O’so Tasty!

I decided to celebrate this hop day that I picked up while out visiting my Mother-in-Law and my wife’s home town.  Although I didn’t pick up anything local this time, I picked up something from a brewery I haven’t tried yet - O’so Brewing Co. (www.osobrewing.com) in Plover, WI - not far from the Point and Central Waters breweries.

I picked up their Hopdinger.  The bottle advertises it as “Pungent - Hoppy - Crisp - Floral - Bitter - Piney - Resinous - Engaging.”  It pours a thick tan head that looks like a butterscotch shake from the top.  It has a nice, translucent, light reddish-orange color and it smells like peeling an orange in a pine forest after a rain.  I have to admit - I love the way it smells!  The taste is a nice balance of hops and malt, producing a flavor that reminded me of eating a fresh buttermilk biscuit with orange marmalade that’s just a little bitter from having a touch too much rind.  The flavor shifts to something a bit piney in the aftertaste.  Start to finish, it’s really good.

Helpful Hops

Although I’m drinking a much lighter, much more lightly hopped beer than normal tonight, I thought I’d touch on a few characteristics of our favorite little flower.  Hops are flower clusters that are commonly referred to as the cone.  They are also available to brewers in a processed pellet form, and I think I read somewhere that Miller uses a patented processed hop that increases shelf life/reduces chance of skunky beer.  Don’t quote me on that, though.  The aspect that most people notice is the bitterness, but hops can add a variety of flavors and smells to beer that are quite delightful.  There are a number of hop varieties, and each brings its own unique characteristics to the beer they are added to.  Hops are also added to beer at a variety of stages in the brewing process depending on what specific characteristic the brewer wants to foster.  Many people I know love malty beer; but I’ll have mine with a side of hops, please.

Nevertheless, I’m taking it easy tonight with a nice light Helles.  Schlafly Summer Lager, to be specific.  It poured a pale, clear amber with a light fizzy head.  It is fresh, crisp and light with a light toasted malt flavor backed by a little crisp hoppiness.  Since it was a warm day, and I didn’t turn the air on, I think it’s perfect for an evening where I’m trying to cool the house down.  Cheers!

Sumerian Sample

This weekend I went to a party thrown by my good friends in GSM Bristol, a group of late 16th century reenactors who work at the Bristol Renaissance Faire.  This was a reunion, and I had a great time.  In addition to sharing stories and laughs with friends old and new, I had the opportunity to sample a number of good beers.  Some were commercial, some were home brews.  A number of my friends brew, so they brought some beer and we passed the bottle getting some sips.  I'm not going to take the time to rant and rave about how good some of them were.  Instead, I want to focus on one interesting beer. 

Ivan made a Sumerian beer.  He malted his own grain and smoked some of it.  The beer was to be made with wild yeast started with fermented dates.  Since the recipe he was using indicated that the alcohol content would be fairly low, he boosted it with some champagne yeast.

The end result had a rich, full, interesting flavor.  It was sour and acidic.  It tasted like tomatoes, and the flavor from the smoked grain came through.

It was not a beer I would just sit and drink.  But it is something that I think might pair well with a good meal.  My friend Scott suggested that it might improve with age.  Ivan said that the information he'd read about the beer didn't talk about it after much time, so he wasn't sure how it would turn out with time. 

Personally, I think that it's quite drinkable now, but it needs something to complement the flavor.  I'm thinking that  maybe a steak withh a rice pilaf and maye some kind of fresh vegetable relish/salad with a vinegar base would be really good. 

More so than any other beer that I've tried, it makes me want to learn more about beer and food paring so that you can maximize the enjoyment of both.

Maybe I need to find the time to start working on that...

Old Fashioned, Not Outdated

Tonight I’m drinking Samuel Smith’s India Ale, and when I decided to pick up this beer, I decided to check out their website - http://www.samuelsmithsbrewery.co.uk/

It’s not a fancy site, but the info about the brewery makes me wish I could visit North Yorkshire, England.  The Old Brewery is Yorkshire’s oldest brewery, and they still employ a cooper!  In case you don’t know, coopers make barrels and it’s a profession that’s fascinated me for years.  That right there makes me like Samuel Smith all that much more.  So far I’ve had their porter and their organic raspberry - both of which I love.  Now I find out that they are AWESOME as well as a brewer of good beer?

But it gets better - there are pubs in the area that stock only Samuel Smith’s beers.  The brewery has an area manager who looks after Samuel Smith’s pubs and recruits live-in management couples to run a pub and live above it.  They also provide a pub atmosphere focused on the beer and on conversation - no music or TVs.  Maybe that’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but it sounds fantastic to me.

Okay, enough about my new-found puppy love with this brewer.  I might as well devote a couple of sentences to what I’m drinking:

It poured a clear orangey-amber with no carbonation or head.  The scent wasn’t strong.  It was fruity like, apples and pears and sparkling white grape juice.  The hops played a large role in the flavor, but I would describe it as predominantly malty.  It is not what I would consider a bitter beer, although there was definitely a bitter finish.  Instead of being a force to be reckoned with (like I’m known to seek out in beers) the hops provided a bitterness that added character and balance to the malt as well as a hint of fruitiness which reminded me of cider.  This was very good.

MKE Brewfest 3

This last Saturday (July 28th) was the third annual Milwaukee Brewfest (milwaukeebrewfest.com.)  This is an event that I really like, and I’ve been fortunate enough to go all three years.  (Next year’s is July 27th, 2013 - If you haven’t made it to one, I suggest you save the date!)

Milwaukee Brewfest is held at McKinley Park on the lakeshore, and it is a great location for this event:  the beauty of the lake, the open space for the tents and grass instead of pavement.  It is perfect for sampling beer, enjoying the weather, and plopping down just about anywhere if you’ve had a bit too much.

This year brought a couple of small, but important changes.  They had a waiting area where you could get your wristband and glass before they opened instead of standing in line and then having to take care of business when they opened the gate.  Great idea!  There was still a line to get in, and the waiting area filled up before the line cleared, but it definitely got people in more smoothly.  Amanda and I arrived 30 minutes early, which meant we were able to find a place in the shade to wait.

The drawback of being there early was watching with longing as the people who had purchased VIP passes casually sampled without the crowds.  VIP passes get you in early, get you samples to several VIP beers that aren’t available to the thirsty masses, and also gives you a chance to talk with the people pouring beer.  Even after the gates open for general admission, the crowds in the beer tents rarely prevent you from getting a sample right away (unless you choose to stand in the one or two long lines that inevitably form somewhere,) but if you want to ask someone about their product you’ll either get the 30 second intro, or you’ll seriously tick off the people behind you.

The other difference this year was the ballots for Brewfest Queen voting.  The first two years they were un-crimped Lakefront Brewery caps to drop in the container for your chosen queen-hopeful.  Unfortunately, it seemed like a lot of them were thrown away.  This year the caps were replaced by a paper ballot with blanks for name and email address.  Although less cool, it advertised the possibility of winning free beer.  Who doesn’t love free beer?

I had a blast, and tried plenty of beer and cider.  I haven’t yet figured out how to take any real notes while taking full advantage of the event, so I’ll just give you two quick lists with my tops and my bottoms. 

Tops:

• Svea Liljas Sasquatch Stout
• Four Horsemen Hop Rush IPA
• Dale's Old Chub Scotch Ale
• Delafield Brewhaus Pomegranate Ale
• Ale Asylum Sticky McDoogle Scotch Ale

Bottoms:

• Big Bay Summer Tide
• Lagunitas Gnarly Wine

Everything else fell somewhere in between.  I had a great time, and I plan to make it next year - maybe I’ll get my rear in gear early enough to get VIP tickets, though.  Happy Hop Day!

A Sense of Style

I hope you had a happy Hop Day! 

For today I drank two styles of beer:  an American Pale Ale (APA) and an Extra Special Bitter (ESB).  In both styles, hops are the key; and since there is a bit of overlap between the two styles, here is a quick run-down of similar styles and what typically makes them different from one another:

• Bitter is an ale typically made with a pale malt.  Extra Special Bitter typically refers to stronger versions while Ordinary is on the low end and Best or Special falls somewhere between.  Many are adjunct beers (made with other grains in addition to the barley malt) which tends to make them a bit crisp.
• Pale Ales are typically stronger, and many are all malt.  American Pale Ales are typically stronger than English Pale Ales, but the real difference is the way the hops come through in the flavor (American Pale Ales being brewed with American hops).
• India Pale Ales are part of the Pale Ale family, but they are typically a little paler, stronger and more bitter than other pale ales.  The American IPA is much like other IPAs, but with American hops.

Honestly there is a good deal of overlap with these styles, so it is possible to drink to different styles from two different breweries and find that they have a lot in common.  That wasn’t the case for me, though.  Both beers are from Schlafly in St. Louis. 

The first beer was a Schlafly Dry Hopped APA.  The head formed more quickly than I anticipated and faded slowly.  I had to pour half a bottle at a time to fill my glass without overflowing.  The biscuit-colored head was dense, but still fluffy.  It smelled faintly of hops and was a murky reddish orange.  It had a mild flavor, starting dry like a red wine with a thick malty texture.  This was not a “coffee” beer, but it had something of the acidity and bitterness that I notice when drinking from a black coffee.  Aside from an unassuming bitterness that would be at home in a maibock, it tasted like dry wheat toast.  It was a decent beer - I give it three stars.

The second beer was a Schlafly Winter ESB.  It had a short, fizzy head that faded fast.  The beer was a reddish walnut color and smelled slightly floral backed by the smell of rising bread dough.  It was bitter, tart and fizzy; sweet with a hint of caramel.  The sourness was citrusy.  To me it seemed a little medicinal.  The carbonation was too fizzy and I kept thinking of Alka-Seltzer.  I was also expecting it to be a little heavier.  Overall, I didn’t care for it - I give it one star.

Export IPA

Happy Hop Day!  Tonight I’m drinking a Schlafly Export IPA.   Schlafly Brand is brewed in Saint Louis by The Saint Louis Brewery, Inc.  They are the largest locally owned independent brewery in the St. Louis area, and they have two brew-pubs:  The Schlafly Tap Room in Downtown St. Louis and Schlafly Bottleworks in Maplewood.  Schlafly is distributed mostly within 300 miles of St. Louis.  The Export IPA is one of their Special Release seasonal beers (March-April AVB 7.2%, IBU 65.)

It poured a nice white frothy head and was a good orange color.  The scent was wonderful and fruity:  apricots and peaches with a little raisin and citrus.  The flavor was even better.  It was biscuit and fruity - sweet like banana and apricot.  There wasn’t much bitterness - just a touch at the end.  It’s not what I expect when I think of an IPA, but it is REALLY tasty.  I love this beer!

Brew Tour

Last November (2011), Amanda had a work conference in Las Vegas.  I needed a get-away, and since lodging was already covered, we only had to pay for my flight and expenses.  Since I didn’t have much money, I decided to take a walking beer-tour of the strip and the surrounding area.

When we checked into the hotel, the bell-boy and I chatted and he suggested Ellis Island.  I got myself a map and checked the internet to make a plan.  I intended to get started first thing in the morning, thinking that in a place like the strip that wouldn’t be an issue.  I was wrong.

Brew pubs and beer bars open at 11:00 a.m.  Since I’d left our room at 8:30 that morning, I walked an awful lot before I got my first beer - at the Sin City Brewing Company bar at the Flamingo. 

Sin City Brewing Co.

Sin City Brewing has two other locations, one at the Miracle Mile and one at the Venetian, but both are tiny - just a small bar with a few stools, open to the shopping centers in which they’re located.  They didn’t have a sampler, but the bar tender agreed to pour me a sip of whatever I wanted before I bought a pint.  I paid $6.00/glass, and all things considered it wasn’t a bad price for where I was drinking and what I was getting.

• Their stout was pretty good - smooth and very drinkable.  It had a mild caramel nose, Light mouth feel that coats your mouth with a soft maltiness, and a little bitterness on the aftertaste.
• Their Amber was my favorite.  They describe it as a “Full bodied Octoberfest beer.”  It was malty and smooth without much bitterness.  Very pleasant.

Gordon Biersch Brewing Co.

Gordon Biersch was recommended by my friend, Scott, and I have to admit they are fantastic!  I had a salad and their garlic fries along with their beer sampler.  The following are the beers I sampled in order from my least favorite (which was still a good beer) to my most favorite:

• Czech Pilsner - Crisp and malty, balanced nicely by a bit of hop bitterness
• Märzen - Bready with a slightly floral hop finish, and a sweet-malty scent
• Golden Export - Malty with a hint of hops.  It has a mild scent and a good aftertaste
• Hefeweizen - Malty with a little pleasant sourness and a scent that was a bit sour and musky.  It was light and very nice
• A Seasonal IPA - Despite the floral scent, the flavor was more of a sweet, fruity hops with a bitterness that lingered into the aftertaste.  It was a good IPA
• Schwarzbier - Normally I’m not a big fan of schwarzbiers, but theirs is really good.  It has a mild, malty scent, and the flavor, predominantly malty, leads with a bit of bitterness and ends with a fairly clean finish
• A Seasonal Winter Bock - Sweet and malty.  The flavor was strong (although not overpowering) with a lingering finish.  This was also their darkest beer

Hofbräuhaus Las Vegas

Compared to the Old German Beer Hall in Milwaukee, I found it a little disappointing. – The Las Vegas location is bigger, but that's all it has on Milwaukee.  The dining hall is separated from the front bar and gift shop.  The taps at the bar are on a giant stainless steel T that is mounted on the bar, and it takes up enough space to visually block what seems like nearly half of the bar.  The beer was great, but I’ve long been a big fan of Hofbräu beers.  My suggestion is to get a table rather than sitting at the bar.  They have daily lunch specials, but it looked like their menu paired sausage with fries rather than kraut, potato salad or red cabbage like I would have expected.

Ellis Island Casino & Brewery

If I were to do it over, I would skip Ellis Island Casino and Brewery, but if you’re short on funds, you should know they were the least expensive beers I’d found.  There is a seating area near the brewery equipment, but it isn’t a brew pub.  It’s the seating for pizza and for BBQ, which open late in the day.  The bar at the other end of the building serves the beer brewed there.  I can say, that the bartender working the day I was there was very nice.

• Their IPA was light amber and tasted much like a light beer with a little bit of hoppiness.  I’d prefer it to a macro brew, but it wasn’t much when you expect an IPA.
• The Weiss was not impressive either, and after that I wasn’t interested in trying their other beers.

The Pub at Monte Carlo

This was my favorite place to drink, and the atmosphere was great.  The lighting was subdued, and the décor emphasized two things:  beer and sports.  I sat at the bar and behind the bar was a wall of kegs and beer signs.  They had a 7 page beer menu which clearly indicated where beers were from and whether they were in bottles or on one of their many taps.  I had two Nevada beers there:

• Joseph James Brewing Co. Hop Box IPA - It was a beautiful reddish-amber color, and the lacy head clung to the glass.  The scent was mild and floral.  It had a great mouth feel.  There was a nice lingering bitterness around the back corners of my tongue.  The flavor was sweet, not overly malty and had a floral bitterness.  I could have drunk a lot of it if they weren’t charging $9 for a pint.
• Tenaya Creek Brewing Co. Hop Ride IPA - It was a crystal clear golden orange with a dense lace from the head.  The scent was fruity, like a citrus-mango scent smelled across the room with open windows on a cool spring day.  The mouth feel was light around the edges of the mouth and the back of the palate but clingy and pucker on the roof of the mouth.  Bitterness is a little strong at the front of the mouth, reducing as it rolls to the back of the throat and there is a fruity sweetness that fades quickly.

Amanda’s partner at the conference told me that there was a nice bar a little further from the strip that was the place to go, but I didn’t have a chance to make it.  My conclusion is that you are better off looking for a bar with a good beer selection than looking for a brew pub, but I had a great deal of fun on my beer tour of the strip.

Spiced Winter Ale Bottled

Today I bottled the Spiced Winter Ale (Northern Brewer kit) that I brewed five weeks ago.  It spent two weeks in the primary fermenter and three in the secondary.  I finally had time to bottle it today.  It smelled good and looked good.  My only concern is that the hydrometer reading indicated there isn't much alcohol in it.  I may just be really bad with the hydrometer, but I'm not sure.  I have a lot to get done today, so I didn't double check with the refractometer - I figure it's too late now anyhow.  I'm going to just have to find out once I start drinking it.  And I can't wait!  I'm pretty sure I haven't repeated any of the mistakes I made on the last two batches, so now I just need to figure out what I have to learn from this batch.  I love brewing beer!  I can't wait until I'm good enough that I can make beers that I can show off and share with people.

Bitter Boulevard

Happy Hop Day!  I like IPAs, but bitter is done well in other styles as well.  Not going too far afield, we’re going to look at two beers by Boulevard Brewing Company in Kansas City, Missouri.  Boulevard has been in operation since 1989 and they lay claim to being the largest specialty brewer in the Midwest.

A claim like that could mean a number of things - largest unaffiliated with major brewing conglomerate, largest selection, largest distribution area, largest production in gallons, etc.  Someday I should look at the claims each brewery makes to see just what they mean.  Regardless, I’ve enjoyed every beer that I’ve had by them, so until I decide to look further, I’ll just keep drinking.

For my friends in Wisconsin, you’ll find their beer hard to find, since it isn’t distributed here (I got mine from a friend in O’Fallon, MO).  This is intentional, because they believe that their limited regional distribution helps them focus on maintaining a variety of wonderful and fresh beers.

One of their first Beers was the Boulevard Pale Ale, which is one of the two beers I’ve recently drunk.  It is a beautiful reddish orange with a soft, cream-colored head.  It has a mild malty-citrusy scent and a pleasant, light mouth feel.  The taste begins with a bitterness that’s almost fizzy with a bready finish.  It is more malty than bitter, but very well balanced.  Honestly, I wish I’d been eating a grilled cheese sandwich when I drank it.

The other beer that I had was their Double-Wide IPA.  It poured a more murky orange with slightly brownish undertones, but it had a wonderful, white, fluffy head like whipped egg whites.  The scent was an engaging floral aroma with a hint of sour.  The mouth feel was crisp in the way that I love on hot days.  The flavor is predominantly an earthy bitterness that is almost a little chalky with just a hint of malt.  If you don’t like bitter, then you won’t like this beer because that is it’s defining characteristic.  Although the flavor was almost disappointingly monochromatic, the lack of breadth did not ruin the beer for me.  Simply put, I enjoyed it.

End of the Hop-Day Hiatus

As much as I'd rather drink beer (and write about it), my day job had to be a priority.  But things seem to be returning to normal, so that means beer!  Since Wednesday (Independence Day!) wasn't really much of a hump-day, Tuesday was my hump-day this week, marking the first day where my daily schedule returned to normal.  So after work I went out with my friend Brad.

We grabbed supper at McBob's Pub and Grill on North Ave, just off of Hwy 41.  If you've never eaten there, then I highly suggest going and having their corned beef.  They have the best corned beef sandwich I've ever had!  In addition to good food, they also have a decent selection of beers (macro, micro and import) on tap and a good selection of bottled craft beers. 

While I was there I tried Bear Republic's Racer 5 IPA.  It is a golden American India Pale Ale (7.0% ABV / 75 IBU).  It is an award winning beer (several years at the Great American Beer Festival).  It was good, easy to drink and was a comfortable companion to good conversation.  It was bitter without being overwhelming, but it brought some nice flavor to balance out the bitter.  I give it 3 3/4 stars.

Schlafly American IPA

Happy Hop Day!  I poured myself the Schlafly Special Release American India Pale Ale by The Saint Louis Brewery Inc. and can say that I immediately like the simplicity of the way it looked in the glass.  It had a crystal clear medium amber color with a light, white, fluffy head.  I also loved the bottle because they took the time to add a great quote:

“There can’t be good living where there isn’t good drinking.” - Benjamin Franklin

The scent was mild.  I didn’t smell malt, just a light, floral hoppiness.  I took a sip and the mouth feel was light, washing easily over my entire mouth.  It wasn’t thick or soft, but it was very pleasant.  It tasted sweet, with a bit of floral hops chased by a nice bitterness.  This beer was simple, but good.  It definitely fits into what I expect when I open an IPA.

I give it 4 stars

O’Fallon 5 Day IPA

Happy Hop Day!  This week I cracked into my Missouri beers.  The label of O’Fallon Brewery’s 5 Day IPA said that it was the Riverfront Times 2008 Best Beer in St. Louis.  I set my expectations high.

It poured a murky orange with barely any head and no lace.  I’m fine with not being able to see clear through a beer, and I like the look of a fine frothy head, but I don’t put much stock in it.  I like the color, but I have to say that if you’re looking for a beer experience includes a nice visual, you’d probably be just as safe drinking this one from the bottle.

It smelled like orange rind or maybe the orange pinwheel cookies that my mom makes.  Very nice.  The mouth feel was smooth, light and refreshing.  It was crisp and refreshing, like drinking a cool glass of water on a hot day - very pleasant experience.  It wasn’t very malty, but it had a clean crisp citrusy start and a mild citrusy bitter finish that lingered at the front of my mouth

Nothing wows me about this beer, but it is VERY drinkable.  It would make a decent session beer.  As far as styles go, it reminded me more of a maibock than an IPA, but maybe that’s just me.  I give it 3.5 stars

Christmas in June

I am bad with gifts that I receive - I get gifts that I absolutely love, but I will wait to play with them until I have time to seriously enjoy myself.  It must drive my wife nuts.  She got me some awesome gifts for Christmas that I'm just getting around to playing with.  She bought me a bottle tree, so the last couple of days I've been washing and de-labeling the bottles that I've been saving up (and collecting from friends).  I won't need them for a few weeks, but I really wanted to play with my bottle tree.

She also got me Powdered Brewery Wash (which my equipment is soaking in right now) and Star San (which I just used to sanitize the yeast starter kit she bought me).  Star San mix is re-usable, up to a point, so it's currently sitting in my secondary fermenter waiting until I'm ready to sanitize the equipment that is currently soaking in PBW.  Still following me?

After work today, I ran to the local Northern Brewer store to pick up the yeast I need because my new yeast starter kit says the starter needs to sit for at least twelve hours - and I want tomorrow to be a brew day. 

Tomorrow I'll be doing a NB Spiced Winter Ale kit.  Considering when I probably should have brewed it (it was also a Christmas present from my wife - notice the theme?), it was a good choice.  It may be a little out of season, but since I'm not as fond of summer styles, I'm more than happy to be brewing and drinking a winter beer out of season.  In fact, I'm really looking forward to it.  I'd say that 6 weeks will be a long time to wait, but I've got a nice selection of Missouri beers to keep me busy.  Since it's a wide selection, I want to take my time with them.  That might mean the timing is just right for my homebrew.  We'll see.

That's not all I received for Christmas, but it's all that there was time for tonight.  Now I think I'm going to finish my New Glarus Laughing Fox and curl up with a book.

Black Top - Bottom’s Up

Happy Hop Day!  Today we're looking at a new beer style (or sub-style) for me.  One of the beers that I received for my birthday was a New Glarus Brewing Company Black Top Black IPA.  When I poured it, I noticed immediately why it was called a “black IPA” - it had the color of a porter or a stout.  As I poured, it formed a nice head which faded slowly, leaving a thick lace on the glass.

The scent was very subtle, but it reminded me a little of fruit cake, except less spicy.  My first thought when I took a sip was that the mouth feel was very clean.  My first impression was that it was like drinking a glass of water, the way that it washed all over my mouth and then kept moving.  Normally this isn’t something that I like in beer, but I paid more attention to it with my second sip and realized that my first impression hadn’t been accurate.  There was a solid, front-to-back softness that carried with it the thickness of the malt and the tanginess of the hops, but initially, they’re hidden by a crisp, smooth, fresh feeling that is deceptively clean.  After that passed, I noticed the more pleasant mouth feel that I expect from a good beer, lingering the longest toward the front of the roof of my mouth and leaving my tongue puckering with expectation for another sip.

The flavor was very well balanced between malt and hops.  At least for an IPA, I thought it was very balanced.  The hops were a bit stronger, but there was a very distinct roasted coffee flavor that I found to be the predominant flavor.  In slow motion the flavor went:  crisp, sweet, sour, bitter, roasty and coffee - with the coffee notes lingering along with tanginess from the hops.  The aftertaste was predominantly that roasted malt flavor supported by a sweet hoppiness. 

As far as IPAs go, this wasn’t what I normally consider a standard IPA because of how much of an influence the malt had, but the impact of the hops was exactly what I look for in an IPA.  Now, although I prefer hoppy and bitter beers, I am a huge fan of stouts and porters (stouts being the first beer I drank regularly, they will always hold a special place in my heart).  This beer combined the best of both worlds.

I easily give this beer a five star rating.  I love it.  I’ve had beers that I like more than this one, but I like it a lot, and it brought such a balance and strength to the flavors, all flavors that I love, that I can’t help but give it a five.

The description on the bottle is right “Expect this beer to pour a hop forward jet black glass brimming with aromatic bitterness.”  It goes on to say “Brewmaster Dan skillfully weaves molasses and chocolate malt undertones with a soaring rush of clean citrus and pine hop notes.”

Molasses?  Yes, I can see that

Chocolate?  No, but maybe I don’t have enough experience with chocolate malt to pick it out

Clean citrus hop notes?  Definitely

Pine hop notes?  Hmm.  I had to think about it while drinking this, but yes, I definitely detected the Pine hop notes. 

I love this beer!

While drinking the beer, I read the bottle.  It said, “We invite you to discover this newest beer style Black IPA.  Political debate rages over the origins of this jet black beer as both coasts feel they deserve credit.”

What?  A new style?  Both coasts claiming it as theirs?  So this is a new American Hybrid?  I figured I had to know more.

BeerAdvocate refers to this style as the American Black Ale:  “Also referred to as a Black IPA (India Pale Ale) or Cascadian Dark Ale, ales of this style range from dark brown to pitch black and showcase malty and light to moderate roasty notes and are often quite hoppy generally with the use of American hops.”

Ratebeer describes it as “An emerging beer style roughly defined as a beer with IPA-level hopping, relatively high alcohol and a distinct toasty dark malt character. Typically lacks the roastiness and body of a strong stout and is hoppier than a strong porter. Expressive dry-hopping is common. Also called India Dark Ale, India Black Ale, Cascadian Dark Ale, Dark IPA, and sometimes India Brown Ale.”

BeerScribe provides a nice introduction and description of the Black IPA in a short blog post that I suggest you read:  http://www.beerscribe.com/2010/09/01/the-black-ipa-problem/

If you love hops and enjoy malt, I definitely recommend New Glarus’ Black Top.  If you are a fan of one, but not the other, then I encourage you to give it a try and post a comment here to let me know what you think.

Bierthday Gift

Back on my birthday, Brad hooked me up with a sampler of New Glarus beers.  Samplers are something that he’s been putting together for people, and it’s a brilliant idea.  So simple that I’m not sure why I never thought of it.  He’ll buy a number of six packs (or twelve packs) and then he assembles sampler six-packs.  For my birthday he gave me:

• Hearty Hop Ale - India Pale Ale
• Back 40 bock - Wisconsin Bock
• Black Top Beer - Black IPA
• Road Slush Stout - Oatmeal Stout
• Cabin Fever Lager - Wisconsin style Honey bock
• Laughing fox Beer - Kristal Weizen

Honestly, it’s a nice mix and there are some seriously tasty beverages, most of which I haven't had before.  I think we should all follow Brad’s example and start giving beer as gifts.

St. Lou's Brews

My friend Brad is in town for the weekend.  He lives in O'Fallon, outside of St. Louis, Missouri; and on this return trip, he brought me a selection of craft beers from St. Louis.  Although he's the one who introduced me to Budweiser Chelada, he's not much of a fan of Anheuser-Busch.  He has always been more of a Jack Daniel's guy, but over the last year or so, he's begun sampling a wide variety of craft beers - which he tells me is expensive in his area because of the "AB laws" and sin taxes making everything so pricey.  He said that the beers he gave me were around $3/bottle, which I'll agree is kind of expensive.  Not that I wouldn't pay it, but it definately makes it more difficult to sample good beer if that's the price you're paying at the liquor store for a 12 oz bottle.

The beers are from three breweries - O'Fallon Brewery (O'Fallon, MO), Schlafly brand beer from The Saint Louis Brewery, Inc. (St. Louis, MO) and Boulevard Brewing Co. (Kansas City, MO).  Okay, so one of the breweries isn't a St. Lou brew, but he made a point of bringing me all Missouri beers. 

He said that he prefers Boulevard to Schlafly, but he didn't tell me where he ranks O'Fallon except to say that (for him) O'Fallon Gold, a golden ale, tastes a lot like Schlitz.  On the other hand, he said that the Boulevard wheat is "pretty Damn good."  Fortunately, he's leaving me to make my own decisions, and not only has he given me a big selection, he made sure it had plenty of IPA, porter and stout beers to cater to my personal preferences.

I can't wait to get started!

Hearty Hop Ale

Happy Hop Day!  Although I have finished my six pack of Potosi Snake Hollow IPA, I figure there is no reason that a good thing should come to an end.  Today’s beer comes from a mixed sampler of New Glarus beers that my good friend, Brad, gave me for my birthday.  I’ve intended to write about them for some time, but we all know how time and good intentions are.  Nonetheless, we’ve got one to lead the pack:  New Glarus Brewing Company’s Hearty Hop Ale.

I poured it into the glass and have to say that I immediately liked the deep golden hue with a nice red backbone.  It had a prominent head that gradually faded, leaving about a quarter inch of eggshell-colored foam.  It smelled bready and citrusy, like peeling an orange while entering a kitchen with the windows open to a cool, sunny spring day and then catching the scent of freshly baked English muffins.

I took a big sip and instantly noticed the mouth feel - comfortable and soft, like liquid velvet.  It started at the front of my mouth, slowly working back the roof to my palate and then curling around the sides of my mouth, creating just a bit of a pucker at the back of my cheeks.  The flavor was mild, with the malt flavors driven far to the background.  I found the malt unnoticeable except when I concentrated on it.  Even then, it was only really there at the beginning of the sip, quickly enveloped by the hops.  The hops were bitter, but I didn’t notice either floral or fruity notes.

The bottle says “Expect this Ale to pour a glass brimming with rich caramel flavors . . .”  It’s true, I would describe the initial maltiness has having rich caramel flavors, but they didn’t quite have the staying power I would have liked.  The bottle also spoke of the “intense hop aroma.” Which I’d agree with based on my “peeling an orange” and “open windows on a spring day” references.  There is not a bit of false advertising on the bottle.

My favorate IPA?  No

A good IPA?  It's certainly above average.  Maybe I’m thinking about it too much or maybe I’m just looking for something different.

Drinkable?  Definitely.  I could drink a couple of these right now, if only I had another.

It’s best quality?  It’s color.  It is a beautiful ale with a nice head.

It’s second best quality?  It’s scent.

It’s third best quality?  It’s aftertaste.  The aftertaste brings something to the flavor that is close to the scent, but which I didn’t find while drinking it.

The flavor, although good, was uninspiring.

I have yet to meet a New Glarus beer that I dislike.  And I certainly don’t dislike this one.  It’s good.  Quite good.  But I don’t know if it exemplifies what I am looking for when I purchase an IPA.  I don’t know whether or not that is a short coming of mine or of this particular beer.  I say that if you like a bitter beer, but aren’t looking for anything too bitter, buy this beer and try it for yourself. 

I rate it 3.5 - 4 stars.

Happy Hop Day! The final Potosi Snake Hollow IPA

Today (conveniently  timed with National Craft Beer Week) is the conclusion to our six week series with the Potosi Snake Hollow IPA.  Primarily because I just polished off the six pack I’d bought.  We’re going to do another round of beer and food pairing, and this one was inspired by Tasting Beer by Randy Mosher, in which he says, “Dessert works beautifully with beer.  In case you missed that, let me reiterate:  beer is fantastic with dessert!”

Today we’re doing cake, and that’s really all about economics.  I enjoy the occasional cake, but on the whole, cake doesn’t really get me going.  But since I wanted to drink my Snake Hollow with a variety of deserts, my shopping lead me to an important discovery - if you’re one guy drinking one beer and you want to sample a selection of desserts, it’s not easy to do on a budget.  Although there is an increasing number of single-serving desserts in stores these days, there aren’t many that are both inexpensive and decent quality. (No surprise - “You get what you pay for” typically holds true for food.)  I aimed for middle ground and erred on the side of “I like to put gas in my car,” which means I went with frozen cakes from Pepperidge Farm and Sara Lee.  Not bad brands, but I don’t think of “frozen” and “cake” as being paired unless “ice cream” separates them.

Anywho, I picked up:

• A Pepperidge Farm Coconut cake - white cake with coconut filling and shredded coconut sprinkled on the frosting
• A Pepperidge Farm German Chocolate cake - chocolate and coconut
• A Sara Lee Carrot Cake - carrots/pineapple, walnuts spices and cream cheese

An important lesson that I learned is about the way that come at food and beer pairings.  Either I’m going to need a way to get people to come over so I can justify the expense of better quality food, or I’m going to need to limit myself.  Party anyone?

Carrot Cake
I know there are plenty of people who don’t care for carrot cake. I do, but it has to be good. I’ve had disappointing carrot cake in the past. This one was okay, but I found it just a little bland. The cake itself was dense and moist, which was good. There were definitely walnuts in it, and the frosting had a nice cream cheese flavor and texture.

• Beer first, then cake - The spice of the carrot cake was replaced by the hoppiness of the beer for a little bit, but then the hoppiness faded and the full on carrot cake flavor took over.  It didn’t detract from the beer, but it didn’t add anything to it.  The combination with the cake was nice, but it didn’t add too much to the cake - although after I finished the cake, there was still a hint of the beer’s maltiness that was very nice.
• Cake first, then beer - Now this was interesting, the carrot cake sweetness and carrot-ness blended nicely with the maltiness of the beer; and the spice of the cake and the hoppiness of the beer blended nicely.  It wasn’t overly bitter, but I think that each drew the sweetness out in the other.  This was really good.
• Both together - This was much the same as starting with cake and then washing it down with beer; but with the full-on sweetness of the frosting in my mouth, the leading flavor from the beer was tartness.  This was a good combination

German Chocolate Cake
As a cake, it was okay. As a frozen cake it was good. As a German Chocolate cake it was disappointing. The cake was light and fluffy, but not moist. And it was too fluffy for what I expected. The chocolate flavor was mediocre where I expected richness. The frosting was smooth and creamy. All in all, it was an okay cake, but we I think the name was a bit misleading.

• Beer first, then cake - It tasted like beer and cake.  It tasted good, but neither noticeably added or detracted anything from the other.
• Cake first, then beer - The sweetness of the cake overcame the flavor of the beer.  There was a moment of sourness at the back of my palate from the beer that was a little unpleasant, but it faded quickly into the bitterness of the hops and then I was left with the solid malty flavor in the after taste.  Not bad, but not great.
• Both together - The sweetness of the cake still in my mouth prevented that sourness from surfacing (or what sourness was there was pleasant and at the front of my mouth).  This was a real nice combination.  The cake took the prime position, but the sweet maltiness with a little bitter bite and a solid malty aspect finished the flavors.  Very good.

Coconut Cake
It was a white cake that looked a lot like an oversized Little Debbie snack cake. The cake itself was soft, light and spongy. The frosting was a little stiff, but I’m not sure if that was because of the style of frosting, because the cake had been frozen (although I had thawed it completely) or because of all the shredded coconut pieces on the frosting. The cake itself was not coconut, but the frosting had coconut and the filling between layers supposedly was coconut flavored. I could tell it was coconut, but the flavor wasn’t nearly as strong as I expected. Still, it was much better than I expected of a frozen cake.

• Beer first, then cake - After I put the cake in my mouth, the beer flavor faded to the background, leaving a noticeable combination of sweet from the cake mingling with the sweet and bitter of the hops in the beer.  Then, as that faded, I was left with the sweet coconut of the cake mingling with sweet hops and malty body of the beer.  That faded to leave an overall sweetness in my mouth.  This was very good.
• Cake first, then beer - The beer flavor was prominent after I took a sip, but the cake minimized the effect of the hops and emphasized the malt.   As the flavor faded, the sweet coconut of the cake remained after the flavor of the beer was gone, but I was still left with the pleasant mouth feel that you get from a good malty beer.  At this point, I realized that the beer is really emphasizing the coconut flavor of this cake far more than the cake by itself presented.  Interesting and tasty.  This was very good.
• Both together - Malt, coconut and sweet hops with barely any noticeable bitterness except for the hint left on the hoppy / coconutty aftertaste.  This was also very good.

Honestly, it seems that there is no wrong way to do an IPA with cake.  Granted there are other cakes out there, but I get the impression that they would all fare just as well.  After my mixed results with cheese, this was a food pairing that I can get behind (although hopefully not three pieces of cake in one sitting again - that’s a little too much sweet - even for me.)  Randy Mosher, you were right - Beer is fantastic with dessert!

Happy Belated Hop Day! Potosi Snake Hollow 5

Hello fellow hop heads!  I’m a little late in getting this posted, so I hope you all had a fantastic Hop Day and enjoyed a good, cold beer yesterday.  Today’s Hop Day is Potosi Snake Hollow IPA and cheese.  Unlike wine and cheese tasting this has Wisconsin written all over it.

I have chosen six cheeses to try with the Potosi Snake Hollow IPA today:

• Mozzarella
• Swiss
• Parmesan
• Extra Sharp Cheddar
• Feta
• Bleu

The goal was to run the spectrum between mild and strong and to add in a variety of flavors.

Mozzarella:

 

Fresh mozzarella (which should be redundant, but these days isn’t), not shredded for pizza or in sticks for string cheese, but creamy, mild with just a touch of sour

1. Beer first then cheese - The combination added nothing to either the beer or the cheese.  It didn’t detract from either, so I suppose that’s important.
2. Cheese first then beer - This smoothed the flavor of the beer some, reducing the impact of the hop bitterness and making for a clean finish; but it did not do much else for the beer.  It didn’t add anything to the cheese.
3. Both in my mouth at the same time - Not good.  It made the cheese taste almost like sour milk.  I found it very unpleasant, and it really did nothing good for the beer.

Swiss:

 

This was not a classy swiss of any kind:  not a baby Swiss or aged Swiss.  It was your standard block of swiss that you find in the regular cheese aisle (at least what you find in SE Wisconsin.  I can’t speak for anywhere else).  It had a mild, but nutty flavor and was just a touch on the dry side.

1. Beer first then cheese - The IPA was so strong that it masked the flavor of the cheese when I first started chewing, but then after the cheese had been in my mouth a little longer it seemed to act like an eraser, completely eliminating the beer taste from my mouth and leaving only the cheese flavor.
2. Cheese first then beer - Neither overcame the other in this situation.  The cheese flavor faded to the background, but the nutty flavor of the Swiss remained prominent while not diminishing the flavor of the IPA.  The result replaced the floral, slightly sweet flavors of the hops with an emphasis on the malty flavors of the beer, while still retaining the bitterness.
3. Both in my mouth at the same time - This was much the same as leading with the cheese, except the bitterness even seem reduced, and it maintained the full flavor of the cheese throughout.  I enjoyed it.

Parmesan:

 

The cheese was dry, but not overly crumbly.  It was firm, and although the flavor was unobtrusive, it was distinct and pleasant.  I have trouble defining parmesan by any flavor other than to say it is “parmesanish.”  It is rich like butter, salty and tastes just a bit like the day old crust of a very good homemade white bread. But then there is a rich element for which I cannot seem to find a good comparison.

1. Beer first then cheese - This was odd.  I didn’t care for it, but it didn’t go quite so far as to be what I would call “bad”.  The parmesan quickly scrubbed away the flavor of the beer, which helped.
2. Cheese first then beer -  Again, there was an odd overlap that seemed to accentuate the sourness of the beer in a way that I found unpleasant, but not revolting.
3. Both in my mouth at the same time - This did not have the same odd, unpleasant effect.  The tastes flowed from one into the next:  sweet beer, rich cheese, dryness from the cheese, finishing with the bitterness of the beer.  I enjoyed it, but this is a combination that you have to be VERY careful with because it is far too easy to have something that tastes bad.

Extra Sharp Cheddar:

 

Somewhat soft (this was not a 3-5 year cheddar.  It was probably barely 18 months old).  Buttery. Tangy, a little salty and that element to cheddar that makes it “sharp”

1. Beer first then cheese - The beer seemed to sap most of the flavor from the cheddar.  It wasn’t bad by any means.  But it was very disappointing.  The combination didn’t add anything to the beer, but it subtracted a lot from the cheese.
2. Cheese first then beer - It emphasized the sweetness and maltiness of the beer while reducing the bitterness.  There wasn’t much cheese flavor in my mouth except it finished with the tanginess you expect from a sharp cheddar.
3. Both in my mouth at the same time - It was not bad, but it was not good.  I tasted beer and cheese.  The flavors did not mix well, and they each seemed to detract some of the more pleasant elements from the other.

Feta:

 

Very dry, very salty, a bit of sour cream flavor, but otherwise mild

1. Beer first then cheese - The feta completely overpowered the beer immediately
2. Cheese first then beer - There was a momentary sweetness and bitterness that was suddenly swallowed by the saltiness and tanginess of the cheese
3. Both in my mouth at the same time - it was like there was a ghost of beer in my mouth, but again, the cheese completely overpowered the beer.

Bleu:

 

Creamy, crumbly, salty, sour in a way that makes the back of your mouth pucker, rich and tangy.

1. Beer first then cheese - The beer was overcome by the cheese, but the cheese only had the “feet” flavor associated with bleu cheese.  Not a good combination.
2. Cheese first then beer - This was very rich, very salty, sweet, a little malty and just a hint of bitter.  This tasted good.
3. Both in my mouth at the same time - The same as cheese first, but more so

One bottle of beer with six cheeses and 3 ways to combine them each - it’s a bit tricky to get enough beer and not run out.

Honestly, I don’t know the best way to match cheese and beer because they seemed to pair differently depending on how I ate them and what cheese I was using.  It varied.  What I can say for sure:

 

Good Combinations:

• Swiss and IPA
• Parmesan and IPA (if done right)
• Blue cheese and IPA (again if done right)
• Cheddar and IPA (If done right)

 

Real bad combination:

• Blue cheese and IPA (if done wrong)

 

The rest weren’t great, but they weren’t bad enough to matter.  I wonder if doing them as a grilled cheese sandwich would make a difference?

I suspect that there may be other cheeses that pair better with IPA.  I’d be willing to give it a try.  It could also be that IPA is just one of those styles that you have to pair carefully with cheese.  Or maybe I just don’t know what I’m doing - but if it’s that hard, then who’s going to take the time to sit through a lot of bad combinations just to find the good ones?  Well, other than me . . .

 

Hop Day! Potosi Snake Hollow IPA 4

This week drinking my Potosi Snake Hollow IPA was not just something I enjoyed while writing up this post.  Instead it was half of the material.  The other half was chocolate.  That’s right, I decided to try a beer and food pairing with and IPA and chocolate!

I wanted to try the effects against different kinds of chocolate, so I picked up three to taste with my beer.  I wanted to see how the experience would be different with different kinds of chocolate, so I used a milk chocolate, a dark chocolate and what I think of as a novelty chocolate (in this case dark chocolate with orange and almonds): 

• The first chocolate that I sampled was Dove “silky smooth” milk chocolate.  Since I love chocolate, I’ll eat just about any kind; but I have to admit that I prefer dark chocolate.  Nonetheless, I wanted to do this right so I chose Dove because I prefer their milk chocolate to the old classic, Hershey’s.
• The second beer that I paired with my beer was Ghirardelli Intense Dark Midnight Reverie.  I chose it because it was 86% cacao, and I tend to like my dark chocolate VERY dark.  Honestly, it was a little less sweet than I generally like, so although it is a chocolate that is still right up my alley, I believe I would have been happier with a 70% cacao dark chocolate.
• The third and final chocolate for my pairing was Lindt Excellence “Intense Orange” dark  chocolate with pieces of orange and almond slivers.  I chose this as my novelty item because I wanted a very distinct flavor coming from the chocolate, and for the sake of my attempt at pairing, I was willing to risk a bad combination.

Honestly, I didn’t know what I was doing, so it took me some trial and error to figure out how to maximize the experience from combining of chocolate and beer.  I wasn’t sure if it would make any difference or if, like eating cranberry sauce and drinking milk, there would be an order of consumption that would end up being a very bad idea.  Fortunately for me, I found that there is no wrong way to eat chocolate and drink beer; but that doesn’t mean that every way is equal.

I started by eating a piece of chocolate and then washing it down with beer.  To me, at least, It tasted like I was just eating a piece of chocolate and then washing it down with beer.  Not bad, but neither element seemed to bring anything special to the combination.

Armed with a trusty glass of water and some saltines I cleansed my palate and tried again.  I took a sip of my beer, swallowed it and then, while the aftertaste of the beer was still strong, ate a piece of chocolate.  This seemed to amplify flavors a little, but not in a way that I could define very well (I’m not a professional by any means, so my average-joe senses just weren’t up to the task).

Finally I tried something inspired by an old trick that I used to do as a kid - and which I’m sure many of you have done too.  As a child, I would pour chololate syrup into my mouth, take a drink of milk and shake my head.  When I was a bit older, it was sloe gin and orange juice.  Now, minus the head shaking, I tried it with the chocolate bar and beer.  I placed a piece of chocolate in my mouth, chewed and then took a sip of beer so that the two mingled in my mouth.  Victory!  The flavors of the two together worked to emphasize some elements while diminishing others.

1. Milk Chocolate - The flavors came in a specific order: malty - sweet richness - chocolatey - sweet hoppiness - bitter - just a touch of sour
2. Dark - This combination was defined by the flavor of sweet, floral hops with just a little bit of bitterness.  The maltiness seemed to take a back seat, becoming almost unnoticeable.  There was a slightly bitter finish, but it wasn’t strong.  I enjoyed this combination quite a bit, but if you are looking for the beer to add something to your chocolate experience, then you might be disappointed:  The flavors of the chocolate seemed to fade to the background while the beer was the star of the show.  The beer, on the other hand, greatly benefitted from the chocolate.
3. Orange Dark - The flavor of the chocolate alone was strong, orange not being a mild flavor.  Much like the milk chocolate, the flavors seemed to come in stages.  The leading flavor was the orange, fading into a floral hoppiness and then giving way to a bready finish.  In my opinion, this was the best combination of the three because not only did the chocolate cut the bitterness of the hops, but the sweet of the chocolate enhanced the inherent sweetness of the beer (rather than over shadowing it).  The citrus of the fruit paired well with the beer to amplify the floral notes of the hops so that the shining stars of the flavor were the fruit of the chocoloate and the hops of the beer, while the chocolate and maltiness acted as a choir of joy supporting the two stars of the flavor performance in my mouth.  Okay, so maybe that’s a little corny, but it was really good.

Hop Day! Potosi Snake Hollow IPA 3

Drinking this week’s Potosi Snake Hollow IPA has locked it in at 3.5 stars for me. It’s growing on me, but I don’t think it’s going to get rated higher than this for me. Today we’re going to look at this style of beer, from a historical standpoint.

History of India Pale Ale

Hodgson and the Bow Brewery

In the early 1780s, a London brewer named George Hodgson of the Bow Brewery on the Middlesex-Essex border started exporting casks of a strong, amber, highly-hopped October beer. The strength of the beer suited the six-month sea voyage (and the hops didn’t hurt), and it arrived in superb condition. It became popular among East India Company traders and was apparently well received in India. After forty years of success, Hodgson’s sons came into control of the Bow Brewery and they eventually alienated the East India Company, bringing an end to Bow Brewery’s success in the India market.

Allsop Brewery

The Allsop Brewery in Burton-on-Trent was known for strong ales that were possible by the hard local water. They had been doing big business shipping a dark, sweet beer up the Baltic Sea and into Russia until a high tariff in 1822 caused them to lose their European market. In the void left by the failure of Bow Brewery, Allsop and other Burton breweries such as Bass and Salt looked to take advantage of the open Indian market. The paler, hoppy beer that Bow Brewery had been producer was very different from the dark, sweet Burton beers, so the Burton breweries developed a paler, crisper beer to replace the Bow beers. As it turned out, the hard, gypsum-laden water of Burton was better suited than London water for pale, hoppy beer. Burton India Pale Ale became preferred by merchants and their customers in India.

Popular with the Public

At some point, India Pale Ale caught on with the public, and the new beer’s popularity spread like that of porter before it. By the mid-nineteenth century, Pale Ales and India Pale Ales replaced porter as THE fashionable beer.

Myths
- Myth 1: IPAs were much stronger than other beers of the time.
- Myth 2: IPAs were developed to survive the voyage to India. Porter shipped to India at the same time survived the voyage without a problem.
- Myth 3: Barrels of India Pale Ale were recovered from a foundered ship, and the beer found wild popularity with the English drinking public.

Myth or no myth, I’ll probably perpetuate these just because I think they’re awesome!

Names

According to the ever-reliable Wikipedia, this style of beer was originally known by a variety of names:
- Pale ale as prepared for India
- India Ale
- Pale India Ale
- Pale Export India Ale
- The first known use of the name “India Pale Ale” comes from an advertisement in the Liverpool Mercury newspaper on January 30, 1835.

Hop Day! Potosi 2

Let me start by saying that while drinking this week’s Potosi Snake Hollow IPA, I enjoyed it more than I had last week. I think the problem is that it doesn’t meet my expectations for that style. Aside from that, it’s not a bad beer. I’d consider upgrading its rating - I’m not sure I’m ready to say four stars, but we’ll say I’d seriously consider it.

Today is more about the Potosi Brewing Company itself.

Potosi Brewing Company (http://www.potosibrewery.com/) is located in (Surprise!) Potosi, Wisconsin at 209 South Main Street, Potosi, WI 53820. It is a short 22 minutes from Dubuque, IA. More importantly, for you bored Platteville students with a means of transportation it is a short 17 mile drive to the brewery. If you’re elsewhere in the state of Wisconsin, it is an hour and forty-five minutes from Madison.



It is home to the National Brewery Museum and Research Library and to the Potosi Brewing Company Transportation Museum.

The National Brewery Museum and Research Library was established as a joint venture between the Potosi Brewery Foundation and the American Breweriana Association to preserve the history of American breweries through the preservation of brewery memorabilia.

The Potosi Brewing Company Transportation Museum has exhibits that tell the history of the Potosi Brewery through various modes of transportation, from horse drawn wagons for delivering beer on forward, to show the role transportation played in the brewing. Admission is free.

Potosi Brewing Company advertises having been established in 1852, but like many breweries with a heritage that old, this was not an unbroken history of production. Prohibition aside, the Potosi Brewery was completely closed between 1972 and 1995.

1852 - The Potosi Brewery was founded by Gabriel Hail and John Albrecht
1886 - The brewery was purchased by Adam Schumacher.
1906 - The Potosi Brewing Company was founded by Adam, Nicholas and Henry Schumacher.
1972 - The brewery was closed.

1995 - Gary David bought the Potosi Brewery bottling buildings and began restoration.
1998 - the restoration of the brewery itself began
1999-2000 - a community meeting in 1999 led to the formation of the Potosi Brewery Foundation in February 2000
2004 - The Potosi Brewery Foundation was selected to be the home of the American Breweriana Association’s national museum.

The following are Potosi’s beers and the descriptions provided by the brewery itself. Not all of these beers are available in bottles, and some of them are seasonal. Fortunately, Potosi Brewing Company also sports a Brew Pub where you can get their beers on draft, and maybe take home a half gallon growler!

Potosi Brown Ale
IBU: 30 ABV: 5%
"Medium to high malty flavor (often with caramel, toasty and/or chocolate flavors), with medium to medium-high bitterness. The medium to medium-dry finish provides an aftertaste having both malt and hops. Hop flavor can be light to moderate, and may optionally have a citrusy character."

Potosi ESB
IBU: 35 ABV: 7%
"This brew is Cave Ale's bigger brother. Nice caramel and malty flavors at the beginning and finish with a nice earthy bitterness."

Potosi Fiddler Oatmeal stout
ABV: 8%
"The Potosi Oatmeal Stout is made with 10% oats and tends to be sweeter than other Stouts due to the amount of malt and use of a special yeast strain that doesn’t consume too much of the sugars. What you’re left with is a great balance between the roasted characters of the malts while the oats add a silky smoothness."

Potosi Gandy Dancer Porter
ABV: 6%
"A bit bigger, hoppier, and or roastier than their European predecessors. This dry beer is medium to full bodied, moderately malty, and features a lightly burnt taste with chocolate or coffee flavors."

Good Old Potosi
IBU: 14 ABV: 5%
"This light bodied and refreshing ale is made with traditional brewing Ingredients. This brew will be a cut above the mass market brews having a mild flavor profile and a soft effervescent character. This beer, like the original will appeal to a wide range of palates."

Potosi Czech Style Pilsener
IBU: 27 ABV: 5.75%
"The birth of Pilsener beer can be traced back to its namesake, the ancient city of Pilzen which is situated in the western half of the Czech Republic. The Czech Pilsener is light straw to golden color and crystal clear. Hops are very prevalent with a spicy bitterness and or a spicy floral flavor and aroma, notably one of the defining characteristics of the Saaz hop. Smooth and crisp with a clean malty palate, many are grassy. Some will show some archaic yeast characteristics similar to very mild buttery flavors and aromas."

Potosi Pumpkin Ale
IBU: 15 ABV: 6.5%
"The Potosi Pumpkin Ale is back on tap in the Potosi Brewery Restaurant and Brew Pub. This ale will be spiced with pumpkin pie spices, like: ground ginger, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, and allspice. Pumpkin Ales are typically mild, with little to no bitterness, a malty backbone, with some spice often taking the lead."

Potosi Pure Malt Cave Ale
IBU: 10 ABV: 6.5%
"A long time favorite during Potosi’s heyday, this is an amber, pure malt and hop ale that has distinct malt character and a bit more assertive flavor profile, comparable to an English pale ale. This is a medium bodied beer that is not too over the top in any respect."

Potosi Snake Hollow India Pale Ale
IBU: 70 ABV: 7%
"Snake Hollow was the original name of the Potosi Hollow and is a brew with real character. According to tradition, an India Pale Ale requires a plentiful addition of hops during the kettle boil. Subsequently during the aging process, additional hops flavorings are introduced, providing fine aromatic hop character. This sturdy ale will satisfy the many hopheads among the new age of beer aficionados."

Potosi Steamboat Shandy
IBU: 14 ABV: 5%
"This refreshing beer is our Good Old Potosi blended with pure cane sugar and 100% natural lemon juice."

Potosi Tangerine IPA
IBU: 70 ABV: 7%
"This flavorful brew is our Snake Hollow IPA infused with 100% natural Tangerine juice. The addition of the Tangerine juice enhances the citrus flavors of our original Snake Hollow IPA."

Screwed

I prefer pry-off caps to screw tops on my beer bottles. There are two reasons, really. The most obvious is that I use pry-off bottles for my home brewed beer. But since I’m only a fledgling home-brewer, this isn’t the primary reason. For me, the main reason that I prefer pry-offs is because there is something that I find extremely pleasant and comforting about prying the cap off of my beer before I drink it. I don’t get that with twist offs. This was brought to my attention yet again because the Potosi Snake Hollow that I recently drank was a twist off. I was disappointed.

I have decided to point out why screw offs are unnecessary (at least in my house)

When am I left without the ability to open a bottle? Never.

When I get home from work, I can use the bottle opener key ring to pop open my favorite brew. Amanda can too, although she typically drinks twist offs.


When I step into the kitchen, I have three ways to open a bottle. We have an opener/pen combo magnet on the fridge. Our rotary can opener has a bottle opener on the side. In the drawer with our utensils, we have a church key


If I go down into the basement (where most of our beer is kept) we have a wall mount bottle opener attached to the end of our “bar.”


If we’re painting the house, our paint can openers can be used to pop the top off of a cold one.


If I’m grilling outside, my grill spatula has a cut-out made for prying off of a bottle opener. If I’ve used it to flip burgers, I have a soft-sided tub cooler with an attached bottle opener.


If I dress appropriately, I have a belt buckle with a bottle opener built in.


At home, I am never without the means to access my beer. Away from home, I will at least have my keys on me. So, do I need a twist off? Like I said - Never.