Archive for December, 2009

Flying Dog Raging Bitch

Edgy as always, Flying Dog Brewery is preparing for their 20th Anniversary in 2010 with the release of the equally edgy Flying Bitch Belgian IPA. I’ve been looking forward to trying this beer and this week it was one of the featured beers at the Capital Ale House Steal the Glass Night. Colleen and I stopped in at Capital Ale House Fredericksburg to try out the newest beer from Flying Dog.

Raging Bitch was served on draught in a Fying Dog pint glass. The beer is clear amber with a frothy off-white head. When I took the first whiff, I was struck by the citrus hop aroma. It was interesting that the more I sipped the beer, the more the clove and spice notes were noticed. The aroma is a complex blend of hoppy IPA and Belgian “funk.” The flavor is a blend of citrusy and piney hops along with pepper spice notes. It’s all backed up with a sweet, bready malt. The aftertaste is a pleasing, lingering bitterness with some mild astringency. This is an extremely flavorful and complex beer.

Going in, I really didn’t know what to expect from a beer described with such contradictory terms as “Belgian” and “IPA.” However I was not disappointed at all. The beer is a treat for both the nose and the mouth. The flavors are rich and bold. Raging Bitch checks in at 8.3% ABV. The alcohol is detectable but still well-balanced by the intense flavors. I truly enjoyed drinking this beer. A second glass was paired with chicken tostada appetizer and the beer worked well with the spicy food.

The somewhat risque name did create some humorously awkward moments for the servers at Capital Ale House. When reciting the Flying Dog beers available for STGN, they’d often hesitate after saying “Raging…” I’m hoping these “Musings” aren’t flagged for this review!

I am told that Flying Dog Raging Bitch will be available in bottles very soon. I look forward to picking some up when it shows up locally. Meanwhile, it can be found on draught where Flying dog beers are served.

Merry Christmas

Wishing everyone a Very Merry and Blessed Christmas. May the joy of the season follow you throughout the year.

I hope you enjoy this rendition of Do You Hear What I Hear? performed by the Bowen Beer Bottle Band.

And the angel said to them, “Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people; for to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
– Luke 2:10-11

Blue & Gray Minor Dementia

I finally had the chance to crack into the growler of Blue & Gray Minor Dementia Bourbon Barrel Imperial Stout I picked up last week. The growler was intended for a Christmas party last Saturday, but that event was cancelled due to the east coast blizzard. Minor Dementia is the bourbon barrel aged version of the brewery’s Temporary Insanity Stout. I first wrote about this beer back in February 2008.

Minor Dementia pours dark cola color but is translucent at the edges. There’s a thin beige head that persists to leave some lacing behind. The aroma is that of dark chocolate and espresso. Faint hints of bourbon can be detected as well. The flavor is complex. Dark chocolate, espresso, molasses, and dark fruit notes come through. The bourbon flavor is well-balanced and makes itself present in the aftertaste. The alcohol gives a nice warm feeling in the back of the throat. A word of warning is called for here; Minor Dementia checks in at about 13% ABV. While the alcohol level is detectable, it’s well-masked. Mouthfeel is creamy and “chewy.”

Blue & Gray hit one out of the park with this year’s Minor Dementia. How good is it? I’ll share a comment from a friend, who shall remain nameless. “I have to give [brewer] Madison some props from this elixer..I enjoyed a 22 oz Bottle and Drunk Dialed him..it is that good!”

It’s a good bet that Blue & Gray will sell out of Minor Dementia quickly. Get by the brewery soon if you want to experience some minor dementia for yourself.

A check of the cellar shows me that I still have a couple of bottles from the first bottling in 2008. It will be interesting to see how these “vintage” bottles have held up.

Cheer or Beer?

Which comes first … the holiday cheer or the holiday beer? Does it take beer to make cheer, or cheer to make beer? These are the questions.

No matter your answer, I hope you have a wonderful Christmas holiday this year and an equally fun and safe New Year. Thank you for continuing to read my little corner of the blogosphere. I’m looking forward to what 2010 will bring for better beer everywhere.

Have you received the inaugural issue of Beer Connoisseur magazine yet? You can subscribe online right here, or check your local bookseller, like Barnes & Noble or Borders, for a copy. I think the first issue turned out very well and I’ve gotten a lot of good feedback so far. The next issue is really right around the corner – publishing in March 2010 – so read up on the winter issue while it ’tis the season, ’cause we’ll be moving on to Spring before you know it!

In the ‘we wanna know’ category, what Christmas seasonals did Santa bring you this year? Are you planning to open anything special today or tomorrow to celebrate the season? If so, visit the Aleuminati forums and let us know what you’re planning to pour!

We’ve had a wonderful selection of seasonals in stock at Kindling Spirits this year, so I’ve certainly been enjoying my share, to date. The photos here represent a few that have stood out for me. We’ll be back on track, too, with our regular beer dinners in 2010. Please let me know if you have any requests or ideas and we’ll see if we can accommodate! Do you want to see a particular style featured? Maybe a favorite brewery? Let’s make it happen!

Cheers and Merry Christmas!

Shawn

More Than Just Bubbles

Winemakers can interpret Champagne in a variety of ways, from the lightness and finesse of blanc de blancs to the forcefully energetic wines of the 1996 vintage.

Beer Holster

Just in time for Christmas, here’s the gift for the beer lover who has everything.

Clear Sugar Experiment – Bottling

Over the weekend I bottled the “Clear” Sugar Experiment that I posted about last week.  Sunday I wanted to brew a Belgian Strong Dark based on De Struise Pannepot, and I needed the yeast harvested from the experiment to pitch into it.  The experimental beers had hit a gravity around 1.006 (~90% AA) and they looked clear, so I didn’t think it was necessary for them to sit longer than two weeks in primary.

The experimental sugars were used for the priming dosage for their respective batches.  I haven’t done this two previous sugar experiments, but when we are talking such minute differences, the extra work seemed worth it.  I weighed out the sugars based on how much would be needed to give the equivalent carbonation of 1 oz (28 g) of sucrose.  This worked out to: 28 g of table sugar, 28 g of clear candi rocks, 39 g clear candi syrup, and 33 g of corn sugar.  Finally for the batch that recieved no sugar I went with 46 g of DME, just to keep it completely sugar free.  I am a bit concerned that priming in this way could induce some variability if I didn’t work things out exactly right, but it seemed worth doing since the amount of sugar added for carbonation is eqivalent to 28% of the sugar added to the wort initially.

After the sugars were weighed out, I dissolved them in enough water to make ~10 tbls of liquid.  Each glass got two minutes in the microwave to dissolve the sugars and make sure everything was sanitary (as usual the candi rocks were the biggest pain to get dissolved).

Each sweet syrup had enough sugar to carbonate 120 oz of beer to 3 volumes of CO2 (assuming I did my math correctly). Since each contained 10 tbls of liquid this means that 1 tbls would be enough to carbonate 12 oz of beer (convenient how that worked out).  So I used a tablespoon and funnel to dose all of the bottles with the sugar solution (2 tbls in each bomber).

Next I siphoned directly from the five jugs into the bottles (a Mini Auto-siphon is a must if you want to do something like this since it fits into the mouth of 1 gallon jugs), and capped them.  The yield was a perfectly even two bombers and five 12 oz bottles per jug (just over 4 gallons total). The small amount of leftover beer tasted pretty good (fruity, clean pils malt, hint of hops etc…), if still a bit yeasty. 

I’m looking forward to a full blind taste test on these in a couple weeks.

Weathering The Storm

The weather prognosticators are telling us the east coast will be hit with a major winter storm this weekend. While most folks were at the grocery store stocking up on chips, milk, and TP, I had more practical needs on my mind. My goal was to lay in a supply of good cold weather beers. The photo at the right shows the fruits of my shopping trip; Clipper City Winter Storm, Clipper City Yule Tide, Sierra Nevada Celebration, Anchor Christmas Ale, Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout, and New Holland Dragon’s Milk.

If we’re cooped up for too long, I also have the growler of Blue & Gray Minor Dementia I picked up this week as well.

What’s in your storm survival kit?

❄ ❄ ❄ LET IT SNOW! LET IT SNOW! LET IT SNOW! ❄ ❄ ❄

Laptops and Beer

We all know that beer and laptops don’t mix. No, I’m not referring to an email sent in anger or while under the influence. Spilling your beer can irreparably damage your laptop. A laptop repair company has shared its Top 10 list of liquid spills that damage laptops. Weighing in at number 5 is beer.

#5: Beer (6% of spills). Beer drinkers can’t seem to hold their liquor around their laptops, either. Beer is part water, part sugar, part brown goo. American lagers, as well as Mexican beers such as Corona or Dos Equis, are lighter than many imported brands, and may do less damage to laptops.
[Emphasis added]

Perhaps, we should just do away with complicated measures of IBUs, SRMs, ABV, etc. and simply judge beer on its electronic damage capability (EDC.)

Of course, you should keep all liquids away from your laptop. But if you are curious about the complete list, it’s here.

Local Homebrewers Rock

The Third Annual Virginia Beer Blitz was held Saturday, December 12 at St. George Brewery in Hampton, VA. This annual event is sponsored by The Colonial Ale Smiths & Keggers (CASK). The Virginia Beer Blitz is a BJCP/AHA Sanctioned Competition and accepts entries in all BJCP categories including Mead and Cider. I was happy to see that the Fredericksburg Brewing Insiders (FBI) made a good showing.

Fredericksburg Area Winners:
Arthur King – 3rd Place in Light Hybrid Beer for his 4th of July Blonde Ale, a Blond Ale

Aaron Zaccagnino (Zacc) – 1st Place in Scottish and Irish Ale for his Mr. McTavish, a Strong Scotch Ale
Aaron Zaccagnino (Zacc) – 3rd Place in Meads for his Holiday Delight, a Cyser

Leon Beck – 2nd Place in American Ale for his Patriot Pale, an American Pale

Chuck Arnold – 1st Place in Belgian and French Ale for his New Tools Pale Ale, a Belgian Pale Ale
Chuck Arnold – 3rd Place in Belgian and French Ale for his All Black, a Belgian Specialty

James Tweeddale – 3rd Place in Spice, Herb, Vegetable Beer for his Chili Pepper Lager, a Spice, Herb, Vegetable Beer

You can find the complete list of winners here.

As you can see, there’s a lot of good beer being made right here in Fredericksburg, and not all of it in commercial breweries. Hat tip to Zacc for letting me know about the competition.