Drinking & Reviewing Olvalde Farm & Brewing

I'm back in Minnesota for the holidays and have a lot of catching up to do on 2011's new breweries in the state. On the way back from the airport, I swung by St. Paul's Wine Thief and Ale Jail, which has a great craft beer boutique section that will Minneapolis beer lovers of the Four Firkins. Among other fancy beers, I picked up both offerings from Rollingstone, MN's Olvalde Farm & Brewing Company: Ode To A Russian Shipwright and The Auroch's Horn.

Not many breweries brew beers honoring Peter the Great, and even few name Belgian ales after extinct wild cattle (wiki auroch), but Olvalde is far from your average midwestern brewery.

The Auroch's Horn
Olvalde Farm & Brewing Company
Belgian Strong Pale Ale | 10.00% ABV

3.95/5
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

The beer doesn't quite jump out of the glass, but it's an impressive US-made Belgian. For the strength, it seems a touch muted, but there's a wonderful mix of soft pale malt and spicy Belgian yeast. Hops add a mild citrus undertone and balance to sweet, toasty grains. Check this out, it's a great example of a subtle Belgian ale.


Ode To A Russian Shipwright
Olvalde Farm & Brewing Company
American Porter

4.15/5
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

An imperial stout porter? Well it certainly doesn't taste like your average imperial stout. For a strong, dark beer, it's a little lighter in body and dials back the big roast. Instead, there's a more interesting mix of cocoa and mild mocha with the spicy rye and herbal spruce. Nothing's overpowering, and nothing's normal - I like that. My only complaint is that I'm pulling a little rubber phenol out of the beer, but it's a minor knock on an otherwise awesome beer. Go find this and enjoy.

Oktoberfest Beer Guide

The actual Oktoberfest in Munich has wrapped up, but most beer aisles are still flush with the tasty amber lagers. I was able to share my love for the style with the guys at Men's Health. You can check out the six best oktoberfests I've been enjoying lately on their The Regulars blog here.

Drinking Craft Beer in New Orleans

Last week I spent an extended long weekend in New Orleans with a good group of friends. In addition to seeing some gators and binging on fried shrimp po-boys, I had to check out the local craft beer scene. Now the Big Easy is certainly no beer mecca, but there was more than enough tasty beer to complement the seafood and live music.

Smoky Mary
New Orleans Lager & Ale Brewing Company (NOLA)

5.90% ABV | B+ / 3.95
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Had a pint a NY Pizza on Magazine St. in New Orleans. I had the odd urge to eat this beer, the mix of spice and smoke with toasty malt and caramel reminds me of food. Or at least it'd make a great pairing with anything spicy. This is surprisingly complex for an amber, or smoked ale, with a great balance between the smoke and malt. Find this beer.

LA-31 Bière Pâle
Bayou Teche Brewery

B / 3.63
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Picked up a 6-pack from Roushes in New Orleans. It poured a clear amber with a short head, but left sticky lacing. The aroma is a bread crust and light toffee mix with a touch of honey, but little hops character. There's a pleasant piney, lemon hop finish that balances out the sweet malts. This is certainly on the hoppy end of the style's spectrum, but it's a good beer. Drinkable and malty with a respectable hops component. Worth a try.

Hopitoulas IPA
New Orleans Lager & Ale Brewing Company (NOLA)

B+ / 4 | 6.50% ABV
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Had a few pints around New Orleans, easily one of the best beers in town. I loved the contrast of fruity, floral hops up front, with a rich, deep grapefruit and pine finish. Mixed in for balance was a healthy share of bready, toffee malt to balance out the bitterness. Overall, a damned tasty IPA.

Something Different: Cidre de Bretagne Brut

While most of my gastronomic attention was focused on raw-milk cheeses as I was following the Tour de France (highlights included fresh chevre and a small-town brebis), I happened to grab of a bottle of Cidre de Breatagne during a layover in Rennes.

I wrote a chapter on traditional ciders in the Brewer's Apprentice that included Normand ciders, but this was a different beast. While a Cidre Dupont from Normandy would be rich and wild like a lambic, my Briton cider is much more subtle and drinkable.

It opened with the nose of a Belgian pale ale, with touches of vanilla, coriander, and then of course, apple. The flavor is moderately tart, but not overpowering, with a little lemon rind to complete the soft juicy apple flavor and little champagne-esqe bite. I wish I'd snuck more home.

ELF Gardens Belgian IPA

With the summers hot temperatures and the hops in the garden looking ready, I figured a Belgian IPA would be appropriate for my next batch.

I went into Keystone Homebrew with a Centennial-heavy recipe, but they were out. So after a good 20 minutes of smelling about a dozen hops I settled on a mix of Simcoe, Sorachi Ace, and Sterling simply because they smelled awesome.

10# Maris Otter
1# 20L
1# American wheat
1# table sugar

1 oz Northern Brewer 9% AA @ 80min
.5 oz Simcoe 12.2% @ 30min
.5 oz Sorachi Ace 14.9% @ 30min
4 oz home-grown Tettnang & Mt Hood wet hops @ 15min
2 oz Sterling 5% @ 5min
.5 oz Simcoe 12.2% @ 5min
.5 oz Sorachi Ace 14.9% @ 5min
1 oz Sorachi Ace 14.9% dry hop

Wyeast Ardennes (the Chouffe strain)

OG: 1.079
FG: 1.008
IBU: 74
Mash efficiency: 78%
ABV: 9.1%

Interesting Beer: Sour Porter and Rye Session Ale

I had a good run of beer in NYC's East Village over the weekend. While there was no shortage of tasty ales, here are a couple of the more memorable ones I recommend looking out for.

Dark Humor
Ithaca Beer Company
American Porter | 7.00% ABV

A- / 4.05
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Had a 10 oz. pour at Good Beer in the East Village. I like the balanced Brett character. I wouldn't have guessed the strength, but maybe the wild yeast has helped dry this one out a bit, the mild tang certainly seems to lift the body. Otherwise there's a wonderful, clear chocolate roast with a little bit of candy sweetness. The Brett pops in for a sharp, slightly acidic citrus note, but not much else. Heck of a beer.

Ryely Summer Rye Ale
Davidson Brothers Restaurant & Brewery

B / 3.58
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Had an imperial pint at Drop Off Service in the East Village. It was billed as a summer rye ale, and I believe it. This is just a nice, satisfying session beer in the same vein as an American wheat ale in that it's simple and clean, showing off a non-barley specialty malt. Instead of the sweet, bready wheat taste, this has the spicier rye character. Very drinkable and though it wasn't the most complex rye beer I've had by a long shot, I'd happily have a couple more pints.

Homebrew: Tavern Tan Rye Pale Ale

Over the weekend I fired up the turkey fryer with Erin and Dan (stirring the hot break) to brew up a batch of Tavern Tan Rye Extra Pale Ale. At the end of the day, we had a higher gravity than intended, so I'm just considering it a pale ale.

One change that likely bumped up the sugar is that I did a more watery grist (for me at least) with 1.3 liters water/1 lb grain.

I also made a couple modifications due to ingredient availability and, well, just because I felt like it. The homebrew shop was low on malted rye, so I subbed in a pound of flaked rye, which will add a little thicker mouthfeel.

Then I swapped the Mt. Hood hops for Cascade and Liberty (since this beer will be ready around the 4th of July). I'll also toss in an ounce of my favorite all-purpose hop variety, Centennial, to dry hop.

For 5 gallons:

6.5# Maris Otter
1.5# Victory Malt
1# Malted Rye
1# Flaked rye

1 oz. Cascade @ 60 min (5% AA)
1 oz. Liberty @ 15 min (3% AA)
1 oz. Liberty @ 0 min
1 oz. Centennial Dry Hop

Wyeast 1272 American Ale II

IBU: 22
SRM: 8
SG: 1.060
FG: 1.010
ABV: 6.6%

UPDATE: This came in stronger than expected, and fermented a bit hotter (up to 80F), so it needs an extra week or so to work off a slight fusel alcohol note.

Good Beer, Disappointing Beer

It's been a mixed bag of beer this past week or so. While I'm always excited to try new breweries, after trying two mediocre brews from Uncommon Brewers, I can't say I'm looking forward to the third in my fridge. I'm sure I'll get to it soon enough, you know, in the name of science. Or thirst.

The Good:

Pacemaker Porter
Flyers Restaurant And Brewery
American Porter | 5.50% ABV

A- / 4.05
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Thanks to Dave for the bomber. This porter opens with a big dark chocolate (lighter, like 35% cacao) character with a dry citrus pepper finish. As it warms, the hops build for sort of a chocolate orange rind character. This is an interesting porter, and that's tough to find. Give this a try.


Summer Of Lager
Cisco Brewers Inc
Munich Helles Lager | 6.25% ABV

B+ / 3.95
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Had a pint at Liberty St Tavern. I assumed this was a pilsner, based on the strong, spicy hop character. It's not overpowering, but provide a tasty balance to the mild toasty grains. The beer didn't have soft bready feel of a classic helles, but that doesn't really matter, this is a fine lager worth enjoying over the summer.


The Disappointing, Should Be Better. Man I Was Hoping It'd Be Good:

Siamese Twin Ale
Uncommon Brewers
Dubbel | 8.50% ABV

C- / 2.73
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

Picked up a 16 oz. can for $2.75, no canning date on the bottom. I wasn't terribly impressed by their Golden State Ale, but this is worse. Frankly it reminds me of failed homebrew.

I dont know, maybe this beer was kept in a hot warehouse for a month, or something went wrong between Santa Cruz and Pennsylvania, but I don't enjoy it. There's an odd grassy (not like hops) caramel taste. There's a hint of the kaffir lime that's added I can pull out of the aftertaste, but that's one of the few bright spots. Frankly this smells a bit like an Indian buffet with the coriander and lemongrass additions. I'm not sure what to make of this beer, but I don't want another can.


Sneaky Pete Imperial IPA
Laughing Dog Brewing
American Double / Imperial IPA | 10.00% ABV

C+ / 3.15
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Had a bottle for $8 at the Trapp Door (formerly Tap & Table). The beer was a bit disappointing. It might just need a little time to mellow, but there was a sharp alcohol note with resiny oil without enough hops flavor. There was some nice, floral fruit punch, but the good stuff was too light.

My score might look harsh for a beer that isn't too bad, but there are so many great examples of the style, it'd be a shame to get stuck on this one.

Back With Beer

I just wrapped up writing a homebrew book with Stone Brewing's Greg Koch. Needless to say, it sapped all my good beer writing energy (as it should have). Anyways, here's some freakin' awesome beer I drank recently:

Mongo
Port Brewing Company
American Double / Imperial IPA | 8.50% ABV

A- / 4.2
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Had a couple pints from a friend's home kegerator, Wow, he poured a pitcher and you could smell the hops from across the room.

The hops are super juicy upfront with big pineapple and citrus fruit punch. As the hops roll on, the beer actually reminds Victory's Hop Devil in the finish for the spicy, citrus resin finish. So there's a massive fruity aroma and initial flavor and more spicy grapefruit rind and pine finish. That makes for an interesting and freakin' delicious hop bomb.


Fuller's Vintage Ale
Fuller Smith & Turner
Old Ale | 8.50% ABV

A- / 4.22
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

2010 Vintage. Bottle No 123619

Poured clear orange-red with a soft off-white head. This beer is surprisingly hoppy and relatively light bodied. Maybe a legitimate beer to be called an English DIPA.

The light cherry and malt aroma doesn't do much for me, but I really like how the flavor develops here. At first it seemed acidic with a mix of berry and citrus fruit. But then it rolls into a richer candied orange rind and herbal spice. The finish is dry with floral caramel candy note from the malt. The barley plays a subtle background for the spicy hops, with gentle, dry fruit esters and hints of bread crust and toffee.