Congeners are the Culprit: Prevent Holiday Humbug with Local Brews
As this celebratory season winds down and office parties, New Year’s bashes and Christmas celebrations have come and gone, you may or may
Prevent the infamous Hangover Humbug
not have been faced with the infamous holiday hangover after indulging in some “festive spirits”. A question that might have crossed your mind is how you could have minimize these unpleasant after effects while not having to forego your favorite brew with friends and families. Well, the answer is…get to know your Congeners!
Congeners “contribute to an alcohol’s unique color, odor, and taste, and punish your head and belly the morning after”. CNN health delves into more detail about this in a recent article titled “Being Choosy about booze helps avoid hangovers”. According to the article, the rule of thumb is the darker the liquor, the bigger the hangover.
In the study, 95 people between the ages of 21 and 35 were served either Wild Turkey bourbon or Absolut vodka (which have roughly the same alcohol content) mixed with caffeine-free Coke, which was designed to mask the taste of the liquor. According to the study, bourbon, which is aged in oak barrels, has 37 times as many congeners as vodka, which is heavily filtered to remove impurities.
The people who drank bourbon reported more severe hangovers than the people who drank vodka, but they weren’t any less alert.
This is all well and good, however this is a Burlington Brew Tour blog, so what about the beer…
The staff at BBT did some reading to help out our fellow beer enthusiast and unlike liquor, color or hue in beer does not affect a beer’s likely hangover potential. In brewer’s yeast, especially lager yeast, there are natural chemical byproducts which form during the fermentation process. One of these chemical byproducts is Acetaldehyde. This chemical usually imparts a green apple flavor in beer. Beer behemoth Anheuser-Busch has been said to have the highest level of this hangover catalyst. Acetaldehyde is typically inappropriate in any beer style, though Anheuser-Busch’s Budweiser has integrated it within their flavor profile by using beechwood chips in the fermentation to drop the yeast out of the solution before it can be reduced to ethanol, a byproduct of yeast breaking down sugar.
So, what can we gather from this? We at BBT pride ourselves in supporting our local Vermont breweries that do not focus on quantity, yet quality, and have a much more intimate and involved role within their brewing processes. With smaller staffed outfits, ownership that takes the time to engage and get to know their consumers, and a more organic brewing style than the “big guys”, going local ensures that we say bye to the byproducts and hello to a more enjoyable experience during and after indulging in your favorite brews.
Don’t forget, this is only part of the formula to preventing a hangover, and much of it relies on your own responsibility and ability to monitor your intake at the company jingle ball or Grandma’s holiday gathering.
We hope you all had a very hoppy holiday season and this information helps you enjoy some local brews with macro taste and micro adverse effects the day after!
Staying Warm with New Switchback Porter
Being very typical for Vermont weather, Wednesday was quite the cold and snowy winter evening at 10°F.
Switchback Porter & Mussels at RiRa's on Church St.
These conditions, however, did not stop my weekly ritual of microbrews and half-price burgers at RiRa’s, located along Church Street market place.
If you haven’t been in Burlington for Christmas, colorful lights shine throughout the streets, families bustle around to get their last minute shopping in, and to top it off, a thin layer of snow covers everything. A true winter wonderland!
Due to temperature drops, I knew tonight’s microbrew of choice had to be the new Switchback Porter. Unlike ice-cold light beer, porters warm you from the inside out. After checking out the wide range of menu options, I decided to skew from my usual Guinness barbecue burger and go with mussels in whiskey garlic butter sauce.
The porter’s rich creamy flavor paired splendidly with the mussels. It was so tasty that I had to snap the picture after the 2nd round. Switchback released this new brew December 6th, so I was very excited to see more pubs and restaurants carrying it. Next time, I‘ll probably have to go back to my usual burger, but this dish and drink combo were exactly what the doctor prescribed on this frosty winter night.
The moral of this post; bundle up and whether it be RiRa’s or the local liquor store you frequent, go out and try the new Switchback Porter!
Got to Love Day Light Savings Time… 1 more hour to drink beer
I hope everyone had a chance to celebrate Oktoberfest with some delicious beers and great people. The month of October was a busy time for Burlington Brew Tours. We had some outrageous tour groups comprised of bachelor parties, wedding showers, and corporate outings. Being that we are new to this newsletter circuit, I want to introduce our company in the proper fashion.
We are a company in the beer business, however we do not make beer. Our objective is to expand peoples’ pallets and mind during an all-inclusive 4-hour interactive beer excursion throughout Burlington’s best breweries! In addition, we give beer enthusiasts the chance to try some of Burlington’s can’t miss eateries. On behalf of everyone at Burlington Brew Tours, drink local and get beer-educated on us.
Burlington Brewing Icon Greg Noonan Has Passed Away
It’s with great sadness to tell you all, Gregory John Noonan, founder of Vermont Pub & Brewery in Burlington, Vermont, died Sunday at age 58.
1951-2009
There will be no beer of the week due to this tragic occurence, however I would like to write a personal note to Greg for his thanks and dedication to Burlington Brew Tours and the Vermont Beer community.
Gregory Noonan, the man who wrote the book on beer brewing — three books, actually— and helped launch the microbrewing culture in Vermont. Noonan, who established the Vermont Pub & Brewery in 1988, had an effect on a wide spectrum of the brewing landscape. His knowledge and accessibility helped propel home-brewers to the next level.
Greg was truly an amazing person! When I first came to him with my Burlington Brew Tour idea, he was so erudite and eager to help, that upon meeting me, gave me the opportunity to check out the brew process first hand. Greg really believed in the BBT venture. If it were not for Greg, BBT would be non-existent. He was always willing to introduce himself and make you laugh. This was a common theme throughout his life. He was such a lively and charismatic soul. There was something about him, which was so personable and approachable. I started this company not really knowing anything about beer; however, Greg took me under his wing to teach me the intricate details of the brewing process and the specifics of VPB’s great beer. I will greatly miss my interaction and compassion Greg had for me when I came to him as a lowly college student.
Thank You for Everything!
Respectively,
Chad Brodsky
R.I.P. MR. NOONAN
BEER BEER BEER – VERMONT
This past week was quite entertaining! Last Friday night was the fourth Annual Oktoberfest at American Flatbread. For those of you who missed it, the alley/patio was transformed into a full-on German-style bier garden. There was live music, sausages, kraut, pretzels, lederhosen, dancing and general merriment.
Drum Roll… The beer of the week is Spuyten Duyvil at Vermont Pub and Brewery. Supyten Duyvil is a Flander’s Sour Red. Now let us discuss this styles origin. This style, indigenous to West Flanders, was made popular by the Rodenbach brewery in 1820. The beer is aged for up to two years, often in huge oaken barrels, which contain the resident yeast necessary to sour the beer. This yeast strain is lactobacillus. VPB’s Spuyten Duyvil uses both lactobacillus and Brettanomyces. Brettanomyces is mostly found in French Bordeaux wines. These wines, like their beer brethren, have horseblanket and earthy flavors. Vermont Pub and Brewery has aged this beer to near perfection!
Head into Vermont Pub and Brewery and try the aged and conditioned Spuyten Duyvil OR join us on a Burlington Brew Tour, where you will sample Spuyten Duyvil and many more Vermont beers!
Vermont Autumn Foliage and Beer = Oktoberfest
It has has been quite a hectic past couple of months for Burlington Brew Tours. From now on, expect blog updates at least once a week. As the weather gets colder, Vermont beer gets darker; personally, I have been craving Marzens and Vienna Lagers, which are very malty typical Oktoberfest beers. I regret to inform everyone that Beansies’s Bus, one our lunch destinations, has initiated its colder months hibernation, but will return once Spring-Summer arrives.
In addition to our weekly blog posts, we are going to feature a beer a week from one of the four breweries we visit on the Burlington Brew Tour…
This weeks beer is the Vienna lager from American Flatbread/Zero-Gravity Brewing Co. American Flatbread has a great new Vienna Lager on tap. This beer has an elegant malt complexity; with a firm enough hop bitterness, which provides a balanced finish. One might notice some toasted character from the use of Vienna malt.
If your living in the state of Vermont, pick up a copy of the 9/11 Burlington Free Press. A special autumn article is written about Beer and Wine all over the state of Vermont. There is even mention of Burlington Brew Tours.
Thanks for visiting the new and improved Burlington Brew Tours Blog, Bringing the best beer Burlington has to offer to the masses since 2008.
Cheers until next week!
T-shirts Are Finally In!!
About a week ago, we received our first shipment of awesome Burlington Brew Tour T-shirts! They look great. My good friend Brennan Keeler design the awesome Tees. The new tees are green and white and come in sizes, Small through Extra Large. The back of the tee asks a very important question; What Kind of Brew are you??? With the influx of new Tees, shirts are $12 dollars with the purchase of a BBT ticket.
Don’t forget graduation for all you Burlington VT Seniors is coming up, so don’t forget to invite your friends and family on a Burlington Brew Tour! The economy may be in a recession, but there is always room for BEER!
Magic Hat Brewing Company
Today was the first tour that went to the Magic Hat Brewing Company; this has been a great addition to the tour itinerary. Thanks to the help of Magic Hat’s founder, Alan Newman, Burlington Brew Tours is now offering Magic Hat Brewing Company as a new tour destination. For all of you who are not familiar with Magic Hat, they are the 6th largest craft brewery in the country. After many months of new construction, Magic Hat’s new sampling bar and brewery is operational. This bar is one of the longest bars in the state of Vermont. Not only do you get more beer for the same price but it also gives been enthusiasts the opportunity to see the different scales which breweries can operate at. BBT is pretty excited about this new addition.
Welcome to Burlington Brew Tours!
We have had constant growth and recognition throughout the Burlington area. Tours are now only on Friday-Sunday from 1-4PM. BBT is no longer taking tours to Beansie’s Bus for lunch anymore. Beansie’s is only open for the warmer months. In response to Beansie’s Bus’s hibernation, BBT has been forced to find alternative means of that one of kind delicious Burlington taste. As a result, Burlington Brew Tours now has begun lunches at Al’s French Fries. Al’s food is fantastic and is a local favorite to BBT’s staff as well as residents of the Burlington area.
In other developments, BBT is in the process of launching its brand new website. This website will be more informative and allow a potential beer enthusiast to book a tour right online. The website is a direct contribution from our friends at Burlington Boatyards. Keep your eyes out for upcoming article in both the Seven Day’s food section and Champlain Business Journal.
