[OFB Cafe] Cheers!

[Derek Broughton]

On July 24, 2008 14:24:15 Rick Bowers wrote:

> About 5 years ago, I changed that slightly -- when it comes to beer
> or beer-like beverages (ale, stout, etc.). I've taken a liking to
> Guinness and prefer that over any other "beer"-type beverage. As a
> close second, I enjoy wheat-based beers, primarily from the mid-west.

I've been a beer snob for a long time.  I'm actually a wine judge - I'll be 
judging the Canadian Amateur Wine championships next month, but I really 
prefer beer.

> My problem with Guinness is it is difficult to find a good bartender
> that knows how to properly pour a good Guinness. there *is* an art to
> it, and many bartenders tend to pour it like they do a Budweiser or
> any "American beer". 

I think you meant 'American "beer"' (a slight difference of quotes :-) ).  
Which is not to say that American's can't make good beer, but Budweiser isn't 
it!  And "what made Milwaukee famous" is a national disgrace.

> Poured that way, a Guinness simply doesn't taste 
> the same. So I guess I have become a bit of a Guinness snob.
>
> A few years ago my company sent me to Dublin, Ireland -- but only for
> 2-1/2 days. While I was able to drink some really good Guinness, I
> never made it to the factory for a tour :-(

Guiness isn't my drink but I know what you mean.  However, I'm not sure it's 
strictly in the way it's poured.  You need to find a pub that sells enough of 
it that it isn't stale - beer on tap doesn't have a great shelf life - and a 
pub that sells that much probably knows how to pour it.  It might be a bit of 
a chicken and egg problem.

I spent three months in Belgium on business. There are 300 odd (some _very_ 
odd) beers in Belgium, and I was trying to properly sample all of them.  I 
think I managed about half.  Belgium's a wonderful place to drink beer, as it 
has 5 main distinct styles, which is unusual, and alcohol content to support 
any kind of drinking.  They have the Stella Artois kind - pretty much the 
Budweiser of Belgium - a typical pale lager and not worth talking about.  
They have true wheat beers (I love them too), which are usually only 3-4% 
alcohol by volume (call that 2.5 - 4+% the way Americans measure alcohol) and 
often sold by the liter.  You can drink that stuff all day.  They have 
Lambics which are highly unusual, wheat-based, fruit-flavored beers brewed 
using wild yeasts (only around Brussels).  North American breweries are so 
paranoid about off-tastes that they'll sterilize all their equipment to 
ensure not a single stray yeastie gets in, and these brewers just expose the 
whole fermenter to the air!  Then there are the Trappist Abbey beers - of 
which I think there are only a couple left.  These are darker, malt based 
ales, with alcohol contents usually up to 7 or 8%.  Finally, there are the 
Doppels and Trippels which derive from the Trappist beers, but are all about 
the alcohol content.  Doppel essentially means "Double the alcohol" - you can 
work out Trippel for yourself...

When I started drinking beer in the mid-70s, Canada had three beer companies, 
and two beers (I might be being generous).  And still, Americans used to 
think Canadian beer was a wonder.  Long after American friends still thought 
good beer was Canadian beer, I'd discovered decent (but not great) American 
beer.  Sam Adams was the first I knew of, though I think the phenomenon 
started out West.  By the time I started working in the US in the 90s, there 
was a great selection.  Pete's Wicked Ale (I like my beer bitter - better 
beer is bitter beer!) comes to mind as the best I could easily acquire, but 
there was a lot of choice.

At the same time, in Canada we were finally getting rules allowing brew-pubs 
everywhere and many micro-breweries.  imo, the best breweries in Canada right 
now are Unibroue in Quebec which makes mostly versions of Belgian beers (I 
like the Blanche de Chambly wheat); the Kingston Brewing Company in Ontario 
for Dragon's Breath Pale Ale (where "Pale Ale" has the English meaning, not 
the North American - that is _bitter_); and the Pump House Brewery in 
Moncton, New Brunswick.  However, Molson Coors make an amazingly good wheat 
beer - Rickard's White.  Since I can find it pretty well anywhere I might be 
eating, it's my beer of choice these days.

-- 
derek