Red Meat & Scotch

Michael Jackson, a legend and hero for beer lovers across the globe, once famously said his true love was not beer, rather Whisky. (and yes, without the “e”) This should not be too much of a surprise. He has authored a number of books on the spirit. I too must admit I love the water of life, though I’m not sure I would place it above beer. Regardless of the rank, I strongly believe beer and Whisky go hand in hand. Whisky is basically distilled beer, right?

I started drinking Single Malts about 10 years ago as a way to lighten my load while backpacking high up in the Colorado mountains and still have something enjoyable to consume around the campfire. (Laphroaig 10 goes nice with a fire by the way.) The more I read and learned about Whisky the more interested I became.

And then one day at work a friend tipped me off to a gathering he and his friends had called Red Meat & Scotch. The concept of this event is that each person brings a bottle of Whisky and a steak, and everyone has a great time while learning about different malts


without having to spend a fortune in the process. Since that day in 2005, I started a tradition with my friends and we have taken turns hosting Red Meat & Scotch events twice per year. Each party comes complete with distillery maps of Scotland, flags, tasting notes (Jackson and others), Whisky poetry, Single Malt coffee table books, and pictures of Highland Cows. They are always enjoyable, and always require a designated driver – usually a very forgiving spouse.

The most recent gathering we had was quite special and unique. One of our friends is on the board of a kidney foundation, and they happened to be holding a silent auction. Twenty of us decided to go in and bid on a private tasting offered by Diageo. (A major beverage concern that owns, among other brands, Johnnie Walker, Guinness, and a number of distilleries.) Well, we won the auction, and last Friday night my wife and I hosted the lucky 20 in our basement for an evening with Diageo Master of Whisky Robert Stickler. By this time we were all pretty knowledgeable about the spirit and made sure he knew that so he could tailor his presentation accordingly. Robert did an excellent job. Wearing traditional attire and packing along bricks of peat, staves of oak, and a freshly distilled 160 proof spirit for us to sample, he did not disappoint. As much as we though we already knew, we all learned something from the event. And we all loved his enlightening toasts. Here is a list of what Robert brought with him:

Dalwhinnie 15 (Highland) – very drinkable
Singleton 12 (Speyside) – surprisingly complex
Carhhu 12 (Speyside) – the base for all Johnnie Walkers
Cragganmore 12 (Speyside) – floral, fruity and rich
Talisker 10 (Isle of Skye) – peat smoke, salt and sweetness
Coal Ila 12 (Isla) – a good example of an Isla

And after we all thought Robert was done, he surprised us all by pulling out his private stash of Bushmills. That’s right, Irish Whiskey to follow up all of the Scotch. I thought there might be a bit of a let down, but Robert did not disappoint. We started with the Bushmills Malt 10, then moved to the 16 Malt, 21 Malt and finished with the brilliant Bushmills 1608 (to honor the year the distillery was founded).

The mash used to make the 1608 contains crystal malt, which is unique, and a dram does have a nice oaky sweetness to it. We all thoroughly enjoyed the Bushmills selections. Irish Whiskey is triple distilled as opposed to the double distillation that is the norm in Scotland, so it tends to be a bit cleaner and smoother, but the Bushmills’ malts are very complex nonetheless.

My favorite of the first batch was the Singleton 12. Maybe because this malt was new to me. But I was pleasantly surprised by the complex nose with hints of fruit and nuts, medium body, and wonderful flavor of sweet fruit, brown sugar and a touch of coffee, topped off by a long elegant finish.

If you are a beer lover thinking about branching out, get some friends together for your own Red Meat & Scotch party. Don’t be afraid to allow Irish whiskey, American Whiskeys, and especially micro distilled Whiskies. Also, if you are interested in having a private tasting by a “Master of Whisky”, shoot me a note and I’ll provide you with Robert’s contact information. He will not disappoint.

Klamath Basin Brewing Co.

Klamath Falls, OR
1320 Main Street
541-273-5222
http://kbbrewing.com

If you drive around Klamath Falls long enough you can’t miss “The Creamery” marked by a large powder-blue neon cow. This is the location of the Klamath Basin Brewing and Creamery Pub. The creamery is long gone, but you can still see the bricked-in remains of the loading dock portals – and their menu still offers a modest selection of ice cream treats. (for my designated driver and wife) I visited the brewery with family while on vacation in Northern California and Oregon.

The Pub and Brewery offers a large, open seating area inside, but we decided to take advantage of the beautiful July weather and sit out on their patio and enjoy the hanging pots of annual flowers.

I am a variety nut, so the first thing I ordered was their sampler tray. ($9.00) This included eight regular offerings plus three seasonals. (Actually one seasonal was their standard Butt-Crack Brown, but nitrogen dispensed. This counts as a different beer if you ask me since the method of beer carbonation and how it is dispensed has a significant impact on its flavor.)

Favorite Brews

Well, it is not really a July staple, but my favorite was their Cabin Fever Stout. Smooth, black and lightly hopped with the right balance of chocolate and coffee flavors rounded out by a slight fruitiness. This was my “post sampler” nightcap. A close second was their Drop Dead Red - a strong red ale with subtle complexity. Different grains step up at different times including caramel and just a touch of roasted malt, and it finishes slightly dry. An excellent interpretation of a style that can, at times, be a touch bland.

Worth Noting

This area of Northern California and Oregon in the Cascade Range is known for its volcanoes and geothermal activity. According to head brewer Corey Zschoche they use 185 F geothermal water to heat their domestic water supply, for building heat, and to heat their water for mashing. They still use natural gas to boil the wort, but as far as he knows they are the “only brewery in the world that uses geothermal energy in the brewing process.” (I need to confer with my beer loving Icelandic friend Beggi who is a thermal energy buff… but regardless, this is very unique.)

While in Town

Make sure and visit Crater Lake, which is less than one hour north. This lake fills a large caldera that was formed around 7,700 years ago. The setting is very unique and stunning. It is the deepest lake in the United States, and its pure water creates the deepest blue you will ever see. The area also offers countless opportunities for camping, hiking and spelunking.

Colorado Brewer's Festival

The 21st annual Colorado Brewer’s Festival was last weekend, and I must admit that I was a bit nervous about this year’s new format. Apparently the Old Town Fort Collins merchants had grown tired of the wildly successful and crowed CBF. Rowdy and intoxicated attendees were causing problems and, surprisingly, their business was down over CBF weekend. The merchants claimed attendees were not patronizing their stores and were scaring off other would-be shoppers. So this year the event was moved a couple blocks from Old Town across College to Civic Center Park. There were also other changes. Instead of an entry fee and individual drink tokens,


there was a single ticket charge, which allowed the attendee to drink as many 4-ounce samples as he or she desired. There were two sessions on Saturday, noon to 3 pm and 3pm to 6pm, and one four hour session on Sunday starting at noon. And ticket sales were limited to keep the crowd down. The group I was with attended the Saturday noon session. I must admit that I was not ready to move on after 3 pm. People with the early session tickets were allowed to stay in the Civic Center Park area, but could not longer sample beers at the brewery booths.
With all of that said, the new format was better than I had feared. Laporte Avenue and Howes Street are lined with mature trees and

provided a nice atmosphere. I still prefer Old Town, but it was better than expected. And the crowd was noticeably smaller than in the past. Lines at the brewery sample stations were almost non-existent which was very nice. There were still bands playing during the event, but a bit out of the way. Not quite as nice as the central band location by the pond in Old Town. Still the event offered 58 beers from 32 breweries (basically the same as last year) and a nice atmosphere to sample many of Colorado’s finest offerings. If the event moves back to Old Town, I would be fine with that, but we’ll be back next year regardless. Whether or not you would like the new format probably depends on if you like festivals with big, rowdy crows or a quieter setting with no lines.

I sampled around 20 beers, so I cannot report on them all, but one beer of particular note was Odell Brewing’s St. Lupulin. The name screams “hop bomb,” but that is not the case. St. Lupulin weighs in at a sturdy 6.5% abv, but packs only a modest 46 IBUs. To compare, Odell’s IPA contains 60 IBUs. According to the representative, the concept of St. Lupulin is to focus more on hop flavor and aroma and be less bitter. This is a fine line to walk, because hop aroma accentuated beers still need a solid IBU backbone to avoid being one-dimensional. But Odell created a very nice balance for those seeking flavor and aroma and a smooth, balanced malt/hop backbone. It is a seasonal summer ale, and I was surprised how refreshing it was, especially given the relatively high alcohol content. Give it a shot if Odell is distributed in your area.

One final note. There are always vendor booths lining the streets of CBF, and this year was no different. As my friends and I saw an interesting tent for a new company called BrewClick, we wanted to check it out. Interestingly enough I stumbled across an old friend, Julie Hull, who I had not seen in years and is now working there. It was good to catch up with Julie and I promised that I would hit their website. Their portal includes beer news, brewery profiles as well as other interesting beer related information. I asked them for a paragraph to include in my blog. According to Brew Click’s Chief Marketing Officer, Kris Erlewine:

“BrewClick.Com is an Internet portal designed to collect
highly-targeted consumer preferences for beer and to match those
preferences with specific offers from Breweries, BrewPubs, Liquor
Stores, Distributors, Bars and Restaurants. By completing preferences,
consumers are able to receive offers that exactly match their
interests. Vendors are able to effectively market on a one-to-one
basis.”

I figured I would learn more so I signed up for their “Local Hops”. If you are interested you can learn more about their services at brewclick.com.

Bozeman Brewing Company

In February Tom Ciccateri, the 2005 BDOTY winner, was back in Denver as a judge for this year’s national Beerdrinker of the Year Finals. Tom knew I spent five years at MSU and visit Bozeman regularly, so he was excited to show me a picture on his camera of the Bozeman Brewing Company tap house. I was embarrassed to say that I had never been there. We joked as to whether or not my title should be revoked since I had not even visited the lone tap house in my second home town!

The tap room for Bozone, as it is affectionately called, is located on 504 N. Broadway in Bozeman, a bit off the beaten path. When I am in Bozeman, usually over MSU Homecoming weekend, I spend most of my time on campus in meetings, or downtown. The brewery is on the exact opposite side of town as the campus tucked away in an industrial area on the north fringes. But a visit to the brewery and adjoining tap house is well worth the bike ride.

The Bozone tap room is like being in a large living room with a bar and numerous tap handles at one end. It is open from 4 – 8 pm, and like all other Montana tap rooms, patrons are limited to 48 ounces of beer.

I was very lucky to get a private tour of the recently renovated brewery from brewer Tucker Kalberg. Bozeman Brewing purchased Spanish Peak’s old equipment after they dismantled in the 90s. For years they produced beers on this seven barrel system. Faced with high demand they were required to upgrade their entire system to a new 20 barrel system that also employs a number of 40 barrel cylindrical-conical unitanks for fermentation. Their facility is quite large, and they still have adequate room for further expansion according to Tucker.

The first beer I tried was the Pinhead Pils. (6.3% abv) It was very pale in color with a nice firm head. It was a clean Pilsner with a noticeable presence of alcohol, and it finished with a barely detectible note of diacetyl. (so does Pilsner Urquell) Pinhead had a nice hop balance from start to finish. I noticed that it was a very high alcohol Pilsner, and then I also noticed that all of their offerings were quite strong – all over 6%. This may be the Bozone way of “getting around” the 48 ounce per person limit.

Tucker said once per year they make a special wet-hop beer made with “C” hops all grown locally in the Gallatin Valley. A celebration of the fall harvest and local ingrediants. This beer sounds very unique and like quite a treat – especially for hop lovers. I’ll have to visit next fall when it is on tap.

I won’t go into details about the other beers, you’ll have to visit yourself and try them out. Don’t worry about too much about not being able to sample them given the limit, they do offer flights of beer (four 4 ounce glasses of your choice), and if you still don’t get a chance to sample all of their styles, just take home a couple growlers, or come back the next day. There is no better place in the States to visit than Bozeman. So hang out and stay for a while. With that said, I have one final note. When I woke up on Friday morning it was snowing. (It will snow in July too) The locals wanted me to make sure and point that out. Tourism is great, but rich immigrants wear on the natives. Bozemanites love harsh winters and are doing their best to chase the flat-landers back to their warm weather states!