Beer!

[Ryan Ruck]

Second beer tonight is another New Belgium offering, La Folie (2014).



This one is, admittedly, a gamble. Not because I doubt New Belgium's quality but because the price of admission was on the high side. $19 for a standard 750ml bomber!

However the description was just too intriguing to pass up:

La Folie Wood-Aged Biere, is our original wood-conditioned beer, resting in French Oak barrels between one and three years before being hand bottled, numbered and corked for your enjoyment. Brewmaster, Peter Bouckaert, came to us from Rodenbach – home of the fabled sour red. Our La Folie emulates the spontaneous fermentation beers of Peter’s beloved Flanders with sour apple notes, a dry effervescence, and earthy undertones.

I guess New Belgium has gotten too big to hand number and cork because mine came in the bottle pictured above.

Poured a very dark yet clear brown into a snifter. Immediately hit in the nose with a sour apple scent that traveled well outside of the glass. Perhaps some cherry in there too. Taste is an intense sour green apple punch to the taste buds with some caramel behind it. The cherry in the scent is there in the taste as well if only slightly. Body is pretty crisp and dry. This beer is in your face in every way but in a good way, especially if you're the type that likes sour gummy worms or similar candy just for the mouth puckering intensity. It's 7% too so it isn't exactly a lightweight.

Overall I'd say this gamble paid off in spades! This is a great beer to experience due to its extremity. You guys in CO should have no problem finding it since it's New Belgium and all.

[MinutemanCO]

This is a CO weekend for you, huh Ryan? Left Hand is about 10 miles from my house and New Belgium 30 up the road. For some reason I take them for granted. I'll have a look at the local store for them.

[Ryan Ruck]

This is a CO weekend for you, huh Ryan? Left Hand is about 10 miles from my house and New Belgium 30 up the road. For some reason I take them for granted. I'll have a look at the local store for them.

You know, I guess it is! LOL! Good things seem to come from CO.

[MinutemanCO]

You know, I guess it is! LOL! Good things seem to come from CO.

LOL.

[Ryan Ruck]

Earlier I decided to open up the second Clown Shoes brew I had picked up, Ohio Unidragon Russian Imperial Stout.



Here's the official description of it:

Dear Ohio: the law prevents us from shipping Blaecorn Unidragon into your state, so we decided to make Ohio Unidragon, an alcohol 11.5% by volume stout dry hopped with American hops. The label reflects things that we love about Ohio through the images of an enraged Unidragon, a burning river, and giant skeletons wearing football helmets wielding electric guitars.

Poured thick black into a snifter with a negligible light brown head. Very aromatic smokey chocolate and coffee. Tastes of chocolate and coffee with a slight bitter bite and some smoked malts. This is 11.5% (to comply with stupid Ohio Blue Laws about beer not being 12% or greater) but you really cannot taste any of the alcohol. It will sneak right up on you! A very enjoyable drink!

[American Patriot]

Saturday we bottled our "Cherry Berry Wheat".

It's a recipe we put together as a team. My wife, son and me. We did taste test it - and it was pretty good. Have to wait until the carbonation is done though (couple more days).

I don't have the recipe here - but it was American Wheat, and a Belgian aromatic wheat, along with 7lbs of wheat malt extract (we don't do all-grain beers, because the equipment takes up a hell of a lot more space we don't want to refill with junk right now, lol).

I did save two vials of yeast culture and have them refrigerated now. We're planning a second batch to keg in a week or so. (I did get my keg and my CO2 tank back for that purpose).

So we have 40 bottles of beer sitting under the kitchen table in cases, on the finishing fermentation (that's where the sugars get added, the stuff gets bottled and the CO2 develops in the bottles) - and with luck we didn't create bottle bombs or anything.

[Ryan Ruck]

Man, that sounds like a good beer!

What's the ABV?

[American Patriot]

We didn't measure. Things were a little hectic because we had four people in the kitchen and we were teaching them how. Because we got rid of a good deal of our beer making equipment I didn't have all the right stuff (including something in which to take the initial measurements for S.G.)

But, given that we've made this before - minus the fruit in it - and the other stuff was between 5.1 and 5.3, I'm going to give this about a 5.3%.

We got a chance to taste test it, each of us, and it's going to be equivalent to a slightly stronger wheat than most places make. I'll chalk that up to a week fermentation, plus another 4 days with cherries and the other berries by wife added (the extra sugars fermented pretty strongly!)

But all of that is a guess at this point. I'm basing it on the original recipe and what it turned out to be. It won't be much stronger though, that's for sure.

Just in case you didn't know, the vast majority of the fermentation in this case, come from the wheat malt extract which is basically cooked down wheat "tea" -for lack of a better description and some of the original grain "tea" that is made in the steeping process....

So 90% of the wheat beers made like this will fall somewhere between 5 and 5.8 or so. Just depends on the quantities you add.

I just did a quick calculation (used: http://www.brewersfriend.com/extract-ogfg/) and see that 7lbs lme (which is like wheat extract in density) comes out to 4.9% all by itself. So 5.3% is a reasonable estimate.

Last thing... here's a cool thing:

http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebre...pe/calculator/

I put in the ingredients (roughly anyway) and came up with a 4.6 ABV - and a lighter color than what it actually is. Or I should say WAS when we started bottling. I suspect it will be more amber than gold when it pours mainly due to the coloration from the berries.

[Ryan Ruck]

Fall is officially on the way. I just purchased my first bottles of Southern Tier's Pumking of the season today.

Man, this year has just flown by. Seems like we were just thawing out from Winter not that long ago and here it is around the corner again...

[American Patriot]

Year? What year?

[Ryan Ruck]

I know, right?

I suppose the upside is that it seems like Obama has had less time to fuck us over (though there has been no less actual fucking).

[Ryan Ruck]

Tonight I've opened up a Prairie Artisan Ales and Evil Twin collaboration called Bible Belt.

I picked this up when I picked up the Bell's Black Note a little while back.



Here's the official description of it:

Huge Imperial Stout based on Evil Twin Brewings Even More Jesus spiced like Prairie Artisan Ales Bomb with coffee, vanilla, chilies and cacao nibs.

Poured pitch black into a snifter with a reddish tinged brown, thin head. Heavy, heavy aroma of chocolate and alcohol with a slight bit of coffee. The chocolate is so pungent you can actually taste it when you smell it, no joke! Taste is mildly bitter and sweet chocolate with smokey coffee. Much less alcohol taste than the smell. But that doesn't mean there is little alcohol. Did I mention this brew weighs in at a hefty 13% ABV? Lastly there is a little pepper on the back. Like most heavyweight beers, it gets more "pungent" as it warms. A thick body on this one but it is smooth drinking. Overall great flavor combined with a big alcohol kick. What more can you ask for?

[Ryan Ruck]

Second tonight is a bottle of New Belgium's Transatlantique Kriek.

Just recently picked this up and it comes in at the same price point as the rather pricy bottle of New Belgium's La Folie above. Hopefully it pays off like the La Folie!



The commercial description:

In a never-ending quest to create new beers and defy category, New Belgium Brewing and Brewerij Boon of Belgium have partnered together again to create Transatlantique Kriek - a spontaneously fermented lambic ale made with Polish cherries. This authentic kriek beer began life in the oaken vessels at Frank Boon’s brewery in the Lembeek region of Belgium. After more than two years aging, Boon’s offering shipped across the Atlantic and found its way to the intuitive palate of New Belgium’s Brewmaster Peter Bouckaert. After much sampling and internal consultation, Peter and his brew staff created a full-bodied golden lager to round out the light-bodied kriek. The cherry nose gives way to a pleasingly sour flash across the palate that rolls gently into a slightly sweet finish. Crisp, effervescent carbonation keeps the mouthfeel bright and delightfully tingly.

Poured a surprising clear, ruby red with a pink, foamy head into a Shaker glass. Head retreated pretty quickly leaving a thin covering. Smells of tart cherries with a bit of a sour/funk smell. Taste is a distinct sour cherry flavor but not as sour as something like the La Folie. Bubbly and dry. 8% ABV but no notable alcohol flavors. A nice tasting beer. I've never had a Kriek style beer so I have no basis of comparison. I like it well enough but I think I'd like it more if it came is closer to the $10/bomber mark than the $20 mark.

[Ryan Ruck]

I decided to wrap up the weekend with Sierra Nevada Beer Camp Across America West Coast Double IPA




Official description:

The brewery says its new beer, which features five varieties of different hops, imparts hints of grapefruit, with a floral note that recalls orange blossom. At 8.5% alcohol-by-volume, a light malt body and dry finish complement West Coast Double IPA’s bold hop profile. “This is an IPA that’s West Coast in style, which is fitting since the whole pilgrimage kicks of here in California in just a few weeks, said Ken Grossman, founder.”

Poured a clear gold into a Shaker glass with a big, white, persistent head. Smells of light citrus. Not very aromatic. Bitter grapefruit and malts on the taste. The bitterness is pretty mellow for a DIPA though. The 8.5% is decent but would have expected more of a +9% for a DIPA. Medium bodied. Good solid showing for a DIPA.

[American Patriot]

Yum yum!

[Ryan Ruck]

Tonight I'm having a collaboration brew. It was made by Stone, Beachwood, and Heretic called Unapologetic IPA.



Official description:

When you get three hopheads together to collaborate on a beer, it’s only natural to expect some hopped up liquid incarnation of their lupulin lust to spring forth from such a session. Maybe it seems passé to some—three masters of hoppy beer once again exploring the familiar territory of the India pale ale. After all, who needs yet another IPA, double or otherwise, right? It’s all been done. To those who feel this way, this trio’s reply is: “So what?” In birthing a double IPA made bitter and fruity care of a mélange of new and experimental hops (Azacca, Belma, and yet-to-be-named varieties from Washington’s Yakima Valley), they aren’t staying in a comfort zone—they’re hitting a sweet spot in the name of all that is good, delicious, hoppy and forward-thinking to create an IPA that’s both like and unlike anything they, or you, have ever tasted. Rife with essence of pine, resin, and fruits both citrus and tropical, there’s no need for apologies with this beer. All that’s necessary is a yearning for hops, a sturdy constitution and an empty glass.

Poured a crystal clear gold into a Shaker glass with a decent white head. Smells like tropical fruit salad and citrus. A pretty light and refreshing scent! This says it's a big, in-your-face DIPA but the truth is, the bitterness is very well balanced. It has a notable hop bite but it isn't at all overwhelming. Other flavors include pine, a bit of spiciness, and caramel. The 9% ABV doesn't disappoint. A pretty good brew even if you're not the biggest fan of hops!

[American Patriot]

Good name. lol

[Ryan Ruck]

I'm officially activating The Beer Signal in a call for assistance!




Apparently while I was out of town Bell's Mars DIPA, first in their Planet Series, was released and I missed it!

I didn't even get any official notice from either of my big, local stores on the release either or I would have surely had one of my brothers get me one.


So, if anyone out there has Mars available and can get me a bottle, it would be extraordinarily appreciated!

[American Patriot]

Hmmmm

I never heard of them. I'll look when I stop in the store after while.

Can you mail that stuff in mail now?

(Or should I just fax it?) LOL

[Ryan Ruck]

Never heard of them! NEVER HEARD OF THEM! I only talk about Oberon ALL. THE. TIME.

Seriously though, I don't think you'll have much luck finding Bell's. According to MMCO he hasn't seen them in CO.

I'm betting Midwesterners and East Coasters will have the best luck.

I'm not hopeful though... I think my only hope would be if Bell's released some complete Planets Pack or something but I doubt that will happen. Stupid eBay banning beer sales. That's the only way some of us beer enthusiasts could get a hold of some of the harder to get stuff.

At least I scored a bottle of Bell's The Oracle during my hunt. That's another one that is pretty hard to get and is very well regarded.