Beaver Brewing at OTB

Dan Woodske of Beaver Brewing had a Pittsburgh release of their brews yesterday at the OTB Bicycle Bar on E Carson St. On tap and in growlers were the three regulars: I Porter Ale, Camoline, and Basil. Also in growler form but in limited quantity was the excellent Kvass.

I Porter Ale is a bit of a porter with hop character found in an IPA.

Basil is an amber ale made with basil grown by Dan.

Chamomile Wheat made with Chamomile Flowers, Fuggle and Hallertau Hops. Not your typical wheat beer but very pleasant.

None of the beers are over 6% so one can have more than one should you desire a personal beer tasting.

Kvass should get Lew Bryson to town as it is well within the “session ale” range; coming in between 1% to 2% ABV. Yes, that’s right; a drinkable beer that is not 17.76% ABV. This original Russian style beer is made with baked bread, water, lemon peel and raisins with just a dash of barley and hops, too.

One thing that I noticed was the people at the bar and in the back. They were all young (over 21, of course). You could feel the exuberance as they all were drinking what we call craft beer nowadays. Between the bar crowd and the OTC Beer Club the focus was on the beer. This was not a drink fest but a bunch of young lads and lassies enjoying well-made beers. I was told that the number of club members in that evening was unexpectedly high. Probably a result in looking to see what the new kid on the block was brewing. Judging by the turnout and reception the beers received I tooks like Dan will be busy as a … No, I just can’t say it.

Beaver http://www.beaverbrewingcompany.com/

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Beer Festivals

Over the years we have seen a swell in the number of beer festivals in the US. The Great American Beer Festival in Denver was thee place to be but for those of us who cannot get a mile high we have a plethora of fests in most major and not so major cities. Here in Pittsburgh we have the Penn Fest, European Beer Fest and the Big Pour, one put on by the Pittsburgh Rugby Club and a smidgen of smaller ones. Beer festivals in America are operated the American way. That is, each person entering pays an admission price of anywhere between 30 to 70 dollars. But you get a free glass to keep and take home. The glass is small, not more than six ounces so it’s easy to carry out. As you know, we get two ounces at a time but we get all we want. The exception is the European fest where you get one shot at all the beers but you can’t get to try one more than once. This is controlled by a punch card. The other exception is when you only get a set number of tickets, which can be used for one ore a variety of brands. I don’t like that method myself, as it seems the most overpriced.

The Brits have a different take on doing a fest. Hey, they don’t drive on the same side of the road as us so why should they drink like us? The English way is to get you in the door for free or at least a quid or two. But before you ask for a cask you need a glass. You buy a glass but it is a full size pint (or half pint) that you use at the fest and if you do not want to take it home on the tube you can return it for your cash back. Now with pint in hand you head for the beer. The Brits operate a fest like a big pub in which you buy a pint (or half) of any beer you want at standard pub prices. Then you turn to the chap next to you and talk football. Now, when you are paying full price for a 20-ounce pint of beer you aren’t going to be sampling one from each brewery. But all in all it makes a great day in finding on that is not typically in your area. In a way the Brits go to a beer festival much like they go to the pub. It is about the beer but for them it is more of a social get together. But in many ways that is universal. Beer brings people together. For more on beer festivals in England see CAMRA.

New York City has beer festivals pretty much the same way most fests are put on in the US but thanks to Alex Hall one can experience a beer festival the British way. Several bars in NYC have cask-ale festivals in which 15 to 20 firkins are lined up on stillage dispensing real ale on gravity and without a cask breather. Some casks are hooked to a beer engine to get the beer to your glass, which is a full pint I have to say. These cask ale fests operate the English way so you buy a full pint of each beer. It’s not about sampling 20 beers in one afternoon, it’s about enjoying a beer you never had with friends. Unlike Pittsburgh, the price of a pint in the Big Apple is $7 or $8. On the good side I can get Sierra Nevada Porter and Stout on cask (just a mention in case Glenn is reading this).

I am off to a cask fest in Brooklyn this January 7 so if you don’t know what a beer engine is or what stillage does, come on up and drink like the English. Of course you will have to hold the glass in your left hand.

To find a cask ale bar in New York City, see this page, with a thank you going out to Mr. Hall and the Malted Barley Appreciation Society.

G20 Beer Festival in Pittsburgh

The Obama administration announced a G20 Summit that will take place in the United States on September 24 & 25, 2009. The host city will not be New York, Los Angles or Crawford, but my hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. My guess is that he wants to take in a Steeler game or a pub-crawl on the South Side. As past news stories have shown we can expect demonstrations. So, what can we do to keep mayhem at a minimum and help developing countries boost their economy? I suggest a G20 Beer Festival inside the convention center. Beer brings people together and drinking together usually solves the world’s problems. I should know; me and my mates do it every weekend. Admission will be free to all demonstrators (proper ID required) and world leaders will pay for the beer. Democrats will do a food service and Republicans will check ID at the door and clean up afterwards. There will be two children’s play areas, one red one blue.

The beers on tap will come from the G20 developing counties as shown below.
Bolivia (Huari), Brazil (Frevo), Chile (Kunstmann), China (Zhujiang beer 珠江啤酒), Cuba (Bucanero Beer), Ecuador (Cerveza Nevada), Egypt (Sakara), Guatemala (Moza), India (Cobra), Indonesia (Bintang), Mexico (Negro Modelo), Nigeria (Guinness made with Sorghum), Pakistan (Murree), Paraguay (Baviera), Peru (Cusquena), Philippines (San Miguel Pale Pilsen), South Africa (Zulu beer, it’s pink), Tanzania (Safari beer), Thailand (Chang beer), Uruguay (Patricia beer), Venezuela (Polar beer) and Zimbabwe (Zambezi)

A few notes on some of the above. I drank the Nigerian Guinness in London last year. It is high gravity beer in a bottle and was wonderful. It was not what I expected and if I could buy it in Pittsburgh it would be (one of) my beers of choice. A surprising note is that more Guinness is drunk in Nigeria than in Ireland. The Zulu beer is served in milk containers and you don’t want to know how it became pink. The Polar beer will be served by Al Gore but don’t expect it to be warm. From what I have been reading beer seems to be doing well in Muslim nations.

Pitt Students in London

I am looking for Pitt Students (or other college students) who have studied in London for a semester with the University.No need to call 911 as I am not looking for anything shady. I noticed on the Pitt web-site that students are given a travel pass for the time they are there but not for one week in March. I wondered what type of card you get and why none for the one break week. I think it would be better to be issued a travel card (monthly, seven, three and one day) which will give you unlimited travel in zone 1 & 2. I have to think that the guys at Pitt know about this but I don't know what pass students get while in London. So, how do you like studying in London? Way different than Oakland, uh?

Penn Brewery

When Tom Pastorius came back to the states from working in Germany he found crap for beer. So he founded the Pennsylvanian Brewing Co. I can’t remember if this was in 1986 or if that’s the year he took over a building on Pittsburgh’s North Side. That building once belonged to another German brewing concern, Eberhardt & Ober. Tom wanted to brew but he also wanted to open a nice restaurant and that’s when the law said no. At the time brewers were not permitted to sell direct to the public. Tom was determined to change this and in short order he did. Without doing into details, Tom openned Pennsylvania’s first tied house since prohibition, the Allegheny Brewery & Pub. That date was September 12, 1989, as miss-written as 1986 by so many other publications. Since then other brewpubs have opened across the state and Tom made this possible. The Eberhardt & Ober Brewery was located here since 1848 and once more the building is under threat as the new owners are looking to close the brewery, but more on that in a latter post. This post is being written to say thanks to a gentleman who made my favorite beer, Kaiser Pils, and allowed me to drink it in a wonderful old building. Simply stated, thanks Mr. Pastorius for what you have done for brewing, Pittsburgh and the Commonwealth. For more see Tm’s site at http://tompastorius.com/

Pittsburgh Pubs

Well, now that my other blog, edslondon.blogspot.com is of to a roaring stand-still I thought that I would try one more. Yes, I am a Pittsburgher and I love pubs and I love to talk pub talk. The burgh is a good beer drinking town and having five golden rings only adds to the living here. I live on the South Side and there is no wanting for beer. There is a lot to say however. The drink tax, no smoking are forefront right now but my first comment will be on the closing of the Penn Brewery. First I want to get a bit tanked at one of my locals so I can get worked up over this. Needless to say that I am pissed about this. So, let get to drinking and I will be back soon to hit the keyboard. For other info check out my site, pubnetwork.com.