Stout Day At Railhouse Brewing

By now you should have known that Friday, the 8th of November, was International Stout Day. One thing you may not have know, is that I decided to make Stout Day the date of my Inaugural Brewery Ride and I would head out to The Railhouse Brewery to kick things off! Though, I have mentioned it a few times over the week...



Well, the trek out there was 30 miles so we assumed it would take about 2 hours to 2 hours and 30 minutes. Following good old Google Maps... Well, lets just say it had us trying to ride through a compound that only people who do not exist can get into... So, we decided to reroute ourselves and take a road we knew fairly well... One called Longstreet... Yes, the name should tell you a bit about it. We were to ride 18 miles down it before switching off to another road. Sounded easy and simple. I mean sure, we are stuck in the middle of a pit so no matter which direction we left we would have to climb, but I had no idea that at one point the pavement on the road totally went away.

I guess I should have being I have been down it for work time and time again, but I never thought about it or considered it for riding. So for about 11 miles we were traveling extremely slow through rocks, clay, very soft white sand... yeah, just everything. My bike was continuously slipping in certain materials, but luckily this way it was essentially down hill and gravity kept me from sinking too bad.

I know people do work and train on the weekends, but I did not really think about them doing this on a 4 day weekend. We were passed by a squad of Bradley's, which was the first time one have ever passed me while I was just out for a stroll... Kind of odd, but hey I usually do not see them unless I am working.

Anyway, once we got out of the sand we had only 10 miles left to ride... of course, right in front of us were some major hills. We attacked them and arrived feeling great! It took about 2 hours and 49 minutes but we could have killed it if we just would have found a way around to the paved road. Oh yeah, and we rode through a Cemetery...



Once we arrived we were greeted by the owner and the marketing director, who I have been talking with for a while about this ride. We got a tour around the brewhouse and the history of each of the members as well as the brewery. We found out that the Railhouse is a Veteran Owned and Operated brewery. Which is totally awesome, especially given this area. Each branch of the military was represented in some way and you could see their pride in that fact just by looking around and the stories they tell.



The Railhouse Brewery has only been open since December 2010 and their reach is a bit further than I was expecting. I thought it would just be around North Carolina, which is typical around these parts. Maybe even just the Eastern side of the state, which is also typical. But nope! They distribute in Fayetteville, Raleigh, Charlotte, all over South Carolina, and even in an area of New York where the namesake of their K(A)-Bar Brown Ale is located. Seriously, not what I was expecting but that is truly awesome that they can do that given the number of Barrels they produce each year.

I will share a few pictures from the brewery but it is something you really have to see. Each of those flags have very significant meaning and were given to the brewery by the people involved in the events of which they came. They even have a wall of honor for those who have fallen in battle. A new one is coming in soon that will pay a bigger tribute to those who fought to defend our nation. Since today happens to be Veterans Day, take a moment to reflect on those who have been there for you and the real meaning behind what today is.



One thing I was not expecting when we got to the brewery is that a second brewing company was on site, Dirtbag Ales! I had no idea that the Railhouse was one of the only breweries in the State that does/allows contract brewing but that is pretty awesome. Talking with the Dirtbag Ales brewers/owners it was cool hearing their story. They have only been in existence since August and both of them were medics, as well. That gave us a few interesting things to talk about.

It finally came down to the time to try the beer. They were out of the brown ale, on this trip but hey, it was Stout Day! Though we did get an array of beers, and even one from Dirtbag Ales that was on tap, The Kolsch. I found it interesting that they brewed the beer with Blood Oranges. I should have asked how many pounds went into one batch, but it totally slipped my mind. They were working on an IPA in the brewhouse that day.



The Kolsch was a bit different from the ones I am used to. Maybe it was the use of real fruit rather than just pulling out esters from the yeast but I feel the bitterness from the hops and the blood oranges played well together. The citrus flavors and even scents on the nose were balanced and made this one quite enjoyable. I am usually on the fence for fruit beers but this is one I would have again.

The first beer from The Railhouse was the Pale Ale, which had a clean and crisp though, I picked up very distinct scents of apricots on the nose. Not out of place, just intersting to find that. A nice malt sweetness and light bitterness to balance it out. And only at 11 IBUs.

Because it was Stout Day, the next one we jumped into was the Mastiff Oatmeal Stout. I picked up roasted malt on the nose, kind of sharp, which also held over into the flavor realm. Balanced out by a smooth, creamy body to finish it out while not being overly heavy and full. Just flavorful. Apparently this is one of The Best Beers Being Produced In North Carolina, with multiple awards this year! So that has to mean something!

The vanilla porter was next in line and that was just a smooth drinking beer. The vanilla flavors lingered throughout this fairly light bodied porter. A nice blend of flavors and without overdoing it.

FCA IPA had a lot of tropical scents going on with it. I should have asked what hops they used, especially being it is a fairly new recipe compared to the rest of their line. A nice bitterness and a touch grassy in the finish. It is defined as a North Carolina IPA. No East Coast, or West Coast Distinction. Something all of it's own.



We were lucky enough to get a rare tasting of a batch of Beergasm that has been aging in a barrel for about 2 years... and I feel the name of this Barley Wine pretty much summed it up. A lot of dark fruits comes through on the nose, a nice malty character, and exactly what you would expect. A slight alcoholic burn. Though, when it came to drinking it, it was fairly well masked and and just there in the background. A light char, cherries, and residual sweetness made this one worth savoring every last drop. They bottle a version of it, but I don't see how it could compare to this. There are a couple of kegs out there for local events. Those of you that get to taste it, are extremely lucky.



I had a great time there and was even told to stop by on a brewday and help out around the place... If a day off works out with a brewday, I will for sure make it out there. Given the distance, it is totally a good place to ride out to on the weekend just to get my mileage in. Though, I will not be taking the sand road... So I see myself going back there on my bike for at least that reason. Check this place out for sure if you are in the area... Just make sure you watch out for the trains!

Cheers!

New Belgium Brewing Company

Has there ever been a time in your life where you did the one thing that you thought you would never do? No matter how small or trivial that thing was. It did not require a lot of extra effort, just being in said place at said time... Well, I personally never thought I would get to New Belgium. The brewery of my dreams was just that. Nothing but a dream. I guess I could have had more romantic or say, exotic dreams. Like actually going out to Belgium, but that is just a bit different. New Belgium has been my Beer Love since the dawn of my Craft Beer life. 1554 quickly became my favorite beer and from then on I made it my mission to taste everything they released. From the Lips of Faith series, to their year round releases. So you know how I felt when I actually got the email...

It is destined: Touring New Belgium is in your near future. On Wednesday, June 06, 2012 at 3:30 PM, we’ve reserved 2 tour tickets under the name Allen.

I could have cried at this moment... Though, I guess I needed to start planning the road trip. I know that this was quite a while back, but it took some time for me to get settled into my new place, so blah! Trying not to be biased, I would have to say this was the best tour that I have been on. Truth!

I mean, what other tour let me pour my own beer? And that was not ever the start of it...



In order to make it to Fort Collins on time I left Seattle at about 9am the previous morning and had one hell of a drive for almost 24 hours stopping only to sleep at rest stops for a few hours at a time. Nothing was going to make me late to this day. When we finally arrived there it was about 10am and we found a motel just a few blocks away and crashed until about an hour before our tour. We got up, got ready, and left because I wanted to have a few beers before it got started. Right as we are getting near the brewery we are held up by a train! Who does that? Runs a train right through the middle of the city? It didn't really affect anything other than my drinking time but I had no idea how long this thing was.



Luckily, my first flight was everything I hoped for and more. Finally I fell into the world of my favorite brewery. I had Ken's Hefe, Valentine's Day Ale, Lost Abbey Brett Beer Collab, and La Folie 2012! La Folie is actually a beer in my 1001 Beers series, but since I have a bottle of 2011, and 2012 in the cellar, I will hold on for that for later. La Folie is actually a beer that inspired me to brew a Flanders Red. But more on that later. All of these beers were amazing. I took crappy notes on them but I was more just into enjoying myself at the brewery than anything else. The lady liked Valentine's Day Ale, so that is a plus and I got a bottle of Brett Beer for home too!

The coolest thing I thought before the tour is that the ticket was a 1554 Label... I should have kept it but they collected it pretty much at the start. 1554 is one of my favorite beers of all time. Everything about it is just amazing. I am really surprised I did not have one before we got going. The first beer of the tour was Abbey. I had seriously forgot how good this beer is. It was always one of my favorites but I only picked it up in a Folly Pack. During the first section of this tour they did the usual. Told us about the company and brewing and yada yada yada. You know, the stuff that every beer geek already knows, and those who make beer know even more about. But it was still a good time. They even gave out prizes for answering trivia questions.

The next part of the tour was extremely awesome. This is where we got more in depth information about all of the beers that the company releases. Some were held back for other parts of the tour but we also got to pour our own beer. Fan-Fricken-Tastic. That is where the video from above is. I decided to get myself a Cocoa Mole. I had this beer once and was not really sure what to think. On my second go around... I am kind of stuff in the same boat. It was not bad but it was just so different. I also got a pour of Sunshine Wheat. Another really good beer from this company. I believe they said they brewed this one originally under the name of Wedding Wheat... or something like that but changed the name because only females were drinking it.



Our next stop was the Barrel Room. Again, we got to pour our own beer here, and the beer on tap? Tart Lychee. I had just had this not too long ago and instantly fell in love. This is yet another bottle I have home with me as well. I guess I should show them all off at some point being I keep bringing this up... I really wanted to run around and try to find stuff in here but I am pretty sure that was not allowed. I am really hoping for a rerelease of Le Terrior. Now that would be great.

The next part of the tour brought us to Fat Tire, and 1001 Beers Number 18. This was seriously the best Fat Tire I have ever had. I am usually not a fan of this beer, and maybe being at the source had some magical voodoo over me but just every layer of this beer came through and made me remember why I first started drinking the beer from this company. The biscuit, the crystal, just everything that makes this beer what it is was very well showcased here. I should have taken some of this home with me too. I guess I can easily find it at the store though. Not sure if it can ever taste this amazing again.

The last stop of this tour was around their bottling line area and the last beer of the tour was Somersault. This was my most drank beer last summer. It is great for a nice warm day... or hot because that is pretty much how it always was in the San Fernando Valley. The citrus flavors plays really well on the light body that this beer presents. They gave out a couple of cans of Shift. There was a lot of cool things we saw on the way, the windmills were not one of them :( I guess we were too far away to actually see them but it is alright. They sustain themselves pretty well. Before we finished the tour, we had one last piece of fun... I will never forget this moment.



After the tour I picked up a few more beers. I mean, how could I not? We still had some time before the Liquid Center closed and I wanted to spend every minute possible there. This time around I got a big Valentine's Day Ale for the Lady and a Bier De Mars, Prickly Passion Saison, and 1554 for myself. I also had to get a Cascadian Dubbel and Billy's Beer just to say that I have had every Lips of Faith released and that was possible to get in my area since I got into beer. I love the series and I wish it was easier to get my hands on, but maybe that is part of the allure.



Once I got outside I noticed this cool trailer that was numbered after my favorite beer and pretty much told the whole story of New Belgium from the beginning. It even included a miniature scale of the facility. I wonder what the new one in Asheville will be looking like. We have had some announcements but nothing too big at the moment. I just hope that I can be there opening day. I think the whole moving to North Carolina thing was not such a bad idea in this respect but we will see how the road goes in general.







Here are a few of the bottles I kept talking about and I still have from some time. I hope a few are not past their prime and I wish I could have found others. Like another bottle of Fresh Hop Ale. I plan on turning them all into cups because that seems to be a fad now. If only I did not get rid of my old collection of bottles...

The New


The Old

I wish they would rerelease Sahti, and let Belgo out in that bottle once more instead of the year round one they have now. But anyway, no trip to a brewery, especially my favorite brewery, would be complete without me grabbing some glassware. I was kind of disappointed with the style they had but I guess it works. Each of my favorite breweries had a different style. Deschutes the Euro top, Sierra Nevada the Bulb. I filled this one with Trippel. Another great beer. Again, one I usually only get around the holidays but I did not have it while at the brewery so I had to make sure I got it. I was kind of disappointed that I did not taste Ranger while I was there or Blue Paddle but I guess I just have to make the trip back :D.



983 Bottles Of Beer To Go!

Cheers!

Black Butte 20th Anniversary

You know when you are asked to do one of those things that you really do not want to do, but it comes from a friend and you would feel like a dick saying no? Well, sometimes, saying yes works in ways you would never even dream of.

One of my buddy’s asked me if I could help her move into her new apartment. No one ever wants to do this job. I mean, you are always offered pizza and beer and say yes. You don’t really want the pizza and you know going to the store and picking out the beer of your choice is a better investment of your time, but you always say whatever and go ahead on with it. Well, when I was pulling one box in I saw something magical that struck my eyes. A bottle of Black Butte Porter from Deschutes Brewing Company. Now, that wasn’t the magical part about it. What was so mesmerizing was the fact that the cap said 1988-2008.



Now this was not an anniversary release bottle like Black Butte XXIII, which I have a bottle of in the cellar just waiting for the right occasion to be opened, but it was a normal batch brewed as they have been doing for years. My main interest was to see how the bottle lasted over the years. Granted I didn’t know the conditions in which it was held, but at this point I really do not care. Deschutes is one of the top producing company’s as well, so I know quality of product would keep it, at least, in some drinkable fashion.

I asked my friends a little bit about the bottles history and apparently her uncle used to be an avid homebrewer but then he kind of stopped like brewers do from time to time and he had a ton of empty bottles just collecting in his garage. He asked them to get rid of them and if they found anything, they could keep it. She said they poured out a ton of bottles that had infections growing in them since, after they were popped open, they were never properly rinsed out and dried. There were two bottles of this brew sitting in there and it kind of made it into their collection. I talked to them a bit telling them how I wanted it and they thought I was kidding. I told them I was truly not and then they were like; you don’t want to drink that… I made it pretty clear I did and then they just let me have it.



Now, they have no proper glassware, which almost made me put this beer on the back burner in order to find a glass but after about a week of not getting around to it, I just had to go for it. It was quite surprising how the head presented itself after all this time. I kind of was expecting a weak, short lived, foam top. Nope! I was wrong as hell. It was big and frothy. Even looked kind of rocky. I so wish I had proper glassware to watch how it took form.

This was one of the most beautiful beers I have seen… Ok, maybe I am just caught up in the moment but besides a bottle of Old Stock Ale that I had from 2005 that was infected, this was the oldest beer I have ever had. I have only heard stories about such things. Seriously though, it looked just like a fresh bottle from off the line. I should have saved this beer a bit longer and did a side by side tasting… Maybe I can get the other one and do that before it’s too late.

The nose was roasty and had a fair malt background to it. The mouth feel was smooth but a little thin when I first poured it but I initially did not give it the proper time to warm up. I thought the dark malt really came through after all this time, but the chocolate flavor that I love seemed to have faded into the background. Still had a quite a bit of sweetness but it did seem to be a bit toastier than I remember… then again, that’s why I wish I would have found a fresh bottle to compare it to. Maybe I am just talking crazy right now?



Remember that quality thing? Well, off flavors? None. Oxidation? None. There were literally no problems with this beer. I feel it was just as good today as it ever was. Deschutes messed up though with their anniversary editions though. As much as I love Black Butte, the limited editions completely blow it out of the water. I wish I could find more of them.

Hooah!

Gravity Beer Market

Moving is a hard adjustment for everybody but I think the thing that makes it harder is not staying in one place for too long. I only have a few days left but I was on a mission to find Kick and Clutch. You have to remember what is important, right? Thanks to some fancy searching from Nikkee, Yelp, and King 5 I ran into Gravity Beer Market. I basically struck gold finding this place.



I called this store and a few others. Not a single person at the other locations knew what these beers or even the Lips of Faith series was. I had someone tell me that they had The Grand Cru and the purple one. I, being the Self Proclaimed New Belgium Fan Boy of the World, knew that he meant the Dunkelweiss but I was like, ugh. When I called Gravity, The guy who answered the phone sounded really excited when I asked about it and said that they should be getting it in sometime next week. I pretty much had a beergasm at this point.

A week later, I called back and the woman who answered the phone told me exactly what I wanted to hear. KICK AND CLUTCH WERE IN!!!!! She told me that she literally just opened the case and that they were not even in the system yet but to give her 15 minutes to take care of it all. ZOOOOOOOOMMMMM!!!!!!!! SCORE YEAH!

Gravity Beer Market

First and foremost, we are beer lovers. We are a wife and husband team that has spent 25 years collectively working in the beer industry. Our path has been filled with many pints of wonderful beers and now we have come home to open Olympia’s only bottle shop which officially opened in June of 2007.

This shop pretty much seemed to have everything. Their bottles were set up all along the walls around the shop and had an island with four and six packs for the shoppers who only want one thing. Behind the counter they had vintage bottles of beer, (most of them empty), but it made me smile. There was a bottle of the original Life And Limb up there as well as many others. The thing that caught my eye the most though was this.



Sadly, it was not for sale. I really want a bike once I get situated and this would be the most amazing bike ever. If I didn't need my car to get around I would totally put my name in for the Tour De Fat.

I found several other bottles that I was looking for and wanted while on this trip. I found a bottle of Ninkasi's Summer IPA, Maiden The Shade, Dogfish Head Chateau Jiahu as well as a few other DFH brews I was looking for, and probably the very last bottle of Allagash White in Washington State.



Later on I will be doing a side by side review of Allagash White and Blue Moon. I am trying to show my Sister that Blue Moon is crap and to quit buying it. I know she will never be a craft beer person, but she should make better decisions in her life. It is unfortunate that Allagash no longer distributes to Washington but each company has to take care of themselves.

Just a few more days left. Hooah!

Deschutes & Hair Of The Dog

I wish I could have made it to Bend and check out the brewery there but I did not really want to make the 5/6 hour drive vs the 2 hour drive. Parking was ridiculous but who cares at this point. I had another Beergasm as we drove by the place.



It was really hard picking out what I wanted to drink. I ordered 2 taster trays since they did not have a preset taster menu and each came with 6 beers. They had about 20 on tap at the time. What made it really hard is I wanted to taste all of my favorites at the source, but they had so many limited and special brews that are only available at the brewpub too... I don't even think I looked at the food menu. I just ordered the special that my server told me about.

He was a really funny guy and was confused as hell when it took me about 15-20 minutes to decide on 12 beers. I decided to break it down by Malty and Hoppy Brews... sort of.





They had a weird beer with lemonade in it and I was not a fan HAHA! but I am so happy that I finally got to try Conflux 2. I wish I could have had one but 2 was great. It was very mellow and flavorful without being overpowering for an IPA. I loved it, again.

I really hate Deschutes for releasing Black Butte XXIII. I am sure all the previous years were amazing as well, but this was the first one I had. It totally ruined Black Butte for me. Not saying Black Butte is not good, it is actually one of my favorite Porters but after having XXIII, it is just not the same. The flavor profile seems out of this world. I wish it was a year round release but I understand why it is not.

Again, I ran into another brewery that did not have any growlers :( this made me very sad because I was so looking forward to getting one from here. You know, being it is one of my all time favorite breweries. I will make it out to the Bend Pub one day though and do the tour and get a Growler! To make up for my misfortune though, I bought a Bottle of Black Butte XXIII and the pint glass :D It will suffice for now...

My next stop was Full Sail Brewing. I have never had any of their beers but decided why not go there. There are so many breweries in the area and I could have gone to anywhere and I did not do enough research to just move on. Not that I thought Full Sail would have been a bad choice.

We got to the location and guess what I found out... I WAS AT THE RIGHT PLACE!!! but they do not have a tasting room at their MAIN brewery... sucks... I am so glad I did not pay for parking even though I drove around for like 10 minutes trying to find a spot... Since we were just in Portland for the day I figured that we would just head home (and later that night I found out that people were heading into town for BBC11... Beer Bloggers Conference... ugh, if I knew that I would have planned this trip so differently. Oh, well... there is always next year right?

Traffic was out of control so instead of staying on the Highway, we got off and headed to Hair of The Dog because it was right off of the exit. I recognized their labels but have never had any of their beer. I ordered their whole collection of Beers, aka Walk The Dog and The Little Dogs Too.



I heard some great stories about their beers and their brewing schedule, (5 brews in one day to fill the fermenter) but the beers did not really stand out to me. Some of them had this taste that I had before in the Hermitage Brewing Beers that I cannot stand. They were a lot more minor in these brews. I have to figure out what it is... I have not had it often though.

I paired the beers with their Chuck Norris Duck Wings. I was told they were supposed to be really hot but meh, they were nothing really. They had some good flavor though. I think the description said something about kicking me in the mouth and punching my throat.

I thought these small samples were very doable but I do not think I could have a whole pint of any of these beers... that being said... I asked for a Growler :p they were out of glass as well, but I did take home one of their glasses. Again, another trophy for my collection.