In Carolina Forest, a big glass of Leinenkugel's Sunset Wheat

A cold and rainy Saturday afternoon does not tend to inspire the drinking of summery wheat beers, but after a morning's work I went to Buffalo Wild Wings in Carolina Forest (between Myrtle Beach and Conway, S.C.) and realized that the only thing on tap that I hadn't tried, or at least wasn't sure I had tried, was Leinenkugel's Sunset Wheat. The Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Co., based in Wisconsin, has made some small distribution forays into the Grand Strand.

I have this problem lately - I'll think about ordering a regular pint and then hear words like "the 23-ounce, please" coming out of my mouth. The barkeep brought an extra tall glass of glowing gold.

The weird thing about Leinie's Sunset Wheat - or, more likely, the weird thing about me - was the undeniable taste of blueberries that continued through the last ounce. Can taste buds hallucinate? Later, I read through the Leinekugel Web site's description of the beer a few times, and never saw the word "blueberry" in it.

So I'm crazy. But by the time I got to the bottom of the glass, I had associated the taste in my mouth with the blue tap handle and made the assumption that blueberry juice was added to the outstanding wheat beer.

The bill was $4.34. I can deal with that price for 23 ounces of a Leinie.

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Hysterical Red Stripe beer commerical

Sign of the Times

I don't know where this came from, because I received it from a forwarded email, but it sums up our times, no?

Give Michelob a chance

I'm continuing to reevaluate my beer-snobbery.

I had basically written off the big domestics in favor of microbrews and imports, until twice recently I dined at Chuck's Steakhouse, 9695 Kings Highway on Restaurant Row in Myrtle Beach.

My wife and I always love the food at Chuck's, but the steakhouse has only one beer on tap, Michelob Lager, plus a tap for the beer substitute Michelob Ultra. (They also have a selection of bottled beers.)

But Chuck's knows how to make the most of that Michelob, offering a big, frosty, 28-ounce goblet for $5.50.

On both of my recent visits, the goblet was perfectly frosted.

I thought the Michelob had interesting hop characteristics, followed by a pleasant dryness.

It was not the blandness I had come to expect from big domestics. Michelob had something going on. It paired well with steak. I finished the goblet smiling.

Later, I went to the Michelob Web site, which claimed that their lager is made with European hops and "a 100-percent-malt blend." Meaning: no rice, no corn, just barley malt. What a difference.

Bud Light Lime poll results

Results from the Malty Hops poll question: Will you try Bud Light Lime?

50 percent said they would try it

50 percent said they would not

Personally, I think it's good for a light beer; the lime flavor is quite close to the real thing.

Check out our new poll at the top left of the blog: What beer does Barak Obama drink?

Wise words from Magic Hat's hI.P.A.

I opened a bottle of Magic Hat's hI.P.A. -- delightfully, if heavily, hopped -- and found this under the bottle cap:

Don't pour
Sap
on your
Lap

Steel Reserve 211: The blue collar, working man's high-gravity union-made lager

Shop Amazon - Thanksgiving Dinner and Desserts - Prepare the Perfect Feast Miller Brewing Co. so badly wants every-day, unpretentious people to drink Steel Reserve 211 high-gravity lager, it comes in masculine silver cans with tough typography. The "UNION MADE" notification even seems a bit larger than it appears on other beers. See, this high-gravity beer ain't for sissies with British accents -- get it? It's a real man's beer, none of this handcrafted, black-turtleneck stuff.

But wait -- they're not taking the beer snob for granted. The can (I'm holding an empty 24-ounce size) also says "EXTRA MALTED BARLEY & SELECT HOPS FOR EXTRA GRAVITY" and "SLOW BREWED...." What's more, the parent company, Miller Brewing, appears nowhere on the can, as if the marketing and packaging geniuses wanted to leave room for me to believe that it might just be brewed by a ballsy microbrewery or an gutsy small company. Well, it worked. I had hoped.

And now, the meaning of the 211. It's the medieval symbol for steel.

How elemental.

The taste of this beer is well-balanced and targeted at mainstream drinkers, the kinds of folks who like Bud and Coors and MGD but might be persuaded by the 6-percent rating to try something stronger than normal. (I didn't know we called anything above 5 percent "high-gravity;" I mean, with most high-gravity beers in the 7-10 percent range, Steel Reserve 211 only counts as a high-gravity beer in the very technical sense of the definition.) The marketing and packaging folks are eager to boast about the beer with all the strong, manly writing all over the can, but the taste is determined not to offend. Ergo, it is a bit bland, if well-balanced and accessible.

That being said, members of BeerAdvocate.com gave it low scores.

I think it's a cool thing, however, to see a high-gravity beer in cans. I drank a 24-ouncer ($1.33), and I've also seen 12-packs ($7.20). Maybe Steel Reserve 211, backed by Miller Brewing Co., will start a new trend of high-gravity canned brews.

cheers,
Colin Foote Burch

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Target Daily Deals - Save Over 30% on Men's C9 Watch Assortment

Horn Dog!

Flying Dog's Horn Dog Barley Wine Style Ale is as gorgeous at Penelope Cruz, strong as Jean Claud Van Damme, and quick as Jet Li.

I'll be writing about it in the Weekly Surge soon. Stay tuned.

Land Shark Lager in the outfield

BB&T Coastal Field, home of the Myrtle Beach (S.C.) Pelicans baseball club, has the only outfield seating section in the Carolina League, and it's about to be up-fitted, Jimmy Buffett-style.

The section will become "Land Shark Landing," themed after the Margaritaville Brewing Co.'s Land Shark Lager. The parent company is Anheuser-Busch.

"Land Shark Landing" is scheduled to be ready for the Myrtle Beach Pelican's home opener on April 11, said Jon Laaser, the ball club's director of broadcasting and communications.

"Land Shark Landing" - definitely has a ring to it - will be a partnership between the Pelicans and Better Brands, Inc., a beer wholesaler in Myrtle Beach that will also be co-sponsor of Thirsty Thursdays - the nights for beer specials - for the 2008 season.

Although I'm more inclined to think about Chevy Chase as the original land shark from the classic Saturday Night Live skits, the real inspiration behind "Land Shark Lager" was Buffett's song "Fins." Remember that one? "You got fins to the left / Fins to the right / You're the only bait in town."

Like I've said before, Land Shark Lager, which tastes similar to Corona Extra, and would go fairly well with a cheeseburger that has lettuce and tomato, Heinz 57 and French-fried potatoes.

A pint of Harp at P.J. Moran's Restaurant in NYC

My wife and I recently stopped in at P.J. Moran's Restaurant at 3 East 48th Street in New York City.

I had a pint of Harp with the traditional Irish breakfast which I got for lunch; the pint cost me $7.50.

That's a little more expensive than a pint of Harp here in South Carolina.

There's a scallop in my beer

In Great Britain, a brewer has produced a beer using scallops. I thought I had heard it all.

The Shepherd Neame brewery's Scallop Stout is like Guinness, and made with traditional methods, except a handful of scallops are thrown in for an hour, according to the Web site Metro.co.uk.

"There's a hint of smokiness and a slight taste of the sea but no fishiness. I can find no scientific reason for why it works, but it does," brewer Stewart Main told the Web site.

Shepherd Neame, based in Kent, is planning to release a crab beer and a winkle beer, too.


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Magic Hat releases Pandora's Box

It looks like opening Pandora's Box is a pretty cool thing.

Pandora's Box, coming soon to a grocer or beer store near you, is a special package from Magic Hat Brewing Company in Burlington, Vermont.

Distributors should soon have the Pandora's Box Spring Variety 12-Pak in markets that already carry Magic Hat.

The theme of the box is totally Sixties: Day-Glo colors, dove's foot peace symbols, and the proclamation "Make Beer Not War." Everything about it screams youth and rock-and-roll.

Inside are three bottles each of the following brews, each of which I was allowed an advanced tasting:

#9, the "not quite pale ale." With the funky flower-child package of Pandora's Box, it's hard not to hear "Love Potion No. Nine" in the background. This remains a favorite. The not-quite-pale-ale factor reminds me of a Bass, but Magic Hat's brew wizards have added some subtle, unspecified flavorings, too. Try it, you won't regret it.


h I.P.A., a "highly hopped" India pale ale. This one definitely lives up to its name - the hops linger in your mouth with a peppery staying power, but it's not crazy hopped like some of the Dogfish Head offerings.


Circus Boy, "The Hefeweizen." I thought this was smoother and slightly heavier in body than most hefeweizens, but still crisp and good for warmer weather. Dang it, I had no lemon for my tasting of this one.


Odd Notion, an Irish-style red ale. This is a red ale that tastes red, almost with a cherry undercurrent. This is one of the sweeter, lighter, and more unique experiences I've had with a red ale. Much better than Killian's!

-From my column in Weekly Surge; see www.weeklysurge.com/beer.html


(For news about a.d.d, a.d.h.d., and neurofeedback, click here.)

Premature fermentation? Spring ales hit too soon

I walked into Food Lion on the Martin Luther King Junior holiday weekend and my general disgust at the free-market's exploitation of the seasons hit a new high.

There, in the beer cooler, was Blue Moon's Rising Moon Spring Ale - six bottles for $7.29.

I was standing there with my Kangol toboggan on, with my two-year-old snuggled up against me for warmth. We haven't even taken the Christmas tree down yet. Back at the house, ice covered the fish pond out our back door.

And I was looking at a spring seasonal.

This just didn't seem right, but then again, it's never seemed right to find Halloween goodies in the drug stores beginning on something like July 5.

I thought a good way to contrast this early spring - premature fermentation? - would be to contact our local brewers.

It turns out they don't have any spring brews on tap yet - imagine that - and in a sense, they will eventually have two spring seasons - first Saint Patrick's Day, then the later spring.

"That's early!" said head brewer Eric Lamb of Liberty Steakhouse and Brewery at Broadway at the Beach, when I told him about Rising Moon. He added that he doesn't even start worrying about spring until after Saint Patrick's Day.

Lamb said he will put out the Oatmeal Stout sometime between late January and mid February. In March, he'll have the Irish Red on tap, around the Saint Patty's holiday. Although he's considering a change-up in his beer menu - which we'll talk about in the weeks to come - the Golden Ale is usually a good choice for late spring.

Over at Myrtle Beach's New South Brewing Co., which supplies beer to numerous Grand Strand bars and restaurants, owner Dave Epstein was talking about his plan for area T-Bonz restaurants, for which he brews signature beers. He'll run the current Winterfest until just about mid-March, then he'll put out an Irish Stout a week before Saint Patty's Day. Then the Blonde Bombshell will appear probably in late spring at T-Bonz locations.

As for New South's own label, the White Ale started out as a spring and summer brew, and but now it's year-round, so Epstein won't have a spring seasonal per se.

Josh Quigley, owner of Quigley's Pint & Plate in Pawleys Island, said he'll tap a stout around St. Patty's Day, and the spring boch from last year, Billy Boch, will return around mid-March.

Back at New South, Epstein was saying that we might start seeing Samuel Adams get its spring seasonal on the shelves. Ol' Sam usually starts pretty early, he said.

For the record, I have not tried Rising Moon, and Blue Moon's regular white ale and its winter brew are both fine beers. So maybe we're all getting an early shot at something good.

But come on. We haven't even survived the onslaught of Valentine's Day marketing.

-from my column in the Weekly Surge. Visit http://www.weeklysurge.com/beer.html to see more.

Key beer ingredient is good for you, German researchers say

Preliminary studies indicate xanthohumol, a compound found in hops, inhibits a family of enzymes which trigger cancer, as well as help the body detoxify carcinogens.

"It's very healthy," said Dr. Werner Back, a brewing technology expert at the Technical University of Munich. "I think the ingredients in the beer are very good."

Xanthohumol contains more powerful antioxidants than vitamin E and some studies indicate it helps reduce oxidation of bad cholesterol.

"Xanthohumol has been shown to be a very active substance against cancer," said Dr. Markus Herrmann, also of Munich. "It comes in small sticky beads, which you find within the hops."

But, don't start chugging down those beers just yet.

Researchers warn that it would take 60 regular beers to equal the amount of xanthohumol they were able to brew in one beer.

That's why scientists are now working on ways to give all beers higher levels of xanthohumol, and even find ways to add it to other foods, like chocolate.

From FoxNews.com, http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,322571,00.html.

How German Beer Came to the Carolinas: A True Story

This is a great story that I was lucky enough to report for my column in this week's Weekly Surge.

IMPORTING A TASTE OF DEUTSCHLAND

By Colin Burch
For Weekly Surge
When Werner Hoppe helped build the Georgetown Steel Mill in 1969, the crates of equipment from Germany often held a special reminder of home. The good-hearted workers in Germany stashed German wine or beer into the shipment, he said.

But then, one day, the United States government did what it does best. It stole the joy of Hoppe and other Germans working on the mill. Customs agents discovered that alcohol was arriving in the equipment crates, and said, in so many words, "You can't do that."

So Werner Hoppe went down to the customs office and found out about the procedures for importing alcohol into the U.S. Soon, the native of Cologne, Germany, decided to set up his own import business in Georgetown.

W.H. Company started with German wine, and eventually added beers including Bitburger Pils, Maisel's Weisse, and more, even some English brews. He continued working with the Georgetown steel mill until 1975, when he went into the import business full-time.

His son, Andy Hoppe, a tennis coach at Carolina Forest High School and Georgetown native, said it took some effort on his father's part to get the company off the ground. "It was a lot of hard work at first, trying to learn how alcohol is bought and sold in this country," he said.

But Werner Hoppe figured it out. He got his own warehouse in Georgetown and trucks for distribution. He had distributors up and down the East coast, Andy Hoppe said. When the orders for German imports became big enough, the exporters were able to deliver directly to the distributors, so the warehouse and the trucks were no longer necessary. Werner Hoppe was able to run the import business from his home.

Werner Hoppe has scaled back his operations in recent years. He stopped carrying wine 15 years ago. More recently, he returned the rights to sell Bitburger to the brewery back in Germany. In a technical sense, he still oversees Bitburger's import into North Carolina, but he is no longer involved with the marketing.

Today, W.H. Company imports only Maisel's Weisse in two varieties, the original which includes yeast, and the filtered version called Kristallklar, which was hailed by the late beer expert Michael Jackson as one of the best beers in the world. And W.H. Company only brings Maisel's Weisse into two states, working with Southern Wine and Spirits in South Carolina, and two distributors in North Carolina: Highland Distribution Co. and Mutual Distribution Co., said Andy Hoppe.

So if you drink Maisel's Weisse in the Carolinas, thank Werner Hoppe.

Still speaking with a strong German accent, he scaled back his import operation because he wanted to do other things at this stage in his life. He recently wrote a book, "Justice Comes After Death," which is available at Horst Gasthaus in North Myrtle Beach and River Room in Georgetown, where the purchase of the book comes with a free Maisel's Weisse glass. The book is also available at My Sister's Books in Pawleys Island, at which a book-signing is tentatively scheduled for January 15.

Despite his new endeavors, Werner Hoppe didn't sound like he wants to stop with the two Maisel's Weisse brews. He said a Maisel's Weisse sister brewery has a lager that he'll probably add to his imports.

Andy Hoppe said he'll eventually take over the business.

I asked him what he and his father think about the big American domestic beers. "We tend to avoid those whenever possible," he said with a laugh.

HAPPY NEW BEER

I'm taking a couple of weeks off. Let's keep all the Surge readers out of the slammer - don't drive after you've been drinking, and have a Happy New Year.

- Contact Colin Burch - the Beerman - at beerpour@yahoo.com.

Making the leap into home brewing

Commencing home-brewing in Myrtle Beach, S.C., with the help of Beach HomeBrew, and with hopes of 53 bottles of beer at the cost of 57 cents each....

Click here to read about it.


What I got:

Basically what the pieces look like:

Beer news from the Myrtle Beach, SC, area

Magic Hat #9 has arrived in the Myrtle Beach area, but it won't be the easiest beer to find. Read about it here:

http://www.weeklysurge.com/2007Archives/102507%20archives/beer102507.html

Meanwhile, Dave Epstein at New South Brewing Co. in Myrtle Beach, S.C., says he's having a "banner year." Read about it here:

http://www.weeklysurge.com/2007Archives/110107%20archives/beer110107.html

Santa Fe Pale Ale 'close second' to Sierra Nevada

I was recently in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and ate at the Catamount Bar & Grille, where I ordered a pint of Santa Fe Pale Ale.

Santa Fe Pale Ale reminded me of Sierra Nevada and Bass -- I loved it.

I'm not alone in my opinion. At a dinner party in Albuquerque the next day, I talked with a fellow who lives in Santa Fe. He said Sierra Nevada is his favorite beer, but Santa Fe Pale Ale is a "close second."

Sante Fe Brewing Company is the oldest microbrewery in New Mexico.

I also tried the microbrewery's Santa Fe Nut Brown. It was good, with the smoothness and malty sweetness I expect from nut brown ales, but not the depth and variety in the flavor profile that I had hoped for. Still, a good, solid nut brown.

Man stole two truckloads of beer

From the Toronto Star:

A Vaughan man has been charged in connection with the theft of two truck trailers of beer last month.

More than 100,000 cans and bottles of beer were taken Sept. 19 from Moosehead brewery's shipping partner on Dixie Rd near Hwy. 401 in Mississauga. The estimated retail value of the stolen beer was about $200,000, police said.

"Two were stolen from Mississauga and two were from Brampton," said Peel Region Const. J.P. Valade. "All of them contained different types of beer."

Police traced the stolen beer to a Rowntree Dairy Rd. warehouse, near Pine Valley Dr. and Hwy. 7, where they recovered 1,100 cases, some of it from earlier thefts.

Pullara Calogero, 59, is charged with two counts of possession of stolen property relating to the Mississauga thefts. Police are looking for other suspects. Anyone with information is asked to call police at 905-453-2121 ext. 3313 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

Foster's ad: fat trucker, Slovenian blondes

"FOSTER'S GROUP has created the unlikely partnership of a bevy of Slovenian blondes and a fat Aussie truckie to star in a blockbuster ad for its market-leading brand in the booming low-carbohydrate beer category," reports Australia's Sydney Morning Herald.

"Three years after quietly launching Pure Blonde, the company last night twisted the cap off a $3 million ad campaign marketing the beer as the purest drop to be found."

Read the article, and see a pic, at:
http://www.smh.com.au/news/business/fosters-adds-touch-of-fantasy-to-lite-beer/2007/10/05/1191091362619.html