Beer Served Rare THE BEER CONNOISSEUR HANDBOOK!
Issue 1 Vol. 1
Made For The Beer Geeks, Snobs, And Enthusiasts That Don’t Settle For Second Best
The Beer Drinkers Version of Coffee
CONTENTS: ISSUE 1, VOL. 1 Beer Served Rare
16 Top 10:
Cover Story:
Dog Day Afternoon at the Dogfish Head Brewery
Sour Beers
20 Photo Story:
Zwanze Day 2015
T
Letter From The Editor:
CHEERS TO FIRSTS
his is the inagural issue of Beer Served Rare. I want to welcome all my readers to the magazine, which is dedicated to the the craft beer community, and to all the beer drinkers who dont settle for second best. This first issue is founded on world class beers, world class breweries, and one of the best beer related events in the world. If these are not things that interest you then stop now and put this magazine back on the rack! Beer Served Rare will cater to craft beer geeks, snobs, and enthusiasts alike. If this doesnt sound like you, your loss. In developing this first issue I asked myself, what can I give my readers that the other magazines can’t? And the answer...THE BEST BEER MAGAZINE EVER! This issue, albeit the first, will stand alone in the craft beer community. On the backbone of only serving up the best Beer Served Rare, pun intended, this magazine will provide its readers with high quality beer ads, amazing photos of beer events, indepth looks at top notch breweries, and a monthly breakdown of the best beers available.
Cheers,
Drew Curtis Beer Enthusiast First -Editor & Chief Second
Perennial Suburban Beverage Ale Brewed With Spice And Natural Flavor
A Dog Day Afternoon At The Dogfish Head Brewery In Milton, Deleware November 23, on a surprisingly warm fall day, my family and I journeyed on a two hour drive from Hanover Pennsylvania, to Milton, Deleware. Our destination, Dogfish Head Brewery, home to one of the most innovational brewers Sam Calagione. Opening in 1995, Dogfish Head Brewery has been rapidly growing every year, and continues to push the envelope when it comes to developing and experimenting with new brews. The brewery itself takes it’s name from a local spot in Maine.
In the late 90s, Dogfish Head started an “Ancient Ales” series, in which beer recipes were created based upon the chemical analysis of residue found on pottery and drinking vessels from various archaeological sites. These beers have been produced in collaboration with molecular archaeologist Dr. Pat McGovern of the University of Pennsylvania. As of 2010, four such brews have been crafted, and only one is produced year round, the others are produced on a limited basis.
Walking up to the brewery’s entrance we were greeted by an enormous metal structure. The structure that stood ominously in front of the building is actually a treehouse. Sam Calagione, in true Dogfish Head spirit bought this structure for $1. Previously having been on display during the Nevada festival Burning Man, the giant metal structure was put on sale to the public. However, after beeing left up for sale for several years the treehouse saw a dramatic price drop. At this point Dogfish Head’s founder jumped at the opportunity to bring the structure back home to Deleware. Although Sam only bought the structure for $1 it ended up costing him much more than that. After having all the pieces shipped to Deleware, put back together, and made hurricane safe it ended up costing Sam thousands of dollars. The tree house does serve some purpose, besides just looking cool, occassional Sam will hold meetings inside his giant treehouse and on special occasions it is even opened up to the public. After standing for awhile outside the brewery, admiring the awesomness of the treehous, my family and I ventured inside. Once inside the building we were welcomed with a smile. We immediatley proceeded to sign up for a tour of the brewery. Once we all confirmed that we would be taking the tour we each got our hands stamped with a Dogfish Head logo. We were also given a ticket which allowed us to sample any 4 beers that were currently being offered on draft. After proceeding to the next room we all took a seat at their bar and began to look over the chalkboard beer menu. Once I was done studying the beer offereings for a few minutes I was ready to make my choices. I choose to drink their Fort beer first.
Dogfish Head’s Fort beer is an ale brewed with a ridiculous amount of pureed raspberries, over a ton of them. Fort has a Belgian-style base, then it is fermentated in a similar process to the one they use on their other super-high ABV beers. Fort’s ABV clocks in at a wopping 18%. Not only that but this year was the first time that Dogfish Head has brewed this beer in over 6 years. This is because it takes at least 6 months to ferment, and as a result of this long fermentation time ,Fort takes up a lot of their fermentation tanks, that could be used for brewing other beers. The next beer I sampled was a real treat because it was the first, and maybe the last, that they have ever brewed it. This beer is Higher Math. Higher Math is a tribute to an auspicious first beer that founder Sam Calagione ever brewed and celebrates 20 off-centered years of Dogfish Head. It’s a golden strong ale fermented with sour cherry juice and cocoa nibs and clocks in at 17% ABV. Higher Math has forward notes of cherries, pineapple and stewed fruit, with late notes of cocoa. It has a lingering sweetness and a notable warmth from the alcohol. Way back in the early ’90s, Sam Calagione, a 20-something waiter in New York City got a taste for small American “microbrews.” Being a self proclaimed “do-er” Sam stopped by a homebrew store and embarked on the first batch of his very own beer. On the way home, he spotted a bag of cherries at his local bodega and thought they’d make his beer a little more interesting. He was right, and the day after he and his friends enjoyed that first batch, he started researching what it would take to open a brewery. The rest, as they say, is history.
After thoroughly enjoying my sample of Higher Math, Dogfish Head’s celebratory 20th anniversary ale, I made my next selection, which was Midas Touch. Midas Touch was the first beer in the brewery’s Ancient Ales series. This sweet yet dry beer is made with ingredients found in 2,700-year-old drinking vessels from the tomb of King Midas. Somewhere between beer, wine and mead, Midas is sure to please the chardonnay and beer drinker alike. This beer is a sweet yet dry beer made with honey, barley malt, white muscat grapes and saffron and clocks in at 9%ABV, although you’d never guess that by drinking it. After getting to the bottom of my glass, and before the tour started, I was ready to make my next and final selection of beer to try. The last beer I sampled was Palo Santo Marron. Palo Santo Marron is an unfiltered, unfettered, unprecedented brown ale aged in handmade wooden brewing vessels. The caramel and vanilla complexity unique to this beer comes from the exotic Paraguayan Palo Santo wood from which these tanks were crafted. Palo Santo means “holy tree,” and its wood has been used in South American wine-making communities.This highly roasty and malty brown ale clocks in at 12% ABV. After being s huge hit at Dogfish Head’s Rehoboth Beach brewpub, where all of their experimental beers are brewed, it was first released in November 2006. Palo went into full production at the end of 2007. At 10,000 gallons, their two Palo tanks are the largest wooden brewing vessels built in America since before Prohibition, and they have three same-sized oak tanks right next to them.
After finishing my last beer sample it was time for the tour. Our tour guide for the afternoon was Jake Leaf. An enthusiastic and knowledgeable guide, Jake was one of the best brewery tour guides I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. Being somehwhat of a brewer himself Jake had commented to the group that “This is one of my last tours.” This is because after successfully crafting some of his own beers for Dogfish Head’s employee brew contests he had been selected to join the Dogfish Head brew team at the end of the month. Our tour started in a room located right off of the tasting room. This room housed some of the brewery’s intial fermentation and brew tanks. After spending a few brief minutes in the room, the group headed up a flight of metal stairs into a large wood paneled room. This next room we entered was enormous, to say the least, and inside the room 4 giant stainless steel mixers were housed. These mixers are where the beer is transported after being mashed in. Once in these tanks the beers are kept at a constant temperature, and in some cases, are where beers such as their 60 minute, 90 minute, 120 minute beers are continually hopped. Cutting a hole into an electric football game and letting hops slide down is how Sam originally continually hopped his beer. Jake started off by telling the group founder Sam Calagione’s story. How and why he got started brewing craft beers, why he continued to brew after so many failed attempts, and where the name for Dogfish Head brewery came from. While in the wood panelled room, Jake also pointed out a few of the items that were displayed.The first item was Sam’s first brew set up. Having been purchased from a brewer supply store, Sam brewed hundred’s of his first beers on this set up. But, not being able to produce enough beer to make a profit, Sam soon looked to expand. The place he ended up choosing for his family and his brewery, was Milton Delweware. This was not because he was from Deleware, in fact he was from Maine, but his now wife was. Not wanting to let a good thing go Sam decided to follow her back home and begin his and his brewery’s family. At the time Sam decided to start his brewery in Deleware the state had laws in place that would not allow it. Being a person who doesn’t take no for an answer, Sam helped rewrite Deleware law for beer selling and brewing.
After Jake finished giving the group some of the low down on Sam Calagione and the founding of his brewery, he led us back down the stairs, from which we came, and into a hallway which was connected to the room which houses the brew tanks. As we walked, and Jake talked, I passed many things that caught my interest. The first of these was the large amount of whickey, or bourbon barrels, that were set to the side and staked in a rack. This sight really caught my eye because Dogfish Head has never released a bourbon barrell aged beer before. After becoming really excited at the thought of these potential bourbon barrell beers to come we continued down the hallway and situated ourselves between two rooms with huge glass windows. On the left hand side of the hallway the room held the two massive Palo Santo wooden tanks. These enormous tanks were truly a site to see and are the only ones of their kind in the world. The interesting thing about the two Palo Santo tanks, beside being the only of their kind, is that the brewery actually has no idea how long they are good for. Original oak barrells, like those used for bourbon and sour beers, have a shelf life, but being that these have never been used before, it is almost like a guessing game for the brewery as to when these two massive tanks will actually expire and no longer be suitable for aging one of their flagship beers. On the left side of the hallway was Dogfish Head’s new yeast room. This is where the magic happens. With different strains, and varieties, the yeasts housed in this room give all the wide variety of Dogfish beers there distinct flavor. To me this is the heart of a brewery, as anything that is brewed and produced by the brewery utilizes these yeasts, and without it their would be no fermentation, which means no flavor, and no alcohol content. After this part of the tour we headed into the warehouse. This is when i started to drool. Seeing all the massive quantities of kegs and pallets of beer, I began wishing that I could walk through and pick out what I wanted. Also while in the warehouse, Jake pointed out Sam’s “secret stash.” This is a section of the warehouse dedicated and utilized soley for Sam. In Sam’s “secret stash” he has hand selected different beers that he has decided to set back and age for how ever long he chooses. Jake shared a piece of information that made me truly jealous, in connection with this secret stash. That is, that once a month Sam goes into his secret stash and pulls out some beer for all of his employees to enjoy. At this point all i could think was, “Oh, how I wish I worked for Dogfish Head!”
Continuing the tour we ventured outside of the warehouse and along the sidewalk that lined the outside of the building. We continued a few feet untill we walked up to another room with a huge glass window to look inside. On the otherside of the glass Dogfish Head’s new venture was housed. This was their distillery. Newly crafted, Dogfih Head’s distillery makes 3 different liquors, two versions of gin, and one vodka. Having been able to sampe these products after the tour I have to say they were all mighty tasty and very smooth. At this point Jake addressed the tour group and said that if anyone would like to go back to the main lobby they could do so now, but for those who wished to continue on he would walk us into the bottling facility. Being a self proclaimed Dogfish Head fanatic, I of course decided to continue on. While walking to the bottling facility Jake made a point to show the group a giant Ralph Waldo Emerson quote painted on the entire length of their facility. Pictured below, this quote, according to Jake, is what inpires Dogfish Head to be off-centered. Off-centered is one of Dogfih Head’s staple sayings. They brew beers that are off-centered and truely unique, which is why I think I love them so much. We continued to walk to the bottling facility, which is where our tour would conclude. Inside they had a massive operation, with pallets stacked upon pallets, stacked upon pallets of beer. This was another mouth watering moment. After the tour concluded I can turly say that I now have a greater appreciation for what Dogfish Head Brewery does, and hopefully, will continue to do in the future
Flor d’Lees
Indigenous Wild Ale
New Glarus
R
&
D
4 Different Varieties
Offered
4 Times A Year ONLY IN WISCONSIN
TOP 10 SO 2nd Shift Green Bird Gose Gose | 4.50% ABV
Aroma of sour cherry and tart green apple along with Belgian yeast and an earthy funk. Medium bodied and a bit sticky with a crisp carbonation. Moderately tart with hints of apple in the background and just an ever so slight finish of salt. Lightly acidic apple note in the fade.
Boulevard Mikkeller New Holland EvilTwin Incorrigible James Beer Love Child Hues No.5 Gueuze | 5.00% ABV
Big fruited tones of apricot and peach like sweetness. Mild tartness with a tangy sweetness. Slight oaky buttery notes as it warms as well. Subdued acid and funk character. Palate matches with a good amount of the barrel showing up. Hints of lemon and tart melon.
Berliner Weissbier | 4.50% ABV
Smells of oak funk, berries and tart lemonade. Puckering sour flavor. Berry skins, barrel funk, raspberry lemonade, soured light grains and just a little earthy funk on the back end. Light feel with crisp carbonation. Berry lemonade and some subtle wet hay linger in the refreshingly sour finish.
Berliner Weissbier | 3.50% ABV
Aromas of sour wheat and light strawberries and just a hint of brinines. Moderate flavor of tart slightly sour wheat, light flavors of briny olive and a moderate amount of lacto tartness. There is a light flavor of strawberries in the finish. Lingering tartness with acidic prickliness.
American Wild Ale | 8.20% ABV
Aromas of sour cherry, cranberry, toasted oak, light vanilla, and oaky earthiness. Taste of sour cherry, cranberry, plum, green apple, red wine, lemon peel, caramel, brown sugar. Full of complexity, robustness, and balance of fruity/ acidic yeast, oak barrel, with a sweet/sour spicy balance.
OUR BEERS Cantillon Vigneronne Lambic - Fruit | 5.00% ABV
Aromas of young, juicy white grapes, embedded in dusty malts, wooden earth and a note of white lemon rind. Taste of fruit reveals apple rind, soft grape pulp and a flowery grassiness. Finishes with a short lasting sourness, gently wrapped up by malts and flowery grass, pear, grapes and citrus likewise.
Perennial Tilquin Oude Hermitage Savant Quetsche Peach Sour Beersel American Wild Ale | 8.00% ABV
Smell is sour and tart with malt, fruit, and acidic aromas. Taste pleasantly tart and rounded, lingering fruity vinous notes, moderate acidity that is balanced well by a tiny bit of sweetness upfront and dry tannic notes in the finish. Cherry pit and almond, tart and dry.
Lambic - Fruit | 6.40% ABV
Aromas of ripe plum, green apple, lemon, lime. Taste of big ripe plum, green apple, lemon, lime, hay, straw, grass, white vinegar, oak, leather, musty funk, light pepper, and yeast/oak earthiness. Finishes with a light plum/tart/ oaky funkyness.
American Wild Ale | 6.50% ABV
Sour ale aged for two years with peaches added towards the end. Taste is full of juicy peach, sourness is very soft with a hint of funk at the end. Thin mouthfeel but again, soft on the palate with not a lot of lingering sourness, finishes very clean.
Panil Divina Lambic - Unblended | 5.50% ABV
Aroma of large fruit tones of apricot and nectarine, and peach sour. Hints of thick fruit and malt and just a hair of soft cedar like wood. Malt sweetness of mild honey and the fruit on the finish. Huge juiced peach qualities with citrus and tangerine orange.
Take A Trip Down Blackberry Grove. . . .
With Cigar City Brewing
GREEN TREE BREWERY LeClaire Iowa
WORLD WIDE TOAST
1 of 56 Gets Tapped At Sheras Restaurant For Zwanze Day 2015
On Saturday, September 19, Schera’s Algerian American Restaurant in Elkader, Iowa was one of 56 places in the world to host this years Zwanze Day presented by Cantillon Brewery out of Belgium. This years Zwanze was the recipe of a stout, and the color of a sout. It was spontaneously fermented followed by 28 months of maturing in a cask. The dry and tart notes of this spontaneously fermented beer combined with the roasted, and slightly burnt and delicate chocolate flavors.
In anticipation of the doors opening at the scheduled time of 12pm, patrons line up early eagerly waiting for their chance to get inside.
This years Zwanze Day was a ticketed event, guaranteeing each patron a pour of each ticketed beer. This allowed the patrons to experience the event at their own pace. Upon entering Schera’s patrons were greeted at a table in order to confirm their ticket purchace, and to be handed the beer list, tickets for tasting, and tasting glass.
Included with each patron’s ticket purchase they were provided with a list of the beers being served on draft, a list of the beers being offered for purchase, a ticket allowing the purchase of one bottle of Cantillon, a booklet of tickets for each beer sample, a map of the premises, a Cantillon tasting glass, and a commemorative Zwanze Day temporary tattoo.
People lined up early for their chance to purchase bottles. This year Scheras held a type of lottery for each person wanting to purchase their bottle of Cantillon. After waiting for their turn in line each person would draw out a piece of paper from a glass jar. Depending on what piece of paper you selected would determine what type of Cantillon you would be able to purchase. There were 9 offering this year: Classic Gueze, Kriek, Foufoune, Vignerrone, Iris, Mamouche, St. Lamvinus, Lou Pepe Gueze, and St. Gilloise. After selecting their Cantillon for purchase patrons were then able to pick out any other bottles they wanted to purchase as well as any other merchandise which included t-shirts, posters, and commemorative glasses.
Schera’s also provided lunch to each patron. This years lunch feature was Chicken Bahn Mi sandwiches. These Vietnamese sandwiches consisted of marinated grilled chicken on French bread with cucumbers, cilantro, pickled carrots, and pickled daikon (a mild Japanese radish). A vegetarian version was also made available upon request when purchasing tickets.
Along with the Chicken Bahn Mi sandwiches Schera’s also offered a vairety of side dishes. These included mini bags of chips, potato salad, and a house salad with house dressing.
The owner of Schera’s, Frederique Boudouani, enjoys some of the delicious food offerings while mingling with his guests.
The large outside deck, overlooking a river, and offering a great view, provided the patrons with extra seating and a chance to enjoy the beautiful weather while socializing with the other patrons.
The energy was high and the people friendly. The bartenders worked hard to serve everyone in a timely manner. Brought together by a common love for sour beer patrons socialized throughout the day sharing beer as well as their opinions of this years draft offerings.
At 2pm all 56 locations around the world simultaneously tapped their keg of Cantillon 2015 Zwanze Wild Brussels Stout.
Schera’s offered a wide selection of beers this year in addition to all of the ticketd beers. This year there was over 18 beers offered on draft. Each of the non-ticketed beers were offered for $5 for a 6oz. pour.
At the end of the Zwanze Day celebration everyone left happy. With bellies full of beer and food people headed for the doors. Atendees left with new friends, stories to tell, some merchandise, and of course, a couple bottles to go.
CANTILLON: Creating World Class Gueze-Lambics Since 1900