Happy Thanksgiving!!! Make Your Own Alehouse 75

Like Dogfish Head selections and wish you could get the Alehouse 75 that is only available on draft at their Alehouses? Well, be your own mixologist and make the 75 at home by mixing the 60-Minute IPA and 90-Minute IPA in a 50/50 ratio. It creates a nice blend that mellows the hoppiness and enhances the ale flavor. You can buy the 90 minute in a 4-pack, the 60-minute in 6-pack, and save the extra 2 60-Minutes to blend with any other Ale to create a tasty treat. We mixed it with Star Hill Amber Ale (Charlottesville) and were happy with the results. Prosit and Happy Thanksgiving!

November Twinsburg Results ~ Christmas Ale Theme

1) Thirsty Dog ~ 12 Dogs of Christmas Ale
2) Breckenridge ~ Christmas Ale
3) Great Lakes Brewing Company ~ Christmas Ale

Some notes regarding the results:
1) This is a big blow to the local beer-wonder, Great Lakes Christmas Ale.
2) Thirsty Dog is no longer just a dark horse (or dog)…rather a favorite. It has won each blind beer tasting in which it had an entry (October - Barktoberfest and November - 12 Dogs of Christmas Ale).

St. Louis November Results

1. Boulevard Brewing Collaboration #2 (White IPA)
2. Deschutes Conflux #2 (White IPA)
3. Rogue Voodoo Maple Bacon Ale

Boulevard and Deschutes got together to collaborate on a beer. They decided on what recipe to use, grains, yeast, and hops, but brewed it in their own style. During the tasting, you could see and taste some similar characteristics, but how the hops showed up in the beers was what set them apart.

November McLean Results

Below are the results from the McLean office.

1. Duck Rabbit Milk Stout
2. Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout
3. The Unknown
4. Bells Kalamazoo Stout

St. Louis Field Trip

Last night, for our inaugural meeting, we went on October’s field trip. Five of us were fortunate to be able to tour the Schlafly Tap Room brewery, bottling area, and cellar with Schlafly’s Head Brewer, Stephen Hale. Overall, the tour was exceptional, but there were a couple of major highlights.

The first was being able to see Schlafly’s 20th Anniversary Volume 4: Southern Hemisphere, which had just been brewed that day, fermenting away. The hop aroma from the discharge tube was subtle, but hinted that this would be an exciting beer. This beer will be an IPA kettle and dry-hopped with Galaxy hops from New Zealand.

The other big highlight was being allowed to try their 2011 Barleywine that hasn’t even been bottled yet. It tasted amazing. I’ve decided that it’s time to start putting together a Schlafly Barleywine verticle.

Thanks for inviting us to the group, and stay tuned for all of the beer goodness from St. Louis!