Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Dogfish Head: Bitches Brew Release

  Dogfish Head  celebrates the 40th anniversary of the landmark release of Miles Davis's "Bitches Brew".  This quintessential jazz album changed the face of jazz recordings since it's release in 1970. The improvisational trumpet style that Miles possessed was both controversial and revered. Recorded in three days, this monumental double album forever changed how musicians approached their instruments, recordings and musical style. If this album is not in your collection I would suggest you put it on the top of your list of new purchases. As for the beer, I have yet to try it but will. To quote the DFH site.. "we've created our own Bitches Brew - a bold, dark beer that's a fusion of three threads imperial stout and one thread honey beer with gesho root, a gustatory analog to Miles' masterpiece". So grab a bottle and the album and enjoy. Cheers!

For more information visit: DFH Bitches Brew

Monday, August 30, 2010

The Bruery: Coton


Okay, so every major craft brewery in north America and abroad, has jumped on the barrel aging bandwagon. So much so that an entire cottage industry has evolved to find those highly sought after oak barrels. But what sets The Bruery's "Coton" apart from the rest is that they not only limited the the aged portion to 25% of the over all volume but they did this by using a process called "Solera". Now at the risk of totally confusing you and myself. I decided to have Wiki explain it. Alright I'll come clean it is actually kinda hard to retain much information after a snifter of this  2010 anniversary ale which chimes in a robust 14.5%.
  Take it away Wiki.......
   In the solera process, a succession of containers are filled with the product over a series of equal aging intervals (usually a year). One container is filled for each interval. At the end of the interval after the last container is filled, the oldest container in the solera is tapped for part of its content, which is bottled. Then that container is refilled from the next oldest container, and that one in succession from the second-oldest, down to the youngest container, which is refilled with new product. This procedure is repeated at the end of each aging interval. The transferred product mixes with the older product in the next barrel.
  No container is ever drained, so some of the earlier product always remains in each container. This remnant diminishes to a tiny level, but there can be significant traces of product much older than the average, depending on the transfer fraction. In theory traces of the very first product placed in the solera may be present even after 50 or 100 cycles.
  The age of product from the first bottling is the number of containers times the aging interval. As the solera matures, the average age of product asymptotically approaches the difference between the number of containers (K) and the fraction of a container transferred or bottled (α), divided by the fraction of a container which is transferred or bottled {(K-α)/α}.
  For instance, suppose the solera consists of four barrels of wine, and half of each barrel is transferred once a year. At the end of the fourth year (and each subsequent year), half the fourth barrel is bottled. This first bottling is aged four years. The second bottling will be half four years old and half five years old (the wine left in the last barrel at the previous cycle), for an average age of four and a half years. The third bottling will be: one fourth wine that was six years in the fourth barrel, one fourth wine that was four years in the third barrel and one year in the fourth barrel, one fourth that was three years in the third barrel and two years in the fourth barrel, and one fourth that was two years in the second barrel, one year in the third, and one year in the fourth: average age five years. After 20 years, the output of the solera would be a mix of wine from 4 to 20 years old, averaging slightly under 7 years. The average age asymptotically converges on seven years as the solera continues.
 Are you still with me??? Well the beer geeks out there probably followed all that but I'm still left wishing i had passed Algebra in high school. None-the-less Coton is based on the Bruery's the original recipe for Papier, their first anniversary ale brued in the English style Old Ale tradition.
  Ideally served at 60 degrees this malty complected beer is wildely complex with flavors of dark fruit,vanilla, oak, and burnt sugar. It pours with a deep amber color and a robust beige head. Coton is a "big " beer in all respects. So if you can find it in your area by all means pick a bottle up. Mine was # 06372. Cheers!

Information courtesy of  Wikipedia.org

Saturday, August 28, 2010

The Bruery: Black Tuesday 2010 Release

 The Bruery has posted the release of one of the most exclusive LTD edition beers in production today. "Black Tuesday" is released annually, towards the end of October. Only available at the brewery in California, fans of this highly sought after Imperial Stout, have been know to wait hours, sometimes a whole day, for this beer to go on sale. Lines have been as long as 4 blocks some years. I was recently treated to a small sampling of Black Tuesday and I can honestly say that I would likely endure the wait, as well as the 3,000 mile trek across the country from my home. Yes I would fly, walking is asking a bit much. The Bruery will have an online pre-sale beginning Sept. 1st and you will still have to be at their Oct 26th event in California to pick-up the beer. For all the Black Tuesday info visit: http://www.thebruery.com/beers/blacktuesday.html . Cheers!

Monday, August 23, 2010

Abita SOS Release


  Let us not forget that although British Petroleum claim's to have put to stop the greatest "corporate caused"  ecological disaster of all time, the legacy of what they have caused will continue to adversely effect the natural oceanic infrastructure for generations to come.
  Just as Katrina displaced millions from their homes in New Orleans and the surrounding parishes, B.P. has managed to displace, and in some instances kill portions, of the hundreds of species of wild life who called the Gulf Coast their home. 

  The "mayhem" portion of my blog usually addresses the humorous side of  beer and music. Unfortunately I must now apply "mayhem" in it's most literal form.
    I could speak to the taste merits of Abita's charitable release SOS, but given the circumstances who would really care. If Abita SOS is available in your area, buy it. If it is not demand that your local distributor bring it in. Abita's donation of .75 cents from the sale of each bottle to the rescue and restoration of the environment, industry and individuals fighting to survive this disastrous oil spill, may not sound like much, but if we all buy just one bottle a little will go a long way. No Discounts, No Free Samples, No Sharing! Buy your own Bottle!







For more information please visit.......
http://abita.com/brews/sos.php
http://sos.abita.com/#load

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Monday, August 16, 2010

Harpoon 100 BBL Series #32: Pott's Landbier


 Number 32 in Harpoon's 100 BBL Series takes us back to traditional German brewing roots with this wonderful "country beer". This beer is actually a collaboration between Joerg Pott of Pott's Brauerei in Oelde, Germany, Pott’s brewmaster Peter Wienstroer and Harpoon’s Todd Charboneau. As the story goes, back in 2003 Joerg Pott took a tour of American breweries which included Harpoon. A few years later in the summer of 2007 Joerg joined the Harpoon staff to learn more about American craft beer. Joerg and Todd talked often about creating a collaborative beer, but they were never able to work out the logistics.  
 Pott's Landbier has deep chestnut brown color and pours with a medium white head, which dissipates quickly and leaves little or no lacing. Make no mistake about it, this beer has a solid malt foundation, but that is offset buy a wounderful blend of all German hops. Most notably is the Magnum bittering hop which blends well at a modest 30 IBU's. Potts has chosen to ferment with his own proprietary lager yeast.
 This beer has a very crisp, clean balance with an ever-so slight bitter finish. This is a great diversion from those Light Lager's, Pilsner's,  flavored Hefe's and Belgian Whites that we seem to be inundated with when the mercury in the thermometer rises to tell us it's Summer. Pick up a couple of bottles while you still can because, as always, once it's gone, it's gone. Cheers!

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Sierra Set To Brew Trappist Ales

 Tuesday Sierra Nevada announced that they will partner with the
Trappist-Cistercian Abbey of New Clairvaux. This will be the first time Trappist Ales, in the true Trappist tradition have ever been brewed in America.
  Located in Vina, California, the Abbey of New Clairvaux is a Cistercian Abbey of Strict Observance (Trappist). The abbey was founded in 1955 on 590 acres of  Leland Stanford’s famed Vina Ranch. The monks follow the Rule of St. Benedict-Ora est Labora (Prayer and Work) and spend their days in prayer, meditation, and tending to the labor of the working farm located at the abbey.
  This series of three Belgian -style Abbey ales will be brewed in accordance with the centuries-old tradition of the Trappist monks. Each beer in this limited release series, will rotate through the seasons. The first beer in the series, scheduled for release in March 2011, will be a Belgian-style Dubbel brewed with authentic Trappist yeast. The second beer in the series, scheduled for release in July, will be a Saison, the traditional Belgian-style farmhouse ale made in honor of the Monk’s dedication to labor in the fields surrounding their abbey. The third will be released in time for the holidays. It will be a Trappist-style Quadrupel rich with dark fruit flavors and the unique wine-like characters of these strong Abbey ales.          

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Sam Adams 2010 National Distributor Weekend



 This past weekend Samuel Adams hosted their annual "National Distributor Weekend". This offered select members from various beer distributors throughout  U.S., an opportunity to come to the Boston based brewery to see where all the magic happens. The evenings events included an enormous B.B.Q. buffet, live music, brewery tours, a meet and greet with founder Jim Koch and plenty of great Samuel Adams Beer.















                   


 "Weather Is Great......."

         
                    "Beer is Good...."













                                      "... People are Crazy."


And now on to the Brewery.......