Who knew UNO (2/2)...

And for only $5, who can stop at only 1 flight... Left to right (with a bit more beer induced detail) Port Wipe Out (IPA): malty, smooth, a session if you can consider a 7 percent IPA (3) Maine Zoe Ale (Red Ale): nice strong red, little bitter, easy to drink (4) 7.2 ABV Founders Dirty Bastard (scotch ale, wee heavy): smooooooth, nice head, good mouthfeel, you'd mistake it for a nitro (never go wrong with a Founders) (2) 8.5 ABV Lagunitas Sucks: as good as it gets; smooth, smooth mouth feel, not bitter but you know your drinking an IPA (1) 7.85 ABV

Who knew UNO (1/2)...

UNO's, yes UNO's pizzeria, is where I found an awesome beer menu with flights of 4/4-ounce pours for only $5. The only thing that got me to this Deptford, NJ location was a site visit at Philadelphia airport and the fact it was next to my hotel. Left to right, parenthetical numbers mark my rating: Wyerbacher big Erns IPA: smooth, slight malty sweetness; smooth hop overtone (3) Wyerbacher Double Simcoe: smooth, easy drinking, limited hop aroma (4). (Wyerbachers were almost the same beer) Great Lakes Chill Wave: slight grapefruit aroma, smooth grapefruit flavor, not bitter (1) DuClaw Serum: smooth, no bitter aftertaste, slight Malty sweetness (2)

May Meeting Results

Jorge picked up this months beers.  The theme was wheat.  The winner was Widmer Bros Hefe.  Bells Oberon came and 2nd and Hoegaarden 3rd.  The Hoegaarden was described as too clovey though cloves are not noted on the bottle.  Some thought the Hoegaarden would be better on a colder day.

2014 DrS Kickoff

March came in like a lion and so did the inaugural 2014 DrS Beer Club. Though attendance was down, spirits were high as we tasted 4 Belgian style beers: Ommegang Abbey Al (Winner), New Belgium brewery’s Trippel, Westmalle Trappist Tripel, and Devil’s Backbone’s Azrael Belgian style. These robust ales provided a fitting tie-in to what we hope was the last snow of the spring of 2014. Ommegang was the runaway winner with a true dark abbey ale color (deep brown), taste (yeasty), and finish (slight hop overtones), with New Belgium’s Trippel coming in a close second. Prost.

New Brews

In case you were wondering when the next great Space Bar will open, check this out - a list of active brewery permit applications by state.  Virginia had a net year-over-year increase of 21 new permitted breweries while Georgia only had 9.  California had 128.  On the East Coast, it looks like a road trip is in order for New York, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Florida.

Beer Drone

When this does get approved, I fully expect deliveries of home brew from both C. Woodley and J. Carter to somehow make the 1000 mile trek to my house on a weekly basis, at a minimum.

Habanero Pale Ale Brewing

We started brewing around 1pm on Saturday.  We've been discussing a chili beer for a while and finally settled on a recipe a few weeks ago.  It's a pretty simple recipe but the habanero complicated things since we've never used them before.  Ended up using one pepper that we took the seeds and pulp out of.  Cascade and Citra hops were used.  We'll dry hop with them as well.  After pitching we took a gravity reading and found that we were 0.01 below our planned OG.  To get the OG up to a more acceptable level, we added 1 lbs of DME to 0.25 gallons of water then added it to the bucket.  Hope that didn't screw things up too much.  The wort had the flavor we wanted; fruity up front with a spicy finish.  Hopefully, it will stay that way after fermentation.  If the spicyness isn't where we want it, we'll add a little Habanero to the secondary.