Travel by the Pint: the Blog

Book review by Sally M. Snell:

A Pint of Plain
Tradition, Change, and the Fate of the Irish Pub
by Bill Barich

Author Bill Barich takes us on a journey through the Irish countryside in search of the perfect pint of Guinness in a classic village pub as epitomized in the John Ford movie The Quiet Man. Along the way, Barich interweaves the history of brewing in Ireland pre-dating the Norman invasions, and discusses the influences of law and society that created the classic early 20th century pub.

Two themes reappear throughout: drink and drive laws are effectively removing authentic pubs from rural Ireland; while at the same time Diageo-Guinness USA’s Irish Pub Concept is proliferating a facsimile of an authentic pub to an international consumer market.

The government of Ireland has been increasing their intolerance to drink driving, to the point that it is virtually impossible to have a single pint and legally drive home. In rural areas, this effectively shrinks a potential customer base from miles to minutes away.

Barich’s disdain of the Irish Pub Concept is clear. The for-profit model essentially sells the concept of an Irish pub in kit form, from the menu to the name. As a business, this has found global popularity worldwide, resulting in Irish pubs from Amsterdam to Guam. Their very popularity seems to offend Barich to his core.

What Barich doesn’t seem to understand, or chooses to ignore, is that the pub experience is as much about the individual customer as it is the owner, building and décor. His quest to find a classic pub was doomed from the start, because Ireland and its people have changed: There are more opportunities, both in careers and entertainment. It’s no less offensive that pubs of 2009 differ from their 1909 predecessors, than its offensive that the pubs of 1909 are nearly unrecognizable from the tavern equivalents of the 12th century. I suspect that if Barich had been a dockworker trading rounds after his shift a hundred years ago, that he would have been too busy mourning the loss of a favorite pub ritual, to appreciate what was in front of him. Beyond the pint of Guinness, that is.

Barich also seems to be under the impression that patrons of the Irish Pub Concept become patrons out of a misguided belief that are experiencing a true Irish pub. When I travel, I am often drawn to Irish pubs. I do this not because of the décor, or the music, or because I think I will soak up a wee bit of the old country. Rather, Irish pubs are often a reasonable substitute to microbreweries and brewpubs. I can assume that they will offer at least a few imports in bottles or on tap, so I won’t be stuck with the accessible menu of Buds and Millers that eclipse most bars and restaurant menus. And I can also reasonably assume that the food will be more than burgers and fries.

By the end of the book, the quest for the perfect pub and pint seems to exhaust Barich, and he actually loses his taste for beer.

I understand completely. I savored the book’s opening chapters, but as I neared the end, I was ready to be done.

— Sally M. Snell, Travel by the Pint

Another bottle from Browning’s, a restaurant/brewpub located in Louisville, Kentucky, that is no longer in business. We found this bottle at a Louisville Liquor Barn if you want to see if you can still find a bottle on the shelves. Our thoughts:

SALLY: This IPA pours a cloudy caramel color with a ferocious cream lingering head and plenty of lacing. Highly hopped in scent and opening flavor notes, but with a pleasant malty balance toward the end. The flavor notes are complex without being distracting, and has a rich mouthfeel. This ale would certainly do well paired with a red meat dish, complementing the flavors without overpowering them. Unfortunately, I understand the restaurant that brewed this is no longer in business.

MICHAEL: A little cloudy, dark amber to caramel in color with a very aggressive, cream-colored head. Fruity, citrusy aroma and a bold, hoppy flavor. Citrus there, as well — slightly grapefruity and a little toasted something — with a pleasantly bitter finish. Not overdone at all. I’m not always a bitter beer person but this amount of hoppyness seems to hit the mark very well. Maybe not a lawnmower beer for me but very drinkable with some depth of flavor.

Sally’s rating: 8.5
Michael’s rating: 7.5
Ratings are 1 to 10 with 10 being the highest

It appears that Browning’s, a restaurant/brewpub located in Louisville, Kentucky, has closed. We found this bottle at a Louisville Liquor Barn if you want to see if you can still find a bottle on the shelves. Our thoughts:

SALLY: I bought this bottle on a summer ’08 trip through central Kentucky. Between then and now, the brewery closed. Too bad. Bourbon notes really come through strong in this brew, which is aged in white oak barrels. The description on the bottle describes notes of espresso and chocolate. Mmmm… definitely the espresso. If it’s chocolate its baker’s dark chocolate. There is very little sweet about the flavor. Rustic is more like it. Little light penetrates this dark beer, which boasts an extra thick, extra creamy malty head. If I have this again, which I guess is impossible, I’d definitely try pairing it with a bleu cheese steakburger with a side of cottage fries and Texas toast.

MICHAEL: I’ve enjoyed other bourbon barrel-aged beers from Kentucky before so I was anxious to give this one a shot. It’s pretty dark with some red highlights and a very aggressive tan head. A really thick froth that created a mountain landscape over the rim of my glass. The aroma really gives away the bourbon and oak but the flavor fell apart for me a bit. There’s a nice medium-bodied mouthfeel and the initial flavor is slightly sweet. Then a syrupy sweetness kicks in and a metallic tang (Funny — I just read what Sally said about there being very little sweetness. Maybe the bottle settled so we got different pours?). I don’t taste a lot of alcohol but I assume it’s a fairly high content. Maybe the tanginess masks it. I’m a little disappointed but my hopes were high given that I’ve enjoyed bourbon beers in the past. I think Kentucky Ale’s is maybe my favorite. This one isn’t bad, I just don’t care for the metal tang toward the end. It actually gets better further down the glass. Maybe the alcohol content is higher than I expected…

Sally’s rating: 6
Michael’s rating: 4.5
Ratings are 1 to 10 with 10 being the highest

Anchor Brewing Company,San Francisco,California, has been brewing these special Christmas ales since 1975 with a unique (and secret) recipe and a different tree on the label each year. You can view all of the previous labels on their web site and commemorative holiday pint glasses are available as well. We bought a magnum of the 2008 ale for our own holiday celebration this year. Here’s what we thought:

SALLY: Each year the recipe for the Christmas Ale differs a bit from the year before. We tested the 2008 in a magnum bottle. The color was a deep reddish brown with a thick taupe head with excellent and lasting lacing. I was expecting a richer mouthfeel, but while it didn’t quite have the legs I expected, it was nicely moderate with excellent spice notes at the front, and smooth, clean end notes. Slightly dry. It was slightly reminiscent of the spices in gluwein: allspice and mace.

MICHAEL: Rich, dark brown with red highlights and a tan head that leaves plenty of lacing. An earthy smell of molasses and chocolate. Nice medium-thick mouthfeel and a hint of malty sweetness followed by a lingering touch of spices. Chocolate is there in the flavor, too. The finish is fairly dry but not bitter. Overall a very pleasant companion on a winter’s night. Good thing, too, ’cause the bottle is freakin’ huge.

Sally’s rating: 8
Michael’s rating: 8
Ratings are 1 to 10 with 10 being the highest

Brewed by Ridgeway Brewing, Oxfordshire, England and imported by Shelton Brothers. A note on the label assures us that Santa’s “Butt” refers to a “certain barrel used in brewing — a very large barrel, in fact, holding 108 imperial gallons”. So there you go. As if there were any other explanation. It’s a 6% ABV Winter Porter that we sampled on Christmas Eve 2008. Our thoughts:

SALLY: This porter is as dark and rich as a char-broiled steak cooked to perfection. The head is a creamy off-white with decent but not overly exuberant lacing. The mouth feel is rich with subtle notes of nutmeg and other seasonal spices. It falls a little more on the malty side than I generally go for in a brew, but it is certainly a great choice for a cold winter night. I recommend pairing this with a steaming bowl of chili, and because of that excellent pairing, my rating is a tad higher than it might be on another day.

MICHAEL: Pours a cola-like color with very little head. A malty aroma with hints of coffee. It tastes a little thin and borders on being watery. The carbonation is mild — almost like a nitrogenized beer. Chocolate and some smokey aspects to the flavor. Not as rich as I tend to expect from a porter. Kind of what no-name colas are to Coke or Pepsi, this beer is to a true porter. I seem to keep coming back to that cola reference as there is something that reminds me of a grocery store brand cola in a 2-liter plastic bottle. I guess you’re buying Santa’s Butt for the name and the novelty and, as a novelty, it could be far worse. In fact, I’ll put this just above the average line but (no pun intended) given the name I have to say I was expecting it to fall far below. Not something you’d drink year ’round — but then who would order a Santa’s Butt in July? As a once a year conversation piece, it won’t make you suffer. Not bad… just not great.

Sally’s rating: 7.5
Michael’s rating: 5.5
Ratings are 1 to 10 with 10 being the highest

My friend and fellow travel photographer, Chad Case, told me about iBeer months ago before I even had an iPhone. It’s an application that runs on the phone as well as the iPod Touch and fills the device with a lifelike image of beer that you can “drink” by tipping the corner to your mouth. It’s best explained with video. Check out the clip in this review by 148apps.com. Evidently, the folks that made iBeer are now in court with Molson Coors, suing for over $12 million due to a similar app called iPint that the brewing giant developed to promote their Carling brand.

Now that I finally have an iPhone myself, I decided to check out what other (possibly more useful?) beer-related apps are available from the iTunes App Store. Here’s what I have turned up so far. I haven’t loaded any of these yet so they’re not recommendations, just a list of available offerings. Let me know in the comments if I’ve missed anything or if you have had any experience with these apps.

iBeer — simulated beer for your simulated enjoyment
Beer Pad — an app for recording your tasting notes
Tasting Notes — not limited to beer, this app records tasting notes for wine, whiskey, tea, cigars and coffee as well
BrewMath — “turns your iPod Touch or iPhone into a powerful pocket calculator for brewers”. Unit conversions, mash calculations and much, much more
Beer Hero — database of over 1600 beers with information on pairings and a pub finder
iBeers Pro — over 2700 beers in this database with information on brewery, bottle size, type, alcohol content, etc. See also, iBeers and iBeers Lite
Beer Brands — beer database with pairing info, suggested glasses and serving temperatures, alcohol by volume and more
Aleboards — displays a photo of the current “on-draft” chalkboards from Dogfish Head Alehouses
Beer Counter — um… for counting how many beers you’ve had?
Cold Beer — tells you how long a refrigerator needs to cool down beer in various bottle sizes
Beer Finder — a game that “challenges players to find the missing beer bottles at the bar as fast as they can”
Beer Duel — think shuffleboard only with pints
Beer Pong — multiple versions of this drinking game in digital form

For more information on any of these titles or to purchase them, go to the App Store in iTunes and search on the program’s name. If you don’t have iTunes, you can download it free from Apple.

For our first beer review here on Travel by the Pint, we popped the cork (cap, actually) on a bottle of Santa Fe Brewing Company’s Sangre de Frambuesa. Part of Santa Fe’s “Big Beer” series, it comes in a big 1 pint, 9.3 fl. oz. (750ml) foil-wrapped bottle and contains a whopping 12% alcohol by volume. We picked our bottle up at their brewery on the outskirts of Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Here’s what we thought…

SALLY: This raspberry Belgian ale reminds me of summers as a kid picking raspberries off my grandmother’s canes, and eating them warm swimming in heaps of half and half. Well, it does if one ignores the significant alcohol content. But it doesn’t taste as strong as it is, and the clear red hue and creamy foam head is both attractive and tasty. The complex flavors hit at both opening and finishing notes. This is a one of Santa Fe Brewing Company’s limited edition bottles that celebrate their 20th anniversary. Don’t bother to pair this special occasion beer with food. That will only distract from its quality.

MICHAEL: This is one beautiful beer. Red-copper in color with a slightly rosy head. The aroma is all about raspberries. When I took my first whiff I was immediately craving dark chocolate to pair with this beer. With the first taste I thought there might be too much raspberry — tart with a syrupy tang that sticks to the back of the roof of your mouth. But I couldn’t stop there. Taste number two and I was already adjusting to all that flavor. It’s strong — both in flavor and alcohol content — but it’s not overpowering. Not an every day beer but one great special occasion or dessert beer. As it warms, I get a little more of the alcohol flavor but it’s mostly a warming element. Very nice on a cold night. Makes me think a little of holiday gluhwein. The guys at Santa Fe Brewing did a fantastic job on this one.

Sally’s rating: 9
Michael’s rating: 8.5
Ratings are 1 to 10 with 10 being the highest