Beer Advent: Round 3

So we're back again.

Day 13: Mendocino Imperial Barley Wine

I grabbed this guy because it was a low priced barleywine, and Ed and I love barleywines.  I've had Red Tail by this brand before, and it wasn't anything memorable.  My nerves got to the best of me though as Ed was holding a 4-pack the day we went back to Total Wine for the Pepper Porter.  Luckily he put it back down.

We actually got together the night of this beer, had a Dogfish Faithful big bottle, and shared a 2010 Samuel Adams Infinium with Matty, our neighbor.  Good night.

Mendocino Imperial Barley Wine Review:  

Mendowhata.  I think Kevin chose the shock and awe approach for my 12 pack.  Picking many of the heaviest hitting beers that he could find, especially some he hadn't heard of.  

This was really an average barley wine.  I wouldn't seek this beer out and I'm not sure if I'd try Mendocino again unless the brew looked truly inviting and interesting.  Although my gut tells me this would probably be a value play similar to the Monster Barley Wine by Brooklyn.  Just not refined enough for my tastes.  

Day 14:  Samuel Adams Wee Heavy Imperial Scottish Ale

I went to my grandparents today.  We got back here at 11:00 pm, and I was ended up getting the sniffles pretty badly.  I had defer this beer to a couple days later, since I took some Nyquil.  A 10% beer with Nyquil only does unbearable things, I think.

Samuel Adams Wee Heavy Imperial Scottish Ale Review:  I liked this beer, though it was just a "Wee Heavy".  It poured like motor oil.  It had almost no head after a minute of sitting.  It reeked of smoky peat.  It was great!  I could barely finish the one though, it was so strong.  

Day 15:  Harpoon Grateful Harvest Cranberry Ale

I had already had one of these, buying one when we did beer selections.  Wish I had it at Thanksgiving.

Harpoon Grateful Harvest Cranberry Ale Review: 

This beer had great color i thought.  It was slightly translucent with a nice pleasant cranberry hue.  First cranberry brew I've tried and I'm glad it was by Harpoon as I like most of their brews and find them readily available in the area.  

This beer did not have amazing flavor.  Meaning it was full of flavor but i wasn't really blown away by it.  It was fairly tart and the level of cranberry was akin to the level of apricot in Magic Hat #9.  

Overall I found it refreshing with nice body.  Would accompany a nice Wawa Gobbler quite well.  

Day 16: Weyerbacher Blithering Idiot Barleywine 

I knew a Barleywine was on its way at some point, and excited to see it once it did.  Ed used to have one of these in his fridge, and I never got a chance to taste it, so it was nice to cross this off the list.

Weyerbacher Blithering Idiot Barleywine Review:  This beer was nice and spicy, and a little different than most Barleywine's I've tried.  I liked it, and haven't had too much Weyerbacher up to this point.  Would easily reach for this one again.

Day 17:  Founder's Old Dirty Bastard Scottish Ale

Ed and I didn't overlap too much on exact beers, but we did overlap in brands and styles.  This is the closest we came to overlapping, though when counting 3 beers instead of two.  The Sam Adams Wee Heavy Imperial Scottish, the Founders Centennial, and this the Founders Scottish.  Anyways, just an observation from someone who enjoys analyzing data.  

Founder's Dirty Bastard Scottish Ale:  

I don't often find myself dabbling in Scottish Ales or Wee Heavy style brews.  I guess this would fall at the top of the heap.  Heck c'mon it is Founders.  It poured somehow darker than i was expecting and had a pretty creamy head with a good amount of carb.  

The flavor was seriously scotchy.  At times a sip would be reminiscent of a boilermaker from my Philly days on Spruce Street with my boy Donny.  

If you're feeling cold this'll warm ya right up.  

Day 18:  Weyerbacher Winter Ale

So I knew Ed bought this one.  The cashier at Total Wine loudly called for a price check, and I was behind Ed, looking away from his beers as he checked out.  Thanks jerk, thought everyone know the seriousness of what was unfolding that day.

Weyerbacher Winter Ale Review:  I really liked this beer.  This is up there with Avery's Ellie's Brown Ale in my favorites so far.  I don't normally like winter ale, but this one was robust and malty.  There was a faint watery taste, but it didn't hurt it.  The head stuck around in the glass, and it was really a nice cold weather beer.

Just one more installment!  How quickly beer advent has slipped away.

Beer Advent: Round 2

Our apologies to anyone who has been eagerly awaiting the follow-up posts, but we've been sidetracked by the holidays.  Fret not, we've also brewed a Cocoa Nib and Vanilla Bean Cream Stout and have had some Untappd adventures we'll get into in another post.

Day 7: Stoudt's Fat Dog Imperial Oatmeal Stout

So starts off the next sixer of advent.  As you might remember, the day before, Ed gave me Avery's Ellie's Brown Ale, which had a chocolate lab on the front, and this one had a old black lab on it.  One of the uncanny beer advent happenings.

This day we actually hit up Total Wine to go grab the Pepper Porter.  We were hungover from the night before, as we had a taste craziness.  Much to our luck, Yards was there, doing a tasting.  Ed and I tasted their full line, and were pretty impressed...we were also a little buzzed afterwards.  The most interesting, in my opinion, was a Spruce Tip offering that had a nice pine taste to it instead of hops.

Stoudt's Fat Dog Imperial Oatmeal Stout Review:

Bring on the Stouts.  I've had a lot of respect for Stoudt's since I had their Karnival Kolsch a couple summer ago yet I never seem to target their brews, probably because I basically never see them on draft only at Total Wine.

This beer was exceptional.  It had almost no head, which i found a bit odd and it was a little bit thin to the pour but not the to the taste.   The aromas and flavor were great.  Tons of roasty chocolate and coffee smells hitting my nostrils.  Black as used 5W30 and just right on the boozy undertone.

Day 8:  Battery Brewing Chocolate Trappist

Battery Brewing Chocolate Trappist Review:  I knew there was a possibility that homebrews could be mixed in to help offset overages on spending elsewhere.  I just was hoping they didn't exist.  Not that they aren't good, because they are (well, most of 'em)...but because it isn't something new to taste.  I actually tried to open this one up in the taste-before-i-unwrap method, but that turned out to be a mess as there was one of those homebrew explosions you sometimes get.  The beer was good, what was left of it in the bottle after it overflowed.  With that said, I was excited to get on to the next beer, and was hoping that the rest were all newbies.

Day 9:  21st Amendment Back in Black Black IPA

21st Amendment Back in Black Black IPA Review: 

This wouldn't have been my guess in terms of overlap but it makes sense Kev would pick an IPA for me that I would also pick for him given our similar tastes.  

I thought this was a good brew but not stellar.  I do respect 21st Amendment and dig their stance on cans.  The black IPA style just isn't as inviting to me as a traditional IPA but it is a nice change of pace. The roast and the hops seem to compete for flavor but conceded to exist in a nice balance.  

Day 10: 21st Amendment Back in Black Black IPA

Ed and I had a lot of discussions on how many we'd repeat.  We agreed we probably would match each other on at least one, two tops.  Much to our surprise, we matched up back to back on Back in Black.  Ed did his best to disguise the can as a bottle (tricky tricky), but my re-arranging of the six packs in the fridge dented his disguise.

21st Amendment Back in Black Black IPA Review:  This beer was great.  It was good enough for me to grab for Ed, so it is surely good enough for me to want to drink.  I had actually had this beer in a make-your-own-6-pack almost to check out, but put it back when we went all in the Punkin' keg.  I couldn't come home with both 1/4 a keg and singles.  It was dark and roasted, with hints of caramel and it came out of the can really nicely.  I'm a big fan of 21st Amendment, and they didn't disappoint.  

Day 11:  Lagunita's Imperial Stout

I had come in under target during our first trip, so on my way back from Thanksgiving, I picked this bomber up to round out.  I always feel like I'm underpaying for Laguinita's stuff, as this bottle was only like $4.50.  I've paid more for 12 ounce bottles I've enjoyed less.  I put them in at the end of Ed's 1st 6 pack.

Laguinita's Imperial Stout Review: 

The big guy.  The big Lagunitas Imperial Stout.  What a value.  An excellent beer to sip over a hour or two or to share during a meal.  There is a humbling and slight burn of alcohol after you swallow but its not at all undesirable.  The beer is rich and big on flavor but doesn't forget to remind you of what it could do to you when overindulged.   There are other much better Imp Stouts but this one seems to do just as it set out to.  Big buzz, big flavor, big bottle.

Day 12:  Founder's Centennial IPA

Founder's Centennial IPA Review:  I was excited for this beer.  Everyone loves Founder's Breakfast Stout.  I've never tried anything else by them.  I didn't love this beer though.  It was excessively hoppy, and way too aggressive in my opinion.  I was actually surprised beer advocate hands it one of the best ratings they give out.  I boil it down to two things causing me to give it low ratings, and because of these two, I'd try it again, and am not writing it off just yet.  The first, I'm not a big IPA fan, and I'm still developing a taste for some of the more intense ones.  The second, somewhat related to the first, IPA's are not the most drinkable of beers, especially intense ones, so you have to be in the mood for one.  Where a pale ale or an amber is non-offensive, and you can easily throw them back whenever, an IPA you sort of have to be ready for.  The surprise of the un-wrap did not prepare me for it, and I just wasn't in the mood for one.  So yes, I give it low marks, but I can appreciate what they were doing, however aggressive it was.  If I saw this on tap somewhere, I'd give it a go.

Beer Advent Round 1

This entry's to capture the first 6-pack from Beer Advent 2011.  We've found ourselves go from giddy excitement, to withdraw on the other person's day, and even an emergency 6-pack run on a seasonal beer we became afraid that we'd never see again.

Day 1:  Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale

So I present you the kick-off beer of the 1st Annual Beer Advent.  Sierra Nevada's Celebration Ale.  Notice what I did there in how I lined the beer up, Celebration for the first day.  I tried to synch up the days and flow of the beers, as well as tried to synch weaker showings with great ones, so there wasn't a down few days for Ed.

Ed and his girlfriend Lexi actually popped in for our ceremonious beer exchange, and we enjoyed a few randoms I had in the fridge from the last few years of the Samuel Adams Longshots collection.  As excited as I as for Ed, I was bummed I had nothing to open until tomrrow.

Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale Review:  This was a strong start for me.  Weavy picked a fitting opening beer as he knows my love for IPAs as well as this being an elusive beer for me one year earlier when i tried to get it in a keg for my birthday/graduation party.  

This is a hopfest but finishes smooth and doesn't dry you out too bad.  I would definitely purchase a 6er of this in the future.  As a side note i should really make more of an effort to try Sierra stuff.

Day 2:  Bell's Amber Ale

Finally it was my turn!

I tore into this like it was Christmas Day.  I was very excited to see it.  They've changed the label since the last time I've seen this beer, so it took me a while to figure out if I had seen this beer before.  I have seen it, but haven't had it before.  I think Ed was a bit bold here given our past experiences with Bell's.  Bell's Cherry Stout has the dubious distinction of being our whipping beer, one of the few we've dumped out without finishing.  Don't get me wrong, Bell's is solid with Oberon and 2 Hearted Ale ranking very high on my favorite beers (Ed loves 2HA too, but hasn't had Oberon).  Also, in terms of strategy, Ed's on the record of saying that he attempted a bit of a session order, light to dark, though he failed to divulge any  more indformation.

 From the picture below, you can see the dog was very interested in what was causing so much attention.  Of course, that meant she wanted to eat it.

Bell's Amber Ale Review:  This was a solid start, and very smooth and drinkable.  The fact that Bell's has a generic name for this "Amber Ale" instead of anything interesting is an indication of the taste of the beer.  It is a solid offering true to the name, but doesn't offer anything memorable to it.  This would make a great 6 pack beer to share one night, but as a single bottle trying to make a name for itself, it comes up a bit short.  Still, interestingness aside, this was still a pretty decent beer and a great start to Beer Advent.  I wouldn't hesitate to reach for it again if I saw a good price.

Day 3:  Fat Tire Belgo Belgian IPA

For me, it was tough to see Ed have this.  I had had Celebration Ale before, so it wasn't too bad watching through text his experience.  I've never had this, and I'm a big Fat Tire fan.  Such is life in beer advent.

Fat Tire Belgo Belgian IPA Review: Belgian and IPA?  Whaaaaa!?  Delicious.  This was a very light experience despite the IPA richness.  It had a wheat like texture to it and was delightful to drink.  It also paired exceptionally well with some pesto pasta that evening.

Day 4:  Cisco Brewery Whale Tale Pale Ale

I attempted a new strategy in tasting.  I opened the beer without looking at the cap, tasted it, then looked at the cap and tasted, and finally unwrapped it and tasted it.  This was no help to me, as I wasn't familiar with the brewery or this beer, so I had no pre-determined notions of it.  I have seen this beer in the beer before in the back pages of beer advocate, but have never come close to encountering it in the fridge or the beer shelf, so it was very interesting to finally unwrap it.

Cisco Brewery Whale Tale Pale Ale Review:  This beer had some very strong malty notes, with a very Englishness to it.  Nothing popped out at me with this beer, but it was solid.  The best part was that it took me back to my days in the UK, enjoying some real British beers on cask.  The bubbles in this were closer to a stout than a Pale Ale, making it very closer to a cask pull than a traditional pale ale.  This was a very decent beer.

Day 5:  Left Hand Brewing Fade to Black Volume 3:  Pepper Porter

Just like Day 3, it was hard to see Ed open this beer without me.  Even though I don't see that much Left Hand on the East Coast, what I have seen has been great.  They also get bonus points for having a year round Milk Stout.  Luckily Ed and I were exchanging, and he let me sprint across the street and steal a sip.  We loved it so much, we made an emergency run to Total Wine to scoop up a 6 pack.  More investigation led us to discover that this installment of Fade to Black was the 3rd volume, having done a Foreign Export Stout and a Smoked Baltic Porter in the previous two years.  I think doing a new  style dark beer every year during the winter is an awesome idea and a chance for a brewery to really flex its muscles while still having a somewhat standard release.

Left Hand Brewing Fade to Black Volume 3: Pepper Porter Review

This one takes the top ranking so far for a number of reasons.  First, I've grown to love porters.  Second,I've always been intrigued by pepper infused beers but often put off at the same time by poor reviews.  I've also been stumped by which style of brew would actually compliment the pepper taste best and porter never really came to mind.  The burnt flavor of the porter made for a roasty pepper flavor that was not overwhelming but rather smooth, unique, and surprisingly refreshing.  I did not want this beer to end.  Fortunately i have procured a backup from Weaver for my later enjoyment.  This is a beer i would go out of my way for.

Day 6:  Avery Ellie's Brown Ale

Ed, Lexi, Liz, and I got together on Friday for a beer release at Rock Bottom followed by beers, cookies, and Home Alone 1 & 2 on Friday night.  We went to Rock Bottom to spend $5 we each had on our Mug Club Cards along with a free glass of their 15th Anniversary Ale.  Not only was there a free beer, but free carrot cake.  They paired together really well.  We decided to forgo our free appetizers we had on our cards for our upcoming birthdays (we'll cash those in when they release a barley wine later in the month), and have dinner.  I'm glad we did, because at 8.5% and the follow-up beer, a winter wheat, was 8.2%.  Those were especially heavy beers, but just the tone of the night it turns out.

In addition to the two beers and Rock Bottom, and eventually Ellie's, Ed brought over a haul for tasting.  We also went nuts on Untappd, the facebook of beers.  You can find me on there as "batterybrewing".  I'm happy to take you on as a friend, just add me.  We unlocked the "drink 12 beer in one night" badge, if it says anything about the night.  We a Rogue Dad's Little Helper Malt Liquor, Samuel Adams Hallertau Imperial Pilsner (aged 3 years), Dogfish Head Red & White (aged 2 years), Samuel Adams Longshot Mile High Barley Wine, Battery Brewing Leafblower, Battery Brewing Strawberry Kolsch, and a Fat Tire.

Avery Ellie's Brown Ale: Review  I loved the label.  I love any label with a dog.  Ironically enough, Ed's beer tomorrow has a dog on the label too.  This beer was so smooth, and my favorite from Ed so far.  It was a brown ale, that almost had a sweetness similar to a Milk Stout.  I had never had an Avery before, but had heard a lot about them, and this beer will have me aggressively seeking them out.  So smooth and so tasty, it even held up to my taste buds after having this more than flavorful and high abv's from Rock Bottom.

So that's the first 6 days.  We'll publish the next 6 as we finish them up.  Lots to talk about as we got to have a Yards beer tasting while picking up our 6-er of the Pepper Porter and Ed's got a big bottle advent beer coming up this week.  Stay tuned!

Pepper Porter?!?

On advent night five my dear Kevin brought to me...

Beer Advent-urous

I know there's been a lull in the homebrew posts, but I can assure you that we've been quite busy with some projects, in addition to the holidays.  I'm going to touch on the projects immediately below, but please jump to the Beer Advent section if that's what you are here to read about.

Projects

As for the projects, we've got a Cream Stout/Milk Stout on its way here after Christmas.  We also plan on doing another 1/2 batch of an all-grain.  Our local homebrew store moved locations in Frederick and we have a brewery tour up there in January planned, so it makes sense we get up there and look around and gather up some prime materials.  Not sure what we're doing yet, but would love some ideas from the battery brewing faithful.  Heck, you can even brew with us if you have something good in mind.  If you page through our posts, you will know that our last Milk Stout and a Chai Tea Wheat Beer were our last adventures in all-grain.

The other project is has been a wort chiller.  This is a copper tubing system that is aimed at cooling our boiling wort a lot faster than our ice water baths (especially since we always seem to forget to stash away a ton of ice prior to brewing). This will help prevent bacterial growth (we haven't had "bad" bacteria in our brew, but even non-harmful bacterial can affect taste) and will help avoid some chemicals from forming in a slow cool down process.  I'll post a full blog on it once we're complete.  Right now we've gotten as far as coiling 20 feet of copper and situating exit and entrance points.  We need to figure out the best way to synch it up to the sink to run the tap water through it, and once we do that we'll post a full blog about it.

Holidays:  Beer Advent 

And now to what you're all here for...Beer Advent.  For whatever cosmic reasons, Ed and my birthdays are a day apart, and both 1 and 2 days after Christmas respectively.  We are kindred souls in that our parents have been splitting presents and friends have been ignoring us in favor of Christmas over the past 27 and 28 years respectively.  What better way to make up for those down feelings than to buy each other beer in a advent style!?!?!?!  Better yet, where most people would end on Christmas, Ed and I can alternate odd and even days until ending on our birthdays.  For those of you without the convenience of birthdays next to each other, you follow a more traditional advent set-up and end of Christmas.

The Rules:

Each of us purchase a dozen beers, wrap them up in tin foil, number them on the days they should be open, and exchange them in a ceremony that seems fit.  We set a spending limit at $30, but you could set any limit given your financial situation or taste.  We went to a nearby Total Wine, but any place that specializes in Make Your Own 6 Packs would work great. We required that the final day be a bomber or big bottle beer, but other than that any size, type, flavor, brand was game.  We tried to shop for the other person, buying things we'd think they'd like or find interesting.  If you couldn't fill all 12 spots with the $30, you could fill in the gaps with either homebrew or random beer you might have laying around.  24 days before your end date, you exchange, put them in the fridge, and enjoy a beer every other day (or 1/2 a beer a day if you live close to each other and like me, have found that the beers you bought are all ones you want to try too).

The Game:

Ironically enough, we have close friends (Ed's roommate, and Ed's girlfriend's roommate) whose birthdays are the 4th and 5th, which happen to be 24 days before each of our birthdays respectively.  So we've had to carefully dodge some other birthdays to hold our special exchange ceremony.  We're planning on exchanging later today, with Ed opening his at that time.  We'll keep you posted of all the beers, thoughts on them, and the overall child-like excitement we have about Beer Advent!

Big Eddy's Beer Advent Brews

more details to come...but here is a sneak peek of my wrapped up beers for ed in beer advent

Beer Advent Prep

Squirrel and I anxiously prepare for our first inaugural impending beer advent. Standby...