The first hint of aroma I got from this APA was citrusy hops, followed closely by a nice malt profile. The malts were restrained, but noticeable, with grainy and caramel notes and a hint of biscuit. The hops were fairly bold, starting out citrusy and then going to a floral and herbal finish. There was a clear smell of fruitiness, not really strong, but noticeable. I kind of wished the aroma was a little stronger, being dry-hopped and all, but I probably should have been more patient and let the beer warm up a little longer out of the fridge. I rated the aroma at 9 of 12.

Schlafly American Pale Ale

The appearance of this beer is beautiful. It is a strong golden color, with a beautiful, long-lasting head that leaves very nice lace. The head is a smooth, very fine bubbled ivory with nice flavor. I always figure if a beer has good flavor in the foam, it will have great flavor in the beer. I have never seen this to fail. Try it if you don’t believe me. I dare you. Anyway, I wish the form let me score more than three for appearance. I gave this beer 3+ of 3.

With my first sip of this 5.9% beer I noticed a very nice balance between hops and malts, with the hops coming out on top, but not pounding the malts to smithereens. The malt flavor held up with nice grainy, caramel and biscuit notes. The hops ran around with more of the citrus, at first, then floral and herbal tastes that were apparent in the aroma, with the fruitiness coming in a little stronger. It started off with a fairly bitter hoppiness, settling to a smoothness of malt, for a fairly balanced, but slightly more hoppy flavor. Very nice. I gave the flavor 17 of 20.

It has a fairly big body for an APA, coating the mouth nicely. The carbonation is low to middling, with very fine bubbles, almost like champagne bubbles. The alcohol warmth is there, but not at all overpowering and the creaminess is reminiscent of a nice silky stout. I gave the mouthfeel 5 of 5.

My overall impression is that this is a delicious beer, highly accurate to the APA style as defined by the BJCP that I would happily recommend to anyone seeking a refreshing pale ale. I gave the overall impression 10 of 10 for a total score of 44 of 50. That score is the highest in the ‘Excellent’ range, and if the + I put on the appearance counted for points it would be ‘Outstanding.’

If you can find a Schlafly APA around, grab it up and give it a try. If you can’t, well, I guess you either gotta fly to St Louis or start hanging out with Paul and cross your fingers. Hey – it worked for me.

Maritime Pacific Jolly Roger Christmas Ale

The malt was the first thing I smelled. It is fairly rich, with caramel and dark fruit tones. The hops are a bit subtle and a little floral and fruity to my nose. Which is good. Esters and phenols were both low to none, but there is a dark fruit or dried fruit flavor in there. Mostly rich maltiness, though. Moderate alcohol aroma and plenty of sweetness from those malts. I gave the aroma 10 of 12.

It is a fairly dark amber beer, very clear, with a nice, fine-bubbled beige head that lasted well into the pint. Some very nice lacing, as well. I gave the appearance 3 of 3.

As with the aroma, this beer is malt forward as they say, leading off with a nice rich, sweet caramelly maltiness with that dark fruit flavor. Mmmmmm! The hops were still way in the back seat, being a little fruity and floral and just bitter enough to keep the beer from becoming cloying. The balance, as you may have already guessed is fairly malty. I gave the flavor 16 of 20.

The mouthfeel of this beer is very nice! A medium high body with fairly low carbonation and plenty of warmth and creaminess and no astringency. It is silky and delicious, with a slightly sweet finish. I gave that a 5 of 5.

My overall impression of this beer is that I really like it. It is very tasty, yet not so potent that you can only drink one. It is a great wintertime session beer. Technical merit is high, stylistic accuracy – well, I dunno, but I like it! I am rating this one at 9 of 10 for a total of 43 of 50, putting it smack in the ‘Excellent’ range.

Bottom line is, you need to try this one. My bet is it will become a winter favorite for you, too. And if you go to the Jolly Roger taproom, tell ‘em Joe sent you. That oughta puzzle them.

I did not find the aroma of the Full Sail Wassail to be  particularly striking. It has fairly rich malt nose, with grain and bread notes. The hops are a little citrusy, but not very strong. There was also a little fruity, maybe dark fruit aroma to the esters.The alcohol aroma was noticeable, as was a nice sweetness. I gave the aroma 8 of 12.

The beer is very clear, with a nice dark amber color and a beige head. The head was fine and smooth, but not terribly lofty or long-lived, although it did lace fairly well. I gave the appearance 2 of 3.

Full Sail Wassail

The flavor started off with a nice malt profile, again fairly rich, grainy and bready. The hop flavor is a bit more pronounced than the aroma, nicely bittering the malts and tasting a little herbal. The esters were less developed, slightly fruity. The balance was rather hoppy and built up bitterness as I drank the beer, but it was not overwhelming. I kept expecting some kind of herb or spice to sneak up on me, but it never did. I looked at the description of the beer on Full Sail’s site and they make no mention at all of any spice or herb in the beer. Now, I am of the opinion that if you call a beer Wassail, it should have some spice to it. I fully expected some herbal spicy flavors like clove or cinnamon or a hint of nutmeg to be in this beer. Not a lot, not bashing me over the head, but some. There were none. I must say I was a little disappointed. I gave the flavor 13 of 20.

This is a moderately bodied beer with low to moderate carbonation and a nice warmth, low to moderate creaminess. The finish was medium-dry. I gave the mouthfeel 4 of 5.

It is pretty hard to rate stylistic accuracy when a beer is so loosely defined. I would say that as a beer, the technical merit is excellent, but as a”Wassail” the technical merit is a little lacking. I enjoyed the beer, but felt slighted by the Wassail label. I gave the overall impression 6 of 10, for a total score of 33 of 50, which is n the ‘Very Good’ range.

I don’t mean to harp on this, but in my opinion this beer should not be called Wassail. It is a good beer, and had it been labelled as some kind of hoppy ale, I would have scored it much higher. As is almost always the case, I got to drink a fine beer. I recommend Full Sail Wassail, – it is eminently drinkable – but be aware that you are not getting what I would call a “Christmas Beer” or a spiced beer at all.

Velvet Merlin has a rich, warm malt profile that is sweet and roasty with dark caramel, chocolate and coffee scents. The hops are quite understated and seemed a little earthy to my nose. There were no esters and phenols were very low, maybe a little stone fruit or dried fruit aroma in there. Sweetness was medium-high and I believe I could smell oatmeal. Nice. I gave it 11 of 12.

Firestone Walker Velvet Merlin Oatmeal Stout

No doubt about it, this is a dark beer. The color is dark brown to black. Even under direct light, it was pretty dark brown, almost opaque. The head was a little smaller than I was hoping for, but it was definitely persistent. It was a nice tan color, composed of fine bubbles that left lacing all the way to the bottom of the glass. I gave the appearance 2.5 of 3.

Roasty-toasty maltiness is what I got from the first sip. Lots of coffee-like flavor with that dark, dried fruit flavor sneaking in as well. The hops, again, were subdued. Just enough to bitter the beer nicely, then stepping back to let you enjoy all those grain flavors, malt, oats, dark roast, yum. The balance was just on the malty side of even. I gave the flavor 17 of 20.

This is a rich, smooth, very creamy beer with a big, silky mouthfeel that coats your mouth in stout-y goodness. Which is to say I really like it. The carbonation is medium-low and there is a very pleasant warmth which seemed maybe a little more than I would expect from a 5.5% beer. The finish is fairly dry, with a little bitterness building up as you go. I would say 5 of 5 for mouthfeel.

Overall, I would say the technical merit and stylistic accuracy are very high. For an overall impression I gave it 9 of 10, for a total score of 44.5 of 50, which puts it just .5 points short of ‘Outstanding’, but in the very top rank of ‘Excellent’ which means it is no slouch. I almost feel guilty having it .5 short of outstanding, but the score is what I wrote when I tasted it, so there it stays.

Even if you are not a sucker for oatmeal stouts or clever names or cool labels, you really should give Velvet Merlin a try. If you are into big, tasty, dark beers, this is right on the mark, and if you are not so sure about the big darks, Velvet Merlin might be the one to draw you in and make you crave the darkness like I do. And if you just can’t do that, then just get anything from Firestone, because they always make top-notch beers.

Lori and I have been hosting annual Halloween parties for several years now, and they get more elaborate every time. We have several friends who attend year after year and have told us they look forward to this party way in advance. It is cool to have the rep as throwing the killer Halloween bash, but it is also a bit of pressure to make each year a little better.

Basement last year

Last year, our band, The Basementeurs, was just getting going and our first ‘gig’ was playing in our basement at the party.That made the party a bit more of an undertaking. We played 10 songs, and it was a smash hit! In fact, we decided to keep it rolling and we have played in local pub twice since then, as well as being hired for a private party. Watch for us on Saturday Night Live. (Don’t hold yer breath.)

Since it went over so well last year, we decided this year we should remodel the basement to make it the ultimate jamming/party room. This entailed tearing out walls, moving the water heater, rewiring the lights and painting and blahblahblah. We talked about it for 11 months, then cranked it all out in one month, with many sweaty nights of labor. Now the basement looks really cool, and I am working on installing a bar and hopefully taps and a kegging system. Woohoo!

Basement this year

One big improvement over the last five years has been plenty of tasty homebrew to share with our guests. I usually brew two batches just for the party, and this year was no exception. I made two batches, one of Elixir Amber Ale, which is a modified Mac & Jack’s clone, and one of Blackheart, which was a basic Irish Red Ale that I modified with some Black Patent malt to make the beer black and just a little roasty. I also served some Jaggery IPA, some Love Buzz Porter and some Homegrown Hard Cider. All were sucked up with gusto by our beer-loving friends.

Hop Daddy line-up for Halloween 2010

So there is your update, and next post we will talk beer beer beer.

Near the Nakalele blowhole

One that we both really liked was the CoCoNut Porter. Lori has been after me to brew a Coconut Porter since then. I will, I will.  Looking on their site now, I do not see a listing for that pub we went to. It looks like now they are only  in Lahaina. Too bad, I liked that pub. So I was in my favorite beer shop recently – you guessed it, The Beer Authority – and they had a few beers from Maui Brewing. f course I grabbed a fistful of ‘em. I ended up drinking most of them up, but managed to save a CoCoNut Porter for rating, so here goes.

It poured nice and dark with a beautiful head, and the aroma brought me right back to the island. It had a definite coconut smell which was nice, but not so strong as to push the malts into the backseat. There were nice caramel and bread aromas, with that roasty-toastiness I love about dark beers. Esters and phenols were nowhere to be found, but a mellow sweetness and hint of alcohol finished thef bouquet nicely.  gave the aroma 11 of 12.

The beer is a dark brown, almost black, with a little ruby color evident in bright direct light. The head was huge, tan and persistent, with small bubbles leaving a very nice lacing to the end of the glass. I rated the appearance at 3 of 3.

The coconut flavor is prominent, but not overpowering. There is a clear maltiness, with caramelly bread and roasty toasty darkness in abundance. The hops are very faint, maybe just a little earthy, with very little bitterness. There is a subtle alcohol flavor, smooth and mellow. The finish was malty, and if I had to say anything critical, I would say this beer might be a touch too sweet, even for a porter. But maybe not for a coconut porter.I gave the flavor 16 of 20.

Maui Brewing Company's CoCoNut Porter

The beer has a very nice, full body, with the moderate carbonation you might expect from a porter. A moderate alcohol warmth from the 5.7% ABV and a wonderful lasting creaminess with a sweet finish earned it 4 of 5 for mouthfeel.

I referred to the BJCP Brown Porter style guidelines for this beer, and I would say it is highly accurate to the style (plus coconut) with excellent technical merit. I put the overall impression score at 8 of 10, for a total score of 42 of 50, which puts CoCoNut Porter in the ‘Excellent’ range.

So, if you are on Maui, make sure to visit Maui Brewing. And if you are in Hawaii, or in your local beer shop, make sure to look for Maui Brewing CoCoNut Porter and all their other beers. If you don’t see any, ask for it, so the demand is noted, cuz you just gotta try this beer!

But really, I am thinking I want someone to rate my homebrews. I have frequently thought of posting ratings of my own brews on the blog, but it seems it would hardly come across as impartial feedback. Therefore, I am seriously considering asking someone to try my beers and rate them as I do on my blog. Now, I am not just looking for somebody who is willing to drink free beer. Those guys are easy to find. I had about 70 or 80 of them at my house last weekend. Now that all the repairs are complete, I thought a more cerebral approach might be in order.

Irish Red Ale with a Blackheart

So what I am looking for is someone local (no shipping), who is fairly serious about beer and has some knowledge about it. Someone who appreciates craft beers and homebrews. Someone who is willing to use the BJCP score sheet and refer to the BJCP site and reference their information on different styles of beer, and use that information to rate my beer. Since many of my beers are a little off the normal styles, they would have to be able to ad lib a little. I would want them to be accountable and get the info back to me promptly. Basically, try the beer, then give me honest, concise feedback on a timely basis. It aint that hard, and I feel pretty confident that the beer aint so bad either.

So if this sounds interesting to you, send a comment, and we can chat about it.

Thanks!

Full Sail Amber has a subtle aroma, not up in your face. It is sweet and malty, with grain and caramel and maybe a little bready. The hops are restrained, nice, northwest hops – Mt Hood and Cascade. They come across rather floral and herbal. There is also an ester fruitiness to the aroma, and you can get a hint of the alcohol. At 5.5%, that is not overwhelming, but very nice. I put the aroma at 10 of 12.

Goofy Photobooth photo.

The beer is very clear, truly amber in color, with a medium-sized cream-colored head of rather coarse bubbles. Head retention was pretty good and there was a little lacing. I gave the appearance 2 of 3.

The flavor is smooth, malty sweetness with grainy caramel and bread flavors, balanced out with those tasty hops – floral and herbal, giving just enough bitterness to the front end, with a very nice, lasting bitterness leading to an excellent, even balance. I put the flavor at 16 of 20.

This beer gives a very pleasant mouthfeel, with medium high body and moderate carbonation, making it very smooth.There is a fair alcohol warmth, and a creaminess I was not expecting but really enjoyed. I gave the mouthfeel 5 of 5.

I think the stylistic accuracy is right there. I would drink this beer again and again, and seeing as I have five more in the fridge, I know I will. I’m putting 9 of 10 for Overall Impression, which brings this beer to 42 of 50, which is smack n the middle of the Excellent range.

So go out and grab a Full Sail Amber, or anything else you see from Full Sail. You’ll be glad you did.

The first thing I noticed on sniffing this beer was hoppy goodness, followed closely by a warm malt aroma. The hops were citrus and herbal and piney, very forward, but they did not overpower the malts. The malt came through a little grainy with nice caramel tones, fairly rich with some subtle roastiness to it. What a great combination for someone like me who loves IPAs and stouts!There was very little ester aroma, and no noticeable phenols. There was a bit of sweetness from those rich malts, nicely balancing the hops. I rated the aroma at 10 of 12.

Deschutes Brewery Hop In The Dark - Doesn't that label look glow-in-the-dark to you?

This beer is very dark, as the name would suggest. It seems completely opaque, with a dark brown head that laces the glass and has lovely legs gliding down to the next ring from your  latest sip. The head was dense and fine, and lasted quite a while, as you would expect from a dark beer like a stout, but not necessarily from an IPA. Nice trick, Deschutes brewers! I had no choice but to rate the appearance at 3 of 3.

From the first sip, I loved it! Hops aplenty, roasty, caramelly grain flavor. Sweet malt with a lovely, rather soft hoppy balance. On their site they say they use Cascade, Citra and Centennial hops, and I believe it, with that complex, citrus and floral, herbal and piney hop flavor on your tongue, a light bitterness in the back of your throat that all leaves you wanting more. I gave the flavor  17 of 20.

The body was moderate, similar to an IPA, with just the right amount of carbonation, not too bubbly, but enough to generate and sustain that lovely head.The warmth seemed greater than I would expect from a 6.5% beer, but that was nice, as was the creaminess of a darker ale. the finish is fairly dry. I gave the mouthfeel 4 of 5.

My overall impression of this beer is that I love it!  Really though, from everything I have read about this new style, if that is what it really gets accepted as, is that Hop In The Dark is everything a CDA is supposed to be. Dark, rich, malty, hoppy, straddling the fence between two vastly different beers and making the fence seem like a very nice place to be.  I’ll be reaching for this one again and again. I rated the overall impression as 10 of 10, for a total of 44 of 50, which puts Hop In The Dark at the very top of the “Excellent” range, which is also a very nice place to be.

So on their site, they say that Hop In The Dark is a seasonal, available May through September, so you better go out and get some right away, cuz before long it will be gone! And by the way, Hannah, I have not tried Ommegang Adoration yet…

I like cooking with beer. Although I use beer fairly often in cooking, I have very few actual written recipes calling for beer. I guess I am kinda spontaneous in my beer additions. “Hmm…a little beer in this would be good, and I just happen to have a beer in hand…” It usually works out pretty well.

We like to check Epicurious.com for recipes, and we have found lots of good stuff there. I got 18 pages of results when I entered “beer” in their search field. I bet you would find something you like if you flip through all that. If you don’t, yer just too damn picky!

Of course, there is always beer-can chicken. I have a whole cookbook on it, called – you guessed it! – Beer-Can Chicken.

Beer-Can Chicken, by Steven Raichlen

It is by Steven Raichlen, who is a master of barbecue and grill, and author of at least two other cook books, The Barbecue Bible and How To Grill, so you know the recipes are top-notch. I have made a few things from the Beer-Can Chicken book and they were excellent.

I used to buy these bags of flour with everything in it to make beer bread, except the beer, and those actually made pretty decent beer bread. I think the bags were imaginatively called ‘Beer Bread’, but hey, it was a product geared for men who want to make bread with their beer, so simple was good, right?

Over the last year or so, I have learned how to make really tasty bread from scratch with a simple recipe from the Sullivan Street Bakery in New York.

my bread, by Jim Lahey

I bought the cookbook, by Jim Lahey, imaginatively called “my bread,” and I highly recommend it. They have a beer bread recipe called Jim’s Irish Brown Bread which I have not tried yet. It uses Guinness Stout, so it’s gotta be good.

My one written recipe for cooking with beer is for chili, of course. I usually use Negra Modelo in it, but that is not critical. I have made it with my own porter, and that was better than the Negra Modelo. Experiment with your beer – it can’t hurt.

Joe's Black Bean Chili

JOE’S BLACK BEAN CHILI

1 large onion, coarsely chopped
4 large cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
1 lb. ground beef
1 lb. flank steak, cubed
¾ tsp. cayenne, or chipotle powder
¾ tsp. hot chili powder
1-15 oz. can tomato sauce
1-6 oz. can tomato paste
1-15 oz. can black beans, drained
1-15 oz. can kidney beans, drained
1-6 oz. can large pitted olives, drained and coarsely chopped
8 oz. Negra Modelo (or substitute black coffee or beef bouillon)
1 shot of Tequila (optional)

Sauté onions and garlic lightly. Add beef, cayenne, chili powder, and tequila, then brown beef. When beef is done, add tomato sauce, paste, beans, olives, and beer, stirring in each ingredient.

Simmer at least ½ hour. Serve with sour cream and cheese.

My wife, Lori, makes an absolutely awesome cheesecake using Guinness Stout. It is very heavy, rich, chocolatey, caramelly and decadent. Cheesecakes are not the easiest thing to make (like chili or pre-packaged beer bread) but this one is worth the trouble. You friends, beer lovers or not, will drool over this cheesecake. Sorry, I don’t have a photo.

Guinness Chocolate Cheesecake

Crust:
10 oz. (about 22) Oreo cookies, ground to a fine crumb
2 Tbsp. melted butter

Filling: 1 ¾ cups granulated sugar
1 cup (8 oz.) sour cream
3 Tbsp. corn starch
3 lbs. cream cheese, softened
1 cup Guinness stout
4 eggs
7 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, chopped and melted

Preheat oven to 275°.
Wrap the exterior of a 10-inch springform pan with several layers of aluminum foil. Combine the cookie crumbs and butter; press into the bottom of the pan. Set aside.
In the bowl of a food processor, combine the sugar, sour cream and cornstarch; transfer to a large bowl.
Break the eggs into a small bowl, checking for bits of shell. Beat eggs, then beat in eggs. Working in batches, combine the softened cream cheese, and egg & ale mixture, processing until smooth; scrape the bowl often. Transfer to the bowl with the sugar mixture. In the final batch, add the warm chocolate, then transfer to the bowl. Combine with a rubber spatula in a figure 8 pattern. (At this point you can add chunks of cookies or brownies.)
Transfer the batter to the pan. Tamp the pan on the counter to release any air that may be in the batter. Set onto a sheet pan in the preheated oven. Carefully fill the sheet pan with hot water. Bake the cheesecake 1 hour; check to make sure there is water in the pan and continue baking 1 ¼ hours. Turn the oven off, but don’t open the door. Let the cheesecake cook in the oven 2 ½ hours, then store overnight in refrigerator.

Run a knife around the outer edge of the cheesecake to loosen, then remove the sides of the pan. Cut the cake with a wet knife warmed in hot water.

Serves 16 (at least)

Do you cook with beer? What is your favorite recipe? I would love to hear about it.

After posting this, I looked through the epicurious.com beer recipes and made the Cheddar Beer Soup. It was very good.