Very Excited To Have Green Flash Enter The Market

Poured into the proper St. Bernardus glass, the dark amber/light brown beer sports an off white head. The initial aromas were actually a little off-putting. Very metallic aromas rather than the dark fruit and caramel notes I expected. This was the first time I had the lower gravity Prior 6 so I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. After several minutes, the off aromas dissipated and I found a lighter, more subtle version of the beer I know and love – The Apt 12. With out doing any research, so please excuse any errors, but this beer style is most like what the monks would drink as a table beer. Something to accompany their dinner. It weighs in at around 6.5% rather than the Apt 12′s 10%+ABV. Prior 6 is thinner in body, fruity with minimal phenolics. An enjoyable beer, but when I look to a double or a quad, or other strong dark Belgian beer, this doesn’t really meet my expectations. However I could see this being fantastic with a pot roast or other hearty dishes.

Posted on December 30, 2011 by Brendan

Mango IPA. A wonderful and serious IPA. Another top notch recipe by Jason McLaughlin.

Hennepin – Brewery Ommegang

Posted on December 27, 2011 by Brendan

Brewery Ommegang is responsible for some of the best (mainstream craft) beers in the United States. Their beers are always delicious and their price point can’t be beat. One of my favorites is and has always been their Saison called Hennepin.

: A world class Saison.

Brewery Ommegang has for a while now, been owned and operated by Duvel Moorgaat, a Belgian powerhouse that owns several brands, including Duvel as well as A’Chouffe. An original investor in the Brewery Ommegang, Duvel Moorgaat has since taken over operations at the upstate New York brewery and considers it a “sister” brewery to Duvel. A few years ago things became complicated when Duvel Moorgaat in Belgium actually took over the brewing of Brewery Ommegang’s abbey influenced flagship brew called Ommegang, after demand exceeded the Cooperstown, NY brewery’s capacity. It became the first Belgian inspired beer to be brewed in Belgium for export to the United States. Currently, the production of several of the Ommegang beers have moved across the Atlantic to Belgium.

The foam clings to the side of the glass as the head dissipates.

Now on to Hennepin. Much has been written about the history of the Saison. A “farmhouse” beer from the French/Belgian border, intended to quench the thirsts of the plowmen and farm workers. A hundred years ago, one might expect a lower gravity beer with an alcohol content of 3.5 -4.5% as well as the tell tale signs of a secondary fermentation by wild yeast such as Brettanomyces, as well as Lactic Acid Bacteria. The style has allowed for limitless creativity. Some Saisons are amber while others are golden. Rye, Oats and Wheat even unmalted grains like spelt have been featured in the grists of such beers. Even the use of spices, albeit with the lightest hand, are all fair game. Since then, the style has been typified by the classic Saison DuPont, a bone-dry golden beer with an assertive bitterness and a recognizable yeast/fermentation character.

: With each sip, or gulp, “Belgian Lace” is revealed

Hennepin stands up to DuPont’s offering in its uniqueness. It isn’t as dry and it’s a few shades closer to straw-orange. Additionally, the bitterness and carbonation seems to be reigned in a bit with Ommegang’s Saison. There is a spiced presence, after viewing their website – questions are answered with the mention of Correander as well as Ginger, the latter being a spice I hadn’t put my finger on but it makes perfect sense. There is a great head on this beer and it slowly settles down leaving wonderful lacing on the side of the glass. Both the Malt and the Hops fade slowly in the finish. Hops have a bitterness as well as a flavor contribution and they are in unison.

All in all, an inspiration.

Shut up about Barclay Perkins: Industrial accidents at Aitken

Aside

I just came across this blog Shut Up About Barclay Perkins

From first glance, the bloggist seems to be writing with an incredible detailed historical approach. – I like it!

Here’s an interesting account of a death and an injury at a brewery in England. It hits close to home. Having been working in a brewery for nearly 6 years now, my response to the common question from people taking a tour of the brewery is…

Q. So do you (get to) drink beer all day?

A. There are so many ways to get yourself killed or seriously injured we/i do not drink beer all day because it is dangerous to do so. In fact, you could be injured or worse by the high pressures inside vessels, Minimal O2 environments, High Temperature Water and cleaning chemicals Nitric/Phosphoric Acids and Caustic solutions – All while being perfectly sober.

Needless to say, accidents happen, and here’s the account of one from the Late 1800s.

Shut up about Barclay Perkins: Industrial accidents at Aitken.

Hop Crisis-21st Amendment

Posted on December 27, 2011 by Brendan

I am getting ready to put together my son Miles’ Strider pedal-less bicycle and I needed a hoppy beer to do it with.

Rewind 6 months: My brother Bernie bought me a very fancy 4pk of 12 oz cans of Hop Crisis by 21st Amendment out of San Francisco for my birthday. Time got away from him, as it does for all of us, and while my wife Alison was taking Miles’ Christmas gift from SF out of the box, lo and behold, there were two 4pks of 21A beer for Daddy! Daddy approved, needless to say! One was the Allies Win the War, blogged about a few days ago, which was super awesome, and I intend on expanding on that blog soon, I was really excited to try HopCrisis.

This beer has been sitting around for 6 months. Your usual craft beer would be in bad shape at this point, however this isn’t your usual craft beer.

It has several things going for it.

Lots of hops
It’s a big beer 9.7%
Aged on Oak Spirals
It’s in a CAN!

So on to the beer!

It is a golden colored beer with a white head and has a slight haze.

Oxidized (delightfully so) malt notes of figs in the aroma which is surprising due to it’s light color. I tend to expect those aromas from more amber and darker Barleywines and Imperial Stouts. Accompanying the malty aromas are hop aromas that seem to be more floral than citrusy. This could be the age of these particular cans, but I am not certain.

As I start to think about the flavor of this beer, I am not sure I can specifically pinpoint the oak spirals it had been aged on. The bitterness is clean and crisp and remains barely longer than the malt in the aftertaste. It is clear that this beer is fully attenuated (all fermentable sugars have been fermented out) and the beer is dry and quenching.

The canned offerings from the 21A are packaged in Cold Spring, New Mexico. So I am really curious how different the canned version is from the one originally offered at the 21A brewpub. When brewing beer with this much hop bitterness the water used is critical.

Top notch beer.