527. North Coast Old Stock Ale 2009 Cellar Reserve

“This tastes like everything Samichlaus wishes it tasted like.”

Jeffrey McElfresh

Hot damn. This beer is easily one of the best beers I’ve had in the last couple of years. Sorry all you other fancy beers, but you just got served. Old Stock Ale Cellar Reserve 2009 is North Coast’s regular Old Stock Ale aged in bourbon barrels. And the results are, well, stupendous. North Coast is no stranger to us in these here parts, although it has been a while; our final tabulations indicate that we’ve tried several selections, including Old Stock Ale 2004, Brother Thelonius, Old No. 38 Stout, Red Seal Ale, Cru d’Or Organic Belgian Style Ale and Old Rasputin XII. Prost to Fort Bragg!

Old Stock Ale 2009 Cellar Reserve pours a crystal clear maple syrup brown with orange and red highlights jumping out all over the place. While there was not much in the way of a head on the beer, I pretty much didn’t think about it or care because the aromas streaming out of this beer were phenomenal: brown sugar, molasses, caramel, maple syrup, bright oak, vanilla, bourbon, and hard butterscotch candy. In fact, I smelled and smelled and smelled this beer. Beguiling, alluring, and intoxicating. And no, I’m not talking because of the alcohol, although there were very evident legs on the glass with each swirl. Once I got around to drinking it, the front was a mix of brown sugar and maple syrup with lesser amounts of buttered toast. The vanilla and bourbon really came through in the middle, as did the bright oak flavor, although everything was restrained and in control. The finish offered honey and a tannic bite from the oak; there was a touch of alcohol and bourbon and some lingering warmth that was pleasant and reassuring. The gentle carbonation allowed the chewy & rich malt body to shine; it came with a touch of creaminess that helped round the beer on the palate. In fact, everything was even about this beer—it was complex and delightful with plenty of malt character, it featured a well-balanced use of bourbon and oak, and it was smooth and surprisingly easy-drinking for 13.16% ABV. There was nothing overpowering, and all facets of the beer were in harmony. It was like the warm blanket you wrap around yourself when sitting by the fire on a brisk winter evening, the one that relaxes you and makes everything perfect. In other words, it was super awesome. And it easily could easily handle a couple more years of aging—everything was still bright and fresh and clean. Although I’m not sure I can imagine it being better than it was: that would just blow my mind.

From the bottle: “Old Stock Cellar Reserve is a small batch, limited release that has been aged in oak bourbon barrels. The aging process gives this world-class beer an added layer of complexity. A memorable drink that should be enjoyed as a completely unique offering.”

ABV: 13.16%

(7/30/2012)

526. Anchorage Galaxy White IPA w/ Brett

I tried a bottle of this in San Francisco in May, and was quite impressed with the mix of funk and hops, so when I saw it in Dayton, I was happy to grab another bottle. Anchorage Brewing Company is a newer brewery, and Gabe Fletcher is focusing on barrel fermantation along with brettanomyces and other souring cultures. Which sounds pretty much right up my alley.

Galaxy White IPA pours a soft, cloudy, and very pale straw with a white mousse-y head that is, to say the least, long-lasting. As in it never goes away. The nose is equal parts delightful and beguiling. I’d probably still be smelling it if I didn’t want to get down to the drinking: there’s barnyard with musty earth, straw, pepper spiciness, and a delicate perfuminess that is either the yeast or the coriander, followed by a touch of horse blanket. The hoppiness comes out as the brettanomyces airs out (or, more likely, as I get more used to it) as does citrus and fruit zest. In other words, the brett has really started to make its presence felt in this beer—the bottle I had in San Francisco in May was good, but not nearly so funky. And I do like the funk. Flavors start with cracker and biscuit malt flavors, as well as a touch of candy. The hint of funk in the front blossoms into barnyard in the middle, along with bitterness, spiciness, and a touch of bright citrus. The finish is dry earth and straw accompanied by lingering brett flavors and a mineral tang mixed with pith and citrus rind. Carbonation is spritzy bright and dry; it is slightly brut-like via the barnyard in the brett, and the dry, dry mouthfeel comes across as almost dusty as it runs over the tongue. This is an excellent and delightful beer; it is probably more of a wild ale than an IPA at this point, but I do appreciate and certainly enjoy the experimentation: much like some of the funked beers I’ve made, once the bugs have a chance to get a foothold, the hop character starts disappearing as the funky cracker lactic bite grows, although it is currently still present in this beer. I might need to buy another bottle to pitch in the basement to see how it continues to develop. And by might I mean will.

From the bottle: “Ale brewed with Galaxy hops, coriander, kumquats, and peppercorns. Fermented and aged in French oak foudres with a wit yeast. Dry hopped with Galaxy hops. Bottle conditioned with brettanomyces and wine yeast. Drink fresh or age to bring out the funk.”

ABV: 7%

IBU: 50
Batch #2 April 2012

(7/28/2012)

American Pale Ale Yeast Experiment Brewday

We’re officially into round two of the yeast experiment. I racked the three versions of the 80 Shilling into empty carboys, and will be splitting this beer on up on top of the three left over yeast cakes. I did go for a bit more volume with this beer; I had a little over seven gallons going into the fermenters, so they’ll be a little extra for yours truly, if you know what I’m saying. And I think you know what I’m saying.

122. American Pale Ale Yeast Experiment

Mash:

11 lbs. Dingemans Pilsen

1 lb. Dingemans Pale

1 lb. Dingemans Aromatic

1 lb. Dingemans Cara 8

Mash @ 152° F for 60 minutes w/ 5 gallons of RO water; collected 3 ¼ gallons @ 1.082
Batch sparge @ 156° F for 20 minutes w/ 4 gallons RO water and 2 g. gypsum; collected 4 gallons @ 1.026

Collected 7 ¼ gallons; added ¾ gallon and 3 g. gypsum to bring to 8 gallons total, brought to a boil (60 minutes) & added:
w/30 to go: 1 oz. Amarillo 10.7% AA

w/20 to go: 1 oz. Amarillo 10.7% AA

w/15 to go: 1 tsp. Irish Moss

w/5 to go: 1 ½ oz. Amarillo 10.7% AA

w/0 to go: 1 ½ oz. Amarillo 10.7% AA

Chilled, racked into 3 carboys from 121. 80 Schilling Yeast Experiment

Brewed: 7/27/2012 @ 68° F
Secondary: 7/31/2012; dry hop each carboy w/ ½ oz. Amarillo leaf 10.7% AA (a @ 1.010, b @ 1.008, e @ 1.012)
Bottled: 8/3/2012 w/ 1.0 oz table sugar each

OG: 1.050
FG: a @ 1.008, b @ 1.008, e @ 1.012

Tasting Notes: Again, all three poured pretty much the same crystal clear faint copper: 1272 was stunningly clear, 028 was clear, and 3522 was hazy but clear. I may have waited a bit long to type up the notes, as the hop aromas are not as forward as when first bottled, although the deterioration is most evident in the 1272 version—it doesn’t have any reciprocal yeast character to bulk and balance the lost hop aromatics. 

Wyeast 1272 American II (a): Pours clear with a thin white head; the retention is moderate, but the clarity is like mad prism-like. Yo. In the nose, there is floral, spice, and citrus, with the spiciness being the most prevalent. There is none of the orange that can come with Amarillo. And other that the hop aroma, the beer is quite clean—there is a touch of Belgian candy and biscuit malt, but even this is subdued. The biscuit is more prevalent in the flavor, specifically in the front, along with floral and spice hop flavors. There is a touch of lemon/orange citrus is the middle, but again, it is restrained. There is orange in the finish, and a nice clean bitterness that lingers briefly on the back of the mouth. The body is very light, as intended, and the carbonation is bright and brisk even in cleaning the palate and leading into the lingering bitterness. Good, safe, clean. It was better when the hops were fresher; it is effective now, but less interesting.

Wyeast 3522 Belgian Ardennes (b): Pours clear, albeit with a slight haze, and has a thin white head that laces the glass—there is more on the sides of the glass than covering the beer. The hops in the nose are spicy floral with mineral that finishes with orange marmalade. There is also perfume-y sour musty tang that I’ve gotten in Amarillo before, but that I associate more commonly with Centennial; it could also be some of the yeast esters from the Belgian Ardennes. It feels like there is a touch of Belgian candy sweetness trying to come through here, but the nose in this one has a lot of things going on, so I’m not certain—I find the nose more beguiling here than the 028 version, as it offers a more alluring combination of aromas. Flavors are bright and clean, with candy malt and spicy orange hop flavor in the front, followed by floral and perfume in the middle—either hop or yeast, I’m not certain—with a clean dry bitterness. The finish has a spicy mineral tang in the bitterness, along with a touch of biscuit. The body is light and clean with a prickly, dry carbonation that accentuates the bitterness—it had the same FG as 1272, but it tastes noticeably drier. I like this version best of all, most likely because of the Belgian yeast accompanied by an American hop profile—I do, after all, know my own weaknesses. Still, I think the beer hangs together best as a whole, although I’m not sure I’d call it a proper APA by any stretch of the imagination. Oh well. Like with the 028 version, I’ll be revisiting what I’ve learned here soon.

White Labs 028 Edinburgh (e): Also pours clear, although not as vibrant as the 1272 version, and it has slightly better head retention with a thin white head that hangs around and laces the glass. The nose is a mineral dry spiciness that is floral with an almost herbal hint at the end that runs into orange marmalade. Some malt sweetness is mixed in with the hop aromas—almost caramel, but not quite—as well as breast crust and biscuit in lesser amounts. Like with the 1272 version, I’m not sure I’d peg this as Amarillo. Flavors are rounded with more depth than 1272; after the initial biscuit malt and mineral/floral hop flavors, the middles heads into orange marmalade and clean bitterness with some Belgian candy sweetness behind that. The finish is spritzy and bright via the carbonation and hop bitterness; while the beer has more body than 1272, it finishes with more lingering bitterness, that picks up some pleasant hop spiciness as it warms. This beer has aged better and is more interesting that 1272; I thought the same thing when the beer was fresh, although the fresh hop character of 1272 made it hard to put down. But has aged into a better beer: the balance between the hint of caramel, the orange marmalade hop flavor, and the clean mineral bitterness combines to create a more interesting and rewarding beer. Interesting combination of malt, hops, and yeast that I wouldn’t have guessed would create this type of beer. Glad I tried this; I’ll certainly return to some version of this beer in the future.

There was more variance in regards to what I expected from the yeast with these three beers than with the 80 Shilling Yeast Experiment—I expected to like 1272 American Ale II better than I did precisely because of the clean yeast profile combined with the hoppier body. And while it was better when fresher, I still preferred the two other versions, specifically 3522 Belgian Ardennes. I was a bit surprised that 028 Edinburgh worked as well with hops as it did with malt—that was certainly the curveball I didn’t see coming out of this, but then again, discovering useful tidbits like this is precisely the reason to perform such an experiment.

525. Marin Brewing Old Dipsea Barleywine 2009

This particular beer was part of our evening of plenty: we tried four different beers from Yazoo Brewing in Nashville, TN (the Rye Saison was the best of the four, by the way, although we thought the APA and the IPA would be better if they were both fresher and on tap) and the collaboration between Jolly Pumpkin and Maui Brewing, Sobrehumano Palena ’Ole, which was fantastic and should only get better with more time in the bottle. So why did we make this our selection for the day, you ask? Because I actually wrote down some notes, that’s why. After all, when the drinking is all done, and you’ve got nothing but empties, you need more than vague assertions and empty descriptions like “that tasted good” to build a following. Not that that hasn’t served in the past, mind you. And the clamoring numbers to get up on this blog are, well, stunningly inconspicuous. Any-hoo, I bought this beer a couple of years ago in San Francisco, and meticulously socked it away in the basement as is my wont; after all the sticker indicating it had been “Bourbon Barrel Aged for 10 Months” told me that it needed to sit back for a while. So there you go—you’re all caught up and the likes. Oh, and this is our first beer from Marin Brewing, kicking it out there on the Left Coast. Although they seem to have some sort of relationship with Moylan’s, who we’ve tried before.

Old Dipsea pours a brown infused with both red and orange—it looks, quite honestly, Belgian—with a wispy, wafty tan head that swirls in arabesques over the beer. It also features red highlights and is crystal clear. The nose packs a decent punch of oak and dark fruit—mainly raisin, plum, and cherry—with a corresponding touch of alcohol. Taken collectively, you get an oaky rum raisin with chewy caramel. Flavors start with brown sugar and caramel malt, followed by vanilla, oak, and fruit in the middle—again, raisin, plum, and cherry—with a touch of alcohol flavor and warmth, and rounding out with a tannic bite, a touch of alcohol, and then oak and bourbon. While the tannic bite lingers, the beer is rather clean and dry in the finish. The mouthfeel has a couple of odd contradictions: it is chewy and rich with a touch of vinous character and yet also has a bit too much heat from the alcohol. And at three years in, I’m not certain that’s going away. There is also a surprising amount of oak for the time spent in the bottle, but that is more balanced, and is spread out across the beer’s profile. We’d  like to see less sharp alcohol in the flavor and mouthfeel, but everything else is pretty much in line.

From the bottle: “Our richest ale has a deep copper color, is full-flavored and very hoppy in the finish. We use East Kent Goldings and Styrian Goldings to hop the balance of flavor just right. Ideal for sipping after dinner.” The website says pretty much the same thing.

ABV: 9.0%

(7/24/2012)

Rockit Cup Hoppy Wheat Brewday

It’s Rockit Cup time, dagnabit! Don’t be fooled by my late start on this one—I plan on making it the one beer to rule them all! Not that a hoppy wheat beer is that actual beer, but it will be that good. I promise. Or, as the proverbial turn of phrase I am ever so dependent upon goes, something.

123. Rockit Cup Hoppy Wheat
Mash:
5 lbs. Breiss White Wheat
4 lbs. Breiss Pale
½ lb. Dingemans Cara 20
½ lb. Rice hulls (rinsed)

Mash @ 153° F for 60 minutes w/ 3 ½ gallons of RO water; collected 2 ¼ gallons @ 1.058
Batch sparge @ 167° F for 20 minutes w/ 3 ½ gallons RO water & 2 g. gypsum; collected 3 ½ gallons @ 1.022

Collected 5 ¾ gallons; added ¼ gallon to bring to 6 gallons, brought to a boil (60 minutes), & added:
FWH: 1 oz Centennial leaf 10.3% AA

w/15 to go: 1 tsp. Irish Moss

w/5 to go: 1 oz. Centennial leaf 10.3% AA

w/0 to go: 2 oz. Centennial leaf 10.3% AA

Chilled, racked to carboy, & pitched White Labs 007 Dry English Ale

Brewed: 7/24/2012
Secondary: 7/29/2012 @ 1.010; dry hop w/ 1 oz. Centennial leaf 10.3% AA
Bottled: 8/3/2012 w/ 3.0 oz. table sugar

OG: 1.040
FG: 1.008

Tasting Notes (8/10/2012): For this Rockit Cup, it was a showdown between Brian Gallow and myself; Brian couldn’t actually be in attendance, so Darren Link got to play the part of Brian. I played myself, and was roundly trounced for not sending a proxy in my stead. My version had tasted much better 20 hours earlier when I tried a bottle to see if it was carbonated, but those intervening hours allowed the jankiness of my version to shine through, or something like that. Still, second is better than not having brewed it at all. Oh, and Jeffrey did make this beer, but managed to drink all of it before the DRAFT meeting. We’ll give him an honorary third.

(8/24/2012): I’ve given this beer a couple of weeks to come together in the bottle. Whether this strategy is solid or not remains to be seen. Rockit Cup Hoppy Wheat pours a tawny and hazy tan, although when it warms a bit the chill haze starts to disappear. The white head is thin and persistent—it refuses to leave and still sits in the glass once the beer is gone. That’s wheat for you. The nose is more hops than anything else—citrus and orange with some spicy floral resin in the background, coupled with that tang of earthy sourness that is the earmark of Centennial. Behind the hops, there is a touch of wheat and gummy bread dough. A ways behind. Flavors open with spicy orange hop flavor and gummy wheat, giving way to hop bitterness with perfume-y resin and earthiness and the with the bread dough malt found in the nose. There is also a hint of caramel, although it does get easily lost amongst the hop flavors. The sour twang hits in the final third, balanced by the lingering lightly chalky and floral bitterness. The carbonation gives the beer bounce and snap; it lightens the beer on the tongue and plays well with the hop flavors. The body easy on the tongue, albeit a bit gummy, and it works well in conjunction with the aggressive hopping. I do like this beer as a whole—it goes down light and easy—but I might like a slightly more distinctive hop to give it a better balance. While the malt does hold up to the hops, it is a bit indistinct, and when coupled with the Centennial, the beer needs a bit more of that intangible something to improve the beer as a whole. Still, good drinking, and another Rockit Cup success.

J. P. Patches

This morning, I got a text message from my brother, Jason. There were no words, just a picture from one of the front pages of The Seattle Times that read “Chris Wedes, 1928-2012: J. P. Patches, a treasure of Seattle childhood.”

“Fuck,” I thought. No, check that. I thought something much more profanity-laced, and longer than I am willing to type out. And while Elli was in the room with me when I got the message, I suddenly felt very alone. Part of my childhood—hell, probably one of the last and largest pieces of my childhood, to be honest—was dead. And that never feels very good. Especially when you have to explain who J. P. Patches is.

So rest in peace, Julius Pierpont Patches. I know I’ll drink one for you, my man, and I hope the rest of you will as well. Here’s to the man who was the man behind the man.

And, thanks, Jason, for passing the news along. While it sucks, it is still better to know.

(7/23/2012)

80 Shilling Yeast Experiment Brewday

Back in February, I made an American Pale Ale with White Labs Edinburgh Ale Yeast 028. I had a yeast cake, and I figured I’d try something different. And while that beer was delicious, it was not really an APA. So I figured that, in the name of science, I would run a single batch of beer across three different yeasts as a controlled experiment to compare the different versions. I picked an American yeast (Wyeast 1272 American Ale II), and Belgian yeast (Wyeast 3522 Belgian Ardennes), and an English yeast (White Labs 028 Edinburgh, since I liked it so much last time) in order to offer some variety. So without further ado, I bring you the 80 Schilling Yeast Experiment! Oh yeah, and I’ll be running an APA over the same three yeasts when I rack this one over to the secondary.

121. 80 Shilling Yeast Experiment

Mash:

10 lbs. Muntons Pale

½ lb. Weyermann Dark Munich

½ lb. Breiss Flaked Barley

½ lb. Gambrinus Honey Malt

½ lb. Muntons Dark Crystal 135-165° L

½ lb. Muntons Crystal 60° L

¼ lb. Crisp Pale Chocolate

Mash @ 157° F for 70 minutes w/ 4 gallons of RO water; collected 2 gallons @ 1.068; pulled 2 quarts to boil down and caramelize sugars
Batch sparge @ 158° F for 20 minutes w/ 5 gallons RO water; collected 5 gallons @ 1.028

Collected 6 ¾ gallon, brought to a boil (60 minutes), & added:

w/60 to go: 1 ¼ oz. Sonnet Golding leaf 4.1% AA

w/15 to go: 1 tsp. Irish Moss

Chilled, split 5 ½ gallons into three carboys, & pitched Wyeast 1272 American II (a), Wyeast 3522 Belgian Ardennes (b), and White Labs 028 Edinburgh (e)

Brewed: 7/21/2012
Secondary: 7/27/2012; a @ 1.016, b @ 1.016, & e @ 1.018
Bottled: 7/31/2012 w/ .9 oz table sugar each

OG: 1.052
FG: a @ 1.016, b @ 1.016, e @ 1.018

Tasting Notes: So I am finally getting around to typing up some notes on the first of the two yeast experiments I did this summer. In the glass, the color and carbonation for all three versions are identical: clear deep copper with a touch of chocolate and a wispy soft eggshell head—there is minimal carbonation even after about five months in the bottle.

Wyeast 1272 American II (a): The nose is clean and lightly nutty, with faint delicate chocolate that borders on cocoa; there is a hint of malt and caramel, but it is the most neutral of the three. Flavors follow quite closely; there is malt and caramel sweetness in the front with just a touch of chocolate in the middle, while the finish is smooth and even—it is just more of the caramel and malt of the front, with some lingering chocolate. There might be a touch of fruitiness in the middle, but it is very indistinct and buried. The nose is actually more interesting and subtle than the flavor profile: the delicate nut and cocoa doesn’t make it into the body. The body is light and gentle, and the subtle carbonation allows the beer to roll pleasantly across the palate. This is a good beer, but it comes across as a bit too clean overall. The beer is also a bit thin in the front; the cleanness is nice, but makes for a bit of an indistinct beer overall.

Wyeast 3522 Belgian Ardennes (b): There is a slight phenolic tang, along with some spicy fruitiness. Caramel comes in behind this, but is clearly secondary to the Belgian yeast characteristics—I find the nose a bit off-putting, honestly, and I’m a fan of both Belgian beers and 3522 in specific. The flavors are also a bit unbalanced between the phenolic yeast and the malt and caramel flavors: it opens with malt sweetness that leads into caramel in the middle before giving way to the spicy phenolics of the yeast in the finish. The subtlety found in the other two versions is lost—the hint of chocolate and even much of the caramel is hidden behind yeast flavors in the second half of the beer. As with the Wyeast 1272 version, the body is light with subtle carbonation. It does not, however, finish clean—the Belgian yeast character lingers on the palate. Still, I’ve had worse beers. At the same time, I wouldn’t recommend this combination.

White Labs 028 Edinburgh (e): The nose opens with a rich maltiness: there is toast, caramel, and a lighter chocolate with an almost delicate creamy breadiness behind the caramel. Flavors build upon the aromatics; sweet caramel malt in the front, with bread and biscuit leading into hints of chocolate in the middle, along with some nuttiness. The finish is dry but malty, and more husky than grainy. There is a hint more body in this beer, which not only gives it a touch more mouthfeel, but also gives it a corresponding more rounded feel on the tongue. In conjunction with the light carbonation, this version has a creamier, smoother body, even as it finishes cleanly. This yeast is certainly much more malt friendly than the other two; unlike the Wyeast 1272, which is clean and neutral, this yeast draws the malt flavors out to delicious effect. It is hands down the best beer of the three, although I can see a case being made for the 1272 version. Not that I’m listening.

Not surprisingly, all these yeasts ended up producing the types of characteristics that I would expect from them. Still, this experiment was valuable to see the ways in which the three yeasts interacted with one batch of beer. White Labs 028 Edinburgh produced the best beer for the style—it is a malt-friendly and malt forward yeast. Wyeast 1272 American II was too clean and neutral, which is good for certain types of American beers, but it came across as a bit too bland in a Scottish 80 Shilling. It was clean, yes, but nothing really stood out. As well, it was the thinnest of the three in terms of mouthfeel—the one place Wyeast 3522 Belgian Ardennes was better than 1272 was in mouthfeel, even though both finished with the same final gravity. And Wyeast 3522 Belgian Ardennes? While I’m certain there is someone out there for this particular beer, it is not me. Although I do want to point out that when I took a couple of six-packs of this and 122. American Pale Ale YeastExperiment, there were a couple of people who got behind the Belgian Ardennes version of the Scottish 80 Shilling. So there you go: nothing ventured, nothing gained.