Dixie Blackened Voodoo Lager

I was concerned that I wouldn't be able to post tonight. Work is killing me! I work from home, and today was a long day, finishing up just a few minutes ago. I wanted to post about Dixie Brewing Co.'s Dixie Blackened Voodoo Lager before I forgot what it was like. I've seen this beer numerous times over the years, and I always wanted to try it. It definitely has a cool label. The Dixie Brewing Company was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, and while the brewery is rebuilding, the beer is being brewed in Wisconsin by the Joseph Huber Brewing Co. No matter its origin, this beer is somewhat in the style of a Schwarzbier. It's a dark lager, with some chocolate and roasted malt notes, and it's smoother than a dark ale. It's a bit watered down in comparison to some other beers of this style, such as Samuel Adams Black Lager. It poured a deep brown, not quite as dark as a Schwarzbier generally is. The head only lasted a short time. This isn't a bad beer, just not an exceptional one.

SURPRISE!!

Today started out as a pretty normal Sunday, except that my sister and brother-in-law are down from New York, on vacation. Being a good sister, she brought me some Saranac, and some beer from a brewery I was unfamiliar with - Otter Creek Brewing, which is in Vermont. We ate a late breakfast, and had plans to do an early dinner at my daughter's house, so my sister could see her niece's new home. I decided to go do some shopping, in preparation for my 50th birthday, which is coming up in a week, so my sister and her husband and I jumped in the car and took a ride. Our shopping trip ended just in time to get to my daughter's home at the designated time. I knocked on the door, and as I was let into the house - SURPRISE!! My family had thrown me a surprise birthday party for my 50th. I was floored! Totally clueless! I never suspected a thing. It was a great party, with good friends and family, lots of good food, and plenty of good beer. I was touched that they had planned this for me, and I had a great time. When I knew I would be just in time for "dinner", I asked my wife to bring one of the new Otter Creek beers with her to go along with my meal. So the first beer I had was Otter Creek's Stovepipe Porter, a roasty robust version of the style. I then switched to Flying Dog's Snake Dog - a very snappy, hoppy IPA. I cut myself off at 3 beers, so I picked a classic - Samuel Adams Boston Lager. I think this is one of the best lagers on the planet. The time flew by, the party ended, and I think everyone left smiling. I had a great early birthday! And now I know why my wife wanted me to get a haircut!

Orlando Brewing Partners brewery visit

After our lunch at the Irish pub, my wife, my sister, my brother-in-law, and I decided to check out the only microbrewery in the Orlando area - Orlando Brewing Partners. This microbrewery was started by some homebrewers, and is an all organic brewery that follows the German Purity law of 1516, also known as the Reinheitsgebot. The brewery is located in a scary industrial section of town and we were a little hesitant about going inside. We walked into the taproom, and soon learned that brewery tours were scheduled to run at 6 pm, and it was only 2:15. Since we made the trip, we sat down and ordered their beer sampler - 12 four ounce beers - 1 of each variety they currently had on tap. We all chuckled when we tried the first one, which was infused with vitamins - a "healthy" beer. Maybe I need to get a six-pack to take to the gym while I work out. It was ok, but the remaining 11 were much better. I realy enjoyed their "Miami Weisse" a Bavarian style wheat beer. Their Blackwater Dry Porter, which I have reviewed in an earlier post, was also excellent, as was their double IPA. This was a worthwhile trip. I even added a new pint glass to my collection. I'm just glad I wasn't driving!

Lunch at Hagan O'Reilly's Irish Pub

A new Irish pub opened up this week in Winter Garden, Florida, so I had to give it a test run. My sister and her hubby are down for the week, and it seemed like a perfect place for lunch. We all like Irish pubs, with their basic tasty foods and good beer. We had an assortment of Irish cuisine at the table, including Shepherd's Pie, fish and chips, and bangers and mash. Of course we accompanied the food with some good brews. The pub has a special tap system that injects nitrogen into the beer to create "the perfect pour". I'm not sure it had much impact on the Murphy's Red or Harp lager, but my Guinness and Smithwick's combination definitely benefitted from it. The pub called this particular combo a "Blacksmith", just a different variation on the black and tan theme. The photo shows the two-layered blacksmith. Originally I ordered a Guinness and Boddington's, but there seemed to be some problem with their Boddington's tap, so I needed to switch to Smithwick's. The drink was just as creamy and smooth as I think it would have been with the Boddington's, so I'm not sorry to have changed. The food was excellent, and once they have the kinks worked out, I'm sure Hagan O'Reilly's will be a very popular new restaurant.

Mad River Steelhead Scotch Porter

Mad River Brewing Co. is located in Blue Lake, CA and they make a number of beers with the "Steelhead" moniker. This is their Scotch Porter, and it's a tasty one. It poured a deep brown with a small tan head, which left lacing down the entire glass. There was a lot of sediment in the glass, so I think it may be bottle-conditioned. This is a roasty Robust Porter, with lots of chocolate flavor, some vanilla, and even some licorice. I also detected the mild smokiness of the peat-smoked barly they used. This is a great Porter - and isn't that a purty label too?

Baron's Black Wattle Superior Wattle Seed Ale

I have noticed this ale at my local Publix supermarket, but at $11.00 a sixer, I was hesitant to try it. This past weekend, I made a trip to the Total Wine store, and found I could buy a single of it. The Wattle seed was what intrigued me, since I hadn't the slightest clue what a Wattle seed was. As it turns out a Wattle seed is from a native Australian tree, and the seeds have been used for flavoring for many years. The beer poured a chocolate brown color, and had some hints of chocolate in the flavor as well. The bottle described a "lasting creamy head" which turned out to be 1/4 inch tall, as you can see in the picture. This ale was slightly sweet, and had some caramel and vanilla-like flavors, which may or may not be from the Wattle seed. This was a good beer, but not an $11.00 a six-pack beer - at least in my opinion.

A Funny Keystone Light commercial

Here's a pretty clever beer commercial from Keystone Light. I'm not a big fan of their beer, but the commercial's pretty good.....

Lagunitas IPA India Pale Ale

Tonight was pizza night again, so I went to the fridge to find an IPA. Lagunitas has never let me down, so I pulled their IPA out from behind a bunch of other beers, and popped the top. It poured an orange-amber color with a small white head. The brewer describes this beer as "homicidally hoppy", which might be a slight exaggeration. There were plenty of hops to be sure, but I've had hoppier beers. The hops were perfectly balanced by just enough malt sweetness. This is a really solid IPA, although I can't put it in the same class as Dogfish Head's 60-Minute IPA. It went beautifully with my pizza, so I have no complaints.

J.W. Dundee's American Pale Ale

J.W. Dundee is pretty well-known for their honey brown lager, but they also have a number of other options available, one of which is this American Pale Ale. The Dundee beers tend to be on the more affordable side of the microbrew list, so I decided to try this out. It poured an orange-amber, with a decent white head. It's a very basic Pale Ale, very middle-of-the-road for the style. It has some maltiness, and some hops in the finish, but nothing to really recommend it, except for the price. I have to say that I would definitely prefer to drink J.W. Dundee's American Pale Ale over most of the other beers in the same price range, so I guess that says something. This beer was brewed by the High Falls Brewing Company in Rochester, NY. High Falls Brewing is also the home of the Genesee line of beers. Anyone who went to college in upstate NY knows Genny Cream Ale, their most famous brew.

Moosbacher Kellerbier

As a homebrewer, I'm always on the lookout for bottles I can use for my latest concoction. There are several German brewers that use brown half-liter flip-top bottles like the one in the photo. These bottles are perfect! Flip-top bottles are so much easier to use than standard crown bottles. I started out using Grolsch pint bottles, which work fine, but they have the Grolsch logo molded into the glass, so it's not a bottle you want to give to friends, and it's very difficult to put a label on. The bottle in the photo has smooth sides, so it can easily be personalized with your own clever labels.

Now - on the subject of the beer that's in the bottle - it's Moosbacher Kellerbier, brewed by the Private Landbrauerei Scheuerer in Bavaria. A Kellerbier, which literally means "cellar beer", is an unfiltered, highly hopped lager. Also known as a Zwickelbier, it is usually an amber color with very little carbonation. It's normally brewed in wooden casks, with the bung left loose, so that the fermentation gas escapes. This particular example is definitely the correct color, about the color of maple syrup. It was low in carbonation, but was definitely not flat. In fact, it had a decent 1 inch head when I first poured it, but I couldn't get the camera set up quickly enough to capture it in its full-headed glory. I really like Kellerbiers - they have more malt and flavor than a traditional lager. They're also a bit stronger. This one weighed in at 5.2 % abv. The only fault I found with this particular brew was a slight metallic aftertaste. Kulmbacher Mönchshof is another German brewer that makes a fine Kellerbier. It tends to be cloudier than this one, which points to its unfiltered nature. Mönchshof also uses these great bottles!

Grozet Gooseberry & Wheat Ale

Tonight, I had the 3rd choice from my "Historic Ales of Scotland" assortment - Grozet Gooseberry & Wheat Ale. I had never heard of a gooseberry until I started brewing, and then I noticed some gooseberries in the canned fruit section of our local supermarket. They're canned by Oregon, a very popular brand of fruit favored by brewers due to their lack of preservatives. Based on the picture on the can, a gooseberry looks a lot like a white grape. This was a very mild-flavored ale, and very refreshing as well. It poured a golden color, with almost no head. It didn't have the usual tartness of a wheat beer, but instead had a wine-like quality to it, presumably from the gooseberries. I'm not sure if there are any hops in this ale, because I certainly didn't notice any. So far, this assortment of ales has been a winner. Every one has been very enjoyable.

The AC is back!!

Well, my AC is back from the dead. The repairman took all of 30 seconds to spot the problem - a capacitor that had swollen due to a possible lightning strike. Come to think of it, there was a lot of thunder around the time we noticed that the house was getting hot. Thankfully, the capacitor was 63.00 rather than the 300.00 he estimated for the fan motor. Sometimes, luck does fall your way!

Ruby Tuesday Emergency Dinner

At about 2pm this afternoon, I realized that the house seemed awfully warm, so I looked at the thermostat - yep - 83 degrees. Now what? The air conditioner was running, but the house kept getting warmer. This is Florida in August, so the outside temp was hovering in the mid 90's. I took a look at the outside unit, and the fan was just sitting there - immobile. #1?#$! air conditioner!! So, tomorrow the repairman will be here, but now the house is 85 degrees. My wife and I didn't feel like cooking dinner in a toasty humid house, so it was off to Ruby Tuesday's. We each had a big fattening burger and a Blue Moon Belgian White Ale. Blue Moon is one of my guilty pleasures. It's tart, refreshing and tastes great on tap with an orange slice thrown in. Sleeping will be a treat tonight. It rained, but the house is still 85. Hopefully with the windows open and the fans running, the slightly cooler outside air will come in.

Gritty McDuff's Vacation Land Summer Ale

Tonight, I tried another beer from Gritty McDuff's Brewing. I posted about one of their other beers a while back. It was their Original Pub Style Ale. This beer is called "Vacation Land Summer Ale", and is just as good as the Pub Style. Vacation Land is an informal nick-name given to the state where this was brewed - Maine. Gritty McDuff's Brewing is in Portland, which is also home to Shipyard and Sea Dog. This was a nice refreshing ale, light in color with a big white head. It's much lighter colored than a pale ale. It had a nice distinct hop presence in the finish. It was nice to drink a summer ale that was not made from wheat. I have nothing against wheat beers, but sometimes I think the breweries feel that wheat beers are the only variety to drink during the summer. This light ale proves that it doesn't have to be so.

Homebrewed Scottish Ale

I couldn't stand it any longer - just had to pop the top on my Scottish Ale. It's been carbonating for 11 days, and I'm sure it's been long enough. It poured a deep amber with a very healthy tan-colored head. It's plenty malty, slightly sweet, and has some alcohol in the finish. The hops don't really come through much, but Scottish ales are not heavily hopped anyway. Unfortunately, the smoked malt isn't coming through either, so I guess I didn't use enough. All in all, I'm very pleased with the results.

For those interested, here's the recipe I used for 2.5 gallons:

3.3 lbs Briess Golden Light LME

3 oz Peat Smoke Malt (should have used more)

4 oz 120L Crystal Malt

4 Oz Vienna Malt

2 Oz Lyle's Golden Syrup (all that I had at the time)

8 Oz Munton's Extra Light DME

1/2 Oz Fuggles Hops for bittering (60 Minutes)

1/2 Oz Fuggles hops for finishing (5 minutes)

Wyeast 1728 Scottish Ale Yeast

I used my usual procedure of putting the crushed grain in a gallon of water and then heating to 165 degrees. After removing the grain bag, I brought the wort to a boil and then added the first batch of Fuggles. At the 45 minute mark, I added the malt extracts and golden syrup. At 55 minutes, I threw in the 2nd batch of Fuggles. Then, into an ice bath to cool it down. Once it reached 80 degrees, I poured the wort into the fermenter which already contained a gallon of cold water. I then topped it off to the 2.5 gallon mark and pitched the yeast. Two weeks in the fermenter - 11 days in the bottle, carbonating with corn sugar - and 5 hours in the fridge before my taste test - that's the timeline. The finished product has more alcohol than a Scottish Ale should have, but I'm happy with it. The best part of homebrewing is drinking a successful experiment, as I did tonight. I know it will improve if I have enough patience. The last bottle of the batch is always the best one!

Dogfish Head Immort Ale

Had I known that this was a Barley Wine when I took it out of the fridge, I probably would have made another selection. Not that I have anything against a particularly strong and sweet beer - since I have brewed plenty of them myself - but I think another variety might have worked better with my dinner. Dogfish Head in Rehobeth Beach, Delaware is one of the finest breweries in the country, and this is a perfect example of why I feel that way. This ale is brewed with maple syrup, vanilla, peat smoked barley, and then fermented and aged in oak barrels. At 11% alcohol, it is a sipping beer. It poured a deep amber, with almost no head. The first sip told me that smoked barley was one of the ingredients. I like a smoked beer, and this was a nice subtle touch. I could also tell that there was maple syrup involved, since I brew with that particular ingredient quite frequently. This is a sweet beer for sure, and definitely would be nice as a winter warmer in front of a fireplace, in a snifter. Oh well, I'll drink the next bottle of Immort Ale the correct way.

Schlitz is back!!

As a member of the latter part of the baby boomer generation, I remember Schlitz beer from my high school days. I don't remember much about it except for the jingle - you know - "When you're out of Schlitz, you're out of beer....". At one time, Schlitz was the most popular beer in the country, pre and post-Prohibition. Unfortunately for the company, they messed around with the formula in the 80's and basically ruined the beer. People stopped buying it, and it eventually just went away. Now owned by Pabst, the original formula has been found, and the brewer is bringing it back from the dead. I think they're hoping that nostalgia will create a market for it again. I think they might be right - I think there will be a market for it at first - folks who used to drink Schlitz are going to want to try it again. I know I'll probably give it a shot when it makes its way to Central Florida. I also know that beer tastes have evolved, and it may not make it in these craft beer times. Only time will tell. In the mean time, here's a classic Schlitz commercial:



And here's the jingle that I remember. I know, I'm dating myself.

Saranac Chocolate Amber Lager

I have to hand it to F.X. Matt - they produced a great dark beer with a real head on it. I couldn't fit the full 12 oz bottle in my glass because the head was so tall. It lasted a long time, with nice lacing too. Although the bottle calls this a lager, it had all the characteristics of a stout. Dark, roasty, lots of chocolate flavor, and a creamy texture don't usually point to a lager. This was from their Beers of Winter collection, of which I still have a few left. This was a really great beer!

Pinkus Organic Munster Alt

I was a bit disappointed when I tasted this beer for the first time. I saw it at Whole Foods and decided to buy it because it was called an "Alt" beer. I had never tried an "Alt", but had heard good things about them. This is not the Alt style of beer - it's more of a blonde ale. It poured a light hazy golden color with an inch tall white head. If I had been given a glass of this beer without seeing the bottle, I would have sworn it was a wheat beer. It has a very tart and fruity flavor, for a non-wheat ale. The body was light, the finish was lightly bitter. It was an OK beer, but not what I was expecting. Pinkus is an Organic brewer in Germany, and Whole foods had two other varieties - a lager, and a weizen.

Flying Dog Garde Dog - a Biere de Garde

Flying Dog's Garde Dog is one of their "Seasonal" beers, and is in the style of a Biere de Garde. The name means "beer of keeping" in French, and is a Belgian style. It's traditionally unfiltered, brewed in March to be "kept" for several months and then drunk during the summer months. This is a well-carbonated version, and it has a healthier body than I would have expected in a beer of this color. It's not as heavy as a bock, but it has more body than a lager. This has an underlying fruitiness and is a little spicy in the finish. This is the first Biere de Garde I have ever had, so I can't comment on how true-to-style it is. I definitely enjoyed it, and could easily drink these during the warm weather.

The Tanner's Jack, by Morland

I was a little concerned about this beer, since it's in a clear bottle. I was afraid it might be skunked if it hadn't been stored properly. My fears were unfounded, and the beer was fine. The Tanner's Jack is brewed by Morland in England. The word "Jack" in this case refers to a leather tankard which was a popular container for drinking beer from in the 18th century. This beer is an English Bitter. It's a smooth malty, slightly fruity ale with a modest bitter finish. This would be a good session beer. It poured a light-colored amber with a head that was just larger than non-existent. I'd like to try this from a cask, on draft, because I imagine it would be even better.

Sea Dog Apricot Wheat Beer from Pugsley Brewing

Pugsley Brewing is a Maine brewery, and they're known for their fruity wheat beers. This is the first time I've tried their Apricot Wheat. Since I have my own Apricot Wheat Ale fermenting as I write this, I thought I'd try a commercial version. I've also tried the apricot ale that Dunedin Brewery makes. This version has a strong apricot aroma, and pours a golden yellow color with a small white head. The head was a little disappointing for a wheat beer. It has a strong apricot flavor that tastes like it was created using an extract of some kind. Once I got used to the apricot, I was able to taste the tartness of the wheat. This is a very mild beer with very little hop flavor. It's good, but I think my own apricot wheat will be better - no extracts used in that one!

Dry Hopped St. Rogue Red Ale

This wonderful red ale starts and ends with hops. The first sip is all West coast hop flavor - piney and citrusy. Then you notice the smooth creamy body with plenty of malt - slightly sweet and fruity too. Finally, it finishes with a lasting hop bitterness. As you can see in the photo, it had a nice big orange-colored head, which left plenty of lacing on the glass. It poured an orange-amber color. Oregon Brewing is one of my favorite brewers, and this beer just strengthened my opinion.

Bell's Kalamazoo Stout

This is the second beer I have tried from Bell's Brewery, in Comstock, MI. The label describes it as a "stout brewed with brewer's licorice". I'm not sure I tasted any licorice, but there was a lot of dark roasted malt, some chocolate and some coffee flavors. It had a creamy smooth texture, with moderate carbonation. It poured nearly black, with a 1-inch tan head, and was a perfect accompaniment to my burger tonight. So far, Bell's is 2 for 2 in my book. Their Oberon Wheat Ale was also enjoyable.

Brewing Day today!

Today was another brewing day. I've been trying to escalate my brewing frequency because I like to have a lot of homebrew selection when I go to the beer fridge. I was down to just a couple of varieties, so I needed to step it up. Today I bottled my Scottish Ale, after giving it a taste test from the fermenter. It tasted awesome, even without carbonation. I'm not sure I'll be able to wait the two weeks for it to carbonate. Bottling time is always fun because when our two dachshunds notice we're bottling, they stand under the fermenter, hoping to catch any errant drips (which are never in short supply). I've mentioned our one dachshund, Porter in earlier posts, but we also have a second one, a female named Penny (due to her copper coloring). The two dogs spend our bottling time trying to see who can get to the beer drips first. Invariably, one of them ends up licking beer off the top of the other ones head. It turns into a zoo.

While we bottled the Scottish Ale (which is actually probably closer to a Wee Heavy due to its alcohol content), I had my next beer boiling on the stove. I made a Belgian style Wit beer, with the addition of some fresh apricots we got at the local farmer's market. It's in the fermenter, and hopefully by tomorrow it will be bubbling away. It's probably a little late to be making a summer beer, but with the climate here in Florida, I don't pay much heed to the season. I already have my next two beers planned out - one for fall, and one for winter. I'll be making a butternut squash porter for Octoberfest, and a Spiced Imperial Stout for Christmas. I'll be posting about them when I'm able to taste them for the first time. In the mean time, my wife and I will be brewing again tomorrow, making an all-Florida mead with Orange blossom honey and muscadine grape juice. Technically, it's called a pyment, which is a mead made with grape juice along with the honey. Muscadine grapes are native to Florida, and we bought a bunch of juice at the local winery, specifically for this purpose.

With dinner tonight, I opened another bottle of my Maple Wheat that I brewed a while back, and it is mellowing nicely. I probably won't make it again, because there are too may other beers I want to make, but if I did, I would lay back a little on the maple syrup. It really kicked up the alcohol level, and I'm getting too old for that. We also sampled our metheglin again, to see how it's aging, and it's becoming really smooth. I'm not sure there will be much left by the time Christmas rolls around.

Since I've put some pics of Porter up here already, I guess I should give Penny some exposure too. So here's a pic of both dogs. Dachshunds are great dogs!

Grolsch Light Lager

Yeah, I know, I don't like light beers. I said as much in my Beck's Premier Light review a while back. I was invited to my daughter's house for lunch and a swim in her pool, so I thought it would be a good time to drink a Grolsch Light. I've had it in the fridge for a while now. I didn't even pour it into a glass, so I don't know what it looks like, although I can imagine. I like Grolsch in its high-calorie format, so I thought this might be worth a try. I don't know if it was the 90 degree heat, but this beer tasted pretty good. It had more body and flavor than the bottled water that Beck's sells as light beer. If I had brought a second one with me, I probably would have drunk it as well.

Weltenburger Kloster Asam Bock

Weltenburger Kloster is a German brewer that claims to be "the oldest Monastery-Brewery in the world. Since 1050." That's just 10 years after Weihenstephan began brewing. This is their "Asam Bock" which is in the style of a doppelbock. They call it a "dunkler doppelbock", and it is dark, so it deserves the name dunkler. It poured a dark brown with a sizeable tan head that lasted for a few minutes. It really looks good in the glass, and it tastes even better than it looks. This is a very rich, malty doppelbock - one of the best I have ever had. It smelled of sweet malt and caramel, and the flavor hinted of raisins and molasses, and lots of malt. It was somewhat low in carbonation, but had a rich texture. At 6.9% alcohol, it wasn't too strong, so I didn't feel like I couldn't finish the bottle. I can easily see why Weltenburger has been around for nearly 1000 years. This is an excellent beer, and I'll be looking around for some of their other varieties.

Theakston Old Peculier

Theakston Old Peculier is brewed in Masham England, and belongs to the Old Ale family of ales. It poured a deep mahogany color, which was red when held up to the light. It had very modest carbonation, and a small light tan head. It had a nuttiness to its flavor, like a brown ale, but less sweet. It had a medium body, and about 5.7% alcohol. The finish was dry, with not much hop presence. I've been hearing about Old Peculier for some time, and this was my first sampling. Although it's a fine English ale, I'm not sure it warrants a second taste.

Margaritaville Brewing Co.'s Landshark Lager

Tacos were on the menu tonight, so I looked thru my beer fridge to see what I had that was Mexican. I came up blank, except for a bottle of Margaritaville Brewing's Landshark Lager. I know it's not Mexican, but it was the closest thing to it. I don't know how much input Jimmy Buffett actually had in the production of this beer, but I do know that it's brewed by Anheuser-Busch. It's bottled in a nice sharkfin-embossed bottle with a painted label, and it poured a light golden color with a 1-1/2 inch tall white head. If Jimmy was going after a Corona clone, I think he nailed it - based on my memory of Corona. This was a refreshing light beer, and went perfectly with my tacos. I'm sure that a lime would feel at home in the neck of the bottle, if you're into that sort of thing.

Style Profile - Porter

If you've been reading this blog for any length of time, you know that Porter is one of my favorite styles of beer. I even named my dog Porter. The Porter style seems to have come into existence in the late 1600's or early 1700's in London. The story goes that it was named after the customers who preferred this dark style of ale - the porters at London's Victoria Station. It was originally brewed using brown malt, which was kilned over wood, giving the resulting ale a smokey flavor. Porter is now brewed with a lot of different grains, adjuncts and flavorings, but it is still basically a dark ale. It is a top-fermented beer, so it's a true ale. There are 3 basic forms of Porter - Brown, Robust and Baltic.

Brown Porter is the lightest of the three varieties, and generally has an alcohol content of 4-6%. Brown Porter is still more popular in England than in the US. It is light brown to dark brown in color and has almost no hop character. It will be light to medium in body. It may have a very light roastiness to it, possibly accompanied by some biscuit or chocolate notes. Samuel Smith's Taddy Porter is a good example of this style.

Robust Porter is a later development, and is Brown Porter's bigger, stronger brother. It's more popular in the US than in England. American brewers are always pushing the limits, and their Robust Porter varieties are a good example. We use everything from Maple syrup to Vanilla to flavor our Robust Porters. A Robust Porter usually is stronger than the brown variety, with an alcohol level of 5-7%. It is also darker, and roastier than it's little brother, with more hop presence. It is usually dark brown to almost black. Black patent malt is one of the ingredients common in this version of Porter. Anchor Brewing makes a good example of a Robust Porter.

The final version of Porter that I will mention is Baltic Porter. A Baltic Porter generally comes from one of the countries bordering the Baltic sea, such as Poland, Latvia, or Lithuania. Of course, there are some American brewers who are copying this version of Porter as well. Baltic Porters seem to have been influenced by Imperial Stouts, since they are bigger and sweeter than Brown or Robust Porters. A Baltic Porter may have a wine-like character, due to its higher alcohol levels - up to 10%. It will have very little hop flavor, and may be heavy in chocolate and sweet malt character. Like the Robust Porter, it is also very dark in color, possibly black with ruby highlights. Zywiec Porter, from Poland, is one of the better known Baltic Porters. Utenos and Aldaris are two other Baltic Porters.

Finally, here is a gratuitous picture of my Dachshund, Porter who hasn't got a clue about the origin of his name.

Shipyard Chamberlain Pale Ale

Shipyard Brewing Co. is based in Portland Maine, and they're a good solid microbrewery. At one time, they had a brewery based in the Orlando International Airport, but they closed it down. I guess the folks travelling through Orlando weren't interested in putting down their Budweiser long enough to try something different. This beer is their APA style, which they have named Chamberlain Pale Ale. It poured a medium amber with a cream-colored inch tall head. This is a basic APA, nothing exotic. I detected some caramel, and a finish that was hoppy enough to be satisfying. It went well with my dinner, without overpowering any of the food. It was worth trying, but I probably won't buy it again. So many beers, so little time!

Sleeman Honey Brown Lager 77

Today, I sampled another one of the four brews in my Sleeman sampler pack, their Honey Brown Lager 77. The 77 indicates the page number on which the recipe for this beer was found, in an old Sleeman family beer recipe book. This is a very mild lager, slightly sweet and malty, with a little showing of some caramel. It's a decent beer, but not a terribly exciting one. It compares favorably to J.W. Dundee's Honey Brown Lager, which is the one that most Americans are familiar with. It poured a crystal clear light brown color, with a small white head that was gone very quickly. It was bottled in a special bottle with the Sleeman logo embossed in the side, and a small neck label. Sleeman is a Canadian brewer, although I believe they have a brewery in the states as well. This could be a good session beer; it's mild and has a reasonably low alcohol level.

Fischer Tradition Amber Ale

Not a bad-looking beer right? Clear medium amber color, big bubbly head? Well, this is the closest I have ever come to a drain-pour. I'm hoping that this was a bad bottle, and this is not what the beer is supposed to taste like. It smelled sour in the glass, and that's how it tasted too. My wife said it smelled like a locker room. Once I got past the sour flavor, it went directly to metallic, like sucking on a rusty nail. Obviously something happened to this bottle during its journey from France to Orlando to make it taste this way. Otherwise, I don't think Fischer would have much of a future. Or history for that matter.

Samuel Adams Brown Ale

This is the third beer in the Samuel Adams Brewmaster's Assortment That I bought a few months ago. This brown ale had a small tan head that didn't last long, but left some lacing on the glass. It was a clear brown color, with the aroma of malt and caramel. The caramel was evident in the flavor as well, along with the nutty flavor that brown ales have. It was balanced by the right amount of hops, making this a very enjoyable ale to go with my lunch. Samuel Adams rarely lets me down.

Sierra Nevada Unfiltered Wheat Beer

Now that Sierra Nevada is one of the 3 largest US owned brewers, I decided to give their Unfiltered Wheat Beer a try. It poured a cloudy golden color, with a big white head. The beer wasn't as cloudy as I was expecting from a wheat beer, so I guess I didn't stir up the yeast very much when I poured it.



One thing I have to say for Sierra Nevada is that they love their West Coast Hops. This was a hoppier wheat than most, for sure. It tasted like Cascades or a similar variety was used. It had the citrus-like flavor of an American Wheat, but the hops definitely added an interesting flair. This is the 3rd Sierra Nevada beer I have tried since starting this blog, and every one of them has been worth the time. Fritz Maytag must know what he's doing out there in California.

Birra Moretti La Rosa Double Bock

Tonight, I tried my first beer from Birra Moretti, called La Rossa. This is an Italian Double Bock, or "doppio malto". This is a far cry from the usual pale lagers I have seen from Italy. As a double bock, it stands up well with the more well-known German Dopplebocks' which I enjoy tremendously. The Late Great Beer Expert Michael Jackson once posed the question "Could Moretti La Rossa be the ultimate pizza beer?" Unfortunately, I didn't have any pizza to test it with, but I think it could be in the running. It's got a lot of malt flavor and a suitably dry finish. I think it could stand up to pizza pretty well, even though it's not an IPA. It poured a deep copper color with a big but short-lived orange head. This was a very pleasant surprise, and may require additional sampling.

Orkney Brewing Dark Island Dark Ale

This ale surprised me, right out of the gate. I wasn't expecting a smoky ale, but that's the first thing I tasted. From using smoked malt in my homebrew, I believe it is peat-smoked malt used in Orkney Brewing's Dark Island Dark Ale. The picture is dark because of a thunderstorm that was going through here, but you can tell that it poured a deep brown, with a small beige head. Aside from the smoke, I also tasted some roasted malt, some toffee, and even some burned fruit. I have tried several beers from Orkney, and I have been impressed every time. This Scottish brewer has a good thing going. Check it out.

Saranac Caramel Porter from F.X. Matt

I was very upset to learn that a fire had damaged the F.X. Matt Brewery in Utica, NY back in May of this year. I have a long history of going to the brewery, so it was like a childhood friend had been injured. Fortunately, the fire was in one of the external buildings, not in the main brewhouse itself. It didn't destroy any of the beer in the fermenting tanks. I'm sure it's put a crimp in their production, but it wasn't fatal.

Tonight, I had a bottle of Saranac Caramel Porter, one of the bottles that my sister brought me this past Christmas. It's part of their winter brew assortment. I love a good porter, so I was looking forward to enjoying this with my dinner. It poured a deep chocolate-brown and had a very respectable fluffy tan head. The name of this beer is very appropriate. There is a lot of caramel flavor in there, almost like they added caramel syrup before bottling. There was also some roasted malt flavor, and some chocolate too.

I'm looking forward to my sister's next trip to Florida, hopefully with the Saranac Summer beer assortment this time. Or maybe some of that Pomegranate wheat I've read about - or the Imperial Stout, or the Double IPA, or.....

Chimay Bleue Belgian Strong Ale

Chimay is probably the most well-known and most popular of all the Belgian breweries that have a presence in the US. Chimay Bleue (Blue) is a Belgian Strong Ale, and has an alcohol level of 9.0%. This ale poured a deep brown, with lots of yeast in the bottle. This is a bottle-conditioned ale, like a lot of Belgian beers. It had a small white head that dissipated pretty rapidly. It's well-carbonated too. The flavor is a little sweet, with a strong wine-like character. It has some alcohol in the finish. I think Belgian beers are an acquired taste, but they're some of the most interesting beers in the world.

Tommyknocker Jack Whacker Wheat Ale

Compared to the Sun Dog I tried a few days ago, this wheat ale is much more authentic. It has an immediate tangy cirtus flavor, and a subtle hop finish. Tommyknocker Brewery & Pub adds some lemongrass at the end of the mash, which accentuates the usual citrus flavor of the wheat. It poured a cloudy orange color with a small white head. This ale was very nice with my turkey sandwich - very refreshing. This is the second beer I have tasted from Tommyknocker, and they have both been very enjoyable. I'll have to look for some more of their beers.

Homebrewed Brown Ale - Initial Taste Test

Today was brewing day - my wife and I made a batch of mead, which we plan to add apricots to, and then we made a strong Scottish Ale. They're both finished, and the yeast are happily fermenting. Since today was brewing day, I decided to pop the top on the first beer of my last batch - a brown ale. I brewed this batch back in mid-June, and it's been carbonating for about 10 days. Based on my totally unbiased opinion, it's perfect! Slightly sweet with some caramel flavor, a little nutty, and a nice hop finish, balance out the ale. As you can see in the photo, it had a healthy tan head, and poured a deep brown. Here's the recipe I used to make 2.5 gallons:

3.3 lbs Briess Sparkling Amber LME

4 oz Crystal Malt 120L

2 oz Black Patent Malt

1 oz Willamette Hops for bittering

1/4 oz Amarillo Hops for finishing

Danstar Windsor Yeast

Corn Sugar for priming

I steeped the malt grains in a gallon of water on the stove, until they reached 165 degrees, then pulled them out. I then heated the wort to boiling, and added the Willamette hops. After 45 minutes, I added the LME, and 10 minutes later, the Amarillo hops. Total boil time was an hour. I then cooled the wort, and added it to a gallon of water in my fermenter, then topped it off to 2.5 gallons total. In went the yeast, and I let it sit in the fermenter for a couple of weeks before bottling. I primed the bottles with corn sugar, and let it carbonate for 10 days.

I normally let a beer sit in the bottles for 2 full weeks before tasting, but today I couldn't wait. I think the rest will be going in the fridge soon.

Anheuser Busch Sun Dog Amber Wheat Ale

I don't generally drink Anheuser-Busch products, because their "traditional" brews, like Bud, Michelob and Busch give me a splitting headache the next day, even if I drink only one. Their micro-style brews don't have the same effect, thank goodness. If someone handed me a glass of Sun Dog, without telling me it was a wheat, I would have never guessed it was. It doesn't look like a wheat beer, and it doesn't taste much like a wheat beer. It poured a clear amber color, with a 1-inch tall white head. The head was pretty long-lasting. There was a faint hint of citrus, but that is the only clue that there is any wheat to be found. It's a basic middle-of-the-road ale, brewed for the Anheuser-Busch market share. I could drink it on a hot day and find it thirst-quenching, but I wouldn't seek it out.

Blue Marble Organic Pilsner

I bought this bottle of "earth friendly" beer at the local World Market. I guess it's earth friendly because it's organic. This is my second organic brew in about a month, and this one is vastly superior to the last one. This is a Pilsner style, rather than a pale ale. It poured a golden straw color, with a sizeable white head. It's pretty well-carbonated, but not excessively so. The first thing I noticed was the flavor of lemons, and a distinctly bitter finish. This has a healthy dose of Noble hops, as a Pilsner should. At 3.9%, it's pretty modest in its alcohol level. I enjoyed this brew, and I have a better opinion of organic beers now. Blue Marble Brewing is a subsidiary of Butte Creek Brewing.

Cooper's Best Extra Stout - Australia

Cooper's Brewery is in Regency Park, South Australia. This is their "Best Extra Stout". An Extra Stout is in between a regular stout and an Imperial Stout when it comes to alcohol strength. The first Extra Stout was made by Guinness, but othe brewers followed. This is a roasty, chocolaty stout wilth a creamy texture. It looks nearly black in the glass, with a smallish tan head. I think this is a bit dryer than many of the stouts I've tried, and finishes dry as well. I'm a big fan of stouts and porters, and I highly recommend this one.

Eisenbahn Defumada Smoked Lager

Eisenbahn Defumada Smoked Lager is from Cervejaria Sudbrack Ltda. in Blumenau Brazil. The brewery bills itself as "South America's Craft Brewery", and if this beer is any indication, the nick-name is accurate. It poured a beautiful copper color with a large beige head, that lasted longer than most. The first sip tasted of pure smoke, but after getting used to it, I was able to taste the malt too. It has some caramel sweetness mixed in with roasted malt. This is not as smoky as a German Rauchbier, but it's got plenty of smoke character. I really enjoyed this one. I also bought Eisenbahn S.A.P.A. which stands for South American Pale Ale. I hope I enjoy that one as much as I did this one. It's nice to find a Brazilian beer thats not a pale lager.

Tennent's of Scotland - Scotland's Finest Lager

I was pleasantly surprised by this lager from Tennent's of Scotland. I've been a bit shy about trying yet another European Pale Lager. Maybe it's because the UK isn't part of the EU, but this lager was different from my other recent samplings. This beer has much more body than the Estrella I recently tried, and was sweeter and maltier as well. It had enough hop flavor to offset the malt, without being too obvious. I'm really learning to appreciate Scottish beers. This is the first time I've used my Florida State beer mug, a gift from my daughter. It's her Alma Mater, not mine.

North Coast Brewing's Red Seal Ale

North Coast Brewing is located in Fort Bragg, CA. This is the second beer I've tried from them, and it is excellent. Red Seal Ale poured a red-orange color, with a 1-inch tall head. It tasted of sweet malt and caramel, with a piney hop finish. The mouthfeel was smooth and rich. This would be a good session beer, since the alcohol level is reasonable at 5.5%. I don't see a lot of choices from North Coast here in Florida, but I'll be on the lookout for them.

Weihenstephaner Vitus - Weizenbock

Today, I had a beer from one of my favorite German Brewers. Weihenstephan claims to be the oldest brewery in the world, with continuous brewing since the year 1040. Weihenstephan Vitus is a weizenbock, which is a maltier, higher alcohol version of their Hefeweizen. This beer had a fruity, citrusy background, with the typical banana/clove flavors of the Bavarian weizen yeast. In fact, if you're a homebrewer, you can buy the Weihenstephan strain of yeast from Wyeast - it's number 3068.

At 7.7% alcohol, Vitus is significantly stronger than Weihenstephan's standard wheat brew. This beer is obviously maltier, with a heavier mouthfeel as well. It poured a deep golden color, with a huge white head that lasted forever. I got the glass as a promotion from the local liquor store, by buying 4 bottles of Weihenstephan. It's my favorite glass, and today I was able to turn the glass around and display the logo for my photo. It's the perfect glass for drinking a wheat beer with a nice full head.

Flying Dog Snake Dog IPA

Today was pizza day at lunch time, so I grabbed one of my preferred pizza beers to go along with it. An IPA is one of the few beers that doesn't get overwhelmed by the salty, spicy pizza. Flying Dog has a good IPA, called Snake Dog. It poured a medium amber color, with a 1 inch tall white head, that left plenty of lacing on the glass. There was lots of sweet malt flavor, balanced by a heaping helping of grapefruit-flavored Columbus hops from the West Coast. Snake Dog is a much tastier beer than their Tire Biter Golden Ale, but maybe I'm just biased.

Left Hand Brewing's Sawtooth Ale

Here's another offering from Left Hand Brewing of Longmont, CO. It's their Sawtooth Ale, which the brewer describes as an ESB. When I poured this beer, the head filled the glass, and I had to wait a long time for it to subside enough to pour some more in. The photo shows the beer when only about 2/3 of the bottle has been poured. I've had this happen with a few of my homebrews, but usually I have the opposite situation with commercial beers - no head at all. So, I patiently waited, sipped some of the head to try to make some room, and finally got the beer poured. It's a nice pale amber, a little cloudy because it must be bottle conditioned. There was a fair amount of yeast residue in the bottle. This is a very flavorful beer, full of hops and malt. This is an American style ESB, since it's made with Cascade hops, along with English Fuggles. It has a slighty metallic taste in the finish. This was more obvious when I was sipping at the head only. Left Hand Brewing is another strong brewer, and this is a good example of their craft.