Americans and beer

I was at my friends house tonight watching the Wild lose to the Flames in OT and we got to the discussion of our fathers and the beer they drink. He mentioned the dirty thirties of Strohs his dad buys. I mentioned that my dad just up until a few years ago wasn’t a beer drinker. This was over a tasty bottle of Boulevard Brewing Long Strange Tripel. It got me thinking. I think its safe to say that we as Americans aren’t known as beer connesseurs. Look at all the beer commercials that are out there right now. Beers known for “easy drinking” and “low on carbs”. I love the Coors Light vented wide mouth can. According to Coors it provides people to enjoy the “Worlds most refreshing beer.” Worlds most refreshing beer my ass. My roommate had a good slogan for them. “Coors light, FASTER!!.” Seriously. All that promotes is binge drinking. Which is what Coors Light is made for in the first place. The only company giving us hope is Sam Adams. It gives those who aren’t beer lovers a small window into the craft beer world. What separates craft brewers from macro brewers? Passion. 

My friend had said how he is slowly showing his father what good tasting beer is really about. He’s opened him up to Leinenkugels and some Summit beers. My dad is starting to see the light. My brother has spent a lot of time in Germany and Austria and one popular style of beer from that area is the Hefeweizen. He’s embraced it. And he’s starting to open up to others. My youngest brother is only 21 and he can’t get enough of Surly Furious. Even my mom likes some styles of beer. I haven’t exactly pin-pointed her style but I think its Belgian styles.  She really likes New Belgium Abbey.  She hates IPA’s though. I once gave here a sip of an IPA as a joke because I knew she’d hate it. Her lips puckered up and she said it “tastes like grass”. Hilarious. Ya know what this is though? Progress. Small steps. Beer goes back to the times before Christ. Europeans have been brewing beer since the early 11oo’s. Even earlier. We as Americans are years behind. Prohibition put a big dent on our progress. Curses to the bastards who came up with that stupid law. But we are moving in the right direction. 

I love spreading the word about beer. Each style comes with a story. Do people really know the meaning behind Oktoberfest? What does the term “Lager” really mean? Why do Belgian Ales have such a storied history? Why do they call it India Pale Ale? I think teaching people the story behind a style of beer makes them appreciate it that much more. Crack that beer bottle open, give it a nice pour, check out the color up against the light, give it a good whiff, then take a sip and think about all the time and effort into what you are drinking. Maybe you like it, maybe you don’t. But at least appreciate what went into it. I can only hope we get to the days of spending our Sundays enjoying a wonderfully tasty snifter of beer after church over a bland watered down cup of coffee.

 

Beer Review

December for us Minnesotans was rough. Mischke was fired, the Wild played some of the worst hockey we’ve seen them play, we still do not have Senator number Two, and it was frickin’ cold outside. All the more reason to hang out indoors with some tasty pints eh? There are a few beers I’ve had over the past few weeks that I’d like to give my 2-cents on.

Flat Earth Brewery is based out of St. Paul. It is one of Minnesota’s newest micro-breweries. I’ve tried 3 of their beers. I had their Belgian Style Pale Ale many months ago so I won’t go deeply into that one because honestly all I remember is it was so-so.  The next one on tap was their Rode Haring Flanders Red Ale.  According to The Four Firkins it is a Belgian style sour aged about two years in Oak barrels. Supposedly the only brewery in Minny making this style.  I was really stoked to try this one out. I brought this one up to the family and had them try it with me.  Initial aroma was promising. Somewhat of a citrus aroma with a light red color. First sip and I was struck with something? What was that flavor? Never before in a beer had I tasted this? My dad hit it right on the nuts. “Tastes like green olives.” Indeed, that’s what it was. The general consensus between all of us was that. I tried a few more sips, but it still was there. Maybe I need to try this one again, or find another brewery with a similar style to compare it to, but my taste buds did not like this one.  Finally there is the Black Helicopter Coffee Stout. A traditional Stout brewed with Dunn Bros. Coffee beans. Going into this I was thinking a dark, heavy beer. Somewhat of a thicker consistency. The coffee beans are immediate when it comes to aroma. Very dark with a brownish, dense, creamy tasting head. However, not as thick as I thought it would be. Very smooth actually. A good combination of coffee beans and the roasted barley they use. Neither one overpowers the other. Great brew. All in all, I like what Flat Earth is doing. I’ve only tried these Three but looking at their website and you can tell they put some thought into each beer they create.

Two Brothers Brewing. Based out of Warrenville, Illinois. I’ve had the pleasure of having two of their beers. I’ve got a feeling these guys LOVE hops.  The first one was awhile ago, but I can still taste it. Its called Cane and Ebel. A “Hopped up Red Rye Ale”. The name speaks for itself. An ale brewed with Rye. They also add palm sugar to this. If you like the taste of Rye, give this beer a try. I think it has an IBU reading of 85.  The second beer I had is called Hop Juice Double IPA. The first sip I had and all I could think was WOW. 9.9% ABV and a staggering IBU reading of 100. This beer packs a punch. If you don’t like bitter beers, stay away. I’ve only had two beers from this brewery but its fast becoming one of my favorites. I plan on searching for more beers from these guys. Although the only place I know to purchase their beer locally is The Four Firkins. The closest state listed on the website is Wisconsin.

On a side note, Purple Palace Brewing will be kegging our replica of the Surly Furious in about 3 days. The Furious is one of my favorite IPA’s and to some one of the best American made IPA’s. The use of Simcoe hops comes out to play in this beer. We’re really stoked for this one. Initial tasting in the carboy and the hops really come out. We’re still extract brewing so most of our beers have a malty taste. We made our own IPA and it was OK, but needs work. The Surly replica however will definatley have a hop presence. Besides that, we’ve got nothing in the carboy’s. We’re in the process of moving into a new apartment so that is taking precedence over brewing. Once in the new digs, we plan on putting our All-Grain goals into full force. Looks like another Saturday night of snowfall. So why not drink a few. Tonight, myself and the family plan on frying up the rest of our Walleye and Northern’s from our Canada fishing trip and enjoying that with Ommegang Brewing Hennepin Saison and Sierra Nevada Harvest Ale. Cheers!!

 

Fall is the best time for beer

    I really was hoping to have the everyday use of a computer by now. However, that has not happened. I’m thinking sometime in late fall, early winter to have that finally in my possession. It sucks not having a computer. Blows ass. All the things I used to love I can’t really do these days. Writing on this site, checking up on current events, listening to all my music(which at this point is gone). Thanks to that piece of shit PC I called the Black Bandit. I’ll even admit to having enjoyment from wasting countless hours on Facebook. Keeping up with my favorite bands’ websites. The Mischke Podcasts. Oh how I miss thee so much. Oh well, soon enough. 

    Purple Palace Brewing is in full swing. Just finished off a Red Ale. People kept saying it had a hint of apple in it. Matt nor myself ever tasted that. Our Belgian Trippel is still slated to be on tap in October. Tasted that one a few weeks ago, and oh my is it gonna be glorious. Our darkest beer to date will be up in September. Power Pack Porter. And finally I’m happy to announce the very first Purple Palace home recipe. Ya see, the beers we have been doing are kits. We buy pre-packaged ingredients and brew them up. We’ve been wanting to come up with our own. We both love IPA’s so thats what we decided on. A few beers and a few hours here and there and the list of ingredients was there. We used 1lb of Pale Malt, about 9.5lbs of Amber Malt Extract. 4oz. of hops. 3oz. in the boil, and 1oz. for dry hopping(Columbus and Kent Goldings hops). White Labs English Ale yeast. The initial outlook was good. Throughout the boil a significant aroma of hops. Most of our boils have more of a malty aroma. After the primary fermentation it developed into a malty aroma. A little bit worried, we were hoping the dry hopping in the secondary would turn that around. I kegged it on Sunday night, but my wretched allergies were so bad I couldn’t smell shit. I couldn’t really taste it either, so I will find that out this weekend. We ended up with a 6.5%ABV which was right on par with what we were looking for. We’ll see how it tastes. I got a new book for my birthday titles “Designing Great Beers”. A little more of an advanced book designed for brewers with a general idea of how beer is made, and what each ingredient does to the beer. It should help us out a ton when it comes to designing beers of our own. We still have dreams of doing All-Grain Brewing and Lagering. That could come into fruition this winter.

    I would like to give kudos to a friend of mine for opening the Twin Cities first specialty beer store. Congrats to Jason Alvey and his store The Four Firkins located in St. Louis Park. In a time where craft brewing is exploding, it is only fitting to have a store devoted to the cause.  Jason is the man to talk to about beer. An excellent selection and wonderful looking store. If you are a beer lover like I am, you MUST check out his selection. With a heavy dose of Belgian beers(which to some, is the benchmark when it comes to good beer) he also has great variety. From IPA’s that will blow your taste buds away, Stout’s and Porters with a punch, German Hefeweizen’s Marzen’s, and one that tastes like bacon, Mead, and the best selection of local breweries there’s a brew for all tastes. So, Cheers Jason, and I wish you the best of luck.

   With work starting that slow slide to winter, my mind finally on something other then the next repair at work, I should find an opportunity here and there to write. Until then, Ciao.

 

Purple Palace update

Purple Palace Brewing had an EPA on tap this past weekend. EPA meaning English Pale Ale. EPA’s are not as aggressively hopped as and IPA. The perfect mixture of hops and malt to make a good full flavored beer. The first swig of this Ale brings out the malty taste, but wait a couple of seconds after you swallow and the hop flavor really comes out. We calculated an ABV(alcohol by volume) or roughly 5%. It comes out to be a nice clear copper color with a thick frothy head. Its been determined that if we start making our own version of an EPA its going to have the name “Good Head”. Mmmmm. Good head indeed. So far we’ve had two beers in the keg now, and this one beat out the Witbier we had for New Years.
Two weeks from now Umphrey’s McGee will be performing 3 shows at 1st Avenue. So why not have some beer on tap for friends before we see the greatest live show around? Our thoughts exactly. Up next on tap is an Octane IPA. If you like lots of hops, and a bitter flavor, this beer is up your alley. The story behind IPA’s goes back to 18th and 19th centuries. The British had made their presence felt in the East Indies. British sailors loved their beers. One problem. It wouldn’t keep on those long voyages. The fix? Hops. Hops served as preservative and the beer kept longer. Long story short, thats where the name IPA(India Pale Ale) comes from. So, we’re hoping to have an IPA with a strong hop presence in that first sip. We also added Oak Chips to the secondary fermentation. We’re hoping it brings a little bit of a musty flavor to it. IPA’s are my favorite and I can’t wait to give this one a whirl.
We still have our Belgian Tripel due out this coming October. Can’t wait for that. It is now in secondary fermentation and we’re hoping for an ABV of around 8-9%. Perfect for those cool October nights over the bonfire. This week I believe we’re going to try a Cream Ale. Something light and sweet.
So the craft beer movement has made its mark with big beer makers. Miller has announced 3 new “craft” beers that are now out in 4 test markets. They are Baltimore. Charlotte N.C., Minneapolis, and San Diego. The beers are a Blonde Ale, Wheat, and Amber. Being in Minneapolis I can’t wait to try them. One beef I have though are those god awful labels. What kind of think tank came up with those? The guys that have brought us hilarious beer commercials for years, and thats the best they can do? Sorry, but those labels are hideous, and show no appeal. For a guy like me that is a beer connoisseur, I can see around the label. I want to see what a manufacturer known for lagers can do in the craft beer market. But what about your average joe schmo beer drinker? Obviously the first thing to catch someones eye is the appearance. These labels are bland and boring. If they decide to put these beers into full time production, I hope that they re-consider the labels they chose.
I’m off. Go Wild

 

Some homebrew terminology

I thought I would update some of you on Purple Palace Brewing. For starters it is a little project that my roommate and I decided to give a name to. We’ve both been amateur home-brewers for a few years now. We’re getting to the point to making our own “homebrew” and stop with the kit brewing. Kit brewing, for those of you who are not of the brewing ilk, is basically buying a beer kit and brewing it up. For example. Lets say we want to make and IPA. We can go to our local brew supply store and buy an IPA kit in a box. Its great for starters to get aquainted with the brewing process. All the ingredients are in the box and ready for you. As our knowledge and enjoyment of this process grows, starting to make our own beer from scratch was just a matter of time. Well here we are. So with that we gave a name to our little project. Purple Palace Brewing. Named after the color of our house, bathroom, and kitchen(not by choice). There’s a great program you can buy for your PC called ProMash. Its great for making beers from scratch. You can save your recipes, change and tweak that particular recipe with the click of a mouse. It will calculate your potential ABV(alcohol by volume), and the COLOR!! Plus many more interesting features. Pretty slick eh?
Every home brewer, in my opinion, he or she has got to got to keg their beer. For 3 reasons. 1. The worst part of brewing beer is collecting, cleaning, sanitizing, and bottling it. Its boring, takes up a lot of time, and takes up a lot of space. 2. Kegged beer ALWAYS tastes the best. Hands down, it gives you the best out of the beer. All the flavors come out. 3. Its just flat out cool. Especially when you have a keggerator, draught tap, or what have you. With that said, the next step at Purple Palace is kegging. We’ve found a nice wine chiller that we will convert into a holding cell for the keg. We’ve also found a great deal on a kegging system. For roughly $180 we will get a used and refurbished 5 gallon keg, a CO2 tank(empty), a regulator, some tubing, and a party tap. Thats a helluva deal.
As we progress and start creating our own types of beers we will still be doing the extract type brewing. Extract type brewing takes about half the time of all-grain. Instead of Mashing and Sparging the grains, you just steep the grains. All Grain brewing is the closest thing you can get to making beer like the big guys. Think of it this way. Steeping the grains is the first step in extract brewing. Mashing and sparging is the first step for all-grain brewing. The steps after that are the same. Step #1 on both ends in short, is just a way of preparing the grains. All-Grain takes up much more time, more money, more equipment, and a bigger volume. For two poor guys like us, extract brewing will be just fine for now.
With that said, I’m happy to announce that talks are in motion as to what kind of beer Purple Palace will bring out first. There’s been talk of making a nice light Lager, and now with the kegging system, a Stout. For now, what we have coming up from our remaining kit beers is a Lake Superior Strong Ale(bottled and currently around 6%ABV). We’ve got a Witbier(white beer, think of Blue Moon) fermenting now and will have it on tap for new years, and finally an EPA. English Pale Ale. Similar to IPA’s just not as aggressively hopped.
So there ya have it folks. I thought I’d tell my readers about the last of my 3 passions that I haven’t really written about. Bicycles, wrenching, and brewing. Welcome to Purple Palace brewing.