Accidental Hedonist

The craft-beer world is an interesting place, with various brewmasters trying to find the next big thing. It seems that the scamps at Rogue ale are going to brand themselves with cult Doughnut-house Voodoo Doughnut, and release something called Rogue Voodoo Doughnut Maple Bacon Porter.

At first the idea sounds comical, due to the paring with Voodoo Doughnut, and the name of the beer makes it sound as if the beer will taste of the breakfast pastry. And in looking at the ingredients it well might.

The ingredient list from their full label:

Great Western 2 Row,
Chocolate,
Black,
Biscuit
Maple syrup,
apple smoked bacon,
vanilla beans,
vanilla extract
Pacman yeast,
Free range coastal water.

(I can’t ignore the “Free range coastal” descriptors in front of the “water” entry, because…sheesh…it reeks of made-up marketing terms).

What’s difficult to tell is if this release is a novelty release, with them trying to leverage both Voodoo’s cult status and the(now two year passed due) Internet’s passion for all things bacon. Sure, sure, the folks at Rogue will tell you it’s a serious release, but I’m not sure if the world is ready for a bacon porter, at least not to the point where they buy it often enough to encourage Rogue to make enough supply to meet the demand. Add to the fact that this isn’t simple a maple bacon porter, it’s a maple porter with a hint of cupcake.

This is the thing about novelty releases – It’s difficult to take them that seriously.

It’s possible that I’m not reading the winds that correctly, and perhaps the beer will have demand enough for several runs over the course of the next year. This is why I’m a writer, and not in the business game. But I do want to celebrate the Rogue is doing this at all, even if it fails miserably. I adore the novel. I love companies that take risks, and introduce new and different flavors into the mainstream. This is how our collective palate changes over the course of a generation or so. Twenty years ago, Pumpkin Ales were novel as well, and now they are a season standby for many breweries. Perhaps in twenty years, cupcake beers will be all the rage. I doubt it, but who knows what the future might bring.

More than anything else, what novelty releases do is alert the rest of us of what is possible, from a product stand point. In the hands of a master brewer, bacon/maple/cupcake flavored beer let’s us know that brewing can do far more than what the BJCP recognizes. A chocolatier who makes a Marmite truffle does the same exact thing, as does a cheesemonger who adds jerk seasoning to its cheddar. It’s innovation for the fun of it. Sometimes it pays off, and sometimes it fails miserably. But success and failures are beside the point. In the end, if you pull aside the biases and salesmanship of these folks, I’m willing to bet that if you asked them why they initially made these products, you’ll get an answer similar to that of “To see if I could.”

Such curiosity needs to be lauded and encouraged, by trying out their creations and seeing if they work. I’m going to try to get my hands on this porter for exactly that reason.

As alluded to previously, beer grew in popularity in England and Germany around the Roman age. Primarily due to the fact that growing grapes (for wine) in either Germany or England was a tad difficult at times. The Romans thought beer barbaric, but the outlaying regions of their empire didn’t really give a damn what those high-faloutin’ wine drinkers from Rome thought. Wheat, hops and barley were readily accessible. Grapes were not.

Ales: Ales are pervasive in Britain. Ales were initially beer made without hops (which were not abundant in the Isles), but over the past few centuries, that has now changed. Instead, ales are now distinguised by the “top-fermenting” yeasts that work at near room temperature (50-70F). Ales are often best served warm, as their complexity of flavors come forth better in that environment. Types of “top-fermenting” beers include the following:

Bitters:Bitters are beers which are bitter or very bitter to the taste because of the addition of hops.
Brown Ale:This is a style of beer that’s sweeter, darker, and less bitter than the typical American lager beer.

Pale ales:These golden brown ales are somewhat bitter and fruity.
India Pale Ale (IPA):This is a bitter, full-bodied ale that’s relatively high in alcohol.

Porters:This is a dark beer with a heavy foam and a bitter flavor.
Stouts:This dark beer tastes strongly of malt and hops. Stronger than it’s parent brew, Porter.

Barley wines:Barley wines are golden to amber coloured very strong and heavy top fermented beers with a fruity and malty flavour and a bitterish aftertaste. Those special beers have an alcohol level over 9%.
Alt:Sweetish to very sweet and bitterish beer with often a burnt or roasted flavour.

Lagers:Lagers are brewed with “bottom-fermenting” yeasts at much colder temperatures, 35-50F over long periods of time (months). As lager yeast can survive, metabolize, and reproduce at lower temperatures. The result is a very clean, sparkling beer. Lagers are best served at slightly cooler temperatures than ales, 40-50F. Some of the typs of lager include the following:

Bocks: Bocks are brewed in the fall when barley and hops were at their peak. It was “lagered” all winter and enjoyed in the spring at the beginning of the new brewing season. There are several typs of bocks, including-

Helles Bock – Helles Bock is an amber to light coloured, rather strong, sweety barley beer specially brewed in the spring and the summer. There are three types of Helles Bock, inlcuding Meibok (May Bock), Lentebok (Spring Bock) and Zomerbok (Summer Bock). Traditionally, Meibok was a stronger beer than the standard brew, because it was brewed before the summer and the quality of the beer had to be able to endure the summer temperature rises. The alcohol was used as a preservative. Meibok is amber to light in colour, rather strong, and usually somewhat sweet. Summerbocks are usually lighter and more bitter.

Dunkles Bock – Dunkles Bock, the original German bock-style, refers to a heavy low fermentation beer with a dark colour. There are several sub caetgories of Dunkles Bock, including Herfstbok, Winterbok, Dubbelbok and Tarwebok. The Herfstbok is the traditional German bock-style, the Winterbok is a much stronger and sweeter version, a Tarwebok is a variety where not only barley but also wheat is used to brew the beer. This results in a less heavier, less sticky beer.

Doppelbocks:A doppelbock is a stronger version of the Herfstbok mentioned above.
Märzen/Oktoberfest: A bottom fermented beer with a copper-reddish-brown color traqditionally brewed in March and April, and then stored in refrigeration for several months in order to be consumed at Oktoberfest.

Pilsners:Probably the most widely known in America, Pilsner is a light low fermentation beer with a taste ranging from neutral to bitter. Substyles of pilsener are export, luxe and dry beers.

Taste: Although types of beers will have similar characteristics, they all will have a taste that is unique to themselves. Guinness Stout does not taste like other stouts. A Taddy Porter will not taste like an Elysian Brewery Porter.

In fact, there will be differences in how the beer is served. Draught (Draft) beer will taste different from bottled, which will taste different from canned (which should be your order of preference …draft, bottled, and then…god help you…canned). And if you have a truly artisan brewery, the taste of the brew may vary from keg to keg, depending on when it was brewed and how long it has been tapped. It’s when your local brewery is at this level that they really can start competing with wine as a beverage of choice. When they quality of the barley harvest affects the taste of your beer, each brew becomes it’s own entity. And you can hang out with your wine snob friends and while partaking of your favorite brew, say “While this is a smooth drink, it’s still doesn’t carry the nuttiness of their release last fall.” And your friends will nod their heads, impressed.

And somewhere, the snobs of ancient Rome will be turning in their grave. After all, your still drinking a barbarian drink after all.

This cake is a heavy cake. Not heavy as in groovy but in its denseness. But it is worth it. The porter gives the cake a dark complexity that compliments the sweetness of the raisins and currants, as well as the bitterness of the mixed peel. It also gives your kitchen a very nice aroma while baking. It is fairly labor intensive, especially if you have to make your own mixed peel as I did, but I believe it to be worth it in the long run.

• 1 lb All purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons allspice
• 8 oz butter or block margarine
• 8 oz currants
• 8 oz golden raisins
• 4 oz mixed peel, chopped
• Grated rind of 1 lemon
• 12 oz soft brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 5 fl oz porter
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 9 in round or 8 in square cake tin, approx. 3 1/2 in deep

Line the bottom and sides of the cake tin with greaseproof paper. Brush with a little melted butter or margarine.
Sift the flour and allspice into a large bowl. Cut the butter into pieces and rub into the flour until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

Stir in the fruit, mixed peel, lemon rind and sugar, mixing well to combine. Add the beaten egg.

Dissolve the soda in the Guinness, make a well in the centre of the flour and fruit mixture, and gradually work in the Guinness and soda. Mix thoroughly.

Pour into the prepared tin, smooth the top and bake in the pre-heated 325°F oven for 1 hour, then reduce the temperature to 300°F, cover the top of the cake loosely with a sheet of greaseproof paper and bake for a further 1 – 1 1/2 -hours. You should start checking for doneness about 30 minutes after reducing teh heat to300°F.

The cake should be a deep brown colour and firm to the touch when cooked.

Leave to cool inthe tin before turning out and removing the paper.

Serve with chocolate sauce or by itself. The taste gets deeper and richer after 3-5 days.

I was going to write about the history of beer… honest I was. But I found myself in the beer aisle of Whole Foods and wondered what porter tasted like, and how was it different from your typical American mainstream lager.

So I used my debit card and picked up four different Porters… Perseus Porter (pictured) from Elysian Brewery, Steam Train Porter, brewed by Snoqualmie Falls Brewing Company, The Famous Taddy Porter by Samuel Smith Old Bewery, and finally a Smoked Porter from the Alaskan Brewery. I bought some cheese and meats to go along with the taste and hustled home in Sebastian (my Mini Cooper). I felt very British.

But what is Porter? According to the The Guinness Drinking Companion by Leslie Dunkling (via the Beer FAQ), it was common in the early 18th century to call for a pint of “Three threads”, meaning a third of a pint each of ale, beer, and twopenny (the strongest beer, costing twopence a quart). A brewer had the idea of brewing a beer that united the flavors of all three. He called this beer “Entire”.

Entire was highly hopped, strong, and dark. It was brewed with soft rather than hard water. Within a few years Entire was also being referred to as “Porter” (short for porter’s ale) because the porters of the London street markets were especially fond of it. Porter that was extra strong was known as “Stout Porter”, and eventually “Stout”. If you are a big fan of Guiness, you owe a great deal to Porter.

Porter is a dark beer, of this there is no doubt. But it’s not as bitter as one would think. In sampling the Perseus Porter, I found it to be hoppy and malty, as mentioned above, but also smokey and a little chocolately. I found that it went perfectly with Roast Beef and a little smoked duck. But you can also serve it with grilled beef and hamburgers, and even chicken or pork. The smokiness of the porter compliments the grill quite well. If you find yourself with a very sweet porter, you could also match it up quite nicely with BBQ.

The chocolate undertones of the porter also match very well with mexican moles and most every mild chocolate dessert. Porter is very adaptable.

So am I now a Porter fan? It’s certainly a rich beer, and one I can appreciate. So yes, it has its time and place. But it’s not something I would drink by itself. It needs food to compliment it for me to appreciate it.

And yes, I know I need proper beer glasses.