To Your a Fred Eckhardt Publication — Dedicated to the Mprovement of American Beer and the Enjoyment of Real Beer from All Over the World
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STACKS HOLIDAY GREETINGS! GOOD NEWS FOR LOVERS OF REAL^E^R County Ubwy BED 211983; id, Oregon to your a Fred Eckhardt Publication — dedicated to the mprovement of American Beer and the enjoyment of Real Beer from all over the world October-November-December 1983 (503) 289-7596 Vol. 1, No. 5 Entire contents copyright © 1983 by Fred Eckhardt, all rights reserved. photo bv Brnd Cordon A STOUT WINTER FOR PORTER ily the end of the line. ales were often mixed. In the Shoreditch In earlv eighteenth century England area around East London a mixture came For me one of the jovs of the approach there were basically three types of beer to into favor with the market porters of the ing cold weather is the fact that Idevelop a be found. Small (weak) beer was about all area. This was called "three threads" and taste for darker and darker beers. As sum the lower classes could afford and natur consisted of equal parts pale ale, new (ac mer wanes I go from weiss beers and ally it was watery and weak and probably tive) brown ale and aged (still) brown ale American lagers to European lagers and sour, but of course the water wasn't to be (sometimes called stale ale). To satisfy his weizen beers to the lovelv ambers of Ok- trusted in those days, either. Everybody clients the pubkeeper had to keep all three toberfest until 1 arrive at the black beers of else drank strong pale ale (which wasn't beers on hand, not an easy task in those winter. And none too soon, either, I must very pale) and strong brown (dark) ale. days. In 1722 Ralph Harwood, an East add. Those beers were usually fermented from London pub-brewer, produced a beer from Stout has never actually been a favorite about 15-17% fermentables, and the beer scratch to match the taste of the "three style for me but recently the resurgence of was often poorly attenuated (fermented), threads." He called this beer "entire." Porter in this country has caught my fancy probably resulting in a rather sweet finish When the new beer was delivered to the and I have learned to enjoy Porter and to the beer. This, of course, was the result pubs in the area, the teamster would call even stout, especially after I came to the of drinking the beer too early, and within out "porter," and that, plus the fact that realization that Guinness wasn't necessar the week of ferment. The pale and brown continued A FEASTOFWINTER BEERS Six Stouts Six Porters ABC Extra Stout, Singapore AnchorPorter, U.S.A. (Old CaptainsImports, Portland, OR) (Wisdom Imports, Irvine,CA) Grant's Russian Imperial Stout (draft), ••••• Sierra Nevada Porter, Califbrna Washington State •••• Black Hook Porter (draft), Washington Guinness'Extra Stout (Ireland) •••• Boulder Porter, Colorado (Guinness-Harp,Long Island,NY) •••• Falstaff's Ballantine Porter, U.S.A. Koff Imperial Stoute, Finland •••• Samuel Smith Taddy Porter (England) (Merchant Du Vin, Seattle) (Merchant Du Vin, Seattle) •••• Mackeson Stout, England •••• Sierra Nevada Stout, California Six Holiday Beers Aass Jul Ol, Norway •••• Maisel Fest Bier, W. Germany (Merchant du Vin, Seattle) (MorandelImports, San Francisco) AnchorChristmas Ale, U.S.A. ••• Noche Buena, Mexico (Wisdom Imports, Irvine, CA) (Moctezuma Imports, Irvine, CA) Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale, California NL Paulaner Fest Bier, W. Germany (MorandelImports, San Francisco) Two Specialty Beers NL EKU Hefe Weizen Dunkel, W. Germany NL Lindeman's Faro, Belgium (Morandel Imports, San Franciso) (Merchant Du Vin, Seattle) Published six times a year by ABIS, Box 546, Portland, OR 97207. Subscription $10/year. A Stout Winter worth a trip to Seattle, Portland or Yakima, voung sample), but it was verv sansrving. Continued from page 1 but the best place to get it is at home in The Chico, California, beer holds its head Yakima, Wash. a verv long time and continues gas release the beer came to be favored bv porters in ABC Extra Stout is from Singapore's in tiny exquisite bubbles almost indefinite the district, lead to the beer being called Archipelago Brewery. Archipelago is40% ly. This is definitely a world class beer. Mv "Porter." owned by Heineken and they are the folks third choice is Aass Jul 01 from Drammen, This new Porter was a robust beer of who gave you Tiger Beer. ABC Stout is Norway, with an extract of 14.5° (1059), about 1060-70 gravity (15-17° fermentable bottle conditioned, so it has sediment, with and alcohol content 4.6%/wt. I'm sure I've goods), and with alcohol somewhere 16° fermentables, and 5.4% alcohol. This told vou that Norwegian beers are brewed around 4 to 5%/wt. The new beer was very beer is just now being introduced into the to strict Rheinheitsgebot purity. Aass Jul stronglv hopped and allowed to mature country by Old Captain Imports of Portland, 01 is also a world class beer and an easv for up to six months, a rarity for those Oregon. It is pleasingly bitter with a touch 5-dotter. The Maisel Fest Bier is an excel times. The style became popular all over of tartness and with the kind of class that lent example of that brewery's high qual England and, indeed, became England's Guinness once had. Guinness? Guinness ity products and the first "national" beer. From England the Extra Stout isn't, either. The Guinness we Noche Buena is a Mexican favorite of mine stvle spread to the continent and, of course, get in this country can't compare with that which was, for a verv long while, the only to Ireland where it was slow to take hold. of Ireland or Africa or that of the Southeast Christmas beer available in this country. Irish Porter came to be brewed much Asian bottlings. When Guinness ships The Paulaner Fest Bier is one I haven't stronger and was called Stout Porter and their good beer to the U.S. mavbe I'll give tasted, but that brewery's beer has never later simplv "Stout." The Guinness Brew them 5-dots. Guinness Porter-stvle stout disappointed me, and I'm certain it will be ery in Dublin produced both plain Porter has 11° (1044) and 4.6% alcohol,' and the an easv four or five dots. There are other and extra Stout Porter, but by 1800 Guin stuff on draft (no matter how beautiful it Christmas brews. The Fred Koch, Dunkirk, ness production was all Porter and Stout. looks): 10° (1040) and 3.4% alcohol. That's NY, Brewery will ship Koch's Holiday Beer The last English Porter was brewed in hardly even beer. Koff Finnish Imperial to be nationally distributed bv Morandell, Dublin in 1973, but the style survived in Stout, Mackeson Stout, and Sierra Nevada out of San Francisco. Bill Newman makes Europe where it is still being made in Stout round out our list of stouts. The a reddish, almost rubv Winter Beer on draft Denmark, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Mackeson Stout is a rare surviving ex in Albany, NY, and Canada's BC Troller Poland, Hungary, and France. It is also ample of the English style of Stout which Pub will serve Bay Ale's Christmas beer to brewed in Canada and China. In the used to be called Ovster Stout* or some their patrons. United States Porter is being revived. The times Milk Stout. Mackeson has a rich, Perhaps the best of these small brew Yuengling Brewery in Pottsville, Pennsyl rather sweet finish, a rubv head and a ery's offerings comes from Yakima, Wash vania, had made a porter since 1929, but in lower alcohol content, but it is one of my ington, and is available in at least two recent years the Yuengling Porter has been favorites. g Seattle bars (Place Pigalle and Murphy's no more than a dark lager, losing most of Pub — Listen 1:2) and one Portland bar its Porter character in the transition. *Stouts and Porters are at their best accom (Horse Brass). I tell vou now that Bert In 1974 Fritz Maytag (Anchor Brewery) panied with raw ovsters. Grant's Christmas Ale will be worth a spe changed his dark steam beer to a Porter cial trip to Seattle, Portland, or Yakima: so formula, although still bottom fermented BEER FOR YOUR CHRISTMAS GOOSE don't hesitate, the supply will be verv defi in steam beer fashion, at 17% fermentable nitely limited. The Grant's Christmas Ale extract (gravity 1070) and about 6V2%/wt. Our Christmas traditions are mostly is an amber beer made from two-rowed alcohol. Except for being bottom ferment from three sources: American Colonial, barlev malt, with 10% caramel malt, and ed, Anchor Porter is truly an authentic English and German, and the English is 25° extract (1100), and "Lots of Galena and Porter. A. U.S. Porter in 1887, for example, probably the strongest. In both England Cascade hops." Now when Bert Grant tells had 18° fermentables (1074) and 4.9% al and Germany the traditional holiday drink vou he is going to put "lots" of hops in his cohol, while another in 1889 had 13%° is strong ale or dark beers. Annually pro beer vou have to believe him. He is one of (1054) and 4.2% alcohol. Porter was de duced Christmas ales are undoubtedly the America's true hop-heads. Aside from fined by brewing authority Robert Wahl, strongest of those beers. Indeed, some are malt, water, hops and veast, the Grant in 1908, as a dark beer with at least 13° and brewed to an extract of 25° (1100).