New Guinness and others

It's finally in Vermont! The US release of Guinness Foreign Extra Stout 4 packs have hit our shelves! It's a damn-tasty, drier, slightly more bitter and stronger (ABV-wise) version of the classic Guinness. This is the version that was typically only available in Jamaica and Africa and is brewed in Ireland, unlike a lot of the Guinness that we normally see which comes out of Canada.

We also received a shipment of Young's Double Chocolate Stout in a 4 pack of bottles.

And a draft update from my stop at Bluebird Tavern tonight - Dogfish Head Olde School Barleywine Ale, Hill Farmstead Twilight of the Idols (coffee, cinnamon, vanilla and bourbon-ed porter), Smuttynose Vunderbahr Pilsner, Dogfish Head Pangaea, Trapp Helles & Dunkel, Ommegang Abbey, Allagash White, Switchback, & Scaldis Peche Mel (a personal favorite!). Stop in and have a pint and tell 'em Jeff sentcha!

Cheers,
Jeff

Happy American Craft Beer Week!

Oh, yes good patrons of Craftily Constructed Creations of Carbonated Concoctions, 'tis American Craft Beer Week once again and time to show your support for those who Artfully render your delicious libations.

Now this is no mere ploy to get you to come in and shop, oh no! dear friends and brew-patriots! This is a call for all of you to reach out to your favorite craft brewers and give them a slap on the back, a high-five, a hoot, a "Like," a "Tweet," and to say thank you to them for what they do! They are truly artists, struggling against the giants to get their hand-made beers into your glass.

So this week, make it a special point to order a Hill Farmstead, a Rock Art, a Trapp Lager, an Otter Creek or a Wolaver's, a Magic Hat, a McNeill's, perhaps a Trout River or Harpoon, an elusive Lawson's, a Switchback or a pint of Long Trail. Make a trip to the Alchemist, the Bobcat Cafe, Three Needs, American Flatbread Burlington Hearth, Madison or Norwich Inn, the Shed or Vermont Pub. Or if you live in the Burlington area, stop in the brand new Farmhouse Tap & Grill and sample a number of these fine Vermont-brewed craft beers all (responsibly) in one sitting!

I tip my hat to all you Publicans, all you Brewers, all you who make Vermont one of the best beer states in this nation! Happy Craft Beer Week!

Cheers,
Jeff

http://www.americancraftbeerweek.org/

Switchback releases Porter

Hailing all you Switchback fans! This week brings the first official release of their new Porter into the wild! I've been following the test-batches on this beer over the past year and they nailed it in the final release - a moderately roasted, medium-bodied dark porter. Think of it as a dark version of regular Switchback! Tasty and supremely drinkable.

It's only available on draft or in kegs, and only for a limited time. Just look for the red Switchback tap handle, and if your favorite bar doesn't have it, make sure to request it.

And if you're a real fan, call in your order to the Bevy and we'll get you a 13.2 or 5 gallon keg. 655-2620.

Cheers,
Jeff

Craft Beers at The Tavern in Essex Jct.

I recently sat down with Chris Benjamin, Food & Beverage Director for The Tavern and Butler’s Restaurant at The Essex Resort, to discuss what role craft beer is playing in the N.E.C.I. restaurants. Since the beer laws changed last summer, The Tavern has added a slew of new world-class brews to their menu and has made some interesting and bold changes.

Of their eight taps, only one of them is a macro, four are dedicated to Vermont-made beers, one is a nitro-tap, and one is open for the “Beer of the Month.” This month’s beer is North Coast’s “Pranqster,” a Belgian-style golden ale. The draft tower is stacked with lots of great options right now: Stone IPA, Switchback, Trout River Rainbow Red, Harpoon UFO, Long Trail Ale, and one of my personal favorites, North Coast “Old Rasputin” Russian Imperial Stout…on the nitro-tap!

Chris said they made a decision about 3 months ago to replace Guinness with Old Rasputin on their nitrogen-pushed line, and have run with it since then. The change has not been welcomed by all, though. “We’ve gotten a lot of angry comment cards,” he said. Jess, one of their bartenders chimed in, “We’ve had people threaten to not come back until we put Guinness back on.”

It’s a hard call for a bar to make: Do we keep a beer on one of our limited taps because it’s high quality and a fantastic beer even though we could easily sell more of another, mass-marketed beer? No decision has been made at this point, but I would really recommend going out there and having some Rasputin soon - It’s almost a religious experience on nitro-draft.

Despite the controversy over that nitro-line, Chris says they’ve been doing really well with their new “Specialty Beer” bottled offerings. The American Craft beers in large format bottles have been outstripping the imports about 5 to 1. Sierra Nevada Pale Ale 24oz, Allagash White Ale 750mL and Stone Brewing Smoked Porter 22oz are big sellers.

To help educate and guide their customers with choosing which beer will pair best with their Asian Shrimp Tacos or Beef Bourguignon, The Tavern has developed a Specialty Beer Menu. The menu offers pictures of the beers, reviews, ratings from BeerAdvocate.com and RateBeer.com, as well as suggested pairings. Chris and his team are seriously dedicated to matching beverages and food. The Tavern and Butler’s Restaurant both offer a huge wine list, over 800 bottles, and the servers are trained to offer pairing suggestions, a skill that easily translated to their new craft beer portfolio.

Our conversation inevitably shifted to how the beers are handled, and Chris assured me that all their beer glasses are hand-washed by the bartenders to avoid soap residue. Currently, if you order a beer, “Drifter Pale Ale please!” you’ll be served a full pint. You can request a 12oz pour if you’re of the mind, but those are your options. On one hand, it’s great because I don’t think I’ve ever seen a full pint of Old Rasputin before, especially not for under $6! On the other hand, the pint is not a great vessel for fully enjoying the bouquet of Pranqster. We talked about adding specialty glassware to the bar, and Chris said he’s considering going in that direction.

And despite the huge success with beers like Switchback and Stone IPA, which has been on tap since the beer launched in Vermont over a year ago, Chris says there are lots of obstacles in this area. “The Burlington crowd is mostly a martini and mixed drink crowd. And with 800 wines,” it’s tough sometimes to get people to pay attention to the beer. He thinks some of this has to do with the competitive pricing in the Burlington area. In Montpelier, it would be no problem to charge upwards $6 for a pint of microbrew, but up here, people just won’t have it. Good for customers, hard on the business. And this is really what makes questions like “do we keep Old Rasputin even though Guinness would outsell it?” even harder.

So what can you do? Head out to The Tavern at The Essex Resort (formerly The Inn at Essex), and check out some of these great new brews! I highly recommend the Asian Shrimp Tacos paired with a pint of Stone IPA, or the Long Trail Ale Battered Fish & Chips with what else but a pint of Long Trail, and have a 12oz pour of Old Rasputin for dessert. Tell ‘em Jeff from The Bevy sent ya.

Cheers,
Jeff

The Tavern is operated by The New England Culinary Institute and is located inside The Essex Resort & Spa, 70 Essex Way, Essex Jct., VT 05452. Call (802)764-1489 for more information.

After Hours with Switchback Brewing

Last night I spent some quality time at the Switchback Brewery chatting with brewer Tony Morse and my good friend and soon to be NECI grad Chris Galbraith. We rolled in, after business hours of course, to find a hard-at-work Tony tromping about the brew house, casually nodding his head to some heady metal from the Dethklok album. He invites us in and we spent some time touring the facility, sampling the oh-so-fine fresh brews, and waiting for him to clean the brew kettle with some rather caustic chemicals. Here's what I found out...

Times are busy at Switchback, with selling beer in NH, NY and Vermont, there's burning the midnight oil. I can safely say that Beverage Warehouse sells more kegs of Switch than any other beer, even though it's twice the price of our cheapest keg! I've seen kegs come into the Warehouse that were filled only hours before! So if we're moving that many kegs alone, I can't even imagine how they have any beer to sell in other markets...kudos! Oh, and the Porter, let's not forget about the Porter! For those of you lucky enough to sample this dark pint at the Burlington Brewersfest, you know what I'm talking about. Tony says that they need to tweak it a little but plan on releasing a batch just before next year's Roasted Red come out. It's very dark in the glass, but is spry because of the carbonation level and doesn't feel cloying or necessarily creamy on the palate. On the finish there's a definite earthiness that Tony says comes from using unmalted barley in the mash. Not an easy trick, but they pulled it off with great success. I can't wait until Winter so I can have some more! And Tony gives one hell of a tour. This man knows his beer and didn't dumb it down for us. He used real working terminology, interesting chemistry explanations and answered my dumb questions in a way that both made sense and helped me to learn more. Some brew tours, well actually most, are just generic this-and-that, but not at Switchback.

Here's what I learned about the brewery: Their actual Brew-house is only a fifteen barrel operation, but they manage to squeak out around seventeen and a half. Their proprietary yeast strain has been helping them brew beer for over 180 "generations" (meaning the yeast, not the people), that's over six years! Same good ol' yeast gets "pitched cone to cone" in the fermenters and keeps on making that sweet, delicious alcohol. Kegs are still filled by hand. Tours are available on Saturday, I believe, but give a ring over to the brewery to verify times. They also sell hats, shirts and tap handles (for you die-hards with Switch on draft at home) at the brewery. Stickers are free, if I remember correctly, and they'll stamp your VT Brewery Passport. And yes, asking for a keg-stand is frowned upon no matter what time of night it is.

It was a great night, and a fun time. As Chris and I got into my truck, we waved back at Tony who was carting home his very own new Guitar Hero III set-up while locking up the doors for the night. Thanks Tony for the hospitality. Oh, and like I promised I'd say - and please hear this! - NO PLANS TO BOTTLE anytime soon. From the horses mouth, please stop asking and stop spreading rumors. Just enjoy it on draft at your favorite watering-hole or pony up and get a home draft system. I'll even come over any help you set it up.

Cheers,
Jeff Baker

PS> Harpoon has announced a new four-pack series called "Leviathan" and the first round to hit VT will be an Imperial IPA in Sept.! Click for more.