The Session #43 Welcoming the New Kids

By Michael Stein

One of the newest (soon-to-be) neighbors on the Mid-Atlantic brew block is the duo, Jeff Hancock and Brandon Skall, co-owners of DC Brau Brewing. The District's first 21^st Century production brewery will crank out kegs - the first to do so since the last keg came off Christian Heurich Brewing Company's line back in 1956. These young men with big plans are turning an old factory into a new production brewery in order to make beer for the fine people of Washington AND the District...and of course the Virginians and Marylanders who work daily in the district...and yes (sadly) even the kickballers and interns are welcomed to belly up to the bar for some DC Brau.

So while Washington and the District may remain two separate cities well into 2011, at least they'll have a beer (or three) to unite and bring them together. DC Brau will offer its three flagship craft beers in cans: the Public Ale (Pale/Amber hybrid), the Citizen (same recipe as the Public but fermented with a Belgian yeast strain) and Corruption Ale (an IPA).

Its usually difficult for a lowly homebrewer to give advice to the big bad head brewer for his forthcoming brewery. If not for lack of input, typically for lack of access to the "big guy." Sure you might see the head brewer at some major beer festivals of national scope, but your time is limited and rushed, never with enough moments to discuss fermentation temperature or how a recipe could be improved. So although my best advice would be to tell head brewer Jeff Hancock not to limit his creativity, I know he has no plans to (along with kegs and cans are plans for one-off bombers - a single batch series). Not only does DC Brau have a great head on its shoulders, access is never a problem. Last week during DC Beer Week, Jeff and Brandon were regulars around town for all of the events. And while it was DC Beer Week, Jeff and Brandon are active members of the DC Beer community so there's a really good chance if you're out and about at some of DCs beer bars you will run into the dynamic duo and maybe even their better-halves!

The debate rages on about whether or not Washington, DC is a beer town. In my mind, DC is a world-class beer town. Despite where you stand even the skeptics must admit that the "brewmunity" based in Washington, DC is an amazing human network that far transcends promotional events, tweetups and tastings. I have a strong feeling that their beer will hold up to the "other" beers on the "craft beer scene." With Jeff paying dues at Franklin's, Flying Dog, Grizzly Peak and Arbor Brewing Companies there is little doubt in any one's mind that DC Brau will take the craft beer market by storm. Interestingly enough, DC Brau's entrance into the local community signifies the entrance of the first player in a potential tidal-wave of craft beers. The Nation's Capitol, DC, is often referred to as the "Wild Wild West" amongst beer insiders and distributors alike, in that there has not been full testing and vetting of alcohol laws the way there has been in other cities. There have been those good enough to sell made-in-DC beer through brewpubs: Capital City, District Chophouse and Gordon Biersch. But I have always found it troubling that you cannot take a growler home from those pubs within city limits.

DC Brau will be welcomed into the Washington, DC beer community simply because it's owners are already members of it. Of course they will have outstanding products and some delicious one-off specials but more importantly they will have the respect of the DC Beer Community and perhaps more importantly, the respect of those living in Washington AND those living in the District.

The Session #42 A Special Place, A Special beer

By Michael Stein

The South Fork. Out there, the bumper stickers read “The End” in description of Montauk, Long Island’s easternmost point. And somewhere in between “The End” and the City That Never Sleeps, lies “The Hamptons.” It’s a place often cited within the scriptures of New York art history. Its been home to a plethora of artists just to name a few: Jackson Pollock, Alec Baldwin and Steven Spielberg (also host to Sean “Diddy” Combs’ fantastic white parties). The list reads like a who’s who of contributors and influencers of national dialogue. The South Fork has also been giving what many Americans consider the ultimate sacrifice for freedom for over a century: the lives of their sons and daughters. I’m speaking of a special place where many Americans would not expect to find any personal sacrifice.

It’s a place many Americans associate with the greed of Wall Street. It’s a place where the “haves” and the “have nots” both spend time on the beach. It’s a place where the service industry brings in workers from many countries—Australia, Belarus, Ireland, Mexico, Peru, and Russia—just to name a few. The place I’m talking about is East Hampton, New York and the brewery that reminds me most of my roots here is the Southampton Publick House and Brewery.

The neighborhood that most reminds me of the East End is Springs neighborhood. No, not “the Springs,” just “Springs.” The way the year-rounders say it. Chances are if you are a year-rounder, or a Bonacker, you’ve never contemplated how you say where you’re from. Bonacker is truncated from the word Accabonac, otherwise the people of Accabonac Bay. Such is the nature of places that are unaware of their own significance. These places are magnificent because they do not question their place in history or time. They do not rest on their laurels because they are too busy cranking the mill, harvesting the barley and hammering the tap into the bung before cellaring the firkin.

The Southampton Publick house has a fantastic list of “products.” They have faith in what they’re selling; it’s as obvious as looking at the bottle and seeing brewmaster Phil Markowski’s face. Markowski has created products on par with almost every beer in your craft beer superstore (for me, it’s Total Wine in McLean, VA). Their products range the spectrum from their Abbot 12 (10.5%) to their Montauk Light (3.5%). For a parity taste, I’d take Montauk Light over Bud Light, Miller Lite or Coors Light, any day. While at the brewpub I was able to sample the seasonal Southampton Keller Pils which is single-hopped with the Hallertau Tradition. This pilsner is a fantastic representation of the style and is an amazing summer-sipper. This beer is a lawnmower beer in the best way possible, however it is so thirst quenching you may want one before, during and once your done mowing the lawn. At 5% alcohol by volume it would seem tempting not to put away a half a six-pack before the lawn is looking high and tight.

Beyond the Keller Pils and the Abbot 12 the two standout beers were their award-winning Saison Deluxe (7.4%) and their newly released VIC “antique” Porter (7.2%). The Victorian barrel-aged Brettanomyces porter was truly a unique ale. The bottles’ description reads, “VIC is what we imagine a typical London Porter tasted like during the Victorian era when beer was stored in wood and Brettanomyces was the rule, not the exception.”

When I first tried Markowski’s (now world-famous) double white I was a sophomore in college. I had bought the 22 oz bomber from Bavarian Beverage in Elmsford, New York. These bombers are on every table in the brewpub—filled with olive oil. Now you can buy six packs of double white in many more places than you could back then (they’re even at my local Harris Teeter and Giant supermarkets in Arlington, VA). Back in the days of its bomber release, the words “secret ale” were printed on the bottle. I originally thought that Southampton was in England, perhaps a brewery funded by a king or member of the monarchy. Well Southampton is in England, but not the Southampton Publick House. It has taken me six years to make it out to the pub but I was like a kid in a candy store once we got there. Despite having had Southampton’s double white many times since they were last only offered in bombers, I had yet to try it on draft. My fiancé ordered the double white and it did not disappoint. With the amazing flagship double white on draft, in combination with the three specialty beers—Deluxe Saison, Abbot 12 and the VIC Porter—I can honestly say that the over-300 mile trip was well worth the travel. A pilgrimage to this special place is a journey I look forward to making again next summer.

The Session #41

By Michael Stein

During the middle ages (as far back as 1295 to be exact) a “Letter of Marque and Reprisal” was essentially a license to wage a private war; to seize as much booty as a captain could get his grubby meat hooks on. The King would allow his captain to seize an enemy’s ship and in return proceeds would be split amongst the crown and the looting privateer. Such was the “Letter of Marque,” it gave the lowly sea-fairing captain imperial permission to loot and load spoils. The word’s etymology helps give its modern-day meaning connotation: in Germanic ‘mark’ is a ‘boundary’ or a ‘boundary marker.’ While the days of Sir Captain Francis Drake looting for Spanish doubloons are long over, boundaries and markers still exist separating home brewing from professional brewing. And while the gaps between home brewing and commercial brewing can be vast they are in many ways the most manageable they have ever been (at least in America).

So why start with the high seas? To shed light on a craft brew inspired by a home brew (the point of The Session #41) of course! One of Maryland’s beloved craft breweries has produced a beer known as the “Letter of Marque.” This beer, brought into production with an annual competition, blurs the lines between home brewing and commercial brewing. As Hugh Sisson, Heavy Seas’ founder, states on his product:

Winners from our annual “Letter of Marque” homebrew competition will work along side our brewmaster to create a yearly special release. Historically, a Letter of Marque was a document that made a Pyrate a legitimate privateer. Our Letter of Marque makes a home brewer a legitimate professional!”

The Letter of Marque series, produced annually by Heavy Seas, is a perfect example of a craft beer inspired by home brewing. While the craft beers produced by Heavy Seas are themselves extraordinary medal-winning libations, their Letter of Marque is both an homage to the crazy creations of home brewers AND a way to lend legitimacy to brewers who never believed their recipes would be bottled and shipped across state lines to a wider audience.

Sometimes a wider audience is not the end goal of a home brewer or a craft brewer. Such is the beauty of brewing locally. Sharing with friends who are within your area code is important—you may be surprised by the amount of home brewers in your area. I certainly was when I attended this month’s DC Homebrewers meeting (http://www.dchomebrewers.com/). If you want to enter your home brew in a competition that will give you grand syndication there are a number of ways to do it. There’s the Great American Beer Festival Pro-Am, Heavy Seas’ “Letter of Marque” competition and of course Sam Adam’s LongShot Competition for starters.

As “good” beer drinkers know, craft brewing has always been influenced by home brewing. In most cases, home brewers are ahead of the curve in terms of their choices for both “marginal” and “exceptional” home brew recipes. It was not always like this however. And even today, “good” beer drinkers struggle to make sense of the stranglehold ABIB (Anheuser-Busch InBev) still possesses on the market. I would argue that it is a critical mass which has kept ABIB in business, but American microbrewers and American home brewers have been chipping away to convert the masses. Once the majority of commercial beer drinkers have been baptized by cannon fire (Loose Cannon fire that is!) the zealous lot who appeared rogue “hopheads” will become main-stream. Such is the shift in American cultural memory—such is the shift within the home brewer’s memory. Figures like Bert Grant, founder of Yakima Brewing begin to fade as monoliths like Charlie Papazian continue to trail blaze. Had I not attended an O’Dell Brewing Company tasting recently hosted by Doug O’Dell, the myth of a man who carried around a vial of hop oil to flavor the Bud, Miller or Coors he was drinking would still be as elusive as the Loch Ness Monster. However off-kilter his antics may have appeared, Bert Grant belongs to a long line of “beer activists” for lack of a better descriptor.

The world needs these kinds of people. And the world needs home brewers. In the end, the recipes and formulations home brewers create continue to shape the craft beer community and indeed the world. We should honor the prophetic words of Michael Jackson as he interpreted Yakima Brewing Company’s label “brews of such quality made for very special pubs, which in turn sustained wonderful neighborhoods, creating marvelous cities, contributing to magnificent countries, adding up to a beautiful world.”

The sad fact of money

By Matt Vekasy

This post is in a response to Dan's post of his "recent reflection," even though I responded to his post already. While I too have that same problem, my problem is that I don't get to enjoy beer as often as I'd like.

I'm 24. I live in Boston. I'm poor and at some times broke. Now I don't believe that money buys all happiness, but I do think that money pays for things and situations that bring happiness. If there could be a graph of my beer drinking career it would show high quantity, but low quality in the beginning and now low quantity, but high quality more recently. I do go on the occasional tear and drink massive amounts of watered-down American lagers, but those nights don't occur every weekend like they did in college.

Regardless, I'm finding that money keeps me from enjoying the quality beers that I enjoy so much. It keeps me from buying ingredients for hombrewing as often as I'd like. It keeps me from going to bars to enjoy beer as often as I'd like. It keeps me from going to the store and buying quality beer as often as I'd like. It keeps me from traveling to other cities to explore (and have some beer) as often as I'd like.

But I'm a glass is half full type and I realize that I am 24, and that I do live on my own in a great city, and I do have a job that pays the bills. And this all makes enjoying good beer that more special. It's not something that happens every day for me, but when it does happen it brings me happiness. So I'm not sure where I'm going with this, but I guess I just wanted to say wish I had more time and money to enjoy the things I want to enjoy, but so does everybody else. And so all I can do is keep moving forward and continuously improving and

"relax, don't worry, and have a homebrew"