The Westmalle Trappist Dubbel Belgian Ale is made by Trappist Monks at the Westmalle Abbey Monastery in Belgium. An Abbey is a Catholic Monastery and Trappist is the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance, a Roman Catholic Religious Order. According to Westmalle, out of all the beers in the world, only seven of them can use the name ‘Trappist’: Achel, Chimay, La Trappe, Orval, Rochefort, Westvleteren and Westmalle, all of which have an “Authentic Trappist Product” logo. A Trappist beer is only given this name if the beer is brewed within the walls of a Trappist abbey, by the monks themselves or under their supervision. The brewery must be controlled by the monastery and be monastic in its business. The profit from the beer and cheese making is only for the modest livelihood of the Monks and the up keep of the abbey. Having brewed beer since 1837, there are three beers brewed at the Westmalle Trappist Abbey, the Westmalle Dubbel or double, the Westmalle Trippel, and the Westmalle Extra.
For a Belgian Ale the Westmalle Dubbel is actually pretty mild and balanced. Many Belgian Ales can be extremely strong in alcohol and yeast, but the Westmalle Dubbel is subtle in both. A dark, reddish-brown with a secondary fermentation in the bottle the Dubbel is subtle enough for the malts to shine through the yeast and 7% ABV. With flavors of fruit, toffee, chocolate and coffee, the Westmalle Dubbel is complex but not overbearing and could be considered a session beer when comparing it to other heavy Trappiste beers. The Westmalle Dubbel is simply one our favorite beers and absolutely recommend it.
Have you been bad this season? If so, Santa might be punishing you with coal under the Christmas tree. I know what you’re thinking, “What does this Jewish guy Goldstein know about Christmas?” Fear not my friends, I got connections. You best believe I got some Christmas gifts on the way. On another note, a good kind of coal this holiday season is coal that comes in the form of a beer. The Ridgeway Brewing Lump of Coal Dark Holiday Stout is a classic wintery stout perfect for any holiday celebration. Making over 19 Christmas Ales, Ridgeway Brewing out of England is one of the world’s leading holiday beer makers. Black in color with a brown bubbly head, the Lump of Coal Stout is a malty stout with subtle crispness. Thin in body for a stout, the malty and coffee notes make a pretty flavorful stout. Not full of all those Christmas spices in most craft beers, the Lump of Coal is simply a solid stout. Malty, smoky and bitter, we would definitely try this stout again.
The Sly Fox Brewery plans a major expansion in brewing and a new Pottstown location later this year which will inevitably add to more beers from the already stacked Sly Fox line up. However, one Sly Fox staple beer continues to deliver year after year and still reigns as one of the best holiday beers available, the Sly Fox Christmas Ale. “This malty, full-bodied red ale is made with traditional mulling spices: Ginger, Clove, All Spice, Cinnamon & Nutmeg. If this one doesn’t get you into the Christmas spirit, you truly are a Scrooge.” The malt and the spices are a perfect balance as opposed to some other Christmas brews in which the spices completely take over. Balance and subtly is key for the best beers and the Sly Fox Christmas Ale simply becomes a ginger bread cookie in liquid form. This is a classic Christmas Ale!
Mastering the Butterfly Bottle Opener Part 1: The Basics
By Matt Goldstein
The Lagunitas Butterfly Bottle Opener is literally the coolest god damn way to open a beer. And we have the instructional video for you to master the butterfly bottle opening techniques. What’s that, you have a butterfly knife? That’s for bitches. We got a butterfly bottle opener and we have the butterfly bottle opener master to show you how to open that beer like a man. Check out this amazing instructional video that will give you a degree in beer opening badass. Mastering the Lagunitas Butterfly Bottle Opener Part 1: The Basics.
After laying your eyes on the Lagunitas Butterfly Bottle Opener we know you bought one and already started learning the basic techniques for opening craft beer like a ninja pimp gangster ladies man cartel kingpin such as yourself should be doing. But have you mastered the Lagunitas Butterfly Bottle Opener? NO! You haven’t mastered the Lagunitas Butterfly Bottle Opener until you’ve watched our amazing instructional video: Mastering the Lagunitas Butterfly Bottle Opener with the Master. Becoming a master is your destiny.
The Philly Tap Finder is the premiere craft beer locator in the country. Currently focusing on Philadelphia, but soon D.C., local bar goers can find the best craft beer lineups on a daily basis. Whether looking for Pliny the Elder, Big Bear Racer 5, Founder Breakfast Stout, a draft on cask, hand pump or barrel aged brew on tap, the Philly Tap Finder will find you your favorite beer in the best bars in the city such as the Khyber Pass Pub, Monk’s Cafe, the Pope, the Side Car Bar, Kraftwork, the Iron Abbey and more. Check out Philly Tap Finer, updated every day.
If you love a well balanced craft IPA and Pale Ale, but still love the high malt content of a German Dopplebock, the Yakima Glory marries both brewing styles in one of the best craft beers in the world, the Victory Brewing Yakima Glory Ale. With imported German Malts and Four Whole Flour Yakima Valley Hops, the Yakima Glory has an ABV of 8.7%. The Victory Yakima Glory comes with one of our highest craft ale recommendations.
“The tenacious grip of big, juicy hop aroma and character slides smoothly into rich, dark malts. This heavyweight battle between fresh, Yakima Valley hops and dark, roasted malts is resolved harmoniously as the flavors merge to deliver complex satisfaction with a warming edge. Bask in the “glory” of the bright and brassy hops!”
The fall season brings out the best and worst of craft beer, with many brewers trying to put pumpkin pie in a bottle. Sometimes too sweet, sometimes too trendy, but one fall craft beer continues to reign at the top, the Southern Tier Pumpking. Southern Tier Brewing in New York is one of the most recognized and awarded craft brewing companies in the country. The seasonal Southern Tier Pumpking is an ode to Púca, a creature of Celtic folklore, who is both feared and respected by those who believe in it. Púca is said to waylay travelers throughout the night, tossing them on its back, and providing them the ride of their lives, from whichthey return forever changed! Brewed in the spirit of All Hallows Eve, a time of year when spirits can make contact with the physical world and when magic is most potent. Pour Pumking into a goblet and allow it’s alluring spirit to overflow. As spicy aromas present themselves, let its deep copper color entrance you as your journey into this mystical brew has just begun. As the first drops touch your tongue a magical spell will bewitch your taste buds making it difficult to escape. This beer is brewed with pagan spirit yet should be enjoyed responsibly.
8.6% abv • 12.7ºL • Imperial Pumpkin Ale • 22 oz / 1/2 keg / 1/6 keg
The trellises are clear of bines, the hopyard has been plowed, and we planted wheat as a winter cover crop to protect the soil from erosion. During winter, life on the Hopyard proceeds at a more relaxed pace. In some ways the Hopyard is more beautiful than ever, with time to appreciate the wide open views of the surrounding farm land and the Willamette River.
In the greenhouse, we have begun to experiment with different varieties of GYO Certified hops to use in our Ales, Porters, Stouts and Lagers. Just like our current seven varieties, each will reflect the unique terroir of the Wigrich Appellation.
Growing Our Own…Champions
All the hard work on the Hopyard has paid off. Chatoe Rogue OREgasmic Ale won the Northwest Champion award at the United States Beer Tasting Championships. OREgasmic Ale is brewed with 100% Rogue ingredients, including GYO Certified Independent & Revolution Hops.
Men’s Health Magazine also named Chatoe Rogue OREgasmic one of the “Best Foods for Men.”
Family Fun in the Pumpkin Patch
We wrapped up the harvest season on the Hopyard with a family style Pumpkin Patch Party. Earlier this year, we planted two varieties of pumpkins, Dream & Leroy-O-Lantern. We grew, harvested, chopped, and roasted the GYO Certified Dream Pumpkins to create Chatoe Rogue Pumpkin Patch Ale, which we released for the first time at the Party.
The GYO Certified Leroy-O-Lantern Pumpkins are perfect for carving, so we offered a free pumpkin to Rogue Nation Citizens and their families.
We had lawn games, a Family Photo Station, and hauled out the antique hops scale from the baler building so kids could weigh their pumpkins and claim bragging rights about who had the biggest and heaviest. They also met our Free Range Chicks, Royal Palm Turkeys, and the newest additions to the Hopyard family our Potbellied pigs, Voo and Doo.
Sharing the Bounty
Even with such a great turnout, we still had some pumpkins left over. Natascha loaded 70 of our GYO Dream pumpkins into the truck and drove them to Dallas, Oregon where they were donated to the Willamette Valley Food Assistance Program.
The Dream pumpkins are a sweet tasting variety – similar to the ones traditionally used to create pies, soups, cookies and purees.
Long Live the General
We had as many as five roosters among our Free Range Chicks, but now we’re down to one. The four unlucky fowl were – as Chatoe Rogue Manager Natascha likes to describe it – culled from the brood. We had no choice. Only one can rule the roost or there will be too much conflict.
You might think that the winner was the biggest and baddest bird of them all. Not so. The selection process was anything but Darwinian. Natascha chose to keep the lowest guy on the pecking order because she thought his crooked comb made him different and cuter than the others. We like different. She named him General Tsao.
The General is celebrating his surprising good fortune, learning to strut his stuff, and gets along great with our dog Sully. And since he doesn’t crow much, the Hopyard is a lot quieter in the mornings.
Meanwhile the hens are busier than ever. They’re laying about four to five eggs a day.
Turkeys In The Fog
This time of year brings foggy mornings to the Hopyard, but that didn’t stop our two Royal Palm Turkeys from sauntering over to the Chatoe Rogue and checking out the Halloween decorations. Tom is getting to that age where he’ll spend all day displaying. Natascha says it must be exhausting! But Juniper doesn’t even seem to notice, until Tom wanders off and she can’t see him. Then she calls out for him and won’t stop until he’s back in view.
The Hazelnuts Have Landed
The Rogue Farms Hazelnut harvest got underway towards the end of October as the trees in the orchard finally decided it was time to let go and the nuts began falling.
We get our hazelnuts from Kirk Family Filberts, our next door neighbors on Wigrich Road. The Kirks spent most of September and October getting ready for the harvest on their 98 acre orchard. Mowers and scrapers crept through the trees, removing debris from the ground and creating a clean orchard floor where the nuts would land. Meanwhile, other farmhands were testing the harvesting and processing equipment, checking the bearings and belts, and installing a new dryer.
All this had to be done well ahead of time because you never quite know when the harvest will begin. The timing is up to Mother Nature. The Kirks were prepared by early October, but cool and wet weather intervened and delayed things for a couple of weeks.
Lance Kirk says this year’s crop looks like a good one, with yields up more than 40% from last year and better overall quality. Oregon produces 99% of the U.S. hazelnut harvest. The USDA predicts growers in the state will harvest about 41,000 tons of hazelnuts in 2011, the third best year in almost a decade.
These Nuts Win Awards
Rogue’s Hazelnut Brown Nectar, an ale created by Rogue Brewmaster John Maier and Eugene, Oregon homebrewer Chris Studach, brought home the Gold Medal at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver. GABF is the largest commercial beer festival in the world with 3930 beers vying for medals at this year’s competition.
We also had fun breaking the news to the Kirks that their hazelnuts helped Rogue win a gold medal at the 2011 Ministry of Rum International Tasting Competition in San Francisco. Rogue’s Hazelnut Spice Rum, made with roasted hazelnuts from the Kirk’s orchard, won the Gold Medal in the Flavored Rum category. Our Dark Rum also earned a gold. These awards usually go to distillers in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. But Rogue picked up two of only three Gold Medals given to American distilleries.
How to Harvest Oregon Hazelnuts
1: Before The Harvest
Leading up to harvest, mowers and scrapers move through the orchard and remove debris. This creates a clean floor where the nuts will land
2: Sweeping
Sweepers wind among the trees and line the nuts into long rows
3: Gathering
Machines called harvesters collect the nuts, blow air through them to knock off husks and sticks, and then load them into crates
4: More Cleaning
Processing starts with men and machines removing any leftover husks, sticks and blanks (unfilled shells)
5: Washing
The nuts are washed and rinsed free of dirt and stones.
6: Drying
Finally, the hazelnuts are dried to about 9.5% moisture levels. In a typical year, this can take 12 to 24 hours.
Rogue Farms Hop Cheese,
G.Y.O. Certified:
Rogue Farms Freedom Hop Cheddar was a huge hit in October at The Wedge: Portland Celebrates Cheese. The farmer’s market style street festival at the Green Dragon & Buckman Botanical Brewery drew thousands of people eager to taste and buy cheese from twenty of the best artisan cheesemakers in the West.
Freedom Hops Cheddar is a collaboration between Rogue Creamery of Central Point, Oregon and Rogue Ales & Spirits. The leaves of our GYO Freedom Hops are de-stemmed by hand, steeped in hot water, mixed into the curds and pressed into blocks. The result is a smooth cheddar with just a hint of hops aroma and flavor. Rogue Farms Freedom Hops Cheddar makes the perfect pairing with any of Rogue’s beers made with Freedom Hops.
Until the next Wedge, Rogue Farms Hops Cheddar is available exclusively at the Chatoe Rogue and at the Rogue Ales Public House and Distillery in the Pearl District of Portland -
Philadelphia’s iconic indie radio station WXPN, located at the far left of the dial at 88.5 FM, has been a musical haven for emerging and local musicians as well as heritage artists for decades. A member-supported station based out of the University of Pennsylvania, WXPN has been a pioneer in the non-commercial radio station world, bringing an eclectic mix of the best music to the airways without pressure to conform to commercial radio conventions from corporate underwriters.
This freedom from corporate rule is showcased beautifully in WXPN’s nationally syndicated program Live at the World Café. Started with seed money from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting in 1991 and distributed by NPR since 2005, the two-hour daily show has featured over 4,000 performances and interviews over the last twenty years. There aren’t many shows you can tune in to and find in-depth interviews and performances by the likes of Leonard Cohen, Joan Armatrading, Tom Waits, and Joe Strummer — actually, there are no other places, we checked – and twenty years of this thoughtful programming is what the folks at the Philadelphia Brewing Company thought worthy of honoring this month with a special limited edition brew.
The Broadcaster Brown Ale, PBC’s tribute to the 20th anniversary of Live at the World Café, and its host David Dye, is a malty, hoppy, crisp brown ale with excellent balance. Very flavorful with a bitter crispness, made with German malts, this is a solid brown ale. Alcohol Content: 5.0 abv IBU’s: 35 Color: Deep Ruby-Brown Hops: Bravo, Centenial, Cascase Dry Hops: Amarillo, Cascade Malts: Two-row Pilsner, Dark Munich, CaraMunich, Carafa , Oats
Made by Trappist Catholic Monks in Belgium
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