The regular schedule of beverage drinking kind of got out of whack this weekend, thanks to a late night high-profile football game and the tailgate associated with it. I did, however, maintain my beer drinking ways all the way through tonight.
On Friday I briefly posted about the beer that I was going to drink later, the Southern Tier Pumking -- holy moly was it good. Perfect balance of spices, pumpkin, and yum. I actually had a 22 oz bomber of it so I shared with a few people. Unanimous consensus of deliciousness. I'm actually going to pick up another one, or two, to keep around for the holidays. It will be absolutely perfect with Thanksgiving dinner.
Saturday finally showed up, and if this were a blog about my personal life I would go on and on about everything Seminole football, but its not. Its about beer. With it being a special day I figured it would be a great day to dedicate to some of the homebrews that have been cooked up in my house for the past few months. Actually had 4 different brews that I enjoyed and shared with friends and random people throughout the day.First up was the Black IPA that has been dubbed the Notorious I.P.A. First of two out of the 'hip hop series' that we've brewed, this is one that honestly could go places. First time brewing it and easily is the best one so far. Roasty, hint of chocolate, and finishes nice and hoppy like the IPA it is. Surprisingly this one came out very crisp and clean, with tons of flavor. Even though it is very dark (a little darker than a brown beer bottle), you can still see how clear it is. For sure we will be tinkering with this recipe and letting as many people as possible try it.
Next was the second track of the series; a west coast IPA that is aptly named 2Hop. Took a slightly different route when making this brew by only using two types of hops, and adding both of them for each hop addition during the brew. Overall I think it is a great starting point and is prototypical to the west coast style. It has a big finish of hop flavor that is both floral/aromatic and bitter. But definitely in a good way. The color came out great, and is the orange/brown/gold you'd expect to see. Great for tailgating because it will pair well against spicy or aggressive flavored food.
Third in line was also the darkest one we've brewed up so far. It was an Oatmeal Stout that has yet to be named. Remember back when I wasn't the biggest fan of dark beers? That is rapidly changing. The stout still needs some time to get better with age, but it is still quite good. Very smooth and chocolately, not as burned-roasted that you can find sometimes. I think that using oatmeal helped to balance out some of that, and even give it a different type of sweetness you can't find with other grains. Not the best dark beer ever, but certainly a respectable first attempt.
Lastly was the tailgate brew: an amber ale we named the Gold'n Garnet Ale. A 3.8% abv brew that is easy to drink and still has flavor to it. I happen to really like this one, but did get some constructive feedback on how to make it better. The thing about this brew is that because it is low in alcohol you can have many of them over the course of the day and still be standing by the time kickoff rolls around. Because as you should know, the 12th man never sits.Now that brings us to Sunday and Today. The two beers for these spots are the Brew Dog Hardcore IPA and the Founder's Dry Hopped Pale Ale. I want to do these two beers justice and give them a little more of an in depth post. Since I've already written a small novel I will defer until tomorrow. Both of these were really good beers, and the Founder's you can find almost anywhere on the eastern half of the US.
I sure know how to build the drama and make you come back for more, don't I?
No comments:
Post a Comment