h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I've book marked that 'must read blogs' one.


I was looking at the sediment in a bottle of Rochefort 8 last night and I got thinking about trying to make a Trappist style batch using the sediment from an actual Trappist ale (or even a whole bottle) as the yeast source in order to be as authentic as possible.

Wonderful idea! I'l drink to that...well, just my pseudo-latte at this hour








...just & soy milk, no sambuca or grappa..or rum, grand marnier or cognac or anything

Well,not yet...

AHa! That young Scot, Mr. Ironside has posted the Miikkeller review that he'd promised in the review of The Big Worst. In this one(review, again from the Paris beer shop)the three sample the Black Cognac Edition.

http://www.heavyhops.com






I just may just*thinks to himself*'fight it man, fight it!' open that bottle earlier than planned...for investigative purposes you understand.

Another timely find, Chris Steltz at Beer Geek Nation reviews the Rochefort 10. I like(and agree with) his 'champagne with rum-soaked raisins' analogy regarding the aroma, as well as I believe, rum-soaked banana bread...& of course I share his enthusiasm. Great Trappist !!

http://www.beergeeknation.com/?p-4204

I think my allergies are limiting my abilities in the aroma category.

The idea of a rum note is `probably well-founded. The reci`pes I've found for home brewed tra`p`pist styles call for various sorts of sugar and I've seen sugar listed as an ingredient on at least one label. If they're using cane sugar or demerara sugar, a certain rumminess would naturally follow.

One of the intentions I had for my home brew was to use some lum`ps of cane sugar from Tienda Latina. I already have tried them in my latest batch of purl. Hmm. I should sample that . . .

Just for a change of `pace . . .


(Molson's) Old Style Pilsner

355 ml can. 5%

This brand is an Alberta classic, originally the flagship brand of Sick's Alberta Brewery, one of the original small breweries in the province. It was (and still is in many circles) called 'Lethbridge Pilsner' due to the brewery's location in the city of Lethbridge. Although Molson has kept the iconic label (almost) the same as in the old days, it's somehow just not the same beer it used to be.


The Pour

Big, big white head which lasts quite some time. Quite good lacing. Rich golden colour.


The Aroma

A touch of hops. A thin touch of malt. It pretty much smells like a typical Canadian commercial beer.

The Taste


Slightly crisp and hoppy. A touch acidic. A somewhat soapy mouth feel, something I've found sometimes with the Chinese Pilsner Tsingtao.


Certainly not a wonderful example of the type, but it is both inexpensive and easily chilled to about the temperature of ice, and so, ideal for an informal gathering of respected acquaintances and neighbours -- rather that good friends, for whom something much better would be appropriate -- on a blistering hot Alberta summer afternoon.

Dogf ish Head Palo Santo Marron(Brown Ale, with a DFH tweak), 12%abv

(For those of you unfamiliar with the brewery, they'e...extravagant...is that the word?)

The pour

Relaxed pour results in barely a finger of tight pale tan head on a very dark cola brown coloured head. No carbonation detecable(yet there is a fair bit)...very nice lacing.

Aroma

Roasty and malty...Quite a bit of semi-sweet type chocolate, there's a malty edge to the sweetness, leading me to deduct from the chocolate-
derived sweetness(is that a fair assumption?). Just a hint of coffee.

Taste

Malty first impression then a bittersweet chocolate wave rolls in(bitterness enhanced by a prominent hop presence lingering menacingly in the shadows). Bit of dryness flows through, like those western Canadian Chinook winds, oddly leaving a bit of granular/powdery residue...and a whisp of vanilla-like flavour. That fades rather quickly to a drier finish.

Very nice indeed with chicken marinated in the Brewsters Curly Horse IPA! The chicken was cooked in a beer-enhanced Sharwood's Tikka Masala sauce. Some very complimentary flavours! The oddest being an earthy...'shifting'....how can I verbalise? Using 'earthy' as a frame of reference, picture/consider varying soil types, from dry sandy desert to gradually more fertile farmland(if that makes sense). A mouthful of sweet potato elicited that reaction, when a sip of the Palo Santo was taken I also found that it gave the chicken a very malty spicy richness...a very unique meal!

No, not head on head , '...head on a very dark cola brown coloured ale'.

I'm ho`ping that when allergy season is over I'll get my olfactory skills back and be able to wax as purple as your do.

Oh, on a single malt note:

I dro`p`ped into a little neighbourhood sho`p I'd never visited before to find some ~Pil and for some reason I wandered `past the Scotch section, always on the lookout for a good `price on La`phroaig and, I was very sur`prised first by the good `price of what has become the only ty`pe available around these `parts, the quarter cask, and then, mirabile dictu, they had a cou`ple of bottles of good old 10 year old La`phroaig, such as I've not seen these last cou`ple of years. I of course grabbed one immediately with the intention of returning in coming days to buy u`p what every they have left. I sus`pect it's stuff they bought before the well went dry and none of their regulars realize what it is.

Hitachino Nest Japanese Classic Ale, 7.5%abv 330ml bottle
(an IPA brewed to recreate the taste of Japan's first beer, brewed in the Edo period-ending in 1868).

The pour

A relaxed/restrained pour yields a finger of creamy tight head on a medium amber ale. Good carbonation and nice lacing.

Aroma

Malt and pine resiny hops...citrus there too.

Taste

Very well balanced, malty with wood notes from the cedar, but a definite hop presence(although a bit more citrusy). A subtle mingling of hops and a touch of woodiness lead to a semi-dry finish. Actually quite a nice medium bodied ale...a very decent IPA ...or is it OPA, Oriental Pale Ale?

Westmalle Dubbel,7%abv (33cl bottle)

The Pour

Semi-relaxed pour yields a pillowy two finger cream coloured head...nice lacing. A dark chocolate brown ale, some carbonation discernable.

Aroma

Very well balanced aroma -vaguely banana bread yeastiness,..vanilla-like notes...bit of nutmeg, tiny pinch of cloves-rather oddly for a dark ale I suppose, lighter(imho)fruits such as pears, white grapes and a hint of green apple.

Taste

The flavour seems to lack the spice of the aroma, and apart from a bit of banana bread yeastiness is quite fruity-white grapes, pears and...apricot? A fairly nice dry finish - a decent Trappist ale, not exceptional yet a solid summer ale.

Discoverd that the little booklets in the La`phroaig tins have a 'unique number' on the back which can be redeemed for `points on the La`phroaig web `page. Have been frantically searching the house for little booklets, ty`ping gibberish into the La`phroaig web`page (and drinking La`phroaig). I've got enough for a La`phroaig tumbler! With `points to s`pare!!!


I'm going to bed.

G'night.

G'morning.

Good sunny morning to you as well! (sunny)

I wasn't `planning to do any of this today, but I'm about a third of the way through a bottle of Brewsters' Curly Horse IPA and my notes are oddly almost com`pletely o`p`posite of yours. We seem to agree on the colour (I'd originally written 'orange/amber'), and we agree on the flavours, but our `progressions of those flavours are reversed.



Brewsters Curly Horse I~PA

500 ml bottle, 6%


The Pour

Copper with a half centimetre of head and moderate lacing. The colour is very attractive.

The Aroma

Very hoppy. The hops overwhelm it all. On a second huff, there's a bit of malt peeking through.

The Taste

Less ho`p`py in the mouth than in the nose, although very distinctly bitter on the finish. The ho`ps are very, very dominant, however, and `perha`ps more dominant than needed for a good balance.

With subsequent tastes, a malty sweetness starts to come forward -- this one's not over until it's over. It certainly has a very nice body, and it scores points for looking so good. Although the hops are a little strong on the first taste, the balance returns as the glass goes down. Certainly this beer would be suitable alongside a dish with some sub-continental heat.

Anhaga's Purl, Batch #2

341ml, ?%


The Pour:

No head which is no surprise as the hops are what increases the surface tension and preserves bubbles and this purl contains no hops. Dark brown, red when held to the light.

The Aroma:

Malt and a hint of wormwood. The malt is appropriate to this recipe, which is basically an English brown ale.

The Taste:

Malt and bitter. The bitterness is not at all like the flavour of hops. The purl is not as bitter as a typical IPA, but the bitterness of wormwood grabs at ones tonsils and doesn't let go. It clings to the sides of the back of the tongue. After a bit of resting, an earthy, (worm)woodsy flavour becomes evident. This purl would certainly hold its own against strongly flavoured foods, so . . .

out comes the Danish blue cheese!


And it works! The bitterness is toned down and the sweetness of the dark malts comes to the fore.


I think for batch #3 I'll have to tone down the wormwood just a notch and bring in more fennel and anise to add some complexity.

I think I need to kee`p better records. I'm having second thoughts: I think that one I just drank was from Batch #1, the one with far too much wormwood, which means I'm going to have some majorly interesting dreams tonight!