Professor Good Ales

Written by John Holl for newjerseynewsroom.com

(The “Garden State” has a pretty poor image, nationwide. Nice to see some positive news, especially beer-wise.- Prof. GA)

Like so many others before him, Matt Steinberg came to New Jersey via New York City seeking a lower rent. He settled in North Bergen, a Hudson County town with sweeping views of the Manhattan skyline.

The 32-year-old Steinberg, who has a degree in computer science and works as an IT consultant, has long held a fondness for craft beer, something forged in college. Back then, he and his buddies would gather up a few extra dollars and pick of a case of Saranac Lager, as opposed to the usual cheap college beer.

“I’ve been interested in alcohol long before I was old enough to be legally interested,” he said during a recent interview at a Jersey City beer garden. He also has an entrepreneurial spirit and a fondness for home brewing. So when that little voice in the back of his head grew louder, urging him on to open a business, he thought about a few options, including opening up a bar or restaurant.

Steinberg decided, instead, to open a brewery. New Jersey is already home to some 20 breweries and brewpubs. But, with a few exceptions, few admit that they come from the Garden State.
Continue reading “The New Jersey Beer Company”

Written by Rick Nichols for Philly.com: Restaurants and Food section.

(Published under the title: On the Side: A grocery pub: How civilized.)

Shoppers (and opening-day gawkers) who headed to the new Whole Foods mega-market off Germantown Pike in Plymouth Meeting last week found themselves confronted by competing realities before they even got in the door. To one side were winter-beaters – firewood of every description. You had your composite Enviro-Logs and Java-Logs, and your stacks of “basic firewood” (which comes straight from the tree), but also, for the more elegantly inclined, neatly split birch.

There were jugs of Orchard Valley cider in an icy trough. And a few feet away, the heralds of spring – sprays of Cranberry Farms pussy willows ($2.99) and potted primrose in vivid reds and ivories. You could, it seemed, get anything you wanted – local cider (from Lansdale, 11 miles away) and grass-fed beef from Georgia, organic and conventional, even your season of choice: More winter? A side of spring with that?

If you entered through Door No. 1, nearest to the adjacent mall, a magic carpet awaited. Banks of pink orchids in clay pots. Cinematic cascades of blue hydrangea. A wall – yes, a vertical wall – of golden beets and dandelion greens, purple-top turnips and red kale. At the egg case, the eggs were not only cage-free, they were carton-free, arranged one-by-one in rows on springy bedding (as they might be in the coop), a stack of small wire baskets at the ready to assist in your faux-farmstead collecting.

So this, children, is where eggs really come from, absent the squawk and feathers, the stench, and the mindless pecking. They come from a food-topia in Plymouth Meeting.

That was Door No. 1, gateway not only to the fresh foods (and the burger – add $1 for bacon – and pizza and sushi stations) around the perimeter, but also to an interior stocked with the usual suspects – frozen pizza and aisle-ender pillars of tortilla chips, herbal soaps and herby soups, pasta sauce and pet supplies.

But there was a Door No. 2, 50 feet away. And if you hooked an immediate left after entering it, an entirely different reality loomed: the Cold Point Pub.
Continue reading “Coming Soon to a Whole Foods Near You?”

#1 Spring BrewBQ
Is anyone interested in hosting the spring cookout this year? Let me know ASAP.

#2 Shirts
Is anyone interested in purchasing a shirt with the club logo on it? We can get 3 different styles
1) Screen printed Tshirt- cost about $15???????
2) Embroidered Tshirt- the last ones we did cost members $16
3) Embroidered Shirt with collar- the ones a few of us still have cost $35

If you are interested let me know ASAP.

jim

The next General Club meeting will be at Brews Brothers 4:00pm on Sunday February 21st. Brews Brothers is under new management and John (new owner) seems like he wants us to have more meetings/functions there. We’ll see how things go.

Rick and Carol Monroe are hosting a Baby Beer Shower for Mike and Amy Helf on Saturday February 6th. RSVP ASAP if you plan to attend (RSVP me Rick & Carol!!!). I’m not sure how these Baby Beer Showers work but I’m sure there’s beer and food involved. Bring beer and something for a baby? See Carol’s email to all you club members from January 25th

Pat Johnson
850-261-9218
Continue reading “Club Update: Escambia Bay Brewers”

The Topic: Extreme Beers

Why do I love extreme beer? I suppose because I have taste buds that need beating. Well, that’s true when it comes to most styles of beer. There are some I like to judge in competition simply because I don’t like them. Put me on a table that includes Russian Imperials and I’ll be a less effective judge, in my opinion, than I will when judging wheat beers. Same would be true with Imperial IPAs vs Sour Ales. Sometimes that Belgian funk can be just a bit too much: but I think I am better because I can focus more on style than preferences.

God, I hope this doesn’t mean I’ll wind up on tables featuring beer I like the least for the rest of my judging life because I just typed that.

One meme’ I have discovered while doing interviews with different brewers at micros and brewpubs as of late is a knee jerk reaction against extreme beer. One brewer told me he thought it was bad for the industry and he would rather brew beer that one could have several pints of. He also thought it too easy to hide defects in extreme beers and he thought traditional styles more worthy of brewing.

“It’s a trend, It will die.”

I think we need both.
Continue reading “Brew Biz: Werts and All”

Articles on the technical aspects of homebrewing…

Written by Jon Stika for BYO

Oxygen in beer is undesirable except at one point (and only one point) in the brewing process. That lone point is when the post-boil wort has been chilled down to fermentation temperature, but before the yeast has been pitched into it.
Continue reading “The Technical Edge- Aerating wort: Techniques”

Written by Tom Becham

My wife and I recently visited two of the many icons of San Diego’s lively beer community.

The first is the semi-legendary Port/Lost Abbey Brewing Company. While Port/Lost Abbey was started in 2006, it has its roots in the Pizza Port brewpub chain, which has been a fixture of the San Diego County beach scene for more than 20 years. The brewery’s brewmaster, Tomme Arthur has impeccable brewing credentials and multiple awards to his credit.

Port/Lost Abbey is actually in the town of San Marcos, an inland community in northern San Diego County. In fact, in a bit of trivia of interest to beer geeks, Port/Lost Abbey is located in the building formerly occupied by Stone Brewing before they moved into their new digs in Escondido.

Of course, calling the Port/Lost Abbey HQ a “building” may be charitable. It’s pretty much just a small warehouse in an extremely non-descript industrial tract. But don’t let that put you off. When you go inside it is still basically just a warehouse, with a bar along one wall, and wooden barrels of aging beer everywhere else. The “chairs” at the bar are old kegs with large barley sacks on the top of them for “seats.” Don’t be fooled. It only adds to the fun.

Another level of fun in the tasting room is added by the two ladies at the bar. (Ladies, if you read this article, forgive me for not remembering your names. You were a bit too generous on the pours for sampling!) They tell you they “won’t be gentle” and indeed, they give all the patrons some great sarcastic banter.

Finally, the brewery website has a “beer cam” which shows the activities going on at the tasting room bar. They’ve also set up a monitor so you can watch yourself on the webcam while you sit and drink at the bar!

Now to the important part: What is the beer like?
Continue reading “Tom Becham’s Beer Review: Port Brewing/Lost Abbey and Karl Strauss”

Profiled by Ken Carman

Last night we came home and cracked open the growler. Perhaps it was because we had just had a few beers but at first all we got was Black Patent: a bit ash tray-ish. That’s not a good start because you really have to over do Black Patent to get that comment out of me. Unlike many quaffers and homebrewers, I like Black Patent and use it in higher amounts than most.

Tonight we cracked the growl again and, yes, perhaps too much BP, but it seems more complex now. Nice head: even for a day after apple cider jug growler opened. Nice clarity. Nice deep malt aroma: more chocolate and/or Marris Otter-ish.
Continue reading “Beer Profile: Lazy Magnolia’s Gulf Porter”

Ken Carman reporting for professorgoodales.org

Last Saturday the annual Pensacola Chili Cook Off was at Seville Quarter in downtown Pensacola. As usual Escambia Bay Brewers were there in force with chili and beer. What a gas it was!

Yes, that was a bean joke. Get over it.

The picture above is of one half of our chili cook off crew. They made some really fine chili. We had Jim and Kellie as one team and Butch, Julie and Diane made up the second team. As always we put on a masterful presentation and made some scrumptious chili. We also provided beer: including, but not limited to, two pale ales and a grand smoked porter provided by Hal. Wow. And he thought “too much smoke?” I told him to submit it for competition. I’d make sure I was the judge who beat him down. No, seriously now, it was incredible, Hal.
Continue reading “Escambia Bay Brewers at the Chili Cook Off: Seville Quarter”

By Garland Pollard for brandlandusa.com

 

Missing your old friends in the fridge? It could be that your favorite beer brand is gone. While some brands are making a comeback, other brands are still in the tank.

Fortune magazine’s Beth Kowitt surveyed the top 99 oldest beers in the U.S., according to manufacturer and year of establishment. They turned the list into a handy-dandy interactive list. While many great old brands that one thought might have disappeared are still around (Piels, Hamm, Pearl, Shiner Bock, Tuborg), others have gone away.

Some of the below brands had second lives as discount brews; others just disappeared. Some appear that they might have some potential to be revived, as they are still known by consumers. If any BrandlandUSA readers can help us with other missing beer brands, it would be a big help.

Continue reading “Dead Beer Brands”

What NOT to do with beer bottles…