Tap the Firken

Last night the missus and I were kid free and wanted to go out for dinner. On our way out to suburbia, I had the great thought of going to the 75th Street Brewery. She agreed and we were on our way.

The parking lot was jam packed as usual but we were able to find a decent spot for our environmentally friendly auto. Our server was especially friendly and knowledgable of the fine beverages served there and convinced me to try the Espresso Porter. My, what a beer. This beer was full of flavor. Words cannot discribe how I enjoyed this beer.

The great thing about the menu at 75th ST is that they pair the food with the beer. I found "bangers and mash" paired well with the espresso porter and ordered that. And yes, they did. Excellent food.

After the porter, I decided to go with the good old reliable Good Hope IPA. About this time, a bartender rolls an old fashioned keg around and places it on the bar. I find out this is the Firken and will be tapped in the old style by placing a tap right in the keg. No CO2...no cooling. Apparantly the bartender wanders the bar looking for a fortunate soul to tap this keg. I didn't know this and unsuspectingly asked about the funny looking tap he had in his hand. He explained the tapping process and offered to let me tap the keg. I was a little unsure about this until he proclaimed that the first beer from the keg goes to the tapper. I needed no further encouragement.

I followed my new best friend behind the bar hearing the calls from regulars like, "Who the F- is that?" and "That guy looks hot".

Shaking with anticipation, I was handed a rubber mallet. The bartender yelled to the bar "May I have your attention please! This faceless person with a 12 pack AKA Howling Lion is about to tap the keg!" With that, I hammered the tap into the keg with much fanfare from the bar. The tender poured two large pint glasses (everyone else got taster glasses...and had to pay for them) and we toasted to an exceptional beer. I returned to my table with the missus, a Firken, and an IPA. Needless to say it was my best night at the 75th Street Brewery.

Maudite by Unibroue

This was given to me by a friend and for some reason I’ve been avoiding drinking it. Mainly because it’s usually found in the same section as the French and Belgian beers. But I decided tonight was the night. I just picked up a Doublewide IPA and a Long Strange Tripel (again) and figured if it was bad, I had something decent to fall back on.

I’ve decided the best way to taste a new beer is to expect it to be below average. That way you are either pleasantly surprised or at worst, not let down. In this case, I was pleasantly surprised.

According to Unibroue’s website, Maudite is a strong red ale refermented in the bottle. 8% alcohol. This is brewed in the Great White North...Canada.

The first interesting thing was that it’s a twist off cap. Not good or bad, but I was expecting a pop off. I poured it like I would a pale ale and it produced a large head. It’s a reddish, brown color. It smells malty, and no hops are present.

The first taste was much better than I had hoped for. It’s malty with a slight spicy flavor in the back ground. I didn’t notice any real hop flavor. With a slightly higher alcohol content, 8%, it wasn’t noticeable. Overall, it’s decent beer that I would definitely drink again. It reminds me of a weak Belgian strong ale or a strong under hopped red ale. As I type this up, I’m halfway through the glass and the alcohol is starting to kick in. The difference between the Maudite and other stronger beers is that it’s not so rich that one is too much.

The only bad thing about the Maudite, is the price. This bottle had a $2.50 price tag for a 12 oz bottle. At that price, it’s not something I would buy frequently but I would buy it on occasion for a change of pace.

Overall, if you haven’t had the Unibroue Maudite, don’t avoid it like I have. It’s full of flavor and your mouth will thank you.

How fitting...The Barenaked Ladies - The Old Apartment just came up on Winamp. Canadian band for a Canadian beer.

Double Wide IPA

Another brew in the Boulevard Smokestack series, this time an India Pale Ale. The Boulevard website hints that this is a double IPA which could be due to the alcohol content (8.5%). However, this beer isn't quite as hoppy as most double IPAs, coming in at 55 IBU according to the site.

The beer pours a nice golden brown with a slight citrus hop aroma. It seems to be decently carbonated too. The first taste seems slightly spicy at first and then the malt kicks in with a caramel apple like flavor but it's not sweet. The hops come later but are definitely not in your face like many IPAs. My first impression is that this would lean towards an English IPA.

I had low expectations for this IPA for two reasons. A few years ago I had a super secret IPA from Boulevard and was hoping for a West Coast type. Unfortunately it wasn't, but it never was released either. I forget what the second reason was. Maybe it's time to refill my glass.

It might sound like I didn't enjoy this beer. Well, I did. It's an excellent beer. The quality is exceptional and the taste is very complex. Even though this IPA doesn't hit the bitterness level that I search for, it is bitter and also regifts the flavor. But this time, the regift isn't just with hops, there's also the caramel apple taste in there as well.

I always get my wife involved in the tasting because her ability to taste the subtleties is excellent. According to her, the carbonation fools you into thinking it is spicy. After the carbonation dissipates, the sweet caramel flavor attacks your tastebuds. At the end, the hoppy bitterness gets you. And that burp...(she's not a fan of the regift).

So once again, I'm impressed with the Boulevard Smokestack series. I have already replaced the two beers that I drank. I'm excited to get into the other two and hope they are as tasty as the ones I've had.

Long Strange Tripel

I am a hophead. West Coast IPAs are my favorite. I’ll take a Stone Ruination IPA any day of the week. Belgian ale? I’ll normally not even give them a thought unless there is a special occasion then I’ll usually pick up a Chimay Blue. But I still picked up all four of the Boulevard Smokestack series and the Long Strange Tripel was the first one opened.

Please excuse the glass, most of my glasses are packed because we’re moving in a couple of weeks.

This is the first Tripel I’ve had so I didn’t really know what to expect. It poured a cloudy golden color (the bottle says to store upright…I noticed that after I took it out of the fridge on its side) with a light head. It has a nice malty, citrusy smell…but not hoppy. The first taste reminded me of the Boulevard Zon but with more flavor. At almost 9%, I braced myself for some alcohol kick but I was pleasantly surprised…there wasn’t any.

Towards the end of the bottle, the alcohol snuck up on me. I took my time with this beer to really savor it since I only bought one bottle (I’ll be picking up at least four more of these). But even taking my time, I was pretty giddy by the time I was finished. And I wanted more but it was time for bed.

Over all this beer should appeal to many beer lovers. After all, if a hophead Belgian avoider like myself would recommend this beer, it must be pretty good.

The The - Infected is playing.

Sierra Nevada 2007 Celebration Ale

2007 Celebration Ale; Sierra Nevada's holiday offering. This is why the holidays are my favorite beer season. As far as I know, this beer like many other holiday offerings, is not made the same every year. But it is consistently excellent, and this year is no different.

I might be a little partial to this brew though. When I was actively home brewing, a cloned recipe of this was on my regular rotation.

This fine beverage is a nice amber color with little but lingering head. The scent is strong with hops and just a hint of malt. It weighs in at 6.8% alcohol by volume and the taste slightly hints this.
The Celebration Ale would classify as an IPA due to the alcohol content and bitterness.

If you don't like hops, please go ahead and buy this beer and send it to me. The first mouthful greets you with, SURPRISE, hops. I love hops. There is also a hint of the alcohol but is easily overlooked. The hops are citrusy, which is characteristic of Cascade and Centennial hops. The Celebration also gives the lucky consumer what I like to call the "regiving of flavor". This is caused by the carbonation reacting inside the consumer's stomach resulting in some of those gases being expelled back out the mouth. During this process, the blessed drinker is reminded of the wonderful flavor that is Celebration Ale. The regiving of flavor is made possible by dry hopping the beer during the final phase of fermentation. I personally believe every beer is made just a little bit better by dry hopping. Unfortunately not every brewer agrees with me.

You can't imagine my joy when I went into my local "candy" store and saw this on display. They had several closed cases and a few six packs sitting on top. I picked up two six packs and within two seconds decided to swap those for a case. I know I'll be going back soon to get more. Did I mention I like this beer?

Overall, I highly recommend you DON'T buy this beer. Why? So I can buy more.

By the way, the "candy" store I got mine from also had at least five cases of the most excellent Sierra Nevada Fresh Hop Ale. I'll be getting more of that next time I go back, too.

Merry Christmas

I'm not going to say too much but if you read an earlier post, this will make sense.

I think we're going to have a special Christmas this year.