Far From India: India Pale Ales in the 21st Century. Ommegang Hopstate NY 2018.  Dry Hopped Local Hopped IPA

Date:  March 14, 2019

The Story— Ommegang began as a New York state -Belgian venture, but it’s wholly owned by Duvel now.  It obviously didn’t miss a beat.   Maybe why the brewery manages so well to blend its Belgian ownership with its New York location is that the parent company has done so much to play with hops in recent years.  (Watch here in future posts to see our notes on Duvel Tripel hopped beers.)

The other story line is the legacy of New York hops.   Early in the 20th century New York was one of the top hop produces in the country.   My grandfather helped pay his way trough college by picking hops near the Adirondack mountains.  (It’s the reason we featured his picture on our Hop Pocket Ale label.)  But the powdery mildew blight wiped out the New York hop fields — and most of the rest of the East Coast produces.  The blight couldn’t jump the great plains and left the US West Coast as the center of hop production and one of the world’s greatest hop growing areas.

But, ah, globalization.  You and I can travel the world easily and so can powdery mildew.  It snuck in on an experimental hop in the 90s and hit Oregon and Washington hard. We’re not sure those West Coast hops ever fully recovered from the blow– we had to reformulate the Hop Pocket to recover the original taste, but American ingenuity bred and sprayed a path to continuing excellent hops.

The efforts to control blight in the west really meant there was no more reason to avoid hop fields in the east.  Hop growing in states that haven’t grown hops for decades have exploded.  From upstate New York to down state Pennsylvania to Virginia and even North Carolina, hop growers are producing hops with familiar names, but unfamiliar tastes.

With few exceptions we’ve found these local adventures more interesting and more conducive to producing hoppy but drinkable beers that the antipodal fruit extravaganzas.  East Coast brewers have seized on these treasures.  Big brewers such as Matts/Saranac, Dogfish Head and Victory have brewed some of their best beers with them.  Smaller brewers with access to smaller hop yards have produced beers that rival the best in the country.

Stay tuned, after our “stout Break” for more local hops.

The Beer—New York hops have a taste of their own.  American 21st century flavors with fruit and grass and earth and spice.  If this is how NY hops tasted before the blight, we lost a great deal of time in knowing how good a broad range hop can be.   Chalky and surprisingly mild for a “farmhouse” beer.   Juicy fruits emerge and grow but it’s it’s a soft walk in the country.   We assume it’s a different beer than the 2015 version– with local hops it really has to be.

Value — Very good.   it may be priced above what you’d want to pay for an evening, even though you might want to spend an evening with this very strong beer,  But if you can find it, it can be one of your best buys of the year.

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.”

Far From India: India Pale Ales in the 21st Century. The Alchemist Heady Topper, Stowe, Vermont; New England IPA

Date:  March 13, 2019

The Story—  We have little to add to the well-known story of this cult beer.  We received a can from a friend at work (wonder why we don’t retire?) which was far easier than the rigmarole that most people have to go through to get the elixir.

We’d know about it for a long time before Lucia was kind enough to save us an expedition to upper new England.   Beer connoisseurs that we talked to split right down the middle between “overrated” and “overwhelming!”   We can see both arguments.  We leaned to the “overwhelmingly good” more for the audacity of creating the style — and for finding a niche that hadn’t been exploited– that for the intrinsic brilliance of the beer.

It’s curious, though, that the beer that set off the “New England” revolution that so often features huge hops up front and AWOL bitter in back sprang from a beer that claims 120 IBUs, a rating that most authorities argue is far beyond the ability of the human to register.  We remember a vigorous debate between Bert Grant (Yakima Brewing) who claimed to have brewed the world’s first 100+ IBU beer with brewers at a Brickskeller tasting who claimed it couldn’t be done.   We’re pretty sure the palate can’t taste the upper limits, but we’re also sure that calculators can measure them.

The New England style has moved to low bitter / high flavor hop profiles.  All in all, we’d prefer Heddy’s heady hopping.   It’s a path-breaker, and actually, a danged good beer.

The Beer—  They ask that you drink it out of the can.  We did, reluctantly.   That increases the CO2 bitter and eliminates the chance you’ll see how hazy it is.   The taste is metallic with lots of hops on a very clean malt.  The bitter sets up in the aftertaste. Tasted as instructed from the can – maybe creamier and duller in a glass.  Can may add to the bitter.  Points for defining the style.

Value —  In 2013 a woman was arrested for selling a case of Heddy Topper on Craig’s List for $825.   That was not a bargain.   If you can find this beer for under $5 a can, it is.

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.”

Far From India: India Pale Ales in the 21st Century.  De Dochter Van de Korenaar Belle-Fleur India Pale Ale.  Baarle-Hertog, Antwerp, Belgium.

Date:  March 12, 2019

The Story— We’ve learned a whole lot about beer in the more than 40 years we’ve hunted (tip o’ the hat, Michael)  them seriously.   Still, it’s amazing what we’ve overlooked that’s actually pretty basic beer awareness.  We don’t think in this era of beer explosion there’s anyone that couldn’t say the same.  One reason we push ourselves to do a beer of the day is that it pushes us to learn more about beers that we have admired.

De Dochter Van de Korenaar is a mom and pop, Monique and Roland Mengerin to be exact, brewery near Antwerp.   Barely more than a decade old, they’ve won a slew of medals and have richly earned them.   We’ve tasted eight of their beers, all subject to the wilds of import shipping, and almost all have scored well above average — even for Belgian craft beer.

De Dochter Van de Korenaar translates roughly to “Daughter of the Ear of Corn”  But it’s important to remember that “corn” in Europe means grain – and in this case barley.   It’s more or less the way the 16th century Charles V expressed his preference for beer over the “blood of grapes” – wine.  A visit to this couple’s gift of grain brewery is on our bucket list.

The Beer—  Massive floral hops and a dry papery tripel-ish metal yeast.  Flowers and funk frolic in the finish.  These brewers have found a way of capturing Belgian tradition and marrying it to exciting 21st century craft.

Value — Very Good.  The beer could command far higher prices and diminish its audience.  We’re grateful they’ve left it in range of a couple of non-profit employees who really appreciate great beer.

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.”

Far From India: Today’s IPAs: Fegley’s Brett Hopso, Allentown, Pa.

Date:  March 11, 2019

The Story— For the next couple of weeks we’ll be spotlighting variations on a theme — IPAs: big ones little ones, many colored ones and ones that we don’t think belong in the category.  But all of them interesting and tasty.   We chose today’s beer in part because it makes a nice transition between the sometimes funky Belgian beers we’ve posted for the last ten days and the West Coast IPAs that we still think define the modern style that finish this series.

the graph of any economy shows its ups and downs, peaks as well as low points.  We’ve always been fascinated by the turnarounds — what makes a falling economy turn around.   It’s rarely a single reason, but in Bethlehem, Pa. there is at least a symbolic single day when the decline turned into recovery.   In April, the Bethlehem Hotel, an historic treasure and anchor at the end of Main Street closed its doors.   The same day the Fegley family opened their brewpub only a few blocks away.   Within a few years, the restored hotel opened and Fegley’s had rival restaurants all over the formerly desolate downtown.

We’ve seen the story repeated dozens of times.  Brewery taprooms and breweries will draw customers to areas where no one goes.  Especially in declining industrial towns, a successful brewing operation catches the attention of other entrepreneurs and other restaurants open and shops keep longer hours.  We traveled Germany in the 80s and 90s when centuries-old breweries were going out of business by the dozens every month.   We noticed the ones that made it had tied their fortunes to downtown–usually historic–neighborhoods.

Hat’s off to the Fegleys– they’ve had an impact on nearby Allentown as well.  Their restaurant is a showpiece and the food is good enough to want to visit even without a brewery, but it’s a steady lineup of very good beer and often award-winning beers that has made the Beer Works a destination in its own.

If you go, the hotel is a gem: not necessarily a bargain, but a memorable trip decades into the past.   Bonn Place brewery is a long walk down into the valley, but its very low key and simple taproom serves very good beer in an atmosphere that’s makes for a fun contrast to Fegley’s nearly palatial beer parlor.

Fegley brews a range of exceptionally good standard beer styles, but when the brewery deviates from standard they often have the knack of keeping the beers very drinkable.  Their standard Hopso Lutely  without Brett explodes with pine and fruity hops and coasts to a full oily chalky bitter.  The Brett adds an interesting but not enteric twist.   Different, not necessarily better or worse, but both of us like the Brett version better just because it was more interesting without being upsetting.

Brettanomyces, if case you haven’t run into it, of brett for short, is a variant of yeast that grows naturally on fruit skins and can be easily introduced by mistake into a brewery — especially a farm brewery.  Although a staple of British brewing for many years, it’s been the scourge of consistent brewing for the last century.  Different brett strains can yield dramatically different results, though a degree of wild funk is common with most of them.   The recent explosion of craft brewers, however, have rediscovered the positive qualities of this forcefully flavored yeast and many use it in some of their beers.  Advances in brewing science make it feasible to brew some beers with brett without too much risk of infecting an entire brewery.

The Beer—  Brett is sweet and mild.  It gives wood and a hint of the barn, but this is a house domesticated beer.  As it drinks ripe fruit including berries joins a touch of pepper and a steady metal with hops and sweet and slight wood and apple as it drinks.  Ellie liked the tameness of the brett.

Value —  Good to very good.  Fegley charges fair prices for good beer and a pint of this powerhouse for less than seven bucks is very fair indeed.

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.

For Mid-March, we’re reviewing a dozen IPAs.  Easily the most popular style today in part because if you admit that the modern variants — newer IPAs are almost as distant in style from those of a decade ago as India is in distance.  The variants allow them to appeal to a wide variety of tastes.

 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.”

Ten Top Tripels: #1: Chouffe/ D’Achouffe Houblon Dobbelen IPA Tripel, D’Achouffe, Achouffe, Belgium

Date:  March, 10 2019

The Story— We offer this slightly tongue in cheek conclusion to our series of tripels in full knowledge that it just isn’t a tripel ale in any “traditional” sense of the word– except that “traditional” means since the 1950s and Chouffe really did create a true belgian Tripel to blend with their big blast of IPA hops.  It also makes a perfect transition between the tripels we’ve been covering and the dozen or so IPAs that are next on the agenda.

It’s also one of the top one or two percent rated beers in our 34,000 beer data base.

When we took our first tour of Lowenbrau about 30 years ago, our tour guide was careful to point out that Lowenbrau was better than other Munich beers because they used imported hops — from the US. That was the first time I really became aware of how good US hops could be. Three decades later, only a relatively small number of Europeans give much respect to the American hop scene. That’s changing in Belgium (no surprise) and Chouffe’s Houblon Dobbelen IPA Tripel is one of the few from across the pond to blend an old world style with new world ingredients.
I thought it was a cross cultural treat that is way out of the box and rated it one of the best beers we’d had all year. Ellie found the hops disconcerting in the clearly Belgian framework.  She liked it, but not nearly as much as I did. So: a good and interesting experiment or an international triumph? You decide — we found our bottle at the iconic Julio’s Liquors in Westboro, Massachusetts, but D’Achouffe distributes widely in the east.

The Beer— There’s nothing shy about this beer. Dry pale Belgian candy malt starts it off. US hops are mostly sweet with a late bitterness that blends with the dry chalky bitterness of the yeast.

Value —  Good to very good.  Belgian beers fetch premium prices, but if you’re not planning on going there, it’s worth the money to see what they’re up to.

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.

 To start the month of March we’ve featured our top ten tripels over the past several years– these are wonderfully complex and even delicate strong golden ales.   At their best, Tripels are among the best beers in the world.   At their common norm, they’re heavy handed, big-boozed and barely better than the malt liquors of the 20th century.   Here are ten beers that could show the rest of the country how it’s done.

 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.”