Category: Guide to better beer

how to discover new beer to try

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Hop degradation

There is so much good beer reading out there that sometimes (OK, a lot of times), I read something that was posted months ago and get all excited only to hear the dreaded words, “Yeah, I read that already. Where have you been?”

The Captain’s Chair blog had this fascinating article on hops and how the aroma can fade and why it does. Required reading in my book, as is the rest of the blog. Check out the info HERE

While you are there, take a peek at his personal Top 20. See how many you’ve had. I have had 7! And it would be more if I could any Minnesota beer in Southern California!

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Redhook Eisbock

Both Karl Strauss and Redhook were craft pioneers who seemed to get passed by or considered too big and not micro cool.

Well now both are coming out swinging. Strauss with some good IPA bombers and Redhook with their 8-4-2 Expedition and now with this…
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It is described on the label as, “Aged for months at temperatures well below freezing, Eisbock 28 is extraordinarily smooth and malt with a bittersweet complexity achieved by ice processing.”

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Brewpot

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Another new beer-centric website has sprung up that you might want to peruse and see if it will help you in your beer journey. Brewpot allows you to rate beers, find beers you might like if you like “Beer A” and also has some brew news.

It is still a toddler so don’t expect all the information in the world, yet.

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Tripel Perfection

The Belgian beer keeps coming from the Cooperstown folks at Ommegang. I have been hearing about their new BPA for a couple of weeks but since I have a fellow beer geek whose first choice is always a tripel then the release of the Tripel Perfection is even better news.
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This beer is three years in the making and clocks in at 8.9% alcohol. So it is not for the weak.

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Stuffed Sandwich

One of the forerunners of craft beer in Los Angeles is the Stuffed Sandwich east of Pasadena tucked into the corner of an uassuming little mall. Sam and Marlene Samaniego moved from the distribution side to the restaurant side and haven’t looked back.
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from their website: “Everyone was so excited about trying new beers that Sam decided to go for a selection of 100 beers. Since then it has not stopped! They now sell over 700 bottled beers from 40 different countries, specializing in Belgian Ales (over 130) and American crafted “Micro” brewed beers.”

Due to the vagaries of liquor laws, you have to (poor us) buy some food to go with the beer.

Their theme for the month of April is anniversary beers. Here is a list of what they may still have pouring:
AVERY BREWING COMPANY’S 16TH ANNIVERSARY 2009 (Saison brewed with Jasmine, Peaches & Honey)
KONINGSHOEVEN’S 125TH ANNIVERSARY 2009 (La Trappe Isid’or Trappist Ale)
ROGUE BREWERY’S 20TH ANNIVERSARY 2008 (Rogue St. Red Dry Hopped Red Ale)
CORONADO BREWING COMPANY’S 13TH ANNIVERSARY 2009 (Smoked Brown Ale)
LAGUNITAS BREWING COMPANY’S 13TH ANNIVERSARY 2006/2007 (Red Ale brewed in 2006/ keg released in 2007)
ANDERSON VALLEY BREWING COMPANY’S 20TH ANNIVERSARY 2007/2008 (Imperial IPA brewed in 2007/ keg released in 2008)
SIERRA NEVADA BREWING COMPANY’S 28TH ANNIVERSARY 2008 (Hoppy Anniversary Ale)
FLYING DOG BREWPUB’S 20TH ANNIVERSARY 2010 (Raging Bitch Belgian Style IPA)
MAD RIVER BREWING COMPANY’S 20TH ANNIVERSARY 2009 (Wheat Wine Barleywine Style Ale)

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Hitachino Nest – Nipponia

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Let’s talk more Japanese beer!
Even they are getting on the locavore bandwagon!
“Kiuchi Brewery succeeded in reproducing ‘Kaneko Golden,’ the first beer malt in Japan. This Nipponia is brewed using only this malt.

We use ‘Sorachi Ace’ as the hop, one which was once breeding in Hookaido and now is cultivated in Washington D.C.

The color Nipponia is gold, worthy of the name, and the flavour is like a lemon produced by Sorachi Ace.”

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Baird Brewery

Now this is a brewery that I need to sample from. Baird is a Japanese brewery that has some really unusual ingredients in their beers. Yuzu in particular goes great with spicy saison in my mind.

For instance:
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Temple Garden Yuzu Ale
“The spicy aroma and tart flavor of Japanese yuzu fruit, picked at a local temple garden, define this other-worldly brew. A luscious kiss of malt sweetness serves as a wonderful balance to the citric tang. This inspired ale surely is proof of the existence of a higher being.”
ABV 5.5%
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Shizuoka Summer Mikan Ale
“Brewed with fresh Shizuoka summer mikans (natsumikans) and citrusy American hops, this original ale is aromatic, effervescent, dryly acidic and unabashedly refreshing.”
ABV 5.5%

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Wild Rice

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The citra hop has worked it’s way to the east coast. I have had only a few rice forward brews and none have blown me away or shown something unique. Maybe this will prove different.

Take a read… “we’ve brewed this beer with wild rice. We also used brown and white rice, as well as two malts.

Rice helps the beer ferment dry to better showcase the five different hops we’ve added. Lots and lots of them. We then dry-hopped this Double IPA with even more-generous additions of Chinook and Citra hops to create a nose that hints at tangerine, mango, papaya and pine.”