We lost a great one today.

Shelby Foote, that loquacious Mississippian, has left us. His three volume set on the American Civil War chronicles one of the few wars that actually resolved anything. To read his prose is to experience the epitome of fine writing merged with the historian's craft. Most of us first became aware of Shelby as a feature commentator on Ken Burns' series, The Civil War. He wrote like he spoke: The eloquent metered pace of a white suited Southern Gentleman. General Lee did not merely watch the progress of the battle...Rather Foote might write: "General Lee, from his perch astride Traveler, that noble dappled mare that carried him for so long, observed the ebb and flow of the epic struggle taking place...."

He perhaps never found a way to say things quickly, but he said them well and with an objective honesty that was refreshing.

You heard it ... read it here first.

I just got an e-mail from the President of Hunterdon Brewing. Dale's Pale Ale is coming to NJ. Woo Hoo! Finally a "Can Beer" that kicks ass! You read it here first folks.

Random thoughts and comments

I find more and more people are intersted in full flavored ales. I sat next to someone on the ferry that is a Pale Ale fan. She was excited that I had appealed to the ferry operator for better choices in beer.

There was a good article in the Dining and Wine section of the New York Times today. We are going to have to stock up on Pale Ales for the Fourth. This article is a good place to start. I noted with some amusement that the beer they selected as their top choice was a "can" beer. No light damage. Have to check with Hunterdon to see if this beer is coming to NJ soon.

Better Beer on the Bounding Main

Bud, Miller Lite, Coors Light, Heineken, Amstel Light. This is the beer selection on the Seastreak Ferries. Pitiful. At over $500 per month to commute one should expect a beer selection that is, shall we say, geared for the discriminating palate perhaps? Dare I suggest, a selection that made a token effort to support the local craft brewers from the Tri-State region? Perhaps they could consider the fine Jersey Gold brewed by Hunterdon Brewing for Service on the Seastreak New Jersey ? They have a vessel named the Seastreak Brooklyn, why not serve the fine beers from the Brooklyn Brewery? For a company that prides itself on local involvement and stresses quality of service they are somewhat remiss in the beer department. At this point my long suffering wife is saying "sit down Ed your making an A$$ of yourself." Undaunted by the gales of protest,it is on this very tack that I chose to write to the President of the Company in an appeal to bring better beer to the waterbourne commiuters that ride the Seastreak Ferries...

June 28, 2005

Mr. Geoffrey Ede
Managing Director
Hoverspeed Ltd
International Hoverport
Dover
Kent
United Kingdom
CT17 9TG



VIA TELECOPIER ONLY



Dear Mr. Ede:

I am writing to request that you consider serving better quality beer on the Seastreak Ferry service to New York City. As a company that prides itself on high quality of service, your selection of beer is uniformly adjunct based lagers. This style of beer tends to be rather sparing of character and taste. There are no Porters, Bitters, Stouts or Ales of any type available on any of your Monmouth County based vessels. I note that you do serve such beers on your UK based services. The riders on your vessels deserve better choices and different beer styles. . Locally brewed versions of the aforementioned styles are readily available from most local distribution outlets

Please consider, as a member of the Monmouth County business community, that you are uniquely positioned to support and showcase our proud regional brewers. Perhaps you may wish to consider featuring different brewer’s products on a rotating basis. This increased selection will also enhance the commuting experience and introduce your riders to beers that they might otherwise never take the opportunity to sample. Your riders win by getting a chance to discover a new high quality beer, you win by enhancing customer loyalty and reinforcing the perception that you value quality over conformity, and the local brewers win by getting a chance to market their wares to a select clientele.

I understand that you rely on “popular” brews to ensure that you are not left with unwanted stock. With proper promotion, and reasonable pricing I think you will find that you can enhance your customers commuting experience, support your fellow entrepreneurs and not be left with unwanted stale beer.

In the interest of full disclosure: I am not affiliated with any local brewers or beer distributors, nor do I work in the beverage industry. I am however a Seastreak customer and use your service on average 10 times per week. Should you be interested I will gladly make some recommendations to you or your designee, though I suspect your local staff already has a contact in the local distribution chain that could, if requested, furnish some quality, local beers.

Thank you for your time and consideration.


Respectfully,


Edward Kelley

Atlantic Highlands, NJ

Brooklyn and Pilsner

Brooklyn and Pilsner ... I don't get it?

Yup, that's just what I said. But "get it" is what you can and should do. Get it and try it. I am of course referring to the Brooklyn Brewery's "Brooklyn Pilsner". This is a solid and tasty brew. True to the style it is sunshine yellow with a fluffy white head, has a sweet floral hop aroma and a balanced yet spicy profile that is not as bracing as a hoppy Pale Ale nor is it bland and insipid like a big brewery "Pilsner Wannabee." (Miller Lite - a "True Pilsner Beer"...Yeah right whatever you say Madison Avenue.) While we are on a Pilsner kick, I'd like to suggest you also try Victory Brewing's "Prima Pils." A superior interpretation of the style as well, though a bit hoppier than the Brooklyn, it is another refreshing beer that will take the edge off a June evening on the front porches in and around our fair little Borough. These brews are all available at Buy-Rite in the Bayshore Shopping Center.

Just what is a Pilsner beer you ask? A Pilsner is a lager beer style said to have originated in Bohemia (part of the old Czechoslovakia) in and around the Village of Pilsen (Pilzen). The style dates back to approximately 1840. Interestingly enough, a neighboring village to Pilsen is Budweis, home of the Original Budweiser, though due to trademark restrictions it is only available only in this country under the curious name of "Czechvar." In Europe and elsewhere "Budweiser" or "Budvar" is the name used. A popular style, Pilsner-like beers are brewed around the globe: From the highly regarded Bedele Pilsner of Ethiopia to the Ginga Kogen Pilsner of Japan. Of course then there are the German Style "Pilsners". Personally I find the German Pilsners a bit hoppier and bit fuller bodied than the Czech Pilsners that I have tried. I would place both the Brooklyn and Victory Pilsners in the grouping with the German Pilsners. Examples of the Czech style include the readily available Pilsner Urquell and Czechvar as mentioned above.

Gastronomically, you will want to pair that Pilsner with some spicy Chicken Sate, Thai Food in General, Szechwan-Style Chinese dishes or an Italian Hot Dog ( http://www.jimmybuff.com )

If Baseball Players are the "Boys of Summer" Pilsners, Pale Ales and Wheat beers are the "Beers of Summer." We'll save the latter two for a future column.

While we are on the subject of beer and summertime I have been asked by several of you to comment on what my "favorite" beer is and what do I always have in the house. The short answer is that it varies with the seasons and the reasons, ask me in October and you are likely to get a different answer. My "cheap indulgence" beer is Ballantine Ale, a good inexpensive beach beer that comes in a funky green can. It's fruity, its malty and its dirt cheap. My "the yard work is done and a reward is in order" beer is a toss-up between Sierra Nevada's Pale Ale, Victory's Prima Pils, Brooklyn's Pilsner and Magic Hat's Hocus Pocus. My "its a cool night on the porch, the kids are in bed" beer is Dogfish Head's Indian Brown Ale, Brooklyn's Brown, Long Trail's Double Bag and Avery's New World Porter.

Now the rant. Why is it you can go to a Country Club, one that charges Tens of Thousands of Dollars to become and remain a member,one that still charges you several hundred dollars for each round of Golf with a guest, one where the Pro Shop will sell you a box of Titlest Pro VI golf balls for nearly $50.00 and yet the only beer available at any price is thin, fizzy, watery pale yellow beer?


Hmmm.

Respect for Beer

As a promoter of Beer I always try to encourage others to increase their respect for Beer. (Yes, I am a frequently a bore at parties when this topic comes up.) What does that entail you ask? Well it is hard to articulate precisely, but, a now deceased Supreme Court Justice once remarked on another topic: “I know it when I see it.” I can however give you some examples of disrespect that range from the mundane to the insane. You can connect the dots from there.

Example One - Drinking beer from the can or bottle. This is not a snobbery issue it is a genuine issue of proper treatment. Beer benefits from proper serving. Just as wines and spirits are best enjoyed from a proper glass, at an appropriate temperature and paired with the proper foods. Drinking a beer from a glass allows you to enjoy its color, clarity, head formation, aroma and liberates you from any hint of metallic taste imparted by touching the can as you sip from it.

Cans v. Bottles – Can beer tastes different. Beer from cans and beer from bottles are no different. They are the same recipe and given today’s advances in coating technology no aluminum taste is transferred to the beer. Even though cans chill faster, do not break, are lighter in weight, protect their contents from damaging light exposure, use fewer natural resources, recycle easier and take up less space in the cooler they are still less popular with the average beer drinker. Why is that? Long-standing myths that can beers taste metallic. Don’t trust me? Try a blind taste test. Buy a beer you know that comes in both cans and bottles, make sure they are close in freshness dates and invite your friends over. Pour side by side samples into two beer clean glasses for each guest and let me know what the consensus is. E-mail me at beerman@ahherald.com. Next time I see you on Sandy Hook you had better be toting cans and a polycarbonate tumbler or there is no beer for you today!

Boilermakers, Depth Charges – and similar mixed media efforts at intoxication. This weekend I was treated to the visual spectacle of a drink called an “Irish Car Bomb.” I did not drink one I assure you. Political annoyances aside, this struck me as alcohol abuse pure and simple. Curious? You take a pint of a fine Dry Stout like Guinness and a shot glass containing a shot of that respectable Irish Whisky, Bushmill’s and a splash of the famously overpriced Bailey’s Irish Cream. You drop the Bailey’s/Bushmill’s shot into the Guinness then chug this concoction for presumably explosive effect. Drinks such as this clearly demonstrate that with alcohol, as with food, a recipe does not always equal the sum of its parts. Guinness, Bailey’s and Bushmill’s on their own can be sipped, savored and enjoyed. Mixing them and the chugging them will get you drunk quickly, but any enjoyment you derive from this experience will be fleeting, though the ensuing hangover and the chance to drive the porcelain bus may last some time.

Beer Bongs – Shot-Gunning Beers. These are one and the same; the goal is to get the most beer into your stomach as quickly as possible. No taste, no smell, no savoring, just - whoosh and “get me another dude that was awesome.” How anyone could consider this respectful of beer or even enjoyable evades me. I consider this a recipe for disaster. There was a lad in Australia that took this a step further and linked a reservoir and tube to a power drill to automate the process. He punctured his esophagus and made headlines. Enough said.

The Smoke Gets in Your Beer

I know what you are thinking and no, this is not the blog where I discuss the pleasures of smoky bars, good cigars and women of indifferent virtue. This is my invitation to those of you that are up to a real adventure in your exploration of beer styles.

Let’s start our journey in the Fulda Gap. Any of you Cold Warriors out there will know that this is the region in Central Western Germany that the Soviet Juggernaut was poised to traverse on its way to the Rhine and thence World Domination … Well, smack dab on that axis of advance, about 20 clicks east of Wurzburg lies the sleepy little city of Bamberg. Spared the ravages of two world wars, Bamberg with its canals and quaint city center it is often called the Venice of the North. Bamberg is also the home of Rauchbier.

The Rauchbier (literally “smoke beer”) style is an old beer style; its origins go back to the 1500's. It's typically a dark beer with a malty profile. Rauchbier bears a passing similarity to Oktoberfest bier. There is a difference though; to make a Rauchbier, a portion of the grain used includes barley that is dried over an open fire of beech wood, and this process imparts a unique smokiness to the malts. This smoked malt produces beers with a smoke flavor so robust, so assertive, that it tastes as if the beer has been smoked. The burning beech wood imparts a smoky aroma and taste, much like that of the pit-barbecue found in some parts of the United States. If you have no idea what I am talking about get thee down to the Memphis Pig Out on First Avenue, in our little Bamberg on the Bay. But first visit a well stocked liquor store and grab a bottle or two of Braueri Heller-Trum’s Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier http://www.schlenkerla.de/ to enjoy with your repast. This is a style that pairs well with our native barbecue. Paired up with some pulled pork, chicken, ribs, brisket, sausage or my personal favorite KC style burnt ends and you have a winner. Heller-Trum makes several styles of Rauchbier but I have only seen the Marzen, Ur-bock and Weizen locally.

There our other smoked beer styles. Some utilize varying portions of malt kilned over peat much like that used in Scots Whisky. While the smokiness is not as assertive in these beers they are unique and flavorful in their own right. Unibroue’s Raftman and Magic Hat’s http://www.magichat.net/ Jinx are two such beers. Rogue Ales http://www.rogue.com/ “Smoke Beer” uses malt kilned over alder wood. The portion of the grain bill that is actually “smoked” is fairly modest, so the smokiness is there but it is not nearly as powerful as it on a Bamberg Rauchbier.

If you don’t think Smoked Beer is your thing you still need to get a ‘cue fix at the Memphis Pig Out. You can pair that repast with a more traditional pilsner style if you must. Consider Victory Brewing Prima Pils … Yummy. Locally, you must try Heavyweight’s Cinder Bock http://heavyweight-brewing.com

Until next time … Think Global and Drink Local.

The Dreaded Beer Slump - And the Cure

Well it has happened. Every once in a while I get into a slump. A time when I just cannot decide what beer to drink, all brews taste insipid and offer no relief from what ales me. This is usually induced by attendance at a function where no decent brews are available and my primal tastes are aroused then beaten senseless by a dram or two of the distilled stuff. This happened to yours truly over the weekend. We were on our way to the Atlantic Highlands PBA Ball when...

We stopped at the Fortier's on Fourth Avenue to savor the rich beers of the Berkshire Brewing Company http://www.berkshirebrewingcompany.com/ . Mike, the publican at this members only establishment, serves Berkshire Brews on Tap (and in 22 ounce Bomber Bottles if you are very nice to him). Mike has singularly shared with me these divine brews on many occassions. It is thanks to this noble, yet humble soul, that I have been able to enjoy nearly the full product line of these brewer/artisan's. Their products range from strong ales of heroic complexity to their "Traditional", a wonderful mild, session brew. Well, as it happens Mike was serving Steel Rail Extra Pale Ale, one of the Berkshire line that arouses one's palate and says only one word to me: "More". So we had two tall ones and dawdled down the Hill to the Ball.

We all grabbed beers, all watery yellow concoctions and after one Bud Light (I know, I know and there were witnesses too ... ahh the shame and horror)I was compelled to seek solace in a glass of Bombay Sapphire Gin. The botanical aroma and alcoholic warmth of the ice cold gin as it passed my lips was inescapable, sublime and wonderful. What followed can only be best described as a batting slump. Despite some CPR in the form of more Steel Rail on the walk home thier was no hope, the intrepid Beerman was flatlining.

Over the next couple of days repeated trips to the Legendary Beer Only Fridge yielded experiences that can best be compared to kissing ones sibling. The beer drinking experience that these visits yielded is best described as chaste, proper, respectful and utterly devoid of emotional attachment. No glorius flights of hop fancy in the IPA's, no rich rewarding coffee notes in the Brooklyn Chocolate Stout, no sweet malts in the Dussel Alt, no biscuity palate in the Long Trail Ale. Blah, Blah, Blah. Woe is me.

There is one light at the end of the tunnel however. A remedial drink so elegant and simple. A blissful beverage so pure and divine that while I know the slump will pass I am in no hurry to see it end. That saving Grace is, of course, the Plymouth Gin Very Dry Martini.

The Cure for the Beer Slump:

Take two 6 ounce cocktail glasses rinse and place in the freezer. 10 minutes should do it.

Half-Fill a steel shaker with fresh ice, no runny stuff from an ice bucket, get it right from the freezer if you must.

Add to the shaker 3 ounces of Plymouth Original Strength Gin, and a scant capful of Martini and Rossi Dry Vermouth or other quality dry vermouth.

Skewer and place three stuffed queen size olives on a small plate, (pimento, jalapeno, bleu cheese, almonds, anchovies or onion all work for me). I Do not put them into the drink, rather I leave them on the side.

Vigorously shake the Gin, Ice and Vermouth together until the the shaker is covered with with a heavy coating of frost on the outside (about two minutes). You will need to use a clean bar towel to hold the shaker if you do this right as your hands will get quite cold.

Remove one frosty cocktail glass from the fridge and strain the milky white slush into it. Then Sit on your front porch, take a nibble of an olive, and take your first ice cold sip of the cure for the Beer Slump. Repeat as neccessary. If symptoms persist for more than 2 weeks, switch to Manhattans or Margarita's.

Man (or Woman) cannot live on beer alone.


Think Local and Drink Global