Saison w/ Cascara Brewday

Another collaboration project with Press Coffee, this one a seasonal saison—or saisonal, as I like to call them—highlighting Cascara, which is the skin and pulp of the coffee bean. Brett gave me a pound, which I added to the wort at flame out; I let it steep for 20 minutes, then chilled the wort and racked it onto the yeast cake from the most recent iteration of the Great Saison Chain of Being. The Cascara imparted a plum and raisin element to the wort; it was much clearer and more pronounced in the actual beer when I racked it over to the secondary. With some carbonation, I think this will be some tasty, tasty beer.

179. Saison w/ Cascara
Mash
6 lbs. Best Malz Pilsen
3 lbs. Best Malz Spelt
1 lb. Weyermann Acidulated

Mash @ 150° F for 90 minutes w/ 3 ½ g. RO water & 5 g. gypsum; collected 2 ¼ g. @ 1.052
Batch-sparge @ 168° F for 20 minutes w/ 4 g. RO water & 5 g. gypsum; collected 4 g. @ 1.024

Collected 6 ¼ gallons; topped off to 7 gallons, brought to a boil (90 minutes), & added:
w/80 to go: 1 ½ oz. Willamette leaf 7.8% AA
½ oz. Cluster leaf 7.6% AA

w/10 to go: 3 g. Wyeast yeast nutrient

w/0 to go: 1 lb. Cascara

Let stand for 20 minutes, chilled and racked onto Lallemand Belle Saison yeast cake from 177. Saison

Brewed: 8/8/2014 @ 76° F
Secondary: 8/19/2014 @ 1.004; racked two gallons to 3 g. carboy, and the rest into a corny keg to carbonate for Brett from Press for secret covert operations
Bottled:

OG: 1.042
FG:

Tasting Notes:

Sour Coffee Brett w/ Blackberries Brewday

Today’s beer was a collaborative project with Brett Barker from Press Coffee; he wanted to see the brewing process from start to finish, and make a sour coffee Brettanomyces beer with blackberries. What more reason do I need? Press Coffee is no stranger to these parts—I’ve used their coffee in beers multiple times, including Coffee Mild, Press Coffee Black IPA, and Wild Wet Hop w/ Coffee—so this is just one more in the long litany of beery homages to Press Coffee. We started with the Lactobacillus and the coffee concentrate, adding the Brettanomyces three days in, and then we’ll toss the blackberries in the secondary—the plan is that the acidity of the coffee and the blackberries will blend well with the yeast-derived tartness.

163. Sour Coffee Brett w/ Blackberries
Mash:
4 lbs. MFB Pilsener
3 lbs. MFB Special Aromatic
2 lbs. MFB Pale
1 lb. Best Malz Spelt
1 lb. Weyermann Acidulated

Mash @ 152° F for 70 minutes w/ 3 ½ gallons RO water & 4 g. gypsum; collected 2 ¼ gallons @ 1.080
Batch sparge @ 164° F for 20 minutes w/ 4 gallons RO water & 4 g. gypsum; collected 4 gallons @ 1.030

Collected 6 ¼ gallons; topped off to 7 gallons, brought to a boil (70 minutes), & added:
w/70 to go: 1 oz. EKG leaf 5.41% AA 

Chilled, adding 10 ozs. Press concentrate at 180° F while chilling, and pitched Wyeast 5335 Lactobacillus @ 100° F

Primary: 12/19/2013 (with Lactobacillus; added mason jars of Brettanomyces bruxellensis Trois and custersianus on 12/22/2013)
Secondary: 1/7/2014 @ 1.004; racked onto 3 lbs. of blackberries
Bottled: 

OG: 1.050
FG:

Tasting Notes:

Wild Wet Hop w/ Coffee Brewday

Today was National Coffee Day (I’d never heard of it, either); I found out when I stopped by Press to get some coffee and say hello. And since it was National Coffee Day, I decided it was appropriate to punch this ticket today. Oh, and not surprisingly (well, unless you live in a hole), this brew is another homage to Press Coffee. You’re goddamn right.

129. Wild Wet Hop w/ Coffee

Mash:

8 lbs. Weyerman Pilsner

2 lbs. MFB Vienna

Mash @ 152° F for 65 minutes w/ 3 ½ gallons of RO water & 2 g. gypsum; collected 2 ¼ gallons @ 1.082

Batch sparge @ 166° F for 20 minutes w/ 4 gallons RO water & 2 g. gypsum; collected 4 gallons @ 1.024

Collected 6 ¼ gallons; topped off to 7 gallons; brought to a boil (60 minutes), & added:

w/60 to go: 6 oz. wild wet hops

w/15 to go: 4 oz. wild wet hops

1 tsp. Irish Moss

8 oz. Turbinado Cane Sugar

w/10 to go: 4 oz. wild wet hops

w/5 to go: 4 oz. wild wet hops
8 oz. Press coffee concentrate (1/3 Ethopian, 2/3 Honduras)

w/0 to go: 4 oz. wild wet hops

Chilled, racked to carboy, & pitched mason jar of Wyeast 1332 Northwest Ale from 127. Wild Wet Hop 2012 

Brewed: 9/29/2012
Secondary: 10/13/2012
Bottled: 10/27/2012 w/ 3.0 oz. table sugar; added 2 oz. Press concentrate to the last gallon to make a version with more coffee to compare

OG: 1.052
FG: 1.010

Tasting Notes (12/10/2012): This beer was inspired by Brett from Press asking me to make him an IPA with coffee. Now, while this ain’t really up to IPA hoppy standards, it is certainly an interesting interpretation. Wild Wet Hop w/ Coffee pours a dirty tan/gold—the coffee didn’t add that much color, but it is a bit dark for an almost all pilsner malt beer—with a clean white head that offers decent staying power. The nose is grassy hops, some slight cocoa, musty earth, and hints of jam and berry fruit. Basically, the wild hops are weak enough that the coffee is more prevalent in the nose, although you might not peg the aromas as coffee if you didn’t know that was the source of the cocoa and berry fruit aromas—a couple of people I’ve run this by were surprised when I told them. That is, I think, the beauty of the cold-pressed coffee—the other aromas and flavors are more clearly expressed and in the front of more traditional coffee aromas and flavors. As it warms, more coffee does start to come out, but even then it is restrained. Flavors start with cocoa and biscuit before moving into a grassy and slightly vegetal hop bitterness that is clean and brisk. There is also some jam and dried berry fruit, along with some slight candy sweetness from the malt, before the beer heads into the finish, where the clearest coffee flavor comes across, along with biscuit and more cocoa. There is some lingering alkaline mineral bite on the tongue in the finish as well. The body is light and dry; the carbonation enhances the lightness of the mouthfeel, as does the clean bitterness. I’m not really sure how I’d classify this beer, although I do like it—I like it more than the 128. American Bitter that got coffee in the last gallon—this has more depth and subtlety of flavor. I’ll be interested to try this beer in comparison to the last gallon that got extra coffee—I decided to just focus on this one for now. As well, I’m also looking forward to getting some more coffee concentrate from Brett, and throwing a good chunk of it into a proper IPA to see what that does—I think the cocoa and dark fruit would play well with herbal and resin forward hops. I’d say Nugget, but I already tried that with the Black IPA. Actually, this coffee and a good dose of Millenium would work nicely together. As well, the coffee accentuates the bread and biscuit malt character of the Pilsner and Vienna malts, so that is something to think about as well.

Press Coffee Black IPA Brewday

Another coffee beer, this one an IPA. When I was getting the coffee concentrate for the Mild from Brett at Press, he wanted to know when I was going to make him a Black IPA with coffee. Consider this my beer-y homage to the coffee bar that makes every day in Dayton just a bit brighter. Check and mate.

112. Press Coffee Black IPA
Mash:
8 lbs. Muntons Pale Pearl
2 lbs. MFB Pale
1 lb. Weyerman Dark Munich
1 lb. Dingemans Cara 8° L
6 oz. Carafa Special Roast III

Mashed @ 153° F w/4 gallons of RO water and 2 g. gypsum for 70 minutes; collected 2 ½ gallons @ 1.074
Batch sparged @ 169° F w/4 gallons RO water and 2 g. gypsum for 20 minutes; collected 3 ¾ gallons @ 1.032

Collected 6 ¼ gallons; brought to a boil (60 minutes) & added:

w/60 to go: 1 oz. Millenium leaf 16.6% AA

w/20 to go: 1 oz. Nugget pellet 13.3% AA

w/15 to go: 1 tsp. Irish Moss

w/10 to go: 1 oz. Nugget pellet 13.3% AA

w/5 to go: 10 oz. coffee concentrate from Press (El Salvador)

w/0 to go: 1 oz. Nugget pellet 13.3% AA

Chilled, racked to onto cake of Wyeast 1762 Belgian Abbey II from 111. BPA

Brewed: 4/5/2012 @ 70° F

Secondary: 4/16/2012 @ 1.016; dry hopped with 1 oz. Nugget pellet 13.3% AA

Bottled: 4/25/2012 w/ 3 oz. table sugar

OG: 1.056

FG: 1.016 @ 64° F

Tasting Notes (5/10/2012): Press Coffee Black IPA pours a crystal clear rich chocolate brown with a tan head that starts fluffy and hangs around considerably. The nose is equal parts herbal hops, roast malt, and coffee. There is a touch of chocolate playing hooky in the background as well—I’m not certain who let that cat in, and slight hints of mint. Flavors start with bread and caramel followed by roasted malt and chocolate; there is a touch of herbal hop flavor, but not much. In the middle, both the coffee and the herbal hop flavor and bitterness come into play—combined with the roast, there is a fair amount of dryness on the palate, starting in the middle and on into the finish. The beer finishes with a touch of biscuit malt, a kiss of hop mintiness, and a mix of roast malt and chalky bitterness. The light mint kiss lingers the longest; it reminds me of the hint of mint I get after I finish brushing my teeth. Except this mint carries a dash of roast flavor with it. The body is medium, but comes across as lighter than that via the hop brightness, the roast, and the gentle carbonation. As well, there is a touch of warmth in the finish that lingers with the mint. The coffee flavor is subtle in this beer—this offers a better balance between beer and coffee than 103. Coffee Mild. While some of the hop flavor and aroma does get lost in the roast and coffee, the three still play off each other pleasantly. An interesting experiment; this one is, I think, a better example of a Black IPA (coffee or not) that 114. Rockit Cup Black India Session Ale (I’m drinking the coffee version as well right now to compare): the brighter citrus hops get lost in the coffee, although I’m betting that the standard Rockit Cup version might pick up some fans via the upfront citrus hop punch. The chocolate malt in the coffee version is too much—it comes across slightly like Yoo Hoo. Which is all just a fancy way of saying that the Press Coffee Black IPA is better—thanks, Brett, for pushing me to experiment, and providing inspiration along the way.

Coffee Mild Brewday

I liked the last version of this I tried, the Chicory Coffee Mild, but I wanted to try it again with (ahem) some better coffee. Enter Press, who serves quality coffee like MF Doom serves sucker MCs. If this was an SAT question, you’d be expected to determine the meaning of “serves” and understand the relationship the simile draws between “quality coffee” and “sucker MCs.” While this blog is obviously not the SAT, it does hope to build your mad language skills. So without further ado, I present the first official what we’re drinking build your mad skills quiz to pay the bills:

In the previous simile, the definition of “serves” that best reflects the actions in the sentence is:
a. To render obedience or homage to, as to a God or a sovereign.
b. To make delivery of a legal process or writ.
c. To treat in a specified manner.
d. To provide with a regular or continuous supply of something.
e. Your mother.

What is the relationship the simile draws between “quality coffee” and “sucker MCs”?
a. The “sucker MCs” aren’t that bad if they are as good as the coffee.
b. Both are used as objects to qualify the quality of “serving” done by the separate subjects, and thus have no real relationship themselves.
c. I like words.
d. The “quality coffee” must not be that good if it tastes like sucky rappers.
e. Your mother.

103. Coffee Mild
Mash:
6 lbs. Muntons Pale
½ lb. Muntons Crystal 60° L
½ lb. Muntons Dark Crystal 2-row 135-165° L
½ lb. Crisp Chocolate
½ lb. Breiss Flaked Maize

Mashed @ 151° F w/3 gallons of RO water for 60 minutes; collected 2 gallons @ 1.062
Batch sparged @ 170° F w/4 gallons RO water for 20 minutes; collected 3 ¾ gallons @ 1.020

Collected 5 ¾ gallons; topped off to 6 ½ gallons; brought to a boil (70 minute) and added:

w/60 to go: 1.5 oz. Sonnet leaf 4.1% AA

w/15 to go: 1 tsp. Irish Moss

w/5 to go: 10 oz. coffee concentrate from Press

Chilled, racked to carboy, and pitched Wyeast 1028 slurry from 99. Rockit Cup Dry Stout

Brewed: 11/19/2011 @ 73° F; dropped and stabilized @ 66° F for main part of fermentation

Secondary: 11/26/2011@ 1.012
Bottled: 12/3/2011 w/ 2 oz. table sugar

OG: 1.036
FG: 1.010

Tasting Notes (11/26/2011): This tastes fantastic going into the secondary; the sweetness has dropped, allowing the delicate coffee flavors to start peeking through. I’m guessing that this will taste far better than the Chicory Coffee Mild.

(6/3/2012): As with the Chicory Coffee Mild, this beer got consumed quickly and then lost in the shuffle, since I thought I rolled through all of it before I thought to review it. And in fact, I did, but thanks to my obsessive bottling in random extra bottles, and then storing these separately, I found one when I went back to look. Hooray for my neuroses. And we’re already off to a smashing start—unlike its predecessor, this version is not overcarbonated; instead, it pours a crystal clear reddish brown with a wispy tan head that carries decent staying power. The nose is bread crust, chocolate, and watery truck stop coffee—sorry, the truth must be told, even if it only hurts me—although coffee flavor in the beer is both more pronounced and of a better quality. I get a touch of the flat cola in the nose as it warms, tinged with the faint coffee. Flavors start with coffee, chocolate, and a touch of graininess, giving way to caramel sweetness in the middle before returning to coffee in the finish that is mixed with a slight alkaline dryness—it is almost palate cleansing, but not quite, as a touch of dry caramel sneaks in right as the coffee leaves the palate. Residual dextrins are present in the body, but are still a bit thin; coupled with the big coffee flavor, the body is slightly unbalanced, although still very British. Two things to make this a better beer: 1) drop the cold-pressed Press coffee concentrate by between 20-40% (down to 6-8 oz.), and 2) return the mash temperature to 154° F, and maybe even bump it up another 2° to 156° F to give the beer more mouthfeel and body. The aroma and underlying beer flavor is good as currently configured, but the balance and mouthfeel could be fine-tuned. Still, a delicious beer—there is a reason I ran through this beer lickety-split.

412. BBC Bourbon Barrel Bière de Mars, BBC Bourbon Barrel Heine Brothers Coffee Stout, and New Glarus Wisconsin Belgian Red

Tonight I headed on over to Jeffrey’s to meet up with him and Jeff for some good ol’ fashioned beer sampling. We had kind of an odd mix for tonight’s drinking smorgasbord, but all three were tasty in their own right. The two beers from BBC paired nicely both because they were from the same Special Reserve Series, but the Bière de Mars and the New Glarus were, while not similar, very complimentary. At least they were once the Bière de Mars warmed up. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Previously, we’ve sampled Heine Brothers Coffee Stout (the unoaked version), Rye IPA 75, Brandy Barrel Aged Queen’s Knickers and American Pale Ale from Bluegrass Brewing Company, and Fat Squirrel Brown Ale from New Glarus.

BBC Bourbon Barrel Bière de Mars
This beer has a super-oaky nose—the creamy vanilla oak sweetness overpowered pretty much everything else here. It starts with a sweet front that dries out quickly (it tastes like via the oak, since it is even creeping in here), opening up the middle to a creamy oaky bomb that continues on into the finish with tannic flavors that linger on the palate. At this point, it was interesting and tasty, and the group consensus was that it needed to be aged a bit to take some of the oakiness out of the body. However, as it warmed, the oakiness faded into the background, allowing some of the Bière de Mars characteristics to emerge. Here, the creamy vanilla hints of the oak merged well with the dry malt sweetness and Belgian yeast character. While I thought it was good before, the nuance that developed was delicious and downright impressive. Kudos, BBC.

ABV: 8.5%

BBC Bourbon Barrel Heine Brothers Coffee Stout
After the gratuitous snickering at the name of the coffee makers, we poured our second beer. The nose was a rich mix of nuttiness, dark chocolate, and coffee. Beginning with sweet chocolate, Heine Brothers Coffee Stout moved into a drier middle that featured a nutty rich coffee flavor before the slight chalkiness and roastiness of the finish. I forgot to take more notes because the Bière de Mars was finally starting to warm up, and was getting a lot tastier. However, this beer also got better with some warmth, although my nod for the best beer of the evening goes to our next beer...

From justdrinkbeer: “An oatmeal stout brewed with English roasted barley and caramunich malts to impart a roasty and slightly sweet malt flavor. The Heine Brothers specially roasted organic Mexican coffee is added in two doses. A ration is stirred into the hot unfermented wort to extract coffee flavor. Then freshly brewed coffee is also added after fermentation is complete to impart a fresh coffee flavor and aroma. An additional conditioning in Woodford Reserve Borubon Barrels for 90 days compliments this already robust beer with notes of bourbon and oak. ”

ABV: 7.5%

New Glarus Wisconsin Belgian Red
Pouring a light bubbly cherry, Wisconsin Belgian Red has a very sweet cherry nose mixed with candy sweetness underneath. The body is light, with spritzy bright candy sweetness and cherry flavors blended beautifully in the body. The finish is dry and fruity while the body light, smooth, and clean—there is an evenness and balance across the profile in both flavor and mouthfeel that was enjoyable. Very light and very drinkable—it tastes like melted cherry Otter Pops, but in a good way. This is one of the more interesting beers I’ve tried in a while—I’m glad Jeffrey decided to bust it out, as I had never tried it before, and it was far, far better than I anticipated. Damn, that was some tasty beer. And already the scheming to score some more begins...

From the New Glarus website: “You hold the marriage of wine and beer. Belgian Red is a tapestry of flavor. This beer is brewed with whole Montmorency Cherries, Wisconsin Farmed Wheat and Belgian Roasted Barleys, lagered in oak tanks and balanced by Hallertau hops we aged in our brewery one full year. Over a pound of Door County Cherries in every bottle makes this beer uniquely ‘Wisconsin.’ So unique, in fact, that we applied for a patent. Expect this beer to be ruby red, with a medium body that is highly carbonated and intense with cherry flavor and bouquet. Serve your friends Belgian Red in a brandy snifter or champagne flute and toast life with beer from the land of Wisconsin.”

ABV: 4.0%

Also, the funniest comment about beer I’ve read in a long long time: “Whew. You can’t swing a dead cat in this state without knocking over a firkin of mild.” Dag. Thanks, Jeff. You made me spit out some beer while reading, which is always the sign of good times and clever verbiage.

(9/17/2010)

331b. Midnight Sun Arctic Rhino Coffee Porter

Another beer from Midnight Sun; this makes our third Midnight Sun beer, with CoHoHo Imperial IPA and Sockeye Red IPA being our last two. I bought this at City Beer in San Francisco yesterday to take with me after Bill and I got our drink on.

Pouring a deep chocolate brown with a light tan head, Arctic Rhino has a coffee, roasted, and sweet dark malt nose. The front begins with a brown malt flavor and a fair amount of dryness before moving into coffee and roasted malt in the middle—the big coffee roasted flavors are rich, complex, and nuanced. Arctic Rhino has dry and lightly alkaline finish that is light and clean; the body is, somewhat paradoxically, both light and substantial—there is a rich and flavorful mouthfeel that is dry, and even a bit light for a porter, yet still has good substance. The medium carbonation provides some crispness at the end. A good beer overall—more interesting than I anticipated, with good coffee flavors that are solid across the beer profile, although they are a bit synthetic in the nose as it warms. The nuance and richness is what sets this beer apart—probably the best of the beers we’ve had from them.

From the bottle: “Arctic Rhino Coffee Porter combines two quintessential Pacific Northwest favorites: coffee and ale. The result is wonderfully romantic and robust – a duel-fueled porter that melds charismatic dark malt with freshly roasted coffee beans. The (un)rest is up to you.”

From the Midnight Sun website: “Inspired by local artist & roaster Michael Allen’s eccentricly-named blend of coffee beans, Midnight Sun’s brewers designed a beer recipe and flavor infusion process that perfectly captures the alluring aroma, satisfying flavor and curious legend of Allen’s Arctic Rhino Coffee Blend. Arctic Rhino Coffee Porter combines two quintessential Pacific Northwest favorites: coffee and ale. The result is wonderfully romantic and robust – a duel-fueled porter that melds charismatic dark malt with freshly roasted coffee beans. The (un)rest is up to you.”

ABV: 5.0%
IBU: 20

(5/27/2010)

298. BBC Heine Brothers Coffee Stout

Another big bottle from Bluegrass Brewing Company; we’ve previously sampled Rye IPA 75, Brandy Barrel Aged Queen’s Knickers and American Pale Ale.

Heine Brothers Coffee Stout pours a dark chocolate brown with a thick tan head that slowly winds its way down to minimal coverage. The nose has that coffee extract aroma—slightly synthetic—and a bit of roastiness. Starting with soft roasty sweetness, Heine Stout moves into clean coffee flavors in the middle, and finishes with some more of that coffee, a bit of sweetness, and a touch of lingering roastiness. The beer is medium bodied with medium to low carbonation that does rise a bit towards the end. The mouthfeel is smooth and clean and possibly a bit too even across the larger profile. Heine Stout could use a bit more roastiness through the middle to back up the coffee flavors, and some of the silkiness that you get with a thicker oatmeal stout. No real downsides to this beer, but not terribly exciting either.

From the Rate Beer website: “Bluegrass Brewing Company has brewed a winter warming coffee stout using a Heine Brothers organic, fair trade coffee grown in Chiapas, Mexico. It will be available for purchase at Bluegrass Brewing Company on Friday, February 9th while supplies last. ‘I just tasted the stout - it has a wonderful balance between coffee and stout flavors,’ said Bluegrass Brewing Company head brewer, Jerry Gnagy. Heine Brothers co-owner Mike Mays and head coffee roaster Todd Stanis collaborated with Gnagy to choose the Mexican coffee and give it a medium roast and a coarse grind to best bring out the flavor. ‘This Mexican coffee has a medium body and an almost chocolatey finish that will hold up well in such a hearty beer,’ said Stanis. ‘Should be a perfect match.’ This oatmeal stout is brewed with English roasted barley and caramunich malt which gives a roasty and slightly sweet malt flavor. The addition of flaked oats lends creaminess and body to this pitch black ale. The coffee will be added to the hot wort (unfermented beer) after boiling. This will extract good flavor without adding bitterness or burnt flavors. Freshly brewed coffee will also be added to the beer after fermentation is completed and the beer is ready to be served. This will give the freshest coffee flavor and aroma.”

ABV: 6.5%

(4/24/2010)

259. Jackie O’s Barrel Aged Bourbon Barrel Impy Razz

Tonight our friend Jeff came over with a couple of things to drink, so we had more than just the usual one beer. Here’s our evening: our first beer—what we’re gonna call the “official” beer of the day—was the Barrel Aged Bourbon Barrel Impy Razz from Jackie O’s Pub & Brewery in Athens, OH, bottled on November 11, 2009 as bottle 39 out of 156.

Bourbon Barrel Impy Razz is an imperial wheat beer with raspberries; it has oak, bourbon, and raspberry in the nose, and pours a pinkish copper with a light white head. Starts dry, fruity, and a bit tart, runs into alcohol/bourbon and oak flavor in the middle, and finishes with some more fruit and lingering alcohol and bourbon flavors. Medium bodied with a dry but rich flavor and some tartness on the palate. There is a lot of alcohol warmth across this beer, in nose, flavor, and mouthfeel, but it is not overbearing. As well, the tartness from the raspberries and the sharpness of the oak merge nicely to help build the beer, both in flavor and mouthfeel. While it could use some more time to marry the fruit and raspberry flavors, it does drink well now. Good beer, and we look forward to trying more beers from Jackie O’s in the near future.

From the bottle: “The bottle in your hand is part of the first bottling venture at Jackie O’s Pub and Brewery. This limited edition is something special and a tribute to our customers and supporters throughout the past 4 years. Passion has crafted this beer and our business. Share this milestone with friends and loved ones. After all, beer should be enjoyed and remembered; this is why quality and character are at the heart of every beer we produce. Thank you. Made in Athens, OH.”

From Ohio Beer Guide: “Jackie O’s in Athens is celebrating its fourth anniversary on December 4 and 5. They promise 40 of their own beers on tap over the two day celebration with a bottle sale on the 5th. Taps and bottles will include lots of barrel aged, sours, imperials, and new concoctions. Included will be at least three new barrel aged beers: Bourbon Barrel Impy Razz, a 12% imperial raspberry wheat, Barreled and Portered, a 9% robust ported aged in a Woodford Reserve barrel, and Cellar Cuvee 2, a blend of coffee stout and imperial stout aged in Woodford Reserve barrel with coffee beans, vanilla beans, and cinnamon sticks. There are too many others to list here, so check out their new website at http://www.jackieos.com/. Brewer Brad Clark is featuring at lot of stouts this winter such as Java the Stout, Sweet Chocolate Love (oatmeal, chocolate milk stout), and India Oatmeal Rye Stout.”

ABV: 12.0%

Our second beer for the evening was Boulevard Saison, which is our third beer from Boulevard; we’ve previously had the Saison-Brett and Two Jokers Double Wit. Because, as the Boulevard website observes, “some beers are just too big for 12 ounce bottles.” Well put.

Saison pours a transluscent golden color with a rich head that slowly fades; the nose is earthy, loamy, and floral, although with warmth the banana-clove comes out a bit more prominently. Light sweet malt front with some bubblegum emerging as it warms; the middle is estery and some low levels of bitterness, and it finishes sweet. It does taste like there is some wheat in the beer via the smooth silky texture of the body. The mouthfeel is bright and sharp; there are super-fine bubbles, but they are soft and balanced on the mouth. Some bubblegum emerges in the nose at it warms to provide a bit of a different element at the end. Overall an excellent saison; not as complex or nuanced as the Saison-Brett, but certainly a delicious beer overall.

From the bottle: “The French-speaking region of southern Belgium is the birthplace of saison, the love child of a centuries-old tradition of small rural ‘farmhouse’ breweries, where native yeasts and time-honored recipes combined to produce some of the world’s most distinctive beers. As a tribute to this artisanal institution, we offer our own brisk, unruly Saison. Truly an artful balancing act, it is both rustic and subtle, robust yet effervescent, spicy and fruity. A votre santé!”

ABV: 6.2%

Our final beer for the evening was Founders KBS, freshly brought back from Michigan via Darren Link, even before it went on sale. Because we’ve got it like that. This is our fifth Founders beer; the rundown includes Centennial IPA, Black Biscuit, Harvest Ale and Breakfast Stout.

Meet Inky...

Brought to us by the Amazing Kosmicki, KBS has a luscious roasted coffee nose; it pours an inky black with garnet highlights, and has a slightly oily top with a minimal head. The front begins with a big roasty coffee front, transitioning into a big chocolate and roasted coffee middle with a dark and tasty finish. There is no real alcohol flavor perceptible, even as young as it is; while there could possibly be some slight warming, it is amazingly clean and well balanced for being young and right out of the gate like it is (this must be where the Amazing Kosmicki comes in). There is some big hop flavor in the back of the beer, but it is covered over by roasted flavors that dominate the beer. Remarkably drinkable for an 11.2% beer, especially this young, and with 70 IBUs. An excellent beer that drinks well young (and warm—it only spent about 10 minutes in the fridge to but just a slight chill on it) and is a delicious and rewarding drink.

From the Founders website: “What we’ve got here is an imperial stout brewed with a massive amount of coffee and chocolates then cave-aged in oak bourbon barrels for an entire year, to make sure wonderful bourbon undertones come through in the finish. Make your taste buds squeal with delight.”

ABV: 11.2%
IBU: 70

An awesome and well rounded group of beers for the evening—all excellent and well crafted. I don’t think we’ll be topping this anytime in the near future. Not that we won’t try...

(3/16/2010)

169. Tröegs JavaHead Stout

This is our second beer from Tröegs Brewing Company; our last one was their Nugget Nectar (number 22, which was forever ago), which has pretty much already come and gone for this year already. One tap or in the bottle—good drinking. But let’s focus on the here and now, because it is pretty damn good, too.

Described as a stout with coffee beans on the label, JavaHead pours a deep rich brown with some red highlights and a robust brown head that does leave some lacing behind. The nose runs the gamut from floral hops to roasty coffee to dry biscuit malt, with a dash of sugar sweetness and creamy cocoa aromas thrown in for good measure. Javahead begins with dry malt sweetness as well as creamy cocoa and light burnt malt flavors in the front; it then shifts to roasted malt flavors mixed with bitterness and light spicy and fruity hop flavor, before moving into chocolate and coffee flavors and ending dry with lingering bitterness, although some of the burnt notes and cocoa comes back as well. Medium to heavy bodied with a creamy, thick mouthfeel; there is also a decent carbonation bite to balance out a well rounded profile. JavaHead is complex and pleasant, and pretty smooth for the wide range of flavors it has; there is minimla harshness, and a nuanced and interesting set of flavors that took us a whole to pull apart & sort out the flavors across the palate. Definitely worth buying a couple extra bottles of this one—it will be interesting to see if it ages well. It will lose some of the hoppiness, but not much else, and the other flavors might marry together better. Well built and designed; for a 7.5% ABV beer, pretty light and dry, and definitely good drinking.

From the bottle: “JavaHead Stout passes through a blend of coffee beans and whole flower hops—akin to a French press—releasing cocoa, citrus, and java flavors.”

From the Tröegs website: “JavaHead Stout contains a blend of locally roasted espresso and Kenyan coffee beans by St. Thomas Roasters in Linglestown, PA. JavaHead’s recipe is based off of our original oatmeal stout. After the boil, the hot wort passes through our hopback vessel on it's way to fermentation. Packed full of whole leaf hops and a bed of ground coffee beans, the hopback vessel is similar to using a huge French press, intensifying the coffee nose and releasing subtle hints of coffee flavor. The result is a lush oatmeal mouthfeel balanced with cocoa, roast and subtle coffee flavors.”

ABV: 7.5%
IBU: 60
Malts: Pilsner, Crystal, Chocolate, & Roast
JuJu: Oats & Blend of Coffee Beans
Hops: Cluster, Chinook, & Cascade

(12/16/2009)

151. Stone/Maui Brewing/Ken Schmidt Kona Coffee Macadamia Coconut Porter

Since this is a collaboration beer, we’re not sure where to locate our focus—we’ve had Stone (Pale Ale and Vertical Epic 09.09.09) during our current run, and we’ve tried Maui Brewing Company beers in the past—they’re one of the innovators of craft beer can use, and they had an awesome t-shirt for Penguin Imperial Stout that we tried to buy when we were in Maui, but they only had extra smalls left. Sorry, but skin tight t-shirts are not our forte. And let’s not forget Ken Schmidt, who got to live every home brewer’s dream. Since that makes it 2-1 in favor of Hawaii over California, we’ll go with the island state—well, that and the Kona Coffee, macadamia nuts, and coconut. Stone, you get props for the organizational focus, but beer sounds more Hawaiian than Californian.

Made by homebrewer Ken Schmidt, Garrett Marrero of Maui Brewing, and Mitch Steele of Stone Brewing, KCMC Porter has a chocolate, coffee, and roasted malt nose with toasted nut and macadamia aromas rounding out the profile. It pours a deep chocolate brown with orange highlights and a minimal tan head. KCMC Porter has a smooth rich malt front with some sweetness and chocolate, moving into roasty and coffee flavors, and finishing with very light coconut notes at the end, and also some light burnt/roasty notes & a little warmth from alcohol. The mouthfeel is rich with some creamy toastiness in the middle to end that mixes well with the coconut; the medium body and lower level carbonation keeps the focus on the flavors in the beer. The burnt aromas do increase in the nose with warmth. Overall, there were more burnt notes that we would’ve expected in a porter; still, nicely balanced, but not perfectly to style. KCMC Porter was better and more nuanced that we expected, although the sweetness does cover over a good portion of the coconut in the flavor profile.

ABV: 8.5%

Today was the final BJCP class, but I was flying home from Seattle and Thanksgiving so I’ve got nothing to report. The test is on December 5th; I’ll keep you all posted.

(11/28/2009)

71. Great Divide Espresso Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout

Our fifth beer from Great Divide Brewing Co. What can I say? They make some good shit. And with a name containing both this many qualifiers AND the name Yeti, what could go wrong? What, you don’t like the Abominable Snowman? You gonna bag on my boy Sasquatch? As Sherman Alexie observes in “The Sasquatch Poems,” “Those who say Bigfoot/ are those who don’t believe./ We must learn to fear metaphor.” Take that, Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barleywine—it sounds like you’re getting called out for being punks to me. Stoudt’s is down. But I digress. This is a beer that requires many adjectives...

Espresso Oak Aged Yeti—a stout aged on oak chips with coffee added—has a rich ebony and opaque black color and a thick oily tan head. The nose is complex: coffee, vanilla, roasted malt, oak hints, and some alcohol notes as it warms. Starting with a smooth slick creamy rich burnt roasty malt front and also containing chocolate, vanilla, and coffee notes (I warned you about the adjectives), Espresso Oak Aged Yeti moves into a rising roasty malt middle and crests over into the end with vanilla and chocolate/coffee note lingering on the palate, along with some roasty burnt malt flavor. It closes with tannic notes on the tongue—while there is a bit of possible puckering in the middle, the end does dry out and carries with it a bit of alcohol warmth as well. While I found it an interesting and enjoyable beer, specifically for the complex and intricate set of flavors it presented to us, Elli did at times compare it to flavored coffee or coffee cocktails, and the limitations that come with flavored coffee—get your hazelnut suckiness right here. She also wanted a bit more overall rounded body to the beer as well. While I can see where she is coming from, I’m gonna chalk some of that up to this beer still being a bit young—I’m guessing this beer will continue to develop for a good number of years and build into an even more complex beer.

From the Great Divide website: “Espresso Oak Aged Yeti is a new additon to the Yeti clan. A generous infusion of espresso adds yet another layer of complexity to this beer, combining the vanilla oak character, intense roasty maltiness and bold hop profile to create a whole new breed of mythical creature. It's official: you can now have Yeti with breakfast.”

Alright, so their prose is still a bit much. I mean, “a whole new breed of mythical creature”? But I'm pouring it into my glass, dammit.

ABV: 9.5%

(9/9/2009)