Month: December 2010

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.