A nice (but long) interview with the founder of Dogfish Head Brewing. A good read if you just happen to be a wee bit of a beer geek.
Link Here
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Thursday, November 13, 2008
My first IPA, a look back....
Hello, my name is Jim and I am a hop head. Here is my tale of how I got hooked on the wonderful flower that does amazing things to beer....
Thing is, I remember the place but I can't for the life of me remember the exact brew (as opposed to the first beer I had in high school, a Bud Ice Light..yum, but I digress that is another story). I had been exposed to big beers for the first time in '04 when the state of GA changed laws to allow high gravity beers to be sold. This exposed me to a few Belgians that where very nice but I still had yet to really expand my range of beers that I would buy. Back then one would find my beer fridge stocked with Miller Lite, Rolling Rock, the occasional Sam Adams or Bass and maybe some other random but nothing crazy. Keep in mind, this being right after the laws changed not many big California beers where to be found in the Peach State. Anyways, I went on buying my usual brews with a big Belgian brew thrown in for adventure. This all changed on fateful night in Columbus, OH.
Fast forward from that legendary night at the Brick store in the summer of '04 (the full telling includes me forcing my friend Jeremy to watch Dr. Strangelove for the first time and a very ill fated purchase of a bottle of Scotch) to the Spring of '06. I was stuck in Columbus, OH for work and myself and a fellow engineer decided to blow off some steam (being stuck in Columbus for 2 extra days because Delta keeps canceling your flight home will do this to you). We walked to a nice little Brewpub place around the corner from the hotel and ordered up a round. I accidentally order an IPA, I believe I was trying to order something close to Bass and figured India Pale Ale/Pale Ale was the same thing. Damn glad I made that mistake. I was floored with the first sip. My taste buds being assaulted on all sides, my brain swimming, overloaded from the input coming from my mouth. The floral note, the extreme bitterness, wow! First reaction after I regained control of my bodily functions was, damn that was bitter but for some reason I really like it! That first sip started me down the path to becoming hooked on the hop. I just can't get enough, maybe that is why you will find me looking at IBUs on beer more than worrying about ABVs. That first sip lead me to buy any beer that had IPA listed on the bottle, opened my eyes to lots of other smaller brewers who really know how to push the limits. That sip lead to my homebrewing, the installation of my kegerator and my writing on this blog.
This all goes to show what might happen if you decide to give different beer types a shoot. The worst that can happen is you won't like it, so you choke it down and order something different. There are hundreds of different takes on about as many different styles of beer. Next time you saddle up to a bar, order something you've never had before. Even better, order something you have never heard of before, who knows where it may lead.
Happy drinking!
Thing is, I remember the place but I can't for the life of me remember the exact brew (as opposed to the first beer I had in high school, a Bud Ice Light..yum, but I digress that is another story). I had been exposed to big beers for the first time in '04 when the state of GA changed laws to allow high gravity beers to be sold. This exposed me to a few Belgians that where very nice but I still had yet to really expand my range of beers that I would buy. Back then one would find my beer fridge stocked with Miller Lite, Rolling Rock, the occasional Sam Adams or Bass and maybe some other random but nothing crazy. Keep in mind, this being right after the laws changed not many big California beers where to be found in the Peach State. Anyways, I went on buying my usual brews with a big Belgian brew thrown in for adventure. This all changed on fateful night in Columbus, OH.
Fast forward from that legendary night at the Brick store in the summer of '04 (the full telling includes me forcing my friend Jeremy to watch Dr. Strangelove for the first time and a very ill fated purchase of a bottle of Scotch) to the Spring of '06. I was stuck in Columbus, OH for work and myself and a fellow engineer decided to blow off some steam (being stuck in Columbus for 2 extra days because Delta keeps canceling your flight home will do this to you). We walked to a nice little Brewpub place around the corner from the hotel and ordered up a round. I accidentally order an IPA, I believe I was trying to order something close to Bass and figured India Pale Ale/Pale Ale was the same thing. Damn glad I made that mistake. I was floored with the first sip. My taste buds being assaulted on all sides, my brain swimming, overloaded from the input coming from my mouth. The floral note, the extreme bitterness, wow! First reaction after I regained control of my bodily functions was, damn that was bitter but for some reason I really like it! That first sip started me down the path to becoming hooked on the hop. I just can't get enough, maybe that is why you will find me looking at IBUs on beer more than worrying about ABVs. That first sip lead me to buy any beer that had IPA listed on the bottle, opened my eyes to lots of other smaller brewers who really know how to push the limits. That sip lead to my homebrewing, the installation of my kegerator and my writing on this blog.
This all goes to show what might happen if you decide to give different beer types a shoot. The worst that can happen is you won't like it, so you choke it down and order something different. There are hundreds of different takes on about as many different styles of beer. Next time you saddle up to a bar, order something you've never had before. Even better, order something you have never heard of before, who knows where it may lead.
Happy drinking!
Friday, November 7, 2008
Thursday Night Drinking Club plus some Beer Reviews
Hit up my local Taco Mac last night. Thursday nights are pint glass night, you buy the beer of the month and get a nice pint glass to take home. November beer of the month was Terrapin India Style Brown Ale (review below), came with a pretty cool Terrapin glass. Also got to work on my Passport card a bit (a beer drinking list a Taco Mac, once you have had x number of unique beers you get free stuff ect.) and try a few new brew out, here are the reviews!
Terrapin India Style Brown Ale:
Ok, my love/hate relationship with Terrapin is well documented on this site. I find some of their beers absolutely amazing while others are just plain boring. So I really wasn't expecting much going into trying this beer. Pours a very dark brown with a small head. Good aroma, picked up a hint of hoppyness (a good thing, most of the Terrapin beers that I have really liked are the uber hopped ones). A very smooth mouth feel. The right amount of malt at the start, a hint of burnt toast and a nice slightly hoppy finish. Wow, I really liked this one. I guess my best comparisons would be if you took a Newcastle Brown Ale and mixed it with a Dogfish 60 min. A very nice brew, extremely drinkable and a definite change of pace. I can see picking up a sixer for a party. I'll give it 3 pints out of 5.
Weyerbacher Double Simcoe IPA:
First Weyerbacher brew I have tried. I have heard good things and this nice Double IPA meet my expectations. A very rich deep orange/copper beer with pretty good head retention. The hops hit you as soon as you stick your nose in the glass. Very smooth but kind of bland to start and then the hops hit hard. A bit overwhelming at first but by my second and third sip I was looking forward to the onslaught. Didn't really stand out from some of the other big doubles I have had, it did cover the 9% abv very well. A good IPA sure, but would I go out of my way to order it again? Maybe, but there are other doubles ahead of it that I prefer. 2.7 pints out of 5.
Terrapin Big Hoppy Monster:
Ok, just above I gushed a bit over my love for Terrapins India Style Brown Ale, unfortunately I also spoke of the love/hate I have come to find I have for Terrapin as a whole. Welp here is where the hate part comes in, although hate is a bit strong I was really more extremely disappointed in this brew. As a card carrying hop head (ok, no card but maybe I should make some....) I was expecting great things from a brew called "Big Hoppy Monster". In the past most brews that have used a form of the word "hops" in the title have please me quite well. Two of the best examples would be Victory's Hop Devil and Hop Wallop beers, both awesome brews with tons o' hops in them. Now, I knew something may be amiss when I got the beer and it was a very deep dark red/ruby color. I was expecting something closer to the deep orange/copper hue of most "hoppy" beers. It looked much more like an Octoberfest brew, a beer that repeat readers will know I am not that fond of. So, I put the beer to my lips and take a sip. Malt bomb up front, kind of rough really. So I tasted the malt, waiting for the hops to hit.....still waiting.....still waiting....Where the hell did the hops go? Maybe a hint at the end but the maltyness is so overwhelming that you don't notice any bitterness or floral notes from the hops that are supposedly in this beer. Again, a Terrapin beer that is not what it advertises its self as. I'll keep trying Terrapin beers because I know I'll find some great ones (Rye PA, Rye Squared, Gamma Ray, Golden Ale, Hop Shortage), but I also know I'll find some duds like this one (and the RoggenRauch, Oak Rye). I'll give it 1.8 pints out of 5.
Budweiser American Ale:
Yep, I tried it. It was my last beer of the night, I was driving and didn't want another 8%abv brew. My buddy that I was watching the football with said he had tried it and it wasn't bad, so I figured what the heck. Well, I knew something was amiss when our waitress (Tori, a very cool chick) asked if I was sure I really wanted to order it, never had a waitress chastise my choice of beer before. Looked pretty good in the glass and that was about it. Dear lord this brew is a mess. Yeah, it's an Ale with plenty of malt up front but what kind of grain bill are the brewers in St. Louis using? Very odd after taste that hung around, no hops at all could be smelled/tasted. The malt flavor was all over the range from kind of sweet to sour and almost rotten tasting. I would have rather had a standard Bud heavy than this swill. Ugh, not a good beer to end the night on. I struggled to finish it, chasing each gulp with a pull on the water glass and a mouth full of french fries. 0 pints out of 5, In my opinion this beer is almost undrinkable.
Those are the reviews for the day. Found two brews I liked, one that was disappointing but drinkable and one that I wouldn't recommend to anyone. I'm sure I'll have a few more after the weekend.
Happy Drinking!
Terrapin India Style Brown Ale:
Ok, my love/hate relationship with Terrapin is well documented on this site. I find some of their beers absolutely amazing while others are just plain boring. So I really wasn't expecting much going into trying this beer. Pours a very dark brown with a small head. Good aroma, picked up a hint of hoppyness (a good thing, most of the Terrapin beers that I have really liked are the uber hopped ones). A very smooth mouth feel. The right amount of malt at the start, a hint of burnt toast and a nice slightly hoppy finish. Wow, I really liked this one. I guess my best comparisons would be if you took a Newcastle Brown Ale and mixed it with a Dogfish 60 min. A very nice brew, extremely drinkable and a definite change of pace. I can see picking up a sixer for a party. I'll give it 3 pints out of 5.
Weyerbacher Double Simcoe IPA:
First Weyerbacher brew I have tried. I have heard good things and this nice Double IPA meet my expectations. A very rich deep orange/copper beer with pretty good head retention. The hops hit you as soon as you stick your nose in the glass. Very smooth but kind of bland to start and then the hops hit hard. A bit overwhelming at first but by my second and third sip I was looking forward to the onslaught. Didn't really stand out from some of the other big doubles I have had, it did cover the 9% abv very well. A good IPA sure, but would I go out of my way to order it again? Maybe, but there are other doubles ahead of it that I prefer. 2.7 pints out of 5.
Terrapin Big Hoppy Monster:
Ok, just above I gushed a bit over my love for Terrapins India Style Brown Ale, unfortunately I also spoke of the love/hate I have come to find I have for Terrapin as a whole. Welp here is where the hate part comes in, although hate is a bit strong I was really more extremely disappointed in this brew. As a card carrying hop head (ok, no card but maybe I should make some....) I was expecting great things from a brew called "Big Hoppy Monster". In the past most brews that have used a form of the word "hops" in the title have please me quite well. Two of the best examples would be Victory's Hop Devil and Hop Wallop beers, both awesome brews with tons o' hops in them. Now, I knew something may be amiss when I got the beer and it was a very deep dark red/ruby color. I was expecting something closer to the deep orange/copper hue of most "hoppy" beers. It looked much more like an Octoberfest brew, a beer that repeat readers will know I am not that fond of. So, I put the beer to my lips and take a sip. Malt bomb up front, kind of rough really. So I tasted the malt, waiting for the hops to hit.....still waiting.....still waiting....Where the hell did the hops go? Maybe a hint at the end but the maltyness is so overwhelming that you don't notice any bitterness or floral notes from the hops that are supposedly in this beer. Again, a Terrapin beer that is not what it advertises its self as. I'll keep trying Terrapin beers because I know I'll find some great ones (Rye PA, Rye Squared, Gamma Ray, Golden Ale, Hop Shortage), but I also know I'll find some duds like this one (and the RoggenRauch, Oak Rye). I'll give it 1.8 pints out of 5.
Budweiser American Ale:
Yep, I tried it. It was my last beer of the night, I was driving and didn't want another 8%abv brew. My buddy that I was watching the football with said he had tried it and it wasn't bad, so I figured what the heck. Well, I knew something was amiss when our waitress (Tori, a very cool chick) asked if I was sure I really wanted to order it, never had a waitress chastise my choice of beer before. Looked pretty good in the glass and that was about it. Dear lord this brew is a mess. Yeah, it's an Ale with plenty of malt up front but what kind of grain bill are the brewers in St. Louis using? Very odd after taste that hung around, no hops at all could be smelled/tasted. The malt flavor was all over the range from kind of sweet to sour and almost rotten tasting. I would have rather had a standard Bud heavy than this swill. Ugh, not a good beer to end the night on. I struggled to finish it, chasing each gulp with a pull on the water glass and a mouth full of french fries. 0 pints out of 5, In my opinion this beer is almost undrinkable.
Those are the reviews for the day. Found two brews I liked, one that was disappointing but drinkable and one that I wouldn't recommend to anyone. I'm sure I'll have a few more after the weekend.
Happy Drinking!
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Beer Review: Terrapin Side Project #3 Gamma Ray Wheatwine, Breckenridge 471 Small Batch IPA
Picked up a few new treats at the local last week. Kind of stumbled upon the Terrapin Gamma Ray, I had been meaning to look for it but never got over to Tower, I was pleasantly surprised that Beverage World had it so I bought the last two bottles! Spotted the Breck 471 IPA while picking up a 4 pack of Dogfish 90 min, figured it never hurts to try a new IPA. On to the reviews...
Terrapin Side Project #3, Gamma Ray Wheatwine:
My first wheatwine. I have become a hug fan of Barleywines in the past year, my fav being the mega hopped Rouge Old Crustacean. From what I knew of Wheatwines going in, they are rare and tend to be lighter than a barleywine, closer to a Heffe beer (yep). The Gamma Ray poured a dark orange, had a very cool "glow" to it. Very opaque, could not see through it. Head built quickly but flattened almost as quick, not much carbonation sticking around in this beer. Picked up very fruity and sweet notes in the smell, honey, a hint of hops.... Very smooth in the mouth. Honey again but you can also taste the hint of yeasteyness (not a word, I know, more of a feeling). Almost like an uberheffe on steroids. Alcohol (11%abv) hits in the end and lets you know it is there. A very nice beer, more of a fall brew than your standard wheat beer, wish I had found this earlier and been able to stock up more. A big improvement over the last Side Project that I tried, the ill-fated Roggenrauchbier. If you like Heffe and like Barleywines then give this unique style a try next time you get a chance. I'll give it 3.5 pints out of 5.
Breckenridge 471 Small Batch IPA:
Listed as a double hopped IPA on the bottle, this one sucked me in the minute I saw it on the shelf. One, I love every beer I have ever tried from Breckenridge Brewery, these guys make some outstanding beers and may rank in my top 3 favorite breweries (Stone, Bear Republic, Victory, Allagash, Rouge, Breckenridge, Dogfish, Ommegang....Ok so I like a lot of breweries and Breck is on par with the best). Two, if you have read this blog with any regularity you know I can't turn down an IPA. So how is Brecks interpretation of a big IPA? Fantastic! Has everything going for it, tons of hops that hit you in waves. I think they use 3 or 4 different types of hops and you can tell. In most big IPAs the hops hit you all at once (not a bad thing) but in this one they all come out with slightly different favors and notes. At 70 IBUs it isn't anywhere near some of the other huge 100+ IBU IPAs but for some reason it seems like that 70 should be higher. Smooth and a tad sweet in the start to help get you ready for the hop onslaught that is about to hit your taste buds. The complexity of the hops does a great job hiding the fact that this is a 9.2% abv beer. I couldn't believe it when I checked the bottle and saw it hid that much alcohol. Wow. Color was a great deep copper-orange whit a wonderful bright white head. Very sticky head that hung out on the glass and laced quite nicely. This IPA immediately jumps near the top of the list on must buy IPAs for me. I figure a fridge full of this, Dogfish 90 min and Victory Hop Wallop would make me a very happy hop head. 4.5 pints out of 5.
That is it for now. Tons of new brews are showing up here in the Atl and I am having a hard time keeping up. Some exciting new brews and good news to come in the next few days!
Happy Drinking!
Terrapin Side Project #3, Gamma Ray Wheatwine:
My first wheatwine. I have become a hug fan of Barleywines in the past year, my fav being the mega hopped Rouge Old Crustacean. From what I knew of Wheatwines going in, they are rare and tend to be lighter than a barleywine, closer to a Heffe beer (yep). The Gamma Ray poured a dark orange, had a very cool "glow" to it. Very opaque, could not see through it. Head built quickly but flattened almost as quick, not much carbonation sticking around in this beer. Picked up very fruity and sweet notes in the smell, honey, a hint of hops.... Very smooth in the mouth. Honey again but you can also taste the hint of yeasteyness (not a word, I know, more of a feeling). Almost like an uberheffe on steroids. Alcohol (11%abv) hits in the end and lets you know it is there. A very nice beer, more of a fall brew than your standard wheat beer, wish I had found this earlier and been able to stock up more. A big improvement over the last Side Project that I tried, the ill-fated Roggenrauchbier. If you like Heffe and like Barleywines then give this unique style a try next time you get a chance. I'll give it 3.5 pints out of 5.
Breckenridge 471 Small Batch IPA:
Listed as a double hopped IPA on the bottle, this one sucked me in the minute I saw it on the shelf. One, I love every beer I have ever tried from Breckenridge Brewery, these guys make some outstanding beers and may rank in my top 3 favorite breweries (Stone, Bear Republic, Victory, Allagash, Rouge, Breckenridge, Dogfish, Ommegang....Ok so I like a lot of breweries and Breck is on par with the best). Two, if you have read this blog with any regularity you know I can't turn down an IPA. So how is Brecks interpretation of a big IPA? Fantastic! Has everything going for it, tons of hops that hit you in waves. I think they use 3 or 4 different types of hops and you can tell. In most big IPAs the hops hit you all at once (not a bad thing) but in this one they all come out with slightly different favors and notes. At 70 IBUs it isn't anywhere near some of the other huge 100+ IBU IPAs but for some reason it seems like that 70 should be higher. Smooth and a tad sweet in the start to help get you ready for the hop onslaught that is about to hit your taste buds. The complexity of the hops does a great job hiding the fact that this is a 9.2% abv beer. I couldn't believe it when I checked the bottle and saw it hid that much alcohol. Wow. Color was a great deep copper-orange whit a wonderful bright white head. Very sticky head that hung out on the glass and laced quite nicely. This IPA immediately jumps near the top of the list on must buy IPAs for me. I figure a fridge full of this, Dogfish 90 min and Victory Hop Wallop would make me a very happy hop head. 4.5 pints out of 5.
That is it for now. Tons of new brews are showing up here in the Atl and I am having a hard time keeping up. Some exciting new brews and good news to come in the next few days!
Happy Drinking!
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