Guest Contributor - Beer and Sports, a match made in Heaven!

I am happy to present to you our latest guest contributor, Blake. A home brewer from upstate New York, Blake writes about two of his favorite things and how well they go together! Thank you Blake, and enjoy!


Beer and Sports, a match made in Heaven!
Fall is my favorite time of year for many different reasons, but when the leaves start changing and the air gets crisp, there’s one thing that I’m most excited about: sports. With football season kicking off and the MLB playoffs right around the corner, it’s the perfect time to get together with friends and enjoy some good old-fashioned American competition. Going to the game certainly has its perks, but what about bringing the game home, right into your living room?

There are a lot of things you’ll want to take care of before you get everyone together to watch the game, but the number one necessity for your party is beer. Besides being a great time of year for sports fans, fall also brings the release of some unique seasonal brews, so you’ll have plenty of choices when it comes to stocking up for the party. You can’t go wrong with a nice, malty Märzen to ring in the start of the new season. This is a good “entry-level” option for guests that might be intimidated by trying new beers, but will satisfy craft beer veterans as well. Another style that tends to be a crowd-pleaser during this time of year is pumpkin beer and you could stock your entire party with the choices available within that category alone!

Another great way to pick out beer for the event is to choose something that’s tied to the team/city/state that you support. So, if you’re rooting for the Patriots or Red Sox, embrace the spirit of Boston by picking up some Sam Adams and your guests will immediately get into the Boston groove. If you’re hoping that the Pirates will make a deep playoff run or that the Steelers will get back to their winning ways, shows your Pittsburgh pride by picking up some Iron City Beer. When getting your place ready for all of this beer, look for useful but festive accessories, like growlers, pint glasses or even some MLB baseball bat bottle openers. You’ll keep the theme of the day going, while giving your guests the right tools to enjoy their brews.

 At this point you’ve got the beer situation pretty much under control, but you can’t leave your guests’  stomachs empty. Baseball and football games are usually synonymous with eating greasy stadium food and abandoning any and all health-consciousness for the duration of the game. You can bring this tradition into your own home, by taking typical ballpark eats and making them more party appropriate.

Everyone’s favorite first course at the stadium is nachos, and there’s no reason why your guests can’t enjoy this too. Give your nachos a beer-infused twist by making some Beer Queso to put on top. You should be able to find a decent variety of tortilla chip options at your local grocery store, so grab some colors that show your team pride and drizzle on the cheese!

 Craving something else to go with those nachos? Take the all-time favorite ballpark franks and give them your own unique twist. Cut up some hotdogs, wrap them in cheese and biscuit dough, and after a few minutes in the oven you’ll have your very own pigs in a blanket. You can go with traditional dipping sauces like ketchup and mustard, but why not make some extra Beer Queso and serve that alongside the dogs as well? After all, if you’re going to do some damage to your cholesterol level, you might as well make it worth it.

In case anyone needs a pick-me-up after halftime or once the 7th inning stretch rolls around, you might want to have something a little sweeter on hand. At one of my recent get-togethers my wife was nice enough to make us some cake pops, and got creative by shaping them into footballs. I left the baking to her and don’t have the play-by-play details for this one, but I found a great step-by-step guide that shows how you can easily make some football-shaped treats of your own.


Hopefully these tips will give you some inspiration if you’re planning on having a sports-related party in the near future. Just remember that you can have a great time while keeping it simple and most importantly of all: don’t forget the beer!

Blake Daniels

Blake Daniels is a stay-at-home dad from Upstate NY that likes to keep things simple. You'll most likely find him brewing and enjoying beer, mowing his lawn or spending quality time with his family (but not necessarily in that order).








Thank you so much Blake, good stuff! Please help me in welcoming Blake to the Beer Czar. We hope to hear a lot more from Blake very soon, on a  regular basis!

Until next time
Bottoms up my friends

The Beer Czar

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Guest Contributor: "Touring Sam Adams Brewery, Boston, MA"

Bobby, in front of the Brewery

One thing I would like to start doing on a somewhat regular basis here on "The Beer Czar", is posting sort of "guest writer" pieces. I don't get a chance to travel as much as I would like, so I want to start relying on my friends, family, fans, and readers to contribute information on areas and breweries I have yet to have the pleasure of visiting.

For my first "guest contributor" piece, I was lucky enough to get the following from my good friend Bobby. Recently moved from Canada to Arizona to marry our good friend Daniell. Well, it seems Bobby was able to escape married life for a few days for a guys weekend in my favorite city of Boston. He sent me this little piece of his time visiting the Sam Adams Brewery. Enjoy, and thanks Bobby!


Sam Adams Brewery Tour
By Bobby Nadeau

Barrel Room

"My friends and I go on a boys trip every year. This year we ended up in Boston, MA, for what
we called "The Boston Bender". Part of the weekend activities were going to a hockey game,  Game 5 Leafs vs. Bruins at the TD Gardens which was pretty cool. Second was going to the historic Fenway Park to see the Blue Jays vs. Red Sox. But the highlight of the trip was the Sam Adams Brewery tour.

When you first walk into the entrance/waiting area you are greeted by the friendliest staff and given a free ticket for the tour (donation are accepted).
While waiting for the tour to start we walk around

Mmmmm

the front lobby which had different barrels of hops that you can taste. Ranging in flavors of burnt coffee to a beautiful summer butter. Once our tour guide arrived we were informed that the brewery was being renovated and that the tour would consist of us going straight to sampling room which got a big roar from the crowd. As you see through my pictures that we were able to see some of the holding tanks and barrel room but didn't get the ins and outs of their functions. After finding a seat in the Sam Adams Bar room we were treated to 3 different kinds of beer in a 7 oz glass which is the maximum they can serve. Our guide Stu who was wearing a name tag with the name Katy Perry which he thought would be funny because his boss told him he had to wear one but didn't specify that he had to have HIS name on it decided to be funny and put Katy

Bobby and Stu (aka Katy Perry)

Perry on it. Our samples consisted of the awesome Boston Lager, Summer Ale and I'm not too sure about the third one because I was too busy trying to refill my 7 oz. glass with the left over beer from the first 2 jugs. After being explaining how things work at the brewery by Stu he told us that the sampling glass was ours to keep which made everyone pretty happy. I was able to purchase a beautiful glass for my friend and connoisseur Ken Morrison which was specifically made for the Sam Adams Boston Lager beer. If anyone has the chance to visit the beautiful city of Boston, it's the cleanest city I've ever visited, and don't forget the "free" Sam Adams tour.

Pretty cool bar!

 Thanks again to Bobby! This is one tour I've been wanting to do for some time, thanks for allowing me to live a little vicariously through you!

Until next time
Bottoms up my friends!

The Beer Czar

If you would like more information about the Sam Adams Brewery Tour, you can find it on their website here.....

The brewery is located on 30 Germania St, Boston, MA 02130

Cooking with Beer, Boston Lager BBQ Sauce...

Its summer (for most of us anyway) and that means, pools, beaches, baseball, beers and BBQ! So, add some flavor to your BBQ, with some homemade BBQ made with Sam Adam's Boston Lager!

Give it a shot, here's the recipe....

Ingredients List
1 Bottle of Boston Lager
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 an onion, chopped fine
1/2 cup finely chopped garlic
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 brown sugar
3/4 cup red wine vinager
1 cup ketchup
2 tbsp salt
2 tbsp pepper
1/4 cup tomato paste

In a large sauce pan, add ingredients, heat, stir and cover. Reduce by half, and simmer over low heat for at least 2 to 3 hours. Stir occasionally.


Add this to your favorite chicken, steak or burgers to add a little flavor to your next BBQ. Wash it all down with some Boston Lager (or some other fine local craft brew!)

Obviously you can swap out Boston Lager for any other beer you would like, or find similar, better or just different, whatever you would like. Mix it up, try it out, experiment with it to make it perfect, just the way you like it. This is just sort of a base to start from. Enjoy.....

Until next time
Bottoms up my friends

The Beer Czar

Sam in a Can coming soon!

The Perfect Pint

Well, it only took 2 years, and a million bucks, but its finally coming to a beer store near you. That's right, come May, 2013, you can drink your beloved Boston Lager right out of, the can?

That's right. Boston Beer Company spent the last two years, and considerable amount of cash to develop a new can that will help you get the most out of you Boston Lager. A few of the things you may find different about this new can;

The lid is wider, allowing more airflow

The new Sam Can!

The lid has been moved away from the lip, to help promote and accentuate the hop aromas by moving it    closer to your nose.

The hourglass ridge creates more turbulence which pushes flavor out of the beer

Extended lip places the beer at the front of your palette.

Everything is better topless!

I guess all this is very cool, I just don't know how necessary it all is. I mean, after all, bottles don't afford us any of these "advantages" yet, they have no issue putting them in bottles. I mean, don't most "beer people" pour the beer into a glass before drinking it anyway? I would argue, if you are drinking beer right out of a can or bottle, you aren't going to get the most out of the beer no matter what the shape or design of the vessel. I can see this being an advantage to tailgating, or the beach, when bringing you Sam Adams Perfect Pint Glass isn't always an option. Not sure if the cost is worth the benefit in this case, but knows, I guess I will just have to wait and see! I think the topless can makes a little more sense to me.



Until next time
Bottoms up my friends!

The Beer Czar

The birth of the craft beer movement, revisited.

Most beer geeks credit Fritz Maytag as the god father of the craft beer movement in America. However, I feel, and many others do as well, that a long forgotten figure should share that designation with Mr Maytag. His name, Jack McAuliffe, who started New Albion Brewing Company, in Sonoma, California, back in 1976. Sadly, and seemingly inevitably, the brewery did not survive, due to a mixture of lack of space, equipment, and funding, and shuttered its doors in November of 1982.

New Albion's equipment was purchased, and is still used by Mendocino Brewing Company (formally Hopland), and their original signage is on display at Russian River Brewing Company in Santa Rosa, and has been signed by Jack McAuliffe himself.

Back in Aug, Jim Koch of Sam Adams, announced they would be brewing the original New Albion recipe for release at events, like the Great American Beer Festival, and will be available nationwide starting in January of 2013. I found this video about the making of this beer, and found it interesting, and thought I would share it with you.

Enjoy, until next time

Bottoms up my Friends!

The Beer Czar

Beer made with "beard yeast"???

Bob Cannon of Sam Adams

OK, anyone that has spent more then 13 minutes at a craft beer festival, will know that facial hair plays a large role in the beer community. From the crazy foot long goatee's to braided side burns, (I even saw a soul patch that was about 8 inches long once)  facial hair and beer go hand in hand it seems. Just think of the guy from the Sam Adams commercials (his name is Bob Cannon by the way, a brewer in the R&D Dept). Beards and brews just seem to fit together. Heck, I even grew my goatee out a little longer then average as a sort of homage to beer.

Rogue Brewmaster John Maier

However, Rogue Ales in Oregon has taken the relationship to a whole new level (high or low remains to be seen). They have harvested yeast from the beard of Brewmaster John Maier, and used it to brew a batch of "beard beer"! A local TV crew did a story on it, click the link below to check out the video.

Brewery uses Yeast from Brewers Beard!!!


Now, while getting passed the fact that this yeast came from someones beard may be tough for some, I for one however, think this is actually pretty cool. They are combining the science of brewing, with the sort "lets have fun with this" attitude so many brewers have. I am not sure if I will seek this beer out, but if I see it on a shelf, I will certainly grab it, drink it, and report back.

Bottoms up my friends
The Beer Czar

Again, how big is too big? The Paradox of Popularity…

Jim Koch (pronounced 'Cook'), the man responsible for Boston Beer Company, the makers of Sam Adams and I are on the same page! Mr Koch is one of the guys I think, and many other agree that is responsible for taking craft beer from back shelf oddity to main stream acceptance. He did a blog post on the craft beer community's seemingly growing animosity towards any brewer that has national distribution and gets "too big". He states if very clear, and simply, and even makes you realize how stupid the argument can be against the wrong person. Take a quick read, its well worth it....

Jim Koch, "The Paradox of Popularity"

Mr Koch

Tis the Season.....

Well, we are rapidly approaching that time of year again! Christmas is almost upon us, and with it comes the rapid secession of holiday parties, midnight shopping sprees, and the inevitable lengthy children’s wish lists! I’ve read studies that say drinking increases around the holidays, they say because of the stress, and the fact that some people do get depressed around the holidays. Well, that may be one of the reasons; but I say drinking increases because, well, let’s face it, Christmas beer is the greatest season for beer and beer lovers! Seems obvious to me!

Over the next few weeks, I plan to write a fair amount on the topic of Holiday Beer. It is, like I said, the best season for beers, at least in mine and many other beer minded people I knows opinion. I think one of the reasons is because “Christmas Beer” range in styles, from Porters, Fruit Beers, Barelywines, Winter Warmers and a few others. Most have a few things in common however, such as dark, rich flavors, normally high(er) ABV, and a mild to strong spice note that normally consists of nutmeg, cinnamon, all spice and some others. Making this family of beers perfect for those cold (or for us in Arizona, mildly brisk) winter evenings gathered with friends and family.

Again, I plan to write about some of my favorite Christmas Brews in the very near future, and I thought I would start with a few of the ones I look forward to every year, those being the Samuel Adams Winter Classic’s Variety Pack. This 12 pack consists of 6 different beers (2 of each). They rotate some of the offerings every year, and I have to say, I think this year’s lineup is the best there has been in the last 4 or 5 years at least. As with any Sam Adams variety pack, Boston Lager makes up 2 of the beers, that is standard. However, two other beers in the pack every year are their Holiday Porter, and one of my all time favorite Christmas Beers, Old Fezziwig, their Winter Warmer. This year’s mix of beers also contains their Winter Lager, Chocolate Bock, and Black and Brew, a rich Chocolate Stout.

Since most everyone has had the Boston and Winter Lagers, I won’t write about them here (if you want my opinion on these beers, or any questions, feel free to drop me a line, I’ll be happy to share with you), I did want to take some time to mention the other beers in this pack however, so here goes.

The Chocolate Bock, a beer I’ve heard many mixed reviews on, (seems people either love it or hate it), was one I haven’t had before. I wasn’t expecting much, given the reviews I read, and the fact that Bock’s are among my least favorite beer styles. This however, surprised me, it drinks more like a chocolate stout, just not as bitter, with a slight bock funk to it, for lack of a better word. A very drinkable, quite chocolaty enjoyable beer that I enjoyed greatly it while sitting outside by our fire.

The Black and Brew was another one that I had never had before, and was very much looking forward to it. While not an “exciting” beer, it certainly is a very good one. The flavor isn’t strong, but it is very noticeable. A rich, roasted espresso flavor comes clearly through in both the nose, and the first taste, and has a creamy, rich flavor that finishes with an almost fruity cheery taste. All in all, and very enjoyable beer, and a nice stout for someone that isn’t accustom to drinking stronger, heavy beers. A good “gateway” stout!

What a GREAT Label!

The Holiday Porter is a great beer! While not a holiday beer in the traditional sense, it is a classic sort of British Style Porter, even though it is listed as an American Porter. This has a strong hop note for a Porter in the aroma, and the flavor has some great chocolate notes. Other flavors you may find are malts, nutty flavors, even some caramel. A very fine, drinkable, silky Porter! Not to mention, it has one of the greatest labels of any Holiday beer as well!

Now, for my favorite of this pack, and probably my favorite beer that Samuel Adams makes. Old Fezziwig, their Winter Warmer. This beer is solid! A fine example of a drinkable, enjoyable, but not an over the top winter beer. The flavors are pronounced, but not over powering. The look is a nice, dark brown beer, with nice fluffy head. The beer smells of winter spices, and pine (doesn’t get much more Christmas like than that!) malt and even some alcohol, which I didn’t expect from a beer that is only 5.9% ABV. The taste is actually quite complex, hints of pine and citrus, with more cinnamon spice and malty caramel that follow. This is a very smooth, drinkable, yet very flavorful beer, that will go nicely at any holiday party, or other Christmas gathering.

This 12 pack is a great, affordable (I found it on sale for just $9.99!) way to get a taste of the beers this season has to offer, and all the beers are very drinkable, and easy for even the beginner beer drinker to drink and enjoy. So have some friends over, put on your favorite Christmas music, and really take your time, and drink and savor these beers. With the range of flavors in this pack, you are bound to find a few that you enjoy, and in some cases, you may even love.

Keep an eye out for more Christmas Beer ideas in the days and weeks to come, and in the mean time….



Bottoms Up my friends!

Sam Adams Bonfire Rauchbier

When I first started this blog, I didn’t want it to be like most every beer blog I’ve read. Most Beer Blogs (and books for that matter) are made up mostly of beer reviews, which I don’t mind, and in fact, enjoy and read quite often. However, I wanted my beer blog to be more about beer in our everyday life, and especially how to get the most enjoyment out of beer. So, I figure, what better way to help everyone enjoy beer more, then to do at least the occasional review. I did decide to do reviews of mostly just rare or unique beers, beers I feel are exceptionally good, or beers that represent the best of a particular style. And, on occasion hopefully, beers that fit all of those criteria.

Look for it!

Well, last night, I found a beer that may do just that. I picked up a Sam Adams Harvest Classic’s 12 pack last night, mostly because I love the Harvest Pumpkin Ale. There are normally a few other solid offerings in the pack as well. This year, they have added a new one, Bonfire Rauchbier (pronounced row-ch-beer).

Now Rauchbiers have been around for quite some time, since the mid 1500’s in fact, and trace their origins to the town of Bamberg and the district of Franconia. This style is normally mid to dark brown to ruby red, looking much like a Marzan or Oktoberfest styles we are more use to. What sets these beers apart is that the raw (green) malts are dried over open fire pits of (normally) beech wood. This imparts a very unique “smokiness”, hence the name “Rauchbier” (rauch is German for smoke). This is the way all malts were roasted prior to the advent of kilns drying and roasting came into place.

Before last night, I have only heard of this style, and new very little about it. So, I was eager to give it a try, plus I thought it had a great label (as most of the Limited Run seasonal from Sam Adams offerings often do; such as. Old Fezziwig and Holiday Porter). So I poured the bottle into my favorite globe glass and took a look. Right away I noticed the lack of a thick head, and the beautiful ruby brown color. The smell was about what I expected as well, smoky, with a nice malty sweet balance. Nothing too exciting at this point. The taste however, was a new experience for me. This is going to be hard to explain, without sounding like I didn’t enjoy this beer, but it had the flavor of, well, a campfire. Sort of like the same smoky sweetness you get from letting your marshmallow catch fire when roasting it at the campfire (something I love to do!). There was the great smoke flavor, which was balanced out very nicely by a malty, caramel sweetness that worked really well together. The further into the beer I got, the more the smoke flavors became more and more prevalent, while the malt flavors quietly slipped slowly into the back ground.

Even though I was sitting in my living room, while it was still over 103 degrees at 9:30 at night, this beer still made me remember the many a times staring into the soft orange glow of a campfire, letting the dancing flames lull me into a state of near hypnosis. I am not sure I have ever had a beer that says autumn quite like this one does. If you like to try new, unique beers, by all means, get yourself a one of these verity packs.

A few tips I would offer you if/when you get your hands on one of these gems. First, don’t drink this one right out of the bottle; get a proper glass to drink it out of, in fact, an large bulb wine glass would work perfectly (I’ll be writing more about proper glassware at a later date). One of the most defining features of this beer is its aroma, and you won’t get to experience most of that drinking it right out of the glass. Second, open the bottle, pour it in the glass, and let it sit for a few minutes. This beer is at its best at about 50 degrees.