I launched into this brew-centric week properly by meeting
up with my pal Ryan Harkins from Grill Em All, and Lee Bakofsky from Eagle Rock Brewing to talk about creating our own collaborative beer. And by
“collaborative”, I mean Lee is doing all the work. He’s the mastermind, and we’re brewing at his house, with his equipment, using his ingredients, based on
his recipe. Ryan and I have never brewed before, and Lee, being the
expert, has generously agreed to show us the ropes. I’ve been itching to
delve into homebrew for many years. I took a class several years ago at
Culver City Home Brewing Supply, bought some (but not all) of the gear, but
then I chickened out.
What if I don’t sanitize everything correctly and my beer
spoils?
What if it doesn’t ferment properly since my garage is hot
year-round in LA?
What if my starter recipe is bland and pointless?
Eventually, I had “What if’d” myself out of giving it a try. I decided
to wait until someone experienced could give me a hand, or at least some
guidance so I didn’t completely blow it. I hit up a few homebrewing
friends, and we talked about getting together “next time”. But “next time”
never arrived. Months became years, and I didn’t do a damn thing, except throw
away my malt.
Fast forward 5-6 years, when I finally reached the point
where I was sick to death of making excuses NOT to do it. Ryan is a
self-made man, who co-owns the coolest culinary outfit around, completely DIY
and on his own terms. I hit him up to be my brewing partner. Like
me, he’s unfamiliar with the process, but he’s tight with Lee, and Lee ended up
being super cool & willing to school these two greenhorns on the “how-to’s”.
Our initial meeting was to review the process, understand
what’s involved, discuss the recipe, commit to a time to brew, and best of all,
hang out, socialize, and enjoy a few. I supplied a Cismontane T.J. Slough
barrel aged brew, and Lee cracked out a few Eagle Rock standbys, the Solidarity
Black Mild and Manifesto Witbier. This cat knows what he’s doing, so I’m
very excited & honored to be working on our first beer. D-Day (or
maybe its B-Day) is next Monday, and I’ll be posting all the sordid details.
So, we’re still celebrating American Craft Beer Week, but
what does it mean? Nothing really. The purpose is obviously to draw
more attention to the beer world, raise interest, and increase revenue.
Do I really need a reminder to drink more beer? Not exactly. Do I
need to drink more beer? Always.
If anything, ACBW is an excuse to blow the moths out of my wallet, and go
out more during the week, especially as this is a week for select tap takeovers, many of
which feature rare selections, new releases, and oddball variations of familiar
gems… Think: A boatload of barrel-aged brews.
The only real problem I have with this so-called event is the phrase “Craft Beer” itself. It’s one of my grammatical pet peeves. It’s a catch phrase that stirs up negative memories of the 1990’s when “Alternative” was used to describe everything, mainly as a marketing tool to move more units of anything from music to beer… Anyone remember those incessant Moosehead Lager radio ads? “Moosehead is your Alternative Beer for your Alternative Lifestyle for your Alternative Summer!” Blech.
I think of “Craft” Anything in the same light. Craft
is the new Alternative. And when the Alternative itself becomes
mainstream, the phrase loses all meaning. The word Craft implies
something made by hand, lovingly created with care and attention. So how
else am I supposed to react to pallets of the Kirkland Signature Craft Beer Selection at
Costco, comprised of some third party, mass produced swill? The beer
fests I attend inevitably have some sort of Shock Top, Blue Moon, or Widmer
Brothers table. When Everything becomes Craft, then NOTHING is
Craft. Will someone please start a campaign to bring back the term
“Microbrewery”?
On a more positive note, even though ACBW is the equivalent
of a Hallmark holiday, I’ve had some damn fine braus the past few days, most
notably at the Drake’s tap takeover at Tony’s Darts Away in Burbank. The new 7 x 70 IPA was
unveiled, their awesome, seasonal Alpha Session IPA was reintroduced, and they
busted out a few barrel aged specialties: the Brandy Barrel Aged Drakonic
Stout and the Whiskey Barrel Aged Rakish Rye Wine Ale. Superb!
After this quick tasting, I headed up to meet Matt Domino at Newhall Refinery,
where we shared a ton of shit-talking, and more importantly, a ton of beer
tasters. Newhall Refinery serves tumbler sized samplers of everything on tap,
so I went for a taste of everything I haven’t already tried in my Big Year.
Great service, great environment to chill, decent rotating tap list, not to
mention it’s the only game in town when it comes to the greater Santa Clarita
area.
American Craft Beer Week will officially wrap up in a couple
days. Am I bummed? Hell no. For me, every week is Beer
Week. And next week will be even better than this one. Cheers!
The tally continues…..
5/8-10 – Hangin’ at home, and trying a few mediocre in-store
samples:
740 - UINTA BREWING HOODOO KOLSCH STYLE ALE – Hoodoo you
think is really into this beer? Well, I really dig all Uinta beers. This
one is on the bottom rung of the ladder though.
741 - MENDOCINO BREWING TALON SMOKED DOUBLE PORTER – Perty
good, not too smoky, standard roasted barley flavor.
742 - EPIC BREWING SOUR APPLE SAISON – Had a quick sample at
BevMo in Burbank; spiced, tart, would be better around Xmas time, I’m glad this
was just a sample, a full glass is not necessary.
743 - SIERRA NEVADA NORTHERN HEMISPHERE HARVEST WET HOP ALE
(2013) – Subtle hop goodness, didn’t club me over the head like most West Coast
beers with “hop” in the name. I’m gonna try it again soon side-by-side
with the Southern Hemisphere Harvest.
744 - SPOETZL BREWERY SHINER BOCK – Stumbled upon a tasting
at Total Wine in Northridge, CA. Glad I got to taste it & claim it without
drinking more than a thimble full. This bock blows, but you all know
that.
745 - FIREMAN'S BREW BLONDE – Tasted these Fireman’s brews
at Total Wine as well. S’OK… not great, OK.
746 - FIREMAN'S BREW REDHEAD ALE – Best of all three
offerings, still only about average.
747 - FIREMAN'S BREW BRUNETTE GERMAN DOUBLEBOCK – Decent
doppel, wouldn’t order it though.
748 - INDIAN WELLS BREWING COMPANY WHISKEY BARREL BREW
BARREL AGED AMBER – Mild vanilla woodiness. Fair. Not as husky as most
barrel-aged beers you’ll find on the market. Indian Wells isn’t known for
awesome brews, so at least this is a step in the right direction.
749 - GREEN FLASH BREWING ROAD WARRIOR IMPERIAL RYE IPA –
Goddamn, this is tasty. I would drink this daily. And I dig the different
packaging, a nice departure from their usual boring font & one color
labels. I’m ready to get a mohawk and cruise the wastelands with the Feral
Kid.
750 - MISSION BREWERY DARK SEAS RUSSIAN IMPERIAL STOUT –
Best Mission brew by far. Awesome chocolate & licorice bomb.
5/11 – Mother’s Day
751 - MAD RIVER BREWING STEELHEAD DOUBLE IPA – Doesn’t taste
like a double, but still a good ‘un. Creamy hops. Easy.
752 - HEINEKEN PREMIUM LIGHT – Horrifically bland. I
have a sense memory of trying beer at age 13, and it tasted like stale
pee. I think I need to see a therapist for this resurgence of suppressed
memories. Or maybe I can just sue Heineken for mental cruelty.
753 - STONE BREWING SMOKED PORTER WITH CHIPOTLE PEPPERS –
Nice heat, not as complex as other recent chile beers I’ve enjoyed, but still
worthwhile, especially when it’s closer to room temp.
754 - LOST COAST BREWERY 8 BALL STOUT – Decent stout, maybe
closer to an English style, not super full bodied, but middle of the road, with
good subtle maltiness.
5/12 – Monday, start of American Craft Beer Week
755 - COORS BANQUET BEER (1970 ORIGINAL RECIPE) – Turns out
Coors was pretty shitty in 1970 as well.
756 - EAGLE ROCK BREWERY SOLIDARITY BLACK MILD – Classic,
easy-drinking. Power to the people!
757 - EAGLE ROCK BREWERY MANIFESTO WITBIER – Wow, somehow I
haven’t tried this Eagle Rock brew til now. Probably because so many Wits
are underwhelming. This is the exception… What a great beer! Mildly
citrusy, but full bodied. Thanks Lee!
5/13 – Starting at Tony’s with Drake’s Tap Takeover;
Finishing with numerous tasters at Newhall Refinery:
758 - DRAKE'S BREWING ALPHA SESSION IPA – The old favorite
is back, from one of the few breweries to make a session IPA long before the
2014 surge. Mild, skunk hop bite.
759 - DRAKE'S BREWING 7 x 70 IPA – OK, so 7x70 = 490.
What’s that? Couldn’t find it. Then I looked up 7 x 70 on the
internet and found it’s a Biblical reference. Something about Jesus saying
peeps should be forgiven seventy times seven, which infers forgiving someone
for eternity. Brand new IPA unveiled here… mild flavors, decent, admittedly it
might be my least favorite Drake’s offering. Must they now beg for
eternal forgiveness?
760 - DRAKE'S BREWING BRANDY BARREL DRAKONIC RUSSIAN
IMPERIAL STOUT – “Barrel” and “Stout” are like Peanut Butter and Jelly in my
book… they belong together forever. 75% barrel aged for 2 years blended with
fresh Drakonic. As complex and crazily delicious as it sounds. Fruity wine-like
character paired with dark chocolate berries.
761 - DRAKE'S BREWING RAKISH RYE WINEALE BARREL AGED – Half
of it was aged 4 months in whiskey barrels then blended with 50% fresh brew;
Rich as any respectable barleywine should be, like a vanilla caramel taffy, I
just need some high quality vanilla bean ice cream to pour this over. Awe
inspiring.
762 - LADYFACE ALEHOUSE BLIND AMBITION BELGIAN STYLE STRONG
ALE – Haven’t had this one since last summer, still solid output from these
Agoura Hills mavericks. This brewery gets better every year.
763 - STONE BREWING SPROCKETBIER BLACK RYE KOLSCH –
With a name like this, I can’t help but picture Dieter on “Sprokets”. Dammit,
what a great beer. I have a new favorite Stone offering. Should we
listen to Kraftwerk now?
764 - STONE BREWING DELICIOUS IPA – It is!
765 - LOST COAST BREWERY WATERMELON WHEAT – Quite possibly
The Worst Beer I’ve Ever Tasted. Rogue Voodoo Doughnut beer now has some
serious competition.
766 - BAVIK PETRUS OUD BRUIN – Oh yeah, what a pleasant
sour. Finishes clean. I could sip this baby for a while.
767 - NEW BELGIUM RAMPANT IMPERIAL IPA – I seem to be alone
in this, but I’m not the biggest of New Belgium fans. However, I like
this one a lot. Maybe having it on tap makes a big difference.
768 - DOGFISH HEAD 90 MINUTE IPA – The standby. You
gotta dig it.
769 - DOGFISH HEAD APRIHOP IPA – Very good, mild apricot
flavor, doesn’t overpower it & make it a fruit beer, just more of a
well-rounded IPA.
770 - AYINGER ALTBAIRISCH DUNKEL – Not great, but not
Scheisse.
771 - OSKAR BLUES TEN FIDY STOUT – The most wonderful of all
motor oils. I see this everywhere, but I’ve forgotten what a truly great stout
this is.
5/14-15 - Wed & Thurs at home:
772 - GREAT DIVIDE BREWING RUMBLE OAK AGED IPA – With
a name like “Rumble” the label should depict a showdown between leather
jacketed 1960’s hoodlums holding switchblades. Good, but I’d like to try
another one. I have yet to try any aged IPA that I love. But I do
love most Great Divide releases, so I think it deserves another shot.
773 - INNIS & GUNN RUM AGED – Cor Blimey!
Like a couple other recent beers, heavy vanilla and caramel, a rich
dessert-like beer.
774 – CALDERA BREWING HOP HASH IPA – A tasty hop blend from
the ever-reliable Caldera kettle.
775 – EEL RIVER BREWING ORGANIC PORTER – When it comes to
wines, the word “organic” always scares me. Organic wines suck. Not so with
beer. Organic beers have just as much of a chance as “normal” beers of being
good. Bold malts, underlying chocolate flavor, thumbs up.
No comments:
Post a Comment