This Blogger is Officially a Certified Cicerone®

After weeks and weeks of waiting, I finally woke up this morning to an email declaring me a Certified Cicerone®!  What is a Cicerone?  A Cicerone is the beer equivalent of a wine sommelier.  Basically, you need to be an expert in beer styles, beer and food pairing, the brewing process, sanitation techniques and the history of different beer styles.  It is a grueling test to say the least, but after studying for months, I can officially call myself a Certified Cicerone®.  If you have an interest in becoming certified or just want to learn more about beer, check out the program's website at www.cicerone.org.

Coronado Brewing Co. is Coming to Nevada!

The San Diego brewery, Coronado Brewing Co., is finally distributing their awesome beer to Nevada, most notably Las Vegas!  Their well-known and staple beers include Orange Avenue Wit, Coronado Golden and Islander IPA.  Coronado Brewing Co. is a great brewery that gets overshadowed by their more popular and established San Diego neighbors, Stone Brewing Co. and Green Flash Brewing Co.  I was lucky enough to hang out with the owners and other brass of the brewery last night during their initial Nevada launch party.  They are great, down to earth guys who know their craft beer.  So start looking for their beers in bars and liquor stores.

If you want to be part of Coronado's launch into the Nevada market, head on over to Aces and Ales (3740 South Nellis Blvd.) tonight!  Reps from the brewery and Nevada Beverage Co. will be hanging out as well.  And it happens to be T.N.T. tonight.  So you can have 6 tasters and some food for only $20! Plus, the first 72 Coronado beers ordered will receive free glassware.  The brewery will be taking over 7 taps with the following brews:

• Idiot IPA
• Stoopid Coffee Stout
• Red Devil Imperial Red Ale
• Orange Avenue Wit 
• Islander IPA
• Orange Avenue Wit
• Mermaid's Red
• Coronado Golden

My Southern New Jersey/Philadelphia Brewery Trail

While spending three weeks in Southern Jersey I got to visit a few small, local breweries in the area that I would like to share with everyone.  Below are the breweries I visited in order:

1.  Cape May Brewing Co.:  Cape May, NJ

As we were driving to the brewery, I kept thinking the GPS was steering us the wrong way because it was leading us toward some small warehouses right near the tiny Cape May Airport. Come to find out that the GPS was leading us in the right direction as we spotted the brewery.  This place is tiny, working out of a small warehouse the size of a two story apartment, maybe 1200 sq. ft.  Their pricing went as follows: $11 for a souvanier pint glass and 4 samples or $5 for 4 samples in a plastic cup.  My two siblings and I opted for the $11 deal.  In order to make room for the number of visitors, they opened the back garage door, which lead to an open area covered in grass and a food truck.

 

The first sample we had was the Cap May Wheat, an american pale wheat.  It was a decent wheat, although I never understood the point of pale wheat ales.  If you are looking for something light and refreshing, why not just pick up a good lager/pilsner or a kolsch.  Like most pale wheats, the flavors and aroma were subdude, but I could pick up some banana and coriander.

The next sample was their Honey Porter.  I know I wouldn't be too fond of this brew right off the bat since I am not a fan of honey.  But to much of my surprise, it was a delicious porter.  I ignored the honey taste I was getting and just concentrated on the other ingredients.  It had nice roasted malt, strong coffee notes with a little bit of chocolate.  The hops lingered throughout, but came through towards the end as it finished dry with some tart and bitterness.

Inside Cape May Brewing Co.

The third sample was their Centennial IPA.  This was a beast of an IPA, weighing in at 100 IBUs!  This beer was a hop explosion.  Sharp, resiny pine needle hops hit right away with strong cirtus and flowery hops in the background.  While the malt did a decent job of balancing the brew, the brewers clearly wanted the centennial hops to shine.  This beer was on the border of being a double IPA, in my opinion.

The last sample was their Beach Plum, or so we thought.  This was yet another american pale wheat with added plum flavoring.  We were then informed that the keg was kicked, so they let us have another sample of their other three beers.  Me being a hophead, opted for another sample of their IPA.

2.  Tun Tavern and Brewery:  Atlantic City, NJ

I am not going to comment any more than listing their beers.  The food was supbar, the beer was atrotious and the environment was depressing.  Stay away from this place if you ever visit Atlantic City.

1.  Devil Dog Pale Ale

2.  All-American IPA

3.  Leather-Neck Stout

4.  Bullie's Brown Ale

5.  ESB

6.  Crimson Ale

All watery and lacking flavor.

3.  Tuckahoe Brewing Co.:  Tuckahoe, NJ

And I thought Cape May Brewing Co. was small.  This place was half the size.  It too was set up inside a small warehouse about 800 sq. ft.  Since we visited during week, we were the only ones there for the tasting/tour.  So we got to sample their beers while having a conversation with them as they were in the middle of brewing. They are four high school teachers that decided to team up and start the brewery, all while still teaching full time.  I loved that!  All of them couldn't be nicer people. The best part: samples were free.

The first sample was their DC Pale Ale.  A medium-bodied pale ale with slightly bready and caramelly malt.  Hops were grassy and floral with moderate bitterness.  Mouthfeel was a little too carbonated, but otherwise a decent pale ale.

Inside Tuckahoe Brewing Co.

Next up was their Porter.  The night before, I had their porter for the first time at a local restaurant/bar and it was not good.  Not at the fault of the brewer, as it was very phenolic (tasted like band-aids and plastic).  The restaurant either didn't rinse that draft line or glass after cleaning it.  Boy, was it better at the source.  Creamy and full-bodied with very sharp, almost burnt malt, with more chocolate notes than coffee.  Finished dry and roasty, similar to a stout.  I let them know about the poor quality of their porter at the restaurant.  Hopefully they will do something about it.

The last one was their Wit, a Belgian pale wheat.  This one was pretty good.  Medium body with notes of honey and lots of orange.  The Belgian yeast spiciness was subdued, which I welcomed.  I wasn't really in the mood for the strong Belgian yeast of a typical Wit.     

4.  Yards Brewing Co.:  Philadelphia, PA

Last but not least was Yards Brewing Co.  Now this is a real microbrewery.  Huge tasting room with pool tables, shuffle board, fresh food and a full bar.  The enitire room was covered in wall paper consistining of all their beer labels.  They had a total of 9 beers on tap.  Four of their base beers, 4 specialty beers and their pale ale on cask.  First up was a flight of their 4 base beers:

1.  Brawler, an English dark mild ale.  It felt as if I was sitting in a pub in London while drinking this one.  Loads of toasty, sweet, caramel malt and mild fruity hops.  Medium-bodied with a slightly sweet finish.  A good session brew.

2.  Philadelphia Pale Ale.  The name says it all.  Lightly-flavored pale malt with a hint of sweetness and unexpectedly hoppy.  Hops were citruisy, floral and somewhat tropical with a pretty light body.

3. India Pale Ale.  A good, balanced IPA between bready, caramely malt and citrus hops.  Hops start citrusy, but then turns into more of a pine flavor.  The finish is dry with a bread and pine on the palate.  Medium body with pretty good head retention.

Yards Brewing Co. Tasting Room

4.  Extra Special Ale (ESA).  Again, floral and earthy hops blended well with the toasted malts, caramely malts and dark fruits.  A pretty flavorful bitter ale.  It has a creamy, medium body with light carbonation, like a bitter should be.

Flight #2 (These are their specialty, limited beers)

5.  General Washington's Tavern Porter.  Tasted toasty, malty and bittersweet with a big molasses punch.  It then progressed to a more bitter taste with roasted coffee and chocolate at the finish.  

6.  Thomas Jefferson's Tavern Ale.  As you would expect, it is malt forward with buttery caramel, toffee notes and some nuttiness.  Despite having a nice dose of hops, this beer is pretty sweet. Relatively thin body for the style, but it wasn't thin at all taste-wise.  What is interesting about this one is that it is based on Thomas Jefferson's real beer recipe.  Yes, Thomas Jefferson did indeed own a brewery and created his own recipes.

7.  Love Stout.  Dry and roasted with abundant chocolate adding sweetness to work against the roasted malts.  Its a small, sessionable stout, so its not going to have huge flavor profiles.  But it is a simple, straight froward and balanced stout. Served on nitro, so it is undoubtably creamy and smooth.

8.  Poor Richard's Tavern Spruce Ale.  The taste is sweet, tart, and really piney with some notes of molasses and wood.  The body is light with moderate carbonation.  I'm not big on herb beers, so this one was my least favorite from Yards.

9.  Philadelphia Pale Ale on cask.  

Inside the brewery.

(For those of you who do not know what cask beer is, I'll fill you in.  A cask is a wood barrell, like wine casks, which were used in English pubs to serve beer in the 1800s and early 1900s, before direct carbonation came into play. Instead of waiting for the beer to completely ferment and condition before bottling and kegging, like most beers today, brewers fill the cask with beer and let it continue fermenting inside the cask.  So this creates light carbonation and a cloudy appearance from the fermentation taking place within the cask.  The beer is then hand pumped from the cask when serving, which creates a decievingly thick, creamy head. Casks are also never refrigerated, but served at room temperature.  Cask beers are the best! But you have to love beer in order to enjoy it.)

Back to the beer itself.  The cask edition of their pale ale included an edition of grapefruit zest.  Man, this beer was good.  You have pretty much the same flavors as the draft version of the pale ale, but the malt sweetness and hop bitterness stand out more and are more pronounced.  The grapefruit zest added even more bitterness and tart to balance the malt, and contributed to the dry, tart finish.  Body was creamy and lightly carbonated (see previous paragraph) with a thick, one finger head.

And that concludes my Southern New Jersey and Philadelphia beer trail.  Next time I am in the area, I plan on visiting Victory Brewing Co., Dogfish Head Brewing Co. and Flying Fish Brewing Co.  Man, this is a great time for craft beer!

Event: Aces and Ales' 3rd Annual Strong Beer Festival This Weekend!

Aces and Ales is hosting their 3rd Annual Strong Beer Festival this weekend.  The breweries appearing in the festival include rare beers from local breweries Tenaya Creek, Big Dog's and Joseph James, Dogfish Head, Stone, Firestone Walker, Ballast Point and a bunch more.  Beers include Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA, Firestone Walker Wookey Jack, Joseph James Habanero Hop Box, Left Coast Hop Juice and many more.  For a complete list of breweries and their beers, check out Aces and Ales website at acesandales.com.  This festival isn't for the weak as no beer is less than 7% ABV.  Even though I will be out of town this weekend and unable to attend, I encourage everyone to check it out and know that I will be envious and incredibly jealous of anyone that gets the chance to drink these incredible beers.

Prices go as follows:  $15 for a commemorative Aces and Ales taster glass and your first taste, then just $4 per taste then on.  If you don't want to pay the $15, goblets are available at $8 a fill. Sounds like a bargain to me! So check it out, send me pics and then watch me weep!

Aces and Ales is located at 3740 S. Nellis Blvd., Las Vegas, NV 89121.  Just two blocks away from Sams Town Hotel and Casino.

Commentary: Beers to Celebrate IPA Day Tomorrow

Tomorrow is my favorite day of the year, International IPA Day!  This is when brewers and beer lovers celebrate the unique and historic beer style known as India Pale Ale.

First, a little history on the style.  It originated in England in the 19th century from the booming and wildly popular Pale Ales.  England began shipping pale ales to India on the demand of the British soldiers and citizens.  As they came to learn, the pale ales could not survive the spoilage and infections that came from the long, hot and humid boat trips from England to India.  Brewers then had to find a way to keep their beer fresh for longer periods of time and stave off infection.  In a time without refrigeration, London brewers altered their popular beer in two ways.  The first change was adding more hops to the beer.  Hops naturally have anti-bacterial properties and would help fight off infection.  The second change was increasing the alcohol content.  Alcohol, much like the hops, helps fight off bacteria and micro organisms and helps prolong the freshness of the beer.  As a result, the beers were aggressively bitter with less malt character and higher alcohol content.   The brewers fittingly called the beer India Pale Ale.   Eventually, the people in London got wind of the new beer and it became wildly popular in its own country.

To celebrate the occasion, I put together a list of 10 American IPAs that are affordable and pretty easy to find for those that would like to commemorate the day by drinking an IPA.  I ranked the beers based on availability and ease to find, and in no particular order of quality because they are all great IPAs.  These beers are ones that you will most likely find in gas stations, supermarkets and liquor stores.  You won't go wrong with drinking any of them.  Keep in mind, since I live in Las Vegas, these beers are ranked according to the Las Vegas beer market, though you can find most of them nationwide.  Below are my recommendations, and I hope you enjoy them!

1.  Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA

2.  New Belgium Ranger IPA

3.  Samuel Adams Latitude 48 IPA

4.  Stone IPA

5.  Tenaya Creek Hop Ride IPA (local beer)

6.  Lagunitas IPA

7.  Green Flash West Coast IPA

8.  Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA

9.  Ballast Point Sculpin IPA

10.  Firestone Walker Union Jack IPA


(TIP:  FOR THE FRESHEST IPAs, BUY THE ONES IN THE REFRIGERATORS)

*If you would like recommendations for Double IPAs or harder to find IPAs, please email me.  

Commentary: Things That Crush My Barley

Rant #1:  BEER RETAILERS NOT STORING IPAs IN COOLERS!

IPAs are delicious and distinct beers.  What makes them unique compared to other beer styles is their high hop character, balanced by a nice dose of sweet malt.  Without their aggressive hop flavor and aroma, you might as well call them pale ales.  IPAs, more so than other beer styles, are perishable products, just like milk, orange juice, lemonade, etc.  So my question is, why do most retailers leave them sitting on the shelf in room temperature?!  They wouldn't keep milk and other dairies in room temperature, so why would they think its satisfactory to not keep IPAs cold?  

In fact, there was a bottle of an organic IPA sitting on the shelf that I was looking over at Lee's Discount Liquor a couple days ago.  Right on the bottle it said, "This beer is perishable.  Keep refrigerated."  What part of that do the retailers not understand?  They are not like jars of peanut butter or jelly, where you can keep it at room temperature until the first time you open it and then have to stick it in the fridge afterwards.  IPAs must be kept cold at all times, even if they haven't been open.  I mean it says it right on the bottle and they still don't store them in the cooler!  The main reason they have to be stored cold is to keep the hops fresh.  The longer it sits in heat or room temperature, the faster the aroma and taste of the hops fade and eventually become undetectable, essentially turning it into a pale ale, or even causing them to spoil faster.  Don't get me wrong, there are a limited number of IPAs that sit in the front coolers, but instead of storing the extras in a back storage cooler or something, they just the throw the excess bottles on the shelf and sell them.  And sometimes this bigger question is: "How long have they been sitting there?"

The ones that really suffer because of most retailers' improper care and storage aren't just the consumers, but the brewers themselves.  These guys worked hard to craft great IPAs and make sure their hoppy beverages leave the brewery in peak condition, in both taste and aroma, only for them to be ruined by the distributors and retailers.  The problem is the average beer drinker doesn't know all the intricacies of IPAs.  So when they buy and drink a retailer-caused mediocre IPA with faded hops right off the shelf, they assume its the lack of talent from the brewer.  For example, "Oh man, this is a crappy IPA.  Its too sweet and not hoppy enough. This brewery sucks!"  It never enters their mind that it might be the fault of the distributer and/or retailer they bought it from.  If you don't believe me, go buy a local IPA from a store that is sitting on the shelf and try it.  Then go to that brewery and buy a bottle of the same beer and drink it.  I guarantee you 9 times out of 10 that it will taste completely different.  That's because they know how to take care of their beers.  Being a hophead and IPA-lover myself, I have drank subpar IPAs, despite them being fresh and handled/stored carefully.  I am not here saying that every IPA that tastes mediocre is the result of poor handling habits by retailers.  There are a bunch of average and sometimes even poor quality IPAs I have drank onsite of the breweries.  I'm not saying its a bad thing that the average drinker doesn't know or think about this, but it is not fair to the breweries that can actually does produce quality IPAs.  As a result, the good breweries lose customers, beer sales and profits, all because retailers don't bother to learn about the products they carry or even bother to read the care instructions on the bottles themselves.  It just really pisses me off!  Well, that's my rant for the day.

Video: Hangout with the Brewers

Yesterday I joined in on viewing a live "hangout" with the brewers from Stone Brewing Co. (Greg Koch), Dogfish Head Brewing Co. (Sam Calagione) and Victory Brewing Co.  It is an interesting conversation, especially when they start talking about how the collaboration between the three breweries to creat Saison du Buff came about.  Check it out!