Gift Ideas for the Beer Lover

This article has been moved over to hereforthebeer.com.  You can find it here: http://www.hereforthebeer.com/gift-ideas-for-the-beer-lover/

Great Taste of Cottage Grove 2012

The line-up has been officially set for the first annual Great Taste of Cottage Grove.  The event will be a blinded tasting of 5 different beers in 5 different categories.  22 participants will rank the beers from favorite to least favorite.  Votes will be tallied and metals will be handed out.  I will track results via Twitter with #gtocg

Here is the line-up:

IPA Category                                                                    Odds
Lane 1 - Surly Furious                                                          5:2
Lane 2 - Bells Two Hearted                                                  3:1
Lane 3 - Stone IPA                                                                3:1
Lane 4 - Founders Centennial IPA                                        5:1
Lane 5 - Lakefront IPA                                                           9:1

Stout Category
Lane 1 -Bells Expedition Stout                                                7:2
Lane 2 -Founders Breakfast Stout                                          5:2
Lane 3 -Central Waters Satin Solstice                                   14:1
Lane 4 -Great Divide Yeti                                                         4:1
Lane 5 -Oskar Blues Ten Fidy                                                 4:1
Lane 6 -Third Tier Ten Imperial Stout (homebrew)                 5:1

American Adjunct Category
Lane 1 - Miller High Life                                                            3:1
Lane 2 - Budweiser                                                                  6:1
Lane 3 - Pabst Blue Ribbon                                                     5:2
Lane 4 - Hamms                                                                       3:1
Lane 5 - Old Style                                                                     4:1

Porter Category
Lane 1 - Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald Porter                      5:2
Lane 2 - Founders Porter                                                          3:1
Lane 3 - Tyranena The Devil Made Me Do It!                            4:1
Lane 4 - Ale Asylum Contorter Porter                                        7:1
Lane 5 - O’so Night Train                                                           4:1

Amber Category
Lane 1 - Ale Asylum Ambergeddon                                             3:1
Lane 2 - Alaskan Amber                                                              9:2
Lane 3 - Bells Amber                                                                   4:1
Lane 4 - Stone Levitation                                                             3:1
Lane 5 - Sprecher Special Amber                                               6:1

Beer representation by State (please note for the first annual event, preference was given to Wisconsin breweries)
WI - 12
MI - 6
CA - 2
CO - 2
AK - 1
MN - 1
MO - 1
OH - 1

APA Blinded Taste Challenge

Head over to HereForTheBeer.com to view this article: http://www.hereforthebeer.com/apa-taste-off/

Zombie Dust Review and the Here for the Beer Rating Scale

Head on over to www.hereforthebeer.com to view this post: http://www.hereforthebeer.com/zombie-dust-review-and-the-here-for-the-beer-rating-scale/

Double IPA Blinded Taste Challenge – Round 2

This article has been relocated over to HereForTheBeer.com and can be viewed by following this link: http://www.hereforthebeer.com/double-ipa-taste-off-round-2/

Turner Agate Brews

0001 Three B's Stout - Coffee Chocolate Oatmeal Stout
0002 AIPA - Amber IPA
0003 BIPA - Belgian IPA
0004 Sour - Blend with 18 month old Sour.  Half batch being aged for future batch

0005 WIPA - Wheat IPA 

0006 Turnertoberfest - Oktobfest (Pilsner)
0007 Ten Stout





0001



0002



0003









0005

 

















Flavor Profile and Development (P&D): BIPA (Homebrew 0003)

This Belgian IPA was brewed in May of 2012.  The intent was to use an IPA recipe that would be fermented with a Belgian yeast strain.  We used candied sugar to try and boost the ABV, which ended up a little over 7%

4 weeks post brewing.  Great citrus hop aroma.  The mouth is very loose.  The maltiness gives way to a subtle alcohol flavor.  Hard to pinpoint any of the Belgian flavors before the mouth is too quickly wiped away by the bitterness of the hops.  The balance is definitely off.

Citrus Hops→Maltiness→Alcohol→Bitterness

5 weeks post brewing.  The citrus up front shines brighter than the previous week.  There is some maltiness present, but the sweetness from the Belgian yeast now shines through.  The flavors flow smoothly together as the bitterness flows through the end.

Citrus Hops→Maltiness→Sweetness→Bitterness

2 months post brewing.  The hops on this brew faded really fast.  I have heard of this phenomenon, but have never experienced it firsthand.  The citrus nose has faded into a something more floral.  The mouth is now more warm and boozy rather than an alcohol flavor.  This is because the maltiness and alcohol have blended together.  The bitterness at the end has mellowed out significantly.

Floral Hops→Warm Boozy→Bitterness

Even though IPA’s are not recommended for aging, I thought it might be interesting to see how the Belgian flavors develop as the hopiness fades.  3 bottles are saved and the next one will be cracked around the 6 month timeframe.