Cash for Comment

As most of you know I am a big fan of cash for comment. That is receiving goods for free and saying nice things about them to provide promotion for a company looking to advertise its wares. This results in a win-win situation where I get some freebies and someone gets free advertising. It's shameless I know, but I have no morals anyhow. Earlier in the year I went along to the launch of BrewDog's black lager Zeitgeist and got pretty pissed on BrewDogs dime. Anyhow the time has come to return the favour and promote Zeitgeist once more.

As I'm lazy I will just post James (BrewDog's Head of Stuff) email for you guys to consume.

Our zeitgeist website is now up and running. And I want to help your blog readers so you can help me get our online concept working well.

www.zeitgeistbeer.com

There is a very unusual hook behind the Zeitgeist website. The blog will not be updated by us, but by the customer!
We want to give up ownership of the blog, website and brand to the people who drink the beer.
The idea is to create a whole alternative community online on the zeitgeist site.
People can blog on www.zeitgeistbeer.com about anything: beer, art, film, culture. They can upload movies, pictures and say anything they want. The idea would be that the discussion has an alternative vibe which ties in with the non-conforming message of the beer.
This is a brand controlled by the people not people not a brand which controls them.

It is not our blog. It is not zeitgeist’s blog – it is your blog!

All someone has to do to be able to blog is to buy some beer for our online shop.

The idea of having an open blog, updated by the consumer is a new and radical approach and is going to need a bit of a push to get the awareness going on it. This is where you can help a little!
I have a 70% discount code SHEEP all set up for you to give to your readers on your website so not only do they get some great black lager at an unbelievably price they also get to be one of the first people to update the blog!

Ok, yes you are reading that correctly. If you buy from the www.zeitgeistbeer.com website and use the SHEEP promo code you get 70% off. Now get out there and buy some excellent beer and post your thoughts on the blog. I would if I could guarantee that I would get the beer and drink it all in the next week or so before I get back to Sydney. BTW, I was chatting to a mate in Sydney who claims that Punk IPA is $18 (~£9) a pint back home. WTF - this is highway robbery!

Feel the Schwarz

Last night after work I met up with a mate of mine Rodney whom has just moved to London from Sydney. Rodney is one of those mates who even if you only see him once every couple of years, it feels like you were only chatting to him yesterday. Anyhow, Rodney likes a bit of a schizzle over a few beers so I dragged him along to the media launch of BrewDog's new black lager - Zeitgeist. I won't harp on too much about the event as basically just about every other blogger has posted about it. The beer is pretty damn good though, and I was excited about drinking out of a bottle - a taboo issue in the UK, but common practice in the Antipodes. Chatting to James, BrewDog's head honcho bossman I had the hop and grain bill guessed after the first couple of ice cold sips. I like my beer cold, and it's the way a good lager should be. James was sporting a rather cool BrewDog tattoo on his arm. I was telling everyone that it was real, so I was a little embarrassed later on when he revealed that it was a stick on. I still thought it was cool, but cooler still he gave me one. I'm going to put it on my neck at the next CAMRA sanctioned event I go to.

Speaking of CAMRA, I was rather taken back by the reaction of several CAMRA members to the beer. Do they realize that this beer is not 'real' ale, actually not ale at all? It certainly is well outside their remit. Even old Protzy was getting in on the action. My guess is that they (CAMRA types) attended because the beer was free and they could escape a JDW boozer for an evening. I am also proud of the BrewDog guys for giving something away for free - They are Scottish aren't they? There was plenty of tickers making notes, intellectualizing and the like, but I just got on it and appreciated the beer for what it is. A good solid sessionable lager - hopefully a glimpse into the future of keg beer in the UK.

Anyhow after leaving the BrewDog event, Rodney and I smashed down roast beef bagel's from one of the fine establishments on Brick Lane and headed home. Whilst in my inebriated state, I ran into a friend from my university days and spent my whole tube ride across London waffling my special brand of verbal diarrhea. Yes my friends, Zeitgeist bestows the gift of eloquence, much the same as the Blarney Stone. Magical stuff.

Spring is near

Whilst walking to the tube station this morning, I noticed that the bulb flowers have started to bloom and all the trees have new buds starting to form. The tree outside my office window which I watched die back only a few months ago is now covered with the white buds of the new bloom. I am not a green thumb by any means, but for some strange reason I get excited (and no not sexually) by all this. I think there are a number of reasons. The first being that I like that things get bigger and better over time. Spring brings a feeling of renewal which leads to anticipation of good times and warmer weather. Of course this is an illusion as come mid-September everything dies and it gets cold and miserable again. One type of plant interests me more than others. This is the hop plant, the all important grass which seasons and preserves beer. I can visualize it now, thousands of rhizomes awakening all over Kent, Europe and North America with their buds preparing to break the ground an reach for the sun. Will this year see the end of the 'world wide hop shortage'? Will there be a new variety discovered that will transform brewing forever....... You can see why I get off on this stuff.

On a sadder note though, 11000 miles away in New South Wales my own modest hop garden is reaching maturity and the bines are starting to die back. I have tasked my Dad to pick this years harvest, dry them and place them in the freezer so I can use them upon my return - whenever that may be. My hop garden currently consists of 18 bines, but this will most likely be doubled next year. As our family farm is in the Monaro region of NSW it is far from ideal/commercial growing conditions, but perfectly acceptable for my requirements. The picture above was taken by my Dad on New Years day last year and these particular cones are from a Columbus bine.

Whilst it is not ideal for hop growing, It is a very good apple growing area though, and I plan to commercially grow cider apples in the future, but that's another story. Plus, I don't really like cider!

Tonight I am off to the launch of BrewDog's new black lager - Zeitgeist. I have not had a beer since Sunday, so I am frothing for a pint. I hope it's all it is cracked up to be.

Josef Schneider Märzen

The last beer that I had that I have not blogged about before is Josef Schneider Märzen (5.5% abv). Now I have to say that I have scoffed down my fair share of this beer style over the last few weeks, but this one was the best by a country mile! It is so thick and chewy, that it really tastes like you are eating dried malt extract. The flavour is that distinct!

Here is Andy's commercial description;
"This amber coloured filtered bottom fermented beer comes from the smallest brewery in the Altmühltal region in Essing in the Oberpfalz near Regensburg in Bavaria. Märzen beer, literally means March and was historically brewed in March/towards the end of the brewing season on St Georges Day (23 April) to last the summer until brewing could resume on St Micahel‘s Day (29 September). You may now be seeing some historical similarities with the Saison, Biere de Garde and Lambic beer styles....."

Just a bit of background on the brewery Josef Schneider (not to be confused with the wheat beer mob) is a small microbrewery located in Franconia, Germany. They produce a number of malty beer styles such as a Pilsner, Maibock, Marzen and Dunkel. The beer is available from the brewery direct only, or in the attached pub. There is no distribution or marketing amazing!

Schafferhof Zoigl

Next up at the Zeitgeist Berman beer festival was another elusive style. This time Schafferhof Zoigl was on offer.

This beer is unique its got a yeast haze, similar to a hefe-weizen but golden in colour. And the taste is unique, its very tart but not overly sour.

Andy's commercial description is as follows;
"This is another illusive beer now only really found in the Oberpfälz Wald (Palatinate Forest) in Bavaria near the border with Czech Republic. It is essentially a Keller or Zwickel beer, however it uses a different yeast whereby primary fermentation is only around 5 days and lagering is only some 3 weeks at the relativley high temperature of 7-8°C! It is called Zoigl (Bavarian slang) from the German word Zeichen meaning a signal or sign, when the beer was ready to drink, the family/brewer hangs a sign (the brewers star) outside their house, much like women in the middle ages in England would put a broomstick outside her house to signify beer was ready! Nowadays there is a list on the internet showing when each Zoigl ‚hosue‘ has its beer ready!"

A bit of research shows that this beer is a communal beer, and is where the 'star of David' originally came from! An inter sting style, that most beer lovers will never come across. I feel privileged! website

Zwiesel Dampfbier

Once again Andy and the crew from Bier-Mania have got together with Zeitgeist at The Jolley Gardner's and put on another great German Beer festival. This time in order not to disappoint, Andy sourced over 1000 Liters of beer from some of Germanies best microbreweries.

Way back in 2006, BYO (Brew Your Own) magazine ran an article on a little known style called Dampfbier, which translates literally to "Steam Beer". The beer intrigued me, and was described as being very similar to a Hefe-Weizen, but with an all barley grist. Upon arriving at the beer festival, the dampfbier was the highest priority on my radar!Andy's commercial description is as follows;
"This illusive unfiltered top fermented amber coloured beer is from Zwiesel in the Oberpfalz/Bavarian Forest on the border with the Czech Republic. Dampf is colloquial Bavarian for yeast and essentially describes the primary fermention when the beer has a layer of yeast smothering it, hence ‚Dampf‘. The region has historically also been the poorest region in Germany."

The beer was a lot darker and sweeter than I expected, and didn't really have a lot in common with the flavour profile of a weizen except a banana aroma. However, this beer was awesome and a style I definitely want to check out some more. http://www.dampfbier.de/

Schumacher Alt

Schumacher Alt (4.6% abv) is from Dusseldorf's oldest altbier brauhaus and has been operating since 1838, so in otherwords a bloddy long time! This is the one beer that most people associate altbier with and also a beer that I didnt have the pleasure of sampling during my last trip to Dusseldorf. The basics of the beer is thats its malty, brown with a slight fruitiness. More so than other alts, but Schumacher is generally is the style defining beer for Alt, much the same as Urquell is the style defining Pilsner. It was also the last Alt I sampled during the German beer festival at Zeitgeist and was also the last beer I sampled. I am really grateful to Stonch and Bier-Mania for hosting such and event as basically these beers are very difficult to track down outside of the regions where they are brewed. Hopefully they will host a similar even in the future?? BTW, you can find more info on Schumacher at their website: http://www.schumacher-alt.de

Ecker Bräu Wilderer Dunkel

The first Dunkel of the festival was Ecker Bräu Wilderer Dunkel (5.5% abv). This beer was a dark amber/brown colour with really delicate aroma. Its malty, but the hop character is sharp with a mild caramel flavour coming through. there was a slight chlorophenol tang to it, but it didnt taste like I was sucking in a band aid! Overall it was a good tasty, roasty, chocolaty beer with a pleasing clean and dry finish. A beer I probably won't stumble upon again....

Bolton Ur-Alt

Next up was Bolton Ur-Alt. I am not exactly sure what the difference between Alt and Ur-Alt is, but the beer was definetly stronger flavoured than previous Altbiers I have had, and was more in line with bier I have had in the Uerige brauhaus in Dusseldorf's Altstadt. The beer is darker, thicker, heavier and more malty than yoru everyday Alt, it also has a prominant hop aroma (my guess is that its Spalt hops? any other opinions?) I have not been able to source to much information omn teh beer except that the Bolton brewery is located in Korschenbroich, North Rhine-Westphalia which is close to Cologne. This is definetly one of my all time fav beers, but it still doesnt compete with Uerige!

Klosterbräu Schwärzla

Klosterbräu Schwärzla (4.9% abv) is a black Franconian Lager with a slightly tart mild roasted taste. Again this was sampled at the German beer festival organised by Stonch. Thi sbeer is significantly different to other exampels of this beer style like Kostrizter and has retained the classic Schwarzbier taste – mild, roasty and very soft. Not so schlank as often today. More like in the bad old days, when the style flourished behind the iron curtain. I can just see a little Kaiser like Prussian man sipping on omne opf these whilst reading the Volksnews through his monacle!

Füchschen Alt

Recently fellow beer blogger Stonch organised a German microbrewery festival in conjunction with Bier-Mania at Zietgeist a new London German venue which is housed by the Jolly Gardners pub in Lambeth. The first beer up on the evening was Füchschen Alt (abv 4.1%) a beer that I have enjoyed previously on a trip to Dusseldorf at the Rot Fuchs. As I was sipping away at the bier I was taken back to that evening and the new friends that I made, especially a guy who is now infamously known by my mates as 'Big Head Man'.
The beer itself is a pale brown with a malty caramel finish, and can easily be accommodated as a session beer. One of my favourites!
Below is a photo from my trip to the Rot Fuchs (Red Fox). Big Head Man is third from the left!