Craig Pinhey's BruBlog

Fresh Pilsner At Big Tide and The Pump House 2010 Specialty Line-up

BruBlog, January 2010 

It was great to get back to New Brunswick after a family holiday in Halifax over Xmas and find Sandpiper Pilsner on tap at Big Tide in Saint John.  Brewer Wendy Papadopoulos was a lager specialist brewing out in Canmore, Alberta, so it is no surprise, really, to see a pilsner here.  This was her second go at brewing one with the new Big Tide equipment. The first one she brewed, back around the time the pub opened, didn't meet her personal standards so she didn't put it on tap (I wish all brewers had this discipline). This one, though, is great.  My first whiff of it made me think of Creemore from Ontario, but the hopping is a bit more German.  It has a really nice malty nose, not caramel, just malt, along with the floral European hop aromatics. In the mouth is is quite bitter - I'm guessing around 30-35 IBUs - but the beer has good body, and holds that bitterness easily. It has a clean dry finish - very European in style. Wendy uses decoction mashing, the way they make lager in Germany and Czech republic. Most microbreweries and brewpubs do not do this, as it is more work. I'm not going into the details of this here, but it involves various steps in temperature in order to extract all the subtle flavours from the malt, working the various enzymes that convert starch to the various sugars that are later fermented (or not fermented, in some cases) to give beer its alcohol and slightly sweet malty flavours.  Small breweries don't generally do it, but if they have a brewer who is a purest, they do. Some homebrewers use this technique too.  Enjoy the Sandpiper Pilsner while it lasts. I've been popping in every week for a dose so far this year!

Speaking of other breweries, I was just sent the planned seasonal specialties for Pump House from their brewer Glenn Kervin. These are not written in stone, but it gives you an idea of the way a brewer's mind works. He's trying to match beers to the season, to a certain extent.

The current beer, a Winter Warmer, has just finished up its run, although there may be a few on tap at various pubs. Next is a Biere de Garde, until February 13th. This is a strong French ale made to keep (de garde). It is one of the few "good" beer styles associated with France. From Feb 13th-25th  Kervin plans an Apricot Stout and Strawberry Ale, which sound pretty wacky. Next, until March 25th, is an Amber Ale, which I'll assume is a pretty standard session brew.

March 26th will see a Maple Ale, which is timed to use fresh maple syrup from New Brunswick, I would assume, if the trees co-operate. From May 15th-September 15th is the annual run of their popular summer wheat beer specialities:  Weizen, Thai Wheat, Raspberry, and Tropical Weizen. The fall and early winter are lager brewing season for Kervin, and we'll  see their annual Oktoberfest lager on tap, just in time for the accompanying festivals, up until Halloween. Then he has a Schwarzbier planned, a black, full bodied, German style lager.  The year finishes up with the Baltic Porter, a strong dark lager which will be available all through December.

That's a year in the life of a craft brewer!  And craft beer drinkers too,  I guess.

Cheers! 

Craig 

Craig Pinhey is a Sommelier, Certified beer judge and freelance writer. Visit him at frogspad.ca. Follow him on Twitter as frogspadca.

Please note that Craig Pinhey is a freelance writer and the views expressed in BruBlog are that of the author's.

Christmas Beers Put the XXX in Xmas

It's Ho Ho Ho season, and no that's not a Tiger Woods joke. When it gets chilly and you end up spending a lot of time at home gathered around the fire, or you are looking to warm up in your favourite pub, this is the time to sip on winter warmers, also known to some folks as Christmas beer.  Technically speaking, I guess Christmas beer should have spices in it, but my general thought about winter beers and Christmas beers is the same: they are strong.

The United Kingdom tradition is for strong ales in the winter, the strongest being so-called Barley Wines, often with funny names like Old Somethingorother.  These "Winter Warmers" are fruity ales with lots of malt flavours and alcohol.  They can be fairly high in hops, but that's overshadowed by sweet malt and the perceived sweetness of alcohol. Here in New Brunswick we currently have two strong English Ales that I really enjoy: Fullers Extra Special Bitter,  $3.99/500 ml, and Fullers Vintage Ale $6.99/500 ml.  

Our local micros typically specialize in UK style ales, and produce seasonal high test brews. Picaroons has a yummy Winter Warmer that has molasses flavours. I look forward to it  every year.  I prefer it on tap, but you can buy it at the ANBL for $3.75/500 ml. Halifax's Garrison has a tasty Winter Warmer on sale here, too, for $4.95/500 ml.  Check out your local Pump House Brewery-friendly pub, too, as they release regular specialty brews on tap.

At Big Tide brewpub in Saint John brewer Wendy Papadopoulos has crafted what she calls "Santa's Chocolate Porter," made with real cocoa. It's quite delicious, unless you don't like chocolate...

In Belgium, strong, spicy beer is an all year long affair, although I expect people drink more of these in the cold weather. We have a traditional Belgian brewery in Quebec called Unibroue, and we get two of their authentic strong ales: La Fin du Monde ($5.40/750 ml) and the darker, maltier Maudite (6 for $13.60, or $5.40/750ml). I really enjoy these on a cold winter's day.

Strong lager beers (bock, doppelbock, eisbock) are common in Germany and its neighbouring countries, including Scandinavia.  These are often dark, with very malty flavours.  The ones we get here are not great, except Aventinus, which is almost gone from the stores.

If you want an authentic strong lager, one of the best I've ever tasted is Garrison's Baltic Porter, $5.99/500 ml. As of writing this, they have it in the warehouse at the ANBL, and it should be rolling out to stores soon. I suggest you be there to catch it.

Cheers and Hoppy Holidays!

Craig

Craig Pinhey is a sommelier, certified beer judge and freelance writer. Visit him at www.frospad.ca

Please note the Craig Pinhey is a freelance writer and the views expressed in BruBlog are solely that of Mr. Pinhey's.

Craig Pinhey's BruBlog on Small Beer

Small Beer

I'm not sure why the subject of small beer came up really, since I am now away in France doing wine touring in the Rhone and a bit in Burgundy, in France.  Beer is not that important around here. I've barely had a drop of barley soda since I got here. Why would I when the wine is so damn good, and so fairly priced, and the beer is generally at "suckage factor high"?

It might have been the news that Nick Pashley was appearing on CBC Maritime Noon in a phone interview.  He has a new book out on the saga of drinking in Canada: "Cheers ! An Intemperate History of Beer in Canada."  I haven't read it yet, but his previous book: "Notes on a Beermat," was brilliant reading for someone like me, who loves a good pint in a nice pub. I will certainly read the new book.

I know that Nick appreciates good English beer, as I shared a pint with him a couple of years ago at the Grad Pub at U of T in TO. We both understand, as do many lovers of English ale, that the alcohol level of beer is not necessarily directly proportional to the flavour, or the enjoyment.

Small beers were traditionally low alcohol beer brewed for labourers and perhaps also enjoyed by women and children.

3.5% is plenty of alcohol for a really good Ordinary Bitter in England. That sort of ale can have loads of body, flavour and aromatics, but good luck finding a brew like that here across the pond.

The only 3.5% beer I know of is Molson Canadian 67 (low calorie) Lager, at 67 calories and 0 flavour. Seriously, this is not beer, not by my definition. Does it taste bad? No, it just doesn't taste.

People may think that 5% alcohol is needed for beer to have body and flavour, but this is simply wrong. Good low-alcohol ale, made from a special selection of barley malt and mashed and fermented in a specific manner, has a lot of body, without alcohol needed to beef it up.  Then they use a goodly (that sounds like an old English novel, and that is on purpose)  amount of hops for flavour and aroma, so that the beer has complexity, intensity, and balance.

So, where are these beers to be found in Atlantic Canada, and, specifically, New Brunswick? They simply are not. 

When I lived in Ontario I drank a lot of Wellington County Arkell Bitter,  which, as I recall, eventually got rebranded for the bottled version, to be called a light ale. They still serve it on tap from the cask at many Ontario bars, and call it Bitter. That is the correct name for the style. it is a bit stronger than Ordinary, at 4%, but it is definitely light in alcohol by Canadian standards. It is not light in flavour, though, and that's my point.

Canadian Big Breweries are trying to play the micro game with their white beers, red beers, and dark ales. A smarter move than releasing more watery light lagers would be to produce a light ale that is low in calories but high in flavour, and market it in the bottle as a "Light Ale With Flavour" and on tap as a "Best Bitter."

I also think our microbreweries should pursue this, and Garrison Brewery in Halifax is due for one, which was promised to the winner of their homebrew competition earlier in 2009.  I'm still waiting for it, impatiently.  I like my beer small,  small but with character, which brings me back to France.*

Cheers!

Craig

*That's  a Napoleon reference in case you didn't get it.

Craig Pinhey is a Sommelier, Certified beer judge and freelance writer. Visit him at frogspad.ca.

Disclaimer: Craig Pinhey is a freelance writer. The views expressed in BruBlog are that of Mr. Pinhey's and not shared by DiningPick.com, Delora Media or any member of its management or staff.

Craig Pinhey's BruBlog on Pumpkin Beer

I like the pumpkin beer tradition for Halloween.  We used to host kickass Halloween parties when I lived in Hamilton. I was really into homebrewing then, judging or running national competitions for CABA, the Canadian Amateur Brewer's Association (www.homebrewers.ca), brewing beer to enter in competitions sometimes, and I had 2 or 3 of my own all-grain brews on tap at all times. I loved the concept of making an annual special beer just for a Halloween party.

 

And what kind of beer? Pumpkin of course!

 

I'm not the only one. Many craft brewers around North America, especially in the USA,  make them every year. A quick glance at the pumpkin beers reviewed at ratebeer.com shows you a few interesting beer names. Here's a sampling:

 

Midnight Sun Oak Aged Imperial Chocolate Pumpkin Porter 
Southern Tier Pumking 
Cigar City Good Gourd Imperial Pumpkin Ale 
Flossmoor Station Big Black Pumpkin 
Jolly Pumpkin Special Holiday Ale
Elysian The Great Pumpkin
Weyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin Ale

 

Down east we've had a few.  Propeller in Halifax has had success with theirs. They just released their latest version (you can see the cool, scary label at http://www.drinkpropeller.ca/)  to pretty positive reviews. Not sure why we don't get it in NB, as we have a good selection of their other tasty brews.  As they say on their site: "Propeller brews this unique ale using Howard Dill's® world famous Atlantic Giant Pumpkins® with a special selection of spices. That's in addition to the usual ingredients: highest quality malted grain, hops, water and yeast. It takes big pumpkins to make big beer."

 

This makes me want Pumpkin Beer!

 

Luckily, Saint Johners can pop down to Big Tide Brewing Company on Princess Street and drink Pumpkin Ale.  I was there earlier this week to give it a try, and it's great! It has the tasty spices you know from pumpkin pie, such as cinnamon and clove, and it has low bitterness, so it is pretty easy drinking. It pretty much tastes like a low hopped pale ale with pumpkin pie spice!

 

How do you make beer from pumpkin? It's pretty easy. I've done it a few times. First you cut up a pumpkin and scoop out all the goopy seeds and stringy bits, then you roast the pumpkin "meat" in the oven for around an hour at 300-350 degrees F until the meat can be separated from the rind fairly easily. You still need barley malt to make the beer - the pumpkin usually makes up less than half of the total weight, in some cases only 15 or 20%. But this roasted pumpkin will give both pumpkin flavour and a somewhat orange colour. 

 

All-grain brewers generally would add the pumpkin to the mash, so the pulpy stuff gets strained out with the spent grain, but I have seen recipes where people add cooked pumpkin to the boil.

 

Spices like nutmeg, cinnamon, clove, or an allspice blend are added at various stages in the boil, just like how they add hops. Boiling some of the spices for a long period will give some bitterness, which is a nice balance to the pumpkin. 

 

Really, though, we just want Pumpkin Ale to be a liquid pumpkin pie, only it's beer too, of course...

 

 

Cheers!

Craig

 

Craig Pinhey is a Sommelier, Certified beer judge and  and freelance writer. Visit him at frogspad.ca.

 

BruBlog is updated on the first day of each month.

 

Disclaimer: Please note that Craig Pinhey is a freelance writer and the opinon expressed in BruBlog is that of the author solely.