Beer Book

I have been reading a great book about american beer history it's called "Ambitious Brew" by Maureen Ogle published in 2006. The book starts out with the original fathers of beer, the Pabts, Millers, Busch and many others and how they endured migrating to america, assimilating, the struggles of prohibition, the world wars I and II, post-prohibition and ends with the beginning of craft beer revival. I am in chapter 6 of 8 and have learned that the original brewmasters learned and cared about their beer flavor and how it was pervieved by the public. Most of the original brewers also were original characters. After reading this book and knowing that Anhauser-Busch today may be bought out by a european conglomerate makes this an even more interesting read, very interesting. As LaVar Burton from Reading Rainbow states "Don't take my word for it".

Beer #13 WBC

Flathead Lake Brewing Co.
Roy's Imperial IPA

Aroma: piny, grapefruit, citrusy

Apperance: Clear light amber, white haed dissapates quickly and clings to sides of glass.

Mouthfeel: Med-thick on syrupy side, but not underattenuated

Flavor: hoppy, hoppy, hoppy like it should be. Full of citrus, grapefruit, pine and has hints of caramel. Finishes sweet with some bitterness

Overall: Great beer. I can actually drink this beer. Good balance and good flavor. Great representation for this style.

Whew...Back in the Saddle!!!

After a long break, I'm back! It's been over a week since I posted anything, shame on me! Since my last post I have helped a friends brew a batch and ordered a new book to read. Also, the last batch I helped my friend make was a Belgian Pale Ale turned out to be a Strong Belgian Pale Ale. It was still young but smelled and tasted delicious!

The book I am now reading is called "Cellarmanship" by Patrick O'neill. The book is about anyone interested in working in anytype of beer cellar. It talks about cask care to proper cellar requirements to the head on a pint. I will post my thoughts once I finish reading the book.

Beer #12 - WBC

Maui Brewin Co.
Big Swell IPA
(from World Beer Cup)
-No pics, sorry-

Aroma: sweet malty, mild hoppiness for an american IPA

Appearance: Nice offwhite head pours thick with gentle pour, clear light amber color

Mouthfeel: Light

Flavor: hoppy bitterness throughout and it lingers well after the taste, almost to much. There are hints of caramel flavors and slight butter (maybe diacityl) flavors.

Overall Impression: It smells more sweet than it is. There is lots of hop flavor and bitterness like an IPA should be, but malt is lacking and therefore lends to an unbalance. There is a low hip aroma for an american IPA.

Beer 11# - WBC

Chama River Brewing Co.
Brew Dr.'s Bitter
(from World Beer Cup)

Aroma: malty fruity aroma with slight hop bitterness

Appearance: clear orange huewith white head that dissapates to a ring and clings to the glass

Mouthfeel: medium mouthfeel

Flavor: Sweet maltiness followed by an easy balanced spicy bitterness. There is great balance here between malt and hop bitterness/flavor.

Overall: I believe this is one of the best beers I have had from the WBC swag bag. The beer is very drinkable, balanced and very flavorfull. A complex beer that is very well done. This is one of my favorite breweries from back home.

Beer #10

Xingu Black Beer
Amazon beer
Schwarzbier Style Guidelines

Aroma: Faint hints of chocolate and anise, sweet malt and brown sugar

Appearance: Dark red, pours thin brown head that dissapates quickly

Mouthfeel: light to medium

Flavor: Sweet, malty followed by a hint of hop bitterness ending with a sweet finish. I find some chocolate/anise flavors and some nutiness.

Overall: More red than black and virtually no head, but overall beer was clean with no glaring faults. A good representation of the schwarzbier style (see above at style guidelines). I could drink this as a session brew. A good clean lager beer with plenty flavor.

Beer #9

Piece Brewery
Worryin Ale
(rye ale)

Aroma: Spicey, malty

Appearance: Clear orange/light amber, pours white head quicly dissapates

Mouthfeel: Medium to light-medium

Flavor: Sweet and malty followed by rye spiciness and hop bitterness and finishes sweet, very smooth and drinkable.

Overall: A nicely balanced beer. You can tell the rye is there without it being overpowering. The beer is very complex and smooth. I could drink a few of these. I recommend this beer.

Beer #8

World Beer Cup Beer
Alt Platz Brewery
Mitey-Broo

Appearance: Dark red with no head present, there was very minimal carbonation.

Aroma: a mix of diacetyl and medicinal aromas

Mouthfeel: medium

Flavor: I get phenolic, medicinal, plastic (band-aid), metallic flavors. There are some hints of nutty, maple, chocolate flavors followed by a slight bitterness. There seems to be something very wrong about this beer.

Overall: After tasting this brew I became curious about the brewery. After a quick review I found the brewery may not be a brewery? They have a wierd website. Anyway, it seems to have been fermented at a high temperature and/or needs healthy yeasts and finally may have some serious infection issues. This beer also seems to have a homebrew quality character to it, kinda like it's a 100% extract brew. I have to dump out this beer!!! I hope I don't have to do this more often in the future... :( Alt Platz, NEIN!