell those bottles to go at the brewpub.

There are some really neat things that some breweries are doing to make getting label approval easier. For example, Lake Louie, puts the same label on everything and only changes the neck sticker. There's a brewery in Indiana called Barley Island Brewing Company, that prints a label with four styles listed on it, with check-boxes next to each style - the style contained in the bottle is checked with black sharpie.

ps. Speaking of Tyranena, a friend of the brewery is auctioning off a collection containing 4-packs of each of the last six Brewer's Gone Wild series. "The money will be donated to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society as part of Jessie's Rock N' Roll Marathon fundraising." Bidding starts at $50. Keep in mind most of these beers are not, and never will be again, available - they are the best that Tyranena has to offer. Bidding ends April 29th (next week); winner will be announced on April 30th.

Sustainable Beer Drinking

First, a note about The Grumpy Troll's Ice Maggie that I talked about last week. MBR was out at The Grumpy Troll on Saturday and we sampled the Iced Maggie and it was fantastic. The flavors were as if the beer had instantly aged; soft and hoppy without being bitter; it really hit its stride once it warmed up, though it was actually quite good at the lower, chilled temperature at which it was served.

Released in October, New Glarus introduced a pale ale called the Organic Revolution. It uses organic Hellertau hops from Germany (Hallertau is a subdued and mildly spicy all-purpose hop, used both for bittering and aroma). It also uses "Wisconsin organically malted barley" - a mildly confusing statement since it is not immediately clear exactly what "Wisconsin" refers to - the malting or the barley; we will assume it means the malting, since presumably if the barley were from Wisconsin there would have been an "Island Wheat"-sized media blitz about the ingredients being local and the phrasing would be more along the lines of "malted Wisconsin organic barley." Finally "even" the carbonation is organic, referring to the practice of using active yeast to carbonate beer - called "bottle conditioning."

However, the organic label and beer are not without controversy. The organic brewing industry is bedeviled by two antithetical views: the public and small farmers who put time and effort into growing and crafting products without tainting the final product with modern pesticides or genes against the corporate giants who want to keep standards low to allow their short-cut products to be labeled "organic."

Until recently, certified “USDA Organic” products were allowed to include up to 5% non-organic ingredients. [Hops, on the other hand provide only bittering and aroma qualities and constitute a very small percentage, by weight, of the final product.] In practical terms this has meant that many brewers have used all or mostly all non-organic hops in their certified organic beers. [cite] However, a USDA rule-change went into effect in May 2007 requiring that all ingredients in USDA Organic products must be organic – with a few exceptions.

Of course, there are always some exceptions and there we pushes by a number of brewers to allow non-organic hops to be used in certified organic beer. This push failed, and as of October 21, 2007 all certified organic beers must use organic hops. But, hold the presses, at the last minute hops were added to the exemption list and a seven day comment period was allowed. During that comment period, Russ Klisch, brewer at Lakefront Brewery in Milwaukee, had this scathing comment to make (on the record):

Adding hops to the National List (Section 205.606) would irreparably damage the reputation and credibility and integrity of the organic brewing industry . . . Organic hop varieties are currently available to brewers . . . beer is not beer without hops and organic beer is not organic beer without organic hops . .. Adding hops to the National List offers an unfair competitive advantage to macro-breweries, specifically, Anheuser-Busch. As the oldest continuously bottled and first certified organic beer to be bottled in the United States, Lakefront Brewery has been able to source and brew with certified organic hops for the entire production run since its first batch of Lakefront Organic ESB 12 years ago. Our commitment to the organic industry and organic farming is strong and genuine and we consider Anheuser Busch’s (among others) lobbying attempts to add hops to the National List a threat to organic certification at best and intentionally misleading to consumers at worst. To change the rules midstream to suit the shortsighted demands of a single, powerful entity can only damage the credibility of the Program.

Unfortunately, Mr. Klisch's pleas went unheeded, and the last-minute exemption is now "final" (on an "interim" basis); in other words, certified organic beers can use non-organic hops.

We agree with The Beer Activist that this seems a little strained. Reversing this decision to remove hops from the exemption list will be very difficult. Now that the cat has been let out of the bag, so to speak, the "organic" certification has been "diluted" to include non-organic hops. So, we end up with the strange situation presented by the Organic Revolution (and Lakefront's Organic ESB) - a certified organic beer that is "more organic" than it needs to be. And, if the certification is changed now, there will be "certified" organic beers that are no longer "organic" without having changed anything. FUBAR.

The Organic Revolution fermented by New Glarus Brewing Company need not worry about having its bona fides revoked; its barley and hops are both organic.
Appearance: Golden and surprisingly clear for a bottle-conditioned beer, a thick, white one-finger head form on top, while the few yeast particles aid the formation of bubbles
Aroma: lemon and grassy yeast aromas, with a slight peppery nose,
Flavor: a mix of flavors fight each other out for your attention; in one corner you have the grassy, earthy, and mild hops, in the other corner you have the fruity, lemony and bright yeast, in the other corner you have the focused malts, all of which swirl together, but never quite meld - instead keeping separate and playing off of each other.
Body: light bodied with carbonation; like typical bottle-conditioned beers, the carbonation wears off quickly, turning this from a pale ale into almost a sweet belgian ale
Drinkability: light and pleasant with no real reason not to drink it
Summary: if you like pale ales drink it quickly, if you like belgians let it sit for a bit, it's two beers in one! Inexplicably, Beer Advocate and Rate Beer both treat this one kind of badly - traditionally New Glarus fares pretty well there, even for beers which aren't so fantastic, but in this case, the BA and RB folks have chosen to rake a pretty decent (if non-descript) beer over the coals. Certainly no worse than Spotted Cow, if anything this beer's only downside is that it fails to differentiate itself. But still, a good beer and if you are in the market for making the world a better place, you can buy a six pack and rest assured that German organic hop farmers are being handsomely rewarded.

Since It's So Cold Out, Let's Talk About Snowshoes

New Glarus' Snowshoe red ale is out on the market. So, today we'll learn how to decipher a label because there is lots of great information on the label of the Snowshoe. Like reading a wine label, if you can read a beer label you can often learn quite a bit about the beer. If you are reading this without the benefit of a bottle of Snowshoe Ale in front of you, you can follow along on the New Glarus website.

So, let's start at the top and we'll make some points that you can learn by gathering information that is not on the label. First, it is called "Snowshoe ale." Because it is an ale, we know one thing already: it is made with a top-fermenting yeast, fermented at room temperatures (between 60 and 70 degrees or thereabouts). We can also make some assumptions: it probably will not be high-alcohol, it probably will not be full-bodied, it probably will not be highly hopped. Why can we make assumptions? Because of the conspicuous lack of information on the label. First, the label just says "ale", it does not say "barley wine ale", or "wine-style ale" that would indicate a barley-wine, one of the few high-alcohol styles that does not typically carry the prefix "imperial." Thus, for that matter, we can assume that it will not be very highly hopped; the term "imperial" is typically used in two instances: styles that contain a lot more hops that is typical for the style, or styles that are much higher in alcohol than is typical for the style. Because "imperial" is nowhere to be seen on this label, we can assume that it is not high-alcohol, and we can assume that it will not be very highly hopped (it may still have some hops, but it shouldn't be extraordinarily bitter). We can also assume that this is not a full-bodied ale. We can assume this because it is not a "stout" or "porter", two styles of ales are associated with being full-bodied; few other ales are full-bodied.

So, what do we know just by reading "ale"? We can safely assume that the alcohol will be between 3% and 7% alcohol, that it will be light or medium-bodied, and that it will not be overly bitter. One word down, and we haven't even started reading the fine print yet.

As we start on the side of the bottle, in the fine print, we first learn that we should "settle in" with this beer. This seems a little counter to our assumptions. We typically "settle in" with heavier beers, or beers with higher alcohol. Yet, we have already made some assumptions that run counter to this, so, we can take note of it, but frankly write it off to marketing hyperbole.

The next sentence tells us that there are American and German malts. This is not really surprising, this mixture of malts. Given the fact that we are in America, and not Germany, breweries here typically use American base malts. However, Germany makes some base malts and specialty malts that are unique to their beers such as Vienna (technically, Austrian) and Munich malts. Unlike 2-row and 6-row malts, typical American base malts that provide the generally malty flavors of beer, Vienna malts provide a stronger malty flavor and very slight "biscuity" (bright and bread-like) flavor. Munich malts are similar to Vienna, but forego the bicuit flavors in favor of a deeper coloring and an even stronger malty flavor. Both Vienna and Munich malts are typically used in German-style lagers (such as marzens, Vienna lagers, and bocks), but neither are foreign to amber-style ales. While it is possible that an American ale would use a German Pilsner malt, this is not likely without a little more fanfare as it would be unusual enough to make special note of. So, we now know that this beer likely contains some American 6-row or 2-row malts (both light malts, 6-row, having more grains is a little grainier, while 2-row is a little cleaner) and some German Vienna or Munich malts. Based on that knowledge, we can now assume that this will be a red or amber ale.

The next sentence, about a "complicated decoction mash process" requires a little knowledge about how beer is made. The first step of the brewing process is called "the mash." During the mash, malted grains and other specialty grains or adjuncts (if used) are basically steeped in hot water. This steeping process releases proteins and enzymes and sugars that are used by the yeast (added later) to ferment the beer. There are few types of ways to release these proteins and sugars: infusion, adding hot water directly to the grains, then re-adding more water to either raise or lower the temperatures as needed; or, decoction, where the grains are added to warm water, then some of the liquid is removed, brought to a boil, then added back to the liquid. Because of the boiling, "decoction mashing produces a richer malt profile with complex caramelized flavors that are the hallmarks of most continental European beer styles, particularly Pilsner, Marzen, Bock, and especially Dopplebock." [cite] So, now, after three sentences, we can start to get an idea of what we will be drinking: a richly malty beer that is much like a lager, but made with ale yeasts and a warm fermentation to add a bright flavor to it. We can legitimately think we might be drinking an alt-bier.

We are also told that this beer is made with "Yakima Golding" and "Bavarian Hellertau" hops. We know that the Yakima Valley is in Washington State, and that Bavaria is in Germany. Interestingly, both of these hops are traditionally aroma hops; thus, we can guess that this will be a lightly bittered beer, with a complex aroma profile. Goldings are stereotypical hoppy aromas, mild and slightly grassy, with some spiciness; Hellertau are also mild, with more emphasis on the spiciness and a subtle floweriness.

Of course, we could have just read the second paragraph and be told all of this. "Expect this beer to be a beautiful copper-red, with a fruity ale body and a spiced hop finish."


New Glarus Snowshoe Ale
Appearance: Poured into a willi becher pint, a large, thick two-finger bright white head forms on top of a crystal-clear deep golden-amber body; lacing is extensive and the head holds very well
Aroma: a spiciness is immediately obvious, with some strong malt aromas, and subtle earthiness, all on top of hints of freshly baked pepper and rosemary bread
Flavor: tastes exactly like its aroma, where the spiciness comes through, followed by deep malts and a light breadiness; a lingering dry earthy bitterness holds the finish, almost a cracked-pepper flavor; as the beer warms up the ale fruitiness comes through more accentuating the hoppy bitterness
Body: very soft body, that pleasantly coats and lends a thickness and mouthful without adding fullness of body
Drinkability: a great beer for winter football action, it is light enough to drink in moderation, but firm enough to provide sustenance
Summary: it would be nice to see this beer offered around town on tap at local bars, it is a good slightly different competitor to Capital's Winter Skal and provides something lighter with greater repeat drinkability than Lake Louie's porter and the stouts that are typical for the winter

More Than You Probably Wanted or Cared to Know About Hops

How do hops work? It seems like a rather innocuous question. You'll be sorry you asked.

On Wednesday, we discussed what hops do; we mentioned that while hops originally served a purely preservative function (mash hopping was very popular for this where the bitterness is more subdued), these days they are used more to define the flavor of a beer. It's taken almost a hundred years to figure out exactly how hops work, but it is, literally, down to a science; the number and variety of hop strains being used in all sorts of applications is one of the driving, and defining, forces of the American craft beer movement.

The question then is, how do hops impart their bitterness and/or aroma? Hops can be broken down into two parts: vegetal matter and lupulin glands. The vegetal matter is the green stuff. The lupulin glands are the yellow stuff.

Vege-wha? Lupu-huh?

Vegetal matter is the green, leafy part of the hop. It constitutes over 85% of the hop components, yet it is the least useful portion of the hop. While the leaf itself contributes something in the way of tannin and protein, these effects are mostly negligible. In fact, even considering all of the useful parts of the hop, an efficient brewery will effectively utilize less than 10% of the weight of a hop. In short, it's the lupulin glands that are the stars of the hop show.

What the heck are lupulin glands?

Glands filled with lupulin. Duh. The easy answer is that lupulin and the lupulin glands are the yellow stuff you see on the picture to the left there. It contains the stuff that makes your beer bitter and smell nice. For our purposes, we can break these down into three more technical components: soft resin, essential oils, other stuff. The soft resins themselves are comprised of alpha acids and beta acids. The alpha acids are rendered out of the hop by the boiling process. You will almost always see an alpha acid number associated with a hop profile; the Hop Union Data Book says that their strain of US Cascade is 4.5-7.0% Alpha Acid. This means that 4.5-7.0% of the hop (remember 85% of it is vegetable matter) contains usable alpha acid. On the other hand, Beta Acids are not affected by boiling, but some additional bitterness imparted by oxidation (exposure to air), thus the bitterness is more prevalent in the aroma; the data sheet shows that US Cascades are 4.5-7.0% Beta Acid as well (this matching is coincidental, if you were to look up US Centennials you would see 9.5-11.5% Alpha Acid and 3.5-4.5% Beta Acid).

So what do these numbers mean? Well, the higher the number the more of that resource the hop has to impart the desired characteristic. So, as a general matter, more alpha acid means more bitterness; more beta acid means more aroma.

There are also essential oils trapped in the lupulin. These oils contribute to the particular aroma that are taken out of the hop. While people smarter than me have taken a shot at quantifying what a hop aroma would be based on numbers (i.e., like with alpha acid and beta acid), the fact is it is hard to tell just looking at numbers and oil types what a hop will smell like. It's best to just get one of the little buggers in your hands, roll it around a bit and take a big ol' whif.

We'd be remiss if we didn't mention the classification of "Noble Hops." These are a classification of hops that are grown in Europe (Germany and Czech Republic mostly). They are low-bittering, high-aroma hops. Interestingly, they are Eurpoean Appelations of Origin, meaning that only those grown in the location given in the name of the hop may be called that (e.g., only hops grown in the Saaz region of the Czech Republic can be called "Saaz").

Finally, on Wednesday we failed to mention another hopping technique called the "hop back" where the wort is run through a bed of hops on its way to the chiller. This technique is simply another method of aroma hopping.

Even after all of that, these "fresh hop" beers brag about their usage of whole, fresh hops in the brewing process - "using fresh hops is a big endeavor, as the process requires four to five times the volume of hops compared to the normal process of using pelletized hops" - the fact is, using the hop in whole leaf form is the least efficient means of exploiting it. Like driving a Hummer when gas is over $3.00 a gallon, making a "fresh hop" beer in the midst of a hop shortage seems a little irresponsible.

Of course, this week we've got the 1967 Cadillac El Dorado convertable, hot pink with whale skin hubcaps, all leather cow interior and big brown baby seal eyes for headlights! Yeah! And we're driving around at 115 mph, getting 1 mile per gallon, suckin' down whole leaf hops like they're going out of style in a non-biodegradable styrofoam container. And when we're done suckin down those hop-bombs, we're gonna wipe our mouths with the American flag. (apologies to Denis Leary for the abuse of his song; also: just to make it clear: we do not endorse driving hot pink cars either during or after drinking hop-bombs)

Great Divide Fresh Hop Pale Ale (BA.RB.)

Appearance: Gold and bubbly with a huge creamy white head; none of the floaties of the heavy handed, but nice bubbling from the carbonation
Aroma: You can smell this thing from across the room; fruity and floral; the malt aromas are buried under the hoppy brightness, but it adds some bottom-notes the hop high-notes
Flavor: bitter and grassy, with a solid caramel maltiness that gives way to a lingering finish of alcohol and sharp fruitiness; a slight spiciness pervades
Body: medium-light body that goes down very easily with a lingering finish
Drinkability: perhaps the most drinkable of the three that we had this week; the light body provides a surprising maltiness
Summary: tipped towards the hoppy side, it is still a fairly well-balanced beer;

we were having a discussion this week about expectations for this type of beer - one of us took the side that these beers are supposed to be hop bombs, malt is there because it has to be, but it is definitely the back-seat, the hops are the showcase; the other of us took the position that despite the obvious emphasis on hops, there needs to be some malt backbone to provide at least a little relief and complexity aside from the hop bombardment which tend to be one note (cascade/centennial); so the question to you: do you look for a malt component in your hoppy beers?

Apparently It's Hop Week

On Monday we looked at "wet" hops vs "dried" hops. "Wet hops" are the industry jargon for "fresh" and stands in contradiction to the typical use of "dried" hops. As we mentioned, hops are typically used in one of two forms: pellet and whole leaf. Pellets are dried hops that have been cut up and compacted into a very small pellet that looks a bit like a green rabbit dropping. There a few reasons that pellets are used: first, they keep better and are easier to store because of the compact form; second, since they are smaller and come apart in the boil, they don't effect water volume (fresh hops absorb some water). The biggest disadvantage to pellet hops is that because of their fine form, they tend to clog up drains and require better filtration systems. There is some debate, but the general consensus seems to be that whole leaf hops impart a more "rounded" or "true" hop extraction, but the caveat is that they do not keep particularly well. Moreover, the whole leaf hops are bulkier and absorbant.

So, what is a hop and what does it do? Well, if you have been following along with us and went out purchased the Sierra Nevada Harvest Ale you have tasted what a hop does. Another suggestion: purchase Dog Fish Head's 120 IPA. It will give you a good idea of what hops can do. Although initially used to prevent beer from spoiling on long journeys, hops are most commonly used as a bittering, flavor and aroma agent. They can be added at almost any point in the brewing process:

Mash Hopping: hops are added with the first grains during the "mash" process; while not particularly common in commercial brewing, it is done more frequently by homebrewers and typically produces a more subtle yet inherent hop bitterness - others have likened it to a wine's tannin bitterness
Boil (aka "Kettle") Hopping: after mashing, the wort is typically boiled for up to an hour for the purpose of concentrating the wort and for adding hops; as a general rule, the longer hops are boiled, the more bitterness and less aroma will be gained from the hop
Aroma Hopping: added within the last 15 minutes of the boil, very little bitterness is extracted, but the aromas are retained
Dry Hopping: strangely, not the opposite of "wet" hopping (remember: "wet hopping" means using "fresh", as opposed to "dried", hops); added after the wort has boiled and cooled and has had the yeast added to it and had a chance to settle down, hops added during this time are purely for aroma purposes, no bitterness is extracted and are almost exclusively used in whole leaf form; the hops will sit in the fermenter for 3 days to a month until the resultant beer is bottled.

On Friday, we'll look at some of the components of the hop and what makes some hops better for bittering and some hops better for aroma. In the meantime, have a Two Brothers Heavy Handed India Pale Ale (BA.RB.), another Fresh Hop beer from one of my favorite "new" breweries down there in Illinois. They concentrate on making lesser-known styles of beers (as opposed to Dog Fish Head who concentrate on really pushing the envelope of beer itself) and have numerous awards to show for their skill. The six-pack we have (also purchased at the Barriques on PD) is from lot 2897, which, the Two Brothers Website tells us, contains Cascade hops (Lot 2547 Willamette; Lot 2617 Cluster; Lot 2687 Centennial; Lot 2847 Baby Cascade).

Appearance: A deep copper coloration with only very mild bubbling and a modest, creamy white one-finger head that dissipates quickly into small dense clumps of foam; a close inspection reveals that what were thought to be bubbles are actually tiny bits of hops that made it through the filtration process.
Aroma: surprisingly light aroma that is more malt than might have been expected; a sweetness and light caramel scent come through with the citrusiness of the cascade hops over top
Taste: a quick hoppy bitterness, followed by a mild malty breadiness that gives this beer some substance with a long finish of orange and grapefruit
Body: a firm medium body with long finish; a slight oiliness in the front, but unlike the Sierra Nevada Harvest, it doesn't coat the mouth
Drinkability: I could drink these all night; it is definitely hoppy, but there is more malt backbone to it to make it supremely drinkable
Summary: where the Sierra Nevada Harvest was 20 oz of liquid hops, the Heavy-Handed is more like a traditional IPA, just with the depth of hop flavor that comes from fresh hops; this beer warms up very well; while it is best served at refrigerator temperatures it changes character as it warms; where it starts as a pretty typical American IPA, the fresh hops with their undried resins and oils start to show their subtleties - there is a faint woody earthiness that comes through that is not typically found in cascade hops, the upfront brightness asserts itself and begins to be differentiated from straight bitterness, the caramel and base malts add a definite complimentary sweetness and body that can carry some of the oils and prevent it from being cloying

ps. For those keeping count, Two Brothers is in the process of installing a world-class restaurant at their brewery featuring one of the top chefs in Chicago; they wouldn't be able to do this today if they were based in Wisconsin.

No Wonder There's A Freaking Hop Shortage

Sierra Nevada Brewing Company is one of the biggest and oldest craft breweries in the United States. It was started in 1980 in a small town 2 hours North of Sacramento in the heart of the Sacramento Valley between the Cascade Mountains and the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Not only is this Nortern California area rich in agriculture, but it is an area rich in the American craft brewing tradition; home to such illustrious breweries as Bear Republic, Mendocino, Russian River, Lagunitas, Lost Coast, and, of course, Sierra Nevada.

Together these Northern California breweries have begun and carried the torch for hoppy American beers. A mere 500 miles from the Yakima Valley (about the distance from Madison, WI to Pittsburgh, PA), hops are plentiful. Sierra Nevada has a reputation that is unsurpassed. The Bigfoot Barley Wine is considered one of the finest in the world of its style and has a hop profile that makes this beer near the top of the bitterness scale (90 IBU for those of you keeping count). The Pale Ale has won 7 gold medals and is Sierra Nevada's single most popular beer; it is singlehandedly responsible to introducing countless people to craft beer and tips the pale ale scale at 37 IBU.

Hops are usually used in a dried form; they dry easily and quickly and keep well sealed and chilled. Sometimes they are used as dried whole leaves, sometimes they are used as dried and compressed pellets. But because of the proximity of Northern California to the largest hop growing region in the world (the Yakima Valley) these breweries are in a somewhat unique position: they can use large quantities of hops in their fresh, undried form allowing for huge aromas and the extraction of even the most subtle leaf flavorings.

It is with these fresh hops that Sierra Nevada has bottled their Havest Fresh Hop Ale. A bounty of hops, over 8,000 pounds (4 TONS) of hops, went into this years bottles. Some of these bottles made it all the way to Madison, WI where they were purchased at the Barriques on PD on the west Side. Unfortunately, the hops themselves are having a tough time getting here - perhaps because they are in these bottles.

The two hop types in this bottle are cascade and centennial. Cascade hops are typically associated with these Northern California breweries and provide a citrusy, orange-like aroma and flavor. While cascade hops are easily over-used, they can provide a distinct aroma and quenching flavor. Centennial hops are similar but with a more subtle citrus-iness and a more pronounced floral bouquet.

Appearance: huge 3-finger white foamy head, golden copper and crystal clear and stylish carbonation; a very pretty beer
Aroma: floral and not nearly as citrusy as might be expected; there is slight lemony pepperiness and a huge flowery nose
Taste: bitter; very, very bitter; seems to be lacking any malt at all actually - faint sweetness pokes out, but the peppery bitterness is overwhelming; after the first shock, some of the citrus juiciness pokes through and provides a pleasant diversion from the mouthpuckering tartness.
Body: It is a "soft" beer and the fresh hop resins provide a coating function that causes this beer to adhere to the inside of the mouth leaving a pleasant brightness after the big flavors are over
Drinkability: One is enough thank you very much; I like it for what it is, and the hops are pleasant enough; but I can't fathom drinking very much of it
Summary: Very unbalanced; not as much of the cascade oranginess as I expected - more of a lemony and floral acidity; the oiliness provided a nice counterbalance to what would otherwise be a harsh beer; the lack of any malt characteristic prevents this from being too highly recommended except to anyone other than dedicated hop heads.

ps. For those keeping score at home: Sierra Nevada is also a brewpub and would be unable to operate in the state of Wisconsin under the recently passed laws allowing the Great Dane to brew at Hilldale.

The Rising Cost of Small Brewing - Part II

We've been traveling a lot for the holidays and had some awesome beer (2005 Dark Lord and a 2000 Lindemen's Kriek were the highlights). But, there's some interesting information about the first, and most immediate impact of the hops shortage.

Every year since 2006 Samuel Adams has run a homebrewing competition called the Longshot Homebrew Competition. In 2007, one of the winners was Mr. Mike McDole from California; if you are interested, this is his 2006 Mayfaire winner, a Double IPA (210 IBU!?!) - presumably his winning recipe for Sam Adams is similar. As you will notice, this particular recipe calls for seven different hops - over 1 pound of hops for a mere 12 gallon batch.

One barrel is 31 Gallons. Thus, applying simple math, to brew only one barrel of this beer would require approximately 3 pounds of hops. Thus, a mere 667 barrels would require one ton of hops. Suffice to say, Sam Adams brews 667 barrels without thinking about it.

Well, the problem arises because of the fact that most of Sam Adams beers don't use this much hops let alone the varieties of hops Mr. McDole's Double IPA utilizes. You can read the letter from Jim Koch, founder and brewer at Sam Adams, that explains this problem here. When Sam Adams set out to start brewing they ran into the very real problem that they simply could not get the hops. The hops they needed were, literally, sold out. Even Sam Adams, one of America's top microbreweries, could not get the hops. They were in a sticky situation. After consulting with Mr. McDole, Sam Adams decided to postpone the release of the Double IPA winner until next year. By then Sam Adams should be able to source the amounts and types of hops that are required.

And, this is similar to the problem our Wisconsin breweries face. In this case, because of the lateness of the decision to source, Sam Adams was low on the priority lists and were closed out of sourcing the hops they needed. Similarly, Wisconsin breweries will have trouble sourcing hops. This could directly impact those breweries that make hop-intensive styles like IPAs and Double IPAs first - for example, Tyranena, New Glarus, Great Dane, Central Waters and others.

Thus, it can be easy to predict that breweries will start experimenting with lower-hop styles. Perhaps this will result in more quality and experimentation by forcing breweries (not just the hop-intensive ones, but the ones being pushed by the others as well) to focus on subtlety rather than fall back on hops to mask poor mashes, low-quality yeasts, and imprecise quality control. The other side is that we (those that promote and the media in general) have to increase consumer education so that consumers can differentiate these more subtle and complex beers.

The Rising Cost of Small Brewing - Part I

I suppose it seems inevitable that we eventually had to run an article about this. But news out of the Pacific Northwest has made this issue a bit more interesting for us. Really, until now, this was just a rising cost issue.

Lower supply (world-wide hop shortages) and rising demand (from increase in high-hop craft brewing, particularly in America) have put price pressures on hops; as a result the prices are skyrocketing. It's simple economics that nobody can really argue with. To make matters worse, barley growers here in the US are switching to subsidized corn crops because ethanol-related demand has increased the attractiveness of corn as a crop(both can be grown in similar land plots, so they are growth substitutes). Thus, we are also seeing a decrease in the supply of barley, and an increase in the demand (again from US craft brewing). This double whammy is raising prices, particularly for small buyers who cannot receive substantial price breaks. News around the industry says that prices for a 6-pack of craft beer will increase by about $1 in January.

The major players (Bud, Miller, Coors, etc.) are not hugely impacted for two reasons: 1) they buy in huge quantities and pay futures prices that moderate their price expectancies and allow for stable prices over lengthy periods of time; 2) they don't use a lot of hops, especially considering how much beer they brew. Throw into the mix the fact that the majors supplement their barley and hops with (comparatively) stable-priced corn and rice adjuncts. It is not expected (to my knowledge) that the majors will be joining the craft brewers in raising prices.

Moreover, the vast majority of Wisconsin's breweries are pretty low on the supply chain (to our knowledge, there are only a handful that brew over 20,000 barrels and only one that brews over 100,000 barrels). They get their hops after all of the bigger breweries get their allotment. Rest assured, even Great Lakes and Bells and Goose Island get their hops before Calumet, Tyranena, and The Great Dane. This is to be expected; hop sellers will prefer large buyers to small buyers - it moves their product and is a substantially lower payment risk. Again, basic economics: rational businesses prefer less risk to more risk, particularly at similar prices and/or when future supplies and demands are unknown or wildly variable.

Thus, the very basic inputs for small Wisconsin breweries are getting much more expensive. So far the breweries have resisted passing these costs on to the consumer. But as raw material prices continue to eat into profit margins, it has to be expected that prices will rise soon. It is looking like that will occur in January. Of course, some breweries will be effected much worse than others. Capital hardly uses any hops at all; Tyranena's flag ship is an India Pale Ale (IPA) that contains a lot of hops; City and Point breweries sell mostly low-hopped beers; Ale Asylum and The Great Dane and Central Waters and others use quite a bit more hops.

We will have more on this story as it develops.

Hey, Barkeep!

We all have stupid questions. Even the beer wizards here at MBR. As one of us admitted last month, “I wasn't the full-blooded, regional craft beer snob that you see before you today.”

What rarely is admitted is one person’s stupid question is often a lot of people’s stupid question. So we are introducing a new segment, something we like to call Hey, Barkeep! On the third Friday of every month, we will be answering some of the questions of the Beer Challenged.

We want all of you to reach the “full-blooded, regional craft beer snob” level like us! We will be gathering questions from you at bars, festivals, and, of course, e-mail and answering them at madisonbeerreview.com. So come on and send us your burning questions that you have been wanting to ask but just can’t without risking the “You’re kidding, right?” look from the real live bartender.

We promise to be gentle. Or at least funny. OK, we will try to be one or the other, but we definitely promise to answer them on Hey, Barkeep!

Our first question: Who are these Fuggles people and what does Harry Potter have to do with my beer?

Muggle. Fuggle.

Fuggle is a hop variety from England. There are a few primary hop-growing regions in the world: Germany, England, and the Yakima Valley in Washington state (there are others, but these are the primary ones). Fuggles are grown in England and in the United States. The UK version was first propagated in the early 1900s and used in traditional ales and bitters there. It is a hop still very much associated with English style ales, porters and stouts.

Hops serve two primary purpose: bittering and aroma. Before the advent of refrigeration, hops were also used for their preservative power. In fact, the India Pale Ale's signature bitterness was derived from the need to preserve the pale ale on the trip from England to India. Since the advent of refrigeration, the use of hops as a preservative have fallen off.

Today, hops are far more prevalent than they were. What would have been considered a bitter IPA during the British occupation of India in the mid-to-late 1800s, would now be considered a typical American pale ale. Bitterness, once an undesired, or at least subdued and understated, quality in beer, is now one of the predominant features of any number of styles, including most modern "American" and "Imperial" styles of beer. There are dozens of different varieties of hops. Each imparts different bitterness and aroma. For example, the Cascade hop gives many American beers a citrus-y, orange-like bitterness and aroma.

Hop bitterness is primarily measured by its content of alpha acids. In general, the greater the contentration of these acids, the more bitterness the hop can impart. Alpha acid can be as low as 3-4% and as high as 16-17%. Of course, the actual bitterness imparted is also related to how long the hop is boiled. There are any number of times during the brewing process that hops can be introduced. They can be introduced during the mash (wet-hopping); this is not common, but provides a very subtle bitterness that can sometimes be confused with roastiness or a alcohol-like sharpness. In fact, this was prevalent when hops were used entirely for their preservative powers; but has fallen out of favor, for the most part, because the bittering and aroma power of the hops is destroyed.

More commonly, the wort (liquid produced from steeped grains) is boiled after it is mashed and the hops are introduced during this boil. A boil typically lasts for 60 minutes; much longer and the wort starts lightening in strength and caramelizing. Hops introduced at the 60 minute mark fully impart their bitterness. Hops can also be introduced at any point thereafter, and the trade-off is generally between bitterness and aroma. The shorter the boil, the more aroma; the longer the boil, the more bitterness. Hops can also be introduced during the primary or more likely a secondary fermentation; this is called dry-hopping and it is entirely for aroma purposes. A hop's aroma is frequently associated with its beta acid number; the higher the beta, the more aroma the hop imparts. Beta-acid typically ranges from 2-9%.

The Fuggle is an "old-skool" hop. It has a mild, grassy, floral aroma. It's powers come mostly in the late part of the flavor profile, so it is very much considered a finishing hop. It's alpha-acid is typically in the 4-5.5% range making it on the low-end of the bitterness scale. It's beta-acid is typically around 2-3%. Thus, this hop is both mild bitterness and moderate aroma. It is considered a subtle hop these days, so it is used more for it's "old-skool-ness" than for its bittering or aroma powers. It is typically combined with other hops and adds complexity to the hop profile. If you can detect a floral, chamomile-like flavor in the aftertaste of your beer this may be from the use of Fuggles hops.

These low-alpha-acid hops have fallen out of favor among brewers in general and American craft brewers specifically. The past few seasons have been particularly bad for hops, and it is predicted that the scarcity of hops (and barley) will cause beer prices to increase. To combat this scarcity, hop growers (and users) are becoming more sophisticated in their usage and choosing to use small portions of high-alpha-acid hops instead of a large quantity of low-alpha-acid hops. These high-alpha-acid hops have also been bred to have varying levels of beta-acids and aroma profiles.

Since the Fuggle has low bitterness and a mild aroma, it's use is somewhat unnecessary. As the hop shortage gets worse, its use is likely to diminish further.

Three Floyds Fantabulous Resplendence

A few posts ago I was complaining that the beer selection around town is quite monotone. Thankfully, every now and then, if you make the rounds frequently enough, you'll find something that's sort of special and different. In this case, it was the Three Floyds Fantabulous Resplendence (BA. RB.). For their Tenth Anniversary, Three Floyds brewed an American Strong Ale (10.5% ABV!) - it won't be brewed again. Too bad.

It was found at the West Side Woodman's on Friday night. They had 4 bottles, all pushed towards the back near the 6s of the typical Three Floyds (speaking of which, I'm happy to see that they are bottling Gumballhead in the sixes now). You could tell that they had had more. And, I knew that these four weren't going to last long. Unfortunately, I couldn't buy a bottle Friday night. But, I knew that I could be back on Saturday to buy one (or two). But, I was so sure that the bottles would be gone by then, I was just about convinced to take a bottle (or two) and hide it. But, I decided not to out of courtesy to my fellow beer drinkers around town. I figured, if I can't buy, I shouldn't prevent someone else from buying it and enjoying it. So, I left it.

Well, I had a party to go to on Saturday night, and that Fantabulous Resplendence would make an excellent accompaniment to the evening. So, we headed over to Woodman's; though, I was fairly convinced that it would be sold out. Well, when I got there, I went straight to where the beer "should" be and there was a bottle of New Glarus Belgian Red. What? Well, I moved it out of the way, and low-and-behold, there are two bottles of the Three Floyds left. Lucky me! So, which of you wants to admit to hiding it? Out of spite, I almost bought both of them. But, I was talked out of that, since we really only needed the one bottle.

When we finally got around to drinking it that night with some friends of mine who could be described as beer novices (in their fridge that night: Tyranena's Brown Ale (Rocky's Revenge) and Bell's Best Brown Ale - as an aside, this was kind of odd, because Bell's doesn't start distributing the Brown until late Septemeber, so it must have been left over from last year), it was a big hit. It was the first time my friends had had beer out of wine glass before (RB and BA suggest snifters, but we used red wine glasses). It poured a light, unfiltered, amber color with virtually no head at all. The smell was all bread and grapefruit. It literally smelled like a freshly baked loaf of fruit bread. The first taste was thick and syrupy and intensely malty and bitter from the high alcohol. Then the hops hit. I don't know how much hops they put in this bottle, but I'm guessing "shit ton" might be an apt description. The hops were overwhelming, and if it hadn't been for the assertive malts at first, it would have been an amazingly unbalanced beer. But, as the orange and grapefruit wore off (a bit of geek speak: I'm not sure this beer was "dry-hopped" in fact, I would guess that the vast majority of the hops were used as "bittering" hops; while there was some aroma of hops, it was deceptive for the actual taste of the hops; thus, in the brewing process, early addition of hops - called "bittering hops" - provides the high bitterness, while the later additions provide the aroma - thus are called "aroma hops" - the type of hop called "cascade" is typically used as an aroma hop and provides the distinctive American 'citrusy/orange' aroma - however, it appears here that Three Floyds used the cascades as bittering hops, and it worked wonderfully), the malt reasserted itself and blended nicely with the orange and grapefruit.

A lot of the BA and RB reviews say that this beer is all hops. But, I thought it was more balanced than that, and didn't catch the overwhelming hop aroma that many of those reviews noted. This is definitely not an IPA (or a derivative thereof). The hops are huge, but the malt here is more caramel and thick than for a typical IPA.

All-in-all, an excellent beer. My friends loved it, and it went very well with the salmon that they had cooked. Unfortunately, there probably aren't many left around town, and it was a one-off thing so Three Floyds won't be making it any more. So, the lesson here is: be vigilant, get out and look, and if you have to, move the Belgian Red out of the way to see what might be behind it.