Long before American Beer Month began in July, Kalamazoo Brewing Co. founder Larry Bell began evangelizing. “The most dynamic beer culture in the world is here. There is more going on with brewing in America than anywhere else,” he said. A style “may come from somewhere else, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a true American treasure.”
More people are drinking more interesting beer in more places than even three years ago.
American Beer Month was created by the Institute for Brewing Studies and brewers’ guilds across the nation to raise awareness of the variety and quality of American craft beers. The designation of a beer month gave us an excuse to find out if Bell is right. We drank beer from Salida, CO, to New York City. Along the way:
- We toured one of America’s most modern facilities, New Belgium Brewing in Fort Collins, CO, and the oldest brewery, D. G. Yuengling in Pottsville, PA. Both are among the fastest growing breweries in the United States.
- We sampled gruit, an ancient style that predates the use of hops, from a brewpub that is part of a far-flung chain.
- We attended a large Fourth of July celebration in the Southwest where the only beers available were from small breweries.
- We saw plenty of high-quality imports at a tap house with 112 taps in Oklahoma City, in a state best known in beer circles for 3.2 beer.
- While in Baltimore, we had a delightful American version of an extra special bitter on hand pump, then visited a Mexican restaurant that pays tribute to both Elvis Presley and National Bohemian beer.
- We were reminded that beer remains a pleasure, sometimes enjoyed because it is a source of local pride, sometimes for the conversation that goes with it, and sometimes for the taste.
More people are drinking more interesting beer in more places than even three years ago. Many American brewers are glad to oblige consumers’ willingness to try more flavorful beers.
One evening, we sampled a variety of American pale and India pale ales along with patrons at KClinger’s Tavern in Hanover, PA. Among the beers was Hop Infusion from Weyerbacher Brewing in Easton, PA. The ale lives up to its name, leaving an impression as strong as better-known hoppy beers from farther west. Three years ago, brewer/owner Dan Weirback also produced a second line of beers under the Two Rivers Brewhouse label, aiming to broaden his market with more mainstream offerings. That line has been discontinued, since assertive beers such as Blithering Idiot Barley Wine and QUAD (a Belgian-style quadrupel) developed a loyal following.
A Gruit Revival
In Boulder, the fact that BJ’s Pizza, Grill & Brewery is part of a chain doesn’t keep Derek Osborne from experimenting. He brought a gruit to the Colorado Brewers Rendezvous on July 1 in Salida. In Sacred and Herbal Healing Brews, author Stephen Buhner explains that beer with hops began to supplant gruit in the 16th century, primarily as a result of the Protestant Reformation and the fight against using narcotic herbs in brewing.
Osborne made the gruit in May with the second runnings from a barley wine, using bog myrtle, yarrow and chamomile (instead of more traditional wild rosemary). He answered questions about gruit for almost four hours non-stop in Salida, explaining the traditional narcotic⎯and perhaps aphrodisiacal⎯effects of the beer.
“Will I be able to drug test next week?” one festival goer asked. Osborne explained that he had used small amounts of each herb. The result was a complex and beautifully balanced beer, with plenty of licorice and cinnamon. The chamomile added a bit of honey to the taste and the yarrow, citrus and tartness often associated with Cascade hops.
Osborne was disappointed to learn that two different brewers in New Jersey and another in Oregon have recently made gruits. “I was hoping I was the first in about 1,000 years,” he said, smiling.
The Colorado Brewers Rendezvous was an official American Beer Month event, complete with logo on the tasting glasses. Three days later there was no mention of ABM at the Rio Rancho, NM, Fourth of July celebration, but Turtle Mountain Brewing Co. of Rio Rancho and Tractor Brewing Co. of Los Lunas generated just the awareness that ABM organizers hoped for nationally.
The daylong celebration attracted an estimated 80,000 people for live music, kids’ activities and a laser light show that capped off the evening. Those who wanted alcoholic drinks had a choice of specialty spirits from a local restaurant/bar or Turtle Mountain and Tractor beers. Throughout the day, representatives of the breweries circulated through that area, offering small free samples. As the evening wore on, servers grew busier.
Tastes Great and…Tastes Great
The Boston Beer Co. and some other smaller breweries staged a variety of taste-offs during July, pitting American-brewed beers against some of the best-known imports. Since American beers consistently triumphed, this made a strong point. However, we found it more interesting to sample top-flight (if lesser-known) Belgian beers at Markt, a New York City restaurant serving Belgian cuisine, then have Ommegang from the Ommegang Brewery in Cooperstown, NY.
Would we have picked Ommegang over every one of those Belgian beers in a blind tasting? Probably not. Would we have given it a very high score, better than some if not others? Yes.
Imports are a vital part of the Oklahoma beer landscape. “We are seeing fewer micros,” said TapWerks Alehouse & Cafe owner Scott Woolum. “It seems like the ones who do best are strongest in the regions they come from.”
There are no distributing microbreweries based in Oklahoma. Thus, most of the 112 taps at the TapWerks in Oklahoma City’s up-and-coming Bricktown area offer imports. The same is true at the original TapWerks on Western Avenue, which has 80 taps.
Woolum founded the first just four years ago with 46 beers on tap. Then 15 of the choices were mainstream lagers; two years later TapWerks was up to 73 handles and Bud Light and Coors Light were the only mainstream beers on tap. TapWerks Bricktown opened last year with 112 taps behind both the upstairs and downstairs bars. Boulevard, brewed in Kansas City and the closest thing to a local beer, Anchor and Rogue Ales all have multiple handles, but the best selling beers are imports.
“Nobody else in the state bothers with these beers,” he said, “but we’ve showed the distributors we can sell them.”
