I was in the Emerald City last week, doing what I call “brewsearch” (aka beer research) for a guidebook to Pacific Northwest beers that I am working on. (More on that another time.)

Of course, I had to visit the amazing Brouwers Cafe while I was there. And co-owner Matt Bonney was on hand to demonstrate how well they take care of the beer there. Did you know they don’t clean the lines at Brouwers? They cut them off, put on new ones (never more than 8 feet in length from keg to tap) and recycle the old ones. Like, weekly.

On the front side of the bar, they also treat the beer with an equal amount of attention and respect. Here’s Matt showing how each beer is served at Brouwers:

No wonder Brouwers is considered one of the top beer places in the country … For more details on the Hard Liver Festival (March 20), head over here.

Coincidentally, this historic part of town is where two very unique and extremely different brewpubs are thriving together to bring good beer to the good people of Bellingham.

Boundary Bay Brewery & Bistro is the award-winning brewery that has been serving locals and out-of-towners for 15 years. Its comfortable interior, festooned with a real sail, bicycles and all kinds of other things that celebrate the locals’ love for outdoor adventure, is always packed with folks gathering for a bite and a few pints of Boundary Bay’s highly lauded beers. Boundary Bay’s Beer Garden is adjacent to and downstairs from the main pub. It is the place in Bellingham to be on nice days and evenings. Covered for those drizzly days, but still open enough to bask in the sun, there’s room among the nicely landscaped, flowering garden for a band and dancing, plus a walk-up bar with a selection of taps. But you can also bring beer from the wider selection inside the pub if your favorite isn’t on tap in the garden.

Speaking of beers, Boundary Bay is a hophead’s haven. Its Imperial IPA has twice been in the running at the Alpha King challenge during the Great American Beer Festival; winning in 2006 and taking second place two years later. Its Imperial Oatmeal Stout is also a big winner, most recently grabbing bronze at the 2009 North American Beer Awards and silver at the GABF. The Inside Passage Ale (IPA) and Extra Special Bitter are both big favorites at the pub, as is the winter seasonal Cabin Fever, a bold and malty winter warmer that’s been dry-hopped for a spicy finish.

For years, Boundary Bay was the only brewpub in town, but about two years ago, Chuckanut Brewery and Kitchen came into town. Like Boundary Bay, this new kid on the block offers a cozy (and much smaller) space for gathering with friends and family, along with a varied menu, music on many nights and friendly staff.
But Chuckanut, led by venerable brewing expert Will Kemper, creates beers that are nearly the polar opposite of Boundary Bay’s brews. Chuckanut focuses on brewing smooth, rounded lagers such as its dark, malty Dunkel, which one gold medals at both the GABF and the NABA last year; the toasty Vienna Lager, another GABF gold medalist; the Pilsner, a crisp and refreshing GABF silver-medal winner and the Schwarzbier, another GABF silver medalist. That’s four medals from the GABF in its first year where Chuckanut also won 2009 Small Brewpub and Brewmaster of the Year.

But what really makes Chuckanut stand apart is the way that Kemper, who has been working in and building breweries around the world for more than 25 years, designed it, making it his “dream” brewery.

Kemper built Chuckanut around “big brewery” technology, combining the artisan side of working on a 10 barrel system with advanced technology. A true “BeerGyver,” Kemper worked with DME Brewing Services out of Prince Edward Island, Canada, to design and invent elements of the brewery that make it arguably one of the most technologically advanced systems in the craft beer industry.

An automated computer system gives the brewer complete control over every aspect of the brewery, from dialing in the most detailed procedure to precise timing of when the next step in the brew will be executed, the beers are monitored by the automated computer along the way. The system actually allows the brewer to check on and alter many functions via satellite to a laptop at home – or anywhere else in the world.

Intriguing for sure. And here is a short interview with Will Kemper, explaining his state-of-the-art brewery and why he thinks that adding advanced technology enhances craft beer.

Eugene, the larger of the two college towns, is home to the University of Oregon Ducks. Corvallis, a closer drive to Portland but a bit off the interstate, is home to the oft under-appreciated Oregon State University Beavers. Eugene is known for its colorful hippie vibe and Nike-infused support. With OSU being the land-grant university, Corvallis is a bit more rural, agriculturally based and utilitarian.

A recent weekend visit to Corvallis revealed a growing craft beer culture and one with quite a history as well.

Hittin' the Trail!

Oregon Trail’s space is quite small, but he has built in some rustic yet effective changes over the years to make it more efficient. It shares a building with the Old World Deli, a popular downtown eatery where all the Oregon Trail beers are served alongside tasty, towering sandwiches.

Wills beers include a refreshing 4.2 percent ABV Wit, a multiple award-winning brown ale, an IPA that is not over-the-top in hops, Smoke Signal – Will’s take on a rauchbier – and a Ginseng Porter, infused with four different types of ginseng: American, Siberian, Korean and Tienchi ginseng, which is purported to provide a number of health benefits in addition to being a natural stimulant. Take that Red Bull! Wills also has a small space reserved upstairs in the very vertical brewery to dabble in barrel-aging and blending. His Bourbon Barrel Porter is a yearly rarity that is truly a treat.

Block 15's Nick Arzner and blogger Dave Selden grab a sample.

Brewer/owner Nick Arzner is doing some amazing stuff at Block 15. The regular lineup of beers is enough to enjoy, but the other half of the list features ongoing results from his and his brewers’ active imaginations. February is Bourbon Month at Block 15, so the specialty half of the beer menu featured such wonderful barrel-aged offerings as Pappy’s Dark, a 10 percent ABV sipper with a velvety texture, and a warm bourbon finish and Super Nebula, a brooding black brew, with woody, chocolate, caramel and bourbon aromas, a deep, rich texture and flavors of coffee, vanilla, figs and molasses. Six Hop Wonder, a super florally hop blast of a double IPA and Love Potion #9, a fabulous stout that was conditioned with local black raspberries were also standouts that were featured on the specialties list.

Block 15 barrels

The much-anticipated, almost opened Flat Tail Brewing

It’s great to see the craft beer culture finally taking off in Corvallis, and cheers to even more success in this quiet college community in the future.

A tasty taster tray from Hop Valley

Just for fun, I thought I’d follow up with a review of “My 2010 Zwickelmania Experience.”

Based on the region’s wineries that hold open houses twice a year, Zwickelmania was billed by the Oregon Brewers Guild as the second annual “free statewide event that offers visitors a chance to tour Oregon breweries, meet the brewers and sample their favorite beers” many breweries took the opportunity a lot further, bringing in food carts at production breweries, giving detailed tours and even samples straight off the zwickel (the sterile valve that lets brewers pull samples from the fermenting beer to check its progress).

Coincidentally, this year’s event took place the same time as the nonprofit public radio station in Eugene held its annual fundraising beer festival (a much more enjoyable way to raise money for this worthy cause than the ongoing pledge drives, in my humble opinion), so a handful of us beery writer types piled in the car and headed south to enjoy the festival and become southern Willamette Valley Zwickelmaniacs.

The KLCC Microbrew Festival was a great time, with more than 50 breweries participating. The most interesting to me was the annual Collaboration Brew, a beer that each of the area brewers (and one Eugene ex-pat who now lives and brews in Maui) all made for the event. This year’s collaboration brew was a Belgian-Style Cascadian Dark Rye Ale. Needless to say, there was a lot going on in those beers! But they were all tasty, and it was interesting to see how each brewery handled the “style.” Oh, another cool thing about this festival is it’s also has records, CDs and books on sale at great prices. Beer, music and books. How can you go wrong?

Trevor Howard of Hop Valley at the Zwickel

Saturday morning rolled around far too quickly, and Zwickelmania commenced for us at 11 a.m. sharp at Hop Valley Brewing Co., a year-old brewpub in neighboring Springfield. Brewmaster Trevor Howard led a group of about seven of us on a tour through the brewery. Our first official zwickel beer was his Natty Red, a big, bold Northwest red that lives up to its name – and it was actually taken right off the zwickel, so we got a chance to compare the still-fermenting Natty with a fully conditioned Natty from the pub. Trevor is doing some great stuff — hopheads will love the Alphadelic when it comes out soon in bottles. It was originally named Alphaholic, but the federal government made them change the name for the label.

The Royal Drunks -- Front

While we were on our tour, a huge group of beer fans were waiting their Zwickel experience. They all had matching shirts, and I couldn’t resist taking a photo of this band of beer fans who called themselves the Royal Drunks. Their enthusiasm was contagious, and I was especially impressed with the wide range in age among the group. Proof that beer speaks a common language among many ages.

The Royal Drunks from Behind

We ran into the Royal Drunks again, among the huge crowd at our next Zwickel stop, Ninkasi Brewing. We also bumped into a handful of brewers from as far away as Hood River and Newport, who were in town for the beer festival but decided to spend some quality Zwickel time at Ninkasi. Jamie Floyd, co-founder and brewer, showed us the huge expansion this wildly popular brewery is undergoing.

Ninkasi's Jamie Floyd in construction zone.

Ninkasi is adding on hundreds of square feet to its operations because it is seeing growth of upwards of 200 percent annually. The tasting room, which is open every day from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. features some beers that are impossible to find in Portland, such as the Renewale, a tasty ESB, and Conventionale, which is brewed with tarragon, heather and honey. Oregon Beef, a local ranch that uses spent grain from Ninkasi was on hand to provide sliders and other goodies for the hungry masses.

Our final Zwickelmania moments were spent at Oakshire Brewing, another newer brewery in Eugene, where there were two food purveyors to cater to reveling Zwickelers.

Matt Van Wyk of Oakshire with thirsty Zwickelers

Founder Jeff Althouse and brewer Matt Van Wyk welcomed us and took us on the grand tour of the brewery, which, like its neighbor, Ninkasi, is also expanding. Once again, we got a real Zwickelmania experience, including a taste right off the spigot of the still-fermenting O’Dark:30, possibly the very first bottled beer to be officially called a Cascadian Dark Ale. Oakshire was celebrating that the Feds approved the label while we were there. Look for that one in early March. Trust me, it will be worth the wait.

Our time to Zwickel had passed by then, a fun few hours that fleeted far too quickly. But it was very inspiring to be able to visit three different breweries that are all so supportive of each other and are all having so much success – and even more wonderful to watch all the fans that came by to celebrate great beer.

It certainly seems like sour beers have struck a congenial chord with women, especially women who normally don’t like most beers – and those who are prone to contorting into “bitter beer face” at the thought of beer.

I have a bit of a theory on why women might enjoy sour beers more than other beers. And it goes back to the caveman (and cavewoman) days.

There is a school of thought that women’s palates are more fine-tuned to bitter (not sour) flavors because, as the primary child caregivers, at least historically, women would often taste food first before giving it to their child. In fact, these earlier females probably even chewed the food a bit before giving it to the younger ones – especially in the days before cutlery and CuisineArts.

My crazy, eat-everything-in-sight dog aside, bitter flavors are usually a signal to most animals that what they have just stuck in their mouths is not safe. So, perhaps, a lot of women even today — especially those of us in childbearing years — are internally wired to initially reject bitter stuff.

But sour, now that is the flavor of unripe berries and other fruit still on the vine or tree. Cavewoman might not have had the luxury of letting those fruits ripen a bit more before eating them or feeding them to the kiddos. Women’s brains developed to not give us the “danger” signal with sour flavors like it did with bitter.

Of course, that’s not to say that with some practice, we can’t overcome this natural distaste. And there are some women, Yours Truly included, who love bitter flavors. I have to admit that it did take me some time to work my way up the IBU scale (it’s always work, work, work!). But now hoppy beers are among my favorite styles.

What do you think? Why are some women who just can’t get their lips around a hoppy IPA falling in love with some really sour beers? Are sour beers a trend with staying power or just a passing fad? What sour beers would you suggest to someone who is new to them?

In truth, I had never really been to Spokane at all, except once on a layover on my way to a wedding. So it was high time I high-tailed it over to Washington state’s second-largest city (with a population of just over 200,000 for those who are counting) to check out the beer scene.

According to the visitors bureau, the Lilac City is named for the Native American Spokane tribe, which means “children of the sun” in the Salish language. And, indeed, it is a dryer, sunnier climate than what those of us Pacific Northwesterners who dwell west of the Cascade Mountains are accustomed to. But it does snow in Spokane. And while my traveling companions Dan, Susan and I lucked out and saw little in the way of white stuff on our entire trip, we were told throughout our trip that we had just missed a big snow storm.

Apparently snow used to not be a problem for the folks in downtown Spokane. Up until 1986, a giant steam plant provided heat and electricity to most of that area. One nice benefit of having the steam plant downtown was that all the pipes providing the heat ran under the sidewalks to various buildings. Those pipes were warm enough to melt the snow, keeping the city’s downtown walkways clear for more than 70 years.

But, in the 1980s, it became uneconomical to run the steam plant, and it was closed in 1986, forcing the downtown denizens to buy snow shovels and find other sources for heat. The building sat idle for almost a decade before finding its new purpose – housing the Steam Plant Grill brewpub along with tons of office and retail space.

The Steam Plant Grille is the product of an architect owner, and attention to detail shows in every corner. It is obvious that extreme care was given to protect the integrity of the structure’s previous function – there are catwalks that stretch high into the 80-foot ceilings, small nooks and crannies for private gatherings, pipes and dials and portholes and other interesting items at every turn. One room, which staff sometimes calls the “proposal room” because of its intimate environment, has a porthole on one end where the coal was fed into it and pipes covering the walls; it almost feels as if you are sitting inside a pipe organ. This place definitely gets high points for uniqueness.

Proof that this place was steamy!

Standout beers, for me at least, were the Huckleberry Ale, subtle on the berry flavor with a nice, crisp finish; Lakeside British Ale, a richly flavored nut brown with a nimble body that makes the beer quite sessionable; Rockford Bay IPA, with its Northwest hop finish that isn’t too in-your-face; and the Pullman Porter, a chocolaty offering with enough roast in it to keep things from getting too sweet. I was most looking forward to the Vanilla Bourbon Stout, which is the most popular beer on the menu, but found it to have an artificial cream soda flavor derived from the use of extracts.

The food menu is varied, and each of us enjoyed what we ordered so much, there was little chit chat during the meal. A brief tour showed us that in addition to the restaurant area, which is divided into four “rooms,” there is also a pretty cool-looking bar downstairs which was hoppin’ that evening.

We needed a walk after our meals and sampler trays, so we set out to find some of Spokane’s other downtown beery delights. Close by, we found the Post Street Ale House, right next to the Hotel Lusso. It was packed with college students on this Thursday night, but the wait staff got to us right away and presented a beer list when we asked for it. There are 20 beers on tap with about six or so featuring locally made beer. The others seemed to be rotating taps from familiar names like Stone, Rogue, a few macros and so forth. The food menu looked pretty promising with usual offerings and a few unique items like a fried pickle. I thought at the time that the atmosphere seemed a bit stark, but read later that the place only opened in fall. Perhaps with time, its surroundings will help the place take on more character.

We somehow managed to find Baby Bar, the very aptly named side closet, nearly, of Neato Burrito restaurant. Getting into Baby Bar requires a GPS or tracking dog, but once you are there, you can see why everyone raves about this longtime Spokane hideaway. It’s tiny, so don’t bring a big crowd; you won’t fit. The bartender greeted us warmly as we walked into the neon glow and seemed happy to answer my questions, despite being pretty busy. There are about six to eight taps of mostly local beers, plus the ubiquitous Pabst tap that’s de rigueur in the Northwest.

A few taps at The Viking

We bellied up to the bar. The bartender plunked down a big bowl of popcorn for us and we placed our orders after perusing a list that featured 34 taps (no crap) and 108 bottles – only a few of which were macros. It’s easy to see why this place always wins the city’s “best beer” competitions – the bottle list included a nice selection from Belgium, India, England, Italy, Germany, Croatia and many other countries, including 11 U. S. craft breweries.

The juxtaposition between the perfectly kitschy beer paraphernalia, the trailer park interior and the relatively snobby beer list was enough to get me giggling. Or maybe it was the morning beer and the amazement that the place was packed at 11 a.m. with more folks streaming in as the lunch hour neared.

Talking with the two busy bartenders, it was hard to nail down exactly how long The Viking had been around, but the younger of the two said when she told her grandmother that she got a job at The Viking, Grandma knew where it was. Apparently, it had moved, though from a previous location. Judging from the looks of the place, that was a while ago.

Follow the light to Northern Lights

Housed in what used to be the Bayou Brewpub — which explains the Gator mural and French Quarter trappings nearby — Northern Lights moved in seven years ago. Before that, it was a production brewery on the outskirts of Spokane for nine years.

The place was packed with the lunch crowd and the food looked great, but we were on a beer mission. The sampler trays offered a huge selection of beers. I liked the 16—an anniversary beer celebrating 16 years that used nine hop varieties. Surprisingly, because I tend to not go for fruit beers, I also enjoyed the blueberry ale, which incorporates nearly 400 pounds of blueberries added at the beginning of fermentation. Susan liked the winter ale, a seasonal that’s easy drinkin’ at 7.5 percent ABV and Dan enjoyed the IPA, with a subtly different hop profile than many Northwest IPAs. It is also the best-seller. Northern Lights has recently started really pushing to distribute its beers, so a number of them are available throughout most of Washington.

Another great beer bar, the Blue Spark, was next on our list. We zipped in and took a look around. With 32 beers on tap – and all the taps reserved for imports or craft beer — plus a good number in bottles, this is a bar that could rival The Viking. The friendly bartender was very helpful, and gave us samples of anything we wanted and a few others he thought we should try. He also told us a few other places to hit in our diminishing time frame, which, to me is always a sign of someone who is enjoys promoting craft beer. I would definitely hit the Spark again on another trip to the Lilac City.

A former neighborhood drug store, now a great beer bar.

We didn’t have enough time and the staff was too busy to get details on all the beers, but there were a good number of them, mostly Northwest beers, and the above-mentioned Northern Lights IPA was on draft. Again, this will be a stop I make the next time I head to Spokane, because now that I have been there, I definitely want to go back!

The style? Well, it’s dark in color, with a prominent “Northwest” hoppy aroma – citrusy, piney and resinous – with sweet malt, hints of roastiness and toasted malt. The flavors strike a beautiful balance between citrusy-resinous Northwest hops and, to a lesser degree, roasted, chocolate malt or caramel notes. The body is reminiscent of an India Pale Ale, not heavy like a porter or stout.

This is not an easy balance to strike: It takes a very deft hand to make these flavors play well with each other together so they don’t fight one another; and the flavors must work in a way that they don’t resemble another beer style – such as a hoppy porter or American brown. But when that perfect balance is struck, something sublime happens; the result becomes more than the sum of its parts and another, completely different beer style is created.

So, what’s the brouhaha that’s brewing? Well, it’s about what to name this new beer style. Because of the basic, underlying style and its unusual color for such a style, there’s a natural inclination to call it the oxymoronic Black India Pale Ale or Black IPA. Others think it should be called India Black Ale or India Dark Ale. But a growing faction wants to call the style Cascadian Dark Ale.

Cascay-what?

Let me explain: Cascadia is a term derived from the Cascade Mountain Range; it is often used to describe the Pacific Northwest region that runs from British Columbia through Washington, Oregon, parts of Idaho and down into Northern California. That is where this style originated, thanks to brewers such as Rogue’s John Maeir, of Newport, Ore., Jacob Leanord and Bob Craig at Walking Man Brewing in Stevenson, Wash., and Matt Phillips of Phillips Brewing in Victoria, BC – to name a few.

After Maier debuted Skullsplitter, basically a dark version of his ever-popular Brutal Bitter, at the Oregon Brewers Festival in 2003, other Northwest brewers started playing around with making a dark, roasty IPA. The style has been found in the Northwest at a growing number of breweries, often as a specialty beer created for a festival. Widmer brewed a version as part of its Collaborator series – a program where homebrewers from the Oregon Brew Crew get to go pro and brew their winning beer on Widmer’s pilot system for distribution throughout Portland (proceeds of the beers go back to the homebrew club). And then, Widmer won gold in the experimental beer category at the GABF last year with W’10, a beer that is just now being released across the country – also called Pitch Black IPA, even though on the back of the label, the beer is referred to as a Cascadian Dark Ale.

Thanks to the additional exposure from Widmer and other larger breweries, other regions are jumping on the Cascadian Dark bandwagon. And that has inspired a group of Northwest brewers, beer journalists, experts and enthusiasts to jump at not only trying to get this new style sanctioned by the Beer Judge Certification Program, but to make sure the nomenclature appropriately fits the style’s original appellation. Hence, the push to call it Cascadian Dark Ale.

Full disclosure: I am among that group. And here’s why (in no particular order):

1. Black IPA and Dark IPA are oxymoronic. Black Pale Ale? Dark Pale Ale?
2. India Black Ale would, no doubt, become IBA. India Dark Ale would be shortened to IDA And Black IPA would become BIPA. Imagine the poor bartender at a busy, noisy pub trying to determine if you just ordered an IPA or an IBA or IDA. The term CDA would, no doubt, become the preferred nomenclature for Cascadian Dark Ale. CDA is a great bar call.
3. One of the things that endears people to a beer or beer style is the story and history behind it. While Cascadia isn’t a term familiar to the general population, it would prompt curious beer drinkers to learn more about the beer in front of them and the story behind the style.
4. Cascadian Dark ale celebrates the appellation and also the Northwest hops that give the style its unique hop character.

Last Saturday, I attended a symposium on Cascadian Dark Ales last weekend (thanks to Belmont Station Bottle Shop & Bier Cafe for hosting) designed to help get the style in front of the BJCP so it can become an actual sanctioned beer style.

What do you think? Is Cascadian Dark Ale a good name for the style? Do you prefer Black IPA? Can you think of a better name? Should the style even be categorized?

Beer festivals and music festivals are, in my books, two of the greatest things on Earth. In addition to providing a sense of community to throngs of kindred spirits, festivals provide ample opportunity to sample an astonishing variety and even become introduced to some new favorites – be them beers or bands.

Strange, then, that more often than not, the bands and the beers don’t mingle that well together; most music festivals still serve only industrial, fizzy yellow beer and the music lineup at beer festivals usually aren’t designed to be a draw, but a backdrop and a side stop to the beer.

So, as a first-timer, I was more than a little concerned about how I was going to fulfill my MDGBR (Minimum Daily Good Beer Requirement) on Jam Cruise. For those who have not been enlightened to the wonderment of Jam Cruise, let me try to explain: It’s a five-day floating music festival. On the Love Boat. (Well, not really. But it is a full-fledged cruise ship with all the trappings.) With top-notch musicians who hang out with you when they are not performing. And it all happens in the tropics in January. In short, it’s paradise.

Or almost. Cruise ships definitely aren’t known for supporting artisan beer. And some friends who have sailed other, similar-themed cruises tried, unsuccessfully but hilariously, to smuggle good beer on board for their voyages. (The cruise ship folks tend to frown upon such activities, because they want you to buy their booze while they have you captive on the ship.)

So, after my husband, Mark, and I committed to Jam Cruise 8, and we started saving our pennies for the big adventure, this beer girl was getting pretty worried about going without good beer for the duration. That is, until news surfaced that a couple of craft breweries have been involved with Jam Cruise for several years. Thanks to Starr Hill Brewing Co., of Crozet, Va., and Sweetwater Brewing Co., of Atlanta, the Jam Cruise sets sail with craft beer on board.

In fact, this year, Cloud 9 Adventures, the organization that deftly wrangles the Jam Cruise each year, expanded the craft-beer lineup, called “Brews at Sea,” to include other well-known craft brewers, Lagunitas Brewing Co., of Petaluma, Calif., Magic Hat Brewing Co., of South Burlington, Vt., and Shipyard Brewing Co., of Portland, Maine.

Admittedly, a beer fest it was not: Only a beer or two, always on the lighter-flavored side of the scale, were available from each brewery at only one (well publicized) Brews at Sea location on the entire boat. But long-timers Starr Hill and Sweetwater took advantage of the kick-off party to offer a free beer to each of-age Jam Cruiser, which, I think did a great service in helping promote not only the location of the craft beer station, but also how tasty the beers were.

Granted, the macros were available at every bar throughout the rest of the boat. And, also granted, I saw more Bud Light in Jam Cruisers’ hands than I did all the good beers combined – except on the pool deck where the Brews at Sea beers were stationed.

And, even I have to confess to sipping on a few strawberry daiquiris and gin and tonics, especially when the music took me far away from the Brews at Sea outpost. But when the “daiquiris (were) too fruitiful,” to poorly quote Jimmy Buffett, it was good to know that my craft beer in paradise was just a few steps away.

Truth or marketing hype? Well, it turns out those old-school advertising agents were right: It is the water. With beer being comprised of more than 90 percent water, and water being one of four main ingredients in beer (along with grains, hops and yeast), water is pretty important stuff, playing a large role in the final product.

While some folks might think that water is water, nothing could be farther from the truth. In fact, different water sources play a key role in certain beer styles. In Burton-on-Trent, England, for instance, the local water is extremely “hard” — it contains a high proportion of dissolved salts that come from the gypsum from the surrounding hills. The region’s iconic pale ales benefit from the extra minerals and create a flavor profile that accentuates hops and has come to be recognized as a classic style. Burton-on-Trent dominated the pale ale style brewing until a chemist, C. W. Vincent, discovered “Burtonization,” a process in which gypsum is added to water to mimic the chemical composition of Burton’s. Because of that process, any brewery can brew pale ale in the Burton style.

In Plzen, Czech Republic, the opposite is the case. The local water is very soft, thanks to natural aquifers, and the water’s lack of minerals and low alkalinity help create the softness and roundness that is the trademark of the classic Bohemian pilsner lager.

Recently, in my hometown of Portland, Ore., another great beer city in its own right, brewers have been grappling with a mandate from the Environmental Protection Agency that Portland, and all U.S. cities, filter its water to remove an intestinal parasite that the city’s water source doesn’t have – and hasn’t had for more than a century. A number of the city’s brewers, led by Widmer Brothers Brewing, say the process would strip the city’s water of important minerals that would alter the flavor of the water, and the beer. It’s an ongoing battle that promises to continue for some time, but certainly demonstrates the importance of water quality and composition in beer.

So what are some of the chemicals, elements and components that can influence beer flavors? Here are a few:

Calcium — Produces an acid that balances acidity and alkalinity, also known as pH. The balance is necessary for certain enzymes to do their role in the beer brewing process.
Magnesium — Used by yeast in the production of enzymes required for fermentation. Magnesium can diminish calcium’s effectiveness, so it has to be carefully monitored. At higher levels, it also can make the beer sour or bitter.
Chlorine – Often added by municipal water systems to prevent bacteria in water supplies. It adds a bitter taste and can be death on yeast. Fortunately, it can be easily removed by boiling or carbon filtration.
Sodium – High concentrations can kill yeast. Most natural sources contain negligible amounts, but some breweries with water sources near oceans might need to control of salinity.
Sulphates — Provide a dry, sharp flavor and can compliment hops, but in too high a concentration it can make the ale excessively bitter.
Trace elements — Zinc and copper are two trace elements that contribute to yeast metabolism. High levels can create a cloudy beer.
Carbonates – Promote the extraction of tannins from hops and grains.

So, the next time you enjoy that beer in your glass, think a bit about the water that went into the beer – there’s a lot more going on in there than you probably would imagine.

Oh, sure, I have my fair share of personal resolutions – such as volunteering more for my favorite causes, working out every day, eating more fiber. But drinking less great beer certainly is not one of them!

And I do have some resolutions for our wonderful craft beer culture. In 2010, I will strive to:

1. Finish the two beer books I am writing. And this time I mean it.
2. Attend more homebrew club meetings. I learn sooo much there.
3. Start on the Cicerone Program and, at the very least, get certified as a Beer Server.
4. Read beer blogs more consistently.
5. Blog more often.
6. Reach out to more women to help them find their own course of beer discovery.
7. Work with the Pink Boots Society to attract more women into the brewing industry.
8. Continue to beat that drum with the message that that beer is as sophisticated a beverage as wine and is just as worthy of being served with respect at the finest restaurants. But can still hang with you on a random Saturday with friends, too.
9. Work with groups across the country, hopefully through the Glen Hay Falconer Foundation, which currently sends Northwest brewers to different brewing courses, to help bring more brewing scholarships to craft brewers so we can all improve the art and science of brewing.
10. Throw an even better FredFest this year. The annual birthday celebration for esteemed octogenarian beer writer Fred Eckhardt is a fundraiser each year for a charity of Fred’s choice. Between the festival for 250 Fred fans, a silent auction and an online auction of rare and vintage beers, my goal is to up our effort to raise at least $17,000 this year.
11. Clean out at least one professional brewer’s mash tun so I can remember how physical the job is.
12. Give my backyard hops a bit more TLC this year and donate them to a local brewer for a fresh hop beer.
13. Offer to be the Designated Driver more often.
14. Continue to remember that beer is fun!

And now, here are Brew Year’s Resolutions from some of my fellow Hop Press peeps:

Joseph McPhee
For me, it’s visiting more breweries. I’ve got a few trips planned this year to places that I’ve never been before.

At the end of January, I’m going to get to scratch two places off of my bucket list… one is the Falling Rock in Denver, CO where I’ll be meeting up with a few ex-pat New Yorkers, apoptosis and notalush to catch up and have a few drinks.

Number two (which is really number one because it’s currently my favourite American brewer) is Russian River Brewing in Santa Rosa, CA. I fell in love with their stuff when I first moved to New York and they were still shipping to our state. This will be a great chance to actually see what the place looks like where they’re making some of the finest beer in the United States.

At the end of May, I’ll be in San Diego for a week and I absolutely love visiting that part of the country. The beer scene there is incredible and I’m hopefully going to be able to get myself out to Alesmith and to Lost Abbey to see where the magic happens there.

On the beer front (or actually drinks front) I’m planning to try to do a lot more cider sampling. I’ve started getting into cider in the last six months or so and I’m slowly realizing that there is a lot of stuff out there that isn’t very well known, so I’d like to do something to remedy that situation. That will probably involve a lot more mail order or trading for it, but that’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make.

Michael Agnew
2010 bucket list – That’s too much like making a new year’s resolution. I tend to stay away from such things.
Breweries – Embrace session beers. Enough with the uber-hopped-bourbon-barrel-doubletripleimperial beers.
Beer Fans – Ditto the above.

Ken Weaver
I resolve to study hard for my BJCP exam, to do more blind tastings, to spread the love of craft beer to as many as possible, and to finally get my AlcoHawk breathalyzer recalibrated.
Brian Cendowski – Untamed Beer
I do have a few beery things I want to do in 2010. Here’s my list:
• Attend the GABF for the first time (and get comped tickets)
• Win a homebrew competition award
• Interview Charlie Papazian
• Visit the Dogfish Head brewpub in Reheboth Beach
• Get legislation passed in South Carolina to allow breweries to sell/give away samples and sell their beer in their own facilities
• Have one random person I’ve never met come up to me and tell me they’ve seen me on Hop Press/Untamed Beer.
That’s about all I have for now. It’s an ambitious list, but I have to keep the dream alive!

Mario Rubio
My first resolution is to visit the Bear Republic brewpub more often. It’s so close and I never seem to go there.

I also want to continue down my path towards being as responsible a drinker as possible. It’s a slippery slope we work on. Access to free, potent, delicious beer. The path to enlightenment is through moderation.

My bucket list? Wow, that’s a tough one. I guess this also falls under resolutions, but I’ve decided to stop chasing beer as much and let life take me where it will. As I mentioned before, we’re offered opportunities to try the best beer in the world all the time. With the constant barrage of new reserve releases, barrel aged one time offerings, collaborations, etc it’s easy to drink one a day and still miss a few. So I’m skipping the headache and letting Jesus take the wheel.

Ashley Routson

THE BEER WENCH’S PERSONAL NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS:

1. Develop an editorial calendar and increase frequency of posts. Write on a consistent and regular basis.

2. Reduce amount of fried and fatty foods in my diet. Attempt to eat vegetarian at least one day a week (meat-free). Really really try to have at least one completely alcohol-free day a week.

3. Call my parents once a week and talk to them for more than a minute.

4. Spend more time outside. Walk and bike more often, drive less.

5. Start exercising again. Rediscover my love for physical activity.

THE BEER WENCH’S RESOLUTIONS FOR THE BEER INDUSTRY:

1. As an industry, we need to convert more corporate beer drinkers to craft beer drinkers.
2. As an industry, we need to increase market share in the entire beverage industry.
3. As an industry, we need to uncover more sources for funding and help open new craft breweries and brewpubs.
4. As an industry, we need to show the world that beer is a sophisticated beverage worthy of being in high-end restaurants and being paired with the most gourmet of cuisine.
5. As an industry, we need to continue collaborating and supporting each other

So, what are your beery New Year’s Resolutions? Share them here!