April « 2009 « Brews and Blues

10Apr/090

Rogue American Amber Ale

As I have said in the past, you can't really go wrong with a Rogue Ales product. I haven't worked my way through all the Rogue Ales yet, but I will eventually. Today's sampling is Rogue's American Amber Ale. This amber ale is a bit on the hoppy side at 53 IBO but it does have a nice malty finish to follow.

Tonya and I made another trip to the World Market this afternoon, so I picked up another assorted six pack of beers to try. I'm a bit behind on my beer tasting regimen because of school and work, but I'll get caught up soon enough. If my count is correct, I currently have about 13 more brews ready to sample, and my Orange Blossom Special that I brewed recently is also about ready to taste for the first time. It has been in the bottle for three weeks and it's probably ready to taste now, but I'll hold off another week or so and let it condition a little longer.

I also ordered my Barley Crusher grain mill earlier this week and it arrived via FedEx this afternoon. Since my mash tun is complete, my next brew will be an all-grain recipe. I'm excited about finally getting to try all-grain brewing instead of extract. Having the grain mill will give me a lot of flexibility in creating my beer recipes. I won't be constrained to the grain bill used to make the malt extracts. I will have a lot finer control of the flavor and characteristics of my beer. I'll also be able to buy whole grains and crush them right before I'm ready to brew for maximum freshness.

Filed under: American Amber, Beer Reviews, Red Ale No Comments

6Apr/092

1554 Enlightened Black Ale

This is my third sampling of the beers from New Belgium Brewing in Fort Collins, Colorado. The 1554 Enlightened Black Ale is another excellent example of dark beer that isn't a stout or porter. This beer has an excellent chocolate finish with a nice malt presence. From the bottle:

1554 Enlightened Black Ale redefines the phrase keeping time in a bottle. From an ancient, crumbling Belgian library book, our intrepid researchers found references to this obscure style dating back to the year 1554. Overcoming obsolete script and units of measurement, our brewers discovered an ale with a surprisingly bright taste and a dry, chocolaty finish - one evocative of dark brews enjoyed in Belgian taverns 500 years ago.

I do pay attention to anything like this written on the beer bottle labels. I also usually visit the brewery website to see if there is any other relevant information about the beer I'm tasting. In most cases the information provides is useful and entertaining, and sometimes it's total bullshit ;)

Whether this be BS or not, this beer is a really good one. It's really hard to get excited about these other New Belgium brews since I started out with the Fat Tire... that stuff really kicks boo-tay...

Filed under: Beer Reviews, Belgian Dark Ale 2 Comments

5Apr/090

Abita Turbodog

My first disappointment when I popped open the my Abita Turbodog was that the bottle has a twist-off top. Since I'm a home brewer, I like to reuse my bottles, and this one has to go in the recycle bin...

That being said, the Turbodog is a rather nice brown ale. It has a rich body with a dark brown color and nicely balanced hop presence. That nice head you see in the photo didn't hang around very long, but the flavor is nice, none-the-less.

From the bottle:

Abita's Turbodog is a dark brown ale brewed with a combination of pale, crystal, and chocolate malts, dry-hopped with the finest Willamette hops, and fermented using a unique German alt yeast. Each batch is hand crafted using the pristine artisan waters of Abita Springs, Louisiana, resulting in a rich body and color, and a sweet-chocolate-toffee like flavor. Guilded by our principle of "quality before quantity" Turbodog is cold filtered and brewed in small batches using no additives or preservatives. Like all of our beers, Turbodog is prepared with the attention to detail upon which we have built our reputation as one of the country's finest breweries.

ABV: 5.6% - IBU: 28

This beer is definitely worth revisiting and I would also like to try a few of their other brews when the opportunity presents itself...