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Hold the presses: A new beer shop here in Olympia! A quite good one, too, on first impressions. The Gravity Room opened June 15th at the corner of 4th and Quince Streets. Formerly an aquarium supply shop, the new business has transformed the space dramatically. Clean, bright, warm...very non-aquatic.
But what about the *beer*, you ask? Coolers on four walls, stocked to the gills. The owner, Jeff Bert, has been in the beer industry for thirteen years, including being a Northwest rep for New Belgium; he knows beer. Everything from American craft brew, to English, German, Belgian, Danish, Japanese imports can be found on his shelves. I lost count at eight different kinds of lambic--there are probably more. Lagunitas, New Belgium, Dogfish Head, Elysian; they're all there and more besides. Moreover, every day from 4-6 PM there's a tasting session--Jeff picks one beer and hands out samples. He's also going to be doing more in-depth tasting sessions, and hopes to even get representatives from European breweries to show up for special tastings every so often.
The stock should be cycling often, Jeff says, so there will always be something new. Anyone looking for beer in Olympia should definitely check them out. I know I will.
Their website is here.
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Ramming Speed! (Part the Second)
In which our intrepid adventurer encounters the Yellow Peril.
(It should be noted that the potential conflict of interest mentioned last post, while it did manage to throw me off my stride with this blog, did not, in fact, actually come to pass. I had an interview with RAM Brewing. It went nowhere. Such is life.)
Hefeweizen is a highly misunderstood beer. In America, it's generally a very clove-and-banana flavoured, cloudy substance, usually served with lemon. In Germany, it tends to vary a bit more and the lemon is left off. American hefe's are generally not my favourites, mostly because I don't like bananas and the clove flavour, when done badly, reminds me of Band-Aids.
Why does hefe taste like that? Why is it cloudy? Why does it have that odd, slightly thick mouth feel? Two things: Wheat and yeast. Hefe yeast is a different strain to either lager or ale yeast. It ferments at the temperature of ale yeast, not lager yeast. It tends to remain in suspension much longer than either ale or lager yeast, giving part of the cloudy effect seen in hefeweizen. It produces a greater quantity of esters than either. These esters give the characteristic spice-and-fruit scent and flavour that sets hefeweizen apart.
The remainder of the cloudiness and the mouth feel come from the wheat. Unlike barley malt wheat malt has a much higher protein content, which stays in the beer and causes it to be cloudy. It also makes it feel thicker in the mouth, which gives rise to some people thinking that hefe tastes "slimy" or "mucusy".
What does all this have to do with RAM? Well, finally, I get to that part. RAM's hefe is...well, in the middle. It was cloudy and creamy yellow--a promising start, since the light reflecting off the suspended yeast gives the beer a lighter colour than it would normally have. It was fairly highly carbonated--which fits both the traditional Bavarian style and is very common among American beers. The aroma and flavour were fairly similar--lots of phenols/clove aroma, not as much banana as is usually found in American hefeweizen. Not a top of the line Bavarian hefe, but certainly nothing to be ashamed of. (like certain other big US "craft" brewery hefeweizen I've had, once upon a time. But that's another episode.)
Next time: Amber Waves of Grain, or Maillard's Miracle!
(It should be noted that the potential conflict of interest mentioned last post, while it did manage to throw me off my stride with this blog, did not, in fact, actually come to pass. I had an interview with RAM Brewing. It went nowhere. Such is life.)
Hefeweizen is a highly misunderstood beer. In America, it's generally a very clove-and-banana flavoured, cloudy substance, usually served with lemon. In Germany, it tends to vary a bit more and the lemon is left off. American hefe's are generally not my favourites, mostly because I don't like bananas and the clove flavour, when done badly, reminds me of Band-Aids.
Why does hefe taste like that? Why is it cloudy? Why does it have that odd, slightly thick mouth feel? Two things: Wheat and yeast. Hefe yeast is a different strain to either lager or ale yeast. It ferments at the temperature of ale yeast, not lager yeast. It tends to remain in suspension much longer than either ale or lager yeast, giving part of the cloudy effect seen in hefeweizen. It produces a greater quantity of esters than either. These esters give the characteristic spice-and-fruit scent and flavour that sets hefeweizen apart.
The remainder of the cloudiness and the mouth feel come from the wheat. Unlike barley malt wheat malt has a much higher protein content, which stays in the beer and causes it to be cloudy. It also makes it feel thicker in the mouth, which gives rise to some people thinking that hefe tastes "slimy" or "mucusy".
What does all this have to do with RAM? Well, finally, I get to that part. RAM's hefe is...well, in the middle. It was cloudy and creamy yellow--a promising start, since the light reflecting off the suspended yeast gives the beer a lighter colour than it would normally have. It was fairly highly carbonated--which fits both the traditional Bavarian style and is very common among American beers. The aroma and flavour were fairly similar--lots of phenols/clove aroma, not as much banana as is usually found in American hefeweizen. Not a top of the line Bavarian hefe, but certainly nothing to be ashamed of. (like certain other big US "craft" brewery hefeweizen I've had, once upon a time. But that's another episode.)
Next time: Amber Waves of Grain, or Maillard's Miracle!
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Evasive action
Sorry to say, the remainder of the Ramming Speed entries have to be put on hold due to a potential conflict of interest...more later.
Monday, April 9, 2007
Ramming Speed! (Part the First)
Ahh, travel. Broadens the horizons, presents new vistas...discovers new beers. Well, my travel does, anyway.
This is the multi-part tale of a trip to Lake Oswego, Oregon. In this idyllic setting we find a branch of Ram Brewing. Ram is a chain, covering five states and many locations. Generally, chains tend towards more...generic beers, although this isn't always the case. How is it with the Ram, then?
Today, we'll start with Ram's Blonde ale. Blondes are a really varied bunch of beers, from thin, insipid, yellow fizzy water to heavily hopped, high-impact beers that fall short of IPA only in colour. Ram's blonde, unfortunately, falls towards the thin-and-yellow end of the spectrum.
It's thin bodied, has little head, and lacks much in the way of flavour and aroma. The major nose component that I perceive is DMS--not ideal. There really isn't that much other flavour--and there should be, in my opinion. The DMS lingers long after you swallow, and for me that is the final shovel on the grave.
Now, you ask, why on earth would someone brew beer like this on purpose? The answer to that is...it sells. Blondes are generally considered "gateway" beers, used to convince drinkers of mass market American beers to buy something from the brewery rather than go somewhere else or to demand their yellow fizzy water of choice. Let's face facts here: house beers have a bigger profit margin than outside beers, which is why you rarely see mass market American beers at brewpubs. As much as we want this to be a labour of love and art, in the end you've got to pay the bills if you want to open the restaurant again in the morning. If we could do that more easily by selling, say, Budweiser or Coors, we would. Since we don't want to do that, we make beers that will appeal to those customers. The trick is to make a beer that will do that and appeal to beer connoisseurs. There's a fine line there, and it's really easy to fall off it. Ram falls, at least on this beer.
Tomorrow: Hefeweizen--the Yellow Peril, or a Miracle of Cloves and Fishes
This is the multi-part tale of a trip to Lake Oswego, Oregon. In this idyllic setting we find a branch of Ram Brewing. Ram is a chain, covering five states and many locations. Generally, chains tend towards more...generic beers, although this isn't always the case. How is it with the Ram, then?
Today, we'll start with Ram's Blonde ale. Blondes are a really varied bunch of beers, from thin, insipid, yellow fizzy water to heavily hopped, high-impact beers that fall short of IPA only in colour. Ram's blonde, unfortunately, falls towards the thin-and-yellow end of the spectrum.
It's thin bodied, has little head, and lacks much in the way of flavour and aroma. The major nose component that I perceive is DMS--not ideal. There really isn't that much other flavour--and there should be, in my opinion. The DMS lingers long after you swallow, and for me that is the final shovel on the grave.
Now, you ask, why on earth would someone brew beer like this on purpose? The answer to that is...it sells. Blondes are generally considered "gateway" beers, used to convince drinkers of mass market American beers to buy something from the brewery rather than go somewhere else or to demand their yellow fizzy water of choice. Let's face facts here: house beers have a bigger profit margin than outside beers, which is why you rarely see mass market American beers at brewpubs. As much as we want this to be a labour of love and art, in the end you've got to pay the bills if you want to open the restaurant again in the morning. If we could do that more easily by selling, say, Budweiser or Coors, we would. Since we don't want to do that, we make beers that will appeal to those customers. The trick is to make a beer that will do that and appeal to beer connoisseurs. There's a fine line there, and it's really easy to fall off it. Ram falls, at least on this beer.
Tomorrow: Hefeweizen--the Yellow Peril, or a Miracle of Cloves and Fishes
Thursday, April 5, 2007
Hale and Hearty
Today's review is a fine example of "What has it got in its fridge, my precious?" Well, at the moment, I've got a pale ale from Hale's Ales of Seattle. This one is a standard issue 12 oz bottle acquired from Costco for my house-warming party. Hale's is an old (by microbrewery standards, anyway) business, around since 1983. It claims to be bottle conditioned, and looking at the bottom of the bottle that appears to be correct. Bottle conditioning is bottling the beer while the yeast is still slightly active, allowing it to carbonate naturally. It can result in a slightly more mature flavour, but can give uneven carbonation and if you're not careful it can result in a cloudy beer. The key sign to look for is a thin layer of yeast on the bottom of the bottle.
The colour of Hale's pale is a medium amber, almost orange, and slightly cloudy--a result of the bottle conditioning. The head subsides quickly, although high carbonation is quite visible. The aroma is...odd. There are hops there, and a bit of malt, but also a slight cider scent. The cidery scent is probably because it's been in the bottle for a while, and Costco doesn't refrigerate their beer--cidery is an age-related off flavour.
The flavour is actually pretty well balanced. There's enough malt sweetness to cut the sting of the hops, although the after taste is pretty much all hop--feels a bit rough on the tongue. Carbonation might be a touch high, but that can happen to any beer. As I said above, bottle conditioning can be a bit hit-or-miss with the carbonation, and any bottled beer will be more highly carbonated than the same beer on tap--that's a limitation of bottling machines. Any bottling machine tends to strip carbonation as the bottle fills, so bottled beers are highly carbonated to compensate.
As the beer goes down, a nice thin layer of lace is left on the sides of the glass; very pretty, and a good indicator of protein content. The beer flavour doesn't change much as the beer warms, but the cidery smell does...which is completely natural as those flavour components are fairly volatile.
All in all, a drinkable but not outstanding beer. It'd be much better on tap, or from a properly-stored bottle. Costco: sometimes you do get what you pay for.
The colour of Hale's pale is a medium amber, almost orange, and slightly cloudy--a result of the bottle conditioning. The head subsides quickly, although high carbonation is quite visible. The aroma is...odd. There are hops there, and a bit of malt, but also a slight cider scent. The cidery scent is probably because it's been in the bottle for a while, and Costco doesn't refrigerate their beer--cidery is an age-related off flavour.
The flavour is actually pretty well balanced. There's enough malt sweetness to cut the sting of the hops, although the after taste is pretty much all hop--feels a bit rough on the tongue. Carbonation might be a touch high, but that can happen to any beer. As I said above, bottle conditioning can be a bit hit-or-miss with the carbonation, and any bottled beer will be more highly carbonated than the same beer on tap--that's a limitation of bottling machines. Any bottling machine tends to strip carbonation as the bottle fills, so bottled beers are highly carbonated to compensate.
As the beer goes down, a nice thin layer of lace is left on the sides of the glass; very pretty, and a good indicator of protein content. The beer flavour doesn't change much as the beer warms, but the cidery smell does...which is completely natural as those flavour components are fairly volatile.
All in all, a drinkable but not outstanding beer. It'd be much better on tap, or from a properly-stored bottle. Costco: sometimes you do get what you pay for.
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
Entry the first, or A Fishing Expedition
Hunting the wild local beers. A creditable Pale. Imperial Stout, how we love thee.
For my first outing, something local. Fish Brewing is a local microbrewery here in Olympia with an attached alehouse/restaurant. In addition to Fish beers, they also produce the beers of the former Leavenworth Brewery (the two merged) and Spire Mountain Ciders (my wife's favourite). The alehouse itself was remodelled about a year ago and is both spacious and comfortable. Lots of wood, very warm and inviting while being both clean and modern in appearance. Plenty of fish related art on the walls, including a spectacular wooden fish sculpture right above the bar.
The bar itself is central to the first floor, and is overlooked by the mezzanine. From a business standpoint, the central bar is probably one of the best set-ups an alehouse or brew pub can have; it gives the most bar frontage for a given footprint, and cuts down on the distance that bartenders have to walk. The less walking, the happier the bartender. The happier the bartender, the happier the customers. A good thing, this. Fish bartenders seem quite happy; service was prompt and cheerful.
"The beers, son", you say, "What of the BEERS?" Now we get to the meat of it. This trip I tried two of them.
Organic Wild Salmon Pale Ale
Pale ales are one of those craft brewery standbys, the touchstone of the industry. They're easy to make, and surprisingly hard to make stand out. There are just so many of them that it can be hard to tell one from another. Wild Salmon is good, but not amazing. It's a nice, medium amber colour, and it's obviously well filtered as it's completely crystal clear. The head doesn't stick around long, and as you drink it there's no "belgian lace"--the tracery of suds clinging to the sides of the glass. Lace is a good indicator that there's a fair amount of protein lingering in the beer, as that's what holds the foam together. Many brewers add wheat to their recipes to boost the head retention--without seeing the recipe I can't tell if Fish has done so.
The aroma is quite hoppy for a pale ale. Pales are supposed to be hoppy, but there should be some malt sweetness to balance it and I couldn't smell much. The hops smelled nice, though; citrus-like, almost grapefruit. That's a clear sign that Cascade hops have been here--which is to be expected, since they're pretty much the go-to hop for West Coast pale ales.
Drinking the beer, again, the flavor was mainly hops. At first there was very little sweetness to the beer, although it started to come through a bit more as the beer warmed up and the hop flavors started to dissipate. If I were brewing this, I might have added a bit more caramel type malt, in order to balance it a bit. The mouth feel of the beer was fairly astringent and drying; again, probably due to the heavy hopping.
All in all, this was a fairly decent example of a West Coast pale ale. Not really stand-out, but definitely a drinkable and sellable beer. Too many breweries try for weird, experimental beers and neglect the fact that we're brewing for the customers, not for ourselves. This beer is brewed for the customers. It might not win medals, but it'll show a profit.
Poseidon's Imperial Stout (Cask conditioned)
Now *this* is a good beer. Cask conditioning is still a bit unusual in the US, although it's becoming more common in beer-geek areas. Simply, it consists of allowing the beer to mature in the serving keg, and then dispensing it using an old-style hand pump and displacing the beer with ordinary air. It lets the beer's flavor mature much more than simply serving it on CO2, while also allowing it to be served at cellar (not room!) temperature; high 40's to very low 50's. Remember that it's a British service style, and Brit room temperature tends to be a bit...lower...than Americans are used to. The carbonation tends to be lower as well, resulting in a far smoother beer--but it's not flat either, just not what Americans have come to expect. In my opinion, cask conditioning allows much more of the beer's natural flavor to come out. This is at least in part due to the fact that the lower the carbonation, the higher the percentage of malt flavor that shows through. Hop flavorings are quite volatile, and high carbonation tends to strip them out of the beer and make them the dominant aroma; this also tends to allow them to dominate the flavor since taste and smell are tightly linked.
Again, the dark tan or khaki head on this beer was somewhat uneven; it had many larger bubbles and tended to settle fast. The aroma was strongly of raisins and caramel, with a hint of smoke--perfect for this style of beer, which was originally brewed in England to be shipped to the Baltic. The high alcohol was intended as a preservative. Often the high alcohol level (8%-10% in this case) comes through in the nose of the beer--but not here. The color was perfectly typical--black and opaque.
Flavor wise, I got burnt caramel and a bit of raisin--and no alcohol burn; this is a sign of beer that has been aged well. Very smooth, served at just about the right temperature All in all, a very nice beer.
That's it for this round. In the future, I'll be reviewing other breweries and returning to this one. I'll try to explain from a brewer's point of view not just how the beers taste, but *why* they taste that way. I may get into chemistry, I may get into sensory analysis, I might even get into the economics of beer and the engineering of brewing systems. We'll have to see.
For my first outing, something local. Fish Brewing is a local microbrewery here in Olympia with an attached alehouse/restaurant. In addition to Fish beers, they also produce the beers of the former Leavenworth Brewery (the two merged) and Spire Mountain Ciders (my wife's favourite). The alehouse itself was remodelled about a year ago and is both spacious and comfortable. Lots of wood, very warm and inviting while being both clean and modern in appearance. Plenty of fish related art on the walls, including a spectacular wooden fish sculpture right above the bar.
The bar itself is central to the first floor, and is overlooked by the mezzanine. From a business standpoint, the central bar is probably one of the best set-ups an alehouse or brew pub can have; it gives the most bar frontage for a given footprint, and cuts down on the distance that bartenders have to walk. The less walking, the happier the bartender. The happier the bartender, the happier the customers. A good thing, this. Fish bartenders seem quite happy; service was prompt and cheerful.
"The beers, son", you say, "What of the BEERS?" Now we get to the meat of it. This trip I tried two of them.
Organic Wild Salmon Pale Ale
Pale ales are one of those craft brewery standbys, the touchstone of the industry. They're easy to make, and surprisingly hard to make stand out. There are just so many of them that it can be hard to tell one from another. Wild Salmon is good, but not amazing. It's a nice, medium amber colour, and it's obviously well filtered as it's completely crystal clear. The head doesn't stick around long, and as you drink it there's no "belgian lace"--the tracery of suds clinging to the sides of the glass. Lace is a good indicator that there's a fair amount of protein lingering in the beer, as that's what holds the foam together. Many brewers add wheat to their recipes to boost the head retention--without seeing the recipe I can't tell if Fish has done so.
The aroma is quite hoppy for a pale ale. Pales are supposed to be hoppy, but there should be some malt sweetness to balance it and I couldn't smell much. The hops smelled nice, though; citrus-like, almost grapefruit. That's a clear sign that Cascade hops have been here--which is to be expected, since they're pretty much the go-to hop for West Coast pale ales.
Drinking the beer, again, the flavor was mainly hops. At first there was very little sweetness to the beer, although it started to come through a bit more as the beer warmed up and the hop flavors started to dissipate. If I were brewing this, I might have added a bit more caramel type malt, in order to balance it a bit. The mouth feel of the beer was fairly astringent and drying; again, probably due to the heavy hopping.
All in all, this was a fairly decent example of a West Coast pale ale. Not really stand-out, but definitely a drinkable and sellable beer. Too many breweries try for weird, experimental beers and neglect the fact that we're brewing for the customers, not for ourselves. This beer is brewed for the customers. It might not win medals, but it'll show a profit.
Poseidon's Imperial Stout (Cask conditioned)
Now *this* is a good beer. Cask conditioning is still a bit unusual in the US, although it's becoming more common in beer-geek areas. Simply, it consists of allowing the beer to mature in the serving keg, and then dispensing it using an old-style hand pump and displacing the beer with ordinary air. It lets the beer's flavor mature much more than simply serving it on CO2, while also allowing it to be served at cellar (not room!) temperature; high 40's to very low 50's. Remember that it's a British service style, and Brit room temperature tends to be a bit...lower...than Americans are used to. The carbonation tends to be lower as well, resulting in a far smoother beer--but it's not flat either, just not what Americans have come to expect. In my opinion, cask conditioning allows much more of the beer's natural flavor to come out. This is at least in part due to the fact that the lower the carbonation, the higher the percentage of malt flavor that shows through. Hop flavorings are quite volatile, and high carbonation tends to strip them out of the beer and make them the dominant aroma; this also tends to allow them to dominate the flavor since taste and smell are tightly linked.
Again, the dark tan or khaki head on this beer was somewhat uneven; it had many larger bubbles and tended to settle fast. The aroma was strongly of raisins and caramel, with a hint of smoke--perfect for this style of beer, which was originally brewed in England to be shipped to the Baltic. The high alcohol was intended as a preservative. Often the high alcohol level (8%-10% in this case) comes through in the nose of the beer--but not here. The color was perfectly typical--black and opaque.
Flavor wise, I got burnt caramel and a bit of raisin--and no alcohol burn; this is a sign of beer that has been aged well. Very smooth, served at just about the right temperature All in all, a very nice beer.
That's it for this round. In the future, I'll be reviewing other breweries and returning to this one. I'll try to explain from a brewer's point of view not just how the beers taste, but *why* they taste that way. I may get into chemistry, I may get into sensory analysis, I might even get into the economics of beer and the engineering of brewing systems. We'll have to see.
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