NOTCH: an all-session beer brewing project

I've been talking to Chris Lohring -- some of you may remember him as the guy behind Tremont Ale, the all-too-short lived brewery in Boston in the 1990s -- about a session beer brewery project he's been working on, and it's time to mention it here. It's called Notch, Chris is having two ales brewed at Shipyard in Portland as trial batches, and will be debuting them at the Slowfest in Boston later this month -- which is a session beer and slow food festival! If I weren't already committed to WhiskyFest Chicago that weekend, I'd be there, that's for sure. All brewers at the fest will be bringing at least one beer under 5% (they had originally called for beers using our definition, but too many brewers didn't offer anything under 4.5%...which kind of proves my point that there aren't enough of these beers out there), which is GREAT.And this is NOT any kind of April Fool's joke!

Check out the Notch blog/site here.  Welcome back Chris!

Oh, hi there! While you're here, look at this...

Sorry for the long silence. Truly. I've just been wicked busy. That's going to ease up this week.

In the meantime, great piece here on how American brewers ARE leaving session beers behind and pumping up the ABV, with some numbers to back it up, not just anecdotes. There are some holes to poke, but overall it's pretty sound. So...how do we reverse this?

More Session Beer Love

BevX has a new piece up on session beers. Thanks, Sean, welcome aboard!

Another from England; just a good day for it

Martyn Cornell, one of the new breed of beer history revisionists (and a fearless writer), has a piece up on his excellent blog The Zythophile about "The mystery of sessionability." Martyn was nice enough to provide a quote for me for a piece I did on session beers earlier in the year, and has taken that original quote, in its entirety, and put it here; it was, as he says, much too long for me to use.

But I think that's part of the issue about 'session beer.' It's NOT an easy concept, and that's part of why so many people here in the U.S. don't get it (right, Keith?). Here's the first part of what Martyn says:

I love session beers. I love the way they make a good evening down the pub with friends even better. What makes a good session beer is a combination of restraint, satisfaction and “moreishness”. Like the ideal companions around a pub table, a great session beer will not dominate the occasion and demand attention; at the same time its contribution, while never obtrusive, will be welcome, satisfying and pleasurable; and yet, though each glass satisfies, like each story in the night’s long craic, the best session beers will still leave you wishing for one more pint, to carry on the pleasure.

That's just the start. Go read the rest. It's lovely. And Martyn? Thanks again for the quote!

Oh, now look at that!

One of my favorite 'beery' blogs, Jeffo's Beer Blog, is from a former beer geek/lawyer who threw it off (young, before he got stupid rich) and took over a pub, The Gunmakers, in London. He's quite staunch on real ale, and low-alcohol ones to boot. So when he posted this, I had to pass it along to all of you here. That's five pints of mild, all going to the same lunch table.

Sigh. Makes you thirsty, don't it?

Kennett Square Conn-O-Session a success...mostly

The Kennett Square BrewFest's session-strength Connoisseur Session happened two weeks ago, and it was a lot of fun...for most of us. Some very good beers: my favorite was probably McKenzie Brew House's Gringalet ("Weakling"), a 4%...I think Ryan Michaels said it was a 'French lager' with black pepper. I went back several times on that one. Flying Fish -- once they got there, the traffic just purely sucked -- had a real simple special; Casey Hughes took a keg of Xtra Pale Ale, dosed it with a brett culture, and let it sit on the brewery floor for a couple months (I think he said 'months'). Beautifully balanced, not nail-in-the-head funkified, and drink-o-matic. Erie Brewing had a Banana Nut Bread Brown that was dead-on to its name, and had a line most of the session. Stone brought Levitation Ale, Anchor brought Small Beer. Triumph had the GABF gold-winning Kinder Pils...but couldn't serve it, they hadn't realized that they needed two set-ups for the two different sessions, so I just went over there after and drank some. And there was another brewery there that was under the PA radar, so I won't name them, but their Summer Ale and Oatmeal Stout were brilliant, and I drank them more than once, too. Thanks for coming!

The picture -- two bums who insisted I take their picture* -- shows what a gorgeous day it was, after a thoroughly wet, raw, and nasty morning; it cleared up literally as I was walking down the hill to the fest grounds.

Now, about that "...mostly." The most common comment I heard during the session was "I didn't see the thing about session beers on the website!" There were people complaining about the session-strength thing, feeling like they'd been had because they weren't getting their big 'complex' beers. I actually felt bad: I didn't want anyone to be there under circumstances like that. Besides, they were taking up space that real session beer fans could have been in!

Otherwise? Plenty of folks were very happy about it. I drank so much I had to hit the heads three times in two hours, and never caught even the hint of a buzz. Well, maybe a little, after the main fest opened up and I was drinking Otter Creek imperial stout mixed with Wolaver's pumpkin beer. Yum. Groundhog's Kevin (hell, Kevin, I know your last name but I don't have a clue on how to spell it other than it's not "Crucial," sorry) gave me a bottle of spiced cider, and I was embarrassed to admit how much I liked it. But I did press it on a bunch of other people to taste, and they almost all liked it too...with a similar reluctance. We're all babies.

Anyway...was it a success? Yes. It could be better, especially if brewers gave it a better shot; some scrambled to throw something together, some just brought their regular sub-4.5% beers (not that I'd kick either Victory Donnybrook Stout or Sly Fox Chester County Bitter -- on cask! -- out of bed). Will Kennett do it again? Doubtful, because the reason they did it in the first place was to do something different. It wouldn't be different next year. So we'll look for another venue, or maybe try an idea Brendan at Memphis Taproom gave me...we'll see.

*Two bums named Spencer Niebuhr and Ric Hoffman, who, okay, are two of the coolest guys in the biz. The bums.

Avril 'blowout' tonight at Tria in Philly

Just got this tip from the folks at Tria Cafe, about one of my favorite session beers, Avril. Get down there and help drink it up!

We're in love with a rare brew from Belgium's legendary farmhouse brewery, Brasserie Dupont. It's called Avril and at 3.5% ABV it's significantly lower in alcohol than domestic light beers. Oh, and it tastes better.
We're taking Avril off the menu for the colder months, but we're sending it off with a super low price tonight only, at both Tria locations. Help us kick the kegs starting at noon at Tria Rittenhouse and 4 pm at Tria Wash West - while supplies last.

If I could, I would be there...but I'm packing for my trip to the Kentucky Bourbon Festival tomorrow and writing a story that's due...er...yesterday. So go drink my share.

Brilliant idea from CAMRA (no, really!)

The Campaign for Real Ale has a fantastic idea they're pushing to the UK government, which is simultaneously struggling with the country's boozing problem (drunk youth violence) and imposing ridiculously high and unpopular taxes on beer (whilst claiming there's a connection between the two). CAMRA's brilliant suggestion: zero tax on beers that are 2.8% ABV or lower.

What? 2.8% ABV? Yes, really. CAMRA is showcasing Welton's 2.8% ABV Pride'n'Joy ("Strong in Character. Weak in Confusion.") at the Great British Beer Festival this week. CAMRA chief executive Mike Benner said: "Zero duty on low-strength beer is a win-win scenario for brewers, pubs and consumers. Low-strength beer can be packed with flavour -- low strength does not translate into a reduction in flavour. It also makes it easier for people to drink responsibly."

And with over 100,000 members, its biggest membership ever, CAMRA may have the voice to be heard. The organization estimates that the zero tax option would drop the price of a pint of 2.8% beer by about 60p, a substantial amount that should encourage folks to grab a pint of something reasonable -- and tasty.

Seriously, this is genius. I think the key to successful alcohol policy is not to merely punish folks for doing the wrong thing; we have to reward them for doing the right thing. You're drinking responsibly? Hey, we'll knock down the price of your beer! Question is: will the UK government put its tax policy where its mouth is?

Stone Levitation Ale

Small is beautiful.

Less is more.

Who would have thought I'd ever be using phrases like that to describe a beer from Stone, the people best known for Arrogant Bastard (7.2%), Ruination IPA (7.7%), Old Guardian Barley Wine Style Ale (9.5-11.25%), and Double Bastard (10.5%)? Hell, who'd ever have thought I'd be reviewing a Stone beer on the SBP blog? Yet here it is: Stone Levitation Ale, at a lovely and quaffable 4.4%

And it's good. If you're looking for a real California-style pale/amber/red ale, with that pine/citrus wash of hop flavor and tingly hop nose, that you can drink all night...here it is. I cannot fault this beer; it's clean, it's tasty, it's balanced -- on the hop side, but balanced -- and it passes the quaff test. Hats off, Stone: nice job!

Another Voice in Support of SBP

Got this note from Steve Gale, one of the founders and operators of the Burgundian Babble Belt, the place to go for talk about Belgian beers (and Belgian-style, and European beer in general, and other stuff). He tried to respond to the previous post, but his software didn't want to talk to Blogger's software, so he just e-mailed it to me. Take it away, Steve.


Kennett Square BrewFest planners - my hat's off to you. I have been to too many tasting events where it has become apparent that the beers which are held in high esteem are the extreme ones. It breaks my heart that the beer world seems to have become so hard of tasting. So I guess it's no big surprise that some would see a session beer direction as limiting choice and variety. My God. I mean, would anyone say that about the Extreme Beer Festival? How much more limiting is an event that only offers behemoths? But that's sacred, it doesn't matter that the world offers far more variety with low to medium alcohol, non-hop monster brews, if you only offer beers that bludgeon your palette you're a hero.

I don't mean to suggest insult, but IMO if you cannot see variety and choice potential in a strict session beer environment, you really don't get beer. Session beers can be sour, spicy, malty, hoppy, smoky, funky, sweet, bready, fruity, dry, chocolately, roasty, simple, complex, etc. Thank you, Kennett Square, for standing up to the "if its not >9% its not top 10 material" mindset that has taken hold. And thank you Lew, for working to bring back value to non-sledge hammer brews.

For Those of you Against the Conn-O-Session...

There have been a number of complaints about the Kennett Square BrewFest Connoisseur Session going all session beer this year. The easy response would be, "Bummer, dude. Open your damned mind a little." But that's not right: people are used to the idea of "extreme" beers being where the innovation is taking place in American craft brewing.

So take a look at this -- Shaun Hill, hardly a shrinking violet when it comes to extreme beer -- is returning to the U.S. (to open a new craft brewery) and returning to the Kennett Connoisseur Session...with the following: "I'll bring along some one offs - like a 2 year old Flemish Red, Fresh/Wet Hopped IPA, Smoked Sour Wheat beer (loosely based on a Lichtenhainer - a suggestion by Loren (aka Venom)) - 50% home smoked malt, fermented with Brettanomyces and conditioned with Lacto)." That last one's going to be at the Conn-O-Session, weighing in around 3.9% ABV.

Yeah. Session beers are dull, just bitters and milds. See you at Kennett!

Great session beer coverage in DRAFT magazine!

Zak Stambor interviewed me a while back for a piece on session beers for DRAFT magazine, and the article's out and available online. It's a good piece, and has links to SBP, but the great thing is that it covers session beer in a national beer mag, quotes folks from two exceptional brewers (Greg Hall of Goose Island and Tom Kehoe of Yards) that both have session beers as strong-selling year-round beers, and Stambor doesn't feel the need to take Maxim-style shots at session beer as being weak or unmanly. Thanks for that, Zak.

It's a good piece. Go read it, and send it to your friends.

Mikkeller? A Session Beer? Alright!

As a spelling geek, I hate the construction "alright." It's "all right," dammit. But I'm willing to let the Danes at Mikkeller use it, since they've put it on the label of a brett-fired session beer, It's Alright, which is a spunky, funky 4.5%. Read Minnesota beer blogger ("Legal Beer") Beckel's review of it here.

With darlings of the extreme beer set like Mikkeller (Beer Geek Brunch (Weasel), Black As Hell, Mikkel's Monster) making session-strength beers, maybe we'll start getting through to people who think life begins at 8%.

Conn-o-Session tickets selling briskly

Folks, the Kennett Square Brewfest organizers took a bold step this year. Their Connoisseur Session has been one of the real showcases for adventurous brewing, an anticipated and greatly enjoyed event. This year, they decided to have a "Conn-o-Session," a Connnoisseur Session of all Session Beers.

To tell the truth, we -- the brewfest organizers and I -- loved the idea, but didn't know how it would go over with you, the beer festival-loving public. It was a gamble. We'd received some very negative feedback from folks who, honestly, sounded like they were only interested in high-alcohol beers. Hmmmm... We worried a bit.

I'm feeling pretty good right now. I just heard from the festival organizers: tickets went on sale this morning at 7, and at 10:30, they had already sold 104 of the 300 tickets. You like session beer, you really like it!

Get your tickets: I'll see you there!