Ymm, Beer!

[devildeac]

Port Older Viscosity--I had tried Old Viscosity before which is labelled as a strong ale but is almost an imperial stout..Here is the description from Port.."Code named by our brewers-”The Big Black Nasty,” this is monstrous dark ale is brewed to no particular style. Thick and sludgy like oil from the crankcase of a wheat threshing combine, Old Viscosity blurs the boundaries of Porter, Stout, Old Ale and Barleywines." Very nice beer..

Older Viscosity is a bourbon barrel aged version of its little brother..Pours thick and black from a corked 375ml bottles...lots of milk chocolate and vanilla up front with a bit of coffee bitterness. Bourbon comes in next with some mild oak. There is some booziness but far less pronounced than other bourbon barrel stouts. This was a fantastic beer. A bit sweet but not overwhelming. Smooth, creamy and too easy to drink for 12%...Among the best imperial stouts I've tried..

Send some. Of both. Or, bring a bottle or three to a Brunchgate this fall. Please.

[YmoBeThere]

Haven't had one in a long, long time. Thought about it last night but my cash stayed in my wallet. Well, actually my money clip.

[devildeac]

BTT .

[devildeac]

BTT .

That would be:
Beer
Trading
Time
and not
Back
To
The
Top.

[CameronBornAndBred]

BTT .

That would be:
Beer
Trading
Time
and not
Back
To
The
Top.

Wooohoooo!

[devildeac]

BTT .

That would be:
Beer
Trading
Time
and not
Back
To
The
Top.

I love how I can PW like this.

[devildeac]

BTT .

That would be:
Beer
Trading
Time
and not
Back
To
The
Top.

I love how I can PW like this.

Sometimes.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Heavy Seas Red Sky At Night (Saison ale).
My first tasting from DD's and my trading session today (coupled with an enjoyable lunch). I was telling him I was going to be brewing today, and he suggested a saison..which is possible since I have saison yeast. The saison in general, and the Red Sky at Night included, is fun due to it's peppery, spicy qualities..accented by a fruitiness due to the higher esters. Low bitterness here, in a saison it's the yeast that really pulls the weight, so a large quantity of hops would confuse the overall taste. They've used wheat in this one as well, which imparts that tanginess that comes with most wheat ales...it's a really nice combination that works well. They must have loaded up on the malts pretty well too, because the ABV is 7.5% (this is also helped out by the candi sugar that they've used)..so it's sessionability is borderline depending on how many you plan on having back to back. I recommend this one easily, but you might want to start with single before going with a sixer. The taste and style is enjoyable..but I'm not sure I'd want more than one in a few days. This is one of the reasons my saison yeast has stayed in the fridge for so long, it makes a great beer, but I don't really want a LOT of it. So it will definetly be at one of the brunchgates this year since I'm sure I will have lots of help drinking it.

[devildeac]

Hops Infusion Ale-Weyerbacher

A solid but not outstanding IPA from a really fine brewery in Easton, Pa. This one is more herbalicious than fruitilicious. Piney and resin notes are prominent but not overpowering and the malt balance is very reasonable and the ABV clocks in at 6.2%. They do list their hops and they are: Cascade, Pilgrim, Centennial, Liberty, Saaz, Fuggle and E. Kent Golding. I'd guess the IBU to be 60-70. The color in orange-brown, the head is mild to moderately foamy. A good summer brew with burgers, brats and grilled chicken. CB&B got one of these in his trader today so he should have some thoughts soon.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Hops Infusion Ale-Weyerbacher

A solid but not outstanding IPA from a really fine brewery in Easton, Pa. This one is more herbalicious than fruitilicious. Piney and resin notes are prominent but not overpowering and the malt balance is very reasonable and the ABV clocks in at 6.2%. They do list their hops and they are: Cascade, Pilgrim, Centennial, Liberty, Saaz, Fuggle and E. Kent Golding. I'd guess the IBU to be 60-70. The color in orange-brown, the head is mild to moderately foamy. A good summer brew with burgers, brats and grilled chicken. CB&B got one of these in his trader today so he should have some thoughts soon.

I wonder if the multitude of hop varieties isn't part of the problem. Most really good IPA's only have at the most a couple kinds, one for bittering and one for the flavor/aroma. (In fact that is what they are called..bittering hops and aroma hops..imagine that!)

[devildeac]

Mini-beer seminar:

*Plato: The Plato (oP) scale a measure of the sugar levels in the wort (the sweet liquid that comes from mashing grains) prior to fermentation. Due to the process of fermentation the sugars are then converted to alcohol.
*IBU: The International Bitterness Unit is a system indicating the hop bitterness in finished beer. An IBU is one part per million of isohumulone, an acid derived from hops. A typical light American lager may have around 10-15 IBU's, an English brown ale around 20, an India Pale Ale 40-60, and some barley wines reaching up towards the 100 mark.
*Alcohol By Volume: Most massed produced American beers weigh in around 5% alcohol by volume.
From the Blue Mountain website in Afton, Va.

[CameronBornAndBred]

So I'm brewing. When I started, it was nice. From the moment I began the mash..it has been pouring a torrential downpour and there is no sign of it stopping. I do all my brewing on my porch..so I am soaked. It feels like a couple brunchgates last year.

[CameronBornAndBred]

So I'm brewing. When I started, it was nice. From the moment I began the mash..it has been pouring a torrential downpour and there is no sign of it stopping. I do all my brewing on my porch..so I am soaked. It feels like a couple brunchgates last year.

Ok...taking a break..lightning just hit tree 50' away from while I was outside..enough of that.

[devildeac]

Traded two 6ers with CB&B yesterday, in addition to eating too much. Got brews ranging from $.95 each to a Gubna and an Alewerks Bourbon Barrel Stout bomber. I'll call it a draw.

[devildeac]

Sweetwater-Blue

Lawnmower beer. A light lager with a splash of bluebeery (sic: ) juice/flavor. Pours a clean, crisp, pale yellow with little head or fizz. I'd guess the IBU are in the 10-15 range and the ABV about 5% so it was a nice appetizer beverage last PM as we dined with a couple we had not met with for a year or more. The appetizers were cheeses (cheddar, colby/cheddar and blue/horseradish) with crackers and cocktail peanuts and the Blue was a nice pairing. Dinner was, wait a minute, wrong thread . Anyway, I had a glass of chardonnay with dinner. Not worth a 6er but a pleasant ale for thirst-quenching or sipping on a hot summer afternoon/eve on your porch.

[devildeac]

Backfin Pale Ale-Clay Pipe Brewing, Frederick, Md.

New brew and brewery thanks to CB&B and a trading session this weekend. A bit darker (almost amber) than a standard PA but fulfilling all the other criteria of a mildly malty and mildly hoppy balance. Head is a bit thin but it is clean and crisp with an IBU of about 50 and the ABV is 5.5%. Good with 'cue, burgers and grilled fish or chicken that are not too spicy. There are better pale ales that I have had but definitely worth a taste/trade.

EDIT: I thought this was the $.95 brew but couldn't remember exactly.

NB: CB&B's post just after this.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Backfin Pale Ale-Clay Pipe Brewing, Frederick, Md.
There are better pale ales that I have had but definitely worth a taste/trade.

At least worth 95 cents! Honestly, for a craft beer under a buck..it works. Better than (and cheaper than) Bud's ale.

[devildeac]

Backfin Pale Ale-Clay Pipe Brewing, Frederick, Md.
There are better pale ales that I have had but definitely worth a taste/trade.

At least worth 95 cents! Honestly, for a craft beer under a buck..it works. Better than (and cheaper than) Bud's ale.

WTH is Bud's ale? If you mean Bud or budlite, you are correct that Backfin is better but not cheaper. I think a 12 pack of budlite is about $7-8 or less, or about $.60 each. But then again, I really wouldn't know.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Backfin Pale Ale-Clay Pipe Brewing, Frederick, Md.
There are better pale ales that I have had but definitely worth a taste/trade.

At least worth 95 cents! Honestly, for a craft beer under a buck..it works. Better than (and cheaper than) Bud's ale.

WTH is Bud's ale? If you mean Bud or budlite, you are correct that Backfin is better but not cheaper. I think a 12 pack of budlite is about $7-8 or less, or about $.60 each. But then again, I really wouldn't know.

No...not bud or budlite..but Budweiser Ale. They do sell it. About $6.50 a six pack. And about $1.50 too much. Does taste better than their lagers though.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Great Divide Denver Pale Ale (DPA)
This is a pretty good English pale ale..actually it's really good for being an English ale. Both malty and hoppy..the malts are that "earthiness" I detect in some brews...like the Sierra Nevada Tumbler. Moderate bitterness, pleasant "earthy" aroma...I'd love to know if that is coming from the malt or the hops. I'm guessing the hops, since it is sort of floral. Classic pale yellow color, nice white head with good retention. Mild flavor, this is a good one for really any time of year.
DD got this in his trader pack, so I'm curious to see what he thinks. We both think highly of Great Divide, and neither of us remember trying (or seeing) this one in the past.