wineanddinosaur

[wineanddinosaur]

The Business Behind Barrel-Aged Food Products

Barrel-aged foods are products of a singular process: Take an old barrel that formerly held bourbon, gin, or another spirit, place a culinary item inside, let the item rest inside for a specific time, and allow the barrel’s influence to enhance the flavor. These concoctions also tend to emerge from the same philosophical question. Namely, “what would happen to this food item if I treated it like a spirit?” To consumers who enjoy the bevy of barrel-aged syrups, sauces, and other miscellaneous foods on the market, answering this simply depends on what positive flavor adjective they wish to use.

For the distillers and food companies behind the brands, the answer is much more complex, and achieving a proper response requires a collaborative effort built on mutual trust, a shared passion for creative sustenance, and a collective curiosity about what a barrel can do after it has aged a spirit.

The Roots of Collaboration

Successful barrel-aged food collaborations are often the result of “game recognizing game.” After all, a distillery cranking out award-winning juice won’t likely be willing to partner with a mediocre food brand with a penchant for cutting corners. This sense of mutual respect lays a foundation of trust that governs the collaborative process. How this admiration begins and evolves inevitably becomes part of the collaboration’s story.

One such story follows the union of a Virginian bourbon company with a local honey brand. Around 2018, siblings Owen and Kira King of Ironclad Distillery Co. stumbled upon AR’s Hot Southern Honey by chance and decided to pick up a bottle. The honey’s sweet, peppery essence inspired Owen to call AR’s founder, Ames Russell, with a proposal: Ironclad would give him bourbon barrels for his hot honey, and he’d give the barrels back to Ironclad for a hot honey-finished bourbon. Since the barrels are technically repurposed, this also allows Ironclad to circumvent laws prohibiting distilleries from using a barrel to make the exact same spirit twice. “Owen didn’t even finish his sentence before Ames said he was in,” says Kira, Ironclad’s creative director. “That first collaboration ended up tasting phenomenally, and it’s led to a strong relationship over the years.”

“Making a hot honey aged in bourbon barrels was such a beautiful concept, and giving the barrels back to make bourbon was such a cool idea,” Russell says. “We started working on the honey shortly after that initial conversation, and it’s still a cool, exciting project. The bonus of the collaboration has been getting to know the King family over time. They’re lovely, smart people.”

Right around the same time, in Stephens City, Va., Brandon Clark had his own idea for a collaboration. As the founder of the Virginia-based culinary sauce brand Clark + Hopkins, Clark wanted to see what would happen if he threw his Virginia-style barbecue sauce in a bourbon barrel; at the same time, he wanted to work with a Virginia distillery that was close to where he grew up. This led him to contact Catoctin Creek in Purcellville to inquire about a potential collaboration. The first visit sealed the deal. “The first time I stopped into Catoctin Creek, I watched [Catoctin Creek co-founder] Becky Harris pick up these big 70-pound bourbon barrels like they were miniature schnauzers,” Clark says. “It was badass, and it seemed like a sign of how much she cares about what she does. I knew I wanted to work with her as soon as I saw that.”

Both collaborations have the advantage of the partnering parties being in the same state, enabling all parties involved to promote Virginia’s artisan food and craft distilling scene in the process. However, strong collaborations aren’t bound by state lines.

Since 2017, FEW Spirits in Evanston, Ill., has been involved with a barrel exchange program with craft syrup producer Mount Mansfield Maple Products, located some 920 east in Winooski, Vt. Their exchange is similar to the pact held by Ironclad in AR’s, except maple syrup is the food, and the brands have expanded the barrel roster to also include rye, single malt whiskey, and gin. According to FEW founder Paul Hletko, the driving force behind the exchange is joy. “None of us are really making any extra money from doing these things,” he says. “We do these collaborations because they’re fun to do, and we have a good time doing them.”

Hitting the Shelves

Some bourbon barrel-aged food collaborations occur on a routine basis. Others function more like rock and roll side projects. They happen only when the parties involved have the time to divert focus from their main gig; When they do get together, their collective efforts could yield some experimentation. “Our last collaboration we did with Catoctin Creek was two years ago, when we left the sauce in the barrel for 141 days,” Clark says. “This year, we’re leaving it in for about 150 days, just so we can see what the barrel can do with that extra time.”

How the finished products are promoted once they do eventually hit the shelves varies by collaboration. FEW and Mount Mansfield, for instance, have mutually agreed to a silent partnership, and both brands refrain from putting their logos on each other’s bottles. Ironclad and AR’s take the opposite approach and give each other clear label shoutouts. “Cross-branding feels like an intuitive part to telling our story,” says Russell. “It’s important to us because these products wouldn’t exist without both our involvement.”

Elements like branding or time between releases are of course subjective. The only thing that is truly objective is a mission to make something that tastes terrific. As long as distillers and food companies are getting together and making barrel-aged culinary deliciousness, this objective will no doubt continue to be achieved.

The article The Business Behind Barrel-Aged Food Products appeared first on VinePair.

source https://vinepair.com/articles/business-behind-barrel-aged-food/

[wineanddinosaur]

The Highest-Rated Stout in Every State [MAP]

While IPAs are having a moment, stouts continue to quietly rank among the most popular beers in the country. And with the category’s vast array of styles — from dry Irish stouts to pastry and milk stouts galore — there’s a stout out there for every palate.

To learn which stouts are favored among a broad range of beer lovers, VinePair consulted Beer Advocate’s highest-rated beers in the United States. From there, we selected the highest-rated stouts with at least 50 ratings, and found the top pick per state. Though the selection process meant some states were not ranked (sorry, South Dakota), the results show a tantalizing array of dark and roasty brews.

From classic English-style oatmeal stouts to a bevy of bourbon-barrel-aged imperials, these are the most highly rated stouts in every state except Hawaii, North Dakota, and South Dakota.

Click here to see a full size version of the map!

State Beer Alabama El Gordo Good People Brewing Company Stout – Russian Imperial | 13.90% Alaska Blessed Anchorage Brewing Company Stout – American Imperial | 14.00% Arizona White Russian Imperial Stout Sun Up Brewing Co. Stout – American Imperial | 9.20% Arkansas BDCS Ozark Beer Co. Stout – American Imperial | 10.20% California Fundamental Observation Bottle Logic Brewing Stout – American Imperial | 14.30% Colorado Medianoche – Coconut WeldWerks Brewing Co. Stout – American Imperial | 14.10% Connecticut Imperial Stout Trooper New England Brewing Co. Stout – Russian Imperial | 8.50% Delaware Bourbon Barrel-Aged World Wide Stout Dogfish Head Craft Brewery Stout – American Imperial | 18.30% District of Columbia Mexican Radio Bluejacket / Arsenal Restaurant Stout – Sweet / Milk | 7.40% Florida Hunahpu’s Imperial Stout – Double Barrel Aged Cigar City Brewing Stout – American Imperial | 11.00% Georgia Mexican Siberius Maximus The Wrecking Bar Brewpub Stout – Russian Imperial | 11.00% Hawaii Not enough reviews Idaho Black Cauldron Imperial Stout Grand Teton Brewing Co. Stout – Russian Imperial | 9.50% Illinois Bourbon County Brand Stout Goose Island Beer Co. Stout – American Imperial | 14.70% Indiana Marshmallow Handjee 3 Floyds Brewing Co. Stout – Russian Imperial | 15.00% Iowa Kentucky Brunch Brand Stout Toppling Goliath Brewing Company Stout – American Imperial | 12.00% Kansas Owd Mac’s Imperial Stout Free State Brewing Co. Stout – Russian Imperial Kentucky 70K Against The Grain Brewery & Smokehouse Stout – Sweet / Milk | 13.00% Louisiana Rêve Parish Brewing Company Stout – Sweet / Milk | 7.20% Maine Mott The Lesser Tributary Brewing Co. Stout – Russian Imperial | 10.50% Maryland 10 Layer RAR Brewing (Realerevival) Stout – American | 8.60% Massachusetts Triple Shot Tree House Brewing Company Stout – American Imperial | 9.70% Michigan CBS (Canadian Breakfast Stout) Founders Brewing Company Stout – American Imperial | 11.30% Minnesota Darkness Surly Brewing Company Stout – Russian Imperial | 12.00% Mississippi Black Creek Lazy Magnolia Brewing Company Stout – American Imperial | 8.50% Missouri Barrel-Aged Abraxas Perennial Artisan Ales Stout – American Imperial | 11.00% Montana Ivan The Terrible Imperial Stout – Barrel-Aged Big Sky Brewing Company Stout – Russian Imperial | 11.60% Nebraska Black Betty Imperial Stout – Whiskey Barrel-Aged Nebraska Brewing Company Production Brewery & Tap Room Stout – Russian Imperial | 11.30% Nevada Bourbon Barrel Russian Imperial Stout Joseph James Brewing Inc. Stout – Russian Imperial | 9.50% New Hampshire RIS Stoneface Brewing Co. Stout – Russian Imperial | 9.50% New Jersey A Night To End All Dawns Kane Brewing Company Stout – American Imperial | 12.20% New Mexico Cafe Con Leche La Cumbre Brewing Co. Stout – Sweet / Milk | 7.50% New York Imperial Biscotti Break – Bourbon Barrel-Aged Evil Twin Brewing Stout – American Imperial | 11.50% North Carolina The Event Horizon Olde Hickory Brewery Stout – American Imperial | 12.25% North Dakota Not enough reviews Ohio Appervation Jackie O’s Pub & Brewery Stout – American Imperial | 15.00% Oklahoma Bourbon Paradise Prairie Artisan Ales Stout – American Imperial | 13.70% Oregon Double Stack Great Notion Brewing Stout – American Imperial | 11.00% Pennsylvania Sunny Side Up (Little Amps! Double Coffee) Al’s of Hampden / Pizza Boy Brewing Stout – American Imperial | 9.50% Rhode Island InfRIngement Newport Craft Brewing & Distilling Co. Stout – Russian Imperial | 11.00% South Carolina Mexican Cake – Maple Bourbon Barrel-Aged Westbrook Brewing Co. Stout – American Imperial | 10.20% South Dakota Not enough reviews Tennessee Astronaut Status Wiseacre Brewing Stout – American Imperial | 12.20% Texas Bourbon Barrel Temptress Lakewood Brewing Company Stout – Sweet / Milk | 11.30% Utah Big Bad Baptista Epic Brewing Company Stout – American Imperial | 11.70% Vermont Beyond Good And Evil Hill Farmstead Brewery Stout – American Imperial | 10.00% Virginia Kentucky Christmas Morning Hardywood Park Craft Brewery Stout – Sweet / Milk | 10.60% Washington The Rusty Nail Fremont Brewing Company Stout – Oatmeal | 13.30% West Virginia Miner’s Daughter Oatmeal Stout Mountain State Brewing Co. Stout – Oatmeal | 5.20% Wisconsin Black Gold Central Waters Brewing Co. Stout – American Imperial | 11.00% Wyoming Zonker Stout Snake River Brewing Company & Brewpub Stout – Foreign / Export | 6.00%

The article The Highest-Rated Stout in Every State [MAP] appeared first on VinePair.

source https://vinepair.com/articles/best-highest-rated-stout-every-state/

[wineanddinosaur]

VinePair Podcast: What Makes a Wine ‘American’?

This November on VinePair, we’re celebrating everything about American Wine. From up-and-coming regions and our favorite bottles, to the challenges winemakers are facing right now, we’re turning a spotlight on the industry across the United States. 

November marks VinePair’s American Wine Month, which features coverage that celebrates the many facets of wine and winemaking across the country. But what exactly makes a wine “American” to begin with? It’s a tough question to answer — and one that necessitates looking beyond geography.

In this episode of the “VinePair Podcast,” join hosts Adam Teeter, Joanna Sciarrino, and Zach Geballe for a conversation about the defining factors of American wine and whether any unifying qualities exist that distinguish U.S.-made wines from the rest. Is American wine only about geography after all? Or is there something deeper at play?

Tune in to find out.

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Adam Teeter: From VinePair’s New York City headquarters, I’m Adam Teeter.

Joanna Sciarrino: I’m Joanna Sciarrino.

Zach Geballe: And back in Seattle, Washington, I’m Zach Geballe.

A: This is the “VinePair Podcast.” Zach, it was great having you here.

J: It was so great to meet you.

Z: Yeah, same. It was a pleasure to get to spend some time with both of you, and Joanna, to actually meet you in person, hard as it is to believe. You podcast with someone long enough, and they feel like family. They’re either a beloved cousin in Joanna’s case, or the brother that you can’t seem to get rid of, like Adam.

A: Oh, interesting. Wow.

Z: It’s all love here. Our contentious conversations are a part of what some of our listeners enjoy, I hope.

A: Oh, I hope so.

Z: It was a lot of fun, though. Thanks for having me out for a really epic party.

A: Yeah, man, Thank you. It was a crazy epic party.

J: It was a great party.

A: Everyone was very responsible, too.

Z: It’s true. It was just the right amount of fun.

A: It was. Obviously, you enjoyed the party. Besides the party, though, what else did you drink this week that was really delicious?

Z: I would say there were two great experiences for me. One was getting a chance to visit the newer location of Dante in the West Village.

A: You’ve been to Dante before though, right?

Z: I’ve only ever been to the one on MacDougal, which is where I used to hang out as a college student.

A: It was not the Dante it is today back then, right?

Z: No. It was not that kind of Dante. It was just an Italian café where I drank a cappuccino, pretended to study, and mostly just people watched pretty regularly. The West Village location is a little bigger. It’s nice and breezy. I had two cocktails that we’ve talked about on this podcast a few times. I had a proper Negroni Bianco, and that was delicious. Then, I had two Martinis because it was that kind of day. One of Dante’s many things is their Martini hour. I had one and some friends joined. I’d finished my first Martini, so I thought, let’s just make it a two Martini kind of afternoon. That was great, and a lot of fun visiting there. One of the things that was really cool is that I went to dinner on Friday night with some college friends of mine. We went to an innocuous wine bar in Midtown. It was convenient. Some friends were coming in from Long Island, so it was near Penn Station. We wanted to be somewhere where everyone could meet. A couple of our friends in particular were pretty adamant that they wanted to dine outside, which I understand. There were limited options for a larger group sitting outside on a Friday night. We ended up at a place called Wine:30, which was fine. It wasn’t anything spectacular, but it was just fine. They had a really remarkable collection of old Italian wine that was very reasonably priced. It was kind of wild to be in Midtown drinking 20-year- old Barolo for $150. I understand for some listeners, that does not sound like an incredible bargain. Given what that wine would probably cost in a lot of Manhattan restaurants, I said, “Sure, I’ll buy that. That’s great.” That was really cool. How about you guys?

J: After the party, I was not drinking for a little while. The other night, I went to Katana Kitten — a bar over in the West Village — for the first time to celebrate my partner Evan’s birthday. It was great. I guess I just didn’t know what to expect from that place because it’s been on the list of World’s Best Bars, but it has a great vibe, and the drinks are excellent. We had a few different cocktails. We had the Hinoki Martini and a highball, but the standout for me was their Amaretto Sour. They serve it on a big rock with a dusting of red shiso and salt seasoning, which was really good.

A: I’ve heard that it’s amazing.

J: It was great. It’s a really cool spot. I can’t wait to go back.

A: People talk about it a lot. People have actually said they’ve stolen it and tried to recreate it at other bars around the country once they’ve had it, because it’s so well known.

J: Oh, wow. It’s so good.

Z: That’s such a fascinating thing, too, because the Amaretto Sour is one of those cocktails that is very out of style. That’s at least how I would think about it, when I would bartender or serve, or whatever. Very few people would order an Amaretto Sour. It was just wild to think that’s now a trendy drink again. It’s cool. What’s next? The Midori Sour? That would be interesting. I’m sure someone could make one that tasted OK.

A: Yeah. That’s really interesting.

Z: How about you, Adam?

A: Two cool things. The first is that I had some friends over Saturday night. We had one of our first dinner parties. I opened a really old bottle of 2001 Cab Franc from Barboursville, which was really awesome. It was very delicious. Also, last night, I went to Temple Bar.

J: Man, I saw that. I’m so jealous. I’m going next week. That was one of my favorite bars, and now is again since it’s reopened in New York.

A: Now it’s been reopened by the owners of Attaboy. It was super cool.

J: Did you have the blue Negroni?

A: I did not. I had the Gibson. My friend had a tiki cocktail they made where they split the sherries. The sherries are the main ingredient, so it’s a low-ABV tiki cocktail. It was really cool. There was a bouncer out front, and I was thinking we weren’t going to get in and it was going to be so annoying. Then, of course, they said, “Yeah, sure. Come on in.” We walked right in. We went early enough, around 9 p.m., so there wasn’t much of an issue. But also, I guess you make reservations. People are very pumped about it. It definitely was packed. Everyone was having a great time. It’s so cool.

J: It’s such a good spot.

A: It’s very exciting that it’s reopened. That’s about it for me. This week, we’re going to kick off American Wine Month on the site, our editorial theme for the month. Today, we’ll talk about the question, what is American wine? Can you define American wine? As a category, what makes it unique? It’s very tough to define. Zach, do you want to take a stab at it first? What is American wine?

Z: Sure. One of the reasons why I think we’re all interested in this conversation is that someone out there is thinking, “Duh, it’s wine from America.” Yes, geographically, it’s made within the borders of America. Fine.

A: A lot of other people from other parts of America will say, “South American wine is also American wine.”

Z: That’s true. I think the way we are generally using it on our site is wine from the United States. How do you define it? Can you make generalizations about it? Why that’s interesting to me is that, as the wine industry in the United States has matured, grown, and expanded, some of the things that were said about wine from the United States a few decades ago or even a decade ago don’t really hold true. They were these sweeping generalizations, and what most people thought of when they thought of wine from this country was wine from California. Even more specifically, people mostly thought of wine from certain parts of Northern California. If I were to start by trying to codify some kind of definition or generalization about wine from the U.S., I would say that it embodies three fundamental ideas. The first one is freedom. I don’t mean to be a flag-waving patriot here. However, one of the things that is appealing to so many winemakers in so many different areas with so many different stylistic approaches is the idea that — because wine in this country is still a relatively new thing and a growing industry where we’re exploring and pushing boundaries — there’s this incredible opportunity to do almost whatever you want. As long as you can make the wine well, hopefully, and you can find a market for it, there’s no reason that you can’t center your wine region or winery around Petit Manseng, St. Pepin in the Great Lakes, Cabernet Franc in Washington State, or whatever the heck you want.You’re not totally beholden to established ideas about what great wine is. The second thing to me is that you are seeing more and more development of this idea that wine can be a part of a place. I don’t want to get into a terroir conversation. It’s in the same way that craft beer has cracked the code of feeling very local wherever you are. Even if some of these local craft breweries do have a regional or national presence, they still mostly feel like they’re of the place they’re from. Wine, too, in a growing number of places in the country, can be connected to the region that surrounds it. Wine isn’t a thing that you have to get imported from other parts of the world. It can be a part of your local economy. There’s a third thing that’s really interesting to me, it’s that wine is not just a product. It’s not just a beverage, It’s an experience. The United States is so connected to the experience of tasting rooms, visiting wineries, and all of that in a way that I think is not as true in much of Europe. Where it is true in Europe is largely because of the influence of the wine industry in this country. That’s me talking a lot. How about you guys?

J: When I was thinking about this prompt earlier, I was thinking that there are probably certain winemakers or regions that have helped define the “American” style of that wine. I think of a Napa Cab being one of them. Maybe there’s Riesling in the Finger Lakes, or White Zinfandel and that style that gained popularity in the mid-’70s. They’re defining certain grapes or wines in a distinctive American way or style. I’m not sure there’s a more comprehensive definition for American wine or American-style wine. As you said, I don’t know if you can just make a sweeping generalization for American wine.

A: I hear what you’re saying, Zach, about all the different abilities for experimentation. I would say that it still is very much defined by a country dominated by basically one state. Come at me, Oregon and Washington, but it’s still really dominated by California and hyper-focused on just a few very classic French varietals. There’s Cabernet, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Sauvignon Blanc, basically. That, at this point, is American wine. There is a desire to go past that. There are some really cool people that are now doing Picpoul, like Randall Grahm. As a whole, it’s not huge. That is why in every vineyard across the country in developing regions, you will find a Cabernet Sauvignon because they think that’s what the American population is looking for. You can go up to the Finger Lakes, out to the North Fork, down to Georgia, where they’re making wine, and you’ll see it.

J: But, in that very specific style.

A: Yes. Or, they’re trying to make it like that because they think that’s what’s going to sell. That is why I think there has been, until recently, a reluctance to say, “We’re in Georgia. Maybe, in the vineyards in Georgia, a crazy Spanish varietal will grow better,” for example. The American wine consumer has just begun to evolve and has really only thought of these as being the wines to drink. I think the American wine that we know is still represented by those four wine grapes.

J: I think that’s important to mention, Adam. It’s the American wine consumer’s impression of American wine.

A: Yes. It’s their impression, and I think that impression is basically formed by the wines coming out of California. There are small portions of people who will say that they’re actually being informed by the cool Rieslings made in the Finger Lakes or, in your case Zach, the interesting wines coming out of the Yakima Valley. There are small groups of those people. The majority of American consumers, though, are influenced by California. California is American wine.

J: What do you think it would take to change that?

A: That’s a loaded question. I don’t know. Maybe California has an earthquake and becomes an island? I don’t mean that, my California people. I really love California. It’s just such a dominant player in the world of wine.

J: Will it take California changing their wine to break that mold?

A: I don’t think they want to.

J: No reason to, right?

A: Yeah. Zach, what do you think it would take for California to not be the dominant wine region in the United States and defining what American wine is?

Z: Outside of the doom and gloom situations, one thing we’re seeing, slowly but surely, is the percentage of American wine that is produced in California is becoming a slightly smaller slice of the pie. That’s just because other states are producing more wine. California is still, by far, the dominant producer in the country. I think with California, and certainly with some of these regions, you are already butting up against a problem that’s happening for a variety of reasons. There’s an inability to expand production more. As America becomes more and more of a wine-drinking nation, which has definitely happened over the last couple of decades, I think you are seeing more interest in wine from the U.S. and the world over. I think that there is an undeniable fact that what you are saying is true, Adam. California’s preeminence, as a bulk producer from certain places and also from the premium regions in other places, are both defining American wine consumers’ preferences towards wine. One thing that could change is this idea of breaking the hegemony of those few grapes in a little bit. You’re starting to see people, even within Napa Valley and other regions, trying to highlight other varieties. There’s a broader recognition across the wine drinking public that there is more out there than just Cabernet Sauvignon or just Merlot. Whether that ever really changes things at the root level, I’m not totally sure. I do think you are seeing more people want to connect with wine differently. I think you also see the inaccessibility or just the eye-popping price tag of taking a trip to Napa. That is going to, and is, driving people to some other regions. Some of those regions might still be in California, of course, but others might be in other parts of the country. If you are someone who says, “I want to go on a wine-tasting trip, but I don’t want to be spending thousands of dollars on it,” you might look at the Texas Hill Country, Arizona, the Great Lakes, or wherever.

A: I think they will. This wasn’t supposed to be a podcast about how California defines the American wine industry, but it is, and they will. In the very famous 1972 song off of “Exile on Main St.,” the greatest album the Stones ever wrote, Mick Jagger sang in “Sweet Virginia,” “Thank you for your wine, California.” He sang that before the Judgment of Paris. It was already a state that was very well known for its wine internationally. California is American wine. It just is.

J: Yeah. Zach said it before, too. For other countries of the world, that’s probably their perception of American wine as well.

A: For sure. California is what created the winery experience there. They basically created the idea of winery and restaurant and tourism. That’s what’s then been exported to all of the other American wine regions. It’s now being exported to places like France and Italy that did not have that kind of culture yet. That’s all California.

Z: Yes, absolutely.

J: You can play bocce and cornhole.

A: Exactly. There’s these third spaces. People are serving burgers and pizza with wine. You would never find a pizzeria in a lot of these Italian wineries because they drink beer with pizza. That’s just not part of their culture. That’s the California cuisine. It’s completely influenced the kind of food people expect they’ll get at wineries. It’s all California cuisine. That’s American wine.

Z: We don’t call it California wine month, so maybe we should look a little bit at other places.

A: The conversation is, “How do you define American wine?” That’s how I’m defining American wine. It’s California wine.

Z: Fair enough. You’re the man who just opened a 20-year-old bottle of wine from Virginia.

A: I love that wine. I think it’s really interesting. The majority of wine drinkers you tell that you’re drinking wine from Virginia will say, “There’s no way that’s good.” Even if I’m drinking a wine from New York State, people will say, “Really?” If you go down south to Atlanta, where there’s one of the largest annual wine auctions called the High Museum Atlanta Wine Auction, it’s considered to be an epic wine event in the country. No one is auctioning off wines from Virginia and the Finger Lakes. These are great wine regions, but they are auctioning off crazy wines from Napa, Sonoma, and other parts of the world.

Z: I wonder if this is a topic where we’re seeing a little bit of a change. I don’t doubt that at the top of the wine market, yes, the most expensive wines produced in the United States are all produced in California. You may get some very high-end Pinot Noir from the Willamette Valley. Basically, if you’re talking about the absolute top of the pyramid in America, you’re talking about California wine. That isn’t what most people are drinking day-to-day. People are not drinking $1,000 bottles of wine.

A: No. They’re drinking red blends from California.

Z: Yeah. True. The point is that I do think you’re seeing, in the expansion of these wine regions throughout the country, more interest. Maybe it’s just locally. Maybe it’s not national or international at this point in a lot of these places. Certain passionate people might say, “I believe that I can make great wine in the Finger Lakes.” Most people who go into that business at least have to think they can sell it. If you’re in a wine region like the Finger Lakes, which doesn’t have a huge population center right there, you’re probably counting on being able to sell it to people besides those who live within walking distance of the lakes or whatever. For the most part, that is what we are seeing. There’s an appetite that we’ve grown in our country. People throughout the country are looking to meet that demand locally, or at least regionally. It’s true that California is going to be the access and entry point for a lot of drinkers, especially if you’re not particularly near a wine region or you’re outside of the country. That’s fine. It is by far the biggest producing state. It has some of the most famous regions and wineries. At the same time, I think we are missing something if we are as reductionist as to say, because California is the big player in this country, that all American wine is California wine. We wouldn’t want to say that about beer. Not all American beer is macro lager, even if that’s the biggest player in the category.

A: No, but if you want to talk about influence, then yes, all wine in America right now is currently influenced by the wine being produced in California. 100 percent. When you look at craft beer, there was a time when all the beers being produced were being influenced by the beers being produced on the West Coast. That was mostly, again, in California. Then it changed and all the beers were being influenced by wines coming out of places like Massachusetts, Vermont, and New Hampshire. There are these East Coast IPA beers. If we’re having a conversation about the question, “Should we be paying attention to other regions in America other than California?” I’m happy to have that conversation. If we’re having a conversation about “What is the definition of American wine?” Then, it’s California wine.

Z: Fair enough.

J: Well, see you later.

Z: This was like 15 minutes longer than it needed to be. We should’ve started and ended there.

A: I rest my case. I’d love to hear other people’s opinions who listen to the podcast. What do you think, Joanna? Do you think I’m wrong?

J: No, I agree. It makes a lot of sense to me, and like I said earlier, I think other people from other parts of the world probably think that of American wine as well. That doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t consider these other regions. I think they’re important. Like Zach said, maybe we’re moving in a different direction as they gain popularity and recognition. I do think that, for this particular prompt and conversation, that seems to make sense to me.

Z: I have one last thought here. I’ll leave it at this. If the United States was analogous to Europe and each of these states or regions were their own country, we wouldn’t necessarily lump California and the Finger Lakes together any more than we lump France and Germany together in general as a broader political unit.

A: Well, they did go to war against each other.

Z: Well, you might be aware of a certain civil war in this country, for example.

A: Was California even really a player at that point?

Z: No, not so much, I guess. In any case, the point I’m trying to make is that I think if you were to talk about European wine in aggregate, it is often through a France-centric lens. If we want to analogize France and California in these two examples, I can see where you’re coming from. Obviously, you don’t believe that we should only be talking about California wine. It is true that there is a way in which, because this landmass is still currently one political unit —

A: That’s pretty dark there, Zach. “Currently.”

Z: I don’t know when people are going to listen to this. I don’t know what the future holds. You talked about a gigantic earthquake, so I can talk about the political dissolution of the United States. In any case, I do think that you’re right. California casts a very long shadow at a minimum. I also think that it’s important for all of us to remember that it’s a big country. There’s a lot going on. While California still kind of rules the roost, I think it’s interesting to think about the ways in which other regions have both leaned into their California-ness and also tried to break away from it.

A: What I would challenge you to bring to the discussion next week is this: Tell me what would be the U.S. state that would become more influential in the future of American wine than California?

Z: I’m not sure that’s possible. California is the biggest state that produces wine. That’s partially just a landmass thing.

A: Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I rest my case. I agree with all the things you’re saying. I think I would also argue, on the European side, that I think France has cast a very large shadow.

J: Me too.

A: That’s why you see so many of these wineries around Europe who go to France to study winemaking, bring the French influence into their wines, et cetera. For some reason, they’re getting more praise. They’re being more successful. I was just in Greece touring a lot of the wineries there, and all they wanted to tell me was about how their most recent winemaker had gone and worked in France. He had learned that way of winemaking. I thought, “Well, maybe your way is also cool.”

Z: I think we’ve seen that here with UC Davis and a lot of people training in California and Napa. Just like in Europe and in places like Greece, where you’re seeing a little bit of a pivot away from that, I think you are also seeing more homegrown and home-taught winemaking in other parts of the country. That includes the opening and development of great viticulture and vinification programs in universities throughout the country. There’s a great program at Cornell. There are great programs here in Washington State. There’s all kinds of stuff.

A: Very cool. Let us know what you think about this episode. Shoot us an email at [email protected]. Tell us how much California wine you drink. I promise you, this was not brought to you by the state of California. Zach and Joanna, I’ll talk to you on Friday.

J: Thanks, guys.

Z: Sounds great.

Thanks so much for listening to the “VinePair Podcast.” If you love this show as much as we love making it, please leave us a rating or review on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever it is you get your podcasts. It really helps everyone else discover the show.

Now for the credits. VinePair is produced and recorded in New York City and Seattle, Washington, by myself and Zach Geballe, who does all the editing and loves to get the credit. Also, I would love to give a special shout-out to my VinePair co-founder, Josh Malin, for helping make all of this possible, and also to Keith Beavers, VinePair’s tastings director, who is additionally a producer on the show. I also want to, of course, thank every other member of the VinePair team, who are instrumental in all of the ideas that go into making the show every week. Thanks so much for listening, and we’ll see you again.

Ed. note: This episode has been edited for length and clarity.

The article VinePair Podcast: What Makes a Wine ‘American’? appeared first on VinePair.

source https://vinepair.com/articles/podcast-american-wine-guide/

[wineanddinosaur]

Gone Pickin’: 5 Boozy Ways to Use Up a Bounty of Apples With Crown Royal Whisky

Like flannel shirts or the much-derided pumpkin spice latte, apple picking has become another yearly signifier of autumn’s arrival. Similar to the other things that make the season — tailgating, adult Halloween costumes, pumpkin beer — it’s slightly ridiculous. After all, we can’t think of any other activity that sends ostensible city slickers into the countryside to pay for the privilege of picking their own fruit.

All logical concerns aside, there’s just something satisfying about picking a basket of your own apples on a crisp November day. So satisfying, that you may return to your non orchard-adjacent living space and realize you have a glut of apples on your hands.

That is where Crown Royal whisky comes in.

There are many good reasons to mix apples and Crown Royal. The whisky’s creamy texture and rich flavors of oak and vanilla marry beautifully with apple and all the flavors that tend to accompany the fruit — cinnamon, brown butter, baking spices and beyond.

With this in mind, we’ve decided to outline five ways that you can use orchard-picked apples to enhance the flavor of Crown Royal whisky in cocktails. Read on below for more apple-enhanced whisky goodness.

Infuse the Source

An easy way to turn any whisky-involved cocktail —from an Old-Fashioned to a Manhattan to a Lion’s Tail — into its apple equivalent is to first infuse the whisky itself with apples. It’s a pretty simple process: you’ll just want to core and slice an apple, and then combine those slices with your whisky in a mason jar (or any other sealed container) for a period of several days to several weeks.

There’s no hard and fast rule on when the apples should be removed. Instead, it’s a matter of personal preference: the longer the apples infuse with the whisky, the more apple-y your final product will be. To suss this out, occasionally taste your whisky while it’s infusing to determine whether it’s absorbed the amount of apple flavor you’re seeking. Once that metric is met, strain it back into the original bottle and start deciding which classic whisky cocktails might benefit from an apple remix.

While we’ve outlined the most basic way to create apple-infused whisky, you can also up the ante with apple pie-infused whisky. Follow the same steps but add those spices (just the spices!) associated with apple pie —cinnamon, allspice, etc.— to the whisky and allow it to infuse with the apples for extra autumnal flavor.

Simply Turn It into Syrup

Simple syrup, which as its name implies, is nothing more than sugar and water melded together after a brief simmer on the stove. It works like a blank canvas for flavor. Almost anything added to the saucepan during the simple syrup-making process will infuse the final product with its own flavors, apples included.

So, to make apple simple syrup, core and slice an apple and add it to equal parts water and sugar (for an even richer flavor use brown or demerara sugar) and simmer the ingredients together in a saucepan for a few minutes. Once you’ve whisked the combination into a clear syrup, strain out the apples and bottle the syrup before refrigerating for up to one week.

In this way, you can make an Apple Old-Fashioned with regular, non apple-infused Crown Royal by reaching for your apple simple syrup. To complete the theme, garnish the drink with an apple slice and maybe even a cinnamon stick for good measure.

Muddle it Up

Plenty of cocktails call for muddling, most classically the Whisky Smash or Mint Julep. In those drinks, it’s mint that gets muddled up with syrup to extract the herb’s flavor before combining with spirit.

However, apples are fair game for mudding, too. To make a more autumnal iteration of the Whisky Smash, combine cored and sliced apples with simple syrup or brown sugar at the bottom of a shaker and briefly muddle to pull out the apple’s flavor and aromatics. Add Crown Royal Whisky, then give it a dry shake before straining into a rocks glass full of crushed ice.

Juice it, Then Sour It

This one might be considered a shortcut, as juicing your own apples at home can be a bit of a chore. For that reason, we’ll withhold any judgement should you decide to pick up apple juice from a local farm stand instead.

Either way, you’ll discover that apple juice can take the place of lemon juice in a whole family of whisky-involved drinks, most notably the Whisky Sour. Just remember that because apple juice is less tart than lemon juice, you might want to cut back on the simple syrup in your drink build.

How Do You Like Them Apple Garnishes?

And lastly, we come to the apple garnish. At its most basic, an apple slice can spruce up a simple Old-Fashioned (and also serve as a useful stirring device). But should you be feeling extra-crafty, you can make dehydrated apple garnishes by slicing the apples very thinly before arranging them on a baking sheet and baking on low heat.

After a few hours in the oven, you’ll be rewarded with thin, crispy apple chips that would also make a fine snack but can instead be floated on top of any whisky drink served up, like a Manhattan (just try and resist making any “Big Apple” puns).

No Bounty of Apples?

No problem! You can still celebrate the fall season by picking up your own bottle of Crown Royal Regal Apple.

This article is sponsored by Diageo.

The article Gone Pickin’: 5 Boozy Ways to Use Up a Bounty of Apples With Crown Royal Whisky appeared first on VinePair.

source https://vinepair.com/articles/a-bounty-of-apples-with-crown-royal/

[wineanddinosaur]

Winery Perks Rekindle Old Consumer Flames

 Smart wineries are offering so much more than access to allocated wines to get visitors back and spending. source https://www.wine-searcher.com/m/2021/11/winery-perks-rekindle-old-consumer-flames?rss=Y

[wineanddinosaur]

$407,000 Château d’Yquem Among Dozens of High-End Wines Stolen from Restaurant in Spain

Authorities are searching for a man and woman suspected of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of wine, including a rare 215-year-old bottle, from an upscale hotel-restaurant complex in Spain.

José Polo, the owner of the two-Michelin-starred restaurant Atrio, told the Associated Press that the theft took place early last Wednesday morning.

The English-speaking suspects distracted the hotel’s desk clerk with a task, leaving security cameras unmonitored and the male half of the duo free to sneak into the cellars. The couple were staying at the hotel as guests, and had dined at the restaurant that same night. When they checked out early the next morning, they reportedly left with bags full of wine bottles.

“They were professionals, they knew exactly what they were doing,” Polo stated.

Atrio’s vast cellar holds over 40,000 bottles of wine, many of which are extremely old and valuable. Among the 45 bottles taken by the thieves was an 1806 Château d’Yquem valued at £295,000 (approximately $407,000), and six bottles of Romanée-Conti dating back to the 19th-century.

Polo believes that the couple may be working with a private collector because many of the missing bottles are so rare that they would instantly be recognized as stolen from Atrio.

​​“Those bottles are very numbered and controlled. That 1806 Yquem is unique; everyone knows it’s ours,” Polo said.

Local authorities are currently investigating the case.

The article $407,000 Château d’Yquem Among Dozens of High-End Wines Stolen from Restaurant in Spain appeared first on VinePair.

source https://vinepair.com/booze-news/expensive-rare-wine-heist-spain/

[wineanddinosaur]

E.U. Ends Retaliatory Tariffs on U.S. Whiskey and Bourbon Products

Members of the U.S. spirits industry celebrated on Saturday, as the EU agreed to remove long-standing tariffs on American whiskey and bourbon.

“After three very difficult years of sagging American whiskey exports, the EU and the U.S. are back to a zero-for-zero tariff agreement on distilled spirits, which has been instrumental to our export success and job creation on both sides of the Atlantic since 1997,” Chris Swonger, president and CEO of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS), stated in a press release.

The trade dispute dates back to June 2018, when the Trump administration imposed 25 percent tariffs on all imported aluminum and steel products from the EU, Mexico, and Canada. While not necessarily a “war” on the alcohol beverage sector, America’s producers suffered as a result. In response to the levies, the EU and Canada retaliated with 25 percent tariffs on American whiskey.

The impact of the sanctions proved significant on both sides of the Atlantic. Between 2018 and 2020, exports of American whiskey to the EU dropped 37 percent, from $702 million to $440 million, according to DISCUS. Industry members are hoping there will now be a quick reversal of that trend.

“With the removal of these EU tariffs, we are energized and ready to ramp up our American whiskey promotions in the EU to re-introduce America’s native spirits to EU consumers and resume a great American export success story,” Swonger stated.

Amid the excitement, there are still ways to go. The 25 percent tariff on American whiskey remains in place in the U.K., which was part of the EU when the initial tariff was imposed but has since ceased to be a member state.

American distillers may feel particularly unfairly treated in this respect. In March 2021, the U.S. temporarily suspended a separate, unrelated 25 percent tariff on Scotch whisky imports. Later in June, when the provision was set to expire, the Biden administration extended the suspension for five years.

“The end of this long tariff nightmare is in sight for U.S. distillers, who have struggled with the weight of the tariffs and the pandemic,” Swonger stated. “It’s time for the U.K. to lift its tariff on American whiskeys so we can all get back to toasts, not tariffs.”

The article E.U. Ends Retaliatory Tariffs on U.S. Whiskey and Bourbon Products appeared first on VinePair.

source https://vinepair.com/booze-news/eu-ends-american-whiskey-tariff/

[wineanddinosaur]

The Two New Glarus-es: Viewing a Unicorn Brewery From Beyond Wisconsin’s Borders

This October, VinePair is celebrating our second annual American Beer Month. From beer style basics to unexpected trends (pickle beer, anyone?), to historical deep dives and new developments in package design, expect an exploration of all that’s happening in breweries and taprooms across the United States all month long.

Wisconsin’s New Glarus Brewing Company is, by any estimation, one of the most successful craft breweries in American history. It is one of the oldest (born in 1993) and one of the biggest (the 12th largest craft brewer in 2020 and 21st overall brewery, per the Brewers Association).

These figures are all the more astonishing when one considers the brewery’s famously ironclad commitment to sell no beer outside the boundaries of Wisconsin.

Think about that: Duvel Moortgat and Canarchy amalgamated their way into the Top 10. Boston Beer Co. floats on pontoons of seltzer and hard tea. Breweries like Bells, Stone, and Sierra Nevada earn their way in with nearly nationwide sales. New Glarus does that with beer alone, in the confines of the nation’s 20th most populous state.

New Glarus is no less than a brewing unicorn, one perfect specimen of a brewery that opened at the right time, in the right place, for the right people, in the right beer-drinking culture, with the right beers. Still, somehow, beyond the borders of America’s Dairyland, it’s barely a blip on the radar. It is a hype vacuum, with a ’90s-era website and no major social media footprint (it only just joined Twitter last year when a gift shop worker asked if it could start one) for simply being the best damn brewery in Wisconsin.

And yet, there isn’t just the one New Glarus Brewing Company. Philosophically, there are actually two.

One is the New Glarus every Wisconsin resident knows; the brewery that makes the wonderfully fluffy farmhouse ale Spotted Cow and picture-perfect pale ale Moon Man. The brewery that makes the beers that are available at every pizza tavern and gas station beer cave and convenience store cooler in Wisconsin.

This second, smaller but still powerful New Glarus is the one that exists in the minds of the residents of bordering states like Illinois, Iowa, and Minnesota. The New Glarus that’s just out of reach for the day-to-day drinker, the brewery that makes thousands of barrels of beer per year just for the people across an invisible line on the ground. On that side, they get all they want. It’s explicitly just for them. Over here on the other side? We beg for them to branch out beyond Wisconsin, and co-owner Deb Carey looks back and whispers, “No.”

Ubiquitous though it may be to the residents within the Cheddar Curtain, this version of New Glarus is adored, desired, and mythologized well beyond the boundaries of a normal brewery. Tell a beer drinker from Chicago that you’re driving to Indiana or Michigan and they’ll say, “Have a nice time.” Tell someone from Chicago that you’re going to be in Wisconsin for 15 minutes that afternoon and they’ll say, “Can you pick me up some Staghorn? And a 12-pack of Two Women? And some Totally Naked if you have room?”

Name another brewery with that kind of power. If you think any beer’s scarcity hype is unjustified in 2021, know that some of America’s original hype beers call the rolling hills of Southwest Wisconsin their home.

How do I know this? Because I, a born-and-raised Chicagoland-ian (western suburbs through my early 20s and 15 years in the city proper) am an admitted, avowed New Glarus acolyte. I have made trips to the Woodman’s grocery store in Kenosha, Wis., for the express purpose of purchasing New Glarus beer and I have dragged my wife to the New Glarus beer garden on my birthday as though it were a pilgrimage. I have raved as much about their simply perfect Zwickelbier and Fat Squirrel as I have about their richly complex Oud Bruin and their Scream IIPA, which somehow tastes magically like an Orange Crush in beer form.

So when I tell you that New Glarus is, to some beer drinkers around the Great Lakes states, just a bit akin to a cult, know that I tell you from a place of relative confidence.

Am I the outlier? Is my taste for inaccessible beer skewing my impressions of what the brewery means to people beyond the Wisconsin state line?

Infinitely more of an authority on New Glarus itself is Dan Carey, co-owner, brewmaster, and creator of the hundreds of beers that the brewery has produced over the decades. “Of course we’re flattered,” he says of drinkers like me. “It’s nice when people choose our beer and we’re flattered wherever they’re from.”

That said, their beer beyond their borders isn’t a huge concern to him and his wife and co-owner, Deb Carey.

“We’ve never really done a study on that, although certainly we know how much beer is sold in every account that we have around the state,” Dan says. “Places like Mars Cheese Castle or some of the places outside of Minneapolis do very well for us. But frankly, my instinct is that it’s not a large part of our business.”

When I ask whether the decision to turn to a Wisconsin-only footprint (following some infamous initial attempts at Chicago distribution in the early 2000s) had, in fact, contributed to a New Glarus mythology among drinkers, I do get a bit of affirmation. “Well, certainly there’s some bit of human nature to that,” Carey says.

“I think I would be fibbing if I did not say that. Certainly there’s merit to that but … if it is the key to success then everybody would be doing it. It’s like the tail wagging the dog. Success is not tied to the scarcity of the beer, but the scarcity of the beer is an outcome. And I think I know of no other brewers that are doing this, at least in the United States.”

Scarcity and Ubiquity

This much is true: In terms of a large-scale operation, only Short’s Brewing in Michigan comes to mind when thinking of an avowed state-specific footprint, being all in on Michigan Only, Michigan Forever — until they weren’t, citing the increased competition in the beer market.

“I see it in Germany, which we sort of identify with more than the American craft brewers. Most of our competitors, I see their beer in 50 states. I see it in [places like] Temple Bar in Dublin,” Dan says. “Of course, the human mind is such that it’s accepted that that’s how business is done. But … my God, that’s crazy when you think about it. If we sold in 50 states and six countries, that’s a different business. We become a different company.”

But what about the accounts that make the orders from that company, and watch the beer go out their front door and across the state lines? Tyrrell Gaffer has been the owner and manager of the Historic Casanova Liquor Store in Hudson, Wis. — just steps from the Mississippi River across from Minnesota — since purchasing the store in 2002. According to Gaffer, roughly half of its New Glarus sales are going right across the state line.

“It’s funny because it’s not just Minnesota, it’s regionally — we get a ton of travel from all over,” Gaffer says. “We get a lot of snowbirds up here that bring it back down so it’s going all over the place, but it’s at least half, 50 percent moving out of Wisconsin … if not more.”

In part, the ubiquity of New Glarus in Wisconsin contributes to that, Gaffer says. “Our [Wisconsin] regulars, they know the brand, it’s at every gas station, on tap at every bar. It’s just always around.”

Not only is New Glarus a major draw for out-of-state drinkers, but no other out-of-state brand has the same hold. “I probably have 10, 15 brands that aren’t available in Minnesota,” Gaffer says, “but no one’s buying cases to bring back. But New Glarus is always … Jesus, of our 22 [cooler] doors, two full doors are New Glarus and one of them’s just 24-packs of cans and bottles.”

Justin Ludeman is in a similar role as the liquor manager for Woodman’s Food Market in Kenosha, whose department is so large it makes up its own wing of the building. There’s plenty of Chicago traffic coming in for New Glarus beers (which it keeps smartly stacked in tall piles near the front of the building), says Ludeman.

“We do quite a good chunk,” he says. “Maybe like 10, 15 percent. The scarcity of it definitely drives demand, so that’s a huge pull. I mean it’s a nice solid brewery, though. It wouldn’t be so big if they didn’t do a good job.”

Other factors are admittedly at play. Taxes on beer in Wisconsin are about one-fourth of those in Illinois, so folks on the border naturally gravitate north due to that as well. But the lure of the Spotted Cow is still strong: “A lot of times people just grab a couple cases, but we’ve seen people come through and load up three shopping carts sometimes,” Ludeman says. “It’s a really good beer, so yeah, it’s going to be sought out. And the scarcity only drives it a little bit more.”

To Gaffer, scarcity is one aspect of the Careys’ success, but it’s also the role that New Glarus has come to play for a large generation of drinkers coming up around Wisconsin. “It’s always been our gateway to craft beer. Spotted Cow is the gateway into it, and then their seasonals fit the next level, so they can work from Spotted Cow up into a pale ale or a bock or something, a nut brown. Something that’s still craft but it’s not a double-hazy-IPA kind of thing.” Gaffer says. “And then they do their high-end fruit beers and double IPAs in 4-packs, which is another tier for them. So it’s kind of a gateway into craft.”

Beyond the unimpeachable quality of the beer, I asked Dan Carey if he attributed their intra-Wisconsin success to any other right-state, right-time factor. “Wisconsin has always been beer-centric, not necessarily craft-beer-centric but beer-centric in a kind of a Germanic way,” he says, “[but] I would argue the contrary: that our ability to succeed was simply due to our tenaciousness.”

He adds: “We have a saying that is painted around the top of our brew house that says, ‘Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goals: my strength lies solely in my tenacity,’ which comes from Louis Pasteur. I would argue that it wasn’t so much luck, being in the right place at the right time, but just that … we’re fighters. We don’t give up. We never stop. I don’t know how else to describe it but it’s not been easy. We both have our scars.”

Near the end of our conversation, I wanted to know if there was ever a point at which the Careys started to see the needle tick upward in their Wisconsin takeover, or if there was a moment they could look at as being able to say, “This thing might work out.”

“What we were desperately trying to do was get back to the amount of money Dan had made at Anheuser-Busch [where he previously worked as a production supervisor] and that took us a solid 10 years, I think,” Deb says, “with both of us working to replace his income with insurance. So that is probably about the time that we started to say, ‘Hmm, I think we’re going to be OK.’”

Deb Carey insists that “market dominance [has] never, ever, ever, ever, and will never be a goal. I cannot explain it, no one’s gonna believe it, but I do not care about money. It’s not how I run the business.”

The John Galt of Breweries? Or the Anti-Galt?

Which is, in fact, a hard thing to believe, living in a hyper-capitalistic society where, as the last decade progressed, more and more breweries seemed to be opening for money first, craft second.

And yet, there’s something Randian about moving to a remote valley in the countryside, setting up shop, doing the one thing you love and doing better than nearly anyone else in the world, then letting everyone else beat their way to your door. (In fact, that’s pretty much the end of “Atlas Shrugged.”) Lest I imply that New Glarus has anything in common with Paul Ryan, there’s thankfully a bit more acknowledgement of other people’s humanity in the Careys story.

“For me, it’s about taking care of the people: checking in with my wholesalers, making sure retailers are happy, [and if they’re] having a problem in those areas, I walk around in my brain trying to think, “How can I solve this problem for them,” Deb says. “It’s me and others trying to be a servant leader. If I can make this wholesaler successful, if I can make this retailer in this area, if I can help the bar owners … then I’m going to help myself.”

Part of that caretaking has led to conflict: A lawsuit was recently filed by three of New Glarus’s original investors, claiming that the Careys (per WPR) were “keeping annual profits from them” and “used the company’s profits to invest in outside projects that only the Carey family financially benefits from, including the formation of Sugar River Distillery.”

In response, Deb Carey filed a defamation suit against the law firm representing the investors, plus 50 other unnamed individuals and media outlets in order to (according to the AP) push back on the “exaggerations that were sent out in the press release.”

As Carey tells VinePair, the original conflict was over lost profits and other finances during the Covid shutdown; the brewery is only now working toward reopening its beer garden after closing in early 2020. In order to keep employees working, Carey says, they moved the hospitality team over to production roles — a necessary pivot for many craft breweries during the pandemic.

“We kept everybody at their 40 hours so that no one lost any pay or benefits, and really that is exactly the fight that happened at the investor meeting,” Deb Carey says, explaining that arguments over PPP funding and layoffs also came into play.

“I’m not trying to work over the employees or the wholesalers, but I’m also not going to let them work us over. And that’s a weird balance,” she says. “And I mean, frankly, that is the crux of the whole lawsuit that’s happening right now. It’s really fascinating. So I just think, ‘Well, OK,  whatever. I’m right. I will win this one, too, but whatever. Bring it.’”

New Glarus also operates under an ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan) and has since 2015, which the original investors allege (according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) “is a mechanism to support artificially low share valuation.”

In a followup email to VinePair, Deb Carey passes along one final very interesting detail, which she discovered due to the pandemic. According to Carey, “During Covid tourism was at a standstill and border stores reflected their losses. We estimate out-of-state sales count for 1.5 to 2 percent of our overall sales.” With that, let’s run the numbers!

New Glarus produces 250,000 barrels of beer per year, which means as much as 5,000 barrels of New Glarus beer is being muled out of state. At roughly 1.6 million individual beers, that means the equivalent one full case of beer leaves the state every 7 minutes, or a single 12-ounce bottle every 19 seconds. Every hour, every day, of every year. Not an inconsiderate amount of beer.

In fact, according to an estimate provided by Bart Watson, economist at the Brewers Association, fewer than 5 percent of breweries in America make over 5,000 barrels of beer each year. Which means that if the New Glarus beer that travels across the Wisconsin border represented its own brewery, that alone would be bigger than 95 percent of American craft breweries.

If you’ve made it this far down the page, you’ve probably spent nearly as much time as I have trying to figure out what the magic pixie dust is that made New Glarus what it is. It turns out, it’s really not much of a secret at all.

“Decisions are very, very easy for us because they’re not about … the bottom dollar, they’re about what’s best for the taste of the beer, and what’s best for our employees and the community,” Dan Carey says. “What Debbie says is that ‘Most people don’t see good luck because it arrives dressed in coveralls.’ We’ve worked 30 years, 60 hours a week, fist-fighting our way through this to be an ‘overnight success,’ and I’m sure a lot of brewers have done that. But the difference is, we stayed laser focused; never changed our direction. So when you march forward for 30 years you go pretty far if you keep going in the same direction.”

Show up, do the work, try to take care of people first, don’t chase the money, and sometimes it works out that you make a product that resonates with people. And sometimes, that product is a fluffy, fruity farmhouse ale with a dancing cow on the label.

The article The Two New Glarus-es: Viewing a Unicorn Brewery From Beyond Wisconsin’s Borders appeared first on VinePair.

source https://vinepair.com/articles/new-glarus-brewery-wisconsin/

[wineanddinosaur]

Ask a Bartender: Should I Ever Drink My Beer Out of a Frosted Glass?

This October, VinePair is celebrating our second annual American Beer Month. From beer style basics to unexpected trends (pickle beer, anyone?), to historical deep dives and new developments in package design, expect an exploration of all that’s happening in breweries and taprooms across the United States all month long.

While there’s plenty to argue about in the drinks world, there’s one thing everyone from cicerones to winemakers can agree on: There’s nothing more refreshing than a cold beer. And many beer lovers do their best to chill their brews down to the lowest temperatures possible.

But as we search for beers as cold as the Rockies, some pros warn against taking extreme measures to make it happen. With this in mind, VinePair consulted Zach Mack, owner of NYC’s ABC Beer Co., to answer the question: When it comes to beer, how cold is too cold?

For most beers, the ideal serving temperature ranges from 38 to 55 degrees Fahrenheit, with lighter-bodied beers ideally served at chillier temperatures than fuller-bodied varieties such as stouts, porters, and Belgian dubbels and tripels. When drinking at home, this most often means serving beers straight out of the refrigerator, which has a temperature of 40 degrees on average. At bars, beer straight from the tap has plenty of chill.

But some bars and home enthusiasts go a step further, frosting their glasses to prove to thirsty guests just how cold their drink is. But beer geeks like Mack advise against this practice for a variety of reasons.

First, frosting a glass doesn’t actually cool a beer down if it’s already being poured at the proper temperature. “Everybody’s like, ‘I can make the beer even colder, even though I’m pouring from a freezing cold keg,’” Mack says. But as he explains, that’s not the case. “It’s just kind of stunty, and it’s really more for the aesthetic where you pick up a glass and it feels freezing cold in your hand.”

In addition, freezer storage can create tiny ice crystals on the surface of a glass, which, as Mack explains, “create nucleation points for the carbonation.” This in turn causes your beer to foam up instantly and reach an ice-cold temperature for a short period of time. “But then it warms right back up to just above freezing, and you essentially just end up with a cup full of flat beer,” Mack says. As a proper pour is served with a half an ounce of foam on top, such a fizzle can be detrimental to the flavor and aroma of the pint, which are released through carbonation.

Another reason to refrain from frosting your glasses? Cleanliness. “When you’re storing the glass in the fridge, it picks up all the other smells in the fridge or the freezer,” Mack says. “So it’s kind of gross in that way, too.”

Though many dive bars have and will continue to frost their glasses as a point of pride, you’d be hard-pressed to find a quality beer bar that does so. So the next time you want to impress the beer geeks in your life, be sure to serve their brews straight from the fridge or keg in a beer- clean glass — no extra tricks necessary.

The article Ask a Bartender: Should I Ever Drink My Beer Out of a Frosted Glass? appeared first on VinePair.

source https://vinepair.com/articles/frosted-beer-glass-advice/

[wineanddinosaur]

7 of the Best Daiquiri Recipes for Fall

The colder months are an exciting time for drinks lovers. As we say adieu to the frozen concoctions of more humid days, the chillier weather means a reintroduction to old friends like Hot Toddies and mulled wine.

But there are some drinks that go beyond a single season. One such cocktail is the Daiquiri, which has a delightful simplicity that allows for seemingly endless opportunities for riffs and variations — taking the rum drink from summer to winter with just a few easy swaps.

Read on for seven inventive ways to winterize the Daiquiri with recipes from VinePair’s library.

The Whey Daiquiri, a Take on the Daiquiri

For a drink to cozy up with, look no further than the Whey Daiquiri. Developed by Jay Khan, beverage director at Hong Kong-based COA, this recipe brings the comforting flavors of milk tea to the Daiquiri with the addition of chamomile and milk whey. These ingredients are an unlikely yet exciting addition to the Daiquiri’s main ingredients: rum, lime juice, and sugar.

See Recipe

The Autumnal Daiquiri Recipe

One sip of this spiced tipple will instantly bring back memories of apple picking and cider donuts. To make one, swap out rum for Calvados, an apple brandy, and stir in honey syrup rather than simple syrup. These ingredients are shaken up with lime juice and a few dashes of aromatic bitters and topped with an apple fan.

See Recipe

The Jettison Daiquiri Recipe

For a depth of citrus flavors, this Daiquiri is made with grapefruit-infused simple syrup and a few dashes of bitters. Add in a blend of Panamanian and Martinican rums and a squeeze of lime, and take the simple flavors of the Daiquiri to the next level.

See Recipe

The Armagnac Daiquiri Recipe

The earthy flavors of Armagnac take the Daiquiri from summer to winter in one fell swoop. Along with grapefruit and lime juices and Maraschino liqueur, the resulting drink is rich and layered, with undertones of caramel.

See Recipe

Spicy Ancho Chile Daiquiri Recipe

Though a classic Daiquiri is endlessly refreshing, a little added spice takes the drink to the next level. This variation takes the ingredients of the Daiquiri and adds Ancho Reyes Verde liqueur for a subtle peppery flavor that’s sure to warm you up on the coldest of days. Top with a fresh chile, and sip fireside.

See Recipe

The Chartreuse Daiquiri Recipe

For a herbaceous drink to match your favorite holiday flavors, add green Chartreuse to your Daiquiri. This drink is made with the liqueur, as well as honey syrup, rhum agricole, and lime juice for an earthy, warming appeal.

See Recipe

The Rosemary And Honey Daiquiri Recipe

Made for sipping on cozy snow days, this Daiquiri variation is made with dark rum, rosemary, honey syrup, and lime juice. A sprig of rosemary to garnish the concoction brings an added seasonal aroma, making the beverage ideal for the most festive occasions.

See Recipe

The article 7 of the Best Daiquiri Recipes for Fall appeared first on VinePair.

source https://vinepair.com/articles/7-best-fall-daiquiri-recipes/

[wineanddinosaur]

VinePair Podcast: Why is Pumpkin Beer Still a Thing?

Perhaps the most well-known fall seasonal beer style among American consumers, pumpkin beer has stood the test of time. Since the mid-1990s, pioneering American craft brewers such as Dogfish Head and Schlafly have released pumpkin ales year after year. So, much to the chagrin of anti-pumpkin-spice aggressors, the polarizing trend is still here — but why?

In this episode of the “VinePair Podcast,” co-hosts Adam Teeter, Joanna Sciarrino, and Zach Geballe taste an early example of pumpkin ale and share their takes on why they think it continues to be a seasonal favorite.

Sciarrino also sits down with VinePair’s managing editor and resident beer expert Cat Wolinski to learn a little more about the history and changing consumer base for pumpkin beer. To cap things off, the co-hosts try Elysian’s Great Pumpkin imperial ale for the Friday tasting.

Tune in to learn more about why pumpkin beer continues to get buzz when fall rolls around each year.

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Or Check Out the Conversation Here

Adam Teeter: From VinePair’s New York City headquarters, I’m Adam Teeter.

Joanna Sciarrino: I’m Joanna Sciarrino.

Zach Geballe: and I’m Zach Geballe.

A: Why are you still here?

Z: Can’t get rid of me.

Z: I’m like bed bugs, man.

J: I like it. We’re all in the same room.

Z: When you’re on their side, I don’t know what you’re wearing.

J: Do you have shoes on or not?

A: You’re in your basement, in your hovel.

Z: In my hovel? Excuse me.

A: Aren’t you in your little wine cellar?

Z: Yeah. I’m in a corner of my house. I don’t live in a hovel.

A: But you have a wine cellar in the basement, right?

Z: I do.

A: That’s what I thought. How many bottles?

Z: Like 400. Got to be ready.

J: For what?

Z: Come visit. You’re welcome to.

A: Did you bring any with you?

Z: I had to pay to check bags. I’m not going to do that.

A: I’m sorry about that. So, I don’t know today’s topic of the podcast because it’s been kept from me. I’m going to let one of you introduce it.

Z: Oh, that’s a lie. It’s staring you right in the middle. I figured, it’s the time of year where it’s #SpookySeason. We’re getting into true fall. It brought to mind a question that I thought we could try to answer as a team here, which is: Why is pumpkin beer still a thing?

A: I don’t know. It shouldn’t be.

Z: I know that’s your opinion, Adam. I respect and appreciate your personal aesthetic stance on this matter.

A: Everyone needs a cause. My cause is being anti-pumpkin beer.

Z: Maybe you can win a Next Wave Award sometime. In any case, it does really surprise me that a beer style that’s relatively recent and is — and I like pumpkin beers all right — undeniably gimmicky. You don’t see the same thing with any other seasonal ingredient. Well, fresh hop beer is a thing, but then again, hops are a part of beer always. Maybe that’s not the same. You don’t see raspberry or lavender beer season in spring.

A: I guess nothing’s really taken off in the same way. You have summer ales, but it’s not the same as everybody going for pumpkin.

Z: There’s not an added ingredient in those that everyone is jazzed about. Joanna, coming from the food side, it’s not like there’s a cry in food for pumpkin-flavored everything. Well, maybe there is. There’s pumpkin spice everything.

J: Yeah. I think we have to acknowledge that this coincides with the great rise of pumpkin spice and pumpkin spice lattes, candles, et cetera.

A: Zach, have you been to Trader Joe’s recently?

Z: No.

A: There’s literally an entire section devoted to pumpkin flavors. “Here’s our pumpkin soup. Here’s our pumpkin pasta sauce. Here’s our pumpkin spice yogurt.”

J: I think it waned for some amount of years. Now it’s kind of come back.

A: There’s a lot of people out there — I don’t know if it’s as many as summer people — who believe fall is the best season.

J: I’m one of them.

Z: Yeah.

A: Keith is another. My wife is another. I was born in summer, so you know?

Z: What other season could they be?

A: June gave the world Adam. Drake literally named his company October’s Very Own because he was born in October. Just call me Drake. I mean, fall is a great season. I would say it’s a top-two season.

Z: Well, there’s only four. I mean, come on.

A: As long as we can all agree that winter is the worst season.

A: The worst.

J: True.

A: People can’t convince me that skiing is a thing. Anyways, fall’s a great season. Summer has a lot of things people get excited about. I mean, I would say, you know, the equivalent of pumpkin beer. I see so many tomato pictures all the time on Instagram. Everyone’s like “tomato season.” Everyone does it.

J: It’s true.

A: Pumpkin is the tomato of the fall.

Z: That is maybe the most brilliant analogy that’s ever made on this podcast. Congratulations, Adam. This comes back to my question, which is why are pumpkins the only thing that we’re adamant must be added to beer every year?

A: It’s Charlie Brown, dude.

Z: I kind of don’t mind pumpkin beer, but I hate everything about Halloween.

A: Oh, get out.

Z: And I’m the person here with kids.

A: Halloween has become, in the course of the last 40 to 50 years, but especially in the last 20, much more of an adult holiday.

Z: Yes. It was shocking to me when I moved to New York for college because I hadn’t done a Halloween thing in years because I was a teenager. All of a sudden, my freshman year, everyone was asking, “Are you going to the Halloween parade? Are you going to the Halloween parties?” I was like, “What? No. Is there candy? What’s going on.”

J: It’s the best.

Z: I want to ask one more thing about pumpkin beer before this goes even further off the rails. This is why I don’t do these recordings in person. Who knows where we are right now.

A: I think it’s way better.

Z: It’s true. It’s more fun. Listeners, I hope you agree. What’s also weird to me about the pumpkin beer season is that not only has it remained a thing. It’s ebbed and flowed a little bit, but it remains a category. It seems like breweries are content to put out the exact same beer every year, even relatively small to medium-sized craft breweries. That strikes me as also odd. Even breweries that do creative, innovative things much of the rest of the year, when it comes to pumpkin beer season, they just decide, “Let’s dust off that recipe and make our batch.” Maybe it goes back to the pumpkin spice lattes. People want the exact same thing. It is almost like people just want their signifier of the season. They want to drink a 6-pack of whatever.

A: They want to drink the leaves.

Z: I guess so. I just wanted to talk about how strange the continued trend is. It’s not a fad. I think it’s just here, and it’s its own weird segment of beer that exists ephemerally, even more than summer or winter ales.

A: It’s the drink of fall. It’s the thing that everyone feels like they have to have at least once to say that it’s fall.

Z: Yeah, I think that’s right.

A: What’s also weird about pumpkin beer is that, to make most pumpkin beers and be in market when it’s appropriate or earlier, you actually aren’t using this fall’s pumpkins.

Z: Not pumpkin at all, sometimes.

J: Sometimes squash.

A: Sometimes it’s spice. But if you are using it, you’re using squash or pumpkin puree from last season. It’s this really weird thing.

Z: Part of that’s the season creep that happens with everything. Pumpkin beers available in August now. You definitely did not harvest pumpkins for that.

A: OK. Can we try this dumb shit, because it’s sitting in front of me. It’s making me really upset.

J: The last thing I wanted to say is that I think a lot of beer people drink Oktoberfest.

A: Yes, they do.

J: But now that craft beer is so accessible to so many more people, that there are other people who are drinking pumpkin beer.

A: Why don’t you go talk to a craft beer person? I don’t want to have this conversation anymore.

Z: We’re going to make Cat talk to us about it.

A Pumpkin Beer Conversation with VinePair Managing Editor Cat Wolinski

J: Today on the podcast, I am joined by Cat Wolinski, VinePair’s managing editor and resident beer expert. Cat, welcome to the show.

Cat Wolinski: Thank you, Joanna.

J: I’m excited to have you here because we’re talking about pumpkin beer. Pumpkin ale, I suppose, is the better way to say it. I wanted to chat with you about it because I think we’re all very curious to know if pumpkin ale is still relevant. What do you think?

C: Relevant is an interesting word. Pumpkin beer is still definitely around.

J: It’s still a thing?

C: Yeah, but I think who it’s a thing for has changed over the years.

J: Yes, that’s a good point. Why don’t we talk first about how, when pumpkin beer became a thing, how it gained popularity initially, then what happened, and who is it popular with now?

C: I think it started out as a brewpub, fun, seasonal thing. Some of the older classic craft breweries made them for the fall. It wasn’t such a contested subject then. It was just a fall flavor. That was the harvest. It’s theoretically made with pumpkin, which is associated with the season, with Halloween, and things like that.

J: Was this back in the early 2010s?

C: It was longer ago. I think Elysian has been making pumpkin ale since the late ’90s.

J: Whoa. OK. It’s older than I thought.

C: When I say brewpub, this is also the days of yore. It’s early craft beer. When I was coming up as a beer drinker and writer, it was still something fun, something you saw at beer festivals, or something that your friend who thinks they’re really into beer but only like sweet beers would seek out. One that was big around here in New York was Southern Tier Pumpking. That was legitimately considered a good beer by drinkers and beer people, too. It would be served with a brown sugar rim, and it was a special occasion.

J: Wow. Interesting. Back in 2012, I was working at Bon Appétit at the time, and we did a pumpkin beer tasting to publish on the site. That’s when I feel like it was really coming into more mainstream popularity.

C: Wow. Weird that that’s almost 10 years ago. Yeah, I think it still exists in the way that I just described it. It’s still a fun, seasonal thing for a lot of people in the way that a pumpkin spice latte is a fun seasonal thing for people. The pumpkin latte is not necessarily something an everyday coffee drinker drinks or wants, though. Even since 2012, there’s been this big anti-pumpkin beer movement. It was like this thing that everyone had to bandwagon hate. “Who wants to put baking spices in a beer? It’s not even real pumpkin sometimes!”

J: Why do you think that happened? Why did it fall out of favor with the craft beer drinking community?

C: Speaking first from personal experience, I think pumpkin beer can be an entry point to another dimension of beer flavor. In the same way that a lot of people remember their first craft beer or the first beers that made them think, “Woah, I didn’t know beer could taste like that,” I think that feeling existed with pumpkin beer.

I think it’s also something that you grow out of as you get more into beer. If you’re someone who really continues to seek out different flavors, you might learn that you love a Belgian Ale. You can find those warm caramel notes in Chimay or Belgian Strong Ale. You might find other, baked-good-associated flavors, like banana and clove in a wheat beer. It became looked down on to be forcing flavor into the beer, like with pumpkin; then it’s not “real” beer anymore.

J: It’s not the most sophisticated flavor palate.

C: Yes. But it’s also not supposed to be sophisticated. It’s literally supposed to taste like pumpkin pie. I think myself and a lot of my comrades think, “Who cares if you like pumpkin beer?” I don’t personally drink it. I’m tasting one today to remind myself how they taste. I think they’re fine. If you want something that’s sweet and spiced, go for it. At least you’re drinking beer, in my opinion. I think it’s pointless to hate on pumpkin beer. Sorry, Adam. I know he’s the biggest pumpkin beer hater. What’s the point, man?

J: Drink what you like.

C: Yeah.

J: Something that I feel like is worth noting in this conversation — or what I think is a big part of this conversation — is the pumpkin spice latte that you mentioned. I want to talk about that movement and pumpkin spice in general. I feel like, as that gained popularity, people started to think, “This isn’t cool anymore.”

C: I see what you’re saying.

J: As it became more mainstream, the edgier, alt craft beer drinkers said, “This isn’t cool anymore. Let’s all hate on it.”

C: I think that is definitely true. Despite being a precursor, perhaps, to the popularity of the PSL, as the PSL waxed, pumpkin ale waned. If that’s the argument, then what’s going to happen with fruited hazy IPAs? Why are we all up in arms about flavoring an ale with fall-themed flavors, but it’s cool to put lactose, all sorts of fruit, and things in a different beer? Those are still considered cool and worth waiting in line for.

J: Maybe we give that 10 years and see what happens. Is that too long?

C: It’s true. Ten years from now we’ll think, “Can you believe how much hazy IPAs dominated everything? Yeah, they were delicious, but that’s so lame now.” It used to be uncool to have fruit in beer. One of my other early beer experiences was Leinenkugel. I remember thinking, “Wow, this tastes like Froot Loops. That’s so weird.” That was one of the early “aha” moments of my beer-drinking life. There was also the stigma attached that, “It’s not real beer. Who needs fruit flavors in a beer?” Now, so many beers use fruit and it’s cool again.

J: I also think it’s curious because I think a lot of it is in the label and less in the flavor profile. Oktoberfests are very popular. That has kind of similar baking spices and warm notes that a pumpkin beer would have. Craft beer people may like one over the other.

C: Yeah. I love Oktoberfest. I love a Festbier. I love a Märzen. What you’re saying is true.

J: Who do you think is drinking pumpkin beer now? If it lulled a bit after its initial popularity and now it’s popular again, who’s drinking it?

C: Besides Keith Beavers, who has discovered and enjoys one of these beers that we’re tasting, I think it’s like someone who doesn’t really drink cocktails, but when they go out with friends, they’ll get a Margarita or even a vodka cranberry. One demographic here is someone who’s not a beer nerd, but someone who is interested in trying different things. Maybe they have a local brewery that they love. Like I said before, it’s also a special occasion kind of thing.

J: People love seasonal things.

C: Yeah. There’s such a draw. Maybe they’re not going to go back to that brewery for their house lager or even their house IPA. That may be why brewers and beer geeks get mad about it, too. It’s like being the person that only goes to church on Christmas and not every other Sunday. There’s also the component of seasonal creep, as they call it. It’s how CVS is decked out in Christmas decorations before Halloween and you feel like, “Oh my God, this is so stressful.” Pumpkin beer used to be something we had in October and November. Then, all of a sudden, it was September, and then July.

All these brands are trying to push theirs out to market sooner because there’s such a short window that people will want to drink them in. The same people that are excited to drink it in October are going to be over it come December. It’s a strange enigma, the pumpkin ale. There are other things, too. There’s pumpkin lager. There are some really respected breweries that do different things that are really unique, like Prairie Artisan Ales in Oklahoma. They do a sour pumpkin ale that has all the sophisticated things of a funky sour beer, but it has actual pumpkin in it. It’s cool, but it’s also not going to be their moneymaker. Right? It’s just a little fun thing.

J: There’s still some amount of experimentation with pumpkin ale. I see that you have this coffee pumpkin ale.

C: I wanted to compare them side by side because I thought maybe I would like the coffee pumpkin ale better, but it’s even sweeter than the other one. Not that I don’t like sweet. That’s just not what I go to beer for.

J: Maybe that’s why it makes such a good beer around Halloween time. People like sweet things. There’s trick or treating.

C: It’s fun. I would pair this with a Kit Kat. Why not?

J: OK, Final thoughts: Pumpkin beer, Yay or nay?

C: I say yay. If pumpkin beer makes you say “yay,” then yay.

J: Cat, thank you so much for joining me today and for lending us your beer expertise in this hotly contested area. I really appreciate it.

C: Thank you for having me.

The VinePair Team Tries Pumpkin Ale

A: All right.

Z: The moment of truth. Let’s open these.

J: We weren’t going to get through this season without making you do it.

A: It is the Friday before Halloween, too.

J: That’s true. Tell us what we have.

A: Did you bring this, Zach?

Z: I did bring this. This is all the way from Seattle. It’s the Elysian Great Pumpkin imperial ale.

A: It’s one of the more famous ones too, I think.

Z: It is. Elysian was started in Seattle. It made its way national because it was bought by AB InBev. According to the bottle, the Great Pumpkin is the world’s first imperial pumpkin ale. It’s packed with pumpkin and roasted pumpkin seeds, and spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice, Adam’s favorite collection of spices.

A: For the record, I like pumpkin pie.

J: I was actually wondering that the other day. Do you like other pumpkin things?

A: I do like pumpkin pie.

Z: How about pumpkin bread?

A: Eh.

Z: OK.

J: For the listeners who don’t know this, Keith trolls Adam pretty hard about pumpkin spice things.

A: So annoying.

J: It’s great.

A: Keith bought me a T-shirt. It literally says “pumpkin spice and everything nice.”

Z: Have you ever worn it?

A: Once, to take a picture and send it to Keith. OK. This is gross. It tastes like drinking a candle. It tastes like drinking a cinnamon-flavored candle.

Z: I think it’s all on your head, man.

J: It does taste like pumpkin pie. It’s a lot sweeter than I thought it was going to be.

A: It’s sweet. I don’t like it. I don’t want to drink anymore. I just don’t think it’s very good. There’s an aftertaste now, too, that I don’t like.

Z: It’s so much better than the hard seltzers, because it’s actually a product that I would consider drinking. My feeling about pumpkin beer is that it’s fine and if it’s a thing that you enjoy as a drinker, great. Have fun. This amount that I am consuming here — these three to four ounces — will probably suffice for the entire season.

A: I’m good with two sips.

Z: You were probably good with zero sips.

A: What was weird about it for me, too, is that there’s a point in the experience of this beer where it tastes like an actual beer.

Z: Yes. For sure.

A: It’s somewhere in the middle. At the beginning and at the end, it’s all gross-ness.

Z: I can see what you’re saying. There’s a hint of pumpkin spice up front. Then, there’s the beer. Then there’s a feeling like I had a three-day-old pumpkin pie. Keith, you want to share your thoughts on this beer? In the many pumpkin beers you’ve had, where does this sit?

Keith Beavers: I agree. This is one of the better ones I’ve had. It actually has a creamy texture to it. It kind of feels like you’re sinking your teeth into a delicious, spicy pumpkin pie, and I like a pumpkin pie.

J: It has a lot of body.

Z: I should’ve tried to find a pumpkin hazy. We could’ve seen which force is stronger: Adam’s haze boy status or his hatred of pumpkin.

A: I saw one. It was staring me in the face at Trader Joe’s and I thought, “I’m not doing this.”

K: I think I figured it out. I think Adam’s love-hate relationship with pumpkin spice is because he loves pumpkin pie so much that when those spices are in another thing, it upsets him. He just wants the pumpkin pie.

A: I would also say that pumpkin pie is not the most superior of all pies. We can get into that close to Thanksgiving.

J: Save it for the pie episode.

A: I have major pie thoughts. We’re getting closer to Thanksgiving. We can talk a lot about pie and pairings with pies. Pumpkin pie would not be my first choice of pie.

Z: We can draft pies. That’d be fun.

A: All right, guys. Well, I’ll see you on Monday.

Z: I’ll see you guys next time I’m in town.

A: It’s been a pleasure, Zach. We’ll see you from Seattle next time.

Z: Sounds great.

Thanks so much for listening to the “VinePair Podcast.” If you love this show as much as we love making it, please leave us a rating or review on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever it is you get your podcasts. It really helps everyone else discover the show.

Now, for the credits, VinePair is produced and recorded in New York City and Seattle, Washington, by myself and Zach Geballe, who does all the editing and loves to get the credit. Also, I would love to give a special shout-out to my VinePair co-founder, Josh Malin, for helping make all this possible and also to Keith Beavers, VinePair’s tastings director, who is additionally a producer on the show. I also want to, of course, thank every other member of the VinePair team who are instrumental in all of the ideas that go into making the show every week. Thanks so much for listening, and we’ll see you again.

Ed. note: This episode has been edited for length and clarity.

The article VinePair Podcast: Why is Pumpkin Beer Still a Thing? appeared first on VinePair.

source https://vinepair.com/articles/podcast-pumpkin-beer-tasting/

[wineanddinosaur]

Whiskey Tariff Removal Ends Trade War

 The EU and the US have finally dropped the last of the trade barriers raised by a steel dispute. source https://www.wine-searcher.com/m/2021/11/whiskey-tariff-removal-ends-trade-war?rss=Y

[wineanddinosaur]

Is 2021 the Year of the Pumpkin Beer Renaissance?

This October, VinePair is celebrating our second annual American Beer Month. From beer style basics to unexpected trends (pickle beer, anyone?), to historical deep dives and new developments in package design, expect an exploration of all that’s happening in breweries and taprooms across the United States all month long.

After exploding in popularity in the early 2010s as the world of craft beer began its own exponential growth, pumpkin ales became, just as quickly, the biggest joke in craft beer.

As early as 2013, Buzzfeed News was asking which side of the debate you fell onto, following a controversial BeerAdvocate retweet of someone calling pumpkin beers “the mullet of craft beers.” Things got worse in 2015, when Anheuser-Busch chose to punch down at craft beer in its infamous Super Bowl ad, and it used a pumpkin beer to do it. (OK, technically a pumpkin-peach.)

Now that the American brewing community has matured (a bit) and the fall seasonal world has mostly moved on to Oktoberfest adoration, where do these pie-spiced ales stand in today’s craft beer landscape? Is there a squash-ale stasis, or are we seeing brewers slowly return to the style that has more or less stagnated for years?

In the broadest sense, Google Trends shows an annual spike in pumpkin beer interest every October, and there’s been a slow but steady uptick since bottoming out in the middle of the decade. As of now, 2021 is currently trending to have the highest search interest since October 2015. It’s a small indicator of a resurgence, but an indicator nonetheless. We looked into some numbers provided by Chicago-based market research firm IRI, but since it doesn’t track pumpkin beers as a style, we’re choosing instead to look at some anecdotal evidence from the category leaders.

To get a better feeling for where the world of pumpkin beers is today, we reached out to a couple of authorities in the field, one responsible for the nation’s most popular pumpkin beer (Southern Tier’s Pumking) and one responsible for many awards (Whole Hog’s Pumpkin Ale).

We also wanted to see what brought one of the nation’s most innovative, interesting breweries to make its very first pumpkin beer this year: Off Color Brewing’s Pumpkin Beer for Cafes. It’s a weird time for pumpkin beers; let’s find out how things are panning out for the pros.

The Pumpkin Beer Powerhouse: Southern Tier’s Pumking

If you noticed an overall dip in pumpkin beer midway through the last decade, no one felt that more than Phin DeMink. As co-founder of Southern Tier, home to the category-leading 8 percent imperial pumpkin beer known as Pumking, DeMink experienced the contraction of the category first hand. “A few years back … it was just pumpkin everything,” he says. “It went a little over the top, between the candles and Starbucks and cereal.” The result for pumpkin beer peddlers: “We went through this pumpkin beer exodus. … There was definitely a big fallout.”

DeMink estimates that they lost nearly 20 percent of their pumpkin beer volume during that mid-decade seasonal backlash — not insignificant when you consider that, per DeMink, “if you just looked at IRI, there were a couple of years where we outsold the category.” Pumking is indeed a powerhouse, and has recently spawned a variety of other products, including Warlock (a pumpkin stout), Pumking nitro, and cold brew coffee Pumking nitro. There’s even Pumking whiskey plus a “King & Cola” RTD through its distillery arm.

All those line extensions aside, it’s been a good time for Pumking prime as of late. “We were one of the few [breweries] that was like hey, everybody’s been eating pumpkin pie forever, Thanksgiving isn’t going away,” DeMink says. “We’re gonna just stick to our guns and weather the storm. We saw a couple of years where competition was growing leaps and bounds. And [then] that whole pack went back to Oktoberfests. So the last couple of years for us, everything’s been really, really healthy.”

DeMink estimates that year over year, they’re up by double digits just for Pumking alone. “We were kind of anticipating that this was probably going to be a comeback year,” he says. For a company that starts spinning up the Pumking machine as early as May in order to meet demand, it’s good to see the renewed enthusiasm for a seasonal product that’s really only got about a two-month window to make the lion’s share of its sales.

“It’s in a great spot,” DeMink said. “But it’s funny, because now all of a sudden I’m seeing pumpkin beer starting to pop up again.”

The Critically Praised Pumpkin Beer: Whole Hog’s Pumpkin Ale

If you use medals from the Great American Beer Fest as a generally well-regarded metric of quality, the annual Pumpkin Ale from Whole Hog Beer in Stevens Point, Wis., is head and shoulders above every other pumpkin beer in the nation. In fact, it might be one of the most highly awarded beers in America. Since its release in 2011, the beer has medaled five times at GABF, including two gold medals.

Mike Schraufnagel has been along for the entire ride, having worked at the brewery for 13 years, including the last three as its brewmaster. Whole Hog’s pumpkin ale has remained the same beer since some final tweaks in 2012, and aside from a brief foray into a barrel-aged option in 2015, remains the standard bearer for what an excellent pumpkin beer should be.

Per Schraufnagel, there’s never been a better time for Whole Hog’s pumpkin beer than this one. “It had a heck of a year, it really did,” he says, praising some new logistical advances on the distributor side that allowed Whole Hog to get a better sense of demand. “We [went] into the year thinking, OK, we need 23 brews of it this year and we can fulfill all the pre-sale orders. Whereas in the past, we started out with 10 brews and just kind of, you know, put our ear to the ground to see what the feedback was, and hoped that we’d end up [selling] a good number of them.”

Logistics aside, the appetite for the Whole Hog’s Pumpkin Ale is there in spades: Sales increased roughly 25 percent since last year, and the brand has moved over 2,100 barrels of its pumpkin beer in 2021 so far (up 600 barrels from the previous year) with most of them out the door by late August. “As the numbers were coming in for the pre-sales I was like, ‘This can’t be right,’” Schraufnagel says. “Right now it would be hard to find a bottle anywhere.”

Pumpkin Beer’s Modern Progression: Off Color’s Pumpkin Beer for Cafes

Chicago’s Off Color Brewing has made its name since 2013 as one of the nation’s most well-known experimental breweries. From leading the way for fruited goses and funky farmhouse ales, and self-created styles like “tiki-weisses” and Russian-style “serf stouts,” to its experiments with wild yeasts, foeders, and puncheon-aged beers, Off Color beers often push the limits. But it also loves classic lagers and the occasional pastry stout, as evidenced by its DinoS’mores series of beers.

With all that in mind, it’s either outrageous or inevitable that Off Color would produce a pumpkin beer, which it did for the first time this summer, in the form of its chai-vanilla-infused Pumpkin Beer for Cafes. Co-founder and brewer Dave Bleitner said it was just the right time for an Off Color pumpkin beer to enter the landscape.

“We don’t want to do stuff that’s prevalent. And I think we found more recently that everything’s gone so radical. You know, to one end there’s the haze craze, and then [on] the other end the Zima phase,” he says of the recent spate of sparkly, fruity beverages emerging from breweries. “It’s like, well what about … beers that are good?” Bleitner says. “We would joke, “Oh yeah, let’s do a historical style that was from the ‘90s.”

But why pumpkin beer, a style that has so fallen out of favor? “I guess it was uncool enough for us to do it now,” Bleitner says.

Off Color’s Pumpkin Beer for Cafes is based on its original “Beer for Cafes” which features chai spices on top of a rich, malty beer. Bleitner says that making a pumpkin chai was a natural next step, blending red rooibos tea with cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, pumpkin puree, and vanilla to make a beer that was definitely pumpkin-forward but undeniably Off Color.

“I try not to make stuff that I wouldn’t drink, and there’s not a lot of pumpkin beers out there that I seek out,“ Bleitner says. “They’re either overly sweet, … overly boozy, or overly spiced, and I’ve never really had one that was well balanced.” It came along at the right time, apparently: Even though Off Color brewed the biggest-ever batch of its annual Oktoberfest, “the pumpkin beer outpaced it by like, 50 percent,” Bleitner says.

“We actually ended up with more in-house for to-go sales than I originally intended to have,” he says. “We had a hundred-something cases and I was like, ‘That seems like a lot for this.’ And we blew through it.”

Unfortunately, it came along too late for one potential patron. “Last year we had somebody come into the bar and say, ‘I’ll take your pumpkin beer,’” Bleitner says. “We said, ‘We don’t make a pumpkin beer.’ And then, they left. ‘Ooooookay.’”

Good news for that guy: It looks like the market’s coming back to meet him.

The article Is 2021 the Year of the Pumpkin Beer Renaissance? appeared first on VinePair.

source https://vinepair.com/articles/best-pumpkin-beer-guide-2021/

[wineanddinosaur]

Crime Pays – in Fine Wine

 Dodgy wines for sale, fighting with the police and devastating hail – it's just another week in wine. source https://www.wine-searcher.com/m/2021/10/crime-pays-in-fine-wine?rss=Y

[wineanddinosaur]

The World's Best Value Bordeaux

 Bargain hunting in Bordeaux is getting easier – and leaning more toward reds than ever. source https://www.wine-searcher.com/m/2021/10/the-worlds-best-value-bordeaux?rss=Y

[wineanddinosaur]

Elvira’s Short, Sexy Stint as Coors Light’s Halloween Queen

This October, VinePair is celebrating our second annual American Beer Month. From beer style basics to unexpected trends (pickle beer, anyone?), to historical deep dives and new developments in package design, expect an exploration of all that’s happening in breweries and taprooms across the United States all month long.

The year is 1986, and Halloween is fast approaching. Whatever will you wear? Don’t worry, The Los Angeles Times has a Fright Night costume dispatch that should help you hone in on the season’s spookiest, sexiest get-up.

“Carmen Miranda is in, Playboy bunnies are out, and people are scouring the city for Gumby attire. Belly dancers are hot, and Cleopatras, too. But topping them all in popularity is curvaceous cult heroine Elvira, currently of Coors beer commercial fame.”

The Elvira, she of the pitch-black mane and pale-moonlight bosom? Of Coors beer commercial fame? In this day and age, it’s hard to believe, or even remember. But for a handful of years toward the end of last century, the Mistress of the Dark was all over the airwaves pitching a new light beer from the mid-size Colorado brewery, which was at that point just starting its national push after decades of distribution restricted to the Western U.S.

Elvira’s Halloween Coors spots were instant classics, and gave the then-new Silver Bullet an enviable hold on the adult-ifying October holiday, which had previously been the province of candy companies catering to trick-or-treating kids. But as good as they were, they wouldn’t last. After less than a decade, the two parted ways. It was a blow to the brewery’s marketing department, then struggling to compete with the high-dollar heavyweights in Milwaukee and St. Louis. And it was baffling to the Queen of Halloween herself.

“All of a sudden it was like, ‘Oh, we don’t understand these [ads] anymore,’ and ‘Oh, we’re not gonna make a [TV] commercial, we’re just gonna have you do a voiceover,’” Cassandra Peterson, the entertainer who created and has played the Elvira character for over four decades, tells VinePair. “It was like, What?”

Why didn’t Coors keep making black, beer-selling magic with the Mistress of the Dark? It’s a spook-tacular war story from the ‘80s light-beer battlefields, a cautionary tale of the collision between mainstream beer marketing, well-funded Christian conservatives, and accusations of occult behavior. And, of course: cleavage. But before Elvira’s “gravity-defying bosom” enters the frame, we’ve got a Beerwolf to meet.

Of Light Beer Wars and Silver Bullets

Years before Elvira ever set foot on a Coors Light commercial soundstage, the Colorado brewery had plenty to be afraid of. After decades of nearly unchallenged dominance in the American West, by the mid-‘70s, Coors had encountered new bogeymen in its backyard. “Smelling blood,” wrote author Dan Baum in his 2001 history of the company and its eponymous family, “Citizen Coors,” Anheuser-Busch “was coming after Coors in California with discounts, price promotions, and a bottomless-pockets advertising blitz.” And from the Midwest, Miller was menacing the Colorado brewer’s territory, too, bludgeoning the Banquet Beer with its not-so-secret weapon, Miller Lite. “Miller, which had sold twice as much beer as Coors in 1977 and was already the country’s number-two brewery, attributed almost all of its growth to Miller Lite,” wrote Baum.

The situation was all the more doom-and-gloom in Golden because Coors (which, despite going public in 1975 remained firmly under the company’s powerful, family-controlled board, led by Bill Coors, chairman, and Joe Coors, president) was almost fatally late to the light beer game. By the time the Coors elders accepted the inevitability of light beer it was 1978, and the fledgling Silver Bullet brand had a lot of catching up to do. “Coors seemed to be the brand that was competing against Miller [Lite] and [Budweiser] for all the key holidays,” says Gary Naifeh, a career marketer who served as the Coors Light brand director in the early ‘80s. “Coors Light was, to some degree, playing second fiddle.” At the time, the Colorado brewer was only distributed in 11 states, while Miller and Anheuser-Busch products were available nationally. And when St. Louis marched Bud Light into Coors country in 1982 as part of the brand’s national rollout, Naifeh found the bloody battle for light beer supremacy knocking on his door.

Then, as now, holidays were key “occasions” in the American beer business — an opportunity to move cases and kegs with splashy ads, clever in-store promotions, and limited-time offers. But: “The national holidays were just owned by Miller” and Anheuser-Busch, Naifeh tells VinePair. With their national distribution, spectacular scale, and marketing savvy — Miller’s honed at then-owner Phillip-Morris; A-B’s bought with mountains of dough — the bigs were gobbling up primetime airwaves, appointment-viewing sports, and holiday specials across the country. But Halloween, long considered child’s play, was still up for grabs.

“Halloween was building steam, it was becoming a more adult holiday,” says Peterson, crediting both the gay community at large, and the 1984 national syndication of her show, “Movie Macabre,” for that shift. (MTV seemed to agree: In 1986, it tapped the Mistress of the Dark to anchor its Halloween special from Salem, Mass.) The outgunned marketing team in Golden saw an opportunity the big brewers had overlooked. “Halloween was not a big holiday in the beer business, and Coors was looking to find a way that it could own a particular holiday,” recalls Naifeh. “I thought, gee, I really like Halloween, and we have adult Halloween parties in my house. Maybe it could be a really big adult holiday.”

Coors Light’s first crack at inserting itself into the trick-or-treat discourse came in 1983, when it introduced the Beerwolf, a howling werewolf that could only be brought to heel by — you guessed it — Silver Bullets. What happened? Peterson remembers the campaign as a flop in her new bestselling memoir, “Yours Cruelly, Elvira”: “[T]he cheesy-looking hairball didn’t quite accomplish what [Coors had] hoped for.” Naifeh says the opposite: The Beerwolf was a smashing success, once the marketers got the blessing of the notoriously staid Coors family brass. “It was such a big hit with the public [and] when I introduced that stuff to the wholesalers at our national convention, there were people literally standing up on chairs and clapping,” he tells VinePair.

Regardless, by 1986, Coors Light’s marketing department was looking for its next Halloween hit. “There’s a saying that people don’t get tired of your commercials, you get tired of your commercials,” says Rob Klugman, who was vice president of marketing at Coors during the Elvira era. (He has since left the firm.) The Beerwolf’s successor would have to be bold, hip, and TV-ready if the Colorado brewer was going to keep pace with the bigs. From Los Angeles, the Mistress of the Dark beckoned.

The Ads

Elvira’s witchy star was on the rise by the time Coors came knocking in 1985 thanks to passionate local fans in L.A. and the aforementioned syndication deal. (A feature film, “Elvira: Mistress of the Dark,” would follow in 1988.) But Peterson nevertheless remembers the beer brand’s pitch as a pivotal step for the character: a national ad campaign, with all the exposure and money that it entailed. “This was the most lucrative source of income we’d had since the character began,” she writes in “Yours Cruelly, Elvira.” (The chapter, aptly, is titled “Boobs ‘n’ Beer.”)

“I had a freaking blast doing” the first commercial, Peterson tells VinePair. Airing in the run-up to Halloween 1986, the 30-second spot‘s concept was cooked up by Coors’ creative team and Chicago ad agency Foote, Cone & Belding, but the horror host brought it to life with her signature valley-girl-meets-goth lilt and striking figure. “Here I am, stocking up for Halloween — got my stakes, got my ribs,” she says, gesturing toward a shopping cart full of wooden spikes and human bones. “When I ask the stock boy where the Coors Light is stacked, he points me to the Coors and Coors Light Halloween display, and I’m on it!” Then Peterson strikes a pose next to a life-size cardboard standee of herself to amplify the punchline: “Whoa, it’s like deja vu!”

Both the ad and the standee (which we’ll come back to) went over big. According to Baum, Elvira’s “raunchy and hugely popular Halloween campaign” comprised part of “a fresh wind of positive change [that] blew through the brewery” in the mid-‘80s, along with a long-delayed embrace of computers, and plans for a new $70 million facility in Virginia that would help take the company national.

(For what it’s worth, Klugman offered a less sweeping, albeit still positive, assessment of Elvira’s import to Coors. “Obviously if we did [the Elvira Halloween campaign] for five years or so, we were happy with it, but this was a campaign that ran for three or four weeks a year. I don’t know that I’d be comfortable saying it had much significance beyond that.”)

But before that first commercial ever hit the air, Coors’ marketers had to get buy-in from the board of directors — which meant they had to get buy-in from Bill and Joe Coors themselves. According to Naifeh, Bill Coors had personally and enthusiastically greenlit the early Beerwolf spots, which featured the beercanis lupus chatting up a few bathing-suited women. But Elvira, with her occult aura and — in Klugman’s words — “what must have been a very, very good push-up bra,” was another story. So after getting storyboards together, the department cut a test reel with Peterson to present to the board.

As the former vice president of marketing recalls in a recent phone interview, the presentation was hardly smooth sailing. “They had two problems: One was that Elvira, whatever she was, vampire or whatever, this was not an acceptable Christian concept.” Klugman sighs. “And second was her cleavage.” To Peterson, the idea that her boobs would jeopardize the campaign is still patently absurd — it’s literally and figuratively central to the Elvira character, a trait she likens to Superman’s “S” mark. But to get the deal done, she collaborated with the Silver Bullet marketers about how much cleavage she’d show in the spots, with an eye toward winning approval from the conservative Coors elders. The result: “I’m showing about as much cleavage as a teenage boy,” she says of the ads, laughing exasperatedly. “I had my hair pulled forward, and I even put tape on my chest so that I could stick my hair to it. … I mean, how crazy, right? They’re selling beer, not Pampers!”

Crazy or not, the modesty gambit worked, and Elvira’s Coors partnership got the all-important Coors family green light. The Elvira spots ran alongside a full-court-press retail activation that included massive case mountains of Coors and Coors Light and a reported 150,000 life-size Elvira standees, carried forth to retailers by its fired-up distributing partners. The standees were a huge competitive edge for Coors, Naifeh remembers. “When you can walk in with something like Elvira, who obviously is known outside the beer community … I mean, the people that were the buyers at the Kroger’s and the Safeways, they knew Elvira. So when you can give a retailer something that [they think] is really cool, you just bought yourself a place in their establishment to feature your products.”

Covered-up cleavage aside, Peterson was pleased with the cut-outs. “They stopped in-store traffic flow faster than a spilled case of Mrs. Butterworth’s pancake syrup on aisle thirteen,” she writes in her memoir. And customers loved them, too — perhaps too much. Klugman told The L.A. Times in 1986 that the company was having trouble getting them to retailers, because people kept walking off with them. (“I’m afraid to find out what people are doing with them,” another Coors executive told the paper.)

Everything was coming up Elvira, and Halloween was the Silver Bullet’s for the owning. But even as the tax reports rolled back to Golden showing Mistress of the Dark-induced sales upticks, trouble was brewing in the Coors family cauldron.

Ditching “the Demon”

VinePair was not able to verify when, exactly, things started going south between Elvira and the Coors Brewing Company, and contemporary reporting proves deficient on this front. Peterson pegs the souring of relations to 1988, following Procter & Gamble’s bizarre, unfounded Satanism scandal a few years earlier. Naifeh was foggy on the exact year, and so was Klugman. Molson Coors declined to make Peter Coors (who was president of the company’s brewing division in the Elvira years, and chairs Molson Coors’ board of directors to this day) or anyone else from the company available for an interview.

Regardless of the exact date, at some point in the late ‘80s, the brewer backed away from Peterson’s character. Despite the successful Halloween campaigns, or maybe because of them, Elvira had become unpalatable to one or several Coors family members. Baum lays the blame at the feet of born-again Christian Jeff Coors. “Jeff could barely look at the Halloween promotions using ‘Elvira, Mistress of the Dark,’” he wrote in “Citizen Coors.” “They stirred in him a powerful revulsion, even fear.” Between that and the P&G saga then playing out in the headlines (or both), the Silver Bullet’s affiliation with Elvira proved too unholy for the firm’s executives.

(In a zany turn, Baum reported that the Coors marketers even tried to devise a cardboard modesty panel to send out to distributors to affix to the standees already in circulation, in order to save the company’s Halloween that year. Naifeh says that never happened, and Klugman doesn’t remember. But Peterson insists it went down. “I had a big argument with them,” over the panels, she says. “There was nothing to cover. I don’t know if they were gonna knit turtleneck sweaters and send them out to everybody, because you [already] couldn’t see anything!”)

Whatever the year, Peterson and Naifeh both remember the brand stopping down on the commercials for at least one season, maybe two, then trying to start them back up again. What contemporary media remains from that era seems to confirm that timeline: On YouTube there are Elvira spots with burned-in copyright dates from 1991 and even 1994. But the comeback was not to last. The brewer bailed on the buxom host, and the latter says it was not a mutual decision. “The reports of Coors and Elvira’s amicable parting of the ways were grossly exaggerated,” Peterson writes in “Yours Cruelly.” Here again, the record is foggy, and most signs point to a Coors family member finally killing the campaign. But Peterson says it wasn’t Jeff, but Joe Coors, who shut down the spooktacular spots for good. This would track: While Jeff was technically Coors’ parent company’s president at the time, his father, Joseph, a major Republican donor who wrote the check that launched the right-wing Heritage Foundation, was involved in the firm’s operations until the late ‘80s, and remained on its board until retiring in 2000.

Peterson wasn’t personally in the room for his pivotal ruling, but she’s pretty sure Joe ended Elvira’s run around 1995. She says her counterparts within the company, at some point toward the decade’s end, brought a cardboard cutout to the elder Coors for review — and he saw Satan’s fingerprints all over it. “They said that they took the latest standee into Joseph Coors, to see what he thought, and he said — and I remember their words like it was yesterday — ‘I see demons there!’”

From then on, according to Peterson, Coors’ marketers tried to dial the campaign back to voice-over and radio, to keep the Mistress of the Dark’s slinky, salacious likeness off screen (and therefore, out of eyeshot of any Coorses concerned with eternal damnation.) But that idea frustrated the horror host, who by then had come into her own as a bona fide B-list star with a national cult following. Worried that when the watered-down campaign flopped she’d be blamed, Peterson and her team decided to walk.

It was a bitter pill, all the more so because she’d had so much fun on the campaign — and because she’d adjusted her character’s chesty image to accommodate the Coors family’s modesty requirements. But never again. “After Coors, I drew the line,” she says. “I said to myself, my character needs to look like this all the time. I’m not going to put panels over my boobs, I’m not gonna try to cover them up.”

Coda

If this story were written in 2020, it would end right there. But with the publication of “Yours Cruelly, Elvira” in September 2021, Peterson dropped a bombshell on her still-loyal legions of fans: For the past two decades, she’s been romantically involved with a woman. Elvira, Queen of Halloween and longtime gay icon, is a member of the queer community herself.

This begs the question: Did the Coors family’s well-documented track record of funding right-wing organizations that worked to block protections and marriage rights for LGBTQ+ Americans factor into the breakdown between brewery and horror host? At the very least, it would have been impossible to ignore, posits Allyson Brantley, Ph.D. The professor of history at California’s University of La Verne authored “Brewing a Boycott,” a historical account of the three-decade collective action waged by labor organizers, Chicano and Black activists, and the LGBTQ+ community in an attempt to force the Colorado brewer to improve its hiring practices and politics. “At first the boycott began as a shop-floor conflict … in the ‘50s and ‘60s, but in the early ‘70s, Joe Coors himself became more public in his politics,” says Brantley.

Around that same time, the labor wing of the anti-Coors coalition drew the queer community into the fight with a grim detail on Coors’ hiring practices: a polygraph test that included questions about prospective employees’ sexual preferences. “A lot of employees said the polygraph test asked problematic and invasive questions,” says Brantley, noting that the general practice of requiring lie-detector tests for employment was not itself uncommon at the time. As the late Baum put it in a May 2000 interview with C-SPAN, “This was a company that used to run lie-detector tests to run the homosexuals out.”

With that, queer organizations like Bay Area Gay Liberation, the Stonewall Democratic Club, as well as contemporary gay leaders like San Francisco mayor Harvey Milk, joined the fight against Coors. Queer consumers proved to be one of the boycott’s staunchest wings until the AIDS epidemic ravaged the community in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, Brantley adds.

(In an emailed statement to VinePair, Molson Coors spokesperson Marty Maloney said: “Molson Coors has a long history of advocating for the rights of the LGTBQ+ community because that’s what we believe is right. That was true more than 20 years ago when Coors Brewing became one of the first companies to extend health benefits to the partners of LGTBQ+ employees, and it remains true now.” He did not dispute Brantley’s description of the lie detector tests, which Coors reportedly began phasing out in 1986 after Congress began exploring bills to prohibit them from companies’ hiring processes.)

VinePair asked Peterson whether she was aware of the Coors family’s posture toward the gay community, and whether it factored into her decision to work with the company, particularly given the revelations of her memoir. “In the beginning, I had no idea, didn’t even think about it,” she says. But in the intervening years between her first and second wave of Coors spots, she continues, “I had discovered that the gay community had boycotted them for their many right-wing causes.” When Coors came back around to restart the Halloween campaign, the Mistress of the Dark was ready.

“I met with some of their marketing team, and I actually believe I helped make a bridge to some gay activists in the community, to talk about that with Coors to help resolve the issues that the gay community wanted resolved,” says Peterson. “I used that as one of my bargaining chips when we went back to Coors because then, I had a little power.”

Whether this righted any of Coors’ wrongs in the LGBTQ+ community is up for debate, says Brantley. The company began pouring money into gay organizations, either to clean up its image in the eyes of queer drinkers, or because the company’s new, non-family leadership believed it was “right,” or both. But Coors family members remained powerful players in right-wing politics. As recently as 2004, the comparatively forward-thinking Peter Coors — who, even according to the mostly unsparing Baum, was friendly with gay and lesbian customers — ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate in Colorado on a platform that included support for a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. (He supported civil unions for gays and lesbians; Coors Brewing’s then-CEO disavowed his chairman’s politics even so.) Still, it seems like a net positive if the Mistress of the Dark was able to move the Coors Brewing Company toward some form of reconciliation with the gay community — even if it wasn’t quite a Silver Bullet.

The article Elvira’s Short, Sexy Stint as Coors Light’s Halloween Queen appeared first on VinePair.

source https://vinepair.com/articles/elvira-coors-light-halloween-mascot/

[wineanddinosaur]

The 14 Best Whiskey-Based Canned Cocktails to Drink Right Now

It’s an exciting time for cocktail lovers on the go. From cans and bottles to cartons and bags, there is now a plethora of premixed drinks available on the market that make it easier than ever to sip our favorite cocktails without having to go to a bar.

The options are especially endless for whiskey enthusiasts, with a sea of everything from Old Fashioneds and Manhattans to Gold Rushes and spiked lemonades hitting the market with gusto. With so many options for whiskey-based RTDs now available, the VinePair team tasted through the many offerings to separate the wheat from the chaff.

A large portion of these RTDs are Old Fashioneds and Manhattans — the former beating out the latter by a landslide, impressing our panel with natural orange essences and spirit-forward depth. With so many Old Fashioneds to choose from, our final list includes the offerings, both canned and bottled, that stood out from the pack and impressed the VinePair team most.

From boozy bottles sure to please whiskey fans, to crushable canned cocktails that can easily replace your weekend hard seltzers, these are the best whiskey-based RTDs to drink right now.

Tattersall Old Fashioned ABV: 35%

This highly aromatic Old Fashioned delights the senses with a golden honey note on the nose and a richness on the palate. Ideal for seasonal sipping, this cocktail includes flavors of festive holiday spices and a whiskey-forward finish that stays on the palate long after the last sip.

Sunday’s Finest Gold Fashioned ABV: 40%

Saffron sets this cocktail apart from the rest, imparting a bright yellow color and vibrant aroma. Best served over ice and spritzed with the atomizer of citrus oil the cocktail comes with, this large-format-bottled Old Fashioned tastes like it was freshly mixed by a pro bartender. Expect a whiskey-forward tipple with a streak of freshness and a hint of spice.

Dashfire Old Fashioned ABV: 38%

Don’t be fooled by its size: This mini can is bursting with energizing flavors. Candied orange and aromatic bitters hit the nose, followed by a spirit-forward flavor on the palate. It is best chilled in the fridge and poured in an Old Fashioned glass expressed with orange oil.

Tip Top Proper Cocktails Old Fashioned ABV: 37%

A brand beloved by the VinePair team for its mini Margarita, Tip Top’s Old Fashioned stood out to our panel for its zesty fragrance. With all the body and aroma we seek in the classic cocktail, this whiskey-forward offering has a nice hint of spice to complement the strong flavors of Angostura bitters and orange.

Hochstadter’s Slow & Low Rock and Rye ABV: 42%

Hochstater’s has been making its whiskey RTDs since 2008 — long before the recent trend emerged. The old-school brand impressed our panel with sweet notes of rock candy offset by the prickliness of aromatic bitters. Spirit-forward with hints of baking spices and orange expression, this is a whiskey lover’s RTD.

Livewire Alley Cat Old Fashioned ABV: 39%

Created by bartending legend Chris Patino, this Old Fashioned riff has all the classic aromas you’d expect from the classic cocktail, followed by the welcoming tastes of cherry, apple brandy, and vanilla bean. Instantly recognizable as an Old Fashioned, this variation is as inventive as it is delicious.

Party Can Gold Rush Old Fashioned ABV: 15%

With the viscous texture of a Gold Rush and the orange spice of the Old Fashioned, this cocktail is tantalizing from the first whiff. Christmas-y aromas of pine, gingerbread, and baking spices are complemented by comforting chamomile and honey. Less boozy than many of its competitors, this cocktail invites a second (and third) sip.

Jim Beam Citrus Highball ABV: 5%

Dry yet refreshing on palate, this canned offering is balanced and effervescent, with a nice depth of flavor and texture. Aromas of lemon and honeysuckle are followed by a hint of bourbon’s oaky sweetness. And at just 5 percent ABV, this highball would be a great swap for hard seltzer or beer.

Bully Boy Distillers Old Fashioned ABV: 37%

Orange defines both the color and flavor of this Old Fashioned. Along with seasonal smells of Christmas tree pine needles and tastes of caramel candy, this tipple has some distinctive characteristics that set it apart while still maintaining all the classic elements that make an Old Fashioned an Old Fashioned.

Golden Rule Old Fashioned ABV: 39.5%

Another small can with big flavor, Golden Rule’s Old Fashioned is intensely fruity on the nose, with smells of candied orange and cloves. Though the cocktail is made with bourbon, it has a peppery spice reminiscent of rye whiskey. Herbaceous and boozy, this Old Fashioned is packed with vibrant flavor and character.

High West Distillery Old Fashioned ABV: 43%

The quality of High West’s whiskey shines through in this cocktail. The barrel-aged, pre-batched cocktail is made with both bourbon and rye — both of which come through on the palate with sweet and prickly notes, respectively. For whiskey geeks who pride themselves on the quality of the spirits in their cocktails, this is a great choice.

Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey & Lemonade ABV: 7%

Crowd-pleasing and crushable, this RTD has a balanced sweetness on the nose. It’s sweet without being cloying, with the tartness of lemonade pairing beautifully with Jack Daniel’s vanilla and brown sugar notes. The resulting beverage is not very complex, but it would be great to have on hand for a fall tailgate or picnic.

Fishers Island Lemonade ABV: 9%

For those newer to whiskey or who prefer a sweeter profile, this boozy lemonade is a great place to start. It is made with both whiskey and vodka, with smells of rock candy, fresh lemon, and a slight hint of peppermint. Though there’s not much whiskey flavor present on the nose or palate, it’s a bright, flavorful drink that’s sure to refresh on hot, humid days.

Crown Royal Washington Apple ABV: 7%

Its bright red color may give this RTD an artificial feel, but on the palate, it tastes like fresh apple juice with just a hint of sweetness. It benefits from the texture gained from carbonation, creating an inviting mouthfeel. It’s by no means whiskey-forward, but it’s a playful drink ideal for sipping with friends at outdoor gatherings.

The article The 14 Best Whiskey-Based Canned Cocktails to Drink Right Now appeared first on VinePair.

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