Rauchbier and a late Oktoberfest

Oktoberfest ended last Sunday in Munich but we had our own celebration complete with German smoked lager (Rauchbier), German Potato and Leek Soup, bratwurst and sauerkraut.

The beer was Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Märzen, a classic example of the style. This beer delivered with a delicious smoke flavor backed by a solid malt base. It was really great with the potato leek soup. The cold, poignantly smoky beer was a sharp contrast with the warm, creamy understated soup. The pairing put a vivid autumn image in my head: a smoky bonfire on a cold autumn day and a warm cabin to retire to.

Rauchbier pairings has been an interesting challenge for me recently. The first thing that comes too mind is smoked meats, but I feel that the flavors are too similar. I think that the contrast with a creamy soup such as this is a good way to go with this smoky brew.

Ommegang Belgian Pale Ale

Deep thanks to the friends who gave this and several other beers and the brewing kit to me as wedding gifts. I miss you guys and am thinking of all of you as I enjoy this.

Ommegang Belgian Pale Ale
6.2% ABV, cascade hops

This is an extremely well balanced ale, complete with nutty malts, a hint of distinctive Belgian yeast flavors, a crisp carbonation, and a subtle cascade hop flavor. It reminds me of a great Belgian golden ale with the addition of measured hops. The aroma, however, points directly to luscious cascade hops. Despite the hops, this tastes genuinely Belgian (probably do to the yeast and wide malt profiles),. I will be on the lookput for more from Ommegang, a brewery in Cooperstown, NY under the Duvel family.

Link: Belgian Reunion at Design*Sponge

This made my mouth water. I've had Duvel and mussels steamed in white wine before, it is amazing. I like the steins as well, even if they weren't the right glassware for those beers.

Beer Festivals: New Belgium and Terrapin

Ok, so I visited New Belgium's Clips of Faith festival in Asheville and I at least need to talk about my favorite beer from the Lips of Faith line: La Folie. This sour ale is brewed in the spirit of a Flanders Red. It smells like a brown ale, with hints of chocolate, but packs an intense sour hit with some finishing chocolate notes. I love sour beers and I hope more craft brewers will brew this delicious style. I'm also hoping that New Belgium will distribute La Folie more widely in the Southeast.

Above is the old design on the La Folie bottles. By the way, Eric's Ale was another tasty sour ale I enjoyed at Clips of Faith.


I also visited Terrapin's Hop Harvest Festival. They introduced a solid fresh hop beer called So Fresh and So Green, Green. It was nice having another fresh hop beer; I'm definitely going to stay on the lookout for more. I heard that Palmetto just put out a fresh hop IPA that I'm going to have to check out. And of course I am going to have to grab a few bottles of Great Divide's delicious fresh hop pale ale.

Asheville Part 3: Highland Brewery Tour

Wednesday we visited Highland Brewery. It was a great trip and we were treated well by everyone we met!

When we first arrived, they were working on a new tasting room; despite being busy with construction they were happy to give us the tour.We had a great time at Highland; they gave us samples of every beer they had and showed us how everything worked. The process really isn't that different from home-brewing, but obviously they need some different equipment on this scale.

Our guide, Grant. Grant hardly drank anything other than Gaelic Ale before starting work at Highland. He's holding cascade hops and two row barley. Highland uses pellet hops for their boil and whole cone hops for aromatics.

















L: The mill, where the barley grains are cracked.
R: The container in the center is where the cracked grains are sent to be malted. Water covers the grains and they begin to germinate. The starches in the grains are converted to sugars and the sugars are washed out by the water, which becomes "sweet liquor": basically sugar water.
The next chamber to the right of center, in the background, is where the sweet liquor is boiled with hops. At Highland they do ninety minute boils. After boiling the liquid is called "wort". For some beers, such as the St. Terese's Pale Ale, the wort is sent to the hopback chamber after the boil, which is in the right foreground, where it is exposed to whole cone hops, which give the beer more of the aromatic qualities of hops. The chamber to the far left is where the wort is cooled after boiling.






L: Fermentation tanks, where yeast is added to the cooled wort. Yeast multiply and then convert the sugars of the wort into CO2 and alcohol. They then go into a dormant phase and settle to the bottom of the vats.
R: Old dairy tanks that Highland has converted into fermentation tanks. They used these to ferment there beer when they were located in the basement of Barley's Taproom downtown, because the ceilings in the basement were to low for conventional tanks. They still use these tanks in their new facility.


L: Kegging equipment
R: "The fist of justice" boxing equipment, designed and put together by Highland employees.


We also got to try all of the beers they had on tap. I'd had the Gaelic Ale several times (if you look closely you may notice it in the blog header), but all of the other beers I tried were new to me and did not disappoint. I will especially be keeping a lookout for St. Terese's Pale Ale, what a great, aromatic, well-balanced pale ale. Not shown in pictures: Gaelic Ale, Mocha Stout, and Kashmir IPA.
R: Clawhammer Oktoberfest



L: Brandon's Kölsch
C: Cattail Peak Organic Wheat
R: St. Terese's Pale Ale

I also got to meet and chat with Highland's founder, Oscar Wong. He was very friendly and even offered my new wife and I some advice: "marry for love, stay for life, but not for lunch."

Thanks to everyone at Highland Brewery! We had a great time and enjoyed your beer very much!

Asheville Part 2: "Zeptemberfest" at Barley's

For lunch yesterday, we hit Barley's Taproom. There is actually a Barley's in Greenville, SC that we used to go to while we were at Clemson, but the original location is the one in Asheville. And, as we learned later, the first location of Highland Brewing Co. was in the basement of Barley's.

As one would expect, the place was slightly dark inside, with walls covered in beer signs and a long bar with a plethora of taps. The beer selection was impressive, but I was only interested in local beer. I was tempted by a sampler of local beers, but I was intrigued by French Broad Brewing Co.'s "Zeptemberfest" - an ale inspired apparently by Led Zeppelin and the upcoming beer festivals of Fall.




French Broad Brewing - Zeptemberfest
6.1% ABV

This was a fairly big beer with a strong hop presence and malty body. It was pretty well-balanced but flavorful nonetheless. I'm calling this a pale ale, though the hop bitterness was a bit on the strong side for a pale ale. The hop flavors were less piney than many craft beers; I'm not sure where the hops for this one were grown. The description mentioned that the yeast was chosen to combine the smoothness of a lager with the estery characteristics of ale, but I didn't really pick up on any lager characteristics. This was an enjoyable and flavorful beer nonetheless.




As I've mentioned before, beer with a strong hop presence pairs well with sharp cheeses; our Greek pizza with feta cheese, spinach, onions, black olives, and sun-dried tomatoes was a great mate to the Zeptemberfest. The bitterness of the hops brought out the sharp flavors of the feta as well as contrasting with the sweetness of the sun-dried tomatoes. Not a bad lunch and stop at a cornerstone of the craft brew scene of Asheville.

"There you sit, sitting spare like a book on a shelf rusting,
Not trying to fight it.
You really don't care if they're coming
I know that it's all a state of mind."

Asheville Part 1: Kölsch and Fried Green Tomatoes; Honey Biscuits

I'm in Asheville on my honeymoon and I'm trying to get the most out of this town's beers. I'm planning a trip to the Highland Brewing Company for a tour later today!

Yesterday we had a very nice lunch at the Tupelo Honey Cafe. It was hot outside so I opted for the French Broad Brewing Company's Gateway Kölsch. Kölsch is a German-style ale originally brewed in Cologne. The style is unique because it uses elements of both ale and lager brewing: it is first top-fermented with ale yeast at higher tempereatures and then lagered at cold temperatures.

This Kölsch was light and refreshing but quite flavorful, with an initial mild crisp bite of carbonation and finishing with round, nutty malt flavors that fill the mouth. I was starving when we got a table after waiting, and this beer slaked my thirst and curbed my appetite momentarily.




Next out came biscuits, which we topped with butter and honey. The honey was great for biscuits, with a light and floral flavor. The nutty Kölsch contrasted with the sweet honey and complemented the buttery flavors of the biscuit.




Finally our lunches came: fried chicken sandwich with dijonnaise with a side of fried green tomatoes and basil and a burger with goat cheese and a side of beet salad. The Kölsch served as a refreshing and flavorful companion to both of these meals. I thought that the best pairing at lunch was the Kölsch and the fried green tomatoes, which were surprisingly tangy, bringing out some of the subtle hops and the nuttiness of the beer.