Past Newsletters
Vol. 8 No. 12
| Brewery | Beers Featured |
| Great Divide Brewing Company | Bee Sting Honey Ale |
| Great Divide Brewing Company | Wild Raspberry Ale |
| Michigan Brewing Company | Peninsula Porter |
| Michigan Brewing Company | High Seas IPA |
Great Divide Brewing Company
The Great Divide Brewing Company, an award-winning microbrewery located in the heart of downtown Denver, Colorado, was founded in 1993 by avid homebrewer Brian Dunn. After completing his master's degree in environmental policy and being discouraged with his job search, Dunn decided to create his own job and fill a niche in the Denver beer market.
At the time, there were four brewpubs in Denver, but no microbreweries. Brian decided that opening Denver's first microbrewery might be the perfect way to turn his homebrews into craft-brewed reality. He began by conducting a marketing study, calling local bars, restaurants, and liquor stores. Next came the financial projections, business plan and the quest for funding. The only piece that was missing was where to house the brewery and that fell into place when he found a vacant building that housed a dairy in the 1930s, located just four blocks from Coors Field (home of the Colorado Rockies baseball team). With everything in place, Dunn could get down to doing to what he does best.
On May 30, 1994, the Great Divide Brewing was officially up and running and Brian and his wife, Tara, brewed their first batch of Arapahoe Amber. The hours were long for Brian and Tara back in those days, but now, with 10 full-time employees, things are a little easier.
In addition to growing their staff, Brian and Tara have increased their production. Over the years the brewery has grown from 900 barrels per year to a capacity of 12,000. The quick growth was no doubt helped by the fact that Great Divide has won so many awards; since 1994 they have won 5 medals at the Great American Beer Festival and three medals at the World Beer Cup. This brewery is one of the few that we've ever featured more than once in the 8 years we've operated the club and there's a reason for it - They Make Great Beer! Enjoy!
For more information about the brewery and scheduled tours, call (303) 296-9460 or check out their web site at www.greatdivide.com.
Serving Temperature: 40-45° F
Original Gravity: 14.0° Plato
Final Gravity: 4.0° Plato
Int'l Bittering Units: 18.0
Alcohol by Volume: 5.4%
Honey and Beer? We've tasted several honey beers before, but none compare to the Bee Sting. The brewer's at Great Divide add a generous amount of Rocky Mountain Orange-Blossom honey to a base of golden ale to create this full-bodied brew. This dark golden ale has a complex, sweet, citrus aroma with hints of…you guessed it…honey. We found it nicely balanced. Brian uses Northwest 2-row pale and Caramel malts paired with Perle and Willamette hops. Look for a sweet honey flavor with a slight citrus note and a crisp, clean finish. An excellent beer that would go great with barbequed ribs.
Serving Temperature: 50-55° F
Original Gravity: 15.0° Plato
Final Gravity: 4.0° Plato
Int'l Bittering Units: 35.0
Alcohol by Volume: 5.6%
In eight years, we've only featured one beer that falls into the fruit beer category. Why? Most domestic fruit beers are not well made. As real fruit is both expensive and adds a fair amount of complexity to the brewing process due to their natural sugars, most brewers brew their fruit ales with flavor extracts that make you feel like you're drinking a raspberry pie, not a beer. Great Divide uses real red and black raspberries to flavor this unique ale. In fact, they use so much fruit in this beer that one year they preordered 85% of the entire US Black Raspberry crop! This ruby-red ale is well balanced between the fruit and the caramel and Northwest 2-row pale malts. But, you'll also note a fairly hoppy finish from the Perle and Tettnanger hops. Look for a strong, but not overpowering, raspberry aroma. Overall, one of the best fruit beers that we've ever reviewed. A perfect accompaniment to spicy Mexican food or a chocolate or fruit desert.
Michigan Brewing Company
The Michigan Brewing Company is located about 20 minutes east of Lansing, Michigan in the city of Webberville. It's very easy to miss this brewery because it's located behind a gas station. When owner Bobby Mason opened the brewery, he decided he wanted to carry a theme throughout the company, starting from the building design to the product names all the way through to the labels on the beers. To reflect Michigan's logging history, the front façade of the brewery was designed to look like a log cabin. The front, double-glass doors are etched with the image of the Mackinac Bridge, which happens to be one of Michigan's most recognizable landmarks. It connects Michigan's Lower and Upper Peninsulas.
The Michigan Brewing Company was designed as a brewery, not a restaurant. There is a tavern and tasting room on the premises, but no kitchen. You'll always be able to find a barrel full of fresh peanuts and they even let you throw the shells on the floor, but if it's a meal you're looking for, you'd best be packing it yourself or ordering a pizza! Inside the tavern, there are no televisions, no video games, no juke boxes; the Michigan Brewing Company was designed to be a social hall, where guests can come in and listen to a mix of blues and jazz music and enjoy some good beer with friends.
Brewer Dan Rogers keeps a wide selection of beer on tap, including their Sunset Amber Ale, Golden Ale, Nut Brown Ale, Mackinac Pale Ale, Petoskey Pilsner, Superior Stout, Wheatland Wheat Beer, Hamtramck Beer, Big Mac, and two we are featuring this month - Peninsula Porter and High Seas IPA. They also feature several seasonal beers throughout the year.
For more information about the brewery and scheduled tours, call (517) 521-3600 or check out their web site at www.michiganbrewing.com.
Serving Temperature: 38-43° F
Original Gravity: 18.0° Plato
Final Gravity: 4.0° Plato
Int'l Bittering Units: 36.0
Alcohol by Volume: 5.5%
Michigan's Peninsula Porter is a complex beer indeed; from the color to the aroma all the way through to the finish. Bobby brews it with a combination of 2-row pale, chocolate, and crystal malts as well as flaked barley malts and Nugget and Northern Brewer hops to balance this tasty brew. We found this deep ruby-red ale to be quite full-bodied. You'll note an aroma of chocolate and a slight spicy hop bitterness in the nose. Look for a strong chocolate malt start with a pleasant hop spiciness coming through near the finish. This porter would go best with your favorite spicy meal or try it with the recipe in this newsletter.
Serving Temperature: 45-50° F
Original Gravity: 18.0° Plato
Final Gravity: 5.0° Plato
Int'l Bittering Units: 70.0+
Alcohol by Volume: 6.0%
If you don't know what a normal IBU (international bittering unit) is, let's just suffice to say that 70 is HUGE!!! This one's for Hop Heads only because this dark amber IPA is loaded with 'em! The brewers at Michigan Brewing Company sure know what they're doing when it comes to brewing a tasty, hop aggressive, India Pale Ale. When you first bring this beer to your lips, the Cascade hops really grab you and smack you up side the head. You are then bombarded with mass quantities of Northern Bbrewer and Cascade hops when this beer touches your tongue, which is then followed by a slightly sweet finish. One of the more assertively hopped beers we have featured. This beer would go great with gumbo or jambalaya.
Ask Murl
Dear Murl,
I want to host a beer tasting. Can you give me any tips on how to make it a successful event?
Joe Maiz
Trenton, NJ.
Yo Joe!
Your main task in hosting a beer tasting is making it a fun and educational evening. Well…at least fun! You'll want to make it an event that people will remember, so put some thought into these simple rules of thumb as you plan your soirée:
1. Obviously, your guest list should include only people who really enjoy beer, but consider mixing it up a bit between those that might consider themselves connoisseurs of hand-crafted beers to those that lean more towards whatever is discounted most heavily at the local watering bowl. Enlightenment is a beautiful thang to behold.
2. Keep in mind that you need to be a responsible host. This is not an occasion to dust off your college beer bong, and quarters mixed with your sampling glasses tend to only confuse the palate. All you really need to get an ample taste of a beer is 2-3 ounces, which will allow your guests to try numerous styles without being featured on COPS
3. Food should play an important role in any beer tasting. Unsalted crackers, plain popcorn, and water are key to helping cleanse the palette... rawhide works well with the pack I run with. Consider asking your guests to bring over foods that complement the styles of beer you plan to taste. Check out Candy Schermerhorn's Great American Beer Cookbook.
4. Serve the beers at their optimal recommended serving temperatures: Lagers around 42 degrees, ales at 50, and stouts and porters at approximately 55 degrees.
5. Be sure and have enough clean glassware and/or bowls. You may want to have 2 or 3 styles evaluated next to each other so it's best to have at least 3 glasses per guest. You can have them rinse between rounds.
6. As the host, you'll need to be in charge of placing the beers in the order that they should be sampled - generally speaking lighter to darker styles is best. Facilitate discussion amongst your guests as to their observations of the beers sampled.
With these things in mind, your party should be a tremendous success. Just do me a favor and give me at least a week notice so I can line up the French poodle twins next door and book a flight.
Woof!
Murl.
Food For Thought...
Thai Beef Salad
Spicy Beef
- 1 pound top sirloin, sliced thinly against the grain
- ½ Cup Peninsula Porter
- 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 1T dark soy sauce
- 1t dark sesame oil
- ¼ C Canola oil
Chili Oil Dressing
- 1/3 C Canola oil
- 3 ground hot Thai chilies (or 2t Thai red curry paste)
- 6 Szechwan peppercorns
- 2T Sesame seeds
- 2T Peninsula Porter
- 1 ½ t dark sesame oil
- 1t Sugar
Salad
- 1 bunch spinach, cleaned, stemmed, and torn
- 1 bunch red-leaf lettuce, cleaned, stemmed and torn
- 1 carrot, julienned and tossed in 1t fresh lime juice
- 1 bunch green onions, sliced thinly and tops cut into 2-inch lengths
- 1 can baby corn, drained and patted dry
- 1 small can water chestnuts, drained and sliced
- 1 small can straw mushrooms, drained
- ½ small bunch cilantro, leaves only
- ¼ C peanuts or almond slivers, toasted
In a bowl, stir the beef, Peninsula Porter, garlic, soy sauce, and sesame oil and let stand for 45 minutes. In a wok, heat 1/4 C of canola oil on medium-high. Drain the meat and stir-fry in three small batches just until cooked. Remove and set aside.
Prepare the chili oil dressing by heating 1/3 C of canola oil over medium heat. Remove wok from heat and stir in ground chilies or curry paste, Szechwan peppercorns, and sesame seeds, stirring for 1 minute. Allow to cool completely. Add soy sauce, Peninsula Porter, sesame oil, and sugar to the cooled chili oil. Toss meat into this mixture and allow to stand while you prepare the greens.
Arrange spinach and red-leaf lettuce on individual plates or a platter. Toss carrots and slivered green onions together and sprinkle over arranged greens. Drain the meat and reserve the chili oil dressing. Place the meat on the greens and arrange corn, water chestnuts, and mushrooms on top. Garnish with cilantro and toasted nuts. Pour remaining chili oil dressing over the salad.
Source: The Great American Beer Cookbook, Candy Schermerhorn, Brewers Publications.
Norm's Corner...
As spoken by Cheers' Norm
Coach: How's a beer sound, Normie?
Norm: I dunno. I usually finish them before they get a word
in.
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