Fat Tire!

@newbelgiumbeer


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So, do you have $80B sitting around?

This is insane, absolutely insane-courtesy of Reuters:

- AB-InBev is looking to buy SABMiller for $80B, yes $80 billion.
- It would be the largest cash takeover in world history
- The megalith would then be responsible for brewing 33% of the world's beer.

Reuters: AB InBev seen brewing up final mega deal

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Brewing for the Cure

Sorry I didn't post this earlier, but Maryland Homebrew and Flying Dog are holding a ladies-only home brewing competition, with the proceeds going to the Susan G. Komen Foundation for the Cure.

I think the competition is still open, with it being held on October 9.

The winners get a ride on the FD Winnebago and a personal tour of the brewery-pretty sweet!

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Cancelled: Maryland Microbrewery Festival

Unfortunately, Mother Nature doesn't want you to enjoy the 6th annual Maryland Microbrewery Festival, always held at the lovely Union Mills Homestead.

The organizers had to pull the plug due to the record rainfall we've experienced this month, and the threat of flash flooding.

Any advance ticket sales will be refunded through PayPal.

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How awesome is this?!?

Next locally grown craze: beer hops

In our try to really keep things local, I found this link yesterday from CNN where there is a resurgence on local hops farming.

The video focuses on a farm in NY, but here in MD, we have our own farmers starting hops.

As a matter of fact, Flying Dog like I said in a previous post, they just released Secret Stash, an ale that they intend to tweak every year; and gor the inaugural release, they used hops from Stillpoint Farm, where we paid a super brief visit.

I haven't had the opportunity to drink it yet, though I'll write a blurb on the beer shortly. I will say that the bottles I've given out from this sixer have landed rave reviews.
But, come out to Frederick, on Sunday to attend the FD yard sale: it's sure to be a hell of a party, rain or shine.

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1/10

This beer is the only one in my drinking career that has earned the most coveted position of being

The Worst Beer

I have ever had.

It has beaten Taj. It has beaten Fischer. It is a raw abomination.

I don't think I can blame the brewery, I simply think the bottle was done: the first sign of trouble: the cork pulled right out of the bottle with zero resistance. (I offer the evidence by the fact, in the photo, I have replaced the cork in the bottle.)

It smelled like wet, stale corn flakes, tasted like it was filtered before bottling by being poured through roadkill, and had an exceedingly delicate, light strawberry aftertaste.

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(Don't) Get some Sweet Action

Zero head retention on this one, and the same for the aroma. But, the first big gulp hits you with some nice grassy hops, followed by a very dry, crisp, almost astringent like finish without any aftertaste.

I have to say that this brew from Brooklyn, NY is very underwhelming; it has very little by the way of mouthfeel and seems thin.

Find some action elsewhere.

5/10.

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This one's a keeper

Last night, my night cap consisted of Great Divide Titan IPA, which was bought on the suggestion of a friend.

The beer poured a brilliant honey-orange color with a dense beige head that lingered for a long time.

The aroma that is kicked off is, at first, like Greek yoghurt flavored with honey, which transforms into this resiny pine that you get when you walk into an older house, where the framework has dried out long ago.

Titan's flavor is very cracker like, with a dose of caramel sweetness. Overall very enjoyable.

I think this Greek earns a solid 8/10.

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It doesn't get any more local than this

Flying Dog and a few other breweries have started to use locally grow Maryland hops in their beers. I'm happy to say that I rushed as fast as I could to 1311 Beer & Wine in Mt. Airy to pick up a six-pack yesterday. I'm very excited and happy to see local wares going into a product I love.

Rachel and I try our best to source our breads, produce, and dairy as close to home as we can. Try it out yourselves, you may be very happy with the results.

I'll post a review on Secret Stash later on.

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Happy Oktoberfest!

Ein Prosit, ein Prosit
Der Gemütlichkeit
Ein Prosit, ein Prosit
Der Gemütlichkeit

Prost! Prost!
Prost!

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Data dump!

Olney Alewerks Catatonic light ale.

My kind of dinner: pancakes, sausage patties, Libbyland maple syrup and Westmalle tripel to cut through it all. Money.

Session lager from Full Sail; decent, little head retention, fruity. 6/10.

1634 Ale from Brewer's Alley, of Frederick, Maryland.

I loved the color on this beer! It was a very rich, clear, mahogany; but the frothy white head quickly collapsed.

The beer was 2 years old (though I purchased it last week), and it showed in the flavor and aroma departments. A lot of the spiciness from the rye dropped out, and there was nil hop presence. All I got was a mouth full of molasses.

5/10, as time is a cruel mistress.

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Well, AB-InBev can't be happy about that...

I found this through Facebook, an it's a very, very interesting article on the 8 beers Americans no longer drink. Once you read it, you'll understand the post title.


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Yeah, not of this world...

So, tonight after we put the kiddies to bed, and scrubbed the baseboards, I asked Rachel to pick something from the fridge. She picked out Southern Tier Unearthly Imperial India Pale Ale.

This beer is a science-fiction convention's worst nightmare.

SoTi's site claims 9.5% ABV, and the bottle claims 11.0%; I'm inclined to believe the bottle.

As you can see, the Romulan Ale pours a red-tinged, clear orange color, crowned with an ivory head--that fades away fast, owing to the ABV.

Rachel actually took the first three sips and said that it was a beer she didn't exactly enjoy, but for an (I)IPA, it was very good. This is due to the initial sweetness fading away to expose some very pungent hops, which vacate the palette at warp 9, allowing for a wonderful tropic finish-of pineapple (at first) then coconut.

Letting the snifter warm up, empty, for several minutes unlocked some very interesting aromas:
Nick- Terry's Chocolate Orange, at Christmas and a ferocious catty pineapple--emphasis on FEROCIOUS PINEAPPLE;
Rachel- sweet apples and caramel.

One non-terrestrial beer, which will leave your gaze toward the heavens.

8/10

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Amazing

I'm sorry that I missed the meet, greet & tasting with Mikkel of Mikkeller. So, in honor of his visit to The Perfect Pour, I poured a bottle of 1000 IBU: a wild child of an Imperial IPA, that has so much bitterness it becomes sweet. I would have loved to ask how he got the malt to counter the hop extract, and criminal use of Simcoe hops, but that's what email and plane tickets are for.

8/10.

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The Zen master of brewing

I recently decided to go back through The Brewing Network's Sunday Session archive and start from the very beginning- and I laughed my ass off until I met Brian Hunt, the owner and brewer of Moonlight Brewing Company. He just turned my world on its axis, 180 degrees.

Brian engaged the original crew, and the original listeners, on a touch of controversy regarding brewing and brewing to style, or should I say not brewing to style.

I will echo Jon Plise's comment that homebrewers should brew to style in order to understand flavor and how different ingredients/steps/temperatures affect what you're trying to accomplish. (Not that I am any kind of expert, far from it; but, I have read thousands of pages of brewing publications and listened to hundreds of hours of fairly high quality podcasts about brewing.)

Brian is a complete and total advocate of brewing what tastes good to you, and not pigeon-holing yourself into a style. That kind of philosophy completely goes against the grain of what it means to be an American homebrewer; an opinion that I share with the Brewcasters.

How he reached this 10th level of beer-godliness is beyond the scope of my post. What is within, though, is a feeling that once you get your system and process dialed in, you should go ahead and branch out. If you're into North American competition, go ahead and brew to style; but use that knowledge and mish-mash of flavors to inspire your own special brew.

It's worth your while to listen to the episode, from late 2005. While you're at it, listen to the show from the following week, they interview Dan Gordon, of Gordon Biersch, who is the polar opposite of Brian Hunt. An excellent contrast,as Gordon adheres to the Reinheitsgebot.

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