New Taphouse!

For those of you in the area and those of you vacationing in the Boulder/Denver area, there's going to be a new taphouse opening up in Louisville!  12 Degree Brewing will be opening it's doors on Main St. hopefully this coming summer, specializing in Belgian brews.  So if you're a fan of tripels, quadrupels, Saisons, and other Trappist style ales, check them out!

Here's a link to an article in the local paper...

Cheers!

Random Beer Fact: 12/1/11

I can't believe that it's been about a month since my last entry/article/whatever you'd like to call it.  The pumpkin ale came out really well, so now I think I'll be making some of that dessert!  But for some random information, how's this?

Bass' symbol, the red triangle, was registered in 1876, and is the world's oldest trademark.

More beer goodness coming soon!

Cooking With Beer: Pumpkin Ale Profiteroles w/Cinnamon Caramel Sauce

It's that time of year again, when the leaves are changing, the morning air is getting crisp, and the shadows grow long.  Winter will soon be here, and that means stouts, barleywines, and porters are not too far away.  But before all that, the harvest ales and pumpkin beers fill the coolers!  Since pumpkin beer is one of my favorites to make, I felt that this recipe just had to be shared.

If you're planning a fall/harvest party, be sure to impress your dinner guests with this craft beer based dessert.

Pumpkin Ale Profiteroles with Cinnamon Caramel Sauce

Luckily a good friend of mine has a small pie-pumpkin vine growing in his backyard.  The other night we were discussing the finer sides of playing 8-ball, and in that conversation we got on the topic of pumpkin beers.  Ultimately we got to the fact that I was wanting to tweak my recipe and make another batch soon.  Well, he was kind enough to offer up a few of his orange gourds for the batch!  So, my next step is to hurry up and get to revising my recipe.  Once the beer is done, I think this dessert will soon follow!

Happy Fall!

UPSLOPE PUMPKIN!

I know I know, I'm late on this, but a HUGE congrats goes out to Upslope Brewing Company for winning a GOLD medal at this year's GABF in the Field Beer or Pumpkin Beer category!  Great news for one of Boulder's younger breweries!  Congrats guys!!!

Update on the Salsa, GABF, and Burgers

So I know it's been a bit since I mentioned my salsa entry and such; my bad.  So the Habanero Peach Sour Ale Salsa unfortunately didn't win the salsa competition; I guess I should've just jazzed up my tried and true usual.  Oh well, that was boring, and I seem to have created a new salsa that was unique as well as tasty!

On a side note, GABF was a great success!  My group focused primarily on the Pacific Coast as well as the Mid-Atlantic and New England regions.  Of course my first stop was the Eel River Brewing Co. out of Fortuna, CA.  They make one of my all time favorite beers, "Triple Exultation", and of course by the time I'd made it to their booth last year, they were out of it!  This "Old Ale" weighs in at 9.7% so it's not exactly one that you can take down 2 at a time.  Sorry I don't have more details on it, but all I can is that it's damn good; if you can find it, do yourself a favor and buy a 6er of it!

Since one of my best friends just moved to VT, we had to hit up the ONLY VT brewery there; Magic Hat.  Now, the one thing that came to mind was that the state to lead the NATION with breweries per capita only sent one brewery to the country's biggest beer festival?  Really?  Oh well, I had some of their #9 Not Quite Pale Ale which was a nice drink.  I know I know, I don't have much to say about these 2; sorry, I was busy chatting and tasting beer!  One other noteworthy brewery was Destihl out of Normal and Champagne, IL; they are doing quite a bit with lactobacillus and brettanomyces that's for sure.  They had a sour stout, a framboise lambic (no, not Lindeman's), a really nice Berliner Weisse, and a few other sours on tap. If you like sours or just an adventurous beer, check them out.

Just a side note; if you're in Boulder, and are looking for a great burger and an even better Belgian beer list; make sure to stop at Rueben's Burger Bistro.  It's a bike themed burger joint, but it's not your grease-pit type of place.  Your big Belgian beers come out with style appropriate glassware, and the burger selection is great!    My parents were in town and they (Jenny included) craved a good burger.  Since we would normally hit up the Walnut Brewery, we all desired something different.  I recommended Rueben's and all were happy; especially me when this Trappistes Rochefort 6 was placed before me.  Nice pour with a thin head that moved along fairly quickly.  This is a nice Belgian dark with a raisin/prune taste and a slight hint of chocolate. The mouthfeel was light that was held up by the moderate carbonation.  If you're new to Belgian beers and are a bit timid of the big/heavy orange peel/coriander tripels/quads, give this a try!  Have a look at the pics below for details...

Habanero Peach Sour Ale Salsa

Last year some friends of mine had a "Harvest Party and Salsa Competition" around this time of year to help bring in the fall season.  Since they're big gardeners, the 'harvest' part of the name suited it just perfectly; hell, they even opened up their garden so people could go in and pick whatever they wanted (think 8 foot tall tomato bushes, no joke).  Anyway, as last year's winner of the salsa competition, I kinda feel obligated to defend my title, right?  So I entered my tried and true traditional salsa last year, and feel that I need to step it up a bit with my entry this year.  I just bought 3 monstrous Colorado peaches that should be perfectly ripe come Saturday, so I'm thinking of a peach based salsa.  Actually, it would be more of a pico de gallo consistency, so we'll see.  I have some sour beer that I'm going to try with this for the juice.  I've always wanted to use habaneros in a salsa, so why not now?

Cooking with Beer: Beer Battered Fish Tacos with Mango Salsa and Crema Aguacate

It has been been a while since I wrote about cooking with beer, but damn, this is definitely one to put on your menu!  Yesterday, I was reading my latest email from the Brewers Association and I stumbled upon a link to some recipes; specifically for the beer battered fish tacos with mango salsa and avocado crema.  If you like fish tacos, these are definitely hard to beat!  We used tilapia, and Breckenridge Brewery's Vanilla Porter instead of the suggested IPA, so feel free to change that up a bit.  Now that you've been informed, go get your ingredients, and grub down!

Here you go!

India Pale Ale: Explained

I had someone ask me where the "India" in "India Pale Ale" comes from.  Well, the IPA dates back to 17th century pale ales; which were made with pale malt (naturally).  The East India Company, which got its start in 1600 and came to prominence by the 1800s as India's most powerful political and economic force had a bit of a taste for beer.  English sailors/exporters found that the water they took on the long trips to India would go bad, so beer was the drink of choice on their ships.  It just so happened that the duration of their voyages was the optimal 'conditioning' time for the beer.  Upon getting word of this "English beer" the powerful East India Company made sure that their "factories" (think trading post) were well stocked with this beer.  It is said that in July of 1716, the civil servants/workers at the Company's base consumed a total of 74 dozen bottles of wine, 24 dozen bottles of beer, 42 gallons of Madeira, 164 gallons of toddy, and a bunch of arrack (distilled alcoholic drink made from either coconut flowers, sugar cane, grain, or fruit).  By 1750, it is said that almost 1500 barrels of beer were being exported from England (to "Asia"), and by 1800, that number had jumped to 9000 barrels.

So where did this beer come from?

The Bow Brewery (brewer George Hodgson) was lucky enough to be located close to the docks where these voyages commenced.  He was sending both porters and "October" beer on the trips, and it was this "October beer" that the East India Company liked so much.  Typical for the times/ingredients/style, this beer needed roughly 2 years to cask and bottle condition, but (as I mentioned before) the rocking motion and gradual temperature changes during the 4-6 month trips decreased the amount of time needed for proper 'maturation'.  Apparently this was like candy to a child!  They couldn't get enough of the stuff, and as it turns out, by 1900, the British expat running the "factories" as well as commanding the 3 private armies had basically made this the primary beer in India.

In an effort to keep this entry somewhat short, basically at this point some shifting of brewery locations went down, and some realizations on how water chemistry affected the beer made with it.  Not one to miss out on a good ole time, Samuel Allsopp, a brewer from Burton upon Trent decided to try his hand at the pale ale from the Bow Brewery.  To his surprise, his beer took off like wild-fire (water rich in calcium sulfate makes GREAT pale ales).  This beer took the place of the Bow Brewery's success in India, and after more Burton breweries jumped on board, the "India Pale Ale" found solid ground in the 1800's beer industry.  Now that you've had your history lesson, your homework is to go to your local beer cooler and buy up a 6-pack of IPA!

Upslope Oak Aged Dry-hopped IPA

Get it while you can; it's damn good!

Barley vs. Grapes

As I'm sure you've probably heard, there has been a fair amount of attention given to the latest "Beer Revolution" and the fact that you are now seeing more and more "Beer Pairing" dinners pop up than those of their non-carbonated, grape juice variety.  This brings up a good point, to you, which do you feel goes better with food, beer or wine?  Now, as far as 'tasting' alcoholic beverages goes, I will say I got my start on wine back in college.  Of course I had my nights out slamming Mickey's, and competing in foosball tournaments with an O.E. 40 in hand, but after spending 2 summers in Silicon Valley, I can say that my palette had been 'refined'.  Yea, "whatever," right?  Since then, I've moved to Boulder, CO and taken in the abundance of local beer and as a result, my taste has yet again been altered from those foosball days of college.  So, what do you think?  Does wine go better with food or beer?  You know what my opinion is...

Here's an article I found talking about the same thing, so chew on that if you care to read.  If not, then just go ahead and attend the next beer pairing dinner at your local eatery; I promise you, you will NOT be disappointed!

Another Denver Brewery!

Just in time for the late-summer/early-fall patio season, a new 'patio oriented' brewery has opened in Denver!  The Denver Beer Co. has rolled open it's garage-style doors and is serving 7 different styles of beer from a "Kaffir Lime Wheat" to a "Stormy Summer Stout".  Stop by for a taste and enjoy the last warm days of summer on their patio!

Denver Beer Company
1695 Platte St.
Denver, CO 80202
303-443-2739

Babies and Beer

Yea, so obviously they shouldn't mix; as in, one shouldn't consume the other. BUT, when they're teething, they just MIGHT go together, kind of.  Since I'll be having a little girl of my own in a few weeks, I saw this and figured there just might be others of you out there in the same or similar position.

from an MSNBC.com article,
Teething toy, drool catcher… is there nothing beer cannot do?
I let my infant soothe her teething gums with a cold beer bottle. She sits in my lap with me holding the bottle and she rubs her gums on the opening of the bottle. It's an empty bottle that I keep cold just for her. It's her favorite teether and a great drool catcher.


mmmyea, that sounds pretty sweet to me!!!

You didn't know?

Denver's Newest Brewery

For those of you in the Denver area or who will be visiting soon, go check out the city's newest darling.  Renegade Brewing Company.  A husband and wife duo who had been homebrewing for a bit decided to jump in with both feet and are now in the craft beer industry!  Let's hope they hit the ground running!

Skinny tires, Lagunitas, and Ommegang

So a few of my friends and I decided we are going to do this big organized road ride in a few weeks.  It's 78 miles and over three mountain passes above 10,000 feet.  I've been doing a fair amount of riding and actually hopped in a few short track races but have been 'resting' the past week and a half.  A nice cold decided to take up shop in my head and muddy the waters a bit.  After a successful sickness recovery, I felt yesterday was prime for a ride and a good friend and I took off on a little stroll up Left Hand Canyon to Jamestown; which is a pretty popular ride in the area and one that I've done countless times.  My legs were in less than stellar shape though since I went on a hike with some buddies Tuesday morning; my quads were NOT happy with me.  It didn't take long for me to realize that the ride was going to be much slower than usual, but we cranked along and eventually made our way up to the top.  We took a quick break and my buddy informed me that he was already set for a post ride beer.  With that in mind, the descent back to the car went by fairly quick.  Down we went and 45 minutes later, we were back at the car.  After some cleaning up and cooling off, we decided to hit up a great local spot, Oskar Blues for some dinner and beers.  My buddy had just gotten back from a trip home to NY and he would NOT stop talking about this beer he had that was "like candy".  Luckily OB's has a pretty good beer list so of course we ordered up a couple of pints of this new famed Lagunitas Lucky 13 (seen below).

Listed as an American Amber/Red Ale, it had a nice head that left a bit of lacing on the glass.  It wafted bread and slight citrus, and as you can see has a nice coppery color to it.  The first pull was left me with a nice, spicy bitterness that melted into a caramel malt with a slight touch of toasty/roasty flavors.  The finish had a solid hop bitterness but it wasn't overpowering; it was a nice combination of sweet and bitter. My lasting thoughts were that this beer was a nice balance between the malt base and hoppy bitterness.  It had a smooth mouth feel that reflected the perfect carbonation.  I would definitely give this a second pour for sure.

As luck would have it, we had time for one more glass, and since he picked the first one, I picked the next round.  After some questioning about what he has tried and what he liked, I moved to the Belgian side of Oskar's list, landing on Ommegang's Hennepin Saison.  I don't have a picture of it, so bear with me.  Our server dropped off our pints and we were greeted with a nice yellowish/orange glass of goodness.  Think of a wheat field in the late summer sun, that pretty much sums up the sight.  The nose of this Farmhouse Saison was all over the map; I got a mix of spices, orange peel, and wet blanket.  Yea, that last part leaves you with a tilted head eh?  The first sip was exactly what I was expecting, a touch of pepper, orange peel, apricot, and bread.  It had a medium body but a crisp feel as well.  The fruity side finishes dry which made this a great end to a hot summer day.  Definitely check this out if you happen upon it at your local beer store.

Denver, the 2nd Best Beer City!

If you're reading this, you probably already have quite the taste for beer, and you MIGHT have wondered at one point or another, "what is the best city to be in for beer?"  Well, as you've possibly guessed, Portland, OR is at the head of the pack, but my backyard happens to be in #2!  For a full read on the breakdown and the remaining top 10, check out Travel + Leisure's spread.

Pleasantly Surprised!

So the annual picnic was last yesterday afternoon/evening, and damn it was a great time!  Some new faces, and some familiar faces, The weather was great as was the food and of course some excellent home brewed beers.  The time came for those of us in the Iron Brewery Competition to get our entries arranged and ready for the tasting/judging, and of course shortly after the fun began.  There were a total of 16 entries and the roots chosen included carrots, sugar beets, potatoes, ginger, galangal root, and styles varied from IPAs, a stout, a wheat, Flanders Red, and more.  This wasn't your "normal" competition with BJCP forms and standards being followed, this was your basic, "Crowd Favorite" style competition.  Each person in attendance was given a ticket, and each entry had a paper bag associated with it.  After tasting every beer, the 'judges' were to drop your ticket in whichever bag was associated with their favorite beer.  As you may have read in my previous entry, my Ninja was initially a bit heavy on the alcohol flavor at kegging, but this thing just keeps getting better and better!  Even when we got to the party, it seemed to have gotten smoother, and those who had tasted it were already giving me some really good feedback.

So the dust settled, and the votes were tallied.  Cori and Eric were ready to announce the winners, and coming in 3rd was the #2 entry; MINE!  I'm not sure if I've mentioned before, but there are some VERY good brewers in this club, and I was really eager to see what some of the usual heavy hitters were going to bring.  I was definitely not thinking that I would be able to compete with some of these guys and girls, but holy crap!  There's even a guy who is in the process of opening his own brewery in town and I beat him too!  As I said, I was VERY pleasantly surprised, and it was definitely a great time!  I'm looking forward to some more brewing and more brew parties!  So the second place beer was Mike's entry, and I'm sorry Mike, but I don't remember what it was.  And the winner was Adam's Flanders Beet Red.  I'll be honest, if I wasn't voting for my beer, it was going to be Adam's; what can I say, I'm a freak for that style!

Well, all this talk is getting me wanting to brew some beer; off to the homebrew store...

Cheers all...

I Present To You: The Ninja Ginja

The time is here; this weekend's Iron Brewer Competition is only 2 days away, and I think I'm ready to rock and roll!  If you look back, I believe it was May 7th that I brewed my batch of "root vegetable" beer.  Not knowing what I was getting into with this recipe, I was definitely very interested to taste the final product.  At each transfer I'd taste it and wasn't too enthused, but then again, as big of a beer as it is, I knew I couldn't judge it yet.  I kegged it last Friday and poured the first glass Saturday.  The 10.65% ABV was definitely known, but there was a sweet/honey backbone trying to make itself known.  I took some to a friend's place for a bbq and to have them taste it for me; it was met with mixed reviews (which I felt the same).  I hadn't touched it since then until yesterday when I wanted to check the carbonation and tweak any last minute things with it if needed.  I poured a glass with a thin head so I knew I needed to bump the CO2 a tiny bit and try to get some more froth.  The best part was the first sip; everything had really mellowed out and the flavors had melded perfectly!  The alcohol was not such a punch on your tongue, and the honey sweetness has moved more to the forefront.  I'm going to check the carbonation again tonight and will have one last chance to make any adjustments for the grand release at this year's Hop Barley and the Alers annual picnic and Iron Brewer Competition.  I'll get some pictures tonight and post here, but until then, cheers!

Introducing!

If you're local, then you need to find it, of you're not a local, when you come here, you need to find it!  Upslope Brewing Company just released it's 4th can; called Craft Lager.  As the press says, it's a "crisp and refreshing" drink, and one that "you can enjoy several of without suffering from severe hop mouth or contracting a case of the brown bottle flu".  Basically, this is Upslope's first session beer.  I was lucky enough to get a glass of it on a sunny afternoon in the brewery.  Matt took us back to the bright tank where the batch at the time was located and poured up a couple of glasses.  My take was that this is a VERY drinkable beer and one that would definitely find it's way into my beer fridge.  It was clean and refreshing, and just nice drink.  With the lower ABV (4.8% in this case) it makes it the perfect hot afternoon lager for the upcoming summer months!

Random Beer Fact: 6/7/11

Labeorphile.  What do you think that is?  It's a person who collects beer bottles...

how about a meadophile?  A person who studies beer bottles.

I know what you're thinking, "what's there to study there???"

Dirt, Rubber, Upslope Brown, and Walnut Dubbel

Finally temperatures are staying on the warm side and all of the front range trails are in great shape!  A great friend of mine hit me up a couple of weeks back asking if I was interested in doing a long mountain ride soon; of course I was interested!  So the plans came together and the day had arrived; this past Saturday.  We dropped off my truck at a friend's place in Boulder and headed down to the bus station to grab the 10:10 bus up to Nederland.  Normally there are a few other bikers doing the same thing, but this time there were probably 12-15 of us packing our bikes in the cargo area of the N-Bus this particular morning.  What for you wondering?  Some of the best trails in the Boulder area are right outside of Ned, and one of the best ways to see them is to take the bus up there, ride the trails, and ride back to town.

After getting the bikes on, and paying the $4 fare (it has gone up since last year) we settled into our seats for the 35ish minute ride up the canyon.  Once at the lot, we all filed out/off the bus and the excited scramble of bikes, wheels, and camelbaks begun.  My buddy and I found our rigs, quickly readied them for the day, and were quickly off to start the ride.  No sooner did we leave the pavement did the trail start to climb upwards.  It was a steady climb and really not that long; at least, not like the trails closer to Boulder/Golden.  We meandered our way through pine and aspen groves and came across a single speed race taking place on the West Mag trails.  On we went and finally hit the new "Re-Root" trail that we were really looking forward to.  This thing doubles back countless times and has so many cool twists/turns/jumps that makes it a great way to wrap up this portion of the ride.  We got out to the main trailhead and decided to head back in the front trail to hit up another favorite trail, Aspen Alley.  After about 10 minutes we were facing the Continental Divide to the west and dropped in 'the alley'.  Another week or so and the canopy will be full and it'll be like riding through a tunnel of lush greens and white bark of the aspens that line this short strip of singletrack.  Back on the road we made our way to the trailhead/parking lot for a short break and a bite to eat.  Next up, the Dot Trails to the north of Magnolia road.  These are somewhat new to me, but brand new to my buddy, so off we went.  More great singletrack that wound it's way through lodgepole pines and more aspens.  A couple of fun sections later and some short/techy climbs and we were at the anticipated "Car Wash".  This section of trail was put in a replanted section of harvested pines.  The trees are probably 20 feet tall and the trail goes straight down a row that is maybe 3 feet wide at the widest spot.  Don't even think about sitting up on your bike, you'd be spitting out pine needles and picking sap from your nose-hair for days!  You have to get low, yes, like the song, and try not to clip your bar-ends on the trees.  As you might imagine, this trail gets it name from the trusty gas-station style car washes, you know with the big blue and red brushes that spin around.  The pines slapping your arms/legs/face resemble what I imagine walking through one of those washes as being.  What a way to wrap up the trail portion of the ride!  Out to the road we go, and the next item to sort out was where we'd enjoy a 'trail/road side' beer.  Yes, I packed in 3 cans of Upslope's Brown Ale and it was time to enjoy one.  No the ride wasn't over, we still had around 15 miles ride back to town.  We found a nice shade tree and plopped our asses down for a refreshing beer.  That Brown tasted so damn good!  We reflected the trails we had just ridden, and threw a couple of 'first time to get drunk' stories before climbing back on the bikes and making our way back to the car.  The remaining road felt longer than I remembered, but it was definitely a good spin.

Once back to the car, our total time on the bike showed 4 hours, but with the beer/snack/rest breaks, it was probably more along the lines of 3.5 hours of actual ride time.  At this point, it was now time for a proper meal and a proper beer.  We made our way down to the Walnut (as usual) and settled in for a burger and a couple of mugs.  Not a bad little Saturday!

Here's a pic of me on one of the techy climbs...

Here's to your Health!

I'm sure most of you have heard that moderate consumption of alcohol has been found to be beneficial to your health right?  Well, I just saw an article on MSNBC.com talking about how the moderate consumption of beer (and wine, coffee, tea) can help reduce the risk of developing Type 2 Diabetes!  For more, read here.  

Cheers to that!

The Ninja (update)

After a long weekend of being on the go, I originally planned to transfer The Ninja into secondary on Monday.  Unfortunately, my energy level was at about 1% of max, and I had nothing left.  I passed out on the couch and there was NO way I was going to get up to deal with beer.  So last night, the time had arrived.  It had been a hair over 3 weeks and this thing was still making alcohol.  After getting things sanitized and the transfer started, I pulled a sample for a taste and a hydrometer reading.  I can't remember if I had mentioned in my last entry about it, but the OG was just about 1.097 (12.9% potential alcohol), and I was eager to see where I was at after 3 weeks of CO2 being pumped out.  So after filling the tube, I dropped the saccharometer/hydrometer in and damn, that thing sunk like a rock; unlike the OG (where it floated like crazy).  Currently, it read 1.021 and 2.25%, which puts this bad boy at 10.65% ABV.  I won't go into flavor and such since it's so young, but I did drop in another bit of ginger to try to get a touch more of that flavor on board.  More to come...

The Ninja

"Yea, I'll take a pint of "The Ninja"" the brewery patron states.  That would of course be the 'short' name for "The Ninja Ginja", a powerful Honey Ginger Wheat (final ABV to be around 10%, but I'll update when it's finished).  Obviously this has to make it through my tight tasting standards (for my own beers that is) and if it clears that, then I'll release it to my friends/family for their take.  I mentioned the "Iron Brewer" competition I'm entering, and I went ahead and decided on a ginger beer.  Luckily I heard at this month's meeting that a bunch of people are using beets (which I luckily decided against).  Anyway, it's been almost 3 weeks and that bad boy is STILL in primary, but will be transferred tonight since the fermentation has slowed way down.  When things get finalized I'll post an update...

Dirt, Rubber, and La Folie

Damn, what a great night!  It started off with a trip to the chiropractor to get my hips/back squared away (it had been a year so I think it was time), then ultimately ended with a trip out to Heil Ranch for a dirt sesh.  With the 2nd cancellation of the CU Short Track races I had to get out on the bike; and Heil was just the spot.  I took off wondering what state the trails would be in with all the rain we've lately had only to find that the majority of them were in great shape.  The top loop, Ponderosa, was a bit soupy at the start, but cleared well.  I had never been on this particular loop, but a buddy told me that I needed to check it out for some kick-ass flow.  The ride was great, although I was a bit tired and the legs were a little sluggish for a while.  I recovered and hit an overlook that was needing to be taken in; the view was of Hwy. 7 and the front side of Hall Ranch.  It was a damn nice view if you ask me; thoughts?

So after bombing back to the buggy and changing out of the muddy clothes, the journey home commenced.  As most of you mountain bikers could agree, what's better than a nice cold beer after a good ride?  My taste buds were telling me sour (surprise eh?), so a stop at the local beer cooler was in store.  I was surprised (happily) when I stopped at the bomber section to find the latest release in New Belgium's Lips of Faith series, which just so happens to be La Folie!  That's right, their Sour Brown Ale, which pours more like a sour 'reddish brown', but I'm not here to complain.  Man, I was even happier at this point in time since the beer I was hoping to find was actually there!  At any rate, I got home, unloaded the bike and associated gear and threw the bomber in the fridge (I needed to 'de-funk' myself).  I'm not reviewing it this time, but I'm just telling you to go out and buy one, if you can find it.  I'm pretty sure I'll be picking up another one and maybe I'll review it.  That is, if I can keep it in the glass long enough!

Brews and Tap Handles

I've been busy to say the least.  The batch of rye I made a bit ago is now on tap at the bike shop which is cool; I need to swing by for a taste since I didn't get a chance to sample it with carbonation since I don't have pin-lock fittings for my CO2 tank.  I haven't heard any complaints yet, but we'll see; I'm going to drop in to check on it today.  Anyway, last weekend (4/30) I made a Bass Ale clone but I changed the specialty grain count to give it a bit more color and fuller flavor.  So that is in primary and will be getting transferred either tomorrow or Wednesday.  This past Saturday, a good friend of mine wanted to brew and since we typically brew together, I went over to his place and got the kettle hot.  I decided that I wanted to enter in a friendly competition our local homebrew club is putting on; The Iron Brewer Competition!  The ingredient du jour has to be a root vegetable.  I initially thought of using beets, but realized I didn't really like beets, so why would I ruin a beer with one?  I DO like ginger beer, like Left Hand Brewing Company's Juju Ginger; actually I guess it's got a new name now, "Good Juju".  The only thought I have though is that there will probably be plenty of ginger beers submitted, but we shall see.  So the brew day was just off for some reason.  I lit the burner, filled the kettle, put the lid on and walked away.  I don't know why, but I just wasn't paying any attention, so I find my kettle boiling which is NOT what I was wanting.  The wait began.  For whatever reason, I didn't throw any ice in to bring it back down to mashing/steeping temperatures; there went any sort of hope for a timely brew session.  Once the temps were back down, I got started.  Things went smoothly from here until it was time to transfer to the fermenter.  I had installed a stainless ball-valve last week and am using a stainless screen filter wand to keep the hops schmutz from making its way to the fermenter.  Well, this would've been great had it not gotten plugged up so quickly.  I ended up taking everything home (warm wort still in the kettle) to finish it off since I had left my filter-funnel there to begin with.  Upon making the transfer and filling the carboy with water, I took a hydrometer reading.  To my surprise, it was reading somewhere in the 20% sugar range; basically ridiculously high.  After taking a look at the wort, I realized that it was actually separated; mostly the sweet wort on top and water below.  So, I mixed it up, and took another reading; this time, it was more reasonable but still around the 12% range.  I pitched the yeast and threw in my new 'home-industrial' airlock (think plastic hose connected to an airlock with the other end in a bucket of water).  Down to the utility room, I mean, 'fermentation room' it went, and yesterday it was bubbling like mad!  This has the potential to be in the 9% ABV range by the way.  I'll update with actual hydrometer readings when I get home.

So my second lil beer project this weekend involved making a new tap handle for my kegerator.  I had a perfectly good Look "egg-beater" type pedal sitting in my bike toolbox and since its pair had met an untimely demise, I figured that the good one could be used for something.  After a night of hanging at my friends' place, we got up in the morning and went out to his machine shop to start in on this little project.  We bored a hole down the center of the spindle and proceeded to try to get threads cut in, only, it wasn't that easy.  FINALLY, we got the damn tap started and threads were being cut.  I was left with the task of continuing to cut the threads, so twisting the tap I went.  After a few good turns and backing it out, I go in one more time.  This time, I torqued it just a hair too much when SNAP!  I broke the damn tap off INSIDE the pedal!  We hammered on it as much as possible to try to knock out any other pieces possible since unscrewing it wasn't going to happen.  As it turns out, we were actually able to get enough of it out so that it would still thread on to the tap!  So, I now have an "Egg-Beater" tap handle!

Dirt, Rubber, and Fire Chief

Spring.  What comes to mind when you think of spring?  Is it cool afternoon rain showers?  Is it flowers?  Could it be the excited anticipation of the long days of summer?  Well, what could go down as a perfect weekday afternoon would be my mountain bike, a good hard ride, and a couple of beers afterwards.  Luckily, my spring was kicked off the right way last night.  A good buddy of mine and I decided we needed to get the mountain rigs properly christened for the spring of 2011.  We both took off from work a bit early and headed down to White Ranch just north of Golden; a trail system neither of us had ridden.  I'd heard from some guys on the team that it started out with a pretty good climb, so I was curious as to what exactly a "pretty good" climb was classified as. I'd ridden most of the trails around Boulder as well as the mountain roads, so I knew what those 'pretty good climbs' were like.

Just as we left the parking lot, the rain started to fall.  Light drops speckled the dirt as we started the ascent, and with every turn, the trail could be seen slowly disappearing as it meandered it's way up the mountain side.  An hour went by, and we were still climbing.  By the time we got to the first 'summit', the rain had picked up a bit and we made our way to another set of trails.

All of that climbing was now starting to pay off; the descent had begun.  I led and with water bars intersecting the trail, we were able to jump a bit.  The rain had made all hard surfaces slick enough to be dangerous.  Any root, rock, or man-placed lumber was turned into a place to respect; too many times I've gone down due to a loss of traction on wet trails.  Down some more, and along side a small creek we went.  Lush ferns, and fresh grass lined the trail and spring was definitely in the air.  A bit of climbing greeted us as we had to recover some of the elevation we had just lost before we met up with the main trail back to the lot.

Once on the 'highway' back down the hill, I adjusted my suspension, and off I went.  Dirt and mud flying with a chilled Colorado wind in my face, I couldn't help but smile.  Jumping every little rise I could, I made my way further down.  Just as I had doubled back I heard Scott yelling at me; damn, a flat.  He had to run his bike back (not wanting to use my extra tube).  Down to the car I went, and the rain picked up.  I threw the bike on the roof and waited for Scott's arrival.  Once he showed his face, it was time for me to head back up to Boulder to meet up with another buddy in town.

I'm sure you're now wondering what this story has to do with beer.  Well, we settled down at a table in the bar at the Walnut Brewery for a round of post ride beers.  The Fire Chief is still on tap but is to be replaced tonight by their Daylight Rye.  There's nothing quite like a good tall beer after a couple of hours in the saddle...

Biere for Spring

Winter is finally behind us (I think), with the temps creeping up in the 70s and 80s.  Last weekend's snow kept things on the chilly side, albeit for a short bit, but at least I was able to get a batch of beer done whilst wearing shorts to boot.  Anyway, the arrival of spring means the arrival of one of my favorite styles of beer; Biere de Mars or you might see it's close relative the Biere de Garde.  I remember the day I found this particular style, I was about 25 and a buddy and I were at the Liquor Mart in Boulder.  I was wanting to try something new and New Belgium was still producing 6-packs of their Biere de Mars so I picked one up.  That, I think, just might have been the beginning of my love for craft beer.  Fast forward a few years and finding this gem had been just about impossible.

A hair over a year ago, I made a trip up the road to the New Belgium Brewery for some sampling and to see what was going down.  They had done some more remodeling since the last time I'd been, and the energy was, as usual, high with people hanging, and all enjoying some good conversation and great beer!  After settling down at a table, the tasting list slid to a stop in front of me.  After my first glance, I immediately saw those three beautiful words, "Biere de Mars"!  What a great thing to see after such a long break since my last taste!  Their Lips of Faith Series had just been started and this baby was luckily a part of it!  After going through my samples and some good company, I had to stock up on some bombers of my favorite lost love.  I coveted those babies and only brought them out on special occasions.  Well, tonight as I was in my beer fridge, I saw the last one was chilled and awaiting to be consumed.  Tonight was as good of a reason as any to enjoy my last one, right?

The bio:
New Belgium Brewery's "Biere de Mars" (Lips of Faith)
6.2% ABV
22 IBUs

So after popping the top, I poured a glass, and man, what a sight!  It had a nice burnt orange color (Hook 'em!).  This is quite possibly one of the prettiest beers to be seen!  The head poured a nice cream-white and about a quarter-inch thick that stuck around for quite a while.  Actually, after about 10 minutes there was still  nice lacing which was pleasing to the eye.  The nose had a bit of citrus, and the longer I let it sit/breath, I got a touch of mango, then the hops started making their presence known.  Now for the taste; the first splash on my tongue gave a bit of wild yeast sourness.  Those of you who have an aversion to sour beers, don't let this scare you away; it's not enough to say this would be a 'sour' ale, but there's enough to recognize it.  The 2nd 'act' in flavor is a slight citrus taste that has a small 'bitter-sweet' note that is typical of citrus peel, which also makes it's Belgian heritage known.  There's also a bit sweetness of oat malt and a warm alcohol feeling on the exhale.  At 6.2% it's not enough to push through all of the other flavors, but as the beer warmed up, the alcohol profile was more apparent.  Another note that presented itself as the temp rose was the hop profile.  Lightly hopped, I wouldn't even say there's a punch of bitterness, but enough of that flavor to know it's there; it definitely did not get in the way of all of the other flavors.  If you ever find this at your local liquor store, definitely give it a go!

Some others to try would be Southampton Publick House's Biere de Mars, Ommegang's Biere de Mars, Glacier Brewing's Biere de Mars Montana.

Same 'ole Decent Lazy Eye

I was driving home from the HBS yesterday, and my damned iPod had died so I was having to listen to the beloved radio.  As I flipped through the stations, I heard a new found favorite of mine, Silversun Pickups' "Lazy Eye".  The sunroof was open, as were the windows, and the semi-warm spring air was invigorating my being.  My travel partner for the trip (ingredients for a spring favorite, Rye ale) had to suffer through me belting out the end of the song, but at least beer ingredients won't complain at the quality of my singing.  I got back to the house and the 'brewery' was ready to be setup.  I'd just cleaned the garage on Saturday so it was nice to have plenty of space to spread out and get the kettle going.  As for the beer, this makes the 2nd time I've made the Rye.  Inspiration for this one originally came from the Walnut Brewery.  Rod makes a batch every spring and has quickly become one of my favorites.  They're tapping this year's version on the 21st, so swing by for your free pint at 6pm.

This version is going to be a bit 'stronger' than my last batch.  I accidentally added 4.5oz more Rye malt than I needed to, and I upped the hop bill by about an ounce.  We'll see how this turns out, hopefully it'll be a good 'accident'!  Things went fairly smoothly, the only hiccup was that I was tending to my hops plants and was gone a minute too long.  I had a small boil-over as I was getting the temp up for the first hop addition.  All was good though, and everything went well after that.  After getting things sanitized and the wort temp down to 75, I pitched a batch of Wyeast 3333 (German Wheat) yeast and as of this morning, alcohol was being made.  My starting gravity was 1.066 with starting sugar at 8.75%.  I hope to see the final ABV at 6.5% so check back in a week to see where it's at.

If only you could smell the sweetness...

Random Beer Fact: 3/3/11 COLORADO EDITION!!!

When you think of drinking in the high country, Colorado would POSSIBLY be one of the first places that pop in your head.  Since Colorado leads the country in number of breweries per capita, one might conclude that if there are THAT many breweries in this state, that there would HAVE to be quite a few watering holes, right?  And with THAT thought, there would POSSIBLY be one or 2 of said establishments pretty high up in the mountains, right?  Well, I can say that Colorado is the proud home to the HIGHEST saloon in America!  So, if you're ever taking the back way to Breck from the Front Range, and you're wanting to enjoy a frothy cold beverage in the highest saloon in the USA, stop in at the South Park Saloon in Alma, CO!

Random Beer Fact: 3/1/11 COLORADO Edition!

In 2009, Colorado adults consumed an average of 30 gallons of beer PER PERSON!!!

Vrienden

So the other day I was driving along on my way home when I had the urge to hit up my local beer store for something new.  I pulled up with light snow falling, climbed out of the ole buggy and found my way to the beer cooler.  I knew I wanted something sour, and was honestly looking for La Folie.  As luck would have it, they didn't have any of my sought-after beverages.  So, after gazing at the bomber selection through the slightly foggy glass, my eyes found their way to yet another New Belgium option; one that has always been a fun 'leap of faith'.  Actually, their Lips of Faith series has brought back an old favorite of mine, Biere de Mars, and I've seen a few others that I've never tried.  Well, this time around, one particular selection had the words "Lactobacillus", "Brettanomyces", and "Hibiscus" emblazoned across the bottle, and I knew I had found the darling that would accompany me home that night.  Brewed in collaboration with Allagash Brewing Company, Vrienden is the current Lips of Faith beer out in stores, at least here in Boulder County.  So after a careful scan of the bottle, my excitement had increased a bit.  After arriving home, I climbed up on the front deck, shook the snow from my jacket (careful not to disturb the 22oz of sweetness under my arm), went inside and prepared a proper glass.

After cracking open the bottle and pouring up a glass, the moment I'd been waiting for was upon me.  The head poured nicely to about a half-inch think, and hung around a bit while I took my time to admire it's clear copper color.

I then shoved my nose down in the glass to get a dose of what the nose had in store.  The nice flowery bouquet led to a sour character that is typical of sour ale (or sour-ish, in this case).

Now that I had successfully teased my 'see-er", and "sniffer", it was time to indulge in my "taster".  At the first sip, the Brett sourness was the first flavor to register, but it was quickly overshadowed by a nice caramel backbone.  Not long after that (actually super-quick), a fruity component from the hibiscus presented itself.  The hop bitterness was present but not overpowering; it was the perfect balance for sure.  With 12.2 IBUs (International Bittering Units for those who don't know), and 8.5% ABV, this baby is definitely not one to take lightly.  If you're lucky enough to pick up one of these, consider pairing it with some creamy soft cheeses.  Oh, and one more thing, vrienden means "friends" in Flemish, so share one with your best bud and enjoy!

The Red Setting Sun

So the brewing continues.  After getting the year's first brew transfered to its secondary fermenter, and getting the chaos of the holidays behind us, it was time to get going on the next brew.  As I had mentioned in "The Dark Side of the Pint Glass", the latest batch of liquid bread to find its way through my 'brewery' was a twist on the mundane Red Ale, the India Red Ale.  Since I'm not a huge hop-head like many you'll meet in this part of the country, I scaled back on the hops included in the recipe.  I was looking for a nice balance of hops and malty sweetness so instead of using the 5oz the recipe called for, I opted for 4oz; shorting the 2nd hop addition by 1oz.  The brew session was a success and resulted in my O.G. reading 1.070 (I believe) and roughly 10% potential sugar.  As of yesterday, 9 days have gone by it was time to transfer it to secondary and take another reading to see how things were coming along.  I don't exactly recall the gravity this time (nor do I have my brew book with me), but I think it was in the 1.024 range and roughly 3.5% potential sugar which means it's currently sitting at 6.5% ABV.  She's going to cozy up in the secondary for the next couple of weeks and hopefully we'll have a bit more alcohol made and the flavors should meld nicely.

Side Note:  I used a carboy for primary this time around and before I do that again, I need to revamp my airlock 'system' since the lack of decent head-space really causes problems.  And with a hoppy beer, a ton of foam riddled with hop particles and a small capacity airlock don't add up to a great situation.  I had a freakin' geyser in my utility room that was spewing foam and anything else that could make it through all over the ceiling and floor.  Since the foam and goodness filled the head-space, the hops-filled-foam made a nice paste on the top of the carboy; see the pic below for details (thanks AHF!)  All is good now, and we'll be drinking some sweet nectar soon...

The Dark Side of the Pint Glass

As I was brewing a batch of India Red Ale this past Sunday in the freezing-ass cold, my good friend (a fellow brewer) posed a question to me; “Just what IS the difference between a stout and a porter?” (he was making a coffee porter so it was on the mind). I had to think about that one for a bit whilst attempting to keep myself warm (we had a pretty good cold front move in that morning). I realized that I did not know the answer, but I told him that I would find out for him and get back to him on it. So after a fairly routine brew session, it was time to pack up. I do say ‘fairly routine’ because something had to have happened to my ‘first-time-brewer’ friend to make his experience complete. Whether he had fallen asleep, was too busy looking for that last drop of Karma in his glass, or was day-dreaming of his first hand-crafted amber ale a giant boil-over ensued. No big deal; we just cut the fire back and a quick recovery was made. Anyway, I digress.

As with most of these questions, the answers can’t be given without a bit of history, so I’ll go into a quick run-down, but if you’d like to learn more, you’ll have to punch it up on the net.

Porters date back to 18^th century London, when the pubs there were blending dark older ales with pale younger ones to basically create a new “style” of ale. Breweries then began making their version of the pub favorite, and some started producing stronger, more full-bodied versions that then took on the name “Stout Porter”. Over time, the “porter” was dropped and a new beer style was now gracing the Earth.

Now that you have a BRIEF history on them you’ll need to think back to the last stout you had the honor of tasting, as well as the last porter; there are some subtle differences. With that in mind, you might be thinking that there are a TON of different types of stouts and a few types of porters. Stouts range from dry, sweet, oatmeal, export, and Russian Imperial (to name a few). Porters tend to fall in the Baltic, brown, and robust categories. So think about any example of these side by side (stout vs porter). One, if not the only real difference is the absence of roasted barley from a porter. Another, but is not as certain, is stouts tend to have very little if any hop profile in them. I’m not saying they don’t have any hops, but TYPICALLY you don’t find that characteristic in them in a noticeable amount. Now, my oaked bourbon stout had both Northern Brewer and East Kent Goldings in it, but when smelling and drinking it, you don’t really notice them. Porters on the other hand tend to have a touch more hops present, generally speaking. Stouts were originally the stronger brother of the porter, that’s no longer the case, so saying that it is stronger, or has a higher gravity is incorrect (Imperial versions aside). I know some folks might argue with me, but from what I have found and can tell from my own ‘experiments’, the only real differences are the lack of roasted barley in porters and the lack of a real hop profile in a stout. So, in today’s trend of pushing the brewing envelope and experimenting with flavors and styles, the lines between these 2 great beers will be grayed even further.

Brew News out of London

For those few of you that are reading from the UK, you are probably already aware of this.  To everyone else, it looks like when you go to England, you'll be given one more option for the size of your beer.  You will now have the option of a "schooner" and no, you won't be summoning a ride across the English Channel.  The new volume is basically 2/3 a full pint.  For the full story, read on here.  I guess I need to make my way across the pond to check these babies out!

Happy New Year!!

2011.  Damn, where did 2010 go?  Feels just like yesterday I was ringing in 2010 with a bunch of friends in a mountain cabin.  After waking up on 1/1/11 after a night of Guatemalan rum, and various beers I thought what better way to start the year off than to brew up a batch of liquid bread.  The last keg I made, which was for some friends with a bike shop, has gone dry a bit faster than their last one.  Looks like my Oktoberfest might be finding it's way through my 'brewery' again. Anyway, after tasting my last batch of one of my favorites, they requested my Boar's Tusk Vanilla Porter.  And after a pretty uneventful brew, things are progressing well; my lil sugar eating friends are munching away at all that malty sweetness!