Thinking Ahead - Harvest Time at Paradocx

It's Harvest Time

We often ask the question: "What is your favorite time of year?" My kids give me different answers. My oldest loves Thanksgiving time. The twins love summer and Fourth of July. For me it's Autumn or as we like to call it here at the vineyard, "Harvest" time. 

I am a sucker for obvious reasons. The smells, the leaves, the cool air, the action at the vineyard, and Oktoberfest.

Why am I writing about this early September?   We have to plan ahead. The winemaker, getting ready for the harvest, the event planner, planning some of our biggest events of the year, and me, the cicerone, (fancy word for beer guy), needs to tap the fall harvest beers on time. 

Don't just blame us, look at the stores, you will probably see Halloween costumes already. I think I will be The Doctor, though I hear The Doctor will be a woman, oh well, we'll work it out somehow.

So what does that mean "Fall Harvest" beers? It can mean many things, specialty beers found mainly during the Autumn season. This could be a marzen style, which is sometimes referred to as Oktoberfest beer. It could be a pumpkin beer. It could also be just an excuse for a new seasonal offering. 

I start to see more Bocks and Dunkles this time of year too. Expect less bitterness and a bit more malt. Expect light caramel and biscuit like flavors. You may find wet hopped beers; this is a beer with more hop flavor but less bitterness. You may see beers laced with maple and spices, some with pecans, others with yams. Sounds like Thanksgiving huh? Can I get some stuffing with my beer?

If you are going to switch from burgers to German sausage or from macaroni salad to sauerkraut, then you might as well switch from lighter summer offerings to sweeter ales and toastier lagers.

I'm putting my feelers out and seeking a Pumpkin Ale and, or an Oktoberfest style beer to represent the harvest season here at the Vineyard and The Market at Liberty Place. So stay tuned.
  
Prost!

But what is an Oktoberfest beer and how did it originate? First, let me tell you where I have yet to visit and where the term Oktoberfest originated.

On October 12th, 1810, Crown Prince Ludwig married Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildurghausen. This was kind of a big deal because the entire town of Munich attended the festivities. It concluded with a feast and horse racing. Only 100 people attended my wedding and no horses..... The fields have been named Theresienwiese ("Theresa's fields") in honor of the Crown Princess ever since.

 Leave it to us lazy people to abbreviate it to "Wies'n". The following year they added an Agricultural fair and continued the horse racing. This was the birth of what we know as Oktoberfest. Now over 6 million sausage hungry and beer thirsty visitors flock to Munich for a 16 day fest. Food, singers, dancers, and all the rides a kiddie needs.

Ok Already, What is an Oktoberfest Beer?

The origin of Marzen style beers dates pre-16th century. Germany has always been very strict with brewing practices and beer ingredients. One such rule is that beer may only be brewed between the months of September and April. The Marzen is brewed in March hence the name Marz meaning March.

The beer was meant to last during the warmer months and the remainder drunk during Oktoberfest. Marzen was orginally a dark, full bodied, bitter beer, but now ranges from pale (Helles Märzen) to dark brown Dunkles Märzen. Expect medium to full bodied with a malty profile, and a clean dry finish.

One Final Thought

 Did you know lost & found collects around 5,000 items each year during Oktoberfest?

“Honey, I Lost my kid” This apparently occurs often because they have a lost and found children's station.

At the winery we occasionally find the missing phone or coat, but at the Oktoberfest in Munich, crazy visitors lose the strangest things, such as wheelchairs, baby carriages, crutches, dentals, at least one a year, a segway, a Weiner dog, a wedding ring, a garden gnome, a fishing rod,  a court order, a pet grasshopper, and a signed playboy magazine, and I hear they are still holding onto a guitar, a drum, and $50,000 in cash. Did I just say a court order? Probably the same thief that stole the garden gnome and my dog. Finders keepers I guess.

A Few Misconceptions Of Beer

I get it people, beer can be confusing. It was much easier when we just asked for a beer and they brought it, you know, the people that bring things. Now, we need to know what style it is, how much alcohol it has, and what glass to serve it in. I have compiled a few beer myths that keep haunting us. I hope to clear things up a bit. 

Dark Beer Is Stronger Than Light Beer

"Luke come to the dark side" Sorry, couldn't help myself.

I think most people believed this at one time. It reminds you of coffee. It just looks stronger, but what does stronger really mean? Does it mean more alcohol? Does it mean stronger more intense flavors? Not always. So what makes it dark in the first place?

Color and flavor come from malts and can range from pale to almost black. This doesn't mean it will have more alcohol. It means flavors, which can range between toasty to dark chocolate. Alcohol depends on the process of yeast feeding on sugar. A while back we served a Belgium style IPA called Stumbling Monk and it clocked in at almost 9% abv. Now that's a strong ale and what did the color look like? Blond. How about that?  And their Vanilla Porter takes us to 5.4% and the color? black. 

Beer Myth: "I Just Don't Like Beer"

I here this often and I usually shake my head. What this typically means is that you haven't had the right beer for you. So a beer is just a beer right? Wrong. There are over 40 styles of beer. Colors start from pale straw to jet black. Some of the many flavors of beer are light toasted bread, burnt toast, coffee, chocolate, caramel, banana, vanilla, Bourbon, grapefruit, spruce, licorice, raspberry, molasses, and peach. And like I said, this is just a smidgen of the flavors you can experience from different beers. Some are sticky sweet, others are bone dry. Some are light in body, others are as thick as cream. To sum it up, not all beers are created equal. Keep trying and you will find your 'aha' moment.

Canned Beer is Inferior To Bottled Beer 

Ok I confess, I was guilty for this for quite some time. First of all, when I first encountered good tasting beer, it was only available in bottles. This was in the early 90's. The only beers available in cans at the time were the mass produced light tasting, cheap less expensive beers. So I mistakenly assumed only craft beers deserved to be in bottles.  Talk about a "beer snob". The truth is that cans sometime keep beer fresher than bottles. Two enemies of beer are light and air.   Bottles allow light to enter, especially the green bottles. Cans deprive light from entering. Plus canned beers are less expensive. That is good for my tight pockets, not to mention more sustainable than bottles.  Another reason is that cans can go where bottles cannot. Sporting events, beaches, parks, and hot tubs, just to name a few. If you so chose, you can pour the canned beer into a fancy glass. It was 15 years ago when Oskar Blues first canned it's Dales Pale Ale and now there are over 550 breweries who can beers.  No bottle opener needed.

One Final Thought

In  2001, The schools in Belgium waged a war against child obesity claiming sugary drinks and fizzy sodas were causing diabetes and breast cancer. A beer society called the Limburg Beer Friends came up with what they thought was a healthy alternative - Beer. That's right, low alcohol beer called tafelbier. This was to be served during lunch to kids from 3 to 15 years old. 

I can hear it now, my daughters come home from school and I ask the same question I always do "Hi sweethearts, how was school?"  They reply -  I have no idea daddy,  I've been wasted since lunch. Do you think I can just have a soda tomorrow?