Last Friday, March 27th, I found myself in need of some good beer. I had plans to meet up with a good friend of mine at Acadia Café in the Cedar Riverside neighborhood near the U of M. They were celebrating their first anniversary in this “new” location and I had still never been. I should say it’s about time. Well, unexpected car trouble kept my friend close to home but I still wanted to check this place out. So I ventured out on my own. Not knowing the area very well I drove around looking for parking. I found myself on one-ways which darned near led me to the U’s East Bank. Before long I was back in Cedar Riverside and in the Carlson School of Management parking ramp. One flight of steps and a half a block later I got to Acadia and in the front door. Seemed like everyone else had the same idea I did. 7pm, I figured it would be somewhat subdued, a lull, a break in the action. Wrong. I find that downtown (where I work) there is usually a break on Friday evenings between the happy hour crowd and the night crowd. The bars seem to thin just a little between 7:00pm and 9:00pm. I should have known, this was a college bar, there are no breaks. Long story long, there were no open tables, no open seats at the bar and a lot of people standing… waiting. I walked right back out after quickly scanning the place, making it look like I was trying to find someone. Good news is, anything under ten minutes and the parking ramp is free. The better news, I was only a few blocks from the Blue Nile.
Al, if you are reading this, I don’t want you to feel like second fiddle. I’ve been to the Nile a handful of times which is a handful more than I’ve been to Acadia. Besides, free beer for a year is quite the temptation. If second place is a bar with Surly, Tyranena, Duchesse, Lion, Tremens and Summit then you can call me the Buffalo Bills any day. But I digress. Knowing I wouldn’t be disappointed I hauled my thirsty palate on over to The Blue Nile. The Blue Nile is home to local beer celebrity (though he won’t admit it) and bartender extraordinaire Al McCarty. If you ask him he’d rather be known as just the beer guy. And he is exactly that. With ‘I don’t know how many’ years in the craft beer dispensing business and nearly 3000 personal beer reviews, this guy knows his stuff. But enough about Al, let’s talk about beer. My first beer of the evening was a Surly 16-Grit. I’ve been waiting to try this beer for a long time. See my previous post here for more info on that. This was great! In my opinion, this was like a Furious on steroids. At first whiff I got loads of hops. It seemed like a similar hop profile as Furious. But upon further investigation, there was a lot more going on in the aroma. Definitely smelled like a double IPA. IPA’s smell, well, mostly hoppy, but not much in the way of maltiness. But with doubles (Extras, Imperials, etc) I get that rich deep caramel sweetness. And I was certainly getting that here. It tasted fantastic and was rich and hoppy, perfectly carbonated and a nice smooth mouthfeel. I could swirl, sniff and sip this all night, but at 10% abv I better not. On to the next.
Al has started something new here at the Blue Nile, the Beer Cruise. It seems like local establishments are finally catching on to what wine people have been doing forever… flights. However, the word flight in this case suggests elevation or escalation and a ranking of sorts. This seems a little silly since all of Al’s beers are good so he’s decided to call them cruises. Cruises consist of three 4oz pours and if I remember correctly there are four different cruises to choose from. A hoppy cruise, a malty (dark beer) cruise, a Surly Cruise – 4 Surly beers – and I can’t for the life of me remember the forth one. Although I think it has a Belgian or two. I decided to go with the dark beer cruise. Of the three beers, there were two that I hadn’t tried before so this seemed like the logical choice. This cruise consisted of Surly Bender, Tyranena’s Chipotle Smoked Imperial Porter and Lion Stout. I wanted to taste them one at a time so as not to confuse my palate. I would save the Bender for last since I’ve had that many times and start with the Lion Stout. I had watched a lot of that being poured since I arrived so my interest was piqued. Mmmm, smells great! Lots of dark/dried fruit, mostly raisin. It smelled great! And the taste was just as rewarding. Lots of raisin and also the roasty dark malt that stout is known for. Finishes with a nice thick mouthfeel.What a sweet treasure, I will certainly be looking for this one again soon, I recommend you do the same. In fact go see Al at the Nile and tell him the Lion sent you. I enjoyed this one so much that I decided to save it for last. I wanted it to be the one I remembered on the ride home. So next up was the Tyranena. As I said at the bar, I really couldn’t find the chipotle. I think I may have sensed its spiciness on my tongue, but I really couldn’t taste it at all. I did get the smoke though. Just enough to know it’s there and very pleasant. Wish I could have tasted the chipotle pepper though, I do like a little of that and I think it would have been nice with the smoky porter. I think I’ll look for ‘The Devil Made Me Do It’ next time. The Bender was business as usual a solid dark beer that just doesn’t quite fit into any style. And that’s the way Surly wants it. Fine with me. Although I must say, this was a nice change of pace as I have been drinking mostly the coffee version of Bender these last few months. I had just a taste of Duchesse de Bourgogne before cutting myself off and heading for home. It was a little after 9:00 and I thought I had plenty of time to get home (Eden Prairie) before my wife got home at 10:00. That thought soon came to screeching halt. Tonight was the night that 35W south would be shutting down three of four lanes. I could expand but that is neither beer nor there.
Well, that’s another episode of BEER THIS! Special thanks to Al at the Blue Nile for not only providing me with content for this post but for also keeping me company. I may have been sitting on that bar stool by myself that night, but I was certainly not alone. It’s always a pleasure to talk beer with the great Felonious Monk.
P.S. I made it home just in time!
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
Open Mouth... Insert Foot
Dang, it’s been a long time since I’ve posted anything and I have something fun that needs to be addressed. Most craft beer connoisseurs have tried or are at least aware of Sierra Nevada’s Bigfoot Barleywine. This annual limited release by the west coast giant (pun intended) receives much attention by the national beer drinking community. Every year aficionados wait patiently for the release. And every year they are not disappointed. I decided this year would be the year for me to get in on the action. BEER THIS, Bigfoot!
I got luckier than I expected. Not only was my first Bigfoot ever a 2009 edition, but I also got to try the 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008! That’s right, I got to taste 11 years worth – 1998 thru 2009 (sans 2000) – of Sierra Nevada Bigfoot side by side in one sitting. In a word, amazing! I can see why this is highly anticipated. In a country such as ours where the masses love hop bombs this young Barleywine resembles an Imperial IPA. But as with any Barleywine, they only get better with time. We started with 2009 and worked our way backwards. While high in hop bitterness and flavor while fresh, the hops are the first to go. Each year proceeded to get less hoppy and more malty. The hop bitterness stuck around longer than the flavor and aroma but even that mellowed with time. The addition of time also brought out the wonderful dried fruit aroma and flavors and just a hint of toast. It was just incredible. Even now, almost two weeks later I can still taste it and it leaves me longing for more.
I found 2002-2004 to be my favorite, although I can certainly respect the hype the fresh Bigfoot demands. My advice, go out and buy the Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA and drink it fresh. Buy the Bigfoot, cellar it appropriately and enjoy 2-3 years later, you will not be disappointed. A HUGE thank you to the BJCP judge, we’ll call him “Joe Nathan”, who brought these gems to our weekly BJCP class, it was a treat indeed!
Cheers and BEER THIS!
I got luckier than I expected. Not only was my first Bigfoot ever a 2009 edition, but I also got to try the 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008! That’s right, I got to taste 11 years worth – 1998 thru 2009 (sans 2000) – of Sierra Nevada Bigfoot side by side in one sitting. In a word, amazing! I can see why this is highly anticipated. In a country such as ours where the masses love hop bombs this young Barleywine resembles an Imperial IPA. But as with any Barleywine, they only get better with time. We started with 2009 and worked our way backwards. While high in hop bitterness and flavor while fresh, the hops are the first to go. Each year proceeded to get less hoppy and more malty. The hop bitterness stuck around longer than the flavor and aroma but even that mellowed with time. The addition of time also brought out the wonderful dried fruit aroma and flavors and just a hint of toast. It was just incredible. Even now, almost two weeks later I can still taste it and it leaves me longing for more.
I found 2002-2004 to be my favorite, although I can certainly respect the hype the fresh Bigfoot demands. My advice, go out and buy the Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA and drink it fresh. Buy the Bigfoot, cellar it appropriately and enjoy 2-3 years later, you will not be disappointed. A HUGE thank you to the BJCP judge, we’ll call him “Joe Nathan”, who brought these gems to our weekly BJCP class, it was a treat indeed!
Cheers and BEER THIS!
Monday, March 2, 2009
Hopslam, Torpedo, One Thousand, oh my!
Okay, I’m sorry for the Wizard of Oz reference but I’m just so giddy I feel like dancing around like the brainless Scarecrow. Call them what you will – Double, Imperial, Strong, Extra – but the selection of big IPAs that is available to us right now is nearing utopian levels. The elevated amounts of hops, malt and alcohol give these beers a very pleasing experience. These beers, so rich and bitter yet smooth at the same time, deserve a multiple punctuation BEER THIS!!!
I am new to the whole hyped beer revolution. I joined an online forum dedicated to beer lovers in January 2008. It was there that I learned about all the beers in my area, the US and even the world that everyone was talking about. If something was getting built up and I could find it locally, I usually sought it out. And here is the funny thing; they are almost always worth the hype. It’s not like movie trailers that play every commercial break for 3 months and then the movie flops. No, this isn’t Hollywood created advertising hype, this it certifiable 100% consumer created hype. Thanks to this website http://www.beeradvocate.com/ I learned about so many new beers. Can you believe 2008 was the first Darkness I’ve ever had? Well, here’s another shocker, this year is the first time I’ve ever tried the Bell’s Hopslam. Sure enough, again, this is worth all the hype. It pours a nice orange copper color with a little off white head that dissipates quickly but still leaves a nice lacing behind. A little swirling revives the head and aroma. Pretty much clear, maybe just a little haze. I stick my nose in and bam! Hops hops and more hops. Mostly citrusy including grapefruit and some pineapple. But, there is also an inviting sweetness as well. Pretty balanced in the nose despite the extreme hoppiness. Can’t wait to taste it… Yuuuuuum. Just as it smells, lots of delicious hops and malt. Maybe a little dried fruit, a lot of caramel. Not really toasty or bready, just hoppy and sweet. Sweetness may come from simple sugars as excessive crystal malts can make a beer dextrinous and cloying. In spite of the bitterness this beer is still incredibly smooth. A must have if hop bombs are your thing.
About a week later I picked up some Sierra Nevada Torpedo, a brand new year-round offering which they are calling an Extra IPA. And then just a couple of days ago I stopped in to Town Hall Brewery and tried their Batch 1000. This beer named simply for the milestone batch number in which it was brewed is similar to both Hopslam and Torpedo but is being marketed at a Strong IPA. I won’t bore you with reviews of each of these as they would sound very similar to the one I did for Hopslam. I can, however say that each of these beers is unique in its own right. don’t settle for trying just one, you will certainly appreciate the subtle differences of each. I’ll give you a few tidbits from each of the brewers about their respective beers.
First, the Sierra Nevada Torpedo…
“Chico, CA (1/05/09) - For a brewery known for its use of hops, it seems out of character to wait nearly 30 years to produce a year-round IPA. Torpedo is worth the wait. Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. is proud to announce the release of Torpedo Extra IPA as the newest addition to its year-round roster of beers. This is the first full-production IPA to come from the brewery and the first change in its year-round lineup in over a decade.”
I would have to agree, not that we had a choice, but definitely worth the wait. Makes me excited for all the other great beers we're waiting for???
– from Sierra Nevada's website
Next, Town Hall Batch 1000…
“Today is the day for the release of Batch 1000. This is a Strong IPA (8.5% abv) that used about 11 pounds of hops per barrel (another way to celebrate our 11th year). This is limited in supply and I do not think it will be around long.”
– Mike Hoops, Brewer, Town Hall Brewery in an email newsletter 2/24/09.
Congrats, Mike on batch 1000, it’s a good one!
Since we’re on the subject of big IPAs I feel compelled to mention that Surly 16-Grit is returning. In an email to Surly Nation, owner Omar Ansari told loyal drinkers that the brewery “got some new 60 bbl fermentors a few weeks ago. The 1st beer we brewed into it - 16 GRIT!” (bbl = beer barrel - one bbl = about 31 gal) They made this beer late 2008 and sold it the last week of the year. Brewer Todd Haug and company made a small amount, 30 bbls and they sold it in growlers only. State law allows breweries to sell growlers (large take-out jugs of beer) if they produce less than 3,500 bbls annually. Well, in 2008 they far exceeded that, so as of January 1st 2009, no more growlers. To go out with a bang they made this huge IPA and sold it December 27th-31st. You can imagine how excited I was. December 30th being my birthday I decided I would go that day and pick up my growler. Unfortunately they sold out on Dec 29th. Good for them, bad for me. Oh well, if you are one of the 3 people who regularly read this blog, you know what happened on my birthday. I probably wouldn’t have made it there anyway. There have been a lot of questions since then about whether they will remake this beer sometime and I guess our questions (prayers) have been answered. I am so excited to try this beer. Let the hype begin!
Well, that’s all for this episode of BEER THIS! I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this almost as much as I enjoyed drinking the beers I wrote about. Next time you read or hear about a beer that’s all hyped up, I would encourage you to go out and try it.
Please also visit www.lutherpublichouse.com for more fun with beer.
I am new to the whole hyped beer revolution. I joined an online forum dedicated to beer lovers in January 2008. It was there that I learned about all the beers in my area, the US and even the world that everyone was talking about. If something was getting built up and I could find it locally, I usually sought it out. And here is the funny thing; they are almost always worth the hype. It’s not like movie trailers that play every commercial break for 3 months and then the movie flops. No, this isn’t Hollywood created advertising hype, this it certifiable 100% consumer created hype. Thanks to this website http://www.beeradvocate.com/ I learned about so many new beers. Can you believe 2008 was the first Darkness I’ve ever had? Well, here’s another shocker, this year is the first time I’ve ever tried the Bell’s Hopslam. Sure enough, again, this is worth all the hype. It pours a nice orange copper color with a little off white head that dissipates quickly but still leaves a nice lacing behind. A little swirling revives the head and aroma. Pretty much clear, maybe just a little haze. I stick my nose in and bam! Hops hops and more hops. Mostly citrusy including grapefruit and some pineapple. But, there is also an inviting sweetness as well. Pretty balanced in the nose despite the extreme hoppiness. Can’t wait to taste it… Yuuuuuum. Just as it smells, lots of delicious hops and malt. Maybe a little dried fruit, a lot of caramel. Not really toasty or bready, just hoppy and sweet. Sweetness may come from simple sugars as excessive crystal malts can make a beer dextrinous and cloying. In spite of the bitterness this beer is still incredibly smooth. A must have if hop bombs are your thing.
About a week later I picked up some Sierra Nevada Torpedo, a brand new year-round offering which they are calling an Extra IPA. And then just a couple of days ago I stopped in to Town Hall Brewery and tried their Batch 1000. This beer named simply for the milestone batch number in which it was brewed is similar to both Hopslam and Torpedo but is being marketed at a Strong IPA. I won’t bore you with reviews of each of these as they would sound very similar to the one I did for Hopslam. I can, however say that each of these beers is unique in its own right. don’t settle for trying just one, you will certainly appreciate the subtle differences of each. I’ll give you a few tidbits from each of the brewers about their respective beers.
First, the Sierra Nevada Torpedo…
“Chico, CA (1/05/09) - For a brewery known for its use of hops, it seems out of character to wait nearly 30 years to produce a year-round IPA. Torpedo is worth the wait. Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. is proud to announce the release of Torpedo Extra IPA as the newest addition to its year-round roster of beers. This is the first full-production IPA to come from the brewery and the first change in its year-round lineup in over a decade.”
I would have to agree, not that we had a choice, but definitely worth the wait. Makes me excited for all the other great beers we're waiting for???
– from Sierra Nevada's website
Next, Town Hall Batch 1000…
“Today is the day for the release of Batch 1000. This is a Strong IPA (8.5% abv) that used about 11 pounds of hops per barrel (another way to celebrate our 11th year). This is limited in supply and I do not think it will be around long.”
– Mike Hoops, Brewer, Town Hall Brewery in an email newsletter 2/24/09.
Congrats, Mike on batch 1000, it’s a good one!
Since we’re on the subject of big IPAs I feel compelled to mention that Surly 16-Grit is returning. In an email to Surly Nation, owner Omar Ansari told loyal drinkers that the brewery “got some new 60 bbl fermentors a few weeks ago. The 1st beer we brewed into it - 16 GRIT!” (bbl = beer barrel - one bbl = about 31 gal) They made this beer late 2008 and sold it the last week of the year. Brewer Todd Haug and company made a small amount, 30 bbls and they sold it in growlers only. State law allows breweries to sell growlers (large take-out jugs of beer) if they produce less than 3,500 bbls annually. Well, in 2008 they far exceeded that, so as of January 1st 2009, no more growlers. To go out with a bang they made this huge IPA and sold it December 27th-31st. You can imagine how excited I was. December 30th being my birthday I decided I would go that day and pick up my growler. Unfortunately they sold out on Dec 29th. Good for them, bad for me. Oh well, if you are one of the 3 people who regularly read this blog, you know what happened on my birthday. I probably wouldn’t have made it there anyway. There have been a lot of questions since then about whether they will remake this beer sometime and I guess our questions (prayers) have been answered. I am so excited to try this beer. Let the hype begin!
Well, that’s all for this episode of BEER THIS! I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this almost as much as I enjoyed drinking the beers I wrote about. Next time you read or hear about a beer that’s all hyped up, I would encourage you to go out and try it.
Please also visit www.lutherpublichouse.com for more fun with beer.
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