Pic(k) of the Week: ESB in happier times

On 1 December 2019, this was Origination ESB, on draught in the taproom at Lost Druid Brewery for Small Brewery Sunday, in the (small) city of Avondale Estates, Georgia, USA.

If this image looks familiar, it's because I originally posted it to YFGF's Facebook page that same day. It deserves an overdue elevation to Pic(k) of the Week status.

Considering the craft beer world's current state of affairs (let alone, the world), remembering Small Brewery Sunday on any day might not be a bad thing. In better times,

Every dollar a beer lover spent at a craft brewery fueled a small business that supports the economic health of its local community.

The 'craft' beer industry:

• Contributed $79.1 billion to the U.S. economy.
• Provided 559,545 total jobs.
• Gave an estimated $92.6 million to charitable organizations.

—the [U.S.] Brewers Association's 2018 Economic Impact Report

And Origination, itself?

An autumnal interplay of malts and hops provides for exquisite balance in this English extra special bitter [ESB]. Light earthy, herbal hop character intermingles with bready, toffee-like malt notes to produce a highly sessionable ale for the fall season. 5.7 % abv [alcohol-by-volume].

Extra specially tasty, it was.

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Georgia's open for (brewery) business

Brewery taprooms are once again open for business in the state of Georgia.

As of 1 June 2020, Georgia governor Brian Kemp has allowed bars and nightclubs, relaxing the coronavirus shutdown. In order to reopen, bars and nightclubs will need to meet 39 mandatory measures to "ensure patron well-being." Among those measures are

• screenings for employees
• limiting the number of people in the building (25 people or not more than 35% of total occupancy)
• regular and thorough sanitizing
• only serving drinks to seated patrons
• limiting party sizes to six people
• limiting the ability for congregating.

Pictured: "Patio, Pints & Food Truck," a signboard for Wild Heaven Beer, a 'craft' brewery in Avondale Estates, Georgia, USA.

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What to do if your bar must shut down its tap system for an extended period of time.

If beer is left stagnant in draught lines for too long, 

the system will be at risk of 

AN IRREVERSIBLE BACTERIAL CONTAMINATION. 

As more and more jurisdictions order closures of meeting places, such as bars, restaurants, and brewery taprooms, as a defense against the spread of the coronavirus, Neil Witte —the [U.S.] Brewers Association Quality/Draught Quality Ambassador— has posted timely instructions on how a taproom/bar should properly care for its draught system if shut down for an extended period of time.

In the event of an extended shutdown of your brewery, it is important to take some steps to make sure your draught system stays healthy and you are not faced with an unexpected expense or quality concerns when starting it back up.

If beer is left stagnant in draught lines for too long, the system will be at risk of AN IRREVERSIBLE BACTERIAL CONTAMINATION [emphasis mine].

Taking the right steps can prevent you from having to deal with dangerous gas leak hazards, costly draught line contamination, or even more expensive draught line replacement.

[U.S.] Brewers Association

Quick tips

• Disconnect draught lines from kegs/serving tanks.
• Clean the lines.
• Disassemble and clean faucets.
• Do NOT leave lines filled with a chemical solution!
• Any part/piece of your draught system that comes in contact with beer —that is not cleansed during a line cleaning— should be cleaned and sanitized separately.

Do NOT pack the lines with chlorinated water: they'll be permanently tainted with that fresh-from-the-swimming pool flavor and you'll need to replace them. And as to leaving beer in the lines, don't do it! Experts are predicting a possible shutdown of 8 weeks or more. At that point any beer in the lines, even if it has been kept at 38 °F, will not be tasting its best self. And, far worse than that, to repeat the warning above from the BA: "If beer is left stagnant in draught lines for too long, the system will be at risk of AN IRREVERSIBLE BACTERIAL CONTAMINATION."

Without a doubt, read and follow the entire list of procedures. Direct link to procedures (pdf): here.

Good luck and be safe. And we'll see you on the flip side with many a fresh draught pint.

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Pic(k) of the Week: Hourglass 'Lithuanian Farmhouse' Ale

The day I visited the Hourglass Brewing taproom in Longwood, Florida, there were 38 beers on tap. This 'Lithuanian Farmhouse' ale was one of them. Can there be too many?

According to the website, the beer is prepared by:

• Mashing (heating with water) malted barley, wheat, rye, and oats.
• Lautering (washing and straining) the wort (a sticky solution of malt sugar derived from the mash) through a bed of hay and hops.
• "Pasteurizing" the wort in the kettle —but not boiling it.
• Cooling and then fermenting it with yeast from a "famous Lithuanian brewery."

Reddish-brown and very hazy (as would be expected), but not murky. A long-lasting head, if not spumous. For aroma: apricot and white pepper. For flavor: slightly sour and definitely funky with a suggestion of toffee, lemon rind, and apricot. The finish: abrupt, slightly astringent, and, again, slightly sour, but with a green pepper aftertaste. 5.7% alcohol-by-volume (abv).

"Yeast from Švyturys or Utenos?," I asked the bartender. *
"I'm sorry?" he replied, puzzled.
"Those are two famous Lithuanian breweries," I remarked.
"Oh. I'm not sure," he answered.
"Who among the staff is Lithuanian," I wondered. "No one," he replied.

I took these photos on 17 June 2019. I didn't spy a farmhouse nearby.

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Pic(k) of the Week: Friday afternoon Contrast

Garage-style doors opened, April spring let in, and Artifice Pale V2 served on draught. It's a Friday afternoon in the taproom at Contrast Artisan Ales, on 5 April 2019.

The brewery is new. Contrast opened to the public —in the city of Chamblee, Georgia, population 29,000, a few miles north of Atlanta— only three months earlier, in December 2018. It's owned and operated by Chase Medlin, the past head brewer at Twains Brewpub and Billiards in nearby Decatur.

Contrast's taproom is cozy and spartan —a converted auto-repair shop— with local artwork on the walls and a wrap-around white granite bar-top. Wooden barrels double as tabletops in the stool-less small outdoor front patio.

The two-vessel seven-barrel brewhouse can be seen in the background. Beers are served from finishing tanks located in a cold room directly behind the bar (to the left in the photo).

The pictured beer, Artifice Pale, is a not a hazy or juicy-fruit pale ale but a bright and crisp one with a citrusy aroma and dry finish, at an alcohol level of 5.6% (by volume). I would surmise that an apparent 11% alcohol decrease from the recipe for version 1 decreased the sweetness but increased the perkiness in this, version 2.

And increased —gulp— its 'drinkability.'

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• Neither Contrast's website nor its Facebook page lists the brewery's address (or current beer list). It's: 5504 Peachtree Road, Chamblee, Georgia 30341, just east of the intersection with Broad Street.


• Pic(k) of the Week: one in a weekly series of photos, posted on Saturdays, and occasionally, but not always, with a good fermentable as the subject.
• See the photo on Flickr: here.
• Camera: Olympus Pen E-PL1. Lens: Canon 50mm ƒ/1.4 FD.
• Settings: 20 mm | 1/100 | ISO 200 | f/4.0
• Commercial reproduction requires explicit permission, as per Creative Commons.


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Happy Georgia Brewery Liberation Day!

It's the first of September 2017, which means that, as of today, Georgia has joined with the rest of the Union. Breweries in the state of Georgia can now sell THEIR own beers in THEIR own taprooms to THEIR own customers.

Georgia has become the 51st (that is, the last) of all 50 states and Washington, D.C. to permit this. (The penultimate laggard, Mississippi, enabled its permission on 1 July.) Georgia Governor Nathan Deal signed bill SB-85 on 8 May; it took effect today.

Better late than never, no?

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