some of the big stouts like Abyss, XXIII or Serpents and even 15 from Stone all have flavors that will get masked by cold. but even every day Black Butte Porter benefits from warming. in the USofA Guinness is almost always served too cold as most beer bars don't have a choice or way of controlling temperature just for one keg. 

call the Beer School Robot!
424-242-3375

Beer School everywhere:
http://www.facebook.com/beerschool
http://youtube.com/beerschool

the other guys on the show:
http://www.alloverbeer.com/
http://www.norcalbeerguide.com/

Follow JohnFoster and BeerSchool on Twitter.com

Be sure to visit City Beer Store, 21st Amendment, and Toronado in San Francisco, CA
Email us at info@beerschool.com

Good noon! Recorded in San Francisco on 9/11/2011.

Beer School and "The Homework is Beer" are a trademarks of Ayer Media, Inc.
© 2011 Ayer Media, Inc.

Slow Beer

you've heard it before that "all beer tastes the same" when referring to "factory beer". the best think of these beers as the lowest common denominator with regards to taste, smell and expectations. they were designed with a precarious balancing act in mind which makes a beer that tastes like something, has a buzz inducing quality and is cost effective to make while maximizing profits. add in a little advertising to tell people what they want (and expect) and wha-laa fizzy yellow beer that is consumed by zillions of people. 

what we found echos our previous findings:
you can taste the difference between all four of these beers.
they aren't very good when you compare this beers to craft beer.
in the right context any of these beers could be refreshing.
if you do your homework you may come to a similar conclusion.

homework:
get four factory beers and try them side-by-side-by-side-by-side. you don't have to drink the whole beer. be sure to talk about the things that you are tasting: sweet, bitter, crispness, mouth feel and the carbonation. bonus homework is to compare the same beer in bottles and cans because there is a difference sometimes. the cans are better.

beer on the show:
Budweiser, Bud Light, Coors and Coors Light
Dogfish Head Festina Peche

call the Beer School Robot!
424-242-3375

Beer School everywhere:
http://www.facebook.com/beerschool
http://youtube.com/beerschool

Follow JohnFoster and BeerSchool on Twitter.com

Be sure to visit City Beer Store, Toronado and 21st Amendment in San Francisco, CA
Email us at info@beerschool.com

Good noon! Recorded in San Francisco on 8/14/2011.

Beer School and "The Homework is Beer" are a trademarks of Ayer Media, Inc.
© 2011 Ayer Media, Inc.

Factory Beer Tastes the Same

IPA day is August 4th 2011. take your dumbass friends to the pub to celebrate this specific beer style. or if they just can't take the big boldness of IPA order them something else tasty.

there are a few things that continuously bug us about IPA.

1) none of it is going to India. so there's no reason to call it this anymore.
2) if you look up the recipe for IPA from the books publish 150 years ago you will find something not that much more then the Pale ale of the time.
3) these beers were aged in barrels of unknown conditions for at least 120 before they were consumed. this is very different from the out of the fermenter and into the serving tank in 14 days repeat that the local breweries have to maintain.
4) lots of people order IPA because it's the simplest thing to order on the beer list. having clever names doesn't help the knob buying beer.
5) or they are ordering the beer because its the highest ABV on the list. they aren't drinking it for the hops, balance or aroma. it might as well be Colt 45.

beer on the show:
Pliney the Elder from Russian River
IPA from Bison Brewing

call the Beer School Robot!
424-242-3375

Beer School everywhere:
http://www.facebook.com/beerschool
http://youtube.com/beerschool

Follow JohnFoster and BeerSchool on Twitter.com

Be sure to visit City Beer Store, 21st Amendment, and Toronado in San Francisco, CA
Email us at info@beerschool.com

Good noon! Recorded in San Francisco on 7/10/2011.

Beer School and "The Homework is Beer" are a trademarks of Ayer Media, Inc.
© 2011 Ayer Media, Inc.

IPA Day

Jesse Friedman and Damian Fagan of Almanac Beer Company stopped by to talk about their beer and what it's about. it's an interesting take on how to launch into the brewing business. which is to start of brewing smaller batches of seasonal beer which you can hear about on the podcast or read on the Almanac website. before the name was Almanac it was going to be called Old Oak Beer Company. but a deep trademark search showed that they might have problems with that name so the two owners decided to rebadge the company prior to having any beer in the market to avoid future confusion. 

barrel aged beers have proven to be popular in market. and while European beers have been made in wood barrels for centuries it hasn't been until the last decade that barrel aging was done in the American market. and this is especially true for beer distributed outside of the brewing area done intentionally instead of just a brewers experiment made as a novelty for the people that visit the brewery.

somebody will point out that some US breweries have had their beer on wood since they started brewing it. yet it's not the flavor of the wood that is the reason. in the case of beer that is "Beechwood Aged" the wood is used to increase the surface area available to the yeast. it also makes a neat marketing differentiation for the product.

the homework was to try beer that is barrel aged. we gave a few examples on the show. and if you aren't sure what is or isn't a beer from a barrel program ask your retailer or beer geek. or you can ask here as well.

http://www.almanacbeer.com/

call the Beer School Robot!
424-242-3375

Beer School everywhere:
http://www.facebook.com/beerschool
http://youtube.com/beerschool

Follow JohnFoster and BeerSchool on Twitter.com

Be sure to visit City Beer Store in San Francisco, CA
Email us at info@beerschool.com

Good noon! Recorded in San Francisco on 10/17/2010.

Beer School and "The Homework is Beer" are a trademarks of Ayer Media, Inc.
© 2010 Ayer Media, Inc.

Almanac (not Old Oak)

Forties are beers that either come in 40 ounce bottles or cost around $40. 

beer on the show:
Pliney the Elder from Russian River
Firestone Walker Parabala
Mikeller Beer Geek Brunch Weasel
the Lost Abbey Serpents Stout

call the Beer School Robot!
424-242-3375

Beer School everywhere:
http://www.facebook.com/beerschool
http://youtube.com/beerschool


Follow JohnFoster and BeerSchool on Twitter.com

Be sure to visit City Beer Store in San Francisco, CA
Email us at info@beerschool.com

Good noon! Recorded in San Francisco on 8/23/2010.

Beer School and "The Homework is Beer" are a trademarks of Ayer Media, Inc.
© 2011 Ayer Media, Inc.

Forties

call the Beer School Robot!
424-242-3375

Beer School everywhere:
http://www.facebook.com/beerschool
http://youtube.com/beerschool

Follow JohnFoster and BeerSchool on Twitter.com

Be sure to visit City Beer Store in San Francisco, CA
Email us at info@beerschool.com

Good noon! Recorded in San Francisco on August 16, 2010.

Beer School and "The Homework is Beer" are a trademarks of Ayer Media, Inc.
© 2010 Ayer Media, Inc.

Back to School

the Firkin Tappers can be found here: http://firkintappers.com/

call the Beer School Robot!
424-242-3375

Beer School everywhere:
http://www.facebook.com/beerschool
http://youtube.com/beerschool

Follow JohnFoster and BeerSchool on Twitter.com

Be sure to visit City Beer Store in San Francisco, CA
Email us at info@beerschool.com

Good noon! Recorded in Boonville on May 7-8 2010.

Beer School and "The Homework is Beer" are a trademarks of Ayer Media, Inc.
© 2010 Ayer Media, Inc.

Boonville

Ruby, Ruby, Ruby, Ruby
Motor has two favorite beers that he will defend to the end. one of them is Ruby from McMenamins. the McMenamins have made an empire of interesting old buildings around Washington and Oregon. we counted 65 places from there list. it's possile that there were some duplicates. but anything over 10 is a lot of places from a property point of view. okay so we got the fruit wrong because we didn't look it up. it's raspberries not blackberries. same thing if you ask me. one is just darker and they look the same.

beer on the show:
Ruby
Hammer Head (IPA)
http://www.mcmenamins.com

call the Beer School Robot!
424-242-3375

Beer School everywhere:
http://www.facebook.com/beerschool
http://youtube.com/beerschool

Follow JohnFoster and BeerSchool on Twitter.com

Be sure to visit City Beer Store in San Francisco, CA
Email us at info@beerschool.com

Good noon! Recorded in San Francisco on 5/29/2010.

Beer School and "The Homework is Beer" are a trademarks of Ayer Media, Inc.
© 2010 Ayer Media, Inc.

Ruby Ruby Ruby Ruby

Anchor's Away

beer on the show:
Sierra Nevada 30th Anniversary aka Fritz & Ken
Liberty Ale from Anchor Brewing

Note: these are all local beers for us. and it's why we choose them for the show.

call the Beer School Robot!
424-242-3375

Beer School everywhere:
http://www.facebook.com/beerschool
http://youtube.com/beerschool

Follow JohnFoster and BeerSchool on Twitter.com

Be sure to visit City Beer Store in San Francisco, CA
Email us at info@beerschool.com

Good noon! Recorded in San Francisco on 5/16/2010.

Beer School and "The Homework is Beer" are a trademarks of Ayer Media, Inc.
© 2010 Ayer Media, Inc.

Anchor's Away

IPA - this is the long though lost IPA show. it was recorded last fall on August 23.

there are a few things that continuously bug me about IPA.

1) none of it is going to India. so there's no reason to call it this anymore.
2) if you look up the recipe for IPA from the books publish 150 years ago you will find something not that much more then the Pale ale of the time.
3) these beers were aged in barrels of unknown conditions for at least 120 before they were consumed. this is very different from the out of the fermenter and into the serving tank in 14 days repeat that the local breweries have to maintain.
4) lots of people order IPA because it's the simplest thing to order on the beer list. having clever names doesn't help the knob buying beer.
5) or they are ordering the beer because its the highest ABV on the list. they aren't drinking it for the hops, balance or aroma. it might as well be Colt 45.

Black IPA is very interesting to me as an evolutionary style. when done correctly it makes a very drinkable beer. however the trend I'm bugged about is using the malt as color not for adding another flavor. the Windmer BIPA tasted like this. don't take that as me not liking that beer. it was very good. but it'd doesn't look like it tastes. 

beer on the show:
Pliney the Elder from Russian River
Racer 5 from Bear Republic
Stone IPA from Stone Brewing
Imperial IPA from Anderson Valley
Liberty Ale from Anchor Brewing

Note: these are all local beers for us. and it's why we choose them for the show.

call the Beer School Robot!
424-242-3375

Beer School everywhere:
http://www.facebook.com/beerschool
http://youtube.com/beerschool

Follow JohnFoster and BeerSchool on Twitter.com

Be sure to visit City Beer Store in San Francisco, CA
Email us at info@beerschool.com

Good noon! Recorded in San Francisco on 8/23/2009.

Beer School and "The Homework is Beer" are a trademarks of Ayer Media, Inc.
© 2010 Ayer Media, Inc.

Cans keep beer fresher.
Light cannot penetrate cans.
Cans aren't as heavy as bottles.
Beer can get cold faster in a can.
Cans are better for the environment.

beer on the show:
Hell or High Watermelon Wheat - 21st Amendment
Brew Free or Die IPA - 21st Amendment
Original Orange Blossom - Buckbean
Modus Operandi - SKA Brewing
High Country Pilsner - Mammoth Brewing Company
Furious - Surley

call the Beer School Robot!
424-242-3375

Beer School everywhere:
http://www.facebook.com/beerschool
http://youtube.com/beerschool

Follow JohnFoster and BeerSchool on Twitter.com

Be sure to visit City Beer Store in San Francisco, CA
Email us at info@beerschool.com

Good noon! Recorded in San Francisco on 03/24/2010.

Beer School and "The Homework is Beer" are a trademarks of Ayer Media, Inc.
© 2010 Ayer Media, Inc.

That's Right Cans!

Monday March 29th! 6PM. get here...

the NEVER BEER show has finally happened. the idea was to take something that the listeners complained about and push it to the extreme. that is, they complain that we drink beer that the can't get. so for this show we're going to drink beer that nobody will EVER be able to get. okay, this is not entirely true. one of the beers in the collection can be purchased or (could have been). like Firestone 13 which we had a bottle to try. it's not never now but in 4 years it might as well be never.

the best way to enjoy this show is to drink beer from your own collection or from your friends collection. that way you can nee-neer us back.

guest list is a who's who of beer
Betz (formerly of Toronado)
Beth and Craig (City Beer Store)
Sean Z Paxton (Home Brew Chef)
Gabby (21a Festival Girl) who's bringing Jeremy (Tcho Chocolate)
MacorMacQue
Motor and myself

invited but did not make the show:
Arnie (Marin Brewing Company)
Richard Brewer Hay (Elizebeth Street Brewing)

beer on the show:
NEVER beer. please look on the web site for a complete list and pictures.


call the Beer School Robot!
424-242-3375

Beer School everywhere:
http://www.facebook.com/beerschool
http://youtube.com/beerschool

Follow JohnFoster and BeerSchool on Twitter.com

Be sure to visit City Beer Store in San Francisco, CA
Email us at info@beerschool.com

Good noon! Recorded in San Francisco on 03/29/2010.

Beer School and "The Homework is Beer" are a trademarks of Ayer Media, Inc.
© 2010 Ayer Media, Inc.

Never Beer

Belgium by Bus

so you want to get away? but the beach doesn't interest you. the thought of seeing a giant hole in the ground that isn't doing it for you. and standing in a line to see robots sing and dance doesn't even remotely peek your interest. why not tour a country that has a tradition of making really great beer instead? yes you (and your new friends) could be traversing Belgium in search of that perfect pint.

there's lots of ways to tour a country. you could go it alone where it's to you to research and plan every move. you will need a least a map and a book. and that can be daunting. you could sign up for a tour that would take you from place to place on a giant bus. but because of it's size you won't see the small farm house off the side road. the better tour is on the short bus with not very many people. and the guide you want is somebody that isn't just doing it for the money. they are doing it because they love the beer they are taking you to.

Stu Stuart of "Belgian Beer Me" does tours of Belgium beer. he's got a few to choose from. and if you can't go this year think about next year doing the similar tour about the same time of year.

The Great Zythos Beer Festival Tour of Belgium
March 3-8, 2010.

The Ardennes Mountain Spring Beer Tour of Belgium
June 1-9, 2010.

The Best Damn Farmhouse Ale Tour of Belgium & France
Oct. 11-16, 2010.

The Lonely Monks Trappist Beer Tour of Belgium & the Netherlands
Oct. 16-25, 2010.
(combine the last two trips for extra awesome!)

go to Belgianbeerme.com for a complete list of tours

links: 
BelgianBeerMe.com
CAMRA http://www.camra.org.uk


call the Beer School Robot!
424-242-3375

Beer School everywhere:
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=6351328213
http://youtube.com/beerschool

Follow JohnFoster and BeerSchool on Twitter.com

Host: John Foster and Motor
Guests: Stu Stewart of Belgian Beer Me! along with MacorMcQue

Be sure to visit City Beer Store in San Francisco, CA
Email us at info@beerschool.com

Good noon! Recorded in San Francisco on 03/14/2010.

Beer School and BeerSchool.com are a trademarks of Ayer Media, Inc.
© 2010 Ayer Media, Inc.

Belgium by Bus

I Like Chinese

it's a country of the most and the least. the people of China drink more beer as a country compared to any other country in the world. but oddly, the amount of beer consumed per person is the lowest on planet. 

beer wasn't brewed anywhere in the country until the beginning of the 20th century by the demand of "foreigners" who were doing business there. Tsing Tao, which has grown to have 50 breweries in 18 regions, was started in 1903 by British and German merchants. it's size makes it the 8th largest brewery in the world. 

prior to beer, fermented products were made that would resemble "gruit".

according to sources 95% of beer produced is consumed locally. it was this country's demand for beer that caused the hop crisis. although none of the beer from China would be considered hoppy. 

call the Beer School Robot!
424-242-3375

Beer School everywhere:
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=6351328213
http://youtube.com/beerschool

Follow JohnFoster and BeerSchool on Twitter.com

Host: John Foster and Motor
no Guests appear on this show.

Be sure to visit City Beer Store in San Francisco, CA
Email us at info@beerschool.com

Good noon! Recorded in San Francisco on 10/25/2009.

Beer School and BeerSchool.com are a trademarks of Ayer Media, Inc.
© 2010 Ayer Media, Inc.

I Like Chinese

Motor is Older

there are no notes for this show. look on the website to see some pictures.

Beer School everywhere:
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=6351328213
http://youtube.com/beerschool

Follow BeerSchool on Twitter.com

Hosts: John Foster and Motor
Guests: the Funs, the hippies, and MacorMcCue.

Email us at info@beerschool.com

Good noon! Recorded in San Francisco on 01/17/2010.

BeerSchool, BeerSchool.com, and "the homework is beer" are trademarks of Ayer Media, Inc. © 2010 Ayer Media, Inc.

Motor is Older

Gabby likes things that Justine can't stand. And the other way around. Faced with this problem we decided to have them drink beer on the show so we could record their reactions. Bugs Bunny face here we come.

Gabby vs Justine

Travel There

Susan and Steven traipsed around Europe for a month doing work, honeymooning and taking weekends off. they did the normal things like see museums, art, fountains, castles but they also made the effort to enjoy beer in all these places. some of the traveling they did was researched in advance but just as much of it was finding into places through recommendations from people they met along the way.

travel information can be found in lots of different places. but you success largely depends on similar view point of your guides. no matter where you find travel information (the internet, books, people) be sure to weight the source. the cynically old guy at the bar may not think highly of your next destination. he may have a point. 

lots of lists:
[links to come]

stuff we talked about:
Cloud Berries
Acheraut pub.
the little mermaid
worlds largest unopened collection of beer.
J-Day
west cigarettes commercials
coppers town legends - baseball fields
hot dog sauce
portland food blogs

Beer on the show was made by Susan and Steven.

Homework:
travel somewhere for beer. either make a short trip to somewhere you haven't been or jump a flight to check out a destination. 
where would you go?

Beer School everywhere:
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=6351328213
http://youtube.com/beerschool

Follow JohnFoster and BeerSchool on Twitter.com

Host: John Foster and Motor
Guest: Susan and Steven

Be sure to visit City Beer Store in San Francisco, CA
thanks More Beer.
talk to Griz at SF Brewcraft if you want a specific recipe.
Email us at info@beerschool.com

Good noon! Recorded in San Francisco on 12/06/2009.

BeerSchool and BeerSchool.com are a trademarks of Ayer Media, Inc.
© 2009 Ayer Media, Inc.

Travel There

T-Day Two Point Oh

Green Bean Casserole. Cranberry in a Can. Sweet potatoes with Melted Marshmallows. Curry Fruit which wouldn not be so bad if it wasn't all from cans. Sausage in the stuffing which was in the Stovetop Stuffing. Smash potatoes not from smashed but from a box... all of our mothers were colletively terrible cooks. okay, Paxton's was not evidently. Thanks Giving shouldn't be about just one big meal but a multiple day festival were you get to try lots of different things. it's a chance to learn new dishes and try old things in a new way. in fact, why not pair beer with everything on your table. use beer to make everything from the turkey to the bread. seriously, why not?!

Homework: 
cook with beer. here's some recipes to consider making.
Brine that bird http://www.homebrewchef.com/BeerBrinedTurkey.html
Turducken http://www.homebrewchef.com/anatomyofabird.html
Waterzooi http://www.homebrewchef.com/Waterzooi.html
Wit Sauce http://www.homebrewchef.com/CranberryWitSauce.html
and all the rest http://www.homebrewchef.com/ThanksgivingBeerMenu.html 

Beer School everywhere:
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=6351328213
http://youtube.com/beerschool

Follow JohnFoster on Twitter.com

Host: John Foster and Motor
Guest: Sean Paxton

Be sure to visit City Beer Store in San Francisco, CA
Email us at info@beerschool.com

Good noon! Recorded in San Francisco on 11/14/2009.

BeerSchool, BeerSchool.com and "the homework is beer" are a trademarks of Ayer Media, Inc. © 2009 Ayer Media, Inc.

T-Day Two Point Oh

Holiday Beer Part 4

it seems like every year the holiday sneaks in sooner and sooner. this year is NO exception. sure, we're always glad to see the new beers because they offer exciting takes on taste. but do we really have to put up with retail needs to maximize efficiency of flying off the shelves for maximum profits? can't we enjoy dead turkey day and the birth of the invisible man's son without having it run apon us? okay, maybe we don't care. having it come out early means we can try some different things BEFORE we commit to bring bottles to the party. the best compliment in the world you can get is "dude, awesome picks on the beers... I like every one you brought." 

and that's my friends is what it really is all about. 

Beers on the show:
Anchor Xmas 1986
Anchor Xmas 1987
Anchor Xmas 1988
Anchor Xmas 2007
Anchor Xmas 2009
Sierra Nevada Celebration
Samuel Smith Winter Welcome
Rogue Santa's Private Reserve
Deschutes Jubelale

Homework:
your future self will thank you if you start making a vertical flight today.

call the Beer School Robot!
424-242-3375 (NOTE: this is the CORRECT number!)

Beer School everywhere:
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=6351328213
http://youtube.com/beerschool

Follow JohnFoster and BeerSchool on Twitter.com

Host: John Foster and Motor
Guest: Mark aka Trade Mark.

Be sure to visit City Beer Store in San Francisco, CA
Email us at info@beerschool.com

Good noon! Recorded in San Francisco on 11/08/2009.

Beer School and BeerSchool.com are a trademarks of Ayer Media, Inc.
© 2009 Ayer Media, Inc.

Holiday Beer Part 4

BRU/SFO Project

Magnolia and 21st Amendment make a month long festival featuring Belgium style beer called the BRU/SFO Project. the idea started with Strong Beer Month which was to make the slowest month of the year into a destination. they've chosen November as their next target. 

Beers on the show:
not one. which is weird. really, really weird. this is the first show that we've ever done were we tea totaled.

Homework: come to San Francisco for beer OR enjoy something from Belgium in your own glass at home.

Links:
Magnolia
http://www.magnoliapub.com/index.html

21st Amendment
http://21st-amendment.com/

the TWA flight center
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TWA_Flight_Center
http://www.samrohn.com/360-panorama/twa-terminal/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/electrospark/3548189180/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/vogelium/sets/72157616350601843/

Teach a Friend to Homebrew Day
http://www.beertown.org/events/teach/index.html

Toronado to Toronado is November 21
http://www.beerschool.com/396/toronado-to-toronado/


Beer School everywhere:
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=6351328213
http://youtube.com/beerschool

Follow JohnFoster on Twitter.com

Host: John Foster (Motor's not here)
Guest: Dave McLean and  Shaun O'Sullivan
Be sure to visit Magnolia and 21st Amendment in San Francisco, CA
Email us at info@beerschool.com

Good noon! Recorded in San Francisco on 11/04/2009.

BeerSchool and BeerSchool.com are a trademarks of Ayer Media, Inc.
© 2009 Ayer Media, Inc.

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