Last Drink of 2009

No, not beer....

Last of a big bottle of Drambuie, a bottle given to me by staff at the closing Capitol City Brewing Co. Inner Harbor location for being the last one out the door that last night.  A toast to absent and departed friends.

So here's a hand, my trusty friends
And gie a hand o' thine,
And we'll take a right gud willy-waught
For days o' auld lang syne............

Vintage Notes: 2004 Anchor Our Special Ale

Pours a deep porter opaque as did the others.....  better head retention..........  nose of spiced oatmeal and gingerbread porter.  Somewhat lackluster and light on the palate initially compared to the previous OSA entries, but finishes with a touch of raisin.  Not as dry, either, and I think the sweetness mollifies the flavor somewhat.

DuClaw To Close Fells Point Location Tonight

Boy, if I want news to report, I just have to walk away from the computer for a few hours.

The news broke from several fronts simultaneously--Elizabeth Large's "Dining @ Large" blog and Sam Sessa's "Midnight Sun" blog at the Baltimore Sun's website, the City Paper's "Feedbag" blog, and a couple e-mails and other blogs--that DuClaw Brewing is closing its Fells Point location tonight.

Speculation runs rampant as to the reasons, with several folks suggesting the place did not have enough business and had bad service and/or beer.  That was never the case when I was there--it was always consistently busy and crowded with a seemingly loyal crowd and good, solid beers.  However, Sam's Midnight Sun blog says:

[Company owner David] Benfield said a disagreement with the building's landlord, dwindling  business in the winter months and the smoking ban contributed to the decision to shutter the business. The company's other locations will remain open, Benfield said.

This sounds hauntingly similar to the huge rent increase that sparked the decision of Capital City Brewing Co. to pull out of its Inner Harbor location several years ago.  But there are also recent reports of legal troubles.......

Looks like I have another "brew pub wake" to attend tonight............

On the other hand, there was good news in that the next batch of DuClaw's Colossus barleywine, its entry into the ultimate-beer sweepstakes, brewed in 2006 and aged nearly four years, will be bottled and sent out to retail markets in January, with a reported proice of $21.99/22-ouncer.   This sure beats the extremely-limited-release they did a while back of their first batch, where you practically had to "know the secret handshake" to be offered a bottle at all, and I recall the price being much higher than that..........

UPDATE:  I received the following mass e-mail from DuClaw's e-mail newsletter list a short while ago:

It is with great sadness that we announce the closing of our restaurant in Fells Point on 12/31/2009. While speculation, bizarre conspiracy theories and criticism will run rampant, the simple fact of the matter is that for whatever reason, Fells Point was never quite the right fit for us and vice versa. So, with three thriving restaurants, bottled beer in liquor stores and a franchise location coming soon, now seemed like the right time to pull out of an area in which we never felt truly comfortable.

For the last 5 years, we had some great, loyal customers and employees. Thank you to everyone that ate, drank and worked with us in Fells Point; we’ll miss you. You are all still more than welcome to join us in Bel Air, Arundel Mills and Bowie for the same great beer, food and wine, to use your Pint Club memberships, or redeem gift cards purchased through the Fells Point restaurant. We’re still around, so come see us!

We’ll miss Fells Point, our regulars and staff, but it’s time to say goodbye. You win some, you lose some.

Dave Benfield, President
DuClaw Brewing Company

Brewers Art Update

If you don't get to The Brewer's Art in the next day or so for the St. Festivus, kiss it goodbye until next year--the last keg was running low last night, and at the same time the last sixtel of the current Zodiac single-hop pale ale with Amarillo hops was running out, with a replacement unlikely for a week or two.  "We find that the holiday beers just don't tend to sell after the holidays, no matter how good they are," said manager Volker Stewart as he helped himself to a "quality-control" sample of the Zodiac.  He said that a German "guest beer" was very likely to share the taps with the house beers during the first weeks of January.

Max's 5th Annual Belgian Beer Fest Feb. 12-14

This just in from Max's Taphouse:

We are just over a moth away for this year's Belgian Beer Fest. We will have over 120 authentic Belgian Beers on draft, over 150 authentic Belgian beers in bottles, and a full Belgian-inspired food menu. We will also have a free Belgian Breakfast buffet on Friday Feb 12 at 11am.

MAX'S BELGIAN FEST DRAFT LIST 75% DONE [spelling corrections by yours truly]:

Houblon Chouffe

La Chouffe

Mc Chouffe

N' Ice Chouffe

Alvinne Bathazaar

Alvinne Extra

Alvinne Gaspar

Alvinne Melchior

Alvinne Oak Aged Bathazaar

Alvinne Oak Aged Podge

Barbar Winterbok

Bockor Cuvee Des Jacobins Rouge

Brugse Zot Dubbel

Cantillon Gueze

Cantillon Iris

Cantillon Rose De Grambrinus

Cazeau Tournay

Cazeau Tournay Black

Contreras Valier Blonde

Contreras Valier Divers

Contreras Valier Extra

De Dochter Van De Korenaar Emblasse

De Dochter Van De Korenaar Noblesse

De Glazen Toren Angelique

De Glazen Toren Jan de Lichte

De Glazen Toren Ondinke

De Glazen Toren Saison De Erpe Mere

De Proef Van Twee

De Ranke Noir De Dottignies

De Regenboog T' Smisje Triple

De Regenboog Catherine the Great

De Regenboog Guido

De Regenboog T' Smisje Dubbel

De Regenboog T' Smisje Plus

De Regenboog T' Smisje Speciale

De Regenboog Vuuve

De Regenbbog Wostijnte

Delirium Tremens

Duvel Green

Ellezelloise Hercules Stout

Ellezelloise Quintien Blonde

Geants Urchon

Geants Gouyasse

Gulden Draak Vintage

Het Alternatief Eerwaarde Pater

Het Alternatief Hik Blonde

Het Alternatief Piet Agoras

La Trappe Isidor

Silly Enghien De Noel

Sint Canarus Pere Canard

Sint Canarus Triple

Slaapmutske Kerstmutske

Slaapmutske Dry Hopped Lager

St Bernardus Christmas

St Feuillien Blanche

St Fueillien Saison

Struise Tsjeeses

Van Honsebrouck Bacchus

Van Honsebrouck Gueuze Fond Tradition

De Dolle Dulle Teve

De Dolle Stille Nacht

De Koninck Winter

De Ranke Guldenberg

De Ranke XX Bitter

Dupont Avec Les Bons Voeux

La Rulles Estivale

Petrus Winter

Scaldis Noel

Van Bossche Buffalo Stout

Echt Kriekenbier

Heavy Seas' 2010 Beer Release Schedule

As announced by Hugh Sisson at his blog minutes ago:

Winter 2010

HOLY SHEET  Über Abbey Ale 9% ABV  - A Belgian Abbey style that is both aromatic and full bodied.   It will benefit with aging up to two years.  Mutiny Fleet – 22 oz and draft – limited release.  January.

SIREN NOIRE   Chocolate Stout 8%  ABV -  English style imperial stout, fermented and flavored with imported Belgian chocolate nibs. Smooth and easy drinking.  Named for the Sirens who lured seafarers off course and ultimately to their demise. Mutiny Fleet – 22 oz and draft – limited release.  February. NEW

Spring 2010

Big DIPA  Double IPA 10.6%  ABV – Triple hopped during brewing, well balanced with  an earthy hop aroma and flavor.  Brewed with 5 pounds of hops per barrel!!!  Mutiny Fleet – 22 oz and draft – limited release.  March.

LETTER OF MARQUE  Hop Rye Porter – Winners from our 2009 Letter of Marque Homebrew Competition will work along side our brewers to create this one time special release.   Letter of Marque will feature a different beer every year selected from our national homebrew competition.  Historically, a Letter of Marque was a document that made a Pyrate a legitimate professional.  Hence, our Letter of Marque makes a home brewer a legitimate professional as well!  Mutiny Fleet – 22 oz and draft – limited release. April. NEW

RED SKY AT NIGHT -  Belgian style Saison  7.5 % ABV -  country farm house ale. A complex yet delicate ale, brewed with a unique Belgian yeast which develops a spicy, fruity flavor.   Pyrate Fleet – 12 oz and draft -  available March thru May.

BELOW DECKS (BARREL AGED) – Barley Wine 10% ABV – Our award winning barley wine which has been aged two ways -  in wooden bourbon barrels and cabernet barrels.  It will benefit with aging. VINTAGE DATED  Mutiny Fleet – 22 oz and draft – VERY limited release. May. NEW

Summer 2010

SMOKE ON THE WATER – Smoked Imperial Porter  - Details are Top Secret.  Mutiny Fleet – 22 oz. and draft – limited release.  June. NEW

HANG TEN  Weizen Dopplebock 10% ABV – A classic German-style weizen bock, slightly cloudy and bursting with flavor. It will benefit with aging up to two years.  VINTAGE DATED.  Mutiny Fleet – 22 oz and draft – limited release.  July.

SUMMER ALE -  Details are Top Secret.  Clipper Fleet – 12 oz and draft -available June thru September.  NEW

Fall 2010

PROSIT!  Imperial Oktoberfest Lager  8% ABV -  Malt focused with five types of grain including Vienna and Munich malts -  plus a secret extra malt that we use only in our Prosit!  Balanced with 3 kinds of hops.  Mutiny Fleet – 22 oz and draft – limited release.   August.

THE GREAT PUMPKIN   Imperial Pumpkin Ale   8.5% ABV - We add the pumpkin during the mash at precisely the right time to create just the perfect balance of malt, hops, pumpkin and spice.  Mutiny Fleet – 22 oz and draft – limited release.  September.

THE GREATer  PUMPKIN  Imperial Pumpkin Ale   9% ABV tbd  -  Our Great Pumpkin enhanced by aging in bourbon barrels.  Mutiny Fleet – 22 oz and draft – VERY limited release.   September NEW

Early Winter 2010

WINTER STORM Imperial ESB  7.5%ABV  -  Brewed with copious helpings of English malts plus US and English hops. Full malty flavors dancing with powerful hop aromas and a lingering, firm hop bitterness. .   Pyrate Fleet – 12 oz and draft -  available October thru December

BELOW DECKS   Barley Wine  10% ABV -  Our English style barley wine  - rich, malty, and opulent. Great at time of release but will benefit from bottle aging for many years to come. VINTAGE DATED.  Mutiny Fleet – 22 oz and draft – limited release.  November

YULE TIDE  Belgian Tripel Ale  10% ABV -  Slightly sweet with a complex malty flavor. The spicy flavor comes from our unique blend of Trappist yeast and Belgian candi sugar - making it both aromatic and flavorful. It will benefit with aging up to two years.  VINTAGE DATED.  Mutiny Fleet – 22 oz and draft – limited release.  November

Through this, you should be able to discern a shift in packaging strategies: a division of the "armada" into the 22-ounce bottle "Mutiny Fleet," and the "Pyrate" and "Clipper" fleets in 12-ounce bottles.  Note also the plans to brew a formal batch of the GreatER Pumpkin, the spectacular experimental aged-in-bourbon-barrels Great Pumpkin, for consumer purchase (albeit limited supply).  Note two new beers, the Letter of Marque hop rye porter in April, and Smoke on the Water smoked imperial porter for June.

"Artificial alcohol" that doesn't get you drunk?

Article from the UK's Telegraph newspaper:

An alcohol substitute that mimics its pleasant buzz without leading to drunkenness and hangovers is being developed by scientists.   

The new substance could have the added bonus of being "switched off" instantaneously with a pill, to allow drinkers to drive home or return to work. 

The synthetic alcohol, being developed from chemicals related to Valium, works like alcohol on nerves in the brain that provide a feeling of wellbeing and relaxation. 

But unlike alcohol its does not affect other parts of the brain that control mood swings and lead to addiction. It is also much easier to flush out of the body.  Finally because it is much more focused in its effects, it can also be switched off with an antidote, leaving the drinker immediately sober.  The new alcohol is being developed by a team at Imperial College London, led by Professor David Nutt, Britain's top drugs expert who was recently sacked as a government adviser for his comments about cannabis and ecstasy.

Don't get excited.  Any substance like this, because it's designed to alter mental states upon ingestion, would come under the purvey of the Food and Drug Administration, and ergo would end up being more heavily regulated, and thus more expensive, than ordinary booze.  And I love their fantasy that "the recovered ethanol (the chemical name for alcohol) could be sold as fuel".  Right......  Gasoline would still be far cheaper.

Besides which, I don't buy the premise that alcohol is "flavourless" as the article implies.  A large part of the reason non-alcoholic beer is unpopular is because it doesn't have the esthers and mouthfeel an alcoholic beverage does.

Thoughts?

 

Vintage Notes: 2001 Christmas Ale homebrew

The cap says "2001 #2 22-10-01", meaning it's a bottle of the second batch of homebrew Xmas ale my friend and I did in 2001, bottled on Oct. 21 of that year.

Pours as black as an Imperial stout, with a rich brown head to match, though head retention is poor.  Nose is unusual--pepper, faint licorice and black cherry.  Flavor is very fruity and slightly sweet, with notes of dry Scottish ale, plums, and raisins.  Definitely a "fruitcake" beer, but with a very weak and light mouthfeel much more akin to Anchor OSA or a session beer than a big winter beer.  Flavor lies on the tongue heavily, coating it like iodine.  Sweet at the front of the tongue, but chalky and drying at the back, with some juniper notes. 

All in all, a pleasant beer, which I would definitely get a six-pack of.  If I could change it, I'd up the alcohol a bit more, possibly with a dose (or extra dose) of honey.    Now, I wonder if I still have the recipe scribbled down somewhere?

Beer Perfume? Well, Not Quite........

I just saw a TV "news" report from Seattle, broadcast on local NBC affiliate WBAL-DT's noon news, depicting a new "beer perfume."  A quick online search revealed many other news/"news" outlets repeating the story verbatim.

"Beer perfume"?  Not quite.

The product is a joint project between Blue Marble Energy, a "Seattle-based company utilizing hybridized bacterial consortia to produce specialty biochemicals and renewable biogas", and Sweet Anthem, a Seattle perfume boutique specializing in vegan perfume products. 

The perfume in question, Eos, available in both male and female fragrances, claims to be the only commercial perfume products not using petroleum products in its production: 

EOS is petrochemical-free, containing only bioderived and organic materials. And best of all, EOS is carbon neutral. The EOS line features a special selection of Blue Marble Energy’s bioester fragrances as the top note, carefully blended with Sweet Anthem’s custom heart notes and low notes. The Blue Marble Energy bioesters used in both EOS fragrances are derived from certified organic brewery grain. All other ingredients are locally sourced from the most reputable distributers [sic] of organic, sustainable, or wild harvested materials.

And no, it doesn't smell like beer.  Or hops, for that matter--though Hop Union was passing around a hop-based  cologne some years back.......  or there's this from the UK.....

Vintage Notes: 2002 Anchor Our Special Ale

Pours a deep, bright chocolately porter colour, with rich but short-lasting head.  Bottle was filled almost to the top with as little headspace as I've ever seen in a commercial bottle.  Nose, oddly, is more akin to oriental spices than traditional brewing or pastry spices. 

This one is drier than current fresh Anchor OSAs, but has a certain full mouthfeel and richness of flavor that hearkens back to spiced, not-overly-sweetened Mexican chocolate sans vanilla.  It also packs a subtle hint of smokiness and peppery flavor, reminding me vaguely of the hugely smoky Lapsang Souchang tea blend.    Finish has a light plum fruitiness.

This is by far the nicest of the "aged Anchor OSAs" I've tried.  The flavor mutates just enough to be different without losing essential qualities of the original.  Well done.  Good thing I have two more bottles.