What We're Drinking

On Sunday, we decided to take advantage of the gorgeous Seattle summer and take a drive out to the Snoqualmie Brewery and Taproom. It's a great, laid-back place for lunch. Their menu consists of a variety of fresh, tasty sandwiches, as well as some pizzas, and of course, the beer, which is clearly the star of the show. On this lovely afternoon, we sampled two beers from their list:

Black Frog Oatmeal Stout - This is a robust stout. It has a hint of bitterness that is offset by the rich, slightly coffee-y taste that comes from the chocolate malt that they add during brewing. The rolled oats help to smooth out the acidity, making for a rich, rather mellow finish.

The Steamtrain Porter sported a lot of similar characteristics to the Stout (chocolate and coffee flavors from the malts), but with a very different outcome. The Porter didn't finish quite as smooth, and definitely packed a bit more of a punch with its rich bite.

Both are definitely recommended, if you're a dark beer-lover. If you are looking for a pleasant way to spend a lazy Sunday, take a drive out to their Taproom. If you're too busy, fear not - their beers are available at local retailers, so pick up a bottle.

Interview with Jolly Pumpkin Brewery Founder

Last month, we linked to a New York Times article about their recent blind tasting of 20 different Belgian-style beers. The first-place winner was the Jolly Pumpkin Brewery's Oro de Calabaza. Today, annarbor.com posted an interview with Ron Jeffries, the founder and owner of Jolly Pumpkin. Check it out for interesting info on his background and his business philosophy.

Washington Beer Biz Thrives!

It's official - Washingtonians love beer. NWCN.com posted an article yesterday that states that the Washington beer business is kicking ass, despite the struggling economy. The Washington State Liquor Control Board stated that the bar industry is on the rise, with 355 more alcohol licenses than there were 4 years ago.

In an economy that has seen home foreclosures, lay-offs, downsizing and many other businesses struggling, the bar industry is thriving. New bars are opening, brewpubs are expanding, and craft beer is bigger than it ever has been. As we continue to put together our initial investment funds, we are reassured when news like this hits. We know that we can make this venture successful, but seeing that the industry is doing so well in spite of a difficult economy is extremely encouraging.

As entrepreneurs, we are excited not only to build a business in an industry that is doing so well, but to do so in a community that values the product as much as this one does. The Northwest produces some incredible wine and craft beer, and its residents know the good stuff when they find it.

Light Beer Sales Fall

The Wall Street Journal recently posted an interesting article stating that sales of light beer are significantly down. According to Advertising Age, Bud Light is down 5.3% and Miller Light is down 7.5% this year. The marketing teams, in their infinite wisdom, can't seem to figure out why. The article kicks around several possibilities, but I like to think that maybe people are just getting tired of flat, flavorless beer.

I've personally never understood the idea behind light beer. It has no taste. Beers, as a general rule, have a distinct flavor - be it malt, hops, barley, whatever. Except for light beer, which doesn't seem to even try. The writer of this article even went through a blind tasting of several light beers:

Taking notes in my blind tasting I quickly found myself running out of ways to describe vapid nothingness. Natural Light was "flavorless"; Michelob Ultra was simply "bland"; Coors Light was "blah"—though it did have the slightest hint of sweetness, as if an ounce of (bad) ginger ale had been diluted with pint of club soda. Miller Lite had a slightly foamier consistency (the Vortex bottle at work?) but no particular taste that could be discerned through the suds; Bud Light earned the honorific "least awful, but just barely."

If you are not into darker, heavier beers, there are still plenty of ales and lagers out there that have the ability to tingle your taste buds. There is no reason to waste your time and money buying swill when you could just as easily drop your cash on a beer with a little personality (or play it super-cheap and just drink water).

While we have no plans to serve light beer of any kind at the Ankerhaus, rest assured that, no matter what your beer preference is, we will have something available to suite your palate.

7 Breweries to Visit Before You Die

Some easy reading for a lazy Sunday...

The Seattle PI picked up an article from Blogcritics.org yesterday about the 7 breweries that any beer lover should visit in their lifetime. The list was compiled based on the writer's personal beer preference and the historical significance of the breweries.

Are any of your faves on the list?

What We're Drinking

Last week I had the opportunity to try the 2006 Kiona Lemberger as part of WA Wine Report's monthly virtual tasting. Kiona was the first winery in the country to produce Lemberger and has been doing so since 1980. I had never tried a Lemberger prior to this, and I was pleasantly surprised. It's a medium-bodied, easy to drink red wine, that packs a spicy punch at the finish. I was really really into the peppery sensation at the end. It helped to round out the mellow fruitiness of the wind and gave it a bit more complexity. Participants in the tasting were pairing it with anything you can imagine - pasta, pizza, chocolate strawberries - the winemaker even chimed in and said that it even goes well with BBQ. This is a very versatile wine that will complement a variety of dishes, and will offer an interesting alternative to the more standard table wines.

The Judgment of Paris

I just finished a fascinating book, and wanted to pass along the recommendation. It was entitled, Judgment of Paris: California vs. France and the Historic 1976 Paris Tasting That Revolutionized Wine

Some backstory: The event was conceived by a British man named Steven Spurrier. He was living in Paris, where he owned a wine shop and had also opened the Academie du Vin, which taught wine-tasting classes. In 1976, after hearing that interesting work was being done in California and that they were making good wines in the French style, he decided to stage a blind tasting in Paris between Napa Valley wines and classic French wines. To everyone's surprise, the California wines won: the 1973 Stag's Leap Cabernet Sauvignon placed first among the reds, and the 1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay placed first among the whites.

Though it was a small, unassuming event (only one journalist even bothered to cover it), the impact that this had on the wine world at the time was huge - not because the French had been "brought down" (I don't know if you realize this or not, but they do still make wine in France), but because people began realizing that quality wine could be produced in other areas of the world. Prior to this, while wine was made all over the globe, if you wanted to drink or serve a quality, serious wine, you typically went with the French stuff. This event opened the doors to the global wine industry that we know today.

The Judgment of Paris was written by George Taber, who was the Time magazine writer who covered the Paris tasting. This book is fascinating because not only does it describe the event itself, but it gives a detailed (yet never boring) account of the history of wine production in both countries, as well as the wine-making process and the effect that the tasting had on the wine industry. Taber also tells the histories of the winning wineries, and the stories of the principal players in the production of both wines.

I highly recommend this book. It's an interesting read, and gives some fascinating information into the history of wine in France and in the States, as well as the state of the global wine industry. Pick it up, pour a glass of your favorite wine and enjoy.