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Archives for October 2018

October 31, 2018 by Tupper Leave a Comment

only beer pub 27 IMG_3154

 At Pub 27 in Pompeii

Guinness Open Gate White ; Open Gate Brewery Halethorpe (Baltimore) Maryland

Date:  October 31,2018

The Story— See the week’s post to the left for much of the story.

We’re Witsnobs.  Pierre Celis, the man who single singlehandedly saved the Belgian Wit style from oblivion, became a friend over the years.  In 1987 he showed us through his second wit brewery in Hoegaarden — both burned, driving him eventually to Texas.  He was an incredible guest many times at tastings we hosted at the legendary Brickskeller Saloon in Washington DC.

We first tasted the indescribably perfect Hoegaarden Wit during our 1987 visit to the brewery.  One of the “secrets” of its beauty was the six-weeks or more conditioning — an ale that was treated as a lager.   That concept was an important part of our Hop Pocket Ale and we owe Pierre a debt of gratitude for our Great American Gold Medal.  Pierre’s beer balanced spice and chalky yeast and some fruit in a way that rarely has been approached much less less duplicated.  Some day here, we’ll reveal the other “secret ingredient” that brewers around the world have “known” he added but one he never revealed.  Late one night at the Bricks he smiled and let us in on the secret knowing we would keep our mouths shut.  And we have.  But he’s been gone from us in this world for a while, and I think he’d get a heavenly laugh if the “secret ingredient” were finally revealed.  We’ve talked about it in some of our tastings in the past year or two and we’ll post it here… but not now.  The grains of paradise in the Guinneess version is one of the suspected ingredients, and the Guinness brewers use it well in their Wit.   But, sorry, guys, it wasn’t what Pierre poured into his beer.

After Pierre took us through is brewery, we were able to continue drinking his Wit at a hotel in the nearby business town of Tienan.  The hotel, which had English language TV – rare for 1987– served perfect glasses of the Hoegaarden Wit on a silver tray with a silver dish of peanuts.   It was one of the best beer experiences of our lives.

The brewers at Guinness don’t claim to duplicate the divine Pierre, but they do a far better than average of capturing the spirit of his wit.  Thousands of breweries on both sides of the Atlantic brew the style, but most fall far short.   In the US our go-to wit is Allagash, but in a curious way, the Guinness guys give the US standard a run for its money.

The Beer—  Grains of Paradise give an unusual full spice and two orange varieties and some lemon peel give an oily citrus that runs beyond a traditional wit.  Unmalted wheat (a Pierre Celis US trick) and a chalky Guinness yeast keeps it all more or less in the fold,  Ellie found it a very professional blend of flavors and I certainly don’t disagree.

Value — Very Good.  O,K, it’s hard to call a $7.50 a US “pint” a bargain, but they fill to the brim which gets it close to a real pint.   More importantly, this is a beer of stature — an overdone style done with exceptional– and somewhat daring– skill.

This week we present our first Brewery of the Week with seven fine beers from Guinness– most brewed in their spanking new Baltimore location, but a couple of Irish pots of gold as well.

After Guinness we return to  HIGHLIGHTS OF EUROPE–  Surprisingly good beer in “bad beer cities.”  The best we’ve found in researching our next book – a guide to great beer in European tourist cities. (Planned publication 2019.)   We’ll shift back to great American beer finds next week.

Later in November we return to the US to highlight some great American craft beers, some of which we’ve found in researching out first US Beer publication: Brews and Snooze-– Breweries you can visit and walk back to a fine place to spend the night.  Look for it in 2019.

About these posts:  We taste and evaluate over a thousand beers every year.  The beers posted here rank in the top quarter of those tastings.   Values:  “fair” is a good beer at an above market price, “good” is worth the money, “very good” is a bargain, and “excellent” is a steal.

October 30, 2018 by Tupper Leave a Comment

only beer pub 27 IMG_3154

 At Pub 27 in Pompeii

Guinness Open Gate Unfiltered Lager, Guinness Open Gate, Halethorp, Baltimore, Md.

Date:  October 30, 2018

The Story—  See the story of the brewery in the main post to the left (hopping around).

I’ll have to admit when I saw this on the beer list I couldn’t help thinking — “Oh, great, an unfiltered Harp that going to taste like Harp except for a not-designed-for-drinking edgy yeast.   It just takes an evening to learn that the American Guinness brewers are better than that.  And we’re certain no Irishman ever entertained the hop mixture that gives so much of the moreishness of this beer.

A number of breweries have used the Saphir hops in the last few years to brew lagers that could appeal to ale drinkers.   German and Austrian brewers have used the hops to wonderful effect in their Weizen beers to augment, complement, and expand the estery taste of the weizen style.  Mahr’s Brau in Bamberg and 1516 Brewing in Vienna have both produced exceptional beers with it.  Ella shows more fruit– Flying Dog brewed an Ella with a pink grapefruit accent and some metal that showed of the hop quite well.  We were really interested in what the combination would do for a Harp-based unfiltered lager.

The Beer—  It could have been a “Dancing with the Star-Hops” as the two waltzed and blended surprisingly well.   Ella and Saphir are, to an extent, new hops in old Harp yeast-skins, but the combination gives nice mix of hop spice and hop fruit that creates an interest in the return. The yeast is chewy and actually does smooth it a bit.  An ending nuttiness could come from anywhere, and it has lots of flavor for a 4.4 beer.  We fought over the end of it, and that’s very high praise from us.

Value — good to very good.  It’s hard to rate a $7.50 “pint” a bargain, but, really, this is pretty close to unique in a 50,000 beer world where unique just doesn’t happen.  We certainly didn’t resent a sip.

This week we present our first Brewery of the Week with seven fine beers from Guinness– most brewed in their spanking new Baltimore location, but a couple of Irish pots of gold as well.

After Guinness we return to  HIGHLIGHTS OF EUROPE–  Surprisingly good beer in “bad beer cities.”  The best we’ve found in researching our next book – a guide to great beer in European tourist cities. (Planned publication 2019.)   We’ll shift back to great American beer finds next week.

Later in November we return to the US to highlight some great American craft beers, some of which we’ve found in researching out first US Beer publication: Brews and Snooze-– Breweries you can visit and walk back to a fine place to spend the night.  Look for it in 2019.

About these posts:  We taste and evaluate over a thousand beers every year.  The beers posted here rank in the top quarter of those tastings.   Values:  “fair” is a good beer at an above market price, “good” is worth the money, “very good” is a bargain, and “excellent” is a steal.

October 29, 2018 by Tupper Leave a Comment

only beer pub 27 IMG_3154

 At Pub 27 in Pompeii

Guinness Open Gate Crosslands Honey Ale

Date: October 29, 2018

The Story—  Most of the story runs in our Hopping Around main post to the left of the Beer of the Day.  But there’s a story to this beer.  It’s a local wonder using tons of local honey from the Apex Bee Company. (Well, OK, less than a ton, but a heavy hand of 240 very effective pounds of honey that shine in every taste.)  Most brewers use honey to boost alcohol;  flavor that’s left is the flavor of the flowers that the bees stole.  This one’s different — the 7.4% abv attests to a full fermentation, but your palate assures you there’s still some of those 240 pounds of bee’s work left behind.

The Beer—Not all of the honey is fermented and the taste of honey and honeycomb reminds me of my West Virginian youth as it shows as much spice as sweet flowers in the flavor.   I won’t be buying six-packs of this very sweet beer  — Ellie calls it a gooey date beer– but I respect its distinctiveness and the skill of the brewers who put this together.  It’s so much better than I thought it would be.

Value — Good.   It’s eight bucks for an American “pint”, but someone has to pay the bees’s minimum wage.

This week we present our first Brewery of the Week with seven fine beers from Guinness– most brewed in their spanking new Baltimore location, but a couple of Irish pots of gold as well.

After Guinness we return to  HIGHLIGHTS OF EUROPE–  Surprisingly good beer in “bad beer cities.”  The best we’ve found in researching our next book – a guide to great beer in European tourist cities. (Planned publication 2019.)   We’ll shift back to great American beer finds next week.

Later in November we return to the US to highlight some great American craft beers, some of which we’ve found in researching out first US Beer publication: Brews and Snooze-– Breweries you can visit and walk back to a fine place to spend the night.  Look for it in 2019.

About these posts:  We taste and evaluate over a thousand beers every year.  The beers posted here rank in the top quarter of those tastings.   Values:  “fair” is a good beer at an above market price, “good” is worth the money, “very good” is a bargain, and “excellent” is a steal.

October 28, 2018 by Tupper Leave a Comment

Guinness in Baltimore: A Somewhat Assimilated Immigrant

 

 

 

 

 

 

Guinness in America - in Baltimore, sort of.

Guinness in America – in Baltimore, sort of.

Guinness in Baltimore: A Somewhat Assimilated Immigrant Brewery and Museum

Posted October 28, 2018.

The Halethorpe Guinness brewery — about a ten minute shuttle/Uber/drive from most of the BWI hotels (usually cheap and available) is a gift to  the Mid Atlantic beer drinkers.  It’s a gift you’ll pay for; there’s no charity here, but they’ve built it.  And they have come.  In droves.  There’s a heavy Irish accent– some of it intended– but there’s also a celebration of the American Craft movement.  A huge sign proclaims “If we can think it we can brew it.” attesting to the celebrated freedom of the US Guinness brewers.   For the most part, we think they’ve proved worthy of the trust. So yes, it’s Irish as a harp, but designed to be assimilated into the American Craft revolution.

Several stories of a former whiskey warehouse are lovingly restored and re-purposed into a Guinness shrine of sorts – but one that brews with an abandon that even the increasingly daring St. James Gate brewers don’t get to touch.  The complex includes a modern beer garden, an extensive wood-glass and-brick modern pub, an outdoor deck, an upscale restaurant, a big gift shop and a bank of taps that will fill your growlers.   The entire complex operates under one licence so you can grab a beer and wander to your heat’s content.

Ground level is an enormous modern US beer garden – lots of tables of various sorts, but also lots of green space.  It’s a bit reminiscent of the former Green Flash space in Virginia Beach.   Live music plays from a corner with enough volume to reach the distant edges.    A bar that sometimes has the shortest lines in the complex serves several brewed-on-premise beers in acrylic vessels that look like glass and (don’t) break like plastic.

the beer garden bar has the shortest lines

the beer garden bar has the shortest lines

A half flight downstairs leads to a self guided tour

guinness brewery Halethorpe

Guinness brewery Halethorpe

— or a more comprehensive one with an advance reservation–that  shows both brewing and the distilling history of the building.  A flight up takes you to the main indoor pub with a huge array of beers from St. James Gate (Ireland) and the Open Gate (on premise).   Samplers allow you to run the gamut, but we’ve chosen full pours that will lead to several returns.

Main bar at Guinness Baltimore

Main bar at Guinness Baltimore

Museum-like photo displays describe the history of cooperage– at least as it relates to Guinness.  When the brewery switched to all metal kegs, they re purposed the former barrels into furniture, some of which are on display.    Also on this floor is an extensive gift shop — few bargains but lots of brewstuff that’s very enticing.   They sell half cases of a beer or two and growlers of a wider variety.

A flight up takes you to an upscale restaurant with prices that assume you’re eating in an upscale restaurant.   Even when the complex is crowded you can often find a table here. But if you’re here on a weekend night in prime time, get a beer from the courtyard bar and be prepared to stand in line for a while.  Steak for $47 and a $10 shrimp cocktail that has two shrimps (OK they’re big “shrimp” but they’re still <shrimp>.)  gives you an idea of where you are.

At every level and in almost every room, you’ll be entertained by photos and displays that remind you you’re in a whiskey barrel house that has become a part of the Guinness Empire.  We’ve talked to people who’ve found it pretentious and unreasonable expensive for a neighborhood of Baltimore where you would not leave your car were it not for the fences and parking lot guards that keep it entirely safe while you’re there.

Guinness is a stone’s throw from Heavy Seas’s Taproom.   We put off a visit until their new expanded facility was finished, but we’ll be headed there soon.  Cunt on Heavy Seas being another “Brewery of the Week” in the future.   Who ever thought Halethorpe would become a center for beer tourism?   Hop around up there soon!

October 28, 2018 by Tupper Leave a Comment

only beer pub 27 IMG_3154

At Pub 27 in Pompeii

Guinness I.P.A. — Guinness Open Gate Brewery at Halethorp/Baltimore, Md.

Date: October 28, 2018

The Story—  You can rad most of the story on our Hopping Around main post (to the left on the home page).  This was one of the first beers we tasted at the US Guinness brewery.   Good friends who know their beer had encouraged a visit earlier than we planned, and we’re grateful for the tip.  The IPA was, as they promised, a solid US style IPA.  We thought it wasn’t a great deal better than Cushwa or Spencer Devon or Heavy Seas, but — and this was the surprise– it wasn’t any worse either.   So the Irish can brew American.  Who knew? But why not?

The Beer—  The American  Guinness beers lean towards sweetness and this is no exception.  Sweet, maybe ripe red grapefruit and some pineapple flood the aroma and taste.  The pale malt is firm but outgunned.  It looks like a NEIPA. It’s hazy, but  there’s too much bitter in the hops for a true NEIPA, and that’s fine with us.  Ellie summed it up: “Good for them– it’s pretty much everyone’s IPA.  In 2018, that’s actually pretty high praise.

Value — Good.  About seven bucks for an American “pint.”  Guinness knows what they’ve got here both in terms of the beer and the extraordinary ambiance.   They’ve invested a small fortune in turning this warehouse into a destination brewery and you’re going to have to help them with the mortgage.

This week we present our first Brewery of the Week with seven fine beers from Guinness– most brewed in their spanking new Baltimore location, but a couple of Irish pots of gold as well.

After Guinness we return to  HIGHLIGHTS OF EUROPE–  Surprisingly good beer in “bad beer cities.”  The best we’ve found in researching our next book – a guide to great beer in European tourist cities. (Planned publication 2019.)   We’ll shift back to great American beer finds next week.

Later in November, we return to the US to highlight some great American craft beers, some of which we’ve found in researching out first US Beer publication: Brews and Snooze-– Breweries you can visit and walk back to a fine place to spend the night.  Look for it in 2019.

About these posts:  We taste and evaluate over a thousand beers every year.  The beers posted here rank in the top quarter of those tastings.   Values:  “fair” is a good beer at an above market price, “good” is worth the money, “very good” is a bargain, and “excellent” is a steal.

Next Page »

What’s New Inside

 Gold Metal Winning Tuppers’ Hop Pocket Ale Returns!

Join us at Dynasty Brewing on July 17 between 3PM and 8PM to savor the first batch of Tuppers’ Hop Pocket Ale in almost five years.  We’ll be there signing books at a huge discount and the brewery will be pouring the beer that was created to be “Hoppy enough for Bob and balanced enough for Ellie.”

It hasn’t been easy to resurrect Tuppers’ Hop Pocket Ale, winner of a gold metal at the GBBF in the ’90s when well hopped beers were rare and almost non-existent in the east.  We’ve collaborated with Dynasty’s head brewer Favio Garcia, the brewer who produced the last batch of Tuppers’ Hop Pocket at Old Dominion to reproduce an authentic version of the original.    Dynasty is in Ashburn, Virginia– almost within walking distance of the Old Dominion brewery that brewed the first batch just over 25 years ago.

NOW PLAYING: on Beer of the Day—  Some great beers in the San Francisco Bay area.  Scroll down below this entry to find the featured beer of the day.   >>>>>

Later — in July we resume some great weekend destinations for beer travelers that we’ve found researching our guide to breweries and inns of the Mid Atlantic.  Whether you’re looking for a turn of the (20th) century 100 year old quaint and slightly rickety hotel, an engaging B&B or a magnificent survivor of the great era of railroad hotels, we’ve found hem– within walking distance of a brewery.   We’ll present more previews of the book’s best here rolling up to Pennsylvania before we’re through.

 

 

 

Beer of the Day

only beer pub 27 IMG_3154

 At Pub 27 in Pompeii

Far From India: India Pale Ales in the 21st Century.

Date:  March, 2019

The Story—

The Beer—

Value —

Values:  “fair” is a good beer at an above market price, “good” is worth the money, “very good” is a bargain, and “excellent” is a steal.

In mid-March we’re taking a look at the incredible variety of IPAs.   The style is by far the biggest seller among craft beers in the US and probably in Europe as well.   Even century-old breweries in Reinheitsgebot-narrowed Germany are brewing IPAs (if the brewer calls it “ale” it doesn’t have to conform to the strict purity law).   But you have to ask these days: What is an IPA”?  We’ll take a look at almost a dozen recognized and semi-recognized styles of IPAs in the next couple of weeks.

 We’re often asked to share our tasting notes on over 33,000 beers; this blog is in answer to those requests.   Not all our notes, though.  The great beer writer Michael Jackson admirably followed the Thumper Rule, and we’ll try to do the same.  (“If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nuthin’ at all.”)   All the beers we post are from the top half of our ratings and most are from the top quarter.   Of greater value, we think, are the stories behind the beers,   and we try to give you enough about the brewery, the style and the places to find great beer to help you on your own beer journeys.   At CulturAle Press we try to write books and publish posts that will help you “Drink Well and Travel Safely.”

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