Beer - Abita SOS - Save our Shore - A Charitable Pilsner

Perusing the shelves of a local beer and wine shop, I found a beer that brought back memories of college in the south. I couldn't decide what to buy, but seeing a familiar name with a good cause behind the bottle made my decision for me.

Since 1986, the Abita Brewing Company, located 30 miles north of New Orleans in Abita Springs, Louisiana, has been brewing delectable treats such as their well known brews of Turbodog and one of my favorites Purple Haze. In their first year, Abita produced 1,500 barrels of beer. In 1994, they outgrew the original site and moved just up the road to keep up with demand.

Today, Abita brews over 109,000 barrels of beer and 6,000 barrels of root beer in their new facility which is just a short drive from their old site which is now a brew pub that features their 18 beers (which include 8 mass produced/flagship brews, 5 seasonal ales, 3 harvest beers, and 3 “Big Beers”) and root beer.

Abita Springs, LA, offers the purest of water from deep wells (according to the website), and the brews are created with no preservatives, additives or stabilizers during the cold filtered process. Together with the water from Abita Springs and malted barley (both British and North American), yeast strains (from Germany and America), and hops (from the Pacific Northwest), Abita has become the largest beer producer in the south.

I can remember nights at the University of Alabama, sitting on porches and sipping Purple Haze (a raspberry-wheat beer at 4.2% ABV) as the sun set on a hot day and nights in the French Quarter in New Orleans drinking countless pours of Turbodog (a malty brown/amber ale at 5.6% ABV) to get the night started. The beer I chose today was SOS (Save Our Shore – A Charitable Pilsner at 7% ABV) which was new, but came with a name I could trust not to let me down.

After a BP oil rig spilled thousands of gallons of oil into the Gulf Coast Region of Louisiana, Abita decided to give back to their community that helped them grow into what they are today. Working with the Louisiana Seafood Promotion - Marketing Board (LSPMB), Abita established the “SOS – A Charitable Fund” to assist with "the rescue and restoration of the environment, industry and individuals fighting to survive the disastrous oil spill." Abita has given back 75¢ for every bottle sold.

The brew is an unfiltered, Weizen Pils (a German style Pilsner), made with Pilsner and wheat malts and dry hopped with Sterling and German Perle hops which produces a gold color, a sweet malt flavor, and a gratifying bitterness and aroma. Since this is a Pilsner styled brew, it is extremely easy to drink, and though this style of beer is usually best consummed in the late Spring/early Summer, it offered a refreshing get away from cold and snowy Washington, DC.

Not only is this a great brew, but it gives us all a chance to help the cause while sitting back and enjoying a great beer and the ensuing buzz. Pick one up today and give back to a struggling community. You wont be disappointed.

Beer – Le Saint Bock – 'Sacrilege”

So there I was, sitting at the bar at Cheesecake Factory, drinking Ultimate Margaritas on a Monday at 2pm, when I found myself in the midst of a slue of Long Island Teas for $5.00 at happy hour. “What a great deal,” I thought as I sipped away. The music was soft and boring, but the conversation kept my attention in between drinks.

Heading out into the cold early-evening air (around 30 degrees) certainly woke me up as I made my way to Best Cellars with friends where we tasted several wines, including a Cotes du Rhone which I loved. Once the tasting was over, the clerk recommended a few items (beer and wine), but upon snooping around the store, I found an interesting brew from Canada from a brew pub in Montreal.

Le Saint Bock in Montreal, Canada has 20 taps with 5 or 6 reserved for their own brews. The menu is strictly French and the atmosphere is cozy with library shelves filled with interesting beers and a patio outside. All of their brews have a religious context to the names.

As for the beer, Sacrilege ($13.99) comes in a 11.2 oz bottle and is 15% ABV. The beer almost knocked my teeth out. It's black, opaque oil-like appearance made way to a rich, big, oily, black Imperial Stout with an aroma and taste of dark chocolate, coffee, roasted barley with hints of leather, wood barrels, maple syrup and molasses along with tobacco notes. The head was minimal with thinning tan bubbles atop the dark black/brown body. Sacrilege is smooth and flavorful and simply an amazing and unique brew.

It was within half a beer that I had succumbed to the hiccups. I would certainly drink this beer again on a cold, snowy day, but the second time around I would not start with tequila based cocktails.

The Versus Series - Beer - Porter vs. Stout

Waking up today to a 20 degree, cold ass day in Washington, DC, spurred a new idea for Swig Knowledge. I decided to do a “Versus Edition.” With the cold weather this morning a Porter vs. Stout edition only seemed fitting....even at 10am. Some of you may remember the blog I did about Session Dark a few weeks ago. I decided to take that idea and blend in two fuller bodied beers, though different in style, similar in effect. By the way, this photo to the left is from when I was in Prague. Yes, I've been to Europe. Buy my book now!

The beers I paired against each other were two locally produced delicacies in Flying Dog “Gonzo Imperial Stout” out of Fredrick, Maryland, and Dominion “Oak Barrel Stout” out of Dover, Delaware. People ask me all the time, “Cole, what's the difference between Porters and Stouts?” My answer: “Porters get me drunker cause they are higher in ABV (Alcohol by Volume).”

But seriously, Stouts and Porters are basically from the same dysfunctional family in the dark beer world. Both beers are made with water, yeast, hops and roasted malt or barley. So which came first? Well, Porters were produced as early as 1720 in England and the word Stout was used as early as the 14th century to describe “strong brews.” “Stout Porters” were created in England and Ireland in the late 1700's and the word “Porter” was dropped in the 1800's to symbolize that you had a strong beer in your bottle or keg. Basically, Porters are a specific style of beer and Stouts are strong beers. One could potentially have a stout lager or IPA. Porters have always been known as the strongest of stout beers.

Flying Dog has become very popular small craft brewing company over the years. The Gonzo Imperial Porter (9.2% ABV, around $2 in the store) was created in homage to Hunter S. Thompson (one of my favorite writers) who created the term “Gonzo Journalism” - a very complex writing style that takes you all over the place in random thought process, but eventually back to a main point. This porter is no different as it takes you through an array of smells from chocolate to bitter caramel and tastes such as coffee, cherries and bitter chocolate on the tongue. The dark, opaque color provides an amber/caramel, frothy head.

Dominion is a lesser known brewery which has been around longer then Flying Dog. The Oak Barrel Stout (5.2% ABV, around $2 in the store) provided a similar sight (dark and opaque with an amber head which dissolved quickly), but provided a different nose (full-bodied oak like you would find in wine with an oak barrel fermentation with a hint of vanilla and lavender) and taste (strong vanilla – almost like a milkshake – and lighter in complexity then the Flying Dog). This would be a good sipping beer.

In the end, I would pick the Gonzo Imperial Porter as the beer I want to hold me in its arms on a cold day (okay, that's way too much I know) because of its boldness, but I did enjoy the Oak Barrel Stout as one I would drink again. In fact, I would not characterize the Oak Barrel as a porter at all, but rather a strong (stout) beer as noted above.

Even though I have a buzz (which is always a goal), I feel that this first edition of the “Versus Series” was a bust since the two beers were so different. Ugh, now off to work.

Scotch - Hibiki

Working in the “Industry” (the restaurant biz) allows me try many different beverages. My vendors bring in many products – most of which are off the beaten path of household brand names such as Absolute, Jack or Macallan. The other afternoon, one of the reps came in for lunch and told me she had a bottle of single malt scotch from Japan called Hibiki (43% ABV, around $80). Japanese single malt? I just had to try it.

Upon first glance, its unique bottle and amber hue, outlined in gold, caught my eye. I took a sniff from the bottle and poured a taste into a rocks glass. Lifting the glass to my nose, I picked up a bouquet of plums, raspberries, pineapples, honey, and vanilla. Normally, when tasting scotch whiskey, I would cut the contents with a couple drops of water. With this one, I swigged it straight and pure.

The initial taste brought an aromatic mouthful of honey and cream with a body of smooth and soft mellow sweetness and a long, clean, sweet, and spicy finish. During the distillation process, Hibiki is stored in barrels made from Mizunara, a very rare Japanese oak which produces the “orchestra of flavors” as noted above.

Hibiki is owned under the House of Suntory (in Osaka/Kyoto, Japan, on the main island of Honshū) which began production of scotch whiskey in 1924. Whiskey production actually began in Japan in the 1870's, but it was not until Suntory blew out its products worldwide in the 1920’s that it gained its reputation as a superb whiskey style all of its own. If Suntory sounds familiar, it played a pivotal role in the movie “Lost in Translation” with Bill Murray as he filmed a commercial for the brand and used the line, “It’s Suntory time.”

Tasting this scotch took me back to my travels through Europe and the time I spent at the Scotch Malt Whiskey Society in Edinburg, Scotland. I took notes on the scotches and you can read about it in my book The Right to Release: A Trail of Empty Bottles Across Europe. At the society, I learned that though scotch is usually consumed after meals or paired with a cigar, it works very well with gamy meats (quail, venison, or duck) and with zesty poultry and pork dishes or spicy food such as Indian or Chinese cuisine. With scotch and food, the food paired has to be as bold as the scotch you are drinking.

Wine - Biltmore Estates

One of the best things about doing this blog (other then giving me an excuse to drink), is that I am able to research things that are new to me, but have been around for a while. The world has always been an open book to me and I love to learn from it. I never thought research would be so much fun, but that may be from a small buzz I get from sampling liquor, beer and wine while writing. I feel like I am finding a new message in every bottle I drink.

Best Cellars in Arlington has become a weekend must. It's so much fun to go in, taste, and walk out with a few bottles of wine or beer. A couple of posts ago I mentioned a buttery Chardonnay from North Carolina. Wines from North Carolina?!? WTF?, I thought as the clerk began to pour for tasting. This had to some sort of joke. It just had to be terrible, but I was very wrong. I decided to research the wine and ended up find out more about North Carolina as a wine region.

The wine I tried was a value driven Chardonnay from Biltmore Estates (Asheville, North Carolina, 2008, $13). I tasted the bottle and ended up buying one on a return visit. This savory, buttery, full-bodied Chardonnay has good acidity which is highlighted by citrus and tropical fruit flavors. It would pair very well with seafood (shrimp, scallops, mussels), flavorful cheese (Asiago, Gouda) or pasta with cream sauce. It is important to remember when pairing wine with food that heavier wines pair well with heavier dishes and lighter wines, well, you get the point. With Chardonnay, especially a full-bodied, buttery, oaky Chard such as this one, you would want to look for dishes or items that are bold, hearty, and filling and are not over seasoned with spices.

After trying the wine, I decided to dig deeper into North Carolina as a wine region as it is home to more than 90 wineries; a number which has quadrupled since 2001. Most wineries are planted in the Western and Piedmont regions of the state below the mountains. The two major areas of focus for wine production are the native muscadine grapes and European-style vinifera grapes with such varitals as Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Syrah, Chardonnay and Viognier.

Plantings of native muscadine grapes, also known as Scuppernongs, are relatively pest resistant and thrive in the hot, sandy conditions of the Coastal region. Muscadines contain high levels of Resveratrol (a cancer reducer and life extender) and other antioxidants. Some wineries even sell grape skins to pharmaceutical companies.

Biltmore, in the mountains of North Carolina, is the most visited winery in the US, hosting approximately 1 million visitors to sample award-winning estate wines each year. The estate was built for the rich and famous Vanderbilt family in 1889 by George Washington Vanderbilt II as a vacation house. The first vineyards at Biltmore were established in 1971 in an area below house. French-American hybrids were planted initially, with vinifera plantings following in a few years. Inspired after several years of experimenting, William A.V. Cecil, then president and owner of Biltmore, decided that a winery was the natural outcome of ongoing research thus keeping the homes original intention of a self-supporting estate.

This year the winery is celebrating its 25th anniversary of being open to the public and continues to welcome and educate guests during this quarter of a century. The winemakers actually have educational tasting videos on their website. Though a little robotic in their approach and pitch, they are very informative about the wines of the region.

Visit Biltmore today to sift through a complimentary wine tasting of their complete portfolio of “robust reds, refreshing rosés, and crisp whites.” The winery also offers a wine shop with a complete selection of estate wines, accessories, and gourmet foods. This would be a great weekend retreat... hmm, this gives me an idea.

Beer - Session Dark

Nothing says winter like a good stout or smoked porter by the fire. I know it sounds cheesy, but there is nothing better than drinking a pint of the black stuff on a cold winter’s night. I took a clerks recommendation on a cold afternoon and picked up a 12-pack of Session Black, a stout-porter like beer from Full Sail Brewing Company out of Oregon - the fastest growing micro brew state, soon to be surpassing Colorado. Okay, maybe not, but they are producing greeat beers.

Taking the box out of the car and placing it in the fridge, I noted that the beer was not a stout at all, but was a dark lager with the same characteristics of stout upon tasting it. Most beers this dark are so thick that you can drink them like a meal – using a knife to cut right through them. Session Black is different, giving you the same quality characteristics of a stout, but with easier drinkability as in a lager and with less bite (5.4% ABV). One could easily drink 3-4 in one sitting and maybe go back for more.

Upon opening one of the 11 ounce, stubby bottles, this medium brown/mahogany (certainly not black) lager introduced a nose of roasted earth and the tasting characteristic brought forth a roasted chocolate and a malty character. The beer itself is very light on the tongue and its mild roastiness paves the way to earthy hops when drinking, yet somehow finishes very clean.

As for food pairings, this beer compliments many dishes since it is cross between a lager and a stout. I would recommend heavy, gravy based dishes such as beef stews, goulash and/or pork (note: dark lagers hold their own when up against heavier dishes) as one would find in Vienna or pair it with bar-b-que, Sheppard’s pie, or even, surprisingly enough, with oysters (most stouts pair very well with oysters).

I love full bodied beers and this one did not disappoint in flavor. I could easily drink a handful of these on a cold night and would rank this brew well above average!

Beer - The Raven

On a recent trip to Best Cellars in Arlington on a cold, cloudy Sunday afternoon with the GF, we wondered in off the streets to see what they were tasting. We went through tastings of an awful Norton from Virginia; a half decent, buttery Chardonnay surprisingly from North Carolina; and a value driven Rhone blended or GSM (Mourvedre, Syrah, and Grenache) called Twisted Oak (Vallecito, CA, 2005, $13), which we actually loved and bought.

Next, the clerk asked if we were interested in tasting a few of the beers they had on display. We only tried one that caught my eye. We were told that “The Raven” Special Lager was created in Germany, but brewed in Baltimore by Baltimore-Washington Beer Works. We bought a six pack and I am swigging one of these special beers as I type.

Since 1997, this medium-bodied, malty brew has been the premier beer severed in the US Embassy in Bonn, Germany, for special events and occasions. The beer ousted Sam Adams, which interesting enough, The Raven resembles slightly, but with a more maltier body.

After more than a year operating in the world's most competitive beer market (Europe, more specifically Germany), production of The Raven began in Baltimore in June of 1998. Baltimore-Washington Beer Works was founded by Stephen Demczuk, a native of Baltimore, who was partner in Europe's first beer-of-the-month club called “Beer Around the World.” Demczuk teamed up with Jim Seay (also of Baltimore) and German beer importer Wolfgang Stark. Together the trio styled a beer that is not only drinkable, but can be enjoyed by both the lager and ale drinker, thus creating “The Raven” named in honor of Baltimore's literary genius, Edgar Allan Poe.

Lighter on alcohol (5.4%) and smoother with no bite from carbonation, this golden lager is extremely easy to drink with its malty backbone and undertones of caramel, orange zest and hints of nutmeg. This beer would cross several palates since it opens itself to multiple fronts, but would pair very well with spicy sausages and heavy beef or pork dishes served with thick sauces (as a dark lager) or zesty (Blue) and sharp (Cheddar) cheeses and grilled poultry dishes (as an Amber Ale).

Today, besides being sold in Europe, you can find The Raven in Maryland, Washington DC, Virginia, South Carolina, Ohio and Illinois. I highly recommend this local beer and would place just above average. Look for it in a store near you for around $8 a six pack.

Rum, Dominoes and Baby Jesus!

Sitting at home, sipping a Malbac from Argentina (Navarro Correas, Malbec, Mendoza, Argentina, 2008) on a cold night in DC while dreaming of warmer weather, I am thinking back to the very interesting Christmas night I had this year. I spent the holiday in Atlanta with my Cuban family. No, my family is not from Cuba, but my brother married a wonderful girl who's parent's families are from Cuba.

On Christmas Eve, we had a traditional Cuban meal of black beans and rice, roasted pork and boiled Yuccas. We went through about ten bottles of wine that night and I capped off the evening with a couple of white Russians to fight off the indigestion. We woke early the next morning (just as we did as children over 20 years ago), opened presents and had mimosas. Then, for some reason, everyone pretty much stopped drinking and took naps.

Later in the afternoon, we went to my sister-in-law's uncle's house to keep the celebration going as snow fell outside - giving Atlanta its first white Christmas since 1882. Once we were settled in (after tours of the house and handing out gifts) the patriarch of the family began making everyone Cuba libres (a Cuban term for rum and coke in case you didn't know), but there were only a few takers. Over the cocktails, the grandparents started talking about life in Cuba and what they had to do the get out so many years ago. I have always been intrigued by Cuba ever since I started reading Hemingway. While using the pork from the feast the night before to make Cuban sandwiches, they told me I could get a flight from Miami – something I will have to look in to as Cuba is a must in my adventurous lifestyle.

As the night went on, we ate the sandwiches and listened to Christmas music. The grandfather returned and produced a bottle Cuban rum which had been illegally brought to the states by family and given as a gift. I poured the golden rum over crushed ice, adding a splash of coke to cut it, and spent the rest of the night slapping dominoes against the table as my head spun.

I was intrigued by the sweet rum from Cuba and had to look it up; after all, it's something I can't get my hands on in the states. The rum was called Bucanero, from the province of Las Tunas, Cuba, as established in 1976. Located on the southern coast that opens onto the Gulf of Guacanayabo, the marshy, wet area which is full of mangroves, provides the perfect region to grow sugarcane.

If you didn't know, rum is made from sugarcane by-products such as its juice and molasses which is processed through fermentation and distillation. The distillate, a clear liquid, is then usually aged in oak and other barrels which gives rum its golden color.

The majority of the world's rum production occurs in and around the Caribbean and in several Central and South American countries such as Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Colombia, Venezuela, Barbados, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Haiti, Belize, and Cuba. Rum can also be found around the world in places such as Australia, Fiji, Mexico, the Philippines, and India. My sister and I, on a trip to Barbados a couple of years ago, took a tour of the Mount Gay factory. We stayed in a small resort and drank rum drinks during the day, Carib and Banks beers in the afternoon, and I drank straight rum out of coffee mugs back in the suite at the end of the night while smoking in the moonlight. Rum is the type of beverage you drink when it's hot, but I was drinking it in Atlanta – while it was snowing.

Back to my history lesson: Rum is a cornerstone in the culture of most islands of the West Indies, and has famous associations with the Royal Navy (where it was mixed with water or beer to make grog – as used in eggnog) and piracy (where it was consumed as “Bumbo” - a drink made from rum, water, sugar, nutmeg or as in the more modern version (a Hurricane) made with dark rum, citrus juice, Grenadine and nutmeg).

I searched and searched the web for something (anything) on Bucanero, but could not find a thing. All I can tell you is that it had hits of vanilla, was sweet in taste and had a slow burn as it went down. I'm not sure how this rum stacks up against some of the best rums from Cuba, but it did the job and gave me a nice buzz as we played dominoes into the night. I'll have to get to Cuba sometime to see what else is out there.