Go over the Chart, before you Go

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File this under extremely helpful for the growler set and then cross reference, things Sean should have posted about much earlier than this.

Not only do the Maltose Falcons know home brew, they also have an online repository of who fills – what growlers with an introduction as to why California brewers do what they do, that is so completely spot on, that I wish I had written it.

So bookmark this site and check it before you randomly grab a growler for your next beer trip. It will save you from coming home empty handed or ending up with even more containers to store.

Review – Longevity Baltic Porter from Eagle Rock

Full disclosure:

A) I know the home brewer whose recipe this beer is based on

B) I had this beer at the Kick-Off Festival for L.A. Beer Week (at the end and my taste buds were shot) and I wasn’t blown away by it.

That being said, I wanted to go back and re-visit this beer with a fresh palate.  So here is a second taste and first review on the blog of Longevity Baltic Porter from Eagle Rock Brewery & the Maltose Falcons home brew club.

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The Porter pours a dark and inky black with streaks of brown to it. There are a mixture of roast, tobacco and chocolate notes on the nose that are quite nice. It did take a few sniffs to figure out exactly what was coming through to me even though the aroma is fairly potent.

The texture is quite light and very drinkable. The most dominant flavor to me is smoke with hints of a sweet cola underneath. This is no rauch bier by any means but that taste of smoke is certainly there.

This is one of those styles that may not be to my taste. It is well done but the smoke notes are a distraction to my palate.

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If you are in the mood to try other Baltic Porters then check out Flying Dog’s Gonzo Porter, Victory’s Baltic Thunder or Baltika #6.

40 Years of Falcons

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For the 40th Anniversary of the Maltose Falcons Home Brew Club they will be conducting a Baltic Porter Tasteoff!  Love that a semi-obscure style like that is getting love. According to their website, “We’ll be tasting everyone’s Baltic Porter creations to determine a recipe to take to Eagle Rock for brewing! If you have a Baltic Porter, bring it!”

I for one, am looking forward to tasting this at Eagle Rock later this year!

 

To homebrew or not to homebrew…

…that is the question.

As you can tell, there is a lot of stuff going on in the world of beer. New bars, new beers, new blogs. So a case could be made that homebrewing is just too much “work” to stuff into a day. More than ever, you can find good stuff on sale that requires only whipping out your wallet.

And that is the easy way. But you would be missing out on a strange and wonderful world. Home brewing is what really kicked off the craft beer movement in this country. Without the dedicated club members, we would be thinking Bud American Ale was classy.

So check out the local club meeting. Talk with the people. Taste their beers and let them know your honest opinion, then decide if home brewing is for you. The answer may surprise you.