Founders crossing the pond, distributing to UK

More proof that the American craft beer surge is finding its way across the pond to Europe came this week in the form of a press release April 16 from Founders Brewing Company. The makers of the popular and oh so delicious Founders Breakfast Stout, also announced on their website that their brews are being exported to the United Kingdom in bottles with draft beer to follow.

The text of the press release follows:

(UNITED KINGDOM) – Both year-round and seasonal beers will be available in bottle immediately with draught expected to follow later in the year.

John Green, President of Founders Brewing Co. said of the partnership, “We’ve been looking at export opportunities for a while now, and we’re excited to partner with James Clay in making the United Kingdom one of our first international markets.”

“We are delighted to bring Founders Brewing Co. beers to the UK market” comments Ian Clay Managing Director of James Clay. “Founders is one of the most respected breweries in the world brewing a truly world class portfolio of beers. Introducing beers of Founders’ calibre to the UK is a fantastic addition to an increasingly diverse and vibrant UK beer culture.”

James Clay are particularly excited about the arrival of Founders Brewing Company’s All Day IPA. American IPA is fast becoming the beer-drinker’s style of choice, but with most coming in at a heady 6 – 9% abv often one can’t enjoy more than a couple. Founders Brewing Company’s All Day IPA is an award winning American Session IPA that has been expertly brewed to keep all the flavour of its stronger cousins, but at 4.7%abv.

Other beers available at launch include Porter (6.5% abv), Pale Ale (5.4% abv), a more traditional Centennial IPA (7.2% abv) and the remarkably smooth Scotch Ale, Dirty Bastard (8.5% abv).

The full range of Founders Brewing beers will be available through James Clay by early May.

Related articles

• Founders Brewing Co. Going International (fox17online.com)
• Founders Brewing Co. begins shipping to Canada; in negotiations in Texas, Florida, Maryland (mlive.com)

 

Sour beers a taste worth acquiring

Brettanomyces, also known as “Brett”, is a yeast strain commonly found in red Burgundy wine. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Want to see a grown brewmaster shake in his boots? Just bring a vial of Brettanomyces into his brewery and toss it up into the air a few times. Brettanomyces is a strain of yeast that, given the opportunity, will absolutely take over a brewery and infect every surface, fermentation tank, and bottle in the place. In most beers, the organism can produce undesirable sour or acidic off-flavors. But, to a brave few brewers, those off-flavors are a source of complex and often delicious artistry.In Belgium, sour beers are nothing new. For centuries brewers have been crafting brews that are sour, acidic and utterly delightful. One such style that has been gaining ground in the United States is Flanders Red, an aged ale that obtains its sour characteristics from Brettanomyces or lactic acid. An excellent example of this style is Rodenbach.

Another Belgian sour style is Lambic, a spontaneously fermented brew that is aged for a minimum of three years before leaving the brewery. Because the yeast that inoculates this brew is only found in Belgium in and around Brussels, the style cannot be made anywhere else. The brew that results from the combination of wild yeast inoculation, aging, and blending is powerfully sour and yet refreshingly bracing. The brew is often fermented with various fruits to produce sweet and sour combinations such as kreik (cherry), framboise (raspberry), and peche (peach).

But, back to Brettanomyces. Brett, as it is called by many in-the-know beer aficionados, competes with brewer’s yeast, and other microorganisms, in fermenting the wort, giving the beer a distinctive sour taste. The yeast is notoriously difficult to clean and can easily get out of control and colonize a brewery spoiling other beers that are not supposed to taste sour. In fact, the yeast strain is considered a spoilage organism in the wine-making industry that can impart “sweaty saddle leather”, “barnyard”, “burnt plastic” or “band-aid” aromas to wine. But, in beer, the yeast can create aromas one might consider musty, and flavors that are often described as funky.

Brett turns beer sour by eating the sugars that are left in beer by normal brewer’s yeasts. The result is a sour-tasting brew that is something of an acquired taste. Other organisms that bring on the funk in beer include lactobacillus (also found in fermenting yoghurt too) and pediococcus, which  provide sour, tart notes and acetobacter, which gives a beer vinegary component.

The best way to decide if you like these unusual, yet rewarding brews is to seek one out and just give it a try. You may be surprised at how much you enjoy the labors of the little beasties that some might call an infection while others might call a blessing. Just be careful if you do decide to toss around a vial of Brett, you certainly would not want to cause your local brewmaster to ban you from his brewery.

Keep up to date on all the beer happenings and news going on in town by joining our newsletter mailing list at the ALL NEW www.JaxBeerGuy.com.

Related articles

• How to Identify Yeast Flavors in Beer: Esters, Phenols, and Alcohols (drinks.seriouseats.com)

 

NHL lockout effecting beer sales in Canada

200 px (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Our neighbors north of the border seem to be having a bit of an issue brewing – the NHL lockout is making a big dent in the beer sales. Canadians are well known for their love of both hockey and beer, but the lack of one is leading to a glut of the other. Molson Coors, based in both Montreal and Denver, says that with hockey off the air in Canada, their strongest cold-weather selling point for beer is leaving them in the cold.

Molson Coors CEO Peter Swinburn said in an interview with the Canadian Press Wednesday, Nov. 7, “Whether it’s people not actually physically going to the venues and consuming there, consuming in venues around the outlet before that, or indeed having NHL sort of parties at home, all of those occasions have disappeared off the map and you just can’t replicate them.”

Hockey in Canada is as big as, or bigger than football is in the United States. “It’s a national sport; the whole of Canada is glued to it one way or another, so there’s no real regional difference at the moment that we can detect,” Swinburn said.

As the NHL’s labor dispute – already nearly two months long – wears on, the sales at Canada’s biggest beer producer continue to decline. The lockout is an ongoing labor dispute that began September 15 following the expiration of the NHL’s collective bargaining agreement less than a month prior to the scheduled beginning of the 2012–13 NHL season. The owners of the league’s franchises declared a lockout of the members of the National Hockey League Players’ Association after a new agreement could not be reached before their deadline.

Swinburn went on to say that Molsen Coors will seek compensation from the NHL due to the losses they are suffering. “There will be some redress for us as a result of this. I can’t quantify that and I don’t know because I don’t know the scale of how long the lockout is going to last.”

 

Just Brew It to host National Learn to Homebrew Day

Logo of the American Homebrewers Association featured in 2011. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

If beer is known as a social drink, then brewing beer should be known as a social activity as well. Interest in learning to homebrew beer has exploded along with the craft beer industry. Luckily for those who want to learn to brew, this Saturday, Nov. 3, has been designated National Learn to Homebrew Day by the American Homebrewers Association (AHA), a division of the Brewers Association (BA). The event, which was established in 1999, will be observed in Jacksonville by Just Brew It at 2670 Rosselle Street.

Members of the Cowford Ale Sharing Klub (C.A.S.K.) – a local Jacksonville homebrewing club – will be setting up their rigs and putting on brewing demonstrations in the parking lot of Just Brew It for anyone interested in the craft. In addition, if you want to try your hand at brewing your own beer, you can purchase equipment and ingredients at Just Brew It and receive expert advice from the store staff and from the brewers outside. You can even set up and brew a batch with the rest of the brewers if you desire.

The AHA was founded in 1978 by Charlie Papazian in Boulder, Colo. Since its humble beginnings, the association has grown to more than 30,000 members and employs a full-time staff dedicated to assisting homebrewers through education and representation. The association produces its own magazine called Zymurgy that is devoted to informing advancing the skills of the homebrewer.

Homebrewing has a long and storied tradition in the United States. In colonial times, homebrewing was common and many of our founding fathers including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin were all homebrewers. Back in those times, water was not always safe to drink because it contained bacteria and microbes that could make people sick. Beer was brewed not only for flavor and enjoyment, but also to provide a safe alternative to hydration.

Today homebrewing is a fun activity that yields a final product the brewer can be proud of. Many who begin brewing enjoy it so much that it becomes a regular activity. Clubs, such as C.A.S.K. have sprung up around the hobby and sponsor frequent interclub competitions.

Walter Rasko of Just Brew It says that National Learn to Homebrew Day is, “Basically some guys doing both all-grain and partial-mash batches. It’s a watch and learn type day.” Rasko, a long-time brewer himself, went on to say that attendees can, “Expect 10 to 15 guys from C.A.S.K. to be brewing. We will probably brew a kit, as well to show how easy it can be.”

Those interested in learning more about homebrewing can visit the AHA’s website at: www.homebrewersassociation.org.

For information about meeting and how to join C.A.S.K. visit their website at:  www.thecask.org.

Brewing at Just Brew It begins at 10:00 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 3.

Keep up to date on all the beer happenings and news going on in town at the ALL NEW www.JaxBeerGuy.com.

 

New Albion Ale lives again thanks to Sam Adams

Heroes come in many forms; some are of the super variety and fly around in brightly colored tights, while others quietly sit back and humbly accept their place in history. Jack McAuliffe is one of those quiet heroes.

In 1976 McAuliffe founded what is widely acknowledged as the first microbrewery in the modern era of brewing in the United States. His New Albion Brewing Company is now defunct, but his legacy, influence, and beer lives on. That he is remembered is thanks to another great pioneer in the American brewing industry Jim Koch.

On Friday, October 12, in Denver Colo., during the Great American Beer Festival, Koch and his Boston Beer Company immortalized McAuliffe at a brunch and ceremony in his honor. In his opening statements, Koch talked about the pioneering spirit displayed by McAuliffe; how McAuliffe overcame towering odds to take his brewery from the garage to Sonoma where it was christened New Albion after the name Sir Francis Drake first called the San Francisco Bay area.

Even though the New Albion Brewery eventually fell victim to a lack of expansion space and funding and eventually died an untimely death, McAuliffe left a lasting imprint on the microbrewing movement that picked up steam in the early 1980s and continues today. His brewery proved that a microbrewing facility could be built and operated and that the beer made there was of higher quality than the macro-lagers that were flooding the market.

In his typical fashion, the aging McAuliffe remained soft-spoken and humble to the praise lavished on him by Koch. During his talk at the brunch he thanked Koch and his company for the recognition and urged everyone to continue in his footsteps to continually innovate and keep the craft beer movement’s forward momentum going.

The brunch ended with the announcement that Boston Beer Company had reproduced New Albion’s brew from yeast strains kept and cultivated by the University of California at Davis of the McAuliffe’s strain. Attendees were encouraged to raise a glass of the resurrected brew to toast McAuliffe’s achievements and get a taste of the beer that started it all.

McAuliffe’s brew, New Albion Ale, will be available from Samuel Adams beginning in January 2013.

Related articles

• Denver Rare Beer Tasting IV Beer List Announced (lyke2drink.blogspot.com)