American beer, yes, really...

So, why have I, a great exponent of cask-conditioned ales, written a blog on beers from the USA? Well, it started in 1998, when I visited Chicago because I was delivering a paper to a social scientist conference out there, and I went to Goose Island for an afternoon. Goose Island was a brewpub, which I believe is now owned by one of the biggie brewers, but happy to get feedback on this and Goose Island. 

Anyway, I'd had a bit of local info from a mate who was married to a lass from nearby, Illinois or suchlike, and I was very happy with the results. Excellent real ales brewed on the premises, and all types of English styles: IPA, Extra Special Bitter, Porter, Stout, Best Bitter, they had the lot, and very nice they were too. The only error I made there was to order 'chips' with my burger ("How would you like your burger?" was a surprise question too) and being given crisps, oh well, a learning process... I also found out you could get their beers bottle-conditioned, I'm sure one was called 'Honkers' that I had back at the hotel where I was staying, although another learning experience for me, they DO like their beers cold out there, the Honkers was dragged out of a sink full of icy water! Goose Island do still exist, see their website (site).

Secondly, a friend of mine, Anne, who's first wedding, at Wandsworth Town Hall I was a witness at many years ago, now lives in Florida, and she sent Ken Wells' Travels with Barley to me as a present last year. Interesting read, and, although I haven't been able to grab hold of any of the 'extreme' beers mentioned therein, eg Dogfish World Wide Stout, weighing in at a hefty 23.6%, nor the same brewer's 120 Minute IPA, packed with hops, and a meagre 18%, I did manage to find the 4 following weaker beers, available at my local Morrisons.   

You'll notice that these are mostly IPA style, or APAs (American Pale Ales), which was not such a hardship for me, the first of which was the bottle-conditioned, and extremely well known, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale (5.6%). I thought that this may not be that good, being as it was a bit 'run of the norm' for American beers, but it was bottle-conditioned, so... Magnum and Perle hops are used in the brewing process, and it is finished with Cascade, so promising, and it definitely had the citrus fruit you would expect, I got grapefruit, and have seen another reviewer say tangerine, whatever, it had very very nice flavour and bitterness too, what a pleasantly surprising start! More at the brewers website, if you want to research further (site).  

OK, I was getting into this now, I do love research, and moved onto my second choice, Steven Point (site) being the brewer, and their IPA this time, which is actally brewed for the UK market, that's how popular some of these beers are becoming! This is also 5.6%, and uses Magnum and Perle hops too, and dry hopped with Cascade, so I'm guessing they're competing directly with the Sierra Nevada... Indeed, I had already made a note of cascade hops used before checking, so that hop's flavour definitely came through, a wee bit apple in the flavour, hint of sweetness, and a bitterness coming from the grapefruit flavour provided by the cascade hops. Not bad at all, I wrote "goodish" in my notes, but not as much to my liking as the Sierra Nevada...   

My penultimate beer was another IPA, this time brewed by Shipyard Brewing Company (site) and 5.8%. The Shipyard version is a single hop variety, and even has a subtitle Fuggles IPA, and yes, you've guessed, fuggles are the hops of choice for this ale. I've seen quite a few reviews of this beer saying "traditional English style", oh dear, what a shame, though I didn't catch the grapefruit taste others did. Maybe I know the fuggles hop a bit too well, but I did pick up a fruitiness, apple and plum though for me! Another not too bad beer, but my IPA, or APA, of choice in this tiny sample has to be the Sierra Nevada, I thank you...  

I finished off my American beer venture with the Shipyard Blue Fin Stout, amazingly, being sold off cheaply at Morrisons for just £1 a bottle, many thanks to Morrisons as I bought a bottle on 3 or 4 separate visits! So, a very different style of beer, and, the fact I went back for more says a lot about it, and not just the price. The Blue Fin Stout is described as a "classic Irish Stout" and has an array of hops used in the brewing process, Warrior, Cascade, Tettnang and Goldings, though, excepting 'Black IPAs", as discussed in a recent blog, I have trouble spotting the hops in darker beers. This was very enjoyable, though, with a subtle malt and caramel flavour, and a nice dry roasted barley finish, 'twas a bit like a traditional stout, indeed. 

So, I say "thank you" to the Yanks and their growing influence in the world of brewing, particularly to their willingness to chuck in loadsa hops, cheers m'dears!    

PS. Michael Jackson, the "Beer Hunter", was a better known exponent of different styles of beer, and he did like his American travels too. I was given a free bottle of the 'Extra Special' Fullers ESB he brewed for the American market, and it was pretty good, but he did like his favourite ale, the merely 3.5% Chiswick Bitter brewed at Fullers in nearby Chiswick. His last evening on earth was spent drinking Chiswick Bitter at his local pub, the Andover Arms in Hammersmith, whilst I was relief manager there... R.I.P. Michael Jackson (1942-2007). 

The Beer Goddess

I got the idea of writing this blog from reading Travels with Barley, written by the American journalist Ken Wells, within which he discussed the idea of the "Beer Goddess"; a book, incidentally, sent to me by a good friend of my yoof, Anne (I was her witness at her wedding), who now lives in Florida. I immediately thought of the Sumerian Goddess of Beer, Ninkasi, as you do...

But, no, Mr Wells was really looking at the influence of women on men drinking beer in the USA, we could be talking about poor lagers, of course, but we are also talking about the craft beer revolution that has been going on over there for quite a few years now! Craft brewers in the USA have, in recent years, been instrumental in, not just the development of new strains of hops, but also the use of hops++ in the brewing process, most of their beers aren't 'real' beers as us Brits expect, but they can certainly pack a punch with flavour, and strength!  

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Women have had an enormous influence on brewing over the years, indeed, many many years! As far as the history books show, women dominated brewing from the first beers brewed in Sumeria 4,000 years ago, and for most of the centuries since, and there are quite a good number of women brewing  for micro brewers now, thank the goddess of brewing! 

But, Mr W also was referring to what we in the UK call "barmaids", which apparently, is too sexist a term for the Americans and their pressure groups, so, to him, a barmaid is a "beer goddess" apparently. However, although the Bavarian barmaid can carry many glasses of foaming beer without spills, as this photograph attests to, and which may show a propensity towards being superhuman, they are well oversized glasses, so nowhere near full. Us ale swilling Brits, not always the most beautiful aesthetically, do enjoy the company of barmaids, let alone goddesses. However, I have only ever had one relationship with a barmaid in my life, when I was in my early 20s; maybe many are goddesses, whatever, they've certainly avoided me! 

More seriously, though, in recent years the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) has used the female image to help its cause too, eg with this more up to date image of the goddess, Ninkasi, which I imagine was partly a way to encourage more women to drink real ale, as well as to encourage more men to drink even more real ale! Now this is an image of Ninkasi I am happy to remember...

Since then, Jennifer Ellison has been used very recently as part of CAMRA's successful campaign to stop the Government's beer tax escalator; she may well be a caricature of how barmaids are supposed to look, maybe a 'beer goddess' even. However, barmaids and barmen are usually much like the rest of us, ordinary people, not gods or goddesses, carrying out a wonderful role serving up quality ales to us, and may they continue to do so, many thanks.

Mr Wells also mentions a beer writer in the USA who calls herself "The Beer Goddess", Lisa Morrison, whom I have started to follow on Twitter and Facebook, and I look forward to reading her articles, whatever...

Hale Ninkasi, cheers!