35. Beer Foam Is Your Friend (In the Right Time, Right Place--We All Have THAT Friend)
Mlíko pours; plus a BIPOC beer internship program; tarot for taking a beat; and smoked porter two ways.
Do You Even Mlíko, Brah?
Somehow in my visits to Prague, I remained unaware of the mlíko pour. I actually learned about it one of the NYC Pink Boots Society’s educational meetings, where Fifth Hammer co-owner Mary Izett led a presentation on draft systems. The mlíko pour has a long history in Czechia, intrinsically linked with their signature pilsner, but I think it’s safe to say it’s still widely unknown here in the States and just starting to become a bit more mainstream in craft beer corners.
Pouring it, you see, flies in the face of what we’re taught about a proper draft pour, since you have to open the tap only partially to let a glass fill with mostly foam. Gasp! Isn’t all that foam bad? What would Angry Potato Puppet John Taffer say? To an average beer drinker who gets their information on bar etiquette from the likes of Bar Rescue, there is no exception: a beer mug o’ foam is always grounds for demanding a Mulligan (and other very bad, no good customer behavior).
I recently for the first time got to Beer Witch, a rad bottle shop and beer bar in my neck of the woods (I’m embarrassed it took me so long!). To my surprise and delight, there were two Schilling Beer offerings on tap with mlíko pours available, Modernism Czech Dark Lager and Old Mission Pilsner. We got both, naturally, and the foamy mugs led to much confusion at our table and, lucky for me, the opportunity to discuss mlíko pours for probably longer than my lovely friends bargained for. A patron sitting at the bar apparently was not so easily convinced, however—we overheard as he, too, was confused by this pour, and seemed put off but got it anyway for some reason, and then took this out on everyone else as he impatiently waited for the foam to transform into something he’d drink.
According to Atlas Obscura, this patron had all the wrong vibes for a mlíko. “Drinkers also find it easy to down quickly, which is essential to enjoying the sweet froth before it settles into plain, old beer.” My dude did not have time for this nonsense! His loss. As Pilsner Urquell’s site points out, these are not pours you’re going to go round-for-round with. They’re special treats, a must-try beer experience. Like a milky cloud of beer, it’s an intense infusion of hoppy aroma. It promises to help you develop a new, even greater appreciation for a Czech-style lager. Pilsner Urquell mentions these are supposed to be downed in one shot, but I don’t know, can’t relate—I can’t down anything in one shot. Do you mlíko in one fell swoop?
Mlíko history from Pilsner Urquell: In the 19th and early 20th centuries, Czech pubs served these as a sort of dessert, or—my favorite—“as an elegant drink for women who weren’t big beer drinkers.” Apparently, the iconic brewery only charges for a half pour when you get this, which is interesting, since a lot of the foam settles into beer and the bartender is still going through the work and all that.
Mlíko-adjacent facts I did not know until now: a standard pour is called a hladinka; its ratio is about three parts beer to one part foam. And a šnyt is two fingers of beer, three fingers of foam, one finger of empty glass, which is supposedly aimed at helping people who wish to consume less beer save face—in a time and place when cutting back is somehow embarrassing?
Perhaps this is overly optimistic of me, but I wonder if an increasing mlíko presence here in the U.S., albeit in craft environments, might lead to some much-needed foam enlightenment. I think so many American bar patrons view anything over a whisper of head on their beer as getting hoodwinked out of precious beer, rather than an essential element of the experience that is perceiving and enjoying that beer in all of its aromas and flavors and mouthfeel. I’m envisioning a poster illustrating how much head different beer styles are actually supposed to have, hanging right next to the Heimlich Maneuver posters—too much? Tell me, friends, have you mlíko-ed? And are you yay or nay?
Get to Know The Lovibond Project
We’ve talked a bit about The Michael James Jackson Foundation for Brewing & Distilling, at least in that making a donation to this vital cause is one of Hugging the Bar’s first Patreon goals. Today, I thought I’d put another similarly vital cause on your radar just in case it’s not yet.
The Lovibond Project has also set out to forge some of the pathways that gatekeepers and the old guard in craft beer failed to create. Through real education and job opportunities, this initiative welcomes Black people and BIPOC to the craft beer table, providing incredibly valuable access where it’s been missing.
“Our internship gives hands on experience in all facets of the beer brewing industry, coming from a group of industry veterans determined to dismantle the monoculture of the industry,” The Lovibond Project’s website says. This is the real, actionable change that makes an important and recognizable difference.
The core of the program is an internship, available to Black people and people of color. It’s eight weeks, and what’s really exciting is that it rotates through different aspects of what a career in beer can look like. For the first half, interns will learn from four different participating breweries, getting hands-on experience in production and packaging, front of house, sales and distribution, and marketing and administration. Then, they’ll spend the remaining four weeks brewing a collaboration beer, getting to have input on everything from recipe design, the actual brewing, beer name and label design, and social media and marketing strategies. The internship closes with interns getting to pour that beer (that sounds so exciting, all the feels), and think about serving and food pairings.
The Lovibond Project has a dream team at the helm: President Chris Inniss, a writer and experienced beer pro; Vice President Christopher Gandsy, owner of DaleView Biscuits & Beer; Treasurer and Marketing Liaison Heather McReynolds, an experienced beer pro currently in sales for Hopsteiner; Secretary Flint Whistler, DaleView’s head brewer; the aforementioned wonderful Mary Izett of Fifth Hammer as Board Member; and Archetype Brewing Company’s head brewer Drew Kostic as Board Member and Legal Liaison.
I interviewed both Christophers, Inniss and Gandsy, for VinePair back in 2020 when this project was just starting to take shape, if you’d like to read a bit more about the mission there. If you’re on the team of a brewery that might like to host an internship, read more here, and if you’d like to be kept updated on when the application period for interns opens up, look here.
Beer Tarot!
This week, I pulled the Four of Swords.
Swords speaks to intellect and decisions, and this card specifically speaks to resting, contemplating, and meditation. Because where are you going to get better quiet for some deep reflection than a tomb, amirite?
This card is pretty straightforward: You need a beat. You’ve perhaps just overcome a big challenge, or you know, are just handling the immense challenge that is being alive right now. Even if you’re not the type who’s good at slowing down, you need to do this for yourself. Maybe you need some good old fashioned rest, maybe you need to evaluate your progress and path ahead, maybe both. You’ve earned a breather, and taking it is essential for your sanity going forward. Take a vacation, go to a spa, or just spend one or two whole days home with your favorite comforts. Quiet is key for real rejuvenation here, so this card is not saying your vacation should be that one to New Orleans you’ve putting off with all your best friends from college. Think cabin in the woods, a solo beach jaunt, your friend’s aunt’s Hamptons house, or a cozy staycation.
This made me think of Magnify Brewing Company’s Staycation sour—a big leap, I know—but I’m not sure they’re brewing it anymore/at the moment. Before I left their page, though, I found two options very in line with Four of Swords vibes. What’s Next is an imperial sour ale with strawberry, white chocolate, coconut, and lactose, and feels right because this pause you’re taking is about recharging and concepting what is indeed next for you. And then I thought about how Magnify’s No Limit, a schwarzbier aged in oak for eight weeks, is a liquid example of patiently waiting and resting in order to be the best version of yourself.
This Week’s Boozy Reading Rec
We can’t not talk about Dave Infante’s latest for VinePair, “Death of the Craft Beer ‘Sellout’: The Next Wave of Acquisitions Marks a New Era of Drinker Indifference,” as this digs into a seismic shift in craft beer culture. I had never heard the term “hate tourists” before but wow, does it paint a vivid and accurate picture. (Hate tourism also sounds so exhausting.) That period in craft beer was wild, and now we’re in different wild territory where…no one really cares about who’s “selling out.” The times, they are a-changing.
Ex-BEER-ience of the Week
My ex-beer-ience of this week, which I documented on Instagram, was being able to try Sleep Now in the Fire Smoked Porter and an Islay scotch barrel-aged version of that very beer at Big aLICe Brewing’s Brooklyn barrel room. Being able to drink two iterations of the same foundation beer and pick up on what’s different and why is a super valuable experience and even if you’re not taking that educational moment seriously, it just elevates the simple enjoyment of a brew. More of this, please!
Until next week, here is Darby watching me drink those previously described Big aLICe beers.
