Guest Article: Drink Properly
Where would cycling be without the malted recovery beverage? Does El Pistolero crush a few pints after the Giro? A cold Spanish white wine just does not do it. That notion makes me angry just thinking about it. A good beer in a proper glass; it’s like a clean chain whizzing through the drivetrain, magic. Cheers to @SamV for his wisdom.
VLVV, Gianni
When the suffering stops, it’s time for recovery to begin. So too, as spring has finally bloomed in New England, I’ve once again renewed my tradition of enjoying a beer or three after my rides, as opposed to my winter regimen of a bidon filled with bourbon during/after roller sessions. And since Belgium is home both to the hardest hardmen and some of the world’s finest beer, it seems an appropriate time to consider that beverage because anything worth doing is worth doing right
First, glassware: Just as every Velominatus must know the right tool for the job, there are proper glasses for the varying styles of beer. The shape of the glass impacts the taste and olfactory sensation of ales and lagers as they’re delivered to one’s face. A snifter concentrates aromatics and is especially good for strong, dark American and English ales like Imperial Stouts. A tulip glass has a similar effect, but it bulbous base and flanged lip encourage a naturally tumultuous flow that projects flavors across the palate and is very useful for hoppy ales like IPAs. Then, there’s the chalice and/or goblet. These are the traditional vessels for Trappist and Abby ales. Their broad bases allow the heat of the drinker’s hand to warm the beer, releasing aromatics from the broad surface area of ale atop and make you look fancy as hell. Finally, the shaker pint, even one with a handsome ‘V’ on it, does the least to improve nuanced appreciation of any malt beverage experience. They don’t concentrate aromas and flavors, they offer no flow enhancements, it may as well be a little bucket full of beer. However, buckets are great for moving large quantities of fluid relatively quickly, and a shaker pint is an adequate, if unexciting, vessel for most pale ales, bitters, lagers and the like. Which, in my experience are a much easier tipple to quaff when recovering from getting dropped once again.
Second, temperature: Ice cold is generally bad, especially for high-test trippels and quads that are essential for warming one’s insides after a raw, windy day of vicious jostling on the pavé. Beers that are served too cold maintain a higher amount of CO2 in solution, dulling scents and flavors. By drinking a beer at the proper temperature, the dissolved CO2 is able to escape more readily, assisting with the delivery of the molecules that make beer taste so damn good. Often times a Trappist ale (or barley wine, imperial stout, other strong beer) that’s served too cold will taste overwhelmingly of alcohol because all the goodness is basically held hostage. It’s for these reasons that a frosted glass is also the wrong glass. Most of these beers are best enjoyed around 10C (50F).
Third, don’t drink from the bottle: You might as well be drinking wine from the bottle. When was the last time you did that and looked good? And there’s going to be a lot less flavor, too. The act of pouring stirs things up, similar to decanting wine into a carafe. Beer doesn’t need to breathe like wine does, but by pouring it into the appropriate glass, you are again releasing carbon dioxide and aroma compounds, thus enhancing the flavor.
Finally, drink something actually made the hard way: During some recent sporting event that wasn’t cycling related so I didn’t watch it, Budweiser aired a commercial touting the lack of merit their beer has, yet still proclaimed it was made the hard way. I’m fortunate to live in an area with several breweries within a few kilometers. I can say from conversations I’ve had with the owners/brewers that the beers coming out of their facilities are actually made the hard way – putting in 90+ hour weeks to take home a salary that can hover around the poverty line. As Velominati, craft matters. Just like we buy frames and parts from builders and people who do what they do because they love it, drink beer made by people put their soul into it. It doesn’t have to be local, but it does have to be good.
And now I’m thirsty.
The world of bikes and beer are indeed inseparable, with the exception of course for those of us who can’t or shouldn’t drink. Discretion is always warraned.
There’s a place nearby built in an old grain silo with a nice shaded patio and great American styles of (craft) beer. Great, now I’m thirsty too.
What’s the ruling on how long post-ride one has to consume recovery drinks before it’s just drinking? 70K with 916 M of climbing before work surely warrants some after-work recovery, right?
There are only a few things in life where you have to be careful about not insulting…. a guys girlfriend, his car, his bike, his soccer club, or his beer….
Nonetheless… I will take the risk… Schöfferhöffer is only an above average beer.
This is a good beer…..
Hacker Schor Münchner Hell
Stupid spell check changed the caption… It is Hacker Pschorr
I’ve been tinkering with a recipe for a beer that brew called Hinault ’80. (Say it in French, please.) Came up with it to commemorate his win at that year’s edition of LBL.
It’s pretty hoppy (35 IBU), brewed with coriander, and uses White Labs’ “Belgian Bastogne” yeast. Comes in at about 7% ABV. Only thing I’m not happy with so far is the color… it’s a nice amber color but I want it golden to match the Renault team kit. I’ll get there eventually.
Still pretty happy with it — goes down great after a long, cold ride… The key is to have a race on while you brew and bottle. I should put that in the recipe.
@Sam V . Christ, there’s some strong articles game being demonstrated here of late. I like beer very much but clearly, having read this, know nothing about it. Guilty as charged of many of the listed infractions including drinking from the bottle. Nice work.
Certainly we’ve all read the absurd proclamations that roadies drink wine, and MTBers drink beer (and cyclocrossers drink anything that includes a healthy helping of mud). But for Cyclists — and you know who you are — beer is indisputably the Brilliant Recovery Beverage. And like all else to do with the bike, as Sam astutely observes, if it is worth doing, it is worth doing right.
I sit down post-ride with a pint of Fremont Interurban IPA, and what do I see?
@1860
Indeed. As I was in Berlin, options were limited. And sadly, there was little cycling to be had on this trip. However, that weizen was as good as many I’ve had, and a standout among the options in Berlin.
@LawnCzar
As a homebrewer I understand the struggle. Color is actually the hardest thing for me to get right. Every beer I make as of late though starts with the question; ‘How will it be after a ride?’
Your recipe sounds awesome. Last batch I bottled I was watching Paris-Roubaix. An IPA that I’d put into my top 5 successes.
@LawnCzar
Maybe you need to leave the bottles out in the snow to get hypothermic.
Living here in Vienna and they actually have a beer, or should I say bier specifically made for cyclists. Pretty much every brewer makes it and you can often get it fresh from tap.
The bier: “Radler”, which basically means cyclist.
It is a mix of a good pils with citrus, so not overly strong, but definitely not sweet. A couple of these with a cycling club after a 100K ride is perfect way to end a ride, which is just what they do here – even if that ride ends at 10am.
Nothing quenches the thirst and begins that road to recovery quite like beer, does it. Some beers do benefit from serving at colder temperatures though. Some of my favourite wheat beers and lagers, which only pass the lips during the warmer months, are best, I think, closer to 5C than 10C.
I once returned to from a ride, in late autumn in the Dolomites, to the home of a new found cycling buddy. Being the generous host that he was, he said “Australians love beer, don’t they? Here, I have beer for you”. Then he proceeded to retrieve a lager from the pantry and poor it for me. I accepted it graciously. I was quite disgusting at what I estimate to be around 15C or higher. Thankfully it was the only bottle in storage and we enjoyed the rest of the evening sampling the vino rosso of neighboring regions. It was the thought that counted. At a later date, and after much more time spent together, I educated him on correct serving temperatures.
I working at my local Velodrome today (gear checking). No doubt I’ll manage a few of these:
Has anyone actually opened a Bike Emporium, Micro Brewery, Coffee Bar?
@Owen
Doesn’t the Golden Hour rule apply to recovery drinks or does Malted Recovery Ale get dispensation?
@Teocalli
I got coffee, bikes and beer, it’s all for sale!
@Teocalli
Hoxton is full of brewerys cum coffee bars cum bike shops, can’t move for bearded twats and wonderful antique road frames fucked-up into ‘fixies’ (all have free-wheels), being pushed along by Digital Experience developers called Julian. FACT.
@Teocalli
I don’t know about their coffee, but Oskar Blues brewery has a bike-themed taqueria in Longmont, Colorado called Cyclhops that’s pretty great. Great for refueling after a ride in the mountains.
@Nate
Might not be good for the yeast, but if you have too many of them you definitely won’t be able to feel your fingers.
@SamV
Wiser words have seldom been spoken my friend. You have succinctly captured the enigma of properly presenting and consuming what is, in my humble opinion, the most glorious of potions conceived by man. The vessel, the temperature, the artistry of pouring the drink itself is all too often ignored or seldom contemplated in the American culture. As a Cicerone, it pleases me to discover that there are indeed others who understand the doctrine of drinking properly.
@SamV
I love the idea of a Paris-RoubIPA. Now that’s beer made the hard way! There’s a dry hopping / dry conditions joke in there somewhere as well…
Thanks for the kind words on the recipe — I used Jopen Lentbier as the inspiration (they kindly list their hops on the website) and riffed off a couple Belgian strong ale recipes I found online. I think I need to look at some golden ales for the grain bill…
@piwakawaka
You selling bikes as well now??
The Trappist Brothers of Scourmont know the healing powers of hops.
@Teocalli
More to the point, if I have recovery drinks before work I’ll get shit canned and that’s not what I’m into.
@Teocalli
My favorite shop in the old country (i.e. northern Arizona) serves espresso and like beverages in the morning, and is immediately next door to a top notch brewery for the evenings. That’s about perfect in my opinion.
@Sparty
Beer is great, and all, but it’s not the be all and end all. Nice when it’s all about the ride, yes. But, not nearly the drink that whiskey, or even wine, is when it’s all about the drink.
As I toiled around the Chilterns in the wind this morning, I had a recurring vision.
Full of flavour, with a tongue-scouring hoppiness, and light enough in alcohol to class as a recovery session beer – i.e. one that supports high cadence repeat intervals.
Enjoy your recoveries wherever you are…
Loddon Hoppit
@markb
Is that the same Hoxton that used to be a shit hole but is now “urban chic?”
@stooge
Ha! I had a bourbon tasting at my house just last night with a group of friends (good stuff: Angel’s Envy, Booker’s Small Batch, Basil Hayden’s, Blanton’s to name a few) and a few rebelled from the festivities mid-flight and raided my fridge for some IPA’s and what not since “that’s where the real flavor is.
The possibility exists they may have been a little roasted at the time.
@LawnCzar That is a freakin great name for a beer. I’m brewing a Kolsch today. Maybe I’ll call it “Panzerwagen.”
@Tugman
Red is on the lighter side — gotta go Blue.
@Owen
old country = Arizona. Sorry, simply does not compute.
@Teocalli
It is when you spend 15 years there and then move away. Old Country is Arizona, Fatherland is Minnesota. New World is Washington (although Frahnk might disagree that the area should qualify).
Malteni and Pave Cycling Classics co-proprietor Alex leading out the penny farthings at the London Nocturn. You’d have to be properly drunk to ride those things let alone race them.
Agreed, but Red was all they had at the liquor store. I swear finding anything Belqian anymore around me is nearly imposible.Used to be finding a good selection of German, Belgian, and English beer, along with a variety of American craft beers was the norm.Now it seems that you can get any style beer you’d like as long as it’s an IPA.Not that an IPA every so often is a bad thing,but the IPA craze seems out of control around here.
@gilly
yep.
@markb
It could be worse, it could be full of Mcdonalds and outlet malls. Hipsters are easy to ridicule but at least they are usually focused on craft and artisanry. Often to excess but I’ll forgive them that as they keep all manner of curious nonsense alive which would otherwise perish. They are also unafraid of shit-holes and that is to be commended
@Oli
Yep, at least three of the bikes @salvationcoffee are for sale.
@Tugman
Yeah what is with that? Below is my current favourite, I enjoy a good lager and strong beer so this is a match made in Christchurch, they also do a Strong Pilsner @ 6.8%, and have been brewing since ’91, seriously IPA, APA, whatever, are the helvetica of craft brewing. Oh, and it comes in a 1.25ltr bottle!
@Chris
Drafting penny farthings! I immediately youtube searched for this stuff and wasted good time this morning watching penny farthing videos. I love it. I’d swear that every racer of a penny farthing looks to be grinning. You’re probably not joking and they may well all be drunk. Penny farthing crashes? Can’t help but watch. And these cats, when going downhill, get their legs up over the bars to keep ’em from the spinning pedals. It’s looney tunes. My Sunday can only get better if I had my own penny farthing to ride today! Hah. That’s not true. Cheers
@wilburrox
That is something else. Hats off to those guys they know how to have a good time
There can be only one…
ok, been a while since I’ve been motivated to post. Having trouble here with the bourbon in the bidon. Just sounds so wrong and unpleasant. running into a credibility issue here. bourbon out of plastic, especially bidon plastic sounds gross. Live and let live and all, but this is an instructional article… All that said, excellent beer/glass article and comments. But I’m stuck on that plastic/bourbon interface.
@gaswepass
Whisky in the bidon is a tried and true way of keeping it from freezing on winter rides. And on those rides your nose is so obstructed with snotcicles anyway that tasting anything is impossible.
@johnnysmooth
Hey Johnny… I live in Vienna too… the Radler is something wonderful…
We should go for a ride together… let me know.
1860
@gaswepass
Whisky in the bison is a tried and true method of keeping it from freezing in winter. I can’t say if the flavor is affected, since on such rides my nasal passages are usually obstructed by snotcicles and I can’t taste a damn thing.
Whisky in the bison?? I’d pay good money to see that…from a long way away.
According to Robbie Robertson, The Band recorded Whisky In The Bison in 1973 but the Irish people voted in a referendum to send Phil Linot after them if the track was ever released.
Because Robertson knew that was just an alias for Phil Lynott
@Owen
Alex with his race face on – chapeau sir!
@Apex Nadir
Haha, well played!