Lyke 2 Drink
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Lyke 2 Drink
Do You Lyke2Drink? That's why veteran drinks journalist Rick Lyke created Lyke2Drink. Read about beer, wine and spirits; travels to breweries, distilleries and wineries; festivals and events; alcohol issues; beverage marketing; and have fun along the way. Cheers!
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Oak via Airmail
The mail today contained an awkward white envelope that had been airmailed to me from London. I say awkward because it was unevenly weighted and whatever was inside moved around quite a bit. As I brought it inside I noticed a more than slight aroma of whisky.I opened it up to find a letter from the folks at Glenfiddich and a thick piece of oak with the width and height dimensions of a postcard that was once part a barrel of Scotch that had been filled on March 7, 1977. Glenfiddich has released 482 bottles of Glenfiddich Vintage Reserve 1977, priced at $750 each -- if you can find one. As the letter states, "From the cask piece, you can experience the qualities that are inherent in the whisky from years of interaction within the cask."Now it is not every day that I get a piece of oak via airmail from the other side of the Atlantic. I agree that the aroma from the piece of wood gives me a good idea of what the scent of the actually Scotch must be like. The package certainly caught my eye more than a simple press release. And I understand that if Glenfiddich sent an actual tasting sample of the 31-year-old whisky to every drinks journalist they would not have any of the precious liquid left to sell.All of that said, I hope other distillers don't get the idea of substituting pieces of barrels for tasting samples. That would make writing about spirits, wine and beer far less interesting.
posted by Rick Lyke @ 10:46 PM
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Travel Troubles: On Foot and in the Air
   My travel record is legendary among those who have worked with me or known me over the years. I've been trapped in New York City by Nor'easters; found by a couple of hurricanes and a few tropical storms; had airplanes land at airports that were not on my itinerary; and rented cars that were nearly out of gas. I've had the typical lost luggage, misplaced hotel reservations and flight delays and cancellations. My contention is that if you travel enough, these things are bound to happen. With the condition of the airline system in the U.S., more people will be discovering that travel is less fun everyday. Recently, I was on a USAir flight with a colleague from Charlotte to Philadelphia that was delayed about 30 minutes. We had a tight connection in Philadelphia to make a flight to Syracuse for a business meeting. After sprinting from the B Terminal to the C Terminal and then taking the shuttle to the F Terminal, we made it to the gate 12 minutes before the Syracuse flight's departure time. Just in time to watch the plane being pushed back. The friendly gate attendant from USAir then decided to lecture us that we needed to be at the gate at least 10 minutes before the departure time. After I pointed out that both my watch and the clock on the wall said it was 12 minutes before the scheduled flight time she just shrugged. I asked and she confirmed that our flight was indeed oversold, so it did not matter that USAir had caused us to be late in arriving in Philadelphia in the first place.That brings me to my recent European adventures. Our trip involved trains, planes, automobiles and buses, so there was plenty of opportunity for "fun." If you don't count dealing with Rome taxi drivers, there were just two mishaps, confined to the start and end of the trip.Issue one had to do with the most basic form of transportation: walking. When we arrived on the first day in Bamberg I decided to change footwear into a brand new pair of Merrell casual shoes I had purchased for the trip. We walked from our room at Brauerei Fassla directly across the street to Brauerei Spezial. A total distance from our room to our table of no more than 50 yards. As you can see from this photo, the Merrells just could not handle the stress! I was in shock when my foot started to feel a chill and I looked down to see my toes sticking out. The upper had separated from the sole. I had to haul the shoes around Europe for the next 15 days to get them back to Charlotte to return them.After visiting Brhea, we planned to leave Rome's Ciampino airport on the morning of Nov. 11 on a Ryan Air flight to Frankfurt Hahn. There we would rent a car for a leisurely drive in German wine country before arriving at the Frankfurt Main Airport for our flight home the next day. That was before a Ryan Air flight arriving the day before encountered a flock of birds on its approach to Rome.The Ryan Air pilot declared an emergency as one of the engines smoked. The hard landing caused one of the landing gear to break. A couple of the crew and six passengers were slightly injured using the emergency slides, but a real tragedy was avoided. However, the next day when we arrived at the airport the plane was still blocking the runway. The airport was clogged with people and no one was giving out much information. There was no one at any of the Ryan Air counters. No one had a clue when the airport might try to move the plane so the airport could reopen. We decided our best bet was to keep moving and try another form of transportation. (I found out later that police had to be called to the airport because angry passengers finally had enough of the delays with no clear information. For it's part, Ryan Air emailed me around 12:15 p.m. to say that my 9:20 a.m. flight had been cancelled. By then Sandy and I were already set to board a train in Rome.)The 14 hour train trip from Rome to Frankfurt included changes in Milan and Basel, Switzerland. At the first stop we purchased some food and a small bottle of Veneto Merlot and two cans of Splugen Lager. This beer is a Carlsberg product that fit the mood of a 14 hour train ride -- most of it in the dark -- perfectly. The beer was fairly flat and had little hop character, but I was still glad to be able to get to Frankfurt in time for the flight home. Thankfully, the train on last leg of the trip in Germany had Franziskaner Weissbier available, so I made that my last brew in Europe.All in all, it was a fun trip to Europe. Even with the shoe incident and train journey with Splugen.
posted by Rick Lyke @ 7:36 AM
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Florence and Prato: A Day in Tuscany
      Wine is an important part of Italian life. In Tuscany, it's religion. If you doubt it for an instant, visiting the Duomo in Florence will prove the point.The Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore was built between 1296 and 1436. Designed by Filippo Brunelleschi, the church's massive dome dominates the Florence skyline and its green and pink marble exterior speaks of the region's wealth and power that existed hundreds of years ago. If you are in good shape you can climb the tower next to the church, but I'd recommend spending your time wandering the church. During my visit I was admiring the carvings on one of the massive wood doors when I noticed that a key component woven around the exterior was grapes. For Tuscans, God and grapes coexist quite nicely.We took a fairly packed high speed train on a Saturday morning run from Rome to Florence. From there, Sandy and Brhea went east in search of Gucci at something called "The Mall," which is a set of designer outlets, I went east in search of a quieter part of Tuscany. Prato is a quick 25 minute train ride from Florence. Prato grew as a major center of textiles in the region. Like its bigger neighbor, it has a church as its central focus, which features recently restored frescoes from Filippo Lippi. Unlike Florence, where the streets were clogged with thousands of shoppers and tourists, it felt like I had Prato much to myself.I wandered around for a couple of hours, admiring the Prato Duomo, and searching fruitlessly for some famous fresh Prato Biscotti. I did, however, find a small restaurant behind the Duomo that gave me a feel for authentic Tuscan food and drink. The Aroma di Vino was open when most of the rest of the town was shut for siesta. I had a bowl of ribollita, a vegetable and bread soup where just about all of the broth has been soaked up, and a pasta dish with a ground pork sauce. A glass of house red washed the meal down nicely. The purple liquid had nice hints of plum skins and berries throughout.I went back to Florence after lunch and did some site seeing and shopping, stopping in the Mercato Centrale square to find a place to meet back up with the girls for dinner. We settled on Trattoria Za-Za at just about the same time that at least 100 other tourists tired from a day of walking Florence made the same decision. This meant that, while we had about two and a half hours before our train headed back to Rome, we barely made it out of the restaurant in time because the restaurant appeared to have more hostesses than waiters. We sat outsie in an enclosed tent and the food at Za-Za was nice, as was the wine. The restaurant was priced decently, especially compared to what we had been experiencing in Rome.
posted by Rick Lyke @ 7:14 AM
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Rome: Wine, Taxi Drivers and Ruins
                We spent six nights in Rome so we could maximize our time visiting with Brhea, who is in the fall of her senior year at Loyola's campus in the Italian capital.Rome has some of the most interesting sites to visit in all of Europe. From Vatican City to roaming ancient ruins to checking out museums, there is a ton to see and do.For all that is good about Rome, the city can also be difficult for visitors. It's cliche to say that Italian drivers are crazy. The folks on motorcycles appear to have a collective death wish and the driving styles of the locals would qualify as road rage in most parts of the world. The cab drivers can run the spectrum from semi-helpful to thieves -- and I don't just mean taking the long way to the airport. From bumping the rate from daytime to nighttime during the afternoon, to claiming you gave them a 10 Euro note when you paid with a 50 Euro bill, the taxi drivers of Rome really harm the image of the city. When it comes to food and drink, get ready to open you wallet wide. A good meal in a good restaurant is expensive. It's hard to have a very simple lunch at a cafeteria-style place for under 20 Euro a person. If you want to have a Bellini at the Harry's Bar at the top of the fashionable Via Veneto it will cost you 18 Euro -- about $24. It's not news that when you travel to a big city you can expect to pay inflated prices. In the case of Rome, however, you will find it difficult to find moderately priced places that are worth your time and money.We did get one pleasant surprise during our visit in the form of a restaurant that we had enjoyed six years ago during our last visit to Rome. Girarrosto Toscano on Via Campania -- a quick walk off Via Veneto,, near the city wall and Villa Borghese -- has kept serving some very nice meals at prices that are "reasonable" for Rome. In a city full of restaurants, this is one that I can recommend that will not disappoint, from the olives and bread at the start of the meal to the vin santo and biscotti at the end of the meal.I did have several nice bottles of wine while in Rome. My three favorites were:Villa Sandi Prosecco Valdobbiadene D.O.C.: This sparkler is a crisp and clean wine. There is a good level of tart green apple and acidity in this wine. Finer bubbles and more Champagne-like than most preseccos you will drink.La Scolca Gavi 2007 Bianco Secco: A very nice wine to go with a late lunch. A straw, slightly green color. Tasty minerally texture with some slight grapefruit notes around the edges.Capsula Viola 2007 Toscana: This is a blended Tuscan white that is fairly affordable. Nice floral aromas, light flavor. Pear and apple notes.
posted by Rick Lyke @ 5:57 PM
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Chasing Family Roots Near Verona
     Our first stop in Italy was Verona. We wanted to check out the city and use it as a base for exploring the nearby countryside where one branch of my wife's family, the Salvagno clan, is from. In one day we would see the town Sandy's great grandfather left in the early part of the last century to come to America and visit the Salvagno Olive Oil Co. to meet some of Sandy's distant cousins who make a very fine olive oil. In the morning we got a driver to take us into the countryside to Nesente Valpantena, where olive groves mix with vineyards and Salvagno Frantoio per Olive is located. Sandy and Brhea really wanted to see the place and I don't think we were expecting to really meet any Salvagnos, but before we were done introductions were made and hugs exchanged. Francesca Salvagno, 26, acted as our tour guide and we were joined along the way by her father,Giovanni. We also got the chance to meet a sister and a cousin. In the conversation we somehow discovered that we nearly bumped into Francesca last fall during our 25th anniversary trip to California. She went to Califronia in late October at nearly the exact time we were there to visit olive producers and spent time at Pietra Santa Winery in the Cienega Valley where the Blackburn family and Italian winemaker Alessio Carni also turn out olive oil.The Salvagno Olive Oil operation was founded in 1923. The family was originally from Venice, but moved to Nesente, to the north of Verona and near Lago di Garda, to start farming. Before long they were growing olive trees.It takes about 100 kilograms of olives to produce just 15-20 kilograms of oil. The family grows and buys olives from 600 area farmers. They use five different kinds of olives -- Leccino, Grignano, Pendolino, Frantoio and Favarol -- and cold presses the oil. The oil is filtered through cotton or, as the locals like it, consumed unfiltered. The company makes about 200,000 liters of extra virgin olive oil each year. In addition to the oils, the company has a line of olive snack products, plus olive-based beauty products.In addition to the personalized tour of the well maintained production facility, we were given an olive oil tasting. It was a real treat for all of us to make a Salvagno connection in Italy.After we were driven back to Verona, we headed to the train station for the quick 25 minute trip to the Lago di Garda town of Desenzano. For most of the trip grape vineyards were visible along alternating sides of the rail tracks. It was raining heavily when we arrived and it continued for the two and a half hour visit. We made a stop in one of the few cafes that were open during the late afternoon for some snacks and wine. Sandy had a glass of local red, while I had a white blend made from Veneto vineyards. These wines were not very remarkable, but they were perfect for the casual meal we were enjoying.Upon returning to Verona we stopped at a wine shop just steps away from our hotel and picked up a bottle of Bertani Villa Novare 2005 Valpolicella Ripasso Classico Superiore. This was a deep red, purple color wine with a nice fruit aroma. The wine was very smooth and drank like it was much more expensive than the 14 Euro price. It put a perfect ending to a day of discovering some of Sandy's Italian roots.
posted by Rick Lyke @ 7:57 AM
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Lunch in Innsbruck
        We left Munich via train heading to Verona, Italy, for the next leg of our trip. It is about a five and a half hour passage that chugs up the Alps, through the Brenner Pass and glides back down the other side, with some of the most picturesque scenery you could expect from a rail journey.We wanted to break the trip up a bit, so we left the train in Innsbruck, Austria, for a few hours. Innsbruck, the capital of the Tyrol, hosted the 1964 and 1976 Winter Olympic Games. Looking out from the city in one direction you see amazing mountain peaks. The other direction you look up at the Olympic ski jump.It was a pretty warm day for Innsbruck in November and the nearby mountains did not have the snow that I had expected to see, although some of the other Alps we passed on the train journey already were covered. Innsbruck is a beautiful, compact city that is a good walking town. There was quite a bit of construction going on in the core of the city, but we navigated around to stop into several shops, take in a few of the sites -- including the Golden Roof in the old town section of the city-- and enjoy a meal.We stopped for lunch at the Goldenes Dachl Gasthaus, which is right off the main square. We were seated quickly and soon had beverages and food in front of us. I had a steak with fried onions and spatzel, Sandy had a traditional Tyrolian dish of hunks of ham and potatoes with a fried egg on top, while Brhea repeated her meal from the Spatenhaus with pumpkin soup and wiener schnitzel. My beer choice was a half liter of Zillertal Zwicklbier. This "fresh" beer is traditionally non-filtered and is often the "house" beer of the brewery, meant to be consumed quickly. The Zillertal Zwicklbier I tried was bright gold and had a nice effervescence. It was on the hoppy side of a pilsner and really went nice with lunch.After we toured a little longer is was back on the train to head to Italy. We all agreed that Innsbruck certainly deserved more time, but we were glad we decided to make the time to at least get a first taste on this visit.
posted by Rick Lyke @ 2:20 PM
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Munich: The Good, the Bad and the Malty
             We arrived at our hotel in Munich during the middle of the taping of what we were told was “German Idol," so we were among fresh hopeful faces and cameras during our stay. We were filled with as much anticipation as the contestants because of another young face -- our youngest daughter, Brhea, would be joining us for this leg of our journey. Brhea is a senior at Loyola University in Chicago and is studying this semester in Rome. She is writing an interesting travel blog – Lyke2Travel – that has some great photography.While in Munich we got back on a beer theme and managed to visit several of the famed beer halls in the old section of the city, plus have a couple of beers at other spots along the way. Munich is in many ways like Beer Disneyland. There are plenty of fun and great things about Disney theme parks. There are also things that can tend to not to be so great. No matter your opinion of the experience, you soon realize that Disney does one thing very well – it attracts people and coverts them into paying customers. That's Munich, where beer halls take up major chunks of prime real estate and seat hundreds -- in some cases thousands -- of thirsty locals and tourists. As you walk the streets of Munich, you will pass by the likes of Ayingers, Paulaner, Schneider Weisse and Hacker Pschorr, among others. All have a steady stream of customers to their unique combination of restaurant and beer marketing operation. We managed to stop at three for meals and we batted .667 in the experience.Hofbrauhaus at Platzl 9: This is a massive complex of rooms and experiences. We opted not to join the crowd heading for the buffet and "Bavarian experience" show and we did not go to the beer hall you usually see on travel shows where the band urges you at regular intervals to lift your glass for a drink. Instead, we headed for a second story restaurant. After first being told they were completely full -- even though a third or more of the tables were empty and stayed that way during our dinner -- we were seated near groups of Germans that were out for a night on the town or who had earlier attended the Bayern Munich 3-1 win over Arminia Bielefeld.The experience at Hofbrauhaus was amazingly bad except for the fact that my wife and I had the chance to have dinner with our daughter for the first time in a couple of months. I'm fairly sure the waiter got our beer order wrong. We asked for the Oktoberfest, but the beer we were served tasted kind of light to me for a festival brew. Our bill said we were charged 13.80 Euro for two mass (liter mugs) of "Hell."The food was a disappointment. Food arrived in a random fashion, a dish here, a plate there. Some people had food, others did not. Some food never showed. Most of the food was not very hot. The creamed mushrooms over dumplings were industrial foodservice at best. The spatzle with cheese was so so. My wurstlteller plate of sausages, mashed potatoes and sauerkraut made me feel about as far away from the heart of Munich as possible. It was the weakest meal I had during my time in Germany. Better yet was the fact that my wife's order of a pork knuckle never arrived. We watched plate after plate fly by with dozens of good looking pieces of pork, but our waiter apparently could never snag one from the kitchen. After more than an hour we waved him off and asked for the check. The waiter blamed the chef, but since his tip was automatically built into the bill he did not have to worry. He brought out the check and, as I was about to pay he said, "Sorry, I made error." He returned with an updated check that had 1.20 Euro added on for two glasses of tap water we asked for while cooling our heels waiting for the food. That was a nice touch.Augustiner-Bräustuben at Orlandostrasse 5: This place shares a corner with the Hofbrauhaus, but is miles away in beer, food and service quality. Brhea and I went to this place for a father-daughter lunch and each ordered the haxenteller, which is two types of pork knuckle. This time the pork arrived and it was great, particularly the roasted version. The service was friendly and efficient.I sampled three beers while at Augustiner. The Augustiner Brau Dunkel is a mahogany brown with a nice malty nose. The flavor was nicely balanced, with more than a hint of roasted malt. The Weissbier was a big hit. Cloudy, amber gold color with the aroma of banana and a classic wheat beer flavor. The Oktoberfest is golden yellow brew with a proud light bodied head. This brew had the great malty character that I'd expect from a Munich Oktoberfest.Fortified from a great meal we went out to the square and took photographs before meeting up with Sandy.Spatenhaus an der Oper at Residenzstrasse 12 across from the Bavarian Opera House: We found our way to Spatenhaus after jumping off the "hop on, hop off" Gray Line tour of Munich. It turned out to be a good find and our best meal in Munich. The food was fantastic. We all ended up ordering the same dishes, which is something we usually don't do. We shared a rocket salad (mixed greens) and then had pumpkin soup that was some of the best I recall ever having. Rich flavor, garnished with sour cream and roasted pumpkin seeds. We enjoyed the wiener schnitzel, which was served in very ample portions.The beer was as good as the food, maybe better. The Franziskaner Weissbier had an interesting, almost bubble gum nose. The cloudy orange gold color was beautiful and the flavor had good notes of banana, clove and other spices. My favorite beer was the rich and malty Lowenbrau Triumphator Dopplebock. This is a dark and thick brew. It was loaded with plenty of dark beer character and obviously packed a punch. Perfect for a cool, misty Bavarian evening.The next time in Munich I would certainly visit Spatenhaus and Augustiner. I'd avoid Hofbrauhaus and instead try one of the many other beer hall options.
posted by Rick Lyke @ 3:52 AM
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Tasting Wine in the Prince Bishop's Cellar
   After touring the massive Residenz complex In Wurzburg, we had worked up a sufficient thirst to join a group headed for a short wine tasting in the basement wine cellar. Staatlicher Hofkeller Wurzburg is the second largest winery in Germany. The fact that this once served as the Prince Bishop’s Court Cellar gives you an idea of the kind of entertaining that took place upstairs. The fact is that income from wine production helped build Wurzburg and created wealth in the area. The Sun Catcher Ridge that you can see from the rail station is renowned for the quality of its grapes. The massive underground cellar is the kind of place that could inspire a Hollywood epic about knights and princesses. While it is a dark and somewhat foreboding place, happily the cellar has been used for centuries to make wine and not as a dungeon.We walked down a huge stone staircase, into the underground chamber lighted by hundreds of candles. We passed huge casks, including at least one dating back to the 1500s, to a series of long tables where we sat among a group of mostly retired cruise passengers from the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Great Britain.We were able to try three moderately priced wines. If it felt a little like home it was because root stock from the Finger Lakes in New York was used to rebuild the vineyards after they were destroyed by philoxeria.Randersackerer Marsberg 2007 Silvaner Kabinett: This dry white has a nice fruit aroma and an extremely crisp taste. This would be the perfect aperitif before a holiday meal.Hofkeller 2007 Riesling Kabinett: This was a medium dry wine that is fruit forward and lively. The grape offers a nice balance between the sugar and acid content.Abtswinder Altenberg 2007 Scheurebe Spatlese: This is a sweet and flowery wine. Climate changes mean that local wineries no longer can produce ice wine on a regular basis, but this apple and banana filled wine is clearly designed for the end of the evening.
posted by Rick Lyke @ 11:17 AM
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Tasting Weissbier in Wine Country
       After arriving on an early train to Wurzburg we made a stop at Wurzburger Hofbrau for a tour and lunch with brewer Michael David and Roland Schafer, who is responsible for the brewery’s export business. Wurzburger’s brewery is large compared to the breweries we visited in Bamberg – producing 300,000 hectoliters annually -- but it is a mid-sized German brewer when compared to the giant brands.Founded in 1643, the company is the oldest business in Wurzburg. After the 30 Years War and occupation by Sweden, much of the area’s vineyards were destroyed. Beer helped fill the void. Wurzburger makes 17 varieties of beer using ingredients from Franconia and Bavaria. Its flagship brands are Wurzburger Pils and Julius Echter Heffe-Weissbier. After Prohibition Wurzburger’s brands were among the most widely available German imports in the U.S. Its brands can still be found in the American market, but brands like Beck’s and Spaten have eclipsed it through marketing power.David toured us through the brewhouse, lagering tanks, bottling area and warehouse. The 31 fermenters can each handle 2,000 hectoliters of beer during the 4-6 week maturation period. One of David’s critical jobs is monitoring the carbon dioxide levels as the beer is made.“CO2 is extremely important to the drinkability of a beer. It’s a big part of what makes a beer a healthy drink,” David says. Getting the hop profile right in each beer is also very important. For Wurzburger Pils they use four different hops, including aromatic hops at the end of the process.In walking through the massive warehouse you get an idea of the scope of the operation. Trucks pull into an enclosed area to have containers of empties removed and new kegs and cases of filled bottles loaded. In Germany, 90-95 percent of all bottles are returned to the brewer for refilling. Before they can be sent to be sanitized, each case needs to be checked to be sure all of the bottles are matching.The Wurzburger restaurant and beergarden are beautiful spots to spend a lunch. We had roasted pork shoulder in dark beer sauce and a Wurzburg wedding plate (sliced pork and a tangy horseradish sauce) that went perfectly with the fresh beer. Here are notes for some of the beers tasted during the visit to Wurzburger:Wurzburger Pils: Golden color pilsener with a soft mouth feel for the amount of hops. Made in the Franconian style with 34 IBUs. Good hop character that makes the beer very refreshing.Wurzburger Citizen Pils: This is Wurzburger’s “value” brand that comes in at 30 IBUs. It is less crisp than the than the flagship Pils, but still is refreshing and light.Julius Echter Heffe-Weissbier: Classic wheat beer qualities. A frothy head and bright cloudy yellow color. Cloves forward aroma. Nice banana notes in the flavor profile. Wurzburger Schwarzbier: Rich red, brown color and a rocky and firm head. Nice Munich malt flavor that is extremely smooth and rewarding.
posted by Rick Lyke @ 11:05 AM
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A Day in Wurzburg, Germany
       We left Bamberg, the beer capital of Franconia, and traveled by train in under an hour to Wurzburg, the Franconian wine capital. Our stay in town was a quick 24 hours, but during that time we took in a visit to a brewery, a winery, a historic site, strolled through the market square and had a pleasant meal along the Main River.The city's roots go back to around 1000 BC, but two violent acts define Wurzburg's place history. The first was in 689 when Irish missionaries Kilian, Kolonat and Totnan were beheaded on the orders of Duchess Geilana. She was angry because Kilian had told her husband, Duke Gozbert, that their marriage was immoral. Geilana was the widow of Gozbert's brother. The next violent act took place on March 16, 1945, when 90 percent of the city was destroyed and 5,000 people killed in a raid by 225 British Lancaster bombers.Unlike Bamberg, which was spared catastrophic bombing damage during World War II, Wurzburg had to be rebuilt. With most of the men gone, the Rubble Ladies collected bricks and what artifacts that could be found from destroyed buildings so that they could be rebuilt. The Residenz, a UNESCO World Heritage Site designed by Balthasar Neumann as the home of the city’s Prince Bishops, was painstakingly rebuilt and was not completed until 1987. The fortress Marienberg towers above the city, but the peaceful activity of cultivating grapes now goes on along its slopes. Wurzburg is the perfect place to start a tour of the Romantic Road or to use as a base for visiting wineries. In fact, the town hosts several wine festivals and some nearby wineries have guest rooms. Tour boats traveling from Amsterdam to Budapest make frequent stops in the city. On our evening in Wurzburg we had dinner at Alte Mainmuhle, which is located on the west side of the Alte Mainbrucke, a bridge reminiscent of the Charles Bridge in Prague because it is now pedestrian only and lined with statues. Sandy enjoyed the sauerbraten and dumplings, while I had a pike-perch fillet. The bottle of Furst Lowenstein Homburg Kallmuth 2007 Riesling Kabinett Trocken was minerally and tart.After dinner, it was a quick 10 minute walk to the other side of the river to our room at the Mercure Hotel. The next morning we would leave for Munich.
posted by Rick Lyke @ 10:53 AM
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Presidents and Beer: The Best and The Worst
 I penned the cover story for the current issue of All About Beer about U.S. Presidents and the impact they have on brewing, beer and beer drinkers. Americans appear to be going to the polls in record numbers today to decide the next Commander in Chief. If you've not yet voted, please get out and cast your vote.The U.S. Presidency carries with it an awesome amount of power and responsibility. That’s the case whether you are talking about nuclear arms or beer. Public policy shapes everything from the price to the availability of the beer we enjoy. Whether it is a new tax on beer or farm subsidies, politics has an impact on the brewing industry. Sometimes the changes are subtle and in other cases, such as Prohibition, the impact can dramatic.When it comes to the Presidency, decisions made on policies have a national impact. They can boons or busts for beer drinkers. It is hard to say in the current race who would be better for beer drinkers. John McCain's wife owns a chunk of a Arizona beer distributorship. Barack Obama made it a point to campaign at a Pennsylvania brewpub. Whoever wins faces a huge budget deficit and will likely need to find new revenue. This has caused beer taxes to rise in the past.One of the bellweather questions for American voters has traditionally been, "Which candidate would you rather have a beer with?" History clearly shows a few that stand above the rest.Good Beer PresidentsFranklin Delano Roosevelt became the 32nd President at the height of the Great Depression in 1933. A key plank of his campaign was repeal of Prohibition. Roosevelt sensed the mood of the country, which had shifted away from temperance and could no longer suffer silently through the loss of jobs and tax revenue. FDR pushed Congress to repeal the Volstead Act. On March 22, 1993, Roosevelt signed the Beer and Wine Revenue Act, which allowed the federal government to collect taxes on alcohol, while giving states the right to regulate the sale of the beer, wine and spirits. James Earl Carter Jr. served just a single term as president, but in 1978 he signed a bill that launched the largest home brewing movement since the days of Prohibition. The law signed by Carter exempted homebrewed beer produced for personal and family consumption from excise taxes. The law still allowed states to prohibit citizens from making beer, wine, cider and mead, but soon homebrew shops started to open and Americans started discovering just how good fresh homemade beer could be. Alabama remains as the only state that does not legally allow homebrewing. James Madison was elected as the 4th President of the United States in 1808, but before he became President Madison was serving in the House of Representatives and proposed the first bill ever designed to tax and regulate alcoholic beverages. Normally, this might get him nominated for the list of Bad Beer Presidents, but the congressman from Virginia did so for two basic reasons. The new country was in tough financial shape and needed a source of steady revenue. Madison also wanted to give domestic brewers and distillers a leg up on foreign competitors. Madison believed the Tariff Act of 1789 would encourage "the manufacture of beer in every State in the Union." Thomas Jefferson was elected as the 3rd President of the U.S. in 1800. He was the principal author of the Declaration of Independence and recognized as the top oenophile to ever occupy the White House. Most people believe that wine was his one and only beverage, but beer was a staple for Jefferson. During the War of 1812, Jefferson petitioned the government to grant Englishman Joseph Miller citizenship. Miller was a brewer and Jefferson wrote, “He is about to settle in our country, and to establish a brewery in which art I think him as skillful a man as has ever come to America. I wish to see this beverage become common instead of the whiskey which kills one third of our citizens and ruins their families."George Washington was elected in 1789 as the first President of the United States. Records indicate that English-style porter was his drink of choice and that it was regularly stocked at Mount Vernon. Washington was also a homebrewer, but in those days the scale was much greater than it is today for most enthusiasts. Beer production had to be at a level that could satisfy a household, including family, guests and servants. A 1754 recipe for a 30-gallon recipe for small beer in a personal notebook of Washington’s is now housed at the New York Public Library. Bad Beer PresidentsWarren Harding was the 29th President of the United States. He served from 1921 to 1923, when he died from a heart attack at age 57. While in Congress, Harding supported the Volstead Act and the 18th Ammendment, which brought Prohibition to the U.S. While in the White House, Harding often hosted all-night poker games. These events featured a steady stream of alcohol for Harding, his friends, political cronies and members of Congress who turned up to gamble. While he was busy violating the Volstead Act, Harding signed the Willis Campbell Act in 1921 to tighten the screws on the average citizen. The bill outlawed doctors from prescribing beer and liquor for medicinal purposes. This loophole was commonly exploited during the early Prohibition years.Abraham Lincoln was elected the 16th President of the United States in 1860, winning a four-way race running as a Republican even though he received just 39.8 percent of the votes. Lincoln is widely regarded as one of greatest U.S. leaders for ending slavery and leading the north to victory in the Civil War, but when it comes to beer Lincoln has a less than stellar record. Lincoln pushed through the Internal Revenue Act in 1862 to help pay the mounting war debt by placing a $1 per barrel tax on beer and ale. The government has continued to tax beer and those duties now account for more than 40 percent of the price of an average beer.Rutherford B. Hayes was elected the 19th President of the United States in 1876. During his presidency the temperance movement was picking up steam. Under the direction of his wife, Lucy, alcohol, smoking and profanity were banned from the White House. It was not a popular decision among the politicians and world dignitaries invited to White House functions, who stuck Mrs. Hayes with the nickname Lemonade Lucy.George H.W. Bush was elected the 41st President of the United States in 1998, making the famous pledge “Read my lips: no new taxes.” During Bush’s term the budget deficit grew and the Democrat controlled Congress called for revenue raising measures. In 1990, Congress passed a luxury tax on items like fur coats, jewelry, yachts and private airplanes. They also passed a bill that doubled the federal excise tax on beer to $18 a barrel. Bush went back on his campaign pledge and signed the tax measures. Woodrow Wilson was elected the 28th President in 1912. He was reelected in 1916. Wilson’s record regarding beer is a mixed bag. Wilson was in favor of temperance, not total prohibition. Wilson was in office when the Volstead Act was passed, but he vetoed the bill. Congress overrode the veto. But his lack of strong leadership to stop the Prohibition allowed the momentum built by the dry movement to successfully line up the votes in Congress and state legislatures to change the direction of American culture. The Anti-Saloon League successfully used World War I grain shortages as a tool to put brewers out of business. The sale of grain to distillers was banned during the war and Wilson slashed the grain supplied to brewers by 30 percent, while cutting the maximum alcohol level in beer to 2.75 percent.
posted by Rick Lyke @ 4:06 PM
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Bamberg Notes: Beyond the Beer and Back
           Bamberg is rightfully the home of the Franconian Brewery Museum, housed on the grounds of the St. Michael’s Monastery in the former brewery at the impressive site. The Frankisches Brauereimuseum contains an impressive collection of local brewery signage, bottles, advertising, steins, photography and equipment. One interesting spot to visit at the very bottom of the complex is the former icehouse that brewery workers would to fill in the winter so they could lager beer in cool conditions throughout the year. After touring the museum it is worth walking around the back of the massive structure for an amazing view of Bamberg. ++ ++If you are keeping score, we managed to make it to eight of the nine breweries in Bamberg during the two days, only missing Privatbrauerei Kaiserdom. Until recently there was a tenth Bamberg brewery, Maisel Brau, but it is now shuttered.++ ++Bamberg Tourism & Congress Service has put together a couple of packages for beer lovers traveling through Franconia. For 24 Euro you can purchase a Brewery Trail package that includes a Bamberg backpack, beer stein, coasters from each of the breweries, an informational brochure, postcard and vouchers for five half liter beers (or four beers and admission to the Franconian Brewery Museum. For 153 Euro per person in a double room you get all of the above, two nights in a local hotel, a Bamberg card good for free public transport and admission to a number of museums, a three course dinner and entry to the Franconian Beer Museum. They also can arrange guides for groups or individuals, and I’d highly recommend Stephanie Weiss based on her knowledge of local history and familiarity with Bamberg’s brewers.++ ++There is a great deal more to do in Bamberg than just brewery hop, but that filled most of our time. We did manage to check out some of the sites along the way and we were most impressed spending a few minutes in the Bamberg Cathedral. Inside the massive four spire church you will find the final resting place of Pope Clement II, the only papal grave in Germany. The art is amazing, including the Bamberger Rider sculpture dating from around 1230, the tomb of Heinrich II and Kunigunde by Tilman Riemenschneider and the wooden Marian Altar carved by Veit Stoss in the 1500s. If you are not into beer, history or art, there is always the butcher shops in Bamberg, which offer an impressive range of sausages.
posted by Rick Lyke @ 7:01 PM
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Sleeping Over the Brewery
     During our time in Bamberg we were guests of Brauereigasthof Fassla at 19-21 Obere Konigstrasse. The clean and comfortable rooms are just one floor above Fassla’s tavern and the brewing operation, making it very easy to have a quick nightcap.The Bamberg Tourism & Congress Service and the German Tourism Board made a great choice in recommending the hotel. The location is a quick walk from Bamberg’s rail station and it is an easy stroll to most Bamberg breweries and historic sites.Fassla is popular with the locals and offers a good range of beers. I had the Fassla Zwergla, a Marzen style beer, the first night at the hotel. It was a reddish-colored beer with a good level of malt. On the second evening I arrived back at the hotel in the middle of the launch of Bambergator, an 8.5 percent bock beer.When Bamberg brewers release their special seasonal beers crowds show up to join the celebration. There was a line waiting to get into Fassla, but once in the crowd was manageable and not packed in too tightly. The Bambergator is amber brown, with a fruity sweet flavor. There is a clear hint of alcohol and a slight roasted note to the brew. It marked a perfect finish to two days of tasting beer around Bamberg.
posted by Rick Lyke @ 6:52 PM
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Bamberg’s Smallest Brewery
 Bauerei Greifenklau, located along Laurenziplatz, is named for Count von Greifenclau, who founded the brewery in 1719. The brewery mainly sells its products through its pub, which has a courtyard beer garden that offers a great view of Altenburg Castle.We saw workmen in coveralls stopping for a drink at the end of the day and elderly women enjoying an early evening meal in the tavern. All felt equally at home. The quiet Bamberg neighborhood where the brewery is located is lucky to have Greifenklau close at hand. I had two beers during the visit. Greifenklau Lager is an amber gold color with a thin head. The beer has a refreshing hop bitterness. My favorite was the unfiltered wheat, which was a cloudy yellow gold color. The creamy head on this beer allowed the aroma of bananas to escape. The flavor had a classic banana and clove flavor base.
posted by Rick Lyke @ 6:47 PM
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Where Are the Monks?
     With a name like Brauerei Klosterbrau, which means Monastic Brewery, you would expect monks to have been running the place for centuries. The reality is quite different for this riverside brewery in Bamberg’s Mill District, along Obere Muhlbrucke.Bamberg’s Prince Bishop established Klosterbrau in 1533 at the site of a brewery that dates back to 1333. There were no monks then and the only monk you will find today is painted on the side of the building. What was a good marketing idea fro the Prince Bishop is still a good way to sell beer. In 1790 the brewery was privatized and in 1851 the Braun family took over the operation. Today it produces 3,500 hectoliters consumed primarily at the brewpub.Brewer Christian Kaiser gave us a quick tour around the brewing plant after we had tasted four of the beers. The compact operation has a comfortable tavern and a fantastic beergarden for the warmer weather months that overlooks the river.Klosterbrau Gold Pils is a crisp golden beer with a frothy head. The 4.9 percent alcohol by volume beer has a good solid level of hops. The Brown Beer is a malty and lively beer that is more amber gold than brown. The Schwaerzla is a 4.9 percent alcohol by volume black beer that had a nice level of caramel roasted quality. The 7.0 percent alcohol by volume Bock beer is worth searching out if you are in Bamberg during the fall months.
posted by Rick Lyke @ 6:29 PM
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A Pleasant Lunch at Mahr's Brau
       Across the street and just up a couple of buildings from Keesmann is Mahr’s Brau. Founded in 1670, this brewery has been run by the Michel family since the late 1800s. Brewmaster Stephan Michel was nice enough to take us on a walk through of the brewery and sat down to talk beer in Mahr's tavern.One sign of Mahr's popularity was the constant vehicle traffic during our visit, as locals pulled into the brewery courtyard to buy fresh beer. It is a unique aspect of many German breweries that adjacent to where tractor trailers are being loaded by forklifts, the trunks of personal vehicles are stuffed with a couple of cases of beer straight from the brewery for weekend enjoyment. Nearby, Mahr's traditional pub with its wood fired stove was crowded with regulars looking to warm up and get a good meal to accompany a mid-day brew.Michel is an interesting guy, a fourth generation formally trained German brewer who also spent time in California during the 1990s. Some of the “California surfer dude” attitude comes through from his days in Santa Barbara. His favorite U.S. beers include Firestone Walker ales, Victory Prima Pils, Samuel Adams Boston Lager, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, Red Hook IPA and Santa Barbara Brewing beers. He looks to America as a growth market for the company. Mahr’s already exports to the U.S., but Michel sees bigger opportunities – perhaps by contract brewing at an American brewery.Michel is a big fan of Hallertauer hops and the flavor characteristics they give to his beer. He believes they lend a “fresh” touch to his beers. Mahr’s also distills traditional beer schnapps. “You drink it warm – at room temperature – after dinner or lunch,” Michel says.We tried several beers over a lunch of roasted pork shoulder, each with distinct characteristics. Mahr’s Helles is light in body, with a crisp clean hoppy flavor. Mahr’s Festtag’s Weisse is a cloudy amber with upfront banana notes and a touch of cloves. Mahar’s Kellerbier Ungespunder, known to the locals as simply “U” is a lower carbonation beer that has plenty of balanced flavor. E.T.A., a brew commemorating the 200th anniversary of romantic poet Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann’s years in Bamberg is a brown beer with a nice smooth malty flavor.
posted by Rick Lyke @ 5:52 PM
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A Morning Visit to Keesmann Brau
       Our second day in Bamberg started off bright and early with a trip to Keesmann Brau, where Stefan Keesmann greeted us and played host for a brewery tour and tasting. Keesmann Brau is located in a sandstone building in the Wunderburg section of Bamberg, another area of the city with a rich brewing tradition.Keesmann is the eighth generation from his family to run the business, which dates back to 1867. The brewery produces 18,000 hectoliters of beer annually, 90 percent of which is a bright and clean tasting Pils that was created in 1979 by Stefan’s uncle Joseph.According to Keesmann, his uncle was determined to create a pils that would separate the brewery from the maltier pilsner beers from southern Bavaria. He wanted to make a Franconian-styled pils that was dryer, with soft edges.“We don’t need industrial beer. We have a handcrafted pils,” Keesmann says with a smile. Indeed Keesmann’s Herren Pils is extremely drinkable. At 4.6 percent alcohol by volume the beer is a perfect session brew. The hops in the beer are clear, but they do not bite and a half liter slides down quite easily. This is a clean brew with no place to hide defects. It is one of the best pilsner style beers I’ve tasted recently. While at the brewery we also sampled Sternla Lager, a 5.0 percent alcohol by volume beer that was relaunched by the brewery in 1998. The amber gold brew has nice malt character and has a smooth mouth feel. Keesmann Bock uses the same malt as the Herren Pils, just in a higher concentration. The beer is a tarnished gold color and uses slightly less hops, allowing the sweetness to come through with just a slight hint of fruit character. The 6.2 percent alcohol by volume beer is a seasonal treat that offers a bit of a change of pace. The brewery also makes Josephi Bock to mark St. Joseph’s Day in the predomanently Catholic City and to solute Joseph Keesmann, as well as a Weissbier.Typical of most Bamberg breweries, Keesmann opens at 9 a.m. and stays open Monday to Friday to 11:30 p.m. On Saturday they close at 3 p.m. Beer is an affordable part of German life, with Herren Pils going for just 2.20 Euro per half liter. Pricing on beers in Germany goes up with the alcohol content because of the tax structure. The Sternla Lager is 2.25 Euro, while the Keesmann Bock is 2.60 Euro.
posted by Rick Lyke @ 5:33 PM
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Drinking Smoke: A Visit to Schlenkerla
    We made our final stop on our first evening in Bamberg at Schlenkerla Heller-Brau Trum, home of the world famous Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier and one of the big reasons I wanted to visit Bamberg.Schlenkerla is like other Franconian brewpubs in that you enter from the street into a hall and then open a second door that brings you inside the tavern. You usually will not find a bar. Instead, you will be taken to one of a series long tables in the room that has seats available. There you will join strangers already enjoying beer or in the middle of a meal. This feels odd the first time you do it, but that soon passes as you get the feel for the Bamberg beer culture. A busy bartender is visible, expertly pouring half liter “Willy” glasses, and waiters and waitresses fill trays, whisking them to the tables.At Schlenkerla, Matthias Trum, the sixth generation of his family to run the brewery, joined us to talk about the beer while we had dinner. The smoked beer and conversation went extremely well with the schweinhaxe (pork knuckle) and potato dumpling on my plate.Trum says that today’s smoked beer is a throwback to the middle ages when brewers did not have access to the heat exchangers developed in England during the industrial revolution to kiln dry barley. In some parts of the world, ancient brewers could simply spread barley in the sun to dry. In Germany, the weather during most months meant maltsters needed to use open fires to dry malt. Where there is fire, there is smoke.“Rauchbier is historic beer. Beer as it used to be,” says Trum. While the smoke flavor notes add to the enjoyment of the beer, drying the barley over the beechwood fires also has beneficial aspects to the brewing process. According to Trum, just like smoking is a natural way to preserve meat, smoking barley provides a high degree of biological, chemical and flavor stability to his beer.It is important to note that smoking barley is a different process than roasting barley. Roasted barley is what gives stouts and porters a dark color. In the smoking process the barley is on grates and is directly contacted by the smoke from the open fires. The barley in this process is at a much lower temperature than is found when barley is roasted, which resembles what takes place in roasting coffee beans. The barley in roasting kettles spins while the malt is toasted to the desired color level.Schlenkerla produces 15,000 hectoliters of beer a year. In addition to the standard version of the Rauchbier, I also got a chance to try the fall seasonal Urbock. This brew tastes slightly less smoky, with more hop character and more malt used in the brewing process. The traditional Schlenkerla Rauchbier is 5.1 percent alcohol by volume, while the Urbock is a hefty 6.5 percent. Schlenkerla also makes a Rauchweizen and a Smoked Lent Beer that uses 50 percent unfiltered beer and has a red color. Trum calls this a “liquid snack” to help people who might be cutting back on certain meals during the pre-Easter observances.Trum is proud of the brewery’s heritage and the quality of its products. He is a booster of German beer in general, pointing out that while there is less diversity in beer styles in Germany when compared to Belgium or America, he feels the overall quality is higher.That statement might draw protests from brewers in those countries, but you cannot argue with the unique quality of Trum’s rauchbier. It’s one of the reasons why one of the places American brewers usually visit when they travel to Germany is Schlenkerla.
posted by Rick Lyke @ 7:44 PM
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Beer & Chocolate: Two of My Favorite Things
  In a city so committed to its beer it was only a minor surprise to find a chocolate shop in Bamberg turning out truffles made with beer.The smoked beer truffles at Café am Dom are just the thing for the beer lover with a sweet tooth. Owner Maria Heinreich uses the rauchbier from Schlenkerla to make the truffles. They are quite sweet, but balanced out by the unique smoked beer flavor found in the soft center.Trust me when I tell you this is an experience you just cannot get in a Whitman Sampler. A visit to this Islandtown shop along Ringleinsgasse is just another reason to love Bamberg.
posted by Rick Lyke @ 7:35 PM
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The Newcomer: Ambrausianum Gasthausbrauerei
   We walked across a couple of bridges over branches of the Regnitz, admiring Bamberg’s wonderful architecture along the way, before arriving at Ambrausianum Gasthausbrauerei.Ambros Michael Mahr’s family has owned the Dominikanerstrasse location for 200 years. For a good part of that time it was rented to distillers who made schnapps. When the last distillery closed in 1955, a series of restaurants took over the location, until Mahr established a brewery in 2004. The newcomer to the Bamberg beer scene has a prime Inselstadt (Islandtown) location and is an easy place to stop as you wander Bamberg.We tried a sampler – or bierprobe --of three draughts offered at the brewpub, a helles, a wheat beer and a dark lager. While the beers were all nicely put together, it is the Beer Punch that puts Ambrausianum on the Bamberg beer map. The Beer Punch is a Fall and Winter specialty. As Mahr put it, “We need something hot when the cold comes.” Starting with a dark lager base and garnished with an orange slice, Ambrausianum’s Beer Punch has many of the characteristics of a mulled cider. I’d be guessing at the exact recipe, since the Mahr family keeps it a secret. At 3 Euro a cup, it certain does a good job warding off the chill of a late October night in Germany.
posted by Rick Lyke @ 7:29 PM
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Arriving in Bamberg: First Stop is Spezial
   I spent Wednesday evening with my wife, Sandy, roaming the medieval city of Bamberg, Germany. After an overnight flight from Charlotte to Frankfurt, we snacked on a bratwurst and plastic cup of fresh Bitburger Pils at the airport rail station before boarding a train that took us east to Wurzburg, where we changed to a local that deposited us in Bamberg in a light rain.Bamberg is located along the Regnitz River in the upper Franconia section of Bavaria, at a major crossroads for traditional trade routes. Named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993, Bamberg has nine breweries to serve the needs of 70,000 inhabitants. The brewing tradition runs deep in the city. While the Reinheitsgobot (German Beer Purity Law of 1516) gets most of the press, the Bamberg Beer Purity Law of 1489 was actually the first to dictate that only hops, malt and water could be used in brewing. Prince Bishop Henry III Gross of Trockau had become frustrated by the use of herbs, berries and even mushrooms in the making of beer and decided to make a stand. Bamberg’s place as a brewing center was established.Obere Konigstrasse, where our hotel was located, was one of the main routes for thirsty trades in the Middle Ages and was once home for 23 breweries. The street’s brewing heritage is kept alive today by Baruerei Fassla and Brauerei Spezial, located just across the street. After a brief break to freshen up at our hotel – Brauereigasthof Fassla (more on this brewery hotel later) -- we met up with Bamberg guide Stephanie Weiss.Our first stop on our beer tour of Bamberg was the Spezial Brewery, which dates back to 1536. All of the breweries we visited in Bamberg have good restaurants serving hearty German meals. If you visit during a time when the kitchen is closed, each will usually have fresh pretzels and bread available -- or you can buy a sandwich from a nearby shop and bring it in to enjoy. At Spezial we got our first taste of fresh Rauchbier, a Bamberg specialty. Rauchbier – or smoked beer – gets its name from how the barley malt is dried using direct heat from beechwood fires. The smoke from the wood marries with the grain and shows through in the beer. If you wonder what beers tasted like before the mid-1800s, you can search for clues in a glass filled with a smoked beer.The smoked beer at Spezial is a nice amber brown color. The smoked flavor is more subtle than I expected. It is certainly present, but it is more a part of the flavor than the flavor. Spezial Rauchbier has a nice soft malty character and leads you to think of having a second, but we had places to go and beers to try.
posted by Rick Lyke @ 7:19 PM
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Thanks for Your Support
 As most of the regular readers of this blog know, I was diagnosed with prostate cancer earlier this year and had successful surgery in April. I discovered the disease because a friend who is fighting prostate cancer urged me to get a PSA test. As a result, I caught the illness early and had successful treatment.Pints for Prostates is my attempt to reach more guys through the universal language of beer and urge them to get tested. The program has now been around for about five months and thanks to many of you, the word is spreading. If you visit www.ustoo.org/pints you can catch up on some of the things we've been doing and some of the generous folks that have been helping us out along the way. We've had more than 50 blogs and websites run the Pints for Prostates banner, skyscraper and badge ads, plus many have run stories, too. Magazines have run articles and donated advertising space. We've had folks give us booth space to appear at beer festivals in Colorado, North Carolina and Texas. First and foremost, Pints for Prostates is an awareness campaign. So far we estimate that more than 25 million people have been exposed to the message!While we are not a fundraising campaign, we have accepted donations along the way. All of the funds raised during the Pints for Prostates campaign go directly to bolster the efforts of Us TOO International, a great 501(c)3 charity with the mission to support, educate and advocate for men with prostate cancer and their families.I want to thank everyone who made a donation to the ChipIn campaign run on Lyke2Drink. The effort raised $215, which I then matched, so Us TOO received a check from Lyke2Drink for $430! (You can still get in on the act by supporting the campaign launched by the 270 or so members of the Aleuminati community. There is a ChipIn widget on their site and to the right of this post).So thanks for all of the help getting this campaign up and going. We are going to continue to work on spreading the word and we invite any brewers who wish to join the cause to contact us. And, if you have a man in your life who is 40 years old or older, tell him to make a medical appointment and get tested. The more men we reach with this message, the more lives that will be saved.
posted by Rick Lyke @ 8:36 AM
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Tuesday Tasting: A Case of Shiraz and Syrah
 Tuesday Tasting is a regular feature of Lyke2Drink that explores some of the best beers, wines and spirits on the market. This week we taste a dozen Syrah and Shiraz wines.Syrah or Shiraz is a bit of a mystery to some wine drinkers. After all, it is the same grape, but produces wines that go by two names. There is another grape called Petite Sirah, that is a cousin, but not the same grape -- which adds to the mystery. Where the wine comes from helps determine what the wine is called. If it is from France, it is syrah. Winemakers in South America and the rest of Europe will also use syrah on the label. If it is from Australia, you are drinking shiraz, mate. Shiraz is the most popular grape for winemaking in Australia and vineyards in South Africa and New Zealand are likely to use the shiraz name on their labels, too. In California, you could be drinking either – it depends on the winery. Most of the rest of the U.S. appears happy to side with the French and use syrah.I recently tasted these wines for my Beyond Beer column appearing in the current edition of All About Beer magazine.Ty Caton 2004 Field Blend: A mix of petite sirah, syrah, cabernet sauvignon, merlot and malbec grapes, this is an affordable luxury with great meritage blended quality that hits all of the Sonoma red flavor characteristics of a more expensive wine.Clos Du Bois 2005 North Coast Shiraz: This California red has an inviting nose. The coating blackberry flavor has a light spice finish. D’Arenberg 2002 Vintage Fortified Shiraz: A thick and syrupy Port-style wine, this dessert treat is from South Australia. Very deep purple color, good berry character and a touch of cocoa flavor.Fetzer Valley Oaks 2005 Shiraz: There is a touch of oak and spice throughout this wine. Plum skins and ripe berries mingle to create an inviting flavor.Hall 2005 Darwin: This Napa Valley wine is a symphony of rich flavors. A blend of 80 percent syrah grapes with 20 percent cabernet sauvignon. Lush and smooth, very intense fruit that lingers. Starts with a hint of fig and finishes with a wisp of chocolate. Fire up the grill and cook a thick steak.Terry Hoage Vineyards 2005 The Hedge Syrah: A former Georgia Bulldog football star, Terry Hoage makes wine in Paso Robles, Calif. This deep red 100 percent Syrah wine is rich and round. Plenty of berries, black cherries with a touch of cigar-like tannins.Jaboulet 2006 Parallele 45: This Cotes du Rhone red has a nice amount of tannins and some peppery spice. Nice light berry nose.Loxton 2004 Sonoma Syrah: This wine spends 20 months on oak and produces a bold, fruit forward red that delivers a long pleasant flavor profile.Virgin Vines 2006 Shiraz: This California wine is ruby red with a cassis nose and dried berry flavor that finishes with just a hint of spice.Wakefield 2005 Promised Land: This Australian wine is 60 percent shiraz and 40 percent cabernet sauvignon. Ripe blackberry nose, straightforward fruit flavor that is rounded out with a hint of cinnamon, spice and oak.Wyndham Bin 555 Shiraz: This southeast Australian wine is rich and smooth with hints of plum, blueberry jam and a touch of finishing spice.Wyndham Shaw Reserve 2004 Shiraz: Rich, dry red. There is a moderate amount of oak throughout that balances a solid level of rich, tart fruit.
posted by Rick Lyke @ 11:44 PM
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Cyber Beer Brawl: Creator of iBeer Sues Molson Coors for $12.5 Million
A couple of weeks ago my brother-in-law Dan Pikarsky showed me an amusing little application on his iPhone. Basically it was a cyber beer. When you activate the feature, the phone's screen appears to be a full glass of beer. Tip the phone toward your lips and it appears you are drinking the brew.Created by Steve Sheraton, this bit of web fun can be downloaded -- at $2.99 a pop. That's around the cost of a real glass of mainstream domestic suds in many taverns. Now the software developer wants real beer maker Molson Coors to cough up $12.5 million. Sheraton alleges that's the tab for lost sales caused by iPint, a promotion the brewer launched for Carling Lager in the United Kingdom.Sheraton is alleging that iPint has committed copyright infringement. He says Molson Coors use of the virtual beer to advertise Carling is hurting sales of the original iBeer. He points to sales trends that show a decline in iBeer business since iPint has been available for free to anyone willing to view a Carling commercial on the Internet. The suit alleges iPint has been downloaded 6 million times.Sheraton claims Molson Coors had contacted him about using iBeer for the campaign, but he refused the offer. Molson Coors said it fight the lawsuit in court.
posted by Rick Lyke @ 12:45 AM
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Name: Rick Lyke Location: Charlotte, N.C., United States Rick Lyke is a veteran drinks journalist who writes about beer, wine and spirits. His work is published regularly in a number of magazines including DRAFT and All About Beer.View my complete profile
Tuesday Tastings [+-]
Tuesday Tasting: Roll Out the Barrels of Oktoberfest Beer
Recent Arrivals From the Spirits World
Three 18 Year Old Blends
A Six Pack of Pumpkin Ales
18 Year Old Single Malts
Harviestoun Ola Dubh
A Tale of Two Ales
Four Craft Spirits
Three Unique Beers from Dogfish Head
Bell's Goes well With Food
Thousand Islands Winery
In the Mood for Gin
A Walk on the Odd Side of Spirits
A Dozen Sauvignon Blancs Perfect for Summer
Ten Beers on My Mind
Summer Whites for Poolside Sipping
Vana Tallinn
More Finger Lakes Riesling
Heaven Hill Export | |
