The Tennessee Performing Arts Center is concluding its four-part “art of” tasting series with “The Art of Beer,” 6-8 p.m., Thursday, April 7, at the War Memorial Auditorium. The educational wine, spirits and beer tasting series is sponsored by Lipman Brothers.
More: Artistry of craft beers tasted, explored at TPAC’s “The Art of Beer” April 7
I spent the whole day at school today…a Saturday. The first half of the day was spent at TSU (my school) taking a practice test, four hours long, in preparation for an eight hour long test (Fundamentals of Engineering exam) October 30. The latter half of the day was spent at W.O. Smith Music School, enjoying great beer, really tasty BBQ, and the beautiful weather we had today.
I’ve got to express my appreciation for some people before I go into this any further. First, I am very grateful to Katya at Aleksey’s Imports. She got me on the guest list for this event and made it all possible for me. Thank you, Katya! I am also very appreciative of the people with Grand Cru Wine & Spirits. They sponsored this event and provided the beers, but more than that, they all, especially Jason, made me feel very welcome. Jason even purchased a tasting glass and a great BBQ sandwich (courtesy Peg leg Porkers) for me, because I had brought no cash and no one was set up to take debit cards. Thanks, Jason, and the Grand Cru staff. I will definitely be paying you a visit soon!
The website for the beer tasting promised a large variety of beers available for sampling, so I was definitely excited. I already had a couple of beers in mind for tasting, but I also hoped for some surprises along the way, and I wasn’t disappointed.
The first beer I tried, which I had looked forward to trying, was Dogfish Head’s Theobroma. Their website says, “Dogfish Head’s Theobroma (translated into ‘food of the gods’) is brewed with Aztec cocoa powder and cocoa nibs (from our friends at Askinosie Chocolate), honey, chilies, and annatto (fragrant tree seeds).”
I expected to be completely blown away by this beer, but I simply wasn’t. Don’t get me wrong, it was quite tasty, but perhaps I had my expectations too high. I’ll have it again though, for sure, so I can do a full review. I thought this had some spicy notes and a touch of honey. The higher alcohol (9% ABV) came through on the finish, bringing a nice warmth to it. The distinctive flavors of the chilies came through very late on the finish. It was almost like a very late surprise. I had finished my couple of swallows and was thinking about what to try next when it came through. Overall: at first blush, a tasty brew with the chilies acting as an interesting addition.
The next beer I tried I had actually had before, but it has been a long time. When I first tried Yazoo’s Sue (a smoked porter), it was relatively new. At the time, I was not a huge fan of it. I had heard it had changed since last time I tried it, though, so I gave it another shot. I was very pleased with the changes they made to it! The nose was excellent, featuring good smoke and oak notes and hints of whiskey. On the palate the smoke is there but not overpowering. It makes its presence known as a mildly musty smokiness that acts as a pleasant backdrop for dark fruit and sour cherry notes with some malt sweetness. It tasted far better than the first time I tried it, and, as a matter of fact, won a silver medal at this year’s GABF. Overall: even if you don’t like smoky beers, you’ll appreciate this one.
The next beverage I tried was Viking Blod, a mead made with hibiscus and hops. I don’t generally love honey in beers, so I wasn’t sure about a mead, and I wasn’t sure what to expect from the hibiscus. This 19% ABV mead (yes, 19%!) surprises though. The nose consists of floral and honey aromas wafting up on the vapors from the higher ABV. Honey is in the foreground of this mead, as is to be expected, but the hibiscus and higher alcohol come out on the finish and complement each other well. Overall: the hibiscus brings welcome, unique flavors to this mead.
Next up was Schneider Aventinus Weizen-Eisbock. According to beeradvocate.com, “Eisbocks are created by freezing off a portion of the water, and removing it from the beer. This form of concentration, of sorts, increases the beer’s body, flavor, and alcohol content.” This had a great nose, with spiced notes mingling with the prominent wheat. This beer had a mouthfeel like carbonated honey with a wheaty flavor. Overall: this was a pretty tasty brew.
The highlight of my tasting, and the most interesting beverage there, in my opinion, was the 2009 Etienne Dupont Cidre Bouché Brut De Normandie. I’m not a fan of ciders, at least the ones you buy in six-packs at the better beer stores. But I am a big fan of this one. The nose is probably the smelliest of any fermented beverage I’ve had. Katya referred to it as a “stinky French nose”, which I thought was hilarious, and completely accurate! It smacks of green apple and stinky cheese…yes, stinky cheese. The nose definitely has a funkiness to it, a sort of sour earthiness, perhaps. But there is just something I loved about that aroma. On the palate it is much more simplistic, with green apple being the dominant flavor. I will definitely try this again and do a full review. Overall: this is something to be experienced and savored. Excellent!
Next I had to try Granitbock, from Brauerei Hofstetten Krammer GmbH & Co. KG in St. Martin, Austria. According to B. United International, Inc., the importers of this beer, “The Granit Bock is brewed in large granite open troughs. The granite stones are then heated to be white hot and added to the wort. This causes the sugars in the malt to caramelize around the stones and gives the beer lovely caramel and roasted flavors. It also gives the Granit Bock a unique smoked flavor.” I was intrigued by this and thought I’d give it a shot. The nose was odd, in how much it smelled like a slab of granite. I liked the nose, though. The beer itself tastes minerally, like granite, but with slightly bitter hints on the finish. I will be reviewing this fully soon. Overall: it’s interesting smelling that granite on the nose. I haven’t passed final judgment on the taste yet.
The next one I tried was recommended to me by Katya and the Grand Cru staff. Hitachino’s Nest Nipponia is brewed using two Japanese original materials; “Kaneko Golden,” the Japanese ancient barley, and “Sorachi Ace,” the hop which once was bred in Japan.” I was picking up very interesting floral notes on the nose, and lavender was what kept coming to mind. I also noticed lemon and perhaps coriander notes. The beer itself displayed floral and interesting spiced barley notes on the palate. Overall: this was my first Japanese beer and I am intrigued. I will try more Hitachino beers.
The final beer I tried (I had to drive home at some point after this you know!) was Boulevard Brewing Company’s Seeyoulator Doppelbock. The nose gives olfactory proof that the beer was aged in cedar. Woody cedar highlights the nose and gives the taste a spicy woody profile, with a little malt sweetness and a hint of citrus. Overall: I like the scent of it in the nose and the taste of it on the palate but wonder the cedar shouldn’t be toned down a little?
So those are the beers I selected and enjoyed today. There were so many there that I wanted to try, but I think it’s better to be moderate and make sure I can drive home safely. Again, biggest thanks to Katya and the Grand Cru staff for a fun, tasty afternoon.
Today’s beer review, Yazoo Brewing‘s Summer Ale, comes with an added bonus: 20% of the proceeds from the sale of this beer are donated to the Community Fund to help rebuild Nashville after our May floods. (The artwork on the bottle, by the way, was donated by a Nashville graphic designer, Derrick Castle.)
I first learned Yazoo’s Summer Ale was coming back in April, when I guest blogged a post about local springtime beers for OnNashville.com. According to Yazoo, this was going to be an organic English mild made with just one particular hop and one particular malt. I have since found out that the beer is made using “pilsner malt and lots of Saaz hops.”
The Pour
This pours a completely clear golden straw color, with a one finger thick, decently pillowy off-white head. It doesn’t seem to be an overly effervescent beer.
The Nose
The nose develops greater personality after the first couple of short sniffs. At first, it smells mildly hoppy and fruity, and quite clean. As the nose develops, though, a deeper fruit profile develops. I definitely picked up peaches in the nose, along with some other varieties of fruits…possibly hints of cherry and citrus?
The Taste
This starts dry and fruity and finishes dry and fruity. There is definitely a unique hoppiness to it, distinctive from other hoppy profiles I’ve experienced before. It’s not an obviously fruity or floral hop flavor to me, but more a spicy, bitter hop. It’s not a mouth puckering hoppiness but a distinctive hoppiness., that starts small at the front of the palate and quickly grows and spreads at the back of the throat. It almost has a powdery character to it as well. This beer is light-bodied and has flavors that linger well after the beer is gone.
Overall
I like the fruitiness the beer has…it’s a deep fruitiness that really keeps you drinking and smelling as you try to deconstruct the flavors. This is my first experience with a Saaz hops that I am aware of (and probably safe to say it’s my first all Sazz hops beer) and I can’t say I’m a big fan. When I read about Saaz hops I see it described as earthy and spicy. I get the spicy, but not at all the earthy.
Recommended
You’d be hard pressed to find a bad Yazoo beer, so I definitely recommend them, but if asked to recommend specific Yazoo beers, this would probably be last on my list. But 20% goes to a good cause….so at least give it a shot. You may like it more than I do, plus you’ll be drinking for a good cause.
Price: $1.99/12 oz. bottle
ABV: ???
I was thinking about beer tonight, and thinking about what beer is, beyond the standard dictionary definition, which usually reads something like this:
an alcoholic beverage usually made from malted cereal grain (as barley), flavored with hops, and brewed by slow fermentation
Thanks, Free Merriam-Webster dictionary! That’s a good generic definition of beer.
But then I started thinking, what’s the difference between beer and craft beer? Oh, I know, usually craft breweries are usually defined as small, traditional, independent breweries, but I thought a better way to define craft beer is to examine the differences between beer and craft beer. If you have more contrasts to offer, please leave them in the comments section. I’d love to hear them! I hope you enjoy…
Beer is made by large corporations named Anheuser-Busch, InBev and South African Breweries (SAB). Craft beer is brewed by people, like Sam Calagione, Linus Hall, Douglas Booth and Daniel Kahn, craftsmen who now run successful breweries because they loved beer and wanted to share it with others.
Beer tastes like….well, beer. Craft beer tastes, at various times, like chocolate, coffee, oak, caramel, molasses, grass, floral hops, dark fruit, smoke, grapefruit, oranges, lemon, coriander, pumpkin, hazelnut, and any number of other ingredients.
Beer is usually served ice cold from the can or bottle (to numb the tastebuds and make it palatable) and in massive quantities, in the hopes of getting drunk. Craft beer is lovingly poured into a special glass, at just the right temperature, and given the chance to warm and release its flavors as the color and thickness of the head, the color and clarity and the nose of the beer are all examined, analyzed and appreciated, before the beer itself is savored on the palate and the various flavors are allowed to arise and intermingle.
Beer is marketed, on television and in print, by making you think you’ll be cool or get the girl with their product. Craft beer is marketed, mostly not on television, on its merits as a beer, with emphasis on flavor and the ingredients that went into making the product.
Beer is usually yellow or brown. Craft beer can be anything from a hazy golden straw color to a coppery orange to a ruby brown to an inky black and everything in between.
Beer is made with cheap ingredients and adjuncts such as rice, to make the beer more bland and inexpensive, with the end result being a beer that makes you feel bloated and full. Craft beer is brewed using hand selected ingredients, specifically picked with certain flavor characteristics in mind and brewed with the end goal of flavorful, quality beer. It is more expensive but a much better value for the money.
Beer is sometimes “shotgunned” or used for a keg stand. Craft beer is sometimes selected and served as an integral accompaniment to a fine meal.
As you can see, I have an obvious bias towards craft beer. I hope the contrasts I have pointed out help you understand what craft beer is, and I hope it inspires you to leave Bud, Coors and Miller behind in favor of better beer, such as Dogfish Head, Yazoo, Buckbean and so much more.
Cheers!
The Beer Snob
Bravo Gelato Nashville started making gelato using Yazoo Brewing Company‘s beers with their Onward Stout. I liked this, and it kind of resembled a Yazoo stout float to me…beer-y and rich and creamy. Knowing they wanted to do a gelato using the Yazoo Hefeweizen, I suggested they make it with a mild banana gelato base. They took the idea and ran with it, and the resulting gelato was well received and excellent. (Read my review of Bravo Gelato’s Banana/Yazoo Hefeweizen gelato.)
For their next collaboration with Yazoo, they wanted to use the Sly Rye Porter. I suggested they use a tart cherry gelato to mix with the Sly Rye Porter, and they came up with an amarena cherry gelato. I don’t believe they could have made a better choice. More: Amarena cherry/Yazoo Sly Rye Porter gelato is the best yet
[Originally posted at OnNashville.com]
Although it is swiftly drawing to a close, we are still in the midst of Awesome April in Nashville. I can think of no better way to celebrate than to sample some of the great beers our city has to offer. With that in mind, I decided an exploration of Nashville beer was in order, specifically to sample some brews that are just perfect for Spring. I was trying to hit as many breweries as I could in a very short span of time, so my apologies to Big River Grill Nashville, Battleground Brewery & Restaurant in Franklin and Cool Springs Brewery. I just didn’t manage to make it your way. Perhaps next time? More: Nashville beers suitable for Spring
I’m really looking forward to tomorrow…well, except for the fact that I have to work…but after that, I’m hoping to head to Bravo Gelato Nashville to try their Banana/Yazoo Hefeweizen gelato. Now, thanks to Jennifer Justus over at A Nasty Bite, I was lucky enough to try their gelato made with Yazoo’s Stout and it was pretty darn tasty! Well, I started following Bravo Gelato Nashville on twitter after that and when they asked followers for flavor ideas, I sent them a general one and a very specific one.
More: The Beer Snob and Bravo Gelato…a collaboration of sorts
I’ve heard recently about Bravo Gelato, here in Nashville, making Yazoo Stout gelato. I first tried gelato in Italy in 2004, but I was never lucky enough to experience gelato made with beer. I wanted to give it a shot, mostly for this blog, but I’ll admit, I was a little concerned. Beer gelato? Hmmmm…. Plus I doubted I would be anywhere in their neighborhood any time soon (I didn’t even know where Bravo Gelato Nashville was located. More: Bravo Gelato Nashville and Yazoo Brewery: two great tastes that taste great together
You know, when I attended the Craft Beers and Craft Foods event at the Southern Food & Wine Festival, I mentioned to Yazoo owner Linus Hall that I had reviewed Yazoo’s Hefeweizen on my blog. It was only later that I realized I must have lost my tasting notes along the way and had never actually posted a review. So I promptly picked up a couple singles of the brew at Midtown Wine and Spirits in downtown Nashville and worked on rectifying the situation.
The Pour
This pours in a pint glass to a deep, golden straw color with a brilliantly white 1-finger head, consisting of very small, loosely packed bubbles. The head dissipates pretty quickly, leaving pretty slight lacing, if any. The beer is quite hazy from being unfiltered. Be sure to swirl the last fourth of the beer around in the bottle and quickly pour it into your glass to get all the yeasty goodness!
The Nose
This has a good wheaty presence but with great banana in the nose as well. There is a bit of spiciness to it as well. The yeast adds a good quality to the nose, kind of a good doughy, bready note.
The Taste
This is a great Hefeweizen. Medium bodied, it’s yeasty, wheaty and thick feeling, but with enough carbonation to crisp it up and make it finish clean. The active carbonation also helps the beer finish fairly clean. The wheat is of course the star, and it is quite tasty. Sometimes you can really pick up the yeast in the back of the throat, which is good. It’s great to taste the ingredients that way, as if by drinking the beer you are deconstructing it on your palate. As the beer warms, the banana flavor comes out more, and the spice hints noticed in the nose come out as cloves.
Overall
I’ve still not had a large number of wheat beers, but of the ones I’ve had so far, this is probably one of my favorites. Crisper than some wheat beers, it is very interesting the way the flavors of banana and wheat share the spotlight, while spice notes and good yeasty flavors appear around the edges from time to time. Overall, this is a good solid Hefeweizen, but with flavor profiles and body that make it more interesting and enjoyable. Incidentally, German tourists visiting the brewery made very favorable comparisons between this beer and good German Hefeweizens.
Recommended: Yes, it’s a very well crafted Hefeweizen that’s not just a wheat beer. Plus you just can’t go wrong with Yazoo
Price: $1.59 / 12 oz bottle (bought singly)
ABV: 5.0%
