Spirits Weekly Webinar: Craft Beers

By SOMDATTA SENGUPTA

Craft beers are as American as apple pie.

These beers are usually produced in a specialized brewery and are brewed with great care to achieve distinctive taste and flavor. They are also produced for a specific target audience who prefer that style. Craft beers are never mass-produced but there might be exceptions. The largest American craft brewery is Samuel Adams.

With brewpubs, microbreweries and restaurants, the craft beer scene is New Jersey is hot and happening. My three favorite brewpubs in the state — Harvest Moon (New Brunswick), Triumph (Princeton) and Basil T's just down the road in Red Bank, serve some great selections. The food to go with beer isn't bad either, with Basil T's Italian grill ranking pretty high on the culinary scene. I highly recommend trying a "growler" at your nearest brewpub because we have a lot of new varieties brewing in the Garden State (Check out the Garden State Craft Brewers Guild) and there will surely be more than one that will knock your socks off.

But if you are not feeling adventurous enough to venture out, and just want to relax at home and chill, we highly recommend that you drop by Spirits Unlimited Middletown and grab your favorite craft brew. We have a huge selection and can almost guarantee you will find what you are looking for. In case we don't have it on our shelf, just ask us to get you your beer of choice. We will do our best to keep you happy and "chill'n!"

On that note, I would like to present to you our expert on beer, Jonathan Wurm, the Imports and Crafts Account Manager with MillerCoors. Today he will share with you some aspects of the Leinenkugel Brewing Company, one of the seventh-oldest brewery in this country. Like every microbrewery, there is a story behind Leinenkugel as well, a lore that takes you back in time to 1867, to the era of the lumberjacks in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin.

Family-owned and operated, Leinenkugel beers are handcrafted and bring home the adventures of the Northwoods in Wisconsin. Between four seasonals and year-round brews this self-described "old-world Germanic brewery" has won many awards, and will win your heart as well.

Spirits Weekly Webinar: A bit about beer

By SOMDATTA SENGUPTA

After each holiday weekend there is that time where you just need to ease into your daily routine, get back into your groove, get on with your to-do list and relax.

This week we bring you Jonathan Wurm who will help you do just that but with style — beer style, that is.

(Click on picture to view video)

Jonathan is the Imports and Crafts Account Manager with MillerCoors and represents Leinenkugel Brewing Company, one of the seventh-oldest brewery in this country. It is reported on the official company website that Jacob Leinenkugel established this brewery in 1867 and handed down the tradition to his successors. Five generations and 140 years later, this brewery can still inspire you with its craftsmanship, taste and quality. The magic continues to brew in Wisconsin as we speak.

Now, why Wisconsin, one might wonder. The reason is pure and simple: water.

When Native American tribes settled in an area, they did so after determining the location's natural attributes, like water. In Ojibwan, Wisconsin means gathering of the waters, according to the Leinenkugel Brewing website. And for Mr. Leinenkugel, the waters of the Chippewa River, Duncan Creek and Big Eddy Springs was inspiration enough to start brewing.

Jonathan says that officially there are 140 different styles of beer as per the Brewers Association.

A quick FYI: The Brewers Association is an organization of brewers, for brewers and by brewers. More than 1,000 US brewery members and 19,000 members of the American Homebrewers Association are joined by members of the allied trade, beer wholesalers, individuals, other associate members and the Brewers Association staff to make up the Brewers Association. Its purpose is to promote and protect small and independent American brewers, their craft beers and the community of brewing enthusiasts.

Jonathan explains in this video report how the different styles of beer can be pared down to two basic types — ales and lagers. Stay with Jonathan to learn about these styles and then drop by Spirits Unlimited Middletown to casually select your style of beer from our huge collection of popular and exclusive beers.

Cheers!!!