As most of our readers know, Nate and I are insatiably interested in opening a brewery.  Through recent encounters, I've personally been reminded to put my money where my mouth is.  As a result, I began looking into the concept/cost of operating on a nano scale... but I'm jumping ahead.  Actually, I've spent some time looking at the TTB website, requesting a brewery packet, and looking into the various aspects involved in becoming a legal brewery.  I won't bother you with the woes of government, but I will say that I've learned a lot and that my brewing kettle fire is brighter than ever. All of us are aware that life encounters can lead us meandering down the most unexpected paths.  Through a calculated encounter, I met someone who may be very helpful for the future of a brewery.  In reality, she already was. Let it suffice to say that I began taking the future even more seriously.  But one piece of the puzzle was still missing: real people who had really started a nano brewery.  Sure concepts are great but I'm the type of person that likes speaking and learning from other human beings. In comes Hess brewing (I have to ...

Nate appealed to us saying that we should drink a lambic for our SWUS festivities.  My brother and I went to The Lost Abbey, so sipping some Amorosa was a no brainer.  Actually, my brother went with the intention of buying some Isabel Proximus or Duck Duck Gooze...stumped on both accounts.  I would loved to been able to post a review on those beers.  No matter, I got my second taste of Amorosa and here is what I thought. The Pour: Trust me when I tell you, that, if you get this beer, let it settle and cool for a day or so.  I imagine that perhaps too much yeast or unfermented raspberry got into the bottle we drank because the cork started coming out on its own accord.  (The only other brew I remember doing something similar was the Gueuze from Hanssens I drank; it contained Mead, so those sugars made the cork really pop.)  Once the bottle was open (good thing it was thick), it was too late.  The Amorosa was gushing out.  Fortunately, we acted quickly and saved most of the brew (we probably lost an ounce or so).  At any rate, we gently poured our brews into a couple ...

Every once in a while—okay, almost all the time—I've got a backlog of beers that I've taken notes on but not posted. Also, I sometimes realize that the list is getting far too long. So, I proposed to myself that I could write a few of the same brewery in one post. So, here are some Lost Abbey reviews to suck on. 10 Commandments: I first tried this beer at Dark Lord Day last year.  I remembered thinking it was pretty good.  I know that Nate and my brother simply loved it.  It's a seasonal brew, so, whenever the time came, I picked up a few bottles.  One to try and a couple to age for future use.  FYI 10 Commandments was $11.99 per bottle, which is not too bad a price for a 750ml bottle at 9% ABV. The Pour:  Strange to say, this beer was a deep, dark color with an almost purple highlight to it.  Odd to look at indeed.  A nice, light brown, foamy and stable head sat atop this beauty.  As I sipped the glass, the lacing was evident and nice looking on the glass. The Nose:  Given that this brew has rosemary in it, the nose certainly had remnants of ...

I have iterated several times before on this blog that the America Pilsner (and I am speaking generically; that is, making no distinction between say, a German or Czech style Pilsner) is treated like a weird/creepy uncle:  While a part of the family, only in reluctance will many admit association.  But sometimes a weird uncle is actually cooler than we'd let ourselves discover. We have our reasons.  Uncle Bud and Miller, to name a few.  But there is that sparkling gem that proves that every style can shine if cultured correctly.  For me, the quintessential example would be Boulevard's Collaboration 1. For this week's Sip With Us Saturday, with the Pilsner as the choice, I picked up four different pilsners to diminish the odds for disappointment.  Two stark observations surfaced as I surfed the beer aisle searching for my beer:  1) Choice isn't abundant in the craft beer world when it comes to Pilsners.  IPA's and Stouts crowded the shelf, but nary a pilsner was to be found, and 2) Pilsners are comparatively inexpensive.  With a limited amount of time I was only able to find and snag four American craft Pilsners:  Heavy Seas' (Clipper City) Small Craft Warning, Uber Pils, Stoudt's ...

Having started with Brabant of the Avery barrel series, I was immediately in love.  That was the first of the series, and I began my quest for their second one with no luck.  The same was true of the Black Tot until the gallant Sir Peter of Simply Beer rode his postal steed and sent me a bottle.  First and foremost, I really have to thank him for his generosity.  I've yet to send him anything, although he sent me this, a homebrew, and Captain's Golden Delicious.  It was a very generous gift, and I really appreciate him for it (and in general).  Here is my take on the brew. The Pour: As an Oatmeal Stout of 10.65%, this was a foreboding, black, and viscous ale.  Upon pouring, I noticed its dense body with a minor amount of quickly fading head retention.  The head itself was finely carbonated and brown...I wish it would have stuck around for the whole show. The Nose: Whatever else may be said about Avery's barrel aged beers, they are, at a minimum, very interesting.  The nose on this was no exception.  I noted a definite horse blanket/wet dog quality on the nose...natural bretts?  A sour juiciness was ...

For Sip with us Saturday, I said I was going to drink something by Stone...sort of true.  My chosen tipple was a collaborative brew by Stone, Firestone Walker, and 21st Amendment.  The beer itself was an interesting collaboration, and Stone used a version of Firestone's Union system for the brew.  Cool stuff.  The beer is simply classified as a Black Ale—and a strong one at that.  At 9.5%, it's not a small beer.  The price tag was $3.99 for a 12 ounce bottle.  On to the brew. The Pour: Black would be an accurate description for the color of El Camino.  In fact, stout-like in color is maybe the best descriptor.  The creamy, light brown, and very stable head added to the stout perception.  At any rate, I thought the beer was very nice looking.  A small amount of lacing occurred as I sipped it down. The Nose: Given the El Camino was 9.5% ABV, it wasn't a surprise to catch some of the alcohol notes on the nose.  Citrusy hops also dominated.  In this way, the beer certainly had Stone's signature on it.  However, the hops were not simply the piney/grapefruity hops that I'm used to; they had a very nice orange ...

Read no further if you don't care about Dark Lord Day.  Well, have you gotten your Dark Lord tickets?  I have.  It seems that nothing is definite just yet; we don't know what we'll be able to get with them.  If you look at the muddled script on the Dark Lord Day ticket, you will see that it says, "Bottle limit set on day of event."  Does this mean that Three Floyds doesn't know their yield yet?  (The site says that they will post bottle amount as soon as they know the yields.) My best guess is that those who have complained that they missed out on tickets are being appeased.  I don't really have a problem with other people being able to purchase the beer, I really don't.  But I do question the method.  People have already bought tickets for $10 each and should know what to expect when they get there.  Of course, I'm not just grousing about the situation.  I'm going to have a good time either way because it's awesome, but we ought to know what we are getting.  After all, people who bought the tickets were on the ball enough to get them. The argument could ...

As I've mentioned on other posts, this brew is a reincarnation of Stone's 11th anniversary Ale.  From what I understand, people clamored until Stone starting making this beer on a regular basis (I guess the squeaky wheel does get the grease after all; the black grease beer, that is).  Other sites defer by calling this an American Strong Ale, which seems to be a catch-pan category for the "what the hell should we call this?" sentiment.  Maybe I'm a simpleton, but I'd call it a stout.  Of course, Stone calls the 11th anniversary a black IPA, so it would stand to reason that they would designate this beer with the same nomenclature. The Pour: As I hinted, this beer is fairly dark in complexion.  Maybe it's not quite grease, but it was black/very dark brown in it color.  The head was a very stable, off-white cloud.  The body, being semi-active, helped to prop it up for the duration of drinking.  Additionally, some decent lacing appeared as I sipped the brew. The Nose: It's almost a foregone conclusion that citrusy, piney hop aspects will make it into most of Stone's products.  I'm not saying this negatively, but it is a predictable aspect of their ...

I got this Angel's Share at Whole Foods, and a friend picked up the Tomme at the Whole Foods in Glendale.  My buddy David found the latter and called to see if I wanted to go halfsies.  I think my response was something like %*&# yeah!  Anyway, I'm excited to post my reviews of these great brews.  Let's just jump into it. Angel's Share: I don't think that Lost Abbey makes anything for the faint of heart, and this is certainly one of their heartiest brews.  I think I paid about $15.99 for the 375 ml  bottle of beer (minus my 20% discount).  For such a rare beer and opportunity, I just had to do it.  At any rate, I'm very glad that  I did get the beer, which is their Judgement Day beer aged, in this case, in brandy barrels. The Pour: Angel's Share was a murky brown ale reminscent of a barley-wine, a feature that was actually prescient for the remainder of the brew.  Like much of Lost Abbey's brews, this one didn't have a ton of head retention (also like many a barley-wine).  The forboding murkiness kept calling me forward, so I decided to dive into the nose part of ...

Let's face it, America is in a second infancy of beer drinking.  Starting out, we had people who came from Europe (and elsewhere) for whom drinking was essentially ancient tradition.  However, tee-totaler prohibitionism drove a wedge between the populace and beer.  Not only did it drive a wedge between the general American public and beer, it drove it between belief (religious) and beer.  The happily married couple of beer and church was wedged apart by religious extremism and anti-German sentiment.  Racism and bigotry has often been one of the greatest dividers among the human race.  Divided were we. Once "beer" was re-introduced to the American public, it was ever marred by the strained relationship.  Vapid products like American light lager gained hegemony (and still does!) the market place.  Of course, the role of conservation during the Great Depression regarding more important matters and the subsequent world war drove the need to save precious grain for more essential matters.  It's funny how once things change, they stay the same.  We more or less had an entire generation of people weaned on flavorless American lagers.  It wasn't until the beginning of the homebrewing revolution that people became "aware" of real beer.  Furthermore, it ...