The Unbearable Sweetness of Ambers: R and J's Rowdy Raccoon by Young Blood Beer Co.

This is another brew that I first encountered sometime in the summer, I do believe, and got lost in the divorce shuffle. 

Young Blood Beer Co. is one of my least favorite breweries in Madison as their portfolio is 99.9% fruity this and pastry that. Reading their beer lists is like reading a menu that consists of nothing but Hawaiian Punch and Hostess snack cakes. There seems to be little more than gimmickry at work here of the most vicious kind.

"Fruit Punch Sour with Lemon, Passion Fruit, Orange & Guava"

"Fruit Punch Sour with Winter Melon, Passion Fruit, Orange & Guava"

blah blah blah

 

I found their helles to be tasty but pilsner-like and their smoked porter to be not bad. Despite never having considered going to their outpost on North Street despite not living far from it, I still try their beer tasting beers if I find something appealing at the liquor store and such was the case this past summer when I discovered that they had brewed a lager with my favorite grain, rye - R and J's Rowdy Raccoon.

 

For all the gimmicks Young Blood employs, this beer sure looked mighty fine. A loose tan head shrank while sitting atop several ounces of gorgeous beer. It was a beautiful amber hue and clear to boot. Many a bubble was to be seen inside the glass. Taking a whiff, my nose caught, disappointingly but not unexpectedly, caramel. Plus black pepper and grass. It reminded me a bit of Eliot Ness from Great Lakes.

 

While I do not seek to have the taste of caramel banished from beer, American brewers are almost unable to produce a brew that isn't yellow or black that isn't a Werther's candy in liquid form. It is weird. When I was in England back in September, I sampled a few amber ales and the caramel taste ranged from little to none. These were not sweet beers.

 

I don't know what English brewers and their maltsters do. Perhaps they take sacks of Maris Otter out to Stonehenge and perform some druidic voodoo on them, reading profane passages from a Barclay Perkins grimoire. Whatever diablerie they practice, English brewers manage to make amber ales that don't taste like candy.

 

So this stuff looked wonderful but had a prominent caramel aroma. But that didn't necessarily consign it to the candy bin. I hoped.

 

My first sip was fizzy heaven and then came the bready sweetness followed by caramel. Underneath those bubbles was a very smooth beer. It also had a savory/bready taste that I presumed was the rye. Oh, and there was a dash of cubeb or Grains of Paradise in there too.

 

The sweetness lingered on the finish but a modicum of spicy hops eventually crept in. Bitterness was medium and dryness a bit less.

 

Despite a near optimal level of fizziness, this beer was a bit too sweet. It never tasted cloying but I wished that it had leaned towards the breadier with less Werther's. Perhaps keeping it more on syrupy side kept the A.B.V. at a moderate 5.2%. The hops and rye were tasty, though.

 

Junk food pairing: This lager pairs well with pretzels, especially Snyder's Jalapeño Pieces. The spiciness tempers the sweetness of the beer and adds a complementary zing to the rye.

Monk #47

I met some folks down at Wisconsin Brewing Company (or is that Lake Louie?) yesterday and was looking forward to trying out a couple newish beers. First was Move Ukraine, a pilsner made with sunflower seeds and some of my purchase would be donated to the titular charity to help Ukrainians rebuild homes destroyed during the war. The other was Dock Haus Gold, a Vienna lager.

Unfortunately, neither was available. Their Untappd page is woefully out of date.

Instead, I tried their Oktoberfest which, I am happy to say, seemed less sweet than in years past. I also saw a new beer or one that was new to me, at any rate: Monk's 47 Amber.

After viewing the description, it wasn't immediately apparent to me what differentiated this from their Badger Club amber lager or the late Dock Haus Gold. Cuz you know I'm all about Vienna and red and amber lagers these days.

Although rather generic and unspecific, it was not a bad description. Monk's 47 is not a super rich malt bomb, but certainly wasn't watery. It did have a pleasing malt flavor and just enough hops for balance. Went down easy.

One More Red Lager: Red Tape by Jack's Abby

When the beers of Jack's Abby first appeared on shelves here in Madison last year, I always saw 3 or 4 of their "core" brews - their Bavarian pils called Post Shift, a blood orange wheat "radler" that doesn't appear to have any soda in it which means that it's not radler in my book, a West Coast style Hoppy Lager called Hoponius Union that I didn't care for, and/or their ganz ausgeizeichnet House Lager.

Then one day I noticed their first seasonal brew to reach these shores: an Oktoberfest, Copper Legend. Since I'd already filled my beer quota for that particular trip to the store, I put it on the list for next time. This routine was repeated for the next few stops at the liquor store and then one day Copper Legend was no more. I hope whoever bought it enjoyed it. I'm sure it was quite tasty.

As the cycles of nature forged ahead, snow blanketed the ground as autumn turned into winter and the shelf space that had held the Copper Legend was now occupied by Red Tape, their late fall amber lager.

Like cows, amber lagers are not something we lack here in Wisconsin. It's a style that the first batch of microbrewers in the state took to back in the day like a junkie to the needle. Capital's Wisconsin Amber, Sprecher's Special Amber, and Riverwest Stein by Lakefront all, to the best of my knowledge, came early in the days of microbrewing in Wisconsin and remain big sellers for their respective breweries. I think of them as foundational beers and they have ensured that an indigenous amber lager was available at many, if not most, drinking establishments in the state for some time now. And when brewmaster Kirby Nelson picked up his stakes at Capital and headed to Verona and the greener pastures of Wisconsin Brewing Company, beer #001 from their shiny new brewery was an amber lager that is now called Badger Club.

Now that I think about it, I believe that, when Kirby was doing test batches at Vintage Brewing out on the west side as he waited for his new brewing digs to be plumbed and equipment installed, it was an amber lager that he brewed first.

Add in the availability of Elliot Ness, a great example of the style from Cleveland's Great Lakes Brewing and Dovetail's Vienna Lager and it's clear that aficionados of the style here do not want for choice. (Why is the amber lager so popular in Wisconsin? Why does the Midwest have an especial proclivity for drinking this style?)

Just as with Kirby and WBC, it was an amber lager that got things going at Jack's Abby. Their website notes that Red Tape was their pilot brew after getting all of the relevant licenses they needed to legally operate a brewery. So what does Jack's Abby have to add to the amber lager beerscape here in Wisconsin?

My pour produced a glass of the loveliest amber color. The Polish part of me was enthralled and wondered if this stuff could be made into jewelry. It was just a touch on the dull side as the beer was the slightest bit cloudy. I'm not sure what caused this but the can does note that the beer is unfiltered and unpasteurized. I poured fairly well as I got a big head of foam that was barely off-white. And it lasted a while. There was a goodly amount of bubbles inside.

The aroma was wonderful with caramel and bread at the fore with some grassy hops and a mild roasty grain smell bringing up the rear. I also caught a faint hint of black pepper.

On first sip, I noticed a medium-light body and a solid, but not large, dose of fizz. I assume this stuff was lovingly double-decocted as my Maillard detectors went into the red, you might say, when the first thing I tasted was that marvelous bready flavor. Caramel malt sweetness was not far behind but it was a moderate dose and not cloying. I could taste some hoppy bitterness in the background mediating the malty flavors.

On the finish, that caramel sweetness stuck around a bit waiting for some herbal tasting hops to take hold. They added a medium amount of bitterness and just a tad less of dryness.

Amber lager lovers here are spoiled as it is and now they'll be even more so during the winter months when Red Tape is available. This is a great beer. The big bready flavor sets it apart from most of the beers listed above. Not only do I love the bread-caramel combo here, I also adore how those flavors taste discreet and come at your tongue sequentially. There's no bread in your caramel and no caramel in your bread. I also really like the hops here, especially at the end when they clear away the sweetness. Not overly bitter, though - just right.

Junk food pairing: Just as Red Tape deftly steers your tongue through a sea of bready and caramel flavors, pair it with a bag of Old Dutch Ripples All Dressed potato chips. Their blend of sweet & savory spices perfectly complements the dual nature of the beer.

Just don't go busting my balls, Garrett, OK?: Brooklyn Lager by Brooklyn Brewery

Before beginning to write this very blog post, I knew next to nothing about Brooklyn Brewery. My wife confirmed that it was indeed in Brooklyn, at least at one point, on a trip to New York City several years back to visit a friend. They stopped at the brewery and its taproom and enjoyed all the wonders on offer there. In addition to knowing the easy bit, I knew that the brewmaster is one Garrett Oliver.

Oliver first came to my attention back in the aughts and likely because he was (and still is) one of the few African-American brewmasters. But his notoriety, to my mind, anyway, is based on his skill at brewing – Brooklyn has a very fine reputation – and his role as editor of the Oxford Companion to Beer. In this latter role, I recall that he took a fair amount of flak from various beer history types who spend considerable time perusing historical brewing records that are often not in English and sometimes list ingredients in obscure units of measurement that no brewer has used in living memory. But I also recall that he generally took the criticism in stride instead of ordering hits on his critics as you'd expect from a New Yorker. He's been in the business for a while and I tend to think of him as an elder statesman of American brewing, an ambassador for quality American brews and the notion that they deserve to be paired with foods of equal distinction.

The more I think about it, the more I am convinced that my indifference to and ignorance of Brooklyn Brewery has a lot to do with the fact that it's on the East Coast and I am a Midwesterner. I live in "flyover country". New York Times reporters visit and are shocked to find that we have coffeeshops where a fine cup of joe can be had. Coastal news organizations fly in a reporter who talks to some old duffers over the course of a few days and - voila! - they know all there is to know about the region and its tens of millions of inhabitants. And, besides, don't New Yorkers all talk with a funny accent - like the characters in Goodfellas?

We are tired of being looked down upon and being told that all things true and good come from coastal realms and that we hicks merely import them. Now, I will grant you the coasts have got us beat on fresh seafood. And New York City can boast about the quality of its bagels. But we Midwesterners brew beers that are of equal or superior quality to anything a snooty coastie can whip up.

However, to the best of my knowledge, no one from Brooklyn Brewery has ever threatened me personally nor held any malice in their heart towards the Midwest so why shouldn't I give their brews a spin? Why let regional prejudices prevent me from enjoying a cold one from the coast?

I had no idea the Brooklyn Brewery has been around since 1988 when it was founded by Steve Hindy and Tom Potter. Garrett Oliver was hired in 1994. Brooklyn was a contract brewery for the first 8 years of its existence and finally got its own brewing facility in 1996. I was surprised to learn of the brewery's international presence. Their website boasts that their beer is now available in thirty-some-odd countries. It has partnered with Carlberg, the Danish brewing behemoth, to have its beers brewed and distributed in Europe and Hong Kong. Wikipedia also notes that it bought a brewery in London in partnership with Carlsberg. Finally, it says that a 24.5% stake in Brooklyn was bought by the Japanese company, Kirin. So, there is more – much more – to Brooklyn Brewery than some brewing vessels and a cozy little taproom in the titular borough.

While Brooklyn has all the trends covered – IPAs aplenty, sour beer, hard seltzer, blah blah blah – they still advertise Brooklyn Lager as their flagship. It's readily available here in Madison, at least it is at Woodman's here on the east side.

When I first decided to give it a try, I became a bit apprehensive after seeing it described as a "Hoppy Amber Lager" on the can. Was this going to be some India Pale Lager type thing that had been hopped to within an inch of its life?

My photo does the beer some justice as it was a very pretty gold hue. I poured it poorly and only got a small dollop of white foam that went away quickly. It was clear and I could see a goodly number of bubbles inside. It looked mighty fine!

The aroma surprised me. There was honey and caramel from the malts while the hops contributed an amalgam of berry-like and floral scents. While I was hoping for a bit more bread here, the hops smelled absolutely wonderful!

Thankfully this was not to be a particularly sweet beer. Sure, there was some caramel sweetness but it was fairly restrained. A healthy fizziness helped in this department and added a slight astringency. The hops were not of IPL/kill your tongue potency but were quite noticeable with that fruity-floral combination. But I tasted a little grapefruit in addition to that pan-berry flavor.

The caramel and fruity-floral flavors faded on the finish which allowed a herbal – almost minty – hop taste to come through. Not too much, but you can taste it. This final hop appearance also made it finish rather dry.

In addition to bagels, New Yorkers can be proud to tout this brew because it is great. The maltiness wasn't overly sweet and the hops were simply wonderful. I loved the floral taste as well as how they smell one way, take on a little something else as you drink, and then leave your mouth with a wholly different flavor after you swallow.

Junk food pairing: Pair your Brooklyn Lager with the tastes of New York City and America's Dairyland together in harmony. Grab a bag of everything bagel chips and liberally apply Cheddar 'n Bacon goodness from a can of Easy Cheese.

The Forgettable Fire: 5 O'Clock Beers by Forgotten Fire Brewing Company

The Great Peshtigo Fire consumed 1.2 million acres of forest in northeastern Wisconsin, ravaging a sizable chunk of Marinette County as well as parts of Oconto and Brown counties and it extended into the Upper Peninsula. Estimates of lives lost vary between 1,200 to 2,500 people. The town of Peshtigo was destroyed as were several other communities. This massive fire would certainly be more well-known today if it hadn't begun on 8 October 1871, the same day as the Great Chicago Fire which destroyed a large portion of that city and slandered one Mrs. O'Leary and her cow forever.

But this forgotten fire has given a name to one of Wisconsin's newest breweries, Forgotten Fire Brewing Company. The brewery's website describes the company as a partnership between Lindsay & Joe Callow, proprietors of Forgotten Fire Winery in Marinette (just east of Peshtigo), and Point Brewery. The Callows hope to open a brewery at the site of the winery at some point in the future "if laws allow".

Forgotten Fire's beers seem to have arrived in Madison with little fanfare. I first noticed them on store shelves last month where I spied Hopstinguisher, a session IPA (5%?!) and 5 O'Clock Beers, an amber lager. They also apparently make Cherry Radler, but I have yet to see that in Madison. I recently tried the lager. Of course. 5 O'Clock Beers get its name from the practice of employees at the winery who switch from wine to beer at 5 o'clock on Fridays.

The beer pours a lovely clear amber. I was only able to produce a small head which was light tan and loose. While it dissipated rather quickly there was a fair number of bubbles inside my glass. Not a bad start to the proceedings.

The beer's aroma was definitely on the sweet side of things with prominent caramel and apricot scents. Lurking in the background was a little grassy hop.

After having had an overly carbonated beer last week I am still quite sensitive to carbonation. And I am pleased to be able to report that it was well- but not maxi- carbonated. There was a little fizziness and some attendant dryness but no real bite. 5 O'Clock is medium-light bodied and had a nice roasted grain flavor and all that sweetness in the aroma came through as just a little toffee here. As with the aroma, there were some hop flavor lurking in the background but it was fairly spicy instead of grassy.

A tad of malty sweetness came through for the finish and lingered a short time before the hops made their final appearance with a fine but mild mix of straw and black pepper. There was no lacing to be had.

I really liked the hops in 5 O'Clock Beers. It begins as a grassy aroma and evolves into a tasty bit of black pepper on the finish. It's too bad that the hops are so mild. It is also a shame that the malt flavors are wort-like and the beer's taste is a bit thin. The hops are weak and not given much to work with to try and tie things together and so the overall effect is clean but lacking crispness and a firm malt foundation.

Bad bottle? Perhaps.

Forgotten Fire's initial offerings aren't big brews and 5 O'Clock is an easy-going 4.8% A.B.V. I'd be thrilled to have an everyday beer like this at my disposal. Despite the bonhomie of the beer and its appeal to Wisconsin history, Forgotten Fire are going to have to do quite a bit better than this to displace Sprecher and Capital in the hearts and livers of Wisconsin amber lager drinkers like myself.

Junk food pairing: I say keep the igneous theme going and let your 5 O'Clock Beers put out the flames from a bag of Blair's Death Rain Habanero Pepper potato chips.