Past Newsletters

Vol. 4 No. 6

Brewery	Beers Featured
Table Rock Brewing Company	Nut Brown Ale
Table Rock Brewing Company	Table Rock Hefeweizen
Great Divide Brewing Company	Hibernation Strong Ale
Great Divide Brewing Company	Saint Brigid's Robust Porter

Table Rock Brewing Company

Located in downtown Boise, Idaho, the Table Rock Brewpub & Grill was founded by Mike and Peg Fitzgerald in March of 1991 thus becoming the city's first brewpub. The brewpub was soon expanded and in 1992 TableRock's beers were kegged and wholesaled exclusively in Southwestern Idaho. To meet growing demand, the brewery has expanded five times since opening and the current 35 barrel brewhouse's annual production is roughly 2000 barrels per year. The upscale, yet comfortable brewpub serves a wide variety of sandwiches, soups, burgers and other pubfare. In addition to the two beers featured this month, the brewery bottles a filtered American Wheat and a raspberry ale. Rotating taps at the brewpub allow greater variety where they have served a red ale, dunkelweizen, Irish red, Irish dry stout, sweet stout, extra special bitter, porter, golden ale, amber ale, and a rye ale to name a few!

For more information about the brewery and scheduled tours, call (208) 385-9060.

Nut Brown Ale

Serving Temperature: 50-55° F
Original Gravity: 13.6° Plato
Final Gravity: N/A
Int'l Bittering Units: 20.0
Alcohol by Volume: 4.3%

Table Rock's Nut Brown is brewed with a combination of no less than 9 different malts including: Two-row Pale, Crystal, Carapils, Carastan,. Brown, Dark Caramel, Black Patent, and Chocolate malts. Brewmaster Terry Dennis uses Willamette hops only towards the beginning of the 90 min. boil to balance the beer's malty profile with some bitterness. An American Pale Ale yeast strain is used.

Notes From the Panel:

Immediately note a malty and fruity nose with roasted notes lingering in the background. Look for good head retention in this brown, clear, medium-bodied beer. This nut brown starts out with nice roasted tones with a well-balanced hint of hops evident. Table Rock finishes roasted as well and with slightly dry, nutty, toffee-like characteristics. Overall, a very complex and flavorful malt profile in a exceptionally clean and drinkable American Brown Ale.

Table Rock Hefeweizen

Serving Temperature: 40-45° F
Original Gravity: 12.0° Plato
Final Gravity: N/A
Int'l Bittering Units: 15.0
Alcohol by Volume: 4.05%

Table Rock's Hefeweizen is brewed with organic wheat flakes, and a combination of two-row Pale, Munich, Carapils and Soft White Wheat malts. Here, Terry uses both Willamette and Mount Hood hops for bittering and Mt. Hood again towards the end of the 90 min. boil for their aromatic contributions. An American Ale yeast strain is used in this unfiltered beer.

Notes From the Panel:

Look for a yeasty, fruity and slightly sweet malt nose up front in this American Hefeweizen. Look for average head retention in this very cloudy, pale, medium-bodied beer. This Hefe begins fruity and bready with some tart notes and a mild hop profile. Overall, a clean and flavorful session beer and good example of an American Hefeweizen.

Great Divide Brewing Company

Located in downtown Denver, Colorado, The Great Divide Brewing company was founded by Brian and Tara Dunn in early 1993, introducing their first product, Arapahoe Amber Ale in June of '94. Brian had just completed his MA in Environmental Policy and when frustrated with the lack of opportunity available at the time, decided to take his homebrewing passion and turn it into a career. The brewery is located in an old 1930's dairy building which has allowed for two expansions since the brewery's inception.

Head Brewer Chris Dunne studied pre-med, has a BA in English and was a passionate homebrewer prior to hiring on at Great Divide. It seems he's learned his trade well as the brewery has received no less than nine accolades for their beers, most from the Great American Beer Festival and World Beer Championships. In addition to the two beers being featured this month, the brewery also brews an American Wheat, a Honey Ale, an Amber Ale, a Wild Raspberry Ale and several seasonal beers.

For more information about the brewery and scheduled tours, call (303) 296-9460 or check out their web site at www.greatdivide.com.

Hibernation Strong Ale

Serving Temperature: 45-50° F
Original Gravity: 20.0° Plato
Final Gravity: N/A
Int'l Bittering Units: 40.0
Alcohol by Volume: 8.1%

Hibernation Ale is a mahogany colored Strong Ale, with a huge malt character, assertive hops, and a warming character. Chris uses nearly double the amount of malted barley and hops to brew this winter seasonal beer than he does for any other beer in the brewery's line up. Primary fermentation takes a few days longer than usual and the beer's conditioning period is extended five weeks to fully develop its malt character and better balance the aggressive ingredient composition. Although "Strong Ale" is an actual beer category, the BATF will not allow that specific phrase to show up anywhere on the label as they feel it implies "strength or power", which is prohibited. Hence, the label reads, English Old Ale. We are extremely pleased to be able to bring you this beer. Hibernation received the absolute highest average rating from our panel, with over half our judges deeming it a perfect 10. We know you'll enjoy it.

Notes From the Panel:

Immediately note both a strong hop spicy and intense dark malty nose. Look for excellent head retention in this mahogany, clear, very full-bodied beer. This ale's flavor profile is intensely complex yet smooth, rich and round, offering a heavy dark chocolate maltiness balanced nicely with an equal dose of bitter hoppiness. It's a belly-warmer with the high alcohol content very apparent throughout the beer. Overall, the best of the 40 + winter seasonals we've tasted for Microbrewed Beer of the Month Club in 1996.

Saint Brigid's Robust Porter

Serving Temperature: 45-50° F
Original Gravity: 14.25° Plato
Final Gravity: N/A
Int'l Bittering Units: 28.0
Alcohol by Volume: 6.0%

St. Brigid's Porter is a deep ruby colored, full-bodied porter with a smooth chocolate character and a slightly roasted finish. The name comes from Irish lore about Saint Brigid who reportedly transformed her bathwater into beer for thirsty clerics. As the brewery is sensitive about giving out specific information with regard to the types of malts and hops used to brew this beer, it will have to suffice to let you know that it's a true winner this year after winning the Gold medal in the robust porter category at both the 1996 World Beer Cup and the 1996 Great American Beer Festival.

Notes From the Panel:

Note a predominantly chocolate roasted malt nose with some sweet malt characteristics evident. Look for good head retention in this dark brown, filtered, medium-bodied ale. St. Brigid's has nice clean, dark roasted malt characteristics throughout its body and finish, indicative of a true robust porter. Overall, a clean, flavorful, and true-to-style robust porter well deserving of its recent Gold at GABF.

Ask Murl

Dear Murl,

Not that I'm a profound fan of the stuff, but I'm kind of curious as to how Budweiser got its name. A buddy of mine told me that it's German in origin and I've got a bone to pick with that as I am of German decent and therefore take it as a personal slam! So I figured I'd ask for some divine canine intervention to settle the score as we now have a case of real beer on the line. So what's up homedog? Am I flyin' or buyin'? By the way, love your column babe. Good stuff. And Woof! to you!

Oliver Albret
San Rafael, CA

Yo Ollie,

The word, "Budweiser" needs to be broken down a bit in order to better understand its true meaning. "Bud" was actually an ancient Mesopotamian slang term used for the description of beer itself while "weiser" is a derivative of the German verb Weizant defined as: to stink or smell. Skunky. So, I guess you could say that Budweiser either had no idea what so ever what they were up to when naming their premier product or they knew exactly what they were doing and assumed it would remain an inside joke indefinitely. Kind of an ironic translation in the face of their recent campaign slamming micros as producers of contaminated brew that couldn't possibly compare to their fresh, "born on dated" beers. They may be fresh, but so's the oil spill in my garage and you won't see me drinkin' that either! Okay. Okay. Enough Bud-bashing for the next 10 ... well at least the next 3 minutes. Actually, during the days of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the important Czech brewing city of Ceske Budojovice was known by the German name of Budweis, and beer from that city was known as Budweiser. Today Budweiser beer (locally called Budvar) is still brewed in Ceske Budojovice, but it has nothing to do with the beer of the same name brewed in the United States. So for the sake of your bet, one could argue in either direction, however, in light of your kind words towards my column, I am inclined to take the posture that the fact that the beer and city are in fact Czechoslovakian takes precedence of the mere German words used to describe them. Editorial note: Just send my 12 pack to the warehouse to my attention. Auf Wiedersehen Hier Oliver!

Woof!
Murl.

Food For Thought...

Hibernator Gorgonzola Cheese Soup

This month's selection was contributed by Great Divide's Co-Founder, Tara Dunn.

• 1 small red onion
• 3 medium cloves garlic
• 1 chipotle pepper
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 pound gorgonzola cheese
• 16 oz. Hibernation Ale
• 1 quart heavy cream
• 1 gallon whole milk
• Salt and pepper to taste

Puree onion, garlic and chipotle in food processor. Heat oil over medium heat in stock pot. Add onion mixture. With hands, crumble in gorgonzola. Heat just until cheese is halfway melted. Stir in beer. Bring to boiling point. Gradually add cream and milk. Heat just to boiling point. Do not boil or soup will scorch. Whisk occasionally. (Beer and cheese should incorporate on their own so do not overwhisk or soup will foam up). Add salt and pepper to taste. Serves 10-12 humans, 47 mice or 1 Green Bay Packer Fan.

Norm's Corner...
As spoken by Cheers' Norm

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.

True Brew Facts

BEER, THE MAGAZINE - France's Pecheur Brewery is betting on the bow-wows of approval with its new version of non-alcoholic beer for animals. Made from beer-making leftovers and enriched with vitamins and mineral salts, the concoction will be touted as a power drink for pets and is currently being test-marketed in Japan.

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.

ASIAN BUSINESS - Vending machines in Japan dispense an inspiring range of items: Beer, neckties, wine, flowers, whiskey, lingerie, batteries, socks, pornographic magazines, and canned coffee. The approximately 200,000 alcohol vending machines are proving to be most convenient to the under-age drinkers and have sparked petitioning for their ban from citizen groups. Districts in Tokyo have responded to the petitions and are keeping the machines in operation.

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.

Commander McBrewAnd Millipede Stew

First impressions of Guangzhou, China? People. Lots of People. The train station was packed, everyone shouting, waving and generally overwhelming Wortly, my faithful companion in consumption, and I. We got out into the streets for some air to find them every bit, if not more congested than the train station. Another rumor validated. There ARE a shitload of people in China!

We had no guidebook for China and therefore set out blind to find a hotel. Unlike India or South America, this third world city didn't have any signs in English whatsoever to assist those unable to read or speak Chinese. We would just have to find a place that looked like a hotel and give it a shot. We entered only one building mistakenly as we searched for a bed to sleep in. I still don't know what it was, but they wouldn't let us sleep there.

As Wortly and I are both devout lovers of Chinese food, we anxiously awaited to taste the fruits of the mainland. Immediately, we became suspicious after not being able to find a restaurant that looked any cleaner than the train station. We settled on the best we could find. As I glanced over at the group of people seated next to us, I was revolted to see a petit young girl spit a big fish bone out of her mouth and between her legs on to the floor. Yyyyuk! A closer inspection showed this to be common practice among all the patrons. Piles of fish and chicken bones as well as gristle and other undesirable uneatables littered the entire floor of the restaurant. This was a form of etiquette that might take a little getting used to.

We ordered some soup and a couple of chicken a noodle dishes assuming that to be relatively safe. What can I say; it's difficult to make accurate assumptions in an environment you know little about. We dubbed our soup, "Dishwater Dumplings". Enough said. The chicken noodle dish was a tangled mass of undercooked noodles, chicken skin, tendons, cartilage and bones with a few tiny morsels of actual meat. What we're talking about here, is the crap that your cat rejects when you think you're doing him a big favor. Had we worked up enough nerve to place any real amount of this entree into our mouths, restaurant protocol would have mandated we yak it back up on the floor anyway. The amount of debris on the floor would soon become our gauge to measuring a restaurant's acceptability. Needless to say, large amounts of the local brew, Cannon 10000, were required to choke down any given meal. It wasn't exceptionally tasty, kind of an American malt liquor of with an equivalent flavor profile of King Cobra, but its high alcohol content of 9.2 % helped numb our taste buds into thinking they were actually eating food.

On our third day in Guangzhou, we ran across unquestionably the most bizarre food market that we would encounter in the context of our travels. Although the thought of eating any of the items we identified here was absolutely nauseating, the fact that someone else did made the experience hilarious. First stop. The dried bug stand. I had an imaginary conversation with the merchant.

"Hello Missa McBrew. How are you today?", he starts, smiling with no teeth. "Why I'm fine today, Ming. What's on special?" "How about some nice sun-dried millipedes. For you, twenty yuans for this nice stack here." He had bundles of eight-inch, dried, red millipedes for sale.

"No, I had millipede stew last night. What are ya gettin' for a scoop of the giant black flies?" "Oh, very good. My grandmother makes an excellent Black Fly Pie. They are in season now too. Fifteen yuans for one scoop, twenty-five for two." A burlap sack, easily the size of a pillow case, was filled with these giant, dried black flies. Seriously.

"Humm...That's mighty tempting, Ming, but you know, I think I'm gonna go with the usual today." "You got it Commander. One box of seasoned dried scorpions. That'll be twenty yuans please." Another bag, as big as the fly bag, contained small, dried up scorpions. They had some kind of orange and black spice sprinkled on them. A few of these babies added to the Chex Party Mix would surely liven up any collaboration of party poopers.

The next few stands covered a broad spectrum of culinary materials. We saw giant dried starfish, antlers, and bags of hooves. The same stand had one of our favorite items, Lizard Pops! Small lizards, maybe a foot long from head to tail, were crucified on miniature stick crosses. There arms and legs were outstretched and attached to the crossing sticks while the skin unfolded naturally to the sides, looking somewhat like lizard kites.

Further down, Wortly lucked into some dried elephant ears. Those are hard to come by too. This vendor also stocked a wide variety of pre-coiled, dried snakes. Some were as large as a frisbee while others were no bigger than a quarter. He somehow conveyed to me that the smaller ones were used to make tea. Yum, Yum. Dried mini-snake tea!

The pinnacle of the dried snacks market was a man that approached us with the forearm and paw of a tiger. Parts of the paw still had fur on it but most was removed exposing muscles, tendons and bone. As we tried in vain to determine just how this product was both sold and used, he presented another queer looking piece of dried flesh. It was long, over a foot, had barbs on one end and a shriveled sack on the other. I was, of course, holding a tiger penis. Needless to say, I promptly handed petrified pee pee back to its second owner after he pantomimed its identity.

The pinnacle of the dried snacks market was a man that approached us with the forearm and paw of a tiger. Parts of the paw still had fur on it but most was removed exposing muscles, tendons and bone. As we tried in vain to determine just how this product was both sold and used, he presented another queer looking piece of dried flesh. It was long, over a foot, had barbs on one end and a shriveled sack on the other. I was, of course, holding a tiger penis. Needless to say, I promptly handed petrified pee pee back to its second owner after he pantomimed its identity.

After our trip to the market, we could no longer fathom the idea of eating in Guangzhou's restaurants simply assisted with a Cannon 10000. We know knew what seasoned the dishwater soup. Rather than attempt to mask the foods of this bizarre culture with malt liquor, Wortly and I opted to make use of what we do best and brew our own nectar to pair with these unusual delicacies. Barley, water and yeast were all easy enough to find, however hops proved quite scarce and we were therefore forced to improvise. Reasoning that the brew should truly be reflective of the environment, we decided to hop the beer with things that, ironically, did in fact once hop (or at least crawl or fly)... A combination of dried black flies, scorpions, and the giant red millipedes to be precise. Our brew, christened Entomology Ale, was of course, dry-hopped with the notorious pre-coiled dried mini-snakes. Its aggressive malt profile was no match for our Chinese Hops which mysteriously dominated the flavor profile. All in all, pretty damn good bug juice. The task complete and brew consumed quickly over the course of the next three days, we opted to head back to Hong Kong to find a Pizza Hut.

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