HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

This will be the last post of 2017. I hope that everyone had a great year and was able to taste many new brews that were on store shelves or at their local taproom. There was definitely a lot of good drinks to go around.!! I hope that everyone is looking forward to what the new year of 2018 has to offer. With all good fortune, it will bring peace, happiness, and of course, some damn fine new brews to taste and sample.

Our favorite breweries will definitely have some new brews in the works to go along side of the seasonal favorites that we have come to expect. So it should be a good year indeed!!!

But honestly, I want to wish everyone a safe and HAPPY NEW YEAR!! Ring it in with a bang, but once again, BE RESPONSIBLE: DO NOT DRINK AND DRIVE. After you have drank whatever adult beverages of choice (and it will probably have been more than a few), preferably beer, but champagne is allowed as well (it is a new year after all), please spend the night, UBER, LYFT or CAB it to wherever you need to go.  

HAVE A VERY SAFE AND VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR.

Enjoy the night of festivities, and I will start up again and see you all on the flipside of a brand new year.

AND AS ALWAYS, RAISE A PINT OF ALE, STOUT,

 A FLUTE OF CHAMPAGNE, A SNIFTER OF SCOTCH, OR WHATEVER ELSE TOMMORROW NIGHT MIGHT BRING AND ENJOY!!!!!!!!! CHEERS

 

HAPPY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!

HAPPY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!!

With this post I just wanted to take the time to wish everyone a VERY HAPPY CHRISTMAS and a SAFE, FUN, and HAPPY HOLIDAY SEASON. Since this is the season of family, friends, giving, and of course maybe a few holiday parties thrown in for good measure, safe and responsible drinking (or tasting as we like to call it!!) is very important. The cold chill of the winter air might tempt you to drink a few more to stay warm. There is nothing wrong with that as long as you have your plans already figured out of how to get where you need to go after: Or if possible, just spend the night - if those friends of yours will allow it. There is no reason to take a chance with the law, or worse, your life or other lives by doing something stupid.

OK. I will stop my preaching now.

There are a whole slew of seasonal winter brews out there to taste and sample. From complex Vanilla Cocoa Nib Stouts to Barrel Aged Stouts and Porters, to higher ABV Barley Wine Ales, (all of which I have wrote about in earlier posts - actually I did not write that much on Barley Wine Ales - SOON THOUGH!) I guarantee that there is something out there that you have not tried. The point is, with this holiday season pick up some winter seasonal brews and taste them with your fellow beer snobs, just do it responsibly.

I will do my best to post next week. It will be the 26th after all and who knows how that morning will turn out!!!! I might need a BLOODY MARY OR 2 while I am writing!!!

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday with plenty of beer [and food!] to go around and fill those empty bellies!!!!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!

AND AS ALWAYS, RAISE A PINT OF ALE, STOUT, OR BARLEY WINE AND ENJOY!!!!!!!!! CHEERS

BARREL AGED GOODNESS!!!!!

A little bit of Barrel Aged Goodness

One of the hot trends at the moment is of course Barrel Aged Brews. While not new to the Midwest, actually, some of the first releases of this type of beer came from Michigan, Illinois, and Wisconsin, these beers are popping up all over the place from different breweries around the country. Not all of the barrel aged beers are Bourbon though. I have seen (and tasted) whisky (OK fine, Bourbon is technically whiskey), Rum Barrel, Gin Barrel, and even Tequila Barrel beers. While these beers will almost always have a much higher ABV, it is the flavors that make them unique.

Over time, oak barrels breathe with temperature changes. They expand and contract with the heat and the cold. As this happens, the liquid inside them gets absorbed in to the porous oak and then squeezed out over and over again. This process is what gives the beer (and additionally the original spirit that occupied the barrels, and to a certain extent, wine also) the flavor profiles of the beverage. Encompassing flavors from the spirit barrels that they are aged in, gives these beers really distinct flavors that set them apart from the rest. For example, the bourbon barrel aged will take on additional flavors of smoke, char, and vanilla from the barrel, while the tequila aged beers may take on additional sweetness, vegetal, or a fruitier bouquet from the blue agave plant (which tequila is made from).

The most difficult property about these “soul-warmers” is also the most difficult to control: And that being, with the higher ABV comes controlling the flavor of the additional alcohol. If stored for too long in said barrels, the alcohol just becomes overbearing and you will definitely feel the “heat and the burn” at the end finish. And because with spirits the alcohol content is so much higher, the longer it sits in the barrel, the more the alcohol [and flavor] will be absorbed from the wood into the liquid.

This aging (and alcohol content) is also noticeable in wine as well: especially in Ports, Sherries, and Dessert Wines. If aged for too long you will also taste the alcohol in the wine. Although it is not as strong tasting and you will get no “burn”. But you might get a worse hangover depending on how much you drink!!!

One of my personal favorite Bourbon Barrel Aged Beers is Dragon’s Milk from New Holland Brewery (Michigan). This beer was one of the first to be released (2001) using the aging method: And I have to say, it still holds up after all the years. The balance is near perfect for the bourbon flavors of vanilla and smoke, with a hint of caramel sweetness that blends with the slight coffee and cocoa from the different malts used to brew the beer. But most importantly, there is no alcohol “burn”. Clocking in at 11% ABV, as I said the balance is near perfect. It will definitely warm you up!!!!! It must be the Dragon’s Breath. "Can't you see all around you the Dragon's Breath?" - Merlin, The Magician (from the film Excalibur)

 

Another one of my favorites is Allagash Brewing’s (Portland, Maine) Curieux. At 11% as well, it is also rich but balanced. Is has some of the same flavors as the Dragon’s Milk (coffee vanilla, etc.), but while both of the beers use Nugget Hops, Curieux also uses Hallertau Hops (where Dragon’s Milk uses Glacier Hops instead, that imparts some plum and blackberry) which lends a slight floral characteristic [nose and flavor] to the beer as well which I do not get from Dragon’s Milk.

One more for the books is Founders Brewing (Grand Rapids, Michigan) CBS (Canadian Breakfast Stout) Imperial Stout. At a higher ABV at 11.7%, what makes this one unique is that after being brewed with coffee and imported chocolates, it is then stored in bourbon barrels that have been used to age pure Michigan Maple Syrup. This gives a very sweet flavor to the beer that has a heavy viscous, almost port-like quality. This is a perfect beer to be enjoyed as an after dinner or dessert style beer. This one can be a bit hard to find though if you do not live in Michigan.

The only downfall to these aged beers is the price. A four-pack of Dragon’s Milk can cost anywhere from $16.00 to $20.00 where a single bottle (22 ounce) Of Curieux is around $22.00 and even The CBS single bottle (22 ounce) can be more: Usually around $25.00.

So while it might be easier on the wallet to taste these in turn and not all at once, they are definitely worth the money and should be sampled. Of course there are many other aged brews out there on the market, but with these 3 is a good place to start.

So taste away throughout the winter while it is cold outside. These are not the sort of beers that you want to drink in the middle summer when it is 100 degrees out. However, one last thing about aged beers is that you can lay them down for about a year or even longer and they will still be fine. That gives you time to stock up and drink them whenever you like!!!!!

So get out there and get sampling: And as always, RAISE A PINT OF ALE BARREL AGED BEER AND ENJOY!!!!!!!!! CHEERS