Canned heat: Aluminum tariffs “are a tax on beer,” analyst warns

Tariff Troubles, Part II

The iron-y continues.

Last week’s item about how tariffs on raw imported steel had an unexpected devastating effect on American Keg, the last U.S. keg maker to rely solely on domestic steel, prompted readers to remind me of another tariff tormenting American brewers.

A 10 percent tariff on imported aluminum will raise the price on canned beer, warned John Dunham, an analyst who prepared a report on this subject for the Beer Institute. While beer cans are made in the U.S., about 36 percent of the aluminum in these containers comes from abroad.

The aluminum tariff is a tax on beer and will have severe consequences for brewers, distributors, bartenders, and many others,” Dunham wrote. “Most importantly, consumers who choose to drink beer will be people who ultimately bear the cost of this tax.”

Septoberfest

Oktoberfest come early to Eppig Brewing, 3052 El Cajon Blvd. in North Park, where the party kicks off at 1 p.m. Saturday. Brats and pretzels are promised, as well as $6 pints of Eppig’s Festbier. Also on sale: limited edition — only 65 are in stock — ceramic steins.

Duck Foot Goes Downtown

Few San Diego neighborhoods can boast more breweries than Miramar, yet few areas can be more daunting to explore, thanks to the nearly endless corridors of industrial parks. One of those out-of-the-way locations is home to Duck Foot Brewing, which pulls off the difficult task of making gluten-reduced beers that are enjoyed by a large audience, even gluten-gluttons.

“Probably about 10 percent of customers have celiac disease,” said co-owner Suzy Pessutti.

Last week, Duck Foot raised its profile by opening a 1,600-square foot tap house and restaurant in downtown, near the corner of Broadway and Park (for sticklers, the address is 550 Park Blvd., Suite 2104).

We dropped in Saturday night to enjoy a few beers — the Strawberry Blonde Ale was especially refreshing on this late-summer night — and sample the menu. Despite a total lack of wheat, barley and rye, the small plates were delightful, especially the Japanese sweet potato, the meatballs (held together by masa) and Brazilian cheese breads, soft round morsels of corn meal stuffed with melted brie.

The kitchen is too small to turn out full meals, but the partners were determined to offer fans something substantial to nosh on.

“After three years of operating the brewery,” said co-owner Matt DelVecchio, “we are so sick of eating chips and salsa.”

Beer Bucket List

Last month, CraftBeer.com — here’s a six-pack salute to this sterling site — asked 20 brewers: Which American brewery are they dying to visit? While no San Diego brewers were consulted, two San Diego breweries were cited.

Joe Dinan of Sanctuary Brewery in Hendersonville, N.C., has his sights set on Modern Times: “They have a number of locations, so I would choose the Modern Times’ Fortress of Raditude, a barrel-aging spot in San Diego.”

Adam Woodson at The Damascus Brewery in Damascus, Va., chose Coronado Brewing: “Every beer I have had from them has been exceptional and flawless at the same time. Their collaboration beer with Cigar City called Jurata is probably one of my favorite beers to this day. It’s dark, but not overly roasted or bitter — just good!”

No one asked me, but I’m hankering to tour Hill Farmstead, the cult brewery in Greensboro Bend, Vt., and spend a night at Old St. Francis School in Bend, Ore. The latter is a 1936 schoolhouse transformed into a hotel equipped with soaking pool, movie theater, pub and, yes, brewery.

Kings of Beer

Is it wise or accurate to assign a gender preference to your beer? I cringe whenever someone claims “it’s a beer for women,” usually referring to a tart and fruity lambic ale or, more recently, a dry, champagne-like brut IPA.

Still, I hadn’t examined the root of my knee-jerk objection until I drank this week’s King, Imperial Pilsner with Jasmine Flowers (7.7 percent alcohol by volume). This collaboration between Second Chance Beer and Maui Brewing is a broad-shouldered, hairy-chested beast of a lager. Macho, right? Yet the rich malts and deep booziness are lightened by delicate, soft, sweet-smelling blossoms, displaying an oh-so-feminine aspect, eh?

This amped-up pilsner, brewed to mark Second Chance’s third anniversary, balances its yin with a welcome bit of yang. It’s not entirely one thing or the other — and I suspect its well-rounded nature will appeal to beer drinkers of any gender.

Words to Drink By

“To arrive at this quietest of seaside villages late in June, when the busy herb-gathering season was just beginning, was also to arrive in the early prime of Mrs. Todd’s activity in the brewing of old-fashioned spruce beer. This cooling and refreshing drink had been brought to wonderful perfection through a long series of experiments...” — from “The Country of the Pointed Firs” (1896), by Sarah Orne Jewett. Monday was the 169th anniversary of the birth of this Maine novelist, who died in 1909 at the age of 59.

Cuttings from spruce and fir trees have been used in beers in place of, or in addition to, hops. A current example: Alaskan Brewing’s Spruce IPA.

Twitter: @peterroweut

peter.rowe@sduniontribune.com