UNTAMED BEER – a beer blog featuring beer reviews, news and discussion | beer in its natural state, not tamed, domesticated or cultivated

Febtober 2008 – Great Divide Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout

Posted on February 7, 2008 by Brian

For the final winter month (at least in SC) I wanted to pick a dark beer with some kick. I found the perfect beer for the season in the Great Divide Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout. As the name implies, Great Divide took their Yeti Imperial Stout and aged it in oak barrels. This took a very hoppy, roasty stout and gave it a wicked twist.

The first thing that hit me (before the 9.5% abv) was the aroma. The aroma has a definite hop character, but what also hits you is a near liquor-like feel in your nose. You know, like when you take a whiff of bourbon.

The flavor is also as intense as the aroma. The first thing you taste is the malted roastiness of your standard imperial stout, but the oak aging really kicks you in the finish. There are definite hints of vanilla, but when combined with all the other flavors and intense alcohol concentration, it reminds me of bourbon.

If I were to have more than a pint or two of this beer, it would not agree well with me. It is way too intense and sweet to enjoy past about 20 ounces. However, I think it makes a great after dinner beverage to enjoy with dessert, or perhaps even as dessert. This is a phenomenally flavorful and complex beer that makes a great sippin’ experience to enjoy over time and conversation.

Posted in Beer of the Month | Leave a comment

you’ve got to fight for your right to party!

Posted on January 30, 2008 by Brian

You probably thought that all beer enthusiasts problems were over when prohibition was repealed on March 23, 1933. Not so! At least, not if you live in South Carolina…

South Carolinians won a major battle for beer last May, when the restriction on high gravity beer was removed, allowing for the sale of beer with a higher than 6.2% ABV. However, there is still at least one more major hurdle that we face, and most people don’t know about it. There is a pretty ridiculous law in South Carolina that basically says that if you brew beer and distribute it, you can’t sell it on the premises that it is brewed on. Essentially, that means that you have two choices, either be a brewpub and don’t distribute, or if you want to distribute, you can’t sell (or even give away!) beer at the brewery.

Ok, you might be saying to yourself, “That does seem kind of stupid, but who cares? I can just go to the store and buy it. Why would I ever want to go to the brewery to buy beer?” Well, would you ever want to go straight to a baker to buy fresh bread, or a butcher to get the freshest meat? Not only that, but we as consumers in South Carolina are denied the cool experience of a brewery tour, complete with samples in the tasting room after the tour.

If you’ve never done a brewery tour, go to some other state and go on one! It is so much fun! On a trip to Milwaukee a couple summers ago, one of the funnest afternoons Nicole and I had was when we toured Lakefront Brewery one afternoon and sampled their variety of beer. That was one of the best parts of the trip (along with frozen custard, cheese curds, Brewers baseball, brats, and more frozen custard).

Not only is it fun for people to tour the brewery and sample beers right from the source, it is also a great benefit to the breweries themselves. They can drive a lot of traffic into their facility, build good will and buzz (no pun intended! :) ), and it provides one more outlet to sell their beer and merchandise. It’s just good marketing. The more outlets that microbreweries have, the better.

What can we do about it if we want to join the cause? We can support our advocate in the trenches, Pop the Cap South Carolina. They have taken up the fight for beer in this fine state. Representative Bill Herbkersman has agreed to sponsor a bill to make this change, so it will be going before the statehouse this year. So stay tuned and be on the lookout for the results of this legislation coming up later this year.

Posted in Beer-related news | Leave a comment

coast beer tasting at ted’s

Posted on January 26, 2008 by Brian

This past Tuesday we had the opportunity to go to a beer tasting at Ted’s Butcherblock in downtown Charleston. We were treated to a five course meal, with each course paired with a beer to complement the food. Our friends at Coast Brewing Company were the featured brewers for the event. Three of Coast’s beers, along with two other of David’s (the brewmaster at Coast) choices. It doesn’t get much better than eating good food along with excellent beer in a butcher shop. Fresh meat and fresh beer, all in one place. Just awesome…

I have really come to love beer tastings and think they are a phenomenal idea. I’ve hosted a few at my house over the past couple years, and they are always a hit with the guests. People are much more open to trying new beers if they get to have food with it that is “specially selected.” It’s kind of like a game that encourages people to try things that they would never get in a bar or a store.

Just to give you a “taste” of what was on the menu, and to perhaps give you some ideas if you want a neat theme for a party, here is what we had Tuesday:

Course 1:
Beer Soup infused with Coast Kolsch, topped with Gruyere and roasted garlic crouton. Paired with Coast 32/50 Kolsch.

Course 2:
Jerked Mahi with sauteed bananas and jasmine rice. Paired with Coast HopArt IPA.

Course 3:
Bertolini’s Ricotta Cavatelli tossed with spinach tomato piccata and Painted Hills tenderloin meatballs. Paired with Westmalle Tripel. (This was my favorite course.)

Course 4:
Corned beef reuben with house made pancetta, big eye swiss, sauerkraut and spicy remoulade. Paired with Coast Blackbeerd Imperial Stout.

Course 5:
Caramel cheesecake with chocolate crust. Paired with Eel River Triple Exultation Old Ale.

Weezer (left) and myself

Wives

Posted in Beer, Breweries | 2 Comments

2007 Brewery of the Year: Victory

Posted on January 13, 2008 by Brian

The brewmasters of Victory have a great thing going on in Downington, PA. I first had a Victory Hop Devil in Highland, NC, while on a weekend getaway with my wife. This was in late 2006, before South Carolina had “popped the cap” and allowed high-gravity beers into the state. Being probably the first high-gravity beer I had ever tasted, I was immediately blown away by the intense hop flavor and sweet malt explosion all bottled into one beer. I think I can pin that experience as what turned me into the hop-head that I am today.

Several months later, South Carolina passed a new law allowing higher alcohol content beers to be sold in the state. Victory immediately swooped in and began distributing six or seven of their beers. After remembering how good the Hop Devil was, I knew I had to take full advantage and try their other offerings. They did not disappoint. Every one of their beers I have tried has been noteworthy for its style.

And so I present to you my choice for the Untamed 2007 Brewery of the Year: Victory. Below I have a brief capsule review of the beers I have tried. (Note: I have also tried the V-12, but I wasn’t able to get one for this review and it was too long ago to describe it in detail. I just remember it was REALLY good and very strong.)

Hop Wallop
The Hop Wallop is very hoppy pale ale. The aroma is very floral hops and it has a golden yellow color. The flavor screams hops the whole way, well into the finish. It has 8% ABV, but what distinguishes this beer from a lot of other high gravity beers is that it still maintains a light body and complexion. That’s not to say it is like Bud Light, but it isn’t thick and malty like most high gravity beers. It really brings a great combination of intense hops and flavor with great drinkability. Actually, that can be quite a dangerous combination! Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Storm King Stout
This extra dark imperial stout is just roasty chocolatey goodness. The flavor starts out sweet and malty but has a wonderfully bitter finish, much like good dark chocolate. It even has hints of a roasted coffee flavor. The body very dark, thick body that coats on its way down. The Storm King is one of my favorite stouts going right now.

Golden Monkey
The Belgian style ale in the Victory arsenal. This is one of their best beers. It is an excellent representation of the style, with a very fruity aroma and flavor. The flavor is a very complex mesh of fruity sweetness and malt, yet it is not overly sweet. It makes for a great sipping beer, when you just want to enjoy a good beer over the course of an hour, contemplating the great flavor you are experiencing.

Hop Devil
This was my choice for the July 2007 Beer of the Month. This is a very malty, yet hoppy amber ale. Like the Golden Monkey, this beer has a very complex flavor beyond what first hits your tongue. Because of the intense hop and creamier consistency, this is one of my favorite sipping beers. It’s far too potent to drink quickly in mass quantities.

Lager
I like very few lagers, and while this is not one of them, personal taste aside, I think this is a solid beer for the style. The color is a transparent golden yellow and the aroma is almost bread-like. It has a lot more body than the traditional “light” lagers, which to me makes it a lot more drinkable. The flavor is bold with malt and the aftertaste sticks with you a little while. Because it isn’t a totally clean and crisp beer that essentially disappears after you drink it, I don’t think it will be the beer of choice at many college parties. But, if you aren’t really into ales and want to try something new that is similar to what you might be used to, I recommend giving this one a shot.

Prima Pilsner
The Prima Pils is very similar in body and feel to the lager, but it has that characteristic hop twist of a pilsner. The aroma is light and and has hints of citrus. I enjoy the flavor of the pilsner more than the lager, but I am a hop head, so the more hops the better. One thing I found interesting about this beer was a slight metallic quality to the aroma and the taste. I’ve detected that in some other beers that I’ve had, and I’m not sure what causes that. It isn’t an overpowering characteristic in the beer, so I believe it is still very drinkable for those that enjoy pilsners.

Posted in Breweries | 2 Comments

my first brewing injury

Posted on January 6, 2008 by Brian

Yesterday I brewed a stout that is modeled after the Rogue Shakespeare Stout. This marked the one year anniversary of the beginning of my homebrewing career. What a fun year it was! I would call this stout my Anniversary Stout, but instead it will be dubbed the Wounded Knee Stout.

Well, calling it an injury would be a bit of an exaggeration, but I did bruise my knee yesterday. As I was sanitizing the glass carboy that was going to be my primary fermenter, I was pouring the sanitizing solution out of the glass into a bucket. I lost my grip on the carboy and it first crashed into my knee and then onto the tile floor of the kitchen. The floor won. A five gallon flood of water and glass shards went all over the kitchen floor, creating quite a mess.

The good news is that I walked it off and kept brewing. I’m just glad there were no beer casualties, although it was one heck of a mess to clean up. Broken glass is the worst. So, the lesson to everyone: Stay focused and keep a tight grip when you’re holding onto five gallons of liquid in a glass container. It seems obvious, but you can take it for granted!

Posted in Homebrew | 2 Comments

January 2008 – Coast HopArt IPA

Posted on January 2, 2008 by Brian

Happy New Year, everyone! I think 2008 is going to be a great year, full of a lot of adventure and uncharted territory. I hope that you will enjoy some new beer with old friends during the coming year! With that, I present my first Beer of the Month for 2008:

It’s good to have connections… Coast Brewing Company is the newest, and already the best in my opinion, brewery in South Carolina. Having just opened up their doors in October, they are currently only selling draft beer to bars and restaurants. However, they are beginning the process of bottling their beer for sale in area stores, and I just so happened to come into possession of one of a bottle from the first group of their bottled beers. (On a side note, I don’t ever recall having an experience where I was one of the first to have anything, especially before it became publicly available, and considering this is BEER, and it’s GOOD BEER at that, I feel like I’m 10 years old and someone just handed me an autographed John Elway jersey or something. This so cool!!!)

Anyway, on to the beer. The HopArt IPA is an excellent beer for those that like a full-bodied hoppy pale ale. It’s got around 6.5% ABV, so it has more body than your standard IPA. The color is a golden pale with a tinge of amber. The aroma definitely says hops, but it doesn’t make you want to slap your mama with hoppiness.

The hop-flavor is really where this beer is set apart. The hops really comes up and bites you and lingers a bit into the aftertaste. What really stands out to me is how fresh the hops taste. It’s like they just picked the hops off the vine and threw it straight into the vat. It’s not a wet hopped beer, so maybe I’m just crazy. There is also a good amount of malt flavor in the beer to balance out the hops. It even has a little hint of fruitiness in there.

To sum up, the HopArt IPA is Oregon style brought to the east coast. Oregonian brewers have mastered the art of the hoppy ale, and this beer really reminds of the of beers that I tried in Oregon. What a boon to have a beer like this brewed in South Carolina, in North Charleston no less!

Posted in Beer of the Month | 2 Comments

inside the circle of trust

Posted on December 27, 2007 by Brian

Once again I am the beneficiary of being on “The List” at Flying Dog. Delivered to my door were a couple “project” beers and their winter seasonal: Collaborator Doppelbock, Wild Dog Barrel-Aged Horn Dog, and K-9 Cruiser Winter Ale.

The first beer of the bunch that I tried was the Wild Dog. If you’ve ever had the Horn Dog, you know that it is a potent, malty barley wine. It is pretty much like drinking wine, except it’s beer. Well, imagine taking some Makers Mark and pouring it in a Horn Dog. That’s Wild Dog. They aged the Horn Dog in Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey barrels for 13 months. If you like whiskey, you would really like this beer. I like whiskey :)

The next one up was the K-9 Cruiser Winter Ale. This one was a dark and malty brew. It was well-balanced and not overboard with sweetness. It definitely works as a winter ale.

And lastly I tried the Collaborator Doppelbock. The brewers of Flying Dog created a blog to gather ideas and suggestions from amateur brewers to create this beer: (thus the “Collaborator”) www.opensourcebeerproject.com. The results from the collaboration were quite good! The doppelbock had a nice malty roasted character and nice body. I might have to start my own Open Source Beer Project to start collecting ideas. If the community can produce this, I could use their help!

I also just got an email from Flying Dog announcing a couple new beers they are releasing this year, Cerberus Belgian Tripel and the Biere de Garde, their spring seasonal. So be on the lookout for these labels:

And I promise to start writing more. December has been a crazy month, so please don’t give up on me!

Posted in Beer | 1 Comment

December 2007 – Sam Adams Imperial Pilsner

Posted on December 3, 2007 by Brian

I must really like hops, so much so that I chose Sam Adams Imperial Pilsner as my December Beer of the Month. I am not a really big fan of pilsners, or lagered beer in general, but this pilsner is so over the top hoppy that even I really enjoy it! I think the other characteristic that makes this beer so good is the “imperial” part. It is a high gravity beer with a lot of body.

The color of the beer is a deep golden. It’s thickness gives it a bit of a cloudy look to it. The aroma has hops all over it. The flavor is definitely ripe with hops and bitter citrus. It has a nice, creamy body that you don’t get from your normal pilsners.

Overall, this is an excellent beer, especially if want a hoppy beer that is slightly different from the usual IPAs and pale ales.

Posted in Beer of the Month | Leave a comment

pumpkin ale homebrew

Posted on November 26, 2007 by Brian

The day before Thanksgiving I cracked open my latest batch of homebrew, a pumpkin ale. This creation was my best yet. I have to say, I am quite a perfectionist and will be the first to be critical of what I make, but this beer really had nothing wrong with it that I could tell. Sure, there’s always room for improvement and this beer is far from perfect, but it really turned out well.

This was also the first recipe that I pieced together from multiple sources and my own experience. The key ingredients I used were real roasted pumpkin, a teaspoon each of cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice, and 1/8 teaspoon of ground ginger. I also used Northern Brewer’s amber malt extract, as well as some vienna malt, crystal malt, and caramel wheat malt.

The flavor of the spices was definitely evident, but not overpowering. I was worried that using about 3 total teaspoons of spice in five gallons of liquid would leave the spices almost absent, but it actually provided a good balance. While the pumpkin itself wasn’t really noticeable, there were no off flavors that tended to plague my previous batches. The color was a nice rich amber (like a dark pumpkin pie) and the body was smooth and slightly creamy.

This is the first beer I’ve made that I can actually say I am truly pleased with. This recipe is definitely a keeper. I think for my next creation I’m going to try a stout. I wasn’t pleased with my first stout effort, so hopefully it will turn out better now that I seem to be on a hot streak!

Posted in Homebrew | 5 Comments

UNTAMED BEER – a beer blog featuring beer reviews, news and discussion