Any beer fan knows what Oktoberfest beers are. Amber-colored lagers with rich caramel/melanoidin malt, moderate bitterness to balance, and spicy European hop character. But was Oktoberfest beer always like this? Is the beer poured every year in the tents on the Theresienwiese the same amber lager that we in the US enjoy at this time of year?

Look at photos from the real Oktoberfest and the beer being served in liter mugs has a distinctly golden color, not amber. The “fest” beer served up by the millions of gallons during the sixteen day celebration is in fact a blond lager, not the amber märzen style beer that we all know. Beer writer Lew Bryson has written a nice article about this here.

This blond Oktoberfest beer is brewed to legal specifications regarding alcohol content and body. Some have said that the fest beers have always been blond. I find this difficult to believe, as the first Oktoberfest took place in 1810, but the brewers in Bohemia didn’t invent Pilsner, arguably the first golden-colored lager, until 1842. A better explanation is that sometime in the late 20^th century the beer served at the annual festival was lightened to appeal to changing tastes.

Whatever the case, the authentic blond lager of Oktoberfest has never been available in this country.  That is changing this year. To celebrate the 200^th anniversary of the fest, Paulaner is releasing a limited amount of Wiesn Blonde to the US. The “Wiesn” in this case refers to the Theresienwiese or “Theresa Medow” that has been the site of the Oktoberfest since the beginning. Wiesn Blonde will be available in certain markets in one-liter cans. I don’t know if Minnesota is one of those markets. But you will have the opportunity to try this unique beer on draft at all Old Chicago locations. The chain has secured exclusive rights to draft service for this beer (at least for a time) and will be launching it today (September 8^th).

I was invited to the Roseville store for a tasting yesterday afternoon. This is a very nice beer. Think of it as a big version of a Munich Helles style lager. Not a huge imperialized helles, just a helles that is a couple of percentage points ABV bigger than normal with an accompanying boost in richness and body: not quite a maibock but bigger than a helles. It pours a light golden color with a moderate white head. The flavor showcases big, sweet, grainy malt with overtones of fresh bread. There are even some raisiny fruit notes in there. As befits a helles, it is moderately hopped, with spicy European hop flavors allowing the malt to shine. Alcohol makes its presence know, but in a subtle, sweet way. The whole thing ends with a bone-dry finish. Wiesn Blonde is a clean, smooth, easy-to-drink lager with a bit of a kick.

If you want to be among the first to try this beer, head to Old Chicago this evening. Celebration kick-off times may vary from location to location, so be sure to check before you go. At the Roseville location festivities start at 6:00. Along with the beer, World Beer Tour members can partake in a German buffet featuring brats, potato salad, and other typical fest-foods.

Wiesn Blonde is also included in an eight-beer Oktoberfest Mini-tour. Sample all eight beers and you walk away with a T-shirt for your trouble. The mini-tour selection is a grab-bag mix of some great beers and some not-so-great ones. The best of the bunch are Wiesn Blonde, Ayinger Oktoberfest-Märzen, Spaten Lager, and Franziskaner Hefeweizen. Be sure to do a side by side tasting of the three Oktoberfest beers included (Ayinger, Sam Adams, and Becks).

Hopfenmalz
Augusts Schell Brewing Company, New Ulm, Minnesota
Style: Amber Lager
Serving Style: 12 oz. Bottle

Aroma: Grainy, toffee, and caramel malt complemented by herbal and citrus hops; tangerine and peaches.

Appearance: Dark orange-amber. It appeared lightly hazy at first but cleared as it warmed. Full, rocky, off-white head that stuck around, ultimately falling into a light film of bubbles on the surface.

Flavor: Malt dominates; rich, toasty, caramel, and brown sugar. Assertive but not over-the-top bitterness balances, without overwhelming the malt. Hints of dark fruit; figs or raisins. Hoppy  light fruit notes as well. The tangerine and peach from the aroma return. Herbal hops compliment like a sauce on the main course. This beer reminds me of an English bitter, but with more intense flavors and a crisp lager finish. Many clearly articulated parts that form a solid whole.

Mouthfeel: Medium body, but with a mouth-filling, weizen-like character, almost chewy. Medium carbonation.

Overall Impression: Rich and mysterious, yet utterly drinkable. Nice complement of caramel and herbal/fruity hops. Reminds me of cooking. In fact, this is a beer made for food. My neighbors are grilling and the aroma of grilled meat, smoke and the beer are melding perfectly. This would go great with grilled meats, roast turkey, or even a caramel desert.

Pils
August Schell Brewing Company, New Ulm, Minnesota
Style: German Pilsner
Serving Style: 12 oz. Bottle

Aroma:  Spicy hops under-girded by grainy sweet and bready malt.

Appearance: Crystal clear and golden colored. Fluffy white head that sticks around for a while, leaving lace on the glass with each sip.

Flavor: Sharp hop bitterness and flavor through and through. The bitterness has bite, but isn’t over the top; it’s a pilsner, not an IPA. Flavorful spicy hops with notes of pepper, fresh herbs, and licorice. Malt remains in the background; sweet and grainy with hints of fresh bread. The finish is dry and biting.

Mouthfeel: Medium body. Medium-high carbonation. Crisp.

Overall Impression: The pronounced hop character and subdued malt make this immediately identifiable as a German style pilsner. And it’s a great example of the style, one that could put many of the locally available German brands to shame. Crisp, light, easy-to-drink. A perfect accompaniment for many foods (I had it with sushi). A classic.

This year, the brewery is putting an end to this tradition and starting a new one. Instead of Anniversary Ale, they have released Tumbler as their autumn seasonal. Called an “autumnal brown ale”, the website boasts of its “gracefully smooth malt character” from the use of malt “within days of roasting at the peak of its flavor.”

Here’s my notes:

Tumbler
Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, Chico, California
Style: Brown Ale
Serving Style: 12 oz. Bottle

Aroma: Caramel and grainy sweetness are accentuated by toast and light coffee roast. Subtle earthy hops let the malt take center stage. Hints of raisin.

Appearance: Medium-dark brown and clear. Pours with an ample beige head that lasts and lasts.

Flavor: As in the aroma, malt is the star; caramel, toast and nuts with light chocolate and coffee in the finish. Earthy and minty hops offer a cooling counterpoint to the malt. Medium bitterness with a crisp Burton character balances the sweetness. Background flavors of minerals, salt, and even coconut reveal themselves as the beer warms.

Mouthfeel: Medium body with medium carbonation. Nice creamy texture.

Overall Impression: I have stated in blog posts that one of my defining characteristics of a great beer is articulation of flavors. This beer has that. Malt, hops and other background characteristics are all detectable in and of themselves, yet they come together to make a tasty totality. Tumbler is a very well-made beer. But I would be disappointed by anything less from Sierra Nevada. The earthy hops and sharp, but subdued bitterness make a great counterpoint to the nutty/toasty malt. A nice beer for a chilly autumn eve.

I tasted a lot of Schell’s beers while researching my September Star Tribune column featuring the brewery. For the column, however, I am limited to 500-ish words. I can’t talk about very many beers, nor can I go into any great detail about them. As my own small contribution to the anniversary celebration, I will publish my full tasting notes for many of the Schell’s beers on this blog over the next couple of weeks. As it is a summer seasonal and it’s time is nearly done, I’ll start with Zommerfest.Here’s my notes:

Zommerfest
August Schell Brewing Company, New Ulm, Minnesota
Style: Kölsch
Serving Style: 12 oz. Bottle

Aroma: Sweet pils malt. Bready. Faintest hop aroma, herbal, hint of passion fruit or blackberry. A bit yeasty. Simple, but alluring. Keeps calling me back for another sniff.

Appearance: Golden. Crytal clear. Light white head that dropped quickly.

Flavor: Hops take a more prominent position in the flavor than in the aroma. Bitterness is moderate, but more than enough to balance the delicate malt. Bitterness lasts all the way through, but softly, not offensive or in the way. Mid-palate the sweet, grainy malt briefly takes the spotlight and then fades again into the dry finish. Only a lightly lingering sweetness remains. Hops have an herbal and light blackberry character with hints of licorice. It’s all very delicate and soft-spoken, but certainly not without intrigue.

Mouthfeel: Light body. Moderately spritzy carbonation. Crisp lager character.

Overall Impression: The first time I tasted this beer I didn’t care for it. I don’t know what I was thinking. Light, delicate, and yet so full of flavor and subtle complexity, this is a fantastic summer sipper. Clean, crisp, and quenching. This is the kind of beer I encourage folks to taste in order understand the subtle beauty of beer that doesn’t wack you over the head.

Tallgrass Brewing Company of Manhattan, Kansas is a relative newcomer to the Minnesota market. This brewery from the tall-grass country held a particular interest to me. I have family in Kansas and spent many a summer vacation there while growing up. It has always been a paradoxical place to me; on the one hand barren, desolate, and boring, and on the other a realm of incredible beauty and childhood adventure (as long as you get off of the interstate). My parents met while attending Kansas State in Manhattan.

Minnesotans’ first opportunity to taste the Tallgrass beers came in June at the St. Paul Summer Beer Fest. I spent a good deal of time talking to they guys from the brewery in their booth and found them to be friendly and passionate. The sample of Oasis that I had on that day piqued my curiosity. I looked forward to the opportunity to try it again in a more controlled setting. Here’s my notes:

Oasis
Tallgrass Brewing Company, Manhattan, Kansas
Style: Extra or Imperial ESB
Serving Style: 16 oz. Can

Aroma: Malt balanced featuring caramel and biscuit. Light earthy and orange citrus hops. Definitely English in character.

Appearance: Pours with an abundant, creamy, tan head that last long into the glass. Dark amber in color and clear.

Flavor: The flavors initially follow the aroma except that the emphasis is switched from malt to hops. The reported 93 IBUs provide a bracing bitterness that lasts into the finish and beyond, but the bitterness lacks the characteristic crispness of an English ESB. Hop flavors are earthy with hints of orangey citrus. It’s not so balanced to hops that the malt is covered up. Rich caramel, toast, and biscuit malt offer ample support with unexpected notes of roast and chocolate coming at the finish as the beer warms. As with the aroma it has a clear English character. Notes of alcohol are present, perhaps a bit too present. A chalkiness, presumably from water treatment, is also perceptible.

Mouthfeel: Medium body with medium carbonation. Alcohol warming is present.

Overall Impression: A solid Extra ESB, tasty and drinkable. I found the alcohol presence to be a distraction and felt the roasted character was too high. I love the simple caramel malt of classic English bitters. While not a critique of this beer in particular – I would gladly quaff another – I do have philosophical issues with the imperializing of the style. English bitters, standard, best, or extra special, are meant to be session beers. They are flavorful and yet easy to drink. They don’t mess you up too badly, even after several pints. They are perfect beers as they are. Why mess with that?

Here are Ray’s tweets.

Listening to BA Powerhour on first hald of 2010 sales data. Craft volume up 11.9%! #powerhour

Sadly, Progressive Adult Beverages seem to be the one other sector of the beer business that is growing (other than craft).

Symphony IRI Group shows craft beer being 8.7% of the total beer market in H1 2010. #powerhour

Sales of craft beer 22 oz bottles up 28% in 2010 vs. 2009 in supermarkets. #powerhour

Bad news: progressive adult bev sales in 24-oz can sales are exploding, esp in convenience stores. #powerhour

Blue Moon $ sales up 27% vs 2009, and is SIG’s #1 “momentum” brand. Amazing. Shocktop up 34%. #powerhour

Newcastle Brown up 10% this year: I’d say that’s good for craft as it helps to create craft drinkers. #Powerhour

3 of top 10 new brands are IPAs … the rest are Progressive Adult Beverages like Smirnoff Blueberry & Limonade. Sad. #powerhour

What recession? First half craft sales showing best growth of any year since 2007. #Powerhour

Stone & Alaskan Brewing are #9 and #10 of the top ten craft brewers in US with folks like Sam Adams, Sierra Nevada, New Belgium at top.

New Belgium is growth leader among top craft brewers, up 28% in dollars year to date. That’s amazing for a brewery that size. #powerhour

SN Torpedo is fastest growing of the top 15 craft brands: up more than 200% versus last year. #powerhour

Top 10 major brewer brands DOWN more than 5 million cases so far this year. #powerhour

Good news is that craft lead brands continue to grow–a good sign of vitality for the sector. Way to go craft brewers! #powerhour

Craft sales growing in all regions of the US, but Southeast is #1 and Great Lakes is #2. Cool! #Powerhour

8 of the top 15 new craft brands this year are IPAs. #powerhour

Craft sales account for more than 20% of all beer sold in supermarkets in Portland, OR and other PNW markets. #powerhour

511 craft beer UPCs (products) being sold in California.

Great Lakes is leading region for case and dollar craft sales growth in the US. Time to hire more people! #powerhour

More households in the US now purchasing craft beer versus a year ago–better than any other segment. #powerhour

Dan Wandel from SIG says craft beer the “shining star” of US beer market, on track for 6th (I think he said) year of >10% growth. #powerhour

The guys at Fulton Beer have been taking some heat recently, in part because they currently contract brew in Wisconsin. The argument goes that if they contract brew they aren’t really a brewery, and if they contract brew in Wisconsin they aren’t really Minnesotan. Thus, a group of guys who all live and work in Minneapolis, registered their company in Minnesota, and put forth the effort to make a regular 3:00 AM trek to Black River Falls in order to make their beer themselves are not Minnesota brewers.

While I understand this argument, I don’t altogether buy it. There are many ways to reach the goal of being professional brewers. No matter what route one chooses to take, a sound business plan is a must. If contract brewing allows you to keep the business operating while you build the capital to invest in your own brewery, that’s a sound business decision. If you find the contract opportunities in Minnesota to be limited, especially if you want a hands-on contract relationship as opposed to one in which you are just having your beer brewed for you, and you choose therefore to head to Wisconsin, that is again a sound business decision.

But all of this should soon become moot. The Fulton guys have taken a big step that will take some of the wind out of their critics’ sails. On August 18^th they signed a lease on a building that will house their future brewery, possibly the first packaging brewery in Minneapolis in nearly a decade.

According to a press release that I received today, they have researched brewing equipment and plan to purchase a 15 to 20-barrel brewhouse soon. Initial production from the new facility will be limited to kegs and growlers, but will eventually include limited run 750 ml bottles. They will host tours, tastings, and special events at the brewery.

So where is this brewery-to-be located? Other than to say that it is in Minneapolis, the exact location remains a closely kept secret. According to the press release, “Fulton is withholding details on the building location until the conclusion of a contest in which the first person to find the new brewery space will be rewarded with the very first growler produced in the brewery. Instructions and clues to the contest are available at Fulton’s Facebook page.”

Congratulations guys. I look forward to eventually bringing home a growler of Fulton Beer.

With Lift Bridge in the process of putting together their Stillwater brewery, Fulton signing the lease, and Harriet Brewing not far behind, (I’m not sure how far along the 612 Brew folks are.) things are heating up for the Minnesota brewing scene.

Irish rugby is not the only thing Irish about this cider. Continuing the experiment started with The Saint, a cider fermented with Belgian ale yeast, Lansdowne is fermented with Irish ale yeast and finished off with organic molasses for a startlingly stout-like effect.

Lansdowne joins Honey Crisp and The Saint in the Artisanal Reserve series and should appear in stores in the next few weeks.

Here’s my notes:

Lansdowne
Crispin Cider Company, Minneapolis, MN & Colfax, CA
Style: Cider with molasses and Irish ale yeast
Serving Style: 22 oz. Bottle

Aroma: Malty, caramel, and butterscotch. Perhaps even a bit toasty. Fresh apple isn’t timid, but stays slightly in the background. Reminds me of the apple butter my grandma used to make.

Appearance: Light fizz. Murky amber. Remember to rouse the yeast to get the proper effect. Not especially pretty to look at.

Flavor: Autumn. Ripe red apples. Mostly sweet, but has a light, balancing, acidic tartness that prevents it becoming cloying. The molasses comes through strong at the start giving mouth-filling caramel and burnt sugar flavors. Raisins. The yeasty butterscotch from the aroma carries into the flavor, again reminding me of grandma’s apple butter. Big and full-flavored.

Mouthfeel: Full bodied and slightly viscous. The thickness is cut by a refreshing, spritzy carbonation. A touch of warming alcohol.

Overall Impression: Upon first smelling this cider I got a mental image of fall-colored leaves blowing in the wind. This cider screams autumn. Big, rich, and sweet with complex caramel, fruit, and butterscotch flavors, it is perfect for the light chill of October in Minnesota. To those who complain that Crispin ciders are too sweet, this one will seem over the top, as the molasses/burnt sugar sweetness is only barely balanced by the apple acidity. Those who are particularly sensitive to buttery diacetyl may not be crazy about this one. I am particularly insensitive to diacetyl and found it quite pleasant. Perhaps my favorite of Crispin’s Artisanal Reserve ciders.

This fall I’ll be teaching the course A Perfect Pint: Basics of Beer Tasting and Appreciation for the Compleat Scholar program at the University of Minnesota. Classes begin Wednesday, October 27th and run four consecutive Wednesday evenings from 7-9 PM. Tuition is $160. Last spring the course sold out. Don’t miss your opportunity. Go here to register for the fall term.