Farewell, 2011

Yeah, yeah.. I know it's only Dec. 30th.  But like the majority of you, hopefully, I'm gonna be at a party tomorrow night (shocking, I know! I actually get out!)  Therefore, good times, good beers, great people and great cheers..  nothing new (probably) and no way in hell would it be smart to let me in front of a computer!

What better way to bid farewell to the year than with a beer that will not exist come 2012....

Dogfish Head - Squall IPA.   "Bottle conditioned, naturally fermented 90 Minute India Pale Ale" according to the label..  a beer/clothing collab with Rogues Gallery of Maine..  word is it's a re-envisioned 90 Minute IPA, bottle conditioned, super limited availability and dry-hopped with a crazy SIX hop varieties.  This beer came to life in 2009, for East coast states, and was announced to be killed off in November..  9.0% ABV, just like the 90 Minute.  Amazing head on this one with the signature Dogfish Head IPA aroma..  slightly more boozy than regular 90, still malt heavy to cover up the insane amount of hops (and dry hops in this one), and those come through as intensely floral and grassy.  Super boozy taste with some lighter caramel malts, a somewhat earthy/crisp woody-type taste.  Slightly spicy and actually a bit minty...  Hops most likely present in the initial spicy bite as well as a super pleasant lingering pineyness..  Definitely takes a while to get used to, but as it warms and smooths out, this is one stellar beer...

With that I bid adieu to 2011.  The ups, the downs, the great beers, the not-so-good..  It's been a trip for sure, but I wouldn't trade the memories and lessons for anything, even the shitty ones.  Thanks to you all, whomever you are, for following, enjoying, maybe despising my writings and hope to see y'all in 2012!

Harpoon 100 Barrel....

Keeping up with the 100 Barrel Series...  here we go!

Harpoon 100 Barrel Series - #36 Island Creek Oyster Stout   First time I had this at a bar, the bartender had to ask my about any allergies!  It's actually brewed with real oysters, fresh from Duxbury Bay!  at 5.5% ABV and 35 IBUs.. this has got to be one of the blackest pours I've ever seen.  Smoky and roasty on the nose, chocolates, coffee and some faint vanilla.  A lighter stout than average, iced coffee dominates with roasted chocolate malts following.  Only towards the finish does a slight salty/briny taste come through indicated the oysters used.  Unbelievably smooth and silky with bits of faint floral hops interspersed.  Not sure if you can find it anymore, but if you like stouts and want a unique take on one (provided you're not allergic), this is a must-have!

Sierra Nevada / Dogfish Head Collab

Ever heard of it?  Well if you like dark, rich beers, you should!

Life & Limb (2)   I must've missed the first brewing, think it was back in 2009.  Life is for the natural carbonation employed here and limb for the pure maple and birch syrups used in the brewing.  Pretty cool label art too!  10.2% 50 IBU Strong Ale, huge thick head that never fully dissipated.  Hugely roasty nose, sweetly earthy, malty.. maple syrup (duh), vanilla, chocolate.. faint bourbon notes.  The taste is just as complex.. again, malt driven.  Definitely thick and syrupy sweet with coffee and chocolate undertones.  Slightly present alcohol that increases as it warms and a unique, faint spice..  could be the birch syrup.  Never had it, dunno what it should taste like, but birch beer soda is amazing (and has a faint spice too)  Crazy amount of lingering sweetness, one of the heaviest, most creamy beers I've enjoyed..  strong but wow! 

Monday Day Beer!

Day off of work..  why not have a day beer!?  Digging into my stash again.. pulling out some of the older brews to finally work my way towards catching up.

Couldn't get a damn clear picture on this one!  Damn me!  Harpoon 100 Barrel Series - #35 Catamount Maple Wheat..  a 6.8% ABV, 21 IBU Wheat beer.  Real Vermont maple syrup was used in this puppy!  Not much by way of aroma here..  some super sticky malts, strong alcohol aroma for a 6.8%.   All the character in this beer is found in the taste.  Light, but syrupy heavy.. tons of malts and brown sugar taste..  caramel, toffee.. and more heavily prominent alcohol.  The maple syrup definitely plays a role in the stickiness of the beer, but not as heavy or sweet as pure maple syrup.  Sort of like water-down syrup at IHOP.  A bit of alcohol bite to the finish along with a slightly weird astringency give way to a mouth-coating sweetness.  By the way, drink this cold.. the colder it is, the less alcohol and off-putting tastes are present.  Not bad.. but could've been a bit better to warrant a special brewing in the 100 Barrel Series..

Post-Present Beer

Why not cap off a nice easy day of family and presents with a beer!?  And a West coast at that..one I smuggled back with me.  Sadly, it's another that I think you can find around here, just not super-easily found..  I had such poor luck with the ones I brought back..  There just weren't that many 22's that I could find..most were 6's of West coast-exclusive brews, and places didn't allow the purchase of singles from the 6's.

Rogue - Santa's Private Reserve Ale.   How fitting!  A 6.0% ABV, 65 IBU Amber/Red Ale.  Another nice ruby brown pour, fairly heady with nice lacing left behind.  Some compared it to snowflakes! (which we actually saw a few of this morning)  A sort of muted barleywine aroma, huge sticky caramel and toffee, floral and piney hops, some orange rind, slightly bready.  Was expecting a bit of a spiced beer.. found none of that here!  Full out hops with some faintly hidden malts.  Somewhat fruity yeast notes, heavy sweet malts with piney hops dominating.  Some other floral and citrus hops are in the background a bit with the faintest nutmeg/cinnamon spice.  The finish is pleasantly bitter with some nice malt undertones.  Ho Ho Ho!

Christmas Eve

So, wrapping presents on Christmas Eve is as good a time as any to have a beer, right?  Right.  Thankfully this year I only had a half dozen or so to wrap!  Less hassle and less money spent, yay!  I decided to get rid of the other beer I got from work last week at that mini-conference thing we had...

Peak Organic - Nut Brown Ale   4.7% ABV and 21IBUs  Think I've done a beer of theirs before, but the name is slightly misleading, they use local organic whenever available, but not every ingredient in the brews is exclusively organic.  Still a great business model.  This is considered their English Brown style ale, a nice ruby brown pour, rather heady and with a subtle, yet delectable aroma.  Sweet caramel malts, some nice toasty nut blended with a slightly fruity yeast aroma....  light and delicious.  The body follows suit, light and crisp, lighter than most browns..  More caramel malts, some lighter toffee notes, not so much nutty taste compared to the nose and a bit of faint iced coffee.  Hops are barely present on the finish along with a slightly smoky aftertaste.  A great Brown for easy-drinking, light-bodied and super crisp.

Sixpoint Tap Takeover

I had found out about a Sixpoint tap takeover at a well-known craft place in Jamaica Plain that I had never been to, but always heard about... so why not?!  The place was VeeVee..  I was a little surprised though.  Nice bottle selection, mainly local which is very cool, but only 4 taps.  Then again, the place had maybe 15 tables and a bar that seats 10.  So I guess well-known for having quality over quantity?  Anywho, the tap takeover consisted of Sixpoint's Mad Scientist small-batch brews, #4-7.  Apparently, they got one of the last kegs of #4 in existence and the first keg of #7 to be tapped in MA.  Very cool!

Secret Santa Loves Sculpin

Like any good place of business, come this time of year people like to enjoy Secret Santa type shit..  so why not have fun with it!  We also like to occasionally have a 'happy hour' on Fridays, where we all split some 6er's from the Tedeschi's down the street and sit around after work.  Nice way to unwind!  This one was midweek and I was getting a little tired of the limited selection, so I'm gonna start bringing my own...

Up for this happy hour...

Ballast Point - Sculpin IPA  7.0% ABV and a hefty 85 IBUs  I had heard a lot of talk about this beer and had been sitting on it for quite some time now.  Yeah, that's only a baby cup, all they had at work!  A nice coppery pour with  a solid head on it, the moment I cracked the bottle the hop aroma dominated the room!  Huge grapefruit and piney hop with a touch of toasty malts...  some tropical citrus fruit notes poke through the deeper you get.  Not as cold and crisp as it should've been, which I feel muted some of the taste.  Warm caramel and toffee malts came upfront, followed by the hops.  Not as overpowering at the nose would suggest, but still quite potent.  Definite citrus with orange, mango, some lemon peel with a decent lingering piney bitterness.  And by lingering, I mean lingering... the bitterness stays until the next sip!  Not sure if it lived up to ALL the hype, but damn was it solid as all hell!

Bottling Day - part 2

So I let the dry-hopped portion sit for a week and decided to bottle tonight!  I figured with it being a full 1oz dry-hop on only 2gal (pretty damn aggressive) and being my first time dry-hopping, a week should be enough...  and damn, it smells so friggin good!  I really don't know if I can wait at least 3 weeks to crack into these..

But of course, with any event involving beer, ya gotta drink beer too!

Bottling Day and an Homage to the Inspiration

So my father and I recently brewed our second homebrew, a Stone Arrogant Bastard clone ale!  As of this morning, the fermentation had all but ceased meaning... Bottling Day!  and what better way to celebrate bottling than with a Stone celebratory beer: 15th Anniversary Escondidian Imperial Black IPA!

..oh wait, did I mention I saved 2gal of the homebrew to dry-hop the shit out of!?  Hell yeah, these babies smell hop-a-rific!  (this also means I get Bottling Day part deux  in a week)  And here's what a gorgeously dry-hopped 2 gallons looks like:

oh so pretty, don't you agree?  I'll let all you thirsty freaks know how the non- and dry-hopped versions turn out!  But until then, why not sit back and enjoy a Stone 15th Anniversary? oh.. what's that?  sorry, I'LL enjoy one for ya!

#1.. it's a sick bottle.  #2: gotta love commemorative glassware  #3... awesome beer!

If you didn't get the idea, Stone has been around for 15 years..  do the math, I'll wait.  Yep, 1996.. good job!  They've tended to push the boundaries on their normal beers, so they gotta really break the mold for their anniversary beers.  This one is no exception.. black IPAs: check.  Imperial IPAs: check.  But combining them under the guise of an Imperial Stout..  well hey now.  A beast of a beer that is sooo dang smooth. 10.8% ABV and 100 IBUs.  Definitely a hoppy aroma, like every Stone brew, somewhat piney with vanilla and chocolate undertones.  Some barleywine-esque malt sweetness comes through as well with anise, black coffee, dark fruits..  everything!  And the taste does not disappoint.  The roasty goodness comes through on the forefront with dark malts, coffee, chocolate, but not strong.  I'd never venture as far as calling a Stone watery, but these are totally light for the flavor..then comes the hops.  Seriously complex here as they swirl with the malts and high ABV that occasionally pokes through.  Grapefruit/citrus, grassy, floral, piney...  all depends on the sip and how long the beer has been warming.  The most pleasantly bitter that bitter can be and ending oh so smoothly.  One hell of a beer!

Friday Night Beers

Couple of busy weeknights and holiday parties this weekend call for a quiet Friday night in.  Couple of good beers and a cheesy sci-fi flick cap this night off!  Oh, did I happen to mention the beers may just be from the coolest named brewery in Massachusetts, perhaps the universe?  SLUMBREW!  Yeah, if you know the greater Boston area, you know the nickname for Somerville, where these dudes are from.  Brand new to the scene this year and already kicking ass.

Beer #1 (but their 2nd release) - Happy Sol - 5.5% ABV and 18 IBUs.  A unique swing on the usual Hefeweizen.  Not only brewed with wildflower honey, orange peel and coriander, but this batch alone used over 1000 blood oranges.  DAMN!  Gorgeously hazy and golden straw in color with a nice wheat aroma followed up by fruity sweetness.. a slight tart smell provided by the blood oranges.  Certain tones of the traditional Hefeweizen come through, definite wheat grain taste, citrus, banana/clove and slight spice, but a nice sweet yet tart component comes through.  The blood oranges give this beer a great standout characteristic.  A slight lingering bitterness, floral and citrus, along with the tart sweetness leaves you wanting more!

Beer #2 - Flagraiser IPA - an Imperial IPA at 7.5% ABV and 80 IBUs.  Went this this guy 2nd so as to not overpower the lighter Happy Sol.  Sweet pale bready malts on the nose with a nice citrusy grapefruit hop aroma.  This is a super bright IPA with a resiny, yet great hop profile.  A decent amount of malt to balance it out.. light, sweet caramel predominantly come through with lighter bready malts and a nice spice note.  As it warms, the malts come out a bit more and the beer gets a bit bigger, bigger bite to it.  Simple in terms of an Imperial..but done great!  Gotta love the local scene!

PhD Celebration!

No.. not me =(  One of the post-docs in my lab officially received his PhD after defending his thesis, so he's officially a Dr. now and had a little (ie big) celebration at his apartment last night.  There was a bunch of standard beers drunk at that place, but I also brought a lil something special to enjoy.  Also happened to be one of the beers I brought back from California.

Port Brewing Company - Santa's Little Helper Imperial Stout.  10.0% ABV.. unknown IBUs.  Crazy dark pour with a tan head that almost began ruby.  Wonderfully rich, sweet malty nose with some hints of spice.. mainly dark chocolate, toffee, some rich coffee and underlying alcohol.  A great thick Imperial Stout, the only thing taking points away is the alcohol as a bit too prominent.  Sometimes that bite works for a beer.. it was a little too strong to work for this.  Besides the alcohol on the finish, this had fantastically rich roasted malt notes, bitter chocolate, black coffee.. the whole shebang for an imperial...  Super smooth and creamy, just enough sweetness to up the easy of drinking, touch of spice gives it some character.  This is actually one that you can find out in these parts, give 'er a try!

California Trip pt II

On Day 2 in San Diego, I hung out downtown, visited Coronado, oversaw San Diego County for 10+ miles and had a dope burger/fries/shake in Ocean Beach.  No time for beers unfortunately.  That's ok though, cause after all that...we had a trip to Escondido planned!  If you can't put 2 and 2 together..  beer.. Escondido..  STONE BEER COMPANY!

California Trip pt I

SO!  I recently took a trip to the land of Pacific Standard Time.  Have a bunch of friends from the high school years and two from college that live between Los Angeles and San Diego...  so with places to stay for free, only need airfare and spending money?  Hell yes!  Of course it was about seeing people I haven't seen for months or even years, but if you know beers, you know SoCal is HUGE in the craft beer scene.  Besides freebies I was able to get through knowing awesome people, I made it my mission to only drink California beers... some you can find out here but maybe hard to find or maybe can find some by the brewery, but only select styles... some that are local and you can't find much further away than Nevada or Arizona if you're lucky.  Here's a brief run-down of the amazingness that I enjoyed!!

B's, MNF and Repeal Day!

Happy Repeal Day beer lovers!  On Dec 5, 1933, Congress repealed the 21st Amendment to lift Prohibition!!  HUZZAH!  Watched a little MNF, saw the B's ruin the Penguins and enjoyed a brew to celebrate!  For sure wanted more, but got an early morning at work tomorrow..

... Also happen to be drinking an 8.5% ABV 750mL bottle with a supposed 145 IBUs..  aWHAAAAAAAA?!  If that's true, slap a dress on me and call me Sally!  DAMN!  Grand Teton Brewing Co - Trout Hop Black IPA

A super carbonated, near-black pour with a surprisingly whitish head.  Sticky sweet malt nose, toffee and
molasses, with hints of roasted coffee and underlying grassy/piney hops.  Tons of coffee in the taste, some roasted malts and charred wood.  Hints of chocolate try to cover up thick piney hops with a nice bitter, dry finish.  This one was simple, straightforward and great.  Not sure about the supposed 145 IBUs.. certainly very hoppy and tons of malt do cover it up, but a great Black IPA nonetheless.  Would've been nice to see how much more this could age, however.

Long Overdue - Breakfast Stout on Draft

So about a month ago I got word that the Gaff in town managed to get a keg of Founders Breakfast Stout! BOOM!  If you know your beer, you know Breakfast Stout is tough to get on it's own..but seeing it on draft somewhere, shit, you drop all plans to go get it.  So I had to do just that..