Aaron B is throwing a festivus for the rest of us to say goodbye to Sarah P's, sister, Rachel, who has spent the last week here. To honor her send off, I pulled an 'expedition' ale out of the fridge. I'm incredibly excited to try this, as Drake's is one of my favorite breweries. I'm hoping this red ale, like Rachel, will be the younger sister of the hoppier and stronger Denoggonizer, which is one of my favorite 'pleasure beers.' David and I have to always ask the other when buying beers, if it's a day beer - for the blog - or a pleasure beer, which is something we've already drunk and won't count for that day. At 315+ beers, we rarely drink pleasure beers because we're already swimming in ale.
Between Aaron and David, I'm surrounded by excellent cooks and I'm eagerly looking forward to dinner. What awaits us is shrimp seviche in sliced cucumbers, scallop salad and flank stank with a balsamic vinaigrette reduction. Everything is delicious, and I had thirds of the flank steak. Yes please thank you much fat kids rule.
The Expedition Red Ale clocks in at 60 IBU's and 7% alcohol, compared to the Denoggonizer's 90 IBU and 9.75% but the Red holds it's own. It's not as intense as the Denog, but this is a good thing. The caramel flavor is medium rich and the sweetness doesn't last long, quickly replaced by a roasted flavor that isn't too bitter. The problem with red ales is they tend to be overtly sweet because in order to create that caramel flavoring, you have to use a high percentage of caramel malt. Drake's fixed this by adding a small amount of roasted malt to their grain bill. Some people just do what they do well, and Drake's has another winner. I plan on adding this to my small list of 'pleasure' beers. THE ROCK rating.
David finishes off the main meal with broiled sea bass. For dessert, Jessica grilled peaches and chopped walnuts while David delivered homemade whipped cream, whipped with awkward enthusiasm by David himself...That boy certainly loves a brisk churning.
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| YUM |
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