My Frau and I were sitting at the bar at Lion Bridge Brewing Company in Cedar Rapids, Iowa enjoying a flight of 5 of their beers, including Hellscape. The voice belonged to a gentleman a couple stools away who turned out to be an employee of the brewery.
“It’s very tasty,” I replied.
For the next few minutes, I chatted with him about sundry beer-related topics. His demeanor alternated between someone expressing pride in playing a role - I neglected to ask what his job duties were but he noted he worked there 2 days a week - in getting the beers we were drinking into those sampler glasses and that of a used car salesman. After learning we were from Wisconsin, he proceeded to give me a brief overview of the Iowa beer landscape. I have forgotten much of it but I think he said Toppling Goliath was the big dog. The New Glarus of Iowa, if you will. After that he mentioned Backpocket and Big Grove as, if I recall correctly, being on their heels. (Later that afternoon I saw Big Grove beers available in a refrigerator in the lobby of our hotel in Iowa City.) He then mentioned a few other Iowa breweries that weren’t familiar to me but perhaps I had come across them at the Great Taste of the Midwest.
This got me thinking. Why do so few Iowa breweries distribute in Wisconsin? Toppling Goliath does but that is the only one that I can think of. Maybe the stuff flows across the Mississippi River into Grant and Crawford counties like, well, a river but simply makes it no farther east. Are Wisconsin drinkers and/or distributors hostile to Iowa beer? Is there some ancient law that makes distributing Iowa beer here particularly burdensome?
Tangent: I went to a grocery store in Iowa City and, upon entering their singles cooler, was taken aback by the prices. A simple 12oz can of regular (i.e. – not barrel-aged, not hopped 20,000 times, not brewed by virgins with ingredients only found on North Sentinel Island, and so on) craft beer was $4. Onerous taxes? The fact that it was a small, Whole Foods-like store? Uff da!
I didn’t write much about Lion Bridge in my review of Živá Voda so I will say that it was in what looked to be an older building in Cedar Rapids’ Czech Village that had been extensively remodeled. It was open and sunny but had an industrial vibe with the brewing equipment behind walls of glass. The beer garden looked nice. The people were friendly and our bartender heartily endorsed the jalapeno beer cheese and was not wrong as it went well on a fine hamburger.
So why did my interlocutor strike up a conversation by asking about Hellscape, their smoked Helles? I don’t know but perhaps it was because Rauchbiers are untrendy as fuck yet there we were drinking the stuff. It was offered in cans so of course I brought a sixer back for home use.
I poured my Hellscape rather vigorously so I got a nice, big head of lovely white foam. Beneath lay a beer of a bright yellow hue that had a faint haze. It could have been chill haze as my cans were towards the back of my refrigerator where leftovers are encased in ice. Just as with its Czech-American cousin, there were many a bubble to be seen inside. The beer had a relatively simple aroma with a lovely biscuit smell complemented by the precious smoke courtesy of beechwood smoked malts from Weyermann over in Bamberg, Germany, the Rauchbier homeland.
My tongue felt a generous dose of fizz on my first sip before the savory smoke flowed over my tastebuds. Mmm…The medium-light body also held a light bready taste with just a smidgeon of spicy hops below. The hoppiness really came to fore on the finish as the malt flavors receded to let a firm bitterness and a hearty dryness take centerstage.
My glass was left with some fine lacing as I enjoyed sipping my way to the bottom of it. The smoke level wasn’t off the charts but it was certainly more than a mere accent. I adore smoke beers so I wouldn’t have said no to more smoky goodness. While I could have done with a little less of that astringent taste, I really liked the dry finish. With its fairly light body and at 5.2% A.B.V., it went down easily. It’s your hot weather Rauchbier.
Junk food pairing: there are many people who think smoke beers should always be paired with a complementary junk food like BBQ flavored things. That’s fine but don’t be afraid to counterprogram your snack choices with something that nothing to do with meat. Go with a bag of Herr’s Cream Ranch & Habenero chips. The heat makes for a nice contrast with the smoke in addition to the ranch.
No comments:
Post a Comment