The best donut beer

Recently, National Public Radio's weekday 2-hour public-affairs program, 1A, was broadcast from the Minnesota State Fair.

In the first hour, host Joshua Johnson interviewed the governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz. More to the point, in the second hour, Mr. Johnson interviewed a panel comprising two brewer/owners, a hop farmer, and the editor of a brewspaper, all from Minnesota. The topic was "Tapping Into Minnesota’s Craft Beer Boom."

Pop quiz. What do cotton candy, chocolate chip cookies, and mini-donuts have in common? Give up? They are all flavors of beer.

Mr. Johnson asked for listener comments. At the 25:00 mark, he was reading a few sent in via Twitter, when he said this:

And YFGF tweeted: “An 'approachable' beer is one I approach. A 'drinkable' beer is one I drink. The best donut beer is a beer in a mug and a donut on a plate.' [laughter] I mean...whatcha want me to say? If he's wrong, tell me he's wrong, but I don't think he's wrong. [...] And it's just that simple wisdom like 'an approachable beer is a beer I approach.' Boom! One of y'all is going to print that on a tee-shirt and make a lot of money.”

YFGF is, of course, the acronym for the name of this blog, "Yours For Good Fermentables," or "Yifgif," as some folks around here (not those at NPR) can be heard to pronounce it.



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Tapping Into Minnesota’s Craft Beer Boom

There was more to the hour-long episode than talk of beery nonsense. Here's 1A's program syllabus.

"Would you try a jalapeño cream ale? Maybe a cotton candy milkshake IPA? If your answer is yes, you should head to Minnesota. The North Star State has a booming craft beer industry. But that wasn’t always the case.

Not long ago, craft beer wasn’t nearly as widely available in the U.S. as it is today. Between 2002 and 2007, employment at breweries across the country declined as large corporations like Anheuser-Busch and MillerCoors consolidated. In 2012, these two companies controlled nearly 90 percent of beer production in the country.

But between 2008 and 2016, the number of brewery establishments — many of them small businesses sextupled. The number of brewery workers grew by 120 percent. In the same period, shipments from the five major brewers (Anheuser-Busch, MillerCoors, Heineken, Pabst and Diageo) fell by 14 percent.

Minnesota was no exception to the trend. In 2011, the state was home to 35 craft breweries. Today there are more than 170 breweries operating in the state. Those breweries pump out nearly 650,000 barrels of beer a year.

At the Minnesota State Fair, local breweries show off their classic brews as well as their more experimental ones, which feature a wacky variety of flavors, including dreamsicle, elderflower, lavender, dragon fruit, push pop, pumpkin seed, cake, chocolate chip cookie, dill pickle, funnel cake, maple bacon and s’mores.

[...] We sit down and sip at the Minnesota State Fair to talk and taste with the state’s craft beer insiders.

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Beer with Cheese and NPR

The former Carnegie Library, a glorious building in Washington, D.C., now houses the Historical Society of Washington, D.C.

On a recent cold November evening, the Society played host to National Public Radio. Susan Stamberg moderated a discussion with The Kitchen Sisters about their radio program: Hidden Kitchens.

What's the beer connection?

During a reception beforehand, cheese was donated by Cabot Creamery of Vermont and beer by Clipper City Brewing of Baltimore, Maryland. Wine was provided by Chateau Morrisette of Virginia.

Placards on each table displayed the appropriate pairings.

• McHenry Lager with Cabot Reduced Fat Cheddar. This all-malt lager, reminiscent of what mainstream American lagers once tasted like, has a subdued quantity of malt and hops but enough character to pair with this reduced fat cheddar. [At the 6 o'clock position in the photo.]
• Clipper City Pale Ale with Cabot 3-year Aged Cheddar. The earthy bite and aromas of bitters and pale ales matches the sharpness of cheddars. [At the 3 o'clock position in the photo.]
• Small Craft Warning Uber Pils with Cabot Pepper Jack Cheddar. The beer's hellerbock-like sweet malt soothes the spice of the cheese. But its spicy hops [thus the beer is designated an Uber Pils rather than bock] match the intensity of the cheese's peppery spiciness. [At the 12 o'clock position in the photo.]
• Loose Cannon Hop3 Ale with Cabot Sun-Dried Tomato Basil Cheddar. The ebullient herbal and fruity hop aromas and flavors of the beer are a match for the cheddar's basil and sun-dried tomatoes. [At the 9 o'clock position in the photo.]

NPR's Susan Stamberg wasn't a convert. She stayed with wine: wonderful juice from Virginia winery Chateau Morrisette. But there was a split loyalty. NPR's Ari Shapiro, sartorially elegant, chose beer.

A week earlier, I had tutored a beer-with-cheese tasting, a charity event for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. The major theme of that evening was that beer is a wonderful mate with cheese. In fact, I claimed, most any beer pairs well with most any cheese. (Exceptions might be some of the more extremely flavored beers.)

The same does not always hold true with wine.

According to common lore, matching wine and cheese is a no-brainer. But when a rich, plush red wine meets a fresh, tangy chèvre, it causes an unpleasant tannin explosion in the mouth.

Wine Spectator
100 Great Cheeses
September 2008

Even so, the Wine Spectator does not praise beer's companionship. But the Baltimore Sun did, in the article Crafty Combo.

• More here on Hidden Kitchens and Hometown Appetites.
• Photos here.

Big O and Dukes

Chad Dukes, co-host of the Big O and Dukes radio program on WJFK-FM in northern Virginia, holds a bottle of Clipper City Brewing's Small Craft Warning Uber Pils.

Go here to listen to the Friday radio interview with Hugh Sisson, General Partner of the Clipper City.

Caveat: I sell this beer. Regardless of that, here're some trenchant comments during the broadcast from Sisson concerning beer styles and beer stylistas:

There are alway people who tell me that my beer is very good but it doesn't fit the stylistic parameters that they were looking for. There are only a couple of things you need to know: Did you like? Would you buy it? Would you pay that price for it? If all three of the answers are yes, I won. Don't be pedantic.

Thinking Globally, Drinking Locally

From WAMU-FM's website:

Thinking Globally, Drinking Locally
Wednesday 16 July 2008, 1:06PM

In the world of beer, Anheuser-Busch has long been an American icon and a dominant global player. So when the St. Louis-based corporation accepted a $52 billion takeover by Belgium-based brewer InBev, the move raised eyebrows in boardrooms and bars across the country. We explore how the increasingly global beverage industry is affecting local consumers.

Guests:

• Hugh Sisson, General Partner, Clipper City Brewing Company (Baltimore, MD)
• Tom Standage, Business Editor, The Economist; author, "A History of the World in 6 Glasses" (Pub: Walker & Company)

The Kojo Nnamdi Show airs on WAMU weekdays, noon to 2 pm. The live two-hour magazine program highlights news, political issues and social trends of the day.

Nnamdi, a native of Guyana, lends a global perspective to front page headlines and explores emerging stories before they are news.

At 88.5 FM in the Washington, DC. Streamed at www.WAMU.org.

A History of the World in 6 Glasses is a concise look at the influence of six beverages on world history, industry, and commerce: beer, wine, distilled spirits, coffee, tea, and cola.

[UPDATE: Some interesting comments.]

• TS: Beer is a a genuinely global drink. Beer arose spontaneously all over the world thousands of years ago.
• HS: [Will In Bev 'improve' the recipe of Budweiser?] We might argue with what A-B has produced from a personal stylistic preference standpoint, but clearly the numbers sustain it. No, the downside could be catastrophic.
• TS: Drink and food serve as a lightning rod for discontent. It's a way of expressing oneself.
• HS: [Will the Inbev purchase affect the craft brewers?] Inbev will control nearly 30% of the world's market of beer. It's a whole different league.