Love Good Beer

New Lighthouse Limited Releases?

Monday, September 14th, 2009 | Beer | No Comments

I was at GCBF last weekend and I have a substantial amount to write about it, but thought I’d first share this juicy little tidbit.  I was in a long line for the ATM at GCBF (no beer tokens included?) behind one of the sales managers of Victoria’s own Lighthouse Brewing Company.  We got to talking when he wondered aloud at what extortionate banking fees we might be charged for that extra $20 we needed for tokens.  We struck up a conversation and talked about his beer, Lighthouse breaking into the Vancouver market, competitive beers, and the like (it was a really long line).  I quite like Lighthouse beer in general, but my one beef with them is that they don’t do anything special.  I asked him why Lighthouse didn’t do any seasonal releases.  He said it was because Lighthouse was only equipped for canning until recently and that cans had to be ordered in minimum batches of 10000.  He said that with their new bottling line (Race Rocks Amber and Riptide Pale are now available in bottles) that seasonals were now a possibility and that the brewers were clamoring to do something Belgian.  I pushed to know the particular style, but all I got was ‘something Belgian’.

There you have it, the first bit of beer news (or speculation) broken on LoveGoodBeer.com, a potential upcoming limited release from Lighthouse Brewing.  If they were to do a seasonal release, and I hope they are, I think it would be great for Lighthouse.  Nothing generates more buzz than something new or special and I think Lighthouse’s beers are worth hearing about.

Cheers,

Chris

Tags: ale, bc, belgian, GCBF, great canadian beer festival, lighthouse brewing, limited release, race rocks amber, riptide pale, seasonal release, victoria

The Beer Cellar: how to cellar beer and why

Tuesday, January 6th, 2009 | Beer, The Cellar | 8 Comments

My Cellar - A Cool Basement Closet

Over the past month we have commented a  fair bit on cellaring or aging beer. Most beer drinkers, mainly those who drink generic lager, don’t know that beer ages just as well as wine. A passionate beer drinker will almost always have a beer cellar, and if not they will have tried aging beer only to discover their pallet is not fond of cellared beer. Aged beer tastes dramatically different than fresh beer, and there is no shame in disliking aged beer, but there is shame, lots of shame, in not trying it. Being an inquisitive person, I searched far and wide, the internet mainly, for information about how to properly cellar beer, and to learn what is actually going on in a bottle while beer ages.

How to Build a Basic Cellar

I have been cellaring beer for just over a year now. My cellar is probably one of the most popular styles; it is a closet in my basement. There is a heap of information available on the internet on how to build a cellar, some is good and some is over the top ridiculous. Creating a basic cellar is quite simple; find the coldest place in your house, turn out the lights, place beer in the cool dark room and patiently wait. Ideally a cellar should be between 50-60 degrees Fahrenheit with minimal temperature fluctuation. If the room used as a cellar, a crawl space for example, drops to around 40 F or colder, it is not well suited for cellaring beer. Most homes have a room or closet close to an appropriate cellar temperate, so please feel no need to renovate.

There is great debate about aging bottles standing up or laying down. I don’t think it matters a great deal either way. Beer Advocate has a good article in support of the bottles standing up approach.

What Beers to Cellar

Any beer can be aged, but generally speaking the best choices are bigger ales. Barley wines, old ales, imperial stouts, big IPAs, and most strong Belgian ales are great candidates for aging. I have a small preference for bottle conditioned ales, beer that has been re-fermented in the bottle, as the yeast sediment helps in the aging process. With beer there are no rules, only guidelines, so feel free to experiment with your favorite brew – pick beer that agrees with your pallet.

Many people recommend buying two or three bottles when cellaring beer. One for immediate consumption, one after 6-12 months (if you bought three) and the final one for as long as your patience can last. I have heard of beer being aged well past 10 years successfully. If you only have enough money for one bottle, that is perfectly acceptable – drinking good beer is not a pastime reserved for the elite.

What is Going on in the Beer Bottle

Anyone who has made a stew will know that it always tastes better the next day. The big flavours in a stew need time to blend together and develop – beer is the same way. This is simplest explanation; the flavours in beer blend together creating distinct new and often more complex flavours.

Many of the unique flavours in ale, fruit, floral and spice, come from esters in the beer. Esters are a byproduct of ale yeast fermentation – lager yeast does not create esters. These esters give ale a unique flavour and aroma and are intended to be there, they are not off flavours. As beer ages, esters break down and their flavours begin to disappear. Yeast helps to break down esters, explaining my preference for bottle conditioned ales. Flavour compounds from the hops also fade relatively quickly. Many other reactions take place in a bottle of beer while is ages, changing its flavour profile. As a result aged beer is often smoother, almost creamy, in comparison to young beer. Common flavours in cellared beer are coffee, toffee, chocolate, spice, vinous (Sherry like) to name a few. In general, it is the malt flavours that become more pronounced in aged beer. The only real way to find out what aged beer tastes like is to visit your favorite beer store, refrain from drinking all of your newly purchased beer, and keep a few bottles in the cellar. It is that simple.

We are planning on putting together a page dedicated to our cellars – discussing and reviewing how well different beers age. This should be up shortly. For additional information on cellaring beer I recommend visiting brewbasement.com, a great site all about cellaring beer.

Erik

Tags: Aged Beer, ale, Barley Wine, Beer, Belegian Ale, cellar, Esters, IPA, Old Ale, Yeast

Review: Fuller’s Vintage Ale 2008

Friday, December 26th, 2008 | Review | 1 Comment

This years 2008 Fuller’s Vintage Ale is the eleventh annual release of it’s limited edition bottle conditioned ale.  I’d seen them in stores and in Erik’s cellar before, but this is the first year that I bought one.  Being a bottle conditioned ale, yeast remains in the bottle in dwindling quantities, meaning the beer changes (gets better) over time.  Fuller’s states on the box (yeah, it comes in a cool box) that they can only legally recommend aging the beer for three years, insinuating that this delightfully crafted ale will last much longer and improve with advanced age.  I showed absolutely no patience or self control by opening mine last Tuesday.  How could I resist not opening my individually numbered bottle, one of only one hundred and forty four thousand, for any length of time?

It felt good to take a beer bottle out of a box and peel off a “limited edition 2008″ label to get at the cap.  It was also comforting to know that this level of snobbery is the exception and not the rule when it comes to beer.  Upon opening the box, I also noted that there was a pamphlet enclosed describing the previous ten vintage releases.  I thought that was pretty cool.  The beer itself had a lovely medium brown, amber color and produced minimal head.  What I noticed right away was the delightfully rich malty, fruity smell.  This is by far the best and most powerful smelling beer I have had the pleasure of sniffing.  The taste was similar to the smell, with a rich malty and fruity flavor.  What struck me about the taste was that the high alcohol content really came through.  I really enjoyed the taste at first, but after a few more sips all I could taste was the alcohol, which lessened my enjoyment of this beer.  Upon reading the enclosed pamphlet, I learned that the alcoholic taste would smooth out over time, like say a year or two of aging.

I can tell for certain that Fuller’s Vintage Ale 2008 will be much improved in 2010, which isn’t to say that it isn’t drinkable or enjoyable now.  Hopefully by then I will also have garnered the self control needed to save drinking a Vintage Ale for two years down the road.  Luckily for me, Erik bought me another one for Christmas.  I do believe I will abandon my childish ways and adopt his practice of buying each year’s Fuller’s Vintage Ale and saving it for two years before drinking.  Check out Beer Advocate’s tips on beer storage if you, like me, have also never had enough patience to save beer for any length of time.

Cheers,

Chris

Tags: 2008, ale, Beer, bottle conditioned, cellar, fuller's, limited edition, vintage ale