Todd met Jim Eddins when he was a brewer for McGuires. Jim grew grapes for Bartels: a now defunct winery in Pensacola. Sad story: it was Jim who found Mr. Bartel dead in one of his wine tanks and Bartels closed because it was a sole proprietorship. Jim not only grew grapes for wines at the time but bottled liquor for Alabama “ABC.” They had no labels on them except what kind of beverage they were. Then they went to bottling whiskey, for example, for big name distillers. Back then Gallo pretty much ruled the wine-world in Alabama and many other places; nationwide.

Jim is short, stocky, glasses and a permanent smile. Hard to believe he’s 76.

Todd is average height. Ugly. Big nose. Vampire eyes that drill into you like a huge, human size, hairy, mosquito. Both legs shorter than each other… no, sorry, that’s me; except for the height and eyes. The eyes? Well, that might be Todd, though I’ve haven’t seen any fangs… yet.

Ahem! Start again…

Todd is thin. Jet black hair. Strong features, including the eyes and a noble nose. An odd combination of crew cut and long pony tail that has gone from just long hair and pony tail to crew cut and pony tail over the years. He has been at so many start up brew businesses over the years one might claim he was cursed but; when just considering his Alabama experience alone, I think the best quote to use from my interview would be one Jim Eddins provided the day I visited; and it equally applies to both of them…

“Survival in the alcohol business in Alabama is a heroic act.”

I already told the story of Todd’s adventure, and misadventures. Well, less story, more the cliff notes version. Jim’s adventures are also interesting. I commented that I’m amazed anyone even knows the winery is in Perdido: just briefly off an exit about 45 miles north of Mobile: I-65. There’s really nothing indicating it’s there, not that Jim hasn’t tried. He’s put up a few signs but the sheriff just bulldozed them back down. You see it’s illegal to advertise a winery. This year they’re supposed to get a historic marker.

One hopes: at least that much.

None of this has anything to do with the influence of large; big name, liquor distributors and big wineries, could it? Nah, never that!

This bottling line is over 60 years old. Unlike beer bottling lines, which work off of pressure, this works off of vacuum. Rated to do 75 cases an hour, but Todd told me they can get it to do 100. My apologies: some of the pictures are just a little blurry. Probably drooling for some of the warm, smooth, tasty Sangria I sampled… then dreamed about as the bottle I bought sat in the cab of my truck all the way back to Nashville. So far Millie, my wino wife, hasn’t found it yet. Shhh! No one tell her.

Damn. She proof reads these articles. Now I’m in trouble. Now where was that bottle? Millie!!!

Perdido is Alabama’s first farm winery: a distinction made when Alabama finally relented and the legislature passed a farm winery provision; June 1979. Perdido was also the first winery to produce a wine that doesn’t have a traditional wine name since Prohibition: Rose’ Cou Rouge. Translates into “Redneck Rose,” name and translation provided by a teacher who was visiting the winery. The winery you see pictured at the top of the page was built in 1979: in three weeks.

Alabama’s had a long history with wine making and grape growing. Vines from Bordeaux were planted here by remnants of Napolean’s army after his defeat at Waterloo. There was a town called Fruithurst; a wine making and fruit growing colony essentially in northern Alabama. All this dried up by Prohibition.

Right now they bring in a lot of grapes because their vineyards are still healing from Katrina. Ironically some of the grapes come from a vineyard/winery in Arkansas that Jim used to grow grapes for. The vineyards include 50 acres of healing muscadine vines… and I believe Todd told me 12 acres of “pick your own” grapes.

Katrina was devastating to the winery: especially the roofs.

Here’s one of their fine wines, held up by Todd…

Todd took on a tour through the winery that is, oh, so much more than just a “winery.”

What you see below is a 3000 gallon wine storage tank in the bottling room. A 2000 gallon tank is nearby: used for blending and staging of ready. Not too long ago it held 10,000 blueberries: it is used as a fermenter. Typical batch for wine at Perdido is 1,000 to 3,000 gallons. The day I visited they had at least 22,000 gallons of wine on hand: in tanks, bottles… etc. They use a lot of the wine in the tanks for blending, a process homebrewers who make geuze in the traditional manner should be familiar with.

Brewers may also be familiar with the next item. What do you think this do hickey is? Give up? It’s a diatomaceous earth filter, and much like beer it is used to coarse filter …prior to fine bottling filtration. Todd E-mailed me that it uses perlite as a filter medium.

This state of the art vinegar making machine, or “acetator #1,” makes alcoholic products into acetic acid: vinegar. Designed by a German engineer. They make vinegar using a process developed in Austria to make sure the vinegar remains true to the fruit or vegetable. It turns alcohol into acetic acid. Hence: vinegar. Currently processing Satsuma vinegar. I was absolutely amazed at all the different kinds of vinegar. You have to understand, straight vinegar usually has rather nasty results with me; kind of like that moment when your stomach decides you’ve had way too much to drink?

So vinegar straight usually is something I avoid like herpes, H1N1, AIDS and Richard Simmons on steroids. I tried just a drip of the malt vinegar. Wow! Tasty. Maybe someday I’ll risk it again. But, please, for your own safety stand back!

Here are just a few of the vinegars made at Perdido…

Malt vinegar
White muscadine
Cucumber
Sugar cane
Honey mead
Apple wine
Blueberry wine
Fig Balsamic ???
Bieressig (That’s Deutsch for “beer” vinegar, fellow brewers. (Usually pilsner yeast)
Tomato (Starting this year.)

Whew! I’m sure I missed some.

Jim’s vinegars have won may awards: bronze in Austria; also another bronze and gold… to mention a few. Rumors have it that local hunters jerk out a bottle of it and sprinkle it on their kill in preparation for deer… jerky. Seriously, now… deer hunters have told Jim it makes the tastiest deer jerky ever.

Jim is quite proud of the antioxidant benefits of his vinegar, and he should be. One wag tested 400 for cholesterol and three weeks after starting to use Jim’s vinegar his count went way down: perfectly normal. Of course they make the vinegar with the most antioxidant benefits: muscadine vinegar, as well as many others. And an added benefit is that those opposed to alcohol can use plenty of vinegar because the alcohol turns into acetic acid. The vinegar making operation runs 24/7.

Here is what they use to make apple cider. Did I mention they make apple cider? I didn’t did I? Stop to slap myself. Ouch. Yes, they do make apple cider. It’s a cider mill: uses a hydraulic press that juices apples, pears, oranges, etc. for cider production. And it’s also used to juice cucumbers and tomatoes for specialty vinegars. No word yet as to whether it can juice the funny things the cats keep bringing in at night and play with. Mole or mouse cider, anyone? Rabbit? Bird?

They do store and ship wine. Above is one of the containers. You see, other than in their gift shop… (Hi, Kathy!!!) … alcohol laws being what they are, they have to sell out of state. Remember what Jim said about a “heroic act?”

These blueberries were being made into wine: very dark and hard to see. My new camera I’m still familiar with. Sorry.

Todd tells me they have some ready now. Think I’ll order two. They use frozen blueberries because the freezing process helps to break them down. The boxes were all over the place near this area when I visited.

I met most of the staff: Kathy who does the gift shop where they sell jellies and preserves made according to recipes created by Jim’s mother… Mark: sales, Cheryl: Kathy’s assistant and they have lots of volunteers, or as Todd and I agreed what’s known in the brew biz as “brew slaves,” or “brew bitches.”

I swear they see me coming. Do I have a sign on me that says “will work for beer?” Come to think of it, I probably have a shirt somewhere that says just that.

They also have what one might call an “outreach program.” They’ve helped famous chefs and innovators, then hawk their items for them, like a neat, small, garlic press created by Chef Peter Raymond Cortez. Another innovative item they help sell was invented by J.E. Corker: a top for wine bottles that keeps you from having to recork bottles; avoiding pieces of cork floating in your bottle. Each and every one of these items have been the product of Jim working hand in hand with others; sharing creative ideas. Just like Todd has helped, trained and worked with some of the best brewers in the Emerald Coast.

As a man who makes his living off his own crazy creativeness, I have a deep respect for that kind of dedication to the arts. A “deep respect” whether it be the art of performing as an entertainer, the art of wine, cider and vinegar making, or the art of brewing.

There are a lot of plans for the future. Fortified wines: 16% are their “new experiment,” since laws have been changed so they can do that. In Alabama it was limited to 14%. Liqueurs. Later this year they will be distilling brandy: especially muscadine brandy. They just bought a Charles 802 Reflux Distillery: high output; high proof.

The visit was long, the conversation enlightening, but I had stopped on my way home from my Southern tour through the Emerald Coast. I still had many miles to back to Nashville. So I bought my bottle and fired up the Nissan and rode dat der doggie out on to I-65.

Hmmm… think I’ll stop again.

-30-

Brew Biz: Werts and All, is a column dedicated to review, discuss and comment on all things beer including, but not limited to: marketing, homebrewing and homebrew/beer related events, how society perceives all things beer. Also: reviews of beer related businesses, opinions about trends in the beer business, and all the various homebrew, judging and organizations related to beer. Essentially, all things “beer.”

Similarly, entrepreneurs wanting to open a brewery have layers of red tape to fight through and even then are not allowed to sell their product or give free samples at the brewery, Roberts said. “We are severely limiting the growth of an industry that is finding success and creating jobs in other states.”

Carter said current laws prevent new businesses from forming and make it hard for existing businesses, including Birmingham’s Good People Brewing Co., to expand.

“Under the law as it is now, you can have a tour of Good People’s brewery and at the end of the tour all they can do is thank you for coming,” Carter said. “You can’t have free samples or buy their product to take with you.”

Good People plans to move from its small space in Five Points South to a new building near Railroad Park this spring. The larger building has enough space for a small pub or gift shop — neither of which would be allowed under the current law.

Amid the economic downturn, Carter said, the state should be doing all it can to lift restrictive laws on businesses — especially those in a growing industry.

Referring to the law that allowed increased alcohol content, Carter said, “We’re seeing the economic benefits … in new jobs that were under threat that are no longer under threat.”

Roberts said lifting the restrictions would create economic development opportunities for brewpubs and breweries to grow in the state. “It’s really about making an environment more friendly for business, which ordinarily we would all be in favor of.”

Roberts predicted the Brewery Modernization Act will have an easier time getting approval from the Legislature than did the measure to raise the level of alcohol content in beer, a move that allowed a greater variety of beers to be sold in the state. That measure took four years to pass, after battles with lawmakers opposed to alcohol on moral grounds and others concerned it would increase drunken driving in the state.

Roberts doesn’t think the Brewery Modernization Act will attract the same level of controversy because the changes being sought focus on the operations of businesses rather than the beer being produced there.

What I got was an author who could tell a story in beautiful, heartfelt, complex language that was not smarmy nor sarcastic. Wroblewski has a way with words that I have not often seen in a full length book no less one that runs to over 500 pages, and keeps you entranced the entire way. And can you imagine – without graphic sex or gory violence? I would compare this with the long version of the movie “Out of Africa” about Isak Dinesen’s farm in Africa.

I hated the end, not because it was badly written, but because I did not like the way the plot unfolded. I won’t say more so as not to spoil it for you. The bad part about reading this book, is that now I have to find something to follow it.

Joyce Lovelace is a writer from upstate New York who writes about politics, faith, books and many other subjects. Rumor has it her cousin claims she also loves horses, country life, pets of all kinds, but makes terrible sand sculptures when compared with her cousin. Her brother agrees.

This article reached right out and grabbed me. This explanation of what I have felt for decades after my rural hometown was inundated with housing developments, and what I increasingly feel today, as my rural CNY is held hostage by Industrial Agriculture and soon the gas industry, and as I am under self-imposed exile to a nearby city. It is a constant heart ache, physical and relentless. A desperate “WHY?” when others don’t understand as yet another Wally World gets built. When coming down the highway from up on the hill, and I round a corner that exposes the slash of the city built into the mountainside, that so much resembles the horrible white scar tissue of an old wound, “Man was not meant to live above the canopy I say to myself”.

A few years ago driving home to the farm after work, reaching the home stretch was such a relief. Those wide open fields along empty roads allowed my heart to swell and my lungs to breathe. Once our 100+ year old maples were in sight, towering above the homestead, life was right again. I can relive it over and over in my mind, but now it hurts, because it is only available in memory.

I suppose to some extent I can now identify with those folks who mourned the loss of the Twin Towers. Their landscape, their visible mountain was annihilated in a ghastly event. Do you suppose we could use that memory to allow city folks to understand the heart ache of watching mountain top removal mining slowly eat away at our landscape like some fast moving, rotting lesion on the body of the earth?

My father was ill much of my life. A debilitating depression and frequent panic attacks often kept him rooted to the kitchen table. Dad was from the Adirondacks, and though we lived in a beautiful oasis at the end of a dead end street in a still mostly rural town outside of NYC, I now wonder, “If we had moved back to the mountains, could he have been whole again?”. My extended family, all of us with a variety of quirks and mental glitches, are all drawn to the mountains where we vacationed as youths. We put aside as best we can the differences between us, for the unvarnished pleasure of those pine lined hills and sandy beaches, though we still long for the remote cabin of our youth.

More than just a garden…

Greeting visitors at the Victoria Plaza entrance a global map installation celebrates the reach of RBG Kew across the world, highlighting its global conservation work. At RBG Kew there are over 200 scientists working with more than 800 partner organisations in over 100 countries. Since its beginnings 250 years ago Kew has always had an international presence, collecting and conserving plants; from the plant hunting days of Joseph Banks, Darwin and Livingstone to the modern day seed collectors from Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank partnership which safeguards over 1.5 billion seeds from 10 % of the world’s wild flowering plant species. Two new beds surrounding the map will be filled with a global floral spectacular of colourful plants from families and genera representing the continents of the world, such as Agapanthus from South Africa, Dahlia from Mexico and Humulus (golden hops) from Europe.

Press Release

Beer in honour of garden’s work

28 June, 2004

SOMETHING unusual is brewing at Kew’s country garden in West Sussex. A special beer is being launched in honour of the conservation work at Wakehurst Place, near Ardingly.

The off-shoot of Kew Gardens teamed up with top independent brewers Young’s to create the special ale. Sales will help Kew’s conservation work as a donation per bottle is given to the Gardens which runs the international Millennium Seed Bank Project.

The beer is called Kew Brew and uses hops grown at Kew last year. Thousands of bottles the special brew have been produced and are going on sale through Waitrose supermarkets across the region.

The beer is also on sale in The Stables restaurant at Wakehurst Place where customers will be able to enjoy the tipple with their lunch.

Ken Don, Young’s head brewer, says, “We harvested the hops and dried them ready for brewing alongside commercially grown hops from Kent. The result is a pale brown, fruity and hoppy beer, packed full of flavour.”

Kew’s Director of Communications & Commercial Activities, Jill Preston, comments, “When Young’s agreed to sponsor the brewing display last year, we didn’t imagine the hops grown would end up in our own beer!”

Kew Brew joins a range of other recently launched Kew products including jams and chutneys.

“The partnership with Young’s is of great value to us, with the funds going towards maintaining horticultural excellence and our international science and conservation work including the seed bank project”, adds Preston.

Notes to Editors
Kew Brew is available in a 500ml bottle, alcohol 5% Vol.
Young’s brewery owns 208 pubs in London and the South of England.
The company has been based at the 400 year old Ram Brewery in Wandsworth since 1831.
Shire horses still make daily deliveries of beer from the Ram Brewery to local pubs.

Further Information (media enquiries only) Trevor Butler, Wakehurst Place press office 01444 894018 or
Michael Hardman, Young’s Press Office Tel 01483 542 952.

Back to this particular bottle, and the neck-label is where a lot of the detail lives.

It informs us that it was “inspired by hops grown at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.” And that some of the money from each sale of this bottle, goes to support Kew. I like that fact, because it muddies the waters for people who like to take a moral stand on beer.

Lastly, they describe it as “Light, golden & full-flavoured with a refreshing bite.” And that it is “Perfect with grilled marinated chicken or pasta”. That all sounds very run-of-the-mill for an ale. Where’s the quirkiness and imagination?

The small-print lives on the back of the neck-label.

And it’s almost identical to the small-print on every other Wells & Young’s bottle of beer. Is has their full, Bedford postal address. It has their web address of www.wellsandyoungs.co.uk. But this one has one more. Because of the Kew connection, it also has the address of www.kew.org. (See post previous to this- Prof. GA) If you want to know about the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, it is a very good website, indeed. I’ll have to re-visit it when I stop being young.

With the neck-label done, it’s onwards and downwards to the front-label.

Although, frankly, there’s not much reason to look down here. It’s pleasant and green looking. There’s a simple picture of a bunch of hops. And the live, bottle conditioning is the main marketing point. “Bottle Conditioned Ale” takes pride of place above the Young’s 1831 rams head logo.

Along the bottom of the label is the main selling point: “Matured live in the bottle for a fresher taste”. Along with the vital statistics either side. That this is a typical 500ml bottle (why not a proper pint?) with a modest 4.8% alcoholic volume.

Next is the back-label. Again, much the same as the back-labels for most other Wells & Young’s beer, so I won’t waste your time by going through every tiny detail.

Helpfully, the back-label opens with a bit more detail. Their choice of words for the benefits of bottle conditioning are that it’s for a “fresher taste”. They talk about how you can pour it slowly if you don’t want it cloudy. How you should store it upright. And that it’s best served between 10 and 12 degree Celsius. By chance, that’s exactly how chilly my flat is.

Sadly, it’s nowhere near strong enough to help me get over the cold of my flat. At a moderate 4.8% alcoholic volume, and in a standard 500ml bottle, Kew Gold comes in at 2.4 UK units of alcohol.

The only other details worth mentioning are the ingredients. Well, maybe not. But here they are anyway: “natural mineral water, malted barley, hops, yeast”. Nothing suspicious. Just good, normal, ale ingredients.

So, what does Young’s Kew Gold taste like? Will I like it? And will I think you should buy it? Will the yeasty goodness be worth it? Let’s find out.

It poured easily enough. Certainly much easier than the European wheat beers. It wasn’t cloudy at all until I gave the bottle the old Bavarian-swirl near the bottle. That ‘livened’ up the glass. All without overflowing it.

True to the label description, the hue is golden. The head quickly collapsed to a network of white patches. It’s cloudy, but not overly opaque and looks well carbonated.

What does Young’s Kew Gold? Smell of? Not that much, and not very strongly. You need to give it a good sniff to detect that it’s all hops. A couple more sniffs, and you realise that it smells good, in a pleasant, hoppy way. Fruity, spicy and a bit malty are the words I’ll go with on the smell.

What does Young’s Kew Gold taste like? The first gulp started easily enough. As soon as the aftertaste kicks in, your mouth is swamped by the hoppiest taste I’ve had out of a bottle. And that brought with it that familiar hoppy bitterness. It still caught me off-guard.

A few more sips and I’m starting to make some sense of the flavours and tastes in Young’s Kew Gold. On the flavour side of the equation, there’s not much to say. It’s got a light, savoury, slightly leading bitterness. No flavours really stand out. At least none that my tongue was aware of.

The aftertaste is what Young’s Kew Gold is all about. It has a very full, hoppy, agricultural taste. At first, I was overwhelmed by it and the bitterness, but a third of the way through now, I’m not so sure. It’s turned into a light, smooth and strangely refreshing beverage. Almost a complete 180 degree from where it was on that first gulp.

Nearing half-way through, and what am I enjoying about Young’s Kew Gold? A admit it. I wasn’t expecting any surprises when I cracked it open. So I’m genuinely happy to have had a couple. I like how immensely hoppy it tastes at first. I like how that will put off the less intrepid beer drinkers, meaning you’re in an exclusive club if you’ve got this far. It also scores it points for distinctiveness. I very much like how easy it is to get used to it, and how well it becomes drinkable and smooth. I like how it’s taken the light and refreshing summery ale and put a very hoppy twist in it. And I like how it gives money to the Royal Botanic Gardens of Kew, even though I’d rather experience mild electrocution than learn about foliage.

What aren’t I enjoying about Young’s Kew Gold? That massive, initial hoppiness isn’t going to win it any lager or alco-pop friends. Personally, I’d like more interesting flavours, not just pure hoppiness. With such a hoppy beer, it would be good if the labels told us what hops and malts they used in the brew. It’s a little on the gassy side. It’s expensive and hard to find. And, here, now, in a cold flat, in winter, it’s just not right. Summer, or at least spring, is where Young’s Kew Gold belongs.

To sum up, Young’s Kew Gold is one of the hoppiest tasting ales I’ve ever tried. Do I like it? Yes, but despite myself. I didn’t want to, but it’s grown on me. Was the bottle conditioning worth it? For the distinctive, hoppy quality, yes. Should you buy it? In the right season, if you like strong, hoppy ale, if you can find it and afford it, then yes. Definitely.