A new piece of beer memorabilia

I just got this piece in the mail today. It is an advert for Peru's Cerveza Cristal.  It will serve as an addition and a counterpoint to the one for Cerveza Pilsen Callao that I have affixed to the side of the house.

Cristal and Pilsen were for many years Peru's two main rival brands. They are, respectively, the best- and second best-selling labels in Peru today, and are still viewed as competing brands, although they are now, in fact, both controlled by the Union de Cervecerias Peruanas Backus y Johnston company.

Peruvian Beer Cup 2016

In late October, coinciding with Lima Beer Week, the Unión de Cervecerías Artesanales del Perú (UCAP), the association representing the bulk of Peru's craft brewers, held the first Copa Peruana de Cervezas (Peruvian Beer Cup) competition.

The Cup was open to craft berwers and homebrewers, with the requirement that the beer entered must have been produced somewhere within Peru.  The organizers received entries representing 178 individual labels made by brewers from all corners of the country.

Judging was conducted by Beer Judge Certification Program-certified beer judges and the beers were judged with reference to the BJCP beer style guidelines. The results were announced on October 23rd, at a ceremony held at the Hops brewpub in Lima's historic Pueblo Libre neighborhood.

The big winners overall were: Cerveceria del Valle, with 6 medals (4 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze); Barbarian, with 5 medals (2 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze); Maddok, with 3 medals (2 silver, 1 bronze); Cumbres, with a silver and a bronze medal; and Invictus with 2 bronze medals. Eight  other breweries earned 1 medal each.

Barbarian came away with a First and Second Place in the Best of Show category for, respectively, "Chicha Tu Mare Sour Ale" and "Mañanero Café Pale Ale", while Cusco's Cerveceria del Valle walked away with Third Place Best of Show for its "A Very Complicated Case - Oak-Aged Blueberry Sour".

Detailed results can be read HERE.

Lima Beer Week, Oct. 14-23

Between Oct. 14 and Oct. 23, Lima craft brewers will host the first Lima Beer Week.  There will be a full schedule of events is organized by the Union de Cerveceros Artesanales del Peru (UCAP), which represents the main craft breweries in the country.

More info at:  limabeerweek.com  and at  www.facebook.com/LimaBeerWeek

Opening: Shadow Puppet Brewing Co. (Livermore, CA)

After keeping all waiting for what seemed like forever, founder and CEO, Brian Blackburn, and headbrewer, Craig Danielson, have thrown the doors to Shadow Puppet Brewing Co. open to the public starting this weekend.

Things started off with a soft-opening Family and Friends Night on Thursday, and Homebrew Club Night on Friday, to which members of Blackburn and Danielson's homebrew clubs, the Mad Zymurgists and the Diablo Order of Zymiracle Enthusiasts, as well as of the Bay Area Mashers, were invited.

The tap room space, largely designed and built by Craig himself, are roomy and inviting.  There is plenty of comfortable seating - at the bar, several large tables, and a few couches. The brewery is fully viewable through a pair of large doors, and patrons can watch the goings on from a bar set up for that purpose. Not only is the tap room attractive and comfortable, but little details such as a well-appointed kids' playroom and shelves in the restrooms where one can set one's glass, attest to the care with which it was planned.

The beers -of which there are seven currently on tap- are all good, although from talking to others on Friday night, the Amber seemed a clear favorite, at least among homebrewers. On the other hand, on the previous night, the Down Under Extra Pale Ale -made with several New Zealand varieties of hops- had been a favorite.  The brewery has even set up an iPad where patrons can rate the beers and help Brian and Craig fine tune the beer lineup.

Shadow Puppet is well worth a visit.

Shadow Puppet Brewing Co.

4771 Arroyo Vista, Suite B

Livermore, CA 94551

www.shadowpuppetbrewing.com 

 

Beer Review: Muy Malvada Peruvian Porter

Muy Malvada Peruvian Porter -whose name literally translates to "very evil one", but could be read as "very naughty one"- is a collaboration beer brewed by Lima's Cerveceria Barbarian, in conjuntion with Two Roads Brewing, out of Stratford, CT, and Evil Twin Brewing, with HQ in Brookly, NY.

Muy Malvada is brewed with jora, sweet potato, and aji panca. Jora is the germinated corn that is also used to make the Andes' traditional corn beer, chicha. Aji panca is a variety of chile pepper, specifically a variety of Capsicum baccatum, which is a staple of Peruvian cuisine. It has little to no heat, and mostly adds a bit of red tint and deep pepper flavour to dishes.

In Muy Malvada the pepper flavour is evident in the background, as a very, very tiny spiciness at the back end. Much more mild, in fact, that I've tasted in the US in beers brewed with ancho or chipotle chiles.

As porters go, Muy Malvada is actually quite nice, and coming in at 6.5% abv and 20 IBU, it is falls quite nicely within the definition of porter. Although it is more like an American porter than its British counterpart, the panca and perhaps the sweetness imparted by the sweet potato, do set it a bit apart.

I really liked this beer, and when I met one of the owners of Barbarian, Diego Rodriguez, I made it a point to ask about it and its genesis.

Diego explained that it came about as a joint project with the other two breweries, and the specialty ingredients were selected as a way of making the beer a Peruvian porter. I would say that they succeeded in giving it a local character. (In fact, when I read Stan Hieronymous' recently-published book, Brewing Local, this beer is one that kept coming to mind as a successful example of a beer with an evocation of place.)

Now, I grant you that this review comes a bit late, given that I was in Lima in July, but as Diego Rodriguez explained, the plan was that Evil Twin and Two Roads, and perhaps a rep from Barbarian, would rebrew the beer in the USA this Fall.

In the USA it is set to be marketed as Pachamama Porter (they had intended for that to be the name in Peru as well, but "Pachamama" was already registered to another brewery).

I have not seen any references to it on either Evil Twin's or Two Roads' websites or FB feeds, but if you live on the east coast or have access to their beers through a distributor, bar, or bottle shop, keep your eye out for this one. I think you won't be disappointed.