ARROGANT BASTARD ALE: Stone Brewing Company, Escondido, California. As the name suggests, this beer is in your face, with a great bitter bite followed by a background of dark roasty malt. 7.2% ABV.
BLIND PIG IPA : Russian River Brewing Company, Santa Rosa, California. Award-winning IPA. Great big hop flavor with caramel, citrus, and tropical notes. Low ABV, making it an American version of a session beer. 6% ABV.
PLINY THE ELDER DOUBLE IPA: Russian River Brewing Company, Santa Rosa, California. Cult-favorite that is surprisingly well balanced between a large dose of hop and fruity malt. 9% ABV.
MAHARAJA DOUBLE IPA: Avery Brewing Company, Boulder, Colorado. Another hop favorite, big and bitter with grassy hops and notes of grapefruit. 10.5% ABV.
HOUBLON CHOUFFE DOBBELEN IPA TRIPEL: Brasserie d’Achouffe, Achouffe, Belgium. Citrusy and bready with a nice dose of Belgian hop bitterness. 9% ABV.
So turn the lights down low and the Barry White way up. Open a bottle of Bière de Champagne and light some candles. Go all the way, baby. It’s time. You visited all the bases, time to round home plate. We know that when we pull out the big guns of beer, we can seduce pretty much anyone into drinking craft beer. And it’s nice to know that beer has a dressier side: Saison is like classic white pearls, Barley wine is like a tux ’n’ tails, Russian Imperial Stout is like the little black dress. Perhaps American IPA could then be the ass-kickin’, handmade, real-leather cowboy boots, and the Double IPA is like those ass-less chaps. Use protection—know your ABVs—so that you don’t have to suffer the walk of shame; we’ve all had a Double IPA night that got a little out of control. But if you take precautions, you can be relaxed and comfortable going all the way with the right beer.
SEVEN
Home Is Where the Beer Is
I would give all my fame for a pot of ale and safety.
—WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE. KING HENRY V
Fill Your Home with Beer
Being a beer lover means bringing that love into the home. You now have a long list of styles to choose from and an advanced palate to taste with. So why have a variety of wines and liquor on hand in your cabinet for every occasion and only one lonely six-pack of beer in the fridge? Now that you have embraced the breadth of the beer world, you’ll want to have some choices when dining at home. Whether you plan a dinner party or have an unexpected soirée, or even a 3 a.m. booty call, pulling out a variety of special beers for your guests will leave a memorable mark on their minds and palates. In fact, having options for your guests is simply good manners for a beer lover. We tell you this from personal experience; we find that people remember the craft beers we served them as much as the good company when we throw parties. But beer in the home isn’t just about the drink, it’s about the whole aesthetic experience. In this chapter we’ll tell you how to get the most out of your craft beer experience at home—How to serve it in the right glass, and what to keep around to have good beer feng shui.
You Know That Thing You Drink Beer From? Well, It’s Important! Glassware
We’re going to tell you something that wine enthusiasts have known for years: The glass matters! It really matters. Great glassware isn’t just pretty; its function has a huge effect on a fine beverage. There’s much more to glassware than a cheap pint glass or, even worse, the giant red plastic cup (The Horror!). Just like a white wine belongs in a different size and shape glass than red wine, different beer styles have their own glassware. Americans are finally catching on to the idea of using great glassware for beer, but this idea has been thriving for ages in Belgium and other beer-centric European countries. Thankfully, the resurgence in craft beer has brought back interest in using the proper glass. You may have even seen a few of these around town: the tulip-shaped glass, the chalice glass, or at least the tall Weizen glass. So how does the glass affect the beer?
The shape of the glass has great influence on the release of the carbonation in the beer. Think of a Champagne flute. It allows this bubbly elixir to retain its carbonation because of its narrow shape and small surface area at the opening. This is important for Champagne, which needs a nice dose of carbonation to balance out its sugary sweetness. Try putting Champagne into a big pint glass and see what happens. It will no doubt lose carbonation quickly and get syrupy sweet and cloying. Certain beers need the same attention to carbonation release. Lambics, for instance, benefit from a glass shaped like a Champagne flute so that they retain enough carbonation as you drink them to keep some balance and not be perceived as overly sweet or sour.
A glassware style known as the tulip also helps retain carbonation. The wide bottom and narrow middle decreases the surface area, creating a bottleneck, which keeps the CO2 bubbles from releasing too quickly. The Belgian Golden Ale Duvel is traditionally served in this glassware. The head on a Duvel poured into this glass is huge, but that’s no accident. The brewer wants a substantial head on that beer because the bubbles will lift the aromatics to your nose. Read the label on a Belgian bottle; it will likely indicate which type of glass best fits the beer. The Belgians make some of the best beer out there, and they have put a lot of thought into the best way to show off the beer and release its flavors. Orval, Tripel Karmeliet, Chimay, St. Bernardus, Saison DuPont—all of these beers have their own glassware, as do hundreds more.
But why are there so many different glass shapes and sizes for these different beers? These glassware creations are part marketing ingenuity (as the beer name is usually stamped across the glass) and part flavor enhancement. In fact, there is technically no right or wrong glass shape for a Belgian beer. The “correct” glassware for most of these Belgian beers is really determined only by what the brewer says. The brewer is the one who says, “Behold. I have created beer. This is how my beer should be served in order for it to taste how I intended.” If the brewer thinks that the carbonation should release quickly to achieve the correct balance, he’ll probably design a glass that is more goblet like, with a wide surface area that provides unfettered CO2 release—like the glasses for Chimay and Orval. If a brewer wants her beer to retain a lot of carbonation, she might decide that it be served in a flute, like Lambic, or a tulip glass, like Duvel. If the brewer thinks that the beer should be consumed at a warmer temperature, he will want his beer served in a big thin glass; this allows warm hands to help bring the beer to the right temperature. Inversely, if the brewer thinks the beer is better colder, he may have his beer served in a thick chalice. In all of these cases, the glass mirrors what the brewer says is the perfect way to enjoy his or her beer.
Some glassware, however, is determined by style. It’s as simple as that. For instance, some beer styles are meant to be served in a good old pint-shaped glass known as a shaker. Porters, Stouts, and other English Ales can benefit from this glass, which allows for a quicker loss of carbonation. The reason for this is the same reason these ales hold up well on cask. With a lower carbonation, the roasted, toasted notes of these styles will show more on your palate when the carbonation has dissipated. Their style dictates that they should have a lower amount of carbonation so that none of the subtle malty flavors are hidden.
In addition to shape, the quality of the glass is truly important. Beer just tastes better out of good glasses. If you don’t believe us, do a taste test. Pour a beer you like into both a cheap glass and a fine crystal wineglass. Taste the difference. See? Just as wine tastes different in various glassware, so does beer. We know that we’re getting nitpicky here, but when you drink beer out of a fine glass, the entire experience is exponentially enhanced. If you are drinking a great beer out of a wisp of a glass with a beautiful curve that provides the correct carbonation release rate and temperature, you are treating craft beer and the artisans who make it with respect. And as craft beer continues to get the attention it deserves, people will see that great glassware is as essential to craft beer as the bottle opener.
Glass Houses
So you say you aren’t going to stock 20 different kinds of glasses to appease us? Well, we don’t bla
me you. We don’t do that either, so don’t worry about it. What we recommend when we consult for bars and restaurants that don’t want to stock too many glasses is one simple kind of glass. Crazy, after what we just told you about all the varieties of glassware, we know, but if you just get one type of low-stemmed Burgundy-style glass (we like the Riedel Ouverture Magnum glasses), you should be set. This style, which is similar to a glass used by sommeliers for evaluating wine, is a great happy medium for all beers if you don’t want to splurge on tons of different glassware. It’s not technically correct, but it is minimalist chic. For a lot of our beer-pairing dinners, we serve beer in wineglasses, and we’ll never turn away a craft beer served thus.
But if you feel like you’re ready to commit to buying some good beer glasses, you might want to think about investing in a set. We like the German glassmaker Riedel. They make a nice overall beer glass, and Spiegelau (owned by Riedel) is our favorite. They make a great three-glass set that includes a tulip shape, a Pilsner style, and a taller classic wheat beer glass. These glasses are pretty accessible; you can even find them at Target. You can also try your local boutique wine and beer shop, or search online.
There is a certain satisfaction that comes from drinking a beer in its custom-engineered glassware in your own home. And yes, we each have a couple of specialty glasses with brewery names at home for our favorite beers. Unless you feel like bogarting these glasses from your local beer bar (which we do not recommend, by the way, unless you want to get 86’d for life), these glasses are pretty hard to come by. We’ve found a couple of websites where you can get them. They ain’t cheap, but it’s fun to experience the beer the way the brewer intended. Go online to the Global Beer Network (www.globalbeernetwork.com). You can also try the Beer Geek Shop (www.beergeekshop.com). Here are some examples of popular glass shapes and the beer styles that best fill them up:
PINT: English Bitter, ESBs, Pale Ales, IPAs, Porters, Stouts, Irish Red, Amber Ales, California Common, American Lagers, Brown Ale. This ubiquitous glassware shape allows the beer to release carbonation at a constant rate and warm up in your hands.
FLUTE: Bière de Champagne, Lambics, Gueuze, Faro. This narrow shape helps the beer maintain its balance by keeping the bubbles in and the sweetness or sourness of these beers in check.
TULIP: Witbier, Saison, Scotch Ale, Bière de Garde, Belgian Strong Golden, Double or Imperial IPA, specialty herbed beer, Berliner Weisse. The wide bottom of this glass allows the beer to open up, but the bottleneck created by the narrowing toward the mouth traps a nice big head for aromatic enjoyment and carbonation retention, keeping a prickly bite that complements these styles.
CHALICE OR GOBLET: Most Belgian beers, Belgian Pale Ale, Dubbels, Tripels, Flanders Red Ale. This class of glassware offers a stem so that the beer doesn’t warm up too quickly, but the wide mouth allows for greater surface area and carbonation release. Beers served in this glassware benefit from opening up and often reveal layers of different flavors as they come to room temperature and lose some bubbles.
PILSNER: German and Czech Pilsners, Imperial Pilsners, Bocks, Dopplebocks, Schwarzbier. This slender style, sometimes shaped like an upside-down cone, usually holds 12 ounces and is ideal for head retention and showing off your pretty beers.
WEIZEN : Hefeweizen, American Wheat Beers, Dunkelweizen, Kristallklar, Weizenbock. This tall, thin glass allows for the huge head that can accompany the wheat styles that belong in them. It also helps focus the banana and clove esters that most wheat styles are known for.
STEIN IN OR MUG: German and Czech Pilsners, Maibock, Marzens. This sturdy-handled piece of glass or earthenware insulates a lot of beer... a lot of beer. Some even have a lid to keep the bugs out.
SNIFTER: Barleywine, Quadrupels, barrel-aged beers, Russian Imperial Stout, Eisbock, Winter Warmer. This glass functions much like a brandy snifter, concentrating aromatics and directing flavor. Because these bigger beers often have a high alcohol content, they benefit from swirling and warming up in your hands.
STANGE OR ROD: Altbier, Kölsch, Rauchbier. This smaller shape keeps some bubbles intact and the beer cold, allowing these beers to remain refreshing.
BOOT, HALF YARD, OR YARD: The lightest beer possible. This giant glass doesn’t have much quality control. The first sip may be fine, but by the end, the beer will have lost too much carbonation and gained too much heat to be tasty. This goes for the pitcher scenario as well. But they sure are fun.
Stock the Fridge
Now that you have an array of empty glasses, you need a variety of beers to put in them (empty beer glasses are sooooo sad). You probably already have a small collection of spirits, a few bottles of quality
GRRROWLERS!
You’ve heard talk of them, they have that funny name, but WTF are growlers anyway? Tiny bears? Disgruntled pub-goers? In fact, no, growlers are just jugs o’ craft beer. They are half-gallon jugs that people fill up from their local brewery or brewpub and take to go. They are usually made of glass and come in a variety of shapes. Growlers were supposedly named such because of the sound of the carbonation escaping as the top was opened. Some believe growlers gained popularity in areas where liquor was not available for purchase on Sundays, so people would stop by the brewery or pub to fill up a jug instead (you can close the liquor store, but we’ll find a way!).
Growlers are a great way to take home some fresh beer. If sealed correctly, they can keep for over a week, but people usually get them for immediate consumption. Growlers are not sanitized, so they aren’t meant for long-term storage because the beer could go bad. There’s nothing better than showing up at a friend’s BBQ with a growler of fresh beer from your local brewery. If you do that, be prepared to be loved.
red and white wine, but what about your beer selection? If you want to be a craft beer lover, you gotta keep some of these babies close. It can be frustrating to go to the fridge for a hoppy beer and find that all you have is milk and OJ. You don’t want to boast the benefits of drinking craft beer and then not be able to deliver when a friend comes over. And you never know when a social evening will require a little impromptu beer lesson. You’ll need to have a few good beers on hand to demonstrate.
It’s good to make a grocery list of beers to have on hand for any occasion, if only for yourself and your many moods. Here are our recommendations for styles to have at the ready: Pilsner, Hefeweizen, Amber Ale, Pale Ale, IPA, Porter/Stout, Saison, Dubbel, and something for dessert (either a chocolaty Stout, a sweet Lambic, or a fruited ale). If you have a nice base of varied styles, you can then experiment with different beers the next time you hit the store.
Here is our advanced grocery list for beers that pair well with certain situations, be they good or bad:
AFTER-WORK BEER: Racer 5 IPA—the hops cut through all the bullshit your boss spewed at you all day.
PRE-PARTY BEER: Sierra Nevada Pale Ale—a nice crisp start to an evening that won’t mess up your palate or get you too drunk before the fun begins.
LIQUID COURAGE BEER: Arrogant Bastard Ale—the name makes you feel strong, and the ABV is a nice 7.2%. The bold hops will make you ready to face any frightening future event.
THE IN-LAWS ARE COMING OVER BEER: Duvel—a strong beer that you can drink fairly quickly. It looks light in the glass, so if they show up before you’re done drinking, you can pass it off as a Pilsner and no one’s the wiser.
JUST GOT FIRED BEER: North Coast Russian Imperial Stout—dark, bitter, lots of alcohol.
YOU JUST LOOKED AT YOUR CREDIT CARD BILL BEER: PBR—’cause you’re poor.
BEAUTIFUL SUMMER DAY IN THE BACKYARD BEER: Kölsch—light and lovely.
GONNA GET LAID BEER: DeuS—subtle herbaceous quality and fruit give you something to talk about, high alcohol greases the wheels, cork and high carbonation make for lovely romance and ritual.
DINNER WITH FRIENDS BEER: Saison DuPont or Saison Foret—to impress your friends because of the big bottle and cork finish. The dryness of the Saison style will go with most
meals.
LIFE SUCKS!! BEER: No beer.
HAVING A BBQ BEER: Rauchbier—to bring out the smoke in the meat. Or try a Dales Pale Ale served in a can—to remind you and your friends of the BBQs you had in college when you couldn’t cook to save your life.
LATE-NIGHT BEER: Allagash Curieux—aged in Jim Beam barrels. This complex Belgian-style ale has a bourbon whisky flavor that is perfect for those used to a brandy snifter and cigar after dinner.
DEUS EX MACHINA BEER: Quelque Chose—actually made for heating up for that unexpected surprise! Serve it for dessert with a scoop of cinnamon gelato; no matter what happens at dinner, this will be the memory people will retain.
Beer Tools and Craft Beer Needs
Beyond the beer and the glasses, there are a few beer tools that will make your home happy and fulfill your desire for cool beer gear. The only absolute necessity in the list is the bottle opener, for obvious reasons, but the rest will enhance your beer drinking at home and impress your guests.
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