Beer, Music and Dave Tucker

I know it has been a while since the last post here on the blog, but we're still inevitably working towards our ultimate goal of opening the Saint William Brewery! We've had some very interesting conversations and meetings, and have a few more lined up. We'll let you all know when we find a place to start brewing! But as that is still in the works, time for something else.

We've talked about it often here, beer is culture, beer is life. One big aspect is sharing it with friends, another is music. Beer lends itself exquisitely well to be enjoyed while listening to music, and it quite often also leads -almost automatically, as if by some magic- to outbursts of song. One of those great little songs I remember from my days in Student Clubs while studying archaeology in Ghent, was this German gem called 'Bier her!'. It was sung by the club members when their glasses were empty, and was directed to the new candidate club members, a sign that they needed to come fill the glasses of the full members again.
It goes like this:

Bier her, Bier her, oder ich fall um, juchhe!
Bier her, Bier her, oder ich fall um!
Soll das Bier im Keller liegen
Und ich hier die Ohnmacht kriegen?
Bier her, Bier her, oder ich fall um!

Translated that would be:

Beer here, beer here, or I will fall down, wohoo!
Beer here, beer here, or I will fall down!Should the beer remain in the cellar,
And I'm here about to faint?
Beer here, beer here, or I will fall down!

A very good friend of mine, Dave Tucker, had a dream a while ago. Not to start making delicious beers, but to make great songs and music. He pushed through, perfecting his guitar playing skills and his song writing abilities, and met the right people to collaborate with. He is now set to record his first full album, which is quite an achievement! We have the chance to support him in that, by pledging a small amount in exchange for some excellent goodies, from signed CDs to Ipod nanos with all his songs on, and even executive producer credit or a living room show! You can go to this link here and read more about this young musician, listen to some demos, and hopefully find a pledge amount that works!

On my car I have this great bumper sticker from the Brewers Association, that reads "Support Your Local Brewery". I know you are all doing that already (what a selfless sacrifice that is, right?), but let's get together and also support our local musicians! Great beer and great music are another wonderful pairing, and now your chance to make such pairing reality.

Mardi-Gras, Lent, and beer.

Today is Mardi-Gras. Originally, it was a moment to clean out your cupboards of all perishables that were restricted during Lent. Certain meats, greasy foods, dairy, eggs etc. were all part of the food stuffs with limited shelf life that had to be eaten. Some countries, such as England, have the tradition to make pancakes, others have much larger celebrations to mark the last day before the austerity of Lent. Any reason to celebrate is good, having no reason probably the best one. If you have to eat all those goodies, why not make it fun?
Tonight, my family will feast on crepes, with fresh fruits, ice cream and hot chocolate sauce. I think I will have a good beer with that, debating between a Chimay Grande Reserve or a Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout...

Not that I will give up beer for lent. On the contrary, I will try to emulate the strict observance of the Trappist and Cistercian monks. "Ora et labora, Work and pray" is the motto they live by. But during lent, when their calorie intake through food severely decreases, a kosher supplement is needed so the monks can continue their rigorous schedule of manual labor keeping up the monastery grounds and prayers. This left them with only one solution: a good, strong brew. Their best and heaviest beers were reserved for all the monks during Lent.
So in company of those holy men, I will be drinking my best beers in the following 40 days, not forgetting the work and pray part in this period of reflection.

So whether or not you observe Lent, it is a good period to drink a great brew, and to reflect on all we have. Cheers!

State of the brewery

This year will be the year we start brewing!
So it is time to give you an update on what is happening. An important step was to set up a core management team to review my preparations, projections and plans, and to reconstruct it in a way that would work. I am very proud and honored to have found 2 exceptional professionals who were enthusiastically willing to join the Saint William Brewery. They represent 2 different sides of the beer medal. In later blog posts, they will introduce themselves as well.

The first person to join was Peter Renzulli, an accomplished accountant, who heads his own national accounting and bookkeeping firm. Currently in his final semester at Rutgers University to complete his MBA, he is a very meticulous and driven person, with a keen sense for business and numbers. Having tried his hand at home brewing, he loved the idea.
He is the man who will ensure the numbers work. Passion for beer is key, but if you cannot make a profit, our goal to share the best possible beer, born from Old World tradition and New World innovation, to as many people as possible, would stop before you know it.

Secondly, Alan Jestice joined Saint William Brewery. He is a very accomplished Craft Beer evangelist, with years of experience and understanding in the wonderful world of American Craft Beer. He is co-owner of the Blind Tiger Ale House in New York, for years responsible for managing the tap choices, branding and marketing, making it one of the most influential places to be for cutting edge brews you'd find nowhere else. With a vast experience in the restaurant and bar business, he knows how to bring Craft Beer to the thirsty consumers wanting the best.
He will assist us in navigating the Craft Beer world, help us bring our message and beer to beer lovers in NJ and beyond. To use his own words:

My work consists of merging ideological aspirations of the brewer and the practical realities of consumerism in craft beer — to sift out a brand that is specific, recognizable and truthful. Currently, as the basic story has been laid out, I am using the financial and physical parameters of this fledgling brewery a part of the brand's public persona — making the journey of the brand as unique and accessible as the beer that it is built upon. 

Between the three of us we cover the business side, the organisational issues, the branding and marketing side, the technical side, making us a formidable team to reconcile passion and vision with the reality of today's economy and market. I am honored and proud of their commitment to lift Saint William Brewery to the highest possible standards, and cannot wait to bring you the fruits of our labor!

Practically, we have been weighing different options, and at this point are ready to go out and find a location. The formula we are pursuing is called 'Alternate Brewing'. This is how Mikkeller  Brewery goes about brewing their highly successful beers, and several American Craft Breweries (such as the Rheingold Brewing Company in Connecticut and Pig's Eye Brewery in Minnesota) are following this route as well. The website of the TTB (the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, part of the US Department of the Treasury) defines it this way:

An “alternating proprietorship” is a term used to describe an arrangement in which two or more people take turns using the physical premises of a brewery. 

Generally, the proprietor of an existing brewery, the “host brewery,” agrees to rent space and equipment to a new “tenant brewer.”  Alternating brewery proprietorships allow existing breweries to use excess capacity and give new entrants to the beer business an opportunity to begin on a small scale, without investing in premises and equipment. 

This means that we are looking in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania to find a brewery with excess capacity, willing to enter into a contractual agreement with us, allowing us to rent their facilities for 1 or 2 brews a week. Once we have found that, and have the contract agreed upon, we can start the licensing and start brewing as soon as all the approvals are received. This would strictly be a temporary situation, for 6 to 18 months, as the goal is to have our own brewery as soon as possible.Under this arrangement, the 'hosting brewery' would receive additional income from their equipment, lowering their liability. We will also offer to buy any additional fermentation tanks needed, and once we leave donate them to the host. On the other hand, we would avoid the high initial start-up costs, while still being able to start brewing and get our branding and marketing started (meaning, getting our beers to you!).  This allows us to have something solid, to show investors real data, substantially lowering their risk as we get ready for the next phase. It's a win-win for both parties! As we go ahead with this, I would love to hear what you think of this formula. Leave us a comment!

And that, dear beer people, could only mean one thing: the official start of Saint William Brewery and our beers. We look forward to offer you our Saint William Triple, Saint William Honey and Saint William Amber. For starters. We know you'll be back... And we will be ready to fulfill your need for deeply satisfying beer, one glass at a time. Cheers!

Party in honor of tapping the first keg of Saint William's  

Beer pairing 2 and NJ Winery laws

January has been quite busy already, and we barely started the month!

First some interesting news: yesterday, the NJ Legislature adopted a bill (S3172-A4436) that will allow wineries in New Jersey to directly ship their wines throughout the state. For small and upcoming wineries, this opens the doors for growth, being able to sell directly to consumers. The bill offers small vineyards the possibility to buy a shipping license, allowing them to sell directly to consumers and make up to 250,000 gallons of wine per year. A previous attempt to pass such law would give that ability only to NJ vineyards but was struck down as unconstitutional, which threatened to force closure of the tasting rooms in NJ wineries. These tasting rooms were the main source of income for many small vineyards who did not produce enough to meet wholesale distribution deals, so failure to adopt this bill would have dealt a fatal blow to many small and new vineyards in NJ, such as Beneduce Vineyards, a new vineyard in Pittstown, NJ that is operated by Justen Hiles, a great friend, and her husband and brother.
The main argument opponents of this bill wielded, was the notion that it would cost jobs to retail sellers and distributors. This was clearly a scare tactic by distribution and retail lobbies, as direct shipping and online sales only make up 1% of total sales. It is also very short sighted: allowing these vineyards to do this, and establish themselves, will bring more and more people in contact with their wines and increase interest in NJ wines, something that will consequently spill over to the retail stores as well. They will remain the one spot to go to, in order find a nice and large selection. Most people only go directly to the source if the local stores do not offer a particular wine (or beer) in their selection.

Same for beer: allowing breweries to have a tasting room with a functional bar would not in the slightest hurt bars and pubs. On the contrary: it would help create a healthy beer culture and awareness from which those bars and pubs would profit as well, both because of increased interest with consumers, and because of having healthier and stronger breweries around. Next on my wish list: a bill that would allow breweries to have a bona fide tasting room, allowing to sell their beer normally. An internal bar, where you can buy a full pint of beer, not just four 4 ounce samples, and were you can buy more than just 2 six packs of the brewery's beer. Where you can perhaps enjoy a limited selection of food or snacks, so the visitor to the brewery can experience a more full savoring of what the beers have to offer.

In a previous article I wrote about beer pairings, with a great quote from Greg Engert who wrote about this in his blog "What Wine Can Teach Us About Beer And Food" (Blogged on YoungAndHungry, Washington City Paper, August 10, 2010). I love this quote so much because it gives such better understanding, that I gladly repeat it here again. And it follows nicely after writing about wineries, doesn't it? Greg said:

And in truth, wine does taste wonderfully with many dishes, as does beer; they just tend to do different things when tasted in congress with food. One general idea I subscribe to is that beer tends to complement the flavors of food, while wine tends to contrast. This is born out by the processes involved in the creation of either beverage. The malts employed in brewing have been "cooked," resulting in flavors one will find in cooked food: roasted, caramelized, toasted, grilled. And beer is seasoned with hops, but often also orange peel, coriander, ginger, chocolate, etc. This allows for beer to echo the flavors found in foods also cooked and seasoned. I will admit that this sort of commonality makes beer and food pairing a bit more approachable, but it is different than what wine can do with food (and not necessarily better).

Wine can complement from time to time, but I prefer the interaction of contrasting flavors when wine confronts a dish. Wine does not have the cooked malt effect or the seasoning aspect of beer, but demonstrates a host of fermentation aromas and tastes resulting from its production. I think it is helpful to look at wine as a sort of additional saucing for the dish, and one that tends to transform the dish’s (and wine’s) flavors; beer and food have more of a tendency to mutually accentuate the similarities of aroma and taste found therein. 

Just the other day I came across another pairing that offered a divinely perfect pairing, where the beer completed the food in such a way you'd think they were dancing on your tongue. So, what was that pairing, you now ask. Westmalle Tripel and honey drizzled speculaas ice cream.
Westmalle Tripel is a classic in his own right, the gold standard for tripel ales. Brewed by the monks at the Abbey of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in Westmalle, Belgium, it is a full rich malty Trappist beer. The monks themselves describe is as follows:

Westmalle Tripel is a clear, golden yellow Trappist beer that undergoes a secondary fermentation in the bottle (9,5% alcohol). It is a complex beer with a fruity aroma and a nice nuanced hop scent. It is soft and creamy in the mouth, with a bitter touch carried by the fruity aroma. An exceptional beer, with a great deal of finesse and elegance. And with a splendid long aftertaste.

 It so happened that a friend came over to visit, and stayed for dinner. After a great meal, it felt a nice dessert would top of the evening just perfectly, so I prepared a simple ice cream coupe I had come up with a while ago. It uses finely crumbled speculaas, a Belgian gingerbread like cookie traditionally made for the feast of Saint Nicolas on December 6th. These fine crumbs and a dash of roasted cinnamon powder are then mixed under vanilla ice cream, and the still frozen ice is then scooped on plates in small balls, topped of with a drizzle of preferably wild honey. I served this to my guest table, and opened a large bottle of Westmalle Tripel. Being the first time I paired that specific dessert with a beer, I had a hunch it would be good, but I was not prepared for the perfection of the pairing. The maltiness, slight bitterness and a hint of vanilla in the Westmalle complemented perfectly with the spiced cookie ice and the rich sweetness of the honey. Definitely recommended to try to make this yourself so you too can enjoy this delicious pairing!

Traditional 'Sinterklaas Speculoos'

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

This is the last post of the year, and I would like to thank all the followers here for their interest!
Looking back at 2011, a lot has happened. The idea for the brewery has matured from a dream in the mind of 1 man to a project worked on by a team of 3 professionals. The discussions we have moved from mere conceptual to practical, which is very exciting.
As 2012 progresses, we will keep you updated about how Saint William Brewery is taking more and more shape, beginning with presenting our team in early January. This will be the year we will start brewing, so a lot will be happening!

So, may your 2012 be as exciting and full as ours is shaping out to be!

The Saint William team

The label of a small unofficial test batch made as gift for friends and family.

Thanksgiving Day

Today Americans everywhere gather around the table with their family and closest friends, eat a copious meal with turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, beans, jello, sweet potatoes, corn, pumpkin pie... They celebrate Thanksgiving Day, started with the Pilgrim Fathers in 1623 in thanksgiving for the bounty of their harvest, for surviving the first years of settling these new shores. Beer was involved in the choice of the location, landing at Plymouth Rock was not planned! (If you haven't read this blog before, this might be new to you, but beer really is the foundation of civilization!) The Mayflower, the ship that brought the Pilgrim Fathers to American shores, was running low on beer, so the crew kicked out their passengers when they realized this, so they could sail back to the nearest port before they ran out of their beer supply!

The official day was instituted by Abraham Lincoln in 1863, but as early as 1789 this day was celebrated. There are many earlier dates for Thanksgiving parties, but those were local or state wide celebrations. I really like the proclamation written by George Washington, as it eloquently states the reasons for this day's festivities:

By the President of the United States of America, a Proclamation. 

Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor-- and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.

Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be-- That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks--for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation--for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his Providence which we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late war--for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed--for the peaceable and rational manner, in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted--for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed; and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us.

and also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions-- to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually--to render our national government a blessing to all the people, by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed--to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shewn kindness unto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord--To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the encrease of science among them and us--and generally to grant unto all Mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best. 

Given under my hand at the City of New York the third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789.

 George Washington

It is a most American celebration, one I fell in love with the first time I was allowed to partake when I first arrived here. Sometimes people -even Americans themselves- say that Americans have no culture, being a relatively young nation, made up of this mix of other peoples and cultures. When I hear that, I always disagree, and point to Thanksgiving, observed in a very similar way by Americans everywhere, from Alaska to Florida, and from Hawaii to Maine. Granted, the ingredients are not unique to the United States, but how they are put together is. A meal that anywhere would be considered a grand feast! It ties together a sense of history, a common life, a gratitude for what we've been given and the blessings in our lives, with a celebration of the Giver of those blessings and of the first settlers of this country, shared with the Native People already living here. A very layered and rich day it is, then, one that citizens of this country can rightly claim as their own, with a sense of pride.

Whether or not you are an American citizen, let's all stop for a moment to give thanks for our life and all we have. Then, raise a glass of beer to it! Cheers all, and happy Thanksgiving!

November 11, 2011 Armistice Day and Veterans Day

November 11th is a solemn day, celebrating the armistice ending World War 1 in Europe, and in the US it is a day remembering and honoring its veterans.
A while ago I wrote a post mentioning my great-grandmother and briefly touched some of her exploits during WW II. (See post here) This a good day to give a more full account of this extraordinary woman. But to make this post come full circle with this commemorative day, first a word about my great-grandfather, Edmond De Ridder. As a young man, not even 20, he was conscripted in the Belgian army in 1914 at the outbreak of the first World War. His experience as a soldier met a quick end, and he spent the next years in a German POW camp, an experience he never really talked about. My mother only recalls him talking about having to eat nettle soup. The young girl she was when she heard this story, she was shocked at the cruelty of having to eat nettle soup, imagining the experience of drinking a soup stinging her grandfather on the inside.

It did spare him the horrors of trench warfare. After the war he returned home again, and married Maria Maes. At the birth of their son, he had to go to the town hall to declare that at the office of civil registry. But he 'celebrated' too much on the way there, and forgot the name that he and my great-granny had settled upon. So Carolus De Ridder was officially registered instead of Albert De Ridder. One can only imagine the talkdown my great-grandfather had to endure when he had to tell my great-granny what happened... Solution was simple: no one knew him by that name, and he was called Albert by everyone. Fast forward to 1942. Belgium suffered under the German occupation, with a military 'Kommandantur' installed in the Town Hall. Young men were forced to do labor in Germany, and both Albert and his brother Leon were called up. Neither went, with Leon hiding for a few months by nearby farmers, and Albert just stayed home. The Germans kept demanding my great-grandparents to send in their two sons. At one time, an officer and some soldiers came to their house, questioning the neighbors, in an attempt to find Carolus De Ridder and send him to Germany. The neighbors looked puzzled when asked where Carolus was, and could not have betrayed him if  they wanted to. 'Carolus who?'
 Meanwhile, he was sitting right there at his home, under the noses of the Germans!

To get the heath of her other son, my great-granny went to the Kommandantur to speak with the officer in charge, after she had heard that the Allies had bombed Wilhelmshaven, where her son was supposed to have been sent to. The conversation when something like this:
German Officer: 'Come in, Mrs De Ridder. Where is your son, Leon? We've sent repeated notices to report for labor!'
Great-Granny: 'Excuse me?!' (angrily, with rising voice) 'I have put my son on the train, and from that point he is YOUR responsibility!!'
German Officer: 'Eh...'
Great-Granny: 'So, where is my son?! I gave him to you, and you have to give him back to me!'
            Followed by a series of strong language we better censor.
Great Granny, thinking: 'They wont imprison a woman now, would they?'
German Officer: 'Well, eh, perhaps we can pay you the pay we give each laborer?'

In that tumultuous time right after the Germans left and before the Allied troops entered the town, resistance groups started to round up 'collaborators and traitors', beating them, shaving their heads, burning their homes, in an outburst of rage after 4 years of German oppression. Great-grannies neighbors had a daughter who had studied, and was fluent in German as well. So the Germans forced her to work for them in the town's administration, which in turn gave her access to a lot of privileges, such as extra food rations. Hearing a lot of yelling and crying on the street, my great-grannie came out as well, only to see a gang of 'resistance fighters' dragging out the daughter of the neighbors, guns at the ready, and beating her.
immediately she started to yell at those guys, in utter rage. 'You there, and you! How dare you!', she shouted at them, ignoring the circle of armed men around her 'Last week I saw you here with your hands held up, asking for bread and food and butter! She's always been helping all of you, and this is how you repay her?! Does your mother know you're here playing hero?'. They left, tails between their legs, and left this poor girl alone again.

Polish and Canadian troops liberated Sint-Niklaas

Definitely not a woman to mess with! She lived to be 89, and until her last days, she would enjoy her trappist beer. Which, looking back, was probably the source of her courage and strength. She never served officially, but I think that today is a great day to remember her, together with all the others who served to protect their country and loved ones. Cheers!