Brewing All Stars #5: Mason Jar Lager Co. Pull Tab Pilsner, Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina

Date:  July 20 , 2019  —

The Story—  The Mason Jar named two restaurants in the Triangle are of North Carolina.   After establishing themselves well, the owners tacked on a brewery next to their Fuquay-Varina location and seemed to have made the transition to beer and food remarkable successfully.

Fuquay-Varina lies in a brewing rich area of the Tar Heel state, with Aviator Brewing not far away and several others within an easy drive.  There’s a fairly sophisticated craft beer market and, like most areas of the US now, it’s hard to find an unoccupied niche.   Mason Jar’s was to focus on lagers.  Few small breweries choose — or even can– to produce lagers because of the extra time in the tank that they take.   But once in a while customers recognize they value of clean well conditioned beers and ensure the brewery’s success.   Old Dominion in the Mid-Atlantic was a pioneer in brewing a range of good craft lagers.  Jack’s Abby in Framingham, Mass. is another than didn’t produce any American ale styles until very recently and has done very well.

The malts in this beer are genuine German pilsner malts, but they use Simcoe hops — and maybe that explains the bit of hard-to-identify flavor that we found out of placeWe haven’t been to Mason Jar.  Yet.  But if they keep producing beers this good, they’ll still be there when we get there.

The Beer–  The pale malt and the light fruit that suggests Juicy Fruit and Honeysuckle are very authentic and it ends with an equally authentic long pilsner bitter.  The 4.7% abv is also spot-on. A very light suggestion of soap– from the Simcoe?– was a minor distraction that kept it from being one of our top ten beers of the year, but still, we see it as one of the better American pilsners we’ve had.

Value —  Very good.   I’m only sorry I didn’t have a chance to have several of these to see how it drinks over time.

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.

It’s All-Star season.  MLB has finished theirs, but it seems like a new sport is showcasing exceptional talent almost every day.  So we’ll be presenting our own all-star brewing line up.  We don’t claim to present– or even know– what the best beers in America are, but out of the hundred or so that we taste every month, some are indeed special.   For the second couple of weeks in July, we’ll share some recent standouts in  a very crowded craft beer field. .

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.”

Brewing All Stars #4: Rodenbach Fruitage, Roeslare, Belgium and Lieshout, Netherlands

Date:  July 19 , 2019  —

The Story—  Rodenbach has been one of our favorite breweries anywhere for decades.  with Michael Jackson’s poetic encouragement we made the pilgrimage to it well over 30 years ago.  Massive wooden foeders filled warehouse after warehouse– an apparent homage to the great porter breweries of 19th century London.  The beer from one of these foeders ws transporting — and commercially unavailable.

At that point it was a very independent relic of the 19th century with an unusual business plan.  Like Guinness, Rodenbach never tried to buy tied houses that would guarantee a market for their beers, but specializing in one distinctive beer, they sold to other breweries’ tied houses.  Without question the strategy kept them independent in the great consolidations of the 70s and 80s.  The big brewers wanted pub, not brewing capacity in and old brewery, and failed to see the potential power of the brand.

The 180 run as an independent brewery ended in 1998 when the Palm group took it over.   In truth at that point the brewery was edging toward decay and the quality of a product that lives its life on the edge was in serious question.   Palm dropped the equivalent of six million bucks restoring the brewery and increasing the viability of its brands.  In 2016, however, the Dutch brewer Bavaria (yep, that’s confusing all right) bought Palm’s entire portfolio which included Palm’s signature brands, the outstanding Lambic beers from Frank Boon, and Rodenbach.  These iconic outliers are now in the hands of a brewery that’s approaching six million barrels a year.

We admit to a bias.  As long time beer can collectors, we became quite familiar with Bavaria in the 1970s and 80s as the brewery that issued literally hundreds of can labels with the same golden swill inside that made Iron City taste like a craft beer by comparison.   They also put hundreds of bucks in our pockets as we sent cases of the empty cans back to the states and sold the cans for $5 each or more.  remember in the 1970s, $5 could still buy a hamburger, and a few cases paid for a round-trip cattle car seat to Europe the next year.

Bavaria claims to be on the craft beer wagon now and talks a lot about the family brewing history  We haven’t heard them mumble a word about their can exploitation days, but business do what they have to do to survive.

We’ve featured Rodenbach beers before in this blog, and we will again.  Single foeder beers are released from time to time and they are among the greatest beers on earth.   Today’s beer isn’t one of them, but it’s interesting.   It’s one of the first clear outcomes of the Bavaria buyout.  It’s brewed and adulterated in Roeslare, but then tanked to Bavaria’s Lieshout brewery for canning.

It’s also one of the few that have made it to this blog in which Ellie scored it high and I didn’t.   She usually doesn’t like fruit-added beers any more than I do, but this passed muster for her.  It’s 7% cherry juice and 2% elderberry juice.  I’d have been happier without the elderberries no matter what your father smelled like.

The Beer–  It’s only 4.2% alcohol, which is another big plus for Ellie, who is on something of a session campaign these days.   It is very rich for the low booze.   The deep cherry suggests a bit of Ludens cough drop and it sports a long tart, though not acidic, ending.  Ellie:  It’s a 4.2% beer with most of the Rodenbach flavors.

Value —  Good (me); Very good (Ellie).  25 centiliter cans come in a our pack for under ten bucks.

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.

It’s All-Star season.  MLB has finished theirs, but it seems like a new sport is showcasing exceptional talent almost every day.  So we’ll be presenting our own all-star brewing line up.  We don’t claim to present– or even know– what the best beers in America are, but out of the hundred or so that we taste every month, some are indeed special.   For the second couple of weeks in July, we’ll share some recent standouts in  a very crowded craft beer field. .

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.”

Brewing All Stars #3: Flying Dog Dead Rise Old Bay Summer Ale

Date:  July 18 , 2019  —  This post is in progress.  Return soon for it.  In the meantime, click “more reviews” below to see our most recent “Beer of the Day” posts.

The Story—  We’ve said all we need to about Flying Dog, “the brewery we hate to love;” except a reminder that the reason we keep returning to them is that they brew really well.  In a beer market increasingly divided between small garage type breweries and big aggressive marketers Flying Dog is just big enough, we believe, to survive whatever is happening right now.  Whether it does so independently (bye bye Dogfish Head) remains to be seen.

This beer isn’t their best seller, but its a steady player in a portfolio that has enabled Flying Dog to earn its position as the 38th largest brewery in the US — just ahead of stalwarts   Troëgs and Rogue.   

You want a local Maryland beer?   What would that mean?!? Of course there were brewers in colonial times making fairly disgusting beer (though maybe some would do well today as “sours”).  Baltimore’s iconic Natty Boh was certainly local, and helped make a minor league sized city play major league baseball for years, but the beer was pale yellow stuff that was as much Cream City (Milwaukee) as Charm City.

But there is a product that is unquestionably linked to Maryland.  A German immigrant fleeing Nazi Germany in 1937 with only a spice grinder spent a week working for McCormick’s spice company before opening his own Baltimore Spice Company to supply local markets.  His blend of 15 ingredients took on the name of the defunct Chesapeake steamship line called Old Bay and soared.  McCormick bought the rights in 1990 and has spread distribution beyond Maryland borders.  It’s also found its way into everything from popcorn to ice cream.

In 2014 flying Dog created Dead Rise beer beer to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the first batch of Old Bay.  It’s a god ale– just short of amber– that uses real Old Bay and lemon to achieve a remarkably inviting taste.  We’ve rarely had a second, but we’ve never failed to finish the first.

It could be a gimmick, and maybe it sort of was, but it’s actually something of an American — actually Maryland– gruit, and tastier than lots of gruit recreations from other breweries with weaker claims to “local” spice mixes.  We grab a few of these every Keys season at Harry Grove Stadium in Frederick.  It seems just right to go with a very local minor league baseball team.

The Beer-It always surprises me that it takes a second sip to really pick up the Old Bay, which could have been, but wasn’t, overused.  the spices then hit, but back off again with habituation if you have a few of them.   three of four of them are more pleasant than the drumbeat of the British Golding hops which never back off.  As an American gruit  it works – salty, peppery, but spicy with some hops and wheat showing as it drinks.

Value —Very good.  Flying Dog is big enough not to rely on high individual bottle prices.  They’re attempts to achieve volume ensure reasonable pricing.

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.

It’s All-Star season.  MLB has finished theirs, but it seems like a new sport is showcasing exceptional talent almost every day.  So we’ll be presenting our own all-star brewing line up.  We don’t claim to present– or even know– what the best beers in America are, but out of the hundred or so that we taste every month, some are indeed special.   For the second couple of weeks in July, we’ll share some recent standouts in  a very crowded craft beer field. .

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.”

Brewing All Stars #2:  Barley and Hops FSK IPA

Date:  July 15 , 2019  —

The Story—  Yesterday we sang the praises of Harry Grove Stadium where nearly 40 craft beers vie for the attention of five or six thousand people on a good night.   The day after the game, though, we usually make a quick stop at one of the myriad of breweries in Frederick to see what they’re up to.

This stop at Barley and Hops was a quick, not-quite-emergency stop to avoid a torrential rainstorm that was threatening to wash away I-270.   We sat at the bar and watched the weather radar confirm how lucky we were not to be on the road.

Barley & Hops was one of the pioneers in Frederick and was brewing long before the current explosion.  They serve a dependably good meal and a good range of beers.   In truth, though, their beers have varied some over the years as brewers have come and gone.  New management seems to have stabilized both food and drink, though.  Good IPAs aren’t exactly rare, but neither are they automatic.  We were more than grateful to be able to sip on this all star during the rain delay.

The Beer– Caramel with a hint of toffee in the mostly pale malt.  Metallic hops and ripe fruit lead to an herbal finish.  Chewy and rich with a long lasting bitter that’s quite welcome in this big beer.  Ellie agreed it was their best on that day.

Value — Excellent.  Four bucks for an actual pint is indeed a steal for this beer.  I’d find a way to enjoy a far lesser beer at this price, but this was no “lesser beer.”   OK it was happy hour, but even at regular prices it’s six bucks and that’s a better than good 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.

It’s All-Star season.  MLB has finished theirs, but it seems like a new sport is showcasing exceptional talent almost every day.  So we’ll be presenting our own all-star brewing line up.  We don’t claim to present– or even know– what the best beers in America are, but out of the hundred or so that we taste every month, some are indeed special.   For the second couple of weeks in July, we’ll share some recent standouts in  a very crowded craft beer field. .

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.”