America’s 100 best beer bars: 2011

America’s 100 best beer bars: 2011
This warm weather makes a guy want to roam the country side looking for beer.
Clicking the above link makes it easier.

A little Malting History

Here is a some Malting History from the nice folks at Valley Malt.  Be sure to check out their Malt of the month club

For anyone who has seen our website or asked us why we started a malt-house in Hadley, MA you know our story. We liked to homebrew and support local agriculture so we started a malthouse. That is the story, but is it the whole story?

To tell the truth we were not avid homebrewers, just liked to make beer about once a month.  We consider ourselves localvores but still buy bananas from Trader Joe’s when we want them. So why did we decide to build a malthouse? All I can really say is once the idea of starting a malthouse came into my mind; I just could not stop thinking about it. Malting was and still is what occupies my brain at least half of my waking hours.

It was 2 years ago that we were writing our business plan and hoping that someone would give us the money needed to build our business. During that time, I had become immersed in research about malting and growing malting barley and most of that research lead me into the past. I had found a librarian at UMASS that was willing to help me find old USDA farmer bulletins about barley and malting.  These old articles  helped me to trace varieties of barley that were grown in New England in the 1600′s. Around that time I was told by a historian in Hadley that she remembers hearing about a malthouse right down field from where we live. I loved hearing that but was reluctant to believe it.

I could not find much evidence of actual malthouses in New England except for Frank Jones in Portsmouth, NH. When I have time, I still do internet searches to try to find more evidence of malthouses in New England and low and behold last week I hit the jackpot. Through googlebooks I found a text from 1905 called The History of Hadley written by Sylvester Judd. In this book on page 66 is a paragraph that mentions 3 maltsters that lived in Hadley in the mid 1600′s. John Barnard and his son Francis and Andrew Warner.  With these names I was able to do more research using online genealogy sites and old maps of Hadley. Sure enough Andrew Warner was documented as a maltster. It also looks as though his land was in the original meadow settled and parceled out in Hadley. This is the meadow our malt-house is perched a top and where we now grow our heirloom barley.

There is so much history available about Hadley.  What was grown here, how beer was made and sold, how “hops grew wild in the intervales of the CT river”, and now even evidence of who malted those grains some 350 years ago. Right where we are doing it today.

While touring malthouses in the UK this summer, Christian and I were impressed by how each malthouse worked to preserve their history. Tuckers Maltings is a living museum and working malthouse. History about malting and its ties to agriculture were brought to life in humorous ways and many school children tour this facility each year as they are tought about their local history. Walking through Tuckers was like walking back through time 200 years. From the moment you enter through the door at Warminster Maltings  you are greeted by old photos, books, and malting tools from hundreds of years before. Chris Garratt, their Head Maltster, confess that he constantly checks Ebay for any old malting books or items that may come up for auction so that he can add them to the collection. It is the former owner of Warminster, Dr. E.S Beaven, who in 1905, himself reached back into history to find the Scandanavian varieties Plumage and Archer which he then bred together to create Plumage Archer. This variety eventually became the grandmother of Marris Otter. The maltings we visited in Scotland were also deeply rooted and extremely proud of their history. If you are still reading this and in case you couldn’t tell, I could seriously go on for hours about this subject. It is fascinating stuff but it does make me wonder, are we doing enough to preserve our history? This kind of history?  I know for me and others I have met, it is this kind of history that we are made by.

I would encourage anyone with a little time on their hands to search for references of maltsters, brewers, and/or malthouses in their town. If you find any evidence, I would really like to know about it. It would be so interesting to piece together the history of malting and brewing in America before it became so centralized.

As we look forward toward this new year let’s also continue to look back, for both are full of mystery, excitement, and beer.

Brettanomyces in the Barnyard

If there isn't enough brett in your beer.  You can try barnyard tailgating.

Throwback Brewery

Within 30 minutes of Landman Landing in Exeter, NH for the New Year’s weekend activities we were off to a brewery the VP had stumbled across earlier in the day.  Throwback Brewery.  There we found Nicole Carrier (Co-Founder) behind the taps.  Nicole poured us some beer and told us some tales.  Soon Annette Lee (Brewer/Co-Founder) came out from the back to help out.  Their game is local.  No Farms = No Beer.  They are trying to get as many local ingredients as the can to make their beers.  It sounds like it’s helpful that Nicole’s cousin owns Valley Malt in Hadley,MA  

For only having tapped their first keg in July things looked to be going well.  In the 40 minutes we were there 30 people came by to get their beautiful Throwback growlers filled.  They are bottling, they are kegging, they have glassware, they have T- shirts and a great website.

As for the beer--Hop Heads they are not.  These are some malty girls.  Of the four beers we tried we liked the Maple-Kissed Wheat Porter the best.  As the name implies it is not heavy on the maple and the wheat lightens things up nicely.  The Maple-Kissed Wheat Porter ended up being the take-home growlers.  And the VP bought glasses and I had to get the bride a No Farms = No Beer T-shirt.  And we stopped back the next day as well.

Beer Me, Sommelier

Why beer deserves the same kind of expertise as wine.

By Mark Garrison|Posted Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2011, at 1:38 PM ET

"Cicerones" and other beer experts are helping diners discover more sophisticated beers               

Photograph by Mario Pusic/Thinkstock.

It’s a busy night at the D.C. restaurant Birch & Barley, as well as its casual upstairs sister joint, ChurchKey. Greg Engert is guiding me through his beverage list with all the knowledge, talent, and grace one would expect from an award-winning sommelier. With a couple crisp queries, he learned enough to make some intriguing recommendations. He didn’t flaunt his knowledge about food and drink, but when I had questions, he gave precise answers about the flavor, aroma, producer, pairing potential, and even the history of the available beverages. Fortunately, there was no attempt at upselling, the odious sin far too many sommeliers commit, a big reason why many diners are suspicious of the entire profession.

The drink he led me to was a perfect choice in that it was not only delicious, but also previously unknown to me. In one recommendation, he delivered the basic services I want from a sommelier: excellent advice and teaching without pedantry. And in my glass? Not wine, but rather an Arcobraeu Zwicklbier, an unfiltered lager from southern Germany.

Engert knows wine, but he specializes in beer. He’s a leading light of a new generation of beer professionals that are working to raise the art and science of selecting and serving beer to the level of wine service. Engert and his peers are rapidly gaining notice from the fine dining establishment. Last year, he was the first ever beer professional to make Food & Wine’s list of top sommeliers. For craft beer to continue growing and improving, there will need to be many more like him.

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Well, maybe not quite like him, since he’s got an inimitable manner. He left a Georgetown graduate literature program to dive into the beer world full-time, and he approaches it partly as a humanities professor might, if such professors were young, unpretentious, boundlessly energetic, fast-talking, and decked out in quietly stylish clothes. Get him going and out come elaborate, colorful tales about the evolution and history of a particular beer. It’s beer as narrative, and he’s an entertaining, passionate storyteller. Engert also displays a scientist’s pride as he shows off the elaborate system of climate control and piping, custom-built to guarantee every drop is served through clean lines at the temperature appropriate for each style.

Engert is a character one rarely finds in the wine landscape. One of the joys of good beer is that it’s far more accessible than the sometimes elitist and expensive wine world. Before I explored the new movement in beer service, I was a bit worried that it might be taking the beverage in the direction of wine’s worst excesses. But I don’t worry about that any longer. The people who are working on upgrading service knowledge do want beer to be as respected as fine wine and spirits are. But they are also deeply committed to preserving the affordability and unpretentiousness that set beer apart and to celebrating the breathtaking range of flavors and styles that make it special.

There may be agreement in the industry that great beer deserves top-notch service, but there’s not yet a consensus on what that means. In fact, there’s not even agreement on what to call a well-trained beer server. Engert’s job title is beer director, but he doesn’t mind being called a beer sommelier. (He has put some thought into this.) Some in the beer community find this term problematic, since "sommelier" is tied to the wine world and may imply a professional certification that doesn’t exist.

No one is working harder to coin a new title, and certification, than beer author and educator Ray Daniels. His ideal beer server is called a Cicerone (sis-uh-ROHN), a term he trademarked for the beer training program he started in 2007. The name comes from the word that can mean guide or mentor.

The program’s website states the claim that wine sommeliers might have known enough to choose a good beer for you a few decades ago, but now “the world of beer is just as diverse and complicated as wine. As a result, developing true expertise in beer takes years of focused study and requires constant attention to stay on top of new brands and special beers.” So Daniels set out to build a testing and certification program to create a standard level of knowledge and titles that would signify superior beer knowledge to consumers, similar to the way a Court of Master Sommeliers credential does for wine.

The industry has responded positively. A growing number of brewers, bartenders, and servers have signed up and tested to earn the ascending titles of Certified Beer Server, Certified Cicerone, and Master Cicerone.

There are thousands qualified at the lowest level, who must pass a detailed multiple-choice test of beer styles, service, storage, and science. (Try to answer some sample test questions here.) Then they’re eligible to try the test for Certified Cicerone designation. Here the exam includes tougher short-answer and essay questions, and naturally, taste tests. There are 300 Certified Cicerones and counting. Less than half of those who take that exam pass. Those who make it can attempt the toughest test, and so far only three people have ever passed the Master Cicerone exam. (The elite three are Rich Higgins, brewmaster at San Francisco’s Social Kitchen & Brewery, Dave Kahle, a Chicago beer consultant and judge, and Andrew Van Til, who works for a Michigan beer distributor. You can find Cicerones in your area online.)

The capitalized names make it all sound awfully precious and formal, but Daniels says that’s not what he’s going for. “The intent of this program is to improve the quality of beer available to consumers in every respect, without changing the accessibility of it,” he explains. “We want Cicerones to be guides, not gods.” The Cicerone program is well respected by many beer professionals, but has a weakness in its singular focus on beer. This approach is enough for beer establishments, but a server working in a restaurant with good beer and wine should be knowledgeable enough to offer smart selections from both.

This is especially important for expanding the audience for excellent beer. If a server is to steer a beer skeptic away from wine to a surprising new experience, that server needs a strong grasp of wine to make the case. I remain grateful to the Roman waiter who pointed my wife and me away from the wine list toward a special bottle from Italy’s excellent brewer Baladin. The beer was a far better match than wine for our spicy dishes, raising the dinner from good to fantastic.

There are new signs all the time of beer’s increasing quality and culinary esteem. With the recent publication of the weighty Oxford Companion to Beer, it finally gets the same encyclopedic treatment Oxford has long afforded wine. A restaurant festooned with Michelin stars now looks outmoded if it doesn’t have substantial beer selections on its wine list. And even average bars and restaurants without a craft beer focus will typically offer at least a couple interesting beers. But all this is of little use to drinkers if the beer isn’t carefully stored, chosen, and served.

Like great wine, great beer deserves well-trained people who can build a strong collection of barrels and bottles, and know how pair them well. Many restaurants and bars have a long way to go, but the example of people like Engert and Daniels points the way to an auspicious future. A well-chosen and expertly-paired beer can be a revelation, so it’s time for more establishments to get their people in the revealing business.

Grand opening Merry Monk

Grand opening at the Merry Monk Good turn out. Free Ommegang until 6:00 and wild boar ribs.  Did anyone about this?

Landman eats Boar Ribs

So how about that, after all the scheming I turn out to be the only one that goes to the Monk yesterday.  I mean that pretty literally, when we got there at around 7:00 they were closing up the shop due to the total lack of customers.  Jeremy agreed to stay open for us though and we had the place to ourselves.  I had a fleeting worry before we got there that we might need to struggle for a table, I sure got that wrong.  Anyway, they treated us great.  The chef had just taken a rack of boar ribs from the oven and man were they good.  They were slathered in some kind of beer glaze, crispy and tender, just awesome.  I had mussels in blue cheese and bacon, a healthy and light snack.  The kids both had steak and frites.  The steaks have some sort of beer based sauce that the kids loved – maybe I ought to worry about that.  We mentioned that we enjoyed the waffles from our last visit and the next thing we knew a plate of steaming waffles, one row spread with a beer and pear reduction and the other a beer and raspberry reduction appeared at our table.  Of course there were some damn fine beers along with all that gluttony.

We rolled out of there and all we could say was Wow.  Hope no one else finds out about Sunday nights at the Monk