Beer 101: All About Ale

Wednesdays on the BottleBlog will feature an education session on wine, beer or spirits. Today, Shannon Spare continues her beer education

Last time I talked about the difference between beer and ale. Today I'll talk a little bit about ale, specifically.

In medieval times, ale was brewed as a source of nutrition. It was drunk by nearly everyone, as it was high enough in alcohol to act as a preservative, but low enough that it could be drunk in large amounts without causing intoxication. The higher alcohol was reserved for recreational drinking.

The following is a little bit about the most popular types of ale. All of the following, as I discussed, use yeast that sits on the top of the beer as it ferments, and ferments in higher temperatures for a long period of time. Originally, Ale was brewed without hops, but nowadays hops are lightly used in the production of most ales.

Classically Belgian, Golden Ale is generally high in alcohol, usually around 9%. They have low-to-medium bitterness and a touch of sweetness due to added malt. Golden Ales are lower bodied due to a higher carbonation level.

Pale Ale is made using a malt called, appropriately, a pale malt, which results in its lighter color. Pale ales are generally dry, and although they're known for being bitter they can actually range from bitter to quite mild.

India Pale Ale, or IPAs, are very high in hops so they're very bitter and dry, and usually a warmer copper color.

Amber Ale, is, you guessed it, amber in color. There are special malts, such as crystal malt, that are added to the beer to give it the richer, deeper color. Amber Ales are considered a medium point between the super light pale ales and the deep, dark browns.

Brown Ales are the darkest of the bunch, from a deep amber to a very dark brown. Brown are high in flavor, sometimes having nutty, chocolate or coffee tastes to them. Very heavy bodied, brown ales are generally sweet and lower in alcohol.

Quit Pigeonholing Champagne!

Tuesdays on the BottleBlog, we'll focus on interesting or exciting industry news from here in New Jersey, to the valleys of California, to the vineyards of New Zealand. Today Mike Steinberger reflects on the versatility of Champagne.

Quit Pigeonholing Champagne
The case for treating the fizzy drink like any other wine.
by Mike Steinberger

Like mistletoe, eggnog, and despised relatives, Champagne is something that people typically see only during the holidays. Even when Champagne is broken out at other times of the year, it is usually to mark special events—births, marriages, weddings, divorces, graduations, promotions, etc. Champagne is the ultimate celebratory tipple, yet this limited, somewhat frivolous role obscures a fundamental point—Champagne is a wine, one that happens to pair exceedingly well with all sorts of foods and that can offer year-round pleasure. As someone who drinks Champagne whenever possible and often with meals, I would love to see it embraced as a regular wine, one uncorked as routinely as cabernets and syrahs. But what are the chances of that ever happening?

The case for making Champagne a quotidian pleasure was memorably advanced by the late Lily Bollinger, matriarch of the eponymous Champagne house. Describing her personal Champagne consumption, she said, "I drink it when I'm happy and when I'm sad. Sometimes I drink it when I'm alone. When I have company I consider it obligatory. I trifle with it if I'm not hungry and drink it when I am. Otherwise, I never touch it, unless I'm thirsty." But an equally famous comment attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte—"Champagne! In victory, one deserves it; in defeat, one needs it"—cast Champagne as a wine reserved for important milestones. The Napoleonic view has long prevailed, thanks in no small part to the Champenois themselves, who have relentlessly marketed their signature sparkling wine as a luxury product best-suited to festive occasions and fancy restaurants (where it is invariably drunk simply as an aperitif).

From an economic viewpoint, Champagne hardly needs a makeover. If it's a niche wine—and according to the Nielsen Co., three times more Champagne is sold in December than any other month of the year—it occupies what is normally a very profitable niche. Champagne sales plunged with the onset of the Great Recession in 2008 but rebounded sharply in 2010. The CIVC, a Champagne trade association, says shipments were up 12.4 percent through the first nine months of this year and had increased by more than 30 percent over 2009 in countries outside the European Union. It estimates that 315 million bottles of bubbly will have been distributed worldwide in 2010, versus 293 million last year and not far from the record 338 million that left the region's cellars in 2007. Champagne is doing just fine in its role as a prop for Polaroid moments and a warm-up wine.
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But revolutionary ideas currently afoot in Champagne country are going a long way toward redefining what Champagne is all about. In recent years, the so-called grower Champagne movement has turned the chalky hillsides northeast of Paris into arguably the most dynamic viticultural hub on the planet. The big brands that dominate the Champagne industry normally purchase many if not most of the grapes they use from farmers throughout the vast (Champagne) appellation. They blend them together to produce wines that are meant to reflect the "house style." Some of those farmers, however, prefer to keep their grapes and make wines themselves. They work on a much smaller scale than the majors, often using grapes from just one village or even a single vineyard, and the sparklers they turn out are meant to reflect the particular attributes of the sites in which those grapes were cultivated— what is otherwise known as terroir.

Part of the pleasure of drinking Burgundies is exploring the differences between villages (Chambolle-Musigny vs. Morey-Saint-Denis) and vineyards (Meursault Perrières vs. Meursault Charmes). Grower Champagnes afford the same opportunity, and I think the better ones are very distinctive wines that demand to be treated as seriously as other wines—that deserve the kind of consideration that takes place at the dinner table as opposed to, say, at midnight on New Year's Eve. And in my experience, grower Champagnes really blossom in the company of food. While certainly excellent on their own, they tend to be quite dry and vinous in character and benefit from being served with meals and allowed to evolve over the course of an evening. Jon Rimmerman of the online retailer Garagiste urges his clients to drink grower Champagnes this way and often advises opening the bottles a day in advance—to essentially turn them into "normal" still wines. (He suggests keeping the open bottles in the refrigerator or a very cool cellar.)

And it is not just the Champagnes that benefit from being served with the food; the food benefits, too, a point emphasized by acclaimed importer (and now author) Terry Theise. The 57-year-old Theise didn't introduce grower Champagnes to the American market, but he has a large portfolio of them (15 producers at latest count) and is their foremost champion on these shores. ("I wasn't first to do it," he jokes, "but I was the first to overdo it.") He has long encouraged consumers to broaden their conception of Champagne and to approach it as they would other wines. He contends that Champagne is a great and remarkably versatile food wine because it is moderate in alcohol and offers very refined and harmonious flavors. He also says the fizz has a palate-cleansing effect. "Diners who retain their Champagne to contrast it with the white wine they thought would be good with their food will nearly always discover the Champagne is the better match," Theise says.

But here's where Champagne's powerful identity becomes its straightjacket. Bernard Sun, corporate beverage director for Jean-Georges Vongerichten's restaurant group, thinks the notion of Champagne as a celebratory or aperitif wine is deeply, perhaps unalterably ingrained in the public consciousness. He suggests that older Champagnes—ones that are 20-30 years old and that have lost much of their effervescence and became more winey in character— would most likely convert people to the virtues of Champagne as a food wine, but they are rare and expensive. He told me that wine geeks are often open to the idea of drinking Champagne with an entire meal but that regular restaurant-goers would likely chafe at the idea. "A nice glass of red wine with the main course is a tradition that is not easily broken," Sun says. "Champagne can pair very well with food, but for most people, I think the concept is a bit alien."

The other big, possibly insurmountable obstacle to Champagne becoming an everyday wine is cost: While there are plenty of bargain bubblies on the market, the quality threshold really begins at around $35 these days. As a general rule, sparkling wines are expensive to make: They are very labor-intensive, and because of the lengthy bottle aging that is required before Champagnes can be released (a minimum 15 months for nonvintage Champagnes, 36 months for vintage-dated wines), the carrying costs can be steep. So the reality is that good Champagne is always going to be something of an indulgence for most consumers. With other categories—Rhone wines, German Rieslings, even Bordeaux and Burgundy—a person can drink fairly well on a budget. A yen for Champagne is not so easily satisfied.

Yet even granting that Champagne is unlikely to escape its pigeonhole, there's no reason why people can't treat it as a regular wine on those occasions when they do drink it. So here's a suggestion: Over New Year's weekend, why not pop the Champagne early and serve it with lunch or dinner? Champagne matches well with holiday staples such as turkey and goose, and it can also work nicely with ham. If seafood is on the menu, an all-Chardonnay Champagne (blanc de blancs) or Chardonnay-heavy blend will make a good fit. A sturdy pinot noir-dominated Champagne can even stand up to red meat. Admittedly, bubbly and beef is an unusual combination, but at a time of year otherwise suffused with rituals, there's no harm in being a little deviant with the food and wine pairings. And who knows: It could even make for a milder hangover.

This article was originally published on Slate on December 29, 2010.

Happy New Year!

Our store hours today, New Year's Eve, are 9:00 am to 8:00 pm.

Limited Availability on North Coast Old Stock Reserve!

Thursdays the BottleBlog will feature an update on various exciting things going on at Joe Canal's: Reports of our travels, special event coverage, and more!

We we able to get our hands on a very limited amount of North Coast Old Stock Reserve! This complex beer is a small batch, limited release that has been aged in oak bourbon barrels. Last release was 5 years ago!

"Like a fine port, Old Stock Ale is intended to be laid down. With an original gravity of over 1.100 and a generous hopping rate, Old Stock Ale is well-designed to round-out and mellow with age. It's brewed with classic Maris Otter malt and Fuggles and East Kent Goldings hops, all imported from England." -North Coast

Just delivered to Woodbridge and Lawrenceville, this beer is geared towards a customers looking for limited, barrel-aged beers. No bottle limit! Come and get yours today!!

Wine 101: The History of the Champagne Toast

Wednesdays on the BottleBlog will feature an education session on wine, beer or spirits. Today, in honor of New Year's Eve, Shannon Spare explores the history of the Champagne toast.

This Friday night, all across our great (albeit snowy) state of New Jersey, people will be pouring bubbly and toasting at midnight. It's a time-honored tradition, we do it without thinking much about it: On New Year's, at weddings, at holiday parties and even "just like that." But where did it come from? Why do we clink our glasses so ceremoniously?

There are a few different legends, and it's hard to pinpoint which one is correct as they've all been passed down from generation to generation with no real basis on actual fact. The best legend I found dates back to medieval times, when water was often polluted so wine was thought to be one of the only "safe" liquids to drink. Interestingly, the primitive winemaking methods introduced large amounts of sediment into the wine, so it was easily poisoned. When hosting an event, to prove to the guests that their wine was not tainted, the host would pour a small amount of the guests' wine into his own glass and take a sip. When the guests and host were more intimate acquaintances, the guests naturally already had trust for the host, so to signify that he could skip the tasting ritual, the guests would simply clink their glass with the host's glass and drink. Thus, the "toast" was born.

People toast across the world. Many countries traditionally toast to "health": The Dutch say "Prost!," the French proclaim "Sante," Russians shout "Vashe zdorovie!" and everyone knows the traditional Irish "Slainte!" In Asia, toasts are celebrated by saying "Ganbei!" in China and "Kanpai!" in Japan, both which mean "Dry your cup!"

Here in America, in addition to our "Cheers!", we generally raise our glasses and make a speech about the occasion. Occasionally you'll hear chants of "Hear hear!" before the toast is made. This is thought to come from the days of the Towne Crier, who shouted "Hear Ye! Hear Ye!" in order to gain everyone's attention before he began with the announcements.

At any rate, pour yourself some bubbles this Friday night or any night, and "drink the stars," as Dom Perignon would say.

Happy New Year, and CHEERS!

Ice Wine Q & A

Tuesdays on the BottleBlog, we'll focus on interesting or exciting industry news from here in New Jersey, to the valleys of California, to the vineyards of New Zealand.

With ice wine, what’s the motivation for having the grapes freeze?

I recently brought some ice wine, which I understand is made from frozen grapes, back from Canada. What’s the motivation for having the grapes freeze?

Ice wine, as you no doubt noticed, is very sweet. That’s where the frozen grapes come in. As water freezes, the ordered pattern of molecules that make up ice tends to push impurities like sugar into the more disorganized liquid part. You may see a similar phenomenon in your ice cube tray; the cubes often look cloudy in the center. This is due to the water freezing at the edges first, pushing the impurities (mostly bits of dissolved air) toward the center.

Incidentally, this basic process is of practical significance. Silicon for the semiconductor industry is purified using this phenomenon; without it there would probably be no affordable consumer electronics.

But back to ice wine. It has caught on recently but is really a rediscovery. Pliny the Elder, who lived between 23 and 79 AD, wrote about grapes that were not harvested until after the first frost. But people lost interest in this kind of wine until 1794 in Germany. Today, Germany and Canada are the largest producers of ice wine.

There is another way to get sweet grape juice to ferment: Let a fungus attack the grapes, turning them into something akin to a raisin. As the grapes dry, water evaporates, but the sugars remain, making the grapes sweeter. The fungus that does this without wrecking the taste of the grapes is botrytis cinerea, often called noble rot. Wine made from such “rotten’’ grapes, called botrytized wine, dates to the late 1500s in Hungary.

This article originally appeared on boston.com's "Ask Dr. Knowledge" segment on December 27, 2010.

Happy Holidays!