Final Thoughts: Irie Stout

This is officially the biggest beer ever brewed at Bearded Brewing. This beer was originally inspired by Lion Stout, a Sri Lankan Stout I came across when I was on a big stout kick. I set out to make a foreign extra stout (what Lion is) but then ended trying another beer while I was at Northern Brewer buying the ingredients for Irie. Whenever I go in to the store, I usually talk about what I'm brewing with a guy who works there. I was discussing this and he invited me in the back to try a beer they had on tap that they were contemplating having as a kit. It was a Caribbean stout. It was very similar to what I had in mind, but I had wanted mine to have a bit more roastiness. So while I was at the store, I adjusted what I was thinking to kind of a mix between what I had in my head and the great beer I had just tried. The end result has been really good. I was shooting for around 8% abv, but the two packs of yeast really ate up the 1.5 pounds of sugar I had put in, and I ended up with a beer that was around 9.5%!

Here are my thoughts:
The Irie pours a dark chocolate almost black with a thin light tan head, it quickly becomes a thin lacing. Right away there is an aroma of dark chocolate with a little bit of roastiness. A slight citrus aroma coming from the dried orange peels that were added, but it doesn't stand out too much. It is very smooth with no alcohol presence. Sweet with quite a bit of chocolate flavors, a little molasses and just a touch of roasty aftertaste.
This beer is very good, and one I would love to brew again. Next time I would like to up the amount of black malt to give it a bit more roasty flavor and maybe add some more fruit either in the form of more orange peels, maybe try my standby marmalade or even something like mango. I wouldn't want to deviate too much since I think it turned out nice, but I think it could be tweaked to be a bit roastier and play off the balance I was trying to accomplish.
Here is the recipe, it's extract:
Steeping grains- .75 org Crystal 120
.25 org Chocolate
.25 black patent malt
9.33 lbs of org. liquid malt extract
1.50 lbs of org. brown sugar
2.5 Tablespoons of dried orange peels @ 5 min
1 oz Org. Admiral hops @ 60
Two packets of dry Safale US-56 yeast

Overall, a great first attempt at a stout in my opinion; sweet, drinkable, and strong enough to make you feel Irie indeed! I am anxious to hear Dave at Muckney Brewing's thoughts and also Rick at [BW] Beer Blog's.
Salud!
The Bearded Brewer

Beer Review- Troegs Brewing Company

One of the great things about trying beer from another region is finding a brewery that you love. However, the flipside is discovering a beer you wish you could get on a regular basis. So is the case with the three beers from Troeg Brewing Company I got sent to me. Hopback Amber, Nugget Nectar and Mad Elf were sent to me by Dave at Muckney Brewing Blog, and each beer was fantastic!
Troeg's Brewing Company is a brewery out of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and owned by two brothers. I was blown away by each beer, here's the breakdown:


Nugget Nectar Imperial Amber
Holy hops! This beer is very similar to Bell's Hopslam. Right after popping the cap, there's a strong citrusy-grassy hop aroma. I have said in the past that I'm not much of a hop head, but that might be changing. Despite the 93ish IBUs it lists, I really didn't find the beer to be bitter. It pours a beautiful copper-orangish color with very little head, just a thin white lace on top. There is a slight sweetness, but its mostly hops! Very citrusy, with a grapefruit flavor typical of West Coast hops. A very good beer.


Mad Elf Belgian Strong Ale
I was really excited about this beer. Brewed with honey and cherries, this beer sounded really intriguing. It's 11% alcohol, but that is masked very well. For starters, this beer pours a nice cloudy light brown with ruby redish hues coming through. There is a two finger lacy white head. Right away you get a bready, yeasty aroma with a hint of sour fruit. At first there is a musty, yeasty taste that is quickly followed by a nice cherry tartness. This beer has a wonderful balance of tartness and sweetness. As it warms up, the beer becomes more flavorful, but the cherries are never overwhelming. It reminds me a lot of Three Philosophers from Ommegang. Mad Elf has a nice carbonation that makes it quite refreshing and crisp. While this beer was fantastic, its almost a good thing I can't normally get my hands on it, because I could drink several of these in a sitting!


Hopback Amber Ale
This was actually the first of the Troegs beers I had and led me to drink the other two instead of try some of the other beers Dave sent me. This beer is outstanding. This is their flagship beer, and would be a regular beer of mine if I could buy it. I wrote "perfectly balanced" in my notes. The beer pours a beautiful amber color with a white head. There is a soft floral hop aroma. There is a perfect balance of caramel and biscuit flavors and is slightly sweet. The hops create a bit of bitterness, but not too much and there is also a slight spiciness as well. I think Amber ales can be hit or miss, but I love Fat Tire and a local beer, Rush River Unforgiven Amber Ale. I think that Hopback falls perfectly in between. Not as biscuity as Fat Tire, and not as hoppy as Rush River, just a perfect balance of hops and a sweet, flavorful body.

I sadly have no more Troegs left to drink. I had to lump these together because each one was excellent. I also love it when a brewery has quality beers from a wide range of styles, and Troegs seems to. Mad Elf is nothing like Nugget Nectar, and I like seeing that. Some breweries make a few really good beers, but tend to get mediocore outside of the their comfort zone. Breweries like Bells, New Glarus, and a few of my other favorites seem to be able to make a wide variety well. Based off what I've had, I'll add Troegs to that list and will make sure to try some other varieties the next time I get out to Pittsburgh.
Salud!
The Bearded Brewer

The Gringo- Imperial Mexican Cerveza

I've held off from reviewing this beer because I was curious to see how it would age. As I've written before, patience is not one of my qualities as a brewer. It would serve me well to be more patient, and this is a beer that proves that.
This beer came out of the idea of brewing an imperial beer, and seeing that imperial beers seem to be a big American trend, I thought it would be fitting to "Americanize" a Mexican lager. So in the spirit of Taco Bell and other such American bastardization of something Mexican... I took the concept of a Mexcian lager and upped the alcohol content and added a lot of hops. It took awhile for this beer to really mature, and this weekend I drank the last couple bottles I had, and I was really pleased with the turn out. It was an experimental 3 gallon batch, so I'd give this beer a B for effort and definitely have a foundation for a future beer that could be good with some tweaks.
For starters, I'll give my thoughts on the beer:
It pours a clear golden-light orange color with a foamy two finger white head. What hits you at first, and pretty much throughout the whole beer is the citrusy hops. This is what I was going for as I thought it would be cool to get that citrusy flavor we associate with Mexican beer, but from the hops (and no...not like Miller Chill). So I chose to use 2lbs of Centenial hops. These are characterized by their citrusy aroma, and The Gringo has a strong grapefruit flavor and smell to it. The citrus continues throughout the beer, as the hoppiness of the beer really centers on the Centenial hops. There is a puckering bitterness in the finish, but the lagering gave it kind of a smooth finish as well.
Overall, I was pleased with the experiment and actually plan on brewing it again because I think it would be a good summer beer. It is really hoppy, which is nice, but also kind of refreshing. I think that it loses most, if not all of the lager characteristics. I plan on using White Labs Mexican Lager yeast next time, as opposed to the Cali Lager 2112 yeast that I used. I'm hoping that might give it a bit more lager feel to it. I also plan on using some Agave or honey at the end of the boil or in the secondary to give it a nice balance at the end. I'm not saying this beer is on par with Bell's Hopslam at all...but there are some similarties, and I really liked how Hopslam had some honey at the end to really balance out the bitterness of the hops. Agave would make sense given the theme. If anyone has any experience using Agave, I'd love some thoughts because I've only had Breckenridges Agave Wheat, which was good, but have never used it before in a beer.
The point of my 3 gallon batches is to try something different and this beer falls under that category. I'm sending a bottle to [BW] Beer Blog, and am excited for Rick's thoughts on it. I also know now how long to let it mature, which is about 3-4 months. When I brew it again, I'll post the recipe, because I want to make some tweaks to it. This week I'll try to get to my review of the Irie Stout, but I also know I'm getting a big ol' box of beer from Pennsylvania, so I'll have plenty of treats to review in there as well.
Salud!
The Bearded Brewer

Beer Review- El Jefe

My friend Jeff has been my closest friend for over 20 years. While Jeff hasn't delved into homebrewing, he's been an integral part of the Bearded Brewing operation. He was the webmaster behind the first beardedbrewing.com website, has helped put in the tile in the brewery (a.k.a, my basement), built stuff for the brewery and is a very honest provider of feedback. So bottom line, its about time I made a beer named after him. I've had several ideas for El Jefe, but this summer I kind of settled on a lighter, crisp Belgian, in the vain of New Glarus' Stone Soup or even Mothership Wit by New Belgium. Something with some flavor, but light and crisp. Since my Inky's White and Bangy Tangy are more in the vain of wit, I wanted to go with more of a Belgian Pale Ale. El Jefe is 5.3% abv, so a nice session beer.
After about 2 months in the bottle, El Jefe is tasting fantastic. The actual brewing of this beer was a debacle because I was trying to juggle too many things, ended up missing the time I was going to put in the last of the extract, and boiled it for longer than I had intended. As always, I tried it too early, and was discouraged, enough to write a whiny post about it. Two weekends ago, Jeff and I cracked open a mini keg of it, and it was really good! I had also given a bottle to our buddy Josh who called to tell me that he thought it was better than the Bangy Tangy (the beer named by him).
Here's the breakdown:
It pours a cloudy light yellow with a thin white head. It has a fruity nose that is a little yeasty.
It is very crisp with a slight tartness, but has some lingering sweetness. Josh thought it was very close to Duvel or Delirium Tremens, which is a nice compliment. I think its a little lighter and less fruity than either of those, which is what I was going for. I think this would be a very good summer beer, and I think it will definitely be added to the rotation. I gave Jeff a couple six packs, but I still have another 1.5 gallon mini-keg of it left. I think I'll save it until the weather finally warms up!
Heres the recipe:
2 lbs org 2-row
.50 lbs org white wheat
.50 lbs org. Munich
.50 lbs crystal 4o
* above mashed at 150 degrees
4 lbs org. light dme
.35 oz Northern Brewer @ 60
.5 oz Sterling @ 45
.5 oz Sterling @15
1 tsp paradise seeds @ 5 min
Wyeast 1762 Abbey Ale II yeast

Next up, will be my thoughts on my Mayabock. We tried that as well, and it was good. Jeff's quote was "good, not awesome." I was determined to wait until May to crack this one open (after the 5 I've already tried), so hopefully time has improved it. Also, I'm excited because Dave from Muckney Brewing and I exchanged some beer, both commercial and homebrew. I'm excited to try some East coast beers I'm not able to get here as well as Muckney's interesting sounding beers. I'm getting some Troeg's, Dogfish, Stoudt's, and Otto's Jolly Roger Impy Stout as well as Muckney's Cinnamon Porter, Weizenbock, Dark IPA, and a ginger sesame ale. I'll of course review all those as well. More to come...
Salud!
The Bearded Brewer

Beer Review- Surly Bender

Surly Brewing Company is a small brewery located in a suburb of Minneapolis. In the two years it has been in existence it has built up quite a following and has a great buzz around it, including being rated the #1 brewery in Beer Advocate this past year. Surly has been a brewery I've had a weird reaction to, and I'm not too proud to say that I think my reaction to Surly was a bit immature. When Surly Furious came out, I tried it several times, as I was excited to have a new beer in the local landscape. I really didn't like it, it is an extremely bitter, hoppy beer, in fact I've heard owner Omar say it is the highest IBU or most bitter beer in the country! I gave it several tries, and so did a lot of my friends. I have friends who like it, and friends who really don't care for it. I think the other thing (and my immaturity) is that there is a really strong following of loyal Surly fans, and it creates a real fervor that I have to admit I was adverse to. In fact reading back over my Hop madness post, I realize it sounds like I'm bashing Surly. Which I'm not. I think that there are some really cool things Surly does, like pushing the limits of local beer taste, taking risks with some extreme beer, and it's awesome they have an annual disc golf outing. Plus they have really done a good job of building up a buzz through some DIY type marketing.

So, in an effort to be a more fair and balanced blog, I decided to buy a four pack (cans) of Surly Bender (I tried Furious a couple more times on tap...still not for me). I also tried their 2 (second annual beer) an 11% abv stout brewed with cranberries. I thought this was pretty good, but thought the cranberries were a little too overwhelming.

So I bought Bender, wanting to give it another chance. This beer is really intriguing because its kind of a porter/stout/brown ale, but hoppy and yet brewed with oats that give it a really interesting body.

Thoughts: This beer pours a dark brown with some ruby red hues and a thin tanish head. At first you really smell cocoa and some hints of citrus from the hops. This beer is quite complex and different, it has some nutty and coffee roastiness, yet at the same time has some chocolate tones to it. Also, there is quite a hop presence that gives it a slightly citrus finish and a nice balance to the other "darker" flavors that are going on. This is a really unique beer, and something I would drink again. Its hard to describe, which is good. Its kind of hoppy brown ale, with some stout like characteristics.

So...I'll admit I was wrong. And will steer clear of any Surly dissing in the future. I'll stand by my feelings of the Furious, but that doesn't mean I won't buy Bender again, or try other offerings that come out in the future (I've heard good things about Cynic, a saison, from Brian, who isn't a Furious fan either). I guess the theme of this weekend's posts have been: don't make blanket statements.

Salud!

The Bearded Brewer

Beer Review- Pleasant Surprises

In the past I've stated that I wasn't a fan of the imperial beer craze. These are big (usually 8% alcohol and up) and very hoppy beers. It seemed like this was the trend in American beers,
bigger = better. The few imperials I had were not impressive, and overall, as someone who enjoys hops, but not in excess, I figured this craze was not really something I would appreciate.

However, I'm an open-minded person. So I've set out to try some imperials to find out if I might be wrong. The first occasion, I bought Avery Brewing Company's The Czar, a Russian Imperial Stout, and also Sam Adam's Imperial Pilsner. In January, Jeff, Brian and I split these beers and weren't too impressed. Actually none of us could finish The Czar and we thought the Imperial Pils was interesting, but not something we'd drink often. But, I decided to give a couple more a shot. Here are my thoughts:

Old Rasputin
This winter, I've been drinking more stouts and after reading some positive reviews of a beer I'd always heard alot about, North Coast Brewing's Old Rasputin, I thought I should give it a try. I was very impressed. The beer pours a jet black with a thin tan head. Roasty and hoppy aromas hit you first. What follows is a creamy stout filled with peppery spiciness from the hops, and a nice balance of coffee, toffee, and roastiness. It didn't feel as strong as it is, and there was no noticeable alcohol burn one might expect from that strong of a beer. This would be great on a cold night, and seemed to more flavorful as it warmed up. Add to it, a kick ass name, this is one that changes my opinion of Russian Imperial Stouts.

Bell's Hopslam
This is a beer that has gotten a lot of buzz and is from one of my favorite breweries. I was skeptical about this beer, despite some good recommendations. It sounded like a beer I wouldn't enjoy, plus at $14 a six pack, I really didn't want to spend the money and have 6 beers I didn't like. But one day I decided to throw caution to the wind and drop the cash on a sixer.
Wow! What a beer! It took me a couple bottles to really appreciate what I was drinking (not in one sitting, it's 10% abv!) The beer pours a copper-orangish color with a lacy white head. It smells strongly of citrus, especially grapefruit. At first it is fairly bitter, with a chewy body. The hops are everywhere, but after a few drinks, there is a slightly sweet maltiness, and there is a honey sweetness as you finish. Someone told me they thought last year's was better because it had less honey presence, but that was the final sell for me. I thought that the honey added a sweetness that really balanced out the hops. This is a beer that takes a while to drink, because it is chewy and strong. But over the course of a couple weeks, I found myself really looking forward to cracking one open. I should have known that Bell's wouldn't disappoint!

So there you have it. Being open-minded and willing to try new things can lead you to beers you wouldn't have thought you'd like. I wouldn't say I'll make either of these my everyday beer, but there will be occasions that either of these beers would be great.
Salud!
The Bearded Brewer

Beer Review- Dogfish Head Chicory Stout

I've read a lot about Dogfish Head Beers and I've always been really interested to try some of their unique beers. As someone who enjoys trying to be creative with beer styles, founder Sam Calagione is someone I greatly admire. Dogfish Head is sadly not available in Minnesota, so finally on a trip to Chicago, I got my first taste. I tried the Indian Brown Ale, which was good, and I picked up a six pack of their Chicory Stout. I've really been into stouts lately, and this beer is brewed with chicory and organic Mexican coffee...it sounded excellent!

This beer pours a dark chocolate color with a two finger tan head that dissolves into a thin foamy layer. Immediately you pick up on the coffee/roastiness in the aroma. You can also pick up a bit of chocolatey and chicory presence as well.
I found it to be a very smooth and lighter body with a great creamy feel. It has very little sweetness, but instead has a great chalky coffee flavor and some bitterness. It feels closer to a porter in some ways because of how smooth it is, but the coffee and chicory really give it a unique taste and take away some of the roastier flavors that you would expect. A very, very good beer and one I wish I could have access to.

I'm going to hold off my Butte Creek review because I just picked up a couple other organic beers and I'll be reviewing them together. I also just got some great responses to some questions I sent East End Brewing Company that I'll be posting this weekend.
Salud!
The Bearded Brewer

Beer Review- Tripel Karmeliet

Let me start this off by saying that while I enjoy Belgian beers, I'm not fanatical about them. I enjoy aspects of a lot of Belgian beers, and in particular appreciate the complexity and craftsmanship that goes into them.
Of the Abbey Ales, I have found that I often times can only enjoy one or two before craving something darker, roastier or hoppier. I think that the complexity of flavors in a Belgian Dubbel can be kind of overwhelming at times, and while I can appreciate Belgian pale ales like Delirium Tremens and Duvel, I would have to say they wouldn't be my first choice of a beer to drink.
But Belgian Tripels are a dangerous genre of beer for me. There is something very refreshing if a Belgian Tripel is done right, and usually with ABVs in the 8-10 range, they can be easy to drink and not easy to stand up afterwards. With that said, I have been introduced to a new, and dangerous triple: Tripel Karmaliet

Poured into the official goblet (that's right, I'm that guy now), the beer pours a light golden color with a thick three finger white head that dissipates into a thin white foam. There is only a slight musty/yeasty smell that I normally associate with Belgians, but this gives way to a sweet, slightly caramely aroma with a hint of fruitiness.
It has quite a bit of carbonation and while there is a little hint of fruit, there is more of a caramel or candy sweetness. There is very little of the alcohol heat that I normally associate with Belgians. I wrote down "scary smooth and sweet" because I think this a beer you could drink a few of before you realized it. Overall, this is a beer that is probably going to become part of the rotation. Not to mention...I have this kick ass goblet that needs to be filled!

Later this week I'm going to review two other beers I brought back from my trip to Chicago, Dogfish Head's Chicory Stout and Butte Creek's Organic Porter.
Salud!
The Bearded Brewer

Beer Reviews- New Belgium, Millstream

This week I've been meaning to get to some beer reviews of some great beers I've been enjoying as I wait for a couple of my own beers to get ready. Let me just take quick minute to profess my love for New Belgium Brewing Company. On a trip to Colorado about 7 years ago, I really fell in love with craft beers after drinking beers from Boulder Brewing Company, Flying Dog, and New Belgium. My wife and I brought back a case of Fat Tire, and it became a habit that friends would bring us back Fat Tire or we would do the same if we were headed back from Colorado or Nebraska. This summer, the buzz in the Twin Cities was that Fat Tire bombers (along with 1554 and Mothership Wit) were coming to the cities after a 10 year hiatus. There were literally lines around the block at some liquor stores. I wasn't one who was waiting (I swear) but I was more than excited. Well, this past week, six packs and 12 packs of New Belgium have arrived, including Folly Packs (samplers) and seasonals. The Folly Packs included 1554, Fat Tire, Mothership Wit, and a limited release. In this one, its Mighty Arrow Pale Ale.

One other quick note, and this could be a post all its own....its important to mention that New Belgium is quite possibly the most socially responsible brewery in the country. They are employee owned, completely sustainable, wind powered, and participate in a number of causes.
You can check out more here: http://www.newbelgium.com/sustainability.php

Ok...enough of my long winded intro, onto the beer reviews.
The limited release included in the Folly Pack was Mighty Arrow Pale Ale:
This beer pours a bronze color with a thin white head. I think it has a really nice floral and citrusy aroma to it. I wasn't expecting such a solid pale ale from them since most of their beers tend to have a unique flavor profile, but this is a great pale ale. Its not overly hoppy by any means, and the body is fairly light. But there's a great caramel presence in the body and a slight biscuit flavor I'd expect from Fat Tire or 2 Below. Throughout the beer, the hops are definitely there, and there's just a nice clean flavor to the rest of the beer. A damn good pale ale, and one I hope comes around more frequently. I'd put this up with Summit Extra Pale Ale as a pale I'd buy when I just want a really good PA.

Springboard Ale: This is their spring seasonal and is more of what I was expecting of a New Belgium release. Here's their description: SPRINGBOARD combines oats, ancient Chinese herbs and Mt. Hood hops to maintain a balanced equilibrium for such an exhilarating ale.
It states its brewed with Wormwood, Goji Berries, and Schisandra. The beer pours a cloudy, light yellow, with a thin but lacy white head. It has a very sweet and fruity aroma, with a definite yeasty presence. A really crisp, but sweet beer, this is a very interesting, easy drinking ale. I think this could be an easy beer to drink a lot of, its sweet like most Belgian beers, but really crisp and refreshing. Overall a unique, great drinking beer.

The final beer for this review is not from New Belgium, but from what is quickly becoming another favorite brewery of mine,
Millstream Brewing Co. from Amana, Iowa. On his last trip back from Iowa, my friend Jeff brought up a six pack of Schild Brau Amber, their flagship beer. I was excited to try this beer, since the other two I've had of theirs have been excellent. This beer is an 11 time medal winner at the GABF, including 4 in a row. It's described as a Vienna lager. The beer pours a reddish, copper color with a thin off white head. It has a wonderful malty body with some caramely sweetness, and a touch of spicy hoppiness. Its interesting because despite its malty body and dark color, its crisp like a lager. Yet another excellent beer from Millstream, I can't pick a favorite of the three I've had, but I think I'm going to have to keep bugging Jeff to bring back more every time he goes down to Iowa. Here's my review of their Iowa Pale Ale and John's White.
Salud!
The Bearded Brewer

Let the Lagering Begin!

Two weeks ago I was able to buy an old fridge from my neighbor across the street. It was the perfect situation because we just wheeled it across the street on a dolly from his garage to mine! No lifting, no moving it out of a basement, about as easy of a find as possible. It hadn't been plugged in for a year or so, so it was pretty funky. I cleaned it out and left the doors open for a week, and this weekend I built a shelf out of left over plywood from my bar, plugged it in, and put two carboys in it. Needless to say I'm fairly excited, even though its not in perfect condition, $75 to pay for a working fridge/freezer with hardly any work was about the best you could ask for. I'm excited about the ability to make bocks and some lagers, and also really excited about the extra storage space in the freezer for putting grains, hops and some additional brewing ingredients, like the 3 pounds of cranberries I have left over from a couple past beers.


My first real lager attempt, my Yinzer Lager, has been tasting good after about 4 weeks in the bottle. The beer pours a really nice light golden color with a thin white head that is fairly lacy. It's crystal clear with a faint fruity aroma. It's very crisp with a slight hoppy spiciness.
This beer was inspired by Pittsburgh beers like Yuengling and Iron City, but I don't know how close it is to either of those. One friend of mine said it had a nice "grainy" quality to it, which is good since I associate those flavors with what I was going for. My friend Brian, a native of Pittsburgh, said that its way too hoppy for a Pittsburgh lager but added, "that's not a bad thing at all."
Overall I was fairly happy with the experiment. The people who have tried it have like it, but I don't think it stands out. Personally, I'm not a big lager fan, and I made it just for the experience of making a lager. A special thanks goes out to Ted at Ted's Homebrew Blog for some consulting on the finer points of lagering.
Because of the fridge, I definitely plan on doing some more lagers, but I'm thinking about some more interesting ones, and I'm happy to know that I can achieve the crispness I was looking for.
This was a 3 gallon recipe and for those interested:
1.3 lbs Org 2-row
.25 lbs org Crystal 40
.10 lbs org Cara-pils
2 lbs org light dme
.40lbs rice syrup

.5 oz Saaz 60
.35 Saaz 15
.15 Saaz 1

Cali 2112 Yeast: Lagered for 4 weeks @ 40 degrees, brought up to 62 degrees for 1 week before bottling.

Stay tuned this week for a post on Friday in connection with the Session Series (check out Beeractivist.com for details). This month's session is related to organic brewing.
Salud!
The Bearded Brewer

Beer Reviews- Organic Beers from the West Coast

In exchange for the home brews that I sent to Bob Woodshed, he sent me 3 beers that I would be unable to get here in Minnesota. All three were organic and all three were really good. Here's the breakdown:

The first beer I drank was Bison Brewing Company's Belgian Ale. This beer is a Belgian Triple and the label says it's 8.1% abv and features organic coriander. The beer pours a cloudy, light orange with a lacy, 2 finger head. There's a real fruity and citrusy aroma. It's really carbonated, with a nice alcohol warmth, with flavors of melon and plum. A really good beer, smooth but there was definitely a heat to it. My only complaint was that I really didn't notice the coriander. But overall a really impressive Belgian Triple...and organic at that.

Next up was a beer I was really intrigued by, Roots Brewing Company's Island Red. On their website they describe it as a red stout, with a full body. I have to admit that I was expecting a bit more body to it based on that description. It pours a beautiful red with a thick, foamy white head. It has an interesting hop presence in the aroma. I can't really put my finger on the aroma, but it was unique. There's definitely a strong hop bitterness. I noticed some complex flavors in the body, not your typical red ale at all. The more I drank, the more the hops revealed themselves. This is a really unique beer that I would like to try again. I think I was expecting something different, so it took awhile for me to put my finger on the tastes. Very intriguing beer. Rick at [BW] Beer Blog and I reviewed this one at the same time, so for a another take, I suggest checking out his impressions.


The last beer was Green Lakes Organic Ale from Deschutes Brewing Company. I was really excited to try this beer. It pours a beautiful amber color with a finger of off white head that dissipates to a thin lacy head. It was an outstanding beer and I'm actually just going to post the link to [BW] Beer Blog about this beer because he describes it perfectly: Green Lakes

It was a great exchange and we plan on doing some more in the future. Its nice to try three good organic beers. Also its fun to see two takes on the same beer. So if you're visiting this site from Bob Woodshed, thanks for checking it out. If you haven't checked out his site before, I suggest taking a look at his great reviews.

Salud!
The Bearded Brewer

La Libertad- West Coast Pale Ale

In September I went on a trip to San Fransisco and I was struck by the difference in beer styles between the West Coast and the Midwest. Not that I haven't had my fair share of west coast beers, but what struck me was that in the two brew pubs I visited, I thought the pale ales were much hoppier than a lot of Midwestern pale ales. In fact, looking back over my notes, I wrote "very hoppy, almost like an IPA, and very little sweetness," and this was written about two pales from two different brew pubs.
I decided to make a "west coast pale ale" inspired by the beers on my trip. I spent some time playing with the recipe and drinking some beers like Sierra Nevada Pale and Anchor's Liberty Ale. It was Anchor's Liberty Ale that inspired this beer (hence the name La Libertad) and I decided to really feature Cascade hops, which of course are the signature hops of west coast ales.


After about two weeks in the bottle, I'm really pleased with how La Libertad has turned out. It definitely is what I was going for. It pours a golden color, and very clear, with a thick two finger white head. The citrusy aroma of Cascade hops hit you right away, and linger throughout. There's a nice hop bitterness to the beer and very little sweetness. I wrote down "nice clean taste to it. " It really has a floral-citrus hop presence, with a bitter hoppy bite as well. It is quite a bit hoppier than my Bearded Fury Pale Ale, which uses Fuggle hops. Its all organic except for the hops, but I think Organic Pacific Gem hops could be substituted to achieve a similar effect.

Here's the recipe:
1 lb Organic 2-Row
1 lb Organic Munich
.35 lb Organic Crystal 20
.15 lb Organic Belgian Special B
Above mashed at 150 for 35 min
4 lbs Organic Dry Light Extract
Hops:
1 oz Vanguard @ 60 min
1 oz Northern Brewer @ 30 min
1 oz Cascade @ 15 min
.5 oz Cascade @ 1 min
.5 oz Cascade dry hopped
I used the Wyeast 1332 Northwest Ale Yeast

I'm curious to see how it ages, but I'd have to say I'm happy thus far and La Libertad might be added to the normal rotation.
Salud!
The Bearded Brewer

Organic Beer Reviews

I've been meaning to get to some reviews of some organic beers I've had recently. A couple of them I had awhile ago, and a few have been recent.

Fish Tale India Pale Ale- This is a beer I had at a friend's house and was really impressed. I'd seen this beer in the stores before, but had never picked it up. Fish Brewing Company is a brewery in Olympia, Washington and from their website it looks like they have three organic beers in their line. Here's a quote from their site: Fish Brewing provides three bottled organic ales made with choice ingredients grown without the use of the harmful fertilizers and pesticides that damage our precious streams and ground water.
This beer poured a nice golden-bronze color with a two finger white head. Right away a nice aroma of citrusy hops. I thought it might be cascade or centennial, but after reading their website it looks like they use a New Zealand organic hop called Pacific Gem. I've seen these hops for sale on the Seven Bridges Co-op website, and I might have to pick some up, because at least in this beer they were very similar to the two hop types I mentioned. There's a nice caramel presence and some maltiness in the body. A great drinking IPA, similar in my mind to Bell's Two Hearted, which is a good thing! I would for sure buy a sixer of this beer. Their website is: www.fishbrewing.com

New Belgium Mothership Wit- When New Belgium beer finally came to the cities this year we were not only blessed with Fat Tire, but two other great beers, the unique 1554 Black Ale, and this beer, their organic wit. I'm a fan of Belgian white beers, especially Hoegaarden and some American varieties. Hopefully, everyone knows about the pioneering that New Belgium does when it comes to sustainability in the brewing industry. If not, either read Fermenting Revolution by Chris O'Brien or google it because it deserves a post all its own. Anyway, onto the beer.
It pours a very pale yellow color, close to Hoegaarden, with a thin white head. It has a very lemony aroma to it, and some lemony presence in the aftertaste. It has some coriander evident as well, but not as much as some other wits on the market. Overall I think this is a good beer and very refreshing. It's not the best wit I've had or the best beer from New Belgium, but a good drinking wit and nice to see them adding an organic beer to their already wonderful approach to brewing.

Peak Organic Nut Brown Ale- This is the second offering from Peak Organic that I've tried. I like their amber a lot, if you're interested, here's my review http://www.beardedbrewing.org/2008/01/organic-beers.html

The brown ale pours a chocolate brown with a finger of off-white head. It has a nice malty sweetness with hints of chocolate and a nice nutty finish. It has very little hop presence, with a crisp, smoothness to it. Another good beer from Peak and a brown ale that I would put up with any other good browns out there.

I'm happy to see the amount of organic beers growing and I'm sure there are plenty out there I haven't tried. If anyone has any suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

Salud!
The Bearded Brewer

[BW] Beer Blog reviews my beer

I've never entered a competition. Mostly out of laziness more than anything else. I came close one time and even filled out the info and took the bottle to the home brew store, only to find out I couldn't send clear bottles. To be honest, its never something that I've ever been super concerned with because I really enjoy the beer I make and so do my friends. I have a very honest wife and friends, who will tell me if they like my beer or not. I don't consider myself a super technical brewer and definitely lean more on the artistic side of brewing than the scientific side. I brew what I think will taste good and so far have been lucky that my beers turn out well despite not always knowing all of the technical aspects of it. I have a lot of admiration for people who are that technical, its just not a strength of mine.

I've been in admiration of a blog I found early on in my blogging and that's [BW] Beer Blog, aka Bob Woodshed. This guy has some of the best beer reviews on the web and I think he just flat out knows his beer. After reading reviews of his beers for months and exchanging some comments on posts, I decided one night to email him and see if he'd be interested in reviewing a couple of my beers. He was really excited about the prospect and after a hassle with UPS two of my beers made it to him. I'm disappointed because my Morris Park Porter broke on the way, and it was a beer I really wanted him to review. Apparently when something breaks in route, they send it back and repackage it. So...for a couple weeks Rick (aka Bob Woodshed) and I have been exchanging emails trying to track down where the hell the package was.

Anyway, it finally arrived and last night I went on his site and was surprised to see the review up of the Bangy Tangy already. To say I was blown away was an understatement. I didn't expect such a positive response and was honored and humbled by it. Not that I'm not confident in my beer, but like I said before, I think he really knows his beer and didn't know how he'd react to a home brew.

You can check out the review if you want at: http://bobwoodshed.org/beer/?p=85

I'll be excited to see his response to the Northwoods (which I don't think is as good as the Bangy Tangy). I'm disappointed in the porter breaking, but I still have a couple that might make their way back to him for a review (not through UPS!). This might be something I continue to do, because its great to get another opinion on your beers. And after his response I might be entering a competition (luckily I bottled in brown bottles)!

Salud!

The Bearded Brewer

Summit Brewing Company

I have written a lot about some midwest beers like Schell, New Glarus, Rush River, etc. Yet I realized that I haven't given any love to the grandaddy of craft brewing in Minnesota, Summit Brewing Company. Summit has been brewing in St. Paul since 1986 and to quote their site: "The brainchild of St. Paul beer lover Mark Stutrud, Summit brewing Company was founded with one goal: To bring back the remarkable craft beers once brewed throughout the Upper Midwest."
On a personal note, I was one of the many that spent college drinking shitty, cheap beer. Aside from another midwest favorite, Leinenkugels, my first foray into craft beer was Summit. I think it was probably Summit Extra Pale Ale, a beer that at the time was far too hoppy for my uneducated tastes. But actually the first Summit that reeled me in was their Maibock. Released in early March, it became a beer that we couldn't wait to see its signature blue and white checkered tap handle at our regular bar. Since most of us weren't accustomed to drinking a beer as strong as Maibock, it was always quite the event.

Over the years, Summit has turned into my fall back beer. Meaning, the beer I choose if I'm being too indecisive or just need to run in and grab a sixer. For starters, I'm a sucker for beers that pay homage to their local traditions, and Summit (a famous St. Paul avenue) is the perfect example. Their packaging has a picture of St. Paul and several names of their beers (Great Northern Porter, Scandia and the former Grand) feature tributes to their home city and state. They also contract brew one of the most socially responsible beers, Finnegans Irish Ale, which donates 100% of their proceeds to charity. But most importantly, Summit makes great beer.

Their flagship is Summit Extra Pale Ale. This beer is a light bronze colored ale that is hopped with Cascade, Horizon, and Fuggles. It has a great carmely presence in the body and a nice hoppy bitterness. As their website says, there isn't a beer lover in the cities who isn't familiar with this beer.

I mentioned the Maibock, a limited spring release. It's malty and smooth, with a presence of Saaz hops. This beer is 6.7% abv and pours a golden color with a thick white head. One of my favorite beers of all time. I've yet to have a better Maibock.

Their Great Northern Porter is the beer that forever changed my views of porters. I have tried quite a few porters since (I even have a post about it) and yet Summit's still is the best. This is a roasty black porter. It is malty and smooth, with a bit of a hop presence. It's jet black with a thin tan head.

Summit also has an ESB (which I've only had a couple of times). They also renamed their pilsner from Summit Grand to Summit Pilsner. Apparently they changed the recipe as well. I'd had Grand before and it was a nice, light, crisp pilsner. I have yet to try their new recipe.

I recently had their Winter Ale, which is a dark brown, almost black beer. It has a great roastiness with a nice chocolate presence. Unlike most winter warmers, this one lacks spices. Its just a nice full bodied beer for the frigged Minnesota winters.

I've only had their IPA once, and I don't remember much about it, so I'm going to skip the description. Sorry I didn't buy some for this posting, but I bought the porter instead!
Their summer beer has changed locally. For the longest time Summit released a Hefeweizen, I personally really liked it. There was a nice cloviness to it, and a refreshing, crisp body. However, I know a lot of people who didn't like it. They stopped making it locally and now only have it in the Chicago market. Perhaps some of my Chicagoland readers can chime in their impressions if they've had it. What it's been replaced by in the cities is Scandia Ale, their Belgian witbier. While this isn't my favorite Belgian witbier on the market, I do like it. It pours a cloudy pale yellow and has hints of cardamom, coriander and orange. Its really crisp and refreshing, and a nice change of pace from their normal line-up. They also release an Oktoberfest which I've never had.

Last spring, I finally went on a tour of the brewery. I live very close to it and don't know why I'd never gone before. But anyway, my friends Brian and Jeff (from the Town Hall experience) and another friend Bob went over on a Saturday morning for their free tour. There wasn't anything super special about the tour itself, a pretty regular brewery tour. But what we were really struck by was how cool and nice everyone there was. We ended up having a great time, drinking a ton of great, free beer, and all walked away wanting to support Summit as much as possible. For anyone who lives in the Twin Cities, or the midwest, it's a tour really worth your time. It's free, but there's a big waiting list and you have to call ahead.

If you can support Summit, it's worth your while. Its a great brewery and I think that because they've been around for 21 years, they tend to get overlooked a bit in the local market. Understandably, the new breweries of Flat Earth and Surly have been getting a lot of attention. What's really nice is that all three are doing different things, so we are starting to have a nice variety in the beers in the Twin Cities market.

Cheers!
-The Bearded Brewer

Town Hall Brewery

In the most recent Beer Advocate, I was surprised to find two Minnesota breweries listed in the top 25 for Best American Brewers. Number 1 was Surly and number 11, was Town Hall Brewery in Minneapolis. For a budding beer culture, the Twin Cities lacks two things in abundance, breweries and brewpubs. We have 3 breweries in the city (only a couple more in the state), and while we have a lot of bars with great beer selections, we have very few brewpubs . Town Hall is always a brewpub I was aware of, but never knew much about it and had never visited it.

So, on Saturday I ventured out into the bitter 2 degree air to meet up with Jeff and Brian at Town Hall Brewery for lunch and some beer. We walked away very impressed.
First of all, the bar itself has a great atmosphere (sorry, my camera's batteries died so no interior pics). There's a great old tin tiled ceiling and a beautiful huge oak bar. Their selection of "guest" taps was impressive, including several hard to find beers. But we were here for Town Hall's brews. Onto the beer:

We all had a couple of pints and split the sampler. Jeff and I started with the West Bank, which is their British pub ale. This beer was excellent, very mild with a creamy two finger off-white head. It pours a nice copper color and has a great hop/malt balance. A great session beer!
Brian started with the Hope and King Scotch Ale. This beer poured a dark mahogany with a thin white head. This beer was also outstanding, it had a very malty sweetness to it with virtually no hop presence. Brian ended up taking home a growler of this. Another excellent beer.
Onto the sampler:
The current seasonal is a Belgian Abbey Triple, called Triple Vision. This beer was a scary 9% abv. Scary because it was candy sweet and extremely easy to drink. It poured a light golden color with a thin white head. Sweet with some fruity esters, this beer was really good.
The least impressive beer for us was the Bright Spot Golden Ale. This beer was much closer to a lager in our opinions, it had that "lager finish", as Jeff put it. It was a nice drinking beer, very crsip with a light body. It poured a golden color with a thin white head.. There was nothing wrong with this beer, it just wasn't as impressive as the rest of the beers we had.
Also in the sampler were the Masala Mama IPA and the Cask-Conditioned Masala Mama. The IPA was a very good IPA. It was a copper color with an off-white head. It was definitely hoppy, but also had a nice caramel presence in the body. I haven't had many cask-conditioned beers before, but we all thought the regular was better. The Malsa Mama was a good IPA, not the best I've had, but very good.
The last of the sampler was the Black H20 Oatmeal Stout. Both this and the Hope and King Scotch Ale have won various awards. Onto the stout. This might be the stout that changes my opinion about stouts! I'm not normally a stout drinker, but this was excellent. It pours a black color with a thick two finger tan head. It had a great malty and roasty presence to it, with caramel elements in there as well. Great beer, I ended up getting a pint of this as well.

So, now that I know what a gem lies a short distance from my house, I'm going to have to be making it over to pick up some growlers. We were really impressed with the beer and the atmosphere of the bar. I can understand why they ranked so high on the list.





Cheers!
-The Bearded Brewer

Iowa Beer

Jeff brought back some beer from our home state of Iowa. There are very few breweries in Iowa, but Millstream is the state's oldest microbrewery, located in Amana, near Iowa City. Jeff brought back two beers, the Iowa Pale Ale (IPA) and their John's Generations White Beer. They were both excellent. Here are my thoughts:



Iowa Pale Ale (IPA)
This beer was a very nice IPA. It poured a darker golden color, almost copper. It had a nice two fingers white head and a really floral aroma. The description on their website says they use Northern Brewer, Hallertau and dry hop with Cascade hops. I think the cascade hops gave this beer a nice crisp citrusy finish. Its not overly malty, and has a nice sweet body to it. I was really impressed with this beer, a very mild yet refreshing IPA.


John's Generation White Beer
This beer was a silver medal winner at the GABF for the wit category, no easy feat considering the huge popularity of this style and the large amount of breweries who have recently been brewing wits. This beer is brewed in honor of John's Grocery, a store in Iowa City that is the largest and most famous beer and wine distributor in the state. It's been handed down through three generations, hence the name.
Anyway, onto the beer: This beer was outstanding and one of the better white's I've had. It poured a light yellow, with a cloudiness from the yeast and a thin white head. It was extremely crisp and refreshing. There is a slight hint of coriander, but not nearly as present as a lot of white ales. I really liked this beer and it would be the perfect summer beer.
I'd love to try more from this brewery, but don't know when I'll be getting back down to Iowa. Check out their website at www.millstreambrewing.com

Good to see some good Iowa beer!
-Bearded Brewer

Beer for Christmas

Happy holidays everyone. I'm in Wisconsin celebrating Christmas and excited to have tried some native Wisconsin beers during my trip. In a previous post I mentioned my obsession with a Wisconsin brewery, New Glarus. Well, I was able to sample several more New Glarus products and thought I'd share my thoughts:

Spotted Cow: This is a beer I had tried before, but several weeks ago when I was in Wisconsin tried again and really fell in love with it. This is described as a farmhouse ale and is the beer that they have doing a lot of marketing with and have on tap in a lot of locations. This beer pours a very light golden color with a thin white head and a healthy amount of carbonation. It's very fruity with a hint of citrus and melon. It's very smooth and has a soft mouthfeel. This is a great summer beer and just an easy drinking beer.

Smoke on the Porter: This is part of the "unplugged series." The label says that Dan the head brewer is given freedom to brew a batch of whatever he can come up with. This summer was a Belgian Quadruple. For the winter they market a four pack of this unplugged, a smokey porter. Apparently the malted grains are smoked with applewood. My dad described this beer as "incredible!" It pours a dark brown, almost black with a very thin tan head. The first thing that hits you is the smokiness and it remains throughout. This beer is unlike anything I've had before. Smokey and roasty, with very little hint of anything else. This beer tastes like a campfire. Unique and excellent.

Yokel: This is New Glarus' lager and while I'm not normally a lager fan, this is a good beer. It pours a very light yellow with a thick rocky white head. There's a crisp, slightly sweet aftertaste. This beer drinks very smooth with very little hop presence. A nice drinking lager.

Organic Revolution: This is a newer addition brewed with organic Wisconsin malts and organic Hallertau hops. It is described as a hoppy pale ale, but I found the hop presence to be quite mild. It was a nice drinking pale ale, with a slightly caramel taste. I thought it was decent, but nothing outstanding, especially in comparison to their other beers.

I also had another Wisconsin beer from Point Brewery in Stevens Point. I'm a big fan of their white beer, it was actually the inspiration for my Inky's White as it's one of my wife's favorite beers. Nothing else we've had from them has particularly stood out. Their holiday beer is called St. Benedict and is a Belgian double. It pours a light brown with a ruby red hue. It has a very thin off-white head and a very fruity flavor. It's very nice and has a warming alcohol presence to it. I liked this beer and would compare it to the Schell's Snowstorm. A nice holiday Belgian.

I got several beer related books for Christmas, including one that deserves its own post, the great Land of Amber Waters. This exhaustive history of the brewing history of Minnesota is an amazing book. More on that later.
Merry Christmas and happy holidays!
-The Bearded Brewer

Stone Porter and Alaskan Brewing Co.

During Thanksgiving, I went down to Tuscon, Arizona to visit my parents. I was able to try some beers that aren't available in the midwest, and was excited about a couple.

First off, I can add another porter to my porter review....Stone Smoked Porter from Stone Brewing Company. Yet another impressive beer from the makers of Arrogant Bastard, this was an amazing porter. It poured a dark brown, almost black color with a medium tan head. It was very roasty with very little chocolatey aftertaste. Little to no hop character, this beer was all about the smokey, roasty flavor. It was smooth and very tasty. I wish I could find it locally.

The other impressive beers I had on this trip were two beers from Alaskan Brewing Company and 2 Below from New Belgium Brewing Company. The Alaskan Amber, which was actually an altbier was excellent. Malty and flavorful. The other Alaskan we bought was their Winter Ale, which is brewed with spruce tips. This beer was also great, the spruce tips add and an interesting piney flavor that blends well with the sweet maltiness. Very smooth and not at all heavy for a winter ale. Finally, 2 below was a good beer from New Belgium. I actually thought it tasted a lot like Fat Tire, a bit more smooth since it's lagered, but still had a similar taste. It was a very clear copper color with a white head. Some citrusy hopiness, and a caramel/maltiness. Very good and I hope it eventually becomes part of the New Belgium line offered in the Twin Cities.

That's all for now- The Bearded Brewer

Porter Review

Lately as its gotten colder I've had a love affair with porters. I had never had one before a tour of the Summit Brewery last spring. There in the tasting room I had a fresh, cold porter that was amazing and changed my opinion of the dark beer. I'm not a stout fan, but I've found the porters I've had to be a nice mix of smoothness, hoppiness and a great blend of roasted flavors. Well I recently tried two I haven't tried before, Sierra Nevada Porter and Anchor Porter.

Sierra Nevada Porter: Sierra Nevada Brewing Company - Chico, CA

I liked this porter, it had a mild hoppiness and a definite roasty-coffee-cocoa flavor. It poured a very dark brown with some ruby red and a thin off-white head. It was smooth and creamy, but definitely had a nice balance of flavors including some graininess. I would drink this porter again.

Anchor Porter: Anchor Brewing Company,

San Francico, CA

This porter was recommended to me by a friend and I found it in a local store, but paid $9.29 for the six pack!! I enjoy Anchor Liberty Ale a lot as well as Anchor Steam, so I expected this to be good. It pours a dark mahogany-chocolaty color with a thick tan head. There is a heavy floral aroma from the hops used. It lacks some of the malitness and roastiness of other porters I've tried. The presence is there, but not really strong. It is smooth and easy to drink, but I was expecting more. I like it, but I'd probably spend the $6.99 for Summit Great Northern Porter or the $7.99 for Sierra Nevada first. I think its a good beer, but lacks some of what I was looking for in a porter. I think that use of some citrusy west coast hops, like Cascade maybe, gives it a unique flavor and aroma.

I didn't get a chance to buy a six pack of Summit's Great Northern Porter for this review, but that will be coming soon. Also, I recently had a bottle of St. Paul's Flat Earth Brewing company's first bottle release, their Belgian Pale Ale. I'll comment on that soon as well.

-The Bearded Brewer