Microbrewed Adventures (12 page)

Alan Newman, founder of Magic Hat

The original Magic Hat head brewer, Bob Johnson, was a talented homebrewer. Alan was looking for something new to develop. Bob was a friend, and it took only a few sips of his home
brew to evoke the excited question, “What the hell is this?” Alan was not a passionate beer enthusiast. “I drank beer,” he admits, “but I never really got into the tastes of microbrewery beers…until I noticed the beers Bob was brewing at his kitchen sink.” One magic taste led to another, and soon thereafter, in 1994, Alan founded the brewery. Beer drinkers recognized the magic, and their appreciation for the “elixirs” has continued to grow.

Now head brewer and brewmaster Todd Haire is brewing up elixirs at Magic Hat. Todd, too, got his start in homebrewing. Originally from Texas, he eventually migrated to Vermont. How did he learn? I asked. “I learned by making mistakes. I love to teach people, because I never had the opportunity to really have a mentor or be taught. Teaching people about brewing is one of the great joys I have with this job.”

Todd loves his job. “We have an open palette to experiment,” he says. “We're encouraged to be as creative as possible with what resources they have available.”

I often ask brewmasters that if they had a moment to relax with a beer and reflect, what beer it would be and where that beer would take them. Todd gushed, “I'd definitely have our 10 percent–plus Thumbsucker Imperial Stout. We started this high-priced product (our “Humdinger” series) as a barrel-aged beer. Thumbsucker goes into Bourbon barrels in which our barley wine had aged for three years. It all began as a homebrewing experiment and my wife and I often reflect on how it all started. People's response to this beer is fantastic. I can't help reflect and appreciate how much depth the Thumbsucker has and how maturing really creates flavor nuances. These beers aren't ready until they are ready; the alcohol complexity changes with time.”

Todd goes on to tell me that they also brew a Braggot, a strong, 10 percent–plus ale brewed with one-third honey fermentables, saying, “We keep bees outside the brewery in a small apiary. The 15 hives provided over 300 pounds of honey we used in this year's barrel-aged Braggot.” Chamomile flowers were also added, and the ale was eventually aged in French oak.

In the near future they will be blending Cabernet grapes, pomegranates
and blueberries into a Belgian Flanders–style brown ale infused with a fruity-producing Brettanomyces yeast culture and aging it in used Cabernet wine barrels.

Number 9, their most popular beer. Label courtesy of Magic Hat Brewing Co.

Todd recalls one of their most unusual brews: “We made a bottled garlic beer, also flavored with rosemary and horehound. It was an elixir for our Halloween bash, ‘Night of the Living Dead.' We put one clove of garlic in each bottle. I didn't reminisce too much about that beer.”

As we finished our conversation, Todd had one final bit of wisdom: “Things that ferment have such great taste.”

I've had the pleasure of having almost all of the elixirs presented to me and getting to choose the order in which to try them. It was like beginning a journey into a secret and mystical universe, where up is down and east is west. As I gazed into the foamy head of each brew, I could appreciate where those bubbles come from as they slowly rise to their surface. To say that these beers have personality would be an understatement. I asked Alan, “So if there is one beer that epitomizes all that could be in a Magic Hat, what beer would that be?” He knew the answer: “That would be #9. It's a beer that brings it all together, a low-hopped ‘not quite pale ale' with this wonderfully evocative apricot character. It comes through much more in the aroma than in the flavor. It's very distinctive and it's our best-selling beer.” And I mentally noted he concluded his description with “yet undefined.” It's not your typical fruit beer.

I am realizing the addiction that can build for Magic Hat beers. It draws you farther and farther into the matrix of what Magic Hat is all about. Alan reminds me that it's not necessarily all about the beer. Yes, you must have a world-class beer. That's what Bob Johnson started, and now head brewer Todd Haire carries the scriptured tradition forward. Great beer is your “entry card” to play as a brewery. Alan says, “We strive to resonate with our customer. Connecting emotionally drives success.”

The Magic Hat Brewery is not just a brewery, it's a community. Visit with a beer or stroll into the mystical at www.magichat.net.

A Mindset for Sustainability
Otter Creek Brewery & Wolaver's
Organic Beer

C
OMFORTABLY NESTLED
in the northern Vermont community of Middlebury, the popularly acclaimed Otter Creek Brewery has enjoyed a passionate following among beer drinkers since 1991. Every season celebrates the rites of brewing and Otter Creek beers. Now under the leadership of Morgan Wolaver, the brewery continues to brew Otter Creek brands in addition to Wolaver's Organic Beer.

Morgan says, “The first thing Otter Creek beer fans told us was, ‘Don't change my beer.' Some even insinuated that we might use tofu in fermentation.” Morgan knows not to mess around with a good thing, yet he confided, “Organic products and sustainability is an umbrella for a mindset advocating environmental caretaking, energy efficiency, proper processing of wastewater and supporting organic farmers.”

Morgan recalls, “Back in high school my chemistry experiment was brewing beer.” Before I could ask the obvious question, he added, “Yes I drank it.”
But his first intention in starting a business was not so much about beer as about advocating and practicing sustainability. He had traveled quite a bit while working in the oil industry as an oceanographer. There were lots of opportunities to taste great beer while working in England. Morgan expresses a passion for sustainability and reveals that it was an odd quirk of serendipity that caused him to embrace beer: “I tasted some organic beer from overseas. It didn't taste good at all! Rather than discourage me, I was inspired. I asked myself, ‘Why couldn't one brew great organic beer?'”

Morgan Wolaver
Morgan Wolaver and Steve Parkes. Courtesy Otter Creek/Wolavers Organic Beer.

With the expert help of brewmaster Steve Parkes, he set out by contracting with six American microbreweries to brew his beer. Steve, a veteran brewer whose focus has always been on quality control, guided the brewing of Wolaver's Organic Beer in California, Colorado and Chicago and at Otter Creek. Before moving to the United States in 1988, Steve brewed in very small-scale breweries in England. He's been brewing in America ever since. In high school, Steve reflects, “I wanted to do biochemistry, but when I began my coursework at Heriot-Watts University in Edinburgh I realized that the blending of science and art manifested itself in brewing and an end product. Now, every day I consider it an honor to get up, go to work and make beer.” Steve has had brewing endeavors with such successful brands as Oxford Class in the mid-Atlantic area and Red Nectar in northern California. He says, “What has been great about Wolaver's and Otter Creek is that I never needed to be sold on the idea of ‘organic.' The whole concept of sustainability meshes perfectly with craft-brewing ideals. We need to be supporting the people who support us in the long run. And now that we've made a commitment to organic farming we are already seeing an improvement in the quality of ingredients such as organic barley. Currently all New Zealand hops are organic and we've found a few varieties we really like such as New Zealand Hallertauer and Saaz. Cascade hops are the only organic American hop available right now. We use organic oats in our stout and organic raw wheat grown 10 miles from the brewery in our Wit Beer.”

Succeeding in growing beer drinkers' appreciation of Wolaver's ales from 27,000 cases to nearly 70,000 cases in a short while, Morgan and Steve soon realized there was quality and a lot of opportunity with Otter Creek. Mor
gan bought the brewery in 2002. They have continued to grow the reputation of the small craft brewery.

Steve Parkes
Morgan Wolaver and Steve Parkes. Courtesy Otter Creek/Wolavers Organic Beer.

“‘Organic' is value added,” Morgan says adamantly. “Organic grains look like healthier malt. One of the premises we try to instill in all of our organic beers is complexity. The wine industry would go broke if they had to have consistency. It's a plus for the wine industry; why can't it be a plus for brewers and their beer?”

Asked about the difference between the two brands brewed at the Otter Creek Brewery, Morgan emphasizes that Wolaver's beers are bigger beers, being “bigger interpretations” of the classic American microbrewed styles such as IPA, brown ale and Belgian-style wheat (wit) beer. Their beer drinker's table of beers include Wolaver's Brown Ale, India Pale Ale, Pale Ale, Wit Bier and Oatmeal Stout.

Otter Creek brands offer beer drinkers in the Northeast a selection of light and dark ales as well as German-style light, amber and dark bock lagers. Morgan notes, “The pale ale is the closest we come to competing styles between the two brands. Generally the Otter Creek brands are not as ‘big' as the Wolaver's brands.”

When I asked Steve about his thoughts after having a few relaxing beers, he reflects, “It is so satisfying to get up every morning and go to work and make beer. There's a tremendous amount of satisfaction when for example we received a call on our toll-free number printed on our six-pack cases, from a customer who left a message, ‘I love your beer. Thank you.'” Steve most appreciates beer fresh out of the brewer's tank or tap, but realizes that this is not always accessible and notes, “I like hops, but I like balance in beers where I can taste a crisp malt character as well as delicate fermentation characters.”

Where do Morgan's favorite beers take him when he finds time to relax? “A good, well-balanced pale ale with a good hop finish really is my usual pref
erence. It doesn't seem to matter what mood I'm in. When I'm able to relax and appreciate what the beer is telling me I think about getting away fishing, hiking and generally appreciating the outdoors.” He adds that he often thinks about small-time farmers, slowing down, decompressing and appreciating home.