Wet hop beer from Lagunitas challenges seasonal limits in brewing

By. Alastair Bland

What is a freshly brewed wet hop beer doing on shelves in June? It may be 5 p.m. somewhere, as daytime drinkers like to say, but it isn’t hop season anywhere on this planet.

Hop flowers are ready for harvest in the late summer and early fall. Usually they are immediately dried in kilns, which stabilizes the hops but also sends a significant bit of their aromas into the air, and then reduced into pellets that last for years. To capture every bit of the hop essence possible, many brewers use hops immediately after harvest — the Beaujolais Nouveau of the beer realm. They may be dried in the kiln and used whole for so-called fresh hop beers; or they may be used undried for so-called wet hop beers.

When consumed fresh, these styles are explosively aromatic and lively — and, naturally, they are strictly seasonal.

Lagunitas Brewing Co. has been making seasonal wet hop beers for years. Born Yesterday is their classic example. It’s released each fall.

But this spring, the Petaluma-based, Marin-founded and — in 2017 — Heineken-bought brewery introduced Phase Change. The beer is a pale ale of exceptional aromatic power, made with the equivalent of 7 pounds of undried hops — Simcoe, Mosaic and Citra — per barrel. As Lagunitas brewmaster Jeremy Marshall characterizes it, Phase Change is a wet hop beer brewed so far out of seasonal sync that until recently it would have been an impossibility.

“You can’t get fresh hops this time of year, anywhere, not even from the southern hemisphere,” Marshall says.

To transcend the Earthly limitations of seasons, Lagunitas has invested about $1 million in a system that macerates the hops, blends them with a little water and produces a sort of hop cream, or mayonnaise, as Marshall describes the green goop. Frozen at 10 degrees, these liquified hops last and last. When they go to the brew kettle — whatever month it may be — they are almost as lovey to the nose as freshly harvested hops.Continue Reading

The search for a non-alcoholic beer that’s actually worth drinking

By. Jessica Lahey

I’m approaching 50 and have been sober nearly five years. I’m profoundly grateful for each and every day, but boy, do I miss a good, cold beer.

Beer has been a part of American culture since Europeans set up the first colonies, first as an English import and later as a home brew made from Indian corn or barley. The first commercial brewing equipment arrived on our shores in 1633, and within a year, every New England community was required by law to have an inn, or “ordinary,” which sold beer to the public at a fixed cost. 

Today, nearly 5,100 American beer producers sell about $111.1 billion in beer annually, much of it marketed as a means to celebrate with friends and quench our thirst.

Various forms of nonalcoholic beer, or “small beer,” have existed since the medieval era as an alternative to contaminated water. Modern nonalcoholic beer, “NA beer,” or “near-beer,” was born during Prohibition, when alcohol levels above 0.5 percent were illegal. Despite the optimistic nickname, most “near beers” are a poor substitute for the real thing, and many are downright undrinkable. As the market share for nonalcoholic beer increases, however, some craft brewers are working to change the reputation of NA beer.

Most fall flat, not because they’re missing the alcohol, but because the process most brewers use to remove the alcohol also removes volatile flavors. To make beer, water and a grain, usually malted barley, are cooked into a “wort.” Hops are added for flavor, and yeast is added for fermentation. The yeast eats the sugar from the barley and excretes digested sugar as alcohol and carbon dioxide. Most brewers bottle the beer at this point, allowing the residual yeast to consume the last of the sugar and carbonate the beer. Brewers of nonalcoholic beer, however, either stop the fermentation before it’s complete (“stop-fermentation”) or boil the beer to lower the percentage of alcohol by volume (ABV) below 0.5, and it’s this final step that renders so many NA beers unpalatable.Continue Reading

More hops, less filling? These are some of the best new low-calorie craft beers on the market.

By. Fritz Hahn

Since the dawn of the craft beer era, the mantra has been “Flavorful, complex beers are good. Fizzy, mass-produced yellow lagers are bad.”

And yet the best-selling beers in America continue to prominently feature the words “Light” or “Lite” on their labels. Meanwhile, Anheuser-Busch’s No. 2 brand is no longer Budweiser but instead Michelob Ultra, which boasts about minuscule calorie and carb counts on its packaging. While Bud Light, Coors Light and Miller Lite all posted sales declines in 2018, according to market research firm IRI, Michelob Ultra did not — its 15.9 percent sales increase translated to about $1.9 billion.

It would be impossible for other brewers not to notice these trends, especially as craft beer’s growth slows. “People are paying attention to caloric intake and carbs,” says Jeremy Marshall, the brewmaster at Lagunitas since 2013. “It’s no secret that millennials are more alcohol-averse. Craft beer traditionally has a higher ABV [alcohol by volume], and it has more stuff in it. It’s on the list of things a dietitian would tell you to avoid.”Continue Reading

Ale Sharpton Points The Way To The Best Craft Beer In Atlanta, Other Georgia Cities

By. Gary Stoller

The taste of Brooklyn Brewery's Black Chocolate Stout blew Dennis Malcolm Byron's mind and forever changed his life.

The stout, which Brooklyn has brewed since 1994, pointed the future direction for Byron, an Atlanta-based craft beer ambassador, freelance writer and blogger known as Ale Sharpton. His Cruisin' for a Bruisin' blogs can be found on his website, and he recently collaborated with Colorado-based New Belgium Brewing to brew Piano Keys, a chocolate and vanilla imperial stout.

"Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout introduced me to to how a beer could actually taste like chocolate, yet not be too sweet and still amazingly potent," Sharpton says. "Then I started understanding the various tasting and aromatic properties of individual hops, leading to West Coast pale ales and IPAs."

Sharpton grew up in Ithaca, New York, the home of Cornell University and Ithaca College. He graduated from Cornell and later adopted his monicker, because “I wanted something creative, catchy and more recognizable than my legal name.

“Rev. Sharpton and I are passionate about what we do, and I wanted to incorporate that along with recognizing the best beverage in the world. There is no parody or comedic approach of disrespect.”Continue Reading

Senate moves to let breweries sell beer to go, make it easier to own several liquor stores

The Texas Senate restored a measure Wednesday allowing breweries to sell beer to go from their taprooms to a bill allowing the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission to continue operating. It also approved a measure that would loosen restrictions on the number of liquor store permits individuals can hold.

State Sen. Dawn Buckingham, R-Lakeway, said her amendment allowing breweries to sell beer to go — something allowed in every state except Texas — would foster job creation, economic development, entrepreneurship and tourism.

“We stand our best when we stand together, and we come together on issues that have been divisive in the past,” Buckingham said during the floor debate. “Our constituents elected us to be bold — and with that, I give you beer to go, baby.”

The TABC bill's sponsor in the Senate, Brian Birdwell, R-Granbury, also added an amendment that would allow individuals to hold up to 250 liquor store permits. Under current law, individuals are prohibited from owning more than five liquor stores, with two exceptions. One exception applies to anyone who owned a liquor store before May 1, 1949. The other allows anyone with a parent, child or sibling who is also in the liquor store business to join forces and obtain an unlimited amount of permits. Together, those two exceptions only apply to 11 of more than 2,600 liquor stores in Texas.Continue Reading

Utah creates new online drawing for distributing Pappy Van Winkle, other ‘unicorn’ liquor

By.Kathy Stephenson

The Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control soon will allow customers to sign up for a chance to win — well, actually, buy — rare, high-demand liquor products like Pappy Van Winkle and Old Forester bourbons.

On Tuesday, the DABC announced that it will now hold random drawings to ensure that these items are distributed in a “fair and equitable” way to consumers.

The Rare High Demand Products drawing is expected to begin next month with a lesser-known spirit to test the system, DABC Deputy Director Cade Meier told the state liquor commission Tuesday.

“Many people are excited about these products,” he said, “and the state needs to find a better method to deal with them.”

To participate, Utah consumers will have to create a profile on the DABC website and register for the drawings in which they may be interested. Those who win the opportunity to purchase products would be notified by email and would be able to select the liquor store where they want to pick up and buy the item.

Products that will be featured in a drawing will be announced during liquor commission meetings — typically held the last Tuesday of each month — and on the DABC website. Consumers will have five days to put their name into the hopper.

The drawing — don’t call it a lottery, that’s illegal in Utah — has been used by several other states, said Meier, who added that it is open only to Utah residents and those in the active military here. DABC employees may not participate, neither can restaurants, bars or others businesses with state liquor licenses.

Only one bottle can be purchased per address, and reselling the product is prohibited.

Minnetonka Target applies for a liquor license — again

By.Frances Stevenson

MINNETONKA — A new liquor store may be coming to Minnetonka pending the City Council’s decision on its liquor license.

The store, which has applied for a liquor license from the city of Minnetonka twice in the past, is the Target at 4848 County Road 101.

Target has applied for a liquor license to open a separate-entrance store at the SuperTarget location, Target spokesperson Angie Thompson told Lakeshore Weekly News.

“This application supports Target’s ongoing efforts to deliver a convenient, one-stop shopping experience for our guests,” Thompson said.

The Minnetonka City Council held a public hearing on the off-sale liquor license at its May 6 meeting. The public hearing will continue at its June 24 meeting.

Target applied for a liquor license in 2015 and again in 2017, in 2015 the license was denied, in 2017 Target withdrew their application, according to a report given by Minnetonka Community Development Director Julie Wischnack at the City Council meeting. The store does have a 3.2 liquor license, which allows it to sell lower alcohol content beer.

The City Council’s main concerns when it comes to liquor licenses in past years, according to Wischnack, has been the number of liquor stores within the city and if the city is adequately served. When Target applied for licenses previously, the City Council decided there were sufficient liquor stores within city limits.

In 2019, Target is planning on purchasing Strong Liquor, a liquor store in Minnetonka and one of the city’s stand-alone liquor license holders. While Target cannot purchase Strong Liquor’s license, it can buy a store to attempt to keep the number of liquor stores in the city the same. If Target is granted a liquor license and it buys out Strong Liquor, the number of stand-alone liquor stores in Minnetonka will stay at 10.

This is the same way Total Wine eased the City Council’s concerns about granting it a liquor license. In 2015, Total Wine applied for a liquor license for a location next to the Whole Foods in Minnetonka, according to Wischnack. The City Council denied the license because it was concerned about traffic flow and it felt the city was adequately served by liquor stores.In 2016, Total Wine sued the city of Minnetonka for denying it a liquor license for “arbitrary and capricious” reasons, according to City Attorney Corrine Heine.Continue Reading