Pale Ale Taste Test: v1.0

Every now and then one has a great idea. However, one rarely ever gets the chance to execute such an idea. In my case the best ideas seem to come around when I least expect them and fortunately they often involve beer. This time around it was in the form of a linear blind taste test. The theory behind this practice is that if you are unaware of the beer you are drinking, then all biases are removed and you can decide if you like the beer or not. Also, all preconceived notions about the flavor profile are removed and you are able to not only judge the beer with an even hand, but you can also try and take a stab at which beer you think you might be drinking. It's fun and scientific!!!

When setting up a "Blind Taster", as they have come to be known to me and my fellow beer drinking cohort, I have found that the best ones group together beers of a similar type or season. While I am no beer judge, nor do I really know what each type should taste like... I do know what I like and what I don't. In this instance Pale Ales were the name of the game. While this beer type has the tendency of being all over the board in taste, I decided that I would pick some fairly well known California Pale's and see how each stacked up to the other.

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, North Coast Red Seal, Bear Republic XP, and Hoppy Brewing Co. Liquid Sunshine. (The later is technically a golden ale, but this was a hasty trip to BevMo and the liquid sunshine is a damn good beer!!)

The beer was poured into unmarked glasses, they were numbered from left to right 1-4 respectively. I drank them and ranked them...

Ranking:

1) 2nd (tie)

2) 2nd (tie)

3) 4th

4) 1st (favorite)

Results:

1) Hoppy Brewing Co. Liquid Sunshine

2) Sierra Nevada Pale Ale

3) Bear Republic XP

4) North Coast Red Seal

Short Reviews:

1)Hoppy Brewing Co. Liquid Sunshine

This beer was sort of the black sheep of the group as it was radically different from the rest. It is not really a pale ale so much as a really hoppy golden ale. However, it may be the only thing that Hoppy Brewing makes that would even fit with these others. So, with that in mind it is a good beer regardless. Light and crisp with a good hop aroma and flavor. The malt is well balanced with the hops. Citrus flavors come through and it is probably the beer I would see myself drinking in the summertime.

2) Sierra Nevada Pale Ale

This was the most unexpected answer overall. I thought that this beer was anything but Sierra Nevada. If I had to break the tie on taste alone, this would be 3rd. Since it is actually a pale ale I decided to make it a tie. I felt it was a little bland and uninteresting. The hop aroma was subdued and although balanced with the malt it was a little thinner than I was expecting given the color. Not a bad beer at all. Perhaps I have had too much of this beer in the past and my taste buds are saying "enough already"...

3)Bear Republic XP

This was definitely the least favorite by far. The malt was over the top and sweet as hell. Very caramel like. There was a little hop flavor, no aroma, and a very heavy mouthfeel. I would not drink this beer if I had a choice. I will however give Bear Republic the benefit of the doubt as I think that this beer may have been under-fermented (things happen). I have had the XP before and remember a much different beer.

4)North Coast Red Seal

This beer is amazingly good. I thought without a doubt this was Sierra Nevada... I was incontrovertibly wrong! The hop aroma was upfront and the balance between the malt and hops were perfectly harmonious. Just the right amount of bitter. I really enjoyed this beer alot! It may be the best Pale Ale available. Although as always, more testing is required.

Note: This really ended up being a battle between Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and North Coast Red Seal. The others were kind of peripheral in the tasting as I really felt like hashing it out between these two beers that I like so much. Red Seal prevails...

Sacramento Beer Week: Friday, February 26th... Rubicon Cask Ales and 3 Fires Lounge

Friday night of beer week marked the final stretch of the week long festivities... with only two more days left to soak in the beer culture of Sacramento I had my heart set on a fantastic Cask Ale tasting at Rubicon Brewing Co. This was to be the coup de grace of my beer week experience. Even though Saturday and Sunday were chalk full of good events, Friday is where I conclude my Beer Week postings and wrap up my overall take on the first ever Sacramento Beer Week. The night started off promising and full of excitement. However, a snag in the plan and forces beyond my control denied me what I had been looking forward to all week. Eventually the night would lead me the 3 Fires Lounge where I was able to partake of some fairly decent Belgian ales.

Rubicon Brewing Co.

Arriving at the Rubicon it was apparent that many people were also excited about Cask Ales as trying to enter the establishment proved to be somewhat difficult. Finding a place to sit was nigh impossible... so I stood and tried to get to the bar and partake in some Cask conditioned goodness. I got up to the bar and looked over the Cask Ale list... It was as follows,

Rubicon IPA

Sierra Nevada BROWN ALE

Bear Republic Brewing Company’s APEX

Stone Brewing Company’s ARROGANT BASTARD

Sudwerk’s UNFILTERED MÄRZEN

Auburn Alehouse GOLD DIGGER I.P.A.

Moylan’s Brewing Company MOCHA PORTER

I decided to hold off on a full blown sampler of all of them until I had a seat. I decided instead to go with the Apex I.P.A. However, to my immediate chagrin I was was informed that all of the Cask Ales, with the exception of the Sierra Nevada Brown Ale, were gone!!! What?? I looked at my phone to check the time... not even 8:00pm... Oh well... give me a Brown Ale then! Got my beer, found an open seat outside and drank it. It was really good. Not much else to say there... Sierra Nevada does good stuff and a Cask conditioned Brown Ale does not disappoint. At least I was able to get one of the specialty beers. Hopefully next year during Beer Week this event, if it is slated to happen again, is a little more well thought out. Regardless, I was able to get my hands on one of the few pints left of the event and was thankful I didn't arrive any later than I did.

3 Fires Lounge

The next stop was the 3 Fires Lounge, located at 1501 L st. in downtown Sac. All week they had been offering specials on some select Belgian ales. As a last shot at drinking some good beer during beer week, I and some friends I had met up with walked down to this establishment to check it out. Somewhat of an upscale bar/lounge, the setting was a stark contrast to the normal brew pub surroundings that I am used to. Nonetheless I acquired both Belgians that were on the special and shared them with the group. Both were wheat based ales, one of them in my opinion was definitely better than the other.

Le Grande Blanche (De Proefbrouwerij; bvba Andelot) was very smooth and sweet. Similar to a saison but lighter in body and more carbonated. This is a beer I would definitely drink again. The second selection, and the one I found to be just o.k. was Blanche De Bruxelles (Brasserie Lefèbvre SA). Another wheat based ale, this one was very light and the key flavors I was looking for were underwhelming. Honestly, the beer is good... just not what I would choose to drink if I had the choice. The spices, coriander and orange peel flavors come through more than the malt or yeast flavors and tend to be distracting. Overall Le Grande Blanche may be one of my new go to belgians in the future... further experimentation in required!

As Sacramento Beer Week came to a close (for me anyway) I was reminded that Sacramento has a strong affinity for the brew! All events were fun to some degree and I was able to observe some real unity between people towards a common interest. I am looking forward to the next manifestation of Beer Week and having been part of the first ever implementation of such an idea I am sure that next year I will be better prepared and hopefully more active in my approach. All in all, not a bad start!!!

till next year...

Sacramento Beer Week: Thursday, Feb. 25th... Hoppy Brew Tour and Rubicon Moylans/Marin Guest Beers

Thursday night presented an opportunity to try an eclectic mix of micro-brew concoctions from Moylans and Marin brewing companies. However, in an attempt to gain some insight on the brewing process, I returned to Hoppy Brewing Co. for their open house event and brewery tour earlier in the day. Not to mention partaking in one of their many flavorful beers on tap. As a precursor event, it was a good way to get into the mood of beer week...

Hoppy Brewing Co.

From the dining area of the Hoppy Brewing Co. one can easily see through a back window an amalgamation of steel and hoses configured in such a way that one may think of a scientist's laboratory. Well, in all honesty this isn't too far from the truth. In fact, much of what goes on behind the double doors is a repeated process of experimentation and formulation that has every possibility of failing in some respect... However, judging by the consistency of taste and overall quality of Hoppy brewing it would seem that failure is unlikely. Instead, the surprising aspect of Hoppy's brewing operation is the relatively small size. One mash tun and one boiler is all, however five 628 gallon fermenters (one of which is double sized) makes sense as you really need the most time for fermentation anyway. The highest producing and selling beer they make is the Hoppy Face Amber Ale, a really good amber IPA. As an amateur homebrewer much of the information on the tour was a rehashing of what I already had a fairly good idea about. I just happen to find this stuff really interesting... Overall, good beer and a decently productive brewing operation.

Rubicon Brewing Co.

Thursday night was the first truly large event at Rubicon during Beer Week(in my opinion) as they were hosting a fair assortment of beers from Moylans and Marin Brewing companies. Always a welcomed deviation from Rubicon's house ales, guest taps offer a new dimension to any brewery. Also, when a brewery can showcase another brewery's beers exclusively, it shows a certain amount of camaraderie in the brewing community that is welcoming. On draft was as follows...

MOYLAN'S BEERS

Pomegranate Wheat

Danny's Irish Red Ale

Dragoon's Dry Irish Stout

MARIN'S BEERS

Point Reyes Porter

Albion Amber Ale

E.S. CHI

Mt. Tam Pale Ale

I am not going to give a review of each of these, however there are a couple of standouts... and weirdnesses.

First the weird... The E.S. Chi ale just didn't quite taste right. It is an E.S.B. style ale brewed with Chinese herbs. I got the British ale taste for sure but the after taste is hard to get through... personally this is just too weird... Moylan's Brewing makes one of my favorite beers ever! Kiltlifter Scottish Ale... however they did not send this to Rubicon. Instead they sent a decent Irish red (very smooth) and a better than average Stout. The pomegranate wheat was very sweet and dry and not my style really, but not bad for what it is. The standout here was Marin's Mt. Tam Pale Ale. Very well balanced and flavorful. A pretty standard tasting west coast pale ale, but done very well and easy to drink!! Overall it wasn't a showcasing of the best beers that these companies make... but it was a fun evening nonetheless!!

Note: I forgot my camera at home, so I had to improvise to put up a picture... looks fine to me!!

On to Friday...

Sacramento Beer Week: Wednesday Feb. 24th... Townhouse Lounge, Rubicon Brewing Company

Beer week approaching it's Mid-point offered a host of good deals and many food pairing events. Wednesday I decided to play it fairly low key and check out an easily accessible beer showcase at the Townhouse Lounge of Sudwerk Brewing Co. Beers. As the night progressed however a change of venue would lead me down to the Rubicon Brewery for some libationary vindication of sorts. Not the most eventful night in store, but a night of beer appreciation nonetheless.

The Townhouse Lounge

The Townhouse Lounge is located on 21st st. between O and P streets in Midtown Sacramento. The place itself is fairly small, but the sign outside has a retro appeal as if something out of the 1950's. For beer week they were showcasing Sudwerk Brewing Co. (Davis, CA) by offering $2 bottles of a choice assortment of their beers. Also, a small table was set up with fliers and a tin bucket full of Sudwerk beer bottles alongside logo imprinted plastic keg cups. They were offering a tasting of each of the beers featured for $2, or so I thought... in actuality it was free, even better!! They only had four types of beer presented and none were anything you couldn't pick up at your local store. They had their Marzen, Hefeweizen, Helle's Lager, and Pilsner. If I had to rank then on a scale of 1-10: Marzen 7.5, Hefeweizen 6, Helle's Lager 7, Pilsner 6. Middle of the road brews, however I have been told that the brewery itself produces some pretty outstanding beers that are available at their brewhouse in Davis...

Rubicon Brewing Co.

In search of some beer with more character, Rubicon Brewing Co. seemed like the safe and fairly reliable choice. Located a stones throw from the Townhouse Lounge on 20th and Capitol, this Brewery/Restaurant has become a staple in my beer adventure repertoire. For Beer Week, Wednesday at the Rubicon featured a Beer and Sausage pairing with all of their house beers being matched up with various Morrant's Old Fashioned Sausages. Arriving at the Rubicon it was pretty obvious that the beer and sausage event had been well exhausted... no matter, it wasn't this event that had caught my attention anyhow. Instead, it was a guest tap from Lagunitas Brewing called Ryan's Folly, an imperial double IPA. Supposedly brewed with Sacramento Beer Week in mind, this beer is amazingly good!!! The malt character is slightly nutty and sweet with just the right amount of heaviness. The hops are perfectly bitter and fairly aromatic. A fairly dark beer with a little mahogany highlight and a thin cream colored head this beer is aesthetically pleasing as well as tasty!!!

On to Thursday...

Sacramento Beer Week, Entry #1: Tuesday, Feb. 23rd... Pyramid, Hoppy, and Streets of London

So beer week officially kicked off on Monday, February 22nd... and since I had school obligations I did not partake until Tuesday Night. Either way I had some fun and now have a few things to Blog about. First stop was the Pyramid Ale House, then over to Hoppy Brewing Company, and the end of the night was spent at the Streets Of London pub. All places were participating some way in the Beer Week festivities.

Pyramid Ale House

So the initial journey was to the Pyramid Ale House on K street in Downtown Sacramento. They were offering $2.50 pints of all their house ales along with a free Pyramid logo glass if you were to purchase a pint of their new Fling Pale Ale... All week they are selling 5 5oz. samples of their most popular beers for $3.30. Overall not bad pricing considering you get 25oz. of beer!! The sampler contains their Audacious Apricot-weizen, Haywire Hefeweizen, Crystal Wheat Ale, Thunderhead IPA, and the new Fling Pale Ale.

To make a potentially long story short, the Fling Pale Ale is easily the best beer on this sampler and maybe the best beer they make. I ordered a pint of it and got the free glass by the way... The Weizen's they make have always struck me as sub-par... without being overly critical I would say that I could only use the Haywire as a palette cleanser while drinking the other beers. The Apricot version is a much better concept and much better beer. Not the biggest fan of fruit infused beers, I have an appreciation for this beer in the amount of flavor it balances between the apricot and the beer it self. The IPA is OK... I would not rank it up there with the best. Hops are underwhelming and there was virtually no aroma. The crystal wheat was very refreshing and drinkable with the slightest bit of hop at the end. Very flavorful malt and hop combination on this beer!! Overall, the Fling Pale Ale is worth your time to try...

Hoppy Brewing Company

At the Hoppy Brewing Co. some of the best, if not the best, beers are made in Sacramento. Everything they brew is magical!! The special on Tuesday for Beer Week was just 2 dollar tacos during their Tuesday Night Trivia. I had already eaten at Pyramid so... the beer was all I was interested in. A compatriot of mine, Andrew, had tagged along for the ride and we decided to do the Trivia challenge which happened to center on... yep you guessed it, BEER! The questions ranged from trivia about styles of beer to the brewing process of beer. Out of 20 questions we got 16 of them right, which was enough for a second place tie! We enjoyed a pitcher of their Hoppy Face Amber Ale, which is really just a dark IPA!! It was really good... needless to say I suppose! We finished our beer and headed out!!

Streets of London Pub

So we made a last ditch effort at partaking in the beer festivities and went to the only bar we knew would be open... Streets!! Here they were featuring a new release from the New Belgium Brewery, their Ranger IPA. Along with the purchase of a pint you received the glass as well (see picture, taken by Andrews I phone). I will give an impromptu review of this beer. It is really pretty good!! Slightly heavy malt base, good hop aroma, clean finish, bitterness is well balanced with the malt. For an IPA it is heavier than I generally like but a damn good one nonetheless!! I may have to pick up a sixer or two of this at BevMo...

All in all a good start to Beer Week, off to more adventures... I will post all of my Beer Week experiences as it progresses!!!

Anniversary Ale Clone... Recipe and Rationale!!

As summer approaches also does my desire to start making beer!! Over the last few weeks I have been wrestling with the idea of making something familiar and tasty.

Sierra Nevada Brewing co. is a pinnacle of Northern California brewing and represents a distinct taste and style that has become synonymous with the west coast. Of their many fine ales (and at least one lager I know of) one of my favorites has always been the Anniversary Ale IPA. Although not explicitly labeled as an IPA, anyone who has had the pleasure of drinking it knows that it couldn't be called anything else!!

After a couple of visits to the Sierra Nevada Brewery in Chico, CA, I realized that the tour pamphlet that I brought home with me had every beer that is regularly sold by the company within it. Not only that, but each page had a caption that spells out the exact ingredients used in each beer. The wheels began to turn...

Below I have formulated a preliminary recipe. With the help of some online calculators I have settled on some proportions for the ingredients and have acquiesced a fairly clear picture of the IBU and Gravity potentials. As an amateur homebrewer I am typically limited to extract brewing and have substituted the Two-Row Pale malts normally used in making this beer with Pale liquid extract... Although I do not expect this to be a dead ringer for the Anniversary Ale, anything comparable will suffice.

Original Recipe Concept

6lbs. of Light Pale Malt Extract

½ lb. of Munich malt

½ lb. of Caramel malt

½ oz. of Chinook hops (11-14%), ½ oz. Centennial hops(9-11%)

(60 minutes)

½ oz. of Cascade hops (4-7%)

(15 minutes)

½ oz. of Cascade hops (4-7%)

(5 minutes)

½ tsp. Irish Moss

Wyeast American Ale 1056

Dry Hop: ½ oz. Chinook hops (11-14%), ½ oz. Centennial hops (9-11%), ½ oz. Cascade (4-7%) hops in the secondary carboy

Potential gravity: 1.050

(5 gallon batch)

http://www.tastybrew.com/calculators/gravity.html

Potential alcohol: 6.9%

Potential IBU (prior to dry hopping): 51.2 -67.2

http://www.rooftopbrew.net/ibu.php

Note: These numbers are calculated for a 5 Gallon batch, I may decide to do a smaller batch... and if so the proportions may be altered. These numbers look ideal and I will be shooting to replicate these potential results!! Also, the IBU calculation is prior to the addition of Dry hops. I figure this will alter the number somewhat... but the aroma should be amazing regardless!!!

... There will be more posts regarding this recipe once I start brewing, perhaps April or May!!!

Beer Review #2: Samuel Adams "Noble Pils", Spring Seasonal

For my second review posting I have decided to look at a beer I was skeptical of at first but am quickly becoming a fan of. The Sam Adams Noble Pils is distinctive in its production as it is claimed to have been brewed using all five Noble hop varieties. These include Hallertau Mittelfrueh, Tettnang Tettnanger, Spalt Spalter, and Hersbrucker Hersbrucker. The Noble hop variety from Bohemia in the Czech Republic is Saaz. This is also a spring seasonal, replacing the White Ale normally released. It apparently was chosen during a contest and overwhelmingly voted in.

http://beernews.org/2010/01/samuel-adams-noble-pils-replaces-white-ale-as-spring-seasonal/

Brewed by:

Boston Beer Company (Samuel Adams)

ABV: 5.2%

Before the first drink there is an apparent hop aroma that hits the nose upfront. It has a light golden color and is fairly transparent. The head was thick during the pour but quickly diminished into a thin band. Light to slightly medium body, somewhat uncharacteristic for a pilsner. The real character of this beer is definitely the hops. It comprises the overall flavor as well as the aromatic nature of the beer. The mouth-feel seems slightly heavier than one might expect. There is a characteristic malt base that is ubiquitous across most Sam Adams beers ( Boston Lager and oktoberfest come to mind). The hops are not bitter but there is a light citrus aroma and flavorful balance between the hops and malt that work exquisitely well. A dry finish that is not too sweet yet you get a hint of it in the after taste. The earthy malt is very bright at first, somewhat crisp with the initial sips and smooth going down. As a pilsner it is not nearly as dry or one dimensional as others I have come across.

Although this is a lagered Pilsner one might experience the upfront hops and think European style pale ale. Overall, very good and drinkable and one of my go to beers. Summer is coming fast I suspect and this beer won't be around for long, so stock up now...