Who Needs Beer?

Kansas Blue Law Bans Sale of Alcohol During Oktoberfest Festival

10 Ways to Celebrate Bourbon

And do I love to "celebrate" Bourbon. I have got try the maple bourbon ice cream. Yes, it is a slide show from the Huffington Post but, boy do I have to work my way through this list because oddly for me I have tried none of them.

8 Beers Americans No longer Drink

Msnbc has a list of beers that have had tremendous declines in sales over the last five years. Their headline is a bit misleading since they include Budweiser on the list which sells 18 million barrels a year which is an interesting definition of "nobody" and then they go on to point out that the beer that sells the most is...Bud light. So I doubt InBev is gong anywhere anytime soon. On the other hand regular Budweiser has gone lost 7 million barrels in consumption a year so I guess there are quite a few executives who are currently worried about keeping their jobs.

Open That Damned Bottle of Wine!

Way back in the year 2000 (which was either the last year of the 20th century or the first year of the 21rst, depending on who you ask) Dorothy Gaiter and John Brecher who wrote the Wall Street Journal's wine column got tired of hearing people with a fantastic (and expensive) bottle of wine somewhere in their house refuse to open until an undefined "special occasion" that never seemed to arrive. So they did exactly what you would do in that situation--they created their own holiday. "Open That Bottle Of Wine Night", where the "special occasion" would be opening that wine. They scheduled it for the last Saturday night in February (which means of course that we missed it--but hey, I've only been doing this blog for less that two, weeks cut me some slack). It's a great idea but I don't think it goes far enough, every night is open that bottle of wine night. Hmm, maybe that goes a bit too far--not that I'd be averse to everybody buying a bottle of Duckhorn Vineyards Three Palm Vineyard Merlot 2001 $99 (one of my favorite wines in the world) every night after work, especially if they bought it from me, but what I mean is that people a messing up the price value ratio when they are talking about wine.

Say you you and three or four friends meet a bar or restaurant for couple of drinks to sit around and talk. Each one of you can easily spend 10 or 20 bucks on two or three glasses of wine or mixed drinks. for that kind of money you guys could have bought a bottle Duckhorn and sat around in someone's living room talking with your friends and drinking the best wine any of you have every tasted. Heck for less than $15 dollars per person you could try Chimney Rock Napa Cab. The purpose of wine (kinda like life) is to create memories. And aren't you going to create better memories at someones house drinking a spectacular wine then sitting in some booth somewhere drinking generic beer and eating chicken wings underneath a stuffed moose head that's wearing sunglasses? Well aren't you. So what are you waiting for?

By the way, I am aware that I'm not a disinterested observer in this as I am actually selling the wine we're talking about. But seriously, how many times have you balked at buying a $15 bottle of wine and the next day paid $10 dollars for a glass of wine at a restaurant? Add it up, I think my point will remain valid.

"Drunken Elk Rescued From Swede's Apple Tree"

Not only is that the real headline, it accurately describes the article. The explanation:

According to Johansson, it looked very much like the elk was severely drunk after eating too many fermenting apples.
Drunken elk are common in Sweden during the autumn season when there are plenty of apples lying around on the ground and hanging from branches in Swedish gardens.

My favorite quote:

“My neighbour recognised it as the animal that almost ran into her car earlier in the day. She was pretty sure the elk was already under the influence,“ said Johansson

.

Brewdog, Tokyo 12oz. $13

My favorite beer. Bar none. Let me repeat that....... MY......FAVORITE.....BEER. As I may have mentioned before I like extreme flavors and Tokyo is as extreme as beers get. It's an imperial stout brewed with cranberries and jasmine (cranberries? jasmine? Yes. And yes) then aged on oak chips. It is an epic beer. Also 18% alcohol, like I said, epic. Ultra rich ultra intense spicy and herbal flavors. It drinks like a port. The bad news is that there was only one case left in Maryland and no one knows when or if we are going to get any more. The good news is that we snagged the last case. this may be your last chance take it.

Cork!

Chris Madden has a very pro cork essay in Gizmodo. And let me just say I agree with him as far as it goes. Cork has amazing properties and which explains why it has been the stopper of choice for mankind over the last few thousand years. But...(you knew there was a but didn't you?) corks can ruin wine. It can leak a chemical called TCA into the wine which while harmless, tastes terrible. There is some controversy as to how many bottles of wine are ruined by corks but the estimates I've heard boil down to 5% give or take. That's a lot of wine.

The pro-cork people fire back that cork is superior to screw caps no matter how cleverly designed when it comes to aging wine (read Chris's article to find out why). But aging I think is beside the point since the vast majority of wine drinkers in the world don't age their wine. They buy wine and drink it within two weeks at the most. So why should they have to suffer to have one out of every 20 bottles of wine they buy be undrinkable? They shouldn't, and know whit the new stelvin screw caps they don't have to. Traditionalist beware screw caps are winning and very soon will be the industry standard.

Earthquakes, Hurricanes......

Next I'm expecting a zombie apocalypse. I hope they like wine. Or at least a decent craft beer.

A Grilled Cheese Martini

By way of Boing Boing we find out about the creative process involved in creating a martini infused with an actual grilled cheese sandwich.

"If you're feeling a little apprehensive about the idea, you're not alone — general manager Sarah Jennerjahn had a similar reaction when chef-owner Kurt Dammeier first presented her with the idea. But for Dammeier the concept was seemingly pretty straightforward. "Well, just grill up a couple of our Flagship sandwiches until they are perfectly ready to eat and then put them in a container and pour vodka over them," he explained to her."

Maui Brewing co. Coconut Porter

I like extreme flavors. Also weird. Weird flavors are kinda my thing. So naturally when I heard Maui brewing Co. was coming into the Maryland market with their "Coconut Porter" I had to try it, like now. As you might expect from the name Maui Brewing company is from Hawaii, Maui to be exact. Dedicated to the environment (cans) and to interesting beer. Their IPA is great as is their lager, but the beer I wanted was "Coconut Porter". I was expecting some kind of weird Pina Colada-esque beer atrocity that would be the kind of beer only I would like and would not be able to sell to anyone else. What I got was a darn good porter a really darn good porter. Rich chocolate and coffee flavors lightened by something--coconut perhaps? But not a lot of coconut, in fact if you hadn't told me that light refreshing flavor at the end of the palate was coconut, I probably wouldn't have figured it out. Anyway, I couldn't wait to taste it when we brought it in so I opened a can, and being the generous soul that I am I shared. We sold out in 45 minutes. Try this beer.

AC/DC Has a Wine Brand

This is not a joke, at least not in other than the cosmic sense. Sadly it will only be available in Australia. I wonder what the wines will be named......

Back In Black Shiraz, Highway To Hell Cabernet Sauvignon and You Shook Me All Night Long Moscato are just some of the varieties that will be available.

Marco Donati, Trentino,Muller Thurgau, Albeggio 2009, $19.99

Have you ever wondered who crossbred Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc in order to create Cabernet Sauvignon? Me neither. But someone did create it and no one will ever know who. Which makes it kind of interesting when you find a grape that we do know who created it. Muller (it has an umlaut but I don't know how to type that, so use you imagination) Thurgau (no umlaut) is the second most widely planted varietal in Germany and you have never heard of it. Muller (umlaut) Thurgan (no umlaut) was created by Hermann Muller (umlaut) a botanist born in 1850 in Thurgau Switzerland when he tried to crossbreed Riesling and Silvaner and failed by accidentally crossbreeding Riesling and Madeline Royale. He was trying to create a hardy grape that could withstand the not-french-at-all climate and soils of central Europe. And boy did he succeed at that. He ended up with a early ripening high yield grape that makes a mild fruit forward low acid wine that blends perfectly with Riesling to make say a Piesporter or Liebfraumilch. But I like the Italian version.

Case in point (you knew I had to get to the point eventually didn't you?) Marco Donati, Trentino, Muller Thurgau, Albeggio, A great austere,but approachable (remember fruit-forward and low acid?) wine from northern Italy. The name, i'ts not as confusing as it seems, "Marco Donati" is the winery, "Trentino" is where it's from, "Muller Thurgau" and "Alebggio" is the name--I think, I admit I'm not terribly sure anyway according to the internet "alebeggio" is Italian for "the first-person singular present indicative of albeggiere" I hope that helps.

Apparently I Am a Supercar

Lotus invents a car that runs on wine, chocolate, and cheese. No, really.

Boxed Wine!?!

Yes, boxed wine.

Horrifically Bad Restaurant Websites

Slate has an article by Farhad Manjoo trying to figure out why restaurant websites are so bad.I agree with the premise. I mean I really agree with the premise. I think in my entire life (the internet part, anyway) I've seen maybe two good restaurant websites. It drives me nuts. You look up a restaurant to get idea of it's menu and instead you have to sit though a 5 minute flash animation of nothing i'm remotely interested in. I think this encapsulate the conclusion best:

"Say you're a designer and you've got to demo a site you've spent two months creating," Bohan explains. "Your client is someone in their 50s who runs a restaurant but is not very in tune with technology. What's going to impress them more: Something with music and moving images, something that looks very fancy to someone who doesn't know about optimizing the Web for consumer use, or if you show them a bare-bones site that just lists all the information? I bet it would be the former—they would think it's great and money well spent."

Speaking of Pumpkin Ale

The current pumpkin ales are strictly a recent invention of America's craft beer industry. But interestingly (at least to me) this is not the first time America has invented a pumpkin ale. in the colonial era when colonists were short of barley and wealthy in pumpkins they would make a beer by fermenting pumpkin juice. On homebrew.com I found that The American Philosophical Society has recipe from 1771:

Receipt for Pompion Ale: Let the Pompion be beaten in a Trough and pressed as Apples. The expressed Juice is to be boiled in a Copper a considerable Time and carefully skimmed that there may be no Remains of the fibrous Part of the Pulp. After that Intention is answered let the Liquor be hopped cooled fermented &c. as Malt Beer.

Frankly I'd like to try it. But not enough to juice a bunch of pumpkins.

It's October

Well, in the beer industry it is. One of the unfortunate aspects of the market for beer is that seasonal autumn beers do not sell after October 31, they just don't (even though November has great weather for drinking a marzen). So for years craft brewers have making their fall launch dates earlier and earlier in order give some time for the beer to sell. And so now as far as beer is concerned October starts August 1.

Anyway, the reason I brought this up is we just got in or first shipment of pumpkin ales. Sometime in the 1980's a brewer was drinking beer and though, "Needs pumpkin!" Adding pumpkin to beer may sound like a strange idea but not only does it make a delicious beer but a strikingly popular one too. So popular in fact, that it is turning into the default autumn seasonal. Which brings us to what I consider one the best pumpkin ales year in and year out one of the best examples of the style Weyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin Ale. It has caramelized pumpkin flavor with lost of cinnamon and nutmeg. In other words tastes like liquid pumpkin pie in beer form. Here is what the Weyerbacher people say about it.

This 8.0% ABV pumpkin ale is the mother of all pumpkin ales. It is heartier, spicier, and more “caramelly” and “pumpkiny” than its faint brethren! We have added lots of pumpkin along with Cinnamon, Nutmeg and a touch of cardamom and clove giving this beer a spicy, full-bodied flavor. This truly is an Imperial Pumpkin ale.

Try it soon, it won't be around long.

Mulderbosch Cabernet Sauvignon Rose' is Back!

This is actually a post I wrote last year about Mulderbosch's exquisite Rose'. Now, normally I don't approve of re-posting (it seems dishonest somehow). But, I'm making an exception in this case because we just got the new vintage and and the only that's changed is that it's even better.

Let's talk White Zinfandel.......or not. I'm kidding of course.....well....sorta. One of my favorite wine styles is rose'. That's right rose'. Dry rose'. It can be a wonderful expressive full-flavored, refreshing, and (not unimportantly) quite inexpensive wine. And I get everyone I can to try it. Which isn't that many, because when I show someone a bottle they look at me as if I am completely insane. At wine tastings I've had sophisticated wine customers that I've recommended dozens of wine to that they never would have tried on their own and I know that they trust my judgement that I have to go through a 10 minute song and dance just get them to taste it.

Red wine is made by crushing the grapes and fermenting the wine with the grape skins still in, which brings out all that rich color and flavor that you drink at room temperature. White wine is made by crushing the grapes and taking out the skins before fermentation making the wine light and refreshing that you drink chilled. Rose' is made by crushing grapes and pulling the grape skins halfway through fermentation that make a wine that you drink chilled that is like a red wine that drinks like a white wine or maybe a white wine that has the flavors of a red wine. Either way it can make a totally AWESOME wine. Like say, Mulderbosch Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 and it tastes like what it is--a sorta white wine version of Cabernet Sauvignon. It has all that fruit (especially strawberry) and structure (especially herbal) that you would find in a good cab but the flavors are reserved and refreshing and won't overwhelm food. It's perfect for a hot day and at $14, it's a steal. Once I get someone to buy a bottle they come back and buy more. But the first bottle is difficult, to say the least.

It just happened again five minutes ago, a woman was making dinner for her brother--grilled salmon, I had the perfect wine took her over to our South Africa section and picked a bottle of Mulderbosch Rose' and she shakes her head and looks at me like she's slightly nauseous and says,"I'm afraid he's kind of a wine snob."

The Making of Beer and Whisky (and Cheese)

The indispensable internet newspaper "The Guardian" has a series by Andrew Connelly where he describes in loving detail how to make three of Mankind's greatest inventions.

The Science and Magic of Beer

The Science and Art of Whisky Making

The Science and Magic of Cheesemaking

And no, I have no idea why beer and cheese are "magic" and whisky is merely an art.

Also Good News For Me

And for all my fellow saltoholics.

Good News For Me

I apparently have a new superpower. I'm immune to sunburn. In all seriousness even though the title of the article clearly implies that research found drinking wine protects against sunburn, the researchers found no such thing. Instead, "They found that flavonoids in the grapes can stop the chemical reaction that causes cells to die and therefore skin damage." And they found it "invitro" meaning a test tube. Nobody put wine drinkers in the sun to see what happened. So I wouldn't down a bottle of Burgundy and go to the beach, if I were you. Well, actually I would but I wouldn't do it without sunblock.

Let's Not Panic

Clay Risen of the Atlantic Monthly has an article this month with the wordy and alarmist title of, "For American Distillers a Whiskey Crisis Looms on the Horizon" warning of an impending disaster if the mostly small distillers keep trying to find a way to age whiskey faster (meaning cheaper). Personally I think that the entire point of small distillers is to experiment. The world doesn't need another whiskey that tastes like Jim Beam after all we already have Jack Daniel's for that (I kid).

Oh The Humanity!

"An unsteady forklift dropped a container full of fine Australian wine worth more than $1 million, smashing most of the bottles."

As a side note I had no idea the wine maker of Mollydooker was named "Sparky".

Session

The article is a bit on the confusing side. But it does point out a really interesting trend in craft beers--session ales. Lower alcohol beers designed for drinking sessions..

Are You a Hipster Who Drinks Wine?

Then I've found the product for you!

Chamisal Vineyards, Unoaked Chardoney, 2009, reg. $18 on sale for $14.99

Chamisal is the first vineyard planted in the Edna valley appellation in California. It also is is unfortuntely the first one to go out of business too at least until 2008 when it was restarted in 2008 with fantastic results. This is an unoaked chardonnay, light, refreshing and, fruit driven. It is a delight to drink. A fantastic value at $18, at $14.99 it's a steal.

And We Are Back

Rich The Wine Wizard has magically returned.