Local Cred: LeClaire, Iowa

'Being local' is worn as a badge of honor in the craft spirit world.  The world 'local' is to microbrewers what the word 'edgy' is to bad indie bands.  What the world 'live' is to television producers.  The word 'fresh' to grocery stores.  The word artisanal to just about every other damn industry in this country.  It's philosophy and marketing all rolled into one.   In craft spirits, it's one of the many things that helps distingish the these small operations from the Big Boys and it's a handy justification for getting plowed like a December morn.

You're not a drunk, you are just a good citizen supporting the local economy.... supporting it until you sleep in the bathtub.

There are bragging rights, and then there is what the Mississippi River Distilling Company does.  They are local and they are willing to prove it.  Every bottle is labeled with the year and batch number.  From their web sight you can read the story about how exactly your little bottle of booze went from being grains in the field to being awesome in a glass.

On a side note, I would like to thank Dan Schurr of LeClaire and Tracy Doonan of Reynolds, Illinois for growing the corn and wheat for my bottle of River Baron.  Also a hat tip to the bottle crew who filled 1200 bottles in one night.

 Garrett, who owns the distillery that sits on the banks of the Mississippi River with his brother, makes locality major selling point when giving tours of his distillery.   He admits that the oak barrels they use for the whiskey are an exception to his '20 mile radius rule' but as Garrett says, "[the barrels] come from Minesota near the headwaters of the Mississippi.  We figure if they can float the barrels down the river to us, then it's local."

The distillery is open seven days a week for tours.  Iowa law limits the tasting any one person can do in a day, so I was only able to taste their River Baron and their Strawberry Vodka.

River Barron: This is described by the distillery as an 'artisinal liquor', in other words, it doesn't fit in any typical liquor category.  The mix of corn and wheat make it similar to a whiskey except that it's not barrel aged at all.  It's not really vodka because the mark of a good vodka is purity and a lack of flavor, whereas the light, sweet butterscotch flavors and aromas are very intentional.  The term 'moonshine' has certain connotations, but that's basically what it is is.  Really, really well made moonshine. 

Strawberry Vodka: This is the first distillery that I have run across that offers special seasonal liquors.  These are special creations that are available for a very limited time and then are gone forever... or at least until the distillers get the urge to make it again.   This had a nice light berry flavor without being overly sweet or syrupy.

They also offer two different types of whiskey, a bourbon and a rye whiskey.  They were out of both, but they did allow a quick smell from the barrels.    The burbon had lots of sweet fruity aromas, I picked out some pear and apple notes.  The rye was lighter and had a leathery quality to it.   I'll have to save the flavor for another time... see, that's how they get you.

The Hub: Detroit, Michigan

Last time I visited the motor city I more or less confined myself to the outskirts of the city far away from the...er interesting parts of the city.  Royal Oaks is kind of a cool area, I remember it being fairly well hopping when I went there, but it isn't Detroit.  Even the tag I put on that post rang a little hollow, and the title was just showing off.  That wasn't Detroit.

This...[cue soundtrack from 8 Mile].... is Detroit.

Detroit is built on a hub road system.   The main roads spread out from the center like the spokes of a giant wheel.  It's like a giant hat tip to the history of transportation that Detroit is famous for.  And right in the center of the wheel, right where the car companies would have stamped their logo... is the Detroit opera house.

Across from that is the Detroit Beer Company. 

There is something about craft beer that engenders urban renewal and I'm not sure why that is.  Call it a love of local color, a culture that turns old industrial centers into thriving entertainment districts or necessity because dilapidated, rat infested ruins are cheap, but many breweries around the country are bringing new life to formally dead urban areas.  And since no city probably needs it more, it's more than fitting that the Detroit Beer Company occupies the old Hartz Building downtown.  Whatever the reason for it, it seems to work.  The area around the hub is about the only section of the city that doesn't look slated for demolition.  Whether the brewery is a cause of, or a product of that is a debate that should happen among people much smarter then myself.  I'm talking about beer... which I haven't done yet.  So, yeah... beer.

I sat down with a grilled salmon sandwich (pretty awesome) and a taster flight of their beers.

Hef:  Banana and clove aroma.  Flavor features banana off the top with light malty flavors finishing dry and slightly spicy.  Fizzy and a light for the style.

Amber: Fruity aroma that pretty much stays the same in the flavor.  Some cherry and caramel in the palate.  Hops start off very light and build up leading to a herbal hop flavor that really lingers.

Baltic Porter: Fan of dark, malty beer?  You'll want one of these and by one I mean all of them.  The flavor is sweet, creamy with hints of light berry fruit with some herbal notes mixed in.  There is some bitterness in the back, but it's far from intrusive and helps balance the heavy malt bill.

Local 1529 IPA: Keep in mind I was still more or less fresh from the Pacific Northwest when I was in Detroit.  Keeping that in mind, the flavor of malt in an IPA... it was strange.    This IPA was sweet, malty with some citrus notes and some spicy hops towards the back.  More malt than I typically like, but a nice change.

Amarillo IPA: Remember when I talked about the One Hop Wonder at Block 15 in Corvallis, Oregon? That part where I thought that no other brewery was doing something like that.  Yeah... about that...
Whereas Block 15 featured the Centennial hop, Detroit Beer company did the Amarillo.  It strikes me as a strange choice, the Amarillo is basically the Cascade hop's bigger, badder and dumber brother leaving some of the subtle floral qualities aside for a massive dose of bitterness.  Still, they managed to coax a lot of citrus and grapefruit flavors in the beer but it will leave with a very bitter aftertaste.

That's all for Detroit for now. 
Cheers!

Great Northwest Beer Tour #5: Seattle, Washington

Our final stop on the tour is the city of Seattle, and a fine end to the tour it is.  In many ways Portland and Seattle are sister cities.  They share a climate, a general culture to a certain degree and a wild and interesting microbrew industry.  Although whereas Seattle is home alone studying for a law degree with a glass of wine, Portland is the girl at the bar breaking cue sticks over bikers' heads and chugging whiskey from the bottle.

Seattle is going to require a bank statement and a credit report and at least three really good dinners before she will even consider asking you back to her place.

Portland will follow you to your place for a free drink, but you are going to wanna hide your wallet and anything else that can be carted off before you wake up.

I think I've made my point.

(Although just to extend the metaphor one more step: Las Angeles is the sister that chugs a whole bunch of Smirnoff Ice and vomits on the rug.)

 First stop was outside of Seattle proper, but close enough.  Trade Routes brewing company might sound familiar.  If it does, it's because I wrote about it six months ago or so.  It should be noted that there is something pretty amazing about the fact that I can tour breweries in a place like this and only have one repeat review and, frankly, I only stopped here again because it was on our way.  In addition to the beers they had from the last time I was here they had a Blood Orange Whit that contained a sweet orange flavor and a creamy mouthfeel.  It was a little acidic but overall a very nice summer beer.  There was also the blond ale that had a coconut, banana aroma with a smooth tropical fruit flavor that's more reminiscent of a Belgian whit then a blonde.

Our next stop was at George Town Brewing.  It should be noted that Georgetown is not a brewpub like basically every other place we stopped at, but a place to pick up a keg for your draft system.   There is a tasting room inside the brewery and you can stop in for a free taster flight, however, so it worked out pretty well.  We weren't able to taste everything they had available, but out of the ones we did have the Johnny Utah Session IPA and the Super Red were clear standouts.  Johnny Utah had a very strong lemony flavor that was almost like a lemon peel.  It was still very drinkable with an IPA aftertaste that didn't linger excessively long on the palate living up to its session title.  The Super Red shared the same lemony, citrus malty flavors that the Choppers Red had but added some fruity berry flavors off the top.

Beer at the Space Needle

Elysian Brewing Company next up and a lot of really good beer to choose from here.  Plus their semi-macabre theme is just fun.  This year with the end of the Mayan Calender and almost certain doom looming ahead for us all, Elysian started releasing their '12 Beers of the Apocalypse series.  Rapture and Ruin were both on tap during my visit.  Ruin had hints of apricot and orange along with floral and spicy hops.  The finish was just slightly bitter.  Rapture had a lot of citrus and orange flavors with the peppery spice of coriander.

Also worth mentioning was the Mens Room.... no, not the toilet although it was quite nice too as far as used beer disposal systems go.  Here it is also a beer with lots of caramel sweetness off the top followed by peppery notes.

For the final stop on our tour it was time for an old Pacific Northwest standby.  Mcmenamins has brewpubs up and down Oregon and Washington.   If you're anyone close to civilization in those states, chances are you're also close to a Mcmenamins.  Normally I'm not a huge fan of macrobreweries, as fellow beer snobs often call them, but this particular one is still kind of cool in it's way.  Far from trying to replicate the same experience no matter where you are in the country, each Mcmenamins revels in it's own special character.  Each one has their own brewer who brews a regular set of beers, but they are also given some freedom to charge off the well-worn path if the mood strikes them right.  At the six-arms pub the special brew on tap was the Proletariat Porter, a caramelly, chocolaty porter with a creamy mouthfeel.   They also feature a seasonal ale that was a sweet orange and lemon wheat beer with just a hint of bitterness on the back.


And that was it.  I know not much in the way of an ending to a the Great Northwest Brewery tour of 2012, but there you go.  Lots of beer was had.  154 different beers by my count.  Enough said.

Cheers!

Great Northwest Brewery Tour part 4: Portland Oregon

Okay it's time for part two in our tour of Portland, Oregon.   I really don't have any additional smart-ass remarks about Portland by way of an intro, so let's just do this thing.

Our next stop was and the Cascade Brewery Barrel House.  Aside from the pretty normal beers most everyone has on tap, IPS's, Pales, Reds etc.  Cascade Brewery also specialize in sour fruit beers, so that's kind of what we focused on.  These are beers purposely infected with lactobacillus bacteria giving them all a tart fruit flavor.  Most were fairly dry, but a few crossed into the semi dry category.  The standouts were the Nightfall which had a favor similar to the blueberry with a light carmel flavor.  It hovered around the semi sweet mark.  The Vine was a close second.  It had a sweet wine and honey aroma.  The flavor was citrusy, with white wine qualities and a crisp finish.

Next was Coalition Brewery.  These guys do something kind of cool.  They kind of have a small, neighborhood bar feel and that is further accentuated by the fact that they have a program where local home brewers can get a chance to help design a beer, brew it on a small pilot system and possibly, if the beer gets enough cheers from the fans, brew an additional batch on the big 10 barrel system.
The result of this coalition during my visit was the Apollo Creed CDA.  It had some charcoal, coffee and herbal notes.  Nothing earth shattering, but nice.
Also worthy of note was the King Kitty red, with had a nice sweet malt favor off the top with a carmelly, citrusy finish.  The Bumps Bitter came in a close second with a citrus, light malt aroma.  It's flavor brought a decent profile of citrus hops backed up by a good malt bill that was a nicely balanced, drinkable beer.

It had been a long day.  Out travels had taken us from the middle of Old Town out into the suburbs on the east side of town.  We had staggered into six breweries tasting a grand total of 52 different types of beers and we even took a little side trip down distillery lane and we weren't quite done yet.

But before we continue, I would like to send a message to the great brewers of the Portland area.  For the last fifteen or so years, you fine men and women have forged the trail the rest of the country meekly follows in.  Everywhere I go, beer snobs across the country look to the west with this far-away look in their eye when the name of the city is mentioned.  When it came to the combination of good food and good beer this city led the way.  And a big part of this innovation was because of a citrusy, spicy little cone known as the cascade hop, it's big brother the amarillo hop and the rest of it's pacific northwest brethren.  The unique charactaristics of these flowers allowed brewers to push IBU's to new and exiting limits.  Now here we are, and I find myself writing the adjective 'citrusy' after every damn beer I taste.

Dear Portland brewers, do something else.  There are literally hundreds of different hops in the world, or better yet, there are wonderful things being done with malts these days.   People are coaxing a multitude of different flavors using strange strains of  yeasts and archaic herbs.  There are some wonderful things being done in Portland, as I have talked about, but damn people, you can back off the hops just a tad.

I'm glad I got that off of my chest.  I'm also glad that there is a very small audience for this little blog, I think these would be considered fighting words in most Portlandian neighborhoods.  But lest you think I am alone in this, here is a drunken rant from Gary.  This has not been edited, we just gave him an IPA and recorded him.  I wouldn't watch the entire thing, it gets a bit weird toward the end, but I think I've made my point.

The last stop was Migration Brewery.  Admittedly this stop is a little fuzzy around the edges for me.   I know it had a really nice outdoor seating area.  I know that their taster portions are very generous.  I know that the Rye Whit was good, it had a nice sweet, citrusy smooth drinkable summer beer flavor.  I know that the Nitro IPA was a nice, well-balanced Northwest citrus IPA with the smooth creamy mouthfeel of a nitrous beer.   And.... that's about it. 

With our palates completely shot by relentless IBU assault we slinked back into Old Town for a couple of drinks in some of my favorite downtown watering holes and passed out.  There was one more city left to conquer.  It lie just up the I-5 to the North.  Seattle, Washington was to be our final stop on the trip.

The Great Northwest Brewery Tour Part 3: Portland Oregon

At last we come to that Mecca of microbrewing.  It is the city that more or less spawned the brewpub culture that we all know and love.  The Pacific Northwest is the land of good beer and Portland is it's capitol.  So strap in, there is going to be some minor drinking taking place.

Yep those are fruit loops on that doughnut. 

When on the third day of a drinking binge, it's important to take nutrition into consideration.  Your body has expended a lot of energy trying to keep your brain from drowning in an ocean of booze not to mention the extra expenditure that results from trying to keep yourself from careening into walls, trees or other bar patrons.   It's also important to create a base with which to start pouring the next round of booze.  Without that ever important foundation the alcohol will have a direct line of assault to the body and you end up plastered before lunchtime.   Endurance is the key here.  So we started our day in Portland at the Voodoo Doughnut, a local shop famous for their cavalier attitude towards what can and can not be put on top of deep-fried carbohydrates and also exactly what shapes said deep-fried carbohydrates can take.  Keep in mind that when going there with the kids, there are many things that are shaped like a shaft with two round lumps on either side.  Top choices: rocket ships, submarines with attached air tanks, er um... bear claws with one enlarged claw, a bakery accident involving the lady fingers and a box of doughnut holes....
Anyway, enough with the Freudian pastries, on to the beer.  Our first stop in the morning was at Hair of the Dog brewing company.  It hard to pin this particular brewery down specifically, so I am just going to say this.  Hair of the Dog brews a lot of really good beer.  As much as I like novelty in my brews, this isn't it.  They take malt, hops and yeast and make them do fantastic complex things in my face hole, and that is to be commended.    Worthy of note, Fred a beer that contains a certain lore in my family.  My father had it once about seven or eight years ago and was never able to find it again until I brought him some from this trip.  It has a fruity cherry aroma with a hint of citrus.  It starts of sweet, malty with lots of fruity flavor that slowly blend into grassy herbal hop flavors.  Secondly there is Adam.   It has smoky, dark fruit aroma.  The flavor is leathery, smokey with some sharp roasted barley flavors.

Next was the Lucky Labrador.  This brewpub is probably worth mentioning for the sheer amount of different beers available at any given time.  The last time I visited this establishment was on the original Great Northwest Brewery tour about six years ago.  It was the last stop of the day and my friend, Garrett had to drive us to Seattle and therefor I was imbibing the majority of our tasters that day.  We arrived and Garrett went up to get us our tasters flight and came back with a platter that would easily be enough for four people seated at a table.  This was just the two of us and, as I said before, one of us had to drive.  I am sad to report that the massive platter is no longer available, probably after sending one too many people like myself giggling insanely into the night.  You can still try all of their beers, but it's going to take you two or three flights to do it.  The selections were good, but nothing was really outstanding.  I will mention the Black Lab Stout, it had a maple, caramel malt flavor to it with a bite of roasted barley and herbal hops.  Also there is the Black Sheep CDA.
CDA, you may ask yourself, what is that?  Well do you remember that snake pit I mentioned a couple of posts ago in Bend?  Well here we go:
Short story: What is a CDA?  It's a dark IPA. You can move on now.
Long Story: Why the new beer acronym? Well...it's like this.  The people of Oregon like their hops, and they will put them in anything.   It was only a matter of time before some brewer started looking at a class of porter and a pile of Cascade hops and finally made the connection.   And in reality that connection was made years ago when the first Dark IPA's started rolling out.  The problem was, as a few snarky beer snobs started to point out, that they were brewing a Dark Indian Pale Ale.  As Shakespeare would say, "That is hot ice and wondrous strange snow."   (That's right bustin out the Shakespeare.  I'm not just another pretty face over here.) I knew what they meant and I think most beer lovers did as well.  But let's face it, a dark pale ale is kind of stupid and we all know it. So the new term is a CDA or a Cascadian Dark Ale.  It might be a little presumptuous as it implies that it was those crazy hop-head brewers in Portland that thought of a bitter dark beer.  Still I like it if only for the shout out to the Pacific Northwest's contribution to the world of brewing.
Now, as for this particular CDA? It has a slight coffee and herbal aroma.  Flavor is much the same with that kind of bitterness that is reminiscent of an English IPA.

Out next stop was just down Hawthorn street.  It was time for a quick break from malt and hops and dip our toes in the cool, clear water of distilling.  Microdistilling is still in it's childhood in this country, but if any city was going to represent this growing market, it would be Portland and the New Deal distillery did not disappoint.  Their offerings are pretty strait forward, they have vodka and gin and both are very good, but the real fun lies in their slightly off the wall selections.  If you a fan of sweet drinks then the Mud Puddle chocolate liquor is something that you  will want to try.  It was sweet but it had enough of a bitter, unsweetened chocolate flavor that set it apart from your average bottle of creme de cacao that basically amounts to chocolate syrup and alcohol.  For something slightly less sweet, there is a ginger liquor that pretty much tells you all you need to know, it's spicy sweet and wonderful.  For you the adventurous there is the Hot Monkey.  It's a pepper vodka that, as demonstrated at the distillery, makes a mean bloody mary.  Drinking it straight is another option, but only if you really like biting right into a pepper.

Next was the Buckman Village Brewery at the Green Dragon pub.  There are brewpubs that have one or two eccentric beers on tap, but not here.  Here eccentric is what they do.  24/7, all year around there is going to be something a little weird in your glass.  The brewery is owned by Rogue Breweries, a brewing organization known for some of their own strange brews.  Given that, part of me believes that Buckman functions a kind of a laboratory for Rogue on some level.   My personal favorite here was the Caramello, a beer brewed with chamomile tea leaves.  It has a light, lavender, floral citrus aroma and flavor that was a fantastic session beer. My second choice was the the black saison which combined the slightly sour fruity flavor of this farmhouse ale with the chocolate coffee and licorice flavor of a porter.

And that was Portland... actually that's a lie.  That was half of Portland.  The other half can wait until later.  So I'll talk at you all again next week as me and my friends continue to roll our way around this city.
Cheers.