Following up on Eric’s question of how much would you be willing to pay for beer, I bring news that Sam Adams Utopias, which is selling for $150 and up for a 24-ounce decanter, is being sold in 2-ounce shots at the Morton’s restaurants in Baltimore and Annapolis for $27. That, my limited math skills tell me, is $13.50 an ounce.  

On the subject of monk beer, Morton’s is also pouring Chimay “Premier” Belgian Trappist Ale, $23 for a 25.4 ounce bottle.

I have mixed feelings about these top-dollar prices. On the one hand, it is a sign that beer is taking a step up in the hierarchy of beverages. As Jim Koch says, we should be proud of our beer.

On the other hand, once a beer moves into the realm of beverages that only investment bankers can afford, it seems to be losing its roots.

 Is there a danger that these big beers are too uppity? Should you regard them as a beer or an investment in happiness?

Posted by Rob Kasper at 12:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
                    

Interesting piece in today's Wall Street Journal about Westvleteren, a hard-to-get beer brewed in Belgium by Trappist monks. To secure the beer, you have to call the monastery well in advance and make an appointment to show up at the gate. Even then, you are limited to two 24-bottle cases a month. The article says Rate Beer and Beer Advocate call the monk's strongest beer, known as "The 12," as one of the best beers in the world.

Anybody had this beer? Did it change your life or your religion?

Anybody had any notable Belgian winter beers?

Posted by Rob Kasper at 1:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
                    

Gave the winners of our holiday beer tasting (full list in today's Taste section) another run through and was happy to report that the results still hold.

The Allagash Grand Cru and the Pursuit of Happiness Winter Warmer Ale seemed even better than they did the first go-round. The Snow Goose and the Winter Storm also showed well and the Belgians, loaded with alcohol and sweet flavors, benefitted from being tasted outside the crowded field.

Somehow, when I taste 52 beers, I get worried that I might have missed something.
How do we feel about retasting? Is it wrong, a sign of weakness, to go back and check yourself? Is it like the recount in Florida, yielding more trouble than truth?

Posted by Rob Kasper at 10:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
                    

Posted by Rob Kasper at 10:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
                    

This week as the Ravens play the San Diego Chargers close to the Mexican border, I spin a bottle of Miller Chill, a light beer flavored with salt and lime. The folks from Miller say this beer follows the “Chelada” style of drinking beer in Mexico in which a beer is poured over ice and flavored with a squirt of lime and a dash of salt.

Originally I was going to try to find a craft beer brewed in the city of each opponent of the Ravens. That proved to be a logistical nightmare. So like many Ravens fans, this fall I have lowered my expectations.

There is not a lot of body in Miller Chill, nor are there many grace notes, but it is refreshing. I have always liked salt and lime, but not in my beer. They seem to overpower the beer. The spinning green bottle of Miller Chill, by the way, predicts a Chargers win.

What do you think about putting a slice of lime, or other fruit, in beer? Is it always a sin? Or it is occasionally OK?

Posted by Rob Kasper at 8:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (12)
                    

 That Bud Light boys-at- the- opera ad, in which the soprano’s voice shatters a stash of hidden beer bottles, is pretty funny.

 It was on my mind the other night when I went to the Lyric Opera House to see Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda. The opera, about two women fighting for the British throne,  was terrific. When soprano Gabriele Fontana hit some high notes, my spine tingled. I had a feeling that beer bottles would have cracked as well. Thankfully I had not stashed any brew on my body. Instead, at intermission, I had a Heineken at the concession stand in the lobby. I noted that at the Baltimore opera, where sopranos are on the loose, the beer is served in plastic cups.

 Anybody have a stashed beer experience they want to share? 

Posted by Rob Kasper at 3:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)
                    

Once again we spin the beer bottle to predict the outcome of the Ravens game.

Critics may note that so far this prognostication technique is 0-2, or about as accurate as the Ravens passing game. But we drink the beer and press on.

The best beer so far in this three week endeavor has been the Penn. Pilsner from Pittsburgh. This week’s beer, The Raven, is a league or two above last week’s spinning brew, Natty Boh. Rich, malty and bit heavy, The Raven lager is the creation of Stephen Demczuk, a Dundalk native who has a doctorate in biochemistry and molecular biology.

While living in Europe, Demczuk got a taste for good beer, and when he moved back to Baltimore in the late 1990s, cut a deal with Clipper City to bottle his recipe for The Raven. The beer is named in honor of the poem, not the football team. But tailgaters tell me it is popular brew in pre-game gatherings on the M & T Stadium parking lots.

The Raven represents a one-beer operation that, against long odds, has been stayed in the game. I like the parallel with this year’s football team.

The spinning Raven, by the way, predicts a Baltimore win against Cleveland.

Posted by Rob Kasper at 11:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

There are a couple of reasons why I haven't posted in a few days. First, I had trouble with my home computer. The server went on a two-day vacation. My wife fixed it using the remedy that seems to work for all electronic devices: unplugging everything, then plugging it back in.

Then there was that tasting of 52 holiday beers yesterday. I will be writing about these beers in detail in The Sun's Taste section.

But now I want to talk about what goes on at a beer tasting ... 

It is not mining coal, but tasting beer is work. You have to take notes, ones that you can somehow decipher later. You must also maintain your " professional composure." That means you take small sips of each beer, spit a lot, eat a lot of pretzels, nibble more cheese than a hungry mouse, and take frequent breaks.

There is cross talk at some beer tastings. Someone might say "I really like the malt in D-9." But if you do not care for the malt in beer D-9, you must not be swayed. You must also refrain from calling your fellow taster a nasty name or saying he has taste buds made of sand.

Finally when the winners are "revealed," (in this case when the brown bags covering the bottles in the tasting are removed), you must not appear to be shocked that you failed to recognize your longtime favorite brew.

This year the top domestic winter beers were Snow Goose, Clipper City Winter Storm, Clay Pipe Winter Warmer, Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout, Allagash Grand Cru and Sierra Nevada Celebration.

These beers are, I assure you, some of my longtime favorites, even if I failed to vote for all of them.

Any tales of beer tasting experiences, good and bad, that you want to share?

Posted by Rob Kasper at 4:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)
                    

The seal was so tight, I had to use channel-lock pliers to free the cork from this bottle of Green Peppercorn Tripel, the Brewer’s Art initial venture into bottling. It was worth the effort.

When I did manage to loosen the cork and free the wire cage from atop the 750-ml bottle, this naturally carbonated blonde ale gushed out like champagne.

The flavor of this beer was striking. It started off with sweet malty notes, followed by the distinctive and oddly pleasing green peppercorn flavors. I loved it, and my wife, who doesn’t care for many beers, liked this one.

Putting peppercorns in a beer was the bright idea of the Brewer’s Art duo of Steve Frazier and Chris Cashell. It worked. A popular draft beer served for the last three years at the Charles Street establishment, Green Peppercorn is being sold in bottles at the brewpub and various Baltimore area liquor stores. (I paid about $9.50 for a bottle at the Wine Source in Hampden. Part of the proceeds of the sale goes to benefit area literary programs, Volker Stewart of the Brewer’s Art said.)

"Tripel" is the Flemish spelling, Stewart said, and it indicates a brew that is several times stronger than usual.

For such a big beer, 9.2 percent alcohol, it is amazingly smooth.

Anybody else have a chance to try this "gusher"?

Posted by Rob Kasper at 7:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
                    

Bowing to public pressure, I have changed the beer bottle I spin each week trying to predict the Ravens game. This week the spinning beer bottle is National Bohemian, better known as Natty Boh. True, it is now brewed out of town, in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., but it has a storied history here.

It is the Vinny Testaverde of beers. It has been around, it is not very flashy, but it you know what you are getting. A basic performance.

There were some terrific suggestions from readers for other beers, such as one from Steve who said that in honor of our QB's recent lack of mobility, we should go with Peg Leg Stout.

But I went with a bottle of Natty Boh. And two of three times, it landed on the Ravens area of my chart. So Natty Boh says the Ravens beat the Bengals. By a neck.

A bit of history. The connection between breweries and sports has always been strong in this town. Jerry Hoffberger once owned both the Orioles and National Brewing Co. Competition among local breweries was fierce and the announcers who called the Colts and Oriole games, such as Chuck Thompson and Ernie Harwell, were hired by the breweries.

One such Baltimore brewery was Gunther’s. So when the Colts kicked an extra point, the announcer always said the point after was “Good as Gunther’s.”

Posted by Rob Kasper at 11:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (9)
                    

Posted by Rob Kasper at 5:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
                    

Talked briefly with Charlie Papizan today about the record number of people -- 46,000 -- who attended the Great American Beer Festival in Denver last month. Papizan, who founded the event 26 years ago, remembers when only 900 to 1,000 folks showed up for the first festival.

 “We are not as much of niche as we used be," Papizan observed.

 A release sent out by the Brewers Association noted that not only is the festival growing, but so is the craft beer industry. The release quotes scan data from Information Resources Inc., saying craft beer had a 17.8% increase in supermarket sales for 2006— more growth than any other alcohol beverage category in the supermarket sales channel. Craft beer sales have grown by 31.5% in the past three years, the release said.

 Papizan also told me he was heartened that 40 to 50 percent of the folks attending this year's  festival were women. “I think there are a lot of women who never thought they would be beer drinkers until they tasted what craft brewers have to offer,” he said.

That got me wondering: Is there a gender issue here? Is beer appreciation a predominantly male domain, or is this stereotype falling?

Posted by Rob Kasper at 4:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)
                    

Posted by Rob Kasper at 11:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)
                    

Starting today, this blog begins a new service: spinning a beer bottle to predict the outcome of a Ravens football game.

I take a bottle of beer brewed in the hometown of the Ravens opponent (or failing that, I use a  Baltimore brew ), and spin the bottle on a chart. The chart, like a roulette wheel, has equal number of landing spots representing the Ravens or their opponent. When the bottle stops spinning, it points to the predicted winner. I spin the bottle three times, declare the prophesied winner, then drink the beer.

For the Monday night game of the Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers, the spinning beer was Penn Pilsner, one of the line of German style beers brewed by Pennsylvania Brewing Company in Pittsburgh. (I was gonna use Iron City, but couldn't find it in bottles.). According to spinning beer bottle the winner will be: 

The verdict on the beer: this is a smooth, drinkable Vienna style lager, featuring a balanced attack of roasted malt and Hallertau hops.

Iron City and the Steelers are nasty, but this Pittsburgh beer is mellow.

Posted by Rob Kasper at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)