Birth of a Nation’s Common Sense: States Raise Caps on Alcohol By Volume

According to today’s USA Today, several states in this great land of ours are raising their caps on alcohol percentage in commercially-available beers.

These changes are, no doubt, partially a result of lobbying, both by special interests, but also apparently by some grassroots movements as well. (Drink your hearts out, teabaggers.) Even states as conservative as West Virginia and Alabama have raised their ABV limits from 6% to as high as 13.9% this year. To put that in some perspective, a filthy drunk such as myself has only had two beers higher than 12% alcohol by volume.

Naturally, some naysayers — such as M.A.D.D., naturally — don’t see this as a good sign, as they see higher alcohol volumes as a gateway to more binge-drinking and more rapid drunkenness. Luckily, craft beer advocates point out that it isn’t the fratboy set going out to buy $300 cases of Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA to get drunk that much faster. Craft beers, as both our faithful readers know, are enjoyed for their complexities and flavors, not for the serendipitous buzz they give us. This is not some Trojan Horse movement intended to infuse teenagers with more alcohol. A bit of information to the out of touch: this is not going to affect teenagers at all.

So now, there are more options in more states for you to try more of what is out there. Heck, maybe now you have a reason to visit some of them.

Stoudt’s Winter Ale – An Ode

I have never really been down with winter ales. For the most part, they are too cloying with lots of sour cherry and overly sweet, usually bordering on medicinal. They tend to have very little hop presence.

So when I first saw Stoudts Winter Ale on New Years Day 2009 in a Vermont Beer store, I wasn’t all that excited. I bought it mostly because a) I always will take a chance on a brewery I trust, and Stoudts is most certainly one of those breweries [See: Scarlet Lady ESB, Double IPA, Fat Dog Oatmeal Stout]; and b) I have to try everything at least once. So I essentially looked at their winter ale as an obligation.

Imagine my surprise when I poured the beer, which decanted not a glassy rouge red, but an opaque chocolate brown with a creamy white head. I figured that this must have been an anomaly, a red-herring to make this seem like a hearty brew whilst filling my taste buds with saccharine, Robitussin-like flavors.

The aroma, I assumed, must also be a misdirection. I detected a roasted mocha-coffee smell. Raisins, dates, toffee and a whiff of cut tobacco on the second sniff. There is a small hint of cherry sweetness, but it acts as a balance rather than the primary flavor.

The flavor made me think that maybe they had labeled the wrong bottle. There is a very harmonious balance between the bitter coffee and dark chocolate elements, and the toffee/raisin sweetness. Neither component dominates, and what remains is what ends up being a very balanced porter, not a cherry cough drop.

I shudder to think that the fine people of Stoudts Brewing are turning away craft beer aficianados by labeling this a “Winter Ale,” because all it shares with that style is the season in which it is released. People who like balanced, malty American porters should pick up a six-pack (I got one yesterday at the Party Source on Erie Boulevard in Syracuse) and drink it out of a snifter.

The Best Beers in America (According to Men’s Journal)

Well it only took Men’s Journal about a decade to figure out that the finest beers in all the world are not necessarily brewed in countries that use umlauts and sell their beers in green bottles. They were surprised — nay, shocked! — to learn that the most popular beers in Copenhagen were not Danish but rather from the good ole U.S. of A!

Naturally, I wouldn’t necessarily consider them any kind of authority when listing America’s best beers, but they have a pretty solid list after all. Although in my opinion, they are overrating some brews and leaving some worthy beers of the list entirely.

The beers are split into the following categories: Dark beers, Ales, Belgians, something called “Cutting Edge,” and Lagers. They also name the five best Beer Cities: (Chargers, Yankees, Trailblazers, Flyers and White Sox)

I’m not sure how good Men’s Journal’s beer vocabulary is, since they lump all Belgian ales (witbiers, tripels, etc) into one category. Ditto for ales; Lagunitas IPA and Odell 90 Shilling Scottish Ale do NOT belong in the same category. Also, while Stone Levitation is a helluva nice beer, does it really best define what a garden variety “Ale” is?

Also, why is Lagunitas IPA listed under “ales” and Dogfish Head Squall IPA listed under “cutting edge”? I’m not exactly sure what is so “cutting edge” about Squall IPA, either. Don’t get me wrong, Squall IPA is one of the best beers I’ve had all year, but it’s basically an unfiltered version of their 90 Minute IPA.

I do love that they put Victory Prima Pils in their Lager section, but the three they have listed are two hoppy pilsners and a dark lager, which seems to be a bit of a cop-out on the “lager” front. It would have been nice for them to include a nice malty lager to include here and make a separate list for pilsners.

I can’t complain about any of the beers on the list (although Left Hand Polestar Pilsner isn’t reeeeally the best lager in the U.S.), I just wish that Men’s Journal could have taken a little more time with their list.

Quick Take – Victory Hop Wallop

You can’t accuse the folks at Victory Brewing of false advertising.

Their 8.5% confection is a hop-head’s delight. It is overwhelmingly hoppy, especially at first when it’s still cold.It pours a bright yellow color, which is surprisingly clear. In fact, other than some nice lacing on the side, you might confuse it for a Bud.

Looks are deceiving, however. The first whiff is pine oil and a mild oak hop. It comes across as both bitter and flowery. As it warms up, some sharply bitter Bavarian malts come through. But the malt balance seems like it was thrown in at the last second, because the hops are very intense.

The sip is just more of the same. We are in Imperial IPA territory here. At least in the flavor, those German malts rise up to become a bit more apparent. There is a bite at the swallow that is doubly bitter, due to the heavy woody hop and the sharp roasted malts.

I would like a little more balance on the malt side, but this is still a damn solid beer. Not one you’d want to bring around mixed company, due to its intensity. Also it’s almost $13 for a six-pack and I’ll be damned if I let some rookie drink them all up.

Southern Tier Harvest Ale

Now is one of the few times of the year that you will be able to buy the Southern Tier Harvest Ale, a seasonal autumnal ale with flowery and bitter hops. They call it and “Extra Special Bitter,” but to me it’s more of a “wet-hop” harvest-style IPA.

Actually, I’ll let the brewery themselves describe it.

Harvest Ale is our celebration of the changing weather and the sowing of hops and barley that will be used in our upcoming brews. We usher in the fall with a classic English style Extra Special Bitter of the highest order. Deep ruby in color with an even deeper hop flavor… in fact, we throw fresh English hops into every brewing vessel, then dry hop after fermentation to impart a zesty kick. This beer has real hop character that mingles with fresh malted barley for an experience that will make you wish it were fall year ‘round.

The only thing I would disagree with in Southern Tier’s own assessment is that it pours a ruby red. In fact, it really pours a very clear — almost transparent — golden yellow color. You could watch tv through this thing just as you could through a Coors light.

But that’s where the similarities end. The first whiff is severely bittersweet hops. The fresh “wet hops” used to make this beer give aromas that are flowery and sweet, as well as woody and bitter. And somewhere in between are hints of grapefruit and orange which add a more complex citrus element to the nose. It’s one of the most aromatic beers around.

The taste has a more upfront malt backbone: caramel malts that are both sugary sweet and lightly roasted to add more balance to this beer. The hops are more bitter at first, like liquid pine, spruce and oak. But as it warms up, more estery, flowery flavors are unlocked. The hops simply run the gamut. Combine this with a gritty but easy-drinking finish, and you have — as I have right now — an empty glass. I’m not sure where it all went but I’m going to grab another one.

Widmer Brothers Drifter

Widmer Brothers, located in Portland, OR, is best known for their popular, if unspectacular hefeweizen. Their ads actually encourage people to put a lemon in their beer! What the ….?!?! And they call themselves a craft brewery!

Actually, though the hefe is their flagship brew, they have brewed what seems like a hundred beers in the last few years alone, although most of them aren’t readily available in Upstate New York.

A few months ago, however, we did get get access to Widmer’s Drifter, an American Pale, a 2006 Silver Medal winner at the Great American Beer festival. Since the hefeweizen is the only exposure I’d ever had to the Widmer Bros., I can’t say I was all that amped up about this beer. However, I must say that it’s an excellent example of style. And it proves that the West Coast just gets it.

It pours a smooth golden/honey color, with about two fingers of pure white foamy head. It leaves a collar of icy lace at the top.

The first sniff is beautiful sweet citrus in the hops, mostly tangerine and blood oranges. Some grapefruit comes in a little later. There is a pale malt presence in the nose, but it doesn’t come across as too “pale” or prickly. The aroma is top-notch.

The first sip is a heavy tangerine flavor in the hop, indicative of Summit hops. The other citrus flavors pale (no pun intended) in comparison. The malt is a key to this beer’s excellence: it’s a darker, roasted variety, reminiscent of caramel and a dark rye bread. A hint of black pepper adds a zing at the end. Add this to a smooth, buttery consistency and you have a beer that is nothing weak (5.7%) but gone before you know it.

It’s one of the better balancsed beers I’ve had in a while. It’s got a strong hop flavor and a crucial dark malt balance. It’s available year-round now, so let’s reward the Brothers Widmer by picking up a sixer.

Victory V-Twelv… sorry, Helios Beer

From the brewers themselves.

“BOOOOO to Drinkability”: Public

Well the American public has actually gotten it right for once. The much-maligned “Drinkability” ad campaign that Bud Light foisted upon an unsuspecting football-watching public is expected to be terminated forthwith, according to Advertising Age.

According to the article written by Jerry Mullman, Bud Light is likely to go down in sales for the first time in its 27-year history, and the reason appears to be that the “Drinkability” campaign lacked the humor of its past ad campaigns. Also, Bud Light had a very difficult time defining exactly what “drinkability” actually is; the article states it is “a confusing calling card it has harped on relentlessly since.”

Not only have Bud Light’s sales tapered off, but their cache around the interwebs has as well. Quoth the article:

And, in fact, a study by online research firm Zeta Interactive found it might be hurting it. Zeta’s research indicates that since launching the campaign, Bud Light’s total online chatter had both decreased and grown more negative. “It’s starting to become detrimental to them,” said Zeta CEO Al DiGuido. A-B executives counter by saying their own research shows Bud Light dominates the total share of online chatter about light beers, and they say surveys of social media show drinkability seeping into conversations about beer.

While I’m not exactly sure who was “chattering” about Bud Light online in the first place, it appears that it’s taken this tepid group of commercials to get the fratboy set to finally realize that Bud Light tastes like shit.

Thankfully, we can expect that the brand that Ad Age calls a “premium beer” will abandon this silly and confusing campaign, and go back to commercials with fart jokes and tits.

Radical Changes to NYS Alcohol Laws?

A new article in the Albany Times-Union by their “Table Hopping” columnist Steve Barnes states that a new law would overhal alcohol sales in New York State.

According to the article, among the states provisions, it would:

• Allow stores that currently sell beer (supermarkets, convenience stores, etc.) to also sell wine and liquor.
• Replace the State Liquor Authority’s licensing system with medallions that could be sold to another operator if a business closes.
• Allow liquor stores to sell “complementary” items including snacks, mixers, etc.
• Permit liquor stores to open as early as 8 a.m. and close as late as 3 a.m. (9 p.m on Sundays).

The state hopes that it would foster the growth of New York wines — now relegated only the ghetto of wine/liquor stores — and make them more widely available

Of course, the Liquor lobby is against it, saying it will destroy “Mom and Pop” operations statewide. And who wants to be mean to Mom and Pop?

At the risk of editorializing, I find the Liquor lobby’s claims that wine’s availability in grocery stores will encourage underage drinking to be disingenuous at best. Eighteen year olds aren’t getting drunk on $30 bottles of bordeaux.

Still, do we celebrate the availability of more wine across the state? Or do we worry about our small businesses? Can both coexist?

A Good Combination – IPAs and Asian Food

The beer/food pairing thing doesn’t always work for me. I have tried to make sense of it for a while, but the concepts have eluded me.

But I read up a little bit, and saw that IPAs often go well with spicy Asian foods, such as Chinese, Indian and Thai food.

Keep in mind, I’m not much of a cook so I got these items out of a box and threw them in the microwave, but if they were this good on the cheap stuff, they must be even better with someone who knows how to actually cook themselves.

From the “International” section at Wegmans, I picked up some Thai Peanut flavored noodles and shahi paneer, which is kind of like a tomato curry paste. The noodles have little bits of peanuts and the shahi paneer have small cheese cubes. They look kinda like this:

And the beer I chose was Arcadia IPA, which looks like this:

I have tried this little experiment before with other IPAs, and most of them have been way too hoppy for the spiciness of Asian food. Double IPAs, while great in theory, are usually too over-hopped to pull it off. Two extremes don’t tend to work with my palate.

What was great is that the Arcadia IPA not only has a strong hop — traces of some citrus and pine flavors and a touch of oak add an oily hop characteristic — but the malt backbone turns out to be crucial. The malts are toasted but not burnt, bready but not too dry. It’s a mix of some English malts and American hops, and the balance in this beer stood up to the heavy spices, especially that of the shahi paneer.

So if you have a hankering for some spicy Asian foods, bring home a sixer of Arcadia’s IPA to test out.