Category Archives: Reviews

Here is where the beer reviews will be listed.

Review of Wittekerke, Witbier

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Wittekerke, a Belgian Witbier

This week I had a can of Wittekerke Belgian Witbier handed to me. I was pretty excited to try this one because quite simply, I never even heard of it, and it’s not too often you get a witbier from Belgium handed to you, much less one from a can. So that is the beer I am chosing to review today. Wittekerke is a Witbier. In general, what you can expect from a witbier is a refreshing, and light wheat beer, often with a hint of spice and citrus and at times, a touch of tart goodness. You should never have a witbier that is overly sour or has any brett or vinegar character. If any sourness is present, it should be a light and clean lactic sourness. With that broad overview out of the way. Lets drink this baby.

 
Aroma: Some nice wheat aroma with a background of aroma of oyster crackers. Some mild coriander  spice is in the nose along with a hint of lemons. Other than that, there is not much else coming through in the aroma. The beer would benefit from a bit more orange or floral notes. But I really like the grain profile. (7 points)
 
Appearance: It pours the picture perfect vision of what I think of when I think of a witbier. Light yellow, hazy, with a high moussey head. This beer is a picture of beauty. (3 points)
 
Flavor: Light and crisp, with very nice cracker-like malt flavor. There is some solid wheat flavors in there as well. The spices and a lactic tartness gives you a faded lemon-drop flavor in here that I like quite a bit. The lemony flavor lingers long into the finish and washes all over your mouth, sticking mostly to the sides of the tongue for me.  This beer is one hell of a thirst quencher. The lemon character is very nice. The sweetness of the beer is only evident up front, and lends a temporary honey-like quality right off the swallow. That sweetness quickly fades into the malt and lemon flavor which sticks around for quite some time. Very enjoyable flavor, well-balanced, and easy drinking. (16 points)
 
Mouthfeel: The mouthfeel is on the very bottom edge of medium. It could actually be a touch thinner. It is light and fluffy in the mouth. No astringency. Carbonation is quite high, as it should be, and really helps make the beer feel crisp and refreshing. (4 points) 
 
Overall: Overall it is a very well made Witbier…as I would expect from a beer that originally comes from that region. The aroma was lacking the spice character I am used to and it seems a touch on the heavy side for a wit, but the beer has some excellent qualities to it as well. The spice in the flavor is very well balanced, the tartness is on point, and the malt profile is very pleasing. Overall I think this beer is very solid. (8 points)
 
In the end, I gave this beer 38 points out of 50. This roughly translates to about a solid B or maybe a B-. The numbers show B- since 38 is on the lower end of second tier in the score sheet. But I feel this beer deserves a bit more than a B- simply for how refreshing it is.

Food Recipe: Lamb Stew with Pere Jacques (Belgian Dubbel)

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Lamb Stew with Pere Jacques

Today I’m going to do things a bit differently. Instead of simply talking beer, or talking beer and food pairing, or cooking with beer. I am going to invite you in and show you a recipe I created using Pere Jacques from Goose Island. Although in this recipe I used lamb, this will work with pork or beef as well since dubbels pair nicely with both those. There are a few beer styles that pair well with lamb, but I chose the Belgian Dubbel because I felt the yeast character, particularly of Pere Jacques, would work well with the mild gameiness of the lamb.

My wife and I have discovered the joys of grass-fed animals. Come to find out, corn is not the natural food for cows, and this can lead to health issues, not only with the cow (or other grass-eating animals) meat, but some say it can be linked to the presence of E. Coli in the meat. Now, I’m not going get all preachy on it, but this was something interesting I learned. Moreover, grass-fed meat does taste a bit different, and I actually like the flavor. We get our meats from a place called grassway organics.

With all that, here is the recipe I came up with.

Lamb Stew with Belgian Dubbel

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil (more if needed)
2 pounds lamb shoulder or leg meat, trimmed of fat and cut into 1-1/2 inch cubes
2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
Salt and pepper to taste
1 bottle (12-ounces) belgian dubbel
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1-1/2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/2 tablespoon mediterranean seasoning
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 large onions, sliced into rings
4 shallots
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 large potato cut into large cubes
3 medium-sized carrots, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
3 celery stalks
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary*
2 fresh basil leaves*
a few sprigs of fresh mint
3 bay leaves

*use dry store bought if fresh is not available.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add lamb to skillet in batches, being careful not to crowd the pan, and sear well on all sides.

Sear the meat.....

Remove from skillet.When all the lamb is seared well, return it to the skillet. Sprinkle with flour and stir to blend. Season with salt and pepper. Cook 3 minutes. Remove to a Dutch oven or slow cooker.

Degrease skillet. Place over medium-high heat; add beer and stir, scraping up any browned bits. Blend in vinegar, mustard, and mediterranean seasoning. Pour over meat mixture.

Add the beer mixture

Melt butter in same skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and shallots and sauté until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and sauté an additional 2 minutes. Mix onions and garlic into meat.  Add carrots and potatoes along with  rosemary, mint, bay leaves, and celery.

Ready to cook.

Bring stew to a simmer. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook until meat is tender, about 1-1/2 to 2 hours.If the stew is too thick or dry, add a little more beer as needed. If too liquidy, cook uncovered until desired consistency or use a cornstarch and water mixture.

Now reap the rewards of your labor!

Review of New Glarus Unplugged: ABT

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New Glarus ABT...think of it as an Imperial Dubbel (offically a Belgian Quad) which I am drinking from a Bodum Glass

This weekend I went out and picked up some New Glarus Unplugged ABT. This release snuck up on me. Normally, I am monitoring New Glarus’s Beer Schedule, and I am that guy who walks into the liquor store during the month looking for the latest unplugged or seasonal from my favorite brewery. Most of the time I am in there days, or even weeks before the store gets it. But this time, I was looking at the beer and they got it before I started hounding them for it. I don’t know if that is a good thing, for me it is a sign at exactly how busy I have really been.

Beer Advocate lists ABT is a Belgian Dubbel style ales, however from what I can gather from Internet searches, ABT is actually a style all its own. It appears that ABT falls in line with a Dubbel, but is a bit bigger. This example is pushing 10% with a listed ABV of 9.75%.  Since most Dubbels end at 7%, you can think of it as an Imperial Dubbel, or some people call it a Quad. Just like Ommegang’s Three Philosophers.  Since New Glarus doesn’t officially list its style. I will use my interpretation of what it would be. Which is ABT, as an Imperial Dubbel or Quad. The BJCP category would be 16E, Belgian Specialty, which is also the official catch-all listing for any Belgian Quadrupels. As always, you can judge it yourself using the BJCP scoresheet, which is the format I use to review beers in this blog.

Aroma: The aroma is very complex, you could spend a lot of time finding something new with every sniff. Up front I get some raisins, doughy malt, sweet chocolate, and over-cooked caramel. If you have ever been in someone kitchen who was making candy and let the sugar get to the dark stages, you will know what I mean. There is not a lot of alcohol coming through for me for a 10%, but you do get some, which gives the impression of booze soak raisins.  Those are the big hitters for me in the aroma. A few more minor players are some honey aroma, a bit of sour fruit (mostly cherry’s), and hint of allspice. All in all, I think this is a very well put together, and complex beer. The spicy notes are likely from the yeast used, and with Randy Theil (formerly of Brewery Ommegang) onboard at New Glarus, it makes sense that this Belgian style ale is spot on for big complex Belgian style quad. (9 points)

Appearance: A deep garnet ale, with some very good clarity. The light tan head is very dense and long-lasting. Not much lacing on the glass, perhaps because of the high alcohol content. (2 points)

Flavor: Here is where the strength of this beer is quite evident. In the flavor, for me  I get a lot of  chocolate and spice, which is a very unique flavor. I don’t know if this beer is barrel aged or not, but I swear I am getting some oak. The alcohol and fruity esters again give me the impression of booze soaked raisins, and cherries. There is a nice sweetness in the middle, but the beer really does not finish dry. If you wait a long time between swallows, you will notice a slow caramel sweetness re-emerging later, which reminds you to drink again. The doughy malt and overcooked caramel is present, but for me it’s about chocolate, spice, alcohol, and oak for the big players. One thing you can really appreciate is how good this beer really is. I can appreciate the thought and effort put into this beer. In a world where balance seems to not be as appreciated as it should be, this beer is a very good example of complexity with balance. (16 Points)

Mouthfeel: For a big beer, this beer is fairly light. It has a medium mouthfeel, and enough carbonation to further lighten the feel. It gives a crisp feel to this malty complex beer. (5 points)

Overall: Overall, I think this beer will easily be lost on the big and bold crowd. They will see the 10% (9.75 actually) and think of big bold flavor and aroma, and be sort of disappointed in finding a well-balanced big Belgian. Granted, when I think of a big Dubbel, like a Quad, I would think of more malt and more sweetness. Sort of like a big barleywine, only the Belgian version. But to be honest, I kind of like this as well. There is not that sweetness that would prevent you from drinking a few of these, but enough complexity to keep the beer interesting. There is enough alcohol present to remind you that you should be careful, but not hot and unpleasant. I really can’t think of anything in this beer I would want to change, but as far as a Quad goes, it is quite nice. (please keep in mind that although a Quadruple is generally thought of as a big dubbel, you can have Quads that are similar to Tripel’s, but bigger) (8 points)

Overall I gave this beer a 40, which is a B or B+, either way it is an Excellent beer.

Review of Elliot Brew from Struise

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Today I have a very interesting beer that I received from my friend Peter at Simplybeer.com. Peter and I like to trade beers from time to time and get a flavor of something different that we each can’t normally get in or local areas. Elliot Brew (AKA Struise Mikkeller) from De Struise Brouwers Basically this is an Double IPA, brewed in Belgium. Now I know here in America many brewery’s are brewing Belgian style ales, but I have not heard of much of the opposite happening. Now, before you get down on me about calling this an American Style, and not just an Imperial IPA I am referring to it as such because the double IPA style did start here in America. However, which judging the style, any variety of hops can be used. So you cannot ding it for not having that “traditional” American hop flavor. But I do like to call it an American Double IPA style because of where it originated from, not for the ingredients used.

Elliot Brew from Struise

Aroma: Some sweet taffy-like candy aroma, along with grassy and floral hop aroma are the dominant aromas. It sort of reminds me of what it may smell like on a summer day sitting outside of taffy shop. There is definitely some hop presence, but not as much as I would have thought, but there is a lot going on that helps blend everything together. You have some boozy schnapps aroma in there when you dig deep. Just off the aroma alone I am expecting a nice hoppy beer, but a lot of sweetness. (9 Points)

Appearance: A hazy and creamy looking light amber, with a ton of head. Even pouring it fairly gently, produced a lot of head. For a higher alcohol beer, this head lasted a long time too. (3 points)

Flavor: Here is where all the complexity lays in this beer. I have some sweet and sticky taffy, not toffee, but a sweet and fruity taffy-like flavor. There is some doughy bread, and a slight toasty flavor as well. The hop flavor is wet and grassy, with some juicy orange citrus highlights. I don’t know these are American varieties or not, but I am getting some woodiness, so I suspect there is some English varieties in there somewhere. Alcohol is quite evident, and even though this bottle has aged a bit, seems a bit on the hot side for me. The beer seems a bit sweet, but don’t get me wrong, it is far from cloying. I can easily drink this. The combination of the alcohol, stiff hop bitterness, and use of sugar as an adjunct help to dry it out somewhat. Just don’t expect this to be a bone dry, easy to slam beer. Not that you would want to, but you get the idea. There is a resinous sticky bitterness that lingers long into the finish, and this battles any sweetness that is also lingering. You can literally feel the battle if you pay close attention. (15 Points)

Mouthfeel: For as big as this beer, the mouthfeel is not super heavy and chewy, but it is fairly full. It is just beyond the medium range. The high level of carbonation give the impression of a lighter feel, but if you let it sit in your mouth for a few seconds you can get a real feel for the viscosity of the beer. (4 points)

Overall: This beer has been getting super high marks, but for me it is just above average. Maybe I have a bottle that didn’t travel well, maybe I let it sit too long, or maybe too many people fall into the “If it’s from Belgium it has to be the best beer ever” craze. I can’t really say, all I can do is evaluate the beer in front of me as I see it. It is  a huge IPA, with some great attributes, but for me seems to be lacking in the hop depth. I am sure there are a lot of hops in there, they do come through a bit in such a huge beer, but for me not enough for a world class double IPA. The bitterness is there, but the flavor perspective and fairly low aroma give it  a few dings. But on the high side, it is a very tasty beer and I love seeing an American style coming from overseas, from Belgium in particular. The fruity bit I get, I suspect is from the candy sugar, which is also an interesting twist. But in the end, for a Double American style IPA, it is just very good to me. (7 points)

Total points I score this beer is 38 or  about a B-.

Cooking With Beer

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It’s fairly common, once your doors of perception have been opened to the real flavors and aroma of beer, that appreciation widens to food…..or vice-versa. Most commonly, beer lovers are concerned with pairing the right beer with the right dishes. If you look in most cookbooks however, you will receive generic descriptions for any recipe calling for beer. Most of the time it will say “1 can/bottle of beer” or if you are lucky it may actually specify, “1 bottle of dark beer”. But if you are reading this, you already know that beer is more than just light, amber, or dark. Even comparing similar styles between different brewerys provide different flavors, sugar content, levels of bitterness ect. I was very happy with the announcement from the Brewing Network, that they were going to be having a show hosted by Sean Paxton, the Homebrew Chef. Now I am no Sean Paxton, my level of cooking skill and interest takes a  more low brow approach. But, just because I have no interest in cooking five-star type of meals, does not mean that you cannot adapt the same approach Sean Paxton uses for beer and food, in more common food types that you like to cook. I am an avid low and slow BBQ fan, quite often taken 10+ hours on making a smoked pork butt or beef brisket. I also love grilling steaks, burgers, brats, and chicken. The trick is to create a marriage between the two, the hard part is deciding what and where to incorporate beer into the equation. Sometimes it’s a pairing, and sometimes it’s using beer as an ingredient. What I loved most about the first episode of the show, was it explained exactly that, and I knew from that point this latest edition of the Brewing Networks line-up was going to be easily understood by anyone who has even the slightest interest in cooking will be able to pick up something.

So before I proceed, I just want to give a you a bit of my cooking background, all of which is as an amateur. Now, I admit, listening to that episode of The Home Brewed Chef inspired me to try something they had on the show, and that cooking experience I had today inspired me to write about it. But I have been cooking with beer for quite some time, just not at Sean’s level.  I did however, receive some email comments from Sean on my other site (which I have not transferred my food section over to this blog yet) that he liked what I was presenting and it could get people on the right track with some simple cooking with beer recipes. Coming from him that was a big compliment. Many of his ideas on his site, were incorporated into the type of cooking I do. For example, I have my variation of his Chocolate Ancho Chili Spice rub, into a variation that uses Chipotle peppers instead and a bit of brown sugar instead of organic sugar. I have also made his Stout BBQ Sauce as well. Also, I entered a cooking with beer contest, and I ended up as a top 10 finalist, but had to back out of the final cook-off because I just started a new job four days before the final cooking, and I didn’t want to ask off, four days after starting. At the end of this article, I will provide that recipe I had. But for now, I will talk a bit about cooking with beer, and give a simple recipe based off an idea that they talked about on the first episode of The Home Brewed Chef.

In my experience (and from what it sounds like others do too) is when cooking with beer you want to consider three things. The flavor of the dish you are creating, the style and flavor of the beer you want to use, and how these two forces will collide. As an example, you wouldn’t want to use a Heffeweizen in a hearty sauce, because it may be completely lost in the dish. If you are like me and light a slight sweetness to the sauce, you will want to find a slightly sweet, and more full flavored beer. Something that can stand up to the boldness of the tomatoes and beef,  yet not overtake the dish or come across as bitter. I like to use an English style old ale. I have found for me, the character of the beer comes through well, and the slightly wine-like vineous flavors mesh well with tomatoes. Same holds true for other aspects to consider, for example when pairing grilled ribeyes with an American amber ale, you could incorporate something with that amber ale into a side dish, or sauce that would go with that steak. That is where I was interested in an off the cuff idea that Sean Paxton shot out during that first show. You could take a roasty stout, where the roasted flavors of the grain may pair well with a grilled steak, and take some onions and shallots, saute them, then use a broth and the beer, reduce it to a sauce and pour it over the steak. It sounded so good I had to try it. So here is my version of that idea below. I used a smoked imperial porter with Chipotle peppers (Benji’s Smoked Imperial Porter with Chipotle Peppers from Tyranena to be exact) that I had in my beer cellar instead of a stout, but that’s what is great about cooking, you can change anything to fit your taste. Here was mine.

Here are the Ingredients, 1 cup of Benji's Smoked Imperial Porter with Chipotle Peppers, 3 shallots, 1 medium sweet onion, 1 garlic clove (not visible), butter, and 1 can of beef broth.

I sauteed the onions, shallots, and garlic until they started to clear.

I then added the broth and beer and continued to cook until reduced to a medium thick sauce.

These are just tenderloin steaks with hop salt and pepper. I have a hard time smothering fatty steaks like ribeyes. But tenderloins don't have much flavor on their own.

Grill 'em how you like 'em. I like medium myself.

 

Once the sauce is reduced to where you like it, plate the steak, let it rest, then just before eating spoon the sauce and onions on it. This was very delicious. I ended up serving it with pan roasted potatoes I also drizzled with the beer.

So that was it. When cooking with beer, you want to think about how the flavors are going to meld with your food. Will the bitterness go well in that cake? Probably not, but a great raspberry lambic may. Another think to remember is that when you are cooking with the beer, some of the water will evaporate, so you may also concentrate the flavors, this can work to both your advantage, or it will work against you. So if you are cooking with a hoppy IPA, and you concentrate that bitterness, you better have a bit of sweetness in the dish to try to balance out that part of the beers contribution.

Cooking Brats tip

Living here in Wisconsin, we have a strong German heritage. Brats, among other sausages are very popular. But in summer, brats are everywhere. People often par boil their brats in beer, or soak them afterwards in beer. Normally this is just some Bud, Miller, or Coors. But, this really doesn’t do much. The skin of the brat prevents the liquid from really penetrating the brat in that short amount of time. If anything, you get the aroma of the pot while it is boiling or steeping afterwards. But when you eat the brat, 9 times out of 10 you don’t get much flavor from the beer. I did find that if you soak the brats in beer 24 hours prior to grilling, you do get a lot of beer flavor. I like to use Capital Brewery’s Wisconsin Amber as my soaking beer of choice. Also as a side note, a true brat cooker will never par boil them. They should be cooked raw on the grill. But I promise you that if you soak them for 24 hours, then grill them, you will get many compliments on how much beer flavor your brats have.

Pub Skirt Steak Fajitas with Beer Braised Onions and Peppers

With that, here was my Pub Style Skirt Steak fajita’s recipe I promised earlier in this post. This is the one that earned me a top 10 spot, and I would put money on winning the thing I would have been able to compete. In all honesty, the amounts are estimated, I normally don’t cook with exact measurements. So play around with it and suite it to your taste.

Skirt Steak
1-2 lb skirt steak (Fat trimmed)
1 cup of Sprecher Pub Ale (1/4 cup reserved for grilling)
2 limes (you will need the juice from 1 and 1/2 limes or about 3 tablespoons for the marinade and the other half a lime for grilling)
1 teaspoon of cumin
3 dashes of Tobasco sauce
salt and pepper to taste

Place the skirt steak in a gallon freezer bag, along with the beer, 3 tablespoons of lime juice lime juice, cumin, and tobasco sauce. Allow to marinade overnight. If in a hurry, allow to marinade at least 3 hours before grilling.

When ready to grill combine 1/4 cup of Pub Ale and juice from 1/2 lime into a bowl or pour into a clean spray bottle.

Remove steak from the marinade and lightly salt and pepper the meat. Place it on a medium high heat grill and grill using direct heat. For an average skirt steak grill for about 5-6 minutes per side, while spritzing with the beer and lime mixture (or basting if you used a bowl)

When done, allow to rest for 5 minutes before cutting into 1/4″ slices. Cut the skirt steak at an angle.

Serve on warm tortillas with the below onion and pepper mixture.

Beer Braised Onions and Peppers

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 medium sliced red onion sliced thin and in half
1 small red pepper grilled then cut into strips
1 small green pepper grilled then cut into strips
2 tablespoons of sugar
1/4 cup of Sprecher Pub Ale
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1/4 teaspoon of salt

Melt butter under medium heat (use a side burner on the gas grill if you have it), then add onions and sugar cook until the onions soften. Stir in the ale, vinegar, grilled peppers, and salt. Cook over medium heat while stirring until all the liquid has nearly all evaporated.

Serve with the above flank steak on tortillas (This mixture also goes great with brats. I soak my brats in beer 24 hours prior to grilling, do not par boil. Just grill them. Serve with this same pepper and onion mixture)

Some time off, but now I’m back…Oh, and Review of Capital Dark Lager

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Well, I took some unplanned time off from blogging. I recently had a change of career and I have been extremely busy getting myself up to speed, caught up, and familiar with the responsibilities. It did not help that my new career path is in the IT field, so spending 9+ hours on a computer made it hard to get into the swing of blogging. Now my work load is leveling off…..a bit, and I can spend a few leisurely hours in front of a monitor at home. Let me assure you, even though I was not writing about beer, I did enjoy some great beers. De Struise Black Damnation, More Thomas Hardy Ale, some beers from The Bruery, Stone Double Bastard all just to name a few. I even had a beer pot luck party for my birthday in early August. If you have never thrown a beer pot luck, you should, they are great fun for beer lovers. My rules are simple, everyone has to bring a six-pack of anything other than Bud, Miller, or Coors. Then it all goes into some coolers and all beers are free for the taking. Towards the end of the night, the remaining guests names are tossed into a hat, and names are picked. When your name is picked, you can take however many beers are left to split between the people. I am selfish with beer, so since it is my party (and I have to clean up) I get first pick before the names are drawn. These parties have never been a dull time. So with all that explained, let’s get into the beer here. 

Capital Munich Dark

 

Today’s beer is Capital Brewery’s Dark Lager, which is a Munich Dunkel. Munich Dunkel, along with Vienna Lager, is one of my top favorite dark lager styles. Although Schwartzbier is quite good too. But I just feel that the Vienna lager, and Munich Dunkel offer a much more rich dark (not roasted) malt flavor, and often have that great melanoidin character I love. Overall, what you can expect from this style is a rich Munich malt flavor and aroma, very low hops, and a full complex malt forward beer, hopefully with some great melanoidin flavors. 

Aroma: Smells like a light bock. Some very low spicy hop aroma. The malt is not overpowering or heavy in the aroma, but it should not be in this style. The aromas are of sweet toffee, a bit of chocolate, and that distinct Munich aroma. Just as the guidelines specify, the malt is the showcase of this beer, but it is not as intense as a bock. But the beer is malty and rich in the aroma as it should be, just not intensely so. (8 points) 

Color: Nice clarity with a beautiful garnet tone. It poured a nice tan head which lasted quite a long time. (3 points) 

Flavor: The flavor is simply great. The first thing I notice is the rich fullness of the Munich malt, and there appears to be some deep melanoidin character. I’m not sure if they added melanoidin malt, or did a decoction mash, but either way I don’t care. I love that flavor. There are some other major players are some thick crusty bread flavors, some chocolate, and just a touch of a darkened or cooked caramel. As it warms it becomes a bit nutty as well, with the flavor of toasted almonds.  The hops more than happy to a back seat….a way back seat to this malty jewel. The only minor ding I can give it, is that there is a minor bitterness in the back-end that I don’t care for, but I don’t think it is a beer flaw, just a personal taste issue. The good thing is that bitterness, which is slightly roasty does dry out the beer, leaving you ready for another drink. (17 points) 

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with some great creamy texture. The malt in the beer gives a great smooth feel to the beer. No astringency or alcohol warmth. (4 points) 

Overall: This is a top-notch commercial example of the Munich Dunkel in my opinion. The lager is clean with no diacetyl or esters.  The grain bill is great, and spot on for me. The only thing I don’t like, and it is very minor, is a slight bitterness that doesn’t agree with me. It may be the hop choice. But in the end, I think this beer is must find for anyone looking for a US made commercial example of a beer style dominated by German brewers. The truth is, sometimes those German exports are not treated that well during transit and are not at their best. At least this beer was produced fairly locally for many (less than 3 hours away for me) and at least does not have to travel on a hot and rocking boat over the ocean. (8 points) 

Total score: 40 points. This would be equal to an A- in my book.

Longshot Beers Part 2: Old Ben Ale

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Old Ben Ale

Today’s beer is the second one in this series. It is an Old Ale brewed by Michael Robinson named Old Ben Ale. This beer is one of my favorite styles of beer. It is a malty beer of some significant strength. So it is a bit bigger than a brown ale or bitter, but not as big and bold as a barleywine. You can expect these beers to normally be fairly low on the hops scale (at least by the perception of hops. There may be considerable hops to balance the sweetness, but because of age and the amount of grains used, the perception of hop character is normally low to none), but be fairly heavy on malt and alcohol. Normally I enjoy these more in the fall months, and don’t really relish them in summer, but I rarely turn down a good beer. So lets look at this malty bombshell.

Aroma: Nice clear malt profile. Up front you get milky caramel as well as some ripe plums, as the beer warmed it turned a bit more dark brown sugar. A bit deeper I smell something akin to a dry cherry wine. Which, unless you live near a place like the cherry orchards in Door County Wisconsin, you may not be familiar with. Booze soaked almonds also comes to mind in here towards the back-end. The aroma is not as sweet as some other old ales I have had, and it is mostly caramel in here, with the other players taking a supporting role. (9 points)
Appearance:  A rich amber color with some good clarity. I had to pour aggressively to get any head, but that can be expected in a 9% beer. What head I did get disappeared fairly quickly. (3 points)
Flavor: Up front is the flavor of caramel covered sticky buns. The alcohol gives it a boozy play in the adult version of the buns. Very rich caramel character, some minor chocolate flavor.  I also get the booze soaked nuts in the flavor as well, which to be honest is my favorite flavor component of the beer. A few other minor players come to light, such as the plums which also come across as pear at times. There is some hop bitterness in the finish that combined with the nutty flavor and caramel leads to a nice finish. I do have to say though that the guidelines state that beer should finish dry to slightly sweet. I feel this beer finished very sweet, and has a very sweet flavor throughout. A bit too sweet for me. But all in all good flavor that hits most of the major flavor aspects of a traditional old ale. (13 points)
Mouthfeel: very full-bodied with some lingering fullness even after the swallow. It may be a bit too full-bodied. That combined with the alcohol make for a long pint for me. I enjoy it, but couldn’t drink more than one or two. Carbonation is low, as it should be. (4 points)
Overall: A very good old ale representation. The nutty character combined with the alcohol remains my favorite attribute. The caramel character is nice, but combined with the sweetness, gets a little sickening by the end. If I could drink more than one pint at a time, it would be 2 at most. Toning down the sweetness a bit would make this a bit easier beer to down. But maybe that is a good thing, because at 9% things could get out of hand quite quickly if you could down a lot of these. Still, the beers complexity is very interesting, and the beer does taste good. The beer would pair very well with a fudge brownie in my opinion.  (6 points)
In the end I scored this beer a 35, but in competition I would be willing to come up a bit. I may have been a bit too harsh in the sweetness factor, but in the end, this would have been my score. A 35 would be about a B- or C+.

A look at Sam Adams Longshot Beers Part 1: Lemon Pepper Saison

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I get excited each time the longshot six-pack is made available. This April the six-pack with the winners for 2009 was released, but I have not got around to picking it up until last weekend. What I love about this special six-pack, is two-fold. I love the fact that Sam Adams supports homebrewing and is willing to not only run a competition of this size, but also brew the top winners. Second, the fact that the beers in this six-pack started out with a recipe from someone just like myself, inspires me to try some new things. This year in the six pack we have an Old Ale, an American Barleywine, and a Saison. Today I will focus on Jeremy White’s beer, Lemon Pepper Saison.  From my understanding, this beer could be a Fruit Beer with a Saison as the base style if it contains lemons, which it does not. It contains lemon peel. So I will judge it as a straight Saison.

Sam Adams Longshot Beer #1: Lemon Pepper Saison

From the Bottle “Pale in appearance, this ale is light bodied and effervescent with an interesting combination of both fruity and spicy flavors . The initial sweetness of vanilla and citrus notes from the lemon peel is followed by the spiciness from the grains of paradise. the finish is slightly tart, yet refreshing.”

Aroma: The lemon peel aroma is the first thing I notice. There is a mild lemonade-like aroma to the beer. This is followed up by a sweet honey-like malty flavor. The peppery aroma comes through last for me. What I like is that there is not a big muddling of aromas in here. There is a refreshing lemony aroma, a sweet and clean light malt character, and a supporting spicy character. There does seem to be some yeast flavors coming into play, sort of give the beer a slight traditional Belgian Abby feel that I don’t particularly care for. (8 points)

Appearance: The beer is a solid gold with some very good clarity. There is a nice layer of foam that sticks firmly to the glass. Looks very much like a Saison. (3 points)

Flavor: Up front you are welcomed by a refreshing citrus flavor, mostly lemon by there seems to be a touch of bitter orange as well. Maybe its just me. Following up the middle is a soft malt flavor of honey soaked bread. What kills it for me is the immediate followup of the bitterness and grains of paradise combo that kicks in way too soon for my liking. It’s not a bad flavor, it just comes too soon for me. It seems to bash away the bready malty quality too quickly and too aggressively. The lingering finish is nice though and tones down to a soft dry honey flavored finish.  There is a sourness that almost escapes your attention because it is a quality of the lemon trait of the beer. However, this sourness is probably from some part of the brewing process, either a sour mash, yeast/bacteria additive, or even the use of wheat. But it is not from the lemon. This sourness is more subdued and tart leaving a refreshing tasting beer. There are hops in this beer, but it seems to be mostly for bittering. The bitterness is about mid-range for me, but don’t expect much hop flavor here. (15 Point)

Mouthfeel: A bit on the light side for what I am used to for a Saison, but I think it falls within the style. The carbonation is a bit on the low-end of the Saison scale though. Not nearly effervescent enough, even though the label states it is. (3 points)

Overall: Overall I feel this beer does hit the style, regardless of what some people on other review sites seem to state. The Saison style is a very broad style, but mostly you are looking for a beer that is strong enough to stand up to aging, but not so strong as to not be a refreshing and thirst quenching beer. The amount of fruit and spice is acceptable and fairly balanced for what the beer is intended to be. I just feel that sometimes people get one or two commercial examples of a specific beer style in mind, and anything that is not like those beers is not to style. However, if you examine the guidelines, you will see that this beer vary in strength from 5% to 9.5% for stronger versions. The color range can be from pale orange to even a dark copper or brown. Granted the guidelines say that the stronger Saisons should be entered (for competition) in the Belgian Specialty category, but they are still Saisons. The portions of this beer that are traditionally Saison are all there. There is spice, there is a fruity quality, it is refreshing, and it is well hopped. It is not well hopped like how an IPA should be, but well hopped enough to balance the malt. It is not a perfect Saison to me, but it is a Saison and a well made one for me. (8 points)

Overall I give this beer a 37, Which to me would be about a B+.
On last thing to consider with this beer, is that Jeremy White won the Employee portion of the longshot competition. That is not take away from his win, but for those who may think “I entered a better Saison than this.” or “This was one of the best in the Country?” can know that this beer was not a winner from the open public competition, but the one for employees only. Which makes it a bit less of a longshot compared to the public entries, but still I give him respect for winning the thing. Either way, I still like this one for the most part.

Kohler Festival of Beer, well worth the price….

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Wood Lake at Kohler

If you are like me, you may be on a budget, but allow a few splurges when it comes to beer, and beer events. Generally these events run upwards of $30 and up but rarely over $100 for a single event. Heck, I have yet to pay over $60 for a single ticket (however I think this year things are going to change because of price hikes). Kohler runs their event a bit differently. They have several events over 3 day, these events range from a golf tourney to beer and food pairing demos. Each event requires a ticket, excluding the golf tourney these prices range between $25-$65 per event. Or you can opt for a day or weekend pass for a bit less than buying all the tickets. This year I was lucky enough to receive an all access pass for all the events, as well as a ticket to bring a guest to the Homebrew Festival, Cheers to Beers, Blues Brews and BBQ, and Shorts and Chefs. I could not attend the Blues, Brews, and BBQ because of a prior commitment, but I did attend a few events Saturday and Sunday that was well worth a write-up.

The Homebrew Festival (ticket price $25)

3 of us Judged Best of Show, which was 10 beers sent on to BOS.

The Homebrew festival actually starts at 10am, way before the doors open to the event. They host a homebrew contest which at first glance seemed a bit off-putting to some from what I heard in the homebrew community, but once I experienced it, it made total sense. The entry fee was a bit steep however, at $10 per entry. As judges we did end up discussing the cost of entry. One positive side it added to the contest is that the beer sent in was really good. The thought behind it was if you are going to spend $10 to enter a beer, you want to make sure you had a really good beer to send. I don’t know if this was Kohler’s intent, but it was  a theory we came up with on why such a large entry fee for such a small event. Most of the entries were local however. It was clearly stated in the rules that in order to win best of show, you had to be present at the homebrew festival to serve your homebrew. You needed to bring 5 gallons of beer. It did not have to be 5 gallons of the beer you entered, but it did have to be homebrew. Although this limited the entries to mostly local brewers, it also does promote the hobby. I do wish though, that if if they required you to serve up your homebrew, you didn’t have to pay the hefty entry fee. If you break it down, you have $25+ for ingredient cost to bring 5 gallons of beer, plus the $10 entry fee. That comes out to a conservative $35 per entry. Each category received 1st-3rd place award ribbons. The Best of Show had trophy’s awarded for 1st-3rd place in BOS as well. And the trophy’s were not cheap plastic, but a metal and marble, so that was a plus.  The actual event was quite nice. I am not sure how much homebrew there was there, but they had a good turn out ( I estimate 100 people attended this small event, but that is not an official number), and some good beers were served as well.As you can see below in the picture I took as the doors opened, food was included in the ticket cost. The spread was pretty decent as you can see.

Food was included in the $25 ticket price

Cheers To Beers (Ticket Price $50)

Cheers to beers was a lot of fun and the lineup of beers was worth the price, the food was just a bonus. It was held at the Kohler Design Center which houses displays of many bathroom fixtures that are produced at Kohler. This made for an interesting evening when combined with some top-notch beers. For example, the first booth you saw when you walked in was from Mikkeller, and featured the Black Hole Series of beers and the single hop IPA’s. I stuck around here for a while and sampled the same beer, but aged in different types of barrels (port, rum, whiskey, and bourbon) as well as the single hop Amarillo, Simcoe, and Tomahawk beers.

Mikkeller Black hole Imperial Stouts, and Single Hop IPA's

Also present were a wide variety of Belgian Beers, one of my favorites of the night was and Oud Bruin from Brouwerij Bavik called Petrus Aged Pale Grand Reserve. It was pleasantly sour, with hints of cherry and vanilla goodness. All your major players were also there in full strength: Goose Island, New Glarus, Capital Brewery, Dogfish Head, Left Hand, Brouwerij Duvel Moortgat with Maredsous 8 just to name a few. The food here was also provided, this included a full dessert table, which I didn’t have time to sample because I kept heading back to the cheese bar. here are a few pics for your enjoyment before I move on to Shorts and Chefs.

Cheese Bar

Authentic Cask Ale

because it's just not a brewfest without it, and a random drunk guy pic

Yeah, Eiffel Tower baby!

Shorts and Chefs (ticket price $45)

Shorts and Chefs

First I have to make it clear that shorts and chefs is not a food and beer pairing event, which the Kohler Festival of Beer did have, but rather a showcase of the top chefs in the state of Wisconsin. Each chef was paired up with a brewery, but the pairing of the food and particular beer was not intended to be a pairing. You were on your own for finding a good pairing for various foods. With that said, I loved this event and when you see the pics you will see why. Although this event was casual, the cuisine was not. You had everything from ribs and pulled pork, to lamb chops and couscous to choose from. The breweries featured were the same as Saturday nights Cheers to Beers event, so it was not difficult to find some very nice pairings. Again, the food and the beer was all included in your ticket cost, and you could each as much from as many chefs as you wanted. Of my top four favorite dishes, the number one for me was a lamb chop smothered in a yogurt and curry mixture atop some Israeli couscous which I paired up with some more Maredsous 8. It was excellent. My other top three was some type of tiny squash hollowed out and stuffed with a crab meat mixture and garnished with greens and a marinara, a grilled pork belly served with watermelon dipped in a chocolate and balsamic vinegar sauce topped with feta, and an excellent appetizer which was grilled bread cheese (which does not actually contain any bread) on a skewer with a venison brat and served with a date chutney. All four of my favs are pictured below.

Grilled bread cheese topped with a venison brat served with a date chutney

The grilled squash and crab meat dish

Grilled Pork Belly with watermelon dipped in chocolate and balsamic topped with feta

The lamb chop smothered in a yogurt and curry mixture atop Israeli Couscous

In the end, although a bit expensive, if you are a beer lover and a foodie, you will find the Kohler Festival of Beer an event worth the price. I just wish I did not have prior commitments so I could have attended the beer and food pairings and the Blues, Brews, and BBQ event. But from the ones I did attend, I was very very pleased. The beers offered were great and in many cases above the normal beer festival standards, the food was great. And best of all, everything was included in the ticket price. So even if you spent every dime on tickets, you still got to eat.

Review of New Glarus Unplugged: Enigma

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New Glarus Enigma

I hope you like the new look. I think the new skin is a bit more appealing to the eye and seems to be a bit cleaner to me. I also want to tell you that at the time I write this, I have an interview scheduled with Kirby Nelson from Capital Brewery in Middleton, Wisconsin for 5pm this Friday. As long as his schedule does not change, you can look forward to that interview soon.

Today though, I have a special treat. New Glarus Enigma. This beer has brewed before, it won some medals at the GABF in 2003 and World Beer Cup in ‘04, but the first I had it was in 2006, which was before I was blogging. It was also my first Unplugged beer, although I had all of the New Glarus offerings up till then, or so I thought. This will be the first review I have of this version of this beer in the Unplugged series. Enigma is a Fruit Beer which has a base style similar to the Flander’s Brown, which is a sour ale. 

Aroma: First thing you may notice is a musty and outdoorsy aroma. This is more than likely from the wild fermentation, which often gives you odd and interesting aromas and flavors. In this case, to me it is musty and outdoorsy and smells slightly like a damp forest and wet leaves. Others may notice the sour and over-ripe cherry aroma. Both are fairly equal in strength in this beer. Diving a bit deeper into the aroma you can catch some soft caramel and toasty barley notes A bit more subtle is a mild oakiness and soft vanilla tones which add to the rustic character of the beer. In all honesty this beer is a wonder and a treasure just in aroma alone. As it warms there is a bit more a slight vinegar aroma which can be inappropriate, but it is slight.  (9 points)

Appearance: A mid-amber hue with some excellent clarity and soft red highlights. It Pours a frothy khaki colored head which diminishes fairly quickly, but leaves a lasting layer throughout half of my pint. (3 points)

Flavor: The flavor is where this beer really shines. If you are not a fan of sour beers, you probably will not enjoy this beer very much, but it is not so sour as to turn most people off. Right up front you get an initial sour punch for just a second, then the cherries come through quite nicely. In the middle the malt and vanilla oaky tones take over for a short time before the woodsy funk and more sourness linger finish off the beer. There is some sweetness to the beer that helps to tame the sourness and funk. The malt in the beer comes across slightly biscuit-like and a bit of caramel and sweet toffee. Although the beer finishes a bit on the sweet side, it is sour enough to leave you refreshed and ready for another drink. If you are familiar with New Glarus’s other fruit beers, you will notice that although the fruit in this beer is quite evident, it is not as strong and dominant as the other beers. If you are seeking hops, you are looking to the wrong style. (18 points)

Mouthfeel: It is a medium bodied beer with a fair amount of carbonation. There is a slight dry presence to it, which comes off a bit astringent to me, but I suspect it may be from the oak. (4 points)

Overall: New Glarus does not disappoint with this fruited sour brown ale. It was brought back for a reason, not only because sour beers are becoming more and more appreciated, but because this is an easy drinking beer. As the beer warms, considerably more oak shines through in the flavor and the malt develops a bit more. At the cooler temps I was getting more a lot more cherry. In the end, the sourness is not overdone, the fruit is not over the top, the malt comes through nicely, and you get some oak. The beer savvy will recognize the difficulty in balancing such a complex beer. The not so savvy will love the easy drinkablilty and thirst quenching tartness “for such a dark beer”.  (9 points)

All in all I gave this beer a 42 out of 50 points (Per the BJCP scoresheet), which would be a solid A in my book. New Glarus never seems to disappoint, even though some of the beers may not be my favorite (only because of personal taste), you can’t argue with the top notch quality and willingness to go out on a limb and try somehthing new.

Tasting Jaba’s Busted Nut Brown

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OK, today I am just going to do a quick post on the Northern English Brown I brewed with some friends a few weeks back. This post will be short and sweet, but will be the defining moment on if I know if this beer will be competition worthy. Although I have done fairly well in competitions before, I was thinking I am going to start entering more competitions now that I feel I have fairly consistent results and can get most beers about where I want them.

So let’s take a look at this puppy, even though it probably could use a few more days conditioning since I bottled it only 10 days ago.

Jaba's Busted Nut Brown

OK, this beer did have some issues, which is why it is a “busted” nut brown. But the minor brewing issue aside (my grains did not come crushed, and since I had someone coming to watch me brew, I had no choice but to improvise my crush. Not an ideal situation), the rest of the brew day went well. Once I opened the fermentor to bottle it, it smelled a lot like New Glarus Fat Squirrel. It also tasted quite good at bottling, but it is hard to get an exact feel without carbonation.

Aroma: Very nutty, with sweet almonds. There is some solid crusty bread and a hint of toffee. Nothing as far as hops at all in the aroma. A bit more hops would probably help, but in this case I wouldn’t add any more. (8 points)

Checking clarity

Color: A nice clear dark amber with reddish highlights. It poured a decent head that dissipated quickly, but does leave a thin layer until the end. (3 points)

Flavor: The beer has some nuttiness to it, that is for sure. The beer starts off a bit sweet, but does not finish sweet. I also wouldn’t say it finishes dry, but it just sort of drifts off. I do like the toffee flavor that is in the finish as it trails off. There is also some light biscuit and a touch of toast. The hop flavor and bitterness are spot on I have to admit. There really is no hops in the flavor and zero bitterness. Personally, that is a new one for me, but according to the guidelines that is OK. The only thing I feel this beer is lacking is overall malt depth. Although all the components are there, it feels a bit too small for me. Also, there is a bit more of a fruity flavor than I would like, but it is still on the lower side. (14 points)

Mouthfeel: To me it feels a bit too thin. It may be in the medium-light range, but it does feel to be solidly in the light range for me. At this time the carbonation is also low, but it is also a bit early. (3 points)

Overall: Overall I am very happy with how this beer turned out. Not having an ideal crush probably made the difference. With a better crush, I am sure the malt profile may be a bit more full. Still, all the right flavor and aroma components are there for exactly what I am looking for. With a bit more malt depth and a bit more body, I really think I have a solid winner here. Still, this beer may take some 1st place awards in competition, so I will be sending it off. But I do want to re-brew this fairly soon and hit it right on. I am not going to change the recipe, but want to re-brew it with a proper crush before making adjustments. (7 points)

Overall I gave it a 35 out of 50. With a bit more body and malt depth, this beer probably would be up in the 38+ range for me. Still, I am proud of this beer as it is right now.

If you want to brew this beer, you can find it in my recipes section on this blog.

Review of Hinterland Brewing’s Luna Coffee Stout

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It has been a little while since my last post, but there has been a lot going on. First I have been working on finishing a brewhouse just off my garage (pics to come when fully complete). That has sucked up a lot of my spare time over the past two weeks.  The good news is it is done except putting in the ceiling, and I will be brewing in there tomorrow. The second thing is I was gearing up for my interview of Joe Karls from Hinterland Brewing in Green Bay. I completed that interview this morning and will start working on posting it right after the Easter Holiday. So keep an eye out for that. But in preparation for that interview, I wanted to review Hinterland’s Luna Coffee Stout. All I can say is I have had some of Joe’s beers from Hinterland and I have to say, that guy can brew! If you have never had a Hinterland beer, you have to get your hands on them. I have never had this one, or another one I will be reviewing shortly, the Maple Bock, so I am pretty excited to try this one.

Hinterland's Luna Coffee Stout, no doubt about the coffee here.

As you will find out in the interview, Hinterland’s bottled version of their pale ale was previously brewed at Grey’s brewery using Joe’s recipe and ingredients, but using Grey’s equipment and bottling line. Now, Hinterland has a new bottling line right there at the brewery in Green Bay. This will help them expand the beers they offer in bottles, and give them much more control over the whole process. The new bottles are 16 ounce German bottles, that are pretty heavy duty, so you fellow homebrewers out there can really utilize these bottles after you empty them. Currently they have this coffee stout, their flagship Pale Ale, an Amber, and the Maple Bock available. There will be a Cherry Wheat ready for summer that will replace the Maple Bock. Ok, enough with that. I’ll save the rest for the interview. Let’s get started with the review.

This beer is a coffee stout, which has no official category, but is within the style in American Stout, I am unsure if coffee is added but I am going to assume so, so it would actually be in category 23 as an American Stout with coffee added.

Aroma: The first thing that hits me from the pour is there is a distinct coffee aroma. If there is no coffee added to this beer I would be shocked. The coffee aroma is so bright and clear I couldn’t imagine it being anything other than real coffee. Some subtle chocolate are floating around in there as well. There is also a nice roasted grain aroma, typical of a stout. I don’t get much in the way of hops here, but I think that is by design. It is a coffee stout and it delivers coffee, and roasted barley character.  (9 points)

Appearance: The beer is almost completely black at first sight. However, if you hold it up to the light you will see some deep ruby or garnet tones, and also notice it has some great clarity. The head is a nice frothy tan head that last long into the pint and provides some great lacing. (3 points)

Flavor: No surprises here. The flavor is coffee, but I don’t mind that. That is what the beer is billed to be. In the flavor, there are a few more components coming through a bit stronger than in the aroma. For example the dark chocolate is picked up a bit easier, there is a creamy……well….cream flavor that is bouncing around as well. There is just a subtle sweetness that prevents this beer from becoming quite dry, and makes is very drinkable. I don’t get much in the way of hop bitterness, and it seems a lot of the bitterness comes from the roasted grain. I have to say I am very impressed with that factor. I know there are hops in there, but the bitterness I perceive is not derived from the hops. Which to me, means that this beer is in perfect balance between the malt and hops, and again the coffee character is showcased. A dry bitter coffee flavor lingers into the finish, along with some roasted grain. (18 points)

Mouthfeel: The beer is a touch on the thin side. Although personally I like that, there should probably be just a touch more body to it. The texture is creamy with just a bit of roasted grain astringency…or maybe from the coffee (4 points).

Overall: OK, I know it may seem like I’m trying to build up to the interview. But trust me when I say I am not. If you go out and try this one, and you like stouts, you will not be disappointed.  First off, I am not a fan of coffee, but I can tolerate it is certain circumstances. This beer actually makes me want to go out and drink coffee, if I knew coffee tasted this good. The balance is outstanding, the brightness of the coffee combined with the dark chocolate and mild cream is a winner in my book. If I were to make any suggestion it would only be one, just a touch more body. The aroma was very nice, maybe could be pushed up a bit more, but maybe the coffee wouldn’t come through as bright. The flavor is almost magic to me. This would also be the perfect beer to enjoy with your dessert.  (9 points)

Overall I give the beer a 43, which would translate to an A or A-. All I can say is I have a new stout to add to my favorites.

Brewing Software Part 2

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Here is part 2 of the Brewing Software Segment. Here I will take a look at two programs I am unfamiliar with, Strangebrew and ProMash. The truest test will be to see what I can do without having to read the instructions, but if things prove too confusing, I am not above looking at the directions. But for me, I think brewing software should be easy enough that a novice can use it right off the install (which I feel was  a downfall of beer tools). I feel I am a bit computer savoy as well as know my way around a mash, so I should be able to do it if it’s not that complex. After all, I was creating recipes in Beersmith right after I bought it, without instructions, after about my third or fourth beer.  For both of these products I am using the free evaluation license.

Lets Start with Promash, where you can save 3 recipes and do 9 brew sessions with the evaluation license.

ProMash

Like all the other software packages, there are many features you can use to customize your water, mash schedules, equipment, formulas, ingredients, and so on. However this program is lacking a scale feature which I thought for sure it would have. I come from the understanding that ProMash was originally a pro brewer software package that was adopted by homebrewers, so I thought for sure the ability to scale would be here. I was picturing a pro brewer working on a small test batch then scaling it up their much larger system. But this one has no scale feature or a convert extract to all grain and vice versa. The user interface is easy to understand, however it does have quite an outdated look to it, like the old programs from the Windows 95 era. Another thing I did not like is there is no support for other formats, which seems to be lacking in all the software. This is a point I forgot to touch on in part one, so let me do so here.

One thing that Beersmith and Beer Tools Pro have up on ProMash is that both can export or import recipes in BeerXML format. This enables sharing of recipes between these programs, even if the default extensions (.bsm for beersmith or .btp for beer tools) are not compatible. ProMash, at least in the evaluation copy, does not support BeerXML.

OK, let’s continue and enter our Stout Recipe. I quickly entered this just to see how it works. I did not tweak the system to my specs, because I will not be using this program. But I did breeze through the options and it seems pretty straight forward.

ProMash Recipe

It was easy enough to enter a recipe. The only thing I did not like was in order to create a new item, like the cacao nibs, you have to do so in the main screen and cannot do it in recipe mode. You can do this in both Beersmith and Beer Tools Pro.

Mash Options

Above you see the mash options. This was also pretty straight forward. I just entered a quick mash to put some features in. You can set up a quick mash like I did here, or set up a more complex mash or step mash. One thing I don’t like, and this is minor and probably just because I am spoiled. But you cannot see the dough in temp in this mash. To do so you have to go into the brew session, click the mash tab, then click the “show dough in temperature” tab. All this info is more easily accessible in the other two programs.

The Session

Above is the brew session tab. Anything you want to know or tweak about your recipe on brew day can be done here. Next to edit ingredients is the mash schedule tab I was talking about above.

Water Adjustments

In the session tab, you can view and tweak your water volumes needed for your particular system. I didn’t really do anything here, but I played with a few numbers. Pretty much the same functionality as the other programs.

Last I just want to show the edit ingredients tab. The default ingredients did show the age of the software though. There was no Whirlfloc, no 5.2 stabilizer, Star San, or anything else. The list of spices and additives was very very small. So you will have to do a lot of adding if you brew with spices and such. I also noticed the yeast and grain selections were also quite dated. So you will be using this feature a lot if you buy the program.

Add or Edit Ingredients.

So in the end, I feel that ProMash is a nice program, just very outdated. I didn’t get into the guts of the program, which is what the die hards really like. This is the water adjustments and other modifications you can do, but you can also do those in both Beersmith and Beer Tools as well. If it were to suggest someone buy a program today, ProMash would not be high on my list simply because for the same cost (actually $5 less for Beersmith) you get the same thing, with an easier interface and more up to the date ingredients and features. Beer Tools comes in a close second, just because it is not as user-friendly as Beersmith.  But we have one more program to look at….Strangebrew.

Strangebrew

Off the bat I’m a bit disappointed. The program supports BeerXML, but will not open Beersmith or Beer Tools Pro versions of the program. So that was a bummer. Maybe it was a glitch though, because it says you can import and export to XML.

Error

OK, so that aside, this is a 30 day trial of the software. Upfront this is very easy to use. As you see below, I entered the recipe no problem, had no issues with ingredients or extras. However, if you do need/want to add some, in the “edit” tab at the top there is an option for “databases” and you can edit or add ingredients there easy enough. It is a simple looking program, but looks like it has all the features you need.

Recipe Entered....easy enough

Now below is the mash tab. I played around with this just to see how it works and it is very simple. It would be nice to have a mash tab, or mash button, but to get there you have to go to “view” up at the top, then select “mash manager”. From there though, you can create your mash schedule and sparges. Like all the others, it calculates the water volumes and temperatures based on how you have your system set up. What I do like is the easy “No Sparge, Fly Sparge, Two Batch Sparge, and Three Batch Sparge” options. This is very easy for the beginner to use. Chances are you would be doing the batch sparge, but with the brew in a bag method being all the rage these days, the no sparge option is very nice.

Mash creation, showing the sparge method drop down list.

So we have done all this………what about scaling or converting all grain to extract and vice versa? TaDa!!!!!!!

Scale is supported in Strangebrew, just like beersmith!

I found this option under the file tab, with the option “Resize Recipe”. Very nice. So Beersmith is not alone here anymore.
So in conclusion of this segment, I want to say if I were to rate these programs for overall beginner usability, I would rate them as follows.

  1. Beersmith
  2. Strangebrew
  3. Beer Tools Pro (however it does have the best looking design of the 4 hands down)
  4. ProMash

The reason I rate promash so low is because of how dated the program seems to be, at least in the evaluation portion. I do want you keep in mind that this was a simple top down view of these programs using an easy all grain recipe. I didn’t get into doing water adjustments, step or decoction mashing, and so on. For extract brewing, all these programs are going work just fine. It will be your first venturing into all grain that may prove if the program will make the recipe formulation difficult or a breeze for your first recipes.  If you want to know the costs of the programs, here is a run down as of today 3/22/10

  • Beersmith: $21.95
  • Strangebrew: There’s a $15 registration fee.
  • Beer Tools Pro: Has a Mac or PC option and both are $29.95
  • ProMash: ProMash retails for $24.95. CA residents add 7.75% sales tax. If you need to have ProMash shipped to you on disk (via US mail) please add $6.00 for shipping within the USA and $8.00 for international orders.

Brewing Software Part 1

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Aside from getting a pot and doing a full boil, one piece of brewing equipment I highly suggest spending some money on is some brewing software. On average the cost is $20 and you will have it forever, and it makes planning your brew sessions and recipes so much easier, and for me more fun. There are a few mainstream programs out there such as Beersmith, Promash, Beer Tools Pro, and Strangebrew.  If you are looking for free alternative, there are also some good brewing spreadsheets floating around on the Internet, Beer Tools has some free tools you can use to create basic recipes (look along the left hand side of the page), then you always have the Beer Recipator to use for free. However the spreadsheets can be a bit cumbersome to use and maintain, especially if you are not familiar with using spreadsheets, and the free tools really limit your ingredient list.

All of these tools above will help you create, tweak, and store recipes. Some even allow you scale recipes, like if you have a friend who brews 10 gallon batches and you do 5, or you have a pro brewing friend who gives you one of his recipes for a 30 barrel system and you need a homebrew scale. I own and have used Beer Tools Pro, and I use Beersmith for almost all my recipes. I really like how user-friendly Beersmith is. For the purpose of this post, I am going to take shots of all the software, just to help show all of you sitting on the fence, just how this software can make your life so much easier. All of these major software brands do have free trial offers to test drive them for yourself. In part 1 of this topic, I will take a look at Beersmith and Beer Tools Pro.

Beersmith

In this picture you can see the opening screen and options for Beersmith.

In the above picture, this is the default screen you come to when opening Beersmith. Here is where you can format a recipe, select if it is extract, partial mash, or all grain. You can see, if you look at this picture for a while, there are options for converting recipes (for example if you have a friend who sends you a recipe for all grain, but you are an extract brewer, you can convert his recipe to an extract recipe and vice versa), scaling a recipe (which can be either scaling it up or down), an inventory feature where you can enter what ingredients you have at hand, and many other tweaks you can make. Under the file tab, there are options for importing recipes you may receive from a friend or off of websites who may use the Beersmith format, and there are many options for tweaking water, measurements, what equipment you have, and brewing processes. But what I like is there are default features you can use right from installation without tweaking it to your system right away.

In the next few pictures, I will show you what a basic all grain recipe will look like in Beersmith, then last convert that recipe to extract, and scale that recipe up to 10 gallons.

Below, you can see what the software shows you when you have a recipe entered. I used one of my favorite homebrew recipes, a chocolate stout of mine called Vader’s Fist. You can see that it gives you estimated starting gravity, finishing gravity, color, and IBU’s. It gives you the range for the style you picked. And once you brew it and take measurements you can add in what the actual gravity’s were and it gives you the ABV. What you can’t see, is further below you have fermentation and bottling/kegging options.

Recipe in Beersmtih

In the following picture, this is just showing the preset mashing and sparging options. All you have to do is pick one. If you want to tweak them you can edit and save the changes you make to these options. Of course, if you are doing extract you don’t have to worry about this.

Beersmith Mashing Options

Next if you noticed in the upper right side, there is a button that says “Preview Brewsheet”. You can hit this button, then have the option to print out a handy brewing schedule for your recipe. It will look something like this.

Brewsheet

Now lets hit that Convert button and convert this recipe to extract. One thing I want to note is you want to create a copy in your recipe list of the original recipe, because once you convert it, you sort of lose the original recipe. Unless I am missing something, this could cause problems. I simply make a copy of the recipe (copy and paste in the recipe list) then covert the copy.

The convert option in Beersmith

As you can see, if your all grain set up used a keggle but you want to do a partial boil for the extract, you can do this. You just select the equipment you have for extract. You can then select the type of malt extract you want to use for your base (Dry or liquid, extra light, light, amber, dark, ect). Finally either check or leave it blank the option for auto converting grains that must be mashed. This does cause an issue when converting because some grains need to be mashed. If you must, you can substitute some grains that don’t need to be mashed, but the end result may not be exactly the same as the all grain version.

Last, here is the scale option.

Scale the recipe up

This is pretty simple also. Select the new batch size you want, select the efficiency, and also if you want to fix the amount based on your equipment. Most of the time you want to do this unless you have many different sized pots or mash tuns.

Well, that is the basic overview of Beersmith. Lets take a quick look at Beer Tools Pro. This one will be a bit quicker for two reasons. First, I am still learning this one because I think it has a bit longer learning curve than Beersmith. And second, I don’t see scale or convert options to show you. I will use the same recipe as I did in Beersmith for this example.

Beer Tools Pro

As you can see the user interface is a lot better looking that Beersmith. I really like the slide scales and the color of the beer picture. Once you enter the recipe from the ingredients categories on the left, and drag and drop them from the pane at the top (above the pint glass), most of your recipe control will take place in the “Display” tab to the bottom right below the pint glass. Here you can enter your equipment, mash schedule, other adjustments, ingredients, and so on. Also, you can see various aspects of your beer and brewing schedule under the tabs labeled: style, analysis, schedule, summary, carbonation, and notes.

Let’s take a look at how you would enter your mash schedule.

Mash Schedule

Here is how you do your schedule in Beer Tools Pro. Under the display tab you can select “Schedule”. Then in the blank area, right click and select an option, such as “New Mash In” , “New Infusion”, “New Rest” , or “New Sparge” (there are more options but these are the most used by me). Then enter the information as you need to. This is very easy if you have your equipment entered in and calibrated, which can be a pain, but I will not cover that. You can do that with the instructions if you purchase the program. Once things are in, all you should have to do it enter your target temperature and the program will update the other fields for you. You do this for all the infusions or sparges you are going to do. For example a single infusion with a batch sparge will look like this.

Single Infusion with Batch Sparge

And the last thing for this basic overview is the option to print this off.You can select what aspects of the recipe to print off.

Beer Tools Pro Print Option, no brewsheet?

There is no handy brewsheet that I can see. However, the print off you do get will do the trick. I do like the “check it off” style of Beersmith, but Beer Tools Pro has a great look to it that makes up for some shortcomings like no conversion tool. No scaling tool either. But the tweaking options here are almost endless. Also, I could be wrong. Just because I don’t see the option does not mean it is not there. If you want to learn more about Beer Tools Pro, they have an online Wiki for Beer Tools Pro you can read that will probably give you more insight and in depth instruction than I am giving here. This is just a top down look at the software.


Review of Dundee Honey Brown Lager

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Dundee Honey Brown Lager

Today’s review is on Dundee  Ales and Lagers, Honey Brown Lager. There is no BJCP style category for a lager like this, so this one would fall under category 23, the specialty category. This beer is not a vienna lager, but may be close so I will use that as a base style. I will not really deduct any points for it not hitting the vienna style lager since the brewer does claim it to be so, but for an example of what you may compare it to if you wanted to enter a beer like this in competition, you could enter it in category 23 as a vienna style lager with honey. One thing to keep in mind that even though the name states it is a honey brown, don’t confuse this beer with a brown ale style beer. I am not sure why it is called “brown” because the beer is not really a brown color, but rather a light amber. Still for most lagers (Schwartzbier excluded) this is a darker shade than some will be used to. With that, lets get started with the review.

The aroma is clean, with some nice toasty and sweet malt character. Some very light honey and the faintest hint of spicy hops. That is pretty much it for the aroma. Most lagers are clean and void of any fruity ar other secondary aromas. So that is to be expected of a lager like this. (8 points)

The color is a light amber and quite clear. The head poured very nicely, but dissipates quite quickly. A more persistent head would be a plus, still a nice looking beer. (2 points)

The flavor is OK. There is a decent soft toasted malt profile. There is a sweetness to the beer that lasts long into the finish letting taste the malt for quite some time. The honey in the aroma was not very strong, but here in the flavor the honey comes through quite a bit more. Although hops should not play a big role in a beer like this, a little more spicy hop character would benefit the beer in my opinion. Some people may find the lingering sweetness to be off-putting, but I kind of enjoy it. It is a bit honey early on, but turns a touch malty later. This beer is easily quaffable, but drying the beer out a bit would make it even more so. (14 points)

The mouthfeel is very thin, almost watery. This was the only part of the beer I really didn’t like. I also drank this beer with my dad, who also made the comment about how thin the beer was, so I know I was not alone here. No astringency or other poor mouthfeel qualities, just too watery. (3 points)

Overall, this is a very nice lager. I do think this beer can be a bit misunderstood which is why some may seem to score it low or bash it from time to time. Those who are apt to buy a beer with the name “Honey Brown” are probably expecting a beer to be like Newcastle at the very least. However, this is a lager, and not an ale. You should expect the flavors and aromas to be a bit softer and more refined from the cool fermentation and aging process. Do not expect this to be a full flavored brew, the flavors can be complex and rich, but will be very soft. A bit more mouthfeel and a touch more hops would be good in my opinion. But when it comes to drinkability, this beer has that down. (6 points)

Overall I score this beer a 32, which would translate to about a B- in my book. If this were not a lager, and supposed to be a brown ale, I would score it much lower. Still, the brown in the name is deceiving. When you see it and taste it, it appears to me to be closer to amber lager, a weaker Vienna Lager possibly.

Turns out I had this beer quite a while back. I found an old bottle in my bottle collection. The new bottle design is on the left and old on the right. Which do you prefer?

Review of New Glarus Unplugged Cherry Stout

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New Glarus Unplugged: Cherry Stout

Today I have the return of Cherry Stout from New Glarus and their Unplugged Series. This beer was first brewed back in 2003 (at least that is when it won its first award) and has won 4 awards since 2003. I missed this one when it came out the first time so I don’t have a point of reference on what the first one was like, but New Glarus is a highly consistent brewery, so I am confident that the beer we have here is pretty much the same as the first run. This beer is billed as a Cherry Stout so if you recall from previous posts, we will judge this beer as a fruit beer with the base style of an unknown stout style, so lets just assume for the sake of argument that it is a dry stout embedded in there. The reason is because I am assuming the fruit will add some sweetness to begin with and using a sweet or oatmeal stout as the base could make the beer appear to be overly sweet and cloying. But again, this is just my assumption. Just remember, a proper fruit beer should be a harmonious balance of the featured fruit with the underlying beer style, but this statement in and of itself is subjective as to what a harmonious balance is.

Off the bat, the aroma is thick with cherry’s. What I do like is it is obvious that this real cherry, unlike another cherry beer I reviewed earlier on. What seems to be missing to me is any real solid hint at a stout, of any kind. I do get some very mild roasted grain, but you really have to pay attention to find it. There is some mild oaky character that comes across as almost brown sugar-like. I really had to think about what was causing that aroma, and it hit me that it is some oak with vanilla melded with the malt. At least that is my impression. As good and honest as the aroma is, I just don’t see enough stout in it to score it high. This is one of those cases where the numbers will not reflect that this beer is better than the score represents. If you have ever had Belgian Red, this beer smells very close to that as well.  (6 points)

The color is a deep garnet, and the stream when I poured it was a stream of a muddy red color. In the glass it sits very dark brown with garnet highlights. The head was very nicely formed and 10 minutes in still has a very thin layer. (3 points)

The flavor at first is similar to cherry cola. Not Cherry Coke, but if you have ever been to an old-time restaurant or soda shop that adds real cherry juice and cherries to cola. The beer is sweet up front, and finishes out a bit tart. The only solid hint of stout I get is in the finish where there is a prominent flavor of roasted grain working against the tartness from the cherry. The wood in here is very mild and for me comes across late in the finish. As the beer warms it starts to show a bit more chocolate in with that cherry. I am really liking the flavor a lot more than I thought I would. Usually when it comes to fruit beers, I like to have the fruit act as a highlight to enhance the beer, this one showcases the fruit just like their other fruit beers do. Still, a stout is a bold and assertive beer and if billed as such should make more of an appearance. As much as I’m digging the flavor, I just can’t see any solid stout showing. (10 points)

The mouthfeel is a bit more full than I would expect, but still does a nice job of not coming up too full. The stout portion of the beer should lend to a bit more of medium to fuller mouthfeel, so the beer hits the mark here. (5 points)

Overall, I can drink this beer all night long, but the point of fact is that this beer would be better billed as a different beer for the base style. There just is not enough stout in it from my perspective to call it a cherry stout. I don’t really know what to call it, but to me it comes across more as cherry brown than cherry stout. But then again, Cherry Brown does not have the great ring that cherry stout does. I really like the real cherry aroma and flavor, and the tartness and overall flavor is very appealing, so I can see why it won some awards, including a few Gold Medals at the GABF. The only reason I can’t personally score it high is because of the stout tag. This beer gets a solid recommendation to drink it and enjoy it, but for the sake of judging it as I would in competition, I can give it an overall of 6 points (6 points)

The number score I would give this beer is 30, which is good and would probably be a C or C+. Again, I can’t stress enough that its not because this beer is bad, or that the pros who judge at the GABF have it wrong (From what I gather the judging at the GABF is run a bit differently than than in homebrew competitions), this is just one of those things where from my judging standpoint, I like to see a bit more of the base style come through. If this beer was called something other than stout, it would probably get much higher from me. As you can tell it does pain me to give what I think is such a low score to such a well brewed and easy drinking beer, not to mention that I am a huge fan of New Glarus. But you do have to call it like you see it as you interpret the style guidelines.

It’s Hop Season!

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Some of my homegrown Hops

Well it’s that time of year again, time to decide if you are going to plant hops and what to get. Although I do grow my own hops, I am not a hop growing expert by any means. I do grow one plant at this time since I killed off my other two. Since I have a small yard, I thought it would be  a good idea to plant hops in large planters, since this does seem to work for some. I found that it worked for two years only, then my plants died off. I was able to save one Glacier plant when I was digging up what I thought was dead roots, and found one viable plant left. I quickly planted it in the ground and it grew that year about 10 feet. The following year, it grew very nicely. Now, I am going to strictly plant in the soil, no more pots. Before you ask, yes I did bring the plants into the garage for the winter, but even that seemed to be too cold for them.

What I want to do for this post is provide you a one stop shop for your hop needs. Even though I am not an expert, I can direct you to the experts and online shops to purchase the rhizomes you may be looking for. Every store seems to have different varieties, so you should be able to find what you are looking for quite easily….aside from propriority plants like Simcoe and Amarillo. Those are not available to anyone other than the current farms who bred them.

Hop Information

  • Hop Union – A great source for Hop Information and some Hop Products(Every Homebrewer should have their Hop Datasheet!)
  • Freshops - This section is dedicated to hop growing and is a great read for novice hop growers.

Hop Rhizomes

  • Freshops – Aside from Rhizomes, you can also purchase whole leaf and pellet hops along with hop extract and growing supplies.
  • Northern Brewer – Aside from Rhizomes, they have anything else you could need for brewing.
  • Thymegarden – Hop Rhizomes
  • MoreBeer.com – Another great online Brewing Supply Store
  • Midwest Supplies – I have not personally dealt with this store, but some people I know are happy with them.
  • Adventures in Homebrewing – More of the same.

Now if you cannot find the hops you are looking for in this list of retailers, there is a good chance they are not available to the public. Some hops, like my favorite, Amarillo were bred and grown by one grower who has exclusive rights to grow that variety. Off hand I am not sure if they have a patent on the plant variety, or just refuse to let anyone get a hold of a rhizome, but either way it is near impossible to get some of these highly sought after varieties.

Review New Glarus Cabin Fever Honey Bock

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New Glarus Cabin Fever Honey Bock, a shade shorter than a Helles/Mai Bock

Dang. I went to take a photo of the first beer I’m drinking tonight and the batteries are dead on the camera. My wife’s camera…..same thing. So I had to resort to using my camera phone, so excuse the quality of the pic. But here is the new one from New Glarus, Cabin Fever Honey Bock. I am a bit confused on what this style is, since it really is not a traditional bock, and not really a traditional Helles Bock, it sort of lays where a beer would be right before the Helles Bock, if such a style formally existed. There is no claim to style, other than calling it a Wisconsin Pale Honey Bock. So, for this beer I am throwing out the score sheet (I will not be using category 23 for this beer, since I don’t think it really has a base style either, technically if you were entering it in competition you could claim Helles Bock as the base style, and list the changes but everything about this beer from the hop strength, ABV, malts used, addition of honey….still strip it from being a Helles base style in my eyes.) and judge this beer for what it is and very loosely base my judgement on the overall parameters of what a bock is.

1) It’s a  lager.
2)Tends to focus on malt, usually Vienna or Munich malts are used.
3) They tend to be higher in alcohol than most other lagers, but in this case even the strength is toned down.
4) Should have  a complex malty profile.

In the aroma of this beer there is a crisp biscuit malt flavor along with a soft touch of caramel, however it could be the play of  honey along with the malt. There is a bit of hop aroma, but not much. Overall, the aroma is fairly light with a focus on a bit of sweet malt.

It pours a crystal clear gold, a shade darker than a good Pilsner. It poured a nice head, but that disappeared quickly.

The flavor is nice, some great lighter malt flavors. There is a some faint toast, some good biscuity malt, and a hint of honey. The hop bitterness is just enough to balance the malt, but there is a touch too much sweetness for my taste. However the beer does finish fairly well. Flavors are clean and as I would expect from a beer that appears to be an attempt at a Bock, a step below a Helles.

Mouthfeel is medium with a good amount of carbonation to help crisp up that sweetness.

Overall, I think they hit what they were attempting to do, which is make a beer a shade shy of a Helles Bock, with some honey added. This beer is well made and a far cry from the Extreme beer craze that we are in the middle of now in the craft beer world. Is it an A+ in my book, no. But it is a nice beer fitting for springtime. I do feel that a touch more hops would have helped even out the beer a bit more in my opinion though.

In the end, I were to grade this, I would shoot it a B. It may not be my favorite beer from New Glarus, but I do think they hit the mark with what they were attempting to do. So even though in my opinion the beer is average, I do give it bonus points for achievement.

Review of Boaks Monster Mash

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Boaks Monster Mash Russian Imperial Stout

Today I have Monster Mash from Boaks Brewery. Monster Mash is a great name for a Russian Imperial Stout, which is what this beer is. What I find interesting about Russian Imperial Stouts, is that a new comer thinks its a monster Guinness and nothing more (and unless you are a beer geek, and if you are reading this blog you probably are, these same people already think Guinness Stout is high in alcohol). But in reality, I find most Imperial stouts to be fairly sweet, which I like. I prefer sweet stouts to dry stouts any day. I find it very rare to have a dried out Imperial Stout. If you brew, you already know why, but the short and simple of it is that these big beers tend to have a bit more unfermentable sugar and the yeast tends to poop out before fully fermenting the sugars out, giving you a slightly sweeter beer. Granted there are a few more variables to it than that, but that’s the quick over simplified explanation. The overall impression you are looking for in a Russian Imperial Stout is “An intensely flavored, big, dark ale. Roasty, fruity, and bittersweet, with a noticeable alcohol presence. Dark fruit flavors meld with roasty, burnt, or almost tar-like sensations. Like a black barleywine with every dimension of flavor coming into play” Also, you need to consider where the beer was made. American style Imperial Stouts also tend to be more hoppy.

I find the aroma a bit thin, with some mild coffee, deep roast, and a touch of chocolate. There is a spicy hop presence, or a combined hop and alcohol aroma that lends to the appearance of spiciness. In the end I don’t find the aroma to be big, bold, and complex. With some warming and strong swirling I was able to push out some raisin tones, but that was about it. The aroma is good, just not powerful enough. (6 points)

This beer just looks mean. Dark mahogany with some garnet highlights. Opaque except for along the edges, and a very small short lasting head. (2 points)

The flavor is very interesting. When it was cooler, the hop bitterness rang supreme and I found it quite off-putting. There was some stronger coffee and roasted grain in the flavor. The roast almost appeared to add too much of an acidic quality to the beer. However, as I allowed it to warm the beer became much better. The richness of the grains filled out a bit more, there was still some coffee, but the sweetness rounded it out to more of a very dark bittersweet chocolate. The hop bitterness is still there, but does not jump out as much. It does linger long into the finish, but blends in well with the dark chocolate tones. Towards the end the fruity notes of raisin blends with the alcohol giving you a mild boozy feel, almost feels like some forbidden Christmas desert I have never had.  So in the end is it the best tasting Imperial Stout I had? No, but its not the worst either. (13 points)

The mouthfeel is almost perfect. It is creamy, sweet, smooth, and rich. The beer is not cloyingly sweet, so it leaves you ready to drink more. Some mild roasted grain astringency, but that is expected. Carbonation is just right for this style. (5 points)

Overall the beer is quite good, it’s just not awesome. The aroma is nice but I didn’t think it does the beer justice for how big the beer is. The flavor at first was off-putting, but that was partially my fault for serving it too cold. Still, I have to call it like I got it, which will be how most people will get their first few sips. Right out of the fridge. But I promise you, if you let it warm the beer will improve. So don’t pour and drink, give it a few minutes. first.  (7 points)

Overall I gave the beer a 33, which is a pretty good beer. Really, anything in the 30′s or above is a respectable score. A 33 in my book is in the B- to C+ range. I would drink this beer again, and that is what really matters.