Beer Glasses

Sais-on Sais-off

2011-10-25T20:52:00.003-04:00

Saison Dupont, produced by the Dupont brewery in West-Hainaut, Belgium, was named best beer in the world by Men's Journal. It scores a 99 on Rate Beer and an A- on Beer Advocate. I had it for the first time tonight, which is strange for I am a disciple of the saison. There's no doubt that it is a tasty beer, but I feel that it is definitely over-hyped. For me it does not crack my top 20, and I would say that it is not even my favorite saison of all time. Full disclosure, I am a member of what BYO describes in it's July-August issue as the "cult of American saison". I feel that American brewer's have taken this style to new heights with the use of American hops and by drying out the beer especially on the finish. That being said, I would go with a Fantome over a Dupont any day of the week if I'm going for a Belgian saison.

Like I said the beer is tasty and full flavored, no doubt. It has some good spice and funk to compliment the fruitness of the the yeast and hops and the grainy pilsner back bone. All that is good, but the beer has this overtone of beeriness, or what I call "old man flavor". It's hard to really explain or even pinpoint what that flavor is. It basically tastes like someone poured out a case of miller lite into the 30 barrel batch right before it hit the fermenters. It might be that they used old or possibly too much pilsner malt in the grist. Not really sure, all I know is that I taste a flavor that I consider to be off.

As far as the ratings and accolades go, I'm not saying it deserves poor marks. But a 99 on Rate Beer? It's good, but not a 99. If we're doing Beer Advocate scoring, I would give it B-. If they cleaned up that one off flavor I'd push it to a B+ or maybe higher. For some good American Saison, check out McKenzie's brew house in Malvern PA, Brooklyn's Sorachi Ace, or Ommegang Hennepin. Cheers.

All in the game yo, all in the game

2011-08-21T18:55:00.011-04:00

Back at it after an extended hiatus. Don't ask. Been drinking some great beers lately. Joe Canal's added a fine beer station at their Woodbridge location. They have some cool stuff in there including a Sam Adams Utopia (retail is $200+) and Brew Dog's Tactical Nuclear Penguin (abv is 32%). I didn't get either one of these beers as they are out of my price range. I did however pick up some pretty rad rare beers, which I will detail below. Canal's, like many other good beer retailers, used to hide their rare stuff in the back. I'm glad they decided to start displaying their rare inventory to the public. In order to get any of these beers you have to have an associate paged to come unlock the case (which I believe used to store house chivas regal scotch). Okay, without further adieu, here are some sweet beers I've picked up recently out of the fine beer case at Joe Canal's.

Ovila Saison:
This is a colab brew between Sierra Nevada and the Abbey of New Clairvaux. It is a farmhouse style ale that is very true to style. It pours hazy with a big white foamy head. Flavor is that of spice, pepper, and citrus with a nice bready backbone. Another great offering from the fine folks at Sierra Nevada. ;) Get it while it is still available, because I believe this is a one off offering.

Firestone Walker Abacus:
I believe this is their annual barrel aged barley wine. This one was intense, clocking in at 13%. This beer was equal parts sweet and bitter with some really complex flavors playing against one another. There was a slight alcohol heat on the end, but it was barely noticeable with everything else going on flavor-wise.

Brooklyn Sorachi Ace:
I've had this one a few times previously. It is a really complex and flavorful saison. The most memorable part of this beer is the use of Japanese sorachi ace hops. They impart a big lemon citrus flavor that blends really well with the spicy Belgian yeast.

Firestone Walker Parabola:
I believe this is another barrel aged annual release. It is an imperial stout that is dark as death with some intense flavors and aromas. Think dark malts, roasted, chocolate, coffee, bourbon, everything you would expect from a world class imperial stout and then some. Pretty smooth considering it clocks in at 12.5%, although it took me all night to drink it.

Why I don't like beer blogging

2011-06-01T22:07:00.004-04:00

I haven't posted on this thing in awhile. Why is that. I've been drinking lots of good beers. I've started to write about some of them. I even made a video or two. But every time I finish writing or recording a beer review I think about how lame beer reviewing is. There are more than several beer reviewers out there on the blog circuit and on youtube. Some are better than others. Some are boring, some are insightful, some are charismatic, and some are goobers (which can be either good or bad). Almost all, however, are formulaic. They always give a run down of 1.appearance, 2. aroma, 3.flavor, and then some overall ranking. That shit is lame. I like reading about beer. I like watching beer related videos, but really, I don't care about your personal taste or opinion. I want to experience beer for myself and I really don't need to be told which beers are good or bad. I can figure that out for myself. If you are going to post something, make it at least somewhat original. I can't tell you how many beer bloggers are out there with the same post a million times in a row with just the beer switched out. A. no one cares what you think. B. you are boring. That's why I appreciate dudes like Don Osborn, who have more to say then just the obvious: AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 16/20. So I'm gonna try to come up with some more original shit to put on here. But if you want straight up beer reviews, there are mad dudes out there doing that stuff. I can tell you what I like, but I doubt anyone really cares.

Velocirapture

2011-05-20T18:25:00.003-04:00

To celebrate the impending rapture and hopefully score some points with the big guy, I picked up a Chimay Blue. Cheers.

Fan Art

2011-03-28T19:45:00.002-04:00

A couple photos my Uncle Matt took:

Experiments in General Chemistry

2011-03-27T14:17:00.004-04:00

Yesterday Adam and I brewed an American amber ale. The previous time we brewed we had come up short on volume due to boil off (evaporation during the boil) and with too high of a gravity (basically too thick with sugars). We ended up topping off the fermentor with water to 5 gallons which corrected the gravity. The beer came out quite nice in the end. Too avoid this scenario we decided to collect a larger volume of sweet wort while lautering. We were shooting for seven and a half gallons of pre-boil wort as we normally collect seven gallons. We did not take in to account the fact that we would be distracted by the Rangers game on television. We ended up with eight gallons of sweet wort. It was all good though. We hit our target gravity just fine and we have a nice five gallon batch bubbling away in the brew closet.

This is, I'm sure, very exciting to my readership. Or probably not. But the story doesn't end there. We had some extra wort at the end of the boil. I decided to set some of it aside for a small experimental batch. I collected just under a half gallon in a JJ Bittings growler. I didn't have a specific plan for the brew, and actually nearly forgot about it as I was cleaning up after brew day. Plus there was this international friendly on between Argentina and the US which grabbed my attention after cleaning was complete. Eventually I remembered I had the growler chilling in the closet. I tried to come up with a quick plan for the beer. I remembered that we had some dried orange peel left over from a Belgian single we did some time ago. I dropped some of the orange peel into the growler. As I was searching for ingredients to add to the brew I found some Munton's dry yeast. It was over a year past it's best by date, but I said what the hell. I pitched a packet directly into the growler. I was just going to settle with this, but then I started to think about adding spices to ambers. The first brew that came to mind was Anchor's Christmas Ale. It is a seasonal favorite of mine. I headed over to the spice rack and grabbed some nutmeg and coriander. I scooped some of each into the beer and topped it off with an airlock. I probably should have done some research about the amount of spice to add to the beer, but I was kind of in a hurry. I probably over-spiced the hell out of it, but honestly I wasn't sure if the thing would even ferment given that the yeast was a year expired. Though,when I checked it this morning it was bubbling away. I'm excited to see how my little experiment comes out. I'm not sure how I'm going to bottle it, given it is such a small batch. Another experiment for another day.

Back with a Barleywine

2011-03-01T16:05:00.007-05:00

Several in fact. First a note on the lack of activity on this blog. My PC was recently hacked by eastern European hackers. A lot of my personal info got out and I had to close all my bank and credit card accounts and open new ones. The hackers actually took quite a bit of money from my savings account, which investigators are still trying to get back. I ended up scrapping that PC and dropping more money then I wanted on an Imac. I'm still working on getting my finances back on track. But at least I still have some nice brews in the fridge. Like the ones pictured above.

Before Christmas I happened upon an '08 Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barleywine at Shop Rite liquors in Westfield. I still had several '10 Bigfoots chilling in the beer cabinet so I decided to drink them back to back. I'm not the hugest fan of barleywine, but if it is done right they can be quite delish. Bigfoot is definitely my favorite of the style, but admittedly I have not had that many. Maybe 2011 can be my year of barleywines. The '10 Bigfoot had been aging for something like ten months. When I poured it, the beer still had a nice one finger off white head. The foam dissipated rather quickly but left behind some lacing. The aroma was sweet and piney, with some dark fruits and spice in there. Flavor is that of malt, spice, and fruit, with a big hop bite throughout and a dry finish. It is a medium bodied beer with light carbonation. The characteristics that define the beer are the sweet malt and the big hop bite that compliments and subdues the sweetness. The next night I drank the '08 Bigfoot. It was very similar to the '10. The first and most visual difference was that it lacked a foamy head. Beyond the difference in carbonation, the '08 was more subdued and perhaps more focused in both aroma and flavor. The hops were not as jarring in the '08. There was more malt and dark fruit flavors which is more typical of the style. Overall it was a bit smoother. I enjoyed both beers. They brought different nuances of the style to the table. The '10 had malt, but was big on hops. Hops are what distinguish the style from the olde ale style that came out of England. The '08 was smooth and malty, which are characteristics that define the style. Check out Bigfoot Barleywine if you want a big beer that has some really in your face flavors. Right now I am drinking an '11 and really enjoying it. Cheers.

Kegerator Build

2011-01-18T13:55:00.018-05:00

Over the past 6 months or so I have been working on putting together a kegerator to dispense my home brews. It ended up becoming a process, with many trips to the hardware store, but I finally have fresh beer on tap in my apartment. It's pretty boss. I'm glad I finally got the thing up and running. There is nothing better then being able to pour yourself a beer straight from the tap.

As a homebrewer there are several important benefits to kegging versus bottling. Number one, cleaning, sanitizing, filling, and capping the fifty plus bottles needed for one five gallon batch of beer is a bitch. It is much easier to clean, sanitize, and fill, just one five gallon keg. Number two, carbonating takes less then half the time when kegging. Once a beer ferments fully, it kinda blows that you have to wait another two weeks while it bottle conditions before you can drink it. With kegging you get the same, often better, results in less then a week. Number three, with bottling you have a layer of yeast and sometimes sediment at the bottom of each bottle. This means, if you don't want a yeasty beer, you need to cut your pour at exactly the right moment leaving about a quarter inch of beer left in the bottle. That kinda stinks. When kegging, you can leave all that yeast and sediment behind in the fermentor. Also, it is sweet that when I know I need to call it a night soon, I can grab just a half of a beer. Also it is just cool in general to have draft beer in your apartment.

Although it took some time to complete, it really was not difficult. You could probably do the whole thing in one day if you had all the right parts and tools on hand. The fridge I used was a Sanyo 4912 mini fridge. This model is discontinued but there are still a bunch out there. Grab one while you can. I had to remove the shelves and cut out the molded shelves that are part of the door in order to make enough room for the kegs, CO2 tank, regulators, and all the tubing. Next I located the refrigeration line that runs across the top of the fridge using a method I read about online. It involved spreading a mixture of corn starch and rubbing alcohol on top of the fridge, turning it on, and then waiting to see where the mixture dried first. It drys right over the hot line, so I knew not to drill there as I didn't want to turn the fridge into a giant paper weight. Once the line was located, I drilled a hole in the top for the connection tubes using a hole saw. Then I mounted my tap tower on top. That's pretty much it.

Probably the most difficult part was an optional step that I decided to take. I constructed a fan box with a flexible tube running out of the side. The purpose of the box is to blow cold air up into the tap tower. This will keep the beer in the line cold and cut down on foam coming out of the tap. I ran the ac adapter out of the drain hole in the fridge. I used one of the plastic shelves that came with the fridge as a shelf for the CO2 canister and fan box. Everything fits inside, but it is tight and I need to arrange things just right in order to shut the door properly.

Enjoy the pictures below. Right now I have an extract IPA and an all grain pale ale on tap. Cheers.

hole for the lines with water proof insulation tape

CO2 tank with regulator and fan box on the shelf

sanitizing the lines

filling the first keg

beerforce one in all it's glory

A white whale, the red herring, bigfoot?

2011-01-15T14:57:00.004-05:00

A week of not drinking, no big thing. Really, more then anything, I missed the ritual. Coming home after a long day at work, nothing puts me at ease like a tasty craft beer. I drank a lot of tea that week to sub in. The week seemed to drag on too. It felt like two weeks. Sobriety, however, is not what I'd like to talk about in this blog post. No, let's talk about urban legends. A while back, someone had told me that only US beers had twist off caps and that all imports had pry off caps. This did not sit right with me. I kept checking my imports for twist offs, but I couldn't find one. Finally, after many years of searching, I found my jackalope. I got a beers of the world box for Christmas. In it was a Peruvian beer called Franca, and lo and behold, a twist off cap. Myth busted. The beer, by the way, had expired back in April. I took one sip and immediately poured it out. It tasted pilsner like, only kinda old and dull, and sweet, but not the good malty sweet. More like old corn syrup. I was kinda bummed because I had never had a beer from South America, let alone Peru. Hopefully one day I will get a good South American beer. I've read good things about Argentinean beer.

My Year of Beer

2011-01-01T20:18:00.004-05:00

For me 2010 had it's ups and it's downs, both personally and professionally. One thing that remained consistent was my love for beer, especially the drinking of it. With the exception of New Years day 2010, I drank beer every single night. I was way too hung over on 1/1/10 to drink. Tonight I had two homebrewed IPA's and a Bitburger so far, which makes this one full year of drinking beer. Over the year I have had some really great beers and beer experiences. From being on the bottleing line at Cricket Hill Brewery to touring the legendary Anchor brewery, from getting my hands on a Westvleteren 12 to getting to drink the Russian River sours on tap, it was a good year of beer for yours truly.

So what next. For starters, I am going to stop drinking for an entire week, to prove to myself that I am not an alcoholic, but merely a beer geek. I also want to try different things in the new year, liking checking out whiskey and scotch. I got a set of shot glasses for Christmas that I need to put to use. I'd also like to try out some more cooking with beer. I'd really love to take another beercation, but I don't know if it will be in the budget this year.

Foolishly, back in July, I made the prediction that the Yankees would sign free agent left fielder Carl Crawford during the off season. I was so sure it was going to happen that I agreed I would quit drinking for an additional week if it didn't go down. Well, it didn't happen. The Red Sox signed Crawford to a monster deal. I'm gonna hold off on that second week for now. I'll get around to it, but I got an American pale ale carbing up as we speak.

Happy New Beers

2010-12-31T19:16:00.002-05:00

As another year comes to a close I can't help but sit back and reflect on all the great beers I have had this year. I thought I'd call out a few that I haven't written about already.

Flying Fish Exit 16 Wild Rice Double IPA- I believe this was their fifth release from the exit series. It is the best from the series so far, and possibly the best beer they have ever made. It is a lemony, floral, grainy thing, kinda along the lines of Pliny the Elder or Captain Lawrence, Captains Reserve. It is lighter on the malt with citrus dominating the aroma and finish. The use of wild rice in this brew gives it a nice toasty grain flavor that is really unique and tasty.

Corsendonk Christmas Ale- This is a limited release Belgian Strong Ale. It is chock full of malt that leans towards darker fruits like cherries and plums. There is some nice belgian yeasty spiciness as well. It is really delicious. Very drinkable, but it still packs a punch at 8.5% abv. It has a distinctly chewy mouth feel that adds volumes to the experience.

Stone Sublimely Self Righteous Ale- This black IPA is a remake of their 11th anniversary ale. It is hoppy as hell. Lots of grapefruit and lemon citrus aroma and flavor with a nice malt back bone. I could probably drink this one everyday if it wasn't 8.7%.

Lefebvre Hopus- Got this bottle from Belgianshop.com. An interesting brew. A Belgian take on hoppiness. It is tame by US standards, but still pretty good. The beer is hoppy and fruity with the Belgian yeast profile playing off bitter hops.

Stone Double Bastard- This isn't new or hard to find, but I had never had one before about a month ago. A co-worker shared his bottle with me after we closed down the store the day before Thanksgiving. We drank the beer in the parking lot of staples out of paper cups while watching out for the Madison cops. Double Bastard is big as hell with a ton of hops, malt, sweetness, bitterness, fruit, pine, and some alcohol heat to boot.

In the market for some beers

2010-12-21T14:37:00.011-05:00

disclaimer: I started this post before Christmas, but finished it on 12/27.

Today I was off from work. My big plan was to finish up my Christmas shopping, which I almost did. I hit up the beer store with the intention of getting just a couple bottles as gifts. I ended up with a full basket worth of brews. The whole time I was walking around I kept cursing because there was so much I wanted to pick up just for myself. It took some real restraint not to load up on all the seasonals. I ended up grabbing just three bottles for myself. Being at that particular store made me think about what makes up a good beer store. There are so few good stores in Jersey. The few stand out stores definitely have their flaws, but I am grateful for their existence. Below is a list of a few of my favorite stores and what they have to offer.

Oak Tree Discount Wines and Spirits: 902 Oak Tree Ave, South Plainfield, NJ.
This is the most well regarded beer store in Jersey among beer geeks. They offer a wide range of domestic and import ales and lagers as well as your usual wine and spirit selection. They have a full range of larger format bottles along with 12 ounce singles and six packs. There is a pretty well stocked refridgerated section. They offer all the macros in a bunch of different packaging (ie six pack, case, 30 rack, etc). They might have kegs, but I'm not sure. Probably what makes this place really stand out is their selection of import beers. The entire back wall of the store is dedicated to imports from around the world. They have everything you could want from Belgiam, Germany, England, and beyond. The beer manager is knowledgeable and helpful. I will say that the last few times that I went there, I was disappointed in the selection. They really didn't have much new. The seasonal display left something to be desired. The domestic shelves also looked like they hadn't been restocked in a minute. I haven't been there in a few months, so hopefully they have gotten their act back together.

Joe Canal's Discount Liquor Outlet: 489 Route 1 South, Iselin (Woodbridge), NJ.
This place has a good selection of craft brews but it is mainly a wine and liquor store. They have your usual macro selection with plenty of refridgerated options as well as room temp pallet drops towards the back of the store. They have one wall dedicated to craft beer. Decent selection of domestic bombers and some larger format imports. They offer some single twelve ouncers as well. Selection is above average, but far from ideal. There isn't much in the way of good customer service as the beer guy works between two stores, and judging from the way the department usually looks, he is spread a bit thin. One thing that sets Joe Canal's apart is that they have a growler fill station. They will fill any half gallon growler from one of their six rotating taps. They also sell empty growlers to fill.

Shoprite Liquors of Westfield: 333 South Avenue, Westfield, NJ 07090.
This is my new favorite spot. They have a good selection that seems to be restocked often. Their seasonal offerings and displays are top notch. Tight, inviting displays, with good variety and selection. They have a wide range of larger format singles and six packs. They have some stuff you wouldn't expect like Green Flash and Ballast Point. I found an '08 Sierra Bigfoot there (blog post to come). The staff is helpful and seem knowledgeable. I still haven't met the main beer guy, but he seems to have a grasp on what he is doing because each time I have been there I walked out with way more than I expected to purchase. The picture above is bottles I got from this place.

Check these places out if you are into craft brew. Support the few stores that have good offerings and if you know of any other good ones, send them my way. Cheers.

Thirty Somethin

2010-12-09T20:21:00.009-05:00

Thirty years ago I came kicking and screaming into this cold cruel world with bright eyes and a calm demeanor. My birth was not, however, the most notable thing to happen that year. Nor was the election of Ronald Reagan, champion of the upper upper class. No, the best thing to come out of 1980, by far, was the Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, champion of the cascade hop. This year they celebrated their thirtieth anniversary with a series of beers; Three colaboration brews and one brewer's reserve. Seeing as how Sierra is my favorite brewing co I was super excited to get my hands on these limited releases. Finding them proved often to be more then difficult. Places where beer dudes (and dudettes I suppose) go to get good beer would sell out of them super fast. Oak Tree in South Plainfield didn't even put them out for sale. You had to ask the beer manager to get one out of back stock for you. The same was true for Joe Canal's in Woodbridge. I found that the best place to acquire these bonus wagners was off the beaten path. Places like Madison Wine Cellar would get a case in and not know exactly what they had on hand. I got a bunch of the first and fourth release from there. I found several of the third release at a big beer mart outside of Asbury. It was like finding that the baseball card where the dude is flipping the bird.

The beers come in handsome cork and caged bottles. If you had the hook up you could get them in a nice wood storage box. There was also a Thirtieth anniversary snifter that went along with the beers. They were released every few months over the course of this year. They all were pretty big beers that should age well. I bought several of each. I drank at least one of each fresh and aged the rest. Then, leading up to the one year anniversary of beer glasses I drank each beer in succession culminating in my first taste of the brewer's reserve grand cru. What follows is my impression, from what I can recall, of each beer. I was gonna post a pic of each pour, but you can check my twitter feed if you really want to see that.

Fritz & Kens Stout:
The first release from back in March. This stout was a collaberative brew between Sierra founder Ken Grossman and (at the time) Anchor kingpin Fritz Maytag. FYI he is grandson of the appliance magnate and also he sold anchor shortly after the release of this beer. The beer is big as hell, super dark, and super delicious. Lots of roast and bitter sweetness. Nicely balanced. Really a quintessential American stout. It coats your palate quickly and basically becomes your night. Like, you can drink this while you are watching the Rangers game, but really you are watching the Rangers game while drinking the beer. Aging for nine months smoothed this beer out a bit. It was super creamy and thick like a bitter chocolate beer shake. Nice lacing and all that beer geek junk too. When I opened it after aging the bottom of the cork exploded. It was cool.

Charlie, Fred, & Ken's Bock:
This beer was released in May. It is a collaborative brew from Ken and pioneer craft brew writers Fred Eckhart and Charlie Papazian. They brewed an Imperial Helles Bock. Basically a maibock that is big as hell(es). This thing is delicious. It is malty and toasty and amber as fuck. It is out of left field really, as Sierra is not really known for their lagers. They did this one beautifully. A new take on a classic style. Initially it was my least favorite of the four, but after tasting it recently I think I would put it at number two of the four. It's tough to rate these things because they are all awesome. The most interesting thing about this one is that it has some alcohol heat that comes through at the back of your palate, almost in your throat. It really is interesting and for me it really added to the whole experience.

Jack and Ken's Black Barlywine Ale:
This is an interesting one. On this beer Ken Grossman teamed up with Jack McAuliffe. Jack started the New Albion Brewery in Sonoma Cali back in the day. It was a small operation that inspired many of the craft brew pioneers like Ken and Fritz. The beer they decided to brew for the anniversary is a black barleywine that is brewed with only American Cascade hops. It came out in July. This beer is seriously intense. I've had three so far and the first two times I had to ask for help in finishing it. It is big as hell. Very much a barleywine, but it has elements of stout and porter. Pretty much it is a barleywine with a ton of roast, some heat, lots of hop bitterness, sweet stout maltiness, but a medium syrup like body like a bw. It is a force to be reckoned with.

Brewer's Reserve Grand Cru:
This one is the culmination of the series. It is a blend of oak aged bigfoot ale, celebration ale, and fresh pale ale that is dry hopped into some sort of celestial nectar that words can not really properly convey. It has the best elements of all three beers and then some. Malt and sweet from the barley wine is complimented by the citrusy cascade hoppiness of the pale ale, which is further grounded and balanced by the piney hoppiness of celebration. Bangin. get your hands on this one if you can. Definitely my favorite of the series. It is of note that I prefer it from the bottle rather then the tap. The same goes for Sierra pale ale. I'm not sure if they bottle conditioned this like they do with the pale. Weird how Sierra is like that. Mostly I prefer tap, but Sierra does a real good job with bottle conditioning.

Hope you enjoyed my run down of this series. I still have a random assortment of these bad boy's left. Hit me up if you wanna do some drinking. They are good for one, but are best shared. Cheers.

Golden Anniversary

2010-12-08T20:03:00.004-05:00

Not really that long ago one of my favorite beers was Golden Anniversary Beer. Golden Anni is a cheap fizzy yellow beer. It is listed on Rate Beer as a blonde ale with a rating of 1 out of 100. You could get it at the beer store in New Brunswick for $2.65 for a sixer. The price was a big part of the allure. Also the initials are GAB, which led to the obvious word play Gift of GAB. As in, you look like you could use one more, here is the gift of GAB. One of the greatest days of my life as a touring musician was when we discovered 40's of GAB at a grocery store in Rochester. My how things have changed.

To mark the one year anniversary of this blog I busted out a beer that I had been saving for over 2 years. I am referring to Stone's 12th anniversary Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout. When this beer first came out, I bought six of them. Like all Stone anniversary releases, it came in a 22oz bomber. The last time I had one was at least a year and half ago. I remember it being quite good back then, so I was psyched to dig into this one. The first thing I noticed when I poured it was the lack of head and carbonation in general. It required quite a vigorous pour in order to get any kind of fizz. Color wise, it was consistent with what you would expect from an oatmeal stout. Aroma was that of sweet chocolate with some bitter roast aromas as a counter. It smelled good, but I was weary due to the lack of carbonation. I dove in despite my reservations. Like I expected, it was definitely lacking in the CO2 department. Looking past this, it was still a pretty tasty beer. Lots of chocolate and coffee flavors with a bitter backbone to counter the sweet from the massive malt bill. This beer definitely smoothed out over the last two plus years. No heat whatsoever despite the nine plus percent alcohol.

The other thing that surprised me about this beer beyond the carbonation is that it seemed to loose some body during the aging the process. When I first tried it in '08 it was full bodied, thick like a beer shake. Now, while still more full bodied then an amber or pale, it really didn't coat my palate like I thought it would. Later on I checked the cap and I could clearly see that the oxygen seal had shrivelled up. This leads me back to the subject of cellaring. I store my beer in a cabinet at room temp. My apartment generally stays between 65 and 70 degrees. These are not great conditions for storing beer. Ideally you would like to store beer at around 52 degrees with a high degree of relative humidity. These conditions are not acheivable when you live in an apartment complex. My only other option right now besides my beer cabinet would be the fridge. That isn't really a good option though for two reasons. First, I need to store food and fresh beer in there. And number two, refrigerators are designed to keep their contents dry. This causes the oxygen barrier on crowns of beer stored for long intervals to be compromised. The beer is thus exposed to oxygen which fucks beer all up. So right now it looks like I'm damned either way. The best solution would be to either buy one of those wine cellar things or design some sort of beer storage system. A project for another day. Right now I need to take it down. I have regional dudes coming into the grocery store tomorrow and I need to get some rest because I gotta be up by 4:00 am tomorrow. Thanks for reading over the last year or however long you have been paying attention to my half drunk rants on beer. Stay tuned for some more good anniversary stuff. Cheers.

Beer Glasses

2010-12-08T18:44:00.008-05:00

Tomorrow will mark the one year anniversary of this blog. The day I started it, I was sitting alone in my apartment drinking Sierra Nevada Celebration ale. I was pretty deep in and I got the idea to do a blog about beer. Really it was just a whim, but I'm glad that I did it. I've enjoyed sharing my beer related experiences with you. Over the next year, I will be attempting to bring out more material and hopefully be more consistent with my posting.

To mark my one year mark I am unveiling the new name of the blog: Beer Glasses. Thanks to my friend Jim Cottage for the kick ass logos. Check him out his work here. Beer blog is too bland and Beer Glasses fits the style of the blog better. Be sure to follow me on Twitter. The link is in the top right corner of the blog. Right now, I have 0 followers. Let's work on that.

Over the next couple days, I will be posting a series of anniversary related posts where I dip into my private reserves and drink some of that top shelf ish. Stay tuned. Thanks for reading and cheers.

All Grain, All the Time

2010-12-02T19:32:00.007-05:00

A couple weeks ago Adam and I did our first all grain batch. It's been two years since our first extract batch and we are only now getting into the AG. It's all good, because we are back on the horse and it should be all grain from here on out. We ended up doing the mash on the kitchen stove, which involved a complicated two pot system for heating the strike and sparge water. It was a little dicey at times, but thankfully Murphy spared us, and I think we got a pretty good technique going on. For the boil, we brought it outside to the propane burner, which is way more efficient then using two burners on the stove. Doing full wort boils is the way to go. The beer we brewed was a fairly standard American pale ale. It smelled really good when we transferred it to secondary last weekend. I'm looking forward to tasting this one. Check out pictures at the end.

A while back I posted this about open that bottle night. Now it seems that Mark Dredge has stolen my idea. Check it out. Well, maybe he came up with it independently, but either way, I was first. In any event, I am going to open up some bottles pretty soon. Maybe not this weekend as he suggests. This blog will be a year old in one week. As part of that anniversary I will be opening a few things I have been saving. I might post a video too. Stay tuned.

Also, I got a twitter account. I'm still getting used to it, but my thing is @beerglassesnj. Follow me if you want. I mostly just post pictures of what I am drinking each night.

Ingredients

Sparging

The boil

Proof of Organic Concept

2010-11-28T20:54:00.004-05:00

A few days ago I lost one, but today I came out a winner. How might you ask? Well, I took down a Sierra Nevada Estate Ale today while watching the Giants game. Double win. I had been looking for this beer for a while. It is listed as a special release on the Sierra website, but I had never seen it around here until the other day. There was one lone bottle sitting on the shelf at Joe Canals and I snatched that bad boy up. This beer is an IPA in the same vein as their other fresh hop harvest ales, only it is certified organic and the hops and barley come from Sierra Nevada's on fields located on their property in Chico CA. It pours a dark amber with a nice white foamy head. It has a citrusy, floral aroma. Flavor is citrus, pine, and hops. There is a malt backbone to it and overall it is very well balanced. A good find to say the least. I have to say, this is the best organic beer I have ever had. For whatever reason, organic beers tend to fall short of the mark for me. Often they are well brewed but lack real character or depth. I'm not sure why that is. The few exceptions that I have had before trying this beer were Wolaver's Oatmeal Stout and a few beers that I had from Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing Co over the summer. This is a somewhat interesting conundrum coming from an employee of a certified organic grocery store. Leave it to Sierra to really push organic beer in to the realm of legitimate craft brews.

On another tip, has anyone else noticed that beers within a craft brewers catalog end up tasting very similar and in some cases the same? I love Sierra Nevada. They make many of my all time favorite beers. However, a lot of there IPA's and pale ales, tend to taste similar and sometimes the same. For instance, if you put the Northern Hemisphere Harvest ale next to the Southern Hemisphere Harvest Ale next to the Anniversary Ale next to this beer, I would have a hard time telling them apart. They even taste similar to the new brown ale they came out with this fall. I'm not really complaining, I'm just bringing up the point. The same can be said for Rogue and Anchor Brewing Co. Probably a bunch more craft brewers. Why is this. Could it be repetitive ingredients (yeast in particular), could it be technique or equipment, maybe the brewer him/herself. I don't know. Just throwing spaghetti here. Anyway, check out the Estate ale if you can get your hands on it. It has a waxed top which is pretty cool. The bottle looks cool. It is 6.7% and delicious. Later and cheers.

Black to the Future

2010-11-26T20:13:00.005-05:00

I haven't done a beer spotlight in a while. Actually haven't done a post in a while. Blame the holidays for that. One day off in the last two weeks. Anyway, there is a new beer style out there that has become a bit of a fad. I'm speaking of Black IPA's. Also known as Cascadian Dark Ales or India Black Ales, these beers are dark in color but deceive a bit because their focus is more on hop flavors and aromas. According to the Brewers Association there should be some caramel malt flavor as well as a moderate amount of dark roasted flavors, however the focus should be hops. Burnt flavors should be absent. A few years ago Stone released their 11th anniversary black IPA. This thing was so bangin. It was chock full of citrus hop flavors and aromas with a nice complimentary caramel malt backbone and dry hoppy finish. Superb. They re-released this one off as Sublimely Self Righteous Ale which is now in regular release. Check that shit out.

So, when I picked up 21st Amendment's Back in Black, I was expecting something in the same vein. I was sadly let down. When I saw the smart package in the beer store, I was instantly intrigued. My expectations were high. The beer is part of the new wave of canned craft brews that has been gaining popularity in recent years. According to the packaging this beer is inspired by Paul Revere's midnight ride and is brewed with rich dark malts. It clocks in at 6.8% abv. The beer pours black with a substantially tan head that leaves a nice lacing behind. Aroma is sweet malt and some light citrus hop aromas. I expected a lot more hop in that aroma. The flavor of this beer is interesting, but not in a good way. There are some roasted flavors up front, but they are subdued. There is a moderate hop bitterness but the hops stop there. There is a lingering malty sweetness that seems really out of place in an IPA. All this is set against a really light body that kinda feels like a mind game. You'd expect this beer to be thick and heavy from the look of it, but it is quite thin. The sweetness of the malt really messes things up here. It doesn't taste focused at all, and frankly the flavors are kinda weak. All in all, this beer is just out of whack. It seems like they made the beer just to be one of the first companies to have a black IPA as a regular release. I would suggest that they retool their recipe and try to get some more IPA hopiness up in this piece. Some cascade in the hopback definitely wouldn't hurt this brew. In any event the focus of this style should be hops first and foremost with roasted and sweet malt as a counterpoint that also gives the beer a nice smooth body. Here you just get a sweet, slightly bitter beer that lacks body. There's a bunch more new Black IPA's out there. If you find a good one, let me know.

On being a hophead

2010-11-02T20:17:00.005-04:00

Lately I have been making a concerted effort to not just drink pale ales and IPA's. I definitely dig on many beer styles and I have a desire to expand my pallet, but if I'm not paying attention I will fall back on old habits. Like today. I was off from work and kinda bored. I got in the car with the intention of driving to Target to buy a new toothbrush. Somehow I ended up at a beer store in Westfield that has a pretty good selection. I meandered around for a couple minutes checking out what they had to offer. I picked up one bottle, picked up another, looked around some more. Before I realized it I had nearly $50 worth of brew at the checkout counter, all of which were IPA's, but one. I'm not complaining because I got some good stuff (Celebration Ale, Sierra Southern Hemi, Ballast Point IPA). Sometimes, though, I have to force myself to buy other styles, even if I know I will like it. Like, I have no idea when the last time it was that I bought a stout at the beer store. I just love those hops. The way they taste, the way they smell, even the way they look (fresh). So I'm asking my readers (the six friends i have that pay attention to this thing) to suggest non-pale ales for me to try over the next month. I have an IPA in primary fermentation right now that will be ready in about a month, so I'll be back on them lupulins by then. Help me mix it up in the mean time.

What I'm drinking: Various IPA's
What I'm listening to: Celph Titled

Ein Prosit der Gemutlichkeit

2010-09-29T19:42:00.013-04:00

The other day I headed down the shore to hang with my brother from another mother. I decided that it was time to celebrate. Celebrate what, you may ask? Well, my heritage for one thing. As you probably (don't) know I am just over 25% German and Oktoberfest is in full swing. So I headed over to Oak Tree and picked up as many Oktoberfest singles as I could find, which weren't many. Disappointing. Also, no Brooklyn Oktoberfest. What gives. I checked out this other beer store in Westfield, which had some good stuff, but really no singles. New Jersey needs to wake up and embrace beer culture. Or maybe I need to move to the west coast. Any ways, I eventually ended up with eight different Oktoberfest selections and gunned it down the parkway to Asbury. James showed me the location he is scouting for his coffee shop and roastery. Shit looks good. Congrats to him for living the dream. After that we got some burritos and then headed back to his place for some tasty beers. Basically we did a blind tasting of our selections and then saved some for Meems to taste after she got home from back to school night. Again, I am going to have to link the spreadsheet as I still don't know what the f I am doing. I need to take an html class. Here you go. We evaluated based on aroma, flavor, prozit, and overall score. We were all a bit surprised by the outcome. Personally, I thought Brooklyn would score higher. Flying dog was the big winner with Left Hand not far behind. Otter Creek was the least drinkable of all. Anyway, enjoy. Prost!

What I'm drinking: Lagunitas, Little Sumpin Wild (bangin)
What I'm listening to: New Gaslight Anthem
What I'm watching: Started watching Ken Burn's Tenth Inning tonight. That thing is well f'in done. I honestly started to tear up several times watching the Yankees rising from the ashes of the strike during my formidable years. I haven't seen the original series, but if any of my friends or my girlfriend read this blog, that is what I want for Christmas/my birthday/Rosh Hashanah.

Beers chilling out

All the beers lined up, covered, and numbered

Also, I got some new buddies

The Fridge

2010-09-16T18:55:00.006-04:00

From time to time my fridge will get a bit backed up. I have this fear of running out of beer. This coupled with the fact that I have a bad memory has me buying beer often when I already have a bunch at home that I have been meaning to drink. I also have this habit of buying something that is not my normal thing, drinking a few and then deciding that I don't like it or that I am bored with it. Then the extra bottles hang around in the fridge taking up space until I can pass them off on some unsuspecting victim. Right now my fridge is pretty much full up of beer. Below is a list of what's in there and why.

Good stuff that will be gone within the week:
6 Sierra Nevada Pale Ales - My go to beer. Can't say enough good stuff about it. That's what I'm drinking right now.
3 Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPAs - Good but a bit tannic.
5 Magner Original Irish Ciders - They belong to the girlfriend. Pretty good, but I am not much of a cider fan
3 Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marrons - Good, but high in alcohol, so they might last longer then a week
3 Otter Creek Oktoberfest - Meh, they might make a jump to the next category.
1 Sierra Nevada 30th Anniversary Black Barleywine - I can not wait to drink this one. Perhaps tomorrow night after my closing shift at work.
1 Coney Island Sword Swallower Steel Hop Lager - A gift from the girlfriend. Can't wait to drink this one. A nice hoppy lager along the lines of Brooklyn Lager

Beers that have been hanging around for a while:
4 Flying Dog Raging Bitches - A Beglian style IPA. Not my thing. Beer store dude convinced me to get it
2 Long Trail Blackberry Wheats - Part of a variety pack. Again, not my thing.
1 Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout - This is from a few years back. It is good, but a bit boozy. I should really drink this
6 Founders Breakfast Stout Clones - Homebrews gone wrong
1 Anchor Steam Liberty Ale Clone - A homebrew success that I was saving for guests. It might have spent too much time in the fridge though.
1 Homebrew UFO - It is in a Grolsh bottle, so no labeling. I'm gonna drink this tomorrow. I hope it is a Boston Lager clone, but I suspect it is an under carbonated porter

That's it. If I put in the effort, I can probably drink the fridge down in under two weeks, except for the Raging Bitch and the Long Trail. No way am I drinking that. But feel free to partake if you are into it.

Glory to God in the highest

2010-09-06T19:02:00.006-04:00

I've been wanting to do this post for a while. My original idea was to get an atheist, myself (an agnostic), and a believer together and drink Trappist beers (beers brewed by monks) while watching Ben Hur. This was too difficult to set up, mostly because I don't know any believers who are into beer. So in the end I got together with my jerk off friends and Amelia and we drank beer from six of the seven Trappist breweries. The only one we didn't have was Westvleteren for obvious reasons. Previously I had only drank three Trappist brews, so this was a much needed educational experience for myself. Every beer we drank was good, but it was almost overkill. The beers started to run together a bit. There were definite distinctions from beer to beer, but with so many really flavorful beers your palate can get desensitized. I will say that, for me, Chimay stood out among the crowd; shined in fact. Also, me and meems got real wasted on these high alcohol brews. Below is the results of our tasting. We commented on aroma, flavor, gave an overall rating and commented on how the beers effected our spirituality. Word.

I made an google docs spreadsheet to drop into this post, but i can't figure out how to do that, so here is the link. I know this is pretty bunk, so if anybody can throw me the code for embedding a spreadsheet into blogspot, I'd appreciate it.

Beercation: Part Two

2010-08-25T19:57:00.011-04:00

Northern California (well for one day anyway)-

Monday:
I wake up fairly early, refreshed from sleeping for eight plus hours. Mike, Ida, and I head to Cafe Brazil (I believe) for breakfast. Supposedly this place has a wicked long wait on the weekends but we get in there pretty quickly. The wait staff are smokin hot Brazilian chicks. I order a fritada. It is crazy good. good coffee too. We head back to their place and hang around for a bit. We eventually pack up some wedding ish and Mike and Ida head down to the court house to turn in their papers to the magistrate and get all official. After dumping out at M and I's I am back in the Corolla sport and on my way to Santa Rosa. What is in Santa Rosa you might ask. One of the most legendary, at least on the east coast, beer makers in Cali: The Russian River Brewing Company. Their double IPA, Pliny the Elder is much sought after trade bait in the northeast. It takes me about three hours of driving and scanning of the radio waves to reach my destination. I check into a travel lodge and chill for a sec before heading over to the local Whole Foods. This locale is a step up from the SC version, but still pretty beat in my (not so) humble opinion. From WF I head to the brewery's world class brew pub. I walk in mid way through happy hour and grab a seat at the end of the bar right underneath a fairly modest flat screen. I order a blind pig IPA. This is one of three IPA's they have on tap. It is a beer I have been looking forward too for several months and it doesn't disappoint. It is hoppy as hell with tons of citrus, pith, lemon, and tang. Medium body with a nice citrussy, dry, bitter finish. f'in great. Right as I take my first sip, I look up at the flat screen and realize that Monday Night Football, Jets/Giants preseason is about to start. MNF at 5pm, how surreal. The blind pig clocks in at over 6% and I know I have some big beers coming up, so i decide to rock a Gaffers, English style bitter next, seeing as it is only a 5 percenter. It is good but pales in comparison to the Blind Pig. Tasty, bitter, with some maltiness in there. Approximates England. While drinking this and watching football I realize that a Belgian has been chilling in front of me for some time. It is about 3/4 full. Fallen soldier!!! No beer can be left behind. I man up and take it down. It is a Damnation, their year round Belgian strong ale. I have had this in a bottle before and it doesn't disappoint from the tap, despite having sat around for at least a half hour. My plan from this point is to drink as many of the Belgians as I can before I get too drunk. I dip into a Sanctificaton. It is a Belgian sour brewed with brettanomyces yeast, which basically approximates the wild yeasts that are used to ferment lambics in the Pajottenland region of Belgium. This beer is funky as hell. Big sour, yeasty flavors. Some pineapple and some lemon. Very nice fizz. A winner to say the least. At some point I ordered a pizza and it arrives while I am babying the sanctification. The Giants are kicking ass. I am already pretty drunk from several high ABV beers. I hit up a Supplication next. It is a Belgian sour brown ale aged in pinot nior barrels. So good. There is malt and sweetness in the aroma. It is sweet and sour, with spice, alcohol, and some subdued yeast flavors. Lots of fruit flavors, like cherries with a nice dry finish and sweet lacing. After this beer I am done. I stumble towards my hotel room, popping into two pizzerias looking for slices. No luck, what gives California. I settle on a subway veggie sub. I fall asleep early but content with my experience at Russian River.

Tuesday:
I get up pretty early and dick around for a bit before heading over to the diner across from my hotel. I order a breakfast that consists of two eggs, toast, and a shit ton of fruit. After scarfing this, I put fisherman's wharf into the GPS in the Corolla and I'm off. After a little over an hour I pull into the wharf in San Fransisco. I play some vintage video games for a while and then buy some gifts for my peeps back home. While walking along the water front I call over to Anchor Brewery and weasel my way onto the tour scheduled for 1pm. I hit up a Whole Foods for lunch. This one has the best produce section I have seen thus far. Still not as nice as back east, but pretty good. I devour my lunch and then walk over to the brewery. The tasting room is beautiful. A nice, big, oak looking bar. Lots of vintage memorabilia. Real classy. The tour guide is young and definitely not a beer guy, but he gives a good tour. He is well rehearsed and pretty funny. The brewery is really really nice. The brew kettle and tun are bright brass and freaking gigantic. We really only get to see the tops of them as most of the mass of the kettles are on the floor below us. Very impressive, as are the open fermentation tanks that they use to ferment the steam beer. Pretty much the whole place is really awesome and classy, from the bottling line, to the hop room, to the cool white jump suits that all the production employees wear. At the end of the tour we sample all six current beers in rotation. From my favorite to my least favorite they are Humming ale, Liberty ale, Anchor Porter, Anchor Steam, Anchor small, and Summer beer. This is definitely the best brewery tour I have ever been on. Could this be because it was free and we got to drink for free too? From Anchor I headed out to City Beer. City Beer is a sweet beer store with a nice vibe and a good selection. They have six beers on tap. You can also drink there if you pay a $1 corking fee. I pony up to the taps and order a German style beer from a brewery called Auburn Alehouse. It is bitter, malty and amber. Good but not a stand out. I peace out of CB and head across the bay to Oakland to meet up with my boy Wally. We went to high school together and he has been living out here for some time now. We cruise on over to Beer Revolution. Beer Rev is a beer bar with a bunch of taps and mad bottles too. They have the same $1 corking fee thing going on. At this point I realize two things: I am leaving tomorrow, and I have not had a Pliny yet. WTF. I grab one and go to town. Frickin brilliant. So much hops, so much citrus, so much lemony tangy goodness, but not super heavy or overbearing like so many other double IPA's. I revel in its awesomeness. After I finish the Pliny we hit up the vegan soul food place that is next door. We get some BBQ grill things, french fries, and fried okra and head back to Beer Rev. I grab an Alesmith extra pale ale to go with my meal. The food is really tasty. The beer, no so much. I have heard a lot about Alesmith back east. Their speedway stout has quite a reputation. Perhaps I should have gone with that, but I am in a pale ale mood after that Pliny. The beer has a lot of bitterness up front with not much finish. This could be due to the pairing with barbecued tofu and the like. A stout or porter might have complemented the sweet and salt of the food better. You win some and you lose just as many. The next stop on our itinerary is The Trappist. It is a beer bar that supposedly is owned by a former member of the band Gang Green . It is a real nice classy setup, with lots of wood and bricks. Lots of taps featuring mostly Belgians as the name would imply. I decide to grab a pint of Anchor Humming. It is good but I am kinda blitzed at this point. We drink our pints and then head back to Wally's. We stop at another Whole Foods and I grab a beer for the road. Back at Wally's I start to nod off while drinking my beer and watching the SF Giants game. A good end to a great trip.

Wednesday:
Wake up mad early and head to the airport. Flying home all day, back to reality and work. F this. Looking forward to my next beercation, whenever that might be.

Beercation: Part One

2010-08-21T16:17:00.015-04:00

Last week my buddy Michael A got married in picturesque Felton, California. Back when I heard he had popped the question to his lovely girlfriend Ida, I knew I had to be there. Those dudes were pretty busy with wedding stuff and going on their honeymoon so I decided to do some beer sightseeing while I was out there. I had a damn good time. I only wish that I could have been out there for longer. Here's how it all went down.

Friday:
I roll into Santa Cruz in my rented Corolla Sport. Check into the seedy, yet overpriced, Ocean Gate Inn. Walk around SC for a bit and withdraw drinking funds from a cash machine. Immediately get a burrito from Taqueria Vallarta. I check out the local Whole Foods on Soquel. Bunk. Time to drink. First stop is the Asti, sometimes affectionately referred to as the Nasti. Also bunk. Me, the bartender, and several degenerate but endearing regulars. I get a Fat Tire Amber. It was delicious, but I had to be at a better spot. I hit up a beer bar called the Poet and the Patriot. It was owned by a Jersey transplant, but sadly he passed away several years ago. I have a Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing Company pale ale. It is good but kind of standard. I switch it up to English Ales Breweries Pale Ale. Delish. A mix of English Malt and Hops with California sensibilities. They are located in Marina, Ca. Still, not quite the north west beer experience I have been in search of. I have several of these and call it a night as it is now 10pm and I have been awake since 1am local time.

Saturday:
Check out some sights and then breakfast at the Santa Cruz diner(bangin). Back to the hotel room to iron my shirt while watching the movie Dave(stupid, yet entertaining). Off to the wedding. We get driven out to a ranch in Felton in a rented (party)van. Wedding is killer. Good friends, good food, good vibe, good tunes. I reunite with some sweet dudes that I met when Mike was in college. At the reception we drink High Life. High Life is a good beer and frickin great for a macro. We head to the after party in the van and someone sparks up a J. Sweet. We drink some beer at the after party, but I am already blitzed so I can't retain information. It is a really hoppy amber from a local brewery and it is damn good. Next we hit the SC diner. I have an omelet. I get 2/3 into it and realize I am too drunk. I hoof it back to the hotel and ass out.

Sunday:
Wake up early and immediately vom. Next I take some advil and go find where I left the car. Still there. I check out some sights: the wharf, surfing museum. Next, burrito. This one has sprouts in it, which is cool, but they use refried beans which I am not a fan of when it comes to burritos. Still pretty good though, but kinda sloppy. After lunch I head over to the Santa Cruz Mountain Brewery. It is located in a weird warehouse/garage plaza that also has a bunch of wineries. Or at least places where wineries sell their shit. The bar area, or tasting room, has a nice set up. Real chill vibe, sweet oldies playing on the sound system, food and cheese can be ordered, and the barkeep is nice to look at. I order a Peoples Porter which is infused with coffee. A good choice when you are still mildly hungover. Nice malty aroma. It is quite delicious. Malty, roasty, smoky, with chocolate and coffee, but a little thin in the body. I realize two things. I should have ordered a flight, but then again, I am all by myself and that might seem kinda off. Two, their beer is all organic. I haven't had too many OG beers that I have enjoyed, but the porter is definitely good. As I drink the porter I see that they have a seasonal Olallieberry ale. WTF is an Olallieberry. I look it up on Wikipedia. A cross between a Loganberry and a Youngberry, which are crosses of raspberries, blackberries, and dewberries. An Olallieberry is crossed with a Chehalem blackberry to create the elusive Marionberry. Weird. I order one somewhat self consciously. Is this a chick beer. It is good. Mildly sweet and fruity with light carbonation. Great for a summer day. Also, it is beautiful out. I head out from SCMB to Santa Cruz Aleworks, but they are closed. Bummer. I head over to Mike and Ida's and chill there drinking Fat Tire and eating BBQ, SC style. Veggies and fake sausages. Life is good. We head into town later to the Red Room where Ida works. I order a Lagunitas IPA and me and Mark talk to some lesbians who at first don't believe we are from NJ but on closer inspection they deem us slightly Guido. Nice. We head back early and drink some high life before bed.

Stick around for Part 2: Northern California.

California

2010-08-03T21:20:00.003-04:00

I'm heading out to the golden state in a little over a week for my friend Mike the Beaver's wedding. I'm looking forward to the wedding and hanging out with him. He lives in Santa Cruz and the wedding is in near by Felton. While I'm out there I plan on hitting up a few breweries. One day I will devote just to Santa Cruz breweries, seeing as there are several breweries and brew pubs within the city limits and also right near by. One day I plan on hitting up Russian River Brewery, makers of Pliny the Elder, and probably Anchor Steam while I am up that way. Sierra Nevada seems kinda far away, but who knows. What other breweries should I hit up? Leave suggestions in the comments if you are so inclined. Thanks.

The picture is of Cali stuff I have in the beer closet. Also, I am drinking an Avery 17th Anniversary Black Lager right now. It is quite delicious.

Christmas in July

2010-07-20T20:33:00.005-04:00

So, I know it's been a while. Work has been rough lately leaving me worn out and unmotivated at the end of the day. I started this post last week, but then immediately got tired and all ADHD and quit. Anyways, things are starting to get better, and I plan to blog hard in the coming months.

So I have a bunch of Sierra Nevada related stuff to blog about. First off, I saved a celebration ale from January and drank it last week. I thought that it would be a nostalgic, yet refreshing, beverage to drink in the comforts of a less then efficient air conditioner on a ninety plus degree evening in the middle of a heat wave. Well, it wasn't. The flavors and aroma were a bit muted and it didn't taste very fresh. All in all it was a bit of a let down. It didn't taste like a Christmas tree. More like an old IPA. Still it wasn't unpleasant to drink and it was definitely better then the tanic clone me and Adam attempted back in the spring.

You know what isn't tanic or disappointing? The Sierra Nevada 30th anniversary series. The first beer was the bomb. It was an imperial stout brewed by Ken Grossman of Sierra and Fritz Maytag of Anchor Steam. Super delicious. The second beer was an Imperial Helles Bock. A very good lager brewed by Ken, and hombrew/craft brew pioneers Charlie Papazian and Fred Eckhart. Both dope beers. I can't wait for the next one. Its gonna be a really big American barley wine. I will do a retrospective once all four beers have been released. Hopefully in video form.

Next order of business. I would really love to get my hands on the collaboration between Sierra and Dogfishhead. Life & limb is an American strong ale clocking in at over 10%. It utilizes maple and birch syrups, as well as estate grown barley. It was released last fall and basically all horded up at this point. I am willing to trade whatever it takes to get my hands on it. I have several Stone 12th anniversaries. I have some Brooklyn black chocolate stouts from 07-08. I have several Sierra 30th anniversaries. Other then that I don't have much to trade. I don't know if anybody reads this blog beyond my close friends, but if a beer guy stumbles upon this post, and you have a spare life and limb, hit me up. That would truly be a Christmas miracle...in July.

Philly Beer Week

2010-06-09T20:16:00.014-04:00

On Saturday June 5th I headed down to the city of brotherly love for the annual beer festivities. I checked out a couple of establishments that were hosting brewers. The first thing I checked out was Grace Tavern which was hosting Troegs Brewery. John Trogner, the brewer, was there but I didn't get a chance to talk to him. He was being monopolized by this couple and I was in a rush anyway. I did have time to drink a Sunshine Pils though. It was quite delicious.

From Grace Tavern I headed to my friend Jake's place where I met up with him, my friend Keith and their friend Karla. We hit up a pretty dope coffee shop/beer store called Ultimo. They were hosting a brewer who described himself as a "gypsy". Pretty Things Beer and Ale Project basically jumps around from brewery to brewery making their Belgian styled ales. We sampled their flagship American Saison beer which was pretty dees. Then we downed some iced coffees in preparation for the main event of the evening, the International Great Beer Expo.

This was the first beer fest I have been to. I must say, I had a great time. The expo took place at the Philly Navy Yard. There were some really tasty beers and a lot of thirsty people at this event, myself included. The setup was basically that if the brewery actually sent people, you got a nice space to display your stuff. There was a good showing by Yards, Innes and Gunns, Blue Point, Ithaca, and several others. Then there was a stretch of tables where employees of distributors were pouring various beers. Last, there was a separate tent for the major beer companies that had shown up. This area was noticeably sparse. That brought a pretentious smirk to my face. We all drank quite a bit. For me, I started with mostly pale ales and IPA's, but later branched out to some different stuff. Here is my drunken recap of the evenings beer offerings:

A brief only slightly inebriated review:
1. Ithaca Ground Break - Tasty Tasty American style saison. Spicy with definite American Hop character
2. Prism Tea Party Pale Ale - An American Pale Ale brewed with Sorachi Hops and whole tea leaves. Very interesting subtle tea and lemon flavor.
3. I can't recall which beer this was. I thought it was the Bear Republic Red Rocket, but it was served out of a can. It tasted like an American IPA with big big hops in the nose and finish.
4. Innes and Gunn Oak Aged Beer - A nice oaky English ale, which is, unfortunately, sold in a clear bottle.
5. River Horse Hopalotamus Unfiltered Double IPA - a stand out among too many IPAs

Overall a great experience. I was kinda bummed that there weren't that many people from the actual breweries. The ones that did show were gracious and eager to discuss their brews. I was happy to see that people actually do yell out in unison when someone drops there beer, which happened quite often. I look forward to the NJ beer fest at the end of this month. Until then, enjoy some pix.

Self Portrait

Keith looking cool

Jake and Karla enjoying some suds

Bud Light Lime with garbage in background

Prism Beer: Interesting Beer, bad branding

Captain's Orders

2010-05-23T19:27:00.007-04:00

A few months back I was hanging at a brewery, drinking some beers. I was talking to this dude about beer swapping. He told me to check out this brewery right over the border in New York that puts out some sought after craft brews, good for the trading. I had had a few drinks at this point and when I went to write down the name of the brewery in my phone I typed Cap and Lawrence. I searched for the brewery online but couldn't find it. What I did find was Captain Lawrence Brewery located in Pleasantville, New York. The pictures on their site and videos I found on youtube made this place look pretty dope. They look to have a really nice set up with pretty tanks and a swanky tasting room. I have been meaning to get up to their open house for a couple months, but being a retail shmoe it is hard to get off on a Saturday. Last week, however, as I was perusing the wares of the beer store by my work, something caught my eye. Captain Lawrence Captain's Reserve, Imperial IPA. I immediately snatched one up with wide eyed anticipation.

This beer comes in a 16.9 oz bottle. Kind of a weird size. I put it into a unit conversion program and it comes out to about half a liter. It clocks in at 8%. It pours a darker full gold color with a big creamy white head. The first thing that hit me, aroma wise, was a smell very similar to liquid malt extract. I'm not sure why that is, I think the beer was still breathing when I took my first whiff. This aroma gave way almost immediately to pure hop goodness. Strong citrus and pine scents dominated. Flavor was similar. There was a lot of lemon, pine, and grapefruit with a toasty malt backbone. It leaves a lot of hops in your mouth to finish. Very tasty, a true triumph. This beer reminded me of Russian River's Pliny the Elder in that it holds back on the malt. A lot of double IPAs will bulk up a bit on malt in order to provide more fermetables as well as counter strong hop flavors and bitterness. Captain's Reserve, like Pliny, manages to accomplish this while staying lighter in body and malt flavor. It is also very lemony, like Pliny. I recommend both and would say that Captain Lawrence, Captain's Reserve might be the east coast answer to Pliny the Elder. I'd have to have a few more of each to really be confident in that statement.

So a couple days later I was in Whole Foods Middleton. I had been promised a meal of red Thai curry that night, so I looked for a beer that I thought would compliment the meal. They had Captain's Reserve on the shelf, so I picked one up. It seemed like a good match. Beeradvocate lists American IPA's as a good pairing for Thai. Unfortunately the spiciness of the Thai food washed out the strong character of the beer. I think it would pair well with a Pad Thai or a lighter curry. You win some, you lose some. Cheers and check out this beer.

Beer with curry and mango accompaniment

You don't win friends with salad

2010-05-13T20:11:00.005-04:00

Nor will I win many with the above concoction. This is vegetarian charbonnade. Unlike many of my friends, I haven't abandoned all my moral convictions as of yet. This was my first attempt at cooking with beer. Charbonnade is a Belgian dish. It is basically a beef stew with beer involved. I first read about it on Mark Dredge's blog. Instead of using beef I used white wave seitan (wheat gluten). I dredged the seitan in flour with salt and pepper in it. I browned it and set it aside. I then chopped up a bunch of yellow onion and cooked the hell out of it. I put the seitan back in and added beer, vegetable stock, thyme, bay leaf, apple cider vinegar, and black currant jelly. I then put it in the oven for about an hour and a half. While it was cooking and congealing I whipped up some chips. The end result had the right consistency, but the flavoring was off. It was a bit on the bitter side. I think I made two mistakes. Number one, I used an Imperial Stout homebrew. I would have been better off using a dark Belgian or a brown ale. That is what the recipe called for, however I did not have one lying around. I thought it foolish to buy a nice beer just for cooking. Honestly I think that if I had used a Chimay Blue this would have been a success. I can imagine the dark sweet spicy flavor of the beer giving the dish a lot of character and depth. Perhaps next time. I think then the dish would have benefited from smaller chunks of seitan. This would have allowed for more liquid to be absorbed. That was my second mistake. Although bitter, the chunks were flavorful on the outside but a bit bland on the inside. It may seem like I did not like my meal. It was actually not bad. Definitely a good first attempt at cooking with beer. I ate the veggie charbonnade with a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, a fine pairing.

Ramstein

2010-05-08T18:00:00.009-04:00

No, not the shitty German band. That is Rammstein. I'm talking about the beer made by Greg Zaccardi and his team at the High Point Brewery in Butler, NJ. I stopped by today for their monthly open house. They have a real nice set up. Really beautiful tanks and kettles. They have a sweet tasting room with four taps. The event was free, and you got four drink tickets upon entering. If you bought a growler (which of course I did) you could fill up your cup a few more times.

High Point specializes in traditional German style wheat beers and lagers. Greg imports everything except for the water from Bavaria. They had five beers on tap. I had four of them. I can't recall which one I missed though. They had a classic wheat which was malty, and wheaty, slightly sweet and yeasty. There was a golden lager which was smooth slightly malty with hops coming through in the finish. Next I had the double platinum blonde which was truly delicious. This was spicy, yeasty, fruity, and bitter sweet. Last I indulged in their seasonal Maibock. This was the star of the show. It was toasty and smooth, malty and delicious. Hops cut through in the beginning and the end. Very traditional and very delicious. I took a growler home with me. The Maibock received a great rating on both ratebeer.com and beer advocate.com. If you are in the area, stop by and pick something up. The tour is on the second Saturday of the month from 2-4pm.

Greg doing his thing

A beautiful sight

Tasting room complete with child bartender

I treated myself to a growler

Drinking: Magic Hat Odd Notion (number 2)
Listening to: E Smith-Figure 8

I wanna do this

2010-05-04T19:03:00.002-04:00

Special Beer Night

Who is down? Get at me. I have a couple nice bottles that I have been saving. Also, Mark Dredge has a sweet blog.

The Great Debate

2010-04-30T20:10:00.005-04:00

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

2010-04-29T19:01:00.007-04:00

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

2010-04-19T19:00:00.008-04:00

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.

The Holy Grail...of beer

2010-03-14T14:25:00.012-04:00

Yesterday I got to experience one of the most elusive beers in the entire world, Westvleteren 12, or Westy 12. Westy12 is somewhat literally the holy grail, in that it is brewed by Belgian monks. It is one of seven beers considered to be trappist beers. Trappist beers are those beers that are produced on the grounds of a trappist monastery, either directly by, or under the direct supervision of the monks. Beer is to be of secondary importance to the monks (God being their number one thing). Beer is not to be a for profit enterprise for the monks. Quality of their beer is of utmost importance. These are the basic tenants of trappist brewing. Six trappist breweries are located in Belgium and one is in the Netherlands. All seven breweries have been in operation for centuries. The beer they produce is very distinctly Belgian. Actually, these breweries have, over the years, helped to define Belgium's style. You can get a lot of these beers at your local beer store. Everyone has probably seen a Chimay before. It is the most widely distributed and popular trappist offering.

Many consider Westy 12 to be the best beer on earth. That is a matter of taste. It is certainly one of the hardest beers to get. It is only available directly from the abbey or from their cafe, both located in Belgium. In order to get a Westy you need to call ahead and make an appointment to pick up the beer. The monks frown on the reselling of their beers. This has contributed greatly to the myth surrounding their beer. They have, I believe, three beers: a blonde, a dubbel, and a tripel. The 12 is a tripel. It has an ABV of 10.2%. When I came across Westy 12 online I jumped at the chance to grab a bottle. The beer had been so hyped up to me, that I had to get it. I really did not expect it to live up to its reputation. Then I drank it.

I'm not sure if Westy 12 is the best beer in the world. I haven't had all the beers in the world. Hopefully some day I will. I can say that it is the best beer I have had from Belgium or maybe even all of Europe. It is hard to compare beers from different styles. Belgian styles are so drastically different from US styles and even from their neighbors in Germany. I will say that Westy 12 is an experience. It pours a dark dark brown. There is a normal creamy head that is dependent on how vigorously you pour. I like a nice head on my beer so I let her rip. The aroma is that of dark dried fruit and sweet malt. There is an underlying hop aroma but it is not the star. Yeast comes through right after the fruit. It took two sips for the flavour to properly development. It was complicated to say the least. There was so much going on. It was sweet, it was fruity, it was malty and slightly roasted with notes of caramel and brown sugar. In two words fricken great. The beer lived up to the hype and then some. As it warmed it seemed to smooth out and become very well balanced. For some reason the alcohol did not come out until the last third. It did not detract from the beer nor did it really add to the experience. If you ever get your hands on one, drink it slowly and savor. If it isn't the best beer in the world it certainly comes close. One thing that can not be denied is that there is a lot of work and craftmenship that has gone into Westvleteren 12. Enjoy the pictures. FYI, Adam and I were brewing that day, hence the overalls. Thanks to Adam for taking pictures

Taking a whiff

Pouring

Checking out the aroma

The first sip

Cricket Hill Brewery Walk In

2010-03-12T06:38:00.005-05:00

I wish my fridge looked like this

So much

Open That Bottle Night

2010-03-01T21:11:00.007-05:00

Open That Bottle Night, or OTBN, is a wine thing. Basically, people that are saving nice bottles are encouraged to open them once a year on a pre-determined night. This year it was February 27. The idea is that if you are looking for an excuse to open that special bottle that you have been saving, OTBN is it. I know personally I have a hard time keeping beer in my possession. I have kept a few things around, but mostly I drink them as soon as I purchase them.

So in the spirit of OTBN I went into the closet and pulled out something I had been saving for just about a year. Well, not really. Let me give you some back story. What I pulled out was a Troeg's Nugget Nectar from last year. Nugget Nectar is a spring seasonal. They claim that it is an Imperial Amber. In reality it is a rather hoppy amber with a higher ABV then your average American ale (7.5%). It is a beer that I look forward to every year, but it is gone before I really get my fill. So last fall while I was cruising a beer store in Rahway I spotted the Nug. They only had three bombers left on the shelf, so needless to say I snatched up all three. I drank two that night but saved the third. Now the new batch is out and I figured it was the perfect time to do a side by side comparison and see how the aging process effected the beer. Truth be told, an amber with an ABV of 7.5% is not a beer that you would typically cellar, but I hadn't had an occasion to drink the thing until now. I guess that is what they invented OTBN for. Well let me tell you, they did a better job on the nugget nectar last year then they did this year. Either that or the aging process really did positively impact the beer. There was a noticeable difference in both flavor and clarity of the beer. It is tough to say. The '09 was much more murky. It went down smoother. It also was more hop centric and had more body. The '10 is definitely good, but it seems more separated (if that makes sense). You get a lot of hop aroma and some hop bitterness but not as much flavour to bridge the gap. The balance seems to be off on the '10. The hops and the malt are independent of one another in the '10 compared to the '09. I noticed that right when I had my first '10. The trip back to '09 definitely confirmed it for me. Overall, the 2009 Nugget Nectar was a much more complete beer. It tied all elements together for me, and was really a top shelf beer. Still, I don't want to dissuade anyone from checking out the 2010 version. It is good as hell. Perhaps it will benefit from aging for a year as the '09 version did.

As far as aging or cellaring is concerned, It is something that can not be done with all beers. I lucked out with the Nugget Nectar. You want to cellar beers that are malty with a higher alcohol content. The alcohol helps to preserve the beer. In general malt tends to age better then hops. So a beer with more of a focus on malt will age better then, say, an American pale ale or amber. This, however, is not a hard and fast rule.

Aging was an enlightening experience for me. I don't know that I have the space to cellar beers on the regular, but maybe for those select few that I really dig. I've heard tale of Chimay Blue Caps aged for 35 years being sampled in the basement of the abbey. For me, I still have a few surprises in my closet and I hope to add to my small collection, but so far beer doesn't last long in my possession. Hopefully someday, when I have the money and the space I can put together a proper collection. But honestly, I don't mind living bottle to bottle.

Troeg's Nugget Nectar from 2009

Troeg's Nugget Nectar from 2010

An Epic Sesh

2010-02-22T22:09:00.011-05:00

On Friday night I headed out to Cricket Hill Brewery with a couple coworkers for their weekly “brewery tour”. Basically, you pay two dollars for four drink tickets which really served no purpose. Then you continually fill up the small cup that comes with your admission and hang out with a bunch of dudes and a couple chicks drinking some dope session beers. Eventually, owner Rick Reed will give an impassioned speech about his beer. The dude really gets into it. He also really digs session beers. Cricket Hill exclusively brews session beers. Session beers, for those not in the know, are craft brewed beers that you can drink all day. Basically, beers that are super tasty, with moderate alcohol content, and nothing too intense. There are really no actual rules to what defines a session beer. I would say that alcohol has to be under 7%. I don't think anything with the label imperial could be considered a session. Probably nothing aged in casks with oak chips. Actually they did have a cask ale on tap. At this point I feel obliged to talk about the beers they were serving:

East Coast Lager: Didn't actually try this one that night, but I've had it in the past. It's a pretty good lager. Not too dark, but certainly not light. I can't really get into specifics because it's been a while.

Porter: This was good. It borders on a stout. Some really nice roasted flavour, but it goes down smooth as shit. Really delicious. Great mouth feel, slightly burnt, but mostly just smooth with a roasted malt up front.

Hopnotic IPA: If it is possible for there to be an East Coast IPA this is it. Don't ask me why. Basically it is an American IPA, only a little lighter in body and hop bitterness, but maybe slightly more hop aroma and/or flavour. Definitely a great session IPA. According to Ratebeer.com it has an ABV of 6%. That is low for an IPA. It's good though. I could seriously drink this all day and not get into a fight or anything.

Colonel Blides Cask Ale: According to this dude I talked too, it is a cask American ale. Kind of a weird concept. A relatively banal style of beer put into a cask and aged. The result was seriously great. The first one I got was the butt of a cask. It lacked almost all carbonation but was chock full of sediment. I thought that was what they were going for. Then I drank like six more off the fresh tap. It was an American ale times a million. Like seriously delicious and almost addictive. I've never tasted so much character in an amber session ale. I highly highly recommend.

I had a great time at the brewery. The beer was right up my ally. I am a strong advocate of session ales. I think specialty beers are delicious and have there place. Believe me, I can definitely get into a Chimay blue cap or a Brooklyn black chocolate stout. But when it comes down to it, I'd much rather grab a pale ale around 5% that I can drink for the next 7 hours straight. That is living.

Rick made me self conscious about what I had in my fridge:

I was talking to Rick about the beers I had coming up. He did not seem very interested in the imperial stout I have bottle conditioning, but more interested in the ESB I have in secondary. The dude loves session ales.

In conclusion, if you want to have a good time with a bunch of dudes, you like session beers, and you can stand cigar smoke, check out the brewery tour at Cricket Hill Brewery. It is every Friday night at 5:30. Enjoy the pics and cheers.

A fermentation tank and some old dude

Rick preaching to the converted

A captivated audience and/or huddled masses

Brew master, some dude, taps on the wall

Chex mix, for some reason this was a legal requirement.

News and notes (something new):

I just ordered a digital camera. I thought that the Iphone would suffice, but it is simply not hacking it.

If your are on the upper west side, check out Pioneer. It's on Columbus around 74th. They have Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale bombers on special (2/$5).

Tis the season: Troegs Nugget Nectar is out there. Go and get it while it lasts. You will not be sorry.

What I'm drinking:
Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale (thanks pioneer) and pale ale.
What I'm Listening to:
88 Fingers Louie (oh yeah)

Let us celebrate

2010-02-18T14:57:00.009-05:00

I'd like to spotlight a beer that I just had for the first time: Ayinger Celebrator. Ayinger is a German company and celebrator is a German style doppelbock. For years I've considered picking this beer up but I was scared off by the price tag. It comes in a 4 pack at around $12.00. Now I've spent much more then that on beers before, but mostly on beers that I was pretty sure I would like. I'm down with bocks, but double bocks can be a bit harsh at times. Not so with the Celebrator. This thing is smooth as hell and really tasty. Immediately you are hit with some nice roasted malts and a sweet molasses flavour. This is followed by some darker fruit flavours like raisin and plum. The medium body really compliments the flavour and makes this beer an experience. For me, this is the perfect winter beer: tasty, dark, smooth, and exceptionally well balanced. It helped me through the blizzard we just experienced in the Mid Atlantic. Also it has a really sweet label:

And each bottle comes with a plastic ram thing. I put mine around this wine bottle.

Also I chipped my tooth the other day.

What I'm drinking:
Tazo Organic Darjeeling Black Tea (my jam lately)
What I'm listening to:
Death Cab- all albums on shuffle

Norovirus Pale Ale

2010-01-29T17:24:00.009-05:00

Adam and I did a brew the other day. We did a clone of Courage Directors Bitter. This is an English Style bitter. We got the recipe out of Clone Brews. I've never had the beer, but it got favorable reviews on beer advocate. It is made by a British Brewing company. I can't really figure out who owns the brewing company because it has been bought and sold several times along with several mergers and other weird managing arrangements. I do know that the name comes from John Courage who started brewing at the Anchor Brewhouse in 1787.

ESB's are a style that don't real get much play in the US. Probably because it is so similar to American pale ales but with more expensive imported ingredients. If you are into pale ales, American or otherwise, you should check out this style. It is similar to an APA but less dry and more British. We did this one partial mash, which is what we will probably do until we transition to all grain brewing once is warms up. We mashed three pounds of Maris Otter malt for this brew. I asked for British two row pale malt, but the guy at the homebrew store subbed in Maris Otter. MO is popular among homebrewers for its low nitrogen. It absorbs water well and is very easy to process. It had a very distinct and pleasant smell to it.

All and all the brew went well. Check the pictures out below (I need to get a real camera, the iphone camera just isn't cutting it). There was one major snafu though. As we waited for the wort to cool to yeast pitching temperature I started to get very nauseous. We ended up finishing the brew fine, but as soon as the lid was on the fermentor I had to run to the bathroom to empty out my digestive tract. As it turned out, I had the norovirus (basically a twelve hour stomach virus that involves sleeping with a bucket next to your bed.) I'm not sure how my illness will effect the beer as far as contamination is concerned. I observed that the beer began furiously fermenting quite quickly and kept up that rapid pace for 36 hours, then stopped dead. I haven't seen a bubble since. I'm not sure what that means. If any homebrewers read this, please let me know if you have any insight or advice.

I'll add one more thing. I was way too sick to clean up after brewing, so I ended up leaving the mess over night, something that I hate to do. It actually was about 48 hours before I was well enough to tackle the clean up. I had the foresight, however, to fill the brew kettle with water. I had dumped in a fair amount of Powdered Brewery Wash. This is a cleaner that I had picked up the last time I was at the homebrew store. Previously I had let it stand in the kettle for a mere 20 minutes. I didn't think it made much of a difference. This time when I went to clean the kettle all the trub and sediment washed right off with almost no scrubbing necessary. I was amazed. I highly recommend this product. I'm definitely soaking my pot overnight in PBW from here on out. That's about it. Enjoy the visuals.

Adam measuring out sugar, yeah it called for sugar

Yeast smack pack, these things are a pain

Doughing in

Heating the sparge water

The sparge

Boiling

What I'm drinking:
Sierra Nevada Southern Hemisphere Harvest Fresh Hop Ale
What I'm listening to:
Foo Fighters- The Colour and The Shape

The Perfect Pint

2010-01-21T17:47:00.019-05:00

You may have recently seen the commercials from Samuel Adams about their new innovative pint glass. They have dubbed it the "Perfect Pint". Supposedly the glass was designed specifically for Samuel Adams' flagship beer, Boston Lager, which incidentally I am a fan of. The glass has a distinct look as you can see from the photo. It has a laser etched ring in the bottom that it is supposed to consistently release bubbles adding to the overall aroma and flavour of the beer. The bulb at the top of the glass serves two purposes. First it concentrates the beer away from your hand, so as not to warm the beer unnecessarily. Secondly, it is supposed to collect hop aromas. The thinner glass also is supposed to help maintain temperature. The rim is known as the "turbulator" which is meant to create turbulence as the beer enters the mouth in order to release more flavour.

All that sounds pretty cool, but also kind of like a bunch of bullshit. Needless to say I was sceptical. Over the summer one of my roommates bought me a Perfect Pint, so I decided to do a side by side comparison using the libation the glass was designed for. I got my boys together and we all bought a Sammy along with five other beers each from Pioneer on Columbus (Upper West Side NYC). After we were a couple deep and had a nice buzz I poured one Boston Lager into the Perfect Pint and one into a regular pint glass.

We each took a few swigs from each, cleansing our palette with water and peanuts between each glass. We then recorded our observations. All and all it was real scientific. All three of us were quite surprised at the results of our taste testing. James claimed that Boston Lager out of the Perfect Pint was much "brighter" with slightly more flavour. Adam observed that there was more carbonation, that the "hops/bitterness were brought out slightly," and that it had a more comfortable mouth feel. I believe that the glass really brings out the hop aroma. The flavour was noticeably better out of the perfect pint especially when it came to hops. We were all amazed at the sustained carbonation the glass provided. The bubbles were still going strong long after the conventional pint glass had settled down. The glass definitely lived up to the hype created by the ad campaign, especially considering we all thought it was a bunch of malarkey. We then poured a Sam into a Guinness pint glass which had a slight bulb at the top and thinner glass. It was no contest. The Perfect Pint triumphed. The dudes at Sam Adams know what they are doing. Please enjoy pictures from the night.

James and Adam playing hold em. I won.

Typical drinking pic. Notice that Adam is drinking beer out of a shot glass.

Matt Redleader playing the role of life of the party

We got Matt a sixer of chocolate milk because he doesn't drink.

James is engaged. Meems is one lucky lady.

Beer is not just a drink, but a state of mind.

A German board game we play.

What we drank:

What I'm drinking now:
Stone Pale Ale and Chatoe Rogue First Growth Wet Hop Ale
What I'm listening to:
Beatles white album and Rancid "and out come the wolves"

Beer Spotlight

2010-01-14T17:00:00.000-05:00

I'm always looking for something new at the beer store. The other day I spotted Victory's Yakima Twilight Ale. This is one hell of an ale. It combines darker German malts with four varieties of Yakima valley hops. It clocks in at 8.7% abv. Twilight Ale is a seasonal beer available from November through January. It commemorates the late summer hop harvest. If you haven't had this beer get it soon before it's gone.

This is a great beer for hop lovers looking for something to drink in the winter. It is fairly dark, probably somewhere between a porter and a stout, yet it has the hoppyness of an IPA. It is the perfect beer to warm you up on a cold winter evening. There are some really bold flavours going on here but it still manages to be quite well balanced. Seriously, the sweet malt hits you right away but it is beautifully countered by some intense hop bitterness and aroma. very nice. Suprisingly this beer lacks a good head. Probably my only complaint. Despite the lack of bubbles i highly, highly recommend this one. cheers.

What I'm drinking:
Obviously the Victory Yakima Twilight Ale
What I'm listening to:
Bad Religion- Recipe for Hate
What I'll drink later:
One of these, not sure which one yet-

brew day

2009-12-28T20:27:00.000-05:00

Hello all. Adam and I did a brew yesterday. All and all things went smoothly. We used the Blichmann for the first time and realized a few things. Number one is that we need to tighten the brewmometer because it is leaking ever so slightly. Number two is that the brewmometer enters the kettle above the water line of any partial mash brews, basically rendering it useless for the time being and thus, number three, we need to step up to all grain when it is seasonally possible. Not really willing to sit out in the bitter cold for an hour brewing. We had to revert to the digital thermometer we bought when we first started brewing a year ago. The thing died due to H2O exposure but I revived it by stashing it in a rice bag for 6 weeks.

So for this round of brewing we chose a recipe out of the book Clone Brews by Tess and Mark Szamatulski. We use this book quite often. The recipe was a clone of a beer called Bert Grant's Imperial Stout which was brewed by the Yakima Brewing and Malting Company. Bert Grant was a Scottish born brewer whose family emigrated to Canada when he was two. At some point he relocated to the heart of northwest united states hop country, Yakima Valley in central Washington. Here he set up a brew pub and eventually a craft brewery. Bert was a hop head. It was rumoured that he carried around a vile of hop oil that he would add to Bud or Miller if he was forced to drink them. His Scotch ale was often criticised for being too hoppy, but he contended that since he was Scottish it must be a true Scotch Ale.

The Imperial stout called for quite a bit of malt, including several specialty malts, galena and cascade hops, and a new ingredient for me, clover honey. All in all the brewing went rather smoothly. Check out the pictures below. I didn't really document the process as well as I planned. It's hard to brew, drink, watch the giants get their asses handed to them, and photo journalize at the same time.

Ingredients:

Adam showing the honey:
Preparing to sparge:
Getting my boil on:

Let the fermentation commence:

New feature for beer blog,
What I'm drinking:
Bear Republic Racer 5 India Pale Ale
and
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale

Blichmann Boilermaker Unboxing

2009-12-17T13:51:00.000-05:00

I got my new brew kettle delivered the other day. Can't wait to take this baby for a test brew. I went with the Blichmann Boilermaker. This is the 10 gallon model. It is constructed of stainless steal. It features a ball lock valve, built in brewmometer and sight glass. Check out how happy this thing makes me. Thanks to Adam, my partner in beer, for taking the pictures.

Me opening the box

Stainless Steal Plate to
to protect the brewmometer

The lid

Triumphantly lifting it from
the shipping box

A view of the inside

In all her glory

How you clean the sight glass

fin

Belgian Beer says, "Don't let me be misunderstood"

2009-12-10T20:25:00.000-05:00

I used to think that I hated Belgian Beers. I thought they were all sweet and “yeasty”. I would avoid them at all costs which was a crummy strategy. Often, at the beer store, If I saw a cork in a beer bottle and I would skip right over said beer. I probably missed out on some good special releases because of my unfounded prejudice. It wasn't until I brewed a Belgian style clone beer that I realised I actually like Belgian beer. This was the Witcap Pater Abbey Single Ale. With 40 plus bottles of the stuff sitting on my shelf I was forced to drink it or spend the night sober (a scary thought). This beer opened my eyes. Belgian beer is not what I thought it was. Although considerably less bitter then American beer, Belgians can be pale ales. Belgians can be dark beers. There are many, many facets to the Belgian style, and boy was I missing out. These beers have a world wide reputation for there use of spices such as coriander and orange peel, and their equally spicy yeast strains. The ASA used these traditional spices.
I will say, what I still am not very fond of beer containing wheat. Even American style beers with wheat turn me off. I was at a brew pub (that shall remain nameless) recently that had an ESB on tap. I figured it was going to be a typical British bitter beer. Like a pale ale, but not as dry. Boy was I wrong. Although it had some good hop bitterness, nice hoppy aroma, and an ABV over 7% the one thing that really jumped out at me was the use of wheat. I couldn't get past it. It ruined the beer for me. Maybe someday I will understand wheat in beer, but for now wheat and I just don't seem to see eye to eye.

So below I will give a few definitions and examples of Belgian and German wheat styles because I always get them mixed up. This was the original idea for this beer blog post. Also, my new years resolution (I realize its kind of early) is to try every possible Belgian style with the goal of conquering Belgian beer by the close of 2010.

Witbier- This is basically what I thought all Belgian beer was. This is a Belgian white beer. It appears white because of suspended wheat proteins in the beer that give it a cloudy white appearance. These beers are brewed with spices like many Belgian styles and are unfiltered, hence the cloudiness.

Hefeweiss- Basically the German counterpart of the witbier, only brewed without spices because of Reinheitsgebot (the German purity law, more on that at a later date). The name literally translates to yeast white. Much sweetness, much less hops.

Kristalweiss- A filtered German wheat beer.

Dunkelweizen- A dark wheat beer from German. Probably closer to a traditional hefewiess than beers that are being brewed in this day and age. The difference is that dark malts are used such as Vienna or Munich malt.

As you can see, wheat may be more of an explicitly German ingredient and may not really characterize the Belgian style. I'll have to do some heavy research, which basically means some heavy drinking in order to fully grasp the Belgian style and its relevance in today's hop heavy American market. Stay tuned.

Tis the season

2009-12-09T19:39:00.001-05:00

One of the best parts of the holiday season for me is Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale. This seasonal offering from the Sierra Nevada Brewing Company is an American IPA chock full of hoppy goodness. This tremendous beer uses chinook, cascade, and centennial hops and clocks in at 6.8%ABV. Basically it tastes like drinking a hoppy christmas tree. I swear there is some pine in there, but maybe that is just the beer talking. I strongly recommend checking this out, especially if you are into the hops. Its a good alternative to obscenely spiced winter beers and dark stouts if you are averse to the darkness (not this guy, love that darkness). Did I mention the hops. In all seriousness, you can't go wrong with cascade when dry hopping*. I've had four so far and with every one my holiday spirit grows. cheers.
*not recommended for all beers

Hello world

2009-12-09T18:07:00.000-05:00

Kluxen has several passions. These passions include, but are not limited to, sports, music, eating, working, fruits, vegetables, and holidays. These things are all very important to me. However, my one truest passion in this world is definitely, with out a doubt, with no extra thought necessary, beyond a shadow of self doubt, BEER (or bier as the Germans call it, hence the URL). Friends, relatives, co-workers, pets, bandmates, bar tenders, and liquor store clerks, can all attest to this fact. Beer takes up a large part of my life, and my paycheck. I love the stuff. I'm not afraid to drop upwards of ten dollars on a bottle. I have an entire chest in my apartment dedicated to beer and brewing equipment storage. That's right, i love beer so much that I make it myself. This blog will be dedicated to my all around love for beer. I will post about new beers, beer politics, home brewing, and anything else I can think of that has to do with beer. So if you are interested, pour yourself a pint and enjoy my half tipsy musings on the greatest acheivement in mankinds short history: beer.

ps: I picked this layout because it reminds me of "nothing feels good" by the promise ring.