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My 2 Cents
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My 2 Cents
May 19 2004
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Spring Is Over (What A Pity) | 
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It is a sad time of year, the end of Spring. No more Saint Arnold Spring Bock. This is all the more devastating because the last local producer of year-round
top-shelf bock beer has closed their doors. No the Spoetzl Brewery is still in business, I am referring to the much morned demise in the Fall of 2003 of the Brenham Brewery, of Brenham, Texas which produced a good bock beer (their Schwarzbier or Black Lager beer was much better, but we'll save that for
another post). This disasterous turn of events followed closely on the heals of what was probably the most tramatic occurence, the Saxer Brewing Company of Lake Oswego, Oregon, deciding
that their brief foray into the Texas market was misguided. As a result, their outstanding bock and dark bock beers are no longer available in the Lone Star State.
O.K., you might think I'm just left to crying in my (Shiner Bock) beer, but
fortunately I have German bocks to fall back on. As long as the Spaten-Franziskaner-Bräu and Paulaner Brauerei
continue to produce their world-class dopplebocks, I can always slake my big bock beer cravings with an Optimator or Salvator.
Posted by hkkaspar at 10:22PM
Feb 15 2004
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Spring is Just around the Corner |
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I know that the weather outside is cold and dreary, but there are signs, for those who know how to look for them, that spring is just around the corner. No, I'm not talking about the prediction of Punxsutawney Phil on Feb 2nd, which forecasts 6 more weeks of winter. I'm talking about the appearance of the 2004 Spring Bock ales at my preferred local malt beverage provider, Spec's
Liquor.
Spring is my favorite season of the year - it's the season of bock beers. Around the end of February each year, the Paulaner brewery in
Munich signals the beginning of the spring season when they tap their world famous Salvator Doppelbock (7.5% ABV). Salvator is the original dopplebock and was brewed to provide sustenance to the monks through their Lenten fast. According to the Paulaner
web site, Salvator was the first Starkbier (strong beer) that the Paulaner monks made. They brewed it each year on the day of death of their founder, Franz von Paula, on the 2nd of April. It served as a substitute for food at Lent. Its original recipe is
today almost the same as it was then. Originally this beer was called "Sankt-Vaters-Bier" (Holy Fathers beer) or "des heiligen Franz öl" (Saint Francis's oil). However, in the vernacular it is known as Salvator and was patented in Berlin in 1896
under this name.
Although there is some disagreement among beer experts, the German town of Einbeck is credited with originating the bock beer style. According to legend, bock beer was introduced to Bavaria in the 1600's when the Duke of Brunswick married a Bavarian noble
woman, and served several casks of Einbeck bock at the wedding celebration.
Bock is my favorite lager beer style. The dominant characteristic of the style is malt, and do I love malt.
Ahhhhhhhh! Spring is (almost) here.
Posted by hkkaspar at 5:40PM
Sep 23 2003
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How the War Affected My Beer Drinking Choices (The Boycott Is Over) |
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Well, the time has come for us to let bygones be bygones.
I am ending my boycott of German and Belgian brewed beers, initiated during Operation Iraqi Freedom. The reasons for this decision are many, but I will outline just a few of them here.
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Forgiving those who wrong us is a basic part of the Christian faith.
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Belgian and German breweries probably have as much influence on their national leaders as you and I have with ours.
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Today the UN Security Council voted unanimously to accept the US proposed resolution aimed at attracting more troops and money to help stabilize Iraq and speed its independence.
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I love Belgian and German beers, and I have gone as long as I can without them (I desperately need an authentic abbey ale or dopplebock fix right now).
Posted by hkkaspar at 10:00PM
Jul 5 2003
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How the War Affected My Beer Drinking Choices (Drinking Your Conscience - Revisited) |
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OK, so the war with Iraq is over. How long are we going to keep the heat on Germany, France, and Belgium for their position on the war? Well I don't know about you, but I STILL have a sour taste in my mouth over the lack of support that the
US received from some of their NATO allies for Gulf War II. But I am trying to not be bitter about it, so I'm going to try to just get on with my life.
Lately, I have been focusing on enjoying the summer, and the beer styles that are more
appropriate to the season and the heat; i.e., pale ales and amber ales. Some of the beers I have been savoring this summer include Liberty Ale brewed by the Anchor Brewing Company, Bass
Pale Ale brewed by Coors Brewers UK (Interbrew), and a locally brewed amber ale, Saint Arnold Amber from the Saint Arnold Brewing
Company in Houston, Texas. I am also looking forward to sampling a case or two of Pale Ale from the Sierra Nevada Brewing Company in Chico, California before the summer is
through.
You may have noticed that all of the beers that I am drinking this summer are brewed in the USA or Great Britain. What a coincidence!
Posted by hkkaspar at 9:35PM
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My 2 Cents (continued)
May 16 2003
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How the War Affected My Beer Drinking Choices (Drinking Your Conscience) |
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Let's say you have socio-political leanings similar to those I expresses in my last post, how do you balance drinking your beer conscience with satisfying your craving for just the right balance of hops and malt of a good double-bock or abbey ale, while
not providing monetary support for the Belgian and German economies which offered support and solace for the evil dictator Saddam?
Well, there are many good sources of quality German and Belgian style ales outside the European continent that can
provide a solution to your moral problem. Among these are the Unibroue Brewery of Chambly, Qu‚bec, the Saxer Brewing
Company of Lake Oswego, Oregon, and the Brewery Ommegang of Cooperstown, New York. The Unibroue and Ommegang breweries produce some of the best Belgian style ales available
outside of Belgium, and the Saxer Brewing Company's bock and double bock beers rank among the best the Bavarian breweries have to offer.
So if you are feeling like a great Belgian or German style beer, why not drink American or Canadian, you'll be
glad you did.
Posted by hkkaspar at 10:27PM
May 10 2003
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How the War Affected My Beer Drinking Choices (Revisited) |
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Well, Operation Iraqi Freedom is over, but I still cannot bring myself to order a beer brewed in Belgium or Germany. As I mentioned in the last post on this subject, I love many of the beer styles that originated in those two countries, but I feel
that the only way I have to express my displeasure at their failure to back the U.S. led coalition in their fight to remove Saddam from power is to boycott their products.
If you feel the same sense of betrayal that I do toward the Belgian and
German stance on the war, join me in my "Drink American/English/Australian Beer" campaign.
Posted by hkkaspar at 4:26PM
Apr 2 2003
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How the War Affected My Beer Drinking Choices |
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The New Belgium Brewery in Fort Collins, Colorado, has released their Spring special release beer, Biere de Mars Ale, and since I was looking for something to feed my growing Belgian beer jones
(more about that later) I picked up a case this evening. I have not been buying German or Belgian beers since those countries decided to oppose the war against Saddam in the UN Security Council. And I must admit it has been difficult to boycott the beers
that I love so much, Belgian Abbey ales and Tripples, German Oktoberfests, Bocks, Doppelbocks, Schwarz-biers and Hefeweissens, but I feel it's my patriotic duty to do so. As a result, I have been seeking out US microbrewed beers in those beer
styles.
Posted by hkkaspar at 8:18PM
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