BEER

[SoulBiter]

Tried this today.... North Coast Brewing, Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout.

Very flavorful beer....intense dark chocolates and roast taste, a bitter balance with the alcohol hitting you at the end. Nice mouth-feel, nice finish. Not too expensive in the scheme of things... I bought a 12oz for about 4 dollars at a growler/craft beer seller.

I'm gonna drink this, have some dinner and go see the movie Kingsman: The secret service.

[Orlion]

All right, Trooper report!

Now, some people have said that Trooper ale is too bitter. Those people are losers that should stick to drinking milk, and you can ignore their opinions on any beer from henceforth!

It is quite clear that Bruce's aim at brewing Trooper ale is to have a brew with wide appeal while still beating out your common swill. So, something that would sell at Iron Maiden concerts. As a result, this ale will not be on any "top fifty" lists of ale enthusiasts. It's drinkable, enjoyable for what it is... but that leads to our next issue: price. It was about 5.25 for a pint where I got it. As far as drinking it every once in a while, that's fine. But I would want to pay less if I were to drink it more regularly.

So, try it if you got the chance... just don't expect a master craft ale.

[Zarathustra]

Rasputin is a solid RIS. I haven't had any in a while, but I remember it being a good value in the 4-pack.

It's about time to crack open some homebrew, Cail, right? They should be carbonating by now. Expect them to peak around a month to 6 weeks in the bottle, but you should be able to get an idea how they're coming along after 2 weeks. Let us know how it goes.

Once they've carbonated, I'd try to keep them in a cool, dark place to preserve them as long as possible ... assuming you don't just drink them up in a couple weeks.

How many bottles did you get, btw?

[Cail]

Last Saturday was 2 weeks. I'm going to put a bottle in the fridge when I get home tonight and try it after dinner. We got 48 bottles and 4 bombers....Not bad at all.

I've got them sitting down in the basement. I'll probably transfer a few at a time up to the fridge. If tonight's test goes well, I'll have a sampling party Saturday. Smoke some ribs, and so on.

[Zarathustra]

I don't know how cool your basement is, but if you find they're not sufficiently carbonated, that might be your culprit. I'd try one before chilling the rest down. The yeast likes 70s to carbonate, then ages long term best at cooler temps. Sometimes in the winter I've stored my bottles in a big cooler with a heating pad (closely monitored for temp) until they carbonated. They'll do it at lower temps, but slower.

~56 bottles is pretty good, especially for such a high ABV and lots of hops, which can soak up a significant amount of your wort prior to fermentation and bottling. I've had some batches turn out less than 40, but I like to get over 60. I try to fill my 6.5 gallon carboy as full as possible, to maximize my efforts.

I haven't brewed yet this years (still waiting on new equipment), but I did roll out the smoker last weekend. Pork loin, whole chickens, and ribs.

[Cail]

The basement stays right around 68 during the winter, so hopefully we're all good.

I just got the smoker a month ago (Broil King Keg) and I've used it throughout our horrible, cold, snowy, windy February. Did a kick-ass brisket two weeks ago, a couple of chickens this weekend.

Between the gas grill and the keg, I won't cook indoors from mid-March until September.

[Cail]

It's awesome. It's a hoppy powerhouse, which is exactly what I was looking for.

[Zarathustra]

That's great to hear! How's the aroma? Did you dry hop?

Hop aroma is mostly produced in the last 10 minutes of the boil (hop additions prior to flame out), and during the wort cooling phase after flame out, and then again once fermentation has completed via a dry hop addition, a week or two later in the fermenter. [I have no idea why they call it "dry" hop, since you want the hops to all get wet in the cooled, fermented beer.] Some even do double dry hops, removing the first and adding more.

Aroma is very important to our perception of taste, so I always save the bulk of my hops for the aroma additions. Hop additions during the 30 minute to 10 minute stages will contribute flavor and moderate bitterness (whereas hops at the beginning of boil will be virtually all bitterness). There's even a first wort hop addition where you add some hops to the hot (but not yet boiling) wort after collecting it from the mash tun prior to heating it all the way to boiling. Many find it to contribute a smoother bitternesss and flavor than traditional flavor/bittering additions.

Dog Fish Head adds hops continuously during every stage for their IPAs. They certainly achieve a unique result. I've never had an IPA as "dank" as their 60 Min IPA.

[Cail]

Yup, I dry-hopped after 2 weeks. The aroma is heavenly.

[SoulBiter]

Wooohoooo! My favorite local brewery is releasing a Russian Imperial Stout they have named 'Thieves in Law".

Thief in the Law, or Vor, is the respected moniker bestowed upon those of elite status within the Russian world of organized crime. Only repetitively imprisoned criminals qualify to be known as a Thief in the Law and are adorned with tattoos exploiting their virtues.

Supremely rich and decadent chocolate, coffee and dark fruit like flavors reveal their pitch-black hiding places as this beer warms. Intricate depths of flavor allure you into our "dark side of the law" beer. 11.5% ABV

Heading there today to see if I can talk them into a taste of this from the brewery before its released.

Edit 4/1 - I bought one of these 22oz today. Nice flavor, not overpowering, very nicely blended. 11.5% alcohol lends a nice taste to the beer without losing the flavor of the malts. I spent $12 for this...I wouldn't spend that often but I can see why this beer is expensive. Its a limited amount of bottles made so I will probably buy another and put it in the fridge and drink it later in the year.

On a side note... anyone tried this?

I saw it at the store and almost grabbed it.

[SoulBiter]

Last night I tried some beer from Highlands brewing. Devils Britches Red IPA. It wasn't a typical IPA. Its a hybrid between a red Irish ale and an IPA. Malty and hoppy but not the powerful hops you would expect from a true IPA. However, I really enjoyed it and would buy this again.

[Cail]

Goose Island is doing a tap takeover tonight at the local bar. Good stuff.

[Zarathustra]

11.5% alcohol lends a nice taste to the beer without losing the flavor of the malts.

In order to get the alcohol that high, usually you add more malt. That's one of the reasons why I like "big" beers so much: more ingredients means more flavor. It's not just a way to get drunk faster.



Dragon's Milk isn't bad.

Cail, any improvement on the home brew? I usually note a distinct improvement in the first few weeks after popping the first one open.

Goose Island has some great brews, and many decent ones. I miss their Bourbon County Stout, which I haven't been able to procure in years. I still drink their standard IPA when I'm looking for something good and cheap. I think of them as somewhere between Sierra Nevada (good) and Sam Adams (meh), the not-so-micro craft brewers (which is why "craft" is now preferred over "micro" in describing brewers ... they're all growing).

[Cail]

The homebrew has smoothed out quite a bit. I'm incredibly pleased with it.

[Orlion]

Found some Lagunitas Sucks, may even try it tonight!

Have had quite a few beers since the last time I posted, many not worth mentioning, so I won't (filthy, tasteless stouts) mostly from restaurants I was roped into going to. I am able to buy better for myself!

So, I'm trying to go on a journey of hops, since the hipsters seem to demand hop water or PBR (sheesh, there's no middle ground for these guys) anyway, that's where independent brewing is heading, so I need to get use to it/ get on board with it.

I recall having an ale that everyone seemed to love several years ago. Great Lake's Burning River. I also remember thinking that I was drinking a bottle of Pine-sol with Lemon Scent. I've avoided such beers since. So that's my criteria: if I'm not reminded of Pine-sol, it's good!

The two I've started out with are Rhinegeist beers. Zen (a session pale ale) and Pure Fury (an american pale ale). Both are hoppy, with Zen approaching the Pine-sol quality I despise so much, though not as much as Burning River. Pure Fury is hard to describe, and on reflection I can only say that I want more.

I'll be able to finish the Zen, though I probably won't get anymore. Pure Fury is seasonal, and I might not be able to get more if I wanted to. Next, Truth, an India Pale Ale!

[Cail]

Found some Lagunitas Sucks, may even try it tonight!

Love that stuff.

[SoulBiter]

I went ahead and purchased a Dragons Milk today. I will drink it tomorrow night sitting outside enjoying the spring evening and listing to some tunes.

I am glad I stumbled onto this thread because its really helped me to go out try some new brews. Ive found a number of stouts that I really like and I used to not be a stout person. The down side of all this is now when I drink stuff I used to call beer, I find I cant drink it. Just not enough flavor or the flavors are bland.

Next..IPA's. I'm going to start trying more and more of those and find what I like with those. Feel free to load me up with some good things to try that you guys already know about.

[Menolly]

So, I readily admit I am not a beer drinker. Hard cider, yes but beer no. That said, this article on Serious Eats caught my eye. Do y'all think there may be a brew among these that would appeal to a hard cider fan?

9 Fantastic Fruit Beers to Seek Out

[SoulBiter]

There are probably some that would. Hard Ciders tend to be very sweet and Beer sweetness is more subtle.

I had one of these last night..Leinenkugel's Sunset Wheat. It was light but also you could really taste the fruits in it. I did not have a slice of orange with it.

[Sorus]

Found some Lagunitas Sucks, may even try it tonight!

Love that stuff.

Finally got my paws on some of this. Surprisingly difficult to find here, especially considering Lagunitas is local.