I was at a reception last night featuring a special beer (served, oddly, in 22-oz bottles): Obama Ale. Brewed by Half Moon Bay Brewing in ... California. Very odd. The label description reads "a golden colored ale brewed with European malt and hops. Lager-like flavor and a light, clean aftertaste."
Wrong. It is a Belgian pale hopped with Saaz. I confirmed this later when the brewery owner or brewer came by handing out campaign-like buttons promoting the beer. (Also, it appears there's a McCain Ale, too). It was a nice beer-soft on the palate, spicy with Saaz. Only 4.8%, which is a nice beer for an event with an open bar. People were squirreling away bottles as collectors items--me included.
(On the issue of beer culture, I think this is illustrative. The label in this case used nomenclature designed to appeal to a somewhat less-educated public. In Oregon, you'd call a Belgian-style beer a Belgian.)
Mmm… me loves me a golden… goes great as a chaser to ambers! :P
ReplyDeleteHow did HMB Brewery end up there? They're actually one of my favorite CA breweries. Never expected to see a mention here... let alone via the DNC.
ReplyDeletehttp://sendables.jibjab.com/sendables/1191/time_for_some_campaignin#/teaser/1191
ReplyDeleteA little campaign fun.
David--I have NO idea how they ended up there. We were all perplexed. Headline: "Crafy California craft brewery outwits Napa of Beer."
ReplyDeleteAlec Moss, brewer in HMB is a pretty crafty, but nice guy. He must of seen an opportunity for some great advertising and ran with it! Glad someone thought of it! When opportunity knocks, you have to be ready to open the door...
ReplyDeleteOooh!... Bad cliche.....
We had an "in", but it was not me. The beer as bottled was a light ale fermented with an English yeast. It is brewed with German Pilsen malt and German and Czech Republic hops. Good call. We normally ferment this beer at a lower temperature to reduce the esters but this was a first gen yeast so we fermented at normal ale temp. The problem, I believe, was getting the beer to Denver, i.e the heat and travel for three days quite possibly changed the beer a bit. And yes, we do have a McCain beer also. We're doing our own little straw poll. Cheers.
ReplyDeleteThanks Alec!
ReplyDelete