Boulevard Saison-Brett

When I pour this beer into my glass, I get a huge while fluffy head with pretty good lacing. As I hold the glass to the light, I can see through the light copper/slightly orange coloured beer, but it’s slightly hazy. It’s probably from the yeast; there are a lot of small bubbles floating in the glass as well. However, the head has a lot of larger bubbles. Upon smelling the beer, I get the distinct saison notes. An estery floral note, which reminds me a little bit of a sweet orange, comes through at first, but then it’s immediately followed by a spicy/peppery phenol. I like the balance of the nose, especially because it’s more estery than spicy, but where’s the brett? I do not smell any brett, but perhaps the load of esters come form the brett more than the Belgian yeast strain. Anyways, I should probably have a sip instead of smelling it all evening.

Whoa. When taking a sip of this beer, I am completely surprised. There isn’t anything reminiscent of a Saison or a funky barnyard brett character. It’s almost as fruity as an IPA. I get a really sweet citrus note with a slight bit of a grapefruit initially, but then that evolves into a grainy, pilsner malt flavour. If I were drinking this as a blind test, I’d have no idea what style this beer was. There is also a slight bit of alcohol in here, but it probably comes through the beer is dry. The high amount of carbonation in the beer gives a slight acidic note which balances out the citric notes perfectly; its existence even washes the flavours off of your tongue before you have more time to figure out what the flavours are. Since the balance is almost perfect, it’s hard to even figure if there is anything more to the beer besides the fruity/estery flavours and grainy pilsner flavours.

With a fairly light mouthfeel (probably should say it’s aqueous), I’d say this beer is completely drinkable; even though there is a slight alcohol flavour, which I wouldn’t expect from a superior 8.5% abv beer, I don’t find it distracting at all. It’s something that can add to the experience of drinking a Belgian beer. Think about Westmalle Tripel for a perfect example. I really like this beer, and Boulevard Smokestack special limited releases have never ceased to amaze me. So far, I’ve had Saison-Brett, Bourbon Barrel Quad, and the Imperial Stout, and they are all great beers. Not too mention the main smoke stack beers are great as well.

Ommegeddon - Funkhouse Ale with Brettanomyces

I've come to really enjoy brett beers. Perhaps my favorite I've had so far was a combination of two beers, Avery/Russian River's Collaboration Not Litigation Ale. Ever since I've had that, I keep an eye out for the little guys. I've heard a lot about this beer from Ommegang, and as I love their Bière De Mars, I had high hopes for this self described 'funkhouse ale'.

It pours a hazy golden yellow with a big two-three finger head with wonderful retention and lacing that lasts the whole glass. The wild twists here are the brett yeast and a definite blast of dry hopping. It's more like a saison than a wild-brett ale, but an incredibly well made brew. As a big fan of Duchesse, Struisse and other sour ales, I have a higher tolerance for sours than most of my friends.

This is a a real farmhouse ale, cloudy, unfiltered and some barnyard funk in the nose—but the taste isn't as full-on sour as I'd have hoped. The bretts have certainly had time to warm up, too—this batch was bottled in March of 2008. The finish is of ginger and warming alcohol and a little bit of mild pear-like fruit. I bought two bottles hoping it to continue to get funkier with the second, bottle-in fermentation, but it's still not funky enough for my liking. Sweeter than you'd expect based on how they're marketing the brew. It's still tasty, though.

Sasion flavors dominate—spices, pepper, lemon—but not as complex or sour as I would have hoped. I love it, but I am still on search for the best American WIld Ales available here in the midwest. Please sound off and tell me what else to try!

I'd give this an A- overall. Mostly because I had built this up so much in my head, not so much that I didn't like if not downright love it. If it was $9/bottle or less, I would have this all the time. 8% ABV.

Victory Yakima Twilight Ale

This hop monster pours a deep mahogany with a nice, thick head that lingers throughout the session. At 8.9%, this is perhaps closest to an American Pale Ale but can be easily thought of as an American Strong Ale, too. A wonderful, powerful aroma of pine resin and citrus and caramel malts.

The taste is a yin and yang of sorts. A strong base of toffee and chocolate malts but, unsurprisingly, the hops dominate making this not a beer for the feint of heart. So wonderfully unbalanced you might think it to be a Dogfish product, big bitterness and solid mouthfeel make this a winner for me, though it's far from a session beer. This will no doubt come under criticism for not being balanced, but if you love your hops, you can't go wrong with Yakima Twilight, Victory's new Winter seasonal (Hop Wallop is now available year-round). I love the big malt character, but I'm a fan of black IPAs, which this isn't, but the malt profile makes it darn comparable to it in flavor profile. My only complaint is that I only brought a single six pack home to Iowa! I could go for a lot more of these as Winter settles in.

For those curious this has four whole flower Yakima Valley hops and a german malts.

Anchor Christmas Ale / Our Special Ale 2004 Vintage

I’d heard this beer ages well, and for that reason I have sixers dating back through 2006 in my cellar, but Blue Max in MN had individual bottles of 2004 for $2.29 (and 2005 for even less) and I couldn’t resist. The BeerAdvocate reviews led me to think it might be past its prime but it’s drinking mighty fine, with excellent head retention for such a vintage (it helps the brew was kept cold the whole time as per the cellar temp=drink temp golden rule). I was expecting head retention/carbonation to be poor based on recent tastings notes on BA but I had great success. The mouthfeel and flavor have really matured versus the fresher Anchor OSAs I’ve had. I get a lot of egg nog flavor, and the pine tree sap for which it’s best known seems to have taken a back seat (though very noticeable in the nose). The almost milk-like mouthfeel is silky smooth. I had thought three years would be about as long as you’d want to age this beer, as it’s even lower ABV than it’s more recent vintages (a mere 5.25) and while most readers realize this brew is an anomaly among aging craft beers, it really is drinking exceptionally well tonight and I’d urge those in the Twin Cities region to go pick up some bottles from Blue Max, the $2.29/bottle price is a worthwhile taste test. The roasted malt flavor in the middle is fantastic with chocolate, caramel and clove and finishing with plenty of spice and cinnamon. Very glad to have another bottle of those along with one of the 2005 and perhaps this tasting will encourage me to not drink all of my 2006 Anchors this season as I had planned to—I thought 2-3 years was the ideal cellar length for these, but apparently they can go far, far longer!

BTW, for those who haven’t tried it yet, I must say the 2009 Anchor Our Special Ale is a beauty, with the Monterey Cypress lending it its most up-front pine/tree sap flavor in years, easily my favorite I’ve had of the bunch. I need to buy a case or two of it to see how it cellars, but it’s far better than the recent vintages. They use a different tree each year.

Three Floyds - Alpha Klaus Xmas Porter

When pouring this beer, all I see is a pitch black liquid with a off white/slightly tan head. Not much of a head on the beer, but looks fine for a porter.

When I take a whiff of this beer, I get a huge layer of spicy/resiny hops that eventually fade to the background which let a roasty/chocolate nose shine through. The balance of the roasty/hoppy smell is great. I really enjoy the beer, and you will too if you're a hophead. I think the beer would be fairly solid without the hoppiness, but I don't think it'd be as special.

After taking a few sips I can mostly taste a piney/citrus flavour that is slightly upfront, but the malty sweetness is there in the background. I get some roasted notes and some black patent notes, but the flavour in this is almost entirely spicy/resiny hops. If I didn't know it was 'supposed to be a porter' I'd call this a weak Black IPA. The more I drink the beer, the more roastiness and black patent but it's very subtle. I don't get any chocolate that I got in the nose, but that's okay. I bet if you let this beer age about 5 months it'd be a fantastic beer for people that don't love hops as much as me.

The more I taste this beer, the more I see that Three Floyds really know how to hop a beer. They do it enough to have a great balance and superb flavour. Alpha Klaus is really no different.

The mouthfeel is thing and carbonated. The spiciness coupled with the acidic carbonation really help the overall sensation of the beer. I'd say this has everything you'd expect from a porter. Aqueous mouthfeel but full flavoured. It's like a stout, but I could drink as many as my alcohol tolerance would let me.

Rating: A

Homebrew Review: Hoppy Red Ale

Since Heathen Crusade III, about a year ago, I’ve been trying to perfect a hoppy red ale; something with a nice caramel backbone but with citrusy hops to finish. This is my third attempt. All of them previously haven’t been to my liking, but this one is by far my favourite.

Review:
I poured myself a pint of this ale into my New Glarus mug because it has a pint line compared to most other glasses I own. The head on the beer is quite large probably coming from the carbonation because the head dissipated fairly quickly. It has been sticking around as a ring since it has dissipated. The clarity isn’t great; it's slightly hazy. I can see through at the bottom of the glass, but not the entire glass. I think it’s mostly from not chilling the beer fast enough.

The nose on the beer is filled with spiciness with undertones of floral citrus hops. I can barely get some caramel notes, but it’s there, just in the background. The spicy notes dominate the nose, which isn’t really what I expected. When taking a sip of the beer the citrus/spice flourish. I also get a nice caramel bready flavour that lingers after the hops leave. What is nice about the flavour of this beer is that it isn’t a straight forward hoppy beer (like I mostly make), but it has a great malt back bone. The caramel sweetness almost has a plum flavour that I can barely pick up. If you’ve ever had a Bells Two Hearted, you’ll know the distinct hoppiness from centennial hops, and that flavour shines through, but the when mixing with Columbus hops there a unique flavour. It’s something of a floral citrus mixed with the spiciness that is in the nose. I can’t quite describe the spiciness except you can feel the resin in it. As I swish the beer in my mouth, I get a slight bit of alcohol, but here is also a nice mineral/estery flavour in the backend from the yeast. I’ve really come to enjoy Wyeast 1028 yeast immensely. The yeast gives another dimension to hoppy beers. I don’t like a lot of carbonation in my beers, so I didn’t carbonate this much, and I think the body is thinner than I expected; to my surprise, however, the bitternes fits incredibly with the beer. I didn’t use any bittering hops, only hops from 20 minutes to 5 minutes.

So what would I change for my next attempt for a hoppy red ale? I’m going to dry hop it for sure. I’m missing the hop nose. I’m also going to mash slightly higher, probably 154 to 155. I’d also be curious to mix different caramel malts, like a combination of Crystal 120L and 80L. I’m thinking about bumping up the crystal malts to 12-15% of the grist to give more body and a more pronounced caramel/bready flavour.


Recipe:
Amount Item Type % or IBU
9.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) UK (3.0 SRM) Grain 90.00 %
1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM) Grain 10.00 %
0.50 oz Centennial [8.00 %] (20 min) Hops 8.7 IBU
0.50 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.10 %] (20 min) Hops 15.3 IBU
0.33 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.10 %] (15 min) Hops 8.3 IBU
0.33 oz Centennial [8.00 %] (15 min) Hops 4.7 IBU
0.33 oz Centennial [8.00 %] (10 min) Hops 3.4 IBU
0.33 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.10 %] (10 min) Hops 6.0 IBU
0.33 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.10 %] (5 min) Hops 3.3 IBU
0.33 oz Centennial [8.00 %] (5 min) Hops 1.9 IBU

Measured Original Gravity: 1.064 SG
Measured Final Gravity: 1.014 SG
Actual Alcohol by Vol: 6.37 %
Measured IBU: 51
Mash Temperature: 152 F

Homebrew Review: Sweet Stout

I have previously brewed a sweet stout, but after 3 months the balance between the hops and the sweetness from the lactose made the beer hard to drink. I also had a bit of fusels, which was probably because I didn’t make a starter. With this knowledge, I tweaked my recipe and I put the beer on the cake of my American Stout.

Review:
I opened the beer then ate dinner, so the beer is at a nice temperature. If I were to guess, I’d say it is at about 40-45 F. I always take a few whiffs of the beer in the bottle before I pour it, and this sweet stout has a nice roasted malt character with under tones of chocolate. A bit of the roasted malt gives an hint of coffee. It’s quite complex and smells great. As I decant the beer into a pint class, I can barely see through the beer. It’s thick, creamy, and has a slight ruby red undertone as the light shines through. There is a nice thick tan head upon the top of the beer, which looks pretty damn good if I say so myself. The head retention is okay, and eventually goes to a ring around the beer. When I smell the beer again, I get much more sweetness and chocolate. It’s almost like a chocolate stout with a tad bit more roasted malts.


As I sip this beer, I feel a huge complexity of flavours starting from roasted malts to chocolate sweetness to a bitter coffee flavour. What is quite shocking to me is the amount the beer changes around my tongue and mouth, yet combines into a amalgamation of flavours. The flavours really come together to makes a great balance, though. However, the beer is a little low on the carbonation, but that was on purpose to get a nice thick mouth feel a sweet stout should have. The aftertaste is completely clean, even though I used English Ale (US-04) yeast. I think what makes this beer so drinkable is the complete balance and how the flavours caress my tongue. One thing to note is that there is an aqueous note when you take a larger drink, which adds to the drinkability (like the eatability of Sun Chips). I think this is an all around solid Sweet Stout with the flavours I expected. However, my favourite part of the beer is that it’s subtle; it doesn’t come and punch me in the face. It lingers on my tongue and caresses it, making me want to drink more. As I write this review, I’m already halfway through the beer. I just cannot stop drinking it. I couldn’t help but think that a great dark chocolate candy bar or a sweet/rich chocolate cake would be immense.


I’d say it’s a successful home brew, and I don’t know exactly how I’d change the beer. However, I’d like to see how the beer tastes with 1 lb of Roasted and Chocolate malts instead of the ¾ of a pound. I’d probably try ESB or Irish yeast next time, as well.

Recipe:
Amount Item Type
7.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)
1.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM)
0.75 lb Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM)
0.75 lb Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM)
0.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM)
1.20 oz Magnum [12.00 %] (60 min)
1.00 lb Milk Sugar (Lactose) (0.0 SRM)

Measured Original Gravity: 1.064 SG
Measured Final Gravity: 1.024 SG
Actual Alcohol by Vol: 5.22 %
Measured IBU: 45
Mash Temperature: 158 F

General IASF Bearded Brewers Information

This blog was created to share homebrew recipes, reviews, and to talk about homebrew ideas. The extent of the blog will vary due to the varying schedules of the bloggers. There should be some updates through out this week to get started. I'm going to post a few reviews I've already written to get the blog going.

Enjoy.