Quick Sips....Episode 2

It's good to be back for Episode #2 of Quick Sips.  While I haven't posted any specific information about beers I have enjoyed in the past month, it doesn't mean some good drinking hasn't been happening.  It's actually been a great 4 weeks of beer since my last post.  So without further adieu, here are some recent beers that have been tantalizing my palate...

Bells Black Note Stout: This one gets a lot of hype for a couple reasons.  It's bourbon barrel aged, it comes from Bells, and it's hard to come by.  It's also quite good.  For me it is quite smooth and has a great creamy mouthfeel.  The bourbon is present, but subtle.  Nice chocolate, some vanilla tones, and sweet molasses dominate the flavor profile.  An extremely well rounded beer....but...gasp....it's not mind blowing like they hype makes it out to be.  Still a great beer....

Alpine Brewing Pure Hoppiness:  A gift from a beer geek friend of mine. Excellent pine and citrus hops dominate the nose and palate.  Great crisp and clean hop flavors.  One of the better double IPA's I've had.  Alpine knows what they are doing.  Another great beer from these guys.  Some noticeable malt but the pine and citrus flavors are the stars of the show.

I know I've reviewed this before, but Russian River Pliny the Elder was also consumed.  I managed to get bottles from the 1/29/13 bottle run about a week and a half after bottling.  Incredibly fresh.  Hop bombs were definitely dropped on my face hole as usual with super fresh Pliny.  Also took a cool pic using some of my kids Thomas trains.

Earlier I talked about Black Note and how it was not quite mind blowing.  This Russian Imperial Stout from Flat 12 did fit the bill of a mind blowing beer drinking experience.  Pinko aged in 23 year Pappy Van Winkle barrels was one of the best beer drinking experiences I have had.  The depth of flavor in this beer was ridiculous.  I remember molasses, a nice mix of sweet chocolate with a touch of bitter dark chocolate, some subtle charred fruit notes, and a velvety mouthfeel which helps to tame the rich bourbon notes from the Pappy barrel.  This beer was special.  Honestly, in my opinion, it's better than Black Note....and I'm not sure it's close.

 Goose Island Bourbon County Coffee Stout: Another mind blowing beer drinking experience.  BCCS has loads of coffee, some chocolate, some vanilla, and some oak wrapped in a bouquet of rich bourbon.  Definitely a sipping beer at 14% and one I will often take with me to bottle shares to watch other people have their mind blown.  Top notch beer.  Don't think I could ever have enough of it.

Three Floyds Arctic Panzer Wolf: Scorching palates is the objective with this hop monster from Three Floyds.  Mission accomplished.  Loads of citrus hops do in fact leave your palate a hapless victim as this beer just flat out dominates.  This beer doesn't get enough pub in my opinion.  It has some serious legs.  The finish lingers with a punchy bitterness and the dry feel leaves you craving more.  It's ridiculous.  Thanks to Kahns for alerting me to a fresh arrival.....I need more.

I have reviewed Head Hunter from Fat Heads before, but it's worth noting that they recently (like last week) started distributing to Indiana.  An awesome west coast IPA with loads of Pine in the hop profile.  It's a great IPA and definitely one worth buying.  Obviously I'm a fan of buying local, but the only way to keep breweries in Indiana is to buy their stuff.  So go get some Head Hunter.

 Green Flash Palate Wrecker:  Probably one of the prettiest beers I've consumed.  The hops in this beer will destroy your palate in a similar way to Arctic Panzer Wolf.  The finish is ridiculously dry and bitter.  Loads of pine which I expect from a west coast ipa.  Love this one.  Glad my sis sent me some.

 New Glarus Raspberry Tart:  Thanks to Calvin for grabbing me a bottle so that I could share with my wife.  This is liquid raspberry goodness.  This converted me to loving fruit beers that are done well.  Loads of raspberry in this provide a sweetness and a tart finish that make this the perfect dessert beer.

Other beers not pictured:

Williamsburg Alewerks Bitter Valentine: Awesome double IPA thanks to a trade.  Great bitterness.  Tons of awesome hop flavors.  Subtle booziness and warming down the throat.  Lovely beer.

Flat 12 Bleeding Heart IPA:  One of my favorite local beers of all time.  Half Cycle infused with blood oranges.  The blood orange is the star of the show giving intense citrus flavors with the lovely bitterness from Half Cycle.  This is world class.

What are some beers you have enjoyed in the past few weeks?

Cheers,
Kevin

A Baking with Beer Experiment

Last week when discussing what meals we would have in the coming weeks, I mentioned to my wife that I could make chili and that I would like to use beer as an ingredient.  I immediately received the bitter beer face response that was popular in those old school Keystone Light commercials.  She was not supportive of the idea.  I believe her exact words were "that's gross, you can't use beer as an ingredient".

Now I am a firm believer that beer can add many levels of awesome to food.  So I was determined to prove to her that beer can certainly be used in cooking.  This week being Valentines Day, I knew I would be looking to make some sort of dessert when I stumbled upon a recipe for Pots de Creme, a French custard.  This would be perfect and simple to do.

Ingredients:

6 Eggs

6 ounces of your favorite stout or porter.  For this I used Founders Breakfast Stout.

1 Pint Whipping Cream

1/2 Cup Whole Milk

1/3 Cup Sugar

6 Ounces bittersweet chocolate.

The first step is to simmer the beer and sugar using a very small saucepan.  Reducing the amount of liquid to about 3 ounces, or a little less than half a cup.  Once complete, you will have a nice syrup that is liquid glory. I then chilled the mixture by putting the saucepan over ice.

The next step is to take a medium sized saucepan and simmer the milk and whipping cream.  Once it is bubbly, take it off the heat and add the chocolate.  Whisk until smooth.

Go back and check to make sure your syrup has cooled sufficiently and add your beaten eggs to the syrup and mix well.

By this time your chocolate mixture has cooled a little bit and so now you can slowly whisk the egg/syrup mixture into the chocolate mixture.  Continue whisking to combine everything nicely.

Pour the mixture through a fine strainer, so that any foam is left behind.  I poured it through a strainer into a small pitcher.  Let the mixture stand for about 10 minutes.  Then pour the chocolate mixture into 6 Ramekins, up to the 3/4C mark or a little above.  Place foil over each Ramekin and place them in a baking dish.  Fill the baking dish with hot tap water to about halfway up the Ramekins.

Place in a 325 degree oven and bake for about 1 hour.  These took about 1 hour and 10 minutes for me to finally set.  Remove the Ramekins from the baking dish, let them cool a little and then place them in the fridge for at least 3 hours.

 When you are ready to serve, put a small bit of whipped cream on top and shave some semi-sweet chocolate over the top of the dessert.  Serve and enjoy!

I served this to my wife, not telling her that there was beer in it.  She loved it.  She was quite surprised by beer being an ingredient, but that didn't stop her from asking for more!

What are some of your favorite beer infused dishes?

Cheers!

Quick Sips...Episode 1

So one of the changes I decided to make this year was to implement a quick beer review segment that I call "Quick Sips".  This will give me the chance to write about multiple beers, quickly, in one article.  So without further adieu, this is Quick Sips....Episode 1.

First up is Sixpoint Diesel.  The name make you think this will be similar to Oskar Blues Ten Fidy, but it doesn't come close.  It's actually quite light in the mouthfeel, and dark brown in color, which I expected the beer to be pitch black and viscous.  The beer has an excellent roast to it and is quite smooth and drinkable.  It really borders on a Porter though, to me.  Nevertheless, it's quite good and I recommend trying it.

Next is Odell Lugene Chocolate Milk Stout.  To my knowledge this is a newly bottled beer from Odell.  Thanks to my buddy John for the bottle.  Massive chocolate is all over this beer.  Huge roast with a nice, but not overpowering, milky sweetness.  The beer finishes with a touch of bitter roasted chocolate which compliments the entire beer nicely.  Was hoping this would be a little creamier in mouthfeel but was on the lighter side.  Still, an enjoyable beer that I would gladly have again.

Third on the list is Terrapin Hopsecutioner.  I had this beer for the first time in South Carolina prior to my best friend's wedding.  Recently my dad grabbed me a few bottles during a trip to Florida.  This one was best by 2/2013 so it's nearing the end of it's freshness cycle.  Still, the massive pine and citrus hops were present but with more of a malt presence than I remember in September.  This is close to scorching your palate, but doesn't quite get there.  Incredibly tasty fresh....just like most IPA's.

Fourth and Fifth are a pair of beers from Kona Brewing Company, which recently started distribution in Indiana.  The Pipeline Porter has a really great massive coffee aroma and hits you immediately with coffee...but then fades into oblivion.  There just isn't much behind it.  Some decent roasted malt notes and some caramel sweetness, but the finish is lackluster.  Same can be said about the Fire Rock Pale Ale.  Lacking in hops, the malt profile is more prominent and there just isn't much to it.  A far cry from what I remember when I had it the first time in 2007 while on a guys trip to Dallas to see DMB.

Sixth is Rye Da Tiger from Three Floyds.  What an amazing beer.  Loaded with citrus and floral hops with a nice rye presence which adds spiciness and depth.  Crushes your palate with a bouquet of awesome flavor.  I need to get more of this and am happy Floyds made this their annual December release.

Last on the list, but certainly not least, is another beer from Terrapin.  Wake N Bake Coffee Oatmeal Stout, now known as W-N-B due to naming rights issues.  Thanks to a different John for this one.  Huge coffee aroma and flavor with one of the slickest mouthfeels I've had from an oatmeal stout.  Contrary to what people may think, the Oats don't add any flavor, they are primarily added to thicken the mouthfeel, and this one succeeds.  Often compared to Founders Breakfast Stout, which I disagree with the comparison.  FBS has a large chocolate component that WNB doesn't have.  Both are massive coffee beers, but WNB should be compared to other straight coffee stouts, like Bells Java.  Still, WNB is near the top of the list of coffee beers I have had.  A very nice treat....happy I have another.

So that's 7 beer stops on this Quick Sips tour.  Looking forward to doing this again soon.

Cheers!!

Best Beers of 2012

Admittedly, I'm probably the worst beer blogger on the planet.  It's been over a month since my last entry, which is not how I envisioned this blog going.  Finding time to sit down and organize a post has been challenging.  I have some new ideas for the blog which I will make an effort to launch in the coming year.  I will likely have less full beer reviews and begin doing a series called "quick sips" which will be a cliffs notes version of a beer review.  This type of article will likely be more conducive to my hectic lifestyle and should yield more blog activity.

I have been thinking a lot about what were the best beers I consumed in 2012.  This year has been a phenomenal beer drinking experience.  From special releases, to locals, to festivals, to bottle shares and tastings....I've had a plethora of incredible opportunities to enjoy some of the best beer on the planet.  Many beers have changed my mind about styles I typically didn't think I would ever enjoy.  There's no point in trying to rank my favorites of the year because that task is simply too daunting.  So here are the best beers I was able to have this year:

1.  Founders CBS:  Had this a couple times this year.  First time was at Dark Lord Day 2012, second was on tap at Twenty Taps Anniversary party, third time was during the Bears first game of the season.  Epic does not even  begin to do justice to how good this beer is.  Phenomenal combo of flavors between coffee, chocolate, and maple sweetness.  It's probably the best beer I've ever had in my life.

2.  Alchemist Heady Topper:  Speaking of the best beers I've ever had in my life, this gem from a small brewery in Vermont also Tops that list (no pun intended).  Bursting with dank hops this canned beer delivers a hop punch that is reminiscent to a 1980's Mike Tyson uppercut.  Probably the best DIPA I've ever had.  Even better than....

3. Russian River Pliny the Elder:  When a week or so fresh, this beer rivals Heady Topper for that top spot of DIPA's.  This one is pure IPA perfection.  Packed with Citrus hops and a nice dose of pine and tropical sweetness, it's a more complex IPA than Heady Topper.

4.  Stone Ruination 10th Anniversary:  This was a difficult bottle to track down, but I was lucky enough to grab a handful of them.  The citra hopping of this beer vaults it into top beer status for me.  It's a palate wrecker.  Fantastically bitter and hopped to the extreme.  I wish this would be a regular offering from Stone. Probably the best beer I've ever had from them.  I miss it.

5.  Three Floyds Dark Lord:  Enjoyed this bottle on my birthday.  Incredibly complex with substantial depth of flavors that progress and change as I drank it.  Took me an hour and a half to drink the bottle.

6.  Founders KBS:  Had my first one during a Skype session with my sister and brother in-law from Colorado.  Had one a couple nights ago as well.  This beer is magnificent.  Oak, bourbon, vanilla, chocolate,  and coffee flavors do an awesome dance on the palate.  Aging nicely also.

7.  Westbrook Citrus Ninja Exchange:  You all know I am a fan of the grapefruit heavy IPA's.  This one probably possessed the most grapefruit flavor I've had in a beer...ever.  Thanks to Mike from Westbrook for making it possible for me to get my hands on this one when I was in South Carolina.

8.  Russian River Supplication:  This beer began to change my mind about Sours.  Enjoyed it twice this year with my wife who also shared in the enjoyment.  Aged in Pinot Noir barrels with cherries, this thing is as dynamic a beer as I have ever had.

9.  Bells Java Stout:  The perfect example of a coffee stout for me.  Have had it multiple times in the past couple months.  The coffee is so massive.  One of the most under appreciated coffee stouts around.

10.  Flat 12 Brandy Barrel Aged Walkabout Pale Ale:  Enjoyed this at the Flat 12 anniversary party.  Definitely one of my favorites along with Van Pogue.

11.  Goose Island Bramble Rye Bourbon County Stout:  So far it's my favorite BCS variant.  Had it twice this year and it was better the second time.  The stout has an awesome combo of Bourbon, rye, blackberry, raspberry, and chocolate.  Such a phenomenal beer.  Opened my eyes to stouts that have a good tartness to them.

12.  Firestone Walker Wookey Jack:  Black IPA perfection.

13.  Bells Kalamazoo Hopsolution Ale:  Couldn't believe it when I had it a couple months ago, but I liked this better than Bells Oracle, which also is a top beer of the year.  This one surprised me.  Loaded with citrus hops and a nice light mouthfeel, I felt like I could drink it all night long.  That wasn't going to happen, though, because earlier that night I was lucky to have....

14.  Bells Black Note:  This one was better on tap than it was from a bottle.  The bourbon and vanilla creaminess really popped on tap.  What a great BA stout.

15.  Jackie O's Dynamo Hum:  One more sour to remember.  Loaded with Raspberry, Oak, and lemon.  This one was complex and tart as hell.  Definitely left an impression.  Many thanks to Scott for allowing me the opportunity to sample one of the best sours I've ever had.

16.  Oskar Blues Devian Dales IPA:  Probably my favorite beer from Oskar Blues.  Awesome citrus and pine flavors.

17.  Three Floyds Rye Da Tiger:  Double version of Rye Da Lighting.  It's everything I want in an Imperial Rye IPA.  Complex hop flavors with a nice rye spice.  Would like more Rye but that's being nit-picky.  Glad to see FFF decide to make this their standard December release.

18.  Sun King Pappy Van Muckle:  Wee Muckle aged in Pappy Van Winkle barrels.  Incredible smoothness and depth of flavor.  This beer is pure gold....just wish I could get more of it.

19.  Fat Heads Head Hunter IPA:  Another IPA that surprised me with how great it is.  Awesome citrus and pine flavors.  Incredibly drinkable.  Could easily be an every day drinking beer.

20.  Three Floyds Zombie Dust:  A Best Beer list is not complete without Zombie Dust.  This american pale ale actually should be listed as an IPA according to style guidelines, but FFF generally bucks style guidelines.  Loaded with citra hops and is as drinkable as any beer I've ever had.  I can confirm that I have consumed over 100 of these this year....and I never get tired of it.

There are many many many other awesome beers I had in 2012.  In 2013 I am looking forward to enjoying more of the beers I already know that I love and sticking more to those standards that we take for granted.  Of course I'm going to be on the lookout for interesting trades and special releases, but won't do near as much of that in 2013 as I did in 2012.

What were some of your best beers of 2012?  What are you looking forward to in 2013?

Cheers!!

Thoughts on aging beer...with Cellar pics

Been a while since I have been able to do anything other than parenting....let alone writing.  Today I was "lucky" to have an unexpected "day off" from work when our daycare lady came down with something that forced her to close which caused my "day off" to be spent watching the 5 month old.  So I took some time during naps to clean out my beer "cellar" and that gave me the idea to go ahead and take pictures of everything I have that is aging.

What makes a beer worth aging?  Well the answer isn't all that complicated.  Really, it just means that you want to know how a beer changes over time.  Some styles of beer are known to get better with age.  Stouts, sours, imperial porters, barleywines, Belgians, most high gravity or high ABV beers, anything that has been barrel aged already...usually.  Some styles, in my opinion are not suitable for aging.  I try to avoid aging IPA's and coffee beers.  Beer does change over time so part of the fun of aging beer is to see how the beer develops and how the flavor profiles may change.

The process of aging beer is often made out  to be more complicated than it needs to be.  Some people say the beer must be kept at 50 degrees in order to age properly.  Keeping it at room temperature may speed up the aging process while keeping it in a coors light super cold refrigerator may stunt the aging process.  I don't really get caught up in all that because I don't really have the space to control the temp of every single beer I want to age.  So I have many spots in the house where beer is stashed away for aging.  Hall closet, hutch, kitchen cabinets, and my very own "cellar".  Here are the photos of the beer I have lying around inside the house:

Hall closet stock

Hall Closet stock #2

Realized that i need a 2010 TJ Vintage...anyone?

Kitchen cabinet stock

2012 Bourbon County in cabinets

I inherited an ancient kegerator from a buddy of mine who moved out to Colorado a couple years ago.  My intent was to have beer on tap at the house, but the kegerator had some issues and rather than spend time trying to fix them, I just decided to use it as a beer "cellar".  It actually works out nicely.  My brother in law helped me add a shelf in the box which allowed for double the storage capacity.  The kegerator keeps the beers inside between 45-50 degrees...might not be good enough for the hardcore beer geeks out there, but it's good enough for me.  The only real issue I have with it is that water tends to pool in the bottom of it, so I made sure there is a hole on the top so that moisture can escape.  This actually is beneficial because it keeps the inside environment slightly humid, which is good for aging corked bottles so that the cork doesn't dry out.  But every once in a while I need to empty it and get some of the water out, which is what I did today.  While I did this, I took some photos of what's inside.....

The "cellar"

The only Indiana Beer i have in the box

2011-2012 Bourbon County, Bramble, Avery Uncle Jacobs, 2008 &2010 Mephistopheles

Some western stuff

Miscellaneous Cellarable beers

Founders stuff and one Bells Expedition

 After cleaning it out and reorganizing a bit, I found I had more space in there, so I took some other brews out of my regular fridge and added them to the box.

 And while taking inventory I decided to throw in a couple shots of the standard beer fridge.  I have had many more bottle cap magnets and stickers added lately.  If you have any stickers you'd like to add then let me know, I'd love to have them!

What are some of the beers you have in your cellar that you are most looking forward to seeing how they develop?

Beer Review: Fat Heads Head Hunter IPA

Been a while since I posted a beer review.  Doesn't mean I haven't been enjoying different brews, but it does mean that my life has been crazy busy lately with work and the family.  But when you run a casual beer blog sometimes you just need something that makes you stop and write.  Fat Heads Head Hunter IPA is the beer that made me stop to write.

Fat Heads is a brewery I know very little about actually.  I was at a DMB show in June in Noblesville and got to spend some time with someone from Ohio.  We discussed several brews.  He brought some Ohio locals and I shared with him a Zombie Dust.  Sadly, the Zombie Dust was past its prime and so I made a commitment to sending him some fresh Zombie Dust.  He sent some Head Hunter in return and I loved it then just as much as I loved his second shipment of it which arrived a couple days ago.  It's good to have friends in other states.

This is a small brewery based in North Olmsted, Ohio...southwest of Cleveland.  Head Hunter has been a medal winner at the Great American Beer Festival and the World Beer Cup a few times in the past 3 years.  The distribution footprint is quite small.  Looks like the beer can only be found in Ohio and Pennsylvania.   Let's get to it:

I don't get in to the labels much, but I love this one.  A fat guys face that looks like it's about to explode from the massive flavors crammed in his hole.  Awesome.  First batches of this brew appear to be at 7% abv and 77 IBU's.  Seems that through the years this has crept up and now weighs in at 7.5% abv and 87 IBU's.  The more the merrier I say.

Choose Your Vessel:  The Bells 12oz Tulip.  Perfect for IPA's.

The Pour:  Clear deep orange in color.  A slightly darker orange hue than other orange IPA's.  Nice one finger head from the pour.  Lacing was outstanding as well....charting every sip on the inside of the glass as I enjoyed it.

Aroma:  Pungent hops.  Huge citrus on the nose from this one.  It really does smell like someone squeezed some fresh grapefruit into the beer.  You also get a prominent whiff of orange or tangerine.  Can not smell any malt in this one.  The hops are the star.  The description on the bottle indicates substantial pine, but I'm not getting that at all.  Mostly all citrus hops and maybe some sweet tropical fruit.

Taste:  Just like it smells.  Bursting with grapefruit goodness.  Fantastically bitter throughout with a touch of some pineapple sweetness that barely tames this hop bomb.  I'm not getting much pine in this at all, which for me is a good thing.  I am sure the only sweetness I am getting in this is from the sweet pineapple notes.  Also has a really nice earthy and grassy flavor.  Solid dankability.  Incredibly drinkable for me due to the bitter and slightly dry finish.

Overall:  It has to be up there as one  of the top IPA's I've been fortunate to try.  Many thanks to my buddy Walt for the brew.  Luckily he sent 2 more so I may go enjoy another after this review.  This beer hits all the right notes for me.  The label description indicates that this beer is a representation of a west coast IPA.  Typically known for heavy citrus and piney hops.  I have had a couple west coast IPA's like Sierra Nevada Torpedo and Green Flash West Coast IPA....and I would say that both of those beers could learn from this one.  Those two, in my experience, were heavier on the pine than the citrus which makes them less enjoyable for me.  This one focused more on the citrus with minimal pine which was right up my alley.  Hopefully some day they are able to distribute to Indiana because this could easily be an every day drinker for me.  Give me a grapefruity IPA any day....or just let me put this computer down so that I can have another Head Hunter.  Seriously, if you haven't had this one, get yourself a friend from Ohio or make a road trip.  This one is worth the effort.  Cheers, and happy hunting!! (no pun intended).

Thoughts on Beer....

There always seems to be some special beer release coming.  I love beer.  It's hard to decide which releases to let slide by and which ones to buy the crap out of to store and savor.  Let's talk about a few recent or upcoming releases that you should be interested in....

1.  Goose Island Bourbon County Stout.  This beer has been out for about 2 weeks in the state of Indiana.  This is a ridiculous beer.  Loads of molasses, chocolate, oak, bourbon, and a touch of vanilla.  Very much worth seeking out because it is totally worth the investment.  A beer that is better 5 years down the road than it is currently.  It's amazing how the beer develops over time.  Grab a four pack, if you can, drink one and make notes of how it tasted.  Then next year open another, make notes. and so on and so forth.

2.  Three Floyds BrooDoo.  Quite possibly my favorite monthly release from my favorite brewery.  The fresh hop harvest ale is just bursting with hop flavors.  I drank the crap out of this last year and this year I plan to do the same.  This one hit shelves in Indy last week and continues to do so this week.

3.  Founders Backwoods Bastard:  Scotch ale aged in bourbon barrels.  certain to keep you warm during those winter months with a boozy sweetness that is nicely complimented by vanilla and oak notes.  This comes out at the beginning of November.

4.  Bells Java Stout:  One of my favorite coffee stouts.  You gotta get this one fresh so that the coffee is abundant, but it's well worth it.  Should be hitting shelves soon.  This one is not to be missed.

5.  Three Floyds Alpha Klaus.  A hopped up Christmas Porter.  I am not into Christmas Ales generally, but this is the one I buy several bottles of and enjoy throughout the holiday season.  November release.  Make sure you don't miss out on this one.

What are some other beers that you try and seek out during the next month or two?

Cheers!!