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 First Tuesday morning quarterback to be posted in the morning (11:49 does not count) in a long time. Thanks to all the SFB faithful for sticking around. On Saturday we tasted the Honey Brown Ale AKA Sweet Tea Ale AKA Whoa That’s some Sweet Beer Ale AKA But Not Too Sweet Ale. Can you guess how it tasted? I liked it but either it needed a little longer in the fermenter or it is not one of our best beers. It was not an original recipe, after all, I took it from the recipe book I got for Christmas, how good can it be? Actually, that book has some great tips, great ideas, and probably some good recipes. Just not this one.
The more I draw these mug outlined pictures, the more I believe that the tast of any beer can justifiably summarized by taking or finding a picture of something you think the beer tastes like and drawing around that thing an outline of a mug or stein. I will work on coining a name for this technique. So far I like “mugging” but apparently that is already taken. I’ll work on it.
We brewed our latest beer on Friday. It is a dark American wheat beer. Some call it White Shadow, others call it Sexual Chocolate. My last update from the brewhouse floor has it fermenting furiously. I may have to add the word “Ninja” in there somewhere. I just don’t know. The OG came in a little higher than I was aiming for. I added some secret spices (coriander) and quite a bit of hops but I don’t think that would effect the gravity by that much if at all. I plan on adding some orange and zest once we rack the beer into another carboy next weekend. I tasted the wort, as usual, while reading the OG. It tasted strange. Not bad but strange. That might be the wheat we used. I have never done a wheat beer. I have also never produced wort with an OG over 1.1 (like I said, the OG ran a little high). I hope the yeasties can do some serious work in there. If they do we might have a nice 10 percenter on our hands.
Elsewhere I went over to the Pratt Street Ale House to collect my winnings from the last Friday question. A few notes: 1) excellent veggie burger — I automatically like any place that a) does not serve me a morningstar farms or gardenburger pattie and b) has a house made veggie burger that does not squish and ooze out of the sides of the buns when I pick it up and bite into it – and 2) My Monkey’s Got Wood was delicious.
 This is just proof that what I’ve been saying is true.
My ability to read Wikipedia and extrapolate what I find there into free t-shirts has been realized! I won a free monkey t-shirt from Oliver Ales and The Pratt Street Ale House, who (in a completely unrelated update) just made in onto our links sidebar under “bars we like.”
The picture is the back of the shirt, I think. Check out the links below for the details.
Q: http://www.prattstreetalehouse.com/2010/02/the-friday-question-26/
A: http://www.prattstreetalehouse.com/2010/02/the-friday-question-27/
Beer 15
Name: Menage A Frog Ale
Brewery: Issaquah Brewery
Location: Issaquah, WA
Brewing Since: 20th Century sometime
Website: http://www.rogue.com/locations/rogue-breweries.php#1
Sight: Golden, noticeably unfiltered.
Scent: Yeasty with a nice dose of tripel spiciness
Texture: full bodied, it hangs around for a while in the back of my throat
Taste: A whole lot of pilsner goodness, nice and bitter. I can taste the “free range water” listed as an ingredient. You can take solace in the fact that the water had a good life before it was put into this bottle.
Thoughts: Does is matter (for my 50 states adventure) that this beer, brewed in Washington state, is owned by Rogue? No, not to me and it shouldn’t matter on your 50 states quest. Duvel owns Ommegang but I would still count it as a Pennsylvania brewed beer.
How to Drink: I’d say you could drink this beer if you are feeling saucy or if you are eating something really spicy or saucy and spicy. It might also be good while either on a mysterious vanishing island or watching a television show about a mysterious vanishing island.
 So many things to talk about… did I even do a TMQ last week? I don’t think so. I think I was too busy shoveling or getting pounded by snow. I have five topics to discuss and I think I’ll do them in chronological order.
- Honey Brown, We Hardly Knew Her — I think she settled down a bit after her explosion in the closet. We racked her into another carboy and now she bottled and well adjusted. This beer came in at 6.7% ABV. I’m excited to take a swig or two this weekend. We may start adding honey to every beer.
- March Marzen — She is racked in a clean carboy and in the kegerator to lager for a few weeks. When racking I took at quick reading and I estimate the beer will be around 5% ABV. Maybe we need to step it up a bit with our ABV levels. Maybe not. The marzen looked nice and light in the siphon tube. We think this will be one of our lightest colored beers yet. I am excited to see how clear the lagering makes the finished product.
- Heavy Seas’ Third Annual Beer and Oyster Festival — It was a good time, despite the fact that although they advertised frites as one of the food items, I could not find them anywhere. Those of us who don’t eat other animals had to scavenge for corn bread (while it lasted) and grab handfuls (and handfuls and handfuls) of saltines. What I’m trying to say is that I will eat before I come next year. I had some good beers including the Siren Noire and a few of the firkins.
- Max’s Sixth Annual Belgian Beer Festival — I made it to the last day of this beer festival. Two things of note. 1) I don’t often go upstairs. I feel like that’s where they put the bartenders-in-training. I like the downstairs regulars (some more than others) more than the bobo upstairs bartenders. I don’t know if its their level of knowledge or their personalities or something else I can’t define. I am almost convinced, now after this festival, that upstairs is the minor leagues and downstairs is the big show. 2) I think people get a little too excited about Belgian beers. Yes, there is a great tradition of wonderful beers but just because a beer is from Belgium doesn’t mean it is terrific. I tasted my share of mediocre and high priced beers. I would rather they have a 100-mile radius beer festival or a US Craft or US Small Breweries festival. One thing I will give to Max’s: their pomme frites are much better than any of the frites I tried (or spied) in Belgium.
- The next beer — One of the few classic styles we haven’t attempted yet is a wheat beer. I think that will be our next brew. I want to make it a Dark American Wheat Beer and call it White Shadow and make Cable Guy jokes the entire brew. I may even try some flavorings. Anywho, I’m working on the recipe now so we should be good to go shortly.
Beer 14
Name: New Grist
Brewery: Lakefront Brewery
Location: Milwakee, Wisconsin
Brewing Since: 1986
Website: http://www.lakefrontbrewery.com
Sight: Golden, Pilsner colored.
Scent: Reminds me more of my visit to the Jack Daniels distillery than it does to a beer brewery. Maybe its the sorghum.
Texture: Light but not without flavor. Maybe its the rice.
Taste: A bit like Bud but also a bit different. In that difference lies the flavor. Maybe that’s the sorghum I taste.
Thoughts: I started off wondering what is sorghum. Perhaps you would have started there as well. Its a grass and when you (I) go down the path of thinking about brewing beer with things besides barley, you (I) start to ask yourself at what point does beer stop being beer and start being something else... My digressive conclusion is that its not the ingredients or the amount of alcohol more than it is the process.
How to Drink: Really, its not bad. If (IF [IF]) I was in the mood for a Budweiser, I would go get one of these instead. So should you. I could imagine going to get a six pack of this beer every once in a while.
 I got one of these for my birthday. Thanks, Meagan. I proposed the following questions to the candle, Aunt Sadie, and the universe (not necessarily in that order): Why do they call it a beer candle? Does it smell like beer? Is it made from beer? Is it somehow edible and does it taste like beer? It certainly (read: sort of) looks like a tumbler glass of beer with an ever-present head of foam. Sadie you may be on to something here! Here is the blurb from the manufacturer’s website:
“For the beer lover in your life! This candle captures that special scent of a yeasty beer and won’t make your house smell like the morning after Saturday night’s frat party!”
After lighting it for a few minutes and carefully wafting the beer goodness up toward my nostrils I can say the following: I am not sure it smells like beer but if it does, it must be that delicious type of beer bars serve candle-warm. N.B. – They are available locally at Red Tree in Hampden.
UPDATE: Allow the candle to die (it will smother itself five minutes after lighting) and walk out of the room. Ten minutes later, walk back in the room with the candle. Can you smell anything? I think I can smell something and it does remind me of beer although I don’t know if I can place it.
Beer 13
Name: Abbey Ale
Brewery: Abita Brewery
Location: Abita Springs, LA
Brewing Since: 1986
Website: http://www.abita.com
Sight: Dark amber with clumpy white head.
Scent: Mmmm yeasty, mmmm spicy.
Texture: Full bodied and frothy.
Taste: Sweet but not overly so, light bitterness, excellent Belgian flavors.
Thoughts: Its a good Belgian-style Abbey Dubbel. I’ve had better but not many as authentic. I like that they donate 25 cents from each bottle bought to a local monastery.
How to Drink: Wait until you are in the mood for a thick, full bodied Belgian… on the eve of a large, local, Belgian beer festival, perhaps?
50 craft beers, 50 states. It has been almost exactly two months since beer one and I am close as I can get to being a quarter of the way through my quest. I have created a little map to highlight my adventures through the craft beers of this country. It wasn’t as apparent to me just how far I have to go until after I finished the map. The states in red I have completed, the states in white (or gray, depending) I have yet to conquer (and of course by “conquer” I mean “try one craft beer produced in that state that I have not yet had”)!
Beer 12
Name: Squall IPA
Brewery: Dogfish Head Brewery
Location: Milton, DE
Brewing Since: 1995
Website: http://www.dogfish.com
Sight: Golden color, wonderful thin layer of white head.
Scent: Oh smell that hoppy goodness!
Texture: Bubbly but contained. Large body.
Taste: 90 minutes + bottle conditioned + unfiltered = stupendous.
Thoughts: Everything you might (read: I do) love about the 90 Minute IPA but somehow, in some way, better. Perhaps its the synergy created by Rouges Gallery and Dogfish Head becoming “friends.” Cool label, too.
How to Drink: I think this beer would be good any day of the year, any time of the day. Its good like that. How should you drink it? E-mmediately! It doesn’t matter, do it now. Valentine’s Day, in the middle of dinner with your wife — OK to drink. April Fools Day, just after Jell-Oing your co-worker’s stapler, OK to drink. June 12, as your child takes his first steps — OK to drink. August 29, your grandmother’s 95th birthday lunch buffet, OK to drink. October 16, passing mile 14 during the Baltimore Marathon — OK to drink. December 24, midnight vigil mass at your local church, OK to drink. Do you see how versatile and wonderful this beer is?
Beer 11
Name: Colossus
Brewery: Du Claw Brewing Company
Location: Baltimore, MD
Brewing Since: 1996
Website: http://www.duclaw.com
Sight: A little bit brown, a little bit red, a little bit amber. Or, as I called it, “Brember.”
Scent: Age… sweet age.
Texture: FULL bodied alright. It hands around the back of my mouth for a while after the swallow, the sweetness hangs around the front of my mouth longer.
Taste: Surprisingly sweet. The bitter end is overwhelmed by the sweetness throughout.
Thoughts: This beer is finger lickin’ good. Especially when you drink your beer from a cup formed by your hands like I do and then lick your fingers.
How to Drink: Channel a mix of Sherlock Holmes and Hugh Heffner: Put on your finest red silk robe. Light the candles in your study. Sit, legs crossed, in your highest backed chair. Put your feet up, relax, and be sure to swirl the beer in your cognac glass before each sip.
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