Beer in the new era

man i only know like one swiss brewery (BFM) but for me, I'd be crushing all the killer "local" rieslings & gewurz... that's an amazing part of the wine world.

Tired of going to the bathroom, may have to switch to the hard stuff

Xp that's what I figured, I'm not too much for sweet wine but I'll have to give it a try

otm about drinking a lot of swiss wine in switzerland. They don't export much because their demand outstrips the small/expensive supply. They have a pinot noir and gamay blend called Dole that is light and easy. And they have a bunch of international varieties they grow as well.

A generally good rule about making sure a riesling is dry is to check the abv. Anything above 11ish% should be fermented to dryness.

I love when Yerac posts here. I'm gonna ask her drink exotic lambic with me next time we hang out (if ever again... maybe in 808?)

(I always thought French/Alsace riesling was dry & German riesling was sweet?)

This is probably too much info: I think people's perception of that may be because Germany had a super popular brand called Blue Nun (sweet) that was a liebfraumilch that came out of Rheinhessen, ~how people assume zinfandel will be a blush sweet wine out of California when zinfandel is a black grape that gets super alcoholic and deep fruited. And Germany's wine law and labeling are pretty difficult to understand. Like they have a 'late harvest' category called spatlese that is based on grape must weight/potential alcohol but that doesn't mean they can't ferment it to total dryness. Alsace has a similiar late harvest categoory called vendages tardives but that doesn't mean it will be sweet either. And also the Mosel's riesling is usually off dry. It's just the style they like(d) (it was fashionable) especially since before climate change they had the difficulty ripening grapes so riesling retained super high acidity and you would leave some residual sugar to balance that out. But when it's done right, it's really really great. Like, I don't like Ste Michelle's (WA?) rieslings (they seem to be all off dry) but good riesling from the Mosel is super tight, laser focused. And if you have super high acidity you can age those wines forever, like a super tannic fruit concentrated one. Alsace's climate is very dry and gets a ton of daylight hours, grapes are on steep aspects. They typically have no problem ripening grapes.

I'll be in 808 for two months soon!

I literally just wrote out 5 hours of essays to random questions about wine and no alcohol/low alcohol beer/spirits/wine last week. One of the 7 questions was to explain the wine production in Switzerland and their difficulties in exporting. This is the only reason that information is still fresh. I wrote two pages on Switzerland and their high labor costs, trade without being in the EU, blah blah.

I was just reading about lots of this stuff in the book Godforsaken Grapes, which was pretty good. It's actually the second book about wine I've read in the last year or so, including Cork Dork - third book, if you include the excellent book about the scientist of alcohol, Proof - and I've got to admit that 1) I still know nothing about wine and 2) at this point I've learned just to skip white wine entirely.

Back to beer: my wife (who works with some beer companies) insists that 10% of Europe's beer sales (mostly western Europe) are non-alcoholic beers. Really?

Yeah, it's the only rapidly growing alcohol space right now. Non/low alcoholic beverages. People are drinking less, millennials and Gen Z super far less, not at all. Some beer companies are betting that their future sales are going to compose of 20% non-alcoholic beer or like ~7% compound annual growth rate.

Hey, if they can make them taste good ...

I mean it's good to give people options in social settings when they don't want to drink alcohol or they can't. I don't think people should expect it to taste the same way. Alcohol is part of what gives beverages a certain mouthfeel and a longer finish.

What Yerac said: Reisling from the Mosel is one of the great white wines in the world, full stop.

I had a 2003 Reisling last night that was 7% and sweet, but still with a ton of acidity that washed the sweetness away each sip just when you think it will be too much. Like eating the most delicious white peach of your life.

xpost My wife noted that beer and wine pair really well with food, and it's hard to find a non-alcoholic alternative. That I get, I suppose. But when I read about "healthy lifestyle" trends and alternatives to alcoholic beverages, I realize that a lot of people simply drink a lot more than I do. As I told my wife the other day, if my alcohol consumption were such that it was affecting my life - hangovers, weight gain, missed work, whatever - then I'm drinking too much. Though I do concede we live in a society that pushes alcohol pretty hard, so I guess I also do sympathize.

And there are whole countries that don't drink because of religious reasons, pregnant women, people driving, people on meds, people who never drank that beer companies were missing out on. I like it when I go to a restaurant and they do a wine pairing menu but also have an alternative non-alcoholic pairing.

Riesings from Rheingau are generally always dry. But yeah Mosel is generally always off-dry to medium sweet. Or just drink german spatburgunder (pinot noir). I heart riesling so much. It's so versatile. I used to bring finger lakes Hermann Wiemer riesling (ice cold) to the beach.

^^^ The way I wrote that makes it seems like there are whole countries full of people on meds or whole countries of pregnant women.

My wife noted that beer and wine pair really well with food, and it's hard to find a non-alcoholic alternative.

Not to be snarky but I find water usually pairs well with food when I don’t feel like having something alcoholic.

Water sommeliers exist, which I kind of don't have a strong opinion about.

xpost That was my reaction! just drink water.

They just opened an alcohol free bar in Greenpoint (Getaway). There are others around the world. I am all for there being more non-alcohol/non-coffee/non laser tag social settings to meet up.

They should open up a plain tag facility, for those who are trying to lay off the lasers.

Yeah I am hoping to get to Getaway soon

Hudson Valley just canned a Barrel Aged sparkling water:

https://www.instagram.com/p/By8l8a_BRqR/

that.... sounds good?

i wouldn't want to pay a lot for it but i like interesting non-sugary sparkling beverages

I would try this.

Switzerland update: for now, I'm drinking Feldschlösschen

I had some of this (hop water) at a tasting station in WF and it was pretty good, but $7/6-pack just seems like too much to pay for flavored water.

https://h2ops.com/

I feel like Deschutes is hardly a beer anyone covets/drinks/orders, but in this case, may I humbly request to never give them another dime:

A message to our fans: pic.twitter.com/c08YNC5cU8

— Deschutes Brewery (@DeschutesBeer) June 26, 2019

and nothing of value was lost

Hey @MattLaslo why couldn’t you stop this pic.twitter.com/pJRg08jG5d

— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) August 10, 2019

New Glarus is usually pretty solid, even when they're getting weird, but ugh, the Break O’Day Juicy IPA was gross.

xp I noticed similar things at the MN state fair last year… for some reason the fairgoers really love their specially-flavored beers, many of which sounded absolutely disgusting

I've been seeing a lot of rosé-style beers lately, haven't tried any.

And cherry seems to be the current fruit of choice with many breweries. I tried the Almanac cherry beer and didn't like it at all, had hopes that they could do it well because they do great fruit sours, but this seems to be aiming for the wine cooler crowd.

Anybody had any Sybarite sour ales from Pretentious Barrel House in Columbus OH? My daughter and her friends are roadtripping and happen to be there right now, and she asked if I wanted her to bring me anything.

OK I see Sybarite is just one of their cutesy names, along with Truculent, Neophytic, Derisive, Magnanimous, etc

hmmph

https://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/2019/08/bells-brewery-will-release-low-calorie-light-hearted-ale-in-2020.html

tbh I'm still waiting to try the 2x version but I will likely buy the lite at least once

i'd be a lot more encouraged if this was coming in at like 4.2% instead of 3.7%. but most of the time with this style under 5% you just get hop water.

https://oct.co/articles/regular-beer

When everything is outlandish, when rebellious beers become the rule and not the exception, how is it possible to stand out? The answer, increasingly, is for breweries to stop going wild and start embracing their mild side. To cut through the double dry-hopped clutter, breweries are releasing mass-appeal lagers with humdrum names and often humble branding, harking back to the simpler days when beer was just beer—a one-size-inebriates-all lager sold good and cold.

leave it to those guys to write an entire article that doesn't say why this is actually happening (competition for shelf space and skus among craft brands)

I live in the SF bay area. Most of the regular people I know who drink beer drink local (craft?) beer and don't go in for the flavored stuff except maybe at beer tastings or whatever. Fort Point "KSA" (Kölsch Style Ale) and Export seems to be in every cooler these last two years. Their design might be partially to credit for the popularity - I don't know. It's good beer. I feel like I spread it around amongst my friends because it's fairly cheap at Trader Joe's and CostCo. If you get a chance, give some a try.

Speaking of design, I picked up a 4-pack of some random Pilsners and a "cloudy" lager the other day that I'm excited to try. I like the designs, especially the two on the left.

https://i.imgur.com/cPYUOmx.jpg

I enjoyed a Rainier Tallboy a week ago

faction makes tasty beers.

I like the designs of the two on the left too. Designs are getting too cheeseball that I start subconsciously thinking the beer is careless (shitty) and overpriced. I like drinking odd craft beer if it's on draft but when I am in the store I really just want a can of old speckled hen, guinness or boddingtons.

night shift's nite lite is the first local craft beer that really took a shot at macro shelf space and price points. it's done well and i think it's pretty tasty. one of their best labels too:

https://nightshiftfamily.com/wp-content/uploads/elementor/thumbs/nite-lite-o04spp70jx9evyz5qe3qow6eanasbz3lnsm96tbmd8.jpg

Any recommendations for LA breweries or beer centric bars?

Really like that Nite Lite label.

I go to sunset beer company every time I'm in the area. They have a handful of usu interesting things on tap and the entire world in refrigerated goodies that are very nicely priced and they don't charge to open bottles/cans or any such bullshit.
Xpost

Any recommendations for LA breweries or beer centric bars?

― calstars, Tuesday, August 20, 2019 4:11 PM (six minutes ago)

Highland Park Brewery (Chinatown) or The Hermosillo (Highland Park) are my favorites. Beachwood is good but it's pretty far unless you're way out on the west side.