Counter Culture

• Beer is quickly growing in popularity. There are increasing tap handles to choose from and some smaller restaurants are featuring beer menus. Many wine bars will carry some very upscale and sophisticated beers. If you are not a beer geek how do you figure out one type of beer from another?
  
  What to do

1-Ask questions. The bartender will have some knowledge of the beers that they are serving. A smart bartender or server will have taken the time to taste the beer.

2-Tell the server or bartender what kinds of beers you like. If you know you like dark sweet beers the server will be able to suggest alternatives.


3-Feel free to ask for a sample of what is on tap. It’s ok to find out for yourself if the beer is really something you will like. Unfortunately this doesn’t apply to bottled beers.

4-Tip well. If the bartender is willing to increase your dining and drinking pleasure by helping you out with your beer selection then return the favor.

What not to do

1-Don’t stick with a pedestrian beer. If you have an opportunity to try something different, go for it.

2-Don’t wear heavy colognes or wear colognes heavily. This changes your ability to evaluate your beer. It also changes everyone else’s.


3-Don’t gag or make faces if the beer is not to your liking. If you find the beer offensive then politely say so. Be able to express what it is that you don’t care for without the drama and ask for another suggestion.

4-Don’t be stingy. Tip well.

Picture is Vino's at Roseville. I was not able to find out who took it.

'09 Iron Liver Tour

You’ve heard about it. You’ve read about it.
Now is your chance to be there!

Don’t miss Gold Country’s Annual Pub Crawl Jan 17th 9 am-9 pm

Every year Gold Country Brewers Association puts beer judges, home brewers, and beer geeks on a cushy air-conditioned bus for a twelve-hour beer tour.

Everyone receives a goody bag.
Beers from all over Northern California are poured for guests on the bus while on their way to other breweries. Each beer is introduced with informative wit.
Arrangements are made to meet with four different brewers.

Each brewer takes time to talk about his/herself.
The brewer offers samples of beer. Sometimes it will be beer not available to the Sacramento area. Sometimes it is beer the brewer has not released.

The brewer personally escorts you to tour the brewery
This is your opportunity to have a one on one with the brewer, the brewery, and the beer. Get your picture taken get the brewer’s autograph, what ever you like. It’s your time.
Please patronize each brewery by purchasing memorabilia to take home and generously tipping the wait staff.

Lunch is included and the host brewer rotates to different tables to sit and answer questions.

Between brewery stops there are raffles prizes from the brewery or other supporting breweries.
Other home brewers bring along their beer to be sampled on the bus as well.

At the last brewery stop, time is taken to have dinner. After the tour and the Q&A with the brewer it’s a good time to relax and enjoy the area, the company, and the beer.

By the end of the day you have had the chance to sample beers from many different breweries and so much beer.

Every year the brewers surprise us. While we make every effort to coordinate as much as possible we leave it up to the brewers to come up with surprises for us.

On the way home there will be time to relax and enjoy a movie on the bus.
Feel free to enjoy more beer at the brewer pick up and drop off spot.

Bus departs sharply at 9 am from the Sacramento Brewing Company at 2713 El Paseo Ln Sacramento and returns at 9 pm.

Space is limited
Tickets are $65.00 and sold on a first come first serve basis.

Tickets are available at:
General Meetings of the Gold Country Brewers.
See site for meeting details. www.goldcountrybrewers.org

and
Folsom Brewmeister. www.folsombrewmeister.com
Or call 916 985-7299

Black Beer Demystified

There is a common conception that dark beers are “heavy” and more alcoholic.

To help the average consumer appreciate the difference between a Premium Lager such as a Miller Genuine Draft or Michelob and a dark lager such as a Sapporo Black, or any dunkel style, I will start with a statistical comparison. Then I will discuss the similarities and the differences.


Premium Lager
O.G. 1.046-56
F.G. 1.008-12
ABV% 4.7-6.0
IBU 15-25
SRM 2-6

Schwarz bier
O.G. 1.046-52
F.G. 1.010-16
ABV% 4.4-5.4
IBU 22-32
SRM 17>

O.G (original gravity) this refers to the amount of sugar available to the yeast to be converted. It is measured by using a hydrometer. It a similar to measuring specific gravity.

F.G (final gravity) this tells us how much of the sugar has been converted. The difference in O.G and F.G determines the amount of alcohol in a beer. It also tells us how much residual sugar is available in the beer.

Residual sugar can give the feeling of fullness of “heaviness”. In the case of these two beers, the percentage of attenuation is high. Beers attenuated below 1015 –1010 fall below the threshold of perceiving sweetness in flavor. These two beers are very well attenuated.
Granted brewers are not going to post or label beers with O.G and F.G. This information is for the purpose helping to appreciate the similarities of the beer

ABV (alcohol by volume) The biggest similarity lies in the alcohol. Both beers are pretty close. In fact a black lager can have a lower amount of alcohol than a Premium Lager.

IBU (international bittering units) this is an indication of how bitter a beer is. Bittering beer is necessary to balance the sweet malted barley used to make beer. Bittering comes from hops, which also adds to the aroma and flavor profile of a beer. Pilsners can be bitterer than a black lager.

SRM (standard reference method) this is a scale used to determine color in beer. A Light lager can be as pale as a 2-3. An Oktoberfest can be 7-14. An SRM of 17 would put a beer at a similar color as a Michelob Dark. Colors darker than that would be similar to a porter or a stout.

Here is the kicker. The amountof kilned and roasted malt used to make the difference in color is less than 4 percent of the recipe! Kilned and roasted malts of this color provide very little in the way of alcohol content or carbohydrates. It requires a small amount of kilned and roasted barley to make a difference in color, flavor and aroma that are enjoyed in these styles of beer.

Take your next opportunity to try a black lager or a dark lager. You can have the knowledge that you are drinking a beer that is the same or less volume of alcohol as some of the average beers. You also know that it is not a heavier in calories that the other beers; it may actually be lighter. While others are drinking a pale beer you can enjoy the variety of appearance, aroma, and flavor that a dark lager has to offer.

The next time you hear the comment “ Dark beers are heavy” or “Dark beers are too alcoholic” you will be empowered with the facts and help to demystify dark beer and help others to enjoy dark lagers for what they have to offer; great taste, less filling.


It is interesting to note that studies have shown that the darker the roast on the barley the more anti-oxidant properties it contains. The following is a link to the National Center for Biotechnology Information and contains an abstract on the subject. It is one of several that can be found. This one is in English.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16190672

Eel River Brewing Co. teamed up with Soil Born Farms for the 8th Annual Summer Equinox Festival.

Eel River Brewing Co. is iconic in the industry of brewing organic beer. The owners are sensitive to the community of people and the surrounding environment. Owner Ted Vivston maintains the history of Clay Brown Redwood Lumbar Mill in Fortuna Ca.
Ooh good idea, save the forest; brew beer!

Eel River Brewing Co. doesn’t do any thing quietly. It’s a good thing to promote the fact that responsible beer making can also mean great beer making. After two years ERB began to receive awards at the Great American Beer Festival. The beers were so popular that they quickly grew out of the old lumber mill and needed a new home. They move into another mill that had taken a downturn. This provided a mutual arrangement between the brewery and the mill.

Brewing bigger in this case did not mean a larger carbon footprint. Just the opposite. The new brewery which is also located a vacant lumber mill in Scotia is the first bio mass powered brewery in the US. This means leftover products or scraps of the mill produce all the energy used to brew the beer. Locals can bring over their lawn clippings and know it will be used to brew beer. How cool is that?

Recently Eel River can to Sacramento to support a grass roots project. (No pun intended).
Soil Born Farms is a certified organic farming project, which connects people with the earth and the food grown in the local farms. Soil Born farms recently grew itself. It now produces on a historic farm area in Rancho Cordova off the American River. The farms provide educational opportunities and an opportunity for underpriveledged to reconnect with the earth and learn how to be self-sustaining. It also provides volunteer opportunities to farm and educate.
Produce from the farms is Certified California Organic Farmers. This is one of 13 organic certifiers in the State of California.

The 8th annual Summer Equinox Festival was held outdoors at the Hurley farm just off Jonas Salk School. Bales of hay provided seating areas for most. Tents provided areas for restaurants that use organic produce in the menu. The tents were decorated with the harvest theme. Typically line chefs or wait staff are the ones seen at such events. Chefs were on hand to serve up their best organic dishes. Rick Mahan, Patrick Mulvany, Ame Harrington, and Molly Hawks to name a few. It was a great opportunity to meet them in person. The music was eclectic yet familiar. The day was mild and sunny. A perfect harvest backdrop. Small gardens throughout the farm created intimate areas for families with children to play.

Eel River Brewing Co and Soil Born Farms made a great connection with participants who gathered together that evening. What could be better than knowing that both are contributing to the sustentation of our enjoyment. and the environment.

For more information about Soil Born Farms visit http://www.soilborn.org/