Writing Update

A lot of people have been asking about the progress so far on my beer trip. Currently I’m back in Des Moines, the trip is over, and I started writing the book about my journey early last week.

The book is going to be split into chapters based on the cities I was in. Some chapters such as the one on Little Rock, Arkansas will be short (I only spent one afternoon in town at one brewery). Some, such as the Saint Louis chapter, will be much longer. While in Saint Louis I made it to six breweries and did interviews at each one.

Within each chapter I will be talking about what I did in the cities, the history of the breweries I visited, I will include parts of the interviews I conducted, some of the beer related history of the city, general stories from my travels, and a few other goodies.

After getting started I was already having some serious issues working on the first chapter on the topic of homebrewing. I got myself into a cycle of writing a few pages and then starting to edit. By edit I mean deleting absolutely everything I had written and starting from scratch again. It’s a nasty cycle to be in, even worse than writer’s block. Too many ideas, too many different ways to start, it’s not pretty.

Yesterday afternoon I had an epiphany; I didn’t have to start from chapter one. Instead I began writing about my trip to Boulevard Brewing Company in Kansas City and Free State Brewing in Lawrence, KS and so far it has been incredibly productive. In fact, things are rolling along so nicely that I’m going to get back to it right now!

One last thing, don’t forget to check out the facebook page for All Hopped Up. I’ve been putting up pictures from each stop of the beer trip.

I'm BAAACKK!!!!

It has been far too long. Nearly a month has gone by since I decided to put the blog on hiatus and simply enjoy myself on my incredible beer trip. I was spending far too much time writing a blog about my trip and not nearly enough going out and enjoying myself in these amazing towns I stopped in. It’s going to make for better articles in the long run because instead of hunkering down in a hotel room to write a

(the picture is of my friend Alyse at Rahr Brewing in Fort Worth where she got to sign a burbon barrel)

new post I went out to bars and brewpubs to talk to people about their local beers. No worries though, I was taking copious notes at each tour and recording every interview so I have more than enough information to work for each post about a brewery visit.

Just to give you a heads up about what is on the way my last post was about my visit to Trailhead Brewing Company in a suburb of Saint Louis, it was my thirteenth stop. Before I got back to Des Moines I made it to another nineteen breweries in five more states. Those include everything from the behemoth Miller and Anheuser-Busch facilities in Milwaukee and Saint Louis to tiny brewpubs in Champaign, Illinois and Saint Paul, MN. City breweries and rural breweries are represented. Those who contract out their brewing to other breweries, and some who brew by contract for others. The large, the small, the new the old, pretty much every type of brewery you can imagine.

I’m also going to be splitting up posts about the beer trip with posts about various other beer related topics. It’s going to be a hybrid between how the blog began back in July and how it was with posts about my beer trip.

Watch closely for new posts, they should be going up daily from here on out. Please ask questions, leave comments, and let me know if there is anything you would really like to see discussed on here.

For now, Cheers!

Delays, Delays, Delays...

Sorry, I know I haven't been posting as much as I should. In fact, since going to Trailhead Brewing Co. in Saint Louis, my last post, I've been to five other Saint Louis breweries, one in Champaign, and three in Chicago. All of my traveling along with spotty internet connections has really limited what I can write and post.

Long story short, I'm kind of changing how I do my travel blog. I don't want to half-ass any posts about these great breweries I'm touring and the great people I've been interviewing so I'm putting the blog on the back shelf and focusing more intently on my tour. I think that will make for better postings in the long run. Posts will still be coming as often as I can write them, but it isn't going to be one a day like it had been at the start of the trip.

I'll still be writing a post about every one of my stops but they're probably going to be spread out over a longer period of time. I'm thinking that most of the rest will be put up interspersed with other articles of the type I was writing before my trip began.

If you have any questions feel free to email me at allhoppedupblog@gmail.com

Thanks for reading!

Twelfth Stop – Diamond Bear Brewing Company

I chose to add Diamond Bear to my tour largely because of its convenient location between Fort Worth and Saint Louis. It seemed like too far of a drive without a stopping for a tour at least once. Before arriving I send out calls and emails to each brewery I’m headed to so as to make sure someone will be around to give me an interview and/or a tour. Diamond Bear was one of the very few that never responded to my requests.

I was going in blind. I researched each brewery before my arrival but because of Diamond Bear’s lack of response and my short time I skimmed their history and that’s about it. The plan was to drive up from Fort Worth, go on the tour, and drive on to Springfield where I would stay the night with a friend.

Lucky for me Chuck Heinbockel, my volunteer tour guide, and others made that significantly more difficult than I was anticipating. He and I sat down in the small, but cozy taproom and started talking. Eventually we were joined by Adam, the “taproom attendant,” Bonz, a colorful new employee and avid homebrewer, and the brewer from a local brewpub that stops by on Saturdays to hang out.

Chuck is the embodiment of passion for beer. He is a professional landlord owning stakes in buildings all around Little Rock. I’m making an assumption here, but I think he does pretty well for himself. Still though, he comes down to the brewery on weekends to give tours in exchange for a free case of beer.

Over the last few years Chuck has really started getting into the world of craft beer. His self described “beer quest” began when he tried Abbey Grand Cru from New Belgium at an event hosted by the Little Rock Art Center called Art on Tap. Since then, he has been a changed man.

Chuck became a regular at Vino’s, a local brewpub, where he greatly enjoys the imperial IPA. He also started watched closely for beer events and tastings in the area and got involved with Diamond Bear Brewing as a volunteer.

I never would have guessed but the tour he gave me and the 15 other happy drinkers yesterday was only his fifth. I was complimenting Chuck on being such a quick study and he admitted to having forgotten to pass around the examples of brewing grains and hops. Once he realized it he brought them over to the table where we had been talking and gave me his explanation. There aren’t all that many ways to describe grain and hops but Chuck still managed to throw in a few extra tidbits I hadn’t heard other places.

My favorite was when he showed me the ratio of toasted to regular malt for their porter. He compared it to when you’re cooking gravy. When you’re getting those little caramelized bits it’s extremely important to scrape them up so your gravy will taste…like gravy. However, it doesn’t take too many of them to flavor quite a bit of liquid. Stout beers are the same. The toasted malt is extremely important, but it doesn’t take too much of it to flavor your beer but what you do throw in really packs a punch.

It’s safe to say at this point that as much as I’ve absolutely relished my interviews with various brewmasters and brewery owners, I might have enjoyed by other interviews even more. Speaking with a volunteer tour guide gave me a unique perspective on Diamond Bear Brewing that couldn’t have been matched by anyone else. The same could be said of my interview with Peter Takacs, the manager of quality assurance at Spoetzl Brewing in Shiner, TX. These different people in different brewery positions are showing me a whole new side to the world of brewing.

The book version of All Hopped Up will include much more from my conversation with Chuck and a bunch of stuff I learned about homebrewing from Bonz, who is sending a recipe for his popular jalapeño amber homebrew. I’ll probably post the recipe as soon as I get it, so watch close!

Eleventh Stop - Rahr & Sons Brewing Co.

One visit just wasn’t enough for me. Monday afternoon I went by the brewery in Fort Worth to interview and have a few beers with Fritz Rahr, the brewery’s founder. Although wonderful I had to be sure to make it back Wednesday evening for the open house brewery tour.

In the interest of full disclosure before anything else I should mention that I harbor an extraordinary bias when it comes to anything Rahr. While in college at TCU in Fort Worth I was a regular at the Saturday afternoon Rahr brewery tours and a frequent “sampler” of their products. Rahr’s was also my first American brewery tour when I was of legal drinking age. Because of that, the fact that Rahr is “proudly brewed by a Horned Frog” (fellow TCU alum), and my nostalgia for college nights drinking it on my apartment’s patio with friends, Rahr will always be one of my favorites. There you go; I’m a big, biased fan.

Monday the focus of much of my conversation with Fritz was on the last ten months of Rahr’s operations. Or rather, non-operation for much of it. On February 11th 2010 Fort Worth received 12.5 inches of snow in slightly under 24 hours. I wasn’t keeping track but I would be SHOCKED if that didn’t double how much snow fell in Fort Worth in my four years there. North Texas is used to the occasional sleeting, maybe even a little ice here and there on cold nights. 12.5 inches of snow though? Even a seasoned Iowan like me thinks that would be miserable.

Fritz was supposed to be meeting one of his brewers to get a new batch of beer going on that fateful morning but in light of the snow called and told him not to come in. While still in the five o’clock hour a call came in from Rahr’s alarm company to alert Fritz that the brewery’s sprinkler system had activated; he needed to get to the brewery as soon as possible. Worried about his business he hopped in his car and turned on the radio. On the way he heard reports of damage around the city and started putting two and two together. Massive amounts of snow. Sprinklers running. A flat roof. It could only mean one thing, the roof had collapsed overnight under the weight of the snow.

He arrived at the brewery he had poured so much of himself into over the last five and a half years and was greeted by firemen who were ripping down the overhead door to get in. The damage was catastrophic. In some areas the only thing holding the roof up at all were the fermentation tanks.

The call he received about sprinklers had been more than accurate. They, along with a broken water main, had poured over a foot of water into the brewery. The cooler was crushed. The bar was destroyed. Their bottling line was ruined. Some fermentors were damaged. The list, of course, goes on and on, and on.

Despite how it sounds so far, this really isn’t a tail of defeat. Rather it is a story of rebirth. Rahr worked with Farmers Insurance (about whom Fritz only has the best things to say) and rebuilt. In the four/five months of non-production the brewery created a new identity for itself with new labels and a new logo. They also changed some things about their overall brewing setup they would have liked to have done anyway and a new tasting bar was built that backs up directly to their new cooler.

Even when not producing beer the staff of Rahr was hard at work with one of their partners, CGC marketing, to create a viral video series titled “what brewers do when they’re not brewing. It stars Fritz, and Rahr brewers Austin Jones & Jason Lyon and if I may say so myself, is very funny.

Here is a link to view all ten of the videos.

Now Rahr is happily back in full production and is continually expanding capacity. I’ll be talking about all things Rahr in the book. That will include the rest of my non-roof related conversation with Fritz, A bit of my chat with a former plumber/current Rahr employee, the origins and history of Rahr, and tales of my trip out to the brewery Wednesday night with some old college friends.

Up next I’ll be at the Diamond Bear Brewing Company in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Tenth Stop - Real Ale Brewing

I’m only putting up a mini post about Real Ale in Blanco, TX because truth be told, it was a mini visit. I don’t want to say that my trip to Blanco wasn’t an afterthought, but it wasn’t really at the forefront either.

After spending the early afternoon at Independence Brewing Company I knew I was going to be cutting it close to make it in time for Real Ale’s last tour of the day. As I waved goodbye to Amy and Rob Cartwright at Independence I slammed on the accelerator to try and get to Blanco by four o’clock. The problem was that I only hit the accelerator for 2 of the next twenty minutes; the traffic in Austin was horrendous.

When I pulled up to Real Ale the final tour had started a few minutes before I got there. I saw the last couple people in the group walking into the brewery so I ran along and joined in. The tour was easily and without question the worst brewery tour I’ve been on to date.

No, not because the guide was uninformed or anything like that. Despite my late arrival I was a far cry from being the last one to arrive. First it was a bus from a retirement community that unloaded 10 or so octogenarians that shuffled over to us. Besides moving slowly and one persistently whistling hearing aid they weren’t bad.

The second was a group of seven twenty-somethings. They spent the entire tour standing directly behind me loudly talking. Never once did they whisper or say something under their breath, they just kept talking in at full volume. I couldn’t hear the guide so I politely turned around and asked the pony-tailed asshole to please quiet down. He apologized and said they would stop talking.

That didn’t do a thing, they incessantly kept at it. One little known fact about me is that when I’m angry I get eloquent. “Hey dude. I can’t believe you dudes keep talking. I mean dude, its just not cool, I can’t hear anything dude.”

I don’t believe I’ve said the word dude in normal conversation since the late nineties. For some reason though I thought it would be best way to address my problem would be to drop it a half dozen times in two poorly crafted sentences. The response was an appropriate “sorry dude.”

One of the few things I actually heard was that like many breweries Real Ale disposes of their spent grains by giving them to a local cattle rancher to use as feed. I’ve heard rumors at other breweries and I know some like Independence in Austin occasionally get some meat in exchange for the grain. From the sounds of it Real Ale has a deal for big thick T-Bones for their grain. Not too bad for getting rid of their waste product!

Despite a lame tour the tasting room was still a lot of fun. I got to speak briefly with a couple brewery employees that were hanging around. I also got to sample a few of their beers and get the full story about why their Fireman’s 4 Ale has completely different packaging from the rest of their beers. It was something I had always been curious about and one of the main reasons for my trip.

In the book I’ll tell you all about the Fireman’s 4 Ale, their tasting room, and some history of Real Ale Brewing Company. Oh, and I forgot to take pictures until I was driving away. Sorry they’re terrible.

Eighth Stop - 512 Brewing Company

The 512 Brewing Company is located in a nice new warehouse park. As has been typical on these trips so far I got there fine but thought I was in the wrong place. 512 has absolutely no signage in front of or on their building. If it had not been for the half open garage door I could see the fermentation tanks through I wouldn’t have found it.

When I did manage to find it 512 it didn’t even matter for a bit. No one answered when I knocked so I went around to the open garage door and hollered in. Even then, no response. It took a few minutes of silence before something blared from the speakers. It was the video series “drunk history.” If you’ve never seen it I highly suggest checking it out. It’s just some drunk guy trying to explain events in history. I’ve got a lot of respect for any brewery willing to take a break in the middle of the day to watch funny videos of drunk people.

At the brewery I spoke with the owner/brewer Kevin Brand. We had a long conversation about how he got started, how things have gone in the two years they’ve been in operation, and how 512 is going to expand.

As it currently stands 512 can barely make enough beer to keep up with the orders they get. And that’s after they had just expanded. Luckily that means that 512 can continue to expand and not worry about overproducing. In fact, Kevin told me that he is going to be expanding into the rest of the warehouse he currently shares as soon as possible.

Every successful brewery has to have something unique. Something that sets them apart or makes them different from the thousands of other breweries in the world. If they’re the first brewery in a city, that can be a gimmick. They’re “Houston’s brewery” or something like that. In Austin, a town with quite a few small breweries cropping up in and around town, you really do have to make a statement if you’re going to get notice. I think 512 has done that with one of his beers, the pecan porter.

The pecan porter comes off extremely well. It is made from locally grown pecans, organic 2-row and Crystal malts, and some black and chocolate malts. It has a nice aroma to it, but I couldn’t really smell much in the way of pecans. That didn’t come until I actually took a sip. The flavor was full and malty with some of the taste of pecans leaking through the malts. When tasting this beer I thought about how it would be an excellent starter beer for someone who thought they didn’t like porters/dark beer.

Since my visit to 512 I’ve gone to Independence Brewing Company in Austin and Real Ale in Blanco, TX. Today I’m headed up to Fort Worth so watch for either or both of those posts to be coming soon.

Seventh Stop - Spoetzl Brewery

I’ve always been a little confused as to why the Spoetzl Brewery in Shiner, TX refers to their beers as “Shiner Beers.” Sure, I could have checked their website or any number of research materials but instead I went to the brewery.

Shiner, TX is pretty out of the way between Houston and San Antonio. So instead of making you head down to Shiner to figure it out for yourself I might as well tell you. The Spoetzl Brewery was started in 1909 by the Shiner Brewing Association to make only one beer, Shiner Premium. Their famous bock beer wasn’t introduced until 1913 when it became a seasonal offering.

Shiner Premium must not have been too stellar because in 1913 the Shiner Brewing Association started a search for a real brewmaster. Eventually they found Kosmos Spoetzl. He was arrived in Shiner in 1914 and purchased the brewery in 1915, which was when the brewery took his name, Spoetzl. However, the identification of their products as “Shiner Beers” never really stopped after the brewery’s name changed, hence my confusion. The name wasn’t the only thing changing with the new leadership though. In just his third year at the brewery in 1916 Kosmos started bottling his beer.

Shiner is one of very few breweries that managed to survive prohibition intact. Spoetzl converted to produce ice and “near beer” during those dark years. My tour guide noted that the near beer produced in Shiner was not produced to be made with no alcohol but instead had the alcohol removed before distribution…usually. Apparently Kosmos was occasionally a little forgetful and would leave the alcohol in the beer when selling to some locals. Kosmos led the brewery until his death in 1950 when his daughter “Miss Celie” took over operations.

You might notice that my pictures at Spoetzl are kind of lame. That’s because Spoetzl’s picture policy is kind of lame. They don’t allow any pictures to be taken while on the brewery tour. Because of that I was limited to just taking pictures around the outside of the facility.

After public relations rep Anne Raabe gave a tour I was on she was kind enough to answer a few of my questions. She also went out of her way on an extremely busy day to try and track down brewmaster Jimmy Mauric or his assistant brewmaster to have a conversation with me. Both of them weren’t even in the town of Shiner that day, but she did find Peter Takacs, manager of quality assurance, for me to talk with.

I’m actually grad I got to talk with Mr. Takacs instead of a brewmaster or owner. His job and his perspective on beer/brewery were completely unique from anyone else I’ve spoken with so far on my tours. We talked for quite a while about the quality assurance process at a brewery and some of the most in-depth history of brewing anyone I’ve spoken with has imparted to me. All of that and more will be coming in the chapter about Shiner in my book.

Sixth Stop - Saint Arnold Brewing Co.

It’s another brewery in a warehouse district in a rough area of a big town I’m not familiar with. In fact, Saint Arnold’s itself is inside a big 100 year old former frozen food warehouse they renovated and moved into in 2009.

Saint Arnold was started in 1994 by Brock Wagner with two goals in mind. First was the Brock wanted to brew and sell the best beer in Texas, something he believes he has accomplished. Second, he wanted to create something that Houston could be proud of. This one is something that any beer fan can agree on. Brock has created a company that any city would be proud to have; Saint Arnold is a regular at community events and has a strong record of philanthropy.

When I tour small breweries I have usually been going on tours led by and speaking with an owner/founder. That makes sense for a small facility without too many employees. However, Saint Arnolds is one of the top fifty largest craft breweries in America. So yes, I was a little surprised when I was speaking with Lennie Ambrose, who works in events and marketing, and he suggested I take the brewery tour led by Brock Wagner.

There were two reasons the actual brewery tour was the shortest I’ve been on to date. First, the brewery layout is extremely logical. The brewhouse directly overlooks all of the fermentation tanks. It is just a simple set of stairs between the first and second halves of the tour. Reason two; we didn’t see any of the Saint Arnold bottling line. That’s not a huge deal, but I think a lot of people really enjoy seeing hundreds of bottles whizzing by every minute being filled, labeled, and capped. C'est la vie.

On the other side of the coin, Brock was an absolutely hilarious tour guide. He was constantly making jokes about all kinds of things. When explaining the brewing process he said that you can really brew using any kind of grain. That’s everything down to and including your morning Grape Nuts. He doesn’t suggest you try using fruity pebbles though, he thinks that’s how the make Miller Chill.

Also, after a detailed explanation of how yeast works and is utilized he also simplified it by saying “Basically, yeast eats sugar, pisses alcohol, and farts CO2.” I’ve heard similar explanations, but never phrased so elegantly.

In the book I’ll be featuring details of my conversation with Lennie Ambrose, some notes on the very, very unique events hosted by the brewery, background on Saint Arnold (both the brewery and the saint), and beer in Houston, TX.

Next posts will be Shiner and 512 Brewing.

Fifth Stop – Live Oak Brewing Company

Live Oak Brewing in Austin isn’t in the best neighborhood, they don’t use fancy marketing, and their facility isn’t the most picturesque. None of that matters. When you produce consistently excellent beer that you’re knowledgeable and passionate about you get a free pass on those periphery things.

I made it to Live Oak in Austin and met with owner/brewer Chip McElroy. I was also lucky enough to speak briefly with brewmaster Steve Anderson. The most significant thing I will say about my talk with Chip is that I learned more from him than I have from any single beer conversation I’ve ever had.

I know what wort is. I understand how yeast works. I get what hops add to the flavor of beer. Basically, I know the basics.

Chip however, is a fountain of knowledge. More than that, he’s completely happy and willing to share that knowledge. In fact, it seems like a mission of his to spread the word about good beer to the masses.

One of the many things we talked about was the Live Oak Hefeweizen. Currently, the hefe is ranked on Beer Advocate as the number 67 beer in the world. It also comes in as number two in the hefeweizen category. Not too bad for a little brewery in Austin that doesn’t bottle or can their beer. In fact, it’s downright tough to get their beer.

This is a list of cities where they have at least one tap:

Addison, Alpine, Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, Kerrville, Marathon, New Braunfels, Plano, Rockdale, San Antonio, San Marcos, Temple, and Waco.

That’s right, 15 cities. All in Texas.

I looked through Beer Advocate and it seems like most of the ratings of Live Oak beers don’t actually come from cities where they distribute; they come from people who got it in trades. That means someone filled a growler from a bar’s tap and drove it to places like Michigan, Pennsylvania, Florida, or Canada. I can’t imagine they’re getting anything close to the fullest flavor once the beer is driven twenty-four hours in a growler. And yet, it still ranks extremely well.

The Live Oak Hefe is one of their year-round beers brewed in a traditional Bavarian style. The head on it is thick enough that it could probably support your weight if you were inclined to try standing on your beer. The aroma gives off a clear scent of bananas and maybe a little bit of cloves and vanilla.

In the book I’ll write more about the Live Oak hefe, the new brewing facility they have planned, and all kinds of history and general brewing knowledge that Chip shared with me.

Since going to Live Oak I hit Saint Arnold’s in Houston yesterday and Spoetzl brewery in Shiner, TX today. Posts coming soon!

Fourth Stop – Coop Aleworks

That’s “coop,” like where a chicken lives. Not Co-op, like where hippies do their grocery shopping. I found that out fairly quickly after arriving at Coop Aleworks and hearing co-founder/general manager/sales/marketing guru and all around busy man JD Merryweather refer to it as coop. Initially, I was very confused.

It was explained to me that the name “Coop” is actually a combination of a couple of things. First, it’s a play on “co-op.” Coop strives to identify with their local community so “co-op” is an homage to the multitude of grain co-ops around the state of Oklahoma.

Next, coop is a play off of “coopersmith.” That’s a person who makes barrels. Coop has made and is currently making a few beers that are aged in bourbon barrels from Templeton Rye (Iowa pride!). If you’ve ever had Templeton Rye then you should know the intensely good flavor that will be imparted to the beer from those barrels. It makes a lot of sense for coop to identify with their barrel-makers when the barrels they use were full of such delicious spirits.

One thing about the Coop logo that I think is important to point out is the use of an anvil’s image. That partially comes from a blacksmith’s usage of an anvil. It was also incorporated because at the founding of Coop the partners wanted their to convey an industrial image.

The largest reason I added Coop Aleworks to my itinerary at the last moment was their commitment to sustainable brewing. They participate in the wind energy program from their electricity provider. They use ultra high-efficiency equipment whenever possible. And Currently they exclusively kegs their beer. Part of that was because of the cost restrictions of bottling, but part was also because that is the most environmentally responsible way to sell beer. Kegs can be used and reused many, many times with nothing but a simple washing and sterilization.

Despite the fact that Coop will soon be branching out and canning their beer even that was an environmental choice. Oklahoma City doesn’t currently have a glass recycling company so aluminum was the natural choice since it is recycled in their main market.

As with my posts about my first few stops I only have so much time and space here so most of the interesting goodies will be going into the book. The final thing I wanted to touch on here was the outstanding art Coop utilizes for their beers. The drawings for five of their six beers are put together by different artists. The final beer, DNR (for “do not resuscitate”), is a picture of two feet with a toe tag sticking out from under a sheet. The photo is taken by JD Merryweather, who outside of his positions with the brewery also has over 25 years of experience in professional photography. I think it’s hilarious.

Yesterday I went to Live Oak Brewing Company in Austin. Watch closely for a post about it to be coming up in the next day or so.

Third Stop - Free State Brewing

My last post said my next stop would be down I-35 at Coop Aleworks in Oklahoma City. Short answer, I lied.

Longer answer, I had it on very good authority from many people that I would be a fool to pass on a trip to Free State Brewing in Lawrence, KS. So instead of moving on I went to a KU football game (which they won handily) and had lunch at Free State Brewing.

Free State Brewing opened its doors in 1989 as the first legal brewery in Kansas in over 100 years. That’s understandable in a state that so many early advocates of prohibition called home. However, now Kansans seem more than ready to down a couple of pints of Free State beer. That was pretty well evidenced when my friend Emily and I tried to get a table around 1:30 in the afternoon and still had to wait a half hour; their line was out the door.

Free State is currently running a 14 barrel system in-house at their brewpub. They also just recently started bottling their beers for distribution in the immediate area.

With some time still left to kill after walking the neighborhood we took a seat at the bar to sample the beer. While sitting I tried out the Oktoberfest and the lemongrass rye. The Oktoberfest had a clear copper coloration and had an aroma that smelled a little like freshly baked bread. The first flavors resonate at the front of the mouth with fairly sweet malt. Then it slowly transitions into something with a more hoppy characteristic. It isn’t anything that completely blew me away, but it was extremely drinkable. Something I could easily see myself sitting down and having a couple of.

I was extremely full and had to be driving later so I only drank one more pint (something I deeply regret) before calling it quits. The second beer was one I chose because it is a completely different beer from the Oktoberfest, the lemongrass rye. The Rye was extremely refreshing with a LOT of lemon coming through in the aroma and flavor. In the aftertaste the lemon transitioned to a much more malty taste. It was a good beer, but I thought it could have used a little more bite.

I truly wish that I could have taken the time to sit down and really sample what Free State has to offer but alas, there are only 24 hours in a day and the need to drive can really ruin a good beer tasting. Oh, and if you were curious I had the turkey bacon facaccia sandwich with peppered bacon, lettuce, white cheddar, and chive mayonnaise. As good as it sounds, it tasted better. Next time I’m anywhere near Lawrence I’m going to be stopping in at Free State and really giving them the time they deserve. As far as samples go though, I was pretty impressed with my brief visit.

I stopped in at Coop Aleworks today and talked to J.D. Merryweather all about who they are and what they do. That post will be coming very soon!

Second Stop – Boulevard Brewing Company

I barely know where to begin with this one. I suppose I should start with a HUGE “thank you” to Julie Weeks, the Marketing Communications Manager for Boulevard. She went above and beyond to make sure that I was taken care of today on my visit to Boulevard.

<--Me with Boulevard brewmaster Steven Pauwels

Boulevard’s bottle caps and much of their other artwork features drawings of their iconic brick smokestack. As I drove down Southwest Boulevard looking for the brewery I was more than a little frustrated from the complete stoppage on I-35 on my way into Kansas City. My mood sank even further when I realized that I must be lost because I had driven significantly past where the brewery was supposed to be. The landmark I had been searching for, the ubiquitous smokestack from all of their advertising, was shrouded for repairs. Also of little help to me was the fact that the side of the brewery facing the street is is just simple red brick that blends perfectly into the neighborhood. Aesthetically it’s nice, but I giant gaudy flashing sign would have been of significantly more help to me!

The building’s back is much more impressive! Four foot tall lettering spells out “Boulevard Brewing Company” across the roof and the architecture of a modern brewery is clearly visible. I was still forty minutes early so I took the opportunity to make a few laps around the brewery complex. I was impressed by the employees leaving with six-packs of beer to take home. I was later told that most of it was the brand new Smokestack Series beers that were being packaged in 12 oz bottles for the first time ever. Sure, they were going to have to let them sit in a cool, dark place for a couple of weeks, but they still get to take home what is absolutely the freshest beer around.

The one sad thing about my walk around the brewery was the number of broken Corona bottles strewn around the outside. Sure, the brewery is in a Hispanic neighborhood and it isn’t the richest area in Kansas City, but you can do better than THAT! You’re literally standing on the property owned by an excellent craft beer maker and you’re drinking….Corona? I don’t think I could do that if I tried!

Once inside my afternoon consisted of a tour of the brewery and an absolutely delectable lunch with each course paired to a Boulevard beer that was prepared by the executive chef of Lidia’s Kansas City, Dan Swinny. Each month Boulevard does one of these “Brewmaster Luncheons” featuring different local chefs. The event is limited to 35 participants but every month hundreds of people are vying for those spots. Then a lottery is drawn to see who is lucky enough to attend.

Are you ready to be jealous? If so, read on.

The lunch consisted of butternut squash stuffed ravioli in sage brown butter and toasted almonds paired with the relatively new Amber beer. Brewmaster Steven Pauwels said that he and Swinny chose that combination because of the way the toasted almonds and the sweetness of the amaretto in the pasta filling match with the amber. The meat course consisted of a succulent lamb shank coated in Venetian spices with sweet potato Swiss chard mash that paired masterfully with Boulevard’s Sixth Glass beer from their Smokestack Series. Finally for dessert we were treated to a copa of Boulevard stout ice cream, barley malt ice cream, and Boulevard stout granita. Atop all of those were lightly toasted grains of barley. This pairing was with another beer from the smokestack series, Long Strange Tripel. Despite being one of my favorite beers from Boulevard this pairing didn’t work nearly as well as the others. The amber and sixth glass matched almost seamlessly with the food. They each complimented the dishes in an ideal way which brought out the flavors in both the food and the drinks. The tripel was great, the desserts were great, I just wasn’t in love with how they mixed.

While the food was being served Steven Pauwels walked from table to table to talk beer with the diners. His friendly demeanor, in-depth knowledge, and passion for what he does helped make a great event even better.

In my book I’ll be detailing some of my conversation with Pauwels, the history of Boulevard, and many of the interesting things I found out about the brewery today. The important thing to take away from today’s post is that if you’re in the Kansas City area make sure you’re putting your name in for the lottery every time one of these evens happens, you’ll be happy you did!

Up next I continue south of I-35 to the Co-op Ale Works in Oklahoma City.

First Stop - Des Moines

The first official stop to my beer trip came Monday night at El Bait Shop in Des Moines, Iowa. I figured that since I’m going to a ton of breweries in cities all over the United States I should start the trip off here at home. And if that’s what I’m doing, then what could possibly be more appropriate than to hit up a homebrewing event?

I obviously couldn’t show up to a brewery to find out much about homebrewing so instead I did the next best thing; I went to a meeting of the Iowa Brewer’s Union. When I showed up there were something like forty five people, 10 5-gallon kegs, 3 or 4 growlers, and a whole bunch of bottles of homebrew. All of the beer was brought in by members of the club to share with everyone.

The beer selection featured many of the standards such as a Belgian whit, an amber, and other basics. However, a couple were a little more…outlandish. One keg was full of a watermelon beer, something I’ve never heard of before. I’m still not sure if I liked it or not, but I can absolutely say that it was extremely unique! There was also an extremely potent coffee stout brought in by Lauri G, a local barista, that utilized coffee beans ground for a French press. I also enjoyed a brown ale that had a lot of vanilla in it.

The brewers I spoke with were all incredibly friendly and extremely knowledgeable. When I was tasting the vanilla brown ale I was speaking with a guy about the Saints v 46ers game. All I did was mention that it had a pretty strong vanilla flavor and he told me all about how it was probably from extract and not vanilla beans. Of course, I called bull&#!^ and asked how the hell he could tell.

Apparently this guy is for real; I checked when I got home. If a vanilla beer uses vanilla extract instead of beans the flavor and aroma will all emanate from the beer. If beans are used the aroma comes through clearly in the head of a beer. See? I learned something!

The last important thing to remember is that it is completely illegal to sell homebrew. So those 10 or so kegs, multiple growlers and the multitude of bottles were all free for the taking. Free beer every third Monday. Not just that, but unique beers that you’re never going to be able to try again. All free. And still only 40 people show up. I’m always shocked when I walk in a place with free beer and there aren’t 500 people around.

That’s all for tonight. Remember folks, this is only a taste of my evening at the Iowa Brewer’s Union. I got interviews with new members, old members, and current and past group leaders. All of that and more is going to be included in the book I’m writing about the beer trip I embark on Friday. I’m driving all over the country touring breweries and getting interviews with the people who make all the delicious beer I love. Stay tuned for more posts and a ton of pictures from all of the stops I make.

I’ll be at Boulevard Brewery in Kansas City Friday, watch for the post soon afterward!

Why the Beer Blog?

I’ve been keeping this blog for nearly two months now and so far I’ve gotten a pretty darn good response. It seems like every week the site gets more page loads and unique visitors. I’m still hoping to get a few more “followers” on the actual blog page (a less than subtle hint, I know), but that will come in time (it's simple folks, just click "follow").

So why am I going through the effort of researching and writing regular posts? Well, I have a dream. The dream of most every 20-something male; I want free beer! I was thinking about that a few months ago on my commute to do my on-air shift at WWHP in Central Illinois and heard a story on NPR about a travelogue writer. Much like an idea planted by Leonardo Decaprio in the movie Inception, I was consumed by my quest to write a travelogue about beer.

After running through many, many ideas on how I could work it all out I decided that I should go on an epic road trip around the United States and make stops at every brewery, brewpub, and beer bar I can get to and then write a book about it all. While on my trip I’ll be doing my best to get interviews with as many brewmasters, owners, and other people involved in the industry as possible. I’ll be writing about all these experiences and then spice it up with some history of beer, information on how it is brewed, and a little bit about the past of the breweries I visit.

The blog relates to all of that because as I said, I’ve been spending a lot of time researching beer. I thought that people might be interested in reading about some of the more exciting or intriguing stuff that I find. That has grown a little bit into me experimenting with making beer ice cream, beer popsicles (in the freezer now), and trying all kinds of new beers I’ve never even heard of before. I have a regular guest blogger in Ian Barker who writes articles about homebrewing. So, it has grown quite a bit over just the first couple of months.


Later, I plan on using it as a platform to keep people updated on my road trip while I’m on it. I will be posting information about where I am, who I am with, and the beer I’m drinking. I'll also be putting up pictures and even a couple of videos that I take from the road.

Then I’ll post about the process of writing a book about beer and way, way down the line I’ll have an occasional update about where the book is for sale and potentially information about a book tour (if I’m lucky enough to work that out of course, I’m counting a lot of eggs before they hatch).

No matter what I’ll continue with the posts about beer and beer related products and issues throughout the whole process. All in all, thanks everyone for your support. The more readers the blog has, the better the chance that the book gets picked up by a publisher. So make sure you forward the site to your friends, post about it on facebook, leave some comments, vote it up when you see my articles posted on reddit.com/r/beer, and become an official follower with your google account.

Thanks for reading everyone!

I Love Beer

Like so many people around the world, I have a great love and appreciation of beer. It doesn’t get much better than sitting down on a relaxing summer night and sipping on a Sunset Wheat from Leinenkugels. It can pretty much only be matched by coming in from mowing the lawn on a hot afternoon and gulping down the coldest beer I can possibly find or lazing around the stands at a baseball game with a frosty mug of whatever I can afford at the ballpark.

Sometimes I’m a beer snob. I read magazines like All About Beer, Draft Magazine and Beer Advocate and I do look at beer ratings when I’m trying to find a great new beer I’ve never had before. It’s great to have good taste, but by no means do I intend to say that I don’t still enjoy a nice cold Bud, Miller or PBR on a night out at the bar.

I’ve also always been interested in the study of history. Looking at the past is always interesting, but the thought of studying the history is absolutely titillating to me!

Along with beer and history I’ve always enjoyed writing. Two years ago I wrote a travelogue about my two month trip through Europe. Part of that trip was spent in Ireland, England, and Germany, homes to some of the best beer-drinkers in the world.

I was making my commute to work one afternoon a few months back when I got to thinking about ways I could combine as many of my hobbies as possible. After some pretty serious thought I came up with the idea to go on an epic road trip through America stopping at every brewery, beer bar, and brewpub I could find. While on the road I also planned to set up interviews with as many brewers, owners, or beer fans as I come by. Then at the conclusion of my trip I will sit down and write a book about the whole experience. A big part of the book, tentatively titled “All Hopped Up,” is going to be history of beer, the breweries I visit, and the impact of beer on the cities I’m in.

This blog is going to be my companion to the final product. As I go through the process of researching and preparing before I leave, while I’m on the actual trip, and as I write the book, I’ll be posing updates here about my progress. I’ll also be putting up links to any interesting beer news that I find or on occasion I might even post a review of whatever beer I happen to be drinking when I sit down at the computer.

Check back frequently and let me know what you think!

-Brian