Kiss Me, I’m an Irish Stout

For those of us who generally imbibe darker beers during the darker days of winter, the sunset of this seasonal stretch is near. As far as stouts go, St. Patrick’s day is generally this genre’s retirement party. So here’s my shout out to one of my favorite beer styles.

The term “stout” originated as a heavy form of any beer style, during the 1700’s in England you might order a stout lager or a stout porter. However, the stout porter came to be the most popular, soon eclipsing other styles in popularity in the mid 1800’s. By the early 1900s stouts were the most popular beer in Ireland, and started to to be exported abroad. Of course, in order for beer to survive this journey it had to be brewed stronger, with a higher alcohol content. Hence a new sub genre came to be, known as Foreign Stout.

Stouts are the only beer style that I know of which consistently used unmalted cereals in its grain bill. These range from roasted barley, flaked barley, and oatmeal. Besides contributing to distinct flavor profiles, use of these grains contribute to a richer, silkier mouthfeel. 

As of 2005, there were only 19 breweries in Ireland. Guinness, Murphy’s, and Beamish are all owned by international conglomerates and are largely seen as stifling the growth of Ireland’s indiginous beer culture.  So on this St. Patrick’s, why not enjoy a delicious beer not brewed in an enormous factory and shipped hundreds of miles? My two local picks are Lights Out Stout by Barrier Brewing or Potato Stout by Blind Bat Brewery.

As for the whole ‘Kiss me I’m Irish,’ thing - I have no explanation.

Smacking Carlsberg Around The School Yard

Marketing, beer marketing in China in particular - is….mostly a ghastly combination of exploitation and harassment. I was once bullied into drinking a Carlsberg Chill by a scantily clad beer girl (an occupation that does not seem to exist outside of China and Taiwan, to my knowledge. Beer girls have to wear atrocious outfits that some what resemble a cheer leading uniform and cowgirl boots, they barrage you into buying disgusting beer that comes from other countries, and sometimes they even drink what you begrudgingly purchase from them). Ever since then, I’ve had beef with Carlsbarf.

Now they are trying to “woo women” with a “gender neutral beer” aka tasteless crap with a stupid label.

WELL, I just want to tell you that we should not chalk up the beautiful country of Denmark, nor the Danish beer market, nor the Danish beer drinker, to Carlsbarf’s pitiful marketing ploys.

Look at this brand, Mikkeller. Dude was a home brewer just a couple of years ago! Awesomesauce. And now he’s storming the Danish buds of taste with his inventive antics. And then there is his brother, of Evil Twin Brewing. This man has gone ahead and done the unthinkable….blended beer and wine! Disco beer is the name, and upon first thought you might think “ewwwwwwwwww” but come on, you gotta try it before you knock it. Remember, 2011 is the summer of experimental beer drinking (that’s soooo official). Also, we all have a mini crush on Denmark and this is the perfect way to get to know it a little bit better. Lastly, it might make a great house warming gift HINT HINT HINT.

TGISUMMER!!!!!!

Officially, memorial day weekend is the first day of summer in NYC. And perhaps, much of the northern hemisphere at that. However, in the midst of our Monsoony May, this hot day is probably more than welcome by my fellow city dwellers.

And a hot day as such, at the start of a long weekend - will have people springing for summer cocktails. Frozen-mango-mojitos and other longform names sprinkled with pink umbrellas and loopy straws will certainly come out of hiding across the boroughs.

But what about the beer?

There are plenty of new summer beer developments to cherish this long weekend! Sixpoint cans, Seasonal Summer Ales, new beer gardens, oh my! BUT I encourage you to get experimental. You may have seen my recent post about Micheladas. Well, the NYT also put up this lovely article to let us know what other kind of beer cocktails are out there in the mix. Refreshing, and lovely looking. What more could we want?

And although this may seem like a very novel and new thing to New York, it is common practice in other parts of the globe. Micheladas in Mexico, Shandies in the UK, Or 1664 with Grenadine in France (don’t knock until you’ve tried it!) have all been served for ages. My advice to you this long weekend, is to try a beer cocktail if you’ve never had one - or better yet get experimental and mix your own! And please do let me know how it goes.

Click photo for NYTimes piece. Thanks to JL for sharing this article with me.