Mr Beer Brewday

Back in 2009 the thing that got me into Homebrewing was a Mr Beer Kit. I did one batch of that underhopped West Coast Pale Ale and I was hooked. Not because the beer tasted good but because I had so much fun doing it. I thought the beer tasted like total crap. I just remember green apples. Back then I had no idea about off flavors or anything. It was a random purchase from Fred Meyer. I think I dumped like half of the bottles but I went out and bought equipment for all grain brewing... why? because I was stupid.



I had no idea about anything I was doing. I just knew that this was the way that breweries made real beer, and that is how I wanted to do it. The funnier thing was, I hated beer. I could not stand it. Granted, I was drinking the wrong beer at the time but I only drank things such as Long Island Iced Teas, Mai Tais, Mojitos, Gimlets, etc. No beer at all... except maybe some PBR while over at a buddies house playing college drinking games. But, hey. PBR was the best 12 pack 6 dollars could buy.



This year for Christmas I was gifted a Mr Beer Kit... This would be my second one in 3 years and I only used the first one once. I had no idea what I was going to do with this one. So, I took the easy route out. I made beer... or whatever that stuff really is that comes in this package. I don't really remember the directions to the kit from my first time using it but this time they seemed to be a lot simpler... Maybe I just don't remember at all. Though, this process does not seem very sanitary.



It was as easy as getting some water hot, mixing that booster pack until it is disolved, adding the can of extract, pouring it into the football keg like thing, and topping it off with water. When I did my first batch I remember seeing nothing wrong with the process. I mean, I was only following the directions. Now, what about the chlorine in the water? Shouldn't that water be treated just in case there are any microbes in there that will hurt the beer? Don't I need to boil the extract? Not that I am an extract expert, being I have never done an extract batch, but I feel that it should be treated somehow...



I guess quite a few of my suspicions were addressed when I tasted a sampling at bottling time. I only had three words for the beer. Oily, Slick, Cider-esque. That is what I can remember from my first trip into it too. Once it was bottled all there was to do was wait...



The first pint, or so, of my Oktoberfest Beer. Maybe I should have given it a few weeks in the fridge to let it "properly" lager but I do not think it would have done it any good. Maybe I will throw a bottle in and report back. It is not as oily and slick as it was. It is now more kind of dry and powdery... I do not know what that is. That green apple taste is still there but this is a lot better now than it was back then. Still not amazing or anything but, I guess it's homebrew? Nothing I would enter into a competition. That's for sure.

So, I still have two cans of Mr Beer left. I was thinking about adjusting the process and seeing how it comes out at that point. Still use the equipment given but boil the wort, maybe add some hops. Who knows. I am not trying to make fantastic beer with this kit, that is what I have my all grain equipment for, but I don't want the next batch to taste like crap. Especially since I have another Oktoberfest and that West Coast Pale Ale. I think it would be a fun experiment.

Cheers!

Fremont: Interurban IPA

Fremont Interurban IPA is another beer that my sister had sent me back from home. Yet again, another brewery I have never had or been to before... Though, I think these beers were on tap at Teatro ZinZanni. I love that place but I cannot remember if they were the ones I drank or not. I didn't write notes or even check it in. That is not a place you go to use Social Media. Highly recommended to check them out. Anyway, back to this IPA.

Fremont takes pride in their local area as well. This place opened up about the same time that I started hombrewing. It would have been awesome to get out there in the early days but my loss, right? Here is a little story about their IPA from the website.

Interurban India Pale Ale

Named after Fremont’s most famous outdoor sculpture, Waiting for the Interurban, Interurban India Pale Ale offers the adventurous beer lover a warm embrace of roasted pale malt swirled with a hand-selected blend of flavor malts and filled with the rich spice of Chinook, Centennial and Amarillo hops. Interurban India Pale is a session beer, eminently drinkable throughout the year.

I would not agree with their description of this beer being a session ale since it sits at 6.2% ABV, but after having tasted it, I can see how this beer can be a good conversation piece. Maybe drink it slow and then pick up their 77 Fremont Select. I have not had that one, so I cannot talk about it but that beer actually fits in the session category. It is even about to be released according to their calendar.

When I first cracked this bottle the hoppy aroma filled the room. I take that as an instant plus. I wish I knew when this beer was bottled. I believe it is code dated but there is no other indication of date on the bottle. When I poured it in the glass it was a golden honey color and a big rocky head formed on top. The nose was very fruity and tropical.

I really enjoyed drinking this one. This was a very juicy IPA. It started off sweet and a lot of pineapple and grapefruit I would say. Some pine with the bitterness creeping in and this is where you get some very earthy flavors. The finish is a little grassy and quite dry. Medium bodied and I thought it was nice this beer was a little bready. Highly drinkable and a great conversation piece, but I would not call it sessionable. I could definitely feel this one. It was hard to stop drinking it. 4/5. Also, I love their slogan.

Because Beer Matters

Cheers!

Woodford Reserve: Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey

Yes, This is another "Not Beer" post but after reading about it on Distilled Reflections I had to pick it up. I actually got the bottle for Christmas and I had no idea it was going to be there. I love that people actually get me things they know I like. Hell, my sister sent me a few bottles of beer from back home. That was pretty damn awesome.



This Bourbon was pretty damn good. It was my first time having this one and it will not be my last. I have no idea how many batches they have produced so far but I am assuming this bottle is fairly new. Batch 652... though, I really have no way of telling. I will have to compare it to whatever batch number I get the next time I pick up a bottle. Very soon. For those who don't know, this is how the different categories of Whiskey are broken down via Copy & Paste from Wiki.

Bourbon whiskey, which is made from mash that consists of at least 51% corn (maize).
Corn whiskey, which is made from mash that consists of at least 80% corn.
Malt whiskey, which is made from mash that consists of at least 51% malted barley.
Rye whiskey, which is made from mash that consists of at least 51% rye.
Rye malt whiskey, which is made from mash that consists of at least 51% malted rye.
Wheat whiskey, which is made from mash that consists of at least 51% wheat.

Now I am not sure exactly what a Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey is but that is how this bottle is labeled and it clocks in at 45.2% alcohol. This is a straight sipper. One meant to be enjoyed, not just shot. I am kind of interested in making a Manhattan with it. They have a few recipes on their website. I thought they had some recipes from a contest they were holding featuring different bartenders around the country but I cannot find that link. Oh well.

On the nose I picked up some spice and vanilla. It was nice buy you got a little fire up in there, too. I let an under-appreciating buddy have some with me and he pointed out that it, "Smells really strong.", whatever that means hah! I wonder if liquor has a term for it but I in beer you are looking for lacing in your glass and in wine you are looking for the legs in the glass. This Bourbon had something similar to legs going on for sure. You would take a sip and just watch the way it creeps back down into the glass. I should look into that. Is it a sign of body? Hmm...

I picked up on quite a bit of honey and I would say that vanilla character in the nose comes through in the glass as well. A bit of a nice spice and fire on the back end as it goes down. I rolled it around my tongue for quite sometime before I did give it that swallow. It is a very smooth drinking Bourbon. I loved a lot about this one. I hope to be able to get more out of it once I try other Bourbons and find the little nuances that exist in those. I'd love to try a Rye Whiskey. I love using Rye in Homebrew, so I am sure it would be good in this situation.

Cheers!

The Cloak Of St Martin

When I first heard about Quad Day, I had no idea what Quad I should be drinking. I decided to turn to one my of favorite brewery tweeps and ask if they had one available, @AbbeyStMartin. Lucky for me, THEY DID!!! But it was not going to be easy to find.

This beer had a very limited release and it came to America two month prior for The Great American Beer Fest. I knew no other information about it either. The press release was some of the best information I could find since it wasn't even on the website.



Found at BeerPulse.com

Press Release:

(Rongy, BELGIUM) — The Cloak of St. Martin is a limited-edition Barleywine-style Belgian ale, ready to warm the North American autumn and winter (fermentation details seen below).

The Cloak is Brasserie Brunehaut’s first Abbaye ale brewed using doubled fermentation capacity gained via three new vats installed on Leap Day 2012. This increased capacity delivered enough vat time for the first batch of this labor-intensive 13%+ ABV quadruple. On October 10 at 4pm (during GABF), Brunehaut CEO Marc-Antoine De Mees visits Falling Rock Tap House — Denver for a first tap pull of his signature, long planned passion project.

The Cloak of St. Martin is a new Belgian Quadruple celebrating St. Martin’s famous charity of “sharing” his cloak with a beggar!

A very dark quad, The Cloak of St. Martin’s first fermentation, to 9% ABV, uses Brasserie Brunehaut’s signature, centuries-old yeast strain. Rare, exquisite champagne yeast boosts ABV from 9% to 13% during a six-week second fermentation. The Cloak is then cellared six more weeks before final fermentation yeast is added.

The low foam pour, due to high (13.2% ABV) alcohol content, announces with an extraordinary aroma. Robust, complex notes include blackberries, coffee and bitter Belgian dark chocolate. Only 1200x six-bottle cases of engraved, individually wrapped and corked with-muselet 750ml bottles were shipped. Demand seems certain to outpace supply.

Ingredients – Pure Belgian H20 + four malt types, three yeast strains, three hops varieties and candy sugar.

Now, like I said, the issue was trying to find this beer. I am so glad Bottle Revolution tweeted me and said that they had a few of them still sitting around and they would put one away for me if I liked. Of course I said, HELL YEAH!!! I went and picked it up and had it with my Christmas Dinner. DUCK!!!

So, I have never had or made duck before but it was delicious! Just a side note. The beer though, that was the biggest thing of the night. So amazing and so good.



This beer was a little warm on the nose but the dark fruits are the biggest thing to land in there. On first sip you do get a little citrus, or was that the orange glaze on my duck? followed by some cherries, plum a bit of spice and really sweet. It has a very full body and the flavor lingers with you for a good amount of time. This is seriously one of the best beers I have tasted this year. Loved it and I cannot wait to try some more.

Cheers!

The 16 Days of Exodus

I really love Advent Calendars. I didn't really know this as a kid but after not having them for some time I realized how much I missed them. Remember, it's the simple things in life that make us all happy. So knowing this, SWMBO took the initiative and made me a special advent calendar this year...

A CRAFT BEER ADVENT CALENDAR!!!

It was seriously the best present ever, but she knows how to make me happy time and time again. She gave me many brews that I was looking forward to and each one was pretty much a surprise. So here it is... any questions about any of these, feel free to ask. Yummmmm...



I say Hooah.

My Favorite Christmas Gift This Year

Love My Niece.