Hello All!
This will be the last blogpost of our Middle Earth Brewing adventure, Ian and I have decided that we needed a change and wanted to move out of the solely fantasy (and possibly copywrited) Middle Earth theme and have instead changed the name to Mad Gods Brewing Co. We hope that you (you, precious few) who may read of our adventures will follow us to our new blog and continue to travel this road with us.
Look for us at MadGodsBrewingCo@gmail.com, on twitter @madgodsbrewing or on our blog http://www.madgodsbrewingco.blogspot.com/
Cheers!
~Dan
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Brew Horizons...
Today began an experiment over two tax rebates in the making: 5 gallon corny keg brewing.
Dan and I had been working within the confines of the one and two gallon brew for quite some time, and we wound up hitting consistent road blocks, such as issues with that devil mistress carbonation, or dealing with fractions of pounds of grains that wound up being hairsplittingly inane. We decided with our tax rebates we would set up a business account and begin brewing on the five gallon scale, utilizing a purchased Mash Tun, Brew Kettle, Wort Chiller and a propane burner. We also purchased a carbonating system for a five gallon corny keg, which will allow us to carbonate with the use of CO2 instead of natural fermentation.
Our Arsenal
Corny, or Corney, or Cornelius Kegs (so named due to their creator, IMI Cornelius Company) range in size between three to ten gallons. Our particular unit is a five gallon number. We won't be getting to utilize her until the beer ferments in the Ale Pails we bought for a few weeks, but I look forward to starting that process as well.
Our All-Seeing Eye P A recipe tasted fairly good. Some had described it as tasting "like a brewery made it". We decided it was a good opening number to try out on the new system, and we did some hop and grain adjustments to make it fit our previously desired taste requirements. Dan and I had become fond of Citra hops in concept, and decided to replace our Cascade hops with some of the citrus-y Citra. I also, obviously, up-scaled our one gallon recipe to fit five gallons, and with a day free this week we jumped right into it.
To start, setting up the mash in our new system is far easier. We ready the grains, boil the water in our brew kettle over a propane fire, and wait. When the water hit's the right temp, it goes straight into our Mash-Tun, a retrofitted Rubber-Maid cooler. We add the grains, and then set it and forget it.
Seriously. That's how easy that becomes. It used to be us checking the temperature ever 5 minutes, realizing with horror we were ten degrees over, or twenty degrees down. Scary shit. With the new system in place we checked three times in the course of an hour, with only a one degree variance in temperature. Hell yeah.
After that hour we began the sparge. Now the sparge usually consisted of Dan and I pouring boiling water through a grain filled filter, scalding ourselves with the liquid and cursing at each other. Now it involved the flick of a valve, and gentle ladling. That's what I call a marked improvement.
The next step came the boil off, and therefore hop additions. A momentary distraction swept in however as soon as we had the wort on the burner, as rain started drizzling from the sky. Sprinting around like madmen, we quickly assembled a "E-Z Up" styled tent, while dancing around the open flame. Mission accomplished, rain stayed out of our beer.
We added four additions of the Citra hops, and one large addition of the Warrior hops. As the hour of boiling dwindled away, and the hops smell permeated the entire porch, it began time to prep the final stages. We prepared our Wort Chiller, a copper coil in which water from a garden hose runs through and cools the Wort super fast.
This process took about 15 minutes. There was a brief problem with a lack of tube connection causing hose water to spray the porch down, but I remedied it quickly with brute force. Next step: putting the booze in a bucket. The Ale Pail was set and ready to load.
Dan and I had been working within the confines of the one and two gallon brew for quite some time, and we wound up hitting consistent road blocks, such as issues with that devil mistress carbonation, or dealing with fractions of pounds of grains that wound up being hairsplittingly inane. We decided with our tax rebates we would set up a business account and begin brewing on the five gallon scale, utilizing a purchased Mash Tun, Brew Kettle, Wort Chiller and a propane burner. We also purchased a carbonating system for a five gallon corny keg, which will allow us to carbonate with the use of CO2 instead of natural fermentation.
Corny, or Corney, or Cornelius Kegs (so named due to their creator, IMI Cornelius Company) range in size between three to ten gallons. Our particular unit is a five gallon number. We won't be getting to utilize her until the beer ferments in the Ale Pails we bought for a few weeks, but I look forward to starting that process as well.
Our All-Seeing Eye P A recipe tasted fairly good. Some had described it as tasting "like a brewery made it". We decided it was a good opening number to try out on the new system, and we did some hop and grain adjustments to make it fit our previously desired taste requirements. Dan and I had become fond of Citra hops in concept, and decided to replace our Cascade hops with some of the citrus-y Citra. I also, obviously, up-scaled our one gallon recipe to fit five gallons, and with a day free this week we jumped right into it.
To start, setting up the mash in our new system is far easier. We ready the grains, boil the water in our brew kettle over a propane fire, and wait. When the water hit's the right temp, it goes straight into our Mash-Tun, a retrofitted Rubber-Maid cooler. We add the grains, and then set it and forget it.
Mash Tun Bonanza
What an ugly bunch of micks.
Seriously. That's how easy that becomes. It used to be us checking the temperature ever 5 minutes, realizing with horror we were ten degrees over, or twenty degrees down. Scary shit. With the new system in place we checked three times in the course of an hour, with only a one degree variance in temperature. Hell yeah.
Mmm grains.
After that hour we began the sparge. Now the sparge usually consisted of Dan and I pouring boiling water through a grain filled filter, scalding ourselves with the liquid and cursing at each other. Now it involved the flick of a valve, and gentle ladling. That's what I call a marked improvement.
Spargey Goodness
Lazy Sparge Go
Epic Beer Gut Wort Boil GO!
Rain's a Comin'
GO TENT GO
RUN RUN RUN
I am the tent.
Mission Accomplished.
"I like coils."-Dan Walker
Coil Insertion: Sciency.
Fix it fix it fix it!
This process took about 15 minutes. There was a brief problem with a lack of tube connection causing hose water to spray the porch down, but I remedied it quickly with brute force. Next step: putting the booze in a bucket. The Ale Pail was set and ready to load.
Classy
Next step is pitching in the yeast. We chose a yeast that Dan selected, as he says it had a good balance for what we were looking for. I was not prone to disagree.
Pitch that yeast!
With that, the top popped on our bucket, and we were done brewing for the day. All and all, a simplified and fun affair. When it's time to carbonate, we'll post again with more tips and a semi-helpful guide.
Ok, let's be honest here. Not even close to helpful. But we'll keep pretending.
-Ian
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Beer Expo Part 2
If you missed part one, check it here. Otherwise, this will start as two drunks yelling into a microphone, with no context.
For those of you who couldn't tell, it was at this point in the day, when Dan and I had hit critical drunken states. We were overusing large words, slurring our speech, and we were certainly no longer unbiased in our research. From here on out, we were as Doctor Gonzo and Raoul Duke once were, no longer objective, but within the moment.
Ok, that may be too flighty. We were like two drunk assholes. Let's be honest here.
From here on out, everything is slurred, or overly articulated in attempt to sound sober and intelligent, unless noted otherwise. Please forgive us.
Seventeenth Entry
Ian: We have now visited Long Ireland for the second time. I had a sample of their Winter Ale which is DELICIOUS as is commonly know. Umm we spoke to Dan-
Melissa: I'M SO DRUNK!
Ian: Melissa's incredibly drunk. We spoke to Dan from Long Ireland Brewery, who is a wonderful man. Uh, he pretended to remember us, in the best of his capacity, and I bought a t-shirt from him. What else happened? OH we bought two cigars. I DON'T EVEN SMOKE CIGARS! That just happened. What just happened? Anyway. Long Ireland beer for us is wonderful. We're moving our way onto Blue Point Brewery.
Eighteenth Entry
Ian: I'd like to pretend I have more theory to talk about this evening. Uh, I spoke to somebody from the Tap and Barrel, they're all out of booze. They told us "Hey, we're the TapnBarrel, you should come on by.", I said (rising to a ridiculous high pitch while presumably yelling) "FUCK yeah we should come on by, that's a lead plan!" Right now, it seems like the plan for our organization is to go out to the Shi-poat-laay. We're gonna eat spanish, mexican type food. Yaknow whatever, it's groovy. Uh in the meantime, this has been Middle Earth Brewing Co, coming at you with beer reviews for the evening. Honestly, I have nothing of value to give you. Beer is good. There has been good beers, and there has been more good beers, and there has been more good beers and more good beers. I really don't think I had a point tonight where I was like "Oh that beer sucked!". There's been beer that was like meh. But nothing that has hit home where I was like "This is vomit worthy". So! In the spirit of good beer, and good spirit, and good beer spirit, this has been Ian Powell coming at you. Saying "Hey." Drink beer. It's delicious.
Nineteenth Entry
Ian: This is Dan and Ian; Dan who was making fun of this in the beginning of the evening.
Dan: This is primarily Dan, reporting live from the end of the brew-fest. It is eight forty five, I can hear you. And we're about to head out. Everyone has had their fill, Nick included, largely because he has a vagina.
Ian: Nick and Melissa included.
Dan: Okok Nick and Melissa included.
Ian: Who are both-
Dan: Look! That guys leaving with a keg!
Ian: (crazy high pitched) Get the fuck out!
Dan: That's exactly the keg we have. So here's how we're going to wrap up. We're not going to wrap up because we're done with beer. We're going to wrap up with a promise that more beer is drank tomorrow. The All Seeing Eye PA is sitting in my fridgerator, Janella's Beligian passion brew is waiting, and I've gotta free four pack of Guinness Foreign Extra Stout waiting for me in the fridge. And maybe your friends (sound of recorder being wrestled away).
Ian: Dan's totally useless, I don't know how to tell you this. In short- I opened the camera... In short Dan's useless. Uh we ha-
Dan: "Dan's Useless". I'll remember that...
Ian: Alright alright
Dan: Next time I order, finance, organize...
Ian: Alright alright. Let's be frank. Dan is very very useful. In short, we're going to head out to Chipotle and eat some (insane high pitch while yelling) MAD BURRITOOOEES! We'll eat these (high pitch again) BURRITOOEES, we will be done. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much for listening to our (hocking a loogie h)CHHHorrible blog. Have a good evening. This is Ian Powell, signing off from Middle Earth Brewing Co.
Were we obnoxious? Probably. Did we have a good time? Certainly. Were those burritos, one week later, delicious? Certainly were. I think.
The All Seeing Eye P A was a huge surprise to Dan and myself, mainly because it wasn't wretched. Hell, it was actually pretty damn good. I've been told by my tasting base that it tastes like a brewing company made it, which is obviously a huge plus. I'm excited to see how it will turn out when it is brewed on the new kegging system. I recall Janella's being very cidery, but not bad whatsoever. I feel like we were all fairly fond of it, especially for such a wonderfully experimental beer. That pink color is still so wacky to me.
If there is one moral to be learned from this tale, it is "Go to the beer festivals at Nassau Coliseum". We had a great time, good drinks with good friends, and if we had stopped our beer-dash for a minute, we could have caught some informative lectures on brewing as well. Thanks to Janella for being a wonderful DD, and for putting up with our drunken bullshit.
-Ian
For those of you who couldn't tell, it was at this point in the day, when Dan and I had hit critical drunken states. We were overusing large words, slurring our speech, and we were certainly no longer unbiased in our research. From here on out, we were as Doctor Gonzo and Raoul Duke once were, no longer objective, but within the moment.
Ok, that may be too flighty. We were like two drunk assholes. Let's be honest here.
From here on out, everything is slurred, or overly articulated in attempt to sound sober and intelligent, unless noted otherwise. Please forgive us.
Seventeenth Entry
Ian: We have now visited Long Ireland for the second time. I had a sample of their Winter Ale which is DELICIOUS as is commonly know. Umm we spoke to Dan-
Melissa: I'M SO DRUNK!
Ian: Melissa's incredibly drunk. We spoke to Dan from Long Ireland Brewery, who is a wonderful man. Uh, he pretended to remember us, in the best of his capacity, and I bought a t-shirt from him. What else happened? OH we bought two cigars. I DON'T EVEN SMOKE CIGARS! That just happened. What just happened? Anyway. Long Ireland beer for us is wonderful. We're moving our way onto Blue Point Brewery.
Eighteenth Entry
Ian: I'd like to pretend I have more theory to talk about this evening. Uh, I spoke to somebody from the Tap and Barrel, they're all out of booze. They told us "Hey, we're the TapnBarrel, you should come on by.", I said (rising to a ridiculous high pitch while presumably yelling) "FUCK yeah we should come on by, that's a lead plan!" Right now, it seems like the plan for our organization is to go out to the Shi-poat-laay. We're gonna eat spanish, mexican type food. Yaknow whatever, it's groovy. Uh in the meantime, this has been Middle Earth Brewing Co, coming at you with beer reviews for the evening. Honestly, I have nothing of value to give you. Beer is good. There has been good beers, and there has been more good beers, and there has been more good beers and more good beers. I really don't think I had a point tonight where I was like "Oh that beer sucked!". There's been beer that was like meh. But nothing that has hit home where I was like "This is vomit worthy". So! In the spirit of good beer, and good spirit, and good beer spirit, this has been Ian Powell coming at you. Saying "Hey." Drink beer. It's delicious.
Nineteenth Entry
Ian: This is Dan and Ian; Dan who was making fun of this in the beginning of the evening.
Dan: This is primarily Dan, reporting live from the end of the brew-fest. It is eight forty five, I can hear you. And we're about to head out. Everyone has had their fill, Nick included, largely because he has a vagina.
Ian: Nick and Melissa included.
Dan: Okok Nick and Melissa included.
Ian: Who are both-
Dan: Look! That guys leaving with a keg!
Ian: (crazy high pitched) Get the fuck out!
Dan: That's exactly the keg we have. So here's how we're going to wrap up. We're not going to wrap up because we're done with beer. We're going to wrap up with a promise that more beer is drank tomorrow. The All Seeing Eye PA is sitting in my fridgerator, Janella's Beligian passion brew is waiting, and I've gotta free four pack of Guinness Foreign Extra Stout waiting for me in the fridge. And maybe your friends (sound of recorder being wrestled away).
Ian: Dan's totally useless, I don't know how to tell you this. In short- I opened the camera... In short Dan's useless. Uh we ha-
Dan: "Dan's Useless". I'll remember that...
Ian: Alright alright
Dan: Next time I order, finance, organize...
Ian: Alright alright. Let's be frank. Dan is very very useful. In short, we're going to head out to Chipotle and eat some (insane high pitch while yelling) MAD BURRITOOOEES! We'll eat these (high pitch again) BURRITOOEES, we will be done. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much for listening to our (hocking a loogie h)CHHHorrible blog. Have a good evening. This is Ian Powell, signing off from Middle Earth Brewing Co.
Were we obnoxious? Probably. Did we have a good time? Certainly. Were those burritos, one week later, delicious? Certainly were. I think.
The All Seeing Eye P A was a huge surprise to Dan and myself, mainly because it wasn't wretched. Hell, it was actually pretty damn good. I've been told by my tasting base that it tastes like a brewing company made it, which is obviously a huge plus. I'm excited to see how it will turn out when it is brewed on the new kegging system. I recall Janella's being very cidery, but not bad whatsoever. I feel like we were all fairly fond of it, especially for such a wonderfully experimental beer. That pink color is still so wacky to me.
If there is one moral to be learned from this tale, it is "Go to the beer festivals at Nassau Coliseum". We had a great time, good drinks with good friends, and if we had stopped our beer-dash for a minute, we could have caught some informative lectures on brewing as well. Thanks to Janella for being a wonderful DD, and for putting up with our drunken bullshit.
-Ian
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Captain's Log: Spring Craft Beer Festival
Last beer expo Dan and I attended, I was told I reached a "beerzerker" rage towards the last clipped hour. Realizing I had very little time to imbibe as many drinks as my face could handle, I decided to sprint from table to table, thrusting my shot glass towards distributors of amber foam, and screaming "GIVE ME ALL OF YOUR BEER". I was a masterful critic, summing up all beers as "delicious".
This past weekend, I suddenly realized that if this level of incident were to occur again, it should be well documented. With a smug sense of self-worth, I downloaded a voice recording app to my smart phone, and prepared to make a mockery of myself while attempting to review beer.
What was recorded was nothing short of stupid. Idiotic even. I've transcribed it, word for word, with no editing. Because honestly, might as well bring my friends down with me.
Ladies and gentlemen, I bring you the recordings from the March 10th "Spring Beer Expo" at Nassau Coliseum:
First Entry:
"Recording one, this is Ian Powell from Middle Earth Brewing Company. I am currently attempting to do some voice recording. I'm going to try and record inside the Coliseum today, at the Spring Craft Beer Festival, about once every...I'm going to say fifteen to twenty minutes to try and get a good idea of what my day was like. I thought briefly over perhaps writing, which we all know would fail miserably about...seven drinks in. So I decided to fifteen to twenty minute updates, which will be I'm sure PRETTY comical, as I will probably sound like a complete drunken idiot. Talking about how much I love things, and people. Anyway, enjoy.
Second Entry:
Ian:Ok we...umm ok Nick's a fat asshole is the first note we're going to make on this apparently. We're walking towards the Coliseum-
Dan (in the background): Oh my god...
Ian: I'm tripping over a bunch of shit-
Melissa(in the background): Are you recording this?
Ian: Yeah! This is just to take notes- ::awkward mic cutoff::
Third Entry:
Ian: So we're standing in the waiting area, Dan's going to immediately laugh at me anytime I pull this thing out, so I'm going to keep doing this 'til he gets used to it.
Nick(in the background):You're just saying things you're not going to transfer to writing.
Ian: According to Nick, especially when I'm just saying things I'm not going to transfer to writing. It's a bubbling enviroment!
Dan: Teeming masses, pushing against the line, trying to get free because the beer is on the other side!
Ian: We're not allowed in yet, because it's only five...twenty? We looked at some tiki masks, I cut my head open on one of them because I'm really stupid. Besides that, looks like it's a hoppin' place.
Dan (mockingly): Ian Powell out.
Nick: Get it? Hoppin'!
Ian: Hoppin'! HAH!
Fourth Entry:
Ian: We're a few minutes in, everyone's still making fun of me about this, but it's cool. We did beers so far from Kona, Great South Bay, Long Trail, and Paulaner. I'm drinking all of Melissa's leftover beers. The winner so far from what I had is the Great South Bay. They had this great saison called the Kismet Saison. It was very good, wonderful really sweet notes to it. Dan and I were also very fond of their IPA they came out with, the Massive IPA, very good IPA, comparable to Dogfish Heads Sixty Minute. Uhh...honestly Long Trail has some really nice staff, but the stuff they brought out was so so. The stuff I had yesterday from them was much better, although their coffee stout was really good. Blackberry I had yesterday was awesome too.
Melissa: Remind me I like her boots.
Ian: Oh, Melissa likes some woman's boots. I guess I'll add that to the blog.
Fifth Entry:
Ian: Alright, since we last spoke I have currently visited a brewery called...ummm...what was it called? Goat boy something?
Dan (a way off): ::indecipherable::
Ian: Goat Mountain Brewery? A little meh. Honestly they had one good one which I thought was the Checkered Cab Blonde, but no one else agreed with me.
Melissa (in the background): Because Ian has terrible taste.
Ian: Because I have terrible taste. We went to Tommyknocker. I think since we had our conversation with the guys from Long Ireland, I have a different view on how Tommyknocker tastes. Their Cocoa- it's good. They're all good beer. It just tastes very similar to their Maple Nut Brown. We also just recently went to Long Ireland, had their Double IPA which is great. We-
Dan: They ran away from us.
Ian: Dan from Long Ireland saw us coming and sprinted away from us. Now that we've left the booth, he's come back. And we also just went to Birra Moretti, which was empty for some reason, even though they have really good beer. They filled up our glasses way more then they should have. Nick and Dan believe that the Birra Moretti dark would go great with a meal.
Nick: Like a salad and a burger.
Ian: The Light is good. A nice simple, quality beer. Very sweet. We approve of beer Moretti. I...words. There are just so many...like...boobed women walking around.
Melissa: It's boob-town!
Ian: It's boob-town! I'm not meaning to stare at boobs! Ok, I have to go-
Sixth Entry:
Ian: We just umm...had samples from uhh....Superstar Beverage, which was serving samples from Avery.
Dan (a ways off): ::indecipherable:: Landmark ::indecipherable::
Ian: Landmark! Landmark had a French Vanilla beer, unlike anything I'd ever had before. It was phenomenal.
Melissa (mockingly): Phenomenal!
Ian: Phenomenal. Thanks for making fun of me for saying phenomenal. And that was very malty, and suddenly vanilla would come up from the back. A very noticeable vanilla, I was very impressed. Umm we had Bomb beer, we weren't too impressed, but it makes sense for the low cost. Umm, we also
Dan (a ways off): ::indecipherable:: Are you still recording?
Ian: Yeah
Dan: We had Greenport, tried a couple of different ones. I haven't tried the Porter yet, I'll let Ian talk more to that, but the Chinook Red? Good, and it shows a diversity, because I've had their fall one? And it's a completely different beer.
Ian: I'm going to note on the Chinook, that as a guy who likes hops a little less then Dan, that I could see how someone who wasn't a fan of hops would dislike it. It was a little over the top with the hops. Melissa didn't like it. On the Melissa scale it was a...
Melissa: It was like a two.
Ian: It was a two on the Melissa scale.
Dan: What about the Saison?
Ian: The Saison, which Dan disliked, I loved. I was, I thought it was phenomenally well done. Sorry let's, it was excellent. It was incredibly well done. ::indecipherable::. I just stepped on a dudes foot. Ok, I may be about twenty two beers in.
Dan: Yeah, twenty two two ounces. I'm coming down in favor of the Greenport Porter though. It's good, nice, malty, not the chocolate overwhelming like they added chocolate. Just the natural chocolate-
Ian: From the malt, yeah yeah. It's like an English Chocolate I'm guessing in there. It's also got some cocoa notes, which I liked. Cheers, Salud.
::Glasses clinking, Melissa giggles::
Melissa: Cheers.
Ian: Umm. Dan's really lame. Umm, I don't think we're going to go on this line because it's all bottles, and I don't want bottles.
Dan: We have to go on that line, it's the lib-me line (Phonetic pronunciation of LIBME, Long Island Beer and Malt Enthusiasts).
Ian: Is it the lib-me line?
Dan: It's the lib-me line.
Ian: Son-of-a-bitch. Alright. Better be there. We're goin' in.
Seventh Entry:
Ian: We just had a lovely conversation with some gentlemen from Spider-Bite brewing company, who are working in association with FANTASY BREWMASTERS. Suddenly Middle Earth Brewing doesn't sound so lame anymore, does it? DOES IT, INTERNET? That's right. We're awesome. Uhh. We had an awesome conversation. They actually had a bottle opener that was a pressed metal axe. Be right ba-::awkward mic cutoff::
Eighth Entry:
Ian: Alright, standing on line. We are currently in the process of tasting...numerous beers. They are currently at the Shock Top table, I don't particularly care for Shock Top, anymore. Umm... ::long silence:: I spoke with the folks at Port Jeff Brewing, they were very nice people, as I've dealt with them before. Umm... wound up having....quite a few....ummm... I tried their Ryes N Bok, which was incredibly good. Umm... I had a couple of their other brews, before in the past, and I liked them alot. And that's my story about Port Jeff!
Ninth Entry:
Ian: Alright here it comes guys. You ready? Let's see what we just did. Umm-
Dan: Start out with Girls Pint Out.
Ian: Girls Pint Out! Wait! Also Ghost Cat.
Dan: Ghost Cat.
Ian: We spoke with Ghost Cat Brewery, they are phenomenal young people, I like them alot. They had recently brewed a pint, eh, a batch at umm Port Jeff Brewery. They had very good beer. We then went just to Girls Pint Out, who had an ESB that was literally the exact example of our beer. It was East Kent Goldings all the time, I could not believe such a thing existed. Ummm. Like me and Dan went "Hey, is this East Kent Goldings?" and they went "Yes, yes it is." and we went "HAH!", cause it's really funny. We then advanced onwards towards the rest of the lib-me people, which is the Long Island Beer and Malt Enthusiasts. We spoke with Rich Thatcher, who is one of the officials. Um he is a gentleman and a scholar who makes a quite good beer. We also had the beer of my friends Mike Goldnese and Tim Fitzpatrick, it was called the Maltese Falcon, and it was very good.
Dan: Rich, from Long Island Beer and Malt Enthusiasts talked about how he's got some strict standards for us if we join, but he's got no problem putting us on a table and giving out our beer. He's just going to take the people in their group, who have substantial brewing experience? And make sure our beer doesn't suck. I'm mildly distracted because my wife is hugging another man over there.
Ian: Yo fight him! Fight him right now Dan!
Dan: I'm also got word that down the road a little bit there is caramel apple beer, bacon blueberry beer-
Ian: We have to go.
Dan (chuckles): But I think we have to get back involved with Long Island Beer and Malt Enthusiasts, we'll be attending the next meeting. Ian and I gave out some great information and I gotta go say hi.
Ian: Alright. Uh, we also, while Dan's walking away, just spoke to Hoptimus Prime. I actually don't know any of the other people involved in the brewery, other than Hoptimus Prime. They made a great beer with Cascade hops, um. Cascade and Warrior were, I believe, the two listed. Ummm I guessed Challenger, and I was way off. Umm, they were great. We loved them, delicious beer. My girlfriends hammered. Nick ______ is hammered. Dan Walker's hammered. I believe it's time to move on to the next brewing company. I believe blueberry bacon is somewhere in our future.
Tenth Entry
Ian: Nick I need you to doc- Nick I need you to document this with me.
Nick: What?
Ian (attempting to sound like Ron Burgundy): We are at the most arduous part of our evening. Nick, describe to me what's going on behind us, and around us.
Nick: We are trying to buy pretzels-
Ian(like Ron Burgundy): We are trying to buy pretzels! And sausage baked sandwiches. And it is so damned difficult.
Nick: It is, it is. Um-
Ian( Ron Burgundy): It's mainly because I'm spitting in Nick's face over and over again. We'll try- Oh they bought their pretzels in front of us, the bastards!
Eleventh Entry
Ian: Ok, I'm at the point of pretty buzzed. Melissa's descried (not a typo) that I'm drunk? I'm not proving myself being sober by saying decrieded I'm drunk. Melissa has DECIDED that I'm drunk. Um, I'm probably very, very buzzed right now. We just sampled a little bit of Blue Moon's blackberry. Before that it was the Red Wagon IPA from Fire Island. And before that was the Keegan Ales Mother's Milk. All great brews. The sausage sandwich that I had? Eh, underpar, a little too spicy for my tastes. As a portly white gentleman, I am not very good with spice. Umm... really this is exactly what I thought it'd be. Lot of beer, good time, having fun. And I will probably be embarassed about all the things I'm saying right now about ten minutes from now. Alright uhh...good day to you sir.
Twelfth Entry
Dan: I'm mildly insulted.
Ian: Alright, Dan wants to interview-
Dan: This is Dan Walker, reporting live from the Beer Fest. It's seven oh five, which means we have two hours left.
Ian: Oh shit...
Dan: What? Janella's pointing to what? Nick is RUNNING away. Nick is gone, Nick has gone bye bye. What's your favorite beer?
Ian: Honestly, I liked the Great South Bay stuff at the beginning.
Dan: Alright, I've gotta go get Nick. (Pipe band begins playing in the background)Oh and there's a- Gotta go, bye!
Ian: Nick's, uh, Dan's useless.
Thirteenth Entry
Ian: So Dan lost all sense of reality because an Irish pipe band came in to play?
Melissa: Ooh get me a shirt? I FOUND THEM!
Ian: Melissa's very drunk. Ok, here's a question: I have drank more than everyone here.
Melissa: Liar!
Ian: I have had at least three or four glasses- Bullshit!
Melissa: Bull-fuckin'-shit!
Ian: Ok listen BLOG. Here's the shit I am telling you. I drank more than everyone else. Why am I still SOBER.
Melissa: You're not! Your eyes are all- (awkward mic cutoff)
Fourteenth Entry
Ian: We had a brief sampling from Blue Point. I was looking to try their White IPA, which I was really excited about, and as I approached the line they took the tap off of the top, and suddenly I was reduced to only a Hoptical, which I've had about a thousand times before. So Hoptical was good as usual. Um... currently we're questing for food, and in about five ten minutes we'll be back on the road looking for beer. What a beautiful thing, looking for beer.
Fifteenth Entry
Ian (with a mild Irish accent): After a brief interlude, we've tried some beers from Founders. I believe I've recently just had Founder's Centennial IPA. Uh we had
(Dan screams loudly)
Ian: Oh I'm sorry, I didn't have the Centennial, I had the Double IPA. Umm...a sub par IPA from Mad River brewing company, it was meh. OH! I also briefly tried a mead, that was hopped, and it was delicious. Melissa's incredibly drunk, and making a fool of herself-
Melissa (in the background): AM NOT!
Ian: No she's sober. Anyway, talk to you later.
Sixteenth Entry
Ian: Alright I've tried the Brooklyn Sorachi, it was delicious.
Dan: The regular IPA is good. There's the traditional IPA flavors, with almost a Belgian note, but the Sorachi really comes in with like a round. It's a rounder flavor.
Ian (the word round had become weird): I agree, it's like a round...rounder flavor. It's like a very good...I feel comfortable- I'm getting tapped on. I'd feel comfortable drinking it for a craft beer.
Dan: Yeah
Ian: Like I feel like I could take it to a party, and it would be ok.
Dan: Both of thoise (not a typo) are better than the classic Brooklyn Lager.
Ian (the word lager had become weird): Suh, buh, Suhbuh like don't get me wrong. Brooklyn Lager is great for a lager. The issue there being that it's a lager, so it's a lager. It's very generic.
Dan: I don't know why the Sorachi has a Belgian flavor. I'd have to look into a clone recipe to see what the flavors are, but it's pulling in some of those celery, rounded, sweet notes.
Ian: I'm not gonna doubt some wheat in there at least.
Dan: Yeah.
Nick: I, I, I, today. All I like is coffee beer.
Ian: Nick is the best drunk critic I've ever heard.
Dan: Nick is disappointed- do you smell Tostitos?
Ian: That guy is eating chips! WHERE DID YOU GET THOSE CHIPS?! Alright they're over there. He indicated after I screamed at him. We should be ok. Let's move on.
My head hurts, and it is late. My shame knows no bounds. There will be more of this tomorrow readers, I assure you.
-Ian
This past weekend, I suddenly realized that if this level of incident were to occur again, it should be well documented. With a smug sense of self-worth, I downloaded a voice recording app to my smart phone, and prepared to make a mockery of myself while attempting to review beer.
What was recorded was nothing short of stupid. Idiotic even. I've transcribed it, word for word, with no editing. Because honestly, might as well bring my friends down with me.
Ladies and gentlemen, I bring you the recordings from the March 10th "Spring Beer Expo" at Nassau Coliseum:
First Entry:
"Recording one, this is Ian Powell from Middle Earth Brewing Company. I am currently attempting to do some voice recording. I'm going to try and record inside the Coliseum today, at the Spring Craft Beer Festival, about once every...I'm going to say fifteen to twenty minutes to try and get a good idea of what my day was like. I thought briefly over perhaps writing, which we all know would fail miserably about...seven drinks in. So I decided to fifteen to twenty minute updates, which will be I'm sure PRETTY comical, as I will probably sound like a complete drunken idiot. Talking about how much I love things, and people. Anyway, enjoy.
Second Entry:
Ian:Ok we...umm ok Nick's a fat asshole is the first note we're going to make on this apparently. We're walking towards the Coliseum-
Dan (in the background): Oh my god...
Ian: I'm tripping over a bunch of shit-
Melissa(in the background): Are you recording this?
Ian: Yeah! This is just to take notes- ::awkward mic cutoff::
Third Entry:
Ian: So we're standing in the waiting area, Dan's going to immediately laugh at me anytime I pull this thing out, so I'm going to keep doing this 'til he gets used to it.
Nick(in the background):You're just saying things you're not going to transfer to writing.
Ian: According to Nick, especially when I'm just saying things I'm not going to transfer to writing. It's a bubbling enviroment!
Dan: Teeming masses, pushing against the line, trying to get free because the beer is on the other side!
Ian: We're not allowed in yet, because it's only five...twenty? We looked at some tiki masks, I cut my head open on one of them because I'm really stupid. Besides that, looks like it's a hoppin' place.
Dan (mockingly): Ian Powell out.
Nick: Get it? Hoppin'!
Ian: Hoppin'! HAH!
Fourth Entry:
Ian: We're a few minutes in, everyone's still making fun of me about this, but it's cool. We did beers so far from Kona, Great South Bay, Long Trail, and Paulaner. I'm drinking all of Melissa's leftover beers. The winner so far from what I had is the Great South Bay. They had this great saison called the Kismet Saison. It was very good, wonderful really sweet notes to it. Dan and I were also very fond of their IPA they came out with, the Massive IPA, very good IPA, comparable to Dogfish Heads Sixty Minute. Uhh...honestly Long Trail has some really nice staff, but the stuff they brought out was so so. The stuff I had yesterday from them was much better, although their coffee stout was really good. Blackberry I had yesterday was awesome too.
Melissa: Remind me I like her boots.
Ian: Oh, Melissa likes some woman's boots. I guess I'll add that to the blog.
Fifth Entry:
Ian: Alright, since we last spoke I have currently visited a brewery called...ummm...what was it called? Goat boy something?
Dan (a way off): ::indecipherable::
Ian: Goat Mountain Brewery? A little meh. Honestly they had one good one which I thought was the Checkered Cab Blonde, but no one else agreed with me.
Melissa (in the background): Because Ian has terrible taste.
Ian: Because I have terrible taste. We went to Tommyknocker. I think since we had our conversation with the guys from Long Ireland, I have a different view on how Tommyknocker tastes. Their Cocoa- it's good. They're all good beer. It just tastes very similar to their Maple Nut Brown. We also just recently went to Long Ireland, had their Double IPA which is great. We-
Dan: They ran away from us.
Ian: Dan from Long Ireland saw us coming and sprinted away from us. Now that we've left the booth, he's come back. And we also just went to Birra Moretti, which was empty for some reason, even though they have really good beer. They filled up our glasses way more then they should have. Nick and Dan believe that the Birra Moretti dark would go great with a meal.
Nick: Like a salad and a burger.
Ian: The Light is good. A nice simple, quality beer. Very sweet. We approve of beer Moretti. I...words. There are just so many...like...boobed women walking around.
Melissa: It's boob-town!
Ian: It's boob-town! I'm not meaning to stare at boobs! Ok, I have to go-
Sixth Entry:
Ian: We just umm...had samples from uhh....Superstar Beverage, which was serving samples from Avery.
Dan (a ways off): ::indecipherable:: Landmark ::indecipherable::
Ian: Landmark! Landmark had a French Vanilla beer, unlike anything I'd ever had before. It was phenomenal.
Melissa (mockingly): Phenomenal!
Ian: Phenomenal. Thanks for making fun of me for saying phenomenal. And that was very malty, and suddenly vanilla would come up from the back. A very noticeable vanilla, I was very impressed. Umm we had Bomb beer, we weren't too impressed, but it makes sense for the low cost. Umm, we also
Dan (a ways off): ::indecipherable:: Are you still recording?
Ian: Yeah
Dan: We had Greenport, tried a couple of different ones. I haven't tried the Porter yet, I'll let Ian talk more to that, but the Chinook Red? Good, and it shows a diversity, because I've had their fall one? And it's a completely different beer.
Ian: I'm going to note on the Chinook, that as a guy who likes hops a little less then Dan, that I could see how someone who wasn't a fan of hops would dislike it. It was a little over the top with the hops. Melissa didn't like it. On the Melissa scale it was a...
Melissa: It was like a two.
Ian: It was a two on the Melissa scale.
Dan: What about the Saison?
Ian: The Saison, which Dan disliked, I loved. I was, I thought it was phenomenally well done. Sorry let's, it was excellent. It was incredibly well done. ::indecipherable::. I just stepped on a dudes foot. Ok, I may be about twenty two beers in.
Dan: Yeah, twenty two two ounces. I'm coming down in favor of the Greenport Porter though. It's good, nice, malty, not the chocolate overwhelming like they added chocolate. Just the natural chocolate-
Ian: From the malt, yeah yeah. It's like an English Chocolate I'm guessing in there. It's also got some cocoa notes, which I liked. Cheers, Salud.
::Glasses clinking, Melissa giggles::
Melissa: Cheers.
Ian: Umm. Dan's really lame. Umm, I don't think we're going to go on this line because it's all bottles, and I don't want bottles.
Dan: We have to go on that line, it's the lib-me line (Phonetic pronunciation of LIBME, Long Island Beer and Malt Enthusiasts).
Ian: Is it the lib-me line?
Dan: It's the lib-me line.
Ian: Son-of-a-bitch. Alright. Better be there. We're goin' in.
Seventh Entry:
Ian: We just had a lovely conversation with some gentlemen from Spider-Bite brewing company, who are working in association with FANTASY BREWMASTERS. Suddenly Middle Earth Brewing doesn't sound so lame anymore, does it? DOES IT, INTERNET? That's right. We're awesome. Uhh. We had an awesome conversation. They actually had a bottle opener that was a pressed metal axe. Be right ba-::awkward mic cutoff::
Eighth Entry:
Ian: Alright, standing on line. We are currently in the process of tasting...numerous beers. They are currently at the Shock Top table, I don't particularly care for Shock Top, anymore. Umm... ::long silence:: I spoke with the folks at Port Jeff Brewing, they were very nice people, as I've dealt with them before. Umm... wound up having....quite a few....ummm... I tried their Ryes N Bok, which was incredibly good. Umm... I had a couple of their other brews, before in the past, and I liked them alot. And that's my story about Port Jeff!
Ninth Entry:
Ian: Alright here it comes guys. You ready? Let's see what we just did. Umm-
Dan: Start out with Girls Pint Out.
Ian: Girls Pint Out! Wait! Also Ghost Cat.
Dan: Ghost Cat.
Ian: We spoke with Ghost Cat Brewery, they are phenomenal young people, I like them alot. They had recently brewed a pint, eh, a batch at umm Port Jeff Brewery. They had very good beer. We then went just to Girls Pint Out, who had an ESB that was literally the exact example of our beer. It was East Kent Goldings all the time, I could not believe such a thing existed. Ummm. Like me and Dan went "Hey, is this East Kent Goldings?" and they went "Yes, yes it is." and we went "HAH!", cause it's really funny. We then advanced onwards towards the rest of the lib-me people, which is the Long Island Beer and Malt Enthusiasts. We spoke with Rich Thatcher, who is one of the officials. Um he is a gentleman and a scholar who makes a quite good beer. We also had the beer of my friends Mike Goldnese and Tim Fitzpatrick, it was called the Maltese Falcon, and it was very good.
Dan: Rich, from Long Island Beer and Malt Enthusiasts talked about how he's got some strict standards for us if we join, but he's got no problem putting us on a table and giving out our beer. He's just going to take the people in their group, who have substantial brewing experience? And make sure our beer doesn't suck. I'm mildly distracted because my wife is hugging another man over there.
Ian: Yo fight him! Fight him right now Dan!
Dan: I'm also got word that down the road a little bit there is caramel apple beer, bacon blueberry beer-
Ian: We have to go.
Dan (chuckles): But I think we have to get back involved with Long Island Beer and Malt Enthusiasts, we'll be attending the next meeting. Ian and I gave out some great information and I gotta go say hi.
Ian: Alright. Uh, we also, while Dan's walking away, just spoke to Hoptimus Prime. I actually don't know any of the other people involved in the brewery, other than Hoptimus Prime. They made a great beer with Cascade hops, um. Cascade and Warrior were, I believe, the two listed. Ummm I guessed Challenger, and I was way off. Umm, they were great. We loved them, delicious beer. My girlfriends hammered. Nick ______ is hammered. Dan Walker's hammered. I believe it's time to move on to the next brewing company. I believe blueberry bacon is somewhere in our future.
Tenth Entry
Ian: Nick I need you to doc- Nick I need you to document this with me.
Nick: What?
Ian (attempting to sound like Ron Burgundy): We are at the most arduous part of our evening. Nick, describe to me what's going on behind us, and around us.
Nick: We are trying to buy pretzels-
Ian(like Ron Burgundy): We are trying to buy pretzels! And sausage baked sandwiches. And it is so damned difficult.
Nick: It is, it is. Um-
Ian( Ron Burgundy): It's mainly because I'm spitting in Nick's face over and over again. We'll try- Oh they bought their pretzels in front of us, the bastards!
Eleventh Entry
Ian: Ok, I'm at the point of pretty buzzed. Melissa's descried (not a typo) that I'm drunk? I'm not proving myself being sober by saying decrieded I'm drunk. Melissa has DECIDED that I'm drunk. Um, I'm probably very, very buzzed right now. We just sampled a little bit of Blue Moon's blackberry. Before that it was the Red Wagon IPA from Fire Island. And before that was the Keegan Ales Mother's Milk. All great brews. The sausage sandwich that I had? Eh, underpar, a little too spicy for my tastes. As a portly white gentleman, I am not very good with spice. Umm... really this is exactly what I thought it'd be. Lot of beer, good time, having fun. And I will probably be embarassed about all the things I'm saying right now about ten minutes from now. Alright uhh...good day to you sir.
Twelfth Entry
Dan: I'm mildly insulted.
Ian: Alright, Dan wants to interview-
Dan: This is Dan Walker, reporting live from the Beer Fest. It's seven oh five, which means we have two hours left.
Ian: Oh shit...
Dan: What? Janella's pointing to what? Nick is RUNNING away. Nick is gone, Nick has gone bye bye. What's your favorite beer?
Ian: Honestly, I liked the Great South Bay stuff at the beginning.
Dan: Alright, I've gotta go get Nick. (Pipe band begins playing in the background)Oh and there's a- Gotta go, bye!
Ian: Nick's, uh, Dan's useless.
Thirteenth Entry
Ian: So Dan lost all sense of reality because an Irish pipe band came in to play?
Melissa: Ooh get me a shirt? I FOUND THEM!
Ian: Melissa's very drunk. Ok, here's a question: I have drank more than everyone here.
Melissa: Liar!
Ian: I have had at least three or four glasses- Bullshit!
Melissa: Bull-fuckin'-shit!
Ian: Ok listen BLOG. Here's the shit I am telling you. I drank more than everyone else. Why am I still SOBER.
Melissa: You're not! Your eyes are all- (awkward mic cutoff)
Fourteenth Entry
Ian: We had a brief sampling from Blue Point. I was looking to try their White IPA, which I was really excited about, and as I approached the line they took the tap off of the top, and suddenly I was reduced to only a Hoptical, which I've had about a thousand times before. So Hoptical was good as usual. Um... currently we're questing for food, and in about five ten minutes we'll be back on the road looking for beer. What a beautiful thing, looking for beer.
Fifteenth Entry
Ian (with a mild Irish accent): After a brief interlude, we've tried some beers from Founders. I believe I've recently just had Founder's Centennial IPA. Uh we had
(Dan screams loudly)
Ian: Oh I'm sorry, I didn't have the Centennial, I had the Double IPA. Umm...a sub par IPA from Mad River brewing company, it was meh. OH! I also briefly tried a mead, that was hopped, and it was delicious. Melissa's incredibly drunk, and making a fool of herself-
Melissa (in the background): AM NOT!
Ian: No she's sober. Anyway, talk to you later.
Sixteenth Entry
Ian: Alright I've tried the Brooklyn Sorachi, it was delicious.
Dan: The regular IPA is good. There's the traditional IPA flavors, with almost a Belgian note, but the Sorachi really comes in with like a round. It's a rounder flavor.
Ian (the word round had become weird): I agree, it's like a round...rounder flavor. It's like a very good...I feel comfortable- I'm getting tapped on. I'd feel comfortable drinking it for a craft beer.
Dan: Yeah
Ian: Like I feel like I could take it to a party, and it would be ok.
Dan: Both of thoise (not a typo) are better than the classic Brooklyn Lager.
Ian (the word lager had become weird): Suh, buh, Suhbuh like don't get me wrong. Brooklyn Lager is great for a lager. The issue there being that it's a lager, so it's a lager. It's very generic.
Dan: I don't know why the Sorachi has a Belgian flavor. I'd have to look into a clone recipe to see what the flavors are, but it's pulling in some of those celery, rounded, sweet notes.
Ian: I'm not gonna doubt some wheat in there at least.
Dan: Yeah.
Nick: I, I, I, today. All I like is coffee beer.
Ian: Nick is the best drunk critic I've ever heard.
Dan: Nick is disappointed- do you smell Tostitos?
Ian: That guy is eating chips! WHERE DID YOU GET THOSE CHIPS?! Alright they're over there. He indicated after I screamed at him. We should be ok. Let's move on.
My head hurts, and it is late. My shame knows no bounds. There will be more of this tomorrow readers, I assure you.
-Ian
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Where will you be?
This upcoming Saturday March 10th will be the Spring Craft Beer Festival at Nassau Coliseum in Hempstead, Long Island. It looks like it will be an awesome event! Ian, Melissa, Janella, our friend Nick, and I all went to the Fall Craft Beer Festival in November at Nassau Coliseum put on by Starfish Junction and it was amazing! We thought we knew something about beer, and more specifically craft beer, before we went but with a chance to sample 100 different beers we left with a whole new appreciation for our local breweries.
The beer list for this weekends event has had our mouths watering for weeks now: big names like Sam Adams, Tommy Knocker, Founders, Saranac, Brooklyn, Ithaca, Blue Moon and Killians will all be there as will our local favorites Long Ireland, Greenport, Great South Bay, Blue Point, and Port Jeff (plus about 80 more that I am not mentioning!). Check out the website, see for yourself the magic and if your not already signed up consider attending this fine event or one of the many other upcoming Long Island Craft Beer Expos!
http://www.springcraftbeerfestival.com/
Suffice it to say that everytime one of us mentions the event someone else lets out an uncontrollable 'yip!' of excitement so check out the site, support the craft brew market, and if your not already attending weap sadly into a can of Bud while we enjoy the sweet nectar of the Craft Brew Gods!
Keep an eye on the Twitter Feed as we will be tweeting live from the event on Saturday night!
The beer list for this weekends event has had our mouths watering for weeks now: big names like Sam Adams, Tommy Knocker, Founders, Saranac, Brooklyn, Ithaca, Blue Moon and Killians will all be there as will our local favorites Long Ireland, Greenport, Great South Bay, Blue Point, and Port Jeff (plus about 80 more that I am not mentioning!). Check out the website, see for yourself the magic and if your not already signed up consider attending this fine event or one of the many other upcoming Long Island Craft Beer Expos!
http://www.springcraftbeerfestival.com/
Suffice it to say that everytime one of us mentions the event someone else lets out an uncontrollable 'yip!' of excitement so check out the site, support the craft brew market, and if your not already attending weap sadly into a can of Bud while we enjoy the sweet nectar of the Craft Brew Gods!
Keep an eye on the Twitter Feed as we will be tweeting live from the event on Saturday night!
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Moving on up...
Happy Days, Happy Days! Ian and I finally have taken the plunge and sunk a bit of money into our little homebrewing endeavor. Instead of brewing on a kitchen stove in my apartment with equipment that we scraped together to just barely meet our needs we are now the proud owners of a full homebrewing system: 30 qt stock pot, outside propane burner, 10 gallon mash tun, wort chiller, and the piece de resistance: our own 5 gallon keg system!
The brief text conversation that occurred while I was placing the order seems to pretty well capture our excitement
Ian:Holy Hell Dan we're buying a keg...
Dan: Actually, we just did!
Ian: AHHHHH
Ian: We're going from chumps to brewers. I'm so excited.
Dan: We're officially in...
The equipment is ordered and on its way and I expect that by the third week of March we will be posting some new brewing updates as we tackle the strange new world of a 5 gallon brew!
On a side note, if you haven't checked out our twitter feed, please do! We had a great night out on Friday: a tasting at Long Ireland Brewery in Riverhead, NY and then dinner and a flight of beers at the Southampton Publick House.
Long Ireland was awesome; what we expected to be a twenty minute wham-bam-thank you ma'am of tasting beers turned into an hour and a half conversation with Dan the co-owner of the Brewery and culminated in a tour of the brewery. Ian and I pretty much just giggled incoherently as we walked through the brewery vowing that we must come back and volunteer for these guys. I don't care if they want me to take our their stinky rotting garbage for 8 hours; I want back in!
Expect pictures and more super-excited posts as our new equipment comes in and if nothing else you'll be hearing from us leading up to the Spring Craft Beer Festival at Nassau Coliseum on March 10th. If you haven't purchased your tickets yet don't wait!
Cheers,
~Dan
Sunday, February 19, 2012
I have been a very bad man. The lady and I have been on a bit of a drinking kick, and I fully blame the awesome wrath of Samuel Adams Alpine Spring. Damn that's a classy brew.
On the other end, I normally have some (presumably) witty anecdote to add to the front of this blog, but instead this evening, I'm laying in bed watching Doctor Who, and I have little to no time for frivolity. The Doctor demands my attention, so I shall be concise in my reviewery.
Anyways, tonight I'll cover a few I've recently sampled. One being Brooklyn's Brown Ale.
On the other end, I normally have some (presumably) witty anecdote to add to the front of this blog, but instead this evening, I'm laying in bed watching Doctor Who, and I have little to no time for frivolity. The Doctor demands my attention, so I shall be concise in my reviewery.
Anyways, tonight I'll cover a few I've recently sampled. One being Brooklyn's Brown Ale.
Too lazy to even take a picture of the glass at Ruby Tuesdays
The lady described this as "a dessert beer", yet I feel that might be giving it an odd spin. It certainly has the malty sweetness of a brown, with little to none of the aftertaste I wind up disliking. I pounded back a two-fer of these in quite rapid succession, and was very pleased with what I was drinking. The nose was nothing to write home about, and as with all Brooklyn's brews I've had, they are just solid beers. Nothing to edgy or out there, just a humble and modest take on a time honored craft.
The label is accurate. I am pleased.
Saranac's White IPA has been sitting in bed with me by now. No, I did not buy it dinner. I did however enjoy it's hoppy sharpness blending almost seamlessly with the refreshing kick of citrus it adds to it. I almost (and this may seem odd) can't get any malt notes to it, but wheat is definitely present in the back end. I've been watching the good Doctor save the universe while slowly sipping at a decent amount of these, and I must say this is one of the best IPA's I've had in a while. Perfectly balanced, sour at points, and undoubtedly refreshing. Good on you Saranac.
Ian, why aren't you watching me right now? I am obviously bewildered.
And with that, my dear reader (that's right, I know there's only one of you), I am back to watching my show with another Saranac. Enjoy your beers of the eve. Allons-y!
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