Meet the Brewer
CASK ALERT & MEET THE BREWER! Larry Bell of Bell’s Brewing!
If there were a Mount Rushmore for beer, Larry Bell — founder of Bell’s Brewery would be on it. This is a guy who started with a home brew shop in 1983, selling his first beer in 1985. Bell’s has done nothing but grow since then. I place him in such high esteem because Larry runs one of the oldest craft breweries in America. Larry Bell’s passion for craft brewing not only changed the face of beer in the US, but also inspired many to follow in his footsteps.
On Tuesday, 1/19/10 you have the chance to meet Larry Bell. I mention time and time again what a great opportunity it is to meet a brewer and understand beer from their prospective. Larry will also be tapping an EXTREMELY rare cask of “Van Twee” — the recent collaboration between Bell’s Brewery and De Proef Brewery in Belgium. Learn about Van Twee HERE.
Alongside the cask of Van Twee, you can finally get a taste of Hopslam, Bell’s very limited, seasonal Double IPA.
If that’s not enough, there will also be 14 other Bell’s beers to try. Yes, I typed that right. 14 more. Honestly, I doubt you can find a reason NOT to come meet Larry Bell, try a rare cask, and enjoy a great beer filled evening. See you there!
Taco Mac Metropolis, 6pm (01/19/10)
933 Peachtree Street N.E.
Atlanta, GA 30309
(404) 631-6526
@tmacmetropolis (on twitter)
Meet Heavy Seas founder, Hugh Sisson
I know I’ve said this before, and here I will say it again. You may know craft beer. You may know the lineup of a brewery. You may even be someone who can pick out the beers from a blind taste However, until you meet the brewer and speak to him or her about brewing, you don’t know it all. Want to know it all? Be at Brickstore Pub Tuesday night.
Hugh Sisson, founder/General Partner of Clipper City/Heavy Seas will be at Brickstore with the Heavy Seas lineup and special food pairings.
Read here on a previous write up about Hugh Sisson — http://bit.ly/zfru
First of all, its not a traditional beer dinner, i.e. no tickets need be purchased. Just show up, order a Heavy Seas, and perhaps start up a conversation with Hugh Sisson.
Starts around 5 pm, (November 17th) until the beer runs dry.
More info follow. Check out @atlbeermaster, @atlantabeer, & @brickstorepub for more info.
UPDATE! – Here is the beer lineup for tonight.
Yule Tide – Cask
Winter Storm Cask – ESB, 7.5% ABV. Hops – Magnum, Fuggle, Cascade, Centennial and Chinook. Malts – Pale, Crystal, Carapils and Munich.
Winter Storm – Draft. Regular offering of this ESB
08 ‘Hang Ten – Weizenbock, 10% ABV. July seasonal.
Great Pumpkin Bottles – Bourbon barrel aged – Imperial Pumpkin ale, 8.5% ABV. Seasonal fall ale, with secret malts, hops, spices.
06′ Below Decks – Barleywine, 10%+. Aged since 2006. Traditionally offered in December.
09′ Below Decks – Barleywine, 10%. Upcoming 2009 release of this BW.
Other bottles include –
Big DIPA – Imperial IPA, 10.6% ABV. 5 hops, 3 malts. Released in June. Not sold currently.
Also, – Winter Storm, & Loose Cannon
(Please excuse the terrible spacings/margins. Trying to correct…)
Meet the Brewer – Francois de Harenne, Orval – Wrapup
Francois de Harenne (on rt.)
Another great opportunity to meet a beer brewer has come and gone — and this time it was even more unique and special. Francois de Harenne made it all the way from Belgium to 5 Seasons Westside. I found it to be an honor to have Orval with the brewer himself.
As it turns out, Francois de Harenne’s great grandmother provided the land/money to rebuild Orval in the later 1920’s. Francois has been connect to Orval for generations now. He shared a lot of info out how the beer is brewed, and even shared tips about yeast and fermentation to homebrewers.
Again, special thanks to 5 Seasons West, Hop City, and Merchant du Vin.
Meet the Brewer – Francois de Harenne, Orval Brewery. TONIGHT!
While meeting a brewer of a beer can be a bit of a rare opportunity — here is one a bit more rare. Orval Brewer Francois de Harenne will be at 5 Seasons Westside Skybar today only.
Orval Brewery (Brasserie d’Orval) is a Belgian Trappist Brewery located in Villers-devant-Orval, Belgium. Now you may have seen the term “Trappist” used in the titles of various beers. Many people aren’t entirely sure what that means. Basically — the beer is brewed under control of Trappist monks. These monks are a branch of Cistercian orders, Roman Catholic, and follow the Rules of St. Benedict. (The spirit of this rule? Summed up in the motto – Ora et Labora or Work and Pray.) There is more to the Benedictine rules and this order (73 chapters), but at one point you need to stop reading my site and get back to work.
Since Orval is a Trappist brewery, you may have figured it is located on the grounds Abbaye Notre-Dame d’Orval . (Monastery.) Orval produces 2 Trappist beers.
Orval Trappist Ale — 6.2% ABV. First produced in 1931. Unique taste due to the unique yeast strain.
Petite Orval — 3.5%, ABV. Brewed solely for the monks at the monastery. AKA “Patersbier” or “Father’s Beer”
While there are more than 170 breweries that make Trappist Ales, only 8 are brewed under the control of Trappist Monks, and carry the “Authentic Trappist Product” logo on the bottle. Those breweries include Orval, Chimay, Westmalle, La Trappe, Rochefort, Aschel, Westvleteren, Koningshoeven (according to the Trappist Assoc. website.)
History of the Orval Brewery dates the earliest brewing around the year 1628. The current brewery was built in 1931, corresponding with Orval Ale’s first production. Another interesting fact about Orval. You may have noticed, or will today, that the logo has fish on it. In the fishes mouth — a ring. This logo explains the story of the founding of the Abbey.
Matilda of Tuscany (AKA Matilda of Canossa born in 1056) , a widow visiting the site of the Abbey, lost the wedding ring of her lost love. Saddened by this loss, Matilda prayed for the return of the ring. As an answer to her prayers, a trout appeared with the wedding ring in it’s mouth. In her excitement, Matilda announced “Truly this place is a Val d’Or!” (French for “Valley of Gold.”) From than statement, Orval is derived. The logo is the coat of arms for the brewery. To show her gratitude for the ring’s return she founded a monastery on the site. The spring in which the trout rose from the water still provides water to Orval for brewing.
Francois de Harenne of Orval Brewery will be at 5 Seasons sky bar from 4-530 pm. Special thanks to Craig at Hop City, and 5 Seasons Westside.
5 Seasons West
1000 Marietta St
Atlanta, GA 30318
Peak Organic Brewing Owner & Free Tasting @ Octane Coffee
Peak Organic Pale
Tonight at Octane Coffee, meet the Co-Founder of Peak Organic Brewing Rob Lucente with Kraig Torres of Hop City.
Peak Organic Brewing Company started after buying brewing equipment for a friend. Over the course of that year, the friends incessantly brewed beer. Ultimately, Peak Organic Brewing was born.
Over time, Peak focused on brewing with organic ingredient and environmentally responsible practices. Beers in their current lineup include —
IPA — Amarillo & Simcoe hops — 7.2% ABV Recipe comes from Massachusetts home brewer friend.
Pale Ale — Cascade Hops, caramel malts. Close in bitterness to IPA.
Nut Brown Ale — Chocolate Malts, Caramel Malts. New Zealand Hallertau hops.
Amber Ale — Organic Crystal Malt. Munich Malt
Pomegranate Wheat Ale with Acai — Local wheat and coriander. Pomegranate and Acai (antioxidant rich fruit.)
Espresso Amber Ale — First “Fair Trade Certified” beer in US. Espresso beans in this beer are fairly traded. Hand roasted in Portland, ME. Dark Sumatran blend.
Maple Oat Ale — Peak is in New England, so this brew fits right in. Maine grown oats, from GrandyOats Granola Company. Vermont maple syrup from Butternut Mountain Farms. Copper colored ale, sweet finish.
Not all of the above brews will be featured tonight at Octane. However, this is a cheat sheet to what Peak brews, and gives you an 1 up in the conversation with Rob Lucente.
Tasting is free. Time — 5:30 pm. The beers you do find tasty are available across the street at Hop City.
Octane Coffee
1009-b Marietta street nw
Atlanta, GA
(404) 815-9886
www.octanecoffee.com
Meet the Brewer – Duck Rabbit Brewery – Wrapup
Duck Rabbit Brewmaster Paul Phillippon (in grey)
Last evening I had the honor of meeting and speaking with the president of Duck Rabbit Brewery Paul Philippon from Farmville, NC.
He was very gracious with his time to give me some history of Duck Rabbit, and how it all came to be.
Paul was previously a professor of Philosophy at East Michigan University. A homebrewer since 1987, Paul started taking a look around at his colleagues situations, and feared for his own future. It was time to take the next step.
Next stop for Phillippon was Siebel Institute of Technology & World Brewing Academy in Chicago, Illinois. By 2004 Duck Rabbit was started, and the first beer was produced in August of that year.
Now 5 years later, Duck Rabbit has gained a lot of popularity as the “Dark Beer Specialist.” Logically I had to ask Paul where the name Duck Rabbit came from. I should have known this answer armed with the knowledge that he was a philosophy major. Paul gave me some homework. Discover the origin of Duck Rabbit. Well, I have done the work, and here is the spoiler. Thomas Kuhn used the duck rabbit illustration in 1962 book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. It is an optical illusion used to demonstrate paradigm shift that can cause an individual to see the same information in an entirely different way.
Don’t know what I’m talking about? Turn your Duck Rabbit bottle sideways. See a rabbit? Talk amongst yourselves.
Finally, the cherry porter cask was unbelievably tasty. Paul added cherry directly to the cask and allowed it to condition. The beer was very balanced with cherry hitting your palette first, blending nicely porter tones as it finishes. This cherry cask is a rare one Duck Rabbit brought here just for this event. Don’t go looking for it, you won’t find it. It’s a shame you missed it.
Finally, it is absolutely a pleasure to sit and have a beer with the individual who made it. The insight of the actual craft brewer is worth it’s weight in gold. Paul, it was an pleasure meeting you. Keep up the great work.
Meet the Brewer – Hugh Sisson, Clipper City Brewing
Hugh Sissons (on right) w/ your
Hugh Sissons, Founder and General Partner of Clipper City Brewing, made a visit to Taco Mac Metropolis on Peachtree Street downtown. With him, he brought a cask of Loose Cannon IPA.
Little bit of back-story – Hugh Sissons founded Baltimore’s first brewpub in 1989 — Sisson’s. It was a bit harder than you would think, as doing so required more than a business license. In 1987, Hugh successfully lobbied the Maryland General Assembly in 1987 to pass legislation allowing him to do so. If that doesn’t impress you enough about his love of craft beer, I’m not quite sure what will.
In 1994, Hugh left his brewpub — Sisson’s to found Clipper City Brewing — which has risen to great popularity more than a decade later. In 1998, Clipper City merged with Oxford Brewing Company — Maryland’s first craft brewing company. In 2003, the Heavy Seas line was added to the Clipper City lineup, representing more bold ales beginning at 7% ABV or higher.
I got to have a great conversation with Hugh about his past, present and future. He was really excited to talk about his new Mutiny Fleet line of ales coming out this fall. First up — Big DIPA. A double IPA with 5 hops, 3 malts. (which if you are reading this now, has come and gone.) Up next for his Mutiny Fleet — Imperial Pumpkin Ale (Due in September.) More on that later. One more interesting fact about the Mutiny Fleet. All the recipes and artwork on the bottles (all 22 oz big bottles,) were done by the brewers. It’s really an at home creation.
The cask was tasty, and it was a great honor and pleasure to meet Hugh Sissons. These events are great opportunities to meet the makers of craft beer, and get more in touch with what is going in your glass.
More pictures are available at the atlantabeermaster.com fan page on facebook, (do a search for “atlantabeermaster.com” on FB.)
Also — Clipper City – www.ccbeer.com
