552. Red Brick Hoplanta IPA

Our first beer from Red Brick Brewing Company in Atlanta, GA. We grabbed this and a couple of other IPAs to get our drink on down here in Florida. We’d tell you more, but you’ve already heard about the others. Plus, it’s called vacation for a reason.

Described on the label as “hoppier than a bullfrog with a stubbed toe,” Hoplanta pours a clear copper with a fair amount of orange and a profuse off-white head that hangs around while offering a fair amount of lacing. The nose is bread, caramel, and a touch of butter on the malt-side, with small amounts of bitterness and a touch of pine on the hop-side. Flavors start with creamy caramel and toast that segues into hop bitterness in the middle; there is more bread crust heading into the finish and some lingering, clean bitterness along with a slight grassiness. The citrus described on the website appears to be incognito, although there might be hints of the pine remaining in the aftertaste—not so much in the body, though. The body is medium and chewy, with a creamy, well-rounded carbonation that sits well on the tongue. A decent beer—we could make an evening of it if this was the best offered, but there is a lot better out there. It could be that this six-pack is a bit past its prime, but even with a punchier hop presence in the flavor and aroma, this beer still tastes like a career AAA player. Love the label, and we do wish it was better, but the beer is only average. Still, out rowing around on a rowboat, it does hit the spot.

From the Red Brick website: “An American IPA. Citrusy, piney, hop aromas and flavor. Full bodied.”

ABV: 6.7%
IBU: 50
Malts: 2-row, Vienna, and Caramel
Hops: Bravo and Cascade

(12/28/2012)

Alan McLeod’s 2012 Yuletide Photo Contest

While we weren’t one of the winners, we were quite pleased that this picture made the shortlist for Alan McLeod’s 2012 Yuletide Photo contest. I almost said secretly, but since we are blogging about it, it is not so much of a secret anymore, is it? Well, unless you actually consider our readership, and then realize that this post is undoubtedly the best kept public secret ever. This year’s winners are listed here, and the grand prize winner for 2012 is here, along with a run-down of previous winners. And if you are wondering why you’ve never seen this picture before, that’s because we didn’t bother to take notes while drinking this particular beer. Hence, no blog post. It happens more often than you might think. So take that. I know you can deal. As well, I would like to send a thank you shout-out to Jeff Fortney for bringing this beer over one evening. And I’m glad to finally have a reason to post this picture—the warm, luminescent light coming through the beer and onto the bottle and down the stem of the glass is spectacular.

(12/27/2012)

The Great Brett Yeast Experiment Brewday

This is a project I’ve been meaning to start for a while, but stupid stupid life has been getting in the way. It is now underway, however, and I am very much looking forward to the opportunities it will provide over the next several months, not only as a chance to understand the flavors created by different Brettanomyces strains and varietals better, but to then incorporate those beers with other ingredients (like fruits and herbs) and to also try combinations of different strains.

136. The Great Brettanomyces Yeast Experiment

Mash:

6 lbs. Weyerman Pilsner
5 lbs. MFB Pale
2 lbs. Breiss White Wheat
1 lb. Weyerman Acidulated Malt
1 lb. MFB Vienna

Mash @ 149° F for 90 minutes w/ 5 gallons of RO water & 4 g. gypsum; collected 3 ¼ gallons @ 1.084

Batch sparge @ 165° F for 20 minutes w/ 4 ½ gallons RO water & 2 g. gypsum; collected 4 ½ gallons @ 1.032

Collected 7 ¾ gallons; topped off with 1 gallon RO water, brought to a boil (60 minutes), & added:

w/60 to go: 2 ½ oz. U. S. Magnum pellet 10.0% AA

w/10 to go: 1 oz. U. S. Magnum pellet 10.0% AA

Chilled, split into five 3 gallon carboys, and pitched:
136a. ECY19 Brettanomyces custersianus
Brewed: 12/21/2012
Secondary: 3/16/2013 @ 1.002
Bottled: 5/5/2013 w/ 1.1. oz. table sugar

OG: 1.054
FG: 1.000

136b. WLP645 Brettanomyces claussenii
Brewed: 12/21/2012
Secondary: 3/16/2013 @1.050
Tertiary: 5/10/2013 @ 1.004
Bottled: 6/10/2013 w/ 1.1 oz. table sugar

OG: 1.054
FG: 1.002

136c. WLP644 Brettanomyces bruxellensis Trois
Brewed: 12/21/2012
Secondary: 4/1/2013 @ 1.004
Bottled: 5/5/2013 w/ 1.1 oz. table sugar

OG: 1.054
FG: 1.004

136d. Wyeast 5112 Brettanomyces bruxellensis
Brewed: 12/21/2012
Secondary: 4/1/2013 @ 1.002
Bottled: 5/5/2013 w/ 1.1 oz. table sugar

OG: 1.054
FG: 1.000

136e. Wyeast 5526 Brettanomyces lambicus
Brewed: 12/21/2012
Secondary: 5/10/2013 @ 1.002
Bottled: 6/10/2013

OG: 1.054
FG: 1.000

Tasting Notes:

551. Epic Big Bad Baptist Imperial Stout

Another beer from Epic; we scored this one at the DRAFT Christmas bottle exchange. Since the Utah Sage Saison, we’ve been looking to try something else by them, so I can’t complain. We’ll add this to the list that also includes Brainless on Cherries. Hells yes.

Described on the label as an Imperial Stout brewed “with cocoa nibs and coffee added and aged in whiskey barrels,” Big Bad Baptist pours an inky rich chocolate with a cocoa-colored thin head that quickly reduces to a waft-ish skiff covering complete with arabesques. The nose is dusky cocoa, coffee, and a hint of vanilla from the oak; there is also roast malt and hints of alcohol. Flavors are brash and to the fore: chocolate, cocoa, and roast make up the front, moving into coffee and vanilla in the middle, while the finish is cocoa and a touch of alcohol warmth with more of the roast lingering along with the alcohol warmth. The cocoa does fights it out with the roast in the finish, not lying down to the bigger, sharper flavors. The body is medium with a nicely chewy malt mouthfeel and a restrained carbonation that helps brighten the beer on the tongue. It was a bit hot when first opened, but as it warmed, the other flavors rounded and balanced the beer. An interesting beer that could probably have used another year before we opened it, but we saw the ABV only after I cracked this sucker open. My bad! The cocoa aspect of this beer really stands out, however; it is delicate and ephemeral in a beer that is not subtle, and even as the beer warms and the oak, vanilla, and alcohol start to exert themselves, the cocoa subtlety remains. Epic has been doing some good things—after this and our experience with Utah Sage, we may have to dabble more extensively in their catalog in the future.

From the Epic website: “One Big Bad Imperial Stout with Cocoa nibs and Coffee beans. Each release number uses a different dark roasted coffee.”

ABV: 11.8%
Release #3: bottled 12/9/2011
Malts: Muntons Maris Otter, Briess 2-Row, Crystal Muntons, Weyerman Light Munich T1, 2-Row chocolate, 2-row black, and roasted barley
Other: Millcreek Coffee (French Roast) and Cocoa Nibs.
Hops: Nugget, Chinook, and Cascade

(12/21/12)

February Rockit Cup: Grinder’s Mild

Another British beer for the Rockit Cup, the idea being that anyone who brews this will also be able to enter it in the SODZ British Beerfest held a week or two later (they haven’t posted the details for it yet, but the basic parameters are still up from last year). Thanks to Chris Wyatt for the recipe!

February Rockit Cup: Grinder’s Mild

Malt:

6 lbs. Maris Otter

½ lb. Torrified Wheat

¼ lb. Rolled Oats

¼ lb. Dark Crystal (80-120)

2 oz. Chocolate

1.5 oz. Black

Mash at 155˚ F for 60 minutes

1 oz. EKG @ 60

Wyeast 1968, 1728, or 1318

Ferment at 67˚ F and carbonate to 2.0 volumes; Chris suggested incorporating a “¼ cup crusty damp dark brown fudgy sugar” with whatever you use to carbonate the beer (i.e. not in addition to, but in replacement of)—if you’re going to force carbonate it, feel free to throw the sugar in the boil with 5 minutes to go.

Let’s get brewing!

550. Free Sail Brewing At Last! American Pale Ale

This is probably one of the weirder beers I’ve reviewed in a while. Not because of the beer itself, mind you, but because of its provenance. You see, it was given to me by a student whose father brewed it for him for his 21st birthday. Which—apart from the context we are discussing here—is pretty damn cool. However, it is not every day that you get beer from one of your students, former or not, although it is not without precedence. Still, I do have to admit I was excited to try it—the last couple of beers passed my way by this student were pretty damn tasty. So without further ado...

At Last! pours a slightly hazy copper caramel that carries a fair amount of orange; the head is off-white but not quite tan, and starts with a half-inch of body before falling to a thin covering that never quite fully dissipates. The nose is orange, pine, and resin on the hop side, and grainy/husky caramel with a touch of Belgian candy on the malt side. There is also some earthiness and grassiness and a hint of corn once the initial burst of aroma recedes. Flavors open with toast and orange marmalade, giving way to caramel and hop bitterness in the middle. In the finish, there is a bracing and clean bitterness that lingers pleasantly and carries hints of pine and evergreen as well as the orange found across the beer’s profile. The carbonation is bright but restrained—it cleanses the palate rather than biting—and allows the bitterness to roll across the tongue and on into the finish. As well, the creamy, chewy malt character gives the beer body and helps support the hop bitterness. A touch of corn from the nose survives in the middle, but nothing drastic. The beer does look a bit darker than it tastes—I expected a bit more caramel from the color, and thus was pleasantly surprised by the brighter malt and hop balance this beer achieves. Kudos to Will’s dad (blame Will—he never told me your name, although my mad google skills did produce this) for a well-made beer, and kudos to Will for hitting that 21st milestone: you are now free to enjoy all that South Park Tavern, Trolleystop, and Lucky’s has to offer! Just don’t forget about that education!

From the bottle: “Adventurously Hoppy, Invariably Smooth.”

ABV: 6.75%

(12/19/2012)

549. Flat 12 Bierworks Nunmoere ABA

Another trip to Indianapolis for cyclo-cross means another trip to Flat 12. This time we packed food in, and spent some time hanging out in the tap room so we could sample more of their beers. Our consensus: Flat 12 beers are clean, dry, and well-attenuated across the board. And also super drinkable. We were going to try the Lacto-Matic Milk Stout and compare, as it seemed like the best candidate to have some residual body, but the keg blew right before we went up to get samples. So it will have to wait until next time. Our last beer from Flat 12 was Half-Cycle IPA, which was delicious.

Nunmoere pours a crystal clear dark chocolate with orange

Run that hill!

highlights; the head is a creamy tan with good retention that re-rouses easily. The nose is a clean mix of pine, herbal, and roast; at first seems like it won’t work, but it quickly starts to grow on you. While clean, it is also surprisingly pungent—Jeff described it as a fig that had been charcoal-roasted to a crisp accompanied by a subtle metallic tang. There is also a touch of roast creaminess amongst the evergreen hop aromas. Flavors start with roasted caramel and chocolate in the front, with pine and evergreen hop flavor helping transition into the bitterness of the middle. There is a subtle biscuit with the caramel as the beer heads into the final third, with resin hop bitterness, chocolate, coffee, and roast the predominant flavors, and a long lingering bitterness—while not especially bright and clean, it is still quite enjoyable. The body is medium, lightly chewy, and rounded—it is uncluttered, but still has a residual maltiness that helps carry the aggressively hopped body, lending support to the roast and bitterness that carries the beer. As well, the charcoal roast and hop bitterness pair especially well in this beer. This is the closest to a well-hopped lighter-bodied stout that we’ve seen in a Black IPA, much more so that Sixpoint’s Diesel—the flavors are brighter and more distinct with an almost aggressive but balanced relationship between the roast and bitterness. Delicious, but not for the faint of heart.

We also tried two of the 12 Beers of Christmas series, the Glazed Ham Porter and the Brandy Walkabout. The Glazed Ham Porter is good, but spiced, which means I am contractually obliged to complain about it. You all know my feelings on spices in beer. I will say that the spices are in balance with the beer, which is tantamount to me saying that I like it. The Brandy Walkabout was interesting: it was their normal Galaxy single hop pale ale aged on brandy-infused oak spirals. The vanilla and oak cut down on the overall hop flavor, and created a more distinctly smooth and creamy mouthfeel. I like the initial hop bite in the Walkabout Pale Ale, but this version does cut down on some of the sweeter malt flavors in the body—honey and caramel—that tend to get in the way. Choosing between the two versions of Walkabout would be hard, though, so I’ll just let my comments stand.

From the Flat 12 website: “Don’t let the color deceive you, this beer is lighter than it looks and packs a big hop punch. Loaded with 5 different American hops, Nunmoere is a complex bland of roasted malts and fragrant hops.”

ABV: 6.5%

IBU: 78

(12/16/2012)