BetterBeerBlog

The Poughkeepsie Journal’s online counterpart ran an article online a few days ago. You can read it in it’s entirety here. In summation, the article talks about a better way to serve beer.

First, according to the article, you want to match your glassware to the type of beer you’re drinking. For example, a standard American pint glass would be acceptable for most beers such as amber ales, the article suggests. Randy Mosher, who is quoted in the article, recommends the use of a brandy snifter for a big beer such as a barley wine. The shape of the snifter glass helps to trap in aroma and the smaller size to regulate the amount of beer. It is after all a barley wine which can reach upwards of 12%.

Second, take your time with the pour. Most bars will tilt the glass on it’s side and try to pour you a beer with as little head as possible. To the budget conscious barfly, this may seem like a good idea but if you’re drinking a beer for pleasure and not to just get wasted, then this is a waste of beer. The head is where all the aroma of a beer is held. Every time a bubble pops, it releases a little bit of aroma that should be enjoyed. As a result, you may need to pour your beer out two our three times to fill your glass. This is one of those situations where you should stop and smell the roses, or pale ale as it may be.

Another benefit of pouring a beer with a decent head is the release of all that carbonation. A little less carbonation results in a less bloated feeling. Less bloating means less burping which means you may actually impress the girl you’re out with your manners. Plus, drinking a beer without a little bit of head touching your lips doesn’t feel just right. Imagine drinking a Guinness and not getting the Guinness mustache.

The last key to drinking beer better is to watch your temperature. The article breaks it down very simply:

“Like wine, different beers taste best at different temperatures. Lagers are served cooler than ales, darker beers are served warmer than pale, and stronger beers are served warmer than weaker ones, Mosher said.”

An entire article could be devoted just to outline what temperature to serve you beers but the basic principle behind temperature is aroma and flavor control. Cooler temperatures keep the aroma of a beer trapped within the liquid. Likewise the cooler temperatures numb your taste buds thus robbing your of a potentially sublime beer experience.

Most bars that I’ve been to serve their beers too damn cold. It would be too complicated to dial in each tap to a temperature specific to the beer being served so bars tend to serve their beer cold, roughly 40°F.

Likewise, temperature in the home environment can be a challenge as well. Unless you have the money and space for a dedicated cooler for every beer style, it’s perfectly acceptable to store all your beers in a regular refrigerator. Your best bet would be to pour your beer, and depending on the style, let it sit on the counter top for a few minutes to warm up. Whenever I do my beer reviews, I let the beer stand for a few minutes while I tear down my “photo studio”. This allows the beers to warm up and release their aromas and flavors. I admittedly do not have the best palette around but this helps greatly when tasting a beer.

Hopefully this post and linked article will make you think twice before pouring your beer into an ice cold pint glass. When possible, try to use the right glassware, take your time, and let the beer warm up a bit. Remember, it’s all about a better beer experience.

Red Stripe is brewed by Desnoes & Geddes Limited, based out of Jamaica. The company initially started our making sodas and distributing imported liquors. In 1928, they had brewed the first Red Stripe beer but unlike today’s modern descendent, this was an ale. Ten years later in 1938, Red Stripe lager is brewed. In 1993, Desnoes & Geddes become part of Guiness Brewing Worldwide.

The thing I most remember about Red Stripe was it’s bottle. It’s short and stout with a very simple label. Despite all appearances, it holds a full 12 oz. The last thing I remember about this beer are it’s funny commercials. BOO CREEPY FOOT DOCTOR! HOORAY BEER!

Appearance: This beer is characterized as an American Macro Lager so I’m not holding my breath for a sublime beer experience but I hope I will be surprised. As you can see by the picture, Red Stripe is a brilliantly bright beer. It’s a pale straw color with a white head easily 4 fingers in height. ****

Aroma: This beer has a light aroma to it. I catch a little sweetness though, but not malty sweetness. More like… canned sweet corn. I do not detect any noticeable hop aroma. If there is any, it’s really light. ****

Taste: This is a very subtlety flavored beer. It kinda reminds of how carbonated water tastes like, only less carbonated water flavor. I did let this beer warm up some instead of drinking it ice cold. Because of that, there’s a sweetness reminiscent of sweet corn. As in the aroma, there is very little hop flavor at all. ***

Mouthfeel: Light and crisp. If at all possible, this beer has and even lighter mouthfeel than water. Despite the impressive head on the initial pour, I am not finding this to be at all effervescent. I do not feel the prickliness on my tongue from the carbonation that I normally would expect. ***

Drinkability: If you like water, then this is the beer for you. This is an incredibly easy drinking beer. Perhaps, on a 100°F day, I’d crack one open. Even then, I may be close to being dehydrated and it would probably be a better idea of I just drank water. *

Food: I’m not sure what I would recommend with this. Maybe corn on the cob sans butter. It’d have to be without butter as the butter would overwhelm what little flavor there is in the beer. Come to think of it, I think the corn could do that on it’s own. A plain, puffed rice cake perhaps?

3/5 stars*

* While I rated this beer very poorly in drinkability, I must note that it’s all about context. I would suppose that were I in Jamaica, this would be a fantastic beer. It’d be fresh, light, and crisp, the perfect compliment to their hot, humid tropical weather. But I’m not in Jamaica, I’m in California where it’s currently cold and raining. In the end, this beer is just not my style, both literally and figuratively.

Not too much to update at this moment beer wise. A lot of my work is “behind the scenes” where I find myself tinkering with the code that runs this blog. Granted, it’s not like I’m coding from scratch, just modifying what’s already there to better suit my needs.

That being said, the few of you who have stumbled onto this site may have noticed the new Amazon.com banner above. This website takes a little bit of cash to run, so if you find anything on this website at all useful, please click on the link above to support BetterBeerBlog. We’ll get just a little cut off whatever you purchase and it’s totally anonymous, I won’t know anything about anyone who decides to purchase. Amazon.com is very protective of the information it collects.

Anyway, thanks for visiting. Remember, drink better beer!

Back when I used to be a raging alcoholic, I would often go shoot pool on Monday nights. There’s this place I used to go to where you could play all night for $10. You can imagine our excitement then to be able to play billiards for hours and hours for a mere pittance. The money we saved we ended up spending on beer, albeit not the greatest of beer. What can I say, I just wanted to get drunk, taste be damned!

One particular evening, I was in the mood for a crisp lager. So I asked out waitress at the time, “What’s your freshest lager?” and she looked at me and replied, “What’s a lager?”. It was then I realized that a pretty face can’t buy you everything (they had some really hot waitresses there at the time, but that’s another post entirely).

This particular exchange isn’t limited to just pool halls. You’ll find this same thing happening at any place that serves liquor, fine dining establishments especially. How many places have you gone where your waiter can recite all the wines on the menu and can even make well informed suggestions based upon what you are eating? Yet, when it comes to beer, they just run through the laundry list of what they have and, truth be told, are quite clueless when it comes to beer.

I am hoping that at the end of the day, people who visit this site will leave with a little bit better understanding of beer and it’s place in the culinary world. Taking this a bit farther is Ray Daniels, author of Designing Great Beers and The Brewers Associations Guide to Starting Your Own Brewery. Ray is someone who doesn’t worry about his street cred because of all the things he’s done for the industry as a whole.

Coming to the same conclusions as I have, only much earlier and having the pull to do something about it, Ray has developed the Cicerone Certification. But what is the Cicerone Certification? To borrow a term used in the wine industry, the Cicerone Certification is the equivalent of a sommelier in the wine industry. In their own words:

“In the wine world, the word “sommelier” designates those with proven expertise in selecting, acquiring and serving fine wine. Lately some beer servers have adopted the title “beer sommelier” to tie into the credibility of the wine world. But anyone can call themselves a beer sommelier regardless of knowledge or experience. And while some will be highly skilled, the only way to demonstrate that objectively is through independent testing of knowledge and tasting ability. The Cicerone Certification Program offers that independent assessment and certification so that industry professionals—as well as consumers—can be sure of the knowledge and skills possessed by current and prospective beer servers.”

I think this is an awesome thing. This certification will ensure the person making beer suggestions has a formal level of training and has been rightfully tested. This helps raise the industry as a whole by bringing a legitimacy to beer and recognizing that beer has it’s rightful place beside wine and other fine spirits.

This is a program reserved mostly for those working in the industry already as waitpersons. I’ll have to look into this more to see if there’s a way for the average joe to get certified without having to work in the industry. I think having this feather in my cap will go a long way towards my goal of “elevating the status of beer”.

Street Credibility, or more popularly known as “Street Cred”, is an oft pursued and highly desired, yet difficult to acquire form of influence. As portrayed in various media outlets, street cred is often attained by doing something illegal, often resulting in some form of property damage or bodily harm to another. You can probably get a better definition of it from the Urban Dictionary.

As someone who is blogging about beers, writing up reviews of beers, and doing beer tasting parties, I worry about my street cred. Other than my own personal experiences as a homebrewer and through many, many hours of research (reading, listening to podcasts, drinking), I don’t have any more perceivable experience than the average person. While I may feel that way, the people I do talk beer to seem to think otherwise. It’s the running joke really that when you get me talking about beer, I just don’t know when to stop.

In any event, whatever perceptions I may have about my street cred will soon disappear. The BJCP (Beer Judge Certification Program) is a program designed to train amateurs on how to judge and evaluate beer. In their own words:

“The purpose of the Beer Judge Certification Program is to promote beer literacy and the appreciation of real beer, and to recognize beer tasting and evaluation skills. We certify and rank beer judges through an examination and monitoring process.

The BJCP was founded in 1985 and has administered the Beer Judge Examination to 4,472 individuals worldwide. Nearly 2,500 are currently active judges in the program, with over 400 holding the rank of National or higher. Since we started keeping detailed records, our members have judged over 396,580 beers and we have sanctioned over 3,226 competitions.”

Starting Thursday, January 31, 2008, I will begin studying to become a certified beer judge. This is good news for this website in the sense that I can now review these beers from a position of authority. If all goes well, I will have had formal training on the subject matter and it’s no longer just me, sitting in my office drinking by myself. Now it’ll just be me, sitting in my office drinking by myself, with a certificate on the wall.

How awesome is that?

In any event, I will continue to blog about the BJCP training, do beer reviews (I have quite a few beers lined up in my fridge waiting to be reviewed) and write about the beer world in general. Wish me luck as I’m going to need it.

Rabbit’s Foot Meadery is located in Sunnyvale, close to where I used to work. I found out about them through their meads. I head read up on meads when I decided that I wanted to make one myself and Rabbit’s Foot came up as the local meadery. For those of you who don’t know what mead is, it’s basically a fermented beverage made out of honey. Wine is a fermented beverage made out of grape juice, beer out of malted barley and hops, and mead is out of honey.

Rabbit’s Foot is a great little place who has made quite a name for themselves in the mead making world. In addition to their meads they have cizers (also marketed as “hard ciders”) and braggots (beer where honey is a large portion of the fermentable sugars). When I first tried their braggots, I wasn’t too impressed. It wasn’t that they made bad braggots (they are the only ones who make true braggots that I am aware of), but at the time, I was more into really hoppy beers and the braggots just weren’t doing it for me.

Months later, I’ve cut back on my high hop consumption and can now review this beer with new eyes… and mouth.

Appearance: It may be cliché to write this but this beer runs the gamut of pretty much all the different types of honey that I’ve seen. As you can see, there are honey highlights along the bottom of the glass and towards the top a light caramel color. The head is tan but dissipated quickly. To be fair, this was probably due to operator error as I had washed that particular glass before pouring the beer into it. I must not have rinsed it out adequately. *

Aroma: Smells malty sweet up front but finishes with the honey notes at the end. I notice the alcohol as well but it’s not at all hot or harsh. I think I can pick out some fruitiness, like pears and apples. This smell really inviting. Perfumey. ****

Taste: The tastes like it smells. It is malty sweet without being cloying and the honey is present as well but not at all in a forward or overpowering way. There is low hop bitterness to this beer and I am finding it slightly reminiscent of champagne. ***

Mouthfeel: This beer has a moderate mouth-feel and is very low on carbonation. The Diabhal finishes a little on the dry side, which may explain why I think of champagne. What I had initially thought was my fault, ended up being theirs. Kinda. The label describes this beer as:

“Lightly carbonated when bottled or with a thick head and fantastic ‘Belgian lace’ when poured from the tap.”

Seems to cover all bases, doesn’t it? ***

Drinkability: This is a beer I personally find to be very drinkable. That being said, it took me a couple of servings to get to this point. If you’re a hophead then this beer probably isn’t for you. Also, being a Belgian style ale, there’s some of that “funkiness” that seems to be a common denominator with Belgian style ales. They’re just different. Keep in mind that this is a 8.2% ABV beverage and should be enjoyed slowly and thoroughly. ***

Food: For dinner, I had made some beef curry and I think this would’ve been the perfect accompaniment for that dish. The malty sweetness and higher alcohol content would’ve served as a nice counterpoint to the spice of the curry. I would love to try this paired with a strong, tangy cheese like a Roquefort. For dessert, I think a tiramisu can stand up to this beer or perhaps a fruit tart.

2.8/5 stars*

* Note: When all was said and done, I was very surprised and disappointed on how low this rated. This is a beer that I really do enjoy, but when stacked up against the BJCP standard for a Golden Strong Ale, it falls short. That being said, when you compare my tasting notes versus the BJCP standard for a braggot (look under the mead category), you’ll see that beer would’ve been a prime example of the style, possibly getting a 4-5 star rating. Upon review, I decided to stick to my initial review as Rabbit’s Foot markets this beer as a Belgian style Golden Strong Ale and not a braggot.

I saw this beer at an end cap in Trader Joe’s. I had never heard of it before and was mildly interested but what put me over was where the label said “Joseph Brau Brewing Co. San Jose, Ca”. Being that I am living in San Jose, I was piqued at the thought of another microbrewery opening up in the city.

After doing some research on the Internet, it turns out Trader Joe’s contracts Gordon Biersch to brew this for them and they market it under the Joseph Brau Brewing Company name. Essentially, this is GB’s own Winterfest seasonal.

Appearance: Very nice mahogany color with amber highlights. The head, when poured, is about 2 fingers in height and is a beige color. Very bright beer. After swirling it about a bit, noticeable legs are present. ****

Smell: Breadish, malty sweetness in the aroma with noticeable alcohol on the nose. ****

Taste: It’s a good tasting beer. I am hit with the malty sweetness up front but it’s not even close to cloyingly sweet and ends with a very mild, low hop finish. I can taste subtle fruit undertones… almost prune-ish. ****

Mouthfeel: It has moderate body on the palette. Since it is a lager, it finishes smooth, with none of the alcohol harshness.. Despite the good head size in the initial pour, this beer doesn’t have a high level of carbonation. ****

Drinkability: I find this to be a very drinkable beer. I could easily order one or two pints of this but after that, I’d have to stop. Not necessarily because of it’s taste, but it is listed as a 7.5% ABV beer, so it’s not something you could session the whole night. ***

Food: I think this beer would go well with earthy, nutty, hard cheese like a gouda, or even a semi-hard, trappist cheese. I could see this beer served along with a traditional burger with lots of greens or even a simple meal of bratwurst, saurkraut, and bread. As for sweet/dessert pairings, dark chocolate is a must try.

3.8/5 stars

Looking back at this blog, I wasn’t sure if the reviews I do were helpful. I mean, I talk about all these different aspects of the beer but in the end, I don’t have much of a defined opinion. With that in mind, I’ve decided to institute a rating system based upon a 1 through 5 star scoring system.

To define the guidelines a bit, I pour out the beer and take my photos. Then I begin the tasting, making notes all the while. I do my write up and then go online to the Beer Judge Certification Program website. While on the website, I look up what the BJCP standard is for the style of the particular beer I am tasting and compare/contrast that with my tasting notes. Based upon my notes, I rate the beer on how close it came to achieving the BJCP standard for the style. One star is the lowest and 5 stars is the highest. I do this for each of the categories I write about except “Food” because that’s purely speculative on my part. Then I average out the total score to get the beer’s final rating.

I try not to make this too complicated as it really isn’t. Another thing to keep in mind, the “Drinkability” section is also specific to my own palette, so if you find yourself drinking something I’ve rated and think I may have scored it incorrectly, you are entitled to your opinion.

Moving forward, all my tasting will have the rating incorporated. Hopefully the rating coupled with my own tasting notes will prove to be a valuable resource to my fellow beer drinkers as well as to the folks who have thought about trying a beer but weren’t really sure.

Things have been pretty busy around here and this blog has felt the neglect. While things will continue to be busy for me, blog maintenance has been moved up the priority list. As a result, a new page has been added.

The new Beer and Food Pairing Events is up… finally! I go into the reasons why I do these types of events but most importantly, I list a few of the menus from the parties I’ve done.

Keep looking to this page for updates as I will be working on flushing out a lot of the content out, specifically, I’ll be adding new sections/pages such as “Recipes” and “How to Taste Beer”.