Not everyone thinks like a beer geek. This certainly holds true for the editors of The Sunday Gazette “Life & Style” section. Often enough they manage to strike a theme with the recipes and articles that they take from various news clipping sources such as Newsday etc. but this morning they missed a good opportunity to to neatly tie in a Weisswurst and Beer article with the wonderful Pretzel Bread recipe from Newsday. I am going to try to finish the job here in Cyberspace…

It’s a wonderful chilly spring Sunday morning. Imagine waking up in the rolling hills of Bavaria, OK let’s get specific… You wake up in Forchheim, a wonderful small town of 30,000 with four breweries and over thity Biergartens (home of the famous Kellerwald). You take your regular Sunday morning stroll to one of the little breweries for your morning beer and a little breakfast. By 9am the place is wall to wall with locals discussing whatever is on their minds. Each and every person in the place has a large 500ml Weissbier glass filled with a cloudy, yellow beer. Somewhere in the room is a little white crock pot filled with warm water and little white sausages called Weisswurst. In nearly every small Bavarian town, you can find this in some local tavern before noon on any given Sunday.

The traditional morning sausage is made with veal and a little bit of milk product, giving it a very soft taste and texture along with a very white appearance. Weisswurst are typically eaten with Pretzel rolls called “Laugenbrotchen” and a little bit of sweet mustard “Susser Senf” or sometimes called ‘Weisswurstsenf”. Weisswurst are always washed down with a traditional Bavarian Weissbier also known as Hefewiezen. Weissbier is the epitome of liquid bread, full of proteins and yeast to give it a cloudy appearance. the beer is a complex mixture of flavors ranging from banana, apricot, pear, lemon and usually finishes with a spicy clove character. All of the aforementioned flavors are byproducts of the fermentation and not flavors that have been added.

Also, Weisswurst are never eaten “On the Roll” like a hot dog… That is frowned upon in these parts (remember you are still in Forchheim). Civilized people use a knife and fork to cut the casing open and remove the creamy meat filling. Only then should you take a bite of wurst with a little mustard and the pretzel bread. The best part is washing that down with a big quaff of weissbier!

Okay, So now I suppose you want to know where you can get Weisswurst? Well good luck getting them here in Charleytown. The closest place I can find it is in Columbus (at whole foods) or at Jungle Jim’s in Fairfield, OH. It’s usually already cooked and sometimes it’s made with a tiny bit of parsley. That’s Okay too. Preparation is the same for cooked or uncooked weisswurst. The sausage is cooked in a bath of hot water (NEVER ALLOW THEM TO BOIL!). The crock is used to keep in the heat to allow the sausages to cook. It takes upward of twenty minutes to cook raw weisswurst this way. It’s most likely that you will need to add more (just off the boil) water to the pot to bring up the temperature maybe more than once. Reheating cooked weisswurst is the same except it only takes ten minutes or so.

If you fancy yourself a sausage maker, there are plenty of recipes online (Here is One). Pre-made Weisswurst are also available online here.

I am sure you will find the sweet mustard lurking wherever you find the weisswurst…

As for Weissbier we are fortunate here in Charleston for we have many of the finest available on your beer retailer’s shelf…

Ayinger – Brau-Weisse

Erdinger – Hefeweizen

Weihenstephaner – Hefe Weissbier

Franziskaner- A very good Munich Weissbier

Stick with these and you will not go wrong… Make sure you swirl the contents of the bottle (when it’s poured down to about 1/3 left) as to gather all of the protein and yeast that have settled in the bottle. Pour this in to the glass and watch the cloud! It’s all good…

In what is being billed as “Support Your “Local” Saturday“, Pies & Pints-Charleston is turning over the taps to the boys from Bridge Brew Works – Charleston’s localest “Local” brewery (for now). BBW is located merely an hour away in Fayettville. The boys from BBW, Ken and Nathan will be on hand to tell you about their beers, the brewery and other tall tales. Not only will the taps be pouring all five of the current Bridge Brew Kegged offerings but four different specialty beers will be offered in 750ml bottles!

The event starts at noon with discounted appetizers for those enjoying the BBW event. The appetizer specials end at 3pm but the beer will flow til it’s gone.

Here is what you can expect to drink tomorrow - 

On Tap -

Black Lager – An nice take on the classic Schwarzbier

Bridge Brew Ale – A nice brew balanced to be slightly bitter. Great with spicy pizza.

Long Point Lager – A easy drinking lager somewhere between a Helles and Dortmunder

Pale Ale – This is the 2012 edition of Ryan’s (Pies n Pints beer guy) recipe. This year it’s dry hopped and then filtered through a hopback.

Moxee Coffee Stout – another Ryan Heastings collaboration using selected coffee beans from Charleston’s own Moxee coffee.

In Bottles -

Trubell – I have never had it…

Old Burly – A stiff English-style barleywine (Say night, night)

Baltic Porter – I need to try it…

Dubbel- A nice complex Belgian ale that scored 91 in BeerAdvocate’s tasting

Dogfish Head Founder Sam Caligione leads a Discussion on Nanobrewing

Many of you know that I had the great pleasure once again to attend the Craft Brewer’s Conference held this year in San Diego, CA. As always the beer was flowing and more than ever it seemed, so did enthusiasm for the industry. Among the hundreds of seasoned craft brewers walked many an eager start-up brewer still the planning stages; getting ready to launch a dream. Among them were two West Virginia based “Brewers in Planning”. Dave Kucera and Adam Patnoe are the founders of “Big Swiss Brewing”. I know Adam and Dave and they are getting ready to formally announce a schedule and location which they will do during the next BTY Podcast. I’ll save the details for then. We of course tipped a few beers together out in San Diego whilst discussing the positive things we see happening in West Virginia beer culture.

There is a lot to see and do for the small brewer. Brewexpo is the associated trade-show with everything from full size brew-houses on display to a French based bottle manufacturer showing their interestingly shaped bottles. I am a gadget guy, so I really enjoy talking to the folks that make the controls and measurement instruments targeted to the brewing industry. I wear a media badge while I am there and I like to have a little fun with these manufacturers because they don’t at first realize (until I tell them) that my “day-job” is in the instrument and controls business. They were probably thinking up to that point “how does this beer columnist know so much about our measuring gadgets?’ meanwhile, the Big Swiss guys did their fair share of gawking at the shiny brew kettles, canning lines and just about anything in a brew-house.

A Really interesting find at Brew-Expo was Fayetville, WV based “Digital Relativity” an edgy marketing and media firm that is develops and deploys specialized social media apps and websites for just about any industry. Pat Strader of Digital Relativity told me that the company has put a lot of focus on the Craft Brewing industry and has seen some big wins – Writing a mobile-device app for Asheville, NC Brew-Week for instance. The boys caught some attention with their mock-up of a giant I-phone running several of their applications. I plan on doing a focus-piece on them and possibly even work with the to enliven the blog with real-time social media from the local craft beer scene.

The CBC isn’t all play… There are several round table discussions, seminars and informational sessions surrounding all aspects of the Craft Beer industry including government relations, human resources and other business topics that are meaningful to this thriving sector of small business. For me, the more interesting sessions I attended were discussions on trends in the beer wholesaler sector and of course, beer and food matching seminars.

After all of the hard work was done, several hospitality parties took place over the course of the evening. I attended a reception of Craft British Ales. The Brits are doing some fine things these days and are experiencing the kind of transformation akin to USA’s Craft Beer revolution of the last 25 years though I am sure they will have learned from our mistakes. The late night party was held outside on a large patio area. Two large bars were set up pouring 137 beers collectively, most supplied by fantastic Southern California based breweries, of which there are many.

The final evening crescendos with a large gala dinner served along with magnificently paired beers. The coveted “World Beer Cup” award winners are announced to a very boisterous by that point. The Brewers association also recognizes several categories of Best Brewery and Brewpub. All of the winners and awards can be found here.

This was my third CBC and they never get dull. I usually skip a year or two in between them and I am always thankful that the Brewer’s association value this small-town beer writer enough to open the doors when I ask to attend.

Gluten intolerance (Celiac Disease) is a very serious disorder that is seemingly on the rise. Sufferers of this disorder are usually relegated to drinking pretty nasty tasting renditions of Gluten Free beer or just switching to wine or cider.

North End Tavern (NET) brewer Chris Hopkins decided to take matters into his own hands to try and create gluten free beer with flavor and character. He teamed up with Parkersburg’s Mother Earth Foods to brew “Health Nut Brown Ale” a sorghum and molasses based brew that is also dosed with hazelnut essence. The beer weighs in at 5.5% ABV. The beer definitely comes across the palate with a nutty sweetness, finishing with a dry, slightly bitter snap.

I few friends and I made the trek up to Parkersburg on Earth Day to get a taste. One of our crew was diagnosed with Celiac disease a few years ago after nearly dying from kidney failure; yes folks this Celiac thing is no joke, where gluten becomes a toxin to your body and literally killing off your nutrition absorbing mechanisms in the small intestine. My friend is a beer lover that can no longer imbibe in the nectar of fermented wheat or barley.

I was excited for my friend to taste this beer because I have tasted gluten free beers to this point and they have all been utterly unspectacular, thin and nasty. The Health Nut Brown was pleasant surprise boasting a bit of body and nuttiness. She gave the beer a solid thumbs up!

Last week I had the great pleasure of visiting my daughter in Spain. She is studying in Granada (Andalusia) but we took in the northern coastal city of Barcelona as well. I had every expectation that I would be surrounded and outnumbered by Spaniards drinking their very high quality and popular red wines. Surprisingly this was not the case. Cervesa seems to be the bebida of choice for the locals in both Barcelona and Granada!

The beer of choice in Barcelona is Estrella Damm, a typical euro-lager served everywhere on tap and in bottles. it’s a decent euro lager with pretty good drinkability and works well with the lighter seafood paella that is so prevalent in the coastal city. Estrella also makes a light version and apparently a shandy that is widely available as well. Spanish conquests also seems to have brought the Filipino beer San Miguel to prominence in Spain as well; it was widely available at many cafe’s in both cities.

The picturesque southern town of Granada is situated on a great elevated plain surrounded by the majestic Sierra-Nevada mountains (still snow capped). Granada’s main industries are the University and tourism ( see Alhambra). Originally ruled by Muslim Sultans, the intricate Arabic inspired stone pavements that surround the magnificent Alhambra are seen all over Granada’s city streets. Granada benefits from a near tropical sun but its high altitude makes way for a four-season climate including the occasional snowfall. Bitter-orange trees and palms grow along with olive trees. The beer of choice in Granada is simply called “Alhambra”. It’s yet another basic euro-lager with a crisper than usual finish. I actually liked it better than Estrella-Damm. Alhambra also make a green-bottles brew called “1925″ which reminds me of a classic but slightly stronger American Corn adjunct Pilsner. It was actually pretty nice to drink. Granada is known for conforming to the tradition of “Tapas”. Nearly all of the cafe’s in the town will serve a small plate of food with every drink ordered especially during the hours between 10pm and midnight. Tapas can vary from little crostini with ham and some olives on the side or one place served us a baked potato topped with shredded beets and a little sour cream. Very nice!

I tasted a beer from Spain’s largest brewer “Cruzcampo”; I found the beer to be nearly undrinkable. It reminded me of Warsteiner’s attempt at an Oktoberfest a few years back. It had a very chemical taste to it. I only had one so I cannot go on record as saying that the beer sucked or I just had a bad pour from an infected tap.

As for Craft Beer, my only exposure was in Barcelona at a street-side stand. A purveyor was selling the beers of a Spanish craft brewery called “Montseny”. I chose the beer called “Lupulus” full well knowing that it’s the Latin root word for “hops”. The beer was billed as an Iberian ale but it definitely has its roots in English IPA tradition and a very decent beer. What are the odds of meeting a Dutch craft brewer at a craft beer stand in Spain (pretty good actually). I met Erik Bouman, brewer and proprietor of  Huisbrouwerij Klein Duimpje based just south of Amsterdam. He overheard me questioning the poor sales-guy at the stand about the type of hop used. My guess was Fuggles. The fellow did not understand me and Erik said to me in plain-English referring to the sales-guy “He knows nothing about it, he only sells it…”

So goes craft-beer in Spain…

The Whole BTY crew were in studio for this one…

Find out why Bridge Road Bistro makes the BTY “Hall of Shame” this month… It has something to do with $8 bucks a beer!

http://traffic.libsyn.com/beerstoyou/aprilfools_episode.mp3

Music for this Episode stolen from:

Paul Weller – Sonik Kicks

Available here: CLICK

I wouldn’t blame you if you read the title of this blog thinking “that’s quite a strange recipe, rye in a coffee stout, hmmm…” Rest easy because “Rye” in this case is Ryan Heastings, Pies and Pints Beer Czar, home brewer and occasional Pro Brew collaborator.

Ryan is diligent about texting the local beer geek community whenever something Beer-ily special is going to happen at PnP. Nine out of Ten times it seems, I am away on business when said event occurs. I received a text on Monday from Ryan proclaiming that his Moxxie Coffee Stout was going to be tapped and available in Charleston sometime on Tuesday evening just after he returned from the celebratory tapping at the PnP Fayetteville location. Well things being the way they are for this traveling soul, I am either traveling or getting ready to travel on any given weeknight. In this case it was the latter. I was prepping for an early morning flight. (I am typing this on that plane)

Ryan promised he would send me a text about an hour before the beer he arrived back in Charleston to tap the keg here. Text came, text was missed until almost two hours later. I texted Ryan “is it still on?” Response was “if you are coming down, I’ll hang here a bit” I responded “be there in 15″…

Twelve minutes later, I find an easy parking space on Capitol Street and I walk with purpose through the PnP doors to the waning crowd. I expected to see Ryan behind the bar but instead I see the much more attractive Anna. Ryan is sitting in civilian clothes sipping a barley wine on the patron-side of the bar. He kept his word and waited for me.

We both ordered our pints of the Coffee Stout. Anna poured and delivered… As the beer sat in front of me in all of its ebony glory, I couldn’t help that rush of endorphins that only could be experienced by someone who has lived through the “craft beer renaissance” that has visited upon Charleston. Or dare I say Genesis, since Charleston never had its beer glory days but has been stuck in the dark ages since West Virginia Statehood. Here I am sitting at a quiet bar after the rush, sipping a hand crafted beer with a fellow home brewer and a damn good collaborator. It wasn’t so long ago though it seemed too long that Ryan was discussing the idea of using beans from Moxxie to make a coffee stout. I miss the day when he was trying different beans with his stock stout to see which bean would work best; Ryan settled on a Panamanian bean that Moxxie uses for their espresso roast. The beer was brewed by Ryan in collaboration with the boys (Ken and Nathan) at Bridge Brew Works in Fayetteville, WV.

Sitting there at an empty bar with Ryan as we dissected his beer was a poignant moment for me as a West Virginia beer writer, beer judge and beer activist.

So I guess at this point you probably expect a review of the beer, eh?
The aroma was clean dark malt aroma with a faint but evident coffee aroma. The beer was pitch black with a faint (Bridge Brew) tan head. Ryan and I clicked our glasses in Cheer and I took my first quaff. The mouthfeel is slightly oily with a very smooth dark malt character with no acrid sharpness. The coffee is an aromatic experience that is best nurtured by allowing the beer to rest on the tongue for a moment as you breath. Upon the finish the coffee hits you again. I found the beer to be very balanced and pleasant. It not super dry, but dry enough for extended drink-ability. The beer could work both with hearty stews or with sweet chocolate desserts.

To steal the Pies and Pints tag line – Get Some!

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Location:Somewhere in the “Wild Blue Yonder”

I just received word from Guinness that they are sending me a check for $500! Every penny will be sent on to Pints for Prostates. For all of of that actually took the time to log-in and take the Guinness Pledge, Thanks!

I would tell you how many took the pledge but honestly, it’s embarrassingly low.

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C’mon People! Look, Ya Know you’re going to drink a Guinness on St. Patrick’s Day anyway so why not make it count? I am raising money for Pints for Prostates. Guinness will pay me a buck for every pledge. We need more of you to actually follow the instructions below and get this done!

Here’s how…

Click the link below

www.guinness.com

Fill in obligatory and annoying birth date information

Look for the link “Join the Party”

Click and take the pledge.

Make sure you use the Option Code = BEER (This will credit us with the pledge)

http://traffic.libsyn.com/beerstoyou/march_2012-1.mp3