Category: Front Page

What does it mean for a brewery if its most recent successes are seen as exceptions to, rather than extensions of, its identity? Twenty-three-year-old Brewery Ommegang is considering this question in real time.

Faced with declining popularity for its core, Belgian-inspired styles, the Cooperstown, New York-based brewery has made two non-Belgian styles its priorities: Neon Rainbows, a New England IPA, and Idyll Days, a Pilsner, which will relaunch nationally next year.

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THE GIST

After 24 years, Shelton Brothers, America’s most influential importer of Belgian and European beers, will soon cease operations.

The Belchertown, Massachusetts-based importer of renowned brands that include Cantillon, Drie Fonteinen, Fantôme, De La Senne, and others says it has been forced into liquidation by its bank.

The company was founded in 1996 by brothers Dan, Joel, and Will Shelton and has served as an importer of more than 150 of the world’s best breweries, as well as a distribution partner for American breweries, cideries, and meaderies including Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales, Anchorage Brewing Company, and Saint Somewhere. The company’s annual beer event, The Festival, is considered one of the most prestigious global beer events and is attended by some of the most revered brewers in the world.

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Bruges is one of my favourite cities in Europe. Ethereal cobblestone lanes, canals, medieval Flemish architecture, magnificent squares, a towering belfry, secluded parks, and even a few windmills make for an enchanting ambience you won’t find in many other cities. And there’s no shortage of churches and museums for those who like a shot of culture as a prelude to their beer. Speaking of which, Bruges’ narrow alleys conceal many a hidden oasis where you can relax from the hard work of sightseeing and eating all that Belgian chocolate.

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All good chefs know that the appearance and presentation of food is just as important as the flavor. If a steak is an unappetizing shade of gray, it will seldom be appreciated, even if it’s delicious. It’s the same with beer; a great deal of the perception and appreciation of beer comes from the way it looks. Everyone likes to see a sparkling, clear European pilsner, Oktoberfest, or pale ale, and even dark styles such as stout and porter look a lot better when they are clear black instead of muddy brown.

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Just ninety minutes from Munich by train, Regensburg is an eminently walkable city where you’re never far from a brewery, beer garden, or Bierkeller. It’s also an ideal base for visiting Kloster Weltenburg and Schneider Weisse in Kelheim, and for exploring the woodlands cradling the Zoigl tradition of the Oberpfalz. Though not a beer pilgrimage site like Munich or Bamberg, Regensburg boasts nearly half a dozen breweries, a Bierkeller, and the famous Wurstlkuchl, a tiny Bratwurst house adjacent to the Stone Bridge. But it’s Regensburg’s riverside beer gardens that really shine. Both the Spitalbrauerei and Alte Linde beer gardens serve up stunning views of the cathedral, the Stone Bridge, and the medieval Altstadt — some of the best beer garden views anywhere in Germany.

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Most pictures courtesy Jackie Lawrence

 There are a lot of competitions, like AWOG (Amber Waves of Grain) in Buffalo area we’ve always wanted to get back to, but timing and distance have prevented that. We finally did get back to Knickerbocker in the Albany/Saratoga Springs area. When New South Brew Off started Millie got to go, and that’s a good thing because that’s one of the clubs we are members of. But I was always up north helping to run Old Forge BIG Beer and Odd Ale, a competition I started. So I couldn’t judge.
 Of all the things COVID has done the one good thing I can think of is, since I needed to come home to be with Millie, I was able to judge NSBO too. So, after two weeks quarantine were over because I came from Tennessee, mead test on Long Island done, both places drained for the brutal winters, home I sped, boat in tow. And straight into prejudging for New South at Amber and Jerry Wood’s castle in Clarksville, TN.
 Clarksville, Tennessee, of the many great things Clarksville is it’s a military town: Fort Campbell, 101st Airborne.

 I didn’t bring the boat. So no boating around in Jerry’s backyard. But I’ll bet Jerry Wood’s pup: Bear the Saint Bernard, and the puppy edition Roxy, would have enjoyed the trip. Everyone say, “Hi, Bear!”
 Of course, as judges, we don’t get to see most of the preparation, for obvious reasons. We don’t need to know who entered what. Of course one of us just got home so… not possible. Continue reading “A Beer Judge’s Diary: New South Brew Off”

Ayinger is affectionately known as Munich’s “country brewery,” and it’s easy to see why. When you take the train out from Munich, the cityscape gives way to the industrial margins of the city, and then suddenly you’re on a broad green plain with gently rolling hills to the north and the snowy crenellations of the Alps to the south. A mere half an hour from the city, Aying hits the spot for slowing down to relax in the countryside with a beer or three.

The brewery rises up on the outskirts of this idyllic village where wooden chalets with an Alpine flair cluster around an onion-domed church as white as the driven snow. Aying and its brewery present a study in contrasts. You can tuck into hearty Bavarian fare like Tellerfleisch (boiled brisket with stewed vegetables and horseradish) or Käsespätzle (highly recommended!) in the rustic surroundings of the Ayinger Bräustüberl in the center of the village. But the delicious beers accompanying the traditional food come from a state-of-the-art production facility that seems light years from the carved wooden balconies and flower boxes that dot the town.

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Written by Franz Hofer for A Tempest in a Tankard

Clichés about hidden gems aside, there are hidden gems, and then there are true hidden gems. De Garre is a true hidden gem — literally. The address is simple enough: De Garre 1. But it’s a clue more than anything else. You have to look hard for this place tucked away to the southeast of the Grote Markt in an alley along the Breidelstraat in Bruges. The small passage, wide enough for two people, is a bit like an Edinburgh alley: blink and you’ll miss it.

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