For your 'Fest

Recognizing that the Oktoberfest season is upon us, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Bob Townsend this week runs down a list of seasonal craft brews whose release is timed to coincide with the annual foamy fall frolicking.

For the most part, they look pretty enticing. Shmaltz Brewing's Coney Island Freaktoberfest is a different story. Shmaltz went with a Halloween theme for this one, and may be doing everything in their power to deter you from drinking it: the head is pink, the beer is a "crazy" reddish-tea, and the alcohol content is 6.66 percent. (Mark of the beer?)

Townsend: Sweetwater tears the roof off the sucker

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Bob Townsend, in today's column, profiles hometown-brewer-done-good Sweetwater. In March the company installed eight new 400 barrel fermentation tanks, doubling capacity at the downtown facility.

Sweetwater's beers are available in eastern Alabama, but only on tap at a few places I've seen (Cooter Brown's Rib Shack and the Vault in Jacksonville, plus the Mellow Mushroom in Oxford). Here's hoping the new capacity will allow them to distribute bottles to our neck of the woods. With gas prices going up like they are, I can't afford too many more trips to Birmingham to pick up 12-packs of 420 Pale Ale.

Kitsock: Hops tops grapes

Greg Kitsock's column in the Washington Post this week looks at beer-and-food pairing in advance of a big event happening in D.C. this May, SAVOR: An American Craft beer & Food Experience. Kitsock makes much of the beer-wine rivalry that's been growing as craft beer takes off. From his lead:

How often in a high-end restaurant have you been handed a wine list that runs on for pages, while the list of available beers could easily fit on an index card? Yet many brewers say that as a companion to a fine meal, beer is the equal of wine, if not its superior.

There's a mouthwatering photo with the story picturing a glass of stout and a plate of brownies made with the super-dark ale. Anybody else got any favorite dessert & beer pairings?

Townsend: Thirsty, or just need more to drink?

In today's Atlanta Journal-Constitution, beer columnist Bob Townsend writes about North Carolina microbrewer Duck-Rabbit Craft Brewery, which bills itself as "the dark beer specialist." The regular lineup consists of an amber ale, a brown ale, porter and stout.

Founder Paul Philippon is a former philosophy student who named the company after a well-known ambiguous image that can be seen as either feathered fowl or leaping leporid. A version of the image serves as the brewer's logo.

Philippon says viewers see the image differently depending on their perspective. He tells Townsend:

If you see a duck, it means you're thirsty. And if you see a rabbit, it means you haven't had enough beer.

Aged like fine ... beer

In his Washington Post column today, Greg Kitsock explores the practice of aging beers to enhance their flavor.

"Which styles will stand the test of time? High-test brews such as barley wines, imperial stouts, wee heavies and Belgian strong ales have an advantage over beers of moderate strength."

Kitsock also mentions lambics as prime for leaving be a while.

One key in keeping beer around long enough to enjoy it more, he writes, is keeping it at an even temperature of 55-65 degrees, in a nice, dark place. I'd like to try aging beer, but I'm not sure I've got a proper spot for it. Most of what I buy I keep in a smallish refrigerator, around 35-40 degrees, situated under the bar in a "man room" built onto the back of my house. Unfortunately, the room is not climate controlled, and anything stored outside the fridge would alternate between freezing and frying as the years drag on.

Do you keep a stash around, waiting for the perfect time to crack the cap? Where? In the bottom of a dark closet next to your tax receipts, or in a special, climate-controlled room with a double airlock? Click below to comment. I could use the advice.

Townsend: roll out the barrels

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Bob Townsend explores the tasty world of beer aged in used whiskey barrels in his column this week. I've never had the pleasure, but Townsend says these specialized brews pick up vanilla, woody and - of course -whiskey flavors from the used barrels.

He also notes that Athens, Ga.,-based Terrapin Beer Co. is now up and running at its new brewery in its hometown, as of Dec. 20. Most of Terrapin's beer up to now has been contract brewed in Maryland. I'm looking forward to my first true Georgia-brewed Terrapin Rye.

NYT: To the extreme

The New York Times' Eric Asimov leads another tasting panel in a big feature today on "extreme beers." He defines that as:

"... an all-American genre in which brewers are engaged in a constant game of 'Can you top this?' Whether using an inordinate amount of traditional ingredients like malt or hops, or adding flavorings undreamed of by Old World brewers, American brewers have created a signature style that beer enthusiasts seem both to love and hate."

His panelists started off skeptical of the style, but found some stuff to like in the beers, all of which essentially were super-IPAs. All of them, by the way, are prohibited in Alabama thanks to the 6-percent alcohol-by-volume cap. The only one I've had is Dogfish Head's 90 Minute Imperial IPA. I agree with panelist Florence Fabricant who called it "a very nice beer" in a nifty audio & photo feature that's paired with the story (btw, it wouldn't work in Firefox for me, try IE). There's also a recipe for wok-seared spicy calamari salad that Fabricant says pairs nicely with these big beers.

Matchmaking

In Barry Shlachter's latest "Beer Sphere" column for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, he touts beer's ability to pair well with just about any food. Lots of folks know pairing wine with a meal is something of an art form, but chefs, foodies and other are becoming more familiar with beer's tremendous variety, and the plethora of pairing options that provides. Some even say beer pairs better than its grape-based cousin. From the column:

Ales and lagers are carbonated, for starters. Beer cuts through fried dishes. And some styles can complement courses that have a sour quality, which is a true challenge with wine.

Shlachter points readers to the Brewers Association Web site for pairing suggestions. That's a fine idea; here a link directly to their pairing guide.

Even more Jackson

In his piece today, Atlanta Journal-Constitution beer columnist Bob Townsend provides remembrances of recently-departed beer writer & enthusiast Michael Jackson. He quotes a number of Atlanta-area bar & restaurant owners and beer lovers about their thoughts on the man. The best line, from Andy Klubock, owner of Summits Wayside Taverns:

"It meant a lot to me for him to come and look at what we were doing. He's like the pope of beer. I needed his blessing."

A little of this n' a lambic of that

Bob Townsend, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's beer columnist, discusses this week the art of blending Belgian lambics. I envy the experience, and his contacts. Lambics are a world I've only seen the shore of from a distance - I sampled my first at the Magic City Brewfest back in June.

Townsend, on the other hand, hooked up with Don Feinberg, an importer of Belgian beers who had two big casks of rare lambics to share.

Once, all beers were lambics, in a way. It's a style in which the beer ferments spontaneously. Brewers don't add any yeast, they just allow the yeast in the atmosphere to do what it will, the way things were done before anyone knew yeast had anything to do with fermentation. Modern lambics often are flavored with fruit such as raspberry or cherry. The flavors can be very intense, ranging from very sweet to very sour. One type, known as geuze, involves blending different lambics for flavors unique to each brewer.

Feinberg had Townsend and his other guests blend lambics from each cask, essentially creating their own geuze. Check out the size of the casks in the AJC's photo.