Whitewater IPA (with apricots)

History: I got this from a Samuel Adams sampler 12 pack from my daughter. I had the first one at a family gathering, and liked it so well I took it home for a formal test. Later today I plan to check availability as a stand alone product.

Serving: As I usually do, I chilled the brew to 40F and held it there for two days. The 3oz tasting mug was chilled to 50F for control. On the pour I got the result you see to the right. If you think that looks a bit cloudy, you are right, it is. Perhaps it is from the apricots added to balance the bitterness of the hops (see the neck label below), but there definitely was stuff in the brew. The head was tall, even with a fairly gentle pour, a bit more than half down the side of the glass, and the rest down the middle. Not excessive head, but just dumping this brew out of the bottle might result in a mug of head.

First impression: Hops, a sour and slightly citrus aroma. Sometimes a citrus aroma is a hint that the brew was fermented at an elevated temperature, but since this has fruit added to balance the flavor I gave it the benefit of the doubt and decided it was an expected and desired characteristic, and that the cloudy appearance was also expected, as mentioned on the neck label. The color is straw, my standard backdrop may make it look a touch darker than it is, this was shot by natural daylight.

The taste was great. A strong but not overpowering impression of hops, but overall a complex mix of hops, malt, alcohol, and a hint of fruit. If you like brews with a complex taste and perfect balance of flavors you will like this a lot. You will definitely not get the whole impression on the first sip, maybe not with the first bottle. If you usually choose brews where there is little definition between the flavors offered, you may not care for this one, particularly if you equate IPA with stunning loads of hops. Yes, I like those too, watch the next few reviews, there are several IPAs with much stronger hop character. I will note that the hop taste got a bit stronger as the brew warmed to 50-55F, but it was a small change, the balance remained amazing.

Food pairing: I rarely if ever fix food just to try with a taste test, if I like a brew I will taste other bottles with assorted foods. I'm far more likely to grab a cold brew to match the menu than select a food to have with a sampling. That's why my food paring for this IPA was jalapeno poppers, some stuffed with cream cheese, some with cheddar. Awesome match, the IPA didn't overwhelm the more subtle flavor of the cream cheese, but the fruit stood up to the sharpness of the Cabot sharp cheddar and the heat of the peppers.

Being a guy who grows his own hot peppers, I grabbed a fresh jalapeno from the veggie drawer. Store bought rather than home grown, even in a snow-less winter, this is northern New York and the only thing that grows well in the winter is my heating bill. Since most jalapeno and similar peppers are hotter near the stem, I cut a slice from the stem end, about 1/8 inch (3mm if you like) complete with the seeds and pith where the hot lives. Whoa, good pepper! Forehead sweating, tongue burning, makes the scalp itch, time for a big swig of IPA! And that was a pairing made in heaven, the fruit cooled the heat a bit, the hops and malts complimented the taste of the pepper, and the whole effect was a roaring success, which continued until I finished the bottle and consigned the rest of that particular pepper to my "use in cooking" bowl, where it got used in stuffed peppers (report on that pairing coming).

Overall impression: I am known in my local brew store as someone who buys a lot of single bottles for variety. I intend to bring home a 12 pack of this IPA if they have it. This is destined to be one of my regular rotation of session beers, those which I enjoy over the course of an evening. While I have added two brews to my "change of pace" list so far this year, I rarely have more than one. This IPA just "wears well" and if I have one with dinner I will enjoy another with a little snack later in the evening, and maybe one more as a nightcap to balance Craig Ferguson. I like this brew a lot!

In the cooler: a few more IPAs, a hefewiesen, and a sampler pack from Rock Art Brewery.

Also on tap: a post on chill haze, seamonkeys, live yeast, and visual effects in brewing.

Eurotrash Pils - Southern Tier Brewing

About the the "Pils" style of beer

If you want to just see what I thought about this brew, skip down to the "What's it Like?" section, otherwise read on and learn a bit of beer style and history.

Pilsner - Plzen Czechoslovakia 1842 sometimes spelled Pilsener. This was the first "light beer" commercially brewed (as far as my reading tells me). Previously all beer was dark, caused by toasting the malt before using it to brew. One of the characteristics of this style is that it is brewed with soft water (low mineral content). There are two styles of Pilsner still brewed currently, the Bohemian Pilsner, which is quite true to the original style, and German Pilsner, which has more hops and a less balance of hops and malt than the original. The German style is often called just "Pils" although that's not always the case, which is true of a lot of beer nomenclature. There is also Noble Pils, which is a Pils brewed with a blend of five "Noble hops[1]" and offered from time to time in the US by Samuel Adams Brewing in Boston.

Pilsner Lager - is a Pilsner brewed using the lagering cold brewing process. Topic for another day, ask in comments if you want to encourage me.

What's it like? It's like a perfect example of the style in the style book, and being a Pils it is a bit hoppy, although not wildly so, it has no aspirations to be an IPA, but it has a distinct sour aroma when poured, and a hop taste when you drink it. Note that many descriptions of the original Pilsner style mention a "creamy head" which was not the case with this beer, although the head was composed of small bubbles, but not the tiny bubbles and high surface tension I usually would call creamy. Lasted nicely, didn't go flat, but unexceptional.

Serving temperature. I normally chill beer to 40F and the mug to 50F, then let the beer warm to 50F or warmer. In many cases the brew will gain flavor, both hops and malt, as it gets warmer. Occasionally the taste will change markedly, but that's not typical. This brew tasted much better as it got warmer, and it kept getting better to about 60F, at which point the bottle was gone, "consumed in testing" as material analysts sometimes say. Several beer books suggest serving this style at 45-55F, so my observation that it tasted best to me in that range is expected, although I tried the beer before I read the book, no power of suggestion involved. I would find a place in my little 50F fridge for this, along with some stouts, porters, and IPAs which are better at that point. There are beers which come in trick cans which change the label to read "super cold" when they are cold enough to freeze if they didn't contain alcohol. This is not such a brew, and should not be treated as such!

How did I like it? Rather a lot, although I'm not sure about it as a session beer to drink all evening. Because I found it much better not over chilled, a bit of care in serving will improve the experience.

Food pairings: I thought it went well with vegetables and dip, it works well with a corned beef on rye with wasabi mustard, but one bottle and one lunch are not enough to really test the range. I would expect most meals to go well, the beer is well balanced to avoid overwhelming most dishes, while being strong enough to match spicy or dishes like sauerbraten, even if it wouldn't be my first choice.

 In the cooler: Samuel Adams Whitewater IPA.


[1] The hops normally called "Noble hops" are Hallertauer, Mittelfrüh, Tettnanger, Spalter, and Saaz hops.

Lavender Ale - Homebrew Contest Winner

Samuel Adams holds a Longshot American Homebrew Contest and this is one of the three produced and sold under the Samuel Adams label. This is an ale, 5.5% ABV, made with honey and lavender leaves. The ale was chilled to 40F and kept cold for several weeks. There were two bottles of each brew in the six pack, and my daughter said she "kind of liked" this, so I saved it for her. But it took up room and after a while I decided to retest it myself. The mug was chilled, as usual, to 50F.

The pour was a sort of straw color, and the head was moderate, pretty nice looking mug of beer, actually. The aroma... was lavender. I could convince myself that it had hops under the flowers, but I'm not sure I would have tried if it wasn't labeled "Ale" and from Samuel Adams.

The first taste, and rest of the mug, was just lavender. No malt, no hops, no honey, not even alcohol,just lavender, like some dollar store cheap perfume. As the taste faded, the aftertaste was hops, and a touch of alcohol. Not a particularly great aftertaste, but a hint that without the lavender leaves this might be an okay to pretty nice ale.

I let it warm to 50F, the lavender got stronger, if anything, and more so at 60F. I tried the trick of sniffing some fresh ground coffee to "cleanse my nose" as my wife used to call it, and I don't think sniffing the litter box would have recalibrated my nose on this one. I have to say the only food pairing I tried was fresh raw jalapeno pepper slices, This pepper was hot enough to make my forehead sweat and my scalp itch, but the combination was not a success in terms of tasting pleasure, two wrongs do not make a right. The lavender is overpowering.

Information on the neck label

I looked at my notes from my first taste about two months ago, and I liked it somewhat better. I noted that it was okay but not my thing and that my daughter and her boyfriend liked it. I suspect that the lavender character gets stronger with age, this bottle sat at 60F for six weeks or so, and while I don't think that's bad storage, it may have let the lavender come out of the leaves and into the brew. This might be quite drinkable fresh brewed, and if you try it after this review, drop me a comment. I'll pass.

In the cooler: Up in a few days, a pils style brew, I'm going to look at my beer styles books and see if there's anything to share. I'll talk a bit about "noble pils" as well, and tell you what's in the cooler after that.

Adirondack "Bear Naked" Amber Ale

There's the Bear

From the "buy by the bottle" rack at Glenville Beverage. I've seen this before, and maybe even tried it without writing it up, but today it's worth a retest.

The color is sort of a dark straw if your screen shows it like mine, and while the head was thin it didn't go away before the brew was all gone. That's fine with me, "big head" goes poorly with a mustache and gives me a chance to offend someone by blowing foam all over the bar. As long as it doesn't go flat I'm happy. I've seen amber ales with more red in the color, but it usually comes with more caramel taste, so there's a choice.

The aroma is subtle, and pretty balanced between malt and hops. It has a very nice hop flavor, fading to an okay aftertaste. The aftertaste was nice, but not exceptional. The flavor got a bit stronger as the brew warmed to 50F, not a bad thing to have your beer taste even better as you sip it. I hate beers which taste worse with every sip and which tempt you to chug them because they become pretty insipid as they get above the initial serving temperature.

Diminishing taste is good for sales, but not for moderation. I particularly notice the loss of flavor in beers made with things other than malt, like rice for example, and when a beer uses trick packaging to invite you to serve it "super cold" I wonder why the brewer wants your taste buds numb.

What the brewer wanted

Here's a little essay from the label, on bears and how the ale is brewed. Fancy label, good ingredients in the wort, brewer who knew what he was trying to do. And for all that you are rewarded with a brew which is complex and well balanced, plenty of flavor for serious beer snobs, but balanced so as not to offend the senses of people who normally drink mass produced pseudo lagers, or even light beers. If I were hosting a party and wanted to please most of the beer crowd, this would be a good choice.

A note on bears: they are wild animals, stay away from them. Fear of humans is your defense, don't give it up by feeding them or getting close in search of a good picture. My wife and I used to go bear hunting during NY "early bear" season, tenting in the woods, and bears may suddenly decide to "un-friend" you for no reason at any time.

It goes on my change of pace list, contrary to what my friends say I don't always drink IPA.

Politics raises its head in the "Race for the cure"

Introduction

I have a shooting vest decorated with a number of pink ribbons, each of which represents a weekend of my time, setting up, running, and cleaning up after a charity clay bird shoot to raise money for breast cancer research and treatment. My wife died of cancer (not breast cancer) and I give my time and money to several cancer related organizations.

But:

After hiring failed gubernatorial candidate and anti-abortion activist Karen Handel as senior vice president of public policy, the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation, a leading breast cancer support group, adopted a policy preventing funding for groups under investigation for misuse of funds. Then Representative Cliff Stearns, a Florida Republican and chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, started an investigation to see if Planned Parenthood had used federal funds for abortion. That investigation seems to have been tabled "waiting for documents," leaving a stalled investigation, no need to prove wrongdoing, and thus permanently blocking Komen Foundation funding for breast exams benefiting women who choose Planned Parenthood for their gynecological care.

After this action created a backlash from a number of prominent people, and resignation of a number of Komen officials, the reason was suddenly changed, and it was "because there are other local providers of the exam." And do clients regularly see those providers for other services and get reminded on a "while you're here" basis? Then it was announced that the "other local providers" had better equipment than Planned Parenthood.

And finally the Komen Foundation announced that it would continue to fund those clinics "where there is no other local provider." Really? While the moribund investigation is still ongoing?

I wish

Planned Parenthood would set up a fund to be used just for cancer screenings, to which donations could be made without political implications, by anyone.

I Wish "separation of church and state" meant politicians wouldn't feel free to use the machinery of government to oppress people who's beliefs are not the same as the politicians, or to besmirch the reputation of such people or organizations. Isn't it time for the witch hunts to end?

Apple beer? Really? Shipyard Applehead Ale

Applehead Ale

I got a bottle of Shipyard "Applehead" Ale just to try it. As you can see, it has a cool guy on the label, and if it looks a lot like the "Headless Horseman" from the Rip Van Winkle legend, I guess any guy on a rearing horse with a vegetable or fruit for a head would look similar.

Okay, other than the odd name and label, what does this brew have going for it? Well, it's from Shipyard, I've been going to Maine for the summer for decades, so I have respect for them, even if I don't like every style they offer.

I chilled the brew to 40F and held it cold for two days, then opened and poured into a mug cooled to 50F. It had a nice head and good color, not deep yellow but darker than straw. Click the label to the right, there are more images there.


The aroma was apple. No surprise, what else might one expect? The first sip was apple as well, not subtle, not a hint of apple, but dominantly apple! Now I am surprised, this is not an ale with traditional taste and a breath of apple, this tastes like apple cider fermented with ale yeast. And after the third sip or so, not quite as tart as hard cider, just a touch less of that "tangy" character of a good cider. I confess I did a lot of sipping trying to map this brew into the cider or ale space, without being really successful. Tastes like hard cider lacking the tangy character is a close as I can come.

Food pairing - What would go with this? I confess I didn't think it would go with cheese, or chips with or without dip, it just has that sensation of sweetness which calls for something else.

Lunch

Since I was hungry, I decided to have a turkey and Swiss cheese on seeded rye, and see how it went. I've had cider with that and it isn't my favorite but is okay and beats water. And that describes how my lunch went, "beats water" is about all I can say good about it, wasn't bad, but certainly wasn't on my list of things to have again. I normally don't have beer with lunch, but I wanted to try this brew to share my opinion with family, later.

Overall - not so bad I would avoid it, although I would be quite careful about food pairing. It might be fun to try it with apple pie, feel free to post a comment if you try that. On the other hand, it's not so good that I would order it if there was something else available, perhaps water. If a friend offered me one, I would take it, I can call it "unique" without offending my host's taste. I have no idea who would buy this, other than the "I try everything" beer crowd.

Another Rye IPA

In 2011 Harpoon released a "Rye IPA" as part of their 100 Barrel series. I tried it, I liked it, I even bought a small bunch to keep in my cellar. I suggested to them that it should be a regular item rather than a small batch, but that hasn't happened.

Jump to 2012, Sierra Nevada has released their own take on a rye IPA, quite different from the Harpoon version, While I slightly prefer the Harpoon version, this is what I can get, and in 12oz bottles rather than 22oz, While I do drink alone since my cats don't drink, I don't typically have 22oz of anything with lunch or a snack, I prefer to share with friends or at the least with a solid dinner.

I cooled the brew to 40F and left it set for two days, and cooled the tasting mug to 50f. On the pour I have to say that the head really wanted to be the boss, I poured gently and down the side of the mug until the last little bit, and still got all the head you see. There were a lot of bubbles rising, see below.

The aroma was slightly sweet, and I was afraid I was going to get too much finishing (or aroma) hop. Not to worry, the first taste was heavy on bittering hops, perhaps slightly more than the malt and finishing hops could balance, but very tasty. The taste felt as though it was on the rook of my mouth, and faded gradually and evenly.  The taste is not subtle, and I don't expect many people will taste it and honestly say "it's okay." This seems like one of those brews you like quite a bit or not at all.

Food pairings - this is a problem brew, and I like hops. So far I have found it goes well with very salty potato chips or sharp cheddar cheese. It didn't please me with a turkey and Swiss cheese on seeded rye with Dijon mustard (Grey Poupon). I plan to try it with sauteed sirloin tips and scalloped potatos, and probably with a burrito as well. Check the comments in a few weeks.

Overall - I like this brew quite a bit, so maybe Rye IPA is going to be the "next big thing" in craft brewing. I have tasted two, I have liked two, hell of a fine way to start your birthday.

Here's the neck label with some brewing details, click to see large and the rest of the pictures I took, including one showing just how many bubbles there were in this brew.