Past Newsletters
Vol. 2 No. 3
| Brewery | Beers Featured |
| Yosemite Brewing Company | Half Dome Amber |
| Yosemite Brewing Company | Yosemite Falls Gold |
| Blue Hen Brewing Company | Blue Hen Beer Munich Helles Lager |
| Blue Hen Brewing Company | Blue Hen Black & Tan |
Yosemite Brewing Company
The Yosemite Brewing Co. was founded in 1995 shortly after founders Frank Munoz and Tolley Gorham began contemplation on how they might make a living that allowed them to live in the beautiful mountain community of Mariposa, just outside of Yosemite National Park. The dynamic duo dismissed several pipe dreams including gold panning because frankly, they seemed like a lot of work. One monumental evening, while watching snow fall and drinking beer, the two decided to inventory their skill set and concluded that one obvious thing that they were both good at and enjoyed doing was drinking beer. So it was agreed that their new venture should be centered on this staple in their lives.
The talk was first of how they could drink beer for a living, but that notion was quickly dismissed due to the fact that there are so many people that are willing to perform the task for free. Next came the idea of selling beer. But whose beer would they sell? It seemed that there were already salesmen for all of the brands of beer available at the time so they decided to make their own beer. Never mind the fact that neither knew anything about beer other than how to open a bottle and drink it. When the name for the beer came into question, the answer was obvious: "Frank and Tolley’s Good Beer". It only took another beer or two to realize that the marketing potential for a beer which such a name would probably preclude selling enough to make any money.
The founders settled on the notion of taking advantage of the majestic park they lived so close to (and the some 4 million that visit it each year) and hence the name of the brewery was established. The boys formed a joint venture with the Meadows Ranch Café and both now occupy a large warehouse that effectively serves as a brewery and brewpub. In addition to the two beers featured this month, Yosemite also produces El Capitan Dark, a brown porter.
For more information about the brewery and scheduled tours, call (209) 742-5713
Serving Temperature: 42-47° F
Original Gravity: 13.5° Plato
Final Gravity: N/A
Int'l Bittering Units: 24.0
Alcohol by Volume: 5.5%
Half Dome is an Amber Ale brewed with a combination of two-row Pale and Caramel malts. The beer is hopped twice during the 90-min. boil, once 30 minutes into the boil with Northern Brewer hops and then again at 60 minutes with Brewer’s Gold hops. The Northern Brewer hops are used primarily for their bittering contributions while the Brewer’s Gold are used for aroma. A proprietary ale yeast strain is used.
Notes From the Panel:
Immediately note a rich malty sweet nose with some floral hop tones evident. Look for average head retention in this amber, reddish-brown, clear, medium-bodied beer. Amber Ales are a style open to interpretation, and we like Yosemite’s interpretation a lot. Note a nice floral hop character without too much bitterness. The beer is carbonated at a low rate which allows for an easier identification of the flavors apparent. Overall, a very well-balanced, highly drinkable and flavorful interpretation of an American Amber Ale.
Serving Temperature: 40-45° F
Original Gravity: 13.2° Plato
Final Gravity: N/A
Int'l Bittering Units: 26.0
Alcohol by Volume: 5.2%
Yosemite Falls Gold is a Golden Ale and is brewed with a combination of two-row Pale, Carapils, Caramel and Wheat malts. Here, Tolley uses Northern Brewer hops at the boil and again 30 minutes into the 90-min. boil primarily for their bittering characteristics. Brewer’s Gold, Cascade, and Hallertau hops are later added for their aromatic contributions at 60, 60 and 75 minutes respectively. A proprietary ale yeast strain is used.
Notes From the Panel:
Look for both floral and spicy hop notes in this Golden Ale. Yosemite starts out with a nice, refreshing balance of lighter maltiness and hop bitterness. Note good head retention in this golden, clear, medium-bodied beer. We enjoyed its pleasant bitter, dry finish. Overall, a well-balanced excellent interpretation of an American Golden Ale.
Blue Hen Brewing Company
The Blue Hen Brewing Co. was founded in 1987 by Jeff Johnson with the mission to develop and introduce craft brewed beers into the Delaware Valley. Their flagship product, Blue Hen Beer, a Munich Helles lager, was introduced in May of 1990 and since then, Blue Hen has introduced their Black and Tan as well as a Chocolate Porter.
The Blue Hen name comes from local folk lore recorded by Delaware historians which relates to a certain leisurely activity known to have occurred by one of the state’s Revolutionary War regiments. It’s told that during the early days of the war, the men of Captian Jonathan Caldwell’s company took with them gamecocks noted for their fighting ability. These particular fowl were of a brood possessing blue features. The regiment fought at Long Island, White Plains, Trenton, and Princeton and when not engaged with the enemy, amused themselves by fighting the Blue Hens. The fame of the fights spread throughout the army and soon the bravery in battle displayed by the regiment coupled with the colorful gamecocks they carried with them earned the militia the name, "The Fighting Blue Hens".
For more information about the brewery and scheduled tours, call (302) 737-8375 or check out their web site at http://www.pubcrawler.com/Template/visit/bluehen.html.
Blue Hen Beer Munich Helles Lager
Serving Temperature: 37-42° F
Original Gravity: 12.0° Plato
Final Gravity: N/A
Int'l Bittering Units: 19.0
Alcohol by Volume: 4.6%
Blue Hen’s Munich Helles is brewed with a combination of two-row Pale and Caramel malts. English Kent Goldings hops are used early into the 90-min. boil for their bittering effects while Czechoslovakian Saaz , Mt. Hood and Hallertau Herbrucker are added later in the boil for aroma. When you’re sampling this lager, know that you are drinking a true champion, the 1994 World Beer Champion of Munich Helles’ Lagers to be specific. It also won the silver in the 95 and 96 World Beer Championships.
Notes From the Panel:
Immediately note a pleasant pale malt aroma with a hint of floral hop notes. Look for good head retention in this pale, clear, medium-bodied beer. Note a definite pale maltiness up front followed by a dry hop bitterness that lingers into the finish. This is a very clean, well-balanced and smooth beer. Overall, a well-lagered, crisp, clean and nicely done Munich Helles.
Serving Temperature: 38-43° F
Original Gravity: 12.8° Plato
Final Gravity: N/A
Int'l Bittering Units: 24.0
Alcohol by Volume: 5.3%
Blue Hen’s Black & Tan is undoubtedly an unusual animal. A traditional black and tan, if you’ve never had one, is generally poured from a draft tap only using typically Harp Ale as a base and a gently poured Guiness Stout topper. When poured properly, the two very distinctly colored beers are clearly separated. Not the case in a bottle. We could have told you that they were in fact separated until tossed about in the feeble hands of your UPS driver, but the fact of the matter is that Blue Hen blends their Munich Helles (lager) with their Blue Hen Porter (ale) to create this very unique beer. Both beers are brewed separately and then mixed together prior to bottling. In total, two-row Pale, Caramel, and Chocolate malts are used while five different hop varieties are added during the individual boils including: English Kent Goldings, Mt. Hood, Hallertau Herbrucker, Czechoslovakian Saaz, Tettnang, and Cascade. Blue Hen’s Black and Tan took the silver in the European Dark Lager category in the 1996 World Beer Championships as well as the 1996 World Beer Cup.
Notes From the Panel:
Note a predominantly chocolate roasted malt nose with some hop fruitiness evident. Look for good head retention in this light brown, filtered, medium-bodied hybrid. Look for a moderately hopped body, nicely balanced with maltiness. Toasted grains come out and it seems to have a crisp, angular feel in the mouth with a decidedly hoppy edge. We picked up on a hint of bitterness to the refreshing finish. Overall, a truly unique, flavorful and well-balanced beer, deserving of its accolades.
Norm's Corner...
As spoken by Cheers' Norm
Woody: Would you like a beer, Mr. Peterson?
Norm: No Wood, I’d like a dead cat in a glass
True Brew Facts
ON TAP (BREWER’S ASSOC. OF CANADA) - Almost 100 alcoholics were required to watch reruns of Dallas for a study conducted by the Addiction Research Foundation. Some patients watched the show with drinking scenes, others watched it with the drinking scenes cut out, and all patients viewed the program with either beer, non-alcoholic beverage or food commercials. Results indicated that the patients who watched both Dallas’s drinking scenes and beer commercials were "more confident in their ability to resist the urge to drink heavily" than those who watched the drinking scenes with food commercials. The reports were published by the Journal Studies on Alcohol and contradict the assumption that beer commercials influence alcoholics to drink. Researchers are reported as feeling perplexed and should perhaps study the effects of food commercials.
DAILY MIRROR - Cleanliness counts to barfly Brits. The British Brewer’s Society reports that when it comes to choosing a pub, women’s first priority is a clean toilet and men’s is a clean bar. The sexes switched positions on the second order of priority, and both chose friendly staff for their third choice. Stocks of beer, by the way, came far down on the list after general comfort, value and speed of service. The report also found that pub-goers drink a pint almost two minutes faster on Saturday nights and that 86 percent of American prefer British pubs to their own back home.
S.F. EXAMINER - Pyramids built by beer drinkers. Egyptian excavations revealed that the workmen who built the Great Pyramids were beer drinking, bread-and-garlic-eaters. Not unlike modern American, many died from cancer or industrial accidents. The mustachioed workers, whose tombs were discovered when a horse’s leg went through the roof of one of the tombs, had learned to brew five types of beer and bake 12 varieties of bread, as evidenced by a menu on one tomb wall.
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