Coffee, Beer perchance ... Coffeer ?

Report : Chicago, January 2008

Slushy snow underfoot, barely bearable windchill, ever shorter days, grim economic news. How does one salve the ills?

Thanks be to the weighty, unctuous 8.3% Lagunitas Limited Release Cappuccino Stout. A Petaluma, California Ale brewed with Colombian Coffee, natch, "brewed with Sebastopol's own HARD CORE COFFEE".

And, as the famous, eponymous Crimean duel between Russia and allied French and English forces, it is a classic struggle between the bombardment of the latter's caffeine cup-of-chino-esque charms: versus the stoic, reliable high booze; and chocolatey mouthfeel of a sturdy stout.

Is it an ersatz Vodka | Red Bull challenge, for beer purists? At the end of a 1 pint 6 oz serve one considers the aggressive push of the caffeine surging  valiantly against the relaxing, and defensive Rusky alcohol. Comrade/Jolly good sir, are you coming, or going?

All in all, at the end of this battle of the palate and metabolism, against the backdrop of gloomy weather and diminished light of a Chi- Town winter, the tastebuds and one's general good countenance are the victors.

Award (another ) full credit to the innovative and experimental brewing culture of the U.S.A.

 

Great Lakes Brews

CLEVELAND. The country is just starting to hear about this gem of a pub and brewery, but some of us have know of it for years (they opened in 1988). Nestled on the near west side of Cleveland, not far from downtown, is the Great Lakes Brewing Company.

So, on a dreary day today, we stopped in for a sampler tray of their current beers on tap...oh, and lunch. For about $8, you can get six 4-oz glasses of their finest to get you started. Today, it was the Dortmunder Gold Lager, the Burning River Pale Ale, the Edmund Fitzgerald Porter, the Holy Moses White Ale, Eliot Ness Amber Lager, and Conway's Irish Ale.

We've always been somewhat partial toward their flagship Dortmunder. It's as advertised: balanced malt and hops that's smooth, slightly sweet, but still crisp. Nice golden color (not revealed in the sorry camera-phone pic at right). Top notch. Their bottled version does it justice.

Their Pale Ale is really an IPA. It's sharply hoppy and has a 6% alcohol content. Not bad, but not our favorite.

Their porter is sweet, smooth, and chocolaty, and not too heavy (which belies its namesake, the ill-fated ship). Very nice.

Their white ale, named after the founder of Cleveland, is perhaps too heavy on the coriander. Although they advertise that it's spiced with chamomile and orangepeel too, we couldn't taste it. That left it a little unbalanced.

Their Irish ale and amber lager are awfully similar, but both very enjoyable. Sure, the amber lager had slightly more hops, while the Irish ale had a tad more malty taste, but they were nearly twins in taste and alcohol content (6.2 and 6.5%, respectively). We found the amber's hops smoothed out the taste a little, perhaps gaining the edge in the competition between the two.

Do yourself a favor: visit their website for more info on their beers, and look for them at your favorite local beer store. Hello, Cleveland!

Is the War OVER?

NEW YORK. There's an apparent truce between Czech-owned Ceske Budejovice's Budvar and Anheuser-Busch. After years of fighting over the trademark rights to the name "Budweiser," they've inked a deal which will have Anheuser-Busch distributing Budvar in the U.S.

"Budweiser," a light-yellowish, beer-like soft drink, accounts for almost half of the beer sold in the U.S. The Czech beer will be distributed under the name it's been using in the States: Czechvar.

For those who don't know, Anheuser-Busch says that it's been using the trademark since 1876, almost twenty years before the Budvar brewery was established. Budvar, on the other hand, argues that the beer is named after the town it's from ("Budweis" is the German name for Ceske Budejovice), which pre-exists Anheuser-Busch by several centuries (AD 1265).

In 2006, Budvar once again won (9th time) the gold medal for best beer in Beer Courier magazine; it won a silver at the Brewers Association World Beer Cup competition in Seattle (over 540 breweries from 56 countries); and it won the Belgian International Institute for Quality's gold medal.

But Anheuser-Busch is the volume ruler, producing 143 times the beer volume of Budvar.

Pilsner Urquell--The Source

PLSEN, CZECH REP. Driving through western Bohemia today, and hungry for lunch, where better to stop for goulash than the Plzensky Prazdroj, the brewery that makes Pilsner Urquell?

Sure, we've been here many times, but they always deliver on their promise of good food and beer right from the "source" or "fountain" (prazdroj). The brewery hosts the Czech Republic's largest beer hall, Na Spilce, serving as many as 600 in it's cavernous underground hall.

For me? Wild boar goulash (guláš), with extra dumplings (chlupaté knedlíky, or "hairy dumplings"), washed down with a pilsner.

Dogs Love Beer

MARIANSKE LAZNE (MARIENBAD). New Years was great here in the western Czech Republic. Nestled between the birthplace of pilsner beer (Pilsen) and the Czech-German border is a tiny town where a great beer lives.

Chodová Planá is the home of Chodovar. The original brewery dates back to 1573, and, legend has it, a dog named Albi found the spring source for the water used in brewing and, as the good luck mascot of the brewery, was fed beer daily. His picture appears on the label.

The beer can be found in some area pubs on tap. We had the 11 degree premium beer (Zlatá Jedenáctka: "golden 11"). It's lovely: full head, perfect tiny bubbles, and a fantastic, rich color. The taste is complex, full, nicely hoppy, and has the hint of fruit on the back palate. Truly top notch, and very drinkable.

The brewery is also home to the new (opened this year), and becoming famous (it's been in the NY Times), beer health spa. That's right: for about $25 USD, they'll give you 20 minutes in a hot tub full of "bathing" dark beer, that has some additional herbs added, and then 20 minutes of heat wrap.

Ah, the taste of The Ashes!

LONDON. We can't get enough travel here. One of us is off to Oz, to catch the irrelevant end of The Ashes. Another of us (me), a glutton for punishment, wanted to see just how bad London Heathrow airport was today, considering fog had shut it down for several days. Well, I made it out alive, albeit eight hours late. But some of the time was well spent...

I stopped in for a pint of cask-conditioned Marston's The Ashes Ale. The tagline was "Definitely Not for Aussies."

Well, considering the Aussies have pulled off a 3-0 victory in the best-of-5 Ashes tourney as of last weekend, England deserves something this good to drown its sorrows in. This beer is sweeter (not as hoppy) and lighter than a typical British bitter. It's pale (transparent) and light (not caramel) in color and was served colder than usual (was this intentional?). The head was whisper-thin, and rapidly disappeared. The back palette was lemony.

They should make this beer year-round. Look for it.

Last Night's Prague Pub Crawl

PRAGUE. Had to head out again with friends because we're still on a mission to sample some more "old school" beers in Prague. As in previous installments, the idea is to hit the smaller, older brews, rather than the big guys.

Tonight had it's start at Restaurant Kyvadlo on V Jame in the city center. They have several of the Bernard brews on tap. Ok, Bernard is coming up frequently enough on these pages, but hear us out. This time, the target was their 14 degree Speciální Světlé ("Special Light") on tap, known as "the Ox" because of it's 5.8% alcohol content. Terrific foam head, beautiful, rich, dark yellow color, and an interesting malty taste, coupled with a typical pilsner taste and back-palate. The higher alcohol content was noticeable during our walk onward.

Next, a new one. Really old school: 1570, to be exact. The beer is actually aged in caves beneath the brewery. World Brewery Championships (Chicago) winner in 2004. We're talking about brews brought to you by Klášter ("monastery"). We sampled their premium lager (12 degree), that has 5.6% alcohol content. Very, very drinkable, tried and true, without surprises. This is a true pilsner; smooth, crisp. Apparently, they import into the U.S., so look for it.

And a great place to try it? A still-functioning monastery, where else? Northwest Prague's own Klášterní šenk ("monastery taproom"). It's not where the beer is from, but it'll do: the restaurant is inside this beautifully restored landmark's site, which dates back to 993 AD. And the traditional Czech food in a rustic setting is, well, cool.

The night finished up at Hrom do Police (see an earlier installment), where we revisited the flagship Záviš, but went straight for their 12 degree kvasnicove ("yeast") beer on tap (it's not on their website, interestingly). Cloudy, with a huge head, and nicely sweet on the back end.

And, the kind folks at Hrom do Police were kind enough to stay open way late, until we had our fill.

Suds from Slovenia OR What I found in the Mini-bar

LJUBLJANA. Road weary, untrackable by GPS, and armed with only mediocre directions for the Union Hotel in Ljubljana I wandered up to the back door of the Pivovarna Union Brewery (founded by the Kozler Brothers back in 1864). I asked the security guards "Is this the Union Hotel?". He responded with an accented English"No, no, this place is for DRINKING!", a broad uneven-toothed smile across his face. For a moment, I considered locking the car and heading in, but the zero tolerance drinking-and-driving rules of Europe, though a good thing, are not conducive to casual beer consumption. Repositioning the "responsibility hat" firmly back on the top of my head, I hopped back in the car.

Settled into my room and feeling the effects of velocitation (8 hours of driving), thoughts lingered of the Union Brewery. "A beer would taste pretty damn good right now," I thought to myself. Scouring the room, I hoped that behind one of the doors a mini-bar would manifest. My hopes dimmed as each door literally came up empty. For giggles, I pulled on what looked like a row of drawers and BEHOLD, it was faux: Eureka!

Typically, I don't have high hopes for the mini-bar, at best there will be a Heineken. I am not a huge fan of anything bottled in green glass. My theory is that green bottled beer tastes "skunky," and to-date the theory still holds strong. Slovenes ,however, are very proud of their long history of beer brewing and the mini-bar provided me with a few Pivovarna Union Premiums. Thankfully, these 12.6 degree fellas are bottled in nice dark brown glass.

Finding the bottle opener, I quickly popped the top of the first one and took a long pull. I know that good beer etiquette would require me to let the beer breathe (preferably in a glass), and really savor that first sudsy sip. Unfortunately, I was more concerned with washing down 600 kilometers of nicotine and coffee breath. I was immediately surprised at how smooth this beer was. I skipped over to the bathroom to grab myself a glass so that I could get a better look at this brew. I discovered that it was a nice golden yellow and had a slightly sweet bouquet. I don't know if I would rank it as a "premium beer" as it really falls along the lines of a decent ale that I might serve beer-literate friends at a barbecue.

Despite the beers mislabeling, I found its quite drinkable, considering I drank both out of the mini-bar and repeated the process the next night. I am disappointed that I did not get to go to Pivovarna Union Brewery. They have three different "light" beers available, a 12 degree ale, a 11.6 degree pils, and the 12.6 degree premium. On the menu is also the Crni Baron (Black Baron), a 14 degree dark beer and the Union Radler, a devilish concoction of lemonade and beer (*gag*). A cab and this brew pub are absolutes for my next visit to Ljubljana after the new year.

Chelsea Piers: Beer and Golf

NEW YORK. So, the secret is out. We've found heaven in NYC. Chelsea Piers, at the end of Manhattan's W.23rd St.

We're getting into winter and have to keep swinging the sticks, right? Beer can be done anytime of year. So, where to go? Hit the massive vertical driving range (52 stations on 4 stories) at the Chelsea Piers Sports & Entertainment Complex, and then toss back a few pints downstairs at the Chelsea Brewing Company.

So that's where we found ourselves recently. The range was nearly empty on a Tuesday night, after work, but the lights were bright (and they're open until 11pm!!). Nothing quite matches the feeling of firing balls off over the Hudson River, right at New Jersey.

Several hundred golf-ball casualties later, we bellied up to the bar, staring at the big, copper vats. A big array of choices faced us, reading off the chalkboard menu: CheckedCab Blonde Ale, Hoppy Holiday, Sunset Red Ale, Amber Wheat, Blueberry Wheat, Chelsea Pilsner, and Imperial Stout. (They were out of the Chelsea Porter and Pale Ale.)

We went for the Hoppy Holiday, the Pilsner, the Red, and the Amber. Fresh and delicious, all. The taste, however, was very much ale, mellow and smooth. We were particularly enamored of the Amber and they always do the Red Ale well (and we've taken down many Blondes in the past too). Rather than going into too much detail, get yourself down there ASAP.

Saint Bernard, Tried and True.

PRAGUE. We've blogged about the Czech Bernard brewery before. This time, we're hittin' the bottle, though.

You can only get the "Svatecni lezak" ("Celebration Lager") in bottles, and it comes with the lovely old-fashioned lightning/swing-type closure (ala Grolsch) that can be re-closed. We have absolutely no idea why anyone would re-close this beer, however.

Final fermentation in the bottles and unpasteurized. Full head, beautiful color, yeasty aroma. Fantastic. Sweet, like Bernard's other beers, but with a very clean finish, and just the right amount of pilsner bitterness. Incredibly drinkable.

The name is so right. "Svatecni" is a Czech adjective meaning, literally, "sainted." It, of course, also means "festive," "holiday," etc., owning to the Slavic tradition of having "name days" (sg., "svatek") for saints (and those named after the saints). St. Bernard. Ergo, the best day to drink this beer must be Bernard's name day: August 20. We'll be back...

Cuban Smokes

PRAGUE. Ok, so we "got Cuba on our minds." The FT last week was chock full of pieces about Cuba, but this time, about the perfect golf and beer companion: smokes.

The author picked up some cigars and met up with two of London's famous cigar aficionados, Edward Sahakian, from Davidoff of London, and Paul Bielby of JJ Fox & Robert Lewis.

They sampled lesser-known, and non-exported (not that it matters much to Americans, who can't buy anything from Cuba), cigars, including Reloba, El Colosso, Bauza, and a few bought from a tobacco farmer in Pinar del Rio (the western-most part of the island, known as having the best tobacco). The farmer cured his leaves with fruit juice and sugar.

The verdicts? The Bauzas and the farmer-rolled, no-names. The others were "hot air" and "a bit harsh." But, even though they were rolled pretty loosely and burned unevenly, and were not as smooth as they could have been, the experts labeled everything as a 'good bargain." Which is not too surprising, considering the author paid about one Cuban peso each (about 4 U.S. cents).

Cuban Greens

PRAGUE. Although out of our reach because of the continuing U.S. embargo, we're waiting for the chance to go to Cuba and sample some of the local goodies.

Those goodies include Varadero, Cuba's only 18-hole golf course. The Financial Times just ran a piece on the course that had us intrigued. Apparently, the back nine is still "green," in the sense that it's only a decade old. But, the environs sound awesome: it's on a spit on the north coast of the island, with "spectacular" eighth and eighteenth holes beachside.

Varadero is Cuba's largest resort, so other amenities are found in abundance, particularly at the 5-star Hotel Melia Las Americas next door. The clubhouse, "Xanadu," once part of a 1328-acre estate, is the 1930's-era former Dupont family mansion (where the millionaire would winter). And one can't forget the 20-km-long white sand beach adjoining.

Maybe Rice Ain't So Bad

NEW YORK. We all know that Budweiser is brewed with rice to mellow it. But maybe rice can be a constituent of real beer after all. The 183-year-old Kiuchi Brewery in Ibaraki, Japan, makes an ale with a blend of specialty rice strains and sake yeasts, following it's tradition of making fine sake.

The NY Times noted that the beer is being served in upscale, jackets-required places like NYC's Per Se.

We sampled three beers from the market leader, Hitachino Nest (Kiuchi Brewery): Red Rice Ale, White Ale, and their Weitzen, just to understand the new craze.

The Red Rice Ale's origin is interesting. The U.S. importer of the brand convinced the brewery to use the same red rice the brewer used in rare sake. It's a very cloudy, reddish colored ale, with a massive, beautiful, reddish head that lasts forever. (And you know what we're talking about, men.) Lovely, fruit-plus-rice aroma. Very interesting. Nice, full mouthfeel. It's got a crisp, sweet bite to it, with a nice, sweet, fruity finish. Well done.

Not too surprising that it's caught on. The owner/chef of NYC's Momofuku says it's his best selling beer.

The Weizen is a cloudy, but much lighter beer, that has the most "normal beer" taste of the three. Mild aroma, sweet finish, good mouthfeel. This beer would make Belgians proud: it's very close to their white beers (although the brewery claims it's a German-style beer).

The White Ale was the strangest-tasting, and our least favorite, although the brewery claims it's a best-seller. It has the strongest aroma, but it's hard to place what the fruity aroma is. Sour cherries? Orange? Like the others, it's cloudy, but nicely colored. The head vanishes almost immediately. Like the others, it has a good mouthfeel and is crisp tasting. But the strangeness of the aroma didn't thrill us.

All of these are well worth trying, and we're searching for their other types, such their Pale Ale, Stout, and Classic Ale.

More N.A. Taste Testing

Prague. With the Czech Republic being the home of the pilsner beer, it's not too surprising that they've been experimenting with non-alcoholic beers. We've been impressed at the number you can find here.

Today, we found a couple of imported n.a. beers to try (interestingly enough, at a hospital convenient store).

First, one we'd never seen before: Oranjeboom ("orange tree"), from a Dutch brewery, which originated back as far as 1671 in one form or another, and is now owned by InBev. This has the lowest alcohol of anything we've seen: 0.1%. They call it a "non-alcoholic malt beverage." The word "beer" appears nowhere on the label.

Excitement rose as it poured: beautiful, rich, golden color, and frothy head. The look of this n.a. beer would fool anybody. As expected, no aroma to speak of. The taste? Hard to place. It has hints of caramel and...orange, believe it or not. The faintest of beer taste lingering in there somewhere. It's a chimera on the tongue, very hard to place. But, good mouth feel and very refreshing and drinkable. We'll definitely pick this one up again for a taste.

Next, we picked up a big name: Clausthaler "Extra Herb". This is probably the granddaddy of n.a. brews, dating back to 1979! Ok: it pours well, with a tall head, and the color is really light. It's got the aroma of a light beer. And the taste and mouthfeel? Light beer. Maybe we picked up really fresh bottles but, man, we'd be hard pressed to distinguish this from a real, light American beer. It's got a tiny tangy finish that might give it away, but a blindfold taste-test might fool us. If you like light American beers, this is a great alternative for you.

The company says it uses a special yeast in a patented process that doesn't produce as much fermentable sugar (maltose), rather than the other methods of n.a production. They even offer 5 other varieties of n.a. beers!

Brewing Non-alcoholic Beers

NEW YORK-PRAGUE. We're fascinated by the brewing process. A bigger mystery to us, however, was how n.a. beers are brewed.

It turns out that there are several techniques to 'get the lead out' of beer. First, we've seen a suggestion to use high heat to remove the alcohol from regular beer, but we'd assume this would hurt taste. Second, you can freeze regular beer and pour off the alcohol. Most brewers use filtering (dialysis or reverse osmosis) to filter out the alcohol.

Biologically, you might interrupt the fermentation by quick pasteurization, once the desired alcohol level is reached. Fifth, you can, apparently, use certain strains of yeast that ferment only simple sugars. Finally, the yeast might be filtered out early to prevent full fermentation.

A serious, technical explanation of this process can be found here, posted by home-brewer Nicholas Franke, who tried some methods.

N.a. beers might be good to drink for the health benefits. Here's an explanation.

And some athletes swear by the drink, including at least one ironman triathlete.

Drinkin' and Drivin': Non-alcoholic Beers

NEW YORK. Increased awareness over the hazards inherent in alcohol consumption and operating heavy machinery has led to a surge in the amount of non-alcoholic beers on the market. We're thankful for this trend, and we'll be sampling these periodically and reporting back on this page.

While stuck for four-and-a-half hours at JFK airport yesterday (making a total of 12+ hours of airline delays for me in one 24-hour period, but who's counting), I thought I'd start the tastings.

The restaurant offered St. Pauli N.A. in bottles (we've yet to see a non-alcoholic brew on tap, but we're looking). The company claims it's the #1 imported N.A. beer in the U.S. It sports an alcohol content of 0.5%, so it's not for everyone.

There is no aroma to speak of, but the color is golden and pleasant. The head is somewhat flat but real enough. The taste is quite good, but very light. The finish is a pretty strong caramel. Not bad, but maybe a little too strong. Overall, quite drinkable, and recommended.

Another interesting mention is that the St. Pauli girl on the bottle a) has let her hair down, b) wears a thinner red choker, c) has gotten a little younger, and d) carries smaller mugs. The significance of all this in unknown.

Moving along, half a world away, on the same day, we tested Radegast Birell, brought to us by the same folks as Pilsner Urquell. This beer is probably the biggest Czech n.a. beer. A tad less alcohol: 0.49%. It's named after a slavic god of hospitality and crops.



The color is very light. But the head on this beer is for real. It's gorgeous, frothy, and white. We wish the taste was as bold. Alas, it's whisper-light. We'd call the taste "beer-like." It's got almost no finish and little mouth-feel. That's not to say that it might have it's place in the pantheon of drinks, but it's just not beer.

Czech Micro-Micro-Brewery: Vendelin

PRAGUE. Our travel schedule is filling up. Added to our ever-growing list of beer-cursions is Vendelin Krkoska's tiny micro-brewery in Vratislavice (near Liberec, northeast of Prague).

Mr. Krkoska has been brewing "Vendelin" since 1999, when he built his backyard pivovar (brewery) for about $4000 USD. His production maxes out at 100 liters a day. Only one pub has it on tap, but you can drive up yourself and buy a 50 liter keg ($41 USD), or sit and drink in his barn.

While we haven't yet had the pleasure of sampling the beer, his unpasteurised masterpiece is said to taste slightly sweet. One secret? All water used is from a spring on his property, with pure water coming from deep inside the Jizerske Mountains. Another? Rather than the steam process used by bigger breweries, he boils his beer using an open fire.

Word of his beer has traveled, and he's been approached to build breweries for others. He's already completed one for a Czech-run microbrewery in Honduras.

Hittin' the Night Train at Subway Inn

NEW YORK. Subway Inn, is a classic, seedy, NY drinking establishment lurking in the unlikely shadow of Bloomingdales, that upscale fashion house. Walking over to the Subway Inn across Lexington Ave., you are immediately struck by the red neon curves of the bar sign that seems completely out of place with the uppity stores that surround it. Once inside, you are immediately transported to another world, one where you might expect to run into Mike Hammer sitting on a stool, or any host of unsavory characters from a noir film like Hans Beckert, and quite a few drunks stooped over their drinks. The place dates back to the 1930s and is proud to broadcast its age and dinginess in the form of a dust-encrusted deco veneer and the blackened mirrors of the bar. But what strikes you most are the red neon lights which bathe the place in a brothel-like glow. It's a dive bar, pure and simple, and thus the perfect place for a beer. As you might expect, drinks are cheap, ranging from Corona, Brooklyn Lager, Yuengling, Budweiser to Bud Lite. Yuengling and Brooklyn Lager are the picks of the bunch. Years ago, drinks were served in perfectly chilled mugs, but regrettably times have changed and today you can only buy beer in bottles. We recently hunkered down in one of the vinyl booths to toss back a few brews and soak up the bad amateur art, the ubiquitous photos of Marilyn Monroe and the curios that line the top of the bar-- including a Godzilla figure and a number of boats. Be sure to stop by the juke box which features an eclectic selection of musical styles and tastes. Another unique feature, and a rare treat, is trying to navigate the bathroom after a few shots-- it seems someone thought it would be funny if the bathroom floor sloped dramatically making some "activities" more challenging than normal. We encourage you to visit the Inn soon because this landmark's days are numbered. Like so many other places in New York, the building where it's housed has been sold for $6.3 million doubtless to be replaced by some characterless storefront. Subway Inn, 143 East 60th Street, New York, NY 10022. Tel. (212) 223-8929

Lance Loves Us

NEW YORK. We don't confine ourselves to just beer and golf here. We're also runners. So, we were heartened at Lance Armstrong's comments after his (excellent) finish in yesterday's NYC Marathon.

There were two choice quotes. Today's Metro newspaper said that, after he "shuffled into" the press conference, he said, "In 20 years of pro sports and endurance sports, even the worst days on the Tour, nothing felt like that or left me the way I feel now." And when asked if he'd do another marathon, he said, "I don't know how these guys do it."

Because we love it, Lance. It's kind of like the old biker bumpersticker: "If you have to ask, you wouldn't understand."

Community of Beer

Here's an interesting site we stumbled across a while back: www.ratebeer.com. Essentially, it's an online community that you can join to rate beers and chat. They claim to have thousands of members.

Their overall ratings are good, but slanted toward American ales. Not surprising, considering the overwhelming majority of the members are Americans, and the membership is heavily slanted toward Californians, which might explain California's big showing in the rankings.

That said, individual reviews are heartfelt and earnest. A tip of the frosty mug goes out to the reviewers!

Beering it up at Ole Miss

Tailgating at Ole Miss

OXFORD, Miss. – Tailgating in the United States, especially in the South, is a recognized art form. No where is this more apparent than during crisp fall days on the campus of Ole Miss in Oxford, Miss. where tailgating in The Grove is a renowned football tradition. I had the great fortune to head down there last weekend to catch the Ole Miss – Auburn game and throw back lots of beer.

On game day thousands collect in The Grove, an area of about 10 acres of thick oak, elm and magnolia. Festivities begin around 6 a.m. when the men head over to their tents to set up and prepare for the day’s festivities. It’s a massive party – part cocktail party with the men dressed up in blazers and rep ties and the ladies in dresses – part frat party with prodigious amounts of drinking – even though technically, drinking is not allowed in The Grove.

Tables dressed to perfection struggle under the weight of all sorts of homemade food from fried chicken, sausage balls, pimento cheese dips, chips, sandwiches, brownies, cookies, cakes and pies. A recent addition to many of the tents is a flat screen TV making tracking the day’s football games a breeze and helping to extend the partymaking well beyond the end of the game. This past weekend, many had their tables decked out in pumpkins and other Halloween finery.

Of course, the critical ingredient for me and many of my fellow tailgaters actually lies underneath the tables. That’s where you’ll get access to the coolers holding the beer. My friend’s tent decided to keep it simple – sticking to all-American beverages – MGD, Miller Lite and Budweiser.

I sat there thinking about Bud and why one in every two beers consumed in America is a Bud. It’s always been known as a pounding beer – which I still think it is. I poured my Bud out being careful to get lots of air in it and noticed that the head dissipated quickly. It smelled a bit of rice and almost not at all of hops. It’s a very pale yellow color. Going down it’s a little bitter, watery and I feel like a can also taste some of the beechwood chips that they use in the aging process and that supposedly contributes to its smoothness. The beer is way too carbonated as it goes down the throat. One thing that it does have going for it is its nice clean finish – this is probably the biggest reason for its drinkability. It’s a beer that’s got to be very cold to be enjoyable.

Thus passed my perfectly enjoyable Fall afternoon -- amid the throngs of fans and reverberations of the Rebel battle cry, “Hotty Totty” drinking beer after cold refreshing beer watching the games on TV, chatting up the locals, and eyeing up the Ole Miss football team as they march through along the Walk of Champions, the brick path that runs through the Grove, to the Vaught Hemingway Stadium.

Although Ole Miss did wind up losing to Auburn 24 – 17, from scene of revelry in the Grove, you’d never know it.

Battle of the Titans: Cheap Beers Go Head-to-Head

PRAGUE. In the neverending quest for more, better, different, we decided to go bottom of the barrel to sample three of the cheapest bottled beers we could get our hands on.

Now, this being the Czech Republic, we expected that even the cheapest brews would rank higher than some of the major-label cheap beers we grew up on. (Reminds us of the description Sid Vicious was rumored to have given of his "girlfriend" Nancy Spungen: 'the kind of girl who licks out toilets.' Which might lead some to think she enjoyed the taste of Bud Lite.)

We were not disappointed. They blow away the American competition, hands down.

The three were Klasik, from the folks that bring you Pilsner Urquell, Měšt'an (which roughly translates as "townie" or "bourgeois"), from the Staropramen brewery in Prague (owned by big InBev), and a grocery-store generic called Lahváč (slang, which means, literally, "bottled beer"), from the Holba brewery (in Hanušovice in northern Moravia, near the Polish border).

Klasik is the priciest of our three, weighing in a budget-breaking 7 Czech crowns (that's 32 U.S. cents, plus bottle deposit, even in these days of rock-bottom dollar exchange rates) for a half liter bottle (that's basically a pint, folks). At 3.8% alcohol, it's a light beer.

Měšt'an was our former cheap-o champ, at 5.90 crowns (27 U.S. cents, plus deposit). It now even comes in the handy 1.5 liter plastic bottle too! At 3.2% alcohol, it's the lowest of the three.

Lahváč was one we hadn't seen before. It cost a budget-busting 4.30 crowns (19.5 cents, plus a deposit that was only 1 crown less than the full bottle itself). It's got 3.5% alcohol. A true "lawnmower beer" in the truest sense (that is, nothing better to drink on a hot summer day while pushing around the mower--an American tradition).

First, in beers this light, forget aroma. There isn't any. Second, as to appearance, none has the beautiful, golden color of a great pilsner (but neither does any big American so-called "pilsner"). So skip these tasting points.

Drum roll, please. The cheap bottled beer November 2nd 2006 award goes to Měšt'an. Out of the three, it has the biggest taste. It's remarkably drinkable (although we'd avoid the plastic bottle--it's not bourgeois enough for us). Klasik has a poor mouthfeel and a funny, sweet finish that we couldn't place: wood? Lahváč, while it had the best foamy, white head, and the best color, is just a plain, old light beer; simple, nothing to write home about. But buy it when your budget is tight. Měšt'an, while being the flattest (unfortunately), actually has a little bit of complexity to it.

After conducting this non-scientific taste-testing, we weren't surprised to find that Měšt'an actually won Czech beer of the year in 1996 (the PIVEX Golden Cup award).

We'd spend our 27 cents on Měšt'an. Save up your 8 cents to buy it instead of Lahváč, and save your 5 cents over Klasik. And, of course, return the bottle.

Zingerone Gingerol Beer

NEW YORK. Did you find drinking Ginger Beer as a kid gave you the sense that you were drinking a somewhat better soft drink/soda/pop/coke?

The stuff simply has more gravitas; in flavour, packaging, and it's very nature of being brewed. Like real beer.

Was reminded of this whilst ripping into a superb Fentimans Botanically Brewed Ginger Beer with a tremendous cheese sandwich from the nonpareil Murray's Cheese. Wonderful balance of sweetness and ginger burn, to wash down a classic parkbench lunch in Greenwich Village.

Of particular interest, was the disclosure that this zesty elixir had "not more than 0.5% alcohol by volume". Clearly brewed, and proud of it.

Reminded me of the selection not too long ago of a Hitachino Nest Ginger Ale to go with some sushi, carted back for a desk lunch. Packaging looked innocent enough, it's just the soft stuff, right ? POW ! First sip revealed a real punch; not just of ginger, but of ... actual booze. It's a magnificent concoction with the richness of 4 malts AND 3 hops goodness, from the exceedingly high quality Kiuchi Brewery.

At 7% a/v it would have been great to finish right there. But you'd agree, tucking into beers at work, is great if you work at a brewery, but in a cube farm, somewhat career limiting. So, sadly down the sink it went.

By the way. The heading, whilst sounding like a great new album title for a ironic postmodern 80's synthesizer-guitar revival band, is actually two of the active components in ginger, before and during the brewing process.

Easy Beer Tasting Guide

We found a simple, good beer-tasting guide on-line. Here.

New North Korean Tests

PRAGUE. North Korea's only 18-hole golf course, Taesong, is hosting a tourney tomorrow. This is a promotion to--sit down for this one--spur business investment in NK. The managing director of the Korea Business Consultancy, the event's host, was even quoted as saying the event has "razzmatazz." Does that mean they've scheduled an above-ground test this weekend? We're sure the reviews for the event will be glowing.

Tanks for the Land Back

PRAGUE. Ok, it has nothing to do with golf or beer, but it sure wins our "newstory of the week" title.

A German news source reported the story of a Czech man who used a WWII-era German tank to get back some land taken from him by the former government. Maximilian Simek escaped to Canada from Czechoslovakia in the 1980s, but returned to win the return of some family property appropriated by the Communists.

A resilient man, when he didn't meet with success against the bureaucrats, he drove a tank up to the steps of the Ostrava city hall in 2004, to demand his land back. Although he never fired a shot, he, apparently, parked the tank nearby at a crossroads since the standoff started.

The city hall just granted the return of his property, and he agreed to move his tank.

Old School Golf

PRAGUE. Yesterday, I ventured out to the "second oldest" Czech golf course, dating back to 1928, a course whose members included the likes of Jan Masaryk (T.G.'s son, and an early leader of the Czech nation): Golf Club Líšnice.

Today being the official anniversary of the birth of the Czechoslovakia nation, this deserves a blog (while hoisting an real Budweiser beer--not the rice 'beer' sold by Anheuser-Busch). (And it also deserves a timely mention that we here at welovebeerandgolf.com are still patiently waiting for the rightful return of Sub-Carpathian Ruthenia to the Czech & Slovak lands, dammit!)

Back to the story: this course is a 9-holer and cheap (550 Kcs/$25USD during the week for 18 holes, i.e., twice around). However, while it's only a very short 25 km south-south-west of Prague, you get what you pay for. While the staff and the other folks on the course are very pleasant, the course left this reviewer longing for greener fairways.

Now, to be very fair, this is a terrific course for beginners. It's essentially what Americans would call an "executive 9," insofar as it's short (4948m/5411 yds). You can tell it's been built on some very rocky soil, with very few trees. It almost appears as if they could cut less of the grass and sculpt the course better, letting some areas go fallow but focusing more on the fairways, and throwing in some new landscaping to break between adjoining fairways. But, we're not course designers, we're players, and what do we know?

Go there. Take your kids to play there (it's kid-friendly). Teach your significant other to play there. Introduce someone new to the game. Or, just use it for a quick (very quick) round. Unlike poor J.M., thankfully, you don't have to risk defenestration at the hands of Communists to play anymore.

Love of the 3-Hour Round

PRAGUE. We here love fall golf for one main reason: the crowds are thinning. Today, I stepped out to a lovely course I hadn't played before, close to the north-east of Prague, called Golf & Country Club Mstětice. I was the very first on the course at 9am, and had it all to myself for the duration. The consequence: a clean, easy, 3:05 round walking. Love it!

Now, let me sing the praises of this 4-year-old (the back 9 opened just last year), 6296m (6885 yd.) course. The greens were by far the best I've played in years. I am not kidding. There is only one word to describe them: pristine. Likewise, the teeboxes were exceptionally well maintained, and so were the fairways. The sand is real sand, and it's been raked. (What a dream after Forest Park a few weeks back.)

The course itself is a beautiful, wide-open, links-style 18-holer cut out of the corn fields in this breadbasket region of the Czech Republic. Very few trees, but beware of the rough, or bring extra balls--they're evoking Scottish links here. (Also, beware of the 2 meter deep sand trap right of the green on the 2nd!) If you play the whites (equivalent to the blues in the States) like I did, you'll be challenged by the carry from the tees--they are often long, filled with scrub grass, and the starts of most fairways are narrow. Only pull out the big guns if you shoot straight, or you'll suffer ('I coulda sworn it landed right here!').

Weekday rate: 950 Czech crowns (about $42 USD), and worth every penny.

Highly recommended.

Getting Weck'd in Buffalo

NEW YORK. Up visiting the Great Uncle and Aunt in Toronto on a fall weekend, flying way cheap on JetBlue via Buffalo.

Didn't get a chance to bring the sticks as it was a day trip. Shame, as there appears to be some "neat-o" golf around the Niagara area.

Especially enticing was the heavily promoted Big John Daly's Thundering Waters course. You know, the one he PR-stunted; trying 20 times to water carry a golf ball 342 yards over Niagara Falls to no avail. PR works party people.

But hey, what with no golf, there was a chance for a beer. First, a Labatt Blue at the rellie's house. This was a beaut, as there's nothing quite like being handed a sweet icy can from your 85 y.o. Great Uncle, and enjoying the bevvy in wise and fascinating octogenarian company.

Back at Buffalo Airport, biding an hour with the missus at The Frank Lloyd Wright inspired Landmark Bar, enjoyed a few Molson Canadians. These went down mighty fine with local cuisine, the now frat bar ubiquitous Buffalo Wings, and an excellent beef, salt and coriander regional speciality sandwich, the Beef on Weck.

What with some Sabres or Maple Leafs hockey on the box and perhaps the addition of some local brews at said bar befitting the rich brewing history of the Buffalo area it could be a perfect stopover, especially if you're snowed in, as last week's terrible storms did to many.

You'd be verily "beer' wecked" in Buffalo.

Like a Saint Bernard...

...we go running for beer. And tonight, it's not just any beer, but another straight from a Czech tap. Bernard is a smaller brand that's easier to find than this weekend's brews (see prior posts below), but still not one of the larger breweries.

The brewery is the Bernard family's 1991 revival of a 16th century brewery in Humpolec.

I stepped back into the Vinohrady neighborhood of Prague, and into a funky pub called Kvelb & Pub Pasticka ("PAHS-tich-ka").

I had both types of Bernard they have on tap: a 12 degree svetly, and 11 degree "polotmave" ('half-dark' or 'amber lager') beer. Now, let me tell you. These beers are sweet. They are both tasty, but they are some of the sweetest lagers out there. Recommended.

You have to love these guys: they have a great explanation on their website as to why pasteurization of beer is akin to physical abuse:
"During pasteurisation, the beer is heated to a temperature of over 80 °C, which eliminates all microorganisms present in the beer. This drastic treatment, when the beer is given a shock by being "torn" from the calm of the lager cellar, guarantees a longer lifetime for the beer, but damages its taste and colour."

Golf Courses Disappear in the U.S.

NEW YORK. An article in this week's Economist notes that, for the first time in years, the number of golf courses closing have exceeded the number of courses opening in the U.S. They note that even the number of rounds of golf have declined by 4% since 2000.

Even Myrtle Beach, SC, the self-titled "Seaside Golf Capital of the World," has slid backwards since 1999, after seeing a tripling of courses (to 105) in the last 25 years. They've lost a net of six courses since 1999.

This surely seems to buck the trend we've seen in NYC, where the number of golfers have skyrocketed, packing courses to unplayable levels (cases in point: a 7+ hour round at Dyker Beach, Brooklyn, 2 years ago, and 2 holes at Pelham/Split Rock, Bronx, which took over 1.5 hours and caused us to pack it in).

Tonight's Pub Crawl--All Good Things Must End--episode #3

PRAGUE. I was out the door before the slivovice and beers kicked in. The higher the "degrees" of a beer (a measurement of the specific gravity of the beer during the brewing process--to be explained in a later post), the higher the alcohol.

But I was undeterred in my quest for the last beer on tonight's tour: Mestansky Pivovar v Policce, which dates back to 1517. Their flagship pub in Prague is located in the Vinohrady neighborhood, straight west of the center. The restaurant is called Hrom do police. (No, that's not "police" as in "F the Police," but rather, literally, "thunder to the shelves" which colloquially translates into our phrase 'bull in a china shop.' In Czech, the name of the town where the beer is from, Policka, means "shelf" or "ledge," which lends itself to the pun for the restaurant name. It's pronounced "POH-lit-seh.")

This is the largest of tonight's three pubs. Twelve tables in a basement setting, with a large menu to order from.

Here, I grabbed a bite to eat, and tasted the last beer of the night: the 12 degree svetly ("light," remember?), called Zavis (pronounced "ZAH-veesh"). This is a very smooth beer. I'd recommend it to those who are new to the pilsner world, since it's lacking the bitterness common in pilsners. It's crisp, light, and vanishes from the palate completely, with, just maybe, a hint of caramel.

All in all, a successful night.

Tonight's Pub Crawl Continues--episode #2

PRAGUE. Like a Lay's Potato Chip--you can't have just one. So, I continued my crawl south. Next stop: the Cerna Hora (Black Mountain) brew pub, called restaurant Kralovstvi, on Kubelikova ulice (street), just around the corner from the big Prague TV tower, high atop the hill in Zizkov. This place felt like home: small restaurant with only four big tables, run by a husband and wife team, with their young son running around. Bartender drinking shots with the locals. I soon joined the fun. They also served five types of beer from the Cerna Hora brewery: a 10 degree light called Tas, a 12 degree light called Lezak, a 14 degree called Kvasar, and a dark 12 degree brew called Granat (grenade). The brewery dates back to at least October 28, 1530. I started with the Lezak: smooth, crisp pilsner taste. It literally vanishes in the back palate. Smoother than Podkovan, it is even more refreshing. Once done with that, I asked the barkeep about Kvasar. This is a honey and wheat beer, with the honey added near the end of the process. It was impossible to taste the wheat, unlike a hefeweizen, but I could notice the honey taste, very slightly. All I can say is smooth, smooth, smooth, with the slightest, vanishing bitterness. A truly exquisite beer. I loved it. I will be back. While I was enjoying the Kvasar, the barkeep asked me if I wanted to try the special slivovice (plum brandy) that was made specially for this pub. Not one to miss a good slivovice (I always keep a bottle of the home-made stuff around to share with close friends), I gladly gave in and drank up. We toasted a quick "nazdravi" (to your health) and downed the clear liquid. Quite a nice chaser to a fine beer. I paid my 48 crowns ($2.14 USD) for the drinks and left.

Prague Pub Crawl--episode #1

PRAGUE. Upon reading an article in this month's in-flight Czech Airlines magazine, I was spurred to go out and hit some regional brew-pubs that I'd, unfortunately, neglected over the years.

Now, I've lived in Prague for some time, and I've been surprised and dismayed by the dominance (ever growing!) of the larger breweries. As such, I try to support local brewing craft and smaller breweries because they are, frankly, generally better than the big guys. But, it's getting harder and harder. I was happy to have a couple of suggestions for new places to go.

Case in point, although I lived in Plsen for a time, I generally avoid Pilsner Urquell, the number one Czech brew, which is now owned by the international brewery mega-conglomerate, South African SABMiller (yes, the people that bring you Miller Lite, Henry Weinhard's, Amstel, Peroni, and Milwaukee's Best). Interestingly, I've had P.U. in both Prague and NYC on the very same day, and it tastes completely different, for reasons I don't understand. That all being said, the Pilsen brewery makes one of the world's finest beers, the not-for-export Gambrinus, which is marvelous.

And, even my old neighborhood brew, Staropramen, in the Prague working-class neighborhood of Smichov (west of the river, south of the castle), is now owned by the Belgian conglomerate InBev (the folks that bring you Leffe, Stella Artois, Brahma, and Beck's).

Tonight, forgetting about the big boys, and yearning for craft brewing, I started at Pivovar Podkovan, which has a brew pub at restaurace U Radnice ('restaurant at the city hall'), in the Zizkov neighborhood of Prague (east side), on Havlickovo namesti, right off Prokopova street. They operate a small restaurant, with only eighteen tables. The beer is obviously the focus.

They serve--on tap--five types of beer (I'll explain the types in another post), including a dark 10 degree, light 10 degree, 12 degree yeast beer, a 12 degree light beer, and a 14 degree beer. The brewery itself dates back to 1434.

I had the 12 degree svetly (light), which is the standard, premium beer (with an alcohol content somewhere around 5%). At 17 Czech crowns (about $0.76 USD) for a half-liter (about a pint), it's a gift from the gods. It was not flowery, but slightly bitter in a refreshing way (as any pilsner should be), with a very soft back-palate. The slight bitterness lingered after the taste. I highly recommend it. It's refreshing and light. Fantastic. I'll be back.

And, surprise, surprise, they apparently export to the U.S., under the name "Diplomat." Look for it.

Finally Someone Who Understands

NEW YORK. While surfing, we found the following article on pilsners, by Jordan Mackay:
Something More Than Crappy Pilsner: Americans learn how to make good beer.
Bless you, Jordan, for helping to steer the uninitiated away from the swill made by the big American breweries.

Stay Away from Forest Park GC!

NEW YORK. We did a round at an empty Forest Park Golf Course in Queens (NYC). A favorite of ours because it's normally a nice course and there's the potential for "subway golf"--being able to get there without a car. All in all, one of our top courses in NYC.

Now we know why it was empty: it was in the worst shape of any course we've seen in recent memory. Greens torn up, plugged, and heavily sanded. And I'm talking seven holes with unplayable greens. We've played better maintained putt-putt courses. A night and day difference from when we were there in May this year.

Our advice is to stay away until spring.

Golf Bulgaria!

NEW YORK. Here's a neat post on gadling.com about golf in Bulgaria. It's on our list, maybe for Golf Tour Europe 2007. . . .