Dunkelweizen Kegged Up

Got the Dunkelweizen Kegged up last night. Should be able to grab a few sips before heading out to Colorado this weekend. Final Gravity clocked in at 1.014 and 4.7% abv. Not too bad considering the stuck sparge. I think next time I brew this one, with the addition of rice hulls, I should be able to kick the abv% up just a tad, but really 4.7% is pretty dead on where I wanted to end up. It smells just right for a nice wheat based beer. Looking forward to giving it a try.

Happy Drinking!!

When is a Ski Trip not a Ski Trip?

When there are 8 breweries between you and the mountain! So the Atlanta Beer "Snob" will be heading out west to hit the ski slopes of Vail, CO the first week of February. Heading out there with a good friend Ken (of guy who drank the entire Christmas beer selection from the belgian bar at Brick Store fame). As it would happen, any time I head to a new place I am always looking for new beer to try. We get into Denver around 2pm in the afternoon and really have nothing to do except drive to Vail. So, I started looking for breweries to visit while in Denver. I have since come to the determination that if I ever have to move from Atlanta, Denver is on my list to move to. Heck 20 or something breweries and distilleries within a hours drive? Yes please! So a quick list of the ones we are trying to go when we first get to Denver:

Great Divide
Wynkoop
Strange Brewing
Breckenridge Brewery and BBQ (probably grab dinner here)
Renegade Brewery
Stranahans Colorado Whiskey
Wit's End Brewing Company

So 6 breweries and a distillery. I plan to stock up on beer from the breweries since it should be cheaper than buying it at a liquor store out in Vail.

On the way back after skiing we are playing it by ear and are going to try to head north of Denver a bit (Ft. Collins, Boulder, Loveland, Longmount ect.) and hit a brewery or two before having to head to the airport. We may need to find a UPS store to ship so beer back!

I'll keep everyone up to date on what I try while out there.

Happy Drinking!!

Quick Resturant Review: Hi Life in Norcross

My wife and I got a nice date night out (thanks to the in-laws for looking after the boys!) and tried a new place just around the corner from were we live. Hi Life is the name of the restaurant. From the outside it looks a bit diveish? It was suggested to us by my sister-in-law who did a business lunch there. We stepped inside and were immediately greeted by a nice low key interior, kind of American laid back bistro/pub kind of thing. The host and waitress were both very nice and knowledgeable. Very large wine list, good selection of beer on tap (Guinness, Blue Moon, Sweetwater 420 and IPA, Pernoi and Stella, no american light lagers here!) and a very extensive cocktail list. I stated with a Sweetwater 420 and my wife ordered a Cosmo. She stated that the Cosmo was very well done, this planted a small seed in my head for an upcoming cocktail order to verify the ability of the bartender. Anyway, we ordered salads, she got the wedge and I the arugula. Both amazing, the wedge was a nice change up from most as it used boston lettuce instead of iceberg. I could have just eaten my arugula salad it was so good, usually not a fan of pecans, but the way the ones on the salad were toasted was great. Main course, I went with the Guinness and Coffee braised short ribs (came with greens and mascarpone mashed potatoes) and my wife with the Friday night special, 2 Maine Lobster Tails with the claw and knuckle meat, yukon gold mashed potatoes and broccolini. Both entrees were amazing! Short ribs done perfectly and the lobster was great.

Now, my little challenge to the bartender. I ordered a Manhattan with dinner. Why? Well I have a love/hate relationship with Manhattans. A lot of places really don't take the time to make them correctly. Most bars will just make a bourbon martini, i.e. bourbon with some dry vermouth and a cherry thrown in. I can tell when they are made like this just by the look and taste of the dry vermouth. The real way to make a good Manhattan is to use sweet vermouth (preferably red) and a dash or 5 of bitters. My all time favorite Manhattan place is the Bluegrass Tavern in Lexington Ky (187 different types of Bourbon!!!!!). Absolutely perfection in a glass. They also make a mean old fashioned but back to the Manhattan at Hi Life. The first clue they knew what they were doing, she asked what kind of bourbon (I choose Bookers) and asked if I wanted it on the rocks or straight up, not many places ask this when you order a Manhattan. Anyway, I got it straight up, it came out in the correct cocktail glass and I knew just by the look it was right. A very good Manhattan using the correct sweet vermouth and a hint of bitters. If I was going to nit pick and would have liked a few more dashes of bitters but thats just my taste.

So, in closing, Hi Life is a great little laid back hidden spot in a strip mall near Norcross. Great atmosphere, great wait staff, great food, great drinks one heck of a menu and very well priced. For dinner you good go all out and have a $50+ per plate dinner or hang and the bar and order a pizza or burger for a happy hour. I will definitely be heading back the Hi Life sooner rather than later!

Happy Drinking!!

Chirstmas Beer Review

Hit up the Brick Store the weekend before Christmas to finally try to drink my way through the Belgian Bar. The beers on tap were:

ST. BERNARDUS CHRISTMAS
CORSENDONK CHRISTMAS
GOUDEN CAROLOUS NOEL
SCALDIS NOEL (12% Quad)
DERANKE PERE NOEL
CHRISTMAS LEROY
N'ICE CHOUFFE
AVEC LES BONS VOEUX

The Christmas Leroy was tapped out by the time I got there. It was replaced by Samichlaus Bier. Started out with the Deranke Pere Noel then hit the Samichlaus. Got a little lucky (un-lucky?) with the Samichlaus pour. As per Brick Store custom, the majority of the beers on draft are served in the brand specific glass, the Samichalaus was no exception. Poured in a great looking tulip glass with a pour mark of 0.2L. Ok, so the pour was supposed to be 0.2L, the wonderful bartendress pretty much topped it full, closer to 0.5L. So a great thing right? Well yes and no. Samichlaus kicks in at a nigh near illegal in Georgia 14%abv! Yeah, 17 or so ounces of high gravity wonderment. Sweet, smooth, warming. Just wonderful. I wish I had saved this one until last since it pretty much blew out my pallet (and my senses, still on an empty stomach when I drank it!). So I also worked through the N'ice Couffee, St. Bernardus and the Corsendonk. I finished the night with a cellared bottle of Monstre Rouge, a Flanders Red brewed in collaboration between Terrapin and De Proef. My buddy did make it through all 8 of the drafts and was somehow still standing at the end of the night.

For anyone in the Southeast that can make it to the Brick Store from late November to Christmas I highly suggest you head over to Brick Store and try some of the amazing Winter/Christmas beers on draft upstairs at the belgian bar.

Happy Drinking!!

Rainy Day = Brew Day

Had a tennis match rained out yesterday so not much else left to do but brew! Decided to give the Dunkelweizen a go. Everything went pretty well but I did run into my first stuck sparge. Guess I'll add some rice hulls to my buy list next time I make a wheat beer. Even with the stuck sparge, I hit a good middle road OG of 1.050. With a good ferment it should put my final gravity somewhere in the 5% range which is about what I was hoping. My recipe is below:

Grain Bill:
5 lbs. - Wheat Malt
2 lb. - Munich Malt
2 lb. - Vienna Malt
1/2 lb. - Crystal Malt (60L)
1/4 lb. - Chocolate Malt

Hops:
.5oz Hallertau (60 min)
.5oz Tettnanger (30 min)

75 Minute Boil
Mash for a little over a hour at 155F.

Using White Labs WLP300 Hefeweizen Yeast

Long Time No Beer?

Wow, let that year and a half blow by quick. Let's see, I've drank a lot of great beer since the last post. Enjoyed working my way through the Brick Store Belgian Bar Christmas Beers last month. Planning a ski trip next month that will also just happen to take me by several great breweries in the Denver area. Still doing the homebrew thing. Have really progressed in the quality of my brews. Last two in particular, a big hoppy Irish Red/Red IPA was amazing and the follow up Smoked Stout was pretty good. Planning on brewing in the next week or two, going to brew up the Red IPA again and give a Dunkelweizen a shoot. Hope they turn out.

Happy Drinking and Happy New Year!