With the holiday season upon us, more family and friends are regularly hosting gatherings. With gatherings come food and beverage, particularly of the fermented nature.

This week I had been in Iowa visiting friends when a message came across that Peace Tree Brewing Company had placed a recently finished apple cider on draft in their taproom. The Knoxville, Iowa based brewery is tucked away behind a 45 minute drive from Des Moines. I hadn’t been to the taproom since its beginnings about two years ago. The brewery is certainly an enjoyable space with room for entertainment including a bar with fresh offerings.

Peace Tree has been exploring their range of fermented opportunities since opening in 2009. They introduced one of the first Iowa produced beers that had an alcohol content higher than 6.5%,the Belgian-style Blonde Fatale. In 2010, Peace Tree brewed a farmhouse-style ale using sweet corn, and iterated upon it this past summer by infusing a batch with Brettanomyces. With Autumn fading, but in time for holiday gatherings, Peace Tree has now released a Champagne-yeast based cider, currently available only in their Knoxville taproom.

It sounds like this is the second shot Peace Tree has taken at creating a cider, the first having been only a 5-10 gallon batch. This time around Peace Tree has enough to serve on tap, and will as well sell about 200 bombers within the coming weeks. I stopped in for a pint in the taproom, but also took a home a growler to share with friends over dinner.

The cider was a rather hazy yellow and didn’t present itself as a light, refreshing drink. I think the cleanest looking cider I have come across is a Crispin Light, and Peace Tree’s entry looked more like a Crispin Honey Crisp. Again, this was not a cider looking at refreshment but I think rather attempting to produce a bit more daring flavor.

The cider has a big punch up front. I didn’t catch what the ABV of the cider was, but it led with the bite and followed with a residual sweetness. This cider was a sipper to best balance the flavors and prevent a clash across the palate.

Peace Tree is not the first Iowa brewery to make a cider in-house, but they’re giving it a go with one of the state’s best entries.

The other day I posted my thoughts on Cityview’s Brewfest Des Moines. While in attendance, Jason and I recorded a short video to share our highlights with each other.

Did you attend this year’s Brewfest? We’d like to you to share your thoughts in the comments.

On Saturday, July 9th, Des Moines played host to Cityview’s Brewfest, a beer event that supposedly offered over 400 beers from 125 brewers. Who could count? Saturday’s event was the fifth annual festival and the first that I have had the pleasure attending (along with Jason). Let us discuss.History

Iowa does not get to play host to beer events all too often. We had our inaugural Iowa Craft Beer Festival in May, but Brewfest seems to be the largest and longest running festival in the state. In the past my largest consideration when deciding not to attend the festival is that of the beer selection. A little over a year ago, Iowa’s alcohol distribution laws changed and gave rise to the selection of beer available for purchase. Our own Jason had attended previously, and the impressions I have gotten from him is that past events were mostly a sampling of the bottles available in the beer aisles at the grocery store. That is not to say that good beer was not available at the event, only that a craft beer minded person may not find too many new and interesting beverages to try. The scope of beer available in Iowa has changed, however. Any distributor can now handle beer up to 15% alcohol by volume, and the state is now home to at least 25 breweries.

Location

Brewfest was held at Principal Park, home of the Iowa Cubs. On this particular day the site turned out to be perfect. The breweries were spread across two levels, with the local Iowa breweries dominating the second floor. I liked the setup because it gave so much space for the breweries to spread out and allow lines to form in front of each table. My only quibble was that it became difficult at times to see which brewery I was standing in front of and what beers they had available. There were two tools I had to aid me in my quest, however. The first was a print out of each of the beers available with checkboxes for your rating. The second tool was a webapp built specifically as a guide for the festival – made by the same guys who created the Beer Genius for El Bait Shop.

Selection

As I said, there was something on the order of 400 different beers available at this festival. Granted, many of the beers represented were shown off by distributors and thus were poured from bottles — not on draft. This festival definitely has appeal to the craft beer drinker, but the main goal, I believe, is to provide as much variety as possibly to introduce the general populace to the wide world of beer. There was truly a beer for everyone at this festival. The only item I had a hard time finding was the soda and water for the designated drivers. Where was the root beer? Knowing all of this, there were a few items that stuck out to me.

• Backpocket Brewing – I do not believe I have ever had the chance to try any of the beers from these guys before, and that is a shame. I tried three of the beers they had on draft, Jackknife German Pale, Gold Coin Helles Lager, and the phenomenal Slingshot Dunkel. If you ever come across Backpocket Brewing, get a couple pints.
• Great River Brewing – This is a another Iowa brewery new to me. Based in the quad cities, Great River Brewing appears to be on board with the pint-sized cans for distribution. The Roller Dam Red Ale was quite good, and reminiscent of New Belgium’s Fat Tire. They also has a cask conditioned ale that reminded me of Oskar Blue’s G’Knight, but I was definitely wanting more “sticky” from the beer.
• Crispin Cider – We have reviewed a few of Crispin’s products in the past for our project and I am a fan. Crispin has an “Artisinal Reserves” series that puts a unique spin on each of the ciders. The Saint is fermented with Belgian Trappist yeasts and Lansdowne uses “Irish stout ale” yeast. Both are phenomenal ciders.
• Peace Tree Brewing – One of Peace Tree’s seasonal beers is a farmhouse-style ale brewed with sweet corn named Cornucopia. On its own, it is a great beer. But for Brewfest, Joe decided to make a Brettanomyces infused version of Cornucopia. It was probably worth the price of admission alone. Personally, I was getting a lot of mustard seed flavors from the beer. I do have to wonder what the risk of infection is for the rest of the brewhouse.
• Madhouse – Whatever you thought of this brewery in the past you can forget about. They are getting their act together and I can point to Hopburst and their Honey Pilsner as proof of their desire to make good beer.
• Rock Bottom Des Moines – The Bushmaster Rye wine-style is a champion of a beer, and you have to savor it. Tremendously flavorful.

Reaction

This certainly wasn’t a festival for tickers in need of a list of rare tastings, but it truly offered something for almost every type of beer fan. It serves nicely to introduce people to the wide variety of beers available in Iowa and I hope people found something new to buy and tell friends about. The venue was packed, even with ticket prices close to $30 a head. I would say we are doing all right here in Iowa. Beer is plentiful, delicious and more people are picking up on that vibe. If you see our local breweries’ beers beginning to pop-up in your regions, they are worth your while. Meanwhile, I’m curious to see how our local beer scene will evolve and if we will begin to see more seasonal events. Time will tell.

Did you attend Cityview’s Brewfest? Sound off in the comments.

Over the weekend, Rock Bottom Brewery of Des Moines, Iowa played host to the Iowa Farmhouse Ale Fest. The goal of the event was to “showcase beers that originated in the farmlands of Europe” as interpreted by Iowa brewers as well as various international renditions of the styles. Primarily, beers in the style of Saison, Bière de Garde, and Witbier, otherwise known as farmhouse ales, were on-hand.

I love finding out the tradition behind styles of beer, and farmhouse ales definitely have some unique profile characteristics that can be drawn from their brewing history. Originating in the French-speaking Wallonia region of Belgium, Saisons and other farmhouse ales were brewed during the winter and stored until summer harvest, where the beverages were distributed amongst farmhands as a safe and quenching beverage. As such, farmhouse ales were traditionally brewed with a large amount of hops as a form of preservative, but with a low alcohol content so workers could hydrate throughout their day. Today, these farmhouse ales generally fall within the guidelines of Category 16 of the BJCP. However, as this hosted tasting goes to show, there are few defining characteristics for modern farmhouse ales. Despite the change in brewing techniques since the style’s inception, brewers have maintained some of the original flavor profiles of the farmhouse ales. Wild yeast, once a natural ingredient in the brewing process, is now only used with the utmost care as a technique for introducing a certain level of funk or sourness in the flavor and aroma of beers. Thus, the farmhouse ales represent a broad range of beer flavors and give the brewer ultimate creative control in defining the drinker’s palette.

I must say that I consider farmhouse ales to be a gateway for those looking to get into craft beer. Beginning with the style of Witbier, you are presented with what is essentially a spiced wheat ale that is light, refreshing, but also flavorful without much bitterness. As you progress further into styles like Saison, you’ll notice subtle complexities from the yeast presented and the beer might have a dryer mouthfeel. Then as we find examples of Bière de Garde, our glasses will be filled with a sometimes darker liquid but almost always richer and sweeter with a nice malty body. Then, every once in a while you will come across Brettanomyces (Brett) in your beer for an extra kick of tartness.

Where am I going with this, and why haven’t I talked about the specific beers yet? A few nights ago, Iowa Public Television hosted a panel discussion on “Beer and Microbreweries in Iowa”. Check it out. As you may or may not be aware, Iowa is going through a few changes as we have just recently passed legislation allowing for local breweries to produce beers up to 12% alcohol by weight. Now, while these farmhouse ales aren’t necessarily at the extreme top of the legal range, they represent one of the many styles of craft beer that up until recently were either not capable of being brewed, or were just not prominent. The consumers of Iowa simply may not know about these intriguing styles of beer and it is events such as the Iowa Farmhouse Ale Fest, or programs from IPTV that set out to educate. Education on beer is why Shawn and I began our project and why we continue to learn at every opportunity. It’s now on us to bring this world of craft beer to those who want to know more. Eric Sorensen, brewmaster for Rock Bottom Brewery in Des Moines, acknowledged that while this year’s event was sponsored by the brewery, the hope is to have all of the Iowa Brewer’s Guild participate in the coming years.

So what was this event, and how did it all go down? Cost of entry was $30, for which you received a commemorative tasting glass and one heck of a tasting list. For your entry, each participant received a number of tickets that could be exchanged for a full glass pour of any of the available beers, otherwise, you were free to have a one-once pour of each of the represented beers. Rock Bottom had their own Tiger Lily Saison, Dangereaux Amber, Cerveza Especial Bière de Garde, and Flanders Fields Witbier. Mike Gauthier, brewer for Des Moines’ Court Avenue Brewing Company, was on hand to pour samples of his Wit and La Fou Blonde. Other Iowa beers represented were John’s Generation White Ale by Millstream Brewing Company, and Dinky Wheat from Olde Main Brewing. The Belgian-style beers are certainly being embraced by our local brewers, which is a trend I hope to see continue.

Now, this is the part of my post where I inform you, dear reader, that I didn’t take any tasting notes at the event. Jason and I kept pretty busy with conversation and jumping from table to table, trying to find all that we had missed on our first pass. I will point out some of the notable beers, however. In Iowa, we are privileged to have regular access to the Smokestack series of beers from Boulevard Brewing of Kansas City. Their Saison Brett is a dry, low hop, low spice beer with a slightly maltier mouthfeel. In fact, I compared it mostly to the Golden Ale from New Glarus Brewing Company of Wisconsin, if not more subtle with the brett and heavier in the body. Another gem in the crowd was the Blanche De Saisis of Brasserie Ellezelloise, which was sweet and well balanced with a hint of grain.

It is events such as this weekend’s that will work to grow the beer culture in Iowa. Every week new breweries are entering our market, and our local brewers are also now creating some great renditions of our favorite beer styles. Education can only grow the opportunities for new beers to come to market, so talk about beer and look out for more events and releases in Iowa.

Note: If you want to know more about some traditional examples of Saison-style beers, check out Episode 18 of The Beer Genome Project, “Oh, Saison”, or subscribe to our podcast on iTunes.

John’s Grocery – Iowa’s premiminate Beer Retailer will celebrate the first load of “High Proof” beer to come into the state! On Thursday, March 25th at 11:59 p.m., we will unleash onto beer lovers a plethora of Michigan’s Most Wanted-Bells! We will have Third Coast Old Ale Barley Wine, Expedition Stout, Two Hearted Ale, and a very limited number of Hop Slam and Consecrator Dopple Bock. We also have a very limited number of Two Hearted 7.75 gallon 1/4 bbls for purchase as well. We have a very limited supply of these items, so there will be a strict limit of two six packs per customer per item on these beers. We will have special midnight only pricing on the rest of the Bell’s line up, including a blowout price on the Best Brown 5L mini kegs. At the same time, we will be welcoming to Iowa City one of Iowa’s newest breweries – Peacetree from Knoxville! We will have a limited number of their brand new Belgian IPA and Rye Porter, so stop down and sample some of the newest players in town!

Olde Main Brewing Co. & Restaurant will host a Harvest Beer Dinner on Thursday, November 12 at the restaurant and brewpub at 316 Main Street in Ames. Four courses will be served, each paired with a different Olde Main beer. Brewery tours and a social hour will begin at 6pm, with the dinner service starting at 7pm. Olde Main brewers will be on hand to discuss the food and beer pairings. A limited number of tickets are available for $40/person (includes tax and gratuity) and can be purchased now at the restaurant and brewpub or by calling 515-232-0553. To hold a spot in the dinner you must pay the full $40 or a $20 deposit. Olde Main Harvest Beer Dinner Courses Course 1 Sodbuster Stout & Wild Mushroom Napoleon – Caramelized Crimini, oyster and shitaki mushrooms in puff pastry with a Sodbuster Stout demi glace. Served with Sodbuster, Stout Ale Course 2 Spinach Salad – Baby spinach with mandarin oranges, walnuts and red onions, topped with warm bacon vinaigrette. Served with Dinkey Wheat, Belgian Style Wheat Ale Course 3 Pepper Crusted Angus Tenderloin – 8-oz. Certified Angus Beef shoulder tenderloin crusted with cracked pepper then grilled to perfection.  Served with warm potato salad and sautéed fresh green beans and baby carrots. Served with Long Face, Amber Ale Course 4 Pumpkin Cheesecake Served with Horseman’s Revenge, Pumpkin Ale

It’s looking pretty awesome. I’ll keep everyone updated.

Cityview is currently advertising the availability of 280 varieties of beer between the hours of 3 and 7PM. That’s a lot of beer to move through, so plan accordingly. At the moment, it’s not entirely known which breweries will be present at the event. It’s been said there should be over 125 brewers and at least twelve Iowa companies represented, including but not limited to: Olde Main Brewing and Sutliff Cider Company. The Brewfest Twitter feed is also teasing the availability of Punk IPA and The Physics Amber Ale by BrewDog of Scotland.

Seeing as how the event is just over a week away, tickets are for sale online for $28. Designated drivers will also be able to join the event by purchasing tickets day-of for $10. If you’re on Twitter, I’d encourage you to follow @Brewfest2009, as they’ll start giving away tickets once they attain 200 followers.

More Information:

Cityview’s Brewfest website

“Mmmm… beer” [Cityview Article of 2nd Annual Brewfest]

After a visit to Iowa, Shawn and Mike return with fresh reviews of Flat Earth Brewing Company’s Monkey Business and Olde Main’s Sodbuster. Both of these beers were purchased with the idea of hometown stout in mind and transported in growlers. The Monkey Business is a coconut-infused porter from Flat Earth Brewing in St. Paul, Minnesota; and the Sodbuster is the recently named To Be Named stout from Olde Main in Ames, Iowa.

00:00-2:49 – Introduction 2:49-8:56 – Flat Earth Brewing Company’s Monkey Business 8:56-20:28 – Olde Main Brewing Company’s Sodbuster 20:28-47:22 – Weekly Discussion 47:22-48:49 – Conclusion

Check out the video below of us preparing for this week’s episode:

Episode 15 Preparation from Mike VanDelinder on Vimeo.

Court Avenue Brewing Company from Shawn Horton on Vimeo.

We enjoyed great dinner, awesome ambiance, and amazing local brews! Watch along as Mike and I review the sampler rack, where we try 8 brews, including:

• light lager
• Belgian-style white
• hefeweizen
• pale ale
• India pale ale
• brown ale
• stout
• Iowa Oaks seasonal ale

Follow along as we give our tasting notes! Sound off if you’ve tried these beers as well!

Located on Court Avenue in Des Moines is the aptly named Court Avenue Brewing Company. The restaurant is a neat place, comfortable atmosphere, and has a patio for dining on those warmer summer days. As is typical of a brewpub, Court Avenue makes a wide variety of beers to serve with their meals. I had been here once before for their stout, but this time we ordered a sampler rack. This turned out to be a great idea. At the time of this writing, Court Avenue had an offering of eight different beers. For $12.50, this sampler rack was the most economically efficient way to try every selection in its own 5 ounce glass. On the rack, Court Avenue served up its rendition of each of the following styles of beer: light American lager, Belgian white ale, hefeweizen, pale ale, India pale ale, brown ale, stout, and a porter. Just work your way down the line and make notes on each of the beer. I really liked the Belgian white ale (seems to be my latest trend); the porter was slightly bitter it seemed, and the India pale ale was mild in hoppiness – which is great for my development of hops tolerance. This is a great place to check out a wide variety of beers in what is probably one of the more “happening” neighborhoods of Des Moines.

The next night provided a defining beer moment. We found another restaurant rather haphazardly under a time crunch. The Hessen Haus of Des Moines touts itself as the only authentic German beer hall of central Iowa; they nailed it. We were not sure what to expect, but upon entering, you are greeted with a grand beer hall that has a tall ceiling and everything made of wood. The menu was filled with mostly traditional German meals and a beer list that ran longer than “Nader for President”. Lately I haven’t been adding too many German lagers to my list, and I think it’s about time I revisited that decision. I ordered a Kostritzer Schwarzbier. I honestly had no idea who the brewer was, or where they were from, but could only gather it was a German import and I had not tried it before. Further research indicates that it was a favorite of Goethe. Why will I be revisiting German lagers? My initial reaction to most of these imports is that they’re too watery; they lack a certain grandiose flavor. I decided that their lack of pizazz could be related to the German brewer’s adherence to reinheitsgebot. Reinheitsgebot is the old “German Beer Purity Law”, no longer in effect, that permitted brewers to only use water, barley, and hops in the production of beer. So in effect, you get a wider variety in the different uses of only three main ingredients. This Schwarzbier was not bad at all, but lacked pizazz, as I had said earlier. It was dark, black beer (aka schwarzbier), that was extremely clear if you got enough light behind it. Low in carbonation, and completely void of any cloudiness, the Schwarzbier lacked what I liked in dark beers. Granted, I am a fan of porters and stouts, which are on the dark end of ales. Dark lagers belong at the other end of the spectrum, but share the color due to the amount of roasting for the hops, I imagine. This is the point where the beer became very interesting for me. For the table, we ordered an appetizer of sauerkraut balls – sauerkraut in bread crumbs for the most part. I am by no means a fan of sauerkraut and I have no explanation for why these tasted so great. They were pretty mild, and maybe low on the vinegar. Regardless, I took a bit of the sauerkraut and a big gulp of beer. Surprise of all surprises, these two portions combined with each other created a marvelous pairing. I suddenly found every palate of my tongue being hit with flavor. The sauerkraut distinctly stood out from the Schwarzbier, yet they combined and didn’t overpower each other. This beer was meant to be enjoyed with food. This statement of pairing is in contrast with my thoughts on the rise of the American lager, but that has to wait for Part II.