Review: Boulevard Smokestack Series 2014 Bourbon Barrel Quad

The smokestack series from Kansas City’s Boulevard is what all their brews should be. 750 ml bottles priced way below what they are worth. Simple labels, attractive bottles. Various styles. This particular offering is absolutely stellar. Pours a clear but full caramel colour with a creamy, long lingering head. The aromas of oak and bourbon emanate from the glass followed by subtle caramelized malt flourishes. A very prominent oak flavour on the tongue. It envelopes quiet notes of toffee and malt.. Sugary on the tongue and closing with a strong bourbon-tinged-with-hop-bitterness. Absolutely awesome. Thoroughly enjoyed this ale as a dessert with a chocolate brownie. Really great beer. I have an extra bottle to cellar and try a year or two from now.

Review: Founder’s Breakfast Stout

I’ve been a fan of everything Founder’s I’ve had. They seem to be pretty elegant when it comes to taking fairly common styles and elevating their respective flavours whilst maintaining a very accessible price point. Their ‘Dirty Bastard’ Scottish Ale is among my favourites and is my everyday drinking beer. One I always keep on hand. I’m therefore quite excited to try this breakfast stout of theirs.

Pours a robust deep brown .. Mocha head that never entirely dissipates. Smells of a rich coffee brew. Forward on taste is a sizeable hop bitterness. The coffee taste is intense and throughout, but pure and not overly bittering. The finish includes pronounced dark chocolate notes. Very smooth and satisfying. Definitely one I’ll be buying again!

Review: Founder’s Dirty Bastard Scottish Ale

Founder’s make good stuff. I’ve enjoyed everything by them. All made with a bit of finesse. Dirty Bastard is no exception.

This ale pours copper red, has a quickly dissipating head, and is sweet on the nose. The flavors are deep caramelized malt and a reasonable hop bitterness punch at the end. Drinks easy, and works efficiently. Effervesces just enough to dance around the malt. Not too heavy, not too light. And a price tag that matches this balance.

A superior ale. This is and has for some time been my go-to everyday drinking beer. Always satisfying. Always just right. Cellars well too. I always keep some on hand.

Recipe: Pumpkin Mead

Here’s a fun one. Find a suitable pumpkin. Remove seeds from the top,  scrape inner walls to increase pumpkin surface area. Leave some of the shredded pulp. Add a mixture of honey and water at about an SG of 1.100. Liberally mix in pumpkin pie spice. Ferment with K1V-1116. Seal top of pumpkin with tape and plop an airlock into it. I’m hoping the pumpkin holds up for a week or two. The longer before racking to secondary, the better. Will likely backsweeten and oak with brandy oak infusion. If the pumpkin flavor isn’t pronounced enough, I may add a portion of canned pumpkin to secondary.

My particular pumpkin held over 2 gallons. Would be great if I yielded that in the end!

Update: 11/9/14:
Had a few issues with this batch and this telling will serve to save me a $40.00 mistake next go, next year. Had a leak somewhere. Airlock not active but ferment definitely happening. Retaped.. Always had a leak. Come this racking day, pumpkin visibly molded around cuts. Should have dipped it in a sulphite solution. Next time!!

Mead Oxidation Experiment

Hard to call this an experiment, as it was more relaxed than that and the proper steps to initiate control and define my objectives weren’t lined out in any way. This was intentionally so, though. I opened a bottle and left it. Had some when I had time and no responsibilities to attend to. Forced it into my schedule.

Here’s how this generally works: I open a bottle of wine and drink it within two days. I have to wait until I’m certain I’ll have the time or I end up with a brilliant red reduced to something that tastes similar to how feet smell. I had heard mead doesn’t succumb to oxidation in the same way and decided to take my favourite homebrewed mead and give it a whirl.

My dark wildflower varietal dry is an expression of the subtle nutty and earthy characteristics of the base honey backed by a rich heavy oak infusion.

I’ll keep this short and sweet.

Bottle had natural cork. Removed and replaced into the opening between pourings.

Over the course of two weeks, the notes were maintained. The mead didn’t ever falter. After a week, I would even say what small oxidation may have occurred  was accentuating the profile and characters I loved at bottling time. Became more elegant and more rounded on mouth feel… But the differences now and on day one are indeed subtle.

This is joyous. I’ve had a couple commercial meads that opened with 3-4 days exposure, but this is the first I’ve tested it on my own creation. A very satiating result. Mead works on my schedule, now. How about that?

Review: Avery Brewing’s Samael Oak Aged Ale

Another huge beer from Avery Brewing’s Demons of Ale series. Pours a copper and cloudy-opaque with a creamy and medium head. Boasts 16.9% alcohol in this 2013 offering. Smells malty and oaky, if not a bit strange in the nostrils. A heavy caramel/vanilla maltiness up front finished by a very oaky vanillin finish. Yes, I said vanillin and I meant it. The oak shines here in this ale reminiscent of a British Barleywine ale. What a brilliant explanation of an old world beer combined with modern processes. This is so smooth for the ABV. I know I’m drinking something at wine and even some liquor levels, but it is a pleasant expression of luxury ale all the way down. I will be buying more, as it can be cellared up to ten years according to the website. Simply fantastic!

Review: Avery Brewing’s Mephistopheles’ Stout

Wow. This one is a heavy hitter. Between 15 and 17% every year’s release and boasting 80 IBU. From the ‘Demons of Ale’ series that Avery releases. Pours pure black, with a 1-2cm mocha coloured head. Heavy caramel and almost fruity aromas. Bursting with flavor. Very rum-like and seemingly oaky, despite not stating any barrel aging on the bottle. Intense liquor flavor, effervescing throughout. Serious hop bitterness at the end contrasts and ultimately compliments this giant of an ale. I feel so many stouts suffer from under carbonation, but this one delivers. I will be getting another of these to cellar, as they state you can up to ten years. A truly delicious and intense beer. At $8 a 12fl oz bottle, it lives up to expectation.

Review: Aphrodite Chocolate/Vanilla Stout

Not too much to be said of this. A generic stout with very minor hints of chocolate and vanilla. It isn’t a bad beer, I just feel it didn’t really live up to what I expected when I bought it. Nice mouth feel, very light head on an opaque black body. An okay beer, not really worth $5/12oz.