Happy New Year, redux

A little new beer, a little clean-out-the-fridge beer, a little not-an-actual beer.
Here's to hoping we have a happy new beer year.

Tastings:
Toppling Goliath Light Speed [94]
Samuel Adams Winter Lager [81]
Lakefront Brandy-Barrel Aged Imperial Pumpkin [90]
Left Hand Milk Stout Nitro [93]
Boulevard 2014 Chocolate Ale [84]
Smith & Forge Hard Cider [not a beer]

Links:
http://www.tgbrews.com/site/beer/lightspeed/
https://www.samueladams.com/craft-beers/winter-lager
http://www.lakefrontbrewery.com/beer/seasonals/imperial-pumpkin-ale
http://lefthandbrewing.com/beers/milk-stout-nitro/
http://www.boulevard.com/BoulevardBeers/chocolate-ale/
http://www.smithandforgehardcider.com/

Happy New Year

Tastings:
Tallgrass Vanilla Bean Buffalo Sweat [88]
Tallgrass Zombie Monkie [88]
Lagunitas Brown Shugga' [90]
Humboldt Black Xantus [93]

Links:
http://www.tallgrassbeer.com/beers/vanilla-bean
http://www.tallgrassbeer.com/beers/zombie-monkie
http://lagunitas.com/beers/brown-shugga
http://www.humboldtbrewingco.com/black-xantus

Merry Christmas Ale

Tastings:

Toppling Goliath Pseudo Sue Pale Ale [100]

Stone Enjoy By IPA 12-26-14 [99]

St. Bernardus Christmas Ale Quadrupel [95]

Tallgrass Vanilla Bean Buffalo Sweat Stout [88]

Anchor Our Special Ale (Christmas Ale) 2014 [83]

Deschutes Jubelale [89]

Links:

http://www.tgbrews.com/site/beer/psue

http://enjoyby.stonebrewing.com

http://www.sintbernardus.be/stbernarduschristmasale.php?l=en

http://www.tallgrassbeer.com/beers/vanilla-bean

http://www.anchorbrewing.com/beer/christmas_ale

http://www.deschutesbrewery.com/brew/jubelale

Pick up Some Christmas Cheer

31 of the Best and Worst Christmas Ales

Rules to Drink By

6 Rules for Attending Your First Bottle Share


10 Dos and Don'ts of Bottle-Share Etiquette

We're Thankful for Beer

The pre-Thanksgiving meet-up was our second attempt at tasting all that is Stout (or rare, or expensive, or strong) and delicious.  These beers contain hints of oak, bourbon, vanilla, mocha, chocolate, coffee, oatmeal, peppers, cocoa, spices, and even spaghetti.
Yep - that includes a breakfast, a cocktail, an entree, a beverage, a dessert, and a wooden bench to sit on.

Tastings:
Wicked Weed Dark Arts Wild Imperial Stout [98]
Alchemist Heady Topper [100]
Founders KBS (Kentucky Breakfast Stout) [100]
Tallgrass Vanilla Bean Buffalo Sweat [88]
Dogfish Head World Wide Stout [94]
Southern Tier Choklat [95]
Great Divide Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout [95]
Samuel Adams Thirteenth Hour Stout [84]
Stone Xocoveza Mocha Stout [97]
Prairie Artsian Ales/Brewfist Spaghetti Western [89]
Oskar Blues Ten FIDY [98]
Founders Breakfast Stout [100]
(yeah, that was twelve but it's rude to count)

Links:
http://www.wickedweedbrewing.com/beer/our-beers/#barrel-aged-beers
http://alchemistbeer.com
http://foundersbrewing.com/our-beer/kbs
http://www.tallgrassbeer.com/beers/vanilla-bean
http://www.dogfish.com/brews-spirits/the-brews/occassional-rarities/world-wide-stout.htm
http://www.stbcbeer.com/black-water/choklat
http://greatdivide.com/beer/seasonal/yeti-clan/yeti-clan-oct-dec/oak-aged-yeti-imperial-stout
https://www.samueladams.com/craft-beers/thirteenth-hour
http://www.stonebrewing.com/collab/xocoveza
http://www.brewfist.com/index/en/birra/show/spaghetti-western.html
http://prairieales.com/beers
http://brew.oskarblues.com/ob-beers/seasonals/ten-fidy
http://foundersbrewing.com/our-beer/breakfast-stout

Stats for the Day:
12 beers tasted
10.22 average ABV
10 participants
212.3 ounces of beer
2.1 fl. oz. of alcohol ea.

Clean out the Fridge

Management is at an off-site meeting = Good reason to have a Beer Club meeting

Tastings:
Lagunitas Sucks (Brown Shugga Substitute Ale) [97]
Other Various Odds & Ends

Links:
http://lagunitas.com/beers/sucks

To Those Who are Stout

We celebrated Veterans' Day by tasting a few strong, able-bodied stouts.  From Buffalo to Dragon, and from Milk to Bourbon, we got our Merkin Sweaty with this batch of fine stout beers.

Tastings:
4 Hands Chocolate Milk Stout [89]
Tallgrass Buffalo Sweat Oatmeal Cream Stout [87]
New Holland Dragon's Milk Bourbon Barrel Stout [90]
Firestone Walker Velvet Merkin 2013 Bourbon Barrel Oatmeal Stout [96]


Links:
http://4handsbrewery.com/our-beers
http://www.tallgrassbeer.com/beers/buffalo-sweat
http://newhollandbrew.com/our-beer/dragons-milk
http://www.firestonebeer.com/beers/products/velvet-merkin

Style of the Day
Stout: Stout is a dark beer made using roasted malt or roasted barley, hops, water and yeast. Stouts were traditionally the generic term for the strongest or stoutest porters, typically 7% or 8%, produced by a brewery.

Milk / Sweet Stouts are basically stouts that have a larger amount of residual dextrins and unfermented sugars that give the brew more body and a sweetness that counters the roasted character. Milk Stouts are very similar to Sweet Stouts, but brewers add unfermentable sugars, usually lactose, to the brew kettle to add body and some sweetness.

Oatmeal Stouts are generally medium to full bodied stouts that have an unreal smoothness to them from the addition of oats to the mash. The oats not only add a lot of smoothness to the mouth feel but give a touch of sweetness that is unlike any other type of stout. Both levels of roasted flavor and hop character will vary.

Willkommen Zum Oktoberfest

Tastings:
Free State Oktoberfest [86]
Lakefront Brandy Barrel-Aged Imperial Pumpkin [90]
Crown Valley Imperial Pumpkin Smash [92]
Crown Valley Strawberry Cider [n/r]
O'Fallon Imperial Pumpkin [n/r]
Hofbräuhaus München Hofbrau Maibock [87]
Left Hand Milk Stout [89]
Hof Ten Dormaal Barrel Aged Project Brew No. 2 - Cognac [81]

Links:
http://www.freestatebrewing.com/beer/octoberfest
http://www.lakefrontbrewery.com/beer/seasonals/imperial-pumpkin-ale
http://www.crownvalleybrewery.com/products/PumpkinSmash.php
http://www.crownvalleybrewery.com/products/StrawberryCider.php
http://www.ofallonbrewery.com
http://www.hofbraeu-muenchen.de/en/our-brews/our-range-of-beer/hofbraeu-maibock
http://lefthandbrewing.com/beers/milk-stout
http://www.hoftendormaal.com/bieren-nl.php#oakaged

Beer Shower

Chase is getting married in a few days, so to celebrate we showered him some fantastic beers.
And no cake.

Tastings:
Stone IPA [94]
Lagunitas Hop Stoopid [93]
Lagunitas Imperial Red [92]
Boulevard Bourbon Barrel Quad [94]
Schlafly Pumpkin Ale [94]

Also several micros from Two Row Brewing Company (now Civic Duty Brewing Company).

American Pale Ale

Citra Wheat

Gose

Pumpkin Saison

Links:
http://www.stonebrewing.com/ipa
http://lagunitas.com/beers/hop-stoopid
http://lagunitas.com/beers/imperialred
http://www.boulevard.com/BoulevardBeers/bourbon-barrel-quad
http://schlafly.com/beers/styles/pumpkin-ale

http://www.2rowbrewco.com
http://untappd.com/2RowBrewCo
http://twitter.com/2rowbrewco


- - Update - -
Two Row Brewing Company has change names to Civic Duty Brewing Company.
http://www.civicdutybrewing.com
https://untappd.com/CivicDuty
https://twitter.com/civicdutybrew

Need Help Choosing a Pumpkin?

Choosing a pumpkin can be tough.  We're well into October and it's time to make some decisions.  There are literally dozens of varieties, and if you pick the wrong one things can go horribly wrong.  You need to do your research, make a wise choice, take a couple of big ones home and get ready to empty them out.

The Great Pumpkin Beer List: The Best and Worst Pumpkin Ales

Squeeze Me

Tastings:
Deschutes Fresh Squeezed IPA [94]
[Greg]

Links:
http://www.deschutesbrewery.com/brew/fresh-squeezed-ipa

Thought of the Day:
The ice machine holds less ice than my trashcan.

Pale Drinker

Our first meeting with a true theme - three great American Pale Ales from three different regions of the US: Rocky Mountains, Pacific Northwest, Upper Midwest.

Tastings:
Dale's Pale Ale [88]
[Scott]
Mirror Pond Pale Ale [88]
[Jamie C]
Zombie Dust [100]
[Jamie M]

Links:
http://brew.oskarblues.com/ob-beers/year-round/dales-pale-ale
http://www.deschutesbrewery.com/brew/mirror-pond-pale-ale
http://www.3floyds.com/beer/zombie-dust

Style of the Day:
American Pale Ale (APA)
Of British origin, this style is now popular worldwide and the use of local ingredients, or imported, produces variances in character from region to region. Generally, expect a good balance of malt and hops. Fruity esters and diacetyl can vary from none to moderate, and bitterness can range from lightly floral to pungent. 

Meeting Agenda [pdf]

We Need to Get One of These

Keep your eyes peeled!

Stag Party

Tastings:
Stag [71]
Anderson Valley The Kimmie, The Yink & The Holy Gose [86]
Founders Dirty Bastard [90]
Bell's Two Hearted Ale [95]
[Greg]

Links:
https://avbc.com/the-kimmie-the-yink-the-holy-gose/
http://foundersbrewing.com/our-beer/dirty-bastard/
http://www.bellsbeer.com/
http://stag-beer.com/


Style of the Day:
Gose (pronounced “Go-zuh”)
Originating in the town of Goslar, Germany in the early 16th century, the Gose style was traditionally brewed using salted water and 50% malted wheat and was spiced with coriander and hops.  It was fermented with both traditional yeast and lactic bacteria, giving it a slight tartness, similar to that of a Berliner Weisse.  The brewing of Gose eventually migrated to Leipzig, Germany by the turn of the 18th century and became the most popular style in the region by 1900, only to virtually disappear after World War II brought destruction to the breweries and hard economic times.

Meeting Agenda [pdf]

Love Gone Sour

June 13, 2014

Tastings:
Boulevard Love Child #4
[Greg]

Links:
http://www.boulevard.com/BoulevardBeers/love-child-no-4/

Equation of the Day:
Brettanomyces Wild Yeast + Lactobacillus Bacteria = Sour Beer

Holy Peroni!

May 30, 2014

Tastings:
Peroni Nastro Azzurro [Phil]
Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy
Leinenkugel's Orange Shandy
Leinenkugel's Lemon-Berry Shandy
Samuel Adams Porch Rocker
Samuel Adams Summer Ale
[Greg]

Links:
http://www.peroniitaly.com
http://leinie.com
http://www.samueladams.com

Idea of the Day:
Cans make less noise in the trash.

Dos de Mayo

May 2, 2014

Tastings:
Modelo Especial [Al]
Rogue Ales Chocolate Stout [Mike]
Boulevard Grainstorm Black Rye IPA [Greg]

Links:
http://www.crownimportsllc.com/ourbrands/modelo.htm
http://rogue.com/store/products/Chocolate-Stout.html
http://www.boulevard.com/BoulevardBeers/grainstorm-black-rye-ipa/

Idea of the Day:
Just for fun, go to Google Images and search for "Modelo".  That's what I did to get the image at the top of the page.

Pour Hard

April 18, 2014

Tastings:
Left Hand Milk Stout Nitro
Mother's Towhead American Blonde
[Brandon]

Links:
http://lefthandbrewing.com/beers/milk-stout-nitro/
http://www.milkstoutnitro.com
http://mothersbrewing.com/craft-beers/our-beers/towhead/


Word of the Day:
Kölsch
Kölsch (also spelled Koelsch) is a local specialty beer brewed in Cologne (Köln), Germany. It is clear with a bright, straw-yellow hue, has a prominent but not extreme hoppiness, and is less bitter than the standard German pale lager.

Cheers to Spring

March 28, 2014

Tastings:
Lee's home-brewed Weiss Beer
Samuel Adams Spring Sampler:
   Maple Pecan Porter
   Escape Route (unfiltered Kölsch)
   Cold Snap (unfiltered White Ale)
   Irish Red
   Whitewater IPA (Belgian White & American IPA)
[Lee]

Founders Imperial Stout

Left Hand Sawtooth Ale

[Mike]

Links:
http://www.samueladams.com/
http://lefthandbrewing.com/beers/sawtooth-ale/
http://foundersbrewing.com/our-beer/imperial-stout/


Word of the Day:
ef·fer·ves·cent

adjective

1. 1.

   (of a liquid) giving off bubbles; fizzy.

   synonyms:

   fizzy, sparkling, carbonated, aerated, gassy, bubbly

St. Patrick's Day

March 17, 2014

Tastings:
Guinness Draught
[Greg]

Brewery Tour Idea

I was thinking we should try to take an afternoon off one week this summer and tour a brewery.  Boulevard is an obvious choice, but we may know someone who could get us in at Cinder Block.

Think about it.


Boulevard Tour Details:
Free Tour - 45 min
Friday @ 3:30pm
Tickets available at 10am on day of tour

Smokestack Tour - 90 min
$20
Mon-Thu @ 3:15pm
Tickets available first Monday of prior month at 10am

Unfiltered Tour - 90 min
$20
Sun @ Noon or 3:00pm
Tickets available first Monday of prior month at 10am

2014 Smokestack Calendar

The Boulevard Brewing Company's 2014 schedule for their planned Smokestack releases.

How to Pour a Choc' Top

Winter Leftovers

March 7, 2014

Tastings:

Garfunklemas Belgian Tripel, home-brewed by molly's friend at Two Row Brewing Company
Shock Top Belgian White
Shock Top Chocolate Wheat
Samuel Adams Cherry Chocolate Bock
[Molly, Greg]


Links:
http://www.2rowbrewco.com/
http://www.shocktopbeer.com/s/index.php/our-beers/belgian-white/
http://www.shocktopbeer.com/s/index.php/our-beers/chocolate-wheat/
http://www.samueladams.com/craft-beers/cherry-chocolate-bock

For the Love of Beer

February 14, 2014

Tastings:

Isle of Cinder Wee Heavy
[Chase]

Links:
Cinder Block Brewery