PBC: Fleur de Lehigh

Posted by Keith Wallace on Apr 22, 2012 in Beer Reviews | 2 comments

Inspired by memories of the onset of Spring (and eternal hope, of course) at Shibe Park – which was located on Lehigh Ave.  – Philadelphia Brewing Co.’s Fleur de Lehigh is a unique local choice for warm weather drinking. The beauty of this beer is that it’s smooth enough for a patio or tailgate session, but more flavorful than the average summer brew.

The floral aromas and bright, fresh flavors are derived mostly from the spices added: ginger, lemongrass, rose hips, rhubarb and cardamom. The herbal aromatics are quite assertive, which, on one hand is what makes this brew so interesting, but on the other can cause a slightly medicinal flavor.

As long as that doesn’t put you off, Fleur de Lehigh has enough complexity and personality to warrant repeat visits all summer long.

Just Say No

Posted by Mike Madaio on Mar 14, 2012 in Philly | 2 comments

This St. Patrick’s Day, just say no to Guinness. And Smithwick’s. And Harp. Yeah, yeah, but it’s St. Paddy’s Day – I get it. I just can’t support drinking mediocre, stale beer, especially when we live smack dab in the middle of the most vibrant, most innovative beer culture the world has ever seen. So, this year, instead of partaking in one of these mass-produced Irish beers, why not drink something fresh and local?

The impetus for my plea was actually M.L. Wolfsohn’s recent Epikur piece on the Pennsylvania wine scene; it’s a fascinating take on how there is much potential to make great wines here, but that the financial situation isn’t quite right. While pondering this article and my wine habits, however, it dawned on me that there’s another tasty drink that’s much further along on the “world class in our backyard” scale: beer. The United States is making the best beer in the world, bar none. Better than Germany, better than the Czech Republic, better than Belgium. That’s right, better than Belgium. If you want to drink local, and drink well, beer is the ticket.

Most traditional beer markets are hindered by tradition and a reliance on the old ways (something that can be seen as a positive, ironically, in the wine world). In the US, however, creativity is tantamount. Our brewers regularly experiment with different styles, the blending of styles, and ingredients not often found in beer. This leads to a diversity of choice that is unheard of elsewhere. (It’s highly unlikely, for example, that Guinness will be offering a stout brewed with chicory anytime soon – but our own Dogfish Head offers that tasty option!)

In addition, for most beers sold in the world, freshness is crucial to overall quality. Yes, there are some bottle conditioned beers with high alcohol volumes that can benefit from some time, but these are a very, very small percentage of beers sold. Otherwise, the sooner you drink it, the better it’s going to taste, which means that, for the Philadelphia drinker, beer brewed in Harrisburg is probably going to taste better than beer brewed in Dublin.

My disdain for imports is not limited to Ireland, of course. I continue to see people drinking crappy, mass-market imports like Heineken and Stella Artois as if they are somehow a step above American beers. These people have obviously never tried Victory’s Prima Pils, a traditional pilsner (lager) that offers freshness and vibrancy that these European beers simply cannot match.

So, this St. Patrick’s Day, instead of ordering whatever Irish swill is on special, try something local instead. Did you plan on drinking Guinness? Try a creamy, robust Lancaster Milk Stout. Prefer Smithwick’s? Great Lakes Conway’s Irish Red (from Ohio) is impeccably smooth. Harp? Get your hands on some bright, fragrant Victory Lager.

Drinking local beer, of course, goes beyond everyone’s favorite boozehound holiday. It’s a year round request: the next time you are faced with a beer buying decision, and are tempted to pick up an import, don’t. Just say no. Find something brewed closer to home that’s of a similar style. Or perhaps a style you haven’t tried before. Both your taste buds and your community will thank you.

Bad Science

Posted by M.L. Wolfsohn on Mar 6, 2012 in News | 2 comments

A bevy of news outlets are reporting that only wine professionals can taste complexity in wine:

Ever wondered why you can’t quite detect those hints of vanilla and cardamom touted in a pricey bottle of wine? A new study finds that wine experts—like the wine writer who likely informed you of that cardamom in the first place—simply have a better sense of taste than most of the rest of us. Hundreds of wine drinkers sampled a chemical that gauges a person’s reaction to bitter tastes, and the wine experts were found to be around 40% more sensitive than casual wine drinkers, NPR reports.

 

Of course, practice is one reason wine experts get so good at tasting nuances and subtleties. But the study fits with the idea, formulated by prior research, that some “supertasters” are simply more sensitive to begin with. “Wine shopping can be confusing and overwhelming,” one wine writer acknowledges. Wine ratings can help you narrow down your options, but “every critic has his or her own taste. So the same wine might garner wildly differing scores from a variety of critics.”

“Why You Shouldn’t Bother Splurging on Fancy Wine”  in Newser

Ironically, about forty students at the Wine School of Philadelphia just proved that theory wrong.  Under the eye of the school’s sommelier-instructors, this group of wine novices were able to taste like a sommelier after a single semester. The proof? In a double-blind tasting, nearly every student was able identify  the wines by varietal and wine region, simply by either tasting or smelling the wine.

The study in question found correlation between the ability to taste bitterness and the likelihood of being a wine professional. This is easily explained by well-documented effects of  neural adaptation: if a person is exposed to a specific flavor compound repeatedly, her sense of taste changes accordingly. Since wine professionals taste much more red wine (which has a high degree of bitter compounds), their taste buds are going to be more sensitive to  those flavors.

The conclusion one can draw from the study isn’t that only experts can taste wine. Instead, it means that one can become an expert by drinking a lot of red wine.  That’s a news story I can get behind!

The media is getting the story wrong because wine and wine folk are an easy target. They don’t make a fuss, and aren’t the type to point out that most wine that costs more than $15 is made by small family-owned businesses. Or that most wine under $10 is made by large corporate concerns. The idea that “wine is for experts and snobs” is one of those old  tropes that gets dragged out when an Ivy League graduate  needs to prove she still belongs to the 99%…. at the expense of small local businesses. Good going, NPR.

Clown Jewel

Posted by Mike Madaio on Feb 20, 2012 in Beer Reviews | 0 comments

The Weyerbacher Brewing Company, located in Easton, PA (but considered a local brew by most Philly hopheads) is known primarily for two things:

1. Full-flavored, high-alcohol beers that are complex and tasty
2. Having the worst branding of any US brewery

Their current logo looks like it was created in Print Shop, and most of their labels appear to be pulled out of the clip art trash heap. To wit (the underlined text is the logo):

To beer lovers in this area, the awfulness of Weyerbacher’s branding is a long-running joke. I’ve always wondered, however, what the real story is. Do owners Dan & Sue Wierback have terrible taste, and not understand how bad it is? Or, if they know, do they not think branding is important, or do they just think it is funny to feature artwork that looks like it was created by a 6th grader?

Well, we now know that it wasn’t total ignorance; Weyerbacher made their new logo public on February 11, 2012:

It is most definitely an enormous improvement over the existing logo, but it still leaves me with unanswered questions. Is it all a big joke to Dan and Sue? Though the jester is part of their original brand identity, I have a hard time understanding why anyone other than one with an incredibly sick sense of humor would want an icon such as this representing their life’s work and passion. Are dudes who love big, scary beers also into scary clowns? Apparently the Wierbacks think so.

Incidentally, I am currently loving Weyerbacher Winter Ale, an anomaly in their line of big, bold beers. When I first saw this on he shelf, I instantly thought it’d be 8-10% ABV (Weyerbacher, Winter – it fits). Instead, they went in a completely different direction, offering a drinkable, malty treat that weighs in at a paltry 5.6%. Among the stouts and porters this time of year, however, this is a welcome diversion from the bigness. It’s impeccably smooth, with roasted chocolatey malts and hints of molasses – perfect for a Winter drinking session.

(images via Weyerbacher.com)

Daddy Cork: Eric Orange

Posted by Keith Wallace on Feb 10, 2012 in News | 0 comments

One dude changed how America thinks about wine, and changed it for good. Eric V. Orange didn’t mean to, but that’s how history often works.

In 2000, Eric started an online bulletin board to post local wine events. Not surprisingly, he named it www.localwineevents.com. As it caught on with the public, it also caught the attention of the wine trade. A handful of sommeliers (and at least one winemaker) who had the passion for teaching suddenly had a way to reach wine enthusiasts.  Within a few years, there was a wine school in almost every major city. Of course, there was a great range, from informal operations to full-fledged academic institutions. As the schools established themselves and grew, so did their influence on wine consumers.

Eric was featured at a recent Sommelier Smackdown in Philadelphia, and we got a chance to ask him a few questions.  Sadly, he lost the Smackdown to Zach Morris by a single lousy point. There will be a re-match, we are told.

When did you start LWE, and why?

I used to organize wine dinners on behalf of Paterno Imports (now Terlato Wines). One night in Denver I did a dinner where 6 people showed up and three of those were my wholesale reps. Conversely, I would be at big tastings where folks would say to me, “How can I find out about events like this? I only knew of this today because someone told me”.

 

It occurred to me that if we all (suppliers and wholesalers) had ONE place to post them where consumers could find them all in ONE place, we would all benefit. Along came the internet.

What was the oddest (or most controversial) posting on the site?

We recently had several postings in NJ where Ron Jeremy, a 70’s or 80’s pudgy porn star was signing bottles of his “Ron de Jeremy” spiced rum in some NJ wine shops. I heard from a couple of people appalled that we would allow such postings, but I left them. Frankly, the association of drinking something from a porn star would seem a tough marketing hurdle to (ahem) overcome, but what do I know?

What was the funniest/weirdest moment in running the site?

Waking up one April’s Fools day and having an email from Marvin Shanken complimenting me on my site and asking me to drop by his office in NYC someday (which I did, but that is a whole ‘nother story). Considering that it was April first, it was a while before I believed that it was legit and not just someone jacking with me.

What was a cool experience you’d like to share about running LWE?

I got an email one day telling me about an event in China, asking me to post it and inviting me to attend. I wrote back and told them how/where to post the event and (half-jokingly) said that I would come if they would pay my way. A couple of weeks later, they replied that they would pay for me and two others to come over. An expense paid trip to Hong Kong and China was way cool.

How has the wine event scene changed from when you started?

I think some of the major events have gotten too big and crowded. It’s a quandary for wineries because they want to be where they get the biggest bang for their buck, so if they are to contribute wine and resources to attend an event, they lean towards the bigger ones. But BIG events are not really conducive to wine discovery as much as just drinking and eating.

 

Over the years, I have seen many wine schools grow to success. Almost every major city has at least one thriving wine school. I saw in the earliest days of LocalWineEvents.com that consumers really wanted to learn more about wine. If my website idea hadn’t of worked, I would have began a course somewhere.

 

Also, in the past year also, more than one event has been “Groupwnd”, meaning they used Groupon to sell tickets and way oversold the event to disastrous effect. I was at one event where half the crowd had paid full price of $50 and the other half got in for $25. They ran out of wine glasses and went to paper cups. The participating restaurants ran out of food. It wasn’t pretty. You can bet that many of those folks won’t be returning.

Anything else should we know about LWE?

We just partnered with Google Offers that has some big potential.