Twin Cities Imbiber Issue #2

Law changes this year allowing co-called strong beer to be available at the state fair received wide coverage in the mainstream media, but there are some things they didn't tell you. Other changes to Minnesota's liquor laws will benefit everyone from small brewers to the University of Minneosta. However some key reforms are still needed.

Perhaps the most significant provision for beer enthusiasts is a change allowing brewpubs and small breweries to sell 750ml bottles of their brews....

To read more about law changes in an article I wrote, check out issue two of Twin Cities Imbiber magazine, available on-line now and on newsstands soon!

Oktober is...

Autumn has certainly arrived in Minnesota. Evening temps are in the 40s and 50s, sunlight is disappearing, and Oktoberfest beers are filling the shelves. I'm biased towards ales year-round, but I like to sample the local Oktoberfest lagers every year, among them Summit, Schells and Surly. Both Summit and Schells offer up good examples of what an Oktoberfest should taste like, and this year is no exception. Summit did an especially solid job, and I may just pick up a 6er of it. On to Surly.

By far one of my favorite breweries these day, Surly never disappoints. SurlyFest is deeeee-licious. Imagine a typical Oktoberfest, but loaded up with hops. Not to mention their cans are beautiful. I wish all their beers were available year round.

Well the poll results are in for what people want to see at Capitol Brewhaha: 8 voted for more beer, 8 for more about my life, 2 for more politics and 1 for more of the same. I remember from my college stats class that N has to equal at least 30 for any poll to be valid, and since N=19 here, I will ignore the findings and write about what ever I want.

Cheers!

This one's for you Mom

Dylan my 4-almost-5 year old son started school last week. The first day was tough--he almost fell asleep in my arms walking the 2 blocks back to our house from the busstop. But now he looks forward to it everyday.

Not my life

My mom's been giving me some flack in the comments over at Jane's blog, apparently because I don't post enough about my family and my life. True 'dat. I succumbed very early on to the inherant self-centered, egotistical nature of blogs, going so far as to only write about the things I want to write about, and if my family, friends and really anyone at all wants to read about it (or not) than so be it. I like writing about beer right now, have had my beer musings published a couple times (there goes that ego thing again) and so that's what I'm going to write about. Love ya mom, but you'll have to head over Jane's way to read about someone's personal life (which is a good one to read about!).

But being that I am a caring person, take my new poll to your right and maybe I'll alter my posts. Or maybe not.

Homebrew Update
I came home from France to a wealth of beer at my doorstep. Ready for the drinking is an extra pale ale, a hopped up amber and a Fat Tire clone. All are drinkable, but the EPA is luscious. Well balanced but still giving a nice hop punch. Tony and I bottled our barley wine and Belgian Dubble this week, and dry hopped the double IPA, all of which can be opened around Christmas. A winter and German Alt are on the deck for brewing soon.

La Fin

We wrapped up our trip with three days in Avignon, best known for the Palais de Papes, occupied by the pope when Avignon was in Roman hands during the 12th century. Avignon is also the capitol of the Cotes du Rhone region de vin, home of some of my favorite wines, consisting of syrah and grenache grapes, and sometimes other varieties like mouvedre or carignon.

We had a nice one at a wonderful restaurant one night with a four course meal. I had hazelnut rabbit pate with carmelized onions followed by pork cutlets in a mango sauce, followed by fresh cow cheese and completed with a flourless chocolate cake drizzled with a coffee cocoa reduction. All for only 25 euros. Remind me why I live in the US?

Right now we're on our way to Paris, where we have a 15 hour journey--9 of which wll be in the air--ahead of us. The kids have been great, aside from their to-be-expected unpleasantness at being woken up at 6am this morning.

See you soon!

Last stop

Leaving Genolhac, arriving in Avignon.....

Les dernier jours

Ah, the end of summer in the mountains.....

Temperatures have hovered around 85 degrees the past couple of days, so we've retreated to a nearby river for both of them, having a picnic and a swim. Its been perfectly lazy.

Meals are a magnificent part of every visit to France. Last night Michele--Flo's step mother, just to keep you in the loop--made gambas avec encornet, two fruits de la mer, shrimp with calamari. Wine was brought by a visiting husband of Michele's cousin's mom. Yup, that's right. Lots of family stop by for a meal, including many kids to meet each other and begin forming relationships.

Back to the wine. It was an ever transforming 2000 cabernet-syrah-carignon blend from Coteaux de Languedoc. Served from 750ml bottles filled from a 3 liter bottle, it was by far the best wine of the trip, taking on an almost orange hue, and tasting similar to a great pinot. Surprisingly, it went well with the seafood platter, which was cooked flambee au pastis.

Another lazy day today. Les enfants had a ride on Jean-Louis' tractor down to the river to pick apples and look at the sheep. Exciting for all.

Tomorrow we head to Avignon to spend our final days in France with Flo's mom and brother, before returning to Les Etats-Unis.

Journey

It would be easy to stay put, and just enjoy the scenery outside the kitchen door. A pleasant river meanders through the mountains not far from the house, plenty of trails offer themselves to us throughout the forest, and of course there is family to spend time with, playing cards, preparing meals and chatting together.

And not to mention that the boys tend to get car sick everytime we go out.

But yesterday we took our motion sickness medicine and ventured out into the surrounding countryside. (Needless to say it didn't kick in in time, and both Adrian and Dylan spilled their breakfast all over the car. Yummy.)

Our destination was the village where Jean-Louis, Flo's dad, was selling his honey, as well as the wares of other farmers in the area. We first stopped by and had a look at his bee hives, then had a wonderful lunch of coq-au-vin at a restaurant next to the market. Meals in France typically take a couple hours and this was no exception.

After taking in desert and cafe, we went in search of Jean-Louis' horse, who was spending her summer roaming the mountains above the village of Vialas. We didn't find the horse, but the views and smells were incredible.

We returned home around 6pm, and slothed about for a few hours, recovering from the days' journey. Today we're heading to the river for a picnic, and hopefully a swim if the weather holds. Never a dull moment in Cevennes.

Bush beer

I haven't posted any exclusive beer reviews, so I figured it was time.

Bush was a great beer, unlike the one that is in charge of our country. Listed as the strongest Belgian beer ever, coming in at 12 percent, it indeed packs a punch. However, you have to be careful as it is so smooth and full of caramel, you can easily get lost in a bottle. I guess its good the bottles are only 25 cl, because that's all you need.

I'll be back soon with more accounts of my travels....

Chateau de Portes

One of the requirements when visiting France is to visit at least one castle. The north has few remaining castles from the medievil ages, most of them having been reduced to rubble in the various wars that have plagued Europe. So, the south is the place to go to see castles, and fortunately for us, we're spending a fair amount of time there.

The closest castle to Genolhac is Chateau de Portes, started in the 11th century, and finished in the 17th, with the marquis having the image of a ship in mind when he constructed the final building--the only one like it in France.

It and the town of Portes were built on a sea of coal, which was heavily mined during Les Guerres Mondiales, resulting in the subtle yet devastating sinkage of both town and castle. The town was eventually razed and rebuilt, with the benefit of coal outweighing the cost of rebuilding. The castle, on the other hand, was left to deteriorate with vandals assistance. Only in the last 30 years or so have countless volunteers aided in its reconstruction. Its a small but magnificent chateau, located high in the mountains of Cevennes, and one is easily reminded of the battles that likely took place here many years ago.

(BTW, that's my brother-in-law Simon giving his approval to my photo.)

Parfums and gouts

Ahh, the sweet smells of pine and herbs has replaced salt and sand. The rain and chilly weather of our first couple days in Cevennes has left, and now sun and warmth has arrived.

There are lots of wonderful cooks in the Dubaille famille, including Flo's half brother Sylvain, who's studying to be a chef, and practices on his family. I can't say I am complaining. Our first night here, he prepared an amazing meal of tartare salmon, and for lunch yesterday we had rabbit (raised and subsequently killed right here) simmered in a cream and mustard sauce. Um yeah. Incredible. I've told Sylvain he can stay at our house when he's done with his studies and I'll help him find a job in Minnesota. Ya got any leads?

Of course all of all meals have been accompanied by great wines, and some good beers. Sylvain and Simon, Flo's step brother, is a fan of Belgian beers as well, so unique brews fill our glasses regularly. Leffe and 3 Monts and Kwak. I'm getting thirsty already.

La prochaine etape

We wrapped up phase deux of the trip on the island, where the stay at Les Joyeux, a complex of petite maisons where many of Flo's relatives live, completed with a grande fete for my birthday. Nothing could have made me happier. I prepared a wonderful meatloaf to share, and contributed two bottles of homebrew, which were enjoyed by all, along side some great wine.

After dinner we sat around and drank some simple Spanish beer brought by--surprise, some friends visiting from Spain--and played the guitar and sang songs. I did neither, until Ricky shocked us when he busted out "Smile" by the Jayhawks. Apparently, they get quite a bit of airplay in Spain, and tour there regularly.

We're on the train now, outside of Marseille, on the way to Flo's father's house in the mountains of Cevennes. He has some sheep, a couple horses, rabbits and chickens, an impressive garden, and what he makes a living from, bee hives. Its hard to leave the paradise of Porquerolles, but the hospitality and amazing vistas near Genolhac are always looked forward to.

Jealous?

Another day in France, another day at the beach....

Plants of Porquerolles

Lavender and a cactus....

A la plage

Not much time--well plenty of time, but not much interest--in sending emails to Blogger! I'll try to be better about bringing my phone to the beach with me, but as you can see I'm a little preoccupied.....

Les premier jours

Stage one of our trip is complete and we're headed south now for the beautiful island of Porquerolles.

Our stays at my wife's aunt and uncle's are always filled with amazing meals (as is most of the trip) and unique wine. We had a great 2001 Aix en Provence Chateau Beauferan, and an equally impressive Nuits Saint Georges premier cru from 1993. If I was as well versed in the nuances of wine as I am in beer, I could tell you about the undertones of coffee and plum, but I'm not. I can only tell you that I enjoyed them immensely.

I also picked up some beer from the region, which is located outside of Paris near the town of Fontainebleau. It was a dark ale, that actually did have undertones of coffee. It was a perfect fall beer, perfect considering the weather was a bit chilly for August. I can't say I was as impressed with the beer I got from Brittany, but then France is known for its wine, and it must be difficult competing with Belgium.

Blogging France

I'll be in France for a little bit. I hope to figure out this mobile blogging thing, and keep you updated about all the sights, sounds, and most importantly, the tastes of the french country side!

Stone is ruining my life

On a recent trip through Colorado, my friend Valerie calls me. "Hey, we're on our way out of Colorado. Should I pick you up some beer?"

Um, hell yeah!

So I just finished my second Stone Ruination IPA, one of the great--if not the best--West Coast IPAs. Despite over 100 IBUs and approaching 8% abv with the alcohol and hops slamming into you at first, it totally balances out into...orange-ish caramel? Centennial hops maybe? Whatever. It was good. Even though it supposedly ruins your palate (get it? Ruination IPA?), I thought it was an extremely smooth and drinkable double IPA, at the same time pushing the edge of smooth and drinkable. Very nice.

Discin' Surly

A good time and lots of good beer was had by all at the first "Leave Your Balls at Home--Surly Disc Golf Open." The course at Hyland Ski Area kicked my ass, especially considering I hadn't played in about 3 years. Thankfully the free beer along the holes made the trek manageable.
Cheers to Omar and the Surly crew for a helluva event!

Steve Kelley for....

While I've been brewing, apparently Steve Kelley has been busy plotting his next move. A news letter from the former state senator and statewide candidate arrived in my e-mail in-box today, informing me of Kelley's new endeavors, and his need to retire his debt.

Not surprisingly, Kelley continues to be involved in public policy at the Humphrey Institute, as the new director of the Center for Science, Technology and Public Policy, as well as working on K-12 reform. He remains one of my favorite candidates for whatever he runs for.

Tooting my own horn

It seems my reaches into the beer community grows every day. I responded to a request from MnBeer.com to be a contributor and help with the upkeep of the site, and they agreed! It's a wonderful opportunity to help out one of the best local blogs around--so good that they won Best Specialty Blog from the City Pages last year.

Also, Twin Cities Imbiber magazine has accepted an article I submitted about recent changes to the state's liquor laws. The issue should be on news stands at your local pub, cafe or liquor store in the next month or so.

And here I thought I was just brewing and drinking for the enjoyment of it.

Speaking of brewing, Tony and I have been busy stocking up for the winter. We have five gallons of barley wine, double IPA, extra pale ale, Belgian dubbel and Belgian amber in different stages of fermentation. Yes, you did your math correct and that's 25 gallons of beer. That should get us through Christmas.

Club housing

When I was growing up, I had a club house in my backyard. It was a one-room one-story 10' x 10' building, with some tables and chairs, a few shelves and an intercom to my home's kitchen. Neighborhood kids gathered at the house, played games, read Mad magazine, and made it our own. My neighbor had a similar structure, but his was two stories with a balcony, and much easier to get away and hide things. Things like cigarettes and girlie magazines, maybe be a couple cans of crappy beer, a bottle of vodka with a swallow or two left in the bottle. I didn't care about the alcohol, and it was easy enough to sneak away anytime for a cigarette. The 'zines were a little exciting, but what made both places so enticing was the fact that they were an escape, forbidden to our parents and my sister, and place for the boys to hang out.

Last night I was introduced to another such club house, nestled in the alley of a posh urban neighborhood, complete with a three-tap bar, high-end liquor selection, card table, cable TV and all the decor and feel of a British pub. In fact, one might believe they had stepped into the room, across the Atlantic and into Tippler's End.

The neighborhood takes care of the Recumbent Wombat, as it's affectionately known, and weekly gatherings bring movies, cards, soup, and of course, drinking. No money trades hands, so it's completely legal. It's hours are random, yet Friday nights and Gophers football games generally promise a crowd. It is indeed what every neighborhood needs.

Someone else for U.S. Senate

Are you underwhelmed by the current candidates for U.S. Senate? Hoping that Tim Walz or Mee Moua or someone other than Franken, Ciresi, Cohen or Franson would jump in on the DFL side? I guess it wouldn't be hard for me to support Franken, but if I had to decide right now, I don't think I could.

Any suggestions?

Homebrew club

You may remember some time ago I had thrown out the idea of starting a homebrew "club," with "members" coming from the halls of government. Of course, what I really wanted to do was gather some fellow homebrewers--many who work in government--together to drink and be merry. Well, last night was the inaugural meeting of the Capitol Brewers. And we drank and were merry.

Let's see, we had an ESB, Mild Ale, Saison, Pale Ale, Chinook IPA, Dubble, a couple Hefeweizens, and Stouts, a hopless Lager, some mystery ales and some Vine Park left overs.

Thanks to Peter, Ben, Sara, Tony, John and Nate for their contributions. We finished almost every bottle before heading to Sweeney's for a birthday party. Thanks also to the non-brewers for (hopefully) enjoying the beers.

My personal fave (not counting my Saison) was Peter's Lazy Summer Pale, forgotten in the secondary for a few weeks too long which turned out to be just right. Yummy. The worst in show were the Vine Park brews, which should have been consumed months ago. Sorry Nate.

Before we go, I realized this post is my 100th. Exciting. Cheers.

Brew News

So you've noticed the change. I've come to realize that Mozilla users recently began to encounter problems viewing CBH, so I've upgraded to the new Blogger version. My apologies for the pain it causes your eyes. Hopefully I can muster up the energy to spend some time with the template in the next couple weeks.

The big brew news is that there's a new distributor in town. 99 Bottles specializes in small breweries, some of which are veterans of the Minnesota beer scene, and some which are new arrivals. I picked up a couple different beers from 1st Grand Avenue Liquors. The Big Eye IPA from Ballast Point Brewing out of San Diego was incredibly well-balanced and smooth. The IPA from Fish Brewing was a bit of a let down compared to the Big Eye, but the fact that it was organic helped me get past some of the inadequacies. Their pale and amber--also organic--were solid, but nothing to write home about.

I look forward to the other beers 99 Bottles will be bringing into the state, including the return of Anderson Valley, one of my personal faves from the days of All Saints distributing.

I'm brewing a double IPA and a barley wine with a friend this week, which should both be ready around Christmas (although a fellow brewer aged his barley wine made from the kit we're using for seven years, and said it only got better.)

Roguishly Busy

Well I've been busy working on an article to submit to the Twin Cities Imbiber about recent legislative changes to the State's liquor laws. Whether they publish it or not, it's been a great experience working on my first journalistic piece. First, that is, if you don't consider all the words printed here. Anyway, I learned a ton about said liquor laws, and that our franchise laws, tax and fee system, and commerce laws play as much as of role in preventing more good beer from reaching the masses as do the laws which directly govern beer. Thanks a ton to the folks at Town Hall Brewery for filling me in, and if TCI decides to run my piece it will be in the August/September issue.

I believe I had the most overrated beer ever--besides Fat Tire that is, which just made its return to Minnesota last week. Ok, it wasn't really overrated, just over-priced. (Besides, I couldn't resist getting a shot in at the FT.) Rogue's 10,000 Brew Ale is just that--their 10,000th batch of beer. It's a double IPA, clocking in at about 10% abv and 83 IBUs (bittering units). Sure, the 750ml re-sealable ceramic bottle is a keeper, and the contents were pretty amazing, but at $22 a bottle, I want to be completely blown away. I guess it's a good thing I don't drink high end wine.

At the Happy Gnome a couple weeks ago, I paid a similar price for a beer, but this experience was far different. As some background, every Thursday, the Gnome taps a couple casks of beer. Surly Furious is a regular, but usually they supplement that with something else. Bells makes consistent appearances, recently offering an Expedition Stout. When I went by for a drink it was the Tuesday after tapping it, and they surprisingly had some left. See, the oxygen in the cask begins altering the beer's characteristics, so I was intrigued. The $7 for 10 ounces was meager compared to the Rogue. Bitter chocolate and smooth espresso, brought out by the roughly 10% abv, was numbing. It lasted me a nice long 60 minutes, and was worth every one of 'em.

Homebrew Update

So after two-and-a-half weeks without a post I better have some good homebrew news, right? Actually Jane has the scoop over at her blog. I will add though that I tried the mild today, and it's a lot better than I anticipated. The tastings during each transfer were a bit bland and a little funky, but I think the carbonation really livens it up. Another week and it will be perfect.

New Resources

The Twin Cities has a new beer rag on newsstands--mmmm, rag of beer--but who ever buys a magazine from a news stand in Minnesota? Maybe Chicago or New York, but Minnesota?! So its great that Twin Cities Imbiber is free!

Dedicated to the beer and coffee industry in the Twin Cities, TC Imbiber will be available soon around town. The first issue features a nice write-up of Flat Earth Brewing, and a comprehenize summary of Maibocks on the TC market. Future issues may include pieces by me. Pick it up at your local pub, liquor or cafe.

For my loving wife, I brewed a mild ale last week. It will be a nutty, mellow brew at about 3.5% abv. I also helped TonyVav bottle his first homebrew, a hefewiezen with nice undertones of banana and cloves. TV is investigating all-grain brewing, and generally reducing the cost of homebrewing by growing his own ingrediants and buying bulk. This has long been my goal in homebrewing, and I'm looking forward to learning more about the science and specificity behind this ancient art.

Some Updates

Couple updates here for ya on a Saturday night as I'm waiting to get tired enough to go to bed.

***I received a nice email from the "Director of Quality" at Boulder Brewing about the culprit behind the recent bad batch of Hazed and Infused:

The number one problem with the Hazed and Infused you ran into was the actual age of the product. For whatever reason, we had beer on the shelves in MN well past the pull date, and old beer isn't usually a good thing. The pull date on the beer you came across was October 2, 2006, almost 6 months past it's pull-date at the time of purchase. Also, due to the fact that Hazed and Infused is an unfiltered beer, even the slightest contamination can cause serious flavor issues over a 9 month period. The age of this beer made finding the culprit very difficult, as we don't even store archive bottle samples for that long. The samples of the beer I got back from MN showed very little signs, other than the sour taste of course, of a wide spread contamination.

He also had this to share with me:

On another front, keep your eyes open for our latest release Cold Hop. Maris Otter malt gives this beer a unique maltiness and the Saaz and Nelson Sauvin hops finish it off perfectly.

Thanks, man.

***I learned at a visit to Big Top tonight that Bridgeport Brewing will no longer be distributing to Minnesota. Fortunately this meant that I got four six-packs at $4 a piece. Unfortunately you won't be able to drink beer from this solid brewery in Minnesota anymore, unless you come to my house in the next couple weeks.

***My home brew is aging well. The Sasion, still clocking in at about 5% abv., is sweet with a nice bitter undertone. A couple weeks will round it out and give it some more body. The ESB is near perfect, but lacks consistent carbonation, nothing a week or two more in the bottle won't solve.

***Finally, I tried this years' CynicAle from Surly, this time in a can. An amazing Saison, worth every penny. God, I love those cans.

Go East Young Man

Driving to my parents' cabin has taken on a whole new meaning. One has to arrive at Highway 63 in Wisconsin, near Turtle Lake. You can take 94 east to 35E north and cross over to Wisconsin via 8 to pick up 63, but why would you? It's much easier to zip east on 94 to 63, giving you the opportunity to stop at Chicone's Liquor Mart.

Chicone's (who's web site is still under construction) is the beer mecca for Minnesotans. They've realized that Minnesota's liquor laws prevent many wonderful brews from making it to the state, thus forcing beer geeks like myself to make the trip to Hudson once in awhile. Thankfully, I have my parents' cabin on the way.

Difficult doesn't capture the struggle of trying to pick out two six packs. Three Floyds, Hair of the Dog, Anderson Valley and Lagunitas are a few of the more well known breweries represented at Chicone's, but you can also find many quality Wisconsin beers you've never heard of. I ended up getting some Smuttynose IPA and Lagunita's Copper Ale, and a bomber of Anderson Valley Abbey Style Ale.

All were amazing, made more so by the fact that you can't find them in Minnesota.

In a Galaxy...

I had one of those Moments I'll Remember for the Rest of My Life today. I'm sure Dylan didn't realize the pleasure of watching Star Wars: A New Hope with him would bring me. Of course, the viewing took a whole new meaning for me as well, and I'm not just talking about knowing that Darth Vader is Leia and Luke's dad, but that does sum up some of the intrigue.

Not surprisingly, Dylan was more fascinated by the cadre of unique creatures and whether they were nice or mean. I mean, how do you explain that the Jawas are just trying to survive, and that Greedo is only trying to make a buck from Jabba the Hut?

New Beer

I've been meaning to hit up the Cellars in Roseville for some new beers, and finally made a trip over there. Ya see, they sell single bottles at 10% off a mixed six-pack, and so even though it's $10, its six beers I've never had.

I first dipped into the Rud Tulip from New Holland Brewing. It's an amber, with a forward bitterness that blends together well with the heavy malts. It was nowhere near complex as, say, Brian Boru from Three Floyds because nothing's like FFF, but it brought up some memories of Brian.

The $3.99 price for a 11.2 oz. bottle of Petrus Pale Ale, aged in oak casks for almost 2 years, intrigued me. I was expecting a sweet pale ale, but just got a mouth full of sourness. I hear this is how it is supposed to taste, but it reminded me of that sour batch of Hazed and Infused that passed through town recently. I'll pass on this again.

Perhaps the most pleasant surprise came from a brewery not known for making quality beers. City Brewing out of LaCrosse, WI is known for light, mass-produced lagers, but their seasonals are worth picking up. Their pale ale is brewed with a mouthful of citrus-ey cascade hops, and can stand up to most pales.

It's been a good week for new beers. My mother-in-law knows me well. She brought with her from France a number of tasty treats, including Korlene, a French organic amber. It was well-balanced, with a pleasant nutty flavor. This would be a standard in my fridge if I could find it here.

Other new beers included a wonderful Triple from Sprecher Brewing, served at the Happy Gnome, and Ben's Irish red, sampled at a quality bottling session with Ben. Although they were both a little watery, his Fat Tire and my ESB will make for good summer pours.

Oh, and I almost forgot, session ended on Monday. Whew. I'm still recovering. That's all I have to say about that.

A spoonful of honey makes the session go down

The end of session is in sight and an agreement feels imminent. I realize how powerless advocates and lobbyists really are on the outside. Or rather not on the inside. As legislative staff, I found that I had many opportunities, working with the advocates and lobbyists, to do good things for people. But there is really a lack of apparent input being sought this year, at least not from the early childhood community.

But fortunately we're in the same boat with health care, property tax relief, the environment, transportation. And the boat has a hole in it. We fought the good fight, working with some key legislators. We positioned ourselves as well as did everyone did, but everyone is getting less. This is to be expected, but it's a little extreme this year, or at least that's how it feels to me.

[Transition]

So thank god for beer! (Was that smooth enough?)

I've been enjoying the Surly Bitter, a glass of flowery hopness you could drink all day. It reminded me quite a bit of Stone Levitation--low in alcohol, high in bitterness. Apparently, there are some casks of it floating around. The Surly that is.

Homebrew update

• I'm bottling the ESB next week (heads up Ben).
• I'll try the Saison soon. It probably needs another month in the bottle, but I need to check the gravity, right?
• I owe a House staffer a bottle of Saison, traded for his mead. It's unfair really, as I already drank his mead. It was like drinking a glass of carbonated honey. Amazing. Not my thing, but amazing.

One trial ends, another begins.

One week left of this legislative session. Some words to describe it thus far:

• Intense
• Engaged
• Tedious
• Shattered
• Exhilarating
• Betrayal
• and of course, Rewarding

One week from now, I imagine I'll be brain-dead, sleep-deprived, wasted and most of all, relieved. We came in looking for $300 million in the upcoming biennium for early care and education, and will likely walk out with $40 - $80 million. It ain't nothing, but it's nothing.

So I planted my garden this weekend and got the yard in tip-top shape for the arrival of spring, as well as the arrival of my brother- and mother-in-law in a week for almost 3 weeks. 3 weeks. We finished half of our basement this past autumn, adding a bathroom and a legal bedroom, and this will be the first time its to be used in the manner for which it was prescribed. I'm honored to offer up the new comforts for my in-laws, not to mention the alleviated stress the addition will bring me.

For the secondary time

Ben and I transferred our beers to their secondary fermenters tonight. My ESB (right) was fantastic. I withheld dry hopping it with East Kent Goldings, as it already 5 ounces of hops in it, and it didn't really need more. Ben's Amber (a la Fat Tire) was a bit watery (a la Fat Tire), but he dry hopped it with about a half ounce of Hallertau (left). His will be a great session beer, no doubt. That's a bottle of Summit ESB on the counter, newly re-released and now available year round in 12- and 6-packs. Yey!

Bottles and bottles

The Saison went into bottles last night! The final gravity was 1020, which, using a handy brew calculator, means the ABV is about 5%. I'm a little surprised that its so low, since I added a pound of candied sugar during the boil. It still needs another 6 weeks in the bottle, so maybe the gravity will change again. Either way, it will be a great session beer for the summer.



While bottling, we drank a bottle of Collaboration, not Litigation from Avery and Russian River. The story behind the beer is almost as good as the beer:

Salvation. The name of two intricate Belgian-style ales, created by us, Vinnie Cilurzo of Russian River Brewing and Adam Avery of Avery Brewing. After becoming friends a few years ago, we realized that we both had a Salvation in our line-ups. Was it going to be a problem? Should one of us relinquish the rights? Hell no! we said. In fact, it was quickly decided that we should blend the brews to catch the best qualities of each and create an even more complex libation. In April 2004, in top-secret meeting at Russian River Brewing (well actually it was packed in the pub, and many were looking over our shoulders wondering what the hell was going on), we came up with the perfect blend of the two Salvations. Natalie, Vinnie’s much more significant other, exclaimed, We should call this Collaboration, not Litigation Ale! Perfect! we shouted. We celebrated deep into the night, (or is it morning?). Fast forward to November 14, 2006. After talking about it for over 2 years we finally decided to pull the trigger and Vinnie flew out to Avery to brew his Salvation exactly as he does in his brewery. This was blended with Avery’s Salvation December 11th, 2006. We hope you enjoy it as much we enjoyed brewing and blending it.

I couldn't have said it beter.

Conserve water; drink beer

I'm sick of the 2007 legislative session. This is my 11th session, although my first as a lobbyist, but survey says: this session is looooong. Everyone anticipated a slow start, with so many newly elected legislators needing to get up to speed about not only the issues, but about how a bill becomes a law.

But no, it slammed everyone, and now we're in the last two weeks, when stamina is needed most. Conference committees are wrapping up (or, in the case of the Education Conference Committee, just getting started). I worked almost 70 hours this week, including 25 in the last two days, and there's no sign of letting up until May 21st.

Yuck.

Thankfully I have a wonderful, understanding (sometimes) wife, and kids who still recognize me. Although I took Dylan to May Day today, and he definitely tested my tolerance and patience. Payback I suppose.

The parade, as usual, was inspiring. Paper mache, metal, and plastic bottles conveyed a positive message. Conserve water. Be raise awareness. Don't use bottled water. And, as usual, the sun came out and gave everyone the May Day they deserved.

Late nights in conference committees inevitably leads to closing out the evenings a local watering hole, which usually means the Muddy Pig, the Happy Gnome or Sweeney's .

One such evening landed me and a colleague at the G-nome, where they happened to have a variety of Big Sky brews left over from the beer dinner the night before. I had a version of their IPA, conditioned in bourbon barrels for 10 months. It really took the edge off of the hops--almost too much so. It was still interesting, and unlike any other beer I had had prior.

I wrapped the evening up with Flat Earth Brewing's sophomore release, Element 115, a California Common in the style of Anchor Steam. It's hard to compete with Anchor, but the 115 gives it a good run for it's money. I look forward to more releases from Flat Earth.

I'm sure the next two weeks with bring more late nights and more unique beers at one of St. Paul's top beer bars. It's a very small (molecular-sized) price to pay for missing my family.

Homebrew week

Well it's been a homebrew week, brewing, bottling and of course imbibing, because I recently heard that next to cleanliness, the most important part of making the stuff is drinking the stuff. It's good that someone finally put this into writing, as here I've been neglecting to sample various wares whilst brewing.

Ben and I got together Sunday to discuss love (well he did anyway) and figured, why not brew a couple batches? He went with a Belgian-style amber similar to Fat Tire, and I decided to embark on my first off-kit batch, choosing an ESB similar to Fuller's. I increased the amount of hops slightly, sure to cover up any imperfections. Fuggle hops are a nice mellow hop, which I grew for a brief time. They lacked any color besides green, which would be fine, except it was a lot of green as they took over the side of my garage. So I'll pay the dollar or so per ounce, and have some lovely purple vine to look at instead. It goes better with orange honeysuckle anyway.

So 3 ounces of fuggles and about the same amount of east kent golding hops should make for a solid ESB. I'm really interested in being able to distinguish between the multitude of hop varieties, and making your own recipes seems like a good way to accomplish this goal.

Back to brew day. As the wort was boiling, we drank some of the brown that Ben and some of his friends had bottled that afternoon. Very smooth, with a nice hop overtone. It will be even better when its cold and carbonated. All went well, and we'll be transferring the batches to their respective secondary fermenters this weekend. Which means I'll also be emptying the Saison into bottles this week to free-up a carboy.

Wrapping up brew week, I shared a bottle of stout with a friend, courtesy of a lobbying colleague. It was pretty amazing, and a great session beer. I'm looking forward to trying his pilsner this summer.

Final thought: This week has made me think that there are enough homebrewers working in government to start a Homebrew Caucus. So I'm starting it. Shoot me an email if your interested in joining.

Growlers, move over! 750 ml bottles are coming!

Under current law, brew pubs can sell growlers--half gallon jugs--of selected beer, and a bill moving through the Minnesota Legislature will allow brew pubs to sell 750 ml (wine bottle-sized) bottles of beer to the public. A provision to regulate the size of samples served by brew pubs was removed. Sponsored by Senator Tom Bakk (DFL-Cook), the bill is included in the Omnibus Liquor Bill, meaning it's almost guaranteed to be signed into law.

Apparently there's a brewer in Bakk's northern Minnesota district who operates a bed and breakfast along with a boutique. His plan is to sell Belgian-style ales, which are typically served in 750 ml bottles. Guess I know where to stay next time I'm on the North Shore.

The Good, The Bad..the Veto, the Beer

This week, the Minnesota Legislature begins holding conference committee hearings to work out the differences between House and Senate omnibus bills. This consists of long hours and lots of waiting around, and this year it's mostly for naught, as the main funding source for all these bills--tax increases--will likely be vetoed. It's pretty exhilarating to spend all this time for nothing. I'm psyched. I especially love not seeing my wife and kids very much, when the prospects for success are only slight. It's truly a great feeling.

Thank god for good beer then. The cask Summit EPA at the Muddy Pig--the IPA wasn't ready--was simply amazing. The complex fresh hop flavors of Summit rise to the forefront, offering a flowery and suprising citrus undertone. Sometimes I forget how great Summit EPA is, especially when it's served fresh, and even better when it's on cask.

Also note that Summit ESB is back on the shelves. I've been drinking Red Hook ESB lately (on sale at Big Top until the end of the month), so the timing is impeccablel; it tastes much better and it's Summit.

Get a grip, Rep. Olson

I thought I missed the cask Summit IPA at the Muddy Pig tonight, but apparently its been rescheduled to Thursday night. My bad if you showed up. If you didn't then come on down now.

No, I'm just getting home from an 8 hour debate on the House Omnibus Education Bill, and I've concluded that Rep. Mark Olson has some issues he needs to deal with. From requiring that schools must allocate an equal amount of time for the discussion the theory of biological evolution and the origin of man as referenced in the Declaration of Independence to replacing portions of the international baccalaureate with curriculum and instruction on the United States Dclaration of Independence to making sure that students understand that English is America's first language, Rep. Olson needs to get a grip. His rants about freedom and quoting of the Declaration of Indepence are just a bit much, and in fact delve into ridiculous arguments--no, rants--against early screening and referral of kids with mental problems.

Who's going to run against him?

Amazed and defused

Customer service is not something you get a chance to see direct from microbreweries, especially ones that are expanding the definition of "micro." I mean, how often to you have to deal with the actual brewing company? Well one my favorite breweries, Boulder Beer Company, brewers of Hazed and Infused, Mojo IPA and Singletrack Ale, let some serious bacteria get into one of their fermenters or something. I had this Hazed and Infused at two different parties, and it was FOUL.

So I contacted Boulder, and they contacted my buddy who bought it, and they were real serious about correcting the problem. Of course they reimbursed him, but I was more pretty impressed with their commitment to selling a good product. Cheers, guys!

Cheers also to St. Paul Cave Dweller for alerting me that The Muddy Pig will be tapping a keg of cask Summit IPA at 6 pm this Wednesday. That's tomorrow. At The Muddy Pig. 6pm. Summit IPA on cask. Maybe you should go.

Lost in beer

Indulge me for a moment: Did you see "Lost" tonight? What. The. Fuck. Brilliant answers and even better questions. Ya love Julliet and then you don't--she just wants to get home!! I hate the Jack--Sayid tension. The end is in sight!

Ok, enough of that.

So I opened a Harp tonight, ready to get on CB and the blast the hell out of it. "Why do people drink Harp?" I was going to write. "What a horrible beer." I actually did write it. But half way into this post, I took a sip, and it was a different beer. Light, balanced, a little nutty aftertaste. Unoffensive and welcoming. And then it hit me, that's what wrong with it. I prefer some character. Some adventure. Malted barley. Fresh hops. Ya ever heard of 'em?

Ahh, TV and beer. TV and beer.

Speechless

Oh boy was I in heaven tonight. Mad props to Valerie for picking up a six pack of--are you ready?--New Belgium Tripple and Stone Levitation on her trip to Colorado. New Belgium Tripple and Stone Levitation.You probably know New Belgium as the brewers of Fat Tire, one of the most overrated beers ever. If you want to see what this Colorado brewery is all about, check out anything else by them. Perfect Belgium ales, and the Tripple is no exception. Come east!

You probably don't know Stone. From California and yet to hit Minneosta or Wisconsin, they're all about extreme. Even Levitation at a mere 4.4% still wallops a mighty hop punch, like a Surly Furious, except you could actually have 3 or 4 in a sitting. Great session beer.

I'll savor these brews for awhile. Or try anyway.

Signs, buttons and lists

The St. Paul DFL ward conventions kick off this weekend, with major endorsements in Wards one (Carter vs Montgomery), four (Hesse vs Stark vs Shubring) and six (Hang vs Bostrom). I'm in ward one, which is Frogtown, Capitol Heights, Cathedral Hill, Aurora St Anthony and a couple other neighborhoods. It's an easy choice for me, with incumbent Debbie Montgomery being reluctant to fully support light rail on University Ave and opposing the smoking ban. C'mon, really?

The Better Ballot Campaign is off and running as well, trying to get support for instant run off voting in local elections. I frankly don't really care passionately about it, but will be attending a beer election to demonstrate how it works. Interested? This Thursday, April 12, 7pm - 11pm at 443 Holly Ave.

I love it when my two worlds collide.

Spring will wait

This weekend wrapped up the much needed legislative spring break, marking the half way point of the 2007 session. I feel like I could use another week, as this year has been balls to the wall since day one, and I expect it to continue until May 21. At least it will be cold and wintery for the rest of the month, making it easier to sit through long committee hearings.

The extended winter also has made it difficult to switch to lighter beers, but I am trying. I made it to Town Hall Brewery this weekend for their limited release Wine Barrel Aged Saison, tapped in honor of the end of prohibition. Fermented for a year in a Honey Wine barrel, it was really like no other beer I have ever had. A little sweet, even a bit sour, but extremely pleasant to drink. I could see drinking this on a hot July afternoon, but unfortunately, they only had one keg.

While there I also had their legendary cask IPA, one of the best beers made in Minnesota, which prompted me to buy a growler of the non-cask version. They were also kind enough to let me have a sip of one of their guest taps, Duchesse de Bourgogne, a wild ale from Brouwerij Verhaeghe in Belgium. Yeah, that's right, I said, "Brouwerij Verhaeghe." It was amazing.

Finally I transfered my Saison to the secondary fermenter:

I shoulda taken a picture of the actual transfer, with the tubes and all, but I was transferring beer. As expected it's much clearer than when it went in the primary. And, as expected, it's already drinkable and a fine ale. But it deserves another couple months, to mellow out the hops and develop a little more character.

More beer, no politics

So I was going to write about this great beer and better experience I had at the Happy Gnome last night with a little quadrupel from the Netherlands called Koningshoeven , formerly La Trappe, but Jane beat me to it. I'll only add that I looked at a 750 ml bottle today at the store for less than we paid for a 10 ounce pour. Still a fucking incredible 11.5% abv beer, but still fucking expensive on tap.

On the lighter side of things, I bought a 12-pack of Red Hook this weekend, beer of the month at Big Top Liquors in St. Paul. Always a sucker for the sampler, I got to try two new refreshing beers, the Copper Hook and Blonde Ale. Paired with their solid ESB and their average IPA, at $9.50, this is a good mixer for cautious palates.

St. Paul's old and new

Today I swung by one of my old haunts, Thomas Liquors on Grand and Prior in St. Paul, to pick a bottle of Mephistopheles. Part of Avery Brewing's The Demon of Ales series, Mephistopheles is a double stout pulling 15% abv and 107 IBUs. Yikes! At eight dollars for a 12 ounce bottle ($18 at select bars), it's going in the basement for a few months.

Speaking of select bars, be sure to order a Flat Earth Pale Ale the next time you're out. Flat Earth Brewing is St. Paul's newest micro, committed it seems to pushing the brewing envelope. Their pale ale is a very drinkable Belgian-style ale, and is absolutely fabulous.

Go blow yourself!

For the first time in months, I made a visit to Town Hall Brewery in Minneapolis on Friday. I was looking forward to the Masala Mama IPA or one of their tasty cask brews. But alas, they were out of both of these. As much as one can "settle" at THB, I did just this for an amazing India Brown Ale, which reminded me a little bit of Surly Bender. I also sipped on a Pot of Gold Potato Stout, a stout brewed with--you guessed it--potatoes. Don't scoff; it was as solid as a stout as they come.


In homebrew news, the airlock on my Saison blew off on Friday afternoon, requiring me to leave a conference early to clean up the kitchen. See, as yeast eats sugar, it produces foam and gas, which has to go someplace. Generally a simple airlock will suffice (see photo), allowing air to leave the carboy but not re-enter (oxygen is the leading cause of bad beer!). I'm guessing all the extra sugar I added was to blame, and it couldn't leave the container quick enough, so it forced the lock (and the extra foam) to shoot out the top, and onto my floor and wall. So from now on I will use a blow off tube, which goes from the carboy into a bucket of water. Lessons learned.

'Tis the Saison

The Saison is in the primary fermenter! I strayed from the original recipe and added some Belgian candied sugar for more flavor and alcohol (yeast + more sugar = alcohol). The original gravity--the first measurement to determine alcohol content--was aboout 1058, so this should weigh in at 6-7%.

Darren was along for the ride and helped me drink my second to last bourbon barrel porter. I shoulda waited to open the first bottle because it is so much better now than it was two months ago. Expecting this, I'm saving the last bottle for next winter.

As is the custom we imbibed on a specialty brew during the brewing, choosing Maudite from Unibroue, a strong amber ale. Unibroue, from Canada, only brews Belgian-style beer, and is always wonderfully consistent and cheaper than their Belgian counterparts. La Fin du Monde is another favorite.

Spring is in the air

Yikes! Almost 3 months since my last post. The 2007 Legislative Sesssion has wrangled me away from Capitol Brewhaha, but it's worth it, as the state will hopefully do some good things for kids. In an attempt get the blog back on track, I need a new hook, for my readers and for me. Because this is really about me. So I'm following Jane's lead, and will be doing shorter, to the point, posts, but still keeping with quality you've come to expect. On to the beer.

I've recently completed some time with high gravity ales (read: lots more character and alcohol), which in turn lead to the start of a nice collection of Belgians, Barley Wines, Bourbon Barrel Ales to cellar for a couple years. The cold and snow are leaving, and with them, the heart warming nine- and ten-percent extreme beers.

In preparation for Spring, I'm making the switch to some lighter beers. So I picked up a sample pack of Sam Adams. Six different kinds of beer, and I found not only their flagship Boston Ale and Lager, but also a couple Honey Porters, Scotch Ales and Brown Ales. A few surprisingly well-done darker stronger beers to help with the transition. Nice. Also check out their six-pack of homebrew competition winners for a great sampling of beers.


Also in preparation for the warmer weather, I'll be brewing a Saison this week. Just in time, since my heavenly bourbon barrel porter is running out. I'll keep you updated.

Back to the sampling!

I Think Everybody Knows

High gravity beers, the Surly Beer Dinner and homemade concoctions coming soon. While you wait, peep the world premier of MC Dylan, my first You Tube contribution. Check out the purple and gold....

***Update***

The video was screwing up the formatting, so follow this link to You Tube to view the video.

November is....

What can I say? I've been busy figuring out how the organization I work for fits into the new make of the Minnesota legislature. It should come as no surprise that I'm pleased as beer-spiked-punch (ok, that's gross). The leadership posts of both the House and Senate are filled with advocates of early care and education (ECE): Senate Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller, former chair of the K-12 Committee, has always touted the benefits of ECE; Assistant Majority Leader Tarryl Clark lobbied for Head Start for years; Speaker of the House Margaret Anderson Kelliher has long promised promoting ECE when she's speaker; and House Majority Leader Tony Sertich was in past years a huge advocate of affordable child care.

In other words, my job became a lot easier with the results of last Tuesday, and even more so after the bodies picked their leaders.

Election season also means that it's winter beer season. Mmmmm, winter beers. Winter beers, in case you don't know, are usually darker ales, somewhere along the lines of a porter. But some breweries take the opportunity to try something new. Take Bells for example. They introduced their Winter White a couple years back, and I have to say I'm not a fan. I like White Ales, and no one does 'em finer than Bells, but not when it's 20 degrees out. Schells is another that likes to experiment with their Snow Storm. They did a cherry porter a couple years ago, a brown ale recently, and this year a Sweet Stout--which by the way is perfect, as most of their beer are.

Summit Winter is a real standard bearer for winters, as far as I'm concerned, but I have to say I was pretty disappointed this year. Instead of their usual dark spicy goodness, they brewed a brown ale. Granted, it was good for a brown, but I was really let down. Two other great solid winter ales this year are the Snow Cap by Pyramid and Wassail by Full Sail--although the latter was much better, in my opinion.

But by far The Best Winter Beer Every Year is the Anchor Christmas Ale. While the recipe is different every year, you can always taste nutmeg, juniper and, hm, coffee or chocolate or hazelnut or something. Incredible.

Back to Bells for a minute. If you don't want to try their White, please do not miss their Hop Slam, one of their limited release brews. As the name suggests, its full of hops. Like 10 percent alcohol slam worth of hops. Yeah, it's about $13 a six pack, but if you like bitterly hop-o-riffic brews, then don't pass this up.

So, in closing, it's an all around good November. And I'll try to get in at least one other post by Christmas...