Columbia Pale Ale

Q: Whom or what is the city of Columbia, S.C., named for?
A: Famed explorer Christopher Columbus. Columbia, as it happens, is the poetic form of Columbus.

How appropriate, then, that this Columbia resident would name a recent Pale Ale, hopped with 100 percent Columbus hops, in honor of both the varietal it showcases and the city where it's enjoyed.

Real quick, a history of this beer: I had purchased a bunch of Columbus hops and wanted to get to know them. Few better ways of doing that than using them as the sole hop in a beer. This beer was also a little experimental in that I made only two hop additions: first-wort hops (FWH) and dry (keg) hops.

The recipe:

OG 1.053 FG 1.010
ABV 5.6% AA 80%
IBUs 46 SRM 9

90% Canadian two-row
5% Crystal 40
2.5% Crystal 60
2.5% Crystal 80

46 IBUs (1.38 oz.) Columbus FWH
1 oz. Columbus dry hop (keg)

Wyeast 2450 "Denny's Favorite 50"

At first I thought this beer was much more bitter than its calculated 46 IBUs. (Calculating IBUs from first-wort hopping is something many homebrewers debate, but there is at least some consensus that the while the real number may be higher, FWH imparts a "gentler" bitterness such that the perceived IBUs are equivalent to a hop charge two-thirds through the boil. So, for a 75-minute boil, I and many others calculate FWH IBUs as if the hop charge came at 25 minutes.)

Before long, however, I came to regard the 46 IBUs estimate as accurate enough for my purposes. At any rate, I entered this beer in a recent competition as an American Pale Ale and it did rather well; one judge noted the bitterness was a little on the high side, consistent with my initial impression. But no way is this an IPA.

It could use a little more hop flavor (through some alchemical process first-wort hops are said to have their flavor fixed in a beer despite going through an entire boil, and I'd say that's true – but when does a little extra hop flavor ever hurt?) and also aroma. I'm a little surprised at how low the hop aroma is (something else the judges picked up on) considering there's a full ounce of hops in the serving keg. But on the other hand, there were no late hop additions in the kettle to help bolster that aroma.

I really like Wyeast 2450 for American beers that have a dash of character – in other words, basically anything APA and up. I used 2450 in a Blonde Ale not long ago and found the yeast's esters, while not unpleasant, were just a little too much in such a simple style like that – to my tastes, anyway. But with hops and a dash of malt thrown in the mix, this yeast's mostly clean, smooth profile is a great match. I've also used it in an IPA and a Smoked Porter, all with fine results. Definitely one to keep in the rotation.

As for the Columbia Pale Ale, this beer reinforced what Adam Avery had already taught me by way of his glorious Hog Heaven Barleywine – that there's no reason you can't lean on Columbus hops start to finish. Sure, I'll ramp up the dosage next time, but only because I know it's a good idea. Until then, here's to an intrepid adventurer, a town that honors him, and a hop that just embodies New World goodness.

The Session #23 – Last Year/This Year

It's the first Session for 2009, so host "Beerme" at Beer and Firkins has asked us, appropriately enough, to look back on The Year in Beer 2008 (what will we miss?) and also think about what might await us in '09. (Check out the roundup at B&F.)

So here's the partly-abbreviated-but-not-really tale of a fine beer experience I had in 2008 – one which I surely miss and will continue to long for in that misty-eyed, alco-romantic way.

I spent a good chunk of late spring/early summer in Europe, enjoying such places as Paris, southern France, Spain and London. As is often the case when I vacation, the trip consisted of me trying to beer-hunt as much as possible without driving my travelmates crazy.

Enjoying beer in strange lands is always an exhilarating experience, but perhaps never more so than when those lands are some of the world's great beer hotspots, where you can take in classic beer styles as fresh as can be and in the places where and among the people with whom they were meant to be consumed.

For that reason I consider myself extraordinarily lucky to have visited Belgium, Germany and the Czech Republic in the past (and let's not forget, to live in the United States right now), and to have spent time in London last year. Anyone moderately versed in beer styles and beer history knows why England is a special place for people like ourselves, and a visit to the pubs of London should almost be considered requisite for those who have the inclination and the means. For me, it was little short of a revelation.

I had drank cask-conditioned (American) beers in the past, and liked them. I had drank plenty of English ales in the past, and depending upon the style either liked them very much or felt indifferent at best. But English cask ales, in England? Hoo boy.

The first thing worth remarking is how plentiful hand-pulled real ale is in London. Any "authentic-looking" pub worth visiting (now here's a circular definition) has several cask ales on offer. Yes, some pubs carry only a major brand (Fuller's rules at The Hung Drawn and Quartered – that's just one of plenty of examples) but England's many free houses feature small, independent breweries that even a devoted Yankee beer snob is likely never to have heard of. Either way, who cares – it's delicious and it's authentic.

And how about the fact that many of these ales boast alcohol percentages in the low 3's. You may at first have to reset your thinking from a low alcohol = low flavor mindset. Give me a hand-pulled, 3.2-percent Dark Mild any day, thank you. Give me several, in fact. That is, after all, the idea.

The whole experience was enough to make this hitherto English-ale-agnostic homebrewer seriously consider going on a British brewing binge. Speaking of which, I'll wrap this up neatly by naming that as my beer item to look forward to in 2009. It's just a damn shame I don't have a beer engine...

The Culture Bière Glasses

Paris is, unquestionably, a wine town. Yes, the City of Lights has its beer bars (Au Trappiste is recommended) and even a good beer shop or two (La Cave à Bulles = excellent), but let's not kid ourselves – in Paris, as in just about all of France, they love their grape juice and it shows.

So it's nice to find a house of beer worship located right smack in the middle of the Champs Elysées: Culture Bière, a swanky, upscale suds joint/restaurant run by and featuring some of the lesser known brands of Heineken International. (That last detail might chafe the anticorporate, grassroots-oriented beer purists among us, and perhaps not unreasonably so, but let's acknowledge that such a sleek, well-designed and expensively located joint could only have been made possible thanks to deep pockets like Heineken's.)

The Culture Bière glasses, like the restaurant where they are put in service, are well-made and attractive. Two are seen here – there is also at least one additional design, a squatter version of the glass in the right-hand side of this photo.

These two glasses are elegantly shaped, with thick round stems atop solid circular feet. As you can see, the taller of the two glasses widens slightly toward the top, while the other tapers a bit. Both feature an etched version of the Culture Bière logo. (Elsewhere, the vertical lines are of progressively darker colors, to represent diversity among beer hues.)

Slender and attractive, these glasses are fine fits for lighter beers like Pilsner or, as in this example, Blonde Ale. For beers that offer up much more in the aroma department, I usually try to reach for something whose design is more conducive to swirling, gathering smells, and all that.

No, France may not be known as can't-miss destination for beer devotees, but hats off to Culture Bière for taking on no small challenge in bringing sincere beer evangelism to all those oenophiles in Paris, and for whipping up some sharp-looking glasses while they're at it.

Christmas Beers on NPR

What's so great about the holidays? Two things jump to the front of the mind: relaxation and overindulgence. And what better way to engage in both than by piling up the food and popping open a bottle or several of some special brew?

Brewers the world over respond this time of year by releasing their own unique holiday offerings – often rich and hearty with winter's chill in mind, and many spiced in that Christmas-y way. Joe "Sixpack" Russell identified 10 such seasonal releases, and NPR took note.

I myself have a bottle of Chimay Grande Réserve (not a holiday beer but always a special treat) chilling in anticipation of Christmas dinner.

The Session #22 – The End of Prohibition

Today's a big anniversary – and no, I'm not talking about Columbus' arrival on Hispaniola, Walt Disney's birth or Mozart's death.

It's even more important than all that. On Dec. 5, 1933 – 75 years ago – the 21st Amendment was ratified, thereby repealing Prohibition and making it legal to produce, transport and sell alcohol for the first time since the 18th Amendment took those rights away some dozen-plus years prior.

Most appropriately, this month's Session is being hosted by none other than the 21st Amendment Brewery in San Francisco. The guys at 21st Amendment asked us: "What does the repeal of Prohibition mean to you? How will you celebrate your right to drink beer?" They'll be compiling the results soon on their blog.

The first one is an easy question for me, and anyone else who cares enough about beer (or any of the "intoxicating liquors" that so offended Andrew Volstead and his many collaborators) to share our love of it with anyone with an Internet connection.

What does Repeal mean to me? It means all the growth and innovation we've seen in the beer industry over the past 20, 30 years wouldn't have been possible otherwise. It means I'm thrilled that we have more than 1,400 craft breweries in the U.S. (but I'd like to see even more) that continue to explore new flavors, refine time-honored styles and make today and every day the best time to be a beer drinker in America.

It means we don't have to cross oceans and borders (not that we shouldn't) to explore the amazing and unique beers being made in places like Belgium, England and Germany.

And of course, it means that the most fun and rewarding hobby I've ever had – making beer at home – won't earn me a visit from some latter-day Elliot Ness. And on that note, the irony is not lost on me that in Utah, the state whose ratification of the 21st Amendment made it official, homebrewing remains illegal.

Above: Proud to brew
So how did I celebrate my right to drink beer? First off, by starting this post on Friday only to shelve it so I could judge homebrew at the Palmetto State Brewers' annual competition Friday night and all day Saturday. It's now Sunday, and I feel no remorse in neglecting this post so that I could spend a weekend celebrating beer.

I'd be shocked – shocked – if we ever see a return of the widespread temperance movement that lead to Prohibition the first time around. But anything's possible. We need to stay vigilant for efforts to undermine the right of responsible adults to enjoy beer, wine and liquor safely and sensibly, and push for more sensible alcohol regulation at every opportunity.

Here's hoping that in another 75 years we'll still be celebrating Repeal, common sense and beer.

Economics vs. Tradition, As Usual

I have to thank on-top-of-it beer writer Lew Bryson for this scoop: Heineken NV will be closing its Beamish & Crawford brewery early next year.

Those who enjoy a Beamish now and then (and those, like me, who think it and Murphy's occupy the top two slots among the Dry Irish Stout Big Three) will be heartened to know that the Beamish brand won't be dying off – just that production will move to another Irish brewery of Heineken's (in Cork, like Beamish & Crawford) where, by the way, Murphy's is produced. How's that for consolidation?

More on this.

Not Actually Coming Soon...

These labels were mocked up for a class project myself and some fellow graduate students did. Anyone with $850,000 to spare who likes the look of these pretty pictures is welcome to contact me.

Click on the labels for a larger view.