BURP Real Ale Festival

If you live in the greater Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, and you're a fan of cask-conditioned ale, there's good news for you this weekend. It's the B.U.R.P. Real Ale Competition & Festival, Saturday, Nov 7, 2009, noon till 6, in suburban Maryland.

B.U.R.P. —Brewers United for Real Potables— is the D.C. area's premier homebrewers' club, founded in 1981.

For this festival, members have brewed cask ales in several categories; many of the beers will be judged the evening before. On Saturday, all the beers will be served from firkins, pins, and converted Cornelius kegs, and with beer engines and simple taps.

There is one catch, however. As the festival is held at the private home of a B.U.R.P. member (as are most of the monthly meetings), the address of the location is known only to members.

The solution? Become a member here.

Some terminology:

• Firkin: 10.8 gallon cask.
• Pin: 5.4 gallon cask.
• Cornelius keg: 5 gallon keg used in the past for soft drink dispense. Common now in homebrewing.
• Beer engine: a handpump used to pull beer from a cask to a tap at a bar.
• Real Ale is a neologism coined by CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale), a cask beer consumer advocacy group in the UK. The term refers to cask-conditioned ale: "beer brewed from traditional ingredients, matured by secondary fermentation in the container from which it is dispensed, and served without the use of extraneous carbon dioxide."
  

Birthday in Beer: Alex Hall, cask maven

A mover and shaker force for cask ale in the US celebrates his birthday today. Alex Hall sells and cajoles and encourages and organizes and teaches cask ale. A transplant from the UK, his base is New York City, but through his website and advocacy, his influence has spread much further.

As I wrote on his Facebook page: "Happy Birthday Alex, and here's to another year of bringing the casks to the people." I've never met Mr. Hall, but I look forward to many more years of his fierce advocacy for real ale.

Follow him on Twitter at: @Imbiber

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Jay Brooks, at Brookston Beer Bulletin, maintains a calendar of beer birthdays. It's a marvelous resource for learning more about the folk who make, bring, and talk about beer.

Three times, the caskman smileth

If you're not certain on all the fuss about cask-conditioned ale, come visit me at three cask events this month in northern Virginia.

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Saturday, 7 November
Tap & Vine
Arlington, VA
6pm, until the Winter Storm cask is drained. ( A firkin is a cask that holds 84 US pints. More on cask measurements here.)

We'll be tapping the first Winter Storm firkin of the season in Virgina. From Clipper City Brewing of Baltimore, Maryland, it's an Imperial Extra Special Bitter.

Let's deconstruct that. Extra Special Bitter is the name of an actual beer brewed in England. American beer-style writers have adopted the phrase as a style designation. Think medium bitterness matched with barley malt flavor and a caramel-like sweetness. The word 'extra' doesn't mean extra bitter, but rather greater alcohol than a 'standard' example. 'Imperial' is an American affectation implying even more strength than that: stronger than strong. Winter Storm is 7.5% alcohol by volume (abv).

UPDATE: Photos here.

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Wednesday, 11 November
Eventide
Arlington, VA
6pm, until the Gonzo cask is drained.

We tap a cask of Gonzo Imperial Porter. Here's the description from Flying Dog Brewing of Frederick, Maryland:

Like Hunter S. Thompson [creator of so-called 'gonzo journalism']... Gonzo Imperial Porter is deep and complex. This turbo charged version of the Road Dog Porter is mysteriously dark with a rich and malty body, intense roasted flavors, and a surprisingly unique hop kick. With Gonzo weighing in at 7.8% ABV, it will bite you in the ass if you don't show it the proper respect.

Eventide is a wine-centric restaurant, so this cask tapping, its first, is a special event for Bar Manager Stephen Warner.

UPDATE: Photos here.

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Wednesday, 25 November
Evening Star Cafe
Alexandria, VA
6pm, until the Loose Cannon cask is drained.

This has become a three year tradition for the Majestic Lounge, the backroom bar of this restaurant in the quaint Del Ray neighborhood of Alexandria, Virginia. A firkin is tapped on the evening before Thanksgiving. It's the only cask of the year for the pub. And it's always Loose Cannon Hop3, an India Pale Ale from Clipper City Brewing Company of Baltimore, Maryland.

An IPA -the acronym for the style- is deep golden in color, with a citrusy aroma and bracing bitterness, and is fairly high in alcohol. Loose Cannon, for example, has an abv of 7.3%.

UPDATE: Photos here.

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At each of these three, there will be no formal presentations, but I'll be on hand for the first hour or so, and, if you ask, I'll gladly pontificate on cask ale. The caskman smileth!

Caveat lector: I sell these three beers as an employee for northern Virginia wine/beer wholesaler Select Wines, Inc.

Clamps & Gaskets: Roundup for Week 43

Clamps and Gaskets is a weekly wrap-up of stories that I have not posted at Yours For Good Fermentables.com, but that, nevertheless, I find interesting or germane. Most of the pieces deal with beer (or wine, or whisky); some do not. But all are brief, and many are re-posts from my Twitter account: twitter.com/cizauskas.

This is Week 43:
25 October - 31 October 2009

• 2009.10.31
  I dislike early evening dark; I like the one morning with extra hour of sleep. Goodbye Daylight Saving time, tomorrow. http://bit.ly/o1lEe


• 2009.10.31
  Intrepid Virginia beer blogger David Turley visits Battlefield Brewing on its opening night in Fredericksburg: http://bit.ly/3V5oYQ


• 2009.10.30
  Unfortunate news for the Maryland beer scene. Kasper on Tap -- the beer blog of Rob Kasper, 'features' columnist for the Baltimore Sun-- to be discontinued. http://bit.ly/3JrNxC



• 2009.10.30
  Big beer! Legend Brewing Company's Barleywine (15.3% ABV) now on tap at the Richmond, Virginia brewery's pub. http://tinyurl.com/yzozwnx



• 2009.10.30
  My #FollowFriday is good-beer industry veteran: Ron Fischer @caskman812. Cask ale and real farmhouse cider are his particular passions.


• 2009.10.29
  A Washington City Paper writer rhapsodizes upon tasting 2005 Thomas Hardy barleywine at the Brickskeller, Washington, DC: http://bit.ly/3Xb5t5


• 2009.10.28
  What's a session beer? Read this from the UK: http://bit.ly/1m2WSn. Sometimes you want to drink a few and still walk a straight line.


• 2009.10.28
  The Washingtonian Magazine (on-line edition) interviews the writers behind the dcbeer.com blog. http://bit.ly/VIzoT


• 2009.10.28
  After running a race, wine lover and restaurateur Joe Bastianich prefers Italian beer (Baladin) with his Runner's Stew. From NBC's The Today Show: http://bit.ly/1U63zo


• 2009.10.28
  Questioned. Myths on beer (and wine) and glassware, and on terroir and wine. http://bit.ly/EXr8M


• 2009.10.28
  Baltimore, Maryland City Council decides that music and alcohol can mix, without deleterious effects. The bill awaits the Mayor's concurrence: http://bit.ly/1D8KxU


• 2009.10.28
  Washington D.C.'s Belga Cafe and Brasserie Beck now each have knights of 'La Chevalerie du Fourquet des Brasseurs.' http://ow.ly/x1WP


• 2009.10.28
  Last year's hops cost increase was NOT the sole cause of the beer price increase. As a result, this year's hop glut will NOT drop beer prices. http://buzzup.com/gjw6


• 2009.10.28
  Motley Fool criticizes Dan Snyder's Washington Redskins football team as a textbook example of appalling managerial practices: http://bit.ly/yKir8


• 2009.10.27
  Soon to become the world's largest BEVERAGE company? Are AB-InBev and PepsiCo planning a merger? http://bit.ly/4B1APc


• 2009.10.27
  Malaysia, religion, sharia, beer, and caning: http://bit.ly/2OR0ES


• 2009.10.27
  Hugh Sisson at his Clipper City Brewing blog suggests: try beer with the Thanksgiving meal. http://bit.ly/1EBT43


• 2009.10.27
  Why doesn't Don Younger (Horse Brass Pub) brew? "I love women, but I wouldn't want to be a gynecologist." As reported by Ray Daniels @Cicerone_org


• 2009.10.27
  Chef Frank Morales --ex of Rustico in Alexandria, Virginia-- finds a new job at Jackie's (Silver Spring MD) bringing his beer cuisine. http://bit.ly/3DehvU


• 2009.10.27
  More on Great Lakes Craft Brewers & Water Conservation Conference, from co-organizer Lucy Saunders: http://bit.ly/426uqZ


• 2009.10.25
  Room for beer education. Overheard at a beer festival, referring to cask ale: "I'm not always in the mood for 'still' beer."


• 2009.10.25
  From today's Washington Post: We've changed the name of 'Style & Arts' to 'Arts & Style.' [Glad they cleared that one up!]

The Clamps and Gaskets graphic was created by NotionsCapital.

Pic(k) of the Week: Sierra Nevada Harvest Ale

From the bottle label of the 13th annual release of Sierra Nevada Brewing's Harvest Wet Hop Ale:

Our Harvest Ale was the first American ale ever brewed with 100% fresh-picked, "wet" hops. In just one day, we harvest hops in Yakima, WA, ship them that night to our brewery in Chico, CA, and then rush them into our brew kettle as they are unloaded at dawn the next day.

In my glass, I noticed aromas of the field (grass or hay), forest (pine, woody), fruit (orange marmalade), and a minty/eucalyptus note. There's a touch of biscuity malt as a slight counterweight to all those aromatics.

How do 'wet-hops' differ from 'regular' hops? Here, from the New York Times:

Hops give beer its distinctive bitterness and lend it other lively notes that range from citrus to flowers. But brewers usually use dried processed pellets of hops [or the cured whole cone]. The fall hops harvest is their brief window of opportunity to brew with the fresh green cones to make beers with a subtle range of hops flavor.

Standard high-hop styles, such as India pale ales, which can be quite bitter, don’t usually work with fresh hops, said John Harris, the brewmaster at Full Sail Brewing Company’s brewery in Portland, Ore.

“In order to taste and feel the hops, you have to put them in the right kind of beer,” he said. “If the beer gets too bitter, you start losing the nuances of the fresh hops.”

A Hop and a Sip to Fresh Ales
Dining & Wine
New York Times
Lucy Burningham
October 20, 2009

Cured hops have less of that 'green' field character and more of a spicy, herbal character. In addition, the hop bitterness of cured hops can be measured, an important parameter for brewers when formulating consistent recipes.

I have yet to taste a truly wet-hopped beer, just out of the fermenter. Beer is a perishable foodstuff: drink it fresh.

“These [wet-hopped] beers won’t hold up,” Mr. [Phil] Markowski [the brewmaster at Southampton Publick House in Southampton, N.Y.] said. “They’re brewed for the moment. It’s like fresh local tomatoes and corn, an old-fashioned way to remember traditional seasons.”

That being said, Sierra Nevada's 2009 Harvest Ale was a delight, even in this form. It's 6.7 alcohol by volume (abv).