Winter Warmers

The chill winds of fall are blowing along the Bay Shore, the geese are flying south in formation, the Stripers are back in the bay, the election rhetoric has reached a fever pitch and its time to for a warmer wardrobe. For beer aficionados this can only mean one thing – It is time to break out the maltier, higher gravity beers to ward off the chill bay shore winds. No need to abandon the front porch, just break out the barn jacket and a snifter of the strong brews mentioned below:

Going from lightest to darkest my Fall- Winter lineup is as follows:

Wheat Wine

A newer style just coming into it’s own can also be described as a strong wheat ale. Wheat Wines contain a large portion of wheat malts, often upwards of 50%. The wheat provides a softer mouth feel. The Wheat Wines that I have sampled have been a hazy pale yellow, with a rocky head, with a floral nose and a dry-hop finish. Smutty Nose’s Wheat Wine is available on local shelves in a 22 ounce bottle. At 11% Alcohol by volume this is a perfect size for sharing.

Tripel

This Belgian Style takes its name from part of the brewing process, in which the brewers use up to three times the amount of barley malt than a standard “Single Ale”. Traditionally, Tripels are clear bright yellow or gold in color. The head tends to be big, dense and creamy. Aroma and flavor is complex, spicy, with fruity ale yeast evident, along with a sweet finish. The style’s sweetness comes from both the malts used and the higher alcohol. Tripels tend to be heavily hopped to offset the alcohol aroma and the sweet malt palate. The lighter body comes from the use of Belgian candy sugar in the fermentation tank, which not only lightens the body, but also adds alcoholic aroma and flavors. Small amounts of spices are sometimes added as well.

Some North East craft breweries include a Tripel in their regular line-up including Allagash (Maine) and Weyerbacher (Pennsylvania). Chimay (White Label) is a fine imported example that is available in most good outlets.

A Similar Style to the Triple is a Belgian Strong Pale Ale. Heavyweight Brewing in Ocean Township makes a brew called “Lunacy “at nearly 8% alcohol by volume it will warm you and sustain you during the long nights of the waning year. Broueri Moortgat’s “Duvel” falls under this style.

Barley Wine

Despite its name, a Barley Wine is very much a beer, albeit a very strong and often intense beer. It is among the strongest of the beer styles. Fruity, rich and sometimes sweet, sometimes dry, a Barley Wine is always alcoholic. A brew of this strength and complexity can be a challenge to the uninitiated palate. Expect colors ranging from amber to deep brown with an aroma ranging from dark dried fruits (dates, figs currants), to spicy and floral hops. Body is typically thick, alcohol will definitely be perceived in the nose and palate, and flavors can range from fruity and sweet to highly hopped.

English varieties are quite different from the American efforts, the American versions are more intensely hopped, usually with West Coast hops (Cascades, Willamette, etc.). English versions tend to be more balanced, with slightly lower alcohol content, though this is not always the case.

Most Barley Wines can be cellared for years and will mellow and improve with age. Consider trying “Monster” by Brooklyn Brewing, “Old Horizontal” (affectionately known as “Old Ho”) by Victory Brewing or Sierra Nevada’s “Bigfoot”. Buy a sixer of each and enjoy one bottle now and cellar the rest in a cool dry space.

Wee Heavy (Scotch Ale)

In 19th century Scotland, these brews would also be known as a “160 Shilling”, a name derived from the now obsolete shilling currency. Tax was levied on the Original Gravity of the Brew, The higher the Original Gravity the higher the tax. Scotch Ales traditionally go through a long boil in the kettle for a caramelization of the wort. This produces a deep copper to brown in colored brew and subtle caramel and toffee undertones. Compared to 60 and 90 Shilling Scottish Ales, a Wee Heavy will be sweeter and fuller-bodied, and of course higher in alcohol, with a much more pronounced caramel and roasted malt flavor. To add to the complexity and offset some of the sweetness a portion of the malts used may be smoked over turf (peat) as are the malts used in Scots Whisky. For an added flourish you can serve this brew in a “Thistle” shaped glass. This glass style will pay homage to the Scottish National Flower as well as concentrate the rich aroma of this fine restorative elixir.

I recommend “Robert the Bruce” (9% ABV) by Three Floyd’s Brewing as a fine domestic example of this style. Sam Adam’s makes a decent Scotch Ale, though at 5.4% ABV it is hardly a Wee Heavy. On the import side Orkney Brewing’s “Skull Splitter” (8.5% ABV) will take the bite out of the fiercest Northeast Wind off the Raritan Bay. (The scary looking Viking on the Label is all the warning you need mate.)

Doppelbock

Stylistically speaking Double Bock or Doppelbock (also Weizenbock) are huge beers with enough malt packed in them to consider them a meal in its self. Generally these beers have a full-bodied malty profile with a creamy tan head and darker coloration than “single” bocks with a much higher level of alcohol as well. They range in color from dark amber to nearly black. Dark versions may have slight chocolate or roasted characters. For more information you can read my earlier column on this style. ( Ahhh Bock ). For two excellent examples try Sam Adams Double Bock or Paulaner’s Salvator.

Imperial Stout

Created by English brewers back in the 1800’s to win over the Russian Czar, this is the king of stouts, boasting high alcohol by volume and plenty of malty character. An Imperial Stout unlike its Nitrogen Carbonated cousins has a low to moderate level of carbonation with huge roasted, chocolate and burnt malt flavors. An Imperial Stout will have a palate with hints of rich, dark fruit and alcohol quite evident. Hop character varies from balanced to aggressive. This style inspired the Baltic Porters of Sweden and Lithuania.

Enjoy these beers with care.

SOUR BEER? ITS A GOOD THING

As we wind our way across the seasons and begin our transition to the comfort foods and Maltier Beers of Fall I thought I’d take a step back and talk about a unique beer style that is traditionally a summer style. This brew is available for your enjoyment year-round.

The style in question is Berliner Weisse which is a top-fermented, bottle conditioned wheat beer made with both traditional warm-fermenting yeasts and lactobacillus culture. It has a rapidly vanishing head and a hazy, pale golden straw-colored appearance. The taste is refreshing, tart, sour and acidic, with a lemony sharpness and little hop bitterness in the finish.

Berliner Weiss is traditionally served in wide bulbous stemmed glasses. Visitors to Berlin will often order one as a "Berliner Weisse mit Schuss (literally with a shot): Himbeere" or "Berliner Weisse mit Schuss: Waldmeister". These are sweet syrups that are added to make the sourness more palatable. They have the pleasant visual effect of changing the brews color as well. Himbeere is sweet raspberry syrup (bright red) and Waldmeister is sweetened essence of woodruff (lurid green). I actually enjoy the Berliner Weisse on its own, but I did try adding some Grenadine Syrup to see what sweet syrups would do to the flavor profile. The taste remained sour but the sweet fruit syrup gave it a flavor profile reminiscent of a sour ball candy. Not an unpleasant taste at all, though not something I would seek out very often.

The most common brand of Berliner Weisse available in this country is Berliner Kindl Weisse. Despite having only 2.5% Alcohol by Volume this beer is extremely flavorful and somewhat pricey. $14.99 for a six pack at Whole Foods. I have also seen it for a buck or two less at Spirits Unlimited in Red Bank, though last time I looked there was a health layer of dust on the packaging which gave me pause.

New in the local stores Wiedenmayer “Jersey Lager”. If you like a maltier Oktoberfest Beer this one is a must try. Pair it with some Chili and Saltines.

The Breweries of Vermont Part Three

Vermont is called the Green Mountain State for a good reason. The verdant panorama of the Mountains that span the state is the backdrop to everything. We were comfortably settled in my wife's aunt's "camp" on Lake Champlain with it's glorious and panoramic views of the Champlain Isles and the Adirondacks beyond them. Echelons of clouds marched in a steady stream across the powder blue, northern skies. The clear waters of the lake were refreshing and had more than enough yellow perch and small-mouthed bass to keep our kids glued to the lakefront. We must have a good dozen pictures of the "trophies" that my little anglers caught (and released) on a combination of lures and live-bait. In the evenings, the setting sun and the giggles of happy kids paired nicely with the beers of Magic Hat.

Magic Hat is a Burlington Institution. They sponsor events in and around the Burlington area including Mardi Gras. Their web site is quirky, artful and sometimes frustrating . Their brewery, though somewhat non-descript on the outside is anything but typical on the inside. Oh sure they have the typical brewery fixtures: stainless steel tanks, pipes and bottling equipment - its the tasting area and gift shop that must be experienced.

You walk into the visitors entrance and instead of a brighlty lit welcoming dispay area you are enfolded into darkness. Dark painted walls, dark - loud heavy metal music, dimly lit corrugated steel panels and bins full of shirts and other brewery logo items (Spencer Gifts?). At the far end of the darkend room is the tasting and growler filling area. It consists of a dark colored bar with multiple taps, dark colored lounge furniture and is decorated with artsy promotional posters that evoke the era of psychedelia. Not the typical brewery at all.

The style used for labelling and packaging of their beer runs the gamut from the Stalinist Inspired "Mother Lager" to the Heinleinesque "H.I.P.A." Anything goes it seems. One might say that this is just typical Vermont individuality (coming out with guns blazing). But this is all window dressing that starkly contrasts with their bright and flavorful brews. My wife and I sampled several at the source and pronounced them all tasty and worthy of purchase.

The first up was the Mother Lager. This was an "entry level brew" that is a crisp and clean tasting pale lager. Nothing distinctive but enough character to take it out of the realm of your typical macro. Then there was "Number 9" an apricot accented pale ale that was a little heavy on the fruit for our tastes but was drinkable and had some dry and sour notes that meet many of the requirements of a summer quencher. The aroma of apricots wafting from our glasses reminded me of a summer harvest of the featured fruit. Next up was "Batch 370",the brewers rendition of a traditional German Hefe-Weizen. Cloudy sunshine yellow with a rocky white head. Aromas of cloves, bananas and bubble-gum. The taste was dry and sweet with spice and fruit and even a little "Double-Bubble". Not at all out of place with this style. The next brew, Batch 371, was also a Weizen but this time it was a "Dunkel-Weizen." This was, we agreed, was the most flavorful brew that we tried that visit. This rich dark-amber elixir with a short lived white head was slick on the tongue and palate. The nose was fruit, caramel and spice. The taste was rich and complex. Some ripe fruit, some cloves and other unidentifiable spices and a rather short-lived dry hop finish.

Over the following days we sampled a few other of the Magic Hat brews in bottles and found them all to be good solid performers. These beers are available on a regular basis at Buy-Rite in Atlantic Highlands in single variety six and 12 packs as well as the seasonal sampler twelve packs: "The Summer Variety Show" and "The Night of the Living Dead."

The Fourth and Final Installment in this series will cover some of the beers we acquired at places other than the source.

Hope your summer was grand. Schools Open, drive carefully.

Magic Hat Brewing