IPA - A Test of Will

A couple weeks ago I was visiting a friend who, of course being the great host he is, offered me a beer. He listed off a few of what he had on hand and included in that is what he simply referred to as Stone Pale Ale. Now, I’ve had Stone’s Pale Ale a few times before and really liked it. However, what he ended up handing me was Stone’s Ruination IPA. Not typically liking IPAs, I still said what the heck and cracked open the bottle. I really should’ve read the fun beer description they have for it beforehand so I knew what I was really getting myself into. All I could think was, wow, so this is what it’d be like to chew on a mouthful of hops.

I’m all about experimenting with beer and trying new things and challenging myself to find the positive elements in things I don’t like. A lot of domestic craft brewers have been experimenting with this type of beer and obviously there is a market for it, so what is it I have been missing out on? In the spirit of this IPA revolution and with this recent experience, I decided to sit down and do a mini tasting of various strength IPAs. Known for their hoppy bitterness, I figured this would challenge my balanced beer loving nature.

I figured I'd get a range of IPAs which represent the best of the bunch and from brewers that I know. First off, I selected Sam Adams' Latitude 48 IPA to try out primarily and since I figured this would be the most tame out of the bunch, which it does come in at around 50 IBUs from what I could research. Next up I picked a local Hangar 24 Columbus IPA, which comes in at 77 IBUs. Stepping up a bit I went for Dogfish Head's 90 Minute Imperial IPA, supposedly one of the best beers around and coming in at 90 IBUs. Lastly, I picked up Green Flash's Imperial IPA, which comes in at a whopping 101 IBUs. Let's get it on!


The Lineup (and yes, it was before noon as the clock reads, but I had already done my chores for the day, so I earned it)

The Sam Adams poured a much more red color than the standard IPA copper. It had a nice fizzy carbonation with a floraly, piney bitterness up front with a slight caramel sweetness that finishes smooth. Overall, not bad, but it seems like it holds its punches a bit with a fairly mild flavor.

Hangar 24's entry had a nice hazy copper color to it with a nice sweet aroma with a floral hoppiness. The flavor was fairly one note with a citrusy, grassy bitterness throughout with a slight malty background. I've got to be proud of my local contender for putting it out there, since I'd definitely rank this one above Sammy.

I had read a lot of good things about Dogfish Head's 90 Minute IPA, so my expectations were fairly high coming into this. Oh man, this did not disappoint. It pours a nearly pristinely clear copper and had a nice sweet aroma with slight floral notes of hops and a bit of yeast. The taste is extremely well balanced for what is considered an Imperial IPA, with just a quick hit of bitterness up front and mellowing into a caramely, malty sweet finish.

Last up the Green Flash I had also read a few things about since it seems to be in every recent popular brew pub in LA. This one did disappoint quite a bit with its overwhelming bitter salad greens taste. I applaud the effort considering the IBU rating, but this one just doesn't seem to fit into the everyday world of beer, at least from my vantage point. I could possibly see it standing up to a super spicy, smokey bbq, but other than that, this beer is just over the top for me.

In the end, I did find a nice IPA in Dogfish Head's 90 Minute that I'd easily choose when at a bar or restaurant, but it's going to be difficult for me to meander down the IPA path again with any other newcomer.

Revisit of the Dutch Apple Ale

After another Friday of working out in the yard I decided to pop open this last bottle of Dutch Apple Ale that I originally bottled at the end of November. I have now come to the realization that time is a good thing for these beers and that I shouldn't be rushing to drink them right after the end of the recommended conditioning period. The mix used a can of the Mr. Beer Englishman's Nut Brown Ale along with some apple juice and I upped the spice quotient a bit since I figured Mr. Beer took the conservative route.

There was much less carbonation now, but still a nice little fizz that gave it a light head and helped round out the rich, thick mouthfeel of the beer. The smell was stong with the cinnamon and nutmeg spices added to the beer, but unfortunately the spice was still faint in the taste of the beer. Still though, the beer had a nice caramely, roasty sweetness with just a slight yeasty taste that made it easy to drink on a warm day. Now, let's see how long I can keep my hands off that kolsch.


Here it is next to a leftover turkey and chickpea burger from dinner the other night that I made. Yum!

Beer and Wine Paired Valentine's Dinner

In the wife and I’s quest to make the most use out of our dining room table and to experiment with my cooking on others, we decided to invite a few of our coupled friends for a Valentine’s dinner to avoid the ridiculousness that is Valentine’s day restaurant dining. After we developed the menu for the dinner, I started thinking that the dishes would pair well with certain beers in addition to the usual wine. The planned out pairings also made it a bit easier to assign appropriate beers or wines for each couple to bring (as well as for our friends to share in the cost of putting together a dinner). Below is the menu with pairings.

Brie en Croute with Apricot Marmalade
The Bruery Saison Rue and Chardonnay

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup with Parmesan Crisp
Mirror Pond Pale ale and Gewurztraminer

Mushroom Ravioli in an Allagash Dubbel Smoked Gouda Sauce
Franziskaner Hefe-Weisse Dunkel and Pinot Noir

Mixed Greens Salad with Pear, Goat Cheese, and Apple Cider Vinaigrette
Weihensthephaner Kristall Weissbier and Rose

Gluten Free Chocolate Cake
Stone Smoked Porter and Port





All in all the meal was great and we all had a great time (that is until the post dinner game of catchphrase got out of hand). The beer parings went extremely well with their respective dishes. The sweet yeasty Saison Rue blended well with the ooey gooey cheese and sweet marmalade. The pale ale gave a bold counter to the sweet and a little spicy soup. The dunkelweis’ earthiness matched well with the mushrooms and creamy sauce. The kristallweis’ light effervescence played well with the sweet pears, creamy goat cheese, bitter greens, and tart dressing. The smoked porter helped add more depth to the rich, dense cake. I think I need to make paired dinners a regular thing.

Brewing Update

It certainly has been a while since I’ve updated the blog. Things have certainly been busy with the wife and I. That still hasn’t kept me from doing what I do though, which is drink and make beer.

First off, I wish I didn’t have to address the raspberry dunkel, but I feel I must if for no other reason than to remind myself of the lesson learned. I drank a test bottle of the raspberry dunkel on Thanksgiving weekend and that bottle (maybe even the whole batch) must have been tainted with some bacteria since I spent the good part of the following night and next day bringing it back up and unable to eat anything. Lesson learned though, sanitation procedures are followed extremely closely now. Too bad though, since from what I remember it had a nice roasty sweet taste.

Fortunately, I already had a batch of spiced apple ale conditioning for the annual Brady Christmas Party. This meant I was forced to not be dissuaded from the raspberry dunkel experience and jump back into trusting myself to brew beer. I made sure to test the results before releasing it upon the masses. The results were pleasant although the spice (cinnamon and nutmeg) was not as prevalent as I had hoped. Again this young beer was quite yeasty and carbonated when first opened in mid December. I have one left in the fridge that I am allowing to age a bit more to see how if it rounds out a bit.

It took me a little while after that to decide on what to brew next and I decided to keep it simple to develop a nice base set of recipes to work off of. First I brewed an abbey style Belgian ale and next a Kolsch style beer that I’m hoping will be good for the soon to be summer weather. The abbey style Belgian is suggested to condition for 6 months, so we’ll see if I have the patience before I open a test bottle on that one.

During my blogging hiatus, with some constructive criticism from the wife on my previously handwritten beer labels on “Hello My Name Is” tags, I developed a simple beer label format. Hopefully this will make them a little more attractive to drink as well as reflect some of my creativity and playfulness.

Raspberry Porter or Raspberry Dunkel

Woohoo! The batch of raspberry porter i started brewing 3 weeks ago was ready for bottling today.  I took a little taste prior to bottling and it did not contain the typical smokey, chocolatey taste I'd expect from a porter. Perhaps next time I should use two cans of the Mr. Beer UME rather than one and the booster. It also didn't have much of a raspberry taste, so maybe I also went a little too easy there, but maybe the fresh brewed yeastiness was just overwhelming the taste.  It could've been just the yeast talking to me, but the taste actual reminded me more of a dunkelweiss.  So, based on this initial taste, I've decided to rechristen this batch of brew the Raspberry Dunkel.  Now let's give it another four weeks of conditioning and see how it turns out.



A little tasting prior to bottling


Bottles all lined up waiting for priming sugar and bottling

Revisit of the Orange-Coriander Witty Monk

A couple of weeks ago I discovered an old bottle of the orange peel-coriander witty monk (mr. beer) that I brewed back in March that I had left over at my in-laws.  I was attempting to recreate my everyday fav Blue Moon.  Back in April I dove into this batch of brew during a birthday party for the wife where most of it was wiped out.  Back then, when it was fresh off a 2 week brew and 3 week bottle conditioning, it was highly carbonated creating an overwhelming head and the taste was strongly yeasty. Overall, I wasn't that pleased with it at the time.

After my work was done out in the yard today, I decided to pop the bottle open and see how well (or how poorly) this brew had aged.  I was pleasantly suprised by my findings.  The carbonation had mellowed substantially to a light effervescence creating a slow dying head. The taste had improved dramatically with the yeastiness subsided, allowing for the orange and the coriander (although slightly) to come through to create a more balanced taste.  The color had also changed to more of a golden brown reminiscent of an unfiltered spiced apple cider.  It was very pleasing just to look at.  This nice little discovery definitely has taught me to be more patient with my brews and allow them to age more in the bottle to let the still living yeast do its full work and let the flavors settle.




Orange-Coriander Witty Monk

A Relaxed Weekend Lunch

With the wife gone this weekend, I've been completely on my own schedule to get done what I want, when I want. So, I decided after working in the yard in the morning to make up a quick lunch to complement a bottle of The Bruery Orchard White I picked up a couple of weeks ago.  I was a big fan of a bottle of their Saison Rue that I had at Father's Office, so I figured I'd try one of their lighter brews and one of my favorite styles of beer.

I decided to utilize some of my leftover homemade smoked bbq pork to make a few mini pulled pork sandwiches along with a small salad of spinach, white balsamic vinagrette, and crumbled goat cheese.  The Orchard White pours with an extra white tall head that diminishes slowly.  The color is light golden.  The aroma is light but with a definite yeasty factor typical for white ale.  The taste, much like the aroma, is very light but with noticeable sweet lemon and coriander notes. I don't know much about the hint of lavendar that the bottle mentions. Although, I am sometimes slow to pick up on hints. I'm sure my wife can attest to that.  Carbonation is extremely high which helps add to the tingly citrus taste.  Overall, it is very light in taste for a white ale, but it makes it an easy drinker. I know, since I polished off the 750ml bottle easily on my own.  Despite the light taste, there was just enough to stand up to the smokey-sweetness of the pork and the tangy-saltiness of the salad.


A cellphone picture is better than no picture