Ymm, Beer

[devildeac]

Reviews to follow. In a word, awesome.

Their ales sounded like that after perusing the website a few weeks ago.

[devildeac]

Starting out to be an excellent weekend...

Q4-Taxman Brewing Company

11.8.17

Brettanomyces Saison Ale cellared with grape must

I could almost stop there...

Poured half a serving from a 750 ml capped bottle into a small Gouden Carolus chalice with dinner. Color was a clean, dark amber with hints of ruby. Head was small and off-white. Nose was tart, sour, cherry-apple cider vinegar. Tastes were nearly identical with some barnyard funk, red zinfandel, lemon and berry, too. IBUs were 31 and ABV was 8%, so an imperial saison. Paired exquisitely with a plate of freshly baked ziti casserole and bolognese sauce and smothered with parmesan and mozzarella cheeses and accompanied by a fresh garden salad. I'll finish the rest with leftovers tomorrow night. Ingredienets:

Malt: Pilsner, Wheat (IN), Spec B Rye (IN), Carafa, Crystal, Chocolate and Candi Sugar
Hops: Challenger, Mosaic and Loral
Yeast: Farmhouse Saisonz (and Brett, too, as above)
Aged On: Wine barrels, grape must
Batch size: 2500 bottles
Batch Number: A0301
Cost: $8 (IIRC) after my 20% quantity discount

For this ale at this price, this was a absolute steal and I should have bought a case of this to trade/share. It'd be worth a trip to the brewery for the Indiana crowd here if they had any remaining in their storage cellar.

[Reilly]

MTSU will have a beer garden at its stadium this year, with microbrews tied to opponents. Duke plays there September 14.

https://collegefootballtalk.nbcsport...each-opponent/

“We are thrilled to partner with our fermentation science program to provide another element to providing an unparalleled game experience for our fans,” Director of Athletics Chris Massaro said.

[devildeac]

MTSU will have a beer garden at its stadium this year, with microbrews tied to opponents. Duke plays there September 14.

https://collegefootballtalk.nbcsport...each-opponent/

“We are thrilled to partner with our fermentation science program to provide another element to providing an unparalleled game experience for our fans,” Director of Athletics Chris Massaro said.

Nice find.

Hmmm, road trip, anyone?

[accfanfrom1970]

Advertising itself as a brewery and urban winery, they are not located in Scott's Addition in Richmond, but in Carytown. Carytown is sort of a local art, shopping and eating spot, been a go to spot for decades, near the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (but not close enough to walk). Garden Grove is the only brewery in the area. They grow their own ingredients or get local. Everything is small batch with little bottling or distribution. Motto - "we strive to blur, erase and rewrite the lines that define style, beer, wine, cider, and our own expectations." Because they do beer and wine, they wine barrel age a number of their beers - no bba aging. They had at least 10 beers I wanted to try, only got to three, daughter had two more, wife had a wine.

1st up - The Knight
A Belgian tripel. Saaz and Mandarinia Bavaria hops. Coriander, grains of paradise, and a touch of hibiscus added. Part of their Trappist trio series. 9.5% abv, 37 ibu, 1.079 OG. You get the coriander and a bit of pepper (not hot) up front, some citrus in the middle, a bit of white bread and malt on the finish. Fantastic tripel, unique and tasty.
2nd up - Death
Belgian Quadruple. Another part of their Trappist series. Aged 14 months in Cabernet Sauvignon barrels. Really brings out dark fruit flavors. 10% abv, 41 ibu, 1.086 OG. Aromas of dark fruit, fig, red wine, vanilla. Toasty malt flavor, taste the fig, red wine and oak. Listed as a two time award winner and I can see why. Just another exceptional and unique brew. But not as unique as my last sample.
3rd up - Synthesis
A hybrid between a barleywine, a port and a mead. Instead of a barleywine traditionally made with 100% barley, this has equal parts barley, Virginia grown grapes and orange blossom and wildflower honey. Then its aged 14 months in Syrah and Cab Sauvignon barrels, followed by another 8 months in steel. Advertised as a true fusion of beer and wine. Ready? 16% abv, 11 ibus and 1,14 OG. This is one to sip, only served in 6 oz. pours. Not sure how to describe it. No beer carbonation, pours like a port. You get the honey up front, some oak and vanilla, raisin and fig. But it still has characteristics of a barleywine. I enjoyed it a lot, but its an after dinner drink.

Lucky for me the only two beers they bottle are the Synthesis and the Death, I got both. And I can't wait to go back and try them again, along with their belgian dubbel, an imperial amber rye ale, a chocolate imperial stout and a fig brown ale, among others.

Daughter had Superstitous Sour - belgian sour with the herbs lemon verbena and lemongrass. Citrus, lemon, grassy. 5.8% and only 8 ius.
Also had Gold and Greed DIPA. Brewed with eldorado, citra, and mandarina bavaria hops. 8.2% abv, 33 ibus. fruit aromas like tangerine and pineapple, tastes of orange and apricot. Both also excellent.

[mattman91]

A week late is better than never, yeah?

I've been drinking less beer since my month of going dry. I try to limit myself to 2-3 beers a week, usually only on the weekend. Don't worry, it has nothing to do with an alcohol problem. I've been changing my diet to lose weight. I'm down 20 pounds since the beginning of the year and would like to lose another 20 by the end of the year.

[mattman91]

A week late is better than never, yeah?

I've been drinking less beer since my month of going dry. I try to limit myself to 2-3 beers a week, usually only on the weekend. Don't worry, it has nothing to do with an alcohol problem. I've been changing my diet to lose weight. I'm down 20 pounds since the beginning of the year and would like to lose another 20 by the end of the year.

I don't remember the names of the four beers in the flight that I had but I do remember the styles.

Up first was a 7.3% saison (btw, most of their selections were 6.5%+)

Fluffy head with a moderately funky aroma. Heavy muscadine grape flavor which was noticed immediately. One of the best of the flight imo.

[devildeac]

Advertising itself as a brewery and urban winery, they are not located in Scott's Addition in Richmond, but in Carytown. Carytown is sort of a local art, shopping and eating spot, been a go to spot for decades, near the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (but not close enough to walk). Garden Grove is the only brewery in the area. They grow their own ingredients or get local. Everything is small batch with little bottling or distribution. Motto - "we strive to blur, erase and rewrite the lines that define style, beer, wine, cider, and our own expectations." Because they do beer and wine, they wine barrel age a number of their beers - no bba aging. They had at least 10 beers I wanted to try, only got to three, daughter had two more, wife had a wine.

1st up - The Knight
A Belgian tripel. Saaz and Mandarinia Bavaria hops. Coriander, grains of paradise, and a touch of hibiscus added. Part of their Trappist trio series. 9.5% abv, 37 ibu, 1.079 OG. You get the coriander and a bit of pepper (not hot) up front, some citrus in the middle, a bit of white bread and malt on the finish. Fantastic tripel, unique and tasty.
2nd up - Death
Belgian Quadruple. Another part of their Trappist series. Aged 14 months in Cabernet Sauvignon barrels. Really brings out dark fruit flavors. 10% abv, 41 ibu, 1.086 OG. Aromas of dark fruit, fig, red wine, vanilla. Toasty malt flavor, taste the fig, red wine and oak. Listed as a two time award winner and I can see why. Just another exceptional and unique brew. But not as unique as my last sample.
3rd up - Synthesis
A hybrid between a barleywine, a port and a mead. Instead of a barleywine traditionally made with 100% barley, this has equal parts barley, Virginia grown grapes and orange blossom and wildflower honey. Then its aged 14 months in Syrah and Cab Sauvignon barrels, followed by another 8 months in steel. Advertised as a true fusion of beer and wine. Ready? 16% abv, 11 ibus and 1,14 OG. This is one to sip, only served in 6 oz. pours. Not sure how to describe it. No beer carbonation, pours like a port. You get the honey up front, some oak and vanilla, raisin and fig. But it still has characteristics of a barleywine. I enjoyed it a lot, but its an after dinner drink.

Lucky for me the only two beers they bottle are the Synthesis and the Death, I got both. And I can't wait to go back and try them again, along with their belgian dubbel, an imperial amber rye ale, a chocolate imperial stout and a fig brown ale, among others.

Daughter had Superstitous Sour - belgian sour with the herbs lemon verbena and lemongrass. Citrus, lemon, grassy. 5.8% and only 8 ius.
Also had Gold and Greed DIPA. Brewed with eldorado, citra, and mandarina bavaria hops. 8.2% abv, 33 ibus. fruit aromas like tangerine and pineapple, tastes of orange and apricot. Both also excellent.

This is outstanding. We're not going to have enough time in Richmond that weekend...

[devildeac]

A week late is better than never, yeah?

I've been drinking less beer since my month of going dry. I try to limit myself to 2-3 beers a week, usually only on the weekend. Don't worry, it has nothing to do with an alcohol problem. I've been changing my diet to lose weight. I'm down 20 pounds since the beginning of the year and would like to lose another 20 by the end of the year.

Health and weight control >>>>>> Ymm, Beer posts. With about 50% of the US population now defined as overweight or obese, you're doing exactly the right thing now when you're young. Congrats on the weight loss and changing your habits/lifestyle!

[fuse]

A week late is better than never, yeah?

I've been drinking less beer since my month of going dry. I try to limit myself to 2-3 beers a week, usually only on the weekend. Don't worry, it has nothing to do with an alcohol problem. I've been changing my diet to lose weight. I'm down 20 pounds since the beginning of the year and would like to lose another 20 by the end of the year.

Congratulations!
I have similar goals without similar results.
Great work and focus!

[devildeac]

Mas Agave, Rum Barrel-Aged Pineapple Thief, Moscow Mule and St. Benedict's Dubbel in the house for future sipping and trading.

[accfanfrom1970]

Their ales sounded like that after perusing the website a few weeks ago.

Veil review coming, by tomorrow for sure. Don’t know what they’ll be selling come July, but they had an awesome selection to go yesterday.

[devildeac]

Veil review coming, by tomorrow for sure. Don’t know what they’ll be selling come July, but they had an awesome selection to go yesterday.

Guess I'd better be sure we haven't maxed out our credit card limit before our trip...

[MartyClark]

Heading to Chicago this weekend for a family reunion.

My niece and her husband recently bought a farm in Friendship, Wisconsin. I've asked them to deliver some New Glarus brewery's Wisconsin Belgian Red. Advertised as having a pound of cherries in every bottle, maybe 6 pack. They agree but my niece's husband says the beer is terrible and tastes like gummy bears.

Any thoughts? I've also asked them to bring Spotted Cow as a back up.

[devildeac]

Heading to Chicago this weekend for a family reunion.

My niece and her husband recently bought a farm in Friendship, Wisconsin. I've asked them to deliver some New Glarus brewery's Wisconsin Belgian Red. Advertised as having a pound of cherries in every bottle, maybe 6 pack. They agree but my niece's husband says the beer is terrible and tastes like gummy bears.

Any thoughts? I've also asked them to bring Spotted Cow as a back up.

Blasphemy!

Spotted Cow is a very good beer and the one for which they're famous. I'd have them bring their 12 beer sampler pack if they still package it and that should contain 3 Spotted Cows. I'd lobby heavily for them to bring 4 packs of Raspberry Tart and Serendipity along with the Belgian Red, too.

Here's beeradvocate's list of top 100 fruit beers:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/lists/style/9/

[fuse]

Heading to Chicago this weekend for a family reunion.

My niece and her husband recently bought a farm in Friendship, Wisconsin. I've asked them to deliver some New Glarus brewery's Wisconsin Belgian Red. Advertised as having a pound of cherries in every bottle, maybe 6 pack. They agree but my niece's husband says the beer is terrible and tastes like gummy bears.

Any thoughts? I've also asked them to bring Spotted Cow as a back up.

I don’t know your niece’s husband, so I will assume he is a very fine fellow. He also has a terrible palate for at least one world class beer.

I’ve never had a bad New Glarus beer. Quite the opposite, in fact. I’m not sure offhand if you offered me a New Glarus beer and a similar beer from another brewery how many of the other brewery beers I’d select over the New Glarus. I suspect very few.

My advice? Get them to bring you as many New Glarus beers in every flavour to whatever extent your interest and wallet can bear. You won’t be disappointed if you enjoy good beer.

[devildeac]

I don’t know your niece’s husband, so I will assume he is a very fine fellow. He also has a terrible palate for at least one world class beer.

I’ve never had a bad New Glarus beer. Quite the opposite, in fact. I’m not sure offhand if you offered me a New Glarus beer and a similar beer from another brewery how many of the other brewery beers I’d select over the New Glarus. I suspect very few.

My advice? Get them to bring you as many New Glarus beers in every flavour to whatever extent your interest and wallet can bear. You won’t be disappointed if you enjoy good beer.

I knew I could count on fuse as this is even a better idea than mine. When we took our fall 2016 Midwest beer-cation, AKA the Duke football journey, I bought $650 worth of beer and I'd guess about $350 of it was New Glarus products. Fuse and I split the bill equally, so we aren't making wild/random recommendations.

I hope the MartyClark family has a fabulous family reunion in Chicago and returns with a large load of New Glarus brews and some more from the Chicago area, too.

[fuse]

Tonight you get a good story as part of a beer adventure.

Met some friends at a local Irish pub to listen to a local band they like.

The band has some older lady “groupies”, dancing in front of the stage and with the lead singer and guitarist.

One of the ladies who appears to be both the oldest of the bunch and extremely high energy comes over to our table and announces:
“Not bad for an 86 year old woman who has been married 64 years!”

With a smile, I ask her what her secret is.
She says, be friends and communicate.
Then with a sly grin, she shares “my husband would say great sex.”

A few songs after that, she invited me to dance.
I’m certainly no professional like devildeac, and I enjoy the dance.

This short story has been brought to you by Smithwick’s.

I’ve not had one in a loong time, and it was excellent.
A bit on the sweet side.

Cheers all! 🍻

[devildeac]

Tonight you get a good story as part of a beer adventure.

Met some friends at a local Irish pub to listen to a local band they like.

The band has some older lady “groupies”, dancing in front of the stage and with the lead singer and guitarist.

One of the ladies who appears to be both the oldest of the bunch and extremely high energy comes over to our table and announces:
“Not bad for an 86 year old woman who has been married 64 years!”

With a smile, I ask her what her secret is.
She says, be friends and communicate.
Then with a sly grin, she shares “my husband would say great sex.”

A few songs after that, she invited me to dance.
I’m certainly no professional like devildeac, and I enjoy the dance.

This short story has been brought to you by Smithwick’s.

I’ve not had one in a loong time, and it was excellent.
A bit on the sweet side.

Cheers all! 🍻

Too funny. Mrs dd and I went out dancing tonight and I had the pleasure and honor of doing a Rumba with a lady who was quite proud of her ability to continue her ballroom dancing as she's about to turn 88 next week. Her husband died probably a decade ago and she is rarely without a dance partner at any of the functions she regularly attends. I didn't ask her about sex.

I'm having a Green Man Porter as I type. More tomorrow.

[devildeac]

From last PM:

Porter-Green Man Brewing

Best by 02/12/19

Beer "stolen" from older daughter as partial remuneration and thirst-quenching for counseling at summer canine boot camp for not one, but two weeks.

Allowed to warm for about 15 minutes out of the fridge before pouring a 12 ounce bottle into a standard pint glass. Dark brown in color with a generous, mocha head. Pretty good representation of the traditional English porter which they mention proudly on the label. Aromas of milk chocolate, dark caramel and herbal/earthy hops, followed by a smooth, creamy mouthfeel with tastes to match the scents with hints of coffee to finish. No adjuncts or aging. IBUs are 40 and ABV listed at 6%, both fairly typical for the style. Nothing fancy here, just a very good, traditional porter.