Today is my 26th birthday. To celebrate the occasion I decided to look in my beer cellar and pull out something special. I decided to go with Allagash's Curieux. This beer is one that I was convinced to buy at my local bottle shop. Curieux is a Belgian Triple, a portion of it has been aged in Jim Bean bourbon barrels. The brewers then take the barrel aged beer and blend it with fresh triple.
To be honest I am not a huge fan of most triples. I usually find them to be too harsh with hot alcohols that make them not enjoyable to drink. I'm also very skeptical of wiskey barrel aged beers in general. Don't get me wrong I love a good whiskey, especially bourbon, but when I want whiskey I drink whiskey and when I want beer I drink beer. Some times bourbon barrel aged beers have too much bourbon and not enough beer. None of this is the case with Curieux. It is very well balanced and smooth.
Allagash has made a great triple and improved it with a shot stay in some Jim Bean barrels. This beer does not scream "HEY I HAVE BOURBON IN ME!!!!" instead it says "I have hints of vanilla and coconut that are reminiscent of a good bourbon." It pours a beautiful straw like gold color with a thick head. The aroma is all of the yeast character that you expect from a triple with the addition of the vanilla from the oak. I was expecting to get more bourbon on the nose, but am pleasantly surprised with the subtle oak notes.
The flavor is very smooth. It does not seem to be 11% abv. Again I was expecting to be punched in the face with Bourbon. That is just not the case. The delicious triple is complimented with light vanilla and coconut. There is enough alcohol in this beer that reminds you to sip it, but it is not so evident that you wouldn't be able to drink it quickly if you wanted to. It has a nice biscuit and graham cracker grain backbone. This helps balance some of the sweetness that is evident from the higher alcohol. The beer is very carbonated which helps lift the alcohol sweetness off of the pallet. Even though there is a fair amount of sweetness in this beer it still manages to finish rather dry. All and all a very easy drinking and enjoyable beer.
I think that this beer would pair extremely well with some BBQ. It has a nice spicy flavor and aroma that could stand up to spicy pulled pork. It also has the bourbon flavors so I would recommend using a Jim Beam or other bourbon sauce.
I
apologize for my absence, but work and travel have kept me busy. That
and a wife who wants things done around the house. But what this
does mean is that i have had time to visit two new breweries and try
around 25 new beers. Today I'll start with one of the most
interesting places I have been to in a long time. I'm talking about
Fullsteam brewery in Durham NC.
To
give you an idea about the feel of Fullsteam it's located in a
warehouse. The inside has simple concrete floors with a bar that
seats probably about 20. When the barkeep asked me what I wanted I
simply told him one of everything you make starting from lightest to
darkest. He obliged me and i can tell you right away that i liked
their style. They don't do small tasters of each beer but 6 ounce
glasses. They also had the awesome idea of a dry erase strip down
the middle of their bar which I used to write my beer notes on.
To
start I was given a Beasley's honey white. Now I love white beers but
tend to stay away from anything with honey in it. Then I was told
this white was also made with cracked black pepper . . .which they
toast themselves. I took one sip and was hooked. The sweetness was
perfectly balanced by the heat from the pepper. It was so good I
almost considered abandoning the other beers and have a couple pints
of Beasley's. I knew however I owed it to my readers, and to myself,
to move on.
Next
came Carver's sweet potato lager. Again I was worried that between
the malt and sweet potato it would not be for my palate, or that
cinnamon or some other spice would be added in. What I actually got
was a well balanced lager. The sweetness of the malt was balanced by
the earthiness of the sweet potato. It had a full mouth fell and
would go perfect with any dinner I can think of.
Third
comes their 1 hop rye IPA. I tried to get a hop and malt list but
was unsuccessful. This IPA was bitter at about 64 IBU. The bitterness
was right on for me and not overwhelming on the palate. This would be
perfect for a summer BBQ or after mowing the lawn.
Now
the former should be considered Fullsteam's more normal beers,
because what I got next was weird but in an awesome way! Fourth
came the Working Man's Lunch which is a chocolate brown, but the
twist is that it was made with a Weihenstephan yeast strain that
adds in a distinctive banana flavor. The reasoning behind this
beer was to recreate an old Workman's lunch of an R.C. Cola and a
Moon-pie. And they did it. If you drink between the lines you can
taste this combination. Incredibly weird but surprisingly good!
Fifth
came the toughest beer of the night to drink. Hogwash is their
hickory smoked porter, and let me tell you you can definitely taste
the hickory smoke. A sip of this beer is like a punch smoke on the
mouth. I could however see a good place for this at a summer
barbeque or with a nice North Carolina pulled pork sandwich.
Finally
we come to the last beer offering of the night. Overtime is the
imperial version of the Working Mans Lunch. It has the same
interesting flavor with a little bit more bitterness and a much
higher alcohol content.
While
sampling these beers I had the pleasure of talking with Fullsteam
owner Sean Lilly Wilson. He explained to me that Fullsteam strives
to use as many local southern ingredients as possible. This is
evident in the sweet potato in their lager and the corn they use in
their cream ale, which wasn't on tap the night i was there, that both
come from North Carolina. They also make a winter ale with
persimmons from Florida. Even Chef Jose Andres has taken notice of
the amazing beers produced here for he uses them in one of his
restaurants. He also let me know that not only do they produce
seasonal brews, but they also want to do an IPA for every season.
I
can only hope to make it back to Durham soon to try more new beers
from this up and coming brewery (did i mention they are only about
two years old?). If you are in the area and want to try some
delicious, although different, beers, then make sure to visit
Fullsteam. Trust me when i say you won't be sorry.
As beer people we tend
to look for the most exotic and the rarest beers that we can get our hands on. This
is a fun and a great way to enjoy craft beer. I would like to emphasize
the benefit of drinking from local brewers.
I know that for some of
you, this seems like an absurd thing to say. Some people are lucky enough
to live by a whole bunch of breweries. These people may seldom think of getting some things else. Others don't have local breweries. For me I have one brewery close
enough to me to consider it local, Star Hill Brewery, and I drink their beer
often.
What most people don't
consider is that as soon as the beer leaves the brewery it begins to degrade.
That is why beer nerds like me love to go to brew pubs and tap/tasting
rooms at breweries. When you drink a beer at the brewery you know that
you are getting the product at its best. When you pull a bottle off the
shelf at a large grocery store you can’t be sure that beer was not mistreated.
The likelihood that a beer has degraded increases the further away
that beer gets from the brewery. This seems to be especially true for hoppy beers.
Once a beer leaves the
brewery, depending on the distributor, it may be placed onto hot trucks, end up
staying in a hot warehouse, be put onto another hot truck, and then end up on a
non-refrigerated shelf at the store. All of those steps lead to a
degradation of the beer. If you drink local all of those steps are
shortened. A lot of small local breweries self-distribute. That
means that they skip the entire middle of this process; straight from the
brewery to the shelf. Bottom line the shorter the beer travels that less
chance for degradation of flavor
My last point to make in
this drink local rant is: Buy Beer Locally. I realize that you can get some
craft beer from large grocery stores, but the selection is never as good as a
local bottle shop. For me I shop at a small gourmet store.
They sell fine chocolate, cheese, wine and beer. They do not have a
large beer section, but what they do have is awesome. These places should
be the foundation of the craft beer movement. I can go get a 6-pack of
Sierra Nevada from my local grocer, but I will not be able to talk about the
four different 30th anniversary beers that were released by Sierra Nevada with the cashier (I've tried....they don't seem to appreciate it). I have also never been able to find Dogfish Head 120
minute IPA or a selection of sour beers at Safeway. Most of the fun of drinking
new and exciting craft beer is talking about it (i.e this blog). Shopping at
a local beer store not only gives me the opportunity to grow my beer cellar, it also gives me an additional
opportunity to really geek out on beer.
As I have said before, I like to drink beer. I like to drink it a lot. The problem is.... Craft brewers have gone crazy. It is hard to find any new and interesting beer that is not an imperial this or a double that. Don't get me wrong one of my favorite beer styles is Russian Imperial Stout; but it has its place.... In the winter.....by a fire.....bear skin rug optional. Session beers also have a place.... at a sporting event, a BBQ, or a weekly poker game.
I think that the next big thing is craft beer should be small beers. What makes a beer a session beer? I think a good limit should be 5%abv. There are some great session beers on the market (21st Amendment Bitter American and Full Sail Session Lager). The problem with these beers is that they cost as much as a normal strength beer.
I have no problem paying more for high alcohol beer. The brewers justify the price by saying that the bigger beers use more raw materials. This same logic should apply to session beers. They use less raw materials, they should cost less. In a market where total beer sales declined by 1.3% in 2011 and craft beer sales have increased by 13.2%. I believe that if craft brewers find a way to create great low alcohol beers, and sell them at reasonable prices craft brewers will be able to take more market share from the Macro brewers.
While it’s not JUST for breakfast; some beers make an excellent pair with breakfast food (whether or not its consumed in the morning.) One of my favorite food and beer pairings is a big roasty sweet stout and bacon. This week I've been craving some pancakes and bacon.
The Ultimate Beer Breakfast.
Ricotta pancakes served with a sweet Oktoberfest syrup paired with Imperial Stout and a side of bacon. This paring works on several levels, the most obvious is the roast and bitter notes in the stout are coffee like, but it is much more subtle and complex. The pancakes are tender and fluffy; this complements the luscious mouth-feel of the stout. The Oktoberfest syrup is malty sweet; this accentuates the residual sweetness of the beer. The salty flavor in the bacon can cut through the stout's bold flavors that tend to linger on your pallet. All and all it is a wonderful meal and a great way to fight off a hangover.
Recipe
Ricotta Pancakes
2 Cup Ricotta
4 Eggs, separated
1 Cup buttermilk
1 Cup All Purpose Flour
3 Tablespoons sugar
1 Teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of Salt
Combine ricotta, egg yolks, and buttermilk in a large bowl. Mix the dry ingredients together and then into ricotta buttermilk mixture until fully combined. In a separate bowl whisk the egg whites into stiff peaks, then fold into the batter.
Oktoberfest Syrup
1 22 OZ bottle Oktoberfest
Sugar
Pour beer into a small sauce pan and whisk until it stops foaming. Slowly bring to a boil, the beer will want to boil over so keep a close eye on it. Reduce until it reaches the same consistency to thin maple syrup (roughly by two thirds its original volume). Once its reaches the correct consistency, taste it and add sugar to taste.
Serve pancakes and bacon with butter and drizzle the syrup on top. Pour the stout in an Irish coffee cup and enjoy.
As for the type of stout Founders Breakfast Stout jumps to mind but any roasty sweet stout will work. Other options include North Coast Old Rasputin, Great Divide Yeti or Guinness Foreign Extra Stout.
Is your beer as cold as the arctic
circle? Does the bottle numb your hand so much that you have to
resort to using a beer koozie? Does it have next to no taste due to
that fact that it freezes your taste buds?!? Well then you are
drinking some really bad beer or some good beer way to cold.
I know that it will sound crazy but your beer should not be ice
cold. The macro beer companies out there tout bottles that show
when beer is at the proper temperature, somewhere between around
32-34 degrees, and show images of their bottles and cans being
pulled directly from banks of ice to promote the refreshing
quality of their beverage (I find it hard to call it beer). This
is just a ploy to cover up the fact that their beer tastes awful.
If you don't believe me then go ahead and leave your preferred
major beer brand out to get warm and tell me if you still think
that it tastes good. They are served close to freezing cold to
cover up the bitter taste and lack of real flavor.
Now this is not to say that there are
not some beer types out there that shouldn't be served at a low
temperature. A German Pilsner is typically served in a smaller glass
to insure that the beer at the bottom of your glass is still nice and
cold. However, there are many beers out there where you will miss
out on much of the flavor if you serve it at the wrong temperature.
Until just as recently I was just as much at fault as doing this as
everybody. I would just throw the beer in the fridge and then pull
one out to drink whenever, but a little research and lots of taste
testing was enough to change my mind. Just the other night I was
enjoying a Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout. I did, out of habit, keep
it in the fridge. This will be reconciled as soon as I build my own
beer cellar. I took the stout out about 30 minutes before I was
going to drink it to let it warm up. I poured it in a glass and took
a sip. I was rewarded with an amazing amount of chocolate and
toasted malt flavor. As I continued to hold the glass in my hands
that chocolate became even heavier and a hint of coffee entered the
picture. If I had drunk this at fridge temperature I would probably
have liked it, but allowing it to warm up made me love it.
Let's face it, those of you who drink beer from the major
companies do so because it is cheap, cold and gets you drunk.
That's not what I'm out there to do. I want my beer to be
exciting and full of flavor. For those interested there are a few
ways to go about having beer at the right temp. Those with some
money to spend can buy a wine cooler. These allow for you to set
a very specific temperature for your bottles. For those like me
you can just pull it out of the fridge a little early. Pouring it
into a glass will allow it to warm up faster. I know it might
seem like a lot of work for a beer but trust me when I say it is
worth it. Below I will list a basic guideline for different types
of beer. I hope this helps to make your beer journeys long and
full of flavor.
-Thomas-
Lager beers should be kept in the refrigerator before
serving at 9°C/48°F.
The light American and Australian lagers should be
server at a lower temperature of 6°C/42°F.
Ales should never be over-chilled, or it will develop a
haze and loose their fruity-flavors. 12-13°C/54-56°F
Very strong ales should be served at room temperature.
You can always look online for specific beers or check
out the bottle, some companies will list it there.
Yup you read that correctly. A beer cellar. No, not wine....Beer. You may wonder; Didn't those old Budweiser commercials teach me that old beer is bad beer?
Well for the american light lagers that Budweiser produces, that may be true. For some craft beer its just not the case. You may also ask why would you age a beer? To be honest, not more that a year ago, I would have been asking the same question.
My fascination with aging beer started with my third batch of home-brew. I decided to make an imperial stout. I also decided that I could craft my own recipe. Now this may not seem like such a bad thing. It was.... Trust me, it was as if I had just learned how to cook and I decided I could make a five course meal. When the stout had finished fermenting it tasted like bitter, over-roasted jet-fuel. So not wanting to dump it out, and because it was 9% abv, I decided to let it age. After about 9 months I put it in bottles. After 11 months it was a wonderfully smooth stout, with just the right amount of alcohol warmth. I still have several bottles and they are still getting better.
That was when I thought:
If age improves a bad beer, how would it affect a great beer?
Age can take a good beer and make it great. Just a few months can take the rough edges of a young beer and smooth them out to make a much more rounded experience.
Beer cellars have been around for a very long time. It is tradition in the Belgium Trappist Abbeys. Some of these breweries have been aging their beers for years before releasing them for sale. They realized that the beer tasted better after a year or more of maturation.
It is really easy to cellar beer at home.
The most important aspect of aging beer at home is choosing the correct beers to put in the cellar. Some styles are not meant to age. In fact some styles of beer begin to deteriorate as soon as they leave the brewery. This is where the phrase "brewery fresh" comes from. Examples of styles that should not be aged are IPA's (or any Hop Forward Beers), American Light Lagers (or most light low alcohol, low flavor beers. The beers that will benefit from age are generally higher alcohol, and bolder malt flavored styles. Such as Barleywine, Old Ale, Imperial Stouts and most sour beers.
The next thing to consider when starting a home beer cellar is where. The most important things to consider is temperature and light. You do not want to cellar your beers in direct sunlight. Ultraviolet lights will create a chemical reaction that make beer skunky. You also do not want to store your beer in your attic. The optimal temperature to keep beer is at around 54 degrees F and with as little temperature swings as possible. If you don't have a room at 54F thats not a problem. If you have a basement or a closet that is surrounded by interior walls it should work fine. Lastly always store your bottles vertically, do not lay them on their side. Beer will age better if stored upright, it keeps the amount of surface area of beer in contact to air to a minimum. It will also allow for any yeast sediment to settle to the bottom of the bottle.
The last, and for me the most interesting, point to consider is Vertical Tasting. A vertical tasting is when you take several vintages of the same beer and taste them back to back. This will really give you an idea of how a certain beer is holding up. When designing your beer cellar for vertical tasting the most important thing to do is buy at least two, preferably three, bottles of each beer that you want to age. This would give you the ability to drink one bottle now (who doesn't like some instant gratification?) one bottle to drink in a year, and one to drink once your will power fails. The true trick to vertical tasting is to get three bottles of the same beer year after year.
Cheers
~ Ben
P.S In the event of a Zombie Apocalypse screw all of the above and drink the best beer you have first!
I think that this beer would pair extremely well with some BBQ. It has a nice spicy flavor and aroma that could stand up to spicy pulled pork. It also has the bourbon flavors so I would recommend using a Jim Beam or other bourbon sauce. 
