News of 2005 Archive

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10/10/05: Brü is dead, long live McKenzie II!! Just got confirmation that the 15 bbl. Criveller system from Brü in Rochester (the former Empire brewpub) will soon be headed for Frazer, PA for installation in the second McKenzie Brewhouse, where construction has resumed and trusses are up. That's straight from Scott "Dude" Morrison, who said the roof goes on this week. The planned opening is February 1st, and Scott will be brewing at both pubs, aided by his new assistant, Ryan Michaels, who managed to escape the collapse of Valley Forge. Scott's training him up in the straight and narrow. Got this news from the Dude whilst sharing some of his Vuuve XXxXX "Belgian Imperial IPA" (very nice stuff) and Dark Saison (even nicer) at the Kennett Square Brewfest...but I gotta say: good as they were, beers like these ought to be in bottles. "Oh, I'm over that," the Dude said with his usual big grin, referring to the management decision to stop bottling. "I realized that the bottling was really cool, but it was a lot of work, and this left more time to make beer. So I'm pretty much okay with that!" Keep asking for bottles, folks.

10/3/05: I've been promising you whiskey news: here it is: Woodford Reserve Master's Collection Four Grain Bourbon. Yes, someone's finally released a four-grain bourbon, made with a mashbill of corn, malt, rye, and wheat. In fact, in three days, I tasted three new American whiskeys, two of which are of types that have not been made in over 80 years…and possibly much longer. The first one I tasted was the 2005 release of Old Forester Birthday Bourbon. Brown-Forman has made these annual releases into a master class on bourbon making, highlighting the effects of various differences in distillation and aging on the final product, and this year’s release is a corker. It is the product of a short fermentation (there was a power failure at the distillery (something that happens a lot in Kentucky, believe me) that shut down the temperature controls on the fermenters; the decision was made to take the beer as is, rather than let it run too hot and get real estery), and a maturation in barrels stored high in the warehouse. The result is a whiskey that’s lighter in body, but more intense in flavor – quite intense.

The next one I had was also from Brown-Forman (which is a good time to note that BROWN-FORMAN paid for my trip to Kentucky to taste these two; I’ll keep the ethics straight, no fear), and it was truly innovative. This was the long-awaited first 100% pot-stilled whiskey from Woodford Reserve, which would have been seriously innovative on its own and worthy of excitement. But on top of that, it is a four-grain bourbon, a bourbon made from a mash of 51+% corn, 10% barley malt, and undisclosed proportions of wheat AND rye. The federal bourbon regulations do cover such a whiskey – this IS definitely bourbon – but no one has made one in living memory, certainly not since Repeal.

How was it? A big front, very smooth middle, and a long, lively finish: an interesting addition to the category. It will be out in October, labeled Woodford Reserve Master’s Collection Four Grain Bourbon; expect a retail price around $80 for each stylish pot still-inspired bottle. And yes, "Master’s Collection" implies what you inferred: there will be a series of innovative whiskeys to come from Woodford Reserve, all of which will be one-time only creations, "and not necessarily all bourbons," said master distiller Chris Morris. That’s going to be fun.

When I got home, the third whiskey was waiting for me at my mail drop: Bernheim Wheat Whiskey, another long-awaited and long-rumored whiskey. Bernheim is from Heaven Hill, and it’s what it says it is, a wheat whiskey, not a bourbon. It’s made with a mash of 51% wheat, with corn and malt as the small grains. Again, the federal regs cover such a whiskey – as wheat whiskey, similar to rye whiskey – and there are old labels for "wheat whiskey," but no one has produced such a spirit since Repeal. It is, as you might expect, much smoother than rye whiskey, and less sweet than bourbon.

This is real innovation in a category. Brown-Forman didn’t add fruit flavor or zoom-juice to their whiskey, Heaven Hill didn’t suck the flavor out of their whiskey in an attempt to cater to the boom in vodkas. These two distillers have created truly interesting whiskeys in a spirit of invention and exploration, bringing new ideas and flavors to the consumer, not gimmicks. Salud!

9/27/05: Brandon has left the building. It was big news when Nodding Head brewer Brandon Greenwood left to take a job as brewmaster at The Lion. Would he adjust to life in the W-B? Would The Lion start making kick-ass beers like Rudy's Kung-fu Grip? The speculation's over; or at least, the first round: I just got an e-mail from brewery operations director Leo Orlandini to tell me that Brandon has resigned his position at The Lion. He will be replaced by former assistant brewer Bob Kleintob. Brandon said to me the last time I talked to him (at The Lion's 100th birthday party) that I should not be surprised to see him return to Philly "in a big way." Let the second round of speculation begin.

9/21/05: Weyerbacher scores in the big leagues! Weyerbacher's QUAD was the only American beer to place in the top ten in today's New York Times tasting of Belgian abbey ales (you'll need to register to read the article (or use bugmenot; I'm registered, no big deal)). Other Americans included Victory Golden Monkey, Southampton Abbot, and Ommegang. Strong competition. This is a rare top showing for imports in this "off the shelf" tasting panel; writer Eric Asimov attributes it to their strength and size. Congratulations to Weyerbacher: this calls for a drink.

9/19/05: Something truly new -- Victory Harvest Pils: Victory has brewed what I believe (and they believe, too) is the first fresh hop pils brewed anywhere in the world. Field-fresh Mt. Hood hops were used to hop Victory Harvest Pils, the latest in Victory's wholly admirable Braumeister Pils seriesof single-hop pilsners. How did Victory get fresh hops? Well, they didn't use an airplane; the hops came in Victory's refrigerated truck, yet they made it from the field to the kettle less than 24 hours after picking, back in the first week of September. How did Victory get fresh hops? A surprise source: the Northeast Hop Alliance of New York State, which makes this brew even more interesting. This is the first commercial lager beer hopped entirely with eastern U.S. hops in decades, to my knowledge. Victory Harvest Pils will be available on draft only, and will be out at the Victory pub in mid-October...-ish. Watch for a better call on that date.

8/17/05: NY Capital District news: Big House closes, Troy brewpub for sale. First things first: Big House, no longer a brewpub, will no longer be open. They are closing this weekend...which is too bad, but no great loss as things are now. Meanwhile, Gary Brown has put his brewpub and music hall in Troy up for sale (with an asking price of just under $2 million) to raise money to complete his long-planned brewing facility near Hoosick Falls. Brown plans to can his beer there, a growing trend in craft brewing. With no buyer yet in sight, it's impossible to know if brewing will continue on River Street; I hope so, because I sure would miss this place.

8/15/05: Just a quickie: Victory is shipping Festbier to their wholesalers today: so we should see it on tap by Friday. I already had some over the weekend, and it was pretty damned good. I'm really kind of happy to see the Fest go seasonal; something to look forward to!

8/8/05: Bill Moore moving to Lancaster Brewing, more of the story. Lancaster Brewing jefe John Frantz e-mailed me last Thursday to let me know that Bill Moore was taking over the brewhouse. Joe McMonagle, who's done absolutely sterling work at Lancaster these past few years, has decided to take on the brewing duties at Johansson's in Westminster, Maryland full-time. "Joe gave me a month's notice about a week ago," said John. "Ten minutes after I talked to him, I was on the horn to Bill." Moore starts August 17 as Production Manager, and he'll be brewing and overseeing packaging as well, something he's very familiar with from his days at Independence, where he ran that big micro practically single-handedly. 
What can we expect? "His job is to make more beer," said John. "We were planning on bottling the Oktoberfest, but with the success of Hop Hog, we just don't have the tanks. We're negotiating the purchase of two 30 bbl. fermenters, which will help, but that's not the solution." The solution, according to John, is to move production off-site. 

8/4/05: PhillyMag continues to refuse to understand how great Philly's beer is. The 2005 "Best of Philly" issue is on the newstands, and it is the biggest slap in the face this determinedly beer-ignorant magazine has ever delivered to Beertown-on-the-Schuylkill. Let's count it up, shall we? Best local beer awards: Zero. Best brewpub awards: Zero. Best beer selection at a bar awards: Zero. Best beer selection at a distributor awards: Zero. Best beer selection at a bottleshop awards: Zero. Best beer-based cuisine awards: Zero. Best Belgian beer selection awards: Zero. Best of any damned thing that even mentions "beer": one half-assed mention of "this is the place for brews" buried in a pathetically homophobic award called "New Hope Bar That Makes You Forget You're in New Hope," which went to Triumph. So, that's awards for best beers in this deliriously beer-soaked city: Zero, ZERO, ZERO!!! I ask you, how lame can you get? Thanks, PhillyMag, for confirming my faith in you. 

7/18/05: Woodford Reserve to finally release 100% pot-stilled whiskey. I just got a call today to invite me to the unveiling of the first all pot-stilled bourbon from Woodford Reserve. "What's it called?" Can't tell. "What's the proof?" Can't tell. "When's it come out?" Can't tell. All will be revealed on August 30 at the distillery (where we'll probably also get a sniff of this year's Old Forester Birthday Bourbon). Details here, when I get them! 

7/7/05: Pennsylvania deigns to allow case beer be sold on Sunday!!! Well, big deal. Gov. Rendell signed legislation today that allows PA beer distributors to apply for a special Sunday sales license that will allow them to sell case beer from noon to 5 PM on Sundays for only $100 a year. That new income is much more than offset by the blatant bribe that the legislature felt obligated to give the Pennsylvania Tavern Association: an additional 3% discount on liquor and wine bought from the State Store system (the discount was bumped up to 10% from 7% -- I do find the whole concept of forcing the taverns/restaurants to buy liquor and wine from the state to be completely reprehensible, but this is a bribe, plain and simple...unless one acknowledges that prior to 1980, the discount was 16%!).

Yawn. This is good news, in a very small way, but it just makes me even more enraged that Pennsylvania has so many restrictive alcohol laws that don't make any difference and just never, ever go away. For instance, PA has a lot of laws restricting sales of alcohol: we have the State Store system, we have restrictions on how many outlets there are for selling alcohol, we have ridiculous laws about how beer can be sold (the famous "buy two six-packs, step outside the door, then go back in and buy two more" law), and yet...per capita consumption for PA is not really higher or lower than the states around us: Delaware, Maryland, and New Jersey are higher, New York, Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia are lower. Actually, given that these numbers are based on sales, it's interesting to note that the highest numbers are from the states Pennsylvanians traditionally visit to take advantage of better prices and selection on spirits, wine, and beer: we're not drinking less, we're just spending our money elsewhere! 

Let's bring PA into the 20th Century. Yes, I said 20th. We'll work on the 21st later.

First, repeal the case law. I'm tired of explaining it to laughing out-of-staters, I'm tired of wishing variety cases had the beers I want in them, I'm tired of beer stores that look like garages because you have to run pallet-jacks around to move cases, I'm tired of busting my hump shifting cases around to get the one case of something different that's always on the bottom, and I'm tired of anti-alcohol numbskulls somehow thinking the case law was their idea and that it somehow keeps people from getting drunk. It doesn't, stupid, not anymore than buying pitchers does, which some of you think is tantamount to giving the Devil a parade permit. Tell your PA legislator to stop sucking up to the PA Tavern Association and consider your vote for a change. Tell them you want the case law gone, and not for 12 pack sales: you want beer distributors to be able to sell any amount of beer they want in a single sale. 

Second, take the State Store System out back of the Capitol and beat it to death with an axe. Don't give it a human face, don't give us your crappy wine sales while charging $8 a bottle more than Maryland stores for generic half-gallons of gin, don't tell me about all the poor State Store employees who will lose their jobs. Get Pennsylvania out of the booze business, and let private enterprise sell what ever they want, and whatever the people in the area want, and stop making people drive 50 miles to get to a decent store. If the State Store employees are good employees, they'll be able to get jobs right away in all the new stores that will open. Then we'll stop losing taxes to Maryland, New Jersey, and Delaware; we'll have better selections in more places, and we'll make a ton of money selling off the real estate currently occupied by the State Stores and the booze currently in inventory. It will be a huge windfall, probably more than $5 billion. 

Third, throw open direct shipment. While the idiots in Michigan and Virginia and New York think about outlawing direct shipment of alcohol beverages to circumvent the recent Supreme Court ruling, Pennsylvania, with a thriving brewing and winery business, should realize the benefits of free trade by allowing direct shipment and self-distribution to producers both in and out of state. Direct shipment is not a crime. It doesn't put booze in the hands of teenagers (except in state-run stings) any more than any other avenue; actually, because of the price and the wait-time and the signature requirements, it's much less likely to do it. Worried about collecting taxes on those sales? The in-state producers will pay them on in-state sales, and they'll be the lion's share of the sales anyway. As for the out-of-state shipments...are you getting anywhere charging sales tax on mail-order retail? When you solve that problem, let me know, and we'll apply it to direct shipment. I don't see any laws proposed to disallow Amazon shipments to PA.

Fourth, stop the trade in liquor licenses. The way the system works now heavily favors chain eateries at the expense of neighborhood bars. Bring back small business in PA!

I know that this won't make me many friends with tavern owners, or State Store employees, or wholesalers. Sorry. I am speaking for consumers. The playing field is not level, and it hasn't been for many years. If things break when the board's brought back to level...that's the price of doing business. I would urge everyone involved to adapt. Making these changes will open as many opportunities as it closes. Seize them, and excel.

Meanwhile, consumers in PA will finally realize the benefits of Repeal. What the hell, it's only been 70 years.

6/30/05: The Lion strike is over. Let the Stegmaier flow. Details are here.

6/29/05: New Deal in Wilkes-Barre, Union Recommends Acceptance. The strike at The Lion may be over: The strike at The Lion may be over: management has dropped the $1,000 medical deductible and sweetened up pay increases a little, and the union has advised the rank and file to accept it. They could be back to work by Friday. See the details here.