Brew Review: More Sam Adams Winter Classics

I somehow didn't get around to reviewing the rest of the 12-pack of Sam Adam's Winter Classics from a week ago. I guess the Thanksgiving holiday kept me busy. I did end up finishing the 12-pack with one exception and I'll give a short review on each of the brews I sampled. I previously reviewed the Sam Adam's Cream Stout, but still had 5 other brews to review.

The second beer in the sampler was the Sam Adam's Holiday Porter. This is a rich, malty brew with a fair amount of hoppiness to it. I love porters and this one is on my personal rebuy list. As you can see from the pic, the beer pours dark with a nice rich foam. I enjoyed drinking both of these bottles from the 12-pack. I'll give it a 3.8 out of 5 rating. I almost need to go back and drink more of this beer again to give it a detailed review, but if you love porters like I do, you'll want to get some of this.

This next brew is actually a lambic. A lambic is a more fruity beer and originally got it's origins in Belgium. It's a beer exposed to wild yeasts and has a unique flavor to it. This particular beer, the Sam Adam's Cranberry Lambic, was flavored with cranberries and has a hint of bananas, cloves and nutmeg. I've tried other lambics, such as the New Belgium Eric's Sour Peach, but this one left me wondering if I'll want to ever repeat this style again. I love to drink cranberry juice cocktails from Ocean Spray and I know that cranberries are somewhat sour to begin with and are in need of some extra sweetener to make it more enjoyable, so I at least knew what to expect. This beer starts out with a great taste, but seconds after swallowing the beer I found it to have a "nasty" after taste come through that really soured the whole experience. If it wasn't for the after affects of this beer I would have endorsed it more highly, but this one I could not finish the beer. Even food did not help this one. Sorry Sam Adams, but you can't make all beers taste good. This one I'll give a rating of 2.3 out of 5. I won't be drinking this one again soon. It was worse than that Flying Dog IPA.

The next beer in the sampler I tried was an old staple, the Sam Adam's Boston Lager. This was more of a classic style of American Lager and poured with a nice big head which complimented it's dark golden (near amber) color. This is a good session beer that would go well with just about any food. I loved the aroma from the German Noble hops in this beer. It's a beer that Sam Adams is known for and I tip my hat to them for it. As a Rockies fan, it's hard to love anything with the word "Boston" in it, but I admit I like it and would drink it again. I'll give it a 3.2 out of 5 on my ratings chart. It's a lower rating for a good beer, mostly because I tend to favor the maltier beers.

The fifth beer in the series is the Sam Adams Old Fezziwig Ale. This beer is clearly a classic winter spice beer. The brew has hints of orange, cinnamon and ginger in it. It's a nice brew to curl up to on a cold day with. I drink my beer at "basement room temperature", not cold enough to send shivers down your spine and not warm enough to want it chilled more, but at around 55 degrees. This is a fine sipping beer. I wouldn't want to drink a lot of it, but would welcome it at parties or special occasions when I want to drink something different. It didn't pour with much of a head to it but that didn't matter much. I drank 2 of these over the course of a week and enjoyed it with a nice light snack. I'll give it a 3.3 out of 5 rating just for it's uniqueness.


The last beer in the winter classic sampler was the Sam Adam's Winter Lager. This one reminded me a lot of the Old Fezziwig but with a slightly less dark color. It too had the scent of cinnamon and ginger but with a richer, maltier taste. It poured with a much better head to it and was very smooth tasting. It's definitely a beer for cold winter days, not a light summery drink by any means. It's one that I'd enjoy again as I quickly finished this one off. Sam Adam's proves once again that they know how to make holiday brews. I'll give this a 3.4 out of 5 rating.

So that's my review of the Sam Adam's Winter Classics. I'd recommend all but the Cranberry beer. Perhaps in their next mix of Winter brews they can substitute the cranberries with another sweeter fruit with a better finish to it, but otherwise, the 12-pack was well worth the purchase.

Brew Review - Breckenridge Brewery Vanilla Porter

Wow. I think I've found another great porter. I heard about this beer on a recent beer podcast and thought I'd try it out. It's another local Colorado product from the Breckenridge Brewery in Denver, Colorado - their tasty Vanilla Porter. As you can see from the beer image, this dark beer is full of rich dark malts and has a smooth, and I mean smooth, vanilla finish to it. I've become a BIG fan of porters these days and this one is now on my list for repeat buys.

In my continuing lifelong Beer Tour, I bought a six pack of this stuff over the holiday weekend as my stock of Sam Adams Winter Ales had already been finished off (more on those beers later). This beer had gotten a great review on the beercasts and I was anxious to try another porter. This is classified as an Herb and Spice beer only because it is brewed with vanilla beans in it. Don't worry, this is not a soda-pop beer by any means. It's a smooth dark porter with a wonderful vanilla aroma and finish to it. It's only 4.7% ABV, but that's ok. I'm not into getting plastered by high alcohol content these days. It has a low bitterness factor (16 IBU) and a rich malt taste. Breck Brew put in a nice combo of Two Row Pale, Caramel, Chocolate, Black, and Roasted Barley malts into this fine brew along with a light mix of Chinook, Tettinang, Perle, and Goulding hops.

I've already had 3 beers from this six pack and look forward to finishing them off. I'm going to give this a nice rating of 3.6 out of 5. I'll even put this ahead of my old ex-favorite Fat Tire. Ever since I've started trying out as many new beers as possible, I've really become a fan of porters and stouts. I'm turning to the "dark" side of beer and am loving it. You simply don't get that rich malt taste in lighter beers. Even ambers are now coming in a close second on my list of favorite styles.

So far, I've tried porters from Flying Dog, Sam Adams and now Breckenridge Brewery. It's a close race between Sam Adams and Breck Brew for my top porter.

In other news, Wolverine Fan has turned me on to a fascinating looking black and tan named "Mississippi Mud". The bottle (or jug) that it comes in is a draw all in itself. Check out his blog for a review of that brew. I've also added his link to BeerPal to the list of Beer links. Thanks for the heads up on that one.

Brew Review - Samuel Adams Cream Stout

Continuing on with my own personal beer tour, I picked up a 12 bottle variety pack of beer from the Samuel Adams line last night. This pack was dubbed the Samuel Adams Winter Classics and came with six different varieties that I'll be sampling over the next week or so. I chose to try out the Samuel Adams Cream Stout first. The picture at the right shows just how dark this beer is, but if you've never tried a dark stout beer before, don't let the dark color intimidate you. This is one fine smooth beer. I have a preference for ambers and darker beers of late and shy away from the uber hoppy pale ales. This one was right up my alley.

Now I'm NOT a coffee drinker and this beer definitely has aromas of coffee and chocolate malts in it, but this stuff makes me want to go to Starbucks and demand they add this to their line. It has a fairly low ABV% (4.9%) and is deemed a seasonal beer, although you could probably drink this beer at any time of the year. I knew after my first sip that this beer was one that I'd drink again. I decided to pair this beer with one of my favorite snacks - pistachio nuts. I must admit, that this cream stout covered up much of the taste and saltiness of the nuts but still went well together.

As I poured this beer into my favorite beer glass (pictured above), there rose a big brown foamy head in the glass that surprisingly went over the top before I could finish pouring the entire bottle into the glass. The foam was even tasty as well. This beer does not taste as heavy as it looks. It is smooth and has a "creamy" finish to it. There is not a big hop taste to this beer (which I was thankful for) and is not bitter in the least. It's not a beer that you want to drink fast, but rather enjoy slowly over time. It's very malty and has a wonderful aroma.

I'm going to give this beer one of my higher ratings (3.7 out of 5). I'd definitely buy this beer again, although seeing how this beer is high in calories, I'd better not drink too much of it or else I'll get a bigger belly than I already have.

Colorado Beer in the News 111407

Here are some links to news regarding Colorado and Beer from this week:

The Latest From Boulder Beer, Obovoid Empirical Stout - Beer Advocate

Shortage of beer ingredient could tap your wallet - 9 News Denver - Video

Colorado - The Napa Valley of Beer

I'm lucky enough to live in the heart of the American Beer culture: Colorado. Here is a story that Fox News from Colorado Springs put out about how Colorado has become the biggest producer of beer in the USA and how that affects the Colorado economy.

State economy taps into beer
Colorado Ales

By Mike Conneen
Posted: Tuesday, November 13, 2007

California might take top prize for its vineyards, but when it comes to beer, Colorado is king of the hill.

Our state recently became the number one beer producer in the country, churning up more than 23 million barrels in 2006.

All of that beer pours big bucks into the state's economy.

According to new research from the Beer Institute, Colorado breweries provide about 68,000 jobs, $3 Billion in wages and $1.6 Billion in federal, state and local taxes.

Governor Bill Ritter called Colorado "the beer brewing capitol of the United States". In 2006, the state outproduced California, Texas and New York.

Mike Bristol, owner of Bristol Brew Company in Colorado Springs said, "Colorado is starting to be known as the Napa Valley for beer."

At Bristol, production is up 15% this year, on top of 13% last year.

Of course, Anheuser Busch in Fort Collins or Coors in Golden make up an enormous portion of the state's beer production. According to Bristol, "A little growth for them makes a huge difference."

He said, "Certainly you don't need a calculator to figure out Anheuser Busch and Coors are a good portion of that. Certainly [Bristol's] 7,000 barrels didn't put us over the top. But collectively, it's a huge volume and wide volume of beers."

According to the Beer Institute, the state's beer industry puts $12.4 Billion into the state economy each year.

Bristol hopes that figure will help the industry's image. He said, "There's 100 small breweries throughout the state and much like us they're in communities. They're actively involved in their communities."

Here is a link to the original story: LINK

Beer Prices Going Up - Signs of the Apocalypse?

If there was ever a time to take action it's now. For the first time in years, there is a worldwide shortage of hops and barley - two of the key ingredients for making our favorite beverage - BEER! I found this article from WCCO TV in Minnesota about why you should expect to be paying 10% or more higher for your beer soon.


Brewing Problem: Hops And Barley Prices Rise

Jason DeRusha - Reporting

(WCCO) A worldwide shortage of hops and rising prices for barley are proving to be a one-two punch for the micro brewing industry. And many brewers expect the price for a six-pack to go up.

"It's gonna go up. We have to pass along some of those costs," said Surly Brewing Co. President Omar Ansari.

According to Ansari, Surly will produce approximately 62,000 gallons of beer this year. His small brewery has just five employees. The hops shortage has resulted in his price rising nearly ten times.

"I literally, my jaw hit the table," said Ansari.

Hops is one of four ingredients for beer. Water, yeast and barley are the others. Hops is a type of flower. For brewing, the flower is turned into little pellets. The pellets provide the aroma for the beer, and the bitter flavor that is beer's hallmark.

"If you can't get hops you can't make beer," Ansari explained.

Industry observers city several reasons for the hops shortage. Bad weather in Europe has increased demand for U.S. hope. However, low-profit margins in past years has forced many American farmers into planting other crops.

"Two years ago a pound of hops was $2. Now a pound of hops is $20, if you can find them," said Brian MacKenzie, owner of MacKenzie's Pub in downtown Minneapolis.

He said he's already raised prices on some of his beers by a quarter. He expects prices to rise again in the new year.

"We haven't seen increases in beer prices like this in the 13 plus years that we've been here," he said.

At Midwest Homebrewing in St. Louis Park, owner Dave Turbenson said he can't get nearly a dozen hops varieties. He expects he'll have to raise prices on his beer kits by about 10 percent, or $2 dollars a kit.

Hops aren't the only problem. Ansari said his barley bill is also frothing him.

"It up to 45 cents a pound. Last year it was 28 cents a pound," he said.


The original link to this story is here.

Here is also a video on the issue: VIDEO

Think the farmers are growing too much corn to make money off the new bio-fuel craze? It's starting to hurt us people. Stop growing corn and get back to growing more hops and barley! Heck, this shortage should be driving up prices enough for them to want to return to growing that stuff. I might even start growing hops in my back yard and do more homebrew. It's about to get ridiculous to buy a six pack of beer.

Summit County Brewer Has Success

I found this article out on the newswires. This one came from the Summit Daily News from Summit County, Colorado. Grats to Pug Ryan’s Brewery on the success at this year's GABF to this Colorado brewer.

Pug’s Pallavicini Prevails

For the sixth consecutive year, Pug Ryan’s has brewed up a winning beer for the Great American Beer Festival

By JASON SMITH
Summit Daily News
Summit County, CO Colorado
November 11, 2007

SUMMIT COUNTY — Dave Simmons, brewmaster at Pug Ryan’s Brewery and Restaurant in Dillon, wants you to know that the life of brewer is not as laid back as you may think. Only after you’ve put your heart and soul into crafting a beer that wins at the largest beer festival in the country can you then lay back and relax with a refreshing beverage in a tube on Lake Powell, and bask in the sun.

But that’s only for a moment; soon it’s back to the brewery and the business of making a beer that Summit County enjoys.

Thanks to that kind of hard work and dedication, Pug Ryan’s has won three medals this year, including the latest for their Pallavicini Pilsner, taking second place in the Bohemian Style Pilsener category at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver last month. More than 40,000 people sampled almost 2,000 kinds of beer in 75 categories. Judges picked the Pallavicini brew from 33 breweries that entered the category. The Brewers Association, who puts on the beer festival, notes that the craft beers, like those from Pug’s, have been a fast-growing segment of the overall beer industry, though it is still a small segment relatively speaking. The small Pug’s brewery has also won medals this year at the Colorado State Fair in Pueblo and the North American Beer Awards held in Idaho.

Simmons never expected to win any medals when he started brewing about seven years ago at Pug’s. “I started brewing to make good beer for my friends and I to drink,” Simmons said.

From a quick glance at the wall full of medals near the entrance to the restaurant, it’s obvious that brewing good beer at Pug’s has become almost commonplace. However the effort needed to win those awards and brew good beer is becoming greater and greater for Simmons and his assistant, Kerry Hose; the two make up the full team creating what’s on tap at Pug’s.

Not only do they have to deal with the usual headaches of any business — equipment breaking and shipments coming in late, thus slowing the brewing process and pushing deadlines — but they also have a shortage of hops to deal with. That’s affecting brewers across the country.

“Daily, I have to deal with the inhospitable world of hops,” Simmons said, explaining that he tries to plan what hops he needs nearly three years out. Between recent bad crops, an oversupply in the past decade that saw farmers abandon crops, a fire that destroyed more than 60 tons of hops at a major distribution warehouse, and farmers slashing their crops to make room to grow corn for ethanol production, hops are getting harder and harder to find. Not to mention the increases in gas prices that will have an impact on any business. Simmons says he spends hours each day just trying to contract out enough hops to keep up with his brewing demands. Because of the high demand and the drop in producers of hops, brewmansters may need to start rethinking what brews they offer and how they make each recipe in the upcoming months.

Simmons calls his most recent prize-winning brew a classic Bohemian Pilsner, flavored with noble hops and finished with a cool, crisp, malty taste. You can find the Pallavicini Pilsner, along with Pug’s Pale Ale, Stout, Scottish and Wheat beers, on tap at Pug Ryan’s Brewery and Restaurant in Dillon and their sister restaurant, the Blue Spruce Inn in Frisco.

Original story can be found here.

All Colorado Beer Festival

More Colorado Beer Festivals

There's a new beer festival in Colorado this year, the All Colorado Beer Festival will take place in Colorado Springs this Saturday, November 10th. Here's an article from KOAA-TV in Colorado Springs on the fest:


Beer festival spotlights local brewers

At Bristol Brewery, beer is a way of life. From the hops to the tap, the beer life cycle is lived out on a daily basis. The Colorado Springs micro-brew is one of nearly 120 different brewers in our state. In fact, Colorado is home to more commercial breweries per capita than anywhere else in the country. We also top the list when it comes to the number of gallons of beer produced.

All that beer got local connoisseur Randy Dipner thinking, "that's enough to make a festival and we ought to really focus on those folks and give them a chance to show off the quality product that they have."

So, Dipner has put together the first ever All Colorado Beer Festival to celebrate our state's brewing heritage. On tap are over fifty different beers all made by local brewers. "Durango, Keystone, Fort Collins, Pueblo...we have brewers from all over the state coming to Colorado Springs this Saturday," said Dipner.

The beer they are serving is nothing to sneeze at either. One in 10 medals awarded at the Great American Beer Festival last month went to Colorado brewers. Nine of those brewers will be at Saturday's festival including Bristol.

The All Colorado Beer Festival is this Saturday at Mr. Biggs, 5828 Mark Dabling Boulevard. The first session is from Noon to 4:30 p.m. The second is from 5:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

Tickets cost $25 at the door, $20 if purchased in advance from either the Theatreworks box office or the All Colorado Beer Festival web site. Proceeds will benefit Theatreworks and the U.S.O.

Posted By: Andy Koen (Updated: 11/7/2007 1:27:19 PM)

Original article link is here.

More Colorado Beer Festivals

College Credit for Studying Beer

This article came out of the Fort Collins Coloradoan on Monday, November 5th. Apparently there IS a way to get college credit for drinking and studying beer. Almost makes me want to go back to college. Read on...

CSU class serves up the science of beer
Brewing Science & Technology professor selective
BY TREVOR HUGHES - TrevorHughes@coloradoan.com

Ali Hamm is a molecular biologist who wanted to explore the idea of organic gardening and plants containing cancer-blocking antioxidants.

Her path led her to beer.

And ale. And lagers. India pale ales. Extra special bitters. Brown ales, porters and stouts.

"If I had an office, it would be here," said Hamm, a Colorado State University graduate student, sitting in the tasting room at Odell Brewing Co. on East Lincoln Avenue last week.

Hamm is studying both hops and brewing science at CSU. As a graduate student, she's conducting research into the kinds of hops that grow best under organic conditions in Colorado.

And she's one of 19 students in Professor Jack Avens' much-sought-after Brewing Science & Technology class.

It's the sole brewing-related class currently offered at CSU in Fort Collins, one of the hottest spots for craft brewing in a state that is now the No. 1 beer producer in the country.

Fort Collins ranks third in the number of breweries and brewpubs per capita - behind Durango and Boulder - boasting at least seven breweries and brewpubs in a city of 130,000 people.

Avens personally interviews each prospective student and sets the bar high for admission. Organic chemistry is just one of the prerequisites to get in to the class that is offered once a year. This is Avens' third class.

Students are currently brewing a beer at Odell, which will be offered on tap there and at the CSU bar Ramskellar. It's got an alcohol content somewhere north of 7 percent, making it stronger than most commonly available beers.

The class is officially titled "Brewing Science & Technology," and Avens said he deliberately focuses the lessons on the process by which beer and ales get from farm fields to the table, as befitting a class offered by the Department of Food Science & Nutrition.

"It's very, very scientific and not at all easy to do," Avens said of the brewing process.

Students in the class have discovered that one of their homebrews was basically undrinkable, they said.

That's not uncommon, said Brendan McGivney, production manager at Odell Brewing. He said home brewers often fail to properly clean their equipment, something commercial brewers work hard on.

"It's all about using stainless and cleaning," he told Hamm and fellow CSU students and homebrew enthusiasts Jill Cadmus and Jake Crawford as they stood in the Odell brewery. "Really cleaning, over cleaning."

McGivney started out making beer at home, and while he was a CSU student, he met up with fellow homebrew enthusiast Doug Odell. When Odell founded his brewery, McGivney came along with him.

Last week, McGivney offered Hamm, Cadmus and Crawford a sneak peek at his new brew, Big Bad Brown Ale, a rich, dark beer with an 8 percent alcohol content.

"The recipe was in my head, now it's in a glass," McGivney said. "That's awesome."

For Hamm and Cadmus, who are taking Avens' brewing science class, the opportunity to learn more about the best ways to make beer was too exciting to pass up.

"Enjoy every sip in one glass," Hamm said.

That's the same kind of advice Kirk Lombardi, regional brewer for the CB & Potts-affiliated Big Horn Brewing Co., offered recently.

Avens' class visited Big Horn, on West Elizabeth Street, on Thursday. After a tour of the brewery, and a discussion of the merits of whole-flower hops vs. palletized hops, Lombardi said it was time to start tasting the beer.

"That's what we've been waiting for you to say all day, Kirk," laughed graduate student Brian Heiwold.

Lombardi then walked the students through what he called a "sensory analysis," a process similar to the one used by oenophiles when tasting wine. Craft brewers are trying to create the same kind of appreciation for beer that wine drinkers have.

That sentiment is echoed repeatedly by Hamm, Cadmus and Crawford, who are trying to create a brewing club affiliated with CSU. While the effort is just getting under way, they're having a hard time wading through the university and government processes necessary to win recognition and approval.

"We have to get the technology and science into it, so people don't think it's just a beer-drinking club," Crawford said. "We want to have a beer-making club, not a beer-drinking club."

Original story link: here.

Free Beer For Share Buyers

I love this concept that a brewery in New Zealand came up with. Now if only we could get American breweries to do the same thing - I think I'd invest heavily! Wonder if they'll ship internationally. Read on from this story out of the New Zealand Herald...

Buy shares and get free beers, says brewery
Wednesday November 07, 2007
By John Drinnan - New Zealand Herald

Paddy Sweeney has come up with a not-so-subtle way to coax investors into the venture he hopes will be worth $100 million in six years.

He is offering them free beer.

The West Coast Brewery founder yesterday laid out the company's welcome beer-mat for its New Zealand initial public offering.

You get two dozen bottles of selected brews with every $8500 investment. The amount of beer increases as the investment gets bigger.

And whenever there is a new beer, West Coast Brewery will deliver a six-pack to all investors.

"If someone puts in $85,000 I'd happily welcome them in with 20 dozen," says Sweeney, a fourth-generation Coaster.

"The free beer is just a gesture, but it shows what we are about - we want investors to have a bit of fun," Sweeney said.

The offer at 34c a share for West Coast Brewery has so far raised nearly $1 million. It is aiming for $2 million and can go as high as $3 million.

Sweeney said he would consider a sharemarket listing and franchising in the future.

West Coast Brewery took over Westport's Miners Brewery in March.

The company is also seeking to raise up to $5 million in Australia.

Craft Beer Connoisseurs Push Wide Range of Flavors

I found this article out on the news wires. If I see something to do with Beer and Colorado - I'll re-post it here. Kudos to Catherine Tsai of the AP for this fine article.

Craft beer connoisseurs push wide range of flavors

By Catherine Tsai
ASSOCIATED PRESS

9:19 a.m. November 6, 2007

LYONS, Colo. – On the eve of the Great American Beer Festival in Denver, Horst Grieger and more than 100 other beer enthusiasts boarded buses for a daylong tour of area breweries.

Grieger, a trim 49-year-old Swede, had a pocket-size notebook in hand with the names of dozens of beers he had tried since arriving in Colorado a few days before, with ratings next to each.

“Five is average. Ten is the best,” Grieger explained during a lunch stop at Oskar Blues Grill and Brew in Lyons, a small foothills town between Denver and Rocky Mountain National Park. One of his highest ratings: 8.5 for the vanilla porter from Breckenridge Brewery in Denver.

Grieger, of Halmstad, Sweden, hoped to sample 100 to 150 craft beers he can't get back home. The three-day festival had more than 1,800 beers on tap.

“You're more to the edge,” Grieger's friend Lennart Neikter said of American craft beer. “More flavor, different styles taken more to the extreme. We love it.”

That's great news for the Boulder-based Brewers Association. The craft beer trade group wants to change beer culture from one about drinking as much light lager as possible to one that's all about savoring a wide range of styles, from hoppy India Pale Ales to sour ales.

“It's not about crushing them against the side of your head. It's something you enjoy with dinner. It's about the experience,” said Chris Lennert, the baseball cap-wearing vice president of operations at Left Hand Brewery in Longmont.

American craft brewers have long touted the strengths of craft beer, the all-malt beverages they say offer more flavor and variety than typical mass-market U.S. beers.

Some brewers are devising extreme recipes to stretch the definitions even more.

Boston-based Samuel Adams, helmed by Jim Koch, has its Utopias, sold in limited release with alcohol content reaching a staggering 25 percent by volume. Its sales are illegal in 14 states.

Dogfish Head Brewery's 90 Minute IPA – hops are added every minute as the brew boils for 90 minutes – is meant to be drunk from a snifter. Its 120 Minute IPA, in limited release, is 20 percent alcohol by volume.

Dogfish Head founder Sam Calagione remembers when his Delaware brewery was a laughingstock for using ingredients like raisins. It made 120 barrels when it opened in 1995. Today, it makes about 51,000 barrels a year.

“Consumers are deciding what to buy. They expect more flavor,” Calagione said. “We never had any aspirations of appealing to the average beer drinker.”

Of course, what's considered extreme has changed over time.

Twenty years ago, Sierra Nevada Pale was considered extreme, said Vinnie Cilurzo of Russian River Brewing Co. in Santa Rosa, Calif. His brewery has been taking used wine barrels and adding wild yeast, a technique once considered undesirable.

“If we'd done what we do today 20 years ago, we'd be out of business,” Cilurzo said.

Because craft brewers are by definition small, they don't have the pressures of attaining mass-market appeal. They don't have to run new brews past focus groups, batches can be small, and brewmasters can take more chances, said Tomme Arthur of Port Brewing Co. in San Marcos, Calif.

“We have a creative bunch of brewers and an accepting fan base. It makes for exciting times,” said Randy Mosher, author of “Radical Brewing.”

With all the talk of big flavor, higher alcohol content and limited releases, craft beer is doing its part to challenge wine and spirits.

The French Culinary Institute in Manhattan is holding a class this fall on beer styles taught by Marnie Old, its director of wine studies. The class is full.

Craft Beer Institute President Ray Daniels is launching a beer sommelier certification program, allowing beer servers to be recognized for their knowledge the way wine servers are.

The growing breadth of beer styles makes it necessary to raise the quality of beer servers, Daniels said.

The first-level certification exam is expected to be available in December through www.cicerone.org. Becoming a top-level master cicerone (sis-eh-rohn), literally a sightseers' guide, requires passing an essay exam, taste test, oral exam and tasting trial, plus experience in the field.

Craft beer represents about 5 percent of the $97 billion or so in annual U.S. beer sales. Sales volume growth was up 11 percent for the first half of the year over the same time last year, while overall U.S. sales were up 1 percent in that time.

That could change amid surging prices for barley and hops, as farmers switch to growing corn to feed a booming demand for ethanol.

With grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Brewers Association has been helping match international distributors with American brewers to expand their global reach.

But U.S. brewers are still courting drinkers at home at events like the annual Great American Beer Festival. An estimated 46,000 people attended the sold-out event this year. The next one is set for Oct. 9-11, 2008, in Denver.

2003 Beer Drinker of the Year Ray McCoy and his wife, Cornelia Corey, attended their sixth festival this year. Corey was named the 2001 Beer Drinker of the Year in a nationwide contest held by Wynkoop Brewing Co., founded by Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper.

Corey and McCoy were light lager drinkers when they met at a bar. By the time the Clemmons, N.C., couple wed at a service that included a ceremonial tappin