At the beginning of class, we were given multiple sheets with appropriate descriptors for each of the judging categories, different aspect examples for aroma, appearance, flavor, mouthfeel, and overall impression, and a flavor/aroma wheel in order to learn which words might best describe what it is we’re experiencing in a particular beer.  For example, if you perceive a beer to smell or taste fruity, you need to figure out which fruit it reminds you of (especially if it’s not supposed to have any fruit in it).  Your most common choices are acetaldehyde (green apple), apple, pear, citrus, strawberry, melons, banana, etc.  More uncommon choices are black currant, raspberry, peach, and mango.  You might want to describe whichever fruit you’re experiencing as perfumy, sour, cloying, or even syrupy.  Some other common categories to pull descriptors from include: vegetal (woody, piney, nutty – walnut, almond, etc – coconut, fresh grass), cereal (straw, corn, mealy, malty), maillard (licorice, smoky), sulfury (meaty, vegetable oil, garlic, lightstruck, cooked cabbage/sweet corn/tomato), or stale (papery, leathery, earthy, musty).  There is really no limit to what descriptors you can use, and if the beer you’re judging reminds you of something from your childhood, write it down!  No beer will be judged by the exact same personal criteria, and what you might perceive as bacon, someone else might be perceive as the smell of the plastic swing set they grew up playing on when it sat in the sun for too long.

While flavor and aroma are fairly free in the rules department, there are specific color guidelines that should be referenced when judging appearance.  The head can be a little more difficult, since it really depends on your pour (tip: pour vigorously to ensure a strong starting head that will allow you time to look it over as it dissipates).  Appropriate color descriptions vary across 12 SRM valuations ranging from 2 to 40+ and are grouped together based on what is acceptable for each style.  Options include straw, yellow, gold, amber, deep amber/light copper, copper, deep copper/light brown, brown, dark and very dark brown, black, and opaque.  For judging, there are special additives that may be mixed in a lighter beer to make it appear darker to throw you off (as well as added legitimately during the brewing process to better fit a beer into the style), but I’ll cover that next time.

Then there’s mouthfeel, which is commonly mistaken with flavor and occasionally the two become interchangeable for some people.  What you feel on your tongue and throughout your mouth is NOT what you are tasting.  If something is sour, it is a flavor.  If something is astringent or puckering or cloying, it is mouthfeel.  What you physically feel when your taste buds recognize something sour is mouthfeel.  For me, the biggest issue I have is that some of the words you can use for mouthfeel are also acceptable as descriptors for flavor (something can be cloyingly sweet).  Just make sure you remember to include adjectives you’re not sure about in both areas on a scoresheet.  Also of note, carbonation is not a flavor…it is a mouthfeel.

I’ll save flaws for another week, since they can apply to any beer.

Style 3A –  Vienna Lager.  For the example, we sampled Negra Modelo.  My notes:

• Aroma – Spicy from hops, toasted malts, faint fruitiness (possibly apple or pear)
• Appearance – deep amber to light copper, off-white head, bright clarity
• Flavor – malty sweetness, not as dry as a pilsner, but still soft and clean.  Balanced finish with no overpowering hops or malt.  No caramel flavors, minimal toasted flavors
• Mouthfeel – medium-light body, gentle creaminess, moderate carbonation, smooth

Style 3B – Oktoberfest/Märzen.  For the example, we sampled Spaten Oktoberfest. (Oktoberfests are generally higher in ABV, darker, sweeter, and lower in hop profile than Viennas)  My notes:

• Aroma – rich, sweet, toasty malt, no hops, no fruitiness, no caramel.  Clean lager aroma
• Appearance – deep amber with gold highlights, bright clarity, solid off-white head
• Flavor – much more hop bitterness from the beginning, light carbonation, cardboard ending, a lot of malt
• Mouthfeel – light-medium (and apparently I didn’t think much more about it, because that’s all I wrote)

Style 3B (part 2) – Oktoberfest/Märzen.  For the example, we sampled Paulaner Oktoberfest Märzen.  (We were told that Märzens were traditionally brewed in March in order to be enjoyed in the fall) My notes:

• Aroma – bready, biscuity maltiness, no hop aroma, no fruity esters, completely appropriate for style
• Appearance – gold-amber color, bright clarity, white head with a little bit of lacing
• Flavor – bitter aftertaste, moderate malty sweetness, bready and lightly toasty.  No esters, minimal to no hop flavor, but spiciness is present
• Mouthfeel – medium carbonation, medium body with slight creaminess

Remember when I was complaining about how I have no time to do anything fun for myself?  Or clean my house?  Well, priorities are priorities, and I’ll probably be reassigning them forever, but for now I have beer education, work, and exercise.  And eating, but that’s been knocked down the list in the interest of health.  I’m still eating, just practicing more portion control.  Ok, this is boring, but I have been inspired to go jogging thanks to my super healthy husband (you’ll never take my chicken and pancetta!!), and for the last three days, I’ve managed to hold my own with a 5 mile track along one of the canals here in Arizona.  I shoot for 1 hour and right now I’m managing a solid 13-minute mile.  Honestly, I could care less about how fast I get done with the 5 miles, I just need to say I really enjoy being outside for the hour before sunset and that I feel like I can justify my lifestyle better as I get my health back.  My goal is 150 miles in a month, so I can’t really skip a day, but I like a challenge.  Hence why I’m diving headfirst with my eyes closed (I’m only peeking a little) into this BJCP education.

So as not to stray too far from the general theme of this little blog, class #2 was full of Pilsners! We actually sampled a few brews that I couldn’t photograph the logos of because they were in growlers, but you’re on a computer, I don’t need to tell you what to do.

Style 2A – German Pilsner (Pils).  For the example, we sampled Warsteiner Premium Verum.  My notes:

• Aroma – some sulfur, faint graininess, sweet Pils malt, spicy floral noble hops, fairly clean and crisp
• Appearance – Straw yellow, very pale and brilliantly clear, persistent white head
• Flavor – crisp, dry finish, moderate maltiness, slightly grainy, clean
• Mouthfeel – medium-light body, medium-high carbonation with a bit of a carbonic bite

Style 2B – Bohemian Pilsener.  For the example, we sampled Pilsner Urquell.  Quick fact: Pilsner Urquell was the original pilsner, having been brewed since 1842 in Bohemia (great article here).

• Aroma – rich, complex malt, faint doughy/biscuity sweetness, light buttery notes (diacetyl)
• Appearance – brilliant yellow/pale gold, dense creamy head
• Flavor – rounded bitterness and spizy saaz flavor amongst complex malts, though bitterness doesn’t linger, balanced malt and hop aftertaste
• Mouthfeel – medium bodied, medium carbonation, minimal to no affect from initial diacetyl detection

Style 2C – Classic American Pilsner.  For the example, we sampled New Belgium Blue Paddle.  Apparently there are no classic examples in the “Classic” American Pilsner category, but we were given Blue Paddle as an option for review.  And learning.  Also, many lighter beers can be brewed with adjucts (unless Reinheitsgebot is in effect).  Corn gives beer a distinct grainy sweetness, and rice creates a crisper, more neutral character.

• Aroma – light grainy sweetness with very faint maltiness, moderate hop aroma, no diacetyl, somewhat fruity
• Appearance – clear yellow, light gold, bright clarity
• Flavor – moderate maltiness with little intensity (due to adjuncts), clean, medium bitterness, no coarse or harsh aftertaste
• Mouthfeel – medium body, rich creamy mouthfeel, medium carbonation

We also learned more about filling out a scoresheet and were given good examples (completely filled out, using the adjectives along the side to note what is and is not present, descriptive ability, reasons for score, etc) and bad examples (blank spaces, few words, no details given, no suggestions, etc).  We were given a beer to judge that we all thought was another homebrew, like last time, but which turned out to be Left Hand’s Polestar Pilsner.  I did a much better job filling out the scoresheet this time around, though I did need to reference the BJCP app a few times, and I conferred with some of my neighbors.  Not knowing what I was judging, as is the norm in all judging situations, here are the notes I took and the score I gave for Polestar:

• Aroma – light grainy pils malt character, faint but clean flowery noble hops, no fruity esters, no diacetyl, no sulfur, crisp and dry on the nose (9/12)
• Appearance – clear straw yellow, creamy long-lasting white head, active carbonation, brilliant clarity (3/3)
• Flavor – initial crisp bitterness, medium-dry finish, moderate maltiness with some grainy characteristics, hop bitterness lingers into aftertaste, but doesn’t take away from the cleanliness of the beer, no fruity esters, no diacetyl, no DMS (17/20)
• Mouthfeel – medium body, medium carbonation, smooth and creamy with very light astringency at the end, not slick or watery, somewhat creamy as it warms, no alcohol heat (4/5)
• Overall Impressions – very nice example, lingering hop bitterness was appropriate for style, pleasant overall, aroma, appearance, and mouthfeel were satisfying (8/10)
• Total Score – 41/50

Once we discussed everyone’s scores in class, we were handed a sheet with scores that it was given by master judges from the Zymurgy publication.  I’m happy to report that I managed to fit my score of 41/50 snugly between a few 43/50s and a 40/50.  Being that judging is so temperamental depending on everyone’s individual palates, and that the goal is to score a beer within 7 points of the average score, I’m on a good track right now.

The first class was a quick introduction to the art of judging, how to fill out a beer scoresheet, common phrases and words that are used, learning the difference between mouthfeel and flavor, and how to give improvements in the overall impression.  I haven’t taken notes or studied since I’ve been in school…and it’s been a while, so this is going to require some actual work on my part, which I’m excited about, but also a little overwhelmed by.  Right now with work, I’m swamped.  It’s beer dinner season, everyone wants to do promotional pairings and tastings, there are multiple festivals every weekend, and I still have to do my actual job – which is driving hundreds of miles a week to make sure everyone is happy and the beer is fresh.  Add to that my commitments with leading AZ Girls’ Pint Out, participating with other local beer groups, and trying to avoid eye contact with my increasingly disheveled house (as I look for a new one).  Beer is definitely time-consuming, and I can’t really remember a time when my life wasn’t consumed by beer (oh wait, that was 3 years ago…) AS I’ve been consuming beer.  It feels full, but rewarding – like a good beer?

And if you’re looking for a good beer that is both filling and rewarding, you should probably stay away from Style 1.  Unless you plan on drinking a lot of  it.  Can I just preface this whole educational half of the post by saying that the 3 beers we sampled for Style 1 are 3 beers I have never checked into Untappd?  I’m officially a snob.  Unless I’m shitfaced or high – and both of these are highly unlikely at this point in my life – it is doubtful that I will drink any light lagers willingly.  I’ve just sipped on water even when they were offered to me for free in the past.  Alas, with judging comes, ironically, keeping an open mind and being able to recognize the style.  So I’m retiring my “get the hell outta Dodge, macros!” pants and pulling out my “everyone’s welcome! Yes, even you, macros…” shorts (it’s hot here).

To the point, we united 1A: Lite American Lager, 1B: Standard American Lager, and 1C: Premium American Lager together as just “American Lager.”  For the example, we sampled Pabst Blue Ribbon.  I’m still not positive which category it falls into, as they’re all fairly similar, but I’d guess 1B.  My notes:

• Aroma – sweet, corn, grainy, green apple (estery), no hops
• Appearance – bright straw yellow, clear, white frothy head with little persistence
• Flavor – sweet, corn, no hops, crisp
• Mouthfeel – thin, light, slight carbonic bite

Style 1D – Munich Helles.  For the example, we sampled Weihenstephaner Original.  We were told that it would be wise to learn the difference between Munich Helles, Dortmunder, and Schwarzbier…so if anyone wants to help out with my homework, let me know.  My notes:

• Aroma – grainy sweet, minimal hops
• Appearance – pale gold, clear, creamy white head
• Flavor – grainy sweetness, malty palate (from what I’m told are Pils malts), minimal bitterness in aftertaste, clean
• Mouthfeel – medium body, low carbonation, no astringency, fairly smooth

Style 1E – Dortmunder Export.  For the example we used Dortmunder Original.  This is one style I have never heard of, so I’m obviously off to a fabulous start with this class.  My notes:

• Aroma – sweet and grainy, slight DMS, mild biscuit notes
• Appearance – deep gold, clear with persistent white head
• Flavor – malty sweetness, slightly bitter at finish, smooth
• Mouthfeel – medium body, low carbonation, seems to coat the mouth

We also filled out an official BJCP Beer Scoresheet and were taught how to complete it to the best of our abilities and told what we would need to work on to make it acceptable in official judging situations.  I am aware now that I need to get to know the official color guide and the appropriate descriptors.  While colorful adjectives are encouraged in many aspects of judging, they should be based off of the original descriptor list.  If there is no DMS or off-flavors, it must be written down.  Alternately, if there is off-flavoring, even if it was marked under the Descriptor Definitions section, it must be written down.  The more you have to say about a beer, the more you can make your case for your scoring, and the more your score will be trusted.  And while I can write a lot when it comes to blog posts or telling stories, I need a lot of work when it comes to filling out judging sheets.  Luckily though, when we filled one out for a homebrew as an example, I was within 5 points of what the BJCP judges gave it.  There’s hope for me yet!

Cascade and East Kent golding dry hopped, light caramel backbone with soft bitter overtones that linger, smells of hay.

Currently I’m in the process of house hunting.  Not because I’m going to be moving anytime soon, but I want to be ready when I start looking for keeps.  Right now we live in a condo in a great location, save for the high school across the street, but I don’t want to be here forever and not all my needs are being met.  I have a few specifics in mind as I’m searching through thousands of houses across multiple platforms, and while I’m willing to concede to certain things I dislike in order to make myself seem more flexible, I can’t help but feel like I should follow the sage advice of my younger brother:  If you aren’t 100% in love with it, don’t settle.  You don’t want to regret it. 

Basically, this beer brought up a lot of very specific memories for me, so settle in if you’re planning on reading through to the end.

My younger brother is 21.  He’s engaged to his high school sweetheart.  He’s almost done with his Bachelor’s degree in business administration and accounting from the University of Wisconsin – Oshkosh with a GPA above 3.5.  He’s the refinishing department manager (2nd in command) at our family’s business – an auto body shop that’s been around for over 60 years and counting, and he’s being prepped to take over if our dad ever decides to retire (not likely, considering his dad, the founder of the business, literally worked there until the day before he died).  He owns his 3rd car – a Lexus.  He just bought his first house this past summer and adopted a great dane puppy.  He’s extremely witty and sharp, and knows just when to crack a smart joke or whip out consoling words of wisdom.  He’s everything I could have ever hoped to get from a brother. 

So when I called my brother up to ask him to review one of the houses I was looking at, he asked me what I liked about it.  And what I didn’t like about it.  “Well, I really don’t understand the trend where master bathrooms have the bathtub in the middle of the room, separating the sinks.  Who wants to take a bath in the middle of the bathroom?  Also, the yard is FAKE grass and half the size I expected it to be.”  “Then don’t put an offer on it.  If you don’t like it 100%, don’t settle.  You shouldn’t have to get used to or change something you don’t like AFTER you spend all that money.  You’ll just regret it.”  I went back through my list of pros, cons, and undecideds and applied them to locations I’d like to live someday in the near future. 

I grew up with chores.  What adult today didn’t?  I can’t say I enjoy doing most of them to this day, but I do appreciate them, and some I even miss.  Like mowing the lawn.  Both houses I lived in throughout adolescence were on half an acre or more, and our cottage property was 75% grass, 25% edifice.  I did a lot of mowing.  Push mowers were the bane of my existence, but when I was privileged to drive the riding mower, I grabbed a Cherry Pepsi, popped in my headphones, cranked my CD Walkman to the max, and squealed out of the garage with gusto.  This was a mission; one where none of my siblings would bother me for fear of the chore being passed to them, and one where my parents would leave me be, because at least something was getting done.  I learned to drive when I was 10, maybe younger, but don’t tell my mother.  The warm, sweet smell of freshly cut grass drying in the sun mixed with the subtle whiffs of gasoline, the damp cushion of the clippings sticking to my green bare feet, and the renewed sound of the world after the the deafening roar of the engine died.  I could hear the birds warbling and the wind and the lake flies humming in the treetops.  I sighed and the life around me sighed. 

Things I want for my next house:

• A yard with real grass
• Lots of windows
• 2,000+ Sq Ft
• 3+ bedrooms
• 2.5+ bathrooms
• 2+ car garage
• A large, open kitchen, preferably with a big window behind the sink
• A view
• .25 Acres or more
• A dog

I want to mow the lawn again and sigh with the sounds of the world.  This time with a good beer.

That’s how I know I’m from Wisconsin.

My new personal rules for beer are these:

1.  If you like it, drink it

2.  Try at least one new beer a day/every other day/week (whichever is feasible)

3.  Never stop believing in craft beer

Regardless, I’m trying to reintroduce myself to different beers, and I have a whole closet/cabinet/fridge of alcohol I’ve collected from different parts of the US over the past months that needs to be ingested – seriously can’t stress this enough.  I’m going to try and get through all of them in time, but I’m not worried about documenting them for anyone.  I’ll make a few notes via Untappd if I feel so inspired, but mostly, I’d just really like to get back into photographing what I’m drinking.  Beer is a beautiful thing, and there are infinite angles with which to admire it by; I’d like to do it visually.  That’s pretty much it.  Simple, delicious, and hopefully something I can fit into my hectic schedule.

The first beer I snagged from the depths of my fridge was a collaboration bottle of Cherry Chocolate Stout by Jason Fields & Kevin Sheppard / Tröegs / Stone.

My Untappd notes:  Aged marvelously!  Woody vanilla booziness, slight acidic tartness on the top from the cherries, and a nice soft chocolate finish.

Let’s hope this recent bug of creativity sticks for a while!

For starters, running a Pinterest page for a company is made to seem like it’s sooo much more different than a personal page, when in reality, you just have to be more focused on what your ultimate goal is.  Though I guess that makes the first difference being that you actually have to have a goal.  You have fans and consumers that are interested in your physical product, now you have to get and keep them interested in your visual product  as well, while keeping them entertained by giving them a glimpse of what you, as a company made up of multiple people with many different interests, want to represent…besides your product.  For example, just pinning photos and articles about your brand/product is going to come off as a self-important, bland, and uninspired marketing ploy.  Of course you want to make your Pinboard a visual representation of your company – that’s the whole point!  But you want to do it so that your fans and consumers can relate to you on a personal level, while still maintaining a professional appearance.  Pin those photos and articles of your brand, but create other boards that play host to photos your fans have taken (whether they’re of your company’s product or completely generic – a glass of beer is a glass of beer), create boards for fun sayings that relate to your product and will also ring true for your followers (ie: quotes about beer are endless – “Beer is proof God loves us and wants us to be happy,” “Maybe it’s the beer talking, but I really love beer,” etc.), create a board just for books that are written on the same topic as your product (again, lots of beer books), or even create a board that has nothing to do with your company or product, but is interesting while remaining generic (photos of the state/city your company is located in – in my case, Arizona).  At least follow your fans back – this is an interactive platform, repin and be repinned.  You get the idea.

Anyway, I didn’t come here to write a novel on how to run a business on Pinterest, I came to jot down some cool people I’ve found on Pinterest since I’ve become more engaged in a professional beer sense.  I’ve never really thought of using Pinterest as a place to share beer stuff – I’ve got Facebook, Twitter, this blog, Untappd, other people’s blogs, etc to engage in the culture of craft brews.  But since I’ve been using Pinterest for so long and have now discovered a whole new side of it, I figured I might as well share it for all you non-believers out there (of which you are plenty, I know).  I’m not trying to convert you over to this site in any sense, I’m just going to throw this out there as a resource for those of you who may already be on Pinterest (or on the fence about it), and who want to use it for beer-related things.  Because let’s be honest, we all love beer, right?  Why else would we bother going to another site if not for beer?  Don’t answer that if you’ve got anything like “well, I read the news…” or “pictures of cats!”, those aren’t a lifestyle, they’re hobbies at best (and the news is just depressing).  Craft beer is a lifestyle.

Ok, enough rambling, here’s a pretty good list I’ve come up with of breweries, beer writers/photographers, homebrewers, and beer people in general.  I’m definitely missing a lot, as it’s a big place, so if you know of anyone that should be added, let me know and I’ll throw them on.  Disclaimer: I realize that some of these pages are pretty empty or seem abandoned already, but I’m trying to be thorough.  Also note that many of these pages will have other pins that are completely unrelated to craft beer (clothing, food, tech gadgets, etc), people have other interests, so that’s to be expected. (My pinterest)

Unofficial List of Craft Beer Pinterest Users

BREWERIES:
Odell Brewing
Asheville Brewing
Deschutes Brewing
The Bruery
Epic Brewing
Four Peaks Brewing
Wynwood Brewing
Stone Brewing
Uinta Brewing
Gravity 1020 @ Fort Collins Brewing
Pateros Creek Brewing
Brooklyn Brew Shop
Boundary Bay Brewery & Bistro
Diamond Knot Brewing
Empyrean Brewing
Squatters Pubs
Blue Mountain Brewing
Devil’s Canyon Brewing
Blue Point Brewing
Mellody Brewing
Strike Brewing
Bru Boulder
Tree Brewing
Payette Brewing
Goose Island Brewing
Firestone Walker Brewing
Woodchuck Cider
B. Nektar Meadery

PEOPLE/BLOGS/STORES/EVERYTHING ELSE:

Lee Williams - Hoptopia (twitter)
Stevie Caldarola – Founder of Ladies of Craft Beer (twitter)
Homebrew Academy (twitter)
Laurie Delk – 100 Beers 30 Days (twitter)
Lisa Grimm – Weirdbeergirl.com (twitter)
Vanessa Smith Gimpel – FL homebrewer, potablesandedibles.com (twitter)
Amber Roth DeGrace (twitter)
Magen Peters - Girls’ Pint Out Founder, Indiana (twitter)
Girls’ Pint Out - Indiana based women’s beer education group (twitter)
Empty Growler (twitter)
Arts & Craft Beer (twitter)
Beeralicious (twitter)
Beer Soaked (twitter)
John Holzer - New Brew Thursday Founder (twitter)
New Texian Brewery - Start up home brewery (twitter)
James Swann – Whole Foods Chandler, AZ Beer Buyer (twitter)
Focus on The Beer (twitter)
Hops Diva (twitter)
Christian Lavender – HomeBrewing.com (twitter)
Northwest Beer Guide (twitter)
Drinkmaster
Andrew Bauman - AZ homebrewer, ASH member
Jason Fisher
CraftBeer.com (twitter)
Brew City Beer Buffs (twitter)
Megan Powell - Someone Left the Cake Out in The Rain blogger (twitter)
Evo Terra – AZ writer
Sarah Bernstein – writer, homebrewer for The Brewmates (twitter)
Phillipe Gagnon – CrftBeerCulture writer, CA (twitter)
Jason Miller - SC beer blogger (twitter)
Mutineer Mag (twitter)
Megan Stokes - Boston, MA
Sean Buchan – Beertographer, writer for Denver Off The Wagon (twitter)
Brian Mister – Bartender, Marketing in MD (twitter)
The Brew Bros (twitter)
Jay Zeis - A Beer in The Hand blogger, PA (twitter)
Sean McMahon – Brewery Outfitters (twitter)
Stan W – FL homebrewer (twitter)
Gary Tomlinson (twitter)
Kegworks – online retailer, Buffalo, NY (twitter)
Aleheads (twitter)
Hophead Fred – Vegan Zombie Beer Club, AZ (twitter)
Matt Reed – Supervisor at Brewminer, TN (twitter)
Bryon Martin (twitter)
Matt Hughes – former brewer at Wynkoop, CO (twitter)
Shawn Massie – Foodrevu photographer/writer, CA (twitter)
The Beer Tool – Manly bottle openers (twitter)
Jacob Sanford - Homebrewer, blogger, GA (twitter)
David Brassfield – London blogger (twitter)
Peggy Gartin – San Diego TweetUp leader (twitter)
Dale Miskimins – Beer blogger, SD (twitter)
NW Micro Canning – Seattle Mobile Canning (twitter)
Bess Dougherty – Brewer, writer for Denver off The Wagon (twitter)
Pies and Pints - Handcrafted Pizza and Beer, WV (twitter)
Nick McCormac – blogger, SC (twitter)
Curt Potter – Brewery branding, NY (twitter)
Matt P – Homebrewer, CA (Twitter)
Brian Papineau (twitter)
John Fay (twitter)
James Barnes – BrewDC.com (twitter)
Tim Cochran – blogger, MO (twitter)
John Kleinchester – Beertography.com (twitter)
Beer Club - Canton, OH beer club (twitter)
Pat Strader – WV (twitter)
Justin T. Coons – beer reviewer, PA (twitter)
Felix Vom Endt – German beer blogger (twitter)
El Jardín Del Lúpulo – Spanish beer blog (twitter)
Gerard Walen – Road Trips For Beer (twitter)
Acey Holmes
Alan Shaw – The Beer Geek, writer, FL
Mom’s Malt Barley – Beer blogger, ME (twitter)
Brew Dudes – Homebrewer blog writers, Boston (twitter)
My Beer Buzz – Blog, PA (twitter)
Patrick Schroeder – AZ homebrewer (twitter)
Lisa Morrison – The Beer Goddess (twitter)
Marty Nachel – writer, brewer, founder of BeerExam.com (twitter)
Make Beer (Coopers) – homebrewing equipment (twitter)
Tim Cigelske – runner, beer enthusiast, WI (twitter)
Rob’s Supply – Homebrewing kits, Salem, CT
The J. Clyde – Hot Rock Tavern and Alehouse, Birmingham, AL (twitter)
Adam Nason – BeerPulse.com (twitter)
GK Skaggs – Importer/Distributor, Irvine, CA (twitter)
Sally Selwan – Chicago Beer Girl, IL (twitter)
Jeremy Labadie – The Beer Buddha, LA (twitter)
Brewing TV – Homebrewing culture on video (twitter)
Gene Lynch – Beer Geney blogger, NJ (twitter)
Clare Goggin – Craft beer culture blogger, Astoria, NY (twitter)
Ca Brasse! – Montreal based brewing news (twitter)
Jay Maslar – Head brewer at Blackheart Brewery, Binghamton, NY (twitter)
Kelly Podzemny – TX (twitter)
Lisa Zimmer – Digital and Consumer Outreach at Tenth and Blake (twitter)

So, on our second day, after making it to Kansas City around 9pm the night before, we rose bright and early for a delicious breakfast of beer at Boulevard Brewing Company.  As normal tours don’t start until later, and the brewery itself isn’t open to the public before then, we were pretty much the only people on the premises, if you don’t count all the brewers, an administrator or two, a few people cleaning in preparation for the day, and the owner and president, John McDonald.  It was surreal, to say the least, walking into this giant building – which had such a wonderfully warm yeast and light hoppy smell – that was so quiet I felt like I should whisper.  I felt like the brewery was just waking up, when in reality it probably runs almost non-stop, and I was immediately at ease while I wandered around the main lobby looking at all the steel pipes and instruments through the windows.  It was very peaceful.

When Julie came down to meet us, she had such a great smile and seemed really eager to give us a tour.  She explained that while she doesn’t usually do tours anymore, being the Marketing Communications Manager, she still enjoyed meeting people on the rare occasion that she had time to introduce groups and individuals to the behind-the-scenes of the brewery and beer she is obviously very passionate about.

Our first stop was just inside the gift shop (which was still being prepped to open for the day), where Julie gave us the rich history of the building the brewery was housed in, as well as how and why the brewery the started.  From the brewery page:

The Boulevard story begins in 1988, when founder John McDonald started construction of the brewery in a turn-of-the-century brick building on Kansas City’s historic Southwest Boulevard. A vintage Bavarian brewhouse was installed, and the first batches of beer were produced in the fall of 1989. That November, the first keg of Boulevard Pale Ale was delivered—in the back of John’s pickup truck—to a restaurant just a few blocks away. In 2006, a major expansion adjacent to the original brewery raised Boulevard’s brewing capacity to approximately 600,000 barrels per year—a sizable increase from the 6,000 barrels contemplated in John’s original business plan. The new brewing and packaging facility is a model of sustainable urban architecture and engineering; a three-story, 70,000 square foot building housing a new, state-of-the-art 150-barrel brewhouse, packaging lines, administrative offices, and hospitality rooms.

After seeing their impressive line-up of brews over the years, I was ready to try a few of them out.  Unfortunately for me, we were just starting our tour, so the tasting would have to wait.  Upon leaving the gift shop and public tasting room (used for finishing off the tours so people could drink and purchase memorabilia), we headed into the original underbelly of the beast.  Where the first tanks were installed and where they now experiment with new flavors and allow the brewers to practice with different styles.  There was a little bit of construction going on, so we had to hurry through, but here’s a picture of the starting tanks:

The next room was a first for me; even though I’ve been aware of the practice of barrel-aging, and enjoyed quite a few barrel-aged beers, I’ve never actually been inside of a barrel-aging room, much less up close and personal with the barrels.  This gem of a place held rows of racks filled with large barrels from many different distilleries, including Templeton Rye barrels for their Rye on Rye (coming out in March), Jack Daniels, 7 Hill and others for their Smokestack series.  Julie also mentioned that they were starting to explore sour beers and hoped to find a good combination of flavors before releasing anything to the public – so nothing on the line, yet.  It smelled delicious just passing through – softly sweet and boozy, and the guys working with some of the barrels were very friendly and enthusiastic about their craft.

Heading out of the barrel-aging cellar, and reaching the end of the old part of the brewery, we headed to the new addition to witness the enormous new tanks, mash tuns, a second tasting room, and even the cooler where the hop pellets are kept.  The picture below is of the new 600bbl tanks (well, the bottoms of them) in one of the fermentation facilities, which rise above the brewery and are supported by quite a few tons of reinforced concrete.  Apparently, this room is so well fortified that it can be used as a shelter during tornadoes and earthquakes.

Beer being filtered for clarity and brightness

After wandering around such massive machinery, Julie took us to the second, newer tasting room, where all of their currently available brews were offered.  Having never had the pleasure of partaking in a Boulevard beer, I was pretty enthusiastic about trying multiple styles without going overboard – as it was still only 10:30 in the morning and breakfast had been a bust (continental breakfasts, no further comment), not to mention we still had a few more things to see in the brewery.  So I opted for their Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale (Smokestack Series), Single-Wide IPA, Unfiltered Wheat, Pale Ale, and Dark Truth Stout.  I shared all of these with my mother, of course, but Julie let us each pick one we liked to take with us and sip on through the end of the tour.  So of course I picked the one with 8% alcohol – the Tank 7.

The rest of the tour went fairly quickly, but Julie was super informative about every little detail, which I really appreciated as I was walking through, but now that I’m trying to remember everything, I’m thinking I should have just taped my experience.  Regardless, the next few places we walked through were the tops of the tanks, the hops cooler, and finally the administrative side of the building where cubicles were set up around the second story of the atrium that houses the bottling facility. We even passed John McDonald as he was headed to give a tour.

Once we made it around the top of the building and saw all of the bottling line from above, we took an elevator down to the keg center.  Watching these kegs move so monotonously and efficiently through the system, being cleaned out, sanitized, and filled back up with beer upside down before being flipped over (manually) and loaded onto pallets was pretty cool.  It was another first for me, and I relished every second of it.  It made me more excited to be a part of the craft beer community and helped to fuel my love for the brew as well as my thirst to learn the process.

Eventually, and sadly, the tour had to come to an end, but the hour I spent with Julie touring Boulevard Brewing Company was more enlightening that I could have imagined.  She was wonderfully descriptive and informative and holds a palpable passion for her work with the brewery.  I was very lucky to have been able to tour with her and can’t wait to visit for another go-round!  Many, many thanks to Jeremy for helping me set up a tour as well as giving me some fantastic restaurant recommendations, Julie for taking the time to give me and my mom a tour and for being so awesome overall, and @mwagner8 for helping me get in touch with Jeremy and leading me to the best barbecue I’ve ever had in my life!  For more pictures, click through the gallery.

And for the third day of my trip, you’ll have to wait, as my birthday is on the 19th and I’m going to be opening some beer I picked up on my trip, as well as a trade or two, so I’m not sure how type-proficient I’ll be. Cheers!

Then my mom and I climbed in a car and drove for four days across the country.

The first day we headed out from Oshkosh, WI.  Our first stop was New Glarus, because I had lived in Wisconsin for the majority of my life and had never been and since my comeuppance into craft beer, I felt it would be a sin of some sort if I didn’t stop now (and I really had no excuse).  So a few hours later, after winding around through gorgeous, scenic country highways and two-lane gravel roads, we eventually reached the most adorable little Swiss Village ever.  Ever.  We ate at a restaurant called Glarner Stube, which means “The Living Room of New Glarus.”  Aside from the food being absolutely delicious, the decor inside managed to be completely authentic without being kitschy.  Even the locals who were dining there were authentic.

Roesti! (Basically it’s a hash brown pie with baby swiss cheese inside)

Reuben that melts in your mouth

Finishing our meal with a nice tall glass of New Glarus Raspberry Tart, we headed off to the brewery.  Because we still had to make it to Kansas City our first night, and that was another 8 hours away, we decided to forgo a tour and just buy the place out instead.

One tiny example of what was in the store

Walking into the gift shop, I immediately wanted one of everything, never mind that half of my cupboards are currently filled with beer glasses, I needed at least one – if not two – of every one in this shop.  Unfortunately, due to limited trunk space, an annoying budget, and the fact that we hadn’t even left Wisconsin yet, all factored into my only purchasing a glass Thumbprint series stein, a tall gold-lipped weizen glass, and a pack of Spotted Cow tumblers.  I also may have bought a Spotted Cow t-shirt, a fantastic rubber-coated speed opener, and at least one bottle of every beer they had available (Golden Ale, Moon Man, Fat Squirrel, Two Women, Road Slush, Black Top, IPA, Apple Ale, Belgian Red, and Raspberry Tart), not counting the 6-pack of Spotted Cow.  Oh, and a wooden crate that says “New Glarus” on it so that I could hold everything.  Yeah, I think that covers it…oh, I also picked up a big Thumbprint series sticker.

A trunk full of the best stuff in the world

Then it was off to Kansas City for the night!  8 non-stop hours later…we found a hotel, with absolutely no late-night restaurants around.  So we went to bed with no dinner, which worked well for my mom, who is never hungry anyway, but caused me to be completely ravenous when I woke up – luckily there was a crappy continental breakfast to pick through.  But nothing could dampen my spirits, not even all the damp bagels and bruised apples, for the second day was the day I toured Boulevard Brewing Company!  And that story deserves its own post, seeing as it’s a pretty big brewery and I had the amazing opportunity to tour the ENTIRE building at 10am alone with a wonderful woman who I will tell you all about in my next post.  Until then, here are some more pictures from the Wisconsin portion of my trip:

RSVPs on our Facebook event page slowly climbed to 20 people throughout the week before the event was scheduled, with 8 maybes and many more non-replies.  In situations like this, we’ve come to predict that anywhere from half to two-thirds of the RSVPers will show up, while understanding that the rest might have had something else arise and may not have been able to make it.  We’re more than capable of working around these small numbers, so it’s never a problem.  Thursday night, however, instead of fewer than 20 women waiting eagerly for a holiday pairing between two of the greatest edibles on earth, we had almost 45 women clambering for seats.  Planning for 20 and having to quickly find space and resources for more than twice that is no easy feat.  With limited space reserved, we ended up commandeering surrounding booths and tables from unsuspecting and confused customers while stealing more tables and chairs from other areas in the store.  It was quite a production just to get everyone set up, and some women even apologized for not responding to the event invite and offered to leave, but we weren’t going to have that – everyone was welcome!  We put together more chocolate samples, we handed out more freshly printed lists of what was being paired, and we poured more beer.  The show would go on!

Once everyone was finally settled, and as we finished doling out the delectables to the last of the tables, Kristi Murphy, clinical director of Childhelp, gave more information about Childhelp and showed drawings of feelings that children in the program created in their sessions.  She also thanked us for helping them out with their wish list by donating so many items they were in need of that their therapists would have had to buy with their own money otherwise.  We were floored by the support of all the women who came and managed to fill a whole shopping cart with the amount of items they brought to donate.  Many people purchased multiple items, which was very thoughtful and extremely helpful in fulfilling our goal.  If this event was proof of anything, it was that even in this economy and even in hard times, people will come through and give what they can.  That it was our last event of 2011 and was centered around holiday brews was only secondary to the amount of charity, caring, and giving that was going on that night.

Though the beer and chocolate ended up taking a back seat to the goodwill portion of our evening (and with good reason), it definitely did not disappoint.  Six holiday ales and six different chocolates were distributed and talked about, with time in between for the women to discuss what they liked and didn’t like about each pairing.  Unfortunately, as I was running around making sure everyone else had what they needed to participate in the pairings, I failed to save more than 2 beers and 2 chocolates for myself, so I’m unable to report on how they went over.  I did manage to grab a list, though:

Bell’s Christmas Ale – Paired with Chuao Honey Comb

Silly Noël – Paired with El Ray White Chocolate

Delirium Noël – Paired with Valrhona Jivara

Sun Up Nut Before Christmas – Paired with Chuao Bark with Nuts

Anchor Christmas Ale 2011 – Paired with Chuao Bark with Nuts & Cherries

Criminally Bad Elf – Paired with Chocolate Drizzled Popcorn

So in the end, this final event was a huge success; with a fantastic turn out that included lots of new members as well as plenty of good friends, great holiday beer and delicious chocolate, all topped off with a wonderful amount of donations that we were able to give to Childhelp to aid them this season.  Without all of the awesome support of the women in AZ Girls’ Pint Out (it’s free to be a member, ladies!), we would not be able to pull an event like this off, so thank you.  Thank you for your continued support going into 2012, for your willingness to try new things with us, and we hope to see you at some of our upcoming events in the new year!  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

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