Imbibe Highlights New Hop Varieties, Alcohol Trends
It’s rare that I’ll lean upon outside news sources or magazine articles as primary content (which probably just points to the fact that good bloggers are significantly more savvy and reactionary than I tend to be), but the recent issue of Imbibe magazine (July/August 2010) touched upon two topics that figure in prominently in this column, and that are near and dear to this accidental blogger.
I’ve already covered a number of individual topics on boutique hops. The first article of note in this issue of Imbibe, “Flavor of the Month” (available online), takes this approach one step further, and provides an excellent overview of the relatively new, charismatic hop varieties that are gaining wider use in craft beer. Citra, Nelson, Sorachi Ace, Teamaker… It’s a great introduction to the topic.
I’d actually pitched the exact same topic elsewhere recently… And if I’m going to get scooped (and this certainly won’t be the last time), it’s great to see the topic handled by someone who knows what’s going on. Well worth a read, and by no means the end of what’s a constantly changing landscape of new hops.
The second article of note, “Swing Low: Summery Wines That Don’t Pack an Alcohol Punch”, isn’t available online, and doesn’t seem to have anything to do with beer. The author picks a number of different varietals and styles that offer a lighter alternative to those hefty, New-World-y renditions that tend to push 15%+. These can be hard to pair with food or imbibe appropriately on a warm summer weekend. And many of the lighter suggestions were spot-on: German Rieslings at ~11%, Portuguese Vinho Verde similarly sized, Moscato D’Asti at 5.5%.
But beyond that… The lowest ABV listing beyond those above is an 11.5% Syrah. The rest of the list is occupied by 13.5% Pinot Noir, Chenin Blancs, Gamays, etc. And while the author does an appropriate job focusing upon the lighter varietals and calling attention to Old-World renditions of certain mid-range varietals, I still can’t get over the notion of a 13% Sauvignon Blanc being “low-alcohol wine.”
Is this forgetfulness? Is this a marketing thing? Is this just me losing my mind and falsely thinking of ”normal” wine as 12-14%? Maybe my curmudgeonliness knows no bounds (does Lew have this same problem?, I wonder), but the whole thing makes about as much sense to me as a 6.5% session beer.
In fairness, Imbibe‘s online bonus feature to this article, “How Low Can You Go?“, features an excellent list of lower-alcohol beers weighing in under 5%.
That I can drink to.
2 Comments to “Imbibe Highlights New Hop Varieties, Alcohol Trends”
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[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by ratebeer and RateBeer Hop Press, Ken (K. M.) Weaver. Ken (K. M.) Weaver said: Imbibe Highlights New Hop Varieties, Alcohol Trends – http://bit.ly/cfMuBb [...]
glad I wasn’t the only one that thought that ratebeer thread was fucking retarded.