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You are here: home → archives → Nov 2007 → article
By Gary Robson
Last month, Red Lodge Ales claimed a bronze medal at the 2007 Great American Beer Festival Competition, the largest national beer competition that recognizes the most outstanding beers produced in the US today. The top three winners in the competition's 75 beer-style categories were announced October 13th at the 26th Great American Beer Festival Awards Ceremony held at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, Colorado.
Red Lodge Ales was recognized in the American Strong Pale Ale category for its Bent Nail IPA, an American style IPA brewed with copious amounts of hops. The beer, named for the hard working contractors ("nail benders") who make their living in Red Lodge, is available on draft and in bottles around Montana and northern Wyoming. Red Lodge Ales is a 1750 barrel microbrewery located right here in Red Lodge that specializes in "good times and good beer."
If you want to congratulate the winners, stop by Sam's Tap Room in Red Lodge (417 N. Broadway) between 4:00 and 8:00 p.m. You can have a pint of Bent Nail IPA, and then try a couple of their other award-winning beers while you're at it.
The 2007 GABF competition winners were selected by an international panel of brewing experts from an impressive field of 2,832 entries received from 474 U.S. breweries. More than 1,500 breweries were invited to compete. "The Great American Beer Festival is the premier judging event for the American craft beer industry," says Nancy Johnson, Festival Director.
There's a fascinating story behind the IPA style. In the early 1700s, when India was a British colony, beer spoiled on the three-to-six month boat trip across the ocean from home. English brewers worked to create a beer that could survive the trip to India without refrigeration. Louis Pasteur was still 150 years away from inventing pasteurization, so the only defenses the brewers had against spoilage were alcohol and hops.
The India Pale Ale, or IPA, style came from a brewer named George Hodgson at the Bow Brewery in East London. He started with a basic pale ale recipe, added a considerable extra dosage of hops, and upped the alcohol content. The result was a durable and drinkable beer, which is popular to this day.
Traditional IPA is hard to find in the U.K. these days, but it's produced by quite a few breweries in the U.S. Typical alcohol content runs over 7%. Don't slam down a sixpack of this stuff and get in the car!
Red Lodge Ales wasn't the only winner from our area. Montana Brewing Company in Billings and their brewer Travis Zeilstra picked up a variety of awards, including Small Brewpub and Small Brewpub Brewer of the Year.
They also won a gold medal for their Whitetail Wheat (American-Style Hefeweizen) and silver medals for Sandbagger Gold (English-Style Summer Ale) and Custer's Last Stout (Export-Style Stout).
The Local Rag salutes the ancient Sumerians. The Greeks and Romans may have had their gods of wine (Dionysus and Bacchus), but our favorite diety has to be Ninkasi, the Sumerian goddess of beer, whose name means "the lady who fills the mouth." Much of what we know about her comes from a poem entitled "Hymn to Ninkasi." A portion of the poem reads:
You are the one who handles the dough [and] with a big shovel,
Mixing in a pit, the bappir with sweet aromatics,
Ninkasi, you are the one who handles the dough [and] with a big shovel,
Mixing in a pit, the bappir with [date] - honey,
You are the one who bakes the bappir in the big oven,
Puts in order the piles of hulled grains,
Ninkasi, you are the one who bakes the bappir in the big oven,
Puts in order the piles of hulled grains,
You are the one who waters the malt set on the ground,
The noble dogs keep away even the potentates,
Ninkasi, you are the one who waters the malt set on the ground,
The noble dogs keep away even the potentates,
You are the one who soaks the malt in a jar,
The waves rise, the waves fall.
Ninkasi, you are the one who soaks the malt in a jar,
The waves rise, the waves fall.
You are the one who spreads the cooked mash on large reed mats,
Coolness overcomes,
Ninkasi, you are the one who spreads the cooked mash on large reed mats,
Coolness overcomes,
You are the one who holds with both hands the great sweet wort,
Brewing [it] with honey [and] wine
(You the sweet wort to the vessel)
Ninkasi, (...)(You the sweet wort to the vessel)
The filtering vat, which makes a pleasant sound,
You place appropriately on a large collector vat.
Ninkasi, the filtering vat, which makes a pleasant sound,
You place appropriately on a large collector vat.
When you pour out the filtered beer of the collector vat,
It is [like] the onrush of Tigris and Euphrates.
Ninkasi, you are the one who pours out the filtered beer of the collector vat,
It is [like] the onrush of Tigris and Euphrates.
It was through this poem that modern brewers like Fritz Maytag at Anchor Brewing have been able to recreate the original Sumerian recipe for beer, dating back 3,800 years. So next time you tip a pint, think of the noble history of the brew you drink.
All hail Ninkasi!
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It may make sense for the "wine snob" to be a cheapskate, but when the price of a really good beer is usually less than twice the price of a crummy cheap beer, it doesn't pay to be cheap. Gary talks about beer styles, history, brands, and whatever else comes into his head.
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