Toast to Heart Health!

Why does wine get to sit on the higher, healthier ground?  Tradition, I guess.  Finally, reports on beer benefits?  Hooray!

Moderate beer consumption may actually benefit the body.  According to Nancy Tringali Piho, a spokeswoman for the National Beer Wholesalers Association, the research of beer's heart healthy effects stem from the rise in popularity in craft breweries.  When reviewing the raw ingredient list, it's easy to see why beer may have the upper hand against wine.  Beer's grains (barley and wheat), water, and yeast are packed with vitamins that survive fermentation.  On the other hand, wine's sugars, fiber, and vitamins do not have quite the same luck.  Beer in controlled amounts can boost your levels of good cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL).  An increase in HDL typically leads to better protection of your heart, according to Dietician Andrea Giancoli.  Miraculously, the protection may lead to a 31% reduced risk for cadiovascular disease, per a study by the Italian Fondazione Ricerca e Cura (based on aggregate of studies totaling 200,000+ participants).  The jury is out whether or not alcohol itself brings out the best in your body.  From what I have read, it looks like there is still some fine tuning to be done with these studies.

Define "moderate beer consumption?"  According to researchers, about a pint (average bottle size) per day will do a body good.  It is unfortunate that some peeps cannot simply enjoy a brew or two without looking like a mess the next day.  Concentrating a week's worth of the daily pint into, let's say, the weekend, will certainly increase the risk of drinking, due to the metabolic processes following drinking alcohol. And moreover, everyone will see it on your face (the dreaded, "You look tired" comment).  What is worse, prolonged irresponsible drinking may lead to the deterioration of the liver, to obesity, and to alcohol dependence.  Sobriety, sadly, is kicked to the wayside.  Also, beer is not medicine, it meant to be enjoyed...with care.  Slainte!

(Image provided by nutritiondata.self.com)

Sunday Sips: Harvest Special Ale

Beer Name:  Harvest Special Ale

Brewed By/In:  Southern Tier Brewing Company / Lakewood, NY

ABV:  6.7%

Best Served In:  English Pint

Characteristics:  Bitter, piney aromas.  Golden color.  Initial hoppy hits to the palate, but cuts to a dry, fruity (mostly grapefruit) finish.  Fleeting head - barely lasted 30 seconds from the bottle.  Zippy carbonation but with thin, unsatisfying mouthfeel.

Food-pairing:  Spinach salads with a citrus/honey dressing.

Overall:  7.5 - not terrible, but not incredibly eventful.  Really enjoyed the carbonation.  Certainly an extra special bitter as those notes flow from scent to swallow.

Thought that this was an appropriate finish to the fall as I begin to collect my winter selections.  Let's raise a glass to B101's all Christmas, all the time.  Slainte!

(Picture provided by STBC's website)

Sunday Sips: Indian Brown Ale

Beer Name:  Indian Brown Ale

Brewed By/In:  Dogfish Head / Milton, DE

ABV:  7.2%

Best Served In:  Stein, Pint Glass

Characteristics:  Pours the color of cola with a head of relative color that sits for about 2 minutes.  Emanations of coffee and malts jump from the glass.  Chocolatey, roasted flavors smoothly fill the mouth.  Medium mouthfeel - definitely made its presence known without overpowering my taste buds.  Said to be the hybrid of beers, this brew definitely possesses qualities of the IPAs, American Brown Ales, and Scotch Ales it draws from.

Food-pairing:  Salads topped with balsamic vinaigrette.


Overall:  8.8 - It has taken years to get my palate to appreciate the flavor of brown ales the way I do with Dogfish Head's.  Absolutely nectarous.  Although I do not recommend having more than one after 7pm, it did not send me to bed as I thought this 7.2% would.  Thankfully, this is a year-round hybrid found in many distributors.

My weekend get away to Rehoboth Beach, DE inspired my choice for this week's Sips.  Let's raise a glass to staying on vacation for one last minute.  Slainte!

Keeping Your Brews at Their Best

Like wine, beer can mature over time.  Unlike your finest reds and whites, lagers and ales do not quite possess the same shelf life.  Most beers last 3-6 months before spoiling.  What can you do to keep your beer tasting fresh, even when you are not looking to keep it for months at a time?  I have found some tips to keeping your brews at their best.

Put a cork in it!  Opening a bottle of beer is a commitment.  The longevity is compromised with the release of the "psshh" sound from under the cap.  Air is one of the major enemies to beer and thankfully corks (pictured left) are here to save the day.  Once opened, the carbonation dissipates and particles of air will react with what is left in the bottle.  After only a few hours you can be left with is just unpalatable brown liquid.  If you are using natural corks, like those shown, be sure that they are inserted at least a half-inch in (go ahead, make your "That's what she said" jokes) and is clean.  Plastic and other synthetic materials are now used to make corks.  Thankfully, they are not too expensive.  Check out some prices here.

Round here, we always stand up straight.  Keep the air out, keep the beer up (Sue & Frank, this is for you).  Yeast should remain at the bottom of your bottles.  When poured, the yeast more easily and more evenly permeates through the beer rather than creating a more complex, and potentially repugnant, taste.  Additionally, beer can easily oxidize when on its side flowing against the cap or cork.  A wine blogger that I am connected with once compared the cork taste to licking a moldy basement.  No thanks.

Turn away from the light!  Although beer is not passing to the afterlife, you certainly want to avoid the light as much as possible.  Ultraviolet light exposure is one of the top contributors to beer spoilage...also known as skunked.  Both visible and invisible light break down beer components creating new chemical compounds.  In fact, one of the ethyl compounds created is a constituent of actual skunk spray.  Gross, but applicable.  Storing bottled beer in either the cardboard holders or brown bags may help prevent this.

Just keep it cool, boy, real cool.  Besides being incredibly brisk, cold beer is fresh beer.  Higher the ABV, the higher the tolerance for warmer temperatures (bulleted summary below).  A constant temperature environment is best.  But for those of us who are not blessed with beer cellars in their homes, a refrigerator will do.

• 55-60° for stronger beers such as barleywines, tripels
• 50-55° for standard ales such as lambics, dobblebocks, stouts
• 45-50° for lighter beers such as lagers, wheats, pilsners

I hope these tips help you maintain long lasting libations.  Slainte!

Sunday Sips: Eliot Ness

Beer Name:  Eliot Ness

Brewed By/In:  Great Lakes Brewing Company / Cleveland, OH

ABV:  6.2%

Best Served In:  Mug or from the Bottle

Characteristics:  Ruddy, red amber lager from the bottle - beautiful!  Thick 1-inch sandy head that lasted for about a minute.  Fragrant, toasted malts, bready and herb smelling.  Smooth mouthfeel - balance of a sweet hit of the palate cut by the hops.  Earthy tasting finish.

Food-pairing:  Barbecue or Chili

Overall:  9.0 - Fresh and crisp, perfect for Fall days!  There is a malty richness with sweet notes.  I had, unfortunately, needed to take a quick break from beer but what a way to come back!?  Eliot Ness is hearty enough to make you feel warm, but light enough not to make you feel heavy, as some lagers do.  Here is a fun story of the beer from the GLBC website.

My former college roommate, Scott, inspired me to try this brew.  So I am raising my glass to you.  Slainte!

Art & Science: An Intoxicating Blend

In 1992, Michael Davidson of BevShots decided to take an atomic look at art.  Davidson's fashionable photos feature beer, wine, and cocktails.  Through a process of crystallizing a drip of the drink and then polarizing the molecules with light, we find ourselves imbibing in these posh prints.  By visiting their website, you can view their entire selection of photos for your home.  Mother Nature Network has featured these posh prints.  Click the link to see the full presentation from mnn.com.  It is amazing how some of these microscopic scenes resemble SciFi fantasies.  Enjoy the beautiful slideshow, maybe you will even make a purchase.  Slainte!

A BevShots.com print of Irish Pale Lager