Holiday Beers
BY JEFF ALWORTH
Hoppy Holidays
From Willamette Week on 12/7/05
As a contented citizen of Beervana—a.k.a. Portland—you do not fear any beer. You sip from Oregon's rich, hoppy tapestry as well as indulge in case after case of macro suds. But what if the boys from, say, Budweiser tried to muscle in on traditional micro turf and brewed a couple of winter seasonals? With the vast teams of Ph.D. chemists and unlimited test markets at the St. Louis-based company's disposal, would Bud be able to brew a better seasonal beer than our Northwestern brethren?
Well, now we face that very question. This year, Anheuser-Busch has unveiled two winter seasonals—Budweiser Brew Masters Private Reserve and the "oak-aged dark vanilla" Michelob Celebrate.
To address this bold development, we assembled a panel of local hop-heads and held a 100 percent blind tasting of a few seasonal, regional brews (plus one Belgian for fun), as well as Busch's two new offerings. Last Friday evening, as rain pounded the city, we sat down to see whether these macros deserved to take an honored place next to our beloved micros. The panel consisted of three ringers: celebrated brewmasters Alan Sprints (Hair of the Dog Brewing Co.), Christian Ettinger (Laurelwood Brewing Co.) and Matthew Williams, a bartender at the local pub the Green Room. To be fair, we also included average Heineken drinkers like Calendar Editor (and former McMenamins bartender) Amy McCullough, News Editor Hank "the Tank" Stern, and two thirsty interns, AP Kryza and Michael Byrne.
The results? Although drinkers differed on their faves (Hair of the Dog's Doggie Claws barleywine and Pyramid's Snow Cap Ale garnered the most soused appreciation), the panel was unanimous on one thing: Sadly, Bud's nicely packaged holiday presents ain't all they're wrapped up to be. The chart below includes some of our more inebriated revelations, from the oddball flavors we tasted in each brew to which holiday shopping destination each beer would be a perfect match for this season. Drink up!
All the seasonal beers we taste-tested are available at local grocery stores.
Holiday Beer scorecard
THE BREW
KEY FLAVORS
GUT REACTION
RETAIL DESTINATION
BEER GEEK FACT
Sierra Nevada "Celebration"Chico, Calif.—Chico is totally NW, people. ($6.99 for a sixer)6.8 percent alcohol
Herbal, citrus, crisp
"Goes down smoothly—I could accidentally drink 17 of these." —AP
Abercrombie & Fitch
Sierra Nevada is the second-largest craft brewery in the nation, behind Sam Adams.
Michelob "Celebrate"St. Louis, Mo.($5.70, 750 ml bottle)10 percent
Marshmallows, Peeps, cough syrup
"I can't finish this." —Michael
Rite-Aid
Labeled "ale" on bottle, but "lager" on the glossy, black gift box—they're two distinct brewing processes, people.
Pyramid"Snow Cap"Portland, Ore./Seattle, Wash.($8.50, sixer)7 percent
Chewy, dark, robust
"Toasty!"—Matthew
Columbia Sportswear
Brewed in Portland at the MacTarnahan's plant.
Budweiser"Brew Masters Private Reserve"St. Louis, Mo.($8, magnum)6.5 percent
Tasteless, sweat-socky aroma, pale
"If you're having a crappy holiday, this Bud's for you."—Matthew
Forever 21
After tasting the beer, the panel felt its huge, 46.5-ounce bottle screamed, um, "overcompensation."
Full Sail"Wassail"Hood River, Ore. ($8.50, sixer)6.5 percent
Winey, strong, berries
"Makes me think of the kids-in-the-bed, post-holiday mellowness." —Hank
Goodwill (in a good way)
A "wassail" is a drink traditionally made of ale or wine, and prepared during the holidays.
Brouwerij Huyghe "Delirium Noël" Ghent, Belgium($10.45, 1 pint,9.4 ounces)10 percent
Peppermint, cloves, inexplicably meaty
"I'm a vegetarian, and this beer makes me worried." —Michael
Good Dog, Bad Dog
Years by which Ghent's oldest brewery exceeds Portland's in age: 330.
Hair of the Dog "Doggie Claws" Portland, Ore.($18, sixer)10.5 percent
Pine boughs, warming, alcoholic
"It tastes like home."—Amy
REI
Hair of the Dog's "Fred" is named for Fred Eckhardt, a Portland brewing icon.
Hoppy Holidays
From Willamette Week on 12/7/05
As a contented citizen of Beervana—a.k.a. Portland—you do not fear any beer. You sip from Oregon's rich, hoppy tapestry as well as indulge in case after case of macro suds. But what if the boys from, say, Budweiser tried to muscle in on traditional micro turf and brewed a couple of winter seasonals? With the vast teams of Ph.D. chemists and unlimited test markets at the St. Louis-based company's disposal, would Bud be able to brew a better seasonal beer than our Northwestern brethren?
Well, now we face that very question. This year, Anheuser-Busch has unveiled two winter seasonals—Budweiser Brew Masters Private Reserve and the "oak-aged dark vanilla" Michelob Celebrate.
To address this bold development, we assembled a panel of local hop-heads and held a 100 percent blind tasting of a few seasonal, regional brews (plus one Belgian for fun), as well as Busch's two new offerings. Last Friday evening, as rain pounded the city, we sat down to see whether these macros deserved to take an honored place next to our beloved micros. The panel consisted of three ringers: celebrated brewmasters Alan Sprints (Hair of the Dog Brewing Co.), Christian Ettinger (Laurelwood Brewing Co.) and Matthew Williams, a bartender at the local pub the Green Room. To be fair, we also included average Heineken drinkers like Calendar Editor (and former McMenamins bartender) Amy McCullough, News Editor Hank "the Tank" Stern, and two thirsty interns, AP Kryza and Michael Byrne.
The results? Although drinkers differed on their faves (Hair of the Dog's Doggie Claws barleywine and Pyramid's Snow Cap Ale garnered the most soused appreciation), the panel was unanimous on one thing: Sadly, Bud's nicely packaged holiday presents ain't all they're wrapped up to be. The chart below includes some of our more inebriated revelations, from the oddball flavors we tasted in each brew to which holiday shopping destination each beer would be a perfect match for this season. Drink up!
All the seasonal beers we taste-tested are available at local grocery stores.
Holiday Beer scorecard
THE BREW
KEY FLAVORS
GUT REACTION
RETAIL DESTINATION
BEER GEEK FACT
Sierra Nevada "Celebration"Chico, Calif.—Chico is totally NW, people. ($6.99 for a sixer)6.8 percent alcohol
Herbal, citrus, crisp
"Goes down smoothly—I could accidentally drink 17 of these." —AP
Abercrombie & Fitch
Sierra Nevada is the second-largest craft brewery in the nation, behind Sam Adams.
Michelob "Celebrate"St. Louis, Mo.($5.70, 750 ml bottle)10 percent
Marshmallows, Peeps, cough syrup
"I can't finish this." —Michael
Rite-Aid
Labeled "ale" on bottle, but "lager" on the glossy, black gift box—they're two distinct brewing processes, people.
Pyramid"Snow Cap"Portland, Ore./Seattle, Wash.($8.50, sixer)7 percent
Chewy, dark, robust
"Toasty!"—Matthew
Columbia Sportswear
Brewed in Portland at the MacTarnahan's plant.
Budweiser"Brew Masters Private Reserve"St. Louis, Mo.($8, magnum)6.5 percent
Tasteless, sweat-socky aroma, pale
"If you're having a crappy holiday, this Bud's for you."—Matthew
Forever 21
After tasting the beer, the panel felt its huge, 46.5-ounce bottle screamed, um, "overcompensation."
Full Sail"Wassail"Hood River, Ore. ($8.50, sixer)6.5 percent
Winey, strong, berries
"Makes me think of the kids-in-the-bed, post-holiday mellowness." —Hank
Goodwill (in a good way)
A "wassail" is a drink traditionally made of ale or wine, and prepared during the holidays.
Brouwerij Huyghe "Delirium Noël" Ghent, Belgium($10.45, 1 pint,9.4 ounces)10 percent
Peppermint, cloves, inexplicably meaty
"I'm a vegetarian, and this beer makes me worried." —Michael
Good Dog, Bad Dog
Years by which Ghent's oldest brewery exceeds Portland's in age: 330.
Hair of the Dog "Doggie Claws" Portland, Ore.($18, sixer)10.5 percent
Pine boughs, warming, alcoholic
"It tastes like home."—Amy
REI
Hair of the Dog's "Fred" is named for Fred Eckhardt, a Portland brewing icon.
posted by PDXBeer at 10:45 PM
5 Comments:
I cannot believe that Jeff and the staff came out and slammed A-B! Willamette Week has been so in bed with Budwieser I thought Augy Busch would soon has his office in their new building!
We didn't actually slam AB. It was a blind tasting, and the write up comes straight from notes or comments of the beers as they came up. As I mentioned in the intro (somewhat rewritten into "Willamettese"), I was fearful AB would bring a couple of astonishing beers to town--they definitely have the ability to do so.
If you think the test was unfair, replicate it yourself, with your own selection of panelists. Unless they dislike beer or are unfamiliar with it--and particularly if they're Oregon beeristas--you'll find the same results.
Incidentally, that article, which I didn't post here, was originally published in Willamette Week, and is available (formatted) here:
http://www.wweek.com/story.php?story=7035
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