August Schell Bavarian Forest Dampfbier

August Schell Brewing Company is a small brewery in New Ulm, a little piece of Germany in southern Minnesota. I can scarcely hear the name of this brewery without thinking of the Schell's of my youth, which I never personally tried, but heard from my parents and other adults caused headaches rather than buzzes. Sometime in the mid 90's, Schell began brewing beers with flavor, instead of just the old Schell's and Schell's light. They focus on German styles and their interpretations tend to be fairly reliable.

This evening, I visited Pub 500 in Mankato, Minnesota. I hadn't been there in a year or so, and didn't recall their beer selection being stellar, so I surveyed the taps on my way in, expecting to be drinking scotch or bourbon. When I spied the tap handle for the Dampfbier I was intriqued, so I asked about it. What I learned is interesting: In the late 18th century in a poor area of Bavaria, brewers were not able to keep fermentation temperatures low enough to brew lagers. Unfortunately, they had no ale yeasts readily available, so the brewers had to travel to other breweries in the region in search of weissbier yeasts, which they then put to work fermenting their all malt beers. Schell has undertaken to revive this style, and in my opinion the result of their labors is definitely better than the headachy Schell's of yesteryear. Details follow.

August Schell Bavarian Forest Dampfbier
Sampled on tap in a pint glass at Pub 500, Mankato, MN.

The bartender's pour resulted in no head whatsoever - just a thick collar of off-white foam. The beer itself is dark copper in color.

Dampfbier carries strong banana aroma with clove, and hints of white pepper and honey. A lot of weissbier qualities in the aroma without any citrus qualities.

Banana washes over the palate first, accompanied by a beautiful smooth sweetness on the tip of the tongue. Clove and bubblegum are next, with notes of bread and a light nuttiness. This is all followed up by a slight perception of sourness and a bready aftertaste.

A generous bite of carbonation is reminiscent of a weissbier, but carries a more substantial body over the tongue. This is an enjoyable beer that I hope to have again before the keg at Pub 500 runs dry. I wish Schell had bottled it!

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Sprecher Barleywine Ale

Sprecher Barleywine Ale
Serving: 16oz bottle, drunk from a goblet.

Sprecher is a craft brewery located in Glendale, Wisconsin. I have always thought of them as a brewer of German-style beers, but today I was in Westsite Liquors in Brainerd, MN, and to my delight found both this barleywine and a scotch ale from them. Watch for the scotch ale review soon!

My pour results in a one-finger cream-colored head of tiny, tightly-packed bubbles. The head collapses in about 20 seconds, leaving a thin, uneven layer of bubbles on the top. The beer itself is a gorgeous copper orange color, like the embers of sunsets watched from canyon floors.

The aroma is sweet and fruity. First impressions are figs and apricots, accompanied by grape juice, brown sugar, cereal grains, and raisins. And then it all blends together to smell like toast topped with a rich, delicious jam.

This beer has a big, penetrating flavor. Sweet fig and brown sugar up front, followed by grains and grape juice in the middle. These flavors all come together with an impression on the palate of port wine. The long, bittersweet finish is reminiscent of marmalade, and eventually gives way to a resiny grapefruit aftertaste that just refuses to die.

The mouthfeel of this beer is pretty big. The flavors coat every available surface of my mouth and refuse to go away. There is a tiny bit of alcohol bite on the front half of my tongue.

I may have a new favorite barleywine. It's got a just-barely balancing bitterness that accompanies the huge flavor nicely, and together those two aspects slow me down admirably.

The next time I have this, I will make a point of having a good strong cheese on hand. A three to five-year gouda or cheddar, some roquefort or stilton, or maybe even ruyer (although that may be overpowered).

Interestingly, the bottle say this barleywine uses a French yeast strain. When I start brewing again, I want that strain, the esters it produced in this bear are delicious.

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All About Beer

All About Beer bears the subtitle “Celebrating the World of Beer Culture,” and it does that quite well. This issue (January 2008) has a guide to specialty beers and ciders, pointers on creating a home bar, and a winners list from the Great American Beer Festival, as well as the US Beer Tasting Championship winners.

There are some excellent feature articles in this issue, including one about how meat and beer seem made for each other. My favorite, however, is the one about green and organic brewers. This educational article highlights the difficulties of brewing 100-percent organic beer and discusses the challenges aspiring organic brewers will meet in the future, especially regarding organically grown hops.

I also enjoyed the Beer Travellers column about beer in Chicago, as well as Pull up a Stool, a brief interview with one of the founders of BridgePort Brewing in Portland, Oregon.

Based on this issue as well as my past experience with it, I can confidently tell you that All About Beer is an informative and entertaining magazine. I highly recommend picking it up at a local newsstand or subscribing.

Cheese Pairing: Shropshire Blue

Shropshire Blue is a full-fat cheese made from pasteurized cow's milk. Its orange color sets it apart from most blues out there. It has a smooth consistency that is not quite as creamy as that of Stilton. It is strong and sharp with a pronounced salty flavor and a tangy aroma.

My first inclination was to try a double IPA for this pairing, but a coworker convinced me that the characteristics of the cheese did not call for a beer that big, so I started small. My first choice was Hale's Pale Ale (Seattle, WA). This beer has some malt sweetness that presented a nice counterpoint to the sharpness of the cheese, but unfortunately the assertive hops had a serious disagreement with the Shropshire's saltiness.

Up next was Pike's Naughty Nellie Golden Ale (Seattle, WA). This combination was acceptable in that neither participant overwhelmed the other, but that's really just because they really had no reason to even talk.

My final choice was Belhaven Twisted Thistle IPA. It's got a nice, bready malt flavor contrasted by citrusy hops, and compared to many American IPA offerings is a refreshingly well-balanced beer. The sweetness of the malt complemented the slight nuttiness of the cheese while providing a counterpoint to its sharpness, and the hops bitterness was just enough to aid the carbonation in scrubbing my palate for the next bite. While not quite a mariage parfait, this is definitely a good pairing, and the more I ate and drank, the more it grew on me.

The winner: Belhaven Twisted Thistle IPA.

Draft Magazine

Every so often when I go to the Pike Place Market, I venture into First and Pike News in search of beer magazines. Normally they carry a small assortment of beer and home brewing publications. A few days ago, however, my visit to the stand nearly ended in disappointment – none of my normal magazines were there. Fortunately, I decided to browse a bit, and nestled in between Wine Spectator, Food and Wine, and Bon Appetit, I found a gem.

Draft is a bi-monthly magazine written for beer enthusiasts. The focus of the issue I found (January/February 2008) was beer and food. Covered were beer and food pairings, including soups and chocolates recipes utilizing beer, and blurbs about some American chefs along with a recipe from each chef profiled. There was also a short article about some real achievers and innovators of winter sports and another article spotlighting some high-tech audio gear, as well as one about the red wines of California.

I found Draft to be well-written and informative, and perhaps because of its focus on pairings (one of my favorite challenges with beer), I truly enjoyed it. The writers obviously love beer and know it well, and are happy to share. I'm glad I found this magazine whose quality surpasses that of quite a few other beer magazines out there. I highly recommend it to beer lovers.

Maximus IPA

Maximus is a Double IPA brewed by Lagunita's Brewing Company in Petaluma, California. I purchased a 22 ounce bottle from Kiss Cafe in Ballard, Washington and drank it from a pilsner glass.

This beer pours a clear copper color with a one-finger white sudsy head.

The aroma was dominated by piney hops notes with a fair amount of grapefruit to boot, all backed up by the smell of sweet malt.

Taste up front is piney hops and a huge burst of citrusy goodness. Sweet, bready malt quickly follows and it all ends with a generous wash of bitterness and a slight funk like the earthiness of fresh hops. Mango makes an appearance in the second mouthful and persists through the rest of the bottle. Apricots in the aftertaste.

Moderate carbonation puts the considerable bitterness to work scrubbing my palate. This is a very drinkable beer and I would be happy to have it again. And again.

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Black Dog Ale

Brewed by Spanish Peaks Brewing Company in Denver, Colorado, Black Dog Ale purports itself to be an "English Style Amber Ale." Beer Advocate calls it an "American Amber/Red Ale." Format: 12-ounce bottle, drunk from a pilsner glass at Kiss Cafe in Ballard.

This beer pours a transparent orangey-amber with a 1-finger head. The head dimishes rapidly, leaving a thin collar of foam. and moderate lacing.

The aroma is of yeast and malt with sweet, sugary overtones. There is a faint citrus bouquet.

Up-front, pronounced bitterness caresses my palate, it's quite a surprise given the back seat the hops take in the nose. The bitterness is dominant but still pleasant. At first, some lemony and sweet malty notes just barely playing supporting roles; however, the malt presence increases notably as the beer warms.

Generous mouthfeel, medium body and moderate carbonation. Overall a drinkable beer, even if the hoppiness is not quite as mild as claimed on the label.

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Ommegang Abbey Ale

Ommegang Abbey Ale is a Belgian-style dubbel brewed by Brewery Ommegang in Cooperstown, NY. I bought it in a 750ml bottle, poured it at around 50 degrees fahrenheit, and let it warm significantly over the course of my consumption. I drank it from a brandy snifter.

The pour revealed a beautiful mahogany beer with striking red-orange highlights when held up to the light. Initially, it had a 1-finger head that diminshed in about a minute to a healthy white collar.

Aroma was of bread, dark fruits -- fig and a little raisin, toffee, and burnt sugar. A little bit of alcohol. As the beer warmed, the fruits in the aroma became more pronounced.

Flavor was similar to the aroma, but with an initial emphasis on the fruit and more alcohol and very light hops presence as the beer came to temperature. Quite complex.

This beer is quite effervescent, evidenced by the appearance as well as the sensation of bubbles in the mouth. Medium body.

Very drinkable with food; I enjoyed mine with my vegetarian "cassoulet" and it worked nicely with the veggie broth as well as the sweet parsnip and the sugary flavors of the caramelized onions. It was also a decent, but not great, match for the gruyere cheese I enjoyed after the meal.

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