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BrewNews What’s Hoppin’? The newest hops on the market for the home brewer
Chicago’s TOP
FIVE Beer Bars
PLUS! November 2012
Seasonal Craft Brews You Have To Try
A Chicago tradition since 1947.
Contents
What’s Hoppin’? This month we take a look at the best hop techniques for homebrew beer – our hop technique roundup. A good understanding of various hop techniques is critical for successful brewing.
Chicago’s Top 5 Beer Bars
Which spots rise to the top like a nice foaming head on a cold pint? We crawled the city to bring you our favorites.
Seasonal Craft Brews
You Have To Try Drink up till they’re gone
1 3 5
What’s
Hoppin’?
THE BEST
Techniques
For Homebrew Beer
H
ops occupy an exalted place among the building blocks that make a great beer. There’s something special about an ingredient that can make a beer bitter and give it a delicate aroma, too. Every brew with a new or unfamiliar hop variety becomes an experience made special by aromas sweet, pungent, floral, perfumy, or citrusy. And what brewer hasn’t celebrated hops to the point of making a beer so overhopped that only the brewer could (begrudgingly, yet still in denial) drink the bitter elixir? There are dozens of hop varieties, and hops from every major growing region are readily available to U.S. homebrewers. In addition, hop breeders throughout
the world introduce new varieties each year. Choosing the right hops for your brew can seem difficult amid all the options.
ticularly the grassy and slightly spicy aroma of Czech Saaz hops. Today, Saaz hops are almost exclusively reserved for lager beers, because their aroma is so disThe three best known growing re- tinctly associated with the style. gions are Germany, England, and the Pacific Northwest. In Britain the English Golding hop was cultivated circa 1775, Beer styles originally developed and in 1875 the Fuggle hop was because brewers used indigenous introduced. These two, the most grains and hops and local water. widely known English hops, beClimate and soil conditions dic- came the signature of English tated what grains and hops could ales. Golding varieties in particbe grown and thus defined the ular have been prized. The hops flavors of the beers that could be company HopUnion USA in its catbrewed. alogue describes East Kent Goldings as “the undisputed finest Pilsner beers, named for the city ale hop in the world.� The heaviof Plzen in what is now the Czech er and maltier profiles of English Republic, became nearly synony- ales are perfectly balanced by the mous with the noble hops (define sweet and slightly cloying aromas noble hops before this), most par- and flavors of Goldings and oth-
er English varieties. In the United States, where so much of the culture has been borrowed from others, including the brewing traditions, two hops stand out. They are the most widely grown aroma varieties in the United States: Willamette and Cascade. Both are cultivars (define) of Fuggle. Perhaps because of the popularity of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, both an American beer style and an American hop cultivar have become the standard for the western region of the country. Sierra Nevada uses ample Cascade hops in the boil for its pale ale, and the Sierra Nevada Pale Ale has become the exemplar of the American pale ale style. Continued on page 7...
Chicago’s
Top5
Beer Bars
We crawled the city to bring you our favorites.
Hopleaf Bar
come late summer, Michael Rop- We’ve created a bunch of beer er and Louise Molnar will launch Frankensteins.” 5148 N. Clark St.; an expansion next door (bigger 773-334-9851, hopleaf.com kitchen, more seating, 20 new taps). Michael, the keeper of the beer menu (325 bottles, 45 drafts), tends toward Belgians (Van Honsebrouck’s Gueuze Fond Tradition, $7) and Belgian-style ales brewed in the United States (Goose Island’s Matilda, $6). Whether a beer makes the cut often depends on its backstory: Take the father-and-son farmers This Andersonville tavern has who grow their own barley (Hof stayed busy since opening in Ten Dormaal’s Wit Goud, $8.50). 1992, but its booming past de- As for his role in shaping genercade demonstrates Chicago’s ations of palates, Michael says: exponential thirst for craft beer. “When I try to take a popular beer So many pilgrims trek here that, off the menu, people freak out.
Map Room
The ceiling hung with flags and the bookshelves lined with back issues of National Geographic say it all: Patrons should prepare to try something off the grid at this self-dubbed travelers’ tavern. The manager and certified cicerone, Jay Jankowski, is happy to surprise indecisive drinkers with Bockor’s Bellegems Bruin or ’T Gaverhopke’s Extra from the globetrotting beer list (26 drafts, plus one on cask and some 150 varieties by bottle). At night, Beer School classes bring beer geeks by the dozens, while daytime hours are ideal for quiet sipping at this 18-year-old Bucktown standby (coffee service starts at 6:30 a.m. weekdays; taps flow at 11). 1949 N. Hoyne Ave.; 773252-7636, maproom.com
Maria’s
When Ed Marszewski revamped his mom’s 25-year-old Bridgeport institution in 2010, he kept its tried-and-true format—liquor store up front, bar in the rear— but introduced a chic new décor, a DJ schedule, and a shockingly long beer menu. After touring a friend’s microbrewery in Amsterdam, Marszewski decided Maria’s should carry “every craft
beer distributed in our neck of the woods,” including hard-toget seasonals such as Founders’ Cerise ($5), bringing the total count to 18 drafts and roughly 400 bottles and cans. And our offerings change weekly. We carry hundreds of craft beers in bottles, cans and on tap. In fact we may serve the largest selection of craft beer in the city (we currently have over 450 different beers on our menu). The bar also features traditional and remixed classic cocktails as well as many liquors, spirits and beverages distilled and brewed locally and regionally. And we really really like Rye. The beauty of having a liquor store on the premises? About 75 percent of the beer list is available to go. 960 W. 31st St.; 773-890-0588, community-bar.com
Quenchers Saloon
It was Quenchers’ second owners, Earle and Nisa Johnson, who skewed the now-32-year-old Bucktown bar toward beer in the early 1980s, when six or seven taps were considered a lot. The international thing came later, Earle says. Today, Bob Ehrlich, a certified cicerone, oversees a
list of 275 bottles and 24 drafts, with finds including Bockor’s Cuvee des Jacobins Rouge from Belgium ($8) and Stiegl’s Pils from Austria ($5). That doesn’t mean this lovably scruffy corner tap, home of the free popcorn basket and Earle’s Famous Chili ($3.50), has forgotten its blue-collar roots: “There’s still the guy who only has $10 in his pocket, so you can still get a Bud Light or a PBR,” Earle says. 2401 N. Western Ave.; 773-
Sheffield’s
Although a tavern has stood on this Lake View corner since the 1940s, we can thank Rocky Albazi and the late Ric Hess, who purchased the bar in 1992, for really bringing the beer. With April’s addition of 12 new draft lines, Sheffield’s now pours from 50 taps (Left Hand’s Milk Stout, $5; Stone’s Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale, $7), including one cask option and six devoted to the beer garden—an Edenic haven in the midst of riotous Wrigleyville. Hess, who died last year, was a fierce champion of regional brewing and a perfectionist when it came to the bar’s other specialty, barbecue. 3258 N. Sheffield Ave.; 773-281-4989, sheffieldschicago.com
Seasonal Craft B
You Have To
Brews
Try
Weyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin and cream. Some caramel malt Ale has a medium full body with is there along with a bit of oily a nice slick, creamy feel. The flavor is not quite as sweet as the nose promises. I get squashy, slightly bitter vegetable flavors and some balancing malty sweetness and spices. Some of these spices linger on the finish, but not for too long. It’s a nicely balanced pumpkin beer, especially for those who prefer squashy varieties to sweet. I am of the latter, not the former. I definitely prefer pumpkin beers that bring more sweetness to the table. Still, this was a very enjoyable beer.
Southern Tier Pumking is hazy,
but refractive amber with a thick white head that eventually recedes to form a lasting ring. Aroma of fresh pumpkin pie and pumpkin pie spice. Flavor matches the aroma, and I think (unlike many other reviewers) that the body is creamy and ideal to support the flavor, and I don’t think it’s on the thin side for an imperial. Finish is long and on the dryish side, and it leaves you craving another swallow. My favorite example of the style.
Shipyard Smashed Pumking has
nutmeg and cinnamon upfront along with a touch of vanilla
slickness on the lips. Moderate bitterness all the way through and it never gets too sweet unlike a lot of pumpkin beers. The flavors linger for a long time after the finish and it is almost drying making you want to take another sip. One of the best pumpkin beers. Not a sugar bomb and it really seems like there is actual pumpkin here, not just tons of spices. A wonderful fall beer that everyone should seek out.
Dogfish Head Punkin Ale pours
a collage of orange, copper, and amber with a thick, white, fluffy head. The aroma hits big with pumpkin aromas and spices. Heavy on the nutmeg as well, which gives off a bit of an “eggnog” vibe - very cozy and very nice. Some alcohol warmth and fuzziness on the mouth, following bi with cinnamon, nutmeg, and faint pumpkin pie. Thin to medium body, slightly creamy and slightly crisp with lots of carbonation. It’s definitely one of the more enjoyable pumpkin beers out there.
What’s
Hoppin’?
Continued from page 2...
Hops are available in domestic and imported varieties, for instance German Hallertauer and American-grown Hallertauer. While these are from the same breeding stock, the cultivars vary because of harvest year variances, soil conditions in the regions, and climatic conditions.
tering the beer. Also, the aroma characteristics tend to be unstable. The beer might change in character over time, and the aromatic qualities might degrade. http://meganandtimmy.com/
Many of the world’s great hops are grown in the United States and have been grown from cuttings or seed from the original stock. There are also cultivars of European origin that have been selectively bred in the United States to create a new hop. American Hallertauer derivatives include Liberty, Mt. Hood, Crystal, and Ultra. These might have aroma characteristics similar to the German Hallertauer, but essential wp-content/uploads/2012/01/ oils and alpha-acid contents vary CTA-logo.png from the original cultivar. When examining a hop for aroHops are classified as either bit- ma, crush the flowers in the palm tering or aroma hops. Some are of your hand and rub them vigconsidered dual-purpose hops. orously to release these oils. An Bittering hops have a higher al- accurate estimate of the aroma pha-acid content than aroma va- can’t be made without this rough rieties. Hops with high alpha-acid handling. Aromas range from citcontent often make poor aroma rus to perfume and from floral to hops. It can be difficult to get sat- grassy. Some smell vegetal while isfactory aroma without overbit- others smell quite sweet. Get to
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