Hey Barkeep! I’ve Got A Lot of Questions

Usually with "Hey Barkeep!" we try to answer one question in detail. This month we're going to take a few questions – some from real live folks, but some from the searches that end people on this site. As I'm sure you are aware, I have the ability to see how many people visit this site each day (for those interested, it's around 100 per day, plus another 100 from RSS feeds). About one-third to forty percent of those visits are from search engines. Did you know that I can also see what people searched for that resulted in them being at my site? It's great fun.

But first. Trust me we will do a much bigger piece on this closer to Memorial Day, but on Wednesday we were talking about beers for grilling and BBQs. So, what would I recommend for drinking with grilled chicken? On the first day that the ol' MBR grill got busted out for the year, we had grilled chicken marinated in tandoori and garam masala spices and a lemon artichoke salad (with some carrots and potatoes thrown in for good measure). Paired with this wonderful food, we had the De Proefbrouwerij Saison Imperiale, a Special Reserve Belgian Farmhouse Ale from the Brewmaster's Collection. It was purchased for $9.99 + tax (about $10.25 or so) at Steve's on the west side. Also under consideration for this meal was the Thiriez Blonde ($12.99 plus tax). The Imperial Saison (nomenclature aside) complimented the chicken well. While I would have preferred a bit more hops (maybe the Blonde would have been better), the pleasant fruity tartness cleaned the palate well and the additional body on a traditionally lighter-bodied beer didn't make me full. The musty, cherry and lemon aromas complimented the chicken's earthy spices and the salad's acidity. All-in-all, a good choice.

On to the searches; these are all real search terms that resulted in hits on this website in just this past week:

Q: "Steam beer is classified as which general beer style"
A: Back in January we talked about a taxonomy of beer. We talked about how the "family" of beer has two "genus" types – ales (top fermenting yeast) and lagers (bottom fermenting yeast). Steam beers use lager yeast, so they are technically, lagers. We then discussed how you can group the genus of ale or lager into two species: warm fermenting and cold fermenting. And in each genus you will have beers of each species. Most ales are warm fermented (temperatures above 55 degrees F), but porters are cold fermented ales. Similarly, most lagers are cold fermented (temperatures below 45 degrees F), but steam beers are warm fermented. So, to answer the question: steam beer is a warm-fermented lager.

Q: "Average amount of alcohol compunction"
A: Compunction: a feeling of deep regret. Despite my guess that the person meant "consumption" not "compunction" I would guess that the average amount of feeling of deep regret related to alcohol is fairly high and directly proportional to "consumption" on a rising logarithmic scale.

Q: "Drank too much and vomited"
A: Yeah. That'll happen. Probably a great amount compunction (see above).

Q: "Alcohol spending in Wisconsin"
A: For the most recent data I could find online (Fiscal Year 2002), the state of Wisconsin collected $9.6 million in excise taxes on beer. At $2 per barrel (although there are some breweries that only pay $1 per barrel), that's more than 4.8 million barrels (31 gallons) of beer. Given that Wisconsin only has 5.6 million people, 24% of whom are under 18, that's over a keg of beer per adult in 2002. To get a rough idea of the amount that we spend on beer, we can multiply the number of barrels sold by the going-rate for a keg (31 gallons, also called a "half-barrel", but one of these days we'll get into this weird naming system). Ranging from $45 (Natural Light) to $150 (Guinness), we can take a weighted average and call it, maybe $80? Would you agree that that's fair? So $80 a keg for 4.8 million kegs is $384 million or thereabouts. A third of a billion dollars on beer alone in the state of Wisconsin. Nice.

Q: "What is rauch ale"
A: Rauch beers are smoked beers. They can be either ales or lagers. In either case, the malts are smoked before use, traditionally over beech-wood, in some cases hickory or apple woods. For the smoking process, the malted barley is confined with smoking wood for a period of time (as little as a few hours, as much as a day or two) then used in an otherwise normal brewing process. I haven't heard of breweries "cheating" and using "liquid smoke", but I'm sure it happens.

Q: "Returnable beer bottle Indiana"
A: Don't know. Why don't you ask the Hoosier Beer Geeks?

Our 50th Post! (New Glarus Unplugged - Smoke on the Porter)

It seems hard to believe that not that long ago the porter was virtually extinct. Before the first American craft beer movement in the late 70s (Charlie Papazian we salute you) the style was dying a long slow centuries long death.

The porter is a classicly British style. Understated and supremely drinkable it's cousins are the bitter and the brown on the lighter and sweeter side and mild and stout on the darker side. The style itself encompasses a wide range, although the Beer Judging Guidelines recognize three classifications: the brown, the robust and the baltic. The brown porter is what we typically recognize as the classic British porter: soft, low-alcohol, medium to moderate body, low-hop, strong caramel and roastiness. The robust is the typical American porter: moderate to full body, higher alcohol, moderate to high bitterness - while very similar to a stout it can be distinguished by the lower concentration on the roasted flavors in favor of higher bitterness. The final category is the Baltic porter. I would dare anyone to effectively distinguish between a Baltic porter and a stout on something other than "it was brewed in a Baltic state." Technically it has a sweeter, fruitier profile and a lower roastiness; these typically fermented on lager yeasts giving a cleaner, sharper flavor.

New Glarus does not make a porter. Dan and Deb sometimes brew a stout. They brew a bock (a lager style similar to a porter). But no porter. To my knowledge the Smoke on the Porter (BA. RB.) is the second smoked beer they have done - they did a Smoked Rye Bock back in 2005 also as part of the Unplugged series (if there are any of these floating around, please let me know - we can work something out!). They bottle says it was cold-smoked by the brewery's neighbors at Hoesley's Meats. Cold smoking is a process whereby the smoke-ee (the unmalted barley) is held at room temperature separate from, but in the same enclosed space as, the smoke-ed (applewood in this case). This is in distinction to "hot" smoking which is what you do to smoke ribs (put it on a grill over hot, smoke-generating wood). The unmalted barley thus gains the flavor but is not cooked.

Appearance: a one-inch head of creamy off-white that dissolves quickly; dark brown to almost black where it's concentrated in the glass - looks like a dark porter, but doesn't have the viscosity associated with the heavier versions of the style

Aroma: Sweet smokiness is primary; the marketing materials says this was smoked over applewood and that sort of sweetness certainly seems presents, though I wouldn't be surprised if that's just the marketing talking; but there is definitely a distinct fruitiness that could be enhanced by some subtle aroma hopping

Taste: the sweet smokiness definitely comes through in the taste, but it isn't the first thing to hit; there is some upfront caramel and roasted malts in the backbone to give depth to the smoke. the roast from the malts follows through the finish; very low bitterness

Body: A moderate to medium body that holds up well over the fullness of the taste; in fact the long finish makes this beer seem "heavier" than I think it is as the body seems surprisingly medium-ish, but the smokiness and caramel flavors add a fullness and complexity of flavor that makes it seem richer

Drinkability: eventually the smoke would get to me, but I could really drink this beer at any point in the evening; it would be nice to have on a cold night watching television (to wit: this evening), but would also go well after a long night to unwind in front of Conan O'Brien.

Summary: A nice take on the smoked beers; hoppy beers have had their run, let's try something new - a fine rauchbier frenzy would be nice; nobody would buy them except me and the other smoked beer nuts, but it would be nice. What really makes this beer shine and separates it from the Aecht Schlenkerlas is the richness and depth present throughout the flavors. Schlenkerla is nice but it is all smoke. Smoke on the Porter presents a wide range of flavors, one of which is the fruity smokiness that wafts on top of all of the flavors.

Oktoberfest - The End

And, as October begins, we leave with the momentum of our Oktoberfest posts to carry your beer buying decisions. Indeed, we've been talking to you guys on the streets and it seems our comments have helped quite a bit. So, thank you!

So, like Amazon and other online retailers, this is the part where we tell you: "if you like this, you may also like _______________." And the blanks here are all styles that are similar, but not exactly like, an Oktoberfest beer, aka marzen.

Like we said Wednesday, the marzen style is defined by a pronounced caramel maltiness, it is usually lightly to moderately hopped with noble (European) hops. Its color ranges from dark gold to dark amber and it generally has a foamy off-white head. It is best served cold (45 degrees or thereabouts), but warms up well. And, there is a definite preference towards drinkability; it has a medium-light to medium body and typically little aftertaste. These are not terribly complex beers, though there is some capability with the malt profile to show-off a bit. But, overall, there are not fruity, spicy, or overly earthy tones either in aroma or flavor.

Up first, is the brother of the marzen, the Vienna Lager. The Vienna is very similar to the marzen, with the only primary difference being a heavier body, and not quite as much emphasis on the caramel. Of course this similarity in style seems natural, the drive from Munich to Vienna is only 400 kilometers, about 270 miles or the distance from Madison to Minneapolis. Close indeed. The Vienna lager is typically a slightly heavier beer than the marzen. It is a bit smoother, with a thicker mouthfeel and lower carbonation. Sometimes it can have a syrupy feel to it. And, it is generally low-hopped with noble hops. For a perfect example of a Vienna lager, check out Capital's Winter Skal when it comes out. While they can be consumed in a pint glass, they can also hold up well in a snifter or red-wine style stemmed glass.

Another similar style, is more like a cousin of the Oktoberfest: the amber ale. You can think of the beer world divided into two main areas: ales and lagers. The only real distinction is a technical one (though it turns out to be a very large distinction), lager yeasts are bottom fermenting while ale yeasts are top fermenting. Lager yeasts are typically fermented at cold temperatures (as low as below 32 degrees farenheit) while ale yeasts ferment at room temperature (or thereabouts). For our purposes here, without going into too much detail, the biggest distinction that you will find is that ale yeasts will impart a subtle fruitiness. The amber, of course, has a number of derivatives: the american amber, the irish red, and the alt-bier (an amber ale that is fermented in a lagered style at cold temperatures). Amber ales have the typical caramel sweetness and are moderately hopped. Of course, the American Amber can be very highly hopped. The Irish Red is much smoother, and is often served from the tap on nitrogen (as opposed to CO2, nitrogen provides a firm, smooth, velvety carbonation). While the alt-bier is the schizophrenic cousin: it is typically a red recipe that uses ale yeasts but ferments at lager temperatures, this eliminates some of the fruitiness, but the ale yeast provides a smoother, less crisp finish.

Finally, last, but certainly not least: the rauch (smoked) bier. You either love 'em or hate 'em, there are really no two ways about it. Generally the rauch recipes are based on marzen styles, though some breweries have used helles, pilsner, or bock recipes. The malts, before being used, are put in a smoke house where they are smoked over beechwood, or sometimes oak, or other woods. They are very dry. The strongest of them can leave what feels like a vacuum in your mouth. The body is generally medium-light to light. Some of them can taste like you are drinking a sausage. Seriously. It turns out that this years Unplugged beer from New Glarus will be a Rauch beer. We love rauchbiers here at MBR, so rest assured that the day this one is out, there will be a review here.

So, get out and try some of these other styles. If you like Oktobers, these are all similar, and, as you can see, Wisconsin breweries, retailers, and bars have them.