The World’s Best Beer Part Deux – The Beereconomics of eBay

Read this Beernews.org article highlighting the sale of rare beers on eBay and just what some others think of the practice.

Would you buy Westvleteren 12 on eBay at higher than equillibrium prices?

Prost,

GG

Try the world’s best beer at a reasonable rate, finally

I’ve seen bottles of the coveted Westvleteren 12 go for upwards of $45 a piece, and I’ve asked more than one friend to bring me back a bottle of what many consider to be the world’s finest beer.

According to Beernews.com, there may or may not be an agreement in place to be able to order these impossible-to-find beers on eBay.

However, details are murky, so check out the post at www.beernews.org, and get your trigger finger ready for the next possible allotment of Westy beer.

Prost,

GG

Westvleteren

Take a virtual brewery tour at Blackstarbeer.com

For me, nothing will take the place of a good, old-fashioned road trip to check out a brewery. But this comes close. Take a few minutes and check out the new Brewery Tour from Blackstarbeer.com. It’s a look at the transformation going on at Great Northern Brewing Company in Whitfish, and it’s one of the nicer Web sites I’ve seen in a while.

Some of the best aspects might be the videos they have posted, particularly the one where they ask people if they can define some interesting brewing terms. So what do you think grist is?

Enjoy,

GG

What are your favorite spring beers?

The story of Bayern’s St. Wilbur Weizen Poster Child

Who doesn’t love a big, slobbery mess that is a Saint Bernard? Turns out there are a few people out there who don’t, which results in a lot of abandoned dogs. Did you know that a portion of the proceeds from the sale of Bayern Brewery’s St. Wilbur Weizen, Bayern’s popular wheat-style beer, go to the Saint Bernard Rescue Foundation?

Click here to read the Bayern_Brewsletter, which contains a lot of great information about Saint Bernards and Jurgen Knoller’s personal beliefs about adding lemon to beer.

Prost,

GG

The inspiration for Bayern's Saint Wilbur Weizen

The Sierra 30 Project sends chills up my spine

Seeing all those pioneering craft brewers and home brew legends standing next to each other on the iconic-at-birth Sierra Nevada Brewing Company site dedicated to the project is amazing. Ken Grossman, the man who picked craft brewing up from the ashes left over from the close of the first pioneer Jack McAuliffe to found Sierra Nevada Brewing Company has gathered these and the likes of Fritz Maytag and Fred Eckhardt together to collaborate on a beer to celebrate Sierra Nevada’s 30th Anniversary.

And much like an anniversary or birthday does, it reminds one of how old they are. In this case, it’s a good thing. Craft brewing got it’s rebirth in the 70s, and it took all of these people to bring it to where it is today. Which is why it gives me goose bumps.

Here is a look at a few of the beers:

Fritz' and Ken's Pioneers Stout

Charlie, Fred and Ken Lager

Buckbean Brewing Company – Original Orange Blossom Ale

The beauty of things like Twitter and Facebook is that it makes real people more accessible. I met Buckbean Brewing Company, of Reno, Nevada, through Twitter. And I’m absolutely stoked about getting my hands on some of their beer.

The first of the three I received looked like a tall boy of Fanta with its nearly solid orange motif. But it was a good harbinger of things to come. The nose on this beer is so big it actually serves as an air freshener if cracked open in the right place.

Orange citrus just rolls off this one and gives one the expectation that the beer might indeed be orange pop. Alas, it is not. It’s a fairly well balanced light ale that holds the orange flavor in a lightly malt-oriented body with some hop crispness that plays rather well with the orange aroma.

The beer pours up a sunburst color with an off-white head, and some of the hidden beer flavors really come out to play when this beer is allowed to warm up slightly.

The best part about this beer is that my wife really enjoyed the refreshing aspect of it. She thought this one would definitely be worth throwing in the cooler for those summer river trips or even for making one of those yard-work summer shandies.

Prost,

GG

Buckbean Brewing Company's Orange Blossom Ale

Is it summer yet? Get a taste with Caipirinhas on the front porch

Caipirinha

I had just finished up a late Saturday breakfast when my friend Keila Szpaller, author of the phenomenal city/gov/what-you-need-to-know blog MissoulaRedTape.com, called to see what our plans were for the day. When I told her I intended to chill out and relax after a busy workweek, she invited us over to relax on the front porch with her husband Brock and their delightfully quirky pooch Alan and some Caipirinhas of course.

Caipirinhas are the national drink of Brazil, and the easiest way to describe them would be like Cuba’s mojitos without the mint. But that would be a bit unfair to the cachaça, the liquor that makes a Caipirinha what it is.

Like rum, cachaça is distilled from sugar cane, but unlike rum, it’s not made from molasses, but rather from the pure cane juice, to which fresh-squeezed lime and sugar are added to make a deliciously summertime drink that goes perfectly well with a warm spring day in Missoula, Montana.

Keila’s family hales from Brazil, where her Ukrainian relatives settled after leaving the old country in much the same way my family left Ukraine and settled in China, the Philippines and eventually San Francisco. With both of us being world wanderers, there’s nothing as enjoyable as getting together to talk about all the amazing foods and drinks that define one region or another, so it was so great to be able to sip the light and tart Caipirinhas and talk about her life in Brazil.

We eventually made our way off of their front porch and onto ours, where we continued the festivities with some surf & turf in the form of grilled salmon and steak and more talk about places we’ve been and places we want to go. We call it porch surfing, and it’s going to become a regular part of our summer plans.

Two versions of cachaça, the liquor required to make Caipirinhas are available at Grizzly Liquor. Then find yourself some lime and sugar and make it summer in Missoula.

Saude,

GG

You can’t get Sink the Bizmarck in Montana, but you can get a Twisted Merciless Stout from Brewdog

Brewdog's Rip Tide Twisted Merciless Stout

I’m not going to spend a lot of time lamenting the limitations on getting fine craft beers from around the world here in Montana. Mostly because you can actually get fine craft beers from around the world right here in Montana. Take Brewdog’s Rip Tide Twister Merciless Stout. OK, so it’s not Tactile Nuclear Penguin or Sink The Bizmarck, but it is a fine example of what this brewery can do, and I think it destroys the notion that this little brewery on Scotland’s rugged northeast coast is nothing more than a marketing gimmick.

I tried this beer without reading the description online, and I’m glad I didn’t. It had characteristics of a Baltic Imperial Porter or a Russian Imperial Stout, but it had a mellow middle ground that I couldn’t really put my finger on. Richly roasted malts lend a characteristic edge to this fine stout, but there are myriad flavors just beneath and above the malt backbone that defy one particular style classification.

I won’t go into a lot of description here, because the video at the end of this post does a much better job of explaining the profile.

But let me say that what I liked about this beer is the bigness that holds so much in one sip. You’ll hardly notice the 8 percent ABV, because you’ve got all these amazing tastes going on. Hints of smoke and licorice give way to some serious dark chocolate with a hint of cocao bitterness, and the description on the Brewdog’s Web site about the warming aspects are totally right on. This is a phenomenal hybrid stout that is of Scottish persuasion and at the same time a tribute to the big Russian and Baltic Imperials.

Well done.

Get yourself some at Warden’s Market.

Prost,

GG

Kettlehouse Brewing Company and Blue Canyon Brewer’s Dinner April 16

Announcing the Kettlhouse Brewing Company Blue Canyon Brewer’s Dinner

You’ve tasted Big Sky Brewing Company and Blue Canyon doing food and beer as you’ve never seen it before, now it’s time to see what happens with Kettlehouse Brewing Company and some ale-inspired food creations by chef Larry Coffman.

Here’s the menu:

Amuse Bouche:
TBD

1st Course:
Belgium Seeley Axe
Pink Peppercorn Brined Prawn, Black Berry Sweet Chili Butter, Crispy Potato Gaufrette

2nd course:
Cold Smoke
Black Garlic Butter Fried Chorizo “West Side Market” Perogi, Shaved Manchego Cheese, Root Beer Gastrique

INTERMEZZO: BASIL SORBET

3rd course:
Eddy Out American Pale Ale
Pretzel Crusted Clear Water Springs Rainbow Trout, Wholegrain Mustard Caper Emulsion

4th course:
Double Haul IPA
Smoked Bison Tenderloin Sous Vide, Sun Dried Tomato Goat Cheese Polenta, Balsamic Glazed Pearl Onions, Wild Mushrooms

Dessert:/5th Course:
Porter Brick N Mortar
“Fruit Tart” Crepe with a Plum Glaze and Shaved Dark Callebaut

Cost ~$55 per person + gratuity ~7:00 pm – In The Blue Canyon Bison Room ~Call 541-BLUE (2583) To Make Your Reservations Today!

Prost,

GG