Day 2 and we head to Indeed Brewing before we go Stir Crazy….
The Beers of Christmas – Day 1
We start the beers of Christmas with the ninth beer in The Bruery “Days of Christmas” series…..
Featured Review – Jolly Folly from Green Flash
Yes, it is past Christmas. And yes, it is also past New Year’s but one can be jolly and be involved in a folly later in January. So let’s get to reviewing Jolly Folly IPA from Green Flash Brewing of San Diego and Virgina Beach.
This “accidental” IPA pours a clear, bright orange with a big dank aroma with an underpinning of orange peel. The bitterness really hits the palate with this one and drys out really quickly. When cold, there is more of a fruit punch taste underneath. As it warms, that fruit note fades out and you are left with an orange pekoe tea with a touch of pine to it.
Jolly Folly might just satisfy both the earthy hop lovers and the citrus hop lovers in equal measure.
#BABeerDay
Hey! Did you know that today is Barrel Aged Beer Day? First started in 2013 to get the beer world to raise a snifter (not a pint) to celebrate the beer that is made better by sitting around lazily in barrels.
One way to celebrate the barrel would be at Barrel Down in DTLA tonight. You will find some “fun BA stuff on tap that doesn’t get out there much such as Wineification II, Smoking Wood mole, Barrel-Aged 6 Geese, White Oak.”
More info HERE.
Or you can sit around lazily yourself and get the hashtag #BABeerDay ready to go viral on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. And don’t leave it at the one hashtag. Show some love to the brewery that let the beer sit instead of selling it.
With More Velvet
Anything that Firestone Walker puts into a fancy box should be a must buy for beer fans and that goes double for Velvet Merkin, their barrel-aged oatmeal stout which is set to return in its third bottled vintage.
What’s different? The 2015 Velvet Merkin includes a barrel-aged lot of an experimental milk stout version of Velvet Merlin.
Then the beer was aged in bourbon barrels from the Heaven Hill family, including Elijah Craig and Old Fitzgerald.
The 2015 Velvet Merkin will be officially released at the brewery on Saturday, September 12. A total of 3,500 cases (22-ounce bottles; $16.99) were produced, with availability slated for select markets across the United States.
The Adult Version of the Bounce House
Yes, this is just plain silly. When I see a bounce house, I think of sticky and humid and loud. Granted the “blow-up” pub probably is non-bouncy but the last three attributes are probably there in abundance.
Now it would be better if it was a simple facade with tables behind it like a movie set. But honestly, who would rent one of these?
Review – Hops from Sierra Nevada
Sierra Nevada has added a new bitter wrinkle to their IPA line-up with Hop Hunter but as I was beer shopping, I was also pointed to a new Golden IPA as well.
Let the taste off begin!
These two IPA’s could not be any more different and both have elements that I really enjoy in my hop bombs but both also contain stuff I don’t like so much as well.
The Golden IPA has a mild tea like aroma and then it just punches you in the face with bitterness. It is really sharp on the tongue. It isn’t heavy in body though and it does have some white wine and grapefruit pith notes that blend well together. But that carbonated bitter blast really set me back on my heels.
The Hop Hunter with distilled hop oils also has an aroma/flavor disconnect. It is big on that cat pee aroma. Close to off putting levels. But then you take a sip and it is a symphony of flavors. Mango, a touch of vanilla and even grape notes as it warms and in the background is a bready cereal note that offsets the mild bitterness and leads to the next sip.
I guess if I forced to choose one, I would go with the Golden due mostly to the aroma on the Hop Hunter. It was just not appealing to me. And the sharpness of the Golden, though not my favorite, was not the distraction that the aroma was.
Holiday Ale # 18 – Storm Surge from Diamond Knot
I get seasick just looking at this storm that is attacking this boat. Much better to be on shore with a Diamond Knot beer in a glass than on the open sea.
“This is pretty complicated beer, at least by our standards (we normally love the old saying “Keep it simple, stupid!”). We use 2-row pale malt, German Carared, Caramel 80, Carapils and Munich malts in the mash, then just before beginning to extract all the goodness from those malts, we sprinkle crushed Midnight Wheat over the grain bed to ‘stain’ the mash.
The effect of this little bit of brewhouse trickery is to pull only the color from the wheat while extracting just a hint of its roasty, coffee-like qualities. Additions of a whole boatload of Chinook, Cascade, Simcoe and Columbus hops give this beer a lovely, layered bitterness that perfectly complements the complexity of the malts. It’s very dark in color, but don’t let appearances deceive you; this beer is highly drinkable and perfect for those cold, stormy winter days when you want to dream of Spring. “
more PDX Beer photos
Portland Beer – Thanksgiving 2014
It can take me awhile to process and put into words what a I have experienced. Especially with beer vacations. So while I string together some coherent thoughts, here are some photos from my recent trip back to the homeland…..
