The Great Debate

It's Friday night which basically means nothing to me because I work in retail. I have to be in to work by 5:30 tomorrow morning, so I'm trying to take her easy tonight. So how do I do that? Well with an 11% American strong ale, of course. I have had a Southern Tier Oak Aged Ale sitting in the cabinet for a couple weeks now. It is the second installment in their Cuvee series. It is pretty good despite being on the sweet side. But this isn't a post about this particular beer. What I want to talk about is session beers vs. specialty beers.

When I realized that I was going to be staying in tonight, I had to make a choice. Should I drink one specialty bomber at 11% or should I go the session route and be able to drink four or five beers. It's a real dilemma for me. I like specialty beers when they are done well. They can have some real complex flavors and aromas. But I can only really have one a night. That is why I am more a fan of session beers. I can drink Sierra Nevada Pale Ale all night long. It is delicious and refreshing. The flavors and aroma are simple but really really really good. Tonight I was counting down the time until I could dig in to my Cuvee. I could have started at five, but then I would have to shut it down before eight o'clock. I really love beer. I love the way it tastes, I love the way it smells, I love having a full pint in my hand. I often find myself wishing that beer had lower alcohol content, but tasted the same. I want to be able to drink it from the moment I get home until when I fall asleep. But that can't really happen because despite the frequency with which I drink, I am still basically a light weight (literally and figuratively). Six session beers and I am in the bag. This one bomber at 11% is equivalent to four session beers, which is all I really want to drink in a night when my alarm is set for 4 o'clock tomorrow morning. So I have to make this bad boy last me the rest of the night. This is my main problem with specialty beers. I am not very patient and have a hard time pacing myself. Specialty beers take away part of the beer drinking experience for me. I like to be able to drink at my own pace and not get totally hammered right away.

Complex does not equal good. There are some great specialty beers with really complex flavors, aromas, and ingredients. There are probably just as many overdone imperial whatevers with 12 different malts and 38 different varieties of hops. Like I said earlier give me a pale ale any day of the week where I can taste/smell the two or three kinds of hops. I don't want to drink a beer with cascade and not be able to smell it. Cascade smells amazing. Why would you want to bury that.

There is also the problem of value. If I buy a 22oz bottle for eight bucks and it is no good I feel cheated. I could have got a six pack for that. It only gets more ridiculous from there. For me a Belgians are always a gamble. They can run upwards of $14. You can, however, take this with a grain of salt, because it is coming from a guy who spent $36 on a bottle of Westy 12.

The debate continues. I probably sound like I come down on the side of session beers. If I had to pick one or the other, I would go with sessions. Luckily I do not have to pick. I do really enjoy specialty beers. My favorite time to drink big beers is after I have been up all night counting inventory at work. I use them as a reward or a consolation prize depending on how my numbers come out on these nights. When I get home at three or four in the morning still wide awake from working, a big imperial stout is the perfect thing to put me down before the sun comes up. Now I'm thinking about those Sierra Nevada 30th anniversary stouts I have in the cabinet. Mmmm, they are a treat. Until next time, cheers.

Cellaring Redux

A couple months ago I posted about open that bottle night, and by extension, the practice of cellaring. Aging beer to enhance flavor and character has become increasingly popular among beer enthusiasts. Most beer is made to be drank while fresh. Certain beers such as big stouts and barley wines can really benefit from aging provided they are kept in proper conditions. Keeping them out of light is a must. It is best to store beer in an area of high humidity within a temperature range of around 50 to 65 degrees, hence the term cellaring.

About a year ago, Adam had the idea of creating a brewers reserve series of our homebrews. Basically we have been saving a bomber of every beer that we have brewed starting with a bock we bottled last April. This particular beer is not a very cellarable beer. Alcohol content is somewhere around 4.5%. It is not particularly dark either. This beer spent about 6 months in an actual cellar and then six months in my beer cabinet in my apartment. The result of aging the bock was interesting, but not surprising. The beer lost almost all of its hop character. No more aroma, no flavor, and very little bitterness. Overall the beer was slightly sweet. It tasted more like a pilsner but again without much of a trace of hops. It wasn't bad, but not particularly good either. It retained its carbonation and color for the most part. It had a nice creamy head. One thing to consider when cellaring bottle conditioned beers is the yeast. Later I went back to try and get a little more beer out of the bottle, and I accidentally poured in a bit of the yeast that was chilling at the bottom of the bottle. It really killed the rest of my glass. Year old yeast tastes a lot stronger then fresh yeast. Generally I try to avoid pouring in yeast and sediment from a homebrew, but a little bit in the glass is normal and actually kinda has become a distinct part of the homebrew experience for me. I am curious how the rest of the series will come out. Next up is an Otter Creek Copper Ale clone. I hope that the extra malt in this beer will have some positive effect upon the aging process. Until then, cheers.

Bock Lager

Still carbonated

What I'm drinking: Anchor Steam clone (home brewed)
What I'm listening to: Itunes on shuffle

F the man

So, work has been kicking my ass up and down the street lately, leaving me tired and unmotivated when back at homebase. I do plan to continue posting here when I get a spare second, or more then one day off a week. Any ways. I just got a shipment of beer from my uncle who lives in Oakland. What a dude. Of particular interest is the much sought after Sierra Nevada 30th anniversary stout. I looked all over NJ for this bad boy. The dudes at Oak Tree in South Plainfield said they probably weren't gonna get it, but then I called back on Saturday and they said they had it for like a hot minute. Whatever. I am going to savour this bad beast. It may take me an entire evening to drink it. Also really psyched about Russian River's Pliny the Elder. A lot of dudes on the east coast talk about this beer. It's fairly easy to acquire out west, but not so much here. I was talking to this homebrewer who said he was going to do a clone recipe having never had the real deal. Just because it ain't over here. Well now I got me some. I'll post reviews once I indulge, but I know these brews are going to be top shelf. Incidentally they are now chilling on the top shelf.