Firkin A! It's Craft Beer!

Pyramid Audacious Apricot Ale And Thunderhead IPA

I finally tried a Pyramid Audacious Apricot Ale yesterday.  I 've always been a little curious about it and a friend brought some by yesterday. 

I'm glad I didn't buy it.  In short, it was a drain pour.  I took 3 sips, rolled it around on my tongue for a bit and swallowed - hard.  It has a rather inviting orange hue to it and smelled like apricots when I poured it into a pint glass.  Seriously, it tasted like someone crushed up Flintstone vitamins and dissolved  them in the beer.  

Admittedly, I'm not a big wheat beer fan anyway so it had that going against it from the jump.  My wife and our friends thought it was pretty good.  They finished it.  Good for them.

I also had a bottle of the Thunderhead IPA.  Now this was much more drinkable.  It poured a nice gold color with a decent head...not much lace, though.  

The aroma was faintly citrusy, faintly bready, faintly malty, nothing really stood out.  The taste was a bit better than the smell.  The hops were somewhat assertive, but not what most of us have come to expect from a good west coast IPA. 

I liked it.  I would drink it again, but honestly, it's not major league.  Probably more like a good triple A team.  There is potential, but it just can't compete with the heavy hitters.  If Thunderhead was a baseball team, It would be the Tacoma Rainiers and something like Stone's Ruination is like the New York Yankees.

I have a Pyramid Curve Ball Pale Ale to try.  I also still  have the Deschutes Twilight.

I will be in Portland, OR next weekend.  I intend to visit at least one brewery while I'm there.  I'll let ya know.

Cheers,

VW

And We Are Back! Live From Downtown Smellyville!

As pungent and as pervasive as the Tacoma Aroma, I have returned to the beer blogosphere.  I just bought a sixer of Deschute's Twilight Ale summer seasonal to try so I'll be giving you my learned opinion and review this weekend when I crack one open.

I also have some new ideas up my sleeve that I'll discuss as they are finished fermenting.

Also, if you'd like to help with the writing duties let me know, we'll discuss your pay and benefits package.  And to save haggling over things, I don't pay and you have to buy your own beer.

Cheers!

VW

Elysian Pumpkin Night At The Red Hot

The Red Hot is small tavern just down the street from me.  It's a small place with some big beers on tap.

This Wednesday night, they are having Elysian Pumpkin Night. 

Here's what will be on tap from their email I recieved:

NIGHT OWL PUMPKIN ALE
Brewed with over 7 lbs. of pumpkin per barrel. Made with Pale, Munich and Crystal malts, green and roasted pumpkin seeds, and pumpkin in the mash, boil and fermenter. Bittered with Magnum hops. Spiced in conditioning with nutmeg, clove, cinnamon, ginger and allspice. OG 14.9° Plato (1.060) alcohol 5.9% by volume.

THE GREAT PUMPKIN IMPERIAL PUMPKIN ALE
Silver medalist at the 2007 Great American Beer Festival in the Fruit and Vegetable category, the world’s first Imperial pumpkin ale. Brewed with pale, Munich, Cara-Hell, Cara-Vienne, Cara-Munich and Crisp 45° L Crystal malts. Roasted pumpkin seeds in the mash, and extra pumpkin added in the mash, kettle and fermenter. Spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and allspice. OG 19° Plato (1.078) alcohol 8.1% by volume. Brewed at our original Capitol Hill location in Seattle.

DARK O'THE MOON PUMPKIN STOUT
Spookily smooth and chocolatey with a touch of cinnamon – A perennial favorite, brewed with Great Western pale, Crisp 77° Crystal, Munich, Cara-Vienne, roasted, chocolate and Special B malts with roasted pumpkin seeds in the mash. Pumpkin in the mash, kettle and fermenter. Bittered with Magnum and finished with Saaz and crushed cinnamon. OG 19.35° Plato (1.080), alcohol 6.5% by volume. Brewed at the Elysian on Capitol Hill.

HANSEL & GRETEL GINGER PUMPKIN PILSNER
Brewed with organic pale, Weyermann Munich and Cara-Hell malts, with pumpkin added in the mash, kettle and fermenter. Spiced with peeled and pureed fresh ginger in the boil and bright tank and hopped with lots of Czech Saaz hops (otherwise it wouldn’t be traditional). OG 12° Plato (1.048), alcohol 4.5% by volume. Brewed at Elysian Fields.

The address is 2914 6th Ave here in Tacoma.

See you there!

VW

Engine House 9 Brewer's Night

I don't know quite what I expected at the Engine House 9 Brewer's Night.  When I called to see if we needed reservations, I was led to believe that there were going to be different events going on.  I was told that there would be the brewers available to talk to and a new barley wine to release along with some older, aged barley wines to try. 

There were seven of us in our group.  My wife, two of our daughters (and a boy friend), My sister-in-law and a neighbor drove the thee blocks to the pub (It was raining cats and dogs).  We got there about 15 minutes before it was supposed to kick off.

We found a table for us all and we all ordered some dinner from the menu.  The only way we knew anything different was as we sat down, the waitress handed us a small printed sheet with a list of beers and she pointed out that taps four through twenty were E9 brews and some were for only that night.

Two of the beers on the list were indeed some aged barley wines.  There was a 2004 and a 2006 oak aged barley wine.  I ordered the 2004 and our neighbor ordered their sampler.  It was five of their standard brews in four ounce sampler glasses.

The barley wine was just absolutely amazing.  It smelled of roasted nuts and caramel and tasted nutty and malty with just a hint of hops. 

I had the E-9 Dunkel Weiss after that and was frankly not impressed.  I'm learning I am not a wheat beer fan.

Myy last beer of the night was their Irish Stout.  It was a nice dark stout with hints of coffee and chocolate. I've had this beer before and I knew it would end my night on a good note.

The only other thing different there was someone passed around some tickets for a drawing.  I hung around until 7:30 PM and I went home.  Like I said, I wasn't exactly sure what to expect, but I expected there would be a lot more going on.  Perhaps things got more exciting later on in the evening.

Still, the E9 is a place I recommend.  Their beers are good and I especially like the Amber Ale and Irish Stout.  They also have decent pub grub 

Cheers!

VW

Purple Haze...is in my glass

Have I ever mentioned that I like fruit beers?  

With that in mind, I decided to take Abita's Purple Haze for a spin.  It is a raspberry wheat brew, according to the words on the bottle.  

Unlike the Jimi Hendrix song of the same name, Purple Haze beer does not hit you in the face with intensity.  It is a mellow, smooth, chilled out beer that is incredibly light.  It has a nice golden color (they claim that it has some purple in it, but that's as much of a stretch as me saying I weigh 200 pounds...although severely obese is probably reaching as well), refreshing fruity aroma, and decent head.  

The smell belies the taste, though.  There is virtually no significant raspberry flavor to speak of, in my opinion.  I certainly wasn't expecting the amazing jolt of Lindeman's Framboise or anything of the sort, but I was thinking something comparable to the strawberry flavor of Pete's Strawberry Blonde.  Not so.  It basically just has sweet overtones to an otherwise decent wheat beer.

Other than the fact that I feel completely lied to, deceived, and metaphorically violated, the beer is a decent enough endeavor.  I imagine it would be great with a nice summer salad with some fruit and nuts in it, for example.  So just do that sometime 9 freaking months from now...I never promised great timing, folks.  

If I were to invent a rating system right now from scratch, it would have something to do with the beautiful Requiem by Gabriel Faure that is currently playing on the record machine.  That's why I'm going to rate this beer on a scale that I will almost assuredly abandon before it ever gains any momentum whatsoever and give it 5 boy sopranos out of a possible 10 boy sopranos.  I don't promote underage drinking, but I do promote underage boys singing liturgical texts.

Try some Abita Purple Haze if they're out of 8 other beers...you won't be disappointed in anything other than the selection where you ended up settling for Abita Purple Haze.

Mac & Jack's African Amber Ale

The wife and I ate lunch today at Joeseppi's Italian Restaurant today.  It's one of our favorite haunts.  They have some killer deli sandwiches and for dinner, their versions of classic Italian dishes are first rate.  They have a few taps and one of them pours Mac & Jack's African Amber Ale.

Now, I don't know how African it is or if it has any real connection to Africa.  It really doesn't matter. It's just a damned good ale.

The aroma was spicy and citrusy.  The color was a rich amber yellow.  When it hit my tongue, it tasted like spiced orange giving way to malty sweetness and then everything is swept away by the spicy hop bitterness.  Now that was a good beer!

It seemed to pair well with my Italian Sausage sandwich.

I will definitely enjoy more of this in the future.

Coming up Friday night is the Engine House 9 Brewer's night.  They are advertising a new release.  It's two blocks from my house, so expect a report this Saturday.  They will also be bringing out some aged barley wines to try.  Should be some good beer!

VW

Ayinger Celebrator

My neighbor welcomed me back from the Middle East.  She brought over a bottle of Ayinger Celebrator and it is worthy of its name!

Celebrator is a German dark double bock.  It pours dark brown, but not opaque.  There is just the slightest reddish light peeling through.

The Aroma - OH! The aroma!  Sweet dark fruits, a little chocolate and toffee.  It tastes like it smells with a touch of coffee lingering as you swallow  It's definitely all malty sweetness up front.  The hops are just ever so slightly noticeable on the back end.  It gets better and better as it warms. 

This is almost a desert, but in a class of deserts you'd find in a fine restaurant.  

I'm gonna go get me a few more of these and save them for times worth celebrating such as Fridays, it's not raining, Mondays, it's raining, I tied my shoes, my shoes are untied and I found my bottle opener!

VW

It's Greek To Me

Today, the wife and I went down to Saint Nicholas Church and their very popular Greek Festival.  I had a chance to try a bottle of Mythos Beer.

Mythos is a lager in the European style.  It's a bright yellow color.  I didn't get a chance to pour it in a glass so I can't comment on the head, but my guess is it will be like most other lagers.  It had a slightly sweet, bready aroma.

The taste was what I expected.  Light, slightly sweet with just a hint of hops on the finish.  It's a good lawn mower beer.  It's not a bad beer.  It's drinkable, but not anything to write home about. 

Mythos means legendary.  Not so much, I think.

As an aside, I had a taste of Retsina.  It's a Greek wine with a bit of pine resin added.  Why in God's name anyone would do that is Greek to me.  The stuff tasted like paint thinner!

VW

The Tacoma Craft Beer Fest

My triumphant return from the dry lands of the Middle East!  What a way to get back into beer than to attend a craft beer festival!  I was supposed to go with a friend, but family duties kept him busy, so I went solo.  It cost me 20 bucks to get in the door and that included a cheepo plastic mug for tasting and 5 wooden chits to trade for five four ounce (more or less) taste of the brews.  You could purchase more chits if you so desired.

The venue was down on the waterfront on Dock street here in Tacoma.  My only complaint is that it was a little small.  I really hope they can afford a bigger space next year.  With over forty breweries represented, they needed more floor space.  They had a line out front when I left.  As I left, they let one person in.

I made a list of several brews I wanted to try before I went in and I found most.  I checked the brewer's website to see what they had before I left.  Some didn't bring what I'd hoped they would bring.

My first was a Scotch style ale called Quilter's Irish Death from Iron Horse Brewery in Ellensburg, WA.  They say it doesn't fit a style, but it's your basic Scottish, A little sweeter and not smoky, but a scotch ale none the less.  It was really delicious.  I like a good malt bomb and this didn't disappoint.  It's malty, it's rich and it's potent.  It would probably make a great beer float!

From Walking Man Brewing out of Stevenson, I tried their Black Cherry Stout.  I know that Crack is a fruity beer guy so I had to try it.  Two words, fella - two words:  COUGH SYRUP!  Admittedly, it wasn't a fair taste.  I have a huge dislike for most cherry flavored things and this was no surprise.  I tried to give it the benefit of the doubt, but when all you can taste is cough medicine, it's hard to get past that.

Sam Adams was represented there and they had their Boston Lager and Octoberfest.  Of course I had their Octoberfest.  I love that stuff.  It's my benchmark Marzen. It's like a caramel bar in a glass with enough hop presence from the Nobles to tame the sweetness.  I gave the guy the sob story of being in the desert and I got a full glass instead of the four once taste.  I loved it!

From Silverdale, Washington comes Silver City Brewing.   They had a good, smoky and malty Scotch ale.  It was called "Fat" with good reason.  It was FAT with flavor.  Scottish ales are a favorite and this one was fabulous!  It's a good representation of the style.

Alas, I didn't bring a pen and I forgot this one's maker (I think it was Silver City although there is nothing on their website), but it was a fresh hopped pale ale.  I'd never tried a fresh hopped ale and since I liked their Scotch Ale, I decided to give it a try.  The aroma was floral.  I'd never reallsmelled that so heavily in a beer before and the taste was slightly citrusy.  Not a bad beer, but the floral aroma almost put me off.

My last taste was a California beer from North Coast Brewing.  PranQster is a golden Belgian style ale.  Let me be honest and tell you that I'm not a big fan of this style, but it wasn't too bad.  I don't know that I would buy it, but it wasn't a drain pour either.  I would have preferred their Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout to the Belgian but it doesn't always work that way.I'm not sure what I'm supposed to taste here except some tartness and even a little spiciness.  Better than I expected, none the less.

There was lots of people, lots of great beer and even some half way decent bands playing.  What more could you ask?  If you didn't go, you missed a great festival!

VW

Where I'll Be Tomorrow!

http://tacomacraftbeerfest.com/