Garrett Oliver and The Oxford Companion to BeerFor the first time in American Craft Beer Week’s six-year history, events took place in every state! And no one understands the rise of craft beer better than Garrett Oliver. The Brooklyn Brewery brewmaster and award-winning author of The Brewmaster’s Table (2005) is finishing up his latest feat as editor-in-chief of The Oxford Companion to Beer. Oliver embarked on the work over a year ago with a preliminary list of 500 topics; 1,120 references and 160 additional writers later, the tome will drop in October. In a recent online post by Food & Wine magazine, Oliver revealed some of the groundbreaking subjects that will be covered and what he thinks you should be drinking (and eating) now. What convinced you to sign on? There are a lot of subjects that we in the craft-brewing community might use every day that are literally not written down. So if you want to know about, say, dry-hopping—adding hops after fermentation for extra flavor and aroma, which is done by 80 to 95 percent of all the breweries in the United States—there is precisely nothing to read. What other categories are you breaking ground in? Sour beers. Barrel aging:There’s a huge movement all over the world now interested in deriving flavors from wooden barrels. You will read about Amarillo, a hop variety: where it comes from, how it developed, what its genetic parents are, how it grows in a field, and how people tend to use it. But then, right before that, you’d read [an entry called] Ale House, about the history of the ale house from Roman times to its development into the modern pub. So it really covers not only things scientific and technical, but also cultural and historic things. What’s the most surprising country making beer? Of course when we think of Italy, we think of wine. But Italy has 350 breweries, and Italian brewers are really excited, creative and using a lot of their background in food to inform what they do on the beer side. Scandinavia is also a big story. We might think of one or two beers, like Carlsberg, but there are many dozens of breweries in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, etc. Do you cover foods to eat with beer? What’s your favorite pairing? There are sections on food-and-beer pairing. I’ve done about 700 beer dinners in 12 countries, and I wrote a 360-page book on beer-and-food pairings. But this time of year, for example, I love saison, which is a Belgian-style wheat beer. [At Brooklyn Brewery] we have a new one coming out called Sorachi Ace, based on a particular hop variety of that name, and I think it’s really great with grilled salmon and shrimp dishes—lighter dishes you might grill in summertime. How much has beer culture evolved in the last decade? It’s really pretty incredible. When I first started traveling, I would go overseas and say, “Oh, I’m an American brewer,” and people would just be dripping with disdain: “Oh, yes, we have heard of your American beer.” Because they were thinking about just the mass-market beer. We now have over 1,700 breweries in the United States, and we have the most vibrant beer culture in the world, bar none. What’s amazing is that now, we go to Germany and Belgium and Italy and, to a large extent, brewers all over the world look up to the United States. Twenty years ago it was exactly the opposite.” |
Beer will be Flowing for Big Brew Day!Dear Datz: I received the Big Brew Day flyer in my email inbox this week, and it looks great, but I¹m a little confused. Can you tell me more about Brew Day and Special Hoperations? Mark
Mark! I was glad to learn of your interest in our Brew Day and I’d love to yell you more about it. Brew Day is being held and run by the newly formed South Tampa homebrew club Special Hoperations. Datz has been great and supports us whole heartedly, and they don’t hesitate to host our club meetings or events. So Datz is really our de facto headquarters. The May 1st Brew Day will be Special Hoperations first event. As its also National Homebrew Day, we are centering the day on the three beer recipes that the American Homebrewers Association encourages brewers to make. However, don’t feel locked on to this. If you want to come out and brew something of your own choosing, please do! Our goal is really just to get together in the fellowship of craft brewmaking. You do not have to RSVP for Brew Day, but I encourage you to come to our next Special Hoperations meeting. We hold meetings the 2nd and 4th Mondays at 6:30 p.m. at Datz, so our next meeting will be Monday the 26. As an experienced brewer we would absolutely love to get you involved with us! Dues for membership are a whopping $15 a year. With membership, Southern Brewing Supply offers 10% off their grains and hops. Oh, and make sure to bring some of your beer to our meetings! We all try to bring in something for everybody to sample/critique. As for brew day, bring whatever equipment you need to make a batch of beer, including ingredients. Datz will supply us with a water source, but otherwise its on the individual to bring their own equipment. One great thing about a brew day is to inspect what other brewers use and see how they do things. We are starting the day officially at 11 a.m., but most of us will probably get there by 10 a.m. to start setting up. For more information about the AHA Big Brew Day and for a copy of the recipes, log onto the American Homebrewers Association website. Special Hoperations also has a fledgling website: www.specialhoperations.com. It’s only about a week old, so there is not a lot there right now, but go back often. Again, Mark it was great to hear of your interest and we look forward to meeting you. Please don’t hestiate to contact me with any other questions or comments. Cheers! Danny Reid President, Special Hoperations |
MICRO GOES MACRO734BVUFG3ZGA Stop what you’re doing. You. Put down that mass-produced, fizzy yellow water that you call “beer” and back away. Real, hand-crafted, artisanal beer is so much more. Sometimes cloudy and citrusy, other times dark and mysterious, and always – always – more interesting that that other stuff. We need a beer revolt, Tampa. Why shouldn’t we be able to have a Chimay at the movie theater in Ybor? Or Victory on the 19th Hole! Rise up and demand great beer!! I digress…but then again, that’s the mission of Beer Geek and Datz. To deliver great beer, and great beer knowledge, to the masses. Over 90 different bottles and soon to be 23 on tap. (Haven’t you heard? Datz is busy building a second bar!) Dogfish 90. Avery White Rascal. Left Hand Milk Stout. Rogue Hazelnut. If we could get our hands on some Victory or Blue Point kegs, those might just be on rotation too. …But back to you. With the crappy beer. If the words “jai” and “alai” make you think of the cestas and not Cigar City Brewing, then you have much to learn. Come quickly to the beer classes at Datz. From Germany to Belgium, Christmas to Barley Wine, these classes are fun, informational and the tastings are free. I said it. Free. Until next time, my new friends, beer geek asks you this: If you could have any beer in the world what would it be? Would you select something that you are familiar with and can regularly get? Or would you select something that you have never had and is extremely rare and hard to get your hands on? |