Past Newsletters

Vol. 11 No. 9

Millstream Brewing Company

The Millstream Brewing Company, located in Amana, IA, first opened its doors in 1985, and was the first brewery to operate in Amana since 1884! You could say the area was long overdue for a new brewery! The Millstream Brewing Company came into being as a result of the strong desire of brothers James and Dennis Roemig, along with Carroll F. Zuber, to create a local brewery producing hand crafted brews reminiscent of the finest beers in Europe.

To help produce these European-style beers, they hired one of the country’s more widely recognized masterbrewers, Joseph Pickett Sr., to develop their recipes. Joe formulated the Millstream Lager, Schild Brau Amber, and Millstream Wheat brands. These three top-notch beers comprised the brewery’s primary line up until the year 2000, when it was sold to Chris Priebe, Aaron Taubman, and Teresa Sly Albert. As you might expect, along with the new owners came new brews, as the threesome added a German Style Pilsner, Oatmeal Stout, and several other fantastic seasonals including a Maifest (a maibock beer), a Bavarian-style Hefeweissen, and an Oktoberfest. They’ve even added root beer and cream soda to their bag of tricks, but you’ll have to buy those on your own as you won’t be finding anything other than hand crafted, microbrewed nectar ‘of the beer sort’ in this here club!

Millstream recently claimed a silver medal at the 2004 Great American Beer Festival Competition, the largest national beer contest recognizing the most outstanding beers produced in the United States today. The Millstream Brewing Company was recognized in the Vienna Lager beer-style category for its Schild Brau Amber, a red Vienna lager rich in caramel and malt flavors. Proud, but deservedly boastful upon hearing the results, Aaron Taubman, one of Millstream’s brewers, is quoted as saying “our beer keeps getting better every year, and this is proof of that. This is the second year in row that we have won a medal in this category, and second place out of 25 similar beers is no small feat.” We’ll drink to that Aaron! Got any extra Schild Brau Amber you can send our way?

So, anyone out there been to Amana, IA? Didn’t think so… but hey, now you have a reason to drop in during that cross country drive you’ve been meaning to take, right? The truth is, the Millstream Brewing Company is one of the nicest, most attractive, rustic breweries in the country. Seriously, check out their website (listed below) and have a look at their online brewery tour—you’re sure to be inspired to take a trip to Amana! We recommend you sit in their hop garden and have a brew amidst the aromatic scents of freshly grown hops. Hmmm… sounds like heaven to us! Who knew it was in Iowa!?

For more information about the brewery and scheduled tours, call (319) 622-3672 or check out their web site at www.millstreambrewing.com.

Colony Oatmeal Stout Lager

“Ok hang on… A Stout Lager?” you might be asking yourself… No, that’s not a misprint folks… the brewers at Millstream have in fact created what you might call a new style of beer… For those readers who are less familiar with the intricacies of Ales and Lagers, here’s a quick review: generally speaking, all beers can be broken down into two categories, ales and lagers. Both of course are made with our beery friend—yeast. The distinction is that ales are fermented at warmer temperatures using yeast that rise to the top while carrying out their miraculous sugar-to-alcohol conversion while lagers use bottom-fermenting yeast which work their magic at lower temperatures. Generally, ales have fruitier, floral elements in their flavor profiles, while lagers tend to be distinctly clean and crisp tasting. Stouts are classically top-fermented ales and have been for centuries. However, the folks at Millstream Brewing Company wanted to combine the smooth, clean, easy-drinking nature of a lager beer with the rich flavor characteristics of a full-bodied stout, thus, we have their Colony Oatmeal Stout Lager. Expect a grainy aroma with cocoa powder and coffee notes. There’s a sharpness on the nose reminiscent of burnt chocolate or chicory, which is offset by the obvious oatmeal scents. Flavor quite closely parallels the nose, with the clean finish one expects from the lagering process. A well-balanced stout which, due to its lager characteristics, will pair with pasta dishes (not normally recommended for stouts). Or, for a more classical partner, try veal parmesan.

Serving Temperature: 50-55° F
Int’l Bittering Units: 22.0
Alcohol by Volume: 5.1%
Malts: 2-Row, Brewers, Caramel, Bonlander Munich, Chocolate, Flaked Oat, Black, Roast Barley, Red Wheat
Hops: Tettenang, Hersbrucker, Northern Brewer

Warsh Pail Ale

One of our beer panelists and newsletter writers missed out on our panel review for this beer, but still wanted to get a few bottles to sample so that he could chip in his ‘brew cents’. So, he did what any of us would do—he called the brewery and asked for a couple of bottles. To his surprise, the folks at Millstream told him that they didn’t have any to spare, as all of their Warsh Pail Ale was being brewed right then, in a special preparation brewed specifically to fulfill our Beer of the Month Club order! So you see, what you have in your hands, in essence, has been brewed just for you and other beer gourmands who subscribe to the club! How’s that for hand-crafted small batches of beer (don’t get us wrong, we have quite a few members, but think about it—they couldn’t spare a single bottle for our panel member—every last drop went to the club!) Here’s what our panel member missed out on (that’ll teach him to miss our review sessions!!): Warsh Pail Ale is a break from the hop-heavy pale ales that seem to be everywhere these days. This well-balanced, light-to-medium-bodied brew gets its hop bitterness from a tasteful degree of dry-hopping with Cascade hops, which provide a nice citrus zing. Lying somewhere between the typical American and classic European Pale Ale, this is another brew that carries the unique stamp of the Millstream Brewing Company. Quite tasty alongside lamb or game dishes. Cheers!

Serving Temperature: 48-55° F
Int’l Bittering Units: 43.0
Alcohol by Volume: 5.7%
Malts: Pale, Munich, Caramel, Wheat, Carapils, Victory
Hops: Northern Brewer, Cascade, Hallertau, Hersbrucker

Smuttynose Brewing Company

Peter Egelston, the owner and founder of the Smuttynose Brewing Company is quite well known in the New England brewing community. Not only did he start one of the two original New England brewpubs (The Northampton Brewery), he has also succeeded in opening the Granite State’s first brewpub (The Portsmouth Brewery), a brewery (the critically acclaimed Smuttynose), and one of the most well attended beer festivals in the Northeast. His beer career started in 1986 when his sister Janet and her boyfriend convinced Peter to quit his teaching job in Brooklyn, New York and move to Massachusetts to open a brewpub. Peter stayed in Massachusetts until 1991, at which point he opened New Hampshire's first brewpub, the Portsmouth Brewery. With two successful brewpubs under his belt, Peter was ready open his first brewery.

Smuttynose Brewing opened in 1994 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The brewery was built on the ruins of the Frank Jones Brewing Company, a brewery that opened in 1992 and went out of business a year later. Perhaps one of the reasons they went under so quickly was the name—Frank Jones…? Let’s get a little more interesting, shall we? Smuttynose—now that’s something people will remember. What does it mean? Well, people often mistake it to mean something quite dirty—sort of like Wang Chung’s “Everybody Wang Chung tonight” line from their 1986 hit tune—it just sounds dirty… but it wasn’t… and neither is the meaning behind Smuttynose. Though the name is, to those familiar with the legend we’re about to summarize, associated with something quite sinister. Smuttynose Island is one of the isles of Shoals, a small archipelago of nine islands which lies nine miles off the coast of New Hampshire and Southern Maine. Legend has it that mariners in the 1600s named the island for the nose-shaped smutch of seaweed on the southeast corner of the island.

For over three centuries, poets, pirates and fishermen called the Isles of Shoals home, but today, not a soul inhabits the isle of Smuttynose. Not a living soul that is, unless you count the numerous harbor seals (the likeness of which you’ll see printed on the neck of each Smuttynose brew). The only structure that remains on the island is the Haley House, site of the infamous and grisly murders which occurred there in 1873 in which two women were hacked to death at the hands of a crazed, axe-wielding fisherman. Recently, the murder weapon, which had been missing for many years, was unearthed, rekindling a macabre interest in the killings (for a more detailed account, punch up http://seacoastnh.com/smuttynose/101.html).

Murder and mystery aside, there is today another reason to remember the Smuttynose name and that is the magnificent brews created by the Smuttynose Brewing Company. For these malty nectars we have brewery founder Peter Egelston to thank, as well as his gifted Executive Brewer, David Yarrington. David began as a homebrewer while studying Chemistry at Colby College in Maine. He parlayed his homebrewing experience into a career, gracing the likes of the Tommyknocker Brewing Company, Golden Pacific Brewing Company, Commonwealth Brewing Company and Tokyo Brewing Company over a period of seven years before enrolling in the UC Davis Master Brewers Program. Since August of 2001 David has been brewing up ridiculously tasty brews for Smuttynose.

You might have caught the vibe that we really, really dig Smuttynose’s brews. If you happen to find anything brewed by Smuttynose on your local liquor store shelf, we can’t urge you enough to pick it up! We’ve had the pleasure of tasting their Shoals Pale Ale, White Ale, Robust Porter, S’muttonator (a wildly delicious, true-to-style double bock)—as well as the brews we’re featuring this month—and we wholeheartedly recommend their brews! Of course, if you’re not lucky enough to be in one of their distribution areas, don’t fret—you can always reorder brews we’ve featured by contacting us at 800-625-8238.

For more information about the brewery or scheduled tours, call (603) 436-4026, or visit their website at www.smuttynose.com.

Old Brown Dog Ale

Great beer deserves a great bottle label. Looking at Smuttynose’s packaging, it would seem that they agree. Every bottle of Old Brown Dog Ale has a photo of Olive, Smuttynose’s company mascot (and founder Peter Egelston and girlfriend Joanne’s best friend). It is befitting that such a gorgeous chocolate Labrador Retriever serve as the emblem of this delectable brown ale, for it, quite beautiful itself, presents quite a bit of chocolate. Moreover, Olive appears to be the model version of the breed, and this brown ale has become regarded as a definitive example of an American Brown Ale. This brown smells quite bold, nearly porter-like in aroma. Expect a rather malty, nutty aroma, with lightly peppery hop notes atop a blend of chocolate and roasted malt. The flavor profile consists of lightly sweet malt and slightly peppery hop flavor delivered in a medium-bodied, easy-drinking, top notch brew. Tasty flourishes to look for are touches of floral essences with a subtle fruity ester presence and a finish that showcases a unique drying effect similar to what one might expect from freshly shelled walnuts. Enjoy with a bowl of French Onion soup.

If you’d like to check out some great pictures of cool beer-loving canines, be sure to check out the Smuttynose “Old Brown Dog Pinup” page at www.smuttynose.com/pages/obdpinup.html.

Serving Temperature: 45-55° F
Int’l Bittering Units: 15.0
Alcohol by Volume: 5.7%
Malts: Pale Brewers, Munich, Dark Crystal, Chocolate
Hops: Cascade, Galena, Willamette

India Pale Ale

Let’s get right to it, for one whiff of this brew and you’re drawn right in… Massive hops hit the nose but are not even slightly abrasive. Notes of grapefruit peel and pine aroma strike with a solid grainy backbone and a hint of alcohol. The complexity in the nose signals the use of multiple hop varieties, including some lesser used types (see list above). Intensely bitter, this is not a beginner’s IPA. Bitterness and flavor have elements of unsweetened grapefruit juice, with a husky, grainy flavor also quite prominent. This is a great pacific northwest IPA that just happens to be from the northeast—a masterful blend of hops superbly balanced by an unwavering malt backbone. This is such a solid IPA that it gives one the impression that it’s been around for quite a while, acting as a sort of IPA barometer by which other examples of the style should be judged. The almost shocking truth is that this beer was first released less than a year ago in Spring of 2004. Consider this the new barometer—one of the finest IPAs we’ve had to date. Another stellar Smuttynose creation, this IPA will go nicely with a well done London Broil and rosemary & garlic seasoned potatoes, but is beer enough to stand on its own.

Serving Temperature: 48-53° F
Int’l Bittering Units: 65.0(!)
Alcohol by Volume: 6.6%
Malts: Pale Brewers, Belgian Pale, Light Caramel
Hops: Amarillo, Simcoe, Santium, Cascade

Brasserie Duyck—Jenlain, France (Northeastern France, a.k.a. French Flanders)

Now here’s a twist… French beer. Sure, we at the club are accustomed to featuring products from France, a nation that provides some of the most wonderful gourmet and culinary resources for our clubs; we regularly feature the finest handmade French cheeses in our Gourmet Cheese of the Month Club, delicious boutique wines from vineyards throughout France in our Premium Wine of the Month Club, and sumptuous artisanal French chocolates in our Gourmet Chocolate of the Month Club. But beer from France? It’s certainly not what the French are known for when it comes to their exported libations. And admittedly, the French do not hold the custom of beer drinking anywhere near the same regard as the imbibing of their cherished wines. Notwithstanding this however, the French have created some exceptional beers over the years, particularly in the northeast of the country where they have taken a lesson from brewing culturists in the nearby Flanders region of Belgium. Truth be told, these neighboring cultures have borrowed from each other—the Flemish have incorporated wine- and champagne-like features in their beers, and the French in turn have ‘borrowed back’ these traditions and characteristics in their brews. Which is not to say the French lack originality in their beers, for in fact, a unique style of beer referred to as bière de garde originated in northern France. Bière de garde remains today the only original, traditional beer style indigenous to the country.

Literally translated, bière de garde means “beer for storage.” The style is somewhat similar to the Belgian Saison style (farmhouse beer) not only in flavor, but also in its pastoral origins. Originally brewed in French farmhouses either during winter or spring and stored for drinking in the summer as a refresher for farmhands, farmers, and their families. It remains one of the best kept secrets of France, due in part to the eclipsing nature of their vast wine export market, and is one of the least available styles of beer worldwide. Though wine is not the only culprit here—the vastly popular beers of next door neighbor Belgium have also cast a shadow upon the adjacent beers of French Flanders. With such giants in their company, it’s no wonder the style remains largely unknown.

Thankfully there are a few breweries in northern France, in the region that is known by a few titles—French Flanders is one, Nord-Pas de Celais is another—that still produce this rare style. Our featured brewery, Brasserie Duyck, is the second largest independent brewery in France, and is by far the largest one making bière de garde. The brewery, founded in 1922 on a site that was once a farm, is credited with reviving the style as well as encouraging countless smaller bière de garde breweries in northern France.

Duyck is the surname of a family of French brewers who settled in the hamlet of Jenlain in 1922 (hence the name of our first featured beer). Léon Duyck was the first member of the family to take up the trade of brewing. He passed his passion for brewing fine beer down to his son Félix, who set up his farmhouse brewery in Jenlain, near Valenciennes, where he produced his first matured beer which would become the famous Jenlain. The name of the village was not adopted as the name of his famed beer until 1968, many years after it was first created. At that point, the brewery had been under the control of Félix’s son Robert for eight years. Robert held the helm of the family business for thirty years before passing it on to his son Raymond (great grandson of the family’s brewing patriarch, Léon). That’s four generations of family brewing, and you just can’t underestimate the value brought to a brewery by having the same family controlling the process for over 80 years—guaranteed excellence in brewing!

In keeping with the times and increased demand for their beers, Duyck has pursued an active development policy since the beginning of 2002, adding eight new vats for their filtered beers, five others for the top-fermentation process, as well as a new kettle and a cleaning unit to increase the brewery’s production capacity and to meet new market demands in terms of quality and protection of the environment. Despite their brewing scale and recent expansions, Duyck remains a traditional farmhouse brewery, complete with traditional pantiled buildings and rustic atmosphere. If you ever find yourself in the Northeast of France, take a few moments to visit Jenlain and enjoy this fantastic beer in situ.

If you’d like more information about the Brasserie Duyck, check out their website at http://www.duyck.com.

Jenlain Ambrée

The best known example of the bière de garde style, Jenlain Ambrée is the source of Brasserie Duyck’s renown. This style originated before the age of refrigeration, so the cooler winter and early spring months were used advantageously as an ideal time to brew the beer. However, as it was intended as a beer to enjoy during the hot summer months, this style required a beer sturdy enough to age in the bottle, yet refreshing enough to enjoy in warm weather. The resulting beer accomplished both ends. Unique not only in its flavor, this was the first beer to be bottled in 750ml champagne-style bottles with a wire-fastened cork. When it was first created, beers were typically sold in wooden barrels and sold only in local taverns and village fairs. After the second World War, people’s lifestyles began to change and large, spring-fastened bottles appeared on the scene, enabling people to drink in their homes. This gave Duyck’s the idea of using empty champagne bottles to bottle their beers. Thus began their campaign of recovering empty champagne bottles after village fairs, as well as from restaurants and bars. As Brasserie Duyck’s fourth generation family owner Raymond Duyck recalls, “when we were children, we were given the job of scraping off the aluminum collars before the bottles were washed, filled, corked and a wire fastener attached.”

Janlain Ambrée is russet amber in color. It is made with three different types of malt produced from French barley and three varieties of hops grown in Alsace. Expect this unpasteurized beer to pour with a huge head, which you should give a moment to subside before tasting. Take a moment to enjoy the fruity and floral aroma as the head settles, you should get notes of baked apples, caramel, stewed prunes and lightly toasted malt. The flavor begins very smooth, with a touch of syrup, and progresses to reveal orangey, spicy, dry flavors in the finish. This is the finest example of the style you could hope to find. Additionally, this beer is particularly food friendly, as an accompaniment or an ingredient. Complementary foods include chicken stewed in beer, tripe sausage, lamb, rabbit, onions & squashes. Enjoy!

Serving Temperature: 50-55° F
Alcohol by Volume: 6.0%

St. Druon de Sebourg

Brasserie Duyck’s brewing traditions have remained unchanged since the time Félix Duyck founded the brewery in 1922. In making their beers, only the finest ingredients are selected, and meticulous attention is paid to all stages of the brewing process. The mash (the early mixture of crushed barley and water) is brewed traditionally and allowed to filter naturally with no mechanical pressure. Then, for a period of 40 days, it’s just the beer and time, left to work its magic with top fermenting yeast during the maturation period. Not to mention the water, an essential ingredient in the brewing process, drawn fresh from the well beneath the brewery and mixed with malted barley selected from the best varieties, or the 20 controls performed on each brew to guarantee its purity, or Raymond Duyck who tastes each brew himself, or the hops, grown in Alsace, that give the beer its aroma and bitter flavor, or finally the Beauce-grown wheat used in some of Duyck’s recipes.

St. Druon, formerly known as Sebourg beer, is an abbey-type beer with 6.5% alcohol by volume. It was rechristened “Saint Druon de Sebourg” in 2000 as a tribute to Saint Druon and the little church in Sebourg, a village next to Jenlain. Druon, a homeless but pious orphan, wandered the roads until he settled in the village, and is still honored and revered by pilgrims each year. The brewery is now one of the church benefactors and has contributed to the cost of renovating the main edifice.

Malted barley and three varieties of hops grown in Alsace form the basis of this beer’s recipe, which, unlike Duyck’s other beers, also contains wheat from the Beauce region of France, milled in the traditional way by Sebourg’s miller. And to give it an even more distinctive flavor, the Duyck family uses a specific strain of yeast exclusive to this beer. This beer is the French equivalent of a blonde abbey ale, similar in style to those found across the border in nearby Belgium, though it also retains quite a bit of the flavor characteristics of the style that made the brewery famous, bière de garde. We found it to be spicy and effervescent, and a good deal hoppier than typical bière de garde, with a lemony zest and peppery hop bite in the finish. Easy going, especially considering the modest, yet somehow hardly noticeable 6.5% ABV. Try this with a pecan crusted chicken and spinach leaf salad. Cheers!

Serving Temperature: 55-60° F
Alcohol by Volume: 6.5%

ASK MURL

Hey Murl,

Ever fall in love with a beer? I mean like, really fall in love with it, where you just adore everything about it? I’m absolutely entranced and utterly taken with the Brooklyn Brewery’s Black Chocolate Stout. So incredible… any comments on the matter… and hey, ever had to “break up”, so to speak, with an old favorite brew?

Steven Millburn
Phoenix, AZ

Hey Steven,

I see you are from Puh-Hone-icks—ever see that commercial where the dude wants to mail something to Puh-Hone-icks? I bet you get people joking with you about that all the time these days… oh well… on to your question… Beer is a seductive mistress indeed… I have found myself feeling rather amorous over many a different brew… currently, I’d have to say that I have at least a severe crush on the Smuttynose Old Brown Dog Ale featured this month—but, that has almost as much to do with the actual beer as it does with the absolutely gorgeous specimen appearing on the label… I mean my God man, take a look at that coat… shiny, supple and soft… and that soft distracted gaze from delicate brown eyes which seem to say, “I’m gorgeous but don’t really know it…” And the muscle tone—I just love a girl who keeps herself in shape… Oh man, what a looker! Olive, if you ever want to meet up for a pint, you know where to find me… www.monthlyclubs.com.

Sorry Steven… can’t blame me though for getting sidetracked—just look at her! Anyway, yes, the stout you speak of is a remarkable vixen herself… I’ve been desperately in love with many a brew, but in the end, can’t stay committed to just one… there are so many beers in the fridge, if you know what I mean Steve-O. I decided a long time ago that in terms of brews, while I have my favorites, and my old standby’s who always seem to take me back when I come a knockin’, that I’ve gotta stay true to myself and be the playdog that I am at heart. It just wouldn’t be fair to myself, or my readers… If I got hooked on one, I’d have less time to review and select brews for our clubs, ya know? Sure, there will be more that I fall in love with… and more that I’ll have to cheat on in moments of indiscretion… but you know, that’s the price you pay for holding the job I do… So I raise my pint bowl and say, here’s to more fine beers, beery love affairs, and break ups as bitter as a double IPA.

Woof!
Murl

Norm’s Corner

Norm: Vera’s mad at me. Says I don’t listen to her.
Sam: Well, what does she say?
Norm: You know ... blah, blah, blah.

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