Wassail

I first had Wassail (pronounced WAH-suhl) when I was a young lad of 17, courting the beautiful maiden, now one-score and 4 years my bride.  Apparently it's of English derivation, and my redneck roots had yet to encounter such a drink.  Last Saturday's Wall Street Journal, Off Duty section brought the drink into perspective, and nurtured my newfound appreciation for the English holiday staple.  Their version, detailed in the "What Does Christmas Taste Like" article, uses hard cider (which I have N.E.V.E.R appreciated) so I procured a 6-pack of Woodpecker Hard Cider and followed the recipe.  It tastes like Christmas.  In fact, it tastes like Winter, Christmas, and New Year rolled into one.  Experimental variations with spices and citrus (orange slices are nice) will be rewarded.  You will not be disappointed.



courtesy of wikipedia

Anchor Christmas Ale

Now that Christmas is past, try this year's Christmas ale from Anchor Steam (reformulated every year).  From the maker of one of my favorite draught beers comes a Christmas Ale without an overload of spice. Not a session beer, but definitely worth the magnum at Costco, or the six we get down South. Ya'll have a merry one.

For That Special Beer Chick in Your Life

Serious Eats has a nice short list of unique beer-related gifts for that special beer lover in your life. Most intriguing is the Hop Flavored Whiskey distilled from Bear Republic's Racer 5 IPA (don't forget to click on the link to the tasting review).  Yes please.

Twinsburg’s September 2012 Results

September = Oktoberfest, of course.  Actually, fall = Oktoberfest (and college football), but I digress. Below are Twinsburg's results from the Octoberfest sampling, proving it is just better to be left handed.
  
1st – Left Hand Brewing Company - Oktoberfest

2nd - Brooklyn Brewery - Oktoberfest

3rd - Shiner - Oktoberfest

Twinsburg’s August 2012 Picks(forgot to post)
August had a summer flavor with summer shandies, a pale ale, and summer pilsner.  The Cleveland area was well represented, but alas, all the locals fell to Burlington, Vermont's finest.  Results below.

1st – House of Shandy - Curious Traveler Shandy

2nd - Indigo IMP Brewery - Summer Pale Ale

3rd - Hoppin Frog - Turbo Shandy
4th - The Brew Kettle - Lake BeErie

Flying Dog by a Nose

McLean's Results for September.  All the beers were good but Dogtoberfest was a unanimous decision.  I don't remember that happening before.  I could be wrong, though, and that has happened before.

1. Flying Dog Dogtoberfest
2. Brooklyn Oktoberfest
3. Port City Oktoberfest

Merrifield Lost Dog Cafe

We checked out the newly opend Merrifield location of Lost Dog Cafe.  The restaurant is located in the new apartment/retail area called The Halstead and is on the Merrilee (far side from Gallows) side of it.  There is a free parking garage if you drive and it is a 5-10 mintue walk from the Dunn Lorring metro.  It was a nice afternoon so they had the patio seating availabe.  There are 6-7 tables on the patio.  There is a garage door type wall that opens from the bar to the patio.  Pretty nice.  The bar is a square but I think there is only seating on three sides so it's a U-shapped bar.  I think there is seating for ~20 people at the bar.  We got a table although it wasn't crowded at the bar.  The dinning area seemed bigger than the other two locations I've been to,  McLean and North Arlington.  The food menu is identical to the other locations.  When we arrived, we were pretty much the only ones in the dinning area.  By 7, it was mostly full with a fair amount of families.  Our server, Andrew, seemed to be knowledgable about beer and was nice.  We'll be back.  Below are the beers we had.  All were good except one.  None of us cared for the Punkin and we were glad that we only got a tasting of it.  There are 19 taps (if I counted correctly) with one of them having Dominion Root Beer.  I think the ones we didn't have were all micro brews.  They also have tons of bottles and you can stop by and pick up a six pack to go but they don't do growlers, unfortunately.


delirium nocturnum (bottle)
dale's pale ale
flying dog underdog atlantic lager
southern tier moka stout
southern tier harvest ale 
weyerbacher double simcoe
blue mountain full nelson (flight)
dog fish punkin (flight)
mission imperial stout (flight)
youngs double chocolate stout (nitro, flight)

Why I Love This Time of Year

Fall is just around the corner. All the kids are heading back to school, the college football season starts tonight, and one of my favorite seasonal beers is on sale.  Dogfish Head runs a small batch of this delicious crack pumpkin laden ale once a year.
While supplies last....

August Club Meeting in McLean

The theme this month was inspired by the recently completed Olympics. Being an ale month, we decided to provide the club with English Ales. The top 3 ales were issue medals.
Gold: Morland Old Speckled Hen
Silver: Sam Smith Organic Best Ale
Bronze: Sam Smith Taddy Porter
4th: Wells Banana Bread Beer
Manuia

Hops Harvest

Here's our first harvest.  Hopefully, we'll be getting some more before the season is over.

Growing Hops

My co-brewer and I started growing hops this year.  We have two Cascade vines growing up his chimney.  They are starting to flower.  We'll harvest soon and brew something with them in a month or two.  Here's a picture of them.

Beer Personality Types

I'm afraid that I'm a beer snob.

Twinsburg's July Field Trip ~ Ohio Brewing Company

Many of us from the Twinsburg office traveled to downtown Akron for our field trip to the Ohio Brewing Company.  

The owner (Chris) came out and gave us a brief history of the brewing company.  He also gave us a tour, which involved turning our heads to the right and then to the left. 

Sampler platters were a requirement for those that joined us at our table.  Chris also graciously gave us free samples from their one keg of Jingle Bell Ale ~ brewed for their Christmas in July. 

A Silver Lining

I'm sure many of us had to deal with the derecho storm that came through here a few weeks ago.  There were plenty of misfortunes that resulted from the storm; however, Port City was able to take advantage of their problem.  They turned a spoiling tank of beer into a steam beer, a lager yeast beer that ferments at higher temperatures like an ale.  The "Derecho Common" beer will be available starting in August.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/09/derecho-common-beer-port-city-brewing-company_n_1659976.html?ref=topbar

Oak Ridge’s June 2012 Results
Tennessee's own Hap & Harry's Lynchburg Lager was victorious in June. 

June Club Meeting

In celebration of the summer solstice, we shared a nice selection of summertime ales. The favorite for the month is fittingly called Summer Solstice Cerveza Crema. #2 was the Colette Farmhouse Ale and #3 was Goose Island Summertime Ale.




Manuia

Oak Ridge’s May 2012 Samplings

Oak Ridge brought their overachieving ways into the month of May...rolling in at least 7 selections to sample.  Quite a variety was brought to the table with Unibroue's La Fin du Monde being the winner.  An interesting read on the beer itself, as it was brewed in honor of the "intrepid European explorers who believed they had reached the “end of the world” when they discovered North America ‘the new world’."  It is a recreated style beer originally developed in the Middle Ages by trappist monks for special occasions.  Seems like those monks had a good thing goin...   

Twinsburg’s May 2012 Picks
May is IPA month in Twinsburg, Ohio.  Accordingly, Michele provided three different IPA's for Twinsburg's evaluation.  The Great Lakes Brewing Company migrated from "Always the Bridesmaid" to Victor with a strong showing by Commodore Perry IPA. It was also discovered that not all Sierra Nevada beers taste the same, and when they don't, they pack a punch.  Official results are below.

1st – Great Lakes Brewing Company's Commodore Perry IPA

2nd - Sierra Nevada Hoptimum Whole-cone IPA

3rd - The Brew Kettle's Old 21 Imperial IPA

Twinsburg Team Photo

St. Louis' May Picks

This month's winner was Mirror Pond.

Twinsburg's Spontaneous and Unaffiliated Trip to the Willoughby Brewing Company


This past Thursday, a few members of the Twinsburg office with some out-of-town guests made a spontaneous trip to the Willoughby Brewing Company. Willoughby Brewing Company is a mainstay in one of the cooler suburbs of Cleveland, claiming residence to actors, WWE wrestlers, human health risk assessors, and Smart Power-ers. Throughout the year, WBC stakes claim to 18 different drafts. The Rusty Rail being a good recommendation for any visitors. During our trip...
Beer was fermented:












Many flights were taken:

Twinsburg’s March 2012 Picks

Thru the graciousness of Amanda, Twinsburg was provided three different Doppelbocks to undergo scrutiny and comparison. March's contestants were the Great Lakes Brewing Company's The Dopplerock, Troegs Brewing Company Troegenator Double Bock, and Tommyknocker Brewery's Butthead Bock. There were variations in the voting; however, the Troegenator Double Bock had a pretty resounding victory.

Official results are below.
1st – Troeg's Troegenator Double Bock
2nd - Great Lakes Brewing Company’s The Dopplerock, (see link for a read of the doppelbock origin)
3rd - Tommyknocker Brewery's Butthead Bock

Twinsburg Team Photo:

Group Photo:

St. Louis' April Field Trip

The beer list for our field trip to Schlafly's Repeal of Prohibition Festival has been posted! Cask American IPA will be a great way to start the day with a little Dream Crusher to follow. See below:

From Schlafly Beer – St. Louis, MO
Vienna Lager – 4.0% ABV / 21 IBU
Hefeweizen – 4.1% ABV / 16 IBU
Raspberry Hefeweizen – 4.1% ABV / 16 IBU
Pale Ale – 4.4% ABV / 25 IBU
Summer Lager 4.5% ABV / 17 IBU
Kölsch – 4.8% ABV / 25 IBU
Amarillo Session Ale – 5.0% ABV / 26 IBU
Pilsner – 5.0% ABV / 30 IBU
Dry - Hopped Marzen – 5.5% ABV / 25 IBU
Yakima Wheat Ale – 5.5% ABV / 40 IBU
Coffee Stout - 5.7% ABV / 30 IBU
Oatmeal Stout – 5.7% ABV / 40 IBU
Dry-Hopped APA – 5.9% ABV / 50 IBU
Cocoa Stout – 7.0 % ABV / 30 IBU
Export IPA – 7.2% ABV / 65 IBU
American IPA (cask) – 7.2% ABV / 65 IBU
Apple Pie Cider – 7.9% ABV
Irish Extra Stout – 8% ABV / 45 IBU

From Deep Ellum Brewing Co. – Dallas, TX
Rye Pils - 4.6% ABV / 38 IBU
Double Brown Stout - 7 % ABV / 27 IBU
Deep Ellum IPA - 7% ABV / 70 IBU
Dream Crusher Double Rye IPA - 10.4% ABV / 100+ IBUs
Darkest Hour Rye Imperial Stout - 11% ABV / 60 IBUs

From Rahr & Sons Brewing Co. – Fort Worth, TX
Rahr’s Blonde – 4.75% ABV/ 20 IBU
Texas Red – Amber Lager – 4.75% ABV / 25 IBU
Ugly Pug – Schwarzbier – 4.75% ABV / 27 IBU
Stormcloud IPA – 6% ABV / 70 IBU
Bucking Bock – 7.5% ABV / 35 IBU

From Real Ale Brewing Co. – Blanco, TX
Firemans #4 Blonde Ale - 5.1% ABV / 23 IBU
Lost Gold IPA - 6.6% ABV / 63 IBU
Phoenixx Double Extra Special Bitter - 7.2 % ABV / 60 IBU
Devil’s Backbone Tripel - 8.1% ABV / 31 IBU
15th Anniversary Ale - 9.8% ABV / 70 IBU

Happy April Fool's Day

Get your golden ticket for your chance to get a blue ticket to get the secret password to enter into a Thunderdome style fight-to-the-death for the one and only Schlafly Titanium.

March Picks for St. Louis

We had a small group again this month, so we only had two selections.

1st - Dundee Irish Red Lager
2nd - Boulevard Irish Ale

The Dundee actually tasted more like an Oktoberfest with a substantial malty backbone, but it was really good.

Next month, we'll be going to Schlafly's Repeal of Prohibition Beer Festival. $25 (or $30 at the door) gets you a commemorative glass, tastings, and music.

From Schlafly's website:

Come help us celebrate the Anniversary of the End of Prohibition!
Sample more than 30 beer styles, including plenty of Schlafly favorites and great beer styles from Rahr & Sons Brewing Co., Deep Ellum Brewing Co., and Real Ale Brewing Co., all from the state of Texas.
Live music during the festival comes from Swing DeVille.

Watch our highly produced, Walker, Texas Ranger inspired, annoucement video for the 2012 Repeal Guest Breweries!

March Enterprise Meeting

Theme of the Month - Lagers
1st - Devil's Backbone Vienna Lager
2nd - Great Lakes Elliot Ness
(unevaluated) Coney Island Sword Swallower

February Enterprise Meeting

Theme of the Month - IPAs
1st - Appalachian Brewing Co's Hoppy Trails IPA
2nd - Terrapin Beer Co's Hopsecutioner
3rd - Snake Dog IPA

craft beer fest!

I'll try and post pics from beer fest! I can't believe no one else wanted to come!!! I'm ssssooo excited!

Twinsburg’s February 2012 Picks

As a lead in to St. Patrick’s Season (yes season, not just day), the Twinsburg office explored different Irish Red Ales. This month’s contestants were the Great Lakes Brewery Company’s Conway’s Irish Ale, Ohio Brewing Company’s Double Irish Red, and Saranac’s Irish Red Ale. Of the 7 judges participating voting, 6 had identical scores. A lesson to all aspiring brewers out there…Double the Red, double the chances of winning. Double Irish Red won in a landslide. While people were satisfied with Conway’s Irish Ale, Saranac did not leave a great impression on any of the palates.

Official results are below.

1st – Ohio Brewing Company’s Double Irish Red
2nd - Great Lakes Brewing Company’s Conway’s Irish Ale,
3rd - Saranac’s Irish Red Ale
















Group Photo is below:

St. Louis' February Picks

This month was a little different, but still special. Due to unforseen circumstances, we only had two selections this month, Schlafly's Coffee Stout and Goose Island's 2011 Bourbon County Brand Coffee Stout (BCBCS). Both beers were in the coffee stout family, but both were so different from each other we couldn't pick a winner. If you wanted something that you could share and drink slowly in front of your fireplace, we would suggest the super complex, big BCBCS (14% ABV). If you wanted something that you could have two or more and still function afterwards, we would suggest the Schlafly Coffee Stout. Both have a very good quality coffee flavor as well. Schlafly partnered up with Kahldi's Coffee, a local coffee powerhouse, to make their Coffee Stout.

In future months, expect to see some other fun themes coming out of St. Louis. Right now we are kicking around the thought of bringing in IPAs, Pale Ales, Mexican Lagers, and I might introduce them to sours, who knows? It will be a lot of fun though.

CraftBeer.com | American Craft Beer Week

CraftBeer.com | American Craft Beer Week

RFD Strong Beer Tasting
Sunday, February 26, 2012
door open at 2:00 p.m. - tasting begins at 3:00 p.m.
&
Wednesday, 29, 2012
doors open at 6:00 p.m. - tasting begins at 7:00 p.m.

www.lovethebeer.com/events

Host Bob Tupper will lead us through a lineup of more than ten beers each night, from barleywines to Double IPAs, Imperial Stouts to Belgian Style ales. Each night will feature a different selection of beers and brewers! As always, the brewers themselves will be there to talk about their concoctions and answer your questions about their craft. Tickets are only $40 each night ($50 at the door), or get a pass for both nights for only $70!

President's Day Barlywine Bash at DuPont Circle
February 19 - 20, 2012

www.eatyourpizza.com

Anchor, Old Foghorn; BrewDog, Divine Rebel; Brooklyn, Monster; De Molen, Bommen & Granaten; Dogfish Head, Olde School; Emillesse, Barley Wine; Evil Twin, Fruedian Slip; Flying Dog, Horndog; Harpoon, Triticus; Heavy Seas, Bourbon Barrel Aged Below Decks; Heavy Seas, Cabernet Barrel Aged Below Decks; JW Lees, Harvest; JW Lees, Port Barrel Aged Harvest Ale; JW Lees, Sherry Barrel Aged Harvest Ale; Left Hand, Widdershins; Mikkeller/Three Floyds, Boogoop; Nogne O, Sunturnbrew; Pretty Things, Our Finest Regards; Sierra Nevada, Bigfoot.

The Hand Crafted Tasting Co. is proud to announce its inaugural NYC American Craft Beer Festival at the Lexington Ave Armory (68 Lexington Ave) in Manhattan on Saturday, March 3, 2012.

The NYC American Craft Beer festival is a true celebration of the American craft beer experience. We have invited 75 of this country’s best craft brewers to come together at one time, in one place, so you can sample a careful selection of the best seasonal brews they have to offer!

Hours

Session I

VIP/Connoisseurs Hour: 12:30 PM - 1:30 PM
General Admission: 1:30 PM - 4:00 PM

Session II
VIP/Connoisseurs Hour: 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM
General Admission: 7:00 PM - 9:30 PM

GRAND TASTING:

From the established craft brewers to the mid-majors and up-and comers, the diversity and creativity of the American Craft Brewing Community has proven to be limitless. For our Grand Tasting, we will be featuring an extensive variety of these artisanally produced creations from America’s Top Breweries. Nearly 75 participating breweries from across the country are each expected to showcase 2 of their finest offerings (about 150 beers total) with a strong emphasis on their Limited Release and Seasonal selections. Taste the flavors of the season in liquid form.
We also expect to have exciting representatives from the Home Brewers Community in attendance.

CONNOISSEUR CLUB:

A very limited access lounge area in which to relax with flowing taps of some perennial favorites highlighted by a select grouping of extremely rare and limited offerings. This area will be available to our Connoisseurs for the full 3 1/2 hour session. Connoisseurs will also have the opportunity to mingle in this relaxed environment with brewery representatives and industry experts. Light fare and music included.

Tickets

SAVOR Ticket Sale Dates

-American Homebrewers Association and Brewers Association Member Presale:
Tuesday, April 3 – 10:00 a.m. MST

-General Public Ticket Sale:
Thursday, April 5 – 10:00 a.m. MST

A limited supply of tickets will be available for presale exclusively to members of the American Homebrewers Association and the Brewers Association beginning April 3. The presale will be available for members until the end of day Wednesday, April 4 or until all presale tickets are sold. The remaining tickets will be available for the general public beginning April 5.

All tickets to SAVOR 2012 will be made available via Ticketmaster.

Ticket Prices

1. SAVOR General Admission Ticket (Friday OR Saturday): $120 (limit of 4 per night, per customer)
2. SAVOR Salon & Private Tasting Tickets: $30 (General Admission ticket purchase required. Limit of 4 per customer.)

General admission tickets to SAVOR include the following:

• Craft beer and food pairings—a variety of small plate food items and two-ounce tastings of nearly 150 different craft beers specifically paired to illustrate how well craft beer and food complement one another.
• Unlimited non-alcoholic beverages.
• A variety of artisan cheese samples provided by members of the American Cheese Society.
• A variety of oysters on the half shell provided by The Choptank Oyster Company.
• The opportunity to meet and talk with the owners/head brewers of the 74 participating craft breweries.
• A commemorative tasting glass.
• An event program with room for tasting notes.
• A commemorative limited edition beer to take home.

Does a Post on Wine Get Me Kicked Out of the Club?

My dad and I made a trip out to Hunter Valley today. It's a few hour drive from Sydney and if you're a wine drinker, it is certainly worth the drive. I've never been to Napa Valley but it is what I would imagine Napa Valley is; you drive 100 feet and you end up at the next vineyard. We had 3 wine tastings on the trip (someone else was driving). The first stop was at Brokenwood. We tried a couple different semillons, which were very light in flavor and a little acidic. Both are great for a hot summer day and pair well with seafood. We also tried a chardonnay stored in Australian(?) Oak as opposed to American Oak. The flavor of the oak was much less pronounced; something I found to benefit the wine. We went through a couple reds that were honestly forgettable and finished with a port. The port was fantastic. Unfortunately, you can't purchase this port in the US and I'm not about to lug a bottle of wine around with me on vacation. It had a great sweet flavor to it. Almost too sweet, but not. It'd be perfect to finish dinner. The next tasting we had was with lunch. I can't remember the vineyard and no one really spoke to us about the wines. Straight up forgettable. Moving on…. We then went to Oakvale. I enjoyed a couple wines this vineyard served. There was a semillon sauvignon blanc (mixture of the semillon and sauvignon blanc) that gave a bit more body to the semillon without adding too much of a different flavor. I would buy a bottle of this wine. There was also a chambourcin that was made of the chambourcin grapes. Apparently, these particular grapes press with such a red color that the wine doesn't have to be fermented with the skin and seeds. This means there are less tannins in the resulting product…less pucker and less headache. I enjoyed the flavor of the wine in general so I think I would try this guy again given the opportunity. The last wine that we tried was a muscat. It was quite similar to the port in that it was very sweet and a great after dinner wine. I think I enjoyed this more than the port though because there were notes of raisins in this wine that were quite prevalent. You got the taste of fruit cake, which you may think is gross but isn't so bad when you're drinking this wine. I will likely order some wines from the Brokenwood vineyard as they have a distributor in the US and the order process seems to be pretty straight forward. Let me know if you'd be interested in getting in on my order.
Cheers,
Tim

James Squires Amber Ale

I'm drinking a James Squires Amber Ale right now. I asked for a nice local brew at this pub in Sydney Harbor...I didn't get a good look from the bartender so it worried me a bit that they didn't have any good brewers here. I would expect otherwise. Anyway, I ended up with this ale. It's got a nice, full body with a slightly bitter flavor and a dry finish. It's nice. I'd have it again but I wouldn't go out of my way to get it. Good session ale.
Cheers for now,
Tim

Monteith's Original Ale

I was told that the beer to try while in Auckland is Monteith's. I tried their Original Ale while I was out for Thai that night. It tasted a bit thin for what I would want. I had hoped for something a little heartier. I suppose there is a Dark that I could try. I'm not sure whether it's a porter or a stout but I would imagine it has a fuller body. The bartender in the Ice House that I'd visited earlier that day, and, yes, the bar was made of ice, had suggested Monteith's. Side note: the Ice House was pretty neat. I would have gotten a picture but I wasn't allowed a camera inside and I didn't really want to pay $10 for a photo. Anyway, Monteith's is worth a try if you find yourself in Auckland.
Cheers,
Tim

Another St. Louis Field Trip

This past Saturday, the St. Louis crew took another field trip. This time we went to the Urban Chestnut Brewing Company. UCBC was founded almost 1 year ago and has gone from brewing once every other week to three or four times per week. They are located in an old car repair garage from the 1920's, and have recently expanded through a couple walls so they can start bottling their beers. All of their beers fall into one of two families: Revolution and Reverence. The Revolution series is all about brewing new and interesting modern American beers like Hoppy von Pilsmark (a German Pilsner hopped up to be a DIPA). The Reverence series is a celebration of classic European styles like Zwickel (classic German lager) and Apotheosis (Saison). We were also fortunate to be able to try their new single hop IPA straight from the tank.

100 Best Beer Bars in the US

3 bars from the DC area make it into the top 100 best beer bars in the US.

Cheers from Auckland,
Tim

2nd Annual drS Beer Tournament

1st place:
Julius Echter - Hefe-Weiss-Dunkel (dark wheat)
Wurzburg, Germany

2nd place:
Penn Dark - Lager
Pittsburgh, PA

3rd place:
Hobgoblin - Dark English Ale
Oxfordshire, England

Heavy Seas Beer Dinner

Heavy Seas Beer Dinner
January 17, 2012 – starting around 7 in the evening

Heavy Seas ahead! Captained by our friends at Heavy Seas, and executed by our beer dinner crew at Granville Moore’s, prepare yourself for a night of crazy beers (including a cask of Loose Cannon “tweaked” by our Beverage Director Matt LeBarron & Chef Teddy), amazing food, and lots of “ARRRRG”ing.

We are still working on getting some of the more rare Heavy Seas beers, so this menu is more than likely going to change. But if anything, it’ll only be better!

MENU

Holy Sheet Uber Abbey
French Onion Soup, Gruyere, Pork Belly Croutons

Small Craft Warning Uber Pils
Cured Hamachi, Grapefruit, Fried Sunchokes, Chive Oil

Loose Cannon IPA
Sharp Cheddar Fondue, Raw Beef, Bread, Apples and House Made Hot Sauce

Peg Leg Imperial Stout
Pan-Seared Snapper, Fingerling Potatoes, French Beans, Vanilla-Imperial Stout Cream Sauce

Marzen
Warm Smoked Duck Breast, Brussels Sprout “Kraut,” Potato Cake, Toasted Fennel and Red Chili Butter

Really Loose Cannon (Matt & Teddy’s Creation)
Paired with *something special*

To lay claim to ye spot at the feast, give us a shout at the restaurant at 202.399.2546.