All posts by John Fortunato

(CLIPPER CITY) HEAVY SEAS ‘THE GREAT PUMPKIN’ IMPERIAL ALE

CLIPPER CITY GREAT PUMPKINWondrous orange-hazed Imperial Pumpkin Ale (with lusty 8% alcohol) maintains rich pumpkin-spiced theme above brisk citric backdrop and lively hop-spiced continuance. Brown-sugared cinnamon-baked nutmeg-clove-allspice-daubed sweetness receives honeyed maple sapping and candied apple lacquering as full-on gourd-squash essence reaches crisp-watered gin-soaked easement. Perfect autumnal offering also blends tertiary cider notes into pumpkin-pied crust.

FLUSH THE INDUSTRY

For too many years brain-dead executives ruled the now nearly defunct major record labels. I’m not talking about publicists and artist relation staffs, just the misguided hacks at the top of the shit heap from punk’s 1977 heyday ‘til now. These stuck-up money-grabbing twerps were the ones who offered secretarial staff’s health insurance but were too cheap to provide it for their own artists – the people responsible for making them money. And what’s now ironic is how the corporate giants who raped and pillaged the industry are now getting raped and pillaged by free internet downloads. In the ‘50s, ‘60s, and early ‘70s, independent labels such as Motown, Atlantic, and Stax were well-staffed with producers, artist relation people, and executives who understood and loved the rock, soul, and folk beaming like beacons through radio’s amplified waves. Moreover, these important smaller labels had major distribution and powerful promoters hyping new music through radio lobbying and payola tactics. By the time punk and rap came along and newer indie labels emerged, major labels got scared and avoided the street noise coming from places like CBGB’s and Bronx schoolyards, allowing commercial radio to become a pathetic place for flaccid conservative fodder. Major labels and commercial radio made sure punk and rap could not receive commercial radio access, major distribution, and breakthrough sales at a time when they enjoyed the benefits of thriving ‘heritage’ rockers such as Fleetwood Mac and the Eagles – not to mention the disco fad. Even more corrupt than in the past, the major labels shunned the punk and rap movement and promised more grass, wine, and, of course, payola money, to make sure indie labels and artists couldn’t receive commercial airplay lamer major label artists received. And here’s how the major labels finally got their comeuppance – overpricing newly marketed Compact Disc’s during the ‘80s. This alone decreased access for developing punk and rap artist’s as impressionable teens were not only unable to discover worthy new independent label product at corporately sponsored record stores, but they also refused to absorb the inexcusable, exorbitantly priced ‘new tech’ CD’s being marketed at highly inflated rates. Collectors of cool independent music stopped buying! In the ‘70s, $4 albums were bought on teen’s $200 a week wages and taking chances on newer artists was fairly cheap. This made access to a growing number of new glam-rock, prog-rock, soul, and country artists easy to afford, especially compared to the ‘80s, when Compact Disc versions (with smaller, compromised cover art and sterilized sound) sold for $12 when teen’s had $300 a week wages. That’s a 300% jump in price for a sound carrier that a mere 50% wage increase couldn’t absorb a decade hence (and I didn’t adjust for inflation!). In other words, teen consumers’ budgets got tighter and their interest in discovering developing indie artists decreased. Audaciously higher pricing for a cheaper-to-make sound carrier undermined teen buyers. In reality, the arrogance of the major labels finally caught up to them. Face it major label thieves, it costs one penny to make a CD and the high warehousing costs previously encountered for drying and storing vinyl no longer exists. These labels had the stupidity to price themselves out of existence. And the lack of commercial radio exposure depriving independent artists of a fair playing field partially ruined the careers of better ‘80s artists such as the Minutemen, Replacements, and old school rappers. Due to major labels neglectful tactics, independent artists of all stripes were kept down on the farm at college stations way below the 92.1 radar on the FM dial. This is the same despicable deprivation black slaves suffered through at the birth of this supposedly great nation. And that’s why parasitic major label execs deserve to perish. They used gifted artists for their talent, paid cheap wages, and got rich. So don’t feel sorry for the last few remaining stiffs surviving major label downscaling. I doubt there are any in tune with what’s happening beyond the velvet rope for over a decade or two. Most of these clueless, careless executives have no doubt moved on to divorce, drugs, and pettier careers (perhaps in real estate). The kick in my ass is I’m used to relying on free promotional advances from both major labels and indie start-ups - hard copy CD’s with artwork, pix, bio, and publishitty ephemera. And now due to major label downsizing and indie label cutbacks, I may be forced to only receive free promotion links with limited access time to download. Not sure how I feel about that. I’ve never considered myself a music collector, though I own thousands of CD’s and records. I’m just a big pop fan with free access to great independent (and co-dependent) music. I’m so accustomed to building a record library that it’ll probably be like quitting heroin now that I’ll stop getting physical copies of 90% of the stuff I want. It’ll still be free. Oh yeah. Nothing will stop me from downloading whatever the fuck I want anyhow. Luckily, the major labels that still exist now offer even fewer artists I care to spend time listening to. Besides, everything worthwhile starts on the streets at indie labels (if they survive). As for the artists, whose work I’ve cherished and kept coming back to for years, the game is over for high-priced major label signings, big bonuses, and boondoggled bonanzas. I always thought if Steely Dan wanted to just sit back and make albums without touring, go the fuck ahead. They still collected a disturbingly limited monetary stipend off album sales and royalties but were able to somehow survive financially. But the game may be over for that kind of introverted musical lifestyle. Simply put, if you don’t go out on the road, you’re gonna have a helluva time collecting money these days in the music biz. So studio rats like rappers, producers, and introverted rockers beware. Then again, those rappers, producers, and introverted rockers who’ve got skills in visual arts, web design, or cheesy promotional devices beyond the merch table, may be able to eke out a meager living. Sure there’ll be those mega-selling teen faves – the Jonas Brothers (yea for Wyckoff, New Jersey!) and Miley Cyrus (whose dad’s got big Country/Western bucks) – but blockbuster sales will be close to nil. Many teens’ computer games now have 10 or more songs on them anyway and that will further cheapen audio CD’s by one artist. I do get a kick out of the rap community, so eager to protect the rights of their artists by sending promo CD’s with interrupting ‘sound bites’ and stupid messages all over ‘em so any music critic who dares give free access before release date will be compromised. But that’ll only hurt their record sales as pre-release buzz evaporates. Besides, isn’t the majority of hip-hop culture based on free access to sampling and duped instrumentation? Sure they must pay now for their borrowings, but not in the past. Ask James Brown and George Clinton. Their records got transformed through hip-hop into something new. But the samples were originally lifted for free to underscore a rapper’s flow and then sold for profit when the major label industry and its distribution system thrived. Now, when access to recordings is free, the rap community is looking to protect profits derived mostly from sampled dupes. Isn’t that ironic? Steal from the majors’ older recordings and get pissed when the system breaks down and you can’t make a buck off it. Go on the road, dudes. Then again, I hear the Wu Tang Clan’s recent tour didn’t suffice financially. Most likely, the Clan wasted any advance money during the tour. And it seems like the Clan is pissed off at producer-agent RZA for not paying ‘em proper residuals on last year’s new album (which the group disowned on impact). Well. The disc probably sold less than ‘gold’ (500,000 copies) and the group most likely stayed in the same fancy hotels quaffing expensive liquor as the now-dead major label execs once did. It’s funny how the teen consumer gets the last laugh. My sons and daughter alone have downloaded hundreds of songs for free – and I feel no guilt. Neither should you. The internet has freed the teens from corporate greed. Though the enslaved artists still suffer from unfair monetary reciprocation, at least they’ve gained instant worldwide exposure and the chance to make small money. -John Fortunato xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

THE BRUERY HOTTENROTH BERLINER WEISS

THE BRUERY HOTTENROTHProfusely mouth-puckered beige-hazed yellow-glazed ‘tart wheat ale’ creates vinous Sauvignon Blanc or Belgian Gueuze feel (when not sweetened by raspberry and woodruff syrup). Sour green grape, Granny Smith apple, and unripe lemon fruiting reinforces wild yeast herbage and leathery barnyard funk. Grassy-bottomed horsehide, hay, and maize illusions breach tertiary tannic cherry tartness at tail end of light-bodied carbolic spritzer. Despite heightened brettanomyces level, acidic tendencies are kept in check.

BROOKLYN MANHATTAN PROJECT

On tap, heady vermouth-bourbon radiance and sweet whiskey warmth bring about boozy Manhattan cocktail theme that goes way beyond understated rye ale categorization. Lustrous raisin-cherry pureed richness, sweet orange-bruised banana-clove fruiting, and pumpkin-pied cinnamon-nutmeg spicing intensify syrupy medicinal cough-drop finish. Spiced rum, brandy, and sherry illusions run amuck. Simply fantastic ’09 offering.

CHELSEA BREWING 4TH CASK ALE FESTIVAL

CHELSEA BREWING HOSTS LARGEST MANHATTAN CASK ALE FEST – AGAIN!
By John Fortunato Conveniently located along Manhattan’s West Side waterfront at Pier 59, spacious Chelsea Brewing Company kept ‘real ale’ drinkers satisfied with forty-one cask-conditioned beers from twenty-two American (and one Scottish) breweries at its fourth Cask Ale Festival held October 9th through 11th. Since early ’08, Chelsea’s highly successful spring-fall festivals have given respect to ‘old-styled’ unfiltered hand-pumped ales conditioned in firkin tanks for less carbonated, fuller flavored, unpasteurized versions of the usual gas-pressurized keg-barreled beer. Opened for business since 1995, Chelsea initially bottled two of its regular beers: Checker Cab Blonde and Sunset Red Ale. Bottling was an expensive proposition so the 10,000 square foot location now housing Chelsea began dispensing only freshly crafted tap beer. Fourteen years hence, this Big Apple beacon still prospers, featuring its strongest beer lineup yet for autumn ’09s Cask Ale fest. "It’s a challenge to reach out and get these beers. We get good cooperation, even amongst local competitors (Blue Point/ Brooklyn/ Captain Lawrence)," Chelsea entrepreneur Patrick Greene insists as I imbibe Chelsea’s heady wood-burnt pine-tarred cherry-soured black coffee-powered Black Hole Stout. "We even reached out to nearby Jersey brewer, High Point, who don’t usually do cask ales. We get the opportunity to see what’s out there and spend much time crafting our own (nine entries)," he adds. With the help of longtime beer enthusiast/ Yankee Brew News publisher Bill Metzger and heralded San Francisco-originated brewer Chris Sheehan (formerly of dearly departed 20 Tank Brewery), Greene assembled an impressive original lineup of cask ales for this fourth shindig. An inspiring stylistic range of cross-country offerings including a plethora of stouts, a half-dozen India Pale Ales, and a few pumpkin brews were readied. "My brewers do an excellent job keeping up the tradition, receiving firkins, storing them, and racking them. We do it only twice yearly. We get bigger beers (with heavier alcohol consistency) in fall. The lighter stuff comes in spring. It’s both sides of the coin for the beer year," Greene says while I chomp on a croissant. "We enjoy it and encourage customers to not only taste our beers, but also whatever else is out there that they usually don’t get in New York. People who’ve had our product could rely on consistency. We have a good customer base. Young customers have all grown up on microbrews nowadays. It’s no longer new and exotic. They’ve already experienced and enjoyed these beers." Starting 11 A.M. on Friday, I began tossing back generous offerings. An early fave amongst fellow peers was Buffalo’s Pearl Street Flamande Rouge, a Flemish sour red ale with Lambic-like tannic cherry skin tartness, green grape pucker, and lime-y brimstone acidity. Pearl Street’s Saber’s Edge Double IPA also faired well, countering peach syrupy creaminess with floral lemon-peeled bitterness. Colorado-based Oskar Blue’s Dale’s Oak Old Chub (soft whiskey-licked cocoa-malted pineapple-teased Scotch Ale) and, to a lesser extent, Dale’s Wet Hop Nugget (lemon-grapefruit soured Pale Ale), also appeased late morning drinkers. After cheese and crackers, I returned to liquid consumption. Indiana-based Three Floyd’s Alpha King Pale Ale took a bold black tea-like hold as syrupy pear and ripe apple illusions reached a creamy caramel malt finish. Southernmost brewer, Saint Somewhere (of Tarpin Springs, Florida), provided two worthy Belgian knockoffs, Saison-styled apple-tart grape-tannic Saison Du Chene and cider-soured honey-sapped Pays Du Soleil. I favored Clipper City’s Great Pumpkin Imperial Ale (with its wood-lacquered pumpkin pie theme and banana-chipped cinnamon-nutmeg influence) over admirable Weyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin (a softer gourd-spiced seasonal given deeper candi-sugared cinnamon-nutmeg resolve). High Point, a northern Jersey brewer chiefly known for robust German-styled wheat beers, submitted cask-conditioned Ramstein Classic Wheat (sugared fig, sour cider, and crushed grape illusions counter spicy Belgian chocolate) and tranquil sour-fruited Ramstein Octoberfest. Greene chimes in, "The one thing about brewing – no offense to brewmasters – it’s one of the last apprenticeship fields in the country. It takes years of experience to get a feel for it. I equate it to being an instinctive grandmother with a recipe. She doesn’t need to use a measuring cup or spoon." People start filing in quickly around 4 PM as I made my departure only to return Saturday at noon with my parents for six more delectable libations. Three from host brewer, Chelsea, included dry-hopped grapefruit-lingered Hop Angel IPA, black chocolate-y molasses-sapped coffee-soured prune-dried crème brulee-like Cream Stout, and incredible bourbon-barreled cherry-pureed apple-soured rum-soaked perfume-scented Pina Colata-finishing 1000 Gyle Imperial Mild. While enjoying Cobb Salad, tried Scotland’s creamy spruce-induced dark-spiced apricot-grape-soured BrewDog Hardcore IPA and even better grassy perfume-hopped floral-fruited pear-apple-pineapple-slung Brooklyn Blast (from neighboring competitor Brooklyn Brewery). Cocoa-dried chocolate nibs-nipped Corner Jackhammer Old Ale (from Ypsilanti, Michigan) then closed the session before I headed home for some good ol’ college football. Other beers imbibed during Friday’s session included three Midwest brown ales: hop-charred cocoa-powdered chocolate-resinous espresso-finishing stout-like Michigan Bavarian Dark, prune-fig-soured rye-malted tea-backed currant-tart The Livery Imperial Brown Rye Ale (both from Michigan), and Wisconsin-based walnut-embittered hazelnut-sweetened caramel-malted Bull Falls Nut Brown Ale. Besides Pearl Street’s, Chelsea’s, Brooklyn’s and BrewDog’s above-listed India Pale Ale’s, there were two fine Michigan entries. Tangy peach-pear-pineapple-tangerine-fruited orange rind-embittered floral-bound Dark Horse Crooked Tree IPA and sharp piney-hopped creamy-centered cherry-pineapple-apricot-doused Michigan High Seas India Pale Ale were no slouches. A large contingent of stouts included black chocolate-y cocoa-chalked anise-stained fig-dried Blue Point Oatmeal Stout, barley-roasted hop-toasted mocha-dried cherry-perfumed Dark Horse One Oatmeal Stout, Colorado’s butterscotch-sugared brown chocolate-y Left Hand Imperial Stout, and California’s chocolate-spiced nutty-bottomed black cherry-soured pecan-buttered Moylan Dragoons Dry Irish Stout. Pennsylvania’s dry coffee bean-embittered black chocolate-whirred raisin-pureed cherry-tinged Troegs Java Head Stout topped its bottled version. Vermont’s Belgian-styled candi-sugared caramel-burnt oats-toasted grape-soured chocolate-bordered Magic Hat Big Stout proved most unique. To round-up, sullen yellow-fruited grassy-leafed Bull Falls White Water Cream Ale and soft yellow-orange-fruited woody-hopped dry-finishing Chelsea U.S.A. English-style Summer Ale had winsome appeal. Hazelnut-chocolate-informed Left Hand Blackjack Porter benefited from sustained cocoa bean-dried caramel-burnt toffee-clad finish. Here’s the rest of my conversation with Chelsea founder Patrick Greene. Born and bred in Brooklyn, he attended Brooklyn Tech and NYU and now resides in Long Island’s South Shore. Do you think the general public may be initially put-off by cask ale’s flattened-out body and warm serving temperature? PATRICK GREENE: The warmer temperature allows a lot of the illusional flavors to come out that may not be distinct if you drink it cold. Don’t get me wrong. I like cold beer, but in a tasting scenario, the warmer atmosphere gives the full range of what was created in the beer. It’s the next step.
How’d you get involved with craft brewing?
 In 1987, Manhattan Brewing Company was under construction to reopen. I met an English brewer. The brewery had occupancy of the whole building. The landlord said they had to bring everything down and put it in a smaller space. We handled the mechanical and technical end the cooling and heating system. In the two years I was there, we added four stories, put in a glass elevator, and renovated the floors. I loved the idea of brewing. As compensation, the brewer gave good quality beers to the workers. It was the best bribe. All my workers are now microbrew drinkers. I was building restaurants as well and got the opportunity to construct (now-defunct) Westside Brewing Company at 76th and Amsterdam. I designed it, installed the equipment, and we couldn’t make enough beer for consumption on premises. At the time, we had very good product in the developing stages like Checker Cab Blonde Ale and Sunset Red. We worked on small batches.
When did brewmaster Chris Sheehan come aboard?
 He came from 20 Tank Brewery in San Francisco. It was very popular, but when the city refurbished the waterfront, that small brewery couldn’t afford to be there any longer. He enjoys his stouts but became very upset when an article claimed he was just an experienced stout brewer. He thought that was just one more style of beer created that was finally getting recognition and was only part of his forte. The Hop Angel he makes is a tremendous IPA. We don’t stay to the guidelines or get caught up in new fads like Souble IPA’s – super-saturated hoppy beers. They’re great for a taste or two, but our beers are designed for consumption. We do make ‘big beers,’ but only do them once or twice yearly. We’re geared towards consumers who want to enjoy a few. It’s great to have a 10% alcohol brew on tap, but you have to be cautious how you sell it (due to quick inebriation). Our Imperial Mild (in actuality, a strong barleywine) will have you going sideways.
Why aren’t there more brewpubs in New York City? Vermont, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire are overflowing with them.
 The real estate market is expensive and limits what could be done. You’d have to go into a developing area like Greenpoint or Williamsburg on the Brooklyn side. Even Bedford Stuyvesant or Bushwick. It’s less expensive to put up a tasting room and maintain brewing operations as a manufacturer. There’s tremendous room for opportunity in those depressed areas. They’d give real estate tax incentives to go into those areas. You wouldn’t need much space.
How important is sanitizing and having a good water source at your disposal?
 Sanitation is a must. Keep everything clean. On a large scale, like Chelsea Brewery, we have the ability to sanitize and purify everything we do. New York has good water for brewing. I put in a filtration system, but took it apart after a year. We never used it. The water is incredible here in New York. The Southeast usually has to filtrate (due to less pure water sources). People who have to treat water are envious of us. That’s one aspect we have naturally.
 -John Fortunato