Posts Tagged ‘Jolly Pumpkin’
Paste Names Best 25 American Breweries
Paste Magazine’s most recent “List of the Day” surveys the 25 best American breweries of the decade. Just hours after it was posted, a friend asked us what we thought. Overall, we think it’s pretty solid. We’ve had beer from all of the breweries, some more than others, especially Paste’s picks for the two top spots, Dogfish Head and Allagash. Still, we have a few beefs…
We wouldn’t have placed Victory or Founder’s in the top five. Those spots should have been reserved for cutting-edge breweries like Lost Abbey and Russian River. Similarly, we love Weyerbacher but probably would have placed Bell’s in its top 10 spot. And Jolly Pumpkin way down at 19? We don’t think so.
Perhaps going beyond the bounds of Paste’s rating method, we would have listed Brooklyn, Stone, and Samuel Adams much higher for their widespread efforts to inform American drinkers that there’s more to beer than Bud, Coors, and Michelob, as well as raise the status of beer in general. We also would have tried to squeeze Flying Dog, Left Hand, Troegs, and Duck Rabbit somewhere into the top 25.
Beyond that, if we could have done a Top 40, we would have tried to get O’Dell’s, The Bruery, Boulevard, Full Sail, Captain Lawrence, 21st Amendment, Sly Fox, Anderson Valley, New Holland, Clipper City, Bear Republic, and Elysian on the list, but it would have been very difficult to decide who goes where. Since many of the aforementioned breweries are up and coming, we have a good feeling several of them will be on next decade’s list.
Guilty Pleasure Pairing: Beer and Candy Corn
We can’t all be gourmands every hour of every day. Sometimes less really is more. That’s why when the Lagerheads shared a bottle of Jolly Pumpkin’s Oro de Calabaza with friends at a party this weekend, we experimented with some pairings that would make most self-respecting foodies squirm.
We are sure food-and-beer pairing guru Garrett Oliver, who will be gracing DC with his presence at Brasserie Beck this Tuesday, would not approve. But after trying the beer with chips and salsa, frosted cookies, cheese and crackers, and candy corn, we found a clear winner…of the triangular, orange, and waxy variety.
In this guilty pleasure pairing, the Lagerheads declare Oro de Calabaza and candy corn a winning combination. Since the beer is on the funky side (beer geek translation: horse blanket), we decided to try it with candy. Just like sour ales are often subdued with sugary fruit syrups, we thought the corn syrup and honey in the candy corn might cut the funkiness of the beer, which is caused by wild Belgian yeast.
We were right, but we are certain that Ron Jeffries, the renowned “creator of beers of outstanding art and grace, philosopher of things beery, and outspoken advocate of the slower, finer life,” would be appauled to find out that we paired junk food with his award-winning Biere de Garde, but we’re sticking to our guns and encourage you to give it a try. (Note: Bottles of Oro de Calabaza were on sale at DeVine’s in Columbia Heights earlier this month.)
Have you had some fancy-pants beer pairings lately, or made any lowbrow discoveries like ours? We’d like to hear about it.
On July 4th Weekend, Buy American Beer
When I was little I once saw a Family Circus cartoon in which the father, on Independence Day, thanked China for their fireworks, Germany for their picnic of sausages and coleslaw, and so on. It was about as funny as, well, Family Circus — but the message stuck with me.
So on that note, I remind those of you stuck in the imports section of your beer store that America is home to the world’s most diverse beer selection, including many of the finest and certainly the freshest. This Independence Day weekend (I’m starting mine today), buy American beer. If you have a friend who thinks Stella Artois is the gods’ gift to Belgium, send ‘em this way for a list of proper American substitutes.
- Heineken (or Stella Artois) — Of the imports on this list, Heiney’s the one I’m least offended to get for free at a party. But it’s still just the Budweiser of Europe. If crisp, clean lagers are your thing (and in July, they’re certainly mine), try Stoudt’s Gold Lager or Sierra Nevada Summerfest.
