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Cheers!

The reason I first connected with Dogfish Head (and continue to do so) is because I completely identify with the brand. Like its owners, its employees and its beer, I am off-centered. More often than not, people use adjectives like weird, eccentric, quirky and crazy to describe me. But, like Dogfish Head, I’ve never been one to assimilate to the cultural norm. Dogfish Head’s uncanny ability to understand and embrace the weird and the unusual has made it stand out from any other craft beer brand in the world.

Case and point: Positive Contact — Dogfish Head’s latest super collaboration project.

What is Positive Contact? According to the official press release, “It’s a house party in a box. Start with a carefully crafted hybrid of beer and cider, add a helping of hip-hop dub remixes and serve with an inspired multi-course meal.”

Foodies and beer geeks beware, for this party in a box is not for the faint of heart. Even Esquire has already named it one of the best beers of 2012. And here is why:

The beer

The beer was born one festive night at Eataly New York’s rooftop brewpub Birreria. Hip-hop producer Dan the Automator – the mind behind supergroup Deltron 3030 – and Dogfish Head founder Sam Calagione sat at a table full of fresh ingredients and picked out their favorites.

They settled on wood-pressed Fuji apples, roasted farro from Anson Mills in South Carolina, cayenne peppers and fresh cilantro. The result is a sweet-and-sour Belgian-ish brew with cider-like notes, 9% ABV and a warming finish.

The music

While Dogfish did its thing at the brewery, Dan did his in the studio. Taking tracks from the long-awaited followup to Deltron 3030’s cult classic debut, Dan fashioned four dub remixes and pressed them onto 10-inch white vinyl.

The food

What’s a party without food? Dogfish recruited acclaimed chef and TV personality Mario Batali, loud and fast Joe Beef chefs Frederic Morin and David McMillan, Momofuku‘s influential David Chang, super-creative Homebrew Chef Sean Paxton and West Coast luminary James Syhabout. Each contributed a Deltron 3030-inspired recipe that’s printed on the record sleeve.

Positive Contact will be released in a dynamic box set of six 750-ml champagne bottles, with the 10-inch vinyl EP and the recipes. The box set will be sold for $60-$70 throughout Dogfish Head’s distribution network, in accordance with local and state laws.

For more information, check out the following video with Sam Calagione of Dogfish Head:

50 states. 20 contests. One great brewer.

The Next Great American Brewer is a reality competition television series, produced by Main Gate Visuals (who have worked with the US Army, Top Chef and Project Runway — to name a few).

The show is bringing twenty of the best amateur and professional craft brewers across the United States to compete against each other in challenges related to brewing beer and running a successful brewing company. The winner of the competition will have their beer brewed, bottled and distributed by Goose Island Brewing Company across the country.

But don’t let the show’s title fool you, it isn’t all about brewing. Although beer design and brewing skills are critical components to the show, the brewers will also be challenged on their ability to conceptualize packaging, market and sell beer, serve beer in a busy brewpub environment, cook with beer, pair food with beer, and troubleshoot all sorts of operational problems. For more information, check out the official trailer here.

Although the rockstar team of judges might not be as harsh and dramatic as Gordon Ramsey, they are promising to put a no-holds-barred smack-down on the contestants. As someone who has worked every angle of the industry — from shoveling spent grain and cleaning kegs, to package design, to marketing and sales, to working in kitchens and serving behind busy bars — I cannot wait to see how the contestants handle it. And as a huge evangelist and advocate for craft beer, I just really excited for craft beer to get the mainstream attention it deserves!

Hopefully, there will be a Season 2. Because y’all know I’m itching to audition!!

For news on the show, like The Next American Brewer on Facebook and follow @AmericanBrewer on Twitter!

As a daughter of an environmentalist and health food nut, I grew up supporting local agriculture and companies dedicated to producing ethical and healthy products. I was taught how to read labels and to always question the source and quality of everything that I put into my body. Luckily, I don’t have to do this at Whole Foods Market, since they have a strict non-GMO policy and are dedicated to selling high quality, ethical & artisan products.

As a beer professional, lover and geek, Whole Foods Market is, hands down, my go to store for craft beer. Regardless of what city I’m visiting, I can depend on the local WFM store to have a more than decent, if not amazing, craft beer selection. Not too mention, more and more WFM stores are popping up with tasting rooms inside. And if you are anything like me, addicted to the prepared foods section, visiting a Whole Foods taproom can easily turn into a few hour extravaganza!

Speaking of beer, food and my love of Whole Foods, I recently teamed up with John Schmidt, the beer specialist at WFM Folsom, and my videographer friend Chris Eldridge, to film a short video promoting a few Valentine’s Day beer pairing suggestions featuring products available in most WFM Norcal locations.

The video features two segments: a more classic, and romantic approach to Valentine’s Day — and then a more cynical, and snarky take on the holiday invented by greeting card companies. Regardless of whether or not you are spending today sharing a beer with a special loved one, or spending it lamenting loved ones past — hopefully one these pairing suggestions will work their way into your day!

Valentine’s Day Beer Pairings from Dridge on Vimeo.

Featured beers:
Bison Brewing Chocolate Stout
Russian River Temptation
Stone Brewing Co. Arrogant Bastard
Flying Dog Raging Bitch

Cheers to all my fellow beer bloggers and to all the craft brewers around the world who ignite our passion for the craft and inspire us to share our stories with people all over the world on the Interwebz!

My Beer Theory from I Taste Your Beer on Vimeo.

But I digress. The point is this: every beer blogger has his or her own craft beer personality and style of advocating craft beer. Each has their own goals and aspirations for their site. And whereas I respect and appreciate all my fellow bloggers, the human side of me cannot help but pick favorites, here and there, despite my wish to remain as neutral as possible.

Case and point: New Brew Thursday. These guys are more than just hilarious and entertaining video beer bloggers. They are some of the biggest craft beer evangelists that I know and, more importantly, they are some of the best friends I have ever had. And we are talking about true friends, not the kind that you party a lot with and then know nothing about — the kind that open their homes and hearts to you when you need it the most, even if it is the most inopportune moment for them.

Photo credit: John Holzer

A few weeks ago, New Brew Thursday hosted me at their studio, where we enjoyed lots of really amazing craft beers, amazing chicken curry, lots of laughs and talked about the awesomeness of Kern River Brewing and the Just Outstanding IPA. If you haven’t seen the video, it is definitely worth checking out. If you have seen the video, it is definitely worth watching again. And again. And again.

Special thanks to New Brew Thursday for being amazing friends, amazing craft beer advocates and amazing video professionals. I love you all You are soooooooo GOOGLE!

June 17 : Just Outstanding IPA : Kern River Brewing with Special Guest The Beer Wench from New Brew Thursday on Vimeo.

This week everyone’s favorite Mutineer, The Beer Wench ( a.k.a Ashley Routson ), pays the studio a visit and it gets GOOGLE! We crack open a couple of bottles Kern River Brewing Companies Just Outstanding IPA and it lives up to the name. We also enjoy some mighty fine spicy Indian food made by our lovely producer Yvonne.

We crack wise about craft beer, tell a few inside jokes, and have a round about good time. You also get to see Stephen with a partial beard, no beard, and a full beard. Ahh the magic of video.

This weeks master pairing find Stephen back in Dr. Bill’s Kitchen for a lesson on lemons, and a delicious breakfast pairing.

Also this week, our craft beer advocate offers to buy you a beer!

I made sure to fully charge my HD video camera before the dinner. What I forgot to do was turn the camera off. And unfortunately, when I arrived at the dinner my camera was dead. So I had to resort to using a FLIP camera, which was not ideal. But what can you do?

I understand that the video is long, by “internet” standards. In my opinion, although I’m not particularly interesting (or visually appealing) to watch, Sam is a great interviewee and has given me 19 minutes of compelling material.

Without further ado, I present The Wench’s Interview with Sam Calagione!

Interview With Sam Calagione from The Beer Wench on Vimeo.

The 3 different vintages included:

• April 2009 –> 5 months old
• May 2007 –> 1 year nine months old
• October 2002 –> 7 years old

The 7 year Orval was probably the “oldest” beer that I’ve tasted. I found it rather amusing to drink a beer that was made before I was of legal drinking age.

The Orval Trappist monastery is unique in crafting the only Trappist beer with Brettanomyces. Unlike many wild yeast brewers who use spontaneous fermentation to get the “Brett” characteristic, the Orval brewers inoculate their beer with Brett at bottling. Essentially, this means that Orval is bottle conditioned with Brettanomyces (aka goes through a secondary fermentation in the bottle with wild yeast).

Orval is arguably the most unique of all the Trappist beers. Brasserie d’Orval brews just one beer — Orval. Orval is its own unique style. It is not a Trippel or a Dubbel or a Saison or a Lambic. Orval is Orval. However, Orval itself comes in many different forms. As Orval ages, its characteristics change dramatically — a result of being inoculated with Brett.

Many beers change with age, but none change quite like Orval. Young Orvals are characterized by a fresh hop bouquet, fruity esters and a pronounced bitterness. After 9 months, Orval undergoes a complete change. The once fresh hop bouquet turns into an old-fashioned hop aroma and the pronounced bitterness fades as caramel malt flavors become more prominent. Although “Brett” may start to show signs prior to the 9 month landmark, it really starts to shine through 9 months after bottling.

The Orval recipe is very similar to an English IPA.  Three different malts, two types of hops, Belgian candied sugar, complex fermentation with multiple yeasts, dry-hopping and bottle conditioning all contibute to its great character and complexity. (In addition to using Brett, Orval is also the only Trappist brewery that dry hops).

For me, being able to taste a vertical of three different vintages of Orval was an amazing and rather eye-opening experience. My video does not give it any justice. Either way, I hope that you can find some value in it! Cheers!

ORVAL is currently imported by Merchant Du Vin. For more information on where to find Orval — visit the Merchant Du Vin website! Cheers!

And I’m not the only beer geek with an Ohio State football obsession.

Brian Lenzo, owner and founder of Blue Palms Brewhouse in Hollywood, is another beer connoisseur with the Buckeye fever. Brian owns what is quite possibly one of my FAVORITE beer bars in the country. Not only does he have an amazing selection of beers (both on draft and in the bottle) — he also has Ohio State memorabilia hanging up throughout the bar. And he has the Ohio State marching band in his stereo system — ready to be played at a moment’s notice.

It is probably a good thing that I live 7 hours away from Blue Palms Brewhouse. If I lived even remotely close to that bar, I would be in trouble.

Brian Lenzo was kind enough to take some time out of his busy schedule to talk with me about Blue Palms Brewhouse. Here is the “interview”:

The one destination that neither of us had ever been to and had been anticipating since the beginning of the trip was Austin, Tx. Austin is the self-proclaimed “Live Music Capital of The World” and is known for being a young, hip, liberal & very artsy city. And, of course, it is also known for having a kickass food & beverage scene.

Prior to our visit, my friend Chris from the blog Beer Town Austin set up a few beer events and Texas beer tastings with two local bars. One such bar was Uncle Billy’s Brew and Que. They have developed quite the reputation amongst beer geeks — both local and national. The GM, Ryan, was extremely hospitable and took me on a tour of the brewpub brewing facilities.

Here is the video footage of the behind the scenes tour of Uncle Billy’s Brew & Que:

(I apologize in advance for the darkness of the video. This is my first attempt at editing and I know that I have a lot of kinks to work out. Bear with me …)