DRAFT Magazine

By Sarah Whitmire

Don’t get us wrong; at DRAFTMag.com, we realize that sometimes the best part about beer is picking up a six-pack on the way home from a long day and simply relaxing. For some, that weekday pilgrimage is not likely to be replaced with a five-hour science experiment of lifting hot pots and a month of patience. But now that we got our feet wet (and sticky) in the homebrew process, there’s a couple a things you need to know…

Size matters
Viewers who caught Homebrewing an Apple Crisp Ale may have noticed the operation being done on a smaller scale. That homebrew kit in particular was from Brooklyn Brew Shop, a couple-run homebrew store that puts out kits in smaller, one-gallon sizes perfect for taking up little space in a New York City apartment. Brewing with this kit could only have been easier if they’d overnighted the beer straight from Brooklyn; plus, the price was right. It was about $60 for the baby kit and grain mix (including shipping from New York to Phoenix). The trade-off? Less beer to show for all your hard labor. This one gallon kit only yields about 12 bottles, and even less when you don’t pour hot wort very well.

Science rules!
Since no one saw fit to talk about brewing beer on Bill Nye or the Magic School Bus, homebrewing calls for a little brushing up on basic chemistry and physics. For starters, be sure to have some kind of unit converter handy to easily keep track of volume; measurements could be in ounces, gallons, cups, quarts, etc. The most insignificant error in converting units can have pretty profound effects on your final product. Next, take time to figure out how beer works (besides the obvious); Brew Your Own has a great article detailing how malt, yeast, hops, and water come together. Trust us on this one, if you don’t know roughly how beer is made in the first place, the already daunting homebrew instructions are going to seem a whole lot worse. Lastly, be smarter than gravity. Don’t assume that you understand all the physics of siphoning liquid from place to place. If physics weren’t your strong suit, practice siphoning with containers of water set on the same levels you plan to use for your beer.

Read the instructions
The straight-forwardness of this point is annoying, but skipping, mis-reading or mis-understanding even one step of the process could ruin your whole batch. If you are brewing by yourself, get a friend in on it to provide a second opinion. As a side note, read the instructions as soon as your kit is home (especially if it is being shipped, and even more so if you live in a warm climate). Depending on your brew, some ingredients (namely, liquid yeast) need to be refrigerated. So if you let your kit sit for more than a day, the included ice pack will do it’s predictable thing; not only will this grime up your brand-new kit, but the yeast will die.

You aren’t the first person to make beer
The Mesopotamians beat you to the punch by about five centuries, but the point is, you aren’t alone. If you think something isn’t going right, or you just want to know more, the answer to your question is probably online. Even more fun is the homebrew sub-culture; beer drinkers are already a subset of the mainstream, but when you begin to brew, you join the ranks of some pretty cool folks. The American Homebrewers Association has great resources and forums to answer questions you didn’t know you had, and you can find out what homebrew events or competitions may be going on in your area.

Have fun!
Brewing at home is a fun, interesting process that any beer connoisseur should dabble in at least once. Despite all the pointers on things that could go wrong, there are really only a handful of ways to mess up the brew. At the end of the day, you can enjoy drinking the craft beer of your choice, at Bud Light prices. By the way, how did that Apple Crisp Ale fair among DRAFT writers?

“Definitely a great brew for the winter season. This beer’s caramel malts, floral hops, and cinnamon undertone would pair perfectly with holiday cookies,” said Christopher Staten, DRAFT associate editor.

“What I love most about it is that its certainly an apple beer — there’s just the slightest hint of sour apple in the very back of the swallow — but that it’s a complete 180 from cider. The emphasis is on the apple skin, hops and, cinnamon; they combine to produce a really floral, herbal, and decidedly bitter beer that’s akin to a dark apple pale ale. It’s delicious — too bad the batch wasn’t bigger!” said Jessica Daynor, DRAFT Managing Editor.

– Sarah Whitmire is an editorial intern at DRAFTMag.com.

By Zak Stambor

For as long as there has been light beer, light beer has been the domain of the “less filling, tastes great” crowd who seem more eager to pound beers than to sit back and pay heed to a beer’s flavor.

And for as long as there has been craft beer, it has been the domain of beer geeks eager to sit back and contemplate the look, scent, and taste of their beer.

So it’s not surprising that light beer and craft beer have long stood at opposite ends of the beer-drinking spectrum.

But that doesn’t mean that it will always be that way, suggests Jim Koch, founder and brewer of Boston Beer Company, parent company of Samuel Adams, which introduced Samuel Adams Light in 2001.

“When I started Sam Adams 25 years ago, quality American beer was an oxymoron,” he says. “It took 15 years for it to break through. Today most people think quality light beer is an oxymoron, but Sam Adams Light is a quality beer. You just have to get over the fact that it’s called a light beer rather than a session beer.”

Anne Sprecher, spokeswoman for Glendale, Wis.-based Sprecher Brewing Company, which brews Sprecher Micro-Light Ale, a light beer that also happens to be true to the style of an English summer ale, agrees.

“[Micro-Light Ale] is just a lighter style of beer for us,” she says. “People have different palettes. Not everyone wants a super-dark or heavy beer.”

So while craft light beer may sound like an oxymoron, it may not stay that way for long as breweries ranging from Abita and New Belgium to Spoetzl (which brews Shiner beers) have each released their own take on light beers.

A different name for a session beer
In many ways, light beer is simply an American take on European session beers like English mild ales or Czech pilsners, says Koch.

From 1987 to 1998, Boston Beer’s session beer was Sam Adams Lightship. But since it was essentially a light beer that wasn’t labeled a light beer (despite “light” being in the Lightship name), Koch felt that he could produce a better session beer.

“The goal was to brew a good beer for beer drinkers who occasionally want something less filling but still want a flavorful beer that tastes like beer,” he says. “As a brewer I knew I could make a great beer with 40 pounds of malt versus 50.”

Yet, despite his confidence, Lightship’s successor took two years and 24 recipes to perfect. Figuring that most American beer drinkers wouldn’t know what a session beer was if he labeled the beer “session lager,” Koch dubbed the beer Sam Adams Light.

The move rocked the beer world as Koch’s brewery was the largest craft brewery to move into a domain long dominated by the macros.

Two years after the introduction of Sam Adams Light, Abita decided to try its own hand at brewing a light beer.

“We did all the things that make a craft beer a craft beer a craft beer,” says Mark Wilson, Abita brewmaster. “We weren’t trying to conquer the light beer market; we just wanted to offer consumers the option of a light beer.”

A new style
Unlike Abita and Sam Adams, when New Belgium introduced its own light beer, Skinny Dip, it didn’t label the beer “light” and only offered it in the summer.

“We felt like a light beer fit well in summer time,” says Grady Hull, New Belgium lead brewer.

Like Koch, whose Sam Adams Light isn’t true to any particular style, New Belgium’s brewers crafted a unique beer, in part, to avoid direct comparisons with the brewery’s other efforts.

Whether craft light beers is a fad or a widespread movement remains to be seen. But if Yuengling, the Pottsville, Penn.-based brewery that has been around since 1829, is any indication, they’re here to stay.

Light lager, the brewery’s light offering that was first brewed in the mid-1990s, is a major piece of the brewery’s portfolio, according to brewery owner Dick Yuengling.

“It’s about 15 percent of our sales but its growing,” he says. “Without it, we couldn’t grow at the rate we are [since he bought the brewery in 1985 the company production has grown from 137,000 barrels a year to nearly 2 million]. To be in the business you have to have a light version of your product.”

Consider me among the skeptics. Just because craft breweries are producing light beers, doesn’t mean that they’re necessarily as tasty as their full-bodied counterparts.

As someone who has always figured that an extra 50 or so calories won’t do me any harm (to be labeled a light beer, the beer must be 25 percent fewer calories than the brewery’s regular offering), the only time I drink a light beer is when my options are light beer or no beer.

But with so many craft breweries producing them these days, I decided to give them a try. Here are my notes:

Abita Light
Calories: 119
Appearance: Clear, light straw
Scent: Some citrus, slight malt
Taste: Fairly thin, with faint flowery and malt notes
Impression: Not much to say, as it’s a non-distinct beer that is thin in body and flavor

New Belgium Skinny Dip
Calories: 110
Appearance: Golden brown
Scent: Malt, generic citrus
Taste: Heavy on the malt, with a hint of the Kaffir lime in the finish
Impression: A heavier body than what I normally think of as a light beer. It’s refreshing, but would I stock it in my fridge? Probably not.

Sam Adams Light
Calories: 124
Appearance: Golden brown
Scent: Caramel, malt
Taste: Fairly straightforward with faint caramel and sweet malt flavors. Thinner in body than I expected from the color.
Impression: Perfect example of why I don’t often drink light beer — the flavors are too thin and watered-down.

Shiner Spezial Leicht
Calories: 99
Appearance: Clear, light straw
Scent: Grainy, with a faint fruity note
Taste: Sweet with a subtle fruitiness and a hint of grass in the finish
Impression: Not great, not terrible. Better than a macro light beer, but not anything I’d stock in my fridge.

Sprecher Light Ale
Calories: 137 (per 16 ounce bottle)
Appearance: Golden
Scent: Sweet, nutty malt, honey
Taste: Another straightforward brew with sweet, bready malt flavors and a fruity, honeyed finish.
Impression: More complex than a typical light beer, but not overwhelming overall. It’s refreshing, but lacks an overall punch.

Yuengling Light Lager
Calories: 99
Appearance: Light amber
Scent: Bread-like malt
Taste: Caramel and bread-like malt flavors dominate the thin body
Impression: Not bad, although it did taste slightly watered-down

After downing six light beers in an afternoon, Zak Stambor decided that calories-be-damned, he’s sticking with regular beer.

Last week, we tasted 42 barbecue sauces in hopes of finding our favorites. This week, we’re taking on 26 rubs. We’ve had just about enough of this, but enjoy.

Rub with Love Chinese 12 Spice Rub (DRAFT favorite)
A mind-blowing blend of spices like coriander, fennel, cardamom, anise, and sumac make an indelible mark on traditional ingredients like chipotle and smoked paprika. Meanwhile, a healthy dose of brown sugar yields beautiful caramelization and a perfectly crunchy crust.
Buy it: www.tomdouglas.com

Rub with Love Pork Rub
This brown sugar-based mix of coriander, cumin, black pepper, smoked paprika, and ancho-cayenne heat makes for a beautiful crust on pork loin or ribs. A sweet, bready flavor gives the meat something to cling to, but doesn’t overshadow its natural juiciness.

Rub with Love Exotic Mushroom Rub
Deliciously earthy and genius on chicken, this rub combines dried porcini mushrooms with salt, garlic, herbs du Provence, and rosemary. Our testers all got a happy-quizzical look on their faces after one bite — “What is that?” — as the mushrooms are hard to pin down; they translate into a gardenlike, almost Italian essence that’s simply exquisite.

Seasoned Home Grandpa’s BBQ
Culled from a quaint spice shop in Western Michigan, Seasoned Home’s rub is basic barbecue well-done: It contains brown and white sugar, salt, onion, paprika, and more spices, resulting in a subtle flavor with a honeylike hint that’s best on chicken.

Wild West Spices Cowboy Cajun
We didn’t get much Cajun from this rub, but it’s a solid offering nonetheless; herbal qualities (is that oregano we taste?) make for pleasant aromatics and a nice floral hint in the flavor, and the blend chars perfectly.

Wild West Spices Honey BBQ (DRAFT favorite)
We were shocked when this seemingly subdued honey rub did triple-duty as a flavor-locking finish, char brightener, and a subtle sweetener. Garlic, brown sugar and Worcestershire offset the honey notes with a Teriyaki-like darkness, creating a super-versatile rub that doesn’t overwhelm an entire meal.
Buy it: www.wildwestspices.com

Outlaw Dry Rub
This standard rub’s main draw is its well-tamed smokiness — just a hint lends another element to the brown sugar/chili powder/paprika/garlic/cayenne mix. One panelist said, “I like that the flavor is deep and not too salty; but other than that, there’s not much to talk about.”

Pepper Dog Dry Rub
Smoky and woodsy with some solid earthy flavors, this rub packs some substantial heat — but not so much to make the blend unpalatable. The rub could benefit from a touch more sweetness and perhaps more sugar to moisten it, but char fans will appreciate its dryness.

El’s Kitchen Dry Rub for Beef
A crowd-pleasing standard barbecue rub, this blend has all of the usual suspects when it comes to spice. We like the idea of using this as a base for a customized rub; add brown sugar for a sweeter, glaze-rub, or toss in red pepper flakes or ancho powder for extra heat.

El’s Kitchen Dry Rub for Pork
We like this rub’s lemon essence, but the panel unanimously agreed the blend is too salty. Paprika, black pepper, cumin, and cayenne pepper give the rub solid footing, though; use it on pork loin, and char it a bit for good measure.

Bear Man Tummy Rub
Two types of paprika lend a warmth to this rub, which offers a moderate heat level and a pleasant crispiness on meat. It could benefit from less salt, but the taste is distinctive: One taster said, “It tastes like barbecue potato chips!”

Knox Chipotle BBQ
This super-fragrant rub exudes a tasty Teriyaki essence; it lends a subtle sweetness to pork, chicken, and beef — with a spot-on spicy kick at the end. The heat lingers and builds throughout a meal, but never becomes fire-alarm overwhelming.

Knox Cracked Pepper
Chunky with big hunks of cracked black pepper (and some sea salt, toasted garlic, onion, oregano, caraway, and cayenne for good measure), this wasn’t our favorite barbecue rub, but it’s hands-down delicious on skirt steak or a T-bone.

Knox Jamaican Jerk Dry Rub (DRAFT favorite)
The most fragrant rub we tried, this jerk version emits a hunger-inducing aroma of Jamaican allspice, cinnamon, clove, and mace. “There’s a lot of depth, but the spices aren’t overpowering,” said one tester. “It’s good for the grill, but I could also use this on a holiday roast.”
Buy it: www.knoxspice.com

Olde Westport Pork Dry Rub (DRAFT favorite)
Our tasters loved the grassy and lemony hints in this earthy, herbal pork rub. Chili pepper and roasted red pepper flavors lend a smooth spice rather than a hot punch, and the combination of herb slivers and dusty textures makes for a nice crunch.
Buy it: www.oldewestportspice.com

Big Nugg Spice N Stuff (DRAFT favorite)
Packing the best of barbecue into bright, rocky granules, Big Nugg’s rub achieves a perfect harmony of tangy, sweet, spicy and vegetal with brown sugar, paprika, chili pepper and garlic. One sampler called it “earthy, but still barbecue all the way.”
Buy it: www.bignuggbbq.com

Kick Butt Hickory Rib Rub (DRAFT favorite)
On the grill, this woodsy rub transforms into a near-sauce packed with chili, onion and garlic notes with a bit of tang and noticeable smoke. The hickory is well-tamed and not artificial-tasting, adding some smooth saltiness and a nice barbecue potato chip essence to pork or beef ribs.
Buy it: www.asskickin.com

Corky’s
Corky’s blend “gives a lot of heat but no real flavor,” remarked one panelist. Better on pork than chicken, the rub also yielded a disappointing pasty texture when cooked.

Bad Byron’s Butt Rubb
A standard barbecue rub with all the necessary ingredients, the spice flavors doesn’t stand up to the heat as much as our panelists preferred. A subtle tanginess is a nice addition, though; we’d prefer this rub on a barbecue chicken sandwich.

Andy Roo’s BBQ Grill
Onion, garlic and peppers give this rub a good start and a peppery kick at the end is a nice touch, but in between, an imitation smoke taste is hard to get past.

Andy Roo’s Cajun Blackened
Mulchlike in appearance, this earthy rub — packed with garlic, onion, white pepper, oregano, and more — gave our pork a crispy crust, but not enough barbecue tastes to satisfy our palates.

DL Jardine’s 5-star
You can slap this rub on any meat and see positive results: The coarse texture makes for a not-too-crisp crust, and the flavor is spot-on barbecue and not too spicy. One taster, however, found it to be slightly too salty.

Wild ‘Erbs Open Range rub
This has the makings of a good rub, but sadly, every flavor is toppled over by a touch too much salt, an imitation smoke flavor and a dryness that makes the mix a bit unpalatable. Best on beef, this rub needs some sugar to properly tackle pork or chicken.

Cowtown Squeal
This rub fell just short of our favorites; it offers solid barbecue flavors, but red pepper notes, herbal hints, and a slight tang make it wonderful. One taster said, “It’s well-balanced between salty, spicy, and sweet, and its good on any meat.”

…and we all like it rubbed-down and slathered in sauce. We blindly road-tested 42 barbecue sauces and 26 rubs with a panel of barbecue lovers that included a steakhouse chef and a Memphis native; then, we took a break from beer reviewing to share our tasting notes on every finger-lickin’ one.

Today, we tackle the sauces. Check back next week when we rundown the rubs.

Bear-Man Growlin’ Grizzly Barbecue Dipping Sauce
Akin to chili, this sauce exudes tempting onion and smoke smells. Very ketchupy in texture and flavor, tangy and sweet notes hit you first, followed by spicy notes at the end of the swallow. Definitely a better dipping sauce than a slathering sauce, we like how this tastes on crunchy char.

Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q Championship Red Sauce
Brick-red in color with black pepper freckles, Big Bob’s award-winning sauce pleased our panel: Certainly tangy but sweet on the sides of the tongue, this smooth, thin sauce displayed nice tomato tastes, just enough smoke and a Worcestershire hint. What it lacks in heat, it makes up for in flavor.

Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q Original White Sauce
White barbecue sauce is a phenomenon of the South, and we can see why: Big Bob Gibson’s version smells a bit like ranch or Caesar dressing, and tastes similar — tangy and extremely peppery. It’s not traditional barbecue, but this colorless version is excellent as a burger topping, salad dressing, coleslaw binder, and chicken-finger dipping sauce.

Big Nugg BBQ Co. Q Sauce
A nice (but not complex) version of a standard sauce, Q sauce is garlicky with hints of onion. It’s sweet to be sure, but the sweetness deep and natural — more fruity than saccharine. A solid all-purpose barbecue sauce with just a bit of heat.

Big Nugg BBQ Co. Southwest Chipotle Q Sauce
Dark maroon with very tiny chunks, we didn’t expect such a dynamic taste from this sauce: Honey sweet, packed with peppers and definitely citrusy (that’s orange and tangerine concentrate talking), this chipotle version also presents earthy undertones that nicely round out the spashier flavors.

Big Tex Morgan’s Boot Kickin’ Chipotle BBQ Sauce
Oniony sweetness and crunchy chipotle and onion chunks make this sauce a winner for a nice slab of juicy, charred meat you don’t need to drown in sauce. It smells smoky, woody, and tangy with a little heat, and the taste offers a sweet-versus-spicy play and a perky freshness.

Big Tex Morgan Western BBQ Sauce (DRAFT Favorite)
Tangy, slightly smoky, and oniony-sweet, Big Tex Morgan (a real dude, by the way) crafts an excellent interpretation of a standard sauce. Mild spice, vine-ripened tomatoes, and crunchy fresh onion chunks combine in a well-thickened sauce that sits just right on brisket. One taster called it “a good brisket sauce.”
Buy it: $5, www.bigtexmorganbbqsauce.com

Black Swan Beso del Fuego (DRAFT Favorite)
Made with pureed vegetables and a tomato base, this super-fresh chunky sauce would be a dead ringer for salsa if not for its brown sugar, salt, and Worcestershire notes. The intense heat is utterly flawless; a bright, hot mix of peppers and garlic builds nicely but never scorches the palate.
Buy it: www.blackswancompany.com

Bone Suckin’ Sauce (DRAFT Favorite)
Bone Suckin’s deceptively thin Carolina-style sauce packs in tangy honey, sweet brown sugar, onion, and garlic flavors with the slightest hint of horseradish. “The apple cider vinegar base gives it a smooth, refreshing flavor,” said one tester. “It’s perfect for barbecue on a hot day.”
Buy it: www.bonesuckin.com

Captain Curt’s Famous Boss Sauce (Mild)
You know a Captain Curt’s sauce as soon as it hits your lips: There’s a vegetal, celery-sweet taste that’s indescribably unique. Gel-like in appearance, the sauce offers some nice floral and black pepper tastes that complement the celery tones well, plus a kick from the pickling spice in addition to all of the usual barbecue tastes you expect from a quality sauce. Make no mistake: This sauce is different, but delicious.

Captain Curt’s Famous Boss Sauce (Hickory)
We didn’t quite get the smoke in this Boss Sauce adaptation; it tastes just as good as Captain Curt’s mild sauce, but our panel subtracted points for the undelivered promise of hickory flavor.

Captain Curt’s Famous Boss Sauce (Hot)
We liked this hotter version of Captain Curt’s Boss Sauce a bit better than the original; the extra heat makes a nice contrast to those vegetal celery flavors, without taking control of the palate.

Captain Curt’s Famous Boss Sauce (Lemon Honey)
Similar in its taste profile to the Captain’s original sauce, the Lemon Honey version has a slight but bright addition of — you guessed it! — lemon and honey flavors that aren’t detectable on pork or beef, but make a good showing on chicken.

Cowtown Night of the Living Bar-B-Q Sauce (DRAFT Favorite)
Puréed chipotle peppers lend fresh, high heat to this rich, dark sauce; smoke, anchovies, and brown sugar tone down the spice and add some depth. “I’m surprised how sweet it is,” said one panelist. “I thought it’d be heavy on the smoke since it’s so brown, but it’s really well-balanced.”
Buy it: www.cowtownbbq.com

Kansas City’s Cowtown Bar-B-Q Sauce
This Cowtown offering fell just short of scoring within our six favorites; it’s a pleasantly tangy standard sauce that ups the ante with perfectly balanced ketchup, vinegar, and smoke tastes and a body thick enough to cling to a rack of ribs. It can tackle beef, but its also light enough so as to not drown chicken.

D.L. Jardine’s Killer Barbecue Sauce
This sauce looks and smells like parmesan-dusted marinara sauce, and lacks the depth we hoped for in a condiment called “killer.” Hot-heads will like the jalapeno and black pepper notes, but the bit of smoke in the flavor made our panel wish for more intensity.

D.L. Jardine’s 5-Star Barbecue Sauce
A sure crowd-pleaser, 5-star has something for everyone: just the right amount of wood and smoke notes, a smooth body, complex peppery spice, hints of mustard, and Worcestershire and a smooth but weighty body. There’s no major kick to it, but the sauce is a good match for the deep, meaty flavors of beef and pork ribs.

D.L. Jardine’s Mesquite Barbecue Sauce
The thickest sauce we tried, this woodsy sauce offered up a bevy of well-done mesquite flavor that wasn’t over-the-top; our panel’s only complaint was the pasty, slightly grainy texture.

D.L. Jardine’s Texas Pecan Barbecue Sauce
This creamy sauce smells wonderfully nutty, like pecan pie, with a nice wash of molasses. The taste evokes visions of maple-syrupy waffles, with notes of cracked pepper. Our panel gave it mixed reviews; one tester didn’t like the lack of traditional barbecue flavors, while another said, “I’d like to use it on grilled trout or salmon, rather than the usual barbecue meats.”

D.L. Jardine’s Chik’n Lik’n Bar-B-Q Grill and Oven Sauce (DRAFT Favorite)
Part barbecue, part lemon-pepper brilliance, this mustard-based sauce perked up our testers’ palates: Hot pepper sauce gives the blend a tart medium spice, while a nice douse of lemon juice provides a sourness that penetrates chicken on the grill and makes for an unmatched dipping sauce for chicken fingers.
Buy it: www.jardinefoods.com

Donya Marie’s Sassy Fiesta Dark Chocolate Barbecue Sauce
Puddinglike in look and texture, this barbecue-chocolate hybrid received mixed reviews from our tasters. Some loved the black-pepper aroma, and how smooth chocolate undertones rounded out the spice; others were wary of the thick mouthfeel. Bottom line: Skip it on chicken and pork loin, but use it on beef, or as a rib-meat dipping sauce.

Dr. Pepper Sweet and Kickin’ BBQ Sauce
We were skeptical of this novelty sauce, but were blown away by its sticky-sweet goodness. It smells exactly how you’d expect a Dr. Pepper barbecue sauce to smell: Like the famous cola, molasses, and smoke. The taste is a thought-provoking blend of Dr. P and tomato, and though we wouldn’t brush it on our tri-tip, we will dip our chicken fingers in it. One panelist pondered, “Maybe 23 flavors is just too much for one barbecue sauce.”

Everett and Jones Super Q Barbeque Sauce (Mild)
Smoky to the core, this sauce from barbecue powerhouse Everett and Jones is wooden to the core. It shows some brown sugar notes, but smoke is the main event in this mild sauce.

Everett and Jones Super Q Barbeque Sauce (Medium)
Nearly identical in flavor to its mild cousin, this medium version gets a kick from cayenne, but never overcomes its heavy smoke.

Everett and Jones Super Q Barbeque Sauce (Hot)
Red pepper flakes add a heap of spice to this smoke monster; we’re still yearning for that ketchupy sweetness or a hint of tang.

Jack Daniel’s Hickory Brown Sugar Barbecue Sauce
We wanted to like this sauce, really, but the liquid smoke flavor was just too overwhelming. There are nice wood and molasses notes, but as one taster noted, “The whiskey flavor is disturbing.”

Mad Dog Original BBQ Sauce
Smoke lovers will like this peppery sauce, although it wasn’t balanced enough to earn high marks from our tasters. Crafted with molasses, cayenne pepper, and aged tamari, there’s a nice flavor base, but a thick mouthfeel and hickory notes take away from the sauce’s depth.

Mama Hairston’s Sweet n’ Hot BBQ Sauce
A bit of spice and caramelized onion characterize this deliciously well-balanced sauce. A nice blend of tomato, vinegar, and brown sugar, one panelist called it pleasantly “sloppy joe-ish.”

Melanie’s Big Acres Gourmet Sauce Chipotle Maple BBQ
A nice specialty sauce that doesn’t deviate too far from the norm, Melanie’s maple creation is a robust blend of smoke and chipotle spice that’s excellent on pork. Chock-full of maple flavor and supplemented by brown sugar, honey, and peppery tastes, the sauce is richly flavored but overly so.

Ole Ray’s Apple/Cinnamon Barbeque Sauce (DRAFT Favorite)
So good, you could eat spoonfuls straight from the jar. Sweet, almost candylike apple-pie flavors (thanks to apple jelly, caramel, and cinnamon) mix with black pepper and smoke for an autumnal glaze you’ll want to smear on everything from pork ribs to shrimp.
Buy it: www.olerayssauces.com

Oregon Dan’s Original BBQ Sauce
Adapted from a recipe by Dan’s great aunt and produced in small batches, Oregon Dan’s is gluten-free and contains “a taste of Hawaii in each bottle” — which means it includes pineapple and pineapple juice in each bottle. It’s an acquired taste to be sure, and not your typical barbecue sauce; the acidity plays nicely on pork, but we miss those traditional barbecue flavors.

Oregon Dan’s BBQ Sauce
Basically Oregon Dan’s Original with a bit more heat. We like the upped spice, but still yearn for those basic barbecue tastes — ketchup, Worcestershire, vinegar, and peppers.

Oregon Dan’s Habanero Hot BBQ Sauce
This sauce’s flavor profile aligns perfectly with Oregon Dan’s Original sauce, but with jacked-up heat from habanero peppers. It’s an island-tinged scorcher!

Oregon Dan’s Apricot BBQ Sauce
Again, the flavor profile is similar to the rest of Oregon Dan’s lineup, but with a bit of apricot in the mix. We wish the apricot were more prominent in the sauce; the sauce was still a tad weak for our panel’s tastes.

5-0 BBQ Outlaw Honey Hot BBQ Sauce
Perfect on pork loin, Outlaw Honey Hot displays a definite whiskeylike, white wine-ish note, plus a bright, sweet, honey-citrus taste that isn’t cloying.

Pain is Good Batch #218 Southern Style
With spice so bright it shines, this “southern style” sauce strikes a good balance between hot and sweet. Honey gives it some sugar, but pepper flakes lend it some seriousness. A wonderful consistency allows just a bit of the sauce to cling to the tongue.

Pain is Good Batch #37 Garlic-que
A huge whiff of garlic escapes from the bottle — just a hint of the crunchy garlic chunks inside. Tangy garlic trumps the sauce’s other tastes, though there’s a nice spice in the background. Some panelists wished more traditional barbecue flavors would show through, but the garlic lovers in the bunch liked this change of pace.

Pain is Good Batch #114 Jamaican Jerk
A solid showing, but not enough big jerk flavors to make our heads turn. One taster noted, “I’d use this on chicken regularly, but if I’m bringing out the big guns for a barbecue, I’ll use something more powerful.”

Red’s White Sauce
White barbecue sauce is a love-it-or-hate-it condiment — but if you love it, Red’s is a must-try. It looks akin to Caesar dressing, but thicker and darker; the taste is loaded with black pepper and nice Worcestershire notes, plus a bit of tang from white wine.

Scorned Woman Fiery Barbeque Sauce
You can smell heat from the bottle; indeed, this was the hottest sauce our panel tasted (one tester noted “My face is sweating!”). Remarkably, all that heat doesn’t burn off the vinegar, hickory, and tang that makes this sauce excellent. Opaque and brown with a bit of chunkiness, Scored Woman controls its heat well and adds a kick to whatever’s on the grill.

Stone Levitation Ale Barbeque Sauce
Sauce that smells like a brewery is okay by us. It tastes fresh, and the beer is apparent, but isn’t overkill; rather, tangy and spicy notes plus flavorful chunks balance out the brew.

Stone Smoked Porter & Pasilla Pepper BBQ Sauce
The good: This sauce is expertly spiced, with superb heat and flavor from pasilla peppers that wakes up the palate. The bad: There is such a thing as too much smoke; a dark, smoky bitterness begins to overwhelm that lovely spice after a few bites. A good pick for char-lovers.

By Zach Fowle

Ah, dear old dad. Father. The old man. In one way or another, he made you into the person you are today. Fathers are worthy of celebration, as President Calvin Coolidge recognized in 1924 when he proclaimed the third Sunday in June as Father’s Day. President Nixon established it as a national holiday in 1972, and since then loyal sons and daughters have been plagued with the question: What gift to buy to show appreciation for the man who had at least a 50 percent share in your creation? A dilemma, to be sure, but this year we’ve got you covered with a list of beer and gear that’ll allow you to properly honor thy father this coming Sunday.

BEER
Dad’s Little Helper Malt Liquor
This seasonal offering from Rogue Ales ain’t your daddy’s malt liquor. A mixture of sweet, crisp Midwest corn, Oregon Crystal hops, and a method of lagering at higher temperatures results in a beer that’s won numerous medals for taste since its release, including Best Malt Liquor at last year’s World Beer Championships.

Honey Do-Wit
Iron Hill Brewery and Restaurant’s newest addition to their Bottled Reserve collection honors the fathers who’ve labored under the hot sun mowing lawns, cleaning gutters, and doing all those other chores that kept the family from completely falling apart. The Belgian-style double witbier, brewed with orange peel, coriander, and orange blossom honey, has a distinct fruit character and clean, dry finish that’s great in warm weather and is a fine — if not completely adequate — reward for those years of hard work.

Sprecher Brewing Co. Brewery Tours
Sometimes, the best gift you can give dad is a little bit of your time. Spend it well at Sprecher Brewing Company’s Father’s Day celebration, which includes tours of the brewery, commemorative glasses for sampling beers and gourmet sodas, and an outdoor area for grilling your own hot dogs and schooling dad in games like Bung Hole Toss and Let’s Fish.
Price: $6 adults, $5 seniors, and $3 minors. Call 414.964.2739 for reservations.

GEAR
Sonos Multi-Room Music System
Dads love their gadgets. They also love their music. The Sonos Multi-Room Music System covers both bases. The set of wireless devices can be connected to any existing stereo or pair of speakers in the house, allowing dad to blast Zeppelin in the den, Skynyrd in the garage, and Beatles in the back yard. Plus, the music and volume in each room can be programmed from one location with the Sonos Controller or an iPhone or iPod Touch equipped with the appropriate app. Dad never even has to leave the couch.
Price: Starting at $350. Available at www.sonos.com and Best Buy stores nationwide.

Sport-themed Bottle Openers
While we’re on the topic of what dads love, let’s talk sports. For the avid golfer, opening beers with bottle openers crafted from salvaged wood and iron golf club heads will compliment any day at the links. Baseball dads will appreciate the baseball bat opener, with a diamond-shaped handle of maple taken from actual bats used in major league games.
Price: $79.95 for baseball bat opener, $59.95 for wood golf club opener, $69.95 for iron golf club opener. Available from Red Envelope.

Beer Holster
Make your dad the coolest dude at the ranch with a beer holster perfect for the brew-loving cowboy on the go. The leather holster snaps onto any standard belt and can carry a 12-ounce can or bottle. Buy two and challenge him to a duel. Draw!
Price: $34.95. Available from Red Envelope.

LP Coasters
Well-worn LPs serve a new and greater purpose as coasters for dad’s glass of beer. Each set contains six different albums labeled on both sides and protected from moisture by a layer of clear vinyl. No refunds if placing your beer atop Bon Jovi’s “Slippery When Wet” results in heartbreak.
Price: $24.95 for a set of six. Available from Red Envelope.

Mondaine Sport II
Style, substance, sophistication — goofy dad never really had any of those things. But a faithful son or daughter will find few watches better to remedy the situation than the Mondaine Sport II. The watch — released specially for Father’s Day — features a water resistant 42mm steel case with lugs and screws plated with rose gold, a scratch-resistant sapphire crystal casing, and Mondaine’s iconic white dial and signature red second hand. Though the goofiness may never be cured, at least dad will look good.
Price: $395

Luminox Navy SEAL Anniversary Series 6300 and 8800
Dads can be mysterious figures. Maybe he was driving to his boring desk job every morning. Or maybe he was traveling underground to the headquarters of a top-secret government spy network. A man like that needs the appropriate timepiece — like the Luminox Navy SEALS Anniversary Series, watches based on the designs of those used by the US Navy SEALS since 1994. The Navy SEAL Anniversary Edition Series 8800 features a durable 45mm case, bezel and caseback built of high-tech carbon-reinforced polymer, while the crystal is specially hardened and tempered mineral glass that is highly scratch resistant. A double gasket crown guarantees water resistance to 200 meters. The Navy SEALS 6300 Anniversary Series is also water resistant to 200 meters this series and have steel-cased carbon fiber dials. Each watch houses tiny, self-powered micro gas lights installed into the hands and hour markers that require no external light source to charge them, and glow continuously for more than 25 years. Dad will be ready for whatever he’s involved in–whether it’s saving the world from diabolical madmen or simply getting through his 9-to-5.
Price: $295 for Anniversary Edition Series 8800, $650 to $850 for Anniversary Edition Series 6300

– Zach Fowle is a former DRAFT staff member who enjoys few things more than conversations with his dad over a beer.

By Zach Fowle

Shawn Fernando had a problem, and beer was to blame.

“I was at a bar with a friend from high school, and we’d tied a couple on,” said Fernando, a citizen of Austin, Texas. “When we were leaving the bar, we were about to call a cab, and we realized the parking lot in front of the bar had a sign up that said ‘all cars left in the lot will be towed at 8:30.’ We were like, what do we do? You’re sort of damned if you do, damned if you don’t.”

Fernando and his friend ended up taking a taxi home and waking up very early the next morning to rescue their endangered car. Annoying, yes, but from the ordeal sprang an idea: Why not offer drinkers a way to get home safely, in their own cars?

“I realized there are a lot of people in Austin who have that problem every day,” Fernando says. “Those people don’t want to be driving their cars, but some of the choose to drive their cars because it seems like the best option at the time. But if you give them an alternative, then hopefully they won’t make that decision.”

Square Patrol, a service designed to get potential drunk drivers home safely, was born.

Scott Judd came to the same realization when he founded Minnesota-based DWI Ride Home in 2007. The idea is simple enough: like a taxi, drivers provide rides to patrons who have had just a little too much. Unlike a taxi, however, DWI Ride Home dispatches a team of two drivers — one to drive customers home in their own cars, the other to pick him up when he’s done.

“The people love that they don’t have to worry about their cars,” Judd says. “I believe that’s the hook, that people don’t have to leave their cars. We offer them an option.”

It’s an option that has become increasingly important to drivers over the past decade.

According to MADD, someone is killed by a drunk driver every 40 minutes, and in 2007 an estimated 12,998 people died in drunk driving related crashes. Over 1.46 million drivers were arrested in 2006 for driving under the influence of alcohol or narcotics, and one out of every 139 licensed drivers in the United States is arrested for DWI. The average cost for a first offense DWI can be astronomical. According to the Orange County, Calif. chapter of MADD, with all the fines, attorney fees, and insurance increases you’ll have to pay, you’re looking at a total price tag of about $8,000 to $11,000.

Judd says the cost in Minnesota can be even greater: “From start to finish, you could easily exceed $30,000, even on your first one. Huge. And the cost of an average run of ours is $40.”

As people take notice of the convenience of paying to have their cars driven home, the popularity of designated driver services seems to grow ever greater.

“When we first started, we were just a little company. We had two or three teams that just worked Friday and Saturday,” Judd says. “Now we’re up to well over 200 teams, and we run seven days a week, 24 hours a day. The industry’s bloated; we can hardly contain it.”

New companies are popping up across the U.S. to fill the growing demand for the services DWI Ride Home provides. Designated Driver Services provides safe rides for people in Los Angeles, Designated Drivers, Inc. serves Las Vegas and Phoenix, and tipsy bar-goers in Columbia, S.C. can call Designated Driver of America.

“It’s something new. It’s like an evolution of the transit industry,” Judd says.

Fernando’s company, Square Patrol, may just be the next step in that evolution. Like DWI Ride Home, Square Patrol provides patrons with a designated driver to take them — and their cars — home safely. But the Austin-based non-profit does things a little differently.

“We send a person on a foldable scooter,” Fernando says. “The scooter folds up and goes in your trunk, so the driver can drive your car home, and when he gets to your house, he’ll unfold the scooter and ride off.”

Square Patrol has a fleet of four Di Blasi R7 folding motorbikes, small scooters that weigh 67 pounds and fold down to about the size of a large suitcase. Although they only go about 32 mph, using the scooters alleviates the need for a second driver, and they get nearly 100 miles per gallon.

“The scooters are just really cool,” Fernando says. “It’s like a magic trick when you fold them up.”

Use of the scooters has also helped Square Patrol gain a bit of notoriety, Fernando says.

“Taxi cab drivers drive cars. This serves to separate us in the mind of the observer. If you see somebody riding this scooter, you’ll automatically know what he does. The scooter is the tool of our trade.”

Austin has one of the highest DWI conviction rates in the country, with police officers making over 6,000 DWI arrests per year. The city also spends about $85 million a year on drunk driving accidents, a massive expense that Fernando hopes Square Patrol can help reduce.

“It’s coming along,” Fernando says. “Hopefully in years to come, we’ll get to the point where it’s undeniable that we’ve had an impact on the problem.”

A former DRAFT intern, Zach Fowle previous wrote about beer openers for DRAFTMag.com. He is seriously considering trading in his car for a foldable scooter.

By Bob Ecker

Napa, California:

“It takes a lot of Great Beer to make a Good Wine,” states virtually ever winemaker I’ve ever met, from Chile to France, New Zealand to Spain, and that mantra is certainly the case here in Northern California, America’s premier wine region. Winemakers, vineyard workers, cellar masters, and even salesmen deal with wine and grapes all day long — not to mention harvest — and at the end of their day want a cold, refreshing brew like anybody else. Fortunately, the craft beer movement is alive and well throughout Northern California wine country, with micro-breweries, brew pubs, and fine beer spots scattered across a wide area.

First up, is the Silverado Brewing Company, located on Highway 29 in St. Helena, near the top of Napa Valley. This brewery sits inside the site of the old Freemark Abbey Winery, constructed in 1895. The outside tables, although right on Highway 29, are an ideal place to meet friends and sample many of the site’s fine beers.  The hoppy Pale Ale is my favorite, with nods to the appealing Oatmeal Stout and the Maibock, a Munich-styled amber lager. While I was there, Napa winemaker Ken Fortner, (owner of Road 31 Wine Co.) dropped by in his beautifully restored 1966 mint green Ford pickup truck. “Not only does it take a lot of beer to make great wine, but you can tell a lot about a winemaker by the beer in his hands during harvest,” said Fortner.

The next stop is the Calistoga Inn, a mere seven miles up the road. Its outdoor beer garden/restaurant is a popular spot, and the divey bar is a blast from the past. Calistoga Inn’s best is its dark red ale, a serious, heavy, malty brew.

Zipping up Highway 128 to 101, you’ll hit Hopland, and the famous Mendocino Brewing Company. The quirky town of Hopland and this brew pub in particular, is an anachronism. The Mendocino Brewing Company is a big business, and their flagship beer, Red Tail Ale is shipped across the US. Yet this tasting room, inside a hundred-year-old building is barely more than a hole in the wall, with a bar, dartboard, and little else.  Still, it’s a fun place to enjoy killer brews, like the popular Blue Heron Pale Ale, fresh Red Tail, and my absolute favorite, Eye of the Hawk Select Ale.  This tasty, full-bodied, highly alcoholic dry ale is so damn good.

Heading west into Mendocino’s quaint little town of Boonville, you’ll find many well-known Anderson Valley wineries as well as the Anderson Valley Brewing Company, makers of Boont Amber among others. The cavernous tasting room is strange, but the beers themselves are the draw. Boont Amber is a classic ale, and even better at the source. I also enjoyed Hop Ottin’ IPA. This beer had tons of hoppiness, but still remained smooth. I finished by tasting Brother David’s Triple Abbey Style Ale 10%-ABV — a creamy Belgian balanced with elegant hoppiness. Incidentally, this is also serious Frisbee golf country, and they sell specially labeled Frisbee golf disks at the brewery.

From Boonville, drive west to the Pacific Ocean. This part of Highway 128 is a stunning drive, a joy to zip along, through Tolken-esque Redwood groves and hollows. Once at the coastal town of Mendocino, I headed out for dinner and ended up (not surprisingly) at Patterson’s Pub for some local beer, conversation, pub food, sports on TV, and a great overall vibe. It’s very much like a good Irish pub and also serves the excellent Smithwicks, Ireland’s oldest Ale (since 1710) on draft. (I stayed the night in The Packard House, a lovely, newly refurbished yet modern styled B& B in Mendocino.)

My next brewery stop was the North Coast Brewing Company in Ft. Bragg. This time I tasted everything North Coast’s president and general manager, Mark Ruedrich could throw at me including the resurrected “Acme” brand — a San Francisco company that was brewing over a million barrels of beer per year in the 1940’s. “We didn’t want that piece of California history to die,” Ruedrich said. North Coast also makes a marvelous, Belgian-styled named, Le Merle, after Ruedrich’s wife.  My favorites included: Red Seal Ale, and the yeasty Brother Thelonius, a tribute to Thelonius Monk.

Back in Sonoma, Healdsburg’s Bear Republic Brewing Company awaited.  Today, Healdsburg is the rapidly beating heart of Sonoma’s wine culture. At the brewery, Celeste, a spitfire of a bartender said, “Lots of people come here after wine tasting.” Indeed, that’s what many in the crowd seemed to have been doing. Bear Republic seems fascinated by the old animated TV show, Speed Racer. The Racer 5 IPA is pretty good, but I preferred their Racer X English-styled ale.

The not-to-be-missed Russian River Brewing Company in Santa Rosa is a company committed to the idea of Belgian style plus double and triple hopped beers.  They brew many Belgian-styled ales — go try them. “Our brewmaster has a gift for Belgians,” said Christmas Noel, the friendly bartender. Russian River is also quite famous for their magnificent IPAs, Pliny the Elder and Triple IPA Pliny the Younger.

Every wine person I met on the road confirmed the old saw, it really does take a lot of great beer to make a good wine. And as Kent Fortner said way back at the beginning of the trip, “You know, beer is basically wine stripped of all opportunity for pretension.” I concur.

Bob Ecker is a writer from Napa, California
All photos courtesy of Bob Ecker

The writer at Silverado Brewing Company

Hopland!

North Coast Pub’s Mark Ruedrich pours a beer

Don’t get lost

By David Sweet

When Kansas knocked off Memphis in overtime this past April to snare its first NCAA men’s basketball title in a generation, fans across the land were entranced by the action on their television sets. But another group, watching the CBS broadcast from a different perspective, was aghast.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) didn’t care about the 75-68 final score — but it was stunned by the amount of time handed over to beer commercials. By its estimates, about 4 1/2 minutes of advertisements for beers such as Bud Light and Miller Lite filled the screen. According to the Washington, D.C.-based group — and a growing constituency that includes college coaches such as Florida State football coach Bobby Bowden along with a number of U.S. Congressmen — that is 4 and a half minutes too many.

This year, college presidents, athletic directors, and others sent a letter to NCAA president Myles Brand, demanding that the ruling body of college sports reconsider its policy regarding alcohol advertising during college basketball broadcasts. Back in the spring, Tom Osborne — University of Nebraska athletic director and former U.S. Congressman — asked Brand to consider a ban on alcohol advertising on television for all college sports. The NCAA, in fact, forbids alcohol advertising — except for beverages whose alcohol content is six percent or less. While foreign stouts may fail that test, U.S. lagers do not.

Why the effort to halt such ads?  According to the CSPI’s Campaign for Alcohol-Free Sports TV, alcohol advertisements encourage young people to drink when they may not be legally able to do so, and beer ads undermine the mission of colleges and the NCAA.

Some wonder whether a ban would really have an impact.

“Is eliminating beer advertising on national broadcasts going to truly improve the behavior on campus of college students? It’s highly unlikely,” says Shawn McBride, vice president of Ketchum Sports Network, a sports marketing expert who worked in a Division I athletic department earlier in his career. “But the NCAA still has to battle the perception that it’s complicit in promoting this campus lifestyle (excessive drinking).”

The NCAA also needs to make sure it doesn’t bite the hand that feeds it. For the 65-team college basketball tournament known as March Madness, the NCAA is in the midst of an 11-year deal with CBS that pays $6 billion. To tell a TV partner after it has committed such an expenditure that it can no longer accept money from Anheuser-Busch or MillerCoors would severely impact the value of those rights and would hurt the NCAA during the next negotiations.

How much money do the networks derive from beer commercials during college sports telecasts? According to TNS Media Intelligence, during the last full school year, $82 million was spent by beer companies on broadcast and national cable networks, second only to automobile advertising. The lion’s share of that money was dedicated to the NCAA men’s basketball tournament and the BCS football bowl games. As well, Division I universities rake in millions of dollars in sponsorship money from beer companies annually.

This summer, the NCAA’s executive committee addressed the issue of beer ads but made no changes. Committee chairman Michael Adams told the Associated Press, “I think we’ve taken a very sensible, very rationale, very conservative approach and we’ve asked that any company that advertises [alcohol] during our games continue to include the message ‘drink responsibly’ on its ads.”

What happens now? The chances of the NCAA banning Budweiser, Miller and others from the airwaves is doubtful — they’re about as likely as Harvard facing Yale in the Final Four.

David Sweet writes DRAFTMag.com’s Sports on Tap blog.