An Exciting Journey Ahead.

It is 8.20 on a Sunday evening and I am sitting at U.W union, just finished a cheeseburger and fries, and am now washing it down with a Sprecher Amber. I came to a writers group that I am involved with, and as we were about to leave the clouds opened up and the rain started pouring down.
It is pouring rain outside and since I am stuck here in this beautiful facility, I might as well make good use of the time. Not that I need a reason for a beer, but what a perfect time for one right now. As I sit here I am thinking what could be more Wisconsin than that. To the right of my laptop is a three quarter finished beer, and to the left is a copy of Beer advocate, which is available free at the Union. Here’s to you U.W. I am reminded of the first article I wrote for my beer blog which I talked about my trip to the US for the first time, and discovering the horrifying reality about beer in this country. Back then, to find a good beer in this country was very difficult, it was not readily available to the general public. In the twenty three years that have since passed, things have changed immensely, for the better. Skimming through the pages of Beer advocate and reading off the headlines, it is quiet clear that for the beer lover, we are living in exciting times. There is a whole section on Beer and Food parings, which was not much discussed five years back. It is very encouraging to see more and more articles discussing Food and Beer. In recent weeks, both on NPR and Wisconsin public radio, there were a number of programmes dedicated to the craft brew industry. NPR’s program, Science Friday had a very interesting program on beer, broadcast live from Milwaukee. OK, as I look out the window of the U.W union, I see that the skies are brightening up and the rain is about to stop, so it is time for me to head out of here since I have a good long walk back home. And I can leave with excitement and comfort in knowing that for the beer lover in America, we have a beautiful and exciting journey ahead of us. What a wonderful time to be living in this country.

Slainte,
Tim Quigley

The Pursuit of a good Pint of Guinness

One of the things about being Irish in the Madison WI. is, I get asked a lot of the time about the Guinness. http://www.guinness.com/us_en/ Where is a good place to have a Guinness?  is a very common question. Or, how is the Guinness here compared to Ireland? I regret to say I am not an expert on Guinness in this country. I usually drink Guinness when I am traveling in Ireland, which the last time was February of this year. There are so many fine Micro Breweries here in Wisconsin, who needs Guinness? Yes you heard it from an Irishman, who needs Guinness? especially when you have Tommy’s Porter from Arena WI.  http://www.lakelouie.com/default.htm/
But anyway I will tell you about Tommy’s Porter another time, this time the focus is on the Guinness. So on Saturday afternoon I decided to do some research, I felt it was important to have the answers to my friends questions.

First stop was to the Claddagh Irish Pub in Middleton http://www.claddaghirishpubs.com/locationdetail.php?loc_id=21
Upon arriving at the Bar, I was greeted with a big, bright and happy Wisconsin smile from the Bartender. Watching my pint of Guinness settle on the counter for a few minutes before the first sip, I was starting to get a little disappointed. The head was not the rich creamy white color that I was familiar with from my days of traveling back to Ireland. The head was more of an off white, tanish color, with thousands of tiny bubbles forming on top. In the beginning while the pint was still cold , having just came from the cooler, the taste was a slight hint of coffee followed by a mild hopiness. As the Beer warmed up towards room temperature, the head begun to disappear rather quickly, and the flavor was turning sour, making it difficult to finish. I finished the pint and was very disappointed. It is without question one of the worst pints of Guinness I have had in a long time. By some standards, it might be considered a good pint of Guinness, but I know of pubs in Ireland that were boycotted by their patrons for serving Guinness like that.

 Notes.
Head full of bubbles, off white yellowish brown.
Body, rich deep black.
Flavor, coffee and hops with a slight bitterness.
As Pint warms up, head turns sudsy and brown, beer turns a little sour, hard to finish.

From there I went to Brocach Irish Pub, on the square in Madison http://www.brocach.com/ I used to frequent the Brocach a lot when they first opened three years ago, and I have to say that the Guinness was as good then as was to be found in Ireland, fresh and creamy, and a very good balance of coffee and hops.

After sitting at the Bar for about four minutes I was approached by the bartender, he was not having a good day. At least thats what he communicated to me through his demeanour and his greeting. I ordered my pint of Guinness, he proceeds to pour it and between the first and second pour, he returned and demanded payment. I was a little taken aback by this, for Madison is not a town I would associate people walking out on their beer tab. Even though they lost the spot of being the number one city to live in, I don’t think they declined that far. Oh by the way, Middleton is now the number one town to live in, in America, or has been rated so by one of them magazines. The Judges must have been spending all their time at the Claddagh being pampered by the bright smiling faces, getting drunk on bad Guinness, and then came into the Brocach in Madison and thought this is a miserable town, and left imediatly.
O’k, back to the task at hand here, which is rating the Guinness.
A nice creamy pint arrived on the counter in front of me, I studied it carefully, examining the head, which was about 3/4 of an inch in thickness, not completely white , but very close.  As I was about to take the first sip, I noticed two tiny bubbles on the head, in the center of one of the shamrock leaves. A little disappointed that I was not getting the perfect pint, but hey, life is not perfect.

So here are my notes,
From the start, the Pint looks better than the Claddagh.
Richer, thicker creamier head, color is not perfect, but close.
Shamrock slightly visible on top.
Body, rich deep black in color.
Taste, creamy and smooth, a little too cold, seems to be suppressing the flavors.
As the beer warms up, the  hop flavors are coming through, but no coffee.
Finishing out keeping the smooth creamy texture, and slight hop flavor.
So the bottom line,
Claddagh, for the friendiliness, Brocach for the Guinness.
Slainte,

Tim Quigley

Frightening News.

In March 1985 I was on board a British airlines flight from London to Chicago. It was my first time traveling to the United States, and also my first time ever on a Plane. Half ways across the Atlantic ocean and about Thirty Five Thousand feet in the air, I heard the most devastating news ever. I was sitting next to a Gentleman from Italy on his way back to the States after vacationing in Italy with family. He been Italian and I been Irish, we bonded together quiet easily. The Meal had been over for some time and some of the passengers had settled in to their seats to watch the movie, while others chose to use the time for a nap. The Gentleman from Italy and I spent most of the time chatting and enjoying the occasional beer. Curious, about the United States, I had plenty of questions for him, and being Irish I was very curious to know what the beer was like in America. “The Beer in America is horrible” he told me. What? I replied. He proceeded to tell me that the beer in the U.S. was controlled by a small number of very large breweries, and profits got a bigger priority over quality. At that point, my trip to America did not seem so exciting anymore.

Fortunately I got acquainted with the Irish communities in Chicago reasonably fast where the Guinness was plentiful.
Out of curiosity, I tried, at the time what was the most popular beer in Chicago, Old Style. Very disappointing. I soon discovered the market was dominated by the Budweiser’s and Millers and a few other large conglomerates whose beers tasted very similar. If you wanted Guinness or a quality European Beer, you had to go in search of it. I lived in Chicago for five years and then moved up the lake Ninety Miles to Milwaukee Wisconsin, where I discovered Sprecher Amber, http://www.sprecherbrewery.com/index.php Thanks to Jimmy Carter who in 1978 signed a bill to allow Home Brewers to sell their own Beer. It was the taste of Sprecher that aroused my curiosity, it was different, it was in rich flavor, which led me to try other small breweries. Shortly after that, I discovered Lakefront Brewery, http://www.lakefrontbrewery.com/
And that’s when the pursuit of beer started.
Slainte,
Tim Quigley.

Great Dane Belgian Pale

Great Dane’s Belgian pale

On Wednesday night I stopped into the Great Dane in Madison to sample one of their beers. The Dane is one of my favorite spots to go for a brew, for they always have a good selection of beer on tap. Usually fourteen to eighteen, all brewed in house. The purpose of this particular trip was to try their Belgian Pale Ale.  I had this Beer a week earlier when it first came on line. At that first tasting the beer had a fresh fruity flavor with hints of apple, and a bitterness that left you looking forward to the next sip. As the beer warmed up closer to room temperature, the hops became more prominent, leaving it with a smother and more balanced finish.
On this second tasting it was a different beer. The sharpness had gone out of it, still fruity but without the bitterness. A very nice balance of hops and fruit from start to finish. Unfortunately this beer was limited and sold out very quickly, but the memories still remain, and will for a long time.

Slainte,
Tim Quigley

Is there a Beer culture in America

One evening while sitting at the Great Dane, a group of Ladies approached the bar. What would you like? Asked the bartender. What is that? asked one of the Ladies, pointing at my beer. That’s the Texas Speed Bump I.P.A. replied the bartender, it’s a very hopy beer he concluded. I’ll have that, the lady said. I could not help but notice the interaction between customer and bartender. It seemed obvious that the customer was not familiar with the beer selection, and decided to order the first thing that looked good. Which understandably is all too common in this country. Is that a good thing, or a bad thing? Well it depends on how you look at it. To the beer connoisseur, when introduced to a new beer, they will question the server about its flavor, its origin and a hundred other questions in order to gain as much knowledge as possible. Whereas the person who drinks the mass market beer, they might be loyal to a particular brand. But if that brand is not available to them at a given moment, they seem quiet content to settle for what (in their opinion) is the next best thing, as long as they are familiar with the name. Unfortunately most people today, become familiar with a brand, due to the avalanche of advertising put out by the massive corporations from around the world, in a desperate attempt to ram their products down their throats.

Overtaken by my curiosity, I felt compelled to talk to the lady in question. I approached her, introduced myself, and asked why she decided on that particular beer. I like hopy beers, she said. Oh I replied. And what other brands of hopy beers do you like to drink? I asked her. She looked away in a brief moment of thought. Ah, I don’t know, she replied, turning her eyes back to me, and tilting her head sideways, as if admitting confusion. What is it about the hopy beers that you like? I asked. They taste different. She replied, they have a bite to them, not like the other beers. Oh, I inquired. Yea, I always drank Miller lite, but this is different, she told me. Miller and Bud all taste the same, she continued.
What turned you onto the micro beers? I asked her. I was out with a friend one night, and the bar where we were, had no Miller or Bud. The bartender recommended something, and I liked it. I’ve  been hooked ever since.  I’m still learning, she said, with a smile of inspiration dancing on her face, and raising her glass to mine for a toast.
At that point I felt the need to foster this fledgling micro beer drinker, and free her from the jaws of the giants with no taste.

But then after thinking for a minute, I realized the Micro Breweries are already doing a good job at that. But I began to think about the beer culture here. Is there one? I asked myself. When a person walks into a bar and orders a beer, having no previous knowledge of it, but to them it looks good, or it reminded them of something they had before. Is there a culture there?
I will leave you with that one to ponder for a while.

Slainte,
Timothy C Quigley.