Fritz Maytag is a craftsman after my heart. In 1965 he revived San Fransisco’s Anchor Brewing by saving them from bankruptcy. He knew very little about brewing, but in the course of ten years expanded the classic “steam beer” out to a lineup of five, now classic, beers.

A few months ago I had a chance to taste Maytag’s “Genevieve” – an old recipe gin, or genever, brewed according to pre-war Dutch recipes. The craftsmanship, experimentation, simplicity of scale and historical accuracy of Anchor Distilling are totally inspirational to me.

Check out this video of a very professorial Fritz explaining the process and history behind their rye whiskey.

Also check out this years 2009 Christmas beer. Another beautiful label by Jim Stitt and another unique recipe.

“It’s a handmade beer, so the label should be hand-drawn.”

Do you like drinking? How about WINNING???

If you answered yes to both of those questions, we have THE contest for you. The first annual Foodcrypt holiday drink contest, to be exact!

The holiday season is nigh. Please share your glög, toddy, ‘nog and other “seasonal” drinks with us. Send them to submissions [at] foodcrypt.com by December 1.

Pending you don’t spec a 1926 Macallan in your hot toddy, we’ll do our best to try each drink and duly document the ‘contest’.

We have not thought of an award, but you’re welcome to come drink with us when we do this thing.

GOOD LUCK.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The caption for this Moscow bar scene contained a vague cocktail recipe.

Cowboy Cocktail

• an egg yolk
• gin
• apricot liqueur
• benedictine
• a peppery liqueur

A peppery liqueur? Possibly Ricard or Ussuriyski, which is “peppery” and also has currant and berry flavors to it. Doesn’t seem like it would be vodka in a drink called a Cowboy, though the photo’s taken in a bar in Moscow. This was probably a clever bartenders answer for what to do with leftover yolks after the whites were used. But what’s a peppery liqueur?

Brewin’ with Tree in the Living Kitchen.

Sunday, Sept 27 – herbal beers
An introduction to homebrewing, including history and practical techniques for using uncommon herbs, spices, and fruits. Includes a vegetarian dinner, a tasting of unusual brews, and a half gallon of brew to take home.

5-8pm $70 (pre-registration $25 to paypal, deadline SEPT 23 – location TBA to registrants)
instructors: taylor harman and tree johnson

Homebrewer Taylor Harman resides in Humboldt Park with six housemates and six chickens. She enjoys incorporating plants from her garden, as well as wild plants, into her brews, and believes that it is important to reclaim and relocalize the tradition of brewing.

Tree Johnson is a homebrewer, mushroom forager, fermenter extraordinaire and a father of a very magical child.

The very unlike summer weather and the long hours are causing me to reminisce about last Sunday, the day off the sunshine, pulling the weeds, and the drink. Imperial Saison from New Glarus Brewing Co. Let’s have another sometime.