Beer Talk by Art of the Table
September 13, 2010
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The stereotypes for beer drinkers have quickly become dissolved. Craft beer has turned even the foodiest of foodies into beer lovers. And while PBR, Schlitz and all the other lawn mower beers have their place, beer is no longer viewed as just cold in a cozy while watching the Sunday game.
Actually, it's kind of funny how classic American beer came to be so diluted. Before prohibition there were many more craft beer makers around, even the names we are so familiar with today were making much more full bodied and flavorful beers than they are today and beer was very good. When alcohol became illegal in 1919, recipes and barrel after barrel of beer was destroyed. Brewing in America had to be redefined. The problem was, redefining American beer happened at a time of economic crisis. Acquiring ingredients was very hard. Many brewers turned to rice, and used far less hops to produce affordable beer with low overhead. Hence, American lager as we know it today.
The craft beer movement that started in the late 1970s allowed us to change how we perceive beer. While most American microbreweries brew Britain style ales, Belgian, French and the influence of Germany and the Czech Republic have helped American craft beer makers to expand on already classic tastes and create something uniquely North American.
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What We've Seen So Far
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American microbreweries always have mainstays. Mainstays are beers that they consistently brew, bottle and pour on tap. I know I can go to Founders any day of the week, any time of the year and have a Centennial IPA. Mainstays can be brown ales, pale ales, stouts/porters, red ales, maybe some form of lager/pilsner and most always an IPA. Shorts Brewing Co up in Bellaire, MI is notorious for creating interesting, out of the box style beers. But, you can always find Bellaire Brown, Pandemonium Pale Ale, Huma Lupa Licious and Soft Parade by the bottle here year round. Some of these styles of beers were considered wild and "unheard of" even just 15 years ago. Now, we are shocked when we walk into a brewery and they don't have what we consider to be "normal".
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Where We Are Going
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| The question isn't what makes craft beer so good, I feel we all have our reasons for that. What the question is, what is the next trend we'll see? American brewers have put an interesting stamp on Belgian beers lately, and Michigan's own Jolly Pumpkin's Oro de Calabaza has won prestigious awards over actual Belgian beers in a blind tasting. 
Saisons of all kinds of styles are becoming popular for breweries to master as well. Most recently, Bourbon barrel aged beers are all the rage.
Goose Island's Bourbon County Stout and the New Holland Brewery Dragon's Milk are prime examples of this style. Collaboration ales between two brew-masters from separate breweries is something we are seeing a lot more of as of late as well.
But what is next? What more can be done? Imperial IPAs, insane mouth destroying stouts, Barleywines and modern takes on Belgian classics is great, but we need more, don't we...Rumor has it breweries on the west coast, particularly California, are buying up old barrels used for aging wine, and we are going to start seeing barrel aged beer in wine barrels soon. French Oak Chardonnay Double IPA anyone? I think so. Or what about a Syrah barrel aged Belgian Dubbel style? It could get really interesting and I for one am excited to see what happens. You can bet when it does, we'll be stocking some in our humble little cooler. (FYI, Russian River Brewing Co has already released wine barrel aged beer, but we can't get it in MI yet...we'll let you know when we can get something in.)
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A Beer Dinner?
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| Just chomping at the bit a little here, but we were wondering if we were to throw a beer dinner, what Michigan brewery would you like us to team up with for it? Arcadia, Short's, Saugatuck??? Let us know if this is interesting to you, and get back with us...
...your feedback means a lot to us.
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