Mission Rauchbier


Mission Rauchbier

For those of you who are adept at reading German in tiny print, you might enjoy this article about Schlenkerla’s visit to the US. Brauerei Heller -Trum, which puts out the distinctive smoked beer from Bamberg, sent brewer Matthias Trum and tavern chef Wolfgang Thiel on a working tour that stopped at some Good Beer Seal bars in NYC (Beer Table and Jimmy’s No. 43). Herr Trum also made it out to the Heritage Radio Network studio in Bushwick to appear on Beer Sessions Radio (TM) with publican hosts Jimmy Carbone (Jimmy’s No. 43) and Ray Deter (d.b.a).

If you missed Herr Trum’s star turn on Beer Sessions Radio (TM) follow the link to Episode 38 to find out more about the 500 year old brewery and its deep German brewing traditions.


Winter Beer with Beer Sessions Radio (TM) Sommelier, Sam Merritt



Samuel Merritt and Civilization of Beer


Samuel Merritt is the founder of Civilization of Beer and a tireless advocate for all things craft beer. We sat down with Sam for a few, brief moments, to talk about Winter Seasonals and their appeal:


What (if anything) makes winter seasonals worth waiting for?

First and foremost, their limited availability makes them worth the wait. Almost anything tastes better when there’s anticipation and that knowledge of limited availability. Take Westvleteran Trappist beer for instance, many claim that it is the finest of the trappist beers after they’ve had it. Are they just showing off that they’ve had the one that is least available? Or is it really that good?

Also, the seasonal category of craft beer has been the fastest growing segment of any for many years now and the wandering nature of the craft beer drinker’s palate is the reason for it. Winter beers are the most classic of seasonals and almost every brewery had made one so, its a long standing tradition. There is the idea of specialty and more care is given to their production.

The winter seasonals will also have many examples that vary significantly in recipe and process so, you can collect a few in a row and do vertical tastings. Anchor Christmas famously varies from batch to batch.

In many cases, there are specialty beer drinkers where you’ll find much more loyalty to styles than to the specific breweries themselves.

How does beer tie in to your holiday celebrations each year?

I bring winter seasonal beer almost everywhere I go during the holidays. I get a few cases of winter seasonal stuff, Samuel Smith Winter, Sierra Celebration, and a few others. The trunk keeps everything nice and cold and I give two at a time to anyone who is serving me in some way out of doors. There is nothing like being an outdoor worker this time of year and there is no better, small give than a couple of nice, strong beers to look forward to. So grab a couple of cases of your local winter-whatever adn give a few bottles to the outdoor parking garage attendants, Christmas tree mongers, dry cleaners, car washers, gas station attendants, toll booth collectors, snow plow guys, cable guys, and anyone else who might be serving you outdoors.

What does the casual beer drinker NOT know about winter seasonals?

The casual beer drinker probably doesn’t know that winter seasonals have been around since the dawn of time.

Thanks to Sam Merritt for taking the time to talk with us. Check out his site at CivilizationofBeer.com and sign up for his newsletter to keep informed about upcoming Civilization of Beer events.



Armchair Tourism

If you are going to get geeky about beer there are several ways to go, depending on your mood. You can consider the historical significance of the beverage and play with tracing the DNA of your current favorite through its style definitions, its ingredients or its brewer’s influences. You can make some assumptions about a brewer’s personality and philosophy by getting intimately acquainted with a particular brewery’s product. You can even sample beers from around the world and explore other cultures in a glass.

For those with deeper and more dedicated pockets, you could take an empty glass to another country and fill it up there. Heck, you don’t even need to take a glass. I bet they have some there!

Kim Reimann of GrapeHops Tours was a recent guest on Beer Sessions Radio (TM) where she discussed, among other things, the beers of Italy with her fellow guests BR Rolya (The Shelton Brothers), Hagan Blount (ITasteYourBeer.com) and Will Cass of New Zealand’s own Tuatara Brewing. GrapeHops is offering tours to Piedmont and Lombardy in May  2011 and October 2011 to explore the burgeoning Italian beer culture. The panel discussed the difficulty in convincing American beer drinkers of the caliber of beers from a well-known wine producing country. But, it does spark the imagination a bit to consider exploring a relatively young beer scene in an area known for other alcohol traditions.

Consider the article Beer Rises in the East by Tim Webb in the most recent edition of Beer Advocate Magazine about craft brewers in Japan. Eventually, beer makes it everywhere even to places that lack the natural resources to produce it. Japan has its own economic troubles and yet, as it has here in America, craft beer continues to grow.

This is where the passionate beer drinker gets to pontificate with his friends about the power of beer to connect people with a simple vocabulary of water, yeast, malt and hops put together to create a unique reflection of time, place, culture and individuality.

I could go on. Instead, I will urge you to pick up Issue 47 of Beer Advocate Magazine, listen to Beer Sessions Radio (TM) and have a pint glass trip around the world.

Happy Holidays!

Good Beer Seal Bars in the News

Good Beer Seal Bars are promoting craft beer every day by curating great beer lists, maintaining their draft lines and serving beer as the brewers intended. Think of a Good Beer Seal Bar as a steward of the brewing art, bringing it from the artisan to the connoisseur in thoughtful and inventive ways. From tastings, pairings, specials, and events where you can meet the brewers themselves, Good Beer Seal Bars take beer appreciation to another level and the media has noticed.

Beer Table was recently featured in The New Yorker and Jimmy’s No. 43 was recently named one of the City’s Best.

Kudos to you, Good Beer Seal Bars!

An Interview with Beer Author and Expert John Holl


John Holl on Beer Sessions Radio (TM)

Writer and Beer Afficianado, John Holl, stopped by the Heritage Radio Network studio this week to join the panel on Beer Sessions Radio (TM). He spoke to us about the genesis of his upcoming book Indiana Breweries and traded tales with Warren Monteiro (Beer Sensei of Ale Street News fame) and Jeremy Cowan of Shmaltz Brewing Company who, incidentally, has his own book that has just been released called Craft Beer Bar Mitzvah.


John took a moment to post about his Beer Sessions Radio (TM) appearance on his blog, John Holl’s Beer Briefing.

In addition, John took the time to answer a few questions about the pursuit of good beer.


What is the allure of craft beer  and the craft beer community to you, personally?

I love the creativity that goes into the various beers. That after centuries of brewers making the same ales and lagers over and over again, the American brewers have really kickstarted the industry and will take risks and get inventive. I also like the fact that the brewers are approachable. To this day, it can be impossible to get close to anyone at the larger breweries, but you can walk into just about any craft brewery in the country, talk with the owner/brewer. It gives a great sense of community.

How do you define the “craft beer community”?

I like the Brewer’s Association definition of small, independent, local. But, it’s more than that. It’s the inventiveness that goes into the product. It’s about the feeling and passion that goes into each batch. There are some who argue that Blue Moon is craft because it has quality ingredients and is not of the mainstream styles. I disagree with that. I think something is lost when there is a corporate parent.

Do you find yourself to be more forgiving/ critical of a particular brewer’s product if you know them personally/professionally?

I’m more likely to try something or keep purchasing a quality beer if I know the owners/brewer. But, if I get a bad batch or something that I just don’t care for, I’ll tell them. No one can please everyone all the time.

How does your knowledge of beer enhance your enjoyment of beer?

Taking time to learn about ingredients. Tasting them individually, outside of the beer itself, gives me a better perspective of how the ingredients work in perfect harmony to create a great beer.



A Brief Interview with BeerMenus.com Creator Will Stephens


Will Stephens is one of the brains behind BeerMenus.com, an interactive website designed to help beer lovers find their favorite beers and good beer bars to reach out to their favorite beer lovers. A friend of mine in high school held fast to the idea that we all have one great, marketable concept in our lifetime. He was concerned that his “Estrada Pinata” was the best he could do. We’ve since lost touch, but if Will’s greatest idea is BeerMenus.com then I’d say at least one of us is doing just fine.

Before Will’s appearance last week on Beer Sessions Radio, he shared some of his thoughts with us about the state of the craft beer industry:

In your opinion, is craft beer reaching its intended market? Is there room to expand this market?

I think craft beer is getting a lot better at reaching consumers.  Breweries are opening up across the country in areas you’d never expect them allowing more people to live close to craft breweries.  Technology is also allowing breweries connect with their audience much more efficiently, making it a smaller risk to open a brewery or expand an existing one.  I hope technology will be the ultimate equalizer between micros and macros the way it has been with so many other things.

Where do you see yourself within the craft beer community? Where would you like to be?

With BeerMenus we strive to improve the quality of information in the beer industry.  We would like to make it as easy to find an Arrogant Bastard as it is to find a Budweiser.

Who, do you think, is doing a good job of promoting craft beer to the general public? What can we learn from them?

To me the educators who have the biggest impact are the bars that really make an effort to teach their customers and get them excited about what they’re pouring.  They are educating people on the ground in the field.

What does the future of craft beer look like?

I think Belgium looks like the future.

Join BeerMenus.com on December 4 at Jimmy’s No. 43 for Battle of the Belgians. Intrigued? Learn more by clicking HERE.


Wandering Foodie

Last week, Hagan Blount joined the panel on Beer Sessions Radio along with Kelly Taylor and Sonya Giaccobe of Kelso, Will Stephens of BeerMenus.com, and our resident beer maven, Jen Schwertman. Hagan took some great pictures during the taping and at dinner after the show. He then put them up on his site, Wandering Foodie, along with a post about his guest experience.

I can’t lie, people show up to be guests on the show but they stay for Roberta’s amazing food and the candid post-show

Dieu du Ciel!

dinner discussion. After an hour of getting to know our guests on the air the friendly conversation and delicious beer continue to flow over communal tables packed with beer-lovers and a ‘Steak for 2’ that could actually feed a small village. We learn a lot about our guests over dinner. We’ve seen many different personalities since starting this show but one thing remains constant; there has not been an equivocator in the bunch! In the coming weeks, look for some interesting extra interview material from our Beer Sessions Radio guests to be printed right here!


Tomorrow night, tune in to Beer Sessions Radio for the Boys from Quebec- that’s right, Dieu du Ciel! will be in the studio before they break out a stellar line up of their beers at Blind Tiger Ale House on Wednesday, December 1. Tune in for the show and don’t miss this chance to head out to the Tiger for some wonderfully nuanced beers crafted by our new, northern friends!

Brooklyn Wort

Beer Sessions Radio is excited to support Brooklyn Wort, a home brew competition set for February 26, 2011. If you are a home brewer, you can sign up for this competition between now and November 31. Check for registration details on BrooklynWort.com and learn how you can get a sample of what our local home brew scene is making!

Brooklyn Wort is created by our friends at Brooklyn Homebrew, a retail store for all your home brewing needs offering the freshest hops, yeast, grain malts, malt extracts, honeys, and spices available. Check out their website, then head out to Park Slope, Brooklyn where Danielle and Benjamin will help you out with all your brewing questions and needs!

Schlenkerla: A German Beer Tradition

American beer drinkers are getting a treat this week as Herr Matthias Trum of Brauerei Heller Trum (aka Schlenkerla) will be in New York City. Schlenkerla Rauchbier has been written about by beer lovers the world over. Michael Jackson famously included Schlenkerla as one of his top ten German beers.

Herr Trum is the 6th generation of Trums to brew this world renowned smoked beer and he has learned the business from malting to brewing and marketing to pairing. While he is in town, he will be visiting some Good Beer Seal Bars with Chef Wolfgang Theil to present a traditional German Beer Dinner with locally sourced ingredients. Please see our calendar for details.

If you don’t have the opportunity to attend one of these dinners, fear not. You can tune in to Beer Sessions Radio tonight at 5:00 PM to hear all about Schlenkerla and the great German tradition it represents.