Travel by the Pint: the Blog

Season 2, Episode 7

In part two of our interview with Ted Rice at Marble Brewery, we learn more about their IPA’s, and how customers can enjoy Marble’s products at home. Afterward we take flight with Rainbow Ryders.

Marble Brewery
111 Marble NW
Albuquerque, New Mexico
87102

Rainbow Ryders, Inc.
(800) 725-2477

Anderson-Abruzzo Albuquerque International Balloon Museum
9201 Balloon Museum Dr NE

Albuquerque, New Mexico
87113
(505) 880-0500

Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta
October 2-10, 2010

Albuquerque Convention & Visitors Bureau
20 First Plaza NW Suite 601
Albuquerque, New Mexico
87102
(800) 284-2282

Special Appearance by:
Dave Engbers and Mike Stevens, Vice-President/Director of Marketing and President Founders Brewing Company

Is nothing sacred? Due to large numbers of people being injured by pint glasses, the British government is looking at plastic or possibly a plastic-coated option to prevent shattering, says the BBC. Lowering the Bar has more information along with some fun statistics of other things that seem to injure a lot of Brits. For instance, citing The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, “Almost 1000 cases [of injury] are recorded under the category ‘Cardigan sweater’.”

I’ll wear a plastic cardigan if I can keep my glass pint.

The Boston Globe’s Big Picture has a great gallery of photos from Oktoberfest in Munich which began on September 19th.

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

Launch ad campaigns, not missiles! North Korea has launched a new ad campaign for their locally brewed Taedonggang beer. The BBC has an article about it here, although I’m having trouble getting the video to play here. Maybe you’ll have better luck.

How I’d love to have a bottle of this for the ol’ collection. I’ve been to South Korea — where Taedonggang is sometimes available — but don’t recall ever seeing it. Hite seemed to be the most popular brand. Fairly mild but quite drinkable and very welcome alongside a slab of kalbi.

Kalbi cooked at the table in Daegu, South Korea (bottle of Hite at top center)

We’ve decided to get our hands dirty. If we truly want to better understand beer, we can’t just talk to people who make it — we need to make it ourselves. Thus, yesterday afternoon, we set up our homebrewing station and put the first batch in the fermenter.

We decided to start small and went with a kit we purchased from Homebrewers Outpost & Mail Order Company. Nothing flashy, just a simple blonde ale. Our thinking is to start with a kit or two to get the basics down and build some confidence. Then, we’ll slowly build on our skills, moving toward brewing from scratch and being able to predict and influence the end product through different ingredients and techniques. But for now… we just need to know how to brew beer.

Down the road, we have big plans. Suffice it to say for now that we’re going to be planting five varieties of hops this Spring. We don’t expect a useable crop until next year at the earliest so we’ll get the basics down while we wait for the vines to mature.

We’ll post progress updates on this blog — successes and failures — so stay tuned.

Niki Brown posted an interesting assortment of beer packaging on her Design O’Blog.

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