Thoughts on Beer

Samuel Adams Summer Styles

Today, when I got home from work, it was time to dust off the lawnmower and make a pass at the lawn.  The grass wasn’t too long, but just patchy enough to need to take care of it.  Not that I was excited to mow the lawn, but you know what it means when it’s time to mow the lawn, right?  Summer beers are here!

Just to double check, I stopped by the store, and sure enough, there were all the summer styles, or “lawnmower beer” styles, on the shelves.  Just to show there were no hard feelings with Samuel Adams, I picked up the “Summer Styles” 12-pack.

The styles in the pack are:

1. Boston Lager
2. Sam Adams Light
3. Summer Ale
4. Pale Ale
5. Blackberry Witbier
6. Latitude 48 (Samuel Adams’ new IPA – review to come)

Every year, I enjoy the mix-packs, and this one is no exception.  With variety like that, how can you hate summer?  Cheers!

Boiling Wort for the Caramel Apple Tart Beer

Some of you may have remembered me mentioning brewing a saison.  Since I wrote about it last, it has been completed and consumed.  To be honest, it was good, but might have been a bit phenolic, so next time, I will lower the fermentation temperature a bit.  It did hit as high as 85, but for this strain of yeast, that may have been a bit high.  But, it’s gone, so it couldn’t have been that bad, eh?

About a week before I made the saison, I brewed an IPA.  I have been brewing for about  two years, but this was my first IPA.  Personally, I think there is a right way and a wrong way to use hops in IPA’s.  In my opinion, the wrong way is using the hops early during the boiling of the wort, making the finished beer very bitter.  I don’t think this is right at all.  Instead, the correct way, in my opinion, is to concentrate the hop additions later in the boiling process, giving the resulting beer much more flavor and aroma, with balanced bitterness.  The IPA recipe I created used Cascade and Simcoe hops, for a nice, citrusy hop flavor and floral aroma.  I also dry-hopped with Simcoe to enhance the aroma.  It ended up as a very delicious beer.

Last week, I heard about a pastry place in southeast Iowa that creates a dessert called a  “Caramel Apple Tart”.  I thought to myself that it sounded like it could be a delicious beer.

So, Friday, when I got home from my trip to Boston, I ventured into unknown territory: a “sour mash”.  It was a small batch, about 1.5 gallons of wort, and I added a handful of dry grains to sour it.  I let it sit in a warm place until today (Sunday).  Today, I tasted it, and it was pretty good, because it was just slightly sour from the lactic acid produced during the procedure.  I mixed about a gallon of the sour liquid, the “tart” in my experimental beer, with the beer I brewed today, which was similar to an Irish Red, to give it the “caramel”.  As soon as the fermentation is over, I’m planning on adding a couple of pureed Granny Smith apples, to accomplish the “apple”.  Viola!

What do you think?  How does a “Caramel Apple Tart” beer sound to you?

Sam Adams Brewery - From the Outside

This week I traveled to Boston for work.

I arrived late Wednesday night, and visited with our customer on Thursday.  By 3 PM, the client I was meeting with had another meeting, so we decided to call it a day.  I had expressed some interest in visiting the Boston Beer Co., so he suggested I should check it out.

After quickly stopping by my hotel room to change and look up the brewery address, I took off at about 3:15 PM.  As a bit of foreshadowing, when I was leaving my hotel room, I talked myself out of calling and asking when the tours were conducted.  I had my eyes on the prize and nothing could stop me now.

The trip from the north side of Boston was fairly quick; I only ran into traffic in one of the tunnels, and I made it to the brewery by about 4:15 PM.  The brewery is located in a residential area, with no other businesses around.  I pulled in and parked my rental car, walked to the tour area, only to find the tours stopped and gift shop closed at 3:00.  That’s 3 o’clock in the afternoon.  A bit confused, I looked around for another way in, but there was nothing I could do.

It was sad.  From outside the brewery walls, I could smell the hops and feel beer being made, but I could neither see nor taste the gloriousness within the walls.  Before I left, I took a quick photo for posterity (above), “hopped” in my car and left…

… but not all was lost.  I drove straight from the brewery to another brewery, the Beer Works in Lowell, which was only a couple miles from my hotel.  As soon as I walked in, I knew I would enjoy myself because the server told me they didn’t sell any commercial beer or hard liquor, just their own beers and some wine.  There I had some dinner, enjoyed several of the craft beers, and met some great folks who lived in the building up the block.

Just to give you an idea how long I was there, one of the guys I was hanging out with closed his tab, went home, then came back later because “it was boring at home”.  That’s my kind of guy.

So, to the fellas I hung out with last night, next time I’m in north Boston, I’ll look you up.  And to the Boston Beer Co., really?  3 PM?

This day in history: in 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt repealed the Volstead Act (Prohibition), legalizing 3.2% ABW (4% ABV) beer, ending the “Noble Experiment”. This makes today “National Beer Day”, so raise your glass and celebrate!

Just found out from The Full Pint that Millstream Brewing will be brewing their first high proof beer (thanks to SF 2088) next week.  According to the website, it will be a 8% Weizenbock (a dark wheat beer). They mentioned most will be kegged, but also left open the possibility that a limited quantity of 22 oz. bombers will be available.  They anticipate it should be done sometime in June.

Also mentioned was that Millstream hopes to bring out 4 different high proof beers this year, and will allow customers to choose which one will go into regular production.