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Posted Monday, March 24, 2008 1:06 PM

The Audacity of Hops

Andrew Romano

 

(A low-quality snapshot--thanks, Blackberry!--of Pacific Standard's tap lineup. Which one doesn't belong?) 

As numerous pundits and prognosticators--including yours truly, circa last August--have pointed out, the defining dynamic of the deadlocked battle for the Democratic nomination is the divide between blue-collar, low-information "beer-track" voters, who tend to favor Hillary Clinton, and college-educated "wine-track" types, who flock to Barack Obama.

Apparently, no one told the brewmasters at Sixpoint Craft Ales in Brooklyn, N.Y.

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Early last week--during my self-imposed Spring Break from Blogging--I stumbled across an announcement that the small local microbrewery had just released 30 kegs of what it called "a tribute to the inspiration that has been Senator Barack Obama's presidential campaign": Hop Obama Ale. The Illinois senator is no stranger to serendipitous product placement. "Obama Girl" still scampers around in her skivvies. Jay Jay French, guitarist for the schlocky '80s hair-metal combo Twisted Sister, has re-recorded the band's hit "I Wanna Rock" as "I Want Barack."  And I'd be surprised if Obamaniacs Ben & Jerry aren't preparing to pack pints with Yes, Pecan! in time for Election Day. But a beer? Last fall, a local winery in Dubuque, Iowa produced an alcoholic beverage with the Obama logo emblazoned on the bottle. It was a white zinfandel. That tipple matches the demographic trends; a brewski, to put it mildly, does not.

But when it comes to drinking, demography isn't exactly the most important factor. Taste is. Which is why last Wednesday I broke my promise to abstain from all things political and dutifully trudged the two blocks from my Brooklyn apartment to Pacific Standard, one of the few bars to receive a shipment of Hop Obama (the release was limited to New York and Massachusetts). According to Sixpoint brewmaster Shane Welch, "Hop Obama is an indefinable ale that doesn't adhere to traditional style guidelines"--"in keeping with the Illinois senator's unifying theme." My goal: to find out, by sampling a pint (or two, or three) whether Welch's description was "just words"--a smart marketing scheme--or whether Hop Obama was actually "Obamaesque." All in the name of reporting, of course. The things I do for Newsweek.

So did Hop Obama live up to the hype? The proprietors of Pacific Standard, John Rauschenberg and Jon Stan, were clearly excited about the brew.  When Welch, a regular customer, mentioned in early March that he was cooking up an Obama tribute beer, Rauschenberg immediately reserved four kegs (the one-bar limit), ordered a smiling bobblehead Obama doll (see tap handle, above) and decided to donate a dollar from each $6 pint to the campaign. I plunked mine down, and a few seconds later, 16 oz. of deep amber booze were awaiting me on the bar. Right away, I noticed that Hop Obama does, in fact, resemble the senator--conceptually, at least. Made from five different types of European Crystal malts and three hop varieties from the Pacific Northwest, it's a hybrid blend of diverse strains, neither dark nor light in color. Time for the taste test. I took a sip. My first impression? Lots of hops, which means "exotic" citrus flavors (orange, mostly) and a blast of bitterness. But it was quickly counteracted by an unsubtle rush of maltiness--sweet traces of toffee and brown sugar, coupled with an almost sticky mouthfeel. Strong on character? Check. Light on details? Check. Striking a balance between bitter and sweet? Check. Tending, at times, toward the syrupy? Check. 

Tasted like Obama to me.

Apparently, my fellow Brooklynites--at least the ones in my Obama-friendly 'hood--agreed. The fourth and final keg of Hop Obama was kicked eleven days after the brew first appeared on tap at Pacific Standard. "It was by far out best-selling beer," says Stan. "Like, five times better than anything else on the list." According to Welch, the rest of the batch isn't expected to last through April. So let that be a lesson to you, Sen. Clinton. Unless you're content to cede your beer-track base to Obama, Stumper recommends brewing up a few cases of Hillaryish beer--ASAP.

And no, Brooklyn Brewery's "Monster Ale" doesn't count

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Member Comments

Posted By: Karenn1 (March 25, 2008 at 9:31 AM)

Hanoi John got alot to answer for . Keating 5 corruption. Has he reform from a life of crime.The forrestal carrier still leaves question un answer. But Order more paper and print more money. McCain was train to push the button. that his life war,war is his enviroment. His busted  shouder from the plane wreck in vietam won't stop him.He guards the MUSHROOM HAND that  was  highly trianed. He is very OLD, they powder him sonetimes to cover up the wrinkles of time. That in the process he looks like baby jane.. Too mush lipstick won't make the elephant fly,promises of more corruption will.


Posted By: josh62 (March 25, 2008 at 7:18 AM)

OBAMA IS UNELECTABLE IN GENERAL ELECTION

Easy to see already see Republican attack ads against Obama. First open with videos of racist wife, Michelle, saying she was proud of America "for the first time" because of her husband's presidential candidacy, next Obama explaining that he doesn't wear an American flag lapel pin or hold his hands to his heart during the Pledge of Allegiance because it is a "substitute for true patriotism." Then flash a clip of Obama explaining that his Caucasian grandmother was a "typical white person" because she uttered racial epithets and was afraid of black people. Finally, the coup de grace, pictures of Obama's angry, arm-waving preacher blaming the United States for 9/11 and shouting "God Damn America" to the rafters of Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ and preaching the U.S. government formulated the HIV AIDS virus to commit genocide against blacks. Even though Obama supposedly condemning Wright's shocking verbal assaults against the U.S and White Americans, even last year; Obama was the first to public ally demand Don Imus ouster for making a racially insensitive remark, and Obama continues to support Wrights racism and remains at the church for more than 20 years, he and Michelle obviously feels it’s a good environment to expose his young daughters too.  His opinions and issues change with the weather, he is too UNSTABLE and proven he cannot make a decision or stay with one.  If that’s not enough, then you start showing his terrible senate voting record, Obama when faced with tough choices always gave in to pressure from the Bush administration or corporate lobbyists, Obama dealings with one of his largest contributors, Exelon, a big nuclear power company and the deals he cut behind closed doors to protect them from full disclosure in the nuclear industry. Obamas record shows he infact did support the war when he got to the senate, voted twice against bringing America's troops back home.  He voted for war appropriations giving our money to Halliburton and Blackwater where Texas woman, was gang-raped by her co-workers at a Halliburton/KBR camp in Baghdad, His latest bit of posturing S 433 allows the Bush Administration to suspend any troop withdrawal, if not suspended, keeps the troops in Iraq for a long time to come, but in his camp stumps touts he wants to bring troops home, but as we have witnessed his recent lies to voters like Canada he cannot be trusted on his word and lastly ALL the corrupt indicted financial backers, like Rezko…Get out of the race Obama you are destroying the democratic party!

MYTH: Barack Obama is running a positive campaign that will unite Americans.

FACT: Barack Obama and his advisers have conducted a divisive "full assault" on Hillary's character.

While talking a lot about the politics of hope, change and unity, Sen. Obama and his campaign have been conducting a relentless and singularly personal assault on Hillary's character. They have blanketed big states with false negative mailers and radio ads and have described Hillary and her campaign as "disingenuous," "divisive," "untruthful," "dishonest," "polarizing," "calculating," "saying whatever it takes to win," "attempting to deceive the American people," "one of the most secretive in America," “deliberately misleading,” “literally willing to do anything to win,” and “playing politics with war."

This "full assault" on Hillary's integrity and character has reached a new peak since Hillary's victories on March 4th. One of Sen. Obama's top surrogates equated President Clinton with Joe McCarthy; another called Hillary a "monster;" and his campaign manager held an angry conference call claiming that Hillary is "deeply flawed" and has "character issues." That's neither unifying nor hopeful. If Sen. Obama really is the prohibitive favorite some say he is, these negative attacks make absolutely no sense. Why would a frontrunner seek to attack and divide? If Sen. Obama can't unify Democrats in a primary, how can he unify Americans in a general election?

CNN-Passport exec is Obama adviser, CEO of  the company whose employees accused of improperly looking at the passport files of presidential candidates is consultant on foreign policy to the Barack Obama campaign


Posted By: DE Dem (March 24, 2008 at 7:35 PM)

Six dollars for a pint!  I'm not sure if most "beer track" voters would be willing to shell that out.  If Obama really wants to win over working class voters, a variation of Pabst Blue Ribbon might be more helpful.  Maybe it's time to tweak that "beer track" label to say exactly what kind of beer these people are supposed to be drinking.


 
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