What beer are you drinking?

[blcklblskt]

Dogfish 60 Minute IPA.  Normally my favorite beer, but this one tastes a bit off.  

[wildbil52]

Dogfish 60 Minute IPA.  Normally my favorite beer, but this one tastes a bit off.   

IPAs aren't really my jam but I know what you mean about a beer not tasting the way you remember.  Seems to happen more often with smaller breweries/batches.

[Fleach]

I like IPAs. Their hoppiness really adds a fullness to the flavour. Some can be a little powerful at first so I find there's sometimes a bit of an adjustment period before you can really determine if you like the beer or not.

My favourite brewery would have to be Dieu du Ciel or Unibroue. Both are small breweries in Quebec. If anyone is ever visiting in Canada, you should really try one of their beers.

[nupoile]

Dogfish 60 Minute IPA.  Normally my favorite beer, but this one tastes a bit off.   

I'm just going to fly off the handle and make some crazy comments about beer and brewing, please bear with me.

Beer can taste different from one batch to the other for all sorts of reasons. Two bottles can even taste different if they were pulled from different parts of the fermenter. Beer from the top tastes different than beer from the very bottom.

Dogfishhead is a world class brewery and my first guess wouldn't be to second guess their consistency. For some reason brewers think consistency is a high priority in brewing, I know that sounds sarcastic but I don't mean it to. I rather enjoy tasting new beers and comparing them to older versions. There is a local brewery which is not thought of as having all that great of beer, to me, their strong point is that I never know what their porter is going to taste like from one batch to the next     And besides, do wine drinkers expect their favorite vintner to produce exactly the same pinot year in and year out? Regardless, if you talk to most brewers they will talk about consistency with reverence.

My first guess as to why your 60 minute tastes different than ones you've had before is the instability of hop flavor over time. 60 Minute IPA is called that because the brewer adds hops to the wort (the cooking part of beer making) consistently over one hour. They also add hops into the secondary, not unusual in brewing but they add a ton. Between the cooking and fermenting the amount of hops is much higher than most beers, higher than many IPA's.....I want to go on     Would you like to know more?

Even though 60 min ipa has a well designed and substantial backbone of malt flavor, the showpiece to this beer is the hops. The hops provide the bitter taste, the hop taste and the aroma of the beer. Over time, the aroma fades away and the hop taste fades/changes. In a beer that relies so much on the hop experience, even a few weeks can change the flavor and smell of the beer. You can try this sort of thing on your own, buy a bottle of 60 minute (or even better, 90 minute!) and a bottle of something with less hops, say, a Guinness. Set the two bottles away for 6-12 months, then buy two new beers. Taste them side by side. I bet the two Guinnesses with their smaller reliance on hops will taste much more similar than the two IPA's.

For some people who hunt out limited releases and special beers, getting super fresh IPA's is a big deal. You want stuff that is really new, like within the first week or two of bottling.

So that is my guess, you either are used to older or newer batches of 60 Minute and got the other kind this time. Of course, what do I know? Maybe if I search Google I'll find out Dogfishhead stopped using barley and only uses corn now 

[wildbil52]

All very good points. I see many beer discussions in our future.

[Fleach]

Nupoile, isn't top fermenting vs bottom fermenting the contributing factor in the difference between lager and ale?

Or did you just mean a sample taken from the top vs the bottom of the fermentation vat?

[nupoile]

All very good points. I see many beer discussions in our future.

Sweet 

Nupoile, isn't top fermenting vs bottom fermenting the contributing factor in the difference between lager and ale?

Or did you just mean a sample taken from the top vs the bottom of the fermentation vat?

I was talking about a sample taken from the top vs the bottom.

But the answer to the first question is yes. Ale is made from ale yeast which does the active part of the fermentation at the top of the container. Lager is made with lager yeast which ferments at the bottom of the container. Temperature is also a defining characteristic between the way ale and lager yeast work, ale's ferment at higher temps, seventy-something (Fahrenheit) degrees is common. Lagers at lower temps, thirty-something is common.  Lagers can begin fermentation at the top of the fermentation vessel at higher temps and are cooled down quickly. All those rules can be broken, homebrewers play with the temperature of the fermentation a lot. Like you can make ales at 95 degrees or change the temperature of lagers several degrees as the fermentation takes place. I think there is an ale yeast or two that does its work at bottom of the vessel.

There are hundreds of different strains of yeast that are used in making beer. A handful of them are used far more than the rest, like White Labs WLP001 California Ale Yeast. Yeast imparts a big change in the way a beer tastes, smells and sometimes, looks. Some breweries use this to set their beers apart. Deschutes Brewery beers all have a commonality about them which is from the breweries proprietary yeast strain.

Often, brewers choose a yeast strain because it, traditionally, goes with a style of beer they are making. There can be other reasons too, most yeasts die out when alcohol gets above 8%. If you want to go higher you have to choose one of the few yeast strains that are tolerant of higher alcohol percentages. If you want to make a beer that is higher than 14% or so (a rarity in the beer world) you might start out using a regular ale yeast then switch to something like a wine or champagne yeast to complete the fermentation.

While ales and lagers are by far the most common kinds of beers there are other kinds. Sour beers are made with Brettanomyces and Lactic Acid, as apposed to Saccharomyces cerevisiae - the technical name of the ale & lager yeast strains.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeast

http://www.whitelabs.com/beer/homebrew/listings

http://www.wyeastlab.com/hb_yeaststrain.cfm

[NxCmp]

I don't like beer and plus being allergic to wheat doesn't help. I'm a cocktail guy, I'm drinking something called a Tokyo Tea at the moment. Its a variant to a Long Island.

[nupoile]

You know most beer doesn't contain wheat right? Hops, barley, yeast and water are the most common ingredients. Hefeweizen is the most popular style of beer that is made partially from wheat.


Here are the three latest, well except that I haven't opened that red ale yet.

[wildbil52]

Very nice, Doug!  I just started watching Brew Dogs on Esquire and they did a Portland episode that makes me want to live up there.  I have a big "beers to try" list now.

Like I said earlier, I've been on a big Ommegang kick for a while.



Duvel Rustica is a collaboration with Ommegang's owner (Duvel).  I LOVE Duvel so I'm really looking forward to tasting this one.

Adoration (middle bottle) has become my favorite Dark Winter Ale of all time.  Amazingly spiced, brilliantly balanced, 10%ABV and you can barely tell.  I'm a lightweight so I just need to sip on one of these and I'm good for the night.

I had Tripel Perfection on tap recently and loved it.  I thought it was only available on tap but then found out a  limited number of bottles were released and I nabbed one. 

Three Philosophers is currently my favorite Quadrupel ale but to be fair, I haven't had very many.  The beer guy at my local store swears by La Trappe Quadrupel so that one is next in line.

And finally, just today at Red Robin I had  Breckenridge Brewery Vanilla Porter.  I've been trying to sample beers outside of my comfort zone recently and I'm glad I did.  This was a very good intro to porters (and maybe stouts later).

[blcklblskt]

Dogfish 60 Minute IPA.  Normally my favorite beer, but this one tastes a bit off.   

I'm just going to fly off the handle and make some crazy comments about beer and brewing, please bear with me.

Beer can taste different from one batch to the other for all sorts of reasons. Two bottles can even taste different if they were pulled from different parts of the fermenter. Beer from the top tastes different than beer from the very bottom.

Dogfishhead is a world class brewery and my first guess wouldn't be to second guess their consistency. For some reason brewers think consistency is a high priority in brewing, I know that sounds sarcastic but I don't mean it to. I rather enjoy tasting new beers and comparing them to older versions. There is a local brewery which is not thought of as having all that great of beer, to me, their strong point is that I never know what their porter is going to taste like from one batch to the next     And besides, do wine drinkers expect their favorite vintner to produce exactly the same pinot year in and year out? Regardless, if you talk to most brewers they will talk about consistency with reverence.

My first guess as to why your 60 minute tastes different than ones you've had before is the instability of hop flavor over time. 60 Minute IPA is called that because the brewer adds hops to the wort (the cooking part of beer making) consistently over one hour. They also add hops into the secondary, not unusual in brewing but they add a ton. Between the cooking and fermenting the amount of hops is much higher than most beers, higher than many IPA's.....I want to go on     Would you like to know more?

Even though 60 min ipa has a well designed and substantial backbone of malt flavor, the showpiece to this beer is the hops. The hops provide the bitter taste, the hop taste and the aroma of the beer. Over time, the aroma fades away and the hop taste fades/changes. In a beer that relies so much on the hop experience, even a few weeks can change the flavor and smell of the beer. You can try this sort of thing on your own, buy a bottle of 60 minute (or even better, 90 minute!) and a bottle of something with less hops, say, a Guinness. Set the two bottles away for 6-12 months, then buy two new beers. Taste them side by side. I bet the two Guinnesses with their smaller reliance on hops will taste much more similar than the two IPA's.

For some people who hunt out limited releases and special beers, getting super fresh IPA's is a big deal. You want stuff that is really new, like within the first week or two of bottling.

So that is my guess, you either are used to older or newer batches of 60 Minute and got the other kind this time. Of course, what do I know? Maybe if I search Google I'll find out Dogfishhead stopped using barley and only uses corn now 

Yeah, I figured it was an older bottle.  I got another 6-pack and it tasted just as great as usual.

[wildbil52]

Had several good ones this week with a few more to come.  Finally got to try St Bernardus Abt 12 and it was fantastic.  I can't wait to try more Quadrupels, they really are outstanding.  Also picked up an Ommegang Wild at Heart but I'm going to let that mature for about a year.

I'm bringing a La Trappe Tripel and Ommegang Three Philosphers to Thanksgiving at my Aunt's house.  Gonna be a good weekend.

[nupoile]

Finally got to try St Bernardus Abt 12 and it was fantastic.

I've always wanted to pick that up, never have for some reason. You're adding to my list of beers to get Bil, with your Ommegang accolades and all.






A friend and I split these three beers Saturday. It only took us 5 hours to drink them. We party hard   

Elysian's Doom - I've had the bottle nearly a year now. It was pretty good, maybe not in the best-of-the-best, elite-beers-of-the-world tier but I could argue one step down from that.

Ninkasi's Double Believer Red Ale - The brewery is about 40 minutes from here. They make NW style beers like the best of them. In this area the brewers like to just take a style and add more of everything, more hops, more malt, bigger, bolder taste. This beer is that. Its not really a red ale, just a NW take on something that could be mistaken for a red ale at first glance.

Sierra Nevada's Celebration Ale - They release a batch of this every year. Some say they taste same each year. They don't. Very similar but not the same. I've actually been buying an extra 12 pack each year to keep. The friend I mentioned and I get together each year and take a bottle from all the previous years and have what is called a "vertical." One beer of the same brew but for the last several years. Celebration ale is a really dorky choice for this. It is a winter IPA, one of the worst styles to try and save but that's what makes it fun! We didn't get around to doing the vertical yet this year but I'll keep you informed.

[Fleach]

I want to try those Ommegang beers now that Bil has so highly praised them. My store sold out of the Hennepin a few days ago, so I'm going to have to hunt around a bit to find some.

Two days ago I had the Unibroue 17 Grande Reserve. It's a strong dark ale. It was nicely rich in body and had a roasted, almost chocolaty, flavour to it. I won't put it in my top beers list since I found it a tad bit sweet but I thoroughly enjoyed it. If anyone can find I would recommend giving it a go.

[nupoile]

I want to try those Ommegang beers now that Bil has so highly praised them. My store sold out of the Hennepin a few days ago, so I'm going to have to hunt around a bit to find some.

Two days ago I had the Unibroue 17 Grande Reserve. It's a strong dark ale. It was nicely rich in body and had a roasted, almost chocolaty, flavour to it. I won't put it in my top beers list since I found it a tad bit sweet but I thoroughly enjoyed it. If anyone can find I would recommend giving it a go.

^ That looks pretty fancy. I've really like Unibroue the few times I've had something from them.



To catch up on the beers of the last week and show what I picked up to restock the fridge:



The two on the left are what I've had since the last post.

21st Amendment is one of my favorite breweries. Their Fireside Chat sounded pretty good but is maybe my least favorite beer of theirs. It is spiced oddly. I've had other beers with a similar spicing but a very different malt/hop profile, they were good. This one, the malt and the spices are just an odd combination. Oh well, thats part of what makes this fun.

Dick's brewery makes, hands down, the best valued barley wine. The price has crept up over the last few years but it is still a great barley wine and beats anything I've had for even a buck or two more per bottle. The beer in the picture is a Grand Cru, I paid $2.19 for it about 8 months ago. It is the best Grand Cru I've had at that price but there are certainly better ones out there, mostly at more than $5 a bottle.



The other 7 bottles I got yesterday. Oaked Arrogant Bastard is one of my favorites, the "Oaked" part really changes the beer and takes it from "pretty good" to "wonderful."

Celebrator I've also had but not in a long time, it's good stuff.

I might have had Samuel Smith's Winter Welcome and the Pelican Bad Santa before but it would have only been once and a long time ago, and therefore different batches (they are seasonal brews.)

The can from Worthy Brewing and the bottle from Good Life brewing come from Bend. A town I go to pretty much every week but didn't know about these two breweries. Vanilla Cream Extra Stout and an IPA, how do you go wrong with that?

The one on the far right is actually a mead (fermented honey.) Until I got it home and read the label more closely, I figured it was a braggot - beer with honey. Mead, to me, always tastes better when it has been opened and left to sit, capped, in the fridge for a couple months. I like it better after it has gone flat and has been oxygenated. This one I drank all of yesterday. Rogue brewery is a great brewery that I don't care for too much, I'm pretty sure it's the yeast they use. You might know them from their Dead Guy Ale, it has a skeleton on the label. This brew didn't come from the main brewery but a farm they own. The few things I've had from the farm side of the business are kinda like the things I would homebrew, oddball stuff, well made but kinda out there. This mead smelled fantastic. They added Jasmin to the mix. Elysian brewing makes an awesome beer with Jasmin, if you can get it on tap it is even better. In the mead here though, the Jasmin was a little overpowering in taste, maybe I needed to let is sit in the fridge