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LongShot

This is my favorite Sam Adams beer release of each year, hands down. Each year it’s dramatically different and you get a wide style variety from a mere 3 different beers.
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Here is the pertinent information…..
“The 2010 Samuel Adams LongShot variety six-pack will be available nationwide in select retail stores beginning in April for a suggested retail price of $9.99. The variety pack will include two bottles each of Michael Robinson’s Old Ale, Ben Miller’s Barleywine, and Jeremy White’s Saison.

ABOUT THE WINNERS AND 2010 CONTEST

Michael Robinson’s Old Ale is a malty English-style brew boasting notes of dried fruit, nut, and caramel. A slight bitterness balances the combination of five malts in this full bodied beer. Light brown with reddish highlights and good clarity, the ingredients of this English-style brew are all American with the exception of the yeast which is distinctively English. Created to enjoy on cold nights or as an after dinner treat, Mike’s Old Ale is 9% alcohol by volume, about twice that of the average beer. An experienced homebrewer, Mike was recognized as a finalist in the 2008 Samuel Adams American Homebrew Contest, as well as in the 2007 Samuel Adams® Patriot Homebrew Contest.

Ben Miller’s Barleywine is a dark red, flavorful brew with rich plum undertones to complement its caramel malt flavor. A self-proclaimed ‘hop head,’ Ben used several varieties of citrusy American hops in this beer, creating its resiny aroma followed by clean bitterness. Ben’s Barleywine is his 100th homebrew, brewed to commemorate two years of enjoying the hobby.

Jeremy White, who works in the IT department at Samuel Adams, channeled his love of Belgian beers to create his Saison, a classic Belgian-style brew. Jeremy’s flavorful, refreshing and lighter-bodied beer is brewed with Grains of Paradise, an exotic tropical spice also found in Samuel Adams Summer Ale. The peppery flavor is complemented by a slightly sweet aroma with hints of vanilla and citrus.”

The Old Ale sounds tempting.

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Session # 37

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First, a little backstory. The last apartment that my wife and I shared was on the 2nd floor. Since Los Angeles is the home of bright lights and nearly year long heat, it was not conducive to creating an “awesome stash” from jaunts to San Francisco, Portland or San Diego.

Now, in a larger and more temperate apartment. The cellaring can begin. Unfortunately, this session has caught me too early in the process. So I will have to tell you what I will be opening in 2015.

Anchor Steam: I will start with the 2009 Our Special Ale and end with the 2015 version. I will convene a tasting panel to decide which year has aged well and whether or not the latest will be good in 2020.

IPA’s: For my 45th birthday, I will open up a selection of aged IPA’s to see if this style can withstand the aging process.

Local: I will re-gather my tasting crew to sample a variety of beers from the then (fingers crossed) thriving LA brewing scene. Cellared Eagle Rock, Gentlemen Scholar, The Strand and others.

Collaborations: Of one thing, I am sure. There will be some great collaborative beers out and I plan on grabbing what I can while the grabbing is good.

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Masters Degree in hoppiness

From the Oregonian and a Portland Business Journal article:

“A new aroma hop breeding program will be created in the College of Agricultural Sciences at Oregon State University in Corvallis.

A gift pledge of $807,000 from Indie Hops, a Portland-based hop
merchant, will support the new program, which will be led by Shaun
Townsend, a research associate and hop breeding specialist at OSU.

Indie Hops already has provided $200,000 to OSU’s Thomas Shellhammer, holder of the Nor’Wester Professorship in Fermentation Science, to foster research in new techniques for developing aroma hops and to study aroma hop chemistry. The new hop breeding program will work closely with Shellhammer’s lab to study hop essential oil composition and how individual oil components impart the characteristic flavor and aroma to beer.”
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This means in a few years we might get the next Citra or Nelson hops. IPA’s will not be the same.

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Sly Fox IPA

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Loyal readers are now probably sick of my chirpy introductions to beers that I want to try. How I only seem to really love special reserve beers or canned IPA’s. Sorry folks! Here is another one from one of the canning pioneers Sly Fox…
“Available only in 22oz bottles at present, Rt. 113 was the beer customers most requested be added to the brewery’s canned releases.

Rt. 113 will join Pikeland Pilsner and Phoenix Pale Ale as year-round releases and also still be packaged in the 22oz size.”

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from persimmons to pecans

On the heels of persimmon comes this new 9to me) beer from Texas.
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The label reads:“(512) Double Pecan Porter is a robust porter accented by locally grown roasted pecans and subtly enhanced by aging in recently emptied oak whiskey barrels for two months. For this first-ever bottling, only one 200L barrel was bottled. Notes of chocolate, coffee and pecan marry with the subtle flavors of vanilla and whiskey to make this a wonderful winter warmer worth sharing and savoring.”

My hope is that the pecan flavors can overcome the whiskey. Some aged whiskey or bourbon beers lose some of the nuances that I prefer.

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Persimmon Lambic?

Just when you think the beer world has pulled all the rabbits out of the hat, here comes another new idea…
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from the Indiana brewery…
“The persimmons were provided by Aaron Persinger, a local singer/songwriter who is currently the drummer for Rev. Peyton’s Big Damn Band.”
They have a whole slate of fruited lambics coming this year, including KIWI!

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Fermenting Revolution

A new beer book! I am going to need a bigger bookcase if this pace continues.
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Saving the World with Beer – Chris O’Brien is a beer activist. He advocates the craft beer movement, which he argues is better for the environment and the community.

(Thanks to Good Food from KCRW for bringing this to my attention!)

You can get the book from Amazon.com HERE

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Half Acre + 3 Floyds =

a Helles?
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Yes, indeed. I have yet to try Half Acre, but after watching them on HopCast, I really want to sample their line-up. The two 3 Floyds beers that I have had were fantastic so this should make for a great beer.

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50 from 50 – Idaho

Idaho has some great craft brew. Unfortunately, not a lot of great craft brew distribution. Grand Teton has a larger territory and I picked up a DIPA that may have been past it’s prime. If I had drunk it a couple of weeks earlier, the review would probably be better.
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