Bottoms Up

Don Russell, who writes the Joe Sixpack column for the Philadelphia Daily News, wrote a brilliant piece this past Friday (Dec. 22, 2006). Here’s the top of it. Click on the Title to read the rest…

WHAT BEER WOULD Rocky drink?

It’s mere idle speculation, as the Philly fighter’s new movie, “Rocky Balboa,” fills theater screens this weekend. But the question did provoke a small storm of discontent on the Internet earlier this month when Sylvester Stallone himself weighed in with an answer.

The setting was a terrific, far-reaching Q&A between Stallone and his fans posted at Ain’t it Cool News, an entertainment news Web site. Among other things, the actor revealed his worst movie (“Stop! Or My Mom will Shoot!”) and why he’d like to box Hitler.

The beer topic was raised when one fan wrote:

“I am throwing a Rocky party to celebrate ‘Rocky Balboa’s’ release and I need to know what kind of beer Rocky would drink so I can buy it for the party.”

“No question about it,” Stallone replied. “Rocky drinks Rolling Rock, especially in the ‘pony’ bottles, which are the small bottles.”

Rolling Rock!? ((READ THE REST OF THE COLUMN…)))

If you don’t have plans for New Year’s Eve yet, may I suggest a four-course tasting at Cav, the wine bar on Market in San Francisco? That’s where I’ll most likely be. It’s only $50 and is going on twice, at 6 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Here’s chef Christine Mullen’s menu plan:

First course

Choice of Pomegranite and Persimmon Salad or Lobster Bisque

Second course

Choice of Crab and Asparagus Cavatelli with Truffle Oil or Filet Mignon with red wine, shallots, savory bread pudding and arugula

Third course

Serra da Estrela with membrillo and marcona almonds

Fourth course

Hazelnut Chocolate Pizzelle

The tasting does not include wine, though Cav will have a flight of vintage Champagnes on hand. For reservations, call 415-437-1770 or go to the Website. Click on Events, then New Year’s Eve.

Don’t think giant Anheuser-Busch has an ear and eye on the beer market?

Consider this. A-B announced this week that it’s “introducing the first nationally available sorghum, Redbridge.”

So who cares? Well sorghum, a native African plant, is the one grain that celiacs, people who are allergic to gluten, which is found in wheat and almost all other grains, can tolerate.

Beer made with fermented sorghum is widely available in Africa. I wrote about it last month and you can find that report here.

It’s great that A-B’s doing this. There are lots and lots of celiacs who like beer and haven’t been able to drink it.

It’s also a shot from a major conglomerate aimed straight at Bard’s Tale Beer Co., a still-tiny Lees Summit, MO. company started by a celiac. The beer, Dragon’s Gold, also made from sorghum, is being brewed under contract by Gordon Biersch in San Jose and is already available in more than 20 states.

Until now only Bard’s Tale and Lakefront Brewing, Milwaukee, WI., which makes New Grist, were the only two beers made in the United States that celiacs can drink. Only Bard’s Tale is distributed widely.

Gotta hand it to Big Bud, they’re attuned to the market. Celiac disease affects one out of every 133 people in the U.S., the  says. Celiac Disease Foundation

 Taste Test: Redbridge vs. Dragon’s Breath
I just did a taste test of the two, A-B’s Redbridge and Bard’s Tale Dragon’s Gold:

Redbridge**+, made with sorghum as the “primary” ingredient, Hallertau and Cascade hops, is a clear,light copper-colored lager. The aroma is a mix of grain and perhaps the hops. Taste is somewhat sweet that lasts into a moderately hoppy follow.

Dragon’s Breath**** has a rich, grainy nose – the sorghum, I guess – with a bit of fruit. Taste is dry and refreshing with an aromatic finish from the Hallertau hops.

Bottom line: If you like sweet beer, go with Redbridge. For a drier, more sophisticated taste that anyone, gluten allergy or not, try Dragon’s Breath.

I’ve posted my Nov. 6, 2006 Oakland Tribune/MediaNews beer column just below as a reference.

Here’s my column from Nov. 8 2006

BY WILLIAM BRAND
Ever wonder when someone says they have a wheat allergy?’ Most often, it’s very real. It’s called “Celiac Disease” and if you’re a person who enjoys beer, a celiac diagnosis is a total bummer.

Celiac Disease is a toxic reaction in the small intestine to gluten in cereal grains, especially wheat, barley and rye. According to the Celiac Disease Foundation it affects one of every 133 people in the U.S. It can cause weight loss, weight gain, skin rashes, depression and it can strike at any age.

Beer’s made with cereal grains, all containing gluten. Ergo no beer. Over the last few years, there have been attempts to make beer without grain, honey beers, weird rice beers. Yuk.

Well, if you’re a celiac and even if you aren’t there’s a real beer being brewed right here in San Jose just beginning to arrive in markets around the Bay Area. It’s Dragon’s Gold**** from the Bard’s Tale Beer Co., Lees Simmit, MO. It’s made with malted sorghum, a grain that – as far as a laboratory can detect – contains no measurable gluten.

What’s more. The beer’s delicious. It’s a dusty gold, fine, beery aroma and a lively head of crisp, white foam. The taste is dry with an unusual, but not off-putting grainy, nutlike sweetness in the background that lasts into a fine, aromatic Hallertau hop finish.

You don’t have to be a celiac to like this beer. It’s going to be a regular in my beer fridge. Right now, it’s only available at Beverages & More stores. But it will soon be widely available in the Bay Area, the company says.

Here’s the story. The beer is being brewed at Gordon-Biersch in San Jose under contract for Bard’s Tale Beer Co., founded by Craig Belser and Kevin Seplowitz.

Belser, who was a computer system analyst before he founded his beer company, explains he suffered from a wheat allergy as a child, but grew out of it. “Then when I was 35, it hit me again. They told me, `You can’t have any beer.’

“Well,” he said, “it’s not that I drink a case of beer of week, but not being able to drink beer had an impact on my lifestyle.”

So he became a home brewer, experimenting with various grains. He lives in the Kansas City area where there’s lots of grain. He also began analyzing beer and grain using his computer systems trouble-shooting skills. Eventually, he settled on a kind of sorghum.

“I made a beer that tasted like beer. It wasn’t a great beer, because I’m not a great brewer,” he said in a telephone interview. He hooked up with Seplowitz, who handles the business side of the company. They hired a brewer and spent months perfecting the recipe and learning about malting sorghum.

They contracted with a small New York brewery to make the beer commercially, but the attempt failed, Belser said. “We made beer grenades,” he said.

After more research, they signed on with Gordon-Biersch in San Jose. Dan Gordon, the co-founder took on the project and after months learning about brewing sorghum, finding a proper recipe that the yeast would like, they began cranking out the beer.

It apparently begins with a lager yeast, but fermentation is different, so the beer is actually a hybrid, both ale and lager. The little company has big plans. “We’re in 19 states and I could be national in six months,” Belser says.

I believe he may be right. This is a fine beer.

Sorghum beer, by the way, is extremely popular in Africa. Sorghum is a tropical grass that originated there. SABMiller makes the leading sorghum beer in Africa. But most is made by small brewers using wild yeast, is dark and sour and meant to be consumed within a few days of brewing. It’s immensely popular among Zulus.

More information on Celiac Disease can be found here. at: Information about Bard’s Tale Beer can be found here. . I’ve also posted some notes on sorghum beer in Africa here.