Humor: What a Beer Says About Its Drinker

As we are getting closer to the weekend, I was looking for something a bit lighthearted, and I came across this humorous, yet pretty accurate list.  While it did not originate there, the link came to me by way of the DC-Beer mailing list.

The '9 Types of Beers and What They Tell You about Their Drinkers' list comes from Guyism.com (a prototypical male webzine).  Take a read through the list and the next time you are in a bar, see if these 9 stereotypes hold true.  (Click on the link above to see the full article - I've only reprinted the first line or two here).

1. Home Brews - It's not hard to spot a home brewer, their taste in beer is typically the most varied and eclectic (weird) of all drinkers; they'll be the guys not so much talking about their beer as dissecting it...
2. Premium Imports (Ex: Orval, Gulden Draak, Hobgoblin) - These guys are closely related to the previous type of drinkers.  They care about the style, taste, mouth-feel, history, and other aspects of beer that no one holding a Keystone ever thought about...
3. Actual Microbrew/Craft Beer (Ex: Stone, Dogfish Head, Deschutes) - These drinkers are all about the burgeoning American craft beer scene...Granted they may spend a little too much time concerned with beer, but it's not like they have a problem.  Seriously...
4. Ubiquitous Imports (Ex: Stella Artois, Newcastel, Heineken) - These drinkers tend to care more about beer than your average Bud/Miller/Coors person, but are perhaps more concerned with panache over actual taste...
5. Not-So-Microbrews (Ex: New Belgium, Sam Adams) - These drinkers are riding the new wave of widely available craft beers ...They likely moved to this type of brew because it's easier to tell one beer from another...
6. Big American Beers (Ex: Bud, Miller, Coors) - There's definately something very friendly and agreeable about this group of good old-fashiuned American beer drinkers, even if American companies own none of ther favorite beers anymore...
7. Cheapest Thing Ever (Ex. Natural Ice, Keystone) - Typically you don't encounter these people at bars because if the whole point is saving money, then you're much better off back at the frat house...
8. Hipster Beers (Ex. PBR, Schlitz) - More than any other type of beer, the labels are of greater imprtance to the drinker than their contents or effects, which should tell you everything you need to know about them...
9. Abominations (Ex. Budweiser Chelada) - What can you say about people who's urge to put tomato juice in beer is so strong that they buy it pre-mixed from the gas station? 

Something tells me that our readers fall into categories 1,2,3, and 5.  However, let us know if we're wrong or if you have any stories about the folks in the other five categories.

Slainte!

-JW


 "Put it back in the horse!"
-H. Allen Smith, after he drank his first American beer.

Homebrewing Art - Beer Labels

For some of us, homebrewing offers many outlets that allow creative expression to shine through.  There is the culinary art of crafting a great beer at home to make your taste buds smile.  There is the analytical art of designing a recipe to meet parameters of a particular style (such as the BJCP style guidelines).  But the creative muse doesn't stop just at the beer itself.  Logos, labels, and beer names offer creative options only limited by the imagination.

Over the past decade, there has been enough interest in homebrew beer labels that Brew Your Own (BYO) Magazine hosts an annual contest for the artwork that adorns homebrewed beer.  This year, the 2010 competition (entry deadline: May 1st, 2010) marks the 15th year of that contest.  The contest attracts hundreds of entries and commercial sponsorship from BYO's advertisers.  Pictures of past winning labels can be found here:  2009, 2008, and 2007.

But these contests are not just limited to BYO, as other smaller competitions are hosted by local fairs, homebrewing clubs, and even breweries themselves.  A sample of other homebrewing label contests include:

• San Mateo County Fair
• Alameda County Fair
• Kentucky State Fair
• The Schooner Homebrew Championship
• Squatters Pub Brewery

The creativity of the label designers is boundless.  When looking through collections of labels, it quickly becomes apparent that the "best" labels can come from any medium, not just those with created by expensive computer graphic programs.  Some of the best examples can be communicated to audiences through pencil sketches and drawings.

With all that being said, Jeff and I here at Lug Wrench Brewing love a good laugh as it appeals to our sophomoric senses of humor.  So in keeping with that theme, here is a selection of some of our favorites homebrew beer labels:

Cranky Wife Tonic - Ryan Lockard


 

Holy Habanero Hot Pepper Pale Ale - Michael Thompson


 

Cross Czech - David Levesque


 

Hopzilla's Revenge - Stiller


 

Old Master Belgian Dubbel - Sean McCauley


 

Trail Rash Ale - Papa Homebrew


 

Baby Got Bock - Katie Kregal

For those interested in entering the 2010 BYO label contest, more information can be found here.

Cheers,

TW

Blurring The Line Between Beer And Wine

It seems that the end of the year and beginning anew always sparks the insipient trend of “Top <fill in the blank> of the Year” lists. Some are quite enjoyable to read (Time’s Best Inventions, Metacritic’s Top Video Games), while others just give me with a puzzled expression (Top Moments Caught On Google Maps).

One list that crossed my browser got me thinking about different perceptions people have of beer. The particular list, Wine Enthusiast’s Top 25 Beer Selections of 2009 (reprinted below), demonstrates an example of how particular drinkers look for particular traits. Here we have a wine magazine - who just started covering beer in 2009 - ranking their impression of the best brewed offerings of 2009.  When you read through the list, ask yourself what characteristics wine drinkers look for when evaluating their beverages? Do any of these wine traits translate into how they perceive a "good" beer? I think you'll find that many of them do.

Wine Enthusiast’s Top 25 Beer Selections of 2009

1. Captain Lawrence Brewing Co.’s Rosso e Marrone (American Wild Ale; 10.0% abv)
2. Unibroue’s Maudite (Belgian Dark Strong; 8.0% abv)
3. The Bruery’s Orchard White (Witbier; 5.7% abv)
4. Avery Brewing Co.’s The Maharaja (Double IPA; 10.3% abv)
5. Southern Tier Brewing Co.’s Imperial Pumking (Pumpkin Ale; 9.0% abv)
6. Basserie de Rochefort’s Trappistes Rochefort 8 (Belgian Dark Strong; 9.2% abv)
7. Great Lakes Brewing Co.’s Eliot Ness Lager (Vienna Lager; 6.2% abv)
8. The Lost Abbey’s Cuvee de Tomme (Belgian Dark Strong; 11.0% abv)
9. Nogne-O/Jolly Pumpkin/Stone Brewing’s Special Holiday Ale (Winter Warmer; 8.5% abv)
10. Russian River Brewing Co.’s Beatification (American Wild Ale; 5.8% abv)
11. Brasserie de Blaugies’s Le Moneuse Saison (Saison; 8.0% abv)
12. The Lost Abbey’s Duck-Duck-Gooze (American Wild Ale; 7.0% abv)
13. Brouwerij St. Bernardus’s St. Bernardus Wit (Witbier; 5.5% abv)
14. Deschutes Brewery’s Jubelale (Winter Warmer; 6.7% abv)
15. Stone Brewing Co.’s Vertical Epic 09.09.09 (Belgian Dark Strong; 8.9% abv)
16. Allagash Brewing Co.’s White (Witbier; 5.2% abv)
17. Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ale’s Bam Biere Farhouse Ale (Saison; 4.5% abv)
18. The Boston Beer Co.’s Samuel Adams Boston Lager (Vienna Lager; 4.7% abv)
19. Brasserier Caracole’s Nostradamus (Belgian Dark Strong; 9.0% abv)
20. Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.’s Summerfest (Czech Pilsener; 5.0% abv)
21. Smuttynose Brewing Co.’s Pumpkin Ale (Pumpkin Ale; 6.0% abv)
22. Left Hand Brewing Co.’s Oktoberfest Marzen Lager (Marzen; 6.0% abv)
23. Dogfish Head Craft Brewery’s Festina Peche (Berliner Weisse; 4.5% abv)
24. Birrifico Del Ducato’s Nuova Mattina (Saison; 5.8% abv)
25. Victory Brewing Co.’s Festbier (Marzen; 5.6% abv)

So what stands out in this list? More than 50% of the entries are Belgian-style beers (Dark Strongs, Sour Ales, Saisons, Wits). Much of the character and complexity you might find in these Belgian-style beers (higher gravity, layering of flavors, dark fruit notes, tartness, etc) are the same characteristics desired in certain popular wine styles.  But its not just limited to complexity from 'Belgian' character - many of WE's selections go through processes that parallel wine making processes: barrel aging, blending, vintage tastings, special reserve releases, etc.  One could even get away with calling some of the above beers 'hybrids' between the beer and wine worlds.  These practices are by no means novel - many of them have been alive and thriving in today's craft beer scene.  But of those beers presented above, the list is almost over-populated with these styles as compared many of the other 'Best of...' lists out there (as an example, only 20% of the WE selections are what the general public would consider “classic” examples – all of them being lagers).

So is there anything wrong with the Wine Enthusiast list? Of course not – I’d be more than happy to be drinking any of the beers listed above. But it made me more conscious of the parallels between flavors, processes, and products of the beer world and the wine world.

As a small anecdote, it has been my experience that these hybrid-type beers are typically the best ‘gateway’ beers for turning wine-drinking friends onto beer. Last year, I was fortunate enough to be in Cleveland for Cleveland Beer Week with a co-worker of mine. The co-worker was pretty much an exclusive wine drinker, but she agreed to humor me by tagging along for a few beer dinners. The dinner that completely changed her perspective of beer was a Jolly Pumpkin beer dinner hosted at Michael Symon’s Lolita Restaurant (Symon of the Iron Chef fame). The complexity and range of flavors in Ron Jeffries’s Belgian-inspired beers were a real eye-opener and changed her perception of beer from just “fizzy and yellow” to “Wow, that’s beer?!?”.  I knew it was a success when she wanted to hit a bottle shop the next day to pick up those she particularly enjoyed.

What do you think? Have you taken any inspiration from the wine world in how you perceive beer?  Are there any selections that didn't make the list that exhibit a wonderful example of the beer/wine hybrid?  We'd love to hear about it.

Slainte!

-JW


“Wine gentrifies, beer unifies.”
-W. Scott Griffith