Craig Pinhey's BruBlog

Molson Is Just Teasing Me

As a booze writer I occasionally get sent samples from companies who want me to try their products, hoping that, if I enjoy them, I'll write about them, or perhaps just drink them.  Sometimes I ask companies for specific products to try, because I have a writing assignment about  a particular market segment.   That's just the way the business works.

I was recently sent a cute little beer cooler from Molson-Coors, which was stocked with a selection of beer brands they either make or represent in the country. I forget sometimes who makes what and who owns who, in the current state of the beer, wine and spirits world. In some ways I believe it's better not to know, actually. It would be much simpler if every company was small and independent. The products would probably be much better too, but that's another story.

Anyhoo, the cooler had a few of the usual suspects (Coors Light, the ultra light "67," Rickards Red and White),  but there were two beers in it that I'd never had, including a very forgettable but inoffensive light beer called Keystone, but also a canned Kellerbier beer from Ontario's Creemore Springs Brewery. When I saw this I got a little bit excited. 

You have to understand my history with Creemore. I lived in Ontario from 1987-98, and was very active in the beer scene there, as a homebrewer, beer judge and volunteer with CABA, the Canadian Amateur Brewer's Association (www.homebrewers.ca), and eventually as a writer for Great Lakes Brewing News (www.brewingnews.com/greatlakes).  When Creemore opened as a small microbrewery I was right on top of it, loving their European style lager.

Creemore, which only made one brand in those days, their lager, was always in our fridge, as my wife loved it too, maybe even more than me. As a brewer, I always suspected it was not made with real lager yeast at cold fermentation temperatures, as it was somewhat ale-like, but, as a drinker, I loved it.  It is a refreshing beer, with spicy hop aromas, balanced hop bitterness, lots of malt flavour and a crisp finish. It's the perfect crossover beer that appeals to (most) beer geeks, but folks who normally drink Alpine and Keith's might like it too. 

Since we moved here to New Brunswick I've been pestering Creemore and other Ontario craft brewers to sell their beer here. Wellington County was another of my favourites. None of them have made the effort - I assume it's because it's just not a profitable prospect for them. It's more effort than it is worth, due to excessive mark-ups and shipping.

However, ever since Creemore was purchased by Molson, and then eventually ended up being available in Quebec, and in the airports (I guess Molson-Coors bought the airport contracts...), I figured it was time to ask again. Still nothing. Molson-Coors is clearly not interested in introducing this delicious brew to the Maritimes.

I've read stories from other beer writers who say Creemore doesn't taste the same since Molson bought it, but I don't agree. I still drink a pint when I'm in Ontario, and it tastes the same to me. 

Anyway, the cans of Kellerbier made me think..."Finally, we're getting a Creemore beer in Atlantic Canada! They wouldn't send me a sample if I couldn't buy it." I shared the beer with my wife, and we both loved it. Very aromatic Euro hops, good bitterness, pleasing malt. This is a yummy lager. I love it even more than their flagship brand.

But I was wrong about the sample. It was just a standard national mixed pack. Like the nerd at the high school dance, I ain't getting any.

Dear Molson: You have a nice new brewery here in New Brunswick. Craft beer is still one of the few market segments that is growing.  Please bring in Creemore in the bottle and on tap.  Or brew a similar beer here. I know you can do it. Stop teasing us.

Cheers!

 Craig 

Craig Pinhey is a Sommelier, experienced beer judge and freelance writer. Visit him at frogspad.ca. Follow him on Twitter as frogspadca.

Excitement Abounds Over New Breweries in New Brunswick

While mainstream beer drinkers might be all revved up for summer, 6-packs of the new Blackberry Moose Light in hand, heading for the beach and cottage, lovers of craft beer got some thrilling news recently: two new micros are opening in the province.

Acadie-Broue is a tiny Moncton brewery that launches their one brand, Tintamarre Saison, at Marky's Laundromat at 382B Rue St. George in Moncton this weekend. Acadie-Broue is both a part time job and labour of love for brewer/owner Patrice Godin, who already has a full time job as a microbiologist at Environment Canada.  I had a small taste of one of his test batches a while ago when Patrice helped judge with me at the Garrison Ultimate Brew-Off.   It tasted Belgian.  Saison is a Belgian style ale that varies widely in its home country, depending on the brand. The yeast used has a big effect, and the traditional brewers each have their own distinct yeast (or yeasts!), so that each beer is unique.  

I asked Godin about the name.  "Tintamarre is an old French word that was used on the farms and fields of France back in the days," he explains, "Bells would sound at lunch break to announce a pause for the workers.  People far in the fields would not hear it.  People were then transmitting the message by hitting on their harvesting baskets (called marre).  "Tint ta marre" = ring your marre.  So the word means to make noise."

That's why Godin says he is starting off with a bang!

But the beer name's relevance goes deeper, still.   "In more recent history the Tintamarre tradition came from the fact that the French wanted to demonstrate to the English that they were still present on the Acadian territories," adds Godin. "So they were making noise.  Since it's the first Acadian Brewery, the name Tintamarre was perfect, like saying 'Hey we're here and we now have our own beer'.   There are street parties all over the Acadian Peninsula called Tintamarre around the 15th of August.  The biggest being the one in Caraquet, every 15th of August.  25000 people go into the streets and make noise by hitting pots and pans with utensils. Acadian history 101 my friend."

Acadie-Broue has a relatively tiny production capacity (11 barrels per year or 1300 litres). Thus Tintamarre is exclusive to Marky's for now, and is Acadie-Broue's only brew. As for the future, who can say?

The other brewery on the horizon is a café/micro-brasserie in Dalhousie, on the North Shore on the Restigouche river.  I don't have the details, but Café Artisan is the name of the place, and rumour has it that it will be modelled after a very nice little bakery/café/brewpub in Carleton, on the Gaspé  Peninsula, Quebec,  called Le Naufrageur.  Apparently, the brewer from Le Naufrageur (Sebastien Dancause) is helping with brewing at the new pub.  If the beer is anythign liek that of Le Naufrageur, who brew everything from Blonde to Sout, with Belgian beer in between (there are 14 brands listed at Ratebeer.com), then New Brunswick beer fans will be happy. I'll report more on this when I get up there to Dalhousie to try the beer. I might even continue on to the Gaspé  to hit up La Naufrageur while I'm up there!

Cheers to new beers !

 Craig  

Craig Pinhey is a Sommelier, experienced beer judge and freelance writer. Visit him at frogspad.ca. Follow him on Twitter as frogspadca.

Dumb Rulings and Boozy Beer

Bear geeks were abuzz online recently as word got out that the Alcohol and Gaming Commission (yes, I know what you are thinking: those two things should not be regulated by the same body) of Ontario has banned Austria's Samichlaus, the famous high alcohol beer, which clocks in at a massive 14%. It was banned not for its boozy quality, but because the name translates to St. Nicholas, making it Santa's Beer, I suppose (which could explain Rudolph's red nose). The fear is that it would appeal to kids, although I somehow doubt that's true. 

The LCBO claims they dropped it for other reasons, but it seem suspicious, since they recently also banned Crystal Skull Vodka, saying it appealed to kids.   Although premium vodka, it comes in a ridiculous crystal skull, which only fans of bad heavy metal would find at all appealing. 

One must wonder about the idiocy of regulators when it comes to booze packaging.   Here in New Brunswick, the ANBL sells those mini sugary shooters that look like kids candy, right at the checkout. Whenever I buy booze and kids are around, they are always after those things.  Coolers, in general, appeal to teens, mainly teen girls (hence the cooler bellies on many of those 1st year university girls).    Hypocrisy is pretty common in the booze bizz. 

The so-called "animal" wines, like Yellow Tail, Goats do Roam, Little Penguin, and the like are all arguably marketed towards young drinkers. Many of them are also designed (yes, wine can be designed, as opposed to made) with a flavour profile aimed at kids. i.e. sweet. 

When it comes to beer, marketing to youth is less common, since kids don't really like the bitterness of beer.  However, there has been a move to young people drinking high alcohol beer. Hence the popularity of Colt 45 and those horrible high test Fax products.  Breweries can get really silly with high alcohol beer. Remember the ice beer fad a while ago? Let's make beer with no flavour but lots of booze. Go crazy, kids!  But they never used cute marketing. 

There are several brewers now battling to brew the highest alcohol beer, getting up to spirit levels by concentrating the alcohol (not distilling) using various techniques. I won't give the names of these, because I don't want to promote them. I don't see the point, really, as beer is still, to me at least, the traditional beverage of moderation. 

In any case, these are not being marketed to kids. They are for the most extreme of beer lovers, the same guys and gals who can't get enough bitterness in a brew. Why not try this with alcohol, too?  

I remember my first trip to Belgium in the mid 80's, seeing all the fruit beers and high alcohol Belgian ales,  colourfully marketed, often with cartoon characters. Yet, I saw no kids drinking them... 

Nowadays, youth drinking is a big problem in Europe. I saw it myself in Barcelona. Gangs of pre-teens roaming around with brown bags, fighting and vomiting in the downtown at 2 in the morning. Nice.  I don't think they are drinking Belgian Trappist ales, mind you.  I'm guessing it's cheap hard liquor and fruit juice (homemade coolers, basically). 

But is this behaviour due to booze companies marketing alcohol to them, or is it more just a sign of the times we live in, where young people get old fast, with the help of easy access to media and pretty much information they want, often without a responsible parent maintaining any control. 

I think it is the latter. 

Cheers! 

Craig  

Craig Pinhey is a Sommelier, experienced beer judge and freelance writer. Visit him at  frogspad.ca . Follow him on Twitter as frogspadca. 

Disclaimer: Craig Pinhey is a freelance writer. The views expressed by Mr. Pinhey in BruBlog are that of the author's.   

From the Ordinary to the Extraordinary

On April 1st (really!) I drove to Halifax to help judge the 4 finalists in the Garrison Brewing Company's 2nd Annual Ultimate Brew-Off, where homebrewers submitted entries into a competition hosted by the brewery, and co-sponsored by Noble Grape, the local home wine and beermaking chain. This year's challenge was to brew a Belgian Witbier, which is rather tricky, as it calls for the subtle use of spices and flavourings, a significant percentage of unmalted wheat, and, ideally, a Belgian wit yeast culture. The best wits in Belgium have a refreshing lactic sourness to them. Too much sournesss would, of course, ruin the beer, so homebrewers must be careful if they really want to try to emulate that aspect of the style. 

This year's winner was Scott Tilford, who captured the slightly sour essence of this cloudy white ('wit' means white in Flemish) ale. The other brews were good, as well, showing refreshing character and, in some cases, the spiciness expected from Belgian Ale.  Congrats to Scott, as he gets to brew this beer with Brewmaster Daniel Girard in time for next years Brew-Off.

Speaking of which, last year's winner, Brian Harvey (who also came 2nd in the 2010 Wit contest), had his "Harvey's Bitter" released at the party. Draft samples were given to everyone at the Brew-Off party, and bottles could be purchased to take home. Harvey's is an "Ordinary Bitter," meaning it is low alcohol (3.8%), and only moderately malty and bitter. The draft tasted great: nice and smooth, light in body, with subtle malt flavour and a balanced bitter finish.  A day later I tried the bottled version, which was quite a bit different. It was colder, coming from the fridge, and had more carbonation, and this seemed to highlight some vegetal DMS  (dimethyl sulfide) aromas and flavours, leading some drinkers to comment that it reminded them of Keith's. A rather bitter and malty Keith's, perhaps.  The DMS doesn't wreck the beer, but I'd prefer it without it. I noticed it tasted much better served less cold, right from the cellar. I pour it vigourously, too, to lower the carbonation. 

There is no reason that a 4% or lower in alcohol beer needs to be flavourless, like Big Brewery "lite."  I'd love to see Garrison make this a full time product, perhaps with a few tweaks. I'd also like to see it on tap here in New Brunswick.

In the extraordinary category, after the Brew-Off we went down to the Hart & Thistle to try the latest hop bomb from Greg Nash. I started with  the E-Rosinous Zone "West Coast" IPA, which, although sporting a vaguely dirty name, was a typical Nash beer: super hoppy, although moderate in bitterness by his standards at 55 IBU. It had loads of hop aroma and flavour, though. The alcohol was 6.5% - good for a balanced IPA. I quite enjoyed it. Next was his Blackout CIA (Canadian India Ale), which was VERY bitter. A bit much for my palate at the time...I think I was beered out by that point. It got its name because there was a power blackout during the brew.  This extreme beer had 82 IBU and 7.3% alcohol, as well as a dry finish highlighted by roasted malt flavours.  I'm sure that lovers of extreme beers in New Brunswick would love to see these on tap here. All we need is for Nash to start up a micro, something that he is rumoured to be close to doing. 

While these beers have come and gone, Nash has replaced them with more of his crazy concoctions (go to hartandthistle.com to find out). These are the yin to the yang of a beer like Harvey's Ordinary Bitter, and the world is better off - better balanced - having both types.

Cheers!

Craig 

Craig Pinhey is a Sommelier, experienced beer judge and freelance writer. Visit him at frogspad.ca. Follow him on Twitter as frogspadca.

Disclaimer: BruBlog is written by Craig Pinhey. The views expressed in BruBlog are not necessarily shared by DiningFeed.com, Delora Media or any of its management.