Fermented Adventures

Stone 14th Anniversary Imperial IPA

Last night I popped in at Barcade for their Rare West Coast Beers night. I had been eyeing the Stone 14th Anniversary ever since seeing the list, remembering how much I liked the 13th anniversary last year.

Thing is, I think I might be needing a break from massive hop blasts. The Stone double IPA starts out bitter, but it’s a lingering bitter that builds the more you drink it. Which, for me, was a shame as there were a lot of fruit flavors present in the beer. It pours apricot coloured and smells of candied fruit (I actually got a dried apricot flavor in the nose). The citrus and tropical flavors swirl underneath the hoppy bitterness, but it’s the bitterness that drives everything, lasting long after you swallow. Still, it had nice rounded flavors and hopheads out there should like it. I preferred the 13th Anniversary which had more malt to balance out the hops.

Not content to stick with one taste, I went on to the Nitro Old Rasputin Imperial Stout, thinking that something darker might be a good contrast. And the stout was good – nice chocolatey malts and roasted flavors, and very, very smooth. But perhaps a little too smooth. After the 14th Anniversary, I wanted something with a bit more kick, I think, and the Old Rasputin didn’t have much of that at the time.  A good beer, just probably not what I was looking for at the moment.

I think that my palate seems to be going through another change. The big DIPAs and other Imperial styles aren’t seeming to do it for me anymore. And heavily spiced Belgians are also putting me off. Maybe it’s the summer, or just drinking a little less.

Saturday is another Beer Club meeting – maybe I’ll find something great there.

BrewDog, the Scottish brewing company, is known for brewing extreme beer. Earlier this year they released Sink the Bismarck!, a beer with 41% alcohol by volume.  Not content with that milestone, they’ve apparently created a beer that is 55% alcohol by volume which they’re billing as the world’s strongest beer. Only 12 bottles of the End of History Ale have been made, but that’s not where the weirdness ends. No, the bottles are covered in the preserved carcasses of dead animals.

I’m all for pushing the envelope, even if it’s something I wouldn’t drink, but I am scratching my head over the dead animal packaging. None of the animals were killed for this, and a taxidermist worked on them, but it still is just bizarre and, frankly, to me, not something I’d want near my beer, let alone around it.

I just came across this icecube set, sold on Amazon, which has creates ice in the shape of the Titanic and in the shape of icebergs. For use in your drinks.

It made me chuckle.

Japan’s All Nippon Airways is the first airline to offer draft beer on an airplane flight. As mentioned briefly in the article, I wonder how and if the air pressure will affect the beer. Also, I assume this will be a lager. But I can’t help imagining a day where this might be commonplace and craft beer will rule the skies.

(Thanks to Bill Shunn for the picture)

With a few exceptions, I haven’t been able to drink rum since I was 16.  A regrettable incident at a senior prom with a bottle of Snapple and something that must have been Bacardi or Captain Morgans ruined the spirit for me. Yes, I was able to sneak it by in Jamaica in a rum punch or a pina colada, but aside from that, I couldn’t touch the stuff. One holiday season someone gave me a rum ball and I almost gagged on it.

However, while I was in Madison, I drank my first rum in a long time. And enjoyed it.

First up was Old Monk, a dark rum from India, which I drank straight. Smooth, sweet (from the sugar cane) with vanilla notes, this one went down easy. A sipper, for sure, but one that makes a good end to the evening. I need to get some of this for my liquor cabinet.

The other rum on hand was Kraken, a rum that I love as much for its name as for its taste. Actually, probably more for its name. And its cool label. I drank the Kraken in a Dark & Stormy, with real ginger beer. Tasty as well, though I’d like to try the Kraken without the mixer.

And now I can drink rum again. Hurray for dark rum.

The other night I was at Rattle N Hum with some friends for their East Coast vs. West Coast IPA “event”. The idea is that they have a mix of east and west coast IPAs and DIPAs and by the end of the week, whichever region has proven more popular (by having more consumed), will be declared winner.

As a fan of IPAs, I thought I would check it out. I have to say that the list of beers was a little disappointing, only because I’d had so many of them before. There was nothing really unusual. Of the beers I hadn’t had, one was the Ballast Point Sculpin, but that wasn’t pouring while we were there.

I did get to drink what I think is now my favorite IPA around – the Firestone Walker Union Jack. I’d heard a lot of great things about this beer and tasting it did not disappoint. Overall, it’s a very balanced beer. A nice medium body, a dark gold color. It’s crisp and it’s drinkable. But what I appreciate is the balance of aroma and flavor. There are nice citrusy and tropical notes on the nose and a fruitiness that comes through in the taste. It’s bitter, of course, with a nice lingering finish, but the bitterness doesn’t overwhelm the other flavors or substitute for them. Really just an all-around gem and one I will be returning to.

On the DIPA side, I opted for my favorite, Avery’s Maharajah, which didn’t disappoint.

I also tried some of the non-IPAs they had on draught. Brooklyn’s Buzz Bomb, which they call a hybrid mead/beer, made with local honey, was not for me. It tasted a bit art-classy, by which I meant it tasted a little like the paints and clay smelled like in my elementary school art class. But the flavors didn’t work for me.

I also tried the Mikkeller Frelser, listed as a Tribock. It was nice and dark with roasted toffee flavors and a hint of spice. Sweet. A nice beer that I would try again.

This article, via the Dogfish Head Twitter feed, talks about how commercial beer and wine affect the environment. It touches a bit on some of the packaging issues brought up here before (using cans, wine in a box, etc). Obviously local is always better in terms of carbon footprint, though I have to say that I can’t always resist a nice Syrah from Australia or a beer from across the pond.

Thoughts?

It’s been a while since my last update and while I’d like to claim that I’m still recovering from my trip to Madison, the truth is that between work and other activities, I’ve just been too damn busy.

But I have a moment now to talk a little about some of the beers I had in Madison. One of the great things about the city is that they’re very proud of local beer. Aside from New Glarus beers which are everywhere, and the local breweries/brewpubs — Great Dane, Capital, and Ale Asylum, many of the decent establishments, like the Old Fashioned, have a nice list of beers from all over Wisconsin and the Midwest.

My first beer on arriving in the city was at the aforementioned Old Fashioned, to accompany a fine grass-fed beef burger. I ordered the Whiteout IPA which was an Imperial IPA from Wisconsin. I unfortunately don’t remember the brewery and my Google searching hasn’t yielded anything to help me. This was a very malty DIPA, almost like a blend between an IPA and a Scotch Ale. It was almost brown in color, full-bodied and creamy. Definitely malty but with a hop finish. Perhaps a little heavy for a nice sunny day, but a good match for the meaty burger.

I later returned to the Old Fashioned (with a different group of people) and this time I got the Dankenstein IPA from Pearl Street Brewery which is also an Imperial IPA with a huge malt character. In fact, this was almost like a barleywine, except not quite as thick and syrupy. The hops ride out in the finish. Caramel-colored and cloudy. Not bad, but again, the hops were almost second fiddle in this one.

More beer reports from Madison to come…

Posts have been a little sparse around here lately, mostly because of general business, but I just wanted to mention that I will be heading to Madison later this week and that while there, I intend to do my best to sample as much local beer as possible.

I was there last year when I sampled some New Glarus, some Ale Asylum and some Great Dane, but this year I intend to expand my exposure. I might even bring some back with me, if possible. It’s a shame that more midwest beers aren’t available here in NY, but I might as well drink local when I am local.

If anyone knows of some Wisconsin beers or places to drink beer that are worth checking out, let me know.