East Vs. West IPA Challenge

This month the BOTB Guys took on the daunting task of comparing East Coast and West Coast IPAs. We intend this to be the first of several bits of coastal hop warfare. We took this on a man down as Herb was searching out good beer in warmer climes.

Gerry, this month's host, assigned three of us to seek out a favorite East Coast IPA, while the other three were to seek out a favorite West Coast IPA. There was a caveat, however: we were to stick to regular IPAs, not doubles or Imperials. We also decided to match the beers up by roughly the same ABVs and send them into battle one-on-one, as opposed to trying to rank all six beers against each other. Ergo, we would have three separate battles, with three winners. The Coast with the most wins the battle.

The line-up:

Round 1

    Brown's Brewing Company, Hoosick Falls, NY

VS

Lagunitas Brewing Company, Petaluma, CA

Round 2

Custom Brewcrafters, Honeoye Falls, NY

VS

Ballast Point Brewing Company, San Diego, CA

Round 3

Flying Dog Brewery, Frederick, MD

VS

Green Flash Brewing Company, San Diego, CA

BROWN'S BREWING COMPANY INDIA PALE ALE

HOOSICK FALLS, NY

The Beer Facts: STYLE: IPA; ABV: 6.5%; MALTS: Two-Row Pale, Caramel, Carapils; HOPS: Chinook, Cascade, Fuggle, Summit, Crystal.

What the Brewer Says: "Our I.P.A. pours an amber gold with a distinctively rich flavor, significant hop aroma and soft, white and creamy head."

Color: Unfiltered cloudy golden or buckwheat honey

Pour: Decent creamy off-white head

Aroma: Malty/grassy

Body: Medium

Taste: Slightly bitter/crisp and clean. There are notes of malt early, then slight lemon and caramel, and bitter on the back end. Overall it has a balanced character.

Overall Impression: Well toward "Can't Get Enough!"

Comments: "This tastes good!; I could drink this; It doesn't disappoint; It's a good, solid beer; It isn't overpowering in any way; I'd be proud to have this in my fridge - and thrilled to see it on tap; I got this at Marcy Beverage in Marcy, NY, but it's tough to find; This is a good start for the East Coast."

LAGUNITAS IPA

LAGUNITAS BREWING COMPANY, PETALUMA, CA

The Beer Facts: STYLE: IPA; ABVs: 6.2%; IBUs: 45; MALT, HOPS etc. - "Ounces and ounces of malt, hops, yeast, and water."  

What the Brewer Says: "Lagunitas IPA was our first seasonal way back in 1995. The recipe was formulated with malt and hops working together to balance it all out on your 'buds so you can knock back more than one without wearing yourself out. Big on the aroma with a hoppy-sweet finish that will leave you wantin' another sip."

Color: Filtered honey

Pour: Decent head that is slightly off-white

Aroma: Grapefruit/hoppy (big nose)

Body: Medium

Taste: It is bitter, but not as bitter on the end as the Brown's IPA. There are also piney notes.

Overall Impression: Well toward "Can't Get Enough!"

Comments: "Hops attack the nostrils - it is aggressive; I wish it tasted as good as it smelled; There's a hop in there that I don't particularly care for; The hops presence goes all the way through."

ROUND 1 RESULTS: Split Decision. Three of us went with Brown's and three of us went with Lagunitas. As fans of 'Cuse Basketball we were all used to nailbiters, so we were right in the zone.

Next up were two terrific beers. I am a big fan of both of them but have never had them side-by-side to compare. I felt this would be one of the more interesting match-ups of the night.

CAGED ALPHA MONKEY

CUSTOM BREWCRAFTERS, HONEOYE FALLS, NY

The Beer Facts: STYLE: American IPA; ABVs: 6.5%; IBUs: 65; MALTS: Pilsner, Melanoidin, Carafa II; HOPS: Falconer's Flight, Apollo, Chinook, Experimental 05256

What the Brewer Says: "Watch out! This huge IPA is coming at you ready to literally cram hops down your throat. This monster uses 4 different hop varieties, in whole leaf and pellet in 6 different additions. We used a healthy dose of Caramunich malt to give this beer a bright orange color and enough body to balance the hops. Cutting edge hop varieties create a crazy mix of pineapple, grapefruit and pine aromas that just screams American IPA.

Color: Translucent amber honey

Pour: Better than decent, off-white head, with ample staying power

Aroma: Big hoppy aroma

Body: Medium moving toward full

Taste: Deliciously hopped with a strong malt backbone. There are notes of citrusy grapefruit

Overall Impression: Can't Get Enough!

Comments: "A nice malt background; It's balanced with a bitter back; OMG; One terrific beer; From pour, to aroma, to taste, it doesn't disappoint; Fills your mouth like Dolly fills a sweater; A lot bigger than the 6.5% would lead you to believe; A 'GOOD' beer."

SCULPIN IPA

BALLAST POINT BREWING,COMPANY, SAN DIEGO, CA

The Beer Facts: STYLE: American IPA; ABVs: 7.0%; IBUs: 70; HOPS: Hopped at 5 separate stages; AWARDS: Multiple awards including a gold in the 2010 World Beer Cup.

What the Brewer Says: "Our Sculpin IPA is a great example of what got us into brewing in the first place. After years of experimenting, we knew hopping an ale at five separate stages would produce something special. The result ended up being this gold-medal winning IPA, whose inspired use of hops creates hints of apricot, peach, mango and lemon flavors, but still packs a bit of a sting, just like a Sculpin fish."

Color: Lightly filtered wheat

Pour: Decent off-white head

Aroma: Hoppy - grassy/fresh hay and pine

Body: Slightly more than Medium

Taste: Nice - tastefully bitter, not sharp, with citrus notes.

Overall Impression: Can't Get Enough!

Comments: "Tastes like a double; Full flavor; Fills all the senses / hits all the spots; This is s-o-o-o-o-o good; I'm thinking this is the best IPA on the planet; As a battle - maybe I'd like to put it up against Flower Power from Ithaca Brewing and see how it fared."


ROUND 2 RESULTS: Though it was not unanimous, Sculpin won the day, but Alpha Monkey put up a good fight. While we rated both of them an enthusiastic "Can't Get Enough!" West Coast won Round 2.

Round 3 pitted a couple of craft brew heavyweights against each other: Flying Dog and Green Flash.

SNAKE DOG IPA

FLYING DOG BREWING COMPANY, FREDERICK, MD

The Beer Facts: STYLE: American IPA; ABVs: 7.1%; IBUs: 60; MALTS: 60L Caramel; HOPS: Warrior, Columbus; YEAST: American Ale

What the Brewer Says: "Big citrus (notably grapefruit) hop aroma and flavor with caramel malt notes."

Color: filtered golden IPA color

Pour: Decent, tight effervescent, almost bridal white head

Aroma: Slight hay/grass and hoppy

Body: Medium to full

Taste: It has a taste bigger than its aroma. There are some notes of citrusy grapefruit.

Overall Impression: Between "I Could Drink This" and "Can't Get Enough" - but leaning toward the latter

Comments: "There is not a real strong alcohol taste; It has a sharp hop character; Not much of a malt backbone; A slap you up 'side the head taste; It has a nice label - sharp; The taste is not overly strong, it's pleasant; there is an aftertaste of bitterness or maybe a slightly metallic taste."

GREEN FLASH WEST COAST IPA

GREEN FLASH BREWING COMPANY, SAN DIEGO, CA

The Beer Facts: STYLE: West Coast IPA; ABVs: 7.3%; IBUs: 95; HOPS: Simcoe, Columbus, Centennial, Cascade; AWARDS: Multiple including 2008 champion of the National IPA Challenge.

What the Brewer Says: "A menagerie of hops is layered throughout the brewing process: Simcoe for unique fruitiness and grapefruit zest, Columbus for strong hop pungency, Centennial for pine and citrus notes and Cascade for floral aroma. A multi-dimensional hop experience."

Color: Unfiltered honey brown, a dark IPA color

Pour: Off-white, near Guinness class head

Aroma: West Coast IPA nose - citrus, pine, lemon.

Body: Full

Taste: Bitter - the most of the day as indicated by the 95 IBUs - but pleasantly so. Additionally, there is a bit of a malt taste.

Overall Impression: "Can't Get Enough!"

Comments: "This is quite smooth, despite the 95 IBUs; A West Coast hops, definitely; There's a taste that lingers; It has serious IBUs; Very impressive; You can't get to 7.3% ABV without a malt presence; It finishes very well; It's the most complex taste of the day; And with the biggest hops presence; It has more of a malt character; Wow, this is good!"

ROUND 3 RESULTS: Green Flash won in a 5 to 1 vote over Snake Dog.

OVERVIEW

At least with this small sampling the West Coast beat the East Coast by a score of 2-0-1. The real winners, I must say, were the BOTB Guys. How can you go wrong with six delicious IPAs?

CRAFT BEERING IN PARADISE

Three Great Escapes From the Cold - Only Two With Great Beer

This has been a great year to get out of the Great White North as much as possible and a few of the BOTB Guys were able to do just that. Herb and Pat have been on the road for some time now and recently

reported back from Tampa Bay that their annual Tampa Bay Beer Week was about to start. I'm sure we'll get updates.



Mike and Diane spent a week in Costa Rica and had the opportunity to check out the Lake Arenal Brewery and Restaurant La Huerta and Hotel Minoa while there. You can check it out HERE for a little musical guided tour of the place.

Opened in 1998, Lake Arenal Brewery was the first microbrewery ever in Costa Rica. The accompanying Hotel Minoa is home to the Global Renewable Energy Education Network (GREEN) begun in 2009. GREEN offers 12 day programs for students, giving them access to the renewable energy technology and sustainability industry.
The accompanying farm practices what GREEN preaches. The cows dine on the spent grain from brewing and the pigs get all plate left-overs from the restaurant. Locally grown coffee is made on a methane gas stove using methane produced from pig waste.

The brews on tap while Mike was there were:
Lake Arenal Brewery Pale Ale
Lake Arenal IPA
Morenita (an American Brown Ale)
Guapote (an American IPA)
Nut Brown Ale

Mike had the opportunity to try the Pale Ale and the Nut Brown. The Pale Ale is 5% ABV and 48 IBUs. The Nut Brown is 4.8% ABV and 21 IBUs. Mike said that both beers were very tasty. His next trip down he intends to check out Volcano Brewery, also on Lake Arenal as well as Beachfront Brewery in Tamarindo.

Are there are there hops in Mexico?

Quoth my taste buds "I say no!"

Rick (that would be me speaking to you in the third person) and Les, meanwhile, headed down to Cancun, Mexico for a week of fun in the sun (and a little Mayan history, as well). Cancun is a beautiful place, as is nearby Isla Mujeres. With temperatures in the low 80's and lots of sun, it was a welcome relief from the bone-chilling cold we've been experiencing in that other Mexico up here in Central New York. And, yes, we did mess with people's minds a bit when they asked where we were from and we told them "Mexico."

The only downside to the whole trip was the total unavailability of craft beer. Mexico is about where the US was in the early '80s as far as beer goes. Virtually all of their beers are produced by a few big brewers and they are all lagers. Corona is the big dog down there, but Dos Equis, Medola, Pacifica, Tecate, Sol are all popular. Like the mega-brews in the US, most of the beers are produced by two large conglomerates: Cerveceria Modelo / Grupo Modelo and Cerveceria Cuauhtemoc-Moctezuma / FEMSA.

Grupo Medolo et al, which is half owned by Anheuser-Busch, produces Corona and Medola.  FEMSA et al produces Tecate, Sol, Dos Equis, Carta Blanca, Superior, Indio, Bohemia, and Noche Buena. The best of the bunch is Bohemia which actually has a bit of a hop profile to it. I ordered that whenever possible.

There are microbreweries in Mexico, but relatively few. Day of the Dead brewery was one Ron and I discovered while in South Carolina of all places. Their Hop On Or Die IPA is excellent. But the ironic truth is that most Mexican craft beers are exported to the US because it is so difficult for them to compete with the Mexican mega-breweries.

So even though we had a terrific time, enjoyed the wonderful weather and were awed by the Mayan pyramids, I couldn't help but email back to the rest of the BOTB Guys that I was suffering from HDS - Hops Deficiency Syndrome.

Of course, then I actually did get sick (curse you Moctezuma and your vile revenge! What did I ever do to you?) only to find out upon returning home that a viable treatment was brewer's yeast (seriously). What a strange and wonderful world we live in.

 I knew the perfect delivery system for brewer's yeast, too.

The song below (sung with liberal interpretation to the tune of The Beach Boys' Kokomo) I felt nicely expressed my dual attitude on the trip.

  MEXICO

Corona, Modelo - the beers are really mellow;
Dos Equis, Tecate - with bodies thin and yellow;
Sol and Pacifico - hops not so terrific, no.

Yucatan...
        On the Mexican Gulf,
A place called Cancun, ya' know
It's a great place to go, but no craft beer here at all.

I love the sun and sand,
The beachside views are really grand;
But if you want tasty beer,
You'll need to go to a dif'rent land;
Not much in Mexico.

Corona, Modelo - the beers are really mellow;
Dox Equis, Tecate - with bodies thin and yellow;
Sol and Pacifico - hops not so terrific, no.
Down in Mexico,
The beers are cheap
So you can drink a lot,
If that's what you really want
Down South in Mexico.

Coladas on the beach;
Margaritas always in reach;
Miss the hoppy brews back home,
But not the snow nor the icy cold;
Back home in Mexico-
      - New York, that is.

NICELY DONE SAM!!

Samuel Adams has released it's latest IPA - Rebel IPA - and it is a terrific beer. I've always said that one of my favorite Sam Adams beers is their Latitude 48. Now that fine beer may have some competition from its own brewery. Rebel IPA is Sam Adams version of a West Coast IPA. It would have been interesting to see how it stacked up in this month's battle, but we already had the line-up set by the time Rebel hit the stores. I'm thinking of a head-to-head against Latitude 48 some time. A kind of East Coast vs West Coast by a single brewery.

AND THANK YOU SARANAC

This summer Saranac slipped a little something extra in their 12 packs. Nestled right on top was a pint can of Legacy IPA, a beer brewed to celebrate 125 years of brewing. The brewery originally known as The West End Brewing Company and later as Matt Brewing Company has become a huge player in the craft beer industry with their Saranac line of beers. It is the second oldest family owned brewery in the United States and the 6th largest craft brewery in the US. Therefore the name of this specially brewed beer is quite appropriate. After trying it we lamented that it was too bad they didn't sell this on its own as it was a terrific beer. We feared it might go the way of Guinness 250 - a one-time celebratory brew that was gone all too soon. Lo and behold, Saranac has wisely kept Legacy alive and is selling it in 4-packs of 16 ounce cans. Thanks, Saranac.

Next month we pit brews from the country's midsection against each other in a battle for the middle.

Sláinte,
The BOTB Guys

Make it Black

BEERS - BLACK IN NAME AND/OR COLOR

Deep in the very bowels of winter...

There came a day so dark and drear.

The cold, the wind, the snow did linger 

And yet The Guys had naught to fear,

Without 'twas Old Man's icy finger,

Within some dark and tasty beer.

And what a line-up! Not just a bunch of IBAs (India Black Ale - or perhaps IDA - India Dark Ale?) either. There were arguably five different styles. Because of this they didn't really lend themselves to a head-to-head competition. We tasted 'em and rated 'em - but according to style. We went against normal practice and tasted them at random, rather than according to ABV. Although, for the most part, the biggest beers came toward the end. 

First up was Newcastle Cabbie Black Ale. While Newcastle isn't exactly a craft beer by definition - it's owned by Heineken and in the late '90's was the most widely distributed alcoholic beverage in the UK - it is fun to throw a few foreign brews into the mix to see how they stack up. 

Newcastle Cabbie Black Ale

John Smith Brewery, Tadcaster, North Yorkshire 

The Beer Facts: Style: English Dark Mild Ale; ABV: 4.2%; IBU: 25

What the Brewer Says: "Hailed from Britain. The one and only. Featuring notes of various fruits, chocolate and coffee."

Color: Dark Amber

Pour: Heady pour with tight tan bubbles.

Aroma: Malty

Body: Medium to thin.

Taste: Malty yeast with notes of fresh baked bread.

Overall Impression: I Could Drink This.

Comments: "This is a pleasing beer; It reminds me of my grandmother's horehound candy; I think you just like saying 'horehound' but I see your point; A nice dessert beer; It has that Newcastle aroma; There is a little more smoke than with their Nut Brown, but otherwise very much like it; This is a pretty light bodied beer; I could drink it right through a couple football games and still know the scores; It's a little creamy on the tongue."

Wookey Jack

Firestone Walker Brewing Company, Paso Robles, CA

The Beer Facts: STYLE: Black Rye IPA (or IBRA?); ABV: 8.3%; IBUs: 80; SRM: 45; MALTS: Pale malt, malted rye, Dash of Cara-rye, Midnight wheat from Briess; De-bittered Black Malt, Dash of Wookey Dust. HOPS: German Magnum (bittering), Citra and Amarillo (flavor, aroma and double dry-hopped); MISC.: 2012 Gold Medal Winner for American-style black ale - Great American Beer Festival. 

What the Brewer Says: "A unique twist on the Cascadian Dark Ale style. Wookey Jack offers true hop aroma to rival most IPAs, with pungent citrus and herbal hop nuances, a hint of peppery rye, and earthiness on the nose."

Color: Black (completely opaque) and unfiltered

Pour: An ample dark tan head, with good lacing.

Aroma: A citrus and pine aroma that smells like a hop harvest!

Body: Between medium and full

Taste: A wonderful bitter bite, with notes of dark chocolate, spice, rye and roasted grain.

Overall Impression: Can't Get Enough!!

Comments: "This is on the darker and tempting side; Nice grapefruit hop; It has a nice pungent aroma; It is wonderful; Absolutely delicious beer; It's a little less on the alcohol taste than you would guess; Huge flavor and nice complexity; I love what Firestone Walker did with this; Another great West Coast beer."

Dubhe Imperial Black IPA

Uinta Brewing, Salt Lake City, Utah

The Beer Facts: STYLE: American style Imperial Black IPA; ABV: 9.2%; IBU: claimed 109! (See last month's blog); SRM: 110; MALTS and HOPS: NA

What the Brewer Says: "Toasted chocolaty dark malts align with an astronomical amount of hops." 

Color: Opaque black

Pour: Ample creamy, thick ecru head with decent staying power.

Aroma: Wonderful malty/bready, with pine and citrus hops.

Body: Medium to full

Taste: Initially quite bitter, then a malty backbone. The high IBUs rating is tempered with a strong malt presence.

Overall Impression: Can't Get Enough!!

Comments: "This is a good beer, I could drink this; This would be good on pancakes (???); It has a good tongue bite; Delightful; A lot of alcohol that is not very well disguised; WTF - Salt Lake City?!; Very well made."

Heart of Darkness Stout

Magic Hat Brewing Company, South Burlington, Vermont

The Beer Facts: STYLE: Stout; ABV: 5.7%; IBU: 30; SRM: 80; MALTS: Pale, Crystal, Roasted Barley, Chocolate, Munich; HOPS: Apollo, Golding; YEAST: English Ale; AVAILABILITY: October through January.

What the Brewer Says: "Our inky-black stout had a smooth, round palate with a dreamlike undercurrent of bittersweet chocolate. This dense liquid-silk summoned hope from hibernation and balanced winter's endless white snows with a rich swirl of creamy black rapture."

Color: Again, opaque black.

Pour: Decent light brown head, without a great deal of retention.

Aroma: Light grass or hay.

Body: Medium

Taste: Dilute molasses; sorghum; some smoky malts, coffee, and chocolate.

Overall Impression: I Could Drink This.

Comments: "solid, drinkable stout; More sweet than hopped or bitter; A little light - body was thinner than I expected it to be, you expect a black to be thicker, though that is not necessarily true; Impressive finish; It has that roasty, bready taste; I am pleasantly surprised by it; There is something missing in the middle - it has a nice beginning and finish."

Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout

North Coast Brewing, Fort Bragg, California

The Beer Facts: STYLE: Russian Imperial Stout; ABV: 9.0%; IBUs: 75; MALTS and HOPS: NA; AWARDS: 2012 Gold Medal Winner Stockholm Beer and Whisky Festival.

What the Brewer Says: "Produced in the tradition of 18th Century English brewers who supplied the court of Catherine the Great, Old Rasputin  seems to develop a cult following wherever it goes. It's a rich, intense brew with big complex flavors and a warming finish."

Color: Dark chocolate/black

Pour: Nice dark tan head which dissipates rapidly

Aroma: A little grass - not real strong, roasty malt, a bit of chocolate.

Body: Medium to Full

Taste: Burnt, malty; sweet licorice; a bit of coffee; bitter and alcohol finish

Overall Impression: Between "I Could Drink This" and "Can't Get Enough"

Comments: "They don't disguise the alcohol; The finish is nice, not a cloying one you sometimes find in Imperials; A clean finish; You don't expect a finish like this from a Russian; It's quite drinkable; Not overly sweet; It has an interesting label; I like it."

  

Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout

Brooklyn Brewery, Brooklyn, NY

The Beer Facts: STYLE: Russian Imperial Stout; ABV: 10%; IBUs: 51; MALTS: American pale two-row malt; Caramel Malt; Malted wheat, a blend of American roasted malts and barleys; HOPS: Willamette and American Fuggle; AVAILABILITY: October to March; AWARDS: 2012 World Beer Cup - bronze; 2012 Australian International Beer Awards - Gold Medal.

What the Brewer Says: "This is the famous Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout, our award-winning rendition of the Imperial Stout style, once made exclusively for Catherine the Great...It is delicious when newly bottled, but also ages beautifully for years."

Color: Black Strap molasses

Pour: Decent light brown head with lasting lacing

Aroma: Light chocolate, cloves/spicy, and a bit of fruit

Body: Full/thick

Taste: Overpowering alcohol and chocolate, with notes of nuts and fruit.

Overall Impression: I Could Drink This

Comments: "It's a little heavy for me; Kind of medicine-y; It's too much; Not my favorite beer; The alcohol smacks you right in the face; This is really a big stout; Dessert?; The more I have of it, the better I like it; It's one of those beers that kind of grows on you."

Otter Creek Russian Imperial Stout

Otter Creek Brewing, Middlebury, Vermont

The Beer Facts: STYLE: Russian Imperial Stout; ABV: 10.6%; IBUs: 65; Otter Creek's website is under construction, so there's no info other than this. 

What the Brewer Says: And no quotes.

Color: Coal Black

Pour: Minimal/thin tan of coffee with cream

Aroma: Smoked - not as burnt as Brooklyn

Body: Full

Taste: Some roasted malts and chocolates. There are notes of caramel and molasses.

Overall Impression: I Could Drink This.

Comments: "This is good for Otter Creek; I absolutely like it; I can't taste the alcohol as much as the 10%+ ABV would indicate; I wouldn't have guessed the alcohol percentage; It's not as sweet as the other stouts; Add a roasted marshmallow and you'd have a s'more; At Sochi, I'd readily drink it."

THE BOTTOM LINE

To summarize: We had 1 English Style Mild Dark Ale (Newcastle Cabbie Black)

                                  1 Black Rye IPA (Wookey Jack)

                                  1 Imperial Black IPA (Dubhe)

                                  1 Stout (Heart of Darkness)

                                  3 Russian Imperial Stouts (Old Rasputin, Brooklyn Chocolate Stout, Otter Creek) 

Essentially we had five different styles of black beers - and that was without a single Porter. So lets take it from the top:

-Newcastle Cabbie Black - Generally a favorable reception here. It had a nice rich malty flavor and the low ABV makes it a beer you could enjoy over the course of a long afternoon and still remain upright. It scored well as a session-type beer. Very pleasing subtle flavors. We could definitely drink this, though it would not necessarily be our first choice. 

-Firestone Walker's Wookey Jack - Perhaps the overall favorite of the night. A wonderful beer that deliciously blends the hoppiness of an IPA with the rich maltiness of a good stout or porter. A truly excellent beer. We gave it a resounding "Can't Get Enough" rating which was unanimous.

-Uinta Imperial Black IPA - This one got high scores from us as well. Like Wookey Jack it is a kind of best-of-both-worlds beer that gives you a nice hop bite with a pleasing malt presence. A close second to Wookey judging by the comments. Also a solid "Can't Get Enough" rating.

-Magic Hat's Heart of Darkness - The only true Stout of the evening, this was a tasty, malty brew that would please Stouthearts. We felt it opened and finished well, but was a little light in the middle. It was lighter bodied than we expected, otherwise it was another solid beer. 

-Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout - Probably the favorite of the three Imperials we tried. We were impressed by its clean finish and the fact that it was not overly sweet. It scored somewhere between "I could drink this" and " Can't get enough" giving it an overall favorable rating.

-Brooklyn Chocolate Stout - Our least favorite of the three Imperials, though a number of us found that it sort of grew on you after a few tastes. Our main complaint was that the alcohol seemed somewhat front and center, overpowering the more subtle flavors. It is a sipping beer to be sure. 

-Otter Creek Russian Imperial Stout - Overall this was received favorably. We felt the alcohol did not overpower the beer, which was a plus. We found it not overly sweet, but a good dessert beer.

BEERSPOTTING

I was watching Orange is the New Black the other day and what to my wondering eyes should appear but a bottle of good ol' Southern Tier!  Note the distinctive green-labeled bottle on the table of Southern Tier IPA. Pretty cool.

Next month we're having an East vs. West IPA challenge.

We'll leave you with a reprise of Make it Black in case you missed it the first time when we reviewed porters, and just because it seems appropriate.

Make it Black

(Sung to the tune of "Paint it Black")

I see a lite beer and I want it to be black;

No "see-thru" brews for me, I want them to be black;

Don't want no tasteless beers dressed up with summer fruit;

Just pour that down the drain, 'cause I don't give a hoot.

Don't want no Silver Bullet, got to make it black;

Hand me a Lite my friend you're going to get it back;

Don't want no mega-brew pretending to be "craft;"

No sissy lo-cal beer, I want a pitch-black draft.

No deep black to my beer will really make me blue;

Don't want to read the paper through a new-poured brew;

If I look hard enough into that ebon quaff;

I'll feel my spirits rise as my taste buds take off.

Even an IPA I often want it black;

No yellow beers for me, I need them to be black;

Don't want no pale-faced beer ya' gotta' serve on ice;

Give me a deep dark brew, no name that starts with "weiss"

I see just "lites" on tap and I want to be sick;

Pour me a Russian Stout that's wonderfully thick;

Don't want no "interesting" man, telling me what to drink

No macho cowboy ads, tellin' me how to think.

Sláinte,

The BOTB Guys

Holiday Break

The BOTB Guys took a holiday break, which is not to say we didn't still get together and have some great beer. We just got together and had some great beer. We didn't rate it, we merely enjoyed it. With no ratings this month, I thought I'd just empty out my "Beer Thoughts" folder, a place for random beer-related ramblings, and see what might be worthy fodder for the beer aficionados who stumble upon this site from time to time.


But first...

A big thanks to Saranac and Sam Adams for sending along some brews to help us celebrate the holidays. Sam sent their Boston Lager and Ruby Mild. Their lager is, of course, familiar to all - certainly one of the best lagers out there. Ruby Mild was an interesting beer. It had a nice nutty, caramel sweet taste (though not overly so). It is, as the name implies, mild - as in a very easy drinking and pleasant beer. Very nice session
beer.

Saranac sent along a nice selection of beers: their Pale Ale, Spice Christmas Ale, Belgian Pale Ale, 4059 Porter, Decoction Concoction, and Moonshadow Black IPA. It is, in fact, the beers from this year's 12 Beers of Winter. As you might guess, our favorite was the Moonshadow Black IPA. It had a nice solid hop kick to it that blended well with the dark malts. But the 4059 Porter was a really tasty brew - a porter with a nice little hop kick to it also. Decoction Concoction made for a nice session beer - it's a red lager that tastes like a pale ale. The  was a drinkable mildly spiced ale. A touch of ginger, perhaps. Lighter bodied and more of a session beer than a lot of Christmas beers, which is not a bad thing; some are just so heavily spiced that they lose their basic beer-ness. The Belgian is very representative of that style.
Christmas Ale

Just got a look at Saranac's Twelve Beers a Springing mixed 12 and it looks good. It includes Prism White Ale, Forbidden IPA, Red IPA, Dry Hopped Lager, and Irish Stout. Another reason to look forward to spring.

A Tip of the Mug and a Wag of the Finger

When we began this beer Odyssey a few years ago, we contacted a number of craft breweries to see if we could get any samples sent to us to rate. A shameless attempt to obtain free beer, you say? Well, yes. But, on the other hand, we would be discussing their beer in a forum that would reach literally thousands of craft beer lovers.Through Dan's relentless pursuit, we were able to get a number of breweries on board. But a funny thing happened on the way to the blog - with some of these breweries (which shall remain nameless) all was well until we gave a negative review of one of their beers. Then suddenly it was crickets out there. Our reviews are never nasty, they are simply honest. If we liked a beer, we said so, if not we merely say it's not our pint of brew, so to speak. Didn't matter. Suddenly, no more beer, no more correspondence. This is not the case with both Sam Adams and Saranac. We have reviewed several of their beers and the results have ranged from "Leave it on the Shelf" to "Can't Get Enough!" These breweries get that not every beer will appeal to every taste - and that's okay. If we aren't honest about the beers we aren't crazy about, how can we be trusted when we say a beer is great? So... A tip of the mug to Saranac and Sam. A wag of the finger to those who can't handle our truth!

If You Can't Make It Good, Make It Cold

I've never been a big fan of the taste of milk. Even as a kid. I liked it on cereal or with a cookie, but not just plain. Not without something else to mask the taste. Then one day the parents of a friend of mine installed one of those milk dispensers like they have in restaurants. You know, those big metal refrigerated units you load up with big plastic bags filled with milk. The bag has a little hose that sticks out of the bottom of the unit and you dispense the milk by lifting up on a big handle. For whatever reason, the milk that came out of that dispenser was ice cold, and I found I could down a glass of it on its own. Why? Well, it was ice cold, as I said, and the colder something is, the harder it is for our taste buds to perceive the taste. It is why a good red wine should never be chilled, and why frozen products such as ice cream and shushees need to be so sweet. While people have known this for years, the underlying cause of this phenomenon was revealed in a study by researchers at Belgium's Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. They identified microscopic channels in our tastebuds - called TREM5 - which they determined were responsible for perceiving different tastes at different temperatures. As the temperature of liquid or food increases, our ability to perceive the taste increases. (Food Navigator.com)

So, what do you do if you have a product that doesn't really have much in the way of flavor to begin with? How do you market said product which, for the sake of argument, is an adult libation? Check out those Coors Light commercials for a hint. Nothing about hops, malt, or taste - just cold. They even make cans that tell you when the beer is cold enough. The overriding motif of all of their ads is ice, ice, baby. The whole marketing strategy is based on temperature, and for good reason. Ever had a light beer that wasn't ice cold? Awful!

On the other hand, I had some beer in our unheated solar room the other day (or what I like to call my walk-in beer cooler in the winter). I grabbed a Flower Power and was a bit disappointed that I wasn't getting my usual hop fix. Then I realized the outside temperature was sub-zero, making the temperature in the solar room in the thirties. I allowed the beer to warm a bit and was rewarded with the hoppy deliciousness I had come to expect. 

I remember for years hearing of the horrors of warm beer in places like England. The truth is today most any British bar will have Bud or Miller or Coors Light served ice cold. It is the locally brewed beers, usually on old fashioned pump taps pulling the beer from kegs stored in the basement at around 45 - 55 degrees that are perceived as warm because they're not ice cold. Thing is, they're also good. The reason they don't need to be ice cold? Flavor.

Is Bitter Better?

These are general levels - various brewers may well
color outside these lines.

International Bittering Units (IBUs) is a measurement of a beers perceived bitterness. Beers range from a low of around 5 for some light lagers to a high of 100 for some potent IPAs. (Some brewers claim to exceed the 100 IBU mark, but the official scale tops out at 100). For comparison purposes, Budweiser Lager comes in at around 12 IBUs, Guinness Stout at around 40, while Ithaca's Flower Power weighs in at 75 IBUs. It is the addition of hops that gives beer its bitterness. The balancing act between hops and malts is one of the things that can make beers of a similar style so markedly different. Some brewers prefer to pour on the hops when they make their IPAs, pushing the IBUs into the upper range of the scale - that 70 - 100 range. Others like to balance out the hops with a maltier presence, bringing the IBUs down into the 60s (and really, anything below 60 shouldn't be called an IPA - I'm talking to you Henry Weinhard Woodland Pass IPA at a paltry 43 IBUs). 

So why is bitter a good thing? Don't we associate bitterness with an unpleasant taste? Ever taken a bite of pure baking chocolate? That is unbridled bitterness, and it is not pleasant at all. Obviously many beer drinkers prefer a beer with a low bitterness factor. Thus the popularity of Bud, Miller, Coors etc. But hops don't just impart bitterness, they also give beers flavors variously described as citrusy or piney or spicy or earthy or flowery, depending upon the hop variety. Add to that the flavors contributed by the malts and yeast and now there is a complexity that fills the mouth rather than merely quenching the thirst. 

Next Month - Black or Dark Beers -

Sláinte,

The BOTB Guys