Quick links: BeerAdvocate Top 100: http://www.beeradvocate.com/top_beers.php
Thread on Breakfast Stout: http://www.beeradvocate.com/forum/read.php?thread=402625

BELGIAN LAMBIC BEER FROM THE MERCHANT DU VIN BEER NEWSLETTER:
Beer Chat from the Beer Court Jester: Belgian Craft Brewers and Real Lambic
In Belgium's Senne (or Zenne) River Valley, near Brussels, a remarkable and amazing style of beer has been brewed for over 400 years: lambic. Those robust, partying peasants in Pieter Brueghel the Elder's paintings "The Barn Dance," and "Farmer's Wedding," are pouring what is thought by historians to be lambic. That was sometime around 1560 AD.
The name "lambic" probably comes from a village in the region, Lembeek.
Lambic ales, like all beers, are made from water, barley malt, hops, and yeast. Lambic brewers also use a minimum of 30% unmalted wheat in the recipe (by law); the hops they add in large quantities are aged for two years or more. Some lambics have fruit added during secondary fermentation.
But fruit, unmalted wheat, and aged hops are not the most unusual aspect of lambic production: that would be the process known as spontaneous fermentation. Unheard of elsewhere in modern brewing, the brewers of lambic add no yeast: they allow natural, airborne local yeasts - established and living on the walls and roof of the brewery, and floating in the air - to ferment the beer.
It would be like leaving a glass of milk out on the counter . . . and getting spontaneous yogurt.
The lambic brewing process begins with milling the grain, and follows with mashing, runoff, sparging, and a lengthy boil in the brewkettle, where hops are added. Lambic brewers use aged hops because they want the preservative action of hops, and tannins for structure, without much hop bitterness.
After brewing, the liquid (wort) is transferred to wide, shallow vessels called "coolships" and louvers in the brewery walls are opened up . . . and the breeze from outside blows in to cool the wort, carrying wild native yeasts with it.
The natural balance of yeast and other microorganisms in this region are what lead to the complex flavors in lambic. There are multiple species of yeast and bacteria that work together to ferment lambic: some researchers point to over 80 strains. As the fermentation process advances over days and weeks the alcohol level in the beer and the pH change, so different strains of yeast come into their own at different times during the fermentation.
Lambics are often aged in wooden casks or on oak chips, which in turn contribute flavors ranging from nuanced to extreme.
What do they taste like? Earthy, tart, sharp, deep, sauvage, unusual, sour, wild, complex, subtle, compelling, dry . . . . to those who love them, there is nothing like them.
Styles: Straight lambic can sometimes be found in Brussels, usually served right from a cask, but it is not seen often. A style of lambic sweetened with candy sugar, faro, is also made but rarely seen outside Belgium.
Lambics available in the US generally are either gueuze or fruit lambics.
Gueuze: In a manner similar to champagne makers, lambic brewers will often blend different batches of different ages. (And some, Hanssens for example, are blenders: they buy batches brewed by other lambic brewers, blend them to taste, then bottle them). A youthful, extra-sprightly batch of lambic is blended with a deep, complex batch that may have been aged for two or three years in oak; they are then bottle-conditioned. The resulting beer, gueuze, ("goo-za") may not appeal to every beer drinker, but Lindemans Cuvee Rene, Cantillon, Boon, Hanssens, and Drie Fonteinen are considered the most satisfying, artisanal, unworldly beverage on the earth to the relatively small number of die-hard fans.
Fruit lambics: Brewing historians think that fruit probably pre-dates hops as a flavoring ingredient in beer. For many decades, cherries have sometimes been added to lambic near the end of fermentation. The sugar in the cherries leads to a secondary fermentation, and the wonderful fruit flavors are a perfect foil for the sharp acidity of a lambic. Lambic fermented with cherries is called "kriek," and other fruits are used as well: raspberries (called framboise), peaches (peche), and black currants (cassis). In fruit lambics, the brewer determines the level of sweetness in the finished product: the most popular lambics in the US, Lindemans, are made in a sweeter style, with forward fruit and balancing lambic tartness in the background; other lambic producers ferment the fruit completely dry and produce a product
with fruit as the accent flavor. In either case, there is no better balance to fruit flavor than the sharp, tart flavors found in lambics, and Lindemans Framboise - best-selling lambic in the US - is strong proof of that.
The lambic style has been attempted with some great success by American homebrewers and by Melbourn Bros. Brewery in Lincolnshire, England, which produces spontaneously-fermented strawberry, apricot, and cherry ales.
(Because "lambic" means a beer from a specific small region of Belgium, Melbourn calls its beers "spontaneously fermented" and does not use the term"lambic."
The (US) Brewers Association uses the term "lambic-style" for beers brewed outside the lambic region, and American homebrewers often say"p-lambic," short for "pseudo-lambic," when they speak of their homebrewed versions.
It is a difficult style to produce anywhere: whereas Melbourn has been fortunate to get wild yeast established at their brewery, homebrewers have to pitch multiple strains of different yeast over the whole period of fermentation and monitor carefully, to try to recreate what happens naturally in the breweries of the Senne River Valley of Belgium.
If you are already a lambic fan, you know. If you haven't tried one, start with a Lindemans Framboise: the pure raspberry nose will floor you, and when you taste it your eyebrows will shoot up. The complex depth supports the pure raspberry flavor; this is an amazing beverage! You may say what many tasters say when they first try it: "This is beer?"
Yes, it's beer. In fact it may be the most unusual, artisanal, traditional, magic style of beer in the world today.
Merchant du Vin, America's Premier Specialty Beer Importer Since 1978
(©) 2004 Merchant Du Vin

WARBIRD BREWING TAKES OFF
Warbird Brewing Co. is preparing for takeoff in the Fort Wayne beer market, and founder Dave Holmes says the sky is the limit.
That isn’t just a clever marketing pun, either; it’s actually the business philosophy behind the aircraft-themed microbrewery.
Holmes, a Fort Wayne psychiatrist, and his wife, Kristine, started Warbird as a way to join together two favorite pastimes – flying vintage World War II planes and crafting homemade beer.
Dave, a 44-year-old New Mexico native, was a flight surgeon in the Air National Guard during the Persian Gulf war. Kristine, a native of New York, is a nurse by training who also took up flying, and she has become Dave’s chief taste-tester.
The couple, who met at the University of Rochester (N.Y.) when Dave was a surgical resident (he later switched to psychiatry) and Kristine was a nurse, have always supported each other’s flights of fancy.
When the couple was living in Las Vegas, it was Dave who encouraged Kristine to get her commercial pilot’s license and to later fly tourists over the Grand Canyon.
And it was Kristine who didn’t bat an eye when Dave suggested 3 1/2 years ago that they leave Las Vegas and move to Fort Wayne to raise their family, which includes Bradley, 4, and Grace, 2.
Holmes has been brewing his own beer at home for the past seven years, but the idea of opening his own microbrewery started fermenting a year ago when Kristine said of his Red Ale, “This is so smooth; you could sell this stuff.”
After a substantial investment in equipment and property, Warbird took flight only in the past seven weeks, when Dave and his two-man crew brewed and canned their first batch of T-6 Red Ale at their operations facility, which is in a warehouse at Brookwood Airport Park, at Bluffton and Ferguson roads, about a mile east of Fort Wayne International Airport.
To Holmes’ amazement, the beer came out right the first time. They just canned their second production run last month, and a third is now in the fermentation stage.
The Warbird crew includes 33-year-old Matt Hill, the highly decorated former brewmaster at the Oyster Bar whom Holmes convinced to come back to Fort Wayne to be his lead brewer.
Holmes also brought on board Travis Miller, a talented and experienced Fort Wayne home brewer who was itching for some professional brewery experience.
Hill, who worked in breweries in Bloomington and Columbus, Ohio, after leaving the Oyster Bar last year, had never tasted Holmes’ beer when he accepted his job offer.
Hill says what mattered most was that “Dave is absolutely a beer guy,” and that unlike some brewery owners, he wasn’t going to skimp on the production.
Initially, Warbird will offer only the T-6 Red Ale, in cans and on draft. (Holmes describes the beer as a light-bodied red ale, smooth and inviting enough for people who are typically intimidated by microbrews.)
Eventually, Warbird will offer three other beers, each named after a U.S. World War II aircraft: the P-51 Pale Ale, the B-25 Brown Ale and the P-47 Warbird Wheat.
Rather than try to distribute the beer itself, however, Warbird will sell its beer exclusively through wholesalers, for purchase in area liquor stores and grocery stores, and on tap at bars and restaurants.
Flat Top Grill in Jefferson Pointe is the first restaurant to take the brand; others, such as Biaggi’s Ristorante Italiano and Red Star Tavern, might soon follow.
Warbird has the capacity to brew about 3,000 barrels of beer or about 6,000 kegs, annually. If Warbird takes off, Holmes can add more fermentation tanks and increase his barrel capacity.
In the meantime, Holmes continues to burn the candle at both ends, a.m. to get a few hours of brewing in before rising at 4 office, then stopping back by the brewery before he goes to the coming home.
Holmes plans to market his Warbird beer by using real “warbirds,” including his own World War II-era T-6 trainer, which he describes as “loud, heavy and fun to fly” – kind of like a Harley-Davidson for the sky.
The brewery’s proximity to the Fort Wayne airport should help make the aviation connection. And Holmes plans to take promotional flights to local and regional air shows, stuffing a couple of six-packs in the plane’s empty gun bays.
The silver plane with the red nose cone appears on cans of the T-6 Red Ale. But you won’t see the opposite: the Warbird logo on the side of the airplane.
Holmes would never allow that breach of authenticity.
“There will be no Warbird logo on my airplane,” says Holmes, matter-of-factly. “Because it’s not World War II.”
Even without the logo, it’s his hope that, in time, the airplane will inspire a kind of Pavlovian response in beer drinkers.
“Someday people will hear our airplane and be thirsty,” he says.
David Holmes' dream of operating a vintage aircraft-themed microbrewery is not just a flight of fancy. The Fort Wayne psychiatrist's latest venture could be cleared for takeoff after a recent Allen County Plan Commission meeting.
Holmes and his wife, Kristine, will operate Warbird Brewing Co. as a way to combine his two favorite hobbies -- making artisan beers and flying World War II military aircraft. He has set his sights on an existing warehouse at Brookwood Airport Park, at Bluffton and Ferguson roads in south Fort Wayne.
Home-Brewed Business Idea
Dr. David Holmes has been brewing his own beer in his home for years, but he has decided to open a microbrewery called Warbird Brewing Co. that offers its beers in kegs, cans and growlers to wholesale and retail customers.
Warbird Brewing Co. will not be a brew pub -- that is, there won't be a restaurant attached to the brewery. Rather, the microbrewery will offer its beers in kegs, cans and growlers to wholesale and retail customers. The public will be able to buy Warbird's brews on tap at local bars and restaurants, in six-packs from liquor stores and in cans, kegs and half-gallon growlers at the brewery itself.
Initially, Warbird Brewing Co. will offer four beers, each named after American World War II aircraft and featuring a picture of the plane on its label. They are T-6 Light Red Ale (with the color of a red, the flavor of an ale and the body of a light); P-51 Pale Ale (a hoppy pale ale similar to Sierra Nevada or Pete's Wicked); B-25 American Brown Ale (a lightly hopped, cool-season beer) and P-47 Warbird Wheat (a classic unfiltered wheat with a hint of clove).
The aircraft theme will be used to market the Warbird brand whenever possible. The Holmeses plan to make promotional tours in their 1944 T-6 trainer plane, with a couple of Warbird six packs stored in the plane's empty gun bays. At bars, Warbird's tap handles will look like airplane joysticks -- a gimmick designed to enhance customer recognition of the brand. And the brewery's proximity to Fort Wayne International Airport also would support the theme and attract "wing nuts" after their planes are hangared for the night.
Holmes will continue to practice medicine full time, and his patients and family will come first, he said. The small-batch brewery is more like an ambitious extracurricular activity, a commercial extension of Holmes' eclectic hobbies, than a money-making venture. He's serious about succeeding, but he also plans to have fun.
>"Financially, it is a risk. But if all I could do is stay afloat with it, I would be satisfied," Holmes said. "The main reason (for starting the brewery) is I didn't want to regret not trying it. I didn't want to say years from now, 'I wish I would have tried it.'
Holmes, 43, has never been one to shy away from an adventure or, for that matter, stress about stressful things.
"I'm used to juggling lots of bowling balls," Holmes said. "I'm driven by challenges. I see life as a test, as a series of challenges to be undertaken."
The Albuquerque, N.M., native, for example, began his pilot training while working as an emergency-room surgeon, one of the most stressful jobs on the planet. He relished his time as an F-16 flight surgeon in the Air National Guard during the Persian Gulf War. And, on a whim, he bought the T-6 in 1996 -- and flies it for fun.
Luckily, Kristine -- a licensed commercial pilot -- is as gutsy as her husband. They moved to Fort Wayne from Las Vegas just a couple of months after David made a brief, but memorable, trip to visit Huntington pilot Tim Savage and Nick's Kitchen restaurant.
"I ate my first turkey Manhattan and two pieces of rhubarb pie, and I felt like I was home. I said to Kristine, 'You know how we've been thinking about moving out of Las Vegas? What would you think of moving to northern Indiana?"
Kristine's answer: "When do we leave?"
The Holmeses initially were impressed by the number of vintage-aircraft enthusiasts in the area, the warm welcome they received from St. Michael Lutheran Church and the professional support offered to David by Lutheran Hospital. They've found many more things to love about Fort Wayne since moving to town in 2001. One of them is people's willingness to embrace and -- and even assist with -- the couple's brewery venture.
Todd Grantham, brewmaster at Mad Anthony Brewing Co., for example, invited David -- a would-be competitor -- to spend time watching and learning at Mad Anthony. Francie Lengerich of Brewer's Art Supply offered advice and support. Fifth Third Bank and his real estate agent, Dan Dickey of Harding Dahm have gone beyond the call of duty, Holmes said.
The seed for Warbird Brewing Co. was planted in 2000, when Kristine was pregnant with their first child, Bradley, now 3, and David needed a hobby.
"
I was intrigued by the process" of beer-making, Holmes recalled. "It was something creative, sort of the male nesting urge."
After brewing and labeling his first batches of "Baby's First Bitter," "Mommy Stout" and "Diaper Pale Ale," Holmes was hooked. Ever since, he's been setting his alarm clock for 3 a.m. so he can squeeze a few hours of brewing into his daily schedule before Bradley and 2-year-old Grace wake up.
With an extensive background in microbiology and chemistry and expertise gleaned from an Internet-based commercial brewing course from Seibel Institute, Holmes is a whiz at mixing yeast, hops, malt and other ingredients to create high-quality ales and stouts. In four years of beer making, he's only ruined two brews -- a spicy Norwegian Christmas ale and a homemade root beer. He has gotten "fantastic results" with every other attempt.
"God is my brewmaster," Holmes quipped. "The yeast does all the work. I am really just a yeast manager, letting nature do its thing."
His microbrewery, Holmes figures, won't be much different from his basement operation -- just bigger. At Warbird Brewing Co., he and two other workers will whip up 600-gallon batches in giant brewing kettles instead of the 5 gallons of home-brew he ferments in glass jugs and stores in refrigerated pony kegs. He estimates the microbrewery will have an annual output of 2,000 barrels -- or about 4,000 kegs. Once Warbird is up and running, the sky's the limit for this passionate, part-time brewmaster."We live in an amazing country, where anyone can have a dream and take a risk," Holmes said. "I don't take it lightly. I consider that kind of challenge a real privilege."

FRED BUELTMANN JOINS NEW HOLLAND
New Holland Brewing Company adds Sales and Marketing Partner
(HOLLAND, MICH. – October 25, 2004) New Holland Brewing Company is pleased to announce the addition of Fred Bueltmann to the company’s partner team as Director of Sales and Marketing.
“We are thrilled to have Fred join our growing team. Fred's thirst for creativity and enthusiasm for great beer make him an instant fit within our organization,” states New Holland Founder and Director of Operations Brett VanderKamp.
Fred Bueltmann brings considerable experience in the Michigan microbrewery market, having previously served at Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Kalamazoo Brewing Company. He has also acted as both Vice President and President of the Michigan Brewers Guild.
Since the company’s restaurant and pub moved to its larger downtown Holland location, brewing capacity has increased, as have the company’s offerings. New Holland now produces four year round beers, four seasonal beers, and the High Gravity Series, launched in July, that features four limited release specialty brews throughout the year. The company has also significantly increased its distribution area in recent months. Currently Michigan’s second largest brewery, New Holland is well positioned for further growth. The addition of Fred Bueltmann to the company will help further develop current markets.
Says Bueltmann, “I am thrilled to become part of the New Holland Team at such an exciting time. The beer and the people are both top-notch, and with that combination, there is no limit to what we can accomplish.”
New Holland Brewing Company has been brewing Art in Fermented Form in Holland, Michigan since 1997. Their beers are available throughout Michigan, in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Wisconsin.

EGYPTIAN KIRIN
Why on earth would Kirin Brewery Co. spend three years and untold dollars to recreate ancient Egyptian beer recipes without any plans to commercialize the result? Brand image, according to a Dow Jones Newswires dispatch by Hiroyuki Kachi. "This may be only a tiny contribution [to earnings] compared to sales or marketing activities," explains Hideto Ishida of Kirin, adding: "I believe we've successfully given a reason that enables consumers to support Kirin." He also thinks "The Beer of Ancient Egypt Re-Creation Project" will help give Kirin "a technological edge against rivals and lead to new-product ideas." Then there's the bottom line: "Considering the money Kirin poured into the project ... a bottle of ancient brew would likely cost a modern beer buff as much as 1000,000 yen, or nearly $1,000 a bottle," according to Kirin company officials.
Kirin's decision to borrow a little mythology actually was prompted by a competitive threat from "archrival" Asahi Breweries, which, in 2001, surpassed Kirin "in domestic beer shipments for the first time in 48 years." The loss in market share was enough to turn Kirin's energies toward re-creating "a sour, date-colored beer ... by deciphering paintings inscribed on tomb walls and using the same strain of wheat and earthenware vessels employed by ancient brewers." Incredibly, Kirin "spent 2-1/2 years harvesting emmer wheat, a strain identical to that used by ancient Egyptians that still survives in Iran and Ethiopia." Says Kirin's Mr. Ishida: "We wanted to recreate something that is academically tenable ... and we successfully did it." Adds Sakuji Yoshimura, an Egyptologist who supervised the project: "I imagine this is exactly the way it tasted."
Kirin came up with two varieties: "'The New Kingdom Beer,' after a brew believed to have been made between 1570 B.C. and 1070 B.C.," which "has a light brown color, bitter-sour taste and yogurt-like texture. The other, based on a slightly different brewing process, is 'The Old Kingdom Beer,' a yellow, sour wine-like beer based on information from wall paintings dating between 2650 B.C. and 2180 B.C." Neither has much carbonation, and both have "an alcohol content of 8 percent to 10 percent" -- although some historians think the Egyptian brews actually were only about three percent alcohol. Kirin's research also concludes that the ancients cultivated yeast, however historians generally believe they "simply crumbled bread into water and let it ferment naturally." Next up for Kirin: Gruit Beer from the Middle Ages, "made from a savory blend of herbs used before the discovery of the brewing of hops ... Kirin is also considering recreating Japan's first beer -- a brew from the early 19th century during the Shogunate Government."
(from Reveries.com)