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On Saturday, November 22nd I'll be speaking about the history of brewing and the current beer scene in the Northeast at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC. Copies of my book will be for sale at a discount following a brief Q&A. This ticketed event is open to the public and includes beer samples from as many as 75 breweries. Food from a variety of vendors will also be available for purchase.
Following my talk at both sessions will be Michael Tonsmeire, author of American Sour Beers: Innovative Techniques for Mixed Fermentations. Although Michael and I haven't met, I've been a fan of his homebrewing blog, The Mad Fermentationist, for a long time. Follow this link for a little preview of what we'll each be talking about and stop by the Craft Concierge Center if you want to geek out about Gose, Gueuze or Gruit (you can't drink sours all the time). To purchase tickets to the DC Craft Beer Festival, visit the event's website.
On Sunday, August 10th at 2:00 pm I'll be speaking about brewery tourism, the Northeast beer scene, and my new book at Shmaltz Brewing Company in Clifton Park, New York. Part of their summer-long Books on Tap series, this ticketed event is open
to the public and includes food samples from The Ruck in nearby Troy. For
more information call (518) 406-5430 or visit the Eventbrite website.
Jeremy Cowan, founder and owner of Shmaltz, will serve as moderator and will also lead tours following our conversation. Although we've crossed paths at various festivals, I haven't had the chance to sit down and talk with him since I led a panel on beer tourism at the New York Travel Festival last April. It will be my first visit to his brewery and I'm looking forward to the event. If you live in the Capital Region, or are planning to be in the area during the second weekend of August, grab a ticket now for a fun beer tasting, discussion, and book signing.
On Friday, April 25th at 6:00 pm I'll be speaking about brewery tourism, the Northeast beer scene, and my new book at the Lewiston Public Library in Lewiston, Maine. Part of the library's Pages & Pints book talk and beer tasting series, this free event is open to the public and will take place in the library’s Callahan Hall. For more information call (207) 513-3135 or visit their website.
After my talk, things will move to Baxter Brewing Company on Mill Street for a reception and beer tasting with cheese pairings provided by Forage Market. Copies of the book will be available for purchase and signing at both the library and the brewery. Plus, if you purchase two or more copies of The Great Northeast Brewery Tour on Friday, I'll throw in a copy of The Homebrew Journal.
And, if you live on the Portland Peninsula, you can also catch a ride to and from the event with me courtesy of the Maine Brew Bus. Round trip transportation courtesy of Lenny (or Mabel, their other brew bus) is $15 and leaves from the Rising Tide Brewing Company at 5:15pm sharp.
Every summer, thousands of drivers get caught in the crawling queue that backs up the Mid-Cape Highway, chipping away at patience and time better spent at the beach or on the water. Starting in Sandwich on the Upper Cape, dodge the traffic and take a scenic detour down the Old King's Highway, a quieter road that hugs the coast out to Provincetown. From cranberry bogs to picturesque church steeples, there’s much more to see on Route 6A and plenty of places to pull off for a quick snack or leisurely diversion.
Founded in 1969 and recognizable by its wrought iron roadside statue, Titcomb’s Bookshop has evolved from a small antiquarian book dealer into a three-story business with an international following. Stop in to flip through A History of Chowder, grab a game for the kids, or pick up a paperback to bring to Sandy Neck Beach Park just up the road. Lifeguarded from Memorial Day to Labor Day, the beach is accessible with a parking sticker or a day pass ($15-20). Go for a dip, read under your umbrella, or take a short hike on the nature trail to look for signs of deer, reptiles, and wading birds. After a little sun, continue into Barnstable for a visit to Cape Cod Beer, a craft brewery that proudly advertises “a vacation in every pint.” Cape Cod Red, a full-flavored amber ale is their bestseller, but on a hot day, Beach Blonde, a golden-hued easy drinker might be a better choice. Time your stop with a tour and tasting (Monday-Saturday), or grab a growler to go (from $11).
Nearly a month has passed since Voyageur Press published The Great Northeast Brewery Tour. The reception has been positive so far, and I've kept busy with appearances at bookstores and breweries and interviews with reporters in Connecticut, Maryland, and New York City. Snowstorms and the "Polar Vortex" teamed up to challenge my promotional efforts, but even extreme winter weather couldn't keep people away. (I'm guessing that thermal underwear convinced those on the fence to venture out in spite of the low temperatures.)
Well, in defiance of the cold and Punxsutawney Phil's pessimistic prediction, I'm hitting the road again at the end of February. This time I'm traveling as far north as Maine, and I'll also be returning to Philadelphia to the south. And while I will have copies with me, I'm more than happy to sign books that you've already purchased. I've listed the confirmed events below, but more information can be found on the book's Facebook page. Keep track of news and reviews by following me on Twitter, and stop by any of these places to say hello:
- Saturday, February 22, 2014 - Rising Tide Brewing Company (Portland, ME)
- Sunday, February 23, 2014 - Cape Ann Brewing Company (Gloucester, MA)
- Sunday, February 23, 2014 - Portsmouth Book & Bar (Portsmouth, NH)
- Wednesday, February 26, 2014 - Greenlight Bookstore (Brooklyn, NY)
- Thursday, February 27, 2014 - Lucky's Last Chance (Philadelphia, PA)
- Friday, February 28, 2014 - The Hop (Beacon, NY)
- Friday, February 28, 2014 - Crossroads Brewing Company (Athens, NY)
- Saturday, March 1, 2014 - The Green Toad Bookstore (Oneonta, NY)
- Saturday, March 1, 2014 - Hopshire Farm and Brewery (Freeville, NY)
Not all New Year's resolutions are created equal. Some of us aim high, setting ambitious goals that focus on self improvement: I'm finally going to train for that marathon this year. We like to challenge ourselves to be better, or do more, knowing all along that it will take a fair amount of effort. Others, knowing their limitations, prefer to pick a resolution that's easier to achieve: Maybe this is the year I remember to put the toilet seat down?
Personally, I'm of the opinion that a worthwhile resolution ought to involve a certain amount of fun, or, at the very least, a series of small rewards. Surely we've all learned by now that a little encouragement can go a long way. So with that in mind, I'd like to offer a recommendation. Instead of (or, better yet, in addition to) getting in shape to run a race or remembering to be more courteous in the bathroom, why not make visiting a brewery part of your 2014 game plan?
According to the Brewers Association, a professional organization founded "to promote and protect small and independent American brewers," the U.S. currently contains more than 2,500 breweries. And while Vermont, Oregon, Montana, Alaska, and Colorado have the most per capita, no state is devoid of locally-brewed beer. In fact, there's a good chance you have one or two in your proverbial backyard—probably no more than a 20 or 30 minute drive. If you need suggestions and live somewhere between Washington, D.C. and Maine, just pick up a copy of my new book, The Great Northeast Brewery Tour. But if that's not enough to convince you to go, here are my five reasons to visit a brewery in 2014.
It's been a long time coming, but after almost two years of work, my third book is finally on its way to retailers. I know this because last week an advance copy turned up here at home. The rather self explanatory title is The Great Northeast Brewery Tour. Suffice it to say I put more effort into this project than just about anything else I've worked on in my professional career and I'm proud of how it turned out. What makes me happier still is the fact that it includes a foreword by author and brewer extraordinaire Garrett Oliver as well as images by my talented photographer friend Bethany Bandera.
With the official release date rapidly approaching, I've put together a string of winter events to help promote the book. I'm eager to return to some of the breweries and brewpubs Bethany and I visited so many months ago and look forward to meeting fellow readers, beer drinkers, and road trippers. If you live near one of the places below, please save the date and bring a friend. For details about times and locations, check out The Great Northeast Brewery Tour on Facebook or follow me on Twitter.
- Saturday, January 18, 2014 - Twin Lakes Brewing Company (Greenville, DE)
- Monday, January 20, 2014 - Meridian Pint (Washington, DC)
- Tuesday, January 21, 2014 - Atomic Books (Baltimore, MD)
- Thursday, January 23, 2014 - Trident Booksellers and Cafe (Boston, MA)
- Friday, January 24, 2014 - Relic Brewing Company (Plainville, CT)
- Saturday, January 25, 2014 - Weyerbacher Brewing Company (Easton, PA)
- Saturday, January 25, 2014 - Turkey Hill Brewing Company (Bloomsburg, PA)
- Sunday, January 26, 2014 - Dock Street Brewing Company (Philadelphia, PA)
- Monday, January 27, 2014 - Jimmy's No. 43 (New York, NY) *dinner*
- Tuesday, January 28, 2014 - Curious Iguana Books (Frederick, MD)
- Tuesday, January 28, 2014 - Roy-Pitz Brewing Company (Chambersburg, PA)
- Wednesday, January 29, 2014 - Dogfish Head Craft Brewed Ales (Milton, DE)
- Wednesday, January 29, 2014 - Evolution Craft Brewing Company (Salisbury, MD)
- Thursday, January 30, 2014 - Flying Fish Brewing Company (Somderdale, NJ)
- Friday, January 31, 2014 - Cape May Brewing Company (Rio Grande, NJ)
- Saturday, February 1, 2014 - Troegs Brewing Company (Hershey, PA)
- Saturday, February 1, 2014 - [words] Bookstore (Maplewood, NJ)
- Sunday, February 2, 2014 - Sweet Grass Grill (Tarrytown, NY) *brunch*
- Sunday, February 2, 2014 - Two Roads Brewing Company (Stratford, CT)
Over the past several years I've trained my writer's eye on the world of beer, covering hop growers, bar owners, micro-maltsters, and yes, even the occasional cheesemaker. During the course of my travels I've met dozens of dedicated brewers in Europe, Asia, and North America, and have tried my best to accurately tell their stories. Or at least the part of the story that relates to everyone's favorite hoppy beverage. Generally speaking I'm not one to choose favorites, but one of the most interesting assignments I landed this year is an article that appears in the current issue of All About Beer.
Entitled "Band of Brewers," it profiles a number of U.S. breweries started by military veterans including Todd Baldwin, the founder of Red Leg Brewing in Colorado, Mike McCreary, the owner of Connecticut's Cavalry Brewing, Kevin Ryan, the co-founder of Service Brewing in Georgia, and Nick Fertig, the co-owner of Maryland's Full Tilt Brewing. They aren't the only vets out there working hard to brew great beer—far from it—but mentioning every soldier, sailor, and pilot with a business plan would have meant a much longer feature. The one company I knew for sure would end up in the final piece is 14th Star Brewing out of Saint Albans, Vermont. I first met Steve Gagner and Matt Kehaya last November while researching my forthcoming book (more on that very soon) and admired their plucky attitude. Which is why I'm happy to give them a bit of national exposure just a few months after their first anniversary. Here's to Steve, Matt, and all those who have served.
My friends in Thailand told me I wouldn't like the food in Laos. Thai food was better they said; Laotian dishes were bland and couldn't compare to the flavorful, fiery cuisine of Isaan, just over the Mekong River. Not knowing any better, I trusted them: these same people had led me to some of my favorite meals ever. And so, as I boarded the overnight train from Bangkok's Hua Lamphong station, I lowered my expectations. Maybe my first trip to the Lao People's Democratic Republic would be a complete bust.
Fortunately, my friends were wrong. Very wrong, in fact. Eating my way through Vientiane while on assignment for Travel + Leisure Southeast Asia, I discovered charming restaurants serving intriguing national dishes (Lao Kitchen), vendors hawking delicious street food (I'm still a sucker for warm, sugary roti), and, to my surprise, a Belgian beer bar, too (Chokdee Cafe). My favorite find however, might have been an unassuming little family-run business in Phiawat Village called Kung's Cafe.
I arrived around 1pm, just as the lunchtime regulars were returning to work. Choosing a table close to an oscillating fan, I ordered ginger chicken with rice, iced coffee with coconut milk to combat the heat, and to satisfy my curiosity, the mango sticky rice pancake. Dense, chewy, and expertly browned, the large doughy envelope arrived curled around a juicy chunk of fresh tropical fruit and drizzled with sweet Laos honey. Big enough to share and good enough for seconds, Kung's sticky rice pancake was the highlight of my last day in Vientiane. I raved about it to my Thai friends as soon as I got back to Bangkok.
Made by bees and prized by bears, honey is a delicious natural sweetener that humans have collected and consumed for thousands of years. Mead, an alcoholic beverage produced when yeast ferments a mixture of honey and water, shares a similarly distinguished history. It's also experienced a bump in popularity in recent years. Honey turns up in other drinks though, namely brandy and braggot, a not-so-distant relative of beer. In the current issue of Edible Boston, I wrote about a handful of brewers who (in all but one case), use native honey to create distinctive ales and lagers that in some small way acknowledge their place of origin. Track down a physical copy of the magazine in eastern Massachusetts or read it here online, ideally while savoring a pint of Slumbrew Happy Sol, Rapscallion Honey, Bee Tea from Night Shift, or Fisherman's Honey Pilsner.
If you've paid attention to the world of beer festivals lately, you've probably noticed something rather remarkable. Every year new events continue to appear, vying for the attention of excitable beer drinkers eager to sample the Next Big Thing. Large, small, well known or obscure, there are Oktoberfests, harvest festivals, Belgian fests, and celebrations for nearly every style under the sun, from mild mannered session ales to big, bad barleywines. At times, it almost feels like there are as many festivals as there are breweries, a reality that poses a challenge for organizers: How do you convince people to attend?
One way to do it is to offer a collaboration beer made exclusively for the occasion. There are precedents. For their fourth annual gathering, the Massachusetts Brewers Guild will offer a limited release cask English Mild created at Mayflower Brewing Company earlier this month. Many of the guild's 40 members participated in this collaboration, including Battle Road, Cambridge Brewing, Harpoon, Ipswich Brewing, Mayflower, Samuel Adams, Watch City, Wormtown, and Portico. The difference in this case however, is that the ale will serve as a base beer to which each participating brewery will add their own twist, be it maple syrup, oak chips, a favorite hop variety, or another ingredient that plays well with the style's light flavor and body.
Tickets for the event, scheduled for Friday, August 30th at Boston's World Trade Center Head House Concourse, are still available. The $40 price of admission includes beer samples from more than 30 member breweries, and proceeds benefit the guild, a non-profit organization established to promote and protect the interests of craft brewers across the state. Three Day Threshold, a local country group that also provided music for the Discovery Channel's short-lived "Brew Masters" series, will once again supply the live soundtrack, and casual dining options from the Seaport Hotel and World Trade Center will be available for purchase. For a preview of many of the featured beers and breweries (including newcomers Riverwalk, 3 Beards, Banner Beer, Battle Road, Brewmaster Jack, and Kretschmann), visit BrewGene. As for the nine or so takes on the English Mild, you'll just have to get tickets to find out what they are, won't you?
In case you haven't been paying attention, beer cocktails have arrived. From the reemerging popularity of the time-tested shandy to the Red Robin burger chain and even ABC's The Chew, beertails or less frequently, bocktails seem to be everywhere this summer. Earlier this year I covered the trend for DRAFT magazine, writing about five of the best in the Boston area. Here's a recipe for one of my favorites, Christopher's Baggy Eye Beer Punch (pictured at left), a potent drink created by Ben Greeley, the General Manager at Christopher's Restaurant and Bar in Cambridge.
To a 16-ounce Boston Shaker glass, add:
3/4 oz. Kahlua
3/4 oz. 888 Vanilla Vodka
1/2 oz. Chocolate syrup
1 oz. Espresso
2 dashes Bittermens Xocolatl Mole Bitters
Shake vigorously to combine. Top with Guinness and garnish with a cherry.
On Saturday, April 20th, I'll be moderating a panel discussion on beer travel at the inaugural New York Travel Festival (NYTF). Covering recent trends, brewery tours, and ale trails in New York and New Jersey, my session is one of dozens taking place at the Bohemian National Hall on East 73rd Street and will run from 11:20am until noon, with a beer tasting to follow. Panelists include:
Join us in the first floor cinema and bring questions! Then stick around to sample several beers, including Hop Manna IPA. Single day and package tickets (which include lunch and a Sunday tour) are still available: bitly.com/NYTF2013.
It all started with a simple idea. Gather a bunch of homebrewers, give them a short list of ingredients to work with, and let them do what they like to do most. There was only one catch: brewing beer, like event planning, might appear simple to execute at first glance (or taste, as the case may be), but actually involves a relatively complicated process.
Fortunately, I had Brewstoria to help me. Founded by Astoria resident Ryan Crook in 2010, this homebrew club has since grown rapidly and had been looking for a chance to involve a bunch of its members in a larger, collaborative brew day. As for the ingredients, I decided to challenge them with spices from Thailand, additives that aren’t commonly found in beer recipes but do appear at many a grocer across Queens—ginger, Thai basil, cilantro, chili pepper, and lemongrass. Theoretically, any one of these adjuncts could work with the right beer, and I was curious to found out just how creative the Brewstoria crew could be. Plus, if this borough really is the most diverse in a city that already represents America as melting pot, it only seemed fitting to add a dash of international flavor to the proverbial brew kettle. To my delight the group didn’t just accept the idea, they embraced it.
Being the industrious, let’s-get-right-to-it, sort of people that homebrewers usually are, they managed to make arrangements to use the kitchen and courtyard at The Foundry, an event space in Long Island City. And by the time I turned up on a sunny Sunday morning last February, things were nearly in full swing. Six teams had set up at indoor and outdoor brew stations, and the air was already thick with promising smells. Fittingly, I also caught a few stanzas from a Red Hot Chili Peppers song floating from a pair of portable speakers.
"Next week, it smells like beer." These were the words brewmaster Stefan Simon uttered as he led me up a wooden staircase to the malt house at Privatbrauerei Glaab. It wasn't a particularly surprising statement. I've heard similar expressions from brewers before, just not in Seligenstadt, Germany. To be honest, I'd scarcely heard of the town itself until I arrived on a sunny afternoon in late August. But after several days of touring the state of Hesse on a trip sponsored by the Frankfurt Rhine-Main Region, I was excited to be anyplace where I could taste beer and talk shop. Fortunately, Mr. Simon had graciously agreed to show me around the historic brewery.
Founded in 1744, Glaabsbräu grew steadily over time, reaching the point of producing more than one million barrels a year by 1970. And they remained independent into the 80s and 90s, as other nationally-known brands fell victim to mergers and buy-outs. More recently, the company has scaled back, currently kegging and bottling closer to 33,000 barrels annually. Even so, their footprint in this little town of half-timbered houses is considerable, seeming to occupy nearly as much real estate as the former Benedictine monastery on the banks of the Main River.
"The focus now is on quality," Simon explained in thickly-accented English. "And time for maturation is longer these days."
As he led the way back downstairs to the open fermentation cellar and then into the lagering cellar below, he told me that their Pilsener (4.9% ABV) is the top seller overall while Glaabsbräu Radler (2.6% ABV) is "popular with ladies." He also filled me in on Vitamalz, an alcohol-free malt beverage developed in 1930 that Simon described as healthier than Coke. I knew something about the beverage, having washed down boiled sheep's head with a can of Egils Malt in Iceland, so I didn't press him for more information. Besides, I was mostly there for the beer.
Since I started writing about beer I've covered hop farming and hotels, restaurants, and style revivals. I've interviewed brewmasters and I've reviewed beer books. Well, as of this year, I'm proud to say that label art can also be added to the list of topics. In the current issue of Northwest Travel magazine I contributed a short piece entitled "The Art of Jubelale," a so-called "festive winter ale" that Deschutes Brewery of Bend, Oregon has made for the last 25 years. The story isn't about the beer though, it's about the packaging.
I wish I'd been given a longer word count, but editors decide these things, not hungry freelancers like me. I do however touch on the origins of the brewery's annual tradition and note the unique supplies used by this year's artist, Kaycee Anseth Townsend. Named "Revelers and Troubadours," it's bound to end up in the Jubel Hall of Fame at some point in 2013. Researching the story, I wondered how many other painters, illustrators, and cartoonists have found work in the beer industry. Plenty of other craft brewers rely on artists to convey something about the hoppy liquid inside their bottles, hoping a humorous, unusual, or arresting image will entice shoppers to part with hard earned cash. Some breweries even create the art themselves (here's looking at you, Pretty Things).
So which label art, holiday-themed or otherwise, stands out from the rest in your opinion? What about the design jumped off the shelf to you, and did you end up buying the beer? List your favorites in the comments section.
The Union Square Holiday Market is in full swing, the 30,000 lights decorating the Rockefeller Christmas Tree will be lit next week, and even without any snow on the sidewalks, retailers have turned Manhattan into a wonderland of tinsel, snowflakes, wreaths, and garlands. If you're not the kind of person that eagerly awaits the Yuletide, then it's probably time for a drink. Egg Nog or hot buttered rum are always solid options this time of year, but maybe you'd rather just have a glass of wine or a pint of beer. That and a good book.
In the current issue of the Village Voice, I choose and review five new books that any beer geek, wine connoisseur, or cocktail enthusiast will want to add to their library. Titles like To Have and Have Another, Allagash: The Cookbook, and How to Love Wine are all great resources for someone planning to throw a party in the next few weeks, but most people with an interest in ales, spirits, or oenology will find at least one of these books worth reading. I agreed with much of Mr. Asimov's wine manifesto and definitely enjoyed the Hemingway Cocktail Companion by Philip Greene, but I was especially pleased to include a cookbook highlighting craft beer. As far as I'm concerned, a good new beer publication is worth celebrating any time of year.
For me, one of the perks of travel is the chance to try ales and lagers that aren't available at my local bar or bottle shop. Every beer isn't always remarkable of course, but once in a while I return home still thinking about a memorable pint. Earlier this month, Vagabondish published a feature I wrote entitled Island Hopping for the Beer Lover. In it, I recommend eight places to go in Asia, Europe, the United States, and Australia. For more of my travel advice served with a general splash of beer, read this post from last year.
Way back in 2009 (OK, I guess it wasn't that long ago), three beer-loving New Yorkers decided that craft breweries could use a little help getting their products into the pints of punters across the five boroughs. With that goal in mind, they founded the Good Beer Seal, a convivial group committed to "identifying bars that serve quality craft beer and demonstrate a commitment to the community in which they do business." After defining their mission and creating a snazzy logo, the trio next took the ambitious step of petitioning the city to declare July "Good Beer Month." As it turned out, Mayor Michael Bloomberg was persuaded by their well-written letter, and earlier this summer, offered what has now become an annual proclamation in the Big Apple.
Craft beer has gained thousands of friends in the years since the first Good Beer Month, and the organization now counts more than 40 participating bars in New York City. There's even talk of expanding to Long Island. They also host a number of events, including this week's Beer Book, Blog, and Video Fest at the South Street Seaport Museum in Lower Manhattan. For $15 (or $10 for museum members) you'll get admission to the festival, two hours of beer samples, and food from Coach Farm Cheese, Sigmund's Pretzels, Jimmy's No. 43, and more. I'll be there along with authors and bloggers like John Holl, Christian DeBenedetti, Joshua Bernstein, John Kleinchester, and Niko Krommydas.
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