Nebraska Brews

Kiki and I are in the Cornhusker state visiting my folks so we decided to check out a local watering hole.  Lincoln is a college town and has over a 100 bars within a mile radius in downtown.  But Brewsky's is a block away so it was a convenient place to grab a drink. 

The first beer I had was a local Lincoln beer made by Lazlo's Brewery and Grill.  Lazlo's was started in 1991 and people in Lincoln and Omaha are obsessed with it.  I had eaten there in high school but never tried their beers.  Brewsky's had Lazlo's Luna Sea ESB on tap so it seemed like a good time to try it out.  The beer is technically Lazlo's, but it is made by Empyrean Brewing Co.

At least Lazlo's has the restaurant thing going for them because the beer sucked.  Considering they've been around for 20 years you think they could perfect a decent beer.  It tasted like someone added hops to sparkling water.  For being 6.3% ABV its a pretty light drinking beer, which I guess is what all the yuppies and college students that populate Lincoln want to drink.  For me it tasted really watery, not much body, and just a very light hop aftertaste.

There are over a million people in the Omaha-Lincoln metro areas and Empyrean is really the closest thing to a craft/micro/regional brewery serving all these people.  And it sucks.  Eastern Nebraska is aching for someone to make some decent local beer.

The Luna beer was a whole lot better than the second beer I tried.  Brewsky's "makes" their own American Pale Ale.  Its not really made by them, but made by SchillingBridge Winery and Microbrewery exclusively for them.  Schilling is in Pawnee City, Nebraska (pop. 1,033), which is a good hour and a half southeast of Lincoln.  Which puts it near where I used to hunt, which you don't care about.  Anyway, this APA tastes like water, has a little bit of a hop taste, but then the taste drops off and there really is no aftertaste.  Even the hop taste that is there tastes a little weird, so they're not exactly picking the best hops to get the best flavor. All in all, not a very memorable beer.

Lesson: Nebraska beer not so good (although I'd rather drink it than Bud Light).  But at least it was only $3 a glass, so they've got that going for them.

Sierra Nevada -- Sierra 30: Jack and Ken's Ale

I've been eying the Sierra 30 for a while but wasn't sure if I wanted to pay ten bucks for it (the glories of being a poor student).  Luckily I have an awesome wife who surprised me a couple weeks ago with a bottle.

I have to say I was intrigued by the champagne style cork.  This is obviously no ordinary brew.  This beer holds itself out as a "collaboration" of pioneering brewers.  Sierra Nevada is 30 years old this year, and so Ken Grossman, the founder, decided to get some of craft brewing's big names together to make a special beer.  Sierra 30 actually has four different beers, one with each pioneer, and then a brewer's reserve.  Each beer donates money to a different non-profit. 

Jack and Ken's Ale is thus with Jack McAuliffe, and Jack decided to donate money to Texas Public Radio.  Jack was in the Navy and then when he came back to the US he couldn't get heavier beers so he decided to home brew.  He then started "New Albion Brewing Co." in Sonoma, CA in 1976, but it closed in 1982.  Jack was the one that inspired Ken to brew.  He showed Ken that a home brewer could become a commercial brewer.  Jack says, "Before the craft brewing movement people didn't know what hops were.  They thought it was a grain." 

You'll notice that Jack and Ken's ale is really dark.  Jack's New Albion Brewing had a beer called "Old Toe Sucker" which was really strong and was said to make toes look attractive.  Was it a porter?  A barleywine?   A black porter?  Even the guy that made it can't qualify it.  With Jack and Ken's Ale they decided to use ingredients that were found in the 1970s; there weren't a lot of bulk ingredients back then.  So in some ways they recreated this mysterious beer.  Cluster hops were the most common, specifically cascade hops.  Single roast pale malt and caramel malt were used.  Ken says that there are no wine ingredients but its reminiscent of ports and sherries. Jack says, "Farmers make wine, and engineers and physicists make beer."

So how is it you ask?  At 10.2% alcohol this beer has some kick.  Its thick and has very little head.  At first it goes down smooth like a very malty beer, but interestingly it has aftertaste like a barleywine.   It has some sweet flavor almost like chocolate.  I was trying to think of what to pair this beer with, but it is 1) very filling and 2) it is sweet, which makes me think this would just be beset on its own like a desert.  This is a very tasty beer but unfortunately it won't be around as a permanent staple.

Now I want to try out the other three beers of the Sierra 30.  Cheers to celebrating craft brewing!


http://www.sierra30.com/#/home