Day 50, 2.19.11., Anderson Valley Brewing - Nettied Madge Black IPA

One more from AVBC before we move on, Nettied Madge Black IPA.  This one means well dressed prostitute, my favorite kind.
I've been really into Black IPAs lately.  It's just such a match made in heaven: nice dark roastyness and big hops.  For me, that is pretty much exactly what I want in a beer.  well, quite often anyway.
This one is nice and dark black with good creamy beige head.  On the nose, this beer has a good amount of coffee, and subtle hints of burnt sugar and vanilla.  The last two are way back in there, and then occasionally you get a nice little tiny whiff.  Totally cool. 
The body is not overly heavy, I'd say medium-light, which makes it nice and easy drinking.  but it's big on roasty character and big on hops.  The hop bitterness is really nice and clean.  Nice beer.
7 out of 10.

Day 49, 2.18.11, Anderson Valley Brewing - Wee Geech

Finally had a chance to visit the brewery up there in Boonville, and damn it's awesome.  They have a full-on visitor's center with a bar and maybe 15 taps.  The brewery itself looks pretty sweet.  Although I wasn't there at the right time for the tour, the huge windows in their brewhouse nicely show off their huge copper mash/lauter tuns and kettles.  Cool.  They also have disc golf, which I've never played (since I'm not a filthy, stinky hippy) but now I kinda want to because I realized it fits nicely into my favorite category of sports: Sports-that-are-best-played-while-holding-a-beer.  (see list below)
Back to the beer.

Wee Geech, I'm told, is Boontling for little sex, or a quicky.  I also found out that Poleeko is the Boontling word for Philo, the town up the road from Boonville.  So there you go.

Wee Geech is a pale ale that could cross over into IPA territory.  It's a pale yellow ale with a nice lacy head.  It's got a terrific sharp spicy hop nose and some slightly clovey spice.  Ther's some subtle orange oil.  The light/medium bodied beer has a sharp, mouth drying hop bitterness that lingers so delightfully on the back palate.  I loved this beer.
8 out of 10.





Sports-that-are-best-played-while-holding-a-beer  OR  My-favorite-sports:
-Bocce Ball
-Bowling
-Darts
-Billiards
-Frisbee
-Dominoes
-Croquet
-Horseshoes
-Kayaking
-Kite flying
-Lawn darts
-Lawn chair occupying 

Day 48, 2.17.11, North Coast Brewing - Cask Conditioned Red Seal Ale

We stopped into the pub/tasting room in Fort Bragg's North Coast Brewing Company.  I'm always excited to visit a brewery, because oftentimes they have beers on tap that aren't otherwise available.  Such was not the case with North Coast, as I'd had all twelve of their offerings previously, save one: the cask conditioned version of their flagship red/pale ale, Red Seal.
Our bartender worked her tail off hand pumping glasses and pints for the Sunday lunch rush.  She was also busy pouring 12 item samplers about once every five minutes or so.  We collectively kept her on her toes.  Well done, we appreciate it!
It was forced from it's cask into a glass of nearly solid head, which slowly cascaded into a beautiful copper red beer with a nice dense foamy white head.
There is plenty of malt on the nose, as well as some bitter orange and a touch of hops.
The hops come through much more fully on the palate, and is nicely rounded into a beer with some nice malt body and a fair amount of citric sour character.  I've always thought Red Seal was a decent basic red ale, but I really did  prefer it cask conditioned.  It was just lightly effervescent, but with a nice creamy head and not overly cold.  7 out of 10

Day 47, 2.16.11., Anderson Velley Brewing, Poleeko Gold

A trip up to the Mendocino coast for the weekend resulted in tasting several beers from the area's two micro brew stars, North Coast Brewing and Anderson Valley.  More on North Coast later.
On our way north, we stopped in Point Arena for a little lunch.  As we drove into town, Lesley and I discussed what we wanted for lunch: clam chowder in a bread bowl for her, and a beer for me.  No sooner than we voiced these desires, this is the sign we saw:

Sometimes things work out.

The food was pretty solid pub fare, and the beer selection pretty good, although the selection was nearly exclusively North Coast and Anderson Valley.  They're both good, but up here, they are the only beers you see on any taps.
I tried Poleeko Gold this time, a pale ale from Anderson Valley.  It has a nice nose with hints of grapefruit, sweet maltiness and acidic notes.  The body is on the full side of medium and has good bitterness backed up by just a hint of honey malt.  All that part is nice, but this pint had a definite skunky,  funkyness to it.  Unfortunately it was the kind of defect that comes with not cleaning your taps often enough.  Other than that, it's a nice easy drinking pale ale.  It'd be a good beer when you're planning on drinking a six-pack.  Fair beer.  6 out of 10.

Day 42, 2.11.11, Hermitage - Ale of the IMP

Trying a beer today that I've been curious about.  Bev-Mo carries a whole line of beers from Hermitage Brewery, which is the distribution side of Tied House Pub down in San Jose.  It sounds like Tied House does a bunch of contract brewing, and likely I've had stuff that they brew and didn't know it.  One of their projects is Coastal Fog, a brand they make exclusively for Bev-Mo.  I wonder whether the same is true of Hermitage.
This beer is their IMPerial IPA.  (Get it?)  It is cloudy amber in color and has a substantial white foamy head.  On the nose, floral hops are first up, and in a big way.  But it also smells surprisingly malty
The malt doesn't materialize on the palate much though as the hops again take center stage.  They are very spicy and quite bitter.  With the malt flavor falling flat and the beer having really not much of a body to speak of, it's fairly unbalanced.  Not a bad stab at a very hoppy beer, but a bit too aggressive to enjoy.  Even for a hop-head like me.  5 out of 10.

Day 38, 2.7.11., 21st Amendment - Lord and Master

Stopped in to 21st Amendment Brewing Company in San Francisco's south of market neighborhood. Come to think of it, 21st is where I had the first beer of this project back on 1.1.11.
Going on now at the brewery is Strong Beer Week, which of course showcases beers in the 8%, 9%+ range.  This day I tried Lord & Master, a beer that the brewers call a 'strong English blonde'.  But to my taste, it seems like more of an amber.  It's a deep amber red and opaque.
This beer has a sweet malt nose with some citrusy orange notes.  And on the palate, it's delightfully bitter with strong, palate drying hop character.  The hops come through nice and spicy which balances nicely against a pretty full bodied beer.  It is 8.7% ABV and 65 IBUs.
The bartender was also kind enough to fill me in on their strong beer week punch card.  Try all the strong beers at 21st and Magnolia and keep the commemorative tulip glass.  One down, eleven to go.
8 out of 10

Day 37, 2.6.11., Russian River Brewing - Pliney the Younger

I have long been a fan of Russian River's über hoppy double IPA Pliny the Elder.  It's something of a  legend among west coast hop-heads like myself.
But once a year, (around this time) Russian River releases a short run of their triple IPA, Pliny the Younger.  I don't know exactly what the quantity produced is, but it's not a lot.  In fact, I'm told that last years entire stock was gone in eight short hours.  So this year, they put the kibosh on growlers (it comes on draft only) and allocated a certain number of kegs daily for a two week run.  So with the confidence that they'd have a glass available upon my arrival, my brother John and I took the one hour drive north to Santa Rosa, just to drink beer.
The Russian River Brewery is a great spot.  A storefront building in Santa Rosa's quaint downtown.  It's not big, with well more than half of the small building devoted to brewing.  As we walked down the block, we could clearly smell the beautiful aroma of barley mashing on the breeze...  lovely. 
Back to the Pliny.  My understanding in that both Plinys get a healthy dose of Simcoe hops in the boil as well as in multiple rounds of dry hopping.  Simcoe is a newish hybrid from the pacific northwest that features fruity apricot notes, floral notes and resiny pine characteristics.  An there is no shortage off all that in the Plinys.
Pliny the Younger is pale golden in color and is fairly clear with nice lacy white head.  It's incredibly bitter (the brewery lists IBUs as 'Gobs') but has nice balance provided by the velvety full malty body.  There's a touch of honey there, and it offsets the bitterness just so nicely.  It's quite a strong beer too, weighing in at 10.25%ABV.
All in all, this beer is VERY similar to my old friend Pliny the Elder, with the big difference between the two being that the Younger simply has more.  More Hops.  More Malt.  More Alcohol.  It's intense, I'll definitely say that.  But I think it's a really pretty beer, with a huge amount of floral flavor and aroma.
I've always considered the Elder to be a pretty strong beer (it's 8% ABV), and fairly intense.  But after comparing the two side by side, Elder almost starts to drink like an easy session sipper.  So mellow and crisp it is next to it's Younger nephew.
Pliny the Younger is certainly something special.  It's a wonderful beer that features hops to the fullest.  It's really fun to drink, and whether by design or not, it's got a hype and mystique around it that makes you feel privileged to hoist a glass.
9 out of 10.

"Pliny the Elder was a Roman naturalist, scholar, historian, traveler, officer, and writer. Although not considered his most important work, Pliny and his contemporaries created the botanical name for hops, "Lupus salictarius", meaning wolf among scrubs." Hops at that time grew wild among willows, much like a wolf in the forest. Later the current botanical name, Humulus lupulus, was adopted. Pliny died in 79 AD while observing the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. He was immortalized by his nephew, Pliny the Younger, who continued his uncle's legacy by documenting much of what he observed during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius."

-From the Russian River Brewing website

Day 36, 2.5.11., Lost Abbey - Serpent's Stout

I stopped by to say hey to Charlie over at the Trappist.  He wasn't there, so I had a beer anyway.  The nice young lady behind the bar told me that Serpent's Stout is one of her favorites on the current tap list so I grabbed a glass.
Lost Abbey is a part of Port Brewing, located just north of San Diego.  I think this is the first beer I've tried from them, although I've had a few from Port.
Serpent's stout is an absolutely lovely (Imperial?) stout.  It's rich and creamy and black and opaque with a gorgeous velvety beige head.  The nose is dusty with hints of chocolate and coffee.  If you've ever tried a very high percentage cacao chocolate bar (70%+), you know that chocolaty mouth drying bitterness.  That flavor is all over the body of this beer.  It's 10.5% ABV, but the beer comes off very smooth and leaves you with only a hint of just how much alcohol it contains.  This is just a really nice, well made stout.  I like this beer very much.  8 out of 10.

Day 33, 2.2.11., Devil's Canyon - Full Boar scotch ale

This is a new beer that we have on tap at the restaurant where I work.  Devil's Canyon has been brewing in Belmont, CA. (down on the peninsula, south of San Francisco) since 2001.  As with most things located in San Mateo or Santa Clara counties, I've never heard of it.  They make several styles, including a lager which they call a 'California Lager' (Steam Beer?), blonde ale, amber ale, and rye IPA.
And then, of course, the scotch ale.  It's a style I don't know a lot about as far as brewing, but I've certainly tried a few.  It's generally a big, syrupy, malty, red beer with a good amount of alcohol.  And Full Boar definitely fits into these characteristics.

Full Boar is a red beer with a light amount of effervescence creating a light white head.  On the nose, it's all maple, and the body is thick and velvety.  Flavor wise, malt is absolutely the main element.  There's a whole lot of brown sugar and just a hint of smokeyness.  there's about 7.4% ABV, which isn't really enough to emerge on the palate through the strong malt sweetness, and with just 12 IBUs, the only bitterness on this beer comes from a bit of darker malts.
I find Full Boar a bit syrupy sweet for my liking although, it seems like a nice example of the  style.  7 out of 10.

Day 27, 1.27.11, Sierra Nevada - Brewer's Reserve

Stopped at Toronado in the Haight for a beer after work.  It's a divey beer bar with a terrific tap selection and really loud, aggressive music.  This was my third time there, and the staff always reminds me that they are way cooler than everyone else (especially me).  Preserve your dignity if you go and don't ask any questions, or for any recommendations.  Just pick a beer off the big board and tip your dollar.  Boo.

Phil and the end of my Brewer's Reserve

-Toronado Pros-
•Great taps
•Near many late-night food choices
•Planet Earth playing crocodiles vs. zebras and water buffalo on the tv
•Dutch Door

-Toronado Cons-
•Pretentious, rude bartenders
•Music
•Kind of a dive

Toranado: 7 out of 10

I grabbed a glass of Sierra Nevada's Brewer's Reserve.
This is their 30th Anniversary ale and is a blend of Bigfoot Barleywine, Celebration Ale and the classic Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.  It's dry hopped and oak aged.  And it's really quite solid.
It's a big, red, sticky, 9.2% ABV ale with plenty of character and a kick.  It has a nice creamy head, and a full malty body.
There is brown sugar and oak character, as well as a bit of nuttiness and a light bit of smoke.
And then there is hops.  A big punch of piny, resiny hop flavor and a fair bunch of bitterness.  I'm glad they weren't pouring pints of it; my 12 ounces or so was plenty.  In fact I think this would best be served at about 6 ounces in a nice big goblet.  A great big beer with a lot going on.
8 out of 10.

Day 23, 1.23.11, Brew Day Special Edition! - The Big IPA

Brew Day Today!  The first one of 2011.  We had a great day of brewing.  Thanks to everyone who came out and joined in.  Friends make brewing even more fun.

-In The Kettle-
Today we brewed a beer that I've been wanting to do for a while, a Rye beer.  Rye is making up 20% of the grist of this beer, and from what I understand, this is pretty high.  Since Rye tends to get pretty sticky in the mash, using more than this (I'm told) is difficult at best and impossible at worst.
In addition to our rye malt, we added American pale malt for the majority of the grist and a bit of caramunich to give it some malt body and a bit of honey character (hopefully).
As far as hops, this beer features Cascade, Czech Saaz (for some reason) and Amarillo in a hop schedule that was kind of off the cuff.  We'll see how the hops turn out.


My brother John is pictured here tending to the malt in the sparge. 

The Rye beer is now in fermentation and should be ready to drink sometime around the end of February.  check back here to find out more.

-In The Glass-
Also on the agenda today was the "official release" of the IPA brewed back on November 16.  It's a classic dry Pacific coast style IPA brewed with Simcoe, Cascade and Centennial hops.  American pale malt makes up the majority of the grist, with Crystal 40, Munich and Honey malts building the malt character.

I was very excited that this beer turned out very clear without having been filtered.  It also has a thick fluffy white head.
The nose has a good amount of nice floral hops and just the slightest bit of honey.
On the palate the hops are nice and aggressive without being overbearing.  The beer is not overly heavy but has enough malt to stand up to a really lovely peppery, bitter hop character.  It's a beer in a classic style.  It's not barrel-aged or infused with lavender tips or any of that crap.  (some times I like that crap)  It's just a really nice California IPA with a big hop kick and a good amount of alcohol (about 9.2% ABV).  I'm a purest, so what can I say?  I'm really happy with this beer.  8 out of 10.

I have quite a bit of this IPA, and I'd love to hear what YOU think about it.  Let me know if you'd like to try it.

Day 20, 1.20.11, Lagunitas - Little Sumpin' Wild

A Christmas gift for my brother-in-law Aaron, I popped Little Sumpin' Wild open tonight.  It's a golden ale that comes in at 7.8% ABV.

Lagunitas has long been a favorite of mine, their IPA especially.  All of their beers are very high quality, they aren't afraid to add hops to their beer, and they have a lot of fun with it.  All three are  things I like in a beer.
And this one certainly does not disappoint.  It's a lighter beer,  fairly clear and with a good amount of white head.  The nose is big on hops.  They come through floral and grassy.
On the palate there are some interesting malt notes and some yeasty sour notes especially on the finish and back palate.  I later read on the website that this beer gets a partial wheat malt bill, and a Belgian hop strain, which accounts for some of its complexities.
As I said before though, Lagunitas is not shy with the hops and this beer exhibits an intense, nearly unchecked hop bitterness.  There didn't seem to be much in the way of hop flavor, just the bitter bite.  Actually, the flavor may have just been covered up by all the bitter.  On one level, I really liked that about it.  These intensely hopped beers are almost becoming a classic California style.  But another part of me missed having a bit of balance between that big bitterness and the complexity that I know is present in this beer.  Still a good beer, just could use a little fine tuning.  6 out of 10.

Day 17, 1.17.11, Drakes - Dry Stout

Another after-work pint at Bloodhound, this time with Jorie and Kevin, two of the other bartenders with whom I work.
I tried Drakes Dry Stout.  I've always like Drakes, especially their 1500 Pale Ale and their excellent IPA.  Drakes is located down in San Leandro, and I used to see them on tap all over the east bay.  Now That I spend less time over there and more time across the bay, I don't see it nearly as much.  So thank you Bloodhound.
This stout was poured on nitrogen, (into a mason jar unfortunately, the only negative of Bloodhound) and is dark chocolaty brown and has a thick creamy head.  It's 4.7% ABV.  It has a really nice velvety, creamy mouth-feel and a surprisingly light body.
On the palate there is roasty malt bitterness and nice hints of cocoa.  Overall though, it's just a nice, mellow, easy drinking stout.  It's rather simple and unpretentious, just a good beer for drinking.  7 out of 10.

Day 15, 1.15.11, Coronado Brewing - Idiot IPA

This is what The Monk's Kettle looks like but not when I was there.

I stopped by The Monk's Kettle in the Mission, a beer spot I've been meaning to try out.  But I made the mistake of going there on a Saturday evening.  Every time I go out on a Friday or Saturday, I'm reminded about how much it sucks.  Amateur night.  So it was packed of course and I really didn't get a chance to chat up the bartender about the draught selections.  It's a really intimate space (that's pretty much the entirety in the picture.  I'd be surprised if it seats 40).
Since I was in the mood for hops, I picked Idiot IPA from Coronado.  Apropos, I know.
And by no means did it disappoint; on the contrary.  This beer is so packed with hops that I felt like I was drinking a bag of cascade pellets.  It's a very fresh hop character too: grassy, green, floral.  I assume it's fairly heavily dry hopped.  The beer is a rich amber/orange.  Body wise though, a bit thin.  I guess if you want the hops to stand out as much as they do in this beer, you can't allow them to be blocked by big malt.  It's a strong, aggressive Imperial IPA with 8.5% ABV.  And it's really ridiculously hoppy.  It's a very dry beer, and then finishes strangely mouthwatering.  It came in a 22oz bottle, but I'm sure I would have been just fine with just a pint, (or even a 12oz).
So although being there on a crazy Saturday (it was standing room only) is a definite thumbs down, Idiot IPA gets a thumbs up.  Might be a bit overly hopped for some palates, but that's what we expect from the style.  And I'll certainly be back to The Monk's Kettle.  Sometime midweek.  7 out of 10




P.s. I want you all to know just how hard I'm working here for you.  We went out to Korean BBQ on Saturday as well, and ordered the house Korean pisswater beer, O.B. (Oriental Brewery).  So I technically tried 2 beers in one day.  But that one was nothing to write home blog about, so I shan't.  I'll just chalk it up to research.  366 beers on 365 days?

Day 1, 1.1.11, 21st. Amendment Back in Black

Stopped in to 21st this New Year's day for a quick sampling if Back in Black. It's a dark IPA at 7.2%ABV and 65 IBU. Innitially I was (pleasantly) surprised at the fact it seemed a bit thin. It's near jet black color made me wonder if it'd be syrupy and stout like. But it's not. It's an easy drinking, smooth, not-to-roasty porter mashed up with a not-to-hoppy IPA. It certainly is a beer practicing moderation. (Unlike some of my favorites on the other end of the spectrum, i.e. Pliney.) so to me this beer drinks like a really nice winter IPA. The hops are definatly co-staring with the malt body and it makes the beer really a lovely pint. All in all an 8 out of ten in my book. Quite good. See you tomorrow.

Note to self: return to 21st Amendment during baseball season.