The Session #36: How Do I Love Cask-Conditioned Ale? THIS much, dammit......

The topic of this month's The Session: Beer Blogging Friday is Cask-Conditioned Ale. Tom Cizauskas reached out to many bloggers and non-bloggers for their spin on their favorite or best cask-beer experience.

Picking a favorite for me is all but verboten.  The best line I've been able to come up with for this "favorite" nonsense is "the next one."  It's all about anticipation and discovery for me.

Besides which, I have no need to "support," any more than I already do, the regular and normal cask outlets around here--Pratt Street Ale House, Max's, Wharf Rat, Mahafey's, Bertha's, etc.  What I need to pay attention to are the "newbies"--the ones dipping a toe in the pool of cask.  Alex Hall maintains a database of cask outlets in the United States, and he is lucky enough that the number has coasted to a nice, round 500, give or take a few.  Think about it:  That's 500 bars in the nation, an average of ten per state, carrying cask ale on at least a predictable basis, out of possibly half a million bars or establishments serving beer in the nation.

But look outside:  You expect me to go out for cask in THIS stuff?

Hell, yeah.  I grew up in the home of Selin's Grove Brewing.  I KNOW how to drive in this stuff.  Besides, two firkins are being tapped in this stuff.  As I start the car, the winter storm warnings are being upgraded to BLIZZARD warnings.  But that's later tonight, right?


Off to Muggsy's Mug House in Federal Hill.  At 5 pm. the streets are as empty as a Sunday morning.  Thank goodness.

 Proprietor Danny Young has several Stone beers, including oak-aged Arrogant Bastard, left over from last night's Stone "grab the pint" night.  But we're here for the firkin, and it's Heavy Seas Loose Cannon, dry-hopped with local hops.  I twist Danny's arm into tapping the firkin early.....

Unfortunately, after the first mug (mine, of course), Danny discovers an "oops"--they forgot about the spile, the little vent plug on top that lets the cask "breathe" while still allowing the beer to flow as needed.  Danny spends several minutes looking in vain for the one he knows he has around the place somewhere.  While he heads upstairs to look further, I seek out Plan B, just in case......  and digging in the kitchen, I find it, and he needs it.

The perfect Baltimore spile:  A whittled-down CRAB MALLET.

Ingenuity is the mother of invention, in this case.

From there, I head north, stopping by at several locations to check out the attendance.  At B&O Brasserie, Mick O'Shea's, and The Brewer's Art, the crowds are local and loyal, happy to be there, but the attendance is more like a slow Monday than a typical Friday, of course.

On to Roland Park and Alonso's:

As with Muggsy's, they've started doing a firlin on the first Friday of the month.  They were planning for a firkin of Heavy Seas Loose Cannon or a firkin of their new Siren Noire, but this morning, the National Distributing truck was nowhere to be seen. "I knew enough to have Plan B in place," said proprietor Steve Summers, who called Pratt Street Ale House to have a firkin of their just-kegged Dark Mild dispatched up town pronto.  (The Dark Mild is a historic batch for the former Wharf Rat brewery: for the first time the brewery put the entire output of a batch of beer into casks for cask-conditioned beer!)  The firkin arrived an hour or three later, and was set up for pouring that night.  The adjacent restaurant may have had tumbleweeds rolling through it, but the bar crowd was eager and ready.

Why am I doing this?  I sure as hell don't need any more cask Loose Cannon or Dark Mild.  I don't need to risk my butt or car in this stuff.  Did I mention that I stopped at no fewer than FIVE accidents tonight--two in the same intersection?  So why?

Because I believe in cask ale.  I want there to be a thousand or more cask outlets next year.  And that will only happen if and when I support the craft.  The Real Ale Festivals will sell out with or without me.  But this, on the other hand, is evangelizing.  This is taking the Gospel to the unwashed masses, the ones possibly under the heathen spell of North American Industrial Lager.  I want to share The Word with others.

And sometimes, that just means you have to suffer a bit.  But that's all right.  I have a sip of cask in me, and I have the barleywine awaiting me once I get home.

At least I wasn't planning on stout and oysters tomorrow afternoon in Halethorpe. 

The Session: Beer Blogging Friday is a monthly event for the beer blogging community begun by Stan Hieronymus at Appellation Beer, and co-moderated with Jay Brooks at the Brookston Beer Bulletin.  On the first Friday of each month, a predetermined blogger hosts The Session, chooses a specific, beer-related, topic, invites all bloggers to write on it, and posts a roundup of all the responses received.  More here.

Idea of the Day.......

As a paid beer writer, I get quite a bit of spam in my inbox regarding beer.  Much of it is simply wasted, as I don't need to tell my readers (blog or paper) about El Paso Beer Week or the latest beer made by West Coast Pirate Beer or Montana Moose Brewery.

But something interesting popped up from Ontario.

The Ontario Craft Brewers, a group representing 25 breweries in Ontario, is packaging a special six-pack tied in with the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, featuring six "medal winners" from six different breweries.  This is apparently the fourth such special six-pack they have assembled.  The six-pack includes recipes picked to go with the beers included.  Heck, the website's brilliant, too.

Now, if you ask me, this is the kind of marketing that we should be seeing out of the Brewers Association of Maryland, or similar such guilds in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Michigan, etc.  What could be included in Maryland's?  Medal winners is too obvious.  How about winter seasonals, or hoppy beers, or one-offs like Brewers Alley's 1634 Ale?

PS:  First flurry spotted @ 11:06 am here near Druid Hill Park...........

What's On for the Storm, Northeast Update.... UPDATED

A trip to Carney to pick up some equipment from a friend leaving town for the storm gave me the chance to check out what was being served at various places up that-a-ways:

Racers Cafe: Among other things, Lancaster Boss Hog, Sierra Nevada Glissade, Stone Cali-Belgiwue, and Stoudt's Abbey Tripel.  3 mugs for $5.99, except for certain high-priced stuff like the Stone.  Through the doors, Harford Beverage has a freshly-delivered stock of Colossus at $22.99.

Hamilton Tavern: Among other offerings, Brooklyn Pilsner and Victory Yakima Twilight on draft; Coney Island Albino Python, Eugene City Triple Jump Pale Ale, Stone Smoked Porter, and Sierra Nevada Torpedo in bottles.

The Parkside: the usual six drafts, plus bottles of Lagunitas Cappuchino Stout and Magic Hat Vinyl Lager--their spring seasonal, if you're sick of the winter and want to dream ahead....

Alonso's:  Snow or no snow, they're still planning to have their Firkin Friday tomorrow, featuring Heavy Seas!  "Either the Loose Cannon, or their [NEW Siren Noire] chocolate stout," said the hostess. In other drafts, Stone Double Bastard 2009, Troeg's Mad Elf, Blackthorn Cider, and Flying Dog Wild Dog Coffee Stout; in bottles, Weyerbacher Fireside, Gordon Biersch bottles, and Samuel Smith Winter Warmer 2009/2010.
JUST IN: It's Olivers Dark Mild instead.  More to follow tonight.............

Anyone volunteering reports from Canton, Federal Hill, or Fells Point?  Reminder that Muggsy's Mug House STILL has its Week of 100,000 Mugs ongoing through Sunday.........  And that Baltimore Restaurant Week has been extended by at least some restaurants because of the inclement weather, and that was before this weekend....

Milk, Bread, Eggs, Toilet Paper, and Beer?

I generally ignore the Stupor Super Bowl, just because I don't care for either the sport or the hype.  But some good-beer places must be doing something for the occasion.

DuClaw just sent an e-mail: From Friday through Sunday, all three DuClaw Brewing Company locations (not the BWI Airport franchise location) will be offering $3 off all new growler purchases and $1 off all growler refills, as well as discounts on food at the locations during the game itself.

Anyone else?  Or are we all just going to get snowed in?  Do we all run out and get extra beer before a snowstorm?  Or do we just start raiding the backlog of vintage beers, in keeping with the temperatures outside?  And judging from the fact that people in Baltimore all run to the store for the same four things when any cold front crosses the Rocky Mountains, does anyone in Baltimore actually just sit on the john and eat French toast?  I'm, picturing a little electric skillet and syrup dispenser in the bathrooms......

(Side topic:  Beer recommended to accompany French toast: Wells Banana Bread Beer.)

Clipper City/Heavy Seas Oyster Fest POSTPONED

Just in from Clipper City Brewery, home of Heavy Seas Beer:

"We just made the decision to postpone the Oysterfest until next Sat Feb 13 12 - 4pm. Notification to ticket holders is going out via email within the hour.  Questions and concerns can be directed 1 800 830 -3976."

Yeah, the weather forecasts aren't promising.  Hopefully, none of you were planning on hunkering down at Max's for three days of Belgian beer that weekend.......

Latest Mid-Atlantic Brewing News is out--oh, can it.......

Yep, the Feb./March issue of Mid-Atlantic Brewing News is out at your favorite good-beer retailer, brewpub, or beer bar.  Features focus on the 75th anniversary of beer cans.  (Most places don't make it as easy as The Judge's Bench in Ellicott City does to find it.)

If your brew source runs out of MABN, the online edition should be up shortly.  You can also read the papers from elsewhere here.

Go to the website to enter the National IPA Championship and pick winners for the six rounds of judging.  (Enter by Feb. 12th.)  There are a staggering 128 entries, three from Maryland (Clay Pipe Hop-ocalypse, Flying Dog Snake Dog IPA, and Heavy Seas Loose Cannon). 

Olivers Bishop's Indulgence (UPDATED)

(Administrative note: Posting is likely to be light for the next week due to other obligations.)

Just so you don't get the impression that by not saying anything nice about a beer, I don't have anything good to say about it:

The Olivers Bishop's Indulgence is excellent.  Not to chocolately, not too alcoholic, not too roasty, not too Ringwood-y.  Go.  Spoil yourself.  If you can't find parking around the Pratt Street Ale House, a firkin is at Metropolitan in Federal Hill, to be tapped as their Thursday Firkin at 6 p.m. (ALSO on beer engine at Frisco Grille in Columbia @ 4 pm, along with a firkin on the bar of Strongman Pale Ale dry-hopped with Maryland-grown Chinook hops.)

Last night Steve Jones led a little "cask-ale 101" seminar, showing off in part their newest "toy," a glass-ended firkin designed to show off and showcase the contents and process, filled for the occasion with dry-hopped Best Bitter.  I had to miss the seminar for another meeting, and to my chagrin he followed up the seminar with an open bottle of Tactical Nuclear Penguin, the wacko 32% beer from Scotland's BrewDog.  (DUUUUUUDE, if you had TOLD me that bottle was being opened up, I would have gladly postponed that damned meeting!)

"Firkin Week" in Crownsville, and YOU can STILL win an SPBW membership!

For those of you who can't get far enough north into Baltimore, Lures Bar & Grill in Crownsville, Anne Arundel County, is offering a firkin of Heavy Seas Loose Cannon on Saturday the 6th, starting at 11 am, and will follow that with their Beer Club meet-up with Troeg's Nugget Nectar (regular draft, I assume) on Tuesday the 9th and the Society for Preservation of Beers from the Wood gathering there (firkins assured) on Thursday the 11th.

As for the promised SPBW membership for guessing the number of beers at Max's, I said that I wanted ten guesses before I awarded a membership, and so far I only have seven...........

DuClaw Colossus is out in stores

From their e-mail, with a typo or two corrected:

Our enormous abomination has escaped our brewery and was last seen on its way to liquor stores where it will undoubtedly leave havoc in its wake. Colossus is dark amber in color, full-bodied, and perceptively sweet with notes of apple and a surprisingly tame alcohol presence on the palate in light of its staggering 21% abv. This astounding alcohol content (verified by the Siebel Institute) was achieved through fermentation alone; no alcohol was introduced at packaging, nor was the product distilled. It was brewed in 2006 and aged like a wine or brandy to allow its unique flavors to mature and alcohol presence to mellow, but make no mistake, it’s still everything that it’s name implies: Colossally flavorful, colossally potent, colossally good beer.

Yes, folks, this is THE original batch, not a new batch.  In my mind, it's a MUCH better buy for your money than the Sam Adams Utopias (and all the fancy bottle you buy with that three-figure price tag).  This should be on retail shelves for $22/bottle, give or take a buck. In Baltimore City, it should be at Max's (bar prices, of course), Wells, The Wine Source, and Grand Cru.  There's a list of retailers here, but not every place is likely to have it; the list stretches as far as Hockessin, Delaware and several places in the District of Columbia.

Another tip, supposedly from brewer Jim Wagner:

If you heat Colossus in a microwave (be careful it happens quick, and don’t do it in a closed bottle) to 105 degrees, and try it like a mulled wine, you will notice a complete flavor change. Compare to a cooler version at the same time, it will knock your socks off!!

And you don't have to fight an unruly mob, of figure out the secret password or handshake, to get it, either.  Blink and miss it at your own peril.

Note: Photo from RateBeer.com shows the original flip-topped one-liter bottles; the new bottles are  regular crown-capped 22-oz. "bombers", and my promised sample bottle isn't in hand yet.....

Baltimore Has a New Brewer! (UPDATED)

Yes, a new brewer and beer brand:  Stillwater Artisanal Ales.

Belgian-beer blogger and fellow Baltimorean Chuck Cook has all the details--well, enough of them for now, at any rate.  The first of the beers will debut at Max's on Saturday, Feb. 13th.

From the brewer's blog:

We are honored to say that the official debut of Stillwater Artisanal Ales Batch #1 of "Stateside Saison" will debut on Saturday Feb. 13 at Max's Annual Belgian Fest (Baltimore, MD) in the form of 2 rare casks. One dry-hopped and another dry-hopped with french oak added.