BN Army Blog

Post Session Commentary 8-22-10: Cigars & Beer

Moscow — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 19:01:58 EDT

The Session: 08-22-10 - Brian Berman and Pete Johnson on Cigars and Beer

Recap:

Justin is still fighting a lung infection, just in time for the cigars & beer pairing show. He hasn't seen a doctor in years, and he's not about to start now.

We introduce Cigar Rights of America's Brian Berman, and talk parallels between fine cigars and craft beer.

Sully from the 21st Amendment calls to check in.

We get Pete Johnson of Tatuaje Cigars on the line from Miami. We talk about the origins of his company, and Pete's introduction to the cigar world. He tells us how his cigars are made, where his tobaccos come from, and how involved he is in the production process. We go over how nicely his Red Label cigars paired with Fiddler's Elbow English Pale.

Rights and freedoms are discussed, and Brian tells us how CRA works to defend them. We further explore pairings, first by going over the celebration beers and cigars chosen by Cigar Snob magazine, then going into the pairings enjoyed by the brewcasters before the start of the show. We then take an extended break to experience our final pairing.

Brian tells us how to properly store and age cigars. We answer cigar related listener questions.

We wrap up our discussion on pairings. We go over our tasting notes, the similarities and differences of our experiences, and our impressions as relative cigar newbies.

Trish from Danville wins DOTW.

Video Commentary

Pics:

Smokin Beevo

Creepy Jipper

Nate, smoking

Brian Berman inspecting J's humidor:

J drinking and smoking, like a maauuun...

Beevo gettin up in J's business

Moscow producing, or something

Cigar show crew

Post Session Commentary 8-15-10: Tasting Beer

Moscow — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 00:37:52 EDT

The Session: 08-15-10 - Nicole Erny and Ray Daniels on Cicerone and tasting beer

Recap:

Justin starts off by discussing his new gold tooth, courtesy of Doc. He has concluded that he is slowly turning into a chick, because he can't get enough Jersey Shore. He also likes the new Eminem song that features Rhianna.

Shat does his announcements.

We get Ray Daniels on the line from Chicago. We discuss the Cicerone program: the syllabus, what it takes to get certified, and the goals of the program. Ray goes over what an exam day is like. Nicole tells us how she studied for her exam.

We talk beer tasting with Nicole. It turns out she got an 87 on her Cicerone exam, so we pay close attention to what she has to say. She talks about the palette's evolution as one gets older, and how it becomes more accustomed to fermented products as time passes.

We go over palette calibration, how to know your weaknesses and strengths, and how to be on the same page as the people around you. Nicole talks about sensory perception, and how a beer's taste can trigger personal memories, and how one should pay close attention to what a beer's taste stirs up in your mind.

We taste two listener homebrews. Then we play Can the 'Casters Guess the Brew? JP takes it down. Justin announces that Raymond Girard is the winner of the More Beer Donation giveaway, and Steve from Lake Forest, CA. wins DOTW.

The Meltdown Ensues.

Post-Show Video:

Studio Images:

Southern California Homebrewers Festival Video

Brewcaster J — Tue, 25 May 2010 19:34:06 EDT

The 2010 Southern California Homebrewers Festival was held at Lake Casitas California on April 30th and May 1st this year and The Brewing Network had the privilege of attending. It was a rockin' fest and we hope to attend again next year. Good people, great beer, and tons of fun. Special thanks goes out to the California Homebrewers Association for hosting us and to the Temecula Valley Homebrewers Club for hooking us up with a place to crash.

Here is a montage of video interviews taken throughout the day by our man on the street, Scott "Moscow" Moskowitz:

Celebrator 22nd Anniversary Bash @ Trumer Brauerei

Brewcaster J — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 19:27:03 EST

Celebrator Beer News held their 22nd Anniversary Bash this past Sunday back at Trumer Brauerei in Berkeley, CA. It was great to be back in a brewery setting for the event and rub elbows one last time with all the folks we ran into all throughout SF Beer Week. The only problem with being back in the brewery was the noise created by partying in a small warehouse space. For that reason, we were unable to conduct our normal live radio show this year. Instead we opted for video interviews, which are available below.

Here you'll find a few of the interviews we did with SF Beer Week organizers and some festival goers too. Enjoy and can't wait to see you at SFBW 2011!

Celebrator 2010 SFBW Wrapup from Justin Crossley on Vimeo.

Here also are some still photos taken throughout the evening by our very own Jason "Jipper" Petros:

Brian Hunt from Moonlight: 600 Words About Beer Styles

Brian Hunt — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 17:09:46 EST

Bear with me for a few minutes and imagine a different beer world … just a slight twist of plant genetic fate away from what we take for granted today…

Suppose barley had been native to the North America instead of the Middle East. Without barley, beer could not have existed in Europe; it would instead have been brewed in the Americas. Columbus would have sailed back to Europe with barley seeds and news of beer as a revolutionary new beverage, a welcome change from cider, wine and mead. It would be Columbus that European breweries would pay homage to, not Gambrinus.

Moving on a few years, enter a gifted writer named Michael Jackson. He chronicled the existing beers of the world in his books. The bitters of Burton, Kolsch of Cologne, Pilsners of Pilsen, Rauch beers of Bamberg, sours of the Senne Valley, Porters of London, and more. But if barley hadn’t been in Europe before Columbus, these styles could never have developed!

Imagine, then, that brewers on the New World continents would have been brewing beer with barley for thousands of years and today wouldn’t merely be copying beer styles from thousands of miles away in Europe. Imagine just in North America how many indigenous beer styles would have developed that would be completely unlike any we know today. Instead, the World Book of Beers would have been written about the delicate beers of Denver, the hoppy ales of Seattle, Steam beers of San Francisco, roasted beers of New York, herbed beers of Ann Arbor, wheat beers of Kansas, Spruce beers of Alaska, sour cherry beers of the Columbia River Valley, Rye beers of Fargo, and on and on.

Indigenous American beer styles! What a concept! Somewhere in Belgium today, a brewer would be scouring his books for clues as to what made the famous soft beers of Florida, and trying to re-create them. A brewer in Munich would be fretting about having the wrong water to make a Yakima Freshhop. A brewer in Prague would be trying to find that native phenolic yeast culture for that Pennsylvania beer he loved on his vacation over here. It could so easily have been reversed like this.

Look at San Francisco sourdough bread. It only works near San Francisco because of the weather and the wild organisms in the air. Fifty miles away and the dough won’t work the same. What beer styles such as Lambic must be made in one certain place on the planet, and how many of those places and beers are hiding right under our noses-waiting for us to discover them? How can we deny them to thirsty beer drinkers?

A beer style develops for so many reasons. The climate, food, native ingredients, wild cultures, water supplies, taxes, and commerce routes, all play a part. Here in the States, we have all those things in our own unique combinations. What beer style would have developed for the San Diego heat, Houston humidity, or with a Philly Cheese Steak? What would native herbs taste like instead of those in traditional gruit? What wild cultures are in the air in Missouri or Northern California? What is the ideal style of beer made with glacier runoff in Montana or from Amazon water in Rio de Janiero?

All these factors are still relevant today, we just have chosen not to appreciate that they are just as valid forces as why the Alt Beer in Dusseldorf is so wonderful. Maybe if we used our imagination, science, and palate, we could come up with the new old styles that could have been brewed here for centuries. We are a few thousand years behind Europe, but that need not keep us from exploring our options.

I trust that Michael Jackson would have done his part.