Hanger 24 Altbier makes itself comfortable with a Father's Office burger

For our traditional Thursday night brew with Karl, we're at The Father's Office in Culver City with Karl, Laua, Nick G, Nic and AJ for some amazing burgers and brews. This burger never gets old!

We tried an "Altbier" at the brew store while picking up supplies for my last homebrew, the Heisenberg, and tonight I figure it could compliment the burger.

Here is the definition of an "Altbier" from beeradvocate.com

A Düsseldorf specialty, an Altbier is a German style brown ale, the “alt” literally translates to "old" in German, and traditionally Altbiers are conditioned for a longer than normal periods of time. Other sources note that "alt" is derived from the Latin word "altus," which means "high" and refers to the rising yeast. Take your pick, but the extended conditioning mellows out the ale's fruitiness and produces an exceptionally smooth and delicate brew.

Brown ale is the perfect pairing for meat! Deliciousness prevails. The beer has a clean and subtle lager-like profile. I'm tasting toffee and caramel and a bit of heavy roast/chocolate at the end. If I owned a restaurant, I would pimp this style of beer out (if I could find my hands on any - who else makes this style?). TRANSFORMERS rating.

Great to see everyone tonight! Goodbye March and hello April.

Lost Abbey Devotion inspires me to do exactly that - next time

I have 10 minutes to run into the Surly Goat before grinding my way through Hollywood traffic for a free screening of HOP (not a documentary on my favorite beer component, Hops, but rather that Easter Bunny movie starring Russell Brand). It's hard to say NO to anything with FREE in the subject line, even after college.

9 minutes and counting, the quarterback is going with a hot route and looking for some Devotion from the Featured Beer board.

I see many Lost Abbey beers but have never really tried them. The Devotion is a Belgian Pale Ale with 6.25% alcohol. 7 minutes and counting. It has a hefty belgian body and it's kinda how I expect the movie to go - mellow and relatively smooth, pleasing with your standard doughy notes.


3 minutes. Towards the end, I'm realizing how sweet it is and I'm picking up some great spice. The spice saves this beer and makes it different from other Belgian Pales. I'm glad I slowed down and was able to taste it. I like this brew, it's worth taking a glass on it. TRANSFORMERS rating.

(I was totally on time for the flick but wasn't a fan of it. Guess I finally grew up and I'm not a Toy-R-Us kid anymore)

Hermitage Ale of the Hermit should return from whence he came

A lot of people buy wine bottles solely based on the wine label. I suppose if you know nothing about wine then go with what's pretty, right? I followed suit in selecting this beer. There's a funny little man on front label with scoliosis. He probably made this beer to help pay for his mdeical bills, which practically makes me a humanitarian...in some alter-reality.

The Ale of the Hermit is pretty malty and has the qualities of an amber or brown ale. This reminds me of an ale my college friend Fuentes would drink. He likes brown ales and also dressed up as a Mexican Hobbit one Halloween. I feel like this brew is more a Bilbo than a Frodo. There isn't much here though (nothing against hobbits, of course). The Island rating.

Upon further investigation online, I discover it's a Double IPA. What the nards? David and I both thought this was a brown or amber ale, or even possibly a Scottish beer. That was coming from two people who drink a shameful amount of IPA's and they didn't guess that this is a DOUBLE IPA!

Apparently hermits are very confused about style, beer and fashion wise. This hermit probably wears 80's parachute pants with an Native American Headdress, like MC Hammer on Mescaline. Speaking of crazy, he also apparently he makes an IPA that exudes few IPA characteristics. This hermit is insulting to every other recluse. Boo, go back to your cave dwelling Downgraded to TRANSFORMERS 2.

Now OBI-WON KENOBI, he was a hermit!

Bootlegger's Golden Chaos delivers just what the doctor perscribed

I'm back from an evening Krav Maga class (martial arts) where I spent the last hour bear hugging people and learning how to defend against it. I need a drink and a shower badly (in that order). Karl is here to kill some zombies on Call of Duty and there's a big tasty brew in the fridge from a local brewery we love to visit (3 times and counting). The shower can wait.

Let me talk about this picture for a second: I mean, yeah, I'm sure girls find this cute and all...but really, WTF? Also, don't lions eat their young? Realize this magazine exists solely to sell statues for your garden. I want to meet the person whose flowerbed has a statue that depicts elements of a Serengeti wildlife refuge. Right now!

Anywho, this brew is quite pleasing. It's a Belgian Strong Pale ale by style but it's also very sweet and doughy. Duvel is a Belgian Strong Pale, but this falls more into the category of a North Coast Pranqster, which is the same style but a very different looking and tasting beer (also one of our favorites). It's a little cloudy and with the thick bread characteristics, it's reminiscent of a German Hefe. And thank you for the 8.5% alcohol (heyohh). I like it. It's very drinkable and fairly unique. A (high) TRANSFORMERS rating.

You can pick it up in SoCal at your local Whole Foods. Can't wait to get back to the Bootleggers brewery!

Dogfish Head Aprihop and my Belgian Red Home Brew make for a Funday Sunday

The day has come! Hoorayyy! Belgian Red, my first real experimental beer, is ready to drink. This was me when I woke up. David was Paul Pierce, the guy just running around after sinking a game winning shot:

So here is the Belgian Red Recipe. I have to say, it pours beautifully. Many home brews don't have great carbonation, but look at how much head it pours with! Awesomeness.

David says that you could have told him that this was the Belgian IPA we brewed and he would believe it. The IBU's are only at 50, opposed to the 80+ we have in our Belgian, but it's still quite hoppy. David also said, and I have to quote him because I'm proud, that the beer's "good quality exhibits my experience." Happy to report I'm getting better and not worse with age. Score.

Tell you what, it's different than I expected but I'm still very happy with it and it tastes delicious. The color pours beautifully but the flavor doesn't scream red ale, rather, the beer exhibits some light caramel flavors and the sweetness of a Belgian strong ale. There is considerably less caramel flavor than a Belgian Dubbel but there's definitely considerably more caramel than a Belgian Golden. I was hoping for a more "red" flavor profile, but this was the first recipe and I'll add more caramel notes next time. Otherwise, I'm VERY excited to share this with people in the coming weeks. It's tasty.

After sampling, we went onto "sample" more beer with Christine who is up from Newport and with Sara. It's time for a little Sunday Funday.

We checked out a bier garden on the Venice boardwalk. It's been a while since I've strolled the chaos that is Venice beach and I forgot how entertaining it is - that and how many dogs there are int he world. David brought Kamari (under the table in the picture above) and we settled in for a pitcher of Erdinger Dunkel, German puffed pasta and mozzarella sticks ordered by yours truly (not very German of me).

Sunday Funday continued with Sangria at Primitivo Wine Bistro. Guess what else is on Abbott Kenney? The Other Room. The beer of the day is now 3 out of 4 days from this bar. Starting to run out of options...Psych! Their menu is Laaarge.

Even though I know nothing about apricots (I have no idea what they smell or look like), I welcome any beer that can incorporate unusual elements in to make a balanced brew. Sam Caligione is the king of this, so I'm very excited to taste this.

I'm trusting Christine and Sara to help me out with the aroma. They say the Aprihop smells like a bag of dried apricots and weed. HA, silly girls - that's Dogfish Heads signature HOPS. But to be fair, hops are a distant cousin of the green cheeva that is so prevalent in this area. I blame it on the hippies. The fruit in this beer is very well balanced with the hops. I'm not a fan of fruit beers but I love this because the fruit and hops are so subtle. It's simply a well made beer. THE ROCK rating.

David announced that his next beer will be an Imperial Red, like Drake's Denoggenizer. I'm going to use my tax refund money like Ninkasi (the Sumerian goddess of fermentation) would want me too and invest in equipment to brew my first partial-mash beer. Time to step up home brewing a notch and get serious about this!

Hop Juice Left Coast is the strong sizzurp I need for a Fried Saturday

This is more of a social post than beer post, but sometimes that's what happens. Saturday I headed over to Aaron B's to meet David and co, I pickup some Hop Juice because this is what awaits me:

Yeah, that happened. Aaron has a deep fryer I didn't know about and they cooked up fried pickles, fried duck, and some amazing fried catfish, which was David's handiwork. 

Everyone was on the couch moaning about how the fried food took a toll on them but I paid them no heed. Turned out to be the wrong call and my stomach hated me later, but you only live once. Guess which food was on deck? Twinkies? No, we're still hungry - so why wait?

Fried Snickers!

Snickers give you wings..?

Pretty gnarly right? Pretty weird that the Snickers grew little mutant fried stumps. Those are fried Blintzes on the right. Both were really gooey and delicious. At the end of the evening though, I felt like there was a brick in my stomach

Anywho, beer time. Hop Juice is a solid DIPA. Alcohol clocks in at 9.9% alcohol and you can definitely taste it. As far as the hops go, it has a big bite which social IPA drinkers may not enjoy, but the hop enthused will dig. ARMAGEDDON rating. Between the alcohol and the hops, it's just the big beer I needed for all this fried nonsense.

David went to a Clippers game so I got to take Kamari for a stroll on Abbott Kenney, the best walkin street in Venice. I love dog-sitting that dog. I had more beer at The Other Room later, including Maredsous 8 and Arrogant Bastardo.

Fried meat, fried dessert, good dog and good beer. Awesomeness prevails.

Best dog ever

Kern River Just Outstanding IPA is as advertised

I'm fairly weary of beer names that tout a purported some sort of self-descriptive (see my article on HopStoopid), but Kern River has a reason to thump their chest, they made a great session IPA.


I promised last week that I'd show you the Unhappy Goat, so without further ado--

This guy looks like a....Saul. Saul the Surly Goat. Sounds right.

Foosball game is in full swing. The IPA is right around my favorite alcohol level, 6.8%. Not too much, not too little. There's a pretty big hop bite but I like it! It's like a distinctive bourbon, like Bookers. It's not for everyone, but those who like a bite and hair on their chest, love it (like this guys). This is the perfect IPA for Hop Heads who like that bite. THE ROCK rating.

Also, this video inspires me in so many ways:

World's Greatest Beer Fetching Dog

Green Flash Double Stout goes big and doesn't go home

With David, Karl, Tiff and Tierney gathered at The Other Room after work, I feel like it's going to be a big night. Tiffany is drinking Chimay for the first time (big step! Chimay is many peoples' 'gateway' or 'enlightenment beer), Karl is being bold with the Oaked Arrogant Bastard and David and I are going big with a Double Stout (8.8% alcohol). Green Flash is well known for their IPA's, but I know nothing about the rest of their game.

This stout is liquid dessert! A heavy chocolate aroma and flavor profile. It's dank, very rich but nicely balanced. 

Midway through the pint, the chocolate is a little overwhelming but it's still enjoyable. This would be AMAZING as a beer float. Amazing. THE ROCK rating.

While I've been typing this out, the conversation has turned to bulldykes for some reason. Time to wrap this post up and focus on what's important....


POST SCRIPT - After The Other Room, Karl had a hankering to buy some Pranqster at Whole Foods and eat it with a burger at their bar. Unfortunately, Whole Foods thwarted our plans by revealing a brand new rule that forbids customers from buying a bottle of beer and bringing it to their bar (which only has 4 beers on tap). Karl is ingenious and he grabbed a bottle and 5 seafood chowder cups. Before long we were drinking the delicious golden nectar in my car in the parking lot, like we were back in high school. Actually, I never drank in high school so I suppose the experience is long overdue (we also paid a neighborhood street urchin to keep a lookout for the Fuzz, obvi). Soon after we were diving into enchiladas and $2 Dos Equis at La Cabana. And just like Keyser Soze, my one drink-a-night streak was gone. The streak lasted 10 days. It's far longer than I would've given myself though, HA. Baby steps Walker, baby steps.

Tiff and Tierney enjoy Pranqster a la Chowder

Ninkasi Total Domination IPA bogarts my affection

I've had three other Ninkasi's and love'm all. I dig their company name; Ninkasi is the Sumerian Goddess of Fermentation, which is rad because Sumerians literally worshiped their beer (I could actually tell you why, thanks to reading "A History Of The World In Six Glasses"). The company motto is:

Beer is a staple of civilization. Worship the Goddess.

Love'n it! Great motto. The company has thus far excellent consistency in their brews and their Tricerahops, their double IPA, really grabbed me and I've been unable to let them out of my mind since. This is their standard IPA and guess how excited I am to drink it---

That and I got a new haircut. What up!

The color is is slightly more golden than typical American IPA's and the taste reflects a more subdued caramel profile. It's 6.7% alcohol and 65 IBU and the brew has a well balanced malt and hop combination. This would pair excellent with food and wouldn't overwhelm the palate. This has everything I look for in an easy drinking IPA. It's $4 for a 22oz bomber at BevMo. I love this company, the beer, the energy behind it and especially the motto (my nerdness is showing again). Pick this up and you won't be disappointed. THE ROCK rating.

New Belgium Le Terroir is a sour b-b-b-b-bomb

After funghi pizza dinner at Jones in Weho with an old friend JBo, I get a call from David who wants to have our beers out of the apartment tonight. Luckily I'm moments away from beer haven Surly Goat and I drag Jen there with me to catch the Lakers triple overtime game.

It's a Warhead on steroids; a supernova of exploding sourness. It's incredibly tart and mildly refreshing. Guess what? I really, really don't like tart beers. I like trying new things, however, there has been only one sour ale which I consumed exactly halfway through the year (Lips of Faith Erics Ale) that has ever successfully wooed me. I will keep drinking American Wild Ales for the experience, but not the pleasure. THE ISLAND rating.

Gulden Draak makes it a solid night of leftovers

Thanks to Matt M, who weeks ago was gentlemanly enough dropped off this bottle of Golden Draak. It's a holdover from another month, so it's fitting that I'm munching some leftover Singapore Noodles from Chin Chin. Spicy food typically goes well with IPA's but Belgian's are the ultimate all-purpose beer. Thanks Matt!

The Draak is an unusual style of beer, a dark tripel. Usually dark Belgians are dubbels, but this brew clocks in at 10.5% so it's officially a tripel. Yayyy and the drinkers rejoiced for there was much booze to be had within the Draak.

Right off the bat, I have an issue with the brew. It's super carbonated - overwhelmingly so. Even after allowing time to dissipate - which sucks cause I need some liquid to put out the fiery Singapore noodles - it's still dominates the flavor profile. Wading through it, I love the sweet caramel notes and with time, I'm tasting the fruity dubbel properties. 

This beer is well known, but I still can't break past how carbonated this is. It's a great dessert or special occasion beer for sure, but the carbonation personally stops me from drinking this every day. TRANSFORMERS rating

Ringwood Double Thumper is twice the rainy day medicine

It's been POURING all and night, and there is nothing better after a long and glorious but rainy Sunday Funday than coming home to an 11.2% beer. It warms the body and nourishes the soul. Even better, we had this guy's little brother last week and it was delicious (Ringwood Old Thumper ESA). Double the trouble?! 

The best rainy day solution is a really strong boar...I mean beer

Stone essentially made their Double Bastard the bigger, meaner, bolder brother of the Arrogant Bastard. Shipyard follows suit with the Double Thumper and the result is a brew that becomes closer in style to an English Barleywine than an ESB. The caramel notes are more noticeable, with hints of toffee and for such strong alcohol, this beer is too easy to drink. The Double Thumper isn't as delicious as the original Thumper, but I loved it nonetheless for its boldness and ...medicinal properties...so I'm bestowing THE ROCK rating.

Also, saw BATTLE LA today and it was a trip to watch aliens invade the coastline I live on. The police station Aaron Eckhart's team has to rescue and the street of Lincoln that is the first major defense line, are all part of my daily life. And I hate to say it, but if aliens invade, I AM TOAST. David and I will probably have to make a great escape in his kayak; make a run through their blockade. Right...Well, at least we'll probably be drunk on good home brew. Party.

Estrella Damm Inedit goes well with shrooms after transferring some home brew

Oh Saturday, I love thee. Time is on my side today. In one week from now, I'm able to taste my Belgian Red. But today, I'm charged with transferring my Heisenberg's American Wheat that I brewed last Sunday (Heisenberg's American Wheat Home Brew) from the bucket to the carboy. The sample tastes fine, but it's a little early still to draw assumptions. However, let the record state that I'm patting myself on the back for the temperature control exerted while this is fermenting. I've definitely been sleeping in what little cold weather clothes I own. The Kolsch yeast works best between 55 and 70 degrees, but the first 24 hours after brewing I brought the temperature up to 72 degrees (to get the yeast working). Then over the course of the week I've slowly decreased the temperature in my room to from 72, to 70 and down to 66. When it's in the carboy I'll sustain a 64 degree temperature and Let It Ride like Bachman-Turner Overdrive.


I realized this is my 4th home brew in as many months, and I've never posted a picture of the trub. You'll see why in a second. Trub is the output of the yeast interaction with the fermentables and what's left after transferring the brew to the carboy. It's essentially heavy fats, proteins and inactive yeast. If left in the bucket for too long, the trub can impart off-flavors.

Yep. Like staring into Satan's butthole

So in transferring the beer to the carboy, we separate it from the trub and allow it to settle, which creates additional color clarity in the beer and precludes the trub from imparting any off flavor. 

Wallah!

So now I wait a week or two and then bottle it. It should settle to become a dark yellow - light gold color.

Nick G is coming over for dinner and that means a guys night out filled with Chile con Queso, Steaks, Beer and Mush-Shrooms.

Unlike David, I rarely cook nice meals but fortuitously for me, this beer was actually created to be paired with food. Hailing from Spain, they probably thought we'd be pairing it with more complex food but whatever, American Steak rules. Also, Estrella has a beautiful bottle and I love its shape.

It pours a golden goodness and it's malty smooth. The Damn Inedit is a wit / lager chimera and it definitely has the wit spicy floral and citrus notes and finishes like a sweet lager. They were right about pairing this with food, but steak wasn't the best choice.

Problem is, the beer is decently unique but it never really grabbed me. If this beer was a stranger, it would be someone who had a great ice breaker but was a mediocre conversationalist. Still, it's worth introducing yourself to one mister Estrella Damm Inedit. ARMAGEDDON rating.

Iron Fist Velvet Glove is pretty heavy metal - also is beer 225

Iron Fist Velvet Glove sounds like a Black Sabbath cover band. It also sounds dark, mysterious and a little sexy, right? Well so are Imperial Stouts that clock in at 9%. They're the new red-headed secretaries. You heard it here first.

Stay tuned because next week I'll reveal the face of the Surly Goat! Really wild stuff going on here at MilkisforBabies

I'm definitely starting to appreciate stouts more and more. When I first began the year, stouts were one of my least favorites but not anymore. Smelling a solid chocolate and roasted malt aroma. The alcohol presence is very strong and almost distracting. Still, it's smooth and delicious and an incredibly drinkable imperial stout. BAD BOYS rating.

In a feat of Herculean proportion, I nursed the Velvet Glove for over 2 hours! I'm holding strong to my 1 drink a night rule. Color me impressed (with myself). Thankfully, I had plenty of distractions to turn my attention toward. Props to Don who brought some excellent Foosball players who played the most competitive games I've had here. Lovin' it. And Lisa Z joined the fun at the end of the evening. Another great Friday night at the Goat!

P.S.
Today is a mildly significant milestone and I'm happy to celebrate it at my favorite weekly watering hole, the Surly Goat. The Velvet Glove was beer number 225. 225 days in a row of nourishing beer. That's kinda sumpthin. This is such a great year, so many great experiences with and because of beer. 141 to go...

Guinness for strength!

We don't usually drink beers as widely distributed as Guinness on our beereveryday quest, but it's St. Patty's day, what did you expect?!

My tribute to all things Irish. Specifically fighting and drinking. A timeless photo my parents are certain to scrapbook

We arrived at The Daily Pint and met Karl K, Ned, Andrew G and his friends Jordan and Monica. Even though the group was surrounded by sweat, drunk douchebags, the night turned excellent. We quickly took over the shuffleboard table. Hall and Oates came on the jukebox and it was on like Donkey Kong. First game was epic (have to brag because it was gangster), and I threw what people like this guy (see above) are calling the "Shuffleboard Toss Heard Round The World." A game winning throw with the final puck around Ned's barrier puck to knock his 3 pointer out and mine in. It was - wait for it -

LEGENDARY. We played two more games, all electrifying games of course, and mingled with the other locals. Tiffany, Matt, Tierney and Bryce showed up and took over the table. With steely resolve and I succeeded in not breaking my 'more than one beer a day rule.' I'm still surprised and personally impressed that I've gone a whole 4 days only drinking a single beer per day. I suppose with beer it's always been one day at a time, and not the amount has simply changed.

Anywho, Happy St. Patty's Day!

One of my favorite Guinness slogans

Ringwood Old Thumper Extra Special is simply that

David picked this up from Beverage Warehouse. It's an English Extra Special Ale that is brewed on American soil under an unwavering British eye of a Ringwood brewery (UK) employee. Why not brew it in England with the rest of their batch? Because they're sticklers for quality and the time it takes to ship is across the pond would drastically reduce it. It's the same reason why Stone is planning to unveil a European brewery in Belgium later this year. Apparently Old Thumper here is on the forefront of the British revival of traditional ales. I haven't tasted a many English ales so this is kinda exciting. Clearly, I'm a huge nerd. 

The closest remnants of a thumper I own are in the form of Kangaroo Testicles. Judging by the jewels I'm sure he was a handsome fella...

I would love to be in England and order this from a pub (since I'm an ill-informed American tosser, I can only assume this style of beer is served in pubs). I think it's delicious. It smells of vanilla, however, their website says apples, but who are you gonna believe; me or a professional? It has a tasty creamy malt (poorly phrased Walker) and has a low but well balanced hop finish. It's smooth and rich and never overwhelms you. The perfect English gentleman. Taking David's rating system, I'd say this is Michael Caine.

The brew is exceptionally British - and that's a great compliment. Pick this up to drink with your bros. THE ROCK rating.

Isn't the boar's stare on label is pretty intense AND hilarious? That boar is sinister as hell, and I'm pretty sure he was serial killer during his life. Good riddance

Abita Abbey Ale doesn't ring my bell

I'm arriving home from a dinner at the Alibi Room (the Kogi Food Truck restaurant) where I had dinner with bowling team partner Betsy and then ran into Heather G, who is always a pleasure. The first test of the 10 beers a week rule came tonight, and I passed with flying colors. Thank goodness this was a dinner and not 'drinks,' because 3 glasses of water can only get me so far. HA

For each Abbey Ale bought, 25 cents actually goes to St. Josephs Abbey. Classy move Abita!

Even in the beer, I'm surrounded by church bells ringing

Abita is well known in the south, especially for their Turbo Dog and Purple Haze wheat beer. They have a variety of beers and even make a root beer, but this their only Belgian Style entry. It's a dubbel that clocks in at8% alcohol. It has a fruity smell, caramel body that's lighter than most belgians and is slightly sweet. The light body I feel, lacks a full flavor profile, but its still a decent scrumpet. It's no Belgian Dubbel and won't make you want to ring the abbey bells, but you won't be entirely disappointed. ARMAGEDDON rating.

Stone Old Guardian Belgo is richer than chocolate cake at Taste of Texas

2011 is the first year for the Stone Brewery "Odd Beers for Odd Years” program. Consider it Stone's attempt to implement a 'gifted and talented' program. My brother Warren was in that program in elementary school and brewery Greg Koch probably was too because Stone makes incredible beer. For this Belgo Barleywine, he directed 30 barrels of the barleywine batch to the fermenter with the yeast used in the Cali-Belgique IPA. Basically they spiked the Barleywine with some Belgian yeast. Sounds crazy but could be awesome - how does this 'odd' flavor party turn out?

My mouth just imploded. This beer goes up to 11.

It's incredibly rich. I love the Old Guardian series and there's a bottle of the 2008 Barleywine under my bed for an extended aging, but this Belgo is woweee zowee. So incredibly rich! I like it, but my shirt flew off after drinking only half the glass. It happens.

For sake of creativity and in the name of interesting delights, this is a really special beer but it's not a beer I can drink every day. I like drinking this now, but it's definitely meant for a big craft brew fan. Only for the lionhearted. TRANSFORMERS rating.

...It would sure be interesting to see how the Belgian yeast and sweet caramel notes withstand time, maybe I should buy one just in case...

2011 Stone Old Guardian Barleywine, home brewing and the awesomely long post

Today is a big day, full of sunshine and life and BEER. BEER BEER BEER. I'm going to drink lots of beer while I brew one beer and bottle another. Guess what's on tap at Casa de Davis/Brooks? Goose Island Demolition Belgian Style beer for lunch. Desert will be a Bruery Loakal Red. Stone Barleywine is the beer of the day and then after we bottle and taste my Belgian Red, a flight of Home Brew Beers - King Moonracer's Revenge and the Belgian IPA (which I codenamed the 'Double Dutch Rudder'). Got a lot on my plate. Beerspeed me:

Home brewing equipment. Nice yeast pouch

Heisenberg's American Wheat: Werner Heisenberg is a renowned German physicist famous for winning the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1932 for the creation of quantum mechanics and also the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle. But for everyone else who hasn't starred on JEOPARDY, this name might be more familiar from the AMC original show BREAKING BAD. 3 time Emmy Winning actor Bryan Cranston (he's the Meryl Streep of TV) uses 'Heisenberg' as his drug dealing alter ego in the show.

The American Wheat Ale style is a very American take on a traditional German style dating back hundreds of years. An American style based on a German style deserves an equally imported name. Thus I give you, Heisenberg's American Wheat, a light and crisp wheat ale for the upcoming summer months.

Almost every American Wheat Ale recipe I researched was incredibly basic and simply used the Wheat Extract without any other fermentables or steeped grains. That sounded perfectly boring so I whipped up my own grain bill and picked out some Santa Monica farmer's market honey to spruce the recipe up.

Malt Extract:    Alexander's Wheat Extract   6 lbs
                       

Sugar:              Sage Wildflower Honey 1 lb

Grain Bill:         Caramel/Crystal Malt 10 L 6 oz
                        Caravienne Malt 4 oz                       

                        Cara-Pills 3 oz            

Hop Schedule:  Amarillo (11.0%) .35oz at 60 mins
                       Amarillo (11.0%) .35oz at 30 mins
                       Cascade (5.9%)  .75oz at 20 mins
                       Cascade (5.9%)  .67oz at 5 mins

Yeast:            Wyeast 2565 Kolsch
                    

Potential Alcohol 5.1%
33.4 IBU's 

Starting Gravity 1.051

Color is 5 SRM (Yellow to Gold).

Notes: I didn't like the attributes of an American Wheat Ale Strain (I don't want my beer to be 'tart'), so I used Kolsch, a German Yeast, and threw in American Hops. Kolsch is an interesting yeast strain because it produces quick-conditioning pseudo-lager beers and ferments well cold, but it can also ferment at warmer temperatures (like my room) at 68-70 degrees. But I really chose the yeast strain because the beer will hopefully exhibit some fruity character of an ale with a clean lager like profile. The Amarillo and Cascade hops will also bring a slight citrus and fruit flavor. That's exactly the kind of beer I want to have whilst in my hammock this summer.

Hey ladies, check out my wort cooler...Is a line I should use more often

This will be the 4th barleywine from Stone we've had - check out the other three Vertical Flight of Stone Old Guardian Barleywine - and it's hot off the press. It's really sweet still and could definitely benefit from aging. David pointed out that it's so sweet it actually tastes a little like bubble gum. Still, it's delicious and has a great hop balance. TRANSFORMERS rating.

Each Stone beer has a story or letter on the back 'label.' This barleywine has a letter from the man, the myth, and the legend, Greg Koch, the head brewer of Stone. He was sitting in a Belgian Bar discussing beer with someone very knowledgeable about the state of beer in the world. This Belgian fellow basically said that the American beer scene is number one in the world, followed by Belgium and lastly Germany, which has really fallen far from the taste tree. It reminded me of an interesting article Nick G sent me about the state of German beer which you should check out "Germany's beer culture is in decline"

It got me thinking about how fortunate I am to be exposed to so much ingenuity, to be on the forefront and experiencing a virtual revolution and explosion of the craft beer world. Plus, I live in California, near the San Diego breweries (Stone will be the first American Craft Beer to open a brewery abroad later this year, in Belgium) plus breweries like Eagle Rock, Bruery, Bootleggers, Russian River and more. Germany's beers are governed by the purity laws, and that has really suffocated their beer industry. A large number of their brewers are gravitating towards the freedom and opportunities afforded by the craft beer movement. It kinda reminds me of the 1950's and 1960's (not that I was alive), but the idea that the best and brightest turned to government organizations, such as NASA. They worked for something they believed in. The U.S. is experiencing a renaissance, and I think this was a fortunate yeart to try 365 different beers.

That being said, drinking beer all day also reminded me that I need to watch my intake least I turn into one of those Kobe Heifers. David has a 1 beer a day rule and it's time I implement it. Beerspeed me.

Kuryjebckoe Russian Lager defies explanation as to why it was imported

David picked this monster 1qt 1pint 3 fl oz plastic jug of Russian Lager for $6. This reminds me of the 1.5 liter 6 Euro bottle of Grappa my roommates bought our first weekend in Florence. It tasted like pure gasoline. Never, ever, NEVER have cheap Italian Wine Stem Liquor. One my roommates puked. Everyone spluttered, coughed drive heaved and needed a chaser. I don't even use a chaser with absinthe, but I required a quart of Turpentine to get those shots down. True story.

Will this be the same? I'm with Sara P and David at a hot tub/bbq a street down in the marina and we're gonna booze it up.

Size comparison to a Sierra Nevada

So I saw a travel channel show today on steaks and they showed an interesting video of the Kobe cows, whose meat is deliciously world famous because they are massaged and fed beer in order to be de-stressed. An unstressed cow apparently makes great beef. So the image that popped up when I drank this beer was the image of the cows being fed beer. They didn't have great table manners and excess beer and slobber was everywhere. This Russian Lager tastes like mix of Japanese beer and cattle slobber. Yum. Natty Light is Veuve Clicquot compared to this. This was one of those beers I had a terrible time finishing. But it's all in a days work on this blog. PEARL HARBOR rating.

Size comparison from one Russian to another

Cismontane Double Rainbow IPA all the way across the sky...It's almost a triple rainbow. What does it mean?

At the Surly Goat for some beer drinking and Foosball playing, and I'm having a beer that Tiffany has proclaimed delicious. Clocking in at 8.7%, it's an Imperial IPA from Rancho Margarita California, the Double Rainbow.

There is a really unique hop aroma and flavor. It's a very rich floral and citrus profile, like grapefruit. Apparently the use Citra hops, which are very hard to get your hands on if you're a home brewer (to my knowledge). I'm jealous. The result is a smooth and creamy IPA. I highly recommend you try it if you find it, it's a fascinating IPA. Onto a Improv Comedy show with Glen in Hollywood and then The Woods for a birthday party.

A Little Sumpin' Sumpin' before the Lincoln Lawyer movie premiere

Picking up my lovely date Tamara before the Lincoln Lawyer premiere and this Lagunitas is...guilty of being awesome!...

....Dammit that was cheesy but how could I not say that? It is right there!

This is the last of the international playboys (Morrissey anyone?) as well as the American Wheat beers I picked out to sample before the weekend. Lagunitas brews several different beers under the Little Sumpin' Sumpin' brand including the delicious Little Sumpin' Wild.

This Sumpin' Sumpin is a hoppy 64 IBU American Wheat ale, perfect for those summer days. But if I hadn't known this is a wheat beer I would've missed that ingredient entirely. The Wheat flavor takes a backseat to the hops and their fruity flavor. The label notes that it has "every hop that has the letter 'c' in it." Lagunitas has successfully taken a very broad style and put a West Coast Hop Heavy spin on it. Better believe I'm saving two in my fridge for an upcoming hammock day. THE ROCK rating.

Ballast Point Wahoo Wheat relies on it's good looks alone

I'm attending my first company movie premiere tomorrow night and I brought out this gem as a reminder as I pick out my shirt and suit:

In searching for beers that are of the American Wheat style, I only found a few, and this is one of them. I plan on brewing a summertime honey wheat this weekend and wanted to brush up on the style but unfortunately, this isn't a beer I want to copy.

Smelling it, I realize it's been a while since we've tasted a wheat and it smells good. I love that sweet-doughy-orange smell. The body is light light orange color. The taste doesn't live up to the smell however, and the Wahoo is rather lackluster. With this style of beer, I'm looking for drinkability. How many would of these do I want in the hammock? The answer doesn't inspire a future purchase. TRANSFORMERS 2 rating

Deschutes Hop Henge IPA is the opposite of Google TV

Deschutes advertises on their Stonehenge'd label that this IPA is an 'Experimental Ale.' They say this about their beer:

"Stonehenge is a mystery
Hop henge is a discovery. Our monument to hops"

What Dorks. I love it though. I don't get the whole experimental thing though. You know what was experimental for David and I recently? The Logitech Google TV - remember this entry - BeerEveryDay-Kevin Bacon.

The commercials had Kevin Bacon it, playing a guy obsessed with Kevin Bacon. Great commercials. We were stoked about the device and thought it'd change our lives, like the DVR, Turduckens or TIME COP...Negative Ghostrider.

This thing has more bugs than a Peruvian Rainforest. It turns the TV screen on and off, the sound hisses and buzzes, and the surround sound worked the first couple weeks but hasn't since. FAIL to the 10th power.


You know what doesn't fail and is unexperimentally delicious? This beer.

When you advertise something as 'experimental,' I'm thinking something wacky and wild. But this isn't the case. It's 9% alcohol and clocks in at 95 IBU's. For an IPA, the caramel malt base is fairly light and it covers the intense citrus and piney hops quite well.

This is a well rounded DIPA. Congratulations on being awesome but I'm confused on the experimental. The Hop Henge is as experimental as buying yellow onions instead of white onions at the grocery, or drinking in the shower opposed to the couch. This is a big bad DIPA and they should make it a 'testament' to hops and leave it at that. This is excellent as an homage to hops, why throw in words? Excitable. 

THE ROCK rating

Alaskan Barleywine Pilot Series is grandpa's old cough medicine

I have a case of the black lung, so I'm adding a nip of doctor prescribed Cheratussin to my alcohol intake, in addition to this 10.7% Bronze Medal Winner 2010 Beer Cup in the Barley Wine category from Alaskan.

By themselves, they are not strong enough, but all three of these combined will hopefully get me drunk laughing

I'm tasting dark caramel malts with brown sugar and chocolate and a dry finish. Like the codeine in the Robitussin, the alcohol is hidden well. It's a different, darker barleywine for those long Alaskan Winter Nights...? I dunno, this is only based on my recent viewing of the horror film 30 DAYS OF NIGHT. Did I mention I love Cheratussin? TRANSFORMERS rating.

Coronado Islander IPA ends a glorious day of imbibing in Malibu

Afternoon kicked off at the Ladyface Alehouse and Brasserie in Agoura Hills with Tamara, where we sampled four beers and some Brasserie food http://www.ladyfaceale.com/. We only had their pretzel (it was bomb), but their food menu looks great.

I love the look of the Alehouse, a lot of natural wood decor and the building's tones are all the same color of beer (green for hops, caramel, blonde, etc). We sampled their Blonde Ale, the Belgian Tripel, their Chesboro IPA, and their Blue Belly 2010 Barleywine. Tamara's favorite was the Tripel and she slyly nudged the taster closer and closer to her (and away from me, HA), so I turned my attention toward the IPA and Barleywine, which the later has an astounding 103 IBU.

What's interesting about the Ladyface, Ladyface, Ladyfaaaaaace Ales are that the bodies of their beers are not very heavy for being 9% + alcohol. In order to attain that much alcohol, you half to add a ton of fermentables like malt and sugar. If you add sugar, it creates alcohol without adding body to the beer. I loved the hop blend in the Chesboro IPA, but I found myself wanting a more substantial body. The 2010 Barleywine had time to age and acquired a heavier body than the 2011 and the flavor profile a unique earthy, tobacco taste. I really enjoyed it.

From here we traveled to Malibu Wine and sampled a tasting in the fog and then onto some old Malibu haunts, Malibu Yo and Moonshadows for some bourbon old-fashioned's.

I'm feeling nostalgic after the trip to Malibu. Since I haven't included a Kangaroo Balls picture in a long time, here you go. Pleasure's all mine

I wasn't impressed with our last Coronado, the Orange Wit, but the Islander is a solid IPA with strong caramel malts and hops. It's perfect as the 'I could drink this every day' IPA. As a bonus, it's 7.5% alcohol, so, it's more like 'get your buzz on every day' IPA. TRANSFORMERS rating.

Sudwerk 20th Anniversary Imperial Pilsner is on steroids

Today we cashed in our groupon to go paint-balling out in Canyon Country and IT WAS AWESOME! I'm bloody and bruised (my ankle is swollen from diving head first into bunkers) and I'm walking like a geriatric patient, but what a freaking day. None of us have played in years and we lost the first two games, but otherwise we pretty much dominated the other teams like we were the Harlem Globetrotters and they were the Washington Generals. It's the closest I'll ever get to experiencing actual Call of Duty and as a total nerd, I thought it was Sweeeet! What a rush. I'm coming back here again soon, and I'm bringing an infinite amount of paint. I'll be the guy with the codename WARLOCK.

Who's the idiot with a gun in his mouth? Oh

We're pouring Sudwerk's Imperial Pilsner, which is essentially a German Pilsner that started taking Viagra. In fact, let's go as far as saying this was me while drinking it:

It tastes excellent. I can tell it's an imperial because its body is beefier than typical pilsners in order to accommodate the increase in alcohol (7%). There is a citrus smell and a slightly sweet body, a noticeably American addition. It has that clean pilsner finish and the alcohol presence is felt but doesn't distract. It's an all around great beer. THE ROCK rating.

Afterwords, I joined Tiff at Angels Piano Bar where a New Orleans style Jazz Sextet was playing to celebrate Mardi Gras. I had a Sazerac for the first time, which is rye whiskey and absinthe, and loved it. The band thumped out a bunch of classics and a few off the b-side.

Oyo como va...

Dogfish Head Red and White is the best of both worlds

I saw the Dogfish Head Red & White ale was on tap at the Surly Goat yesterday and I knew that it'd be my beer of the day but I didn't get real excited because it's an experimental beer that's made with wine. I love it when I'm totally wrong (so yes, basically I'm love'n life all the time).


It's a big, Belgian Wit brewed with coriander and orange peel with Pinot Noir juice concentrate added with 11% aged in Pinot Noir barrels and 89% aged on oak barrel staves. Sam Caligione's expertise is incredible - how did he know it should be 11% opposed to 15 or 20%? Amazing.

What's also amazing is that the Surly Goat pours it not from a bottle but from on tap. Awesomeness prevails here.

I can smell the pinot strongly and the wine combines so well with the beer it's not even funny. It's a fantastically balanced beer. A synthesis of the wine and beer elements that is sweet with dark fruits and an easy finish. Did I mention it's 10% alcohol? Usually with beers this strong the alcohol makes it's presence known, but not here. BAD BOYS rating.

Now it's onward to Supper Club for Lisa's birthday! I'm ready to dance on some beds after this red and white.

Hair of the Dog FRED has a great personality, as I'm sure Irina Shayk does as well

I watched KICK-ASS with AJ, Nic and Tiff tonight and it was amazing! Why did it do so poorly? Anywho, I returned home and poured a Hair of the Dog 'Fred' series. Fred wasn't the owner's favorite dog or his son, the name is a tribute to legendary Fred Eckhart, Father to Aaron Eckhart (*citation needed) and it's made from organic pilsner, rye malts, and Belgian candy sugar.

Also...

HAHAHAHAHAHA, boobies

I'm hit with the distinctive smell of both the sugar and the rye. I really like the taste - a bit intense but good. It's an unexpected 'good,' like waking up in middle of night and remembering other side of the pillow is cold. I tend to not enjoy rye beers but the clean pilsner taste and sweet sugar really mellow it out. The final product is an intense but complex beer that is unlike many I've had.

Rye with the Belgian sugar and pilsner malt? That's throwing together three different European brewing styles. I can only speculate how they conceived this creation, but if it was me brewing, this is how I would've created this beer -->

--> I would've been drinking all night, four sheets to the wind, and suddenly EUREKA! A light bulb pops up hazily over my disheveled orb I call a head. "I have a wild idea for a beer, listen to this!" I proceed to tell my two drinking buddies. They look at each other perplexed, but suddenly they go wild for it. Greatest idea ever! What a humdinger! (one of my friends is from the 1930's). And we make the beer that night, absolutely tanked. Kitchen looks like a WWI No-Mans-Land battle field. In the morning, we wake up and piece the events of the night back together. My friends think that was a ridiculous idea and ridicule me for the wild beer, the awkward embraces and the oddly sexual dancing to the musical CATS ....But weeks later, we bottle the beer from that night and Booyah suckers! It's delicious! I'm calling it Fred, in honor of Fred Astaire. My friends look at each other and say, yeah okay, everything's making sense now, what with all the Broadway show-tunes and hugging. THE ROCK rating.

Achel Trappist Extra gets it on with some spicy snausage

There's a new sausage place in town and it's not in West Hollywood (heyohhh). Steingarten LA opened on the Westside near the Fox Lot on Pico Steingarten LA facebook menu.

They have great looking burgers but that isn't what we came for. Snausages. I had the wild boar with blueberries, David the Alligator and Pork and Karl the Spicy Lamb. They had our first two beer choices out on draft (it's their 2nd night, come on!). Busch league Steingarten. But Karl spotted an Abbey beer he'd never found. It's Belgian's smallest abbey and it's still brewed by actual monks. Cool right? Even better, they mark up the beer bottle prices here 2-3 times the store price but not this friar. The Achel Trappist Extra retails for $18 and sells here for $24.

Achel Extra pours a rich dark malt and has a very sweet caramel body with chocolate notes. I can taste the alcohol and it's super sweet, maybe too sweet for some people, but my sweet tooth doesn't mind. He likes it. It's a fantastic beer. I don't know where you could buy this except for Steingarten, so come check it out. BAD BOYS rating.

Regarding the food and beer pairing; my boar and berry sausage was very good but very spicy, and it contrasted nicely with the sweet Achel. 

David's gator sausage was also excellent. Karl's spicy lamb wasn't as spicy either of ours and it was fairly disappointing. Next time I'm there, I'm gonna have the Bugs Bunny (wabbit).

San Diego County Session Ale is an excellent collaboration beer after our home brew

Before tonight's beer, we tried our Belgian IPA home brew today for the first time (not inebriated by Oscar Sunday shenanigans). Everyone apparently loved it Sunday, but I wanted a perspective that didn't involve beer goggles so we cracked one open before our beer of the day:

Ain't she beautiful? Belgians have more fun

When we tasted the Belgian IPA before bottling, it didn't have the necessary malt body to balance out the hops and so it tasted overly bitter. Good news! The carbonation really shored up the body and the BIPA tastes very, very good. The hop bite has the complexity we want and the Simcoe at the beginning gives very distinctive bitterness. The beer has decent clarity, not as crystal clear as at bottling - strangely enough. I'd like a stronger hop aroma though. 

I have big plans/changes for the next batch, which I won't bother you with now, but I'll actually do the dorky thing and post my beer recipe site, where my recipes are saved. Nerd Alert. You can see the above beer receipe, the future one, and the Belgian Red Ale that's soon to be bottled which I thought up myself. http://hopville.com/brewer/recipes/milkisforbabies

Onward and upward to the beer of the day, a Collaboration between two well known San Diego breweries and the winner of the 2010 March Madness Competition, Kelsey McNair. They created a 'Golden Session Beer' that is essentialy a large production format of his award winning 'West Coast Bitter.

Stone Brewery, Ballast Point and Kelsey McNair Collaboration

This is hoptastic but isn't overwhelming. The hops are there in numbers but are mellow and spicy. It's your summer day IPA - a really enjoyable drinker. Pick this up at Whole Foods for $3.50. THE ROCK rating. I wanna make one of these now....

...One of the best perks of doing this is that every couple of weeks, I'm inspired to create something I've never done before and I soon follow through with it. How consistently does that happen in life? To use the parlance of Charlie Sheen, Beer is totally WINNING.