Letter from America - Guest Blog and the Brown Dog

Guest Blog by Stacey: 

If, like me, the first things that come to mind are Alistair Cooke's radio programme that my brother used to regularly listen to (BBC), or a certain Scottish band's song (YouTube), but no, I really have received a missive (electronic) from America, many thanks to Stacey! 

The missive was about The Brown Dog, 215 St Joe Plaza Drive, Palm Coast, Florida, US, FL 32164 (website), which has been running for a little over 7 years, and was very recently bought by 2 friends; they also have a facebook page. Opening times are 4.00pm to 9.30pm Tuesdays to Thursdays, 4.00pm to 10.30pm Fridays and Saturdays, and closed on Sundays and Mondays.  I will comment about beers and hops later, but the blog is Stacey's, cheers. 👌

The Brown Dog is a clean and bright bar (ed: see above), with a friendly atmosphere, keeping a casual vibe, and the new owners, having worked here for years, have retained their many amazing regulars. Food-wise they are renowned for their creative burgers and their wings; the kitchen closes 1 hour before the bar closes. Just this week they have installed a new beer line, increasing the number of beer 'taps' from 16 to 17. They keep many Florida beers on tap, and typically run 3 IPAs, 3 stouts and/or porters, with a whole range of beer styles in between.

They are working with some new distributors to increase their selection of beers, with the bar's locals getting excited about the thought of new beers! They are also planning to expand the selection of beers available in bottles and cans, and are bringing back previously popular Tap Nights. On these nights they will be 'tapping' several beers from a brewery, whose reps will come and talk about their beers, often bringing with them 'give aways' and/or raffle items. Currently my favourite beer on tap is Oh-J Double IPA from Lone Pine Brewery, a 'New England' style.

Many thanks again Stacey! 👍

Ed: Well, I had to look up Stacey's recent 'favourite' IPA and can see why she likes it so much! It's brewed by Lone Pine Brewery (website), and the Oh-J Double IPA, at 8.1% and packed with hops, provides depth and big fruit flavours. The hops used are listed as Amarillo, which provide orange citrus flavour; Centennial, developed from 'inter-marrying' Brewer's Gold, Fuggles, East Kent Goldings and Bavarian hops; and Falconer's Flight. Now, I had never heard of Falconer's Flight before, but looked to good old hopslist for help, and many thanks to them, to find out that Falconer's Flight is a blend of Pacific Northwest hops, including the following seven Cs: Cascade, Centennial, Chinook, Citra, Cluster, Columbus and Crystal, many of which I've recently written (eg blog), PLUS other experimental hop varieties... no wonder Oh-J Double IPA is packed with flavour, cheers Stacey! 

Oh, and to prove I have just a wee bit of knowledge about beers from the USA, I noticed The Brown Dog has recently had Goose Island IPA available, which is from a Chicago brewpub I visited many years ago, although it's moved on a bit since then... I have written about Goose Island a couple of times, including in this homage to the Beer Hunter (blog). However, I do need to find and drink many more of the more adventurous American brews, cheers!

Belgian Ales Part 1

As I recently wrote (blog) I had acquired 10 different Belgian ales (ales as they're 'top fermented' and not lagers, which are 'bottom fermented' or the fermentation of ales is at a warmer temperature than lagers with yeasts that convert sugars to alcohol at the top of the wort in the fermenter, and the yeasts used to convert sugars to alcohol for lagers work in the wort at the bottom of the fermenter at cooler temperatures, straight forward so far!). Wort is the sugar rich liquid that is derived by 'mashing' malts, hops are added at various stages, mostly in the kettle that boils the wort; if you don't already know the brewing process I can do no better than CAMRA.

Anyway, most of those 10 ales I hadn't drunk before, and I added 2 more that I do like a lot, one is to compare with an ale I hadn't drunk yet, and the other is my favourite regularly available Belgian ale, Westmalle Tripel, which I have written about before (blog), you'll get why when I move on with this and the next blog. Another characteristic of these 12 ales is that they are all bottle conditioned, that is, have a secondary fermentation in the bottle, again see that blog for further information. Finally, before I deal with the ales individually, if you would like to read more about the types and styles of Belgian beers, I suggest either reading the Serious Eats Beginners Guide to Belgian Beer Styles (website), or read a copy of Michael Jackson's (not the singer, but the Beerhunter - see blog) The Great Beers of Belgium, or online (website).

The Brouwerij Duvel Moortgat, or Duvel Moorgat Brewery, is a Flemish family brewery (website) founded in 1871 by Jan-Leonard Moortgat, and now run by the 4th generation of Moortgats. A combination of yeasts from a Scottish ale (McEwan's Scotch Ale, very popular in Belgium at the end of WW1) was extracted and used by Moortgat's sons to help create a lighter ale, which, legend has it, was called a 'real devil' or Duvel, the local dialect for Devil.

This version (above) was created to celebrate the brewery's 150th anniversary last year, using 6 different hop varieties, and catchily called Belgian Blond Duvel 6.66% at 6.66% strength, a younger brother of the next Duvel I shall describe (below). It certainly has an aroma that I recognise in many Belgian beers (including lagers like Stella!), less body than its older 'brother' and a wee bit gassy, very easy to drink for a Belgian ale, as in speed-wise, if not for the gas, to be honest, I was a bit disappointed as it's not what I really look for in a Belgian ale, that is, a big flavoured ale to sup at a leisurely pace. Anyway, very decent, but compared to stronger Belgian ales, I could only give it 5.5 out of 10, didn't have a chance really, when compared to the rest!

So, to the 'big brother' that the Duvel story above really relates to, and at 8.5% a much more vigorous ale indeed! This is a multi award winning pale golden ale (my description), or Strong Blond ale (theirs), with lots of body and flavour, and a subtle bitterness, very good... I just wish they still sold it in the buffet on Eurostar, I used to love supping a couple of bottles of Duvel to and from Brussels! OK, we're getting into very good territory now, so I rated this 8.5 out of 10.

Next came an ale I definitely cannot remember drinking before, from the Brouwerij De Klem (website), which has been brewing for just 10 years, and their 7.5% Hellegat Super Blond, brewed with 3 types of malt. I quite liked this, nice flavours with a hint of vanilla, a wee bit sweet to start with, but dries out nicely in the finish, I wrote 'decent' in my notes, and gave it 7 out of 10. 

Moving away from Flanders to the Ardennes, in the French speaking region of Wallonia, for the next ale, and to Brasserie D'Achouffe, or D'Achouffe Brewery (website), and their 8.0% La Chouffe (the Chouffe is the bearded gnome which became a symbol of the brewery from its inception 40 years ago, and is on the label). I must have tasted this in the past, surely, but I'm not sure (I lost all my notes for ales I sampled in Belgium quite a few years ago, sadly!). Called a Blonde (French, so an E at the end), although they describe it as golden, there you go, slight citrus flavour, full bodied, with a slightly dry bitter finish, I liked it! Scored 8 out of 10.

Apart from the 8.5% Duvel being fitted in early, my model was to gradually increase the strength of the ales reviewed here, so I'm back to Flemish breweries, unsurprising as 4 of the ales in this blog were supplied by my Flemish mate Frank, who brought them back following a recent trip to his home city of Antwerp, as mentioned in my earlier blog. So, this is from his local brewery, I suspect his favourite brewery from past conversations, Stadsbrouwerij De Koninck (website), named after Joseph Henricus De Koninck who bought a coaching inn in 1827 that was converted into a brewery after his death 6 years later. De Koninck actually tell us the hops used for this golden/blond ale (Saaz-Saaz), their Tripel D'Anvers (8.0%), which is full of body, a wee bit sweet at first, drying out with gentle bitter finish; I did like it, hence the 8 out of 10 scored.

The final ale I am reviewing for Part 1 is, as I said above, my favourite regularly available Belgian ale, Westmalle Tripel, which I have written about before (blog). I'll just say what I said before, the Westmalle Tripel, is a golden beer, subtly fruity, quite dry and bitter finish, quite frankly, excellent! There are a number of bars in Brussels where I would always drink this, the waiting staff in the magnificent Le Cirio in Brussels, by la Bourse, always taking care not to disturb the sediment, but leaving the bottle for people to add the sediment if they so wished. Indeed, the owner of the bar closest to where my brother used to live always called me "Monsieur Westmalle", but that bar, sadly, is no longer open, the owner having retired.

Westmalle Tripel is a 'trappist' ale, the brewery established at the trappist Westmalle Abbey since 1836 (website), and gradually updated over the years, in 1968 their own water purification plant was set up, their bottling plant was modernised in 1956 and again in 2000, and a few years ago a new brewhall was installed. Although the monks no longer brew the beers themselves, they are still in overall charge of the brewery, ensuring tradition is upkept, and pure ingredients used, their own water, 100% barley malt, hops, and yeast from their own culture.

For my latest tasting notes I wrote "so good!" I scored it 9.5 out if 10, unsurprisingly.

Belgian Ales Part 2 coming soon, cheers! 😉

American Beers and Michael Jackson.

A few years ago I wrote a blog about beers from the USA and included a homage to Michael Jackson, the Beer Hunter, not the singer, and last year was 10 years since his death. I meant to write again last year but I wasn't so great with my ale blogging last year, so have decided to make up for it now by re-writing the original! My interest in beers brewed in the USA started in 1998, when I visited Chicago whilst I was delivering a paper to a social science conference out there, and I went to Goose Island for an afternoon. Goose Island was a brewpub, and is now owned by one of the biggie brewers, but it still brews in Chicago I believe.

Before I flew out I was provided with some local information from a friend who was married to a lass from nearby in Illinois, and I was very happy with the visit to Goose Island (website). There were quite a number of excellent real ales brewed on the premises, and all types of English styles: IPA, Extra Special Bitter, Porter, Stout, Best Bitter, they had the lot, and very nice they were too! The only error I made there was to order 'chips' with my burger ("How would you like your burger?" was a surprise question too) and being given crisps, oh well, a learning experience. I also found out you could get their beers bottle-conditioned, I drank one that was called Honkers back at the hotel where I was staying, although another learning experience for me, they DO like their beer cold out there, the Honkers was dragged out of a sink full of icy water! 

Secondly, a friend of mine, Anne, who's first wedding, at Wandsworth Town Hall I was a witness at many many years ago, now lives in Florida, and she sent Ken Wells' Travels with Barley to me as a present. It's an interesting read, and, although I haven't been able to grab hold of any of the 'extreme' beers mentioned therein, eg Dogfish World Wide Stout, weighing in at a hefty 23.6%, nor the same brewer's 120 Minute IPA, packed with hops, and a meagre 18%, I did manage to find the 4 following weaker beers, available at the local supermarket.

You'll notice that these are mostly IPA style, or APAs (American Pale Ales), which was not such a hardship for me, knowing my preferences! The first of which was the bottle-conditioned, and extremely well known, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale (5.6%). I thought that this may not be that good, being as it's considered a bit 'run of the mill' for American beers apparently, but it was bottle-conditioned, so... Magnum and Perle hops are used in the brewing process, and it is finished with Cascade, so promising, and it definitely had the citrus fruit you would expect. I got grapefruit in the flavour, and have seen another reviewer say tangerine, whatever, it had a very nice flavour and quite bitter too, what a pleasantly surprising start! More at the brewers website, if you want to research further.

OK, I was getting into this now, I do love research, and I moved on to my second choice, Steven Point (website) being the brewer, and their IPA, which is actually brewed for the UK market, that's how popular some of these beers are becoming! This is also 5.6%, and uses Magnum and Perle hops too, and dry hopped with Cascade, so I'm guessing they're competing directly with the Sierra Nevada... Indeed, I had already made a note of cascade hops used before checking, so that hop's flavour definitely came through, a wee bit apple in the flavour, hint of sweetness, and a bitterness coming from the grapefruit flavour provided by the cascade hops. Not bad at all, I wrote "goodish" in my notes, though not as much to my liking as the Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.

My penultimate beer was another IPA, this time brewed by Shipyard Brewing Company (website) and 5.8%. The Shipyard version is a single hop variety, and even has a subtitle Fuggles IPA, and yes, you've guessed, Fuggles are the hops of choice for this ale. I've seen quite a few reviews of this beer saying "traditional English style", oh dear, what a shame, though I didn't catch the grapefruit taste others did. Maybe I know the Fuggles hop a little too well, but I did pick up a fruitiness, apple and plum though for me! Another not too bad beer, but my IPA, or APA, of choice in this tiny sample has to be the Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, thank you very much!

I finished off my American beer adventure with the Shipyard Blue Fin Stout (4.7%) a very different style of beer obviously. The Blue Fin Stout is described as a "classic Irish Stout" and has an array of hops used in the brewing process, Warrior, Cascade, Tettnang and Goldings, though, excepting 'Black IPAs", I have trouble spotting the hops in darker beers. This was very enjoyable, though, with a subtle malt and caramel flavour, and a nice dry roasted barley finish, 'twas a bit like a traditional stout, indeed, cheers!

So, I say a big "thank you" to the Yanks and their growing influence in the world of brewing, particularly to their willingness to chuck in loadsa hops, cheers m'dears!

Regarding Michael Jackson, the "Beer Hunter", he was a well known writer who loved many different styles of beer, including American and Belgian beers. A friend who works at Fullers Brewery gave me a bottle of the 'Extra Special' Fullers ESB Michael brewed for the American market, and it was very good too. Indeed, another customer I knew asked why I hadn't got Michael to sign the bottle label as he had (he was going to see if he could sell it on e-bay). Silly man, I'd already drunk it the night before!

But Michael did like to knock back pints of his favourite ale in a jug, the merely 3.5% Chiswick Bitter brewed at Fullers in nearby Chiswick. His last evening on earth was spent drinking Chiswick Bitter at his local pub, the Andover Arms in Brackenbury Village near Hammersmith, whilst I was relief manager there... 

R.I.P. Michael Jackson (1942-2007).