A bunch of new beers here from the fell release as well as a few product samples. For a harvest themed meal pairing try the Nickelbrook Wet Hop or Renaissance Punkin with your turkeys; or use the 8Wired iStout or LTM Doppelbock as an after dinner sipper, like a fine cognac.
Beau's Mr. Hyde
600 mL bottle. Pours amber with a frothy white cap. Rye and hop spices intermingle with a hint of caramel malt sweetness, cedar, applesauce and prune fruit notes. Slightly sweet but reasonably balanced. Moderate body and carbonation level. Nice complexity.
Beau's Two Weeks Notice
600 mL bottle. Pours very dark brown, almost black with a fuzzy light brown lid. Roasty malt, chocolate, coffee, licorice and Noble hop aroma. Quite bitter through and through with the dark malts on the attack and hop bitterness on the finish. Light on the palate, medium bodied and average carbonation.
Radical Road The Wayward Son
750 mL bottle. Pours golden with a thick lacy head of fuzz. Soft sugary aromas, Noble hop, pilsner malt, orange candy and fruit. Slightly sweet, light to medium body, full carbonation and a hint of bitter aftertaste. A good example of a Golden Strong; a style I don’t like much, but where’s the oak?
Nickelbrook Pie Eyed
355 mL bottle. Pours hazy burnt orange with a thin white cap. On the nose, clove, cinnamon and pumpkin and a hint of malt. Taste is somewhat watery, mildly sweet and spiced. Thin to moderate mouth feel and medium carbonation. Not to my taste.
Nickelbrook Ontario Wet Hop Pale Ale
750 mL bottle. Pours a pale golden with a thick foamy head of white. Nose is peach, mango, subtle pine and cedar. Crisp, with cracker like malt notes and a fruity finish. Moderate body and carbonation with a slightly bitter finish. Designed to showcase hop character. Quite enjoyed this, very sessionable.
Renaissance Enlightenment Series The Great Punkin
500 mL bottle. Pours dark garnet with a frothy off white head. On the nose, pumpkin, pie spices and bready malt. Slightly sweet with roasted vegetable and caramel malt notes. A nice spice and pumpkin balance that plays well with the maltiness, finishes slightly bitter. Medium body with medium to high carbonation. A good pumpkin beer, would have been better if it were more modestly carbonated.
8Wired iStout
500 mL bottle. Pours opaque black, period. Beige head. Aroma is intensely concentrated. Dark chocolate, coffee, deeply roasted malt and stewed fruit. Surprisingly sweet for a RIS; balanced, but not as bitter as is typical for the style, less roasty than anticipated. Full on the palate with low carbonation. The beer that eats like a meal. Still damn delicious.
Les Trois Mousquetaires GC Doppelbock
750 mL bottle. Pours dark amber with a foamy tan head that leaves no trace. Aromas of fruitcake, rum, candied orange, chocolate and demerara. Fairly sweet and firm bodied, moderate to heavy carbonation and full on the palate. Leaves a lingering sticky sweetness on the palate, gently offset by a touch of acidity and woody hop spice. Liquid bread indeed!
Amsterdam Calm Before the Storm
355 mL bottle. Pours a dark walnut with little to no head. On the nose; roasted nuts, bittersweet cocoa, rye spice. Dry with a lingering roasty hoppy bitterness. Thin palate with average carbonation.
Amsterdam Oranje Weisse
500 mL bottle. Pours a hazy golden with a thin head that exits quickly. Aromas of citrus juices, coriander, liquorice and yeasty spice. Moderately dry and fruity, very clean on the palate, average plus carbonation. Tasty but not that exciting.
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Thursday, October 17, 2013
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
still breathing; still brewing
It's been a while since I've posted anything but ratings and thought I might put together a bit of a review of what's going on in the brewing department.
I got started immediately once we finished moving into our new place with an Christmas inspired Old Ale I've named 'Oak to Joy'. The beer was drawn up to be a fairly strong sipping beer for the cold winter months and partially aged in oak. The thing took near a month to ferment out! I was expecting to be sampling it by now and instead I'm waiting for it to mellow out before bottling.
A week later I set down a beer that I intend to age out for a few months. The idea was to spike a classic Dunkelweizenbock with Brettanomyces bacteria. This will develop a gamey, musty, cellar-like character that I think will balance well with the malty, smoky notes typical to the style. The weizen yeast is all done fermenting and the brett should be munching away at the residual sugars for the next three months before I package it.
Last weekend I brewed up my fourth solo batch, a Biere de Garde. This is one of the few traditional French styles of beer. Hallmarks include a very slow ale fermentation at low temperatures and long term lagering that results in a smooth malty beer with a mild yeast and hop profile. The White Labs French Ale yeast I used fermented the beer out in an astonishing four days! I let it rest for four more and have started bringing it down to a lager temperature of 40F. The beer will age there for four weeks and continue to mellow.
I'm currently building up a starter for another experimental batch, an all Brettanomyces Clausenii blonde table beer. All brett beers require a lot of patience and a large yeast starter, so despite the fact that I began propagating yeast today, I won't be brewing for two weeks time. I selected a very lightly colored, mild malt base with a small amount of slightly spicy hops to really let the yeast flavour shine through.
On top of all that I'm working on switching from bottling to kegging. I'm debating between converting my own keg fridge or purchasing a commercial one. The switch should make brewing a lot cleaner: bottling is the messiest and fussiest part by far.
That's where things stand!
I got started immediately once we finished moving into our new place with an Christmas inspired Old Ale I've named 'Oak to Joy'. The beer was drawn up to be a fairly strong sipping beer for the cold winter months and partially aged in oak. The thing took near a month to ferment out! I was expecting to be sampling it by now and instead I'm waiting for it to mellow out before bottling.
A week later I set down a beer that I intend to age out for a few months. The idea was to spike a classic Dunkelweizenbock with Brettanomyces bacteria. This will develop a gamey, musty, cellar-like character that I think will balance well with the malty, smoky notes typical to the style. The weizen yeast is all done fermenting and the brett should be munching away at the residual sugars for the next three months before I package it.
Last weekend I brewed up my fourth solo batch, a Biere de Garde. This is one of the few traditional French styles of beer. Hallmarks include a very slow ale fermentation at low temperatures and long term lagering that results in a smooth malty beer with a mild yeast and hop profile. The White Labs French Ale yeast I used fermented the beer out in an astonishing four days! I let it rest for four more and have started bringing it down to a lager temperature of 40F. The beer will age there for four weeks and continue to mellow.
I'm currently building up a starter for another experimental batch, an all Brettanomyces Clausenii blonde table beer. All brett beers require a lot of patience and a large yeast starter, so despite the fact that I began propagating yeast today, I won't be brewing for two weeks time. I selected a very lightly colored, mild malt base with a small amount of slightly spicy hops to really let the yeast flavour shine through.
On top of all that I'm working on switching from bottling to kegging. I'm debating between converting my own keg fridge or purchasing a commercial one. The switch should make brewing a lot cleaner: bottling is the messiest and fussiest part by far.
That's where things stand!
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Ratings Double Header!
A trip to Caledon yielded some fine ciders from Spirit Tree Cidery. There's some nice fall feeling brews in here, as well as half of the Beau's Oktoberfest gift pack! Fans of dry stouts need to have the Le Trou de Diable Sang D'Encre! Enjoy.
750 mL bottle. Pours a hazy light pear colour with a thin short lived mousse. Floral with notes of apple flesh and skin notes, malolactic fermentation, oak and a hint of funk. Bone dry and crisp with mild carbonation and a light body. Lingering notes of apple and lightly tannic oak on the mouth. Good stuff, but I prefer the pungent funkiness of the original. Nonetheless a very real cider, nothing to hide here.
Amsterdam Autumn Hop Harvest Ale
500 mL bottle. Pours a deep gold with a lacy white head. Aromas of earthy hop, citrus rind, biscuity malt, pine and bread. Taste is dry with a lingering hop bitterness. Sticky on the palate with moderate carbonation and light to medium body. A nice fall beer; and my favorite Amsterdam brew next to the Boneshaker.
Renaissance Voyager IPA
500 mL bottle. Pours a muddy amber color with a lacy white foam. Resiny hop aromas or grapefruit and beeswax with notes of crystal malt and yeast. Slighty sweet balanced by a hint of hop bitterness and floral aromatics. Low carbonation and surprisingly light on the palate. Distinctly British tasting.
Midtfiyns/De Molen X Porter
500 mL bottle. Pours opaque black with a creamy brown head that lingers and laces. Aromas of chocolate, coffee, burnt sugar and molasses. Hints of black cherry, prune and roasted malt. Starts out sweet and quickly turns roasty and bitter with hops. Rich and dense with a thick coating mouth feel. Full bodied with moderate carbonation. An enormous porter, made for after dinner sipping.
Cameron's Ressurection Roggenbier
650 mL bomber. Pours dark butterscotch with a thick white head and nice lacing. Aromas of spicy-sweet rye, medium crystal malt, a hint of plum, banana, apple and floral hop. Full carbonation with a lingering sweetness on the palate. Not bad but I expected more somehow...
Spirit Tree Perry
341 mL bottle. Pours a light pear juice color with a split second long white cap. On the nose is pear and musty funk reminiscent of olive brine. Fruity and thin bodied with a slightly tart, floral finish. Clean on the palate. Well made and tasty.
Beau's Smokin' Banana Peels
600 mL bottle. Pours hazy off yellow with a thick white head that laces nicely. Aroma is smoke, mineral, clove phenols and banana. Just smoky enough that you know it’s there but not intense enough to overwhelm the delicate hefe character. A mild sweetness with moderate body and full carbonation. An upgraded thirst quencher.
Samuel Smith's Old Brewery Pale Ale
550 mL bottle. Pours light ruby with a thin head. Caramel, bread, apple and spicy/herbal hop. Moderately sweet, balanced by a bitter hop finish. Medium bodied with moderate plus carbonation. A nice ESB.
Le Trou de Diable Sang D'Encre
375 mL bottle. Pours opaque black with a splotchy beige-brown head. Dark molasses, coffee, cocoa, dark bread and earthy hop notes. Dry and layered with notes of licorice and roast. Moderate to full bodied with lively carbonation; slightly sticky. Need more stouts this good to be readily available.
Beau's Oktobock
600 mL bottle. Pours crystal clear, liquid gold with a thick white head. Bready with caramel toffee, nut butter, lemon verbena, cracker and hop spice. Moderately dry, above average body and normal carbonation. Lingering bitter finish, slightly sticky on the palate. A big ol’ Helles.
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