About UnCapped UnCapped magazine is published quarterly by The Frederick News-Post, 351 Ballenger Center Drive, Frederick, MD 21703. It is distributed free in Frederick and Montgomery counties in Maryland, in select locations around Baltimore, and in Loudoun County, Virginia. Send comments to UnCapped@newspost.com. To advertise, contact 301-662-1163 or advertising@newspost.com.
CORPORATE PUBLISHER, GEORDIE WILSON ADVERTISING DIRECTOR, CONNIE HASTINGS CREATIVE DIRECTOR, ANNA JOYCE DIGITAL DIRECTOR, SARA HARDISON
EDITORIAL EDITOR, GRAPHIC DESIGN, ANNA JOYCE | EDITOR, CHRIS SANDS
Contributing Writers CAMERON DODD | TRIPP LAINO | KATE MASTERS | COLIN MCGUIRE
Contributing Photographers DAN GROSS | ZAC KENNEDY | CHRIS SANDS
ON THE COVER
Illustration by Goodloe Byron All rights reserved by copyright. Prices, specials and descriptions are deemed accurate at the time of publication. UnCapped may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the express written consent of the publisher. Advertising information has been provided by the advertisers. Opinions expressed in UnCapped do not necessarily reflect those of The Frederick News-Post or its parent company, Ogden Newspapers of Maryland, LLC. All terms and conditions are subject to change. The cover, design, format and layout of this publication are trademarks of Ogden Newspapers of Maryland, LLC, and published by The Frederick News-Post.
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UnCapped
Podcast
CHRIS SANDS
Yep, He’s That Guy CS: How many barrels is it?
For episode 100 of the UnCapped Podcast, Matthew Hagerman, founder of Lost Rhino Brewing Company in Ashburn, Virginia, joined us. To listen to the full episode, go to bit.ly/uncapped100. Chris Sands: So, let’s get the rundown of the places you’ve brewed, cause it’s extensive. Matt Hagerman: I was at Old Dominion for quite some time. So, I was there for almost eight years and … when I got started there, you know, I came out of college with a mechanical engineering degree ... and I was a home brewer and all that. And I went on a tour and it was one of those deals where I’m that guy at the end of the tour. I was fortunate enough where Jerry Bailey, the owner of Old Dominion at the time, was giving the tour and at the end of the tour, I was like, “Hey, man, do you have a job available?” …. It was like that thing where you’re like, “This is where I wanna be.” CS: Yeah.
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CS: (Laughs) You beat him into submission. MH: Yeah, more or less. Or he just got sick to death of my phone calls. It was one or the other. And I started cleaning floors. That was my job. I was a janitor. And I cleaned the floors on the production line and then I was able to work on the production line, a mechanic, and just work my way up ... CS: So, you had been working as an engineer or did you just … MH: I was doing some internships at the time. ... I started doing drafting for a mechanical building systems place and it was eight hours of drafting, and I was like, “This is not what I want, was anticipating at all.” And as soon as I got to the brewery, it was just amazing. So I stayed there and worked
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my way up and eventually I became a brewer over there. We were a production brewery, so we were doing almost 30,000 barrels of beer a year there and ... at this point, Anheuser-Busch stepped in and purchased Old Dominion. The writing was on the wall, so I rolled out and went to school professionally and got my certificate. And then I was fortunate enough to get a job at Growlers in Gaithersburg, Maryland, and I was there for almost three years. ...Then I started working on my business plan in Loudoun County because my ultimate goal was to actually compete with Old Dominion, you know, because they were still there, right? So I had a guy call me up – one of my former partners – and he told me that the A-B was exiting Ashburn and told me the equipment was
available so, I mean, it’s crazy stories. ... CS: Well, we have as much time as you have. MH: …It was one of those deals where I had my business plan and everything together, you know, but I didn’t have any capital, right? I was still brewing beer. And I didn’t have rich uncles or anything like that … I had been working with the small business development center in Loudoun County in Ashburn for a while and trying to develop and get things going. And at the end of the day, I got a call and I had three days to raise enough capital to buy at least the equipment off of Old Dominion because I was very familiar with all of it. It was a big system, obviously, to kick off with, but …
CS: So, is that the first beer you made? MH: Yeah, that was the very first beer that we made. So I went out and did this beer festival thing and, you know, I was out there peddling and literally, I like had a banner and I had a prospectus. My attorneys literally met me out in the field to give me my subscription agreement and all that stuff for fundraising.
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CHRIS SANDS
MH: And, you know, it was mechanical engineering and process engineering but it was also biochemistry and the process was just awesome. And then you’re making beer at the end of the day! So, I’m like, “This is totally a no-brainer,” so I was that guy. I harassed him at the end of the tour and I called him every two weeks for four months until he finally, I don’t like to admit that, but I called him every two weeks for months.
Left: That Guy. Right: Tonia Priolo (@chalkoholic on Instagram) wears many hats at Lost Rhino Brewing Company, but is best known for the chalk art that hangs throughout the brewery and Lost Rhino Retreat.
MH: Twenty-five barrel, four-vessel system. So it’s very efficient. It can pump out 40,000 barrels. I was just like, “I’m going to give it a try.” I literally had my attorneys … so there was actually a beer festival going on in Morgan Park, Virginia, at the time and I’m like, “Hey, what better way to raise money than at a beer festival, man?” I knew some guys that were working for a local distributor. They were actually starting a distributorship up here in Frederick, Backup Beverage. Anyway, they let me have a spot at their table and I went to the 24hour sign place and had a sign — I didn’t even have a name for the brewery yet. That’s how crazy it was. So, I literally had a guy make me up a banner. I had no name for the brewery, so I just called it M dot A dot Hagerman Brewing Co. I’m like, “That’s all I’ve got at the moment,” so, and I was fortunate enough to pick up the Rhino Chasers name because it was just available. …
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Sips & Shots
5 Meet the Brewer
Where do you get you inspiration for your beers and their names? Life..... things I love and inspire me usually. The beer helps to pave the way. I feel the name begins the beer’s story.
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If you could have a beer with any person dead or alive, who would it be and why? It would definitely be with my father before Alzheimer’s. He is the sweetest, most brilliant man I know. He always said, “Find something you love and then find a way to make a living at it.” So I listened. I would give everything I am to have one more beer with him. What is your favorite Netflix/TV show? “Chef’s Table” What’s your favorite song from the ’90s?
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Anything from Biggie What is the best part about your job? Being able to create and sell thousands of pieces of art every year to fellow Baltimore City folks If you could only have one final beer, what would you choose? It would have to be Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. It’s where my love started so it would only be fitting for it to be my final. If you could only choose one song to play every time you walked into a room
for the rest of your life, what would your walk-on song be? “Another One Bites the Dust” ... What is the strangest ingredient you’ve used in beer? Count Chocula
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Broadbent Auction Reserve Porto HHH Douro Valley, Portugal, $27 ABV: 20% It’s a ruby that captures some of the quality of an aged vintage port, in a way late-bottled vintage ports don’t quite accomplish.
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erreira Late Bottles Vintage Porto F 2012/2013 HHH Douro Valley, $28 ABV: 20.5% This wine tastes vibrant and fresh, with a lip-smacking energy and tension that seem to keep the flavors going like a gong echoing across your palate.
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Noval Black HHH Douro Valley, $24 ABV: 19.5 It’s game on, with dark fruit and chocolate flavors bursting exuberantly from the glass.
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Maynard’s 20 Year Tawny Porto HHH Douro Valley, $33 ABV: 20% This is a very reasonable price for a 20-year tawny. It has the proper mélange of citrus, spice and nuts in its flavor basket.
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Pocas White Porto HH Douro Valley, $13 ABV: 19% Mix one part white port with three parts tonic water and some muddled mint or just a slice of lemon or lime, and you have a sprightly pick-me-up cocktail to start your evening.
Do you like pickles? I love pickles What were your childhood dreams? To climb to the top of tree at the church down the street from my house. I failed at many attempts, but finally, in the fall of 1986, I did it! -Chris Sands
Prices are approximate. 3 stars: exceptional; 2 stars: excellent; 1 star: very good - Dave McIntyre, The Washington Post
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BREWER: CHRIS SANDS; PORT: DEB LINDSEY FOR THE WASHINGTON POST
It’s time to learn about one of the greatest people in Maryland craft beer. He has an epic beard, he has an affinity for overalls, and he is one of the nicest people you will ever meet. He’s Gregory Lee McGrath, brewer and partner at Waverly Brewing Company in Baltimore.
Port Wines to Try Now
PINS, GLASSWARE, RANDALL JR.: GRAHAM CULLEN; BEER BOOKS, UNCAPPED HAT: CHRIS SANDS; HEAVY ON THE HOPS: JULIA BUSATO
Treat Yourself
Availability of all items is subject to change.
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drink these. you’ll feel better.
Brew Your Own When it’s cold and gloomy out, many people prefer to reach for a darker beer. Our friends at Monument City Brewing Company in Baltimore broke away from the pale ales and provided us with the recipe for their American Brown Ale. You can find this beer in cans throughout Maryland to compare to your results.
Original Gravity: 15 Plato Final Gravity: 4 Plato Percent ABV: 6% IBU: 22 Grist Bill: Pale 2 Row – 79% Caramel 40 – 14% Chocolate – 7% 150 F mash temperature for one hour 60 minute boil, with the following hop additions IBU contributions 60 minutes – Apollo, 10 IBU 20 minutes – Cascade, 7 IBU 05 minutes – Cascade, 5 IBU American Ale Yeast
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Fallen Leaves Damon Shattuck, the lead bartender at Volt restaurant in Frederick, Maryland, whipped us up a little something for the season last month. Sip it by the fire or serve it at your next holiday shindig. Works either way.
1.5 oz Everyday vodka from a local Frederick distillery .75 oz Diktamo, dried herbal liqueur .75 oz Pear brandy .5 oz Rock Candy syrup .5 oz Fresh lemon juice Dash of bitters Shake with ice and double strain into a coupe glass.
DAN GROSS
Garnish with preserved lemon wheel.
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Taste TEST
Chris Makes Colin Drink • BY COLIN MCGUIRE •
WHO’S UP Attaboy Beer, 400 Sagner Ave., Suite 400, Frederick CHRIS MAKES COLIN DRINK … • Galaxy Maid (New England IPA) • Tarts McGee Peachy (tart ale with peach and apricot) • Mermaid Blood (hibiscus blonde) • Lunch Break (patersbier) • Creek Life Vic Secret (extra pale ale) WHY? To play games, duh! No, but really: Chris and I did one of these for another publication a bunch of months ago, but because I won the games of gigantic Connect Four that we played then, he demanded we step back on the playing field for a different competition. Note: My definition of “won” might be different than yours.
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of beer to help you feel better about stuff. THE VIBE Their block letter branding really set the vibe. It’s also very smart of the people who run the place because it sets them apart from other local breweries. But back to the task at hand. Young pretty people who will forever make four times as much money as I do in a year. Industrial. Game-friendly. Pet-friendly. Everything anyone who ever wears flannel would want. THE BEST THING TO COME OUT OF THIS MESS
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My first-ever game of Jenga! Which doesn’t do me any favors because my hands shake harder and more frequently than a maraca at a Santana concert. NOW, ABOUT THE BEER … Welp. I didn’t like ’em. Not a single one. Which, I suppose, is the point of this nonsense: Make Colin drink stuff he doesn’t want to drink. But this time around, it felt like the disdain was more intense than it had been before. If I had to pick a favorite, it would be the Lunch Break, but I can’t really tell you
why. Chris, on the other hand, liked pretty much all the beers. And while his second favorite was the Tarts McGee Peach, he sure does love himself some Galaxy Maid, mostly because of its bitterness (which, naturally, I can appreciate). Perhaps unsurprisingly, he also noted that it is the brewery’s most popular beer. So, cool, Chris: Be like everyone else. I bet you own an iPhone, too. WILL WE BE GOING BACK? Yeah, we’ll go back. First, because I need to get my revenge in Jenga and I’ll
be sure to wear a cast so my hands don’t shake. Second, because I have had beer that I like at Attaboy and this experience didn’t leave me with any of those good tastes in my mouth. (See what I did there?) And third, it’s probably unfair to judge beer whilst (I hate people who use “whilst”) knowing I have a 15-hour drive in front of me. So, all in all, this dispatch has been wildly sabotaged and unfairly written, but hey: You can only lose in Jenga so many times before the bitterness from the beer transports from the glass to your mood.
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ZAC KENNEDY
HOW MUCH DID I WANT TO TRY ANY OF THESE BEERS? On a scale of 1 to 10 … about a 65. First, this was the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, and traffic was Black-Friday-shopping crazy. So, that sucked. And then, I also knew I had to wake up at 3 the next morning to drive to Florida. And ohhh boy, let me tell you something. When you’re staring down the barrel of that drive, you need a lot more than five tiny glasses
We do not think our author, shown at right mid-shirt-losing at Jenga, was as bitter as he purported to be. At left, Chris Sands, host of the UnCapped Podcast, does his best to let said author win. He failed.
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C O U RT E S Y O F B A R L E Y A N D H O P S
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Yeast &
Desist [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ • BY CAMERON DODD •
When Punny Names Cross the Line,
Is Trouble A-Brewin’?
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runkin’ Donuts, Wet Hop American Summer, Juice Springsteen and the Yeast Street Band. From the booze-themed plays on familiar titles, to the puns so clever they write themselves, to sometimes wholesale and unabashed lifting of household imagery, beer makers sometimes walk a tightrope between parody and trademark infringement when branding their latest recipe. The result is often a funny name, an eye-catching label and a hit seasonal brew. Other times, it’s a cease-and-desist letter and a return to the drawing board—literally. Why would breweries push UNCAPPEDNEWS.COM
the limits of parody and risk wasting money on art, labels and cans? “Generally, it’s unintentional because all the good names are already taken,” said Erin Miskell, vice president of GearHouse Brewing Co. in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. “There are 6,000 breweries, most of which are like us— small neighborhood breweries run by people trying to be relevant to people. Pop culture is a huge part of that desire to be hip and appealing.” GearHouse doesn’t typically try to push the envelope with parody, but it has run into intellectual property issues with a major brewery. Earlier this year, it received a letter from attorneys for Devil’s Backbone
in Virginia, which is owned by Anheuser-Busch. A fundraising beer GearHouse released called Trail Angel was using the name of a trademarked Devil’s Backbone beer. When breweries do push the line between playfulness and trademark infringement, it’s usually done in jest, said Eric Gleason, head brewer at Frederick, Maryland’s Barley & Hops. “It’s not like we say, ‘That’s a brilliant branding campaign and I’m going to steal it.’ No one says that.” Parody is part of Barley & Hops’ brand. The Frederick restaurant in June drew the ire of its next-door neighbor, a Chick-fil-A restaurant, for a banner hung in its parking lot. It featured three chickens hold-
ing an “Eat Mor Beef” sign, a play on the chicken franchise’s widespread “Eat Mor Chikin” ad campaign. Barley & Hops replaced the banner with one playing on the iconic Wendy’s ”Where’s the beef?” commercials. WHEN IT COMES to branding its beers, Barley & Hops is just as playful with parody. The walls of the Frederick brewpub display posters from previous seasonal and one-off brews. Names like “O Brother Where Art Brau,” “Hop Tub Time Machine,” and “Franchot Comes Alive” pair with lively artwork that transparently plays on familiar imagery. The restaurant produces more than 40 unique beers each year, SEE NEXT PAGE U N C A P P E D | WINTER 2018
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THE FIRST THING brewers should
do when they have a branding idea, according to Frederick-based intellectual property attorney Hank Abromson, is a trademark clearing search. “It’s basically a glorified Google metasearch of a pro database to make sure someone isn’t already using that name,” he said. “A lot of times, clients find someone using a similar mark.” The second thing is to figure out who was using it first. “Chances are if you just came up with it, you’re probably the second comer,” Abromson said.
When the line is crossed, the trademark owner is likely to handle it amicably with a fellow brewer. Devil’s Backbone’s letter to GearHouse acknowledged that both Trail Angel beers were sold to raise money for different charities, Miskell said. The bigger brewery offered to let their smaller competitor use the name through the beer’s run and then rebrand it. “They wanted to let us use it until next year so it doesn’t hurt our fundraising efforts,” Miskell said.
Parody is part of Barley & Hops’ brand. The Frederick, Maryland, brewery often displays posters promoting seasonal or one-off brands, spoofing on movies like “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” and cereals like Frosted Flakes.
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COURTESY OF BARLEY AND HOPS
Gleason said, and each one gets branded with a creative name and story. But when you make that many beers, it’s easy to run out of names. Most of the branding ideas arise collaboratively at the brainstorming location most befitting a brewery: the bar. “We’re drinking one day and we start laughing about something that would be funny to name a beer,” Gleason said. “Then, there it is.” For all the common plays on pop culture and national brands, in Gleason’s experience, the trademark infringement is usually between small breweries. The one notice Barley & Hops has received about using a trademarked beer name was from a smaller brewery in the Midwest. They amicably agreed to stop using the name. “I’ve always heard of it as mostly brewers stepping on each other’s toes,” he said. “Someone names something the same as someone else, then they argue over it, eventually they collaborate, and everyone gets along and has a beer.” One of trademark law’s key principles is called laches, which is legal jargon for a delay in asserting your rights. If a business doesn’t actively defend its own trademark, it can lose the ability to seek relief in court when companies use its registered mark. In other words, small breweries probably don’t have designs of seeking big bucks in damages from one another for trademarks. When they send cease-anddesist letters to other small businesses, it’s generally to protect their trademarks in case a major producer tries to rip them off.
Debunking
Skunking • BY CHRIS SANDS •
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f you’re a beer drinker, you’ve probably encountered a skunked beer. It smells bad, like, well, skunk spray. And you’ve probably heard the myth that what causes it is when the beer goes from cold to room temperature to cold again. And that’s what that is—a myth. Several years ago, I was taking a tour of Flying Dog Brewery in Frederick, Maryland. Our guide was talking about how UV light is what causes the skunked smell and flavor of beer. I had heard this explanation many times during brewery tours, but this time I got more detailed information. The tour guide explained that the molecular structure in hops is similar to the musk of a skunk, except that it has a tail, and that UV light severs it. That molecular transformation is what causes light-struck beer to become skunked. I was quite skeptical because I had never heard it explained that way anywhere else. Over the years, I brought up that factoid many times without ever finding someone to corroborate the story—until I was recording episode 39 of The Uncapped Podcast. My guest was Mount St. Mary’s University chemistry professor Garth Patterson. He was the
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perfect person to verify or debunk the explanation. Here is what he said. “Most of what we would affiliate with a skunk smell would be a chemical that has a sulfur … And so there are sulfur-containing compounds within the beer that are of a particular structure that we wouldn’t attribute to that skunk smell. When they are light struck, exactly what happens (is) it breaks a chemical bond and you go to a smaller chemical that then we perceive as that skunky smell, and that’s where that term comes from. “I had a student that was interested in that skunky smell and he was able to prove it chemically. So we found in the literature, I forget the name of the chemical now, but we found in the literature what that primary chemical is, and then we intentionally added light and monitored how fast that light striking came up. And it turned out to be almost instantaneous ... at the parts per-million level…. Within a half an hour, there was a noticeable amount. And then anytime after that, it was skyrocketing.” So there we have it, over time, sunlight turns beer into skunk musk!
Smells bad. Tastes bad. But not likely to make you sick.
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Farmhouse Brews In which our writer travels to Lithuania
to discover there are two kinds of
dark beer:
keptinis, and all the others • BY KATE MASTERS •
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here is a nascent craft brewing scene in Lithuania. Vilnius, its capital, is home to a handful of microbreweries and pubs where you can find an eclectic mix of beers. When I visited in August, I tasted Lithuanian IPAs, porters and lagers, including an amber brewed with hemp seeds, a common ingredient in traditional Lithuanian cuisine. Nearly 30 years after breaking away from the Soviet Union, the country is leaning west, embracing the same craft trend that’s taken root all over the world. And sure, it’s nice for Lithuania that global beer styles are becoming more widely available. But for hundreds, if not thousands, of years, imported brews were nearly unheard of in the southernmost Baltic state. Part of that is history. Like its neighbors, Estonia and Latvia, Lithuania spent most of the 20th century under occupation by various foreign powers — first the Soviet Union, then Nazi Germany, then the Soviet Union again. Under Soviet rule, Western imports were tightly regulated and the economy was collectivized, creating a less-than-ideal environment for entrepreneurial brewers. But an even bigger facet is that, for years, most brewers in Lithuania didn’t feel the need to mimic outside beer styles. Much like Belgium or Germany, the country has its own distinct brewing tradition
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Būsi Trečias is one of the longestoperating microbreweries in Vilnius. Light and dark versions of its unpasteurized beer run from taps in the basement, along with other brews made by Lithuanian companies.
and a unique national preference for what a beer should be. That’s according to Lars Marius Garshol, a Norwegian native who’s spent the last eight years studying traditional Lithuanian brewing and has literally written the book on it. “Lithuanian Beer: A Rough Guide” (completed with help from native brewer and beer blogger Martynas Savickis) is one of the few English-language resources available to anyone interested in the country’s unique brewing traditions. AS GARSHOL EXPLAINED in his
introduction, the most traditional Lithuanian beer is farmhouse beer, crafted for generations by families in tiny breweries across the country. Of course, you can find industrial lagers exported from major companies like Svyturys or Volfas Engelman. But to get a true sense of the distinctive qualities that make a Lithuanian beer, well, Lithuanian, you have to try brews that have been made with the same ingredients and techniques for centuries. For example, Garshol said, farmhouse brews are slightly sweet and lower in carbonation, and have a much lower hops profile than most contemporary beers. The alcohol by volume is lower because they were designed to be enjoyed over long stretches of time—during weddings, at funerals, or even throughout the day if you were a farmer or a laborer in the Lithuanian countryside. More specifically, farmhouse beers can be broken down into two main categories, Garshol said. There’s an eastern varietal, called keptinis, and a western varietal known as kaimiškas alus. Where the two really differ is in the methods used to make them. Beers that fall under the kaimiškas alus umbrella are typically paler and low in carbonation, but they’re also typically made “raw”—the wort isn’t boiled before it’s fermented. “You do a normal mash at a warmer temperature, and then you run off the wort, you cool it, and you pitch the yeast,” Garshol said. “So, it gives a fuller mouthfeel because the protein isn’t boiled out.” FACEBOOK.COM/UNCAPPD
KATE MASTERS
Cured pork and sliced pig’s ear are common snacks at bars and breweries in Vilnius
Just as interesting is keptinis, a form of kaimiškas alus that’s more common in the east. The beer can trace its origins to the ovens found in traditional Lithuanian homes. These ovens were huge brick structures that could measure as much as 6 feet high and 9 feet deep. Farmhouse brewers use the oven to bake their mash for several hours, caramelizing the sugars and ultimately producing a dark, toasty beer. It’s a distinctly different process than the one used to make porters and stouts, which involves toasting the malts before making the mash. “When you do that, you're toasting starch,” Garshol said. “But these Lithuanian brewers mashed first, so they’re toasting sugar. So, you could basically say there’s two types of dark beer. There’s keptinis, and there's all the others.” Ingredients play a role, too. Head to certain farmhouse breweries, or a well-stocked bar like Bambalynė, and you might be able to taste pea beer—herbal and delicate, with good foam and a soft mouthfeel. There’s some evidence that Lithuanian brewers have used peas for generations, but the practice became especially prominent in the Soviet era, when periodic malt shortages meant state brewers had to improvise. UNCAPPEDNEWS.COM
WHILE FARMHOUSE BREWERIES
play an outsize role in Lithuania’s cultural heritage, their actual presence is dwindling, Garshol said. In the years since Lithuania gained independence from the Soviet Union, the number of operations has shrunk from 200, at a minimum, to roughly 10—not counting larger, regional breweries that rely less on traditional methods. There are some new companies interested in carrying on the country’s brewing traditions. At Dundulis, a craft brewery in Panevėžys, the brewmaster collects native hops and experiments with his own keptinis, Garshol said. Some smaller breweries create beers that—while not quite traditional— are still uniquely Lithuanian in terms of flavor and ingredients. But there’s also concern among farmhouse brewers that the craft beer scene could wipe out native practices. “I think a lot of Lithuanians see farmhouse brewing as old-fashioned—that Lithuania should move forward and become more Western and more like the modern world,” Garshol said. “And of course, there's been some worries over whether this is going to kill off the more Lithuanian-style beer. But I guess the jury is still out on that. We really just don’t know.”
An unfiltered Lithuanian lager with a plate of traditional bar snacks, including meats, cheeses, and fried rye bread
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Workers hoist a barrel of USS Constellation Rum onto the USS Constellation in Baltimore. Ropes and pulleys are the only way to get them on and off the ship. LEFT: The finished product
Aging Rum in a Ship D
• BY TRIPP LAINO •
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understand what we were trying to do. … We showed the rep where we’d store it in the bowels of the ship, and they saw it was safe and brings a lot of notoriety to the ship.” It also brings money to the ship, as Tobacco Barn Distillery donates some of the proceeds from the rum’s sale back to the ship. In addition to being a retired rear admiral in the U.S. Navy, Sanders is on the advisory board for Historic Ships in Baltimore, which operates the Constellation as well as other historic vessels in the harbor. “It’s a wooden ship, so it’s sinking every day,” he said. “It needs a lot of work. It takes a lot of money to keep that museum afloat for people to enjoy and see.” There’s a practical purpose, too. In the 1800s, bourbon was
distilled in Kentucky, and then shipped south down the Mississippi River. Through the course of being shipped—literally—that way, the bourbon would slosh around in the barrel, coming in more contact with the charred inside. The same applies to any barreled spirit. “It was really good once it got down the river,” he said. “It’s known that aging on a ship adds flavor to it — it’s moving around, it oxidizes it and it’s also interacting with the charred barrel and just tastes better.” Those four barrels of rum, which is made from molasses produced by Baltimore’s Domino Sugar, will translate to about 1,600 bottles of rum after it’s offloaded and bottled in March. This is the third time the distillery has used the process, and Sanders said the
ship is a great place for rum aging, particularly in the summer when the heat in the ship mimics aging conditions in the Caribbean, a popular source of rum. “You go into the hold of the USS Constellation, and it feels pretty Caribbean down there,” he said. “But it smells like grandma’s pancakes since the rum is outgassing through the barrel.” Despite the attention they’ve gotten from the unusual aging process, Sanders isn’t worried someone will steal their idea. “People often ask us, ‘Aren’t you worried about someone else doing this?’ and the answer is no, because no big distillery is going to do anything for four barrels,” he said. “It’s a lot of labor … It’s 10 guys with ropes and pulleys … It’s the only way to get them on or off the ship.” FACEBOOK.COM/UNCAPPD
COURTESY OF TOBACCO BARN DISTILLERY
espite being based in Hollywood, Maryland, Tobacco Barn Distillery also has a very small outpost in Baltimore. Technically speaking, anyway. Tucked into the bowels of the USS Constellation in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor are four barrels once used to age its whiskey that are now home to the distillery’s aptly named USS Constellation Rum. And because those barrels are gently rocking in the ship as it moves in the harbor, it’s technically part of the distillery. “We had to work with the comptroller of Maryland,” said Scott Sanders, one of three partners in the distillery, adding that Maryland is the only state that allows a distillery to use this process. “They were supportive, but it’s a little different and they didn’t
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Espresso Martinis Are Back T
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WITH LOCAL LIQUOR • 6 oz freshly brewed espresso,
chilled
• 3 oz (or to taste) Lyon
Distilling Co. Coffee Rum
• 3 oz Lyon Distilling Co. White
Rum
• 2 oz simple syrup (see note) • Ice
In a large cocktail shaker, combine all the ingredients, except the ice. Add ice and shake well. Strain into chilled glasses, preferably old-school martini glasses, and serve. Garnish at will. Makes 2 cocktails. Note: Simple syrup is made by dissolving equal parts of sugar in water. You can use 1 cup of each and keep leftover syrup in the fridge for a month.
Allen’s is that it’s a sweet, strong, inexpensive spirit made in nearby Massachusetts, which lobstermen put in their coffee to keep warm; Fireball Cinnamon Whisky is challenging it.) “It’s the greatest espresso martini in the world,” said mixologist Jackson Cannon of the Hawthorne bar in Boston. “By being true to their approach to sourcing and DIY, they landed on a drink that, while faithful to its origins, is richer and more expressive than the original.” To make this version, Volk tweaked a recipe from the drink’s creator, London bartender Dick Bradsell. In addition to the Allen’s, he substitutes white rum for vodka to enrich the drink; Volk recommends Plantation Three Stars. “We rewrite our cocktail list
every other month, but ever since the espresso martini was put on the menu, we’ve found we cannot write it off the menu,” said Volk. In their recent cookbook/cocktail guide, “Northern Hospitality with the Portland Hunt + Alpine Club” (Voyageur Press, August 2018), Andrew and his wife Briana Volk shared their recipe. If you can’t find Allen’s, Volk recommends the coffee-flavored brandy from House Spirits in Portland, Oregon. Tequila-based Patron XO works, as does the new Mr. Black coldbrew coffee liquor. (Kahlúa will work in a pinch, too, but use less of it because it’s quite sweet). The Portland Hunt + Alpine Club’s drink also uses a sweetened cold brew coffee concentrate. – Bloomberg FACEBOOK.COM/UNCAPPD
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here was a time when an espresso martini was the ultimately chic drink at the bar. That time was the mid-’90s, the heyday of “Sex and the City” and the Cosmo. That’s when every flavored martini drink was chic, poured into glasses the exact size and shape of a dog’s surgical cone. With the advent of speakeasies, those drinks fell out of favor as fast as a designer fanny pack. But with the current freewheeling cocktail culture, in which everything from classic gin drinks to neon-colored concoctions is fair game, it’s time for an espresso martini renaissance. It’s the perfect holiday season drink: The combination of caffeine and alcohol can power people through intensive party schedules. It’s even got the appropriately dark hue for Black Friday. Espresso martinis also make sense because it’s hard not to find the namesake ingredient—good quality coffee—these days. Plus, a lot of talented bartenders have barista roots, as if they’ve long been training to make a stellar version of the drink. There’s one place where the espresso martini has been going strong for years. At the Portland Hunt + Alpine Club in Portland, Maine, the beverage has been a surprise hit since it appeared on the menu in early 2015. This version features an unconventional local specialty, Allen’s Coffee Flavored Brandy. “We wanted to integrate Maine’s No. 1-selling spirit, Allen’s Coffee Brandy, into our menu without being too highbrow about it,” said owner Andrew Volk. “Allen’s and Milk is not only the biggest-selling cocktail in Maine, there’s a whole culture—and think-pieces written—about it.” (The standard thinking about the popularity of
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• BY KATE KRADER •
Down With Wine Snoots
I
ANOTHER READER, writing under
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wood aroma of a No. 2 pencil ground to a sharp point in one of those small pencil sharpeners we all had in grade school. Maybe that isn’t the best Proustian memory from childhood, but it’s an all-American something everyone can relate to. And it’s considered a hallmark of red Bordeaux. But it’s not tannin.
• BY DAVE MCINTYRE •
n a recent column, I tried to define what wine lovers mean when we say a wine has “structure.” Many readers who commented on it seemed to be snarkmeisters taking a break from the day’s political news. But they also helped move the conversation along about how we describe wine, an inherently subjective subject that is always riper for debate than the most overripe of wines. “Buy the beverage, not the pretense,” wrote one. “... many of us do not have sufficiently discriminatory palates to appreciate the most exquisite and well-made wines. Judge for yourself.” I disagree. Why denigrate your own palate? I lack the wallet, not the palate, to appreciate the most exquisite and well-made wines, and I’m not going to cheat myself by settling for junk. I will develop my palate to seek out the best-quality wines at the price range I am able to pay. “Judge for yourself” sounds like a declaration of independence, but too often it rationalizes settling for mediocrity. If your resentment and defiance make mediocrity taste better, well, OK, bully for you. the sobriquet FergusonFoont, apparently knows a thing or two about wine, but took issue with my terminology. “I don’t use words like ‘structure’ when tasting wine unless I am deliberately trying to be insufferably pretentious (something that can be fun at whiles, like putting a glass of wine up to your ear, pinging on the glass, and proclaiming that it has a ‘great aura’),” the reader wrote. “I also don’t talk about things like ‘flavors of black currants and brioche,’ because I don’t know what UNCAPPEDNEWS.COM
Boo.
AS ANOTHER COMMENTER weighed
black currants and brioche taste like. Some of the flavors people routinely use to describe wines are rather whimsical, like ‘tar,’ ‘tobacco’ (I never smoked any), ‘grass clippings,’ (which I do not generally eat) and my personal favorite, ‘pencil shavings,’ which is a funny way of saying that the wine is tannic (which to me imparts the feeling, although not the taste, of having just brushed my teeth with an abrasive toothpaste).” Black currants and brioche are not the weirdest flavors out there, and I assume that most everyone, even if they don’t smoke, has smelled tar, tobacco and, if they’ve
“I don’t use words like ‘structure’ when tasting wine unless I am deliberately trying to be insufferably pretentious...” ever mowed a lawn or passed by a neighbor doing so, grass clippings. Indeed, “pencil shavings” is an aroma, while tannin is structure, a feeling on the palate. “Pencil shavings” evokes that graphite and
in, “when people note flavors of things that they don’t normally eat, it’s probably the odor and not the flavor that they’re describing.” After all, most of our sense of taste is actually through our nose, so aromas and flavors can be nearly indistinguishable when describing wines. That said, FergusonFoont’s description of tannin—that abrasive, itchy feeling on your teeth after you swallow a well-structured wine —is spot on. And the reader gives a good, very personal, definition of structure: “When I think of structure, I think of four things that my primitive tastes can comprehend,” FergusonFoont said. “The nose (fragrance,) upper (initial) palate, mid-palate, and finish. Some wines (the ‘fantastic’ ones) hit on all four of those aspects. Others do well on three, two, one or none of them.” While I disagree with a lot of what FergusonFoont had to say, I appreciate that this reader has developed a personal criteria for evaluating wines and deciding which ones to spend hard-earned money on. That’s the way we all should do it, evaluating and choosing wines in our own comfort price ranges. Which is to say, in a more positive way: Judge for yourself, absolutely. Just don’t sell yourself short. – The Washington Post U N C A P P E D | WINTER 2018
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lessons learned
colin mcguire
Holiday Cocktails
I
’m not quite sure why people use the holidays as an excuse to drink. Along with Thanksgiving comes wine. Along with Christmas comes eggnog. Along with New Year’s Eve comes champagne. Me? I don’t need odd family gatherings and 10-second countdowns to crack open a microwavable Natty Boh on any day that ends in a “y.” Oh, sure. So you don’t need more than one glass of Korbel and you think any beer that ends with the word “Light” isn’t worth your time. Kewl. Anyway, I was recently reflecting on the whole holiday drinking thing when I came across a Google result that read as such: “20+ Easy Christmas Cocktails.” It was from something called “Delish,” and instead of listing the recipes via straight words and pictures, it forced me to navigate through a slideshow, which, of course, only made me want to reach for the microwave door. Still, I was fully prepared to dismiss everything about this nonsense until I saw the first concoction: Santa Clausmopolitans, featuring lime, sugar, vodka, cranberry juice, triple sec, lime juice and cranberries. I couldn’t help but feel equally charmed and condescended to by such a cute/obnoxious name. Naturally, I had to click forward.
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What else was on the list? How about Jingle Juice, which features cran-apple juice, moscato, prosecco, vodka, cranberries, mint leaves, sugar and limes, to replace the ole tried and true jungle juice? And if
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Pretty straightforward. Suggested price: $10-$150 (pricing depends on if you’re the type of person who finds the Santa Clausmopolitans charming or condescending) Market to: The uncle who never makes it to gift-giving, the second half of the football game and the shower on a regular basis
MELISSA CARR
you didn’t like that, you could click all the way to the end, where you’d find a recipe for “Eddie’s Eggnog” that is supposed to be in tribute to Cousin Eddy from “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.” Somewhere, Randy Quaid is adjusting his bathrobe. All of this festive fantasizing made me wonder what type of holiday-themed cocktails I could come up with were I given the opportunity to write “stories” for something called “Delish.” You, friends, are welcome. RAIN DEER ROSÉ: Forget Blitzen and Donner. For this holiday staple, grab three quarts of rain from your clogged gutters, cook up some of the venison you still have frozen from last year’s hunting season and pop that bottle of $3 rosé you’ve been saving for the “right time.” The venison serves as fantastic garnish while the rain gives the drink a well-rounded earthiness.
Suggested price: $12 (hey, meat ain’t cheap!) Market to: Wealthy bears LEINENKUGEL’S WINTER SHANDY: Remember that sixpack of Leinenkugel’s Summer Shandy from 1999 that you stored in your attic, thinking you’d never have to deal with it again? Pop those bottles open this New Year’s Eve and celebrate 20 years of high-temperature excellence that proves equally as memorable in the winter months as it does throughout the summer. Suggested price: $3.99 (note: not adjusted for inflation) Market to: The 55-year-old house dad who nobody ever knows what to get for Christmas HO HO HO AND A BOTTLE OF RUM: Go buy a bottle of run. Open it. Drink it. Don’t stop until you see the bottom of the bottle.
SUGARPLUM’S SANGRIA: Three cups sugar, five plums, a dash of orange juice and 15 shots of brandy. If this doesn’t show up on “The Real Housewives of Potomac” by the beginning of season four, I am going to demand this magazine adjust its circulation. Suggested price: $22.50 (all ingredients included) Market to: Anyone who has ever purchased a bottle of Skinnygirl wine
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So, what are the lessons learned? Well, for one, Delish needs to hire me. Two, a “Lessons Learned” cocktail book needs to go to press so it can be available for 2019’s holiday season. Three, “meat-garnished mixed drinks” are the new “New England IPAs.” Four, I think the line between flirty and sloppy is somewhere between three and three-and-a-half sugar plum sangrias. And five, no matter what anyone tells you, don’t believe the hype: You don’t need the holiday season to enjoy a drink or two. I mean, don’t even get me started on what can be found in Cupid’s Cider.
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