Hopfen's Brewblog

Posted By Braumeister on September 17, 2010

This morning we finished judging all the beers entered in this year’s Great American Beer Festival competition. I got off easy this year; my total was only 107 beers evaluated. Some judges had as many as 150 or even a few more, but it all evens out over time.

For those who might wonder, every beer entered gets 3 or 4 evaluation sheets filled out, each sheet completed by a qualified beer judge. Those that make the top three of their flight (a flight typically contains anywhere from 6 to 12 beers) are passed on to a second round. The evaluation in a second round is similar to a first round, with the exception of no evaluation sheets being filled out. If there are a huge number of entries in a category, it can require still a third round before it’s possible to award medals. But much of the time that can happen at the end of the second round.

The medal process is simply the elimination of all but three beers (for technical flaws, failure to meet all the style guidelines, or whatever), then rank ordering the final three for gold, silver and bronze medals.

The big announcement and awarding of medals takes place at the Saturday afternoon GABF session, and nobody knows until then who won. All entries are simply identified by a number during the judging, so judges have no idea where the beers came from. It’s an extremely fair system.

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Posted By Braumeister on September 12, 2010

OK, back to it. Getting ready to hit the road to Denver. This is GABF week, when beer geeks from all over make the trek to the Great American Beer Festival in Denver, Colorado. And when I say “from all over” I really mean it. I have a friend, Carl Kins, who lives in Belgium but still comes over here to judge beer at the GABF. I take a certain pride in that, because I was the one who got Carl on the roster of judges. He has a wonderful palate and is an outstanding judge, as well as being an extremely nice guy.

It’s only been two years since the last time I judged at the GABF, and I usually like to go a little longer between them, but they have an enormous list of entries this year and they needed plenty of judges.

More about the actual judging after I get out there, but the trip is generally pretty much fun. I like to drive across the country, so that will be a couple of days of relaxation. Once we get there, they put us up in the hotel where the judging takes place (2 judges to a room, but it’s a nice hotel). The first evening we have a spot of technical training, covering one of the finer points of flavor recognition, then it’s two and a half solid days of judging. Typically, each judge evaluates about 50 beers a day, but most of the time you only need about half an ounce to form a good opinion and write plenty of comments about each beer.

It’s generally a lot of fun, since you’re at a table with other experienced beer judges, professional brewers, and people who have been doing this for decades. For my part, I’ve been judging beer since 1992, so I guess I’m now considered one of the old-timers at this.

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Posted By Braumeister on October 29, 2009

while rummaging around in my cellar (don’t ask) this week, I came upon a long forgotten, dusty 750 mL bottle of Moinette. This was one of my early experiences with Belgian specialty beers, but I haven’t had one in a very long time. So, I chilled it down for a couple of days, and opened it this evening. In fact, I’m enjoying it as I write this, so any typographical errors are to be attributed to the beer, not the author.

Moinette is officially classified by the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) as a Belgian specialty ale. They call that a “catch-all category” for Belgian beers not fitting in any other subcategory, but I tend to differ. In my view, Moinette falls very nicely in the Bière de Garde category, despite being brewed some distance away from the traditional BdG territory.

Moinette (the name essentially means “little nun”) is a very pale golden ale with a big fluffy head. It’s a product of Brasserie DuPont, an artisanal brewer in the Hainaut region of Belgium. Since it’s brewed on the DuPont farm, I think it’s obviously correct to call it a “farmhouse ale” which is another name for Bière de Garde.

This bright golden ale, with a pure white head that lasts and lasts, offers a fruity and hoppy aroma that has overtones of almost a perfumey character, derived from the DuPont yeast. It’s definitely a big beer (8.5%ABV), but you don’t notice the alcohol at all. That’s one of the low-down, underhanded, sneaky tricks that many Belgian brewers have learned, much to the regret of naive American visitors.

Moinette’s flavor comes through with a really delightful hop character, but it’s right alongside a creamy, malty texture and a spicy yeast note that gives it the complexity that a beer geek like me finds so utterly compelling.

There is a low to medium level of bitterness, and a good, medium body. Finally, in the finish as it goes down the pipe, you can feel a bit of the warming that goes with such a strong ale. It’s not quite a tripel, not quite a strong golden ale, not quite a traditional Bière de Garde, not quite a standard farmhouse ale, but most definitely a beer you want to have in your cellar. I once (many years ago) described it as “the winter warmer equivalent of Saison DuPont” and I still might go along with that tag.

Well, I’m down to the last few ounces of this bottle, which I shall savor after posting this. You can probably find Moinette in most really good beer stores, and I highly recommend that you search it out. In this size, with it’s cork and bail, you may find that it’s a perfect accompaniment to many meals, and just the right amount to share with a very good friend. Try it with smoked salmon, and you’ll find yourself wishing for a second bottle.

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Posted By Braumeister on October 19, 2009

It was with great sadness that I learned this week of the most untimely death of Greg Noonan. Greg was born in 1951, when there was really no such thing as craft brewing in the United States. Greg changed that, forever.

I first met Greg in the early 90s, when he was in the process of perfecting his recipe for a Scotch Ale. That’s a style of beer, known by many names, that showcases the malt content of an ale like no other. The equivalent on the lager side would be a German doppelbock, but the Scotch Ale is considerably harder to get “right” than a doppelbock.

The beers Greg was making back then were the most amazing examples of the style I had ever tasted, and I still smile when I think of how magnificent they were. His book, Scotch Ale, came out in 1993, and is deceptively simple. Only 128 pages, plus three appendices, an index, and a glossary, but just as a great Scotch Ale distills the essence of the malt, his book was perfectly designed to convey the essentials of how to brew one. He covered the history, the essential brewing information, and provided a number of recipes to help any brewer put the theory into practice.

That would have been enough to ensure Greg’s place in brewing lore, but it was only a sideline. His real fame came from another book, Brewing Lager Beer (1986), later revised and reissued as New Brewing Lager Beer (1996). This is a comprehensive treatise on the production of lager beers, based largely on German brewing experience, but supplemented with the best information available from everywhere.

I have met homebrewers, brewpub brewers, and even microbrewery brewers who have confessed to being intimidated by the wealth of detail in Greg’s books. There’s no reason for them to be ashamed; his complete mastery of his craft is evident on every page.

But to talk about about Greg’s books is to short-change him. He was so much more than an author. He founded (in 1988) a brewpub in Vermont that essentially defined craft brewing to not only the populace within range of his establishment, but to hordes of beer pilgrims who made the trek to Burlington with two intentions: to taste the great, innovative beers, and to (possibly) get the chance to meet the man himself.

I wrote this entry with the intention of showing why I feel Greg will be missed. The fact is that there are so many more reasons than I have given, that this is really a non-issue. Greg was one of a kind. His passing leaves a hole that no one can really ever fill.

If you’re ever in the area, I highly recommend that you visit the pub he founded. It’s at 144 College Street, Burlington, Vermont. It’s open from 11 am every day. There is a line on their website: All of our beers are unpasteurized, unfiltered, and unadulterated. We brew with artisanal imported malts and fresh hops, and we do not cheapen the product by rushing the process. We are famous for a reason: Quality. That pretty much sums up the philosophy Greg brought to his brewing.

I will miss Greg terribly. So will a very large number of other “beer people.”

Rest in peace, my friend. You lived your life to the benefit of your fellow man.

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Posted By Braumeister on September 6, 2009

Here’s another list I was asked for. This one has some of the top doppelbock beers in the world. Rich, malty, and so full of flavor they practically beg to be sipped slowly.

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Posted By Braumeister on September 5, 2009

Great bit of news the other day. The Cincinnati city council approved a new, and much needed, brewpub as part of The Banks development on the Ohio River next to Great American Ballpark. Construction is set to begin early next year, and it promises to be a truly amazing experience. The facility will be known as the Christian Moerlein Lager House. With seating for 500 indoors, and up to 600 in the outdoor beer garden, as well as a first class restaurant and great, locally brewed beer, I think we’re finally looking at the salvation of Cincinnati’s riverfront.

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Posted By Braumeister on September 3, 2009

Had a conversation with a neighbor the other day who was shocked to learn that his mass market beer was actually a pilsner style — he had always thought it was a lager, which he figured was a completely different thing.
We got to talking and he actually asked for recommendations. I had already been asked for a list like that not long ago, and you can find it here: Pilsners.

Normally, I’m not a big fan of “best” awards, because I appreciate the nuances of a wide range of variations on a style, but you have to start somewhere, and this list is as good as any.

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Posted By Braumeister on August 23, 2009

Despite the economy’s effects on most sectors of society, it’s heartening to see that people are still steadily being turned on to craft beers. According to the Brewers Association, the number of U.S. breweries is the highest in 100 years because of small and independent craft brewers.

America’s small and independent craft brewers are still growing despite many challenges and are continuing to provide jobs to the U.S. economy. Dollar growth from craft brewers during the first half of 2009 increased 9%, down from 11% growth during the same period in 2008. Volume of craft brewed beer sold grew 5% for the first six months in 2009, compared to 6.5% growth in the first half of 2008.

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Posted By Braumeister on August 21, 2009

The old blog self-destructed when doing the last backup/upgrade so I’m starting all over again. [sigh!]

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